Introduction: Chronic renal failure patients are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Higher than expected cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in this population has been attributed to dyslipidaemia as well as inflammation. The causes of inflammation in chronic renal failure patients are multifactorial. Several markers were used for the detection of inflammatory reaction in patients with chronic renal disease. These markers can be used for the prediction of future cardiovascular events. Among the several parameters of inflammatory markers, serum, CRP is well known and its advantages for the detection of inflammation and its predictor ability has been evaluated in several studies. Materials and methodology: This work was done in department of Medicine at Government Rajaji Hospital, attached to the Madurai Medical College, Madurai in collaboration with departments of Nephrology and Cardiology. It is a cross sectional and analytical study. 42 newly detected CRF patients were included in the study along with 10 controls (normal individuals) and rest were cases which are newly detected CRF who satisfied the inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Patients with elevated blood urea levels, elevated serum Creatinine levels and Ultrasound abdomen showing medical renal disease were included in study. Results and Conclusion: The hs-CRP levels among CRF patients was independent of age, gender or serum creatinine levels. The hs-CRP levels was significantly elevated in CRF patients when compared to healthy controls. The hs-CRP levels were elevated significantly in those CRF patients with cardiovascular complications when compared with those without cardiovascular complications there by indicating that elevated hs-CRP is a marker of development of cardiovascular morbidity. The present study has brought out an association between elevated hsCRP and degree of albuminuria, haemoglobin levels as well as cardiovascular morbidity. CRF patients with elevated hs-CRP should be adequately counselled regarding their proneness to develop cardiovascular complications.


In their otherwise fine article concerning recommendations for the management of diabetes during Ramadan, Al-Arouj et al. (1) perpetuate an ingrained, but mistaken, view of the glycemic response to different kinds of ingested carbohydrates. Their recommendations of eating foods containing complex carbohydrates at the predawn meal and simple carbohydrates at the sunset meal is based on their stated assumption that digestion and absorption of the former is delayed and faster for the latter. These …


1,2,3SRM Institute of science and technology, Department of Automobile Engineering, Chennai, Tamilnadu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract Power is generated through several processes and one of the popular and widely used method is reciprocating diesel engine. The diesel engines are lucrative due to its reliability, combined with higher efficiency. The cost of fuel per kilowatt produced is approximately 30 % to 50 % lower than gasoline engines. Apart from being used in automotive field, diesel engines are also commonly used as emergency or backup generators in many places. In spite of all its merits, there are few drawbacks which includes high initial cost, harmful emissions upon combustion and pungent odour, this calls for an alternative fuel or a substitute to minimize the undesirable properties of conventional diesel fuel. These are also known as diesel like fuels which have less carbon intensity than diesel, thereby contributing less harm to the environment. Our research focuses on producing diesel like fuel using Waste Lube Oil (WLO) and Waste Tyre Oil (WTO). Pyrolytic distillation process is used, in which the waste feed stock is heated to a specific temperature and the vapors collected is converted to the desired fuel. The optimization of fuel production was done using Taguchi analysis with a L12 orthogonal array to analyze the influence of process factors on performance parameters. The results indicate that among WLO and WTO fuels, the S/N Ratio for WLO was 46.51 and WTO was 45.46 and the total WLO and WTO yield obtained after the process was around 80 % and 70 %. Hence by the optimization method, the WLO yield was found to be better than WTO yield by 10 %.


Unsupervised methods play an essential role in Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) image classification, where labeled data are difficult to obtain. However, there is still a large gap between existing unsupervised learning methods and supervised learning methods. Without the semantic constraints of labeled data, pixels within the same category are often misclassified into different categories, leaving the output to be messy. To address the previous issue, this paper proposes a fully unsupervised pipeline for training CNNs. The pipeline combines low-level superpixels and high-level CNN semantic features for high-quality pseudo label generation. It effectively eliminates the misclassified pixels by voting within the superpixel blob, while preserving the sharpness of edges. With the training process of the model, the quality of the generated labels is getting improved. Experiments on airborne (ESAR/AIRSAR) and spaceborne (RadarSat2) PolSAR images prove the effectiveness of the proposed method (measured with OA, AA, and Kappa metrics). Our method outperforms the previous unsupervised methods (H/alpha-Wishart,SM-Wishart, FDD-H, DEC, and VQC-CAE) with a large margin, and even has comparable performance to the supervised CNN model (FCN).


State responsibility — Kinds of — Interference with property — Whether attorney's lien constitutes property — Effect of nationalization of judgment-debtor corporation.


German wirehaired pointers, English, Irish and Gordon setters, and labrador retrievers that were puppies during the spring and summer had a significantly lower incidence of hip dysplasia than those growing up during the autumn and winter. However, golden retrievers and German shepherd dogs did not show the same seasonal pattern of incidence of hip dysplasia.


We investigate the plasmon resonance of a touching gold cylinder arrays surrounded with air or dielectric. We show that the plasmon resonance is tunable by modulating the cylinder radius, the cylinder layer and refractiveindex of the dielectric. It is found resonance peak blue-shifts and splits as the gold cylinder radius reduces, width of the resonance peak gets much smaller as layer increases, and resonant peak red-shifts noticeably as dielectric refractive index increases. Based on electric field dis- tributions at the resonance wavelengths we reveal the mechanism of the transmission enhancement. These phenomena are helpful for the design of potential optics devices.


Uncooled broadband spectrum detection, spanning from visible to mid‐wave‐infrared regions, offers immense potential for applications in environmental monitoring, optical telecommunications, and radar systems. While leveraging proven technologies, conventional mid‐wave‐infrared photodetectors are encumbered by high dark currents and the necessity for cryogenic cooling. Correspondingly, innovative low‐dimensional materials like black phosphorus manifest weak photoresponse and instability. Here, tantalum nickel selenide (Ta2NiSe5) infrared photodetectors with an operational wavelength range from 520 nm to 4.6 µm, utilizing a hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) encapsulation technique are introduced. The h‐BN encapsulated metal‐Ta2NiSe5‐metal photodetector demonstrates a responsivity of 0.86 A W−1, a noise equivalent power of 1.8 × 10−11 W Hz−1/2, and a peak detectivity of 8.75 × 108 cm Hz1/2 W−1 at 4.6 µm under ambient conditions. Multifaceted mechanisms of photocurrent generation in the novel device prototype subject are scrutinized to varying wavelengths of radiation, by characterizing the temporal‐, bias‐, power‐, and temperature‐dependent photoresponse. Moreover, the photopolarization dependence is delved and concealed‐target imaging is demonstrated, which exhibits polarization angle sensitivity and high‐fidelity imaging across the visible, short‐wave, and mid‐wave‐infrared bands. The observations, which reveal versatile detection modalities, propose Ta2NiSe5 as a promising low‐dimensional material for advanced applications in nano‐optoelectronic device.


Dear All, Mesopotamia, Iraq at present, is the homeland of the oldest human civilizations that contributed in transferring of mankind from the prehistoric to urbanization era. In fact, there are numerous examples including those in agriculture aspect proves this participation such as the first cultivation of wheat and barley crops, sheep farming and systems of crops watering. As consequence of this cultural heritage and message of the University of Kerbala for improvement of the quality of education and scientific research in serving the community, College of Agriculture was established in 2005 to contribute in development of agricultural society. This is by graduating of agricultural engineers who are able to participate in improvement of society and contribute in the advancement of agricultural aspects. Additionally, we believe that the establishment of scientific conferences is one of the most important approaches of scientific development to solve problems including those of farmers and it is also a great opportunity for scientific communication and exchanging of experiences between researchers and various scientific institutions. Therefore, the Fourth International Conference on Agricultural Sciences is held on the 17-18th of November/2019 in our college this year and we, with God willing, are planning to hold it every year. Sincerely yours, Prof. Dr. Thamer K. Aljanabi Dean of Agriculture College/University of Kerbala The chairman of 4thICAS/2019


Cytospora dieback and canker disease is one of prevalent disease of walnut trees in Iran caused by several species of Cytospora genus. The aim of this study was to determination of virulence degree in 58 isolates of dominant species, Cytospora chrysosperma. isolates from 12 provinces of Iran; Hamedan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, West Azarbaijan, Zanjan, Markazi, Lorestan, Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari, Isfahan, Kohgilouye va Boyerahmad and Fars were inoculated on three-year old seedlings and lesion area have been recorded 30 days after inoculation. Furthermore, Pathogenicity survey on detached twigs carried out in laboratory situation to check accuracy of pathogenicity determination. Based on these results, there was noticeable variation in virulence degree of tested isolates. However, most of isolates didn't show any pathogenicity. Indeed, 34% and 24% of isolates didn't shown significant difference with control in pathogenicity test on seedlings and detached twigs, respectively. Also, there was week but significant (23%) correlation between two evaluation methods. Collectively, it seems that evaluation of virulence or resistance degree would not be reliable via the detached twigs technique.


Two simple and robust designs for an external high-temperature reference electrode are described. The first external reference electrode uses a movable polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) piston to maintain the pressure balance between the reference solution and test solution. The second external reference electrode uses the test solution as reference solution, and this is feasible if the test solution contains a minimum amount of chloride. For both electrodes it is necessary to determine the potential drop across the (cooled) salt bridge, which connects the reference electrode to the autoclave. It is shown that a simple correction algorithm can be used to calculate this potential drop and that the corrections are in agreement with literature values. It is also shown that this correction algorithm is independent of the solution composition for a wide range of neutral and alkaline solutions. The potential difference between two standard hydrogen electrodes (SHE) at different temperatures has been determined. This potential difference has been used to extend the correction algorithm to be able to calculate the potential against the SHE at 25°C.


Original Research Article This study aimed to evaluate the effect of meat producing species on fattening period and efficiency of meat production farms through field survey of different meat producing farms in Dakahlia province, which located at the north delta of Egypt. The meat producing animals included in this study were baladi cattle calves, cross-bred cattle calves and buffalo calves. The data included in the study were productive parameters as feed intake; marketing weights, weight gain and fattening period in addition to economic parameters as costs of production, feed cost, returns, and then different economic efficiency measures were calculated. The data analyzed using computer programs SPSS/PC + . The results revealed that, the best breed from economic point used for fattening under Egyptian conditions were cross-bred calves and is better than baladi calves and buffalo calves. These results attributed to the high body weight gain, high resistance to different diseases, lower total costs and a higher return in cross-bred calves than baladi and buffalo calves. Also, the value of economic efficiency measures as TR/TC were 118.94 % in cross-bred calves and is higher than the buffalo calves and baladi calves as were 118.34 % and 115.09 % respectively.


Through numerical simulations corroborated by an analytical subthreshold model considering drain coupling, this paper systematically investigates the short-channel effects in negative-capacitance FETs with 2D MoS2 channel (2D-NCFET). Our study indicates that, due to the impact of drain coupling on the negative-capacitance effect, the 2D-NCFET exhibits distinct short-channel behaviors such as improved average subthreshold swing and threshold-voltage roll-up with decreasing gate length. In addition, the fringe field through the high-k interlayer dielectric can significantly alter the subthreshold characteristics of the short-channel 2D-NCFET, and hence needs to be carefully taken into account. Our study may provide insights for device design using negative-capacitance FETs.


A few underwater and in-air sounds of the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) were recorded on the pupping areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The male emits underwater calls. In air, the inflation and deflation of the adult male's proboscis produces sounds of low intensity. The adult female and the pup both have an in-air call. All of the vocalizations (except for those associated with the male proboscis) seem to be variations of a low-frequency, pulsed call.


In this paper five-level multilevel inverter based shunt active power filter using space vector modulation (SVM) is presented. Application of multilevel inverter in active filters effectively reduces harmonics in high voltage system without use of bulky and high cost transformer. Reference signals are generated by using p-q theory from sensed supply voltages and load currents. Space Vector modulation scheme is implemented to generate switching signals. The switching sequences are generated with respect to the triangle number, such that there will be one switching per state which reduces the individual device switching frequency. The simulation and experimental results show MLI based APF using SVM eliminates harmonics effectively.


Zika virus (ZIKV) is an ongoing global public health emergency with 70 countries and territories reporting evidence of ZIKV transmission since 2015. On 27 August 2016, Singapore reported its first case of local ZIKV transmission and identified an ongoing cluster. Here, we report the genome sequences of ZIKV strains from two cases and find through phylogenetic analysis that these strains form an earlier branch distinct from the recent large outbreak in the Americas.


Contamination of drinking water by organic chemicals has become a national problem of increasing concern. Small communities faced with the problem of removing these contaminants have limited resources and often cannot afford traditional treatment approaches. One approach which has the potential to be cost effective is treatment at the home, or point-of-use treatment. This report discusses the results of a study of point-of-use treatment of contaminated ground water in two small communities. Costs for purchase, installation, monitoring, and maintenance are documented and discussed. The effect of the point-of-use treatment on the drinking-water quality is presented.


The measurement of aggregation in whole blood allows the study of platelets in their natural milieu, but may still have anticoagulant induced artifacts; citrate decreases extracellular (Ca++) and heparin activates platelets. A technique for measuring aggregation in unanticoagulated (native) whole blood (NWB) was developed; blood is diluted in prewarmed saline with and without platelet agonists and aggregation is monitored by electrical impedance. Spontaneous and collagen induced aggregation were measured and the effect of prostacyclin analogue ZK 36,374 studied. The time until response (lag), aggregation rate, and clotting time were measured. Normal blood gave a cv of <7% for the NWB parameters; collagen gave a shorter lag and higher rate than in citrated whole blood (CWB). The lag and rate were inhibited in a dose dependent manner by ZK 36,374. 6 patients were studied on admission with ARDS and followed for several days. All had increased aggregation to collagen, which was more pronounced in NWB than CWB. A shortened lag was seen in some patients, but none showed spontaneous aggregation. ARDS patients showed no inhibition to ZK 36,374, and the heightened aggregation was not influenced by 2mM ASA, or normal plasma, while 2.5mM EDTA abolished all responses. Serum thromboxane B2 was normal, and increased flux through the cyclo-oxygenase pathway therefore unlikely. A parallel study has shown very low levels of antithrombin III (ATIII) in these patients, which may mean an increased thrombin generation rate with more thrombin available for platelet activation. This partly explains the difference in degree of hyperaggregability seen with NWB and CWB. During recovery from ARDS, collagen aggregation and the response to ZK 36,374 normalises at the same time as AT-III increases.


Biomarker‐based post‐transplant immune monitoring for the prediction of impending graft rejection requires validation in specific patient populations. Serum of 28 pediatric renal transplant recipients within the framework of a well‐controlled prospective randomized trial was analyzed pre‐ and post‐transplant for soluble CD30 (sCD30), a biomarker reflecting mainly T‐cell reactivity, and anti‐human leukocyte antigen (anti‐HLA) antibody reactivity, a biomarker for B‐cell activation. A sCD30 concentration ≥40.3 U/ml on day 14 was able to discriminate between patients with or without biopsy‐proven acute rejection (BPAR) with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 76%. Six of seven patients (86%) with BPAR showed a sCD30 above this cut‐off, whereas only 3/21 patients (14%) without BPAR had a sCD30 above this cut‐off (P = 0.004). For pre‐ and post‐transplant anti‐HLA class II reactivities by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, a cut‐off value of 140 optical density was able to discriminate rejecters from nonrejecters with a sensitivity of 86% or 71% and a specificity of 81% or 90%, respectively. Withdrawal of steroids was associated with a approximately twofold higher serum sCD30 compared to controls, but did not affect anti‐HLA reactivities. An increased post‐transplant sCD30 serum concentration and positive pre‐ and post‐transplant anti‐HLA class II reactivities are informative biomarkers for impending BPAR in pediatric renal transplant recipients. (TWIST, Clinical Trial No: FG‐506‐02‐43)


This paper presents a new power management technique aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of client-server multimedia applications running on wireless portable devices. We focus on reducing th...


Forest gardening takes an ecosystem approach to growing food, by integrating fruit and nut trees with shrubs, herbs, roots, vegetables, fungi, and supporting fertility plants. Requiring an initial investment of time and energy, forest gardening is a long term, sustainable and low maintenance system that is well suited to those who have access to an area of land over a long period of time. The following article was kindly contributed by Kip of Victoria Farm. Kip is currently establishing a (...)


The capability of the extreme learning machine (ELM) model in modeling stochastic, nonlinear, and complex hydrological engineering problems has been proven remarkably. The classical ELM training algorithm is based on a nontuned and random procedure that might not be efficient in convergence of excellent performance or possible entrapment in the local minima problem. This current study investigates the integration of a newly explored metaheuristic algorithm (i.e., Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA)) with the ELM model to forecast monthly river flow. Twenty years of river flow data time series of the Tigris river at the Baghdad station, Iraq, is used as a case study. Different input combinations are applied for constructing the predictive models based on antecedent values. The results are evaluated based on several statistical measures and graphical presentations. The river flow forecast accuracy of SSA-ELM outperformed the classical ELM and other artificial intelligence (AI) models. Over the testing phase, the proposed SSA-ELM model yielded a satisfactory enhancement in the level accuracies (8.4 and 13.1 percentage of augmentation for RMSE and MAE, respectively) against the classical ELM model. In summary, the study ascertains that the SSA-ELM model is a qualified data-intelligent model for monthly river flow prediction at the Tigris river, Iraq.


Organic amendments are used to improve soil fertility and maintain agricultural fields in a productive state. Despite these benefits, the use of organic amendments is limited in many developing countries. The overall objective of this thesis is therefore to provide a better understanding of current waste management practices in developing countries and ensure sustainable crop production via the biotransformation of urban waste into a high-quality soil amendment. First, I aimed at determining the causes for the limited use of organic amendments in small-scale urban farming systems. I interviewed 220 urban farmers in Ethiopia and found that competition for agricultural waste between fuel, feed and soil amendment is a major cause for the limited use of organic amendments. I demonstrated that allocation of agricultural waste for soil amendment is linked with farmers' livelihood strategies. I also studied variation in compost demand among different farmer groups, and the socio-economic variables which explained these variations. Gaseous losses of ammonia and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur during composting of nitrogen-rich urban waste. Several technologies could reduce these losses. However, these technologies are inadequate to fit within the broader farming systems because they are expensive. The second aim of this thesis was to develop low-cost methods to mitigate N losses and GHG emissions from composting, while retaining its fertilising value. Composting by earthworms (vermicomposting) is proposed as a low-cost strategy for minimising N losses and GHG emissions. Using a wide range of substrate qualities (C:N ratio, labile C sources) and other factors (earthworm density, amount of input, and moisture), I showed that vermicomposting reduced N losses and GHG emissions compared with traditional thermophilic composting, but the magnitude of the earthworm effect varied between substrates. Earthworms also change the quantity and composition of dissolved organic carbon during composting. Another low-cost strategy is to delay the addition of N-rich substrates during composting. I demonstrated that addition of nitrogen-rich substrate after the thermophilic phase reduced N losses. Delayed addition of N-rich substrates increased N2O emissions, but reduced CH4 emissions. Delayed addition resulted in compost that was as stable and effective at completely eradicating weed seeds as traditional composting. In conclusion, urban waste compost should be considered as alternative source for soil amendment, particularly in developing countries with competition for agricultural waste. Technologies such as vermicomposting and delayed addition of N-rich substrate are recommended to increase or maintain the nitrogen content of compost, reduce N losses and mitigate GHG emissions.


Motivated by Carleman's proof of isoperimetric inequality in the plane, we study some sharp integral inequalities for harmonic functions on the upper half‐space. We also derive the regularity for nonnegative solutions of the associated integral system and some Liouville‐type theorems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Ad-hoc Networks have been proposed for a variety of applications where support for real time, multimedia services may be necessary. In order to operate ad hoc networks several protocols, for media access control, power control, routing, and transport are needed. We take a holistic approach to the problems in ad hoc networks. We start by postulating general design principles for power control based on the effect of transmit power on various performance metrics. These are used to design a set of protocols which attempt to optimize different performance metrics, as all the metrics cannot be simultaneously optimized in general. Some of these protocols have been implemented in the Linux kernel in an architecturally appropriate manner. Extensive testing was not possible due to the limitations of the current generation of hardware, and so performance results obtained through NS2 simulations are used to illustrate the potential benefits of the power control protocols. Our work at the routing layer is motivated by the difficulty in implementing on-demand routing protocols for ad hoc networks in common operating systems. It provides an API and its implementation in Linux as a user-space library (ASL), which facilitates implementation of on-demand routing protocols. It has been used to implement a few routing protocols.


The proximate, mineral, sugars, ascorbic acid and pH of Chrysophyllum albidum, Malus pumila and Psidium guajava fruits were determined. Ash, moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and available carbohydrate were highly varied among the samples. The epicarp of C. albidum contained the highest amount of crude fat, crude fibre and available carbohydrate but the least value for moisture. Significant differences (P = 0.05) occurred in the proximate values. Ascorbic acid was highest (192.9 mg/ 100 g) in P. guajava but lowest (5.6 mg/ 100g) in M. pumila. Acidic pH ranging between 3.5 - 5.2 were recorded among the samples. Micro mineral elements were relatively lower in values than the macro mineral elements. However, Co was not detected in P. guajava.


Appropriate treatment of Salter-Harris (SH) II distal femoral physeal fractures is crucial due to risks of growth arrest and angular deformity. Low incidence renders sufficiently powered, prospective research difficult. This study aimed to assess the current state of management of these fractures on the basis of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) membership experience. POSNA members were surveyed via an emailed REDCAP survey. Questions included respondent demographics, experience, practice environment and clinical questions regarding preferred treatment and postoperative management based, in part, on an illustrative case of a nighttime presentation of a displaced SH-II distal femur fracture. Descriptive statistics were performed to summarize the preferred management among POSNA members. Twenty-eight percent (376/1344) of contacted POSNA members responded to the survey meeting sample size criteria of membership representation. Respondents' median years in practice were 17 (IQR 7–27). Surgical management of the presented case was preferred by most (96.3%) respondents. If no vascular compromise was present (ABI >0.9), most (86.6%) felt it was appropriate to wait for intervention on the following day. One-third (32.7%) of respondents considered every SH-II as an indication for surgical treatment. Screw fixation is the most common implant selection for operatively managed injuries, with the majority choosing not to electively remove screws. Those who opted for pin fixation tended to remove pins by 3–4 weeks postoperatively. For immediate postoperative immobilization, long leg casting (44.4%) was selected more commonly than splinting or knee immobilizers. Nearly all (99.7%) respondents preferred follow-up until skeletal maturity. In cases of suspected growth arrest, 76% felt MRI was necessary for further evaluation. Operative management of SH-II distal femur fractures is preferred among POSNA members, particularly in cases of displaced fractures or when closed reduction had failed. Except for immediate postoperative immobilization preferences, pediatric orthopedic surgeons appear to have a majority consensus regarding treatment practices, postoperative management and indications and timing of hardware removal. Level of evidence Level V Expert Opinion.


Want to get experience? Want to get any ideas to create new things in your life? Read eye movements vision and behavior now! By reading this book as soon as possible, you can renew the situation to get the inspirations. Yeah, this way will lead you to always think more and more. In this case, this book will be always right for you. When you can observe more about the book, you will know why you need this.


An analog implementation of an order statistics filter based on current-mode techniques is presented. The circuit is designed using switched-current delay lines and current maximum extractors. These filters could be easily incorporated in smart sensors as well as in smart cameras. SPICE simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of simple analog filters using current-mode techniques.


The general objective of this study was to examine the effect of organisational politics on the relationship between HR practice and the innovative work behaviours of selected senior staff of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. A secondary objective was to examine the moderation of personal locus of control on the association between organisational politics and employees innovative work behaviour. The study adopted an explanatory research design, using a purely quantitative approach. The target population comprised of all senior staff of the University of Cape Coast. The G*Power 3.1 software was used to select 119 members into the sample for this study. Data were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire and analysed, using the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. The findings of this study suggest that organisational politics has a statistically significant positive influence on the link between human resource management practice and employees' innovative work behaviour. Unexpectedly, the paper also found that the link between organisational politics and personal locus of control, on one hand, and that between personal locus of control and innovative work behaviour, on the other hand, were statistically non-significant and negative. Therefore, we recommend that since organisational politics is an inevitable element in every human institution, any attempt by management to improve the innovative work behaviours of employees must take into account the possible effect of organizational politics on the said intervention.


To improve the test automation in software development process,following the researches on test case generation technology from models,a novel method is proposed based on UML2.0 sequence diagram(SD) with use case description,and event deterministic finite automata(ETDFA) are employed to describe the SD models of system interaction.By the model checked with propositional projection temporal logic(PPTL),the correctness of ETDFA is verified.The achieved accurate ETDFA models and use case description are regarded as the origin of test cases.The testing strategy derives the test cases according to the event and full path coverage criterion.The experimental analyses of library management system(LMS) show that this approach enables to improve software testing efficiency,and guarantee the accuracy of the test cases for the administrator′s action.


A dominating set is called a global dominating set if it is a dominating set of a graph and its complement . A natural question arises: are there any graphs for which it is possible to relate the domination number and the global domination number? We have found an affirmative answer to this question and obtained some graphs having such characteristic.


This study explored the nature and basis of teachers' concerns regarding several behavioural and social difficulties experienced by their secondary-school students. It was hypothesized that teachers would be most concerned about students presenting externalizing behavioural or academic difficulties but not those displaying internalizing problems. We also expected that pupils who were objects of teacher concern would be considered more maladjusted than random controls in terms of self- and peer-rated popularity and problem behaviours. Participants were 1384 secondary school pupils from Seville, Spain. The most common reasons indicated by teachers for their concerns about students were motivational and socialization-emotional concerns. There was some basis for these concerns: students who were objects of teacher concerns were significantly more likely to be perceived by their peers and by themselves as socially rejected, more aggressive/disruptive, more withdrawn and less cooperative than controls. Nevertheless, teachers expressed concern about only a minority of pupils who appear to be at risk according to other sources of information.


Mutations in the transforming growth factor β‐induced protein (TGFBIp) are associated with TGFBI‐linked corneal dystrophies, which manifests as protein deposits in the cornea. A total of 70 different disease‐causing mutations have been reported so far including the common R124H substitution, which is associated with granular corneal dystrophy type 2 (GCD2). The disease mechanism of GCD2 is not known and the current treatments only offer temporary relief due to the reoccurrence of deposits.


Double differential cross sections and analyzing powers over the quasielastic region have been measured using the ({ital {rvec p}},{ital n}) reaction on {sup 12}C and {sup nat}Pb. The data were obtained at proton energies of 495 and 795 MeV and cover momentum transfers from 1.0--2.1 fm{sup {minus}1} at 495 MeV data and from 0.0--3.5 fm{sup {minus}1} at 795 MeV. The cross section data are compared to results from a nonrelativistic reaction model that includes contributions from two-step scattering. The analyzing power measurements are compared to a recent relativistic plane-waves model.


How do Mafias operate across territories? The paper is an in-depth study of the operations of a Neapolitan Camorra group. It relies on a unique data set of contacts manually extracted from the transcripts of phone conversations wiretapped by the police. The data show that the clan is indeed involved in the production and supply of extra-legal protection, but only in its territory of origin. The expansion abroad followed the lines of a functional diversification: branches were created to carry out specific activities but no large-scale international alliances were forged. The strategies underpinning the group's operations differ greatly across territories. Overall, the clan is still highly dependent on the territory of origin. Finally, the paper argues against the concept of 'transnational organized crime' and proposes a new taxonomy that better accounts for the ways in which Mafia groups choose to operate outside their territories of origin.


In order to promote the continuous development of urbanization process and alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand of land resources, more and more cities take high-rise buildings and structures as the optimal solution in the process of planning and construction, and actively promote the construction of high-rise buildings and structures to meet the demand for space use in the process of urban development.


Composite materials are characterised by different types of failure mechanisms which are typically associated with matrix cracking, fibre-matrix debonding and fibre breakage. These three mechanisms result in a different AE signature, which can be often recognised. In certain cases it is necessary to classify and map the damage types so as to be able to evaluate the accumulated damage and remaining strength of the material. In this framework, neural networks are widely used for damage characterisation. The classical approach involves recording waveform features and tries to associate them with the underlying damage source. Nevertheless, very often, it is very hard to draw definite conclusions based on these features. In this study, we have used a new type of a neural network which is called parameter-less self organised mapping. It is based on Kohonen neural networks but it is not bound to the naturally subjective learning rate, neighbourhood function and their annealing with the training progress. Moreover, for the training of the NN and the subsequent classification, we have successfully used wavelet decomposed AE signals.


Objective To study the role of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) transplantation in treatment of monocrotaline(MCT)-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH) in rats carrying hepatocyte growth factor(HGF) and its mechanism. Methods MSC isolated from bone marrow of 3-week old male SD rats were incubated in vitro with adhesion culture method,purified and transfected with adenovirus(Ad)-mediated HGF.The rats were randomly divided into PAH group,MSC transplantation group,and Ad-mediated HGF transplantation group,10 in each group.After a PAH model was established by intraperitoneal injection of monocrotaline(MCT) at the dose of 60mg/kg,1ml L-DMEM was injected into the jugular vein of rats in PAH group,1ml suspension containing 5×106 MSC transfected with empty adenovirus vector was injected into rats of HGF transplantation group.Hemodynamics,RV/LV and plasma ET-1 level in rats of different groups were observed.Results No significant difference was found in BP among different groups 3 weeks after treatment of PAH(pulmonary arterial hypertension).The PASP(pulmonary artery systdic pressure) and mPAP(mean pulmonary arterial pressure) were significantly lower in Ad-mediated HGF transplantation group than in PAH group and MSCs transplantation group(37.227 2±5.381 60 vs 45.069 0±7.177 97 and 44.142 0±6.673 75,25.693 5± 1.446 33 vs 30.800 2±1.256 15 and 30.359 1±1.172 52,P0.05).No significant difference was found in RV/LV among Ad-mediated HGF transplantation group,PAH group and MSCs transplantation group(42.200 0±8.060 59,46.858 0±8.241 61,46.750 0±10.420 14, P0.05)although it was decreased.The plasma ET-1 level was significantly lower in Ad-mediated HGF transplantation group than in PAH group and MSC transplantation group(23.862 70±7.426 76 vs 28.372 0±4.402 75 and 31.849 0±7.547 13,P0.05).Conclusion MSC carrying HGF transplantation therapy can significantly reduce the PASP and mPAP,improve hemodynamics,delay and even reverse right ventricular hypertrophy,and decrease plasma ET-1 level in rats with PAH,thus protecting vascular endothelium cells against damage and blood vessels against constriction.


A prevailing view of acute hepatic failure is that almost any form of treatment ought to be worth a trial in a disease state with so poor a prognosis. The central theme of treatment is support for the liver pending its regeneration. Two procedures with merit are plasmapheresis with plasma exchange and the use of hyperimmune plasma rich in Australia antibody. The much-publicized "total body washout" is extremely dangerous, inflicting serious additional hazards on a critically ill patient.


We demonstrate enhancement of neural networks efficacy to recognize frequency encoded signals and/or to categorize spatial patterns of neural activity as a result of noise addition. For temporal information recovery, noise directly added to the receiving neurons allow instantaneous improvement of signal‐to‐noise ratio [Monterola and Saloma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2002]. For spatial patterns however, recurrence is necessary to extend and homogenize the operating range of a feed‐forward neural network [Monterola and Zapotocky, Phys. Rev. E 2005]. Finally, using the size of the basin of attraction of the networks learned patterns (dynamical fixed points), a procedure for estimating the optimal noise is demonstrated.


A channel multiplexing method for reading out a detector signal comprises steps: grouping L detectors to form a first source signal and a second source signal; respectively introducing L detector signals into a first signal transmission line comprising two readout channels A and B and a second signal transmission line comprising two readout channels C and D, and simultaneously introducing a first signal delay unit and a second signal delay unit on the first signal transmission line and the second signal transmission line; and marking source detectors for forming signals according to pulses of the four readout channels A, B, C, and D, and obtaining final pulse information. By means of the method, a flat-panel detector only needs four readout channels, thereby effectively resolving the problem of excessive one-to-one readout channels. Time division multiplexing design of the transmission lines ensures that the waveform of signals output by detectors at different positions is similar to that of the mode of one-to-one readout, and reduces the requirement of the dynamic range of a back-end readout circuit. In addition, adding delay units greatly reduces the requirement on the time resolution of the backend readout circuit.


To investigate the responses of the accumulation and distribution of dry weight and nitrogen of cotton bolls to nitrogen applications and their relationships with fiber and seed quality characteristics,field experiments were carried out in Xuzhou(117°11′E,34°15′N) and Anyang,Henan(114°13′E,36°04′N) using two cotton cultivars,Kemian 1 and NuCOTN,with three nitrogen levels(N 0,240 and 480 kg/ha).The results show that the dry weights,nitrogen accumulation characteristics of cotton bolls(shell,fiber and seed) and quality of cotton bolls are affected under the N fertilization.In a single boll,at the N 240 kg/ha,its dry weight is the highest except cotton shell,its nitrogen content is in the middle,and its nitrogen accumulation amount is the highest.Thus the boll weight is the highest and the cotton boll quality(fiber and cottonseed quality) is the best.At the N 0 kg/ha,the start time of rapid dry weight is earlier,the rates of dry weight and nitrogen accumulation are slower,and the dry weight and nitrogen accumulation amounts are lower,which result in the lowest boll weight and the poorest cotton boll quality.At the N 480 kg/ha,the nitrogen content and accumulation amount are increased in cotton bolls.In mature one,dry weight distributive indices are decreased in cotton fiber,while nitrogen distributive indices are increased in cotton seeds.The seed protein content is increased,while boll weight,fiber strength and seed oil content are decreased.These results indicate that the low nitrogen rate affects the transportation of photosynthesis production and nitrogen to bolls,the high nitrogen rate affects the distribution of cotton dry weight and nitrogen in cotton bolls,and both of the rates decrease the boll weight and qualities of fiber and cotton seeds.


In the fierce competition that shook the semiconductor industry in the 1950s, transistor and diode prices tumbled, along with more than a few managerial heads, as company after company discovered the importance of the learning curve. What this taught basically was this: As a manufacturer gains experience in making a product, he should be able to produce it more "cleverly," more efficiently and in greater volume, and thus be in a position to cut prices. Successful companies applied the learning curve and survived. One way of applying the curve is to ensure volume production quickly by initially heavy investing in capital equipment.


Many cancer cells in solid tumors are hypoxic or pseudohypoxic and create acidic environment for malignancy progression. Under low oxygen conditions (hypoxia), hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) play pathological roles in cancer cell survival and spreading. HIF regulates several genes such as genes of glucose transporters that enhance anaerobic glycolysis, angiogenesis, erythropoiesis and carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX). CA-IX is a cell-surface glycoprotein that catalyzes the hydration of CO2 to protons and bicarbonate ions (respiratory acidification). This process is involved in adaptation to acidosis and implicated in cancer progression. Therefore, CA-IX inhibitors (such as sulfonamide-based compounds) showed hoping results in reduction malignancy progression. The article aims to reversal the malignant hypoxic environment in solid tumors to create a condition of weakness within the cancer for further focused cisplatin potency. This article suggests the use of modified synthesized HIF as a drug delivery molecule for both carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitor and glycosylated cisplatin that damages the DNA of malignant cell. HIF molecule has high affinity to bind with CA IX-expressing malignant cells, which is followed by cell entrance via endocytosis. Once the HIF-Cisplatin-CA-inhibitor complex enters the cell, the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor will improve the cellular pH that makes the environment unsuitable for HIF 1α function and it may be ubiquitinated. So, the raise in target genes transcription will be arrested. On the other hand, once the synthetized HIF is degraded, the cisplatin molecules will be released inside the malignant cell and start to damage its DNA. This approach may be a good solution for many solid tumors.


An optimization approach to the modeling of the world socio-economic strategy on the basis of economic-mathematical model of optimal control is described in this article. It is evident the model has to take into account the interaction of the main economic agents of the world socio-economic system, that is, producing, consuming, financial and control world sectors. The optimization task of global socio-economic development control is formulated and the basic principles of analysis, restrictions and criteria are analyzed.


A database-management system (DBMS) is a collection of correlated data and a set of programs to access correlated data. The collection of data, usually referred to as the database, contains information able to an enterprise. And hence the concept of security lies with-in. As the database contains all information relevant to particular enterprise, so it's very important to be in safe side to prevent all threats related to data. Various Security Mechanisms have been developed to prevent ill-legal and un-authorized access of data (enterprise related, web or network related etc.) by un-authorized users and hackers. Database security is a growing concern of the market these days as there has been found an un-expected growth in ill-legal access of data. This paper is the brief analysis of all the threats and attacks against database security and integrity. Database security is the mechanisms that secure the database from data tampering, deliberate threats, unauthorized users and hackers. Security refers to protecting data from unauthorized users and Integrity refers to protecting the data against authorized users. Both concepts must be taken into consideration for making a complete check on overall security of database.


This study describes perceptions and knowledge of the jaguar among children in communities neighboring the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. There have been several cases of livestock depredation by the jaguar in these communities, and the study aimed to determine children's perceptions of the jaguar in light of this problem. A total of 102 children from four communities on the banks of the Rio Lacantún River, adjacent to the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, were involved in the study. The children were between 6 and 12 years old. Interviews, drawing, and participant observation were the main research tools employed. A high percentage of the children recognize the jaguar as a species that lives in the jungle. Likewise, they consider it to be a dangerous animal that eats people and livestock. In general, the children had little knowledge of the physical characteristics of the species. This study represents an initial step in defining methodologies for socioecological studies with children. Immediate lines of action have been identified from the data generated, and these will form a basis for an environmental education strategy in the region.


The invention discloses a micro vibration isolation device based on an ultra-magnetostriction and quartz cycloid composite cooling mechanism, and belongs to the technical field of micro vibration isolation. The device is composed of a first-level pendulum, a second-level pendulum and an actuator. The first-level pendulum is composed of an external supporting structure, first quartz fibers, a first testing mass block and upper connecting pieces. The second-level pendulum is composed of the first testing mass block, the upper connecting pieces, composite cycloids, a second testing mass block and lower connecting pieces. Each composite cycloid is composed of a second quartz fiber and an ultra-magnetostriction telescopic material coating with which the periphery of the second quartz fiber is coated. The actuator is composed of an upper magnetizer, a permanent magnet, a driving coil, a framework and a lower magnetizer. Multiple cooling cavities parallel to a center shaft are evenly distributed on the periphery of the center shaft of the framework. The micro vibration isolation device not only can achieve the technical purpose of active vibration isolation, but also has the technical advantages that the system is simplified and the integration degree is high, the isolation effect on low-frequency vibration is improved, and the temperature sensitive problem is also considered.


China's graduate reform has brought the country lots of economic achievement.But the contradictions in industrial structure haven't been effectively solved.The contradictions will continue to hinder the sustained economic increase. The paper will do some explorations on this issue.


in the presence of Hg2+ investigated at and and using HPLC The clearly that mercury ion catalyzed the hydrolysis of Q, as the catalytic rate increased by presence of Hg2+. The maximum kobs was observed at the lowest pH value (pH 4.0). In the part of this work, Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) technique was used to study how Hg2+ coordinates the substrate (Q) in ways that accelerate hydrolysis. + Na + Hg]+ complex was formed; this indicates that the binding takes place between Hg2+ and the S atom. chemical structure of quinalphos (Q), 2-hydroxyquinoxaline (HQ), and O,O-diethyl phosphorothioic acid (PA)


Key management for anonymous communication in mobile ad hoc networks is a critical but unsolved problem. Many current anonymous mobile ad hoc routing protocols assume that mobile users share pairwise secrets before they start an anonymous communication session. This assumption is impractical for many ad hoc scenarios where pairwise shared keys are difficult to be set up in advance. Public-key based solution, such as identity-based cryptographic solutions have been proposed for anonymous communications. However, these approaches assume that a centralised Trust Authority (TA) is in charge of the private key generation. Thus, the anonymous communications are not anonymous to the TA. To solve the above mentioned problems, we present pairing-based encryption/decryption, key exchange, blind certificate and revocation solutions for anonymous communications. Our approach provides the following properties compared to traditional approaches: (1) an Anonymous User's (AU's) identity (i.e. a pseudonym) can be used as his/her public key (i.e. the same as traditional identity-based solution); however, each AU can self-derive his/her private key based on a set of publicly known system parameters and his/her chosen pseudonym (this is different from the traditional identity-based solution); (2) a pair of AUs can derive a shared key based on each other's pseudonym without using interactive key exchanging protocols; (3) an AU can self-choose his/her pseudonym that can be blindly signed by a certificate authority and only the pseudonyms with a verifiable certificate are authorised to participate in the anonymous communications (the certificate can be verified by using a set of publicly known system parameters) and (4) the certificate authority is able to revoke AUs' pseudonym. Due to these properties, our approach reduces key management overhead and is suitable for large-scale and ad hoc anonymous services.


Abstract The photochemical transformation products of 2-[4-(2,4-dichlorphenoxyphenylen]propionic acid methyl ester (I). the active ingredient of the herbicide Dichlophop methyl (trade mark Illoxane) after irradiation with Hg (λmax=254 nm) and Xe (λ>290 nm) lamps in solution, in thin film on the glass surface and in soil were studied by GC-MS. The main photodegradation pathway was found to be reductive and oxidative dechlorination, intramolecular cyclisation and ester bonds cleavage. The photodegradation of Illoxane is considered as a model for chlorophenoxy pesticides degradation and toxic methabolites formation in the environment.


Tree counting is an important plantation practice for biological asset inventories, etc. The application of precision agriculture in counting oil palm trees can be implemented by detecting oil palm trees from aerial imagery. This research uses the deep learning approach using YOLOv3, YOLOv4, and YOLOv5m in detecting oil palm trees. The dataset consists of drone images of an oil palm plantation acquired using a Fixed Wing VTOL drone with a resolution of 5cm/pixel, covering an area of 730 ha labeled with an oil palm class of 56,614 labels. The test dataset covers an area of 180 ha with flat and hilly conditions with sparse, dense, and overlapping canopy and oil palm trees intersecting with other vegetations. Model testing using images from 24 regions, each of which covering 12 ha with up to 1000 trees (for a total of 17,343 oil palm trees), yielded F1-scores of 97.28%, 97.74%, and 94.94%, with an average detection time of 43 s, 45 s, and 21 s for models trained with YOLOv3, YOLOv4, and YOLOv5m, respectively. This result shows that the method is sufficiently accurate and efficient in detecting oil palm trees and has the potential to be implemented in commercial applications for plantation companies.


Tahta Aulia Dewanto, 2018, NIT : 50134764 N, " Fire Safety Exercise Assessment On Passenger Ship KM. Niki sae", thesis Nautical Program, Diploma IV Program, Politeknik Ilmu Pelayaran Semarang, Advisor I : Capt. Arika Palapa, M.Si., M.Mar, Advisor II : Sri Suyanti, SS, M.Si
In this era of globalization sea transportation is a necessity and the best alternative in the world trade chain, therefore a safe and convenient shipping is needed. Safety of shipping is one of the absolute factors that must be met so that the ship can operate properly. But not infrequently alsa an emergency may occur on board. To anticipate the emergency, it is necessary to hold a pratice to prevent various hazard risks that arise. The risk may arise because of the influance of the condition of the ship it self, the regulation of the vessel. The enviromental around the ship, even from the factor, the man himself. So with this basic authors have prepared a thesis entitled " Assessmnent of Fire Safety Training On Passanger Ship KM. Niki sae ".
Method used in this research is SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknessess, Opportunities, Threats). That procedures factor of strength, weaknessess, opportunities, and threats. So the authors get results on how the appropriate strategy for the problem how the implementation of fire drills and fire excercise assessment.
Based on the results of the research, the authors found the fire execution procedure on passanger ships and the responsbility of each crew ship during the fire execution practices that often pose a danger so that it can be conclued that the implemention of fire drill on the ship goes with good and responsible according to muster list and established coorperation beetween crew and passangers and all parties in carrying out their duties. And how to improve crew skill and ability when faced with real fire hazard situation so as to minimize the happening of bigger situation and reduce casualties.
Keyword : Fire Drill, Safety Assessment, Minimize


A systematic kinetic study of SiO2 thin film thermally grown on Si(100) substrate by a single step and two step dry oxidation process is presented. Films grown at lower temperature (750°C) show higher density than films grown at higher temperature (1000°C). If the oxidation is carried out in two steps i.e., the first oxidation step at a lower temperature (750°C) and the second one at a higher temperature (1000°C), two distinct layers of SiO2 having different densities can be obtained. The film density was measured using the grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity technique. We also observed that when the thickness of the first "top" layer increases the growth of the "bottom" layer is retarded leading to lowering of total thickness of the SiO2 film even though the total oxidation time is increased.


Customers' perception is the process of information which is accepted by the customers who receive stimulus which comes from their senses. Stimulus received begins from exposure. attention and understanding. Customers who have good understanding about the performance of Bank generally will use the product and service of The Bank, though there are a lot of competitors having better product and service quality.
The aim's of this research is to analyze customers' perception by identifying the factors influencing customers!:interest in Bank and Taplus products of BNI KCU Bogor and to formulate the saving product strategy of BNI KCU Bogor precisely in owner to enhance fund. This research has used secondary and primary data which is taken by sending questionnaires to a large number of people from BNI and other respondents who are the Competitors of BNI namely Bank Mandiri, BRI and BCA. They are 100 respondents of NI and 90 respondents of the Competitors of BNI. The results of the analysis of all respondents is that ATM attribute having many functions is considered important attribute, but the performance of the Bank does not met the customers' expectation. The Market segment of saving product is male and female whose ages ranging from 21 to 40 years old: with the qualifications SMA to Sarjana graduate: private employees and
entrepreneur earning from Rp. 1.000.001. - to Rp. 7.000.000,--and married
The correct alterative strategy for the management of the company !n order to enhance fund, especially in saving products is the strategy of the product and location by exploiting technology namely ATM and on line service.


Abstract Ultraviolet treatment (UV-C) is well known for its antimicrobial effects and current research shows that it has the potential to inactivate microorganisms in milk at much lower temperatures than conventional thermal treatment. However, Ultraviolet irradiation may result in adverse effects on milk quality, which arises due to photo oxidation in the presence of oxygen. Limiting the dissolved oxygen content in milk can minimize oxidative damage and thus, result in a better product quality. Nitrogen purging could be an effective method for reducing dissolved oxygen from liquids. The present study evaluates effects of nitrogen purging (prior to UV treatment) on milk quality. It was found that nitrogen purged UV treated milk causes minimal changes to physicochemical properties of milk.


The application of internet of things (IOT) in the urban infrastructure is introduced and as a critical technology in IOT radio frequency identification (RFID) includes tag, reader and antenna which provide an effective method to detect, monitor or control the object. We design an effective microstrip patch antenna for a RFID system in IOT which can also be used in narrow-band wireless communication. The critiZAcal parameters are discussed and simulation results demonstrate the validity of the antenna with high gain and impedance matching.


Since the end of the 18th century the answer to the question: "What is Enlightenment?" has been constituted as one of the eternal problems of philosophy. The paper shows that the answer to this question allows us to actualize one of the crucial characteristics of human knowledge – its irrevocability. As the motto of the Enlightenment, instead of Kant's "Sapere aude!", the author of the article suggests the formula "One cannot know back". It indicates both that cognition irreversibly changes the cognizer and that the change that happened to the cognizer becomes his guilt (in the Hegelian sense) and his self-healing responsibility. This formula can also be extrapolated to national cultures. The Age of Enlightenment in the history of a culture is recognized nowadays by the way the fundamental values were formulated, what steps were taken towards the self-awareness of the nation. In the history of Russia, the Age of the Enlightenment, which started with the transformations of Peter the Great and finished with the uprising of the Decembrists, was signed by encounter with the Other in the face of the Western (as defined by the Russian enlighteners themselves) civilization. In these terms, we regard the history of the Enlightenment as a dramatic process of the phenomenology of national self-consciousness, a constant dialogue with the Other for the purpose of self-knowledge. Theauthor concludes that the experience of the Enlightenment can give Russia an axiological basis for continuing a constructive dialogue with other participants in the irrevocable global dialogue.


Ascertaining safe staffing levels is challenging for senior nurses and other managers, both in hospitals and the community. Identifying the ideal number of nurses and healthcare assistants in any given setting is hard enough, but getting the skill mix right to cope with patients' variable needs is even more demanding, especially when funding is being squeezed.


Currently most therapies for breast cancer are targeted against growth factor and endocrine receptors. Identification of non receptor based molecules that will target receptor negative breast cancers is of paramount importance. Replication Factor C 40 (RFC40) protein required for DNA replication and it influences the cell cycle from DNA replication to cell division. RFC40 is over‐expressed in choriocarcinoma, acute and chronic myeloid leukemia, nasopharyngeal cancer and glioblastomas, suggesting that it may be directly responsible for unrestricted DNA replication and cell proliferation. However, its role in breast cancer has not been explored.


Device consists of fluidic humidity sensor and specially designed flow calorimeter. Calorimeter provides readings of gas stream temperature rise produced by measured amount of heat that is dissipated into gas stream, and humidity sensor is used to obtain continuous calculation of specific heat capacity of gas mixture.


According to the experimental research of model test, the regular deformation pattern of Composite Reinforcing of Excavation Slopes and its failure characteristics are analyzed in this paper. On the basis of model test, several types of slope are analysed by applying the finite element method in order to seek the regularity of the deformation and failure. Furthermore, the working mechanism of a vertical and inclined reinforcing bar is analysed. It is pointed out that the vertical and inclined reinforcing bar can improve the ability against entire destruction, transmit and diffuse the stress in soil body, and share load from beginning to end.


A high-performance fuel cell separator ensuring lightweight and compact fabrication necessary to enhance output density and enabling stacking without use of a gas seal member, and a production method thereof, are provided. By a processing method of forming a thermoplastic resin composition highly filled with a carbonaceous material into a thin sheet form, heating the sheet to a melted state, and cold-shaping the melt at a high speed, a thin separator having a corrugated flow path can be molded at a high speed, and a lightweight, compact and high-performance separator for a fuel cell can be provided. Also, by forming the sheet in a multilayer structure and heat-welding it, the contact resistance with the gas diffusing electrode can be reduced, and a compact integrated fuel cell separator requiring no gasket can be provided.


The Telecommunications Act of 1996 lifted rate regulation for small cable operators and "sunset" cable rate regulation in March 1999. But cable rates are soaring once again. Some in Congress are now saying that the sunset date should be repealed, and that cable rates should continue to be regulated well into the new millennium. Cable rates have increased about four times faster than consumer inflation. For example, a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) survey showed that regulated systems boosted rates by 8.5 percent between 1996 and 1997, and that rates among unregulated systems surged by 9.6 percent over the same period. While the FCC appears reluctant to reregulate rates, though not ruling it out as a last resort, it is of policy importance to examine how effective rate regulations have been in the industry. Background


An indirect object pose estimating method for a user-wearable camera using an environment camera system is provided to attach a mark point to a user and simultaneously detect the mark point attached to the user and a mark point attached to a moving object by using the environment camera, thereby obtaining change relation between a user-wearable camera coordinate system and an object mark point coordinate system. An indirect object pose estimating method comprises the following steps of: detecting a change relation of a coordinate system of a mark point(34) attached to a user for a global coordinate system and a change relation of a coordinate system of a camera(33) that the user wears for a global coordinate system by using an environment camera group(31); obtaining a change function of the camera coordinate system that the user wears with respect to the mark point coordinate system attached to the user; detecting change relation of a coordinate system of a mark point(35) attached an object for the global coordinate system by using the environment camera group; and obtaining a change function of the mark point coordinate system attached to the object with respect to the camera coordinate system that the user wears.


We describe the implementation and performance of rollback-recovery in Manetho. During failure-free operation, Manetho maintains an antecedence graph which records the \happened before" relation between certain events in the distributed computation. The antecedence graph is used in combination with checkpointing and volatile sender-based message logging to simultaneously achieve low failure-free overhead, fast output commit, and limited rollback, at the expense of a more elaborate recovery protocol. Measurements show that the costs of maintaining the antecedence graph, taking the checkpoints, and recording the message logs are small, and that the added complexity in the recovery protocol results in a negligible increase in recovery time. The measurements of six compute-intensive applications show that the failure-free overhead causes the application running time to increase by less than 1.5% on the average and by at most 3.8% for the applications under study. The output latency introduced by Manetho 1 is much lower than that introduced by optimistic message logging or consistent checkpoint-ing, often by an order of magnitude. For the failure scenarios that we studied, the added complexity in Manetho's recovery protocol resulted in an average increase of 1% of the total recovery time. Thus, Manetho's recovery protocol does not signiicantly increase the cost of recovery beyond the cost of restoring the state from stable storage and replaying the execution, which are inherent in any rollback-recovery system. These results connrm that Manetho ooers eecient recovery at a very low failure-free overhead.


The authors of the presented study, formulated research assumptions that the Internet and new technologies can interact with the landscape architecture and determine a high standard of cites and their modernity by introducing at the same time the idea of a smart city. The study concerned the behaviour observation of wireless Internet users present in public space. The research results let for identification of five types of users: focused on work, focused on entertainment, temporary users, people passing by and tourists. The next step was to recognize their expectations and preferences associated with the use of hotspots in relation to the types of used mobile devices. The findings allowed for elaboration of four various types of zones within hotspots area and to define the characteristics associated with their development. The identified zones include: quiet, semi-loud and loud ones, with additional division into areas dedicated for individual work, for groups, and enabling a fast access. The research results let us frame design guidelines and principles for arrangement of outdoor hotspots. They are concerning high quality Wi-Fi signal, a location of hot-spot's different zones including their separation, and a location of urban furniture. Proper location and planning of zones in the space, is the basis for increasing the efficiency of the Internet use in public areas, including work and leisure, directly improving individual comfort, and as a result, increasing the quality of public space.


Convective mixing in helium-core-burning (HeCB) stars is one of the outstanding issues in stellar modelling. The precise asteroseismic measurements of gravity-mode period spacing (dσ1) have opened the door to detailed studies of the near-core structure of such stars, which had not been possible before. Here, we provide stringent tests of various core-mixing scenarios against the largely unbiased population of red-clump stars belonging to the old-open clusters monitored by Kepler, and by coupling the updated precise inference on dσ1 in thousands of field stars with spectroscopic constraints. We find that models with moderate overshooting successfully reproduce the range observed of dσ1 in clusters. In particular, we show that there is no evidence for the need to extend the size of the adiabatically stratified core, at least at the beginning of the HeCB phase. This conclusion is based primarily on ensemble studies of dσ1 as a function of mass and metallicity. While dσ1 shows no appreciable dependence on the mass, we have found a clear dependence of dσ1 on metallicity, which is also supported by predictions from models.


Abstract. The substantiation of the modes of static-dynamic loading of the operated reinforced concrete frames of multi-storey buildings under the out-of-design impact in the form of sudden removal of individual load-bearing elements is presented. Based on the theory of plasticity of concrete and reinforced concrete by G.A. Geniev, analytical dependences are constructed to determine the parameters of the static-dynamic deformation diagram of concrete under various modes of static loading and sequential dynamic loading. The advantage of the obtained refined variant of concrete deformation is that it contains two important parameters that take into account the influence of the loading speed and the level of static loading on the complex stress-strain state of concrete. Numerical studies have shown that the limiting static-dynamic strength of concrete under dynamic loading depends on the level of the initial stress state under static loading of concrete, from which dynamic loading is carried out to the limit state. The numerical analysis carried out using the model under consideration also confirmed the results of experimental studies that microcracking in concrete under static loading does not begin with a certain stress level, but practically from the moment of the beginning of concrete loading. The results obtained are of interest for solving applied problems related to the problem of survivability, protection of buildings and structures from progressive collapse, in particular when determining the criteria for the strength of concrete under special stress.


It has been noted that among the tones of a musical instrument, the same loudness does not always produce the same values of sound level measured in dBA. Therefore, the values of the readings were studied for musical tones of various pitch which had been heard to be the same in loudness. The piano, trombone, violin and some other instruments were chosen as examples. The level indicators used in the experiment were as follows: a VU‐meter, a precision sound level meter (fast. impulse) (A,B,C,D) and a high‐speed level recorder (A, B, C, D). The results show that it is not easy to find a suitable and simple level indicator for our purpose. In the case of the piano, for instance, the readings in dBD are closer to the loudness than are those in dBA, but there is still a noticeable discrepancy. To alleviate this problem, a diagram of values is presented—as a temporary means—which may be added to the dBC reading to obtain a reconciliation of perceived and measured sound. This diagram is specific to each pitch and...


Chain‐reaction lasing of mixtures of F2, O2, and H2 at pressure ratios of 1/0.3/0.25 with F2 pressures up to 800 Torr was initiated with an electron beam, and a parametric study of laser emission was performed. In one series of studies the F2 and O2 pressures were held constant while the hydrogen pressure was varied up to stoichiometric. Under some conditions, SF6 or He was added to the above mixtures. A maximum laser energy of 4.2 kJ was measured at the higher pressures. Chemical and electrical efficiencies of up to 11.4% and 180%, respectively, were obtained. Each of these efficiencies has been found to be dependent upon the gas pressure and composition. The measured laser energy was found to be proportional to the measured electron‐beam energy deposited in the gas. Addition of an unstable resonator provided a beam with a 4‐mrad divergence.


The approximate Karhunen-Loegraveve (KL) expansions are used as a tool for systems identification providing an approximate state-model for the signal of interest. The identified model can then be used to derive sequential algorithms for the nonlinear estimation problem by using standard estimation techniques. The proposed solution is specially indicated in those situations where a state equation is not at hand and the only information available is the correlation matrix of the signal


Group addressing distributed queue dual bus (GA DQDB) is a new scheme for improving throughput of services on existing DQDB network. The GA DQDB is an extension and generalization of the basic distributed queue protocol defined in the IEEE 802.6 DQDB MAN standard and supports slot reuse. The grouping principle allows for dividing the nodes in network into multiple groups, each with distinct group-code number (or address). In contrast to DQDB with destination release or erasure nodes scheme that have to buffer a full node-address in the interface between media and the corresponding nodes for slot release, the GA DQDB protocol buffers only partial node-address. The grouping concept allows for efficient use of post-destination slot. Hence, the system capacity and the throughput of the GA DQDB are higher than those of a DQDB with destination release or erasure nodes scheme.


Ionization of highly charged relativistic ions by neutral atoms and ions is considered. Numerical results of recently developed computer codes based on the plane-wave Born and the equivalent-photon approximations are presented and compared with experimental data available at relativistic energies for 1s electron ionization. New formulas for relativistic cross sections are derived for ionization of the projectile electron with arbitrary quantum numbers n and l. The results are obtained on the basis of the nonrelativistic reduction in the Dirac matrix element.


Three elderly patients presented at one hospital in a 2‐week period with acute urinary retention precipitated by the hyperosmolar non‐ketotic diabetic state. In each case routine urine testing was reported as showing 1 per cent glycosuria. The first two patients were admitted at night and blood glucose estimations were not done. This led to a delay of 16 and 12 h respectively before the appropriate therapy was instituted. It is suggested that this clinical presentation, previously unreported, may not be a rarity and represents an avoidable cause of death in patients with acute urinary retention.


We present an all-optical stable quadruple frequency dissemination for an arbitrary-access-point fiber-optic loop link using photonic microwave phase conjugation. A two-tone optical carrier is transferred as a round-trip probe signal to undergo the propagation delay of the entire fiber loop link. When the probe signal returns to the local site, a Mach–Zehnder modulator biased at the null point is used as a phase conjugator to reverse its phase, thus, implementing photonic microwave phase conjugation. At an arbitrary remote site, the phase-conjugated signal is photomixed with a tapped forward transferred signal to obtain a stable frequency-quadrupled radio frequency (RF) signal in which the fiber-induced phase drift is automatically eliminated. Owing to photonic microwave phase conjugation and photomixing, the local oscillator leakage and harmonics interference of electrical mixers employed in the previous compensation schemes can be avoided. We demonstrate the stable dissemination of a 20-GHz frequency-quadrupled RF signal to two arbitrary remote sites located at a 20-km fiber-optic loop link. The residual root-mean-square timing jitter in an hour is no more than 0.86 ps. The relative frequency stability of 10 −16 level at 1000 s averaging time can be realized at every remote site.


3001^ Background: MK-2206 is a novel allosteric inhibitor of all 3 isoforms of AKT, which are targets implicated in malignant progression.

METHODS
The investigational agent MK-2206 was given orally QOD to patients (pt) with advanced solid tumors. PD studies of AKT and downstream protein phosphorylation (p) were carried out in tumor biopsies and platelet-rich plasma with MesoScale Discovery (MSD) ELISA, and hair follicles with immunofluorescence. Tumor biopsies were sequenced with Sequenom Oncocarta panel for putative predictive biomarkers and stained with IHC for PTEN expression. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), MR spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) were conducted.

RESULTS
71 pt (37 M; median age 59y; ECOG PS 0/1: 22/49) received MK-2206 at 30, 60, 75, 90 mg QOD. G3 rash (n=6) was dose limiting at 75-90 mg QOD, establishing MTD at 60mg QOD. Four MTD expansion cohorts were then undertaken: paired tumor biopsies (n=14), functional imaging (n=13), ovarian cancer (n=11) and castration resistant prostate cancer (n=14). MK-2206 related toxicities included rash, nausea, fatigue, and hyperglycemia. C-peptide levels increased on MK-2206. No G5 toxicities were seen. PK was dose proportional. Steady state trough MK-2206 concentrations ≥60mg QOD were above those required for both pAKT inhibition and antitumor activity in preclinical models. PD studies in patients treated at the MTD demonstrated that on commencement of MK-2206: 1) pAKT was inhibited in all on-treatment tumor biopsies (p=.002); 2) pAKT, pPRAS40, and pGSK3β were suppressed in platelet-rich plasma from 3h to 48h (all p<.05); 3) pPRAS40 was inhibited 6h to day 15 in hair follicles (p=.03). Median tumor DWI apparent diffusion coefficients increased significantly in 4 pt at day 7 and 2 pt at Day 21 of MK-2206, supporting intratumoral necrosis; DCE-MRI and MRS did not change post MK-2206. 9 pt had RECIST stable disease >4 months with minor responses in 3 pt and CA125 declines observed.

CONCLUSIONS
MK-2206 can safely induce significant and sustained AKT pathway blockade at the MTD with early signs of clinical activity observed.


Teacher educators assume that the teacher education programs in their own countries provide a comprehensive scope of possible selections. Nevertheless, how teacher education is planned and implemented differs in each country. They have different practices in both early childhood education and teacher preparation programs, even though American early childhood education theories and practices have guided them. In addition, countries differ in their early childhood education teacher qualifications. Teacher education programs have been attempting to prepare global-minded early childhood teachers who can function in other countries. Teachers who are prepared with global perspectives are able to help students succeed in the interconnected world where they encounter challenges throughout their lives.
 The globalization of early childhood education and the preparation of teachers in the United States and other countries appear ultimately to be achieving importance, respectability, acknowledgment, and wisdom. Several countries have engaged in transforming early childhood teachers through educational reform, which calls upon countries to expand and improve early childhood care and education. Educational reform has intermittently been a main topic of discourse and seldom an emphasis of commitment in countries around the world. Frequently these reform attempts have emphasized the necessity to advance children's knowledge, abilities, and views to help them become good citizens and productive adults. Whereas developments may not be equivalent from country to country, the movement is continuous. It is encouraging to see countries functioning to advance programs to prepare teachers of young children and to cope with the demanding difficulties and concerns of early childhood education and the preparation of early childhood teachers.


This article analyses the threat of nuclear proliferation in
Central and Eastern Europe, taking into account the potential
impact of the contemporary crisis in Ukraine


With the analysis on the development of China Pingmei Shenma Group,the paper provided the scientific development view,new resources view and circulated economic view to guide the conversion development of the enterprise.


The invention relates to a seedling cultivating method for cultivating big seedlings of Taxus chinensis var. mairei by a two-stage process, which comprises the following steps of managing young seedlings and cultivating big seedlings. The seedling cultivating method for cultivating the big seedlings of Taxus chinensis var. mairei by the two-stage process provided by the invention is characterized by that the average plant height of young Taxus chinensis var. mairei seedlings cultivated for 5 years is 200cm, the average stem diameter is 3.6cm, and the seedling rate is 90%; while the average plant height of the young Taxus chinensis var. mairei seedlings cultivated by an ordinary seedling cultivating technology for 5 years is 146cm, the average stem diameter is 3.0cm, and the seedling rate is 70%. Therefore, the fine seedling management technology for cultivating the big seedlings by the two-stage process is beneficial to centralizing the human resource, the financial resource and the fertility, reducing the management cost, realizing fine management, promoting vigorous growth of the Taxus chinensis var. mairei seedlings, providing large amounts of high-quality seedlings for large-scale planting of the endangered Taxus chinensis var. mairei, and providing technical support and material insurance for increasing the construction level of a seedling breeding base.


Within the context of the debate between the serial view and the parallel view,the present study investigates the time course of language reformulation in the process of interpreting.We conducted a self-paced reading experiment among student interpreters to compare the reading process of Chinese under two conditions: reading for repetition and reading for interpreting.In both reading processes,no facilitation of Chinese transliterated words but wrap-up effect occurred,which indicates that the two comprehension processes are not essentially different.The result suggests that for the unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals,source language comprehension and language reformulation may not proceed in a parallel but a serial fashion in Chinese-English consecutive interpreting.


All the nine elastic constants of the orthorhombic crystal lithium hydrazinium sulfate, Li(N2H5)SO4, have been determined by measuring ultrasonic velocities using pulse echo overlap technique at 10 MHz. Temperature variation of all the six diagonal elastic constants and the three off‐diagonal combinations have been measured between 300 and 450 K. Some of the constants show anomalous behavior in the 410–440 K temperature region, which is attributed to a phase transition in the crystal near 425 K. Magnitude of the velocity anomaly is comparatively small. A new high‐temperature ultrasonic bond material suitable for transverse waves is also reported.


In this study, the human multiple myeloma cell line RPMI8226 was infected using Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the supernatants of the infected B95-8 cell cultures. The expression of LMP1 and EBNA-2 antigens after infection was determined by flow cytometery(FCM) and Western blotting, and that of CD40L and CXCR4 were to be assayed by FCM and RT-PCR. In addition, the changes of the biological characteristics of the infected cells were detected through the detection of cell apoptosis and by transwell. Experimental results showed that the infected RPMI8226 cells expressed LMP1 and EBNA-2 antigens after infection with EBV, and this infected cells could up-regulated the expression of CD40L, which might be involved in the anti-apoptotic function. Also, the migrating ability of the infected cells was enhanced by the up-regulation of the chemokine receptor CXCR4.


. This paper uses a two-stage hedonic wage approach to derive the benefits from improvement of five cultural amenities. It is argued that the hedonic approach permits valuation of both private and local public aspects of cultural goods since access to the amenity is an essential input in the production of the final service flow. Empirical estimates of willingness to pay suggest price and income elasticities are approximately unity. Lower-bound estimates of marginal benefits for a representative city range from $0.85 million for an additional theater to $57.9 million for an additional zoo facility.


The minority carrier lifetime of electrons (τn) in p-type GaAs double heterostructures grown on GaAs substrates and compositionally graded Ge/Si1−xGex/Si (SiGe) substrates with varying threading dislocation densities (TDDs) were measured at room temperature using time-resolved photoluminescence. The electron lifetimes for homoepitaxial GaAs and GaAs grown on SiGe (TDD∼1×106 cm−2) with a dopant concentration of 2×1017 cm−3 were ∼21 and ∼1.5 ns, respectively. The electron lifetime measured on SiGe was substantially lower than the previously measured minority carrier hole lifetime (τp) of ∼10 ns, for n-type GaAs grown on SiGe substrates with a similar residual TDD and dopant concentration. The reduced lifetime for electrons is a consequence of their higher mobility, which yields an increased sensitivity to the presence of dislocations in GaAs grown on metamorphic buffers. The disparity in dislocation sensitivity for electron and hole recombination has significant implications for metamorphic III-V devices.


A kinetic study of the reaction of cardanol and maleic anhydride (MA) (mole ratios 1:0.25, 1:0.5, 1:0.75, 1:1) was carried out at five different temperatures ranging between 160 and 180 ◦ Cw ith an interval of 5 ◦ C using paratoluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) as a catalyst. The acid values of the samples were checked at a regular time intervals to check the percentage of the completion of the reaction. The influence of the condensation temperature on the synthesized resinswasstudiedusinginfraredspectroscopicanalysis.ThereactionbetweencardanolandMA wasfoundtoobeyfirst-orderratekinetics.Thespecificrateconstant(k)calculatedbyregression analysis was found to obey the Arrhenius expression. The thermodynamic parameters such as activation energy (Ea), frequency factor (Z), entropy (S), enthalpy (H), and free energy (G) were calculated. It was found that the reaction was spontaneous and irreversible. The experimental results were explained by proposing a reaction mechanism and deriving the rate equation. C � 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 45: 469-476, 2013


HIS study examines the impact of industrial policy on foreign direct investment decisions of firms investing in India. The industrial policy factors considered are the tax reforms, and the procedural and administrative aspects of industrial policy. Personal interviews were conducted on select firms in Singapore having investments in India, their joint venture partners across India and certain experts. The latter were academics and government officials drawn from various organizations and institutes in Singapore and India. The study has revealed that the industrial policies of the Indian government have been important in influencing a firm's foreign direct investment decision. There were various aspects of industrial policy, which the firms considered significant, viz., the procedural and administrative aspects of the policy. The procedural aspects of industrial policy refer to the procedures the firms have to follow to obtain approvals and to begin operations. The administrative aspects of industrial policy refer to the percentage equity holding being allowed, and the ability to repatriate the capital invested or the profits earned. The Indian bureaucracy was the main stumbling block which deterred investors from considering any further operations in India. The experts ascribed this solely owing to the mindset of the bureaucrats and the investors. The firms interviewed stated that they would continue their investments in India.


Objective
To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSC) condition medium (CM) on cell growth of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell.

Methods
From February 2011 to January 2014, a total of 35 cases of full-term pregnancy healthy fetuses' umbilical cords were chose into this study. All the fetuses were delivered through uterine-incision in the 105th Hospital of People's Liberation Army. Mesenchymal stem cells were derived from human umbilical cord and expanded in vitro. When the confluence of the third generation reached 80%, the medium was changed to fresh medium. After 24-hour incubation, the supernatant HUC-MSC-CM was collected. Then the HepG2 cells in logarithmic growth phase were divided into 3 equal groups randomly by random number table method. They were cultured with 5% fetal calf serum high glucose (HG) -DMEM fresh medium alone as the control group, and the experimental group were cultured with 25% HUC-MSC-CM together with 5% fetal calf serum HG-DMEM (low concentration group) and 50% MSC-CM together with 5% fetal calf serum HG-DMEM (high concentration group), respectively. HepG2 morphology was observed by inverted microscope. The abilities of proliferation were detected by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-thiazol-2)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method, and the migration of HepG2 cells in each group were detected by wound healing assay. The cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Reviews Board of Investigation in Human Being of the 105th Hospital of People's Liberation Army. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Results
①The morphology of isolated primary HUC-MSC was uniform when cultured into the third generation. ②MTT assay showed that when the HepG2 cells were cultured 24, 48 and 72 h, the differences of relative absorbance (A) values in the three groups were statistically significant (F= 21.330, 6.223, 9.345; P= 0.004, 0.032, 0.027). And the relative A values of HepG2 cells in two experimental groups significantly increased than that in control group at these three time points, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05); the relative A values of HepG2 cells in high concentrations group was also significantly higher than in low concentration group, and the difference was also statistically significant (P<0.05). ③Wound healing assay showed that the difference of healing time of HepG2 cell in three groups was statistically significant (F=12.860, P=0.025), and the healing time in high concentration group was shorter than that in the low concentration group and control group, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05); the healing time in the low concentration group was shorter than that in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). ④FCM assay showed that there were significant differences among the percentage of cells in G0/G1 phase and S phase in three groups (F=30.600, 30.590; P<0.05). And compared with control group, the percentage of HepG2 cells in G0/G1 phase of high concentration group and low concentration group were significantly decrease, and the percentage of cells in S phase were higher, all the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). The percentage of cells in G0/G1 phase of the high concentration group decreased more significantly than that in low concentration group, while the percentage of cells in S phase increased more significantly, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).

Conclusions
HUC-MSC-CM could promote the proliferation and migration of HepG2 cells, and it can accelerate cell cycle G1/S phase transition.

Key words:
Mesenchymal stem cells; Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Cell proliferation; Cell cycle; Culture media, conditioned


Reusable learning objects have always been adapted in e-learning environments to serve different purposes in instructional design. This adaptation process is usually limited by varying metadata standards of reusable learning objects that in most cases do not conform to the standard structure of the learning objects for a given educational level. In this paper, we present an analysis of various learning object metadata standards and propose a new metadata structure for a higher education reusable learning object. We evaluate this new metadata structure by instantiating it with a learning object authoring tool that also supports adaptation of learning objects with multi-format assets. We use expert sampling technique to randomly select 8 experts in higher education instructional design (from three different universities) to evaluate the functionality, correctness and usability of the tool in authoring reusable learning objects with multi-format assets. This process is repeated with 10 experts in instructional design, randomly selected from 5 universities. The results from the two experiments show a strong positive correlation and this proves that the proposed metadata structure can be adopted by higher education institutions in instructional design process to create adaptable reusable learning objects.


The long-term variation of the channel leads to changing the delay spread during the transmission time. This variation degrades the performance of conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems that use fixed length of the guard interval by introducing inter-symbol-interference (ISI) in highly frequency selective scenarios (high delay spread) or causes needless loss of capacity for small delay spread values. In this paper an adaptive OFDM system with variable guard interval length is introduced, in which the channel delay spread is estimated using super resolution technique and then a signal is fed back to the transmitter in order to change the guard interval aiming at maximizing the throughput without sacrificing the performance in terms of bit error rate (BER).


Using immunohistochemistry with anti‐D2‐40 for the detection of lymphovascular invasion (LVI‐IHC) in 74 cases of invasive melanoma, we found LVI in 23% (16/74) of the tumors. Data on sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy were available for 36 patients. Sixty‐seven percent (6/9) of patients with LVI‐IHC and 19% (5/27) without LVI‐IHC had positive SLN. Follow‐up data were available for 60 patients. Data on recurrence/metastasis were available for 60 patients. Twenty‐five percent (15/60) had LVI with immunohistochemistry. Fifty‐three percent (8/15) of these patients had "distant" metastasis or regional recurrence compared with 11% (5/45) in those without LVI‐IHC. Overall and disease‐specific survival was shorter for patients with LVI. In both the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models, LVI‐IHC in addition to ulceration was statistically significant with respect to overall survival. Specifically, in the reduced multivariate model, compared with patients with no LVI, patients with intratumoral LVI had a hazard ratio (HR) of 5.4 (95% CI 1.6–18.4), while patients with peritumoral LVI had a HR of 3.8 (95% CI 0.7–20.9). In addition, patients with ulceration had an increased hazard of 4.4 (95% CI 1.2–16.8).