Investigations with captive and free-ranging cow elk (Cerous elaphus) have demonstrated that urinary allantoin;creatinine (A;C) ratios can be used as an index of metabolizable energy intake. Practical management applications of the technique, however, would require random collections of snow-urine, resulting in unknown proportions of samples from various sex-age classes. The goals of this research were to investigate sampling protocols and statistical methods for analyzing A:C ratios from random collections of snow-urine to develop an index of cow elk nutrition, and to evaluate these methods by comparing the winter nutrition of cow elk in several free-ranging herds. Snow-urine samples (n = 2,051) were collected from cow, calf, and bull elk in the Madison-Firehole Drainage of Yellowstone National Park during 5 consecutive winters from 1991-92 through 1995-96. Significant differences were detected in mean A:C ratios among sex-age classes. Computer simulations using these data demonstrated that mean A:C ratios derived from random sample collections were highly variable and consistently overestimated the true mean A:C ratio of cow elk. These problems were alleviated by the use of trimmed means, which we calculated by trimming 15% off the right tail and 20% off the left tail of the ordered sample distribution and calculating the mean of the remaining samples. Trimmed estimates of mean A:C ratios were consistently less biased with lower variability of sample means, and hence smaller confidence interval widths than were untrimmed means. Additional simulations and field experience suggested that a realistic sampling goal would be the collection of 20 samples at 2-week intervals throughout the winter. We tested this sampling protocol and the use of trimmed means during the winter of 1996-97 by collecting 1,008 samples from 6 elk herds that were managed for 3 different goals and were expected to have different nutrition. One difference in average overwinter A:C ratios was detected with trimmed means that was not detected with untrimmed means. Several differences in average overwinter A:C ratios were also detected that were consistent with expected differences in nutrition among the 6 herds, indicating that the sampling protocol and statistical methods detailed in this paper for urinary A:C ratios may provide a useful technique for indexing winter nutrition of ungulate herds.


In this work, we report an experimental investigation of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of thin Gd:HfO2 layers at 330 °C, which show ferroelectric behavior after annealing at 450 °C, compatible with...


People who have one or two abnormal components of metabolic syndrome (MS) in a 3-year period will lead to the MS compared to normal controls. This study aimed to observe the prevalence of abnormal components of MS in Tambon Health Promoting Hospital (THPH) population. The data were collected from the records of 1151 and 777 people who went to THPH of Thasongkorn district, Mahasarakham province in the year 2008 and 2011, respectively. The results showed that in 2008, the prevalence of increased glucose level, increased blood pressure, obesity with high body mass index and abnormality of at least one component were 17%, 41%, 18% and 66%, respectively, while in 2011, the figures were 17%, 36%, 18% and 62%, respectively. However, the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in the year 2008 and 2011 decreased slightly from 4% to 3% and 21% to 17%, respectively. Taken together, these findings can be used for further health promoting and surveillance of MS in THPH in Thailand.


In this paper, From the results of the study it can be concluded. A different target error will produce a different number of iterations. The smaller the target error, the greater the number of iterations. The smaller the target error, the better the accuracy value (the greater). The number of iterations in the training process with variations in momentum values is smaller than without variations in momentum values. The highest level of accuracy is achieved at the target error of 0.001 with a momentum value of 0.4 which is 96.62%.


The technical possibilities, limitations and costs of the various modalities are observed : thermal pre-stressing with hot water, thermal pre-stressing with steam and electro-thermal pre-stressing


Purpose To learn whether there are differences among certified and self-designated cardiologists, internists, and family practitioners in terms of the mortality of their patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Method Data on all patients admitted with AMI were collected for calendar year 1993 by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and analyzed. Certified and self-designated family practitioners, internists, and cardiologists (n = 4,546) were compared with respect to the characteristics of their patients' illnesses. In addition, a regression model was fitted in which mortality was the dependent measure and the independent variables were the probability of death, hospital characteristics (location and the availability of advanced cardiac care), and physician characteristics (patient volume, years since graduation from medical school, specialty, and certification status). Results On average, cardiologists treated more patients than did generalists, and their patients were less severely ill. In the regression analysis, all variables were statistically significant except the availability of advanced cardiac care. Holding all other variables constant, treatment by a certified physician was associated with a 15% reduction in mortality among patients with AMI. Conclusions Less patient mortality was associated with treatment by physicians who were cardiologists, cared for larger numbers of AMI patients, were closer to their graduation from medical school, and were certified.


A widespread practice, particularly in public-sector procurement and dispersal, is to subsidize a class of competitors believed to be at an economic disadvantage. Arguments for such policies vary, but they typically assume that benefits of subsidization must be large enough to outweigh a presumed economic cost of the subsidy. When disadvantaged competitors compete in auctions, the subsidy serves to make them more competitive rivals. Other bidders rationally respond by bidding more aggressively. We consider a model of procurement auctions and show that a policy of subsidizing inefficient competitors can lower expected project cost and also enhance economic efficiency. Some subsidy is generally better than no subsidy for a wide range of parameters.


Modeling software on an abstract machine, we study the power consumption (energy) requirement in solving two of the most popular software problems: search and sorting. Sorting consumes /spl sim/N times more energy than search where N is the data size. For the same problem and the same data size, the energy requirement for different algorithms could also vary by orders of magnitude.


Abstract: This paper shows how the analyses with fracture mechanic methods for the penstock of the high head hydropower plant Kaunertal have been made. Besides the analyses the experiences of material testing, welding and the connection to well-known standards for steel building will be presented. The main goal was to ensure the integrity of the penstock for the whole service life of 100 years. A high strength ductile material had to be found which allows high possible deformations and withstands cracks and failures which may grow under variant loading conditions. These cracks have to be noncritical until the end of the service live.


The main purpose was to analyse the frequency and effectiveness of different kind of shots and players' footwork performed by single men badminton players on World Championship depending on court zone. 18 matches were randomly selected and evaluated with a total of 1,273 points and 5,710 play actions. The most stressed court zone is Z5 and Z8 (middle zone) followed by Z10 (deep and lateral zone), while the most successful areas are Z8 (left middle zone) and Z10. When analysing footwork depending on distance covered by players, large footwork is performed mostly to Z1 and Z2. Hitting the shuttlecock with no previous movement is the most common situation from Z4 and Z5. When gathering in three court zones, the most stressed one is middle zone with similar values for Net and deep court zone. On the contrary, the most successfully gathered court zone is deep one, followed by middle and Net zones.


Antioxidants are placed in the amorphous phase inside semicrystalline polymers, where they can easily diffuse towards the polymer bulk. This movement could lead to the creation of new interfaces on the polymer surface, made up of antioxidant crystals, possibly causing additional space charge accumulation. In this article, a new methodology to integrate antioxidants into the main polymer matrix by grafting them on nanoparticle surface is presented and tested. This methodology reduced the movement of additives, without losing the oxidative prevention effect of antioxidant molecules. Space charge behavior of the obtained materials is reported and discussed.


Heterozygous mutations of the POU A/homeodomain transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1α and -1β cause maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in humans (1). HNF-1α and -1β act in a complex network of transcription factors regulating tissue-specific gene expression in the pancreas and other epithelial organs. Patients with mutations of HNF-1β (MODY5) are characterized by urogenital malformations, while extrapancreatic manifestations in patients with diabetes and HNF-1α mutations (MODY3) are not well known (2).

After an occasional blood glucose reading of 13.4 mmo/l, the diagnosis of diabetes was established in a 13-year-old girl. She was asymptomatic except for mild chronic lower abdominal discomfort. Her fasting glucose was 9.3 mmol/l, A1C was 8.5% (normal 4.2–6.1), and urine ketones were negative. After brief insulin treatment, she received 0.5 mg/day glimepiride, with a current A1C of 5.6%.

Her father (Fig. 1), diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 27 years, has received insulin since the age of 38 years. The paternal grandmother had diabetes treated with glibenclamide until she died 20 years ago, aged 62 years. Two asymptomatic sisters of the index patient were diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 14 years and 19 years. Their fasting serum glucose was 7.3 and 6.8 mmol/l, respectively, and A1C was 6.0 and 6.1%. Two hours after a 75-g oral glucose challenge, their glucose levels were 10.1 and 13.1 mmol/l, respectively. …


Presented in this volume are the Invited Lectures and the Contributed Papers of the Eighth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy – DICE 2016, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), September 12-16, 2016. These proceedings are meant to document the lively exchange of ideas during the conference for the interested public and the scientific community alike. – For further details on all aspects of the meeting, cf. the website at http://www.df.unipi.it/~elze/DICE2016.html. Our intention has always been to unite leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas, in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization. The meetings in this series have successfully grown from DICE 2002,1 followed by DICE 2004,2 DICE 2006,3 DICE 2008,4 DICE 2010,5 DICE 2012,6 and DICE 2014.7 About 120 participants representing almost 30 countries attended DICE 2016 this time.


Purpose: The RTOG 1005 trial offered a hypofractionated arm in delivering WBRT+SIB. Traditionally, treatments were planned at our institution using field-in-field (FiF) tangents with a concurrent 3D conformal boost. With the availability of VMAT, it is possible that a hybrid VMAT-3D planning technique could provide another avenue in treating WBRT+SIB. Methods: A retrospective study of nine patients previously treated using RTOG 1005 guidelines was performed to compare FiF+3D plans with the hybrid technique. A combination of static tangents and partial VMAT arcs were used in base-dose optimization. The hybrid plans were optimized to deliver 4005cGy to the breast PTVeval and 4800cGy to the lumpectomy PTVeval over 15 fractions. Plans were optimized to meet the planning goals dictated by RTOG 1005. Results: Hybrid plans yielded similar coverage of breast and lumpectomy PTVs (average D95 of 4013cGy compared to 3990cGy for conventional), while reducing the volume of high dose within the breast; the average D30 and D50 for the hybrid technique were 4517cGy and 4288cGy, compared to 4704cGy and 4377cGy for conventional planning. Hybrid plans increased conformity as well, yielding CI95% values of 1.22 and 1.54 for breast and lumpectomy PTVeval volumes; in contrast, conventional plans averaged 1.49 and 2.27, respectively. The nearby organs at risk (OARs) received more low dose with the hybrid plans due to low dose spray from the partial arcs, but all hybrid plans did meet the acceptable constraints, at a minimum, from the protocol. Treatment planning time was also reduced, as plans were inversely optimized (VMAT) rather than forward optimized. Conclusion: Hybrid-VMAT could be a solution in delivering WB+SIB, as plans yield very conformal treatment plans and maintain clinical standards in OAR sparing. For treating breast cancer patients with a simultaneously-integrated boost, Hybrid-VMAT offers superiority in dosimetric conformity and planning time as compared to FIF techniques.


This paper studies the macroeconomic factors in the stock market returns within a generalized dynamic factor approach This method enables us to summarize a large amount of economic information by few estimated factors and therefore avoids dimensional limitation of VAR or VEC model in this field. We pick out 78 series from the monthly economy indicators and financial variables in China spanning from 2005 to 2009 and find that latent macroeconomic factors — the "risk premium," the "credit supply" and the "demand factor combined with the economic policy measures" -contain important information about the returns in Chinese stock market while the supply factor affects via risk premium on the following period.


The Xenarthra represents an enigmatic clade of placental mammals that includes living tree sloths, armadillos, and their extinct relatives, yet certain aspects of the biology of this group remains poorly understood. Here, we use scanning electron microscopy to test the hypothesis that orthodentine microwear patterns in extant xenarthrans are significantly different among different dietary groups. In a blind analysis, microwear patterns were quantified at a magnification of 500× by two independent observers for extant species from four dietary groups (carnivore–omnivores, folivores, frugivore–folivores, and insectivores). Independent observers recovered the same relative between-group differences in microwear patterns. Insectivores and folivores have a significantly lower numbers of scratches and greater scar widths than frugivore–folivores and carnivore–omnivores, yet we were neither able to statistically distinguish insectivores from folivores, nor differentiate frugivore–folivores from carnivore–omnivores. Nevertheless, a clear distinction exists between taxa from the same trophic level and habitat, which suggests that orthodentine microwear reflects niche partitioning and habitat more than diet among related forms. We suggest that bite force and chewing mechanics have a strong influence on the formation of orthodentine microwear, which may explain some of the observed overlap between distinct groups (e.g. frugivore–folivores versus carnivore–omnivores). This study serves as a positive step forwards in our understanding of the ecological role of living xenarthrans, and serves as a foundation for using orthodentine microwear to reconstruct palaeoecology in extinct ground sloths, glyptodonts, and pampatheres. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ••, ••–••.


Airport noise is easily the most intensive, publicized, and emotional noise problem facing urban dwellers. The problem is also a magnificent example of federal inaction, and technical doubletalk as a result of its complexity. The Minneapolis—St. Paul International Airport, even though singular in innovative noise abatement procedures developed under public pressures, continued to unacceptably impact the life and property of its neighbors. In facing the problem, the Agency encountered: lack of successful case histories, unmeasurable criteria, unaffordable instrumentation, and noncooperation by federal agencies and industry. Roadblocks were overcome steadily: Noise Standards were adopted in November 1974; automatic noise monitors were developed at reasonable prices ($200 per unit) and 33 units purchased; a monitoring program with the help of 350 families was implemented, the impact of the problem was defined acoustically and demographically, unique operational characteristics of airline companies uncovered ...


Cheating is an immoral way of achieving higher grades in school by breaking rules and regulations and gaining an unfair advantage in a competitive environment. This dishonest behavior is becoming a more serious issue, particularly with all the technological developments, and it considerably threatens the educational systems in engineering, science, fine arts, law, nursing, medicine and pharmacy. Approximately 70% of school students in the U.S. admitted that they were involved in direct and/or indirect cheating actions during exams, homework, term projects, reports, papers and presentations using a variety of cheating techniques. These techniques include all kinds of cell phones, camera phones, earphones, MP3 players, graphing calculators, iPads, texting devices, monitoring devices, multifunctional watches, etc. Similar trends have been observed in many other developed or developing countries worldwide. These issues are more crucial for online courses, which have been gaining popularity for full-time employees who wish to further their education. In the present study, we have evaluated many of the high-tech cheating systems and devices that have been a major threat to engineering education, and we have reported the possible ways for improperly using these items in colleges. This study offers many opportunities for faculty members, teachers, lecturers and family members to become aware of the problem, take action, prevent such incidences and increase the quality of engineering education.


Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune-mediated disease characterized by transient or persistent decrease of the platelet count to less than 100 × 10 9 /liter. The major therapeutic goal for ITP is to use minimal treatment to maintain platelet counts that are sufficient to reduce bleeding symptoms with the least amount of side effects. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and anti-D are effective in raising the platelet counts but the effects are usually transient. For patients with chronic ITP whose condition failed to respond to corticosteroids or who have severe adverse effects from corticosteroids, splenectomy is the second-line therapy in many centers.


AbstractDuring the course of a rapid opiate detoxification procedure, withdrawal symptoms in opiate addicts caused by the application of naloxone were suppressed by an anesthesia induced by the short-acting benzodiazepine midazolam. This anesthesia usually can be easily and rapidly terminated by the administration of the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil. In the presented case, relatively high doses of midazolam had to be administered in order to suppress agitation of the patient during anesthesia. Low doses of flumazenil failed to immediately terminate midazolam anesthesia. However, the patient awoke 45 minutes later after he had received a total of 10 mg flumazenil. Possible explanations for this failure of flumazenil to immediately antagonize midazolam anesthesia are discussed.


This paper examines the insights provided by investigations into the ground level realities of marketing rural products by women entrepreneurs in India. Production for local marketing through direct selling is a relatively easy and prevalent strategy but such a method is inconsistent in a modern economy in which the rural enterprises have to compete with more organised firms. The paper finds evidences of new models of organisation and marketing emerging in the rural scene but argues that entrepreneurial strategy must utilise both the lessons drawn from the modern marketing discipline and the strengths of the informal networkbased traditional experience. I. BACKGROUND Despite their high work participation rates, rural women's economic engagements hover around the basic urgency for subsistence rather than relating to human aspiration, growth and development. Since the Mexico Conference of 1975, the government has given more attention to programmes that would expectedly develop and harness women power. Empirical evidences have found women in agricultural households to be occupied with relatively low paid, tedious and exhaustive farm jobs (Mencher and Saradamoni, 1982, Kaur and Goyal, 1996, Rani, et al., 1990) even while encountering a deteriorating bargaining power in the labour market (Hirway and Roy, 1999, ).During the course of the subsequent Five Year Plans, reforms in property rights, credit institutions and marketing regimes, and beneficiaryoriented employment programmes such as the Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM) and the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWACRA) were some of the landmarks that recognised women as partners in development. Training was a significant innovation in the process while the DWACRA and the Self-help Group (SHG) movement spearheaded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have, in recent times, succeeded in organising the women to enable them to avail of the necessary finance for economic activities. The growing recognition of the usefulness of directing income earnings towards women has further strengthened the policy initiatives towards designing women-oriented alternative employment programmes (World Bank, 2008, Gulati, 1978, Guha Khasnobis and Hazarika, 2006). The Government of India had implemented a number of programmes under the head 'Women in Agriculture' under which training was imparted to women in enterprises relating to agriculture. Starting in the early 1980s these programmes had covered several


Abstract This article contributes to a chain of literature extending back to the late nineteenth century on the 'problem family', particularly when encountered by housing providers as the 'problem' tenant. Using archival evidence of the techniques employed by one social housing provider in the mid-1970s to identify a definitive solution to the challenges posed by 'problem' households, I trace the patterns and practices in 'problem family' discourse more broadly, and their intersection with those of other discursive fields, particularly eugenics and social work. I show how attempts to define, identify and design models of rehabilitation for 'problem families' can be understood as forms of a discursive strategy which Foucault identified as 'commentary', and argue that such commentary remains intrinsic to welfare state efforts to tackle entrenched disadvantage.


: Artificial Intelligence (AI) aims to simulate information storage and processing mechanisms and other intelligent behaviors of a human brain, so that the machine has a certain level of intelligence. With the rapid development of the new generation of information technology, such as the Internet, big data, cloud computing, and deep learning, researches and applications of AI have made and are making important progresses. In this paper, the historical integration and evolution of computer science, control science, brain-inspired intelligence, human brain intelligence, and other disciplines or fields closely related to AI are analyzed in depth; then it is pointed out that the research results on the structure and functional mechanism of brain from neuroscience, brain science and cognitive science provide some important inspirations for the construction of an intelligent computing model. Moreover, the drives and developments of AI are discussed from the aspects of logic model and system, neuron network model, visual nerve hierarchy mechanism, etc. Finally, the development trend of AI is prospected from the following five aspects: the computational theory of the of feedback computation and the energy level of the control system.


This work validates the synaptic behaviors (long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD)) of a junctionless transistor (JL) through the simulator. The synaptic transistor is an essential component for implementing artificial neural networks (ANN), which are called hardware neural networks (HNNs). This analysis shows optimization of nonlinearity and dynamic range of conductance values of LTP and LTD and is used for implementing the ANN with the MNIST dataset. The device achieves linear conductance (0.1) value and a higher dynamic range (~105) by optimizing the gate voltage. These results indicate that the JL device achieves 88.1 % image recognition accuracy.


The Internet of Services (IoS) idea promotes collaborative service exchange and trading platforms. Activity in the IoS is determined by metrics such as the number of users, number of services with associated descriptions and contract templates, negotiated contracts, performed invocations and generated measurements. In order to develop scalable and high-quality IoS platforms, experiments with user activity simulations are needed to achieve realistic metrics. We present a hybrid approach to keep the amount of simulation to a minimum based on evolving real IoS system replication.


The invention discloses a navigation unit design method for prompting a thumbnail of a crossing next to a crossing shown in an enlarged drawing. Through the navigation unit design method, a thumbnail of a crossing next to a crossing shown in an enlarged drawing can be provided. The navigation unit design method comprises the following steps of judging a distance between a vehicle and a next crossing by a crossing identification judgment module, providing a distance between the next crossing and a crossing next to the next crossing by the crossing identification judgment module, judging if the distance between the two adjacent crossings satisfies the thumbnail display moment requirement by a crossing enlarged drawing display moment control module, drawing an enlarged drawing of the crossing closest to the vehicle by a crossing enlarged drawing display module, judging a distance between the vehicle and the next crossing by the crossing identification judgment module, judging if the vehicle passes through the crossing closest to the vehicle by the crossing enlarged drawing display moment control module, and controlling the crossing enlarged drawing display module to disappear the enlarged drawing of the crossing closest to the vehicle by the crossing enlarged drawing display moment control module. The navigation unit design method realizes display, switching and disappearing of a thumbnail of a crossing next to a crossing shown in an enlarged drawing, can provide a visual prompt and does not disturb a driver.


With the development of wireless sensor networks, electrical waste that remains in the environment is an inevitable issue in achieving sustainability and progress in electronics. Transient electronics that disappear after a prescribed time are of interest in electronics and material sciences. Such devices comprise naturally sourced materials that degrade without harmful or toxic substances during biodegradation. Although there are reports on transient electronic devices, including transistors, sensors, and radio frequency circuits, insufficient research has been conducted on the energy storage essential for operating transient devices. This review highlights the recent progress in developing transient energy storage. First, materials for transient energy storage, including conductors, electrolytes, and gels, are introduced. Second, transient supercapacitors, pseudocapacitors, primary batteries, and secondary batteries, are described and summarized. Finally, this review concludes and discusses the prospect of transient energy storage. The continuous progress of transient batteries and integration with transient devices are promising for sustainable electronics in the future.


Through DOE (design of experiment), ЕТ (eddy current testing) is included and proven as a quality indicator of carburizing, quenching and tempering of hydraulic motor parts. A method is suggested for calibrating NDT (non-destructive testing) by means of combined representation of regression models in the field of the technological factors of heat treatment and contour control charts. A method is presented here for choosing the working frequency for ET. It is also suggested that experimental design be considered a basic building element in the methodology of carburized parts ET. This article also presents a methodology for conducting eddy current testing in industrial settings.


In this paper,the plasma gonadotropins including follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),gonadal steroids testosterone(T),estradiol(E_2)and progesterone(P)of freshly captured Four Eye-spotted Turtle(Sacalia quadriocellata)were measured using a radio-immunoassay(RIA)method.The result shows that:The reproductive hormones in plasma displayed a distinct seasonal cycles.The plasma gonadal steroids levels are correlation to environmental temperature,as highest during summer and autumn,lowest in winter.Plasma T elevated during the period gonadal maturation and spermatogenesis occur.In female,there was a preovulatory LH surge and T rise during mating period,which probably is related to receptivity and coincided with ovarian maturation.Female E_2 levels increased prior to mating season and appeared to stimulate vitellogenin production by liver.A sharp surge of P displayed during mating period(autumn)which coincided with the timing of ovulation.


Although homocysteine (Hcy) has been proven to be associated with the incidence of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in patients with stroke, this association remains unclear in participants with asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis (aICAS). This study aimed to investigate the association of Hcy with WMH in participants with aICAS.


point he insists upon is tlie importance of always plugging after removal of a polypus by excision. In one case a patient nearly died from hjemorrhage.?JEd. Med. Journ., Dec., 1867. 2. Dr. Frankenhaiiser, in an elaborate memoir, not only traces the nerves in their course into the uterus, but discovers their terminations in the nuclei of the muscular fibres. He also gives a careful historical review of the subject. He says the best and truest account is that in "Walter's tables, Berlin, 1783. He extols Hunter's description of the uterine sympathetic nerves, and also Tiedemann's. The results of Robert Lee's researches are contradicted by Snow Beck ; but Snow Beck is incomplete and erroneous in his description. The histological investigation of the genital nerves has made little progress since Franz Kilian's time; but ganglia have been discovered in the substance of the uterus by Frankenhaiiser, Kohrer and Korner. Jena, 1867.


Trees and Shrubs for Small Gardens, A magnificent selection of dependable plants for year-round interest in the garden , Trees and Shrubs for Small Gardens, A magnificent selection of dependable plants for year-round inte... , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی


A 57-year-old man, being managed with a watchful waiting strategy for Stage A chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), presented, eight years following diagnosis, with itchy spots involving the face, trunk and limbs (Figure 1a). Individual lesions came spontaneously and resolved completely over several weeks. Clinically, there were crops of 4 to 10 mm pruritic, acneiform papules that were not folliculocentric, some of which had a central area of erosion(Figure 1b). Despite trials of lymecycline, topical clindamycin and fucibet therapy, the striking skin eruption progressed in severity becoming widespread and complicated by recurrent secondary Staphylococcal abscesses and an episode of facial erysipelas.


This paper presents solar powered low cost DC-DC converter based line frequency inverter for domestic lighting load. AC power conversion circuit incorporating high frequency push pull boost converter with single stage inverter topology. This power converter is more suitable and acceptable for cost effective applications. Its operating principle is presented using the switching mode equivalent circuits in addition to the operating voltage and current waveforms. Electrical energy generated by solar panel could be stored in battery and could be used to drive suitable domestic loads if standalone situations. Due to the utilization of renewable energy sources to meet a portion of daily energy needs. The operational principle of proposed topology was explained and Simulation results have shown the performance of the proposed high frequency transformer based topology for driving domestic loads.


N-ACETYLNEURAMINIC ACID DERIVATIVE OF FORMULA I: (CF DRAWING IN BOPI) IN WHICH THE R GROUPS REPRESENT INDEPENDENTLY, HYDROGEN OR ACETYL; R IS A REST OF NUCLEOSIDE; R is a carboxy or a methoxycarbonyl; PROCESSES FOR PREPARING THEM AND THEIR USE IN PARTICULAR AS INHIBITOR DRUGS OF METASTASIS OF CANCER CELLS.


This paper, entitled 'The contribution of literature in literacy development: the example of the Modern Greek Language textbook of the Third Grade of Junior High School', studies the textbook of the Third Grade of Junior High School with reference to the included literary texts and their contribution to the achievement of language literacy. After a brief theoretical section, which focuses on the concept of literacy and the relationship of literature and language teaching, the


Despite technological advances and policy efforts, environmental problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, competition for energy resources, access to clean water, air pollution, and land degradation, remain fundamental challenges for human societies in the 21st century. To tackle these environmental challenges, an important goal of K-12 science education is to enhance environmental literacy—the ability of students to master scientific knowledge and practices that will prepare them to analyze, interpret, and evaluate critical issues in complex natural and human systems, in order to make responsible and informed decisions about the environment. To contribute to the efforts to promote environmental literacy, the Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, presents this special issue: Enhancing Environmental Literacy in K-12 Science Classrooms. This special issue contains nine articles focusing on teaching and learning of environmental issues. Five articles focus on teachers' environmental literacy and their abilities to promote students' environmental literacy. Two of these articles explore factors that may affect teachers' knowledge and teaching of environmental issues. Kidman and Casinader notice that, although the teachers' environmental literacy is the prerequisite for promoting environmental literacy in students, research of teachers' environmental literacy is sparse. They examined the Australian science curriculum and found that it did not cover major sustainability ideas and critical inquiry-based practices, and therefore fell short in providing guidance for teachers. Lee, Chu, and Martin developed an instrument measuring teachers' environmental pedagogical content knowledge (ePCK). They examined factors influencing elementary teachers' ePCK and found that teachers who completed a graduate degree designed to improve ePCK in environmental education tend to have a higher-level of ePCK. The authors of the other three articles in this category investigated how professional development opportunities and teaching methods courses promote teachers' knowledge and teaching of environmental issues. Breslyn and Mcginnis conducted a study on how computational thinking, with an emphasis on complex systems, influences elementary preservice teachers' knowledge and teaching of climate change. They found that, after appropriate instruction, the preservice teachers were able to explain the relationships among various variables related to climate change, and they were also able to incorporate systems thinking in proposed teaching of sea level rising, a key topic in climate change. Owens, Herman, Orteli, Lanni, and Sadler explored the role of the socio-scientific reasoning in understanding complex environmental issues. They investigated how a professional development course with science and mathematics teachers positively influenced teachers' socio-scientific reasoning and provided teachers with tools to evaluate their students' understanding of complex environmental issues. Bloom and Quebec-Fuentes examined the effect of authentic experiential learning on in-service teachers' knowledge of energy sources and sustainability. They report on positive gains in teachers' content knowledge and propose ways to transfer those learning gains to classroom teaching.


The outlook for near-term investments in Western Europe are closely dependent on the success of EU economic integration and its ability to absorb the East European economies. The bull markets will probably continue, however, with some severe corrections.This presentation comes from the Investing Worldwide V conference held in Rancho Mirage, California, on February 13-15, 1994.


Isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood can reveal critical information for cancer diagnosis and prognosis [1]. Immunomagnetic assay, together with microfluidic technology, provides a highly efficient CTC screening method. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the red blood cells (RBCs) sedimentation during the process of isolating CTCs in the immunomagneic microchip system that we previously developed [2]. Both computational model and experimental studies are carried out to characterize RBCs sedimentation and its effect on CTC capturing in two different microchip orientations, upright and inverted. Colo205 cells (human colon adenocarcinoma cell) are spiked into healthy blood samples for screening experiment. The experimental results confirm the theoretical models and simulations, both indicating that inverted operation is optimal with higher capture


the center of their interest may be at a given moment and what the consequences for market results may have. Two issues were covered in the empirical part of this article. First, correlation between the occurrence of queries Google search users, and the closure of the WIG20 index has been checked. Out of almost 30 entries, thematically related to the stock exchange and finance, seven were selected, which were characterized by the highest correlation coefficients. Secondly, the possibility of using this type of data for prediction purposes was examined. In this context, two classification algorithms of machine learning were used: logarithmic regression and the naive Bayes classifier. The tests were carried out in three trials. The first consisted of 113 weeks. Its aim was to test the ability of searches indicators to predict the rate of return, assuming that their values were calculated in the same week as the rate return of index. The second attempt consisted of 112 weeks and included searches difference within a week delay. The third trial consisted of a sample of 111 weeks and included the search difference with a two-week delay. Particularly high values of the predictive characterized Bayes classifier in the third sample. The research results may constitute a premise to conclude that data from Google Trends bring with them a predictive value in the context of the domestic capital market. The literature review carried out by the author may indicate that the issue discussed in the article is characterized by timeliness, both in the understanding of the technological changes mentioned above as well as the global research achievements. At the same time, according to the author's knowledge, no attempts have been made so far on the basis of Polish science to use machine learning for financial predictions using data from search engines.


Research on social network sites has examined how people integrate offline and online life. But there is a lack of research with a particular emphasis on their communication for better health within health-related groups. In this paper, we examine how offline ties are almost non-existent, but online ties are strong in terms of the development of new humanism and in apparent social life. All of us today have a parallel existence even in the world of health information/misinformation. This shows up as our online identity on social media sites, discussion forums, learning communities and even personal health blogs and websites. Today using social media every day has become more of a need than a choice in communication, where we are finding solutions to our health care needs in an ever-connected world. This study aims to demonstrate if it can do more harm than good, if we lose sight of the right motivations and values, and fail to create a balance between our online and offline lives from the perspective of medical professionals. The increased challenges such as cybercrimes, digital deceptions and more have its effect on cyber wellness. As we become more cyber-smart every day, we also become more cyber-endangered in living a healthy life. According to the Task Force on Cyber Wellness, cyber wellness is defined as 'the positive well-being of Internet users and healthy cyberculture for the Internet community'. In this study, because the development of a cyber wellness culture is a complex, evolving and multi-tiered phenomenon, and the use of several theories addressing different constructs are indicated. Maslow's Developmental Theory and Roger's Theory of Diffusion of Innovation were the point of departure in this study. The study demonstrates how online lives of youth are moving towards an unhealthy life from the perspective of oral health medical professionals. Based on an online survey the study establishes how the majority (57%) the youth are abandoning the abstractions of structuralism and returning to performance that entails new humanism leading to healthier lives with the essence of the cyber experience that is fundamentally moral and ethically grounded in the digital space.


This paper addresses the problem of finding hedging strategies in an incomplete market. We study the Follmer-Schweizer decomposition of a life insurer's liabilities (involving stochastic mortality and financial profit sharing), splitting them into a component that can be hedged on the financial market and a component that cannot. Using Malliavin calculus tools, we obtain an explicit formula for each part, and therefore a complete probabilistic description of both components of the liabilities (the hedgeable and non-hedgeable). In addition to the optimal risk-minimizing "hedging" strategy, it allows to compute various business-related quantities, such as e.g. the risk margin (as defined in Solvency II) associated with the balance sheet. Two different models for the financial asset available for investment are considered.


Objective To observe the effects of asphyxia preconditioning on water content and the contents of interleukin-6(IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA) in perihemotoma tissue after intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH) in rats. Methods Totally 150 male SD rats were randomly allocated into three groups: sham group(Group S, n=50), ICH group(Group I, n=50) and preconditioning group (Group P, n=50). The rats were anesthetized with 10% chloral hydrate 40 mg·kg-1 celiac injection, paralyzed with vecuronium 0.2 mg·kg-1 and mechanically ventilated. The P group were pretreated with four times of preconditioning, by stopping ventilation for 1 min and reventilation for 5 min per circle. Other groups were not pretreated and only mechanically ventilated. One hour later, all the rats were maintained at an adequate respiratory rate(55 breaths/min) and depth, and the endotracheal tube was removed. ICH model was made by stereotactic injection of 50 μL autologous blood into the caudate nucleus in group P and I, or 50 μL saline in Group S. The changes of brain water content in different regions were measured by the wet and dry weight methods. The content of IL-6 and TNF-α in brain tissues were measured with radioimmunoassay and the content of SOD, MDA were assayed by chromatometry at 6 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after ICH. Results As shown in the ipsilateral basal ganglia, the increase of brain water content after ICH of group P(79.96±0.52, 80.49±0.69)% were much lower than that that in group I(81.78±1.49, 83.93±1.12)% at 24 h and 48 h. The differences were significant(P0.05). The contents of IL-6 and TNF-α in brain increased obviously in group I and P at 6h after ICH, peaked at 48 h, and decreased at 72 h. The contents of TNF-α in groupP were greatly lower at 48 h as compared with group I, P0.05. SOD in perihemotoma decreased significantly after ICH in group I and P. As compared with group I at 48 h (141±33 U/mg), SOD in group P (184±22 U/mg) was much higher, P0.05. MDA increased significantly after ICH in group I and P. While the values were much lighter in group P(3.53±1.42, 6.38±1.01 nmol/mg) than that in group I(5.55±0.93, 8.30±1.65 nmol/mg) at 24 h and 48 h, P0.05. Conclusion Asphyxia preconditioning increases the content of IL-6 and SOD, decreases the content of TNF-α and MDA, alleviates brain water content and demonstrates certain cerebral protective effects after ICH in rats.


PURPOSE
To compare the results of treadmill exercise testing (TM) to arm-leg ergometry testing (AL) in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

METHODS
Twelve men and 8 women with PAD (mean age, 62 +/- 10 years) completed a treadmill test and an arm-leg ergometer exercise test. Oxygen uptake, heart rate, rate-pressure product (x10(-3)), ratings of claudication and perceived exertion, and power were measured.

RESULTS
Peak oxygen uptake, heart rate, and rate-pressure product were similar between TM and AL. Exercise duration was longer and the peak power higher on the AL than on the TM. Claudication pain > or =3/4 was the reason for test termination in all subjects during TM test and in 13 subjects during AL. Nine patients discontinued due to severe claudication on both tests, but the pain occurred later in AL than TM.

CONCLUSIONS
Although peak oxygen uptake was similar between the 2 exercise tests, patients with PAD exercised longer and to a higher peak power during the AL. These data suggest that the AL test may be used to evaluate peak exercise capacity in patients with PAD. The AL may also provide an alternate method for detecting PAD and coronary heart disease.


The following is an attempt to clarify some methodological con fusion resulting from the article "The lannaccone-Lutz Model of School Board Change: A Replication in New Mexico," Educational Administration Quarterly, Autumn, 1973. Frank W. Lutz, a contributor to the original model, is director of the Philadelphia-Penn State Leadership Program and professor of education at The Pennsylvania State University.


Garlic Allium sativum L. belongs to the family Alliaceae. Garlic has many nutritional and medicinal uses. There are several solvents for extraction of bio actives i.e. Acetone, Ethanol...etc. The present study is aimed to compare the four solvents (acetone, ethanol, hexane and methanol) to extract the phenolics from local garlic varieties (Sids 40 and Sids 50) and its effect on antioxidants. The results showed the distinction of methanol over the rest of the other used solvents. It was found that they gave the highest content of total phenols estimated at 402.64 and 383.90 \(\mu g/g\) for both varieties, Sids 40 and Sids 50 respectively. The methanol as extraction solvent has more potential to recover a higher amount of Gallic acid, Syringic acid derivatives, (+)-Catechin, p-Coumaric acid, p-Hydroxy-benzoic acid and Epicatechin content from garlic powder for both varieties. In general, garlic variety (Sids 40) was distinguished by its content of phenols compared to garlic variety (Sids 50). The highest radical scavenging activity was observed for the extract from methanol garlic extraction, i.e. 4.81 and 4.71 \(\mu g/mL\) for DPPH and 0.52 and 0.51 \(\mu g/mL\) for ABTS+ (Sids 40 and Sids 50 respectively).


Several applications of Lie symmetries and its generalisation are presented: from turning butterflies into tornados, to its applications in epidemics, population dynamics, and ultimately converting classical problems into the quantum realm. Applications of nonclassical symmetries are also illustrated.


This paper summarizes our recent research on the Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) and outlines the directions our research in this area has been following. It settles the algorithm in the problem decomposition framework used often to understand the complex behavior of genetic algorithms. It provides the most important research issues to tackle and reviews our recent progress in each of these areas.


Summary form only given. Columnar and cone-like topographies have been observed after irradiation with multiple nanosecond laser pulses on a wide variety of materials including ceramics, polymers, metals and semiconductors. Although there is a lot of literature on this subject, very little information about column internal structure and composition is available Here, we present transmission electron microscopy analysis of the core of columns formed after excimer laser ablation of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-TiC ceramic composite. These results help us understanding the mechanisms of column growth.


A definition of intercultural communicative competence is given based on the importance of intercultural communicative competence and a survey was conducted on 140 English majors through interviews and questionnaires by qualitative and quantitative research methods,which found that the English majors were relatively weak in the intercultural communicative competence. Therefore,reasons were analyzed in accordance with the results and its implication on English teaching was offered.


The paper analyses the communication theory of USB bus and makes a summary of it.On the basis of work above,it then analyses the basic three logic communication structures of USB bus individually,including the main elements of the structure,i.e USB data packet,USB transaction and USBdata trandfer.


In this paper, several posture models is set up in the reverberation chamber, and the effects of human body on the electric field distribution is quantitatively evaluated by numerical simulation at 2.45 GHz. Specifically, 12 observation points are set up, and the simulation is performed by changing posture models and stirrer angles. The simulation results show that the electric field amplitude becomes less than 1/100 and the electric field uniformity deteriorates with posture models. Also, the results of the analysis of variance show that the influence of the observation points is smaller compared to the previous study simulated at 403.5 MHz. Furthermore, it is found out that the electric field uniformity deteriorates as the number of observation points increased. Future studies includes evaluating the effects of various postures and comparing them with actual measurements.


A 60-year-old man with lung adenocarcinoma (cT4N2M0, stage IIIA) was treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) durvalumab as maintenance therapy after chemoradiotherapy. The lesions showed no growth on completion of 23 cycles of durvalumab. Five months later, the patient presented with anorexia and epigastric pain. An examination revealed severe abdominal tenderness. He had no history of Helicobacter pylori eradication. The anti-H. pylori IgG antibody value was 6.9 U/mL, and a stool antigen test was negative. Abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated marked diffuse thickening of the gastric wall (Picture 1). During gastroscopy, before washing out the gastric mucosa, the white membrane strongly adhered to the mucosa of the gastric lower body (Picture 2A). Gastroscopy showed redness and edema of the mucosa (Picture 2B). There was no atrophy, erosion, or ulcer in the gastric mucosa (Picture 2C). A biopsy at the greater curvature of the gastric middle body showed severe inflammation and regenerative epithelium accompanying lymphocytic infiltration into the peri-gland. No H. pylori or intestinal metaplasia was identified (Picture 3). Severe gastritis, an immunerelated adverse event (irAE) caused by durvalumab, was suspected. Therefore, he was treated with methylprednisolone (500 mg/day intravenously for 3 days) followed by oral corticosteroid (0.5 mg/kg/day). By one month later, his


Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3D-printing, is a concept for the layer-by-layer manufacturing of three-dimensional parts based on a digital product model. Research in recent years supported the development of new Additive Manufacturing technologies. Additionally, a rise of Additive Manufacturing platforms can be observed recently. Business leaders are challenged by the multitude of decisions they must make in structuring, describing, and implementing their business vision of Additive Manufacturing. The paper shows, that via the Industrial Internet Reference Architecture and its four viewpoints, Additive Manufacturing systems can be described. Therefore, Additive Manufacturing systems can be seen as an Industrial Internet of Things systems. To further improve a framework tailored towards Additive Manufacturing, a research agenda of new elements supporting the viewpoints of the Industrial Internet Reference Architecture was developed. Our work is based on an explorative case study with an Additive Manufacturing contract manufacturer and Additive Manufacturing platform and is located in the field of design-oriented information systems research.


Women with certain inflammatory diseases have an increased risk of giving birth to infants who are small for gestational age (SGA) or preterm birth (PTB), with maternal disease activity being the most important risk factor. However, previous studies investigating an association between psoriasis and SGA are scarce and have shown conflicting results.


The phosphanoxy-substituted phosphaalkene bearing the P=C-O-P skeleton can be prepared from diphosphene Mes*P=PMes* (Mes* = 2,4,6- t Bu 3 C 6 H 2 ), and the use for catalysis is of interest. In this paper, complexation of the phosphanoxy-substituted phosphaalkenes with gold are investigated, and the catalytic activity of the mono- and bis(chlorogold) complexes are subsequently evaluated. Reaction of the P=C-O-P compound with (tht)AuCl (tht = tetrahydrothiophene) showed dominant coordination on the sp 3 phosphorus, and complete coordination on the sp 2 phosphorus required removal of tetrahydrothiophene. Atoms-In-Molecules (AIM) analysis based on the X-ray structure of the chlorogold complex indicated pseudo coordinating interaction between the gold centre and the P=C unit. The bis(chlorogold) complexes indicated the conformational isomerism, and catalyzed cycloisomerization/alkoxyclization of 1,6-enyne and for hydration of terminal alkyne without the activation treatment. Even the mono(chlorogold) complexes catalyzed the alkoxycyclization reaction without silver co-catalyst, indicating that the alcohols were effective for the activation of AuCl unit.


Nebulized spray pyrolysis of metal-organic precursors in methanol solution has been employed to prepare powders of TiO2, ZrO2 and PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 (PZT). This process ensures complete decomposition of the precursors at relatively low temperatures. The particles have been examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as X-ray diffraction. As prepared, the particles are hollow agglomerates of diameter 0.1-1.6 mu m, but after heating to higher temperatures the ultimate size of the particles comprising the agglomerates are considerably smaller (0.1 mu m or less in diameter) and crystalline.


Understanding the artificiality of belief is crucial for the image it generates regarding task performance in the course of problem-solving. This paper examines the contribution of the artificial as a model of human intervention and its relationship to a model of human participation. Specifically, it details the logical differences underlying how belief operationalizes the perception of complexity and its effects on task performance in human and machine problem-solving. Three configurations of artificiality are presented to explain these differences and their effects on the relationship between representation and computation in problem-solving. The first describes the "natural artifact" that arises from a symbolic model of intelligence and the design of a maze. The second describes the "natural artifact" that arises from a sub-symbolic model of intelligence and the design of a mold. The third examines how a hybrid model of intelligence requires "socio-cognitive artifacts" in which a means of adaptation is primarily mediated by discourse rather than design. In doing so, the paper examines how momentary beliefs explain the situational rationality of task performance. The paper concludes with a commentary on the requisites of artificial intelligibility in machine problem-solving.


The consumption of bottled drinking water has increased considerably in the recent years. The main objective of this study was to investigate the changes of total organic carbon (TOC) level in bottled water under various environmental stress conditions. In this study, samples of drinking water were taken just before and after bottling process from three mineral water bottling plants in Tehran province, and the comparison of the levels of TOC content of the water was evaluated before and after bottling process, and at the end of the consumption period. The results indicate that TOC level in mineral water increases over time. There were very few changes of TOC level in the bottled water after one day. After one month and then three months, the changes became more significant in a way that the TOC level increased from 1.6 to 2.33 mg/L. Studying the bottled waters just few days left to their expiration dates revealed that the level of TOC increased twice, i.e. from 1.6 to 2.9 mg/L. Also, the level of TOC in samples changed significantly one month after the expiration date, and it increased from the initial 1.6 to 3.2mg/L. The level of TOC in samples exposed to sun was almost four times more, and reached its highest level of 5.47 mg/L. Also, the level of changes in samples after freezing increased from initial 1.6 to 4.11 mg/L.


The social security fund comes from public finance. Therefore there is an inseparable relationship between public finance and the new rural social pension insurance system. By analyzing the change and current situation of the new rural social pension insurance system, the passage disclose the relationship between public finance and the new rural social pension insurance system step by step. It analyzes the problems existed in the system based on the view from public finance and puts forward the policy to perfect the system.


The combustion experiments of two droplets of n-octane arrayed in the direction of the electric field were carried out under microgravity. Experiments with different electrode distances are carried out and two individual flames were observed. The increase in the burning rate constant of the cathode-side flame was arranged reasonably using the representative electric body force, which was expressed by the product of the square of the applied voltage and the inverse cubic electrode distance from the one-dimensional steady-state analysis. The increase in the burning rate constants is discussed by the convection effect and the experimental results are estimated in an analogy of the effect of Grashof number on droplet combustion. For the anode-side flame, a luminous flame at the positive-side end that emits negatively charged soot particles is observed, which induces the local flow in an antiflow direction, preventing convective heat transfer to the droplet.


and complex spatial designs can perhaps therefore be effective when used indirectly in this fashion. This approach is somewhat reminiscent of other abstract processes which have been used to indirectly create and control complex textures in orchestral music. Consider this quote by the composer Gyorgy Ligeti from an interview in 1978. "Technically speaking, I have always approached musical texture through partwriting. Both Atmospheres and Lontano have a dense canonic structure. But you cannot actually hear the polyphony, the canon. You hear a kind of impenetrable texture, something like a very densely woven cobweb. The polyphonic structure does not come through, you cannot hear it, it remains hidden in a microscopic, underwater world, to us inaudible [Bernard, 1987]. " The dynamic spatial textures created using granular synthesis and flocking algorithms would seem to function in the same way, as in this case only the overall motion and the motion of sounds relative to each other will be perceived, while the individual trajectories followed by each grainboid are not generally clearly perceptible. In this case, it is the overall motion, rather than the specific location or direction, which is important and hence, Ambisonics would seem to be a suitable spatialization scheme for this purpose.


Flows enterprise information integration system of management and control technology is the organic combination of management network and computer control systems.It provides scientific means and grounds for flow enterprise production and management.Taking an example for Jinxi Natural Gas Chemical Ltd.,the design,realization process,and configuration of information integration system of control technology and management such as enterprise management and dispatching system are presented in this paper.


The prerequisite for the proper development of a company is to ensure efficient and effective management by a qualified person, both when we consider the functioning of a private enterprise and a state one. Until recently, it was possible to conclude a standard contract of employment with a manager of a state capital company or apply a managerial contract. Since 9th September 2016 a member of the management body of a company is obliged to conclude a contract for the provision of management services. The primary objective of the corporate governance of municipal enterprises is to provide a state in which the manager is committed to meeting the expectations of stakeholders. The aim of the article is to recall the initial description and research on the use of management contracts in municipal enterprises and assess their effectiveness. It adopted the thesis that management contract is an effective tool for corporate governance of municipal enterprises. The adopted problem of the research was to develop a framework for the analysis of the effectiveness of management contracts in municipal enterprises. The paper uses the studies included in the literature, a conceptual study based on logical reasoning―especially the analysis of factor influence, the method of a questionnaire, expert research and a case study.


Purpose

This paper aims to offer an integration point for newly acquired heterogeneous knowledge resources to be assessed if these resources qualify to be a part of a firm's existing knowledge resource portfolio. Focus of this paper will be on the development of knowledge integration point (KIP), in addition to the factors helping in determination of this KIP, for example, manager's judgment about the firms' knowledge requirements, knowledge reserve a potential employee should have and firm's existing knowledge resource portfolio.

Design/methodology/approach

This study includes a content analysis.

Findings

Firms should have only those resources which contribute to value creation for the customers and the organization. Presence of any other knowledge resource which does not have the ability to create value is a waste of value. It is the knowledge managers' responsibility to decide whether a knowledge resource should be a part of a firm's existing knowledge portfolio. This decision should be taken before the acquisition of that knowledge resource, i.e. at KIP, then it would be more easy for knowledge managers to handle and integrate them with the existing set of firm's knowledge resources.

Practical implications

If the potential knowledge resource is evaluated at KIP to know its level of integration and configuration ability with the existing firms' knowledge resource portfolio, then it will take less time and efforts to integrate. It will take such firms far ahead than those whose acquired resources took much time to integrate. Hence, resource's integration and configuration ability levels affect the speed of integration, which ultimately provides opportunity to firms to perform well.

Originality/value

KIP may help to make speedier integration process, which eventually leads firms to perform better.


Grid computing is a new computing-framework to meet the growing computational demands. Computational grids provide mechanisms for sharing and accessing large and heterogeneous collections of remote resources. However,task scheduling is one of the key elements in the grid computing environment,and an efficient algorithm can help reduce the communication time between tasks. So far,the task scheduling algorithms in the grid computing environment have not been based on task duplication. But,the scheduling algorithms based on task duplication will generate too many task replications,which will enlarge the system loads and even add the makespan. As optimal scheduling of tasks is a strong NP-hard problem,this paper presents a scheduling algorithm based on genetic algorithm and task duplication,whose primary aim is to get the shortest makespan,and secondary aim to utilize less number of resources and duplicate less number of tasks. The chromosome coding method and the operator of genetic algorithm are discussed in detail. The relationship between subtasks can be obtained through the DAG. And the subtasks are ranked according to their depth-value,which can avoid the emergence of deadlock. The algorithm was compared with other scheduling algorithm based on GAs in terms of makespan,resource number and task replication number. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm to the scheduling problem.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease which is characterized by the formation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. These abnormal proteins induce disturbance in mitochondrial dynamics and defect in autophagy system. Since presenilin‐1 (PS1) is a core component in γ‐secretase complex, the mutations of PS1 gene cause the interference of γ‐secretase activity and lead to the increased Aβ42 secretion. We aimed to characterize the patient‐specific induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line carrying PS1‐S170F mutation. Furthermore, we tested whether disease‐modifying drug can reduce AD pathology in the AD iPSC‐derived neurons.


Metaphors are unavoidable but dangerous components of human thought. Every effort to visualize or make concrete complex concepts is selective, highlighting some ideas while eclipsing others. The resulting mental image also may evoke strong emotional and moral reactions. As Robert Jay Lifton has shown, Nazi genocide rested on an elaborate metaphor, which described the regime's racial victims as "vermin" or "bacilli," and which presented mass extermination as a program of public health.(1)Despite the appearance of precision, treatments of corporate governance in the literature of economics, public policy, and law also have often been controlled by metaphors. Behind such specialized legal terms as "fiduciary obligations" or "the principal-agent relationship" are a series of mental pictures--metaphors--which have molded both professional and popular thinking.Consider Milton Friedman's classic 1970 article The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.(2) Friedman's objective in this article was to argue against the expanded managerial obligations then being championed by defenders of "corporate social responsibility." To this end, Friedman does two things at the beginning of his discussion. First, he tells us that, because advocates of social responsibility usually focus on corporate behavior, he will concern himself with corporate executives rather than individual business proprietors. Second, he presents what he regards as an incontestable description of the relationship existing between all business owners, including shareholders, and those individuals who are paid to manage the business:In a free-enterprise, private-property system a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.(3)Astute readers of Friedman's essay will see that they have been proffered a metaphor: a highly selective and concrete image of the role, function, and responsibilities of the executives of large public corporations. Before our eyes, the image of the modern corporation has vanished, to be replaced with one drawn from Dickens. Managers of large public corporations and the millions of institutional investors who know the companies in which they invest, if they know them at all, only as lines in a quarterly report, are replaced by Bob Cratchit and Scrooge.With his metaphor in place, Friedman's moral argument is sealed. Managers are bound by explicit and implicit promises made to shareholders they have freely agreed to serve and who have put their trust and property in the managers' hands. Of course, no one can be required to perform illegal or flagrantly unethical deeds, and this explains the qualifications Friedman places on managers' obligations to the shareholder. Nevertheless, within these modest constraints, managers owe their primary loyalty to those who agree to pay their salaries. Diversion of resources or managerial time to other "worthy causes" constitutes taxation without representation, or, more in line with Friedman's actual metaphor, embezzlement.Friedman's defense of managers' duties to shareholders is nearly a quarter of a century old, yet its spirit lives on in the concepts--and metaphors--that continue to dominate the law of corporate governance. Within this sphere, senior managers are held to have fiduciary duties to the corporation and its shareholder "owners" that stem from special obligations managers freely incurred when they agreed to serve as "agents" for their corporate "principals." As fiduciaries, senior managers have an affirmative obligation to disclose relevant business information to other corporate decisionmakers. Senior managers must act loyally to the corporation, avoid taking personal advantage of information or opportunities that come their way; and act with the same care and diligence in corporate matters as they would in their own affairs. …


The design of a proper molecular model with a good balance between the size of the model system and the computational capacity is essential for theoretical modeling of biological systems. We have shown in this Letter that the often used model system, a lumiflavin (7,8-dimethy-10-methylisoalloxazine), cannot correctly describe geometrical and electronic structures of FADH− in DNA photolyase. The intramolecular hydrogen bond between the isoalloxazine ring and the ribityl moiety is found to play a significant role in controlling photochemical properties of FADH− in DNA photolyase.


Strontium substituted praseodymium manganite Pr 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 powder was synthesized by a solid state reaction method at 1400 °C. Neutron diffraction analysis at room temperature and at 14.5 K shows that our sample belongs to the Pnma space group at both temperatures. At low temperature, the refinement gave 3.368μ B for the Mn atoms and 0.273μ B for the Pr atom, aligned ferro-magnetically along the crystallographic y-axis. Magnetic measurements show that our sample exhibits a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition with decreasing temperature. The Curie temperature, T C , is found to be 250 K. Electrical studies show a semiconductor-metal transition at T q = 260 K. This transition temperature is observed in the vicinity of the Curie temperature T C . Magneto-transport properties show a sharp drop in resistivity as a function of the magnetic applied field. Our sample displays a magnetoresistance effect at 8 T of about 80% in the vicinity of the Curie temperature T C . 55 Mn NMR measurements at 4.2 K confirm the metallic behavior at low temperature. The time average resonance frequency indicates that electron hopping between Mn 3+ and Mn 4+ occurs over the whole crystal.


In this paper, a transmission array of a focused microwave thermotherapy system is introduced for those with diseases of the leg. A microwave time reversal analysis is introduced to understand microwave focusing. The transmitter circuit of a transmission array is evaluated by measuring the phase control and the magnitude control at the array output port. The results are satisfied to focus fields at a target point.


In this paper,the principle of diesel engine′s power measuring at free load is introduced.On the basis of experiments,we investigate the accelerative character of diesel engine at free load.Furthermore,a method to measure engine′s power at free load by using angular acceleration is discussed.


Introduction: Perforation is defined as communication between the root canal and the external tooth surface, normally occurs during endodontic treatment and is induced by iatrogenic causes. There are some conditions that favor the perforations, among others the irregular morphology of root canals, root dilaceration, error during pulp chamber preparation, excessive wear of root canal walls and inadequate preparation for intraradicular post placement. Methods: The definitive diagnosis of this type of iatrogenic condition is very difficult due the limitation of periapical radiography, as it offers a twodimensional image and superimposition of structures. For this reason, imaging methods such as computerized tomography, which allows all the root faces to be evaluated, should be used in order to diagnose and inform the location of root perforations with greater precision. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated the importance of cone beam computerized tomography in the diagnosis of root perforation in three clinical cases.


One of the efforts made by the government to increase development is by developing the field of investment, because economically investment is the first step in production activities. In this regard, to create a realization of sustainable investment, a conducive investment climate is needed. A conducive investment climate in the economy is a hope for the community, investors, business people and the government. This study aims to analyze and explain the strategies of the Banyuwangi Regency Government as an effort to create a Conducive Investment Climate that is useful for regional development. This research was conducted using qualitative methods with a case study approach. Data collection techniques that will be used in this study include interviews, focus group discussions, documentation and literature studies. The results showed that BanyuwangiRegency implemented regulations on investment by implementing several e-Government applications that had the function of transparency, accountability, and facilitating public services related to investment. E-government leads to good governance because government services are more transparent, effective and efficient so as to form public trust which has an impact on increasing investment interest by investors. The increase in investment was also caused by policies or regulations that favored the creation of a conducive investment climate.


A model-based comparison of thermal and plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques for the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from methane feedstock is presented. In thermal CVD, the feedstock does not dissociate in the gas phase at temperatures commonly used for single- and multiwalled CNT growth (⩽900 °C) and the nanotube production is entirely due to surface reaction of CH4 on the catalyst surface. In contrast, plasma reactors produce, through electron impact as well as neutral reactions, significant amounts of acetylene, ethylene, a variety of CxHy radicals and ions from the methane/hydrogen feedstock, all of which contribute to the nanotube production. Such production of higher order stable hydrocarbons and radicals may make growth of single-walled CNTs difficult using low temperature plasma CVD techniques.


For policymakers to address poverty and education outcomes for African American communities, a multilayered approach is needed at all levels of education, and this support should begin at birth and extend to the first four years of higher learning or two years of apprenticeship within a designated field. Many policymakers will argue regarding the cost; however, it should be noted that the benefits of a multilayered approach to support Black students could lead to various cost-saving measures, which could ultimately close the poverty gap and achievement gap between Blacks in the USA and other groups. This chapter will outline a pathway for addressing poverty and education outcomes for African American communities.


GP5 gene of PRRSV isolated from Yancheng city was cloned,sequenced and compared on homology.Then the phylogenetic tree of GP5 gene was established and molecular epidemiology analysis on PRRS in Yancheng was carried out.The results showed that the nucleotide homology of GP5 gene between Yancheng isolated strain1 and strain2 with domestic strains of Jiangxi1,HuB1,SD and LN-5 was 86.1%~97%,and the amino acid homology was 97%,respectively.PRRSV of Yancheng isolated strain1 and strain2 were closed to CHl-a in genetics with the homology of 97% and 97.5%,but far to Europe strain LV with nucleotide homology of 56% and amino acid homology of 54%,so PRRSV of Yancheng strains represented American type.Meanwhile PRRSV of Yancheng strains were genetically far to vaccine strains of BJ-4 and RespPRRS MLV with nucleotide homology and amino acid homology of 86.6%~88.1%,they might represent different subgenotypes.It is concluded that PRRSV infection recently in Yancheng may belong to prevalent strains in fields with important variation,but not external strains or vaccine strains with immune evasion or virulence reinforcement.


This work is devoted to determination a generalized indicator for a preliminary assessment of the conditions for increasing the efficiency of modernized systems of centralized and decentralized heat supply using heat pump technologies. This goal is achieved through a critical analysis of the results of the actual state of pipelines and equipment, known approaches to the reconstruction of heat supply systems and the establishment of a generalized indicator of the conditions for increasing the efficiency of using primary fuel energy. This made it possible to formulate a generalized approach to the modernization of heat supply systems with the introduction of heat pump technologies. The most important result of the study is the established generalized dependence of the assessment of the increase in the efficiency of heat supply systems on the initial conditions of regime parameters with the rationale for the feasibility of modernizing district heating systems based on the diverse phased introduction of heat pump technologies at all stages: generation, transportation, distribution, conversion and controlled consumption of heat by subscriber system. The significance of the obtained research results lies in the fact that the proposed approach to the modernization of centralized and decentralized heat supply systems based on heat pump installations with real conversion factors in the range (3--5) with an increase in the available heat potential is to increase the efficiency and expand the use of heat from primary fuel with its savings of 1-2.7 times.


Skills Acquisition Topic 1 Skill and ability Topic 2 Information processing Topic 3 The memory system Topic 4 Feedback Topic 5 Reaction time Topic 6 Motor programme theory and open-/closed-loop control Topic 7 Theories of learning Topic 8 Teaching, practice and guidance Topic 9 Motivation and arousal Sports Psychology Topic 10 Personality in sport Topic 11 Attitudes Topic 12 Aggression in sport Topic 13 Leadership Topic 14 Sports groups Topic 15 Goal setting Topic 16 Confidence in sport Topic 17 Emotional control in sport Topic 18 The effects of others on performance Topic 19 Attribution in sport


In the strategies of modern corporate culture,the concept of corporation credit has become an indispensable and important component.It is the necessary requirement for the modern corporate culture according to the modern economic ethics,and determines the cultural strategy of the enterprise's competitiveness.Jinshang(Enterprise from Shanxi),in its business practice for hundreds of years,formed series of corporation credit strategies such as "benefit equal emphasis on justice,righteousness benefit unity","no sales know-how,reputation first".Strategy of the corporate culture of modern enterprise development has an important role in learning.Learning from the concept of corporation credit,companies will establish a corporate culture with great features and form a "people-oriented" enterprise management model to create a viable brand.


The subject of female- perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) against men has been one of controversy, with well- rehearsed arguments surrounding both the nature and ex-istence of female- perpetrated abuse against men. The aims of this study were to explore men's help- seeking experiences and/or their perceptions of utilising support services/ support networks following IPV victimisation. Consequently, this study explored the help- seeking experiences of 26, largely British, men who self- identified as having experienced female- perpetrated IPV. As the focus was on subjective experiences, a qualitative design was employed. Participation was invited from men who had sought help for their IPV victimisation from a range of sources and those who had not sought help at all. Semi- structured interviews explored the men's experiences of seeking help, and barriers to seeking help, following IPV. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Some of the participants who took part in this study had received formal support for


Soil, vegetation and atmospheric water vapor (0.1~3 m above ground) were sampled in a subalpine shrubland covered with Quercus aquifolioides during three days in the early monsoon period in Wolong Nature Reserve, China. In June 2006, the average LAI of Q. aquifolioides was 2.05 m^2 m^(-2) and the average community coverage was more than 90%. Isotope turbulent mixing relationships, isotopic values of transpired water from plants and that of evaporating water vapor from soil surface were used to estimate fractions of transpiration and evaporation contributing to the total evapotranspiration (ET). The method worked well for δD, but it was imprecise for δ^18O because the minute isotopic differences between transpired water and soil water. The results from δD showed that fractional contributions of plant transpiration to ET were 74.5±9.9%, 65.6±8.3% and 96.9±2.0% on 21st, 24th and 25th June, 2006, respectively, implying that ET is mostly generated by plant transpiration. Notably, the transpiration from herbage layer for ET was likewise important as that from shrub layer. Our approach is useful for partitioning ET in semiarid subalpine shrubland at an ecosystem scale on short time steps. This approach improves the understanding of water exchange in semiarid ecosystems, and offers an opportunity to measure and validate component fluxes with accurate spatial representation at a common scale.


The purpose of this study is to understand the role of the Houseof Entrepreneurship in activating the idea of establishing small andmedium institutions among universities students, After the universitygraduate was looking for a job, he became the one who creates andprovides jobs. This is achieved by integrating and linking the culture ofentrepreneurship with higher education programs, through which he canacquire various skills (professional, technical, managerial and personal),attitudes and behaviors, And the development of the entrepreneurial spirit,which carries with it the spirit of initiative and risk, and the culture of selfemployment..., which is developed and valued through the supportprograms that are created at the level of the university as the House ofEntrepreneurship, and the study concluded that the House of Contractorscontribute to enable students to enter Business world through providingtraining courses and business consultations and providing an integratedbusiness environment that helps them achieve and sustain their projects.


The friction brake system reduces the speed of the train by transforming the kinematic energy into heat through the abrasion between the carbon pads and the disk. The British Rail Class 390 fleet (Pendolino) features a very high availability, running 1000 miles a day on average, so their wear rate is monotonic and acceptably constant. The prognostics for brake pad degradation are typically conducted with a robust online linear regression technique, which seamlessly accommodates asset-based idiosyncrasies, like the different effort that is exerted on the pad given its location on a motor or a trailer car, on the left or the right hand side of the caliper, etc. This technique is also resilient to abrupt measurement changes due to asset replacements, sensor imprecision, and acquisition failures, while retaining the physical evolution of the wear, which erodes the surface of the pad. This article evaluates the effectiveness of this approach with a dataset of brake pad thickness measurements, at the fleet level (around 12000 asset instances), using a sliding window technique, and refines its performance with a neural network ensemble, which blends physical and location features. The results of the analysis prove that this method meets the requirements of the maintenance staff and thus yields a new avenue for business improvement through the application of the predictive maintenance approach for brake pads.


In this work, we address the problem of algorithm plagiarism, which occurs when a plagiarist, violating intellectual property rights, steals others' algorithms and covertly implements them. In contrast to software plagiarism, which has been extensively studied, limited attention has been paid to algorithm plagiarism. In this paper, we propose two dynamic value-based approaches, namely N-version and annotation, for algorithm plagiarism detection. Our approaches are motivated by the observation that there exist some critical runtime values which are irreplaceable and uneliminatable for all implementations of the same algorithm. The N-version approach extracts such values by filtering out non-core values. The annotation approach leverages auxiliary information to flag important variables which contain core values. We also propose a value dependence graph based similarity metric in addition to the longest common subsequence based one, in order to address the potential value reordering attack. We have implemented a prototype and evaluated the proposed schemes on various algorithms. The results show that our approaches to algorithm plagiarism detection are practical, effective and resilient to many automatic obfuscation techniques.


This study aims to determine the effect of product quality and price on consumer satisfaction on the products of Sokasi Desa Kayubihi. The research design used is causal quantitative research. The subjects of this research are consumers of products in Sokasi Kayubihi Village. The sampling technique used is non-probability sampling with purposive method sampling and set a sample of 75 respondents. The analytical method used is multiple linear regression analysis with the analysis tool Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results showed that product quality and price together had a significant effect on consumer satisfaction with a contribution of 71.7%. In addition, product quality can also partially increase consumer satisfaction on the products of Sokasi Kayubihi Village with a contribution of 16.6% influence. Likewise, the price partially has a positive influence on consumer satisfaction on the product Sokasi Kayubihi Village with a contribution of 21.1% influence. Therefore, improving product quality and setting appropriate prices can increase consumer satisfaction with products Sokasi Kayubihi Village.


Novel face to face oriented square complementary split-ring resonators in substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) have been proposed and discussed. In the proposed structures the inner loop of the conventional CSRR is replaced by square and triangular slots. Like the conventional CSRRs, the proposed structures allow the implementation of a forward-wave passband which is propagating below the characteristic cutoff frequency of the waveguide. The proposed designs have the advantages of the better pass band and enhanced bandwidth compared to conventional CSRR for applications in miniaturized waveguide bandpass filters.


Sending message used to be a long and wasteful process. Currently, new technology allows user to send message to the others a lot easier and quickly. Therefore our work sees the significant of inputting method on mobile phone. Our study focuses on Thai language input methods on mobile phone. We focus on evaluating the usability of three methods of Thai text entry solutions on a 12-key mobile phone keypad, including the traditional method or Thai character typing in normal solution (Multi-press), using the predictive text recognition solution (T9 text input) and using English character typing in making Thai word solution (Karaoke) with novice users. Before the usability experiment starts, the KLM is applied to each input method in order to pre evaluate each method. It was found that users make more errors and mistakes with Multi-press and Karaoke than T9. Similarly to the KLM result, the results of this experiment showed that the T9 method is the quickest. Moreover, the users found it is easiest to use. However, this method is rarely used by the users initially. But when the method is introduced to the users and allowing them to learn how to use it properly, user can use it with great usability for users.


This essay explores the contribution of Hendrik Hartog's Someday All This Will Be Yours to an understanding of old age policy and the aging experience more broadly. It starts by discussing how Hartog's study contributes to a modern understanding of the legal structure surrounding old age. It then discusses how the narrative is colored, in part, by looking at the cases from a caregiver's perspective, and explores the implications of this perspective. Finally, it suggests avenues for building on Hartog's work by using modern legal cases to explore how courts today perceive the moral and legal obligations surrounding the duty to provide care.


The effect of luminance of the contralateral steady light upon the foveal threshold was examined in the situation where both test-field and contralateral background (or surround) appeared to be completely fused when both were exposed simultaneously. The relation between the test threshold (defined as log Lt/Lto) and the luminance of the contralateral background (or surround) (I) was expressed by log (Lt/Lto) = a(1 – e−b log 1), where a and b are constants.


Suzhou Pan family was the descendants of Huizhou merchants,and an ancient and well known family for the good results in imperial examinations by its family members in the south of Yangtse River.During its development,Pan family generated the binary values through the interaction between doing imperial examinations and trade,combining family education of Song Scholars' ideals with the cultivation of the sense of utility.That was not only the result of the mix up of being officials and merchants at the same time,a tradition in Ming and Qing dynasties,especially in late Qing,but also the conformity of different regional cultures of Huizhou and Suzhou.Meanwhile the cautious attitudes in official career and the beliefin fortune accumulation through doing good deeds vividly reflected the behavior manners of upper gentry in the south of Yangtse River in the Qing Dynasty and their ethical morals that were derived from social life.


This work aims to demonstrate the importance of fundamental rights as constitutionalized human rights in a Democratic State of Law. It also seeks to emphasize that the mere positivization, even under a constitutionalized version, does not give those rights direct and immediate implementation, which is why it is essential to establish basic safeguards. Distinguishing fundamental rights from basic guarantees, in fact, is one of the concerns of this work. This paper also presents the concept of a Democratic State of Law, debates issues regarding fundamental rights and guarantees and, as a logical consequence, goes along a study of the Constitutional Process and its maximum importance degree to the fundamental rights protection in a Democratic State of Law. In short, studying the Constitutional Process and the fundamental rights protection in Democratic State of Law is therefore the goal which is proposed in this research.


The article is aimed at diagnosing the innovativeness of Polish senior consumers (aged 65 and over). The starting point of the analysis is a short description of the elderly population. It is followed by the issues like: the interest of seniors in innovative goods and services as well as their knowledge of the problem, their inclination to purchase innovation and the related motives and barriers. There is also a discussion of the sources of information on the selected categories of innovative goods and services. The summary presents the segmentation of Polish consumers with regard to their attitudes to innovation and the share of senior consumers in every segment as well as a general assessment of senior consumer innovativeness. The article makes use of the empirical research conducted in 2014 within the Institute for Market, Consumption and Business Cycles Research project entitled "Consumption in an Innovative Economy".


Sponges elaborate the largest number of bioactive marine natural products, which often possess fascinating structures of great varieties. Our involvement in this area of chemistry has resulted in the synthesis of curcuphenol and curcudiol,1 (-)-furodysin,2 (-)-furodysinin,3 the enantiomer of herbasolide,4 and tavacpallescensin.5 More recently, efforts in attaining the isocyanopupukeananes also bore fruit;6 we now describe our approach to 9-isocyanoneopupukeanane (1), which is a constituent of a Ciocalypta sp.7 Besides the syntheses of 2-isocyanopupukeanane (2a, Chart 1)8 and 9-isocyanopupukeanane (2b),9,10 formal syntheses of the latter that terminated at 9-pupukeanone11-13 have also been reported. On the other hand, we are not aware of 1, which possesses a rearranged skeleton, having been yielded to synthesis. This work stemmed from our general interest in synthesis design related to molecular symmetry.14 In a retrosynthetic analysis of isocyanoneopupukeanane, the disconnection of the isopropyl group and functional group interchange at the isocyano-substituted center led to the symmetrical ketone 10. Further tracking indicated the tricyclic olefin 8, and the cyclohexadiene 7 to be useful synthetic precursors. To secure these compounds, we started from 3, which is readily available15 from a reaction sequence consisting of Birch reduction of p-cresyl methyl ether, Diels-Alder reaction with methyl acrylate (after in situ conjugation), and Grignard reaction with MeMgCl. Treatment of 3 with HClO4 led to enone 4 (63%), which was epoxidized at the side chain with hydrogen peroxide-urea in acetic anhydride to give 5 in 70% yield (75% by using m-CPBA). Reduction of the epoxy enone with lithium aluminum hydride afforded the diol 6a (62%, inseparable diastereomers), which was acetylated (Ac2O, py, DMAP) to provide diacetate 6b (92%, inseparable diastereomers). Pyrolysis of 6b in a sealed tube at 450 °C for 1 h furnished directly the desired tricyclic olefin 8 (54%), indicating the generation of 7 as an intermediate. With the acquisition of 8 the functionalization of its double bond was in order. We expected that hydroboration-oxidation would give rise to 9 predominantly because the formation of the regioisomeric alcohol 9a is less favorable due to steric hindrance from the bridgehead methyl substituents. Indeed, a separable mixture was produced in 52% and 10% yield, respectively. By PCC oxidation of the major alcohol 9 to afford ketone 10 (85%) the work entered its last stage. Thus, after exposure of 10 to i-PrMgBr/CeCl3 (91%) and then Me3SiCN/H2SO4, the formamide 12 was obtained in 42.5% yield. Completion of our synthesis was attained by subjecting 12 to TsCl-py at room temperature. 9-Isocyanoneopupukeanane was isolated in 83% yield. The final product showed spectral data in good agreement with the reported values. In conclusion, this report delineates the first total synthesis of isocyanoneopupukeanane. It is interesting that we did not isolate the dimethyltwistene isomer from the pyrolysate of 6b.