This paper examines the characteristics of stocks that hit the limits listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Most of studies on price limit hits are carried out on stock markets that apply tight price limits rules such as the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and Korea Stock Exchange. A market that applies tighter price limit rules experiences many limit-hit occurrences; this makes analysis simpler because the analysis can use a smaller number of stocks and a reasonable sample period. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature by examining the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which applies wide price limit rules. We analyzed the characteristics of stocks that hit the limits more frequently, stocks that hit the upper limits and stocks that hit the lower limits. Daily data were collected for all stocks listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2007. The data were downloaded from the Datastream and the Tokyo Stock Exchange website. Three binary logistic regression models were applied. The first model tested the characteristics of stocks that hit upper and lower limits more frequently. The second model was for the characteristics of stocks that hit the upper limits, and the final model was for the characteristics of stocks that hit the lower limits. The results show that stocks that hit the upper limits tend to have a smaller systematic risk, while stocks that hit the lower limit tend to have a high systematic risk. This indicates that lower limit hits are due mostly to market-driven downward movements while upper limit hits are more likely related to company-driven upward movements. This means that price limits rules were effective in Japan in curbing undesired fluctuations of stock prices and in protecting the market from crashes. The results of the three models show that both upper and lower limit hits and upper and lower limit hits individually vary from year to year throughout the sample period. In general, high market value stocks, high volatility stocks, high residual risk stocks and low systematic risk stocks tend to hit the limits more frequently. The results also show that high market value stocks, high volatility stocks, high residual risk stocks, low liquidity stocks and low systematic risk stocks tend to hit the upper limits. Meanwhile, high market value stocks, high volatility stocks, high residual risk stocks, low liquidity stocks and high systematic risk stocks tend to hit the lower limits. Our study can be viewed as providing complementary evidence. By documenting some regularity with which price limit hit events occur, we offer new considerations to the current discussions surrounding price limit mechanisms. In spite of the negative effects shown by scholarly researchers, the popularity of price limits among both practitioners and stock exchange officials may be partially justified through our empirical evidence.


Introduction: Healthcare workers are experiencing deterioration in their mental health due to COVID-19. Ethnic minority populations in the United Kingdom are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with a higher death rate and poorer physical and mental health outcomes. It is important that healthcare organisations consider the specific context and mental, as well as physical, health needs of an ethnically diverse healthcare workforce in order to better support them during, and after, the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We undertook a qualitative work package as part of the United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes among healthcare workers (UK-REACH). As part of the qualitative research, we conducted focus group discussions with healthcare workers between December 2020 and July 2021, and covered topics such as their experiences, fears and concerns, and perceptions about safety and protection, while working during the pandemic. The purposive sample included ancillary health workers, doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals from diverse ethnic backgrounds. We conducted discussions using Microsoft Teams. Recordings were transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings: We carried out 16 focus groups with a total of 61 participants. Several factors were identified which contributed to, and potentially exacerbated, the poor mental health of ethnic minority healthcare workers during this period including anxiety (due to inconsistent protocols and policy); fear (of infection); trauma (due to increased exposure to severe illness and death); guilt (of potentially infecting loved ones); and stress (due to longer working hours and increased workload). Conclusion: COVID-19 has affected the mental health of healthcare workers. We identified a number of factors which may be contributing to a deterioration in mental health across diverse ethnic groups. Healthcare organisations should consider developing strategies to counter the negative impact of these factors. This paper will help employers of healthcare workers and other relevant policy makers better understand the wider implications and potential risks of COVID-19 and assist in developing strategies to safeguard the mental health of these healthcare workers going forward, and reduce ethnic disparities.


In this era of novel technological materials, inorganic-organic (IO) materials has emerged as new class of materials for their application in photonic materials, miniaturized sensors, optoelectronic devices, non-linear optical apparatus by exploiting the properties of both constituents in a single entity. Here we present the formation and growth mechanism of two dimensional Inorganic-organic (IO) perovskite structures from anisotropically grown PbO hexagonal nanosheets, in three steps: Fabrication of hexagonal PbO nanosheets by the versatile bottom-up electrochemical deposition technique, iodinization of PbO into PbI2, followed by conversion of PbI2 into IO hybrid by the intercalation of organic moiety. A systematic and detailed structural study reveals that PbO nanosheet formation is more likely to result from an oriented attachment mechanism, in which the sheets formed by the reduction in surface area that happens during aggregation of small nanoparticle that each has a net dipole moment, which tends to form a self-assembled structure. Intercalation of organic moiety into the PbI2 layers yielded a selfassembled quantum-wells system of one of the IO hybrid, i.e. (C6H9C2H4NH3)2PbI4 (CHPI), sustaining the hexagonal shape.


Indonesia is the famous country that has a large amount of foreign debt. Until year 2000, Indonesia has the foreign debt about US$120 milliard, and it is more than psychological threshold (US$ 100 milliard). Some economist said that when the country has foreign debt more US$ 100 milliard, so the country is in the "debt trap" condition. Fisher also said if the country has the new foreign debt per year less than debt repayment per year, so the country is in "debt crisis" condition. This article will discuss about how Indonesia can exit from the debt crisis or debt? Did the foreign debt use for Indonesian people?


2-DE and MALDI-TOF-TOF/MS were performed to compare and identify the Mn-CAT expression level from Nostoc flagelliforme subjected to desiccation and rehydration.Degeneracy primers were designed based on identified amino acid sequences in order to clone Mn-CAT gene,and prokaryotic expression of Mn-CAT gene was carried out.The results indicated that Mn-CAT expression level of N.flagelliforme subjected to rehydration was higher than that to desiccation.Mn-CAT gene was cloned and a full length of 693 bp DNA was obtained(GenBank accession number GU549477).Mn-CAT gene was expressed in E.coli,and a 26 kD heterologous protein was observed.Western blotting confirmed that the protein was Mn-CAT.The results laid a foundation of drought-resistant molecular mechanism and protection mechanism of N.flagelliforme in extreme arid environment further more.


The Minnesota Department of Health, through the Community Health Services Advisory Committee, recognized that there was a significant problem in dealing with public health nuisance control. A survey was done throughout the Community Boards of Health to determine common nuisances encountered. Working cooperatively with a committee representing regional areas of the state and a variety of health professionals and local government personnel. The editors developed a guide for public health nuisance control, including an overview of statutory development, case studies, sample warrants and forms, and a model policy and procedures. This model will be useful for any public health group in formulating a concise method for public health nuisance control.


The main assignment for the Swedish Police, given from the government, is to 1) reduce crime and 2) increase safety so that people can feel safe where they live. A previous research resulted in the recommendation that the Swedish Police should work separately against the two goals. The motivation for the recommendation was that working separately against the goals would be the most efficient way of achieving both goals. By adhering to this recommendation, the Police would work evidence based and subsequently reduce the risk of making incorrect decisions. In this study a database analysis has been made in order to investigate the possibility of targeting geographical areas where it would be the most efficient to work against only the crime prevention goal, while achieving both reduced crimes and increased safety. By combining data from two different databases the Police could identify areas where crime-reducing actions would simultaneously increase the safety. The method, if used, could help allocating police resources in a more efficient way. (Less)


Objective:To probe the expression of Fragile histidine triad(FHIT)and p21 protein in Vulvar Condyloma acuminatum(VCA) and vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia(VIN).Methods:Immunohistochemistry was used to detect FHIT and p21 expression in 51 cases of VCA,39 cases of VIN and 20 cases of normal vulvar epithelium.Results:The positive rate of FHIT in VCA and VINⅠ~Ⅱ、VINⅢwas obviously lower than which in normal tissue(P=0.000 1);there was no statistic significance in the positive rate of FHIT expression between VINⅢand VCA(P=0.592);the positive rate of p21 in normal vulva,VIN and VCA has statistic significance;there was no statistic significance in the positive rate of p21 expression between VIN and VCA(P=0.793).Conclusion:(1)FHIT and p21 expression are associated with the development and progression of VCA and VIN(.2)The abnormality of FHIT gene is a early event in the development and progression of vulvar cancer.


For a new perpendicular magnetic recording system, a Co-Cr recording film with perpendicular anisotropy has been developed by an RF sputtering. The Co-Cr films are found to show some suitable properties for high density recording such as perpendicular anisotropy, a rectangular M-H loop, and fine grain structure. An extremely high recording density of 100,000 bits/inch was realized by using the Co-Cr film. The crystal and microscopic structure of the films are also discussed, and the perpendicular anisotropy of the Co-Cr films is mainly originated from the uniaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropy.


In this paper, we investigate the impact of inaccurate forecasting on the coordination of distributed investment decisions. In particular, by setting up a computational multi-agent model of a stylized firm, we investigate the case of investment opportunities that are mutually carried out by organizational departments. The forecasts of concern pertain to the initial amount of money necessary to launch and operate an investment opportunity, to the expected intertemporal distribution of cash flows, and the departments' efficiency in operating the investment opportunity at hand. We propose a budget allocation mechanism for coordinating such distributed decisions The paper provides guidance on how to set framework conditions, in terms of the number of investment opportunities considered in one round of funding and the number of departments operating one investment opportunity, so that the coordination mechanism is highly robust to forecasting errors. Furthermore, we show that—in some setups—a certain extent of misforecasting is desirable from the firm's point of view as it supports the achievement of the corporate objective of value maximization. We then address the question of how to improve forecasting quality in the best possible way, and provide policy advice on how to sequence activities for improving forecasting quality so that the robustness of the coordination mechanism to errors increases in the best possible way. At the same time, we show that wrong decisions regarding the sequencing can lead to a decrease in robustness. Finally, we conduct a comprehensive sensitivity analysis and prove that—in particular for relatively good forecasters—most of our results are robust to changes in setting the parameters of our multi-agent simulation model.


The article addresses the analysis of time images furnished by a qualitative research made in Spain on the relations of working time and family/personal time. The analysis focuses on three widespread time metaphors used in day-to-day speeches by social agents. The first one is the metaphor of time as resource for action. Its value is equally economical, moral and political. Used in different context of action, it may mean something that can be either invested, donated generously to others, appropriated for caring for oneself, or spent without purpose with others. The second metaphor represents time as an external environment to which action must adapt. This metaphor shows many variants that represent time as a dynamic/static, repetitive/innovative, ordered/chaotic environment. In this external environment, the agents must resolve the problems of temporal embeddedness, hierarchy and synchronization of their actions. The third metaphor shows time as a horizon of action intentionality where the agents try to construct the meaning of their action and identity. Within this horizon the construction of a significant narrative connecting past and present experiences with future expectations is possible.


We analyze numerical mass fluxes with an emphasis on their capability for accurately capturing shock and contact discontinuities. The study of mass flux is useful because it is the term common to all conservation equations and the numerical diffusivity introduced in it bears a direct consequence to the prediction of contact (stationary and moving) discontinuities, which are considered to be the limiting case of the boundary layer. We examine several prominent numerical flux schemes and analyze the structure of numerical diffusivity. This leads to a detailed investigation into the cause of certain catastrophic breakdowns by some numerical flux schemes. In particular, we identify the dissipative terms that are responsible for shock instabilities, such as the odd?even decoupling and the so-called "carbuncle phenomenon". As a result, we propose a conjecture stating the connection of the pressure difference term to these multidimensional shock instabilities and hence a cure to those difficulties. The validity of this conjecture has been confirmed by examining a wide class of upwind schemes. The conjecture is useful to the flux function development, for it indicates whether the flux scheme under consideration will be afflicted with these kinds of failings. Thus, a class of shock-stable schemes can be identified. Interestingly, a shock-stable scheme's self-correcting capability is demonstrated with respect to carbuncle-contaminated profiles for flows at both low supersonic and high Mach numbers.


The paper analyses that enterprises face growth resistance which is made up of factors,such as delaying of strategy adjust,enterprise capacity deconcentration,team spirit scarce,and so on.It also points out that integration can overcome the influence by three factors,such as guide effect,concentrating effect,and synergistic effect,and then,form the inherent impetus of enterprise growth.Therefore,enterprises need integration from three respects,including improving the ability of strategy conformity,insisting on studying and introducing the new stake holder,to evade the downtrend,which can make enterprises remain the benign ascendant trend for ever.


Supplemental digital content is available in the text. Background Promoting continuity of nurse assignment during discharge care has the potential to increase patient readiness for discharge—which has been associated with fewer readmissions and emergency department visits. The few studies that examined nurse continuity during acute care hospitalizations did not focus on discharge or postdischarge outcomes. Objectives The aim of this research was to examine the association of continuity in nurse assignment to patients prior to hospital discharge with return to hospital (readmission and emergency department or observation visits), including exploration of the mediating pathway through patient readiness for discharge and moderating effects of unit environment and unit nurse characteristics. Methods In a sample of 18,203 adult, medical–surgical patients from 31 Magnet hospitals, a correlational path analysis design was used in a secondary analysis to evaluate the effect of nurse continuity on readmissions and emergency department or observation visits within 30 days after hospital discharge. The mediating pathway through discharge readiness measured by patient self-report and nurse assessments was also assessed. Moderating effects of unit environment and nursing characteristics were examined across quartiles of unit environment (nurse staffing hours per patient day) and unit nurse characteristics (education and experience). Analyses were adjusted for patient characteristics, unit fixed effects, and clustering at the unit level. Results Continuous nurse assignment on the last 2 days of hospitalization was observed in 6,441 (35.4%) patient discharges and was associated with a 0.85 absolute percentage point reduction (7.8% relative reduction) in readmissions. There was no significant association with emergency department or observation visits. Sensitivity analysis revealed a stronger effect in patients with higher Elixhauser Comorbidity Indexes. Readiness for discharge was not a mediator of the effect of continuity on return to hospital. Unit characteristics were not associated with nurse continuity. No moderation effect was evident for unit environment and nurse characteristics. Discussion Continuity of nurse assignment on the last 2 days of hospitalization can reduce readmissions. Staffing for continuity may benefit patients and healthcare systems, with greater benefits for high-comorbidity patients. Nurse continuity prior to hospital discharge should be a priority consideration in assigning acute care nurses to augment readmission reduction efforts.


Significant research attention has been given to large-firm internationalisation strategy. While international markets are viewed as important growth avenues for large firms in developed economies, comparatively little research has examined these issues relative to small firms. Using the extant small business internationalisation literature and the resource-based view literature to underpin this study, we examine the relationship between small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) export competitive patterns and firms' resources and characteristics. We analysed survey data from 157 export-active small firms. Three competitive patterns emerged from the analysis – a service pattern, a marketing pattern, and an operations pattern. Our findings reveal mixed support for the hypothesised relationships between given patterns and managerial perceptions of opportunity/threat, cultural awareness, international know-how, and firm size. We discuss the interpretations of and implications from our results and provide suggestions for future research.


The invention discloses a preparation method of aerated concrete. The aerated concrete is characterized by comprising 67-70% of domestic waste pretreated substance, 27-29% of lime, 2.8-3% of gypsum, 0.2% of calcium lignosulphonate water reducing agent, 0.02% of soluble oil and 0.05% of aluminum powder. The water accounts for 60-62 wt% of the total materials. The preparation method comprises the following steps: 1. domestic waste pretreatment; 2. raw material processing: (1) crushing and grinding, (2) aluminum powder degreasing and (3) soluble oil preparation; 3. material stirring; 4. casting and forming; 5. blank cutting; and 6. autoclave curing. The invention has the advantages of sufficient raw material sources and low production cost.


The authors have investigated the multifractal scaling of conductance jumps in a hierarchical percolation lattice, resulting from cutting the current carrying bonds in the lattice. Due to the iterative nature of the model, exact renormalization group (RG) equations are obtained and used to extract the minimum conductance jump of the lattice. They find an asymptotically analytic expression for the minimum conductance jump, Delta gmin approximately=exp(-c(log L)2) decreasing faster than any power law. They observed slow convergence to the asymptotic behaviour due to the importance of the irrelevant terms in the RG equations at low generations of the lattice. Numerical calculations are performed in order to validate the analytic results and to calculate the f- alpha spectrum to confirm left-sided multifractality as proposed by Lee and Stanley (1988).


AIM: To explore the expression of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) in middle ear mucosa of the guinea pig with chronic suppurative otitis media and to supply the experimental data for the role of BMP in the chronic otitis media and tympanosclerosis. METHODS: Twenty six healthy guinea pigs were employed in the experiment. After general anaesthesia, by injecting 1×10 8·L -1 Staphylococcosis aureus into the middle ear cavities of right ears with the left ears serving as controls, the supprative otitis media model was established.Then 45 days later, immunohistochemical ABC method was undertaken to explore the BMP expression in middle ear mucosa of the guinea pigs by using BMP monoclonal antiboby. RESULTS: Number of BMP positive cells in the experiment group ( n =25) and the control group ( n =25) were (39.04±5.34), (9.24±1.83) respectively ( t= 27.16, P 0.01). The presence of inflammation in middle ear induced more BMP expression in the cells than in normal middle ear mucosa cells. The BMP positive cells distributed on the neovasculations.CONCLUSION: BMP possibly plays an important role in the mechanism of otitis media development, and it may play a certain role in the occurrence of tympanosclerosis.


AIM: To explore the immunologic effect of extra bacillus calmette guerin (EBCG) on asthmatic patients. METHODS: 58 asthmatic patients in acute exacerbation were randomly enrolled into two groups: EBCG group (n=34) and control group (n=24). Before treatment, the levels of interleukin 4 (IL 4) and interleukin 12 (IL 12) in blood plasma were examined in both groups. The patients in EBCG group inhaled budesonide aerosol according to asthmatic ladder treatment program and injected with EBCG. Spasmolytic could be used if necessary (excluding theophylline) .The patients in control group only used budesonide aerosol and spasmolytic. The level of IL 4 and IL 12 in blood plasma were determined again after three months. RESULTS: After the drug intervention, the level of IL 4 significantly decreased in EBCG group ( 29.0 ± 5.6 vs 22.6 ± 6.5 ng·L -1 ,P 0.05 ), but IL 12 concentrations in plasma markedly increased ( 37.2 ± 4.6 vs 51.7 ± 10.7 ng·L -1 , P 0.05 ). In control group, the level of IL 4 decreased from ( 29.7 ± 5.1 ) to ( 26.4 ± 4.9 ) ng·L -1 (P 0.05 ), but IL 12 concentrations did not significantly change (P 0.05 ). Before drug intervention, no significant differences were found between two groups in IL 4 and IL 12 concentrations; However, there were markedly differences after drug intervention (P 0.05 ). CONCLUSION: EBCG can restrain the secretion of IL 4 and contribute to the secretion of IL 12 in asthmatic patients.


Many years ago in Copenhagen, future Nobel Prize winner August Krogh did what he did best: study a peculiar animal for a very particular reason. He focused on the gas-filled sacs of Chaoborus midges, which he found curiously reminiscent of fish swim bladders. Through a series of experiments, Krogh demonstrated that the midges used the sacs as ballasts, expanding them to float and contracting them to sink, but he couldn't figure out how they accomplished this feat and eventually moved on to other interests. Now published in Current Biology, graduate student Evan McKenzie of the University of British Columbia and colleagues solve Krogh's century old mystery, revealing that it all came down to a common insect protein used in a unique way.


Physico-chemical parameters were studied in five stations along River Kisat from March, 2016 to August, 2016. The aim of the study was to establish whether the river water meets the set quality standards for surface water. It was established that the river water is negatively impacted by wastewater from various human activities along the stretch of the river. The averages of the physico-chemical parameters were; electrical conductivity 657.27 ± 208.78 μ cm-1, temperature 24.84 ± 0.65°C, pH 7.87, dissolved oxygen 4.19 ± 0.7 mg l-1, turbidity 89.90 ± 9.76 NTU, flow rate 0.14 ± 0.05 ms-1, total alkalinity 150.85 ± 28.23 mg l-1, total nitrogen 885.39 ± 227.56 μg l-1, total phosphorus 677.18 ± 20.87 μg l-1, Silicates 4.11 ± 0.52 mg l-1 and chlorophyll a 130.54 ± 40.15 mg l-1 respectively. The study revealed that DO, pH, alkalinity and silicate showed significant difference along the river (P 0.05). The results indicate that the water of River Kisat is polluted with pollutants from domestic wastewater, agricultural and/ or surface run off. Therefore there is need for measures to be put in place to reduce water pollution along the river in order to improve the water quality.


This paper presents a new filter-based algorithm to estimate the fundamental phasor of fault currents, using the proposed complex frequency filter. The presence of decaying dc component (ddc) in fault currents causes large error in discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based phasor estimation methods. The proposed filter discriminates the ddc from dc and sinusoidal signals. In this algorithm, first, the ddc is filtered out by the proposed filter. Then, the fundamental phasor can be precisely extracted by applying DFT. Second and fourth order of the complex frequency filter and their design method are presented. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, several test signals are used. The algorithm is also compared with recent DFT-based and mimic-DFT methods, using four performance indices. The simulation results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed algorithm against harmonics, noise, multiple ddc components, and off-nominal frequency. It also offers faster convergence speed. The proposed complex frequency filter can also be used for the phasor estimation of harmonic components in the presence of ddc with no need to readjust its parameters.


At 37 degrees C, the alpha-actin-F-actin binding isotherm is anomalous. In 6.7% polyethylene glycol 6000, concomitantly with the formation of actin bundles, the binding isotherm becomes hyperbolic (Kdiss. = 11.3 microM). alpha-Actinin increases the rigidity of the networks formed by actin bundles in polyethylene glycol and by paracrystalline actin in 16 mM MgCl2 but not by F-actin. It is proposed that in the cell alpha-actinin functions are mostly carried on by interaction with actin bundles.


We have studied in detail the electronic structure of IrO2 including spin orbit coupling (SOC) and electronelectron interaction, both within the generalized gradient approximation plus Hubbard U (G ...


Researchers across disciplines are increasingly utilizing electronic tools to collect, analyze, and organize data. However, when it comes to publishing their work, there are no common, well-established standards on how to make that data available to other researchers. Consequently, data are often not stored in a consistent manner, making it hard or impossible to find data sets associated with an article - even though such data might be essential to reproduce results or to perform further analysis. Data repositories can play an important role in improving this situation, offering increased visibility, domain-specific coordination, and expert knowledge on data management. As a leading STM publisher, Elsevier is actively pursuing opportunities to establish links between the online scholarly article and data repositories. This helps to increase usage and visibility for both articles and data sets and also adds valuable context to the data. These data-linking efforts tie in with other initiatives at Elsevier to enhance the online article in order to connect with current researchers' workflows and to provide an optimal platform for the communication of science in the digital era.


The mode property of the Chinese traditional science is not metaphysical, nor physical, but in a mid-position, called "Xiang". Xiang originates from physical source with metaphysical principles hidden in. From this point of view, the Western traditional science belongs to constructivism study tradition based on atomism that produced from dualism between the mind and material. It is physics with mechanical pattern and is good at analyzing and making machinery; whereas Chinese traditional science belongs to generative study tradition based on "Qi"and "Xiang" which is good at understanding life and the integrated whole. The Chinese and Western traditional sciences are two different science traditions independent of each other. The destiny of Chinese traditional science in modern times is not certified false, but defeated. The future development of world science will depend on the communication and mutual complementary between Chinese and Western science traditions. With this recognition, we can firstly give proper evaluation to the value of existence and position of Chinese traditional civilization and science; secondly, set a correct position of Chinese traditional science in the modernization development of Chinese civilization; and thirdly, make contribution to the future development of world culture and science.


As data rates on backplanes, boards and packages rise, optical interconnections are viewed as a potential technology solution for low power, small footprint, and high speed systems. Some of the challenges with optical interconnect design and development are the introduction of new materials and processes, the increasing bandwidth and decreasing loss requirements, and the need for reducing cost without compromising reliability. The objective of this paper is to understand the thermo-mechanical issues and reliability of optical polymer interconnects for very short-haul backplane, and board/package-level chip-to-chip interconnections. Through finite-element modeling of an embedded photodetector in a waveguide and through reliability experiments, various issues such as contact pad peel stresses, core misalignment, spectral absorption, refractive index stability and thermal stability are examined.


This report is a brief survey of available positioning systems and techniques that can be applied to tracking a
scale model car for the purpose of using it in a test bed for active safety systems in cars. It also treats of setting
up the Qualisys Track Manager motion capture system for this purpose and an evaluation of its performance
by looking at precision, range and trajectory fill rates of the tracked bodies. As a means of later implementing
it into the test bed, a program is written for receiving a stream of positioning data from the motion capture
software over a network. It was found that the motion capture system is capable of tracking a scale model
vehicle within the majority of the test area with a residual of a few millimeters.


In order to improve the absorbtion spectrum of nano-TiO2 film, nitrogen ions were implantedinto the nano-TiO2 film by the ECR plasma. The color of modified sample is changed to tint yellow.The AFM images show that the sample's morphology is not defaced before and after treatment. The UV-Vis optical tests show that the absorbtion spectra are moved 12-18nm to the infrared side. Withdifferent power and time, the feasible conditions are determined at 400W, 60 min.


A novel microstrip-fed monopole antenna with modified structure is presented for ultra wideband (UWB) applications. The main body of the antenna consists of a quasi square radiating patch with tapered steps and a modified slotted ground plane. Due to the repeatedly cutting of three notches on the radiating patch and also inserting a rectangular slot and three tapered steps on the ground plane, new resonances and a wide bandwidth are obtained. By applying two sleeves with proper sizes to the antenna structure, even wider impedance bandwidth is achieved. The antenna has a compact size of 18×12×1.6mm3 and covers the frequency range of 2.34 - 21.43 GHz (9.15:1; 160%). The impedance bandwidth improvement process of the proposed antenna is presented and discussed in detail.


Big Data has an increasing impact on the use of bioinformatics software. One way to deal with this challenge is through parallel computing. Using the program Structure as a case study, this paper investigates ways in which to counteract the challenges created by the growing datasets. This paper proposes an OpenMP-MPI hybrid parallelization of the MCMC steps, which are an integral part of Structure, and analyses the performance under various scenarios. The results indicate that the parallelization produce significant speedups over the serial version in all scenarios tested. This allows for the use of the hardware in a more efficient manner, by adapting the program to the parallel architecture. This is important because not only does it reduce the time required to perform existing analyses, but also opens the door to the analysis of previously impractically large datasets.


Reflecting the spirit of "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Arts",Zhao Shuli's works are known as "Zhao Shuli direction",and it has become the development direction of literature in liberated area and new China.But Zhao Shuli' works are disputed from time to time,one of the most important reason is that Zhao Shuli's works contrary to the opinion:"life is the source of literature and art",which is from the speech,that's revealed the contradiction between political appeals and individual independent thinking.It is very important to think deeply about the relationship between literary creation and time.


Optical wave packets are often used as means of energy delivery on a remote target in various applications. The use of shaped optical wave packets can, in principle, enable us to control the intensity distribution and the focus position in the linear and the non-linear propagation regimes. An ideal template for this tailored control is the recently introduced family of cylindrically symmetric accelerating beams [1,2], often referred as circular Airy (CAB) or ring-Airy beams. These wave packets propagate in curved trajectories, exhibit abrupt auto-focus, while at high intensities they reshape into nonlinear intense light-bullets with extremely well defined focal position [3].


The use of liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation–mass spectrometry has been investigated as a potential method for both the identification and quantification of desulphoglucosinolates. The results indicate that this methodology is particularly useful as a rapid technique for the confirmation of the identity of desulphoglucosinolates and has, in full scan mode, limits of detection at least an order of magnitude lower than is normally achieved by conventional high pressure liquid chromatography with UV detection. It has been demonstrated that, using a per-deuterated desulphoglucosinolate as an internal standard, quantification could be achieved, but for accurate analysis at low concentrations it would be necessary to produce independent calibration curves for each desulphoglucosinolate present in the sample. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A continuous Codell Sandstone oil accumulation is present in the northern Denver Basin downdip from water-wet Codell. The Codell oil accumulation can be defined by resistivity, spontaneous potential (SP), and density logs. Updip from the oil accumulation, average deep resistivity of the Codell decreases to below 4 ohm-m, SP response increases, and density porosity increases. Codell sandstones are continuous across the transition from downdip oil to updip water, so the updip seal does not seem to be caused by a stratigraphic trap. The transition corresponds to a change in thermal history; the area of the oil accumulation was subject to much higher heat flow than the updip wet area. This thermal maturity may have had an impact on clay diagenesis resulting in reduced porosity in the more thermally mature part of the Codell. This paper presents a wireline log-based workflow that can be used to identify and map regional changes in thermal maturity that control hydrocarbon accumulations and sweet-spots in low-permeability rocks such as the argillaceous Codell Sandstone.


In this report, a method based on the redox‐initiated polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) has been developed for the rapid fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfluidic chips. MMA containing 2‐2′‐azo‐bis‐isobutyronitrile was allowed to prepolymerize in a water bath to form a viscous prepolymer solution that was subsequently mixed with MMA containing a redox‐initiation couple of benzoyl peroxide/N,N‐dimethylaniline. The dense molding solution was sandwiched between a silicon template and a piece of 1‐mm‐thick PMMA plate. The polymerization could complete within 50 min under ambient temperature. The images of raised microfluidic structures on the silicon template were precisely replicated into the synthesized PMMA substrate during the redox‐initiated polymerization of the molding solution. The chips were subsequently assembled by the thermal bonding of the channel plates and the covers. The new fabrication approach obviates the need for special equipment and significantly simplifies the process of fabricating PMMA microdevices. The attractive performance of the novel PMMA microchips has been demonstrated in connection with contactless conductivity detection for the separation and detection of ionic species.


Many pamphlets and books written during the French Revolution address the controversial subject of the monarchy, its fall and the new order. However, Jean-Claude Gorjy's 'Ann'quin Bredouille is certainly one of the most fascinating examples. In his book, Gorjy ridicules the new revolutionary reality and points out its many social, political, cultural and linguistic absurdities. The aim of this paper is to present the story of the white elephant, told in the third volume of 'Ann'quin Bredouille , in order to analyze how Gorjy confronted the political taboo during the revolutionary period as well as to explain why he decided to use an allegory instead of making an explicit reference to King Louis XVI and the Ancien Regime.


Fiala et al. report that Kidins220/ARMS is a novel interactor of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and its deletion impairs B cell development and B cell functioning.


This study aims to search the moderating factors on the relation of prior knowledge and social communication behavior. For this purpose, this paper examines how prior knowledge on Thaad(Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) issue affect to news reliability and involvement. The results showed prior knowledge on Thaad influences to issue relevant involvement and value relevant involvement but doesn't influence to news reliability. The result of the relation of the relation prior knowledge and social communication behavior is insignificant. Then, this study examines whether prior knowledge on Thaad and social communication behavior is moderated by new reliability and involvement. The result shows new reliability and involvement play significant role of moderate factors. To put it concretely, 'Like' of social communication behaviors is moderated by news reliability and value relevant involvement. 'Comment' of social communication behaviors is moderated by value relevant involvement and political relevant involvement. 'Share' of social communication behaviors is moderated by news reliability, issue relevant involvement, value relevant involvement and political relevant involvement.


A unique case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) with perineurial cell differentiation occurring in a 63‐year‐old woman in a subcutis of the forearm is described. The tumor contained cellular and myxoid areas. The neoplastic cells were fusiform with distinct cell borders. They were arranged in storiform pattern and in wavy parallel cell cords in the cellular areas. Focally, a pleomorphism and mitotic activity (including atypical mitoses) similar to those of malignant fibrous histiocytoma were seen. The myxoid parts contained haphazardly oriented cells and scarce lipoblast‐like multivacuolated cells mimicking a liposarcoma. In the differential diagnosis, myxoid liposarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, malignant fibrous histiocytoma and low‐grade fibromyxoid sarcoma were considered. Immunohistochemically, perineurial differentiation was indicated by the diffuse expression of epithelial membrane antigen and focal reactivity for CD34. The tumor was negative with antibodies to S‐100 protein, Leu‐7, CD68 (KP1), vimentin and cytokeratin AE1/AE3. Ultrastructure of tumor cells revealed features of MPNST. No recurrence occurred in the patient during 2 years follow up.


Currently more attention is being paid to the non destructive test facilities for ceramics and to improve the resolution of the techniques. In this review the applicability of microfocus radiography, ultrasonics, scanning laser acoustic microscopy, thermo acoustic imaging, scanning photo displacement microscopy, acoustic emission, dye penetrants and vibration techniques to ceramics will be discussed. Questions like "when and for what to use the technique" and "what the detection sensitivity might be" will be dealed with. It will be clear that different non destructive techniques can be used to assure ceramic component reliability and to reduce the cost of their fabrication, but that more than one technique has to be used to obtain complementary or definite information on the quality or the presence of defects in ceramics.


The internationally acclaimed Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf has had a highly dynamic artistic evolution. When he first started making films after the Islamic Revolution, he supported his country's regime with his highly propaganda tinged work which carried a very dogmatic view of Islam. Gradually however, he became disillusioned with the politics of the Iranian government and his filmmaking shifted as he became inspired by the great Persian poets, namely Rumi. His films now make use of poetic and mystical imagery to convey more open and relativistic meanings. Much standard poetic imagery which is inspired by the Persian literary tradition has been translated to cinematic imagery to create his version of a poetic cinema. However, his films have remained imbued with spirituality, and his faith in God is as strong as ever, but in a more open sense. Western critics and scholars have often failed to see this dimension of his filmography, and this thesis attempts to shed some light on these aspects in five of the films he made between 1991 and 2001; Time of Love (1991), Gabbeh (1996), A Moment of Innocence (1996), The Silence (1998) and Kandahar (2001)


OBJECTIVE:To study the apoptotic effect and regulation of 1,4-benzoquinone(PBQ) on human embryonic lung fibroblast(HELF),cells.METHODS:MTT assay was used to detect the relative growth rate (RGR),cell cycle was determined by single-stained assay with PI and apoptosis was determined by double-stained assay with Annexin-Vand PI using flow cytometry.Bax,Bcl-2,p53 mRNA levels were determined with real-time PCR. RESULTS:The RGRs of HELF cells exposed to different PBQ concentrations after 24 h decreased(P 0.05),cell cycle distribution was changed at 40 and 60μmol/L after 24 h(P 0.05).The RGRs of HELF cells exposed to 40μmol/L PBQ after different times decreased(P 0.05),the rates of G0/G1 phase increased with time(.P0.05).Apoptosis was induced with PBQ higher than 20μmol/L,and increased with PBQ concentration(P0.05).The relative expression levels of Bax,Bcl-2,p53 increased with concentration after exposure for 24 h(P0.05).The relative expression levels of Bax and p53 exposed at 40μmol/L increased with time(P0.05),while bcl-2 decreased with time(P 0.05),with Bax/Bcl-2 ratio increased with time(P 0.05).CONCLUSION:PBQ was able to change cell cycle distribution of HELF cells,and induce apoptosis,with dose-response and time-response effects.The up-regulation of mRNA expression level of p53 and the elevated Bax/Bcl-2 ratio may be the mechanisms for apoptosis of HELF cells after PBQ exposure.


Coronary aneurysms associated with Kawasaki disease, a mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, are annoying complications of this disorder because obstructive coronary involvement, subsequent to the coronary aneurysm, can lead to myocardial infarction and sudden death. There have been increasing numbers of successful reports of surgical treatment for Kawasaki disease. A case of Kawasaki disease treated with successful coronary revascularization with a saphenous vein graft is described in an eight year old boy. Surgical management for this disease is discussed.


A substrate treating apparatus is provided which includes housing and a door assembly. The housing provides a process space for treating a substrate therein and has an opening formed at a sidewall thereof. The door assembly opens and closes the opening. The door assembly includes a shutter, a driving member, and a gap maintaining unit. The driving member transfers the shutter to an open position where the shutter faces to the opening and to a blocking position where the shutter gets out of the open position. The gap maintaining unit maintains a constant gap between the shutter and the sidewall.


Subject. Currently, as the global economy evolves, its innovative components should demonstrate a tendency of accelerated growth as intellectual capital, information technologies, increasing knowledge and digitization of mushrooming production processes. Nowadays, intellectual capital is one of the economic development drivers. However, the economic community is found to have no generally accepted wording of the concept, thus laying the basis for this article.
Objectives. The study sums up the analysis of approaches used by the Russian and foreign economists to determining the economic substance of intellectual capital. We also identify the importance of human capital as its components and specify the definition of the concept.
Methods. The article overviews and analyzes proceedings by the most renowned authors, which substantiate how the economic substance of intellectual capital should be unveiled, and suggest its definitions.
Results. We specified the definition of intellectual capital concerning the current economic development. We suggest integrating a new component into intellectual capital, such as intellectual property, which includes products of intellectual activity and intangible assets. They can be owned by the entity or other legal entities and individuals, including some employees of the entity.
Conclusions and Relevance. The specified definition of intellectual capital will help address issues of sustainable economic development and ensure the competitiveness of the Russian entities nationwide and worldwide, since it directly contributes to intellectual capital and its components.


Non-intellectual variables have been said to be important and relevant to children's performance on assessment procedures, and appear to be especially relevant to dynamic assessment because of the interactive nature of these approaches. This article reviews evidence of inclusion of non-intellectual variables in current dynamic assessment procedures.


The packaging contains a space for the berries which can be sealed in a gastight manner and the space contains a low concentration of oxygen. The space contains a maximum 4 % oxygen and 15-25 % carbon dioxide, preferably ca. 2 % oxygen and ca. 20 % carbon dioxide.


This study quantified the effects of urban greenspace on microclimate amelioration and atmospheric CO₂ reduction for several residential districts selected in Korea and Japan. The study also explored fire obstruction by urban trees to develop systematic planting guidelines. Transpiration by a Zelkova serrata tree (diameter at breast height: 15 ㎝) in a day of August equaled cooling effect of about 3 air conditioners running for 12 hours. Average air temperature for the growing season was 0.5℃ and 1.2℃ cooler, respectively, in districts with 12% and 22% cover of woody plants than in a district with no vegetation. Annual CO₂ uptake and O₂ production by woody plants were 3 times greater in a district which was 2 times higher in their cover. Woody plants played, in a district with their 22% cover, an important role through offsetting total CO₂ emission from the district by about 3% annually, and through producing 10% of annual O₂ requirement by all residents within the district. Appropriate planning strategies of residential greenspace, including species selection, planting layout, greens pace enlargement, and maintenance were suggested to improve microclimate amelioration, air purification, and fire obstruction.


Measurements of the isotopic composition of cosmic-ray Fe nuclei and other nuclei with Z > or = 20 are reported. These are the first measurements with a mass resolution sigma, significantly less than 1 AMU in this charge range, and as a result it is possible to determine the individual isotopic composition of Fe and the other heavier nuclei. The technique for mass separation utilizes a Cherenkov x total energy measurement. The energy range of analysis is restricted to a relatively narrow interval of approximately 130 MeV/nuc for Fe, thus permitting a mass resolution = 0.40 +- 0.06 AMU. A total of approximately 80 Fe nuclei are analyzed for their isotopic composition, approximately 67% of which are /sup 56/Fe; significant fractions of /sup 58/Fe and /sup 54/Fe are also observed. A careful correction for atmospheric and instrumental effects is made. The corrected abundances at the top of the atmosphere are compared with those predicted by a leakage lifetime propagation model with various trial source distributions. The source abundances of Fe isotopes are found to be /sup 56/Fe = 65 +- 10%, /sup 58/Fe = 28 +- 8% and /sup 54/Fe = 11 +- 9%. The clear presence of a significantmore » amount of /sup 58/Fe in the source requires the nucleosynthesis of cosmic-ray Fe nuclei to occur in a region of greater neutron excess than the material found in the solar system. Nuclei with Z = 20 to 24 generally have an isotopic abundance consistent with a fragmentation origin. An exception to this may be Ca. This charge has an abundance larger (approximately 28% of Fe) than can apparently be accounted for by fragmentation; however, the dominant isotope is /sup 42+-1/Ca rather than the expected /sup 40/Ca. A total cross section for Fe fragmentation to Ca approximately 70 mb, or about 1.5 x the empirically calculated cross section at approximately 700 MeV/nuc, is required to explain the data if Ca is assumed to be entirely secondary.« less


In recent years, digital technology devoted to the building design has experienced significant advancements allowing to reach, by means of the Building Information Modeling, those goals only imagined since the mid-Seventies of the last century. The BIM process, bearer of several advantages for actors and designers who implement it in their workflow, may be employed even in various case studies related to some interventions on the existing architectural Cultural Heritage. The semantics typical of the classical architecture, so pervasive in the European urban landscape, as well as the Modern or Contemporary architecture features, coincide with the self-conscious structure made of "smart objects" proper of BIM, which proves to be an effective system to document component relationships. However, the translation of existing buildings geometric information, acquired using the common techniques of laser scanning and digital photogrammetry, into BIM objects, is still a critical process that this paper aims to investigate, describing possible methods and approaches.


3 Introduction 5 Definitions and concepts 6 Issues related to target catch 7 Yellowfin and bigeye tunas in surface fisheries 8 Fish sizes by gear 9 Indian Ocean tuna fisheries included in this study 9 IOTC Resolutions – the regulatory framework 10 Stock status of target and bycatch species 12 The "target species" 12 Neritic tunas and billfish 12 Other finfish 13 Shark catches 13 Blue sharks 13 Shortfin Mako sharks 13 Oceanic Whitetip shark 14 Silky sharks 14 Other sharks and rays 14 IUCN classification 14 Bycatch and discards in tuna fisheries 15 Pole-and-line, including their associated bait fishery 15 Longline 15 Asian tropical and temperate tuna longline 15 Bycatch data reported by longline fleet 16 Japan 17 Korea 18 Taiwan 18 China 18 Indonesia 18 Spanish and Portuguese swordfish longline 18 French swordfish longline 19 South African longline 20 Estimated total Blue shark and Shortfin Mako catches 21 Depredation in longline fisheries 21 Bait use 21 The European purse seine fishery 21 The effect of Piracy on purse seine fisheries 24 Mitigation 25 Pole-and-line 25 Longline 25 Purse seine 27 Substitution of pole-and-line for purse seine fisheries 28 Pole-and-line trials in the Indian Ocean 28 Carbon footprint of tuna fisheries 29 Conclusions 30


The paper makes a research on the design of axis part's CAPP system in the integration environment. The system adopt the technology of feature-based part modeling to describe the part's geometric and technology information, and to input the information by manual methods, and apply the comprehensive model of vacant and generative approaches to produce part's process plan.


Excitation of the 280 mµ absorption band of monosubstituted benzenes such as fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, and anisole in the presence of good nucleophiles, leads to a displacement of the substituent by the nucleophile. The reaction appears to involve neither radical nor benzyne intermediates, and is interpreted as an ionic mechanism proceeding by attack of the nucleophile at the electron-deficient centres of the excited state of the aromatic component.


We are in a time where computing programs are seeking to differentiate themselves. The ACM suggests that there are five distinct computing disciplines -- Computer Science (CS), Information Technology (IT), Information Systems (IS), Computer Engineering (CE), and Software Engineering (SE). In practice, it seems that there can be extensive overlap between these disciplines. For example, IS is defined by the ACM as computing in an organization context, typically in business while IT is defined as focusing on computing infrastructure and needs of individual users. If each of the different types of programs wishes to identify and attract interested students, it is important to understand if students perceive differences between them.
 This paper presents the results of a survey to determine if students differentiate between these five disciplines. Computing majors and non-majors were presented with several task descriptions commonly associated with each discipline and asked to identify them as belonging to one of the five disciplines. Data was collected from over 300 students at several different institutions and from a variety of different majors and computing disciplines. The results of the survey are presented along with comparisons of the perceptions of majors and non-majors.


Scaling Associate in Nursingd power reduction trends in future technologies can cause subthreshold run currents to become an progressively massive part of total power dissipation. the big run power consumption is especially hard in mobile devices, wherever the battery charge capability poses a demanding limitation on the entire energy which will be consumed by a chip. during this technique, sleep transistor square measure placed between the circuits offer and provide rails to show off the run current flow throughout idle time this will be done by victimization one PMOS transistor and one NMOS transistor nonparallel with the transistors of every logic block to make a virtual ground and a virtual power supply. constant estimation victimization town simulation will acquire a comparatively correct estimation of the run distribution; but, this methodology needs an extended simulation time and is therefore computationally expensive. The static and dynamic power of a sleep stack is significantly low. however it's a delay penalty and its space demand is most compared with different processes. once the a sleep keeper method possesses wonderful speed criteria however it needs more static and dynamic power than a sleep stack. Our goal is to trade off between these limitations and therefore propose new ways that scale back each run and dynamic power with minimum attainable space and delay trade off.


Eds John McDonald, Brian Feagan, Andrew Burroughs

BMJ Books, £65, pp 572

ISBN 0 7279 1182 1

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![Graphic][4] The purpose of evidence based medicine is to help doctors to keep up with the expanding scientific basis of medicine and to apply it to individual patients. In this regard Evidence Based Gastroenterology and Hepatology clearly addresses a need, especially for those who need to be at the cutting edge of medical sciences, such as scientists, teachers, …

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ABSTRACT North Carolina Central University (NCCU) recognized the need to address the increasing rates of Ds, Fs, and Withdrawal by students matriculating in online courses. Led by two science faculty, a faculty learning community in partnership with the NCCU Division of Extended Studies was created to assess online science course offerings and instruction. Faculty within this learning community completed the Quality Matters (QM) "Applying the Quality Matters Rubric" course. This online training course, coupled with services provided by the NCCU Division of Extended Studies, offered the faculty learning community a variety of pedagogical strategies to meet their instructional needs. All faculty participating in this learning community completed the online training course and all faculty indicated that they implemented changes in their subsequent online course offerings. This article describes the impact of that training and the application of quality course design standards in the Quality Matters Rubric on the design and student outcomes for an Introductory Biology course over four terms. As faculty learning communities are broadly utilized, it is anticipated that this article may present an effective strategy to increase the quality and quantity of online science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses at similar institutions.


A simple kinetic scheme involving 17 lumps and 17 reactions was incorporated in a process model. This model then was used to predict temperature and reformate composition profiles of a commercial reforming process. The agreement between predicted and commercially observed results is very good. The key process variables affecting the reformer yields, such as liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV), the reformer inlet temperature (WAIT), molar hydrogen-to-oil ratio and reaction pressure, were analyzed in detail to guide the selections of naphtha feedstock and operating conditions. Lagrange-Marquardt method was used to solve the nonlinear programming problem with process constraints to optimize process and maximize plant profit. The optimized process variables can bring about 1 percent increase in aromatics yield in weight. The optimization result is approved to not be sensitive to the uncertainty of model parameters.


Abstract : The report describes the design of a broadband laser beam digital deflector feasibility model. This model will be a flexible broadband assembly permitting evaluation of numerous broadbanding techniques. Two methods of externally modifying an existing single wavelength digital deflector are described. Both methods provide a beam deflection system operating throughout the 4500A to 7000A portion of the spectrum. Estimates of light intensity losses are calculated for both methods of external modification. Losses are calculated at the discrete laser wavelength to be used in the Laboratory feasibility model. The theory illustrating the method of compensation required for broadband deflector operation is explained. Sample calculations are included for compensation of a two-color model. Laboratory techniques to facilitate compensation of three- and four-color models are included. Problem areas requiring special investigation are outlined. A literary investigation of index of refraction matching fluids is included as an Appendix. The problems encountered with previously used fluids in the deflector and their possible solutions are discussed. Conclusions and recommendations concerning investigation of problem areas and laboratory fabrication of the feasibility model are given. (Author)


5584 Background: To evaluate the prognostic factors responsible for survival of women diagnosed with malignant mixed mullerian tumors (MMMT) of uterus. Methods: Demographic, pathologic, treatment, and survival information were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program between 1988 and 2001. Data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression methods. Results: Of 3,108 patients with MMMT, the median age was 70 years (range: 19–97). The majority (71.5%) were White, 17.0% African American, 6.3% Hispanic, and 4.5% were Asian. Stage I, II, III, and IV disease was diagnosed in 46.7%, 10.1%, 15.4%, and 27.8% of patients, respectively. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 55.9% of patients, and nodal metastases were found in 12.3%. Overall five-year disease-specific survival was 52.1%; including 68.2%, 51.6%, 40.7%, and 24.8% in stage I, II, III, and IV disease, respectively (p<0.001). Women with grade 1, 2, and 3 disease had survivals of 75.2%, 62.6%, and 47.0%, r...


Background: Central nervous system function is dependent upon neurotransmitters to properly integrate midbrain and cortical function. Central nervous system dysfunction is thought to be a primary driver of AIS progression. Purpose: The goal of this study was to observe and analyze any patterns of imbalance in neurotransmitter status in patients with AIS. Methods: The charts of 31 AIS patients from the same multidisciplinary medical center, ages 11-18, were reviewed and compared to a sampling of 31 patients without a history of scoliosis. Testing consisted of a urinalysis panel, analyzing 12 common neurotransmitters. Results: Review of the completed urinalyses revealed a trend towards elevated histamine, elevated norepinephrine and decreased serotonin in the AIS patients as compared to non-scoliotics. Since these neurotransmitters are typically expressed in specific cortical areas, this pattern of imbalance may manifest as a functional hemisphericity, causing asymmetrical efferent responses to peripheral, afferent muscular inputs, and altering firing thresholds in their respective pathways. Conclusions and discussion: In the current sampling of patients with AIS, a trend toward specific neurotransmitter imbalances was observed. These imbalances may help shed light on the often-observed somatosensory dyscoordination seen in this patient population. References 1. Marc DT, Ailts JW, Campeau DC, Bull MJ, Olson KL: Neurotransmitters excreted in the urine as biomarkers of nervous system activity: validity and clinical applicability. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011, 35(3):635-644. 2. Machida M, Dubousset J, Imamura Y, Miyashita Y, Yamada T, Melatonin Kimura J: A possible role in pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Spine 1996, 21(10):1147-1152. 3. Westermann J, Hubl W, Kaiser N, Salewski L: Simple, rapid, and sensitive determination of epinephrine and norepinephrine in urine and plasma by non-competitive enzyme immunoassay, compared with HPLC method. Clinical Laboratory 2002, 48:61-71. O2 Replication study of estrogen receptor 1 XbaI polymorphism in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) Caucasian population Janusz Piotr, Tomasz Kotwicki, Miroslaw Andrusiewicz, Malgorzata Kotwicka University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Scoliosis 2013, 8(Suppl 2):O2


Background. The success of endodontic treatment is provided by a thorough instrumental and antiseptic treatment of infected root canals, and it depends on the composition of filling material, the degree of adhesion to dentin, hermetic obturation of apical foramen, solubility of sealer. Objective. The study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of root canal obturation with BioRoot TM RCS sealer in the treatment of patients with chronic apical periodontitis. Methods. Endodontic treatment of 23 teeth in 20 patients with chronic apical periodontitis by method of lateral compaction of gutta-percha was carried out. In the main group root canals were obturated with BioRoot TM RCS, in the control group the canals were filled with Apexit Plus. The percentage of efficient or non-efficient cases was evaluated on the basis of radiographic comparison of treated chronic apical periodontitis immediately after obturation, in three, six months and one year. Radiographic conditions were defined as existing state, improvement and worsening. Results. In a year of dynamic evaluation the final results were: in the main group – 54.55% of the patients had complete bone healing, in 27.27% of cases the focus of bone destruction was decreased by ½ or more of the initial sizes, 18.18% – resorption lesion was decreased by less than ½; in the control group – 33.33% of improvement, 25.0% of existing state and 41.66% of worsening. Conclusions. BioRoot TM RCS using for root canals obturation in the treatment of chronic apical periodontitis we proved the high effectiveness of the treatment undertaken: complete healing or improvement of radiographic conditions of periapical bone destruction with X-ray signs of bone regeneration.


The fast realization of image processing based on API is discussed in this paper.Firstly a few familiar methods of image processing are analyzed.It is discovered that the image processing could be carried out rapidly by using API function,and a few rapid image processing methods are put forward.The result shows that the image processing can be achieved rapidly and effectively through the API function.And it has better practical value.


In this paper,the redundant function,linear function,self-negative function and self-dual function are introduced.The characteristics of spectral coefficients in these functions are discussed.The six relative theorems are presented.These theorems give out a new method to detect the redundant function,linear function,self-negative function and self-dual function.Several examples show the detecting processes using the method for the above special logical functions.


Abstract Rayleigh–Bénard (RB) convection with free-slip plates and horizontally periodic boundary conditions is investigated using direct numerical simulations. Two configurations are considered, one is two-dimensional (2-D) RB convection and the other one three-dimensional (3-D) RB convection with a rotating axis parallel to the plate, which for strong rotation mimics 2-D RB convection. For the 2-D simulations, we explore the parameter range of Rayleigh numbers $Ra$ from $10^{7}$ to $10^{9}$ and Prandtl numbers $Pr$ from $1$ to $100$. The effect of the width-to-height aspect ratio $\varGamma$ is investigated for $1\leqslant \varGamma \leqslant 128$. We show that zonal flow, which was observed, for example, by Goluskin et al. (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 759, 2014, pp. 360–385) for $\varGamma =2$, is only stable when $\varGamma$ is smaller than a critical value, which depends on $Ra$ and $Pr$. The regime in which only zonal flow can exist is called the first regime in this study. With increasing $\varGamma$, we find a second regime in which both zonal flow and different convection roll states can be statistically stable. For even larger $\varGamma$, in a third regime, only convection roll states are statistically stable and zonal flow is not sustained. How many convection rolls form (or in other words, what the mean aspect ratio of an individual roll is), depends on the initial conditions and on $Ra$ and $Pr$. For instance, for $Ra=10^{8}$ and $Pr=10$, the aspect ratio $\varGamma _r$ of an individual, statistically stable convection roll can vary in a large range between $16/11$ and $64$. A convection roll with a large aspect ratio of $\varGamma _r = 64$, or more generally already with $\varGamma _r \gg 10$, can be seen as 'localized' zonal flow, and indeed carries over various properties of the global zonal flow. For the 3-D simulations, we fix $Ra=10^{7}$ and $Pr=0.71$, and compare the flow for $\varGamma =8$ and $\varGamma = 16$. We first show that with increasing rotation rate both the flow structures and global quantities like the Nusselt number $Nu$ and the Reynolds number $Re$ increasingly behave like in the 2-D case. We then demonstrate that with increasing aspect ratio $\varGamma$, zonal flow, which was observed for small $\varGamma =2{\rm \pi}$ by von Hardenberg et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 15, 2015, 134501), completely disappears for $\varGamma =16$. For such large $\varGamma$, only convection roll states are statistically stable. In-between, here for medium aspect ratio $\varGamma = 8$, the convection roll state and the zonal flow state are both statistically stable. What state is taken depends on the initial conditions, similarly as we found for the 2-D case.


The invention discloses a transformer capable of achieving winding non-orthogonal decoupling. The transformer capable of achieving winding non-orthogonal decoupling comprises a transformer winding and a non-orthogonal decoupling winding, wherein the transformer winding and the non-orthogonal decoupling winding are manufactured on the same iron core in a winding mode, and the non-orthogonal decoupling winding comprises series coils which are equal in number of turns in even number sections and opposite in winding direction. According to the transformer capable of achieving winding non-orthogonal decoupling, the non-orthogonal decoupling theory is applied to decoupling between specific windings of electrical devices such as the transformer in engineering, that is, only magnetic coupling exists and powerless coupling does not exists between a certain pair of windings or certain pairs of windings through a specially-designed winding distribution mode. Due to the fact that decoupling can be achieved in the non-orthogonal arrangement mode, compared with orthogonal decoupling, the size of the devices can be effectively reduced, and the utilization rate of manufacturing materials is improved.


Three-dimensional macroporous carbon, carbon capsules with and without opening windows, solid carbon spheres and walnut-like carbon nanostructures were fabricated with macroporous silica as a template. The relationship between the structures and experimental conditions was studied. The carbon materials reported here may find application as photonic crystals, drug delivery systems, catalyst supports, and adsorbents.


In the southwest corner of New Mexico, north of Deming, lies the valley of the Rio Mimbres, a narrow strip of agricultural land between hills and bluffs. In this fertile valley have been found numerous ruins of a prehistoric Pueblo people who tilled the soil and developed an advanced culture several hundred years before the first white men reached America. Mr. Earl H. Morris, Research Associate of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, roughly estimates the date as about 1200 A. D. The archeology of the region has been discussed by J. Walter Fewkes2 of the Bureau of American Ethnology.


Image enhancement is an important task of image processing.We propose an algorithmic adaptive image enhancement method based on image information measure in this paper.At the image pixel level,image pixels are classified into smooth pixels and edge pixels by using image information measure,then the smooth pixels are farther classified into smooth pixels and ridge pixels aiming at the feature of form image.Relevant filtering algorithms are designed for different types of pixels,which realizes algorithmic adaption and enhance image primarily.Finally,the multi_level fuzzy enhancement algorithm is imposed to enhance image contrast and achieve a better enhancement effect.Experimental results show that the algorithm can enhance the low contrast image effectively and obtain a very good visual effect.


Mr. Sadayoshi Tsubaki, the former news department chief of the TV Asahi, made the report as a guest speaker at a panel meeting on"Politics and Television", held by the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan. He said arrogantly, "It is true that we covered the general election with a determination that we, through all the news programs and election reporting, must break the Liberal Democratic Party's domination of power.""TV Asahi was never impartial in its election coverage."He confessed that he neglected the statutory required fairness doctrine. His remark raised serious controversies on the fairness doctrine.In this article I examined the concept, historical development, and the rationale for the fairness doctrine, and the American experience of broadcasting regulations. American courts have tried to make clear the following rationale for broadcasting regulations: public ownership, scarcity, pervasiveness, and the right of the viewers and listeners. Justice White stated:"It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount."Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367, 390 (1968).It is my conclusion that the statutory required fairness doctrine is not unconstitutional, and we should better maintain the doctrine as a legislative policy.


The Wicks Committee was commissioned to investigate the administration of the Electoral Act 1956 and the Electoral Regulations 1975, and, in particular, the registration of electors for the 1978 General Election. The article examines the Committee's evaluation of the adequacy of the Electoral Rolls for that election and the lack of evidence to support the Committee's assertion that the rolls were adequate. It argues that the Committee was wrong to use the judgment in Re Hunua Election Petition [1979] 1 NZLR 251 to conclude that the rolls were valid. It also criticises the Committee's methods of inquiry and its conclusions, including its treatment of the right to vote.


[structure: see text] The synthesis of p-octiphenyls carrying orthogonal tert-butyl esters in the peripheral positions 1(2), 2(2), 3(3), 6(2), 7(3), and 8(2) and either p-methoxybenzyl or benzyl ester substituents in the central positions 4(2) and 5(3) is described. Resolution-enhanced HSQC/HMBC two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy is implemented as an attractive method for the complete characterization of complex p-oligophenyl scaffolds.


This study presents characteristic‐based split (CBS) algorithm in the meshfree context. This algorithm is the extension of general CBS method which was initially introduced in finite element framework. In this work, the general equations of flow have been represented in the meshfree context. A new finite element and MFree code is developed for solving flow problems. This computational code is capable of solving both time‐dependent and steady‐state flow problems. Numerical simulation of some known benchmark flow problems has been studied. Computational results of MFree method have been compared to those of finite element method. The results obtained have been verified by known numerical, analytical and experimental data in the literature. A number of shape functions are used for field variable interpolation. The performance of each interpolation method is discussed. It is concluded that the MFree method is more accurate than FEM if the same numbers of nodes are used for each solver. Meshfree CBS algorithm is completely stable even at high Reynolds numbers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Discovering the frequent set of item sequences in a transaction database is one of the most important tasks in mining association rules. Many algorithms have been proposed in the literatures, but most of them are based on Apriori method: pruning the itemset lattice, which need iterations to the transaction database. Recent algorithms attempted to improve the mining efficiency by reducing the number of database passes to control I/O cost. In this paper, we first define Set of Item Sequences and its basic properties, then create some operators which aim at the mining of association rules. Let ISS 1 and ISS 2 be the two variables of set of item sequences, and IS be a variable of item sequence, then the main operators are defined as follows: (1) IS ∈ sub ISS 1  IS 1 ∈ ISS 1 , have IS  IS 1 ;(2) ISS 1  sub ISS 2  IS 1 ∈ ISS 1 , have IS 1 ∈ sub ISS 2 ;(3) ISS 1 ∩ sub ISS 2 ={ IS |IS∈ sub ISS 1 and IS ∈ sub ISS 2 };(4) ISS 1 ∪ sub ISS 2 ={ IS|IS ∈ sub ISS 1 or IS ∈ sub ISS 2 }. Based on these definitions, we propose a new efficient algorithm called ISS DM which can avoid repeatedly scanning the transaction database for mining association rules. Unlike existing algorithms which are based on the pruning the itemset lattice or its improved methods, our algorithm only makes use of the two linear data structures in the memory( ISS and ISS * ), and it can obtain higher mining efficiency with less storage than other algorithms in some cases. Finally the effectiveness of this algorithm is analyzed and some experimental results are given. The experiments show that ISS DM algorithm is efficient in transaction databases of moderate size, and for some particular large databases.


Background:  Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are accompanied (many a time ignored) by dyslipidemia; such patients are the easy targets for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). An early treatment to normalize abnormal lipid levels can reduce the CVD and related mortality. The aim was to measure blood lipid parameters in patients with T2DM and their relation with the glycemic control. Methods: Prospective study including 124 T2DM patients in the Department of Medicine, Mayo Institute of Medical sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India between January 2016 to June 2016. Brief history, examination and investigations including fasting plasma glucose (FPG), post prandial blood glucose (PPG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were done. Correlation was obtained for lipid parameters between patients having HbA1c 0.05). A significant positive correlation was obtained between HbA1c and TC (r=0.216, p=0.016), TG (r=0.269, p=0.003), LDL/HDL ratio (r=0.296, p=0.001), VLDL-C (r=0.235, p=0.009) and non HDL-C (r=0.250, p=0.007) whereas a negative correlation was obtained with HDL-C (r= -0.192, p=0.032). In present study, 21.77% had hypercholesterolemia, 54.83% had low HDL-C level, 32.25% had hypertriglyceridemia and 72.58% patients had high LDL-C level. Conclusions:  Type 2 DM is associated with dyslipidemia and both together are the major risk factors for development of cardiovascular disease. There was a positive correlation between HbA1c and abnormal lipid parameters in patients with T2DM.


BACKGROUND: The condition of middle adult patients with palliative disease is prone to experiencing physical weakness and psychological suffering, disrupting dignity. As a caregiver at home, the family plays an essential role in providing support to maintain patient dignity.

AIM: This study aims to determine the image of the dignity of the middle adult patient with palliative care needs by family at home.

METHODS: This research is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. Participants were seven people with the purposive sampling method. Data collection methods were conducted using in-depth interviews and semi-structured observation. Research instruments included interview guidelines, field notes, and an observation form. Data validity used reference material, rich and thick description, and peer debriefing. Data analysis included data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion.

RESULTS: The results showed that the dignity of patients was considered by six themes; self-esteem went up and down, the meaning of illness and death, family response to the patient, sources of decision-making, an image of the quality of life, and future wishes.

CONCLUSION: This study had six themes depicting the dignity of patients that consisted of subthemes. The themes included self-esteem went up and down, the meaning of illness and death, family response to the patient, sources of decision-making, an image of the quality of life, and future wishes.


Photographs taken by George Valentine during the 1880s. All the views appear to be taken in the vicinity of Lake Tarawera and Lake Tikitapu.
Most of the views show various angles of both the Pink and the White Terraces, before and after the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886, and the bush at lake Tikitapu, before and after the eruption.
Two views show a waterfall and creek which George Valentine calls the Waitakeri Falls, and Waitakeri Creek. These names are no longer shown on maps of the area, so the creek and waterfall may have been smothered during the eruption.
Quantity: 1 album(s).
Physical Description: Album, lacks cover, photographs glued to card; 28 x 36 cm


A method for regulating water level for each weight of laundry of a front loading washing machine is provided to reduce noise by minimizing drop when washing a small quantity of laundry. A method for regulating water level for each weight of laundry of a front loading washing machine comprises the steps: sensing weight of laundry in a drum(S1); and supplying water with different water levels in accordance with sensed weight of laundry(S3,S7,S10,S13). The sensed weight of laundry is classified with three levels(S2,S6,S9,S12).


In the present paper, two mean value modelling approaches of varying complexity, capable of simulating two-stroke marine Diesel engines, are presented. Both approaches were implemented in the computational environment of MATLAB Simulink®. Simulation runs of transient operation cases of a large two-stroke marine Diesel engine were performed. The derived results were validated against previously published data are used for comparing the two modelling approaches and discussing the advantages and drawbacks of each.


The effect of Cu particles size and bonding time on the microstructure and shear property of Cu/In-45Cu/Cu solder joint was studied, and the shedding mechanism of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the solder joint during transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding process was investigated. The results showed that the microstructure of Cu/In-45Cu/Cu solder joint was composed of Cu11In9 phase, residual In phase and Cu particles, and the microstructure of solder joints prepared by small Cu particles was dense. The content of IMCs was increased with increasing bonding time, and the Cu/In-45Cu/Cu solder joint was composed of Cu11In9 phase and Cu particles under bonding time 30 min. The Cu2In phase was formed in the solder joint at 60 min, and many cracks appeared at the interface of Cu11In9 and Cu2In phases. The shear strength of Cu/In-45/Cu solder joints with brittle fracture was increased firstly and then decreased with increasing bonding time, and the maximum shear strength of the solder joint was 16.35 MPa at 30 min.


Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate radiation-induced temporomandibular joint damage in the patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and its correlative factors were analyzed. Methods: From November 7, 1966 to July 2, 1999, 352 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma received radical conventional radiotherapy were eligible for this analysis. The total dose of the temporomandibular joint were 51. 90 - 78. 89 gray and the overall treatment time were 35- 141 days. The endpoint was the distance between two dens incisivus medians (DDIM). The relationship between total doses and temporomandibular joint lesion was illustrated with curve estimation. Multivariate analysis with logistic Regress was performed to evaluate the significance of prognostic variables on temporomandibular joint lesion. Results: The patient of DDIM 3 cm in whole group was 58. 5%; the DDIM (1 cm rate was 7. l%; the DDIM 3 cm rate in the patients with temporomandibular joint doses 51. 90 - 60. 00 gray, 60. 00 - 70. 00 gray, and 70. 00 - 78. 89 gray were 46. 4%, 53. 5%, and 62. 3% , respectively (P = 0. 050); and in the patients who insisted in opening mouths practice or not were 51. 6% and 61. 7% respectively (P = 0. 028 ); and in patients at age of 18 - 42 and 43 - 71 were 54. l% and 62. 7% respectively (P = 0. 040 ). They were all significant prognostic factors for radiation-induced temporomandibular joint lesion. Conclusion: Radiation-induced temporomandibular joint lesion in radiation treated NPC patients was serious. The total dose of temporomandibular joint, opening mouths practice and age are three significant prognostic factors.


We report here the sixth known case of metastatic renal tumor of thyroid carcinoma. In 1999, a 37‐year‐old man was referred to us with a left renal mass found incidentally by ultrasound during an annual check‐up. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a well‐defined, hyperdense mass 3 cm in diameter in the middle of the left kidney. Left radical nephrectomy was performed under the preoperative diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. Histologically, the tumor was metastatic of typical papillary thyroid carcinoma.


State and local governments have adopted a variety of regulations over the past 40 years to protect the public against unreasonable noise. These regulations, which may be be qualitative in nature, may prohibit particular activities (e.g., barking dogs or loud radios) or outlaw nuisance noise in general (e.g., sounds disturbing to a resident). In addition, these regulations may be quantitative and define specific sound limits for a source at property line or community locations. The quantitative approach may typically include absolute limits that account for many factors, such as the time of day or week, the type of source and receptor, and the character of the sound; or in the case of Massachusetts, may include relative limits that account for the ambient background sound levels. A significant increase in community sound levels that is caused by a source is a useful indicator of a potential noise problem, but should this factor be considered when setting regulatory limits for individual projects? The pres...


Satellite cloud images describe the shapes and spatial position of cloud mass,which is significant to understand the weather condition in a large area.Three-dimensional visualization of satellite cloud images is one of the key technologies of the satellite cloud image information processing,The basic theory underlying 3-D visualization,projection transformation for satellite cloud images and data extraction of 3-D information sources was analyzed synthetically.Two 3-D visualization methods,which use OpenGL and VR technologies respectively,were developed to achieve the spatial characteristics of satellite cloud images.In the paper,the virtual reality visualization method based on DEM model has far-reaching significance for further research on real environmental field visualization.


One of the difficulties of means-ends analysis, a general model of human problem solving, is having to symbolically express the evaluation function for the domain problem solving heuristics. In the present work, the authors propose a neural network architecture called NGPS (Neural General Problem Solver) to avoid this difficulty. Instead of explicitly and symbolically expressing the evaluation function, NGPS can be trained to acquire implicitly the problem solving heuristics. NGPS uses a two-level problem solving architecture: a meta-level controller and an object-level performer. It is shown how tasks of propositional logic theorem proving can be successfully performed by NGPS. In addition, NGPS apparently has the ability to perform structure sensitive operations, which J.A. Fodor and Z.W. Pylyshyn (1988) claimed connectionist models could not do.<<ETX>>


We propose two novel methods to enhance the modulation efficiency of thin-film lithium niobate electro-optic modulators. The proposed modulator achieves a modulation efficiency of 1.2 V∙cm, while maintaining a broad EO bandwidth.


Physicians have become increasingly interested in the foot problems of patients with diabetes. This is evident by the large number of articles related to this problem published in Diabetes Care and other journals, both medical and surgical. In the past few years, six textbooks devoted totally to lesions of the foot of the diabetic have been published (1-6). This review will cover epidemiology and costs of diabetic foot lesions and amputations. It will also cover the current concepts of the pathogenesis and management of these foot lesions to prevent amputation. A primary cause for hospital admission of the patient with diabetes is a foot ulcer. Six percent (162,500) of the diabetic patients admitted to the hospital annually in the U.S. are admitted because of a foot ulcer (7). In the series of Smith et al. (8), foot problems were responsible for 23% of the hospital days over a period of 2 years. At the India Institute of Diabetes in Bombay, India, more than 10% of all admissions for diabetes are primarily for foot management (9). Also, >70% required surgical intervention and >40% of those interventions were either a toe or limb amputation (9). In the U.K., >50% of the bed occupancy of diabetic patients is due to foot problems (10). A large survey in the U.K. showed that of 6,000 patients attending diabetes clinics, >2% had an active foot ulcer and 2.5% were amputees (11). Data from the National Hospital Discharge Summary in the U.S. showed that the average number of amputations per year from 1989 to 1992 was 51,605. This data included amputations of the toes, 12,427 (24%); mid-foot, 2,967 (5.8%); below-the-knee (BK), 20,028 (38.8%); and above-the-knee, 11,048 (21.4%). The remaining 10% included hip, pelvis, knee, and sites not listed (7). These figures are similar to those compiled by the division of Diabetes Translation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (12). The average length of stay for amputation reported by Reiber et al. (7) was 20.3 days for patients with private insurance and only 12.4 days for patients on Medicare. Similar differences occurred in diabetic patients hospitalized for foot ulcers. Those with private insurance averaged 17.8 days and those on Medicare 12 days (7).


Consumption of ready-to-eat chopped fruits sold in the streets is a concern, as such activities are outside the regulation and protection in most developing countries. Ready-to-eat mangos are commonly sold as wedges in plastic cups at ambient temperature by mobile vendors in Ecuador, thus they are prone to contamination by bacteria, which poses a safety issue of concern. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of several antimicrobial cocktails consisting of previously designed specific peptide extract combinations from two probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum UTNCys5-4 and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis UTNGt28, along with nisin, a commercial food additive, on mango wedges artificially inoculated with a logarithmic phase culture of a five-strain bacterial mixture (FSBM). Preliminary bacteriological analysis of mango wedges purchased from mobile vendors showed the presence of multiple antibiotic-resistant isolates such E. coli spp., Enterobacter spp., Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., along with yeasts and molds, indicating non-compliance with the food safety standards. The results revealed that two antimicrobial cocktails, T2 and T5, containing cell-free supernatant based (CFS) and precipitated peptides (PP) based cocktails from UTNCys5-4 and UTNGt28 strains applied at dose 1:3 (v/v), were the most efficient combinations that inhibited the colonization of total bacterial counts with 56.03% and 55.61% in mango wedges stored with refrigeration. The reduction of total E. coli counts was 64.93%, while Salmonella and Shigella counts were reduced by 98.09% and 97.93%, respectively, when mango wedges were treated with T5-cocktail. The commercial nisin inhibited total Salmonella spp. counts by 40.13%, while E. coli spp. and Shigella spp. diminished by 28.20% and 37.22%, respectively. Moreover, we showed that T5 but not T7 (nisin) damaged the target cell integrity, thereby eventually inhibiting their growth and reproduction. The selected antimicrobial cocktails exerted a bacteriolytic effect by killing the FSBM simultaneously in a fruit matrix and preventing their accumulation in mango wedges. Furthermore, there is a possibility of using peptide combinatorial treatments to combat drug-resistant bacteria in ready-to-eat fruits.


The aim of our work is to specify and build a system dedicated to training in radiology-senology based on the exploitation of senologic images and their related clinical information. The system is called SAFRS (Systeme d'Aide a la Formation des Radiologues-Senologues i.e. system supporting the training of radiologists-senologists). The case-based reasoning (CBR) approach represents expert knowledge as a set of cases. This set of cases (experience) may then be reused when solving new problems, e.g. when making new diagnoses. The CBR approach is totally suited to the aim of our SAFRS system, namely to enable junior radiologists-senologists to learn from the experience of senior colleagues. We have represented the cases using an object-oriented approach, namely UML formalism.


Too often organisations look to performers when seeking to improve productivity. Instead, performance should be stressed, as 80 to 90 per cent of productivity improvement opportunity can be found in the work situation. Therefore, it is suggested that departmental training budgets should be replaced by company‐wide performance improvement budgets administered by a performance improvement manager. Opportunities to improve productivity can then be given priority on an organisation‐wide basis, shifting the emphasis away from the individual to the total work environment.


From the conventional expansion of a scalar magnetic potential (such as the earth's), an expansion of the vector potential is obtained. This expansion is used for analyzing the motion of charged particles in axisymmetric magnetic fields, with special attention to such fields that do not deviate far from a dipole. The results are compared with those of Quenby and Webber. Finally, the relation between Stormer's first integral and the third adiabatic invariant is traced.


As know, all wood material is recycled only half, and the rest of it remains unused. In practice, wood waste is most often plowed or burned, at a time when such wood is a valuable natural raw material that can compensate for the needs of a number of sectors of the economy. In this regard, the problem of recycling waste from the woodworking industry is very relevant today. Wood waste contains a large amount of substances capable of exhibiting biological activity. In particular, such biologically active substances include betulin, which is found in birch bark, which, due to its many advantages, has found wide application in medical, perfumery, cosmetic, food and other industries. For the rational use of wood and wood materials, it is necessary to develop new technologies and equipment for processing wood into products that are in demand for mankind. The paper provides an overview of the processing of birch bark. The relevance and prospects of birch species as a raw material for the chemical industry have been established. An installation for obtaining biologically active substances from wood waste is presented.


Race is the most important framework in which Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights can be analyzed for the following reasons. First, it was...