Lpr and gld, are loss of function mutations in the Fas death receptor and its ligand, respectively. However, in addition to its pro-apoptotic activity, FasL can also trigger the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The lpr and gld mutations normally result in a lymphoproliferative syndrome and exacerbate clinical disease in SLE autoimmune-prone strains of mice. Unexpectedly, the lpr and gld mutations were reported to attenuate disease progression in mice injected with pristane, an agent known to induce SLE. FasL is a transmembrane protein with a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) cleavage site in the ectodomain. MMP cleavage inactivates membrane-bound FasL (mFasL) and releases a soluble form, sFasL, reported to have both antagonist and agonist activity. To better understand the impact of FasL cleavage, we have eliminated the cleavage site through targeted mutation, to produce the ΔCS line. ΔCS mice express more mFasL and fail to make sFasL. Pristane-injected ΔCS mice exhibit a markedly exacerbated disease profile associated with a striking change in ANA specificity, increased proteinuria and kidney pathology, a massive increase in spleen size due to infiltrating granulocytes and macrophages, a bias toward a Th2 response, and a trend towards increased numbers of Th17 T cells, compared to control mice. These results demonstrate that cleavage plays an important role in limiting the pro-inflammatory activity of FasL in the context of pristane-induced autoimmunity.


suggested as a rapidly inducible, short-term effector of cell viability (iO). It has been shown that induction of Bcl-2 by LMP1 is a delayed response and needs about 48—72h (4). In the present work, we asked whether Md-i expression was changed as a part of the program induced by LMP1 to protect B cells from apoptosis, especially at an early stage prior to up-regulation of Bcl-2. Our results demonstrated that LMP1 induced a rapid and transient up-regulation of the Md-i protein before the induction of Bcl-2.


The experience of living in two culturally distinct worlds and striving for healthy living served as the guiding themes in the development of a wellness curriculum for urban Native Americans ages 9-13. Development, implementation, and evaluation of these processes are presented as a model of participatory curriculum development. The Healthy Living in Two Worlds curriculum was developed as a framework that can be augmented with regionally or tribally specific content so that other urban Native American communities can create wellness programs that meet their needs.


Some initial positions in the study of ethnopolitics in a particular region of the Russian Empire – the western region – are determined, while the interrelation of such categories as empire, multiculturalism, Russification, unification, state unity in the context of the Polish Uprising of 1830–1831 is established. On the basis of legislation and archival materials, the conditions, ideas, directions, stages and means of including the territories returned from Poland into the unified political and legal space of the imperial state are consistently considered. The author asserts the idea and creates the belief that the state unity of the Russian Empire was determined by the historically established conditions of the civilizational order both in the center and in the regions.


A 46‐year‐old man visited our department with masses on the face and a skin problem. Approximately 15 years ago, he had noticed marked thickening of the skin on the face and scalp, which had exaggerated progressively to produce deep wrinklings with seborrhea ( Fig. 1 ). He had profuse perspiration of the face, hands, feet, and the upper aspects of the trunk.


The Terminology and Training workshop on UIC TermEdit was successfully held at RAI Headquarters on 19 May 2014 at UIC Middle East Regional Office. The workshop which took place at the kind…


Biplot analysis has been increasingly used in visual analysis of genotype-by-environment data and other types of two-way data.While many plant breeders and agricultural researchers are enthusiastic about the capacity of biplot analysis in helping them to understand their research data,some statisticians consider the use of biplots as a sidetrack to genotype-by-environment interaction analyses.Confusion also exists among statisticians on what is or is not a biplot.Admittedly,some users of biplot analysis are not always clear on how to select a proper type of biplot for a particular research objective and how to interpret a biplot correctly,accurately,and adequately.Some criticisms of biplot analysis may arise from incomplete understand-ing of the practitioners' research problems as well as of the biplot methodology.In this review,I summarize the experiences and understanding in biplot analysis of genotype-by-environment data achieved during the last decade and discuss the following issues:(1) how to choose a proper biplot;(2) how to choose a proper GGE(genotype + genotype-by-environment interaction) biplot;(3) how to use the key functions of a GGE biplot for genotype evaluation,test-environment evaluation,and mega-environment de-lineation;(4) how to judge the adequacy of a 2-D biplot;and(5) how to test the statistical significance of a biplot pattern.


he discovery in Antwerp of documents describing the copying and binding in 1566 of a luxurious music manuscript intended for the King of Sweden has spurred this investigation of socio-musical relations between northern urban centers. An attempt to identify the manuscript in question has produced no viable extant source in Sweden, but has uncovered a historical trail of diplomacy and intrigue that leads, albeit through circumstantial evidence, to a revised history of the Winchester part books (Winchester College MS 153), one of England's musical treasures. Scholars have long assumed, based on the lavish binding bearing the coat of arms of Elizabeth I, that the Winchester source was a presentation manuscript intended for the English queen, although the identification of its donor has never been satisfactorily answered.' I propose to show that the Winchester part books were


Landform-sediment-process assemblages associated with four gorges and their corresponding downstream boulder fans in the alpine periglaciofluvial system of the Storutla river, Jotunheimen, southern Norway, are described. The potential volume of frost-weathered sediment excavated from the gorges is compared using a sediment-budget approach to calculate the volume of angular sediment within the fans accumulated during the Holocene. Fan volumes represent an estimated 18 to 53% of the total gorge volume. Allowing also for the volume of relatively small caliber material flushed through the system, 24 to 97% of the gorge volume is accounted for by an estimated minimum long-term Holocene rate of gorge excavation of 0.002 to 0.010 m3 m–1 yr–1 (minimum long-term Holocene gorge incision rate of 0.15–0.39 mm yr–1) Most of the remaining gorge volume is attributed to substantial pre-Holocene subglacial gorge incision by meltwater action. These rates of Holocene periglaciofluvial erosion of bedrock appear to exceed those characteristic of temperate fluvial systems unaffected by tectonic uplift. The implied rates of frost weathering (macrogelivation) are less than those under optimum conditions in arctic-alpine environments but support the efficacy of frost weathering in locations susceptible to the annual freeze-thaw cycle.


Carbon fibre reinforced cement based materials (CFRCs) offer the possibility of fabricating "smart" electrically conductive materials. Rheology of the fresh mix is crucial to satisfactory moulding and fresh CFRC conforms to the Bingham model with slight structural breakdown. Both yield stress and plastic viscosity increase with increasing fibre length and volume concentration. Using a modified Viskomat NT, the concentration dependence of CFRC rheology up to 1.5% fibre volume is reported.


Abstract Background Does the genetic aptitude for educational attainment (GAEA) moderate the genetic risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and drug use disorder (DUD)? Methods In the native Swedish population, born 1960–1980 and followed through 2017 (n = 1 862 435), the family genetic risk score (FGRS) for AUD and DUD and GAEA were calculated from, respectively, the educational attainment and risk for AUD and DUD, of 1st through 5th degree relatives from Swedish national registers. Analyses utilized Aalen's linear hazards models. Results Risk for AUD was robustly predicted by the main effects of FGRSAUD [b = 6.32 (95% CI 6.21–6.43), z = 64.9, p < 0.001) and GAEA [b = −2.90 (2.83–2.97), z = 44.1, p < 0.001] and their interaction [b = −1.93 (1.83–2.03), z = 32.9, p < 0.001]. Results were similar for the prediction of DUD by the main effects of FGRSDUD [b = 4.65 (CI 4.56–4.74), z = 59.4, p < 0.001] and GAEA [−2.08 (2.03–2.13), z = 46.4, p < 0.001] and their interaction [b = −1.58 (1.50–1.66)), z = 30.2, p < 0.001]. The magnitude of the interactions between GAEA and FGRSAUD and FGRSDUD in the prediction of, respectively, AUD and DUD was attenuated only slightly by the addition of educational attainment to the model. Conclusions and relevance The genetic propensity to high educational attainment robustly moderates the genetic risk for both AUD and DUD such that the impact of the genetic liability to AUD and DUD on the risk of illness is substantially attenuated in those with high v. low GAEA. This effect is not appreciably mediated by the actual level of educational attainment. These naturalistic findings could form the basis of prevention efforts in high-risk youth.


The conflicting purposes of religious counsellors and legal representatives can lead a prisoner on death row to forfeit his rights


The prevalence and risks of malaria depend on Anopheles vectorial capacity which includes the vector's density, contact with humans and longevity. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the Anopheles species density and Man-Biting Rate in three riverine communities of Taraba State, north-east Nigeria. Monthly sampling of indoor mosquitoes was done between September, 2015 and August 2017 in Ardo Kola, Bali and Donga using Pyrethrum-Spray Catch (PSC), taking note the number of persons that slept overnight in the sampled-rooms and size of the rooms. The collected female Anopheles mosquitoes were identified to species level and sorted out based on gonotrophic status. The fed-ones were tested for human blood antigen using ELISA.1, 073. Anopheles identified contained 14 species. Human Blood Index (HBI) of the fed ones (n = 188) was 1(100%). Indoor-Resting Density of Anopheles were higher in wet season 1.38(60.3%) than in the dry season 0.91(39.7%). t-test analysis showed significant difference in seasonal variations in the Indoor Resting Densities of Anopheles species (p 0.05). Man-biting rate of Anopheles species in seasons showed that Anopheles bite more in wet season 0.78/ night/person (53.1%) than in dry season 0.69/night/person (46.9%). The Anopheles species that bite most in all the seasons were, An.gambiae 0.75(51.0%), An.funestus 0.29(19.7%) and An. constani 0.36(24.5%). No significant differences in MBR in seasons (p>0.05). Anopheles species had highest Man-Biting Rate in Ardo Kola 0.89(60.5%) followed by Bali 0.39(26.5%) and the least was Donga 0.19(13.0%) Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in Man-Biting Rate of Anopheles in study areas (p<0.05). This study shows that Anopheles funestus and Anopheles constani , are competing for second position as major malaria vectors in the study-areas and seasons after An. gambiae . Study of longevity of the vectors is essential to ascertain this. The study-areas need to be given equal treatment in intervention on malaria control. Keywords : Anopheles species; Man-Biting Rate; vector density; vectorial capacity.


The prevention, interception, and correction of dentofacial deformities also depend largely on a proper understanding of craniofacial growth and development. For growth modification to be successful, it is absolutely essential that its start at the right time. The aim of the present study was to assess mandibular size and cervical vertebrae maturation in subjects of both genders with Class I and Class II malocclusions. A total 100 patients; 50 males and 50 females having skeletal class I and II malocclusion were included in the study. Mandibular length was measured in millimeter on lateral cephalograms of each patient. Cervical Vertebral Maturation staging was done according to Baccetti et al. The comparison of mandibular length among gender and class of malocclusion was done. Out of total 100 patients half were males and half females. The age ranged from 8 to 15 years±1.97. The commonest age range was 10-13 years. Mandibular lengths were greater in males from females in skeletal class I malocclusion whole no difference in skeletal class II. The longest length was in CS5.. Statistically significant difference was found in mandibular among the gender but not among class of malocclusion. Key Word: Class II malocclusions, Mandibular length, Cervical Vertebral Maturation staging. Original article


Abstract Recently, more attention has been paid to the conscious translation efforts that produced the Old English Hexateuch/Heptateuch, examining how a number of revisions must be analyzed as an effort to control readerly interpretation. This study contributes to that discussion by considering the translation of Genesis 38, which greatly changes the biblical narrative by removing Tamar's second marriage and any rationale for the death of her first husband. Previously, this omission has been read as a way to streamline the story or avoid unsavory (sexual) topics. We argue, instead, for another, concurrent possibility: to revise the text in light of pre-Conquest views on widowhood. The turn of the millennium saw early English widows gain much more attention in various legal and ecclesiastical sources. These sources, we believe, speak to the concerns of the translator in some of the alterations found in the chapter (including forced remarriage, multiple marriages, the amount of time in between marriages, and the Levirate custom as an institution).


Temperature profiles and catalytic performance over α-alumina-supported nickel catalysts with various Ni loadings (0.2−10 wt %) were studied during the oxidative steam reforming of methane. The catalyst bed temperature during the reaction was dependent on the Ni loading amount. From the viewpoint that the formation of hot spots can be inhibited to some extent, 0.9 wt % Ni was a suitable catalyst in our case, which exhibited the lowest bed temperature at W/F = 0.4 g·h/mol. To investigate the factors that control the bed temperature during the oxidative steam reforming of methane, first, the steam and CO2 reforming of methane was carried out. It was found that the methane conversion gradually increased with increasing Ni loading. Second, the catalytic behavior was examined when the reforming gas (CH4/H2O) was added to the combustion gas (CH4/O2). The results revealed that over the catalyst with lower Ni loading, the combustion activity was rather low; however, the combustion activity and the catalyst bed te...


This paper is subject on the analysis of elevator's quality control of the three steps,such as manufacture inhalation and maintenance and on the relative suggestions of improvement on elevator's safety and quality.


Two experiments were carried out under greenhouse conditions in order to evaluate the effect of different rates of squash seed flour (SSF) (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 g / kg of soil) and the interaction of this organic amendment with Pochonia chlamydosporia (isolate Pc-10) on the control of Meloidogyne javanica. Soil amendment with SSF has shown potential for controlling root-knot nematodes. The reduction of the number of eggs of the nematode was directly related to the rate of the SSF. Reduction of the number of galls was observed with the rates higher than 15 g of SSF / kg of soil. However, the highest rates of SSF caused phytotoxicity in tomato. The combination of SSF and the fungus had no effect on the control of the M. javanica, in comparison to the use of SSF alone. Nematode density was reduced up to 90 % by amending the soil with SSF, either applied alone or with P. chlamydosporia, when compared to the infested control. Further investigation is required to define if soil amendment with SSF can be an alternative to control M. javanica under field conditions.


This article discusses the main indicators characterizing the quality of the assets of a commercial bank, analyzes these indicators using the banks of the Kyrgyz Republic as an example. The methods of bank asset management are described. Based on the data of the National Bank, a study is made of the asset structure of commercial banks of the Kyrgyz Republic. A list of regulatory acts governing the management of bank assets is provided.


Reading geographical distribution patterns and tu rning them into models of historical reconstruction of diffusion, is not only a work of science, but also a fine art, in which the experien ce gathered in the previous analysis of similar or com ple entary distributions contributes considerably t o our perception and interpretation. In the present a rgument, the global distribution of one particular item of material culture will serve as an example of such strategies in distributional analys is: the spiked wheel trap, a common hunting device in Africa and parts of Eu rasia, but apparently not attested anywhere else in the world. Africa and Africans are commonly depicted as totally different from the rest of the Old World. Much of the author's work ov er the past two decades has been aimed at combating this misconception. The distribution patt ern of the spiked wheel trap (first analysed by Lindblom in 1928 / 1935) is so pertinent to this qu estion, that this implement may serve as an 'index fossil' in African prehistory, bringing out the mer its of the 'Pelasgian hypothesis' which the present author has recently advanced, and which is summaris ed by the end of the present argument. The far greater incidence on African soil, linked with the Afrocentrist hypothesis according to which major developments in global cultural history have an Afr ican origin, would tempt us to consider the spiked wheel trap as an African invention which gradually trickled into Eurasia. However, this paper argues the opposite model: (a) a rather localised origin in the Neolithic Exte nd d Fertile Crescent (by which is meant the extend ed region stretching from the then still fertile Sahar a to China), probably in Central Asia; (b) followed by spread, in the wake of the general diffusion of pastoral and agricultural technologies but particularly intensified with the rise of horse -riding and chariot technologies – both being technological innovations emerging in Central Asia c. 6 ka BP and 4 ka BP, respectively; (c) not only were these pastoral technologies respo n ible for cultural spread and proto-globalising homogenisation of the Eurasian Steppe Belt from Ana tolia to the Pacific – from the Late Bronze Age onward they also succeeded in making inroads into s ub-Saharan Africa, both along the Nile valley and along Sahara dessert routes (where rock art represe ntations of chariots abound from the Late Bronze Age on). Sparsely inhabited by hunter-gatherers that lacked both these specific formal cultural systems and the military technology that privileged their owners, t he whole of sub-Saharan Africa was available for expansion of these new items. Hence their preponder a c there in historical times, which however is to be interpreted in terms, not of origin, but of the occupation of an empty niche of cultural ecology. I n the last two to three millennia, African cultures i n sub-Saharan Africa consolidated themselves as a


Activity driven glassy dynamics is ubiquitous in collective cell migration,intracellular transport, dynamics in bacterial and ants colonies as well as artificially driven synthetic systems such as vibrated granular materials, etc. Active glasses are hitherto assumed to be qualitatively similar to their equilibrium counterparts at a suitably defined effective temperature, ff. Combining large-scale simulations with analytical mode-coupling theory for such systems, we show that, in fact, an active glass is qualitatively different from an equilibrium glassy system. Although the relaxation dynamics can be similar to an equilibrium system at a ff, effects of activity on the dynamic heterogeneity (DH), which has emerged as a cornerstone of glassy dynamics, is quite nontrivial and complex. In particular, active glasses show dramatic growth of DH, and systems with similar relaxation time and ff can have widely varying DH. Comparison of our non-equilibrium extended mode-coupling theory for such systems with simulation results show that the theory captures the basic characteristics of such systems. Our study raises fundamental questions on the supposedly central role of DH in controlling the relaxation dynamics in a glassy system and can have important implications even for the equilibrium glassy dynamics.


But this ignores Klavans's proposal that there are some 'affixes', namely clitics, which attach to PHRASES, and is hard to square with Zubizarreta's proposal (1985) that some FREE forms, such as the verb fece in Italian Maria fece leggere quei brani 'Maria had those extracts read', are morphosyntactic 'affixes' but not morphophonological ones. If the conflict here is substantive, it represents an urgent problem for the morphological component (or whatever it is called); but even if it is merely terminological, the failure to avoid it does not inspire confidence in the seriousness with which morphology is regarded by some of the workers at the syntactic interface. On these difficulties, Spencer's non-judgemental stance is perhaps appropriate in a textbook, but one sometimes wishes that he would be a little less diplomatic. One cannot conclude a review of this book without mentioning the numerous exercises which follow every chapter except the last. In devising exercises Spencer draws on an impressive range of languages, including particularly Polish and Chukchee. Many of these exercises are open-ended, and some are profound enough to constitute topics for a PhD rather than a term essay.


Background and Objectives To compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk associated with 5 different dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4is) in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods We identified 534,327 people who were newly prescribed sitagliptin (n=167,157), vildagliptin (n=67,412), saxagliptin (n=29,479), linagliptin (n=220,672), or gemigliptin (n=49,607) between January 2013 and June 2015 using the claims database of the Korean National Health Insurance System. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for major CVD events (myocardial infarction, stroke, or death) among users of different DPP-4is. The model was adjusted for sex, age, duration of DPP-4i use, use of other glucose-lowering drugs, use of antiplatelet agents, hypertension, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, microvascular complications of diabetes, Charlson comorbidity index, and the calendar index year as potential confounders. Results Compared to sitagliptin users, the fully adjusted HRs for CVD events were 0.97 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94–1.01; p=0.163) for vildagliptin, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.71–0.81; p<0.001) for saxagliptin, 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92–0.98; p<0.001) for linagliptin, and 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80–0.88; p<0.001) for gemigliptin. Conclusions Compared to sitagliptin therapy, saxagliptin, linagliptin, and gemigliptin therapies were all associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events.


Stroke is the second leading causes of death worldwide and one of the leading causes of disability. The most common cause of stroke is represented by cerebral ischemia and approximately 80% of strokes are due to ischemic cerebral infarction and 20% due to brain haemorrhage. Diabetes Mellitus is a very common metabolic disorder and it is an independent risk factor for stroke and is associated with 2 to 6 fold increased risk compared with non-diabetic subjects and worsens survival of patients with acute stroke. The rate of non-enzymic glycosylation of hemoglobin is believed to depend largely or solely on plasma glucose concentration. Hence this study is to correlate HbA1c levels with clinical profile and Infarct size in patients with Acute Ischemic stroke. Objectives: To see the levels of HbA1c in Acute Ischemic stroke patients. To calculate the infarct size and severity of stroke in Acute Ischemic stroke patients. To estimate the HbA1C levels and correlate HbA1C levels with clinical profile and size of infarct in Acute ischemic stroke patients. Methodology: This a cross sectional descriptive study. Results: This is an cross sectional study including 64 patients. Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 60-69 years, with mean age of 63.59±12.59 years. The male to female of 1.37: 1.There were 25 patients (39.1%) well controlled Diabetes patients, 16 (25.0%) fairly controlled and 23 (35.9%) were poorly controlled Diabetic patient. The common risk factors were Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia, Rheumatic heart disease and Retroviral disease. The NIHSS score increased as the infarct size increased from well controlled to poorly controlled diabetes. Increased severity of stroke is seen in poorly controlled diabetes which correlates with the infarct size. Conclusion: HbA1c levels, NIHSS score correlates well with the infarct size. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes were found to have increased NIHSS score and increased severity of stroke. Severity of the stroke worsened from well controlled diabetes to poorly controlled diabetes. HbA1c should be considered as an independent risk factor for poor clinical outcome and worse prognosis. Early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes including lifestyle modification and periodic monitoring of HbA1c levels may reduce the development of stroke and morbidity and mortality associated with it.


Abstract : It has been verified that H atoms are formed when formaldehyde vapor at 300 C is illuminated by the 3 655 A group of the mercury arc. Isolation of the group of lines was achieved by a combination of glass and solution filters. This observation gives further support to the high value of D(H-CO). It was found that D2CO also predissociated following absorption at this wavelength. 2this observation is not in agreement with predictions based on purely spectroscopic studies of these molecules. (Author)


An accelerator-opening-degree detection device for a vehicle includes: a sensor case (5) fixed to a bar-shaped steering handle (H); a rotor (6) arranged adjacent to the sensor case (5), the rotor being coupled with an accelerator grip (G); an accelerator-opening-degree sensor (25) accommodated and held in the sensor case (5), the accelerator-opening-degree sensor configured to detect a rotation angle of the rotor (6); and a return spring configured to urge the rotor (6) toward an initial position. A spiral spring (20) is accommodated in an annular spring-accommodating groove (12) formed in the sensor case (5). In order to form the return spring by the spiral spring (20), an end of the spiral spring (20) on an outer periphery and an end thereof on an inner periphery are respectively locked with the sensor case (5) and the rotor (6), and a narrow portion (12a) is provided in the spring-accommodating groove (12), a resilient belt-shaped plate of the spiral spring (20) being held in the narrow portion (12a) in a state where portions of the resilient belt-shaped plate in the narrow portion (12a) are stacked to be always in slidable contact with each other. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a favorable acceleration operation feeling over the entire operating range of an accelerator grip while special-hysteresis-generation-means is not provided.


Ochratoxins are possible human carcinogens. The aim of this study is to develop a sensitive competitive immunofluorescent analysis for determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) on the base of immobilized polyclonal antibody against ochratoxin and F(ab)2 fragment on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Competitive immunoassay was performed by using variety concentrations of OTA and constant concentration of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled OTA. The analytical characteristics of the analysis with immobilized polyclonal antibody and F(ab)2 fragment were very closely.


— This paper aims to give a general description of the basic features of a three phase to three phase matrix converter in terms of performance and of technological issues. This paper does not require to the reader a special knowledge of the matrix converter technology. It is worth noting that the three phase to three phase configuration is just one of the possible direct AC-AC converter topologies [1], which are not in the scope of the present report.


PURPOSE
We undertook a prospective, randomized phase III trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using a phase II agent before initiating therapy with standard combination chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 365 women with measurable metastatic breast cancer, previously untreated with chemotherapy for their metastatic disease, were randomized to receive either immediate chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil (CAF) or up to four cycles of one of five sequential cohorts of single-agent drugs: trimetrexate, melphalan, amonafide, carboplatin, or elsamitrucin, followed by CAF.

RESULTS
The toxicity of each single agent followed by CAF was comparable to that of CAF alone. The cumulative response rates for the single agent followed by CAF were not statistically different from those of CAF alone (44% v 52%; P = .24). However, in the multivariate analysis, patients with visceral disease had a trend toward lower response rates on the phase II agent plus CAF arm (P = .078). Although survival and response duration also were not statistically significantly different between the two study arms (P = .074 and P = .069, respectively), there was a suggestion of benefit for the CAF-only arm.

CONCLUSION
The brief use of a phase II agent, regardless of its efficacy, followed by CAF resulted in response rates, toxicities, durations of response, and survival statistically equivalent to those seen with the use of CAF alone. These findings support the use of a new paradigm for the evaluation of phase II agents in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer.


Table I . Physical Data, Yields, and Synthetic Conditions 2,4-Toluenediamine, an intermediate in polyurethane foam and elastomer production, has a carcinogenic effect in rats (2. 3, 6 ) . Acetylaminotoluenes are possible metabolites of 2,4-toluenediamine, and the purpose of this study was to prepare various acetylated derivatives of 2,4-toluenediamine for determining spectral and other physicochemical characteristics. This information is being used to identify 2,4-toluenediamine metabolites as well as to help define the effects of chemical structure on the acute and chronic toxicity in animals.


Aluminum Nitride(ALN)is a high thermal conductivity material which is being used with increasing frequency in packaging applications for high brightness LEDs(HBLED).This paper introduce Aluminum Nitride substrate fabrication process and different ALN metallization approaches.It is clear that the most technically appropriate metallization approach for HBLED packging is DPC.This paper explain why the cost of ALN substrate is so high and give the future of ALN in HBLED applications.


Regardless of which country, all public libraries need facilities, collections, and funds. But how well the library system succeeds depends on the staff committed to providing the highest possible level of service to the community. The public library, therefore, should employ the appropriate number of full-time staff. In order to warrant such a work force, this study analyzed the juridical justification, logical validity, realistic fitness, and usefulness of current legal and recommended staffing standards. This study also suggested the revisions of total space of buildings and collection size as crucial variables for library staffing, division of legal service populations, basic staffing level, and additional staff in proportion to service populations for public libraries in Korea.


I. Introductory; peculiarities as regards fire insurance rates in the United States, 447. — How the price of indemnity differs from ordinary prices, 448. — II. The theory of these rates, 450. — Classification no sure way of measuring hazard, 452. — Analysis of hazard into component parts, 453. — Influence of geographical area, 455. — III. Conflagrations a disturbing factor in the United States, 457. — IV. State regulation of three kinds: (1) Valued policy laws, 458. — (2) Anti-coinsurance laws, 460. — (3) Anti-trust laws, 462. — Conclusion, 464.


The use of biochar has been proposed as a stable carbon (C) amendment with long-term carbon (C) storage potential in agricultural soils while improving primary productivity. However, this concept has not been widely tested in contrasting soils under temperate pasture systems. To address this knowledge gap, a 13C-labelled biochar, produced from Eucalyptus saligna biomass by slow pyrolysis (450° C; d13C -36.7‰) was surface (0"10 cm) applied in C3 dominated, annual temperate pasture systems across Arenosol, Cambisol and Ferralsol. The results show that only 2% of the applied biochar-C was mineralised in a relatively clayand C-poor Arenosol, 4.6% in a clayand C-rich Cambisol, and 7% in a clayand C-rich and earthworm-abundant Ferralsol over 12 months. Biochar application increased soil C stock, while the mean residence time of biochar-C, an indicator of its stability in soil, decreased with increasing native C content and/or pasture productivity across the soils i.e. Arenosol (71 years) < Cambisol (39 years) < Ferralsol (29 years). Biochar application increased pasture growth rate only on two occasions over 12 months in the Ferralsol but not in the other pasture-soil systems. The biochar-C recovery to 12"30 cm depth varied as 1.2% (Arenosol), 2.7% (Cambisol) and 15.7% (Ferralsol) after 12 months. Cumulative CO2-C emission from native soil-plant sources was lower (p <0.10) in the biochar-amended vs. non-amended Ferralsol. This study shows that the downward migration of biochar-C exceeded its loss via mineralisation in the Arenosol and Ferralsol but in the Cambisol. This migration of biochar to deeper soil layers could enhance C sequestration potential in soil systems.


Reaction of 2-aminobenzoic acid with (N-isocyanimino)triphenylphosphorane proceeds smoothly at r. t. to afford 2-(1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)aniline in high yield. The structure of this compound was confirmed by IR, 1H, and 13C NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and single crystal X-ray structure determination. The X-ray structural analysis of the product indicated that its aromatic rings are approximately co-planar


Equations for the liquid velocity profile and the average gas hold-up in bubble columns including cocurrent flow are proposed. It is shown that the inversion point of liquid flow can be used as the characteristic parameter for calculating the liquid flow profiles and gas hold-up. A tracer method was developed to measure the inversion point of liquid flow in bubble column reactors. For water as the liquid phase this inversion point was found at a distance from the column axis of 0·70 0·73 times the column radius. Besides, bubble velocities and bubble diameters in water and methanol-water solutions were determined, using a 5-point conductivity microprobe. It was found that in dilute solutions of methanol the bubble velocity is lower than in pure water. With increasing superficial gas velocity, the bubble velocity steadily increases in pure water, whereas in methanol-water solution it first decreases and, after reaching a minimum, increases too.


ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study examined the long-term associations between two kinds of politics courses—required political science courses and required family policy courses—and the political participation, knowledge, skill, efficacy, and politically engaged identity of child and family studies alumni. Two special cases were examined: those who remembered their required political science and policy courses compared with the other groups. Additionally, open-ended responses were coded and analyzed. Together, the quantitative and qualitative data suggest that college courses impacted alumni political awareness in college but political awareness did not translate as strongly into later political participation as previous literature has assumed. Findings highlight the importance of postcollege personal connections and work experience in shaping political participation. Educators and researchers should consider this complex relationship between what students learn in college and what they may later experience in adulthood when developing curriculum for students who are not political science majors.


This paper presents an on-line stabilization control method developed with the aim of maintaining transient stability in a local power system which includes large-capacity generation plants. The characteristics of this method are that the power/angle curve is estimated from the on line active and reactive power measured at the generator terminal, and the optimum generation shedding for stabilization is determined by applying the equal area method to this curve.

Simulation tests using detailed models of the power system confirmed that the optimum generation shedding for stabilization could be computed for various fault conditions, both symmetrical or asymmetrical.

It was also determined that the on-line data could be sampled for several tens of milliseconds after clearing the fault. Thus, this method provides effective control logic for practical stabilizing systems.


The consequence of the murder of a Maori miner was the immediate abandonment of the Tui mines, but as the year progressed fields elsewhere came to the fore and Te Aroha was disparaged as a disappointment. As previously, unskilled miners combined with a lack of capital handicapped the field, and as attempts to find a payable main reef failed, mining declined and miners departed for better prospects. No discoveries of any significance were made in any claim, and once the battery commenced work it quickly proved the poverty of the ore. And all hopes of finding alluvial ore were illusory. Some claimholders remained hopeful, even spending their own money to make a road to get ore from the mountainside to the flat because the county council had not made one, and the Waikato Times correspondent's optimism remained boundless. Overall, insufficient development was done to prove the value of the field, and as prospecting faded and capital was not attracted mining had to cease, with companies collapsing and unworked ground being forfeited. By late 1881, the field was dismissed as being a duffer. IMPACT OF THE MURDER The immediate impact of the murder of Himiona Haira1 was that threats of utu meant miners deserted claims 'in exposed places',2 meaning the Tui district. Because of 'an uneasy feeling' amongst Te Aroha residents, no Pakeha were working there, 'nor will they till the murder has blown over'.3 In May, Kenrick reported that Maori 'at once deserted their claims, a number of European miners doing the same; work in consequence was almost at a stand-still for nearly a month in many claims'.4 He granted protection while the threat lasted, but it was lamented that many who left were 'sure not to return, and consequently the Omahu district will not be so thoroughly prospected as it would have been'.5 By 12 March, Tui was 1 See paper on 'Revolting Murder at Te Aroha'. 2 Thames Star, 26 February 1881, p. 2. 3 Thames Star, 15 February 1881, p. 2. 4 Harry Kenrick to Under-Secretary, Gold Fields, 2 May 1881, AJHR, 1881, H-17, p. 13. 5 Thames Advertiser, 16 February 1881, p. 3.


Crystal structures of a series of the title compounds are compared. Classes I, II and II' with 2, 4 and 8 tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) moieties per translation period, respectively, are distinguished. For class I a subclassification is made according to: the number of inequivalent stacks (1 or 2); cation disorder [dynamic (d) or static (s)]; and chain directions [parallel (p) or crossed (c)]. Crystals of classes II and II' appear to be of type (1,d,p). Disorder of the cations is a frequent phenomenon. Generally, changes in the ordering of the cations play an important role in the phase transitions


Objective To explore the CT imaging features of intracranial meningiomas, and improve the diagnostic accuracy. Methods The clinical and imaging data of 55 cases of intracranial meningiomas which confirmed by pathology were analyzed retrospectively, and compared with surgery and pathology, and summarize the CT imaging features of intracranial meningiomas. Results Forty-six cases showed high density, 5 showed isointensity, and 4 were mixed density, hyperostosis osteosclerosis of the skull could be seen in twenty-nine cases; edema around the tumor in twenty-two cases. Forty-five cases of tumor with clear edge, ten cases of tumor with blurry edge. 47 cases showed obvious homogeneous enhancement after enhanced, and 2 had inhomogeneous enhancement; three cases showed mild enhancement; two cases had no enhancement. Ring-like enhancement could be seen around the tumor. Conclusion The classical CT imaging features of the intracranial meningiomas is that the lesion located out of the brain, attached to the dura with wide substrate, showed iso-intensity or high density, and had obvious homogeneous enhancement after enhanced.


Downy mildew is an endemic disease that virtually threatended the very existence of bajra (Pearl millet) in the early seventies


It introduced mechanism of long effective nitrogen fertilizer by means of adding composite restraint agent so as to increase the utilization rate of nitrogen element, the newest production process was analyzed for slow released/long effective compound and mixed fertilizer, contrast test was made for the application effect of this compound/mixed fertilizer with common compound/mixed fertilizer, evaluation was made for economic benefit of industrial production. The result indicates that long effective nitrogen fertilizer is used in the slow released compound fertilizer can make the utilization rate of nitrogen element to be increased by 10%, fertilizer effectiveness period can be extended to 100~120 days, industrial production profit is 40 RMB Yuan per ton.


Italian family doctors have a new working contract. The main trade union and the Minister of Health signed this contract last month. This change was made against a background of strikes and manifestations. The contract involves combining general practice with paediatric and emergency services into primary care units providing 24-hour cover. Outside Italy, it has been reported that primary care groups or primary care trusts are the way forward; in the UK, GPs work in National Health Service partnerships. But, that is totally different to the Italian situation where the units are not .financially and contractually trusts. It was decided, without consultation, that GPs have to cover 24 hours a day, in rotation, thinking it would be good for patients and quality of care, although there is no evidence to support this. And, this at a time of economic recession and without government financing as for instance in the UK. Under the new contract, doctors can work in teams in several ways: by creating partnerships where they are currently working, or with colleagues elsewhere, with different hours to offer full cover, or in a UTAP (territorial unit of primary care) together with other specialists. UTAPs will be better funded than doctors working at different locations. With this contract the already onerous bureaucratic obligations will increase and at the same time professional freedom will decrease. General practice will become a sub-product of hospitals. Many decisions.about the organisation of work will be taken at regional level so we need some months more to give a definitive opinion. We perceive great discontent about the contract. On 5 February family doctors involved in undergraduate teaching met in Milan. The aims of the workshop were to determine what was being taught and where in the Italian universities to promote the discipline in all universities, to find a common way to teach family medicine, and to organise a National Conference on these issues to be held next September. Slowly but surely, family medicine will also become academic speciality in Italy.


This paper proposes adaptive quantization algorithms for video coding using the information obtained from the previously encoded image. Before quantizing the DCT coefficients, the properties of reconstruction error of each macro block(MB) is estimated from the previous frame. For the estimation of the error of the current MB, a block with the size of MB in the previous frame is chosen. Since the original and reconstructed images of the previous frame are available in the encoder, we can evaluate the tendency of reconstruction error of this block in advance. Then, this error is considered as the expected error of the current MB. Comparing the error of the MB with the average of overall MBs, if it is larger than the average, a small step size is given for this MB, and vice versa. As a result, the error distribution of the MB is more concentrated to the average, yielding low variance and improved image quality. For reducing the blocking artifact, the error measure for the blocking artifact is also considered as well as SAD(sum of absolute difference) and PSNR. Especially for low bit application, the proposed algorithm yields much smaller error variance and higher PSNR compared to the conventional TM5. We also propose a modified algorithm for efficient hardware implementation.


Reaction of the title compound 2 with a variety of alkylating agents regioselectively gave, depending on the reaction conditions used, 4-alkylated compound 3 or 6-alkylated compound 4, which were further alkylated to afford the dialkylated compounds 5–7 in similar ways.


Objective: To determine the frequency of common risk factors in stable COPD patients presented to outpatient department of Pulmonology unit Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar. Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Pulmonology unit, Khyber Teaching Hospital from July 2010 to July 2011 (One Year). Data was collected by Convenience sampling (non probability. A total of 196 patients with stable COPD were included in the study. Demographic data and common risk factors like gender, smoking status, indoor air pollution exposure, occupational exposure and family history, were recorded and analyzed through an objective oriented proforma. Results: Out of 196 patients 80% were males and 20% were females. Mean age was 55.28 (±8.91SD) years. Among them 137 (70%) were smokers and 59(30%) were non-smokers. Among the smokers 36% were current smokers, 24% were ex-smokers and 10% were passive smokers, while 14% of the nonsmokers were exposed to indoor air pollution, 13% were affected by occupational exposure and3%were having positive family history. Conclusion: Cigarette smoking, indoor air pollution and occupational exposure were the common risk factors for the development of COPD where cigarette smoking being the commonest.


Background:Injection drug use (IDU) is considered the major risk factor for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection. We examined risk factors for HIV/HCV coinfection in a region with a low reported rate of IDU. Methods:We identified 146 HIV/HCV coinfected patients in Jackson, Mississippi. Medical records were reviewed for demographics, social history, and risk factors for HIV and HCV acquisition. A randomly selected group of HIV-monoinfected patients from the same clinic served as a control group. Results:History of IDU (P < 0.0001), crack cocaine use (P < 0.0001), incarceration (P < 0.0001), and syphilis (P < 0.0001) were significantly associated with HCV infection in this cohort of HIV patients. However, the reported rate of IDU (32.5%) is lower than other published HIV/HCV–infected cohorts. Conclusions:HIV/HCV patients in Mississippi are less likely to report a history of IDU than other coinfected populations, suggesting an alternative means of HCV transmission. Further studies are needed to examine the role of syphilis, crack cocaine use, and incarceration as risk factors for HCV infection in this population of HIV patients.


This research will seek to compare bamboo reinforced concrete beams and steel reinforced concrete beams experimentally. Special emphasis will be laid on how both sets of beams respond to nominal moments. The main aim is to find out the applicability of bamboo reinforced concrete beams against steel reinforced concrete beams in developing countries wherein bamboo is easily available as compared to steel reinforcement bars. The behaviors in terms of crack patterns will be also discussed including their stress and strain behaviors as well under the same kind of loading and with the same loads applied. Two (2) sets of beams were designed to investigate three (3) parameters namely; compressive strength on concrete, longitudinal reinforcement and transverse reinforcement. All beam cross-sections were maintained throughout the experiment as well as cross-section areas of rebars in each case. The shapes of the rebars were different; round in the case of steel and rectangular in bamboo. All bamboo rebars were treated with Sikadur to improve their bond strengths. The steel reinforced beams were reinforced with 2f10mm for compression bar and 3f10mm and 6f10mmfor tension bars, which correspond to longitudinal reinforcement ratio of 0.42%, 0.63% and 1.26% respectively. Whereas, the bamboo reinforced bars(rebars) used 2 bars 8x8 mm (for compression bar) and two cases of 3 bars and 6 bars of 8×8 mm (for tension bars) corresponding to longitudinal reinforcement ratio of 0.34%, 0.51% and 1.02% respectively. The spacing of the stirrups (6mm steel bars) were 150mm and 300mm for each case. The beams were also investigated for the effect of strengths of concrete of 20MPa and 30MPa.


How to Cite this Article: Salehpour Sh. Clinical Manifestations of Type 1 Gaucher Disease. Iran J Child Neurol Autumn 2012; 6:4 (suppl. 1):13-14. pls see PDF. Refe r ences 1. Beutler E, Grabowski GA. Gaucher disease. In: Metabolic and molecular bases of inherited disease, Scriver CR, Beaudet AL, Sly WS, Valle D (Eds), McGraw-Hill, New York 2001: 3635. 2. Cox TM, Schofield JP.   Gaucher's disease: clinical features  and   natural   history.   Baillieres   Clin Haematol. 1997 Dec;10(4):657-89.


This article considers contemporary border management regimes from a human rights perspective. It demonstrates how a preoccupation with border controls and enforcement has led to serious concerns for the safety and protection of migrants. As border zones have expanded, border crossing has become a more stigmatized and dangerous activity, and even as globalization has given rise to easier and faster international travel, for some, such movement has been outlawed and stigmatized. Measures to strengthen and "secure" borders have paradoxically made migrants, particularly irregular and vulnerable migrants, more at risk of violence and exploitation by non-State and State actors. Migration governance regimes at international borders are thus increasingly located within security and enforcement frameworks that pay little attention to the principles and standards of international human rights law. The paper argues that a human rights-based approach to such regimes is urgently needed, in order to address a growing human rights crisis at international borders.


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing control fingers, using metal powder injection molding. The method comprises a step of obtaining a raw material to be injection-molded by mixing metal powder and a binder; a step of forming a molded body by using a nozzle to inject the obtained raw material into a mold with a control finger shape; a step of removing grease from the molded body; a step of forming a sintered body by sintering the molded body from which the grease is removed; and a step of post-processing the sintered body. The method is provided to improve the dimensional accuracy of a control finger by using metal powder injection molding instead of casting which is a conventional manufacturing method, thereby securing high economic feasibility and to form an optimal powder composition and set up an optimal processing condition, thereby manufacturing control fingers applicable to manual transmissions used under severe conditions. [Reference numerals] (S100) Mixing; (S110) Injection molding; (S120) Grease-removing; (S130) Sintering; (S140) Postprocessing


A combined philosophical and social psychological study of over 40 of the Apollo moon Scientists reveals that the Orthodox or Received View of Scientific Theories is found wanting in several respects: (1) observations are not theory-free; (2) scientific observations are not directly observable; and (3) observations are no less problematic than theories. The study also raises some severe criticisms of distinction between the context of discovery and the context of justification. Not only does this distinction fail to describe the actual practice of science but even more important it has the dangerous effect of excluding some of the strongest lines of evidence which could most effectively challenge the distinction. The distinction is harmful of efforts to found interdisciplinary theories and philosophies of science.


The hyperfine field at the position of Fe57 nuclei in UFe2 was measured by means of the Mossbauer effect. The transmission through the powdered UFe2 sample of 14.4-kev gamma rays emitted from Co57 incorporated in silicon was observed at liquid nitrogen temperature as a function of the velocity of the gamma-ray source. The estimated value of the hyperfine field at room temperature was estimated to be 20 + 8 kilo-oersteds. The absorption pattern at liquid nitrogen temperature spread broadly and the intensity of the two outermost absorption lines is three times larger than that of the two central lines indicating values of less than 65 kilo-oersteds for the hyperfine field of Fe57 in UFe2.


tag=1 data=Monarchy vs Republic. by Justice Michael Kirby

tag=2 data=Kirby, Justice Michael

tag=3 data=Reform,

tag=5 data=65

tag=6 data=Autumn 1993

tag=7 data=26-31.

tag=8 data=CONSTITUTION

tag=10 data=All sorts of people, from merchant bankers to cartoon koalas, believe that Australia's transition to a republic is inevitable.

tag=11 data=1993/5/10

tag=12 data=93/0571

tag=13 data=CAB


Building membranes are integral parts of North American buildings. Some are installed beneath commonly used exterior claddings, brick, and stucco to reduce the risk of water infiltration into the wall systems. Others are used for controlling vapor diffusion though the envelope or as the airtight element of the air barrier system of the envelope. To determine the suitability of a membrane for its intended application, it is necessary to have reliable information on its inherent physical properties. This paper reports the water vapor permeance, the air permeance, and the water absorption coefficient for 18 building membranes that are found in North American markets today. These membranes include paper-based as well as polymer-based materials. The properties reported here show that at the design stage most of the membranes can be considered as the airtight element of air barrier systems and as part of the second line of defense against rainwater penetration. The membranes provide a range of values for water vapor permeance and therefore open up opportunities for a designer to integrate innovative vapor diffusion control strategies for exterior walls and to prolong their service lives.


Perovskites types Ba(Zr0.05Ti0.95)O3 (BZT) modified by Mg2+ in order to obtain Ba1-xMgx(Zr0.05Ti0.95)O3 ceramics were prepared by conventional powder mixing procedure (with x = 0.025, 0.050 and 0.075). The XRD study at the room temperature suggests ceramics have phase pseudo cubic symmetry. The behavior of the dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss measured revels that the materials are of relaxor type and undergo a diffuse type ferroelectric phase transition.


Advances in fabric strain sensors have established a route to comfortable‐to‐wear flexible electronics with particularly remarkable permeability and low modulus due to their porous fabric microstructure. A key challenge that remains unsolved is to regulate the sensor response via on‐demand design for a variety of application scenarios to sufficiently exploit the highest possible sensitivity. While recent reports have described a variety of options in varying the material and orientation of the overall fiber mat, the development of approaches where multiple sensors with different responses can be integrated on a single substrate without affecting macroscopic mechanical properties remains an area of continued interest. Herein, a simple mechanical strategy is reported, which plates the patterned functional material on the fabric mat at a pre‐stretched state in the prescribed direction, and control of direction and prestrain forms either sensors with different responses or strain‐insensitive interconnects. A systematic study has revealed the underlying mechanism of this strategy, which can serve as a guideline for the on‐demand design and fabrication of fabric strain sensors. Demonstration applications in motion monitoring bandages and gesture recognition gloves illustrate capabilities in functional epidermal sensing devices.


ABSTRACT Many studies on international migrations have concentrated on South-North migrations, causes and consequences of such migrations, sending and receiving countries and characteristics of migrants' interfaces. there is much less scholarly work on South-South migrations, and academic and policy works on wider Africans' migrations into South Africa are particularly scarce. even among the very few existing studies on South-South migrations, very few account for migrants' existentialities in South Africa – a nation experiencing the largest scale migrations in Africa and strategising to cope with associated issues, especially among the hard-to-reach migrant communities. This article therefore, examines the ramifications of experiences and existences or existentialities of ethiopian and Nigerian immigrants in South Africa as crucial case study for the growth of pan-Africanism. the approach adopted for this article is transnational systematic interactions and observations in Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. Secondary sources from unclassified documents, scholarly journals, reports and reliable Internet sources were utilised. The findings suggest the need for more robust, inclusive and dynamic social/migration policies in South Africa, as well as other southern nations experiencing high immigration. the argument is that the receiving nations of migrants must pay more attention to objective and comprehensive understanding of migrants and migrant communities to sustainably appropriate migration's gains and to ameliorate unintended migration consequences.


Abstract Master limited partnerships (MLPs) in the energy sector offer positive alpha and a beta lower than one in more recent period of 2001–2016 as oil prices experience a big upward swing. Further analyses confirm a negative relation between MLPs' alphas and their betas, consistent with the pattern documented by Frazzini and Pedersen (2013). MLPs provide no hedge against inflation risk or against a volatile stock market. Simulations show that these MLPs provide investors with higher returns, lower risk, and thus a higher Sharpe ratio than the traditional strategy of buy-and-hold the S&P 500 index fund.


This paper proposes a series of buck-boost three-level inverters for neutral-point-clamped (NPC) and dc-link-cascaded (DCLC) topologies using the SEPIC-derived front-end circuits with the bidirectional operation capability which can be modulated using either phase disposition (PD) or alternative phase opposition disposition (APOD) modulation scheme. To achieve the optimized harmonic performance corresponding to the PD modulation, the buck-boost three-level inverter is designed with two special voltage boost circuitries. For further minimizing the component count, only one voltage boost circuitry is assumed to regulate the dc-link voltage with the designed APOD modulation adopted. By separately controlling the switching signals of upper full-bridge in the dc-link cascaded inverter, the voltage boost circuitry can be simplified with single dc switch, which significantly reduces whole system cost and switching losses. All theoretical findings have been verified experimentally using laboratory prototypes.


The Digital Intermediate Paradigm Video Photographic Film Digital Media Acquisition Asset Management Conforming Color Grading Retouching and Restoration Digital Effects and Titles Output Quality Control The Future of Digital Film Virtual Cinematography Appx A: References Glossary Bibliography, Index


The capital flight is a special kind of capital outflow, which is also an important index of weighing a country's economic development,Though capital flight in our country is relatively on low level and we are on the top of the list of developing countries in utilizing foreign capital,we have been a country in the state of net capital outflow.Our current political and economic environment, some of our economic system and policy together with the behavior of the micro asset owners are the answers to that problem.


For provincial data,both in volume and importance,"Gray Literature" plays an important role and unique status which published literature cannot reach. Therefore,it is very important to focus on collecting,developing,utilizing and researching of gray literature in provincial level. We,accordingly,need to study the system,organization and means of collecting and maintaining the data so that we could use the gray literature efficently.


The article deals with the critical reception of the Cartesian theory of the eternal truths. It aims to analyze the central role played by Descartes' doctrine in Early Modern Philosophy, with particular regard to the reflections of Leibniz, Malebranche and Spinoza. Indeed, part of their philosophy can be considered as an attempt to criticize the premises of the Cartesian theory in order to avoid their consequences. There are then strong reasons for believing that the importance of the theodicean issues in Early Modern Philosophy is directly related to Descartes' doctrine of the free creation of the eternal truths.


To elicit voluntary saccades, subjects were placed in complete darkness and then subjected to a repeatedly flashing stimulus. They were asked to look at a target located 10 degrees to the right of the flashing stimulus. Several flashes were produced in a basic saccade direction. The stimulus was halted after onset of the saccade in time. The subjects were asked to report the position of the rightmost flash in the perceived flashes. In one experimental condition, clear background stimuli (the saccade target, fixation point, etc.) were presented and in others none were presented. Our results showed that background stimuli affected the perceived position of the rightmost flash. Our previous study suggested the perceived position of the rightmost flash was affected by the locations subjects were asked to direct the attention during the experiment. The results of the present study are discussed in this report related to predicted attention behavior during the experiment as influenced by background stimuli.


This problem belongs to an area of mathematics known as enumerative geometry, the origins of which date from the 19 century, when much progress was made, and even earlier to classical Euclidean geometry. At the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Paris in 1900, Hilbert listed a set of 23 problems in mathematics, one of which, the 15, asked questions on the general theory of enumerative geometry. Despite this promising start, progress in the 20 century was slow and it was not until the closing decade of the century that spectacular advances were achieved using ideas not from geometry but from quantum field theory and string theory. This article will describe some of the ancient and modern mathematics behind this breakthrough and how this is being used in the opening years of the 21th century. The story will take us from the original problem, via topology, string theory and the banks of a canal in Scotland, to a fusion of apparently disparate areas of mathematics and physics.


This paper hereby contains the idea that the essential parts to eliminate obstacles concerning with teachers, students and courses, which exist in education via internet, are to get the proper acquaintance of the shifts of the roles between teachers and students, which are different from those in traditional teaching pattern, to make teachers function their monitoring and to train the students to be capable of volunteering studying so as to guarantee the teaching quality and complete teaching tasks.


678 I April 2002, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a Clinical Practice Guideline for the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome. OSA is one component of a spectrum of sleep disorders known as sleep disordered breathing (SDB). SDB ranges from primary snoring (isolated snoring without obstructive apnea, arousals, or gas exchange abnormalities) to upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) to OSA. In the past, primary snoring (PS) was considered benign and therefore not requiring surgical therapy. The AAP guideline emphasizes that pediatricians should screen all children for snoring, since snoring is a presenting symptom of more severe SDB that may require an adenotonsillectomy as the first line of treatment. Complex high-risk patients should be referred to a specialist.1 Since clinical evaluation is known to be poor at distinguishing OSA from primary snoring,2 the diagnostic test of choice is full-night polysomnography (PSG). One can extrapolate from this consensus based guideline that to diagnose OSA one requires PSG. However, PSG is expensive, time consuming, and often unavailable in many institutions that offer pediatric surgical care. A recent survey of pediatric otolaryngologists revealed that most diagnose SDB using clinical criteria alone. Seventy-five percent of respondents requested PSG in less than 10% of children who present with a sleep disturbance. Doubt about the diagnosis of SDB was the primary reason (60%) to request PSG. Interestingly, the majority (64%) of respondents would proceed with an adenotonsillectomy when the clinical picture strongly suggested SDB irrespective of whether or not the diagnosis was confirmed by PSG.3 For a multitude of reasons, PSG is not indicated for every child with SDB prior to an adenotonsillectomy. Firstly, recent research suggests that habitual snoring may not be benign.4,5 An Australian study of 26 children between 5 and 10 years of age underwent PSG. They were divided into two groups: (1) no snoring, and (2) snoring but with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of <1 event an hour. Their definition of PS was rigid and would exclude children with OSA at any institution. Neurocognitive testing demonstrated significant deficits for verbal IQ, global IQ, selective attention, sustained attention, and memory index.6 Another study divided children into 3 groups: (1) PSG confirmed OSA and adenotonsillectomy; (2) No OSA on PSG but adenotonsillectomy; (3) No OSA on PSG and no surgery. They utilized a clinical assessment tool preoperatively and postoperatively. Group 2 had significant symptom improvement compared to Group 3, indicating that clinical benefits are not limited to children with OSA.5 Furthermore, research to date has not shown a correlation between severity of SDB and severity of behavioral/quality of life problems.7,8 It appears that children with mild SDB or even PS still benefit from surgical therapy. The majority of these children would not be considered for surgical therapy by PSG criteria alone. As more studies support the behavioral morbidity of mild SDB, it will become less important to distinguish PS from OSA. Another confounding issue is the lack of standardization in sleep acquisitions and clinical reports between centers. For example, two sensors exist to detect airflow abnormalties: flow thermistor (a qualitative sensor that detects flow by temperature fluctuations) and a nasal pressure sensor (a quantitative sensor which is more sensitive in detecting hypopneas). PSG with a nasal pressure sensor will have a higher obstructive index. Subsequently a child who is tested without a nasal pressure sensor may be diagnosed with PS but may have OSA. There is also no consensus on how to define a hypopnea. Some laboratories require a 50% reduction in airflow with either an associated arousal or desaturation of 3% to 4%, while others require a 30% reduction in airflow with either an arousal or desaturation. Furthermore, many adult laboratories that perform pediatric PSG do not utilize end-tidal CO2 monitoring which is essential to either confirm or exclude the diagnosis of partial obstructive hypoventilation. Besides the technical limitations, there is no consensus on what constitutes an abnormal study. An abnormal study can be defined as an AHI greater than 19-12 or greater than 5.13-15 Although the definition of PS states that PS is isolated snoring without obstructive apnea, arousals or gas exchange, some investigators allow a few respiratory events: OAI <1 and AHI <5 with normal gas exchange,4 AHI >1 but <5 with normal gas exchange and no EDS.14,16 One institution's criteria for PS may qualify as mild SDB in a different institution. Furthermore, some centers Polysomnography Should Not Be Required Both Before and After Adenotonsillectomy for Childhood Sleep Disordered Breathing


Toward the aim of advanced integration in power electronic, the properties of Multicell interleaved converters are of prime interest. Among these properties, the EMC behavior is interesting and the dynamic performances are excellent. However their implementation requires the monitoring and balancing of intercell currents. On one hand, the converter control must ensure a satisfying balanced distribution of currents among switching cells outputs, so that magnetic components are used optimally. On the other hand, this control must also ensure the regulation loop of the output current. To achieve these goals, we decided to work on a direct matrix model, which allows to highlight the fast eigenmode related to the power (common mode) and the slow magnetizing eigenmodes (differential modes). The synthesis of the control and the calculus of corrector parameters are performed using inversion of this direct model. A digital control based on this method has been implemented, and the measurement results that we present confirm it's efficiency on current balancing.


Public-private partnerships have been adopted worldwide in the last few decades in the belief that private sector participation in the delivery of public services helps to increase the number of facilities and makes public programs more efficient and effective. This article describes the relationship between PPP use and accomplished output in two Portuguese case studies: highways and water supply. The positive and negative aspects of these two sector experiences are discussed through a narrative review followed by a logical analysis of the data.


Objective:To understand the hygienic conditions about private peanut oil extraction workshops and the sanitary quality of peanut oil in workshops in Xiang'an District,Xiamen City to provide scientific evidence for strengthening supervision.Methods:32 individual peanut oil extraction workshops were investigated in Xiang'an District,Xiamen city and 44 peanut oil samples from them were collected randomly.AFB1,acid value,peroxide value,As,Pb,Cd and Cr in these samples were detected according to the methods of GB/T5009 and were evaluated according to the standards of GB 2716-2005 and GB 2761-2005.Results:Production conditions and environment were bad in the 32 private peanut oil extraction workshops in Xiang'an District.The qualified rate of 44 peanut oil samples was 65.9%.and the unqualified item were Lead,AFB1 and peroxid value.The content of Cd and Cr were 3.2 μg/kg,0.63 mg/kg respectively.The qualified rate of AFB1 in 43 peanut raw materials was 100%.Conclusion:It showed that the management and monitoring in the private oil extraction workshops should be strengthened to improve the hygienic quality of peanut oil.


This chapter aims to explain how the differences in national cultures have an impact on understanding the concept of leadership and leadership styles in an intercultural perspective. Leaders need to recognize the culture of their community and be aware of cultural differences. These cultural characteristics affect the behavior and attitudes of the leaders. Leaders need to understand the effects and possible consequences of these cultural differences at the organizational and managerial levels for effective management and organizational success. In this respect, the concept of leadership and the process of development of leadership are examined in a literature review. Following the analysis of leadership theories and leadership styles, the cultural dimensions of Hofstede are examined in the section of cultural differentiation and dimensions. Finally, national culture dimensions in cross-cultural leadership were examined.


Excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of Pt-based bimetallic alloys like CoPt and PdPt has been studied in detail. A simple solution-phase synthetic procedure for the bimetallic alloys of CoPt and PdPt is described here. This method, involving a single-step reaction, is believed to be suitable for large-scale synthesis of both monometallic and multimetallic nanocrystals with required size and shape. Among various catalyst compositions, Pd22Pt78 and Co15Pt85 catalysts have shown excellent ORR activity compared with Pt/C and commercial PtCo/C (PtCo/C(comm)) samples. At 0.9 V, Co15Pt85/C and Pd22Pt78/C exhibit mass activities with values ∼3.8 times and ∼2.1 times higher than that of Pt/C, and Co15Pt85/C exhibits 1.8 times higher activity than that of PtCo/C(comm). Quantification and the effect of surface-oxygenated species generated at higher potentials were studied by stripping voltammetry, in the form of total charge.


The digital world is currently offering new modes of communication that allow multiple opportunities for a more immediate and dialogical interaction. Within it, the blog shows up as a very resourceful and sophisticated genre where different sub-genres converge and where speakers from distinct linguacultural backgrounds can communicate through English, which is used as a lingua franca (ELF). Thus, to start comprehending the rationale of the blog, an analysis of the sub-genre of posts and, more specifically, those hosted in travel blogs, is provided in this paper. The linguistic and discursive prominent features encapsulated in travel blog posts will be explored through a data-driven approach, and their rhetorical structure will be identified via a functional analysis. This will allow to understand better how the ELF blogosphere makes use of such a digital sub-genre and what the readership may expect when communicating digitally through it.


The invention relates to an identification method and device of recognizing body rehabilitation automatically, which comprises the following parts: headlamp (5), camera (3) containing picture pick-up mode, accumulator, communication mode, calculating mode, rehabilitation physiotherapy model mode, automatic recognition of rehabilitation process mode, recording device (4), display (1) and master device. The device qualifies to operate locally and remotely.


Traditional safeguards and security design for fuel cycle facilities is done separately and after the facility design is near completion. This can result in higher costs due to retrofits and redundant use of data. Future facilities will incorporate safeguards and security early in the design process and integrate the systems to make better use of plant data and strengthen both systems. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the integration of materials control and accounting (MC&A) measurements with physical security design for a nuclear reprocessing plant. Locations throughout the plant where data overlap occurs or where MC&A data could be a benefit were identified. This mapping is presented along with the methodology for including the additional data in existing probabilistic assessments to evaluate safeguards and security systems designs.


A 19-year-old Japanese woman with a 4-year history of Crohn's disease (CD) developed high fever, polyarthralgia, and painful subcutaneous nodules of the legs. A skin biopsy showed panarteritis with fibrinoid necrosis in the deep dermis. Endoscopic examination showed aphthous lesions in the entire colon. She was diagnosed with cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) associated with CD. Steroid therapy improved her symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first Japanese case of cutaneous PAN associated with CD.


The authors present a general framework for purchase frequency modeling that enables flexible fitting and convenient computation. Their easily described purchase frequency distributions subsume many previous models and provide a connection between mixed Poisson marketing models and the conceptually distinct compound Poisson models. These distributions provide simple parametric equations for individual-level prediction of second-period purchase frequency based on observed first-period purchase frequencies. The results are applied to four marketing panel data sets.


The natural pumice powder is used as additives to change the cement-soil properties in order to utilize the abundant natural pumice resources in Inner Mongolia.The mechanical properties of cement-soil can be effectively improved,the durability of cement-soil is significantly enhanced.With the mixing amount of cement 15% as a benchmark,the pumice powder mixing amount is 2%,4%,6%,8%,10% respectively in the lab.The conservation age is 7 d,28 d,60 d,90 d respectively.The experiments results show that the unconfined compressive strength of cement-soil increases with the mixing amount of the natural pumice powder,it reaches the peak value when the mixing amount is 8%,and there is no increasing after the value with the increasing of the mixing amount of the pumice powder.The strength of the natural pumice powder cement-soil is increasing with the conservation age,which the strength on 90 days is 1.52 to 1.6 times of the strength of on 28 days,the strength increases greatly in the late period.In the conditions of freeze-thaw cycle,the strength increasing trend of the natural pumice powder cement-soil is basically the same as before with the freeze,which the strength of the cement-soil is degraded,but the degree of strength improvement is significantly increased comparing with the soil without pumice powder mixing.The permeability coefficient of the pumice powder cement-soil is decreasing with the conservation age,the impermeability capacity is gradually increased,and particularly the permeability coefficient is decreased rapidly in the first 28 days.


Organizations can be identified by a myriad of terms apart from their official names. While abbreviations remain a common "short-name" to reference organizations, the prevalence of other short-names has risen in conjunction with social networks. When a user enters a short-name as a locational search query, it remains a challenge to infer the relationship between the short-name and the organization it ostensibly represents. For a number of organizations around the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, we first generate a list of possible short-names for each of them. We then search through their tweets to build a corpus of short-names associated with each organization. By measuring our list against the corpus, we can identify potential short-names, and return the location of the organization.


The pollution of water through release of hydroxyl ions from freshly cast concrete exposed to water can have a detrimental effect on aquatic life by causing a rise in pH. The concentration of hydroxyl ions leached from concrete can be affected by a number of factors. A detailed study has been undertaken to ascertain the effect of parameters such as flow rate, age of concrete after exposure, air quality, cement type, surface area and the volume of concrete. This paper presents the results of the experimental programme and a predictive model for change of pH of water after exposure to freshly cast concrete. Analysis of the results showed that the flow rate was the most significant factor in both the peak pH observed and the time to the peak pH. The volume of the sample was also identified as being a significant factor in the peak pH.


Abstract Does a concurrent verbal working memory (WM) load constrain cross-linguistic activation? In a visual world study, participants listened to Hindi (L1) or English (L2) spoken words and viewed a display containing the phonological cohort of the translation equivalent (TE cohort) of the spoken word and 3 distractors. Experiment 1 was administered without a load. Participants then maintained two or four letters (Experiment 2) or two, six or eight letters (Experiment 3) in WM and were tested on backward sequence recognition after the visual world display. Greater looks towards TE cohorts were observed in both the language directions in Experiment 1. With a load, TE cohort activation was inhibited in the L2 – L1 direction and observed only in the early stages after word onset in the L1 – L2 direction suggesting a critical role of language direction. These results indicate that cross-linguistic activation as seen through eye movements depends on cognitive resources such as WM.


Proximity induced superconductivity with a clean interface has attracted much attention in recent years. We discuss how the commonly-employed electron tunneling approximation can be hybridized with first-principles calculation to achieve a quantitative characterization starting from the microscopic atomic structure. By using the graphene-Zn heterostructure as an example, we compare this approximated treatment to the full ab inito anisotropic Eliashberg formalism. Based on the calculation results, we discuss how superconductivity is affected by the interfacial environment.


Optimal decoding of bit interleaved coded modulation (BICM) MIMO-OFDM where an imperfect channel estimate is available at the receiver is investigated. First, by using a Bayesian approach involving the channel a posteriori density, we derive a practical decoding metric for general memoryless channels that is robust to the presence of channel estimation errors. Then, we evaluate the outage rates achieved by a decoder that uses our proposed metric. The performance of the proposed decoder is compared to the classical mismatched decoder and a theoretical decoder defined as the best decoder in the presence of imperfect channel estimation. Numerical results over Rayleigh block fading MIMO-OFDM channels show that the proposed decoder outperforms mismatched decoding in terms of bit error rate and outage capacity without introducing any additional complexity.


Objective
To investigate the effects of contrast dose and region of interest (ROI) depth on quantitative analysis of liver by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) during clinical application.

Methods
After bolus injection of contrast agent, the change of quantitative parameters [including echo mean(EM), rise time(RT), peak intensity(PI), mean transit time(MTT), area under the curve(AUC), time from peak to one half(TPH), wash in slope(WIS), time to peak(TTP)] of time-intensity curves were analyzed based on groups from different doses (1.0 ml and 1.6 ml) and different depth (<30 mm, 30-60 mm, and ≥60 mm).

Results
MTT and TPH were increased with dose increasing from 1.0 ml to 1.6 ml (P 0.05).

Conclusions
CEUS and its imaging process can directly influence the accuracy of the parameters from the quantitative analysis. Standardization of contrast agent with predefined dose and depth can potentially facilitate future clinical studies in liver CEUS.

Key words:
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; Liver; Time-intensity curve; Quantitative analysis


This research was aimed to analyze mathematics learning disabilities of the slow learner on Pythagorean Theorem. This research was an exploratory study with qualitative approach. The subjects of this research were 2 of the 8th grade's slow learner students of two inclusive schools in even semester of the 2017/2018 academic year. Data collection was done using test and interview method. Based on the data analysis, the results showed that the subjects had mathematics learning disabilities on Pythagorean Theorem that was categorized in (1) procedural memory deficit: the subject could not do the procedure properly and still had difficulty in operating the algebraic form, (2) semantic memory deficit: disability in learning arithmetic facts, disability in using the principle (3)visuospatial deficit: the subjects were still confused when the triangle was rotated.


In an edge-light backlight unit using an optically patterned film (OPF backlight unit) with plural light-emitting diodes (LEDs) placed on the side as a light source, dark areas are easily generated between LEDs, because the OPF backlight unit mainly uses the total reflection induced by optical patterns formed on the OPF. Such dark areas were eliminated by narrowing the interval between optical patterns between LEDs and widening it near LEDs. By adjusting the interval between optical patterns across the entire area additionally, a luminance distribution in a radiation plane suitable for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) was realized. Moreover, viewing-angle-dependent luminance distribution can be narrowed by adjusting the shape of the lens-shaped optical pattern. Thus, the OPF backlight unit using plural LEDs was shown to be suitable for small-area LCDs.


Lignite char supported Fe-Zn sorbents were prepared by means of impregnation of Fe and Zn into coal followed by steam gasification. The sulfidation experiments were carried out using a fixed-bed quartz reactor in the temperature range of 473 to 673 K using simulated coke oven gas with a gas space velocity of 1,000 h–1. Strcuture changes of sorbents during sulfidation were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the sorbents can remove both H2S and coke oven gas from the simulated coke oven gas with high efficiency, and the desulfurization efficiency increased with increasing metal loading level.


The research towards the consumer willingness to pay in the knowledge sharing economy has begun for decades. Related research has shown that the social cognitive capital, or the expected gain of consumer, has a significant correlation towards knowledge exchange consumer willingness to pay. But for there is a difference between knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange, the acquisition and application of knowledge by the consumer. Whether the correlation is same? We use Python and analysis Tencent Classroom, a knowledge payment platform, as a case. But in the major striped sub-marketplace, there is only a moderate correlation between the social cognitive capital and consumer willingness.


Years ago I attended my first high school graduation and I was tremendously impressed with the dignity and meaning of tliis scholastic spectacle; so impressed that after all of these years I can to-day recall the name of each member of that class, However, this is not a boast of an unusual power of memory. There were-but four members of that class. Thirtyfive years later I was called back to this same school to give the address at commencement. The town had about doubled in size and this would foretell a class of eight. No, not so many, for the doubling had come from the incursion of mid-Europea,ns, who in the nineties sent no children to the high school. So a class of six might have been expected. Actually, there


In the current investigation an attempt has been made to document the floristic diversity, chorotype analysis and occurrence of the Pteridophytes of Pakistan. Previously published literature was consulted in order to confirm the nomenclature, precise locations and other attributes of this unique group of plants. Many field trips were undertaken in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and specimens of various herbaria were studied in Pakistan and from other countries. Our updated list of taxa confirms that there are 168 taxa belong to 45 genera and 19 families. Pteridaceace and Dryopteridaceae are found to be largest families with 35 taxa each (41.67%), followed by Aspleniaceae with 28 taxa (16.67%) and Athyriaceae with 24 taxa (14.28%). Asplenium is the largest genus with 28 taxa (16.67%), followed by Dryopteris with 17 taxa (10.12%) and Polystichum with 15 taxa (8.93%). Phytogeographically the Sino-Himalayan elements is the major component of the diversity of the pteridophye flora with 94 taxa (55.95%), 18 taxa (10.71%) are cosmopolitan and European elements have 13 taxa (7.74%). We found that 43 taxa (25.6%) are extremely rare, 39 taxa (23.21%) are infrequent and 37 taxa (22.02%) are common.


A strategy for the power division of a hybrid
storage system for battery and UC based for electric vehicles
using non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) is presented
on this work. The system is modeled in a simple way and
a cost function is proposed to minimize the battery current
fluctuation and to preserve its health. Also, this function
include the objective of regulating the UC voltage to a desired
reference value. Simulation results are presented considering
that the power required by the traction system is constant
during the prediction horizon and are compared with the
ideal case in which there is available future information of
the power requirement.


The summer of 2009 brought us a range of interesting phenomena. There were raging fires in southern Europe, in countries as far apart as Spain and Turkey (and at many points between). The UK could not make up its mind whether or not to panic over swine fever. And the UK financial regulatory system became a party political issue in its own right. The Conservative Party, if elected to government next year, will abolish the FSA and give much of its bank supervisory power back to the Bank of England. It does not matter any more how much the FSA recants over its old "light touch" approach, the writing is on the wall for it, politically. It is Gordon Brown's baby, so – if the Tories win – it will have to go. Meanwhile, European politicians have continued to rage against "Anglo-Saxon" capitalism, the "bonus culture" and the casino proclivities of the modern banker. The more versatile amongst them have managed to do this whilst at the same time making the case for their own country as an alternative to London. It seems like only yesterday that those celebrated resorts along the Channel – Ah! Le Touquet, Deauville! Faites vos jeux! – were luring English "milords" to their glamorous casinos! Why not seize the moment to set up a 21st-century casino in La Défense? The distinction between "casino" banking and "utility" banking has now been widely recognised, in documents as diverse as the Turner Review, the UK Financial Investments first annual report and the Tories' recent "White Paper" on the regulatory system. Casino banking (ie what is commonly known as investment banking) is "bad" and should be discouraged, whereas utility banking (good, old-fashioned deposit-taking and plain vanilla lending) is "good". The good activities serve a valuable social purpose and should be separated from the bad, unacceptably risky stuff, so the theory runs. However, the (in some cases, impressive) financial results for a number of banks for the first half of 2009 have shown not only that they make much more money at the casino than as utilities but also that some of them are perfectly capable of losing enormous amounts on old-fashioned, traditional lending. So the casino separatists do not have an open-and-shut case. In any event, making the distinction is one thing, deciding what to do about the casinos is another. The present government – echoing Turner (or was it the other way round?) – was never keen on coming down too hard and insisting on a Glass Steagall style separation. "No going back to Captain Mainwaring" we were told. Mervyn King, on the other hand, seemed to lean in favour of some kind of separation – as did the Tories. But the Tories have blinked in the end, at least until some international consensus can be found. Now the mood music is all about heavier capital requirements – especially for proprietary trading. And, of course, better risk management. We wait to see what those capital requirements will actually amount to. Meanwhile we have had a great deal to digest as we are "consulted" about various aspects of "governance" of banks, including their risk management. One of the by-products of the crisis has been a resurgence of the repeating chorus of demands for "better risk management" and an end to "excessive" or "imprudent" risk taking. However, understanding risk and risk management requires an appreciation of the context in which the risk in question arises. The risk of death and destruction by bush fires, for example, is more material in California, southern Australia and the south of France than it is in any part of the UK or Scandinavia. The context includes climate and relevant weather conditions (such as strong winds): at any given time they might combine (perhaps with human carelessness or recklessness) to produce a deadly effect. No real need therefore to have the same ("harmonised") regulations about open-air barbecues in Surrey (if you ever get a sunny evening that makes you think of such a thing) as they have in Provence. The current concerns over swine flu raise comparable issues: how should individuals manage the risk of catching it (quite likely), and dying of it (apparently not at all likely)? How should the government manage the risk of the thing getting out of control and/or public panic? Some risk-management "tools" may look as though they would "work" in terms of containing the spread of the virus, but they would cause too much social and economic cost (eg closing all schools and/or airports). Do you advise pregnant women to stay away from crowded places? How practical is that? What is the correct, balanced approach? Risk management is very easy to assess with the benefit of hindsight; not at all easy when you are peering into the unknowable. So different methods of risk management are likely to be appropriate for the vast range of enterprises that we know as "financial institutions" – even those that at first sight seem very similar. Some may have a perfectly healthy, and successful, attitude to risk that permeates the whole business, without any tradition of treating "risk management" as though it were a separate discipline. Others may have the equivalent of an entire division dealing with it. The crisis is going to require everyone to demonstrate that they have a very visible, and coherent, risk-management structure, however. If you have a problem, there will be a presumption that something was wrong with your risk management. So a clear understanding of what risks are knowingly and willingly taken will be more important than ever. (In the context of the threat of regulatory action the existence, and documentation, of a risk-management system thus becomes, in a slightly curious way, a risk-management tool in its own right. You cannot take the risk of appearing to have the wrong attitude to risk.) The crisis was a bolt from the blue. Much has been written about its causes (and causation analysis has not been helped by over-hasty accusations of blame) but it was not publicly predicted by anyone with any degree of precision.1


We construct central elements in a completion of the quantum affine algebra at the critical level c=-g from the universal R-matrix (g being the dual Coxeter number of the corresponding simple Lie algebra), using the method of Reshetikhin and Semenov-Tian-Shansky. This construction defines an action of the Grothendieck algebra of the category of finite-dimensional representations of the quantum affine algebra on any module over this algebra from category O with c=-g. We explain the connection between the central elements and transfer matrices in statistical mechanics. In the quasiclassical approximation this connection was explained by Feigin, E.Frenkel, and Reshetikhin in hep-th 9402022, and it was mentioned that one could generalize it to the quantum case to get Bethe vectors for transfer matrices. Using this connection, we prove that the central elements
(for all finite dimensional representations) applied to the highest weight vector of a generic Verma module at the critical level generate the whole space of singular vectors in this module. We also compute the first term of the quasiclassical expansion of the central elements near q=1, and show that it always gives the Sugawara current with a certain coefficient.


The research progress of fruits gummosis at home and abroad was summarized.Some pathogens of fruits gummosis were list.The dissemination,circulation,diagnosis indexes and prevention measures of gummosis were discussed.And the key problems of the study in futrue were pointed out.