Levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) have been positively associated with measures of adiposity, cardiovascular disease and mortality. It is unclear whether the relationship of FGF23 with cardiovascular disease and mortality is confounded by obesity. We aimed to determine whether FGF23 concentrations decline following a reduction in adiposity after sleeve gastrectomy (SG).


A composite desulphurization tower of absorption, oxidation and concentration which discloses a device which absorbs and oxides the SO in smoke, concentrates generated ammonium sulfate solutions and recycles chemical fertilizer of the ammonium sulfate comprises an absorption passage, wherein, a defogging passage on the absorption passage produces purified smoke; a smoke outlet on the defogging passage discharges the purified smoke; a cooling passage under the absorption passage is used to make the desulphurization smoke go into the desulphurization tower to be humidified and cooled to produce mild thiamine solutions; an oxidative passage under the cooling passage is provided with a compressed air inlet and a plurality of stirring devices are uniformly distributed on the periphery of the oxidative passage to uniform the mixed solution and make the generated mild thiamine solution through absorption oxide into thiamine solutions; an ammonia inlet is arranged on the oxidative passage which is connected with an absorption circulating pump to send the generated absorption circulating liquid to the absorption passage; the oxidative passage is connected with an ammonium sulfate discharging pump to send out the ammonium sulfate to produce the products of ammonium sulfate after going through the subsequent processing procedures. The utility model has the advantages of high desulphurization efficiency, high utilization efficiency of absorbents, saving energy and no secondary pollution.


Australian Rainfall Runoff (ARR) (1987) recommended a number of regional flood frequency estimation (RFFE) techniques to estimate design floods in ungauged catchments in Australia. These include Probabilistic Rational Method (PRM) for eastern New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, and Index Flood Method (IFM) for western NSW. The PRM method uses a probabilistic runoff co-efficient map based on linear geographical interpolation, while the criterion of regional homogeneity required by the IFM method is rarely satisfied for Australian regional flood data. Recent studies on regression-based RFFE techniques have demonstrated that these can provide quite accurate flood quantile estimates in Australia using only a few predictor variables. Two regression-based methods, Quantile Regression Technique (QRT) and Parameter Regression Technique (PRT) have been tested recently in Australia. The QRT develops regression equation for individual quantile; however, PRT develops regression equations of the parameters of a probability distribution. For example, in the case log-Pearson Type 3 (LP3) distribution, the PRT develops regression equations for mean, standard deviation and skew of the logarithms of annual maximum flood series data. This study presents a comparison between the PRT and QRT methods for NSW State in Australia using data from 96 small to medium sized gauged catchments. Out of 96 catchments, 12 are selected randomly as test catchments to make an independent validation of the PRT and QRT methods. The results show that both the PRT and QRT perform very similarly, with relative error values in the range of 36% to 45%. Further studies using data from different geographical regions of Australia need to be conducted before recommending an appropriate RFFE method for application in Australia.


The experiment was carried out to evaluate the use of Leucaena leucocephala and Cajanus cajan as protein sources, during the dry season for lambs grazing on buffel grass pastures. Nine experimental treatments resulting from the combination among three types of pasture (buffel grass, buffel grass+Cajanus cajan, and buffel grass+leucaena) and three stocking rates (4, 6 and 10 lambs/ ha) were tested. Eighteen paddocks (two replicates of pastures per treatment) of 0.5 ha were used. Sixty lambs with 19.4 kg live weight at the beginning of the experiment were allocated to pastures with water and mineral supplement offered ad libitum. Animal liveweight was recorded at 14 day-intervals after 16 hours of fasting. Lambs on the pasture of buffel grass+leucaena showed good performance with no variation in daily liveweight gain rate, when the stocking rate increased from 4 to 6 animals/ha. Buffel grass+Cajanus cajan pasture did not improve animal performance as compared to buffel grass pasture. It was concluded that leucaena, used as protein supplement, can improve the quality of buffel grass pastures.


In the era of artificial intelligence, translation market puts forward the new requirements for translation talents in translation technology. Nowadays, the cultivation of translation talents is far from meeting the needs of the market in translation technology. Therefore, it is urgent to for higher education institutes to cultivate the translation technology competence of translation talents. Taking South China Business College of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies as an example, this research carries out a teaching reform of the course Computer-aided Translation (CAT) for undergraduate students majoring in Translation. Supported by the translation projects, this paper conducts an empirical-experimental study on "campus class", "enterprise class " and "research and learning" from the perspectives of translation competence model by the PACTE group. The research results finds that teaching reform and innovation of the Course by the fusion of education and industry is of great practical significance to the training of application-oriented translation talents.


BackgroundPsoriasis is a chronic skin condition that can decrease the level of self-esteem, leading to self-devaluation, emotional distress, irrational beliefs and discomfort in everyday life. In this study, we aimed to provide a deeper understanding of lifestyle satisfaction and to identify the nature and magnitude of irrational beliefs in patients with psoriasis.Material and methodsA two-year case-control study was carried out between 2010 and 2012. The study enrolled 100 consecutive patients with psoriasis vulgaris, admitted to a dermatology clinic and 101 healthy volunteers with similar demographic characteristics, willing to subject themselves to the testing. A series of standardized questionnaires were used, including: The Anamnestic Questionnaire, The General Attitudes and Beliefs Scale - Short version, The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, The Self-Efficacy Scale and The Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire.ResultsThe tests revealed a strong correlation between the presence of the disease and the decrease of subject's satisfaction regarding: body satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, social satisfaction, family satisfaction, professional satisfaction and satisfaction concerning their own health condition; p<0.01. There were highly significant differences with a large effect regarding the level of irrational beliefs between the two groups of subjects (p<0.01; f > 0.35).ConclusionThe focus on psychological impacts of the disease provides important data for a holistic approach to patients with psoriasis. Effective cooperation between all the parties involved (physicians, family and social network) is necessary to improve the patient's psychological status.


These lectures discuss the substructure of the nucleon, first on the scale of 1 fermi and then at much shorter distances. We review relevant features of the quark model and introduce Quantum Chromodynamics and the idea of a running coupling. Recent data involving polarized protons is discussed in this framework, and an outlook is presented for future experiments relating to the spin substructure of the nucleon.


Among many molecular imaging modalities, Bioluminescence tomography (BLT) is an important optical molecular imaging modality. Due to its unique advantages in specificity, sensitivity, cost-effectiveness and low background noise, BLT is widely studied for live small animal imaging. Since only the photon distribution over the surface is measurable and the photo propagation with biological tissue is highly diffusive, BLT is often an ill-posed problem and may bear multiple solutions and aberrant reconstruction in the presence of measurement noise and optical parameter mismatches. For many BLT practical applications, such as early detection of tumors, the volumes of the light sources are very small compared with the whole body. Therefore, the L1-norm sparsity regularization has been used to take advantage of the sparsity prior knowledge and alleviate the ill-posedness of the problem. Iterative shrinkage (IST) algorithm is an important research achievement in a field of compressed sensing and widely applied in sparse signal reconstruction. However, the convergence rate of IST algorithm depends heavily on the linear operator. When the problem is ill-posed, it becomes very slow. In this paper, we present a sparsity regularization reconstruction method for BLT based on the two-step iterated shrinkage approach. By employing Two-step strategy of iterative reweighted shrinkage (IRS) to improve IST, the proposed method shows faster convergence rate and better adaptability for BLT. The simulation experiments with mouse atlas were conducted to evaluate the performance of proposed method. By contrast, the proposed method can obtain the stable and comparable reconstruction solution with less number of iterations.


Corporate governance has received a lot of attention in India because of the scandals that have taken place in the corporate world in the last two decades. Investors are also concerned over the relationship between corporate governance and performance indicators. In this context, our study empirically examines the impact of corporate governance on firm performance for Indian firms for the period 2001-2010. We utilize a range of measures of corporate governance including board size, outside directors, number of meetings held and firm performance variables covering both market-based and financial indicators. For empirical analysis, different specifications like fixed effects and simultaneous equation method have been employed for the robustness of the results. Findings of the analysis suggest that corporate governance has a significant impact on firm performance.


Before introducing the contents of BAT 2 (1), we'd like to introduce a topic for debate. Over the next several issues, the Behavior Analysis Today is welcoming a community debate on the certification of behavior analysts. Certification has both pros and cons. Both sides have critical points to contribute to the debate. We want to hear your views. We will print both sides of the issue. Here's our starter conversation. Of course there are several other costs and benefits to credentialing and licensure and we hope you will write us with your thoughts (e-mail BOTH email@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com). One concern is that certification may hinder development in the field. The greatest fear here is that once behavior analysis becomes systematized into briefer trainings, limited written exams, and treatment manuals that it will no longer innovate so that our technology becomes self-justifying and stagnant. In this way, certification could lead to calcification of our practices, which may become disconnected, from its roots in basic principles and ongoing research. This is an issue that worries much of the community and is why credentialing took a while to get here. It is our belief that through continued communication in all formats, this pitfall can be avoided. How does one hear about and disseminate innovations? Through talking to colleagues in and out of our discipline, taking and presenting data on our work, always teaching basic principles along with technology, reading journals, attending conferences, and more. Indeed, it may be that by highlighting the importance of behavior analysis through the certification process, more money will flow into its research and development and allow us to flourish. On the other side of the issue are the benefits of increased recognition of our field through certification by parents, professionals and institutions (as well as increased ability to self-regulate quality). However, this recognition can function as a double-edged sword. One event exemplifying the stimulus control that the BCBA generates occurred last year to the second author. While on doctoral internship interviews, a common theme emerged: at some point in the interview, (usually within the first 3-5 minutes of arrival), the interviewer would make a statement like, "we want to know if you are open to other approaches. We are worried that you might be too behavioral." Their prompt was the proud acknowledgment of my certification at the top of my resume. The first author recalls a behavior analytic professor relaying a similar story within the academic arena prompted by an abundance of publications in behavior analytic journals; this professor recommended not labeling oneself as a "behavior analyst" and when asked, to first probe the interviewer as to what they mean by the term, giving you the opportunity to disavow and dispel myths. WHAT TO DO? One solution would be to walk away from psychology, standing as our own discipline--certification, and perhaps our own licensing eventually, may help by allowing us to become a discipline that others feel the intellectual need to get to know. Nothing succeeds like success. The idea is that if we remain separate and successful, people will come to us to learn what we do. Less radical is to push within APA for the development of more behavioral psychology programs. This way our programs will compete in open market with other psychology programs. Both routes could lessen the intellectual bigotry that our students contend with everyday. One of our aims with BAT is to improve communication and foster innovation within the field. We cover a range of issues relevant to the practicing behavior analyst in each issue from politics to new research, literature reviews to best practice guidelines, organizational updates and behavior management topics to personal experiences as practicing behavior analysts. …


Alpha1-antitrypsin is an important neutrophil elastase inhibitor that protects lung tissue from the destructive effects of neutrophil elastase released by degranulating neutrophils. In addition to the liver, local production by macrophages and airway and alveolar epithelial cells may contribute to the formation of an anti-elastase screen in the lung. The Z mutation (E342K) of α1-antitrypsin, compromising over 95% of the α1-antitrypsin deficiency patients, causes subtle misfolding of the protein that permits polymer formation and accumulation within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of hepatocytes leading to plasma deficiency. This causes hepatic cirrhosis and early-onset lung emphysema. The discovery of ZZ polymers in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid and pulmonary tissue and their identification many years after liver transplantation led to the proposal that pulmonary pathology could be induced by polymers. Overexpression of Z α1-antitrypsin is known to induce polymer formation, prime cells for an exaggerated ER stress response upon a second hit and initiate NF-κB signalling. However, whether endogenous expression in primary bronchial epithelial cells and monocyte-derived macrophages has similar consequences remained unclear. This thesis concentrate on these specific questions. In addition, we focused on the ER stress response induced by P.aeruginosa as a possible second hit in α1-antitrypsin deficiency


Antibacterial activities of the fruit extract of two varieties (Green and red varieties) of water chestnut by the disc diffusion method from methanol extract were studied. The extract of red variety of water chestnut showed high antibacterial potential (31mm) against Bacillus subtilis with the concentration of 600. On the other hand, green variety showed highest antibacterial activities (12mm) against both Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella sonnei with the concentration of 600g kanamycin used as standard. In this disc diffusion assay, the methanol extract of red variety was found to have a significant antibacterial efficiency than the extract of green variety of water chestnut. These findings pinpoint the efficiency of these extracts to inhibit microbial growth. It may lead to the development of a new phyto-medicine.


This study evaluated frost-related damage and benefits of cold acclimation during the reproductive phase in canola. Plants were exposed to cold acclimation and frost simulation at the start of flowering, during full flowering, and at the start of grain filling. The following were evaluated: plant mortality, number of viable ovules and silique abortion, floral buds and flowers, number of silique grains, total plant dry matter, number of siliques, total silique abortion, and grain dry matter. Frost caused death in non-acclimated plants and increased abortion in siliques, floral buds, and flowers, thus reducing silique and grain dry matter content. Frost mostly prevented the development of embryos in the siliques, but viable ovules were found in the floral buds and flowers. During their reproductive phase, canola plants have only a limited ability to increase their tolerance to frost damage. Nonetheless, siliques originating from the floral buds and open flowers contained a higher number of grains than siliques after frost exposure. Therefore, from the start of flowering to the start of grain filling, floral buds and flowers are responsible for producing most of the grain dry matter when there is frost occurrence.


Combined catamnestic studies were made in 310 individuals 16 to 80 years old with a history of mild closed craniocerebral injury (MCCCI) for their health status. Of these, 200 subjects had, prior to MCCCI, arterial hypertension, chronic first-second degree cerebrovascular insufficiency, gastric and duodenal ulcer, chronic cholecystitis, hepatocholecystitis, gastroduodenitis. In a catamnestic follow-up 1 year following MCCCI many patients exhibited abnormal psychoneurologic and vegetovisceral changes. Prognostic factors have been derived for late outcomes of MCCCI using A. Val'd's sequential analysis.


This research deals with engineering and environmental problems in karst in a geological context. In this study, geologic and geomagnetic investigations have been applied at the site of Bayer dam and revealed severe shallow karstic processes prevailing in the limestone bedrock – under a three meters thick alluvium cover – which forms the unsealed floor of the dam. The measurements done on groundwater of local ancient shallow dug wells in the surrounding of the dam showed the occurrence of fresh water which was attributed to the leakage that took place. The named wells have been known previously to be dry. The quality of the collected water in the shallow aquifer is prone to drinking purposes. Saturation indices of minerals point to that the leaked water is under-saturated with respect to calcite, gypsum, aragonite, magnesite, dolomite and anhydrite. This emphasizes that more leakage of water through the narrow passages of joints and fissures in the rocks will accelerate karstic processes in the area. This enhances the secondary permeability of the shallow aquifer and calls for groundwater artificial recharge in the area, but on the other hand and with the presence of the prevailing cavities it threatens the dam, unless scientific solutions are found.


The service government is the government management mode from traditional to modern important shift,such a change should have the following basic conditions: firstly,service-oriented government should be a goodwill for the government;Secondly,should be honest and efficient government;Thirdly,should be a legal norms of government;Fourthly,should be a transparent government.Using the network environment construct service-oriented government,has the important practical significance,such as the Internet can reduce the government's operation cost and can save handle affairs personnel of time and energy;Can improve the government decision-making scientific standards.At present,using network environment to construct the serving the government,at least need to build five network platform,namely the information data platform,the administrative examination platform,supervision and evaluation platform,online govern-communication platform,etc.Building the service government under the network environment,it needs government and its staff to change the traditional administrative concept,completes the funds,personnel and technology guarantee work,take some concrete measures to carry out.


Summary Self-harm remains an important public health problem and two sets of clinical guidelines have been published recently. While these include elements of accepted good practice they are not evidence-based. Further research might concentrate on either very large trials of low-intensity interventions or smaller trials of longer-term psychological treatments. The current management of self-harm may be improved by shifting professionals' views, involving users in staff training, and changing service provision – perhaps moving from risk assessment to needs assessment.


Idiopathic macular holes have been recognized since 1869 when Knapp described a break in the macula. The ophthalmoscopic findings at that time suggested that retina was torn in such a way that there was no treatment. This paradigm lasted until 1989 when there were reports at various meetings that vitrectomies had been tried in an effort to repair idiopathic macular holes. In 1991, the first published report of macular hole surgery appeared. Since that time, considerable advancement has been made in the surgical technique to repair macular holes. In accord with these advancements and new surgical techniques, the success rates of macular hole repair have gone up. This chapter reviews the current stance in the literature, particularly over the last 2 years when significant advancement has been made, regarding these new techniques.


The purpose of this research was to understand if the family or business tension of Dual Role Managers (DRM) is different than that of Single Role Managers (SRM) of family business, and the influence of various adjustment strategies that could affect family and business success. A related goal was to understand the impact of gender on family business managers' success. The study relied on data collected from 294 households collected at two time points--the 1997 Wave 1 and 2000 Wave 2 survey panels from the National Family Business Study (NFBS). In the NFBS, the household manager was identified as the person who takes care of most meal preparation, laundry, cleaning, scheduling and family activities, and oversees child care. Therefore DRM were both household manager and business manager for the family business. Prior research has not analyzed the potential influence of family business adjustment strategies for influencing conflict and tension that may vary between DRM and SRM and also predict family or business success. The causal model developed for the study posited that adjustment strategies established in Wave 1 influence tensions in Wave 2 that affect both family and business goal attainment. The main interest concerned whether DRM versus SRM status moderates the causal process, which was tested by comparing multiple regression coefficients for DRM/SRM subgroups. Multiple regression analysis procedures involved estimating the effects of adjustments on tensions, and also the effects of tensions and adjustments directly for family business success. Other predictors of family business success included family system and business system contextual variables such as managers' characteristics and business size. Family success measures included family income, a scale for family functionality, and another scale for family goal achievement. Business success measures were business profit, perceptions of business success reported by the business manager, and another subjective measure concerning business goal achievement. By selecting those regression models that were statistically significant, six causal models for family business success were developed with path analysis. For DRM there was support for the hypothesis that tensions decrease family business success (family functionality, family goal achievement, and business goal achievement). However tension decreased SRM success only for family functionality, which suggested that DRM seemed to be more easily influenced by tension level for family business success than SRM. The effects of DRM adjustment strategies were more positive for family functionality than for SRM: for SRM the adjustment strategy of reallocating family resources to business increases unfairness tension and thus indirectly reduces family


Rock-art is a powerful and theoretically informed artefact that allows non-rock-art producing people an understanding of the worldview of the rock-artists. But the flow of information in such rock-art researches – 'us' observing 'them' via 'their' artefacts is often asymmetrical and can be disempowering to the rock-art-producing individuals and communities past and present. Fortunately, rock-art is also able to balance and even reverse this asymmetry. For example, there are certain 'contact' period Bushman rock engravings and rock paintings in southern Africa that were produced at and after the time of the colonisation of southern Africa by non-Bushmen. Some of the power relations between indigenes and colonists are made explicit in the form of rock-paintings and rock-engravings. Specifically, much of this rock-art shows how the Bushmen imagined and imaged the colonists.


In a sample of 140 HIV-positive immigrant Latino gay men, we tested a mediational model of the impact of sociocultural factors (i.e., poverty, discrimination, and U.S. acculturation) on active engagement of health-promoting behaviors (i.e., practicing good health habits). The role of coping as a mediator was examined. We proposed that the experience of social discrimination, together with acculturation, has a negative influence on active coping, which in turn would impact health behaviors. Regression analyses supported the role of coping as a mediator between sociocultural factors (specifically discrimination based on race or ethnicity and acculturation to the U.S.) and health-promoting behaviors. Findings from this study contribute to explaining the way in which sociocultural factors impact health among those who are HIV-positive and most vulnerable in our society.


Abstract : The scope of the study entails an examination and analysis of support provided by states, particularly the United States, to international peacekeeping forces and, to a lesser extent, peace observation operations. National support is broadly used in this study and includes such aspects as political, financial, manpower, and logistical assistance given by states to these operations. This analysis considers the implications of various aspects of support such as transportation, communications, bases, port and overflight rights, and organizational arrangements on the national, international and local levels. (Author)


The thermally averaged molecular structure parameters of gaseous SO2 have been measured by electron diffraction. Due to the anharmonicity of the molecular potentials and the resulting coordinate interactions in the potential the experimental parameters are temperature dependent. The data reveal this function. A comparison of our results with the theoretical ones of Kohl and Hilderbrandt show good agreement for the change of the structure values with temperature. As in the previous studies the measured mean square amplitudes of all atom pairs are consistently about 0.002 A larger than the theories predict.


Background: Machine learning relies on algorithms that learn patterns in large, complex datasets to predict outcomes. The adaptive, neoadjuvant I-SPY 2 TRIAL evaluates novel agents added to standard therapy, and identifies their most responsive subtype. While previously proposed genes/signatures reflecting an agent's mechanism of action predicted pathologic complete response (pCR) in some treatment arms/subtypes, not all arms had strong predictive biomarkers. We leverage machine learning to explore the limitations of using only known mechanisms of action in predicting pCR, and the extent to which biology outside known drug action improves response prediction in the first 10 arms of the trial. Methods: Our study involves 986 patients with pre-treatment gene expression and pCR data across 10 treatment arms including inhibitors of HER2: neratinib (N), pertuzumab (P), TDM1/P; AKT (MK-2206; M); IGF1R (ganitumab); HSP90 (ganetespib); PARP/DNA repair (veliparib/carboplatin; VC); ANG1/2 (AMG386); immune checkpoints (pembrolizumab; Pembro); and a shared control arm (Ctr). Each arm/receptor subtype group was evaluated independently for groups with at least 20 patients (n=19), with 25% of data held out as independent test sets. We implemented a 3-fold cross validation technique with 10 repeats using Random Forest ensemble algorithm with recursive feature elimination. In combination with clinical data, a three-pronged feature-selection approach was employed: (1) restricted to mechanism of action genes: AKT/PI3K/HER (m=10 genes), IGF1 (m=11), HSP90 (m=88), DNA repair (m=79), TIE1/2 (m=11), and immune (m=61), as well as HER2 amplicon genes; (2) expanded to include targeted pathways for all 10 agents/combinations plus ESR1 and proliferation genes (m=339); (3) an unbiased whole genome approach (m=17,990). Models were considered predictive if AUROC ≥ 0.75, Sensitivity ≥ 0.6 and Specificity ≥ 0.6 in cross validation and independent test sets. Results: Table 1 summarizes the results of our analysis (Yes=predictive; NA=no/insufficient data). Prediction of pCR using only genes reflecting the known mechanism of the drug succeeded in 5 subgroups, with DNA repair genes predicting VC response and immune genes predicting Pembro response in HR+HER2- and HR-HER2- subsets, and AKT/PI3K/HER + HER2 amplicon genes predicting (P) response in HR+HER2+ patients. Expansion of the feature set to include genes associated with all mechanisms of action of all drugs proved sufficient to produce good predictive models in 8 of 19 subgroups. Examples include DNA repair + immune genes predicting response to ganitumab in HR+HER2- and to (N) in HR+HER2+. An unbiased approach using all data yielded predictive power in 8 of 19 subgroups, including 5 with no predictive models from the first two approaches. Examples include HR-HER2- (N) predictors enriched for metabolic, cell division and membrane protein proteolytic processes; HR+HER2+ TDM1/P enriched for metabolic, stress response and cell cycle processes; and HR-HER2- MK-2206 predictors containing Ser/Thr kinases. In total, we identify predictive biomarkers in 14 of 19 subgroups across the three feature selection approaches. Conclusion: Our results suggests that hypothesis driven analysis restricted to assumed mechanisms of action of the experimental agents may be insufficient, and that exploration of possible off target effects may be needed to understand the underlying biology of response or resistance. Citation Format: Rosalyn W. Sayaman, Denise M. Wolf, Christina Yau, Julie Wulfkuhle, Emanuel Petricoin, Lamorna Brown-Swigart, Smita M. Asare, Gillian L. Hirst, Laura Sit, Nicholas O9Grady, Diane Hedistian, I-SPY 2 TRIAL Consortium, Laura J. Esserman, Mark A. LaBarge, Laura J van 9t Veer. Application of machine learning to elucidate the biology predicting response in the I-SPY 2 neoadjuvant breast cancer trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-21-08.


This chapter provides a brief description of the history of academic thinking on the subject of return predictability. The chapter starts by describing the initial formulations of the efficient market hypothesis in the 1970s, with its view that returns are unpredictable, moving on to Shiller (1981), who demonstrated that stock prices are far too volatile to be solely determined by future dividends discounted by a constant discount rate. The hypothesis that the discount rate is not constant but time-varying emerged. Finally, the chapter describes the current view on return predictability. It concludes that, today, it is well-accepted that returns contain a predictable component. This does not mean that we can easily say how stocks will develop in the future, but it does not mean either that we cannot say anything at all. Theory has also been developed that reconciles return predictability with efficient capital markets.


This case report presents the successful endodontic management of an odontogenic infection drained extraorally originated via a maxillary molar tooth. An infection that led to mucosal swelling in the right maxillary region two months ago became acute once again because the necessary treatments could not be performed, and the patient was referred to an emergency room of a hospital as the infection was drained extraorally to buccal area. Severe soft tissue injury was found due to the wound debridement, wound dressing, abscess, and haematoma drainage performed in fistula area. Root canal treatment of the right maxillary first molar tooth diagnosed as the source of infection was performed in our endodontic clinic, and the repair of the defective region was performed with a fullthickness skin graft via a plastic surgery operation. As a result, extraoral sinus tracts of endodontic origin can be conservatively healed with root canal treatment, whereas a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis may lead to more complicated cases.


When vehicle manufacturers are developing new hybrid and electric vehicles, modeling and simulation are frequently used to predict the performance of the new vehicles from an early stage in the product lifecycle. Typically, models are used to predict the range, performance and energy consumption of their future planned production vehicle; they also allow the designer to optimize a vehicle's configuration. Another use for the models is in performing sensitivity analysis, which helps us understand which parameters have the most influence on model predictions and real-world behaviors. There are various techniques for sensitivity analysis, some are numerical, but the greatest insights are obtained analytically with sensitivity defined in terms of partial derivatives. Existing methods in the literature give us a useful, quantified measure of parameter sensitivity, a first-order effect, but they do not consider second-order effects. Second-order effects could give us additional insights: for example, a first order analysis might tell us that a limiting factor is the efficiency of the vehicle's prime-mover; our new second order analysis will tell us how quickly the efficiency of the powertrain will become of greater significance. In this paper, we develop a method based on formal optimization mathematics for rapid second-order sensitivity analyses and illustrate these through a case study on a C-segment electric vehicle.


We present a new application of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to optimal control. By restricting the Lagrangian of an optimal control problem to a suitable affine subspace, we can achieve a reduction in computational cost leading to faster turnaround times with minimal degradation in controller performance. An explicit algorithm for nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) reduction using POD is presented along with some initial error analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such an approach has been presented. We applied this approach to the control of a vehicle during a double lane change maneuver using NMPC and achieved 2 times faster turnaround times with excellent controller performance. This reduction approach for the development of real-time optimal controls is very promising and introduces some new research directions.


This study was conducted to understand the meaning and nature of the compassion fatigue experiences among nurses working in oncology wards. The participants in this study were 11 nurses who worked for at least 6 months in oncology wards. The data were collected using in-depth interviews and analyzed using the phenomenological method by Giorgi. Six categories of the meaning of compassion fatigue were derived as follows; physically difficulty, emotion is control of patient's condition, collapsing in front of cancer patients, reminding of patient-related memory, finding a changed attitude, and searching for how to recover.


Incorrect grounding of an electric motor resulted in electric current passing through a 52100 steel ball bearing and caused multiple arcing between the rolling elements. The multiple arcing developed a pattern on the outer race known as 'fluting'. A section of ball race outer showed the distinct banding (fluting) resulting from spark discharges while the bearing was rotating. The severe distress of the surface resulted in unacceptable levels of vibration. An SEM photograph of the banded regions showed smoothing of the asperities from continued operation is evident. In the craters the residue of partial melting was seen.


The subject of this paper is to define inflation, analyze it's history and point to the type that seized certain economic systems. It will be provided insight into the many possible causes of inflation, and pointed out the consequences and ways of combating it.
Monetary policy of inflation targeting will be highlighted, which is emerging as a solution to many central banks to defeat inflation. The paper will indicate the conditions the country must have to carry out this strategy, which targets they want to achieve by it's implementation, what are the advantages and disadvantages that accompany the implementation of the strategy and how each country implemented this strategy of monetary policy.
After a theoretical basis, subject of study are the most significant episodes of inflation and hyperinflation that have occurred throughout history. Among the most significant episodes worth mentioning the causes and consequences of inflation are cases in Hungary, Zimbabwe, Yugoslavia, Germany, Greece, China and Latin American countries, focusing on Bolivian inflation.


Determination of the phosgene in industrial emissions was discussed on method,principle and a variety of experimental conditions,including liquid chromatography and gas chromatography for its simple,low detection limit,detection time is short,precision and high accuracy.It was worth working in the environmental monitoring application.


A channel coding achievability bound expressed in terms of the ratio between two Neyman-Pearson β functions is proposed. This bound is the dual of a converse bound established earlier by Polyanskiy and Verdú (2014). The new bound turns out to simplify considerably the analysis in situations where the channel output distribution is not a product distribution, for example due to a cost constraint or a structural constraint (such as orthogonality or constant composition) on the channel inputs. Connections to existing bounds in the literature are discussed. The bound is then used to derive 1) the channel dispersion of additive non-Gaussian noise channels with random Gaussian codebooks, 2) the channel dispersion of an exponential-noise channel, 3) a second-order expansion for the minimum energy per bit of an additive white Gaussian noise channel, and 4) a lower bound on the maximum coding rate of a multiple-input multiple-output Rayleigh-fading channel with perfect channel state information at the receiver, which is the tightest known achievability result.


This article aims at brooding over the plurality and diversity which make up the Japanese-Canadian hyphenated experience by analysing the totally different perspectives of three generations of Japanese-Canadian women. It has also the purpose of investigating in what manner the appropriation of the past can be empowering for the racialised female subject as the process of identity construction takes place in diaspora, as well as what alternatives are left for the diasporic female subject. The main contribution of this article lies in its attempt to relate language, culture, gender, race, identity construction, hyphenated experience and future avenues in diaspora in order to offer food for thought with regard to how these matters are dealt with in that country nowadays.


Background: Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood has been associated with adverse birth outcomes. Most prior studies have conceptualized neighborhoods using census boundaries and few have examined the role of neighborhood perceptions, which may better capture the neighborhood environment. In the present study, we examined associations between extrinsic and perceived neighborhood quality measures and adverse birth outcomes. Methods: Participants resided in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and were enrolled in Chemicals in Our Bodies, a prospective birth cohort (N = 817). The Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) for income, Area Deprivation Index (ADI), and the Urban Displacement Project's measure of gentrification were included as census block group-level extrinsic neighborhood quality measures. Poor perceived neighborhood quality was assessed using an interview questionnaire. Linear regression models were utilized to examine associations between extrinsic and perceived neighborhood quality measures, and gestational age and birthweight for gestational age z-scores. Covariates in adjusted models were chosen via a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and included maternal age, education, and marital status. Results: In adjusted models, having poor perceived neighborhood quality was associated with higher birthweight z-scores, relative to those who did not perceive their neighborhood as poor quality (β = 0.21, 95% confidence intervals = 0.01, 0.42). Relative to the least disadvantaged tertile, the upper tertile of the ADI was associated with a modest reduction in gestational age (β = –0.35, 95% confidence intervals = –0.67, –0.02). Conclusions: In the Chemicals in Our Bodies study population, extrinsic and perceived neighborhood quality measures were inconsistently associated with adverse birth outcomes.


Abstract Select area electron diffraction and microanalysis of the optically dark component of a ferromanganese nodule from the South East Indian Ocean Manganese Field indicate that this is composed of a random stratification of crystallites of vernadite MnO2. (R2O, RO, R2O3)x. yH2O, where R represents elements such as K, Ba, Na, Ca, Mg, and a disordered hydrated iron oxide, possibly ferrihydrite 5Fe2, O3. 9H2O or feroxyhyte δ′-FeOOH. Whether the dark component is an irregular mixed-layer hybrid mineral or a layered accumulation resulting from epitaxy of the above phases is uncertain.


Results of inoculation of 10 Ralstonia solanacearum strains to resistant (Hawaii 7996, C108, 508), moderately resistant (Improved Pope, L-180-1) and susceptible (Yellow Plum, L390) tomato cultivars revealed four of the strains to be the most virulent based on their wilting percentages. The four strains were then compared by reisolation from the inoculated plants, DNA extraction and repetitive extragenic palindromic - polymerase chain reaction (REP-PCR) fingerprinting. Out of the 542 fingerprinted DNA samples from reisolations, two of the strains, one of which was T523, had isolates which manifested variable REP fingerprints. An isolate, T523-731, had a missing 0.4 kb band and additional bands of about 0.7 kb and 0.45 kb. Reinoculation of T523-731 on the same set of tomato cultivars resulted in an average wilting of 96% on two resistant cultivars (C108 and 508) and 17% on the highly resistant cultivar Hawaii 7996. In contrast, reinoculation of an isolate (T523-726) that exhibited the fingerprint of the parent strain, resulted in 16.7% wilting in cv. 508 but did not cause wilting in cvs. C-108 and Hawaii 7996. The parent strain T523 caused 3% wilting in cv. 508, and similarly did not cause wilting in cvs. C- 108 and Hawaii 7996. Similar results were obtained with a subsequent virulence test. The isolate T523-731 was considered a hypervirulent isolate as it was able to overcome the resistance of the tomato cultivars that were earlier found to be highly resistant to bacterial wilt. Key Words: bacterial wilt, hypervirulence, fingerprint,Ralstonia solanacearum


Designing high-performance adders and multiplier components for diverse specifications and constraints is of practical concern. However, selecting the best architecture for adder or multiplier, which largely affects the performance of synthesized circuits, is difficult. To tackle this difficulty, a machine-learning-driven approach is proposed for automatic architectural selection of adders and multipliers. It trains a machine learning model for classification through learning a number of existing design schemes and their performance data. Experimental results show that the proposed approach based on a multi-perception neural network achieves as high as 94% prediction accuracy with negligible inference time. On a CPU server, the proposed approach runs about 4× faster than a brute-force approach trying four candidate architectures and consumes 10%~20% less runtime than the DesignWare datapath generator for obtaining the optimal adder/multiplier circuit. The adder (multiplier) generated with the proposed approach achieves performance metrics close to the optimal and has 1.6% (5.2%) less area and 2.2% (7.1%) more worst negative slack averagely than that generated with the DesignWare datapath generator. Our experiment also shows that the proposed approach is not sensitive to the size of training subset.


Linguistics has developed in recent years towards taxonomic models of structuralism, communication and pragmalinguistics, as well as towards textual linguistics and, later, towards cognitive linguistics. The shift in research paradigms in linguistics has also changed with respect to phraseology. Each linguistic orientation has posed its own range of problems in the study of phraseology in general and the semantics of phraseological units in particular. In our study, analyzing the main directions of research in modern phraseology, we will pay more attention to such an analysis, "which is based on the study of many factors that influence the formation and functioning of the phenomena of the phraseological system" (Baranov). At the same time, it seems that one of the most fundamental factors is the internal form of the phraseological units, which determines the semantic, pragmatic and culturological characteristics of the phraseological units. This work is based on the functional-parametric principle of description of phraseological units, which makes it possible to trace and identify the polystructural modeling features of phraseological semantics on the French language corpus.


Newton rested his theory of mechanics on distinct metaphysical and epistemological foundations. After Leibniz's death in 1716, the Principia ran into sharp philosophical opposition from Christian Wolff and his disciples, who sought to subvert Newton's foundations or replace them with Leibnizian ideas. In what follows, I chronicle some of the Wolffians' reactions to Newton's notion of absolute space, his dynamical laws of motion, and his general theory of gravitation. I also touch on arguments advanced by Newton's Continental followers, such as Leonhard Euler, who made novel attempts to defend his mechanical foundations against the pro-Leibnizian attack. This examination grants us deeper insight into the fate of Newton's mechanics on the Continent during the early eighteenth century and, more specifically, sheds needed light on the conflicts and tensions that characterized the reception of Newton's philosophy of mechanics among the Leibnizians.


Taste buds are gustatory organs of the body which administer the sweet, salty, acid and bitter taste. Recent researches have investigated that the genesis and development of taste buds are important relationship with gustatory nerves. The injury or depletion of the gustatory nerves would cause a serials of changes on taste buds. This review summarizes new finds in the morphous, function and related factors of taste buds after denervation.


Visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) using semipolar (11–22)-oriented InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) were demonstrated. Three dimensional microfacet structures realized white/pastel emissions without phosphors, while planar structures led to LEDs with much less polarization-induced internal electric fields compared to the conventional LEDs on the (0001) plane, both of which cannot be realized without the (11–22) planes.


The sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptor modulator fingolimod is predominantly hydroxylated by cytochrome CYP4F2. In vitro experiments showed that ketoconazole significantly inhibited the oxidative metabolism of fingolimod by human liver microsomes and by recombinant CYP4F2. The authors used ketoconazole as a putative CYP4F2 inhibitor to quantify its influence on fingolimod pharmacokinetics in healthy subjects. In a 2‐period, single‐sequence, crossover study, 22 healthy subjects received a single 5‐mg dose of fingolimod in period 1. In period 2, subjects received ketoconazole 200 mg twice daily for 9 days and a single 5‐mg dose of fingolimod coadministered on the 4th day of ketoconazole treatment. Ketoconazole did not affect fingolimod tmax or half‐life, but there was a weak average increase in Cmax of 1.22‐fold (90% confidence interval, 1.15–1.30). The AUC over the 5 days of ketoconazole coadministration increased 1.40‐fold (1.31–1.50), and the full AUC to infinity increased 1.71‐fold (1.53–1.91). The AUC of the active metabolite fingolimod‐phosphate was increased to a similar extent by 1.67‐fold (1.50–1.85). Ketoconazole predose plasma levels were not altered by fingolimod. The magnitude of this interaction suggests that a proactive dose reduction of fingolimod is not necessary when adding ketoconazole to a fingolimod regimen. The clinician, however, should be aware of this interaction and bear in mind the possibility of a fingolimod dose reduction based on clinical monitoring.


Scientific paper analyzes the technology of modern political party management. Political technologies are discussed based on the hypothesis about their evolution. The work takes into account the political approach of comparative linguistics and methodology of the quantitative content analysis.


Purpose DURING World War n, and at the conclusion of hostilities, numer ous colleges received applications from veterans who had not completed high school. Many had had their high school education interrupted for various reasons beyond their control, but were capable of doing college work regardless of credit deficiencies. The purpose of this study was to analyze some of the characteristics of such a group of students ad mitted to the University of Utah. The assumption throughout the study was that the more we know about a student the better able we are to serve him while in coUege. Also it was felt that the practice of admit ting non-high-school graduates was not a temporary thing confined to the World War E period, but will be a continuous thing as long as world tension exists.


Enforcement relies on the idea that infringements are violations and as such should not be allowed. However, this notion is very restrictive and cannot be applied in unpredictable domains like healthcare. To address this issue, we need conformance metrics for detecting and quantifying infringements of policies and procedures. However, existing metrics usually consider every deviation from specifications equally making them inadequate to measure the severity of infringements. In this paper, we identify a number of factors which can be used to quantify deviations from process specifications. These factors drive the definition of metrics that allow for a more accurate measurement of privacy infringements. We demonstrate how the proposed approach can be adopted to enhance existing conformance metrics through a case study on the provisioning of healthcare treatment.


Video portrait segmentation (VPS), aiming at segmenting prominent foreground portraits from video frames, has received much attention in recent years. However, simplicity of existing VPS datasets leads to a limitation on extensive research of the task. In this work, we propose a new intricate large-scale Multi-scene Video Portrait Segmentation dataset MVPS consisting of 101 video clips in 7 scenario categories, in which 10,843 sampled frames are finely annotated at pixel level. The dataset has diverse scenes and complicated background environments, which is the most complex dataset in VPS to our best knowledge. Through the observation of a large number of videos with portraits during dataset construction, we find that due to the joint structure of human body, motion of portraits is part-associated, which leads that different parts are relatively independent in motion. That is, motion of different parts of the portraits is unbalanced. Towards this unbalance, an intuitive and reasonable idea is that different motion states in portraits can be better exploited by decoupling the portraits into parts. To achieve this, we propose a Part-Decoupling Network (PDNet) for video portrait segmentation. Specifically, an Inter-frame Part-Discriminated Attention (IPDA) module is proposed which unsupervisely segments portrait into parts and utilizes different attentiveness on discriminative features specified to each different part. In this way, appropriate attention can be imposed to portrait parts with unbalanced motion to extract part-discriminated correlations, so that the portraits can be segmented more accurately. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves leading performance with the comparison to state-of-the-art methods.


This paper discusses the freedom of obtaining information in Islam in the human rights perspective by examining critically act of number 39 of 1999. The law explains that in the dynamic growth of democracy country, freedom of getting information is a main thing. Therefore, involvement of the people to take part requires the presence of rules that creates an open environment system in order that what is to be every citizen's right is met. Law of number 39 of 1999 regulates in detail about freedom of information. The results of the analysis confirmed that implementation of law of number 39 of 1999 has not got optimal because itis not supported by humanist country climate.


There are several scientific journals publishing the benefits of valuable phytochemicals to improve human health, as well as help prevention of chronic diseases. Then why do we need a new journal dedicated on the role of phytochemicals and nutraceuticals? The answer may not be simple. There are number of important reasons. Plants and natural foods consist of thousands of phytochemicals and phytonutrients that have been identified so far and there are probably more to identify, all of which have not been completely understood for their roles in human metabolism and health. More scientific research has been going on to unearth a myriad of phytomedicines for their use to combat chronic diseases and maintain healthy life. Since the number of phytochemicals identified and their significance with improving health are increasing day by day, there is an increasing need for scientific journals with open access policy to reach the scientific community as well as general public with the benefits of phytochemicals on human health. In recent years, interest on phytochemicals and functional foods has been increasingly rising.1 A large number of people in the Western countries presently started acknowledging the importance of natural products to promote health and to prevent disease.2 Results and findings from research on phytochemicals have supported and suggested the health benefits of developing phytochemical products.1 Phytochemicals have been endorsed for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus and cancer.2, 3 Since ancient times the link between diet and health has been recognised and validated by evidence from several research studies.1, 3, 4 All of these facts demonstrate the importance of discovering phytochemicals and exploring their mechanism of actions on disease prevention and treatment. Discovery Phytomedicine is a journal that aims at recognizing and publishing scientific research and review articles that reflect the discovery of phytochemicals and their mechanisms of actions on chronic diseases and improvement of overall health. The journal intends at discovering phytochemicals that could be used as preventive and therapeutic medicine. It is a journal dedicated to get attention and disseminate novel and experimental innovations focusing on in vitro and in vivo research of naturally occurring phytochemicals, phytopharmacology, pharmacognosy, standardization and phytotoxicology, obtained with plant extracts, as well as, isolated compounds from these extracts and phytopharmaceuticals. In addition, articles encompassing structural elucidation of bioactive compounds and their pharmacological and toxicological studies are also of interest. Furthermore, the open access nature of publication by the journal would reach to a large number of readers which is another great opportunity for scientific researchers to deliver their findings to a large number of audiences. The editorial board for this journal consists of renowned scientists around the world including countries such as Canada, United States of America, Germany, South Africa, Australia, United Kingdom, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt, China, and South Korea. Contributions from highly knowledgeable scientists as editors to the journal ensure the higher quality and integrity of the scientific content of the journal. The journal has an online manuscript submission system that would help with simple and expedited way of the submission and review process. Furthermore, peer review system of the journal further exhibits the evidence in maintaining the quality, originality, and appropriateness of the data and articles to be published. Overall, it is appreciable to see an emerging journal with high quality and integrity to fulfil the need with delivering the scientific and research findings on the benefits and mechanisms of phytochemicals in prevention and treatment of diseases and improve health.


Abstract : The guidelines and methodology of Volume III outline the general problems of estimating total future acquistion and ownership costs of joint tactical communications. This appendix provides a methodology, appropriate cost tables, and a set of sample calculations that will enable the cost analyst to calculate the economic cost to DOD of selected types of military personnel. The appendix also provides information for those equations presented in Volume III that require annual or hourly military personnel and training costs.


This paper reports the findings of a constructive design research study exploring mobile wellness applications in two different contexts: Finland and India. The study arrived at four design principles for motivating users to engage in physical exercise: 1 Be my advisor, 2 Acknowledge my efforts, 3 Grow with me and 4 Keep me engaged. These design principles were built upon the results of exploratory and participatory field studies. The validation of the design principles was done by adopting them in the design process of a mobile application concept called the "Living Application", which was evaluated in focus groups. The research process involved the total of 47 participants and 10 design professionals. The results indicate that the four design principles are relevant in the design of wellness applications, but need to be adapted to the local context and individual needs.


It has been said, jokingly, that the English public school is public because it is private, it is English because it teaches Latin, and it is a school because it emphasizes cricket. The paradoxes and contradictions of this important and typically British institution, however, have been the subject of more serious commentary, study, and research. Professor Reed's Old School Ties purports it to be such an enterprise. By concentrating on the views of leading intellectuals, largely novelists and poets, the author shows how, among this select group, a public school education was perceived to be contradictory to some of its highsounding purposes and ideals. Instead of fostering the spirit of independence and all the intellectual and moral virtues associated with a liberal education, the public schools stultified imagination and individualism, cowed the spirit, emasculated the minds of those who went through them, and nurtured all sorts of vice and moral turpitude. To the literary artist the whole public school experiment in building intellect, character, leadership, and an Empire was a fraud. Unlike those who saw in the schools the most perfect blending of intellectual, moral, and physical training that created the victors of Waterloo and the builders of a great Empire, the literary artists saw them as agencies of social and political control by the upper classes, and as dehumanizing machines which turned out perpetual adolescents, social snobs, and generally men devoid of basic human qualities such as love, feeling, empathy, and understanding. More than that: the public school was perceived to be a contributing factor in the disintegration of the Empire, the culture splits in the modern society, the alienation of the thirties, and all the social evils of twentieth-century Britain. These are serious indictments. An indictment of the public school is not merely a criticism of a theory of education; since the public school reflected certain social and cultural values and arrangements that pervaded British life and thought, and in large part helped perpetuate them, it is also an indictment against a theory of society and a theory of culture. The merit of Old School Ties is its comprehensive treatment of the views, mostly indictments, of an important segment of major British intellectuals ranging from Dickens and Samuel Butler, to Shaw, Alec Waugh, Maugham, Forster, Orwell, Aldous Huxley, W. H. Auden, and Henry Green. Inasmuch as the literary writer is, among other things, an acute social critic, students of o means the least of its valuable features is its bibliography; it is very prehensive and much of it is carefully and fully nnotated.


Energy management is a critical question for the progress in developing countries. In fact, it is one of the most important foundations of sustainable development. Optimizing the use of energy resources is an issue with notable multiplier effects on the social evolution of the people of these regions. Similarly, the civil construction industry is also relevant, since it represents a strong economic and social contribution for these countries. It is important to remark that the demands of the construction material industry in combustible consumption for their productions, frequently with low rate efficiency, require a systematic management activity able to detect improvement alternatives, based on process approaches to contribute to the energy efficiency and the quality of the final production. This paper proposes a set of procedures to implement technological and organizational improvements of the combustible consumption practice in brick production plants in the construction material industry in a developing country (Cuba). Quality improvement opportunities are detected, together with the energetic characterization of the process. Some well-defined parameters and indicators have evidenced the improvement potentialities and its execution. The placement of domes in the furnace defines a new zone of quality control with losses from 0.5 1.5%, that at the beginning of the research were 2.4 4.5%. This enabled to plan a loss level rate at least 1.6% lower and a variability two times lower. Besides it is achieved a consumption rate average of 0.2739 to 0.2387 liters per brick in the covered furnace, saving 11,000 liters of fuel in the semester. The generalization of the procedure in the entity producing roof tiles and clay pipes in Sancti-Spíritus municipality (Cuba) showed a significant contribution since the reductions in the fuel consumption rate were greater than the achieved in the brick productions. As these industrial processes are similar to those in many other countries, this case study shows some analyses, practical applications and results that can be used abroad.


Overview of the exhibition IFFA 2013, the story of the main trends of development of meat science, food machinery, technologies of meat processing.


Phtalates are the most important plasticizers used in the polymer industry. However, their fossil origin and results of recent test have showed a potential negative effect on human health, have encouraged polymer industry to demand free phthalate plasticizers. At the same time, biodiesel industry produces a glut of glycerol, leading the scientific community to seek new applications for this substance. A methodology for the evaluation of new free-phthalate plasticizers for PVC applied to a new type of plasticizers, esters of glycerol, is proposed. This thesis presents an overview of the performance of eight esters derived from glycerol as new plasticizers for poly(vinyl chloride) - PVC and an outline of its compatibility with the polymer based in a method to predict the plasticization effect of glycerol esters, constructed with molecular modeling.Having several alternatives of new PVC-plasticizers, three multicriteria methods were used to construct models to select the best alternatives: multiattribute utility theory - MAUT, Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique - Macbeth and Rough sets. With these methods the preferences of a group of experts was modeled.In order to establish the conditions in which this new type of plasticizers must be produced at industrial scale, a model of the process is presented. A parametric identification was done. Also, a multicriteria optimization, in Pareto's sense, was performed using an evolutionary algorithm. Besides, a decision aid tool based on two different functions to minimize costs and maximize productivity, respectively, was conducted with the technique Macbeth.


Compressive Sensing is the present sampling paradigm which acquires only useful data, and hence reduces the acquisition time, eliminates the necessity of fast analog to digital converters and data compression stage, prior to transmission. Challenge lies in recovering the data from these few samples, which are far below Nyquist rate. Compressive sensing accomplishes this, provided the signal is sparse in either signal domain or transform domain. It is particularly useful to employ compressive sensing for Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging as these images can be sparsely represented in transform domain. A patch based dictionary can reconstruct images with great accuracy even at very high undersampling rates, as it exploits patch based sparsity. This paper investigates the performance of three different recovery strategies - Orthogonal Matching Pursuit, Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit and Basis Pursuit on different MR images when integrated with an adaptive patch based dictionary.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical model for systematizing human rights norms to facilitate their integration into global business decision making.Design/methodology/approach – The paper relates a natural law conception of human rights to global corporate governance.Findings – The paper shows that natural law theory gives a basis for integrating human rights into global governance while also making a business case for taking human rights seriously.Originality/value – The paper offers a theoretical framework related to jurisprudence and introduces the concept of reputational capital as an intangible asset that is built up by a firm's proactive advancement of human rights.


ABSTRACT Trapped mode in three-dimensional waveguide with parallel vertical walls a distance 2d apart, when there is a circular cylinder of radius placed symmetrically between them, is investigated. The potential is the solution of the three-dimensional Laplace equation in the fluid region between the cylinder and the parallel walls and the normal derivatives of potential are zero on both the walls and the cylinder. It is shown that for a cylinder of sufficiently small radius there exists a trapped mode, having a frequency close to the cutoff frequency, which is antisymmetric about the centerline of the guide and symmetric about a line through the center of the cylinder perpendicular to the centerline. The method used in this paper is to utilize the Fourier transform of complex form to the formula derived in the Appendix which can easily transform the solution in polar coordinates into the form useful for the rectangular coordinates. Thus, it is possible to express the unknown function in the solution in rectangular coordinates in terms of the coefficients of the solution in polar coordinates.


The importance of dynamics for stratospheric ozone distribution in the northern hemisphere is investigated by using multiannual simulations of the coupled dynamic-chemical general circulation model ECHAM3/CHEM. This model includes a parameterization for heterogeneous reactions on the surfaces of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and on sulfate aerosols. A warm and a cold stratospheric winter are examined to estimate the range of chemical ozone loss in the model due to heterogeneous reactions on PSCs. Ozone depletion in the model mainly occurs inside the polar vortex. An additional ozone reduction due to heterogeneous reactions on PSCs is found outside the polar vortex. Secondary vortex formation and vortex contraction after an elongation lead to a transport of air masses with chemically reduced ozone values out of the vortex. Except for such events the edge of the modeled polar vortex acts as a barrier to transport. During the formation of secondary vortices no additional heterogeneous reactions occur therein. Other dynamic events, such as the elongation of the polar vortex and its displacement to lower latitudes, lead to an intense ozone depletion. A minor stratospheric warming in the model causes a total deactivation of chlorine compounds and prevents further ozone depletion. In midlatitudes, the amplitude of short-term variations of total ozone is amplified by PSC heterogeneous chemical ozone reduction.


The paper recounts the development and implementation of gamified pedagogy for the capstone senior seminar of the pluralistic undergraduate curriculum of the Department of Economics at Rollins College. An introduction to gamification and its neurological, behavioural, and pedagogical foundations, is followed by description of the experimental process used to arrive at some promising pedagogical methodologies for the senior seminar in particular. The process evolved along two synergistic paths: finding ways to guide students in doing applied pluralistic economics in their senior research project, and using gamified pedagogy to facilitate this. Finally, the paper discusses some of the insights gleaned and problems encountered in order to outline proposals for further research and data collection, and to provide fruitful ideas for other pluralistic reformers of undergraduate economic education, so that students gain an applied critical appreciation of the complex and diverse argument that is economics.


This article explores the historical forces contributing to the existence of multiple and/or unauthorized Persian literary translations. Using an autoethnographic method, I argue that it will be more constructive to shift the focus from the legal and ethical narratives of foreign literature in Iran to a reconceptualization of translators as a subculture of media fans. introduction: iranian copyright battles I n april 2018, The Paris Review reexamined how a limited screening of the Iranian film Pari (Dariush Mehrjui, 1995) in New York in 1998 was halted at the request of J. D. Salinger's lawyer.1 Pari was a free adaptation of three stories by the American writer: "Franny," "Zooey," and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Salinger notoriously detested movies, but both this article and a New York Times piece at the time of Pari's release blamed Iran's lack of official adherence to international copyright standards as the main culprit for the unfortunate event.2 Beyond the glitz and glamor of cinema, Salinger's popularity, combined with his well-known protectiveness of his works, has continually resurrected various discursive questions regarding the politics of copyrights in Iran.3 One recent example is a Guardian article on the situation of Persian literary 1 This article follows the transliteration scheme of the Association of Iranian Studies except for proper names. 2 See, respectively, Sasha von Olderhausen, "Franny and Zooey in Iran," Paris Review, last modified April 5, 2018, https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/04/05/franny-and-zooey-in-iran/; and Jesse McKinley, "Iranian Film Is Canceled after Protest by Salinger," New York Times, last modified November 21, 1998, https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/21/movies/iranian-film-is-canceled-after-protest-by-salinger.html. 3 Salinger's mysterious character lends itself well to two contrasting myths of the author: a war-traumatized hero whose works are bitter reflections of his adventures and a reclusive writer whose writings are spiritual quests dibur literary journal Issue 8, Spring 2020 Translational Transactions


The technological limit on the beam quality when modern synchrotron radiation sources are used is determined by the geometrical accuracy of the optical components. This in turn is limited by the accuracy of the measuring technique which is within the range of up to 0.05 arcsec rms for one meter mirror length, which corresponds (in the absence of waviness) to an uncertainty of the topography of 5 nm rms. If the topography can be measured with higher accuracy, modern methods of ion beam processing allow the surface to be postprocessed with a high resolution of depth. We will present first tests with a novel measuring device which allows deflectometric measurements by the ESAD principle (Extended Shear Angle Difference) to be carried out. The basic item of this device is a commercial electronic autocollimator (AC) whose exit aperture is tripartite. By suitable evaluation one is in consequence able to simultaneously determine the angle information belonging to three surface points situated next to one another. According to the ESAD method, the angular topography can be completely reconstructed from two sets of angular difference data. The uncertainty of measurements of angular difference is transferred with a factor close to 1 to that of the set of reconstructed angle. First measurements show a reproducibility of about 25 milli-arcsec rms at a time of integration of 0.4 seconds per point. With this set-up, in the first order, no guide errors, vibrations or air turbulences enter.


The article mainly discusses the problems of Aglet technology to environment of the city information system. The collection system is designed on the basis of the platform of Aglet development. The structure of it is properly designed, and the function of it is perfect. We can use Aglet-Based City Environment Information Collection System easily. It can store and collect large amounts of environment information efficiently and accurately. It can also achieve the unification of the different data formats. It handles mainly the problems which are related to the collection of all kinds of complicated data.


The purpose of the study was to assess the factors affecting the failure of banks in
Kenya. The Specific Objectives of this study was To examine the effect of corporate
governance on the failure of Chase bank in Kenya. To analyze the influence of nonperforming loans issues on collapsed Chase bank in Kenya. To analyze the influence
of regulatory framework on the collapse of Chase bank in Kenya. To find out the
effect of competition on the collapse of Chase bank in Kenya. The significance of the
study is to the management of Chase bank, The Government, Other financial
institutions and Other Researchers. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design,
The investigation will target a population of fouty three employee of Chase bank , for
this study, the researcher selected census as the sampling design. Primary data was
collected using a self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted in
order to check for validity and reliability. Questionnaires was administered through
drop and pick method. The data collected was analyzed using various statistical tools
and instruments correlation and multiple regression analysis. The respondents were
asked to give their opinion on whether corporate governance influences the failure of
banks in Kenya. Majority of the respondents were in agreement corporate governance
influences the failure of banks in Kenya. From the findings majority of respondents
that non-performing loans issue has an influence on the failure of banks in Kenya.
This implies that Non-performing loans issues have an influence on the failure of
banks in Kenya. The analysis shows most of respondents were in agreement that
regulatory framework has a great effect on the failure of banks in Kenya. From the
findings majority of the respondents agreed that competition has an influence on the
failure of banks in Kenya while a few of the respondents disagreed. It was concluded
that competition has an influence on the failure of banks in Kenya. Based on the
research findings it is recommended that For banks to have the stability, they should
embrace best practices of corporate governance which should ensure that shareholders
wealth is looked after in the best way possible, that adequate risk management
measures are put in place and that standards are not only in writing but that they are
practiced on a day to day basis. According to the Central Bank of Kenya Supervision
Report (CBK, 2016), the level of non-performing loans has been increasing steadily in
Kenya. The high level of non-performing loans persists as an issue of primary
supervisory concern in the country. The government should promote transparency and
accountability in the management and enforcement activities of the central bank of
Kenya. Governments must make enforcement more transparent and accountable by
publicly reporting this information. The management of chase bank needs to package
their product in a more customer friendly way to enhance their acceptance and have a
bitter and bigger customer base.


With the formalism of the microscopic interacting boson-fermion model, which is a microscopic realization of the phenomenological core plus two-quasi-particle model, the microscopic sdIBM-2+2q.p. model approach, has been formed. Based on this phenomenological model and the microscopic realization, the aligned minimum energy that it is necessary to a d-boson in the nucleus has been deduced which occurs in the process from the decoupling, broken up, occupying the intruder orbits, and passing into the alignment.The microstructure in high-spin states and the sequence of bosons broken pair is discussed. The calculated results for ~(104)Cd nucleusshow this approach is used successfully to describe the low-spin and partial high-spin states on that nucleus. When the broken pair of a boson takes place suddenly, no significant change of states between foremost state and latter state is caused by the broken pain. Finally, this approach identifies that those high-spin states are the states built on the ν(h_(11/2))~(2)and π(g_(9/2))~(2)aligned states. And the 8_(1+ )、8_(2+ )and~( )8_(3+)states in the experiment belong to two-quasi-proton aligned, two-quasi-neutron aligned, and ground states band, respectively.


Two superregenerative nuclear magnetic resonance detectors are described which have proved useful for the detection of broad resonances. These oscillators are capable of sensitive operation at radio frequencies as low as 2.5 Mc and quench frequencies ranging from about 50 kc near 3 Mc to 120 kc at 10 Mc. In the one case for which a comparison was made, the sensitivity of the superregenerative oscillator design was found to be comparable to that of a crossed‐coil spectrometer operating under optimum conditions.


A new biosorbent from waste beer yeast was prepared by modification with triethylenetetramine and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde.The adsorption capability of the modified yeast for Hg(Ⅱ) in aqueous solution and the influence factors were studied.The results show that the optimized pH value was 2.8 at 25 ℃ and the adsorption process was carried out for 20 min.The maximum uptake capacities for Hg(Ⅱ) is 132.6 mg/g,which is about 6.3 times higher than that of the pristine yeast.With the modified yeast,the average removal rate for Hg(Ⅱ) in the wastewater is 100%.The kinetics for Hg(Ⅱ) adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order with R2=0.999 9.The adsorption process fitted the Langmuir model,indicating that it is a monolayer adsorption process.


On one hand, refractory gold concentrate with high arsenic is one kind of pollutants; on the other hand, it contains a lot of valuable metals, so it is very important to utilize it. This paper studies the optimization of the nitric acid pretreatment refractory gold concentrate process with multiple assessment indicators by the grey relational analysis method. The degree of influence that the controllable process factors (reaction temperature, reaction time, initial nitric acid concentration and initial refractory gold concentrate concentration) exert on the indicators can be concluded as follows: initial refractory gold concentrate concentration > initial nitric acid concentration > reaction temperature > reaction time. The best factor combination is as follows: reaction temperature is 45degC; reaction time is 2.5 h; initial nitric acid concentration is 45%; initial gold concentrate concentration is 10%.


An AC wiring for a photovoltaic generator with a plurality of photovoltaic modules equipped with module inverters is shown. The AC wiring has an AC trunk line and branch cables connected to it for feeding the AC power from the plurality of module inverters into the common AC trunk line, so that the AC trunk line can be laid away from the module inverters, and is composed of a plurality of pre-assembled cable modules , The prefabricated cable modules each include the following components: a first and second trunk line connector, a trunk line cable section connecting the first and second trunk line connector, and a stub cable electrically connected to the trunk line cable section. The cable modules are plugged together by means of their first and second trunk line connectors to form a serial chain, so that the trunk line cable sections thus connected in series form the AC trunk line, with the module inverters each being assigned a cable module with a branch cable, so that the module inverters can be connected to the alternating current trunk line by means of the respectively assigned stub cable, and the stub cables with one conductor end are each directly connected to the first or the second trunk line plug connector of the associated cable module and are firmly connected to the latter.


Sound Relations: Native Ways of Doing Music History in Alaska delves into histories of Inuit musical life in Alaska to amplify the broader significance of sound as integral to Indigenous self-determination and resurgence movements. The book offers relational and radical ways of listening to a vast archive of Inuit presence across a range of genres—from hip hop to Christian hymnody and drumsongs to funk and R&B—to register how a density (not difference) of Indigenous ways of musicking invites readers to listen more critically to and for intersections of music, Indigeneity, and colonialism in the Americas. The research aims to dismantle stereotypical understandings of "Eskimos," "Indians," and "Natives" by considering how Indigenous-led and Indigeneity-centered analyses of Native musicking can reframe larger debates of race, Indigeneity, power, and representation in twenty-first-century American music historiography. Instead of proposing singular truths or facts, this book asks readers to consider the existence of multiple simultaneous truths, a density of truths, all of which are culturally constructed, performed, and in some cases politicized and policed. A sound relations approach advances a more Indigenized sound studies and a more sounded Indigenous studies that works to move beyond colonial questions of containment—"who counts as Native" and "who decides"—and colonial questions of measurement—"what exactly is 'Native' about Native music"—and toward an aesthetics of self-determination and resurgent world-making.


The influence of association of amphiphilic diblock (BA) or triblock (BAB) copolymers on phase separation in binary solutions with linear homopolymer has been investigated. The effect of the homopolymer chemistry was investigated by mixing hydrophobically end-capped poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with PEO or dextran homopolymers. Diblock copolymers self-assembled into star-like polymeric micelles, while triblocks formed flower-like polymeric micelles that further associate with increasing polymer concentration through bridging. Phase diagrams were determined and compared with those of mixtures of dextran with PEO homopolymers. For diblock/dextran mixtures, self-assembling favored phase separation, but much less than expected from the increased molar mass due to self-assembly. For triblock/dextran mixtures, self-assembly favored phase separation much more strongly than for diblock copolymers and was induced principally by the gain in entropy due to the formation of bridges. Macroscopic phase separation was als...


Professionals who engage with migrants in the healthcare sector may take on the role of mediator of information or advisor. Research has shown how these roles might either facilitate or obstruct migrants' access to healthcare, but little is known about how professionals navigate the potentially conflicting interests of migrants and representatives of the healthcare system, despite their central role in realizing migrants' rights to healthcare. This article explores the perspectives of professionals in the Swedish healthcare sector who engage in mediating healthcare information to migrants across linguistic and cultural boundaries and advising them on how to access services. Narrative interviews with five stakeholder groups were conducted. The narrative analysis of two focal excerpts from different professional groups demonstrates how these professionals construct mediating as multidirectional, providing information to the migrants and also keeping the state authority informed. The findings reveal the importance of the knowledge positions that different professionals construct in their narratives and to what extent these support their perceived potential to change the healthcare system. In contrast to findings from other studies, the participants are adamant as regards the importance of treating migrants within the framework of the legal provisions, rather than by finding ways around legal constraints. Nevertheless, the use of rhetorical means to create an effective story can bear the danger of perpetuating one-sided accounts of the migrants and other stakeholders.


A technique for noise figure evaluation, suitable for BIST implementation, is described. It is based on a low cost single-bit digitizer, which allows the simultaneous evaluation of the noise figure in several test points of the analog circuit. The method is also able to benefit from SoC resources, like memory and processing power. The theoretical background and experimental results are presented in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.


Glomerulopathy is an increasingly identified complication in young patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Hyperfiltration and albuminuria followed by declining glomerular filtration rates and eventual end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) is assumed to be the typical progression of glomerular disease. There are only a few reported biomarkers to identify early‐stage renal disease in SCD.


A variety of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles can be synthesized and tunable in size from about 10 to 200 Å using size-selective separation technique. Preparation of monodisperse samples enables systematic characterization of the structural, electron, and optical properties of materials as they evolve from molecular to bulk in the nanometer size range. Sample uniformity makes it possible to manipulate nanocrystals into close-packed, glassy and ordered nanocrystal. At inter-particle separations 5-100 Å, dipole-dipole interactions lead to energy transfer between neighboring nanocrystals, and electronic tunneling between proximal nanocrystals gives rise to dark and photoconductivity. The fabrication of monodisperse ordered nanoarrays with the inter-particle separations less than 5Å will be very important to study its physical properties since interaction between neighboring nanocrystals cause otherwise insulating assemblies to become semiconducting, metallic, or superconducting depending on nanocrystals composition. Here we present the fabrication of monodisperse PbSe nanoarrays with inter-particle distance less than 5 Å and its nanostructure study.


influences a neighborhood's criminal activity independent of structural neighborhood conditions, that offending is highest in commercial areas that provide opportunities for crime, and that people do not travel far to offend. New findings demonstrate that spending time in commercial areas significantly increases offending only for youth with medium and high crime propensity, and that much of the violence that adolescents self-report involves fights at school or involving sports, rather than violence connected with other crimes or attacks against strangers. As well, high crime propensity youth were significantly more likely to say they would use violence in their responses to vignettes that asked how they would act in situations where criminal provocation was present (even at low levels) and monitoring was low. It is the presence of provocation, rather than a lack of monitoring that appears to play the more important role in respondents' predictions of offending future. The authors went to considerable effort to enhance the book's appeal: they wrote the chapters in a style that allows readers to read them independently of each other and in the order that appeals most to them; they provided rich descriptions of their data, measures, and methods of analysis; and although they used a number of sophisticated methodological (e.g., thematic and kernel density mapping) and analytical techniques (e.g., negative binomial path models that integrate linear and non-linear regression in the same model), they started with simple models before taking the reader through the results of the more sophisticated mapping and analyses. The authors do not address a number of questions that their study invites, such as the origin of variation in criminal propensity across individuals and settings, and the theoretical meaning of the large effect associated with commercial land use relative to the structural and cultural variables central to many ''neighborhood effects'' arguments (e.g., social disadvantage, ethnic diversity, and collective efficacy). They also rely on previously used, but weak measures of collective efficacy—these items assessed what people believe about their community rather than what occurs in it. They occasionally make unnecessary analytical shortcuts (e.g., using weak tests to determine the size and importance of mediation effects relative to total effects) and some chapters could have been more streamlined. None of these concerns represent major shortcomings, and they do not detract from the importance of Breaking Rules' major finding that the likelihood of crime increases with the convergence of crime-prone people in criminogenic environments. This finding has a number of implications for theorizing about, responding to, and preventing crime; it also makes Breaking Rules an important book for many audiences, including academics, policymakers, and others concerned with the origins of adolescent crime.


One of the main shortcomings of renewable energy is its lack of ambition and independence, which prevents the use of such systems in energy production. Energy storage has therefore become an important part of renewable energy technology systems. Solar thermal systems use most Solar energy during the day. However, these systems do not have a sufficient backup of heat to continue operating in low or non-solar hours, which has a negative impact on the smooth functioning of the system, creating a load on individual elements of the system. It is therefore necessary to select and describe the thermophysical parameters of the materials, with a view to ensuring an efficient thermal storage system. The cooling system requires continuous operation, which in turn requires an efficient accumulation system using materials with high fusion heat, e.g. phase change materials (PCMs). This review contains a comprehensive assessment of the selection, methodologies, integration, improvements, and problems of suitable PCM for the operating temperature of each component, a solar cooling system that impacts its performance. The observations and findings of previous studies are being discussed in more detail. Recommendations are drawn up based on the results of the investigation and the benefits of PCMs are identified. Several types of phase change materials applied to different temperature range are reviewed and discussed, in terms of the performance and heat transfer enhancement technique.


Objective To observe the effect of Radix Puerariae capsule on blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes.Methods One hundred and six type 2 diabetes were divided into test group and control group randomly according to fasting plasma glucose level. The test group was given three pieces of Radix Puerariae capsules twice a day for 30 days,while control group was given placebo. During the period of observation,the diet control and the original treatment of diabetes drugs and dosage were the same as before. The levels of fasting plasma glucose(FPG) and 2 h postprandial glucose(2hPG) were determined before and after Radix Puerariae capsule intake,and the improvement of the symptoms were observed too. Results The levels of FPG and 2hPG in test group decreased significantly compared to control group,and the difference had statistical significance.The FPG and 2hPG levels in test group decreased by 10. 53% and 10. 69% before and after taking Radix Puerariae capsule respectively. Furthermore,the symptoms were improved and all kinds of safety indexes had no obvious changes in test group. Adverse reactions and allergic symptoms were not observed too. Conclusion Radix Puerariae capsule can contribute to lower the blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes.


To our knowledge, this is the first description of the ultrastructure of the granular cell ameloblastoma, an odontogenic tumor. The granular cells of this tumor are shown to be epithelial in origin. The organelles resulting in their cytoplasmic eosinophilia, as seen in the light microscope, are mainly pleomorphic, osmiophilic lysosome‐like granules. A comparison with granular cell myoblastoma shows a striking morphological similarity between the cytoplasmic granules of these two lesions. We conclude that the granular cell ameloblastoma and the granular cell myoblastoma, probably along with the granular cell ameloblastic fibroma and the congenital epulis, constitute a group of lesions in which the lysosomes are the common denominator as the expression of their cytoplasmic eosinophilia.


Let $c>\sqrt{2}$ and let $p$ be a prime number. J-M. Deshouillers and G. A. Freiman proved that a subset $\mathcal A$ of $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$, with cardinality larger than $c\sqrt{p}$ and such that its subset sums do not cover $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$ has an isomorphic image which is rather concentrated; more precisely, there exists $s$ prime to $p$ such that $$\sum_{a\in\mathcal A}\Vert\frac{as}{p}\Vert 1+Kp^{-1/2}.$$