In recent years, the consumption of fresh products has increased due to the multiple contributions of nutrients and functional properties. This study aims to determine the susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus in fresh lettuce and assess the food safety practice of vegetable vendors in the Birnin Kebbi metropolis. A total of 28 fresh lettuce samples were collected from various locations (Tudun Wada, Rafin Atiku, Badariya, and Bayan Kara) in the Birnin Kebbi metropolis, chosen randomly from vegetable vendors. A structured questionnaire was utilized to assess food safety practices. S. aureus was isolated and identified using cultural and biochemical characteristics and antibiotic sensitivity was conducted by the Kirby-Baur disk diffusion method. Only 7.14% of the vegetable vendors reported using gloves while handling vegetables. 17.86% reported washing their hands properly after handling waste or garbage. Only 7.14% reported wearing an apron while working. 50% reported properly cleaning the vegetable storage area before storing new products. 14.29% reported washing vegetables after purchasing them from the market, while None of the respondents reported covering their products while selling them. Out of a total of 28 samples tested, 21(75%) were found to be positive for S. aureus. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. aureus showed resistance in Ampicillin (100%), Amoxicillin (28.57%), Tetracycline (17.86%), Rifampicin (39.29%), Chloramphenicol (14.29%), Neomycin (53.57%), Methicillin (89.29%), Cefpodoxime (35.71%) respectively. Furthermore, none of the S. aureus were resistant to Gentamycin. The high occurrence of S. aureus found in fresh lettuce suggests contamination could have occurred before or after harvesting. It is recommended that cleaning and sanitation practices be introduced to enhance the safety and quality of this vegetable.


Maize with specific traits, such as sweet maize, is widely used in the human diet, especially due to its sweetness and flavor. Tocopherols, subgroup of vitamin E, are biologically active compounds. Herbicides in maize crop are used for weed control in order to create and ensure optimal conditions for the plant growth. The aim of this study was to examine the herbicides effects on the nutritive quality, i.e. tocopherols content in sweet maize kernel. This study included three different sweet maize hybrids (ZP1, ZP2 and ZP3) and two herbicides, belonging to the different groups, applied in the recommended doses. The application of herbicides has shown different reduction in content of tocopherols (α-, β + γ-, δ-) in kernel samples compared to the control (no herbicide application).


Recently Arm introduced a new instruction set called Scalable Vector Extension (SVE), which supports vector lengths up to 2048 bits. While SVE hardware will not be generally available until about 2021, we believe that future SVE-based architectures will have great potential for Lattice QCD. In this contribution we discuss key aspects of SVE and describe how we implemented SVE in the Grid Lattice QCD framework.


We evaluate the scintillator properties of LYSO (Lu/sub (2-x)/Y/sub x/SiO/sub 5/:Ce) crystals with the amount of lutetium ranging from 15 to 100%. The radii of the cations Lu/sup 3+/ and Y/sup 3+/ differ by only 5%, therefore, one can substitute yttrium for lutetium without changing the structure. The addition of yttrium has several advantages: the raw material Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/ is much cheaper than Lu/sub 2/O/sub 3/ and the melting point is up to 100/spl deg/C less. Since yttrium has a much lower atomic number and atomic mass than lutetium, LYSO crystals have a lower density and effective atomic number. This means that LYSO does not absorb X-rays as well as LSO. LYSO with 50% lutetium, however, has an effective atomic number that is just 11% less than LSO and the light yield of LYSO with 30% or more lutetium is roughly the same as that of LSO samples. LYSO scintillators with 50% or more lutetium could provide a more cost effective scintillator material for some applications.


The appearance of new forms of cyber-threats, such as Multi-Stage Attacks (MSAs), creates new challenges to which Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) need to adapt. An MSA is launched in multiple sequential stages, which may not be malicious when implemented individually, making the detection of MSAs extremely challenging for most current IDSs. In this paper, we present a novel IDS that exploits contextual information in the form of Pattern-of-Life (PoL), and information related to expert judgment on the network behaviour. This IDS focuses on detecting an MSA, in real-time, without previous training process. The main goal of the MSA is to create a Point of Entry (PoE) to a target machine, which could be used as part of an APT like attack. Our results verify that the use of contextual information improves the efficiency of our IDS by enhancing the detection rate of MSAs in real-time by 58%. Keywords−Contextual Information, Dempster-Shafer Theory, Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Intrusion Detection System, MultiStage Attack, Network Security, Pattern-of-Life, Point of Entry


Design requirements of Texas coastal inlets to permit fish passage through littoral barriers and induce Gulf water interchange for control of bay salinities; plan shows existing and planned fish passes; causes of extreme erosion and siltation in Rollover and in, now closed, Yarborough passes; design of stabilization works comprising prestressed concrete bulkheads and wave breakers; table gives 11 formulas for design of fish passes.


Objective. To substantiate indications for a differential approach in the treatment of patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia. Materials and Methods. The results of surgical treatment in 132 patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia have been studied. Results. Post-operative diagnosis was:endometrial cancer – in 19%, atypical hyperplasia – in 35%, simple and complex hyperplasia – in 33%, only atrophic endometrial changes – in 13% of patients. The tumor was within the endometrium in 5 patients, the superficial invasion of the myometrium (1-2 mm) were in 8 patients, invasion to half of the myometrium – in 9 patients, invasion of more than half of the myometrium – in 3 patients. Conclusion. The guestions of tactics of treatment of atypical endometrial hyperplasia is under discussion.


Abstract In recent years, a variety of mobile road measurement equipment has emerged and become an important means of collecting spatial information. As an important part of the mobile road measurement system, a camera's function implementation and data accuracy largely
 depend on its internal parameters and the rotation and translation parameters corresponding to the world coordinate system. Based on this and on the traditional camera calibration method, radial and tangential distortion for monocular camera calibration is introduced in this article to establish
 a calibration model, and the nonlinear least-squares Levenberg‐Marquardt optimization algorithm is used in iterative calculation. The parameters provide a solution to the problem of rapid calibration of camera modules in mobile road measurement systems. The camera parameters obtained
 by the calibration algorithm in this study are used for visual reconstruction. Compared with two Zhang Zhengyou calibration methods optimized by the Gauss‐Newton method, the former has an average pixel offset of 0.28 pixel and the latter has deviations of 0.66 and 0.38 pixel. Using
 a monocular camera to collect data on geometric targets on a road, the average relative error does not exceed 2.16%. Experiments show that this method can obtain calibration results quickly and accurately.


Supercooled droplets of 38 μm mean volume diameter are accreted on a smooth aluni mum cylinder of 3.15 cm in diameter in order to study the effect of an electrostatic field upon ice formation on a power-line conductor. The results obtained show that ice grown in the presence of an applied negative field of 15 kV cm−1 exhibits a cusped-lobe structure characterized by surfacial outward knobs, convex rings of fine air bubbles and radial lines of large air bubbles; in the same conditions, a positive electric field of 15 kV cm−1 does not produce such lobe features. On the other hand, accretion tests performed in the absence of an electric field with a 33 μm droplet spectrum show that the well-developed cusped-lobe structure appears in ice at low ambient temperature and air velocity. In the present experimental conditions, the formation of cusped lobes observed in the presence of a negative electric field could be explained by a decrease in the temperature of the deposit due to a reduction of impact velocity of the charged droplets and/or an increase in the local heat-transfer coefficient at the surface of the ice accretion. Corona wind from ice points, always in the opposite direction to the impinging droplets, may also reduce their impact velocities. In addition, corona wind and roughness of the surface may contribute to a better evacuation of the latent heat and thus decrease the deposit temperature. The difference between the effects of a negative DC field and those of a DC positive field of the same strength comes from a stronger ionization intensity and/or a stronger deformation of water drops in the negative electric field.


Cultural events of different types are part of the attraction of a destination and have become an increasingly significant component of destination branding. Many destinations throughout the world have developed events portfolios as a strategic initiative to attract tourists and to reinforce their brand. This implies the need to evaluate the contribution of an event not just in terms of the direct financial contribution that it generates but also in terms of its consistency with the destination brand values. The study aims to analyze and interpret the expectations and the potential impact of cultural events on destination branding, highlighting the importance of achieving a good 'nation brand', which became a valuable asset for any tourist destination. The paper suggested that cultural events are the key tourism marketing tool and that they present an opportunity for destinations marketers to help position their destination amongst its competitors. A field survey based on qualitative approach was conducted through interviews with the industry key stakeholders, in addition to the observational descriptive research, investigating the interaction of both cultural events and destination branding attributes on tourists' intention to visit the destination. The study introduces the contribution and the effects of selected examples of 'cultural events'; El-Moez street festival and Abu Simbel Sun festival. These events were selected according to latest tourist online reviews, which are so identified with the spirit or ethos of the place or the destination, gaining widespread recognition, enhancing awareness, and thus having a potential to be particularly effective in promoting, regenerating and branding Egypt as a tourist destination


The vegetation types and distributional characteristics of the forest vegetation on Mt. Ilwol were investigated by the Z-M school method. Geographical distribution of the vegetation was a central/montane(CEMO) type of the Korean Peninsula subtype. The forest was classified into five vegetation units: Artemisio-Quercetum mongolicae (Artemisio-Quercetum typicum subass. nov., Artemsio-Quercetum pinetosum dens~florae subass. nov. ). Lychno-Quercetum mongolicae (Lychno-Quercetum Calamagrostetosum arundinaceae subass. nov.. Lychno-Quercetum ligularetosum f~scherii subass. nov.), Fraxinus rhynchophylla community, Quercus variabilis community and Larix leptolepis afforestation. Species with percentage constance degree more than 61% are Quercus mongolica (89.5%, V), Lespedeza maximowiczii (73.7%, IV), Isodon japonicus(73.7%, IV), Fraxinus rhynchophylla (68.%, IV), Arlemisia stolonifera (65, 8%, IV), etc. Artemisio-Quercetum mongolicae was chiefly distributed on the ridge lines of low altitudes (570~700m) and on the ground with exposed rocks in sloping surface (800~1, 000m). Both Fraxinus sievoldiana and Rhododendrou schlippenbachii of the Artemisio-Quercetum mongolicae showed a predominant condition all over the subtree and shrub layers. Of Artemisio-Quercetum pinetosum densifloraes, Pinus densiflora becomes powerful over the tree layer and, on the other hand, Quercus mongolica over the subtree layer. Lychno-Quercetum mongolicae was distributed somewhat on the humid region of the high altitude area (840~1.200m). Fraxinus rhynchophylla community was chiefly distributed in the vicinity of the ravines. Quereus rariabilis community was distributed at subxeric slope on southeast side of the mountain. Larix leptolepis has been reforested at the ecotone between Artemisio-Quercetum mongolicae and Lychno-Quercetum mongolicae. Percentage cover degrees of the subtree layer In Lychno-Quercetum mongolicae, Quereus rariabilis community and Larix leptolepis afforestation were relatively low, 15.3%, 5% and 2.5%, respectively.The contents of moisutre and organic matter in the soil were much higher in Luchno-Quercetum monogolicae and Larix leptolepis afforestaion than in the other communities. Contents o Ca, Mg, K and the available phosphorus were relaively high compared with forests of the other area. This result seems to be influenced by a forest fire. As the altitude increases, the moisure content in the forest soil also increases.


We introduce a new type of lexical structure called lexical system, an interoperable model that can feed both monolingual and multilingual language resources. We begin with a formal characterization of lexical systems as "pure" directed graphs, solely made up of nodes corresponding to lexical entities and links. To illustrate our approach, we present data borrowed from a lexical system that has been generated from the French DiCo database. We later explain how the compilation of the original dictionary-like database into a net-like one has been made possible. Finally, we discuss the potential of the proposed lexical structure for designing multilingual lexical resources.


The life of Dante is such a tangle of public and private passions and ordeals experienced over the fifty-six years he lived that it has always been a source of inexhaustible fascination. It is as if everything about his life - its innumerable defeats and its occasional and yet enduring triumphs - belongs to the romantic and alluring realm of legend: a love at first sight that was to last his whole life and inspire lofty poetry; the long, cruel exile from his native Florence because of the civil war ravaging the city; the poem he wrote, the Divina Commedia , made of his public and private memories; the turning of himself into an archetypal literary character, such as Ulysses, Faust, or any of those medieval knights errant, journeying over the tortuous paths of a spiritual quest, wrestling with dark powers, and, finally, seeing God face to face. Many are the reasons why generations of readers have found the story of Dante's life compelling. His relentless self-invention as an unbending prophet of justice and a mythical quester for the divine is certainly one important reason. The fact that in his graphic figurations of the beyond (rare glimpses of which were available in only a few other legendary mythmakers - Homer, Plato, and Virgil) he was an unparalleled poet also greatly heightens our interest in him. Yet none of these reasons truly accounts for what must be called - given the extraordinary number of biographies Dante has elicited over the centuries - the literary phenomenon of "The Life of Dante."


OBJECTIVE:To improve the quality standard of rongshuanwan.METHODS:Danshen root,flos,angelica,Chuanxiong in rongshuanwan were respectively identified qualitatively by TLC.RESULTS:The chromatographic spots of samples showed the same colors with those of control agents.The color spectrum was clear without interference of impurity nearby.CONCLUSION:The established method has high specificity and can better control the quality of this drug.


Image description is carried out in order to identify and transfer the contents of the image, i.e. information and informative attributes needed for search, analysis and decision making. At present the description and image search is performed by allocating them visual primitives - singular points, special areas and calculating the statistical characteristics: color scale, textures, line shapes. Since the analysis and image search require significant computer resources the emphasis is directed more at speed than the semantics in human understanding, which significantly reduces the relevance of the issue. This paper describes a formal language for meaningful descriptions and image analysis, developed on the basis of the description logic ALC (Attributive Language with Complement). The features of the proposed language is a set of atomic concepts and roles, focused on understanding the images, geometric functions and predicates, as well as the set-theoretic operations on instances of concepts - raster or vector graphic objects.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate the meta data of a section or region in a query content without imposing any labor to impart meta data on a user. SOLUTION: A content correspondence relation acquisition part 101 obtains a plurality of correspondence relations configured of the query content ID of query content and the section or region of the query content and the section or region of the storage content of a signal which is similar to the query content of the section or region and the storage content ID. A coupling correspondence relation generation part 102 generates a coupling correspondence relation by coupling those plurality of correspondence relations. A query meta data generation part 103 generates meat data for each time section of the query content by using the coupling correspondence relation. Thus, it is possible to generate the meta data of the section or region of the query content without managing a reference time. COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT


Following Part 1 of this article, which reviews late-1970s to 1990s classic derivations and tests of the consumption capital asset pricing model, here in Part 2 we review more recent developments, some of which are based on utility functions with non-time-separable preferences. Important second-generation consumption-based asset pricing advances are also reviewed, including models with habit formation and long-run risk. These models give large cyclical changes in relative risk aversion and risk premiums as well as lagged impacts of aggregate consumption changes on risk premiums. We review asset pricing with rare disasters and models focused on consumer spending on durables and real estate, as well as the fraction of spending financed by labor income. The second-generation models discussed have more free parameters and fit the empirical data better than did the first-generation consumption-based asset pricing models.


OBJECTIVE To understand of the isolation and drug resistance of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci(VRE) so as to explore measures for the surveillance of VRE infection.METHODS Targeted surveillance for clinical isolated pathogens in 2010 was performed.Statistical analysis of the number of VRE was performed and their drug resistance was studied.Cinical surveillance for VRE infection was carried out.RESULTS There were 582 strains of Enterococci isolated,among which VRE accounted for 2.20%,with relatively high drug resistance.Outbreak and prevalence of VRE in hospital were not detected.CONCLUSION VRE strains are relatively large in number,and the drug resistance rate is relatively high.To prevent and reduce multidrug-resistant strains and control nosocomial infection,rational use of antimicrobial drugs should be highlighted and surveillance for VRE infection should be implemented.


Improved design for thin, lightweight solar photovoltaic cells with front contacts reduces degradation of electrical output under exposure to energetic charged particles (protons and electrons). Increases ability of cells to maintain structural integrity under exposure to ultraviolet radiation by eliminating ultraviolet-degradable adhesives used to retain cover glasses. Interdigitated front contacts and front junctions formed on semiconductor substrate. Mating contacts formed on back surface of cover glass. Cover glass and substrate electrostatically bonded together.


A location-aided handoff reservation scheme with mobility prediction for wireless cellular networks is proposed in this study. We analyze the performance of the proposed handoff reservation scheme and propose a two-dimensional (2-D) random walk model for simulation to show its effectiveness. The influences of the threshold distance and mean value of the distance that the mobile station moves in a straight line are also investigated.


On "Red Classics",the "Red" has more to do with specific historical contexts while the "Classics" must be justified on the grounds of various aesthetic indexes of the text.On one hand,Classics determines the especial quality of Red;on the other hand,owing to its peculiar title and the ideology it conveys,Red controls the production space of Classics.Therefore,only under the bi-theoretical perspective of "Historical" and "Aesthetic" can be named"Red Classics",in the academic level,be expurgated between its classic characteristics as well as its classic circuit.


This research is a development research that aims to analyze; (1) the potential and conditions for developing learning modules, (2) the process of developing project-based IPAS modules (3) module characteristics, (4) module effectiveness, and (5) module attractiveness. This research uses the ADDIE model development design which includes the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The subjects in this study were 23 students of class X of the Plant Agribusiness Expertise Program of SMK Negeri 1 Gedongtataan. Data collection methods used questionnaires, interviews and tests. The results of this research and development indicate that the potential of students can use modules as learning materials and the condition of infrastructure at SMK Negeri 1 Gedongtataan is very supportive and allows for the development of project-based learning modules, Product criteria after being validated by a team of material experts with a score of 87.67 (very feasible), media experts score 95.29 (very feasible), and design experts score 96.84 (very feasible). The characteristics of the project-based module developed meet the requirements of being self-standing, independent, adaptive and familiar with the user. Based on the results of the t test, the sig result of 0.000 is smaller than the 5% significance level, which means that the use of project-based modules significantly increases students' learning creativity. The developed module is effective for increasing the learning creativity of IPAS students with a normalized gain value of 0.6297 (medium). The attractiveness of the developed module is in the interesting category with a score of 84.5 and the category is easy to use.


Supervision is an important service provided to teachers with the aim of improving the quality of the teaching staff. The implementation of supervision is very important to be carried out by the principal in order to develop the professionalism of the teacher himself. Teachers who are the spearhead of the success of an education are required to work professionally. Therefore, to make teachers professional, one of the efforts is to carry out supervision, both by the principal and supervisor. In carrying out supervision, supervisors are expected not to act as supervisors who are only looking for teachers in carrying out their duties. On the other hand, supervisors must be able to provide service assistance to overcome problems faced by teachers. Therefore, supervisors must be able and understand and master the objectives, techniques, functions as well as supervision methods, in order to obtain optimal benefits in the form of professional teachers.


Alumina-aluminium titanate (A-AT) composites and laminates have been recently investigated because they can provide improved flaw tolerance and toughness associated to a microcracking mechanism. A-AT composites have been produced by slip casting and reaction sintering of submicron sized alumina and titania powders. This work deals with the preparation of thick self-sustained A-AT films from mixtures of submicron sized alumina and nanosized titania. Suspensions were prepared in water to high solids loadings ranging from 30 to 50 vol.%. The stability of diluted suspensions was studied through zeta potential measurements as a function of pH and deflocculant type and concentration. The stability of the concentrated suspensions as a function of deflocculant content, sonication time and solids loadings was studied from rheological measurements. Self-sustained films were obtained by aqueous EPD using graphite substrates under constant current density conditions. The evolution of mass per unit area with current density and deposition time was recorded. The films were characterized in the green state and after debinding and sintering by density measurements, and electron microscopy observations.


In this study, a greenhouse type solar dryer for small-scale dried food industries was developed and disseminated. The dryer consists of a parabolic roof structure covered with polycarbonate sheets on a concrete floor. The system is 8.0m in width, 20.0m in length and 3.5m in height, with a loading capacity about 1,000kg of fruits or vegetables. To ensure continuous drying operation, a 100kW-LPG gas burner was incorporated to supply hot air to the dryer during cloudy or rainy days. Nine 15-W DC fans powered by three 50-W PV modules were used to ventilate the dryer. This dryer was installed for a small-scale food industry at Nakhon Pathom in Thailand to produce osmotically dehydrated tomato. To investigate its performance, the dryer was used to dry 3 batches of osmotically dehydrated tomato. Results obtained from these experiments showed that drying air temperatures in the dryer varied from 35°C to 65°C. In addition, the drying time for these products was 2-3 days shorter than that of the natural sun drying and good quality dried products were obtained. A system of differential equations describing heat and moisture transfers during drying of osmotically dehydrated tomato was also developed. The simulated results agreed well with the experimental data. For dissemination purpose, other two units of this type of dryer were constructed and tested at two locations in Thailand and satisfactory results were obtained. Copyright © 2012 International Energy and Environment Foundation All rights reserved.


Describes three phases of restructuring and privatization under different administrations between 1986 and 1998 and examines the impact of these changes on employment. Describes different types of privatization and analyses the restructuring of utilities, wholly state-owned companies and majority state- owned enterprises.


Many business schools teach the importance of using strategy tools when engaging in strategizing activities. Despite this fact there is an ongoing debate concerning what is taught in business schoo ...


4-(4′-Aminophenyl)urazole (AmPU) was prepared from 4-nitrobenzoic acid in six steps. The reaction of monomer AmPU with n-isopropylisocyanate was performed in N,N-dimethylacetamide solutions at different ratios, and the resulting disubstituted and trisubstituted urea derivatives were obtained in high yields and were finally used as models for polymerization reactions. The step-growth polymerization reactions of AmPU with hexamethylene diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, and toluene-2,4-diisocyanate were performed in N-methylpyrrolidone solutions in the presence of pyridine as a catalyst. The resulting novel polyureas had inherent viscosities of 0.11–0.18 dL/g in dimethylformamide at 25°C. These polyureas were characterized with IR, 1H-NMR, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. Some physical properties and structural characterization of these novel polyureas are reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 2692–2700, 2003


The frequency of common HLA-A and -B antigens were determined in 30 couples having a child with acute leukemia (AL), 34 couples having a child with aplastic anemia (AA) and 58 random couples with healthy children. An increased frequency of couples sharing at least two common antigens was observed in parents of both AL and AA children.


A focus on copyright issues which may concern TCC faculty and staff -- including fair use, the TEACH Act, public domain and other copyright exceptions and issues. Nothing in this guide is to be construed as legal advice. TCC copyright guidelines--Course packets (course packs)


Automatic photo annotation task aims to describe the semantic content by detecting high level concepts in order to further facilitate concept based video retrieval. Most of existing approaches are based on independent semantic concept detectors without considering the contextual correlation between concepts. This drawback has its impact over the efficiency of such systems. Recently, harnessing contextual information to improve the effectiveness of concepts detection becomes a promising direction in such field. In this paper, we propose a new contextbased annotation refinement process. For this purpose, we define a new semantic measure called "Second Order Co-occurence Flickr context similarity" (SOCFCS) which aims to extract the semantic context correlation between two concepts by exploring Flickr resources (Flickr related-tags). Our measure is an extension of FCS measure by taking into consideration the FCS values of common Flickr related-tags of the two target concepts. Our proposed measure is applied to build a concept network which models the semantic context inter-relationships among concepts. A Random Walk with Restart process is performed over this network to refine the annotation results by exploring the contextual correlation among concepts. Experimental studies are conducted on ImageCLEF 2011 Collection containing 10000 images and 99 concepts. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.


The thirty seven inbreds of quality protein maize of diverse origin, evaluated in RBD showed significant difference among the inbreds in respect of grain yield and its component traits. The characters like days to 50 % tasseling, days to 50 % silking and days to 75% dry husk were less influenced by the environmental factors because of lower differences in magnitudes between GCV and PCV. On the contrary, the characters like cob girth, number of kernels per row, number of kernel rows per cob and grain yield per plant were much influenced by the environmental factors as evidenced from higher differences in magnitude of PCV and GCV. High heritability with low genetic advances for characters like days to 50% tasseling, days to 50 % silking and days to 75 % dry husk indicated the predominance of non-additive gene action whereas high heritability with high genetic advance was reported for cob weight indicating the role of additive gene action. The characters viz., cob weight, 100- kernel weight, plant height, ear height, and no. of kernels per row were highly and positively correlated with grain yield per plant at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Ear height (0.837), days to 50 % silking (0.526) and number of kernels/rows per cob (0.455) in that order had large positive direct effect on grain yield per plant at genotypic level. Similar trend was also observed at phenotypic level. The indirect effects were generally small with only a few exceptions. A close examination of all the direct and indirect effects of the components traits on yield indicated the presence of enough scope for yield improvement through selection for no of leaves per plant, cob length, no. of kernels per row, cob weight and 100-kernel weight. Based on 14 quantitative characters, the 37 quality protein maize inbreds were grouped into13 clusters following D 2 analysis and Tocher™s method of grouping. Among the yield traits, days to 50 % silking, days to 50% tasseling, days to 75% dry husk, cob weight, 100 kernel weight and grain yield per plant were found to be the major contributor towards genetic divergence. The overall clustering pattern indicated that QPM 3-7, QPM 9-18, and QPM 1110-7-2 were much divergent from rest of the inbreds in the experiment. Similarly, the inbreds of cluster III and XI and inbreds of clusters IX, III and X were distantly and distinctly related to each other. The pattern of clustering as stated above further indicated that there was no strict association between inbreds developed from diverse base populations.


SUMMARY The reform of structures and organization within Spanish universities inside the European area of Higher Education is changing the teaching-learning process in health sciences schools and faculties, including Dentistry. In particular, there is emphasis on 1) developing the skills and competencies necessary for responding to the normal range of circumstances in dental general practice, 2) on achieving some competences relating to continuing professional development, 3) on working together with other health care professionals and 4) about using contemporary information technology. We have designed a virtual subject "Applied Odontologic Anatomy" (AOA) in order to develop these general competencies as well as developing specific anatomical objectives. Accordingly, students must be prepared to apply their anatomical knowledge of maxillary and mandibular alveolar apophyses and to relate this with oral diseases and implant restorations. In the virtual campus of Murcia University, students have the contents of the virtual material and students must resolve different tasks following some initial guidance. We present in this paper the results of AOA evaluation using a quantitative 5 point Lickert response questionnaire in order to assess whether students consider they had acquired the competencies mentioned above. Our response rate was 67%. The mean scores for all the competencies were between 3.56 and 4. The results show that students think that they have acquired to a high degree the competencies defined in our e-learning package, although, they also identified some problems, including difficulty in team-working and in obtaining information from the internet. Consequently, we believe that it is important to develop relevant learning resources with appropriate guidelines when using information and communication technologies and for the management of information and documentation.


CONTEXT
The relationships among the different eating disorders that exist in the community are poorly understood, especially for residual disorders in which bingeing or purging occurs in the absence of other behaviors.

OBJECTIVE
To examine a community sample for the number of mutually exclusive weight and eating profiles.

DESIGN
Data regarding lifetime eating disorder symptoms and weight range were submitted to a latent profile analysis. Profiles were compared regarding personality, current eating and weight, retrospectively reported life events, and lifetime depressive psychopathology.

SETTING
Longitudinal study among female twins from the Australian Twin Registry in whom eating was assessed by a telephone interview.

PARTICIPANTS
A community sample of 1002 twins (individuals) who had participated in earlier waves of data collection.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Number and clinical character of latent profiles.

RESULTS
The best fit was a 5-profile solution with women who were (1) of normal weight with few lifetime eating disorders (4.3%), (2) overweight (10.6% had a lifetime eating disorder), (3) underweight and generally had no eating disorders except for 5.3% who had restricting anorexia nervosa, (4) of low to normal weight (89.0% had a lifetime eating disorder), and (5) obese (37.0% had a lifetime eating disorder). Each profile contained more than 1 type of lifetime eating disorder except for the third profile. Women in the first and third profiles had the best functioning, with women in the fourth and fifth profiles having similarly poorer functioning. The women in the fourth group had a symptom profile distinctive from the other 4 groups in terms of severity; they were also more likely to have had lifetime major depression and suicidality.

CONCLUSION
Lifetime weight ranges and the severity of eating disorder symptoms affected clustering more than the type of eating disorder symptom.


The fabrication of 2D or quasi-2D perovskite has been a promising strategy to further modulate the electron structure and stability of lead halide perovskites. Here we demonstrate that an interfacial crosslinked 2D perovskite using a bifunctional butanediamine (BDA) cation as BDAPbI4 exhibits similar optical properties as the regular butaneamine (BA) cation based BA2PbI4, but shows a different crystal growth preference and carrier transport properties. More remarkably, once BDAPbI4 and CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) form a quasi-2D (BDA)(MAn−1)PbnI3n+1 perovskite with crosslinked 2D/3D configuration, superior photovoltaics performance than the regular 2D/3D (BA2) (MAn−1)PbnI3n+1 can be obtained. The conducting atomic force microscopy measurements illustrate the interfacial crosslinked BDA based samples possess higher conductivities than regular ones. Thus, the strategy of cross-linked 2D/3D structure represents a simple and promising approach for designing novel perovskites for optoelectronic applications in future.


Thermally expandable and electrically conductive that can provide lightning protection and burn-through resistance comprising electrically conductive fibers, thermally expandable particles and a curable matrix resin comprising one or more thermosetting resins A thermally expandable and electrically conductive material, wherein the electrically conductive fibers and thermally expandable particles are embedded in a curable matrix resin. [Selection] Figure 1


European buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica L., is an introduced shrub or small tree of forests, thickets, open pastures, hedgerows, roadsides, and riparian habitats. In Canada, it is found from Alberta east to the Maritimes, but is absent from Newfoundland. It is particularly abundant in southern Ontario. Problems arise from its status as an alternate host for the fungi Puccinia coronata Corda. f. sp. avenae Eriks., which causes crown rust and leaf rust of oats and for Puccinia coronata var. hordei Jin & Steff., which causes crown rust of barley. It is also the overwintering host for the recently invasive soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, which has been described as a serious threat to soybean production in North America. Prolific fruit production, in combination with extensive seedling establishment and shade tolerance, allows R. cathartica to dominate an understorey quickly. Its ability to tolerate a wide range of conditions, at least in fairly moist areas, may lead to further expansion of its Canadi...


Iridium pincer complex (POCOP)IrH2 (1; POCOP = κ3-C6H3-1,3-[OP(tBu)2]2) catalyzes hydrogenolysis of 1,2-propanediol to n-propanol in good yield under mild conditions (acidic aqueous dioxane, 50–125 °C, 100–600 psi H2). Studies of catalyst speciation revealed that the catalyst reservoir species is (POCOP)Ir(CO) (2), formed by decarbonylation of the substrate. Complex 2 is a superior catalyst precursor, since it is air-stable and readily prepared by treating complex 1 with CO.


IN AN ATTEMPT TO OVERCOME A STALEmate blocking development of a national U.S. energy policy, a 16-member commission released a detailed and wide-ranging series of policy recommendations last month. The commissioners hope the 14 8-page report will serve as a template to help guide Congress members and the President as they debate energy legislation this year. The National Commission on Energy Policy was created three years ago. It is funded by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and several partner foundations. The commissioners say they intend to lobby the Administration and Congress to support their views. Commission members include top electric utility and business officiais, academics, politicians, and former government officials. Among them are William K. Reilly, former Environmental Protection Agency administrator; John W Rowe, president and chief executive officer of the energy giant Exelon Corp.; R.James Woolsey former director of the Central Intelligence Agency; John P. Holdren, professor of en...


In this paper,chitosan-β-cyclodextrin(CTS-CD),a kind of high polymer,was synthesized by immobilizing the β-cyclodextrin(β-CD) onto the molecular structure of chitosan by the cross-linking function of glutaraldehyde.The adsorption kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of acid dyes on CTS-CD were studied by taking the Acid Red B as an example.At 298K,the saturated adsorption capacity of CTS-CD for Acid Red B was 661.4mg/g.When the initial concentration of Acid Red B was 363.2mg/L,the enthalpy change(ΔH),the entropy change(ΔS),the Gibbs free energy change(ΔG) and the apparent activation energy of the adsorption were 80.3,323.3,-16.1 and 11.72kJ/mol,respectively.At room temperature,the adsorption of CTS-CD for contaminants followed Langmuir adsorption equation and the first-order kinetic equation.As an adsorption material,CTS-CD can be used to remove acid dyes from industrial wastewater.


This research paper attempts to position fundamental principles of design thinking within a framework of problem-solving theory. The roles that are assumed in a co-creation community, team or workp ...


This research examines transformational and transactional leadership expectation and values of collectivism and individualism between subjects in two countries, Taiwan and the U.S.. The leadership and the values between the two countries were compared, and the possible connections between the leadership and the values in the two countries were investigated. It was found that the respondents from the two countries varied in their levels of value of individualism and in their expectations of transformational and transactional leadership, and in the relationships between values of collectivism and individualism and the leadership expectations. The findings imply that in cross-cultural management or training, it is necessary to know that the values held by employees with different cultural backgrounds may result in different expectations of leadership behaviors.


The invention provides equipment for generating a viewpoint pair with an emotional-guidance-based influence relationship. The equipment comprises a receiving unit for receiving a plurality of object oriented viewpoints, an extraction unit, an analysis unit and a generation unit, wherein the extraction unit extracts viewpoints with an influence relationship from the plurality of object oriented viewpoints; the analysis unit analyzes the emotional guidance of each extracted viewpoint; and the generation unit establishes relations among viewpoints with emotional-guidance-based influence relationships so as to generate the viewpoint pairs with the emotional-guidance-based influence relationships. The invention can discover more implied viewpoints as complementary viewpoints by detecting the influence relationships from massive viewpoints, and helps users concerning different objects acquire more comprehensive comments and conclusions.


Over the summer Genevieve Joy spent two months in West Bengal conducting research as part of the Tata Social Intern scheme, an internship programme administered by LSE Careers and the India Observatory. Her project involved analysing agricultural projects and making recommendations about which were worth scaling up. She found that while the majority of the projects she reviewed were worth expanding, project participants needed to be empowered to ensure sustainability.


VR panoramic image is an image technology that covers a wide range of scenes. Its imaging range is much larger than that of traditional imaging systems, and it can fully reflect all the information of the imaging space. Although the multi-feature fusion method has been studied for a long time, the methods of multi-feature extraction, fusion and overall optimization have not been widely studied. In view of the shadow problem in VR panoramic images, this paper proposes a multi-feature fusion VR panoramic image shadow elimination algorithm, which uses HSV color features and LBP (Local Binary Pattern) / LSFP (Local Five Similarity Pattern) texture features to obtain shadow detection results and then obtains the final detection results by fusion. The experimental results prove that while ensuring a low missed detection rate, the false detection rate is greatly reduced. The comprehensive evaluation index Avg in this paper is improved by 3.4% compared with the shadow elimination algorithm based on a single feature. This paper proposes an image saliency detection algorithm and image detail enhancement algorithm based on multi-feature fusion. The final saliency map is obtained through linear fusion. Experiments prove that the image detail enhancement algorithm based on multi-feature fusion mentioned in this paper has achieved excellent results. In this paper, the performance of single feature fusion algorithm and multi-feature fusion algorithm are compared. The results show that the accuracy rate of multi-feature fusion algorithm based on HSV, LBP and LSFP is 93.39%, and the effect of multi-feature fusion is better than that of single feature.


Nitrogen is considered as an essential element for plants. However, its high solubility results in leaching it into soil deep. Due to saving in time and costs, mathematic models are commonly used in simulating some parameters, particularly in water and soil. In this paper, simulation of nitrate mobilization was carried out by HYDRUS-1D model in order to study movements of nitrate in the soils under lysimetery–farmed wheat by sampling and measuring nitrate concentrations within outlet of lysimeters. The results showed that HYDRUS-1D model can simulate nitrate leaching accurately.


Magnetoteluric data can be formed in 2D model, however the data that was used to produce the best 2D model should contain less noise. Field data contains a lot of noise due to the source is derived from the natural activities, like solar wind and lighting activity. One of the noise reduction methods used is time series analysis. The reduction can increase data coherence attain 94.36% from the lowest field data before it is reduced, 40.15%. Time series analysis data was used to describe 2D direction model of the subsurface structure appropriately. However, in the measurements between the magnetic field and the electric field in a perpendicular field are not necessarily had the same direction as the structure beneath the earth's surface, so rotation was needed in order to equate both. There are two types of rotation, strike angle rotation and fix angle rotation. Structural direction in 2D MT modelling can be predicted using invariant impedance by comparing data after strike angle rotation, fix angle rotation and before rotation over overlay model. The strike angle rotation model is the best of the three comparative results by showing the distribution of 67.31% resistivity in the range 1 Ωm – 364 Ωm.


The stability and integrity of the genetic material are essential for the maintenance and continuation of life. The human genome, comprising three billion base pairs coding for 30.000 – 40.000 genes, is constantly attacked by endogenous reactive metabolites, therapeutic drugs and a plethora of environmental mutagens that impact its integrity. Thus it is obvious that the stability of the genome must be under continuous surveillance. This is accomplished by DNA repair mechanisms, which were developed to remove or tolerate injuries and mistakes in DNA. In the DNA repair mechanisms available in the organisms, they can be divided in: i) base excision repair (BER), ii) nucleotide excision repair (NER), iii) mismatch repair (MMR) and iv) DNA repair by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). To an adequate operation of these mechanisms, it is evident the importance of the interaction between proteins responsible for the function of DNA repair, as well as the regulation for nuclear import is essential for the correct localization of the proteins responsible for the mentioned mechanisms. In the group of the mechanisms responsible for nuclear import regulation, the classical pathway composed by Importin-α/β heterodimer is one of the major mechanisms of transport. Some DNA repair proteins seem to interact only with certain isoforms of Importin-α (Imp ), indicating an additional regulation of the repair process. However, little information is known about the recognition of nuclear localization sequences (NLS) of these proteins. This work concerns specifically the structural studies of complexes with Imp and NLSs peptides from proteins related to DNA repair using crystallographic techniques. The expression and purification of Impα from Mus musculus N-terminally truncated were performed as well as the co-crystalization of the Impα with NLS peptides from the DNA repair proteins, corresponding to the monopartite sequences from Ku80, PMS2 and MLH1 and the bipartite sequence from FEN1. X-ray diffraction data from obtained crystals were collected and processed in the range of 2.1 to 2.38 A resolution. Using these results, the structures containing NLSs of Ku80 and FEN1 were elucidated. The Ku80 NLS peptide, related to the NHEJ repair, bound to the Impα in a similar manner of the NLS of SV40 T antigen in the major binding site (S1). Moreover the peptide NLS FEN1, related to BER repair, bind to the (S1) site as well the secondary site (S2), proving to be a bipartite sequence. In addition, the linker region of FEN1 peptide with only 10 residues, allowed a better connection with the Impα by a more extended conformation and possibly more favorable binding to the Impα than the peptides that have 11-12 residues. Specific positions in the binding sites were confirmed as essential as well as residues from Impα that are conserved in these regions indicating the importance of intermolecular interactions in these sites. This information indicates that Impα can transport these proteins independently into the nucleus, without the necessity of complex formation with other proteins involved in DNA repair.


A four-axis hexagonal reference basis can be constructed in the reciprocal space of hexagonal crystals in such a way that the resulting lattice contains as a subset all the points of the conventional reciprocal lattice. All other points not belonging to this subset have no physical significance since they have non-integral indices and hence cannot represent real crystal planes. Since these points cannot register as spots in an actual diffraction pattern, the four-axis hexagonal lattice and the conventional reciprocal lattice are physically indistinguishable. _ The interpretation of diffraction patterns of hexagonal crystals is easier when indexing is referred to the four-axis basis. The necessary crystallographic relationships can be obtained directly in terms of Miller-Bravais indices using elementary vector analysis and when applied to Kikuchi electron diffraction maps, the problem of determining the foil orientation becomes especially simple.


In the search for non‐enzymatic alternatives to glucose oxidase, reliable and microchip‐compatible approaches to catalyst development are highly desirable. Herein, the electrochemical behavior of thin films of VOx deposited by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on glassy carbon electrodes is reported . A process of partial etching during polarization is observed. Thereafter, highly active and stable traces of VOx act as catalytic centers for glucose electrooxidation. A mechanistic description of the electrochemical process is proposed based on evidence provided by voltammetric measurements. The sensors are calibrated both with potentiometric and amperometric techniques, the former showing a wide linear range (1–10 mM), good sensitivity (14.93 ± 0.39 µA cm−2 × mM–1) and a limit of detection (0.32 m‐M). Unlike most metal oxides, it is shown that VOx on glassy carbon is capable of successfully oxidizing glucose at −0.4 V. Such a one‐of‐kind behavior can have important ramifications for energy‐efficient integrated electrochemical sensors and non‐enzymatic glucose sensing as a whole.


Autoimmune encephalitis in the 2000s It has been over a decade since the first description of an encephalitis presenting with psychosis, occurring in young women with ovarian teratoma.1 This disorder, now known to be caused by autoantibodies which recognise the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (NMDAR), has had a profound effect on the neurological landscape. NMDAR-antibody encephalitis has also had an effect on the cultural landscape, with Susannah Cahalan's bestselling account of her experience of the disorder, Brain on Fire, topping the New York Times bestseller list and being made into a Hollywood movie. But why was the impact of this newly described disorder so great? After all, it was in the 1960s that Brierley, Corsellis and colleagues first penned their seminal descriptions of limbic encephalitis. All of the original case descriptions, like Cahalan herself, presented with psychiatric symptoms before going on to develop various neurological symptoms including seizures and cognitive dysfunction.2 Unlike these original cases, however, NMDAR-antibody encephalitis is highly responsive to immunotherapy. We now know that this is because NMDAR antibodies attach to the neuronal surface (unlike the classical 'onconeural' antibodies associated with paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis) and are therefore accessible in vivo to antibody-directed immunomodulatory therapies. This was not a novel paradigm as such, having been well established in myaesthenia gravis. However, this disorder was occurring within the central nervous system, thereby challenging the notion that antibodies or antibody-secreting cells could not cross the blood brain barrier and that the brain was an immune privileged site. Further, as the number of reported cases began to increase, it became apparent that a minority of patients presented solely with psychiatric symptoms throughout the course of their illness.3 What was novel was not the fact that CNS inflammation can cause an immunotherapy-responsive isolated psychiatric phenotype – indeed, neurologists have been treating psychosis due to SLE and other CNS inflammatory disorders for years, despite little understanding of the mechanisms underlying psychotic symptoms in these disorders. The real breakthrough lies in the fact that a relatively straightforward laboratory test has enabled the identification of an entirely new repertoire of neuronal autoantibodies that target relatively well-characterised membrane proteins involved in neurotransmission, offering a mechanistically plausible pathway from antigen to symptoms and indeed to psychopathology.4 In 2017, many of these novel autoimmune encephalitides – associated with antibodies targeting the AMPA, glycine, GABA-A and –B receptors or other membrane proteins such as leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) and contactin-associated proteinlike 2 (CASPR2) – are now familiar to most UK neurologists. New antigenic targets – mostly extracellular, although occasionally intracellular/cytosolic – are being reported every few months (IgLON5, dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 [DPPX], and neurexin 3 encephalitis have all been described in the last few years)5 (see Table 1). Unlike with syndromes associated with the classical onconeural antibodies, only a minority of patients have an associated tumour, such as an ovarian teratoma in NMDAR-antibody encephalitis; if a tumour is present, resection appears to expedite recovery. The technology that has enabled this explosion of discovery of immunotherapy-responsive disease in an ever-growing number of patients is the development of cell-based assays (CBAs) for the detection of neuronal surface autoantibodies. CBAs are cell lines, transfected with a genetic construct containing the target antigen of interest. This leads to surface expression of the antigen, thereby avoiding exposure of pathogenically irrelevant intracellular epitopes and also maintaining the native conformation of the target protein. This is a crucial feature of this group of antibodies to which previous detection methods such as ELISAs and western blots are largely insensitive.


Abstract. To solve the problem of determining the memory capacity of the information systems (IS), the use of the stochastic model is proposed, based on the use of НМ (Howard-Matalytski) queueing networks with revenues. This model allows one to take into account time dependencies of the message processing from their capacities, the possibility changes of the messages capacities over time and also the possibility of leaving messages from queues in nodes of IS, without getting into them appropriate processing. The expressions for the mean (expected) values of total message capacities in the IS nodes have been obtained.


We first-quantize the superparticle describing free 10D IIB supergravity on AdS_5xS^5. We choose the worldline coordinate to be a combination of the bulk (spatial) coordinates of anti de Sitter space and the sphere. The Hamiltonian is independent of this "time" and the fermions. On the boundary, the representation of PSU(2,2|4) becomes that of projective superspace. The prepotential propagator reproduces the known field-strength one.


ABSTRACT Until recently, most transboundary water agreements largely focused on utilization, frequently leading to environmental impacts. We examine under which circumstances are environmental considerations included in transboundary water agreements, how are they included and whether they address environmental effects of previous agreements. We analyse 75 treaties, many of which occur within (sub)basins with previously established water agreements. Human water stress, upstream large dams, OECD membership and previous water treaties (particularly those concerning utilization) are the most prevalent conditions where environmental degradation is considered. Our results also suggest that aridity incentivizes negotiating relationships to develop, thereby facilitating environmental water cooperation.


The driving engine of the Free Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH) is an L-band superconducting accelerator. It is designed to operate in pulsed mode with 800 microsecond pulse duration at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The maximum accelerated beam current during the macropulse is 10 mA. In this paper we analyze the parameter space for optimum operation of the FEL at the wavelength of 13.5 nm. Our analysis shows that the FLASH technology holds great potential for increasing the average power of the linear accelerator and an increase of the conversion efficiency of the electron kinetic energy to the light. Thus, it will be possible to construct a FLASH like free electron laser operating at the wavelength of 13.5 nanometer with an average power up to 2.6 kW. Such a source meets the physical requirements of the light source for the next generation lithography.


In the title complex, (C7H10N)[Cu(C5H6S4)2], the CuS4 core adopts a square-planar geometry. Alternate columns of cations and anions form thick layers parallel to the bc plane. Weak C—H⋯Cu and C—H⋯S interactions help to link the cations and anions together.


It is shown that the conclusion reached by Bramley in a recent article that bromine has the formula (Br2)6 is inconsistent with previous results relating to the density of this substance in the gaseous state and that it is not theoretically justified by the considerations presented by the author.


Although extensive work about robot path planning has been carried out, there is still a need for fast, practical and general-purpose motion planners. New applications of robots, outside the known and fixed environment of a factory, will increase the need for such planners. In these situations it will be necessary to cope with very variable and complex environments and with direct human interaction. A new approach for n-degree-of-freedom robot motion planning, based on the concept of visibility tetrahedra and the use of genetic algorithms combined with local search methods, is presented in this paper. The proposed approach has been successfully tested over several selected experiments, obtaining fast planning even for complex situations.


Individualized treatment on the basis of early viral kinetics has been discussed to optimize antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Individually tailored reduction in treatment duration in HCV type 1–infected patients represents one possible strategy. Four hundred thirty‐three patients were randomly assigned to receive either 1.5 μg/kg peginterferon alfa‐2b weekly plus 800‐1,400 mg ribavirin daily for 48 weeks (n = 225, group A) or an individually tailored treatment duration (18‐48 weeks; n = 208, group B). In the latter group, treatment duration was calculated using the time required to induce HCV RNA negativity (branched DNA [bDNA] assay; sensitivity limit, 615 IU/mL) multiplied by the factor 6. All bDNA negative samples were retested with the more sensitive transcription‐mediated amplification (TMA) assay (sensitivity limit, 5.3 IU/mL). Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates were significantly lower in group B (34.6% versus 48.0% [P = 0.005]) due to higher relapse rates (32.7% versus 14.2% [P< 0.0005]). Important predictors of response were the levels of baseline viremia as well as the time to TMA negativity on treatment. Taking the simultaneous presence of low baseline viral load (<800,000 IU/mL) and a negative TMA test within the first 4 weeks as predictors for treatment response, SVR rates were comparable between both treatment schedules with an SVR probability of >80% obtained in patients treated for only 18 or 24 weeks. Conclusion: The individualized treatment strategy according to time to bDNA negativity failed to provide comparable efficacy compared with the standard of care. The inferiority of the individualized protocol may be explained by the use of a less sensitive HCV RNA assay, and also by underestimation of the importance of baseline viremia. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)


A research of some sachet energy drinks on the market on the activity of the central nervous system stimulant for white mice ( Mus musculus , L.) has been done. The samples labelled Minuman Energi Sachet MES 1, MES 2, MES 3, MES 4 and MES 5 and administered perorally. Parameters used for stimulant activity were endurance tested using Rotary road , while  motoric activity and curiosity tested using Automatic Hole Board. Each sample has administration volume of 0.52 ml/20 g BW. Comparator ued is caffeine 0.13 mg/ 20 g BW. From the research that has been done, it is known that MES 1, MES 2, MES 3, MES 4 and MES 5 has a central nervous system stimulant activity by increasing endurance, motoric activity and curiosity in mice significantly.


Old age occurs when an individual's age nears or goes beyond the life expectancy of human beings. It is the final
stage of the human life cycle which ultimately ends in death. During old age, the body loses the ability to utilize ATP
effectively and this heralds the events which eventually truncate the life cycle.


It is a key step to study and design the missile-borne SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) by the computer simulation. In this paper, we present a simulation and assessment software of the missile-borne SAR imaging system, which calculates the flight path of the missile, generates the echo data of the target, outputs the imaging result and its quality assessment. After dividing functional modules, we exhibit each function of the modules respectively. Moreover, three important problems are analyzed: the computation load of the echo data generation, the approach to generating layover and shadow of the 3D target, and the imaging algorithm and geometric correction formula. The simulation example shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed software.


The compression of a single layer graphene sheet in the "zigzag" and "armchair" directions has been investigated using the molecular dynamics method. The distributions of the xy and yx stress components are calculated for atomic chains forming the graphene sheet. A graphene sheet stands significant compressive stresses in the "zigzag" direction and retains its integrity even at a strain of ~0.35. At the same time, the stresses which accompany the compressive deformation of single layer graphene in the "armchair" direction are more than an order in magnitude lower than corresponding characteristics for the "zigzag" direction. A compressive strain of ~0.35 in the "armchair" direction fractures the graphene sheet into two parts. DOI: 10.1134/S1063783413090102


The purpose of the study was to investigate whether there is a meaningful relationship between translators' gender and their translations in terms of such grammatical features as mechanics (misspellings and punctuation), syntax (voice, tense and aspect of verbs), and lexis (SL intrusion and sexually-explicit terms) based on the proposed model, called translation performance with grammatical, textual and sociolinguistic branches. For that reason, the same sample English text was imparted to both female and male translators to be rendered into Persian to ascertain if they vary linguistically, and if they do so, what areas are more frequently different. The sociolinguistic factors as well as textual dimensions of the language were not scrutinized in the study. The participants were 30 male and 30 female undergraduate senior students of English at three universities in Qom, Iran. These 60 participants were selected out of 150 students who scored as high as 6 in the IELTS given to them and showed their English proficiency. By analyzing the data elicited descriptively from each translation, primarily, via t test; only 3 out of 15, variables demonstrated a significant difference between translations made by both genders contributing to the research. Thus, although these 3 variables verify the meaningful relationship between translator's gender and their translation performance, these elements are not enough to indicate that the grammar of translations is significantly different.


Mucoid impaction of bronchi refers to the progressive accumulation of mucus and inflammatory products within the bronchial lumen eventually leading to progressive dilatation and bronchiectasis. Radiographically, mucoid impaction presents as V or Y-shaped densities directed toward the hilum. Mucoid impaction may occur in a number of obstructive or nonobstructive diseases of the bronchi. Patients whose chest radiograph demonstrates mucoid impaction should be evaluated for underlying bronchogenic carcinoma; if no tumor is found they should be evaluated for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Occasionally, other causes of mucoid impaction will be found.


Objective To compare the curative effect of hemodialysis (HD) with hemoperfusion combined hemodialysis (HP + HD). Methods 30 patients with uremia who needed long-term hemodialysis were considered as group-treated with HP + HD, another control group(n = 28) as interfered one- treated with HD alone. Blood uremia nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(Cr), β2- microglobulin(β2- MG) , parathyroid hor-mone(PTH), hemoglobin(Hb) and clinical manifestation of the patients were obscrved before and after the treatment of 1 month.Results Serum β2- MG and PTH in the group-treated significantly decreased, and Hb was significantly increased and the amelioration of clinical symptom was more superior as compared with those before treatment and in control group, there were no significant difference to the clearance rates of BUN and Cr. Conclusion Using HP + HD could clear up β- MG, PTH and ameliorate clinical symptom better than using HD alone.

Key words:
Hemoperfusion;  Hemodialysis;  Uremia;  β2 - microglobulin;  Parathyroid hormone


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Objective: Destruction of arterial collagen allows monocyte and macrophage infiltration leading to atherosclerotic plaque formation, but it is not clear what role the MMP1 (matrix metalloprotease 1) collagenase plays in this process in vivo. To define the specific contribution of MMP1 to atherosclerotic plaque burden and pathogenesis, we generated ApoE−/− mice deficient in the human MMP1 ortholog, MMP1a. Approach and Results: After 12 to 16 weeks of Western diet, genetic loss of MMP1a resulted in a significant 50% reduction in total aortic plaque burden compared with control ApoE−/− mice. MMP1a deficiency led to significant reductions in plaque monocytes/macrophages, SMCs (smooth muscle cells), and necrosis, with increases in collagen content. Collagen invasion of oxidized-LDL (low-density lipoprotein) activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MMP1a-deficient mice was markedly attenuated and was similar to suppressive effects with pharmacological inhibitors of MMP1 and its receptor, PAR1 (protease-activated receptor 1). Patients with coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndrome undergoing cardiac catheterization in the TRIP-PCI trial (Thrombin Receptor Inhibitory Pepducin-Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) were evaluated for circulating levels of all 3 major secreted collagenases, MMP1, MMP8, and MMP13 and total number of coronary lesions with ≥50% stenosis (coronary artery disease burden). MMP1 was significantly (P<0.001) higher by 19-fold and 5.7-fold relative to MMP13 and MMP8, respectively. MMP1 correlated with stenotic coronary artery disease burden, TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) levels, and was co-expressed with PAR1 on monocytes. Treatment of patients with the PAR1 inhibitor, PZ-128, prevented a drop in monocytes following coronary catheterization, an acute protective effect that was reproduced in mice undergoing cardiac ischemia reperfusion. Conclusions: These data provide evidence for an important role for the MMP1a collagenase in atherosclerotic lesion development and leukocyte behavior and validate MMP1 as a compelling target in patients with coronary artery disease/acute coronary syndrome. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02561000.


The pathophysiology of eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (ECRS), a type of refractory chronic sinus inflammation accompanied by numerous infiltrations of activated eosinophils in paranasal sinus mucosa and/or nasal polyps, remains unknown, and several complex mechanisms are considered to promote eosinophil accumulation. Inflammatory entities, including cytokines—IL-5 and GM-CSF, chemokines such as eotaxin, and chemical mediators such as CysLTs are reportedly related to eosinophilic sinonasal mucosal inflammation. ECRS should be managed by focusing directly on inhibiting local eosinophil infilitration. Related surgical procedures include mechanical removal of diseased mucosal lesions and opening the bony wall septum of affected sinuses to enhance postoperative maintenance. Local and/or systemic steroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists are also recommended. Local steroid administration effectively prevents nasal polyposis relapse. Meticulous follow-up is needed in all cases because although adequate combinations of surgery and postoperative therapy keep most subjects with ECRS enjoy some relief, no treatment yet completely reliefes ECRS.


The Y73 strain of avian sarcoma virus recently isolated in Japan is defective in replication and is associated with subgroup A leukosis virus (YAV). The virus caused sarcoma but not acute leukosis when inoculated into chickens. Studies on the viral RNA showed that a 26S RNA, estimated to be 4.8 kilobases long, was Y73 viral RNA carrying a transforming gene. The 26S RNA has sequences in common with the RNA of an avian leukosis virus but no homology with the src gene sequence of avian sarcoma virus (ASV). Thus, Y73 has a unique sarcomainducing gene. A phosphorylated polyprotein of 90,000 daltons (p90) was immunoprecipitated from extracts of Y73-transformed chicken embryo cells by a variety of antisera reacting with gag gene products. When a bacteria-bound immunocomplex containing the p90 protein was incubated with [y-32PJATP, the Y73-specific p90 and the IgG heavy chain were phosphorylated by a p90-associated protein kinase. The amino acid phosphoryIated in vitro was exclusively tyrosine in both cases, whereas p9O phosphorylated in vivo contained phosphoserine as a major phospho amino acid with traces of phosphotyrosine and phosphothreonine. The locus of the transforming gene (designated as src) in the avian sarcoma virus (ASV) genome has been determined, and a phosphoprotein of 60,000 daltons (pp6Osrc) has been identified as the src gene product (1, 2). All well-characterized ASVs have been shown to have essentially the same src gene, which presumably is derived from a cellular gene (sarc) present in uninfected vertebrate cells (3-7). Transforming genes distinct from the src gene of ASV have been found in the last 3 year in avian acute leukemia viruses, which induce myeloblastosis, erythroblastosis, and myelocytomatosis in chickens. The fact that some strains of these viruses can induce transformation of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) without involvement of the src gene indicates that the src gene is not the only cause of fibroblastic transformation (8-12). Therefore, it seems to be worthwhile to characterize more ASV strains of different origins to see whether they all contain the src gene or another transforming gene(s) that can induce sarcomas. In this study, we analyzed Y73, a new strain of ASV that was isolated in 1978 from a transplantable tumor originally found in 1973 in a White Leghorn hen raised on a farm in Yamaguchi Prefecture (13). Despite the pathogenic similarity of Y73 with other ASV strains, its most strikdng feature is its similarity with acute leukemia viruses in being defective in replication and having a small genomic RNA that lacks the src gene sequence but encodes a polyprotein consisting of a gag gene-derived part The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U. S. C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. 6199 and a Y73-specific portion (14-18). This report also presents evidence for the existence of a protein kinase that phosphorylates tyrosine and is associated with a polyprotein encoded by a transforming gene other than the src gene of ASV. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cells and Viruses. Y73 was a gift from A. Sato and colleagues (Yamaguchi University) and was grown on CEFs. The methods used (i) for preparation of the Prague strain of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) of subgroup C (PR-RSV-C), the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of RSV of subgroup A (SR-RSV-A), the Rous-associated virus-2 (RAV-2), and a transformation-defective (td) mutant of PR-RSV-C (tdPR-RSV-C), and (ii) for focus assay and soft agar cloning of viruses and transformed cells have been described (19-23). Y73-associated virus (YAV) was isolated from a Y73 stock by the end point dilution method (24). RNA Analysis. The methods used for preparation of 32plabeled viral RNA and its analysis on 2% agarose gel have been described (19). [32P]cDNAsrc and [32P]cDNAcom, which were specific and complementary to src and total sequences in RSV, respectively, were prepared as described by Stehelin et al. (3), except that DNase-digested calf thymus DNA was used as a random primer to the endogenous reverse transcription reaction. [32P]cDNA-RNA hybridization was achieved by incubation at 410C in 50% (vol/vol) formamide solution containing 50mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 1 mM EDTA, and 0.6 M NaCl, and the hybridized fraction of cDNA was monitored by digestion with nuclease S1. Analysis of Viral Proteins. [35S]Methionineand [32P]orthophosphate-labeled cell extracts of infected cells were immunoprecipitated, and the resulting immunocomplexes were subjected to electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels (23) essentially as described by Brugge and Erikson (2). Antiserum from a tumor-bearing rabbit induced by SR-RSV (TBR-B4) was prepared by the procedure of Brugge and Erikson (2). Rabbit antiserum prepared against disrupted RAV-2 was provided by T. Koyama. Protein kinase activity was determined in immunoprecipitates by the procedure of Rubsamen et al. (25). Abbreviations: ASV, avian sarcoma virus; RSV, Rous sarcoma virus; RAV, Rous-associated virus; CEF, chicken embryo fibroblast; Y73NP, Y73-transformed non-virus-producing clones; YAV, Y73-associated virus; TBR, tumor-bearing rabbit; PR-RSV-C, Prague strain of RSV of subgroup C; SR-RSV-A, Schmidt-Ruppin strain of RSV of subgroup A; TBR-B4; antiserum from a TBR induced by SR-RSV; td, transformation-defective (mutant); kb, kilobase(s). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77 (1980) Analysis of Phosphorylated Proteins. The phohorylated proteins extracted from bands were hydrolyzed at 11O4C in 4 M HC1 for 4 hr in sealed glass tubes. The hydrolysates were lyophilized and the residues were dissolved in 5 ,pl of electrophoresis buffer, consisting of formic acid/acetic acid/H20, 25:87:887 (vol/vol), and subjected to electrophoresis on cellulose thin-layer plates with marker phospho amino acids [phosphotyrosine synthesized by the method of Rothberg et al. (26), phosphoserine, and phosphothreonine] at pH 1.9. Ascending chromatography in the second dimension was performed in isobutyric acid/0.5 M NH40H, 5:3 (vol/vol). The phospho amino acid markers and 32P-labeled compounds were detected as described (27).


The defects of present fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model based on interval value are pointed out. To improve these defects, a new calculation method of fuzzy membership degree is provided and a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model based on interval number distance is built. This model is applied to Lake Dongchang. And it can be indicated that the proposed model is reasonable and practical.


In this work we summarize the current knowledge on the spatial distribution, host specificity and genetic diversity of Onchobothrium antarcticum, an endemic Antarctic cestode. We recorded it in seven fish species, elasmobranchs Amblyraja georgiana, Bathyraja eatonii, and B. maccaini and teleosts Antimora rostrata, Chionobathyscus dewitti, Dissostichus mawsoni, and Muraenolepis marmorata, caught in the Ross Sea, the D'Urville Sea, the Mawson Sea, and the Weddell Sea. The infection of A. rostrata from the part of its distribution to the south of the Falkland Islands is reported for the first time. We obtained partial 28S rDNA and cox1 sequences of plerocercoids and adults of O. antarcticum and analyzed them together with a few previously published sequences. Based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis, we cannot rule out that O. antarcticum is in fact a complex of cryptic species.


Objective To study the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on the development of offsprings' hippocampus by building a murine model. Methods To research the effects of pregnatal cocaine exposue on spatial resolution of offsprings in the water maze test and observe the development of pyramidal cells and glial cells in hippocampus region by toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemistry. Results We found that prenatal cocaine exposure induced polarity disorder and dysplasia of pyramidal cells,the number of glial cells reduced in cocaine treated group. Water maze test showed that pregnatal cocaine exposure lead to extend the latency of finding platform. Conclusion Pregnatal cocaine exposure can result in abnormal development of hippocampus of offsprings and may play a important role on cocaine induced impairment of spatial resolution capacity.


Using the data of demographic transition on provincial level from 1949 to 2008,we try to draw a picture of time and space diffusion process of provincial demographic transition in China by cluster analysis.Then we find the cluster analysis of time series data indicates the fertility transition,mortality transition and the transition of natural increase are not at the same pace,and they have different transition modes.Besides,the cluster analysis of time point data demonstrates provincial demographic transition diffuses in space and has time lag,and the pace of provincial demographic transition converges more and more quickly.Meanwhile,we test the consistency of provincial demographic transition and provincial economic development,and we find that both the consistency and non-consistency exist in the different provinces,and the economic development isn' t the determined factor of provincial demographic transition.


A battery event information Setting controller causes a battery event information Setting Screen, receives battery event information made up of remaining battery capacity points and corresponding battery events, and Sets the battery event information in a Setting table. A remaining battery capacity monitor monitors a change in the remaining battery capacity and, when Sensing a change, Supplies the remaining battery capacity to an operation executing Section. The operation executing Section reads the battery event informa tion and causes a display controller or a Sound controller to execute the battery event indicated by the read-out battery event information, Starts a Specific application program, or causes the computer to carry out a specific operation.


Abstract: Acrylamide (AA) is neurotoxic to experimental animals and humans. Also, it has mutagenic and
carcinogenic effects. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of green tea extract on liver function test in male rats received different doses of acrylamide. Animals were assigned at random to six groups: group 1 served as control, while groups 2, 3 were received 7, 14 mg/100g B.W /day of acrylamide, respectively in drinking water for 15 and 30 days. Group 4 received green tea 1.5% concentration and groups 5, 6 received 7, 14 mg/100 g B.W /day of acrylamide in a combination with green tea for 15 and 30 days. Aspartate amintransferase (AST), and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Alkaline phosphates (ALP), significantly increase whereas cholinesterase activity declined significantly in rats received AA in both concentrations and time in comparison with the control. However, the values of cholinesterase activity decrease when rats received green tea alone or in combination with AA.


Internet of Things has increasingly significant effects in both business and daily life. However, there are more and more data need to be stored for Internet of Things and relational database has limitations in scalability, performance and usage scope. Thus, this thesis designs and implements a NoSQL database representing Not Only SQL for Internet of Things on top of SensibleThings platform, which is a distributed structure enabling devices to communicate with each other. The project provides load balance which improves the reliability and provides more services of database. Meanwhile, make a comparison in load balance between different methods during the implementation. Moreover, this thesis realizes not only operations including add, delete, update, exact search on NoSQL, but also designs two range query methods and makes a comparison between them. Furthermore, because of the lack of security in most of NoSQL databases, the author designs a security mechanism including access control for it. Finally, a proof-of-concept application based on a specific scenario is completed. All the designed operations have been implemented and security mechanism has also been provided successfully. From the results, load balance on Internet of Things is achieved, two range query methods have been compared in loads and response time respectively. Moreover, advantages and disadvantages of these two range query methods are concluded from the comparison.


In this work a precipitated water long-term data array is collected for the period since 2006 to 2019 over the Black Sea region. A comparative research of MODIS Terra / Aqua satellite data and ground AERONET network photometer measurements was carried out. The monthly average arrays were analyzed and the trends of PW parameter changes were revealed. Comparative analysis showed a deviation upwards of 0,40 cm from satellite measurements from AERONET measurements. This amount of discrepancy falls within the confidence interval of values and is the acceptable range of errors. PW data for AERONET stations have a high correlation with MODIS satellite data (95%).


Objective To study the clinical characteristics and treatment effect inpatients with eczema of our department in past decade.Methods The clinical data of in-patients with eczema in the recent ten years(1994~2004)were reviewed,the general information of patients,the location and manifestation of lesions,the treatment methods,duration and effect were analyzed respectively.Results There were 251 male and 112 female patients among 363 patients with eczema.Male outnumbered female(male:female,2.24∶1).The most of patients were older than 46 years old.The average age was 61.3±12.5 years old.The course of diseases was from 3 days to 40 years.The average duration was 57.56±111.30 months.The subtype included acute regional eczema(25 cases,6.89%),acute extensive eczema(31 cases,8.54%),sub-acute eczema(2 cases,0.55%),chronic regional eczema(70 cases,19.28%)and chronic extensive eczema(235 cases,64.74%).The cure rate,effective rate and ineffective rate were 23.42%,75.75% and 0.83% respectively.The average treatment time was 19.24±13.04 days.110 patients were administered with systemic corticosteriods(oral prednisone:0.5mg/kg·d).However,the effective rate of these patients was not better than that of patients who were not treated with systemic corticosteriods.The treatment time was no significant difference between both groups.Conclusions The most of patients are old people among in-patients with eczema.The dominating subtype is chronic extensive eczema.It can not improve the treatment effect and shorten the treatment time with systemic corticosteriods.


A sod comprising a root support matrix that itself comprises a mixture of soil and/or sand and shredded carpet pieces has a beneficial plant adjuvant disposed on the shredded fabric pieces, preferably in the form of shredded carpet pieces. The beneficial plant adjuvant is initially suspended in an aqueous solution of water and a degradable, slow-release, water-soluble liquid polymer that when dried forms a coating on the surface of the shredded carpet pieces.


A superconducting, 3.9 GHz, third harmonic accelerating cavity, developed at Fermilab, required a completely new main power coupler design to meet performance requirements, cost, and manufacturability. The RF design and optimization, multipactor problem analysis, and solid modeling were completed for non-adjustable version of the coupler. We have also begun a new power coupler design for the 325 MHz single, double and triple spoke cavities. The analysis of the couplers included magnetic and electrical coupling versions. In this paper, we discuss the status of the coupler development for 3.9 GHz and 325 MHz cavities . INTRODUCTION Fermilab is working on a few SC projects. One of them is 3rd harmonic 3.9 GHz accelerating cavity, developing for TTF/FEL facility to increase beam peak current [1-3]. Another project is Proton Driver (PD), designing to generate powerful 1GeV proton beam for neutrino physics [2]. The medium energy part of the PD linac will explore 325 MHz single, double and triple spoke SC cavities. Needed power level to feed SC cavities in both projects is from tens to hundreds of kW peak power. Since the chosen cavity frequencies are quite different from what is used in other SC projects (SNS, TESLA, etc.) none of existing power coupler can be easily adopted for projects.. COUPLER DESIGN FOR THIRD HARMONIC CAVITY Fig. 1. Coupler layout in cryostat The module with the four 3rd harmonic cavities is planning to install at DESY TTF/FEL facility. Since the available space is limited, the cryostat with cavities will be build as an extension of existing TTF cryostat. So, geometrical and assembly constrains for the coupler, as well as requirements are similar to the 1.3 GHz TTF coupler [5]. The required power level ~50 kW is defined by accelerating gradient 14 MV/m and beam loading. Layout of the final coupler in cryostat is shown on Fig.1. Coaxial part has 50Ω with a 30mm outer diameter to prevent excitation of the asymmetrical modes. All components of the coupler: cold and warm windows, bellow section, coax-to-waveguide transition, vacuum and diagnostic ports, were optimized by HFSS for low reflection (S11<0.05) at the operating frequency.


OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status quo and the variation tendency of the utilization of narcotic drugs and class Ⅰ psychotropic substances in our hospital for clinical reference of rational use drugs. METHODS: The utilization of narcotic drugs and class Ⅰ psychotropic substances in our hospital during 2010-2012 was analyzed statistically in respect of consumption quantity,consumption sum,DDDs and the defined daily cost( DDC) etc. RESULTS: Both the consumption sum and DDDs of the narcotic drugs and class I psychotropic substances in our hospital increased year by year,and the consumption quantity of pethidine hydrochloride injection,morphine sulfate sustained-release tablets,morphine injection and fentanyl citrate injection showed an upward trend. CONCLUSION: The utilization of narcotic drugs and class I psychotropic substances in our hospital was rational on the whole.


The fuzzy clustering method based on perturbation(FCMBP)is further studied in this paper. An example of fuzzy similar matrix is given,for which there exist two fuzzy equivalent matrixes with the same minimum distance from it.It is shown that the global optimal fuzzy equivalent matrix may not be unique.Properties of the feasible solution obtained by FCMBP algorithm are analyzed.Expressions are proposed to compute the number of solutions in each situation respectively.Thus our work improves the completeness of FCMBP algorithm's related theory.


A systematic approach was followed to develop a new counter-electrode consisting of a highly reflective polymer substrate and a highly conductive polymer for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. The reflection of the incident light from the substrate allows more solar light to be harvested by the dye. We compared the photovoltaic performance of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrodes based on the reflective and pristine polymer substrates. The optimal DSSC composed of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrode exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 6.15% when measured using an AM1.5G solar simulator at 100 mW cm−2 light illumination.


This article examines Reagan's strategy and tactics for delaying implementation of the social issues agenda. The author argues that despite criticisms from both the left and right Reagan does believe in the social issues agenda, has not modified or abandoned it, and will, in due time, continue to pursue it. The article focuses on the strategy Reagan is following, the exigencies this strategy has created, and the argumentative tactics employed to meet these exigencies. The essay concludes with a prediction of the possible outcomes to which Reagan's strategy is likely to lead.


This paper presents a unique solution for identification and verification of IoT devices. The solution is based on actual security threats in the IoT design. For this reason, the unique identification chip DS2401 is used and devices are monitored from the centralized system. The paper introduces this system for authentication and authorization of IoT devices. These functions use the unique identification number. The whole system, including the management of identities and the user server, is realized with Raspberry Pi devices.


Purpose: To test a commercial EPIDdosimetry system for the accuracy and usefulness for head&neck, whole‐pelvis, mesothelioma IMRT QA. Materials and Methods: Portal Vision (PV) dosimetry system was configured and experimentally used as intended by the manufacturer (Varian) for 6MV 2100Ex. Additional data analysis software was developed. Collimator angle=90deg and the smallest possible SDD=105cm and were selected to maximize the functional area of the EPID.EPID responses were calculated by Eclipse and compared to the experimentally determined responses in two ways: by comparing individual images and 3D‐response reconstructions for cumulative plans (home‐built software). To account for the PV arm sag during gantry rotation, and the need to shift the detector, raw PV images were automatically magnified and registered with calculated images. 3D‐response reconstructions for the measured and calculated images were performed by: backprojecting the images and applying attenuation and phantom scatter in a homogeneous virtual patient. Patient beam configuration and depths to isocenter were used. Results: PV dosimetry for large/complex targets is difficult and time‐consuming due to practical limitations (detector size, arm sag, manual shifting). Experimental response images show strong tongue&groove effects and elevated values outside of the field edges compared to Eclipse. Response discrepancies inside treatment fields cause (±2–3%) discrepancies in cumulative plan. Discrepancies outside of field edges cause systematic shift up to (5–7%) in cumulative plan, because fluences are split into 2–3 narrower subfields in the delivery. The observed discrepancies are consistent with but stronger than ion chamber measurements in solid water. The reason may be the small 1cm‐buildup and therefore larger PV sensitivity to MLC scatter and T&G. Conclusions: Neither MLC scatter nor T&G are modeled in Eclipse. Their contributions may be significant for large/complex IMRT due to the increased MLC blockage. PV dosimetry may capture these effects, but caution is indicated in interpretation.


For the last decade external migration flows from Ukraine increased from 5.4 million (2010) to 5.9 million (2019) while, according to author's calculations, Ukrainian migration to Africa has tripled during the same period. Due to the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the corresponding changes in priorities in the international political arena, the development of trade and diversification of foreign economic partners have become crucially important for Ukraine. Many empirical non-Ukrainian studies prove the positive impact of international migration on trade between the country of origin and the destination of migrants. In this situation the issue of involving Ukrainian migrants in establishing economic cooperation between Ukraine and country of Ukrainian migrants' residence, especially in the trade sphere, is very actual. According to the UN migration data, in the beginning of 2020 the number of Ukrainian migrants among all African countries was the highest in the Republic of South Africa, making 6.7 thousand people. Therefore, the aim of the article is to identify the possible impact of Ukrainian migration to South Africa on the growth of trade in goods from Ukraine to South Africa, as well as the factors that may cause it. The author of the article considers the dynamics of migration from Ukraine to South Africa, as well as the dynamics of exports of goods and services for the period 2000 – 2019 years. Analysis of data by approximation using CurveExpert software allow to trace the correlation between the dynamics of migration from Ukraine to South Africa and export growth: a quadratic relationship with a correlation coefficient R = 0.9345. The ratio of the share of exports of goods and services from Ukraine to South Africa of the 2000 – 2019 period is analyzed, and a conclusion is made about the significant dominance of goods in the overall structure of exports. The analysis of the commodity structure of exports of goods allows to explain the reason for the positive impact of migration on it: predominance of food products, which are in great demand among Ukrainian migrants in South Africa. An additional factor that may further stimulate the growth of trade from Ukraine to South Africa is the entrepreneurial activity of Ukrainian migrants in this country and their great interest in establishing and promotion of trade exchanges between their country of origin and the country of destination.


Australia is struggling with the everincreasing burden of chronic disease. Over $38 billion per year is spent on care for people with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.1 The majority of this funding is dedicated to acute care, and just 9.6% of health care investment supports disease prevention.1 Perversely, Australia's health system is rewarded for increasing acute care activity (activitybased funding) to manage disease, which perpetuates inefficient break– fix models of care.2 The strain on acute care service provision has been accelerated by the COVID19 pandemic3 and Australia's ageing population, and is forecast as unsustainable.2 Ageing increases total expenditure on hospitalisations, pathology provision, medical imaging, and cost to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.1 This burden of chronic disease — associated with disability and premature death — is becoming less and less sensitive to further extensions in health care spending on treatment. Prevention (as defined in the Supporting Information) is urgently needed; however, dedicated funding, policies and models of preventive care for chronic diseases in communities are minimal, especially for priority populations and high risk social and environmental settings.