Background and purpose: The aim of this research was to assess the depression syndrome in male prisoners and its relationship with self-esteem and social support in a Shiraz-based prison. Materials and methods: In this correlational study, 82 male prisoners in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz were randomly selected and the Beck Depression Inventory, Coopersmith self-esteem Questionnaire and Social Support Questionnaire were completed for them. Data was analyzed using Stepwise Multiple Regression and Pearson Correlation coefficient. Results: %93.9 of prisoners had mild to severe depression and it was significant in relation with self-esteem and depression (P<0.001), however, the relationship between depression and social support was not significant. Results of multiple regression showed that self-esteem is a predictive factor for depression in prisoners (β=-0.505, P<0.001) while social support showed no significant relationship. Conclusion: According to the high prevalence of depression syndrome in prisoners, it is suggested that providing psychological services may decrease the prevalence of depression in male prisoners.


Modern swine production faces many challenges nowadays, among which are productivity growth, meat quality improvement, decrease of environmental damage and reduction of cost production. Pigs spend energy vocalizing, especially when they undergo stress. The waste of energy can increase the cost of production and lead to greater environmental damage. The goal of this study was to estimate the energy spent by pigs under the stress of castration and its effect on the animals' weight gain. Two groups of ten animals each were castrated, being one group with local anesthesic and the other without anesthesic. The piglets' vocalizations were recorded during different stages of the neutering process, being object of an estimate of the amount of energy emitted during each vocalization. Afterwards, this energy was associated with the animals' weight gain. There was no difference in the total energy spent in both groups, since the energy used during the application of anesthesic was similar to the energy spent during the castration of the animals without anesthesic. There was also no correlation between energy spent and the animals' weight gain. It was possible to estimate the amount of energy emitted through vocalization. This energy spent by piglets in pain was greater than in other handling situations.


The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, was, at the turn of the Twentieth Century, a global phenomenon with 100,000 members. New Age philosopher Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was appointed as the first Secretary General of the German Section of the Theosophical Society on 19 October 1902. The Theosophical Society offered Rudolf Steiner a platform, a ready-made audience, infrastructure, and the insider experience of the world's leading New Age spiritual society. The success of the Theosophical Society demonstrated that there was a public appetite to hear about reincarnation, karma, maya, kamaloca, and other Eastern and alternative spiritual ideas. The Theosophical Society provided Rudolf Steiner a capable, multilingual, and determined personal assistant, Marie von Sivers (1867-1948). For Rudolf Steiner the Theosophical Society offered the perfect training ground for what would be, a decade later, his life's work, the Anthroposophical Society. Rudolf Steiner grew the membership of the German Section of the Theosophical Society from 377 in 1905 to 3,702 in 1913. He earned cash from ticketing of his lectures and his Mystery plays, and from book sales of his personal publishing house, 'Philosophisch-Theosophischer Verlag'. Another enterprise, the 'Johannes-Bau-Verein' (Johannes Building Association) was founded in 1911, independent of the Theosophical Society, to build a theatre in Munich to present Rudolf Steiner's plays. The building application was rejected by the Munich municipal authorities in 1912. The resistance to a build in Munich, provided impetus for the move to build in Dornach, Switzerland. The Anthroposophical Society was founded 28 December 1912 in Cologne, Germany. Most of the members of the German Section of the Theosophical Society members followed Rudolf Steiner into the Anthroposophical Society. The Theosophical Society expelled Rudolf Steiner from the Theosophical Society on 7 March 1913. The foundation stone for the Goetheanum (then still called the 'Johannesbau') was laid 20 September 1913. The Theosophical Society had served as the ideal prototype and springboard for founding and growing the Anthroposophical Society.


This article discusses how Danish parents and their children communicate trust. Based on Niklas Luhmann's sociological theory, the article explores new aspects of communication about alcohol-related rules. The analysis shows how the parents emphasize the importance of communicating trust, while the adolescents, on the other hand, observe the parents' communication on the basis of their own, more instrumental, logic. Trust becomes a functional solution to the parents' paradoxical situation, because it enables them to balance between a democratic family ideal, emphasizing the adolescents' independence, while taking care of risk behavior. The article draws on Danish qualitative data comprising 37 focus group interviews with adolescents (14-16 years of age) and six focus group interviews with parents.


The dependence of the superconducting gaps in epitaxial Ba(Fe_{1−x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2} thin films on the nominal doping x (0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) was studied by means of point-contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy. The normalized conductance curves were well fitted by using the two-dimensional Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model with two nodeless, isotropic gaps — although the possible presence of gap anisotropies cannot be completely excluded. The amplitudes of the two gaps ∆_{S} and ∆_{L} show similar monotonic trends as a function of the local critical temperature T_{c}^{A} (measured in the same point contacts) from 25 K down to 8 K. The dependence of the gaps on x is well correlated to the trend of the critical temperature, i.e., to the shape of the superconducting region in the phase diagram. When analyzed within a simple three-band Eliashberg model, this trend turns out to be compatible with a mechanism of superconducting coupling mediated by spin fluctuations, whose characteristic energy scales with T_{c} according to the empirical law Ω_{0} = 4.65k_{B}T_{c}, and with a total electron-boson coupling strength λ_tot = 2.22 for x ≤ 0.10 (i.e., up to optimal doping) that slightly decreases to λ_tot = 1.82 in the overdoped samples (x = 0.15)


The paper points out the optimal arch bridge's arch axis can be achieved by the iterative calculation of the finite element method by identifying the design variables,the state variable,and the optimal principle,and proves the calculating method can improve the stress status of the arch in a better way by taking some engineering examples.


The invention discloses a cardiac electrophysiological stimulation waveform distribution circuit which comprises a singlechip, a stimulation signal generation module, a channel selection decoding circuit module and channel switch control modules, wherein the singlechip is respectively connected with the stimulation signal generation module and the channel selection decoding circuit module; the stimulation signal generation module is respectively connected with the two channel switch control modules; and the channel selection decoding circuit module is respectively connected with the two channel switch control modules. By adopting a complex programmable logic device (CPLD)/ field programmable gate array (FPGA) channel selection circuit and an optical metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) circuit, the cardiac electrophysiological stimulation waveform distribution circuit improves the reliability of the circuit, reduces the power consumption of the circuit, realizes circuit modularization and reduces the problem probability.


The present contribution focuses on vibration-based damage detection of laminated composite beams using integrated piezoceramic patches and frequency indicators. The latter are assessed via three-dimensional fully coupled piezoelectric finite element parametric analyses on the damage key parameters under different mechanical and electrical conditions, and for all types of vibration modes. It is found that squared frequency change factors' performances are much better, as damage indicators, than simple frequency change ones; moreover, open-circuit frequency–based damage indicators' performances are found to be similar to short-circuit ones. The obtained results can be further used, for example, for training artificial neural networks for the quantification of the analyzed damage types (crack and delamination).


We present the case of a 49-year-old patient presenting a metastatic synovial sarcoma originating in the kidney. The patient underwent left armpit neoplasm resection in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2008, respectively. Postoperative pathology revealed synovial sarcoma. An enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a mass in the right kidney in 2013. A right radical nephrectomy was performed using an intraperitoneal approach through an anterior subcostal incision. However, only 6 months after surgery, the patient died from multiple organs failure due to multiple organs metastasis. This case report is the second report of metastatic synovial sarcoma in the kidney. Primary renal synovial sarcoma is very rare with aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Immunohistochemical staining is helpful to the diagnosis, but a final diagnosis of renal synovial sarcoma can be gained basing on genetic analysis. It can be treated with a multidisciplinary approach and that radical surgery for the primary tumor, if possible, remains the standard of care up-to-date.


When the ankle dorsiflexors and evertors are weakened, a transfer of the posterior tibial tendon to the dorsum of the foot can be used to restore dorsiflexion and eversion power of the foot.6,13,15,24,25 Since Ober,15 in 1933, reported the use of the posterior tibial muscle as a dorsiflexor, the procedure has become widely accepted. Different methods of posterior tibial tendon transfer to the dorsum of the foot have been reported including transfer around the ankle8,9,12,14,15,20 and transfer through the interosseous membrane6,10,13,24,25 as originally attributed to Putti by Mayer10 in 1937, but first described by Watkins et al.25 in 1954. After transfer to the anterior compartment of the leg the posterior tibial tendon can be routed and attached to the desired site(s). Fixation techniques include fixation to one or more osseous or tendinous structures, generally on the dorsum of the foot or, much less common, proximal to the ankle joint.1–5,10,11,17–19,21,23 Possible technical difficulties related to the attachment of the posterior tibial tendon on the dorsum of the foot include the posterior tibial tendon being too short or problems related to positioning or securing of the tendon. Hansen7 described a technique in which the tendon is not routed to the dorsum of the foot but is sutured to the dorsiflexor tendons proximal to the ankle joint, at a level proximal to the superior extensor retinaculum (Figure 1), bypassing these possible difficulties. We used the technique described by Hansen7 in a series of patients, suturing the tendons at the upper level of the superior extensor retinaculum. The primary issue of this technical tip concerns the handling of the soft tissues that cover the dorsiflexors


ABSTRACT IRURAL water quality was assessed by a statisti-cal survey of small subbasins characteristic of rural areas in the Chowan River Basin. The portion of the Chowan Basin designated as study area was stratified on the basis of soil-topographic-land use factors resulting in statistical coverage of about 25 percent of the 12,802 km2 (4943 mi2) basin. From the four designated strata, 15 subbasins were randomly selected to employ stratified random sampling as a monitoring strategy. Two of these subbasins were sel-ected for intensive study of stream kinetic transform-ations with six sampling sites in a 5 km (3 mi) stream reach. After it was noted that water quality was simi-lar in the study streams and the lower river, sampling was conducted to compare concentrations in these two areas. Also a 32 km (20 mi) stream reach, which included a statistical survey site, was monitored to elucidate the relative magnitude of point and nonpoint impacts. Long-term data for the statistical sampling survey and results from the stream reach studies are presented and discussed.


1. A metering valve (1) for a pressurized bottle containing a body (9) of the valve, which is movably slidably locking element (4) of the valve, the metering chamber (7) and means for moving the locking member (4) of the valve between a closed position wherein in the mounted state on the vial dosage chamber (7) communicates with the interior of the vial and the vial is isolated from the outer space, and an open position, wherein in the assembled state dosing chamber (7) isolated from ext nnego space vial and communicated with the exterior of the vial, characterized in that the dosing chamber (7) is secured at its upper end on the housing part (9) of the valve situated in the mounted state within the bottle, thus are input channel (99, 981, 714, 712) adapted to provide fluid communication between the interior of the vial and a metering chamber and an outlet (712, 714, 442, 443, 51b, 45, 42) adapted to provide fluid communication between the metering chamber and the exterior of the valve, etc. When in use, there are means overlap input to the input channel overlap when the closure element (4) of the valve is in the open position, and means to output the overlap for exit channel overlap when the closure element (4) of the valve is in the closed position, the locking element of the valve is formed movable from an open position to a third position, called the shunted position, wherein the third channel is made (931, 94, 31, 48, 47), called a shunting passage for providing communication between the Interna


The paper proposes an image processing algorithm to grade the severity of Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy. For this disease the most important parameter to classify the stage of the disease is the proximity of abnormalities from the centre of Macula. The proposed algorithm provides an efficient grading technique by segmenting the fundus image into specific regions of interest and avoids redundancy in computation. Instead of detecting abnormalities for the whole fundus image, the proposed method emphasizes on the segmented regions for the abnormalities, thereby reducing the computation time significantly. Furthermore, this approach provides a simple and direct method to measure the severity of the disease. This region based segmentation also has the advantage of a mesh lesser computational load making this process suitable for real time applications. The accuracy of this region based segmentation method is more than 80% when tested in a database.


Preface Introductory conversation 1. Erasmus Darwin: Doctor of Evolution? R. Porter 2. Nature's powers: a reading of Lamarck's distinction between creation and production L. Jordanova 3. Lamarckism and democracy: corporations, corruption, and comparative anatomy in the 1830s A. Desmond 4. The nebular hypothesis and the science of progress S. Schaffer 5. Behind the veil: Robert Chambers and Vestiges J. A. Secord 6. Of love and death: why Darwin 'gave up Christianity' J. R. Moore 7. Encounters with Adam, or at least the Hyaenas: nineteenth-century visual representation of the deep past M. Rudwick 8. Huxley and woman's place in science: the 'woman question' and the control of Victorian anthropology E. Richards 9. Ideology, evolution, and late-Victorian agnostic popularizers B. Lightman 10. Ernst Haeckel, Darwinismus, and the secularization of nature P. Weindling 11. Holding your head up high: degeneration and orthogenesis in theories of human evolution P. J. Bowler 12. Evolution, ideology, and world view: Darwinian religion in the twentieth century J. R. Durant 13. Persons, organisms, and ... primary qualities R. M. Young Afterword John C. Greene Index.


(GEOTECHNOLOGIES APPLIED IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE SO IL USE OF STREAM CAPIVARI WATERSHED – BOTUCATU (SP)). The ana lysis of the use and covering of the soil, through information obtained by the remote se nsing it is of great usefulness in the planning and administration of the ordered occupation and ration l f the physical middle, besides it makes possibl e to evaluate and to monitor areas of preservation of na tural vegetation. The work sought to obtain the evolution of the soil use of Stream Capivari waters h d Botucatu (SP), in the period of 44 years, ten ds as 1 Prof. Titular, Depto. Eng a Rural, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Universid ade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Fone: (0XX14) 38117165, Email: firstname.lastname@example.com r; 2 Mestranda do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomi a – Horticultura da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômic as, UNESP, Botucatu, SP; 3 Profa. Dra., Depto. Eng a Rural, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinária s, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP; 4 Prof. Dr., Depto. de Geografia, Universidade Estad ual Paulista, Ourinhos, SP; 5 Prof. Titular, Depto. de Cartografia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Estadual Pauli st , Presidente Prudente, SP. CAMPOS et al.: Uso da terra na microbacia do Córrego Capivari. Re.C.E.F., v.19, n.1, fev, 2012. 88 cartographic base: the letter planialtimetric (IBGE , 1969) used in the georreferencing, the vertical a erial photographs of 1962 and the satellite image of 2006 . The software CARTALINX was used for conversion of the analogical information for digital and deter mination of the areas. The soil use showed that th e pastures occupied 2/3 of the area. The pastures and the brushwoods represented most of the area of the watershed (91,67%). The aerial pictures and the sat llite image allowed the mapping of the soil use, a s well as they will be for futures regional plannings . The area is being conserved environmentally, once he comes covered with approximately 31% of forests. Th e high index of occupation of the soil for pasture (67,88%), it is reflex of the predominance of the r egional livestock.


A study was made of the effect of high or low intake of sucrose for periods of 14 days in a group of nineteen apparently healthy men. The high sucrose diet produced no change in blood levels of cholesterol or phospholipids, or in glucose tolerance, but it produced a significant rise in triglycerides in all nineteen men. In six of them, there was in addition a rise in serum immunoreactive insulin, especially during the glucose tolerance test, and these same six subjects also showed a considerable increase in weight and a significant increase in platelet adhesiveness. There was no difference between the six subjects and the remaining thirteen in any of the other measurements, or in the diets they consumed during the experiment. The changes produced by sucrose had disappeared, or nearly so, after 14 days of normal diet. It is suggested that the effect of sucrose in producing hyperinsulinism may be more relevant to its possible role in the aetiology of ischaemic heart disease than its effect on blood lipids. It is further suggested that only some individuals are susceptible to the development of ischaemic heart disease by dietary sucrose, and that these may be identified as those that show 'sucrose-induced hyperinsulinism'.


A study was conducted with Community and Technical College students enrolled at the University of Akron, a major urban university, during the 1978-1979 academic year. Students were divided into traditional and nontraditional persisters and nonpersisters, and if they were placed on academic probation, they were removed from the study. These students were given modified National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) questionnaires for program completers and noncompleters. The questions tested for varying degrees of satisfaction with the University and reasons for withdrawal concerning various academic, socioeconomic, and environmental press variables. In addition, selected demographic variables from the student masterfile were tested, along with the questionnaire responses in 99 research hypotheses using multiple linear regression and corrected for multiple comparisons. Results indicate that 13 hypotheses were found to significantly discriminate between traditional and nontraditional community college students. The persisting nontraditional students appeared to be more satisfied with the University concerning a few variables, greater proportion attended part-time, during the day, enrolled for less hours, and had a greater high school grade point average than their traditional counterparts. The nonpersisting, nontraditional students were similar to their persisting counterparts, except that traditional nonpersisting students had a higher high school grade point average, lived at greater distances from the school, and attended day time classes as compared to nontraditional students.


This study presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of Gender Bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The research was conducted using two techniques: a domain-based approach to SLR process providing a bibliometric sample description and in-depth examination of the thematic categories arising from inductive categorization, extracted from reading and interpretation of the final 35 sample articles analyzed. In answering three key research questions on the types, causes, and overcoming (mitigating) strategies of gender bias in artificial intelligence, three thematic treemaps were constructed, enabling systematic overview as an essential contribution to the literature. The main types of gender bias found in AI are categorized as societal, technical, and individual. Societal and socio-technical aspects stand out as the leading causes of bias, while debiasing, dataset design and gender sensitivity were the most frequent among the main strategies for overcoming bias. The study also proposes theoretical, practical and managerial capacity building and policy implications that aim to influence broad socio-technical challenges and refer to changes necessary, aiming to create bias-free artificial intelligence.


The study focused on the challenges to the teaching of ICT-related courses in OTM programmes of Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was a survey design. The population of the study comprised one hundred and seventy-seven (177) lecturers in the Department of Business Education in the Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States. There was no sampling. The entire population was studied. A structured questionnaire duly validated and with reliability coefficient of 0.95 was used for data collection. One hundred and seventy-seven copies of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents. All the copies were accurately completed and returned. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 confidence level. The results of the study showed that the challenges to teaching of ICT related courses in Office Technology and Management (OTM) programmes in colleges of education are teaching facilities and human resources related. It was also found that there is a significant difference between the mean responses of male and female lecturers on teaching facilities related challenges to the teaching of ICT-related courses in OTM programmes in Colleges of Education. In addition, it was found that there is a significant difference in the mean response of lecturers on human resources-related challenges to the teaching of ICT-related courses in OTM programmes in Colleges of Education based on ownership. The implication is that OTM education graduates may not be relevant in this era of ICT if these challenges are not well tackled by the management of colleges of education. It was recommended, among others, that management in colleges of Education should provide adequate ICT teaching facilities and adequate human resources for effective implementation of OTM programmes. Government should provide adequate funding to enable effective provision of teaching facilities and appropriate mix of the quality and quantity of human resources needed for the effective implementation of ICT related programmes in OTM in the colleges of education.


The second generation Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP) is a compact, high-sensitivity, nighttime ionospheric photometer designed for small satellites. TIP launched February 19, 2017 to the International Space Station as part of the GPS Radio Occultation and Ultraviolet Photometry—Colocated (GROUP-C) experiment to test advanced sensing objectives. The TIP optical design improves upon previously-flown photometers and employs a filter wheel to measure signals. The third generation sensor is a 1U Cubesat-compatible Triple Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (Tri-TIP), manifested to fly on the dual 6U Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment (CIRCE) in early 2020. The Tri-TIP design builds upon several technologies demonstrated aboard TIP, but utilizes a beam splitter to simultaneously monitor signal, red-leak, and background signals. This paper compares the pre-flight and on-orbit performance of TIP with pre-test theoretical results for Tri-TIP.


In order to broaden the application of Kaolin in chemical field,the possibility of Kaolin to be used as support for ammonia decomposition was discussed.According to orthogonal experimental design,major factors were fixed in the preparation of Kaolin-support,then the optimal conditions were fixed.The catalyst of Ni oxide supported by Kaolin was tested for ammonia decomposition reaction,and was compared with industrial MgO.The results indicated that Kaolin-support was equal to industrial MgO-support.Therefore,it was possible that Kaolin-support substituted industrial MgO-support for ammonia decomposition reaction.


The FEA software ANSYS was used as analytical platform,and based on the reconfigurable and modular modern design idea as well as CAD system of the vertical four-edge-sealing bag packing machine,however the thermal analysis of longitudinal sealing roller and force analysis of cross cutting knife were emphasized in both analyses.The content of this study provides the reference for the reconfigurable and module design of Vertical Bag Packing Machine.


The variations in plasma levels of TSH, T4, T3, and rT3, during the pubertal period, were studied in 647 school students from the urban area of Santiago in Chile (47% males and 53% females) with ages ranging between 7.5 and 15 yr. The subjects were grouped by age in consecutive intervals of 6 months each, and pubertal development was determined in every subject. TSH showed a significant increase, reaching a peak in the 9- to 9.5-yr interval. The same was found for T3 and T4, which reached a peak by 10 and 11 yr. The T4/T3 ratio did not show any significant variation with age. After 9.5 yr, a decrease in rT3 and increase in the T4/rT3 ratio was found. The TSH peak preceded the onset of clinical pubertal development, while the T3 and T4 peaks coincided with this onset. The variations in rT3 suggest an increase of peripheral conversion of T4 to T3. These transient events, not described until now, could be termed thyroidarche and could have a significant effect on pubertal growth and development.


The ?strain MAL 1HM19, a nitrate reducing and sulfur oxidizing bacteria (NR-SOB) was successfully isolated from Mae Um Long Luang hot spring from Mae Hong Son province (Thailand) using hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and nitrate (NO3-) as an electron donor and acceptor, respectively. Among the isolates of NR-SOB from different sources, the strain MAL 1HM19 was the most promising novel strain of NR-SOB because of its ability to yield ~100% H2S removal, under anoxic conditions, within 5.5 h at an initial H2S concentration of 650 ppmv. The identification of strain MAL 1HM19 based on the 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence suggests that this strain is closely related to Paracoccus versutus and is the member of Alphaproteobateria with 99.93% sequence similarity. The P. versutus strain MAL 1HM19 was also able to grow at various NaCl concentrations (0.03-7%), in a pH range of 7.0-9.0 and at temperatures of 20-50?C. The ability of H2S removal by the P. versutus strain MAL 1HM19 under the influence of different initial NO3--N concentrations (60, 120 and 240 mg NO3--N/L), at 35?C, was investigated for 96 h. The results showed that 100% of H2S oxidation was attained within 10 h, irrespective of the different initial NO3--N concentrations. The final end product [sulfate (SO42-) or elemental sulfur (S?)] depended on the concentrations of NO3--N. In the long-term experiments, i.e. in a biotrickling filter (BTF), biological H2S removal was investigated by inoculating the pure cultures of P. versutus strain MAL 1HM19 in anoxic BTF for 188 d. The BTF was packed with polyurethane foams (PUFs) cubes and the reactor was operated under anoxic conditions in both fed-batch and continuous modes. The H2S inlet concentrations were varied between 100 and 500 ppmv during steady-state experiments, while during H2S shock load tests, the concentrations were increased to 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 ppmv, respectively. The removal efficiency (RE) of H2S varied between 17 and 100% depending on operational mode of the BTF and the addition of the C source. The maximum elimination capacity (ECmax) was achieved at 121.83 ? 0.1 g S/m3 h (RE - 96.5 %) during H2S shock load experiments at 4000 ppmv. The results from this study demonstrated that both free and immobilized cells of P. versutus strain MAL 1HM19 can be efficiently used in industrial situations to remove H2S and NO3- under a wide range of operating conditions.


Leonardo Rydin Gorjão,1, 2 Richard Jumar,3 Heiko Maass,3 Veit Hagenmeyer,3 G.Cigdem Yalcin,4 Johannes Kruse,1, 2 Marc Timme,5 Christian Beck,6 Dirk Witthaut,1, 2 and Benjamin Schäfer6, ∗ Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute for Energy and Climate Research Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), Germany Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Germany Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics, Germany Department of Physics, Istanbul University, 34134, Vezneciler, Turkey Chair for Network Dynamics, Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) and Institute for Theoretical Physics, Technical University of Dresden, Germany School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom


Crop management should be determined to reintroduce ancient wheat. This study aimed to determine: i. the response of the yield of ancient wheat on sowing density; ii. the impact of sowing density on plant health, weed infestation and pest occurrence. Field experiments were carried out in Poland, on three organic farms. The factors were: (1) wheat species: Persian wheat (Triticum persicum Vav.) and Indian dwarf wheat (T. sphaerococcum Perc.), (2) sowing density (400, 500, and 600 grains m−2). Increasing the sowing density of T. sphaerococcum from 400 to 600 grains m−2 increases the grain yield and reduces the pest pressure (Oulema spp. and Aphididae). Sowing densities did not affect the severity of powdery mildew at stem elongation as well as root rot and eyespot at the development of fruit. At the highest sowing density, the leaf area with tan spot symptoms was the highest. The eyespot symptoms occurred more frequently and the damaged plant surface caused by Oulema spp. was larger on T. sphaerococcum. Persian wheat turned out to be more susceptible to weed infestation. Indian dwarf wheat and Persian wheat are useful for organic farming, and the sowing density should be 500 or 600 grains m−2 and 400 grains m−2, respectively.


Moving pad velocity's influence on film properties was analysed,which is the critical issue of development of high speed moving pad air bearing.Unstructured grids were used to achieve coupling effect of gas from many restrictors in 4×4 orifices array.The difficulties,from larger ratio of maximum size to minimum size,were overcomed by non-uniform meshing methods.Base on FLUENT,a 3d dp CFD solver was analyzed,using coupled implicit turbulence model called standard k-e with two equations,and the mass flux,pressure distribution and velocity distribution of the air films were obtained in different velocity of moving pad,preparing for the identification of films' mathematical model.Simulation results indicate that the average air film pressure and carrying capacity increase in a certain range with the increasing of moving pad velocity,and the total mass flux decreases similarly.The conclusion provides a basis for optimal design of air bearing with high speed moving pad.


заха-ABSTRACT Introduction: Hyperglycemia during acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients without known diabetes is common and is considered "stress hypergly-cemia". On the other hand, it could be the first indica-tion for previous unrecognized glycemic abnormality. Aim: To search for correlation between blood glucose (BG) at acute admission due to ACS and glycemic parameters during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). methods: in 96 pared to BG at acute admission in subjects with predi-abetes (7,22±2,01 mmol/L; p=0,006) and normal glucose tolerance (6,31±2,08 mmol/L; p=0,0007). BG at acute addmission showed a stronger linear association with 2-h-PG (r=0,55; p=0,0003) compared to FPG and HbA1c. By ROC-analysis, we assessed the values of BG at acute admission for detecting diabetes. A cut-off value >7,4 mmol/L showed the best combination of 91,7% sensitivity and 67,9% specificity (area under the ROC=0,82; SE 0,06; 95% CI 0.698÷0.953; p=0,001). Conclusion: BG at acute admission showed the strongest correlation with 2-h-PG, which was mea-sured during OGTT. We found 2-h-PG value to be even higher compared to BG at acute admission. Per-forming OGTT seems to be more appropriate for re-jecting glycemic disturbances when BG at acute admission is > 7,4 mmol/L.


My Bachelor s thesis deals with the issue of preventive health check-ups from the point of view of a nurse. The theoretic part outlines the topic of health and illness, prevention, determinants of health, and health promotion. The second part describes vaccination, preventive health check-ups at the general practitioner, at the dentist, and at the gynaecologist. The third part deals with nurses in primary care, personality of a nurse, communication among nurses, and nurse training courses. The theoretical background: In society, the concept of health and illness is understood as two sharply separated values. The health affects the quality of human life. The human health is affected by various both positive and negative factors known as health determinants. These determinants can be divided into internal and external, and into controllable and uncontrollable. Among the most serious factors affecting health are smoking, lack of exercise, improper diet, excessive alcohol consumption and stress. Therefore the best goal for promoting health is the right lifestyle. The health promotion is followed by prevention. These two terms have a lot in common, however, we cannot consider them the same. Preventive activities can be distinguished between specific and non-specific. In terms of time, we distinguish primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. The aim of preventive health check-ups is to detect health problems and illnesses at an early stage. Each client is recommended to undergo a health check-up at the general practitioner each two years. Newborns, infants and toddlers under one year old should visit a practitioner nine times, another health check-up should be at the age of 18 months, then at the age of 3 years, and then every two years. Every citizen under the age of 18 years is entitled to undergo a preventive dental check-up every six months. A pregnant woman is entitled to visit the dentist twice during her pregnancy, an adult once a year. Girls from the age of 15 years should undergo a preventive gynaecological exam once a year. General practitioners and nurses, who guide patients their whole life in the health care system, symbolise a role of responsible and active approach to prevention. In the last 25 years preventive approaches have been focusing on reducing the occurrence of diseases of civilization. The task of a nurse at a preventive pediatric check-up is to gain the child s trust, eliminate fear of the examination, and praise him/her and give him/her a picture. The cooperation between a dentist and nurse is closer. She ensures that the dentist has got the right tools and equipment, then she prepares tools required by the dentist, and she sterilizes the used ones. The task of a nurse and a general practitioner for adults is to check tetanus immunisation, do the physical examination and check the blood pressure, examine eyes and ears, and check BMI. The specific role of a nurse at the preventive gynaecological exam is to educate women with vaginal mycosis, explain how to maintain the proper environment in the vagina and etc. She also checks clients regular visits at the gynaecologist, assists during applications of intrauterine and subcutaneous contraception devices, and educates and informs pregnant women. Preventive care service at work is carried out in order to report the statement of fitness for work. The substantial task of a nurse is to ensure and maintain the health of inhabitants. Her personal and character qualities, such as flexibility, reliability, empathy, and sense of communication, are very important and primary care nurses should not miss them. Home health care agencies and community nurses are also considered as a part of primary care. The fundamental condition of being a successful nurse is the right motivation for performing this work. Nowadays, nurses start working with various level of their training: nurses with a university degree, nurses with higher professional education, health assistants with secondary school education and nurses with a specialization course in nursing. Aim: The aim of my Bachelor s thesis was to describe the role of nurses during preventive check-ups at the general practitioner for adults. The research was carried out by a qualitative survey in form of non-standardized interviews. Firstly, we set three research questions: 1. What information about preventive check-ups do nurses give to clients? 2. How do nurses address their clients about the invitation for preventive checkups? 3. What role do nurses have when carrying out preventive check-ups? During the research nurses cooperating with general practitioners for adults were interviewed. There were eight interviews in total in the region of Humpolec and Ceske Budějovice. The interview itself contained 13 questions (see Appendix 1). The research took place in period February – March. All respondents agreed with the research. I did not have a problem with any respondent, they were very cooperative, only one respondent refused the interview. After having collected the data, I analysed the results and created categories that I have put in schemas for better orientation. These schemas are the actual source. Under the schemas I have added transcriptions of the interviews that I had recorded with a dictating machine. The transcriptions are in italics. The results of the research are presented in Chapter 4. Results: The results show us that all the respondents have got a secondary school education, only one of them has got a specialized training "ARIP" (nursing care specialized in anesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care). The respondents learn new modifications in preventive health check-ups from a doctor, or they follow trainings and seminars. The most of the respondents said that a lot of clients do not realize risks of not going to preventive health check-ups, except for university graduates who are aware of risks. Then, we have found that clients get information about the claim to preventive health check-ups from the respondents, doctors, leaflets, television, radio, and informative posters. The respondents give clients basic information about preventive health check-ups, schedules, home preparation for the medical examination, and a course of the medical examination. It has been found out that in some regions a low percentage of clients go to preventive health check-ups. The respondents try to convince risk groups, however, they do not insist on risk groups to come. The respondents invite clients orally for preventive check-ups, it is not used to send invitations anymore. The clients must look after their preventive check-ups by themselves. The respondents try to act positively with clients and to be a good example to them. It has been also found out that the respondents take care of sufficient consumer articles and hygiene and epidemiology mode during the preventive check-ups. In the waiting room the respondents and dealers are in charge of raising patients awareness. Conclusion: All the research questions were answered. The purpose of the Bachelor s thesis was accomplished. Now, it will depend only on nurses and clients and their attitude to preventive health check-ups. As we say at work: "Prevention is better than cure."


Extract: Variations in the composition of muscle tissue have been studied by neutron activation analysis of microbiopsies in 66 children dehydrated as a result of diarrhea.In the great majority of cases (53 children) no significant potassium depletion was found in muscle.In 23 cases of hypertonic dehydration, muscle tissue showed an important loss of water in 20 cases and a significant increase of sodium content in 20 cases and of chloride content in 15 cases. Hypertonicity of tissular water was observed.In hypotonic dehydration (21 cases), muscle tissue remained normally hydrated and in one-third of all cases, a low sodium and chloride content was found. Hypo-tonicity of tissular water was observed.Analysis of skin tissue, performed in 21 of these children, showed essential differences; in the majority of cases, including those with hypotonic dehydration, there was an important reduction of the water content of skin without any detectable changes in the amount of electrolytes.The differences in behavior of muscle and skin tissues in acute dehydration were confirmed by the study of seven children with hypotonic dehydration at the time of admission and after complete recovery. In those cases, the increase of cutaneous hydration during treatment was not accompanied by any significant variations in the amount of muscle water.The absence of any significant correlation between variations of plasma chloride concentration and the concentration of chloride in skin water confirms the experimental data showing that, in contrast to other tissues, i.e., muscle, the movement of water between plasma and skin is not accompanied by parallel movement of chloride ions.Speculation: The data presented in this study suggest that skin may be considered as a mobile depot for water which acts as an emergency regulator for the maintenance of water content of tissues that are richer in cells, such as muscle. Hypotonic dehydration represents a good illustration of this statement.Since only 14 of the 66 dehydrated children studied presented a significantly decreased value of muscle potassium, it seems likely that there exists no systematic cellular depletion of potassium in acute dehydration consecutive to diarrhea of short duration.


In the situation of pedagogical theory focus on a new personality-oriented and competence paradigm of education and upbringing, it becomes necessary to develop design activities of all subjects of educational process in a preschool educational institution. The relevance of the study is due to insufficient development of pedagogical design processes in a preschool educational institution. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to improve pedagogical design process in a preschool educational institution to increase the level of teachers' readiness for pedagogical activity.Pedagogical design in preschool educational institutions is very important due to the following socio-economic, psychological and pedagogical requirements: the development of market relations; development of design taking into account innovative processes in education; need for social protection of a person, preparing him for life in future. The authors developed a model of pedagogical design that ensures unity of administrative, pedagogical, educational activities of the subjects of educational process, thereby improving the level of management activities organization, personal and professional development of teachers and pupils. The treated results will contribute to further improvement of pedagogical design.


Contrary to previous opinion, 'frost shattering' is not the only major contributor to rock weathering at mid latitudes and high elevations, more specifically along edges of bedrock escarpments. Lightning is also a significant contributor to land surface denudation. We can show this as lightning strikes on outcrops can dramatically alter the magnetic signature of rocks and is one of the main sources of noise in paleomagnetic studies. Igneous rocks in the highlands of Lesotho, southern Africa (> 3000 m elevation) provide an ideal study location, as flow lavas remain as prominent ridges that are relatively resistant to weathering. It is well known that lightning strikes can cause large remanent magnetization in rocks with little resultant variation in susceptibility. At two adjoining peaks in the Lesotho highlands, mapped freshly fractured rock correlates with areas of high magnetic intensity (remanent component), but little variation in susceptibility (related to the induced field), and is therefore a clear indicator of lightning damage. The majority of these mapped strike sites occur at the edges of topographic highs. Variations in magnetic intensity are correlated with the much lower resolution national lightning strikes dataset. These data confirm that high elevation edges of peak scarps are the focus of previous lightning strikes. This method of magnetic surveying compared with lightning strike data is a new method of confirming the locations of lightning strikes, and reduces the need for intensive paleomagnetic studies of the area to confirm remanence.


Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) has become popular for solving classification problem due to its fast speed. However, the system of ELM may be unreliable since its performance often relies on random input hidden node parameters. The techniques of combining multiple classifiers are widely adopted to improve both reliability and accuracy of a single classifier. Thus, this paper presents a minimum square error (MSE) based weighted voting method to optimize the linear combination of multiple ELMs. The experimental results over ten VCI data sets show better classification performance than the original ELM and the voting based ELM classifiers.


The patient was a 68-year-old male, who underwent total gastrectomy for giant leiomyosarcoma of the stomach and then had multiple hepatic metastases one year and six months later. Thus, transarterial hepatic chemo-embolization therapy with Lipiodol, adriamycin and gelfoam was given. Moreover, using a reservoir catheter and infusion arterial port, intermittent arterial infusion therapy with adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and vincristine was attempted. In the metastasis lesion where there were rich blood vessels, Lipiodol was accumulated and the tumor was reduced on abdominal CT. The result indicated the efficacy of this treatment.


The isolation and characterization of volatile (in gas chromatographic terms) compounds formed in "standard" sherries is described, some being noted in sherry for the first time. Methods used for this purpose include solvent extraction, chemical fractionation, gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Some sensory evaluation of the various compounds separated has also been attempted.


Abstract Extract The contamination of refrigerated and chilled meats with microbial growths has been of concern ever since the 1880s when micro-organisms possessing the ability to survive and grow at low temperatures were first incriminated as causative agents of the contamination. The first microbial organisms described on meat at low temperatures were bacterial and it would seem that at present bacteria are still the most important agents of meat spoilage. Spoilage by fungi is less well known, but occasional consignments are still encountered that show visible mould growth.


The progress in the use of Rontgen Rays both as to diagnosis and treatment in the departments of medicine and surgery has been remarkable and extraordinarily rapid since Rontgen first made his discovery, and although perhaps the results of X-ray examination in one department may appeal to the ordinary observer more than in that of another, on account of the many lesions which may be diagnosed by its means, yet there is no branch of either department which cannot express grateful thanks to the memory of Rontgen for the invaluable aid his work has brought about. Up till quite recently, gynaecology was not so much indebted to the X rays, at least as a means of diagnosis, for I do not include treatment, because there was nothing which, in the majority of cases, could not be diagnosed with sufficient accuracy to enable one to say whether a patient was to have an abdominal operation or not. I do not include obstetrics in my remarks, because in case of doubt in deciding whether a tumour of the abdomen is due to a...


Abstract System identification for networked control is considered. Due to the random time-delays in the network, it can be difficult to work with a discrete-time model and a continuous-time model is therefore chosen here. A covariance function based method is proposed for estimating the parameters, which relies on the second order statistical properties of the output signal and that the input signal samples can be taken from a discrete-time white noise sequence. Numerical studies indicate that the method is robust to additive measurement noise and packet dropouts.


Approximate Computing (AxC) trades off between the level of accuracy required by the user and the actual precision provided by the computing system to achieve several optimizations such as performance improvement, energy and area reduction etc. Several AxCtechniques have been proposed so far in the literature. They work at different abstraction levels and propose both hardware and software implementations. The common issue of all existing approaches is the lack of a methodology to estimate the impact of a given AxC technique on the application-level accuracy. In this paper we propose a probabilistic approach to predict the relation between component-level functional approximation and application-level accuracy. Experimental results on a set of benchmark applications show that the proposed approach is able to estimate the approximation error with good accuracy and very low computation time.


Metal nanoparticles (NPs) are suggested as a vaccine delivery platform. At present, there is limited description of cuboidal Ag nanocubes (AgNCs; nonporous) and Au nanocages (AuNCs; porous) as a protein carrier for vaccination. Here, the intrinsic protein binding ability of AgNC and AuNC is first investigated, using ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen, to determine its suitability as a vaccine carrier. Next, the effect of AgNCs and AuNCs on bone‐marrow‐derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) is assessed in vitro. Finally, in vivo humoral and cellular immune responses of AgNC–OVA and AuNC–OVA following intramuscular immunization and their prophylactic effects in B16F10‐OVA mice tumor model are investigated. In terms of OVA loading efficiency, AgNCs are superior to AuNCs. Both nanomaterials are found not to induce BMDC maturation at subtoxic doses. After administration of nanovaccines, serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses are comparable between groups. However, there are slight alterations in relative frequencies of lymphocyte subpopulations, with AgNC–OVA‐immunized mice exhibiting lower memory T cells and reduced B cell and T follicular helper cell populations in spleen. Overall, AgNC–OVA and AuNC–OVA immunizations do not alter tumor growth. This study characterizes the intrinsic immunomodulatory properties of AgNCs and AuNCs, as protein subunit vaccine carriers.


Mortality prediction models can be used to adjust for presenting severity of illness in observational studies of treatment effectiveness. We aimed to determine the incremental benefit of adding information about critical care services to a sepsis mortality prediction model.


A saddle mirror has opposite curvatures in the two principal sections. Such an optical element has some very interesting properties, the important one being that it gives a nonreversed image for an object located in front of and some distance away from it. However, once such a mirror is made, it is difficult to vary the two powers in the two principal sections to enable one to change the size of the image. This paper considers the possibility of combining two separate cylindrical surfaces, in the form of a lens and a mirror, that can be rotated to change the effective curvatures in the principal sections of the equivalent saddle mirror. Several methods for achieving this type of system are described.


1.INTRODUCTION Avoidance and mitigation of disruptions are crucial problems in ITER and are becoming increasingly relevant at JET with the installation of the new ITER-Like Wall (ILW). But it should be emphasised that a disruption prediction is a pre-requisite to put into operation any avoidance or mitigation method. This work summarizes the evolution of our research lines regarding disruption prediction on JET during the last years and discusses their potential applicability to ITER. Disruption predictors are typically based on binary classification techniques. Given a dataset of N examples represented by pairs   , , 1,... i i y i N  x , (where m i  x is a vector of


Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide. Recently anticancer agents have been developed using natural substances. To evaluate the anticancer effect of hydrolysates of silk fibroin (HSF), we investigated the effect of HSF on cell viability and apoptosis of a breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, induced through the mitochondrial pathway. The result showed that HSF decreased cell viability in MCF-7 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, resulting in an increase in the sub-G1 phase cell population. HSF increased the level of the pro-apoptotic Bax protein and decreased the levels of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. In addition, HSF induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through a mitochondria-dependent pathway by increasing levels of cytochtome c, and cleavage of PARP. Taken together, these findings suggest that HSF inhibits the proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells through a mitochondria and caspase dependent apoptotic pathway.


A disintegrin-like and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motifs(ADAMTS),which is a new family of secreted zinc-dependent metaloproteases.The resent studies of ADAMTS's structure showed that the hypermethylation of TSP impacted the stabilization of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes,or mRNA and that domain was related with the proteolysis of aggrecan in human osteoarthritic.CUB domain is associated with vWF-cleaving activity which played an important part in thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura.These advances provide a new way of thought in diagnosis and treatment in the future.


A ridge-furrow rainfall harvesting system (RFRHS) was designed to increase the available soil water for Elymus sibiricus artificial grassland in order to improve and stabilize its yield in the agro-pastoral zone of Bashang region in North China. Field experiments were conducted during the growth seasons in 2008 to 2010 to evaluate the effects of the RFRH system on soil temperature, soil water content and the yield of E. sibiricus. Specifically, the following three systems were investigated: ridge width 60 cm and furrow width 30 cm (MR60), ridge width 30 cm and furrow width 30 cm (MR30) and flat (CK). The results show that in regrowth periods, average daily minimum temperature of MR30 and MR60 in the furrow soil surface was 3.22 and 2.16°C, which were significantly higher than that of CK. Soil water content of MR60, was higher than that of MR30 and the latter was higher than that of CK in most of the experimental periods. Due to the improved hydrothermal condition, the three year average of annual yields of MR60 and MR30 was 3.14 and 2.77 t ha -1 , which was significantly higher and increased by 99


This study was investigated the effects of condensed phosphates (pyrophosphate, metaphosphate and polyphosphate) on the quality and self-life of wet noodle. The initial pasting temperatures were increased by the addition of pyrophosphate and metaphosphate, respectively, whereas those of propylene gl...


Abstract Adult Meganyctiphanes norvegica and two smaller euphausiid species Thysanoessa raschii and T. inermis were found in the Kattegat exclusively at one location, the Laso-Deep, In contrast, larval euphausiids were encountered at almost all stations on a section from the Kattegat into the Skagerrak conducted during August 1983. How adults were eliminated from the Kattegat was not clear, although currents and migration must have played a role influencing the distribution of both larvae and adults. Low salinity in the Kattegat was not a limiting factor of existence. Euphausiids presumably concentrated at the Laso-Deep by swimming actively in search of high density seawater, but local currents also seemed to playa role. M. norvegica finds favourable nutritional and hydrographic conditions there, reproduces successfully and achieved a greater body size than another population in the Skagerrak compared during the summer survey. In August, euphausiid larvae constituted up to 51% of the standing stock (dry w...


A rare case is presented of a 58-year-old woman who developed a hepatic-bronchopleural fistula following a hydatid hepatic cyst complication. The hepatic-bronchopleural fistula was diagnosed when patient complained of severe repetitive attacks of productive cough of brown yellow to dark colour sputum biliptysis (bile in cough) with vomiting associated with night sweating and fever, for the past one month. She also complained of right side chest and abdominal pain for the past 3 years. This paper describes a unique case of hepatic-bronchopleural f istula caused by hydatid disease, emphasising the clinical feature and its surgical management. Hydatid disease is a zoonotic infection due to the damage caused by Echinococcus granulosus. E. granulosus, also called the hydatid worm, hyper tape-worm or dog tapeworm, is a cyclophyllid cestode that parasitises the small intestine of canids as an adult, but which has important intermediate hosts such as livestock and humans, where it causes cystic echinococcosis, also known as hydatid disease. It is hoped that this case report will add to the meagre case management reports of hepaticbronchopleural fistula in literature. K e y w o r d s : h y d a t i d d i s e a s e , h e p a to p u l m o n a r y f i s t u l a , h e p a t i cbronchopleural f istula, thoracotomy, Echinococcosis granulosa


Edited by J Payne-James, A Busuttil and W Smock. London: Greenwich Medical Media Ltd, 2003, ISBN 1-84110-026-9

I do acknowledge some personal bias, but I believe that it really would be quite hard to write a boring book on forensic medicine. The subject matter is simply so interesting. And what interests most people, fascinates many. …


The present article aims to introduce the authors' study and suggestion on setting up safety standard of highway tunnels. So far, it has become a vital issue to establish a design standard of safety control measures and the tunnel grade classification for our highway tunnel construction, however, what the tunnel designers can do is just based on their empirical judgment and estimation. Starting from the authors' investigation on the many safety hidden troubles brought about by the traffic accidents, we have put forward five factors and four relations concerning the safety grades of the highway tunnels, that is, the length of tunnel (basic demarcative target) and the traffic volume (dynamic target), the actual status and technique level of building highway tunnel, are to be taken into consideration in compartmentalizing safety grades of the highway tunnels. Based on the practice in building highway tunnels in our country, the safety standard of highway tunnel building can be divided into five grades: Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ, Ⅴ with regarding 0.5 km, 1.0 km, 3.0 km, 5.0 km, 10.0 km as characteristic length of tunnel and selecting 10 000 vehicle/ day as the lowest traffic. At the same time, basic programs and means to study safety standard of highway tunnel building have been brought forward.


The first part of the paper analyzes the content of the British Protocol and the justification for its drafting. It also presents individual standpoints, and in particular Polish responses which triggered a general discussion, as was the case with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Another part of the paper is devoted to analyzing the Reports on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, published annually since the Chart came into effect in 2010. The reports discuss issues that were successfully resolved, as well as those continuing to pose a challenge for the EU.


The mechanics of tail resorption in triiodothyronine (T3) induced metamorphosing Rana catesbeiana tadpoles was investigated. Premetamorphic (Taylor and Kollros stages 7–11) tadpoles'tails were permanently marked off into three segments with silk suture loops anchored in metameric musculature of the tail. A dose of 3 × 10−10 moles T3/gram of body weight was administered intraperitoneally. Tail length measurements were made daily for 6 days after injection. Significant reductions were observed in total tail length as well as concurrent reductions in proximal, middle and distal tail segment lengths. These data indicate that resorptive activity is not confined to the distal tail tip, but that tissue resorption occurs simultaneously along the entire tail length. The rate of shortening is greatest in the distal segment and least in the proximal segment. Key words: Tail resorption, Metamorphosing, Triiodothyronine, Tadpole.


Abstract Aminoacylation reaction is the first step of protein biosynthesis. Transfer RNA (tRNA) is charged with an amino acid in this reaction and the reaction is catalyzed by aminoacyl tRNA synthetase enzyme (aaRS). In the present work, we use classical molecular dynamics simulation to show that the tRNA bound Mg2+ ions significantly influence the charging step of class I Tt GluRS: Glu-AMP: tRNAGlu and class II dimeric Tt SerRS: Ser-AMP: tRNASer. The CCA end of the acceptor terminal is disordered in the absence of coordinated Mg2+ ions and the CCA end can freely explore beyond the specific conformational space of the tRNA in its precharging state. A balance between the conformational disorder of the tRNA and the restriction imposed on the CCA terminal via coordination with the Mg2+ ions is needed for the placement of the CCA terminal in a precharging state organization. This result provides a molecular-level explanation of the experimental observation that the presence of Mg2+ ions is a necessary condition for a successful aminoacylation reaction. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma


ATSC 3.0 includes Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM) in addition to the traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technique in order to offer simultaneous stationary and mobile services. At the receiver side, Log-likelihood ratio (LLR) probability density functions are considered in the decoding process. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the performance of using different LLR PDF formulas for LDM signals in order to find the best trade-off between performance and implementation requirements, measuring the performance gain over TDM.


tag=1 data=A liberal senator recommends pre-employment drug testing. Sen. Paul McLean and Sen. Amanda Vanstone

tag=2 data=McLean, Paul%Vanstone, Amanda

tag=3 data=Current Affair.

tag=6 data=26 July 1990

tag=8 data=DRUGS%EMPLOYMENT

tag=10 data=Transcript: Senator Vanstone believes random drug tests should be compulsory for Federal Cabinet Ministers, if only to set an example for other employers and help stamp out the drug menace in the workplace. Provided by MICAH, Canberra.

tag=11 data=1990/2/10

tag=12 data=329

tag=13 data=CAB

tag=32 data=WENDT, JANA


We calculate production cross sections for gluinos and squarks produced in association with charginos and neutralinos at {ital pp} supercollider energies. We show that, with rather stiff cuts, a signal for {ital {tilde g}{tilde Z}}{sub 1} and {ital {tilde q}{tilde Z}}{sub 1} may be isolated from the standard-model background as well as from other supersymmetric processes; this channel may offer the best hope of a gluino mass measurement. We also estimate potential signal rates from hemispherically separated multilepton-plus-jet events that result if the chargino or neutralino decays via the purely leptonic mode.


1 Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan 2 Institute of Crop Science, National Wheat Improvement Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China 3 Department of Plant Science, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan 4 Center for Plant Sciences and Biodiversity, University of Swat, Swat, Pakistan 5 Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan 6 Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan


Of 98 cases of microscopically diagnosed malaria the Wassermann reaction was positive in seven, all of which showed definite evidence of having had syphilis. Of these seven cases six had febrile attacks and were treated, receiving in two weeks 350 grains of quinine. Since their reactions remained unchanged it is concluded that neither quinine nor malaria affects this test.


The microscopic effect of the exchange interaction parameter for the 2-Dimensional ising model with nearest neighbor interaction has been studied. By supposing simple temperature dependent relationship for the exchange parameter, graphs were straightforwardly obtained that show the reentrant closed looped phase diagrams symptomatic of some colloids and complex fluids and some binary liquids mixtures in particular. By parameter modifications, other phase diagrams were also obtained. Amongst which are the u-shapes and other exotic shapes of phase diagrams. Our results show that the exchange interaction parameter greatly influence the size of the ordered phase. Hence the larger the value of the constant, the larger the size of the ordered phase. This means that the higher values of the exchange parameter brings about phase transitions that straddle a wider range of polarizations and temperatures. Keywords-closed loop, exchange interaction, order-disorder, phase diagram, reentrant behavior, transverse Ising


Abstract: We report on the photoelectric conversion at a non-photovoltaic photorefractive material sandwiched between transparent conductive electrodes. Its behavior is based on the light-induced Schottky effect. Its nature and performance was clearly established by wavelength-resolved photoconductivity. OCIS codes: Photoconductivity (040.5150); Photorefractive Materials (160.5320); Optoelectronics (230.0250)


The absorption spectra of Cr + ion in CrCl3 in about a dozen organic solvents were studied with a Hilger Uvispect spectro-photometer from 10,000... 3900 A. The experimentally observed absorption curves were analysed using the principle of symmetrical partial bands. This analysis gave the existence of three bands ( I b l , Ib2 and II) in the visible region and helped in determining the most probable location of a fourth band (III) in the ultra-violet region in all the organic solvents. A comparison between the observed and calculated values of the oscillator strengths lends support to our view that the electric dipole transitions coupled with vibration probably give rise to these bands. From the lowering of the term separation the covalency f ac to r , / 2 , is found to vary between 0-588 and 0-874 for CrCI3 in different solvents. It is observed t h a t / 2 arises from ITand <r-orbital overlap. The deduced gand /(-values are almost the same in all the solvents. The cubic field coefficient in all the solvents is found to be smaller than that in aqueous solution. The magnetic anisotropy for Cr + ion is much less than the Ni + ion under similar conditions, indicating that the long-range effect is less prominent in Cr + ion salts. The high frequency paramagnetic susceptibility for CrCl3 was found to vary from solvent to solvent. Introduction In previous communications on the hydrated salts of the paramagnetic ions of Cu + , Ni . Co + and Cr + [4, 5, 14-18], the systematic optical investigations of the consequences of the crystalline electric fields on both the optical and magnetic behaviour of these ions have been reported. The results of these investigations, undoubtedly, reveal that the magnetic and optical behaviours of these paramagnetic ions in crystals or in state of solution may be explained in several details by assuming them to be under the influence of strong and, generally, asymmetric crystalline electric fields which arise from the charges immediately surrounding the metal ions as well as from the direct and indirect effects of the charges outside this primary cluster. Under the influence of such ligand fields the ground states of the normal complex ions of the type [XYg], [XYg], where X represents an iron group element and Y represents a ligand such as H 2 0 , N H 3 , Cl3 etc., split into a Stark pattern. The ground state of free Cr + ion of electronic configuration 3d is an F-state like that of Ni + ion but with a spin moment of 3/2 instead of 1 as in Ni + ion. The Starksplitting of this original ground state, 4 F 3 / 2 , due to a crystalline electric field conforming 1 Prof. Dr. NARENDRA SINGH CHHONKAR, Department of Physics, Njala University College, Njala, Sierra Leone. 8 Z. phys. Chemie, Bd. 265, Tl. 1 114 N. S. CHHONKAR : Studies on the absorption spectra of Cr 3 + ion . < h "V •iw-ii-fr / . i • " r —T-/-*+3¡-¡-IT: « •¿r < '55 J. J—i L /rpe /o/! < C T "T—I f | z:ï ! i "'' 1 " o "7 » .'&KÉi r, tetragonal Fig. 1. Stark splitting of the ground state of Cr 3 + ion to a potential given by eq. 1 [21], is shown in Fig. 1. This is just the same as the octahedrally coordinated Ni ion, where r2, an orbital singlet level, lies lowest in the Stark pattern. V = K' (x* + y* + z + (2; ~ x ~ y) + + (1) 2 Where K = —er* K'\ T2 = erT'2; TA = er*T'4 and r* is the average value for the radius of 3d-electrons. The use of the crystal field theory to explain the absorption spectra of transition metal compounds is now well established [20]. OWEN [21] explained the absorption spectra by taking the Cr + ion under the influence of a crystal field, predominantly cubic in symmetry, on which a small tetragonal component and spin-orbit coupling were superimposed. He obtained the number of levels and their relative separations as one should expect to occur. The lattice structure of a given salt of Cr ion breaks down completely in state of solution while the anisotropic ionic clusters retain their identities [3, 10]. Since they are oriented at random, the medium will show no anisotropy of susceptibility but the optical absorption should reveal the fine structure in the Stark pattern arising from the anisotropic field splittings. We consider that a systematic review of optical absorption spectra of transition metal complexes in crystals, in aqueous solution and in other solvents is one of the most important aspects of the crystalline fields, and needs more study. This study will greatly help to correct the errors in the older literature and determine more precisely the values of the cubic field splitting parameters. Therefore, the absorption spectra of Cr + ion in CrCl3 • 6 H z O dissolved in a number of organic solvents were studied and discussed in the light of ligand field theory. N. S. CHHONKAR : Studies on the absorption spectra of Cr ion 115 Experimental Crystals of CrCl3 • 6 H a O were grown out of aqueous solution at room temperature (27°C), by slow evaporation. Chemicals used were of Merck's analytical reagent variety. The transparent crystals were selected, weighed by a semi-micro balance and dissolved in various organic solvents. The measurements on light absorption were carried out at about 27°C by a Hilger's UVISPEK spectrophotometer using special stoppered fused silica cells. Results The results of our measurements are collected in Table 1. The locations of the absorption bands for CrCl3 • 6 H z O in different organic solvents are given both in wave lengths and wave numbers. We had to use very dilute solutions to get prominent peaks. Progressive dilution from that concentration at which the prominent peaks were obtained did not change the location of the peaks. The variations of absorption for the salt studied in a number of organic solvents were drawn and analysed (see Discussion), but for the economy of space only a few of them having typical characteristics are shown graphically in Fig. 2 and 3. For clarity we have used a solid line to represent the experimental curve and dot-dot to represent the analysed bands. 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,6 A in u — 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,6 A in p Fig. 2. Absorption curve of CrCi3 in (II) glycerol (0.0124 M) and (I) butanol tertiary (0.0094 M) Fig. 3. Absorption curve of CrCI3 in (II) acetone (0.0124) and (I) Ethyl acetoacetate (0.0056 M) S* 116 N. S. CHHONKAR: Studies on the absorption spetra of Cr 3 i ion Discussion (a) A b s o r p t i o n Spec t r a We have carried out the light absorption measurements in the region from 10,000  to 3900 Â. Within this range of our studies, the absorption spectra of Cr ion in CrCl3 in about a dozen organic solvents apparently have only two bands, just as in aqueous solution where these bands at ~ 17,300 cm' and ~ 24,300 cm ' were designated as I and II respectively [17]. However, a closer examination of some of the absorption curves drawn for CrCl3, in different organic solvents clearly reveals the fact that the broad absorption band, I, having a single peak, has another band nearby which is quite discernible. Further, these absorption curves show that they result from a superposition of more than one band. The absorption bands, arising from a single transition, are symmetrical around their maximum value, und judged by experimental evidence, follow a simple Gaussian error curve. If this principle of symmetrical partial bands is applied to the absorption curves of the Chromium(III) ion in organic solvents, the experimentally determined band I, can be resolved into at least two symmetrical absorption bands in each case. We designate these bands as Ib l and Ib2. The maximum, which lies in the ultra-violet region near 38,000 cm 1 [21], will be known as band III and is beyond the range of our measurements. However, we have calculated the most probable positions of this maximum using optically determined values of some field parameters (s. Discussion c) for CrCl3 in all the organic solvents. Thus, the measurements on the absorption spectra ofCr 3 + ion and their analysis, point to the existence of four absorption bands, three ( I b l , Ib2 and II) being in the visible region and the other one in the ultra-violet region. This is in agreement with the theoretical findings of OWEN [21], A comparison of the absorption maxima of Cr ion in CrCI3 • 6 H 2 0 in different organic solvents with those of aqueous solution [17] shows that a shift in the position of band maxima occurs towards the longer wave length side in the following sequence: Nitrate double sulphate. Chloride, acetate -» single Sulphate organic solvents. (b) N a t u r e of T r a n s i t i o n s In order to obtain additional theoretical foundations to support our view that these absorption bands actually arise from the single transitions, we shall consider in this section the intensity of these transitions. For solutions, the molar extinction coefficient £" is defined by the relation / = / 0 x 10~'°, where C0 is the concentration in moles per litre and X is the thickness of the solution in centimeters, so that E"C0X = log10 (/0//> = (absorption density). We have observed absorption density directly from the potentiometer scales (S. Hilger Manual) for each band head and have included these values in Table 2. The thickness of the solutions was kept at 1 cm and hence, utilising the molar concenN . S . C H H O N K A R : Studies on the absorption spectra of Cr + ion Table 1. CrCl3 • 6 H 2 0 in different organic solvents 117 Solvents Molar Maximum Absorbtion at Concen/. (A°) Wave numbers ( c m 1 ) nation v Ibi Uz II H i t Ibi Ibz II HI Iso-Butyl Alcohol 0 0 1 2 4 6350 6250* 451


INTRODUCTION: Surgical repair of rotator cuff tendon tears has failure rates that are estimated to be as high as 75%. In late disease stages, this has been shown to be due to reduced cellularity and matrix organization [1]. The addition of biological factors such as stem cells and platelet rich plasma may improve the biological environment around the healing tendon [2]. We have investigated the use of an electrospun polydioxanone (PDO) scaffold patch to restrain the spread of injected biological factors, and retain them in the desired locality. The patch is biocompatible and biodegradable, and provides a confined space into which biological factors can be injected and retained. PDO has been shown to be biocompatible with tendon derived cells, and in an electrospun form, has been shown to have the required cell adhesion properties. This study characterizes the degradation of PDO microfibrous patches in vitro. We have used imaging techniques and high performance liquid chromatography to demonstrate the kinetics of PDO degradation as well as show the time scale of degradation in an in vitro representation of the physiological environment. METHODS: In-vitro weight loss Electrospun polydioxanone (Produced in collaboration with nanoforce) was used in this experiment along with controls of PDSII suture (Ethicon). The samples were sterilised in 70% ethanol. Test tubes were weighed using a Mettler AE 200 electronic analytical balance before having sterile samples added to them. Sterile PBS (Biowhittaker/Lonza) was then added in a ratio of 10mg/ml. The samples were incubated at 37C and 5% CO. They were removed at intervals of 1 to 5 days, dried in an oven at 58C, and then re-weighed. Samples were then resterilised before continued incubation. Weight loss of PDO samples was calculated as a percentage of the starting dry weight. The same experiment was repeated with PDO patch samples that were continuously incubated (without being weighed) for over 5 weeks before being re-weighed. Imaging PDO samples were mounted on stabs, gold spattered and viewed in an Environmental Scanning Electron microscope (ESEM). Comparisons were made between fresh samples of PDO, and those degraded over a period of weeks in phosphate buffered solution (PBS). The dimensions of the imaged fibres were measured and compared in order to characterize how they degraded. Fluorescent microscopy (eclipse TE300, Nikon) was used to image patches into which seeded with tendon-derived cells. Cells were fixed in 10% formalin (Fisher Scientific), permiabilized and stained using DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, Molecular Probes) and Rhodamine-Phalloidin (Invitrogen) These patches were incubated in medium and imaged after 1, 2, and 4 weeks to demonstrate the adhesion of the cells to the electrospun fibres as the PDO degraded. High Performance Liquid Chromatography HPLC was used to confirm glyoxylic acid as the final breakdown product of PDO. pH PDO patches were incubated in PBS for a period of 8 weeks. At incremental time points, the pH of the solution was assessed. The Dynamic arm of the experiment involved replacing the PBS at each time point, in order to replicate the dynamic environment found in vivo. The Static arm maintained the same solution throughout the experiment. RESULTS: Our results indicated that the PDO patches lost the majority of their mass after 4 weeks of in vitro incubation (Figure 1). Similarly, the pH of the PDO/PBS solution fell most significantly after the 4 week (Figure 2). The ESEM images demonstrated the character of the PDO degradation, with degraded samples presenting short blocks of PDO in contrast to the long fibres of the fresh samples (Figure 3). Figure 4A demonstrates the initial adhesion of tendon-derived cells to the PDO patch after 1 week's incubation in culture medium. When enlarged, the images show individual cells attached to individual fibres. Figure 4B shows the patch at 4 weeks with a dense population of cells evenly distributed throughout. DISCUSSION: In the study presented above, we characterized the time-scale of PDO degradation in a physiological solution using weight-loss and pH measurements. We demonstrated that tendon-derived cells survived on the electropun scaffold even after 4 weeks of degradation. Moreover, the electrospun PDO structure maintained weight and pH well for 4 weeks which is the main window for physiological benefit from biological factors incorporated into the patch. After this time, it degrades to the final degradation product of glyoxylic acid. SIGNIFICANCE: This study improves our understanding of the degradation of a novel polydioxanone patch. It identified the end products and described the degradation rate and kinetics, as well as the morphology of the patch as it degrades. We expect this study to greatly assist in tailoring the electrospun patch to its specific function as a delivery and confinement device for tendon repair. REFERENCES: 1.Benson RT, McDonnell SM, Rees JL, Athanasou NA, Carr AJ. The morphological and immunocytochemical features of impingement syndrome and partial-thickness rotator-cuff tear in relation to outcome after subacromial decompression. The Journal of bone and joint surgery 2009 Jan;91(1):119123. 2.de Mos M, van der Windt AE, Jahr H, van Schie HT, Weinans H, Verhaar JA, et al. Can platelet-rich plasma enhance tendon repair? A cell culture study. Am J Sports Med 2008 Jun;36(6):1171-1178. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120


A novel electron-phonon theory previously proposed for good 3-dimensional metals is adapted for 2-dimensional metals, wherein each conducting plane is treated as a thin box of electrons. The energy of the superconducting ground state lies below that of the normal metal because of the correlation of electrons with long-wavelength virtual phonons. This correlation is unrelated to electron pairs, and the pairing of charge carriers is a result of the superconductivity rather than the cause. Properties such as the coherence length and the isotope effect in YBCO, and the behavior of YBCO-PBCO superlattices, are easily explained by the theory. Other properties such as the value of the critical temperature are explained approximately.


Wireless sensor networks have gained considerable attention in the past few years. They have found application domains in battlefield communication, homeland security, pollution sensing, and traffic monitoring. However, security threats to WSNs become increasingly varied, due to the open nature of the wireless medium an adversary can easily eavesdrop and replay or inject fabricated messages. Various cryptographic methods are used to defend against some of such attacks but very limited. For example, node compromise is another major problem of WSN security as it allows an adversary to enter inside the security perimeter of the network, which raised a serious challenge for WSNs. This paper focuses on a systematic investigation of internal attacks of wireless sensor networks, and novel framework for the security under some fixed parameters designed by the network designer, and also a reasonable model to predict the time when the highest signal noise ratio (S/N) transmitting to the sinker. "Timing control" method is to be used for protecting internal attacks in SWNs. Therefore a sinker only opens at a special time period; other time is in sleeping state and ignores any coming signals such that it can protect the network from the internal attacks within the sleeping time period. Sending rate is manipulated to control the time when the highest S/N is occurring to protect from "internal attacks."


Abstract. Despite intense efforts, the mechanisms that drive glacial–interglacial
changes in atmospheric pCO2 are not fully understood. Here,
we aim at quantifying the potential contribution of aeolian dust deposition
changes to the atmospheric pCO2 drawdown during the Last
Glacial Maximum (LGM). To this end, we use the Max Planck Institute Ocean
Model (MPIOM) and the embedded Hamburg Ocean Carbon Cycle model
(HAMOCC), including a new
parameterization of particle ballasting that accounts for the acceleration of
sinking organic soft tissue in the ocean by higher-density biogenic calcite
and opal particles, as well as mineral dust. Sensitivity experiments with
reconstructed LGM dust deposition rates indicate that the acceleration of
detritus by mineral dust played a small role in atmospheric
pCO2 variations during glacial–interglacial cycles – on
the order of 5 ppmv, compared to the reconstructed ∼80 ppmv rise in
atmospheric pCO2 during the last deglaciation. The
additional effect of the LGM dust deposition, namely the enhanced
fertilization by the iron that is associated with the glacial dust, likely
played a more important role; although the full iron fertilization effect can
not be estimated in the particular model version used here due to
underestimated present-day non-diazotroph iron limitation, fertilization of
diazotrophs in the tropical Pacific already leads to an atmospheric
pCO2 drawdown of around 10 ppmv.


With this editorial, EDP Sciences launches the new open access (OA), multiand interdisciplinary journal 4open, which will publish articles from four different disciplines in science and research, includingmaterials and engineering, each with its own Editorial Board. The categories include (1) Life Sciences and Medicine, (2) Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, (3) Physics and Applied Physics, and (4) Mathematics and Applied Mathematics [1]. 4open follows the standards created by the Council of Science Editors (CSE) [2], the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) [3], the International Committee ofMedical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [4], and the committee on publication ethics (COPE) [5]. Major leading societies, academies, and scientists are actively included, as well as promising future young scientists. For the past six years, we have carefully created multiple different concepts, on varied levels and with diverse priorities, which will be shared when the time is ready. Contrary to the mainstream of OA publishing, 4open provides a liberal and fair article processing charge (APC) model [1]. It enables researchers to choose the level of funding they receive, and thus helps to equalize the opportunities and benefits available, by allowing some stipends to flow to researchers in less well-funded fields of science. The peer review process is entirely independent of the APC decision and will in no way alter any decision on scientific merit that the editor should take. Today, in the twenty-first century, buzz words such as globalization, resource scarcity, rapid technological development, and mass migration are widely used in scientific literature. As is true for most human endeavors, science has power. With power come responsibilities. Good science involves finding helpful solutions to existing


Abstract Introduction Data are scarce on hs-CRP as a biomarker for airway inflammation in pediatric asthma. We aimed to examine correlation between hs-CRP and asthma control levels. Methods Children with physician-diagnosed asthma, ages 6–15 years, were enrolled. GINA-2016 criteria were used to assess the level of asthma control. The relationships between serum hs-CRP and each of asthma control measures (asthma control criteria, spirometry, impulse oscillometry, eosinophil counts and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) were assessed. Results 150 asthmatic children were enrolled; 52 (35%) had well controlled asthma, 76 (51%), and 22 (14%) children had partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma, respectively. Median (IQR) values of hs-CRP were 0.47 (0.1, 1.67) mg/L in well controlled, 0.30 (0.1, 1.83) mg/L in partly controlled, and 2.74 (0.55, 3.74) mg/L in uncontrolled asthma (p = 0.029). Using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, area under the curve for hs-CRP (mg/L) to discriminate between uncontrolled and (controlled + partly controlled) asthma was 0.67 (95% CI 0.55, 0.80) and a cutoff 1.1 mg/L of serum hs-CRP level had a sensitivity of 68.1% with specificity of 67.97%. In two groups of hs-CRP (<3 mg/L) and hs-CRP (≥3 mg/L), high hs-CRP group had higher proportion of uncontrolled asthmatic children (p = 0.03). Conclusion We observed higher serum hs-CRP values in children with uncontrolled asthma, suggesting its potential role as a biomarker of asthma control.


Ionospheric disturbances are mainly caused by solar and Earth surface activity. The electromagnetic data collected by the CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite, popularly known as the Zhangheng-1 satellite) can capture many space disturbances. Different spatial disturbances can exhibit distinctive shapes on spectrograms. Constant-frequency electromagnetic disturbances (CFEDs) such as artificially transmitted VLF radio waves, power line harmonics, and satellite platform disturbances can appear as horizontal lines on spectrograms. Therefore, we used computer vision and machine learning techniques to extract the frequency of global CFEDs and analyze their strong spatial signal characteristics. First, we obtained time-frequency spectrograms from CSES VLF electric-field waveform data using Fourier transform. Next, we employed an unsupervised clustering algorithm to automatically recognize CFED horizontal lines on spectrograms, merging horizontal lines from different spectrograms, to obtain the CFED horizontal-line frequency range. In the third stage, we verified the presence of CFEDs in power spectrograms, thus extracting their true frequency values. Finally, for strong CFED signals, we generated eight revisited periods, resulting in 10,230 power spectrograms for analyzing each CFED's spatial characteristics using a combined periodic sequence and spatial region that included frequency offsets, frequency fluctuations, and signal non-observation areas. These findings contribute to enhancing the quality of CSES observational data and provides a theoretical basis for constructing global CFED spatial background fields and earthquake monitoring and early prediction systems.


Objective To investigate the anatomical and histological features of ventricular bands in goat hearts. Methods The left and right ventricular bands of 82 adults goat hearts were observed and measured anatomicaly. Using paraffin section, HE and masson staining techniques, 23 left ventricular bands and 17 right bands were observed by light microscopy. Results The detectable rate of the left ventricular bands was 95.12%, the right ventricular bands were 80.49% which was lower than that of the left ventricle (P0.05). The vast majority of left bands was straight, a few with bifurcation at one end or tow ends, few with the form of net. The outshape of right bands was relatively simple, the form of net and bifurcated bands was less. The diameters of left and right bands were mostly less than 1mm. The average lenght of left bands was 1.24±0.50mm, and that of right bands was 0.93±0.45mm. 98% of bands contain Pukinje cells, and 2% contain myocyte. Conclusion The bands can be detected in both left and right ventricles with more bands in left ventricle than in right ventricles, bands contain Pukinje cells.


During the last two centuries of the Late Middle Ages lords experienced a substantial fall in rents, which was exacerbated in the case of Valencia due to the small size of local manors. The will to keep their levels of incomes brought lords to demand higher burdens from their vassals, especially Muslims, while some nobles, in addition, invested in the productive structures of their estates. Such was the case in the manor of Manises, where since the early fourteenth century an important ceramic manufacturing had developed, which attracted the interest of buyers from all over Europe. This production took place in a medium-sized manorial village, inhabited by a mixed population of Muslims and Christians, which maintained its engagement with agricultural labour. The aim of this article is to analyse the rents of the manor of Manises through two unpublished and exceptional manorial sources, namely, two registries datable from the early fifteenth century and the early sixteenth century respectively, although the latter continued to be used until the end of the century. These allow the exploration of the structure of seigniorial revenues, showing the incidence that agrarian rents and those coming from ceramic production represented over the total. The tendency followed by the manorial rents in the long run is addressed and compared to those of other contemporary locations of the Kingdom of Valencia. Finally, the involvement of vassals in agriculture and ceramic manufacturing is also explored.


Kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) is a tropical fruit known for its manymedicinal properties. The present study investigated the effects of fruitextracts on the lipidemic profile of male wistar rats. Specifically, differentconcentrations of aqueous and ethanolic fruit extracts were tested on bloodcholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoproteins and triglycerides. Ratswere given high-fat diet for fourteen days using rat pellets amended with eggyolk. A control group with normal diet were also maintained. Extracts wereadministered through oral gavage once a day for fourteen days at differenttreatment concentrations: 25%, 50%, 75% and pure concentrations. Simvastatinand water were used as control treatments. Blood samples were taken through thetail vein at the initial and final phase.  Results processed using Analysis ofVariance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) show significantreduction in cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides among ratstreated with pure extracts. This reduction is seen to be directly associatedwith concentration of treatments. As treatment concentration increases, effectson lipidemic parameters are greater. Further, the results are comparable toSimvastatin, a commercially – available drug used to lower blood cholesterol. Cholesterollevel of rats given pure and 75% fruit extracts were at 85.2167 and 88.46 mg/dLof blood respectively, significantly better than Simvastatin's 98.9067 mg/dL. The study concludes that Kamias is apotential natural cholesterol control and can significantly replacecommercially available drugs. It is recommended that a thorough chemicalanalysis be done on the fruit for better drug applications.


Consistent with their goal of becoming a centre for educational excellence in teaching, learning and research, the authorities of Chinese higher education introduced their academic database system as one of their e-library services. However, the existing literature exhibits inadequate empirical measurements of academic databases in all aspects of higher education throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this gap, this study aims to validate the technology satisfaction model (TSM) for measuring students' satisfaction in using academic databases for their learning and research purposes. This study also analysed local and international academic databases to explore whether these databases could play a moderating role in shaping learners' satisfaction. The data were collected through a survey of 500 respondents studying at a research university in Shanghai. The results, which were analysed by structural equation modelling and the Rasch model, showed that students' satisfaction is determined by three valid predictors: computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness and ease of use, and causal direct and indirect relationships among these variables in the use of local and international academic databases. Our new findings on the moderating effect of local (i.e. Chinese) and international (e.g. English) academic databases highlighted that the TSM has successfully estimated dual databases and produced insignificant, dissimilar results. This study could aid local and international educators, researchers, information science professionals and others in measuring the perception of academic databases for learning and research. This research could also serve as a guideline for researchers and psychometricians in measuring innovative learning technologies using structural equation modelling and the Rasch model. This is the unique contribution of this study, which concludes that local and international academic databases are almost equally important for postgraduate students at a research university in China. Moreover, these students are satisfied in using these academic databases to learn and do research.


This paper analyzes the motor bus transfer (MBT) issue and developing schemes to accomplish transfer that promote process continuity while causing no damage to the motors or the loads. An important value to decide the viability of MBT is the resultant volts per hertz (V/Hz). The resultant V/Hz issue is exacerbated when the phase angle difference increases and the voltage difference increases. Several methods have been proposed and discussed here


Primary cutaneous blastomycosis is very rare in non-endemic regions like India. Only few cases have been reported from India. Herein, we are reporting a rare case of chronic cutaneous blastomycosis in a young immunocompetent male presenting as mycetoma with multiple discharging sinuses in the anterior abdominal wall with no significant travel history.