We present, in this paper, a new 10T static random access memory cell having single ended decoupled read-bitline (RBL) with a 4T read port for low power operation and leakage reduction. The RBL is precharged at half the cell's supply voltage, and is allowed to charge and discharge according to the stored data bit. An inverter, driven by the complementary data node (QB), connects the RBL to the virtual power rails through a transmission gate during the read operation. RBL increases toward the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\text {DD}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> level for a read-1, and discharges toward the ground level for a read-0. Virtual power rails have the same value of the RBL precharging level during the write and the hold mode, and are connected to true supply levels only during the read operation. Dynamic control of virtual rails substantially reduces the RBL leakage. The proposed 10T cell in a commercial 65 nm technology is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.47\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> the size of 6T with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta = 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, provides <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.3\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> read static noise margin, and reduces the read power dissipation by 50% than that of 6T. The value of RBL leakage is reduced by more than 3 orders of magnitude and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$({I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}/{I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}})$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is greatly improved compared with the 6T BL leakage. The overall leakage characteristics of 6T and 10T are similar, and competitive performance is achieved.


One of the key features of the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) innovative structure is a Board of Management, which is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of National Revenue. This page describes the role of the Minister of National Revenue and the role of the 15 member Board of Management.


This guide focuses on issues related to culture, traditions, religion, history, values or customs of a particular group and how it may come at odds with an American Institution whether it be on health, education, holidays, or equality via affirmative act


In this paper, uniform hydroxyapatite (HA) nanowires of width 60 nm and length 1 µm are synthesized by solvothermal synthesis. The formation process of the nanowires has been elaborated from the structure within the reverse micelles by the time-resolved fluorescence quenching technique. The results reveal that the formation of amorphous nuclear/surfactant complex and the electrostatic field within the reverse micelles maintain the unidirectional, irreversible fusion of reverse micelles, leading to the growth of nanowires in one direction. In the solvothermal synthesis, the pressure generated in the autoclave is estimated. The results suggest that the products are prepared under stable conditions without intense shearing stress where it is favourable for the formation of long and uniform HA nanowires.


The emergence of comprehension to back to the Koran and Sunnah in Indonesia is not only driven by the reality of Islamic beliefs which is mixing with other elements, but also caused by the system of understanding of Islamic teaching which are considered less precise. Call it like understanding the meaning of sunnah, ijtihâd, ittibâ', taqlid, and others. Ahmad Hassan, a Muslim thinker who is affiliated to the organizations that called PERSIS, came up to take a role in the struggle of the above problems. Armed with a depth of knowledge, a breadth of knowledge and mastery of sciences, Hassan appeared to prove that the Koran and Sunnah has been more than adequate as a source of Islamic teachings without requiring additional elements. In this regard, it is important to listen to his ideas in the field of hadith as the second source after the Koran. This simple paper tries to capture the thought of Hassan's hadith and his contribution to the development of hadith studies in Indonesia.


THE EFFECT OF ICE ON THE DESIGN OF BRIDGE PIERS FOR THE NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT CROSSING IS CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS TO THE REALIZATION OF THIS PROJECT. TO ARRIVE AT AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION, THE ENGINEERS HAD TO ESTABLISH THE NATURE OF ICE TO WHICH THE STRUCTURES WILL BE SUBJECTED. ICE SURVEYS AND STUDIES OF ICE FORMATION WERE DONE IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND THE THICKNESSES OF ICE FLOES THAT ARE ENCOUNTERED IN STRAIT OF NORTHUMBERLAND. A LABORATORY CONSTRUCTED FOR THAT PURPOSE AT COLDBROOK, N.B., WAS USED TO PERFORM MODEL STUDIES. THESE STUDIES PROVIDED MEANS OF OBSERVATION ON THE MODE OF FAILURE OF ICE FLOES AND FORCE MEASUREMENTS ON THE PIERS. THEORETICAL ANALYSES WERE DONE TO DETERMINE THE FORCES RESISTED BY THE STRUCTURE. TO DO SO, THE STUDIES ESTABLISHED THE PROCESS OF DESTRUCTION OF ICE FLOES AND PRESSURE RIDGES HITTING THE STRUCTURE. THE STUDIES HAVE LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE PIER PROPOSED FOR THE BRIDGE OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND CROSSING IS FEASIBLE AND SAFE. /AUTHOR/


Objectives of the Study Matrix and project based organizations have increased their popularity and virtual project teams are common in today's multinational organizations. With project base work and virtual teams, also the temporality of project teams has increased. This has changed the challenges of project managers. Project teams can be assembled regardless of location of an employee allowing efficient resource pooling across the globe. Efficiency is also a driver for temporary teams. The project team can be pooled for filling the needs of a single project. The objective of this research is to study how the challenges of virtual project management change when the effects of temporality are taken into account. Academic background and methodology Because of scarcity of the research in the field of virtual and temporary projects, and that there is no framework existing to study the research field, this study built a research framework based on an extensive literature review of previous scientific work done in the field. The research framework combines the four most popular and sonorous challenges of virtual project management and mirrors them to the four concepts of the theory of temporary organization. This research framework act as the basis of the interviews giving them a coherent structure. The methodology in this thesis is qualitative single case study. The people from the case company interviewed for the thesis are all experienced in the management challenges of the virtual and temporary projects. Findings and conclusions The findings of the study are multifold. The study identified that the concept of the theory of temporary organization effects on the challenges of virtual project management. Depending on the challenge and the element of temporality, the effect differs. The role of communication was emphasized and more task orientated. Trust in people was replaced by control of the project manager and the focus of trust was transferred from people to project and the change that the project brought to the parent organization. Due to the strong organizational culture in the case company, findings regarding that challenge were limited. Only time had some effect in regards of new employees. This study focused, due to lack of prior research, on the challenges independently, although strong dependencies were identified between the challenges as the study continued.


This thesis investigates the potential existence of a French written literature from Vietnam. In exploring these singular works from this country, our aims are to highlight their specific position in the literary field. The marginalization of these works emerges as a key point to explain their origin as well as the consequences on their reading and broadcasting. The difficulty to constitute a separate field in the national Vietnamese literature or to be fully integrated in the French literature is evident. The oscillation of a particular work or a group of works between these two statuses was the foundation of our analysis. In addition, while they displayed defined specificities, they are not considered as an individual field in the national Vietnamese literature. What should be the future of such literary style? In view of a better understanding of its singularity, we specifically analyzed the works of three of the most famous contemporary women writers in this field: Kim Lefevre, Anna Moi and Linda Le. While their initial purpose was not to be a part of this literary trend, these authors used different ways to achieve works that could be classified in similar manner. This illustrates the difficulty to integrate them into a specific literary field. To analyze their specific position in the Francophone critical field, we constantly had to perform numerous critical incursions, which explains the large amount of bibliography. This thesis prepares and opens the way for further explorations.


The creative analytic paradigm is being developed as a form of generative social research in contrast to quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research. The methodology is centred on the concept of evocative objects used to generate clusters of ideas referred to as satellite topics. Data arises in a serendipitous way through focused experience rather than as a planned process of systematic data collection and analysis. The intended outcome within a professional practice context is conversational learning rather than propositional knowledge. As a basic category of research there are potentially several versions of the creative analytic paradigm, including compilation of a conceptual canvas of satellite topics and use of multimedia as part of an exploratory journey to engage participants in a reflective process. The creative analytic paradigm supports raising the insignificant details of experience to significance e.g. noticing a child with a toy car, a pictorial timetable, a partition screen. Analysis is understood as an additive process of overlaying meanings while 'turning towards' the evocative object as well as by 'turning away' to broader themes. Opportunities for developing associations within a collaborative virtual environment are provided by the use of virtual tour software in conjunction with an interactive online space for collaborative reflection. Although this collaborative use of virtual tour software has yet to be developed, the presentation will include a prototypical framework based on images and video clips from early-years settings and a MySql database approach to support collaborative reflection.


We propose a parameter monitoring method for the forward intensity model – the default probability prediction model of the Credit Research Initiative (CRI). We review the relative statistical process control scheme in the field of engineering. Based on this, we propose a new Multivariate Exponential Weighted Moving Average (MEWMA) scheme to monitor the forward intensity model monthly. This new chart might be applied to identify and diagnose the out-of-control (OC) parameters in real time as the data updating, which reduces the cost of recalculating all parameters and improve the operational and calculational efficiency of the default prediction models in practical application.


A novel approach to splitting Gaussian mixture components based on the use of maximum mutual information estimation (MMIE) training is proposed. The idea is to increase acoustic resolution only in those distributions where discrimination problems are identified. Problem mixture components are determined by looking at each mixture weight counter; a large positive counter value indicates both that the component often tends not to be recognized correctly (i.e., is not part of the best path when it should be) and that there is sufficient training data to split the component. Results in a, connected digit recognition experiment on the TIDIGITS corpus indicate that much better results can be obtained with such MMIE trained digit models than with MLE trained models that use several times more mixture components.


Objective: With this study we aimed to investigate whether some variables (number of levels, departments, and horizontal communication etc.) in organizational structure of the hospitals operating within the frame of public health sector of the Metropolitan City of Istanbul have an impact on innovation, to determine the way these variables effect innovation, and evaluate innovative performance of our hospital within the frame of organizational innovative culture. Material and Method: For this investigation literature screening was made, and a questionnaire consisting of three parts was prepared. First part of the questionnaire contained institutional information, the second part comprised organizational information, and the third part consisted of questions aimed to determine the innovational value of the applications. The questionnaire forms were sent to 190 healthcare professionals. A total of 137 forms were completed by the participants, and returned to us. However only 112 questionnaire forms were taken into consideration for evaluation. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Hypothesis 1: Any correlation does not exist between the age of the hospital, and innovativeness (r=-0.276 p=0.004). Hypothesis 2: Any correlation does not exist between innovativeness, and formality in horizontal communication between hospital professionals of the same level (r=0.111 p=0.249 Kendall's Tau_b=0.062). Hypothesis 3: A significant correlation does not exist between the communication between hospital employers, and their superiors, and innovativeness (r= 0,220 p=0.022). Hypothesis 4: A correlation does not exist between the horizontal communication prevalent among hospital employees at the same level, and innovativenes (r=0.159 p=0.099 Kendall's Tau_b=0.145). Hypothesis 5: A difference does not exist between the general level of communication in the hospital, and innovativeness (r=0.305 p=0001). Hypothesis 6: A correlation does not exist between the number of departments in the hospital, and innovativeness (r=-0.141 p= 0.152 Kendall's Tau_b=-0.119) Hypothesis 7: A correlation does not exist between the number of vertical levels in the hierarchy of hospital organization, and innovativeness (r=0117 p=0.234 Kendall's Tau_b= 0.90). Conclusion: The outcomes of our study can be interpreted as follows: a) Newly established hospitals participating in our study were more innovative, b) Increased communicative relationship between employees, and their superiors, and also between workers at the same level, consequently among all hospital professionals reinforce innovativeness, c) as the number of departments increase, rapport, and communication weaken which decrease innovativeness, d) in hospitals with higher number of vertical levels, innovativeness is promoted in that the presence of more participative management, and effective communication channels facilitate implementation of innovative applications.


Localized tetanus is rare in Nigerians, with an incidence of 1.8% in a previous report. We report six cases of localized tetanus out of total of 95 cases of tetanus seen at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital over a period of 3 years. All cases were seen and managed by one or both of the authors, the policy in the hospital being that all cases of tetanus in adolescents and adults are referred to and managed by the Neurology unit. The frequency of localized tetanus was 6.3% of all cases of tetanus. Two of the cases had partial immunization. The contribution of partial immunization to causation needs further study. The commonest site of involvement was the lower limb (in five of the cases). No case of cephalic tetanus was seen. Recognition of the existence of localized tetanus is important to ensure correct diagnosis and treatment. NQJHM Vol. 14 (3&4) 2004: pp. 217-219


Previous to the war 1914-1918, Siam had already realised the usefulness of aircraft. In 1911, the Ministry of War sent three officers of the Royal Engineer to study the art of flying in France. After having obtained their certificates, they returned to Siam in 1913. The Siamese Royal Flying Corps was then established to train pilot and organize Military Aviation. When the Siamese Government declared War on the Central Powers, in 1917, a contingent of pilots and mechanics, together with motor transport and troops, were sent to join the Allies in France. At the end of the War, owing to all the world's progress in aviation, and owing to the necessity for the development in flying service for military, and above all for civil purposes the Royal Flying Corps was then turned into the Royal Aeronautical Service; with the aim to direct general aviation of the country and to seek the ways and means of using aircraft for public benefit. On October 13, 1919, the Siamese Government signed the International Convention concerning Aerial Navigation. The Royal Aeronautical Service employs many kinds of aeroplanes for different purposes, among which are some of Siamese design.


This paper presents a practical methodology for Work-Based Learning (WBL) as a research result of the iNduce 4.0 European project consortium. Atraining platform has been developed forthe purpose of providing enterprises with affordable and flexible training which could be best adapted and customized to their specific needs. On the training platform, there are fourtraining modules on the subject of Industry 4.0. The courses structure is the result of a largescale survey within two target groups: manufacturing enterprises and vocational education and training stakeholders. Training begins with learning needs analysis designed to support the individual. The structure of the guide to quality WBL reveals the steps for an efficient WBL programme established by vocational education providers, which serves as a tool and requires them to commit to the quality standards and code of conduct dictated at the national level as well as to the ones stated in the European quality charter on internships and apprenticeships.


Objective: To establish the HPLC fingerprint of Huangshan Gongju chrysanthemum(Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) for its quality control and evaluation.Method: A total of 28 chrysanthemum samples of different geographical origins were determined by HPLC and evaluated using the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Medicine to construct a common pattern.Results: Twelve common peaks were identified in the established fingerprints,each of which shared a similarity exceeding 0.96 with the control fingerprint and a similarity below 0.86 with other chrysanthemum varieties.Conclusion: The proposed method is simple,accurate,repeatable and suitable for quality control and evaluation of Huangshan Gongju chrysanthemum.


Described herein is a process for the preparation of 6 alpha -fluorosteroids of formula (I), in which R is chosen from H, OH and an alkyl group with from 1 to 4 carbon atoms and R' is a carboxyalkyl group with from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, comprising the selective fluorination at the 6 alpha -position by treatment of the compound of formula (III), wherein R and R' are as defined above, with an electrophilic fluorinating agent.


In the developing process of high-tech industry,its characteristics would cause market failures,which need government's support and intervention.We can draw a conclusion that a moderate support by government will create a "triple win" situation-which of high-tech enterprises(industry),traditional enterprises(industry) and the government can be achieved by establishing a dynamic game model between the government and enterprises(industry).Actually,some policies and measures have put forward.


This study was undertaken to explore the determinants that can influence effective targeted promotional SMS communication in the Sri-Lankan fashion retail sector. The objective of this study is to examine the current context of targeted promotional SMS communication in Sri-Lankan fashion retail sector. This study is also aimed at examining the relationship between dynamic customer segmentation via transactional and loyalty-card data utilization for targeted promotional SMS communication and provide relevant recommendations to improve effectiveness of SMS promotional communication. This study uses a deductive research approach. Hypothesis were generated and tested via a survey in Colombo, Sri-Lanka with 347 responses. Based on the regression analysis, all the independent variables of loyalty-card data utilization, past purchase data utilization and dynamic customer segmentation had a strong positive relationship and a positive relationship towards the independent variable of effectiveness of SMS Communication and all the hypothesis were accepted along with the conceptual framework that 72% represents towards (Impact on) Effectiveness of SMS Communication by all the independent variables considered. Research was limited to the fashion retailing sector and only the retail customers were surveyed and new customers are excluded from the study benefits. As a research implication, adoption of big data and business-intelligence practices are highly recommended. Most of the prior literature is on the USA and Europe region and some are biased to eCommerce whereas this study focusses on the Sri-Lankan region and use of offline data sources for targeted SMS promotions.


Frequency hopping sequence generator is a core component of frequency-hopping communication system,covered the ideal frequency hopping sequence is one of the important issues for hopping communication. The related technology about the FH sequence in RS code is analyzed,a frequency-hopping sequence of Hamming correlation is drawn out by Matlab. The results show that the optimization method and average interval of non-repeating FH sequences is improved with given minimum gap based on RS code and the disadvantages of the poor randomness is overcame which is brought forward by FH sequence with given minimum gap based on the dual fre-quency band method,meets that the interval of adjacent frequency more than a fixed value,and satisfy the theoretical bounds on families of non-repeating FH sequences with given minimum gap.


Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by M. Tuberculosis Complex that involves both mainly lungs and other organs. Post-primary pulmonary TB is mostly seen in adults. It is usually located in apical region of lungs and makes cavitary lesions. We can see different clinical pictures in the areas of high incidence with TB. In the differential diagnosis of nodular and cavitary lesions in the lungs, meta static lung cancer, wegener granulomatosis and TB are included. We report a case with different radiological appearance and a clinical sign that has extra-TB dif ferential diagnosis which most possible cause is metastatic lung cancer.


The changing depictions of working or 'New' women in the women's magazine industry of the 1980s and 1990s can be understood more clearly when we consider them in relation not only to feminist accounts of commercial culture, but also to a closer analysis of commercial practices. Far from 'foisting' magazines (whether they be print or online) on an unsuspecting 'market gap' of women, this paper shows that where 'gaps' in the market are identified, the translation of this into a product that women will want to read is much more difficult. Instead, it is argued that the economic practices of magazine publishing can only be understood when we also think about them in terms of the cultural conditions in which they exist.


Abstract Attention is called to a few striking facts concerning the cyclical variation of sunspots and certain elements of the climatic variations of the northern hemisphere during the past two centuries. Some tentative forecasts are offered, based exclusively on comparative extrapolation of recent cyclical trends.


Simple Summary Recognizing the different species can help us better understand the nature. One way to differentiate bird species is the bird song. There are mathematical techniques that extract information from the bird songs, potentially allowing automatic differentiation of species. However, there is still a lack of techniques that use the extracted information and accurately differentiate individuals of different species. For the first time, we have used a technique called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to identify the two taxonomic groups of a bird named Rough-legged Tyrannulet Phyllomyias burmeisteri, which is a species that can be found all the way from Costa Rica to Argentina. Although there is evidence of the existence of two taxonomic groups, previous studies have shown them to be difficult to distinguish. We collected Rough-legged Tyrannulet bird songs of 101 birds from 11 countries. UMAP allowed us to make a transformation of the multiple measures obtained from the bird song of each bird into just two values. Plotting the UMAP values of each bird in a two-dimensional graph, it turns out that UMAP was able to clearly identify the two taxonomic groups, which has been named as Rough-legged Tyrannulet Phyllomyias burmeisteri and White-fronted Tyrannulet Phyllomyias zeledoni. UMAP can potentially help the identification of other species difficult to classify. Abstract Vocalizations from birds are a fruitful source of information for the classification of species. However, currently used analyses are ineffective to determine the taxonomic status of some groups. To provide a clearer grouping of taxa for such bird species from the analysis of vocalizations, more sensitive techniques are required. In this study, we have evaluated the sensitivity of the Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) technique for grouping the vocalizations of individuals of the Rough-legged Tyrannulet Phyllomyias burmeisteri complex. Although the existence of two taxonomic groups has been suggested by some studies, the species has presented taxonomic difficulties in classification in previous studies. UMAP exhibited a clearer separation of groups than previously used dimensionality-reduction techniques (i.e., principal component analysis), as it was able to effectively identify the two taxa groups. The results achieved with UMAP in this study suggest that the technique can be useful in the analysis of species with complex in taxonomy through vocalizations data as a complementary tool including behavioral traits such as acoustic communication.


In many African societies the children get names after an event which has happened at the birthday. The name Edu was short for education, as the first school in the child's village was opened the same day. Where Christianity and Islam were not rooted the richness of names was infinite. The poetic talents of the parents were displayed when they e.g. gave the name 'Bright morning' (if bom in the early morning) and 'Acacia shadow' (if born in the shadow of an acacia tree). If a child had been bom when Tanganyika had gained its independence the child could have been christined to Uhuru (Swahili for 'independent'). If the parents were adherents of president Nyerere the child could be given the name Nyerere. The introduction of Christianity and Islam had reduced these opulent worlds of poetry and history to a few dozens of names from the Bible and the Koran. Since then there are only long rows of James and Patrick or Ahmed and Ibrahim.


In the case of a non-linear system, the dynamic state of the targets (position, velocity, and acceleration) is estimated by an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The theory of EKF is established on the assumption that measurements follow Gaussian distribution. However, in practice, this assumption falls short and limits the application of EKF. In literature, to deal with the non-Gaussianity, the maximum correntropy criterion (MCC)-based EKF (EKF-MCC) has been studied well. The MCC, an information-theoretic criterion, claims to effectively deal with the system's non-Gaussianity. Nevertheless, like EKF, EKF-MCC also approximates the known system non-linearity with a Jacobian. The Jacobian provides the first-order approximation of the non-linearity and hinders the estimation accuracy achieved by EKF-MCC, particularly for complex target motion models. Therefore, in this work, firstly, we propose to use EKF-MCC for estimating the dynamic state of the target from non-Gaussian measurement. After that, utilizing MCC, we propose reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) based non-linear estimation of system non-linearity and using it with EKF-MCC. Amid non-linear estimation utilizing MCC, the proposed filter is named EKF-MCC-RKHS. The simulation performed to estimate the dynamic states of the complex constant acceleration (CA) target motion model validates the superiority of EKF-MCC-RKHS over recently introduced EKF-MCC and traditional EKF.


Compared with commercial housing from aspects of general structure,unit and facade etc.,the paper expounds the orientation and positioning of low-incoming family housing.Awarded works——"Ordinary Life",flexibly separated "blank type" design applied,can suit the requirement of low-incoming family group's each phase of lifetime.Application of indoor space variety and energy saving imprve living function of building so that residents obtain lifetime benefits from it.


Abstract In this paper, we present an algorithm for diagnosis issues in DES. Detection and isolation of faults are performed according to a time Petri net derived from a stochastic Petri net with normal distributions of the firing periods. This model is then extended in order to model fault and recovery processes. Faults characterization results as a consequence. Design and identification of the models parameters are detailed.


Objective To study the effects of rat heme oxygenase-1 ( rHO-1 ) gene carried by recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) on isolated rat myocardial ischemia/repeffusion injury. Methods Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control ( group c, n = 6), ischemia-reperfusion group ( I/R group, n = 12) and AAV-rHO-1 group ( A-r group, n = 12). After gene delivery for 3 months, the rats were killed and hearts were isolated and perfused with Langendorff apparatus. The hearts in cntrolgroup were perfused persistently for 100 rain. After being stabilized for 15 min, the I/R group and A-r group hearts were subjected to 40 rain global ischemia by suspension of perfusion followed by 45 rain reperfusion. Coronary effluent was collected continuously for determination of CK activity. At the end of 45 rain repeffusion,the hearts were removed for determination of mycordial SOD activity, MDA content and myocardial infarct size. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate, the expression of bcl-2 and bax in hearts were also measured respectively. Results After reperfusion, in A-r group myocardial CK release and MDA content were significantly reduced, the SOD activiy was increasd, the infarct area was significantly lessened, cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate and the expression of bax in hearts were significantly decreased, the expression of bcl-2 in hearts significantly enhanced as compared with I/R group ( all P < 0.01 ). Conclusion Recombinant adeno-associated virus mediated gene transfection of rHO-1 can inhibit the apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes and enhance the ability of myocardial antioxidation. Gene transfection of rHO-1 has significantly protective effects on isolated myocardial ischemia/reperfusion.

Key words:
Myocardial ischemia;  Gene transfection;  Heine oxygenase;  Adenoviridae;  Ischemia repeffusion


In the future, it may be possible to employ large numbers of autonomous marine vehicles to perform tedious and dangerous tasks, such as minesweeping. Hypothetically, groups of vehicles may leverage their numbers by cooperating. A fundamental form of cooperation is to perform tasks while maintaining a geometric formation. The formation behavior can then enable other cooperative behaviors. In this paper, we describe a leader-follower formation-flying control algorithm. This algorithm can be applied to one-, two-, and three dimensional formations, and contains a degree of built-in robustness. Simulations and experiments are described that characterize the performance of the formation control algorithm. The experiments utilized surface craft that were equipped with an acoustic navigation and communication system, representative of the technologies that constrain the operation of underwater autonomous vehicles. The simulations likewise included the discrete-time nature of the communication and navigation.


Obtaining gluten-free bakery products is technologically difficult and the combination of several ingredients and change of traditional processes is often required. The gluten free dough does not have the ability to retain the gas generated during fermentation and baking, yielding bread with low specific volume and firm and rubbery breadcrumb. Hydrocolloids, emulsifiers, milk products, proteins, gelatinized starch and enzymes have been used to improve the rheological quality of the dough, final volume, structural and textural characteristics and the shelf life of gluten-free breads. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of α amylase, trehalose, sorbitol and polysorbate 80 on the technological characteristics and aging of gluten-free breads made from rice flour. Gluten-free breads made with different concentrations of sorbitol, trehalose, α amylase and polysorbate 80 were evaluated by the following tests: specific volume (SV), score (1 and 48 h), hardness (1, 24 and 48 h), hardness rate (g / day), moisture from the crumb and crust (1 and 48 h) and hydration capacity of the crumb (1 and 48 h). The use of αamylase, trehalose, sorbitol and polysorbate 80 influenced the technological characteristics of gluten free breads. Improvement was observed in specific volume, score and hardness with the use of sorbitol, trehalose, α amylase and lower concentrations of polysorbate 80. The bread that got the best characteristics was that added with 0.1% polysorbate 80 and reduction of vegetable oil, presenting a great potential to expand the shelf life of gluten-free breads, due to low hardness and lower hardness rate, in addition to showing little variation in the values of crumb and crust moisture and hydration capacity of the crumb.


A clinically asymptomatic individual had an abnormal electrophoretic pattern for lactate dehydrogenase, seven isoenzyme bands being present. This atypical pattern was a result of an interaction of lactate dehydrogenase with immunoglobulin A and beta-lipoprotein. Lactate dehydrogenase enzymes LD2 and LD3 were the isoenzymes responsible for the formation of the complexes.


Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) vehicle insurance directly incorporates mileage as a rate factor when calculating premiums. This offers motorists a new financial incentive to reduce annual vehicle travel, which can provide various benefits to users and society. There are several possible ways to implement PAYD insurance, some of which provide more impacts and benefits than others. This paper describes a PAYD insurance rating system. It discusses various issues to consider when designing and evaluating PAYD pricing, recommends specific performance standards that policies must meet to achieve Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings, and evaluates the impacts and benefits that such policies would achieve. It also examines various objections to PAYD pricing and describes ways to address them.


In Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) forage for pelagic, hyperbenthic, and benthic invertebrates. Prey types were collected near feeding whales and at sites where no whales were observed to ascertain whales' diets and to describe prey populations and distributions. Characteristics of prey that are examined include species composition, density, biomass, and size. Whales foraged for mysids, Holmesimysis sculpta being the most abundant species collected. Whales foraged near concentrated patches of porcelain crab zoeal larvae, composed primarily of Pachycheles rudis, 21 –294 times the average density and biomass normally collected. Amphipod biomass, composed primarily of Ampelisca agassizi and A. careyi, was 160 ± 150 g/m2 where whales foraged. Larger amphipods, rather than higher density, resulted in higher amphipod biomass between years. Whales foraged where there was a high proportion (61%) of amphipods > 6 mm in length. Whales initially foraged for amphipods along the 20-m depth contour line; amphipod biomass was best developed and least variable at depths between 16 and 20 m.


The mutagenesis of Mycobacterium sp. BD-696 was induced by UV and DES, and two mutants Mycobacterium sp. BD-696-3 and Mycobacterium sp. BD-696-6 were obtained. When the concentration of substrate steroid is 6‰ and shaking flask fermentation is kept for 168 hours, the transformation yield of androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (AD) from rapeseed sterol by Mycobacterium sp.D-696-3 and Mycobacterium sp. BD-696-6 are 2.31 g/L and 2.33 g/L, respectively, and the corresponding transformation rates are 60.7 % and 61.4%, higher 12.8% and 13.5% than that by the original strain, respectively. Moreover, the continuous passage experiment showed that the mutant BD-696-6 has high genetic stability.


Background and objective: Intestinal and extraintestinal amebiasis is caused by the protozoan parasite Entamoeba (E.) histolytica, it is of considerable morbidity and mortality in developing countries. E.histoltica complex species includes E.histolytica, E. moshkovskii and E. dispar are morphologically indistinctable. The current study goal was to use molecular assays to detect the true prevalence of E. histolytica  complex species among a cohort of Egyptians. Methods:  A single stool specimen was collected from 133 patients, examined coproscopically before and after concentration. DNA was extracted from microscopically positive stool specimens for E. histolytica complex species were molecularly idenitified using multiplex PCR. Results: The  coroscopic prevalence of intestinal parasites was 51.1% (68/133) of them 30 cases had E.histolytica complex (22.6%; 30/133). Among coproscopically positive samples, E. dispar was the most common parasite (63.3%;  19/30),  followed by  E.  histolytica  (23.4%;  7/30) and E. moshkovskii  (13.3%;  4/30). There was statistical significance association between sociodemographic characteristics and Entamoeba species in asymptomatic individuals, while in the symptomatic individual, only age groups were stastically significant. Conclusion: E.dispar is the predominant Entamoeba species among studied individuals. There is a need for molecular diagnosis of Entamoeba to determine the true prevalence of E. histolytica and avoid overmedication.


Interleukin 15 (IL-15), a new player in the cytokine network, is produced mainly by monocytes and can be detected in the rheumatoid synovium. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of IL15 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-15 cytokine was measured in sera and synovial fluid (SF) of 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 20 patients with osteoarthritis and only in sera of 20 healthy control using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent method. Seven American College of Rheumatology (ACR) core set measures as well as IL-15 levels were sequentially monitored at the commencement. IL-15 had been detected in sera of 16 (40%) of 40 RA patients, in two (10%) of 20 osteoarthritis (OA) patients and two (10%) of 20 healthy controls. The mean level of circulating IL-15 was significantly higher in RA patients (P < 0·001). In SF, the mean IL-15 levels were significantly higher in RA patients ( 162.8±35.4) than in OA patients ( 32.5±5.5) (P < 0·001) . In paired samples (n=40) of sera and SF from RA patients and OA patients, IL-15 levels were higher in the SF than in sera (P < 0·001) in RA but not in OA. Rheumatoid arthritis patients with detectable IL-15 (n=25 ) had higher tender joint scores (P < 0·01), swollen joint scores (P < 0·001) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (P < 0·05), rheumatoid factor (P < 0.001), and long disease duration (P < 0·05) than those without (n=15). In conclusion, IL-15 was elevated significantly in the sera and SF of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but not on OA patients and correlated well with several parameters of RA disease activity. These observations suggest that IL-15 production may be associated with an exacerbation of RA, and then IL-15 levels could be useful to assess disease activity.


The efficiency in treatment of treated wastewater from up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) plant using Wolffia arrhiza coupling with storage starch production from its cell are considered. The experiments were undertaken in batch bioreactor and treated wastewater from UASB was fed into the tank and completed with the control conditions of temperature (30 ̊C), light strength (2000 lx) and lightening period (12 hrd). The efficiency of wastewater treatment is assessed in terms of nitrate, phosphorus, BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) reductions while storage starch production was extracted and evaluated the starch content. The results revealed that the vegetative frond of W. arrhiza showed in high content of nitrate (5-6% of total dry weight) and phosphorous uptake (1-2% of total dry weight) and the percentage of nitrate and phosphorous removal from treated wastewater are achieved at about 99.1% and 97.4%, respectively while both the BOD and COD were reduced and the percentages in removal showed at 43.8% and 13.5%, respectively. However, the vegetative frond of W. arrhiza has a decreasing ability to accumulate starch and achieved at 58.3mg-drycm after 10 days.


Investigations from this laboratory have established the presence of estrogen receptors in the human an terior cruciate ligament. This study further investigates the effects of 17β-estradiol on the cellular proliferation and collagen synthesis of fibroblasts derived from the rabbit anterior cruciate ligament. Fibroblast prolifera tion and collagen synthesis in response to near log concentrations of 17β-estradiol (at 0.0029, 0.025, 0.25, 2.5, and 25 ng/ml) were assessed by measuring [3H]thymidine and [14 C]hydroxyproline incorporation, respectively. Collagen synthesis was significantly re duced with increasing local estradiol concentration (P < 0.001). Declining collagen synthesis was first noted at a 17β-estradiol concentration of 0.025 ng/ml. Within normal physiologic levels of estrogen (0.025 to 0.25 ng/ml), collagen synthesis was reduced by more than 40% of control, and at pharmacologic levels of 2.5 and 25 ng/ml, by more than 50% of control. A signifi cant reduction of fibroblast proliferation was also ob served with increasing estradiol concentrations (P = 0.023). Clinically, alterations in anterior cruciate liga ment cellular metabolism caused by estrogen fluctua tions may change the composition of the ligament, rendering it more susceptible to injury.


Previous research suggested that red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) were reluctant to occupy sites lacking sufficient existing cavities, despite their being exclusively primary cavity users. We provisioned 10 vacant sites (sites lacking cavity tree clusters and red-cockadeds) and 10 abandoned sites (sites with existing clusters no longer occupied by red-cockadeds) in the Sandhills region of North Carolina with cavities and cavity starts we constructed in 1988 and 1989. By July 1989, 18 of 20 experimental sites had been occupied, resulting in the net addition of 12 soocial groups to the population. No control sites were occupied. Occupation of previously vacant areas and rapid increases in the number of social units in a population are rare events in this and other populations in the absence of cavity provisioning


Assesses how the mainstream availability and acceptability of vegetarian food has impacted on the organised vegetarian movement in the UK. Presents data collected during an ethnographic case study to show the dilemmas facing the leading UK vegetarian organisation during the mid‐1990s. In order to understand these dilemmas distinguishes between vegetarian food and the ideology of vegetarianism, using existing evidence about variability in diets, motives and organisational politics. When reflecting on the implications of the case study suggests that mainstream acceptance is a double‐edged sword that facilitates the adoption of the diet but threatens the moral foundations of the ideology.


Objective To understand the transmission and epidemic characteristics of entry-exit persons at Lianyungang port,and to provid a scientific basis for monitoring of the infectious diseases.Methods The monitoring results of infectious diseases from 33 914 entry-exit persons at Lianyungang port from 2009 to 2011 were analyzed.Results There were 727 positive cases,the detection rate was 2.14%.In which,546 cases were HBsAg positive,171 cases were syphilis,6 cases were pulmonary tuberculosis,4 cases were HIV positive.Conclusion HBsAg positive was the major infectious diseases at Lianyungang port,the HBsAg positive rate of transportation employees was dominant.The detection rate of infectious diseases among the labors and the traffic stuff accounted for 95.32%.it is important to strengthen disease surveillance and health promotion and education.


The American black quilt heritage should be defined as artistic heritage,political heritage and family history heritage.The narrative discourses of both the author and the mother in Everyday Use may misguide the reader.Dee is not mature politically,yet she is still qualified as an inheritor of black quilt heritage with its political and artistic components.Maggie can only be regarded as an inheritor of the family history heritage of black quilts,owing to her unenlightened nature.


Menispermaceae is one of the core groups of Ranunculales. The single fertile ovule in each ovary in Menispermaceae varies greatly in integument number, micropyle formation, and integument lobe. However, data regarding ovule morphogenesis in the family are very limited. In this study, we document ovule development of selected species in the Menispermaceae using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. Ovule development in Menispermaceae shows the following characteristics. Two ovules are initiated in a young carpel, one of them degenerates gradually and the other develops into a fertile ovule in subsequent stages. Bitegmic in Sinomenium Diels. and Cocculus DC. and unitegmic in Stephania Lour. The formation of unitegmy is probably due to integumentary shifting. The annularly initiated inner integument is of dermal origin and has 2–3 cell layers in the family, but the semi‐annularly initiated outer integument is of both dermal and subdermal origin. Both inner and outer integument are cup‐shaped at maturity. The cup‐shaped outer integument is formed due to the outer integument's extension to the concave (adaxial) side of the funiculus. The obturator is well developed and consists of 2–3 cell layers in Cocculus or 9–11 cell layers in Stephania. Ovule development of Menispermaceae suggests some common characteristics between Cocculus and Sinomenium, and derived unitegmy supports molecular data that indicate Stephania is one of the late‐diverging lineages in the family. Integument lobations are present. The sterile ovule shows variations in the degeneration process. These results will provide evidence for exploring the evolution of ovules in Ranunculales.


The SREX process solvent developed at Argonne National Laboratories (ANL) has been shown to be highly effective in the removal of {sup 90}Sr from actual acidic high-level waste (HLW) solutions at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) in batch contact solvent extraction experiments. The waste solutions are the result of the nitric acid dissolution of solid calcined wastes from nuclear fuel reprocessing activities. Distribution coefficient measurements have been made for radioactive Sr and inert matrix components. The extraction distribution coefficients for Sr have been determined to be in the range 15 to 20. Co-extracted matrix components have been shown to be effectively scrubbed from the loaded solvent with 3M nitric acid. Effective stripping of {sup 90}Sr from the loaded solvent has been accomplished with 0.25 M HEDPA in 0.01 M nitric acid. The chemical behavior of the system has been compared to similar experiments which employed a non-radioactive surrogate waste solution. The extraction of Sr has been shown to be dependent upon extractant concentration, aqueous nitrate concentration, and the presence of interfering ions in solution.


Fast dissolving tablets are very popular now a day as they get dissolved and disintegrated in mouth with in few second of administration without water. Fast dissolving tablets are beneficial for pediatric, geriatric and mentally ill patients who have difficulty in swallowing tablet and capsules. Natural polymers like lepedium sativum, chitosan, Gum Arabic, plantago ovata, gum karaya, gellan gum, ocimum mucilage, cordia mucilage, terminalia gum, isapghula mucilage, albizia gum, almond gum, improve the properties of tablets and used as binder, diluent, superdisintegrant, enhance the solubility of poorly water soluble drug. Natural polymers are obtained from the natural sources. They are non-toxic, cost effective, biodegradable, ecofriendly, devoid of any side effect, renewable and provide nutritional supplement. It is proved from the studies that natural polymers are more safe and efficacious than the synthetic polymers. Thus the present article reviews some new natural polymers used the formulation of FDTS. KEYWORD: fast dissolving tablet, Natural polymers, chitosan, gellan gum, aegle marmelos.


In this paper we propose an automated design flow for the implementation of autonomous fault-tolerant systems on SRAM-based FPGA platforms, able to cope with the occurrence of both transient and permanent faults. The goal of the proposed methodology is to increase the system's lifetime, by designing it able to detect and mitigate the effects of soft errors, as well as of permanent, non-recoverable ones, by exploiting dynamic reconfiguration. The application of the hardening design flow to a real case study is reported, to validate the methodology.


In recent years, rapid developments in the field of science and technology have profoundly affected social lifestyles and have led to significant changes in the process of producing, sharing, and communicating information. Acceleration in the growth rate of knowledge as a result of developments in science and technology has made it necessary to constantly update existing information. Parallel to this, the necessity of the people to follow the information constantly and to continuously update it to keep up with the speed of daily changes tops the agenda. This situation increased the use of information and communication technologies and the internet in the field of education, resulting in the spread of online environments.


Market Model is a powerful analytic tool both for market description and for the creation of investment strategies. Its ideas are generally accepted on the developed markets, but there have not been proper attempts to apply it on new Eastern European markets, especially on the Czech market. However, results from this study seem to support the hypothesis about Model's validity on Czech equities. Emerging markets often lack an adequate reaction of equity prices to the fundamental measures. Although investors correctly tend to back them up with real firm figures, every relevant price mechanism available is warmly welcomed. The Market Model compares price movements of individual stocks with the performance of the market as a whole. In its simplest and most powerful form, the Model discloses relationships among equity returns and enables the risk evaluation of each security.


Today's armed conflicts present far more varied and complex circumstances of occupation, extending beyond the traditional model of interstate war on which the law of belligerent occupation was originally based. As a result, confusion abounds regarding when the duties and obligations of an occupier are triggered, while scholarly debate revolves around the meaning of the law of belligerent occupation and its alleged inadequacies in the transition from occupied to post-occupied territory. The unfortunate consequence is that civilian populations often face serious humanitarian risk at the conclusion of a belligerent


The preservation of plant residues is important for sustainable arable cropping. Lignin is a marker for plant residues in soils. We have investigated influences of the length of cultivation on the dynamics of lignin. Composite samples were taken from the top 20 cm of soils that have been cropped for periods varying from 0 to 98 years in each of three different agro‐ecosystems in the Free State Province of South Africa. Lignin‐derived phenols were determined in the <2 µm (clay), 2–20 µm (silt), 20–250 µm (fine sand) and 250– 2000 µm (coarse sand) size separates. With increasing length of cultivation, the concentration of such phenols decreased to 36% of that in the grassland. The lignin contents as proportions of the total carbon did not change during cultivation, suggesting that there was no selective enrichment of lignin moieties as C was lost as a result of cultivation. The loss rate constants of lignin concentrations in particle‐size fractions increased in the order clay (0.17 year−1) ≤ silt (0.18 year−1) < fine sand (0.20 year−1) < coarse sand (0.22 year−1). Increasing ratios of phenolic acids to aldehydes in bulk soil, silt and fine sand fractions with increasing length of cultivation indicated that side chains were being oxidized. The ratios in the silt fraction, however, decreased after 10–20 years. We attribute this to a loss of lignin together with silt by wind erosion, resulting in a rejuvenation of lignin compounds in the remaining silt‐sized pools of C.


Introduction Information retrieval tasks such as searching for a query image or document in a database are essentially a nearest-neighbor search. When the dimensionality of the query and the size of the database is large, approximate search is necessary. We focus on binary hashing, where the query and database are mapped onto low-dimensional binary vectors, where the search is performed. This has two speedups: computing Hamming distances (with hardware support) is much faster than computing distances between high-dimensional floating-point vectors; and the entire database becomes much smaller, so it may reside in fast memory rather than disk (for example, a database of 1 billion real vectors of dimension 500 takes 2 TB in floating point but 8 GB as 64-bit codes).


There are a variety of terms for energy expenditure. In severely ill patients, resting energy expenditure should be measured through indirect calorimetry or estimated using an equation or body weight. Although indirect calorimetry provides a more precise method of estimate, the measuring instrument has significant limitations and is not generally accessible in Thailand. Consequently, weight-based estimate is widespread, and it is currently the method that many societies suggest. For optimal results, energy supply should neither be excessive nor insufficient. The average energy delivery should account for between 70 and 85 percent of energy expenditures.


A project to build a large oceanographic research ship was proposed to improve the level of ocean research. This paper attempts to measure the non-market benefits of the project. To this end, the dichotomous choice contingent valuation method is used. In particular, the recently proposed one and onehalf bounded model is applied. The model can reduce the potential for response bias compared to the double bounded model, while maintaining much of its efficiency. Moreover, in order to deal with zero WTP observations, a spike model is adjusted for our data. A survey of 500 randomly selected households was implemented in the Metropolitan area. The respondents were asked in person-to-person interviews about how they would be willing to pay for implementing the project. Overall, respondents accepted the contingent market, and were willing to contribute a significant amount (3,244 won), on average, per household per year. The aggregate value of the project nationwide would amount to approximately 40.1 billion won per year.


Forty soybean genotypes were evaluated for two consecutive years kharif 2018 and 2019 to determine genetic variability, heritability (h2) and genetic advance (GA) for yield and other yield attributing traits. The pooled analysis of variance revealed significant variation among year and treatment for all characters studied. The interaction of year x treatment also showed a significant difference for most of the traits. RVSM2011-35 recorded the highest mean performance of seed yield/plant and a high value of oil content over the two years indicating that the genotype was found to be promising and could be recommended for Assam. In the case of oil content, NRC 148 showed the highest mean value and also a high value of mean seed yield/ plant over the two years. Range estimation showed wide values for most of the traits except plant height, the number of branches and pods/plant in comparison with the check. The estimates of phenotypic (PCV) and genotypic (GCV) coefficient of variation indicated that the values of PCV were slightly higher than GCV. The highest values of GCV and PCV were observed for seed yield/plant, the number of seeds/pod and oil content. Higher values of heritability (h2) coupled with high genetic advance (GA) were recorded for seed yield/plant, the number of seeds/pod, oil content, the number of branches, days to 50% flowering, plant height, the number of pods/plant, and 100 seed weight, suggesting that these characters could easily be modified or improved through simple selection.


The discovery of plastic caused a true transformation in human lives and it is used in many essential applications. Despite its significance, humanity struggles to control plastic waste and stop its infiltration into the natural environment. This study aims to review the existing waste management system in Saudi Arabia and evaluate environmental impacts of different plastic waste management scenarios by conducting a life-cycle assessment (LCA). This study covered five scenarios: landfill, incineration with energy recovery, mechanical recycling with incineration of residuals, pyrolysis with incineration of residuals, and combined mechanical recycling and pyrolysis with incineration of residuals. For all scenarios in this study, the CML-IA Baseline method was used, utilizing OpenLCA software. Sources of data for this study were obtained from the Ecoinvent 3.9.1 database and from published peer-reviewed reports. The LCA study revealed that the combined mechanical recycling and pyrolysis with incineration of residuals scenario has the lowest environmental impact. Additionally, the combined scenario can accept a broader range of plastic waste, which improves the overall waste management system towards shifting to circular economy. Therefore, to meet the various recycling requirements, it is recommended to establish a portfolio of plastic waste management techniques in Saudi Arabia to produce high-quality recycled products. It is also recommended to utilize renewable energy for electricity generation in Saudi Arabia, since it was shown in this study that it has a significant positive environmental impact across all impact categories.


Sale promotion is one of the key elements in marketing mix for many consumers' products worldwide that has been used in order to stimulating consumer purchases. The increasing use of sales promotions have influenced consumers to become deal prone more than past times, and it in turn stimulate marketers to rely more on sales promotions in order to respond to this consumer behavior trends and to keep their consumers from competitors' products Stafford. During the recent years, major external factors such as socio-economic, regulatory and technological issues have shaped both the structure of DTH (Direct to Home) services sector and also the nature of competition within it. Due to the changing marketplace, DTH services are forced to concentrate more intensively on customers and relationships. The present study enlightens the impact of promotion Mix of DTH manufactures on the customer behaviour with respect to Vellore District Tamilnadu conducted with a sample of 300 respondents and results that the elements of promotion mix Sales promotion and Direct Marketing impact Customer Behaviour in purchasing DTH products.


of 100-150 words should be included, as well as up to six keywords which identify the central subjects addressed in the manuscript. Diagrams, tables, and figures should be kept at a minimum, appear in black and white, and follow the manuscript in numbered order corresponding to numbered placeholders in the text. Footnotes and Endnotes should be avoided whenever possible. References should appear in the following format: Stanley, R. J. & Hollander, M. P. (1992). Beyond the boundaries: The quest for knowledge. Administrative Life, 2(3), 36-49. References and citations should be in alphabetical order, and chronological within alphabetical order. The editor reserves the right to make changes to the manuscript to ensure that it conforms to the house style. Generally, manuscripts should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length. Prospective author(s) must include a statement which indicates they agree to the submission of the manuscript, and that the manuscript has not been published, and is not under consideration for publication, in part or in substance, elsewhere. PUBLICATION DETAILS: The Journal of Authentic Leadership in Education is an independently published quarterly by The Nipissing University Center for the Study of Leadership and Ethics, housed in the Schulich School of Education, Nipissing University. This journal is published on line (http://www.nipissingu.ca/csle) EDITORIAL CONTACT INFORMATION: Address all papers, editorial correspondence, and subscription information requests to the editor in chief: Dr. Heather Rintoul (firstname.lastname@example.com). Paper correspondence may be sent to Dr. Heather Rintoul, Faculty of Education, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 8L7, Canada Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Starratt, R. (2003). Centering educational administration: Cultivating meaning, community, responsibility. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Starratt, R. J. (2004a). Ethical leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Starratt, R. J. (2004b). Building an ethical school: A practical response to the moral crisis in schools. New York, NY: Routlege. Starratt, R. J. (2005). Cultivating moral character of learning and teaching: A neglected dimension of educational leadership. School Leadership and Management, 25(4), 399-411. Stefkovich, J. A., & Begley, P. T. (2007). Ethical school leadership: Defining the best interests of students. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35(2) 205-224. Tschannen-Moran, M. (2014). Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Tuana, N. (2006). Moral literacy and ethical leadership. Paper presented at the 2nd annual Moral Literacy Colloquium, University Park, PA, October 27, 2006. Tuana, N. (2007). Conceptualizing moral literacy. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(4), 364-378. Charles L. Lowery, Ed.D. is Assistant Professor in the Educational Administration Program in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University. Dr. Lowery's research interests include the identity of the scholar-practitioner educational leader and school leaders as moral democratic agents. He received his BA from the University of Texas-Tyler and obtained his Master's Degree in Educational Administration and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University. Prior to becoming a university professor he was a bilingual teacher and an elementary school principal in East Texas. Travis Abbott is Principal at Meigs High School, a comprehensive school in Meigs Local School district. Mr. Abbott is an experienced educator, having started his educational career as a high school social studies teacher, which he taught for 14 years before becoming a school administrator. His interests include promoting social justice for students, student experiences in rural schools, and ethical decision-making for principals. He obtained his Master's Degree in Educational Administration from Ohio University.


Veins carrying manganese silicates largely in the form of the manganese garnet, spessartite, occur in the crystalline schists and gneisses of Carroll and Grayson Counties, Virginia, in the southern parts of the Galax and Independence quadrangles just north of the North Carolina State line. This brief paper includes a discussion of these manganese-bearing veins which are described in a report on the Geology and Mineral resources of the Great Gossan Lead district prepared by G. W. Stose and the writer for publication by the Virginia Geological Survey.


The synthesis and characterization of flexible solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) based on interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) are discussed. IPNs were prepared from nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) using a two-step process. The NBR network was obtained by dicumyl peroxide cross-linking at high temperature and pressure. A free radical copolymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate and dimethacrylate led to the formation of the PEO network within the NBR network. Polymerization kinetics were followed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for the NBR network and by Fourier transform spectroscopy in the near- and mid-infrared for the PEO network. IPN mechanical properties, examined using DMA and tensile strength tests, reveal an IPN elongation with a breaking point of 110%. IPN conductivities reach 7.4 × 10–7 S cm–1 at 30 °C when doped with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). Moreover, IPNs exhibit an ionic conductivity as high as 0.7 × 10–3 S cm–1 at ...


We measured anthropometries, intellectual and motor functioning in 18 children (8 months - 15 years) before and one year after liver transplant. Depending on age at testing, we obtained Bayley Mental (MDI) and Psychomotor (PDI) Development Indices, or Stanford Binet IQ and Motor Age (MA), or Wechsler Verbal (VIQ) Performance (PIQ), and Full Scale (FSTQ) IQs on each subject. Weight (W), height (H), and head circumference for age (H/A, HC/A), and W for H (W/H) were expressed as percent of median (NCHS standards). Relevant findings were (Means):No significant differences were found in mean development scores before and after transplant. However, for subjects with scores <80 before transplant, there was a trend towards improvement after transplant. Older subjects consistently improved in visual attention and fine motor speed. We conclude that there were significant increments in weight and head growth but no increase in linear growth. Intellectual and motor development remain unchanged for the group as a whole, although the most delayed made meaningful improvement. Long-term follow-up studies are indicated to determine ultimate intellectual outcome.


Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Africa, as people's representatives, play an essential role in advancing good governance, human rights and development on the continent. They have cemented their role alongside international and regional institutions, organisations and state governments. NGOs have made extensive contributions to democracy and development in Africa. They have a history of challenging poor governance and human rights contraventions, and advancing development on the continent through regional institutions such as regional courts, regional bodies and other regional networks. However, these roles have not been critically studied. There is a lack of in-depth analysis of the different methods used by NGOs in promoting good governance and development through African regional institutions. This paper identifies and examines the various tools that NGOs employ in advancing good governance and development on the continent. The paper discusses the recognition of NGOs by regional institutions and how international and regional law protects their involvement in and participation on the continent. It further outlines how NGOs have used various regional legal institutions and other regional bodies to protect the rights and interests of the people. The paper demonstrates that while the role of NGOs in advancing good governance and development on the continent is progressive, many challenges hinder this role, such as stringent rules for eligibility and application to implement certain functions, lack of access to key resources that facilitate their participation and lack of clarity on the legal instruments that govern NGOs.


The technology of immobilized algae is an economic and effective biological treatment technology of wastewater.It is effective to remove N,P,heavy metals and organic compounds from wastewater as well as to reuse the resources,producing huge benefits of society and economy.In this paper the characteristics,status of researches and the future prospects of this field were discussed in detail.


The principle and structure of frequency converter was introduced.The energy saving principle of the frequency converter was briefly explained.The load characteristics of the application of frequency converter to the fan in SSP system were analysed.Taking the precrystallization system in SSP production as an example,the energy saving application of frequency converter was explained.It was a ideal speed regulating control method that using variable frequency drive to replace the original soft starting mode.The equipment efficency was increased,the energy was saved and the consumption was reduced,the operation was convenient,the economic benefit was obvious.


It is expected that the next generation wireless network will provide users with excessive mobile wireless services and cover the ubiquitous network at any time. It is urgent to further study the integration and interoperation technology suitable for the heterogeneous wireless communication system covering the whole environment. The heterogeneous network vertical handoff technology is an important basis of multi-network fusion. Therefore, a seamless and efficient handoff mechanism is related to the optimal network performance of heterogeneous wireless networks (HWNs); It allows mobile users to switch from one access network to another to find the best connection for the desired service. In this paper, the recent research on vertical handoff algorithms in wireless networks is reviewed and summarized, and the future research direction is prospected.


This handbook offers a set of practical ideas and their philosophical underpinnings, designed to assist community groups which desire to form interagency coordinating councils. A Local Interagency Coordinating Council (LICC) works to develop, coordinate, and provide a community-based, comprehensive system of services for young children with disabilities and their families. The handbook begins with a list of benefits of interagency collaboration, possible outcomes of collaboration, the purpose of the LICC, potential LICC members, and responsibilities of agencies and staff involved. Information is provided on planning and conducting the first meeting, identifying community needs, writing a mission statement, understanding group processes, establishing effective organizational structures, funding, and linking with statewide systems. Appendices list belief statements of Missouri's First Steps program, terms and acronyms, LICC services, sources of funding information for interagency cooperation in Missouri, and addresses and telephone numbers of Missouri LICCs and related agencies. Appendices also provide a sample interagency agreement, membership worksheets, tips for parent involvement, planning tools for meetings, sample mission statements, group process surveys, and sample by-laws. (Contains 16 references.) (JDD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** (?) GETTING STARTED: DEVELOPING A N cf) N


The objective was to ascertain the impact of an online, virtual course in immunology and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy on trainee's knowledge and interest in the field. The course occurred May 4–8, 2020. Students taking the course for graduate school credit received a pre-course and post-course survey. The survey included questions covering background, knowledge/confidence in skills, interests, and perceived ability to learn using an online platform. Students worked in teams to develop a research grant specific aims page. A total of 27 students took the course for graduate level credit and were surveyed, and all 27 (100%) returned the surveys. Students came from variable backgrounds and were at different stages of graduate training. After completion of the course, there was a statistically significant increase in self-perceived knowledge of immunotherapy (mean score of 3.7 +/− 1.0 standard deviation post-course vs 2.8 +/− 1.3 pre-course, on a 5 point Likert scale, P=0.0075), knowledge of the translational process (3.8 +/− 0.9 post-course vs 3.2 +/− 1.3 pre-course, P=0.0082), knowledge of the cancer treatment/immunotherapy patient experience (3.5 +/− 1.2 post-course vs 2.4 +/− 1.3 pre-course, P=0.0003), and confidence in immunotherapy grant writing skills (3.7 +/− 0.8 post-course vs 2.7 +/− 1.2 pre-course, P<0.0001). This course can serve as a model to help encourage training in translational research and enhance knowledge and interest in immunology, immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy, and regenerative sciences via an online platform in this era of COVID-19 and potentially beyond.


In this paper the behavior of an industrial flyback converter with current-mode control loop is discussed. A mixed electrical-functional model of an industrial flyback converter with current-mode control loop has been derived. Several experimental measurements on the VLSI implementation (VIPower) of the considered converter have been performed. The nonlinear behavior of the considered system has been investigated by using both numerical simulation and experimental analysis. Moreover a canonical "strange attractor" has been discovered.


'harmless' Germans and examines whether the interned individuals fit these constructs in order to measure the success of the government's internment policy. G. Bassler and A. Sauer introduce a historical perspective regarding German-Canadian identity. Without dwelling on past achievements wi thin a relatively recent field of inquiry, they succeed in depicting how rich the field of German-Canadian studies really is and how much work still remains to be done. While Bassler encourages further exploration of the changing boundaries of this identity and recommends further scrutiny of the phenomenon of camouflaged or submerged identity in the postwar years, Sauer is more direct in pointing out some of the remaining blind spots of German-Canadian Studies. Among other things, it will be necessary to examine the issue of German-Canadian identity' outside the parameters of etlmicity as secular identification,' and also to focus on the considerable intra-ethnic conflicts (e.g., political Left versus Right) within the group. Last but not least, it is high time to recast the issue of agency and to 'shed the image of German Canadians as penn anent victims.' (HELFRIED w. SELIGER)


s:XML has become the standard form of transferring data because of its feathers of having no relationship with platforms and easy being transplanted. Excel is widely used in the fields of financial affairs, statistics, finance, etc. It can be fulfilled to transfer, analyze and process dynamic data with Excel and XML.


Circulating antibodies from human and murine chagasic sera are able to interact with myocardium, activating neurotransmitter receptors. Here, we studied the effects of a monoclonal antibody (MAb CAK20.12), which recognizes a 150 kilodalton antigen of Trypanosoma cruzi and reacts with normal human and murine striated muscles and with cardiac tissue. The MAb CAK20.12 binds to purified cardiac membranes and interferes with the binding of β‐adrenergic receptor radioligand ([125I]CYP) and muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR) radi‐oligand ([3H]QNB) in a noncompetitive way. As a consequence of this interaction, β‐adrenergic receptor and mAChR were activated, leading to increased intracellular levels of cyclic AMP as a result of β‐adrenergic receptor‐coupled adenylate cyclase triggering. When its sympathetic action was abrogated, it also induced an mAChR‐mediated increase in cyclic GMP. Furthermore, cardiac physiology was modified by MAb CAK20.12, as it was able to increase cardiac contractility through β‐adrenoceptor activation and to decrease atrial frequency as a result of mAChR activation. The fact that this MAb modulates and modifies the mechanical and biochemical activity of normal murine heart established an important basis for future research and understanding of how the host's humoral immune response acts on the course and development of the chronic chagasic myocardiopathy.—Cremaschi, G., Zwirner, N. W., Gorelik, G., Malchiodi, E. L., Chiaramonte, M. G., Fossati, C. A., Sterin‐Borda, L. Modulation of cardiac physiology by an anti‐Tiypcmosoma cruzi monoclonal antibody after interaction with myocardium. FASEBJ. 9, 1482‐1488 (1995)


The paper introduced the design of surface area and cross section area of subsurface flow constructed wetlands,discussed on the determine of design parameters,such as hydraulic retention time,depth,length and width and their ratio,hydraulic slope.This paper provided the reference for engineering design of subsurface flow constructed wetlands.


New simulations at 12 km grid-spacing with the Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) model nested in the MPI Earth System Model (ESM) are used to quantify possible changes in wind power generation potential as a result of global warming. Annual capacity factors (CF, measures of electrical power production) computed by applying a power curve to hourly wind speeds at wind turbine hub-height from this simulation are also used to illustrate the pitfalls in seeking to infer changes in wind power generation directly from low spatial resolution and time averaged ESM output. WRF-derived CF are evaluated using observed daily CF from operating wind farms. The spatial correlation coefficient between modeled and observed mean CF is 0.65 and the root mean square error is 5.4 percentage points. Output from the MPI-WRF model chain also captures some of the seasonal variability and the probability distribution of daily CF at operating wind farms. Projections of mean annual CF (CFA) indicate no change to 2050 in the Southern Great Plains and Northeast. In the Midwest inter-annual variability of CFA increases and CFA decline by up to 2 percentage points in the Northern Great Plains. The probability of wind droughts (extended periods with anomalously low production) and wind bonus periods (high production) remains unchanged over most of the eastern U.S.. The probability of wind bonus periods exhibit some evidence of higher values over the Midwest in the 2040's, while the converse is true over the Northern Great Plains.


Three-phase hydrodynamics in a large scale gas-liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed were experimentally studied using water and air as the gas and liquid phases, respectively, and coal powders as the solid phase. The bed was made of a 1m diameter column with a central circulating tube. The gas holdup was measured by the method of pressure difference, and the solids holdup by directly sampling. It is found that the solid particles are distributed uniformly everywhere in the fluidized bed and a sedimentation-dispersion model can be employed to describe the axial concentration distribution of solid particles.


Many opportunities for patient and public involvement already exist in medical education. Current approaches may not fully harness the educational potential of the patient voice, so it appears that new approaches are worth exploring. This article, co‐written by students and faculty members, describes an educational initiative in which medical students had opportunistic conversations with randomly selected members of the public to explore their priorities regarding health care.


The interaction between fibrogenic cells and extracellular matrix plays a role in liver fibrosis, yet the mechanisms are largely unknown. Secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is a matricellular glycoprotein that is expressed by hepatic stellate cells and is overexpressed in fibrotic livers. We investigated the in vivo role of SPARC in experimentally induced liver fibrosis in rats.


To encourage proper employee scheduling for managing crew load, restaurants need accurate sales forecasting. This paper proposes a case study on many machine learning (ML) models using real-world sales data from a mid-sized restaurant. Trendy recurrent neural network (RNN) models are included for direct comparison to many methods. To test the effects of trend and seasonality, we generate three different datasets to train our models with and to compare our results. To aid in forecasting, we engineer many features and demonstrate good methods to select an optimal sub-set of highly correlated features. We compare the models based on their performance for forecasting time steps of one-day and one-week over a curated test dataset. The best results seen in one-day forecasting come from linear models with a sMAPE of only 19.6%. Two RNN models, LSTM and TFT, and ensemble models also performed well with errors less than 20%. When forecasting one-week, non-RNN models performed poorly, giving results worse than 20% error. RNN models extended better with good sMAPE scores giving 19.5% in the best result. The RNN models performed worse overall on datasets with trend and seasonality removed, however many simpler ML models performed well when linearly separating each training instance.


Nowadays university rankings has become the focus of the society,leading to many kinds of heated debates.This essay chooses four relatively influential rating agencies and analyzes their index systems of universal university rankings,providing references for improving and bettering the systems of university evaluation rankings in China.


Depression and anxiety exhibit unique characteristics in the elderly and therefore their treatment may differ from that of younger patients. The elderly population is defined as those who are 65 years or older. This age group is at an increased risk of atypical depression which can be complicated by the presence of other chronic medical conditions. Up to 80% of those older than 65 years have at least one chronic medical issue which may require medical treatment. This age group is more likely to reside in special facilities and is more likely to have other concerns such as financial or abuse complaints.


A mathematical model for emulsion copolymerization in continuous loop reactors is presented. The flow pattern of the loop reactor can be represented by a loop formed by two tubular reactors with axial dispersion. The mathematical model combines this flow model with the physico-chemical characteristics of the emulsion copolymerization. The outputs of the model are monomer conversion, copolymer composition, particle size distribution and latex viscosity. The model was checked during the redox initiated emulsion copolymerization of vinyl acetate and veova 10 carried out in a completely automated continuous loop reactor.


The main objective this paper is to detect the LPI radar signal using the Higher Order Statistics (Bispectrum) technique and automatically identify the type of modulation used. Normal spectral analysis techniques are failed to identify LPI signals in the noisy environment. QMFB, Wigner-ville techniques can detect the LPI signals but they unable to identify the modulation used in the signal and the phase of the signal is not preserved in these techniques. This paper reports the results of HOS technique (Bi-spectrum) applied to LPI radar signals. Various intra pulse modulations such as Barker signals, P1, P2, P3 and P4 poly phase coded signals are analyzed using HOSA technique to produce 2-D signatures of these signals. The results obtained clearly indicate the capability to automatically identify the type of LPI signal even with SNR as low as -3dB. Keywords—LPI Radar;HOS ; identify


A profiled one-piece component (52, 54, 70) of metal to form a pressurized fluid-receiving or conductive coating, wherein the profiling (56, 58, 60; 72) is introduced by forming the device in MIM technology using an injection molding powder wherein at least one wall portion (63a-63d; 65, 76) of the device an integrally integrated in the component deformation element (4, 63a-63d; 65, 76, 20, 6, 22) of a pressure sensor (2), which deformation body ( 4, 63a-63d; 65, 76; 20; 6, 22) is deformable by the fluid under pressure, so as to measure the pressure of the fluid by means of the pressure sensor (2).


Today website is considered as an image of an organization. For designing an effective website it is required to identify the need of the visitors of the website. In current scenario the objective of e-commerce websites is to provide the users or customers a platform where they can retrieve any information and also can perform other tasks like adding to cart, save for later, checkout, payment, tracking records and may more. In this paper, techniques like Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System Approach (ANFIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) were used to assess the usability of e commerce website and propose a model to successfully assess and compare websites on the basis of usability. First of all, the important factors related to usability from the literature or educational materials were identified. A survey using these factors as base was conducted which served as a valuable input from user for identifying the parameters affecting usability, which was further used in assessing the usability parameters of the e-commerce websites (such as Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Myntra). A Fuzzy inference system (FIS) file was generated using the parameters identified in the survey, member functions and other rules. Training data was generated using the survey conducted. ANFIS system used this training data and FIS file to create an optimal model for assessing the usability of the websites. This model can also be used to identify the important parameters to improve usability of the website using the valuable review of daily website users via the conduct of survey.


The gross value of horticultural production is projected to increase from $9.3 billion in 2015-16 to $10 billion in 2021-22 (in 2016-17 dollars).


An empirical power function for the backward diode reverse characteristic is suggested and it is used to derive the analytic closed-form expressions for the switching time of a backward diode.


This article was published online by The Conversation. It is available online at http://theconversation.com/how-western-national-interest-drives-ebola-drug-development30530?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+August+2014+ -+1862&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+August+2014++1862+CID_1f954c3f50eb1b5dbde5d2e4684b0bc5&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Ho w%20Western%20national%20interest%20drives%20Ebola%20drug%20development . This work is licenced under a CC BY-NC 3.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/


Neutral plane strategies have been studied to reduce the tensile strain of brittle films in foldable electronics under bending. However, those strategies depend on the dimensions of components in devices, implying that they could be limited to application to various designs of devices. Herein, the glass fabric's position in a glass fabric–reinforced siloxane hybrid substrate is shifted to control the neutral plane of the substrate. Due to the stiffness difference between the glass fabric and epoxy siloxane hybrid matrix, the neutral plane of the substrate is affected by the position of the glass fabric. Therefore, the glass fabric is asymmetrically impregnated to be located at the substrate surface so as to shift the neutral plane of the substrate toward the surface. The effectiveness of the newly developed substrate is proved by comparison with a conventional colorless polyimide substrate. The neutral plane position and maximum tensile strain of the substrates are investigated by analytical calculation, digital image correlation analysis, bending test, and finite element method simulation. The results clearly show that the newly developed substrate–based structure can reduce the maximum tensile strain under bending. Consequently, the cracking of the brittle hard coating is effectively prevented.


Advanced Vehicle Safety Systems (AVSS) must have information about both the current and the upcoming location and surroundings of a vehicle to allow speed control, intersection warnings, suspension adjustment and steering assistance or control. Digital map databases containing highly accurate information about the road network can be augmented to support these functions. For example, the vehicle can be tracked along the digital map, and information about hazards such as sharp turns, intersections and even road incidents provided to vehicle control systems. Current navigation systems already perform a tracking function for route guidance; as the car travels, its position is traced along the digital map using "map matching" techniques. Additional database features and data from forward looking sensors combined with dedicated high speed map matching will enable a suite of AVSS functions. This paper discusses the in-vehicle systems necessary to implement these capabilities, with special attention to the role played by the digital map database. For the covering abstract, see IRRD 490001.


Whereas quantity surveyors are adequately engaged in engineering projects in Great Britain from where quantity surveying education in Nigeria derived its source and model, their involvement seems sub-optimum in Nigeria, attributably to perception of the correlation of quantity surveyors' education to engineering projects' requirements. This study examined the course curriculum and contents for quantity surveying at both the degree and higher diploma levels with the view to investigating the proportion of education and training of quantity surveyors in the Nigerian education system at undergraduate level that correlate to the skill requirements of the administration of civil engineering projects. The study identified the administration of civil engineering projects under 3 main headings viz: Design, Construction, and Cost appraisal. The study reveals a good correlation of the education and training of quantity surveyors to the skill requirement for providing services requiring measurement of civil engineering works as well as services requiring evaluation of civil engineering works and financial management. The study also revealed 51.2% and 52.2% proportion of the curriculum and course content of University and Polytechnic respectively as focusing directly on the requirement of cost appraisal and administration of the financial aspects of civil engineering and other engineering projects. Keywords: correlation, education, skill requirement, administration, and civil engineering, quantity surveying


This paper brings together the practical applications and the evaluation of the first Text-to-Speech (TTS) system for Sinhala using the Festival framework and an Optical Character Recognition system for Sinhala.


Organometal halide perovskites have been much studied as an active material in a new generation of solar cell with high power conversion efficiency. The chemical reactions involved in their crystallization process are simple but the crystallization process and the formed crystal are very sensitive to temperature and humidity. In general, if the electronic structure of this active material is easily affected by temperature, the working performance of its solar cell will be also easily affected by temperature. In this work, we investigated the temperature effect on the working performance, namely the J-V characteristics, of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite based solar cell. The measurement result show that the J-V characteristic significantly changed with temperature. The J-V curve shows a diode characteristic at room temperature but it changes to an Ohmic characteristic at high temperature. This characteristics change may be due to the degradation of the perovskite crystals, which may be caused by separation and recrystallization PbI2 inside the perovskite layer.


The occurrence of high intraocular pressure (IOP) after vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy (DR) is related to many factors, including the type and stage of DR, macular detachment, surgical methods, and the type of ocular tamponade. Early high IOP occurred mainly due to laser photocoagulation, inflammatory response, improper ocular tamponade, residual viscoelastic agents and ciliary body dysfunction. In addition to the above reasons, early-middle stage high IOP is also related to tamponade gas expansion peak, encircling scleral buckle and hyphema. The major reason for middle-stage high IOP is hyphema and silicon oil in anterior chamber. The reasons for late-stage high IOP are glaucoma, silicone oil emulsification, long-term use of glucocorticoid, and iris incision closure. Most high IOP can be controlled by proper treatment such as stopping use of glucocorticoid, anti-glaucoma eye drops and surgeries. But there are still a small number of patients with unexplained refractory high IOP, the mechanism need to be further explored.

Key words:
Diabetic retinopathy/surgery; Ocular hypertension/etiology; Vitrectomy; Review


The last few years, accelerators are quickly proliferating across the globe. To illustrate, the F6S-platform for founders indicates that the worldwide number of accelerators has grown from 194 in 2012 to 793 in 2015; an increase of 308%. However, there is quite some confusion about what an accelerator is and what its impact is on early-stage technology ventures. To add to the confusion, many programs are continuously evolving their models. Understanding the organizational design of accelerators, its effectiveness, and its role in the startup ecosystem is key if we want to properly advise policy makers, investors, and corporates looking for new ways to spur the development of innovative ventures. Furthermore, focusing on accelerators provides an opportunity to extend the learning and experimentation literature as it offers a natural lab setting. Accordingly, the overarching research question of this dissertation is: what do accelerators do and how do they impact the entrepreneurial trajectory of ventures?

This study uses theory elaboration methods to suggest how accelerators are configured and what happens within an accelerator program. The research setting is 40 accelerators across Europe—cohort-based startup support programs that accelerate learning and are seen as problem solvers for various actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem such as venture capitalists, governments, corporates and even incubators. For instance, setting up an accelerator benefits venture capitalists by facilitating investments in a larger number of early-stage ventures at relatively low cost. It also benefits governments and corporates to streamline technology commercialization efforts.

Thus, accelerators are an important phenomenon and this study provides several insights. On the one hand, it opens the 'black box' by highlighting the design and practices of the accelerator. By recognizing the heterogeneity among accelerators, it is clear that more robust metrics have to be developed in order to monitor the effectiveness of the different models. Although classifications of accelerator programs based on their relative performance (e.g. the Seed Accelerators Ranking Project) could be of importance to startups, it may also provide a distorted view considering programs can differ in their strategic objectives.

On the other hand, it explains to policy makers, accelerators and early-stage technology ventures the boundary conditions of acceleration. First, policy makers need to take a long-term budget view when they consider to support startups through accelerator programs. Second, many ventures may not be investor-ready or commercially viable at the end of an accelerator program. Therefore, a systematic policy approach is needed for startups to thrive. Third, both early-stage technology ventures and individuals interested in setting up an accelerator should take into account the specific program components such as the selection process and the learning approach when respectively considering to apply for a program or configure one.

Taken together, these essays demonstrate that accelerators occur in various forms, are constantly evolving and can differently impact the development of early-stage ventures.