"Organised crime" is the label given to self-perpetuating, structured groups of individuals who use violence to gain profit through criminal activities (OCGs). OCGs erode state power and penetrate legitimate businesses more effectively than any other non-state actor such as terrorists and private military corporations. This research note explores the evolution of OCGs in the globalised world and calls for fresh research into the state's relationship with OCGs. The first section of this paper studies how globalisation has induced a process of state deconstruction that offers OCGs new and unexpected opportunities. The second section provides more detail about OCGs' power structure, highlighting the features that make them a privileged partner of capitalism. The last section represents an attempt to elaborate a model for analysing OCGs based on two variables drawn from the literature on industrial clusters: the degree of structuralisation and life cycles. This contribution concludes by proposing a road map for future research by combining the two variables in a matrix-like table.


In this paper, the author shows that a self-assembled monolayer of decanethiol (C10-SAM) molecules, which is only ∼1.3 nm in optical thickness, can be easily detected using 2D plasmonic crystal (PCL) with an angular shift as large as 2.86° which is more than one order of magnitude higher than conventional prism-based SPR and an estimated sensitivity larger than 900°/RIU is possible. The experimental data are accompanied by a model description that explains the principle of sensitivity enhancement. However the field enhancement of 2D PCL will be further improved when the optimum SPP excitation conditions are met.


The present invention relates to a method and server operating gaming competition. Is performed by a game tournament operating apparatus for operating a game tournament, Friend application for the first Alliance including the first user is different from a second user of the plurality of users from a user terminal of a first user participating in the game tournament by a consideration of the step of receiving, the step of the first alliance including the first user, the first user and the game score of the first all alliance circle ally comprising a second user of the first alliance It may include calculating a game score, and determining a prize to receive the first Union payment on the basis of the operation in the step of calculating the score. When held by a game tournament game tournament operating method and the server according to an embodiment of the present invention, the game tournament participants may be formed by the Union so as to play the game prevent separation of the game tournament proceeds.


OBJECTIVE
To improve the leadership capacity of existing Queensland Rural Generalists and support the emerging leaders needed to assume future leadership roles.

DESIGN
A customised leadership program for medical Rural Generalists, embedded in professional standards, was developed and delivered during 2016-2018. Pre and post-program and individual module evaluations from two Program cohorts were analysed. Qualitative, semi-structured phone interviews (n = 30) discussing participant views on leadership in a rural context and their Program experience were also conducted.

SETTING
The Rural Generalist Leadership for Clinicians Training Program runs over twelve months and includes three residential modules as well as online learning sets.

PARTICIPANTS
Forty-four participants completed the Program and obtained Associate Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.

INTERVENTIONS
Development and delivery of the Rural Generalist Leadership for Clinicians Training Program.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Participant's ability to apply Program learning in a rural leadership context. Participant views on leadership in a rural context.

RESULTS
Participants indicated they benefited most from the 'understanding self' and management aspects of the Program such as finance, budgeting, and understanding and navigating broader health system governance. They greatly valued the opportunity to enhance their professional networks and relationships and have since developed a regular forum to assist in the transition from individual leadership development to the development of the broader workforce and organisation.

CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggest that further attention and investment in medical leadership is warranted to support and enable the Rural Generalist workforce to continue to meet the complex, context-specific needs of the communities within which they deliver vital health services.


The molecular mechanisms by which stress induces the development of pathologies remains
unclear, although it is recognised that one of the major factors affecting health as a consequence of stress is the
involvement of the neuroendocrine system. In cattle, a number of necessary husbandry practices have been shown
to activate the stress response, yet very little is known about the impact these have at the molecular level. The
objectives of the study were to characterise, in male and female beef calves, the immune response to weaning
stress in bovine leukocytes at the physiological and molecular levels and to assess the difference between calves
weaned in the presence of the dam and those weaned and penned away from the dam.


The preheater tower of Tongling Conch 10 000 t/d clinker line is the largest one in our contry,it is 21.8 m in length, 41.2 m in width and 114.85 m in heigth, and has 9 floors. During design process, SINOMA-Nanjing insititute mainly considered the key question as structural system, layout plan, base scheme, node calculation and selection, etc. The eventual structural design and implementary scheme is that, the first two bottom floors adopted concrete frame construction, the seven other floors adopted frame structure of steel pole filled with concrete supported by steel pillar, and this structural design scheme was also introduced on emphasis.


The profiles of junction current and voltage and carrier-concentration in an injection laser with filament were calculated on the basis of a simple model. Numerical results indicate how the various parameters such as bulk resistivity and carrier diffusion length in the active region affect the profiles. Particularly, the filament width is strongly dependent on the bulk resistivity. The model connects the stimulated radiation characteristics of the device with the measurable quantities of the external circuit. It shows that there is obvious difference between average density of operating current and current density in the filament rigion. It shows also that nonuniformity of material will play an important role in locating the filament.


Spin–wave devices are regarded as one of the most promising candidates for future computation and data processing. How to manipulate spin–wave propagation is a key issue in realizing the functionality of these of devices. The existing manipulation methods have serious drawbacks for constructing practical spin–wave devices. Here, we propose an approach to harness the amplitude and mode excitation of traveling spin waves by introducing unique micromagnetic textures in a permalloy waveguide directly exchange-coupled to a pair of cobalt nanomagnets. We demonstrate that the imprinted micromagnetic textures, i.e., the 360° domain wall and magnetic buckle, which play different roles in spin–wave manipulation, can be interchanged with each other repeatedly by using a sequence of homogeneous magnetic fields. Moreover, the suggested architecture could easily be tailored to implement fundamental logic-NOT operation. In light of the internal-field profile of the micromagnetic textures, speculation is offered concerning the physical origin underlying the observed spin–wave modulation phenomena.


The bending, stability (buckling) and vibration response of nano sized beams is presented in this study based on the Eringen\'s nonlocal elasticity theory in conjunction with the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. For this purpose, the bending, buckling and vibration problem of Euler-Bernoulli nanobeams are developed and solved on the basis of nonlocal elasticity theory. The effects of various parameters such as nonlocal parameter e0a, length of beam L, mode number n, distributed load q and cross-section on the bending, buckling and vibration behaviors of carbon nanotubes idealized as Euler-Bernoulli nanobeam is investigated. The transverse deflections, maximum transverse deflections, vibrational frequency and buckling load values of carbon nanotubes are given in tables and graphs.


This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program Phase I Report provides details on two designs of phosphoric acid fuel-cell auxiliary power plants at a 30-kW power level. Both designs are methanol-fueled. Both are marine rated and designed to produce 240 volts. D.C. They are designed to be deck-mounted and fitted to the training ship EMPIRE STATE operated by the Maritime College of the State University of New York. One of the fuel cell systems is based on the air-cooled Energy Research Corp. design. The other system is liquid-cooled and based on the Engelhard Corp. dielectric liquid cooled design. During Phase I the design of the fuel-cell systems and the ship interfaces were completed.


The invention relates to a garment which is intended for the lower part of the body, such as trousers or shorts that are fitted to the waist or hip, which lifts the user's gluteal region in order to improve the appearance thereof while simultaneously pro viding a high degree of comfort. For said purpose, each of the rear sections of the garment is equipped with: a plurality of built-in clips which extend approximately from the centre of a reinforcing line close to the upper edge of the garment towards the centre of the corresponding buttock; and a plu rality of built-in clips which extend from the scam between the rear section and the respective front section, which are disposed in line with the gluteal region and which extend towards the centre of the corresponding buttock. The contour of the aforementioned sections comprises a pronounced out ward curve in the join therebetween, such as, when joined, to form a pocket which receives, contains and gives shape to the user's fat and muscular mass, thereby providing the user's figure with the desired effect.


Trifolium baeticum Boiss. (1845, 726) has been considered by most
authors to consist of plants dose to T. pratense but with a yellow or almost white corona.
However, a study of the Andalusian plants of this group has demonstrated that it is
possible to distinguish two taxa which are clearly separable on the basis of a number
of correlated characters, viz. length and branching of the stem, size of the flower-heads,
shape and size of the leaves, hairiness of stipules of the involucral leaves, length of the
lower tooth of the calyx, size of the corolla, and abo ye all by the life-form (see figs. 1 & 2).
One of diese taxa correspond to T. baeticum Boiss. (Fig. 3); the other has been identified
as T. pallidum Waldst. & Kit. (Fig. 4), a species which has not hitherto been recognised
in the Iberian peninsula. The distributions of both taxa are shown in fig. 5. One sample
of T. pallidum collected in Sevilla has been found to have a diploid chromosome number
of 2n =16, which is the same as that cited by PRITCH ARO (1969, 884) for this species.


A simple formalism is presented as a basis to analyse planar microwave structures with uniaxial anisotropic materials having either electric or magnetic anisotropy or both. It involves a generalised relation of the field components of the multilayered structure, which can be represented by a full-wave hybrid matrix for each layer. Thus, for stratified structures, the system equation can be obtained by using a full-wave equivalent circuit. The application is demonstrated by analysing the well-known example of a two-layer waveguide filled with different uniaxial anisotropic dielectric material.


The publication aimed at recognizing and comparing the reasons and factors which foster undertaking aerobics classes among women in two age groups. A diagnostic survey and a questionnaire were used for this purpose. The survey was conducted among 48 women who do aerobics. The women were divided into two age groups. The analysis of the survey results showed that younger women were more motivated to do aerobics (8.99) in relation to women over 40 (8.17). The factors motivating women to do aerobics were less significant among younger women (9.14) than older women (9.21).


The combinatorial complexitty of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) scheduling was the starting point of the scheduling solutions simplifying in mass production. The complexity reduction is based on the idea of computing and repeating one well optimized production cycle. Reducing the production horizon to one short cycle is a first order simplification while thye optimization of the cycle remains. Non Polynomial. If we also assule that the demand is fluctuant and the number to process of parts is little, we can demonstrate that cyclic scheduling techniques lead to quite optimized solutions since we can master the transient states of launching and stopping the production.


We report on a defect related luminescence band at 2.4 eV in aluminum nitride bulk crystals, for which we find strong indications to be related to silicon DX centers. Time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy using a sub-bandgap excitation reveals two different recombination processes with very long decay times of 13 ms and 153 ms at low temperature. Based on the results of temperature and excitation dependent photoluminescence experiments, the process with the shorter lifetime is assigned to a donor-acceptor pair transition involving the shallow silicon donor state, which can be emptied with a thermal dissociation energy of 65 meV. The slower process with a thermal quenching energy of 15 meV is assigned to the slightly deeper Si DX state known from electron paramagnetic resonance experiments, which is transferred back to the shallow donor state.


Let $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ be a convex domain and let $f:\Omega \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a subharmonic function, $\Delta f \geq 0$, which satisfies $f \geq 0$ on the boundary $\partial \Omega$. Then $$ \int_{\Omega}{f ~dx} \leq |\Omega|^{\frac{1}{n}} \int_{\partial \Omega}{f ~d\sigma}.$$ Our proof is based on a new gradient estimate for the torsion function, $\Delta u = -1$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions, which is of independent interest.


Different alterations of endocrine functions arise during chronic renal failure (CRF) (Bonomini, Orsoni, Stefoni and Vangelista 1979). Certain resistance to vasopressin in these patients was proved through clinical studies of Tannen, Regal, Michael, Dunn and Schrier (1969). Some CRF-associated defect in renal target tissue might be the explanation. Since the regulation of renal functions


Summary

The effects of blanching, drying and extraction processes on the antioxidant activities of one kind of Taiwanese yam peel, Darsan (Dioscorea alata), were investigated. The antioxidant measurements included total phenolic content, reducing power and α ,α-diphenyl-β-pricryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity. The 50% ethanolic, hot water and water extracts from the peel all had much higher antioxidant activities than those extracts from the flesh. Among three extraction methods, 50% ethanolic extraction resulted in the highest antioxidant activities in the peel, while hot water extraction was more appropriate for the flesh. Blanching by immersing the peel in 85 °C water for 30 s caused significant reductions in the antioxidant activities of all the extracts from the peel. Generally speaking, freeze-dried peel maintained higher antioxidant activities than hot air-dried peel.


As dynamic contents are changing traditional web environments, there is an increasing demand on high performance web servers, which leads to the use of cluster-based web servers. As a result, utilization of cluster web servers through effective and fair load balancing is a crucial task specifically when it comes to advent of dynamic contents and database-driven applications on the internet such as e-commerce and corporate database. After stating the problem discussed in this paper and some preliminaries, we propose a Predictive Modified Round Robin load-balancing algorithm (PMRR), which applies the mythology of prediction into load-balancing field. We validate its effectiveness of proposed load-balancing algorithm through simulation results. The algorithm significantly decreases both the load range and load variance in contrast to Round Robin (RR) scheduling and Modified Round Robin (MRR) scheduling.


Rough test must be done before the TSC (Thyristor switched capacitor) is put into service, to demonstrate the proper design of the valve during over-current conditions, caused by valve firing at instants with non-zero voltage between its terminals. However, modern TSC thyristor valves have a high power rating and are difficult to test directly. The core to design TSC over-current test equipment is to correctly reproduce the stresses on the thyristor under fault conditions. The overcurrent fault conditions of TSC and the corresponding current, voltage and heating stresses on the thyristor valves during over-current are studied. The existing test equipments are appraised. New overcurrent test equipment for TSC valve is proposed. The heating current of the new test equipment is supplied by large current source; the over-current and corresponding reapplied voltage are produced by LC resonant circuit. The schematic diagram of the test equipment is given. The working principles are introduced, and the real test waveforms are analyzed. It is proved that the proposed new over-current test equipment is more flexible, whose test ability is also improved evidently, and the most important is that the new equipment can fully meet the IEC standard so is more equivalence to the real fault, which make it override all the existing TSC over-current test equipment.


A Mission into Hot Phenomena in the Universe is proposed by means of a small telescope of 50 cm aperture accommodated on the International Space Station. Two operating modes are envisaged: 3 angstrom dispersion imaging spectroscopy in the 90 - 320 nm range (1st priority) or wide field (1 degree) medium bandwidth imaging in the same range but Ly-(alpha) (2nd priority). It will use a pointing platform attached to an Express Pallet Adapter available to the Italian Space Agency (ASI) more than 4 - 6 months per year. During a life time of 6 yr focal plane instruments may be changed when on-ground refurbishment occurs. With reasonable exposure times hot thermal sources as faint as V equals 19 - 2 can be observed in the spectroscopy mode at 110 nm and active chromospheres on cool stars as faint as V equals 15 at 250 nm can be monitored. Assessment of FUV imaging is underway, possibly providing observations of hot sources as faint as V equals 21 - 22. Nominal uplift to ISS is set in Autumn 2005.


We have developcd a fine-line CMOS technology that uses a single-type, p+polycide (polysiliconlsilicide) gate for both NMOS and PMOS transistors. This approach eliminates the problems encountered when using n- and ptype polysilicon gate for NMOS and PMOS transistors that have a common polycide gate. For the n- and p type polysilimn gates under silicide structure, it has kn found that extremely rapid lateral impurity diffusion occurs in the TaSi, upper layer of the polycide gate structure. Such impurity diffusion alters the work functions of the adjacent NMOS and PMOS device. With p+-polycide gates for both typa of devices, the PMOS device is a "surfaceshannel" type. and the NMOS device is a (normally om "buried-channel" type. The PMOS device is less prone to punchthrough at short channel lengths than the NMOS device; however, the NMOS device performance benefits from the mobility enhancement of the buridchannel structure. We will highlight here the relative advantages and disadvantages of the surface-and buriedshannel NMOS devices. We descfibe the I-V characteristics of p+-polycide gate NMOS and PMOS transistors having 175A thick gate oxide, threshold voltages of *0.7V and electrical channel lengths of 1.0~1.


Abstract Most of the alkali halides are freely miscible with one another. The solid solubilities of fluorides, however, exist over a limited range. Thus, not more than 1.5 mol.% NaF can be added to LiF, and the maximum amount of LiF that can be accommodated substitutionally in NaF is about 8.5 mol. 96. Fate of LiF added in excess to these amounts is unknown. It has been suggested that Li+ may enter interstitially. The coloration of the solid solutions provide a clue to the position of the foreign alkali ion in the host lattice. The optical and TSL measurements on the coloured NaF:LiF samples are presented in this paper, which show that Li+ partially goes to interstitial sites, and the remaining amount forms colloids.


The cross‐bridge movements underlying the tension responses of active muscle to slow length changes were studied by a time‐resolved X‐ray diffraction method. During an isometric tetanus at 2 degrees C, the meridional reflexion at 1/14.3 nm‐1 was 55% more intense than in the resting state, suggesting that the myosin heads maintain the 14.3 nm periodicity of the thick filament. When active muscle was stretched by 7% at a constant speed of 0.03‐0.70 muscle lengths s‐1, the intensity of the meridional reflexion decreased progressively as the tension increased continuously during the stretch. This suggests that the myosin heads spread out along the thick filament. During stress relaxation after a stretch, the intensity returned gradually toward the active isometric level, suggesting a rearrangement of the myosin heads. The meridional intensity changed in a similar manner when active muscle was released by 7% at the same speeds; it decreased progressively during the release and returned gradually to the isometric level after completion of the release. The intensity decrease during a release was smaller than that during a stretch, provided the speed was low (0.03‐0.09 muscle lengths s‐1). It was concluded that the tension responses to slow length changes are due to shifts of the myosin heads along the thick filament, and that the elastic element responsible for tension production is located in the myosin molecules.


Okun's Law and the positive correlation of labor productivity with unemployment are two important facts documented in the data. A necessary condition to match these facts simultaneously is to model labor force participation. We develop a business cycle model where the individual's labor force participation choice is indivisible; to overcome indivisibilities, individuals have access to lotteries over labor force participation. The labor market is characterised by thick market search externalities that satisfy Okun's Law. The economy features two steady states: low and high unemployment. At the low unemployment steady state, a novel mechanism of self-fulfilling fluctuations emerges. Expectations of individuals about labor market conditions through a search-based labor market wedge feed back into Okun's Law, in turn validating those expectations. The labor wedge allow us to capture features of the business cycle that existing theories fail to match. The high unemployment steady state is characterised by a rat race for jobs channel: high participation rates is associated with high real wages, low demand for labor and high unemployment rates. Finally, on the policy side, if the economy is at the low steady state, unemployment insurance (UI) replacing a fraction of market wages is a powerful automatic stabiliser since it can counterbalances (belief∗We thank Mauro Bambi, Vincent Sterk, and also seminar participants at the University of Oxford and the NRU Higher School of Economics, for helpful comments. †University of Bath, email@example.com. ‡University of York, firstname.lastname@example.com.


Objective: To observe the efficacy of MEBO in treating wounds post incision of carbuncle. Method: 98 cases of this disease were divided into 2 groups. Patients in the 1st group were treated with MEBO gauze and those in the 2nd group treated with vaseline gauze. The efficacy of the 2 drugs was compared. Result: The average wound healing time in the 1st group was shorter than those in the 2nd group. The scar formation rate in the 1st group was lower than that in the 2nd group. Conclusion: MEBO gauze is superior to vaseline gauze. The treating course is shortened and incidence of complications is lowered. MEBO is of 1st choice for treating wounds post incision of carbuncle.


This work evaluates the adsorption capacity of the wild cane fiber (Gynerium Sagittatum) in crude oil. Both untreated biomass and treated with ionic liquid [2HEA][Ac] and acetylated were studied for oil spill cleanup in aqueous environment. Crude oil adsorption tests were performed in a thermostatic bath, varying the time for the kinetic study and the amount of oil for isotherm model. Kinetic study of oil adsorption allowed us to identify that the untreated fiber reached saturation in 90 minutes, while the fiber treated with acetylated and ionic liquid reached saturation in 30 minutes. In equilibrium, the total amount of oil adsorbed by the untreated fiber was 3.8g, whereas in acetylated and ionic liquid treated fiber, the obtained maximum adsorption capacity was 4.4 and 3.7 g, respectively. The remediation process using wild cane fiber followed a second order kinetic rate and Sips and Toth isotherm models provided the best fit to experimental data.


Sensitivity analysis is the study of how uncertainty in model predictions is determined by uncertainty in model inputs. A global sensitivity analysis considers the potential effects from the simultaneous variation of model inputs over their finite range of uncertainty. A number of techniques are available to carry out global sensitivity analysis from a set of Monte Carlo simulations; some techniques are more efficient than others, depending on the strategy used to sample the uncertainty of model inputs and on the formulae employed for estimating sensitivity measures. The most common approaches are summarised in this paper by focusing on the limitations of each in the context of a sensitivity analysis of a spatial model. A novel approach for undertaking a spatial sensitivity analysis (based on the method of Sobol' and its related improvements) is proposed and tested. This method makes no assumptions about the model and enables the analysis of spatially distributed, uncertain inputs. The proposed approach is illustrated with a simple test model and a groundwater contaminant model.


Background: Students consider physiology as a dry, difficult, and vast discipline to be mastered in too short period. Small group tutorials (SGTs) per se are "extra efforts" in the curriculum, conducted every week for assessing the effectiveness of lectures on knowledge delivery, and in part, a formative assessment for the student. At present, tutorials consume a considerable 60 h in an academic term which may be utilized otherwise for the students, if not beneficial. Aims: To highlight the perspective of undergraduate students with special regards to SGTs and to identify modifiable/amendable areas, if any in the current form of SGTs, which may likely improve teaching-learning process of physiology in a North Eastern Medical Institute, Imphal. Materials and Methods: Anonymous feedback questionnaires from 95 students in 1 st year MBBS were obtained after exposure to existing tutorials in physiology and analyzed accordingly. Results and Conclusions: Students perceive the present form of the tutorial as one that benefits them in many positive ways in improving their understanding and knowledge of physiology. However, insufficient interaction time as well as tutor′s attitude during tutorials attracted negative responses. They expressed strongly against the tendency of the teachers to re-enforce the importance of memorization as the ultimate way to learn and 95% of them wanted more tutorials as they found that it drives them toward more study covering more topics which increase their self-confidence and can assess their own level of knowledge so that they can improvise accordingly in time.


The association between atopic diseases and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) still remains unclear. We conducted a nationwide population-based study to investigate the effect of atopic diseases on the development of IBD.

 A total of 9,950,548 subjects who received medical check-up between 2009 and 2012 were included and followed up until 2017. The presence of any atopic disease including atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic rhinitis (AR), and asthma were evaluated. Patients who developed IBD including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) were identified using the claims data from National Health Insurance.

 During a mean follow up of 7.3 years, 1,426 (0.014%) subjects developed CD and 5,916 (0.059%) subjects developed UC. The incidences of CD (per 100,000 person-years) were 4.088, 2.255, and 2.344 in patients with AD, AR, and asthma,, respectively. The incidences of UC were 11.926, 9.857, and 9.377 in patients with AD, AR, and asthma, respectively. Multivariable analysis revealed that the adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for incident CD in patients with AD, AR, and asthma were 2.21, 1.33, and 1.59 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.251–3.896, 1.152–1.532, and 1.186–2.123, respectively) compared with controls. The risk for incident UC in patients in AD, AR, and asthma were 1.51, 1.32, and 1.28 (95% CI 1.081–2.101, 1.235–1.416, and 1.110–1.484, respectively) compared with controls. Moreover, increase in the number of atopic diseases gradually increased the risk for CD and UC; CD showed aHR of 1.36 and 1.65 (95% CI 1.180–1.571 and 1.143–2.370), and UC showed aHR of 1.30 and 1.49 (95% CI 1.216–1.398 and 1.247-1.170) in one, and two or more atopic diseases, respectively.

 Patients with any atopic diseases showed an increased risk for IBD, while an increase in the number of atopic diseases gradually increased the risk for IBD.


To put it simply, the main idea of Variational dropout is to search for posterior approximation in a specific family of distributions: q(wi) = N (θi, αiθ i ). Then the reparameterization trick [12] for this model is equivalent to plain Gaussian dropout wi ∼ q(wi) ⇔ wi = θi( √ αiεi + 1), εi ∼ N (0, 1). Now we can treat α as variational parameters and optimize the lower bound w.r.t. θ and α. The prior distribution is chosen to be log-scale uniform distribution. If we optimize the lower bound w.r.t θ with fixed α, log-scale uniform prior makes Variational dropout equivalent to Gaussian dropout.


Accessible summary

• Purpose of the study was to examine participation patterns of people with intellectual disabilities in Special Olympics

• Participation of athletes according to age, sex and sports participated in were analysed

• Findings indicated that the demographics of this Special Olympics cohort were predominantly male, older in years than other sport organisations and engaged in a small number of sports

• Results indicated there are significant gaps in relation to participation that may have long-term impacts on health for people with intellectual disabilities


Owing to the importance of knowledge management in lifting the competitive capacity of enterprises, the development of knowledge management technologies and tools is focused. The significances of knowledge management in enterprises, in the first place, are discussed. Then, the four kinds of technologies and tools as well as their current development situation, including its background, the methods and the techniques used, the systems developed or/and operations.


Sawayaerdun gold deposit is located at the western end of Chinese Southwest Tianshan Hercynian orogenic belt. Gold orebodies are controlled by a group of NE-trending brittle—ductile shear zones. 40 Ar / 39 Ar age of sericite altered rock from the Sawayaerdun shows that the main stage of gold mineralization occurred in the Triassic. Based on the helium and argon isotope composition of fluid inclusions in pyrite and carbon and oxygen isotope of fluid inclusions in quartz from the Sawayaerdun gold deposit, this paper discusses source of ore-forming fluid. The δ 18 O _ SMOW values of quartz range from 14.51‰ to 24.2‰. The δ 13 C _ PDB values of fluid inclusions in quartz from the Sawayaerdun gold deposit range from -8.69‰ to +4.98‰ , reflecting that the carbon possibly derived from mantle with interaction with marine carbonate rocks. 3He / 4He ratios of fluid inclusions in pyrite range from 0.04 to 1.11 Ra, whereas 40 Ar / 36 Ar range from 301 to 348. The combined noble gas isotopic data and stable isotopic data imply that the ore-forming fluids of the Sawayaerdun gold deposit were a mixture between mantle-derived fluids and crustal-derived fluids, and the crustal-derived fluids are dominated.


Abstract : A state-of-the art literature review of the interactions between fibers and resin within graphite epoxy composite materials was performed. Emphasis centered on: adhesion theory;, wetting characteristics of carbon fiber; load transfer mechanisms; methods to evaluate and measure interfacial bond strengths; environmental influence at the interface; and the effect of the interface/interphase on composite performance, with particular attention to impact toughness. In conjunction with the literature review, efforts were made to design experiments to study the wetting behavior of carbon fibers with various finish variants and their effect on adhesion joint strength. The properties of composites with various fiber finishes were measured and compared to the baseline properties of a control. It was shown that by tailoring the interphase properties, a 30% increase in impact toughness was achieved without loss of mechanical properties at both room and elevated temperatures.


The exact nature of the lowest Kπ=2+ rotational bands in all deformed nuclei remains obscure. Traditionally they are assumed to be collective vibrations of the nuclear shape in the γ degree of freedom perpendicular to the nuclear symmetry axis. Very few such γ bands have been traced past the usual backbending rotational alignments of high-j nucleons. We have investigated the structure of positive-parity bands in the N=90 nucleus Dy156, using the Nd148(C12,4n)Dy156 reaction at 65 MeV, observing the resulting γ-ray transitions with the Gammasphere array. The even- and odd-spin members of the Kπ=2+γ band are observed up to 32+ and 31+, respectively. This rotational band faithfully tracks the ground-state configuration to the highest spins. The members of a possible γ vibration built on the aligned yrast S band are observed up to spins 28+ and 27+. An even-spin positive-parity band, observed up to spin 24+, is a candidate for an aligned S band built on the seniority-zero configuration of the 0+2 state at 676 keV. The crossing of this band with the 0+2 band is at ℏωc=0.28(1)MeV and is consistent with the configuration of the 0+2 band not producing any blocking of the monopole pairing.


Agriculture and allied activities is a sector of production that is directly vulnerable to global warming, and the outcomes from Paris will be of particular relevance to the way developing countries cope with climate change in agriculture. Although agriculture was not explicitly the subject of negotiations in Paris, agriculture emerged as a key issue of concern, with respect to mitigation and adaptation, in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) made in the run-up to COP 21. The results from the Paris Agreement on the issue of adaptation finance will also affect agriculture and allied activities indirectly.


Background: Transmission of HIV through blood transfusion remains a public health problem, particularly in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, no study has determined the epidemiological data regarding HIV-1 infection in Gabonese blood donors. The objective of this study is to assess the seroprevalence of HIV-1 and the risk factors associated with infection in donors from the National Blood Transfusion Center in Libreville (Gabon). Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out from June to August 2020 in 3669 persons donating blood at the National Blood Transfusion Center (NBTC). The ELISA technique (Evolis®, BioRad), Original Research Article Mangala et al.; ISRR, 10(2): 16-24, 2021; Article no.ISRR.67991 17 the chemiluminescence technique (Cobas® e601, Roche), and the SD Bioline® HIV 1/2 test (Standard Diagnostics. Inc) were used for the detection of anti-HIV-1/2 antibodies and P24 antigen in donor plasma. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21.0, with p˂.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The seropositivity rate HIV-1 was 0.8% (30/3669) (95% CI: 0.5; 1.1). The study was composed of 79.4% men and 20.6% women. The most representative age group was of 25-34 years with 54.5%. The seropositivity of men, women, and unrelated voluntary donors was 0.7%, 1.2%, and 1.0%, respectively. The risk factors such as the first blood donation (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 0.1 [0.0 ;0.4], P= .002), multiple sexual partners (AOR = 6.2 [2.2;17.2], P= .001), primary educational level (AOR = 10.1 [1.4;75], P = .024), and dental care (AOR = 3.6 [1.2;11], P = .024) were significantly associated with HIV infection. About 0.14% of the patients had co-infection. Conclusion: In the Gabonese context, about one out of a hundred blood donors are HIV-infected. These carriers of HIV infection in the blood banks are mainly new donors with multiple sexual partners, limited education, and poor dental care.


This chapter addresses the clash between the local and the global and the way in which local activists resist economic globalization – what Heine and Thakur identify in the Introduction as "glocalization". Drawing upon literature on environmental contention and civil society-centred approaches to environmental foreign policy (Barkdull and Harris 2009), it shows how local environmental protest in the Argentine province of Entre Rios forced a change in the national government's environmental foreign policy and translated into a major diplomatic controversy between Argentina and Uruguay.


LabHorta is a facility composed of laboratories and retrievable deep-sea cages created to support and expand the capabilities of research cruises. It also enhances the ability to conduct experimental studies with organisms from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and other deep-sea environments, while keeping them under controlled conditions of pressure and water chemistry. This paper presents a case study with the vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus (which harbours a dual symbiosis) collected at the Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent field at 840-m depth, transported to experimental aquaria at atmospheric pressure and maintained under four different controlled experimental conditions to study their comparative condition index (CI). Environmental parameters were monitored daily and efforts were made to keep these constant. During the first few months, there were differences between the CI scores of mussels kept under the various conditions. After 6 months, the differences are not so clear but mussels still had sulphur-oxidizing bacteria when fed with sulphide. The methane oxidizer bacteria disappear even in the presence of methane. A range of CI scores appeared as a function of the culture type. The LabHorta facility is a good tool for performing long-term physiological studies of deep-sea organisms, simulating possible changes in the natural environmental where they normally thrive.


After a brief presentation of the orientation pumping mechanism as a mean to generate finite average angular momenta in oriented systems, some consequences are drawn for the spin of fission fragments. Through a crude model approximation for the scission configurations, the results of microscopic calculations of fragment deformabilities are then used to deduce from the above mechanism, a distribution of fission fragment spins as a function of the total fragment excitation energy. A fair qualitative agreement with available data is demonstrated.


ABSTRACT Thermo-physiological comfort of apparel clothing must be suitable for the wearer both in winter and summer seasons. Poor thermo-physiological properties can lead to discomfort, fluctuation in body temperature, poor sweat management during wear and can affect human health as well as work efficiency. For this reason, optimum thermo-physiological comfort of clothing is a prerequisite by users for any given weather. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cotton yarn parameters on the thermo-physiological comfort of woven fabrics. Four types of woven fabrics were developed from cotton yarn with different counts, twist, coefficient of variation of mass (CVm), neps, hairiness, thin places, thick places, strength, and elongation. Yarn samples were produced separately by carding and rotor span before they were woven on an air jet machine with the same settings. Finally, the woven fabrics were finished in a combined finishing treatment process. Thermo-physiological properties of fabrics were measured and analyzed. Statistically analyzed results showed that thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, thermal absorptivity, and air permeability of fabrics had statistically significant change with P values of 0.029, 0.035, 0.005, and 0.000, respectively. Model equations were developed based on the results to predict the comfort of the fabric.


Using the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this pioneering book provides the first comprehensive account of Korean grammar, building foundations for an engagement with Korean texts across a range of spoken and written registers and genres. It treats grammar as a meaning-making resource, comprising experiential resources for construing reality, interpersonal resources for enacting social relations, textual resources for composing coherent discourse, and logical resources for linking clauses. It deals not only with clause systems and structures but also focuses on their realisation as groups and phrases (and clause rank particles), and the realisation of these groups and phrases in words (including clitics and relevant suffixation). Its concluding chapter demonstrates how this grammar can be applied – for teaching Korean as a foreign language and for translation and interpreting studies. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of Asian languages and linguistics and functional approaches to grammar description.


This study presents a novel lens formation technology to implement a 3D polymer lens in buffer liquid. The integration of such 3D polymer lens on SiOB and the application for barcode scanner are also demonstrated.


Objective: To investigate the risk factors of type 2 diabetes patients with depression.Method: 530 patients with type 2 diabetes were surveyed with questionnaire,and then analyzed the questionnaire.Result: There were 530 patients participating in the survey,183 cases type 2 diabetes patients with depression(34.5%).347 cases type 2 diabetes patients without depression(65.5%).BMI,HbAlc,ISI,duration of diabetes,number of complications,family income,occupation,emotional type,social relations all have significant impact by univariate analysis(P0.05).Conclusion: The type 2 diabetes patients have high probability for suffering from depression,the main risk factors are length duration of diabetes,glycemic control and complications.


We propose a novel technique to localize a periodic transmitter using a single mobile receiver. By having the receiver measure the time-of-arrival (TOA) of the periodic messages sent by the transmitter, the receiver is able to measure the virtual time-difference-of-arrival (V-TDOA) between different locations along its trajectory. The V-TDOA can then be used in place of TDOA measurements in various TDOA-based localization methods for the transmitter. However, a major challenge in obtaining an accurate V-TDOA measurement lies in separating it from the time offset between the transmitter and the receiver caused by the local oscillator (LO) drift. We propose a two-stage technique: in a first stage, the receiver stands still and uses the TOA measurements to train a Kalman filter to estimate and predict the LO skew between itself and the transmitter. In a second stage, the receiver starts moving and uses its prediction of the LO skew to estimate the V-TDOA. The proposed algorithm is implemented on a software-defined radio testbed, and experimental results show that our setup is able to successfully measure the V-TDOA.


It has long been thought that the pathologic staging of prostate cancer and its prognosis can only be determined after radical prostatectomy; however, there is evidence on the possibility of establishing this prognosis from the initial study of the core needle biopsy, which would allow the doctor and the patient to prepare to assume the evolution of the disease from the moment of the initial diagnosis, allowing a greater period to take measures that facilitate coping with the disease.


In this presentation, we discuss the first demonstration of a lasercom downlink from a LEO 1.5U CubeSat to our optical ground station at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA. Two vehicles, AC7-B&C, were built under NASA's Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) which is a flight validation mission to test commercial-off-the-shelf components and subsystems that will enable new communications and proximity operations capabilities for CubeSats and other small spacecraft. As designed, the 1.5 U CubeSats weigh 2.3 kg and consume ~2 W during most of the mission life. During lasercom engagements, ~3 minutes, the spacecraft consumes an additional 10-20 W power depending on the set point of the laser transmitter, which yields 2-4 W at 1.06 m. The transmitter consists of a directly modulated laser diode followed by a Yb fiber amplifier and exhibits an overall wall-plug efficiency ~20%. The AC-7B&C vehicles were launched in November 2017 and placed in a 450-km circular orbit. Following on-orbit checkouts and preliminary pointing calibration utilizing on-board star trackers, we have demonstrated (at the time of this submission) first time communications downlinks up to 100 Mbps from the 7B vehicle using open loop pointing (beaconless) to our ground terminal, which is near sea level. The preliminary link experiments at 50 and 100 Mbps (OOK/PRBS23) using the AC-7B CubeSat were recorded at 100 ms intervals. At 50 Mbps, error rates near 1E-6 were observed with numerous error free intervals. At 100 Mbps we observed BERs approaching 1E-6. At the time of these collects, however, the B vehicle was still exercising a scan pattern since the final alignment had not been completed. Thus, the optical link was not continuous over the entire pass. Link budget estimates indicate that lower BERs should be achievable and we will continue to assess the link performance as the system is optimized.


The proton spin lattice relaxation time was measured as a function of temperature over an extended nematic range for $p$-methoxybenzylidene aminophenylacetate and $p$-azoxydianisole by supercooling. The results show that the relaxation rate varies exponentially with reciprocal temperature in a manner similar to that in $p$-methoxybenzylidene butylaniline and ethoxybenzylidene butylaniline. The results are interpreted in terms of the Doane, Tarr, and Nickerson model of relaxation in nematic mesophases.


Objective: To investigate the vascular anatomy anterior to the L5S1 disc space for safe mesh anchoring in laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) and laparoscopic ventral rectopexy (LVR). Materials and methods: Investigation of the CT findings around the pre-L5S1 disc space and intraoperative findings in patients who underwent LSC or LVR from July 2015 to July 2018. Results: Eighty-eight patients were recruited (LSC 67, LVR 13, LSC+LVR 8). Three cases (3.4%) had no vascular window (VW) anterior to the L5S1 disc, and the meshes were fixed to the S1 anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL). All other cases (96.6%) had VW of 10 mm or more and meshes were fixed to L5S1 ALL. Aberrant iliac vessels anterior to the L5S1 disc were observed in 14 cases (15.9%). Conclusion: Aberrant iliac vessels anterior to the L5S1 disc were not rare. Preoperative evaluation of the L5S1 disc space is needed for safe LSC and LVR.


The method of nding the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of abstract discrete semibounded operators on compact graphs is developed. Linear formulas allowing to calculate the eigenvalues of these operators are obtained. The eigenvalues can be calculates starting from any of their numbers, regardless of whether the eigenvalues with previous numbers are known. Formulas allow us to solve the problem of computing all the necessary points of the spectrum of discrete semibounded operators de ned on geometric graphs. The method for nding the eigenfunctions is based on the Galerkin method. The problem of choosing the basis functions underlying the construction of the solution of spectral problems generated by discrete semibounded operators is considered. An algorithm to construct the basis functions is developed. A computational experiment to nd the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Sturm Liouville operator de ned on a two-ribbed compact graph with standard gluing conditions is performed. The results of the computational experiment showed the high e ciency of the developed methods.


This is a collection of personal essays (on multinational sensibility; the godmaking impulse), letters (a mini-"Bildungsroman" in personal correspondence), scholarship (a study of several Marxist social critics; extended queries into Whitman's thrush-theme), and a tale (of revolutionary intensity in the contemporary city). The lead essay "Rearranging my shelves", is a prolonged meditation on book-classification, and all it involves in implicit assumptions about the organization of the intelligible world. The volume probes the interrelations of loss (death, fear, despair) and redemption, in art and the religious, and argues complexly for the notion of the artist as a priest. Finally, it brings to the surface fresh understandings of the tension between beauty and goodness, a perennial polarity for critical understanding.


This paper studies an ethane-ethylene separation column using a process simulation software. The study has two main goals, the first one is to find the parameters that will produce maximum overhead product, the second is to minimalize the required energy. This required energy is calculated by the heat flow of the reboiler, the condenser and the inlet.


Response to ''The Role of Cytomegalovirus in Schizencephaly'' by Spalice et al. Annapurna Poduri,* Cecilia Mellado, and Christopher A. Walsh Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts Division of Genetics, Children's Hospital Boston, The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland


Signalized intersections next to each other on the same arterial share some unobservable information, such as traffic flow and roadway characteristics. This study investigated the impact of access management techniques on crash counts at signalized intersections. The analysis was performed using crash data from 275 signalized intersections in southern Nevada. The panel data random-effect model was used to account for the unobserved factors for each unique arterial. It was found that the negative binomial (NB) regression models were the best in reflecting the dispersion in the crash data. Therefore, the random-effects negative binomial model (RENB) was applied to investigate the relationship between crash occurrence and access-management techniques. The results of the panel data RENB models were compared with those from the pooled NB models, which did not account for the panel data structure. Evaluation of the goodness-of-fit of the models developed indicated that the random-effect negative binomial model was the best-fit for the data at hand. The results from the panel data RENB showed that nine variables significantly affecting the safety at signalized intersections were the average length of corner clearance, traffic flow, land-use types, number of left-turn lanes for main streets, number of through lanes for main and minor streets, posted speed limit on main and minor streets, and grades of legs.


A high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) method was developed for determining β-carotene in 15 vegetables.β-carotene was extracted from vegetables by ultrasonic-assisted extraction,separated on a kromasil C18column(4.6 mm × 300 mm,5 μm) using a mobile phase consisting of methanol-tetrahydrofuran(THF)-butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT)(9:1:0.01,V/V),and detected with a UV detector at 448 nm.The proposed method was characteristics of short running time(21 min),sensitive detection limit(0.075 μg/mL),excellent linear relationship(R2=0.9997) and high precision(97.84% average recovery rate).Moreover,this method provided an effective strategy to prevent the oxidation of β-carotene in fresh vegetable samples.


Rising medical costs are an emerging challenge in policy decisions and resource allocation planning. When cumulative medical cost is the outcome, right censoring induces informative missingness due to heterogeneity in cost accumulation rates across subjects. Inverse weighting approaches have been developed to address the challenge of informative cost trajectories in mean cost estimation, though these approaches generally ignore post‐baseline treatment changes. In post‐hysterectomy endometrial cancer patients, data from a linked database of Medicare records and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results programme of the National Cancer Institute reveal substantial within‐subject variation in treatment over time. In such a setting, the utility of existing intent‐to‐treat approaches is generally limited. Estimates of the population mean cost under a hypothetical time‐varying treatment regime can better assist with resource allocation when planning for a treatment policy change; such estimates must inherently take time‐dependent treatment and confounding into account. We develop a nested g‐computation approach to cost analysis to address this challenge, while accounting for censoring. We develop a procedure to evaluate sensitivity to departures from baseline treatment ignorability. We further conduct a variety of simulations and apply our nested g‐computation procedure to 2‐year costs from endometrial cancer patients.


The writing is an essential skill to share with the scientific community the findings obtained by the researchers; however, it requires the implementation of a series of strategies whose domain has not yet been acquired by researchers with less experience. This research has a double objective; on the one hand, it tries to know the opinion of the PhD students about their own process of scientific writing and, on the other, it analyzes the scientific texts produced by the novice researchers. For this, two instruments have been created: a brief questionnaire and a system of categories to analyze the 397 errors that have been detected in the scientific texts written by 11 PhD students from different areas chosen for convenience. The results show that approximately 40% of researchers with little experience previously plan the texts they write and, for the most part, use a scheme for this. In addition, more than 90% believe that the most complicated thing is to provide coherence and cohesion to the scientific text. In relation to errors, the most common occur in the introduction (43.6%) and the method (18.4%) of the text and are grammatical (39%) and APA regulations (24.9 %). Finally, some limitations of the study are discussed.


This article analyzes the outside market relations between government,bank,channel firm and enterprise,finds these market relations can lead to lots of transaction costs and significantly affect the profit of real business firms when they are artificially distorted.By use of panel data of 370 private listed companies in China's A-share market from 2007 to 2011,this article empirically researches the intrinsic links between market relation,transaction cost and corporate profit,and results support the theoretical hypothesis that reducing transaction costs caused by specific market relation can become a new profit source for real business firms,thus provide an evidence for theoretical discussion about the fourth profit source.The policy recommendations of this article is that business entities not only pay attention to three traditional profit sources,but also concern about potential profit source from production relations especially market relations.So,streamlining administrative agency,limiting government right,creating market relation bonus,improving financial ecological environment and business trading environment as well as market legal environment is the key to obtain this profit source.


Stickiness of wheat dough using 51 international wheat genotypes was measured ten-times per sample using a texture analyzer and the improved Chen-Hoseney stickiness cell. Repeated measures analyses were carried out with the parameters adhesive force, adhesiveness, and stringiness of the force-time curves using the SAS MIXED procedure. The data revealed a high variability among observations from replicates of the same sample preparation. It is suggested to analyze a large (seven to ten) number of repeated measures per sample to account for the variation. Triplicate measures that result in reliable means with low standard errors for the particular lab conditions and test settings can be found by a repeated measure analysis.


This text is about the history and concept of Islamic calligraphy and painting. It is important to clarify the evolution and development of Islamic calligraphy to be able to identify the form and type of calligraphy to certain period and the khattāt who invent the system or method of writing calligraphy. The other main element to be clarified is the history of Islamic painting, its practice and relative Islamic law regarding the issue of figurative art and representation.


A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is then the standard of behavior. As to this there has developed a tradition that is unbending and inveterate. Uncompromising rigidity has been the attitude of courts of equity when petitioned to undermine the rule of undivided loyalty by the ―disintegrating erosion‖ of particular exceptions. Only thus has the level of conduct for fiduciaries been kept at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd. 3


Caching improves the performance of a system by storing most used recently or frequently accessed data in an upper layer of the multilevel cache hierarchy, results in reducing the delay in I/O system. In parallel and distributed systems, blocks are placed in multilevel cache hierarchy for faster execution of the application. There are many policies; including Hint (information) based which try to improve the gap between various levels of a cache hierarchy in multilevel cache architecture. This information based policy i.e. HINT works on the basis of a number of recent promote and demote operations of cache blocks, i.e. it stores the latest information about the cache block and performs the shifting of cache blocks based on promote and demote operations in various levels of the cache hierarchy. This policy works well for the standalone application, where a number of promote and demote operations occurs rarely. But in a distributed or parallel system, this kind of policy is insufficient because of frequent promote and demote operations. In this paper, we proposed a novel multilevel cache management policy, which keeps a track record of the number of promote and demote operations took place with each cache block for promotion and demotion in a multilevel cache hierarchy. Apart from hint history promote and demote operation, we considered three more parameters for replacement of cache block from upper level to lower level and vice-versa. The proposed policy is able to identify the hot and cold data effectively. The Simulations results show that our proposed policy achieves better performance compared to existing well-known policies like LRU-K, MQ (Multi-Queue) and 2Q.


Some practical peculiarities of methods to recognize random signal are considered for non-traditional cases when there are both signals with unknown probabilistic characteristics and statistically defined signals are given for recognition. The novelty of the present work is that it considers the signal recognition problem solving with employing methods based on different probabilistic models like auto regression processes, mixtures of standard distributions and expansions of random signals with respect to orthogonal functions. Consideration is given to results of the applied signal recognition problem solving in the field of radar and radio monitoring.


The present paper reports the synthesis and characterization of poly (o‐toluidine) (POT) embedded with barium ferrite and reduced graphene oxide. Barium ferrite nanoparticles (BF) were prepared by citrate precursor technique. Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) from graphite powder was carried out by improved Hummer's method. Composite of poly (o‐toluidine) with barium ferrite and reduced graphene oxide (POT/BF/RGO) was synthesized by in‐situ polymerization method. The formulation shows total shielding effectiveness of 12.07 dB in the X‐band (8.4‐12.4 GHz) frequency range. Permeability and dielectric parameters have been calculated from the measured scattering parameters (S11, S22, S12, S21) using the Nicolson–Ross–Weir algorithm. The synthesized formulations were characterized using x‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy TEM, Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV‐Vis) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM).


melamine.5,5-dibromobarbituric acid, and melamine.barbituric acid) are presented. These particular components represent perturbations on the molecules that were previously used to construct crystallographic hydrogen-bonded tapes (Zerkowski, J. A.; MacDonald, J. C.; Seto, C. T.; Wierda, D. A.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994,116,2382). Four of the complexes pack in the solid state as linear tapes, while the diphenylmelamine.dimethylbarbituric acid complex packs as a crinkled tape due to the closer stacking of tapes permitted by the small methyl substituents. The triad of hydrogen bonds that forms tapes is apparently robust to this sort of variation, even though some of the substituents introduce noncovalent intertape interactions, such as halogen-nitrogen contacts, ionic forces, and other hydrogen bonds. The potential of such intertape interactions for designing crystalline architecture is discussed.


A variety of research efforts, using advanced wireless communication technologies, have been made to develop more reliable traffic information system. This study presents a novel decentralized traffic information system based on vehicle infrastructure integration (VII). A major objective of this study was also to devise a methodology for determining appropriate spacing of roadside equipment (RSE) to fully exploit the benefits of the proposed VII-based traffic information system. Evaluation of travel time estimation accuracy was conducted with various RSE spacings and the market penetration rates of equipped vehicle. A microscopic traffic simulator, VISSIM, was used to obtain individual vehicle travel information for the evaluation. In addition, the ANOVA tests were conducted to draw statistically significant results of simulation analyses in determining the RSE spacing. It is expected that the proposed methodology will be a valuable precursor to implementing capability-enhanced next generation traffic information systems under the forthcoming ubiquitous transportation environment.


Background:
 Cancer is an important yet understudied risk factor for ischemic stroke. We sought to examine the relationship between previous stroke and risk for future stroke in individuals newly diagnosed with cancer.

 Methods:
 Using a provincial administrative database, we conducted a population-based matched cohort study of adults in Ontario, Canada, from 2010-2019. Individuals with a new diagnosis of cancer and a history of ischemic stroke were matched (1:4) by age, sex, year of cancer diagnosis, cancer stage, and cancer site to cancer patients without a history of stroke. The cohort was followed until death, stroke, or March 31, 2020, whichever occurred first. Cumulative incidence function (CIF) curves were created for the incidence of stroke (primary outcome), with the date of cancer diagnosis as the index date. Sub-distribution adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, where death was treated as a competing event. We further stratified those with a history of stroke by the timing of their most recent stroke: 0-1 years, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, or 5-10 years. Regression analyses were adjusted for baseline characteristics.

 Results:
 We examined 65,525 individuals with a new diagnosis of cancer, including 13,105 with a history of ischemic stroke and 52,420 without; the incidence of stroke outcome following cancer diagnosis was 5.5% and 1.8%, respectively. Cancer patients with a history of previous stroke had an increased risk for stroke after cancer diagnosis compared to those without a history of stroke (aHR 2.70 95%CI [2.42-3.00]). Individuals with stroke within the preceding 1 year of the cancer diagnosis had the highest risk of recurrent stroke with aHR 3.64 (95%CI 3.17-4.17).

 Conclusion:
 Individuals who have a history of stroke prior to a diagnosis of cancer were more likely to suffer stroke after cancer diagnosis, especially if that stroke had occurred within the year preceding the cancer diagnosis. This finding has potentially important implications for advancing strategies to prevent stroke in patients with cancer.


We present a fast algorithm for depth segmentation. The algorithm uses pre-computed disparity maps to detect regions of the scene that are not at predetermined depths. The form of the algorithm allows it to take advantage of the single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) instruction set extensions that have recently become commonly available in consumer-grade microprocessors. We also present the application of the algorithm to the problem of detecting contact between a foreground object (a hand) and a geometrically static background (a display surface) in real-time video sequences. Due to the geometric nature of the segmentation algorithm, the touch detector is invariant to lighting, color, and motion. It threfore is applicable to interactive frontand back-projected displays. A simple extension to the algorithm allows for the background surface to be given analytically.


The present invention relates to the use of (endo, ren) - (-) - 3- (3-hydroxy-1-oxo-2-phenylpropoxy) -8- - (1-methylethyl) -8-azoniabicyclo [3,2,1] octane. These salts are suitable for airway therapy because they exhibit potent and sustained effects beyond expectations.


Abstract This article investigates the response of monetary policy to financial instability in China. We estimate a forward-looking Taylor rule model with a constructed comprehensive financial stress index using the time-varying coefficient method. Empirical results suggest that financial stability has always been a main concern for China's monetary authorities even in periods with low financial pressure. Moreover, China's central bank tends to lower the policy interest rate in response to financial instability, but the size of policy responses varies substantially over time. Although the proportion of policy interest rate change due to financial stability concern is less relative to developed countries, financial stability is increasing in importance for monetary policymaking in China. We also find that banking stress and stock-market stress are two main concerns for China's central bank, while little evidence supports that exchange-market stress can drive the reaction of China's central bank.


This paper presents initial results from the lab testing of a Ku-band cross-track interferometric downconverter designed for performing topographic and volumetric depth measurements. This interferometer will be used shortly in the field for measuring topography and to determine its capacity for estimating the volumetric depth of snow.


In this inaugural issue of the new SEM Quarterly, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) has asked us to provide an update on the first essay we authored in a series on strategic enrollment management (SEM) for College and University from 2008 through 2010. That essay was titled "Enrollment Management and Managing Enrollments: Setting the Context for Dialogue." In this updated essay, we have two goals: (1) to once again attempt to locate SEM and provide a context for enrollment management strategy and (2) to explore changes that have taken place in the last five years that we anticipate will significantly shape the future of SEM. In this essay, you will find much from our original article, as well as some updates, because in just five short years, much has changed.


Studying catalysts in situ is an important topic that helps us to understand their surface structure and electronic states in operation. Three types of materials are used in the deg- radation of organic matter, which has applications in the environmental remediation and self -cleaning surfaces. The technique is widely known but still hampered by one significant limitation. The materials generally absorb ultra violet UV light but we need to develop active materials for visible light. Utilizing the sunlight efficiently for solar energy conversion is an important demand in the present time. The research on visible-light active photocatalysts attracted a lot of interest. The perovskite-like compounds are found to be active catalysts for the oxidation of carbon monoxide. In the present chapter, we will focus on the application of the nano-sized strontium doped neodymium manganites within perovskite like structure as photocatalysis and studying their photocatalytic performance.


he Political atmosphere in Nigeria has been comparatively liberalized in T contrast to what obtained under military rule. Since democracy became the opium of the Nigerian Political System two decades ago, attempts have been made to deepen democracy and make it take a strong foothold in Nigeria political system. Scholars are of the opinion that the 1999 Political Process leaves much to be desired being that it was horridly packaged by the military. The 2003 and 2007 were worse off. This made the people politically disillusioned and apathetic. Events in the 2011 and 2015 General Elections however have increased political activism in Nigeria. The introduction of technology in electioneering process in Nigeria has brought along with it, a measure of credibility and transparency in elections. Notwithstanding, the inability of the INEC to automate the card reader such that allows voters to vote anywhere they are once they are accredited has disenfranchised many a Nigerian from Political Participation. Democracy is about participation and a product of sweat, toil, creativity, blood, and sacrice of millions of people across space and time in the human struggles for a better life. Therefore, to negate democracy and freedom of choice of the people is to negate this history of struggle and the contribution of these struggles to human progress and further advancement of these struggles to greater heights. To this extent, until the card reader is automated to allow voter to vote anywhere they are once they are accredited, the publicity on card reader as ground breaking in Nigerian political development is a farce.


This article will clarify the question of the Maqasid Shariah in waqf management. Basically, Islam strongly encourages infaq. One form of infaq is the waqf. An alternative for Muslims to infaq their property to the sabilillah, that is for the benefit of all beings. Allah putting maqasid shariah in every law of shariah. For this purpose, this article will explain on the waqf and its relation to Maqasid Shariah.


To the editor:

In chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), extensive data are available on the development of the 15 to 20 most common BCR-ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutations arising after imatinib treatment and their


Background and importance Misuse of antibiotics has been related to the emergence of multidrug resistant microorganisms which are related to worse outcome in infected patients. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) have been shown to improve antimicrobial use. Aim and objectives To describe the characteristics of antimicrobial prescriptions and analyse the impact of a specific ASP implemented in an oncology department. Material and methods A before and after ASP intervention was implemented in an oncology department in a tertiary hospital. Pre-intervention prescription characteristics were analysed through repeated point prevalence surveys in the previous year. The intervention was initiated in February 2019 based on a weekly ward round where non-tax advice was given to the oncologists about their active antibiotic prescriptions. Prescription features, rate of adherence to local guidelines and type and acceptance of the recommendations given to stop or de-escalate were recorded. Results A total of 62 and 73 prescriptions were included in the pre- and post-intervention periods. respectively. Table 1 describes the prescription characteristics in both periods. Adherence to local guidelines was 51% and 59% in the pre- and post-intervention periods, respectively (p=0.39).Abstract 4CPS-029 Table 1 Pre-intervention (n= 62) (n (%)) Post-intervention (n= 73) (n (%)) Men 38 (31) 44 (60) Age (years) (mean±SD) 62.18±11.5 63.78±10 Clinical syndrome Respiratory focus 15 (24) 16 (21) Urinary focus 11 (18) 5 (7) Unknown focus 10 (16) 8 (11) Intra-abdominal focus 8 (13) 8 (11) Febrile neutropenia 5 (8) 16 (22) Antimicrobials Piperacillin/tazobactam 16 (26) 22 (30) Amoxicillin/clavulanic 12 (19) 14 (19) Ceftriaxone 8 (12) 13 (18) Levofloxacin 6 (10) 4 (5) Fluconazole 5 (8) 2 (3) Adherence to guidelines 32 (51) 43 (59) In the intervention period, 26% of prescriptions were stopped and 12% de-escalated. Acceptance was 99%. Conclusion and relevance An ASP weekly intervention in the oncology department showed a slight increase in adherence to local antibiotic guidelines. Nevertheless, this improvement was not statistically significant due to the short follow-up period and small sample size. Further studies are required to corroborate this improvement. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


This chapter examines the negotiated experiences of a female international faculty of color teaching an intercultural communication course from the lens of intersecting cultural identities in the context of a prominently White institution in the United States.


A novel chelating chiral bis(formamidine–urea) ligand was synthesized and used to prepare the corresponding NiII and CuII complexes. Spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analysis of the former revealed that the urea moiety of the acyclic tetradentate ligand is deprotonated and binds to the square-planar Ni2+ ion through amide nitrogen atoms. This complex showed quasi-reversible redox behavior in cyclic voltammetry, with E1/2 = 640 mV vs. Cp2Fe+/Cp2Fe corresponding to the NiIII/NiII couple. The Cu complex was shown by EPR spectroscopy to also adopt a square-planar geometry [g∥ = 2.25 (A∥ = 184 G), g⟂ = 2.06 at 6 K], and reduction was found to be irreversible, perhaps due to the rigid nature of the tetradentate ligand. The nickel complex was found to be a modestly active catalyst for epoxidation of electron-richalkenes under Mukaiyama's conditions, likely involving a radical mechanism. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006)


The utility model provides a video terminal apparatus used in the desktop video conferencing for the image and audio compression coding, which includes an audio collection and analog-to-digital conversion module, a video collection and analog-to-digital conversion module, a video camera and CPU module, a video and audio compressed hybrid encoding module and a USB interface module, the output ends of the audio collection and analog-to-digital conversion module and the video collection and analog-to-digital conversion module are respectively connected with the input ends of the video and audio compressed hybrid encoding module, the video and audio compressed hybrid encoding module is connected with the CPU module by a bus, the output end of the CPU module is connected with the input end of the USB interface module. The video and audio compressed hybrid encoding module can be connected with the CPU module by an FIFO buffer. The utility model is mainly applied in electric utility, public security, banks, transportation and enterprises and government units with the video conferencing system requirements.


This paper provides an analysis of mechanical balance beam deformation in the inertial mass measurement experiment since 2012. The relation between the applied test masses and three types of mechanical elastic deformation of the balance beam, i.e. the changes of rotational inertia, beam length and mass center, are discussed. It is found that changes in the rotational inertia and beam length are high order small quantities of the test mass, and a mechanically optimized balance beam which has good mechanical strength and a light structure is adopted to decrease the influence of the two types of deformation. The mass center change, being proportional to the test mass, has the most impact and can be compensated by a novel mass center compensation approach. Simulations and experiments confirm the effectiveness of the new balance beam and the mass center compensation method. It is emphasized that the analysis of the beam deformation in this paper can also be applied in other experiments where mechanical deformation of the balance beam needs to be considered.


We review in this paper several statistical methods, speci cally tailored for Markov processes with a view towards their extremal behavior. Precisely, this paper proposes some statistical inference tools for extremal events from a regeneration theory angle.Indeed, Harris Markov chains may be decomposed into independent regeneration cycles, namely data segments between consecutive regeneration times τ1, τ2, . . . (i.e. random times at which the chain forgets its past). Working on this approach, the methodology proposed in this paper boils down to split up the observed sample path into regeneration data blocks (or into data blocks drawn from a distribution approximating the regeneration cycle's distribution, in the general case when regeneration times cannot be observed). Then, the analysis boils down to examining the sequence of maxima over the resulting data segments, as if they were i.i.d. We focus on the estimation of the extremal dependence index and the tail index. We illustrate the method on two examples taken from the insurance and nance literature, ruin models and times series exhibiting smooth threshold and/or strong conditional heteroscedasticity. An illustration of the estimation methods to the CAC40 shows the potential of regenerative tools for real data applications.


AIMS
We used epidemiological modelling to assess whether nicotine vaccines would be a cost-effective way of preventing smoking uptake in adolescents.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS
We built an epidemiological model using Australian data on age-specific smoking prevalence; smoking cessation and relapse rates; life-time sex-specific disability-adjusted life years lived for cohorts of 100,000 smokers and non-smokers; government data on the costs of delivering a vaccination programme by general practitioners; and a range of plausible and optimistic estimates of vaccine cost, efficacy and immune response rates based on clinical trial results. We first estimated the smoking uptake rates for Australians aged 12-19 years. We then used these estimates to predict the expected smoking prevalence in a birth cohort aged 12 in 2003 by age 20 under (i) current policy and (ii) different vaccination scenarios that varied in cost, initial vaccination uptake, yearly re-vaccination rates, efficacy and a favourable vaccine immune response rate.

FINDINGS
Under the most optimistic assumptions, the cost to avert a smoker at age 20 was $44,431 [95% confidence interval (CI) $40,023-49,250]. This increased to $296,019 (95% CI $252,307-$355,930) under more plausible scenarios. The vaccine programme was not cost-effective under any scenario.

CONCLUSIONS
A preventive nicotine vaccination programme is unlikely to be cost-effective. The total cost of a universal vaccination programme would be high and its impact on population smoking prevalence negligible. For these reasons, such a programme is unlikely to be publicly funded in Australia or any other developed country.


Security constrained unit commitment (SCUC) is becoming a key calculation in modern electric energy markets. This calculation extends conventional unit commitment (UC) to include the pre- and post-contingency constraints of the power transmission network. Such constraints complicate the problem considerably, and much work remains to be done to implement them satisfactorily. This paper offers a discussion of the analytical and computational challenges that they pose


We numerically analyzed the refractive index sensing performance of the two-dimensional array of plasmonic V-shaped grooves. The structural parameters are optimized to show a sharp and large reflectance dip with desired sensing region (n=1.33). Acquiring the sensitivity of the environmental refractive index as 400 nm/RIU in the visible region, FWHM of the dip is ∼5 nm. It shows that the proposed structure has extreme value of quality factor and good extinction ratio. The localized mode has the hot spot at the bottom of the grooves so that localized sensing based on magnetic field enhancement is possible. Moreover, the localized mode is dependent on the tapered angle of the grooves, not the opening ratio. The performance of the dual V-shaped grooves is also discussed. The array of the closely located grooves has nearly identical reflectance spectra but a moderate amount of dip shift exists. As well as obtaining refractive index sensing by this configuration, magnetic field hot spot generation by coherent excitation can be applied to highly localized sensing and enhancing nonlinear processes.


"PUFFS OF SMOKE, PUFFS OF PRAISE": RECONSIDERING JOHN EVELYN'S FUMIFUGIUM (1661) Books tend to be seen as the packaging unit for ideas, and thus are read and evaluated for their content. As scholars writing on l'histoire du livre have demonstrated, however, a "book" is not a static entity, nor is its production as neat and definable a process as the finished item might suggest.(1) While ideas contained in a book can transcend the boundaries set by its form, here we will take a more unusual tack to argue the mere existence of a book might transcend the significance of its contents. This article focuses on one seventeenth-century text, and uses the printing context of interregnum England to cast a significant side-light on the circumstances of this book's production and thus on the status-as-object of the printed book itself. Books are at the centre of the interchange between author and reader. Yet even before the binder's contribution, the book is also an object, something which, at the end of its production, assumes between its end-plates a discrete identity of its own. We need, therefore, to consider its status as an object, and even its utility as an object (whether as a door-stop or a presser of flowers), and to assess this dimension against the purpose toward which any book is written by an author, or printed by a printer. The teleological dimension of the book-as-object assumes a different importance in a culture where patronage is essential to personal security or prosperity, where a patron may be sought as well as recognized through the dedication of a particular book, as through any other objet d'art.(2) Especially in a time when panegyric literature was commonplace, as it was from the early years of printing through to the Restoration in England, there is value in considering the dimension of book-as-object, where its significance may have more to do with the fact of its existence than with the merit of its contents. John Evelyn's Fumifugium; or, The Inconveniencie of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated (1661) is an example both of how books considered as objects might illuminate the practice of printing in seventeenth-century England, and of how the initial significance of a book's content can be misjudged when its status as a manufactured object is overlooked. An examination of the printing context of Fumifugium reveals that the book was written and printed on the heels of the Restoration to gain favour with King Charles II and, while that purpose seems to have been realized, its contents were less significant even at the time than a puff of the London smoke Evelyn wanted to dissipate. Only much later (and outside of its intended context of the court of Charles II) has this piece been lauded for what Evelyn actually said in it about the nature of air and its pollution. Because John Evelyn's Diary (first published in 1818) is a valuable source for the social history of seventeenth-century England,(3) his other works bask in largely reflected glory. Fumifugium (1661) is one such book, among the thirty books and pamphlets he wrote during his lifetime.(4) It appeared in one quarto edition in 1661, in two issues, and was not reprinted until 1772, long after Evelyn's death.(5) One of his other works, Sylva (on the reforestation of estates), by comparison, sold over one thousand copies in less than two years and went through three editions in six years.(6) The preface of Fumifugium is dated 1 May 1661, and Evelyn records his presentation of a copy to King Charles II (to whom it is dedicated) on 14 September 1661.(7) Fumifugium was reprinted in 1772 and several times early in the twentieth century, each time being used to illustrate contemporary debates on air quality. The editor of the 1772 edition, Samuel Pegge, diffidently referred to Evelyn's suggestions for cleaner air in London, noting how conditions had worsened, while its next two printings, in the early 1930s, were part of a controversy about smoke disposal related to the Chelsea power station, and the 1933 edition was printed for the National Smoke Abatement Society. …


D2‐type dopamine receptors are major recognition sites for antipsychotic drugs. There are two splice variants: D2S and D2L with an additional 29 amino acid sequence in the third intracellular loop. Only little comparative information is hitherto available about their pharmacological properties and none of these studies dealt with intact cell systems. This prompted us to investigate the binding properties of [3H]‐raclopride, a hydrophilic benzamide, and [3H]‐spiperone, a highly hydrophobic butyrophenone, to intact CHO cells expressing recombinant human D2L‐receptors. Presently, we have repeated and extended this experimental approach to the human D2S‐receptors in the same cell system. Except for a slower dissociation of [3H]‐spiperone from D2S, the binding properties of these and other antagonists were not significantly different for both isoforms (P > 0.05). The very slow dissociation of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine was surprising in light of its low affinity. Two experiments pointed out the existence of non‐competitive interactions between raclopride and spiperone for D2S as well as D2L (A. Packeu, J. P. De Backer & G. Vauquelin, in preparation). Alongside the different physicochemical properties of these ligands, this finding fits with a model wherein the hydrophilic raclopride approaches the D2L‐receptor from the aqueous phase, while the hydrophobic spiperone approaches the receptor by lateral diffusion between the membrane lipids. These different modes of approach could imply the existence of topologically distinct ligand binding sites at D2‐receptors.


In this article we consider the connectors marking the consecutive relations in the sentence, and the way they are devided on the semantic-cognitive level.


ABSTRACT Drought is a major stressor that severely hampers the production of many important crops. The short arm of rye (Secale cereale) chromosome 1 contains favourable stress-resistance alleles and is thus widely used in wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding to generate 1BL.1RS translocation lines. In this study, 1BL.1RS-specific drought-responsive genes were identified using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. Among the 144 transcript-derived fragments (TDF) differentially expressed in the 1BL.1RS line, we identified the function and chromosomal position of 84 TDF using public databases. Real-time PCR was performed to validate the results of cDNA-AFLP, and four TDF were significantly up-regulated. Furthermore, we developed two wheat-rye translocation-specific markers by comparing the TDF from the short arms of wheat and rye chromosome 1. One is specific to 1BL.1RS and the other is specific to 1AL.1RS and 1BL.1RS. Combinational use of both markers will be helpful to breed wheat possessing 1RS.


Objective To investigate the effects of emodin on intestinal mucosal barrier in rat after intestinal ischemia reperfusion.Methods Forty-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups:sham control group(S),model group(IR),model+saline group(IRS),model+emodin group(IRE).40mg/(kg·d) emodin was administrated intragastrically in IRE group for 7 days.The same volume saline was administrated intragastrically in IRS group.2 hours after last administration.We established intestinal ischemia reperfusion model.Pathological changes of intestinal tissues and damages of tight junction were observed respectively by using a light microscopy and a transmission electron microscopy in each group.Degree of injury to intestinal mucosa was evaluated by Chius assessment.Intestinal mucosal apoptotic index was measured by TUNEL staining.Semi-quantitative assessment of Claudin-1 and Occludin was measured by Western Blot.Results Pathological intestinal damages and tight junction damages were much lighter in IRE group than in IR group and IRS group.Degree of injury to intestinal mucosa and intestinal mucosal apoptotic index were significantly lower in IRE group than in IR group and IRS group(all P0.05).Contents of Claudin-1 and Occludin were significantly higher in IRE group than in IR group and IRS group(all P0.05).Conclusion Emodin can alleviate intestinal pathological damages,reduce cell apoptosis,protect intercellular tight junction and intestinal mucosal barrier in intestinal ischemia reperfusion rats.


This paper introduces a new, cost-effective and compact DGS ring resonator for breast cancer detection, it was designed and fabricated with a size of 15 mm × 15 mm, it was fabricated on a Roger 4003 substrate, a model of a breast with 10 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm tumor was created using CST Microwave studio, the detection process depends on the essentials of electrical material properties that the existence of tumor lead to shifting in resonant frequency. From the simulation results shifting in resonant frequency used for constructing a 29×29 matrix with 841 pixels, this matrix converted to a 2D image for the breast with tumor tissue, this 2D image identifies clearly the existence of the tumor.


Cattle raised on 10% flax have much more omega‐3 fatty acids in muscle compared to those fed corn. We tested whether there were any health benefits to this increased level of omega‐3 fatty acids by feeding diets composed of rib eye steaks from corn fed or 10% flax fed cattle in male rats. Sprague‐Dawley rats at 3 weeks of age were fed one of two diets, with an n of 10 in each group. The contained 10% fat from the cooked rib eye steaks, using a modification of the AIN‐77 diet, for a 5 week period. Total serum cholesterol was markedly reduced in the rats fed flax fed beef compared to the corn fed beef. Serum vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 (VCAM‐1) levels were significantly reduced in rats from the flax fed group, but C‐reactive protein and intracellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1) levels did not differ. The changes corresponded to increased levels of docohexanoic acid in the membrane phospholipids of flax fed rat hearts and liver and decreased arachidonic acid levels in the hearts. The changes in fatty acid composition of the phospholipid fraction demonstrated that feeding beef from cattle fed flax can alter the fatty acid composition of membrane phospholipids favorably and at the same time lower blood cholesterol and vasoactive adhesion molecules implicated in platelet aggregation. A human study is warranted on the basis of these findings to determine if feeding practices of livestock such as cattle can lead to a more healthy food product.


The subject of this paper is to explore the main factors which influence the effective function performance of local governments.The paper complies with empirical research approach,and applies investigation research and statistical analysis method.The research conclusion indicates that of the six influential factors,the imperfect legal system is a strong factor,the most influential one;the moderate quality of public servants and unallocated financial aids are the medium influential factors;poor material perquisites and deficient awareness of modern technology are the weak factors.Moreover,the awareness of the influential strength of the six factors varies respectively with regions,levels of governments,academic degrees and administrative positions.


In two patients undergoing alveolar osteotomies, occlusal and functional relationships were maintained after surgery by prefabricated arch bars. Alveolar osteotomies were performed in two patients. The use of prefabricated maxillary and mandibular arch bars maintained occlusal and functional relationships and eliminated the need for intermaxillary fixation and a long period of immobilization.


Objective:The present study was designed to use cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with hypoxia-reoxygenation(H/R) to mimic in vivo ischemia-reperfusion injury(I/R),and investigate the protective mechanism of fuzi polymccharide in cardiomyocytes against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury through metallothionein.Method:Cultured rat myocardial cells were divided into four groups:control,H/R,and fuzi polymccharide treatment groups.The cells in H/R group were incubated primarily in hypoxic buffer solution for 3 hours,thereafter,these cells were incubated for 6 hours in normal culture medium.The cells in fuzi polymccharide treatment group were cultured in medium added with 10.0,1.0,0.1 g·L-1 fuzi polymccharide for 24 hours before H/R.metallothionein of cardiomyocytes was measured by ELIZA,cell apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was measured by flow cytometry,MDA of cardiomyocytes and LDH in cell culture media were also measured.Result:As compared with H/R group,pretreatment with high and moderate dose of fuzi polymccharide increased the synthesis of metallothionein,decreased the synthesis of MDA and release of LDH.High dose of fuzi polymccharide decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis.Conclusion:These data suggest that fuzi polymccharide pretreatment can protect cardiomyocytes from H/R injury.The mechanism is related to its enhancement of metallothionein synthesis,scavenging of oxygen free radical,and thus protection against apoptosis.


During the past 25 years, the use of genetic approaches has contributed substantially to the understanding of skeletal development and growth. Identification of mutations responsible for a large number of human osteochondrodysplasias and dysostoses (Mundlos and Olsen 1997a,b) has provided insights into the roles not only of individual genes, but also of entire developmental pathways. The correlation of clinical phenotypes with molecular alterations has allowed analyses of structure-function relationships. Coupled with studies of the phenotypic consequences of gene mutations in inbred mouse strains, and more recently also in zebrafish, such analyses have resulted in deep insights into the genetic mechanisms that underlie skeletal assembly, growth, maintenance, and functions. SKELETAL DEVELOPMENT AND GENETIC DISORDERS The vertebrate skeleton is the product of mesenchymal cells (osteochondroprogenitors of cartilage-forming chondrocytes and bone-forming osteoblasts) derived from cranial neural crest, paraxial mesoderm, and lateral plate mesoderm (Olsen et al. 2000). Bone marrow-derived myeloid cells are the progenitors for bone- and cartilage-resorbing cells, called osteoclasts. Neural crest cells give rise to the branchial arch derivatives of the craniofacial skeleton, paraxial mesoderm contributes to both the craniofacial and the axial skeleton, and the lateral plate mesoderm supplies progenitor cells for the limb skeleton (Fig. 1). Progenitor cells from these sources migrate into the regions in which future bones are formed, condense into elements of high cellular density, and differentiate into either osteoblasts or chondrocytes. Osteoblastic differentiation, followed by synthesis of bone extracellular matrix, occurs in regions of membranous ossification, such as the calvarium of the skull, the maxilla,...


This chapter introduces EMC installation for variable speed drive systems. As an introduction, EMC standards have been mentioned in order to define the requirements characteristics, besides the fundamentals of static, electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields. Both inductive and capacitive coupling have been discussed to deal with shielding. Finally, VSDS emission and electromagnetic interferences were studied with installation requirement in VSDS (supply cables, cable between converter and motor, control cables, earthing requirements, and grounding).