This paper assesses the impact of the construction industry on economic growth of 36 African economies. A Granger causality analysis is performed and both static and dynamic panel data models are estimated under the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). Empirical findings reveal that there is a causal relationship between the value added of the construction industry and Gross Domestic Product per capita in the studied economies. Finally, estimates of both static and dynamic panel data models suggest that the construction industry is positively related to


: This study on the academic performance of female students at ATVET College, Wolaita Sodo is the first of its kind at ATVET level in the country as per the researcher's knowledge. As the researcher observed and checked with students and officials of ATVET, the academic performance of female students, especially at the graduating years (3 rd year), seemed much less than their male counterparts. Hence, it was intended to find out those factors that were affecting the academic performance of female student at the ATVET College. Thus, this study was undertaken towards that end. All 79 female students of the 3 rd year in all the three departments of the college (cooperative, livestock, and natural resource) were the sample units to the study towards collecting primary quantitative data through a semi-structured questionnaire, checklists were used to collect qualitative data through Focus Group Discussion and personal Interview. Appropriate secondary sources were reviewed for this study. Based on personal observation and literature review a conceptual framework comprising psychological, socio-demographic, institutional and economic factors was developed for this study. All variables included in these factors were hypothesized towards affecting the female academic performance in the study area. The qualitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive (percentage and frequency) and inferential statistics (X 2 and t-value). The result showed that the following variables positively affected the academic performance of female students at the ATVET College of Wolaita Sodo: a) College community b) Social participation c) Parents educational level d) Students background e) Family income f) Sanitation facility. Moreover, the qualitative data collected were also in agreement with the interpretation of the quantitative data. Both quantitative and qualitative data agree with the factors that positively affected the academic performance of female students with the exception sex discrimination as the teachers of the college did not agree with this. Based on the findings appropriate recommendations such as (a) creating awareness and bringing the necessary attitude change on the college communities (b) supporting and strengthening the college mini-media activities (c) special tutorial service for female students to strengthen their studyand (d); close assistance and encouragement from the college community; supporting the students to develop self-esteem so that the academic performance of female students would improve in the study area.


Objectives: To evaluate long-term outcomes and reoperation rate of holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) for patients with symptomatic enlarged prostate, including patients who were operated during the learning curve. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 118 patients who underwent HoLEP between March 1998 and February 2001 at our institution. This analysis represented our initial experience with the technique reflecting our learning curve. The voiding outcome parameters, operative duration time, enucleation time, morcellation time, eucleated tissue weight, catheterization time, hospital stay, and complications were recorded. Results: The mean patient age was 76.5 yr (range: 59–93) and the mean preoperative prostate volume was 59.3 cc (range: 20–172). The mean follow-up period was 49.4 28.1 mo. The mean catheter time and hospital stay was 1.3 and 1.5 d, respectively. Seventy-eight percent of the patients were discharged home within 24 h after surgery. For the patients (n = 26) who had objective data at 6 yr postoperatively, mean maximum flow rate increased from 6.3 to 16.2 ml/s and mean postvoid residual urine decreased from 232 to 41.2 ml ( p < 0.0001). Mean International Prostate Symptom Score improved from 17.3 to 5.6 ( p < 0.0001). Bladder-neck contracture and urethral stricture developed in 0.8% and 1.7% of patients, respectively. The reoperation rate for recurrent benign prostatic hyperplasia obstruction was 4.2%. Conclusions: HoLEP represents a safe and effective treatment for patients with symptomatic enlarged prostate. The improvement in outcome parameters is durable, and the late complications and reoperation rate are very low. # 2007 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The heterodinuclear complex [LCuIIVIVO] 1 was synthesized by using a new unsymmetric dinucleating ligand based on 1,8-naphthalenediol, whereas the homodinuclear CuIICuII complex 2 has a bridging beta-diketimineamid unit. Here we report on the synthesis, molecular structures, and magnetic properties of 1 and 2. In the solid state, both complexes dimerize to tetranuclear entities 1(2) and 2(2). The intradimer interaction in both complexes is ferromagnetic because of the orthogonality of the magnetic orbitals (J12 = +45.6 cm(-1) in 1 and +4.8 cm(-1) in 2). The interdimer interaction in 1 is also ferromagnetic, giving a St = 2 ground state.


The non-specific esterases include different types of esterases,,
acetyl, aryl, carboxyl and cholin esterases. These forms are
identified on the basis of their differential activity towards various
inorganic inhibitors (Holmes and Master, 1968 ; Dickinson and
Johnson, 1978). Similarly isozymes of a type of esterase are
detected by the differences in their molecular weight, as shown
by their relative mobilities in disc gel electrophoresis


Despite the improvements of driveability prediction of piles, many ditficulties ore still encountered with the open ended fubular pile. ln addition to the classical problems, the presense of a column of soil induces a complex phenomena. During the driving. the soil is either coupled to the tube either in friction. This paper presents a case study of a full-scale test. The method SIMBAT developped by the C.f.B. TF is opplied to determine the stotic beoring copacity of a tubular piles and the analysis allows the comprehension of the behaviour of the pile during the driving.


This study was performed to review clinical research studies involving acupuncture treatment for primary headache disorders to provide a basic reference for future studies. Clinical studies of primary headache disorders treated with acupuncture were retrieved from 3 Korean electronic databases (NDSL, OASIS, and RISS). The studies were classified by year of publication, type of study, type of acupuncture, outlined acupoints, methods used for filiform needles, pharmacopuncture, auricular acupuncture, and thread-embedding acupuncture. Thirty-eight trials were reviewed, of which 33 used filiform needles, 6 pharmacopuncture, 1 auricular acupuncture, and 1used thread-embedding. Most of the studies reported that acupuncture treatment was effective in treating primary headache disorders. Some studies reported statistically significant effects, but the results overall were inconsistent. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support the treatment of acupuncture to resolve headaches. On the basis of these results, further studies should be performed to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for primary headache disorders.


The high-pressure phase behavior of coating-solvent-supercritical or sub-critical carbon dioxide system was investigated experimentally. The coating matrix used was 108-acrylic resin at concentration ranging from 10% to 50% (by mass) in mixtures with n-butyl acetate. The experiments were conducted in a high-pressure view cell for temperatures from 35
℃ to 65℃ and for pressures from 3.0MPa to 8.0MPa. The effect of temperature, pressure and content of every component on the phase behavior of the systems was observed. Finally, the ternary phase diagram for resin-solvent-CO2 was plotted.


The water quality based on seasonal distribution pattern of physio-chemical characteristics of the river Nambul flowing in heart of Imphal city were analysed during different years before and after onset of rain. The physio-chemical parameter of water such as water temperature, pH, Turbid ity, Dissolved Oxygen, BOD, Conductivity, Hardness, Alkalinity, COD, TDS, Chloride, Calcium and Magnesium were analysed. Water samples were collected from six sampling sites. Most of the parameters were not within the permissible value of drinking water. Turbidity was higher than normal limit and alkalin ity decreased through years. BOD and COD was much lesser in upstream than the downstream. The study suggest untreated domestic, disposal from market and household to the water body causes heavy pollution in river Nambul.


Abstract : Although clichs are, well, clich, more times than not, they represent fundamental truths. Spouting trite expressions such as people are our most valuable resource can lead organizations to realize the basic values they express, and can well be the impetus for human capital initiatives. Its definitely the inspiration for the Defense Information Systems Agencys aggressive and award-winning human capital programs.


e15216 Background: We previously reported that the inhibition of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) prolongs survival in advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) receiving gemcitabine (GEM) (Br J Cancer. 2010;...


The curvature singularity in viable f(R) gravity models is examined when the background density is dense. This singularity could be eliminated by adding the $R^{2}$ term in the Lagrangian. Some of cosmological consequences, in particular the source for the scalar mode of gravitational waves, are discussed.


The effects of storage and polyphosphates on the volatile components of canned broiler meat were investigated. The concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, saturated and total carbonyls of both control and polyphosphate-treated broiler meat increased slightly upon storage. A greater increase in unsaturated carbonyls was observed for the controls than for the polyphosphate-treated samples. During storage, the general trend of increasing thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values was not affected by the presence of polyphosphates; however, the control samples had the highest TBA values throughout the observation period. All canned samples exhibited a continued increase in free ammonia content as the storage time advanced. Polyphosphates also retarded the formation of free ammonia of canned broiler meat during storage as compared to controls.


Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the cooling properties of a transparent hydrogel pad and a fluid gel in patients with dermo‐cosmetic lesions undergoing non‐ablative laser therapy. Methods: Patients enrolled in this prospective, open, randomized study had vascular or pigmented lesions in the face, v‐neck or hands. The assigned test product was applied to the skin on the left side of the lesion whereas the other product was applied to the opposite side. Primary endpoints were the maximal pain intensity during laser treatment and the number of blisters and crusts after laser treatment. Results: Twenty‐one patients were enrolled and underwent laser procedures using a hydrogel pad and fluid gel (16 patients with vascular and five with pigmented lesions). Maximal local pain severity was lower in all 21 patients on the side where the transparent hydrogel pad was applied (p<0.001); the transparent hydrogel pad was associated with a more cooling effect (p<0.001) and less erythema (p = 0.027). The number of crusts was similar for both test products. Conclusion: Overall, laser therapy was more convenient for the patients on the side where the transparent hydrogel pad was applied. The transparent hydrogel pad offers an alternative skin cooling method worth considering for non‐ablative laser therapy.


Cationic mononucleotide analogs were synthesized through a quaternization reaction of N-halogenoethylated derivatives of nucleic acid bases or 5′-halogeno-5′-deoxynucleoside. When they interacted with polynucleotide and polynucleotide analogs with negative charges, base-base interactions were observed. The interactions between complementary bases were stronger than the others. It is suggested that an anionic field originating from the polynucleotide or polynucleotide analog contributes to the interaction of complementary bases.


Significant research has been performed to identify a suitable accelerated binder fatigue test. An ideal test procedure would deliver pertinent fatigue characteristics without taking longer than 30 minutes to perform. Recent work by Martono et al. has verified the suitability of using the Dynamic Shear Rheometer for performing fatigue testing on binders and introduced the concept of using a stress sweep or a strain sweep as accelerated binder fatigue tests. Followup work for the verification of these efforts, and the consideration of other suitable accelerated tests has continued in the last 2 years. This paper highlights the recent developments and focuses on one such test procedure and discusses its ability to indicate fatigue behavior of asphalt.


Over the years, several smart antenna systems have been proposed and demonstrated in wireless communications systems, and these have shown that significant system performance improvement is possible. In this paper, we consider the maximization of the spectral efficiency of a multiuser MIMO system for downlink communications (one base to many mobiles) in both frequency flat and selective fading channels. Each mobile (user) in the system incorporates an array of n/sub R/ antennas and in general transmits K/sub m//spl ges/1 space-time subchannels, in the same frequency spectrum and time slot. Our objective is to jointly find the antenna weights for all the users, under the constraint of fixed transmit power, so that the spectral efficiency of the system (or the average spectral efficiency per user) is maximized. An iterative procedure that successively nulls out all the broadcast interference is proposed, and simulation results show that multiuser MIMO optimization significantly outperforms single-user MIMO optimization. In addition, spectral efficiency close to an upper bound can be achieved.


Surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) technique has been widely applied to noninvasive groundwater exploration and aquifer quantitative characterization. Furthermore, it has the potential for studying and detecting hydrocarbon contaminants and for water resource management. To increase the tomography resolution of groundwater and expand the application range of SNMR, we first implemented its 3-D forward modeling using a vector finite-element (FE) method based on the total electric field. The key of SNMR forward modeling is the calculation of excitation magnetic field, and the total-field algorithm is an alternative scheme to numerically simulate the electromagnetic field. In this paper, we viewed the circular loop source as the combination of a certain number of horizontal electric dipoles. The unstructured tetrahedral mesh and local refinement technology were combined to precisely delineate the distribution of circular loop source, which effectively reduces the adverse effects of field source singularity. Then, the vector FE solver based on the total electric field was used to calculate the magnetic field distribution. The accuracy of the calculated results was validated by the analytical solutions for a circular loop laid on the surface of a homogeneous half-space. After calculating the excitation field, SNMR responses of three typical synthetic 3-D groundwater models were obtained with the basic signal response formula. Finally, we studied the effects of some important factors which have significant influences on SNMR signal responses and have practical importance in groundwater issues.


Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) swept the world at the beginning of 2020, and strict activity control measures were adopted in China's concentrated and local outbreak areas, which led to social shutdown. This study was conducted in southwest China from 2019 to 2021, and was divided into the year before COVID-19 (2019), the year of COVID-19 outbreak (2020), and the year of normalization of COVID-19 prevention and control (2021). A geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model was used to invert the spatial distribution of PM2.5 by combining PM2.5 on-site monitoring data and related driving factors. At the same time, a multiple linear regression (MLR) model was constructed for comparison with the GTWR model. The results showed that: (1) The inversion accuracy of the GTWR model was higher than that of the MLR model. In comparison with the commonly used PM2.5 datasets "CHAP" and "ACAG", PM2.5 inverted by the GTWR model had higher data accuracy in southwest China. (2) The average PM2.5 concentrations in the entire southwest region were 32.1, 26.5, and 28.6 μg/m3 over the three years, indicating that the society stopped production and work and the atmospheric PM2.5 concentration reduced when the pandemic control was highest in 2020. (3) The winter and spring of 2020 were the relatively strict periods for pandemic control when the PM2.5 concentration showed the most significant drop. In the same period of 2021, the degree of control was weakened, and the PM2.5 concentration showed an upward trend.


The sixth generation (6G) of wireless systems are likely to operate in environments and scales that wireless services have not penetrated effectively. Many of these environments are not suitable for efficient data bearing wave propagation. Molecular signals have the potential to deliver information by exploiting both new modulation mechanisms via chemical encoding and new multi-scale propagation physics. While the fusion of biophysical models and communication theory has rapidly advanced the molecular communication field, there is a lack of real-world macro-scale applications. Here, we introduce application areas in defense and security, ranging from underwater search and rescue to covert communications; and cyber-physical systems, such as using molecular signals for health monitoring in underground networked systems. These engineering applications not only demand new wireless communication technologies ranging from DNA encoding to molecular graph signal processing, but also demonstrate the potential for molecular communication to contribute in traditional but challenging engineering areas. Together, it is increasingly believed that molecular communication can be a new physical layer for 6G, accessing and extracting data from extreme wave-denied environments.


Objective To investigate the metabolic characteristics,β-cell function and insulin resistance in type-2 diabetic individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD),and to reveal the main factors associated with NAFLD.Methods According to the results of ultrasonography detection of liver,a total of 113 type-2 diabetic subjects were divided into NAFLD group and non-NAFLD group.The differences of BMI,blood lipid,blood glucose,insulin,C-peptide,liver enzymes,uric acid,insulin resistance and islet β-cell function between the two groups were compared.Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors independently associated with the presence of NAFLD.Results Compared with the diabetic patients without NAFLD,the patients with NAFLD hada higher level of BMI,triglyceride(TG),fasting blood glucose(FBG),2-hour blood glucose(2hPG),fasting insulin(FIns),fasting C peptide(FCP),alanine transaminase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR).However,the high density lipoprotein(HDL) was low.Logistic regression analysis showed that age,BMI,TG,HOMA-IR were independently associated with the presence of NAFLD in diabetic patients(OR=0.95,P=0.024;OR=1.24,P=0.024;OR=2.81,P=0.025;OR=11.96,P=0.001),while HOMA-IR was the major risk factor.Conclusion Type-2 diabetic patients with NAFLD usually had serious obesity and metabolic disorder.Insulin resistance is the major risk factor.


This paper describes the development and application of a microcomputer-based travel demand modeling system as part of an 18-month planning and feasibility study for the Istanbul Metro and Bosphorus Rail Tunnel Project. The modeling system followed the traditional four-step transportation planning process of trip generation, trip distribution, modal choice, and traffic assignment. Model calibration was based on the results of a nine person-year data collection effort that included sixteen different travel surveys. All of the data processing of surveys was done on microcomputers. The travel modeling system was used to evaluate a wide range of public transportation alternatives, ranging from improved express bus operations, light rail transit, a heavy rail (Metro) system, improved commuter rail service, and a rail tube tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait. The results of the model calibration efforts and the preliminary findings of the alternatives analysis are presented.


Advancements in robotics and autonomous systems are being deployed nowadays in many application domains such as search and rescue, industrial automation, domestic services and healthcare. These systems are developed to tackle tasks in some of the most challenging, labour intensive and dangerous environments. Inspecting structures (e.g. bridges, buildings, ships, wind turbines and aircrafts) is considered a hard task for humans to perform and of critical importance since missing any details could affect the structure's performance and integrity. Additionally, structure inspection is time and resource intensive and should be performed as efficiently and accurately as possible. Inspecting various structures has been reported in the literature using different robotic platforms to: inspect difficult to reach areas and detect various types of faults and anomalies. Typically, inspection missions involve performing three main tasks: coverage path planning, shape, model or surface reconstruction and the actual inspection of the structure. Coverage path planning ensures the generation of an optimized path that guarantees the complete coverage of the structure of interest in order to gather highly accurate information to be used for shape/model reconstruction. This article aims to provide an overview of the recent work and breakthroughs in the field of coverage path planning and model reconstruction, with focus on 3D reconstruction, for the purpose of robotic inspection.


Water relations of the photosynthetic tissue (chlorenchyma) and of the water-storage parenchyma were studied for well watered and droughted Opuntia ficus-indica, a crassulacean acid metabolism plant cultivated worldwide for its fruits and cladodes. For well watered plants, die1 changes in osmotic pressure were evident in the chlorenchyma. Droughting the plants for 4 months resulted in a massive loss of water from the cladodes, particularly from the water-storage parenchyma, which could lose up to 82% of the water present at full turgor without irreversible tissue damage. Pressure-volume curves indicated a decrease in the osmotic pressure at full turgor of about 0.1 MPa for the water-storage parenchyma cells during drought; such a decrease of osmotically active solutes was consistent with the appearance of large numbers of starch grains. The bulk modulus of elasticity was 0.36 MPa for the water-storage parenchyma cells and 2.5-fold higher for the chlorenchyma cells, which were smaller with thicker cell walls than the former cells. Mucilage, a polysaccharide occurring extracellularly, constituted about 14% of the cladode dry weight; it could hold more than 30% of the total water content of the water-storage parenchyma. Polymerisation of sugars, large elastic cells in the water-storage parenchyma and mucilage with its high water-holding capacity helped maintain a positive turgor in the photosynthetic tissue, even after 4 months of drought.


In the first part of this article, a bibliographical review in terms of concept including the terms culture, cultural diversity, transculturalism, multiculturalism and interculturalism will be developed. Once this is carried out, the importance that must be given to the cultural diversity in the class and how to give response to this diversity through the emotional education will be shown. Besides, emotional intelligence will be set out as a method to improve intrapersonal and interpersonal relations and to foster social skills. All this enriches and stimulates intercultural education seeking a transculturalism oriented towards a social inclusion in order to go forwards and achieve a transcultural society.


Abstract Species distribution and abundance depend on a balance between local and landscape-scale processes. To successfully manage populations in regions with anthropogenic disturbances and habitat fragmentation, an understanding of important processes at each of these spatial scales is important. We used a model selection approach to identify an effective spatial scale to manage the Idaho Giant Salamander, Dicamptodon aterrimus. We used data from field surveys to compare support for local and landscape-scale models that explain D. aterrimus occurrence and density in 40 streams distributed throughout the Lochsa River basin, Idaho. Local-scale models included covariates that reflect patch quality. Landscape-scale models included variables that reflect predictions from metapopulation theory about the importance of patch size, connectivity, and fragmentation. Our results suggest that landscape-scale processes are important controls on D. aterrimus occurrence and that this species has broad habitat requirements within streams. Specifically, we found that probability of D. aterrimus occurrence was highest in roadless drainages and lowest in spatially isolated streams and in drainages with high old-growth forest density. Surprisingly, we found that D. aterrimus density was greatest in streams with a high proportion of embedded substrate and fine sediment. The positive association with embedded substrate may reflect adaptation to a high frequency of natural disturbances, such as landslides, in our study area. We suggest that management and conservation efforts for this species focus on protecting roadless areas and restoring stream connectivity in human-impacted areas, rather than on only improving habitat quality within streams.


Territory were carried out. It was established that local virus strains showed efficacy that was significantly different from the reference samples. It has been revealed that during storage of the biomaterial for one year, dry GCM preparative forms are more stable.


Introduction: The antidepressants used can cause several adverse drug reactions (ADRs), some of which are fatal. Despite significant progress in understanding depressive disorders over the last decade, several issues related to disease diagnosis and effective clinical management remain unrecognized. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation of prescribing practices and pharmacovigilance studies is essential to underscore the rationality of medical care and to guide prescribing physicians and regulators to take corrective action. Aims/ objective: To highlight patterns of adverse drug reactions associated with antidepressant drug use. Materials and Method: Patients were screened for suspected ADRs and adverse event information was collected from patients and recorded in suspected drug reaction reporting form issued by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission. Reported adverse reactions were analyzed for suspected drug causality using the WHO-UMC causality categories. ADR preventability was analyzed using the modified Schumock and Thornton scales and severity was analyzed using the modified Hartwig and Siegel scales. Results: SSRIs (72.35%) were the most frequently prescribed, followed by TCA i.e., nortriptyline (19.92%) and SNRI (7.72%). Insomnia and restlessness (14.81%) were the most commonly reported side effects in our study. One report of orthostatic hypotension was found in a patient taking nortriptyline. Five cases of sexual dysfunction have been reported in patients taking SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Most of the side effects were probably drug-related, and most of them were moderate in severity and unpreventable. Conclusion: Side effects of dry mouth and blurred vision are more common with TCAs, whereas agitation and sexual dysfunction are more common with SSRIs, and nausea and fatigue are more common with newer antidepressants. Both clinicians and emergency medical staff should be aware of the various ADRs caused by antidepressants to reduce the morbidity.


This poster introduces the "BxBFFT" parallel-pipelined Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), which gives higher clock speeds (Fmax) than competitors with substantial savings in power and logic resources. In comparisons with the Xilinx SSR FFT, Spiral FFT, Astron FFT, and ZipCPU FFT, the BxBFFT had clock speeds above 650MHz in cases where all others were below 300MHz. The BxBFFT's LUTs and power were lower by a factor of ~1.5. The BxBFFT had faster Vivado implementation and faster RTL simulation, for improved productivity in design, testing, and verification. BxBFFT simulations were over 10 times faster than the Xilinx SSR FFT. The BxBFFT supports more features than other FFTs, including real-to-complex FFTs, non-power-of-2 FFTs, and features for high reliability in adverse environments. The BxBFFT's improved performance has been verified in real applications. One customer design had to operate with a reduced workload due to excessive current draw of the Xilinx SSR FFT. A quick replacement of the Xilinx SSR FFT with the BxBFFT lowered die temperature by 34.8 degree Celsius and allowed the design to operate under full load. The source of the BxBFFT's performance is intensive optimization of well-known FFT algorithms, not new algorithms. The BxBFFT's coding style gives better control over synthesis to avoid and resolve performance bottlenecks. Automated generation of top-level code supports 13 different choices for radix and 2 different choices for data flow at each stage, to make optimal choices for each BxBFFT size. This results in a highly efficient FFT.


Objectives:  To develop and evaluate nomograms to predict the pathological stage of clinically localized prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in Korean men.


Wang Mang's political tactics of imposing on oracles and primogenitors to replace Han Dynasty were characterized with feudal blood relationship, but his strategies of advocating legitimacy led to Chinese and Foreign regimes worshiping bloodline and obeying primogenitors to obtain legitimacy. The worship promoted national amalgamation in Patriarchal Clan system. Wang mang reformed the theory of "transfer of five elements" in virtue of the principle of mutual promotion of five elements. He realized, for the first time, the peaceful dynasty transfer with demise which was a new political approach to avoid bloody conflicts in regime change. Although Wang mang's reform failed for his eagerness for quick success and instant benefit and those bigoted ancient believes, his pioneer spirit in reform and the policy of benevolence had positive effect on the subsequent rulers. However, his faked auspicious signs catering to the belief and the policy of fooling people. Wang Mang's hypocrisy and intrigues were followed by subsequent political aspirants. The national discrimination and the wars against foreigners in his time intensified the contradictions between han and neighboring minolities and became the cause of nation-splitting wars in the period of Jin and Southern and Northern dynasties.


Graphene quantum dots, carbon nanomaterials with excellent fluorescence characteristics, are advantageous for use in biological systems owing to their small size, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility. We used the hydrothermal method to prepare functional N-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) from 1,3,6-trinitropyrene and analyzed their ability to fluorescently stain various bacteria. Our results showed that N-CQDs stain the cell septa and membrane of the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonellaenteritidis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus and the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. The optimal concentration of N-CQDs was approximately 500 ppm for Gram-negative bacteria and 1000 ppm for Gram-positive bacteria, and the exposure times varied with bacteria. N-Doped carbon quantum dots have better light stability and higher photobleaching resistance than the commercially available FM4-64. When excited at two different wavelengths, N-CQDs can emit light of both red and green wavelengths, making them ideal for bioimaging. They can also specifically stain Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial cell membranes. We developed an inexpensive, relatively easy, and bio-friendly method to synthesize an N-CQD composite. Additionally, they can serve as a universal bacterial membrane-staining dye, with better photobleaching resistance than commercial dyes.


The establishment of appointment system provided the basic institutional guarantee for the flow of university teachers during the period of Republic China. A two-way selection mechanism was established to accommodate both the teachers and universities' freedom of choices and the university teachers at that time could enjoy their academic freedom and independence. The university teacher' flow mechanism during the period of Republic China also included campus promotion mechanism,which was a longitudinal one. In addition,the transverse flow across the system appeared among university teachers,serving as an academic and political link in the flow of university teachers.


Pericardial diseases have diverse causes, which determine the different types of morphological involvement. A rare but specific entity is cholesterol pericarditis. This term is used in cases of chronic pericardial effusion with the presence of cholesterol crystals or an elevated concentration of cholesterol, or both 1. Cases associated with systemic diseases, such as tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and hypothyroidism have been reported, as have idiopathic cases. The objective of this study was to report a case of cholesterol pericarditis and review the medical literature.


In the 21st century due to sedentary lifestyle, irregular food habits like in taking of unwholesome food Virudhha quantity, quality and timings, one is always under tremendous mental stress this leads to gastric upset (Agniman- dya) which is said to be the root cause of various diseases like Grahani, Atisara and Pravahika. Pravahika is a disease characterized by straining in the process of passage of stool which is mainly by vitiated Vayu hence Vata- ja Pravahika is selected for our study and has a correlation with signs and symptoms of Amoebiasis which is a type of Dysentery. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of Bilva Taila Anuvasan Basti and also to compare the efficacy of Bilva Taila Anuvasan Basti and Laghu Gangadhar Choorna in the management of Vataja Pravahika. Materi- als and Methods: It was an open randomized trial study, and the current study was planned for 60 patients of Vataja Pravahika. Thirty patients (Group A) were treated with Anuvasan Basti along with Laghu Gangadhar Choorna and in other Thirty (Group B) were treated with Laghu Gangadhar Choorna only. Results and Conclu- sion: Individually both groups have given relief in cardinal signs and symptoms of Vataja Pravahika. Whilecomparing, it was statistically proved that Bilva Taila Anuvasan Basti (Group A) is more effective than Laghu Gangadhar Choorna (Group B) which shows the role /importance of Anuvasan Basti in the management of Vata- ja Pravahika.
Keywords: Vataja Pravahika, Amoebiasis, Bilva Taila Anuvasan Basti, Laghu Gangadhar Choorna


In Chinese word teaching as a foreign language,the color connotation of words and its cultural implications should be paid special attention to.In terms of the color meaning of the words,we should lay more emphasis on sentence teaching in which words are understood in contexts,on the collocation of words to cultivate the student's language sense,on the construction of words inventory,on the study of lexical theory,and on the color meaning teaching of idioms and new words.


Stabilized eolian sand is common over much of the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada, including a subhumid area of ~1500 km2 near Minot, North Dakota. Eolian landforms consist of sand sheets and northwest-trending parabolic dunes. Dunes and sand sheets in the Minot field are presently stabilized by a cover of prairie grasses or oak woodland. Stratigraphic studies and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of paleosols indicate at least two periods of eolian sand movement in the late Holocene. Pedologic data suggest that all of the dune field has experienced late Holocene dune activity, though not all parts of the dune field may have been active simultaneously. Similar immobile element (Ti, Zr, La, Ce) concentrations support the interpretation that eolian sands are derived from local glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sediments. However, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial source sediments have high Ca concentrations from carbonate minerals, whereas dune sands are depleted in Ca. ...


Abstract This paper concerns itself primarily with three questions: (i) What is the range of commonly used definitions for the internal rotation angle, and how do variations within this range affect intercomparisons among results from various laboratories? (ii) Do the force-constant and projected-frequency variations with internal rotation angle delivered by present commercial ab initio packages have sufficient precision to allow meaningful extraction of higher-order vibration–torsion–rotation interaction terms? (iii) What fraction of the extensive dynamics literature on vibrational frequencies along the chemical reaction path can be easily adapted for use in high-resolution spectroscopic studies of small-amplitude vibrations in methyl top internal rotor molecules? Aspects of these questions are discussed both from an algebraic and from a numerical computation point of view.


The aim of the study was to determine the influence of the implementation of job rotation on employees' perceived job satisfaction, and to identify the key factors that would influence the adoption of a job rotation strategy by the Registrar's environment of a University of Technology, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was chosen for this study. Primary data was collected through a combined focus and nominal group technique. The Registrar's environment at the University of Technology was used for the research. The Registrar's structure consists of three departments, of which the staff of only two departments were used in the focus groups. Purposive sampling was employed to invite 34 employees from the two departments, across five post levels. Three focus groups consisting of 22 participants (six to ten participants per group) were conducted. Methods used to capture data included digital recording and note taking. The raw data was converted into transcriptions, and analysed and interpreted through the Tesch's mechanics of interpretational qualitative content analysis. From the research conducted it was evident that the general feeling of participants was that the implementation of a job rotation strategy by the Registrar's environment would positively impact job satisfaction, should certain key factors be taken into consideration. A job rotation strategy should be well communicated to all employees and the involvement of all stakeholders, including employees, should be sought when such a strategy is developed.


Writing in the mid-twentieth century, Albert Camus observed that an epidemic is not just a medico-social problem; it also represents a rupture and crisis in everyday existence and calls into question our beliefs, habits, values and pleasures (Camus, 1947/1948). This remains somewhat true in the case of a sexual epidemic, more specifically of HIV/AIDS—an infectious disease that ravaged many millions of lives all over the world within a few years of its emergence and immediately became a phantasmatic site of anxiety, intervention, surveillance, racial and sexual politics. In considering HIV/AIDS as a medico-sexual construct, the body appears as 'an object or surface' (Butler, 1989, p. 601) and equally as an 'intentionally organized materiality' (Butler, 1988, p. 521), in the sense that bodies and pleasures become a 'strategic and discursive site' (Butler, 1999, p. 16) with numerous possibilities of materiality as evident in the unregulated proliferation of scientific, sexual and racial epistemologies in the discourse of HIV intervention. Apart from being a 'naturally given and utterly malleable' entity (Waldby, 2000, p. 465), biomedicine treats the diseased body as an object of medical knowledge and, at the same time, a fleshy subject that experiences pain, agony, satisfaction and pleasure (Mol and Law, 2004, p. 43). Science as Culture Vol. 21, No. 4, 561–565, December 2012


The transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)-induced transformation of keratocytes to myofibroblasts is a very common process during corneal wound healing, but a dysregulated TGF-β1 activity may induce unfavorable fibrosis and scar formation in the cornea. MicroRNA (miR)-21a-5p and Smad7 have been reported to play an important role in the fibrosis process. However, how miR-21a-5p involves in the TGF-β1-induced myofibroblasts transformation of keratocytes remains unclear. In the present study, we found an increase in the expressions of α-SMA and collagen I at protein level as well as Smad7 and miR-21a-5p at mRNA level when keratocytes were treated with TGF-β1Here; but the Smad7 at protein level kept unchanged. The overexpression of miR-21a-5p attenuated Smad7 protein expression, and miR-21a-5p inhibition promoted Smad7 protein expression without affecting its mRNA expression. Furthermore, inhibition of miR-21a-5p could decrease TGF-β1-inducedα-SMA expression, whereas the addition of Smad7 knockdown would rescue the expression of α-SMA. These results suggested that miR-21a-5p had a promoting effect on TGF-β1induced myofibroblast transformation of keratocytes by targeting Smad7 at its translation stage.


Two new genera and species of carpolestid plesiadapoids are described from early Eocene coal beds of the Wutu Formation, Wutu Basin, Shandong Province, People's Republic China. Chronolestes simul, n. gen. and sp., possesses a reduced P-3 and hypertrophied P-4 as do all carpolestids, but contrasts with other members of this family in lacking a bladelike, polycuspidate P-4. P3-4 of Chronolestes are structurally simpler, and almost certainly more primitive, than those of any other plesiadapoid. Chronolestes is interpreted as the sister group of all other carpolestids and forms the basis for the new, monotypic subfamily Chronolestinae. Carpocristes oriens, n. gen. and sp., is a dentally derived carpolestine characterized by triple median crests on P3-4 and an S-shaped blade on P-4. The closely related North American species ''Carpodaptes'' hobackensis and ''Carpodaptes'' cygneus are transferred here to the new genus Carpocristes. Relationships among species of Carpocristes are reconstructed as (C. cygneus (C. hobackensis, C. oriens)). Potential dental synapomorphies for Plesiadapoidea, including Plesiadapidae, Saxonellidae, and Carpolestidae, are identified for the first time. Within Plesiadapoidea, available evidence weakly supports the monophyly of a Plesiadapidae + Saxonellidae clade. Altanius orlovi from the early Eocene of Mongolia is unlikely to be either a plesiadapoid or a basal carpolestid. The fossil record of North American and Asian Carpolestidae suggests at least two episodes of trans-Beringian dispersal for members of this clade during the Paleocene. The timing of these dispersal episodes is weakly constrained, but middle Torrejonian (Chronolestes dade) and latest Tiffanian or earliest Clarkforkian (Carpocristes clade) dispersal events conform with inferences regarding trans-Beringian dispersal of other groups of Paleocene mammals. The recent hypothesis that competitive exclusion by rodents may have been a causal factor underlying carpolestid extinction in North America is called into question by the co-occurrence of two carpolestids and ctenodactyloid, alagomyid, and paramyid rodents at Wutu, together with the high probability that both carpolestids and rodents coexisted in Asia through much of the Paleocene.


THE relative activities of various compounds related to choline in preventing the deposition of fat in the livers of rats maintained on a diet high in fat and low in other lipotropic factors have been studied as a possible source of information as to the mode of action of choline itself & Smith, 1936; Channon et al. 1937; Welch, 1936; Welch & Welch, 1938]. The present paper records similar investigations of a number of other compounds. a


1 Ph.D. Student of Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran, 2 Professor, Faculty of Mining, Petroleum & Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran, 3 Professor, Faculty of Mining, Petroleum & Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran, 4 Master of science mining engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Iran, 5 Branch Manager of SGS, Tabriz, Iran, 6 Master of science mining engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran,


Jay Bildstein, an owner of Scores, the Manhattan sports and strip bar, presented a workshop at the exclusive St. Moritz Hotel in New York City entitled "How to Own, Manage, Run or Even Dance in a Topless Bar" (1992). His presentation was sponsored and advertised by the Learning Annex, a traditional adult education center. Early on in the session, Bildstein told his rapt and overflowing audience that female strippers can earn anywhere from $200 to $2,000 in tips per night. One of the workshop members raised his hand and blurted out that he could not understand why topless bar patrons would spend that much money "just to look at naked women." "What really goes on in those clubs?" he asked. Bildstein immediately reassured his audience that prostitution was a rare occurrence in middle-class and upscale strip establishments, specifically because most dancers earn far more than hookers and under much safer conditions. He admitted he wasn't exactly sure why his customers were willing to empty their wallets for what seemed to be relatively little in terms of traditional ideas about sexual satisfaction. "But, whatever the reason," Bildstein smiled, "it makes for good business." He and his audience then shook their heads in wonder over the mystery of the striptease industry-and the questions remained hanging in the air: What exactly are patrons buyingor buying into? What is going on between the spectators and the performers? A few years ago, I embarked on a study of white, middle-class, heterosexual (or mimetically heterosexual) female and male striptease events that took place in eight cities, and in more than 70 different strip bars, clubs, sex emporiums, and theatres in the United States and Canada.' As a former professional dancer and actor (from the Zurich Opera Ballet to OH! Calcutta! on Broadway), I have been keenly interested in live performances that center on the body, nudity, and sexual display, and in the theories that seek to explain them. During the three years of field research for this project, I attended gay, lesbian, and transsexual strip events as well.2 The eventual decision to limit the study to primarily "white, heterosexual, and mainstream" strip shows3 was the result of a provocative, reoccurring discussion that took place during the Women and Theatre Conferences from I990 to 1992. In this forum it was suggested that women who fall into the various categories of white, middle-class, and


One of the most pervasive critiques of Computational Complexity, coming from the applied Computer Science community, is that it is an abstract, largely irrelevant field, that fails to capture the various intuitions concerning the complexity of "real-world" instances they have gathered through experiments. One aspect of these intuitions is that while most problems of practical interest tend to be intractable from a standard complexity-theoretic point of view, in many cases such problems have natural "structural" parameters, and practically relevant instances are often associated with "small" values of these parameters.Parameterized Complexity is an extension of Complexity Theory that attempts to formalize and deal with this intuition. It has already been applied to fields such as Databases, Logic and Constraint Programming, Computational Biology, Nonmonotonic Reasoning, Natural Language Processing, Cognitive Science, and Robotics. Some of its ideas have even been discovered independently by practitioners working in these areas. We do not attempt a further presentation (the interested reader can consult two excellent surveys [DF99, DFS99]), but want to illustrate this point through a revealing example: it has long been known that the register-allocation problem for imperative programming language amounts to a coloring problem on the associated control-flow graph, thus it seems, at a first glance, hard even in an approximate sense. On the other hand Thorup [Th98] has shown that such graphs are characterized by a bounded value (at most 10) of an intrinsic parameter called treewidth, that guarantees the existence of an approximation algorithm with substantially better performance than the one available for general graphs.The present book is an attempt to a first presentation of this emerging area by two of its most active proponents.


In this article, the authors' discuss the key findings of their 2007 report, 'Allegations of family violence and child abuse in child-related disputes in family law proceedings', published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. This report was commissioned by the Attorney General's Department to examine the prevalence and nature of allegations of family violence and child abuse in family law children's proceedings; the extent to which alleging parties provided evidence in support of their allegations, and to which allegations were denied, admitted or left unanswered by the other party; and the extent to which court outcomes of post-separation parenting disputes appeared to be related to the presence or absence of allegations. The study investigated the records of 300 Family Court and Magistrate Court files in Victoria and South Australia from 2003. This article outlines the legal background and research methodology, and discusses the findings.


An HPLC method was established to separate and determine ephedrine (I), pseudoephedrine (II) and strychnine (III) in Chinese traditional medicine, Jiufen San, on a mu-Bondapak C18 column (10 microns, 3.9 mm x 30 cm) by using 0.01 mol/L KH2PO4-methanol as mobile phase. The programmed gradient elution was carried out and recoveries were determined as 98.94 +/- 2.2% for I, 97.37 +/- 1.9% for II and 100.7 +/- 1.9% for III respectively. An extracting and pretreatment method was designed and the result showed that the extracting efficiency of this method was 1.33 times (I) and 1.29 times (II) higher than those of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia method.


Abstract While both SMS and Usenet communication have been the subject of variousstudies in the past years, they have not been compared with each other.Hence, this study aims at discussing some fundamental differences betweenSMS and Usenet communication from an interactional linguistic, phenomenologicaland sociological point of view. In particular, it will show thatUsenet communication allows for the conversational construction of virtualspaces of action which can be characterized as "finite provinces of meaning"('geschlossene Sinngebiete') in the sense of Schütz, Luckmann andBerger. These virtual "finite provinces of meaning" emerge as a result ofcommunicative practices by which actors attribute local, temporal, behavioraland cultural dimensions to the "communication form" ('Kommunikationsform').In SMS communication, in contrast, such dimensions arenot linked directly to the communication form. The reason is that SMScommunication usually takes place between participants who know eachother and do not only communicate via SMS: As communication via SMSis not their primary, let alone exclusive, space of mutual interaction andsocial experience, they do not need to attribute local, temporal, behavioraland cultural dimensions of their social actions to the communication form.Usenet communication, in contrast, usually takes place between participantswho only have contact with each other within a certain domain ofthe Usenet which is characterized by specific thematic restrictions. In sucha context, it is natural to ascribe local, temporal, behavioral and culturaldimensions of social actions to the communication form (or its textualrepresentation) as the only space of mutual interaction and social experiencewhich is shared by all participants.


In experimental study confirmed the acceleration of wound healing and forming normotrophic scars tissue in laboratory animals using the transdermal administration of blood plasma 0 (I) by pulsed electrophoresis under the influence of an external magnetic field. It was established that the method proposed by the authors prevents the development of hypertrophic and keloid scars, and also stimulates tissue regeneration in the surgical area due to the activation of local regeneration processes.


As soon as Urumqi-Changji Economic Integration was put forward,it was attended by all sides at once.During the course of construction,the two governments ran together to carry out the integrated operation model of centralization management of finance and tax revenue.From view of transformation of governmental function,this paper discussed Urumqi-Changji economic development.


Gateways to Oldham is a £113 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI) that will ultimately have delivered more than 700 new and refurbished homes across five sites.


The authors report two cases of pustular miliaria occurring in children after episodes of fever, highlighting the history, noninfectious etiology, clinical characteristics, easy treatment and good prognosis.


Abstract Background DNA methylation abnormalities are pervasive in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs). The feasibility to detect these molecular alterations in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been reported for several central nervous system tumors but not across PitNETs. Hypothesis PitNET-specific methylation signatures detected in liquid biopsy specimens differentiate PitNETs from other sellar diseases. Method We profiled the cfDNA methylome (EPIC array) of 44 serum and 34 plasma liquid biopsy (LB) specimens from patients with PitNETs and other CNS (craniopharyngiomas, other pituitary diseases, gliomas, meningiomas) or nontumor conditions, grouped as non-PitNET. Results Our results indicated that, despite quantitative and qualitative differences between serum and plasma cfDNA composition, both sources of LB showed that patients with PitNETs presented a distinct methylome landscape compared to non-PitNETs. In addition, LB methylome captured epigenetic features reported in PitNET tissue. Using LB-derived PitNETs-specific signatures as input into a machine-learning algorithm, we generated a score that distinguished PitNETs from other pituitary and CNS diseases with high accuracy in an independent set. Conclusions Our results underpin the potential application of a methylation-based LB as a noninvasive approach to identify clinically relevant epigenetic markers to diagnose and potentially impact the management of patients with PitNETs. Presentation: No date and time listed


The aging of voltage limiting type SPD resulted from the distortion of Schottky barrier due to the ionic migration inside of ZnO varistor after analysis, thereby leading to increases of leakage current and varistor voltage. The change of varistor performance parameters before and after the aging is analyzed through the test of several groups of ZnO varistors under the aging environment. Following conclusions are made : ① Although reverse aging exists in varistor voltage and leakage current during the AC aging, the varistor voltage and leakage current tend to increase with the aging; ② The elevated temperature of varistor is related with heating time, applied current and degree of aging during the AC aging. Symmetric drift occurs to volt-ampere characteristic curve; ③ The internal resistance of varistor shows insignificant change and reduces locally after AC aging. The distributed capacitance,impedance and nonlinear coefficient change slightly.


Authors of the study consider the impact of software development team dynamics on Information System Development processes. It is determined that management should be based not only on the characteristics of projects but also on the personal characteristics of programmers according to the methodology of group dynamics and communications. An ontological model of the domain area is proposed as a basis of knowledge base to support management decisions.


Imprint mold for transferring a pattern of the pattern formed on the surface of the mold having elasticity in the layer to be transferred is pressed against the transferred layer formed on the transfer substrate (4) (5) (5) a is, by containing therein a weight member (3) in the central portion of the mold (1) having elasticity, Turning pattern formation surface in the vertical direction lower side, the pattern formation surface is elastically deformed in a convex curved surface since the mold (1) contacts the topmost to the transfer substrate (4) during the transfer, it is possible to prevent air bubbles from being mixed into the transfer surface.


This paper presents comments on the report of Dunn and colleagues on the estimates of risk of HIV transmission through breast- feeding. It questions the validity of extrapolating such estimates to developing countries. It is assumed that the risk of transmission through breast-feeding differs between traditional societies with predominant breast-feeding practice and industrialized societies where bottle-feeding predominates. Moreover summary estimate obtained by Dunn and colleagues would be higher and with wider confidence interval if it was not assumed that seropositive babies were infected via breast-feeding. The author also suggests the need to determine whether cultural practices affect the risk of transmission via breast-feeding. Moreover another author commented that the estimates of Dunn et al restrict the balance of their argument to the index infant in area with low infant mortality as well as noted the failure of Dunn et al to mention other beneficial effects of breast-feeding.


Abstract In this note we examine the relationships between a subnormal shift, the measure its moment sequence generates, and those of a large family of weighted shifts associated with the original shift. We examine the effects on subnormality of adding a new weight or changing a weight. We also obtain formulas for evaluating point mass at the origin for the measure associated with the shift. In addition, we examine the relationship between the measure associated with a subnormal shift and those of a family of shifts substantially different from the original shift.


This paper not only recommends means whereby principal-agent problems could be addressed, but also considers various ways in which the external auditor and audit committees contribute as corporate governance tools. The impact of bank regulations on risk taking and the need for a consideration of ownership structures are amongst other issues which are considered. In acknowledging the issues raised by ownership structures, it considers theories such as the banking theory and corporate governance theory. It also considers other alternatives whereby risk taking could be controlled. In recommending the external auditor's expertise to address principal agent problems, it draws attention to the audit committee's roles, both as a vital and complementary corporate governance tool, and also considers recurring problems which still persist with some financial reporting standards. It also highlights the importance of measures which need to be in place if the external auditor's contribution to corporate governance is to be maximised.


The Groovy Plug-in for the Eclipse IDE features a number of automated refactorings, that were realized in a bachelor thesis at the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil. Although Groovy and Java code can be used mutually in projects, the already implemented refactorings are limited to Groovy code. In this subsequent bachelor thesis the Groovy Eclipse Plug-in was extended by Crosslanguage Refactorings: If either a Groovy or a Java element is renamed, both languages are respected throughout the complete refactoring process. Our achieved goal was to support all possible rename actions, no matter in which language the element to be refactored was defined. As a result, the Groovy Eclipse Plug-in offers a higher level of integration with the Java Development Tools and more productivity for Groovy developers. Due to automated testing over complete development process, our solution is ready for production use and will be submitted to the official plug-in maintainers.


Although Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt championed economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in the 1940s, the United States has been ambivalent towards ESCR for the past few decades. The United States Constitution does not recognise such rights, and although President Jimmy Carter signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1977, the United States Senate has not yet ratified the treaty and is unlikely to do so in the near future. Notably, a similar situation exists in South Africa, which has yet to ratify the ICESCR, despite having signed it more than 16 years ago. Unlike the United States Constitution, however, the South African Constitution provides for justiciable socioeconomic rights.


We study the current-voltage characteristic of narrow superconducting strips in the gapless regime near the critical temperature in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau model. Our focus is on its instabilities occurring at high current biases. The latter are consequences of dynamical states with periodic phase-slip events in space and time. We analyze their structure and derive the value of the reentrance current at the onset of the instability of the normal state. It is expressed in terms of the kinetic coefficient of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation and calculated numerically.


Bilirubin (BR) can inhibit cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity. To investigate the mechanism of BR neurotoxicity, we studied the effect of BR on production of dopamine, a neuro-transmitter whose synthesis is stimulated by cyclic AMP (c-AMP). We used a synaptosome (SYN) preparation to study dopamine synthesis rate (DSR); in vitro. SYNs, the biochemically functional units of synapses, were isolated by differential centrifugation from the corpus striatum of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. DSR was quantitated by 14CO2 produced after addition of the labeled precursor, L-(l- 14C) tyrosine. The effect of BR was assessed at 4 different BR concentrations under 2 experimental conditions: basal DSR and 2mM dibutyryl c-AMP (db c-AMP) stimulated DSR. Results as noted in figures, were expressed as % of basal DSR and compared against matched controls. We conclude that while BR has no effect on basal DSR, it does dampen the db c-AMP stimulated synthesis of dopamine in vitro. The data provide evidence for an inhibitory effect of BR on protein kinase-mediated neuro-transmitter synthesis activation.


Language learners have come to an era in which studying outside the classroom is well-facilitated by technology development. Along with this advancement, there is a wider chance to learn things outside the classroom, including language. In the Indonesian context, many students have done wider exploration to improve their English exposure through various activities. This study aims to reveal the learning strategies done by a successful EFL learner through case study research. The result shows that online games, e-books, and movies are some of the prominent learning tools of  Language Learning Beyond the Classroom (LLBC) to enhance language exposure and learners' autonomy.


Neuralnetworks haverecently gained attention aspowerful vehicles tomicrowave modeling, simulation, and optimization. A hybridneural networkstructure incorporating priorcircuit knowledge isproposed formodeling microwave components. Intheproposed structure, asubneural network establishes themapping between original modelinput spaceandapproximate circuit model input space. Theneural network canlearn such complicated space-mapping bytra g ithEM simulation data.Thehybridneuralmodelsare computationally efficient andhaveanaccuracy that is comparable to EM simulation. The proposed methodology iSdemonstrated throughpractical microwave modeling examples.


The spectral dynamics of photoexcited myoglobin (Mb) and its ligated species have been measured using both single wavelength and broadband continuum probes. Ultrafast spectral relaxation of the deoxy photoproduct involves an initially broadened and red-shifted absorption band, which is observed for all samples studied (deoxyMb, metMb, MbNO, MbCO). These results are consistent with an immediate (sub 100 fs) relaxation to the electronic ground state followed by vibrational equilibration. Relaxation of the "hot" photoproduct spectrum is well described using independent time scales for narrowing (400 fs) and blue shifting (0.4−4 ps) as the system returns to equilibrium. A previous multiple electronic intermediate state model, which is based on single wavelength measurements (Petrich, J. W.; Poyart, C.; Martin, J. L. Biochemistry 1988, 27, 4049), does not adequately explain the observed broadband spectral dynamics, particularly on the blue side of the Soret band (unless still more electronic states are postula...


Word-final /t/-deletion refers to a common phenomenon in spoken English where words such as /wEst/ "west" are pronounced as [wEs] "wes" in certain contexts. Phonological variation like this is common in naturally occurring speech. Current computational models of unsupervised word segmentation usually assume idealized input that is devoid of these kinds of variation. We extend a non-parametric model of word segmentation by adding phonological rules that map from underlying forms to surface forms to produce a mathematically well-defined joint model as a first step towards handling variation and segmentation in a single model. We analyse how our model handles /t/-deletion on a large corpus of transcribed speech, and show that the joint model can perform word segmentation and recover underlying /t/s. We find that Bigram dependencies are important for performing well on real data and for learning appropriate deletion probabilities for different contexts. 1


A modification to an empirical food freezing time prediction formula is proposed that allows the formula to be used for a range of final product temperatures. Over a large data set (275 runs) the percentage difference between experimentally measured times and predictions has a mean of 0.2% and a standard deviation of 6.8% for the improved formula compared to -2.4% and 8.5%, respectively, prior to modification. Ninety percent of the predicted freezing times by the new method were within ± 11% of the experimentally measured times and ± 9% of predictions by an accurate finite difference scheme. This performance compares favorably with other published freezing time prediction methods. The same type of modification for varying final product temperature may be suitable for other empirical formulae.


Abstract : This thesis explores the possible uses of the MINOTAUR mobility model in evaluating strategic lift. Specifically, a response surface is developed for MINOTAUR which examines the effects of varying levels of aircraft and mobilization warning time on strategic lift. Four aggregate measures of effectiveness are proposed and tested for validity. Multivariate analysis is used to explore the true dimensionality of the four aggregate MOEs as well as twelve other model output measures. Assessments are made as to the underlying factors which give rise to the measures of effectiveness, and the validity of those measures. Keywords: Factor analysis.


Power for the two new high-power radio transmitters housed in KDKA's new quarters is obtained from a special 1,500-kva. outdoor substation. Included in the power equipment is a twelve-phase, 900-kw., 30-kv., mercury-cathode tube rectifier, the largest of its type yet built for radio.


Introduction: Houses Founded on the Sea Emerson's Paralogical Currents Fuller's Metamorphoses Melville and the Ungraspable Phantom Thoreau Over the Deep Whitman's Atoms Conclusion: Clouds Over the Ocean


Worldwide, the growth rate of Internet users is about 20 percent per year. In developing countries this growth rate is closer to 40–50 percent. One of the main challenges for the future of information and communication technologies is reduction of the power consumption in telecommunication networks. We introduce the different network architectures and the design parameters that define their power consumption. Based on these parameters the power consumption is then quantified. We elaborate on approaches for the reduction of power consumption and best communication


The symmetry of the chemical structure of the title compound, C 23 H 16 O 4 , is not preserved in the crystal structure ; two conformational isomers are present as required by the centrosymmetry of the space group. The naphthalene components are splayed away from each other and twisted in order to separate the aromatic H atoms H14 and H26. The chevron-shaped molecules are stacked on top of one another. Four such stacks (two antiparallel pairs) are apparent when the unit cell is viewed along the z axis. Both the conformation of the molecule and the orientation of the oxocine (O1 and O7) and phenolic (O18 and O27) O atoms, as defined by the vector from C4 to C6 (the methano bridgehead atoms), are reversed between adjacent molecules within each steack. This orientation reversal stacks the oxocine O atoms and the phenolic O atoms from neighboring molecules roughly on top of each other and places all O atoms, along with all hydrogen bonds, near the planes y=±n/2. The two intermolecular hydrogen bonds per molecule involve only the phenolic O atoms. Energy minimization of the crystal structure with MOPAC [Stewart (1983). QCPE No. 455. Indiana Univ. USA] yields much the same structure. The proximity of H atoms H14 and H26 to each other and the phenolic rings of the opposite naphthalene components, even with the distortion, is sufficient to explain the downfield shift of 1.1 p.p.m. observed for these protons in NMR spectrum.


Using the activity-travel survey data of Shangyu, a typical medium sized city of China, this paper describes the development, estimation and interpretation of a model relating to socio-demographics, activity participation and travel behavior, A complex set of interrelationships among the variables of interest is estimated simultaneously using the structural equation modeling methodology, with activity participation and travel behavior endogenous to the model. The results show that strong relationships exist between sociodemographic characteristics and activity-travel behavior. Besides, the results reveal trade-offs between in-home and outof-home activity participation when people are facing decisionmaking. Furthermore, it is also found that socio-demographics not only directly affect travel behavior but also indirectly influence travel behavior through activity participation. The findings contribute to better understanding and analyzing individuals' activity-travel behavior. Furthermore, they are helpful to the formulation of scientific transportation policies and significant to studies on activity-based travel demand forecasting method.


By clinical treatments and observation of hand-navicular fractures of athletes, the authors find that the combination of correcting and binding, external administrating with Chinese medicine and function exercising can lead to the best effect to cure this kind of injury. It is a good method by comparing the injured side with the normal side, using the joint measures to test the exercise range of the radio-wrist: we can judge the curative effect according to above norms.


Accessible online at: www.karger.com/journals/aha The beginning and the end of Bruno Speck's scientific career were milestones in the history of severe aplastic anaemia (SAA). In the early 70s, when Bruno Speck became involved with SAA, the disease had just begun to emerge as a distinct entity with an invariably fatal outcome in its severe form. Though diagnosis was possible, the available therapeutic tools failed to alter the course of the disease; spontaneous remissions were extremely rare. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) brought new hope. Bruno Speck set out to change the poor outlook for patients with SAA and to explore the use of antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) for patients not eligible for BMT. Together with the haematology community, he achieved a major therapeutic breakthrough. Today, SAA has lost its stigma as a fatal disease, the prognosis for individual patients is excellent. However, many problems remain and we are again at a crossroads with the disease. The near future may change our concepts of SAA, both in terms of the understanding of its pathophysiology and the development of new or more specific therapeutic tools. The solution to 'Damaschek's riddle', i.e. the cause for the close connection between SAA, paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria and myelodysplastic syndrome may become unravelled. New haematopoietic growth factors or new combinations of cytokines may turn out to be more effective than those currently in use. Prevention of apoptotic death of stem cells as a logical approach may prove beneficial. Stem cell transplantation as a curative treatment of SAA is developing rapidly. Traditional BMT has been supplemented by extension of the pool of potential donors and the detection of new possible sources of stem cells. Through rapidly expanding registries of unrelated donors and cord blood banks together with refined HLA typing and recognition of 'permissible' mismatches, it may soon become possible to find an appropriate stem cell graft for the majority of SAA patients. In addition, toxicity of the procedure is likely to be reduced by the use of low-intensity conditioning regimens in the near future, which may provide a 'graft-versus-aplasia' effect with less unwanted side-effects. The recent detection of cells in the brain capable of haematopoietic reconstitution opens a new experimental world: theoretically, the deficient haematopoietic stem cell pool in SAA might be restored by autochthonous stem cells, which are unlikely to be affected by the disease. Such an approach appears futuristic at the present time and may never be realized in the form that we now anticipate. However, looking at the fascinating history of ALG in retrospect, I conclude that the potential of 'new' possibilities is essentially unpredictable. Originally, ALG was thought to be beneficial in SAA by preventing rejection and graft-versus-host disease after transplantation of mismatched bone marrow. Only later did it become clear that ALG itself was the active principle as an immunosuppressant. Thus, the concept was wrong but the application right. The serendipity of investigators, collaboration of different teams involved in the investigation of the concept, the effort to collect international data, and creativity of the mind towards their correct interpretation contributed independently to the ultimate success of ALG. It is likely that future improvements in the treatment of SAA will depend on a similar 'mix of ingredients'.


Objective To analyse the association between the daily duration of rehabilitation for inpatients with sporadic inclusion body myositis and improvement in activities of daily living, using a Japanese nationwide inpatient administrative claims database. Methods Data were extracted regarding inpatients with sporadic inclusion body myositis who had undergone rehabilitation between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2021. The mean daily duration of rehabilitation was categorized into 2 groups: > 1.0 h (longer rehabilitation) and ≤ 1.0 h (shorter rehabilitation). The main outcome was improvement in activities of daily living from admission to discharge, measured using the Barthel Index. For the main analysis, a generalized linear model was used. Results In total, 424 patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the study. The main analysis found a significant difference in improvement in activities of daily living between the longer rehabilitation and shorter rehabilitation groups after adjusting for confounders (risk ratio (95% confidence interval), 1.37 (1.06–1.78)). Conclusion A longer daily duration of rehabilitation results in improved activities of daily living for inpatients with sporadic inclusion body myositis. LAY ABSTRACT Sporadic inclusion body myositis is a slowly progressive inflammatory myopathy. There is no known effective systemic therapy for sporadic inclusion body myositis; hence rehabilitation plays an important role in standard care for most patients. Although rehabilitation is currently provided to inpatients with the condition, there is almost no evidence for an association between the daily duration of rehabilitation and improvement in activities of daily living. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the daily duration of rehabilitation for inpatients with sporadic inclusion body myositis and improvement in activities of daily living, using a nationwide administrative database in Japan. The results show that a longer daily duration of rehabilitation results in improved activities of daily living for inpatients with sporadic inclusion body myositis.


Arsenic (As) is an ubiquitously distributed environmental toxicant predominantly contaminating drinking water. A number of studies indicated that oral exposure of humans to inorganic As produced damage to various body tissues including liver. Oxidative stress is thought to play a major role in As-induced hepatotoxicity. In this study, Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy approach was applied to determine whether chronic As exposure at 25 ppm, intragastrically for 12 weeks, affected oxidative stress status in rat liver. Data demonstrated that chronic As administration exacerbated oxidative stress as was evidenced by suppressed antioxidant defense system and increased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. The FTIR study showed that peak area value of amide A decreased significantly followed by reduced amide I and amide II peak area in an As-treated rat liver suggesting altered protein profile. The change of Olefinic˭CH stretching band and C˭O stretching of triglycerides band indicated the altered lipid levels due to metallic exposure. The fall in the peak area of PO2− asymmetric stretching in the As-treated group might be due to compositional changes of nucleic acids. Hence, the results of this study indicate that As-induced oxidative stress was associated with structural and molecular modifications in proteins, lipids, and glycogen in a rat liver that may help to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying metal-mediated hepatic damage.


MoO2 nano-arrays were simply prepared by reduction of thermally diffused MoO3 on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The structure and morphology of the nano-arrays were studied by XRD, SEM, TEM and HRTEM. The results showed that, after hydrogenation of the evaporates under 600 ℃ in H2/N2 mixture, single crystalline MoO2 nanotubes/nanowires were produced on 70 urn AAO template, while on 50 nm AAO template yielded was the piling-up of MoO2 nanocrystallites in nanotubes. Addition of ethanol into the powdered MoO3 precursors greatly improved the morphology of the nanowires. Further reduction of MoO2 at above 650 ℃ in H2 led to the production of Mo nanotube arrays.


The present work aims to analyze the book "Dolo como compromisso cognitivo", by Eduardo Viana. First, a brief overview of how the work is structured is made. Then, we move on to the summarized exum of the main points that the work points against the will as an element of dolus, followed by a summary overview of the author's main reasons for dolus as knowledge of the danger. Then, the criteria set in the work for the identification of dolus are exposed, with, in the end, a very brief analysis of the work.


been conducted in an untested context. Also, the investigated public universities can enhance their knowledge management Practices by implementing knowledge-oriented leadership style.


...................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION .....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi PART I. CRAFT ESSAY: FINDING YOURSELF IN THE SHADOWS – COUNTERPOINTED CHARACTERIZATION AND THE SHADOW-SELF IN BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA, SULA, AND FAITHFUL ................................1 II. AT THE END OF MAGNOLIA STREET ....................................18 Chapter One ...................................................................................19 Chapter Two...................................................................................25 Chapter Three.................................................................................35 Chapter Four ..................................................................................45 Chapter Five ...................................................................................54 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................63 VITA ..................................................................................................................................65


413Background: Prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) have been identified in pts receiving post-platinum chemotherapy for advanced UC, but it is unknown whether these factors and/or others optimally predict OS for pts treated with PD1/PD-L1 inhibitor therapy. Methods: Pt level data from two UC salvage trials evaluating atezolizumab were used: IMvigor210 (n = 310) for training and PCD4989g (n = 95) for validation. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association of the prognostic factors recognized in the chemotherapy setting (ECOG performance status [ECOG-PS], liver metastasis (LM), anemia, treatment-free interval, albumin), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), eosinophil count, platelet count (PLT), site of primary/metastases, stage at diagnosis, smoking, LDH, prior therapies and immune cell PD-L1 status by IHC with OS. Clinical factors were dichotomous and lab values normalized by logarithmic transformation as needed. Stepwise selection was employed t...


This study aimed to identify the main difficulties related to self-injection of insulin. This is a literature review, with a qualitative approach, of a descriptive nature, carried out using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) tool, through the online search of national and international studies, in the period of July from 2023 to August 2023. Based on eligibility for the review, a total of 8 articles were selected for the study. According to the articles selected and analyzed, it is observed that the main difficulties are knowing the dosage, homogenization, lack of concrete information about this process, storage of the medicine and acceptance of the disease. The application of insulin was the most found in the studies, which is related to pain and fear, so this fact reflects on the patient's self-confidence in managing their condition and consequently impairing their quality of life. Therefore, health professionals play an important role in the self-management of patients with diabetes, since support for self-administration of insulin is a necessary component in the care of people with chronic diseases.


In the title molecule, C24H19NO6S, the heterocyclic thiazine ring adopts a half-chair conformation with the S and N atoms displaced by 0.180 (5) and 0.497 (5) Å, respectively, on opposite sides of the mean plane formed by the remaining ring atoms. The benzene rings of the benzothiazine unit and the methoxyphenyl group are almost coplanar, with the dihedral angle between the mean planes of these rings being 5.9 (2)°, while the benzene ring of the 2-oxo-2-phenylethyl group is inclined at 79.68 (11) and 81.01 (10)°, respectively, to these rings. The molecular structure is consolidated by intramolecular O—H⋯O and C—H⋯N interactions, and the crystal packing is stabilized by weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.


Since 2014, Formula 1 racing cars have been equipped with a hybrid electric power unit composed of an electrically turbocharged internal combustion engine and an electric motor used for boosting and regenerative braking. The energy management system that controls this hybrid electric powertrain strongly influences the achievable lap time, as well as the consumption of fuel and battery energy. In this thesis we study models and control strategies to achieve the best possible lap time. First, we identify a convex model of the power unit and use it to numerically assess the time-optimal control strategies. Second, we leverage the convex model to analytically derive a time-optimal control policy that can be implemented on the ECU in a feedforward fashion and in compliance with the sporting regulations. Third, we develop two feedback control algorithms to counteract disturbances and track the optimal strategies in a laptime-optimal way: the first one in the form of a two-level optimality tracking MPC scheme, and the second one inspired by ECMS and consisting of PID controllers continuously adjusting the optimal control policy in real-time. We perform numerical tests using convex and high-fidelity simulation environments to validate the optimality and the robustness of the proposed control approaches under realistic disturbances.


In 1977 Somalia invaded Ethiopia hoping to seize the Ogaden, an Ethiopian region predominantly inhabited by ethnic Somali. Histories of this event are rare and focus exclusively on the political and military aspects of the conflict. This is not surprising given the Cold War backdrop of the conflict. This article, however, shifts the focus away from the political towards the personal. Focus here is on the different roles Ogadeni women took up in the Somali-Ethiopian war, also known as the Ogaden war. Through interviews with former actors in the conflict it became clear that women occupied a range of roles in the war, varying from victims or care-givers to active participants in militias and front-line combat. In conflicts today, Somali women still retain many of these roles. Originally some Somalis did oppose this state of affairs, today most seem to have accepted the phenomenon of female actors in the Ogaden war, even though that approval can be linked with a political agenda. Both Ogadeeni and Somali women were active in the war, transcending Somali clan lines along the way. Accounts of the women interviewed illustrate the effects of their choice to participate in the Ogaden war.


Multimedia technique application is one of means in modern teaching,to present students with a wonderful impression and arouse theirs interests in study,which adopts simple words,vivid images,pleasant sounds and other multimedia techniques.Reasonable multimedia techniques application in educational teaching is very useful to solve keydifficult points in classroom and improve teaching quality.


This chapter discusses the following topics: conservation agriculture as the way forward for sustainable agricultural production; definition and concept of conservation agriculture; and the global history, current status and prospects of conservation agriculture. The chapter also includes reports of research studies conducted on: soil and water conservation; soil quality; rainwater use efficiency; nutrient use efficiency; input use efficiency; insect-pest, disease and weed dynamics; crop productivity; climate change mitigation and adaptation; benefits at ecosystem level; and farm profitability


The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of gender and race/ethnicity disproportionality among students identified as having learning disabilities (LD) and to investigate relationships between disproportionality and sociodemographic factors. Using nationally representative data collected by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, this study examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, and sociodemographic factors on the proportion of students who are identified as having LD. Results indicated a clear association between ethnicity and gender and the odds of being identified as a student with LD. Sociodemographic factors for a school district were also found to be strongly associated with the proportion of students identified as having LD. A logistic regression model that included the nine sociodemographic variables, gender, and race, was significantly better at predicting LD identification than a model that included sociodemographic predictors alone. Adjusted odds ratios illustrated how the likelihood of identifying LD changes when sociodemographic influences are taken into account. Findings indicated that both individual student characteristics and district sociodemographic characteristics are important in determining the likelihood of LD identification and that the impact of the sociodemographic characteristics is different for each of the gender-ethnicity groups.


1 The pharmacological characteristics of the κ‐opioid receptor agonist, EMD 60400, have been investigated, with particular reference to its central and peripheral sites of action and its ability to influence nociception. The κ agonists ICI 197067 and ICI 204448 were tested for purposes of comparison. 2 EMD 60400 and ICI 197067 bind with high affinity (IC50 values of 2.8 and 1.5 nm, respectively) and high selectivity to κ‐opioid receptors. ICI 204448 has a lower binding affinity (IC50 13.0 nm) and selectivity for κ‐opioid receptors. 3 EMD 60400, ICI 197067, and ICI 204448 are full and potent agonists in the rabbit vas deferens in vitro assay for κ‐opioid receptors (IC50 values of 41.8, 15.7 and 15 nm, respectively). 4 Ex vivo binding experiments in mice revealed that EMD 60400 and ICI 197067 were well taken up after s.c. administration. Brain levels of EMD 60400 were lower than those of ICI 197067 at comparable doses, indicating that EMD 60400 does not penetrate into the CNS as well as ICI 197067. 5 Haloperidol‐induced DOPA accumulation in the nucleus accumbens of the rat was dose‐dependently reversed by s.c. application of EMD 60400 and ICI 197067 at doses of and above 3 and 0.3 mg kg−1, respectively. ICI 204448 had no effect on DOPA accumulation at 30 mg kg−1, s.c. 6 Prolongation of hexobarbitone‐induced sleeping time in mice and motor impairment in the rat rotarod test were observed for EMD 60400 at doses above 3 and 2.5 mg kg−1, s.c., respectively, and for ICI 197067 at doses above 0.3 and 0.25 mg kg−1, s.c., respectively. ICI 204448 was inactive in these tests at doses of 30 and 100 mg kg−1, s.c., respectively. 7 EMD 60400 applied s.c. produced dose‐dependent naloxone‐reversible antinociception in the mouse formalin test (1st and 2nd phase ID50 0.44 and 0.47 mg kg−1, respectively) and rodent writhing test (ID50 mouse 0.55 mg kg−1 and rat 0.3 mg kg−1). Furthermore, EMD 60400 was considerably more potent in the rat pressure pain test after the induction of inflammation with carrageenin than under normalgesic conditions (ID50 values 0.1 μg kg−1 and 4.0 mg kg−1, s.c., respectively). The action of EMD 60400 (50 μg kg−1, s.c.) in the hyperalgesic pressure pain test was completely antagonized by injection of the κ‐opioid antagonist, norbinaltorphimine (100 μg) into the inflamed tissue, thus demonstrating the peripheral opioid nature of this effect. 8 EMD 60400 produced dose‐dependent inhibition of neurogenic plasma extravasation elicited by antidromic electrical stimulation of the rat saphenous nerve (ID50 value 0.3 mg kg−1, i.v.). This inhibition was completely antagonized by intraplantar injection of norbinaltorphimine (50 μg). 9 EMD 60400, ICI 197067, and ICI 204448 have diuretic effects in rats at doses of and above 0.1, 0.01, and 0.3 mg kg−1, s.c., respectively. An antidiuretic action was also observed with ICI 197067 at very low doses (3 and 6 μg kg−1, s.c.). 10 Pharmacological and biochemical data therefore indicate that the three κ‐opioid receptor agonists tested here have different tendencies to elicit centrally‐mediated sedation and putative aversion (ICI 197067 > EMD 60400 > ICI 204448) which correspond to their ability to cross the blood‐brain barrier. EMD 60400 combines high affinity and selectivity for the κ receptor with a degree of peripheral selectivity. The peripheral actions of systemically‐applied EMD 60400 against hyperalgesic pressure pain and neurogenic inflammation are very probably mediated by opioid receptors on the endings of sensory nerve fibres.


The integration of China's sporting goods industry into the global value chain (GVC) has brought opportunities for the development of the industry. However, the both-ends-abroad OEM production mode is "locked" in the low value-added processing and production link in the GVC, which is located at the lowest end of the GVC. When international financial crisis breaks out, the orders of domestic OEM companies decrease significantly, which directly affects the development of the companies. Thus, it indicates that China's sporting goods OEM companies should not rely too much on international processing and export trade, but to rely on the local market to build a national value chain (NVC), integrate domestic and foreign sellers and suppliers and form an orderly product competition and certain market share ability through corporate mergers and acquisitions, product outsourcing, etc. Through the leverage of NVC, leading companies can achieve the expansion of the competitive advantages. Cultivate domestic multinational companies that can compete with international multinational companies in NVC, so that they can focus on the governance and control of the core links of the value chain, realize independent product research and development, brand and sales channel construction, support and help small and medium-sized domestic enterprises take the path of professional development in NVC, actively guide and encourage cooperation with the core to create value chain advantages, and achieve win-win cooperation and products' functional upgrade.


Studies on invasive plant management are often short in duration, are limited in the methods tested, and lack an adequate description of plant communities that replace the invader following removal. Here we present a comprehensive review of management studies on a single species, in an effort to elucidate future directions for research in invasive plant management. We reviewed the literature on Phragmites management in North America in an effort to synthesize our understanding of management efforts, identify gaps in knowledge and improve efficacy of management. Additionally, we assessed recent ecological findings concerning Phragmites mechanisms of invasion and integrate these findings into our recommendations for more effective management. Our overall goal is to examine whether or not current management approaches can be improved and whether they promote reestablishment of native plant communities. We found: (1) little information on community-level recovery of vegetation following removal of Phragmites; and (2) most management approaches focus on the removal of Phragmites from individual stands or groups of stands over a relatively small area. With a few exceptions, recovery studies did not monitor vegetation for substantial durations, thus limiting adequate evaluation of the recovery trajectory. We also found that none of the recovery studies were conducted in a landscape context, even though it is now well documented that land-use patterns on adjacent habitats influence the structure and function of wetlands, including the expansion of Phragmites. We suggest that Phragmites management needs to shift to watershed scale efforts in coastal regions, or larger management units inland. In addition, management efforts should focus on restoring native plant communities, rather than simply eradicating Phragmites stands. Wetlands and watersheds should be prioritized to identify ecosystems that would benefit


Many authors emphasize the fundamental and practical importance of investigation of the low-frequency rhythm in the brain and cardiac signals that correlate with the activity of the autonomic control of circulation. However complexity, nonstationarity and high nonlinearity of the system complicate the research and require application of the specialized methods. This study aims to compare the methods of coupling detection that were adapted to the detection of coupling between the loops of autonomic control of circulation. The analysis of the data from healthy subject demonstrated that the methods based on the analysis of phase dynamics and coherence function calculations are adequate for the investigation of coupling patterns in the autonomic control of circulation. However the results of both methods require the control of statistical significance.