S&bgr;-thalassemia (S&bgr;-thal) is common among Gulf Arab patients with sickle cell disease, but the phenotype of this group had not been well-documented. We have studied a group of Kuwaiti patients and compared the phenotype in the homozygotes (SS) and S&bgr;-thal patients. Complete blood count, hemoglobin quantitation, serum bilirubin, and lactate dehydrogenase were determined with standard techniques. The patients were screened for &agr;-globin genotype. The S&bgr;-thal patients were also screened for the HBG2 Xmn-1 polymorphism. &bgr;-Thal mutations were determined by arrayed primer extension or direct sequencing. There were 70 SS and 32 S&bgr;-thal patients with mean ages of 14.8±5.9 and 14.2±5.9 years, respectively. The S&bgr;-thal patients had more frequent, severe pain episodes per year compared with the SS, while the patterns among S&bgr;0-thal and S&bgr;+-thal patients were not significantly different. There were no differences in the frequencies of acute chest syndrome, gallstones, and blood transfusion in the SS and S&bgr;-thal patients. However, none of the S&bgr;+-thal patients had been transfused. Among the S&bgr;-thal patients, 25 had &bgr;0-thal and 7 had &bgr;+-thal mutations, the most common being cd39 (C→T) and IVS-I-110 (G→A), respectively. S&bgr;-thal shows a severe phenotype in Kuwait, even among those with S&bgr;+-thal, in whom the IVS-I-110 (G→A) mutation is predominant.


In recent years, methods have been developed to automate vineyard operations to address the ever increased labor cost. One operation that has not been completely automated is grapevine pruning. A robotic machine for grapevine pruning needs to respond to the changing physical characteristics of the environment, and to date, no algorithm can accurately identified appropriate positions for grapevine pruning in a variety of environmental conditions. This paper presents the development of an image processing and image analysis algorithm to determine pruning position. Ten images full of canes were analyzed, and an 85% success rate for pruning positions was achieved


© Annals of Infection. All rights reserved. Ann Infect 2018;2:6 aoi.amegroup.com Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a devastating condition with high mortality and survivors are often left with severe neurological sequelae. HIV-associated TBM can have mortality rates exceeding 60% (1). Early diagnosis and initiation of treatment is critical for survival. Unfortunately the diagnosis of TBM can be more of an art than a science, as a recent report in the Lancet by Bahr and colleagues highlights. There is currently no diagnostic test with high sensitivity and specificity. Culture of the slow growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) takes 10–21 days, even in the faster commercial liquid culture systems; smear microscopy on CSF is fast but insensitive. Molecular techniques offer faster testing and the recent scale-up of the cartridge based molecular Xpert MTB/RIF test has greatly reduced the skill level required to perform molecular tests. However sensitivity at only around 60% of clinically diagnosed cases, needs improvement. Consequently these tests cannot be used to 'rule-out' TBM, leaving clinicians to use formal or informal algorithms for diagnosis of a disease that requires rapidly administered appropriate treatment for optimal outcome. In the absence of a robust gold standard against which to evaluate the novel diagnostic test (in this case GeneXpert Ultra), the investigators have used the standardized clinical case definition, which is accepted practice (2,3). This classifies cases evaluated into 'definite', 'probable', 'possible' or 'not TBM', based on a range of microbiological, biochemical and imaging test results. However, in this study reported in the Lancet, the authors also include a positive result for the test under investigation, Xpert Ultra, in their definition of 'definite TBM'. They justify this by claiming the novel test is unlikely to give false positive results. The obvious flaw in this approach is the assumption that the novel diagnostic is accurate, precluding impartial evaluation. Yet evaluating only against the gold standard, which is known to be imperfect also precludes any advances in the diagnosis of the disease. This conundrum is not unique to TBM which is one of many diseases where no perfect gold standard exists and the evaluation of novel diagnostic tests are therefore difficult to interpret. Cryptococcal meningitis, which the patients in this study were also being evaluated for suffers from the same issue, as does pulmonary TB to a lesser degree. How then should we interpret the f indings by Bahr and colleagues in deciding how to reform policy recommendations for a disease where an improved diagnostic test is urgently needed? The study evaluated 129 HIV-infected individuals for TB, who were being screened for inclusion in a trial of cryptococcal meningitis treatment in Mbarra, Uganda. CSF samples were tested by M. tuberculosis culture, Xpert and also underwent routine biochemical evaluations and tests for other pathogens. A frozen aliquot of CSF was later tested by the new Xpert Ultra test. Xpert Ultra is a new version of the molecular GeneXpert MTB/RIF test (Cepheid, USA). The Ultra cartridge incorporates a number of modifications aimed at lowering the limit of detection for M. tuberculosis bacilli thereby Editorial


The output characteristics of wind energy conversion system are affected by the wind speed stochastic nonlinearity and uncertainty. To improve conversion efficiency, the method of realizing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) based on fuzzy control is proposed. Through adjusting the speed of the wind turbine by output power, the system approximates the maximum power operating point without wind speed sensor. The method constantly revises the system parameter in operation so that the parameter can be constantly optimized. Simulation results are given and discussed with MATLAB/SIMULINK to validate that the proposed control strategy has the good performance in terms of dynamic response and steady property.


Electrochemical behavior and kinetic parameters of vitamin B6(VB6)were investigated at poly-L-tryptophan modified glassy carbon electrode(PTRP/GCE)by cyclic voltammetry(CV),linear sweep voltammetry(LSV)and chronocoulometry(CC).Electrochemical results show that VB6 electrochemical behavior exhibits an irreversible oxidation at 1.085 V(vs.SCE)with one electron transfer and one proton.The peak currents are linearly related to the square root of scan rates in a scan rate range of 20~400 mV/s.The effective area of PTRP/GCE Aeff and the diffusion coefficient D are 0.29 cm2 and 1.961 2×10-4 cm2/s,respectively.In a HAc-NaAc buffer solution of pH=3.0,the oxidation peak current of VB6 versus its conce-ntration exhibits a good linear relationship in a concentration range of 1×10-4~5×10-6 mol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.993 1 and a detection limit of 1×10-6 mol/L.The linear regression equation is ipa(μA)=7.740+408.813c(mmol/L)and the recovery is 100.15%.


Exchange coupled composite media has a lower switching field compared to conventional perpendicular media at the same level of thermal stability, making it promising for high areal density recording. In this paper, we propose head and media specifications, calculated micromagnetically at a density of 1 Tb/in2, using a composite media with a synthetic antiferromagnet hard layer. We assume realistic constraints such as jitter to bit length ratio, skew, seed layer, and grain boundaries. T50 of the read back pulse is estimated using a current perpendicular to plane (CPP) giant magnetoresistive (GMR) reader and the magnetization noise is calculated. The signal to dc noise ratio is also estimated for the media used.


In several product categories, it is typical to release products sequentially to different markets and customer segments. Conventional knowledge holds that the roles of various product success drivers do not differ significantly across these sequential channels of distribution. The authors examine sequential distribution channels within the motion picture industry and develop a model that proposes that such differences exist between a primary (short- and long-term theatrical box office) and a sequential (video rental) channel. The authors test their model with a sample of 331 motion pictures released in theaters and on video during 1999–2001 using partial least squares. Results reveal differences in the impact of success factors across channels. For example, cultural familiarity enhances box office success but relates negatively to video rental success, and distribution intensity and date of release enhance box office outcomes but have no impact on rental revenues.


Malassezia pachydermatis is an opportunistic yeast found in the ear canal of small animals; however, the current azole-based therapy applied to it has failed to achieve clinical success due to the antifungal resistance. This issue has encouraged the studies in natural products, such as Origanum vulgare (oregano), Origanum majorana (marjoram) and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) essential oils, although their mechanism of action remains unclear. Malassezia pachydermatis specimens deriving from otitis cases in dogs (n = 22) and cats (n = 2) were subjected to CLSI M27-A3. Sorbitol protection and ergosterol effect were analyzed to investigate their mechanism of action. Fungistatic (MIC) and fungicidal (MFC) activities were observed for oregano (MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$: 0.625 mg/mL); marjoram (MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$: 2.5 mg/mL) and rosemary MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$ > 2.5 mg/mL). Oregano showed superior antifungal effect even at lower MIC and MFC values. All three oils acted on cell wall and at complexation to fungal ergosterol. By gas chromatography (GC-FID), carvacrol was the major compound found in oregano (73.9%); 1,8-cineole was for marjoram and rosemary (20.9% and 49.4%, respectively). These findings support the potential use of these essential oils to treat canine and feline otitis caused by Malassezia pachydermatis.


This presentation provides an overview of recent technology trends observed in the United States including project size, turbine size, rotor diameter, hub height, annual average wind speed, and annual energy production. It also highlights area where system analysis is required to fully understand how these technology trends relate to the cost of wind energy.


The invention concerns a method for controlling the integrity of the value of a piece of navigation information delivered by a merging/consolidation device comprising a plurality of processing modules, each generating a navigation solution from measurements coming from one or a plurality of separate navigation devices, which involves defining, for each processing module, a radius of protection, corresponding to a given probability of failure, characterised in that it involves defining at least one consolidated area that encompasses protection areas centred on the solution values that are output from the processing modules and that correspond to the radii of protection defined for these modules, the radius of protection of said merging/consolidation device for said probability of failure itself being defined to correspond to said consolidated area.


This paper discussed the system structure, variable setting and applying, database operation, examination question loading, saving, printing and opening of examination paper and error message processing of the examination question database system on the "Mechanical Manufacturing Basis" experiment. It was developed under the platform of microsoft visual basic. It provides the basis to take a scientific approach to comprehensively examine the student's study.


With the rapid growth of mobile devices (such as smart phones and IoT devices) and the upcoming 5G era, it has been considered that edge computing will play a significant role, which together with the Cloud server forms the Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform. In MEC, it is desired that the tasks originated from the mobile devices can be offloaded to run on the edge devices or on the cloud. Namely, when a mobile device deems that it can benefit from not running its task locally (in terms of reducing the execution time), it will make the offloading decision to run the task on the edge. But when the total number of tasks offloaded from the mobile devices to the edge exceeds the capacity of the edge, some tasks may be further offloaded from the edge to the cloud server. In this paper, we aim to model the task offloading behavior in MEC. The game theory is utilized to establish the model. The mixed strategy for each mobile device (i.e., the probability that a mobile device offloads its task) at the Nash Equilibrium is derived. Further, the makespan of all the tasks running on the MEC platform is modelled. The extensive experiments have been conducted and the results show that the offload game modelled in this paper works effectively.


Fluctuations in wind speed and solar irradiance results in power quality issues in grid connected wind mills and solar PV generation systems respectively. Accurate prediction of wind and solar energy requires efficient energy management in smart grid. This paper uses a regularized neuro-fuzzy system for accurate prediction of wind speed and solar irradiance. Proposed method, regularized extreme learning adaptive neuro-fuzzy system (RELANFIS) combines the learning capability of extreme learning machine (ELM) and knowledge representation of fuzzy inference system. The membership function parameters of RELANFIS are randomly assumed in a constrained range and consequent parameters are calculated analytically. The prediction capability of RELANFIS is tested against well-known ELM based neuro-fuzzy system (OS-Fuzzy-ELM) and other kernel based systems.


The jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo is one of the largest and most distributed scyphozoan species in the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations in population size, with alternance of high abundance and rarity periods. In spite of a substantial number of studies on R. pulmo biology and ecology, the diversity and abundance of the jellyfish-associated microbiome is largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the abundance and metabolic diversity of bacteria associated with three fractions of the R. pulmo jellyfish, namely two distinct body fractions, i.e. the umbrella and the oral arms, and the mucus secretion. Different bacterial metabolic pathways have been identified among the above mentioned fractions, with the highest value of abundance and metabolic activity in the mucus compared to the umbrella and oral arms. These findings are discussed in the framework of the ecology of the species.


Douglas Portmore has recently argued in this journal for a "promising result" - that combining teleological ethics with "evaluator rela- tivism" about the good allows an ethical theory to account for deontological intuitions while "accommodat(ing) the compelling idea that it is always permissible to bring about the best available state of affairs." I show that this result is false. It follows from the indexical semantics of evaluator relativism that Portmore's compelling idea is false. I also try to explain what might have led to this misunderstanding.


The principal's leadership plays a key role in school improvement.Moulding ideas,creating vision,gathering trust,and sharing power are the important leadership for successful school improvement.With all the leadership,principals will be able to listen to their own voice,motivate the team members,promote the cooperation among team members,and provide the team members with development opportunities.School improvement is the endogenous development,the university researcher is the partner with the principal and the school team.Schools are in constant change,so there is no starting point or ending point,and each thought and activity aimed at the issues of schools is the growing point of school improvement.Therefore,the principal's leadership development is an important part of school improvement.


The Souss-Massa region in southwestern Morocco is characterized by a semi-arid climate with high variability in rainfall. Frequent droughts and flash flood events combined with overexploitation of water resources in recent decades have had a significant impact on the human security and the economy which is mainly based on agriculture, tourism and fishery. For better management of extreme events and water resources under changing climatic conditions, a study was carried out to quantify the seasonal and annual variability and trends in rainfall and temperature over the past three decades with data from three stations. Climatological representative of the Souss-Massa region. The Mann-Kendall (MK) non-parametric test and the Sen's slope are used to estimate the monotonic trend and magnitude of the trend of the variables, respectively. Statistical analysis of the rainfall series data set highlights that the occurrence of rainfall is unpredictable and irregular and the both the seasonal and annual rainfall trend appears negative (downward) for all the three climatological stations. The minimum temperature shows a remarkable increasing trend both on annual and seasonal scale while the maximum temperature registers a slightly increasing trend. The study presents some new insights on rainfall and temperature trends that will have significant impacts on the surface and groundwater resources of the region under changing climatic conditions. The results can help to prioritize new strategies to mitigate the risk of droughts, of floods and to manage water resources to sustain the dependence of agriculture tourism and fishery sectors in the region. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091765 Full Text: PDF


Phylogenetic analyses dealing with disjunct distributions (distributions that require marine dispersal or vicariant events) are reviewed for the Cichlidae. The most corroborated relationship between clades across a Gondwanan disjunction is the sister relationship between Indian and Malagasy cichlids. The minimum age of the Cichlidae as implied by the fossil record is at odds with the timing of the Cretaceous break of the Indian–Madagascar landmass. All well sampled phylogenies for this group fit a pattern reflecting Gondwanan break-up. Grounds for strictly dispersalist hypotheses are not well founded for any cichlid disjunct distribution, leaving vicariance alternatives as the only explanation.


rate of less than 1%, and another (J. E. P.) has had but one death in his last 360 cases. By the judicious use of thiouracil it is now possible, in patients with the most profound thyroLoxicosis, to achieve a degree of pre-operative improvement which was previously beyond the capacity of iodine treatment. Thus not only will stage operations, formerly sometimes necessary, usually be avoided, but the mortality rate will be almost certainly still further reduced, so that an operative death should be a very rare event. It is, however, to be remembered that the gland substance, after treatment with thiouracil, is intensely vascular and friable, with the result that operation becomes a most difficult and trying business. The vascularity can, however, be greatly reduced by discontinuing the thiouracil for two or three weeks before operation and substituting iodine-a procedure which we believe we owe to Bartels (1945) of the Lahey Clinic.


Please come & celebrate Variable's first anniversary ! Two more years of life ahead for the F/LOSS Arts Lab in the VGC building in Schaerbeek. And what better way to celebrate gathering around…


Analysis of the effect of C & D Canal on the salinity intrusion in the Delaware Estuary is described. Two separate mathematical models are used: MIT-Dynamic Network Model and MIT-Transient Salinity Intrusion Model. Emphasis is put on the investigation of simulated responses in the Delaware, rather than the Canal. The primary objective of the study is the investigation of salinity distribution in the Delaware under different forcing functions. MIT-DNM application reveals the behavior of a coupled Canal/Delaware system under natural boundary conditions specified at the Chesapeake Bay, Capes May and Henlopen and at the head of tide at Trenton. MIT-TSIM application shows temporal and spatial salt distribution in the Delaware with salt and net flow condition specifications in the Canal. The results of these simulations indicate that salinity in the Delaware Estuary is appreciably affected by the dynamics of the Canal. However, the Canal has little discernible effect on the hydrodynamics of the Delaware.


The method referred to a video, recording device operating in one of two ways digital recording and analog recording mode. The method includes a digital video bit stream recorded in the digital recording mode, and switch to the analog recording mode in accordance with an error condition corresponding to the analog video signal recording. For example, the reason may be an error condition occurs, not suitable for copyright information, recording media into analog video recording the video recording apparatus operating in a digital recording device or a digital video bit stream does not exist. Such error conditions may indicate that an error condition to the user, and the user may be instructed in response to the start command A to switch to a different mode, such as analog: a recording mode.


The energy management strategy (EMS) or power management strategy (PMS) unit is the core of power sharing control in the hybridization of automotive drivetrains in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Once a new topology and its corresponding EMS are virtually designed, they require undertaking different stages of experimental verifications toward guaranteeing their real-world applicability. The present paper focuses on a new and less-extensively studied topology of such vehicles, HEVs equipped with an electrical variable transmission (EVT) and assessed the controllability validation through hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) implementations versus model-in-the-loop (MiL) simulations. To this end, first, the corresponding modeling of the vehicle components in the presence of optimized control strategies were performed to obtain the MiL simulation results. Subsequently, an innovative versatile HiL test bench including real prototyped components of the topology was introduced and the corresponding experimental implementations were performed. The results obtained from the MiL and HiL examinations were analyzed and statistically compared for a full input driving cycle. The verification results indicate robust and accurate actuation of the components using the applied EMSs under real-time test conditions.


Deep reinforcement learning has already surpassed human performance in many video games, which is mainly achieved with reinforcement learning algorithms based on the actor-critic framework. With the release of PySC2 reinforcement learning environment by Google DeepMind and Blizzard Entertainment, deep reinforcement learning algorithms have attracted the attention of many AI developers on StarCraft II games. In this paper, we used the advantage actor - critic algorithm to achieve the training of agents on seven mini-maps released by DeepMind, we obtain the experimental results and compare them with DeepMind's experimental benchmark. The experimental results show that the agent trained based on the advantage actor-critic algorithm has excellent performance on SC2LE environment.


The current research was undertaken to present and test a framework of supply chain logistics integration that synthesizes current logistics thought with an established theory of organizational design. The framework portrays performance as an outcome of appropriate alignment between strategy, structure, and processes. The results support the contention that a firm that pursues a relational strategy, develops information and measurement structures to support relational processes, and then uses these tools to implement and execute integrated operations will experience high levels of logistical performance. In addition, the results indicate that superior logistics performance is related to simultaneous integration of internal and external operational processes.


14 images from an exhibit developed by Camielle Swenson and Virginia Champion that included publications related to Asian and Asian-American history as well as the popularity of Godzilla.


The capacity of several additives, i.e., lime, Thomas phosphate baric slag (TBS), hydrous iron oxides (HFO), hydrous manganese oxides (HMO), and Beringite, added to soil to Fix Cd or Pb, was evaluated using two pot experiments in tandem with soil extractions. Three soils from France with metal contents ranging from 0.17 to 108 mg Cd kg -1 soil dry weight (DW) and 47 to 1112 mg Pb kg -1 soil DW were studied. Metal sources were: sludge-borne metals (Soil A), fallout from a smelter (Soil B), and emission from a tetraethyl Pb production facility (Soil C). Ryegrass (Lolium spp.) or tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) shoots were harvested


A brief review of interfaces for on-line coupling of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and mass spectrometry (MS) is presented. To enable the CE-MS system, electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) were introduced as MS interfaces for connecting with CE instruments, while the partial-filling method was developed to suppress the introduction of non-volatile components or additives in CE buffers as well as ionic species such as ionic micelles into the MS interface. Strategy for the coupling of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) and MS is also discussed. Examples of CE-MS are briefly shown.


TiPO$_4$ shows interesting structural and magnetic properties as temperature and pressure are varied, such as a spin-Peierls phase transition and the development of incommensurate modulations of the lattice. Recently, high pressure experiments for TiPO$_4$ reported two new structural phases appearing at high pressures, the so-called phases IV and V [M. Bykov et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55, 15053]. The latter was shown to include the first example of 5-fold O-coordinated P-atoms in an inorganic phosphate compound. In this work we characterize the electronic structure and other physical properties of these new phases by means of ab-initio calculations, and investigate the structural transition. We find that the appearance of phases IV and V coincides with a collapse of the Mott insulating gap and quenching of magnetism in phase III as pressure is applied. Remarkably, our calculations show that in the high pressure phase V, these features reappear, leading to an antiferromagnetic Mott insulating phase, with robust local moments.


Abstract Electrochemical potential measurements of materials in radioactive waste environments will be important in determining if the materials have a propensity for stress corrosion cracking (SCC...


An effective method of dynamic data-prediction, based on wavelet analysis, is proposed to obtain a more precise prediction of the varying traffic. The accurate prediction may apply widely in all fields of dynamic data-prediction. For instance, it is very well suited for the prediction of network-traffic, economic information and other datum in non-linear system. Experimental results show that the method can evidently decrease error of prediction.'


Abstract Background Brain metastases explain the majority of mortality associated with lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer death. Cytology analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) remains the diagnostic gold standard, however, the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in CSF (CSF‐CTCs) are not well defined at the molecular and transcriptome levels. Methods We established an effective CSF‐CTCs collection procedure and isolated individual CSF cells from five lung adenocarcinoma leptomeningeal metastases (LUAD‐LM) patients and three controls. Three thousand seven hundred ninety‐two single‐cell transcriptomes were sequenced, and single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) gene expression analysis was used to perform a comprehensive characterization of CSF cells. Results Through clustering and expression analysis, we defined CSF‐CTCs at the transcriptome level based on epithelial markers, proliferation markers, and genes with lung origin. The metastatic‐CTC signature genes are enriched for metabolic pathway and cell adhesion molecule categories, which are crucial for the survival and metastases of tumor cells. We discovered substantial heterogeneity in patient CSF‐CTCs. We quantified the degree of heterogeneity and found significantly greater among‐patient heterogeneity compared to among‐cell heterogeneity within a patient. This observation could be explained by spatial heterogeneity of metastatic sites, cell‐cycle gene, and cancer‐testis antigen (CTA) expression profiles as well as the proportion of CTCs displaying mesenchymal and cancer stem cell properties. In addition, our CSF‐CTCs transcriptome profiling allowed us to determine the biomarkers during the progression of an LM patient with cancer of unknown primary site (CUP). Conclusions Our results will provide candidate genes for an RNA‐based digital detection of CSF‐CTCs from LUAD‐LM and CUP‐LM cases, and shed light on the therapy and mechanism of LUAD‐LM.


To evaluate the effects of organized turtle watches on female sea turtles and their eggs, we quanti- fied nesting behavior and hatchling production of loggerihead turtles (Caretta caretta) in south Brevard Coun- try, Florida, US.A. We compared the duration offive phases of nesting behavior, the directness of the turtle's return path, rate of travel during return crawl, hatching stuccess, and hatchling emergence success between experimental and control turtles. Experimental turtles nested while observed by an organized turtle watch group consisting of at least 15 people; control turtles were not observed by a turtle watch group. Experimental turtles spent significantly less time camouflaging nest sites than did control turtles. The duration of the other four phases of nesting behavior were not significantly different between the two groups. Experimental turtles also traveled less-direct paths during return crawls, although their rates of travel were not significantly differ- entfrom those of control turtles. Hatching success and hatchling emergence success were not significantly dif- ferent between experimental and control turtle nests in either year. Although turtle watch groups influenced nesting behavior, they were not found to be detrimental to hatchling production. Florida's turtle watch pro- gram is a means for garnering public support for sea turtle conservation through education, and it should continue.


The invention relates to a manual and automatic combined residual current tripping device which comprises a base assembly, a middle assembly and a support assembly, wherein the base assembly comprises a base and a micro switch; the middle assembly is inserted in a groove of the base of the base assembly; and the support assembly is arranged on the middle assembly and is fixed on the base by the micro switch of the base assembly. Compared with the prior art, the tripping device has the advantages that the volume is compact, the reaction is sensitive, the automatic reset can be realized by the virtue of the further buckle of a breaker mechanism, the manual reset can be carried out by a manual reset button, and the like.


Today, all major brands are engaging their stakeholders through online and offline brand communities, fan clubs and social media groups, with the objective of attracting the right audience. Brand communities have gained importance as a branding tool for marketers because they offer values difficult to capture elsewhere. An engaged community transports results in numerous areas of the business. The principal objective of this article is to explore brand communities of radiologist and how these communities enhance brand engagement in medical equipment industry. The article has used a single cross-sectional descriptive design and is based on the data collected from 152 users of a large medical products company that comprised product managers from partner industries and radiologists across India. The results from this study confirm the proposed model of interactions between variables and revealed significant relationships between brand communities and brand engagement. The study highlights the significance of brand communities and their usage to enhance brand engagement, in high-value and high-risk product market. The instruments used for the study are validated for the constructs of brand trust, satisfaction, community and engagement.


In order to achieve information integration and sharing of the output,quality,material consumption,spare parts consumption and equipment,safety,on-site inspection,the cigarette production plant management information system was designed and implemented using the Unified Modeling Language(UML) to analyze and model.This system adopts Windows Server 2003 platform,and takes SQL Server 2005 as database.It was developed in Visual Studio 2008 integrated development environment with C# language and object-oriented technology.The system achieved the desired function of accessories expiration reminder,change cycle and material consumption assessment automatically calculating etc.Through the implementation of the system,have improved management efficiency and promoted the enterprise management level.


The effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is well established for many mental illnesses, including mood and anxiety disorders. CBT, which takes into account how thoughts affect emotions and behaviour, has been shown to be as effective for mild and moderate depression as medications.


In this study, we developed the design process and optimization of structural parameters of a new low-NOx burner based on low-NOx combustion technology and the flame stabilization principle. Firstly, on the basis of the two-stage swirl burner, we applied the fuel-graded combustion technology and introduced the central nozzle structure to explore the influence law of graded combustion on NOx emissions. Secondly, on the previously optimized structure, the matching law between the first- and second-stage cyclone blades is analyzed to obtain the optimum structural design solution for heat exchange efficiency and flame front length. Finally, a new conical blunt structure is introduced in conjunction with the flame stabilization principle, and we discuss the effects of different half cone angles on the flame stabilization, flame front length, and heat exchange efficiency of the burner. The research in this paper provides a reliable direction for the design optimization of low-NOx burners.


Even with the new control methodologies, the PID controller is still the most used controller in the industry due to its performance. Therefore, the tuning of PID controllers is still widely used in industrial environments and new techniques have been developed for the tuning of the controller. Therefore, this work aims to tune robust controllers (compensators capable of stabilizing systems subject to uncertainties) by means of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and optimization techniques known as metaheuristics (Simulated Annealing and Particle Swarm Optimization). The LMIs will have as their main target, the stability analysis of the system and the evaluation of the cost of an established plant using the H1 norm. In the first part of this project, a mechanical system is used as a test system. In the final part, one didactic module, which simulates a system subject to uncertainties, is modeled so that the uncertainties are described by a polytopic representation and LMIs and optimization techniques are applied for the tuning of the robust controller.


Through its anthropogenic activities in construction, human society is increasingly burdening the environment with a predominantly adverse impact. It is essential to try to use building materials that allow us to build environmentally friendly buildings. Therefore, this article deals with the determination of the environmental performance of a cross-prestressed timber-reinforced concrete bridge using life cycle assessment (LCA) compared with a reinforced concrete road bridge with a similar span and load. The positive environmental performance of the wooden concrete bridge was proved, with a relatively small (22.9 Pt) total environmental damage. The most significant impact on the environment is made by the wood–concrete bridge materials in three categories of impacts: Respiratory inorganics (7.89 Pt, 79.94 kg PM2.5 eq), Global warming (7.35 Pt, 7.28 × 104 kg CO2 eq), and Non-renewable energy (3.96 Pt, 6.01 × 105 MJ primary). When comparing the wood–concrete and steel concrete road bridge, a higher environmental performance of 28% per m2 for the wood–concrete bridge was demonstrated. Based on this environmental assessment, it can be stated that knowledge of all phases of the life cycle of building materials and structures is a necessary step for obtaining objective findings of environmental damage or environmental benefits of building materials or structures.


Photoactive yellow protein (PYP) belongs to the novel group of eubacterial photoreceptor proteins. To fully understand its light signal transduction mechanisms, elucidation of the intramolecular pathway of the internal proton is indispensable because it closely correlates with the changes in the hydrogen-bonding network, which is likely to induce the conformational changes. For this purpose, the vibrational modes of PYP and its photoproduct were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy at −40 °C. The vibrational modes characteristic for the anionic p-coumaryl chromophore (Kim, M., Mathies, R. A., Hoff, W. D., and Hellingwerf, K. J. (1995)Biochemistry 34, 12669–12672) were observed at 1482, 1437, and 1163 cm−1 for PYP. However, the bands corresponding to these modes were not observed for PYPM, the blue-shifted intermediate, but the 1175 cm−1 band characteristic of the neutral p-coumaryl chromophore was observed, indicating that the phenolic oxygen of the chromophore is protonated in PYPM. A 1736 cm−1 band was observed for PYP, but the corresponding band for PYPM was not. Because it disappeared in the Glu-46 → Gln mutant of PYP, this band was assigned to the C=O stretching mode of the COOH group of Glu-46. These results strongly suggest that the proton at Glu-46 is transferred to the chromophore during the photoconversion from PYP to PYPM.


The aim of this study is to investigate the categories of space and time in Italian neo-realist films. Italy entered badly damaged and fragmented into the post war period where it was necessary to reconstruct the jumbled social realities by focusing on the city space, which was still half-covered by the war ruins. In this way, the Italian neo-realist directors, such as Rossellini and De Sica were attempting to witness the new relationships between the people and the space in which they interacted, in the desire to rediscover a fresh national identity. The refusal of conventional techniques on the part of the neo-realist directors, such as, for example, a linear narrative, a closed film ending, and the use of flashbacks, make neo-realist films an art form of the present, of reality as it is, and they are conceived as an ensemble of time-images cast in what Gilles Deleuze calls the espace quelconque.


Intrusion Detection System (IDS) originated as a mechanism for managing the detection of system misuse through the analysis of activity (5). Despite that the various attacks are occurred by insiders and outsiders, most studied focused on IDS against outsider attacks. However, the loss from insider attacks is more severe than outsider attacks as shown in (10). In this paper, we improve the Wang et al.'s insider predection model (17) and propose the combined model with access control for the ecient insider intrusion detection. We delegate the role of intrusion detection to users, in order to detect the malicious insiders more eciently. If the insiders want to access to the information, they should have the permission from several users in organization. By combining the concept of access control in Wang et al.'s model, our scheme is believed to be more secure.


The research aims to produce a learning model that is expected to be easy, effective and practically applied in the learning process. The model developed is the JINEMAM model which is a combination of the Jigsaw, Example Non Example and Make a Match model. This research in its development process uses the 4D development model from thiagarajan namely Define, Design, Develop and Disseminate. The instruments used were validation sheets, legibility questionnaires and pretest-posttest questions. For product trials and legibility using 32 students of the 2014 Biology study program. The results of the data analysis showed that the learning model was very valid. Based on the results of the analysis it can be concluded that the learning model is feasible to be used in the learning process.


An efficient Co-catalyzed 1,4-addition reaction of alkyl/aryl triflates and tosylates with activated alkenes is described. In this reaction, an air-stable cobalt(ii) complex, a mild reducing agent Zn and a simple proton source (H2O) are used. A radical mechanism for the addition of alkyl tosylates to activated alkenes is likely involved.


The invention relates to a method and system for localizing components and/or persons associated with an image recording device. A method for localizing optional and/or exchangeable components of at least one image recording device and/or for localizing persons associated with the image recording device in a spatial environment around the location of the image recording device (4) is provided. The components and/or persons are each provided with a wireless transmit device and the environment (1) is provided with wireless receive devices (5). For each transmit device, using at least one localization signal received by at least one receive device (5) and identified by the transmit device (6), the position information of the transmit device (6) is determined. Thereby the location information of the components (8) or persons associated with the transmit devices (6) are determined and provided in a computing device (7) for access.


Application for a biologically inspired pulse-coded CMOS neuron, Hopfield autoassociative memory is presented. Given corrupted versions of the stored images, the trained network will able to recall the corresponding stored image near in Hamming distance (HD).


It is main cause of the bearing failure that the cage motion is unsteady and damaged in high speed roller bearing. This paper systematically analyzes the forced model of the cage in the bearing. The dynamics motion equation of the cage is established. On the base of quasi-dynamics solution of the bearing in steady, the instantaneous location of mass center of the cage is found by Runge-Kutta integral method, and the effect of structure parameters of the bearing on cage motion is studied.


This thesis deals with grain refinement under the influence of ultrasonic-driven cavitation in aluminium casting processes. Three major goals of this research were: (1) to identify the mechanism of the cavitation-aided grain refinement at different stages of solidification; (2) to reveal the conditions of the stable grain refinement effect in different alloying systems; and (3) to apply the knowledge gained as a result of an experimental work on a small scale to direct chill (DC) casting process. The research is experimental. Experiments were performed both in water and aluminium melts with specially designed ultrasonic installation, including an 5 kW ultrasonic generator, a 5 kW magnetostrictive transducer at a resonance frequency of 17.5 kHz, sonotrode and a selection of melting and casting facilities. DC casting was used to study the influence of cavitation treatment on a pilot scale. The general description of experimental procedures are highlighted in Chapter 2. To increase the efficiency of ultrasonic melt treatment (UST) both solidification conditions and parameters of sonication should be optimized, i.e. cooling rate, treatment temperature, amplitude and frequency of vibrations, treatment and holding time. The influence of parameters of UST on the effects of sonication in liquids (acoustic streaming and cavitation), were studied both in water and model Al-Cu alloys. The fluid flow patters produced by ultrasonic treatment and mixing were discussed based on the experiments in water, while the impact of cooling conditions and amplitude of vibrations is studied on aluminium alloys. The main conclusions that can be drawn from the results are: (1) the amplitude of vibrations should be high enough to promote cavitation, according to our study in aluminium melts it should be 20 ?m or higher; (2) the efficiency of UST increases with prolonged treatment time; (3) the smaller the treated volume, the finer is the grain size; (4) the effect of UST is quite stable, two minutes between UST of the same volume and casting result in only marginal grain coarsening. Based on the results of experimental work the criteria of efficient UST were suggested in Chapter 3. The influence of cavitation melt treatment performed from temperatures above liquidus until almost complete solidification (75 % solid fraction) on structure formation were studied on pure aluminium and model Al-Cu alloys. In all cases studied UST led to formation of equiaxed grain structure with four to eight times smaller grain size. During such a treatment two mechanisms are involved, namely cavitation-induced heterogeneous nucleation and dendrite fragmentation. The possible mechanisms are discussed in Chapter 4 based on the results of experiments performed isothermally in the semi-solid state and in the temperature range from the temperatures above liquidus until complete solidification. The up-scaling of the UST to direct chill casting can be done more efficiently if the processing occurs outside the primary solidification range of aluminum, when the alloy is still fluid. Thus, in order to be able to apply UST for commercial casting techniques (DC-, investment casting), grain refinement should be achieved after the treatment in the liquid state (Chapter 5). One of the mechanisms explaining enhanced nucleation under cavitation is related to activation of nonmetallic inclusions. To investigate the influence of non-wettable particles on the efficiency of cavitation-aided grain refinement in aluminium alloys, we performed a set of simple experiments. In our experiments aluminium films were manually introduced in the liquid metal by mixing the oxide film into the melt during two minutes, in order to increase the amount of oxides. As a result moderate grain refinement has been achieved, which is an indirect evidence of the cavitation-induced heterogeneous nucleation through activation of oxides. In Chapter 5 it has been shown that UST applied during 10 s above liquidus does not change the grain size and morphology of pure aluminium. When applied in Al-Cu alloys, it results in moderate grain refinement (~20 %). Additions of transition metals (Zr, Ti etc.) can significantly improve the efficiency of cavitation treatment. Many commercial wrought aluminium alloys contain these elements because they also prevent recrystallization. Chapter 5 describes the results on the influence of Zr and Ti on structure formation during ultrasonic melt treatment (UST) in the liquid state. Ultrasonic processing is performed in the temperature range of the primary solidification of an intermetallic phase, i.e. normal casting temperatures of aluminum alloys. Based on the investigations of the influence of UST on formation of primary intermetallics in aluminium alloys with high amount of Zr and Ti and an X-ray and EDX analysis of formed phases, a mechanism was proposed for grain refinement in Al–Zr–Ti alloys produced with cavitation treatment in the temperature range of solidification of primary intermetallics. Ultrasonic melt treatment promotes fragmentation of Al3Zr particles, decreasing the size of potential solidification sites and increasing their number, while Ti substitutes Zr in Al3(Zr1-xTix) particles, which leads to the delay of nucleation to larger undercooling, when the smaller and more numerous intermetallic particles become active. Based on the results of Chapters 3 to 5 the criteria of efficient cavitation-assisted grain refinement of aluminium alloys were formulated and used for: (1) production of commercial aluminium alloys on a small scale in permanent volume (90 cm3), (2) UST in the launder, and (3) DC casting of Al-Cu alloys with small additions of either transition metals (Zr. Ti) or Al-3Ti-B. Effects of ultrasonic melt treatment on structure formation and macrosegregation of aluminium alloys were studied. Five billets 195 mm in diameter were cast at a pilot vertical DC caster. In separate experiments UST was applied in the sump and in the launder. Three different launder designs were used. It was shown that UST during DC casting can refine the structure, if applied either in the hot top or in the launder. Further work is required to optimize the process in terms of treatment time, volume and casting speed. A possible solution might be either optimization of current launder design or introduction of an intermediate chamber, where cavitation treatment can be realized in a larger volume with prolonged treatment time.


The bio-feedback iontophoresis patch is proposed for controllable transdermal drug delivery. The proposed iontophoresis patch is implemented with the bio-feedback iontophoresis integrated circuit (IC) on the planar-fashionable circuit board (P-FCB) technology. For controllable iontophoresis treatment, the bio-feedback iontophoresis IC provides programmable stimulation current (16-512μA amplitude, DC-500Hz frequency, and 3-100% duty cycle) and monitors the dual-mode (load and tissue) impedance and the skin temperature during iontophoresis treatment with the reconfigurable tetra-polar electrode configuration. The load impedance is used to determine the stimulation current level, which means the instantaneous delivered dosage, for optimized iontophoresis treatment. The measured tissue impedance is used as an indicator of the accumulated delivered dosage. The skin temperature sensor prevents the unexpected side effects, such as skin burn or tissue destruction. As a result, the proposed iontophoresis patch monitors drug delivery status and patient's status. The proposed iontophoresis system is fully implemented and verified on both in-vitro and in-vivo tests.


This paper presents the ESD protection strategy designed for a fully integrated base station LNA with a sub-1dB noise figure, +35dB gain, large output swing and a high linearity. With a novel ESD protection circuit, implemented on RF input and output pins, the circuit achieved 2.5kV HBM and 750V CDM.


The study presents the results of experimental testing of a layered cross-ply [0/90]n E-glass/polyester composite in the range of the selected compression properties at high strain rates = 2300÷4600 s and a quasi-static strain rate = 0.0067 s. The composite was manufactured using contact technology using Owens Corning CD-600 E-glass stitched fabric and Polimal 104 polyester resin. The circular cross-section specimens of three sizes 2.5, 5 and 7.5 mm in height and 15 mm in diameter were tested in the above described experiments. To determine the static properties, quasi-static experimental tests were conducted using an Instron 8802 machine in the displacement control mode at a constant crosshead speed of 1, 2 and 3 mm/min respectively for the 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mm specimen types. The compression loading was monitored with a load cell Instron ±250 kN, whereas the axial strain with an Instron 2620-604 extensometer using additional fixing discs. The measuring base of the extensometer was equal to the specimen height. Identification included the stress-strain curve, strength, Young's modulus and failure strain. For the high strain rates testing, a modified Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar test system was used, containing an LTT 500 Amplifier made by Tasler, Germany and an NI USB-6366 data acquisition device made by National Instruments, USA. The failure modes observed under high strain rate loading were similar to those observed under quasi static loading. The samples predominantly failed by shear fracture. Reduction of the specimen height implies an increase in the nonlinear effects in the initial part of the stress-strain diagrams (increasing strain at same stress), probably caused by the boundary effect. The main parts of the stress-strain plots are approximately linear, thus the linear elastic-brittle material model can be assumed. It was generally observed that the compressive strength and Young's modulus along the thickness direction are higher at high strain rate loading compared to the results at quasi-static loading.


The objective of this paper is to establish the links of General Chemistry with the rest of the subjects and the improvement of the system of evaluation . The paper includes a system of actions through a unit of the syllabus, establishing the link between the subj ect and the rest, also integrating exercises are proposed with a greater interest and preparation of the students for the subject General Chemistry. Were applied a previous diagnosis to students to verify interest and knowledge of the importance of Chemistry for the race and were compared the teaching results during two continuous courses for each partial test and finalizing the semester in both.


In this paper,applation actuality of New Food Additive Green Tea Polyphenols was simply described,and a new indirect method for determining Green Tea Polyphenols by atomic absorption spectrometry is studied. The basis is Green Tea Polyphenols could react with Pb 2+ and lead to yellow precipitate.The precipitate is centrifuged to subside,the Pb 2+ in supernatant is determined by AAS,and the concentration of Green Tea Polyphenols is obtained.


An integrated architecture for global interconnects in a gigascale system-on-a-chip (GSoC) is presented using models for global signal, clock, and power supply wiring networks. Based on the models for wiring resource demand, noise limit, and bandwidth requirement, an interconnect design plane is proposed.


The author proves the necessity of physical training and sports for university students, exposing the significance of recreative gymnastics as prevention of physical inactivity and diseases caused by postural disorder. The author analyzes the aerobics' technic of execution and describes a set of exercises based on J. Pilates system as the most balanced technique intended for supporting a young body in optimal physical condition. Finally the author substantiates the Pilates applicability for students with various fitness level and medical status.


The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways is one of the most frequently deregulated pathways in human cancers. This pathway controls multiple cellular processes, including metabolism, motility, proliferation, growth and survival. It can be aberrantly activated through multiple mechanisms, including diverse genomic alterations involving oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes.1 These alterations offer opportunities for therapeutic targeting of the pathway. PI3Kα protein complex is composed of regulatory (p85α) and catalytic (p110α) subunits. Pik3ca codes for p110α, which is the most frequently mutated oncogene across different cancers. Many distinct mutations have been identified, including hotspot single-amino acid substitutions in the helical (E542K and E545K) or kinase (H1047R) domains.

These mutations are present in 40% of patients with luminal breast cancer (BC) and are a target for cancer therapy. In fact, several PI3K inhibitors have been developed in clinical trials. Recently, alpelisib (an oral α-specific PI3K inhibitor that selectively inhibits p110α) has been approved in combination with fulvestrant as it improved progression-free survival and overall response rate among patients with P ik 3 ca mutant luminal metastatic BC.2 In early clinical trials with alpelisib, the authors observed that double Pik3ca mutations could be a biomarker candidate. For this reason, the authors undertake a deep analysis of the prevalence of double mutations and their potential biological meaning.

The prevalence of double Pik3ca mutations in different public datasets across different tumours types was between 12% and 13%. Indeed, breast, uterine and colorectal cancers had the greatest number of multiple P ik 3 ca -mutant tumours. Double mutations were enriched in luminal BCs compared with HER2+ or triple-negative BCs (15.4% vs 5.4%, p=0.004), and occur at similar frequencies in therapy-naive primary tumours and metastatic tumours (11.6% vs 15.7%, p=0.130). Interestingly, distinct patterns of comutation were observed. Thus, in BC, …


It is difficult for modulation mode selection and noise analysis in time-division multiplexing multi-axis Fiber Optic Gyroscope(FOG),thus we analyzed the optical and electrical crosstalk factors in condition of square wave modulation and step wave feedback.It was provided that noise on photoelectric detector was the most important factor affecting time-division multiplexing FOG in medium or low precision applications.Relation of signal and noise on photoelectric detector was analyzed for three modes of square wave modulation: all axes modulated at ±π/2;one axis at ±π/2,others null and one axis at ±π/2,others at ±π.The SNR of working axis and the minimum detectable phase shift were also computed as the shot noise was predominant.Simulations and experiments showed that later two modulation modes are more practical than the former one.Modulation of one axis at ±π/2,others at ±π has the highest SNR and its sensitivity is5 times of the former mode,which provides a reference for FOG application.


Recycling of paper printed with colour laser printer XEROX PHASER 7700 has been investigated in this work. The recycling was performed by chemical deinking with double stage flotation with the usage of non ionic surfactant. Froths collected by flotation were re-floated in which the increased usage of fibers was achieved. The effective removal of magenta particles (98, 3%), cyan (96, 9%) and carbon ones (91.49%) was proved by the image analysis. The same method was not effective for the identification of the yellow toner particles. During the second flotation the part of the particles which was left after the first flotation was removed. The removal of the coloured toner particles from the suspension by flotation, improves the lightness and the rightness of the recycled sheets. Colorimetric values " a" and " b" of all the recycled sheets are extremely low and have approximate values regardless the colours of the recycled output.


PARTICLE TRACKING VELOCIMETRY OF A GLIDING ARC DISCHARGE Jiajian Zhu1, Jinlong Gao1, Andreas Ehn1, Zhongshan Li1, Marcus Alden1 Mirko Salewski2, Frank Leipold2 and Yukihiro Kusano3 Division of Combustion Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden Department of Physics, Section for Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark Department of Wind Energy, Section for Composites and Materials Mechanics, Technical University of Denmark, Riso Campus, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com,


The urban planning projected for 2040 proposes a network of facilities located throughout the study area. It extends for 6 kilometers in length, from the park "La Alameda" to the park "Bicentenario", along the Av. "10 de Agosto" cataloged as one of the main avenues of the city, place of an important activity commercial. The purpose is to create a system with structured pieces that are the centralities that are generated in urban planning and are accompanied by equipment that energize the social activities of the area and accomplish the needs of users. Every equipment is connected to each one, accompanied by a public space with a green area that favors social integration and community life. An study was made concluding that the sector of the "Mariana de Jesus", served by public transport and its location, facilitates the movement of the population living in the south and north of the city. In addition, because it is an area with a population density of adults and elder adults. It is the most convenient place to build it with a Gastronomic Work Training Center, whose main objective is to encourage and reinforce Ecuadorian education, culture and traditions.


The aim of this paper is to show the results in a small series of patients with patellofemoral instability or recurrent patellar dislocation in children operated with the proximal realignment technique. Materials and methods: It is a series of 10 knees in 7 children, with proximal patela realignment patela using the Insall technique. The most important role of the patela is to increase the quadriceps efficiency. The patelo -femoral instability is defined as a condition in which there is insufficient coupling of the patela with the femoral trochlea during the knee range of motion. In children this instability may be due to various anatomical factors leading to recurrent dislocation of the patela. There are surgeries proximal o distal to the patela level. Results: Good results were obtained on 8 knees, without pain, neither dislocation nor residual instability and having good stability and safety during the gait. One patient showed redislocation and another patient with Down syndrome had a subluxation. Conclusions: proximal realignment in this series shows good results in patients who had little trochlear dysplasia with mild alteration of the Q angle. It is a technique not widely used but has indicated in selected cases. Today, the patelo - femoral medial ligament reconstruction, can be used in combination with proximal realignment techniques. Patients with collagen problems like Marfan and Down syndrome usually have redislocation and require some other procedures for patelar stabilization.


The comprehensive wiring is the intelligent construction central nervous system,constructs the intellectualization necessary infrastructure.Horizontal subsystem is "the information superhighway" arrives various information points the last section,its design construction quality is decided by to the correlation essential factor comprehensive assurance,then decision intelligence transmission unobstructed.


The therapeutic value of play can be shown in spontaneous play situations following children's experiences of traumatic events. Following the events of the Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand in 2010 and 2011, an investigation was conducted of how children used the earthquake event as a catalyst in pretend play with peers and in discussions with teachers. Supporting children's well-being is a focus area in New Zealand early childhood education, as it is a strand of the national curriculum Te Whāriki [Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki. He whāriki mātauranga mōngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media]. In this article, children are observed engaging in pretend play episodes, and with personalized Learning Story books, to explore personal reflections of the earthquake, prompting the children to make reference to things being 'broken' and needing 'fixing'. Analysis shows how the content of the pretend play experiences helped the children to come to terms with their experiences. Affording children time and interactional opportunities to play out and discuss traumatic experiences contributes to the psychological well-being of participants following a traumatic event.


For thousands of years, natural products have played important roles throughout the world in preventing and treating human diseases. Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) and its bioactive constituents, thymoquinone (TQ), have been used for various health benefits such as antidiabetic, antitumor, antihypertensive, antioxidative and antibacterial agents. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) which accounts for over 90 % of diabetes cases is currently a major chronic disease affecting about 6 % of the global population. Therefore, discovering new therapies is vital for management of T2DM. Although TQ and thymoquinone rich fraction (TQRF) are known to be powerful antioxidants and have hypoglycemic properties, their administration in vivo remains problematic partly due to their low bioavailability. Lipid nanoemulsions from some medicinal plant oils such as TQRF or from hydrophobic bioactives such as TQ are attractive candidates for improving solubility and bioavailability of the oils and their bioactives. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop, characterize, and investigate antidiabetic properties of TQRF nanoemulsion (TQRFNE) and TQ nanoemulsion (TQNE). Conventional emulsions from TQRF (TQRFCE) and from TQ (TQCE) were also prepared for comparison. TQRF extracted from N. sativa using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) contained 4.45 % TQ and was used to develop TQRFNE and TQRFCE. To develop TQNE and TQCE, Triolein (TR) was used as a carrier of commercially acquired TQ based on the concentration of TQ in TQRF. Conventional emulsions were prepared first by mixing 5 % lipid phase (TQRF or TR which contains calculated amount of TQ) with 95 % aqueous phase (2 % Tween-80, and 93 % distilled water) at room temperature using Ultra-Turrax mixer (13000 rpm / 3 min). Nanoemulsions were produced by passing the conventional emulsions through high pressure Homogenizer (800 bars and five homogenization cycles). In the characterization study, the changes in particle size, zeta potential,polydispersity index, refractive index, and chemical stability (loss of TQ during storage) of all emulsions were investigated over a period of 6 months at three different storage temperatures (4, 25, and 40 ˚C). At the end of characterization period, all nanoemulsions displayed good physical and chemical stability; there was no phase separation or any sign of instability of all nanoemulsion samples. In the antioxidant study, all emulsion samples were tested for antioxidant activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•+), and β-carotene bleaching (BCB) assays using UV- visible spectrophotometer, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer. Antioxidant activities of all nanoemulsions were slightly lower compared to conventional emulsions. In addition, acute toxicity of TQRFNE, and TQNE was studied using Sprague–Dawley rats. All the parameters measured were unaffected as compared to the negative control group (administered with distilled water). Further study was done to investigate the antidiabetic properties of the emulsions using T2DM animal model. Rats treated with TQRFNE and TQNE (10 ml/kg bw) exhibited a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in plasma total cholesterol levels (43 and 58 %), triglyceride (45 and 59 %), and fasting plasma glucose (42.1 and 54.9 %), respectively, compared to diabetic rats (DC group). However, TQRFCE and TQCE (10 ml/kg bw) also exhibited a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in plasma total cholesterol levels (56 and 69 %), triglyceride (57 and 67 %), and fasting plasma glucose (58 and 54.2 %), respectively, compared to DC group. For the liver and kidney function tests, the concentration of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Urea (URE), and Creatinine (CREA) were also measured to test any toxic effect on all tested groups. All tested parameters were also significantly lower compared to DC group. For the gene expression study, genes related to glucose metabolism (FBP1), cholesterol metabolism (LDL-R) and antioxidants (SOD1) were evaluated in this study. Treatment with TQRFNE showed antihyperglycemic,hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant effects, partly through regulation of above mentioned genes. Taken together, our finding showed that TQRFNE as a novel nanocarrier has the potential to produce better metabolic outcomes in T2DM. In addition, the findings also suggest that TQRFNE may be better than metformin in management of T2DM, and that it potentially could improve the wellbeing of diabetics through better control of metabolic indices, and likely fewer side effects.


Delta Scuti (δ Sct) stars have been extensively studied in our Galaxy but far less in extragalactic systems. Here we study the population of δ Sct variables in NGC 419, an intermediate-age globular cluster of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), using g, r, and i Gemini-S/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) time-series observations. Our goal is to study the role of such variables in the cluster extended main-sequence turnoff (MSTO). We report the discovery of 54 δ Sct stars and three eclipsing binaries in the NGC 419 field. We find only a handful of the δ Sct stars at the MSTO of NGC 419, while the majority are fainter, indicating that the cluster is younger (≲1.2 Gyr) than previously thought. Considering their radial distribution, we identify only six δ Sct stars as probable members of NGC 419, while the 48 remaining are likely δ Sct stars of the SMC field. Cluster δ Sct stars appear close to the red edge of the MSTO, supporting the idea that the extended MSTO has its origin in an age spread. The 48 field δ Sct stars represent the largest detection of δ Sct stars made in the SMC. The period distribution of these newly detected δ Sct stars (0.04 day ≲ P ≲ 0.15 day) is similar to that detected in other systems. The amplitude distribution (0.05 mag ≲ Δr ≲ 0.60 mag) is likely biased because of the lack of low-amplitude stars. We finally use the δ Sct stars to calculate distances using different period–luminosity relations. The average distance moduli obtained are 18.76 ± 0.14 mag for NGC 419 and 18.86 ± 0.11 mag for the SMC field, which agree with previous measurements.


The distinction between task and relationship conflict is well established. Based on Jehn's (1995) intragroup conflict scale, we developed an economic six-item questionnaire for assessing relationship and task conflict in work groups. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on data from a convenience sample (N = 247), and confirmed the original two-factor solution. The stability of the obtained two-factor solution was supported by confirmatory factor analysis in a longitudinal design with a second sample (N = 431) from the industrial sector. In line with previous research, the two types of conflict were intercorrelated. Moreover, the two subscales showed differential longitudinal effects on team outcomes. Task conflict was beneficial for performance in nonroutine tasks (but not in routine tasks). Relationship conflict had a negative impact on team viability and coworker trust.


In the wake of Jean Frappier's ground-breaking article in 1969 most critics consider that the « binding gift » motif that recurs in Arthurian romances is directly inherited from Welsh and Irish tales, and in particular from such texts as the Mabinogi of Kulhwch and Olwen, the Tormach Etain, the Echtra Cormaic, or the story of Dubh Lacha. But some counter-examples that Frappier disregarded, such as the Mathematicus by Bernardus Silvestris or an episode inspired by Gautier Map's De Nugis Curialium, point to a different origin. In these texts the use of the binding gift motif can be accounted for by the clerical background of authors influenced by biblical and classical texts. We thus question the theory of an exclusively Celtic origin of this pervasive motif.


The development of large-scale networks with artificial neurons and adaptive synapses has suggested new avenues of exploration for brain-like cognitive computing. Spiking neural networks (SNNs), highly inspired from natural computing in the brain and recent advances in neurosciences, are often referred to as the 3th generation of neural network, and become a new research hotspot in the era of artificial intelligence. SNN architecture supports simpler category of biologically-inspired neuron models and more complex large-scale interconnection in on-chip network of neurosynaptic cores. This paper introduces the design of router used in a spiking neural network, which is able to send and receive spiking information in network properly, as well as perfectly dealing with network anomaly such as data race or traffic congestion. This router is designed for the network at a scale of 64 ∗ 64 neurosynaptic cores at the most, with 256 neurons in each cores. Both the area and estimated power consumption is acceptable. This router could also be applied to larger scale of SNN architecture networks effectively.


The validity of DSM-IV criteria for each subtype of ADHD was evaluated in 126 children, aged 4 through 6 years, and 126 matched controls at the University of Chicago.


Although normal flapped and /or slatted wings may be considered as having a variation of camber because of the deflection of such devices, a variable camber airfoil is considered here as a mechanical unit employing flexible leading and/or trailing edges, thus eliminating surface discontinuities, but otherwise operated in the same manner as the more conventional devices they replace and is simply illustrated in Fig. 1 (i.e. flaps and ailerons on the trailing edge and slats or droop on the leading edge). The use of varicam trailing edge systems for lateral control implies that such systems should preferably be capable of both up and down (i.e. differential) movements.


Critical interpretations of Jim's actions in this scene have centered around two possible motivations: either the paternalistic Jim simply wants to protect the young Huck from the emotional trauma of seeing his dead father, or the calculating fugitive Jim wants to prevent Huck—the only white "cover" that Jim has in his flight from slavery—from returning home and thus diminishing his chances for successful escape.2 After all, Huck has faked his own death and fled in a desperate bid to escape his father's abuse and exploitation. With Pap dead and a considerable fortune in the bank, what would stop the orphaned Huck from simply returning to town and leaving Jim to pursue his freedom alone—or, worse, from returning to town and reporting Jim's whereabouts to his owner, miss Watson?


This paper develops a multi-period extension of the Lucas (1972) overlapping generations "island" model with endogenous monetary policy (based on the minimization of a loss function over inflation and output deviations) and stochastic realization of the "allocation" of the young people across the two islands. These allocation realizations are interpreted as output shocks (since only the young people produce). The paper examines two cases: the certainty case when the exact monetary policy is known to the young, and uncertainty case where the young receive only a mixed signal of the output shock and the monetary policy weights through the price (the signal extraction problem). In the certainty case, the neutrality result holds. In the uncertainty case, even monetary shocks have real effects as a result of the signal extraction problem. After characterizing the resulting price function by its constant elasticity to the signal, we derive values of this elasticity and the monetary policy weights such that hyperinflations will develop. We find that for certain weights, hyperinflations can develop even when the price function is concave in the signal. Finally, we formulate a particular convex case of the price function (making distributional assumptions) to analyze the price and monetary policy examples and statics as functions of the weights on the inflation and output deviation terms.


Semantic integration, the degree of conceptual linkage between elements within an utterance, has been hypothesized to influence the timing of planning of elements within a phrase, such that highly semantically integrated elements are planned with more overlap than less integrated elements (Gillespie & Pearlmutter, 2011; Solomon & Pearlmutter, 2004). But the evidence that integration affects the temporal separation of less integrated elements has been indirect. Word durations and the presence of prosodic breaks were examined in spoken responses from two agreement error elicitation studies that manipulated semantic integration (Gillespie & Pearlmutter, 2011, Exp. 2; Solomon & Pearlmutter, 2004, Exp. 4) to determine whether decreased semantic integration was associated with increased prosodic separation. All analyses provided evidence that speakers were more likely to prosodically separate elements that were weakly semantically integrated compared to items that were more strongly semantically integrated. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that prosodic timing may, at least in part, reflect underlying planning processes in sentence production.


Rice has become the second most important cereal crop and a primary staple food in Ghana. However, domestic rice production falls below its demand, resulting in over 50% rice import per annum. The Government of Ghana has responded by introducing policies to intensify domestic rice production, especially in Ghana's northern zone, where over 50% of local rice is produced. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify and classify soils within the catchment areas of Lonto, Sabonjida, Buntum, Djadema and Wiesi towns in Northern Ghana. The soils were then evaluated for their suitability for valley rice production, under irrigation. The study identified eight soil types (Lima, Lima-variant, Sirru, Lapliki, Kpelesawgu, Changnalili, Kasele and Wenchi series) in the selected study areas. Lima series was the most extensive soil type and was found at all the sites except Djadema site. The soils were generally rated moderately suitable for rice, with the most suitable soils being Sirru and Lapliki series. Groundwater lateritic soils of Changnalili and Kasele series were rated not to be suitable. The general fertility of the soils was low, which calls for sound soil nutrient and water management. The study is expected to serve as baseline information to help guide decisions of improving per capita rice yield and reducing household food insecurity and poverty levels in Northern Ghana.


Professionally competent Agriculture Officers (AOs) can play an important role in the development of a griculture in the country. This study was conducted in North West Frontier Pro vince (NWFP) (Pakistan) to assess professional comp etencies of Agriculture Officers (AOs) in January 2007. Data we re collected from all (112) AOs through a mailed qu estionnaire. The study examines existing level of professional competencie s of AOs ands the required level of possessed compe tenci s needed by them for their job performance in the areas of participa tory extension methodologies. Both the possessed an d required levels of competencies were scaled from 1-5 on Likert scale,1 b ing very low and 5 being very high. . The study revealed a numerical difference between possessed and required levels re garding the professional competencies of the partic ipatory extension methodology. It was also observed that higher level s of job experience increases the professional comp etencies in participatory extension methodology. It is recommended that perio dic trainings and refresher courses are arranged fo r AOs so that their learning may become more practicable to diffuse agr icultural innovations among members of participator y learning groups and convey modern technologies to the end users.


IN THIS UNIT TO DETECT IN AN AREA OF MONITORING THE PRESENCE OF ISSUING BODY SIGNAL CAN BE DETECTED WHEN SUBMITTED TO TERRESTRIAL MAGNETIC FIELD AND A MAGNETIC FIELD VARIABLE IS EXPECTED MEANS 30 21, 22, 24 PRODUCE THIS FIELD MEANS 25, 26 TO DETECT SIGNS PRODUCTS AND MEANS 39, 41, 42, 44, 48, 53, 60, 65, 76, 71 DETERMINING THE AMPLITUDE OF SIGNAL COMPONENTS WHOSE FREQUENCY ARE eQUAL TO TWO HARMONIC DIFFERENT BASIC FREQUENCY OF VARIABLE SCOPE, AND PHASE COMPONENT FIRST, AND THE SUBMISSIONS 55, 62, 57 TO INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF THE BODY. APPLICATION ESPECIALLY FOR MONITORING DEVICES AGAINST THEFT.


The southwestern regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are geographically and agriculturally diverse. Over millennia, crop production in these regions has evolved to use renewable water resources sustainably. This study analysed environmental and crop production data for 58 governorates in KSA's four southwestern regions: Al Baha, Aseer, Jazan and Makkah. The biplot analysis generated six clusters of cropping systems: sorghum, cereals, dates, watermelon, vegetables and fruits, and mixed. The main biophysical factors shaping these systems are topography, altitude, rainfall, air temperature and soils. Sorghum, grown on more than half of the cultivated land, dominates the two main systems. Fruits (subtropical and temperate) and open field vegetables are important elements in most systems. The main challenge is combining a moderate use of water with greater crop diversity. Cereals consume relatively little water, but their dominance within the systems reduces overall diversity. Another important issue is the low-input technologies used to cultivate sorghum and other cereals. Landraces or older varieties are planted and little, if any, fertilizers and pesticides are applied. The introduction of sustainable intensification packages is needed, which can begin with making improved varieties accessible to farmers, promoting conservation agriculture, and integrated pest management practices.


In the article the authors summarize the archaeological studies of the Neolithic settlement Komarin 5 in vicinity of Rogachev, Gomel region. The settlement is situated in the northern periphery of the area of the Dnepro-Donetsk ethno-cultural community. In the introductory part of the article the authors present the main approaches in interpreting of the Neolithic monuments with comb-stroke ceramics in the upstream of the Dnepr. The excavations were carried out in the southern part of the man site during 4 field seasons. There is a brief description of the stratigraphy of the studied settlement, the most representative burial and utility objects of the excavation-2 in 2006, the main categories of flint tools, and the ceramic complex of the Neolithic period in the article. With the help of the ceramic complexes we can fix several stages of the development of the territory, from the Neolithic Age till the Late Middle Ages. The overwhelming part of the archaeological materials, especially ceramics, is considered in the context of the III stage of the development of the Dnepro-Donetsk culture and covers a chronological interval within the IV millennium BC. This is confirmed by the only absolute dating of 4780±90 BP (Кі-15033) with the soil from the pit filling in the utility building (object 2 of the excavation in 2006). The issues of relative and absolute dating of the monument Komarin-5, in particular the top chronological boundary of the Neolithic Dnepro-Donetsk culture, are considered.


Higher vocational and technical education's requirements for the structure of human capacity,and the overall objectives of the teaching point of criminal law training course is to cultivate the application of professional and technical capacity and infrastructure operation ability.Along with the development of criminal legislation,the number of teaching hours of criminal law teaching in colleges and universities,especially in vocational institutions,is limited.Therefore,the traditional teaching methods is not suitable for practical training,it is necessary to introduce the panoramic teaching methods,which conform to the trend of professional development.


In the present study, we investigate the Mo and W for Cr substitution in the synthetic mineral colusite, Cu 26 Cr 2 Ge 6 S 32 . Primarily, we elucidate the origin of extremely low electrical resistivity which does not compromise the Seebeck coefficient and leads to outstanding power factors of 1.94 mW m -1 K -2 at 700 K in Cu 26 Cr 2 Ge 6 S 32 . We demonstrate that the abnormally long iono-covalent T -S bonds competing with short metallic Cu-T interactions govern the electronic transport properties of the conductive "Cu 26 S 32 " framework. Additionally, we address the key role of the cationic size-mismatch at the core of the mixed tetrahedral-octahedral complex, illustrated by the cation-size variance, σ 2 , over the transport properties. Using a combination of experimental and theoretical tools, the explanation for the remarkable electrical and thermal transport properties of the Cu 26 Cr 2-x Mo x Ge 6 S 32 and Cu 26 Cr 2-x W x Ge 6 S 32 solid solutions is discussed. In-depth structural analysis using Rietveld refinements of XRPD data reveals two essential effects caused by the substitution of Cr in the solid solutions: (1) Only the tetrahedra that are directly bonded to the [ T S 4 ]Cu 6 complex are significantly distorted upon substitution and (2) the major contribution to the disorder is localized at the central position of the mixed tetrahedral-octahedral complex, and is maximized for x = 1, i.e. for the highest cationic size-variance, σ 2 . We investigated the low-(5 ≤ T / K ≤ 300) and high-(300 ≤ T / K ≤ 700) temperature electrical and thermal transport properties, including electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and Hall effect (low temperature only) measurements and linked the structural/chemical disorder to the radically different conduction mechanisms in the Cu 26 Cr 2-x Mo x Ge 6 S 32 and Cu 26 Cr 2-x W x Ge 6 S 32 solid solutions.


The critical scaling of the large-$N$ $O(N)$ model in higher dimensions using the exact renormalization group equations has been studied, motivated by the recently found non-trivial fixed point in $4<d<6$ dimensions with metastable critical potential. Particular attention is paid to the case of $d=5$ where the scaling exponent $\nu$ has the value $1/3$, which coincides with the scaling exponent of quantum gravity in one fewer dimensions. Convincing results show that this relation could be generalized to arbitrary number of dimensions above five. Some aspects of AdS/CFT correspondence are also discussed.


Using 15‐year observations obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board both NASA Terra and Aqua from March 2003 to February 2018, this study investigated the spatio‐temporal variations of both macro‐ and micro‐physical cloud properties over China, including cloud fraction (CF), cloud top pressure (CTP), cloud top temperature (CTT), cloud optical thickness (COT), and effective radius (r e) of both liquid water and ice clouds. Multi‐year averaged CF is around 61% over whole China region. However, CF varies with both regions and seasons. The CFs are about 6–8% larger in summer and winter (~64–65%) than in spring and autumn (~58%). By classifying China into five regimes, which are northwestern China (NW), northeastern China (NE), Tibetan Plateau (TP), northern China (N), and southern China (S), there is a clear CF regional distribution pattern. In general, there are large amount of clouds in S and southeast of TP, and small amount in NE, N, NW and most TP. Moreover, there are generally more clouds over ocean than over land, and much more clouds over S than over N. The CFs are larger (smaller) in the afternoon than in the morning over most land (ocean) regions. Furthermore, the largest CF differences between afternoon and morning occur over the TP region in China. COT demonstrates almost the same regional distribution pattern as the CF for all four seasons. Specifically, COT is higher in S than in N, which is most likely associated with the type of clouds and the availability of water vapour. Cloud r e shows larger values in NW and TP than in eastern China regions in all seasons except for summer, which could be related to the heavy aerosol pollution in eastern China regions. Accompanying with the cold cloud tops over TP, a low CTP centre is often located there.


The paper is introduced that the concept of two generalized frames quadratic closeness and nearness in Hilbert space H .It is shown that two generalized frames is unitary equivalent, Q equivalent if and only if they have the same range. It is proved that the two generalized frames are Q equivalent if and only if they are near.


Fresh sea squirt meat requires a modified processing and preservation process because it has a short shelf life due to its high mois ture content and strong proteolytic enzyme activity. In this study, bottled sea squirt meat prepared in vegetable oil (BSMO) to enhance the consumer acceptability was exposed to γ-ray (Co60, 10 kGy/h) irradiation to extend the shelf life without the use of a heating process. Response surface methodology was used to determine the optimal mixing ratio of BSMO containing 5% dehydrated fresh meat. Texture analysis and nutritional evaluation were also performed on a control and BSMO samples. The volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) content and total cell count were measured to determine the shelf life of irradiated BSMO products during chilled storage at 4°C for 60 days. According to a panel of 10 trained tasters (aged 20-29 years), the optimal mixing formulation was 80 g meat in 60 mL of mixed vegetable oil (30 mL of olive oil and 30 mL of sesame oil). The highest rated formulation, according to a panel of nine trained tasters (aged ≥30 years), was 80 g meat in 60 mL of mixed vegetable oil (42 mL of olive oil and 18 mL of sesame oil). Moisture, ash, and protein contents in BSMO did not change significantly ( P < 0.05) compared with the control. A higher lipid content (0.84 ± 0.23 to 2.13 ± 0.61; P < 0.05) was observed due to the presence of vegetable oil on the surface of BSMO. The vegetable oil raised the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, and resilience of BSMO. BSMO products remained edible after 50 days of storage at 4°C based on the VBN content (BSMO 1: 27.92 ± 0.96 mg/100 g, BSMO 2: 24.84 ± 1.95 mg/100 g) and total cell count (BSMO 1: 4.60 ± 0.80 log CFU/mL, BSMO 2: 3.65 ± 0.20 log CFU/mL) when compared with standard levels of VBN (25.00 mg/100 g) and total cell count (5 log CFU/mL), respectively. The results showed that irradiated BSMO products could help to expand the processed seafood market and increase the popularity of seafood among the younger generations.


Pollutant exchange in the hyporheic zone is a major process controlling its degradation in river systems. Knowledge of mass transfer processes at the sediment‐water interface (SWI) remains scarce. Accurate predictive modeling of flow driving pollutant fluxes at the SWI is currently limited. We examined mass exchange at the SWI by combining laboratory tracer experiments and the development of a flow reactive transport (FRT) model. NaCl and Foron Blue 291 tracers were used as surrogates of conservative and moderately sorptive organic pollutants, respectively. Tracer experiments in the bench‐scale river channel reproduced the influence of overlying water velocities, the source of the pollutant, and its sorption capacity on pollutant exchange. A methodological framework to calibrate the FRT model against experiments was developed. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical results confirmed the robustness of the experimental setup and numerical model. The pollutant origin, either from the sediment or the overlying water, did not affect the pollutant exchange rates. The exchange rates were quasi‐proportional to the overlying water velocity. The sediment bed caused retention of more than half of the initially injected mass of Foron Blue 291. The moderately sorptive tracer partitioning retarded the equilibrium up to six times compared with the conservative tracer NaCl. Numerical tests, including both overlying and vertical velocities, showed that the latter is the main factor controlling pollutant exchange at the SWI. Altogether, the model allows capturing interactions between pollutant transport and partitioning to the rivers sediment, paving the way for systematic investigations of pollutant behavior in rivers.


Abstract Ultraviolet (UV) induced skin inflammation (UISI) is associated with many skin disorders. However, the mechanism by which UV causes skin inflammation remains unclear. Studies evaluating UISI in vivo have mainly been conducted using mouse models. Current investigations indicate that the classic inflammatory pathways involving nuclear factor kappa B and Toll-like receptor contribute to the regulation of UISI. However, more novel signaling factors have been identified as being involved in this process, including interleukin 22 receptor-α, cluster of differentiation 28 and cluster of differentiation 1d, serum amyloid A1, estrogen, melatonin, peroxisome proliferator activated receptors β/δ, isocitrate dehydrogenase 2, and transglutaminase 2. In addition, the gene mutation of fermitin family member 1 and selenium deficiency are reported to affect the phenotype of UISI. Although the actual roles of UISI in UV-related skin diseases need to be clarified, recent studies have reported the potent contribution of UISI to photocarcinogesis. To clarify the process and modulation of UISI, the special profiles of cytokines and inflammatory mediators and the core regulatory pathways should be identified clearly. These investigations would be promoted rapidly, accompanied by the conduction of high-quality clinical research on patients with UV-related skin disease and the construction of precise animal models of UISI.


This work proposes two models of neutrino masses that predict non-zero θ 13 under the non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetry S 3 ⊗ Z 2 . We advocate that the size of θ 13 is understood as a group theoretical consequence rather than a perturbed effect from the tri-bi-maximal mixing. So, the difference of two models is designed only in terms of the flavor symmetry, by changing the charge assignment of righthanded neutrinos. The PMNS matrix in the first model is obtained from both mass matrices, charged leptons giving rise to non-zero θ l 13 and neutrino masses giving rise to tri-bi-maximal mixing. The physical mixing angles are expressed by a simple relation between θ l 13 and tri-bi-maximal angles to fit the recent experimental results. The other model generates PMNS matrix with non-zero θ 13 , only from the neutrino mass transformation. The 5 dimensional effective theory of Majorana neutrinos obtained in this framework is tested with phenomenological bounds in the parametric spaces sin θ 23 , sin θ 12 and m 2 /m 3 vs. sin θ 13 .


We present a decomposition of the two-particle vertex function of the single-band Anderson impurity model which imparts a physical interpretation of the vertex in terms of the exchange of bosons of three flavors. We evaluate the various components of the vertex for an impurity model corresponding to the half-filled Hubbard model within dynamical mean-field theory. For small values of the interaction almost the entire information encoded in the vertex function corresponds to single-boson exchange processes, which can be represented in terms of the Hedin three-leg vertex and the screened interaction. Also for larger interaction, the single-boson exchange still captures scatterings between electrons and the dominant low-energy fluctuations and provides a unified description of the vertex asymptotics. The proposed decomposition of the vertex does not require the matrix inversion of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Therefore, it represents a computationally lighter and hence more practical alternative to the parquet decomposition.


This paper investigates the deformation behavior of a gradient grained FeNi sample under uniaxial tension using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulated sample consists of five layers with grains of the same size in each layer ranging from 10 to 30 nm. It is shown that the sample plasticity develops through sequential activation of different mechanisms. These are either the generation of certain structural defects, or grain boundary migration, or grain boundary sliding. The onset of plasticity is provided by partial dislocations that produce stacking faults in large grains. Other mechanisms involved in plastic deformation are the nucleation of trailing/full dislocations and twinning, which gradually affect smaller and smaller grains. Grain boundary sliding is more intensive in smallest grains due to their less constraint. Grain boundary migration generally leads to the growth of large grains. At strains below 7.0%, plasticity is mainly contributed by the evolution of stacking faults. At higher strains, the main plasticity mechanisms are twinning and grain boundary migration. As the strain increases, the maximum values of accumulated shear, the density of intragranular defects, and the number of atoms involved in intergranular rearrangements are observed first in large, then in medium, and finally in small grains.


Blast cells of 12 acute nonlymphoid leukemias have been investigated by consecutive application on the same preparation of three cytochemical reactions: alpha-naphthylacetate esterase, AS-D-choroacetate esterase and PAS. A fourth reaction (alpha-naphthylbutyrate esterase) was added in some preparations for a more detailed definition of the monocytoid-oriented cells. The cytochemical techniques were further combined with NaF inhibition and with the cytobacterial test for muramidase. The combined cytochemical approach allowed the identification of most of the blast cells, according to an empirically determined positivity to one or more reactions, and proved to be particularly valuable in classifying the cells after chemotherapy.


Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has a worldwide distribution. Delayed and incorrect diagnosis may cause the significant spread of this disease and consequent increases in morbidity and drug resistance.


brief history of the department, poster abstracts, copies of graduate-student presentations, and student resumes. Several attendees said that the resume section would be useful for recruiting graduate students for employment. Along with MRS, the symposium was sponsored by the JHU Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, the JHU Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Johns Hopkins Alumni Council, and the JHU Graduate Representative Organization. UNIVERSITY CHAPTERS