Social media and social networks have gained an unprecedented role in connecting people, knowledge, and experiences. Game industry is using the power of social networks by creating Social Network Games, which can be even more engaging than traditional games. In this chapter, the main characteristics of Social Network Games and their potential are discussed. This potentiality can also be used for serious games (i.e. games with purposes beyond entertainment) and especially games related to learning and behavioural changes. This leads to introducing the emerging field of Serious Social Network Games and their unique characteristics that make them suitable for serious applications. Finally, the rising phenomenon of Social TV is discussed, which combines the power of TV and social media. Based on a project by the authors, preliminary findings on the most engaging techniques of Social TV Games are presented, together with initial suggestions on what constitutes good game mechanics for such games. The chapter concludes with future research directions for Social Network Games to become even more engaging and effective for purposes beyond pure entertainment.


Abstract Amended rules to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which became law in December 2006, are aimed at a single issue—the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI), referred to as electronic discovery (e-discovery). All forms of ESI may be subject to discovery, the investigative phase of a legal case when the parties determine what evidence is, or might be, available. This article addresses concerns of organizations in responding to e-discovery requests and concludes with recommendations for the design and development of an electronic records management (ERM) policy that recognizes the duties imposed by the e-discovery amendments.


In order to establish the quantitative model on eel peripheral blood leukocytes phagocytosing Aeromonas hydrophilain vitro,we first examined the variation of the number of bacteria phagocytosed by eel peripheral blood leukocytes and the survival ratio of the leukocytes when the infection time was unvaried and the infection multiplicity was changed,as well as when the infection multiplicity was stable and the infection time was changed.It was found that the phagocytosis of eel peripheral blood leukocytes against A.hydrophila was significant.When the infection multiplicity was 100∶1 and the infection time was 30 min,the number of the bacteria that phagocytosed by eel peripheral blood leukocytes reached saturation while the leukocytes still maintained high activity,indicating that 100∶1 and 30min was the optimal infection multiplicity and infection time.In addition,the quantitative model was validated by detecting predation velocity and sterilization velocity.It was found that the phagocytosis velocity for eel peripheral blood leukocytes against A.hydrophila was faster than that against Escherichia coli,while the velocity for killing A.hydrophila was significantly lower than that for killing E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus,which shows that the established quantitative model can be used for further study on intracellular survival mechanism of A.hydrophila.


Atherosclerosis and its consequences like acute myocardial infarction or stroke are highly prevalent in western countries, and the incidence of atherosclerosis is rapidly rising in developing countries. Atherosclerosis is a disease that progresses silently over several decades before it results in the aforementioned clinical consequences. Therefore, there is a clinical need for imaging methods to detect the early stages of atherosclerosis and to better risk stratify patients. In this review, we will discuss how ultrasound imaging can contribute to the detection and risk stratification of atherosclerosis by (a) detecting advanced and early plaques; (b) evaluating the biomechanical consequences of atherosclerosis in the vessel wall; (c) assessing plaque neovascularization and (d) imaging the expression of disease-relevant molecules using molecular imaging.


Four members of Phallaceae were collected from different corners of West Bengal and among them three are reported to be new to India and one from West Bengal. A detailed macro and microscopic features of those members were presented in this paper. [Arun Kumar Dutta, Nilanjan Chakraborty, Prakash Pradhan and Krishnendu Acharya. Phallales of West Bengal, India. II. Phallaceae: Phallus and Mutinus. Researcher 2012;4(8):21-25]. (ISSN: 1553-9865). http://www.sciencepub.net/researcher. 5


Background:The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provide significant incentives to health plans that score well on Medicare STAR metrics for cardiovascular disease risk factor medication adherence. Information on modifiable health system-level predictors of adherence can help clinicians and health plans develop strategies for improving Medicare STAR scores, and potentially improve cardiovascular disease outcomes. Objective:To examine the association of Medicare STAR adherence metrics with system-level factors. Research Design:A cross-sectional study. Subjects:A total of 129,040 diabetes patients aged 65 years and above in 2010 from 3 Kaiser Permanente regions. Measures:Adherence to antihypertensive, antihyperlipidemic, and oral antihyperglycemic medications in 2010, defined by Medicare STAR as the proportion of days covered ≥80%. Results:After controlling for individual-level factors, the strongest predictor of achieving STAR-defined medication adherence was a mean prescribed medication days' supply of >90 days (RR=1.61 for antihypertensives, oral antihyperglycemics, and statins; all P<0.001). Using mail order pharmacy to fill medications >50% of the time was independently associated with better adherence with these medications (RR=1.07, 1.06, 1.07; P<0.001); mail order use had an increased positive association among black and Hispanic patients. Medication copayments ⩽$10 for 30 days' supply (RR=1.02, 1.02, 1.02; P<0.01) and annual individual out-of-pocket maximums ⩽$2000 (RR=1.02, 1.01, 1.02; P<0.01) were also significantly associated with higher adherence for all 3 therapeutic groupings. Conclusions:Greater medication days' supply and mail order pharmacy use, and lower copayments and out-of-pocket maximums, are associated with better Medicare STAR adherence. Initiatives to improve adherence should focus on modifiable health system-level barriers to obtaining evidence-based medications.


A western Montana bighorn sheep metapopulation is made up of 9 herds: Bonner, Petty Creek, Lower Rock Creek, Upper Rock Creek, Skalkaho, East Fork of the Bitterroot, Painted Rocks, Garrison, and Anaconda. During the winter of 2009-2010, the East Fork of the Bitterroot, Bonner, Upper Rock Creek, and Lower Rock Creek herds experienced pneumonia related all age die-offs. Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks personnel attempted to prevent the spread of the disease to healthy herd segments and neighboring populations by aggressively culling bighorn sheep in two of the herds. In the East Fork of the Bitterroot herd any bighorn sheep showing clinical signs of disease was culled. In the Bonner herd the agency attempted to cull all bighorn sheep within a containment zone. Samples were collected from all culled bighorn sheep for respiratory pathogen testing. The pneumonia outbreaks were allowed to run their course in the other two herds (Lower and Upper Rock Creek), although these herds experienced some lethal sampling for diagnostic purposes. Now, five years later, we report on the fate of these treated and untreated herds, as well as that of the five other herds within the population. Our data suggest that culling did little to affect the 5-year post-outbreak population trends or pathogen communities for the affected herds. Die-offs, followed by chronically reduced lamb recruitment were detected in the Skalkaho and Anaconda herds in 2011. Biennial Symposium of the Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council 20:19-37.


In the past the pattern of business down-trend usually appeared in the form of, first, decrease in facility investment, then decrease in inventory level, followed by reduced level of consumption. But the pattern nowadays is becoming just the opposite, that is, first, consumption decrease, then inventory level increase, followed by restriction of facility investment. Also in the past, the greater effort was placed in strengthening of hardware areas through optimization and modernization of production means on the premise of sales. But lately software areas take most of the main effort to establish production mean with sales as its objective. Under these circumstances one of the real problems facing production activities today is the conflicting relationship between sales and production functions. This occurs due to differences of their view points. Then, in order to achieve maximum profit at the least cost, which is the ultimate objective of a production activity, the need arises to effectively coordinate sales demand and plant production capacity. For this purpose strong control means and function must be devised. In our case study example we illustrate a management technique for a combined planning function, of optimal coordination of product mixes utilizing a computerized linear programming model as control means of attaining maximum profit. It is hoped that this example help achieve some of corporate objectives.


Observations are reported of the time development of 17-MeV proton fluxes in four corotating particle streams during the five days required for corotation from Pioneer 7, about 70 E of earth in 1968, to IMP-4 at earth. The azimuthal width of the particle streams was observed to remain constant over the five days. Assuming either continuous or impulsive injection of particles at the sun, this observation is shown to imply that the azimuthal diffusion coefficient was significantly less than the value derived from recent solar flare observations (McKibben, 1972).


Use of a purified mixture of mycosporine-like amino acids (Asterina 330 + palitina) in products for preventing carcinogenic processes. The present invention falls within the biotechnology sector and describes the potential use of a purified extract of amino mycosporin type (MAA), specifically Asterina 330+ isolated palitina the red alga


We determine all flux vacua with flux numbers $N_{\rm flux}\leq 10$ for a type IIB orientifold-compactification on the mirror-octic three-fold. To achieve this, we develop and apply techniques for performing a complete scan of flux vacua for the whole moduli space - we do not randomly sample fluxes nor do we consider only boundary regions of the moduli space. We compare our findings to results in the literature.


A software package is proposed for determining cross sections of spallation, fission, or fragmentation by activation methods. Various additions have been made to the method, including correction for single and double escape peaks on the areas of the γ lines for the residual nuclei, and for the dead time of the measurement system, with a proposal for the complete identification of all lines of each nuclide observed on the basis of the internal intensity ratios derived from a nuclear database. The γ spectra were recorded in an experiment with the LYaP phasotron at the Joint Nuclear Research Institute on irradiating targets with protons of energy 660 MeV. These spectra were measured with two ultrapure Ge detectors. The first had an energy resolution of 1.8 keV (at E γ = 1332 keV) and efficiency 19%, while the second had 1.9 keV and 28% respec- tively. The measurements were usually made in the range 50-3500 keV, but to suppress the strong x rays and low-energy γ rays, we used filters of Cu (1 mm), Cd (1 mm), and Pb (1-10 mm). It was particularly important to use such filters with irra- diated radioactive targets composed of 129 I, 237 Np, and 241 Am. The γ rays in that energy range were transformed into 8192-channel spectra by means of ORTEC analyzers: MASTER 919 or MASTER 921, with a fast ORTEC 973 amplifier. The spectra began to be measured a few minutes after the end of the irradiation and the measurements continued for several months with increasing measurement times in order to detect the long-lived residual nuclei. In order to collect the optimal statistics in the measurements, the distance d between the radioactive source and the detector was varied over the range from 8 cm to 1.5 m. We chose the minimum value d = 8 cm in order to suppress cascade transition summation. The energies and peak areas of the γ rays were determined by means of the DEIMOS program (3), which operates automatically or interac-


Abstract Zirconium alloys are widely used as the cladding material in pressurized-water-reactors. The oxide formed is subjected to compressive stresses, which relax over time. This may affect the protectiveness of the oxide layer by allowing crack formation. We present a mechanistic model to predict these stresses as a function of temperature and oxidation kinetics. Material parameters for elastic deformation, creep, and thermal expansion are taken from appropriate experimental studies and the resulting predictions for the evolution of the stress distributions are compared with other experimental data. Dislocation glide in the oxide is found to be the dominant mechanism of stress relaxation for temperatures below 900 K.


Alphonse Aulard (1849–1928) institutionalised and professionalised the practice of history. Beyond this undisputed contribution, however, Aulard's place in historiography remains contested. Scholars' perceptions that anti-clerical and radical-republican commitments skewed his research findings, and that he chose narrowly to study history as a series of constitutional, institutional and political developments in stark contrast with his student Albert Mathiez, have divided opinion regarding the beliefs and significance of Aulard. Yet Aulard's work and the cultural and political contribution it made have become a source of inspiration for a generation of scholars now studying revolutionary and European history. Based for the first time on an examination of his private papers, professional activities and oeuvre in tandem, this article revisits Aulard, and, using a post-analytic hermeneutics, re-reads his work in order to show how in his age Aulard advanced a demonstrably original contribution to historical research. He likewise left behind him a neo-Jacobin legacy more attentive to raison d'état than party division and championing international, liberal democracy and human rights. Multifaceted commitments therefore both explain the content of Aulard's oeuvre and help to understand contemporary developments, and suggest future directions, in historical enquiry.


In seismic interpretation, one of the most essential steps is time-to-depth conversion. Nevertheless, up to the present very crude techniques have been used for that purpose, such as vertical stretching of the time migrated horizons on basis of velocities measured from Wells .


For a fixed porous framework, developing an efficient composite material with selective removal of oil and water form oil-water mixture is of significance but challenging due to the effect of its ...


Once a price is agreed, kidnappers tend to demand payment in unmarked, small-denomination notes. How do people deliver the cash to the right addressee without putting themselves at risk? How do kidnappers collect it without being apprehended? And why would they release a potential future witness after getting the ransom? This chapter analyses how these tricky logistical, contracting, and enforcement problems are resolved in practice. Different solutions are appropriate in different local contexts and price segments. We observe a vibrant market for (cost-)effective solutions to trade problems and intense evolutionary competition between providers. Market concentration and excellent information flow ensure great financial rewards for successful innovators.


ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is designed to study the strongly in teracting matter, the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), created in heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies. Charm and beauty quarks are powerful probes to study the QGP. Produced in hard partonic scattering processes on a short time scale, they are expected to traverse the QCD medium, interacting with its constituents and losing energy through radiative and collisional processes. In ALICE, open-charm production is studied through the reconstruction of the hadronic decays of D 0 , D + , D *+ and D s + mesons at mid-rapidity. High precision tracking, good vertexing capabilities and excellent particle identification offered by ALICE allow for the measurement of particles containing heavy quarks (particularly D mesons) in a wide transverse momentum range in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions. A review of the main results on D-meson production in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV, p-Pb collisions at √s NN = 5.02 TeV and Pb-Pb collisions at √s NN = 2.76 TeV will be presented.


In the article the most significant psychological factors and personal features defining readiness of higher educational institution's student to performance of their professional duties in extreme situations are researched; the features of formation of psychological readiness in the educational process on the example of Mikhalovsky Military Artillery Aacademy are revealed.


Department of Physics and College of Optical SciencesThe University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721(Dated: January 18, 2009)We construct an operator for the Aharonov-Anandan phase for time independent Hamiltonians.This operator is shown to generate the motion of cyclic quantum systems through an equationof evolution involving only geometric quantities, i.e. the distance between quantum states, thegeometric phase and the total length of evolution. From this equation, we derive an operator for theSamuel and Bhandari phase (SB-phase) for non cyclic evolutions. Finally we show how the SB-phasecan be used to construct an operator corresponding to a quantum clock which commutator with theHamiltonian has a canonical expectation value.


Applications in quantum physics commonly involve large batches of integrals of smooth but veryoscillatory functions. The purpose of this work is to benchmark and compare different numerical algorithms for evaluating such integrals. The routines studied include: two from the QUADPACK package based on Gauss-Kronrod quadrature; one routine based on Patterson's improvements of Gauss-Kronrod quadrature; and two routines that use a non-standard algorithm of applying quadrature-like rules of unrestricted order. The last algorithm has been seen in previous works,but is not in wide-spread use. The present work includes optimized implementations of this algorithm for both serial and parallel computation.


The invention discloses an alpha-keto-leucine-calcium preparation method, comprise the following steps: mixing hydantoin, alkali and water and heating the solution, then dripping isobutylaldehyde to perform reflux reaction, cooling the solution after reflux reaction, adding strong alkali liquid and cooling the solution after reflux reaction, extracting and concentrating to obtaining raw liquid alpha-keto-leucine, dripping the raw alpha-keto-leucine in the alcoholic solution of calcium chloride to react and filtrating to obtain alpha-keto-leucine-calcium. The reaction mechanism is as follows: adopting hydantoin to perform condensation reaction with isobutylaldehyde in the presence of catalyst, namely alkali to obtain isobutylidene hydantoin, generating alpha-keto-leucine through hydrolysis in the presence of strong alkali and salifying to obtain alpha-keto-leucine-calcium. The invention adopts condensation reaction so that hydrolysis can be directly realized without separating isobutylidene hydantoin, the equipment utilization can be improved by 30%, the reaction condition is mild and the operation is easier; water is adopted as solvent, thus lowering the cost and waste water and reducing the pollution to the environment; in addition, the invention has accessible raw materials and stable product quality, the reaction yield is increased by 10% compared with that of the prior art, and the invention has no special requirement on the equipment, thus being applicable to the industrial production.


put the warning on p . 180 a t the beginning of Chapter 10. I t is a pity that the form for Wp,n-$(r) given by Hartree (Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 24, p . 433, (5.6)(1928)) has not become established in the literature, but this is admittedly a case of a sooty pot calling the kettle black. I disagree with the authors on some matters, largely on aesthetic grounds; I prefer the factorial function notation to the gamma function and in the separation of Schrodinger's equation for a spherically symmetric system I prefer to work in terms of (rB) rather than R. I t is surprising that two authors so careful over the apostrophe for Rodrigues should trip up over N. M. Ferrers who appears throughout as Ferrer. The printing is clear and the index is well set out; (after "Kepler problem", on p . 207, 20 should be 201). Misprints in a work of this complexity are inescapable; on p . 181, (7.4.6) should be (7.4.5) and in the final formula of §10.4 a transposition has occurred. On p . 33 in (2.5.17) 1i should be 1/w.


Until recently, little research has been directed toward specifically accessing the patient's perspectives regarding decision making during a terminal illness. Several reasons explain this gap; however, an important reason lies in the fact that as recently as the 1990s, many US physicians did not directly inform patients of the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, much less inform them that they were in the terminal stages of their illness (Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1997). The study reported here was designed to increase the understanding of the factors that influence the decision making process for patients receiving hospice services. The purpose of the study was to identify facilitators and barriers to decision making as perceived by patients receiving hospice services.


The paper considers the features of creating a reference base in the field of chemical and biological research. It is noted that there is a high demand for measuring instruments in chemical and biological measurements, at the same time, there is practically no reference base for these measurements. The method of measuring the magnetic susceptibility of substances and the method of dielectrophoresis for determining the polarizability of microparticles are considered in detail. On the basis of the dielectrophoresis method, a primary reference measurement technique (PRMI) was created, which is used to measure the volume polarizability and establish the metrological characteristics of standard samples.


The utility model relates to a riveting machine, in particular to an automatic riveting machine. The riveting machine is provided with working platforms above which a die for placing rivets and a power device for hammering rivets are arranged, the die is composed of an upper die platform and a lower die platform, the upper platform is connected with an ejector pin of a gas-oil pressure cylinder, the lower die platform is fixedly arranged on the working platform, an upper die platform guide pole is fixedly arranged between an upper plate and the working platform, two ends of the upper die platform is sheathed on the upper die platform guide pole and is glidingly connected with the upper die platform, a manipulator for feeding rivets is arranged on the working platform behind the die, and a material placing mechanism for placing machined parts is arranged on the working platform in front of the die. The riveting machine has the advantages of novel design, convenient and safe operation and realization of automatic rivet feeding, and is applicable to the riveting and machining of large-scale and batched machined workpieces; the working efficiency is improved.


The ubiquinone system of twenty-four strains of ballistospore-forming yeasts in the genera Sporidiobolus, Sporobolomyces, and Bullera was investigated. Most of strains are type strains. They are twenty-one known species and two unidentified species. Sporidiobolus johnsonii, Sporid. pararoseus, Sporid. ruinenii, Sporid. salmonicolor, Sporobolomyces alborubescens, Sp. foliicola, sp. gracilis, Sp. holsaticus, and Sp. Roseus had Q-10 as the major ubiquinone and Q-9 as the minor component. Bullera alba, B. armeniaca, B. aurantiaca, B. crocea, B. dendrophila, B. globospora, B. piricola, B. punicea, B. salicina, B. singularis, and B. tsugae also had Q-10 as the major ubiquinone and Q-9 as the minor component. The amounts of Q-9 are rather high (15.0-25.4%) in Sporid, pararoseus, Sporid. ruinenii, B. piricola, B. punicea, and B. salicina. The major ubiquinone of Sp. elongatus was Q-10 (H2). This yeast has Q-9 (H2) and Q-10 as the minor components. This is the 2nd finding of Q-10 (H2) in yeasts as the major ubiquinone. Three unidentified strains of two species of Bullera had Q-9 as the major ubiquinone and Q-8 and Q-10 as the minor components. Taxonomically, these strains resemble B. singularis in spite of the difference in ubiquinone systems. These yeasts may be yeast phases of certain species of the genus Itersonilia or may represent a genus yet to be established..


The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of the Council of the EU on the approval process of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020. The influence of the Council of the EU is analyzed on the presidency trio countries Poland, Denmark and Cyprus in the period of the second half of 2011 and 2012. The paper analyzes the main agenda of the presidency trio countries and their ideas about a new financial framework draft. On one hand, there was Poland and its ambitious budget and on the other hand, there were Denmark and Cyprus and their austerity budget. The text concludes that the function of the presidential state is to be an intermediary because of expected country's neutrality during the presidency period not to be the country with important influence. The member states of the EU are capable of realizing their national interests out of the presidency period through the different coalition groups on the basis of their interests. The group of net budget payers is still the most important coalition group in case of the final budget draft.


. Abstract Drugs are intended to prevent, treat, and indeed cure diseases whether physical or psychological. However, drugs can also be source of risks. We generally define risks as unintended effects, which might have variable degrees of seriousness, from bare itching to the user's death. Even though a drug is only marketed after proper clinical trials demonstrations of its safety, quality and efficiency, it nevertheless has to be put under an increased surveillance because it is statistically documented that unknown risks might appear while being used by a larger population. Canadian law has organized since 1965 onwards a system of surveillance that has been improved over the last reforms. Those changes, brought lately to the Canadian legal regime of pharmacovigilance, were largely influenced by international lobbying. In order to respond to those demands of international organizations Santé Canada intends to cooperate with, Canada has decided to incorporate their dispositions into its positive law. In particular, by


An optimal coordination of residential motor protection has been considered a potential remedy for many sustained low voltage problems caused by faults in the transmission system. This paper presents the modeling of residential end-use motor loads equipped with dedicated protection devices in a dynamic-phasor-based simulation program. Common types of mechanical torque are implemented for different functional motors in typical single-family and multifamily homes. The point-on-wave study is performed to examine the responses of air-conditioner (A/C) compressor to the instant of voltage depression. Voltage depressions are imposed at the head of the feeder supplying multiple residential homes to investigate the behaviors of A/C compressor stalling, actions of motor tripping and reconnection, and system-level responses to motor stalling and motor protection.


Efforts are increasingly being made to implement pharmacists working in General Practice to support General Practitioners and alleviate pressure, mainly by providing pharmacotherapy services such as medication reviews and authorising prescribing requests (1). While there is wide interest in the contributions pharmacists can make within primary care, there is limited research exploring the competencies pharmacists need to safely and effectively provide care in this area.

 The aim of this project was to identify competencies required for pharmacists providing pharmacotherapy services in General Practice.

 Modified eDelphi study (2), comprising a series of online questionnaires conducted between July 2019 and January 2020. Participants were pharmacists working in General Practice in Scotland.
 The first questionnaire consisted of open-ended questions aimed at generating a list of competencies; competency categories and individual competency items relating to pharmacotherapy service tasks were identified based on the free text responses using content analysis. Subsequently, the second questionnaire aimed to establish consensus regarding the importance of the collected competencies, using a rating scale from 1 ("not important") to 10 ("very important"); participants' scores were aggregated using modes and medians, and the level of agreement among participants with regards to the importance of competencies was evaluated by calculating the percentage of scores between 8 and 10. Due to the novelty of this work and the resultant uncertainty surrounding participants' responses, no cut-off point for agreement was pre-specified.

 Overall, 10 pharmacists completed the first questionnaire, and 11 completed the second. Building on the findings from the first questionnaire, a framework of competencies necessary to provide pharmacotherapy services in General Practice was developed, comprising eight competency categories, with a total of 31 individual competency items: General Skills (e.g. ability to record patient information); IT Skills (e.g. ability to use GP computer system to update documentation); Legal & Professional Frameworks (e.g. understanding of clinical guidelines); Procedural Skills (e.g. ability to arrange follow-up); Multidisciplinary Team Communication Skills (e.g. ability to communicate with others within the GP practice); Consultation Skills (e.g. ability to take a complete history); Clinical Knowledge (e.g. knowledge related to conditions being treated); and Clinical Skills (e.g. ability to interpret clinical information). All eight competency categories were considered important across the pharmacotherapy service, with high agreement (between 71 and 85%) among participants.

 Using a bottom-up, exploratory approach, this study confirmed that practicing within the General Practice setting requires a wide set of competencies, including – but not limited to – advanced clinical and consultation skills. Nevertheless, findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the limited sample size; although results have tentatively been validated using a paper-based version of the second online questionnaire during an in-person event with General Practice pharmacists, results might not be reflective of all pharmacists working in this setting.

 (1) Scottish Government. (2017). The 2018 General Medical Services Contract in Scotland. Retrieved from https://www.glasgowlmc.co.uk/download/contract%20and%20contractural%20Issues/The-2018-General-Medical-Services-Contract-in-Scotland.pdf
 (2) Hsu, C. C., & Sandford, B. A. (2007). The Delphi technique: Making sense of consensus. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 12, Article10. https://doi.org/10.7275/pdz9-th90


Topics covered in Part 2 include: cosmic rays; new accelerators and new experimental techniques; gauge theories and mathematical physics; and plenary sessions in accelerators and experimental techniques, weak interactions, hadron dynamics, e/sup +/e/sup -/ physics and new particle production, and new theoretical developments. Abstracts of individual items from the conference were prepared separately for the data base. (GHT)


A dusty ringlet designated R/2006 S3, also known as the "Charming Ringlet," is located around 119,940 km from the center of Saturn within the Laplace Gap in the Cassini Division. Prior to 2010, the ringlet had a simple radial profile and a predictable eccentric shape with two components, one forced by solar radiation pressure and the other freely precessing around the planet. However, observations made by the Cassini spacecraft since late 2012 revealed a shelf of material extending inwards from the ringlet that was not present in the earlier observations. Closer inspection of images obtained after 2012 shows that sometime between 2010 and 2012, the freely precessing component of the ringlet's eccentricity increased by over 50%, and that for at least 3 yr after 2012, the ringlet had longitudinal brightness variations that rotated around the planet at a range of rates corresponding to ∼60 km in orbital semimajor axis. Some event therefore disturbed this ringlet between 2010 and late 2012.


Purpose: It was to evaluate the possibility of the occurrence of resistance to imazethapyr in a population of Amaranthus hybridus from São Paulo. Theoretical framework: Plants of the genus Amaranthus spp. are native to America and present a diversity of species. Currently, there are 515 cases of weeds resistant to herbicides in the world. Among these species, plants of the genus Amaranthus have shown an increase in cases of resistance in recent years, which generates concern about its chemical management, with six cases of resistance recorded for this species in Brazil. Method/design/approach: The experimental design was entirely randomized in a 2x9 factorial scheme, with six replications. The first factor consisted of two populations of A. hybridus , one with putative resistance to imazethapyr herbicide from Cândido Mota and a susceptible population from Florínea. The herbicides dose were applied when the plants presented 4 to 6 leaves. The evaluations made were the percentage of control and dry matter. Results and conclusion: Suspected resistance of Amaranthus hybridus populations to imazethapyr has been confirmed in the city of Cândido Mota.


Blood‐borne viral infections can complicate organ transplantation. Systematic monitoring to distinguish donor‐transmitted infections from other new infections post transplant is challenging. Administrative health data can be informative. We aimed to quantify post‐transplant viral infections, specifically those transmitted by donors and those reactivating or arising new in recipients.


The purpose of the current paper is to provide a conceptual framework for studying the impact of organizational change on employee job involvement while communication, emotions and psychological contract plays mediating role in this relationship. The current study conceptualize that organizational change followed by effective communication generate the positive emotions which ultimately increase the employee job involvement where as organizational change with ineffective communication causes negative emotions which results in low employee job involvement. The study also founds that organizational change may break the psychological contract between employee and employer which reduces the employee job involvement.


Image removal secondary filter can be tuned to the image frequency of the filter over a wide band. In one embodiment, the image rejection filter comprises in-phase and quadrature mixers. Image rejection has fractional transfer function. Image rejection filter has two subcircuits, the first partial circuit generates imaginary component of the transfer function, the second subcircuit generating a real component of the transfer function. The first subcircuit receives a Q signal, the second partial circuit receives the I signal. In one embodiment, in order to generate the fractional transfer function, multiple-feedback loop integrator is used.


The key finding of this report is that the euro is not likely to cause any single major change in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). There will, however, be a lot of small effects--in different directions--in the short and long run. In the main, the impact of the euro on Latin America is expected to be of secondary importance, since no structural trade change is expected. Because the LAC countries are very heterogeneous, the European and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro are therefore likely to impact countries differently. Countries and regions with strong links--culturally and geographically--to the United States (such as Mexico and Central America) are likely to be less affected than countries with weaker links. The report's main findings are the following: 1) The European Union should increase imports from the LAC region. 2) Because LAC countries are highly dollarized, a major immediate change is not expected with the euro's launching, rather the main impact is likely to come through financial linkages. 3) Increased financial deepening in Europe could lead to a small increase in exports for LAC. 4) The immediate impact on debt value and debt service is expected to be small. 5) LAC countries may become more attractive as destinations for European investors seeking diversified portfolios. 6) LAC and Mercosur cannot be seen as optimal currency areas at this time.


ABSTRACT Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) is a widely accepted strategy to offset greenhouse gases and improve soil quality. Straw return can modify SOC dynamics and increase its stock, which are also influenced by soil clay content and metals (i.e. Zn) availability. We conducted a short-term (42 d) incubation study to evaluate SOC dynamics in a calcareous loamy clay soil where available Zn (DTPA extractable) was modified by adding high-Zn straw (HZ-St), low-Zn straw alone (LZ-St) or combined with Zn fertilizer (LZ-St+ZF). Results showed that the DTPA-Zn concentration in soil with LZ-St was similar to the control receiving no straw return or Zn, but it increased by 24.3% in the soil receiving HZ-St and 1.46-fold in the soil receiving LZ-St+ZF. The increased Zn availability enhanced microbial biomass C and N, but did not increase SOC mineralization due to the higher microbial entropy and lower respiration entropy. Greater Zn availability enhanced SOC sequestration probably by promoting the organo-Zn-mineral interactions and thus chemical stabilization. Therefore, adding HZ-St or LZ-St+ZF increases both Zn availability and SOC sequestration in calcareous loamy clay soil. However, long-term and field-based research is necessary to confirm the practical effects of this approach. Graphical abstract Abbreviations: DTPA-Zn: diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid extractable Zn; SOC: soil organic carbon; MBC: microbial biomass carbon; MBN: microbial biomass nitrogen; ZnMB: storage of Zn in microbes; qMB: microbial entropy; qCO2,: respiration entropy; PCA: Principal component analysis, CCA: canonical correspondence analysis.


The overall objective of this paper is to highlight the need to consider a multitude of scenarios for the requirements, design and deployment of mobile broadband networks. The R&D and standardi ...


In this paper we propose a framework for assessing the factors influencing the adoption of free and open source application software in business and other organizations. While there have been several interesting examples of free and open source application software adoption by organizations, these have been limited. This research explores factors that potentially influence the adoption of F/OSS in organizations or serve as barriers to such. INTRODUCTION There is widespread interest in the adoption of free and open source software (F/OSS) at individual, organizational, national, and international levels (Al Marzouq, et al., 2005; Fitzgerald & Kenny, 2004; Mrquez, 2004; Weerawarana & Weeratunga, 2004). This, because of the nascent belief that this type of software will be cheaper to develop and own, will increase flexibility and security, while reducing dependence on predatory proprietary software vendors. Interest in F/OSS is not one way. Proprietary software developers and vendors which stand to lose much if F/OSS in adopted by organizations are keen to counter the claims of those advocating its adoption (Al Marzouq, et al., 2005). According to Al Marzouq, et al., (2005 p. 756) "The terms free and open source refer to software that anyone can freely redistribute, analyze and modify while complying with certain criteria." Free software and open source software, while similar have different genesis, objectives, and licensing regimes (Al Marzouq, et al., 2005). Whatever definition is chosen there are two important features of F/OSS: one is that the source code is made available and can be modified and the other is that the software is redistributed freely (Robson, 2003). The availability of the source code allows the individual or organization that acquires it to make changes and, depending on the licensing regime associated with the software, redistribute it if they, in turn, make the source code available. Although the software is said to be free this does not mean that its adoption will be at zero cost (Towle, McFarland, & Keppler, 2004). Considerable costs may still be incurred, including the cost of software modification and ongoing support. Because of the uncertainties associated with adopting F/OSS, managers are often unclear as to what the total cost of adoption might be. One of the major potential benefits of the F/OSS option is that it can lower software costs, including licensing fees, which can be quite substantial (Hayes, 2003). Another advantage for organizations is that since the source code is available for modification, the F/OSS can be easily modified to fit specific organizational or process needs. This can result in higher quality software and greater flexibility. It may also result in software that is more secure, a claim often advanced by F/OSS advocates. The opportunity to customize software also creates the potential for developing a local IT industry as organizations that acquire open source are unlikely to be interested in tailoring and maintaining it themselves. Local IT companies can seize this opportunity to provide ongoing technical and operational support (Tina, 2005). The continued use of proprietary software is becoming increasingly prohibitive for less developed economies as they seek to apply information technology or participate in the software industry (Dreiling, Klaus, Roseman, & Wyssusek, 2005). F/OSS may be used by countries as an IT strategy to create value in the economy. This translates into new business opportunities in the IT sector for private firms, reduction of IT cost in the economy for both government and private firms, and improvement in effectiveness and efficiency of governance (Weerawarana & Weeratunga, 2004). Local organizations should be able to save as well as generate foreign currency through import substitution. This is especially important for developing countries, as they will not have to pay out large amounts in foreign currency for software acquisition and support services. The potential benefits to organizations and countries from adopting F/ OSS have already caused governments, especially those in developing countries, to encourage its use (Schulz, 2001). Several countries including Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Peru, and South Korea are actively promoting the adoption of F/OSS in government as well as private sector organizations. There may be other benefits for countries. For example, large proprietary software companies have approached Venezuela with lucrative deals to encourage it to continue to use their software (Sojo, 2004). Having a viable F/OSS strategy gives countries substantial negotiating power. However, if this move to F/OSS is to be successful, the software will have to be adopted and diffused throughout and among organizations. A key issue therefore facing managers as well as policy makers is to identify the factors that enable or serve as barriers to the widespread adoption of F/OSS applications by organizations. While there has been a great deal of interest in F/OSS from the supplier side (i.e. the provisioning of F/OSS software) there is limited work that addresses the demand side (Wheeler, 2004). In our exploration of the literature only a limited number of studies have focused substantively and systematically on the adoption of F/OSS in organizations (Fitzgerald and Kenny, 2004; Waring and Maddocks, 2005; Brandon, 2005). IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This paper appears in the book, Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management, Volume 1 and Volume 2 edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour © 2006, Idea Group Inc. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB12819 334 2006 IRMA International Conference Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. The aim of this research therefore is to identify factors that enable or serve as barriers to the adoption of F/OSS. The salient research questions are as follows: What are the main factors that influence the adoption of F/OSS applications by organizations? What are the inter-relationships among these factors, and what additional factors explain the level of influence of the main factors? In the following sections we will review the existing literature to identify and explain the factors that could influence the adoption of F/OSS. We then propose a model for the adoption of F/OSS, which we will use to derive a set of propositions that serve as the basis for future research. While studies of individual adoption of IT predominate the IS literature, the work in this paper focuses on the organizational adoption of IT (King and Gribbins, 2002). RELEVANT LITERATURE A growing body of research on F/OSS exist. However, the focus of much of this research is on the supply side of F/OSS. Research focusing on F/ OSS development approaches, methods, communities, and the like are becoming more substantive (O'Reilly, 1999; von Hippel and von Krogh, 2003; Crowston and Howison, 2005; Jin, et al., 2005). However, although there has been much debate in the media lately about the benefits of and barriers to the adoption of F/OSS, generating a number of articles and news reports about its adoption both at the country level and organizational level (Economist, 2003; Fredrick, 2003; Karp, 2003; Mrquez, 2004; Sojo, 2004; Weerawarana & Weeratunga, 2004), few studies provide in-depth insights into the phenomena. Only a limited number of published research exist that focus on the demand side of F/ OSS (Fitzgerald and Kenny, 2004; Waring and Maddocks, 2005). This dearth of empirical research limits the amount accumulated knowledge on the subject on which we can draw. The interest in the perceived barriers to the adoption of F/OSS (Farber, 2004)has mainly come about because of the need to understand the relatively low diffusion rate and usage of F/OSS applications in organizations. Some of the views as to why this is so are: a lack of formal support; the velocity of change brought about by developers continually modifying the software makes it difficult for organizations to maintain it; the lack of a roadmap makes it more difficult for the chief information officer (CIO) to plan; licensing issues; and issues related to accountability (Farber, 2004). Also there is uncertainty about the cost of switching and the total cost of ownership associated with F/OSS. FORMULATING A MODEL FOR THE ADOPTION OF F/OSS Several IT adoption and diffusion frameworks have been used for IT generally and could be considered for this study (Agarwal, 2000; Hall & Khan, 2003; Moore & Benbasat, 2001; Rogers, 2003). These models, as well as several others, focus on individual adoption behaviors and decisions. They do not necessarily lend themselves to studying organizational adoption of technology (King and Gribbins, 2002). Other models such as the McFarlan and McKenney (1982) model, concerned with the assimilation of new technology into organizations, emphasize the actual process of technology adoption rather than the factors influencing organizational adoption. In addressing the factors influencing F/OSS adoption in organizations we see the need for a framework that specifically highlights these issues. PROPOSED FRAMEWORK Our review of the existing literature supplemented by the views of several scholars and practitioners, reveal four factors that seem to affect the adoption of F/OSS. They are the confidence of IT and business managers in F/OSS, the uncertainty of the TCO of F/OSS, the availability of technical support for F/OSS, and the level of government support for F/OSS. We have further decomposed the four specific factors, identified earlier, into a set of propositions (P N ) and associated these with a set of possible explanatory variables. These factors and their associated variables that are believed to influence F/OSS adoption ar


The induced electromagnetic field in very conductive targets, such as high-grade sulphide deposits, does not appreciably decay within the measurement time of an airborne EM system. Measurement of in-phase or on-time response in the presence of a large primary field is required to detect these targets. In this study, we calculate the primary field generated by the transmitter at the receiver and subtract this from the measured response to obtain the in-phase secondary response. Employing a large transmitter-receiver separation reduces the accuracy to which geometry of the system must be known, and GPS data provides the required resolution. A transmitter loop and a receiver bird were outfitted with GPS units, and towed by separate helicopters, 400m apart. This provided position and orientation information to calculate the primary field at the receiver. The in-phase total-field response of this survey configuration was sensitive enough to detect a very conductive plate target. Using magnetometer data from the receiver, we have now been able to resolve component data useful for determining the geometry of the target. It is hypothesized this configuration could detect a 200 x 100 m perfect conductor at 200m depth in a resistive host.


Abstract Head) At present the operating organizations pay a significant attention to safe operation of nuclear installations. Efforts are put world over to upgrade tools for minimization of probability of accidents with possible radiological consequences. One of the most effective tools is the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). PSA is a standard tool for NPP safety analysis. The major advantage of PSA is the possibility of in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of NPP actual configuration with definition of factors introducing a significant contribution to the general risk of reactor core damage. However main lack of the PSA current models is neglect of equipment ageing effects. Neglecting of ageing effects in PSA could lead to incorrectness of risk profile and influent on safety decision making. Based on this and appropriate experience in the field of PSA models development and review activities were started aimed to incorporate ageing aspects into PSA models for Armenian NPP Unit 2. Implementatio n of ageing trend analysis for all PSA components is insuperable effort, so the first step of the analysis is component selection activity. This paper is addressing the risk importance vs ageing effect analysis issues implemented in the framework of ISTC project on ageing aspects incorporation into PSA level 1 model for Armenian NPP Unit 2.


In molded pulp packaging manufacturing, defect detection and classification processes are critical to ensuring the products meet quality criteria. Yet most manufacturers still rely on human-based manual visual defect classification which can be inconsistent and labor intensive. In this research, we introduce the conjunction of machine vision hardware and machine learning to build a framework for an automated molded pulp packaging defect detection system. The framework consists of two modules. First, the image acquisition module setups appropriate hardware and configuration such t hat high-quality images can be acquired. The second is a machine learning module that constructs a deep learning model with hyper-parameter tuning to automatically detect the defects on the surface of molded pulp products. Our proposed model is based on deep learning model - the Xception architecture, which is recently developed and expected to be more robust on defect detection. In comparison with Traditional machine learning algorithms - SVM and Naive bayes have been widely used in the field of industrial detection. The oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF (ORB) and Bag-of-Visual-Word (BoVW) are implemented for pre-feature extraction. Since molded pulp packaging has obstacles on surface fluctuation by color, grain pulp fiber and non-repeating defect pattern, the Negative Monochrome (NGMC) image preprocessing is proposed to enhance the visibility of defects on the surface and reduce undesired features. The extracted features must be able to describe and distinguish images categories, which could be a limitation for traditional algorithms that required pre-feature extraction. The results demonstrate that the Xception model trained with NGMC images resolution 192x192 and learning rate 0.001 achieved more than 92.98% accuracy and best generalize across datasets from different production lots, which suggests that the robustness of our framework has the potential to be utilized in industrial applications.


This paper proposes a technique for compression and interactive visualization. This method introduces a progressive compression technique and an interactive visualization to detect the region selected by the user. In order to enhance the performance of the user's interactivity, we adapt the resolution of each region to visibility from the rendering viewpoint and the distance from the camera. Also, the quantization precision is adapted to each vertex during the encoding/decoding process to optimize the rate-distortion compromise. Indeed, the major goal of this work is to provide an effective consultation adapted to the user's request (preferences, levels of the requested detail, etc.) and to the various device resolutions. The experiences as well as the comparisons with the existing solutions show competitive results in terms of approximation quality, the compression ratio at each level of resolution and the quality of the experience offered to the users.


As a comprehensive course of practice, exploratory study is an enrichment to and expansion of itself in chemistry classes. The tactics for conducting it include helping the students to study independently and adapt themselves to correct ways of thinking and providing them with right approaches to chemistry study and essential methods of scientific research.


In 1975, the Japanese Supreme Court relaxed the standards governing the grant of retrials in criminal cases. Since then four death row inmates have obtained new trials and ultimate vindication through acquittals. The facts of the four cases are compelling: all involved highly publicized murders, rather harsh investigations leading to confessions that the defendants subsequently disavowed, and seemingly routine convictions followed by decades-long struggles by the convicted men to forestall their executions and secure retrials. Each of the men spent over 25 years on death row before the final determination that he had been unjustly convicted. In this article, Professor Foote examines these cases and their implications for criminal justice in Japan. While the gravity of the crimes and other circumstances render these cases-which all involve crimes committed over 35 years ago--atypical in some ways, in many other respects the cases reveal basic features in Japan's criminal justice system that continue to this day. Moreover, by providing a graphic reminder that-even in a system, such as Japan's, that prides itself on accuracy in fact-finding and provides investigators with a wise array of tools to ferret out the truth-individuals may be mistakenly convicted and executed for crimes they never committed, these cases have engendered much soul-searching by Japanese criminal justice officials, judges, attorneys and scholars and have led to numerous proposals for reform. This article explores these proposals and seeks to appraise their likely impact on Japan's criminal justice system. In 1975 the Japanese Supreme Court relaxed the standards that convicts must satisfy to obtain new trials.' Since that time, four inmates on Japan's death row2 have successfully obtained new trials. All four have gone 1 Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law. A.B. 1976, J.D. 1981, Harvard. The author is grateful for the support of a GARIOA-Fulbright Alumni Award and a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship during work on this Article. The author also wishes to thank Professors Masahito Inouye, Hiraku Tanaka, Mark Ramseyer, John 0. Haley, Arthur Rosett, Joan Fitzpatrick and Frank Upham for their helpful comments. 1 For descriptions and analysis of the change in the governing standards, see, e.g., Nihon Bengoshi Reng~kai-hen (Japan Federation of Bar Associations, ed), Saishin (Retrials) 3-6 (1977) ("Nichibenren, Saishin"); and Zoku-saishin (Retrials, Continued) 308-345 (1986) ("Nichibenren, Zoku-saishin"); Daniel H. Foote, The Door That Never Opens?: The Death Penalty and Post-Conviction Review of Capital Cases in the United States and Japan, Brooklyn J Intl L, Spring, 1993 (forthcoming). 2 Japan continues to maintain the death penalty, although the numbers of both death sentences and executions have dropped sharply in recent years. Keih5 (The Penal Code), Law No 45 of 1907 ("Keih"), lists thirteen crimes punishable by death, and other special penal statutes list five more; but as a practical matter the death penalty is currently imposed only in certain murder and felony murder cases. As of this writing, over fifty inmates remain on death row in Japan. See Noboru Murano, Shikei tte nan do (What Is the Death Penalty?) 33-35, 157-164 (1992). The term "death row," however, is not used as such in Japanese; the closest equivalent is probably "shikeishiP"-"death penalty inmates," which carries roughly the same connotation. PACIFIC RIM LAW & POLICY JOURNAL VOL. 1 No. 1 on to win acquittal at retrial. This is the story of those cases, with reflections on their significance for Japan's criminal justice system. In all four cases (the so-called "death penalty retrial cases"), men in their late teens or early twenties were charged with murder. All four confessed (although, as the following accounts vividly reveal, the investigators sometimes had to work quite hard to obtain those confessions), but then renounced the confessions either prior to or at trial. They have asserted their innocence ever since. All were convicted and sentenced to death, and over a period of many years the courts rejected all of their appeals and intervening petitions for retrial. 3 with the exception of one isolated ruling 3 In Japan, trials for serious crimes are held in District Court before a three-judge panel. Saibanshoh5 (Court Organization Law). Law No 59 of 1947, arts 24, item 2; 26(2), item 2. Both the defendant and the prosecution have the right to appeal the judgment to the appropriate High Court on both legal and factual grounds. Keijisosh5h5 (Code of Criminal Procedure), Law No 131 of 1948. arts 351(1), 377-382 ("KeisohS"). Thereafter, each side also has the right to appeal the High Court decision to the Supreme Court. Grounds for appeal to the Supreme Court are limited to such matters as constitutional errors and violations of precedent (id art 405). but the Supreme Court has discretion to review other matters if it chooses to do so (id art 406) and may set aside a High Court judgment for "grave error in factfinding" (id art 411(1), item 3). Each of the above types of appeal must be filed within two weeks following entry of the judgment being appealed (id arts 373, 414), or that judgment will become final. After the second level of appeal has been exhausted, the judgment ordinarily becomes final in ten days. Id art 418. After a conviction has become final, the comict (and even the convict's heirs, if the convict has died) may file petitions for a retrial of the case (id arts 435, 439(1), 441) based upon a set of limited grounds contained in Article 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The ground most commonly relied upon-and that relied upon in each of the four death penalty retrial cases discussed herein-is contained in item 6 of that article. It provides the right to a new trial "when clear evidence is newly discovered requiring the declaration of innocence of or dismissal of charges against one who has been found guilty, or a remission in penalty for one previously charged, or leading to the finding of a less serious offense than that found in the original judgment." Id art 435, item 6 (translation by the author). Prosecutors also have the right to seek retrials on behalf of an individual who was convicted (id art 439(1), item 1) but may not request retrials of a defendant who was acquitted. Prosecutors may, however, challenge rulings granting a retrial; each side has the right to two levels of challenges to rulings on retrial petitions. Id arts 450, 428(2),(3). As the death penalty retrial cases reflect, at each stage the courts may engage in a searching review into new evidence and the entire record of the case. For retrial petitions based on the grounds of new evidence, the relevant inquiry is not into guilt or innocence as such. but rather whether the new evidence raises a likelihood that the original judgment was in error (although in practice this does not appear to make a great difference in the nature of the inquiry). A ruling granting a retrial does not end the process. Once such a ruling becomes final (and assuming the courts agree that a retrial is warranted), the retrial itself will commence. Id art 451(t). This is a full new trial of the case, focusing squarely upon whether guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt-with that principle applying in Japan in a form very similar to that in the United States. See, e.g., Murakami v Japan, S Ct. Ist PB. Ruling of May 20. 1975, 29 KeishOi 177. 180. As in the original trial, each side has the right to two levels of appeals from the judgment. The prosecution elected not to appeal the acquittals in the death penalty retrial cases, but did fully contest the rulings granting the retrials in the first place. For a more detailed discussion of the applicable standards for retrials and related issues, see Foote.


An isthmocele, also called a niche, cesarean scar defect, or cesarean scar dehiscence is a pouchlike defect of the anterior uterine isthmus at the site of a prior cesarean section. Its occurrence has been increased in the last years secondary to the increased incidence of cesarean section. Many patients with isthmocele are asymptomatic. The most frequent complaint relates to intermittent postmenstrual bleeding as the isthmocele functions as a reservoir collecting blood during menstruation, with irregular menses that can run for 2 to 12-days. Various sources have described isthmocele as a case of infertility, pain and dysmenorrhea. An isthmocele is typically diagnosed on transvaginal sonography, hysterosalpingography and hysteroscopy. Magnetic resonance tomography is useful to measure the thickness of the lower uterine segment, the profundity of the isthmocele. The treatment of isthmocele includes laparotomy, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, vaginal repair, and several combined techniques with no statistically superior outcome noted in the literature. In that respect is no gold standard treatment for isthmocele.


The excitation spectrum of URu 2 Si 2 in the superconducting state has been investigated by a precise neutron-scattering experiment. A weak but clear positive energy shift of ∼40 µeV has been detected in the superconducting phase (at T =400 mK) for the resonance at Q 0 = (1,0,0). For the resonance at Q 1 = (0.6,0,0), a two times smaller shift is observed but with an incertitude of the same order than this shift. This result is in agreement with our previous results indicating that the wave-vector Q 0 is connected with the order parameters of the hidden order and of superconductivity.


The biological diversity is a natural inherent element of social-ecological systems. Within the great species diversity there is a group of small invertebrates (2–20 mm), inhabiting terrestrial soils and aquatic sediments, known as macrofauna. Contrary to its name indicates, the macrofauna is generally overlooked, poorly represented in biological inventories or management programs, and not contemplated in any political agenda, but they consist of high number and many groups of species with a high diversity in shapes and functions. Knowing this diversity and their functions in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats is fundamental to understand its role within the social-ecological systems, by giving key information that would advance our comprehension on the role of macrofauna in the quality of environmental services provided by ecosystems. Furthermore, this understanding is crucial due to the fact that the macrofauna is threatened by anthropogenic activities, which could lead to local modifications in the processes that take place in the soil. Therefore, the purpose of this work is, in general, to make known to the reader the main species groups that integrate the macrofauna, the equivalent functional role that these organisms play in the terrestrial and aquatic habitats where they occur, as well as their importance in studies of sustainability in tropical social-ecological systems.
Keywords: Biodiversity, benthic macrofauna, edaphic macrofauna, functional traits, ecosystems.


The trajectory performance and parameters optimization for hypersonic skip vehicle were discussed.Firstly the concept and basic characteristics of hypersonic skip vehicle were introduced.Secondly the effect of initial trajectory inclination angle,initial velocity,trim lift-to-drag ratio and initial mass upon periodic skip trajectory performance was respectively analyzed in detail.And then the trajectory parameters was designed and optimized by using NSGA-II algorithm under the performance indices of best times and least energy.Finally,compared with the conventional constant cruise flight it was concluded that skip flight scenario has advantages of energy saving and fast arrival.The results show that the means mentioned above are applicable to feasibility research and preliminary design for hypersonic skip vehicle.


The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) constitutes one of the most broadly targeted antigens in tumor therapy since it is commonly expressed on many epithelial cancers, as well as on glioblastomas. Both EGF-R-directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies have been approved, but clinical response rates are often limited. A more detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying sensitivity or resistance against EGF-R inhibitors may assist in identifying patient populations who optimally benefit from currently available reagents. In addition, these insights may guide the development of more effective molecules. In this short review, we will summarize some of the current knowledge in this rapidly evolving field with particular emphasis on EGF-R-directed antibodies.


Aryl-functionalized phosphines of the general composition R2P(CH2)n(aryl) with bulky substituents R at the phosphorus atom react with olefin–rhodium(I) and –iridium(I) compounds to give complexes in which the phosphine behaves either as 2-electron or (2 + 6)-electron donor ligand. The aryl moiety is weakly coordinated and can be replaced by CO, acetonitrile or H2 without breaking the metal–phosphorus bond. In some cases, the interaction of the phosphines with the rhodium or iridium centre leads to an insertion of the metal into one of the C–H bonds of the aryl group to afford a six-membered chelate ring system. This cyclometalation reaction not only proceeds under mild conditions but is also completely reversible as shown by addition reactions and labeling experiments. With the must bulky phosphine tBu2P(CH2)2C6H3-2,6-Me2, the isolation and structural characterization of a cis-configurated rhodium dicarbonyl cis-[RhCl(PR3)(CO)2] and of an unprecedented dinuclear alkylrhodium(III) compound built up by two 14-electron [RhCl2(alkyl)(PR3)] units has been achieved. Ruthenium(II) complexes with tBu2P(CH2)2C6H5 and tBu2P(CH2)2OC6H5 as ligands have been prepared from either RuCl3·3H2O or [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl2]2 as starting materials. From a five-coordinate RuH(CCH2) derivative, upon treatment with HBF4, a cationic carbyneruthenium compound could be generated which is an active catalyst in olefin metathesis.


Simplistic eitherlor notions of "culture versus social structure" have impeded the development of a broader theoretical contextfrom which to examine questions raised by the continuing debate on the "ghetto underclass." In this paper I present a framework that integrates social structural and cultural arguments. I hope elaboration of this framework can move social scientists beyond the narrow confines of the underclass debate in two ways: (1) by outlining empirical and theoretical issues that guide further research, and (2) by suggesting variables that have to be taken into account to arrive at a satisfactory explanation of one of the most important domestic problems in the last quarter of the twentieth centurythe rise of social dislocations in inner-city ghettos.


Purpose To study the role of lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) in retinoblastoma (RB) growth and to determine whether the LSD1 inhibitor SP2509 can inhibit RB progression. Methods We detected the levels of LSD1 in 12 RB tissue samples, two RB cell lines (Y79 and Weri-RB1), and a retinal pigment epithelium cell line (ARPE-19). Overexpression or knockdown of LSD1 was performed to examine the role of LSD1 in RB cancer cell survival. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to detect the antitumor effect of SP2509, and the antitumor mechanism of SP2509 was examined by RNA sequencing and Western blot. Results LSD1 is overexpressed in RB tissues and cells and increases RB cancer cell viability and colony formation ability. The LSD1 inhibitor SP2509 inhibits RB cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with SP2509 increases the levels of dimethylated histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me2) and inhibits the expression of β-catenin signaling pathway–related proteins in RB cells. Conclusions We demonstrated that LSD1 is overexpressed in RB cells and promotes RB cell survival. The LSD1 inhibitor SP2509 exerted strong growth inhibition in vitro and in vivo, which was at least partially mediated by suppression of the β-catenin pathway.


The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the ethical leadership behaviors of the school exhibited by the administrators and the organizational justice perception of the physical education teachers. In the study where correlation method and causal comparative method were employed, the ethical leadership scale and organizational justice scale have been applied to three hundreds and nine physical education teachers, 228 being men and 81 being women. In process of data analysis, Spearman sequential correlation coefficients and regression Analysis have been applied. A co-directional relationship is in question between the ethical leadership behaviors exhibited by the school administrators and the organizational justice perception of teachers. In the study, the effect of subscales of communicative ethics and behavioral ethics related to the ethical leadership scale to the organizational justice – oriented  perception of the teachers have been found meaningful and presents parallelism. Nevertheless, since p-value related to regression coefficient of the leadership conduct exhibited by the Administrators is p<0.05, this value is meaningful and due to regression coefficient for fair distribution reading I² 1 =0.634,  regression coefficient for fair process I² 1 =0.889 and regression coefficient for fair interaction I² 1 =0.918, being the subscales of the organizational justice, the ethical leadership behavior of administrators co-directionally influences the subscales of teachers' organizational justice perception.


Synthesis and Spectroscopic Properties of Alkylquinoline-8-ol Extractants and their Cu(II)-, Zn(II)- and Cd(II)-Complexes

A series of deprotonizable chelating agents HL being characteristic of 2-, 5- and 7-alkyl substituted 8-hydroxyquinolines or 5- and 7-alkyl substituted 8-hydroxyquinaldines of different alkyl chain length, H1–H5, and their Cu(II)-, Zn(II)- und Cd(II)-complexes, M(1)2–M(5)2, have been synthesized. Influences of the alkyl groups, including substituent effects on the spectroscopic properties (MS, IR, UV-VIS, 1H und 13C NMR) of the free ligands and its complexes are studied.


China officially implemented the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) on 1 January 2019, and it remains uncertain as to whether this can effectively solve the problem of renewable energy consumption in China and ease the pressure of government subsidies. In order to study the impact of this policy on China's renewable energy power generation and explore RPS policy that is more suitable for the characteristics of China's renewable energy, we first develop a revenue function model based on the just released RPS policy to explore the effectiveness of the policy, the feasibility conditions for successful implementation, and the problems that may be encountered during the implementation process. Then, we propose policy recommendations based on the possible problems of the current policy and design an "incremental electricity price" supplementary policy to improve the possibility of successful implementation of the RPS policy. Finally, an evolutionary game model is established to simulate and verify the possibility of successful implementation of the supplementary policy. The main research results are: (1) the essence of the current RPS policy is the comprehensive implementation policy of the RPS and feed-in-tariff (FiT); (2) because of the characteristics of China's energy structure, the implementation of this policy reform is more resistant; (3) the quantitative research on the revenue function model shows that the current transaction price of the green certificate market is very low, which is not conducive to alleviating the state's subsidy pressure on renewable energy power generation; and (4) analysis of empirical data shows that the successful implementation of the "incremental electricity price" policy relies on the initial strategies of grid companies and users.


Background: Vitrectomy (removal of vitreous humour from the eye, and replacement with saline) is a highly invasive clinical procedure that is carried out for various conditions such as retinal vascular disease and diabetic retinopathy. It has been proposed that the beneficial effect of retinopathy may be due to improved oxygenation of the inside of the eye and hence the retina. Although the partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) has been measured during vitrectomy (using a very unpleasant procedure involving an intraocular probe) there has been no direct evidence that an increase in pO2 is achieved or how the regional variation of pO2 is affected within the eye. MRI provides a non-invasive method of measuring pO2 in the eye [1]. In pure oxygen-free water at 1.5 T and 37°C T1=4.74s [2]. T1 relaxation times are decreased by the presence of paramagnetic O2: an increase in pO2 of 10 mmHg results in a decrease in T1 of 47 ms (1.14 %) [3]. Therefore, an accurate and precise measure of T1 could provide a reliable measure of pO2. Here we demonstrate that we can precisely measure pO2 by overcoming the challenges of eye imaging [4]: we control eye movement and blink artefacts and eliminate image distortion around the eye by careful implementation of the MRI acquisition sequence.


This study was conducted to investigate spatio-temporal patterns of exogenous nutrient allocation in three sympatric North American pit-vipers. Snakes were fed mouse meals artificially labeled with 15N L-Leucine and 1-13C D-glucose. At various time periods following ingestion of labeled mice (i.e. 0, 48, 96, and 144 hours), snakes were sacrificed and the isotope signatures of several tissues were quantified using isotoperatio mass-spectrometry. The results of this study revealed that the three snake species demonstrated similar patterns in background isotope signatures. Cardiac muscle exhibited the highest 15N enrichment whereas skeletal muscle was the most deplete in 15N. Adipose tissue showed the lowest enrichment of 13C whereas skeletal muscle had the greatest 13C enrichment. Tissues of postprandial snakes consuming labeled meals exhibited increases in 15N and 13C over time, but no changes in C:N ratios of postprandial tissues were observed. Exogenous amino acids were found at the greatest levels in hepatic and lower gastrointestinal tissues followed by cardiac muscle and upper gastrointestinal tissues. Absorbed amino acids were allocated at the lowest rates to skeletal muscle and blood cells. Interestingly, the two rattlesnake species preferentially allocated 13C-glucose to hepatic stores whereas copperheads apparently allocated 13C to adipose stores. This study illustrates the potential utility of isotopically labeled physiological fuels to examine dietary allocation strategies in animals and promises to benefit forthcoming investigations into the dietary physiology of animals as well as those quantifying stable isotope flux among ecological food webs.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an extremely common sleep disorder. A potential association between OSA and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity has been proposed on the basis of similar comorbid medical conditions associated with both OSA and COVID-19.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of 1,738 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 between March and October of 2020. Patients were classified based on the presence or absence of OSA diagnosis based upon the International Classification of Diseases (ICD codes; G47.33 and U07.1 for OSA and COVID-19, respectively). Other data collected, including demographics, body mass index (BMI), and comorbid conditions. COVID-19 severity was compared between groups using the quick COVID-19 severity index.

RESULTS
Quick COVID-19 severity index scores were higher in patients with OSA compared to without OSA. However, the prevalence rates of type 2 DM (p<0.0001), coronary artery disease (p<0.0001), congestive heart failure (p<0.0001), and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (p<0.0001) were also significantly greater in the OSA group. Unadjusted models revealed higher risk of ICU admission in patients with COVID-19 and OSA. However, such an association attenuated and became non-significant after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and comorbid disease.

CONCLUSIONS
In our study, OSA does not appear to be an independent risk factor for worse COVID-19 outcomes in hospitalized patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to delineate the potential role of OSA in determining outcomes in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.


journal of law, medicine & ethics Introduction The obesity prevention and control legal bibliography provides a starting point for learning more about the intersection of obesity and law. The bibliography is not intended to be all-inclusive of the literature on obesity and the law, but it is intended to be a credible source of information about the influence law can have on the public health issue of obesity prevention and control.


There have been a large number of experimental studies concerning the ionoshperic perturbations before earthquakes. These perturbations include variations in electron and ion densities, anomalous electromagnetic emissions at various frequencies and so on. The real physical process of seismo- ionospheric couping is not well known up to now, though many research results have been published [1]. It is an effective way to monitor the ionospheric variations related to seismic activity by satellite observations, and this is the main scientific objective of the French micro-satellite DEMETER, which was launched on June 29, 2004. Its orbit is polar and circular with an altitude of 710 km (changed to 665 km later). The electromagnetic emission in a frequency range from DC to 3.3 MHz can be detected by the scientific payload IMSC (search-coil magnetometer instrument) and ICE (electric field instrument). The electron density and ion density variations are studied by the ISL (Langmuir probe instrument) and IAP (plasma analysis instrument). There are two operation modes: the survey mode which record low bit rate data all around the Earth at invariant latitudes less than ~ 65deg and burst mode which record high bit rate data above seismic regions. Data and plots are available on the web server according to the user's authorization. All data and plots are organized by half-orbits. Some ionospheric variations during earthquakes using DEMETER data have been published in the past few years.


Silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii) is an emerging aquaculture species in India. Due to its gaining popularity among the farmers and customers, there is a need to study the shelf life of this fish in most commonly used method of storage i.e ice storage. Icing is an ordinary preservation method that is commonly used to control the quality of fish during storage. With the evolution of successful breeding and seed production technology of silver pompano, farmers now are being engaged in culturing this species in cages. It has excellent meat quality and fetches high prices in the market. To our knowledge no reports have been found on the shelf life study of farmed silver pompano during ice storage. Freshly caught pompano (Figure 1) were procured from ADAK Farm and brought to the laboratory in ice for studying its shell life during ice storage. Biochemical, physical and microbial quality parameters were studied during the period.


The invention relates to a method of artificial fast breeding for spun gold suspended gourd, with the detail steps in below: 1) pretreating the explant, 2) sterilizing the explant, 3) inoculating, 4) inducing culturing, 5) differentiation culture for callus, 6) enrichment culture, 7) strengthening sprout culture, 8) root-growing culture, 9) sprouting training and replanting, 10) sprout bed management, 11) bedding in earth the culture sprout, 12) shearing the cuttage ear, 13) treating the cuttage ear with medical agent, 14) cuttage, 15) cuttage sprout bed management. The benefit of this invention is that:: by making use of the advantage of plant tissue culture technique to breed large quantity of spun gold suspended gourd tissue culture sprout in tube with a high speed, the monthly breeding rate is 3-5 times, the yearly tissue culture sprout producing ability is more than ten thousand per square meter, and it solves the problem of spun gold suspended gourd resource shortage. The provided artificial fast breeding method uses less explant material, which can effectively save rare endangered plant species, and the mass production can be carried out which can provide seed foundation for the further development of spun gold suspended gourd product.


The invention relates to a preparation method of paper pulp, and specifically relates to a method for preparing paper pulp from biomass raw materials. In the preparation method, a mixed organic composed of formic acid and acetic acid is used to cook the biomass raw materials in the presence of a catalyst hydrogen peroxide so as to produce paper pulp. The preparation method has the advantages of high yield, short cooking time, and simple bleaching technology. Moreover the hydrogen peroxide is added during the pulping process, thus the lignin is maximally removed, and the carbohydrates are protected from being destructed, so that in the post bleaching technology, paper pulp with high whiteness is obtained only through a simple chlorine-free bleaching technology, and the obtained paper pulp has the advantages of good drainability, low kappa number, and good performance.


Purpose
This study aims to investigate the information literacy (IL) performance and higher order thinking skills of students with different levels of growth mindset and their perceptions of library-supported learning by using the annotate, summarize, question and evaluate (ASQE)-based learning approach.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the ASQE-based learning approach was applied to the learning activities to cultivate students' IL, problem-solving awareness and critical thinking tendency. A total of 60 postgraduate students were invited to participate in this study. In addition, students' perceptions of library-supported learning were analysed via drawing analysis.

Findings
Introducing ASQE-based learning into an IL learning activity promoted reflection and thought and had positive effects on students' problem-solving awareness and on the critical thinking tendency of students with different levels of growth mindset. Additionally, the drawing analysis indicated that most of the students with low levels of growth mindset believed that learners should actively study in the library and students with higher levels of growth mindset preferred more motivating and enjoyable learning environments.

Originality/value
The findings of this study demonstrate that the ASQE-based learning approach can improve higher order thinking skills of students with different levels of growth mindset. In addition, this study examined the perceptions of students with different levels of growth mindset of library-supported learning via drawing analysis.


The mandibular bone due to its anatomical disposition in the facial region presents considerable aesthetic requirements, since any event altering its morphophysiology influences on the personal appearance and on elementary functions of the human being. The clinical case of a patient in whom a massive mandibular osteolysis did not allow its preservation is presented. An acceptable aesthetic and functional result was possible by the simultaneous reconstruction with Kirschner wire.


OpenMP is the de facto API for parallel programming in HPC applications. These programs are often computed in data centers, where energy consumption is a major issue. Whereas previous work has focused almost entirely on performance, we here analyse aspects of OpenMP from an energy consumption perspective. This analysis is accomplished by executing novel microbenchmarks and common benchmark suites on data center nodes and measuring the energy consumption. Three main aspects are analysed: directive-generated loop tiling and unrolling, parallel for loops and explicit tasking, and the policy of handling blocked threads. For loop tiling and unrolling, we find that tiling can yield significant energy savings for some, mostly unoptimised programs, while directivegenerated unrolling provides very minor improvement in the best case and degenerates performance majorly in the worst case. For the second aspect, we find that parallel for loops yield better results than explicit tasking loops in cases where both can be used. This becomes more prominent with more fine-grained workloads. For the third, we find that significant energy savings can be made by not descheduling waiting threads, but instead having them spin, at the cost of a higher power consumption. We also analyse how the choice of compiler affects the above questions by compiling programs with each of ICC, Clang and GCC, and find that while neither is strictly better than the others, they can produce very different results for the same compiled programs. As a final step, we combine the findings of all results and suggest novel compiler directives as well as general recommendations on how to reduce energy consumption in OpenMP programs.


For a two-echelon supply chain system consisting of single-supplier and multi-retailers,the inventory routing problem of centralized supply chains is considered.To reduce the cost of the whole chain,a region partition algorithm for the retailers is redesigned.Based on this,the relationship of the replenishment interval between the retailers and the suppliers is determined.By using interval ratio vector,a new integer-ratio policy is designed.Through a particular theoretical analysis,it is proved that this strategy is the optimal one.Numerical experiment results show that this strategy is evidently better than others.


Apoptosis of SMCs is a well‐characterized component of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We identified the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75) as a regulator of SMC apoptosis in vascular lesions. p75 and its ligands, the proNT, are expressed in atherosclerotic lesions and pro nerve growth factor (pNGF) induces apoptosis of p75‐SMCs. Moreover, there is reduced apoptosis and increased lesion development in the ligated carotid artery of p75−/−. The signaling pathways mediating p75‐induced apoptosis, however, remain unclear. We now demonstrate that activation of nNOS mediates p75‐induced apoptosis of SMCs. The NOS inhibitor, L‐NMA, dose‐dependently inhibits pNGF‐induced, but not FAS‐induced, apoptosis of SMCs. Maximal inhibition of pNGF‐apoptosis is 75% with 1.2 mM L‐NMA. D‐NMA, the inactive isoform, is without effect. Western blot analysis and RT‐PCR show nNOS to be the NOS isoform predominately expressed by SMCs. Double immunofluorescence and cell fractionation studies indicate that in SMCs, nNOS localizes to mitochondria. Immunofluorescence analysis for nitrotyrosine residues (NT), an index of NOS activation, demonstrates that pNGF increases NT levels by 2–3 fold. In addition, neointimal SMCs in human and murine atherosclerotic lesions express p75NTR and nNOS. Finally, pNGF activates p38 and JNK, kinases implicated in mitochondrial‐dependent apoptosis, and p38 inhibitors reduce pNGF‐induced apoptosis. These data are the first to identify ligand‐dependent activation of mitochondrial nNOS in SMC and characterize a novel signaling pathway mediating p75‐induced apoptosis.


Cattail plant is a common sight in fresh water wetland, its abundance suggests a potential to be used as a low cost biosorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions. The effect of leaf length on the adsorption of Cu(Il) ions from aqueous solution by dried cattail leaf was studied via batch adsorption studies. It was found that shorter leaf length performed better than longer leaf length in terms of faster adsorption rate and adsorption capacity. the maximum adsorption capacity for the leaf length 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 mm were 8.92, 8.65, 7.38, 7.03 and 6.66 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption behaviour of the dried cattail leaf-Cu(Il) ions batch adsorption system was best described by Langmuir adsorption model and Bangham kinetic model where the adsorption of Cu(II) ions occurred in monolayer and pore diffusion was one of the adsorption rate controlling steps due to the hollow structure of the dried cattail leaf. The finding of this work suggests that batch adsorption study should be conducted utilising grounded cattail leaf as the adsorbent in order to ascertain the role of chemisorption.


diplomatic history. Born in Utica, New York, in November 1920, DeConde received his BA from San Francisco State College in 1943, after which his career was interrupted until 1946 by war service in the United States navy. Returning to the academy after his discharge from the service, he earned his MA at Stanford University in 1947 and his Ph.D. at the same institution two years later. In the forty or so years since, he has taught at Stanford, at Whittier College, California (1948 to 1952), at Duke University (1952 to 1957), at the university of Michigan (1957 to 1961), and at the university of California, Santa Barbara from 1961 until his retirement in 1991. His awards encompassed the nation's most prestigious academic fellowships Guggenheim, Social Science Research Council, Fulbright, Rockefeller and his visiting appointments took him across the United States and around the world from Arizona to Honolulu to


This exploratory research was conducted to extend research on individual differences in perceptions of consumer-product advertisements, specifically apparel. Three sets of advertisements were developed, each containing two identical advertisements for each of three products: Pendleton sweater, Guess jeans, and Jordache shirt. One advertisement contained a slogan with an image appeal, while the other had a slogan which was a claim about quality/information. Self-monitoring, the extent to which an individual monitors self-presentation in social situations, was measured for each person. In Study 1, 88 women, classified as high or low self-monitors, completed an index of favorability toward the advertisements. An analysis of variance showed high self-monitors were more favorable toward the image-oriented advertisements, while low self-monitors were more favorable toward the quality/informational oriented advertisements. In Study 2, 48 women, classified as high or low self-monitors, were shown one of the advertisements and asked the amount they would be willing to pay for each product. An analysis of variance on the standardized scores showed high self-monitors were willing to pay more than low self-monitors, but only for the Jordache product. Consumers' perceptions of the products are discussed and related to the appeal to which people were more responsive.


Article deals with description of fault tolerant computer system based on TMR architecture, designed on the Department of Computers and Informatics of Technical University of Košice as part of the VEGA projects No. 1|1064|04 and 1|4071|07. Article describes basic architecture of system and details of majority element function execution, communication of system modules and synchronization of client's applications execution on system modules.


12 Aurora-A is a Ser/Thr protein kinase that functions in cell cycle regulation, and is implicated in cancer development. Dur13 ing mitosis, Aurora-A is activated by autophosphorylation on its activation loop at T288. Aurora-A catalytic domain (aa 14 122-403) expressed in Escherichia coli autophosphorylates on two activation loop threonine residues (T288 and T287), 15 whereas a C290A, C393A double point mutant of the Aurora-A catalytic domain autophosphorylates only on T288. The 16 structure of the complex of this mutant with ADP and magnesium was determined to 2.1 Å resolution using molecular re17 placement. This is an improvement on the existing 2.75 Å structure of the equivalent wild-type complex. The structure 18 confirms that single phosphorylation of the activation loop on T288 is insufficient to stabilize a 'fully active′ confor19 mation of the activation loop in the absence of binding to TPX2. 20


This paper studies the estimation of partially linear varying-coefficient errors-in-variable model with restricted condition under missing responses by general series estimation method,and discusses the consistency and asymptotic normality of parametric estimator and the rate of convergence in nonparametric part.Moreover the estimates of the proposed method is verified by the numerical simulation results.


Part I: ETHICS IN ANCIENT GREECE (5TH-2nd Centuries B.C.E.) Chapter 1: Socrates and Plato: The Vision of "The Good" Solves all Ethical Problems Chapter 2: Aristotle: The Foundation of Ethics Lies in Character and Virtue Chapter 3: Epicurus: Pleasure is the Foundation of Ethical Judgments Part II: THE RELIGIOUS ETHICS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY (100 C.E.-1200 C.E.) Chapter 4: Augustine: Ethics is Grounded in the Love of God and the Commands of God Chapter 5: Aquinas: Ethics is Grounded in the Natural Law Implanted By God, As Interpreted by Artistotle PART III: BUDDHIST ETHICS IN INDIA (5TH Century B.C.E.) Chapter 6: Early Buddhism: To Be Moral Is To Lessen Suffering PART IV: ETHICS IN CHINA DURING THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (5TH -2ND Century B.C.E.): CONFUCIANIS AND TAOSIM Chapter 7: K'Ung-Fu Tzu (Confucius): Rules Combined with Benevolence and Insight Chapter 8: Taoism: Let Go! PART V: WESTERN ETHICS FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE 19TH CENTURY Chapter 9: Joseph Butler: Conscience is the Basis for Christian Morality Chapter 10: David Hume: Morality is Based on Feelings Chapter 11: Immanual Kant: Duty is the Foundation of Morality Chapter 12: John Stuart Mill: The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number


Summary Carbonic anhydrase was found in the caiman (C. laitrostris) erythrocytes, kidney, gastric mucosa, pancreas and hind-brain. No activity, however, was found in the lens. The enzyme was also found in the alligator (A. mississipiensis) choroid plexus and ciliary processes. Carbonic anhydrase inhibition in the alligator caused a long-lasting rise of plasma total CO2 but no certain change of anterior aqueous total CO2 was observed.


Experiments suitable for a variety of pulsed power facilities are being developed to study plasma formation and stability on the surface of typical liner materials in the megagauss (MG) regime. Understanding the plasma properties near the surface is likely to be critical for the design of Magnetized Target Fusion experiments, where the plasma density in the region near the wall can play an important role in setting the transport from hot fuel to the cold boundary. From the perspective of diagnostic access and simplicity, the surface of a stationary conductor with large enough current to generate MG surface field offers advantages compared with studying the surface of a moving liner. This paper reports on recent experiments at UNR that have generated magnetic fields in the range of about 0.2 to 3 MG, which confirm the viability of future experiments planned at Atlas and/or Shiva Star. Diagnostics reported here involve electrical measurements, streak camera photography, and surface luminosity. Additional diagnostic measurements and numerical modeling will be reported in the future.


The immune response to a hapten-carrier conjugate appears to be a complex phenomenon where reactions of the T-cell population are not restricted to the carrier and where the reactions of the B-cell po