acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases were reported by the surveillance system in Inner Mongolia in 2003 and distributed in 42 counties of 11 prefectures, it was 41.6% of total counties in Inner Mongolia. The reported incidence of non-polio AFP cases was 1.62/100 000 children under 15 y, the collection rate of adequate stool samples was 93%. The arriving rate of the follow-up visiting forms within 75 days after paralysis was 77%, all the other surveillance indicators were met the requirements of WHO and MOH, OPV routine immunization coverage was 99.4% in 2003. Two rounds of OPV supplement immunization were conducted in 85 counties in 2003-2004, the reported coverage of each round was above 95%. In order to sustain polio-free status, it is necessary to keep the sensitive AFP surveillance system, and keep high level and high quality routine and supplementary immunization activities.


Abstract : This study was to determine the extent of the influence of family background and learning motivation on student achievement, especially high school students on geography subjects. The method used was survey with correlation and regression analysis. Data on the variables of family background and motivation to learn is obtained through a questionnaire prepared by the researchers, (1) there is a significant effect of family background and motivation to learn together to achievement learn geography, this is evidenced by the Sig = 0.000 <0.05 and value of F = 40.789; (2) there is a significant effect of family background on the learning achievement of geography, this is evidenced by the Sig = 0.001 <0.05 and value t = 3.567; and (3). significant influence learning motivation towards learning achievement of geography, this is evidenced by the Sig = 0.000 <0.05 and value t = 3.952. Keywords: family background, learning motivation, academic achievement, Geography


The aims of this work were: 1) to estimate the number of follicles, ovarian volume and power Doppler vascular indices and their changes with age using three-dimensional (3D) transvaginal grey-scale and power Doppler ultrasound in asymptomatic women of fertile age either with natural menstrual cycles or using combined oral contraceptives, and 2) to determine whether tumour vascularity, assessed by 3D power Doppler ultrasound, can help discriminate between benign and malignant ovarian tumours. A group of 303 gynaecologically asymptomatic women, aged 20–39 years with normal menstrual cycles (NMC) and another group of 213 women aged 20–39 years using combined oral contraceptives (COC) were examined using two-dimensional (2D) and 3D transvaginal ultrasound once between cycle day 4 and 8. Ovarian volume and the number of antral follicles were found to decrease with age, while no unequivocal changes in vascular indices were seen in women with NMC. In women using COC the number of antral follicles also decreased with age. The ovarian volume and the number of follicles were determined for different age groups, and these results can be used as reference data. A group of women with ovarian tumours (n=106) was examined using 2D and 3D transvaginal ultrasound. Tumour vascularization was assessed using 3D power Doppler ultrasound in the whole tumour and in a 5-cm3 spherical sample in the most vascularized part of the tumour. A logistic regression model with only grey-scale ultrasound variables (size of the largest solid component, wall irregularity, mean diameter of the lesion) was created to predict malignancy. The flow index in the 5-cm3 sample and the branching of vessels in the whole tumour provided additional information to the grey-scale model, but the diagnostic performance was only slightly improved.


Knowledge Management (KM) plays an important role in organizations. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India have incorporated KM in a significant way in running their businesses. In the Indian manufacturing industries, there exist a few key barriers to implementing KM, particularly in the SMEs. This paper aims to find out these key barriers and develop a relationship amongst them. The data, collected through a questionnaire and direct one-to-one interviews with senior executives, was analyzed using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology, and a model was developed for establishing relationships among them. The results reveal that support from government and top management commitment help in the implementation of KM. The model is expected to solve the problems under consideration in many manufacturing industries. The paper finally concludes with a discussion and some suggestions for improving the KM practices in manufacturing SMEs in India.


Landslides in loose saturated granular materials can experience significant deviatoric strain softening leading to static liquefaction and flow failure. This research study aimed at understanding t...


Tecia solanivora is one of the most damaging pest of potato crops in Central and South America. Eight genetically modified (GM) potato lines with Bacillus thuringiensis cry1Ac gene (Bt potato lines) were characterized at molecular, immunological and biological level under biosafety confined, greenhouse and experimental field conditions. Additionally, preliminary assays regarding substantial equivalence were determined. Cry1Ac protein and gene were detected and quantified on leaf and tubers. DC 40.5, DC 40.7A, DC 40.7B, PP 28, PP 28.1 and PP 40.A, Bt potato lines were resistant to Tecia solanivora when they were exposed. Results obtained indicated that two GM potato lines are promising for further assessments and selection tests as well as future possible commercialization.


Magic is a "smart" layout system for integrated circuits. The user interface is based on a new design style called logs, which combines the efficiency of mask-level design with the flexibility of symbolic design. The system incorporates expertise about design rules and connectivity directly into the layout system in order to implement powerful new operations, including: a continuous design-rule checker that operates in background to maintain an up-to-date picture of violations; an operation called plowing that permits interactive stretching and compaction; and routing tools that can work under and around existing connections in the channels. Magic uses a new data structure called corner stitching to achieve an efficient implementation of these operations.


Objective:To detect the polymorphisms of ABCG2(ATP binding cassette,subfamily G,member 2)gene CDS(coding domain sequence)in Chinese Holstein,and then analysis the structure and characteristic change of ABCG2 protein by bioinformatics.Methods:The polymorphisms of ABCG2 gene CDS were identificated by PCR-SSCP in Chinese Hol-stein.The change of ABCG2 protein was predicted,then the structure and characteristics around mutation change of ABCG2 protein sequences were analyzed by bioinformatics software.Results:A single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)A /G in exon9 was capable of tyrosine367 to cysteine(Y367C)and another SNP G /A in exon14 was capable of arginine578 to glu-tarnine(R578Q)in the ABCG2 gene.The component and character of ABCG2 protein have changed,secondary structure increased a coil and a turn,and the same time decreased three sheets by bioinformatics analysis.Conclusion:The AGCG2 protein characteristic and second structure changed by arise of two SNPs,it's established a foundation for research the effect of ABCG2 protein to milk production traits.


In recent time nuclear power plants (NPP) have become a major contributor of world's energy production. However, NPP presents a great threat to world's atmosphere, so risk analysis is a major concern related to them. The use of finite element analysis (FEA) has increased for the study of real world structures of NPP. It predicts how an NPP structure will react to real time forces, heat, vibration, fluid flow, and other physical effects. FEA estimates whether NPP will operate effectively or it will break down. There is increasing trend of literature related to this field in the last decade, where FEA is done to determine the physical behavior of structures or constructional material properties. Risk and reliability analysis is done to ensure the safe operation of NPP, and this paper is attempts to bridge FEA with risk analysis by presenting a set of references.


Aiming at developing feasible rendering algorithms for natural scenes, this thesis focus on complex optical phenomena, i.e. generate realistic images of natural objects in outdoor environments. What we mean by "realistic" is that the interactively generated appearance of the natural objects should well catch their optical characteristics. This property makes the rendering algorithms optimum in a simulation point of view. To solve this problem, we propose several new algorithms from different angles. We first propose a framework that combines the traditional rendering system with spectra representation. With our framework, computing a scene with an object producing wave-based optics effects costs only a few additional seconds and is more efficient than previous methods for the same quality images. Then we introduce a system for modeling and visualization of flower color patterns. We build a connection between the user-controllable image synthesis and real botanical patterns. An additional application on the simulation of seasonal maples is also presented. For the natural phenomena whose physical complexities are out of current rendering capability, we employ sample images especially natural textures, and decorate the natural scenes with texture synthesis. In this part, we first present approaches for tile-based texture synthesis that are based on the optimization of tile set quality within Genetic Algorithm-based framework. Then we present an interactive tool for anisotropic 2D texture synthesis guided by feature maps, which preserves some global perceptual characteristics of the example.


To investigate changes in abdominal circumference (AC) and umbilical artery pulsatility index (UA‐PI) with gestation in fetuses with isolated gastroschisis, and to determine whether a relationship exists between UA‐PI and fetal AC.


Abstract This work is an extension of our previously developed photovoltaic (PV) model with ferroelectric PLZT as photoactive layer, metal Pt as top and bottom electrodes. Pt electrodes result in good ferroelectric properties but lower PV output, as seen from our model. We developed a new PLZT PV model with ITO as top electrode and Pt as bottom electrode using a semiconducting thin-film optics simulation (SETFOS) software. Dependence of PV characteristics such as open circuit voltage ( and short circuit current density ) and charge transport properties such as carriers' concentration, current density and recombination on the model parameters were investigated. The parameters including thickness of interface layer (between PLZT and ITO top electrode), thickness and work function of ITO top electrode were optimized, which were used to obtain and of the simulated model. and of the simulated and the experimental device matched closely. Charge carriers' concentration and current density of the PLZT layer with ITO and Pt as top electrodes were compared. These properties show that ITO top electrode enhances the charge transport in PLZT, which results in higher and of the PV device. Abbreviations. PV: Photovoltaic; FE: ferroelectric; PLZT: lanthanum doped lead zirconate titanate; SETFOS: semiconducting thin-film optics simulation software; ITO: Indium tin oxide; Pt: Platinum; Ec: conduction band; Ev: valence band, : short circuit current density, : open circuit voltage; PCE: power conversion efficiency, : recombination current; IL: interface layer; ITOet: ITO top electrode; Ptet: Pt top electrode, : total current, : electron current density, : hole current density, electron concentration, hole concentration


T h e X-ray appearances of Bochdalek congenital d iaphragmat ic hernia (BCDH) depends o n the extent of t h e anatornical defect, degree of herniat ion a n d the age of t h e newborn . Al though t h e diagnosis is s traightforward in rnajority of cases, t h e presentat ion of t h e disease may be versatile (Fig. 1-5) (1). In this paper t w o cases of B C D H in the newborns with s o m e "geometrical features" a r e reported. To the best of o u r knowledge little a t ten t ion w a s paid t o these characteristics previously.


The 2010 Test and Measurement Conference & Workshop, sponsored by National Laboratory Association (NLA) South Africa, will be held from 7 to 10 November 2010 at Champagne Sports Resort Central Drakensberg, South Africa. The theme for T&M 2010 is: "Measurements in Sport, Health & Safety Is there a connection?" The 2010 T&M Conference & Workshop will focus on the critical nature of measurements in the areas of health, sport, and safety. Papers and posters for the conference were solicited in the following three subject categories: (1) Measurement Traceability: New Laboratory Standards; Uncertainty of Measurement; Method Validation; and Reference Materials. (2) Laboratory Quality Systems: Implementation of ISO/ IEC 17025; Accreditation; Maintaining Confidence in Measurement Results; Calibration Intervals; and Proficiency Testing. (3) Laboratory Staff: Recruiting and Retraining; Training; and Evaluating Competence. Several practical tutorials are planned during the conference, which will enable laboratory management & personnel to also take the opportunity of improving their skills and knowledge. In addition, the conference will provide the opportunity for suppliers to exhibit their products or services of interest to the measurement community.


Tracking object from video sequences has become a very popular problem in the field of computer vision. Many algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem. Combined with the energy of curvelet coefficients and Kalman filter method, a new object tracking algorithm is proposed based on fast discrete curvelet transform. Firstly, this algorithm is initialized with the establishment of a moving object template and a number of undetermined objects are got with the search strategy. Then, feature vectors are constructed by energy of curvelet coefficients. Finally, the moving object is tracked in next frames using similarity function to match the feature vectors. Experimental results demonstrate the tracking accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm under occlusions.


In this article, we will analyze the way of constitutional justice in México, observing the institutional design of Mexican Supreme Court as constitutional court, as well as his paper in human rights protection and the profile of constitutional judge, underlining the role of Circuit Plenaries in this topic.


The engineering licensing law established 100 years ago in USA, which aims at protecting the public security and welfare, combining with the currently hot mutual recognition qualification of engineers for their cross-country mobility are built upon the base of Engineer Quality Regulation. After 100 yearspsila development, in the field of Engineer Quality Regulation, there is the triad of credentialing processes: Accreditation, Certification, and Licensure/Regulation. The article explains and compares those core special words; points out the concept confusion now in the world in this field; describes the principle of quality assurance reflected in this triad system. The paper focuses on USA model of this triad of credentialing processes, how and why it came to today, its future trend; simply compares USA model with the models of Canada and UK; analyzes the reason why the three countries have different models of Engineer Quality Regulation. Chinapsilas model is on the process of forming, there are some problems and confusions needed to study and learn from the international experience.


Summary These data indicate that pancreatic cholesterol esterase catalyzes both synthesis and hydrolysis of cholesteryl oleate at a single pH, but the reaction which predominates in presence of both substrates is governed by the electrolyte concentration. Rate of synthesis of 4C14-cholesteryl oleate is decreased in proportion to relative concentration of β-sitosterol. The authors acknowledge with gratitude the continued interest of Drs. R. E. Shipley and C. W. Pettinga.


This research was aimed at identifying the influence of production factors on cement industry output in Indonesia in the period of 1985-2009. The factors identified included energy, fixed capital, labor and raw and auxiliary materials. This research used the secondary data published in reports of Central Bureau for Statistics dealing with 36310 ISIC code in the period of 1985-1997, and 26411 ISIC code in the period of 1998-2009. The research results show that all variables had a positive influence on the cement output in the period of 1985-2009, except one variable called the fixed capital. The energy, fixed capital, labor, raw and auxiliary materials simultaneously had a significant influence on the output. The R2 obtained was 0,883. It means that all variables play a role in influencing the output as much as 88,3% and the rest of 11,7% could be explained by other factors. The elasticity of energy (0,368 1 meaning the labor could be encouraged to produce the output more, ceteris paribus. Return to the scale of the cement industry in the period of 1985-2009 was 2,199. This means that there was an increase of one percent for each production factor together will increase production by 2,199 percent. The efficiency of the cement industry in the period of 1985-2000 was less than one meaning that the industry did not make use of its input efficiently. In the period 2001-2009, the efficiency of the industry was more than one meaning that the industry made use of the input efficiently.


A computer program PFRUBY has long been used in the Photon Factory, which determines the pressure from ruby fluorescence. The details of the program is described in this article, including the algorithm for fitting the peak top of the R1 line, the way how to find the initial values of the fitting parameters, and the accuracy of the fitting under different nonhydrostatic conditions.


: For the last two decades, physicians and clinical experts have used a single imaging modality to identify the normal and abnormal structure of the human body. However, most of the time, medical experts are unable to accurately analyze and examine the information from a single imaging modality due to the limited information. To overcome this problem, a multimodal approach is adopted to increase the qualitativeand quantitativemedical information which helps the doctors to easily diagnose diseases in their early stages. In the proposed method, a Multi-resolution Rigid Registration (MRR) technique is used for multimodal image registration while Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) along with Principal Component Averaging (PCAv) is utilized for image fusion. The proposed MRR method provides more accurate results as compared with Single Rigid Registration (SRR), while the proposed DWT-PCAv fusion process adds-on more constructive information with less computational time. The proposed method is tested on CT and MRI brain imaging modalities of the HARVARD dataset. The fusion results of the proposed method are compared with the existing fusion techniques. The quality assessment metrics such as Mutual Information (MI), Normalize Cross-correlation (NCC) and Feature Mutual Information (FMI) are computed for statistical comparison of the proposed method. The proposed methodology provides more accurate results, better image quality and valuable information for medical diagnoses.


Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: IntroductionStress can be considered as feeling when a person believes that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize and it affects its homeostasis. Stress on a rise in covid-19 pandemic due to socioeconomic conditions, loss of family members, uncertainty, decreased human interaction, etc [1]. People are increasingly spending more time at home because the educational institutes have turned towards online modes of teaching and many employees have been made to work from home. Comfort foods can be defined as food to which a person has emotional and nostalgic attachment and have a component of unhealthiness, tastiness and are easy to prepare. It is not necessary that all these characteristics are found in all comfort foods but one of these is usually present.[3]


BACKGROUND
(-)-Epicatechin (EC) induces oxidative DNA damage in HL-60 cells. The association between genotoxic and apoptotic/necrotic effects of EC was studied in rats with acute myeloid leukaemia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Healthy and leukaemic rats were given EC by oral gavage at a dose of 40 mg/kg body weight for 22 consecutive days. Bone marrow cells were subjected to analysis of DNA damage by the comet assay and apoptosis by flow cytometry.

RESULTS
EC significantly increased DNA strand breaks in bone marrow cells of leukaemic animals but it did not exert such an effect on healthy rats. EC action led to necrosis of leukaemia cells but it did not induce apoptosis of these cells in comparison to the controls.

CONCLUSION
EC has genotoxic and necrotic effects which may have utility in anticancer therapy against acute myeloid leukaemia.


A field experiment was conducted at the college of Agriculture, University of Diyala to calculated fuel consumption and some mechanical parameters to New Holland TT75 front wheel assist tractor. With disc plow triple body, in clay loam soil. A Split – Plot design under randomize complete block design (RCBD) was used. Two levels of tillage depth included 15 and 25 cm represented the main plot. Three front travel speed levels included 2.56, 3.82 and 5.71 Km/hr represented the sub plot with three replications. The L.S.D test under 0.05 levels was used to compare the treatment means. Slippage percentage %, soil volume distribution m3/h, effect field capacity donum/h, and fuel consumption liter/hectare were studied. The results showed that the depth 15 cm is superior in different effect to the depth 25 cm on all study parameters except Soil volume distribution m3/h. And also the results showed that the speed 5.71 km/h is superior in different effect to the other speed on all study parameter except Slippage percentage %.Mean while the interaction between the first depth 15 cm with the third speed 5.71 km/h are superior in different effect to the all treatment recorded the highest value of the Effect Field Capacity1.119 donum/h by the less value of the Fuel Consumption 16.90 liter/hectare. Key word: Fuel Consumption, Plowing Depth and Speed, Tractor Field Performance Parameters .


The present study intends to study the biofilm forming indwellers of dental braces. Following standard pure culture techniques, twenty-eight strains were isolated and purified. Mostly the isolated colonies were Gram positive cocci and gram negative rod shaped bacteria. In mannitol salt agar (MSA) the golden yellow colour colonies were observed. The six isolates with yellow colour colonies confirms Staphylococcus aureus. Six isolates produced green colour colonies on Cetrimide agar confirmed as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. On blood agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood, nine isolates showed ß -hemolysis, three isolates showed a-hemolysis and other isolates showed no hemolysis. All isolates tested were non lactose fermentors. Then the isolates were screened for the biofilm formation and were confirmed by Congo red agar method. Some of the isolates showed black colonies with a dry crystalline consistency which indicated positive for biofilm formation. The biofilm formation was also evaluated qualitatively by tube assay. Totally four isolates produced strong biofilms, six isolates produced moderate biofilm, seven isolates formed weak biofilms. Four isolates with strong biofilm formation chosen for further work. In antibiotic sensitivity test to observe the zone formation. Antibiotic resistance of biofilm forming bacteria was tested. The ethanol extracts of turmeric were separated by thin layer chromatography. Curcumin found as more effective compound when compared to the demethoxy curcumin and bis demethoxy curcumin against biofilm forming bacteria. Similarly, dry ginger extracts were also effective against biofilm forming bacteria. Ginger had more effective inhibition of biofilm formation than turmeric fractions.


Paper industry is one of the six major pollution industries in the world.The process of pulp and paper bleaching operation successively uses chlorine,hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide as bleaching agent to undergo degradation of lignin,and the drainage contains a large number of organic chloride which is of high toxic.In addition,there are high concentrations of sulfide in the wastewater when using sulfate method and sulfite pulping process.This kind wastewater treatment will release H2S by anaerobic biological method because of the sulphatereducers existed.


In the last decade, the massive undersea earthquake and Tsunami occurred in Taiwan on Tuesday December 26, 2006 and Japan on Friday March 11, 2011. Those natural disasters had affected the telecommunication in the worldwide. They disrupted the infrastructures including not only Internet services but also business and financial transactions. Thus, keeping the system and functions alive are particularly crucial to many organizations relying on them. Migration is one of the solutions to keep the systems alive. This paper introduces a migration technique to migrate network systems from origin sites to other remote sites. We propose a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach to solve shortest path problems for selecting the best possible remote site prior to initiate a migration. Network virtualization in OpenFlow technology is particularly valuable in the implementation to relocate the systems by using network segmentation technique.


A thirteen-year analysis of Plasmodium falciparum populations reveals high conservation of the mutant pfcrt haplotype despite the withdrawal of chloroquine from national treatment guidelines in Gabon. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: A thirteen-year analysis of Plasmodium falciparum populations reveals high conservation of the mutant pfcrt haplotype despite the withdrawal of chloroquine from national treatment guidelines in Gabon Abstract Background: Chloroquine resistance (CR) decreased after the removal of chloroquine from national treatment guidelines in Malawi, Kenia and Tanzania. In this investigation the prevalence of the chloroquine resistance (CQR) conferring mutant pfcrt allele and its associated chromosomal haplotype were determined before and after the change in Gabonese national treatment guidelines from chloroquine (CQ) to artesunate plus amodiaquine (AQ) in 2003. Methods: The prevalence of the wild type pfcrt allele was assessed in 144 isolates from the years 2005-07 by PCR fragment restriction digest and direct sequencing. For haplotype analysis of the chromosomal regions flanking the pfcrt locus, microsatellite analysis was done on a total of 145 isolates obtained in 1995/96 (43 isolates), 2002 (47 isolates) and 2005-07 (55 isolates).


Entrepreneurial opportunity often has origins in demographic shifts, such as those caused by immigration, but disadvantage theory suggests that for cultural reasons, incongruence often exists between immigrants' economic aspirations, and the opportunities available in host countries. Thus, in the context of entrepreneurship, this paper investigates the acculturation strategies of immigrant entrepreneurs in their host countries and how these may manifest in entrepreneurial action. Berry's (1997) five acculturation strategies of integration, assimilation, separation/segregation, and marginalisation are considered. The paper also considers the influence of disadvantage theory and cross-vergence theory (Ralston et al., 1993a, 1993b) in strengthening and weakening the relationship between acculturation strategy and the foci of entrepreneurial ventures. Investigating the interaction between home and host country cultures, as manifest in entrepreneurial action, should provide a deeper understanding of immigrant populations' entrepreneurial experience. Implications for future research, policy, and practise are advanced and discussed.


The word problem for Thompson's group $F$ has a solution, but it remains unknown whether $F$ is automatic or has a finite or regular convergent (terminating and confluent) rewriting system. We show that the group $F$ admits a natural extension of these two properties, namely autostackability, and we give an explicit bounded regular convergent prefix-rewriting system for $F$.


Silica (Si) is of great concern to agronomists because it has a beneficial effect on plant resistance to various stresses, enabling yield optimization in economically important crop species. Yet biogenic silica (BSi) cycling in soils controls a large part of the Si export fluxes to rivers and oceans. Despite the importance of agricultural-harvest-related Si removal, previous studies have not addressed this topic thoroughly. By performing a detailed quantification of agricultural Si export in Western Europe's Scheldt River basin, we show that harvest not only disrupts BSi cycling but also introduces an agricultural Si pathway, with major export Si fluxes as compared with BSi production in climax forest communities and grasslands. Harvesting substantially changes terrestrial Si cycling because reconstitution of BSi to soils in litter fall is prevented. The agricultural Si loop clearly constitutes an important flow of BSi out of terrestrial ecosystems – one that is currently unrecognized in global biogeochem...


Chemical shifts of secondary references for D2O and (CD3)2SO solutions were measured as a function of temperature. The 1H and 13C chemical shifts of dioxane, sodium 4,4‐dimethyl‐4‐silapentanesulphonate, HOD, tetramethylammonium chloride and sodium 3‐(trimethylsilyl)propionate‐d4 in D2O solution were measured relative to external TMS and the chemical shifts of (CD3)2SO and H2O were measured in (CD3)2SO solution relative to internal TMS. For accurate comparison of chemical shifts it is necessary to take into account the sample temperature and, therefore, the temperature dependences of 1H and 13C chemical shifts of a number of secondary references have been determined accurately and fitted to a parabola or straight line, as appropriate.


We studied the suspended front axles used in farm tractors,discussed the front axle's present situation,enumerated several kinds of suspended mechanisms.The machinery,hydraulic pressure,electrical work principle of a suspended front axle were emphatically introduced.


Because of biomedicine development sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT)is a promising transgenic approach.The transgenic technology is a simple,efficient,inexpensive and safe method in contrast with others.We investigate the molecular model of sperm cells binding and internalizating foreign DNA , introduce their novel improvements and point out the problems and controversy in ethics.And we hope to facilitate the implement of technique in biotechnology.


Musical diachrony and synchrony have revealed an incredible variation in musical scales, many of which are implied, lurking in traditional patterns and not adequately transcribed in their projection to the dominant Western music predicates. From antiquity the term "chromatic" was used to determine the coordinates of diversification in terms of psychoacoustic perception of music, and it yielded relatively recently the chromatic scale as a fine-tuning aberration of Western music to acoustic polymorphism. In a globalized environment of musical distribution the proposed chromatic index serves as a classification norm for musical genus alternation.


Elderly drivers are increasing every year in Japan. However, physical depression caused by aging is also a cause of traffic accidents and they will all have to give up driving one day. The aim of this study is to clarify the effects of car dependency and the impact of having to stop driving among the elderly. And to propose alternative transportation options for elderly after having surrendered their driver's licenses. The authors carried out a questionnaire survey and a focus group interview. During this study, the authors sent 1338 questionnaires to people over 60 years old in regional cities that included areas with convenient access and inconvenient access to public transit. From their survey, the authors found that, over half of the elderly drive every day, the older people lower drive frequency. License holder of elderly with feelings of decreased motor skills awareness a decrease in driving ability. Moreover it is clarified that issue of alternative mobility are "mobility devices to maintain social and personal relationships" and "mobility devices as an extension of walking" and "use the existing public transport environment".


The elementary optical excitations of a two-dimensional electron system strongly coupled to a microcavity are trion-polaritons. Using a variational approach, we demonstrate that the competition between Coulomb interaction and light-matter coupling plays a crucial role in determining the lowest-energy orbital and spin properties of trion-polaritons. When the light-matter interaction exceeds the bare trion binding, singlet and triplet trion states are mixed due to a cavity-mediated spin-orbit effect, which in turn results in a strong increase of the outer electron Bohr radius. In this strong cavity coupling regime, the trion-polariton consists of an exciton-polariton surrounded by a weakly bound electron and is reminiscent of a coherent Rydberg excitation.


Zero padded single carrier spatial modulation system is an effective method of data transmission. This system achieves full multipath diversity and imposes a relatively low maximum likelihood detection complexity. However the main drawback of this system is that it suffers from high Peak-to-Average problem. In this paper, we propose an effective reduction scheme that combines Discrete Cosine transform and Selective mapping technique along with zero padding. The scheme is composed of the Discrete Cosine transform followed by the Selective mapping using the Riemann matrix to obtain phase sequences for the Selective mapping technique. The simulation results shows that the PAPR can be greatly reduced by applying the proposed system with low complexities computation and the bit error rate performance is significantly better than the zero padded spatial modulation technique. This approach also avoids randomness in phase sequence selection to provide easier decoding at the receiver. Also the matrices can be generated at the receiver end to obtain the data signal and hence it is not required to transmit side information.


Abstract In this study, we first determined and described the complete mitochondrial genome of Styracaster yapensis, a member of the family Porcellanasteridae. The complete mitogenome of S. yapensis is 16360 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and one control region. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. yapensis was closely related to two other Paxillosida species.


Precise measurements of the plasma density in ionized gas cells and discharged capillaries are critical to the design and operation of plasma-based accelerators, active plasma lenses, and plasma-based radiation sources. In this manuscript, a spectral-domain common-path second-harmonic interferometer is upgraded with the simultaneous measurement of the group and phase velocity, allowing for high-sensitivity density characterization (from the phase velocity advance) without the need for phase tracking from zero-density (enabled by the group velocity delay). The technique is applied to 1.5-cm-long plasma structures, without density ambiguity in parameter scans with >2π phase jumps. The single-shot sensitivity in phase retrieval is demonstrated at 63 mrad, equivalent to a density-length product of 1.8·1015 cm−2. This is an improvement of ×45 compared to group velocity analysis alone.Precise measurements of the plasma density in ionized gas cells and discharged capillaries are critical to the design and operation of plasma-based accelerators, active plasma lenses, and plasma-based radiation sources. In this manuscript, a spectral-domain common-path second-harmonic interferometer is upgraded with the simultaneous measurement of the group and phase velocity, allowing for high-sensitivity density characterization (from the phase velocity advance) without the need for phase tracking from zero-density (enabled by the group velocity delay). The technique is applied to 1.5-cm-long plasma structures, without density ambiguity in parameter scans with >2π phase jumps. The single-shot sensitivity in phase retrieval is demonstrated at 63 mrad, equivalent to a density-length product of 1.8·1015 cm−2. This is an improvement of ×45 compared to group velocity analysis alone.


Valeriy Kazantsev CAE, Synopsys Abstract Computer vision is a discipline that was established in the 1960s. With the advent of high-performance mobile computing platforms, we see rapid progress in computer vision capabilities. Machine vision is becoming embedded in highly integrated SoCs and expanding into emerging high-volume consumer applications such as home surveillance, games, and automotive safety. A major challenge in enabling mass adoption of embedded vision applications is providing the processing capability at a power and cost point low enough for mobile consumer applications, while maintaining sufficient flexibility to cater to rapidly evolving markets.


Introduction:Upadacitinib is a new oral janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor that has been approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis. JAK inhibitors carry a black box warning for their association with severe infections especially when used in combination with other immunosuppressants. Although there is a strong association, there are very few reports of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) caused by upadacitinib. We describe a case of PJP due to upadacitinib use in rheumatoid arthritis. Case presentation: A 44-year-old woman with a history of rheumatoid arthritis presented with 2 weeks of dyspnea, dry cough and fever after recently starting upadacitinib. She was noted to be tachypneic, tachycardic and hypoxemic on admission. Initial laboratory tests were within normal limits and lactate dehydrogenase was 304. Respiratory viral panel and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were negative. Computerized tomography of the chest revealed diffuse multi-focal ground glass and consolidative opacities. The patient's respiratory status rapidly deteriorated, requiring admission to medical intensive care unit where she was initiated on invasive mechanical ventilation. A 1,3-beta-D-glucan serology test was positive and PJP polymerase chain reaction in bronchoalveolar lavage was positive. She was started on intravenous trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 400mg three times a day and intravenous methylprednisolone 500mg twice a day for three days. Her oxygen requirements rapidly improved and she was extubated on day 4 of admission. The patient was discharged without a supplemental oxygen requirement to complete a course of oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and prednisone. Discussion:JAK inhibitors are increasingly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Other less selective JAK inhibitors such as tofacitinib and baricitinib have been associated with PJP in rheumatoid arthritis. Upadacitinib is a selective JAK1 inhibitor which is thought to give it an improved side effect profile compared to other less selective JAK inhibitors. This represents one of the first cases of PJP associated with the use of upadacitinib, a selective JAK1 inhibitor. PJP should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients treated with upadacitinib who present with fever, hypoxemia and pulmonary infiltrates. Awareness of this disease and its manifestations are critical to appropriate diagnostic evaluation and timely treatment.


Earthquakes continue to expose deficiencies in today's infrastructure and call for engineers to continue to explore new ways to create resilient structures. A disaster, whose implication could result in significant life loss and damages up to the tunes of billions of dollars. An active disaster management scheme for any seismic hazards can involve use of smart composite materials instead of traditional steel reinforcement to dissipate energy and earthquake motion. The use of superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers with their nonlinear-elastic behavior as reinforcement in the hybrid composite material could potentially provide replacement to steel reinforcement which is prone to yielding and corrosion. Small diameter SMA wires and glass fibers are coupled with polymer matrix to manufacture hybrid SMA-GFRP composite which are sought in this research as reinforcing bars to enhance the dynamic response and seismic performance of typical reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frame (MRF). Manufactured coupon specimens are tested to achieve constitutive behavior which is used to calibrate numerical material models. These verified material models are subsequently extended to structural models of MRF reinforced with hybrid SMA-GFRP composite and steel to perform the inelastic sequential seismic analyses. Results from use of SMA-GFRP composite bars show disaster mitigation through reduction in residual inter-storey drifts of reinforced concrete frame while maintaining elastic characteristics.


The Language of Religion The disciplines of theology and philosophy have invested considerable time into the exploration of the language of religion. Of principal interest has been the epistemological status of propositions representing the transcendental 'reality' of God. This concern can be seen in the work of the Greek philosophers, Augustine, Aquinas and Wittgenstein as well as in logical positivism, hermeneutics and narrative theology. Scholars have also investigated the supposedly distinct role within religious language of reference, and metaphor, and have examined aspects of the language and generic structure of sermons.


As renewable energy penetration rates continue to increase in power systems worldwide, new challenges arise for system operators in both regulated and deregulated electricity markets to solve the security constrained unit commitment problem with intermittent generation (due to renewables) and uncertain load, in order to ensure system reliability and maintain cost effectiveness. In this paper, we study a security constrained multi-stage stochastic unit commitment (MSUC) model, which we use to enhance the reliability unit commitment process for day-ahead and look-ahead power system operations. In our approach, we first develop a scenario tree-based deterministic equivalent formulation for the problem, which leads to a large-scale mixed-integer linear program (MILP). By exploring substructures of the MSUC formulation, we develop several families of strong valid inequalities. In particular, we obtain (i) a convex hull representation of the minimum up/down time polytope under the stochastic scenario tree setting, (ii) strong valid inequalities to strengthen the ramping constraints by exploring the sequence independent lifting procedure, and (iii) strong valid inequalities for the general economic dispatch polytope by exploring sequence independent and subadditive approximation properties. Finally, a branchand-cut algorithm is developed to employ these valid inequalities as cutting planes to solve the MSUC problem. Our computational results verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The hydrolyzed soy protein isolate (HSPI) was used to partially substitute urea to synthesis modified urea–formaldehyde (UF) adhesives via copolymerization process, in order to reduce the dependency on petroleum-based chemicals and mitigate possible environmental pollution. The soy protein isolate (SPI), HSPI, and modified UF adhesives were characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The bonding strength, adhesive properties, biodegradability, and micrographs of the UF and HSPI-modified UF after degradation were also measured. The results show that the SPI native structure is unfolded during the treatment with sodium hydroxide. The thermal stability of HSPI is better than SPI. HSPI can incorporate into the structure of cured UF adhesives with three different feeding methods. And the best bonding strength of modified UF adhesives is 1.31 MPa when HSPI is added at the first step. The formaldehyde emission of modified UF adhesives is lower compared with UF. The earlier the HSPI is added, the better the properties for modified UF adhesives can be obtained. The degradation rate of modified UF adhesives improved nearly two times compared to the UF after six months of degradation in biologically active soil. There are microorganisms adhering to the surface of modified UF from the SEM micrographs.


Objectives: Stress hyperglycemia occurs in critically ill patients and may be a risk factor for subsequent diabetes. The aims of this study were to determine incident diabetes and prevalent prediabetes in survivors of critical illness experiencing stress hyperglycemia and to explore underlying mechanisms. Design: This was a prospective, single center, cohort study. At admission to ICU, hemoglobin A1c was measured in eligible patients. Participants returned at 3 and 12 months after ICU admission and underwent hemoglobin A1c testing and an oral glucose tolerance test. Blood was also collected for hormone concentrations, whereas gastric emptying was measured via an isotope breath test. &bgr;-cell function was modeled using standard techniques. Setting: Tertiary-referral, mixed medical-surgical ICU. Patients: Consecutively admitted patients who developed stress hyperglycemia and survived to hospital discharge were eligible. Measurements and Main Results: Consent was obtained from 40 patients (mean age, 58 yr [SD, 10], hemoglobin A1c 36.8 mmol/mol [4.9 mmol/mol]) with 35 attending the 3-month and 26 the 12-month visits. At 3 months, 13 (37%) had diabetes and 15 (43%) had prediabetes. At 12 months, seven (27%) participants had diabetes, whereas 11 (42%) had prediabetes. Mean hemoglobin A1c increased from baseline during the study: +0.7 mmol/mol (–1.2 to 2.5 mmol/mol) at 3 months and +3.3 mmol/mol (0.98–5.59 mmol/mol) at 12 months (p = 0.02). Gastric emptying was not significantly different across groups at either 3 or 12 months. Conclusions: Diabetes and prediabetes occur frequently in survivors of ICU experiencing stress hyperglycemia. Based on the occurrence rate observed in this cohort, structured screening and intervention programs appear warranted.


Lewis, Pauline Maier, Henry F. May, Perry Miller, Kenneth Silverman, and Peter N. Stearns all have important things to tell us about the interior life of Revolutionary America. Perhaps, then, we knew more about the "innerlife" of American Revolutionaries than Demos let on. We may not yet have a "full-scale, frontal treatment of innerlife experience" of American Revolutionaries, but these books by Good, Glover, and Knott move us toward the possibility of envisioning what one might look like and may improve the ones we get in the meantime.


Estimation theory has been developed over centuries. There are several approaches to utilizing this theory; in this chapter, these approaches are classified into three types. Type I includes the oldest two methods, the least squares (LS) and moment methods; both of these methods are non-optimal estimators. The least squares method was introduced by Carl Friedrich Gauss. Least squares problems fall into linear and non-linear categories. The linear least squares problem is also known as regression analysis in statistics, which have a closed form solution. An important feature of the least squares method is that no probabilistic assumptions of the data are made. Therefore, the linear least squares approach is used for parameter estimation, especially for low complexity design (Lin, 2008; 2009). The design goal of the least squares estimator is to find a linear function of observations whose expectation is a linear function of the unknown parameter with minimum variance. In addition, the least squares method corresponds to the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion if the experimental errors are normally distributed and can also be derived from the moment estimation. As an alternative to the LS method, the moment method is another simple parameter estimation method with probabilistic assumptions of the data. The general moment method was introduced by K. Pearson. The main procedure in the moment method involves equating the unknown parameter to a moment of distribution, then replacing the moment with a sample moment to obtain the moment estimator. Although the moment estimator has no optimal properties, the accuracy can be validated through lengthy data measurements. This is mainly because the estimator based on moment can be maintained to be consistent. Type II includes the methods of minimum variance unbiased estimator (MVUE) and the Bayesian approach, which are both optimal in terms of possible minimum estimation error, i.e., statistical efficiency. MVUE is the best guess of an unknown parameter. The standard MVUE procedure includes two steps. In the first step, the CramerRao lower bound is determined, and the ability of some estimator to approach the bound. In the second step, the Rao-Blackwell-Lehmann-Scheffe (RBLS) theorem is applied. The MVUE can be produced by these two steps. Moreover, a linear MVUE might be found under more restricted conditions. In the Bayesian method, the Bayesian philosophy begins with the cost function, and the expected cost with respect to the parameter is the risk. The design goal of Bayesian philosophy is to find an estimator that minimizes the average risk (Bayes risk). The most


THE following articles by Robert L. Stearns, President of the University of Colorado, and Ward Darley, M.D., Dean of the University of Colorado Medical Center, describe the thinking which spurs members of the faculty of the University of Colorado Schools of Medicine and Nursing to participate daily in community activities. Dr. Fred A. Humphrey, President of the Colorado State Medical Society, health offićer and general practitioner in Ft. Collins, Cob., long interested in problems of rural medical care, presents the views of a practicing physician on community responsibilities.
 As indicated by Dr. Darley, every modern medical center contributes to the community by training of personnel, by research, by setting standards of medical care. Dr. Harper's invitation for these articles, however, stems from his knowledge of the conscious attempt being made by this school to discharge its obligations. From the moment one joins the faculty one becomes aware of responsibilities which are partly those of any medical school, partly those of any state university. The state university, said President Stearns at a convocation of medical students and faculty, is only incidentally interested in improving the earning power of its students by providing good technical education; its primary aim is to educate for good citizenship and service to the community.
 Interesting results stem from acceptance of this philosophy. A group of faculty members, thinking not only of their own departments or segments of their departments, but of the whole school and the whole community, are willing to reorganize drastically the curriculum.


Micrometer-sized spherical particles of bismuth tungstate (Bi2WO6) with hierarchical architecture were prepared by facile hydrothermal reaction without using any surfactants and polymers as structu...


AbstractThe influence of thin films of martensite at the ferrite grain boundaries on the impact behaviour and strength of a high manganese–niobium containing steel has been examined. Normalising followed by intercritical annealing, at 730°C for various times from 0 to 900 min, and quenching introduced these martensite films. The percentage of martensite increased with increased holding time at 730°C from 15 to 33 vol.-%. The introduction of martensite removed the yield point but the yield strength was little affected, increasing only slightly with an increase in martensite volume fraction. In contrast, the impact behaviour markedly deteriorated when martensite was present, but when the amount of martensite further increased above 15 vol.-% it only had a small detrimental influence. The changes in impact behaviour could be explained by regarding the thin films of martensite as being similar to the brittle grain boundary carbides present in ferrite–pearlite steels. These martensite films readily crack yet a...


In the past few years many synchrotron light sources have been developed. They provide high brilliance sources in the V.U.V. (lambdaapprox. =100 about 1000 A) and X-rays (lambda more » cavity losses). An appreciable production of coherent light is expected in the XUV spectral range when focusing on the beam an external tunable powerfull laser working in the near UV and visible ranges. Such a laser is well within present technology.« less


According to the spot investigation and the experimental analysis of fish cage-farming in the confluence of Badong Guandu,results demonstrated that the water quality of cage-farming area was inferior to the control cross section,and control cross section was inferior to the background and cross section.The water quality of different sampling stations on the same cross section was immovable basically.However,the water quality of controls in cross section was gradually improved as far from cage-farming area.According to the principal components analytic method,the influences of different fish cage-farming area on the water quality are as follows:the sturgeon cultivation areaAmerican paddlefish cultivation areathe yellow catfish cultivation areathe carp and the grass carp cultivation area.The correlation analysis of various water qualities parameters indicated that diversities and abundance of algae in Badong Guandu had high relativities to the total phosphorus and the ammonia nitrogen respectively;the parameters of ammonia nitrogen,total nitrogen,total phosphorus and permanganate index obvious related one to another,which indicated that the source of pollution had high homology and the water pollution was mainly ascribed to the fish cage-farming.In this paper,exceeded background concentration of 5% was used as the standard for background pollution zone,the exceeded background pollution area of ammonia nitrogen and permanganate index was about 10 times and 5 times than fish cage-farming area respectively.


The use of distributed and parallel computer systems is growing rapidly, requiring an appropriate system to support its work processes. One technology that supports distributed computer systems is cloud computing. This system can generate the need to maximize the use of existing computing resources, one of which is in the form of cloud-based storage. The computer laboratory of Informatics Department of Petra Christian University has very large resources, but they have not been optimized in the utilization of existing storage devices. This condition gives the idea to utilize computers in the laboratory with cloud, so the storage can be used well. This implementation used the OpenStack cloud framework, which could provide IaaS service. From some existing OpenStack services, storage management used OpenStack Swift on its processing. OpenStack Swift is a cloud-based storage service that leverages various computing resources. After the implementation process, testing was done by way of data management, so storage could store, retrieve, and delete data. In addition, testing was also done by turning off some physical machines to ensure cloud services could remain well accessible, and measure the speed of data transfer in cloud storage. The resulting data was used to evaluate the cloud storage systems that had been created.


Simulation of the 3-D, fully developed turbulent channel flows laden with various mass loading ratios of particles is made using an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach in which the carrier-fluid flow field is solved with a low-Reynolds-number k-e turbulence model while the deterministic Lagrangian method together with binary-collision hard-sphere model is applied for the solution of particle motion. Effects of inter-particle collisions and particle-wall collisions under different extents of wall roughness on particle dispersion are addressed in the study. A cost-effective searching algorithm of collision pair among particles is developed. It is found that the effects of inter-particle collisions on particle dispersion cannot be negligible when the ratio of the mean free time of particle to the mean particle relaxation time of particle is less or equal to O(10). In addition, the wall roughness extent plays an important role in the simulation of particle-wall collisions particularly for cases with small mass loading ratios.


Fatigue and fatigue damage leads to a change in material properties that can lead to the element failures. Generally, it is necessary to verify the influence of the fatigue effects on the concrete members according to European standard EC2, [1]. FRP materials have been possibly used for the fatigue damage structure rehabilitation. There we can apply the condition of the limit boundaries stress on concrete and limit force in FRP material theoretical approach. Fatigue assessment will be analyzed for T-beam cross section with reinforcement and strengthened FPR material in this paper.


In the state of Victoria, on February 1, 1966, closing time of hotel bars was altered from 6 pm to 10 pm. Sufficient time has now elapsed to allow an assessment of the long term effects of the change, and two questions arise: (a) has the change in closing time caused any change in the total number of road accidents? (b) has the hourly distribution of road accidents altered? the purpose of this study is to find answers to these questions. The investigation was confined to road traffic accidents in the Melbourne metropolitan area, and to those in which casualties were incurred. Significant changes did occur in hourly distribution of accidents within the period 6 to 11 pm: a decrease from 6 to 7pm and an increase from 10 to 11 pm.


Objective: To observe the effect of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum on nespivatory and circulatory system in pediatric surgery and to take the appropriate nursing safery management measures,do the nursing cooperation work,increase the operation security.Method: 60 patients with pediatric laparoscopic surgery were divided into three groups,low(A)group,medium(B)group,high(C)group,and their pneumoperitoneum pressure were 4 mmHg,6 mmHg,8 mmHg respectively,we observed the charge of index such as partial pressure of carbon dioxide in endex piratiry(PE1 CO2)and mean arterial pressure(MAP)in each group 5 minutes before pneumoper itoneum(TO),5 min after pneumoperitoneum(T1),30 min after preumoperitoneum(T2),10 min(T3) after stopping the pneumoperitoneum.Results:In the process of inflating the carbon dioxide the change of intra-abodominal pressure had significant effect on the change of respiratory system,and the degree enhanced with increaed intra-abdominal pressure when inflating CO2.Conclusion: Mitigating the CO2 velocith appropriately,comtrolling the flow.can help recuce the impact of pneumoperitoneum on respiratory.If we can strengthen monitoring and dispose in order CO2 pneumopetitoneum does not increase the risk of surgery.


As the 2020 presidential election is fast approaching, per our democratic process, Americans will soon be held responsible to fulfill, arguably, their most important political right. Elections are thought of by many as both a mechanism of accountability and a measurement of performance. Although fair elections are a necessity to uphold democracy, it is essential to recognize that this belief is a misconception. The result of a political election is predominantly decided by the culmination of individual voters making decisions based upon their backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. To examine this notion further, it is our goal to address the question: How does obtaining a college education affect political voting patterns? To accomplish this task, we have obtained data from the American National Election Survey (ANES). The data includes over 50,000 survey responses, ranging in years from 1948 to 2016, covering topics that include, but are not limited to, wealth, background, beliefs, ethnicity, age, gender, and socio-economic status. With this data, we have performed a regression analysis that is weighted and uses the Taylor Series adjustments to compute design-consistent standard errors. Through our research, it can be seen that the trends reveal a widening gap between educational attainment and party affiliation. Furthermore, those with higher education hold more leftward leaning beliefs, and in turn, are more likely vote Democrat when compared to those with less education. Lastly, the trends over-time reveal a dramatic shift; as, non-college-educated Americans used to primarily be Democrat, while college-educated Americans were mostly Republican. We feel that this no longer holds. This research has implications to demonstrate the importance, or lack of importance, of higher education in terms of the effect and influence it has on real life decisions, which in our case is voting patterns for presidential elections. Implementation of Climate Policies in Small to Medium Sized Cities in Washington State Denise Anne Devlyn, Sophomore, Oceanography Mentor: Aseem Prakash, Political Science


Few topics in the study of early Christianity have received greater attention in the twentieth century than apocalypticism, yet there is little scholarly agreement on how it should be defined, how widely the term should be applied, what the characteristic features were, what documents properly deserve the name, and many other questions. The specific goal of this book, which is oriented primarily to biblical scholarship, is to sever the link between apocalyptic and eschatology. Rowland discusses in much detail the Christian and Jewish writings that are usually considered apocalyptic, and he attempts to show that the eschatological aspects of these texts are not the distinctively apocalyptic elements. In his view apocalyptic, as the term suggests, has to do with the revelation of divine mysteries. These mysteries may have to do with the end of time and the culmination of history, but they need not and in fact often do not. Hence apocalyptic comes to have a much wider significance and is used to characterize any communication or revelation about the nature of God, knowledge that is communicated through visions and ecstatic religious experiences. As a result he discusses the various visionary experiences in the New Testament, for example, the vision of Jesus at his baptism, Paul's experience of being caught up in the third heaven, the early Jewish literature about the chariot in (Merkabah) Ezekiel 1, and even the vision in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity.


This study was conducted to determine the effect of different levels of trehalose and glycerol on ram sperm cryosurvival using lecithin-based diluents. Ejaculates were collected from four rams, pooled after initial evaluation, diluted with Tris-soybean lecithin extender and split into nine equal parts. A total of 0 (T0), 50 (T50) or 100 (T100) mM of trehalose and 3% (G3), 5% (G5) or 7% (G7) of glycerol were added to each part. Sperm motility, viability, plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were evaluated immediately after thawing (0 h), and subsequently after 3 h and 6 h post-thawing incubation at 37°C. Results indicated that there was interaction between trehalose and glycerol on sperm motility. In addition, interaction of trehalose and glycerol with incubation time on sperm motility, viability, plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity was not significant (P > 0.05). Sperm motility was greatest in the sperm treated with 100 mM trehalose and 7% glycerol (27%; P 0.05). The best sperm viability and plasma membrane integrity was observed at 0 h (65.75% and 51.58%, respectively). It was concluded that simultaneous use of 7% glycerol and 100 mM trehalose had a desirable effect on motility of ram frozen–thawed sperm.


An efficient approach to improve security is given by double point multiplication. The performance is further improved by replacing the Conventional Array multiplier with Vedic multiplier and replacing scalar multiplication with left shift operation. The proposed multiplier periodically processes data as 64-bit double words repeatedly. This multiplier when employed in the ECC algorithm drastically reduces the total area utilization. The shifting operation increases the security at every instant. The simulation of the proposed design is done using Xilinx 14.7 software. Experimental findings show a remarkable improvement in the speed of the process and its security.


Reservoir engineers are finding multicell models a new and useful tool for understanding oil and gas reservoirs. For the engineer who has had limited experience in using them, an introduction to models is presented. With models, sound engineering judgment is more important then ever. Decisions must be made on the type of model to be used, the number of dimensions it should have, and the size and number of cells. Selection of proper relative permeability curves is of utmost importance. Whereas a multi-cell model calculates fluid flow between cells, the displacement within a cell is determined by relative permeability data that go into a model. Case histories are presented to show difficulties that can arise in cross-section models, misuse of models by improper relative permeability data, or how engineers can be carried away by their own faked-in input data. Case histories of good model applications also are presented.


Objective To analyze the effect of long term smoking on secretion nursing for postoperative patients with laryngeal carcinoma in order to improve the level of professional nursing.Methods The clinical data of 60 patients with laryngeal carcinoma from February 2007 to December 2012 in the affiliated hospital of Hangzhou Normal University were retrospectively analyzed.32 patients who had longer than 20 years history of smoking were named smoking group and 28 patients who had no smoking history were named non-smoking group.The differences of number of sputum suction,number of cut-off nasal feeding,time of termination of sputum suction and ratio of respiratory tract infection were all compared between the two groups in the process of nursing.Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 17.0 software package,P < 0.05 was considered statistically significantly.Results The number of sputum suction,the number of cut-off nasal feeding and the time of termination of sputum suction in the smoking group were respectively (9.49 ± 1.59)/d,(17.01 ±2.79),(11.70±0.81)d,and more than (4.43 ± 1.68)/d,(8.92 ±2.16),(9.14 ±0.67)d in the non-smoking group,and the differences were statistically significant (t =3.04,2.36,2.29,respectively; P < 0.05).However,the ratio of respiratory tract infection was 6.3% in the smoking group,and 3.6% in the non-smoking group,and the difference was not statistically significant (x2 =0.000,P > 0.05).Conclusions The long-term smoking has a great effect on the nursing work for secretion after laryngeal carcinoma surgery,and we should take scientific and individualized nursing measure for this kind of patients.

Key words:
Smoking;  Secretions;  Laryngeal carcinoma;  Nursing


Software engineering has been used by software vendors and consultants in the development of quality health care applications ranging from electronic medical systems, patient record management applications to medical middleware devices. As a discipline, it has evolved over the last decade in the production of high-quality software across many industries. Healthcare applications demand unique expertise tailored to best project methodologies and software development models. Many health care providers argue that best software practices and usercentered design principles are vital to producing quality applications across all domains. Lack of focus on systematic software development process increases flaws in the implementation causing a loss regarding quality, cost, and trust. The survey paper seeks to analyze existing models in the area of Software Engineering and to propose best SDLC model for Smart Healthcare applications which focuses on quality improvement. This survey also includes identifying the research challenges of software engineering for smart applications


The constant increase in motorization rate and passenger cars usage lead to rising traffic congestion, which causes traffic delays and unfavorable traffic regime. In the toll collection system, the use of modern devices, specifically smartphones, would allow vehicles to pass through the toll collection system without stopping and time delays, which would solve the problems of queuing but also reduce the impact of vehicles on environmental pollution. This paper describes the ways of working of various applications that are used today in countries around the world, mainly as a secondary way of paying the fee for the use of the road network. The analysis of applications showed that in order to pay the toll, in addition to downloading the application, the user needs to create a user account, enter the number of vehicle registration plates and the number of payment, credit or debit card through which payment will be made. In addition to the benefits offered by mobile devices, there are certain disadvantages and space for further improvement.


Systems and methods are disclosed for using patient specific anatomical models and physiological parameters to estimate perfusion of a target tissue to guide diagnosis or treatment of cardiovascular disease. One method includes receiving a patient-specific vessel model and a patent-specific tissue model of a patient anatomy; extracting one or more patient-specific physiological parameters (e.g. blood flow, anatomical characteristics, image characteristics, etc.) from the vessel or tissue models for one or more physiological states of the patient; estimating a characteristic of the perfusion ofthe patient-specific tissue model (e.g., via a trained machine learning algorithm) using the patient-specific physiological parameters; and outputting the estimated perfusion characteristic to a display.


Fuzzy logic system studies reasoning systems in which the design of precision and deception are considered in a graded fashion, in contrast with classical mathematics where only absolutely true statements are considered. Whereas, Axiomatic fuzzy logic system facilitates a significant step on how to transform the information within databases into the membership functions and their fuzzy logic operations, by taking both the fuzziness and randomness into account. In this paper, various notations and illustrations of fuzzy concepts and coherence membership functions have been studied and analyzed under the framework of Axiomatic Fuzzy set theory. Various examples are illustrated for every concept by considering the hypothetical data.


A compilation of print and online resources on how to locate and use maps. This page provides information on how to use maps and why they're useful.


682Background: Patients (pts) with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) arising from a right sided colon cancer (RCC) have an inferior survival versus pts with a left sided primary (LCC). Previous analyses have suggested that multiple factors contribute. Methods: The Treatment of Recurrent and Advanced Colorectal Cancer (TRACC) Registry has prospectively collected data on consecutive mCRC pts at 32 sites (Australia and Hong Kong) from July 2009. LLC were defined as those distal to the splenic flexure. We analysed patient, tumour, treatment and outcome data. Results: Of 1763 patients, median age 67 years (range 18 – 100), 1201 patients (68.1%) had a LCC. RCC were more common in pts ≥ 70 years old (53.9% vs 38.5%, p < 0.01) and females (50.7%, p < 0.01). Where tested, KRAS (50.9% vs 41.5%, p < 0.01) and BRAF (19.1% vs 6.4%, p < 0.01) mutations were more common in RCC. Where tested, dMMR was more common in RCC (11.0% vs 3.2%, p < 0.01). Pts with a RCC more often had peritoneal metastases (25.9% vs 12.5%%, p <...


A previously developed plug-in architecture for network-virtualization nodes allows network operators to introduce new types of virtual nodes and links and slice developers to use them in slices (i.e., virtual networks). In this paper, a method for extending network-virtualization infrastructures by introducing plug-ins to nodes in the infrastructure and a freely-designed plug-in-specific packet header, which enable sharing part of packet contents among the same type of plug-ins distributed in the infrastructure, is proposed. The header is inserted into every data packet handled by the nodes, but it is hidden from slices in a "clean virtualization" infrastructure. This method was applied to creation of a new type of virtual links with network-delay measurement function using a hidden timestamp in each packet. The timestamps do not affect slices; that is, conventional programs can be used in the slice for the measurement without modification. The method was evaluated by edge-to-edge delay measurements and the evaluation results show that it is suitable for developing new functions, including functions requiring wire-rate p erformance, in shared/public networks.


An early term male neonate was born at 38 weeks of gestation by cesarean delivery due to a category 2 fetal heart tracing found in his 22-year-old mother, who did not receive prenatal care. Prenatal history is significant for maternal marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and group B Streptococcus colonization. At delivery, the infant is vigorous with Apgar scores of 9 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively, birthweight of 2,640 g, and no dysmorphic features noted on physical examination. Prenatal marijuana exposure is confirmed by maternal and infant urine toxicology results. In the first postnatal day, despite several attempts at feeding, a poor suck and feeding pattern are noted. The neonate is transferred to the NICU for feeding and further evaluation. In the NICU, the …


This article undertakes a formalised speculation about the ways in which patterns of urban development in the US may exacerbate or relieve the manifold problems of the declining central city and the growth problems of the suburbs. To this end, it defines an appropriate conceptual framework, and examines certain evidence about post-war trends in urban development. Urban patterns are seen as being shaped by certain entities (which we have called 'Locators') making location choices, in which they assess disparities in the circumstances of alternative places relating to the needs and goals of the Locator. We give special attention to the issue of the relative accessibility of alternative places. Although the major focus, because of data limitations, is on city versus suburb, we also offer some evidence and some speculations about development trends within the suburbs. The key questions for the future are defined as follows: how will the mix of Locators and their requirements change; how will place disparities change; and how will the relative accessibility of places change?


Communications to the Editor much lower levels. It will then serve to minimize early inspiratory effort and to raise a low unassisted tidal volume to its expected value, rather than to the range of 10 to 15 mI/kg, not very different than the assist-control mode. Rather than try to prove the superiority of PS over IMV in the general patient population, future studies should concentrate on selected groups of patients, using PS in a more rational way.


Geologic mappings are a very important part of the geology work.It is very urgent that the way of traditional mapping by hand is changed.Tht paper introduces the differences between the traditional mapping and the mapping based on the MapGIS and expounds the general process of geologic mapping based on the MapGIS


The present study reports the sequence characterization of TNFα gene in Indian yak (Bos grunniens). A total of 2786 nucleotides long sequence data were generated by primer walking method covering complete TNFα gene and 5' upstream basal promoter region. Predicted coding DNA sequence (CDS) of yak TNFα gene revealed only 4 nucleotide changes compared to that of cattle however, without altering amino acid sequence. Similarly, predicted CDS of yak had a very high sequence similarity with other ruminants like buffalo (99%), goat (96.2%) and sheep (95.9%). Phylogenetic analysis of conceptualized amino acid sequences of TNFα gene of various species revealed the clustering of yak sequence with other ruminants under a major group distinct from the non-ruminants species. A total of 14 putative transcription factor binding sites were predicted within 818 nucleotides long 5'upstream region of yak TNFα gene. Interestingly, 2 potential binding sites for transcription factors Elk-1 and v-Myb were present in yak and indicine cattle but absent in taurine cattle due to an A-G transition within promoter at 526 nucleotides upstream to start codon. Variations within 5' upstream sequence need to be explored further for their functional and regulatory roles in altering expression level of TNFα gene in these species.


We examine the relationship among the different geometries implicit in a stereoscopic virtual environment. In particular, we examine in detail the relationship of retinal disparity, fixation point, binocular visual direction, and screen parallax. We introduce the concept of a volumetric spatial unit called a stereoscopic voxel. Due to the shape of stereoscopic voxels, apparent depth of points in space may be affected by their horizontal placement.


The Philippine stock market despite being the one of the oldest stock exchanges in Southeast Asia and its recent boom and glory is the smallest among the other contemporary stock exchanges . The growth of the local stock market depends in part on the push for internal reforms within the PSE so that it is in proper tune with the demands of the market place. Much also rests on what the national government does to assure that the economic growth path of the country is sustained.


The invention discloses a high flow water stream switch, which comprises a body, a proximity switch and a magnetic floater; the body comprises an inlet, an outlet, an inner housing, an outer housing, a first cavity and a second cavity; the inlet is located at the lower end of the body; the outlet is located at the upper end of the body; the inner housing separates the first cavity from the second one; a plurality of first through holes are arranged in the middle of the inner housing; the magnetic floater can be movably placed in the second cavity, and the inlet is closed; and the proximity switch is mounted on the outer surface of the outer housing and is located on the upper section of the outer housing. The high flow water stream switch has high sensitivity, accurate and reliable action, and high water flow.


The deep processing technology of 2-butene in by-produced C 4 stream of FCC or vapor pyrolysis and its progress are introduced. 2-Butene is full in source, low in price, but is not reasonably developed and utilized in China now. Based on the cases above mentioned, the technologies and utilities of 2-butene which are more perspective as chemical source in the production of 2-methyl butyl alcohol, sec-butyl acetate or sec-butyl alcohol were introduced briefly. Using 2-butene to produce 2-methyl butyl alcohol, sec-butyl acetate or sec-butyl alcohol, not only supply and demand questions can be solved, but also more profits can be gained. These technologies make rooms for the utilities of 2-butene, and gain benefits for refineries.


SIR,-The study of causes of short stature by Lacy and Perkin,1 which was discussed in your recent leading article (9 November, p. 308), indicated that of the chilren studied few with heights below the third percentile had organic disease. This iivesigation, undertaken in Newcastle, touaces on the wider problem of the significance of short stture in children in relation to their health pattem on reaching adulthood. In a western scety, to wbat extent does short stature in youth, due in pert to failure o attain maximum potential of growth, affect the enjoyment at good health in later life? In this connexion it would be very informative, as stressed elsewhere,3 to have long-term information on the two series of children, in Boston' and Iowa,5 who were studied several decades ago and whose anthrometric data are used as growth standards. Of these former pupils-now at middle age-_mong toe who were of short stature oompared with those who were of tal stature what are now the respective prevalences of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and i c heart disease? What have been their respective morbidity experiences since youth? Until information of this type is avaiable is it legitimate, as is often done, to emphasize the deasirbility of children attaining their maximum potential of growth? Wbat is needed, of course, is follow-up studies of the Framingharn type on series of dhildren such that the nrumbers in the respective percentiles of height are sufficiently large to allow meaningf,ul oonlusions to be drawn. It is earnestly hocped that the longitudinal investigation being made at Newcastle will be continued long enough to furnish answers to some of the questions raised.-I am, etc.,


Malnutrition in children under five years remains a serious public health problem. Medan city as the capital of the province of North Sumatera has the highest case of severe malnutrition compared to 32 districts/cities. Whereas the Medan City Health Office has made efforts maximally to reduce the number of severe malnourished. This study aimed to determine factors influenced the incidence of malnutrition in the Medan City by using unmatched case-control design. The sample consisted of 101 cases of children under five suffering from malnutrition recorded in Medan City Health Office during the month of May 2013 and 101 children under five did not suffer from severe malnutrition who lived closed to the cases. Malnutrition was determined by using the indicator weight-for height below -3 deviation standard of the WHO-NCHS. Data were collected by interviewing children under five's mothers directly and analyzed using multiple logistic regression. The result showed the factors that play a role together in the incidence of malnutrition in children under five in City of Medan were food intake (OR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.39 4.55), caring pattern (OR = 1.89, 95 % CI = 1.06 3.39) and health services (OR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.03 3.40). It was expected that mothers should pay attention and provide food with varied menu that children's nutrition needs fulfilled and improve caring patern. Keywords— Malnutrition, under five children, food intake, caring pattern, Medan


Kiln motor current reflects the condition of burning in the rotary kiln and the running status of equipment.ART-2 claster parsing algorithm can cluster the survey data of the kiln motor current,and make the correct recognition to the status of kiln motor current.According to kiln motor current pattern,the condition of cement rotary kiln current can be known and the rotary kiln stable control can be realized.


This study explored teachers' perceptions of critical reading in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes through a teacher professional learning programme at a higher vocational college in southeast mainland China. The results showed that all participants gained a broader understanding of critical reading, shifting from a pathway to cultivating critical thinking skills to an approach to constructing different ways of thinking, being, and doing. The findings indicated the possibility of integrating different views of the critical across cultural boundaries. The culturally relevant criticality practice thus contributes to the international literature on developments in critical literacy studies.


In the process of continuous casting, suitable physicochemical properties of slag are important conditions to ensure the smooth process of continuous casting and to improve slab quality. In the process of casting crack sensitivity steel, an important role of mold flux is to control the heat transfer between the mold and slab, while in the slag film structure, the thickness of crystal layer has important effect on heat transfer rate and uniformity in the mold. Therefore, based on the crack sensitivity steel-medium carbon alloy steel, the crystallization behavior of this steel's mold fluxes was studied. The results show that, for the slag for medium carbon alloy steel, the crystallization temperature should be controlled at 1 050 ℃, the critical cooling speed should be controlled around 2 ℃/s to ensure that the slag has the strong capacity precipitating cuspidine at 1 025 ℃.


Abstract We consider two variants of the sine subtraction law on a semi-group S. The main objective is to solve f(xy∗ ) = f(x)g(y) − g(x)f(y) for unknown functions f, g : S → ℂ, where x ↦ x* is an anti-homomorphic involution. Until now this equation was not solved even when S is a non-Abelian group and x* = x−1. We find the solutions assuming that f is central. A secondary objective is to solve f(xσ(y)) = f(x)g(y) − g(x)f(y), where σ : S → S is a homomorphic involution. Until now this variant was solved assuming that S has an identity element. We also find the continuous solutions of these equations on topological semigroups.


Strongly c-axis oriented ZnO nanorod arrays were grown on Si(100) by plasma enhanced-chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) starting from two volatile bis(ketoiminato) zinc(II) compounds Zn[(R′)NC(CH3)═C(H)C(CH3)═O]2, with R′ = -(CH2)xOCH3 (x = 2, 3). A systematic investigation of process parameters enabled us to obtain the selective formation of ZnO nanorods with tailored features, and provided an important insight into their growth mechanism. The morphology, structure, and composition of the synthesized ZnO nanosystems were thoroughly analyzed by field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were carried out to gain information on the optical properties. Specifically, one-dimensional (1D) ZnO architectures could be grown on Si(100) substrates at temperatures as low as 200−300 °C and radio fre...


This article deals with the analysis of sensitivity to the non-ignorability of the dropout process in joint models (JMs). We investigate the behaviour of the maximum likelihood estimates for the longitudinal process in a neighbourhood of ignorability through the Index of Local Sensitivity to Non Ignorability (ISNI). Some concerns may arise since the ISNI is an absolute measure of change in parameter estimates induced by departures from the MAR assumption; for this reason, we introduce a relative index based on the ratio between the ISNI and a measure of its variability under the MAR assumption, highlighting potential interpretation and drawbacks of this approach. The local sensitivity of the JM and the performance of the relative index are discussed in a simulation study, by varying the number of repeated measurements per individual and the random effect covariance structure. The approach is also applied to a benchmark dataset on Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC).


A coherent lidar system based on a 3W cw CO2 laser has been installed on an aircraft positioned to look forward and down. A monostatic optical geometry is employed and the optical system incorporates a scanning mechanism that generates a line scan in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the aircraft. This scan pattern, coupled with the aircraft motion, produces a 2D coverage of the ground. The laser reflections from terrain features are collected and 2D images of the ground generated based on the amplitude of the return signals. A flight program has been conducted and active images of a range of natural terrain and man made objects collected. This paper describes the coherent laser system, its aircraft installation, signal processing, and results obtained from the flight trial program.


Using the hydrological analysis tools of the ArcGIS software,the article is based on the surface in the DEM to represent the flow process of water and at last complete the hydrological analysis.Cited examples of extracting data from ArcGIS and DEM river network,river classification,watershed boundaries,hydrologic analysis generated work on the formation of the hydrological model compared with the real topography and analysis of errors.Simulation results show that out of the river and the water sector to provide basic information on the topography of consistent follow-up of higher quality can be used to extract DEM image.


This paper expounds the important role and function of modern logistics in the electronic commerce. The development of modern logistics and network economy forms the electronic commerce and the various ration patterns of modern logistics promote the rapid development of electronic commerce.


OF THE DISSERTATION Applications and Variations of Domination in Graphs by Paul Andrew Dreyer, Jr. Dissertation Director: Fred S. Roberts In a graph G = (V, E), S ⊆ V is a dominating set of G if every vertex is either in S or joined by an edge to some vertex in S. Many different types of domination have been researched extensively. This dissertation explores some new variations and applications of dominating sets. We first introduce the concept of Roman domination. A Roman dominating function is a function f : V → {0, 1, 2} such that every vertex v for which f(v) = 0 has a neighbor w with f(w) = 2. This corresponds to a problem in army placement where every region is either defended by its own army or has a neighbor with two armies, in which case one of the two armies can be sent to the undefended region if a conflict breaks out. The weight of a Roman dominating function f is f(V ) = ∑ v∈V f(v), and we are interested in finding Roman dominating functions of minimum weight. We explore the graph theoretic, algorithmic, and complexity issues of Roman domination, including algorithms for finding minimum weight Roman dominating functions for trees and grids. We then explore a dynamic variant of domination. Given a graph with each vertex having a sign {+,−}, we define a k−threshold process by updating the graph at every time step according to the rule that a vertex switches sign if and only if k or more of its neighbors have the opposite sign. A set S of vertices is a k−conversion set if when a


Context: Previous studies have indicated that peripheral circulating markers of inflammation are elevated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Thus far, no studies concerning adipose tis ...


In 2015, the Chinese government committed to reducing all greenhouse gas emissions, to reach the peak of carbon dioxide before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Transport accounts for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions, so greener and low-carbon transport is an important part of achieving the two-carbon goal. Although many researches have examined carbon emissions from the transport sector, few have analyzed the potential for carbon reduction from the perspective of optimizing the transport structure. Based on the analysis and prediction of the logistics system of goods transportation in Zhejiang Province, the potential of changing the mode of transport from road to waterway for CO2 emission reduction is further analyzed. The results show that the implementation of a "mode change of transport from road to waterway" can better reduce the carbon emissions in the field of transportation, to provide a theoretical basis for the energy conservation and emission reduction targets in the field of transportation in Zhejiang Province.


We report on the observation of long-range Cs2 Rydberg molecules consisting of a p-state Rydberg atom and a ground-state atom. Two types of molecular states are visible in the photoassociation spectra: states bound purely by triplet s-wave scattering and states bound by mixed singlet-triplet s-wave scattering. An effective Hamiltonian including s-wave scattering pseudopotentials, the hyperfine interaction of the ground-state atom, and the spin-orbit interaction of the Rydberg atom reproduces the experimental observations. The detailed analysis reveals the important role of singlet scattering in long-range Rydberg molecules and yields an effective singlet s-wave scattering length for low-energy e−-Cs collisions.


Previous studies have shown that prolactin administration to pregnant rats results in offspring with enhanced abundance of the brown adipose tissue‐specific uncoupling protein (UCP) 1. The present study therefore aimed to determine whether a similar effect was observed after birth and if the sex of the animal further influenced the responsiveness of brown adipose tissue mitochondria to prolactin administration. Daily prolactin injections were therefore commenced at 15, 35 or 60 days of age and continued for 4 days. The abundance of UCP1 was unchanged with age in females but decreased between 15 and 35 days in males and was lower in males than females by 60 days of age. Cytochrome c abundance remained unchanged with postnatal age in both males and females and was consistently higher in males at each sampling age. Prolactin decreased the abundance of UCP1 and cytochrome c when administered to female rats at 35 and 60 days of age, but had no effect at 15 days. In contrast, prolactin had no effect on UCP1 in male rats at any age, but did stimulate the abundance of cytochrome c at 15 days of age. In conclusion, the administration of prolactin to postnatal rats over the period in which maturation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary axis and brown adipose tissue function is occurring did not enhance UCP1 abundance. In females, prolactin actually caused a reduction in UCP1 suggesting that in rats it is only prior to birth that prolactin has a stimulatory role on brown adipose tissue development.


The main focus of the present study is to understand the health and family welfare programmes implemented in the Golla settlements of Karnataka state. They have peculiar cultural practices during puberty and child birth. Though the modern facilities are available for safe deliveries, they still follow certain cultural taboos and beliefs during child birth. The reason is not because of their poor economic conditions but because of their social and cultural factors. Their temple priest and the headman of the village take most of the decisions in the settlement. These two decision-makers never miss an opportunity to denigrade the family planning programme and brainwash the people to believe that contraceptive use will pollute them and the settlement.


Energy Logistics Modeling (ELM) is a tool for assessing the environmental impact of fuel supply systems for vehicle fleets. ELM is developed by applying a logistics approach to fuel supply systems and is heavily influenced by LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) practices. This paper investigates the feasibility to extend the ELM methodology to include the possibility of assessing the environmental impact that a fuel supply system has on a local as well as on regional and global level. A case study is performed in which energy use and airborne emissions are compared for the different fuels used in taxis in Goeteborg, Sweden, area. The fuel supply chains are charted and analyzed from source to end use in taxis.


It has been previously established that the subharmonic signal of microbubble ultrasound contrast agents follows an inverse linear relationship with the ambient hydrostatic pressure. However, contradictory results have been reported for SonoVue (Bracco Spa, Milan, Italy). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the subharmonic response of SonoVue across a range of physiologically-relevant hydrostatic pressures (10–220 mmHg), and to compare it with Sonazoid (GE, Oslo, Norway). A modified GE Logiq 9 scanner was used to acquire the subharmonic signals from Sonazoid and SonoVue in a sealed water tank. In addition, the Ultrasound Advanced Open Platform (ULA-OP) was used to acquire the subharmonic signal of SonoVue at 0–200 mmHg in a cell culture cassette over approximately 3 min. Sonazoid showed an inverse linear relationship between subharmonic amplitude and hydrostatic pressure (slope −0.11 dB/mmHg; r = −0.81), as expected. SonoVue exhibited an increase in subharmonic amplitude from 0–100 mmHg hydrostatic pressure (slope 0.06 dB/mmHg, r = 0.81), a plateau between 100–140 mmHg, and a decrease from 140–220 mmHg (slope −0.26 dB/mmHg, r = −0.98). The subharmonic amplitude of SonoVue increased over 3 min at 0 and 25 mmHg hydrostatic pressure, did not change with time at 50–100 mmHg, and decreased over time at 125–200 mmHg. However, the effects of time on the subharmonic amplitude of SonoVue were smaller than the effects of hydrostatic pressure. The subharmonic response of SonoVue to hydrostatic pressure differs from Sonazoid and other microbubble ultrasound contrast agents.