The sharing of information held on personal servers is becoming widespread, as represented by Weblogs, SNS, etc. In this situation, it is necessary for each personal server to authenticate users autonomously without any special conditions for the site to which they belong. In this paper, we propose an authentication method for interaction between personal servers. The proposal introduces a new method, which involves retrieving a public key based on the prior exchange of addresses. It requires no trusted-third-party, suppresses the number of secret data items to be managed, and enables key revocation with certainty. We investigate a possible security pitfall of the proposal which results in a risk of impersonation using DNS spoofing, and propose a countermeasure for this, showing that the risk is avoidable.


In recent years the search for etiologic factors in psychosis has turned to examination of the serum proteins. 1-6 Workers have claimed to be able to distinguish differences in the serum proteins of psychotics versus normals. The techniques have varied from highly individualized extraction procedures, 1 such as those employed for taraxein, 7 to the simpler paper electrophoresis. 6 With the recent postulation of an abnormality in autoimmune mechanisms in the psychotic patient 3 it was felt that investigation of their sera by immunoelectrophoresis would be of interest. Materials and Methods Sera were obtained from patients admitted to Western State Psychiatric Institute in Pittsburgh. Each patient's chart was abstracted for significant information relating to medical history, physical examination, routine laboratory data, and medications received prior to our obtaining serum samplings. Patients were excluded from the study if the history or physical suggested a possible


The Pierre Auger Observatory is the next generation ground based cosmic ray detector fully devoted to the study of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 10 eV. The Auger Observatory, with its unique features (unprecented statistical power, hybrid detection possibilities, full sky aperture, excellent sensitivity for all zenith angles...), will bring in a decisive step, if not definitive answers, in the understanding of one of the most puzzling phenomena of modern astrophysics.


Regulators in the European Union have updated their for protecting consumers from (PFAS) in food. The latest recommendations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), released Sept. 17, set a...


Since the initial publication in 2012 of the first human studies showing dramatic reductions in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by inhibiting PCSK9 with a monoclonal antibody, speculation has focused on the ability of these agents to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1,2]. Skeptics, and some guideline committees, suggested further reductions in LDL-C below 70 mg/dL or >50%, achievable by high intensity statin with or without ezetimibe, would have little if any additional CVD benefit as a plateau had been reached [3–5]. They also expressed concern that reductions to very low LDL-C levels, such as ≤25 mg/dL, could be harmful, increasing the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, cognitive impairment, cataracts and diabetes [6–9]. Similar concerns regarding greater LDL-C reductions and low LDL-C plagued the use of later generation, more efficacious, statins, or statins plus ezetimibe, and took decades, until results from PROVE-IT and IMPROVE-IT trials, to resolve [10,11]. However PCSK9 inhibitors, in a mere 5 years, have provided conclusive evidence of CVD benefit from the results of the Further cardiovascular OUtcomes Research with PCSK9 Inhibition in subjects with Elevated Risk (FOURIER) trial with evolocumab[12]. We now know there is continued CVD benefit down to very low LDL-C with none of the predicted untoward adverse effects[12]. The issues surrounding PCSK9 inhibitors, LDL-C reduction, CVD benefit and safety can be best discussed as outlined in the Table 1 below. The current PCSK9 inhibitors are expensive and their cost effectiveness and patient access subject to ongoing debate, however a detailed discussion of these issues is beyond the scope of this review.


A heterojunction solar cell consists of a p-n junction between a high-bandgap and a low-bandgap semiconductor. As the cell is made up of two different semiconductors, the fundamental question that arises is whether the limiting efficiency of the heterojunction solar cell is determined by the low-bandgap semiconductor, the high-bandgap semiconductor, some value in-between or, perhaps, even some other value exceeding the limiting efficiency of single gap solar cells. In this respect, in this paper, we demonstrate that the limiting efficiency lies in-between, without the absolute limiting efficiency of single gap solar cells being exceeded. However, in spite of this result, we find that the open-circuit voltage of heterojunction solar cells can exceed the bandgap (divided by the electron charge) of the low-bandgap semiconductor, something that is not possible in single gap solar cells.


This paper explores the interconnections between UK academic research in cyber security and commercialisation in the innovation landscape. This focuses on the Academic Centres for Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSRs) that have been created at 13 UK universities. Through interviews with several ACE-CSRs and other stakeholders in the cyber security innovation environment, four recommendations are offered as potential areas for governments to enhance commercialisation in this area. These include further engagement with the ACE-CSR programme, consolidation of commercial knowledge, develop the use of Impact Acceleration Accounts and centralise government support on already successful centres.


Summary The various manifesting forms of violence fall into the group of acute problems of contemporary Serbian society. There are multiple reasons for this, which are the consequence of a multi-decade post-socialist transformation, complicated by the pauperization of society, as well as by intense globalization processes. Peer violence is one of the negative features of everyday life and lifestyle of children and youth. Having this in mind, the authors have identified some manifesting forms of peer violence in children and youth sports on the territory of the city of Novi Sad. It concerns the results of the analysis of secondary material (more specifically - legal acts and strategies) which deal with the issue of peer violence in sports. Furthermore, the authors have identified the manifesting forms and intensity of peer violence in children and youth sports through conducting focus-group interviews with coaches and parents of children aged 6 to 16. In addition to peer violence, thanks to focus-group discussions, topics such as coach violence over children, as well as parental violence over (their own and others') children, were mentioned. By researching the population of children, coaches and parents, we have obtained an initial insight into the stated social problem with two compatible views. This is significant because no research group, by the nature of its social roles in sports, has a complete overview of the social problem investigated by the authors. The results of the research represent a contribution to a small number of papers that indicate negative psycho-social consequences in the sports peer group, but also in children and youth sports in general.


Based on the Faster RCNN detector, this article first analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using a variety of mainstream convolutional neural networks in target recognition. An improved model with "difficult samples" augmentation features and lighter network model is proposed. And through experiments, it is verified that this model has certain advantages in comprehensive evaluation indicators such as accuracy, recall, and detection speed compared with other models.


| In addition to their role in binding antigen, antibodies can regulate immune responses through interacting with Fc receptors (FcRs). In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms that regulate the activity of IgG antibodies in vivo. In this Review, we discuss recent studies addressing the multifaceted roles of FcRs for IgG (FcγRs) in the immune system and how this knowledge could be translated into novel therapeutic strategies to treat human autoimmune, infectious or malignant diseases. R E V I E W S 34 | jAnuARy 2008 | VOLuME 8 www.nature.com/reviews/immunol © 2008 Nature Publishing Group Nature Reviews | Immunology Mast cell Neutrophil Dendritic cell TReg cell


Acute phase response (APR) is a well known mechanism that occurs in variety of different pathological conditions such as tissue injuries, immunological response, tumors and different inflammations. There is a lack of reports published on some stress – induced conditions in the matter of exercise or training of sporting dogs. In this study we employed the proteomic approach using 2-D gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry for determination of differentially expressed proteins prior to and afterward the strenuous exercise of a German Wire-haired pointer dogs. Differentially we found that similar to serotransferrin precursor was present only after the exercise, haptoglobin heavy chain Hph, similar to fibrinogen beta chain precursor, similar to fibrinogen gamma chain precursor were up regulated after the obtained exercise unlike serum albumin precursor that was down regulated. This study has pointed out that proteomic approach has a good chance to become a reliable predictive/diagnostic tool in assessing the individualized and optimized training programme for sporting animals.


Biogas and ethanol production from the residuals of a paper tube production factory were studied. The residuals were first pretreated, and then enzymatically hydrolyzed and fermented to ethanol or digested to biogas. The pre-treatment was carried out using concentrated phosphoric acid. Results showed that pre-treatment enhance the ethanol production compared to untreated material with 36% (from 0.14 to 0.19 g ethanol/g DM) using 15 FPU/g DM cellulase loading and by 33% (from 0.18 to 0.24 g ethanol/g DM) using 30 FPU/g DM cellulase loading. However, the pre-treatment had a negative impact on digesting the materials to biogas. Anaerobic digestion of the pretreated and untreated residuals resulted in a total final methane volume of 118 NmL/gVS and 218 NmL/gVS, respectively. Considering the energy content of methane and ethanol, the best results in this work indicate an energy production, based on the paper tube residuals, of 1.78 kWh/kg DM in the form of ethanol and 1.81 kWh/kg DM in the form of methane.


The paper presents results obtained by RFNC-VNIITF scientists in Monte Carlo simulations for the transport of electrons and photons from small sources (seed activities) through tumorous and surrounding tissues. These simulations are used to develop brachytherapy plans for cancer patients. The paper demonstrates capability of the code PRIZMA[1] to reproduce dose depositions from single and several seeds and presents a technique used to optimize seed positions. The technique was implemented in the code SEEDPLAN developed for the selection of optimal conditions for tumor irradiation at least radiation burdens to healthy tissues. The rate of dose from a grid of seeds at one or several points of interest is calculated with an algorithm based on superposition of doses from one seed. The algorithm was verified through calculations with a special model developed in PRIZMA. Our calculations prove that SEEDPLAN quite accurately reproduces dose deposition from seeds in a specified configuration and can be used to optimize treatment plans.


ABSTRACT A computational framework according to the CPA Equation of state by considering hydrogen bonding association and solvation effects has been proposed for accurate prediction of phase behavior of complex mixtures of triethylene glycol (TEG), BTEX aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xlylene) and alkanes (methane, ethane, propane). The overall average absolute deviation between the predicted and measured phase compositions, regarding 150 data points is about 2.40% suggesting the accuracy of the presented approach. The presented model can be used for accurate design of BTEX containing natural gas dehydration plants in petroleum industry.


In this study, we developed a typology of deviant workplace behaviors using multidimensional scaling techniques. Results suggest that deviant workplace behaviors vary along two dimensions: minor versus serious, and interpersonal versus organizational. On the basis of these two dimensions, employee deviance appears to fall into four distinct categories: production deviance, property deviance, political deviance, and personal aggression. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.


Drawing on the notion of inscription, this paper aims to further unpack two forms of accountability articulated in the literature, i.e. accountability as transparency and accountability as a dialogic process. Specifically, the researcher proposes the possibility of mobilising transparency as a means for enabling the dialogic form of accountability. This argument significantly contributes to the accountability literature, because it simultaneously mobilises both forms of accountability. On the one hand, while the value of dialogue has been widely recognised in the literature (see, Roberts, 1991; Unerman and Bennett, 2004), it is unknown as to how the dialogic form accountability will take place regularly in contemporary society. This proposition shows that dialogic form of accountability can be engendered by the power of transparency. On the other hand, the proposition complements the debate about the transparency form of accountability in the literature that focuses on discussing the detrimental effects of pursuing transparency as an end in itself (Roberts, 2009), by showing that transparency in practice can engender positive effects by working as a means for enabling dialogue. This study is situated in the context of corporate materiality assessment and particularly the researcher focuses on the potential of the materiality matrix as a format of transparency to engender the dialogic form of accountability. Through viewing materiality matrices as graphical inscriptions and drawing on the enabling potential of inscriptions, the researcher substantiates the argument that the matrix format of transparency can effectively enable dialogue across corporate divisional boundaries as well as between the reporting entity and their stakeholders.


The thermal conductivity has the important influence in quantum effect of light emitting diodes (LED) especially in high brightness light emitting diodes (HB LED). One of the biggest challenges is efficient heat transfer from PCB to aluminum plate when it base on printed circuit board (PCB). Because it enables transfer the heat from electric device to the aluminum plate, which completely removes the heat. In this study, alumina (Al2O3), alumina nitride (AlN) and zinc sulfide (ZnS) films soldered the HB LED lamps to enhance the heat transfer. All of the films were fabricated onto 1070 aluminum substrate by vacuum sputtering technology. The dielectric coatings were characterized by several subsequent analyses, especially the measurement of thermal resistance. The X-Ray diffraction (XRD) diagram analysis reveals three kinds of ceramic thin films were successfully grown on the individual substrate. Moreover, the alumina nitride coating has low sheet resistivity, high hardness, high critical load, and good thermal conduction, 200 W/m-K, as compared to those of Al2O3 and ZnS films.


Pharmacogeoom1CS, the fusion of pharmacology and genomics, shows strong potential to solve many of today's dosing problems. lnter-μlllent dosing requirements, mainly due to genetic variability between paltents, represent significant challenges for prescribe rs. Certain receptors, drugtargeted protems, drug-transix>rt mechanisms and drug-metaoofizing enzymes are genetJcally established. Hence, any defect, atsence or abnormality in the gene could alter how an affected individual will resix>rxl to a given drug. Due to advancements 1n technology, heafth care professt0nals who uttlize phatmacogeno111CS may assess a patient's genetlC profile arxl detennine a predrcted resJX>nse to specific med1cat1ons. This may resul11n ix>tentially opt1mal dosing at Iha onset or treatment rather than going through a tnal-and-error process that could take many months. Despite the recent devebpments n pharmacogenom1cs, several oorriers must be crossed before the benefcs of 1ndwidualized medicine can be fully appreciated and wKlespread. Some of these oo.rriers involve limned knowledge, tesung and heated ethcaJ debates. This article provides an overview of phannacogeoomJCS for the pharmac1St. Introduction One size fits all. In drug therapy, this 1s rarely true but, unfortunately, 1t is often the approach used when treating patients. If the initial dose is suooptimal, then the dose is adjusted. For example, clopidogrel is an oral antiplatelet drug that is typically initiated at a dose of 75mg once daily. The effectiveness of this drug depends on its activation to an active merabotrre t:ly !he cytochrome P450 (GYP) syscem. Paaencs who are "poor meraboltzers" may experience a thromboembolic event due to sub-therapeutic levels of acuve drug before the drug ts appropriately dosed. Conversely, patients who are rapid metabolizers of clop1dogref may have increased levels of acbve drug and experience adverse bleeding events. This trial-and-error dosing tandem will likely continue until the opumal therapy 1s ach10ved or alternate treatment is prescnbed. This delay in appropnate treatment may result In undesirable consequences for the patient and increased health care costs. What tf tl1ere was a way co stop this cycle and effectively treat the patient the fi rst time? New technological advances have the ix>tential to aid health care providers in selection of appropriate drugs and dosage regimens personalized for individual patients. In additi:>n, this new technology may predict patients likely to experience adverse drug reactions. With adverse drug reactions ranked high in the top causes of preventable death, personalized medicme may decrease the number of occurrences and save fives. This concept of lndiv1duafized drug therapy may be realized with the use of phannacogenomics. In fact, the FDA endorses the applica!Jon of this field as evidenced with a recent change to the product labeling for the aoove mentioned drug, cfopidogrel. It now contains a black oox warning (Figure 1): The basics of pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenom1cs IS the fusion of pharmacology and genomtCS.2 Pharmacogenom1cs re fers to the general study of all of the many d1f· ferem genes that determine drug behavior. Pharmacogenencs refers to the study of inherited differences (vanation) 1n drug metaoohsm and response. Although these two disc1p1tnes are different, the dist1nct10n between them is considered arbitrary by many researchers. Currantly, 11 1s not unusual for the two terms to be used interchangeably.' Certain receptors , drug targeted proteins, drug transport mechanisms and drug metabolizing enzymes are based on a person's genellc code, thus, 1t can be concluded that any defect, absence or abnonnaijty in the gene has the potential to alter how an affected individual will respond to certain drugs. 4 The genes most commonly studied are those that code for enzymes that metabolize drugs; these enzymes affect the drug's pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. The alteration of the gene is typically the result of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP).5 SNPs are DNA sequence variations that occur when a single nucleotide base in the gene sequence is altered. A SNP within a gene has the potential to cause a m15sense, sense or nonsense polymorphism in the protein 1t codes for. A mtSsense polymorphism results 1n a code for a different amino acid than the unaltered gene. A sense polymorphism results in tile same amino acid as intended, but by a different sequence. A oonsense polymorphism results 1n the earty termination of the protein synthesis. SNPs are among the top geneoc vanalJOns being examined today because a single SNP with in a gene can alter protein express ton of such enzymes as cytochrome P450 (CYP} metaooltzing enzymes. Clinicians can take advantage of a patienrs genellc profile to fit their specific needs at the onset of treatment rather than go through a trial-and-error process that can take many months. Notonfy does this save time and money, but pharmacogenomics can also prevent many adverse drug reactions. Adverse drug reactions are among WARNING: DIMINISHED EFFECTIVENESS TN POOR METABOLIZERS the leading causes of death in £he United States.' Many drugs can elicit an adverse reactton in some patients and nor in others. Consequently, it 1s important to screen a patienrs genetic profile before selecnng a potentially dangerous medication. The utilization of pharmacogenomics has the potential to slgnrflcantly lower the inctdence of adverse • • Effectiveness of Plavix® depends on activation to an active metaboltu by 1he cytochrome P4SO (CYP) systfm. pnnc1pally CYP2Cl9. Poor metabohzers treat.ed with Plav1x® at re~ommended doses e:dul111 lugher cardiovascular event rates followmg acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or percutaneous coronary mte:rvenuon (PCl) than pal!ents W1tl1 nonnal CYP1C 19 funcboo Test• are avalable to 1denufy a pauenl' s CYP2Cl 9 genotype and can be used as an aid Ill detemurung lherapeuuc strategy reactJons.7 Pharmacogenomics: Past Figure 1: Plavix® {clopidigrel) Black Box Warning' Ada.~ed from products.sanoli-aventis.us/plavix/pavix.html The firs t use of pharmacogenomic technology was m 1932 when the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide was tested and evaluated. 1 O THE P HARMAc• ANO WELLNESS REv 1Ew Volume one. Issue one May2010 Pharmacogenomics: Your Medical Identity It had been observed that some populations had the ability to taste the compound, while others did not. Those 1dent1fled as being unable to taste the chemical compound were autosomal recessive (did not code) for the enzyme that enabled them to taste the compound. Through thlS study, researchers concluded that genetic makeup determined how an individual would respond to certain chemicals or drugs. During U111 1940s and 1950s, S!.;11111Lists began mv11sligating the rnechanisms and impact of cytochrome P450 on the metabolism of drugs. It came to the attention of some scientists when they noticed that some patients taking the antihypertensive medication debrisoquine had an enormous decrease in blood pressure.2 Through further studies , it was determined that the specific population experiencing this effect had two recessive alleles coding forthe enzyme responsible for metabolizing the medication. The lack of metabolizing enzyme caused an exacerOO.tion of the drug's effects due roan accumulation 1n the body. This discovery further supported what researchers had hypothesized in the 1930s. The extent to which a drug is metabolized is highly influenced by a person's genetics. Pharmacogenomics: Today Currently, !he official product labeling in more than 20 medicatJOns now mention the availability of tests for genetic variations that impact the drug's action (Table 1). However, tes ting is optional. The Clinical Tnals Web site notes that 365 pharmacogenomic studies are being conducted throughout !he world.2 Table 1: Examples of Current Drugs with Pharmacogenomic Parameters • Wartarin (Coumadin®) CYP 2C9 · Clopidogrel (Plav!X®): CYP 2C 19 • Azathiopine (lmurar®): thioμ.irire melhyltransferase • 6-MlrcaJXopurine (Punnethol®)· thiopurine methyltransferase • lrinotecan (CamJXosar®} UGTIA 1'28 horrozygosny · 5-Flurouractl (8t.dex®): D1hydroPfrim1d1ne dehydrogenase • Aoocavir HLA·B'5701 A specific example of hew phannacogenomics can be used today iS genetic analystS of CYP2C9 to ass st with warfarin dosing. As mentJOned prevtously, SNPs are among the top genetic variations being examined today because a single SNP withrn a gene can alter protein expresston of enzymes such as cytochrome P450 (CYP) metabolizing enzymes. A commonly mutated, clinically significant CYP enzyme is CYP2C9. Instead of initiating a patient on a standard dose, determination of the patienrs genetic profile allows the clinician to determine a more appropriate dose from the start The ratJOnale behind this lies within the CYP2C9 allele. The role of CYP2C9 is to metaboltze the S enantiomer to its inactive metabolites. If a panent has a polymorphism within their CYP2C9 allele, they will have an increased nsk of bleeding This is due to a slower metabolism, which allows the drug to stay in the body longer and increase its effects. Through the use of pharmacogenomics, an adjusted dose can be 1nibated before the paoont even leaves the ohyslc1an·s office, thereby avoiding the extra ome wamng for an INR (international normalized rauo) to return and potenually averong a bieed.9 A black box warning suggesting pharmacogenomic testmg 1s part ul U111 FDA-required labeling ro1 Uie antiviral agenl abacavi1. 111 lhis example, patients with a specific allele (HLA·B'5701) are at high nsk for experiencing a hypersensitivity reaction. Prior to ininating therapy with abacavir, screening for the allele 1s recommended. This approach has been found to decrease Lhe nsk of hypersens1t1V1ty reactton. HLA· 8'5701-negative patients may develop a suspected hypersensitJv1ty reacoon to abacavir. however, this occurs sign~icantly less frequently than in HLA-8'5701


There are many queuing systems that accept single arrivals, accumulate them and service only as a group. Examples of such systems exist in various areas of human life, from traffic of transport to processing requests on a computer network. Therefore, our study is actual. In this paper some class of finite Markovian queueing models with single arrivals and group services are studied. We considered the forward Kolmogorov system for corresponding class of Markov chains. The method of obtaining bounds of convergence on the rate via the notion of the logarithmic norm of a linear operator function is not applicable here. This approach gives sharp bounds for the situation of essentially non-negative matrix of the corresponding system, but in our case it does not hold. Here we use the method of differential inequalities to obtaining bounds on the rate of convergence to the limiting characteristics for the class of finite Markovian queueing models. We obtain bounds on the rate of convergence and compute the limiting characteristics for a specific non-stationary model too. Note the results can be successfully applied for modeling complex biological systems with possible single births and deaths of a group of particles.


Abstract In two-phase flows in which the Capillary number is low, errors in the computation of the surface tension force at the interface cause Front-Capturing methods such as Volume of Fluid (VOF) and Level-Set (LS) to develop interfacial spurious currents. To better solve low Capillary number flows, special treatment is required to reduce such spurious currents. Smoothing the phase indicator field to more accurately compute the curvature or adding interfacial artificial viscosity are techniques that can treat this problem. This study explores OpenFOAM, Fluent and StarCCM+ VOF solvers for the classical case of a static bubble/droplet immersed in a continuous aqueous phase, with the focus on the ability of these solvers to adequately reduce spurious currents. The results are expected to be helpful for practicing chemical engineers who use multiphase CFD solvers in their work.


The article is based on the results of scientific research of the Department of Finance on the topic "Financial policy of the state and its impact on the sustainable development of the economy of the Republic of Belarus", section "Investment policy". The results of the analysis of official investment statistics are presented. Attention is drawn to the existence of a close causal relationship between investment and economic growth of the national economy. It is proved that the development of society is based on constant quantitative and qualitative improvement of productive forces, which requires the use of scientific and technological progress and, as a consequence, a stable inflow of new investments into the economy. The assessment of the state, problems and prospects of development of investment activity of Belarus was carried out. The ways of their solution are offered.


A semiconductor integrated circuit device is provided with at least a target circuit whose power supply voltage is variable; a power supply voltage supplying circuit for supplying a target circuit with a power supply voltage; and an energy minimum point monitor circuit for detecting an energy minimizing power supply voltage with which a change of consumption energy of the target circuit to a power supply voltage change is permitted to be minimum. The power supply voltage to be supplied by the power supply voltage supplying circuit is controlled to be the energy minimizing power supply voltage detected by the energy minimum point monitor circuit.


This study aims to optimize the nurse manager's planning function based on identifying needs or solving problems in the service unit. The method used is a case report by conducting interviews, observing using observation sheets, and distributing questionnaires. The study results show optimizing the planning function of nurses as managers of nursing services. Preparation of draft Guidelines and SPO for home health care services is a solution. Implementation is carried out through Lewin's three phases process planned change approach. In conclusion, nurses need to show that nurses have a responsibility to ensure patient safety with adequate competence, including by maximizing the function of nurses as managers of nursing services by optimizing the planning function of nurse managers.
 Keywords: Home Health Care, Optimization, Nurse Manager


Ab initio simulations provide detailed insights into the atomic scale and have proven indispensable in aiding the study of problems in diverse areas of materials science related to metals, ceramics, semiconductors or functional materials. In the last years, ab initio based simulations of electrochemical processes have experienced an enormous methodological development. These allow the description and study of stability and reactivity of solid/liquid interfaces at the computer in dependence of the environmental conditions, as dictated by the pHvalue of the solution and the applied electrode potential. During the lecture, I will discuss an approach we developed recently, which unifies and "translates" theoretical concepts from the areas of semiconductor defect chemistry and electrochemistry [1]. This approach is based on a fully grand-canonical description of both ions and electrons, linking ab initio calculations quite naturally to experimental observables such as the pH-scale and the electrode potential. It provides new insights into apparently "old" problems such as water stability or oxide growth in an corrosive environment, opens new routes to construct electrochemical phase (Pourbaix) diagrams and gives a handle to an absolute alignment of electrochemical potentials.


Highly active electrocatalysts with good long term stability are vital for the commercialization of metal air batteries and alkaline fuel cells which involve the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode end. Herein, we developed a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique for the precise fabrication of silver–copper metallic glass (AgCu-MG) electrocatalysts. This PLD technique provides excellent control over the surface microtopography along with high flexibility for the deposition of different compositions of silver–copper metallic glass electrocatalysts onto nickel foam. Among all investigated Ag-based catalysts, AgCu-MG catalysts exhibit high electrocatalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.67 V (vs. RHE) which can be in situ enhanced by dealloying treatment in N2 saturated 0.1 M KOH solution. In situ dealloying of the AgCu-MG provides exceptional ORR catalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.78 V (vs. RHE) at 1600 rpm, which is comparable to 0.81 V (vs. RHE) of commercial Pt/C-20%. The AgCu-MG electrocatalyst showed excellent long-term stability in rechargeable zinc–air batteries. After 1000 charge–discharge cycles at 20 mA cm−2, the discharge voltage of batteries was stable at 1.0 V demonstrating the potential application of AgCu-MG as an alternative to Pt/C-20% in zinc–air batteries and alkaline fuel cells.


The present invention discloses a low-expansion cement, which is characterized by comprising, by weight, 1-2 parts of ferrous sulfate, 5-10 parts of limestone, 10-12 parts of cement clinker, 8-12 parts of fly ash, 1-3 parts of sodium chloride, 1-2 parts of triethanol ammonium, and 2-3 parts of titanic acid phenol. The low-expansion cement of the present invention has characteristics of simple production processing and easy cost control, wherein the molded cement has low expansivity after contacting water and has high density.


Using the baculovirus-expressed recombinant E2 protein of classical swine fever virus(CSFV) as coating antigen and a anti-E2 neutralizing monoclonal antibody(McAb) 6E10 labeled with horsera-dish peroxidase(HRP) as competitive antibody.A competitive inhibition ELISA(CI-ELISA) for detection of neutralizing antibody against the E2 protein was developed and the reaction condition was optimized in CI-ELISA.The optimal concentration of coating antigen in CI-ELISA was 3 μg/mL,and the optimal dilution of HRP-6E10 was 1∶4 000.The cut-off value of 30% was set for the 90 known negative sera,and the cut-off value of 40% was set for the positive sera.The sensitivity of CI-ELISA was 1∶44 in neutralization titer.The agreement(85.00%)of CI-ELISA with IDEXX Blocking ELISA Kit was higher than that(81.25%) of the indirect ELISA with the IDEXX Blocking ELISA Kit.No cross-reaction was observed in CI-ELISA with anti-sera to bovine viral diarrhea virus,porcine circovirus type 2,porcine parvovirus,transmissible gastroenteritis virus,Japanese encephalitis virus,porcine rotavirus,porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus,porcine epidemic diarrhea virus,and porcine pseudorabies virus.Out of 290 porcine sera on swine farms in four provinces of China,94.1%(273/290) were positive CSFV by CI-ELISA.


On January 10, 2006, the Supreme Court will hear Dagher v. Texaco, Inc., an antitrust case that presents the Court an opportunity to clarify issues of substantial importance to the formation and…


The first oil production from the Upper Devonian Nisku Formation in northeastern Montana came with the discovery of the Tule Creek field in late 1960. Six additional Nisku fields have been discovered within a 10-mi radius of Tule Creek. Even-textured, saccharoidal dolomite, with a pay thickness ranging up to 50 ft, produces 40°-47° API oil in these seven fields. Data from closely spaced wells amply demonstrate that structural closure is important as the basic trapping mechanism for Nisku oil. Various interpretations have been given regarding the influence which stratigraphic factors have had in creating these accumulations. Current information indicates that primary stratigraphic differences do impose a semi-regional control on Nisku oil traps, but are less important in individual traps. Steep-sided, flat-topped structures, which typically cover less than 1 sq mi, control the limits of Nisku fields. The writer believes that the structures are not the products of normal tectonic development. Instead, it can be demonstrated both theoretically and by deep well data that they are "sedimentary structures" which result from multiple-stage solution of the Lower Devonian Prairie salt beds. The present solutional zero edge of the Prairie salt beds is east and downdip from the complex of Nisku fields, but it is believed that an original thickness of 50-100 ft of salt was present in the Tule Creek area, and that the original depositional edge of the salt was farther west.


A new analytical approach for the kinetic determination of 2,7-dihydroxynapthalene (2,7-DHN) by perturbation effect with its narrow concentration range on Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillator catalyzed by tetra-aza-macrocyclic copper complex catalyst ([CuL](ClO 4 ) 2 was reported in this paper. The Ligand "L" in this complex is 5,7,7,12,14,14-hexemethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene. Perturbation experiments were performed after optimizing the oscillation parameters which indicates that the change in the oscillation amplitude (ΔA) is directly proportional to the concentration of 2,7-DHN added in the range of 4.50 × 10 -4 mol L -1 to 1.80 × 10 -3 mol L -1 with the correlation coefficient of 0.98. The calculated relative standard deviation (RSD) from the 6 measurements obtained by the injection of 5.00 × 10 -3 mol L -1 is 1.90 %. The lower limit of detection (LOD) is 2.10 × 10 -4 mol L -1 . Factors that influence the oscillation system were studied. A reaction perturbation mechanism was proposed based on a novel FKN model.


A power headroom calculation method and apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) are provided for a primary cell Power Headroom (PH) calculation in a Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) mobile communication system. The method includes determining whether an activated serving cell includes uplink data and/or uplink control signal to be transmitted, and determining PH of the activated serving cell according to whether the activated serving cell has the uplink data and/or uplink control signal.


Direct current (DC) buses and microgrids have drawn significant attention owing to the simple integration of distinct sources and energy storage systems. However, most research efforts refer to the use of DC buses for residential, datacenter, and telecommunications applications rather than manufacturing industry, where processes are controlled by alternating current (AC) motor drivers. This work proposes a novel approach of a DC bus used as primary power supply in manufacturing industrial plants for replacing the traditional AC bus. Unlike most applications, the DC bus voltage presents a variable magnitude and allows energy recovery aiming to improve energy efficiency. This arrangement employs a capacitor bank directly to the DC bus, which is responsible for storing the energy that, otherwise, would be lost during the motor braking. Simulation in PSIM software and experimental results on an industrial plant involving a real polyvinyl chloride (PVC) injection machine supplied directly by the DC bus, in which the voltage varies between 535 V and 600 V, are presented and discussed to validate the proposed approach. The obtained results show that the DC bus does not require a rigid control of the voltage magnitude, thus allowing a reduction of up to 5.05% in energy consumption.


A potpourri of articles published in two journals since 1960 is hardly a survey. When, in addition, at least half of the thirty-five articles are written in dialogue form among people unknown to most adult educators, chances are that the book will remain on the shelf. Bluem and Manvell are, respectively, editors of the two journals from which the articles are drawn: Television Quarterly and Journal of The Society of Film and Television Arts. The excellent introductory essays by Bluem and the idea of comparing the developments in television between the United States and Great Britain excite the reader. In addition the range of subjects in the Table of


We focus on the following computational chemistry problem: Given a subset of the exact distances between atoms, reconstruct the three-dimensional position of each atom in the given molecule. The distance matrix is generally sparse. This problem is both important and challenging. Our contribution is a novel combination of two known techniques (parallel breadth-first search and geometric buildup) and its OpenCL parallel implementation. The approach has the potential to speed up computation of three-dimensional structures of molecules - a critical process in computational chemistry. From experiments on multi-core CPUs and graphic processing units, we conclude that, for sufficient large problems, our implementation shows a moderate scalability.


OH). It may be produced from almost any fermentation feedstock if suitable distillation and rectification techniques are used to remove the other chemical compounds, or congeners, produced with the ethanol in the fermentation process. Neutral spirit is used in the production of beverages such as vodka, gin, cordials and cream liqueurs. It is also used for a wide range of other industrial manufacturing applications, where it is usually referred to as ?high quality industrial alcohol?. Purified synthetic alcohol produced from petrochemicals may also be used in industrial applications, being virtually indistinguishable from neutral spirit produced from fermentation feedstocks, but it is outside the scope of this chapter. Feedstocks Almost any fermentation feedstock may be used to produce neutral spirit, but certain feedstocks may produce greater concentrations of particular congeners that require additional equipment for removal. For instance, potatoes and grapes tend to produce much higher levels of methanol than are obtained from grain fermentations; and it may be necessary to use an additional distillation column, a demethylizer, to obtain a satisfactory product. The choice of feedstock is largely dictated by economics and availability. Thus for part of the year a plant may use a low cost, seasonally available, perishable feedstock such as sugarcane juice, grape juice, or cheese whey. The rest of the year the plant will operate using more expensive but storable feedstocks such as grain, raisins or molasses. Feedstocks for neutral spirit production must be consistently of good quality. They must be free of major bacterial infections in order to maintain fairly clean fermentations and avoid excessive variation in the amount and type of congeners to be removed in subsequent processing. Fermentation The preparation and fermentation of the various feedstocks is essentially the same as described in the chapters on the production of whisky, rum and fuel ethanol. However, because the objective is to produce lower concentrations of congeners (since no distinctive flavor is required), more emphasis may be placed on use of bactericides and antibiotics (e.g. chlorine dioxide and penicillin) to control bacterial contaminants in the fermenters. The fermentation process yields a beer containing varying concentrations of ethanol depending on the feedstock used. For example, the ethanol concentration from fermentation of sulfite waste liquor (from the paper/pulp industry) may be only about 1% by volume. Cheese whey fermentations normally yield 2-5% ethanol; sugarcane juice fermentations may yield 6-8% ethanol and grain fermentations may yield 1012% ethanol.


Objective To study the activity characteristics of carboxylic esterases,including butyrylcholinesterase(BchE),carboxylesterase(CarbE)and paraoxonase(PonE),in the reference group and to explore the effect of long-term exposure to organophosphorus pesticides(OPs)on these enzyme activities.Methods100 unexposed persons and 75 OPs exposed workers were taken as study subjects.The activity of serum enzymes was measured and the effect of long-term exposure to organophosphorus pesticides was analyzed.Results Average value of BchE activity of unexposed persons was(78.3±30.4)mmol/(ml·h);average value of CarbE activity was(362.7±195.0)nmol/(ml·min);and average value of PonE activity was(332.6±96.2)nmol/ (ml·min).The activity was independent on the gender or age.The activity distributions of these carboxylic esterases were normal.The long-term exposure to OPs could inhibit the activities of BchE and CarbE.The BchE activity of OPs exposed workers was(27.3±21.7)mmol/ (ml·h)and CarbE activity was(235.6±104.0)nmol/ (ml·min).The PonE activity was not affected by exposure to OPs,the activity was(307.8±107.0)nmol/ (ml·min)in the exposed group.Conclusions There is no association with age and gender in these enzymes of general population.Comparison of the enzyme activity of the control group with that of the OPs exposed workers,the difference is significant.These show that long-term exposure to OPs could inhibit BchE and CarbE activities,but not PonE.It concludes that BchE and CarbE activities might be used to indicate the exposure to organophosphorus pesticides.


The paper reviews the indications, contraindications, limitations, and strengths of the modern functional methods for coronary heart disease (CHD) diagnostics. As well as the widely used electrocardiography (ECG) based exercise stress tests, the following informative methods are described: myocardial perfusion assessment, stress echocardiography (EchoCG), magnetic resonance imaging and multi-spiral computed tomography of the heart. The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic order, and prognostic value of these methods are compared to those of coronary angiography in CHD patients.


Plant energy managers must understand that insulation is not a one-time investment, but requires periodic maintenance. Therefore, an insulation checkup on hot and cold pipelines in industrial plants is necessary. The inspector should watch for signs of deterioration, water or staining, and should determine if it is still appropriate to today's standards and energy costs. Surface temperatures over 25/sup 0/F over that of ambient air on hot pipes and condensation on cold lines indicate that the insulation needs either repair or replacement. (DCK)


The paper presents the results of a biochemical study of the aerial overburden mass of the Bunias orientalis L., grown under the conditions of the middle taiga subzone of the Republic of Komi according to the terms of its harvesting. The mass fraction of flavonols during the vegetative period of plants has been determined. It has been established that in mass budding and mass flowering phases in the row-leaves-buds (or flowers) the mass fraction of flavonols increases from 0,25% to 6,06% and from 0,6 to 15,43%, respectively. It is shown that when plants migrate to mass flowering, a sharp increase in the content of flavonols in all the above-ground organs of the plant is observed. A particularly large increase in the mass fraction of flavonols has been detected in the flowers of the overbearing of the eastern plants in comparison with the buds. Unconditional maximum of the pool of flavonols is observed in the flowers of the plant (15,43%). But, taking into account the fact that the mass fraction of flowers on the generative shoot is no more than 3%, in the technological plan, a promising source of flavonols from the aboveground mass of the studied plant are the leaves and flowers collected during the flowering phase in the Komi Republic in the third decade of June-July.


We propose a multi-temporal approach to discriminate macrophyte vegetation types in the Lower Parana River floodplain. During a low intensity flood pulse, seven X-Band COSMO-SkyMed HImage images were acquired, covering a nine-month period. The region was first segmented with a mean-shift segmentation method using the information from the complete temporal series. Next, objects were classified with the expectation maximization algorithm into spectral classes. These spectral classes were assigned to six information classes defined through field sampling: Bulrush marshes, Short broad-leaf marshes, Tall broad-leaf marshes, Short grasslands and grass marshes, Tall grasslands and grass marshes, and Water. Class interpretation was based on the backscatter dynamics in relation to plant coverage and to hydrometric level. We related backscattering coefficient changes to interaction mechanisms: mirror reflectance (water-covered areas), volume dispersion (emergent vegetation with medium backscatter) and double-bounce (emergent flooded vegetation with high backscatter when water is present). The accuracy of the obtained product was assesed by comparing it with 55 field samplings. Global accuracy was 71.2%, whereas Kappa index was 63.4%. This work points out the usefulness of X-Band data for flood monitoring and macrophyte vegetation type discrimination. In a mosaic of herbaceous wetlands, the dynamics associated with flood pulse may change within patches in different geomorphological settings and topographical positions. The knowledge on the relation between vegetation, local settings and floods is essential for interpreting and predicting how backscattering coefficients and other SAR-derivated parameters vary with flooding.


The paper presents the results of experimental studies on the production of high-entropy carbides of transition metals of IV-V groups. In the course of experimental studies, three phases of high-entropy carbides ZrNbHfTaC4, VZrNbHfTaC5, TiVZrNbHfTaC6 were obtained. These materials are characterized by a cubic structure of the NaCl type, the lattice parameters correspond to the known data on these high-entropy carbides. According to the data of scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis, the chemical elements are uniformly distributed in the obtained crystals of multicomponent carbides. A feature of the synthesis method used is the implementation without the use of vacuum and gas equipment.


Responses gathered in a recent study of the superintendency in the Pacific Northwest suggest that less than 25% of sitting superintendents in the year 2000 were under the age of 50; and 40% of those who were 50 years or older planned to retire within the next four years. While the pool of potential applicants includes over 1,000 superintendent certificate holders, fewer than 150 of respondents in the same study planned to apply for upcoming vacancies. This article examines aspects of the position that serve as disincentives to seemingly qualified candidates and the policy ramifications of possible pool inadequacy within the given context. A recent national study suggested that 80% of current superintendents are at or near retirement. Sixty-eight percent of these superintendents are between the ages of 50 and 59 years; another 10 to 15% are over 60 (Cooper, Fusarelli, & Carella, 2000). This is not simply a big-city or large-district phenomenon. The graying of the superintendency extends to rural America as well. In The Superintendent Pool: Realities in the Northwest, researchers reported that in the five-state region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington) 75% of sitting superintendents in the year 2000 were over the age of 50, 40% of whom planned to retire within the next four years (Wolverton, Rawls, & Macdonald, 2000). If the more than 500 superintendents (60% of all superintendents in the region) who participated in the study are representative of the region, the Pacific Northwest may experience a sizeable exodus from superintendent positions by the year 2005.


Follow this and additional works at: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/kjhepp Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons An abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the 2012, Association of Institutional Research Annual forum conference in New Orleans. Findings reported in the manuscript are original. The current manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere for publication consideration.


A Gigabit parallel optical transceiver IC with circuit-level fast power-down capability using differential optical signalling is described. With individual channel power control and power-down during both long and short idle periods, this architecture can realize considerable power savings on high-density optical interconnects.


The utility model discloses a high-power medium speed gas engine. The high-power medium speed gas engine comprises an engine body which is provided with a front end auxiliary system. The front end auxiliary system comprises an auxiliary supporting box. An intercooler and a constant temperature water tank are arranged at the upper portion of the front side of the auxiliary supporting box. The intercooler is arranged at the upper end of the constant temperature water tank. A high-temperature cooling water pump, a low-temperature cooling water pump and a lubricating oil heat exchanger which is provided with an oil pump are arranged at the lower portion of the front side of the auxiliary supporting box. The high-temperature cooling water pump and the low-temperature cooling water pump are respectively and correspondingly connected with a high-temperature cooling water inlet and a low-temperature cooling water inlet in the constant temperature water tank. A supercharger and a mixer which is communicated with a gas inlet system are arranged on the top of the auxiliary supporting box. An oil filter and a lubricating oil centrifugal filter are correspondingly arranged on two sides of the front side of the auxiliary supporting box. The high-power medium speed gas engine has the advantages of being concise in appearance, high in integration degree, more simple in field maintenance, and capable of improving assembling efficiency.


Vascular calcification is common in patients with chronic kidney disease and in kidney transplant recipients. It leads to increased arterial stiffness, left ventricular hypertrophy, complicates formation of arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis, decreases coronary artery perfusion, and generally increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Vascular calcification affects arteries of all sizes – starting from the intimal and medial layers of the arterial wall. In clinical practice, several non-invasive imaging techniques have been used to evaluate the location and severity of vascular calcification. There is a report positing a possibility of evaluating vascular calcification by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). This paper presents the experience of successful diagnosis of peripheral arterial calcification by DXA in kidney transplant recipients and end-stage renal disease patients.


Construction is a crucial sector in terms of worldwide environmental impacts. Building material production along with transport and demolition are no exception, because in the last decades, they have constantly increased their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Actions and initiatives are therefore important to tackle the relationship between buildings and climate change. Particularly, it is necessary to develop Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools useful to calculate the environmental impact of buildings and to make them accessible to designers and stakeholders acting in the building sector. The article aims to contribute to the international debate about environmental assessment indicators for buildings and the simplified LCA based tools. The Embodied Energy (EE) and the Embodied Carbon (EC) have been investigated. The former, related to primary energy content; the latter, associated with the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions. EE and EC have been used as indicators for the development of a calculation tool named EURECA, for assessing the environmental impact of the building over its life cycle, as defined by the EN 15978:2011 standard. The Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean's house designed and built by an international academic team has been an opportunity to check the indicators and the tool's effectiveness.


A transformed receptor system of wheat, which used young embryos as receptor and speeded up regeneration and formation of plantlets for the transformed embryos, was established by improving culture conditions of immature embryos. The culture medium, MS+2mg·L-1 2,4-D+0.4mg·L-1 IAA+0.2mg·L-1 KT had a better effect on callus induction of different spring wheat immature embryos, the induction rate could come up to 94.87%~99.04%. The newly produced callus, exposed under weak light, was easy to grow into green buds and regenerate. 2.0g·L-1 active charcoal or 1mg·L-1 Paclobutrazol could promote the regeneration of green buds, strength of seedling and development of root. The autoclaved nutrient soil had good effect on the growth of the cultured wheat seedlings when they were transplanted.


Two acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) conjugated molecules DPP-E-BDT and DPP-E-BDT-T, using diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as the A-unit, ethynylene bridge flanked benzo-[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (E-BDT) as the central D-unit, and different 4,8-substitutions on the BDT were synthesized by Sonogashira coupling reactions for solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs). The insertion of electron-withdrawing ethynylene bridges (sp hybridization) in the DPP-E-BDT and DPP-E-BDT-T molecules leads to planar and enlarged aromatic skeletons, larger band gaps, and deeper HOMO levels. 4,8-Dithienyl substitution on BDT in DPP-E-BDT-T results in additional conjugation extension to give a slightly smaller band gap compared to the 4,8-dialkoxy substitution in target molecules. Bulk heterojunction solar cells using DPP-E-BDT and DPP-E-BDT-T as the donor materials and fullerene acceptor showed a high open-circuit voltage of 0.89 V and moderate current densities of 10.9 mA cm−2. Besides, quite high fill factors (73.6%) could be obtained. Power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 7.12% were obtained for DPP-E-BDT-T blends, which is the highest efficiency among small molecules based on DPP and BDT units. In active layer fabrication, 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) was used as a solvent additive and subsequent thermal annealing treatment was also employed. We saw that these combined treatments led to balanced hole and electron transports, with values around 1.2 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1 for the active layers. These results demonstrated that ethynylene bridges in small molecule donors are quite useful, both in tuning the electronic structure and in defining the thin film morphology, thus would be a promising method to enhance photovoltaic performances of the resulting materials.


We focus on feature extraction and selection to best represent texture and shape properties of plant diseases in an image-based leaf monitoring system implemented in a mobile-cloud environment. A number of textural and region-based features are aggregated from previous studies; also we introduce mean and peak indices of histogram-of-shape as disease property representations along with the proposed and enhanced shape features based on diseased regions. A total of 260 colour-based attributes and 163 shape attributes are searched to find the best potential features based on different aspects: probability of feature error, correlation, targeted-class relevancy and the separability quality of a feature. Experimental results show that the best selected feature set which combines colour-based and shape features yields high classification accuracy on wheat disease images captured by a smartphone camera and also provides insights into potential sets of features to be further implemented as a lightweight standalone mobile application.


ABSTRACT Objectives Head and neck/oral cancer, predominantly head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), is the sixth most common cancer in the world. While substantial advances have been made to define the genomic alterations associated with head and neck/oral cancer, most studies are focused on protein coding genes. The aim of this article is to review the current literature on identified genomic aberrations of non-coding genes (e.g., microRNA) in head and neck/oral cancer (HNOC), and their contribution to the initiation and progression of HNOC. Material and Methods A comprehensive review of the available literature relevant to microRNA deregulation in HNSCC/HNOC, was undertaken using PubMed, Medline, Scholar Google and Scopus. Keywords for the search were: microRNA and oral cancer, microRNA and squamous cell carcinoma, microRNA deregulation and oral cancer, microRNA and carcinogenesis in the head and neck/oral cavity. Only full length articles in the English language were included. Results We recently identified a panel of microRNA deregulations that were consistently observed in HNSCC [Chen et al., Oral Oncol. 2012;48(8):686-91], including 7 consistently up-regulated microRNAs (miR-21, miR-7, miR-155, miR-130b, miR-223, miR-34b), and 4 consistently down-regulated microRNAs (miR-100, miR-99a, miR-125b, miR-375). In this review, we will first provide an overview on microRNA and HNSCC. We will then provide a comprehensive review on the roles of microRNA deregulations in HNSCC. The functional significance of the identified HNSCC-associated microRNAs and a number of other relevant microRNAs (e.g., miR-138, miR-98, miR-137, miR-193a and miR-218) will be discussed in detail. Conclusions Based on current literature, microRNA deregulation plays a major role in head and neck/oral cancer.


Most stars form in a cluster environment. These stars are initially surrounded by disks from which potentially planetary systems form. Of all cluster environments, starburst clusters are probably the most hostile for planetary systems in our Galaxy. The intense stellar radiation and extreme density favor rapid destruction of circumstellar disks via photoevaporation and stellar encounters. Evolving a virialized model of the Arches cluster in the Galactic tidal field, we investigate the effect of stellar encounters on circumstellar disks in a prototypical starburst cluster. Despite its proximity to the deep gravitational potential of the Galactic center, only a moderate fraction of members escapes to form an extended pair of tidal tails. Our simulations show that encounters destroy one-third of the circumstellar disks in the cluster core within the first 2.5 Myr of evolution, preferentially affecting the least and most massive stars. A small fraction of these events causes rapid ejection and the formation of a weaker second pair of tidal tails that is overpopulated by disk-poor stars. Two predictions arise from our study. (1) If not destroyed by photoevaporation protoplanetary disks of massive late B- and early O-type stars represent the most likely hosts of planet formation in starburst clusters. (2) Multi-epoch K- and L-band photometry of the Arches cluster would provide the kinematically selected membership sample required to detect the additional pair of disk-poor tidal tails.


The short-term load forecasting is an important work as well as the basis for the engineer to distribute the power load. In this paper we discuss a new approach combining chaos theory and RBF neural networks to forecast the short-term power load.Applying it in the month-load forecasting of some area in Hunan,the result is satisfactory.


After analyzing on the typical accident-causing theories,this paper sets up a marine accident causation theory,which considers the deficiency of the water safety management system as the essential cause of marine accidents.The theory is tested with the well-known accident of Dasun.


The authors studied the hydrostatic pressure dependence of photoluminescence (PL) from In-rich InxGa1−xN with In contents x between 0.58 and 1.00. The observed PL pressure coefficients of 20–25meV∕GPa agree well with previously reported experimental and theoretical values of the band gap pressure coefficient, from which they conclude that band-to-band recombination is responsible for PL emission. This contrasts with earlier reports, where relatively low PL pressure coefficients were interpreted as evidence of the involvement of strongly localized states in the PL emission. The reported observation of band-to-band recombination in In-rich InGaN is encouraging from the point of view of the construction of light emitters, since band-to-band recombination is more efficient than recombination via localized states. Furthermore, significant bowing of the band gap pressure coefficient in In-rich InxGa1−xN, as predicted by theory, is confirmed.


Head-skeleton and ear-opening abnormalites were found in the ET strain of Japanese quail. The mandible, basiparasphenoid, quadratojugal and other bones were irregular. Expressivity of these skeletal abnormalities was variable. Columella bones originating from the hyoid arch showed no morphological abnormality. When an individual showing at least one of above abnormalities was regarded as the abnormal, incidence of the abnormality was 87% in the ET embryos at 15 days of incubation. Genetic analysis employing the head skeleton abnormality as an indicator has confirmed that the mutant character is controlled by an autosomal recessive gene.


A difference between the human and robots from the viewpoint of motor control is a sampling time in everyday movements. That is, the sampling time for controlling conventional robot systems is required to become approximately 1 ms. On the other hand, the motor control based on human nervous system permits considerably large time-delay due to the transmission latency on afferent/efferent pathways of the central nervous system. To date, it has been difficult for the robot to acquire dexterous tasks and precise movements as long as the robot system has an unexpected large delay in terms of sensory informations. Based on the above observation, this paper provides a new control strategy to accomplish precise orientation control of a target object grasped by a robotic hand consisting of two degrees-of-freedom (DOFs). The controller, named as serial two-phased (STP) controller, proposed in this study can realize secure grasping and manipulation in the case that a large visual feedback delay induced by the low specification of a camera is hiding in the control loop. Finally, through several simulations, we indicate that the closed loop dynamics designed by integrating the STP controller and a soft-fingertip structure is robust even in at most 100 ms-delay relating to the updating of camera images.


In experiments on rats with severe streptozotocin diabetes, administration of high doses of L-thyroxine reduces hyperglycemia and glucosuria. It is postulated that glucose utilization by extrahepatic tissues does not depend on direct insulin action and that the Randle cycle is ineffective in hypermetabolism.


Judicial nominee Brian Buescher is the latest target of those who detest Catholic identity, especially among those who firmly embrace their faith. Buescher is the nominee for the US District Court for the District of Nebraska.


A (57) [Abstract] and at least one side wall, called radial threads, the carcass reinforcement consisting of at least one ply is reinforced by parallel threads of substantially radial direction (24) (20), a radial tire having two ends (22, 23) or at least one lap weld formed by the overlap of adjacent elements of said ply (21), in the side wall, generally of the lap weld radial tire orientation (D2) of which is characterized in that are oblique with respect to the direction of the radial threads (24) (D1). The present invention relates in particular to a radial tire for passenger car or van, its carcass reinforcement comprises a single radial ply, radial yarn (24), in particular polyester, in particular a main component of polyethylene terephtalate. Tire according to the present invention, as compared to the radial tire of the prior art, have improved outer appearance of the side wall.


Teachers are the most significant assets in any educational institution. They serve as an avenue for conveying knowledge, skills, and values to students. They play a vital role in reforming and strengthening the education system of any country. However, education in the new normal requires numerous adaptations, as teachers were unprepared when the pandemic struck. This qualitative study sought to discover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) from teachers' lived experiences in teaching during the pandemic. A total of 28 participants were involved, who had first-hand experiences of teaching tertiary level in the new normal in a university. The qualitative phenomenological research design was used in this study. Thus, teaching in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic provided teachers' deficiencies in some course delivery; however, they worked diligently to transform and demonstrate resilience in teaching in the new normal amidst pandemics, converting them into strengths and opportunities. On the other hand, instructors' and professors' strengths should be recognized, and professional development opportunities should be provided to help them become more competent educators.


This paper discusses power flow analysis and DC capacitor voltage regulation of a modular multilevel cascaded converter (MMCC) based on double‐star chopper cells (DSCC). This analysis reveals the relationship between the circulating current through the DC link and the average power flowing out of or into each chopper cell. The DC component of the circulating current supplies half the active output power to the upper and lower strings of the chopper cells, while in contrast the fundamental frequency component transfers an amount of power between the upper and lower strings. Thus, the MDCC–DSCC can balance the capacitor voltages among the cells by controlling the amplitude of the fundamental frequency component of the circulating current. A new control method based on power flow analysis is employed, and its effectiveness is verified by circuit simulation.


This paper is written to answer a question why the security cooperation between South Korea and Japan stalls at a minimum level despite their shared North Korean nuclear threat and their respective alliance with the U.S. It examines factors from both international level and domestic level based on theories of alliance and linkage politics and a few real world cases. This paper concluded that the security cooperation between two countries has been delayed due to the strong influence of domestic factors. Especially, the negative feeling of the people from both countries blocked the progress of security cooperation as clearly demonstrated by the abrupt postponement of the military intelligence protection agreement in June 2012 and surprising visit to Dok-do by the South Korean President in August 2012. As long as South Korea feels it necessary to enhance the security cooperation with Japan for the effective response to North Korean nuclear threat and the stability of Northeast Asia, it should improve its people"s negative emotion about Japan. The rational situation analysis and persuasion of the people by the political leaders and intellectuals of South Korea could be helpful for this. South Korea should strengthen the ties between the South Korea-US alliance and the Japan-US alliance by recognizing the limit of South Korea-China relations. Active participation in the multi-lateral international dialogues with Japan would be helpful, too.


Sir: We were interested to read the paper by Armstrong et a1 (1997) on drug-induced movement disorders in relation to the CYP2D6 genotype. We would agree that this important polymorphism may well be a contributory factor in more chronic druginduced movement disorders. G. D. I. Bates Blrm~ngham Children's Hospital. Ladywood M~ddleway, Ladywood, Birmtngham B16 8ET A. E. van Woerkom, 0. Lopes Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, M~ndelsohn Way, Birmingham 815 2TZ R.Waring, L. Kiovrza Department of B~ochemlstry, University of Birm~ngham, Edgbaston, Birm~ngham be earlier for married women than for married men. The same relation holds for singles. But, as above, these differences are due to a trival demographic effect. If there is a real association between gender and schizophrenia in the sense that onset is later for women, then this difference is reduced when comparing married women with married men and single women with single men. Thus differences in the age structures between married and single persons in the population explain, at least in part, the effects of marital status and gender on age at onset, described by ~ a b l e n s k ~ & ole.-The differences in age at onset between developing and developed countries may be anributed to different demographic structures in these countries. We do not deny these effects, but to disentangle demographic effects from real effects the age structures of the underlying population must be taken into account when analysing the data.


Accurate modeling of aircraft fuel consumption, emissions, and noise is crucial in evaluating new air transportation operational procedures and policies to abate negative environmental impacts. The...


We systematically investigated the local structure of Fe2+ and Fe3+ in 11 solvents by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES). The EXAFS analyses with a one-shell model indicate that Fe2+ and Fe3+ are coordinated by six oxygen of the ligand molecules (L) and form a FeL 6-type complex in all solvents. The XANES suggests that the [FeL 6]3+ complex shows noncentrosymmetric deformation in several solvents. In protic solvents, the EXAFS analyses with a two-shell model revealed that the coordination number (n C) of the second nearest carbon around Fe3+ significantly depends on L. We interpreted the observation in terms of the distribution of the Fe-C distance.


[Objective]Endophytic fungi resources and distribution regularity of Pyrrosia sheareri(Bak.)Ching were studied in order to provide references for better protection and management of P.sheareri.[Method]The endogenous fungi from P.sheareri were isolated into different parts(root,stem,leaf,and petiole)and identified based on morphological characteristics.The microstructure of the adventitious roots and rhizomes were observed using paraffin section and microtechnique.[Result]Fifty-three strains of endophytic fungi were separated from P.sheareri,amongst which 50 strains belonged to 14 genera,7 families,5 orders,and 2 classes,while the other 3 strains belonged to Rhizoctonia and Sclerotium of Agnomycetales.Phomopsis was the dominant genus in the 16 genera,accounting for 18.87% of the total strains,followed by Phyllosticta and Cephalosporium,which accounted for 15.09% and 13.21% of total strains,respectively.Adventitious roots of P.sheareri have similar structure with primary roots of seed plants and the vascular bundle of rhizome had no cambium.[Conclusion]Endophytic fungi in P.sheareri showed rich diversity;the cortical parenchyma was the main dwelling region for endophytic fungi.


THE following application of a well known principle may be of sufficient interest to teachers of Physics to justify its publication; it has not been elsewhere described, so far as is known to the writer. By appropriate measurements on paper the sinusoids representing the tones composing any group of musical sounds can be compounded, and the resultant curve represents the concord or discord produced. The construction of such curves involves much tedious work. Any of them may be easily produced and optically presented on a screen by a simple modification of the method commonly employed in projecting Lissajous' curves.


S-type microstrip meander-line slow wave structure was designed and simulated. The effects of different structural parameters on the new structure were analyzed. The simulation results show that this microstrip meander-line slow wave structure has a similar dispersion characteristic with the traditional structure, and the center frequency expands to the higher frequency. The transmission loss and coupling impedance is greatly improved in high frequency range.


Abstract : Semantic analysis is important for compilers. In the APTS program transformation system, semantics is specified by rules in the language RSL. The semantic rules are interpreted by APTS to generate the semantic information of the program, which is then used by the rewriting engine for program translation. This approach has proved to be convenient and powerful in our construction of a SETL-to-C compiler. In this paper, we discuss the features, applications, implementation strategy, and performance of RSL.


Modern Korean poetry, in its process of formation, has been influenced by the ancient Chinese poetry as well as western literature. In fact, early Korean scholars of both literature and history had regarded Choi Nam -Sun as the founder of modern Korean poetry until the nineteen-seventies when he was completely denied. However, Choi's courageous attempt to set up "New Verse" can be seen as a typical literary phenomenon in the age of "the new replacing the old". Moreover, he awarded the same importance as to "New Verse" that to the traditional Korean verse, which serves well to show its value and historical significance.


An efficient boundary element method (BEM) formulation for three‐dimensional elastoplasticity is presented in this paper. The BEM formulation for nonlinear problems requires discretization of the surface as well as part of the volume. In this paper nine‐noded quadrilateral elements are used for modelling the surface and 27‐noded brick elements for the volume. Particular attention is paid to the accurate evaluation of the Cauchy principal value volume integrals appearing in the interior stress calculations. An explicit initial strain formulation is used to satisfy the non‐linearity. The accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated by solving a number of benchmark problems.


The present invention relates to an electro-osmosis dehydrator. The electro-osmosis dehydrator comprises: a sludge supply part provided on a central upper portion, the sludge supply part including a rotating part and two rollers provided under the rotating part; a drum to which DC power having one polarity is applied to a cylindrical inner surface thereof that is rotated along a shaft, the drum being provided under the sludge supply part so as to receive sludge; a caterpillar part including a power applying part orbitally operated at a position spaced a predetermined distance apart from the drum so as to apply DC power having a polarity opposite to that applied to the drum, a filter cloth provided under the power applying part, caterpillars having a plurality of holes and being provided under the filter cloth, a vinyl part disposed between the filter cloth and the caterpillars so as to prevent the sludge from leaking between the caterpillars, and a chain provided under the caterpillar; and a plurality of idle sprocket parts provided in spaces between the caterpillar part to contact the chain, thereby operating the caterpillar parts. According to the present invention, the filter cloth between a positive electrode and a negative electrode may be removed so as to narrow a distance between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, thereby reducing power consumption.


With the development of information technology,the network economy becomes a new economical field. Business Method Patent problem has no way to avoid under the overall situation continuing reforming and opening in our country.This article through the introduction overseas Business Method Patent situation and chinese present situation,and to the Business Method Patent legislation proposed some conception,resides in the advantage take the time as our country in the whole world market economy competition to make the beneficial exploration.


Transition times have been measured for various current densities on a smooth platinum electrode in aqueous formate solutions in the pH range 0–14 at 25°C. In strongly basic solutions there is no evidence for the supply of formate to the electrode during the current pulse. Results obtained in acidic and strongly buffered solutions to pH 10 indicate the presence of a slow preelectrochemical reaction. The electrochemical oxidation and the decomposition of formic acid share in part a common mechanistic path.


Some drip irrigation systems installed in central and south Florida citrus groves have ceased to function properly because of filter and emitter clogging. The most serious clogging has been a slime formed by filamentous sulfur bacteria. The most abundant sulfur bacteria was Thiothrix nivea Robenhorst, a common inhabitant of warm mineral springs in Florida. The bacteria oxidize H2S to S and can clog small openings within a brief period of time. Beggiatoa sp., a sulfur bacteria, was also found in the slime although the organism occurred most frequently in emitter orifices.
Another serious clogging factor has been Fe deposits in the form of filamentous, gelatinous ochre. The Fe deposits were associated with iron bacteria. The sticky sludge adhered to filters, grooves, and orifices of emitters. Iron sulfide clogged filter screens and accumulated in the grooves of some emitters.


Eric Baird (26 October 2015) Einstein wrote in 1950 that he no longer believed that general relativity should include an enforced reduction to flat-spacetime physics. The behaviour of velocity-dependent distortions around a "moving" gravitational source is explored using the principle of relativity, with the resulting descriptions and principles suggesting a more general agreement between the general principle of relativity and the behaviour of particulatematter physics and quantum mechanics than is normally assumed, evoking W.K. Clifford's concept of "all physics as curvature". The removal of special relativity from general relativity and the substitution of its Minkowski metric with a relativistic acoustic metric replaces the current layered approach – SR, GR1916, quantum gravity – with a single set of more powerful principles, giving enhanced compatibility (and perhaps even duality) between a suitably revised general theory and quantum mechanics.


Introduction: The absorption of fluid in the heat cured acrylic resin is able to cause the increase in surface roughness. Absorption of acidic fluid such as soft drinks can cause even higher increase of surface roughness. The objective of this study was to determined the effect of soft drinks towards heat cured acrylic resin denture base surface roughness. Methods: Specimens of this study were 32 pieces of specimen with the size of 12×12×3 mm. Sixteen pieces of specimens were kept in aquadest as a control group and 16 pieces of specimens were immersed in the soft drinks as the treatment group . Initial surface roughness was measured using surface roughness tester . The specimens were then immersed in both immersion media for 2 days. After immersion, the surface roughness of specimens were measured again. Results: Data obtained on the roughness measurements were analyzed using paired t test with the results of the analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that there was increased in heat cured acrylic resin denture base surface roughness after immersed in soft drinks solvent .


Several types of discrete β-amyloid (Aβ) deposit or senile plaque have been identified in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and Down's syndrome. The majority of these plaques can be classified into four morphological types: diffuse, primitive, classic and compact. Two hypotheses have been proposed to account for these plaques. Firstly, that the diffuse, primitive, classic and compact plaques develop in sequence and represent stages in the life history of a single plaque type. Secondly, that the different Aβ plaques develop independently and therefore, unique factors are involved in the formation of each type. To attempt to distinguish between these hypotheses, the morphology, ultrastructure, composition, and spatial distribution in the brain of the four types of plaque were compared. Although some primitive plaques may develop from diffuse plaques, the evidence suggests that a unique combination of factors is involved in the pathogenesis of each plaque type and, therefore, supports the hypothesis that the major types of Aβ plaque develop independently.


See related article, pp 137–144

In recent years there has been a revolution in our knowledge of the renin-angiotensin (Ang) system (RAS), with the identification of novel functions for biologically active Ang peptides and receptors and the discovery of new enzymes, such as Ang-converting enzyme (ACE) 2 within the RAS.1,2 The discovery that Ang (1-7) promotes vasodilation, antiproliferative, antifibrotic, antiatherosclerotic, and anti-inflammatory effects that oppose those mediated by Ang II acting at the Ang type 1 receptor (AT1R) has contributed to the identification of 2 opposing axes within the RAS (see Figure). The original pathway of the RAS involving Ang II/ACE/AT1R that mediates pressor and volume homeostasis is also responsible for the majority of pathogenic effects of Ang II. With the identification and cloning of the ACE homologue ACE2 and the discovery of the G protein–coupled Mas receptor (MasR) as an Ang (1-7) binding site, the ACE2/Ang (1-7)/MasR axis is considered to counterbalance the ACE/Ang II/AT1R axis. Evidence of protective effects mediated by Ang (1-7) has highlighted the importance of ACE2 in regulating Ang (1-7) levels, with local activity of ACE2 determining the relative levels of the vasoconstrictor and pro-oxidative peptide Ang II and its vasodilator and antioxidative metabolite Ang (1-7). Research over the last decade supports the hypothesis that the deleterious effects mediated by Ang II may in part be attributed to reduced expression or activity of components of the ACE2/Ang (1-7)/MasR axis, with deficiency in ACE2 increasing both tissue and circulating levels of Ang II while reducing levels of Ang (1-7).3 Thus, manipulation of this axis has become the focus of recent studies to determine whether a therapeutic benefit may prevail. …


Performance of the first two operational rubidium fountains at the USNO is presented using relative measurements and comparisons against other timescales. Recent results with four fountains indicate frequency agreement at the 10−15 level and good agreement with the primary frequency standards contributing to TAI.


In this work, a three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer experiment was set up with stream-wise and alternating span-wise pressure gradients, which are generated as a result of the test section wavy side wall shape. Each side had six sine waves with an amplitude to wavelength ratio 2a of 0.25. Boundary layer control was used so that the flow over the side walls remains attached. Waves of streamwise vorticity and high free-stream turbulence intensity levels of about 12% were produced. The mean flow velocity components as well as turbulent fluctuations were measured using Laser Doppler Velocimetry. Velocity profiles spanwise of the test section centerline are highly three dimensional with multiple peaks in the normal stresses and triple products profiles. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) transport budgets were performed for all profiles and the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate is estimated. Velocity spectral measurements were also made and an independent estimate of the kinetic energy dissipation rate is made, which agrees well with the TKE transport equation estimates. The resulting structure of this well documented flow is complex and unconventional, which makes this geometry a challenging test case for CFD.


Abstract : The results of an investigation of the volt-second characteristics of the electric breakdown of air and water vapor in a nonhomogeneous electric field at pressures of up to 40 atmospheres for a surge voltage effect time of from 0. 0000002 to 0.000002 s are presented.


192States — Conduct of foreign relations — Export ban on sale of nuclear equipment by private company to foreign State entity — Whether justiciable by French courts — Whether Executive decision prohibiting export constituting an acte de gouvernement — Whether severable from conduct of foreign relations by French Government State responsibility — Acts and omissions of State organs — Export of nuclear materials — Refusal of ministerial authorization resulting in cancellation of contract — Whether State liable to pay compensation to exporter Economics, trade and finance — Export ban — Sale of nuclear equipment by private company to foreign State entity — Refusal of Executive authorization — Claim for compensation against French State — Whether municipal courts having jurisdiction — The law of France


The composition-spread epitaxial thin film of Sr1-xCaxRuO3 (0.13≤x≤0.53) was synthesized by the pulsed laser deposition technique and its x-dependent magnetic properties were probed by the magneto-optical (MO) Kerr spectroscopy. The MO spectra in the energy region of the charge-transfer excitation (O 2p to Ru 4d) are observed to change their spectral intensity critically depending on temperature (T) and x while preserving the spectral shape. The contour mapping of the MO intensity in the x–T plane clarifies the continuous ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase change with increase of not only T but also x, revealing the quantum-critical point around x = 0.5.


Tadeu de Paula Souza e Iaca Macerata In this article we want to explore some implications in the care operated within the "Street Setting Teams" ("Consultorio na Rua"). This new device of Primary Care poses new challenges to the SUS (the Brazilian public health system) towards the intensification of its guidelines and the expansion and qualification of its cares model. To think of what is involved in caring for this very new type of service we will use the experience of implementing a very similar service, which served as the basis for its idealization: the ESF POP RUA, implemented in 2010, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro.


Radiation hardness of particle detectors based on thick epitaxial silicon layer (150 μm)has been studied in terms of operating voltage, leakage current and charge collection efficiency. The operability of such devices has been confirmed after irradiation with the fast hadrons beyond the equivalent 1 MeV neutrons fluence values of 1015cm−2.


This report begins with a brief overview of the global nuclear power industry, including the possessors of enrichment and reprocessing technology. It then describes the state of the U.S. nuclear industry, particularly its dependence on both international trade and foreign suppliers. The report then reviews the multilateral nuclear nonproliferation mechanisms. It concludes with a detailed summary of U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements, the primary mechanism by which the United States both promotes U.S. nuclear commerce and ensures that such commerce does not contribute to clandestine nuclear weapons programs.


We present an optical spectrum for Mrk 273x, the X-ray source 1.′3 to the northeast of Mrk 273. The new spectrum indicates that the object is at a much higher redshift (0.458) than the value previously reported by us (0.0376). All the detected emission lines show properties of Seyfert 2 galaxies. Mrk 273x has one of the highest X-ray and radio luminosities (LX ≈ 1.1 × 1044 ergs s-1, L1.37 GHz ≈ 2.0 × 1040 ergs s-1) among Seyfert 2 galaxies, yet it has a low neutral hydrogen column density, NH ≈ 4.4 × 1020 cm-2. These properties seem difficult to explain in the unified scheme of active galactic nuclei. The spectrum that we previously used to identify the redshift for Mrk 273x turns out to belong to diffuse clumps in the northeast tail/plume about 20'' (~20 kpc in projected distance) from the nuclear region of Mrk 273. A new spectrum for this region was obtained; this spectrum is essentially the same as the previous one. These observations indicate that these clumps have the same redshift as Mrk 273 and are physically associated with the merger. The spectrum is dominated by strong emission from the [O III] doublet, with Seyfert 2-like line ratios, which indicate that these northeast clumps are probably excited by the shock + precursor mechanism during the merging process. This mechanism may be operating in other ultraluminous IRAS galaxies as well.


The case study is on an organizational situation which narrates about a newly joined employee's ordeal with his team leader. The new joiner's contribution was unjustly taken away by his team leader as his credit. The employee was afraid to discuss this issue with his team leader due to his positional power in the organization. He also does not want to escalate the issue to senior project manager due to a fear of reprisal. The case study can be used to discuss in organizational behavior sessions for post graduates and undergraduates to provide insight on the leadership style, positional power, organizational ethics and procedural justice.


Objective To analyze the correlation of central venous oxygen saturation (SCVO2) and mixed venous oxygen saturation(SV-O2) in patients with septic shock. Methods A total of twenty five patients who had septic shock were recruited to study and divided into severe pneumonia group and intra-abdominal infection group; all had a Swan Ganz catheter. Then, Blood samples were drawn from central venous and pulmonary artery in random order at the beginning of being admitted to ICU and once every six hours. Data of blood samples for SCVO2 and SO2 were analyzed. Results There were significant differences between SCVO2 and SO2 in groups(t=4.90,4.29,7.21,P0.05);SCVO2 was greater than SO2 with a mean difference(ie, bias) of(5.94±6.78)% in 25 septic shock patients; SCVO2 was greater than SO2 with a mean difference(ie, bias) of( 5.45±6.89)% in severe pneumonia group;SCVO2 was greater than SO2 with a mean difference (ie, bias) of(7.90±6.22)% in intra-abdominal infection group; The result(Δz)of the two correlation coefficients of SCVO2 and SO2 which were belong to severe pneumonia group and intra-abdominal infection group was 2.05(P0.05). Conclusions SCVO2 overestimated SO2 usually when the hemodynamics of septic shock patients were instable.


This essay proposes a philosophical meditation about the connections between beauty and justice, ethics and poetics in architecture. This reflection is urgent in view of our complex political environment and the prevailing obsession with digital tools at the expense of serious thinking in architectural production.


Nurses make mistakes. They work in a complex environment which can sometimes be a contributory factor to a mistake being made. At present, Nurses' Boards in Australia have no mandate to investigate the circumstances in which a mistake is made. Their jurisdiction is limited to investigation of the individual nurse. This article sets out the argument for change in nursing legislation to allow for a broadening of the role of Nurses' Boards. It argues that an extension of their jurisdiction explicitly to allow them to investigate inadequacies in the health system would be a constructive development.


As part of the Mistra Future Fashion Research Program, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) and PlanMiljo have investigated policy options promoting (fiber-to-fiber) recycling of textile waste. The ambition was to contribute to and broaden the discussion regarding potential policy measures in the textile field as well as potential elements that can be included in such policies.Ten policy measures promoting fiber-to-fiber recycling of textiles, contributing to circular flows of textile waste, were identified and described. Two policy measures were selected for impact assessment: mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) and refunded virgin payments (RVP). The policy evaluation was carried out as an ex-ante assessment with regard to eight policy goals. Stakeholder views on the identified and assessed policy measures were collected in a policy workshop and via an online questionnaire. There is a potential to broaden the scope of policy measures promoting fiber-to-fiber recycling of textiles compared to the policy recommendations made by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). New policy measures in the textile field should embrace potentials to generate upstream improvements and increasing the demand for recycled textile fibers.Although the Swedish EPA suggests a mandatory EPR for textiles as one of two alternative policy options for handling of textile waste, the proposal focuses almost exclusively on downstream improvements. The mandatory EPR assessed in this report includes additional elements, embracing also the potential of an EPR system to generate upstream improvements. Economic instruments have shown to be successful measures to reduce environmental externalities. The RVP system assessed in this report adds a new perspective on potential ways and means to promote recycling of textiles complementing the investigation on how public bodies can contribute to more reuse and recycling of textiles by green public procurement suggested by the Swedish EPA.Both a mandatory EPR and a RVP system have potentials to have large positive impacts on fiber-to-fiber recycling as well as overall recycling of textiles. A mandatory EPR system has the same or larger positive impacts on all eight policy goals defined in this report compared to a RVP system. A mandatory EPR system embodies the potential to integrate a range (combination) of complementing policy measures whereas an RVP system should be complemented by additional policy measures. (Less)


We consider the problem of finding k centers for n weighted points on a real line. This (weighted) k-center problem was solved in O(n log n) time previously by using Cole's parametric search and other complicated approaches. In this paper, we present an easier O(n log n) time algorithm that avoids the parametric search, and in certain special cases our algorithm solves the problem in O(n) time. In addition, our techniques involve developing interesting data structures for processing queries that find a lowest point in the common intersection of a certain subset of half-planes. This subproblem is interesting in its own right and our solution for it may find other applications as well.


We study the evolution of fermion mass matrices considering the hypothesis of approximate flavor symmetries (AFS) in the standard model and a two-Higgs-doublet model. We find that the hierarchical structure is not significantly altered by the running, hence the assumption of AFS is entirely compatible with a grand unification scenario.