We present a fast and energy-efficient z-comparator that takes advantage of the fact that the result of most depth comparisons can be determined by examining just a few bits. This feature is made possible by the use of asynchronous logic, which enables the comparator to rapidly compare bits until the result is clear and then stop. Using depth data from well-known computer games, SPICE simulations indicate that our comparator consumes only 25% of the energy and operates 1.67 times faster, on average, compared to an equivalent synchronous design. The comparator design is used to illustrate a more general design principle, "compute on demand," which can potentially enable graphics hardware to be faster and more energy-efficient.


Evidence is presented which suggests that the mesophyll cell walls of cotton leaves may influence observed rates of transpiration. The net diffusive flux of water vapour, from the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf, was compared with the flux of nitrous oxide through a leaf and evidence obtained of an extra resistance in the water-vapour pathway associated with water transport in the mesophyll cell walls. This extra resistance appeared to be insignificant at low transpiration rates and in turgid leaves, but increased with transpiration rate and dehydration. The most likely explanation for its origin appeared to be a reduction in hydraulic conductivity across the internal cuticle which lines the outer surfaces of the mesophyll cell walls. In turn this served to reduce the relative vapour pressure at the sites of evaporation. The experiments were conducted under conditions where stomatM opening was induced by COe-free air. Under normal conditions stomatM closure would tend to reduce the development of this extra resistance. Even so, the results throw doubt on the validity of the long-standing assumption that the water-vapour pressure at the evaporation sites is equM to the saturation vapour pressure under all conditions.


Title : Effectiveness Of Amla Juice With Elemental Iron Among Adolescent
Girls On Iron Deficiency Anaemia In Govt. Manohara School At Sellur,
Madurai. Objectives : To assess the level of iron deficiency anemia among
adolescent girls; To evaluate the effectiveness of amla juice with elemental iron
among adolescent girls on iron deficiency anemia; To find out the association
between the level of iron deficiency anaemia among adolescent girls with their
selected socio demographic variables. Hypotheses : There is a significant difference
between pre and post test level of iron deficiency anaemia among adolescent girls ;
There is a significant association between the level of iron deficiency anaemia
among adolescent girls with their selected socio demographic variables.
Methodology: The conceptual framework was based on Wiedenbach's Helping art
in clinical theory. Pre experimental one group pre-test - post test design was used &
40 subjects were selected by purposive sampling. The study was conducted at
Government Manohara School at Sellur, Madurai. After obtaining an informed
consent from their parents, Pre test was done by using self administered questionnaire
and anaemia symptoms were assessed with observation check list and estimation of
haemoglobin by cell count method in the clinical laboratory before and after
intervention. Results : The mean pre test mean score was increased from 9.35 to
10.11. the 't' value 6.05 was much higher than the table value at 0.001( pre set level
of significance was 0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that amla juice with
elemental iron was effective on increasing the haemoglobin level among adolescents
girls.


Abstract Oxidative stress and inflammation are necessary pathogenic factors contributing to the aetiology of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Triptolide (TPL) is derived from the traditional Chinese herb lei gong teng with anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive and antitumor activities. This article was developed to examine the effect of TPL on DR. ARPE-19 cells were pre-treated with TPL and then stimulated by high glucose (HG). We found that TPL treatment enhanced cell viability, decreased apoptosis and ROS production in HG-treated RPE cells. MiR-29b was low-expressed in HG-treated cells, but TPL raised its expression. In addition, the protective activity of TPL towards ARPE-19 cells was attenuated when miR-29b was reduced. By utilising bioinformatics evaluation, PTEN was predicted as a downstream target of miR-29b. Also, TPL obstructed PI3K/AKT signalling pathways in HG-treated ARPE-19 Cells. Taken together, TPL secured ARPE-19 cells from HG-induced oxidative damage via regulating miR-29b/PTEN axis.


For purposes of comparison the basic requirements of the London Society of Analytical Psychology are listed below:

A candidate may apply for training after 350 hours' analysis covering a period of three years. This analysis continues during training.

Once training starts the candidate is required to analyse two patients provided by the C. G. Jung Clinic, to which payments are made. The patients are analysed under supervision. The supervisor is not the candidate's analyst. The candidate is required to attend supervision once a week.

Seminars are held twice a week for three terms of ten weeks, each year.

There has been no obligation to submit or read to the Society either a case report or a theoretical discussion.

After two years' training the candidate may apply for membership of the Society and is accepted or rejected by a Professional Committee to whom the analyst, supervisor, and seminar leaders report.

Editor]


Numerous examples of hybrids exist in the iconography of choir stalls. Two kinds of hybrids can be found, most frequently on misericords and armrests. The first category consists of ?stable? hybrids, such as mermaids or centaurs, constitued by a human element and by a recurring animal element. The second category includes multiple and little recurring associations between human, animal and even vegetal elements. The questions that arises are why are there so many hybrids and monsters in the carving of choir stalls? And how were these characters perceived by the medieval viewer? Real or imaginary animals were listed in the Bestiaries, from the Greek Physiologus. Each animal was described and a precise symbolic, often ambivalent meaning was attached. Yet no connection was made between animals and humans. The mermaid is thus described just as any other animal in the bestiary. Links bewteen animals and humans also seem to be rejected in the Middle Ages: when the great philosopher Aristotle established analogies between animals and humans, he was criticized in a lai and in images in which he is reduced to an animal.


Studying overseas has a deep and profound impact on the intellectual and personal development of faculty and students. This paper provides an overview of a Global Explorer Program (GEP) and a case study of an American born female transportation engineering professor who taught overseas in the United Kingdom/France and Egypt/Jordan. This professor developed new courses for these programs to heighten the students' experiences in transportation engineering while abroad. International transportation concepts and examples impacted the courses and curriculum. Outside the classroom, the faculty and students shared real-world learning experiences by observing and questioning together differences in the traffic control, safety and operations on roads in other countries compared to the US. These experiences shaped faculty and students cultural and historical perspectives, and exposed them to civil engineering practices in other countries. This allowed the faculty to be a more effective teacher through experiences gained overseas and civil engineering design examples that can be shared in the classroom to heighten the global awareness of civil engineering students both technically and culturally.


ters and of the hydroxide monohydrate anion are presented. The first section focuses on the Zundel cation H5O + 2 and the partially and totally deuterated species. The structures of larger systems formed by addition of up to two H2O molecules are studied as well. The last section focuses on the H3O2 − anion. Comparison with theory and with recent IRMPD experiments performed on H5O2 + at the CLIO laser facility in France and VPD measurements on HxOy + · Ar (x = 5,7,9 and y = 2,3,4) and H3O2 − · Ar are presented as well. The results on the Zundel cation and the deuterium substituted complexes are published. Additionally, results on larger protonated water clusters and on H3O2 − are presented in this chapter.


The non-fried instant wet rice noodles meet the demand of modern consumers because of its nutrition and health product concepts and smooth taste.But the starch was easy to retrograde in the storage time,so its eating quality decreased.Reviewed the processing technology and anti-retrogradation of instant wet rice noodles,and then mainly discassed the three types of additives principle of anti-retrogradation and the application of the instant wet rice noodles,looking forward to providing theory reference for anti-retrogradation of starch and develop new anti-retrogradation methods.


Closure device for secure waste containers prevents classified papers and other proprietary articles from being withdrawn when container turned on side. Has pendulum that swings comb into closed position when container turned on side. Suspended with axis of rotation perpendicular to axes of combs. Extends through D-shaped cam ring, attached to upper comb with standoff struts. When container tilted sideways, pendulum swings along arc side of D-shaped ring. Forces cam ring aside, moving upper comb toward closed position. If container tilted forward or backward, pendulum does not interfere with comb movement. Spring catches added to combs so if actuated and close container opening, they lock in place to prevent further tampering.


: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may have potential applications in regenerative medicine for the treatment of chronic liver diseases (CLDs). Human menstrual blood is a novel source of MSCs, termed menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs). Compared with bone marrow MSCs, MenSCs exhibit a higher proliferation rate and they can be obtained through a simple, safe, painless procedure without ethical concerns. Although the therapeutic efficacy of MenSCs has been explored in some diseases, their effects on liver fibrosis are still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of MenSC transplantation in a carbon tetrachloride-induced mouse model of liver fibrosis. These results revealed that MenSCs markedly improved liver function, attenuated collagen deposition, and inhibited activated hepatic stellate cells up to 2 weeks after transplantation. Moreover, tracking of green fluorescent protein-expressing MenSCs demonstrated that transplanted cells migrated to the sites of injury, but few differentiated into functional hepatocyte-like cells. Transwell coculturing experiments also showed that MenSCs suppressed proliferation of LX-2 cells (an immortalized hepatic stellate cell line) through secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin-6, hepatocyte growth factor, growth-related oncogene, interleukin-8, and osteoprotegerin. Collectively, our results provided preliminary evidence for the antifibrotic capacity of MenSCs in liver fibrosis and suggested that these cells may be an alternative therapeutic approach for the treatment of CLDs.

SIGNIFICANCE
This is the first report that the transplantation of human menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) has a therapeutic effect on liver fibrosis in a mouse model. Analysis of α-smooth muscle actin and transforming growth factor-β1 expression found that MenSCs suppressed the activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Furthermore, the indirect coculture with LX-2 cells (activated HSCs) showed that MenSCs targeted HSCs through secretion of paracrine mediators (cytokines), namely, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, interleukin-6, hepatocyte growth factor, growth-related oncogene, interleukin-8, and osteoprotegerin. These findings show that MenSCs could be used as a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of chronic liver diseases.


Background : Dexamethasone is widely used for the treatment of chronic lung disease (CLD), but its mechanism of action is still not clearly understood.


The possibility of employing x-ray photoemission valence-band spectra in a quantitative fashion for elucidation of valence-electron structure changes induced by alloying is examined. The special, or "canonical, " property of Pti "Cu, , that one of the components, Pt, displays no measurable core-level shift, permits extraction of such changes from core-level and valence-band data alone. A relation between the d-resonant level shifts and the centroid of the valence-band spectra is derived and comparison of' the centroid and core-level shifts leads to the desired information. The analysis indicates that there is»o charge transfer in the system and that only Cu has significant valence occupation changes upon alloying, corresponding to dehybridization. Furthermore, information regarding Fermi-energy shifts is extracted and not required as input — the results suggest that the shifts of the Fermi levels cannot be identified with those of the work functions as in other work. Model calculations indicate that dehybridization is to be expected as an "antihybridization" effect for a narrow il-band metal in a wide i/-band one.


Civil servants and businessmen in Mali.
 Mali is a poor and quite underdeveloped country. It has known nevertheless a very dynamic trading tradition. Today we should distinguish three categories of traders - those of traditional products like cola and traditional practices :
 - the sons of the latter who, having undergone a modern training abroad, prefer to stick to business and not become civil servants ;
 - former civil servants who have gone into business : «the new businessmen». Relations between these and the state are of utmost importance. First the private sector has «ruined» successively the «public» sector and so has replaced it. But they have utilized their relations with the state to accumulate. Therefore there is just one class with two components, a bureaucratic and a trading one. Trade is a more successful venture than industry but the trends of accumulation and die dynamism of trade and exchange does not allow us to speak of a «backward», Le. non acumuladve, economy. The cultural background and ethos of the merchant community explains this specific evolution : it is a «rational» one.


A series of experiments are underway to explore in full-mission flight simulation the effects of data-link weather displays upon pilot decision performance. The results of these experiments are being incorporated in recommendations to the FAA and prospective manufacturers for the design and use of these displays. This paper reports the results of the second experiment in the series in which the effects were explored of the addition of ownship position symbology and NEXRAD cell size resolution on pilot weather avoidance decision making. In this experiment 24 pilots were organized into two groups. Both groups were provided the data-linked weather display with ownship position symbology. The performance of the pilots in both groups was compared to the performance of the pilots in the group in the first experiment that did not have ownship position symbology. Half of the pilots in this second experiment were presented with NEXRAD weather images having a large NEXRAD cell size (8 km), the other half were presented with a small cell size (4 km). It was found that the introduction of ownship position symbology did not appear to significantly impact the decision making process. However, NEXRAD cell size resolution did appear to influence the tactical decision making process.


PURPOSE: To simply obtain the title compd. useful for producing carbapenem in a high yield by bringing singlet oxygen into contact with a specific compd. in an org. solvent at specific temp. to obtain a reaction product and sufficiently heating this product to transform the same. CONSTITUTION: Normal state molecular oxygen is irradiated with visible light from a halogen lamp. in an org. solvent such as methanol in the presence of 0.01-2.5% of a photosensitizer (pref. methylene blue) to generate singlet oxygen which is, in turn, subjected to the contact reaction with a compd. represented by the formula [wherein R 1 and R 2 are each H, (α-carbon substd.) 1-10C alkyl or (α-carbon substd.) 1-10C fluoroalkyl and an α-carbon substituent is (protected) hydroxyl, R 3 is H or 1-10C alkyl; R 4 is H or an N protecting group; and X, Y and Z are each H, halogen, 1-10C alkyl, 6C or 10C aryl, 1-10C alkoxy or 6C or 10C aryloxy] at 0°C or lower (pref. 0--70°C and the resulting reaction soln. is heated to 0-50°C to transform the reaction product to obtain the objective compd. COPYRIGHT: (C)1991,JPO


Municipal sludge anaerobic digestion is an ideal way of sludge disposal,which not only solves the pollution problem from sewage sludge,but also produce energy.The low biological hydrolysis sludge has effects on anaerobic digestion.This paper reviews several pretreatment technologies for enhancing sludge anaerobic digestion,including pyrolyzation,alkali treatment,ozonation,ultrasonic processing and irradiation technology.It opens up a new way for improving the efficiency of anaerobic digestion.


In Pakistan 1 in every 14 infants die before reaching one year of age. Infant mortality highly depends upon the health care practices by the caretakers. Objective: To investigate the infant risky health care practices and their impact on infants' health in Pakistan. Study Design: Descriptive systematic literature review. Setting and Period: All the research articles that was published in between 2000 to 2015. Methods: Focusing on newborn health care practices with special reference to mothers utilization of antennal and postnatal care, pre-lacteal feedings, colostrum, breastfeeding, cord care practices and complementary feeding. A systematic search of national and international literature especially from developing countries was undertaken from peer-reviewed indexed journals and news articles from 2000-2015 to access the infant health care practices. Results: sixty five articles were included in this review article. All the studies focused on the determinants of infant health care practices. It was found that mother's prenatal and postnatal care utilization service was poor. It was further investigated that colstrum is not preferred first feed of the mothers and family members to their infants. Mostly mothers gave the pre-lacteal feeding to their children irrespective to their education and social status and it cause the delayed in initiating the breastfeeding to the neonates. Only a small proportion of the mothers initiate the breastfeeding with in the first hour of birth and mothers are unaware about the importance of breastfeeding. Furthermore, the mothers are also unaware about cord care and use conventional methods for cord care. Conclusion: It was investigated that infant health care practices is highly influenced by the culture and religious belifs of the caretakers. Due to the lack of proper health care of infants, Pakistan is facing high infant mortality rate and substandard infant health indicators. It is suggested that government and policy makers should arrange the trainings/ workshops for the mothers and adolescents for the purpose to discourage the risky health care practices.


This paper presents a summary of recent results reported on several topics on magnetic confinement, dense magnetized plasmas, innovative fusion technology and applications, diagnostic systems and control and data acquisition systems. The main topics covered on the magnetic confinement devices, diagnostics and data acquisition concern the tokamak KTM (Kazakhstan Tokamak for Material testing) for materials research and testing, and IAEA Joint Experiments on small tokamaks. For the dense magnetized plasmas results on development and commissioning of plasma focus devices were reported. The plasmatron VISION I for innovative plasma–wall interaction studies, a lithium divertor for KTM and compact fusion reactors as neutron sources were presented.


The invention discloses an olefin disproportionation catalyst having a mesoporous and macroporous composite pore structure. The catalyst comprises at least one catalytic activity metal from oxides of rhenium, molybdenum and tungsten, and a catalyst carrier, wherein the catalyst carrier is alumina having the mesoporous/macroporous composite pore structure, pore diameters of mesopores are 2-25nm, pore diameters of macropores are 50-5000nm, the specific surface area is greater than 200m /g, the pore volume is 0.6-1.8cm /g, mesopores account for 40-90% of the total pore volume, macropores account for 10-60% of the total pore volume, and the macropores are communicated through pores or the mesopores. The catalyst carrier is prepared by mixing and roasting an aluminum-containing compound, a mesoporous template and a macroporous particle template. The catalyst solves problems of low activity and fast inactivation of low carbon olefin disproportionation catalysts prepared through previous technologies. A preparation method of the olefin disproportionation catalyst is also disclosed.


A four-channel multiplexer operating in the O-band for 400GBASE-FR4 and 800G-2xFR4 applications is demonstrated on Thin Film Lithium Niobate. Critical phase error arising from fabrication process is analysed. Design improvements are discussed to increase multiplexer tolerance to phase error.


Excerpt The properties of the peritoneum as a dialyzing membrane were first explored as early as 1894 to 1895 (1, 2). Subsequent work enlarged upon this early knowledge and demonstrated that: [1] f...


This paper considers the design problem of state feedback H∞ controllers for descriptorlinear systems. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a state feedback H. con-troller is given in terms of a generalized algebraic Riccati inequality(GARI). Furthermore, the de-sign method of H∞ controllers is provided using the solutions to the GARI.


Fuzzy normal form formulae of linguistic expressions are derived with the construction of "extended truth tables". Depending on the set of axioms exhibited, and on the application to linguistic expressions of a person's native intelligence, we might arrive at different computational intelligence expressions for purposeful goal oriented control of systems.


This paper presents actual investigation results of an experiment that aimed at verifying the possibility of applying zinc on steel surface by peening technology using zinc-coated cut wire. A suitable method for obtained zinc layers and evaluation of their corrosion resistance was determined. Accelerated laboratory tests with presence of SO 2 and long term working tests in atmospheric conditions were used. Creation of incoherent zinc coatings was established on the bases of metallographic and spectral analysis. The process of cold zinc by peening may serve as temporary anticorrosion protection of steel surface.


The combination of thin metal cases or tubes with a filling made of metal foams is interesting and promising for many applications in mechanical engineering. Components made of an outer hollow thin compact metal structure and a cellular lightweight core are especially suited to energy absorption applications. In order to allow for an efficient product/process design with a concurrent engineering approach, reliable and computationally affordable finite element method (FEM) calculations are required by both product and process engineers. The structural performance of these complex composite parts must be numerically predicted, in order to find the optimal combination of outer structure and metal foam properties. While FEM simulation at large deformations of bending, crushing, etc. of thin sheets and tubes is state of the art, the accurate FEM simulation of the mechanical behavior of metal foams cannot be considered fully established. In this paper the three most common methods for FEM simulation of metal foam materials are discussed: (a) homogenization approach, (b) realistic reconstruction of tomographic data, and (c) repetition of standard unit cells. A new effective approach is proposed, suited for simulation of composite, metal foam filled, structures of realistic dimensions. The approach is based on meshing the metal foam by replicating a unit cell made of 32 triangular shell elements, and then by randomizing the nodal position in order to emulate the intrinsic homogeneity of foam morphology. The method is validated by means of different experimental tests. The results show that the proposed method correctly predicts the behavior of foam structures in axial compression. The method slightly overestimated the actual load registered in three point bending tests. Several improvements are described and discussed in the paper, such as randomization of nodal positions of the mesh, in order to reduce the overestimation of forces. An FEM approach for the simulation of large deformations of metal foam filled metal structure (e.g., tubes) suited for the design of realistic large dimensions structural components has been presented. The proposed method shows some innovative features with respect to the available scientific literature, such as a configuration based on octahedral unit cells with low number of triangular shell elements. Randomization of nodal positions of each unit cell has been implemented as a method for better representing the intrinsic variability of metal foams and for reducing the stiffness of the simulated structure.


There is considerable variation in the use of LP for evaluating suspected sepsis in clinical practice. Reasons cited for not performing an LP include the following: the rarity of neonatal meningitis; the possibility of delaying LP and only lumbar puncturing infants with positive blood cultures; and the feasibility and safety of LP particularly in preterm babies with respiratory compromise. In 1998, 51% of Australian neonatologists reported that they routinely included LP in their evaluation of preterm infants with suspected late onset sepsis, while 21% and 24% did not perform LP in preterm infants with earlyand late-onset septicaemia, respectively. In a multi-centre surveillance Australasian study, only 62% of infants with proven early-onset bacteraemia and 55% of infants with late-onset bacteraemia ever had an LP. Although neonatal meningitis is relatively rare, it still causes significant morbidity and mortality, and can not be reliably differentiated from septicaemia on clinical grounds. LP is critical for early diagnosis and the Gram stain provides immediate information to target antibiotic treatment appropriately. In large US observational studies, 1–2% of neonates with suspected early-onset sepsis had meningitis. The incidence of early-onset neonatal bacterial meningitis is higher in preterm compared with term babies. However, the incidence of meningitis in asymptomatic neonates with risk factors for sepsis only is extremely low. In a retrospective US study, 1712 (7%) of 24 452 term infants were evaluated for symptoms of sepsis and 3423 (14%) were asymptomatic but assessed because of risk factors. All 11 infants with meningitis (0.05%) were symptomatic. In another study, none of 1390 preterm babies evaluated because of risk of sepsis had meningitis, but LP was only performed if blood cultures were positive. Other smaller series have found no cases of meningitis in babies with risk factors only. The incidence of meningitis in preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is also very low. Of 1495 (69%) of 2156 newborns admitted with respiratory distress on the first day of life who had an LP as part of a sepsis screen, only four had meningitis (2.2. per 1000 infants with RDS and 2.7 per 1000 of those with an LP). A small study of 203 consecutive infants with RDS found no cases of meningitis. In contrast, a 5-year study from US army hospitals found 43 infants <72-h-old with meningitis of a total population of 169 849 (0.25 per 1000 live births). A selective approach to performing LP would have missed or delayed the diagnosis of meningitis in 16 (37%), including five preterm infants with RDS (total number with RDS not given). The danger of delaying LP and only performing LP if blood cultures are positive is that a significant proportion of infants with meningitis have a negative blood culture. In two large US studies in which earlyand late-onset sepsis were not clearly differentiated, 28–38% of babies with meningitis had negative blood cultures. Eight (1.1%) of 712 neonates investigated with LPs during their first week had positive spinal fluid cultures, although only one patient had a clinical course consistent with meningitis and a positive blood culture. A non-Cochrane review found that 1.3–3.5% of babies with suspected late-onset sepsis have meningitis. The incidence of late-onset sepsis and meningitis increases with decreasing gestational age. Depending on the patient population, the authors of the review estimated that between 30 and 90 infants being investigated for sepsis with a septic screen would need to have an LP to detect one baby with meningitis. The observation that a significant proportion of meningitis is not associated with positive blood cultures is also prevalent in late-onset sepsis. Between 15% and 50% of babies with lateonset meningitis have negative blood cultures. We acknowledge the limitation that all the data presented are from observational studies but conclude that LP should be performed routinely in preterm and term infants with suspected early or late onset sepsis. LP need not be performed routinely in asymptomatic term babies with risk factors for sepsis only or in preterm babies with RDS but no other signs of sepsis. If blood cultures are positive with an organism that causes meningitis and LP was not done, LP should always be performed to guide duration of therapy.


Conventional medical devices require the use of materials which have been experimentally proven to be corrosion resistant when placed within certain fluids. However, biodegradable materials are being considered for applications where temporary medical device placement is desired(1) . Magnesium (Mg) is a very promising material for an array of biomedical applications including vascular, musculoskeletal, and general surgery due to its excellent physical and chemical properties(2). However, the issue with biodegradable Mg is its rapid degradation, non-uniform corrosion, and the associated by-products inside human body(2). Mg corrodes in aqueous environment via an electrochemical reaction as follows : Mg + H2O -> Mg(OH)2 + H2 Based on the products of corrosion reaction, it is known that a higher Mg ion concentration as well as a higher hydroxide ion concentration in the corrosion solution suggest a higher corrosion rate for the Mg. There are currently several ways to minimize the corrosion of Mg implants such as magnesium-based alloys(2), anodization(3), and organic coatings(4). Despite promising results, each of these techniques has disadvantages for biomedical applications(2)(3)(4). Fortunately, there has recently been promising work with conducting polymers for controlling corrosion on non-Mg metals(4)(5). There has however been little study of conducting polymers for Mg corrosion protection. Studies have suggested that conducting polymer acts as a physical barrier and it also displays the property of anodic protection during the corrosion prevention(6). More importantly, conducting polymer can reduce the generation of hydrogen gas, which is the main reason for poor implant integration(6).


In this article, a sensorless speed control design for the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor based on sliding mode approach is proposed. The control objective is to drive the rotor speed to desired reference despite load torque disturbances and parameter uncertainties. The proposed control strategy combines a Sliding Mode Controller with an Adaptive Interconnected Observer design based on sliding mode techniques, which allows to estimate the rotor speed, the stator resistance and the load torque. Furthermore, experimental results, including a comparative study against schemes from literature, illustrate the robustness and performance of proposed approach.


abstract:Based on fifteen months of ethnographic research conducted between 2010 and 2013, this article explores queer life-worlds through the Armenian notion of alternativ space, spaces that create possibilities for practices, desires, ways of looking, and being that differ from Armenian national values of propriety. Political-economic reform has created anxieties regarding national propriety and the family's ability to exist in continuity with a moral past within postsocialist time-space. Intense anxieties regarding the proper social reproduction of national propriety make visible forms of difference from what is considered proper difficult. As such, in/visible spaces in which these differences can be exhibited have emerged, merging nonnormative sexual and gendered worlds with wider experiences of alterity that disturb the nation's social reproduction and continuity with the past. Although alternativ spaces make difference possible, they also reproduce the nation's norms by containing that difference in interior queer life-worlds. I suggest, however, that these spaces also have the potential of redefining Armenianness as they bring alterity into the larger space of nation, queering Armenian futurity in ways that LGBT visibility would not make possible.


In view of the adverse effect of the unbalanced feed and the surface current of Vivaldi antenna, the author makes the feed balanced and controls the surface current by adding the sleeve of the coaxial feeder and slotting the antenna floor to enhance the performance of Vivaldi antenna. The surface current of the coaxial cable outer conductor is well suppressed, which makes the bad influences that the feeding structure caused to the antenna radiation characteristics reduced a lot. And for the radiation patch of the Vivaldi antenna, the surface current is more concentrated, the gain is 3 dB greater than that of the general form at working frequency, and the side lobe is also smaller in the radiation pattern.


Introduction: Successful root canal treatment depends on the removal of micro-organisms through instrumentation of the root canal system. This encompasses shaping by mechanical removal of the dentine and cleaning by chemical disinfection of microorganisms and dissolution of organic tissues from the root canal. While root canal shaping can be predictably and efficiently attained with advanced instrumentation technology, effective cleaning of the entire root canal system remains a challenge. Rotary Ni-Ti instruments are known for their efficient preparation of root canal. This is because of the super elasticity of the nickel titanium alloy which gives an increased flexibility and allows the instrument to efficiently follow the original path of root canal. The aim of this study is to compare the cleaning efficiency and shaping ability of Pro Taper Next, Mani Silk and M Two rotary instruments during the preparation of curve canals in extracted molars. Materials and Methods: Thirty teeth with 12 mm as their working length were selected and divided into three groups of 10 teeth each Angle of curvature, Radius of curvature, was determined using computerized tomography. A Pre and Post-operative measurement of canal width and volume was recorded and compared using CB-CT. Results: Results were calculated and statistically analysed to evaluate the shaping ability and cleaning efficiency. Conclusion: The study concluded that ProTaperNext rotary system has negligible canal transportation and better centric ability in compression to Mani Silk and M tow rotary file system. It is one of the few rotary systems that provides quick and safe endodontic preparation.


A child with Down's syndrome, hydrocephalus and porencephaly is described, and treatment by compressive head binding is discussed. Although binding did not stop enlargement of the head it did achieve a reduction in the rate of enlargement.


The theory for scattering by a perfectly conducting sphere with a coating of lossy, homogeneous, isotropic ferrite material is presented. In addition to the rigorous eigenfunction formulation, the physical optics (PO) and geometrical optics (GO) approximations are also included. Numerical results are shown in graphical form to illustrate the backscatter echo area versus the radius of the sphere, as well as the bistatic scattering patterns.


The electrodeposition of the FeCoNiCu quaternary system onto a rotating disk electrode was explored in order to prepare compositionally modulated multilayers. Multilayers having a different layer thickness were electrodeposited by a pulse current method and the structure was determined with transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. When the multilayer alloy thickness was larger than 10 nm, the deposit grain size was found to be a function of the Co-rich layer thickness. Below an alloy thickness of 10 nm, the Cu layer size was correlated with a preferred deposit orientation. Giant magnetoresistance was also observed for this electrodeposited quaternary system for the first time.


The initial diagnosis of physical and chemical risks of treatment of oily waste in the area of Environmental Restoration of the Clean Products Santo Domingo Terminal and Station of the EP PETROECUADOR, identified risks requiring quantitative assessment.
This diagnosis determined, in the case of chemical risks from exposure to fumes, acceptable exposure levels for the two positions of Supervisor and Workers, being appropriate to maintain existing measures of respiratory protection as the waste treatment contains volatile organic compound; risk analysis by contact with chemicals identified the need to implement control measures due to shortcomings in the handling and storage of products. The levels of noise exposure for the two positions are under the maximum allowable limit. To manage the risks, it has been structured a proposal for the management plan of physical and chemical risks of the process, which contains recommendations for control thereof.


Three modality theory on man's development, which has revealed the characteristics and law of man's development stage in a macroscopic way, is the important theoretical foundation for ideological education. Its significance and theoretical value to the ideological education is as follows: firstly, the practice of ideological education should be adjusted to the man's development stage. Now our ideological education can't go beyond man's stage based on materialism;secondly, ideological education should not only inherit the traditional Chinese moral education resources critically, but also absorb the moral education resources of the developed capitalism critically; thirdly, ideological education should stick to the unification of ideal and reality.


Data today is extremely complex and massive in size. By taking these factors into account, machine learning and ETL techniques will find it much easier to separate useful data from unusable raw data. In web technology, OLTP and OLAP are used to manipulate data on a daily basis. During the transaction, a massive amount of data is maintained in the database or data warehouse. There was no Cloud storage to back up data in the past. Because of the significant increase in internet usage, people are sharing more of their personal information online. Cybercriminals can now access a vast amount of personal data and financial activities. Phishing is one instance of a very efficient type of cybercrime that allows offenders to trick users and obtain crucial data. Phishing has advanced into a more complex attack vector since the first known instance was published in 1990. One of the most common online fraud types now is phishing. Phishing attacks can cause serious losses for their victims, including the theft of confidential information, identities, businesses, and state secrets. This article evaluates these attacks by addressing existing phishing techniques and discussing the current state of phishing. Phishing attacks have been classified in studies based on common phishing methodologies and defences, ignoring the importance of the entire phishing lifecycle. This article provides a new, in-depth model of the anatomy of phishing attacks, including attack phases, attacker types, threats, targets, attack media, and attacking strategies. The suggested physiology would also help readers understand the lifecycle of a phishing attack, which would aid in the development of a comprehensive anti-phishing system. This will improve public awareness of phishing attacks and the methods used. New approaches are also proposed, and certain preventive measures are investigated.


Characteristic high‐Mg andesite magmas were produced in the SW Japan arc at 13∼15 Ma that was synchronous with the commencement of subduction of a very young (<11 m.y.) lithosphere of the Shikoku Basin. Numerical simulation suggests that temperature at the surface of such a young subducting plate is high enough for partial melting both of the subducting sediments and oceanic crust at the beginning of the subduction. High‐Mg andesite magmas were likely to be produced by interaction between silicic slab melts and the overlying mantle wedge. HMA magmas may be commonly produced in the Archean subduction zones under relatively high mantle temperature conditions, contributing to making continental crusts.


A new hybrid model of control implementation is developed to realize trajectory-tracking controllers for quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). This model is based on the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model and hybrid automata in order to accurately implement control parts of these vehicles, and can be applied to most standard quadrotor UAV platforms. The paper brings out step-by-step the controller development lifecycle for a quadrotor UAV, including the configuration and aerodynamic calculation model for the gathering preliminary inputs of the control application, the control analysis of dynamic model and general architecture, as well as the control design performed by specializing hybrid automata. The detailed design model is then converted into the implementation model by using open-source platforms in order to quickly simulate and realize the trajectory-tracking controller for this quadrotor UAV. Finally, this application was completely deployed and successfully taken on trial flights.


Nowadays, packet video is an important application of the Internet. Unfortunately the capacity of the Internet is still very heterogeneous because it connects high bandwidth ATM networks as well as low bandwidth ISDN dial in lines. The MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video compression standards provide efficient video encoding for high and low bandwidth media streams. In particular they include two paradigms which make those standards suitable for the transmission of video via heterogeneous networks. Both support layered video streams and MPEG-4 additionally allows the independent coding of video objects. In this paper we discuss those two paradigms, give an overview of the MPEG video compression standards and describe transport protocols for Real Time Media transport over lossy networks. Furthermore, we propose a real-time segmentation approach for extracting video objects in teleteaching scenarios.


The weldability of 800 MPa high strength steel has been studied with 20 mm and 42 mm thickness plates by the maximum hardness test of heat-affected zone,Y slit cracking test and the test of weld energy input etc. The result shows that the high quality welded joint can be got by using appropriate preheat temperature and weld energy input.The weld energy input is suggested to be used in project as follows:20 mm thick, E30 kJ/cm; 42 mm thick, E45 kJ/cm.


The registration of 3D laser point cloud is one of the key problems in 3D modeling. According to the classical ICP algorithm,the paper proposes an improved ICP algorithm for point cloud registration. First of all,the initial registration in this paper uses principal component analysis method to obtain a better initial position of the point cloud. Then two point clouds are registered by k-d tree search and angle between the direction vectors of two the point clouds based on traditional ICP algorithm. The accuracy of the improved process of algorithm will not be affected to improve the efficiency. The algorithm is verified in the applications.


The aim of this study was both to investigate the in-vitro susceptibility to thiamphenicol of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated at different times in different geographic areas and to compare results of susceptibility testing by the agar-dilution method with those of an agar disk-diffusion test. For 209 strains studied, a strong correlation between MIC values and zone diameters could be demonstrated (Spearman Rank correlation coefficient, -0.77; P less than 0.0005). The total material consisted of 727 selected gonococcal strains: 184 from Denmark (1928-1982), 55 from Africa (1960-1966), 47 from France (1981-1982), 236 from Greenland (1982), and 205 from Indonesia (1982). Danish strains from the preantibiotic era (1928-1940) were all susceptible to less than or equal to 1.0 microgram of thiamphenicol/ml. In 1982, the less susceptible strains (MIC, greater than or equal to 2 micrograms/ml; or zone diameter, less than or equal to 45 mm) accounted for 5% (Denmark), 28% (Greenland), 28% (France), and 82% (Indonesia), respectively. All non-penicillinase-producing strains of N. gonorrhoeae that were less susceptible to thiamphenicol were also less susceptible to penicillin (MIC, greater than or equal to 0.6 microgram/ml).


A method is described which compensates for the experimental errors in shift reagent work; it is found that the slope ratios, in plots of lanthanide induced shifts vs. amount of shift reagent, are unaffected by experimental errors in the concentrations of shift reagent and substrate.


A lattice gas model was proposed to explore the effect of inert surface impurities on the oscillation in the NO+CO reaction system on Pt(100). It was found that when the fraction of the impurities is small, the (11) phase resulting from the surface restructuring can form a connected phase and the system exhibits a global sustained oscillation. With the fraction of the impurities increasing, the (11) phase only can form many isolated patches and the spatial coherence between the local oscillators with a random phase relationship lost, and as a result, the sustained oscillation changes into a damped one. When the diffusion rate of adsorbed CO and NO increases, the synchronization between local oscillators is enhanced and the global sustained oscillation can appear again.


In recent studies of Chinese modern literature history,researchers tend to generalize,in terms of symbolism or expressionism,those literature thoughts or genres which should be represented by modernism.The way to adjust this biased judgement is to return to historic backdrop of modernism,to restore its dual modernist characteristics in enlightenment and aesthetics which brought about the special value of Chinese modernism different from Euro-American modernism.


Gallium zinc oxynitride (Ga 0.93 Zn 0.07 )(N 0.90 O 0.10 ) is a new type of photocatalyst that is capable of overall water splitting under visible light. The crystal structure of the (Ga 0.93 Zn 0.07 )(N 0.90 O 0.10 ) was refined by Rietveld analyses of neutron powder diffraction data. The (Ga 0.93 Zn 0.07 )(N 0.90 O 0.10 ) was confirmed to have a wurtzite-type structure (space group: P6 3 mc). The present work demonstrates that oxygen substitutes for nitrogen in the crystal structure, and may be responsible for the desirable optical properties of (Ga 0.93 Zn 0.07 ) (N 0.90 O 0.10 ) as a photocatalyst for visible light-driven overall water splitting. The neutron scattering amplitude distribution through the maximum-entropy method (MEM) and MEM-based pattern fitting revealed that the crystal structure of the (Ga 0.93 Zn 0.07 )(N 0.90 O 0.10 ) is free of interstitial sites and large disorder.


The present invention relates to a multifunctional surgical dissecting table animal, the anatomical station comprises three steel side and a first channel-enclosed table, the surface of each support leg is connected by a threaded post at the four corners of the table inner square steel disposed opposite to the first channel connected to a second channel, the first channel and the second channel slot placed opposite the three square steel, a first channel and a second channel of there are commonly connected surface countertops, work surfaces located in the middle cross-section is provided with arcuate grooves on the second channel and the square steel portion connected thereto, an arcuate groove disposed on the active site of the steel connecting member is connected, is connected member by an adjustable length connecting rod is connected to an adjustable ring Baoding Baoding sized for the mouth of the animal, it is located in the arcuate groove is connected to two longitudinal Baoding animals are placed on the neck portion of the right side of the ring Baoding Baoding rope The connection between the first channel and the second channel pool had surgery. The present invention is easy to use, functional advantages of simple structure.


A heterojunction diode has been fabricated by boron-doped p-type diamond thin film grown epitaxially on a silicon-doped n-type cubic boron nitride bulk crystal using the conventional hot filament chemical vapour deposition method. The ohmic electrode of Ti (50 nm)/Mo (100 nm)/Au (300 nm) for the p-type diamond film and the bulk crystal of the c-BN were deposited by the rf planar magnetron method. Then the device was annealed at 410°C in air for 1 h in order to form ohmic metal alloy. The current-voltage characteristics of the heterojunction diode were measured and the result indicated that the rectification ratio reached 105, and the turn-on voltage and the highest current were 7 V and 0.35 mA, respectively.


The key points that could be addressed by lecturers engaged in DSP teaching practice at universities and polytechnics are presented. The following important considerations are discussed: students' prerequisite knowledge; course content; depth of treatment; teaching and tutorial materials; methods of presentation; knowledge consolidation and feedback; intellectual challenge; practical investigations; case studies; projects; assessment of knowledge and understanding; and curriculum development.


This article examines the internal and external politics of the Sultanate of Oman. The Omani leader, Sultan Qabus, is trying to balance a variety of threats to his country and his rule. His strategy of "Omanibalancing" (i.e., of balancing internal and external threats) is unique, as well as controversial, in that Oman is befriending traditional Arab enemies, such as Iran and Israel, and searching for economic opportunities outside the region-in the Indian Ocean basin, for example. The sultan is also striving to co-opt domestic foes by maintaining Oman's standard of living and slowly liberalizing the country's political and economic systems. Proud of its recent past, the Sultanate of Oman must now consider an uncertain future without oil.1 Deprived of this resource, the sultanate's wealth and pleasant standard of living could evaporate. Mindful that their reserves of "black gold" will dry up within the next 20 or so years,2 Omanis are taking steps to transform their petroleum-based economy into a more diversified, post-oil economy. To do so, they must come to terms with an international political economic world order biased in favor of the economic superpowers and their trading blocs, a narrowly defined export strategy, a Malthusian population explosion, undue reliance on expatriate labor, a lackadaisical work ethic, corruption within the government, and a severe water shortage. Omanis must tackle these problems as well as possible regional threats from countries such as Iran. The task would appear daunting, the survival and continued prosperity of Oman problematic. Yet the sultanate is not without resources, skills, will, and vision. The country is blessed with strategic importance, an unusual if not beautiful landscape, a developed infrastructure, oil monies that can be invested wisely, and, most importantly, a one-of-a-kind leader, Sultan Qabus Bin Sa`id al-Sa`id, who is polished, well-liked, sometimes daring but usually prudent, and is rallying his people to remedy Oman's coming difficulties. In lifting his country out of economic failure and political isolation, Sultan Qabus turned the neutralist rallying cry of "neither East nor West" on its head by designing and implementing policies that reached out to both East and West. The sultan and his team of advisors-which included his ministers as well as numerous foreigners, many of them British-concluded that Omani interests, short- and long-term, could not be furthered or safeguarded unless Oman could draw upon Western economic and military resources, trade with Iran and other countries of the Arabian Peninsula, and maintain regional as well as international friendships.3 The sultanate even sought commercial ties with Israel.4 The sultan's foreign, economic and social policies are geared toward preserving the Omani "renaissance" of the last 25 years. In Qabus's words, "We're making progress, but quietly. Slowly. I believe in evolution, and not a sudden evolution. But the progress we've made is irreversible."5 To ensure that his country's resurgence is not short lived, however, Muscat's ruler must counter both external and internal threats to the Omani state. The sultan, in short, must pursue a strategy of "omnibalancing," or, more precisely, "Omanibalancing."6 THE OMANI PAST: FROM EMPIRE TO UNKNOWN TO RESURGENT Oman is a sparsely populated country (with only 1.6 million citizens7), but within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) it ranks second, behind Saudi Arabia, in extent of territory. The majority of Omanis are members of the Ibadhi sect of Islam.8 In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Oman extended its imperial influence to Zanzibar and other parts of eastern Africa.9 In the eighteenth century, Imam Ahmad bin Sa`id unified the country and established an impressive thalassocracy. According to RAND analyst Joseph A. Kechichian, "he carried on a successful struggle to restore Oman's dominance in the Persian Gulf, through both daring and luck. …


iabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder which is enlisted in priority noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and characterized by high levels of glucose in the blood (1-2). Factors such as lifestyle, genetic makeup and environment are contributing in development of this complex situation (3-4). The prevalence of diabetes is D 1. Head of Grant and Service Contract Management Unit (GCMU), Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, Afghanistan.


Summary. Histoacryl‐tissue adhcsive (B. Braun Melsungen AG W. Germany) was used in place of skin sutures (2/0 chromic catgut, Ethicon Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland) for episiotomy repair in a group of 20 women. This group was compared with two groups of women undergoing first and repeat episiotomy. Variables analysed included pain in the episiotomy site, pain while walking, sitting, sleeping, lying down, breast‐feeding, micturating and defaecating. The Histoacryl group was superior with regard to all the variables. This simple, new method can reduce pain and inconvenience for patients, especially following the first delivery.


of food they will provide to the vermiworm to produce a nutrient-rich organic fertilizers. This leads to the satisfaction of each individual in the community hence strengthening the organic farming program. Vermicomposting is a simple biotechnological process of composting, in which certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermicompost is nutritionally rich natural organic fertilizer, which releases nutrients relatively slowly in the soil and improves quality of the plants along with physical and biological properties of soil. It has a more beneficial impact on plants than on soil. The nutritional quality of vermicompost is determined primarily by the type of the substrate (raw materials) used for composting, along with aeration, humidity, pH and temperature [4]. The present study aimed to analyze the nutrients of vermicompost using different feeding media.


5. Support to the College and University, including provision of reports, support and contributions to other committees; giving presentations at transferable skills workshops and school induction meetings; liaising with the university support departments, particularly the Registry, Policy and Planning, and Finance; promoting recruitment of PG students (actively recruiting at UK and international PG fairs), and proactively responding to QA matters. 20%


Background: X-ray examinations are still a frequent diagnostic tool used by doctors in Indonesia. However, there is an apparent lack of descriptive data regarding the size and location of the maxillary sinus in Indonesian people. Objective: The aim of this study is to provide descriptive data on the size and location of the maxillary sinus among patients in the city of Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Methods: Sixty eligible subjects aged 17 to 70 years old were randomized into six groups: male and female patients between 17 and 25 years old; male and female patients between 26 and 45 years old; and male and female patients aged 46 or older. Radiographic pictures were taken using the X-mind Novus Digital Panoramic X-ray unit and data were measured using the software Digora for Windows. Results: Using an analysis of variance, we found that men have significantly larger maxillary sinus dimensions than women (79.05 mm compared to 66.33 mm). It also reveals that there are significant differences (p<0.05) between male and female groups; whereas 2 groups aged less than 46 years old are significantly different with group aged 46 years or older in both gender. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that the size and location of maxillary sinus differ significantly between men and women in Bogor and that they follow a specific trend.


Summary Background: α-galacto-oligosaccharides, including raffinose and stachyose, are present in soybean meal and used widely as a protein source in poultry diets. These compounds have anti-nutritive effects that ultimately reduce performance and value of birds. Thus, the addition of exogenous α–galactosidase to poultry diets —which can initiate the digestion of these non-digestible sugars— can be an effective strategy to solve the nutritional disorders associated with consumption of these oligosacharides. Solid state fermentation (SSF) has drawn attention for the production of microbial enzymes, due to the possibility of using cheap and abundant agro-industrial residues as substrates. Objective: to present information on α–galactosidase production under SSF conditions by an Antarctic bacterial isolate, Bacillus LX-1. Methods: initially, wheat bran, soybean meal, corn flour and the combinations of these individual substrates with nutritive supplements containing 1% galactose, 0.5% yeast extract, 1% tryptone, and 0.001% MnSO 4 4H 2 O were evaluated to select an optimal medium in SSF to produce extracellular α–galactosidase. Certain fermentation parameters involving incubation time, moisture content, and initial pH were investigated separately. Additional studies were conducted to evaluate the influence on enzyme production of different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, galactose, lactose, and maltose) and nitrogen sources (peptone, tryptone, sodium nitrate and ammonium sulfate). Results: a medium containing soybean meal resulted in best α-galactosidase synthesis and was used for further SSF explorations with Bacillus sp. LX-1. Maximum enzyme production was observed at a growth period of 72 h, 75% moisture content and pH 8.0. Enzyme activity was enhanced in the presence of galactose or lactose as the carbon source, and tryptone or peptone as the nitrogen source. Conclusion: this SSF technique could be potentially used to produce α-galactosidase for poultry feed.


We present optical UBVRI zenith night sky brightness measurements collected on 18 nights during 2013 to 2016 and SQM measurements obtained daily over 20 months during 2014 to 2016 at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on the Sierra San Pedro Mártir (OAN-SPM) in México. The UBVRI data is based upon CCD images obtained with the 0.84 m and 2.12 m telescopes, while the SQM data is obtained with a high-sensitivity, low-cost photometer. The typical moonless night sky brightness at zenith averaged over the whole period is U = 22.68, B = 23.10, V = 21.84, R = 21.04, I = 19.36, and SQM = 21.88 mag arcsec − 2 , once corrected for zodiacal light. We find no seasonal variation of the night sky brightness measured with the SQM. The typical night sky brightness values found at OAN-SPM are similar to those reported for other astronomical dark sites at a similar phase of the solar cycle. We find a trend of decreasing night sky brightness with decreasing solar activity during period of the observations. This trend implies that the sky has become darker by Δ U = 0.7, Δ B = 0.5, Δ V = 0.3, Δ R = 0.5 mag arcsec−2 since early 2014 due to the present solar cycle.


It is evident worldwide that high-impact, low-probability (HILP) events, such as associated to extreme weather, can have disastrous consequences on power systems resilience. In this paper, we propose a Severity Risk Index (SRI) that with the support of smart grid technologies (e.g., real-time monitoring) is capable of providing an indication of the evolving risk of power systems subject to HILP events in a smart and adaptive way, thus potentially contributing to effective decision-making to mitigate such risk. Specific applications considered here refer to windstorm events, for which purpose the proposed SRI is embedded in a Sequential Monte Carlo simulation for capturing the spatiotemporal effects of windstorms passing across transmission networks. Latin Hypercube Sampling and backward scenario reduction method are used to produce a computationally tractable number of representative scenarios for SRI computation. The IEEE 24-bus reliability test system is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SRI.


Wastewater of sasirangan is a by-product in the manufacture of sasirangan
cloth. This wastewater have obtained levels of BOD, COD, TSS, and pH that exceeds
the quality standard so that must be managed. Method is carried out with
coagulation, filtration and adsorption.
The sample used in this study was taken from household waste industry
"Sasirangan Putri" Banjarmasin. The coagulation process with composition 1 g/liter
alum and 4 g/liter lime. The filter material in the form of local materials using river
Barito sand and river Awang Bangkal gravel, while the adsorbent using coal. Ratio
of the filter and adsorbent volume is 4:1. The process of up low and batch system
with a flow rate of 100 ml / min.
The result using equipment of wastewater sasirangan cloth indicate that a
decline in value of BOD, COD, TSS, and pH, and a maximum capacity of wastewater
treatment equipment sasirangan cloth as much as 300 liters.


Circumstances indicated that the Seminario Conciliar Building, a huge
privately-owned historic building in the San Juan of Puerto Rico Historic Zone,
was doamed to an uncertain future -leading to a complete and pervasive deterioration. This notable building presented extremely important historic
and architectural characteristics. It sprawled over almost a complete city
block within the historic zone, facing the justly-famous "museum street" Calle
del Cristc. It also faced, however, two insidious foes: lack of money and
lack of motivation on the part of its owners to so something about its future.


By improving the traditional digital concrete modeling method,the new defective concrete model was established.Three cases were simulated based on this model.The influence of initial defectiveness on the dynamic strength was investigated.The result shows that: 1) At initial stage,the influence of the initial defectiveness on the dynamic strength becomes more obviously with the increasing of the loading speed;2) Regardless of the same loading speed,the influence becomes less obviously when the load reaches the strength point of the concrete;3)The simulation result is compared with the test result,and it is deduced that the new model has higher computational accuracy and the result is more rational,and it can take the place of the traditional digital concrete model in practice.


A large number of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) cases are under-diagnosed due unavailability, inconvenience or expense of sleep labs. Hence, an automated detection by applying computational techniques to multivariate signals has already become a well-researched subject. However, the best-known techniques that use various features have not achieved the gold standard of polysomnography (PSG) tests. In this paper, we substantiate the medical conjecture that OSA directly impacts body parameters such as Instantaneous Heart Rate (IHR) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). We then use a deep learning technique called LSTM-RNN (long short-term memory recurrent neural networks) to experimentally prove that OSA severity detection can be solely based on either IHR or SpO2 signals, which can be easily, obtained using off-the-shelf non-intrusive wearable single sensors. The results obtained from LSTM-RNN model shows an area under curve (AUC) of 0.98 associated with very high accuracy on a dataset of more than 16,000 apnea non-apnea minutes. These results have encouraged our collaborating doctors to further come up with a diagnostic protocol that is based on LSTM-RNN, SpO2, and IHR, thereby increasing the chances of larger adoption among medical community.


Watershed characterization is the first step in the sustainable management of watershed resources. Morphometric analysis of a watershed using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) provides a quantitative description of the drainage system which is an important aspect of the characterization of watersheds. The study was conducted in Nilona micro-watershed covering an area of 1297.35 ha in Darwha tehsil of Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. The terrain attributes and drainage configuration were derived from the Cartosat-1 data, 10m resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) using ArcGIS. Surface soil samples of 118 locations were collected from grid points located at regular interval of 325 m. The digital terrain analysis showed that slope varies from 0 to 45.9 percent, with a mean value of 4.5%. Most of the area of Nilona micro-watershed was classified as gentle sloping. Profile curvature varies from -5.1 to 4.6 m m, respectively indicating the coexistence of erosive as well Original Research Article Rakesh et al.; IJPSS, 33(12): 42-50, 2021; Article no.IJPSS.68849 43 as depositional landforms. Overall, the study documents the utility of site-specific modeling and geo-statistical interpolation based predictive mapping for watershed planning.


This Chapter presents an implementation of area efficient SVPWM control through FPGA using Q-Format ALU. The SVPWM controllers are simulated using ModelSim 5.7 and implemented using Xilinx 9.2i. Through the simulation, the area utilization in FPGA for the PWM controllers is obtained and verified with the existing implementations. Then, the experiments are conducted to verify the possibility of single chip FPGA implementation using QALU for and SVPWM. In addition to the basic concepts that are discussed in Chapter 1, 2 and 3, the implementation of FPGA based SVPWM controller requires the concept of SVPWM Principle and its Algorithm [120].


Microbial metabolism in the human colon impacts on health and disease. Production of intermediate metabolites and end-products depends largely on the supply of dietary carbohydrates, including prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides) and functional foods (resistant starch), that resist small intestinal digestion. Colonic bacteria ferment these substrates to a wide range of products, predominantly short-chain fatty acids, including metabolites that can be either deleterious (e.g. D-lactate, sulphides) or beneficial (e.g. butyrate) to gut health. Lactate accumulation in the colon has been associated with gastrointestinal disturbance, for example in severe ulcerative colitis, whereas in the healthy state lactate is efficiently utilised by gut bacteria. Understanding the interaction between microbial metabolism and dietderived nutrient supply is crucial for maintaining a healthy metabolic balance in the colon. Prediction of such nutritional responses can be achieved by integrating in mathematical models information from stable isotope studies, that quantify metabolite flows, and molecular techniques, that accurately determine changes in microbial composition diversity. From such approaches, better nutritional advice can be provided in order to improve gut health. Furthermore, such understanding can be used to manipulate and improve the action of prebiotics and probiotics.


An ideology serves as a tool for socioeconomic and political transformation in any polity. Global politics is littered with several political ideologies that serve as guides for several countries. The central place of ideology in governance has led some scholars to argue that no State can exist without an ideology, whether well-articulated by its leaders or not. Therefore, ideology is the bedrock of governance. This implies that the political ideology that guides a particular political community affects the relationship between citizens and their leaders. An ideology also determines and influences the foreign policy of a nation. Given the imperativeness of ideology, this paper discusses and elaborates on the several ideologies in play in global politics. However, special focus is placed on Africa given the dire need for socioeconomic and political transformation in the continent. This paper concludes that the African quest for development can only be realized when African leaders generate the right socioeconomic and political ideology that will enhance the status of the continent in international politics and transform Africans.


20 minutes for the precipitate to settle. This is then centrifuged and the supernatant fluid is decanted off and the precipitate is dissolved in 2 ml. of veronal buffer or physiological saline in a water bath at 37° C. To this solution 1 ml. of a solution containing equal parts of thromboplastin solution and M/40 calcium chloride is added. The'thrombin formed in the solution remains stable at 4° C. for many days. Some patients, though not showing afibrinogenaemia, show diminished clottable fibrinogen in their plasma. This can be demonstrated by serial dilution of the patient's plasma to find the dilution at which a clot can still be obtained in a fixed volume with a fixed quantity of the thrombin preparation. The results for a normal plasma, and plasma from a patient (with mitral stenosis and a recent popliteal embolus) whose blood showed nearly complete lysis of a clot 20 minutes after taking, are shown.


Based on data from 1162 wind turbines, with a rated power of at least 1.8 MW, installed in Sweden after 2005, the accuracy of the annual energy production (AEP) predictions from the project planning phases has been compared to the wind-index-corrected production. Both the production and the predicted AEP data come from the database Vindstat, which collects information directly from wind turbine owners. The mean error was 7.1%, which means that, overall, the predicted AEP has been overestimated. The overestimation was higher for wind turbines situated in open terrain than in forest areas and was higher overall than that previously established for the British Isles and South Africa. Dividing the result over the installation year, the improvement which had been expected due to the continuous refinement of the methods and better data availability, was not observed over time. The major uncertainty comes from the predicted AEP as reported by wind turbine owners to the Vindstat database, which, for some cases, might not come from the wind energy calculation from the planning phase (i.e., the P50-value).


A postal survey of 566 veterinary practices with dairy farms among their clients showed that the majority of the practices were very positive about the benefits of running a herd health scheme. Nevertheless, only a third of them were running a scheme, and most had attracted only a small number of clients. The size of the practice (in terms of the number of veterinarians and the number of dairy farming clients) was the most significant factor determining whether a practice was likely to run a herd health scheme, and the age of the veterinarians did not appear to have any affect.


The authors discuss the integrated services digital network (ISDN) as an attractive network evolution from existing telephony to support a wide range of both voice and nonvoice telecommunications services. Significant efforts have been devoted to the development of a common European approach and supporting international standards. ISDN interfaces promise a common access method to bearer services (switched and nonswitched) and to teleservices (such as telematic services, at least initially), with both sets of services optionally complemented by supplementary services. Business customers, which are the main potential ISDN users, require international availability of ISDN services with harmonized tariff principles and a high degree of consistency in connecting devices to their international networks. A number of specific ISDN standardization problems are addressed.<<ETX>>


The invention discloses a method for defining and implementing a service configuration view in a PON (Passive Optical Network) system, and relates to the technical field of communication equipment management. The method comprises the following steps: service configuration view definition which specifically comprises defining a service type, configuring a service node and configuring service connection, wherein configuring of the service node comprises configuring a service node ID (Identity), a service node name and a service node coordinate, and all data of the service configuration view definition are stored in a script file; service configuration view definition resolving in which an EMS (Element Management System) acquires each of service configuration view definition data by reading the script file, constructs a service configuration view and equipment type mapping table as well as a service configuration view element memory object, and verifies the integrity of the service configuration view definition data; and service configuration view display implementation, which comprises a service configuration view list, service configuration view definition display as well as service node data display and edition. By adopting the method, the blindness of service configuration is greatly improved, and the service configuration efficiency is increased.


Romania's evolution in the Warsaw Treaty Organization can be assessed as close to historical reality by pursuing her attitude in controversial moments or crises in existence of Alliance, which evolved from crass obedience to disobedience and even defiance of Soviet hegemony. An important point for understanding this evolution is the Hungarian revolution in autumn of 1956, which, although it was defeated, put its mark on the further development of the socialist countries, including Romania.


When the earthquake-soil common behaviour is described, soil-bedrock models are used as a fundamental knowledge. In soil-bedrock descriptions, S-wave velocity is (Vs) used. The mediums are called as a soil where the Vs< 760 m/s; the medium are called as a engineering bedrock where the 760 m/s3000 m/s. In this research, microgravity and surface wave methods (MASW, ReMi, SPAC) were used for obtaining the 2-D soil, engineering-seismic bedrock models of Bornova plain where located at the east of İzmir bay. This study is basically composed of three phases; 1) Obtaining of seismic velocities by using surface wave methods, 2) Calculation of density values which is obtained via seismic velocities by using empirical relations, 3) Creating of soil bedrock model by using microgravity data which correlated with calculated density values.. At the regions where are especially closer to the bay, it was determined that the soil thickness is 300-400 m and it is found that the soil is composed of more than one layers which are shows different physical characterictics 2-Boyutlu (2B) Zemin-Anakaya Modellerinin Oluşturulması: Bornova Ovası (İzmir) Örneği Modelling of 2-Dimensional (2D) Soil-Bedrock Interface: A Case Study of Bornova Plain (İzmir) Eren Pamuk 1 , Özkan Cevdet Özdağ 2* , Mustafa Akgün 3 , Tolga Gönenç3 DEU FMD 21(61), 173-184, 2019 174 individually as in S wave velocity and density. Moreover, it is observed that the soil thickness changes in the direction of N-S.


Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of single-phase flows in microchannels for refrigerant R-134a were experimentally investigated. Experiments were conducted using rectangular channels micro-milled in aluminum with hydraulic diameters ranging from approximately 112-mm to 210-mm and aspect ratios that varied from 1.0 to 1.5. Using overall temperature, flow rate, and pressure drop measurements, friction factors and convective heat transfer coefficients were experimentally determined for steady flow conditions. Reynolds number, relative roughness, and channel aspect ratio were the parameters examined in predicting friction factor and Nusselt number for the experiments. Experiment results indicated transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurred between a Reynolds number of 2,000-4,000. Friction factor results were consistently lower than values predicted by macroscale correlations. Nusselt number results indicated channel size may suppress turbulent convective heat transfer. Results also indicate that surface roughness may affect heat transfer characteristics in the turbulent regime.


Basketball is a competitive sport that scores points by putting the ball into the basket. To win the game, you must hit as many baskets as possible within the effective time. Therefore, shooting training is the most important training subject in daily training, and it is also the training program with the strongest skills and the longest practice accumulation process. To train shooting skills, you can not only practice on the real basketball court, but also practice in the virtual scene. The virtual shooting action simulation system designed in this paper applies computer, intelligent VR technology, Vega virtual simulation technology, database and other technologies to system training. Moreover, the system can restore the real basketball court, allowing users to use the system to play basketball.


Telehealth technology is a 20th century innovation for delivering healthcare services with tremendous benefits in mitigating barriers to obtaining healthcare for many people, including veterans of the United States military. Researchers have identified healthcare access and indirect cost factors at patient and societal levels as gaps needing further investigation with the use of telehealth technology. However, the existence of significant differences in patient satisfaction experiences between active duty, reserve, and retired military veterans who have used telehealth technology requires further research. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative causal-comparative research study was to examine the differences in patient satisfaction with telehealth technology experiences of active duty, reserve and retired military personnel. Using the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire as a data collection instrument (N = 99), significant differences were found in aspects of patient satisfaction between active duty members, reserve duty members, and retired personnel.


Logistics cost are very important in the composition of company management costs. However, visible unfitness is noticed in traditional costing methods to supply adequate data for right management, making people using specific management tools: total cost of ownership, customer profitability analysis, direct product profitability and activity-based costing. Besides, over the years it was presented an incomplete view about the composition of total logistics cost. So, this article's proposal is to introduce some classifications which enable listing each of the main elements that are part of logistics cost; to discuss the use of tools that can make management easier, identifying, measuring and evincing them, considering also the existing countertrading among elements in total logistics cost determination, called trade-offs. This study is theoretical/conceptual, basic, qualitative, descriptive and bibliographic, which aimed to analyse, in periodical articles collected in relevant fonts of research, necessary and important concepts for discussion about the central topic.


Octopuses are intriguing creatures expressing what appear to be emotions and reactions to their environment with eye catching colour changes. However, finding out how these cephalopods respond to their environment is easier said than done. Movies of animals would seem to offer the best alternative


In this paper the first- and second order statistics of soil moisture are derived using the Washita '92 data. Also the possible correlations among the soil texture, the brightness temperature, the NDVI and the soil moisture are investigated based in the linear regression study. Only the correlation between the soil moisture and the brightness temperature shows significant values. The soil moisture decay coefficients in time were estimated for each soil type and cross-checked by calculating the last rainfall time before the observation to be about 20days in all different soil types. The second-order statistics of soil moisture based on the correlogram and the spectrum was analyzed to derive the data characteristics and compared with those of the NDVI and the soil texture. This analysis shows that the soil moisture within the highly correlated soil texture field is affected much by the relatively less correlated vegetation field in the Washita area, where the effect of topography is known to be small. The soil moisture media was derived and its parameters were estimated successfully using the first - and sedcond -order statistics. Keywords : soil moisture, soil moisture model, correlogram, spectrum


The present experiment addressed the effects of different iron (Fe) concentrations in the nutrient solution supplied as Fe-HBED, i.e., 0.02 (Fe0, control), 1.02 (Fe1), and 2.02 mmol L−1 (Fe2) on lettuce ('Nauplus' and 'Romana') yield and compositional traits. This experiment was carried out in a greenhouse using an open soilless cultivation system, at the experimental farm of the University of Catania (Sicily, Italy: 37°24′31.5″ N, 15°03′32.8″ E, 6 m a.s.l.). The addition of Fe-HBED reduced the plants' aboveground biomass (−18%, averaged over Fe1 and Fe2), but promoted their dry matter content (+16% in Fe2). The concentration of chlorophylls, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidants peaked at Fe2, along with the antioxidant capacity and concentration of stress indicators in leaves. The Fe content in leaves was promoted in the Fe-treated plants (+187% averaged over Fe1 and Fe2). 'Romana' showed the highest Fe accumulation (reaching 29.8 mg kg−1 FW in Fe1), but 'Nauplus' proved a higher tolerance to the Fe-derived oxidative stress. The Fe2 treatment maximized leaf N, P, K, S, and Zn contents, while those of Ca, Mg, Mn, and B peaked at Fe1. Overall, our study revealed the effectiveness of Fe-HBED in increasing the Fe content and improving the nutritional quality of lettuce grown in soilless cultivation systems.


This present study aims at (a) describing the students' perception about the form of inspiration of tolerance based on the short story appreciation learning (b) describing the students' perception about the benefits of diversity; (c) describing the students' imaginative attitude in facing intolerance after attending the short story appreciation learning. The data of this current descriptive-qualitative study were the students' opinion towards the inspiration of tolerance grasped after appreciating the short story and their attitude in facing diversity and intolerance. The data sources were students of senior high school in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Based on the purposive sampling, the data sources were 120 students from 4 classes in 4 senior high schools in Surakarta. The data were collected through questionnaires and observation. The data were validated through a source triangulation data. Further, the data were analyzed with critical analysis. The result shows that (1) all students state that they obtain an inspiration to be more tolerate; (b) the students perception towards the benefit of the diversity covers: fostering tolerance, cultivating unity, nurturing peace, and inspiring progressivity; (c) the students' imagination attitude in facing tolerance, among others: educating (4%), advising (68%), tolerating (89%), and creating a tolerant environment (8%).


The chitin synthesis inhibitors such as diflubenzuron are effective in preventing chitinous tissue formation in insect larvae. A number of deleterious insects have been studied in the laboratory and in the field and their control has been obtained. Nontarget organisms include useful insects (Apis mellifera), chitinous organisms such as certain fungi and the arthropods, and the farm animals and birds. Diflubenzuron was found to possess scarce activity on Phycomyces; the extent of the limited consequences on Apis mellifera depended on the nature of the crops sprayed. No activity was reported for a variety of birds. Species within the phylum Arthropoda, on the contrary, and certain stream invertebrates were intoxicated at the insecticide concentrations needed for mosquito control.


Whitefish parasitized with plerocercoids of Triaenophorus crassus are slightly shorter and considerably lighter than non-parasitized fish of the same age. Heavily parasitized tullibee (Leucichthys sps.) grow slightly more slowly than lightly parasitized fish.Whitefish are more affected by the parasites than tullibee, a fact which favours the argument that Leucichthys sps. are the more natural hosts for T. crassus.


[Comment on Lucerna et al, page 122][1]VEGF therapy was shown to be effective for the treatment of ischemic vascular disease. However, possible adverse effects of such treatment continue to be debated.

Lucerna and colleagues show in this issue of Blood that proinflammatory effects of vascular


Autoreactive T cells have been shown to be deleted in the thymus by experiments using V^-specific antibodies or T-cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice (Kappler et al. 1987a, b, 1988, MacDonald et al. 1988, PuUen et al. 1988, Kisielow et al. 1988, Sha et al. 1988, Tomonari & Lovering 1988, Bill ct al. 1989, Berg et al. 1989). The following three lines of evidence show that this clonal deletion mechanism might not to be perfect. (1) V^ll^ T cells, for example, are detectable in small numbers in MHC class II E"*" strains (Tomonari & Lovering 1988, Bill et al. 1989), although the majority of these cells express CD8 but not CD4 (Tomonari this paper). In contrast, virtually all V^6'̂ or V/?8.1 '^ T cells are eliminated in the Mls"^ mice (Kappler et al. 1988, MacDonald et al. 1988). (2) TCR transgenic mice which express the specific antigen/MHC complex have T cells expressing normal levels of transgenic TCR with low levels of CD8 expression (Kisielow et al. 1988) or, in another case, T cells expressing down-modulated transgenic TCR (Berg et al. 1989). (3) In thymus of neonatal mice there are CD4-' CD8" V^6+ T cells which should be specific for Mls-1^ although their TCR are quickly downmodulated soon after birth (Schneider et al. 1989). To complement the clonal deletion mechanism autoreactive T cells appear to be inactivated in the periphery by a mechanism(s) which is called peripheral tolerance. Evidence for the existence of inactivated autoreactive T cells has been obtained from mice with extrathymic expression of transgenic MHC molecules (Allison et al. 1988, Sarvetnick et al. 1988, Lo et al. 1988, Boehme et al. 1989, Murphy et al. 1989). These mice are tolerant to the transgene products in vivo whereas in vitro T cells from these mice can be autoreactive to the transgene products (Boehme et al. 1989, Morahan et al. 1989, Murphy et al. 1989). Although Lo and his collegues do not detect autoreactivity in vitro (Lo et al. 1988, Markmann et al. 1988, Lo et al. 1989), their mice with extrathymic expression of transgenic E molecules do not delete potentially autoreactive Vpila* or 'V05'^ T cells, and these T cells are not activated by WpMaor V^5-speciric antibodies to prohferate (Burkly et al. 1989).


Abstract The innovative use of separation techniques can simplify the management of liquid and solid wastes. Valuable applications can include traditional unit operations as well as hybrid designs that exploit chemical, physical, and biological properties to achieve practical goals. Increasingly stringent release guidelines may dictate the use of separation technologies to recycle waste streams, rather than to decontaminate and discharge them. Process synthesis and design can be especially useful whenever separations are used to convert wastes into usable by-products. The most effective waste management schemes prevent pollution, increase by-product utilization, reduce capital investment, and eliminate unnecessary operating expenses.


The goal of this article is the segmentation of angiographic eye fundus images in order to extract "drusen", yellowish deposits at the retina level. Since classical segmentation methods are not efficient for the automatic extraction of drusen, we introduce a new adaptive approach. We give an adaptive algorithm based on mathematical morphology transforms. For the "maxima h-/spl infin/" transform, we propose an automatic definition of the contrast parameter h. We also introduce an approach with a non-constant function, h(x). The result highlights the bright blobs over an uniform background. Our method gives very satisfying results on typical images.


Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and nitric oxide (NO) are key regulators of ion and water transport in the kidney. Here, we report that these cGMP-elevating hormones stimulate Ca21 reabsorption via a novel mechanism specifically involving type II cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGK II). ANP and the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), markedly increased Ca21 uptake in freshly immunodissected rabbit connecting tubules (CNT) and cortical collecting ducts (CCD). Although readily increasing cGMP, ANP and SNP did not affect Ca21 and Na1 reabsorption in primary cultures of these segments. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that cGK II, and not cGK I, was present in freshly isolated CNT and CCD but underwent a complete down-regulation during the primary cell culture. However, upon adenoviral reexpression of cGK II in primary cultures, ANP, SNP, and 8-Br-cGMP readily increased Ca21 reabsorption. In contrast, no cGMPdependent effect on electrogenic Na1 transport was observed. The membrane localization of cGK II proved to be crucial for its action, because a nonmyristoylated cGK II mutant that was shown to be localized in the cytosol failed to mediate ANPstimulated Ca21 transport. The Ca21-regulatory function of cGK II appeared isotype-specific because no cGMP-mediated increase in Ca21 transport was observed after expression of the cytosolic cGK Ib or a membrane-bound cGK II/Ib chimer. These results demonstrate that ANPand NO-stimulated Ca21 reabsorption requires membrane-targeted cGK II. In mammalian kidney, active Ca21 reabsorption takes place primarily in the distal part of the nephron and involves the coordinated processes of passive Ca21 influx across the luminal membrane by a still unidentified transporter, followed by diffusion through the cytosol of Ca21 bound to calciumbinding proteins, and active extrusion across the opposing basolateral membrane (1–3). It is well established that this transcellular Ca21 transport is under control of hormones, including parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin, and 1,25(OH)2D3, but the regulatory mechanisms involved have not been completely elucidated. One established pathway for stimulating Ca21 transport is the activation of adenylyl cyclase, accumulation of cAMP, and subsequent activation of cAMPdependent protein kinase (cAK) (4). However, recent studies suggest a prominent role of protein kinase C (PKC) (5, 6), possibly in combination with cAK (7), in hormone-stimulated Ca21 transport. Because cGMP-elevating hormones have been suggested to control ion and water transport processes in the intestine and kidney (8, 9), we have now investigated the possibility that cGMP may also have a role in kidney Ca21 transport regulation. Importantly, cortical collecting duct cells have receptors and are considered a target for the action of natriuretic peptides (10). cGMP cascade activation by NO and natriuretic peptides such as atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has been shown to stimulate natriuresis and diuresis in the kidney by increasing glomerular filtration rate, inhibiting renin release in juxtaglomerulosa cells, and inhibiting Na1 and water reabsorption in the collecting duct (9, 11). Downstream effectors of cGMP include cGMP-gated channels, cGMP-regulated phosphodiesterases (PDE), and cGMP-dependent protein kinases (cGK) (12–14). One or more of these targets may mediate cGMP effects on a given function. For example, in the inner medullary collecting duct, cGMP directly and indirectly, via cGK I, inhibits cyclic nucleotide-gated nonselective cation channels (15), thus decreasing Na1 reabsorption (16). Renin release from juxtaglomerular cells not only is stimulated by a mechanism involving cGMP-inhibited PDE (17), but also is inhibited by another mechanism involving cGK II (8, 18, 19). Kidney contains both major types of cGK (8), which are products of two separate genes (20–22). cGK II is a membrane-bound enzyme, whereas the closely related cGK I (consisting of a and b splice variants) is localized predominantly in the cytosol (22, 23). Both cGK forms have been shown to regulate ion channels, for example, cGK II activates the intestinal CFTR Cl2 channel (23), whereas cGK I inhibits a renal cGMP-dependent cation channel (16). In addition, a membrane-bound cGK has been implicated in the stimulation of Ca21-activated K1 channels present in the cortical collecting duct (24), and cGK I has direct and indirect effects on Ca21-activated maxi-K1 (BKCa) channels in several cell types (25). In the present study we investigated the ability of cGMPelevating agents, including ANP and the NO-donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), to modulate Ca21 uptake in freshly isolated rabbit connecting tubules (CNT) and cortical collecting ducts (CCD) and Ca21 and Na1 reabsorption in primary cultures thereof. Because endogenous cGK II was present in The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked ''advertisement'' in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. PNAS is available online at www.pnas.org. This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the Proceedings office. Abbreviations: cGK I and II, types I and II cGMP-dependent protein kinase, respectively; cAK, of cAMP-dependent protein kinase; ANP, atrial natriuretic peptide; CNT, connecting tubules; CCD, cortical collecting ducts; SNP, sodium nitroprusside; 8-Br-cGMP, 8-bromoguanosine cGMP; ISC, short-circuit current; RT-PCR, reverse transcription–PCR. ‡J.G.J.H. and A.B.V. contributed equally to this work. §To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: J.Hoenderop@ bioch.kun.nl.


My term of service covered the journal's second decade. The fi rst decade began with the founding of the journal in 1981 as the scholarly publication of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS). APLS itself had been established in 1980 in order to "advance interest in and encourage scholarship about biopolitics" (


This article deals with an emergency‐scheduling problem for forest fires with limited rescue team resources and priority disaster areas. It aims to determine optimal fire‐fighting routes of limited fire‐fighting teams for forest fires with multiple points subject to their priority levels so as to minimize the total travel distance of all rescue teams. For this problem, an integer linear‐programming (ILP) model is developed to generate its optimal schedule scheme, which is exactly solved by commercial software CPLEX. Moreover, the complexity of the problem is proved to be NP‐hard. Computational results show that benchmark and larger‐scale instances (with up to 100 fire points and 30 fire‐fighting teams) can be exactly solved within about 1 min and the proposed approach outperforms the state‐of‐the‐art one in terms of solution quality and computational time. The experimental results suggest that the proposed approach is potentially suitable for facilitating fast decision‐making when dealing with emergency scheduling for forest fires subject to limited rescue resources. Moreover, a new mixed‐integer program is developed to address the resource‐constrained emergency scheduling for forest fires with priority areas to minimize the total rescue time. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.