This document presents the status of the Communications Director (DirCom) in Ecuador and proposes a communication strategy to position and increase awarness of the DirCom figure in the business and academic environments. In the actual knowledge-based economy the organization's image is the most important goal and promising asset. The Communications Director (DirCom) was born (in Europe) as its main guardian. Leading the educational innovation for Ecuador's competitiveness, UDLA (Universidad de las Americas, Quito) is the first entity in Latin America to offer the DirCom Master's degree online, developed and promoted by the renowned specialist Joan Costa. A strategic communications plan is necessary to enforce the relation with the organizational environment and increase awareness of the DirCom figure and the Masters existence in order to attract new students and place the graduates. The research phase about the reality of communications in Ecuadorian organizations, demonstrates that the DirCom's role is applicable and the Master's offer appropriate. On the basis of the findings, the communications strategy is planned accordingly to the business objectives and the available budget. Classic and innovative actions are proposed to reach, with effective messages, to the most relevant stakeholders.


AbstractThis paper develops four novel measures of a residential property's view using purely topographical data, evaluates each measure's contribution to property prices, and compares the efficacy of these new variables with manually-generated measures of view used in the literature. Using a set of semi-logarithmic and spatial autoregressive hedonic regression models for Sydney, Australia, this paper finds that water views contribute 2.30%-216.2% to property prices and land views contribute -5.94%-69.7%. These new measures confer an improvement in out-of-sample prediction accuracy of up to 6.2%.(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)As the real estate agent motto proclaims, location (and more location) is a fundamental determinant of how the housing market values a residential property; but what are the individual features of location that impart value upon a particular property? Proximity to desirable localities, neighborhood characteristics, demographics, and visual aspect are all spatially distributed attributes that contribute to a residential property's market value. Of all these features, a property's visual aspect, or 'view,' is one facet that is not often associated with a property's geographical location. However, views are one of the most distinctly spatial attributes a property can have.View is a characteristic that is purely determined by a property's position, its surrounding topography, and the geometric relationships between them. The existing methodology for appraising a residential property's view and determining how that view contributes to its final sale price can be separated into four main categories: (1) binary, (2) multiple binaries, (3) qualitative, and (4) geographic information systems (GIS). Within the economic literature, the first three categories are the overwhelmingly predominant methods used to investigate the impact of views on house prices (Bourassa, Hoesli, and Sun, 2004) and each of these three measures suffer from a high degree of subjectivity and are labor intensive to generate.In this paper, four new spatial GIS techniques are developed for quantifying view, all measured in continuous metric units using three-dimensional topographical data. Each of these new measures can be generated by an individual using commonly available GIS software and topographic data and are shown to be more accurate, consistent, and have more desirable properties than either the binary, qualitative or previously used GIS methods. Although automated GIS measures of view could never substitute for the ability of a manual inspection to identify all of the idiosyncratic features that may impact an individual property's actual view, such as trees, telegraph poles or balcony positioning, the intention of this paper is to compare the contribution of these automated measures with that of the manually-generated measures of view used in the literature. Using a series of semi-logarithmic and mixed spatial autoregressive hedonic regression models, the results demonstrate that these new spatial measures produce a distinct improvement in model accuracy and out-of-sample prediction, as well as a better understanding of the complex role views play in the market value of a residential property.LITERATURE REVIEWFrom the four categories of view studies discussed previously, the literature has yielded a variety of estimated returns to views, from being the largest contributor toward a property's value (Benson, Hansen, Schwartz, and Smersh, 1998) to statistical and economic insignificance (Brown and Pollakowski, 1977; Paterson and Boyle, 2002). A recommended place to begin any survey of the housing view literature is Bourassa, Hoesli, and Sun (2004), who provide a thorough review up until 2003 of the major studies that have investigated the impact of views on residential property prices.The binary category of the view literature includes those studies that use a single binary variable to indicate the existence versus the non-existence of a view from any particular property. …


ABSTRACT Objective: The objective was to conduct an analytical epidemiological study to understand the profile, treatment, and outcome of patients with spinal tumors in a Brazilian Quaternary Hospital of the SUS. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of data from the last five years was performed. It was described qualitative characteristics evaluated by absolute and relative frequencies and quantitative characteristics by sintetized measures. Associations between characteristics were verified using chi-square tests or exact tests. Results: 92 patients met the eligibility criteria. The mean age was 56.1 years (±14.7), with 48 men (52.2%) and 44 women (47.8%). The types of tumors organized in the three proposed groups had 19 multiple myelomas (20.7%), 62 metastases (67.3%), and 11 other tumors (12%). The neurological status measured through the ASIA score was A: 5.4%, B: 22.8%, C: 26.1%, D: 35.9%, E: 9.8%. Karnofsky was prevalent in the 50-70 range with 65.2%. The total hospitalization period had a mean of 22.8±18 days, preoperatively 11.9±9.2 days, and postoperatively 10.9±14 days. Karnofsky presented lower values according to the worst ASIA (p < 0.001). A total of 12 patients (13%) died during hospitalization. The total and postoperative length of stay was longer in patients who died (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study provides epidemiological data that allow an understanding of the profile of patients with spinal tumors in the Brazilian Public Health System. The severity of the patients is higher when compared to most of the series cases in the literature. The patients with longer hospitalization stay died. Level of evidence IV; Case series.


The aim of the study was to determine the parameters of a detonator generating a self-centring detonation wave, based on experimental and theoretical analysis. The methods for manufacturing selfcentring detonation wave generators available in literature were reviewed and a detonator comprised of two explosives was proposed. The detonator geometry was analysed for its ability to centre the detonation wave. A physical detonator model was created and the detonation wave front downstream of the detonator, analysed and the detonator's capability to compensate an off-centre detonation initiation, evaluated. The wave fronts were recorded using pulsed x-ray radiography. The study showed that the proposed detonator provides a symmetrical initiation of the main charge for the initiation point (location) offset, lower than the assumed maximum offset.


Tadpole and adult Xenopus, manipulated to be of comparable size, exhibited stagespecific antibody expression. The production of adult-type higher-affinity anti-DNP antibodies proved to be independent of the age and size of the individual and is concomitant with the completion of metamorphosis. The appearance of new antibody specificities at such a time suggests that their expression occurs with the cell turnover and renewal during a period of morphological changes.


Objective: To investigate whether cutaneous electrical stimulation has a role in the enhancement of sensorimotor function in chronic stroke. Subjects and setting: Fifty-nine patients with chronic stroke received cutaneous stimulation during their three-week-long inpatient rehabilitation. Thirty-two received active treatment in the paretic hand and eight received no-current placebo treatment in the paretic hand. Nineteen patients received active stimulation of the paretic foot. None received stimulation in both upper and lower limbs. Intervention: Cutaneous stimulation was delivered twice daily via a special glove/sock electrode. Main outcome measures: Modified Motor Assessment Scale, 10-metre walking test, paretic limb function, limb skin sensation and somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) were performed before and after the treatment. Results: Modified Motor Assessment Scale (p < 0.001), 10-metre walking test (p < 0.05), paretic hand function (p < 0.01), upper limb skin sensation (p < 0.01) and SEP normality classification of paretic upper limb (p < 0.01) and paretic lower limb (p < 0.5) improved significantly in the treatment group (n = 51) after three weeks of stimulation. When active hand treatment and placebo hand treatment were compared, a significant improvement in the sensory and motor function was observed only in the actively treated group. Conclusions: Cutaneous stimulation had positive effects in the motor performance, limb sensation and the configuration of SEP of the paretic limb in chronic stroke patients.


Miraltia throndsenii gen.nov., sp.nov., a small centric diatom from Gulf of Naples coastal waters, is described. The ultrastructural features of the species are very similar to those reported for the family Chaetoceraceae. However, a new generic name is proposed due to the presence of a single seta per valve. A description of the resting spores, presumably formed within auxospores, is also given. The phylogenetic position of the new genus within the family Chaetoceraceae is discussed.


Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a plant often processed into brewing drinks such as tea. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Asha in Metro Lampung produces lemongrass tea with a production process consisting of size reduction, washing, drying, powdering, and packaging. To improve food safety in the production process is necessary to evaluate Good Manufacturing Practices/Good Food Production Methods (CPPB) and prepare recommendations for Hazard Analytical Critical Control Point (HACCP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application of the principles of CPPB and provide recommendations for the HACCP Plan to Asha SMEs. This research carries out by conducting field observations and interviews with several Asha SMEs stakeholders. The results showed that the CPPB evaluation had two serious discrepancy criteria and two critical discrepancy criteria. Therefore, Asha SMEs is included in the food home industry (IRTP) level 4 so that internal audit recommendations can carry out daily. The HACCP analysis results show three critical control points (CCP), namely soaking, drying and packaging. Critical and control limits are recommended by SNI 3836:2013 concerning packaged dry tea. The HACCP recommendation for Asha SMEs are to control the possibility of physical and coliform contamination during the repeated washing process with running water. Drying at 70oC for 12 hours helps reduce water activity in lemongrass tea in preventing mold growth. Furthermore, packaging with attention to the hygiene of workers and tools can prevent contamination of the final product of lemongrass tea.


This thesis proposes a hardware implementation of multivariate quadratic quasigroup (MQQ) public key cryptosystem that achieves decryption throughput of 399 Mbps on a Xilinx Virtex-5 field programable gate array (FPGA), which is running on 249.4 MHz. The encryption throughput of MQQ implementation achieves 44.27 Gbps on four Xilinx Virtex-5 chips that are running on 276.7 MHz. In addition for, the compact hardware implementation of Blue Midnight Wish (BMW) hash function, the thesis introduces a compact processing element on FPGA. Using the proposed processing element (PE), the BMW-256 has been implemented in just 51 FPGA slices achieving a throughput of 68.71 Mbps, and BMW-512 in just 105 slices, achieving a throughput of 112.18 Mbps. The PE requires the use of block RAM memory for storing the internal structure of hash functions, as well as for the PE instruction logic. Further, the thesis proposes FPGA implementations of a new transpose memory structure to be used in high throughput signal processing architectures. Simulation results show that the proposed memory allows a saving of 8 clock cycles per 8x8 block of discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients, compared to traditional implementations previously proposed by others. An important observation made during the design of this system is that it is easily integrable as an adaptive memory unit into modern coarse grained reconfigurable architectures, and upon modification can serve the dual role of a scratchpad register file as well as transpose memory during normal and digital signal processing (DSP) applications, respectively. Finally, the thesis proposes a robust scheme that uses digital invisible watermarking and hashing to protect the authorship of digital content, and provide resistance against malicious manipulation of multimedia content.


In the method and machine tool machining a metal workpiece, and a cooling device 35 for supplying a cryogenic cooling agent 38 in the first tool 16, pre-cooling device 36 is provided for supplying a cryogenic cooling agent 38 in the second tool 27. The first tool is held by the first chuck 13, and a workpiece, the first tool during machining is cooled by a cryogenic coolant. The second tool is held in a second chuck 26, it is later used to process the workpiece. To this, the second tool is supplied with a cryogenic coolant through the pre-cooling apparatus, thus being cooled to the operating temperature required for processing. After the tool change, since the second tool already has the required processing temperature, processing of the workpieces can continue immediately. By precooling the second tool between the major machining time, the total processing time of the workpiece is reduced, the machine tool has a higher productivity.


Several treatment methods and approaches have been used for treating homosexuality over the past centuries. The outcome has been hotly debated as have the ethical dilemmas about this. Several points are worth bearing in mind. Firstly, it is not homosexuality but homosexual behaviour which has been treated and the behaviour has to be distinguished from the orientation. Secondly, the treatment responses vary according to the type of homosexual behaviour—its exclusive nature or whether the individual is predominantly homosexual or heterosexual. Thirdly, it is the society and the culture which determine the reactions to homosexual behaviour and homosexuality and the possibilities of treatment. Recently a whole issue of the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour has been devoted to this debate and it is worth highlighting some of the key points.


Integrating new knowledge sources into various learning tasks to improve their performance has recently become an interesting topic. In this paper we propose a novel semi-supervised learning (SSL) approach, called semi-supervised learning with Mixed Knowledge Information (SSL-MKI) which can simultaneously handle both sparse labeled data and additional pairwise constraints together with unlabeled data. Specifically, we first construct a unified SSL framework to combine the manifold assumption and the pairwise constraints assumption for classification tasks. Then we present a Modified Fixed Point Continuation (MFPC) algorithm with an eigenvalue thresholding (EVT) operator to learn the enhanced kernel matrix. Finally, we develop a two-stage optimization strategy and provide an efficient SSL approach that takes advantage of Laplacian spectral regularization: semi-supervised learning with Enhanced Spectral Kernel (ESK). Experimental results on a variety of synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed ESK approach.


Summary A method for receiver statics correction of converted waves (PS-waves) is proposed here. It is based on the observation that the static time delay on PS-wave events between two adjacent receivers, after the source statics correction has been applied, should correspond mostly to the differential receiver statics. The statics surface consistent model provides the theoretical framework. Adjacent Common Receiver Gathers (CRG) are crosscorrelated to obtain their time delay, namely their differential receiver statics. Stacking of PS-waves it is not required, therefore the method does not depend on Vc (stacking velocity for converted wave), neither does it assume a simplified stacking model such as asymptotic binning. Tests on synthetic data illustrate the resulting statics.


We have carried out molecular dynamic simulations for the thermodynamic properties of two centre Lennard-Jones fluids at lower densities and higher temperatures than have been studied previously, and have also made simulations for one additional shape. The results, together with results already given in the literature, are presented in a parameterized form which is very convenient to use in testing the simulation results against data for real liquids. Tables of second virial coefficients are also provided. We illustrate the use of our results by an analysis of pure liquid ethane, which is found to be well represented by such a model with L* = 0·67, e/k = 137·5 K and σ = 3·506 A. We also suggest that the experimental thermodynamic properties of suitable liquid mixtures can, with the aid of a theory for the equivalent pure liquid parameters (L x *, e x , σ x ), be satisfactorily interpreted using the general results given in this paper.


This cross‐sectional study was designed to provide baseline information on peak oxygen uptake for Southern Chinese children in relation to age and sexual maturation. Sixty‐three boys and 84 girls, classified for stage of sexual maturation using Tanner's stages, successfully completed a peak oxygen uptake test. ANOVA was used to examine differences in absolute and mass‐related peak VO2. The least‐squares log‐linear relationship between mass and peak VO2 was examined using analysis of covariance. We found no difference between boys' and girls' peak VO2 prior to puberty. Absolute peak VO2 values for under‐10‐year‐old Chinese girls and boys were 17% and 19%, respectively, lower than Caucasian predicted values. Log‐linear adjusted means for prepubertal boys and girls were 34% and 33% lower than Caucasian boys and girls, respectively. By adolescence, values were comparable to Caucasian values. South Chinese children show a distinct pattern of development relative to Caucasian children, particularly in the younger age groups. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 16:602–605, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Based on the situation of fatal accidents in construction industry in the last few years in Shanghai City,and starting from the present situation of safety production of Chinese construction industry,this paper analyzes the present situation of safety production in China,and according to the concrete features of Shanghai contruciton engineering,advances some innovative considerations about the management mode of safety production.


– The adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS,) by the World Trade Organization (WTO) propelled the member countries towards the realization of the need to maintain certain minimum standards of protection for intellectual properties. Today, Intellectual Property (IP) has suffused through all spheres of our lives. It holds immense significance in boosting the economies of several nations. There is hardly any sector that has remained untouched by it. IP protection was not given much recognition in the agricultural sector. But, with time, considering the varied aspects of this dynamic and vast sector, IP has also yielded new tones from time to time. The protection mechanisms under the IP regime have taken different shapes for providing suitable protection to the various aspects of the agricultural sector. At present, we have several IP rights re cognized in the sphere of agriculture, including, Farmers' Rights, Breeders' Rights, Community Rights, right over the protection of Traditional Knowledge, Right to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), etc. With this paper, the authors seek to delve into all the IP protection mechanisms traversing the wide-ranging dimensions of the agricultural sector. This article is an attempt at investigating: (i) the milestones which led up to the current scenario of IP protection in agriculture; (ii) the role that is played by Intellectual Property in strengthening & fortifying the agricultural sector, and (iii) the issues related to IP in Agriculture. An attempt has also been made to explore all the initiatives taken up globally to protect IP in Agriculture, along with the prospective measures that can be taken to address the prevailing issues.


Thin-walled casings with stiffened ribs are widely used in aero engine structures. Reasonable arrangements of positions and forms for ribs can play a significant role in restraining resonance. In this paper, influences of stiffened ribs on the vibration characteristics of the engine inlet casing were studied using finite element (FE) analysis. Experimental studies were carried out to verify the results of the FE analysis. Firstly, by means of FE software, parametric models of the inlet casing with stiffened ribs were created. And then based on the actual working conditions, dynamics of the thin-walled casing with annular stiffened ribs were calculated and discussed. The influence laws of positions of annular ribs, casing wall thickness and cross-sectional dimensions (height and width) of the thin-walled casing structure parameters for the vibration characteristics were studied, which provide empirical data for the design and optimization of engine thin-walled casings with stiffened ribs.


To the Editor

Reed and Houng1 demonstrated that factor XIII-mediated cross-linking plays a critical role in limiting fibrinolysis in experimentally formed pulmonary emboli. They suggested that factor XIII could facilitate the growth of new or forming thrombi. This concept is supported by my observations, which began 26 years ago and emphasize increased plasma …


ABSTRACT We report a liquid crystal 1 that shows ferroelectricity at room temperature. 1 directly enters the ferroelectric nematic phase from the isotropic phase upon cooling, without the formation of a conventional nematic phase. The synthesis, microscopic texture observations and dielectric spectroscopy measurement results of 1 are presented. A relative permittivity of over 20000 is observed in the ferroelectric nematic phase. Together with its low melting point the new liquid crystal will accelerate application research and device prototyping in various directions. Graphical


Cervical lymphadenopathy is an incredibly common problem presenting to children's outpatient departments in Africa. Chronic specific inflammation (especially tuberculosis), non-specific lymphadenitis and B-cell lymphomas are commonly the cause of this! Consequently, cases of rare conditions in which there is a protracted and benign course may be missed unless there is excellent pathology. Sinus histiocytosis and massive lymphadenopathy (SHML), though well recognized worldwide, is a rare cause of lymphadenopathy. It is a benign clinical disorder first described by Rosai and Dorfmann l. It presents as massive bilateral painless cervical lymph nodes with distinctive pathological characteristics r multinucleated giant phagocytes which are diagnostic . This rare but important differential for our patients has not yet been reported from Ghana. This report presents the condition in two brothers and seeks to highlight some of the problems encountered with diagnosis as well as management. It acts as a cautionary tale for physicians often faced with cervical lymphadenopathy.


The flue gas velocity deviation of four corner tangential fired PC utility boiler at outlet is caused by the remnant rotation, and concerned with the rotation direction. The conclusion is reached by analyzing the forming mechanism of velocity deviation in theory.


The present invention relates to a method comprising administering an effective amount of a calcium-containing fresh whey product to an individual regulation of body weight, or reducing body weight and by inducing / fat, preventing weight and / or an increase fat, increase the metabolic consumption of adipose tissue, and / or maintain muscle mass, weight control.


The invention discloses a lightning rod with a twin-ion ESE (early streamer emission) lightning protection system. The twin-ion ESE lightning protection system mainly comprises a lightning rod assembly and a holder assembly. The lightning rod assembly comprises a master rod assembly and a slave rod assembly. The master rod assembly further comprises a master rod body and a master rod disposed at the upper end of the master rod body. The slave rod assembly is disposed below the master rod assembly and further comprises a slave rod body and a plurality of slave rods arranged above the slave rod body. The holder assembly is disposed below the lighting rod assembly. By the design of the slave rod assembly, the slave pins are circularly arranged at the lateral edge of the master pin of the twin-ion ESE lightning protection system. Lateral lightning stroke is prevented by twin-ion ESE, so that omnibearing lightning stroke prevention is achieved.


The four traditional aspects of validity comprise: criterion, content, face and construct. Criterion validity is assessed by calculating the degree of correlation between test score and external criterion (e.g. driving ability of flying skill). While this form of evidence is rare, it has been demonstrated in a few psychopharmacology studies, especially with psychomotor tasks (e.g. target tracking). Content validity is an index of the appropriateness of test selection. Many test batteries cover a wide range of psychological functions, and thus display a degree of content validity. However, the functions being assessed often differ, reflecting the absence of agreement over what 'human performance' should comprise. Most test batteries also contain a preponderance of simple tasks, and content validity could be improved through the inclusion of 'higher cognitive' tasks. The difficulties of assessing performance using a single test are also critically examined. Face validity is not a true index of validity, but a reflection of whether the test looks right. It can often be misleading, although it does have positive functions (e.g. for subject motivation). Sensitivity to psychoactive drug effect is also a prerequisite for tests in this area, although it is not in itself an index of validity. The construct validity of human performance tests, together with an overview of test meaning and interpretation, are examined in the final paper of this series.


Alkydic resin 715 EZ that is used in nuclear application exhibits proper thermal and radiation resistances. The investigations concerning the radiation and thermal stability performed on γ (137Cs) irradiated samples by nonisothermal chemiluminescence, swelling in water and toluene lead to the confirmation of good long term behaviour, even after low irradiation doses in the case of this material. The dose limit which characterizes the preservation of initial properties is 40 kGy. The synergistic consequences of heat and radiation actions are discussed.


Mention data visualisation to any three researchers, and reactions will range from enthusiasm—and even conviction—to scepticism or despair that it is another example of "dumbing down."


Objective: To observe the curative effects on the treatment of large intestine cancer patients with the combination of chemotherapy and Shen Qi Fu Zheng injection drops.Methods: 58 large intestine cancer patients were divided into one test group and one control group at random sample.The patients in the test group were treated with chemotherapy and Shen Qi Fu Zheng injection drops while the control group was only treated with chemotherapy.Results: The gastroenteric allergy and leukocytopenia in the test group was lower than that in the control group(P0.05) and the completion rate of the chemotherapy in the test group was higher than that in the control group(P0.05).Conclusion: Shen Qi Fu Zheng injection drops can obviously reduce the toxic allergy of the chemotherapy,strengthen the endurance of the patients and raise the completion rate of the chemotherapy.


In accordance with the real time applications in fieldbus networks, this paper mainly studies the problems of FBCOS, FBCLS, priority assignment, RTVC and reservation through the three layer's architecture. It solves the problems of real time connections in the LLC layer, which the traditional method could not do very well.


The Medicinal Insects in Guangzhou Qingping Traditional Chinese Medicine Market have been investigated. There were 20 species insects belong to 12 families,9 orders in the whole Market(Eggs of mantis not included). 17 species Medicinal Insects were sold in the eastern herbal medicine market of Qingping Market(Eggs of mantis not included),and 3 species living insects was sold in the Professional Zone of Qing Ping medicine market,meanwhile,only Chinese caterpillar fungus was sold in the Central Building of Qing Ping medicine market.


In light of the emergence of the new coronavirus in China, Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses the response strategies adopted by international and national public health agencies.


Hyperpolarization of nuclear spins in molecules far beyond the thermal equilibrium levels achievable with modern high-field NMR spectrometers is very promising for boosting the sensitivity of NMR and MRI by four orders of magnitude, and even more in lower magnetic fields of bench-top and portable instruments. We describe the hyperpolarization approach based on the use of parahydrogen in hydrogenations of unsaturated compounds, and its emerging applications for advanced spectroscopic and imaging studies in catalysis and life sciences. Magnetic materials are efficient catalysts for the ortho–para conversion of H2 required to produce enriched parahydrogen at cryogenic temperatures. Furthermore, to produce reaction products with highly polarized nuclear spins, a catalyst able to efficiently perform pairwise H2 addition to an unsaturated substrate molecule is required. Observation of parahydrogen-induced polarization is feasible with the use of both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts, possibly including paramagnetic and superparamagnetic nanoparticles. This may open new ways of using catalytically active functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for the production of hyperpolarized substances followed by a facile catalyst separation. Removing the catalyst within seconds of completion of the hydrogenation process to produce catalyst-free solutions is one of the major current challenges in this field, especially for the in vivo use of hyperpolarized metabolites.


This paper, containing the invited written commentary, "Another Flexner Report?" by Rose Asera, Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is the result of the joint Research and Information Committee recognizing the need for clarification on the nature of a "Flexner" report. Asera's commentary describes the use of "Flexner" type studies in teacher education, noting that whenever there is criticism of, or discontent with, a field (as there currently is in teacher education), there are always calls for a "Flexner Report" to solve the problem. The Carnegie Foundation Bulletin 4, "Medical Education in the United States and Canada" (1910), commonly known as the Flexner Report, is widely credited with the reform and reconstruction of the entire medical school curriculum. The report was the result of a mandate by the American Medical Association to conduct a study of North American medical schools. The study was completed by Abraham Flexner, a former schoolmaster who had received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. He chose the Johns Hopkins Medical School as the model program to which all others were compared. Flexner visited all 155 North American medical schools, spending only one-half hour at each collecting data. His report recommended a drastic decrease in the number of medical schools, affiliation with universities, and establishment of the scientific model in medical education. The original Flexner Report was part of a broad move of professional education from the private sector to the university. When this happened, professional education incorporated the values of the academy (scientific thinking, rigor, and


ABSTRACT This article examines the work of the Committee for the Education of Russian Youth in Exile (CERYE) and its founder, the American scholar Thomas Whittemore. Established during the Russian Civil War, the CERYE rescued displaced Russian youth from Constantinople and placed them in schools and universities across Europe, but only if they could demonstrate sufficient intellectual merit. It made a virtue of its elitism and Whittemore revelled in its selectivity; the committee intended that its students would return to Russia following the completion of their education and constitute a new intellectual elite once the Bolshevik government had fallen. The article contributes to the growing historiography on humanitarianism in the era of the First World War by emphasizing that elitism and selectivity co-existed with discourses of universal suffering when describing the needs of displaced students. The article traces the emergence of the CERYE at the end of the First World War and explores its anti-Bolshevik political mission, its funding network in North America, and the experiences of a number of its students. It argues that the work of the CERYE was inherently anti-Bolshevik and an example of what Charles Maier called the 'recasting of bourgeois Europe'. The article sheds light on an overlooked element of First World War era humanitarianism, namely, the many small-scale and amateur organizations which co-existed alongside larger bodies such as Save the Children. Assured of the financial support of an influential network of likeminded donors in America, Whittemore's committee could pursue a narrowly focused and highly elitist humanitarian mission in the early 1920s.


The recent addition of the 28 m Cherenkov telescope (CT5) to the H.E.S.S. array extended the experiment's sensitivity towards low energies. The lowest energy threshold is obtained using monoscopic observations with CT5, providing access to gamma-ray energies below 100 GeV. This is particularly beneficial for studies of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with soft spectra and located at redshifts > 0.5. Stereoscopic measurements with the full array (CT1-5) provide a better background rejection than CT5 Mono, at a cost of a higher threshold. We report on the analysis employing the CT5 data for AGN observations with a < 100 GeV threshold. In particular, the spectra of PKS 2155–304 and PG 1553+113 are presented.


Primary chicken mesenchymal cells from limb buds and vertebral chondrocytes have been used to study the changes that occur in alternative mRNA splicing of fibronectin exon EIIIA during chondrogenesis. The mesenchymal cell phenotype (exon EIIIA included) and chondrocyte phenotype (exon EIIIA excluded) were preserved in culture. Both primary cell types were transfected with an EIIIA minigene and alternative splicing was monitored by S1 protection assay. Differential cell‐specific splicing of the reporter was observed. The roles of two regulatory elements, an exon splicing enhancer (ESE) and an exon splicing silencer (ESS) were examined. Both elements were required for EIIIA inclusion into mRNA in mesenchymal cells. Gel mobility shift assays revealed that both chondrocyte‐ and mesenchymal cell‐derived nuclear extracts contained exon EIIIA binding factors, but the RNA binding factors present in the two cell types appeared to be distinct. The ESE and ESS appeared to cooperate in the formation of both cell type‐specific complexes. These results suggest a model in which inhibitory factors enriched in chondrocytes compete with positive factors enriched in mesenchymal cells for binding to exon EIIIA, determining whether the exon is included. J. Cell. Biochem. 76:341–351, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Contra the conventional wisdom that term limits are meaningless in dictatorships, Brazil's military regime developed term-limits for its chief executives and managed a durable political order. This chapter argue that term limits moderated intra-elite conflicts, thus contributing to regime stability. Term limits were key to reconcile two warring factions within the armed forces. The authors see term limits as a credible-commitment mechanism. Three elements are jointly sufficient to explain the adoption of term limits: (1) the armed forces' decision in 1964 to part ways with the decades-old pattern of episodic, short political interventions and stay in office for the long haul; (2) a legalist tradition that led the new regime to keep a façade of constitutionalism through a myriad of political institutions; and (3) the ideological and political cleavages within the armed forces. We corroborate our arguments using a new dataset of tension events between the military and the government in 1946–85.


Based on social identity approach, present research intends to investigate the impact of identity-based leadership on employee engagement, through the mediating role of employee core-self evaluations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the measurement model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized model. The proposed model was supported empirically by data collected from 327 employees who work in the telecom sector of Pakistan. The result indicated that employees Core selfevaluations act as a mediator between four dimensions of identity leadership and employee engagement. Identity-based leadership also showed a direct positive relationship with employee engagement.


The linear and lowest order nonlinear response of a quantum well resonant tunneling diode is evaluated using quantum transport theory. The calculations show that the negative conductance persists up to about 5 THz, although parasitic circuit elements will limit the maximum oscillation frequency to a much lower value. The nonlinear response (rectification) remains significant to frequencies near 10 THz and shows a resonant peak near 4 THz. These calculations support the interpretation of the experimental data of T. C. L. G. Sollner, W. D. Goodhue, P. E. Tannenwald, C. D. Parker, and D. D. Peck [Appl. Phys. Lett. 43, 588 (1983)] that rectification at 2.5 THz was observed in their devices.


Path-finding algorithms (PFA) are successfully used to find the optimal path between two locations. Good results are obtained if they are used in scenarios where the entire environment can be described mathematically. Production environments of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are not one of those. PFA find solutions that are mathematically correct but miss human expertise that would dismiss solutions of the algorithm that aren't applicable to a real production layout. This paper presents a hybrid algorithm consisting of an A* algorithm, and a fuzzy logic control in order to generate a fuzzy-enhanced A* algorithm (FEA*) that produces efficient and applicable road maps for AGVs. First computational results are shown.


Bulls vary greatly in their reproductive capabilities. This variation can have a marked effect on overall pregnancy rates as well as on the time period required for pregnancies to be achieved. This, in turn, affects weaning weights. Apart from disease, injury, or physical obstacles in the breeding pasture, this variation is due to one or more of three factors: a) semen quality and/or quantity; b) sex-drive (libido) and mating ability; and c) social interactions between animals.


A stability test chamber simulates specific environmental conditions and tests a product or material in the manufacturing stage.  The tested product or material is then analyzed about its shelf-life estimation related to the state and durability of the product for a certain period.  The main parameter that must control accurately is temperature.   Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as an industrial computer control system has been widely used.  In this paper, the temperature control system was designed based on PLC and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA).  The PLC and SCADA would indirectly control the heater.  The PLC was feeded from the temperature sensor for real-time temperature inside the test chamber.  Received temperature value, compared to the temperature set point.  The validation and verification of controlled temperature inside the chamber were also investigated.  The system was designed on a miniaturized chamber using commercial PLC and SCADA, Stepper motor, slide regulator, heater, and the temperature sensor PT100. The temperature test point for validation and verification was performed at 35 °C, 45 °C, and 55 °C. The result showed that The PT100 successfully had an excellent response to the temperature test point. The correction value for temperature is as high as 0.6 °C with a deviation of 1 %.


This work deals with static and dynamic measurements performed for 4H-SiC based commercial MOSFETs power modules with voltage rating of 1200 V and current rating of 120 A. First results from engineering samples from Rohm show overall good confidence level that resulted in an ON-resistance of 20-30 mΩ, blocking voltage of 1300-1500 V and threshold voltage of 3.0-3.5 V. Power modules have been tested upto 150 °C (recommended Tj was 125°C) where a threshold voltage shift (i.e., decreases) and decay in the peak transconductance is observed. Overall, energy losses remain approximately unchanged with variation in the device temperature. Turn on and turn off energy losses at 800 V and 190 A (120 A) of 102 (38) and 22 (12) mJ respectively, have been obtained at 300 K. Contrary to Si, SiC power modules did not show reverse recovery neither at different supply voltages nor at different temperatures. A short circuit withstand capability of over 10 μS is witnessed when tested under hard switch fault condition. A small current sharing unbalance has been observed for two parallel power modules as a result of either DC capacitor derating or quasi-symmetrical busbar design when the total current far exceeds the current rating of the power module (i.e., 120 A).


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the web as a method of culture teaching in university English classes. The research was implemented for 16 weeks with 38 Korean students. A questionnaire was used to find out the effects of students' perceptions and attitudes toward using the web for learning about American culture. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to support the findings that were insufficient by the questionnaire alone. Results indicated that over half of the students showed interest in the web-based class, and most of the students regarded the web itself as a useful learning method. As for the students' attitudes, around half of them actively participated in the class, and web-based cultural learning raised the students' ability to guide self-learning. On the basis of the results, the study suggested some guidelines for using the web as a method of culture teaching in English education.


We investigate examples of quasi-spectral triples over two-dimensional commutative sphere, which are obtained by modifying the order-one condition. We find quasi-Dirac operators and calculate the index paring with a representant of K-theory class to prove that the quasispectral triples are mutually inequivalent. MSC 2000: 58B34, 46L87, 34L40


The existence of the D/sup +/ meson, which should be an isotopic singlet (S = +2, T = 0), is allowed. This particle can decay by two paths: D/sup +/ yields K/sup +/+ + pi /sup 0/, and + D/sup +/ yields K/su p 0/ + pi /sup +/. The second path is twice as probable as the flrst path. The half life of the D/ sup +/ meson should be about 10/sup -10/ seconds (decay proceeds with a DELTA T = 1/2). The reaction K/sup +/ + p yields D/sup +/ + EPSILON /sup +/ was investigated in order to detect the D/sup +/ meson during its formation and decay in a propane bubble chamber. A beam of positive particles with a momentum of about 1.8 Bev/c, containing up to 9% K/sup +/ mesons was used to irradiate the propane bubble chamber. In all, 14,000 photographs were examined, but not a single case was found, where a D+ meson was formed. The upper limit for the formation cross section of a D/sup +/ meson by interaction of a K+ meson with a nucleon is estimated to be 1.2x 10/sup -29. cm/sup 2/. (TTT)


AbstractThe primary focus of this paper is to develop models to estimate link-level crash frequency using land use data extracted and integrated through the use of a distance gradient method. The o...


In this paper, we develop a BTA algorithm that ensures termination of oo-line partial evaluation for rst-order functional programs, extending the work of Holst and of Glenstrup and Jones. Holst's characterization of in-situ-decreasing behaviour does not account for parameters that do not control the recursion of their functions. We extend Holst's framework to handle this phenomenon by deening the "innuential" property for parameters. Glenstrup and Jones's algorithm for identifying in-situ-decreasing parameters, which relies on the size markings (", #, =) on the edges of a dependence graph, says that a path must be free of " edges and must contain at least one # edge to be size-decreasing. We extend their language of size-decreasing paths: A size-decreasing path may contain " edges provided that every " edge is balanced by the appropriate kind of # edge. We modify the size markings on the graph edges and use Context-Free-Language Reachability, a generalized form of graph reachability, to identify such complex size-decreasing paths.


Let F(z) be reqular in lzl<1 and F(0)=0, F' (0)=1.Let f(z)=1/(c+1)z^1-c{zcF(z)}' and c be a real and non-negative constant. we have determined the radius of starlikeness of order β for f(z) when F(z) is starlike of order α,0≦β,α<1.


The present invention relates to isolated nicotinamide riboside kinase (Nrk) nucleic acid sequences, vectors and cultured cells containing them, and Nrk polypeptides encoded thereby. Also provided are methods for identifying individuals or tumors that are susceptible to nicotinamide riboside-related prodrug treatment. The present invention further provides screening methods for isolating nicotinamide riboside related prodrugs and for identifying the natural source of nicotinamide riboside.


Densely functionalized azoxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanones were prepared by regio- and diastereoselective condensation of 1,1-bis(silyloxy)ketene acetals with isoquinolinium and quinolinium salts and subsequent regioselective and stereospecific iodolactonization.


The NSLS-II BPM Button design and its development process have been presented. Subjects discussed include BPM impedance optimization, design and construction, production, BPM selection and a first temperature measurement at 200mA average current within 1200 bunches. IMPEDANCE OPTIMIZATION Two types of BPM (beam position monitor) Buttons have been installed in the NSLS-II storage ring; the large aperture and the small aperture BPM Buttons. The large aperture BPM Button located on the multipole vacuum chambers of . �� half-aperture, six BPMs per cell, 180 BPM assemblies total [1]. During the BPM Button optimization process we paid attention to: BPM Button heating due to trapped modes which are generated in the gap between the housing and the button [2]; heat transfer analysis; proper choice of the button and housing materials; dielectric materials choice from good thermal conductivity and low electrical conductivity point of views; impedance optimization process. The large aperture BPM assemblies are located on the multipole vacuum chambers with antechamber slot of 10mm high. The standard BPM assembly consists of two BPM Flanges. Each BPM Flange, top and bottom, includes two BPM Buttons mounted into one flange as it shown in Fig. 1. Figure 1: BPM Flange fixed to vacuum vessel. The clearance of the BPM Flange ~ �� from the contact vacuum chamber surface. The NSLS-II large aperture BPM button is chosen with a diameter of 7mm to satisfy horizontal and vertical BPM sensitivity requirements and to reduce heat load. It produces smaller geometric loss factor compared with a larger button diameter. The button thickness is chosen to be 2mm. The gap between the housing and the button is ��. The BPM Button is made from molybdenum, which has an electrical conductivity ��� = 7 × 6 �/� is much larger than the conductivity of stainless steel material chosen for the BPM Flange ����� = . × 6 �/�. Due to different material selection, trapped mode power will be predominantly dissipated in the BPM Flange rather than in well-conducted button [3]. Due to excitation of resonant modes in the buttons, the kick factor and the loss factor depend very strongly on the BPM button geometry. Several types of modes can be generated in the button geometry by a passing bunch. A coaxial TEM-mode (signal) propagates through the button and the feedthrough to the BPM electronics. If the feedthrough is matched well to 50 Ohm, there will be no TEM-modes reflected back to the chamber. Coaxial cavity type modes TEm1p-mode (Hm1p-mode) where m and p are 1, 2, 3, k (field variation in azimuthal and longitudinal directions). These modes then can be seen by the beam at frequencies defined by the cut-off frequency. The cut-off frequency for Hm1-mode like in a coaxial waveguide can be defined as ���� ≈ √�� � � � � +� , (1) Where � and � are the radii of the inner and outer conductors, m=1, 2, 3, k and �� is relative permittivity (dielectric constant). As can be seen from Fig. 2, there are two types of dielectric materials present in the button geometry. It is 7070 glass (SiO2) for the vacuum seal and a Boron Nitride (BN) disc installed on the ambient side of the glass seal to improve the heat transfer from the pin to the stainless flange. Figure 2: Internal button details with press fit connection. The longitudinal wake potential for a 3mm Gaussian bunch and its Fast Fourier Transform are shown in Figs. 3,4. For the numerical calculation "port" boundary condition was specified at the end of the button. In this case the TEM-mode propagates out of the button without reflection. The first lowest mode is -Mode (TE11mode). It is trapped in a gap between the housing and the button due to the button shape at frequency �� = . �, which is slightly above the cut-off frequency ��� = . � (� = . �� and� = .7 ��). The peak at frequency .9 � corresponds to the same type of mode with � = ( -Mode). Two other peaks were identified at frequencies . � and ___________________________________________ * Work supported by DOE contract DE-SC0012704. #firstname.lastname@example.com MOPMN021 Proceedings of IPAC2015, Richmond, VA, USA ISBN 978-3-95450-168-7 748 Co py rig ht © 20 15 CC -B Y3. 0 an d by th er es pe ct iv ea ut ho rs 5: Beam Dynamics and EM Fields D04 Beam Coupling Impedance Theory, Simulations, Measurements, Code Developments . � due to dielectric materials (BN and SiO2) located above the BPM Button (Fig.2) and its field radiates in to the beam channel. Since the bunch length during operation at 500mA average current expected to be 9mm with installed Landau cavity and three damping wigglers, no HOM will be generated and seen by the beam. Figure 3: Longitudinal long-range wakepotential. Figure 4: Real part of the longitudinal impedance. To avoid generation of HOM's due to ~ �� clearance gap between the BPM Flange and the vacuum chamber (Fig. 5), RF Spring was installed into machined groove (Figs. 1,2) at a height of 1.5mm from the surface edge. In Fig. 6 the longitudinal impedance is presented for the BPM Flange geometry with and without RF Spring. Figure 5: The BPM Flange model with ~ �� clearance from the contact vacuum chamber surface. Figure 6: Real Part of the Longitudinal Impedance. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Sensitivity calculations revealed that an optimal button configuration for the 25mm vertical aperture of the NSLS-II vacuum chamber was a 7mm diameter button with 16mm center to center button spacing. With such a small space between buttons, a dual button design was chosen where two feedthroughs were installed in a common flange (Fig. 1). This design had the added benefit of simplifying installation and reducing the number of vacuum seals by a factor of two. A Helicoflex Delta seal was chosen as a UHV seal. This placed stringent requirements on the surfaces finish of both the BPM flange and the vacuum chamber sealing surfaces. The vendor specified a 16 micro-inch finish with a circular lay. During production of the 515 units that were procured for NSLS-II, this feature proved to be challenging to achieve and resulted in a fairly large number of rejects. An important design consideration was to ensure that there was an adequate thermal path for any trapped mode heat generation. Electromagnetic simulations showed as much as 1 watts per button (at 500mA) and since the vendor chose doped 7070 glass for the vacuum seal which has an extremely low thermal conductivity, it was decided that a Boron Nitride disc installed on the ambient side of the glass seal would be an effective path to sink any heat into the stainless flange and ultimately the aluminium vacuum chamber. Figure 7: Thermal analysis of the NSLS-II BPM Flange. Temperature distribution of 7070 glass insulator backed with Boron Nitride washer. 1 Watt applied to each button.


In vertebrates and invertebrates specialized cellular protrusions, called signaling filopodia or cytonemes, play an important role in cell-cell communication by carrying receptors and ligands to distant cells to activate various signaling pathways. In the chicken embryo, signaling filopodia were described in limb bud mesenchyme and in somite epithelia. The formation of signaling filopodia depends on the activity of Rho GTPases and reorganization of the cytoskeleton. Here, we give a short overview on the present knowledge on avian signaling filopodia and discuss the molecular basis of cytoskeletal rearrangements leading to filopodia formation.


Two trials were conducted to study the effects of two Chinese herbal polysaccharides, Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (ABPS), and one Chinese herbal saponin, Acantbepanax senticosus saponin (ASS), on the immunity and growth performance of weaned pigs. Experiment 1 was a 14-day growth assay, in which 32 weaned pigs were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; ii) 0.05% APS; iii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight; and iv) 0.05% mixture of APS, ASS, and ABPS in a ratio of 1:1:1 by weight. Blood samples were collected on day 14 to determine plasma parameters. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed efficiency were also determined. Experiment 2 was a 21-day immunity assay, in which 16 weaned pigs were randomly allotted to one of two dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; and ii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight. On day 21, pigs were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 3 h later blood samples were collected and analyzed for lymphocyte proliferation as well as interleukin 6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), and cortisol levels. In Experiment 1, feeding Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin increased growth performance of the pigs. The effects of the mixture of APS and ASS were especially notable, as there was a significant improvement in growth performance compared with the control (p 0.05). In Experiment 2, Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin showed immunostimulating effects. The level of cortisol, GH, and IGF-I were significantly increased (p>0.05), and the level of IL-6 showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the APS and ASS treatment after the LPS challenge. The mixture of APS and ASS could stimulate the blood lymphocyte proliferation significantly whether the LPS was injected or not (p<0.05). These results show that Chinese herbal extracts can improve growth performance and stimulate immunity of weaned pigs. A mixture of APS and ASS, compared with APS alone, could be a new kind of immunostimulant for weaned pigs, which could result in greater positive effects on their growth performance and immunity.


In the face of the same monetary policy shocks,different economic entities will have different responses because of their characteristics,this will cause an impact on the industrial structure. In this paper,the empirical results show that inside the secondary industry there exist asymmetric effects in sub industries. Monetary policy has the greatest influence on capital intensive industry,has the least influence on labor intensive industries,while technology intensive industries is in the middle. In addition,the tightening of monetary policy relatively is more conducive to the development of technology intensive industry than expansion monetary policy


division, this being justified by the issues at stake. The whole operation was done through one cannula. A direct vision telescope was used, and alongside this were passed the diathermy electrode and the electro-cautery. Both were used. As general anaesthesia was being employed I did not infiltrate the insertion of the adhesion with novocain, with the object of saving time. This, I believe, was a mistake, as every time the diathermy cutting -wire was used the spasm phenomenon in the muscles of the chest wall occurred, which greatly increased the difficulty of the operation. When the resistance of the tissues became great, or where they were thin, the electro-cautery was used. Thus, just when the adhesion became most difficult to deal with by diathermy, it became most easy with the electro-cautery. All adhesions were divided, and the child returned to bed in good condition. Respirations had been so deep that much air was expelled from the pleural cavity, and the lung almost re-expanded, but subsequent refills produced an excellent collapse. The child so dreaded the refills that it was decided to substitute an oleothorax for the pneumothorax. This was done gradually. A year later the child was in good health, plump, _onny, and free from symptoms, and had gained over a stone in weight.At the time of writing she is still in good health, and I believe she will continue to remain so. Diagrams of the x-ray pictures show the appearances at different stages.


From the perspective of biological and mechanical properties, biomedical titanium alloys need to be endowed with different properties in order to realize some distinct physiological functionality. Taking the difference of biological property and elastic mold on titanium alloy for example, which is used in hard-tissue substitute, interventional therapy and prosthesis, the diversity of biomedical function′s requirement on titanium alloy is illuminated with the design and manufacture cases of titanium alloy. A new idea and attempt for the classification and design of titanium alloy in biomedical field are provided.


We have determined the structure and magnetic properties of flux-grown single crystals of the triple-layer ruthenate Sr 4 Ru 3 O 1 0 by x-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements, respectively. The orthorhombic unit cell has Pbam space group symmetry and contains two crystallographically independent triple layers. The RuO 6 octahedra in the outer two layers of each triple layer are rotated by an average of 5.6° around the c axis, while the octahedra of the inner layers are rotated in the opposite sense by an average of 11.0°. The Curie temperature of these ferromagnetic crystals is T C u r i e = 105 K, with a saturated moment of 1.0 μ B /Ru 4 + ion. Thus Sr 4 Ru 3 O 1 0 is a layered ferromagnetic ruthenate in the Ruddlesden-Popper (R-P) series Sr n + 1 Ru n O 3 n + 1 , which also includes the unconventional superconductor Sr 2 RuO 4 ( n = 1), the enhanced paramagnetic metal Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 (n=2), and the pseudocubic ferromagnetic metal SrRuO 3 (n=∞).


We experimented with several feature selection and reduction techniques, such as PCA, K-means, and Gabor filtering for images, and mutual information and td-idf encodings for blogs. Additionally, we compared the accuracy of different feature spaces and classification algorithms such as SVMs, KNN, Naive Bayes, and Boosting. Our experiments suggest that selecting good features has the largest effect on accuracy. Lastly, we learned that organic chocolate can be very tasty and comes in many different flavors. 1. Age and Gender prediction from facial images We looked at two different aspects of the problem for this task: (a) the feature space to use and, (b) the classification algoriths to use. Most background literature [4] used a tightly fitting elliptical region around the face (excluding any hair and background context) to train the classifiers. For our training data, this kind of cropping was not available though it could be enforced by applying an off-the-shelf face localizer to the data. However, rather than defining such a crop, we experimented with the opposite approach of including more contextual information around the face. Thus, for all the experiments below, we first cropped the images to an area bigger than the original crop in the baseline code and it resulted in better performance from our crossvalidation experiments. In addition, the cropped area was scaled down by a factor of 4 unlike the fixed 25×25 square in the baseline code. All the algorithms described below were tried for both age and gender prediction initially so some of them use both gender and age labels together during training. Later, for each task, we chose the specific variant which performed better for that task without removing the dependence on both age and gender labels. We think that the joint labels might have helped in certain cases depending on the correlation between age-related changes and gender. Figure 1. Cluster centers learned for the male and female genders (rows 1 and 2), and the three age categories (rows 3-5).


A comprehensive corpus-based study is done of the Chinese separable words in General Outline of Chinese Proficiency and Chinese Characters.Statistics shows separating frequency of the Chinese separable words has a direct ratio with distribution of the words expressing daily behaviors.The more common the action words are,the greater separating frequency and the greater variety of separating forms the separable words have.Most of the Chinese separable words are action words that express behavior in daily life.The semantic characteristics of the Chinese separable words have a close relationship with the cognitive modes of the Chinese speakers.


As global climates continuous to deteriorate, urban typhoons, rainstorms and other natural disasters increase in frequency. Urban flood control and disaster mitigation issues, which are related to the people's safety and property and the implement of the sustainable development, have become increasingly noteworthy. And with the rapid expansion of urbanization, these problems will be more obvious in the future. So it is crucial to study the problem of urban rainstorm waterlogging. In this paper, the study area is located in Shenzhen City in China, and the storm sewer model (Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)) was used to calculate relative data of the urban rainstorm. The methods of subcatchment partitions were studied. GIS technology was not only used to manage massive amounts of data, such as meteorological data, GIS data and pipeline data, but also used to obtain parameters for the model. Remote Sensing (RS) technology was applied in the land utilization classification and identifying water feature. The water depth in pipeline was calculated, the depth of the waterlogged area and the time that waterlogging lasted under different rainfall frequencies were calculated. The characteristics and the process of rainstorm water on the ground and in the pipeline were also analyzed. Lastly, the methods of integrating GIS and SWMM were studied, and a 3D dynamic simulation for the process of rainstorm waterlogging realized. The results show that the application of GIS and RS technology in the process of calculating can extremely improve the efficiency of calculation and the precision of its results. The 3D dynamic simulation realized by integrating GIS technology and SWMM offers a kind of prediction method with more direct-viewing and effective characteristics, which can be applied to establish flood-mitigation measures.


INTRODUCTION: Determining accurate gestational age (GA) is an essential for decision making in obstetrics. Fetus folds around 12 weeks. We wanted to determine whether crown-rump length (CRL) or a composite biometric measurement (CBM) including head, abdominal and femur measurements, or a combination of CRL and CBM, provides a more accurate GA estimation between 12.0 weeks to 13.9 weeks gestation.


The present invention provides a kind of separator of resorcinol and techniques, including acetone tower, dehydrating tower, toluene tower and cracking reactor, cleavage column and cracking side line tower, decomposed solution entrance is equipped in the middle part of acetone tower, its stripping section is equipped with oil water mixture and produces mouth, oil water mixture oil after phase separator mutually returns to acetone tower, water rich in resorcinol is sent to dehydrating tower, and acetone tower tower bottom is connected by pipeline with toluene tower;The phenol wastewater outlet of dehydration column overhead is connected with the tower top of cracking side line tower;The tower top of toluene tower is equipped with toluene recovery mouth, and tower bottom is connected with cracking reactor;The cracking gas outlet of cracking reactor is connected with cleavage column;The outlet of cleavage column side line is connected with cracking side line tower;The taphole of cracking side line tower is connected with the decomposed solution entrance of acetone tower.The present invention solves the problems, such as line clogging, and effectively reduces oxidized byproduct and crack the circulation accumulation of heavy constituent impurity in systems, improves the quality of resorcinol product.


The article results in the study of interlanguage contacts from the point of view of convergence and divergence processes. The basis of the research is the idea that the search for an etymon is preceded by the spatial-temporal stratification of language. After eliminating the possibility of infiltration of a foreign word, the transition is made to the search for an ethymon or internal form based on the language specified in the study, in this case, the Russian language.


Objective:To explore the clinical application of dual-source CT (DSCT) angiography in head and neck.Methods:One hundred and twenty-six cases suspected with cervical/cerebral vascular disease undertook dual-source CT scanning.The raw data of all cases were post-processed and reconstructed with maximal intensity projection (MIP),volume rendering (VR) techniques and dual energy (DE) bone removal reconstruction.Thirty-two cases had digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or surgery.Results:High quality images were acquired in all of the 126 cases apart from 11 cases with no abnormalities and 15 cases showed normal variants of blood vessels,abnormalities of blood vessels were detected in 100 patients,including arterial stenosis in 71 patients,arterial occlusion in 17 patients,aneurysm in 9 patients,Sturge-Weber syndrome in 2 patients and absence of left internal carotid artery,Moyamoya disease,developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) and arteritis for 1 patient each.The findings were basically in accordance with that of DSA.The major trunk and 1st to 2nd grade branches of cerebral arteries were clearly demonstrated in all cases,the 4th~5th grade branches of middle cerebral arteries were showed in 119 cases.Conclusion:Dual-source CT angiography is a state-of-the-art non-invasive diagnostic moda-lity for the vascular diseases of head and neck,which has a rather significant value for clinical application.


Great achievements have been gotten in socioeconomic development in Xinjiang since the launching of west development strategy of China,but this process has also caused a lot of serious ecological and environmental problems.In this paper,ecological footprint and biological carrying capacity of different regions in Xinjiang in 2000-2007 were calculated and analyzed based on the ecological footprint theory.Ecological pressure index was selected to build a model for regional ecological security evaluation,and then ecological security of different regions in Xinjiang was assessed.Results showed that:(1) The per capita ecological footprint in each regions of Xinjiang showed an increasing trend with varying degrees,and the biological carrying capacity as a whole showed a decreasing tendency.(2) The ecological security condition of Xinjiang changed from security to insecurity along the large-scale development process,and the ecological insecurity condition increased and the increase percentage was different in different zones.(3) The spatial distribution of ecological security in Xinjiang could be ranked as North XinjiangMidland XinjiangEast and West XinjiangNorthern Slope of the Tangshan Mountains.


Global Earth Observation Systems of Systems (GEOSS) are bringing vital societal benefits to people around the globe. In this research article, we engage undergraduate students in the exciting area of space exploration to improve the health of millions of people globally. The goal of the proposed research is to place students in a learning environment where they will develop their problem solving skills in the context of a world crisis (e.g., malaria). Malaria remains one of the greatest threats to public health, particularly in developing countries. The World Health Organization has estimated that over one million die of Malaria each year, with more than 80% of these found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The mosquitoes transmit malaria. They breed in the areas of shallow surface water that are suitable to the mosquito and parasite development. These environmental factors can be detected with satellite imagery, which provide high spatial and temporal coverage of the earth's surface. We investigate on moisture, thermal and vegetation stress indicators developed from NOAA operational environmental satellite data. Using these indicators and collected epidemiological data, it is possible to produce a forecast system that can predict the risk of malaria for a particular geographical area with up to four months lead time. This valuable lead time information provides an opportunity for decision makers to deploy the necessary preventive measures (spraying, treated net distribution, storing medications and etc) in threatened areas with maximum effectiveness. The main objective of the proposed research is to study the effect of ecology on human health and application of NOAA satellite data for early detection of malaria.


Objective To evaluate the value of Video-EEG for the diagnosis of children's non-epileptic seizures (NES). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted in 105 cases of children with NES, which were diagnosed by 1 to 4 hours' video-EEG surveillance. Risk factors that interfered with the diagnosis were discussed. Results There were 91 cases (87%) of physiological NES and 14 cases (13%) of psychological NES among the total 105 NES. Misdiagnoses were made in 11 of 43 cases who received common EEG examination before. Conclusion Video-EEG was a reliable method to confirm the clinical diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures and differentiate it from epilepsy. EEG abnormality during seizure-free periods was the main risk factor for the misdiagnosis of NES.


In this paper a magnetostrictive material (MSM) based energy harvesting device is proposed. The device is made up of a steel beam laminated with Metglas 2605sc as the magnetostrictive material; the device undergoes mechanical strain due to the external base excitation. The mechanical strain yields in a magnetic field around the beam. A pickup coil is wounded around the beam which converts magnetic field into electrical current. The equation of motion is derived based on the nonlinear Euler-Bernolli beam theory in order to account for large deflections. Kirchhoff and Faraday's laws are also benefited to couple the mechanical, magnetic and electrical field. The equation is discretized based on Galerkin method and numerically integrated over the time. Energy conservation is examined and the response in the frequency domain is obtained. In the case of initial displacement in the absence of mechanical damping, vibration amplitude attenuates as the electrical current is induced in the pickup coil; this was attributed to the attenuation of the total mechanical energy of the beam as it was harvested from the pickup coil. The temporal response was fitted to that of a single degree of freedom mass-spring-damped and the equivalent damping ratio was determined. The attenuation rate was studied with different values of resistance and number of turns in pickup coil and the relation between these two factors was obtained in order to maximize the output electrical power.


This research evaluates the fuel economy and emissions of admixtures called gasoline multifunction additive (GMFA) and 10% ethanol blended gasoline against neat gasoline using newly developed Indian Motorcycle Driving Cycle with a BS VI motorcycle, also compared the performance of new cycle with the WMTC for the driving cycle parameters, fuel economy and emissions. The vehicles fuel economy and emissions factors are influenced by not only vehicle type, but also the road infrastructure and traffic patterns followed. The standard driving cycles do not replicate the real-world fuel economy and emissions as these cycles are very old and do not represent current traffic scenario.A real-world driving cycle was made based on micro-trips approach by analyzing the real-world time-speed data collected in four different pre-determined routes in Delhi-NCR region.. The developed cycle was validated on chassis dynamometer with neat gasoline, admixture gasoline (gasoline blended with multifunctional additive and 10% ethanol blended gasoline) and compared the performance with WMTC.The fuel economy of new cycle was found lower than the WMTC by 0.5% to 1.5%. The emissions measured were higher than the WMTC by 104.4% to 120.2% for CO, and 13.4% to 24.1% for HC, 0.9% to 4.5% for CO2 emissions and a mixed trend was observed for NOx emissions. The higher vehicular emissions and lower fuel economy show that the new cycle is more severe than the WMTC cycle representing the real-world driving pattern in India. The fuel economy and emissions comparison of admixture gasoline and E10 gasoline against neat gasoline show clear discrimination among the fuels blends; hence the adoption of new cycle for fuel economy and emissions of new generation motorcycles will be more appropriate in India. This study has demonstrated the influence of traffic and road infrastructure on vehicular emissions, and can be used by policy makers to regulate the vehicular pollution in the country.


In cognitive radio (CR) networks, the coexistence between neighboring secondary networks is referred to as self coexistence. As prescribed in IEEE 802.22, a self-coexistence protocol enables a CR network in need of more spectrum resources to acquire spectrum (channels) from neighboring CR networks via a distributed inter-network spectrum contention process. A network that forfeits part of its spectrum in a spectrum contention process may later become short of spectrum, and in turn, it initiates a cascading spectrum contention process to acquire more spectrum resources. As a result, a local spectrum contention may trigger a series of successive contention instances that proliferate over the whole network, which may waste the network resources. In this paper, we systematically study the cascading spectrum contention problem using a percolation-based model in the context of CR networks. We show that cascading spectrum contentions under existing spectrum contention resolution rules is equivalent to a site percolation process that can readily lead to a network-wide cascade. To address such a problem, we identify the critical conditions for determining the occurrence of cascading spectrum contentions, and propose a biased spectrum contention protocol that intentionally lowers the probability that a starving network can trigger successive spectrum contentions. We show that the proposed solution can effectively restrict the spatial cascading impact of contentions.


The results of the experimental study of a pulse discharge between two electrodes in a straight tube in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field are presented in this paper. The discharge starts approximately along the tube axis and gradually expands. When the strengths of the longitudinal magnetic field and the magnetic field of the current at the plasma boundary are related in certain definite ways the discharge column remains stable and does not reach the tube walls. For strong currents, when the field of the current is comparable to the longitudinal field, the plasma column fills the whole tube cross section and becomes unstable. To obtain a high temperature in a discharge without electrodes it is essential in the first place to ensure the macroscopic stability of the plasma column. In the experiments described, therefore, we have studied pulsed deuterium discharges in a straight tube, with electrodes in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field. The maximum current varied from 3000 to 300,000 amp. The duration of the first half-cycle of the current ranged from 300 to 1800 /¿sec. The magnetic field in the same direction as the current could be adjusted from 0 to 27,000 gauss. The initial deuterium pressure in the experiments varied from 0.005 to 5 mm Hg. The amplitude of the current through the gas and the longitudinal magnetic field could be varied independently in different experiments. Thus, for a wide range of absolute values of the current through the gas, the ratio of the longitudinal magnetic field Ho to the magnetic field of the current Нф could be varied from 1 to 10.


Changes in coloration enable animals to refine their camouflage to match different visual backgrounds, responding to spatial and temporal changes in the environment. Such plasticity provides ecological benefits and could be exploited to support conservation or stock enhancement efforts. One application could be to ensure that hatchery-reared animals, reared to stock wild populations, are appropriately matched to their environment on release. Following crashes in wild European lobster (Homarus gammarus) populations, hatcheries were established across Europe to restock or enhance local lobster stocks by rearing juveniles through their most vulnerable stages, then releasing them into the wild. However, little consideration has yet been given to their camouflage and the implications of matching individuals to the appearance of their release site. This study assesses to what extent juvenile lobsters can change appearance to match their background and whether hatchery practices can be altered to enhance lobster camouflage and potentially survivorship in the wild. We test this by switching individuals between black or white backgrounds in the laboratory and monitoring their coloration over time. We show that juvenile lobsters are capable of changes in luminance (perceived lightness) to better match their background over 2–3 weeks. These changes potentially correspond to improved camouflage, based on a model of predator (fish, Pollachius pollachius) vision. Over a longer period (5 weeks), lobsters maintained on either black or white backgrounds converged on the same darker coloration, likely due to ontogenetic (developmental) changes. Overall, our results indicate that hatcheries could rear lobsters on backgrounds that better match the habitat into which they will be released, but such manipulations should be considered in the context of ontogenetic changes and the timing of release. We recommend rearing individuals on darker, more natural-coloured substrates throughout their early benthic phase in order to maximise the benefits of camouflage on release into the wild. This could potentially increase juvenile survival during the critical days immediately after their release. The findings highlight the potential benefits of using camouflage and colour change in stocking programmes and aquaculture alike.


*** delimitate three different states of the cellulose solution: semi-diluted entangled network, semi-diluted tangled network and concentrated solutions. The results are favorable for predicting the spinnability of the cellulose-NaOH complex spinning solution, being particularly important before using this effective solvent system in the spinning process.


The aim was to investigate the relation between creativity, multiple intelligences, and learning strategies takin into account the academic performance of 42 electronics and mechanical students who are taking a professional training; this study focused on quantitative analysis with descriptive and correlative design. In order to assess variables such as creativity, multiple intelligences, and learning strategies, it was mandatory to apply tests such as (Test CREA), (Armstrong's Adaptation Test) and (ACRA TEST), gathering as result a medium average. Regarding to the results gathered from the academic performance and linguistic intelligence, there is a negative relation between them meanwhile there is a direct connection with the interpersonal intelligence; in relation to the other variables there were not any significant statistic. Due to those results, it was mandatory to expound an activity named "Proyectos Creativos con Fundamentos de Electronica y Mecanica y Sentido de Responsabilidad Ambiental y Social" with the purpose of contributing from neurolinguis-tics applied to education, curriculum or training program enrichment strengthening students' abili-ties, skills, and learning strategies during their learning process. In future research projects focused on professional performance, neurolinguistics might offer important contributions, keeping in mind that there are not many studies related to this approach, and students do not have the opportunity to deal with this type of professional performance focused on multiple intelligence, creativity, and learning strategies. In few words, the brain never stops learning if you challenge it to train in spe-cific knowledge fields.


As for the pool sodium fire which may appear in the severe accident of LMFBR, the phenomenon of sodium firing is described. A POOLFIRE program with the modified SOFIRE Ⅱ one cell model is developed, which computes in a more realistic manner. In the SOFIRE Ⅱ model, a mixture of Na 2O and Na 2O 2 is formed from the beginning and the quantities of Na 2O and Na 2O 2 are uncertain. The POOLFIRE accounts for the formation of Na 2O in an early stage of the fire and shifts to the formation of Na 2O 2 at a later stage in about 30 minutes. Finally the temperature and pressure of the containment are calculated,and the results are compared with those of SOFIRE Ⅱ.


The present invention provides a method for estimating the gas emissions to more accurately estimate the emissions of gas from storage tanks of the fixed roof that was stored liquid containing a volatile material. A when estimating how the gas emissions from the storage tank 1 which stores a liquid 31 containing a volatile substance, in the first step, the operation of the tank shape and the relief valve 211 of the storage tank 1 of the fixed roof to set the prerequisites such as pressure, in a second step, to set the content rate of the liquid 31 and gas 32 in the storage tank 1, the temperature, the initial conditions of pressure. 3 The process defines the inflow / outflow amount of heat to the liquid 31 and gas 32 in the storage tank 1, the liquid by CFD analysis - calculated mass transfer amount between the gas, in the fourth step, the relief valve on the basis of the mass transfer amount obtaining emissions of gases from the presence and the relief valve 211 of the operation of 211. .FIELD 1


With more computing platforms connected to the Internet each day, computer system security has become a critical issue. One of the major security problems is execution of malicious injected code. In this paper we propose new processor extensions that allow execution of trusted instructions only. The proposed extensions verify instruction block signatures in run-time. Signatures are generated during a trusted installation process, using a multiple input signature register (MISR), and stored in an encrypted form. The coefficients of the MISR and the key used for signature encryption are based on a hidden processor key. Signature verification is done in the background, concurrently with program execution, thus reducing negative impact on performance. The preliminary results indicate that the proposed processor extensions will prevent execution of any unauthorized code at a relatively small increase in system complexity and execution time.


&NA; This article describes a vulnerable group, African American families with children who have a chronic illness (asthma). Primary caretakers explain how they view asthma and the strategies they developed for caring for their child. The article focuses on ethnographic data from seven families and their experiences of access to health care. These experiences fall into four categories: getting health care that is wanted, getting health care that is unwanted, not getting health care that is wanted, and not getting health care that is unwanted. Each category represents different implications for advocating for health care for this vulnerable population.


Regarding the EU 2020 initiative of the European Commision, one of the main targets for the next years is to reduce the number of people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion in Europe by 20 million. (European Commission 2014a). This target aims different aspects of the financial setting and social participation of individuals and groups and has to be operationalizes in mesurable indicators, that could cover the major domains and dimensions of the complex theme (Copus 2014).
The latest publication of the German Federal Statistical Office speaks of 20.3 % of the German population affected by poverty or social exclusion. This term is a multi-variate definition based on indicators related to people at risk of poverty (16.1 %), people affected by massive material depriviation (5.4 %) and people living in households with very low income (9.9 %) (Destatis 2014a). It focuses mainly on the financial aspects. The first of the three indicators is measured by the so called At-Risk-of-Poverty rate, which is defined by Eurostat as the "share of people with an equivalised disposable income (after social transfer) below the At-Risk-of-Poverty threshold, which is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers" (Eurostat 2014a). The underlying datasets for the German indicators come from the EU-SILC, an EU wide annual survey of income and living conditions (Eurostat 2014c). This survey provides the possibility to calculate statistics down to the NUTS 2 regions. A regional level that in Germany is called Government regions. For decision makers on the regional or local level, this computation is not good enough in terms of spatial resolution. So how to come to more useful numbers?
The author here discusses possibilities to create At-Risk-of-Poverty rates in Germany on a higher spatial resolution. An own elaboration based on a linear regression model is cross compared with an approach based on the German Microcensus.


Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder that affects one in every ten thousand North Americans and for which there is currently no cure. HD is caused by an increase in the length of a CAG tri-nucleotide repeat array within the HD gene, leading to expansion of a polyglutamine tract within the huntingtin protein (htt). The mutant huntingtin protein (mhtt) is known to cause selective degeneration of neurons in the striatum resulting in movement and cognitive dysfunction. The molecular basis of mhtt-dependent HD pathology is unclear, but a recent study has shown that inhibiting cleavage of mhtt by the protease caspase-6 is sufficient to halt death of striatal neurons and behavioral dysfunction in a rodent model of HD. In this report, current hypotheses concerning the molecular basis of HD, and existing and experimental therapies for treating HD will be reviewed with particular emphasis on the potential development of anti-caspase-6 drugs that may provide the most promising breakthrough yet for treating this devastating disorder.


Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET), the most important specie of thermoplastic polyester, have been widely used in humans' life. Waste PET is not easy to degradation and become a burden for the environment; therefore, its recycling is very important. High surface area activated carbon is prepared by chemical activation using waste PET. The experiment condition are as follows: carbonization temperature 500 °C, 30 min, ratio of alkaline/PET 4∶1, activation temperature 800 °C, 60 min. Surface area of the product can reach 1527∼1608m2/g. With KOH and K2CO3 as activators, activated carbon with a large number of micro and meso pore is obtained.


Bamboo differentiates a cell division zone (DZ) and a cell elongation zone (EZ) to promote internode elongation during rapid growth. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this sectioned growth behavior are still unknown. Using histological, physiological, and genomic data, we found that the cell wall and other subcellular organelles such as chloroplasts are more developed in the EZ. Abundant hydrogen peroxide accumulated in the pith cells of the EZ, and stomata formed completely in the EZ. In contrast, most cells in the DZ were in an undifferentiated state with wrinkled cell walls and dense cytoplasm. Hormone detection revealed that the levels of gibberellin, auxin, cytokinin, and brassinosteroid were higher in the DZ than in the EZ. However, the levels of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid were higher in the EZ than in the DZ. Transcriptome analysis with qRT-PCR quantification revealed that the transcripts for cell division and primary metabolism had higher expression in the DZ, whereas the genes for photosynthesis, cell wall growth, and secondary metabolism were dramatically upregulated in the EZ. Overexpression of a MYB transcription factor, BmMYB83, promotes cell wall lignification in transgenic plants. BmMYB83 is specifically expressed in cells that may have lignin deposits, such as protoxylem vessels and fiber cells. Our results indicate that hormone gradient and transcriptome reprogramming, as well as specific expression of key genes such as BmMYB83, may lead to differentiation of cell growth in the bamboo internode. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Abstract The metabolism, by short-term organ cultures of rat and hamster trachea, of benzo(a)pyrene and its primary metabolites, 4,5-dihydro-4,5-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene (4,5-dihydrodiol), 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene (7,8-dihydrodiol), 9,10-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene (9,10-dihydrodiol), and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, to their major ethyl acetate-soluble and water-soluble metabolites has been studied. The major ethyl acetate-soluble metabolites formed from [3H]benzo(a)pyrene cochromatographed with and had fluorescence excitation and emission spectra similar to 9,10-dihydrodiol, 7,8-dihydrodiol, and benzo(a)pyren-3-yl hydrogen sulfate, with smaller amounts of metabolites cochromatographing with 4,5-dihydrodiol and monohydroxybenzo(a)pyrenes also being formed. In contrast to this, enzymic hydrolysis of the water-soluble metabolites by Ketodase suggested that the two major water-soluble glucuronide conjugates were those of the monohydroxybenzo(a)pyrenes and 4,5-dihydrodiol, with smaller amounts of glucuronide conjugates of 7,8-dihydrodiol and 9,10-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene but little or no 9,10-dihydrodiol being formed. These results were confirmed and extended by the studies of the further metabolism of the individual metabolites. 3-Hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene was metabolized both to an ethyl acetate-soluble product, which cochromatographed with and had fluorescence excitation and emission spectra similar to benzo(a)pyren-3-yl hydrogen sulfate, and to a water-soluble glucuronide conjugate. 4,5-Dihydrodiol was metabolized to an unidentified ethyl acetate-soluble metabolite and to a water-soluble glucuronic acid conjugate. Both 7,8-dihydrodiol and, to a smaller extent, 9,10-dihydrodiol were metabolized, presumably via their respective diol-epoxides, to an ethyl acetate-soluble metabolite, which cochromatographed with and had fluorescence excitation and emission spectra similar to 7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-7,8,9,10-tetrahydroxybenzo(a)pyrene. However, significant differences were observed in the water-soluble metabolites formed from these metabolites. A major pathway of 7,8-dihydrodiol metabolism was to its water-soluble glucuronide conjugate, whereas little or no 9,10-dihydrodiol was conjugated directly with uridine diphosphate-glucuronic acid. Small amounts of 9,10-dihydrodiol were metabolized to the catechol 9,10-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, which was rapidly conjugated with uridine diphosphate-glucuronic acid. These results have demonstrated that the rodent trachea, an area of the respiratory tract susceptible to hydrocarbon carcinogenesis, is capable of metabolizing benzo(a)pyrene to a wide range of oxidative and conjugated products. Factors affecting the balance and activities of these enzyme systems may be of critical importance in determining the susceptibility of the respiratory tract to carcinogenesis.


Chapter 2 engages with the contention that a multiplicity of media offers audio-viewers a multiplicity of positions toward what is presented on stage or screen. What tends to be overlooked is the way audio-viewers' attention is managed in hypermedia. This chapter concentrates on how points of experience are constructed in hypermedial opera, referencing the narratological concept of focalization. It is particularly attentive to situations in which the perspective that shapes the relationship between the stage and the auditorium is obscured, giving rise to an effect of absorption. The situations in which this relationship is openly acknowledged are approached through the concept of theatricality. Continuing the analysis of Louis Andriessen's and Peter Greenaway's opera Rosa, this chapter demonstrates how the effect of absorption is achieved by means of music within the multiplicity of visual representations typical of hypermediacy, focusing on the issue of temporality.


The creation and maintenance of lexicographic resources are labour-intensive tasks. In this paper we present SylLex, a formalism to encode morphosyntactic lexica and how it is used in the OAL framework, a tool to aid the linguist to create and maintain such resources in an industrial context. The aim was to have a user-friendly and ready-to-use tool as well as an intuitive and easy-to-use formalism, SylLex, so that a linguist without previous experience can work effectively after one or two hours of using the tool. In this paper, we describe the formalism SylLex and explain how variants, compound words and multiword units are encoded by SylLex and managed with OAL. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the formalism and OAL tool, and mention further work.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a clinically defined, highly pruritic, chronic inflammatory skin disease of children and adults. The diagnosis is made using evaluated clinical criteria. Disease activity is best measured with a composite score assessing both objective signs and subjective symptoms, such as SCORAD. The management of AD must consider the clinical and pathogenic variabilities of the disease and also target flare prevention. Basic therapy includes hydrating topical treatment, as well as avoidance of specific and unspecific provocation factors. Anti‐inflammatory treatment of visible skin lesions is based on topical glucocorticosteroids and the topical calcineurin inhibitors tacrolimus and pimecrolimus. Topical calcineurin inhibitors are preferred in sensitive locations. Tacrolimus and mid‐potent steroids are proven for proactive therapy, which is long‐term intermittent anti‐inflammatory therapy of the frequently relapsing skin areas. Systemic anti‐inflammatory or immunosuppressive treatment is indicated for severe refractory cases. Biologicals targeting key mechanisms of the atopic immune response are promising emerging treatment options. Microbial colonization and superinfection may induce disease exacerbation and can justify additional antimicrobial treatment. Systemic antihistamines (H1R‐blockers) may diminish pruritus, but do not have sufficient effect on lesions. Adjuvant therapy includes UV irradiation, preferably UVA1 or narrow‐band UVB 311 nm. Dietary recommendations should be patient specific and elimination diets should only be advised in case of proven food allergy. Allergen‐specific immunotherapy to aeroallergens may be useful in selected cases. Psychosomatic counselling is recommended to address stress‐induced exacerbations. 'Eczema school' educational programmes have been proven to be helpful for children and adults.