SUMMARY Gender stereotypes are accepted preconceptions of what should be a man and a woman. Affect all areas of life, in the relationships that stablished in the family and the school. Within education, these stereotypes are reflected in the access, retention and completion of education degrees, as well as the area of study that preferred the women and men. They also have different effects on the causes of dropout depending on the gender to which they belong. This article aims to show the influence of gender stereotypes on dropout students and high school students in rural areas, specifically in three schools located in the municipality of El Fuerte, Sinaloa, the academic unit (AU) San Blas and its extensions La Constancia and Las Higueras of Los Natoches. The results were obtained through a wider investigation in 2013.


In common with other transport providers British Rail is concerned to save fuel and the new Advanced Passenger Train is an efficient user of energy. Moreover, if 50 per cent of the rail system could be electrified 126m gallons of oil a year would be saved. In this article the Chairman of the Railways Board also makes his case for a low cost Channel tunnel, and gives a warning that BR's financing and investment limits must be eased if rail services are to be improved.


In this paper,according to the old people's physical characteristics and their technical requirements for comfort and mastery when operating the robot,a control approach driven by tactile and slip senses is investigated to control the elderly-assistant & walking-assistant robot. First,on the basis of the proposed driving control system program of tactile and slip,a detection system of tactile and slip senses are designed. Based on the tactile and slip feature representation and extraction,an improved classification and recognition method is proposed which combines K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm and K-means algorithm. And then,a robot control system based on TMS320F2812 is designed in this paper,including its hardware and software design. Then,a moving control method including the fuzzy adaptive control algorithm is presented for the walking-assistant robot to realize some different moving properties. At last,by the experimental verification in the walking-assistant robot,the research results show that the tactile and slip senses detection and recognition method is effective,and the whole control system has good feasibility and adaptability.


In a previous paper [6] it has been shown that one can easily use the Laplacian of the mesh description of a planar graph in order to obtain the Hamiltonian circuit(s), if any, of the graph. In this work, we show how to adapt this method in order to build Hamiltonian networks.


The main difficulty of Pattern Recognition is the interpretation of the iconic picture, the pixels, into primitive features. The interest of a feature classification as "regular" and "singular" is recalled and justified. These ideas are applied to line images, and particularly to handwritten words. On the graph representation of a word, a regular feature, the "axis," is found; it allows to segment the word representation and to obtain a descriptive chain. Examples of such symbolic descriptions are given, with their interpretation as a word among a list of 25 words. The results are of the order of 87% success, 3% substitution on one handwriting. Preliminary results show that it may be extended to large categories of handwriting.


AbstractWhitetopping (WT) or ultrathin whitetopping (UTW) overlay is defined as a portland cement concrete overlay on an existing deteriorated hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavement to improve both the structural and functional capability of HMA. During the past two decades, UTW overlays have gained great acceptance as an alternative to HMA overlay. However, there is a lack of a reliable method to evaluate the performance of in-service UTW pavements. Because of the small slab sizes of UTW pavements, backcalculation of pavement layer properties, based on the falling weight deflectometer, is challenging. This study developed a new approach, the Critical Distance Method, based on Saint-Venant's principle, to backcalculate the portland cement concrete and equivalent substructure moduli of UTW pavement. It was proven to be an effective approach to determine the layer properties of UTW pavement, based on the finite element simulations. Traditional backcalculation methods, such as AREA theory and the MODCOMP6 software p...


The Spafford Children's Center is today located between Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate, along the high wall of the Old City in a compound purchased from an Ottoman general over a century ago. The center is a nongovernmental and humanitarian charitable institution that provides a wide range of educational, medical, and cultural services to the underserved Palestinian population of East Jerusalem. The center has served the children of East Jerusalem, in various iterations, over the span of nearly a century. It began as a group of interrelated welfare projects run by the American Colony Aid Association (ACAA), the social service branch of the American colony in Jerusalem. In the late 1920s, the ACAA established a baby home, an infant welfare center and a community playground, to address the needs of local children. The organization transi-tioned the baby home into a full-fledged children's hospital in the late 1930s. It served families from all over the West Bank after 1948 and transformed into its current iteration as a multiservice social welfare center following the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. Descendants of the original founders continue to sit on the center's board of trustees, which also includes local physicians, businessmen, and community leaders.1 Over the long course of its history, the ACAA has been funded through local and international donations from individual, nonprofit, and corporate donors. The Spafford Children's Center and the ACAA are longstanding Jerusalem institutions that illuminate the way life the city's children. Studying institutions these offers several recovering a Jerusalem. The institutions'


In order to establish the active control system by using the vortex generator jets (VGJs), it is necessary to understand the detailed suppression mechanism of the separated flow in the diffuser. An opening angle of the diffuser can be changed from 8 to 15 deg corresponding to three flow regimes, "Unstalled", "Appreciable Stall" and "Transitory Stall". A micro wall flow sensor was used for measurement of forward flow fraction. It is found that VGJ makes the local forward flow fraction increase and prevents the flow detachment. Although the effect of separation control is obtained resulting from the higher jet velocity ratio, excessive jet velocity ratio introduces lower diffuser effectiveness due to the mixing loss.


Acute cerebral infarction is commonly seen in China,and nowadays the most effective mean of medications is thrombolytic therapy.However,the thrombolysis successful rate is comparatively lower than the developed countries,which means that there is still a big gap when compared with the developed countries.And the reasons can be summarized as the low awareness of civilians,the pre-hospital delay,the shortage of city emergency system capacity,the insufficient of stroke centers and some other iatrogenic causes.The follow-up measures consist of strengthening the publicity of thrombolysis,increasing construction of city emergency centers and stroke centers,and conducting related training to all levels of the hospital's neurologists,all are increasing the proportion of patients receiving thrombolysis,improving benefits for more patients.


With the expansion of the investigative power and prevailance of the oral confession,extorting a confession by torture has become a big obstacle for justice civilization.This article deals with setting up the system of the lawyer's presence during the investigation and interrogation process, analyses its procedural values,and explores the concrete gurantee measures.


Current MRI techniques cannot reliably assess iron content in white matter due to the confounding diamagnetic effect of myelin. The purpose of this study was to validate with histology a novel iron mapping technique that uses the temperature dependency of the paramagnetic susceptibility in multiple sclerosis (MS) brains, where white matter has been reported to show significant variations in iron content.


In this paper a tentative explanation of the competence of argumentation from an evolutionary point of view is offered. Because in contemporary argumentation theory and the informal logic approach the evolutionary perspective has been neglected, this paper gives an initial overview on the matter with the hope that core aspects of the argumentative faculty—such as argumentative normativity, the function of arguments, or fallacious moves, among others—can be seen differently afterwards. In order to specify the proposal, the main concepts considered are the notion of collective intentionality, cooperation, reputation, niche construction and, of course, basic evolutionary terms.


In this article we report about pancreatic cancer incidence, variants of surgical treatment depending on pancreatic tumor localization. Pancreatectomia in case of head and body pancreatic cancer at early stage is described.


Diabetic patients are often accompanied by increasing level of oxidized low density lipoprotein(ox-LDL),which could promote the development of diabetic nephropathy in many aspects including abnormal lipid metabolism,inflammation damage and the damages in mesangial cells,endothelial cells and renal tubular cells resulted from hemodynamic alterations.Regulation the expression of ox-LDL receptor-1 could reduce the damage on renal tubule induced by ox-LDL.Low density lipoprotein is useful in the assessment of early diagnosis and treatment of Diabetic nephropathy.


A system for communicating wireless signals includes a passive optical network (PON) between a central office (CO) and network subscribers. The CO has an optical line terminal (OLT) and a wireless base station. An RF/Optic converter converts base station radio frequency (RF) signals to and from corresponding optical signals. An optical combiner combines signals of the OLT and signals of the RF/Optic converter for communication over the PON with at least one optical network unit (ONU) at a location of one or more of the network subscribers, so that signals of the OLT and converted wireless base station signals are carried together over the PON. A fiber mounted wireless antenna unit (FMCA) having an optical interface and a wireless antenna, and communicating wireless signals of the wireless antenna with the ONU, including performing conversions between wireless RF signals and optical signals.


Objectives— Development of imaging agents for pancreatic beta cell mass may provide tools for studying insulin-secreting beta cells and their relationship with diabetes mellitus. In this paper a new imaging agent, [ 18 F](+)-2-oxiranyl-3-isobutyl-9-(3-fluoropropoxy)-10-methoxy-2,3,4,6,7,11b-hexahydro-1H-pyrido[2,1-a]isoquinoline [ 18 F](+) 4 , which displays properties targeting vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) binding sites of beta cells in the pancreas, was evaluated as a PET (positron emission tomography) agent for estimating beta cell mass in vivo . The hydrolyzable epoxide group of (+) 4 may provide a mechanism for shifting biodistribution from liver to kidney thus, reducing the background signal. Methods— Both 18 F and 19 F labeled (+) and ( − ) isomers of 4 were synthesized and evaluated. Organ distribution was carried out in normal rats. Uptake of [ 18 F](+) 4 in pancreas of normal rats was measured and correlated with blocking studies using competing drugs, (+)dihydrotetrabenazine, (+)-DTBZ or 9-fluoropropyl-(+)dihydro tetrabenazine (FP-(+)-DTBZ, (+) 2 ). Results— In vitro binding study of VMAT2 using rat brain striatum showed a K i value of 0.08 and 0.15 nM for the (+) 4 and (±) 4 , respectively. The in vivo biodistribution of [ 18 F](+) 4 in rats showed the highest uptake in the pancreas (2.68 %ID/g at 60 min post-injection). In vivo competition experiments with cold FP-(+)-DTBZ, (+) 2 , (3.5 mg/kg, 5 min iv pretreatment) led to a significant reduction of pancreas uptake (85 % blockade at 60 min). The inactive isomer [ 18 F]( − ) 4 showed significantly lower pancreas uptake (0.22 %ID/g at 30 min post-injection). Animal PET imaging studies of [ 18 F](+) 4 in normal rats demonstrated an avid pancreatic uptake in rats. Conclusion— The preliminary results suggest that the epoxide, [ 18 F](+) 4 , is highly selective in binding to VMAT2 and it has an excellent uptake in the pancreas of rats. The liver uptake was significantly reduced through the use of the epoxide group. Therefore, it may be potentially useful for imaging beta cell mass in the pancreas.


IN recent years a growing interest has been taken in the ionic composition of the body in various physiological and pathological states. Considerable knowledge has been gained of the total body electrolytes by means of balance studies, and measurements of the serum electrolytes have become an everyday clinical tool. Changes in the electrolyte composition of individual organs in response to physiological and pathological change are not nearly so well understood. In excitable tissues, some relations between the ionic balance of the cell and its environment, the membrane potential, and the process of excitation have been established. Certain smooth muscles have been shown to lose potassium from the cells and to gain sodium when they are stimulated to contract by the action of drugs (Parrot, Thouvenot and Longuevalle, 1953 ; Born and Bulbring, 1956; Tobian and Fox, 1956; Macmillan and Vane, 1956). It is believed that the reverse process occurs during relaxation due to drugs. In uterine smooth muscle cells the membrane potential has been shown to fall during stimulation by oxytocin, in a manner suggesting that similar ionic transfers occur (Woodbury and McIntyre, 1954). Less transient changes in ionic composition of the uterus have been observed following the administration of oestrogen or progesterone to animals (Talbot, Lowry and Astwood, 1940; Horvath, 1954). It seems possible that the activity of uterine smooth muscle may be dependent on the ionic content of its cells. The electrolyte composition of the human uterus was first determined, mainly on autopsy material, by Kochman and Kruger (1926) and by Treite (1938). Further data on the content of individual electrolytes in relatively isolated cases are given by Rossenbeck (1931), Winkler (1936a, b), Manery and Hastings (1939), Parvianen, Soiva and Ehrnrooth (1950), and Nordenstrahl (1952). Only a few observations on the human uterus (Daniel, 1955; Daniel and Boyes, 1957; Cort and Cort, 1957) have been made since simple and reliable methods for the estimation of sodium and potassium have been available. The present study was therefore undertaken with a view to establishing the electrolyte composition of the human uterus during pregnancy, in labour, and in prolonged labour, using small biopsy specimens taken from the edge of incisions in the uterus at operation. The observations were confined to the myometrium and the majority of the specimens came from the lower segment. A preliminary report on a few of the cases has already been made (Nixon and Smyth, 1957). While this report was in preparation, some observations on the electrolyte composition of the human uterus in pregnancy and long labour


In this section, we give an analysis that shows global linear convergence of both Algorithm 1 and Algorithm 2. In the first part, we show a linear-type convergence of randomized BCD and Greedy BCD by utilizing the special structure of the AL subproblem. In the second part, we show that by choosing a sufficiently small dual step size η, one can achieve global linear convergence with one step of randomized or Greedy BCD instead of solving each AL subproblem exactly.


Portability of an Ada program cannot be achieved without careful attention to detail. While the portability characteristics of the Ada programming language have always been good, there are common language features which can severely limit portability. The second iteration of the language, Ada95, has alleviated many of the first-generation problems and limitations. Unfortunately, Ada's semantic dependence on the target system's "endian" persists. This dependence exists primarily in the record representation clause.


The role of technology in promoting gender equality has gained significant attention in recent years. Technological innovations have the potential to create new opportunities for women and girls, bridge gender gaps in education and employment, and improve access to healthcare and other essential services. However, there are also concerns that technology may exacerbate existing gender inequalities, particularly in the digital divide and online harassment. This research paper explores the ways in which technology and innovation can be leveraged to promote gender equality and mitigate potential risks. It reviews the current state of the digital divide, online harassment, and the representation of women in technology, and identifies strategies and initiatives that are being implemented to promote gender equality in the digital age


Spent nuclear fuel is often stored in stainless steel canisters in the United States. Stainless steel is susceptible to Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). This presentation will discuss progress on the use of the Time Reversed Elastic Nonlinearity Diagnostic (TREND) and Nonlinear Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (NRUS) to determine whether SCC is present and attempt to quantify the depth of the cracking. NRUS is the measurement of the amplitude dependence of a sample's resonance frequency, which occurs because of a softening of the elastic modulus in damaged media. NRUS provides a global indication of damage in a sample. TREND employs time reversal acoustics, which focuses wave energy at various points of interest to excite localized high amplitude. The amplitude dependence of this localized energy allows pointwise inspection of a sample. [This work was funded by the Nuclear Energy University Program of the U.S. Department of Energy through a subcontract from Los Alamos National Laboratory.]


The fact that learners of various ages acquire certain abilities and knowledges without the help of the ordinary agencies of education is generally accepted. This phenomenon has received more or less discussion in general psychological literature, being commonly referred to as "ob servational learning." This term has usually meant the process of acquiring some knowledge or skill without deliberate effort or even, in some cases, without much consciousness on the part of the learner. The language, for example, which an individual develops as a result of hav ing been born into one type of social setting is due to this form of learn ing. Many of the mannerisms connected with an individual's speaking, gesturing, walking, and even thinking, probably have the same origin. That the school accepts the theory of casual learning can be illus trated by numerous procedures which are carried on. Efforts are made, for example, to surround the child with objects which will provide him with aesthetic stimulations, such as pictures, and pieces of statuary. It is assumed that in this way his developing tastes will be turned, almost unconsciously, in desirable directions. It is supposed that the forma tion of health habits can be subtly influenced by the display of posters of pleasing design, indicating the value of milk and apples, the need of brushing the teeth, or the desirability of opening the windows at night. Most school administrators exercise care in the selection of teachers who will serve as examples to the children in matters of speech, manners, and general conduct. Since the belief in the potency of casual learning ap pears to be rather widespread, any objective appraisal of its amount and character would seem to be important. The present study is an attempt to throw light on one narrow phase of the problem.


The study was aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimalarial activity of n-hexane extract, chloroform extract, and 96% ethanolic extract of Morinda citrifolia L. leaves. The n-hexane, chloroform, and 96% ethanolic extracts were obtained by multiple maceration of powdered dried M. citrifolia L. leaves and the assay was done using 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. The concentration of test solutions were 100 μg/mL, 10 μg/mL, 1 μg/mL, 0,1 μg/mL, and 0,01 μg/mL. Among the extracts, chloroform extract showed active antimalarial activity with IC50 value of 12,20 μg/mL, while n-hexane and 96% ethanolic extracts showed inactive antimalarial activity with IC50 > 100 μg/mL.


Use of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) in research has increased in the past decade. This study compares bone measures from two pQCT densitometers: the XCT3000 and the XCT2000 (Orthometrix Inc., White Plains, NY). Coefficients of variation (CV) for the XCT3000 also are reported.


The article consists of a Powerpoint presentation on hardware compilation technology. The paper describes the investment in disruptive technologies. Handel compiles software programs into hardware circuits. Reconfigurable chips implement the hardware in milliseconds. Seven Spires Investments invests in scalable, 'breakthrough' technologies and invests up to #1m per company per year.


It is economical and efficient to treat the acid glucide wastewater with inner electrolysis+flocculation+floatation and biochemical+terminal process.The treated wastewater can meet the national discharge standard.


Influence of pre-milling treatment and type of grinding system on particle size distribution in besan (chickpea flour) has been studied. Two types of treatments, wet and dry, were given to Bengalgram prior to milling and dhal obtained was pulverized in 4 different types of mills to prepare besan. Sieve analysis of besan has shown that wet pre-milling treatment (WPT) gave lower amounts of fine flour than dry pre-milling treatment (DPT) irrespective of grinding machine. Water absorption and extrudability studies have shown substantial variations among WPT and DPT flour samples indicating the easy extrudability of plate/Burr mill flour. WPT besan, made in Burr/plate mill (having a particle size range of 250-100 microns) gave good quality sev (a traditional deep fried snack product) indicating the influence of above inter-related parameters on quality of sev as related to the quality of besan.


ABSTRAcr.~BUzios Island is a fishing community of about 44 families located off the coast of Sao Paulo State, Braziil. This study focuses on the food taboos of the islanders from Buzios, specifically on prohibitions in the consumption of certain species of fish and lizard. Interviews and observations on food habits were made from November 1986 to December 1987. Some fish are avoided only when persons are ill and others are recomme:nded for these cases. Among the generally avoided fish, moray and ray receive special attention. The reasons for these avoidances were investigated and it was observed that carnivorous fish, more than other fish, are avoided during illnesses. The toxicity of fishes might also explain some avoidances. Finally, medicinal uses of some species, such as rays and lizards, seem to explain some important dietary taboos: medicinal animals may be saved as a source of drugs.


High-dimensional linear operations are significant for the quantum optics. A non-cascaded approach is demonstrated to achieve arbitrary linear operations for phase-coherent spatial modes. With spatial light modulators (SLMs), unitary transformation matrices are obtained with dimensionalities ranging from 7 to 24 with the fidelities from 95.1% to 82.1%, respectively. Non-unitary matrix transformations are also presented in this work. Much higher dimensionality has been achieved compared to the previous reports with our approach, which is very promising for various applications in quantum domain.


Changes in the content of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin is determined, and a Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopic study of changes in lignocellulose of wood decayed by BP2, CD1and AX3 is presented. Sawdust was exposed to fungi for different durations up to 50 days, with decay law assessed through weight loss and FTIR. As a result, sawdust decayed showed the three fungus decay lignocellulose orderly and selectively, decayed hemicellulose and lignin first, simultaneous decay hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin again, there are degradation superiority(about 45%) and selectivity(about 0.5) for lignin. The changes of lignin associated bands(at 1630, 1510, 1325 and 1265 cm-1), and hemicellulose and cellulose associated bands(at 1738, 1375, 1158 and 898 cm-1) in sawdust decayed by white-rot fungi make sure the same conclusion.


In allusion to restricted grid-connected capacity and high wind power curtailment when large-scale wind farm is grid-connected,in usual it is considered to improve power grid's ability of accommodating wind power by energy storage system,however how to evaluate the overall efficiency of the hybrid wind power-pumped storage system is the problem to be solved well.For this reason,the investment cost,economic benefit of pumped storage system and its operational constraints are analyzed,thus the follow-up mechanism between comprehensive benefits of hybrid wind power-pumped storage system and energy storage capacity under optimized operating condition of regional power grid is revealed,and a mathematical model to solve the comprehensive benefits is established and a method to evaluate the comprehensive benefits is proposed.Based on output curves of mutually matched thermal generation units,wind power and load characteristics of power grid and combining with the installation capacity of thermal generation units and utilizing the incidence relation between system frequency and load(or the change of power generation),the proposed method quantitatively analyzes the impacts of the change of such factors of pumped storage station as its capacity,service life,cost and revenue on comprehensive benefits and power grid's accommodation ability of wind power.Case analysis shows that proposed evaluation method is effective.


In order to evaluate high rock slope stability of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),by using the finite differential strength reduction method,in this paper the authors have calculated and analyzed the stability of the artificial slope stability of the 3rd and 4th phase of this project. Compared to the results with that of the traditional limit equilibrium method,it can be found that the finite differential strength reduction method can simulate the slope' s stability better,also because that the constitutive relations of geotechnical materials is considered,as a result,thus stability coefficients obtained are more reasonable.


Those looking for an example of an instance in which genetics is revolutionizing modern heart medicine might not think first of the wildly beautiful area surrounding Gitxsan First Nation villages near the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia.

There among roughly


The prevalence of obesity is increasing around 40% among women worldwide. Women are more likely to become overweight and obese because of overeating of carbohydrate, sugar, trans fat and low physical activities. Research evidence shows that 25% of overweight weight women will become obese later. Overweight and obesity are considered known risk factors for non-communicable diseases among population worldwide because it affects dysfunction of many systems including metabolic, hormonal, hemodynamic, biochemical, immunological and molecular physiology. Several chronic diseases among women associated with overweight and obesity are addressed as follows.


The potential of wind energy for hydrogen production is investigated in this paper for Fars province of Iran. Wind speeds at the elevations of 10 m, 30 m and 40 m recorded in ten minutes intervals for the period of one year were analyzed for cities of Abadeh, Juyom, Eqleed, and Marvdasht . Based on statistical analysis, city of Abadeh found to be the best for this purpose. The performances of four different large-scale wind turbines for producing wind power in Abadeh are evaluated. It is found that hydrogen from wind energy in Abadeh using a hydrogen producing unit would fuel approximately 266 cars per week if a REPower RE5M model wind turbine to be used.


We formed a graded-AlGaN contact layer to improve the Ohmic characteristics of Si-doped AlN. Linear I-V characteristics were obtained for AlN with the graded-AlGaN layer, and the current was three orders of magnitude larger than that for AlN without the one. The specific contact resistivity decreased with the increasing thickness of the graded-AlGaN layer. This was probably due to a reduction in the three-dimensional negative charge density induced by the polarization charge in the graded AlGaN layer. A minimum contact resistivity of 1.4  × 10 − 2 Ω cm 2 was obtained for a 330-nm-thick graded-AlGaN layer. To obtain the Ohmic contact, the Si-dopant concentration ( N Si) should be larger than the negative fixed charge density ( ρ π) induced by the polarization charge. However, the heavily doped graded-AlGaN layer ( N Si = 2.4 × 10 19 cm−3) became semi-insulating due to self-compensation. The results indicated that reducing ρ π by relaxing the compositional slope in the graded layer can improve the Ohmic characteristics.We formed a graded-AlGaN contact layer to improve the Ohmic characteristics of Si-doped AlN. Linear I-V characteristics were obtained for AlN with the graded-AlGaN layer, and the current was three orders of magnitude larger than that for AlN without the one. The specific contact resistivity decreased with the increasing thickness of the graded-AlGaN layer. This was probably due to a reduction in the three-dimensional negative charge density induced by the polarization charge in the graded AlGaN layer. A minimum contact resistivity of 1.4  × 10 − 2 Ω cm 2 was obtained for a 330-nm-thick graded-AlGaN layer. To obtain the Ohmic contact, the Si-dopant concentration ( N Si) should be larger than the negative fixed charge density ( ρ π) induced by the polarization charge. However, the heavily doped graded-AlGaN layer ( N Si = 2.4 × 10 19 cm−3) became semi-insulating due to self-compensation. The results indicated that reducing ρ π by relaxing the compositional slope in the graded l...


The contemporary debate about European constitutionalism leaves us with a dilemma between the views of social democrats and economic liberals in respect to (political) European integration. In this article I show how Habermas's deliberative theory of democracy can overcome the resulting false dichotomy between global markets and national democracy, but also discuss the limits of his conception of the public sphere for the heterogeneous polity of the new Europe. My aim is to develop an "interdiscursive" concept of the public sphere based on Bakhtin's dialogical theory of understanding which helps to elucidate how the notion of identity and citizenship can function in a post-national epoch.


Background Ixazomib, the first oral proteasome inhibitor, is approved by the US FDA, in combination with Rd, for the treatment of MM patients (pts) who have received at least 1 prior therapy. Approval was based on the double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 TOURMALINE-MM1 study (NCT01564537) in 722 pts with RRMM (Moreau et al, N Engl J Med 2016), in which IRd showed superior PFS versus placebo-Rd (HR 0.74) at the final prespecified analysis, with limited additional toxicity. Prespecified subgroup analyses showed a consistent PFS benefit with IRd, but with a differential treatment effect according to prior therapy exposure. An exploratory study objective was to evaluate potential relationships between treatment outcomes and tumor gene expression patterns. c-MYC is a proto-oncogene that encodes a transcription factor regulating cell proliferation, growth, protein translation, metabolism, and apoptosis, and increased c-MYC expression is involved in MM pathogenesis/progression. We analyzed the impact of c-MYC expression on PFS in RRMM pts treated with IRd or placebo-Rd. Methods Pts with RRMM after 1-3 prior lines of therapy were randomized 1:1 to receive oral ixazomib or placebo, plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone, until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Randomization was stratified by number of prior therapies (1 vs 2-3), proteasome inhibitor exposure, and ISS disease stage. The primary endpoint was PFS by independent review committee assessment. Data reported here are from the final prespecified statistical analysis of PFS (median follow-up ~15 months). Bone marrow aspirate samples were collected at screening for tumor gene expression analysis. Whole transcriptome sequencing (RNAseq) of bone marrow-sorted CD138+ cells was performed using the Illumina Truseq protocol on the Illumina HiSeq platform; this generated a median of 50 million paired-end reads (100 bp length) per sample. c-MYC expression was evaluated by treatment arm and according to number of prior therapies (1 vs 2-3). PFS was analyzed in subgroups dichotomized according to median c-MYC expression (c-MYC-high/c-MYC-low). Results RNAseq data were available for 59% (427/722) of enrolled pts; 213 (50%) had high and 219 (50%) had low c-MYC expression (dichotomized according to the median). Impact of c-MYC expression (high vs low) on PFS, irrespective of treatment arm, was not significant (p=0.98). However, a significant treatment effect of IRd vs placebo-Rd was only seen in pts with high c-MYC expression (interaction p=0.024); in these pts (IRd: n=109; placebo-Rd: n=104) a significant PFS benefit was seen with IRd (HR 0.41; 95% CI: 0.26-0.65, p=0.00011). Impact of c-MYC expression was then analyzed by number of prior therapies. In the overall TOURMALINE-MM1 population, per stratification, 212/213 pts in the IRd/placebo-Rd arms had 1 prior therapy, and 148/149 had 2-3 prior therapies. After median follow-up of ~15 months, median PFS in pts with 1 prior therapy was 20.6 vs 16.6 months with IRd vs placebo-Rd (HR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.65-1.20), and in pts with 2-3 prior therapies was not reached vs 12.9 months (HR 0.58; 95% CI: 0.40-0.84, p=0.0033). The level of c-MYC expression was shown to be significantly higher in pts with 2-3 prior therapies vs 1 prior therapy, with median expression of 6.94 (SD=1.71, n=177) vs 6.52 (SD=1.74, n=250) (log2 scale), t-test p-value 0.0153. In pts with 1 prior therapy, no differences in PFS were observed between pts with low c-MYC expression (HR 1; 95% CI: 0.59-1.8, p=0.934), while a prolonged PFS benefit was observed in pts with high c-MYC expression (HR 0.48; 95% CI: 0.26-0.88, p=0.0146) (Figure, A and B). In pts with 2-3 prior therapies, both the c-MYC-high and c-MYC-low pts showed improved PFS with IRd vs placebo-Rd; the difference in PFS was statistically significant only in c-MYC-high pts (HR 0.36; 95% CI: 0.18-0.72, p=0.00269) (Figure, C and D). Conclusions In TOURMALINE-MM1, c-MYC expression was higher in MM tumor samples from pts with 2-3 vs 1 prior therapies. The IRd regimen was active in c-MYC-high and c-MYC-low pts, but its impact on PFS vs placebo-Rd was greater in c-MYC-high pts, thus providing a potential explanation for the enhanced PFS benefit with IRd vs placebo-Rd in pts with 2-3 prior therapies. The PFS benefit with IRd in c-MYC-low pts with 2-3 prior lines suggests that, in advanced MM, further genomic alterations may also be contributing to ixazomib sensitivity. Disclosures Di Bacco:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Bahlis:BMS: Honoraria; Onyx: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel Expenses, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel Expenses, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Avet-Loiseau:Takeda: Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Speakers Bureau. Masszi:Janssen-Cilag: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Ganly:Medipics: Equity Ownership; Novartis: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria. Cavo:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millennium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria. Langer:Celgene: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy. Kumar:Array BioPharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; Onyx: Consultancy, Research Funding; Noxxon Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glycomimetics: Consultancy; Kesios: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Millennium: Consultancy, Research Funding; Skyline: Honoraria, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding. Berg:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Lin:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Li:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Badola:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Shen:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Zhang:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Wang:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Esseltine:Takeda: Equity Ownership; Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment; Johnson and Johnson: Equity Ownership. Luptakova:Takeda Oncology: Employment. van de Velde:Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Employment. Richardson:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Moreau:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria.


In large forest fires over wide areas, aerial fire fighting with water drop from helicopters has been widely employed in the world. After the large earthquake fires in Japan, possibilities were raised to employ similar fire-fighting technique to city fires. However, forest and city fires were inherently different in nature and require different fire-fighting implementations. Since the city fires are concentrated in extent and isolated, thus requiring more dense water application to extinguish fires. As a result, accurate engineering data on the optimum water application relative to a given fire are critically needed to design fire-fighting strategies. This study describes the experiments carried out in open fields using real-life helicopters, in comparison with the 3-D numerical simulations. Numerical simulations can provide reasonable flow patterns of the water droplets from the helicopters, and can be used as a design tool for implementing the fire-fighting technique for real city fires.


Ultra fine and high purity aluminium silicate was prepared by the reaction of aluminium sulfate and water glass.It was studied that extraction and subsidence methods were used to remove impurities from raw feed.The experimental result shows that the products approach the grade of Degauss Co.,Germany.


The diversity of alternative fuels and the corresponding variation in their physical and chemical properties, coupled with simultaneous changes in advanced techniques for CI-engine, needed to improve engine efficiency and emissions. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), seen as a promising substitution for petrol-diesel, and diesel fuel (mixed of 7% palm-biodiesel or B7) were analyzed on fuel properties. Then, the influence of these fuel properties on spray characteristics in constant volume combustion chamber were evaluated under conditions of single hole injector of 200m diameter, injection pressure of 100MPa, constant back pressure of 4.0MPa and energizing time of 2.5ms. The results show that HVO had smaller in viscosity (18.48%), density (5.52%), sulfur content, distillation under T50, T90 and higher in derived cetane index (27.2%), heating value (2.2%), respectively, compared to diesel. Spray characteristics of HVO had the same propensity with diesel fuel. HVO revealed a slightly shorter in penetration length (5%) during fully developed zone, a larger spray cone angle (from 0.2 to 1.1 degree wider in quasi-steady state). Both fuels had a similar maximum spray velocity reaching at 5mm to 10mm from nozzle orifice. Also observed was an increase in spray volume of HVO.


Objective: To identify Phenolphthalein illegally added to diet pills by Raman spectroscopy. Methods:Raman spectroscopy was used to identify Phenolphthalein added to diet pills. First,diet pills were extracted by suitable solvent,then extracting solution were filtered. Finally filtrate were measured by Raman spectroscopy.Results Calibration curve was built and analysis were performed on samples with different content of Phenolphthalein. Results were accordance with real amount added. Conclusion: With suitable sample preprocessing method,Raman spectroscopy could be used to fast screening Phenolphthalein illegally added to diet pills.This method is fast,simple,low cost and can give both qualitative and quantitative results. The detection limit is 1% for Phenolphthalein in diet pill.


Through using the method of literature review and investigation at site,this paper makes analysis on people health dance development in communities in Jiangmen city. The result shows that as cultural projects in Gaungdong province,people health dance well integrates into public life,and positively impacts on the construction of community sports culture and development. After integrating the community sports,people health dance own cultural system changes towards to fitness culture,life culture,behavior culture,entertainment culture and communicative culture. It has special value and meaning to construction of city spiritual civilization,implementation of the national fitness program and community sports culture.


According to the recent trends in the construction business have been actively booming both overseas plant orders and high-rise buildings orders. In addition high-rise building projects have being promoted or is actually under construction in Korea. Frame structure review which is the most consuming period on high-rise building is essential on that project. In this study looks for the currently form system and compares to those large system used in high-rise buildings.


Gender is a cultural concept constructed by society to define man and woman. This study aims to analyze the gender performance of the main female character in Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones." Clary Fray, the female protagonist who is determined to save her missing mother, is portrayed as a feminine-masculine character through her performance by joining Shadowhunter. As the qualitative method and Gender Performativity by Judith Butler are applied to the discussion, the study discovers that Clary Fray learns to behave in a certain way by imitating some figures to attain a certain ideal of beauty in order to be accepted by society.


Urinary excretion of total 16α-hydroxypregnenolone (16α-OH-P'O), pregnanetriol (PT) and 11-oxopregnanetriol (11-0-PT) were determined by capillary gas chromatography in 18 healthy neonates and 3 newborn infants with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) during the first three weeks after birth. In the 4th week of life all CAH-infants demonstrated salt loosing crisis.Conclusion: The determination of urinary excretion of 16α-OH-P'O is a valuable tool in the reliable detection of 21-hydroxylase deficiency during the first weeks of life when conventional tests may fail.Supported by DFG SFB 87 Project C-3


Withholding drip irrigation until berry set, without girdling or shoot tipping, increased packable yield by 51% and total yield (packable + culls) by 66% compared to vines drip irrigated before berry set in daily amounts equaling evapotranspiration (E.T.). This yield increase was greater than occurred in 1994 and can be attributed to an increase in fruitfulness of vines not receiving irrigation before berry set in 1994. Tipping shoots or girdling at the onset of bloom increased packable yields by 52% and 37%, respectively, when vines were irrigated. However, when irrigations were withheld until berry set (June 2), tipping shoots or girdling at the onset of bloom increased packable yields 89% and 86%, respectively. The combination of girdling and withholding irrigations, however, substantially increased green berries and trimming cost, and this combination is not recommended. Tipping flower clusters at the onset of bloom did not increase packable yield or total yield regardless of whether vines were irrigated before berry set or not.


Sequencing of two ClaI restriction fragments of the genomic variant VT3 of the Thermoproteus tenax virus TTV1 revealed the same open reading frame for the unusual hypothetic protein TPX with some specific alterations as compared to wildtype TTVl (1). Western blot analysis with antibodies directed against a synthetic peptide from a particular short sequence of TPX showed that the protein was no integral part of the virus, though it was formed in large amounts in virus-infected cells. Due to the alterations, TPX of VT3 consists of 474 amino acid residues (TPX-wildtype of 360 amino acids) corresponding to a molecular weight of 58 kD assuming that there are no introns within the gene and the protein is not processed. Both proteins, TPX of wildtype and TPX of VT3 have 350 amino acid residues in common, 284 at the N-terminus, 23 in the middle and 43 at the C-terminus. In contrast to TPX-wildtype, TPX-VT3 lacks 10 amino acids in the middle of the sequence, but contains two additional stretches of 76 and 48 amino acids respectively (underlined), which are made up exclusively of threonine and proline residues. On the nucleotide level, one deletion of 30 bp and two insertions (underlined) of 228 bp and 144 bp were found in TPX of VT3 as compared with TPX of wildtype.


The invention provides composite micro-powder made of mineral slag and steel slag. The composite micro-powder made of the mineral slag and the steel slag is prepared from 72-82% of specially-made mineral slag with the grain size smaller than or equal to 5mm, 2-5% of high-content glass materials, 15-25% of tail steel slag with the grain size smaller than or equal to 20mm and 6-9% of solid activityactivators, wherein the specially-made mineral slag is prepared from furnace slag obtained by the aid of a process of cyclic utilization of the steel slag and metallurgical and chemical engineering iron-containing waste slag and is prepared by subjecting the waste slag to conventional water quenching, and the process belongs to the Taizhou Zhenchang Industrial Waste Slag Comprehensive UtilizationLimited Liability Company; and the composite micro-powder made of the mineral slag and the steel slag is prepared by drying, measuring, mixing and grinding the substances sequentially, and adding liquid additives accounting for 0.1% of the total weight of the substances in the mixing and grinding process of raw materials. The performance of the composite micro-powder can meet the S75 level requirements of 'GB/T18046-2008 granulated blast-furnace slag used for cement and concrete', and can be used for substituting for mineral slag micro-powder as cement additives and concrete additives.


This article shows the fundamental aspects at both a theoretical and methodological level of and the most relevant conclusions concerning, the Evaluation of an Initiation Programme of Mathematics based upon problem solving for children at the first stage of Primary Education. The evaluation of this programme has been carried out taking into consideration different evaluative dimensions. We have concentrated on the evaluation of the process through the Interaction Linguistic Scheme (I.L.S) provided in the programme design as well as in the essential results and goals reached in its development. We have used an observation scale of the check list type for the evaluation of the resolving process. The evaluation of the results has been carried out from the elaboration of five performance tests taking as evaluative referents the objectives of the programme within the different curriculum areas of the very same programme. Finally, this evaluative investigation deals with the perception that those that developed it have over the programme, considering what the programme has given them us teachers and to the students who have received it. The results obtained signal the use of the programme as a conceptual tool, the estimation of certain qualitative indicators of attitudinal, organising, and social character carried out by the professors who have taught these classes as well as a change of attitude towards teaching mathematics.


Sepsis is an excessive inflammatory condition with a high mortality rate and limited prediction and therapeutic options. In this study, for the first time, to our knowledge, we found that downregulation and/or blockade of T cell Ig and mucin domain protein 3 (Tim-3), a negative immune regulator, correlated with severity of sepsis, suggesting that Tim-3 plays important roles in maintaining the homeostasis of sepsis in both humans and a mouse model. Blockade and/or downregulation of Tim-3 led to increased macrophage activation, which contributed to the systemic inflammatory response in sepsis, whereas Tim-3 overexpression in macrophages significantly suppressed TLR-mediated proinflammatory cytokine production, indicating that Tim-3 is a negative regulator of TLR-mediated immune responses. Cross-talk between the Tim-3 and TLR4 pathways makes TLR4 an important contributor to Tim-3–mediated negative regulation of the innate immune response. Tim-3 signaling inhibited LPS–TLR4–mediated NF-κB activation by increasing PI3K–AKT phosphorylation and A20 activity. This negative regulatory role of Tim-3 reflects a new adaptive compensatory and protective mechanism in sepsis victims, a finding of potential importance for modulating innate responses in these patients.


In this manuscript, silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguide loaded with silicon perturbations is proposed. The rectangular and diamond shape perturbations of silicon material are created in Silicon nitride waveguide placed over Silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. The simulation results show that the proposed design is more efficient compared to the existing designs. We obtain the simulation results of the proposed design in terms of reflectance, transmittance, far-field radiation pattern and half power beam width (HPBW). Our results lead to SOI-based optical radiating structure design in the third and fourth window of optical communication. The efficiency of the radiating structure is increased by introducing circular and diamond shape silicon perturbation in the waveguide. The directive and efficient response of optical radiating structure designs are applicable in medical imaging and sensing.


This paper presents the survey as the most often used method for scientific
research. It presents not only the context, the content and its form in details,
but also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using this research
method. Having a clearly defined meaning of the term "survey" would help
the researcher to obtain objective, reliable and valid data and therefore the
research would provide objective and valid results.


We developed a molecular system to visualize molecular bindings as the colocalization of two Q-dots carried by motor proteins on a microtubule (MT) array with predefined polarities on nanotracks. One of the molecular systems, GSH-Q-dot525-dynein (GSH-Q525-D) and GST-Q-dot655-kinesin (GST-Q655-K), resulted in colocalizations by GST-GSH bindings. The other system, avidin-Q525-D (avi-Q525-D) and biotin-Q655-K (bio-Q655-K), also provided specific bindings of avidin-biotin. Analysis of run length (RL) and velocity showed molecular transport without losing motilities of motor proteins. Quantitative analysis proved that colocalizations were achieved by the designed molecules carried by motors. The result implies that an applicability of the reconstructed molecular system to further miniaturization of μTAS to a countable molecular scale, i.e. Molecular Total Analysis Systems (MTAS).


This study discusses about tourist characteristic and motivation in Pelaga, Badung Regency, Sibetan, Karangasem Regency, and Tenganan, Karangasem Regency. These three villages were developed into ecotourism village by JED (Village Ecotourism Network). Ecotourism is a community- based tourism, enviromentally sound, and responsible for sustainability. By seeing the number of visitor in Pelaga Ecotourism Village which has yet to reach the target, this is the impact of marketing system is still very common conducted without regard to the characteristics and motivations of tourists. This research purposes is to know the tourist characteristic and motivation who visit Pelaga, Sibetan, and Tenganan Ecotourism Village. Data collection in this research is done by direct obeservation to Pelaga Village, Sibetan Village, and Tenganan Village. Deep interview with the manager of JED and then deep interview with the coordinator of JED in every village, and also deep interview with the tourist to know their motivation visit Pelaga Ecotourism Village. While also using literature study and documentation. The result of this research show that in term geographic characteristic the visitor in Pelaga, Sibetan, and Tenganan Village is come from various country namely USA , Australia, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Canada, Netherland, England, France, Norway, Belgium, Philippines, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, China, Poland, East Timor, Finland, Korea. In term socio- demographic characteristic the tourist who visit Pelaga and Sibetan dominated by man and in productive age, while in Tenganan is dominated by women and in older age. The whole tourist in three villages are work in private or public sector, and high educational background. Most of tourists who visit, have the motivation to know the culture in three villages.


This paper presents a general quantitative approach to performance evaluation of ATR systems, especially for FLIR imagery. The general quantitative evaluation approach we proposed consists of three main steps. First, multiple sets of testing image sequences with significantly varying difficulty for specific environment, which can be precisely measured, are transmitted into an ATR system through a general protocol interface. Secondly, the computerized results of each set of testing image sequence are gotten through the interface after the ATR system works on each received image. Finally, data analysis will be prosecuted on the former experimental data sets. For convenience of arrangement, the different sets of testing image sequences with measured parameters and their homologous results are managed as the form of testing groups. When evaluating an ATR system, we design numerous groups of testing data which grade from easy to hard. We have developed the General Evaluation Software for Performance of ATR Systems (GESPATRS), which running under Windows in PC. As an example, an ATR system for FLIR imagery is evaluated by the GESPATRS. More details about it are given in the paper to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.


With the aim of saving energy and capital cost, in this work we propose a novel extractive distillation strategy by varying pressure for the separation of pressure-sensitive azeotropic mixtures. Proceeding from the thermodynamic insight of ternary systems in extractive distillations, the considerable energy-saving potential by changing operating pressures is observed. The separation of acetone–methanol with a minimum boiling azeotrope using a heavy entrainer chlorobenzene is chosen as an illustrative case, and it belongs to a scarce classification 1.0-1a-m2 in which the component with higher boiling point is withdrawn as a product. Through the analysis of a ternary residue curve map and isovolatility curves, it could be observed that the minimal amounts of entrainer feed and extractive feasible regions in the ternary diagram are sensitive to pressures. A 3 atm pressure is preliminarily selected for the comparison with atmospheric pressure. The optimal pressure is found through sensitivity analysis. The re...


The Paper contrasts anti analyzes the method of social spots research home and abroad through count analysis and literature analysis.The author carries out a classification study all the articles on social sports in five representative Chinese core periodicals of social sports at home and two international periodicals of social sports.The contrastive study shows that the method of domestic social sports research are:Both foreign and home researches are mainly qualitative analysis with emphasis on rational analysis,most employed secondhand analysis and investigation as research design,statistical analysis with emphasis on descriptive analysis,association analysis with emphasis on correlation and regression analysis.


The maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service businesses were already under pressure to integrate and downsize before the present downturn in aviation. The process is accelerating now. Other forces affecting the business include the high cost of servicing modern engines and the lower maintenance needs of the newest generation of aircraft. The cash value of work for MRO service for planes with more than 50 seats shrank by more than $2.5 billion since 2000 to total $34 billion for 2002. There are major differences in how that contraction plays out in the various segments. Shops that specialize in older aircraft have been hit hardest, which is made worse by a glut in capacity that pre-dated the Sept. 11 attacks. The largest single element is engine repair, at 30%, which is falling as the old Pratt & Whitney power plants are being replaced, and they were the staple of many independent shops. Component overhauls face similar trends, though the high ratio of labor costs will favor those with lower wages. Airframe overhauls are even more labor intensive, which requires massive scale to be economically feasible. Line maintenance is one segment that won't change much, because airlines tend to keep it in-house, no matter what the economic elements.


The embodiment of the invention discloses a method for upgrading software patches, which comprises the following steps of: receiving an upgrading instruction; after receiving the upgrading instruction, generating a backup program according to the file names and the directory structure in a patch file packet; calling the backup program and executing the backup operation; and executing the upgrading operation according to the files in the patch file packet. The method also can execute automatic rollback after upgrading is failed. The embodiment of the invention also provides a corresponding device. According to the technical scheme of the invention, the file names and the directory structure in the patch file packet are compared with the files of the upgraded software to generate the backup program, the backup program is called to execute the backup operation, and the patch file packet is called for executing the upgrading operation, so that the technical scheme of the invention can be used for backing up the upgraded software before the upgrading operation is executed.


Acute hypoxia causes hyperventilation, sighs and arousal from sleep. The role of C1 neurons in mediating hypoxia counter‐regulation in a behaving animal remains untested. We determined sufficiency by optogenetic methods. Channelrhodopsin‐2 was selectively introduced into C1 neurons of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Cre‐driver rats (Cre/0) with a Cre‐dependant adeno‐associated viral vector (AAV2 DIO‐EF1alpha‐ChR2‐EYFP). Sleep stages were identified from EEG and neck EMG recordings. Breathing was measured using whole body plethysmography and blood pressure by telemetry. During non‐rapid eye movement sleep (nREM), unilateral photostimulation of C1 neurons produced arousal in 84 ± 4% of trials and sighs in 68 ± 7% of trials and increased respiratory frequency by 26 ± 5 bpm (n=5). During quiet awake states, C1 stimulation also caused sighs and increased breathing rate. This increase in breathing by C1 stimulation was occluded by hypoxia (12% O2), but not hypercapnia (6% CO2), despite the significantly higher basal ventilation under hypercapnia. This evidence suggests that the C1 neurons that activate breathing are themselves activated by hypoxia and drive the ventilatory response and arousal from sleep.


Introduction: There is varying degree of dilatation of maternal pelvicalyceal system during different stages of pregnancy. The extent of dilatation depends on the gestational age as well as parity. These changes are more evident on the right side than on the left side. This study was done to see whether there is any difference in the degree of hydronephrosis in tribal and non tribal group. Material and methods: This study was carried out in Chandrama Imaging and Health Care at Ranchi between November 2014 to September 2015. A total of sixty pregnant women (thirty each of tribal and non tribal group) were studied. Result: In the tribal group at 36 weeks 25 patients had hydronehrosis in right kidney while 7 patients had hydronephrosis in left kidney. In the non tribal group at 36 weeks 25 patients had hydronehrosis in right kidney while 10 patients had hydronephrosis in left kidney. Hydronephrosis completely resolved in all patients at 6 weeks pospartum. Conclusion: This study shows that there is varying degree of hydronephrosis during pregnancy which is more marked on the right side. The difference in the degree of hydronephrosis between tribal and non tribal groups is not significant.


In the early days of the Internet, significant researchers on sociological aspects relating to the Internet thought that online and off life worlds were somewhat disconnected as if they were parallel universes. Cyberculture emphasized a more contingent, flexible and fluid experience of selfhood. Those approaches produced a strong influence in early postmodern Internet studies (Hayward, 1991; Stone, 1996; Mosco, 2004; Talbot, 1995). Reading those earlier papers, it seems that the Internet has opened the way for the full realization of political utopias that conceived cyberspace as having an inherently democratic structure (Barlow, 1996). The web of our days is far from being the same of earlier stages. Dominated not just by Google, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia, it has recently been shaped by WikiLeaks and the so-called Facebook and Twitter revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East. Over the years, perspectives on identities and social interactions have very much changed. Today, Internet studies follow a path based on the empirical research of the effective social interactions performed in the digital environment. Most of these perspectives derive its theoretical framework from important currents of social thought such as phenomenological sociology and symbolic interactionism. The purpose of this paper is to discuss complex literature on the issue of the autonomy of the self with relevance to understanding the meaning of political activism and mobilization.


Introduction
Surgery to close the skull base defect is the treatment of choice in persistent spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea with endoscopic endonasal repair being the method of choice.  This study analysed the demographics of presentation, optimal diagnostic and localisation strategies and the effectiveness of transnasal endoscopic treatment strategies  with post-operative follow-up of CSF rhinorrhoea patients in a tertiary care institution   .
Materials and Methods
 A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 21 CSF rhinorrhoea patients operated on between August 2014 and August 2018 and results documented.
Results
CSF rhinorrhoea was found most commonly in middle aged female patients in our study. HRCT PNS was capable of identifying a leak site in 66% of the cases. All patients were operated endoscopically with no major intra-operative or post-operative complications. Resolution of CSF leak occurred in 85% of cases.
Conclusion
CSF rhinorrhoea can be diagnosed and endoscopic repair can be effectively performed in our existing tertiary care set-ups with good results.


Waste plastics contribute to great environmental and social problems due to the loss of natural resources, environmental pollution, depletion of landfill space on the one hand and demands of environmentally-oriented society on the other hand. Feedstock recycling of scrap polymers by thermal and chemical methods are well known and environmentally accepted. The paper presented results of thermodynamic analysis of the process conversion of polyolefins to fuel like mixture of hydrocarbons by thermal cracking in a new type of the tubular reactor with molten metal. Evaluation of the efficiency of the process was based on exergy calculations. The calculated exergy efficiency was equal to 80%. It means that feedstock recycling of the wastes is the better process from the energetic and ecological point of view than other processes, particularly incineration of them.


Object. The authors sought to evaluate the effect of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) on growth hormone (GH)—producing pituitary adenoma growth and endocrinological response. Methods. From 1993 to 1997, 79 patients with GH-producing pituitary adenomas were treated with GKS. Seventysix patients had acromegaly. Sixty-eight patients were treated with GKS as the primary procedure. The tumor margin was covered with a 50 to 90% isodose and the margin dose was 18 to 35 Gy (mean 31.3 Gy). The dose to the visual pathways was less than 10 Gy except in one case. Sixty-eight patients (86%) were followed for 6 to 52 months. Growth hormone levels declined with improvement in acromegaly in all cases in the first 6 months after GKS. Normalization of the hormone levels was achieved in 23 (40%) of 58 patients who had been followed for 12 months and in 96% of cases for more than 24 months (43 of 45), or more than 36 months (25 of 26), respectively. With the reduction of GH hormone levels, 12 of 21 patients with hyperglycemia ...


THOUGH PILOTS m a y normal ly e x pect to have full meteorological information from meteorologists at the airports from which they start, there are times when full information is not obtainable instrumentally and the pilot may also find himself in places where there are no meteorologists. Against such contingencies, it behooves both meteorologists and pilots to develop non-instrumental techniques for obtaining essential upper air data or for making reasonable surmises. In the absence of tall structures or mountains that intercept clouds, the height of the bases of clouds formed by convection from the earth's surface may be obtained by estimating the height, by simply looking at them, using the two eyes as a range-finder, or by judging from the apparent size and detail visible whether and to what extent the clouds are lower or higher than the average heights for the form observed. Such estimation presupposes a knowledge of the average heights and range of heights of the different cloud forms. Another way of doing it is to estimate dewpoint and air temperature, and use the usual dewpoint formula of 1000 ft. of height for every 4.5 F° of difference. The dewpoint may be estimated fairly well by taking the minimum temperature of the morning. The air temperature can be estimated by one's personal feeling of coolness or warmth. There is still another possibility: estimate the wind velocity, double it to get the gradient velocity (which would be approximately that of the


Mucocele of the appendix is uncommon and rarely diagnosed preoperatively . Accurate diagnosis is important since some of these lesions are malignant. Another serious complication is rupture resulting in pseudomyxoma peritonei. In this article, we describe the sonographic findings in a woman with mucocele of the appendix presenting as a right adnexal mass. The sonographic appearance is compared with that in other cases reported in the literature.


This paper discusses the potential of introducing three new media technologies into art galleries in remote Australian communities to improve economic opportunities and quality of life in these communities. An introduction is given, followed by a review of the literature in related fields. We describe the three new media technologies and present the research questions. Early findings from pilot-tests in an art gallery on the Charles Darwin University campus are presented and details and methods of data collection and analysis of the post-pilot project stages are outlined.


Social protection in case of unemployment has always been a particularly contentious issue. This paper focuses on institutional changes in the unemployment compensation system in Germany since the 1980s. It starts with a description of key features and the structure of the unemployment insurance system. The paper goes on to show how insurance coverage, benefit generosity (in terms of amount and duration of benefits), and eligibility requirements for drawing on unemployment benefits have evolved over time. Nearly all aspects of unemployment benefits have been reduced since the 1980s. An exception to this rule can be seen in the duration of benefits; they were first extended and then subsequently reduced. Elsewhere, the pattern has been of cutbacks. For example, the scope of insurance (measured as the proportion of the labour force being insured) was reduced. This decline, however, was due more to changes in the labour force than to direct government intervention. Replacement rates for unemployment benefits and assistance were cut. In the case of the latter these were transformed into a flat-rate benefit. Finally, regulations regarding eligibility and criteria for qualification and disqualification became increasingly strict.


The basic composition and learning and self-adaptive principle of three types of fuzzy neural joints and the fuzzy neural networks composed by these.hay neural joints are analyzed in this paper. A new fuzzy neural network system based on BP learning algorithm for fuzzy model recognition is established. This recog- nition system has advantages both fuzzy logic and neural network and the recognition reliable are improved.


In the field of green chemistry is the study of new solvent systems the great challenge. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) represent the principles of green chemistry. Currently are preferred these new types of chemicals suitable for the selective removal of extractives, lignin or polysaccharides from biomass. Biomass is selectively treated to the individual fractions, of which is possible with following purification to obtain products in higher yields and purity. In this work are describes various deep eutectic solvents, which can be used for pretreatment of biomass.


This article shows the significance of depression with the emphasis on genetic and stress factors that influence its outburst. Severe chronic physical diseases like cancer are long-term stress factors that significantly contribute to the development of depression. Major depression is most efficiently treated with medications from the group of antidepressants that differ in the effect and are chosen based on the leading symptoms of depression. So, it is important that the antidepressant is chosen in respect of the clinical presentation of depression, as it influences the success of treatment. This significantly affects not only the prognosis of depression itself, but also the prognosis of the already present physical diseases such as cancer.


ICMEg – the Integrated Computational Materials Engineering expert group – a coordination activity of the European Commission launched in October 2013 and ending in September 2016 aims at developing a global and open standard for information exchange between the heterogeneous varieties of numerous simulation tools in ICME settings [1,2]. The ICMEg consortium [3] in cooperation with 5 other European projects on simulation platforms [4-8] has initiated and coordinated respective developments by a strategy of networking stakeholders during two "International Workshops on Software Solutions for ICME" held in 2014 [9] and 2016 (Barcelona) [10], by compiling identified and relevant software tools in a "Handbook of Software Solutions for ICME" to appear in autumn 2016 [11], by discussing strategies for interoperability between different software tools with all interested stakeholders, and eventually by compiling best practices towards interoperability and standardized information exchange in a White Book on interoperability [12]. The present contribution will shortly summarize these actions and present an overview of the current status and the insights gained during the project period. The presentation will especially address topics like highest level metadata categories [13] and ontologies [14], metadata descriptors for a system state [15], metadata schemata and namespaces, specific implementations of metadata schemata e.g. in HDF5 files [16] as well as others topics identified as being important for interoperability. The presentation will conclude with an outlook on future developments in these fields and also address the sustainable further continuation of the activities being launched by the ICMEg consortium e.g. within the European Materials Modelling Council EMMC [17] and the ICMEg association.


Abstract The article is about steering control of cars by drivers, concentrating on following the lateral profile of the roadway, which is presumed visible ahead of the car. It builds on previously published work, in which it was shown how the driver's preview of the roadway can be combined with the linear dynamics of a simple car to yield a problem of discrete-time optimal-linear-control-theory form. In that work, it was shown how an optimal 'driver' of a linear car can convert the path preview sample values, modelled as deriving from a Gaussian white-noise process, into steering wheel displacement commands to cause the car to follow the previewed path with an attractive compromise between precision and ease. Recognizing that real roadway excitation is not so rich in high frequencies as white-noise, a low-pass filter is added to the system. The white-noise sample values are filtered before being seen by the driver. Numerical results are used to show that the optimal preview control is unaltered by the inclusion of the low-pass filter, whereas the feedback control is affected diminishingly as the preview increases. Then, using the established theoretical basis, new results are generated to show time-invariant optimal preview controls for cars and drivers with different layouts and priorities. Tight and loose controls, representing different balances between tracking accuracy and control effort, are calculated and illustrated through simulation. A new performance criterion with handling qualities implications is set up, involving the minimization of the preview distance required. The sensitivities of this distance to variations in the car design parameters are calculated. The influence of additional rear wheel steering is studied from the viewpoint of the preview distance required and the form of the optimal preview gain sequence. Path-following simulations are used to illustrate relatively high-authority and relatively low-authority control strategies, showing manoeuvring well in advance of a turn under appropriate circumstances. The results yield new insights into driver steering control behaviour and vehicle design optimization. The article concludes with a discussion of research in progress aimed at a further improved understanding of how drivers control their vehicles.


Heat shock protein 70 is an important stress protein that is closely associated with brain injury for its protective effects on nerve injury.This article reviews the biological characters of heat shock protein 70 and its relation of brain injury.


The current outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic creates a serious threat to all over the world. Most of the nations including India have gone into a lockdown situation. The disease is spread by respiratory droplets and communication pathways. Fever, cough, shortness of breath to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death are some of the symptoms of this disease which can take 214 days to appear in human body(WHO). Assam reported its first COVID 19 confirmed case on 31 of March and first death was reported on 10 th April. The upsurge of COVID 19 pandemic in the state has been traced to persons who attended the conference of the Tablighi Jamaat religious organization at Nizamuddin Markaz, Delhi and also boost up due to some pilgrims of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Rajasthan who arrived in the Silchar city of Cachar district on 6 th May,2020. The state has also begun witnessing a spike in the number of COVID 19 cases due to returning of migrant workers from different parts of the country. The daily count of number of cases of the disease has been increasing in an alarming rate. As of 21 st July 2020, the Government of Assam has confirmed 26772 confirmed cases of COVID 19 including 18033 recoveries, 3 migrants and 64 deaths in the state. This paper is an attempt to forecast the number of cases of COVID 19 in Assam for the days to come. Univariate time series modeling has been applied to forecast the number of COVID19 infected cases that can be expected in upcoming days in Assam. The study finds that there is an increasing trend in the actual and forecasted number of cases of COVID19 which is for serious concern for the people as well as the government. In order to prevent the spread of the virus an increase in the intensity of prevailing interventions is required. At the same time additional and strict intervention and active support of the Central Government, international organizations and the people of Assam is very much essential. KEY WORD: Univariate Time Series, Novel coronavirous, ARIMA, BIC, Forecasting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 16-07-2020 Date of Acceptance: 31-07-2020 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Real-world classification problems must contend with domain shift, the (potential) mismatch between the domain where a model is deployed and the domain(s) where the training data was gathered. Methods to handle such problems must specify what structure is common between the domains and what varies. A natural assumption is that causal (structural) relationships are invariant in all domains. Then, it is tempting to learn a predictor for label $Y$ that depends only on its causal parents. However, many real-world problems are"anti-causal"in the sense that $Y$ is a cause of the covariates $X$ -- in this case, $Y$ has no causal parents and the naive causal invariance is useless. In this paper, we study representation learning under a particular notion of domain shift that both respects causal invariance and that naturally handles the"anti-causal"structure. We show how to leverage the shared causal structure of the domains to learn a representation that both admits an invariant predictor and that also allows fast adaptation in new domains. The key is to translate causal assumptions into learning principles that disentangle"invariant"and"non-stable"features. Experiments on both synthetic and real-world data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed learning algorithm. Code is available at https://github.com/ybjiaang/ACTIR.


The gastro-intestinal (GI) tract is a very important part of the human digestive system but remains largely inaccessible for unobtrusive monitoring. Ingestible electronic devices are a very interesting concept to address this need. This paper discusses the current state of ingestible electronic devices and explores the potential they hold to provide unprecedented insight by measuring several aspects of the complex bio-chemical processes that happen in the GI tract in real-time. This will require novel sensor technology capable of measuring relevant markers with adequate specificity and accuracy. In order to be able to scale this functionality down to a form factor of an easily digestible pill, ultra-low-power wireless interface electronics are needed. This poses certain challenges and innovation opportunities related to sensing, wireless communication and powering to enable the next generation of ingestible electronic devices. [2020-0164]


Ultra-high sensitivity sensors can be achieved with optically levitated particles in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). Trapped particles act as high-Q harmonic oscillators, whose amplitude, position, and frequency can be monitored to provide high sensitivity measurements of the particle's acceleration. Larger particles (10-30 microns in diameter) provide higher sensitivity, but they are difficult to trap in UHV without particle loss. To overcome the radiometric forces that lead to particle loss, rare earth (RE) ion dopants can be incorporated into the particles to enable solid-state laser cooling of the particle's internal temperature. The laser used for optical trapping can be tuned to a wavelength on the lower energy side of the ion absorption band, and thus also serve as the pump laser for solid-state laser cooling. Internal cooling occurs when the average energy of the photons emitted is larger than the average energy of the photons absorbed. Ions will rapidly thermalize while in the ground and the excited states to create the energy difference. Solid-state laser cooling has been realized in bulk host materials and is well understood. This technique of internal cooling for reducing loss pressure is currently being tested.


People with severe mental disorders experience difficulty in functioning in several domains of life that are all not related to the illness and the symptoms. Medical management for severe mental disorders leads to improvement in symptoms and distress that may not always correlate with functional improvement. A comprehensive rehabilitative care is necessary to reengage the person in life activities and full participation in mainstream life. The Rehabilitation interventions are to be person centered with supports from the environment and removal of barriers to progress recovery. Rehabilitative care should be enhanced by integrated recovery-orientated practices that sustain hope, promote self-agency. This paper discusses the definition of psychiatric rehabilitation and a model of the processes involved.


Objective To study the effects of inducible NOS inhibitor aminoguanidine on the recovery of traumatic facial paralysis in rats,and the change of the expression of IL-6 in the facial nucleus.Methods A small dose of aminoguanidine was intraperitoneally injected into rats with facial paralysis,the recovery of which was observed at different time points.Immunohistochemical ABC method was used to study the changes of IL-6 positive neurons in facial nucleus.Results Aminoguanidine promoted the recovery of traumatic facial paralysis to a small and moderate extent,and the IL-6 immunoreactivity was significantly improved in facial nucleus.Conclusions Chronic aminoguanidine treatment can promote the IL-6 expression in facial nucleus and the recovery of traumatic facial paralysis to a small and moderate extent.


As the contemporary traveler of times,we are in the process of ream seeking as well as the thinking and recording the process of art against the backdrop of social changes,constructing the contemporary art dreams and value system.


The utility model relates to a remote monitoring system of a battery management system. The remote monitoring system comprises the battery management system, a CAN (Controller Area Network) module, a controller, a DTU (date transfer unit) module, a mobile terminal and a remote terminal, wherein the battery management system is connected with battery packs and a collection end of the CAN module; an output end of the CAN module is connected with an input end of the controller; the controller is connected with the mobile terminal and the remote terminal through the DTU module, respectively. According to the remote monitoring system, the patrolling time of an operator can be effectively saved, and by carrying out threshold value judgment, all abnormal situations can be known in real time.


The UK offshore oil and gas industry is one of the country's most successful industrial sectors. It has a reputation as a global centre of excellence for the provision of oil and gas field goods and services, while its supply chain - with a turnover of £ 16bn and about 350, 000 employees - truly is the jewel in the crown of the UK economy, writes Oil & Gas UK's Britta Hallbauer.


We introduce a new class of nonparametric density estimators. It includes the classical kernel density estimator as well as the popular Abramson's estimator. We show that generalized estimators may perform much better than the classical one if the distribution has a heavy tail. The asymptotics of the mean squared error (MSE), optimal (in a sense) kernel, and smoothing parameter are found.


The structure design method of the guide plate distributor was put forward and the design method was mathematically described, then deduced the formula of pressure reduction, flow pattern in the distributor was simulated by CFX. The inlet fluid field show a uniform distribution. These have some importance to fundamental thought of distributer optimum design and formular reduction of pressure on the distributor design.


1. Introduction The outcome of the 7 May 2014 general elections in South Africa would seem to indicate, at first glance, that the business of democracy is continuing as usual. As Table 1 suggests, the African National Congress (ANC) may have obtained its lowest ever share of the vote, yet it obtained a result that was in many ways remarkable given its 20 years in power. Indeed, far from choosing to turn the rascals out, the electorate returned them with a resounding 62 per cent of the poll, only marginally less than in 1994. Further, it re-elected the ANC in eight out of the nine provinces (it having always previously won outright in seven or more). Correspondingly, the Democratic Alliance (DA) continued its steady rise in the polls, defying oft-made predictions that it in 2009 it was approaching its 'racial ceiling' (that is, that while able to aggregate the votes of racial minorities, it is unable to attract the votes of black Africans). Thirdly, while much hype has accompanied the birth of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the latter's securing of over six per cent of the votes--while highly creditable for a party formed only months before the election--may define it as a new 'third' party along the lines of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in 1999 and the Congress of the People (Cope) in 2009. As with the EFF, both of these were essentially breakaways from the ANC, and both proved unable to maintain their share of the vote after a reasonable first showing. This points to a fourth dimension of election 2014--the continuing squeeze of the smaller parties, and the seeming drift towards a de facto two-party system, within the context of ANC party dominance (Southall 2014). ANC intellectual Pallo Jordan (2014) has compared the result of the 2014 election with that of 1994, and concluded that South Africa is coming to resemble a 'normal' democracy, with the DA having taken the place of the New National Party--NNP (and drawing its votes from the same electoral basis). Such a 'normal' democracy does not, self-evidently, exclude the representation of parties other than the big two, yet it manages to severely constrain their electoral territory. This and other tendencies are illustrated by Table 1: There is much to be said for the 'business as usual' perspective on the 2014 elections. Nonetheless, it is arguable that if we dig beneath the surface, then the outcome also points to undercurrents that are likely to challenge the character of South African democracy. In what follows below, I suggest: --first, that while continuing to remain solid overall, the foundations of the ANC's vote are beginning to crumble; --second, that the DA gives every indication that it will continue to rise in the polls; --third, that even if the EFF proves no more able than the UDM and Cope to sustain a significant political presence, its appearance suggests a new dimension to 'third' party politics. 2. The ANC: Defying expectations--but for how long? The ANC entered the election against the background of opinion polls that suggested that it might be hauled back to just over 50 per cent of the vote. Widespread labour disputes, highlighted by the tragedy of Marikana (when police killed 44 striking mineworkers) and the long running strike on the platinum mines, combined with other depressing news to contribute to declining confidence in the economy. The death of Nelson Mandela in December 2013 symbolised for many the end of an era, reinforcing narratives that the ANC had lost its idealism, and had become the vehicle of a political class out of touch with its historic constituency amongst, notably, the poor. Indeed, a continuing high level of popular protests among communities around the country highlighted deep-seated discontent with government performance on the ground. Meanwhile, the coalition which had elevated Jacob Zuma to the presidency had begun to dissolve, and the President himself, a major asset in the elections of 2009, had become a major electoral liability, with numerous allegations that he had used state office to benefit his family and those around him at public expense. …


Manuscripts of lectures on practical ethics delivered by Thomas Reid, the Scottish common-sense philosopher, at Glasgow University in the second half of the eighteenth century, contain a section called "Of Interpretation," which begins with the laconic observation, "There is often occasion for interpretation in Treaties & Covenants & in Laws... .'" Reid's first example affirms the inevitability of interpretive occasions:


Decisions regarding the location of motorway interchanges need to be made very carefully because of their economic and political implications. In this paper, we present three optimization models aimed at assisting road administrations when they deal with motorway interchange location problems. The decisions are assumed to be made from the perspective of road users, with the objective of minimizing travel costs. Two of the models are based on existing hub location models, whereas the third one is a new model. The usefulness of the models in real-world situations is illustrated with a case study involving A25, one of the most important Portuguese motorways. When applied to this case study, the new model performed in general clearly better than the other two.


With ambitious plans being dreamed up to send astronauts to the red planet, what challenges would face them if they ever went – and what technology would they need? Stephen Ornes finds out


We thank Drs Van Gelder and Bracke for their interest in our study1 and for raising thoughtful points of discussion. Indeed, Evaluation of Resynchronization Therapy for Heart Failure (GREATER-EARTH)'s randomized and blinded crossover design provided a unique opportunity to assess whether those who did not respond to one strategy did benefit from the alternative strategy. To our knowledge, ours is the first study to report that some who did not respond to biventricular pacing respond favorably when crossed over to left ventricular pacing. This provocative observation currently is being explored to elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms and associated clinical features. Interestingly, Gage et al2 since have reported consistent findings and likewise have …


Researchers investigating a building whose columns bled a colorless liquid found that the building was under attack by microorganisms. A community of bacteria had contaminated the fireproofing around some of the steel column sections and were symbiotically producing nutrients for each other by digesting it. The side effects of this bacterial brunch—a lower environmental pH and an acidic by-product—accelerated the breakdown of the insulation and were ultimately corroding the building's steel column sections. Investigating the extent of the problem and applying remedial measures were hampered by limited access and strict rules on the use of biocides. The case illustrates a phenomenon that often goes unrecognized because the results look like standard corrosion. The article talks about the interdisciplinary efforts of engineers, biologists, corrosion specialists and contractors to investigate and remediate the building and track down the source of the infection.


IN AN ESSAY PUBLISHED IN 2004, John Rink characterized the field of 'Performance Studies' in music as consisting of 'three overlapping domains': historical performance practice, the psychology of performance, and analysis and performance. Within these he found a series of problematic biases: towardsWestern art music, solo piano repertory, and the study of tempo and dynamics. Of these, historical performance practice (or HIPçhistorically informed performance) is much the oldest, dating back at least as far as the work of Franc ois-Joseph Fe¤ tis in the 1830s, and gaining in prominence later that century. At the time of Rink's essay, this field was already starting to embrace the study of historical recordings, building on the pioneering work of Robert Philip, and this has been labelled a subdiscipline in its own right: 'phonomusicology'. (I prefer to see recordings and videos more simply as a source-type for the study of musical performance, with only limited application for the nineteenth century, and almost none for earlier periods.) The study of historical performance practice now includes historical instruments and techniques, performance style and normative practices in specific times and places, and self-reflection on methodological and aesthetic considerations appertaining to the field in general. The psychology of performance emerged from the early 1980s onwards, not least through the important work of John Sloboda and Eric Clarke. Analysis and performance came to the fore in the 1990s, stimulated by a debate following the publication of Wallace Berry's Musical Structure and Performance in 1989, and this field has been notable for major contributions from Rink, Jonathan Dunsby, and Nicholas Cook.


The accuracy of 3D printing is related to the software and hardware structure, such as modeling software, slicing software and the kinematic characteristics of nozzle components. In order to explore methods to improve printing accuracy, this paper conducts research based on fused deposition modeling (FDM). On the basis of the experiments, the constituent elements of the cross-sectional profile and the mechanism of its error are analyzed, and the insight software is used to verify. Finally, based on the idea of digital twins, this paper initially explores the online recognition method of contour.


This Findings Brief assesses the degree to which the annual number of patient discharges varies from year to year for low volume hospitals. To the extent that demand for inpatient services is unpredictable, it is hard for administrators to set budget and recruitment goals, which are generally based on estimates of future hospital business. We find that: Low volume facilities face considerably more instability from year to year in demand for inpatient services than larger hospitals. Average variability over time for the smallest facilities — those with 500 or fewer discharges per year — is nearly 60% higher than the average for all hospitals. Although low volume, rather than rurality, is the important factor, hospitals in very rural counties have to contend with substantially more fluctuation than other hospitals, primarily because they tend to be smaller.