Higher education has faced many challenges since its meager inception. However, higher education today faces its greatest combinations of challenges: economic uncertainty, accountability, globalization and emerging technologies that are daunting to learn and intimidating to implement. VUCA accurately describes this complex, evolving and dynamic environment confronted by global higher education. Therefore, global higher education institutions are attempting to develop the capacity to adapt and modify the new models of knowledge, information and change. In the Industrial Era, work got done in silos with adherence to process and the cult of efficiency. However, this type of working will no longer suffice in an era characterized by flux and change--the VUCA world.


Nowadays,issues about employment of university graduates have been the heatedly discussed topic that the whole society generally concerned,especially among the government,the common people and the graduates themselves.The low employment rate of university graduates will be one of the top ten social issues that trouble everyone over the next ten years.The low employment of university graduates is caused by many factors,while the sticking point is mainly on the graduates themselves and the universities.As the problem manifested as structural unemployment,that is,"there are some jobs that the graduates are not qualified to take,while the graduates qualified ones they are not satisfied to take;so there are jobs they cannot take,and no job they can take." The fundamental way to improve the employment rate of the university graduates is to improve the quality of higher education,to enhance the core competitiveness of undergraduates,to change the concept of employment of university graduates,and to promote the comprehensive development of undergraduates.


Achard F, Vaysseix G, Barillot E*. 2001. *CRI Infobiogen, 523 Pl Terrasses Agora, FR-91000 Evry, France. XML, bioinformatics and data integration (Review). Bioinformatics 17: (2) 115. Aebersold R, Goodlett DR. 2001. Inst Syst Biol, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, Wa 98105, USA. Mass spectrometry in proteomics. Chem Rev 101: (2) 269. Al Lazikani B, Jung J, Xiang ZX, Honig B. 2001. Columbia Univ, Howard Hughes Med Inst, Dept Biochem & Mol Biophys, 630 West 168th St, New York, NY 10032, USA. Protein structure prediction. Curr Opin Chem Biol 5: (1) 51. Ali M, Markham AF, Isaacs JD. 2001. Univ Leeds, St James' Hosp, Mol Med Unit, Clin Sci Bldg, Leeds LS9 7TF, England. Application of differential display to immunological research. J Immunol Methods 250: (1-2) 29. Aravind L, Dixit VM, Koonin EV*. 2001. *NIH/Natl Lib Med, Natl Ctr Biotechnol Informat, Bethesda, Md 20894, USA. Apoptotic molecular machinery: Vastly increased complexity in vertebrates revealed by genome comparisons. 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The role of the pathologist as tissue refiner and data miner: The impact of functional genomics on the modern pathology laboratory and the critical roles of pathology informatics and bioinformatics. Mol Diagn 5: (4) 287. Berthet FX, Coche T*, Vinals C. 2001. *SmithKline Beecham Biol, 89 rue Inst, BE-1330 Rixensart, Belgium. Applied genome research in the field of human vaccines. J Biotechnol 85: (2) 213. Bevan M, Mayer K, White O, Eisen JA, Preuss D, Bureau T, Salzberg SL, Mewes HW. 2001. John Innes Ctr Plant Sci Res, Dept Mol Genet, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH, England. Sequence and analysis of the Arabidopsis genome. Curr Opin Plant Biol 4: (2) 105. Bichsel VE, Liotta LA, Petricoin EF*. 2001. *US/FDA, Ctr Biol Evaluat & Res, Div Therapeut Prod, Bethesda, Md 20892, USA. Cancer proteomics: From biomarker discovery to signal pathway profiling. Cancer J 7: (1) 69. Blohm DH, Guiseppi-Elie A. 2001. Univ Bremen, FB2-UFT, DE-28359 Bremen, Germany. New developments in microarray technology. Curr Opin Biotechnol 12: (1) 41. Bouche N, Bouchez D. 2001. Univ Leeds, Sch Biol, Ctr Plant Sci, Leeds LS2 9JT, England. Arabidopsis gene knockout: Phenotypes wanted. Curr Opin Plant Biol 4: (2) 111. Boulton SJ, Vincent S, Vidal M*. 2001. *Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Dana Farber Canc Inst, 44 Binney St, Boston, Ma 02115, USA. Use of protein-interaction maps to formulate biological questions. Curr Opin Chem Biol 5: (1) 57. Breyne P, Zabeau M*. 2001. *State Univ Ghent, Dept Plantengenet, Vlaams Interuniv Inst Biotechnol, Kl Ledeganckstr 35, BE-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Genome-wide expression analysis of plant cell cycle modulated genes. Curr Opin Plant Biol 4: (2) 136. Burke HB. 2000. New York Med Coll, Dept Med, Bioinformat & Computat Res Grp, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA. Discovering patterns in microarray data. Mol Diagn 5: (4) 349. Cahill DJ. 2001. Max-Planck-Inst Mol Genet, Ihnestr 73, DE-14195 Berlin, Germany. Protein and antibody arrays and their medical applications. J Immunol Methods 250: (1-2) 81. Carlson CS, Newman TL, Nickerson DA. 2001. Univ Washington, Dept Mol Biotechnol, Box 357330, Seattle, Wa 98195, USA. SNPing in the human genome. Curr Opin Chem Biol 5: (1) 78. Chich JF. 2001. INRA, Unite Rech Biochim & Struct Prot, Domaine de Vilvert, Bat 526, FR-78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France. A mini-review: Proteomic analysis, a post-genomic approach. Lait 81: (1-2) 13. Cho YR, Walbot V. 2001. Stanford Genome Technol Ctr, 855 Calif Ave, Palo Alto, Ca 94304, USA. Computational methods for gene annotation: The Arabidopsis genome. Curr Opin Biotechnol 12: (2) 126. Cobb JP, Brownstein NH, Watson MA, Shannon WD, Laramie JM, Qiu YY, Stormo GD, Morrissey JJ, Buchman TG, Karl IE, Hotchkiss RS. 2001. Washington Univ, Sch Med, Cellular Injury & Adaptat Lab, Injury Genomics Grp, Dept Surg, St Louis, Mo 63110, USA. Injury in the era of genomics (Review). Shock 15: (3) 165. 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Proteomics on a chip: Comparative and Functional Genomics Comp. Funct. Genom. 2001; 2: 345–352 DOI:10.1002/cfg.59


To the Editor: The randomized trial by Dr Goodpaster and colleagues 1 demonstratedasignificantimprovementinweight and cardiovascular risk in severely obese subjects who underwent a 1-year intensive lifestyle intervention consisting of diet and physical activity. Randomized clinical trials are often the best approach to study the effect of therapeutic interventions. However, selectionofthepopulationforatrialinvolvesexcludingavariable proportion of patients, which can make it difficult to translate the results into clinical practice. This is particularly the case when dealing with a behavioral intervention. For this study, 595 participants were considered eligible, but only 130 (21.8%) were eventually randomized. One group of 190 patients was excluded "after a brief explanationofstudyandinitialassessmentofeligibility."This requiresfurtherexplanation.Weretheynotseverelyobese? If they were, why did they not participate? A second group of 178 candidates was excluded because they "did not attend"orwere"notinterested."Thesearepatientsforwhom intervention might be beneficial but who might be harder to motivate. Finally, another group of 97 patients was also excluded for issues such as withdrawal, adherence issues, diabetes, and hypertension. These exclusions are a concern because obesity is a cause of social disparities, and an unfavorable social environment is a potential contributor to the development of obesity. 2-4 Participants who are more predisposed to become obese may also be less inclined to attend a trial. In our uncontrolled case series published in 2008, 5 we documented a 1.3-point reduction in body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) in the short term, and after a median of 358 days, only21%ofthepatientswhowerestudiedcontinuedtolose weight. The results are similar to those of Goodpaster et al 1 in a different population. Despite this, we think that the authors should be more cautious in their conclusions since their results apply to a selected minority of the potentially eligible population.


This book is invaluable for both researchers and therapists concerned with the influence of family factors on the course of schizophrenia. It provides a clear account of the concept of expressed emotion, how hypotheses were derived, methodological problems in this extremely difficult research field, and suggests further areas for inquiry. A wide range of issues are tackled in this well-presented, extremely interesting volume.


The full dynticks feature also known as adaptive-ticks is a relatively new feature released in the Linux kernel since kernel version 3.10. Previous research studies have attempted to understand the effect of this feature on system latency and to some extent on power consumption. However, a comprehensive investigation on the impact of full dynticks feature on the system behavior and application performance have yet to be fully understood. This paper provides intensive performance analysis of the full dynticks feature under different workloads. It also presents the key findings of the factors that influence the performance of the full dynticks feature. Our research work has primarily focused on demystifying the design of the full dynticks feature and analyzing the system behavior using open source benchmarking tools. We analyzed the architecture of the full dynticks kernel in comparison with the dynticks-idle kernel by conducting intensive benchmarking to investigate application behavior for systems employing this feature. Benchmark results show that full dynticks feature positively affects applications performance with different types of workloads showing varying levels of improvement.


The article is devoted to methods of differentiated teaching to read ancient Greek original texts with the level of implicitness: relation of linguistic (grammatical phenomena, dialectal and archaic lexical, grammatical and phonetic units, emotes, trails, antitheses, stylistic convergence) and semantic implicates (local, global and dark). The author defined the criteria of implicitness in the article, developed models of hermeneutical analysis of texts with low and medium implicitness: verbal and nonverbal means of expression factual, emotive, implied and evaluative information.


The invention relates to a semiconductor chip, in particular semiconductor memory, having at least one oscillator (2) for controlling internal functions. According to the invention it is provided that on the semiconductor chip, a circuit (4, 5) for trimming the frequency (FSRF) of the oscillator (2) is implemented.


The DNA sequence and cDNA sequence of Malus domestica EIN2 were amplified by PCR and RT-PCR,respectively.Bioinformatic analysis of the nucleotide and sequence of EIN2 was performed.The results showed that:(1)The sequences of M.domestica EIN2 amplified by PCR and RT-PCR both are the same,without intron in it.The M.domestica EIN2 was 4 378 bp,containing one opening reading frame of 3 282 bp and coding 1 093 amino acid residues.The molecular weight of M.domestica EIN2 is 118.9 kD,and its theoretical pI is 5.52,and the protein probably is a liposoluble and lyophobic protein.(2)The multiple sequence alignment indicated that the deduced amino acid sequence of M.domestica EIN2 shared 52%,79% and 62% identity with EIN2 of Arabidopsis thaliana(AAD41077.1),Prunus persica(ACY78397.1) and Vitis vinifera(CAN66374.1),respectively.(3)The constructed phylogenetic tree shows that A.thaliana,Thellungiella halophila,Cucumis melo and Populus trichocarpa were clustered together,while P.persica,Petunia hybrida and Solanum lycopersicum were clustered to another group.V.vinifera,M.domestica and Medicago truncatula were clustered in separate groups,respectively.And M.domestica EIN2 is closely related with the homologous genes of P.persica,et al,and the relationships of it with the homologous EIN2 genes in A.thaliana and T.halophila were remote.


Abstrcat The intergenetic hybrids between Xinjiang wild rape (Sinapis arvensis L.) and Xiangyou 15 (B.napus L.) were produced by bud pollination. All the intergenetic hybrids were morphologically intermediate between the parents while the intergeneric hybrids show remarkable vegetative heterosis. RAPD analysis showed that 9 F_1 plants selected from ietergenetic hybrids at random share had the RAPD fragments specific to either of both parents, which indicated the 9 F_1 plants were intergenetic hybrids.The results suggested that bud pollination could overcome the incompatibility between Xinjiang wild rape and Brassica napus L.,and the RAPD be a simple and effective way to identify the intergenetic hybrids.


Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect for Mooren ulcer using cyclophosphamide combined with bulbar conjuctivectomy. Methods: Thirty-five eyes of 32 patients diagnosed as Mooren ulcer were divided into mild and heavy groups,and were given oral and intravenous cyclophosphamide respectively, combined with bulbar conjuctivectomy. Therapeutic effects and side effects were evaluated in 1~5 years. Result: There were 30 eyes (85.7%) recovered, 4 eyes (11.4%) improved and 1eye (2.7%) failed. Conclusion: This study shows that cyclophosphamide combined with bulbar conjuctivectomy is an effective method for Mooren ulcer.


A cartel is unstable if one or more of its members can earn higher revenues in the long run by undercutting the cartel price and expanding production. In this paper dynamic and static models of the world bauxite market are used to assess the stability of the International Bauxite Association, to suggest possible changes on the structure of the bauxite market and the future of bauxite prices.


Abstract
 This chapter examines how personality, gender, age and culture potentially relate to emotional intelligence. It shows that employees within the hospitality and tourism industry may be influenced by such factors that drive their emotional intelligence levels.


We present experimental observations of plasma formation during single picosecond laser pulse (35 ps, 1064 nm) ablation of copper in air. We studied an early-stage air plasma which forms before the emergence of a material vapor plume. Using picosecond time-resolved shadowgraphs and interferograms, we measured the evolution of this air plasma that has an electron density on the order of 1020 cm-3. At post-pulse times, the longitudinal expansion of the plasma was found to be suppressed, while a power-law relation, r approximately t1/2, was obtained for the temporal lateral expansion of the plasma radius. The results indicate that a large amount of the overall energy from the picosecond laser pulse is absorbed by the early-stage air plasma.


In pursuing higher rice production, we have often jeopardized soil at an alarming rate. It is hypothesized that intensive farming practices degrade soil health and increase the abundance of rice diseases while fallowing increases the abundance of biocontrol agents. In this study, the bacterial community was monitored in the paddy and fallow soil. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were abundant in the fallow soil, whereas Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Gemmatimonadetes were more abundant in the paddy soil. Among the potential biocontrol agents, Bacillus, Thiobacillus, Rhizobium, Massilia, Rhizobacter, Streptomyces, Micromonospora, and Pseudonocardia were more abundant in the fallow soil, while Pseudomonas and Burkholderia were more abundant in the paddy soil. The possible rice pathogens, i.e., Xanthomonas and Erwinia, were more abundant in the paddy soil. The alpha diversity was higher in paddy soil than in fallow soil. Additionally, the principal coordinate analysis based on UniFrac distances revealed distinct clusters of the soils. Moreover, the functional analysis suggested that the fallow soil was abundant in genes associated with the biosynthesis of siderophores and secondary metabolites. In contrast, the paddy soil was abundant in genes related to plant-pathogen interactions. In conclusion, these results highlight the significance of fallowing to improve soil health.


To the Editor.— I have just read the reply by Doris G. Bartuska, MD (240:1903, 1978), to a question regarding the "indications for venous sampling for parathyroid hormone levels in patients with hypercalciuria who have normal [peripheral] serum calcium and [parathyroid hormone] PTH levels." In my opinion, the answer given is highly misleading. The proper answer may be given in one word: "none." Selective catheterization of the small thyroid veins with PTH assay is not "a valuable procedure in the diagnosis of parathyroid disease." This procedure is useful only for localization of parathyroid tissue once a diagnosis is made by other means. 1,2 "Step-ups" of PTH concentrations may be found in thyroid veins of normal persons, as would be expected. 1,3 The indications proposed by Dr Bartuska (and not supported by references) are extremely ill advised. In the hands of competent endocrinologists and surgeons, a correct diagnosis and successful treatment of


BACKGROUND/AIM
Currently, the elderly population in the world is rapidly increasing due to technological developments and convenient access to health services. Due to comorbidities in elderly patients, hip fractures are frequently observed after exposure to environmental trauma. To reduce pain during positioning in spinal anesthesia, fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) can be applied easily and reliably. In our study, we aim to compare the analgesic effects and duration of Fascia iliaca compartment blocks performed Usg guided or Landmark approach methods in relieving spinal anesthesia position pain.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Our study included 100 patients undergoing operations due to hip fracture and administered spinal anesthesia after FICB. The group USG guided FICB(USG) had the blockage needle advanced to the compartment under the fascia iliaca and 15 mL bupivacaine + 10 mL 2% lidocaine was administered. Sitting position was given for spinal anesthesia 20 minutes later and procedure duration and Numerating Rating Scale(NRS) scores were recorded. In the group Landmark approach FICB(LAND), the spina iliaca anterior superior (SIAS) and pubic tubercle were connected with a line. The same amount of local anesthetic was administered to the external 1/3 portion of this line with the double pop technique. Procedure duration and NRS scores were recorded.

RESULTS
There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in terms of NRS scores (p>0.05). There was a statistical difference duration of FICB administration between two groups(p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Both USG-guided and landmark approach FICB methods provide adequate and similar analgesia for positioning spinal anesthesia. However, in cases where there is no problem of access to the ultrasound device or time problem, a safer blockage can be made by imaging neurovascular structures with ultrasound.


Longitudinal data, which is widely used in many disciplines to study cause and effect, poses significant computational challenges to both modeling and analysis. Longitudinal data is composed of readings on the same variable collected over time and is often high-dimensional with correlated features. The combinatorial search approach for identifying the optimal features is unrealistic for most applications. The alternative approaches, such as heuristics, greedy searches, and regularization techniques, including LASSO, can result in models that suffer from both low accuracy and unclear feature attribution. In this paper, we propose a binary transformation on the data before applying LASSO for feature learning. As demonstrated in the paper, the binary transformation enhances signal in the data, resulting in highly accurate feature attribution, including associated time lags. It avoids the typical shortcomings of the LASSO algorithm, including saturation of the feature space and arbitrary or inconsistent sparse feature selection. Both synthetic data and real-world data sets were used to demonstrate the value of the proposed transformation and in all cases substantial improvements in feature learning were seen. In addition, the scalable parallelism of the solution is superior to that of the standard LASSO since transformation itself occurs in linear time and computing the LASSO solution using the transformed data results in a speedup of almost double.


Background: The annual incidence of myasthenia gravis is 1-2 cases in 100,000 population. 30% of all cases will develop bulbar or respiratory muscle weakness. About 15-20% of myasthenia gravis patients will develop myasthenia crisis.
Case presentation: An 18-year-old female patient complained of difficulty swallowing two days ago difficulty swallowing solid and liquid food, and this complaint caused the patient to cough and choke. Complaints were accompanied by difficulty opening the eyelids, especially in the afternoon. Complaints were also accompanied by double vision, especially when looking to the right. There was a nasal sound, and the patient had difficulty pronouncing vocal letters. The patient was admitted to ICU, In the ICU patient was intubated and given plasma exchange therapy.
Conclusion: Myasthenic crisis is a neurological emergency that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Adequate intensive care, judicious weaning, and extubation decisions, along with specifically targeted therapy, will improve the outcome of myasthenia gravis.


Soil heterogeneity is generally the major cause of variation in plot yield data and the difficulty of its interpretation. If a large degree of variability is present at a test site, some method of controlling it must be found. controlling experimental variability can be achieved either by good experimental design or by analysis procedures which account for the spatial correlation. Classical designs are only moderately equipped to adjust for spatially correlated data. More complex designs including nearest neighbor designs, Williams designs, and certain restricted Latin square designs are developed for field experimentation when spatial correlation causes classical designs to be less desirable. The designs, both classical and nearest neighbor type designs, are analyzed using the classical statistical analysis approach and a strategy using general linear mixed models which takes into account that there is spatial correlation present. The results indicate that properly designed experiments may be analyzed either by the usual statistical techniques or more complex methods which adjust for spatial correlation. However, if no serious thought is used in constructing the design of the experiment then the usual analysis techniques are no longer valid.


The aim of this article is to present a part of the research results regarding the functioning of phraseological units (i.e. their canonical and innovative forms) in the Polish texts of contemporary prose translated from French. Consequently, there has been created a classification covering various types of relations occurring in given contexts between Polish phraseological units used by translators and the source texts. The practice shows that a translator decides from time to time to interpose a phraseological unit in a given context of the final text, even if there is no any kind of fixed expression in the original. Therefore, it is worth trying to find an answer to a question about translation decisions in this matter.


We use a numerical simulation of cosmological reionization to estimate the likelihood of detecting Lyα-emitting galaxies during the pre-reionization era. We show that it is possible to find galaxies even at z ~ 9 that are barely affected by the damping wing of the Gunn-Peterson absorption from the neutral intergalactic medium outside of their H II regions. The damping wing becomes rapidly more significant at z > 9, but even at z > 10 is it not inconceivable (although quite hard) to see a Lyα emission line from a star-forming galaxy.


To the Editor: We read with great interest the manuscript by Deitos et al1 titled "Clinical Value of Serum Neuroplasticity Mediators in Identifying the Central Sensitivity Syndrome in Patients With Chronic Pain With and Without Structural Pathology." The authors use the concept of "central sensitivity syndrome" (CSS), which has been proposed as an empirical entity representing an undifferentiated constellation of disorders with common clinical features including "psychological distress, sleep disturbance, fatigue, pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia, expansion of receptive field, and hypersensitivity to noise and chemical substances." The article goes on to suggest that CSS is a diagnostic entity encompassing both conditions without overt structural pathology, such as fibromyalgia (FM), myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), and chronic tension type headache, as well as those with recognizable structural abnormalities, both somatic (osteoarthritis, OA) and visceral (dysmenorrhea). Accordingly, the authors have designed their methodology based on this assumption. The primary hypothesis of this study states that the expression of serum neuroplasticity mediators (BDNF, TNFa, IL-6, and IL-10) is correlated with the presence of structural pathology. Their findings suggest that the expression of BDNF in chronic pain differed when no evidence of structural pathology was present. The authors propose that early detection of CSS will improve the prognosis of this condition by directing patients to more effective treatments with better patient outcomes. Although this study raises awareness of the clinical enigma known as CSS, we believe there are several limitations to the paper that do not add to a better understanding of a challenging problem.


Sulphur available for plants may come from organic compounds introduced to the soil with waste materials which undergoes arylsulfatase-assisted mineralisation. Studies were undertaken to assess the effect of fertilisation with sewage sludge and hard coal ash on sulphur content and uptake by test plants, and arylsulfatase activity in the soil. The experimental design was a completely randomised arrangement with three replicates. The following factors were examined: I fertilisation with organic and mineral materials: fresh sewage sludge, hard coal ash, calcium carbonate; II mineral fertilisation: no fertilisation; NPK fertilisation. The sulphur content in orchard grass was significantly higher following an application of composted sewage sludge and hard coal ash, and in maize after an application of sludge/ash mixtures. The waste materials and NPK fertilisation significantly increased sulphur uptake by both the plants tested. Arylsulfatase activity was significantly higher in fresh sludge-amended soil compared with the remaining amended units whereas an application of ash reduced the activity of the enzyme. NPK fertilisation had no significant influence on the enzyme studied.


According to the Jehovah's Witnesses' literature, which is authored by the group's leaders called the Governing Body, a woman's marital duty is to be happily submissive to her husband. Unsurprising ...


Choosing to volunteer one's time in service to another is one of life's selfless endeavors. Social work practice often intersects with volunteers. Many social workers volunteer their time. Yet, when volunteerism is studied from a quantitative framework, findings may overlook what is so special in this prosocial act, the voices of the volunteers. This article reports on the qualitative findings in a pilot mixed methods research study exploring a group of volunteers who chose to assist incapacitated older and disabled adults in their community by acting as their legal guardians. Volunteer legal guardianship may serve as the only guardian option in many localities, and may be greatly needed as our population ages. Qualitative data from 15 first and second individual interviews (n = 12) were analyzed using a thematic analysis process. Findings indicated a strong humanitarian and civic interest in helping their neighbors in their community. Moreover, volunteers performed a wide variety of tasks in their capacity as guardians along a continuum related to their professional background and skills, an important finding relative to informing recruitment and retention strategies. Volunteer guardians trained in human service–related professions tended to require little information or support throughout the process. Those without human service training tended to request more information and support. However, many became increasingly independent in the task as their experience and competence grew. Additional implications include an understanding of this previously unexplored volunteer task, which may encourage use of and support training of volunteer guardians in aging and allied services.


Approximate Reasoning is the process or processes by which a possible imprecise conclusion is deduced from a collection of imprecise premises. Fuzzy logic plays the major role in approximate reasoning. It has the ability to deal with different types of uncertainty.An overview of the different aspects of the theory of approximate reasoning has been provided here based on the existing literature. Suitable illustrations are included, whenever necessary, to make the concept clear. Some of the implementation of the theory to real life problems have been mentioned. Finally, a linguistic recognition system based on approximate reasoning has been described along with its implementation in speech recognition problem.


To improve the greening level and to perfect the whole environment of Xiasha Higher Education Campus in Zhejiang Province,the vegetation beside Xiasha Higher Education Campus and the greening of every area of the campus,public building area and periphery environment were investigated form March to December of 2004.The results showed that at the district of Xiasha Higher Education Campus in Zhejiang Province the secondary vegetation was quite monotonous.There were only 108 species of vascular plant in whole greening area of the park.The survival percent was very low and the death rate was quite high.The effect of whole greening is bad also.This problem was analyzed form several aspects such as nature environment,time of construction,particularity of greening construction,design and execution,and maintaining and management.The suggestion and design for greening construction in Xiasha Higher Education Campus were discussed also.


Recent debates and writings on Kenneth Burke's frames of reference have gone beyond the predominant tragic frame to explore Burke's preferred comic frame (Carlson, 1986, 1988; Condit 1992, 1994). This study of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, 1930–1942, builds on previous studies of the comic frame to explore four rhetorical strategies available to the comic rhetor. By choosing to operate within a comic frame, the ASWPL became a coalition of white Southern women successful at halting and eventually bringing an end to lynching in the South.


Buried hill reservoir is a major substitute for the oilfield of East China. But they are much deep buried, strongly asymmetry, and the resolution and S/N ratio are also very low. It is difficult to identify its hidden information. In this article, an effective method - the third generation coherence algorithm is introduced. It has higher resolution and anti-noise ability compared with the second one. In order to interpret in multi-scale, wavelet transform is applied. The results show that this method can identify not only major outline of buried hill reservoir, but also effectively describe small faults and fractures of it.


The local and general lesions in staphylococcal disease are generally ascribed-at least partly-to toxic sub stances and other soluble products produced by the staphylococci (Houser and Berry, 1961). The important role of a-toxin is generally recognized. The occurrence of staphylococcal lesions in people with a high level of anti-a-toxin in their serum proves that immunity against staphylococcal infections is due to more factors. Apart from antibacterial immunity the antitoxic immunity with regard to other toxins has to be considered. The Panton-Valentine leucocidin, which damages human leucocytes but is not haemolytic, could possibly contribute to the development of local lesions. Panton and Valentine (1932) and Proom (1937) reported that staphylococcal strains from serious infections produced more leucocidin. (Cf. also Valentine, 1936; Valentine and Butler, 1939; Butler and Valentine, 1943.) Johanovsky (1958) also found a higher leucocidin production with strains from lesions than with strains from healthy carriers. The work of Gladstone and van Heyningen (1957) and of Woodin (1959, 1960, 1961) on the production and purification of this toxin has opened the possibility of studying the contribution of leucocidin in staphylococcal infection and of anti-leucocidin in immunity against such infections (Schwabacher and Salsbury, 1958; Towers and Gladstone, 1958; Towers, 1961). Following Johanovsky (1958) we studied the influence of anti-leucocidin in the serum of newborn infants and their mothers on the frequency of staphylococcal infections in the period after confinement.


TRATION DIFFER from administration in general? This question has been often raised, and it is particularly relevant when proposals arise to establish a graduate college devoted to the art and science of administration. The discussion that follows attempts to answer it by showing how educational administration differs in one important aspect from administration in general. However, it may well be that this distinction will not long continue, not because educational administration will lose this characteristic feature, but because other kinds of administration will be compelled to adopt it. Therefore, the unique aspect of educational administration may serve as a predictor of the future of administration in general. Readers who are familiar with my earlier attempts to make some sense out of educational administration I may make a surprised guess that I have had second thoughts about the notion that "administration is everywhere the same." It is true that I have had second thoughts, but they have not changed my original conception of the administrative phenomenon; at one level of abstraction it is possible to conceive of administration as the same activity in all organizations. Moreover, it is important to do so. There are advantages in a formal sense, and it is a less parochial way of viewing administration than if we looked at it first and only through its relationships with substantive activities of educational organizations. > Educational administration is conceived as a public form of general administration. Its dissimilarity consists of the fact that to some extent its responsibilities do not extend to the products of the educational institutions. Rather, they end at the point where they maintain satisfactory conditions for leisure activities. In this respect educational administration may serve as a model for the governance of an increasing number of organizations, both public and private.


Federally listed Sacramento River Chinook salmon juveniles must survive passage through the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta (The Delta) in order to successfully emigrate to the ocean. The combination of physical and biological processes that control the route selection, emigration rate, and survival of juvenile salmon in The Delta are poorly understood. In the winter of 2006/2007 the The U.S. Geological Survey California Water Science Center Hydrodynamics project team conducted an experiment designed to gain additional insight into juvenile salmon outmigration.


This study has as its central focus an investigation into the existence and nature of the apprenticeship norm in the United States Senate. Over its history, the Senate has been frequently portrayed as a body guided by rather restrictive, informal rules of behavior for its members. The apprenticeship norm has been identified by some as the most important of these rules; contributing to the Senate's centralized and conservative policy orientation. More recently, however, it has been argued that the Senate has become a more decentralized and fragmented body within which the apprenticeship norm is no longer important. The present study offers for the first time an empirical test of the existence and nature of the apprenticeship norm for selected sessions of the Senate for the time period 1940-1976. The frequency of performance of various types of floor activity by members of the Senate were correlated and regressed with years of service in the Senate as well as with other background characteristics of Senators to test both for the existence of the apprenticeship norm as well as to identify its relevance relative to other potential explanations of Senate floor behavior. Several definitions of apprenticeship were advanced and tested.


Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) generated from the manganese(II) catalysed reduction of dioxygen has been shown to efficiently oxidize Calmagite (3-hydroxy-4-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenylazo)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid) in aqueous solution at pH 8.0 and 20 +/- 1 degrees C with de-protonated Tiron (1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate, disodium salt) acting as an essential co-ligand.


The discussion is concerned with problems of the development of the E-160-3.9-440 boiler for the thermal power station GES-1 to substitute for the existing equipment. Reasons are presented for the particular choice of its arrangement, fuel combustion process scheme, mechanical design of the burners, and thermal scheme. The discussion also concerns the design solutions for the main parts of the boiler that allow its arrangement within the existing boiler compartment in spite of raising its thermal capacity.


We present a model of long range dependent product life and deduce the characteristics of Weibull life distributions. The results are helpful for the design, analysis and simulation of product life testing.


The tracking control of a twin-lift helicopter system in the presence of parametric uncertainty is considered. A nonlinear model is used to describe the dynamics of a twin-lift helicopter configuration in the lateral/vertical plane, and a controller is synthesized using an input-output feedback linearization technique in conjunction with an adaptation algorithm. The control scheme does not require any knowledge of the bound of uncertainties present and drives the output tracking error to zero asymptotically. The performance of the controller is illustrated by simulating the nonlinear model of the twin-lift system.<<ETX>>


When the one-ton Curiosity Rover landed on Mars in 2012, one of the ten instruments was a joint French and US-built laser remote sensing device. ChemCam ablates small amounts of rock and soil up to 25 feet away to determine their compositions by observing the plasma emission from a minute 0.5 mm analysis footprint. This "LIBS" technique provides semi-quantitative compositions with sensitivity to nearly every element in the periodic table, and with the important abilities to blast dust away prior to a rock analysis and to perform depth profiles with successive shots in one spot. Over 40,000 spectra have been returned in the first seven months of the mission. The talk will describe ChemCam and give an overview of the initial part of Curiosity's mission.


It is becoming increasingly clear that small molecules can often act as effective protein–protein interaction (PPI) inhibitors, an area of increasing interest for its many possible therapeutic applications. We have identified several organic dyes and related small molecules that (i) concentration‐dependently inhibit the important CD40–CD154 costimulatory interaction with activities in the low micromolar (µM) range, (ii) show selectivity toward this particular PPI, (iii) seem to bind on the surface of CD154, and (iv) concentration‐dependently inhibit the CD154‐induced B cell proliferation. They were identified through an iterative activity screening/structural similarity search procedure starting with suramin as lead, and the best smaller compounds, the main focus of the present work, achieved an almost 3‐fold increase in ligand efficiency (ΔG0/nonhydrogen atom = 0.8 kJ/NnHa) approaching the average of known promising small‐molecule PPI inhibitors (∼1.0 kJ/NnHa). Since CD154 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily of cell surface interaction molecules, inhibitory activities on the TNF‐R1–TNF‐α interactions were also determined to test for specificity, and the compounds selected here all showed more than 30‐fold selectivity toward the CD40–CD154 interaction. Because of their easy availability in various structural scaffolds and because of their good protein‐binding ability, often explored for tissue‐specific staining and other purposes, such organic dyes can provide a valuable addition to the chemical space searched to identify small molecule PPI inhibitors in general. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective :  to identify and classify the severity of signs and symptoms of menopause presented by women users of a family health unit of the metropolitan region of Recife/PE.  Method : e xploratory-descriptive study of cross-sectional, which included women from 40 to 65 years and excluded those who were on hormone replacement therapy, including the use of estrogens found and hormonal contraceptives until six months before the collection. Data were collected by means of the Kupperman index of Blatt and Kupperman Menopausal. Results :  the results showed that the symptoms of menopause, most frequent were: melancholy and headache. As to the intensity of the symptoms, only 18% of women had intense manifestations, being the highest occurrence the arthralgia/myalgia.  Conclusion : we conclude that the knowledge about the climate syndrome on the part of nurses is essential to plan actions of health education with the aim of preparing women to experience the menopause with better quality of life.


UNLABELLED
Objectives and main methodological aspects: Looking for an association between global dependence and way of lodging in a population aged 65 years and more, present the 31st December 1990 in elderly people's lodging institutions of a french department: the Côte-d'Or. Standardized questionnaire applied to all elderly people of "E.H.P.A.-90 Côte-d'Or". Computerized data analysis.

MAIN RESULTS
The distribution of dependence between non-medicalised social lodging, medicalised social lodging and medical lodging is relatively in accordance with the definition of the role given to these ways of lodging.


Chick embryo tendon fibroblasts were cultured with [3H]amino acids for 4, 8, and 24 h. Procollagen V was found in the cell layer. The chain composition predominantly corresponded to [(proal V), prorv2 VI, and a small proportion existed as the disulfide-linked heterotrimer and dimer. It was progressively converted to p-collagen V and collagen V which were found both in the cell layer and in the culture medium. Processing proceeded as previously described for chick tissues including the attachment of a noncollagenous peptideP to the pa2 V chain. The smallest chains were also larger than a V(pepsin). Cultures of Chinese hamster lung cells (clone HT1) synthesized the homotrimer (proal V)s. This lacked intermolecular disulfide bridges, was not processed, and remained associated with the cell layer. The chick fibroblast-conditioned culture media contained an enzymatic activity which converted procollagen V of blood vessels to p-collagen V. This p-collagen V lacked the noncollagenous peptide-P which is normally found associated by disulfide linkage to the pa2 V chain. This enzymatic activity also converted the hamster cell (proal V), to p-collagen V. Arginine inhibited this processing step. We conclude that the processing of procollagen V occurs extracellularly, is defective in the hamster lung cell cultures and that the type V molecules remain largely associated with the cell layer. The previously proposed parallel biosynthesis of homoand heteroprocollagens V, and their subsequent processing in tissues are consistent with the present results.


Nonlinear frequency mixing in gases is a well established method for the generation of optical radiation in the spectral region of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) at wavelengths λVUV = 100 – 200 nm and in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) at λXUV < 100 – 200 nm1,2,3.


In this chapter, the subject of mafia violence will be investigated from the victims' perspective. It will also focus on best practices and the national regulations by which government authorities and the civil society at large attempt to assist, support, and offer rehabilitation and resilience to the victims of mafias in Latin America, Central America, Asia, Russia, Africa, and Europe.


The removal of particle contamination is key to maximize yield. Some common particle removal techniques are not relevant anymore when complex and fragile structures are present on the surface. This led to the development of new cleaning processes based on innovative concepts to improve particle removal efficiency without any pattern damage. Some of these processes rely on a resist film lift off. One of these particle removal processes is studied in this paper. The process consists in some resist spin-coating followed by a diluted ammonia dispense to remove this film, which results in particle removal. This specific resist film is made of two immiscible organic polymers. A study was conducted to understand how the organization of these two polymers in the film is key for the film lift-off and the cleaning efficiency. This organization was shown to depend on the substrate contact angle and the resist formulation. A surface preparation is required on hydrophobic surface to reduce their water contact angle and ensure the efficiency of the process. As a result, compared to a high velocity aerosol cleaning technique, this resist peeling process requires multiple steps and a significant process time. A Particle Removal Efficiency study was then performed on blanket wafers to determine and understand how the different process parameters impacted on the cleaning efficiency. It led to the optimization of this process efficiency on blanket wafers. A comparison between an optimized process and a high velocity aerosol cleaning technique underlined the potential of such a process. Compared to high velocity aerosol cleaning, it demonstrated higher efficiency on blanket wafers, without causing any pattern damage on patterned wafers. These results lead to promising perspectives for using this process in the cleaning of fragile structure or targeting small particles with high adhesion.


The detection of bridge rust is an essential work in the daily maintenance of bridges. For the detection and recognition of rust in bridge pier images, firstly, image segmentation and erosion expansion are preprocessed. Then, the area of rust is counted and the rust grade is determined according to the standard. The quality of bridge image is easily affected by environmental factors, which leads to the increase of segmentation error. The selection of segmentation features is the key to improve the segmentation effect. Gray value, R, G, B single color feature and the combination of hue and saturation are selected as segmentation features respectively to detect and recognize the rust of bridge piers. The experimental results of 35 pier images show that when the combination of hue and saturation is used as segmentation feature, the rust disease can be effectively detected and identified, and the accuracy rate is more than 94%.


Developers of reusable software elements, such as libraries, usually have the responsibility to provide comprehensive and high quality documentation to enable e ective reuse of those elements. The e ective reuse of libraries depends upon the quality of the API (Application Program Interface) documentation. Well established libraries typically have comprehensive API documentation, for example in Javadocs. However, they also typically lack examples and explanations, which may di cult the e ective reuse of the library. StackOver ow.com (SO) is a Question and Answer service directed to issues related to software development. In SO, a developer can post questions related to a programming topic and other members of the site can provide answers to help him/her solve the problem he/she has at hand. Despite of the increasing use of SO by the software development community, the information related to a particular library is spread along the website. Thus, SO still lacks an organization of its crowd knowledge. In this dissertation, we present a semi-automatic approach that organizes the information available on SO in order to build a kind of documentation for APIs, called cookbooks (recipe-oriented books). The cookbooks generated by the approach are called crowd cookbooks. In order to evaluate the proposed approach, cookbooks were generated for three APIs widely used by the software development community: SWT,LINQ and QT. Desired features that cookbooks must meet were identi ed and a study with human subjects was conducted to assess to what extent the generated cookbook meet those features. Through the study it was also possible to identify what is the perceived usefulness by the subjects in relation to the use of cookbooks in APIs learning. The results showed that the cookbooks built using the proposed strategy, in general, meet the identi ed features. Furthermore, most human subjects considered that cookbooks do not have an appropriate format to the learning of APIs.


Q.: Are you listening to your supply chain, or just your customers?Has anyone had success in driving innovation by bypassing your immedi- ate (direct) customers and significantly impacting end users or other parts of the supply chain? For instance, how could someone near the beginning of a supply chain (primary resources, materials, energy, etc.) successfully influence final design or end use?If you are an OEM or end-use sup- plier, what would cause you to listen to someone deep in the supply chain as opposed to insisting that they listen for your needs? Are you listening to your supply chain, or just your customers?Dave HelmickR&D ManagerCarpenter Technology Corp.AnswersI've seen this done in other organiza- tions where I've worked, where it was referred to as "pull-through sales." The concept is simple enough in prin- ciple, and the basic approach to your customers' customers' customer is, "Hello, we make the stuffthat makes the stuffyou buy from your suppliers much better." (You may recall there is a catchy advertising campaign for a major specialty chemical company that sells this to the masses.)The trick I believe is in the folks you use to employ this technique and their approach to more downstream end users. The most successful individuals were those who were naturally predis- posed to good contextual interviewing, which at that time wasn't a skill as readily trainable as it may be today. These individuals approached the value chain in a manner that looked for who was feeling pain, and they would try to get an understanding of whether that pain was something that our products and services could sub- stantively relieve.In one example, a major food pack- ager was distressed about the control and quality of the printing in their pro- ducts packaging and the limitations on the graphics that this lack of quality and control required. Understanding that our company could produce a key component in the printing process that would allow printers to achieve a higher quality, more consistent graphic was available but at a price point that was anathema to our traditional buyers, they embarked on a new path. By arranging a meeting based on a theme that was compelling to the downstream end user as well as our existing customers, "The Future of Graphics for Packaging, going where no printer has gone before!" (No, this wasn't really the title, just an example), they were able to open a forum in a nonthreatening manner for discussions about measurable objectives with both today's customers and their downstream end users.The rest of the process allowed cross-functional teams access to the downstream folks unhindered by today's customers, and when a product was developed that met the established needs of the end user, the negotiations were more dynamic and did not involve any purchasing agents until after the product was spec-ed in by the end user. It was remarkable how the tone of the conversations changed at that point, too. In this example, the end user was only two steps removed from the normal customer, yet it adequately covers some essential basics that provide opportunities for success in this approach.Will GossR&D Section ManagerChampion Technologies, Inc.This is a great question, and one that is eventually faced by most thoughtful companies who supply materials to a lengthy supply chain. Your immediate customers are often not interested in educating you about the needs of their customers. In fact, they may jealously guard such information for fear that their competitors might get access to it, or even that their suppliers (you) might bypass them in the supply chain.It is often difficult for a supplier to unilaterally approach a customer's cus- tomer. For one thing, it may anger your immediate customers. If you haven't been having conversations with customers' customers, then you may not know who to call. Even if you do, they may need to get corporate agreement prior to meeting with you, and in some companies, that process is sufficiently daunting that your target simply loses interest. …


The multitude of explanations for the January effect leaves the reader confused about its primary cause(s): is it tax-loss selling, window-dressing, information, bid-ask bounce, or a combination of these causes? The confusion arises, in part, because evidence has been presented in support of a particular hypothesis though the same evidence may be consistent with more than one hypothesis. Furthermore, prior work has not adequately controlled for the bid-ask bounce. In this paper, we try to disentangle different explanations of the January effect and identify its primary cause. We find that tax-related selling is the most important cause, overshadowing other possible explanations.


Setting work targets for machines is an important task for engineering managers, especially where they operate large fleets with machines of different makes and ages. Setting uniform work targets is easier but it does not take into account operating characteristics of machines which could differ with make and change with age. It is suggested here that using analysis of availability of machines can provide an alternate basis to set work targets. Availability analysis of bulldozers is reported here which suggests the feasibility of achieving higher work targets compared to the present 1000 hours per season.


Bone densitometry in clinical practice. Sydney Lou Bonnick. (Pp 256; $89.50). New Jersey: Humana Press, 1998. ISBN 0-89603-513-1.

Bone densitometry is a proliferating tool in rheumatology practice but often the theoretical and technical basis required to give and interprete correctly the data are missing. This book is dedicted to all the physicians, internists, endocrinologists, gynaecologists, who deal with bone disease and particularily osteoporosis. It is also comprehensive for technicians who perform the examinations. It is dedicated to those who already use bone densitometry and I am sure it will convince those who are still reluctant to use it in clinical practice.

The first five chapters deal with the technical issues. They include a review of all the techniques possible to measure bone density these days. …


The possibility that we live in a special place in the universe, close to the center of a large, radially inhomogeneous void, has attracted attention recently as an alternative to dark energy or modified gravity to explain the accelerating universe. We show that the distribution of orientations of galaxy pairs can be used to test the Copernican principle that we are not in a central or special region of Universe. The popular void models can not fit both the latest type Ia supernova, cosmic microwave background data and the distribution of orientations of galaxy pairs simultaneously. Our results rule out the void models at the $4\sigma$ confidence level as the origin of cosmic acceleration and favor the Copernican principle.


Abstract: This paper proposes a new method for enhancing the dynamic stability enhancement of a hybrid wave and photovoltaic(PV) power generation system integrated into a distribution power grid. The wave power generation system (WPGS) is simulated by a linear permanent magnet generator (LPMG) driven by an Archimedes wave swing (AWS). The output of the WPGS and the PV system are connected to a common DC-link through a voltage-source converter(VSC) and a DC/DC boost converter, respectively. The common DC-link is interfaced to the distribution power grid via a voltage-source inverter (VSI). A super-capacitor (SC) is utilized to smooth the generated power delivered to the distribution power grid. The proposed control scheme to maintain stable operation of the system while achieving maximum power extraction for the wave system and the PV system is test in matlab environment and results are compared with conventional controller.


Abstract " ...it has been suggested that high cholesterol levels during pregnancy could induce increased cholesterol levels and confer increased cardiovascular risk for the offspring."


The corner reflector has been widely used to increase the directivity of antennas. When excited by a tilted dipole, it is capable of producing elliptically or circularly polarized radiation. The method of moments is used for calculating the input impedance, gain and radiation patterns for two cases. In the first case continuous grounded conducting plane reflectors were used with the method of images. In the second case grid-type plane reflectors consisting of parallel wires of suitable radii, separations and lengths are used directly without the method of images. A good agreement between results is indicated. A parasitic linear element is then added parallel to the feeding element. The resulting effects on the antenna parameters are reported.


The revolving-field theory as applied to single-phase induction motors is extended to develop a concise yet comprehensive theory for asymmetric three-phase induction motors. Each phase is represented by its equivalent circuit, not only to allow for uneven direct transformer interactions, due to asymmetric locations of phase windings, but also to account for the different number of turns, wire size, winding factor etc. each phase may have. The accuracy of the theory was confirmed by actual measurements on symmetric and asymmetric three-phase induction motors. Computed and test data on some motors are included for illustration. It is also shown that the general three-phase development can be easily applied to determine the behaviour of two- and single-phase induction machines, a useful feature for unified computer-aided design, by eliminating one and two phase windings, respectively. Not only the procedural details for determining the performance of single- and two-phase induction motors are given, but comparisons of numerical and test results on some output entities are included as well. Though the comparisons among theoretical and test results are made on fractional horsepower motors, the types being built at Universal Electric, the author is certain that the development presented here is equally applicable to all sizes of induction motors.


PURPOSE: A multi retaining-wall block and a method of constructing a retaining wall using the same are provided to significantly enhance handling and constructing performance by dispersing the weight of a retaining wall itself to front and rear blocks. CONSTITUTION: A multi retaining-wall block(100) comprises a front block(110), and a rear block(120). The front block is separably connected to the rear block. The front block comprises a body and a protrusion. The body is formed in a hexahedron form. The protrusion is formed on the rear of the body in a longitudinal direction. The rear block comprises a body and a groove. The body of the rear block is formed in a hexahedron form. The groove is formed on the front of the body of the rear block and the protrusion is inserted into the groove.


A field experiment was conducted for three growing seasons to study the effects of seasonal water use and applied N fertilizer on grain yield and water productivity indices of wheat in an arid region. The results revealed that the yield response to N was associated with water application levels. The water productivity indices were influenced by irrigation strategies, and deficit irrigation effectively boosted productivity of irrigation water (WPI). The highest WPI was obtained at a seasonal irrigation water of 156 mm for different levels of applied nitrogen. For levels of applications 70% of the required nitrogen, required nitrogen, and 120% of the required nitrogen, WPI ranged between 0.93 and 2.28, 1.30 and 2.75, and 0.98 and 2.47 kg m−3, respectively. The data generated here indicate that maximum water productivity (WPE) would be achieved when 98 kg N ha−1 is combined with 156 mm of supplemental irrigation (2.72 kg m−3). Consequently, when limited irrigation water is combined with N fertilizer appropriate management, water productivity can be substantially and consistently increased in arid regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


553 the thrombus size on ultrasound scan, following at least 28 days of rivaroxaban therapy and up to 7 days from the onset of the thrombosis signs and symptoms (n = 11). The other patient group rep‐ resented subjects who reported persistent minor hemorrhagic complications, including easy bruis‐ ing or oral or nasal cavity bleeding while on rivar‐ oxaban despite a negative personal or family his‐ tory of a tendency for bleeding (n = 12). The exclusion criteria were any acute illness, cancer, severe heart failure, creatinine clearance of less than 30 ml/min, impaired liver function (transaminases >2 × upper limit of normal), con‐ comitant medications interfering with the anti‐ coagulant effect of rivaroxaban, eg, amiodarone. All patients declared abstaining from the use of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory agents, including aspirin, within the preceding month. Blood was drawn between 9 and 11 AM on an outpatient basis, 2 to 28 hours since the last dose of rivaroxaban. Hemoglobin, creatinine, PT, INR, and aPTT were determined by rou‐ tine laboratory techniques. Rivaroxaban con‐ centration was measured by the anti‐Xa chro‐ mogenic assay, Biophen DiXaI (Hyphen Biomed, Neuilly‐sur‐Oise, France) according to the man‐ ufacturer's instructions. Twenty apparently healthy subjects not receiv‐ ing rivaroxaban matched for age, sex, and renal function served as controls. In 13 controls, the results of the anti‐Xa chromogenic assay were negative, while in 7 individuals measurable lev‐ els were in the range of 1 to 23 μg/l. All subjects gave informed consent to par‐ ticipate in the study. The study complied with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki regarding ethical conduct of research involving human subjects. Statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS 20.0 software. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare differences between patients on rivaroxaban and controls, whereas the Krus‐ kal–Wallis test, followed by a test for multiple Introduction Rivaroxaban, a direct factor Xa in‐ hibitor, is approved for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in nonvalvular atrial fibril‐ lation as well as for the prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism.1‐4 In addition, rivaroxaban is currently accepted in combination with antiplatelet agents for the prevention of atherothrombotic events in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Rivarox‐ aban has predictable pharmacokinetics and phar‐ macodynamics and, in clinical practice, it is used at fixed doses without the need for routine coag‐ ulation monitoring. However, rivaroxaban is con‐ traindicated in patients with creatinine clearance of less than 30 ml/min. The peak plasma level is reached within 2 to 4 hours, and the half‐life is between 7 and 11 hours in patients with normal renal and hepatic function.1,2 Rivaroxaban can prolong prothrombin time (PT, with a subsequent increase in a calculated international normalized ratio [INR]) and ac‐ tivated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), with weak associations of these parameters with plasma concentrations of the drug,5‐7 mea‐ sured directly by noncoagulation tests such as high‐performance liquid chromatography–tan‐ dem mass spectrometry.8 Monitoring of rivaroxaban concentrations may be useful in certain clinical situations such as ur‐ gent surgery, thromboembolic or bleeding compli‐ cations, or suspicion of an overdose.8‐10 The most commonly used assay for this purpose is a mod‐ ified antifactor‐Xa assay. We investigated rivar‐ oxaban concentrations in DVT patients who re‐ ported on‐treatment thrombosis progression or minor hemorrhagic complications.


In the age of digitalization, big data analytics capabilities are considered one of the most critical organizational resources. Many organizations make considerable investments in these resources with an intention to improve their agility. However, the mechanism to reap agility from big data analytics still requires extensive empirical research and analysis. This study extends the big data analytics model by examining the mediating effects of entrepreneurial orientation between big data analytics capabilities and organizational agility. Partial least squares-structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the responses collected from 104 firms in Jordan. Results demonstrate that entrepreneurial orientation explains the relationship between big data analytics capabilities and agility. This finding contributes to the management literature by showing that big data analytics capabilities may enhance firm entrepreneurial orientation. While much of the prior research conceptualized the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm as a static characteristic, the current study argues that big data analytic capabilities play a key role in developing organizational agility through its role in improving entrepreneurial orientation, which subsequently creates value for firms, their customers, and the other stakeholders. Finally, challenges and future scope pertaining to this study are discussed. Recommendations for future studies on this promising topic include the use of longitudinal designs and mixed methods (quantitative with qualitative) approaches to provide researchers with new insights.


The present invention discloses a polymer that the ionic liquid suspending strongly electronegative ionic functional group based on the ionic liquid electrolyte and a polymer application. The structure of this ionic liquid polymer as shown in Formula I, the monomer is copolymerized five- or six-membered heterocyclic nitrogen-containing vinyl monomer and acrylonitrile and the like or alkenyl ester or alkenyl ether or cyclic ether, and reacting sultone or lactone acid having electronegative atom reaction capabilities, and then obtained after hydrohalic acids or sulfuric acid or halide salt or action bisulfate or thiocyanate salts. Ionic liquid polymer prepared from the ionic liquid polymer / composite electrolyte ionic liquid electrolyte comprising an ionic liquid of the above-described polymer ferroelectric negative ionic functional groups, the ionic liquid, the additive and iodine. The present invention provides an electrolyte having a less volatile, and has low fluidity and good adhesion, etc., which facilitate industrial production and practical application of dye-sensitized solar cell battery, and the battery photoelectric conversion efficiency of more than 7%.


1.0 INTRODUCTION Much progress has been made in modeling trace gases such as ozone and ozone precursors; however, relatively large uncertainties are still associated with urban, regional, and global-scale model predictions of aerosols (mass, size distribution, composition, physical characteristics, and optical properties) and aerosol direct and indirect forcing. A key step in improving the representation of particulates in global climate models is to first improve the performance of urban to regional scale models that can resolve many of the sub-grid scale processes a global climate model cannot. We have used the PNNL Eulerian Gas Phase and Aerosol Scalable Unified System, PEGASUS (Fast et al., 2002), over the past several years to investigate how local to regional-scale meteorological processes influence the evolution of oxidants and particulates. However, PEGASUS employs "off-line" coupling of meteorology with chemistry and aerosols so that feedback mechanisms cannot be simulated. In anticipation of the emerging scientific issues associated with the interaction of mega-city pollutant emissions, regional air-quality, and climate change, we have begun using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) community model as a framework to develop, evaluate, and improve aerosol parameterizations. In this study, we describe our on-going model development activities as well as preliminary results of coupled meteorologychemistry-aerosol predictions for an urban area.


INTRODUCTION
"Transgender" and "gender diverse" are umbrella terms encompassing those whose gender identities or expressions differ from those typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. There is scant global information on cancer incidence, outcome and mortality for this cohort. Transgender and gender diverse people are more likely to present with advanced cancer and have mistrust in healthcare services. This group report anxiety and depression at higher frequencies, a finding often seen in marginalised groups due to minority stress. We set out to identify the issues affecting cancer care for this cohort.

METHODS
Medical oncology consultants were contacted by secure email to identify patients who self-identify as transgender and gender diverse under current or recent care in three Irish hospitals. Five patients were identified. A retrospective chart review was conducted and a pseudonymised patient survey was distributed.

RESULTS
All patients included in our chart review (n=5) were diagnosed with advanced disease on initial diagnosis. Two patients identified as men, two as women and one as a trans-woman. Two of five patients' health record charts reflected a name or gender change. Three patients had gender transitioning treatment postponed. Assessing co-morbidities, it was seen that four patients required psychiatry input. Predominant issues noted in our patient survey by the two respondents (n=2) were 'mis-gendering', lack of a gender neutral hospital environment, lack of inclusion in cancer groups and barriers in changing name/sex on hospital records.

CONCLUSION
The care delivered to transgender and gender diverse patients with cancer needs improvement. Components of care requiring revision include patient accessible pathways to change names and gender on health records, earlier access to psychological support and more targeted screening and support groups. Resources and education for hospital staff to improve awareness of correct terminology and language and to provide gender neutral facilities is worthwhile.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The implications for practice on an international level include patient friendly pathways for changing hospital name and gender so that patients may feel comfortable using wristbands. We highlight the need for international screening guidelines for transgender patients and national transgender cancer support groups. On a day to day level for providers, the correct use of pronouns makes a big difference to patients. Asking about preferred pronoun on first visit and noting on patient's file is worthwhile. It is important for providers to know that increased psychological support should be offered early on first clinic visit and engaged with as necessary when patient has a history of anxiety or depression. Providers should discuss openly that some gender transitioning treatment will be postponed due to cancer care and refer to both the physically and psychological sequelae of this. Asking transgender patients which room or bathroom they would prefer when rooms are gendered is essential.


In this paper, we describe our proof of concept system that uses genetic algorithms to generate choreography for the waltz, a ballroom dance. We detail the representation of the dance steps and sequences our system manipulates, and our design of the fitness function to guide the algorithm. Preliminary results show that we have successfully incorporated several rudimentary choreography principles and that our system thus can generate effective waltz sequences. There are many potential areas of future development for our system, such as extending it to generate more sophisticated choreography for a variety of ballroom dances.


Internet of things is a technological revolution, it allows heterogeneous and smart objects to connect to the Internet, and then communicate and exchange the information between them. Emerging applications and services in the Internet of Things provided by different objects need a service discovery mechanism used by objects. However, the lookup of a desired service is quite challenging difficult, many centralized and distributed service discovery approaches have been investigated. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new distributed discovering algorithm based on Ant Colony Algorithm (ACA) for IoT. ACA is a metaheuristic algorithm inspired by nature, to solve combinatorial optimization problem. To show the effective performance of ACA algorithm in accurate discovering of services, simulation results indicate that the proposed approach has a good performance with reduced number of hops used to discover services and can achieve a high discovery success rate. Our approach maintains their performance, even in a large scale network.


Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop., commonly known as "hedge mustard" or "the singer's plant" is a wild plant common in Eurasian regions. Its cultivation is mainly dedicated to herboristic applications and it has only recently been introduced into Italy. The active botanicals in S. officinale are glucosinolates, generally estimated by using UV or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using both techniques, we measured the total glucosinolates from S. officinale in different parts of the plant as roots, leaves, seeds, and flowers. A comparison was made for cultivated and wild samples, and for samples obtained with different pre-treatment and fresh, frozen, and dried storage conditions. Cultivated and wild plants have a comparable amount of total glucosinolates, while drying procedures can reduce the final glucosinolates content. The content in glucoputranjivin, which is the chemical marker for glucosinolates in S. officinale, has been determined using HPLC and a pure reference standard. Glucoputranjivin and two isothiocyanates from S. officinale have been submitted to in vitro assays with the platform of bitter taste receptors of the T2Rs family. The results show that glucoputranjivin is a selective agonist of receptor T2R16.


In human retina observation (with non mydriatic optical microscopes), an image registration process is often employed to enlarge the field of view. Analyzing all the images takes a lot of time. Numerous techniques have been proposed to perform the registration process. Its good evaluation is a difficult question that is then raising. This article presents the use of two quantitative criterions to evaluate and compare some classical feature-based image registration techniques. The images are first segmented and the resulting binary images are then registered. The good quality of the registration process is evaluated with a normalized criterion based on the ϵ dissimilarity criterion, and the figure of merit criterion (fom), for 25 pairs of images with a manual selection of control points. These criterions are normalized by the results of the affine method (considered as the most simple method). Then, for each pair, the influence of the number of points used to perform the registration is evaluated.


In a ubiquitous environment, the hardware resources are limited; thus, an appropriate resource management mechanism is required for guaranteeing its processing activity. However, most operating systems (OSs) lack an access control mechanism for CPU resources to guarantee satisfactory processing and to safeguard the system from malicious attacks that affect the CPU resources, resulting in denial of service (DoS). Access control is not intended for general OSs and CPU resources, which are important for the execution of a program. As a result, OSs cannot control the usage ratio of CPU resources. In this paper, we propose an access control model for CPU resources based on an execution resource. The proposed model can control the usage ratio of CPU resources appropriately for each program domain. This execution resource can be applied to mitigate DoS attacks.


Polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are well-known FDA-approved biocompatible polymers. A novel method for preparing PAA/PVA complex nanoneedles in PVA aqueous solution is presented in this article. The PAA/PVA complex nanogels are obtained via polymerization of acrylic acid monomer after PVA nanoparticles formed in water/acetone cosolvent. The results of TEM images showed that the PVA chains were aggregated to form gel particles with some erose nanoparticles. As AA monomers polymerized around PVA nanoparticles, PAA/PVA complex nanogels formed. The PAA/PVA nanogels had an average diameter of 300–100 nm with AA concentration of 0.5–2 g/100 mL. As acetone concentration varied, TEM images demonstrated that the morphologies of resulting nanogels are different. Without acetone in PVA aqueous solution, however, PAA/PVA complexes aggregated to form earthnut-like particles. These results show that the shape and size of PVA/PAA nanogels can be tailored as a template or core for the formation of PAA/PVA nanogels. These PAA/PVA nanogels exhibited pH-induced phase transition due to protonation of PAA chains. The novel PVA/PAA nanogels promise to be developed into pH-controlled drug delivery system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009


Objective To determine the distribution characteristics of kidney deficiency pattern in the differentiations of DM patients.MethodsClinical data of 5010 DM patients were collected through self-designed questionnaire involving 128 items of TCM symptoms.The multivariate statistical analysis including Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis was employed to analyze the distribution characteristics of kidney deficiency pattern in DM.ResultsDM was mainly manifested by kidney deficiency syndromes according to TCM theory,and kidney deficiency syndrome had a wide distribution in 5010 cases of DM.ConclusionThe results of multivariate statistical analysis proposed that kidney deficiency pattern is one of the primary patterns in DM.


Tanneries at Hazaribagh use a large number of chemicals during processing and discharge their effluents to the river Buriganga without appropriate treatment and aggravate its pollution level. This study focuses on a plausible way for the abatement of pollution level of Buriganga river water using low cost adsorbent. Activated carbon prepared from coconut shell was used as a low cost adsorbent. The samples were collected from three different points of the river at three different layers from the surface of water. The collected samples were passed through the activated carbon and a remarkable amount of pollutants were found to be adsorbed. TSS, TDS, BOD5, COD and chromic oxide content of polluted water were reduced significantly. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 51(3), 215-220, 2016


Hyponatraemia, defined as serum Sodium< 135 mmol/l is one of the commonest electrolyte abnormalities seen in patients admitted to acute hospitals and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Impact of this condition is not adequately measured in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit. The aim of this observational study was to assess the incidence and outcomes of patients admitted to Intensive care unit


Transient stability assessment generally relies on angle-based approaches, which predict out-of-step often too late to maintain power system stability, and need commonly generator's rotor angles measured with a specially deployed optical or magnetic sensor. This study proposed the transient stability index consist of products of post-disturbance voltage fluctuations and their differentiations, instead of rotor angles. In addition, this study provided the theoretical explanation that the proposed index is related to transient stability, and simulated the efficiency of the index in a one/two-machine infinite bus power system model.


The results of an asymptotic analysis of the probability distribution for the three-dimensional vector of velocity increments in turbulent flow are presented for the case of large fluctuations. This asymptotic regime is determined by the inertial relative motion of fluid particles, subject to the constraint of incompressibility. The obtained joint probability density for radial and transverse components of velocity increments has a peculiar form.


The experimental status of excited charmed mesons is reviewed and is compared to theoretical expectations. Six states have been observed and their properties are consistent with those predicted for excited charmed states with orbital angular momentum equal to one.


Introduction: Intestinal constipation is a clinical consequence, secondary to neuromotor disturbances, which acts on subjects with cerebral palsy (CP). The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing constipation and the quality of life (QOL) of CP subjects. Materials and methods: We recruited a total of 63 subjects aging from 5-17 years with spastic CP who received physical rehabilitation. The subjects were divided into two groups including with and without constipation. Subjects were assigned into one of the 4 groups (G1-4) based on the prevalence of 1) CP and 2) Constipation. Subjects were assigned as CP with constipation (G1), CP without constipation (G2), and controls without CP with constipation (G3) and without CP and without constipation (G4). Subject demographics, use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), motor function, caregiver priorities and child health index of life with disabilities (CPCHILD) were included. In addition to medical metadata, a subset of subjects was evaluated for oral and systemic inflammation through gingival bleeding and serum cytokine levels (TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10) respectively. Statistical significance was evaluated by ANOVA One-Way (parametric data) and Kruskal Wallis (non-parametric data). Results: A significant relationship was found between the type of medication and constipation. Subjects taking GABA and GABA+ (GABA in association with other medication) were more likely to be constipated than the other groups (P < 0.01). Additionally, quality of life was directly correlated with constipation; subjects in G1 presented the lower mean score of CPCHILD (49.0 SD13.1) compared to G2 (71.5 SD 16.7) when compared to G3 (88.9 SD 7.5), and G4 (95.5 SD5.0) (P < 0.01). Inflammation was more severe for patients in G1 (P < 0.001). There were no differences among groups regarding gender (P = 0.332) and age (P = 0.292). Conclusions: Our results suggest that constipation was mostly affected by the use of certain antiepileptic drugs, namely GABA. This showed a direct detrimental effect on CP quality of life, which was influenced by inflammatory cytokines and the dosage and type of AEDs.


One either hates or likes soothers, dummies, or pacifiers. Their use is widespread and seems to have become semi-automatic, semi-epidemic, and semi-prescriptive. A pacifier is defined as a rubber object that a baby is given to suck so that the baby feels comforted and stays quiet. Their manufacture is covered by the British Standard Number BS5239.

I do not like dummies. My objections are on aesthetic grounds: constant dummy use makes infants and toddlers look distant, dull, glazed, sometimes semi-hypnotised; on hygienic grounds: they are associated with mouth infections (I have often seen parents lift a dropped dummy from a dirty floor, lick it, and place it in the toddler's mouth); on orthodontic grounds: their use is a manifest cause of dental malocclusion, overbite, and loss of primary incisors; on freedom of …


(57) Abstract: An isolated DNA molecule comprising a DNA promoter sequences responsible for specific transcription root cortex of heterologous DNA segment located downstream in plant cells. DNA construct comprises in the 5 'to 3' direction, a promoter of the present invention, located downstream from the promoter, and the heterologous DNA segment operatively associated with said promoter. Transformed plants such as tobacco plant comprises transformed plant cells containing a heterologous DNA construct comprising an expression cassette described above.


Objectives: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a multifactorial disorder, where environmental and genetic factors may interact and contribute to its pathogenesis. Several T1DM susceptibility genetic loci have been identified using genomewide screens. Among those are loci located in the genes of vitamin D metabolizing enzymes; CYP2R1 (rs10741657 and rs12794714) and CYP27B1 (rs10877012). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of polymorphisms in CYP2R1 (rs10741657 and rs12794714) and CYP27B1 (rs10877012) genes with T1DM. Methods: The study was performed on 123 T1DM patients and 123 non-diabetic control subjects. It was approved by the "Institutional Review Board" of the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Genetics (NCDEG), Amman, Jordan. Polymorphisms in rs10741657, rs12794714 and rs10877012 were studied by genotyping using polymerase chain reaction - restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay method. Results: A significant association was found between rs12794714 AA genotype and T1DM. The allele was more frequent in T1DM patients (0.524) than in control subjects (0.407) (P-value = 0.0089). No significant association was found between T1DM and rs10741657 and rs10877012 polymorphisms. However, The AA-GG haplotype of CYP2R1 rs12794714 - rs10741657 maintained the association between rs12794714 AA genotype and T1DM. The association between rs12794714 AA genotype and T1DM was enhanced in the presence of CYP27B1 rs10877012 CC genotype (odds ratio increased from 2.71 to 4.27, P = 0.0003). Conclusion: Our study revealed an association between CYP2R1 rs12794714 AA genotype and T1DM. This association was enhanced in the presence of CYP27B1 rs10877012 CC genotype.


Background: Anal cancer is an evolving problem in HIV-infected patients. In fear of excessive toxicity in patients with HIV infection, aggressive therapy is often withheld. Patients and Methods: From January 1995 to October 1997, 6 patients with epidermoid cancer of the anal canal and a long history of HIV infection but without symptoms of AIDS or repeated severe infections were treated with radiotherapy (1 patient) or radiochemotherapy (5 patients). External beam radiotherapy with 45 Gy to the tumor and pelvic as well as inguinal lymphatic drainage were administered. An additional small-field boost of 5.4–9 Gy was given in larger tumors or, at the end of the reported time span, to enhance the cumulative dose (1 patient). Chemotherapy consisted of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 1000 mg/m2/24 h, days 1–4, two cycles, and mitomycin C either 1 × 15 mg/m2, day 1 in the 1st week, or 2 × 10 mg/m2, day 1 in the 1st and 5th weeks of radiotherapy. Results: Besides one reproducible event of cardiovascular grade 3 toxicity due to 5-FU, acute reactions were mild to moderate in all patients, and all but one radiotherapy treatments could be given as scheduled (1 patient with a delay of 4 days). With a median observation time of 24 (10–44) months, 4 out of 6 patients have their disease controlled, one progressed locally without ever achieving even a partial remission and died of disease, whereas the remaining patient had a local recurrence and distant metastasis at 18 months. Conclusion: Chemoradiation with standard doses of 5-FU and mitomycin C can be offered to patients with HIV infection and cancer of the anal canal who are in good general condition and do not suffer from a compromised immune system. In these patients, side effects and outcome are comparable to those in non-HIV-infected patients.


A 2-D time-domain boundary element method (BEM) is developed to study the static and dynamic fracture problems in thin piezoelectric structures under electromechanical loadings. The traditional displacement boundary integral equations (BIEs) are applied on the external boundary and the hypersingular traction BIEs are applied on the crack faces. The present time-domain BEM uses a quadrature formula for the temporal discretization to approximate the convolution integrals and a collocation method for the spatial discretization. Quadratic quarter-point elements are implemented at the crack tip. The strongly singular and hypersingular integrals are evaluated by a regularization technique based on a suitable variable change. The nearly singular integrals arisen in thin structures are dealt with by two ways. The first one is based on a nonlinear coordinate transformation method for curve-quadratic elements. The second method is on an analytical integration method for straight quadratic elements to avoid the nearly singularity. A displacement extrapolation technique is used to determine the dynamic intensity factors (DIFs) including the dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) and dynamic electrical displacement intensity factor (DEDIF). Some examples are presented to verify the effectiveness and stability of present BEM in thin piezoelectric structures.


Display and control techniques associated with the rendezvous of a spacecraft launched into an earth orbit in or about the same plane of a previously orbited target vehicle were investigated. In order to acquire representative data and conditions, an analog computer providing for real time studies in six degrees of freedom, and a simulated spacecraft cockpit with displays and controls were mechanized. Target range and bearing information was programmed by the computer while the operator in the cockpit made the necessary changes in orbital velocity to accomplish near docking. The space vehicle's motion and rates were presented in a variety of display configurations to allow evaluation of the operator's ability to successfully reduce the range and rate of closure parameters with minimum fuel consumption. Included in the experimental display configurations were indicators with linear and quasi-logarithmic scales, edge reading and computed program meters and integrated oscilloscope presentations using quickened techniques. Motion and control equations, as well as the system block diagram of the simulation are shown in this paper. The data obtained during the simulation can serve to illustrate the relative workability of selected groups of displays and controls and demonstrates that an operator can control the rendezvous maneuvers using such preferred groups of displays.


The Harvey M and Lyn P Meyerhoff Digestive Disease/IBD Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, is one of the world′s highly regarded ′virtual′ tertiary inflammatory bowel dise...


Abstract We have previously demonstrated that the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, has two distinct mRNAs for prepro-mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone (prepro-mGnRH) and prepro-chicken GnRHII (prepro-cGnRH-II). In the present study, we found a splicing variant for the prepro-mGnRH mRNA, but not for the prepro-cGnRH-II mRNA in the eel. Genomic Southern blot analysis revealed that each of the eel prepro-GnRHs is encoded by a single gene. Isolation and sequencing of the two prepro-GnRH genes revealed that both of them contain four exons (denoted 1, 2, 3 and 4) separated by three introns (denoted A, B and C). Staining with ethidium bromide and Southern blotting following reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and electrophoresis revealed that in addition to a mature prepro-mGnRH mRNA, its splicing variant with retention of intron A is present in all tissues tested including the brain, pituitary, eye, olfactory epithelium, ovary, testis, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, gill, intestine, pancreas, muscle, skin, fin and peripheral blood leukocyte. This result differed to that of mammals, the splicing variant of which is present only in the peripheral tissues, but not in the brain. In contrast, only a mature mRNA for the prepro-cGnRH-II was detected in the middle part of dissected brain, pituitary, olfactory epithelium, ovary and testis, indicating that the two prepro-GnRH genes have different splicing processes. These findings suggested that the splicing pattern which produces the intron A retention variant dates from a common ancestor to teleosts and mammals, and is conserved during evolution. Therefore the splicing may be one of the mechanisms regulating prepro-mGnRH gene expression.


Language and environment are correlated. When producing language, either orally or written, or in the forms of symbols, humans are connected to the things around them. Ecolinguistics is the bridge to look at the correlation between language and environment. Descriptive qualitative ecolinguistics research was employed in this research. The purpose of this research was to describe the lexicon in batik motif and tapis cloth. Data in the form of biotic and abiotic were collected from batik motif and tapis cloth of Lampung. They were obtained through direct observation. The research results consist of two categories: biotic (flora and fauna) and abiotic (landscape and man-made). Firstly, the biotic category in the form of flora covers Hayat tree, coffee, Ashar flower, sembagi, while the fauna category covers elephants, dolphins, and butterflies. Secondly, the abiotic components were in the form of a landscape category such as the mountains, hills, hillsides, and a man-made category covering siger and ship. Based on the results, batik motif and tapis cloth of Lampung have a very close relationship with the surrounding because the motif represents the lexicon around the Lampung community life.
Keywords: batik, tapis, ecolinguistics, Lampung, local wisdom


Biophysical parameters, such as leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll content, play crucial roles in precision agricultural management, forest ecology monitoring, and global climate change studies. Accurate and robust retrieval of these parameters from remote sensing data still remains a challenge. One of the commonly used methods is through the inversion of a physical canopy model. However, it is often an ill-posed problem, mainly due to the model complexity and observation uncertainties. In this study, a contribution index (CI) was derived to quantify the effect of a given observation on the retrieval of model parameters of interest that accounted for both the uncertainty of this observation and its sensitivity to the model parameters. The CI was used in the merit function to weight each observation to improve the physical model inversion. To evaluate the CI based merit function, the look-up table (LUT) model inversion was conducted using the coupled PROSPECT and SAIL model to retrieve LAI and leaf chlorophyll content. The results using both simulated and real hyperspectral data showed that employing CI significantly improved the retrieval accuracy by reducing the prediction errors by at least 10 % compared with the traditional LUT method.