Sample preparation is a critical step in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that significantly determines the quality of structural characterization and analysis of a specimen. In recent years, the accuracy and quality requirements for the preparation of TEM cross‐sections of nanoelectronic structures have drastically increased. Combining a focused low‐energy noble gas ion beam column with a FIB and a SEM column in a three beam system meets these requirements. It provides precise target preparation as well as minimum thickness and surface damage of the TEM sample.


The accurate prediction of corporate bankruptcy for the firms in different industries is of a great concern to investors and creditors, as the reduction of creditors' risk and a considerable amount of saving for an industry economy can be possible. Financial statements vary between industries. Therefore, economic intuition suggests that industry effects should be an important component in bankruptcy prediction. This study attempts to detail the characteristics of each industry using sector indicators. The results show significant relationship between probability of default and sector indicators. The results of this study may improve the default prediction models performance and reduce the costs of risk management.


The Kenyan savanna, which is dominated by Acacia ancistroclada and Comberatum molle, has experienced notable changes in rainfall patterns and increased livestock grazing. A significant decrease in trees spread from 5 % to less than 1 % has been documented for the ecosystem and could be linked to the increased livestock grazing and changes in rainfall patterns, however, scientific evidence is lacking. We utilized sap flow to analyze the hydraulic responses of the prevailing trees to livestock grazing and seasonal changes in soil moisture. Environmental factors including precipitation, air temperature, soil moisture at - 0.3 m, and vapor pressure deficit were simultaneously measured. The results showed that the diurnal variation in sap flux density exhibited a single peak curve at around midday and correlated strongly with vapor pressure deficit and air temperature. Sap flux density was higher in the grazed (27.47 ± 8.65 g m-2s-1) than the fenced plots (20.17 ± 7.27 g m-2s-1). In all the plots, sap flux density followed seasonality in rainfall patterns, increasing and decreasing in wet and dry seasons respectively. The higher crown projected area was responsible for higher sap flow in the grazed plots. The diurnal variation in sap flux density showed that sap flow was coupled to the atmosphere with relatively low boundary layer resistance and the seasonal variation in sap flow was controlled by stomatal regulation. These findings point to the possibility that the dominant tree species in Lambwe are isohydric species. However, additional measurements need to be conducted on the eligibility of the species to confirm the conclusion.


The last decade has witnessed a rebirth of popular and academic interest in the international norms governing expropriation. Debate has centered on the competing claims of corporations, host states, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other actors over the extent to which governments may regulate their economies in a manner that affects foreign investment without compensating investors for resulting economic harm. The current controversy over regulatory takings represents the second act in international law's expropriation battles; whereas the first act comprised the long dispute between North and South over compensation after an overt nationalization, today's dispute turns on whether a governmental regulation is an expropriation in the first place. This issue is not new to international law, as old diplomatic intercourse and arbitrations demonstrate; but the range of actors making claims, the venues for their resolution, and the outcomes of these processes are more diverse, particular attention having been generated by the case law of arbitrations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Complaints have concerned both the outcomes of disputes and the processes involved in their resolution.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an empirical study into the critical success factors for implementing an intellectual capital valuation method, the KPMG Value Explorer.Design/methodology/approach – For this study the design approach was used as research methodology.Findings – The research shows the strengths and weaknesses of the method and identifies four general critical success factors for the implementation of intellectual capital valuation and measurement tools.Research limitations/implications – The research was based on six case studies. Application of the method with other companies may provide further grounding of the conclusions.Practical implications – The research shows that practitioners who want to implement an intellectual capital valuation or measurement method must: perform a proper diagnosis of the problem at hand; have knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the method they want to use; understand the application domain of the method – the class of...


Abstract Automated music formatting helps composers and copyists to speed up the process of music score editing by facilitating complex evaluations needed to write correct music sheets in terms of symbol positioning, justification, and so on. Delegating this activity to the computer allows the composer/copyist to increase the efficiency by letting him or her concentrate on more creative aspects. Music formatting is one of the most relevant problems of programs for music notation editing. Several written and non-written rules are typically applied by music engravers and composers. In this article, an approach for formalizing formatting rules and the related tools are presented. The approach is based on insertion, positioning and priority rules, and on the associated conditions for their activation. Conditions and rules formalized in the proposed approach are automatically executed by a formatting engine called "MILLA" (Music Intelligence Formatting Language). The Open Source and free distributed WEDELMUSIC editor (www.wedelmusic.org) is based on MILLA. The approach is presented together with several examples.


A floor structure of a building for preventing noise between floors by reducing floor impact noise is provided to construct easily, to insulate sound and vibration, and to cut down construction cost and construction period by recycling industrial waste and making an insulation member and a damping member of industrial waste and by reducing impact noise. A damping layer is formed by spreading a damping sheet(21) on a steel concrete slab(11), and first and second EVA projection pads(31-1,31-2) with uneven projections are arranged thereon. An EVA chip pad(41) is mounted thereon, and a cement mortar layer(51) including a hot water pipe(52) is formed thereon. A surface finishing layer(53) is arranged on the cement mortar layer. The damping sheet is installed between the first EVA projection pad and the second EVA projection pad instead of mounting the damping sheet on the steel concrete slab.


We derive the dispersion relation of light in metamaterials and define an effective index. Emphasis is on propagation directions deviating from the principal crystallographic axis. This index is compared with results from a finite slab.


193.3 nm photodissociation of jet-cooled C2H5OH and C2H5OD has been studied by using the high-n Rydberg-atom time-of-flight technique. Isotope labeling study shows that the H-atom photofragment is produced preferentially from O–H bond fission upon ultraviolet excitation. Center-of-mass (c.m.) translational energy distribution of the H(D) atom and ethoxy radical photofragments has been obtained. Average c.m. product translational energy is large, with 〈ET〉=0.84Eavail for H+C2H5O and 〈ET〉=0.80Eavail for D+C2H5O, respectively. Maximum c.m. translational energy release yields an upper limit of the bond dissociation energy: D0(C2H5O–H)=103.7±0.5 kcal/mol and D0(C2H5O–D)=105.9±0.5 kcal/mol. The c.m. translational energy distribution of the C2H5O+H products reveals extensive C–O stretch and modest C–C–O bending excitation in the C2H5O radical, which can be rationalized by the geometric change in going from the parent molecule to the excited surface and then to the ethoxy radical product, and can be simulated by ...


This paper investigates the effects of different inlet velocities on thermal stripping phenomena within a T-junction. The computational flow domain is modelled using the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) turbulence model implemented within the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+ 12.04. The computational model is validated against the OECD-NEA-Vattenfall T-junction Benchmark data. The influence of flat and fully developed inlet velocity profiles is then assessed. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The different inlet velocity profiles have a non-negligible effect on the mean wall temperature. The mean velocity shows lower sensitivity to changes in inlet velocity profiles, whose influence is confined mainly to the recirculation zone near the T-junction.


Abstract Purpose: The aim of this work was to study the combined effect of sodium and acetate ions on the radiation yield of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG), one of the major DNA base lesions induced by free radicals. Materials and methods: Aqueous solutions of DNA and 2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate (dGMP) with various concentrations of sodium acetate and sodium perchlorate were γ-irradiated, enzymatically digested and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. Results: It was found that both salts decrease the 8-OHG radiation yield in the concentration range studied for both DNA and dGMP, except in the case of dGMP wherein an increase in yield occurs in the concentration range from 0.1–1 mM. The dependence of the 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine radiation yield on the concentration of both sodium acetate and sodium perchlorate have different shapes and have steeper slopes for the DNA compared with the dGMP solutions. Conclusions: The observed decrease in the radiation yield of 8-OHG with increasing concentrations of sodium acetate is consistent with the hypothesis that sodium acetate produces two concentration-dependent effects in the DNA solutions: (1) A conformational change in the DNA caused by Na+ counterions; and (2) free radical reactions related to the radiolysis of acetate ion.


The utility model discloses a flat-plate switch which comprises an upper cover and a bottom base, wherein a switch body is mounted in the bottom base, switch buttons are arranged on the switch body and mounted on the surface of the upper cover, an insulating spacer is fixedly installed on the upper side of the switch body, a sheet iron is fixedly mounted on the upper side of the insulating spacer,permanent magnet sheets matched with the sheet iron are fixedly mounted on the inner sides of the switch buttons, and a groove with a water-proof rubber ring mounted therein is formed on the upper end surface of the bottom case. The flat-plate switch has the beneficial technical effects that the sheet iron and the permanent magnet sheets can realize the reliable positioning of the switch buttons,so as to avoid the defect that the switch buttons which are easily activated result in the false operations of controlled electrical equipment; through further improvement, the switch can be used inbathrooms, kitchens and other humid places as the electricity leakage caused humidity is avoided, thereby preventing users from danger; and the switch has simple structure, low cost and extremely convenient use.


A circuit 1 for controlling the supply of electric power to an induction coil 2, and in particular to an induction coil 2 for heating a shrink fastening for tools, comprising a rectifier 3 connected to an input 3a, 3b, 3c for feeding an input power and having a rectifier output. Further 1, the circuit 5a, an inverter 5 to output an AC voltage having an input and an inverter output, 5b for connecting the induction coil 2, an intermediate circuit 4 for connection of the rectifier 3 and the inverter 5, and a control unit for controlling the power supply to the induction coil 2. A measuring device 6 for measuring a current value A A corresponding method for controlling the power supply to the induction coil 2 comprises a control step, is used in the fed as input variable for controlling the power supply to the induction coil 2 of the induction coil 2 current value


Data recovery and climate reconstruction are an important support for climate change research, as they provide information from periods and areas with sparse meteorological networks. Various sources are currently in use for obtaining valuable evidence of past climate, such as ship logs, diaries, books, monastery documents. This study exploits newspaper reports in order to enrich the historical meteorological information over the territory of Romania, from the last two decades of the 19th century. At that time, the area belonged to the Austro‐Hungarian Empire and Kingdom of Romania, and the meteorological services from Budapest (since 1870) and Bucharest (since 1884) were the providers of official meteorological information. The digital archive of three newspapers (România Liberă, Gazeta de Transilvania and Foaia Poporului) was investigated and the meteorological information was extracted and aggregated into a database containing 2,132 unique entries clearly referenced in time and space. Each entry represents a meteorological event and several associated characteristics, such as date, location, impact and source. A verification procedure, consisting of comparisons with available measurements from the nearby weather stations and with a reanalysis dataset, was applied in order to validate the entries. The results show that the meteorological information was often present in the newspapers of the epoch. Some climatic features could be retrieved such as seasonality of extreme events, temperature and precipitation characteristics. This paper demonstrates the potential of the collected information to further enhance the understanding of climate change, impacts and climate perception at the end of the 19th century in Romania.


BACKGROUND
The transglutaminase-induced cross-linking reaction could enhance the textural properties of surimi gels. However, when the cross-linking degree exceeded a certain range, surimi gels became brittle, giving the gel a special mouthfeel. Little information was found about the brittleness of surimi gel and its forming mechanism. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of cross-links on physicochemical properties of surimi gel and to analyze the reason for the texture variation of surimi gels regulated by cross-links.

RESULTS
When the cross-linking degree was lower than about 30%, the surimi gel could not be fractured and the surimi gel was mushy. When the cross-linking degree was around 40% to 55%, surimi gels without MTGase presented an elastic texture, while surimi gels with MTGase displayed a tough texture. When the cross-linking degrees were 64.1% and 76.5%, surimi gels were brittle. The water holding capacity decreased with the increase of cross-linking degrees and the cross-links released some combined water to free water. With the increase of cross-links, the pore equivalent diameter and the fractal dimension decreased first and then increased. When the cross-linking degree exceeded approximately 50%, the hydrophobic interaction increased, consistent with the exposure of hydrophobic residues and the decrease of the water gap between proteins.

CONCLUSION
The changes of gel texture were related to micro-network structure, water status, and microenvironment of proteins. It was demonstrated that the texture of slowly heated surimi-based products could be regulated by controlling the TGase-induced cross-links. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The motion of a food can on an accelerated conveyor belt in a grocery store is described by means of Newtonian mechanics. By assuming that the food can may roll on the conveyor belt, when the cashier starts this device, one can prove that the rolling motion, observed in the belt reference system, is such that the can is seen to move away for the cashier. Experiments can be performed with common material: an empty and a full food can, and a sheet of paper as conveyor belt.


The authors propose an architecture for incorporating mobile data users into an existing MAP/TOP system. The scheme involves attaching a small number of radio base stations to the TOP network through which the mobiles may access the system. The system's central feature is a new distributed, multi-receiver, multiple access protocol used by the mobiles to access the bases. The protocol permits users to gracefully switch between single and multi-base operation while maintaining satisfactory performance characteristics. They utilize a multi-receiver multiple access model derived from the traditional single-receiver model to measure the new protocol's performance via simulation.<<ETX>>


A theoretical study of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) in the radical anionic thymine−acrylamide complex is presented. This study is based on a multistate continuum theory, in which the solute is represented by a multistate valence bond model, the solvent is described by a dielectric continuum, and the transferring hydrogen nucleus is represented by a quantum mechanical wave function. In this application, the ground and excited electronic states are calculated with the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) method, the electronic coupling for the electron transfer reaction is calculated with the generalized Mulliken−Hush method, and the solvation properties are calculated with the frequency-resolved cavity model. The influence of neighboring DNA base pairs is determined by studying solvated DNA−acrylamide models in addition to the solvated thymine−acrylamide complex. The calculations indicate that the final product corresponds to single electron transfer (ET) for the solvated thymine...


The work presented in this thesis is derived from experimentation in the field of molecular organic photonics. This is done from the standpoint that devices cannot be understood without recourse to the molecular properties and vice versa. A background of nonlinear optics and a brief introduction to the origins of molecular organic nonlinearity is given to aid understanding of the main points of the argument. The dipole moment of several organics was calculated using a simple capacitance method which has been successfully applied to reactive species. These dipole moment results were necessary in the extraction of βʷ from the µβʷ extracted from the EFISH technique. This experiment was performed at 1.064µm and 1.907µm with the latter wavelength being applied to the first in a new class of organic molecules. Results of the work on a number of techniques relevant to thin film devices are also presented. This culminated in an amplitude modulator case study that brought all the techniques together. Finally a discussion on the links between molecular and device related properties justifies the approach taken.


The synthesis and applications of new chiral diphosphine ligands carrying the electron reach chiral phospholane moiety is described. The modular design allows a short and efficient synthesis of broad variety of unsymmetrical vicinal diphosphines. These new ligands have successfully been applied in the Rh catalysed enantioselective hydrogenation of C=C double bond. Especially non-symmetrical ligands have afforded high enantioselectivities in Ru-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones.


A decline from unknown cause has been observed for several years on avocados growing in sandy soils in the central part of the state and on the West Coast. A series of isolations from lesions found on roots of declining trees showed the trouble was not due to soil fungi such as Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands or Verticillium albo-atrum Reink and Berth. Nor did declining trees respond well to special fertilizer or spray treatments designed to determine whether nutritional disorders were responsible for the condition.


Iron oxide nanoparticle synthesis in microwave plasma is studied by optical diagnostics. The arrangement of the plasma reactor results in well-defined reactant mixing, which makes different parts of the reaction zone clearly observable. Besides the reaction zone, digital imaging also reveals the presence of heated nanoparticles. The optical emission spectroscopy is used to determine important plasma parameters.


The electrosynthesis from 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is considered a green strategy to achieve biomass‐derived high‐value chemicals. As the molecular structure of HMF is relatively complicated, understanding the HMF adsorption/catalysis behavior on electrocatalysts is vital for biomass‐based electrosynthesis. The electrocatalysis behavior can be modulated by tuning the adsorption energy of the reactive molecules. In this work, the HMF adsorption behavior on spinel oxide, Co3O4 is discovered. Correspondingly, the adsorption energy of HMF on Co3O4 is successfully tuned by decorating with single‐atom Ir. It is observed that compared with bare Co3O4, single‐atom‐Ir‐loaded Co3O4 (Ir‐Co3O4) can enhance adsorption with the CC groups of HMF. The synergetic adsorption can enhance the overall conversion of HMF on electrocatalysts. With the modulated HMF adsorption, the as‐designed Ir‐Co3O4 exhibits a record performance (with an onset potential of 1.15 VRHE) for the electrosynthesis from HMF.


On the Structure of the Dental Tissues of Marsupial Animals, and more especially of the Enamel. By John Tomes. The enamel of the teeth of most Marsupial animals presents this remarkable peculiarity, that a large number of the dentinal tubes are continued into the enamel, and constitute a considerable portion of it. This character is present in the teeth of all the species hitherto examined by Mr. Tomes (to the number of ten), excepting the Wombat; and it exists in very few other mammalian teeth, those (namely) ot the British Shrews, the Hyrax, and the molar teeth of the Jerboa. A rudiment of it, however, is sometimes traceable in the teeth of man and of several other mammalia. In many marsupial teeth, also, the enamel is studded with small cells, often, but by no means always, arranged in contour lines. The enamel-fibres, too, are in many teeth so intimately united to each other, that their individuality is lost; and this occurs in most teeth in some parts, so that the dimensions of the fibres at such


Nowadays, Russian waste management policies demand the closure and elimination of dumpsites and landfills historically located in the vicinity of populated areas, with no reference to geological and hydrological conditions. Landfill mining is one of the technical solutions for old dumpsite reclamation. The unique feature of this study is the application of an integrated scenario approach in the evaluation of landfill mining projects. This approach is based on a scenario matrix that compares costs and revenues for each scenario, depending on resource and technological capabilities on the one hand, and prevailing economic conditions on the other. It was revealed that for large dumpsites the cost of landfill mining project with waste excavation and redisposal, using landfill soil material, and the recovery of secondary raw materials is several times higher than the cost of baseline dumpsite reclamation. This study shows that implementation of landfill mining projects is feasible for relatively small dumpsites with a low object base area load. The age of a landfill, among the other parameters, has an impact on the economic efficiency of landfill mining project. According to the study the older the landfill is, the higher the content of landfill soil and the lower the amount of secondary raw materials available. As a result, the efficiency and cost of sorting technologies for soil material and secondary raw materials are key factors that determine the economic feasibility of landfill mining during waste disposal site reclamation. Within each scenario, the factors that most influence the total cost are identified.


Significance In the ocean, chemoreception plays a crucial role in increasing mate encounter rates in millimeter-scale crustaceans through pheromone trails that can be followed over hundreds of body lengths. Empirical evidence of trail following behavior is, however, limited to laboratory experiments conducted in still water. An important open question concerns what happens in the turbulent waters of the surface ocean where crustaceans instead experience background pheromone concentration. We show that both males and females of two key species react to background pheromone concentration, and their emerging behaviors depend on pheromone concentration, sex, species, and the level of reproductive experience of the individual tested, and are consistent with an adaptation to increase mate encounter rates. For millimeter-scale aquatic crustaceans such as copepods, ensuring reproductive success is a challenge as potential mates are often separated by hundreds of body lengths in a 3D environment. At the evolutionary scale, this led to the development of remote sensing abilities and behavioral strategies to locate, to track, and to capture a mate. Chemoreception plays a crucial role in increasing mate encounter rates through pheromone clouds and pheromone trails that can be followed over many body lengths. Empirical evidence of trail following behavior is, however, limited to laboratory experiments conducted in still water. An important open question concerns what happens in the turbulent waters of the surface ocean. We propose that copepods experience, and hence react to, a bulk-phase water pheromone concentration. Here we investigate the mating behavior of two key copepod species, Temora longicornis and Eurytemora affinis, to assess the role of background pheromone concentration and the relative roles played by males and females in mating encounters. We find that both males and females react to background pheromone concentration and exhibit both innate and acquired components in their mating strategies. The emerging swimming behaviors have stochastic properties that depend on pheromone concentration, sex, and species, are related to the level of reproductive experience of the individual tested, and significantly diverge from both the Lévy and Brownian models identified in predators searching for low- and high-density prey. Our results are consistent with an adaptation to increase mate encounter rates and hence to optimize reproductive fitness and success.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
We sought to evaluate sleep measures that better predict incident diabetes and pre-diabetes in a large cohort of veterans.

METHODS
This secondary analysis included 650 patients without baseline diabetes from a multisite observational veterans' cohort. Participants underwent OSA evaluation via laboratory-based polysomnography between 2000-2004 with follow-up through 2012. The primary outcomes were pre-diabetes and diabetes defined by fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c or use of glucose-lowering medication at study initiation. Exposure variables included respiratory event frequency, arousals, and oxygen desaturation. Cox models adjusted for BMI, age, race, sex, change in BMI, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device utilization.

RESULTS
The adjusted analysis revealed that time spent with oxygen saturation less than 90 (T90) (HR 1.009, CI 1.001-1.017, p=0.02), respiratory arousals (HR 1.009, CI 1.003-1.015, p=0) and total arousals (HR 1.006 CI 1.001 - 1.011 p = 0.02) were associated with an increased incidence of diabetes. Increases in mean nocturnal oxygen saturation were associated with decreased incidence of diabetes (HR 0.914 CI 0.857-0.975, P<0.01 and pre-diabetes (HR 0.914 CI 0.857-0.975, P<0.01). No significant relationships were demonstrated for AHI, measures related to central apnea, Cheyenne Stokes respiration, periodic limb movements, or Epworth Sleepiness Scale score.

CONCLUSIONS
There was no significant association of incident pre-diabetes or diabetes with AHI, the gold standard of sleep apnea severity. This study suggests that hypoxia may be a better predictor of glycemic outcomes than AHI in an OSA population and may provide clues to the underlying mechanism(s) that link sleep-disordered breathing and its metabolic consequences.


In recent years, the reduction of total cost of ownership (TCO) from system architecture to start‐up, operation and maintenance has risen rapidly with the demand for factory automation (FA). But due to the complexity and combination of functions of machines and devices, and to progress in meeting high‐speed and high‐accuracy demands, networking of controllers and amplifiers has come into use. However, conventional servo networks have had various problems in TCO reduction. The servo network proposed in this paper can obtain position and speed information from counterpart amplifiers in the synchronous control by communication between amplifiers, which is conventionally unattainable. Compared with the conventional system, high‐speed, high‐accuracy operation can be realized with the new synchronous compensation control utilizing data transferred between amplifiers, and improvements in operating productivity were verified with an actual machine. Conventional systems used multiple electrical signals, but the new network realizes optical communication over only a single pair of optical cables using optically isolated circuit technology, and it has also proved effective for increasing productivity in the setup and maintenance.


This report presents the details of the Mound Laboratory EPA-NPDES Quality Assurance Program, the DOE Quality Assessment Program Results, Proficiency Environmental Testing Program and Plutonium in Urine Quality Control for 1988.


Poly-acrylic series water-reducing agent(WRA)(brief written as XYZ) was designed by acrylamide,co-polymerizing polyethylene glycol,acrylic acid,maleic anhydride and hydroxy-etbyl acrylate.The influence of WRA on the performance of cement paste and concrete has been researched.The results indicate that XYZ delay the setting time and delay to release hydrated heat of cement paste,and top temperature is decline.A large number of microcrystals grow and fill in pores of cement at early hydration,these growing crystals make the pores minimized and the pore size distribution more reasonable,and cement particles adjoin each other with network then solidify the hardened cement paste.And water reducing ratio of concrete is 25%,slump lose a little.Its every age compressive strength has increased obviously.


Abstract : Linear theory shows that when a plasma is created with a drift relative to an ambient plasma across a magnetic field, a robust electromagnetic instability is excited, if the drift speed exceeds the local Alfven velocity Vo > Va. Simulations of this ion-ion filamentation instability in a homogeneous system show that large amplitude waves with deltaB/Bo > 1 develop nonlinearly, giving rise to large density clumping due to the nongyrotropic nature of the ion ion velocity distribution. In this report hybrid simulations are performed to examine the consequences of the ion ion filamentation instability for H.A.N.E. applications. Uniform periodic simulations are considered as well as simulations consisting of a finite sized debris plasma interacting with a background plasma. In the later case the filamentation instability can be examined in the realistic situation where a high Mach number collisionless shock is generated. Of particular interest is whether the ion ion filamentation instability forms long lasting structure (on a time scale greater than the shock formation time) in the debris piston. Early time structuring, Plasma instabilities, Numerical simulations.


Craniosynostosis (CS) is as congenital malformation occurring at an incidence of 1:2000 live births, characterized by premature closure of one or more cranial sutures, resulting in cranial and craniofacial deformities in varying degrees and volumetric disproportion between the skull and the brain. The diagnosis is made by clinical observation after child birth and it can be confirmed by imaging tests such as X-ray and CT scan. The treatment of CS is usually surgical in order to correct cranial distortion, craniofacial deformity, and prevent any future cognitive disorders and progression. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of Piezo surgery on a syndromic patient of 11 months who underwent surgical treatment of CS. The study concluded that the Piezo surgery's benefits include: Selective cutting of bone structures while preserving the soft tissue, improved accuracy of osteotomies for front orbital development, and reduced post-operative swelling. ABBREVIATIONS CS: Craniosynostosis; CT: Computed Tomography INTRODUCTION Craniosynostosis (CS) is as congenital malformation occurring at an incidence of 1:2000 live births, characterized by premature closure of one or more cranial sutures, resulting in cranial and craniofacial deformities in varying degrees and volumetric disproportion between the skull and the brain [1,2]. It leads not only to secondary distortion of skull shape but to various complications including neurologic, ophthalmic and respiratory dysfunction [3]. The diagnosis is made by clinical observation after child birth and it can be confirmed by imaging tests such as X-ray and CT scan [4]. Craniosynostosis is divided into two groups, simple or complex craniosynostosis. Simple craniosynostosis has single suture synostosis and complex one has multiple synostoses which show more severe cranial deformity and stenosis. According to associated developmental lesions, isolated (nonsyndromic) craniosynostosis shows only cranial deformities caused by synostosis and may have secondary neurologic or ophthalmologic manifestations which are derived from early fusion of cranial sutures [4-6]. There have been reported numerous number sofdiseases belonging tosyndromic cranio synostosis. Crouzonsyndrome, Apertsyn drome, Pfeiffer syndrome and Saethre-Chotzensyndrome are relatively common in syndromiccraniosynostosis [6]. Craniosynostosis was first treated surgically in the late 1800s, using techniques such as fragmentation of the cranial vault and linear craniectomies. These early procedures were associated with high rates of reossification and poor esthetic outcomes, mandating many subsequent procedures. At present, however, simple craniectomy is used only in patients with transient cranial Central Bringing Excellence in Open Access   Tarquinio Marinho et al. (2016) Email: JSM Head Face Med 1(1): 1002 (2016) 2/4 decompression. These early procedures have been supplanted by surgical remodeling of the affected area of the cranial vault and orbits. Surgery is generally performed at age 6–9 months to take full advantage of the regenerative capacity of the skull at this age [7]. Piezosurgery is mainly used in oral surgery; however, it has been used for osteotomies in cranial vault and orbital walls with minimal undermining of the dura mater and periorbital soft tissue, reducing the postoperative swelling. In particular, it is adequate in the case of osteotomies involving thin bone (eg, infant skull) [8]. Piezoelectric device has shown being a valid instrument for bone cutting in accurate procedures, because it allows performing a more precise and safer cutting, without the risk of harming surrounding tissues [9]. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of Piezosurgery on a syndromic patient of 11 months who underwent surgical treatment of CS. CASE PRESENTATION A 11months old, female infant, attended accompanied by her parents to the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery headed by Dr Luiz Fernando Lobo, which serves a population that has medical private agreements, with coverage in the city of Sao Paulo. The parents said that her child was diagnosted with Craniosynostosis plagiocephalus (Crouzon Syndrome). Clinical examination revealed frontal recoil, more predominant in the supraorbital region, asymmetry of the skull and face, presenting a rise of the orbit on the affected side, and a frontal bulging contralateral to the compromised suture (Figure 1). Three-dimensional computed tomography was performed and it was decided to perform surgical treatment with the neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgery teams (Figure 2). The parents were informed about the cosmetic aspect of the surgery and the progressive deformations and their informed consent was obtained. Surgery was performed with the patient in a supine position. The coronal access was marked with a pen for skin marking (Codman®) and infiltrative anesthesia was performed with ropivacaine 7.5% on the subgaleal surface (Figures 3,4). A coronal incision was made and the scalp was dissected (Figure 5). The dissection plane was extended subperiosteally to expose the frontal bone, the superior part of the orbit, the coronal suture, and the temporal fossa behind the zygomatic process. The coronal osteotomy with use of the piezoelectric surgical devices (Piezosurgery®MECTRON, Italy) (Figures 6,7) for the forward orbital advancement was realizaded to release of intracranial pressure (Figure 8). The osteotomies were fixated with resorbable fixation system (Lactosorb®BIOMET, USA) (Figures 9-11). The procedure occurred without intercurrences. The patient presented on the first day of the postoperative, a satisfactory response, with minimal edema and absence of hematoma (Figure 12). She remained hospitalized for 5 days, evolving with clinical and physical improvement (Figure 13). Figure 1 Asymmetry of the skull and face, preoperative. Figure 3 Preparation for locating the coronal incision. Figure 4 Demarcation of coronal access and infiltrative anesthesia with ropivacaine 7.5%. Figure 2 Three-dimensional computed tomography. DISCUSSION Craniosynostosis is a congenital anomaly of cranial deformity and stenosis due to early fusion of the cranial sutures. The classification probably more used, based on the compromised suture (the one that closed early), and may present 4 main types: escafocephaly or dolicocephaly (early closure of the sagittal suture), trigonocephaly (early closure of the metopic suture), plagiocephaly Brachycephaly or turricephaly (early closure of the Central Bringing Excellence in Open Access   Tarquinio Marinho et al. (2016) Email: JSM Head Face Med 1(1): 1002 (2016) 3/4 Figure 5 Coronal Access. Figure 6 Osteotomy with use of the piezoelectric surgical devices (Piezosurgery®MECTRON, Italy). Figure 7 Osteotomy with use of the piezoelectric surgical devices (Piezosurgery®MECTRON, Italy). Figure 8 Frontalorbital advancement to release of intra-cranial pressure. Figure 9 Osteotomy fixation with resorbable fixation system (Lactosorb®BIOMET, USA). Figure 10 Osteotomy fixation with resorbable fixation system (Lactosorb®BIOMET, USA). Figure 11 Osteotomy fixation with resorbable fixation system (Lactosorb®BIOMET, USA. coronal and / or lambdoid sutures). These cranial deformities, when left untreated, can bring psychological damage to these children, causing them to avoid social interaction due to their unusual appearance [4]. The sagittal suture (40–55%) is the most commonly affected, followed by the coronal (20–25%) [3]. Neurocognitive Central Bringing Excellence in Open Access   Tarquinio Marinho et al. (2016) Email: JSM Head Face Med 1(1): 1002 (2016) 4/4 impairments have been reported in 35–50% of school-aged children with isolated single suture craniosynostosis [10]. The treatment is usually surgical, and has as main scope to correct the cranial distortion and prevent progression and craniofacial deformity, preventing any future impairment and an increase in intracranial pressure (ICP). Intraoperative bleeding is the main complication. In addition to trained neurosurgical staff, a multidisciplinary team is enabled to manage these children, and intraoperative bleeding in cases of cranial reconstruction is the main complication [11]. Frontoorbital advancement has become a standard method both to increase intracranial volume and to improve facial appearance in patients with syndromal or nonsyndromal craniosynostosis. Relevant complications of this procedure include severe hemorrhage and trauma to intracranial, orbital, or facial soft tissues, which mostly arise during the process of bone exposure or osteotomy [12]. The piezoelectric device in the present study showed an easy handling with a reduced amount of trauma, being an instrument indicated in osteotomies because it allowed a safe cut without damaging the adjacent tissues. Furthermore, with piezoelectric surgery, it has been possible to perform precise osteotomy in close proximity of vessels, nerves, and other important structures, such as dura mater, with minimal bleeding. To minimize the risk of soft tissue injury and to increase the precision of the osteotomy, the authors applied a piezoelectric osteotomy for frontoorbital advancement in 15 patients with craniosynostosis seen consecutively (mean age 11.3 months), they demonstrated that this new device can cut cranial bones using ultrasonic micro vibrations created by piezoelectric effects [12]. The surgical treatment of CS with the use of the piezo surgery has proved to be effective, because it allows a precise osteotomy, minimal bleeding and without injury to adjacent tissues. The patient evolved without complications, with minimal edema and a shorter hospital stay.


Background.  To enhance the understanding of the pathophysiology of women with peripartum pelvic pain, it is necessary to couple anatomical insights with relevant clinical research. In this context, the long dorsal sacroiliac ligament is especially of interest because it was noticed that women diagnosed with peripartum pelvic pain frequently experience pain within the boundaries of this ligament.


The theme of the symposium is Relational Goods. This paper offers the experience of a group from the perspective of an individual group member. The material illustrates the following group phenomena: exchange, mirror reactions, translation, socialization, multiple transferences, projection, projective identification, the social unconscious, remembering and repeating, the foundation and the dynamic matrix, activation of the collective unconscious and others. The emphasis, however, is on exchange and the goods exchanged are relational goods, the 'diamonds' of the story.


Abstract Sporocarps, megaspores, and micro-spores of Azolla filiculoides are described from fresh fertile material from the South Island of New Zealand. Size estimates are given along with light and scanning electron microscope photographs. A brief discussion of spore morphology, perine substructure, and leaf trichomes is given with regard to the taxonomy of A. filiculoides and A. rubra. Differences between these taxa with regard to sporoderm substructure and the presence of filaments on the collar of the megaspore support their separation but may be considered insufficient to justify maintaining taxonomic separation beyond varietal status for rubra.


A method of preparing titanium hydride powder using titanium scraps is provided to produce the powder with noticeably reduced production cost and improved productivity by simultaneously conducting hydrogenation and milling process and using titanium scraps generated in mechanical processing. The method generally includes the steps of: introducing titanium containing scraps into a reaction chamber; injecting hydrogen gas into the chamber after removing air from the chamber; and ball-milling the mixture in the chamber. The method further has a step of maintaining the treated mixture for a constant period of time after the ball milling. The scraps are any one selected from turning chips, chips and powder. The hydrogen gas injected into the chamber has pressure ranging from 1-100 bars. The ball milling is performed at above 50rpm for 60 seconds to 1 hour.


The lifetime of the flower in vase,the biggest diameter of the flower,the fresh weight of the stem,the relative electric conductivity,the soluble protein,POD,SOD and the breathe intensity of the cut peony cultivated in different concentrations(100、200、300mg·L-1) of PP333,B9 medium and spraied with 0.1%CaCl2 respectively were measured.The results showed that all kinds of treatment could make the lifetime of cut peony in vase longer than CK.200mg·L-1 PP333 did better than 200mg·L-1 B9.200mg·L-1PP333 could keep the fresh weight of stems longer,the diameter of flowers bigger,the resolving of solubility protein more slowly,the relative electric conductivity smaller,the coming of breath peak later,the POD and SOD more active.200mg·L-1 medium of PP333、B9 and spraying 0.1%CaCl2 to the leaves were the better methods to prolong the lifetime of the cut peony flower in vase.


1. Tumors ligated for a period of 24, 48, or 72 hours, when auto-transplanted or homo-transplanted, failed to protect the hosts from a challenge dose of viable tumor of the same kind.

2. Tumors "permanently" ligated failed to induce resistance against a second inoculation of viable tumor.

3. No relationship was found to exist between the rate of resorption of the ligated tumors and the subsequent resistance or susceptibility of the hosts to a second inoculation of viable tumor.


ABSTRACT The extraction behavior of Zr from aqueous HNO3 was studied using dihexyl N, N-diethylcarbamoylmethylphosphonate (DHDECMP). Distribution ratios were examined as a function of contact time, concentration of solute, acid, and extractant and extraction temperature. It was found that the extractant dependency for Zr is second power. Temperature dependency studies were hindered by an apparent Zr specie change above 30°C. Extraction of Zr is strongly NO3 dependent


This chapter introduces the key issues addressed in the book. Why does religion sometimes strengthen support for democracy and sometimes do just the opposite? This book argues that theological explanations alone cannot account for the wide variety of influences that religion can have on political preferences. It argues, instead, that we must consider the role of group interests. The book presents a new theory that uses an interest-based approach to explain these complex relationships. Evidence from Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere supports these claims.


Background/Objectives: development of algorithms for flight plan data transformation into the projected trajectory of the aircraft based on the unification of used trajectories in the horizontal plane to reduce the consumed computing resources. Methods: In order to display the flight route, specialized software is used in the on-board systems enabling to convert a flight plan data set into a predictable trajectory of the aircraft path for its subsequent visualization. Findings: The authors have defined, developed and presented the principles and algorithms for computation of route trajectories ensuring the building of calculated flight path of the aircraft to be displayed on the on-board displays. The route displaying is carried out by consistent plotting of the typical trajectories that constitute the route path and in their turn consist of a set of graphic primitives such as line and arc. The database to be displayed is based on the flight plan, made in accordance with the "Jeppesen" database or similar, after bringing it to the formats of three typical defined trajectories. Applications/Improvements: The algorithms of the flight plan data conversion into a projected trajectory in the horizontal plane unify the process of information generation for displaying on the on-board multifunction displays and optimize a set of computation data to control the motion along a trajectory.


Land management activities can result in the delivery of fine sediment to streams. Over time, such delivery can lead to cumulative impacts to the aquatic ecosystem. Because numerous laws require Federal land managers to analyze watershed cumulative effects, field personnel need simple monitoring procedures that can be used directly and consistently. One approach to such monitoring is described. The approach involves sampling a longitudinal reach of stream channel several hundred feet long using a zig-zag pebble count procedure that crosses all habitat features within a stream channel. The approach accommodates reference (unimpacted) and study (impacted) reaches so that impact comparisons can be made. Case studies show how the procedure is applied.


The paper analyses the implementation of the public policy in Child Education (EI) through the partnership with Civil Society Organizations, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (ERJ) and the Baixada Fluminense (BF), between 2008 and 2019. The methodological option is the empirical research, using documental and bibliographical research and the construction of information with treatment of primary data. Presents the history of service to the stage; establishes the context of the investigation; and analyzes the policy of partnership. Studies indicate that the increased access to EI occurs due to partnerships of the public power with institution with non-economic purposes. Of 92 cities in the ERJ, in 2008, 36 formed partnerships, receding, in 2019, to 34. In the 13 cities in the BF, it increased from 2, in 2008, to 6 in 2019. We observed in ERJ enrollment in partnerships increased 53.6 % and in BF increased 164.6 % in the period. The universe of enrollment in the stage in 2008 (in day-care and pre-school) is 619058 in ERJ and 105389 in BF, with the percentage of enrollment in partnerships representing 5.6 % (34884) and 3.2 % (3399), respectively. Despite general impression, the extension is due to the increase in municipal attendance, counting on support from the private network, especially private units with economic purposes.


Spatiograms are histograms augmented with spatial means and covariances to capture a richer description of the target. We present a particle filtering framework for region‐based tracking using spatiograms. Unlike mean shift, the framework allows for non‐differentiable similarity measures to compare two spatiograms; we present one such similarity measure, a combination of a recent weighting scheme and histogram intersection. Experimental results show improved performance with the new measure as well as the importance of global spatial information for tracking. The performance of spatiograms is compared with color histograms and several texture histogram methods.


Background: Major depressive disorder is very usual in patients experiencing a history of myocardial infarction (MI). Raising level of Troponin I could be a tool to predict the severity of post myocardial infarction depressive disorder.
Aims: The purpose of this work was to test the relationships between levels of Troponin I and severity of post MI depression.
Methods: The study was conducted on patients of acute MI (n=100) attending cardiology OPD of Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam in 6- 8 weeks after the index event. Screening was done by The Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders and diagnoses of Major Depressive Disorder were established according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders fourth edition Test Revision criteria. Severity of the depression was assessed by Beck Depression Inventory. Laboratory reports of serum levels of Troponin I were noted from the medical records of the patients. Statistical tests like the student to test and Pearson correlation were used for analysis.
Results: Severity indicators of MI like raising Troponin I has significant association (t test = 3.66, p = 0.0006) and positive correlation (r = 0.797, p= 0.003) with severity of post MI depression.
Conclusion: Rising Troponin I levels are associated with increased risk of depression following the myocardial infarction. So it can be utilized to foresee future chances of depression after an attack of myocardial infarction.


The analysis of the Pioneer 10 and 11 data demonstrated the presence of an anomalous Doppler frequency blue-shift drift which is interpreted as an anomalous acceleration. The Doppler frequency dirft follows by considering the motions of the Pioneers in the universe, i.e. it is of cosmological origin. There is no anomalous acceleration.


Detection of specific gas component under various working conditions has emerged great efforts, exploring novel materials and well-designed device structures trying to break the sensing limitations. However, the sensing mechanisms...


Objective:To exploring the relationship between the effect of discharging ureteral calculi and the ultrastructure of stones.Methods:30 patients of ureteral calculi were treated with medicine of Chinese-western and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.Ultrastructure and elemental analysis were observered by the scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and X-ray energy disperse analysis system(EDAX).Results:The stones can't row out by Chinese traditional or western medicine,eventually,stones can be rolled out through extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.Stone's particles have core and one layer structure of the rings,the brick blocks long column for crystal closely stacked arranged in radiation form and all with mixed composition.The outer layer was composed by dense and thick mucus composition and a certain degree adhere to ureteral wall.Conclusion:Drugs have difficulty in rowing out of ureteral calculi.It can have a better effect in discharging ureteral calculi by integrated Chinese and Western medicines.


The invention relates to a process for treating free alkali in red mud by microorganisms. The process comprises the steps of: injecting red mud in a stirring tank in percentage by weight after size mixing; adding an acid solution containing domesticated lactic acid bacteria or thiobacillus ferroxidans, controlling the temperature, pressure and a pH value, filtering ore pulp after being treated by microorganisms to obtain a microorganism-containing solution and red mud after being treated by the microorganisms, and sending filtrate to a microorganism culture tank for continuing culturing the microorganisms, wherein the free alkali in the red mud is less than 0.95 percent, and reaches the requirement of land rehabilitation. The process has the beneficial effects that the acid used by the process is microorganism organic macromolecule weak acid, thus compared with a treatment method using inorganic acid or alkali in the prior art, the process has the advantages of reducing cost, being high in rate of removing the free alkali, short in period, simple in process, low in cost, few in impurities in leachate, low in equipment corrosion rate, convenient for storage and transportation, and beneficial to culture and recycling of microorganisms in a subsequent solution; the treated red mud filter cake contains less than 0.95 percent of free alkali, the environmental harm to the soil is reduced, and the land rehabilitation and utilization can be performed.


Information about stance related skin contact forces was extracted from cuff recordings of human neural signals. Forces measured from the skin under the heel during standing were scaled and applied to the innervation area of the sural nerve. The neural response to the stimuli was measured with a cuff. Using an artificial neural network forces were extracted from the nerve signal with a goodness of fit of 60-93% and may be applicable as feedback signals in control of standing.


Electro-optic (EO) poled polymer materials exhibit low dispersion and low dielectric constants. EO polymer materials have been modulated flat to 40 GHz and exhibit few fundamental limits for ultrafast modulation and switching. Channel waveguides and integrated optic circuits can be defined by the poling process itself, by photochemistry of the EO polymer, or by a variety of well understood micro-machining techniques. EO polymer materials have been used to fabricate high-speed Mach-Zehnder modulators, directional couplers, Fabry-Perot etalons, and even multi-tap devices. Practical issues remain to be solved before polymer photonic technology may be exploited in systems such as datacom and telecom. These include reliable, low cost fiber-attach and packaging, support circuitry and interfaces, and the scale-up to high volume production. This talk reviews requirements for practical exploitation and displays recent progress toward achieving reliable products.


Objective To explore the correlation of autonomic dysfunction with motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease(PD). Methods 243 PD patients were recruited in the department of neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital from June 2010 to June 2012 and evaluated by the Scale For Outcomes in PD For Autonomic Symptoms(SCOPA-AUT), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS) Ⅲ, Hoehn-Yahr(H-Y) Staging, Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD), Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI), Fatigue Scale-14(FS-14), Activity of Daily Living(ADL) and 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire(PDQL-39), and correlations of SCOPA-AUT score with above scales scores were performed. Results(1) SCOPA-AUT score of PD patients was 36.6±8.0(23-67)points; SCOPA-AUT score was positively correlated with the age of onset, average of(59.8±10.1) years, and disease duration,average of(3.8±4.0)years(r=0.248, P=0.000; r=0.234, P=0.000);(2)Autonomic symptoms with the highest incidence was gastrointestinal dysfunction(83.5%), among which, constipation was the most frequent(56.4%), which was followed by urinary dysfunction(79.0%), sexual dysfunction(78.6%), cardiovascular dysfunction(48.6%)and thermoregulatory dysfunction(47.3%);(3)SCOPA-AUT score was positively correlated with H-Y Stage(2.0±0.8) and UPDRSⅢ score,(25.9±13.2)points(r=0.390, P=0.000; r=0.425, P=0.000);(4)169 cases were with depression and 154 cases with anxiety; SCOPA-AUT score was positively correlated with scores of HAMD and HADA(r=0.457, P=0.000; r=0.490, P=0.000);(5) 33 cases were PD with no cognitive impairment(PD-NCI), 96 were PD with mild cognitive impairment(PD-MCI) and 114 were PD with dementia(PDD); SCOPA-AUT scores in PD-NCI, PD-MCI and PDD groups were significantly increased in turn,(34.8±7.3)points,(37.9±8.0)points and(38.5±8.7)points, P=0.011;(6) 169 cases were with sleep disorders, which SCOPA-AUT score was positively correlated with PSQI score(r=0.508, P=0.000);(7) 215 cases were with fatigue, which SCOPA-AUT score was positively correlated with FS-14 score(r=0.423, P=0.000);(8)ADL score was(35.3±13.6)points, which was positively correlated with SCOPA-AUT score(r=0.391, P=0.000); PDQL-39 score was(134.1±26.6)points, which was negtively correlated with SCOPA-AUT score(r=―0.649, P=0.000). Conclusions PD patients have high incidence of autonomic dysfunction with multiple symptoms. Autonomic dysfunction is closely correlated with the age of onset, disease duration, motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms, including cognition impairment, anxiety, depression, sleep disorder and fatigue, and dramatically compromises ADL and QOL for PD patients.


It is shown that the zero-point energy determines 3⁄4 of the energy of a homogeneous universe. The zero-point temperature was calculated, which is close to the background radiation temperature. The problem of the cosmological constant is solved by wavelength quantization. The minimum wavelength is determined, which divides any wavelength by an integer number of parts.


Objective To investigate the pharmacodynamics and safety of levobupivacaine of different concentrations for epidural anesthesia.Methods A total of 40 patients(ASAⅠ~Ⅱundergoing elective rectum or colon cancer surgery) were randomly allocated into groupⅠand Ⅱ(20 in each group).In both groups,the lumbar epidural anesthesia was performed at the L_(1,2) interspace.Patients of group Ⅰand Ⅱ received 0.75%or 0.5%levobupivacaine(2mg/kg) epidurally in 1.5min,respectively.Sensory and motor block after injection were assessed.The changes of hemodynamics and ECG after injection were observed.The adverse reactions were recorded during anesthesia.Results The onset time of sensory and motor block in groupⅠwere significantly shorter than that in groupⅡ(P0.05).The maintenance time of sensory and motor block in groupⅠwere significantly longer than that in group Ⅱ(P0.05).The scores of maximum degree of motor block in groupⅠwere more than that in group Ⅱ(P0.05).After injection in both groups,the SBP,DBP and MAP deceased gradually,which was significantly different at 20min and each time point after 20min from that before injection(P0.05).After injection the HR increased gradually in both groups,which was significantly different at 20min and each time points after 20 min from that before injection(P0.05).Few adverse reactions occurred in both groups.Conclusion Levobupivacaine for lumbar epidural anesthesia is safe and effective,and the anesthesia efficacy of 0.75%levobupivacaine is better than that of 0.5%levobupivacaine.


It is now slightly more than 60 years since Piaget described as Haematomyzus elephantis an extraordinary insect found by him living as an ectoparasite upon an African elephant in the Zoological Garden of Rotterdam. The insect was considered by its describer to be a sucking louse, and this assignment has been accepted by almost all of the few entomologists who have since been privileged to examine specimens. Walker, who in ignorance of Piaget'os work, redescribed the species as Idolocoris elephantis, regarded it as constituting a new family of Hemiptera Heteroptera near the bed bugs. Since that time no one has questioned the belief that it is a sucking louse and for it Enderlein named a family, the Haematomyzidae, in the Anoplura.


The contribution deals with the issue of the international productivity and visibility of the social sciences in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The reasons why the social sciences in CEE countries lag behind in being more internationalised stem not only from the past, but also the present. The intellectual potential of the social sciences is often neither fully acknowledged nor effectively used by different groups of social actors. There is also a lack of institutional support from R&D policy decision-makers to encourage social scientists to publish more abroad and to establish excellent networks beyond national borders. In the paper, the main focus is national R&D evaluation systems. R&D evaluation systems play a crucial role in the allocation of financial support to scientists, the promotion of individual scientific careers, ensuring disciplinary (or interdisciplinary) standards etc. Last but not least, it is impossible to fully understand the state-of-the-art in the social sciences' international productivity and visibility in CEE countries without explaining the context of how these national R&D evaluation systems function. Some analytical data are used to illustrate the international orientation of social scientists. These data warn that the great expectations that social scientists from this part of Europe would easily "break through" into publication channels in the West and thereby have a big scientific impact have yet to be realised.


AbstractA thorough technical examination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bronze Horse (Ace. No. 23.69) has revealed that the technical evidence used to condemn it does not hold up under critical evaluation. The composition of the metal and core, the nature of the corrosion and its method of manufacture are consistent with the object being of ancient origin. Thermoluminescence experiments performed on the ceramic core material of the horse have proved that the bronze horse was manufactured in antiquity.


In [1], Sacks points out that there is one fundamental question: which true statements of ordinary recursion theory remain true when appropriately extended to metarecursion theory? A particular interest is taken in the question [1]: Q6. How does one define the jump operator for metarecursion theory? (A satisfactory definition should have the property that if A is metarecursive in B, then the jump of A is metarecursive in the jump of B.) In [2], Kreisel and Sacks give some definitions of predicates and functions analogous to those of Kleene as follows: The T-predicate of [2] is analogous to that of Kleene [3]. Its definition is where e is the Gödel number of a finite system of equations E and t(e, s) is a special metarecursive function which indexes "deductions" from E. U(e, s) is a metarecursive function such that if t(e, s) = 〈e, M, N, x, y〉, then U(e,s) = y. Two partial functions {e}s and {e} are Then e is intrinsically consistent if for all x, s1 and s2, if t(e, S1) = 〈e, M1N1, x, y1〉, t(e, s2) = 〈e, M2, N2, x, y2〉 and (M1 ∪ M2) ∩ (N1 ∪ N2) = ∅, then y1 = y2.


With the rapid development of communication technology, network control is widely used. In the process of wireless transmission, a signal may be affected by the attenuation channel. In this paper, we review the recent advances in learning control with fading channels. We first study the case that the fading channel statistics are known, then we turn to the unknown case. We also make some comparisons among these results to illustrate the newly developed techniques. This review paper may assist the readers in understanding the progress of the researches on the design of fading channel algorithms as well as the related issues in multiplicative randomness.


Optical phase change materials (O-PCMs) are a unique class of materials which exhibit extraordinarily large optical property change (e.g. refractive index change > 1) when undergoing a solid-state phase transition. Traditional O-PCMs suffer from large optical losses even in their dielectric states, which fundamentally limits the performance of optical devices based on the materials. To resolve the issue, we have recently demonstrated a new O-PCM Ge-Sb-Se-Te (GSST) with broadband low loss characteristics. In this talk, we will review an array of reconfigurable photonic devices enabled by the low-loss O-PCM, including nonvolatile waveguide switches with unprecedented low-loss and high-contrast performance, free-space light modulators, bi-stable reconfigurable metasurfaces, and transient couplers facilitating waferscale device probing and characterizations.


Regenerable absorbent sulphur oxide composition for use in heat generators consisting of a magnesian-type powder absorbent. According to the invention, the composition also includes a powder with a particle size of less than 50 micrometres containing at least one metallic oxide.


Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is the core component of the cryogenic propellant loading process control system, used to collect field data in real time and monitor and control scattered field devices. Aiming at the lacking authentication capabilities and other security measures of SCADA system, we proposed a lightweight security authentication scheme mainly using Cryptography for SCADA system. Based on symmetrical encryption technology and message authentication code (HMAC) technology, the proposed scheme could achieve bidirectional identity authentication and message confidentiality between the control server and the controller which could guarantee the availability, confidentiality, integrity of the transmitted data between different devices. Our scheme could also resist security threats such as replay attacks.


One of the missing features in the existing Internet mail and
messaging standards is a facility for server-to-server and server-to-
client event notifications related to message store events. As the
scope of Internet mail expands to support more diverse media (such as
voice mail), devices (such as cell phones) and to provide rich
interactions with other services (such as web portals and legal
compliance systems), the need for an interoperable notification system
increases. This document attempts to enumerate the types of events
which interest real-world consumers of such a system.


The field of multiple autonomous robots cooperating is emerging as a key technology in mobile robots and is currently under intense effort. The use of multi-robots synchronized, coordinated or cooperating in production processes where there is a high requirement on flexibility and manoeuvrability is highly desirable. This is an option to be considered in complex and integrated production processes including assembling, transporting, painting and welding tasks. Broadly, the applied general approaches for controlling and coordinating the movement of several robots that cooperatively perform a task illustrate the major trade-off in the control and coordination of multi-robots: between precision and feasibility and between the necessity of global information and communication capacity. Further, multiple robot systems working in external synchronization, e.g master-slave and coordinated schemes or mutual synchronization, e.g. cooperative schemes, imply the design of suitable controllers to achieve the required synchronous motion. The work presented in this paper, combines insights of computer vision, dynamical systems theory, computational neuroscience and robotics. We aim at generating online flexible timed behavior stably adapted to changing online visual, infrared and proprioceptive sensory information, such that different entities may achieve autonomous timed and flexible cooperative/coordinated behavior. As a first attempt, we do not take into account communication issues. We apply an attractor based dynamics as recent studies have shown that this theory helps synchronize systems and reduces the computational requirements for determining identical movement parameters across different coupled entities. The inherent advantages from an engineering viewpoint are huge, since the control system is released from the task of recalculating the movement parameters of the different entities. The main motivation is that once solutions for this problem are found, they can be applied in search and rescue operations, landing removal, remote terrain and space exploration, and also to the control of satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. In this domain, the achievement of robots able to exhibit intelligent and flexible cooperative behaviour is a first issue. The approach is demonstrated in the cooperation among two vision-guided mobile robots such that they are able to reach a visually acquired goal, while avoiding obstacles, without O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w .ite ch on lin e. co m


Systems and methods for camera-based fingertip tracking are disclosed. One Such method includes identifying at least one location of a fingertip in at least one of the video frames, and mapping the location to a user input based on the location of the fingertip relative to a virtual user input device.


We propose tests of the null of spurious relationship against the alternative of fractional cointegration among the components of a vector of fractionally integrated time series. Our test statistics have an asymptotic chi-square distribution under the null and rely on generalized least squares–type of corrections that control for the short-run correlation of the weak dependent components of the fractionally integrated processes. We emphasize corrections based on nonparametric modelization of the innovations' autocorrelation, relaxing important conditions that are standard in the literature and, in particular, being able to consider simultaneously (asymptotically) stationary or nonstationary processes. Relatively weak conditions on the corresponding short-run and memory parameter estimates are assumed. The new tests are consistent with a divergence rate that, in most of the cases, as we show in a simple situation, depends on the cointegration degree. Finite-sample properties of the tests are analyzed by means of a Monte Carlo experiment.We thank Helmut Lütkepohl and two referees for helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank participants at the NSF/NBER Time Series Conference at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, at the Unit Root and Cointegration Testing Conference at the University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal, and seminar participants at the Universidad de Navarra and Ente Luigi Einaudi for helpful comments. Javier Hualde's research is supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia through Juan de la Cierva and Ramón y Cajal contracts and ref. SEJ2005-07657/ECON. Carlos Velasco's research is supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, ref. SEJ2004-04583/ECON.


Abstract Pure bromopropadiene, BrCH=C=CH2 has been obtained by isomerisation of propargyl bromide in the presence of catalytic amounts of triphenylphosphine.


The investigation of differential item functioning (DIF) is important for any group comparison because the validity of the inferences made from scale scores could be compromised if DIF is present. DIF occurs when individuals from different groups show different probabilities of selecting a response option to an item after being matched on the underlying latent variable that the item is supposed to measure. The aim of this paper is to inform the practice of DIF analyses in survey research. We focus on three quantitative methods to detect DIF, namely nonparametric item response theory (NIRT), ordinal logistic regression (OLR), and mixed-effects or multilevel models. Using these methods, we demonstrate how to examine DIF at the item and scale levels, as well as in multilevel settings. We discuss when these techniques are appropriate to use, what data assumptions they have, and their advantages and disadvantages in the analysis of survey data.


Position and orientation tracker is one of the most critical input devices for human machine interface utilities such as virtual reality systems. The design principle for a 6 DOF position and orientation tracker based on ultrasonic range finders is discussed. The relations among the coordinate resolution, the angular resolution and hardware parameters of the tracker are analyzed. Criteria for a critical hardware parameter design are provided.


A combined fringe and in-plane switching (FIS) mode single-cell-gap transflective display using blue-phase liquid crystal (BPLC) is proposed. The structure makes use of the space above the pixel electrodes of this FIS mode as reflective regions and the space between pixel electrodes as transmissive regions. The struc- ture which can be optimized to balance the optical phase retarda- tion between transmissive region and reflective region with simple fabrication process exhibits relatively high optical efficiency and well matched voltage of transmittance and reflectance curves. Index Terms—Blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC), protruded structure, simple fabrication, transflective display.


Editors' Note: Direct ophthalmoscopy is sometimes omitted during the neurologic examination, even when it is necessary. There is no definite solution for this issue, Appleton et al. and Bruce et al. agree. But the former endorses appropriate and thorough clinical examination while the latter explains the benefit of nonmydriatic ocular fundus photography, especially when the ocular abnormalities are subtle. Distinguishing behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) from Alzheimer disease (AD) can be challenging. In response to Hornberger, who argues that episodic memory deficit is a poor diagnostic predictor to discriminate bvFTD from AD, Mendez clarifies that their study looked at a select group of patients …


The education of migrants' children has become a social issue. These emigrants' children include children migrant with their parents and children who stay at hometown. The issue of education for migrants' children centers on education justice and education quality respectively. The solving of these problems should rely on the supports from outside and reforms within school as well. As a social problem, the education of migrants' children needs great supports from outside school; but like other education problems, the reforms within school are the key solutions.


Article is devoted to consideration and comparison of the methods of the account of expenses and incomes in the system of administrative account in the agricultural organizations. Advantages and disadvantages of the method of account of actual expenses, a standard method, «standard-cost», «direct-costing» and account on the responsibility centers are revealed in the article. It is offered the account technique «direct-costing» and on the centers of responsibility and places of formation the expenses of the branch of plant growing.


The paper presents a study done with ten hospitalized children from seven to three years of age with congenital hip dysplasia. The nursing assistance was give during the hospitalization period and was based on adhesive foam to the continued traction and leather jumper counterweight therapies. The nurse made the description about the results, commentaries and recommendations


What do cattle ranchers in the greater Yellowstone region have in common with British soldiers garrisoned on the island of Malta in the late 1800s? Hint: it's a pathogen that starts with the letter B. It's Brucella Abortus.


The evolution of compensated aspherical perturbations in an Einstein-de Sitter universe with cold collisionless matter is investigated using both N-body simulations and quasi-analytic similarity solutions to treat the evolution of compensated axisymmetric structures. The solutions consist of a central void surrounded by an inhomogeneous shell. It is assumed that the structures are much smaller than the horizon scale so that Newtonian gravity is a good approximation. The results obtained from the two approaches are compared, and the implications are discussed. 12 refs.


In order to evaluate the effects of four sources of fiber (soy bean hulls, corn hull, rice husk and barley husks) with two particle size (with 1 and 2- mmof geometric mean) on performance, nutrient digestibility, small intestine morphology, and secum bacteria in broiler chicken, 540 Ross 308 broiler male chicks from 1 to 42 days were used in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement 2×4, with nine treatments (one control treatment), four replications and 15 broilers in each replicate. Weight gain in the starter and finisher periods, feed intake during the finisher and the whole period, and feed conversion ratio in the grower, finisher and the whole period of breeding were affected the entire fiber source. Treatment with coarse barley husk had significantly more weight gain, lower feed intake, and less conversion ratio than other treatments (P<0.05). The most feed conversion ratio observed in treatment containing rice husk. Crude protein (P<0.0493) and ether extract (P<0.0004) digestibility in corn hull diets was higher than other treatments. In duodenum, jejunum and ileum, the highest and lowest villus height were observed in barley husk treatment and control group, respectively (P <0.05). The depth of crypt was affected only in the jejunum and crypt diameter in duodenum, jejunum and ileum (P<0.05). The number of intestinal Lactobacilos in the chiks fed diets containing corn and barley husk was more than those fed with diets containing soybean hull and rice husk (P<0.05). The fibers particle size had significant effect on E.Coli and coliform bacteria (P<0/007). However, with adding a fiber source such as barley husk or corn hull, to broiler diets would have beneficial effects in yield, health and welfare of the bird.


www.PRSJournal.com 798e Scaphocephaly (or sagittal synostosis) is the result of premature fusion of the sagittal suture. The skull becomes elongated because of restricted growth at the affected suture and compensatory growth at the patent sutures. Sagittal synostosis has a prevalence of one in 5000.1 Surgery is usually performed in the first year of life to reduce the risk of intracranial hypertension and to resolve aesthetic problems. However, 1 to 11 percent of children with sagittal synostosis develop signs of intracranial hypertension after surgery.2 Headaches can be one of the clinical signs of intracranial hypertension. Our previous study showed that headache is a frequent complaint after surgery for sagittal synostosis (i.e., headache was reported in 42 percent of the patients aged 2 to 12 years with sagittal synostosis).3 Therefore, it is important to further investigate factors associated with the occurrence of headache in the sagittal synostosis population. We hypothesize that frequent headache in this population is caused by intracranial hypertension and therefore is probably related to ophthalmic signs of raised intracranial hypertension, low occipitofrontal head circumference, and vertex bulge.


The 147-nm photodecompositions of PH/sub 3/ and PD/sub 3/ result in the formation of H/sub 2/ (D/sub 2/) and P/sub 2/H/sub 4/ (P/sub 2/D/sub 4/) in the gas phase and a solid deposit which is probably a mixture of phosphorous and polymeric phosphorous hydrides (PH)/sub x/ and (PD)/sub x/. The quantum yields for the gaseous products and for depletion of reactants were measured and were found to increase with increasing pressure of phosphine and to decrease with increasing light intensity. All quantum yields for PD/sub 3/ are lower than those for PH/sub 3/. Isotope distribution analysis of the diphosphines formed in the photolysis of PH/sub 3/-PD/sub 3/ mixtures indicates that diphosphine is formed principally via combination of PH/sub 2/ (PD/sub 2/) radicals. A mechanism involving these primary photodissociations is proposed which is in accord with the experimental facts. The thermal decomposition of P/sub 2/H/sub 4/ at ambient temperature (approx. 300 K) is shown to be second order with a specific reaction rate of (4.25 +- 0.18) x 10/sup -18/ cm/sup 3//(molecule s). 6 figures, 3 tables.


The fluid nature of unequal power which has been neglected in reality is the really dynamical mechanism which accompanies the birth, growth and death of the enterprises clusters. Firstly, the article focuses on the concepts of power and circuits of power existing in the enterprise clusters, and found that the unequal power in time-specific and place-specific has the fluid nature. Secondly, we elucidate the question of openness and over-embededness as a way to understand cluster growth in terms of power and circuits of power. As a result, we drew the conclusion that the fluid nature of unequal power is the real dynamical sources of enterprises clusters' growth. Finally, outline the whole article in academic perspective and offer the practical value of the article.


Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are attractive and more popular these days. The bundle of messages or data sent in dynamic network is called Delay Tolerant Network (DTN). The reason of popularity of this kind of network is its easy establishment at any place. The mobile nodes independently work as intermediate node as well as sender and receiver. The connection establishment and data sending is possible through routing protocols of MANET. The routing protocols of DTN are not same as traditional wireless routing protocols. One major issue on this network is security. Its extensive use necessitates for making the networks safe, efficient as well as impressive. Much effort are required to improve the various demands of network security inconsistency with the demands on mobile networks and the nature of the mobile devices like low processing and communication in open environment. The perception and structure of Wireless Ad hoc DTN creates them flat to be easily attacked using numerous techniques often used alongside wired networks as well as new methods particularly to DTN. Security issues begins in many different fields counting with physical security, key management, routing and Intrusion Detection and Prevention, many of which are vital to a functional dynamic network. This article is mainly focused on the security issues related to DTN routing protocols. The routing in DTN remains a key issue because without accurately functioning of routing protocols, the network will not work efficiently, it's intended to. Regrettably, routing is also most difficult to protect against attacks of malicious activities due to absence of centralized authority in DTN. Main protection menace involved in routing with dynamic network as well as the recent solutions against different attacks proposed by various researchers in Wireless Ad hoc DTN is presented here‥


Recent work shows an increasing interest of the Business Process Management (BPM) community in unstructured, so-called "human-centric" processes. Case Management (CM) is a new trend that focuses on the support of collaborative human-centric processes. Although CM provides concepts that support human-centric work, processes have to be modelled beforehand in order to be supported by IT systems. Hence, a problem that arises when applying CM is that when organisations begin to formalize CM practice, it is often difficult to express rules controlling the applicability of tasks. Furthermore, fundamental complexity challenges arise when applying CM in practice. In this contribution, we provide a solution to these two issues. We propose that managing human-centric processes should start with model skeletons that serve as a lattice where initial process execution can lean against. Additionally, by tracking different process cases, substantial process knowledge is recorded. Exploring process history might reveal certain recurring patterns that serve as dynamic guidance enhancement for CM systems. In this way, process models might evolve over time, become more and more complete and better reflect operational reality.


1 The removal of infused noradrenaline and isoprenaline from the circulation of the dog has been studied, using the blood‐bathed organ technique. 2 Both catecholamines were removed in peripheral vascular beds; in all organs studied, noradrenaline was removed to a greater degree than isoprenaline. 3 The hind legs removed an average of 60% of the noradrenaline passing through, but only 34% of the isoprenaline. With noradrenaline, the degree of removal decreased as the concentration increased, but with isoprenaline, the degree of removal increased with concentration. 4 After phenoxybenzamine, the proportion of isoprenaline removed was unchanged, whereas that of noradrenaline was decreased. The change in removal with the concentration of noradrenaline was also abolished. 5 The results are consistent with the concept that a small fraction of infused noradrenaline is removed from the circulation by Uptake1 and that this is blocked by phenoxybenzamine. Isoprenaline, and the rest of the noradrenaline, are removed by another process (Uptake2?) followed by intracellular metabolism. This inactivation process is unaffected by phenoxybenzamine in concentrations sufficient to give α‐adrenoceptor blockade. 6 After isoprenaline infusions, a substance sometimes appeared in the circulation which contracted the blood‐bathed organs. 7 The systemic pressure response to vaso‐active hormones is not a reliable indicator of the concentration of hormone in the arterial circulation.


10 (EP) ..................................... 10162560 Publication Classification (51) Int. Cl. C23C I4/34 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. ........... 204/298.15; 204/298.23; 204/298.28 (57) ABSTRACT A chamber for physical vapour deposition is provided. The chamber includes a housing, a door for opening and closing the housing, and a bearing for receiving a target, wherein the bearing is oriented in a first direction. Further, the chamber is adapted so that the target is at least partially removable from the chamber in the first direction. According to an embodi ment, a chamber for physical vapour deposition is provided. The chamber is adapted for receiving at least one target and a Substrate. The chamber includes a housing, a door, and at least one bearing for mounting the target, wherein the bearing is attached to the door.


On elaborating the basis of teaching advantages of applying network technology in institutions of higher learning, the course teaching status and existing problems of project management specialty in institutions of higher learning are analyzed. It points out that the teaching of project management specialty must be reformed, the computer and network technology and so on as the effective tool and means should be effectively integrate with teaching by campus network. And development and application of Network courseware of project management specialty are introduced by example.


In PLoS Medicine, volume 2, issue 4: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030185

The correct title for Figure 2 should be "Author's Graph of p-Value Function Based on Data in [28]." The correct title for Figure S1 should be "Episheet Showing Author's Relative Risk Calculation, Based on Data in [28]."


In 2018, an upsurge in echovirus 30 (E30) infections was reported in Europe. We conducted a large-scale epidemiologic and evolutionary study of 1,329 E30 strains collected in 22 countries in Europe during 2016–2018. Most E30 cases affected persons 0–4 years of age (29%) and 25–34 years of age (27%). Sequences were divided into 6 genetic clades (G1–G6). Most (53%) sequences belonged to G1, followed by G6 (23%), G2 (17%), G4 (4%), G3 (0.3%), and G5 (0.2%). Each clade encompassed unique individual recombinant forms; G1 and G4 displayed >2 unique recombinant forms. Rapid turnover of new clades and recombinant forms occurred over time. Clades G1 and G6 dominated in 2018, suggesting the E30 upsurge was caused by emergence of 2 distinct clades circulating in Europe. Investigation into the mechanisms behind the rapid turnover of E30 is crucial for clarifying the epidemiology and evolution of these enterovirus infections.


The COVID19 pandemic has had, and still has, the risk to have an enormous impact on how people socially interact with each other due to possible lockdowns, quarantine and isolation measures to reduce infection rates. Consequently, these measures hold great implications for those medical disciplines that inherently rely on social interaction, such as psychiatry. In their article, 'Can you hear me?'— Communication, Relationship and Ethics in Videobased Telepsychiatric Consultations', Frittgen and Haltaufderheide show that videoconferencing holds potential to ensure that this social interaction is guaranteed, be it in a technology mediated manner. In this sense, videoconferencing needs to be conceived as a pharmakon, a medicine, having both curative and toxifying elements, depending on why and how it is used. For example, videoconferencing allows continuity of care when physical proximity is impossible (curative element). At the same time, it allows the patient to interrupt the therapy by muting the therapist or ending the call at his/her convenience (toxic element). To guarantee the curative side of videoconferencing, and as such avoid the toxifying elements, an ethical prescription needs to be developed and used. Despite the fact that videoconferencing seems to have a similar clinical effectiveness as facetoface interaction, Frittgen and Haltaufderheide rightly point out that there are ethical impacts to be addressed to avoid the toxifying elements of videoconferencing. Frittgen and Haltaufderheide describe these ethical impacts by analysing the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the patient mediated by videoconferencing in a postphenomenological way. The authors describe the ethical impact of using videoconferencing by showing how on the one hand technological mediation strengthens the values 'autonomy', 'lucidity', 'fidelity' and 'humanity' and on the other hand weaken them. Moreover, and more fundamentally, they describe a multilayered twosided dynamic inherent in every technological mediation. This dynamic can be described according to four levels: (1) Ontology—Videoconferencing reveals one specific part of reality (eg, head and chest) and conceals the rest of it (eg, surrounding environment in which the therapist and patient are located); (2) Epistemology—As only a part of reality comes into a sole focus, our possibilities to gain knowledge over reality are also magnified and reduced (eg, a great focus on the audio information while many cues which would be visible and enable a therapist to gain holistic knowledge about the patient fall away); (3) Practice—Regarding how therapeutic care is practised, videoconferencing enables certain possibilities and constrains others (eg, therapeutic care is enabled by videoconferencing while the possibility for interpersonal physical care is constrained) and (4) Ethics—In their ethical analysis, Frittgen and Haltaufderheide mainly focus on how certain ethical values would be influenced by the use of videoconferencing. Nevertheless, this technology also mediates the possibilities of how the therapist and patient could get involved with one another or alienated from each other (eg, therapists and patients are still involved with one another through videoconferencing, but simultaneously are alienated from each other as they become spectators of each other). These insights in how videoconferencing mediates specific ethical values emerging in the therapeutic relationship between therapists and patients are interesting and useful to identify those toxifying aspects that needs to be acted on. However, they are not sufficient to develop an ethical prescription about how to implement this technology in reallife care practices. The postphenomenological analysis carried out by Frittgen and Haltaufderheide is much more an information leaflet about a pharmakon than a prescription, that is, it explains how videoconferencing works, instead of how it should be used. We are of the opinion that to reach a full ethical prescription of videoconferencing in psychiatry, this postphenomenological analysis needs to be complemented with a critical theory of technology, which accounts for the political and social contexts in which the therapeutic relationship mediated by videoconferencing takes place. The authors' exclusive focus on the individual therapeutic relationship and the values of 'autonomy', 'lucidity', 'fidelity' and 'humanity' occludes the sociopolitical contexts in which this relationship takes place. This becomes evident in the explicit bracketing of the only social ethical value the authors identify, 'justice', and the bracketing of the social determinants that shape therapeutic relationships and the communication on which these rely (the authors state 'expertise', 'resources', 'wealth' and 'social roles', but many more can be identified such as 'technical literacy', 'place of living'). As a consequence, the authors perceive videoconferencing from a technological deterministic view. They see it as an inescapable evolution to which therapists and patients have to adjust. Moreover, how to deal with videoconferencing becomes a pure individual responsibility of therapists and patients. This misses the point that every therapeutic relationship always takes place in a context of 'caring with', namely in social structures in which the therapeutic relationship is carried by other relationships, be them formal or informal. Care can never take place in isolation. The introduction of videoconferencing in the therapeutic relationship seems to shift the focus from a care or medical practice to a service, risking an ongoing commodification of care, which Frittgen and Haltaufderheide hint at when they speak about the spectatorship which could be installed by videoconferencing. It is our opinion that the analysis of Frittgen and Haltaufderheide of videoconferencing in psychiatric therapeutic relationship inscribes itself in an ethics of carefulness. It is an ethics which works from inside the technological paradigm and explains what we need to pay attention to if we want to guarantee a careful and safe use of videoconferencing. We want to suggest to complement this ethics of carefulness with an ethics of desirability. This ethics stands outside the technological paradigm and critically questions it by taking into account the sociopolitical determinants that have led Sustainable AI Lab, Institut für Wissenschaft und Ethik, Rheinische FriedrichWilhelmsUniversität Bonn, Bonn, North RhineWestphalia, Germany Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven Biomedical Sciences Group, Leuven, Flemisch Brabant, Belgium


Previous results on intersymbol interference in multichannel linear modulation schemes can be applied to nonlinear modulation. These are compared with new results specifically developed for the nonlinear case.


With the rapid growth of information on the web, the so-called web2.0 services provide users with a simple way of managing a collection of resources. The collaborative nature of social bookmarking systems allows users to annotate their resources easily and explore other people resources in the network. However, data exploration in such large and complex networks is not always easy, due to lack of organizational structure. Recently several clustering approaches have been introduces to improve the data navigation and information exploration in such systems. In this paper we proposed a framework for the purpose of clustering and visualizing tag spaces to enhance data exploration capabilities. We presented two hierarchical clustering methods and applied them to the del.icio.us data set as one of the most popular social bookmarking systems. We finally made a comparative study on these two approaches regarding the clustering accuracy and time performance.