Abstract Background Early diagnosis and treatment of active tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-positive patients is challenging. Tests based on the detection of mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigen in urine have emerged as potential point-of-care tests for TB. However, limited data exists on their performance among HIV-TB co-infected patients from Southeast Asian countries. Methods We prospectively recruited HIV-positive adult patients with CD4 count less than or equal to 200/mm3 and symptoms suspected of active TB from two tertiary hospitals between December 2015 and March 2017. Freshly collected urine was applied to the Determine®-TB LAM Ag test strip (4 bands of graded intensity), using grade 1 cutoff. Diagnostic accuracy of urine LAM strip test were assessed against microbiological reference standard, defined as positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultured from one or more clinical specimens (definite TB) or composite reference standard including definite TB and probable TB, defined as those have symptoms consistent with TB and response to anti-TB treatment. Results A total of 280 patients were enrolled. Of whom, 72 (25.7%) and 65 (23.2%) had definite and probable TB. Amongst those with definite TB, LF-LAM test gave a sensitivity of 75.0% (95% CI 63.9–83.6), specificity of 86.0% (95% CI 79.4–90.8) and accuracy of 82.3% (95% CI 76.7–86.8). When compared with the composite reference standard, the test yielded a lower sensitivity (61.3%, 95% CI 53.0–69.1) and accuracy (73.9%, 95% CI 68.5–78.7), with equal specificity. The test showed the highest sensitivity (90.5%, 95% CI 77.9–96.2) and accuracy (85.9%, 95% CI 79.2–90.7) but lower specificity (84.0%, 95% CI 75.6–89.9) in HIV-infected patients with CD4 count less than 50/mm3. The sensitivity of the combined LF-LAM or sputum microscopy was higher than that of either test alone (86.1% vs. 75.0%, 61.1%, respectively). Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was cultured in 7 out of 20 with false positive result. Urine LAM strip test can remain positive for up to 4 weeks even after anti-TB treatment. Conclusion Urine LAM assay gave the best performance for diagnosis of active TB in advanced HIV-infected patients and provide an additional benefit of a greater simplicity, speed, with a more easily obtainable sample. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Objective To study the expression of nuclear factor kappab gene(NF-κB) and its relationship with expression of VEGF、p53 proteins in pancreatic cancer(PC). Methods The expression of NF-κB、IκB-a was investigated by Western blot in PC samples,parocarcinoma tissues,chronic pancreatitis(CP)samples and normal pancreatic(NP) samples. The activity of NF-κB was detected through eletrophoretic mobility shift assay(EMSA) in PC,CP and NP samples.Immunohistochemical analysis for VEGF,p65,p53. Results The positive expression rate of NF-κB protein determined by Western-Blotting analysis is 71% in PC tissues,20% in parocarcinoma tissues,and 12.5 % in CP,0/9 in NP, there was significant difference between the 4 groups(P 0.05 ). There was no relationship between NF-κB gene expression and histological diffentiation,clinical stages(P 0.05 ), but the lymph node metastasis was(P 0.05 ), the expression of NF-κB gene correlated with VEGF、p53 expression. Conclusion NF-κB may play an important role in pathgenesis of PC.Upregulated NF-κB and disfunction of VEGF、p53 may play a synergetic role in the process of carcinogenesis of PC.


This essay explores innovation as a socially and culturally embedded practice, coming to life in correlation between structural organizational conventions and entrepreneurial performances. With an empirical departure, it describes a rational understanding of creation, and it identifies innovation as a retrospective concept that entails a "re-development" process from the final product to the initial idea. Furthermore, it (re)locates innovation "in the (organizational) box", and discusses the prototype as an enchanting artifact that entraps and transmits an innovative sensation. The essay concludes that innovation, although put forward as a strategic vision of a prosperous future, rather seems to serve as an inducted fundamental, a working imperative, from which employees are to manage and negotiate their everyday work. The essay emerges from ethnographic fieldwork that is consciously organized as a productive collaboration involving both applied and academic dimensions.


The value paradigm in healthcare emphasises on financial rewarding of higher quality of care at lower cost. We evaluated the financial and quality performance of all 52 Flemish (Belgium) non-university, general hospitals using 2 publicly available databases. The financial situation of many Flemish hospitals is precarious. In the observation period 2012-14, one in four hospitals had a negative profit and half of the hospitals had a net profit of less than 1 million euro. Average profitability of all hospitals was 0.9% (SD 1.4%). Measured and published quality of care in Flemish general hospitals is highly variable and ranges from 'fairly poor' to 'rather well'. Accredited and larger hospitals demonstrate a higher level of measured quality performance than others. No correlation could be found between financial performance or investments and the delivery of measured quality of care. We conclude that, to date, financial and quality performance don't go hand-in-hand in Flemish non-university hospitals. Quality of care is currently no guarantee for financial health and vice versa. Policy implication: implementing a value-driven financing model will remain a major challenge for Flemish hospitals. Longitudinal follow-up is however desirable to determine a possible gap period between quality of care improvement (patient value) and hospital financial reward.


Knowledge workers increasingly use multiple devices such as desktop computers, laptops, cell phones, and PDAs for personal information management (PIM) tasks. The use of several of these devices together creates higher task difficulty for users than when used individually (as reported in a recent survey we conducted). Prompted by this, we are conducting an experiment to study mental workload in multi-device scenarios. While mental workload has been shown to decrease at sub-task boundaries, it has not been studied if this still holds for sub-tasks performed on different devices. We hypothesize that the level of support provided by the system for task migration affects mental workload. Mental workload measurements can enable designers to isolate critical sub-tasks and redesign or optimize the user experience selectively. In addition, we believe that mental workload shows promise as a cross-tool, cross-task method of evaluating PIM tools, services and strategies, thus fulfilling a need expressed by several researchers in the area of personal information management. In this paper, we describe our ongoing experiment of measuring mental workload (via physiological as well as subjective measures) and its implications for users, designers and researchers in PIM.


HARRY SISWANTO. Time-Profile Investigation of Corticosterone Release in Blood and Faeces After Exogenus Administration of ACTH in Male SpragueDawley Rats. Under the direction of SULISTIYANI and IRMA SUPARTO. The investigation of the time-profile from corticosterone levels increase in rats have not been reported so far, whereas it is essential in order to use corticosterone as a stress marker. Manual blood sampling however, results in corticosterone secretion which will effect normal corticosterone concentration determination. The aim of the present study is to investigate the time-profile of corticosterone level increases in serum and feces after exogenous administration of ACTH. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four treatment groups. One group was for control (no injection), three group were injected each with BSA 5 mg/kg, ACTH 10 μg/kg, and ACTH 100 μg/kg. The present study used Accusampler as an automated blood sampler. After exogenous administration of ACTH, there was a rapid corticosterone increase in serum within three minutes. After both 10 and 100 μg/kg ACTH injection, it was found that the maximum level of corticosterone increase in blood was almost similar, which about 200-250 ng/ml. The difference was shown in the duration. Only 20% blood corticosterone were excreted in feces. The fecal corticosterone increase induced by ACTH could be observed 4-12 hours. Judul : Telaah Induksi ACTH Terhadap Konsentrasi Kortikosteron Dalam Darah dan Feses pada Tikus Jantan Sprague-Dawley Nama : Harry Siswanto NIM : G44103054


Paper mill finishing room quality moved to the customer's backyard with quick turnaround, greater flexibility, and better service. One way of dealing with this is through outsourcing.


This brief proposes a general, scalable method to learn control-oriented thermal models of buildings that could enable wide-scale deployment of cost-effective predictive controls. An unscented Kalman filter (UKF) augmented for parameter and disturbance estimation is shown to accurately learn and predict a building's thermal response. Recent studies of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems have shown significant energy savings with advanced model predictive control. A scalable cost-effective method to readily acquire accurate, robust models of individual buildings' unique thermal envelopes has historically been elusive and hindered the widespread deployment of prediction-based control systems. Continuous commissioning and lifetime performance of these thermal models requires the deployment of online data-driven system identification and parameter estimation routines. We propose a novel gray-box approach using an UKF based on a multizone thermal network and validate it with EnergyPlus simulation data. The filter quickly learns the parameters of a thermal network during periods of known or constrained loads and then characterizes unknown loads in order to provide accurate 24+ hour energy predictions. This brief extends our initial investigation by formalizing parameter and disturbance estimation routines and demonstrating results across a year-long study.


Methyllycaconitine (MLA) is a norditerpenoid alkaloid found in Delphinium spp., and is a potent and selective antagonist of α7‐nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Plants with high concentrations of MLA are responsible for many livestock poisonings in the Intermountain West of the United States of America. The objective of this study was to characterize the actions of MLA on the response of TE‐671 cells to two nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists, acetylcholine, and epibatidine. The actions of MLA were assessed by measuring changes in membrane potential sensing dye responses of TE‐671 cells expressing (α1)2β1γδ nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Changes in cell membrane potential from the addition of agonists were measured as changes in fluorescence of a membrane potential‐sensitive dye and normalized to the maximum epibatidine response. MLA at nanomolar concentrations potentiated the membrane potential sensing dye response of TE‐671 cells to acetylcholine and epibatidine. The amount of potentiation was agonist‐dependant as well as concentration‐dependant. These results suggest that the poisoning of livestock by Delphinium spp. is more complex than previously thought and that the potentiation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors may alter the toxicity of MLA in susceptible animals.


Ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts bearing a polar quaternary ammonium group in N-heterocyclic ligand were immobilized on silica and siliceous mesoporous molecular sieves with different pore sizes (SBA-15 and MCM-41). The activity of the heterogeneous catalysts was found to increase with an increase in pore size of the support used, with the best results observed for SBA-15-supported catalyst. The influence of reaction conditions (temperature, solvent, catalyst, and substrate concentration) on the efficiency of new heterogeneous catalysts was established. A significant influence of the counterion present in the ruthenium complex on the activity of immobilized catalysts was also found: those derived from chloride containing ion exhibited the highest activity. High activity in ring-closing metathesis of substrates as citronellene, 1,7-octadiene, and diallyl compounds as well as in cross-metathesis of unsaturated aliphatic compounds with methyl acrylate was observed under optimized conditions. In some cas...


Since the Second World War, most biologists have agreed that race is not an analytic category to understand human biological diversity. Humans vary to some extent in their DNA and their outward physical appearance or phenotype, but this diversity cannot be organized into "racial groups" or "races," even if some genetic and pheno-typical variation seems to correlate very broadly with continental geography. Humans are too similar genetically and intracontinental genetic variation is too great to be able to categorize humans into races. So race is a set of


This paper is a review on the assessment considerations for English language learners (ELLs). It provides an in depth examination of the disproportionate representation of ELLs in special education programs in the U.S. so that it can represent a model for the current Turkish special education programs that may have more immigrant and refugee students with an increasing Syrian student population at schools. Specifically, this paper focuses on the following key constructs in the representation of second language learners in special education programs: (a) considerations for assessment processes of ELL students and students with learning disabilities (i.e., shared characteristics) (b) assessment processes for identification of ELLs and students with learning disabilities (c) validity and fairness of standardized assessments for eligibility determination (d) referral practices for ELLs and (e) implications for future research. This paper also provides implications for assessment considerations at schools.


Quinoa is a grain-like crop that is rich in protein and minerals; its ability to grow on marginal soils improves its attractiveness as a potential solution to hunger in many areas. Primarily adapted to the high Andes, it is drawing increasing amounts of research scrutiny, as researchers and farmers try to create reasonable agronomic solutions to growing populations and continuing loss of arable land. Since it has become fashionable with vegetarians and vegans in the developed world, it may be argued that the crop is less available to its original growers. Issues of economic and political sovereignty complicate the use and development of the crop in other places.


To study the chemical waves in a double-molecule reaction-diffusion system coupled with the quadratic decay reaction, the theoretical analysls method and the numerical calculation were used. The theoretical model of this kind of reaction-diffusion system was established. The essential condition of the chemical waves occuring and the minimum speed of the chemical waves were derived by the kinetics analysis. The curves of the concentration dlstrlbution of the reactant and the catalyst were simulated with difference parameters. The theoretical model set up in this paper can generates the chemical waves.


The disease seriously affects the development of sheep industry and international trade,brings huge economic losses to the development of animal husbandry economy. This paper mainly reviewed in detail on the five aspects of goat pox virus epidemic characteristics,genome structure,hot protein research,diagnosis,vaccine research,provided an important theoretical basis for the study and prevention of goat pox disease control.


Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) is associated with a high early risk of stroke which can be considerably reduced by early initiation of secondary preventive drugs including antiplatelets, statins and blood pressure lowering therapy. These treatments are usually initiated by a specialist after urgent out-patient review. However, variable access to timely specialist services means that initiation of these treatments is delayed for some patients.

The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of GP initiation of treatment following a suspected TIA compared with UK clinical practice. A Markov model was constructed to model the cost and effectiveness of urgent initiation of treatment following suspected diagnosis of TIA by GPs. In the base-case, GP initiation of treatment (followed by specialist review of treatments within a week) was compared with best practice, as stated in the National Stroke Strategy (2007).

Strategies involving same-day GP initiation of treatment was found to be highly cost-effective at willingness to pay thresholds typically applied in the UK.

This study illustrates the usefulness of modelling techniques to use secondary data sources to examine a policy relevant question around treatment urgency in a susceptible and identifiable group of patients where primary research is impracticable.


Most of the off-detector custom electronics of the ATLAS data acquisition system such as the Read-Out Drivers or the Trigger and Timing Control system [1] have been implemented in VMEbus. The paper describes the process of selecting a common VMEbus processor module for all VMEbus systems in ATLAS and the problems encountered during the evaluation of different candidate modules. It describes the motivation for developing a VMEbus low level software package and presents the special features of this package. Finally some performance figures for VMEbus transfers are presented.


*This is a reprint of a series of two lectures given by Messrs. E. D. Guinsberg and A. de Kock to a symposium of Johannesburg attorneys. Mr. Guinsberg's lecture will be published in two parts, i.e. in the February and March issues of De Rebus. Mr. de Kock's lecture on ""Damages for loss of Support"" will appear in the April Issue of De Rebus.


Abstract The study investigated the visual discrimination abilities of children who varied in their ability to recognize words. Measures of word recognition and intelligence were obtained on 87 first‐, second‐, and third grade subjects. All subjects then performed a visual discrimination task which uses artificial graphemes as stimuli. The task required subjects to match a standard grapheme with an identical form. Errors on this task were classified into six categories. A two‐way multivariate analysis of covariance (grade level X word recognition skill) was performed. In the analysis intelligence test scores were covaried. The main effect for grade was significant (p. < .0004), while neither word recognition skill nor the grade X word recognition skill interaction approached significance. Results provide information pertinent to visual training practices in schools.


There are two distinct lineages of T cells: T-cell receptor (TCR) αβ -bearing cells ( αβ T cells) and TCR γδ -bearing cells ( γδ T cells). All of the αβ T cells and most subsets of γδ T cells develop in the thymus. It has been demonstrated that the protein tyrosine phosphatase CD45 plays a pivotal role in the intra-thymic development of αβ T cells. Thymocyte maturation is arrested at the transitional stage from immature CD4+ CD8+ double-positive to mature CD4+ or CD8+ single-positive cells after CD45 exon 6 gene disruption. In this study, we examined whether V γ 3 dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC), a subset of thymus-dependent γδ T cells uniquely residing in the murine epidermis, are altered in the CD45 exon 6-deficient mice. In situ immunolabeling on epidermal sheets demonstrated that the CD45-deficient mice had a normal density and immunophenotype of V γ 3 DETC compared with the wild-type control mice. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction revealed that similar levels of V γ 3 TCR mRNA were present in the epidermis of CD45-deficient mice and wild-type controls. Flow cytometry demonstrated no significant difference in the proportion of V γ 3T cells in the epidermis between the genotypes. In addition, V γ 2T cells, another subset of γδ T cells, were also examined by flow cytometry. The frequency of V γ 2T cells in lymph nodes was normal in the CD45-deficient mice. Our results indicate that although CD45 is crucial for the development of αβ T cells, this molecule is not necessary for the thymic maturation of γδ T cells, including V γ 3 DETC and V γ 2T cells.


The essential objective to introduce Performance Reference Model(PRM) to public sectors is to evaluate contributions of Information Technology(IT) investments to the improvement of mission performance. Government of South Korea developed central government PRM in 2005 and demands government agencies and city governments to implement it. However, as a result of the study, current version of central government PRM needs refinement to work. The study tries to identify issues to introduce PRM successfully to local government. First, for the PRM being applied properly to local governments, the model should be executable and easy to use for officials. For this purpose, concepts and processes of PRM should be reexamined as a whole in operational level before developing detail structure of local government PRM. Current version of central government PRM does not define concepts enough to understand its internal mechanisms and develop practical guidelines on how to customize it to local government PRM. Second, central government PRM proposes to use standard LOS, which brings complexity in implementing PRM in operational level. This is because cause and effect relationships between measurement groups are difficult to be logically explained in advance, and moreover those relationships can be altered according to the progress and characteristics of the IT project. Finally, current version of PRM does not provide guidelines on how many measurement indexes should be selected and evaluated. The study suggests that at least one index for each measurement area should be selected and that if two or more indexes for any measurement area are selected, conceptual dependencies between them should also be explained, e.g. the level of duplication or importance, priorities, etc.


This Research Full Paper presents a systematic mapping that aims to characterize the current scenario of mobile application development considering accessibility issues for elderly people. Currently, the use of mobile devices has been growing exponentially, giving way to new ways of relating, working, performing daily tasks and learning. In this context, mobile learning has emerged seeking to democratize access to knowledge for different audiences. To achieve this democratization, it is necessary to develop mobile learning applications considering accessibility issues, in order to reduce barriers that might exist. Due to the increase of the life expectancy, such applications must also be accessible for elderly users. In this context, we conducted a systematic mapping that aims to characterize the current scenario of mobile application development considering accessibility issues for older people. The idea is that the results help us to establish a set of accessibility guidelines to assist in the process of developing and evaluating mobile learning applications for senior users. To achieve the main objective, 32 studies were considered to extract the data. The results obtained are relevant to highlight the current panorama of the area, as well as to present discussions about the need for studies related to the development of accessible mobile applications.


Though the construction of the socialist democracy and the socialist legal institutions guided by justice,the harmonious developing is realized ultimately.This is both the concrete way of political civilization construction and the value rationality of political civilization construction.It embodies implement rationality and value rationality.Justice is the value idea of political civilization construction,democracy and legal institutions are the value content of political civilization construction,and development is the value target of political civilization construction.


The structure of the title compound, C22H26N2O4, was prepared by the reaction of 3-methoxysalicylaldehyde and trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane in ethanol. There is a half molecule in the asymmetric unit, and the other half at the symmetry position (2-x, -y, 1-z). It belongs to the space group P21/n with cell parameters a = 6.3312(11), b = 23.967(3), c = 6.775(6)A, β = 108.918(10)°.


Using teleseismic waveform records from 363 broadband stations, we applied H–κ stacking of receiver functions to estimate crustal thickness (H) and average Vp/Vs ratio (κ) in the central and western North China Craton (NCC) and adjacent regions. Our results show that, except for thinning in the Cenozoic rifts and southern edge of the central NCC, H gradually thickens westward from ~30 km at the easternmost edge of the central NCC to >60 km near the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. κ exhibits complex variations, with locally high or low anomalies in the rifts, at the southern edge of the central NCC and at tectonic boundary zones. Low‐density uppermost mantle and distinct N–S differences are observed in the Ordos, suggesting typical cratonic crust. Thickened crust and complex variations in κ at the southwestern boundary of the Ordos may be related to the formation of the Palaeozoic Qilian Block and late uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Thinned crust and locally high κ are observed in and near the Cenozoic rifts, suggesting complex crustal modifications that may have been caused by repeated reactivation at pre‐existing weak zones by successive thermal‐tectonic events. Thin crust and low κ are found at the southern edge of the central NCC, suggesting crustal modifications such as delamination, especially in the lower crust, which may be related to collision of the NCC and Yangtze Block. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Epiploic appendicitis is an uncommon inflammatory condition, which is presently better diagnosed by current imaging methods such as computed tomography and ultrasonography that allow a non-invasive and efficient diagnostic approach. The authors studied 6 patients with epiploic appendicitis. The patients were submitted to computed tomography that showed paracolic oval lesions of 1 to 2 cm of diameter, fat attenuation and a thin peripheral hyperdense rim associated with adjacent fat stranding. Ultrasound examination performed in two patients showed hyperechoic ovoid noncompressible masses at the site of maximum abdominal tenderness.


We investigate theoretically the site occupancy of Al 3+ in the fast-ion-conducting cubic-garnet Li7−3xAl 3+ xLa3Zr2O12 (Ia-3d) using density functional theory. By comparing calculated and measured 27 Al NMR chemical shifts an analysis shows that Al 3+ prefers the tetrahedrally coordinated 24d site and a distorted 4-fold coordinated 96h site. The site energies for Al 3+ ions, which are slightly displaced from the exact crystallographic sites (i.e., 24d and 96h), are similar leading to a distribution of slightly different local oxygen coordination environments. Thus, broad 27 Al NMR resonances result reflecting the distribution of different isotropic chemical shifts and quadrupole coupling constants. From an energetic point of view, there is evidence that Al 3+ could also occupy the 48g site with its almost regular octahedral coordination sphere. Although this has been reported by neutron powder diffraction, the NMR chemical shift calculated for such an Al 3+ site has not been observed experimentally.


Effect of salivary gland-ectomy on the proliferative response of proximal epiphyseal cartilage of the tibia of hypophysectomized rat to the growth hormone was investigated using young adult male rats of 60days of age. Changes of the cells in the basophilic and vesicular zones, the decrease in the width of the cartilage plate and the reduction of osteogenesis in the tibia of the hypophysectomized animal showed a tendency of recovery to normal states following growth hormone replacement. Those morphological features in both hypophysectomized and salivary gland-ectomized animals did hardly regain their normalities as the result of growth hormone administration. Nevertheless, it was learned that the affected features in question, excepting the suffered osteogenesis, were in significant measure brought to recovery by injection of the preparation of salivary-gland hormone, Parotin.


L eon R ooke was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, in 1934 and attended the University of North Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His Southern background as well as the similarities regarding the themes and techniques of his writing to, for instance, the work of Flannery O'Connor have led critics to count Rooke among the Southern writers of the United States. Yet while Rooke considers O'Connor's and other Southern writers' oeuvres part of his stylistic training (see Rooke in Hancock 1981, 116, 120), he refuses to be identified as a writer in this particular tradition because he does not want to be associated with Southern racial politics: "Then came the sixties. Martin Luther King singing 'We Shall Overcome' and a strong sense of too many in the older order singing 'You Shall Not.' And that did something to my sense of loyalty to the region. It took away some of the ghost's power" (Rooke in Hancock, 120). Thus, having moved from the United States to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1969, Rooke has been more aptly described as "an American who has adopted the Canadian West Coast as his home" (Gadpaille 1988, 111); in 1981 he called himself "now Canadian" (Rooke in Hancock, 146). Rooke has since lived at various places in Canada. Nonetheless, when his writing is appropriated by a national literary tradition, Rooke — as a member of the large group of authors who have emigrated to Canada from all over the world since the 1960s — claims allegiance with an international standard: "The only tradition I dimly perceive is that one where we find the writer attempting to write well and knowing from the start the likelihood of failure. … And it is a territory without boundaries or borders, which is to say that it can be found anywhere" (Rooke in Hancock, 109). In accord also with recent redefinitions of Canadian identity, Rooke's literary work is therefore considered to have played "a crucial role in anticipating … a shift away from the nationalist paradigm of representation, based on recognizably Canadian themes and voices, to the current post-nationalist view of Canada as a pluralistic, multicultural and multiracial society" (Gorjup 1999, 269).


This paper analyzes the relationship between financial services provided by different agents, the adoption of agroforestry systems, and the implications for food security and sustainable soil management. Attention is focussed on the role of rural finance in reducing risk and stabilizing household income and yields. We conclude that credit provision performs critical functions for reinforcing the resilience of rural livelihoods in less-favored areas. Rural development programs in the Occidental region of Honduras have been rather reluctant to provide rural financial services. Unfavorable agroclimatic conditions and the scarcity of infrastructure lead to extreme poverty. The local economy is fairly dynamic due to the availability of nonfarm income sources and crossborder trade. Within the framework of the FAO Lempira-Sur program, provision of rural credit and savings services created the conditions for adopting the Quezungual agroforestry system. This innovation contributes to higher and more stable cereal yields and reduced labor demands in agriculture. Access to rural finance thus reinforces food security and enables income diversification as a precondition for subsequent in-depth investments.


5 p. transcript of an interview with Jim Curtniss conducted by Margaret Stobie. Tape number IH-MS.021b/.027b (file name CRT-SNCL), transcript disc 44A.


In this paper the synthesis of the predictive controller for control of the nonlinear object is considered. It is supposed that the object model is not known. The method is based on a digital recurrent network (DRN) model of the system to be controlled, which is used for predicting the future behavior of the output variables. The cost function which minimizes the difference between the future object outputs and the desired values of the outputs is formulated. The function ga of the Matlab's Genetic Algorithm Optimization Toolbox is used for obtaining the optimum values of the control signals. Controller synthesis is illustrated for plants often referred to in the literature. Results of simulations show effectiveness of the proposed control system.


RT-PCR was used to amplify DNA of β-casein gene,which was inserted into pET-28a to construct the expression vector.The recombinant vector was transformed into BL21 and IPTG was used to induce expression.By restriction endonucleases mapping analysis and DNA sequencing,the constructed plasmid was the recombinant one.The expressed vector was successfully constructed and βcasein gene was expressed in E.coli.


The distribution of Cd in surface soil of the Tongzhou district,Beijing(605 km2)was interpolated with 4 spatial interpolation methods:Inverse Distance Weighted,Local Polynomial,Ordinary Kriging and Radial Basis Function. The accuracy of every method was compared according to the extreme value prediction,the impact on area estimation and the spatial distribution of high Cd area. The cross-validation results showed that all of the methods underestimated the extreme value of Cd,and the mean relative error (MRE) was higher than 45.1%. The cadmium-pollution areas calculated by different methods are from 0 to 2.12%,which were from 1.53% to 3.65% less than those estimated by sample statistics. The differences (or uncertainties) of the interpolation results among the models were mainly located in the region of extreme high concentration and the transitional region from high Cd concentration to low Cd concentration. Therefore,a proper interpolation model has a significant impact on the results of the spatial distribution estimation of soil heavy metals,and that of soil pollution evaluation. While surveying the soil heavy pollution,density sampling in the soil heavy metal concentration transitional region is advised.


Background: The Trendelenburg position is a common technique used during internal jugular vein (IJV) cannulation in pediatric patients. There has been some speculation as to the correlation between Trendelenburg positioning and increases in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the IJV in obese child patients. In the present study, we use ultrasound (US) measurements to assess and determine the predictivity of Trendelenburg positioning on the CSA of the right IJV in obese child patients. Methods: The researchers of this studyenrolled 30 cases from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) II of patients under the age of 18 who underwent ultrasonographic examination between December 2013 and March 2015. US images of the right IJV of each patient were obtained in a transverse orientation at the cricoid level. The CSAs of the right IJVs were measured undert wo different conditions applied in a random orderin a sealed envelope: State 0, in which the table was flat (no tilt) and the patient lay in the supine position; and State T, in which the operating table wastilted 20 degrees to the Trendelenburg position. Results: The change in the CSA of the IJV from the supine to the Trendelenburg position (0.99 cm2 vs 0.96 cm2) was not significant. In contrast, the CSA of the right IJV decreased in 14 of the 30 patients (9 of the 14 were female). Conclusions: The Trendelenburg position does not cause the mean CSA of the right IJV in obese child patients to increase; in fact, the position causes the CSA in some patients to decrease. The researchers of this study do not support the use of the Trendelenburg position for IJV cannulation in obese child patients.


Change in the organization is usually analysed in the context of the organization in which the change is taking place. This is quite understandable and yields recognition of those internal factors most instrumental in the change process. From this organizational perspective, external factors seem to play a marginal role in change, at most a catalytic role. Change is always relative, but not simply to what the organization has done before. Organizational change should also be relative to what is going on outside the organization. What appears to be major progress from an organizational perspective may look like stagnation in a wider context. This paper suggests that notions of the "learning organization" have often emphasied internal aspects of the change process and neglected the external. In particular, they seem to have paid little attention to the essential contribution of external information to internal change. Information is so fundamental to the learning required for deliberate change that it is not unreasonable to see change as an information process. This view affords an information perspective of change in the organization, and a revealing contrast to the usual organizational perspective. Change in the organization is seen as a process in which the finding and acquisition of external information are critical. So, too, is mixing these external bits of information with those already in use within the organization. The result is not just another model of what is already understood about change in the organization. It has profound implications for those who seek to understand and manage the process of change. The information perspective indicates that organizational change is largely dependent on the information activities of individual employees acting on their own account as much as that of the organization. These activities may be---and sometimes must be---beyond the control of the organization. Thus, those who would manage change face the challenge of managing without control. The information perspective suggests that the concentration on structure and control inherent in notions of the learning organization may be mimical to the real learning required for organizational change.


1 Published online January 24, 2020; doi: 10.1620/tjem.250.1. Correspondence: Kazuhiro Takahashi, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Endocrinology and Applied Medical Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com ©2020 Tohoku University Medical Press. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0). Anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, or distribute the article without modifications or adaptations for non-profit purposes if they cite the original authors and source properly. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Editorial: the 100th Anniversary of the TJEM


During the last decade, a series of ports are being built along the Thi Vai River in the Mekong delta approximately 80 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The ports are built on reclaimed ground over an about 30 to 40 m thick deposit of soft, normally consolidated, compressible clay deposited on dense to compact sand The deep foundation system typically used for buildings in this region consists of pretensioned spun high strength concrete piles driven to significant toe bearing in dense soils. Because of the anticipated significant costs of this solution, a more economical alternative foundation system was essential, and the alternative of a shaft bearing pile, a precast concrete pile, was proposed for Cai Mep Container Port. To reduce settlements, a soil improvement scheme was imposed, consisting of wick drains installed through the clay to the sand and placing an up to 8 m thick surcharge over the area. After removal of the surcharge, piled-raft foundations were constructed for the Port building, incorporating 400 mm square, precast concrete piles, which were driven to depths of 18 m. Settlement monitoring showed that the area and the piles continued to settle after the removal of the surcharge, indicating that consolidation settlement had not been completed despite the about 18 months long surcharge period. It became clear that the long-term settlements, primarily due to downdrag, would exceed the limit of maximum 400 mm over a 20-year period. In order to remedy the situation, the piles were lengthened to a total length of 44 m to ensure that the neutral plane was located in the sand, where no long-term settlement would occur. The problem and its solution were analyzed by means of the Unified Design Method. The remedial solution added about US$2 million to the project and caused a 12-month delay.


I was born in Middlesbrough in 1931, and it's been uphill all the way since then. To a certain extent my life has been a process of being sold a dream which has never been realized, along with many other people in my generation, from Henry Livings and Harold Pinter through Wesker and Arden to John McGrath. We were the wartime generation, the last generation to remember what life was like before the war and during it.


Pump-probe experiments to study ultrafast dynamic phenomena such as electron transfer, lattice vibrations, phase transitions, chemical reactions, or spin dynamics require two short radiation pulses as well as good control of the time delay between them. The first pulse to excite ("pump") the sample under study is usually a femtosecond laser pulse in the near-visible regime. For the second pulse to analyze ("probe") the state of the sample as a function of the delay, however, light with shorter and tunable wavelength would be desirable. Conventional synchrotron light sources produce pulses with a typical duration of 30–100 ps (FWHM), given by the electron bunch length in a storage ring, which is not well suited for ultrafast studies. The bunch length can be reduced to a few picoseconds in the so-called low-α mode (e.g., [1]) by lowering the momentum compaction factor α of the storage ring. Radiation pulses in the femtosecond range, however, are obtained more easily by extracting synchrotron light from a small fraction of the electron distribution, rather than the whole bunch, which can be achieved with the laser-based methods described below.


ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Nicola Rossi is first author on 'Oviductal fluid counterbalances the negative effect of high temperature on sperm in an ectotherm model', published in BiO. Nicola is a PhD student in the lab of Margarita Chiaraviglio and Gabriela Cardozo at Instituto IDEA, Córdoba, Argentina, studying the effects of global warming on seuxal selection and social mechanisms in a lizard species native to South America, Tropidurus spinulosus.


Abstract Background The treatment response of patients with schizophrenia is heterogeneous, and markers of clinical response are missing. Studies using machine learning approaches have provided encouraging results regarding prediction of outcomes, but replicability has been challenging. In the present study, we present a novel methodological framework for applying machine learning to clinical data. Herein, algorithm selection and other methodological choices were based on model performance on a simulated dataset, to minimize bias and avoid overfitting. We subsequently applied the best performing machine learning algorithm to a rich, multimodal neuropsychiatric dataset. We aimed to 1) classify patients from controls, 2) predict short- and long-term clinical response in a sample of initially antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients, and 3) validate our methodological framework. Methods We included data from 138 antipsychotic-naïve, first-episode schizophrenia patients, who had undergone assessments of psychopathology, cognition, electrophysiology, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Perinatal data and long-term outcome measures were obtained from Danish registers. Baseline diagnostic classification algorithms also included data from 151 matched healthy controls. Short-term treatment response was defined as change in psychopathology after the initial antipsychotic treatment period. Long-term treatment response (4–16 years) was based on data from Danish registers. The simulated dataset was generated to resemble the real data with respect to dimensionality, multimodality, and pattern of missing data. Noise levels were tunable to enable approximation to the signal-to-noise ratio in the real data. Robustness of the results was ensured by running two parallel, fundamentally different machine learning pipelines, a 'single algorithm approach' and an 'ensemble approach'. Both pipelines included nested cross-validation, missing data imputation, and late integration. Results We significantly classified patients from controls with a balanced accuracy of 64.2% (95% CI = [51.7, 76.7]) for the single algorithm approach and 63.1% (95% CI = [50.4, 75.8]) for the ensemble approach. Post hoc analyses showed that the classification primarily was driven by the cognitive data. Neither approach predicted short- and long-term clinical response. To validate our methodological framework based on simulated data, we selected the best, a medium, and the most poorly performing algorithm on the simulated data and applied them to the real data. We found that the ranking of the algorithms was kept in the real data. Discussion Our rigorous modelling framework incorporating simulated data and parallel pipelines discriminated patients from controls, but our extensive, multimodal neuropsychiatric data from antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients were not predictive of the clinical outcome. Nevertheless, our novel approach holds promise as an important step to obtain reliable, unbiased results with modest sample sizes when independent replication samples are not available.


Schema Theory has been widely applied in foreign language teaching since the last twenty years of 20th century.The application of Schema Theory can also be used in listening teaching.It can arouse the background knowledge that students had in their minds and give students a big help in listening comprehension.Thus,it will be a great remedy for the defects of traditional listening teaching methods and accordingly improve students' listening ability.


$U(ZG)|\epsilon(u)=1\}$ where $\epsilon:ZG\rightarrow Z$ is the augmentation map. In this paper we will study the following problems: Problem 1. How many eonjugate classes are there in $V(ZG)$ of subgroups of $V(ZG)$ isomorphic to $G$? Problem 2. Is there a torsion free normal subgroup $F$ of $V(ZG)$ such that $V(ZG)=F\cdot G$? Let $S.(resp. A.)$ denote the symmetric group (resp. alternating group) on $n$ symbols, and let $D$, denote the dihedral group of order $2n$ . Hughes and Pearson ([3]) raised Problem 1 with related problems and showed that there is only one conjugate class in $V(ZS_{3})$ of subgroups of $V(ZS_{3})$ isomorphic to $S_{3}$ . Polcino ([6]) showed that there are two conjugate classes in $V(ZD)$ of subgroups of $V(ZD_{4})$ isomorphic to $D_{4}$ . On the other hand, Dennis ([2]) solved affirmatively Problem 2 in the case where $G=S_{3}$ . Recently, Miyata ([5]) has solved Problem 2 in the case where $G=D_{n},$ $n$ odd. He has also solved Problem 1 with an additional hypothesis that the class group of $ZD_{n}$ is of odd order. Our main results are as follows: [I] Let $G$ be a finite metabelian group such that the exponent of $G/G$ ' is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6, where $G^{\prime}$ is the commutator subgroup of G. Then there is a torsion free normal subgroup $F$ of $V(ZG)$ such that $V(ZG)=$


Available Bit Rate (ABR) streams are carried whenever bandwidth is available to do so. When transporting MPEG streams over ATM networks, the link utilization cannot be brought close to 100% no matter how efficient the connection control admission scheme is, but can be improved by ABR traffic. Due to the unpredictable fluctuations and burstiness of the MPEG streams, it is difficult to accurately control the ABR flow rate. A traffic control mechanism based on fuzzy logic is therefore required to effectively transport ABR traffic so that network operators can use most of the unused bandwidth. In this paper, we present the design of an optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) of an ATM switch for the rate control of an ABR stream. Unlike the previous work where synthetic data and trial and error were used for tuning an FLC, the merits of our method are that we used simulations and real MPEG data to generate the input-output data for the optimal design of the FLC, and that our technique enables the output of the FLC to be symmetrical.


In this paper, we present the evaluation of our CLIR system performed as part of our participation in FIRE 2008. We participated in Hindi to English, Marathi to English, English to Hindi bilingual task and English, Hindi, Marathi monolingual task. We take a query translation based approach using bi-lingual dictionaries. Query words not found in the bi-lingual dictionary are transliterated. Since Devanagari is a phonetic script, for transliteration from Hindi/Marathi to English, we use a rule-based approach and for transliteration from English to Hindi, we use a segment based transliteration approach. The resultant transliteration/translation candidates for each query word are disambiguated using an iterative page-rank style algorithm which, based on termterm co-occurrence statistics, produces the most probable translation of the query. In many Indian language documents the actual Indian word is used as-is without translation. For example, to describe Kashmir Travel, it is quite common to also use Kashmir Yatra in the documents i.e, the actual Hindi word transliterated in English. So, this motivated us to try a full transliteration of the source query without translation. We report the results of this experiment.


This study was performed in Balýkesir, Bursa, Canakkale provinces of Turkey. Six species of robber flies, Choerades fimbriata (Meigen), Scytomedes haemorrhoidalis (Fabricius), Habropogon decipiens Theodor, Asilus crabroniformis Linnaeus, Tolmerus tivonensis Theodor, Aneomochtherus perplexus (Becker), are prooved for the first time for Turkey. Short descriptions of the species are added.


Tuberculosis is a leading killer of people living with ~IV and. it is highest in countnes with the highest rates of HIV. HIV and TB are closely linked. Testing in a number of developing countries shows that up to 70% of TB patients are infected with HIV. In addition, up to 50% of people living with HIV can expect to develop TB. Worldwide, 36.1 million people are infected with HIV and 95% of them live in developing countries, where TB rates are highest. About 13 million people are infected with both HIV and the germ that causes TB. 'People with both diseases suffer double discrimination', said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS). 'HIV severely weakens the immune system, and makes people highly vulnerable to diseases such as TB. According to our latest figures, nearly two-thirds of all people with HIV or AIDS were living in the countries with the hi~h est TB burden in the world. The link between the two is inescapable, and TB is the first manifestation of AIDS in more than half of all developing country cases'. . TB has serious human rights implications. Most major human rights treaties protect against discrimination in access to healthcare. However, TB hits hardest in areas of the world where access to treatment is an unaffordable luxury. The poor are made even poorer b.y TB people fall sick and income IS lost in marginal households. TB, unlike HIV, can be cured, even in people with HIV infection. A simple strategy called DOTS (directly observed treatment shortcourse) cures most people with TB and the drug costs as little as US $10-15 per patient. Untreated, a single p~rson with contagious TB can infect between 10-15 people a year.


This paper illustrates the operation significance of implementing modern enterprise cost management in construction enterprise,introduces the foothold of modern cost management,and discusses modern cost management of construction enterprise and cost control of construction project,in order to increase economic benefits of construction enterprise and to promote its further development.


Market participation is both a cause and a consequence of economic development. Markets offer households the opportunity to specialize according to comparative advantage and thereby enjoy welfare gains from trade. Empirical analysis of the determinants of smallholder market participation has to deal with the econometric hazard of selection bias. The problem arises because households (or individuals) face different types of decisions in relation to market participation, a discrete decision over whether or not to participate in a given market, and a continuous decision as to how much to sell conditional on market participation. following the Heckman two-step approach, the first step is to estimate a Probit model of participation in the relevant market as a function of both those variables that likely also determine butter sales volumes, conditional on market participation, as well as one or more exclusion restriction variables. The study was aimed at identify factors determining butter market participation and supply. Accordingly, the econometric result of market participation decision indicated butter yield, number of extension visit, market information access, family size, distance to nearest market and distance to development center are the significant factors affecting butter market participation. Similarly, quantity produced, distance to nearest market and distance to development center are significant factors affecting level of supply. Based on the study findings, institutional services, butter productivity and spatial setting are main determinants of butter market participation and volume of trade. Therefore, more attention is needed for investments in development of physical infrastructure, communication and road networks. It is also important develop farmers awareness and decision making capacity through training. Institutional arrangements like cooperatives can also be very successful in dealing with both information asymmetries and easily attain competitive edge. In addition, extension agents service should go beyond production technique and therefore should address issues related to marketing, saving and finally commercialization of butter will be achieved. Keywords: butter supply, market participation, Heckman's two step model


The present work reports the development of a nonlinear technique based on genetic algorithm (GA) for the prediction of wave heights in the north Indian Ocean. Time series observations of surface wind speed and significant wave height at three locations in the Arabian Sea (AS) and the Bay of Bengal (BOB) have been used for developing and testing the technique. The predictions have been compared with persistence forecasts and it has been found that the prediction by GA is always superior to persistence forecast and thus represents a net information gain. The predicted wave heights have been found to be consistent with the results obtained with autocorrelation analysis applied on the respective time series of wave heights.


This paper addresses several key issues in distributed multimedia services management and composition such as scalability, heterogeneity, and quality of service (QoS). The proposed framework introduces biologically inspired multimedia service management through the composition of basic multimedia services such as streaming services and different transcoding services. The biologically inspired approach is used for collecting the QoS requirements from individual transcoding services in order to select the most suitable services for the desired composition process. A prototype of the proposed framework is designed, implemented, and evaluated in terms of scalability and load balancing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Although wavefront parallel processing (WPP) proposed in the HEVC standard and various inter frame WPP algorithms can achieve comparatively high parallelism, their scalability for its parallelism is still very limited due to various dependencies introduced in spatial and temporal prediction in HEVC. In this paper, we propose three types of 3 Dimensional WPP (3D-WPP) algorithms that can significantly improve the parallelism, while achieving good tradeoffs between implementation complexity, determinism, and rate-distortion (RD) performance. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms can lead to up to 2.8 × speed up compared with existing inter frame WPP methods. While the Simple 3D-WPP and Static 3D-, WPP algorithm may introduce an BD rate loss between 0 to 4.9% as compared with existing algorithms, the more complex Dynamic 3D-WPP algorithm achieves better parallelism with virtually no coding performance loss.


Simple Summary A tremendous effort and rapid development of the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting radio ligands for radionuclide therapy has resulted in encouraging response rates for advanced prostate cancer. Different radionuclides have been utilized or suggested as suitable candidates. In this study, a dynamic model of metastatic progress was developed and utilized to estimate a radiopharmaceutical's potential of obtaining metastatic control of advanced prostate cancer. The simulations performed demonstrated the advantage of utilizing radionuclides with short-range particle emission, i.e., alpha-emitters and low-energy electrons. The recently-proposed beta-emitting radionuclide terbium-161 demonstrates great potential of being a future candidate towards targeted radionuclide therapy of advanced prostate cancer. This is in line with recent encouraging preclinical results and development of upscaling the product quality. Recently, the first in-human application with a [161Tb]Tb-DOTATOC also demonstrated good SPECT image quality, which can enable dosimetry calculations for new 161Tb-based radiopharmaceuticals. Abstract The aim of this study was to analyze the required absorbed doses to detectable metastases (Dreq) when using radionuclides with prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting radioligands to achieve a high probability for metastatic control. The Monte Carlo based analysis was performed for the clinically-used radionuclides yttrium-90, iodine-131, lutetium-177, and actinium-225, and the newly-proposed low-energy electron emitter terbium-161. It was demonstrated that metastatic formation rate highly influenced the metastatic distribution. Lower values generated few large detectable metastases, as in the case with oligo metastases, while high values generated a distribution of multiple small detectable metastases, as observed in patients with diffused visualized metastases. With equal number of detectable metastases, the total metastatic volume burden was 4–6 times higher in the oligo metastatic scenario compared to the diffusely visualized scenario. The Dreq was around 30% higher for the situations with 20 detectable metastases compared to one detectable metastasis. The Dreq for iodine-131 and yttrium-90 was high (920–3300 Gy). The Dreq for lutetium-177 was between 560 and 780 Gy and considerably lower Dreq were obtained for actinium-225 and terbium-161, with 240–330 Gy and 210–280 Gy, respectively. In conclusion, the simulations demonstrated that terbium-161 has the potential for being a more effective targeted radionuclide therapy for metastases using PSMA ligands.


The literary essays in this collection explore the relationships between mind, body, and environment as the narrator explores Orlando, her beachfront hometown of Sarasota, and other "tourist traps." The vignettes and traditional and experimental essays here question how residents make popular vacation destinations their own, how newcomers establish themselves as part of local culture, and how much trust one can put in strangers and neighbors, from themepark designers to lovers. Dance floors, hybrid bikes, flying elephants, swing sets, and swimming pools fill these pages. Worries spiral like disco lights on dance floors, and cultural forces press down with the regularity of pedal strokes. With the embodiment of place comes connection between environment and activity; music, buildings, landscape, and physical activity heighten the relationship between personal identity and place. Everything moves, but the appeal of tourist traps remains constant.


The issue which united the critics of the critics of The Hand that Signed the Paper - a very diverse group which included Dame Leonie Kramer, Jill Kitson, David Marr, Frank Devine, Michael Leunig, P.P. McGuinness, Gerard Windsor and Andrew Riemer - was not the literary value of Helen Demidenko's book but the question of artistic freedom or, even more generally, of free speech. All believed that Helen Demidenko had fallen victim to a vicious and vitriolic and, as some believed, well orchestrated political campaign - of what was called, time and again, a witch hunt, or alternatively, a crucifixion and, on occasions, a fatwa.


1 Ahuja A, Gothi D, Joshi J. A 52-year-old man with daytime sleepiness, sialorrhea, and facial fasciculations. Chest 2006; 130:287–290 2 Servera E, Sancho J. Appropriate management of respiratory problems is of utmost importance in the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [editorial]. Chest 2005; 127:1879–1882 3 Aboussouan LS, Khan SU, Meeker DP, et al. Effect of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Ann Intern Med 1997; 127:450–453 4 Bach JR. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: prolongation of life by noninvasive respiratory aids. Chest 2002; 122:92–98 5 Lechtzin N, Shade D, Clawson L, et al. Supramaximal inflation improves lung compliance in subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Chest 2006; 129:1322–1329 6 Farrero E, Prats E, Povedano M, et al. Survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with home mechanical ventilation. Chest 2005; 127:2132–2138 7 Simonds AK. Ethics and decision making in end stage lung disease. Thorax 2003; 58:272–277


In this paper, five level distributed static compensator (DSTATCOM) is demonstrated to reduce harmonics efficiently. The topology of the DSTATCOM consists of the cascaded H-hridge multilevel inverter (CHBMLI), de link and interfacing inductor. The dc link voltage regulated with single input fuzzy logic controller. The concept of the SIFLC is derived from conventional FLC with signed distance. This simplification allows SIFLC control surface to approximated piece wise linear surface (PWL). The derived PWL surface is used for individual de capacitor voltage regulation. The instantaneous reactive power theory is used for reference current generation. The SIFLC for CHBMLI based DSTATCOM individual dc voltage regulation is proposed. The CHBMLI based DSTATCOM with SIFLC efficiently compensates the reactive current of the nonlinear load. The performance characteristics of the CHBMLI based DSTATCOM using SIFLC is compared with conventional fuzzy logic controller. The simulated response of DSTATCOM with the SIFLC shows effective compensation performance for a dynamic change in the load than the Conventional fuzzy logic controller.


The authors present a method for partitioning a problem specification into hardware and a software implementation. A partitioning approach can be supported by the use of a specification language that permits considering several partitioning possibilities for the problem as well as analyzing different implementation alternatives of each part of the problem. These requirements are fulfilled in the approach by the use of UNITY as the specification language. The approach presented consists of classification of statements, a clustering algorithm, and cluster allocation, as well as cost and constraint analysis. The method is explained with an example.<<ETX>>


The growth of colorectal cancer tumors and their reactions to chemo-immunotherapeutic treatment with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are discussed in this paper using a system of fractional order differential equations (FDEs). mAb medications are still at the research stage; however, this research takes into account the mAbs that are already in use. The major goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the mAb medication Cetuximab and the significance of IL-2 levels in immune system support. The created model is broken down into four sub-systems: cell populations, irinotecan (CPT11) concentration for treatment, IL-2 concentration for immune system support, and monoclonal antibody Cetuximab. We show the existence and uniqueness of the initial value problem (IVP). After that, we analyze the stability of the equilibrium points (disease-free and co-existing) using the Routh–Hurwitz criteria. In addition, in applying the discretization process, we demonstrate the global stability of the constructed system around the equilibrium points based on specific conditions. In the end, simulation results were carried out to support the theory of the manuscript.


The physicochemical basis for epitaxial stabilization of coincident molecular overlayers is illustrated by comparison of optimum overlayer−substrate configurations calculated with potential energy ...


The detection methods of subgrade compactness of highway are introduced.The factors influencing the compactness effect of roadbed are discussed in depth.Author points out that in practical construction should integrate the theory with practice.According to the various of properties of soil and codes test works should be done well to ensure engineering quality.


Scholars agree that reciprocity is a cornerstone of service‐learning and community engagement (SLCE); however, engagement with this concept varies widely in practice and across disciplines. To enhance the potential of SLCE to fulfill its promise for societal impact, engineering education must understand how reciprocity is achieved, recognize barriers that inhibit its progress, and identify strategies for how it can be strengthened.We performed this review to understand the ways reciprocity is articulated in the engineering SLCE literature. Drawing from these articulations, we examined the extent of engagement with reciprocity toward providing insights into the design and assessment of SLCE efforts for reciprocity.We performed a systematic literature review on engineering SLCE at institutes of higher education. Following an established approach to identify and synthesize articles, we developed deductive codes by distilling three well‐articulated orientations of reciprocity. We then analyzed the operationalization of reciprocity in the literature.The literature demonstrated varying degrees of reciprocity. Minimally reciprocal efforts centered university stakeholders. In contrast, highly reciprocal partnerships explicitly addressed the nature of engagement with communities. Findings provide insights into the breadth of practice within reciprocity present in engineering SLCE. Further, analysis suggests that our codes and levels of reciprocity can function as a framework that supports the design and evaluation of reciprocity in SLCE efforts.Our review suggests that to enact more equitable SLCE, researchers and practitioners must intentionally conceptualize reciprocity, translate it into practice, and make visible the ways in which reciprocity is enacted within their SLCE efforts.


MDS-1 satellite observations demonstrated that highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt disappear during the main phase of the magnetic storm, and rebuilding of the highly energetic electrons is made during the recovery phase of the magnetic storm. A distribution of the new peak of highly energetic electron flux with respect to the distance from the Earth is inversely proportional to the magnitude of the magnetic storm. In case of the large storm, the outer electron belt is pushed toward the Earth, filling so-called slot region. It is of interest to identify that seed electrons are necessary around inner edge of the outer radiation zone to fill slot region. It was found that the location of the intense low frequency plasma waves, which appear during the storm recovery phase, coincides with the location of the peak intensity of the highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt. This coincidence strongly suggests that an internal acceleration process takes place which leads to a large increase in the intensity of highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt during the storm recovery phase. A seasonal variation of the outer radiation belt is identified. The increase in the intensity of the highly energetic electrons is large both in spring and autumn seasons. The magnetic activity is also large both in spring and autumn seasons. Correlation of the increase in the intensity of highly energetic electrons with the magnetic activity is identified. A solar cycle variation of the outer radiation belt is also identified. The location of the outer radiation belt was found closer to the Earth during the solar maximum periods and far from the Earth during the solar minimum periods. This variation is due to the evidence that large magnetic storms occur largely during the solar maximum periods, while small magnetic storms take place largely during the solar minimum periods, resulting in a long-term solar cycle variation with respect to the distance from the Earth.


FEM Model of sand production in oil well was established with plastic strain criteria, the yield stress of the rock is the Drucker Prager criteria. According to the parameters of formation in some oilfield, the plastic stress strain results was obtained under the difference pressure with the model in the paper, the sand production can be predicted in light of the results. The criteria production pressure without sand production was determined according to the criteria plastic strain value. It provided the theoretical data for the normal production in oil well.


In mature rams, the signs of high functional activity of the thyroid gland are observed in the autumn period. An increase in the diameter of the thyroid follicles (109.1±0.58 microns) is marked, the height of the epithelium (9.6±0.11 microns) and the area of the thyrocyte nuclei (32.8±0.38 μm2) increase statistically significant (P<0.001). In the pituitary gland of rams in the autumn period, there is an increase in the number of tyrotropes. The cytoplasm of tyrotropes is filled with secretory granules, which reflects the high level of their functional activity.


The purpose of the study is to identify and systematize the capitalization methods of enterprises in the construction industry by analyzing of internal and external expansion. The paper analyzes models of capitalization with vertical and horizontal integration in the cluster structure, considers factors of growth of capitalization through cluster structures that have the greatest potential for innovative development. They ensure effective binding of internal resources in the innovative development projects, while using external sources of growth as fully as possible. As a result of the study, the algorithm was developed to form and implement the capitalization mechanism of activity of construction enterprises on the basis of the implementation concept of new forms of activity.


Abstract Elena Maslova, A Grammar of Kolyma Yukaghir. (Mouton Grammar Library, 27.) Berlin:Mouton de Gruyter, 2003, xviii + 609 pages, ISBN 3-11-017527-4, EUR 148. 1. General Kolyma Yukaghir and Tundra Yukaghir are closely related languages spoken in the north-eastern part of Russia. Kolyma Yukaghir at present has about 40 speakers. The language is not entirely undescribed: Jochelson (1905) and especially Krejnovič (1979, 1982) are useful accounts of morphology and give basic phonological and syntactic information, while Nyikolajeva (2000) is a short overview of Yukaghir grammar in historical perspective. There are a number of articles by various authors focusing on particular grammatical points. Several folklore text collections have been published (Jochelson 1898, 1900; Nikolaeva (ed.) 1989, 1997; Maslova 2002). These works provide essential facts about the language. However, most of them are written in Russian or Hungarian and use terminology and representational conventions that do not always correspond to modern scholarly practice, with examples presented less than transparently, often lacking morpheme-by-morpheme glossing. Most importantly, previous descriptions have many gaps by modern standards and for the most part ignore syntax. Described incompletely, idiosyncratically, and somewhat inaccessibly, Yukaghir grammar has played little or no role in considerations of modern theoretical linguists and typologists.


The objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of using waste plastic as a admixture in concrete constructions. The compressive and tensile strengths of various concrete specimens were tested to determine how the incorporation of recycled plastic as an admixture would affect the development of strength in the mixes. The project is about to use of plastic in civil construction. The components used are some types of plastics such as plastic cover and plastic bottles that are used in decoration, flooring, wall covering, waterproofing and mainly in constructions. Plastic use in construction that have shown same hope in terms of using plastic waste in building construction. i.e. plastic concrete. Plastic concrete mainly use plastic carry bags, disposable cups and PET bottles that are collected from garbage dumps as important ingredients of the construction materials. By using plastic waste as modifier, we can able to manage the quantity of cement and sand by their weight, hence decreasing the overall cost of construction. At 0.4% optimum modifier content, strength of modified concrete we found to see the times greater than the plain cement concrete. By the disposable plastics is the main source of plastic. So, this technology will result in lesser concrete repairs.


We get an upper bound of O(x 5/14+o(1) ) on the number of Carmichael numbers ≤ x with exactly three prime factors.


This paper reports on the high-yield fabrication of silicon MOS transistors using X-ray lithography, measurements and annealing of fast surface states and oxide charges created by X-ray irradiation, and design considerations for submicrometer linewidth X-ray lithography on 7.5-cm diameter silicon wafers.


"Sunshine" is a sport for teenagers student body and mind are fully exercise and the development of mass sports.Since April 2007 since the start of the overall,millions of students actively involved.But should see,at present,the sunshine sports in some schools or region is restricted by many factors,"you cannot see the sunshine sunshine movement.Based on the investigation and statistics of the primary part in xinyang city,find out "sunshine" movement of some of the dilemma facing,designed for relevant departments,provides the theory basis for more vigorous sunshine sports.


Abstract STUDY QUESTION Are SARS-CoV-2 canonical cell entry machinery, consisting of ACE2, TMPRSS2, NRP1 and LY6E, or alternative potential cell entry machinery, consisting of BSG, ANPEP, CD209, CLEC4G, TMPRSS4, TMPRSS11A, FURIN, CTSB, CTSL and IFITM1, expressed in the human endometrium across the menstrual cycle? SUMMARY ANSWER Analysis of cell entry factors for SARS-CoV-2 by single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq) in the preconceptional human endometrium reveals low risk of infection. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Gene expression datasets from bulk endometrial tissue show no significant expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2. This is in contrast to reported expression of ACE2 at the single-cell level in the decidua and trophoblast cells at the maternal–fetal interface in early pregnancy, as well as vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This analysis of SARS-CoV-2 cell entry machinery gene expression was conducted by scRNAseq in 73 181 human endometrial cells isolated from endometrial biopsies obtained from 27 donors across the menstrual cycle. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS ScRNAseq examined the expression of genes encoding cell entry machinery for SARS-CoV-2. The raw data were from a previously published dataset. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE ScRNAseq analysis showed no significant expression of ACE2 in stromal or unciliated epithelial cells in any phase of the menstrual cycle. TMPRSS2 was expressed in epithelial cells during the early proliferative and mid-secretory phases. Interestingly, the expression of NRP1 was observed in both stromal and epithelial cells across all phases of the menstrual cycle, and LY6E was highly expressed in stromal cells. In the mid-secretory phase, coexpression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 was detected in 0.07% of luminal epithelial cells. No cells simultaneously expressed ACE2, NRP1 and TMPRSS2 at the time of embryo implantation. Focusing on non-canonical cell entry machinery, BSG was highly expressed in all cell types across the menstrual cycle and may interact with CTSB or CTSL proteases, but viral infection using this machinery has not yet been confirmed. LARGE SCALE DATA All raw data in this study can be found at NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (series accession code GSE111976) and Sequence Read Archive (accession code SRP135922). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Our findings at the single-cell level imply low efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 endometrial infection using canonical receptors in a cohort of healthy reproductive-age women; however, infection of endometrial cells can only be assessed in the presence of the virus. All samples were processed for scRNAseq, so no samples are remaining to analyze protein expression or spatial transcriptomics. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Our results offer a useful resource to guide reproductive decisions when assessing risk of endometrial infection by SARS-CoV-2 during the preconceptional period in asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was jointly supported by the March of Dimes, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and MINECO/FEDER (SAF-2015-67164-R, to C.S.) (Spanish Government), and the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Grant agreement 874867). W.W. was supported by the Stanford Bio-X Graduate Bowes Fellowship and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. F.V. was supported by the Miguel Servet Program Type II of ISCIII (CPII18/00020) and the FIS project (PI18/00957). A patent disclosure has been filed for the study with the title 'Methods for assessing endometrial transformation' and the global patent number 'EP 3807648 A2' under the inventors S.R.Q., C.S., W.W. and F.V. C.S. is the Founder and Head of the Scientific Advisory Board of Igenomix SL. S.R.Q is the Director of Mirvie. I.M. is partially employed by Igenomix SL. B.R. has no interests to declare.


The uses and forms of intra and extra-group identification through the media are aspects poorly explored through identity studies related to intermediate type cities such as those of located at the center of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze and discuss the ways that representations and manifestations of Bolivian immigrants and descendants become visible and are constructed, specifically through the social network Facebook and local print media in the cities of Olavarria and Azul. It aims to contribute to the understanding of how the various discourses and knowledge of these groups occur and to identify the role of these media as means that enable intervene from other areas of recognition and legitimacy.


This paper provides an update to a previous report that summarizes the results of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Fallbrook Technologies, Inc. (Fallbrook). The purpose of the CRADA is to assess the usefulness of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for wind turbine applications.


While Harry Martinson's epic space poem Aniara (1956) has received little attention outside Sweden over the last half-century, several new adaptations have appeared in recent years, most notably the 2018 science fiction film Aniara. This article explores the reason
 for this renewed interest and argues that, in addition to ecocritical aspects, it is the interest in human‐machine relations that has contributed to the rediscovery. Drawing on Jane Bennett's notion of thing-power, the article focuses on the spaceship Aniara's artificial
 intelligence, Mima. Both in Martinson's text and the film adaptation, Mima is depicted as a sentient machine that does not show empathy with suffering humans but rather with the suffering of nature, epitomized in crying stones. Analysing the motif of the crying stones in more detail,
 the article seeks to contribute to the discussion about emotional attachment between humans, technology and nature.


A fixation structure for a valve system rotation shaft of an internal combustion engine to support a camshaft with a cylinder head through the use of a lower cam holder and cam caps, which are formed separately from the cylinder head. The fixation structure eliminates the necessity of taking special vibration/noise control measures for a head cover thus preventing an increase in the cost, size, and weight of the head cover. A head external wall extends toward the head cover rather than toward a head middle surface in such a manner so as to cover the circumference of the lower cam holder fixed to a head middle surface. The connection to the holder fixation section is established with the base end of an external wall of the head cover abutted on the leading end of the head external wall.


Motion pose capture technology can effectively solve the problem of difficulty in defining character motion in the process of 3D animation production and greatly reduce the workload of character motion control, thereby improving the efficiency of animation development and the fidelity of character motion. Motion gesture capture technology is widely used in virtual reality systems, virtual training grounds, and real-time tracking of the motion trajectories of general objects. This paper proposes an attitude estimation algorithm adapted to be embedded. The previous centralized Kalman filter is divided into two-step Kalman filtering. According to the different characteristics of the sensors, they are processed separately to isolate the cross-influence between sensors. An adaptive adjustment method based on fuzzy logic is proposed. The acceleration, angular velocity, and geomagnetic field strength of the environment are used as the input of fuzzy logic to judge the motion state of the carrier and then adjust the covariance matrix of the filter. The adaptive adjustment of the sensor is converted to the recognition of the motion state. For the study of human motion posture capture, this paper designs a verification experiment based on the existing robotic arm in the laboratory. The experiment shows that the studied motion posture capture method has better performance. The human body motion gesture is designed for capturing experiments, and the capture results show that the obtained pose angle information can better restore the human body motion. A visual model of human motion posture capture was established, and after comparing and analyzing with the real situation, it was found that the simulation approach reproduced the motion process of human motion well. For the research of human motion recognition, this paper designs a two-classification model and human daily behaviors for experiments. Experiments show that the accuracy of the two-category human motion gesture capture and recognition has achieved good results. The experimental effect of SVC on the recognition of two classifications is excellent. In the case of using all optimization algorithms, the accuracy rate is higher than 90%, and the final recognition accuracy rate is also higher than 90%. In terms of recognition time, the time required for human motion gesture capture and recognition is less than 2 s.


Imagine if paleontologists stumbled on a secluded forest where giant dinosaurs still stomp about. Ten years ago, astronomers were lucky enough to spot the cosmic equivalent: a little galaxy near our own that mimics those that arose at the dawn of time—galaxies so distant that no one has yet seen them. The dwarf galaxy is named Leo P. "The more I study it, the more attached to it I get," says Kristen McQuinn of Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ, with a laugh. "It definitely is my favorite galaxy." That's in part because she knows Leo P's small size and primitive composition match the predicted characteristics of the first galaxies that ever existed. But the galaxy's proximity to us makes it much easier to observe, promising cosmic insights out of all proportion to its tiny size. Furthermore, Leo P sports a hot, young star that the Hubble Space Telescope recently scrutinized, a star that likely resembles some of the ones that shone during the early years of the universe. Future observations with the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope should probe the infancy of Leo P itself, giving us a glimpse of how this galaxy took shape shortly after the creation of the cosmos.


The aim of this paper is to improve the optimality and accuracy of techniques to guide a human in limited visibility and auditory conditions such as in fire-fighting in warehouses or similar environments. At present, breathing apparatus (BA) wearing fire-fighters move in teams following walls. Due to limited visibility and high noise in the oxygen masks, they predominantly depend on haptic communication through reins. An intelligent agent (man/machine) with full environment perceptual capabilities is an alternative to enhance navigation in such unfavorable environments, just like a dog guiding a blind person. This paper proposes an optimal state-dependent control policy to guide a follower with limited environmental perception, by an intelligent and environmentally perceptive agent. Based on experimental systems identification and numerical simulations on human demonstrations from eight pairs of participants, we show that the guiding agent and the follower experience learning for a optimal stable state-dependent novel 3rd and 2nd order auto regressive predictive and reactive control policies respectively. Our findings provide a novel theoretical basis to design advanced human-robot interaction algorithms in a variety of cases that require the assistance of a robot to perceive the environment by a human counterpart.


In this work, we explore a novel approach that incorporates lasing and nonlinear conversion within the same QCL waveguided region using orientation-patterned substrates. The synthesis of these integrated devices and initial results are presented.


This paper represented the problems existing in the management of the computer database, and through the analysis to achieve the purpose of solving the problem.


Hydrolysis patterns of starch were monitored during production of sweet potato puree (Jewel variety) using high performance size exclusion chromatography. A wide range of polysaccharides from large molecular size to simple sugars was observed. Lye peeling, prior to pureeing, induced partial hydrolysis by native enzymes due to gelatinization of starch from heat and alkali. Native enzymes were inactivated by steam injection (105°C for 5 min) and the puree treated with Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase and Tenase, a thermostable alpha-amylase. Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase produced a narrower molecular size range of polysaccharides during hydrolysis relative to Tenase. The average molecular size distribution of amylolysis end products from the native and exogenously treated systems differed. Specific lower molecular weight oligosaccharides formed during the final stages of amylolysis.


Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 percent of India's population. Farmers face many problems after they have yielded the agricultural commodities: farmers sell at a very low rate, and consumers buy at non-reasonable rates due to middlemen. As most of the farmers sell their produce to mandis (market places), they find it difficult to estimate which of the nearby places will be more profitable to them. The aim of this research is to help the farmers find the most profitable marketplace on the basis of location, transportation cost and price of the commodity and many other parameters that affect the price. Pattern finding and analysis can be done to find out hidden insights from the data that can help to study the economic growth in agricultural sector. The data is downloaded from the agmarknet.gov.in website operated by the Indian govt, which has regular updates for about 30 commodities from each state and marketplace associated with it in India for several years.


There is provided a control system which controls regeneration of a particulate filter are available. The system generally includes a fuel control module controlling an injection of fuel in exhaust gas passing through the particulate filter. A regeneration module controls electric current to the particulate filter to initiate regeneration, after the fuel is injected into the exhaust gas.


This study had the objective of determining the species of parasitoids in pupae of Diptera present in bovine dung, collected in the municipality of Goiânia, GO, region central of Brazil, from March 2012 to February 2013. The dipterous pupae were obtained by the flotation method. They were individually placed in gelatin capsules until the emergence of the dipterous and/or their parasitoids. The overall percentage of parasitism was 6.5%, and Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was the species with the highest percentage of parasitism with 9.8%. The more frequent specie was: Aleochara notula Erichson, 1839 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) with 26,1%.

Keywords: Diptera, Hymenoptera, biological control, flies

Source: Pensee Journal, vol 75, No. 9, 418-423: Sep. 2013.


This study aims to improve the texture of the set soybean yoghurt by using four kinds of food thickener :gelatin,pectin,modified agar-agar and modified starch.It analyses the optimal addition amount of these four food thickeners in set soybean yoghurt through the changes of gel strength,viscosity,retention ability during the cold storage period.The result of the respectively optimal addition amount of these four food thickeners in set soybean yoghurt is gelatin 0.6%,pectin 0.3%,modified agar-agar 0.4% and modified starch 0.5%.


This study presents an experimental investigation into the behavior of lightweight aggregate concrete columns confined with transverse steel reinforcement. Twelve reinforced specimens were tested under monotonically increasing axial compressive load. Test variables considered in the study include the amount of transverse steel and the tie configuration. The results indicated that the crack pattern of confined lightweight aggregate concrete columns exhibited significant differences with the normal weight concrete specimens expressing that the failure planes passed through the coarse aggregates or occurred at the interface between the coarse aggregate and cement paste. In addition, the brittle behavior of lightweight aggregate concrete can be significantly improved by reasonably selecting the tie configuration and adding the amount of lateral steel resulting in an excellent ductile behavior. Columns confined by rectangular hoops with cross ties provide sufficient axial load–carrying capacity and ductile behavior when compared with those of specimens confined by other tie configurations during the test. An analytical model that considers the confinement effectiveness factor (λt) and coefficient k was proposed to predict the peak stress and the corresponding strain of the specimen. The model demonstrates good predictive capability when it is compared with selected models.


With the widespread use of gold as a precious metal, the recovery of gold has become an urgent mission to be solved. Therefore, the design and preparation of a sorbent...


A definition of the social-psychological maturity of the person is proposed in the article. The definition was specified by means of collating with other concepts, comprising an attribution of "maturity": psychological maturity, person's maturity and social maturity. Accordingly, the phenomena corresponded to each of the 4 types of maturity were outlined. The processes through which the social-psychological maturity is came into being and grow up were described. It was principally shown how the personality questionnaire can be used to measure the social-psychological maturity, basing on genetic relation between person's maturity and social-psychological maturity.


This is a literature review in search of how elite education and selection involving race may affect formation of social class.


The training program of a software organization is the combination of activities described in the project training plans and the organizational training plan. The training process is the sequence of activities that are performed whenever a training cycle is enacted typically on an annual basis. This paper examines the components of a prototypical training process, emphasizing the early phases where software engineering organizations often exhibit weaknesses: the training needs analysis phase and the training planning phase. The paper concludes with questions for the readers to consider with regard to their own software engineering training programs.


To improve the reliability of the evaluation about earthquake damage of reinforced concrete structures,according to the variable fuzzy set theory created by Chen Shou-yu,the variable fuzzy sets' model and method are put forward here about many earthquake damage's factors and comprehensive evaluation of reinforced concrete structures.And through comparison and analysis for the comprehensive evaluation results about similar structure's earthquake damage with set pair analysis,it is showed that the proposed method is reasonable and effective.


According to the completely new situation of the speeding up economic globalization,the international capital reconstruction,the technology advancement in verery passing day and the deepening reform and opening up in China,by analyzing the severe challenge that SINOPEC is facing during the nations tenth five-year plan,the great marketing pressure that SINOPEC is bearing and the unique advantage it has,the author gives his consideration on SINOPEC's international cooperation in the world oil industry.


5056 Background: 4-HPR is a synthetic retinoid that, in contrast to other retinoids is cytotoxic rather than a differentiation inducer. Induction of tumor cell ceramide and reactive oxygen species have both been implicated in 4-HPR cytotoxicity. 4-HPR inhibited the growth of ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro with 1-10 μmolar concentrations in a dose dependent manner. A recent phase I study achieved higher levels using an intermittent dosing schedule.

METHODS
We designed a phase II study to evaluate the activity, toxicity profile and pharmacokinetics of 4-HPR in recurrent ovarian cancer. 4-HPR was administered at a dose of 900 mg/m2 po bid for 7 days every 21 days. Patients were required to have bi-dimensionally measurable disease and could have received ≤ 3 prior chemotherapy regimens for recurrent disease.

RESULTS
24 patients have been enrolled; 22 are evaluable for response. Median number of prior chemotherapy regimens is 3 (range: 1-3). Only 5 patients developed grade 3 or 4 toxicity: 1 grade 3 anemia, 1 grade 4 fatigue, 1 grade 3 diarrhea, 1 grade 3 nausea, and 1 with grade 3 vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. There were no treatment related deaths. The median number of cycles was 2 (range 1-35). The median number of 4-HPR cycles was 2 (range 1-35). Pharmacokinetics obtained in 18 patients showed a day 7 mean Cmax of 7.8 ± 4.7 μM (range 0.61 to 14.6 μM). There have been no objective responses; 8 patients (33%) achieved stable disease. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 1.5 months (95% CI 1.2-4.1) and the median survival was 9.2 months (CI 4.7-13.4). Six patients remained free of progression for more than 6 months (range 6-25); PFS at 6 months is 30% +/- 10%.

CONCLUSIONS
The encouraging PFS at 6 months suggest 4-HPR may provide clinical benefit to a significant number of patients. 4-HPR was well tolerated and achieved expected plasma levels for the currently employed formulation. [Table: see text].


Studying of disease with time disability of the women occupied on agricultural objects with different degree of sanitary-and-epidemiologic well-being is spent. Analysis of disease with time disability in cases and days was spent with use of methods of selective retrospective supervision with 2008 for 2010. Results of researches testify that the basic indicators characterizing disease of women occupied in modern agricultural productions, are substantially formed depending on group of sanitary-and-epidemiologic well-being. It is established that the more low degree of sanitary-and-epidemiologic well-being of agricultural object, the above levels of indicators of time invalidity. In structure of disease with time disability in cases and in days in all groups of working women of agriculture the leading place is occupied with diseases of respiratory organs.


Measured Moessbauer spectra of USbO/sub 5/ and USb/sub 3/O/sub 10/ were computer fitted both to a single Lorentzian line and to an eight line pattern. The fits to both models resulted in small positive isomer shifts relative to the source, Ba/sup 121m/SnO/sub 3/. Attempts to fit these spectra using a variable eta as well as variable e/sup 2/qQ were unsuccessful. The authors were unsure as to the higher chi/sup 2/ values for USb/sub 3/O/sub 10/ than for USbO/sub 5/ when the two spectra appeared comparable. The catalytic activity of the U-Sb-O phases relative to the pure Sb-O phases is attributed to the variety of possible oxidation states and the ease of electron transfer between them in the U-Sb-O system. The authors speculate that the difference in catalytic activity between USbO/sub 5/ and USb/sub 3/O/sub 10/ may be related to the increased ionic character of the Sb-O bonds in the latter.