In 2006, a reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act led to changes in how the state of Connecticut determined special education eligibility for a student with a specific learning disability. The Response to Intervention (RTI) approach replaced of the discrepancy model in making this determination. This retrospective case study looked at the perceptions of North Haven Staff on the efficacy of the RTI process in reducing the overidentification of students with specific learning disabilities. A mixed-methods survey was administered to 337 professionals in North Haven, CT. Of the 86 responses received, 73 were determined to be useful responses. The research questions sought the perceptions of staff from different demographic categories (position, years in the field, experience in RTI, and school employed) on the efficacy of the RTI process and the effectiveness in deterring the number of students identified as eligible for services as a child with a specific learning disability. The results indicate that most staff perceived the process as improving as students moved through the three tiers. Although the perceptions of North Haven professionals were somewhat favorable, the data indicated that there is room for improvement in the RTI process. EFFICACY OF NORTH HAVEN'S RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 3 Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the Problem In the field of special education, a team of professionals is responsible for determining a student's eligibility for special education according to specific criteria established by the government. The criteria used to determine whether or not a student has a specific learning disability (SLD) has changed over the years. Prior to 2004, the primary source for identifying students with a learning disability was the presence of a significant discrepancy between a student's Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and their performance on standardized achievement assessments. This process evolved and considered the regression to the mean when determining what constituted a significant discrepancy resulting in the use of a regression to the mean table (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2010). There was an allowance for clinical judgement to be used when the discrepancy model did not result in the specified range, yet other data reflected a concern that a SLD may be present. A concern with the discrepancy model stemmed from the inability to identify students in the early grades with a learning disability due to the time it takes "students to accumulate a sufficiently large discrepancy to be eligible for services" (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2010 p. 1). The discrepancy model was also found to have fault in regards to testing culturally and linguistically diverse groups. In 2008, the Connecticut State Department of Education released Connecticut's Framework for RTI: Using Scientific Research-Based Interventions: Improving Education for all students. Response to Intervention (RTI) was developed to address concerns that students were being misdiagnosed as learning disabled when in fact, they had not received proper instruction in their area of weakness. Following the release of this document, districts began using the RTI model as the primary source in determining the presence of a learning disability. EFFICACY OF NORTH HAVEN'S RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 4 This case study was conducted to examine the efficacy of the Response to Intervention process specific to the North Haven School District in relation to the manner in which students are identified as eligible for special education services. North Haven utilizes the state guidelines in determining qualification for special education services, especially students with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The guidelines for determining SLD were published by the Connecticut State Department of Education in a document titled 2010 Guidelines for Identifying Children with Learning Disabilities. There are many professionals involved in the RTI process and the perceptions of these staff members is unclear. This study will examine the research, implement a mixed methods design survey to assess staff perceptions, interview staff members who utilized both the discrepancy model and the RTI model in identifying students with specific learning disabilities, and report out the findings. North Haven adheres to the state guidelines for RTI when identifying students as eligible for special education services. In April 2017, a notice was sent to Directors of Special Education from an Education Consultant at the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). The notice informed the directors the 2016-2017 Significant Disproportionality Summary Report was posted on Special Education Data Application and Collection (SEDAC). The Director of Special Services in North Haven, Connecticut ran a report for North Haven and determined the data of concern for this district was in the following category: White learning disabilities. This was based on the SEDAC data captured as of October 1, 2016. As a result of this citation, the state will be monitoring the identification rates in this disability category and race within North Haven. If it continues to be an area of concern, North Haven will be required to do a selfassessment. If the problem is not rectified and continues, corrective actions will be taken. EFFICACY OF NORTH HAVEN'S RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 5 North Haven will be monitored for over-identifying white students with Specific Learning Disabilities. According to the District Profile and Performance Report (P & P) for the 2015-2016 school year, the majority of North Haven's total student population was white (80.4%). Out of the 358 students in district who were identified as having a primary disability and eligible for special education services, 129 of them were identified as having a learning disability (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2017). The 2015-2016 P & P does not provide the breakdown of disabilities by race/ethnicity. North Haven follows the CSDE Guidelines for qualifying students with specific learning disabilities as set forth in the Connecticut's Framework for RTI August 2008. This study was conducted in part to take a closer look at the RTI process and how students are determined to be eligible for special education, especially as a child with SLD. Statement of the Problem This citation by the CSDE inspired the research of literature on how students are deemed eligible for special education services as a child with a specific learning disability and the specifications of the RTI process. As a result, this case study was developed to assess the efficacy of Response to Intervention in North Haven Public Schools in reducing overidentification of Special Education Students with Specific Learning Disabilities. This information will explore how North Haven is implementing the RTI process and help explore if there has been over-identification of white students with SLD. Literature was reviewed to examine if there was evidence of a reduction in the number of students identified with SLD as a result of the implementation of the RTI model. The problem being examined is if the RTI process specific to North Haven, CT is being effective in reducing the number of students referred to and qualified for special education services. EFFICACY OF NORTH HAVEN'S RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 6 Purpose/Significance of the Study In an endeavor to better understand the impact the Response to Intervention (RTI) model has had on reducing the over-identification of special education students with a specific learning disability, literature on this topic was reviewed. Bineham, Shelby, Pazey, and Yates referenced the work by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (2005) which stated: An RTI approach has been suggested as a way to reduce referrals to special education by providing well-designed instruction and intensified interventions in general education, thereby distinguishing between students who perform poorly in school due to factors such as inadequate prior instruction from students with LD who need more intensive and specialized instruction. (Bineham, 2014, p. 231) The literature review examined if the RTI process has been successful in reducing the number of referrals to special education and more specifically to reducing the number of students identified as having a specific learning disability. Through the literature research conducted, limited studies were found on the efficacy of the RTI process in Connecticut school districts. It was felt that this study was relevant to take a closer look at the impact of the RTI implementation according to Connecticut state guidelines. As a special education teacher in North Haven who has also been an active core member of the Scientific Research Based Intervention (SRBI) team, I intend to use the information gathered from this study to provide recommendations to the district on ways to improve their SRBI practices. The terms SRBI and RTI can be used interchangeably in the state of Connecticut. The federal guidelines refers to the process as Response to Intervention. Connecticut follows the RTI guidelines; however, they have named the process the Scientific Research Based Intervention (SRBI) process. EFFICACY OF NORTH HAVEN'S RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION 7


Abstract Oral glucose tolerance tests (GTT) were performed periodically in 15 women who had shown abnormal tolerance to glucose in the third trimester, but who had normal tolerance after delivery. Five received a combination of norethindrone, 1 mg, and mestranol, 0.05 mg, as an oral contraceptive cyclically; 10 who practiced other methods of contraception served as controls. Abnormal glucose tolerance recurred in all five women while they were taking the oral contraceptive agent. After cessation of contraceptive therapy, GTT remained diabetic in three cases; GTT temporarily improved, but became abnormal again in the fourth. The fifth patient was lost to follow-up observation after discontinuing contraceptive pills. Three out of the 10 controls showed deterioration of the GTT. Screening tests for diabetes should be performed in the third trimester of pregnancy, or early during contraceptive treatment, as an attempt to identify women with latent diabetes and exclude them from hormonal birth control.


According to the combination between the theory and practice,the paper selects three evaluation indexes which are fit for the road traffic safety in Zhangzhou,ensures the evaluation index by adopting the accumulation percentage frequency method,and has the comprehensive evaluation on the road traffic safety situations in Zhangzhou from 2000 to 2007 and its result is satisfying.


The present invention relates to a method of exhaust gas aftertreatment of an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, including pre-treating the exhaust gas pre-treated by using a thermoreactor to catalytically oxidize the exhaust gas. Preferably, the exhaust gas is catalytically oxidized in the thermoreactor.


Abstract Rationale: Usual-type endocervical adenocarcinoma (ECA), high-risk HPV associated, is the most common type of glandular carcinoma in the endocervix. Mucin-depleted usual-type ECA is 1 end of morphological lineage of usual-type ECA and morphologically may show endometrioid features, which could cause diagnostic challenge with uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EEC) and primary endometrioid ECA, especially in the setting of small biopsy and endocervical curettage (ECC). Patient concerns: A 37-year-old women presented with dyspareunia for 1 year, showing atypical glandular cell on a liquid-based Pap TCT examination and positive for HPV16 detection. ECC showed EEC in another hospital based on its "endometrioid" morphology and immunohistochemical profiles (ER/PR/PAX8 strongly positive, though p16 also strongly positive). Diagnoses: The specimen of hysterectomy in our hospital displayed a lesion confined to the uterine cervix showing the same morphology and immunohistochemical profiles as ECC. Finally, we successfully performed HPV RNAscope and detected high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) E6/E7 mRNA particles in tumor cells in situ, which warranted usual-type ECA with mucin-depleted feature, a rare deviation of usual-type of ECA. Interventions: The patient underwent total hysterectomy with lymph node dissection. Outcomes: To date, 14 months after surgery, the patient is well without recurrence or distant metastasis, and undergoes regular reexamination. Lessons subsections: We report a rare case of mucin-depleted usual-type ECA showing overlapping morphological and immunohistochemical profiles with EEC. The pathological diagnosis was confirmed by high-risk HPV RNAscope detection which is superior than immunohistochemistry to identify usual-type ECA, warranting an important role in assisting the diagnosis of morphological vague cases.


Feature representation via self-supervised learning has reached remarkable success in image-level contrastive learning, which brings impressive performances on image classification tasks. While image-level feature representation mainly focuses on contrastive learning in single instance, it ignores the objective differences between pretext and downstream prediction tasks such as object detection and instance segmentation. In order to fully unleash the power of feature representation on downstream prediction tasks, we propose a new end-to-end self-supervised framework called InsCon, which is devoted to capturing multi-instance information and extracting cell-instance features for object recognition and localization. On the one hand, InsCon builds a targeted learning paradigm that applies multi-instance images as input, aligning the learned feature between corresponding instance views, which makes it more appropriate for multi-instance recognition tasks. On the other hand, InsCon introduces the pull and push of cell-instance, which utilizes cell consistency to enhance fine-grained feature representation for precise boundary localization. As a result, InsCon learns multi-instance consistency on semantic feature representation and cell-instance consistency on spatial feature representation. Experiments demonstrate the method we proposed surpasses MoCo v2 by 1.1% AP^{bb} on COCO object detection and 1.0% AP^{mk} on COCO instance segmentation using Mask R-CNN R50-FPN network structure with 90k iterations, 2.1% APbb on PASCAL VOC objection detection using Faster R-CNN R50-C4 network structure with 24k iterations.


This paper addresses different degradation mechanisms in spent nuclear fuel casks made of a concrete outer pack and a steel liner considering realistic environmental and mechanical load histories. To this end a model cask is examined computationally in form of coupled hygro-thermomechanical finite element studies of the underlying mechanical and diffusive transport properties. An accelerated aging program is used to determine environmental degradation mechanisms in form of multiphysics simulations which induce progressive damage under sustained mechanical, thermal, and hygral load histories, and which include chemical effects in form of alkali aggregate reaction. For this purpose the coupled thermo-hygro-mechanical finite element code developed at Padua University, called NEWCON3D, which treats concrete as a multiphase system, will be updated in order to take into account the chemical effects of alkali silica reaction, ASR. The so enhanced code will find application in the study of spent nuclear fuel casks subjected to accelerated aging in order to predict their long-term performance up to 100 years and more.


In order to improve the performance of soft switching inverter, discrete pulse modulation methods for DC-AC inverter were analyzed. The fundamental conditions and implementation methods for realizing soft switching techniques were presented. In terms of new soft SPWM modulation algorithm proposed, relations among the parameters of the algorithm were discussed. The varying ranges of the parameters were given. The effects of modulation parameters on soft SPWM modulation approach and performance of the soft switching inverter were analyzed. The output harmonics of the inverter were calculated. The calculation results show the validation of the proposed method.


BACKGROUND
The multidisciplinary approach to managing heart failure has been shown to improve outcomes. The role of a clinical pharmacist in treating heart failure has not been evaluated.

METHODS
One hundred eighty-one patients with heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction <45) undergoing evaluation in clinic were randomized to an intervention or a control group. Patients in the intervention group received clinical pharmacist evaluation, which included medication evaluation, therapeutic recommendations to the attending physician, patient education, and follow-up telemonitoring. The control group received usual care. The primary end point was combined all-cause mortality and heart failure clinical events. All clinical events were adjudicated by a blinded end point committee.

RESULTS
Baseline characteristics were similar except for slightly higher age in the intervention group. Median follow-up was 6 months. All-cause mortality and heart failure events were significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group (4 vs 16; P= .005). In addition, patients in the intervention group received higher angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor doses as reflected by the median fraction of target reached (25th and 75th percentiles), 1.0 (0.5 and 1) and 0.5 (0.1875 and 1) in the intervention and control groups, respectively (P<.001). The use of other vasodilators in angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-intolerant patients was higher in the intervention group (75% vs 26%; P= .02).

CONCLUSIONS
Outcomes in heart failure can be improved with a clinical pharmacist as a member of the multidisciplinary heart failure team. This observation may be due to higher doses of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and/or closer follow-up.


The aim of the present work was to investigate the correlation between data obtained by means of two analytical methods, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and Mossbauer Spectroscopy of pottery samples combined with multivariate statistical analysis in order to optimize quantitative analysis in the classification studies. Ceramics recently discovered in archaeological earth circular structures sites in Acre state Brazil. 199 samples were analyzed by INAA, allowing simultaneous determination of twenty elements chemical concentrations, and 44 samples by using Mossbauer Spectroscopy, allowing the determination of fourteen hyperfine parameters. For the correlation study, data were treated by two multivariate statistical methods: cluster analysis for the classification and the principal component analysis for the data correlations. INAA data show that some of REE (rare earth elements) were the discriminating variables for this technique. Mossbauer parameters that exhibit the same behavior are bein...


Uncontrolled entry of pollutants – heavy metals into the environment creates obstacles to the production of environmentally safe, biologically complete cow's milk. The accumulation of pollutants in the soil reduces the supply of essential mineral elements to plants, which are necessary to ensure the full feeding of animals. In such environmental situations, it is important to analyse feed rations for the content of essential and non-essential mineral elements. Samples of feed included in the main diet were taken on four experimental farms specialising in the production of cow's milk, the agroecosystems of which were located around the industrial centre and near environmentally unfavourable objects – roads, enterprises for the extraction (processing) of gas condensate, etc. The samples were analysed for the content of mineral elements by atomic adsorption spectrophotometry. Statistical data processing – STATISTICA software suite version 10.0. The feed was found to exceed the permissible level for cadmium by an average of 2.1-3.2 times, lead – 2.4-5.7 times, copper – 1.4-2.3 times, zinc – 1.2-2.4 times. In cereal and legume hay, the concentration of cadmium and lead exceeded permissible levels by 3.2 and 5.7 times, respectively. Against this background, there is a deficiency of calcium in various types of diets of cows from 1.4% to 47.5%, phosphorus – from 1.5% to 62.3%, magnesium – from 2.7% to 64.4%, potassium – from 0.8% to 37.9%, sulphur – from 2.3% to 48.8%, among trace elements, iron – from 2.3% to 48.8%, cobalt – from 5.0% to 80.0%, iodine – from 4.0% to 60.7%. The reason for the deficiency of vital mineral elements in plants (feed) is different, including changes in soil pH, but mainly antagonism between mobile forms of toxic elements and essential elements. For the production of high-quality milk, it is necessary to normalise toxic metals in the diets of cows with different types of feeding and eliminate the lack of minerals with the help of specially developed feed additives (mineral and vitamin premixes), which will prevent elementosis in cows, which is a pressing issue in many countries of the world. Future studies will be aimed at monitoring the concentration of mineral elements in animal feed kept in the forest-steppe and steppe zone and Donetska oblast of Ukraine

https://sciencehorizon.com.ua/web/uploads/pdf/Scientific Horizons_Vol. 25, No. 2_2022-16-27.pdf


Engaging youth in traditional physical education exercises or ball sports can be a challenging task, especially when they prefer novelty, entertainment, or excitement in their leisure-time activities. In addition, many youth are unaware of the opportunities that exist to exercise or recreate in nature, often preferring to spend time indoors connected to screens and virtual realities rather than in the real world outside. This article describes how one public school physical educator addressed this problem by creating an outdoor recreation program as his charter school's physical education curriculum. He engages youth in novel experiences they are intrinsically motivated to try, such as kayaking, bicycling, indoor climbing, and overnight camping. By participating in these activities, students learn not only lifelong leisure activities, but also about safety, risk, decision making, problem solving, leadership, and communication skills while participating in physically demanding activities.


An improved turbidimetric assay for the measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) has been evaluated in six laboratories on various analytical systems (Boehringer Mannheim Hitachi systems 704, 717, 747, 911, 917 and on Keysys® analyzer). Compared to the previous test version this assay has better transferability of results from instrument to instrument, less lipemia and gammopathy interference, a better linearity in the lower concentration range, the applicability of EDTA plasma or heparin plasma and a satisfactory recovery of target values according to CRM 470 standardization. The detection limit of the Tina-quant® CRP assay is 1.9 mg/l CRP. Median values of CVs within run of lower than 2.5% and between day of lower than 3.3% were obtained. A survey with 50 human pool sera revealed a good transferability of results obtained in different laboratories and on different analytical systems. Method comparison studies between the Tina-quant® CRP assay and fixed-time nephelometry, rate nephelometry and turbidimetry were in reasonable agreement (± 10%) throughout the entire measuring range. No drift effect was noticed with the tubing system on Boehringer Mannheim/Hitachi 747 analyzers. The reagent and calibration stability was extended to 12 weeks. The Tina-quant® CRP assay enables the precise, accurate, rapid and convenient determination of CRP used for routine clinical chemistry and STAT purposes.


Invited for this month's cover is the group of Shuang Yang at the East China University of Science and Technology. The image shows a dendrite-structured interlayer for CsPbI2 Br perovskite solar cells. The Full Paper itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202001629.


The present invention relates to a polymer dispersion comprising at least one dispersed polyolefin (A), at least one dispersing component (B), at least one carrier medium (C) and at least one compound the dielectric constant of not less than 9 (D). Low viscosity polymer dispersion, viscosity, dielectric constant, viscosity index improvers, thickening effect, a mineral oil, a non-ionic surfactant.


Multi-domain operations (MDO) are characterized by simultaneous and sequential operations; rapid and continuous integration; and surprise. Machine learning (ML) for MDO is no different. Translated into ML, MDO requires highly assured yet rapid data and model fusion. Assurance demands robustness, reliability, and explain-ability, while speed demands computational efficiency and sample efficiency. Combinatorial interaction testing offers explainable and rigorous techniques to ML for fusing data and models with runtime guarantees. But such methods are underexplored in the literature. Combinatorial coverage has been applied to neuron- and layer-levels of neural networks, but only recently to ML in general. There are also ongoing debates of efficacy in the literature, but these debates are scoped to explainable deep learning. This work presents a framework for using combinatorial coverage for multi-domain operations. We discuss how coverage metrics can incorporate multi-modal meta-data and mission context into fusion processes, how coverage is oriented towards identifying gaps in and between sets of data, and how coverage can identify cases where performance is expected to be difficult. We conclude that combinatorial coverage should be considered a core capability for supporting ML in MDO.


This work demonstrates the possibility of process optimization for laser monolithic interconnection in thin film amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules working in single cells. Being the laser interconnection process a key step in thin film module fabrication for PV industry, the optimization of this process is usually made at module level being difficult to evaluate separetely the effect of the laser processes in each of the differents scribe steps involved. Additionally the standard size of these modules (in the range of one square meter) and the intrinsic sequence of module fabrication (involving material deposition and laser scribing steps alternativaly) makes quite difficult the feedback for process optimization from research labotatories. Taking this into account, and bearing in mind that unsatisfactory connection conditions of different subcells could spoil completely the device generating, for instance, block parasitic currents due to short circuits generated mainly by the third interconnection process, P3, harmful or incomplete interconnection through the second laser scribe, P2, or poor levels of isolation in the case to first laser processes P1, this work presents a simple approach to process optimization at laboratory level working on single cells and not in complete modules.


The planning of wide-area networks to achieve robust operation is an ongoing challenge for network providers. Robust means to ensure stable operation of a network in case of fault occurrence. In this paper several scenarios in the context of the German Research Network are discussed to point out robustness aspects in a more detailed manner. The approach to address these challenges is to apply mathematical methods, more precisely exact and approximate integer linear programming and fast combinatorial algorithms.


This paper discusses on designing of vibration control system using evolutionary algorithms based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). First, a new modified PSO strategy by adding a mutation rule (MPSO) is shown. Search efficiencies with Genetic Algorithms, original PSO and proposed MPSO are compared by solving standard benchmark functions. MPSO shows the excellent performance to optimize parameter of these functions, even it has multi-modal or parameters with epistasis. Second, structural system identification problems using MPSO are discussed. Structural system represented with product of biquad transfer functions can be identified by MPSO strategy. Finally, MPSO is applied to design MDOF vibration controller. The control performance by MPSO controller is described in both simulation and experiment to reduce floor vibration using an active mass damper.


years, p=0.002) and had better nutritional status (mean albumin levels 2.7 ± 0.42 vs 2.43 ± 0.41 g/dL, p=0.016 and pre-albumin levels 17.3 ± 5.9 vs 10.3 ± 3.7 mg/ dL, p<0.001). None of the individual OT or PT parameters or the cumulative scores predicted successful liberation from MV (OT activity total score 11.9 ± 4.6 vs 12.6 ± 4.5, p=0.61; OT activity scale score 28.7 ± 9.1 vs 30.8 ± 8.5, p=0.41; PT mobility total score 9 ± 3.6 vs 8.8 ± 2.9, p=0.82; PT mobility scale score 29.7 ± 6.3 vs 29.3 ± 5.3, p=0.8 for weaned vs not weaned respectively). Conclusions: Majority of patients requiring prolonged MV can be successfully liberated from the MV. Whereas younger age and better nutritional status at baseline are favorable predictors, variables on OT and PT assessments are not helpful in prognosticating these patients. OT and PT parameters may have limited utility in triaging patients on prolonged MV for admission to weaning units.


Packet dropout is one of the key issues which degrade performances of Internet-based Control System(ICS). An integrated strategy composed of active part and passive part to solve this problem is proposed in this paper. In the active part, the priority of control packets in ICS can be improved through differentiated services which decrease probability of control packet dropout. While in the passive part, a data packet dropout compensator is established to reduce the negative influence of packet dropout. The sufficient conditions for stabilizing the new result model are derived in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMI). At last, the solvability and effectiveness of the results is evaluated using NS2.


VARIABLE DOMAIN HYPERBOLIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS Abstract. An abstract problem is studied for a class of linear hyperbolic differential equations with variable domain and non-local boundary conditions. Existence and uniqueness of the strong solution are proved. An abstract problem is studied for a class of linear hyperbolic differential equations with variable domain and non-local boundary conditions. Existence and uniqueness of the strong solution are proved.


In this second part of a two-part article on population trends in Romania for the decade of the 1980s, the authors examine trends in general, and infant mortality and nuptiality trends.


SARS is the first deadly new virus of the 21st century. Taiwan was particularly threatened by the corona virus in 2003. This contribution focuses on why the island was hit so hard. The country has very important commercial ties with China and Hong Kong, but is politically isolated. As a result, Taiwan is not a member of the WHO. The island, the 14th economic world power, is a leader in information technology and has a good expertise in biotechnology, two fields that proved useful in the fight against the virus. Many countries and firms decided to offer help to the island. Taiwan also shared its discoveries with the rest of the world. But despite many successes, the virus began to spread like fire in Taiwanese hospitals. This paper will try to analyze what went wrong and what mistakes could have been avoided.


Abstract This study examines water-formed saxicolous lichen trimlines on bedrock outcrops in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, northern Alberta, Canada. We determined the lichen species growing on rock above and below lichen trimlines; described the trimlines with regard to height above water, location, elevation above sea level, and physical factors; and dated the trimlines through lichenometry. Trimlines were found at open, semi-restricted, and perched basins at a mean elevation of 210.85 m asl; 14 of 16 trimline elevations were between 210.26 and 210.92. Mean trimline height above current water was 155 cm (range 40 to 230 cm). The all-lichen species diameter growth rate mean was 0.416 mm yr−1. Physcia caesia grew at 0.331 mm yr−1 and Xanthoria elegans grew at 0.441 mm yr−1. Many of the trimlines may have established after drawdown of high water that existed during the mid- to late-1970's. Based on cemetery data, establishment lag time is about six to 10 years. Most trimlines date from the period 1976 to 1990. The early 1980's appears to be a key time of basin drawdown and trimline establishment. Site and species influences on establishment lag and growth rates, and the complex hydrology, may be reflected in the range of trimline dates. The mean 95% confidence interval range in establishment dates was 6.2 years. In a hydrologically complex ecosystem such as a delta, lichenometric dating may prove a useful tool to reconstruct water level changes.


AbstractA phenomenological investigation was made of older people's experiences and feelings regarding important housing environments across the life span. Qualitative descriptions were gathered from a small sample of retired men and women living in their own homes. This information was collected through in-depth interviews, personal documents, and participant observation. Although individual memories of favorite homes varied, a pattern emerged in the features and areas of the houses that were described. Features of the house coalesced around two qualities, enclosure and openness. Enclosure was associated with centers within the home. Openness expressed connection with the outside world. These findings are discussed within the scope of relevant theories in the literature. Implications are drawn for the design of housing for elderly persons.


A modified shear press fitted with a 70 x 3 mm perspex blade proved satfafactory for measuring the resistance to fracture of cream cracker biscuits. The results indicated that biscuit orientation in relation to the fracture edge had a bearing on the fracture force obtained. Tests on five commercial cream cracker brands showed statistically-significant differ ent resistance to fracture between the brands and some packs also showed high within-pack variation in fracture resistance. Over-baked cream crackers were more resistant to fracture than under-baked ones.


Apparatus for injecting adhesives comprises a syringe type device, 10, having a piston, 13, movable within a cylinder, 11. Resilient means 15 eg rubber bands, attached in tension to projections 12A, 12B, on the cylinder and projections 14A, 14B on the piston act to urge the discharge of the contents of cylinder automatically. The apparatus is arranged to be attached to a socket positioned over a crack. In other embodiments coil springs may be used as the resilient means, the projections 12 may form part of the socket and the syringe may be push fitted rather than threaded into the socket.


Amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) contributes to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), causing neuronal death through apoptosis. In this study, the neuroprotective role of BF-7, extracted form sericultural product, was examined against Aβ -induced toxicity in cultured human neuronal cell SKN-SH. In order to know if the BF-7 has positive role on the cognition and memory in human, the mixture of BF-7, DHA and EPA (BDE) was examined using Rey Kim and K-WAIS test with 50 healthy high school student. We report here that BDE significantly attenuated Aβ-induced apoptosis through the reduction of ROS accumulation, and diminished caspase-like protease activity. Moreover, the memory index and memory preservation, and attentative concentration of BDE treated group for 1 month were significantly improved, in contrast to the case of placebo control treated with DHA and EPA. This result represent that the BF-7 play significant positive role on learning memory. Taken together, our result suggested the natural product BF-7 is a good substance for the brain functionally and physiologically.


Cyclometalated ruthenium dyes improve significantly the performance of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on conventional ruthenium dyes. Here, this study examined four thiocyanate-free cyclometalated ruthenium dyes using the density functional theory (DFT). The geometrical, electronic structural, and photophysical propertiesof the dyes and the dyes tethered to a TiO2 surface were examined in both the presence and absence of an acetonitrile solvent. The Kohn-Sham eigenvalues of the molecular orbitals of the dyes were destabilized by ca. 2 eV in the presence of the solvent. The absorption peaks did not change significantly in position but hyperchromic shifts of more than two-fold occurred. When adsorbed on a TiO2 surface, the dyes showed redshifted absorption of approximately 20 nm. To the best of our knowledge, a systematic and comprehensive first-principles investigation on cyclometalated ruthenium dyes in vacuum, solvent, and tethered to TiO2 has been carried out for the first time.


The sartorius muscle was transposed into the abdominal cavity of six dogs, passed around a Thiry–Vella loop and sutured to itself to form a neosphincter. The muscle was activated by electrical stimulation and on contraction the neosphincter stopped or reduced the flow of saline through the Thiry–Vella loop in all animals until the onset of muscle fatigue. Continuous low frequency stimulation was used to transform the skeletal muscle, and when studied after a mean of 8 weeks of stimulation (range 6–11 weeks) the neosphincter stopped the flow for a significantly longer period of time (P = 0·027). Associated with the improved neosphincter function was a significant decrease in the fusion frequency (P = 0·003) and prolongation of the stimulus–peak tension time as assessed by a strain gauge sutured to the neosphincter muscle (P = 0·002). The changes in the contraction properties of the skeletal muscle suggest that continuous low frequency stimulation transformed the muscle fibres from type 2 to type 1, resulting in improved fatigue resistance and potential for continuous sphincter activity.


Abstract: This paper is concerned with relationships between the use of information technology at different stages of the knowledge management technology stage model and the performance of police investigation units. The model consists of four stages: officer‐to‐technology systems, officer‐to‐officer systems, officer‐to‐information systems, and officer‐to‐application systems. The model was applied for information technology business value research, which examines the organizational performance impacts of information technology. In this paper we applied the value configuration of the value shop to describe and measure organizational performance. Based on an empirical study of Norwegian police investigation units, this research found that officer‐to‐technology systems and officer‐to‐information systems are the most important systems to improve police investigations in the value shop.


Perfluorinated, ultrathin polymer films containing sulfonic acid groups were prepared by plasma polymerization of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and hexafluoropropylene. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements indicated that the sulfonic acid groups were fixed to the backbone chain of the perfluorinated polymer. The structure of the plasma polymer was strongly dependent on the applied RF power. At high levels of applied RF power, the sulfonic acid groups of the starting material were easily decomposed during plasma polymerization. The perfluorinated cation-exchanger films prepared at low applied RF power were about 1[mu]m thick and free from pinholes. The films showed high cation permselectivity, as confirmed by a K[sup +] ion transference number of 0.99 in aqueous KCl solution.


Still and cine-photography of the events which take place in and around venules of 50 micra or less diameter with trauma, hypersensitivity and infection. The importance of these events in the development of symptoms and pathology as well as methods of control will be discussed.


In 2000-01 fifty-six percent of two and four year institutions and ninety percent of two year public colleges offered distance education classes.1 Many major universities are offering distance education classes to students around the world and some have joined hands to produce classes online. The Alliance for Lifelong Learning (Alllearn), a joint project of Yale and Stanford Universities in the United States and Oxford Univer-


562 Background: Arzoxifene (ARZ) is currently being studied for treatment of breast cancer patients in a Phase II trial because of tamoxifen-like efficacy but lack of uterine agonist effect. We conducted a Phase II chemoprevention trial in women at high risk for development of breast cancer on the basis of personal or family history.

METHODS
Potential subjects had multiple biomarkers assessed, including random periareolar fine needle aspiration (RPFNA) with breast epithelial cells processed for cytomorphology and immunocytochemistry. Women who exhibited cytologic hyperplasia ± atypia were eligible for enrollment. Subjects were stratified on the basis of atypia, estrogen receptor expression, menopause status, germline BrCa1/2 mutation status, and accrual site. Subjects were randomized (double-blind) between placebo and ARZ (LY353381.HCI, 20 mg daily) for 6 mo, with an option to continue on study for another 6 mo while receiving open-label ARZ. Assessments conducted at baseline, 6 mo, and 12 mo included mammographic breast density. Mammograms were digitized to image files which were cropped to remove labels and dates, and then identified by a study subject ID number and a random coding for baseline, 6 or 12 mo. This allowed the reader (GU) to view the three files for a subject, but to remain blinded as to the sequence of the films or the study agent. The files were assessed for mammographic density using the Madena computer-assisted system.

RESULTS
Of 199 subjects enrolled on the study, 52% were pre-menopausal; with 101 women randomized to placebo and 98 to ARZ. At baseline, mean values were comparable for placebo and ARZ groups for breast area (∼244 cm2), total dense area (∼100 cm2), and the percent of the breast at increased density (41.3% vs 46.2%). After 6 mo, there were minimal changes in total breast area (P=0.13); but statistically significant decreases (P<0.001) for the comparison of placebo vs ARZ (2-sided T-test) for change in both dense area (+3.8 vs -12.9 cm2) and percent breast density (+0.8% vs -4.6%).

CONCLUSIONS
The 3rd generation SERM arzoxifene administered for 6 mo produces statistically significant decreases in mammographic breast density relative to placebo in women at high risk for development of breast cancer. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


PURPOSE: A haptic theme framework is provided to produce haptic themes, install the haptic themes on a device, and utilize the haptic themes on the device. CONSTITUTION: A device(300) includes haptic themes(310,320). Each haptic theme includes effect files(311,312,321,322) and mapping files(313,323). An aggregator(330) provides the haptic themes which are going to be selected as active haptic themes. A theme analyzer(340) dynamically loads the haptic themes. The theme analyzer produces haptic feedbacks(343) by using the loaded haptic themes(341) in real time. [Reference numerals] (310) Haptic theme 1; (311,321) Effect file 1; (312,322) Effect file n; (313,323) Mapping file; (320) Haptic theme n; (330) Aggregator; (340) Theme analyzer; (341) Loaded theme; (342) UI event; (343) Haptic feedback


Approximately a year ago in this Journal Haldane wrote of Putnam's 'coming home to metaphysical realism'.' As is well known Putnam's work since 1976 has been devoted to developing a philosophical position, variously called a form of anti-realism or 'internal realism', which is radically at odds with metaphysical realism. But Haldane had been studying Putnam's latest work, and he noted that Putnam's views on perception, in particular his rejection of representative realism, seem to necessitate a return to a position substantially the same as that of Aristotle and Aquinas. Moreover, this is simply one of many occasions over the last two decades in which Putnam's thought has been converging, 'perhaps unwittingly'2 on orthodoxy. This gradual return to metaphysical realism is a kind of conversion experience which Haldane said has the quality of 'coming home'. Haldane concluded his paper by saying that he very much hopes that Putnam's gradual conversion to metaphysical real-


Wang Meng once likened himself to an old tree and his works to the fallen leaves, regretting over the past golden time and hoping for a renewal. However, the series of prose lately written by Wang Meng presents readers with the feeling that the image of an old tree has faded out and in its place has emerged the image of a Chinese sweet gum radiant with exuberant trunks and rampant leaves. What underlies Wang's prose in the new era is life, energetic and entire, which is highlighted by his life experiences of sixteen years in the frontier. From his prose of the new era, it is discernable that in face of frustrations or in exile, Wang has managed to face up to reality with a firm belief in life, and that his conviction in life in times of difficulty or trouble—the essence of his prose, is like the huge trunks calm confronted with frost and snow, which has endowed the Chinese sweet gum with rampant leaves. Hence Wang's prose with energetic and vivacious life.


The articles in this collection describe, review, and utilize recent developments of technologies, which enable us to tackle various practical challenges, from healthcare to bioproduction. The Research Topic thus covers a wide range of complexities, from molecules to cells to communities of cells, providing an outlook for the recent advances in studying, analyzing and engineering of biological systems across scales (Figure 1). Setting the stage all the way from the basic building-blocks of life processes, Kang et al. extensively reviewed how watching individual molecules shed light on the mechanisms that the cells employ to maintain their genomes. The surveyed literature of DNA-repair, employing fluorescence microscopy, exemplify how single-molecule methods unveil detailed molecular pathways, otherwise inaccessible via traditional bulk methods. For investigating biological systems with resolution beyond the diffraction limit (which was considered a fundamental, unsurmountable physical barrier for over a century), single-molecule imaging enabled superresolution microscopy, and was awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2014. Another superresolution modality, called the "structured illumination microscopy" (SIM), uses a known pattern of excitation beams to generate super-resolution images, and enables temporal resolution higher than that of its Nobel-winning counterpart. Akatay et al. used SIM to investigate the major endocytotic route in cells, i.e., formation of clathrin-coated vesicles (or pits, henceforth abbreviated as CPs), under mechanical tension. By simultaneous utilization of various modes of SIM with varying imaging depths (namely, TIRF-SIM and the recently developed GI-SIM (Guo et al., 2018), they were able to unambiguously rule out the "flat-tocurved transition" model for curvature generation and elucidate the details of the internalization of CPs. Moreover, they also observed that external perturbations that increase in the membrane tension, stimulated the formation of "giant coated pits" (GCPs). While the mechanical properties of native membranes dictate the release of endocytotic vesicles (such as CPs and GCPs), their complex and heterogeneous compositions have motivated the development of controllable model-membrane systems, such as synthetic lipid vesicles (a.k.a liposomes). Liposomes have been extensively used as lipid-membrane mimics—e.g. to investigate how various lipid compositions, reconstituted membrane proteins, or the ambient conditions affect vesicles' biological and physical properties (Pick et al., 2018). In OPEN ACCESS


The Romantics valued nature, spontaneity, visionary experience, powerful feeling, and the artist's individual response to the experience of life. Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism provides a comprehensive A-to-Z guide to the Romantic movement, including such great writers as William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Mary Shelley. Entries in this new resource cover poets and novelists, literary works, historical and cultural topics, and more, ranging from the 18th-century precursors of the Romantics, such as Thomas Gray, to the six poets traditionally regarded as the chief Romantics, to mid-19th-century Victorians often regarded as late Romantics, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning.


In this paper, a segmented Mach-Zehnder Modulators driver using 0.13 µm SiGe:C BiCMOS is demonstrated. The capacitive negative feedback is implemented within the input stage, and inductive peaking and negative capacitance are adopted within each driver segment to broaden the bandwidth. A propagation delay between the output of two driver segments is created by microstrip transmission lines. The simulation results indicate that a differential output swing and a propagation delay are approximately 3 Vppd and 4.3 ps at 25 Gb/s, respectively.


"You'll Distract the Boys!" is an illustrated gamebook in which readers assume the lives of several North American women and girls and navigate the typical experiences they face. Presented with issues such as body censorship, gender construct, and sexual harassment, readers must traverse a maze of objectionable scenarios as a diverse and inclusive cast of characters.
The goal of this project is to utilize interactive narrative as a pedagogical tool that evokes a response of compassion and empathy for women. To illustrate the potential of this medium, the following research document explores a selection of theory and case studies that support the value of interactive storytelling, as well as the methodologies behind the project's creation.


The article considers various approaches to the term «diagnostics» (philosophical, psychological and pedagogical, methodological), gives results of teachers' competence examination in the field of diagnostics of pupils' education. The effectiveness of education is verified according to three criteria: pupils' educational background, cognitive curiosity, and cognitive independence. The data of researching the effectiveness of educational technology that is developed by the author are presented.


The application of a reasonable selection scheme plays an essential role in virtually all evolutionary algorithms. By not considering less-fit individuals, however, the algorithm discards valuable information about the fitness function. This paper explores to which extent a hybrid method, the evolutionary-gradient-search procedure, that applies a global operator to all offspring can be beneficially used in the field of continuous parameter optimization. Experiments show that on some test functions, the hybrid method yields faster convergence than pure evolution strategies, but that on other test functions, the procedure exhibits similar deficiencies as steepest-descent methods.


The analytical study is made to the engineering calculation of necking force on the thin-wall cylindrical components in cone-shaped concave die, and the calculations and experiments are made according to the methods, proposed by CTOPOЖEB and YHKCOB separately, for the calculation of necking force of cylindrical components The results showed that since the two methods considered comprehensively the effects of variation of the thickness of plate, work hardening and friction etc., the calculation results form the two methods are very close and in good agreement with the experimental data.


The invention discloses an air-conditioner air-outlet regulating device, an air conditioner and an air volume regulation method. The device comprises an air duct system, a fan system mounted in the air duct system and at least one flow guide mechanism mounted on the air outflow side of the air duct system; the air duct system is divided into at least two branches through the flow guide mechanisms, the air outflow side of the air duct system is divided into at least two air outlets by the flow guide mechanisms, and after the fan system sucks air into the air duct system, air outflow regulation is performed through the flow guide mechanisms. One air outlet of the air conditioner is disassembled into the multiple air outlets, size change of the range of the air outlets of the air conditioner is realized by cooperation of a flow distribution mechanism and a flow guide plate, air supply volume of each air duct branch is changed in real time, the range of the air outlets of the air conditioner is enlarged greatly, periodic fluctuating air can be generated by the air conditioner, and further user comfortableness is improved; besides, by controlling opening and closing of each air outlet of the air conditioner, air speed of the air outlets can be increased greatly as well; the air-conditioner air-outlet regulating device is low in cost, simple in structure, convenient and practical.


Significance Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-infected monocytes play a critical role in the hematogenous dissemination of the virus, establishment of persistence, and progression of HCMV-mediated diseases. Here we identify a unique HCMV nuclear translocation pathway in monocytes. HCMV moves from early endosomes to the trans-Golgi network, then to recycling endosomes before its nuclear translocation. Signaling (via c-Src) induced by viral binding of the gH/gL/UL128-131 complex to integrins triggers this unique pathway. Because HCMV is degraded without this signal, we suggest that this distinct signal-induced nuclear translocation functions as a viral evasion pathway in infected monocytes. We initiated experiments to examine the infection of monocytes postentry. New data show that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA is detected in the nucleus beginning only at 3 d postinfection in monocytes, compared with 30 min postinfection in fibroblasts and endothelial cells, suggesting that HCMV nuclear translocation in monocytes is distinct from that seen in other cell types. We now show that HCMV is initially retained in early endosomes and then moves sequentially to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and recycling endosomes before nuclear translocation. HCMV is retained initially as a mature particle before deenvelopment in recycling endosomes. Disruption of the TGN significantly reduced nuclear translocation of viral DNA, and HCMV nuclear translocation in infected monocytes was observed only when correct gH/gL/UL128-131/integrin/c-Src signaling occurred. Taken together, our findings show that viral binding of the gH/gL/UL128-131 complex to integrins and the ensuing c-Src signaling drive a unique nuclear translocation pattern that promotes productive infection and avoids viral degradation, suggesting that it represents an additional viral evasion/survival strategy.


Collisional-Radiative (CR) model describes the kinetic mechanism of excited species in plasmas, it is the basis of optical emission spectroscopy (OES). In recent years, several xenon CR models for electric propulsion devices has been carried out, which allows us to diagnose plasma parameters in Hall thrusters using optical method. Kinetic mechanism of excited species in Hall thruster plasma also emerges as these works carry on. However, ionic excited levels, which are crucial to OES of some plasma parameters, e.g. electron density, are not incorporated in these models due to lack of cross sections. Information about xenon ionic lines are thus abandoned in OES, while kinetics of ionic species remain unknown. In this work, a comprehensive xenon CR model include atomic and ionic levels is presented. The model is verified by comparing modelled spectra with those measured in different regions of a Hall thruster. Using the model, kinetics of atomic and ionic levels in those different regions of Hall thruster are also studied. Development of a novel OES method using both atomic and ionic lines could be carried out by analyzing the relation between plasma parameters and spectrum character by using this model.


1 – Insights Into Pancreatic Cancer Metabolism NABEEL BARDEESY,MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA Cancercellsdependonwidespreadchanges incellmetabolismtomaintain rapidgrowth.Themetabolic requirementsofpancreatic cancers may be particularly stringent because of their fibrotic and poorly vascularized tumor microenvironment and resulting hypoxia and limited nutrient availability. Accordingly, these tumors exhibit multiple alterations in nutrient acquisition and utilization that are required for malignant growth, including activation of autophagy, a process by which organelles and protein aggregates are recycled by engulfment in modified membranes and degraded in lysosomes. In this presentation, we discuss the mechanisms leading to autophagy activation and the output from this process that maintains energy homeostasis in pancreatic cancer.We also discuss howmutations in pancreatic cancer driver genes rewire tumor cell metabolism as part of their oncogenic program. The identification of these metabolic dependencies in pancreatic cancer suggests novel therapeutic strategies. Abstract 2 – TheHistoneDeacetylase SIRT6: Linking Epigenetics to CancerMetabolism RAUL MOSTOSLAVSKY,MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA2 – TheHistoneDeacetylase SIRT6: Linking Epigenetics to CancerMetabolism RAUL MOSTOSLAVSKY,MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA Efficient glucose metabolism is critical for maintaining cellular viability. Under normal nutrient and oxygen conditions, glucose is converted to pyruvate, entering the mitochondria for oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production. Under hypoxia or nutrient stress,metabolismis switchedtoglycolysis, increasing lactateproductionandreducingmitochondrial respiration—aswitchknown to play an important role in cancer cells, as defined by OttoWarburg decades ago. Little is known about whether chromatin plays a role in carbohydrate flux. Recently,wediscovered that themammalian histone deacetylase sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is a chromatin factor that influences glucose metabolism and DNA repair. At the cellular level, SIRT6 inactivation leads to increased cellular glucose uptake, higher lactate production, and decreased mitochondrial activity. Our results indicate that SIRT6 directly regulates expression of several key glycolytic and ribosomal genes. SIRT6 corepresses hypoxia-inducible factor-1a, acting as a histone H3 lysine 9andH3 lysine 56deacetylase to inhibit expressionof their target genes and functioningas a tumor suppressor to inhibit the Warburg effect. Strikingly, our new studies indicate that SIRT6, in contrast to other histone deacetylases (HDACs), appears to regulate transcriptional elongation, a novel function for HDACs. Our work identified SIRT6 as a critical chromatin deacetylase at a nodal point between epigenetics and metabolism, functioning as an important tumor suppressor. Abstract 3 – Improving the Treatment of Prostate Cancer JOHANN DE BONO, INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH, THE ROYAL MARSDEN, SUTTON, UNITED KINGDOM3 – Improving the Treatment of Prostate Cancer JOHANN DE BONO, INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH, THE ROYAL MARSDEN, SUTTON, UNITED KINGDOM This presentation will focus on the improved understanding of castration-resistant prostate cancer and the delivery of precision medicine for this disease. Recent developments with abiraterone, enzalutamide, cabazitaxel, and radium-223 will be discussed. Dataonnovelagents includingAKT,p110b,andpoly(ADP-ribose)polymerase inhibitorsandcabozantinibwill alsobediscussed.The study of exome and transcriptome data in early clinical trials for advanced prostate cancer to drive the pharmacological audit trail will also be presented. TheOncologist 2014;19(Supplement 1):S1–S6 www.TheOncologist.com ©AlphaMed Press 2014 Abstract 4 – Curative Potential of Cell Transfer Immunotherapy for Cancer4 – Curative Potential of Cell Transfer Immunotherapy for Cancer STEVEN A. ROSENBERG, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, BETHESDA, MARYLAND, USA Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy for patients with metastatic melanoma using autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) mediated a 56% objective response rate, including 20% of patients with durable complete regression ongoing from6.7 to 10.3 years. Administration of autologous TILs to nine patients with human papillomavirus-inducedmetastatic cervical cancer mediated objective responses in three patients, including two complete regressions that are ongoing beyond a year. The ideal targets for ACT are the uniquemutations that occur in cancers (Table 1). Using deep exomic sequencing, a technique has been developed to identify any cancer mutation—presented on any of the patient's major histocompatibility complex molecules—that gives rise to reactive T cells.We recently reported the successful application of this approach to treat a patient with ametastatic bile duct cancer. Because virtually all cancers containmutations, this approach is nowbeing vigorously studied to expand the current reach of cancer immunotherapy to common epithelial cancers. Genes encoding conventional a-b T-cell receptors or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) can be efficiently transduced into autologous lymphocytes, although choosing suitable targets expressed on the cancer is critical to avoid toxicities to essential normal tissues. ACT using CARs to target the CD19 molecule present on normal B cells and on the great majority of B-cell lymphomas and leukemiaswas first reportedtosuccessfully treatapatientwith refractory lymphoma in2010; thatpatient remainsprogression free at 5 years. Durable complete and partial responses have been seen in patients with chemotherapy-refractory indolent and aggressive large B-cell lymphomas. Of 9 patients heavily pretreated with large cell lymphomas receiving ACT, 4 patients have had complete regressions (2 ongoing from 9 to 22 months), and 2 additional patients have had partial response. Cancer-testis antigens such as NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3 are expressed during fetal development and in 10%–80% of cancers frommultiple tissuesbutoftenarenotexpressed inadult normal tissues.ACT targetingNY-ESO-1 resulted ina67%response rate in 15 treated patients with refractory synovial cell sarcoma and a 53% response rate in 19 patientswithmelanoma including durable complete regressions. Shared mutations that are unique to an individual cancer type also represent excellent targets for cell transfer immunotherapy, andweare conducting a trial usinga CAR targeting the EGFRvIIImutation, expressed in∼40%ofpatients with high-grade glioblastoma. Table 1. Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute program for the application of cell transfer therapy to awide variety of human cancers Receptor Type Cancers Status Mutations TCR All cancers Accruing MART-1 TCR Melanoma Closed gp100 TCR Melanoma Closed NY-ESO-1 TCR Epithelial and sarcomas Accruing CEA TCR Colorectal Closed CD19 CAR Lymphomas Accruing VEGFR2 CAR All cancers Accruing 2G-1 TCR Kidney Accruing IL-12 Cytokine Adjuvant for all receptors Accruing MAGE-A3 TCR Epithelial Accruing EGFRvIII CAR Glioblastoma Accruing SSX-2 TCR Epithelial In development Mesothelin CAR Pancreas and mesothelioma Accruing CSP4 (HMWAg) CAR Melanoma, TN breast, Pancreas In development HPV-16 and -17 TCR Cervix, anal, oropharyngeal In development Abbreviations: CAR, chimeric antigen receptor; HPV, human papillomavirus; TCR, T-cell receptor; TN breast, triple-negative breast. ©AlphaMed Press 2014 The Oncologist S2


A retrospective study aimed at ascertaining the prevalence of Pulmonary TB amongst patients visiting Eastern Nigeria Medical Centre, Enugu State was conducted between September, 2015 and November, 2015. Sputum samples were obtained from one hundred and twenty patients. Samples were smeared on glass slides, stained using Ziehl Neelsen Stain and observed under light (oil immersion) microscopy. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS Statistic Base 17.0, where descriptive analyses such as sum, percent distribution, and mean, were computed. While ChiSquared Goodness of Fit, degree of differences, pvalue in order to statistically determine if any significance between variables such as age groups, sex of subjects, AFB positivity and prevalence existed. The results showed positive results for tuberculosis with prevalence of 42 (35%) out of 120 subjects. The age group 21-30 years had the highest prevalence of 18 (43%) out of 42 of PTB positive subjects. There was no significant difference between sex of subjects with PTB positivity (X: 1.33 at P= 0.12). There was significant difference between age groups of subjects with PTB positivity (X: 33.18 at P= 0.01). It is observed that PTB is still a serious health burden in this part of the world, thus, there is need for improved TB awareness, treatment and control programme.


The aim of this study is to determine the school readiness of the 60-65 months first grade primary school students. The study was designed in accordance with qualitative case study. The participants of the study was composed of 20 teachers and 15 parents in Van/Turkey provincial districts in the 2017-2018 academic year. Semi-structured interview forms and an observation form were used as data collection tools in the study. Descriptive analysis was used in the analysis of the obtained data. As a result of the study, it was found that the students who start primary school in the age range of 60-65 months were not ready to start school and had difficulty in physical, emotional, cognitive and psycho-social readiness. In addition, this group falls behind the students in the 66-72 months in each of these areas.


Abstract The experiences of clients who received marital counselling from trained volunteer marriage guidance counsellors were investigated. Fifty-one clients from 42 marriages were interviewed and questioned about why they chose the agency, what expectations they held, what happened during counselling, how they felt about the counsellor, and what if anything was achieved through counselling. They were also asked how they had fared since. Rating scales were used after the interview to evaluate satisfaction with counselling, benefit from counselling, aspects of the counselling relationship, etc. The clients were also asked to do a card-sort of statements about counselling to determine what aspects had been valuable and disappointing. Some of the preliminary results of the study are presented and discussed.


According to development characteristics,the requirements of the course Food Chemistry and Physical and Chemical Testing need to be adjusted and improved with further reform.This paper studied the realization of "versatile,multi-layer,open" teaching mode and teaching methods of self study with teacher's assistant,and the implementation of multimedia assisted practical teaching methods.


Abstract When reinforced concrete (RC) slabs are supported directly on columns, a combination of shear forces and unbalanced bending moments is transferred between the slab and the columns at slab–...


Fractures of upper cervical spine are very rare. The principles underlying the management of injuries to atlas and axis in adult patients are different from sub-axial spine. The current article comprehensively outlines the rationale behind the management of these injuries and discusses the guidelines based on the existing literature. A majority of these fractures can be managed conservatively. Specific indications for rigid immobilization


obvious ones such as Republic, Statesman and Laws. While focusing on ideas, S. also takes full account of relevant features of Plato's mode of presentation, especially the significant use of dialogue form. What picture of Plato as a political thinker emerges? While not offering an outright defence of Plato, S. helps us to make better sense of Plato's political thinking both by historical contextualization and by parallels with modern theory. For instance, S. stresses that the Republic's ideas about the rule of knowledge form a natural continuation of the Socratic ideal of personal and political life grounded on ethical expertise. He brings out that Plato's very broad conception of politeia – as a whole mode of cultural life and not simply the organisation of political functions – has important parallels in contemporary and later ancient thought. S. also highlights suggestive links with modern thought, for instance, with Habermas's ideas about communicative reason and with Rawls's thinking on justice as a social good. He also uses the contrasting reactions to Plato of Grote, Mill and Jowett to define what he sees as the core idea of the Platonic principle of the rule of knowledge. This is a radical but potent ideal, that of a whole society unified on the basis of knowledge of the good – an ideal that goes beyond far beyond managerial or technocratic effectiveness. S. does not fudge the darker sides of Plato's political vision; for instance, the noble lie in the Republic and the paternalistic religious framework in the Laws are discussed fully and analysed as imagined forms of ideology. But S.'s reflective and nuanced treatment avoids the caricatures and half-truths of much earlier writing on this topic, such as the idea of Plato as a predecessor of modern-style totalitarianism or neoconservatism or as someone who simply rationalized the class prejudice of his aristocratic background. In the chapter on 'Money and the soul', S. gives full weight to Plato's attack on the materialism and greed underlying oligarchy. He argues convincingly (against Bernard Williams) that Plato's use of the state–soul analogy credibly identifies underlying motives that are common to both political and personal life, rather than reflecting intellectual confusion or disdain for the lower classes. S. also handles skilfully the much-debated question of chronological development in Plato's political thought, underlining recurrent themes while not insisting on unitarian-style consistency. Overall, this book seems to me highly successful, both in offering a very accessible treatment for readers of different backgrounds and in probing new and promising lines of enquiry. S. writes in an engaging and lucid style, while also alluding economically to an exceptionally broad range of ancient writings and modern theorists. I think that for many readers this book will rightly form the starting point for further work on this perennially fascinating topic. CHRISTOPHER GILL University of Exeter email@example.com SAYRE (K.M.) Metaphysics and Method in Plato's Statesman. Cambridge UP, 2006. Pp. xii + 265. £45. 9780521866088.


In simple terms and with little scientific or philosophical jargon, this is an examination of some of the philosophical implications of quantum theory. In particular, the Copenhagen interpretation of Bohr and Heisenberg is systematically explored revealing its neo-Kantian and anti-realist features. As Bohr said: "Natural Science is not nature itself but part of a relation between man and nature, and therefore is dependant on man." In addition, the physical theories of de Broglie and Bohm are contextualized within the philosophical ideas of Bergson, Deleuze, Kant and Whitehead. In particular, Whitehead's idea of the "Melodic Metaphor" as an embrace of the matter wave model is seen as a new "Music of the Spheres." Finally, the notion of aesthetic beauty in scientific theory is examined in some depth, revealing it to be an important criterion for judging the validity of theoretical constructs.


In this review article, the inherent aspects with the foundations of organizational ambidexterity are addressed, namely: the background of organizational ambidexterity, definitions of ambidexterity; Typologies of structural, sequential and contextual ambidexterity, from the strategic direction, an organizational ambidexterity model is proposed from which its variables are addressed: organization-prior knowledge and experience; ambidextrous search and performance of knowledge; individual ambidexterity; Organizational ambidexterity, innovation, and business results, six discussion hypotheses and conclusions are established.


Capacity of modem storage devices is becoming larger than yesterday and integration of disk is increasing. It refers that physical errors can damage a lot of digital information on storage devices. So we propose file system test framework in this paper to test integrity and robustness of file systems. We develop the tool for generating bad sectors on disks and the tool which creates all physical errors defined in storage devices. We also develop the tool for immediately monitoring the condition of read and write execution on storage devices. So, by integrating those tools, we develop FORT, test framework for confirming robustness of file system. We analyze robustness of ext3 file systems by FORT. Lastly, we present draft of intelligent system merging file system and device driver's layer architecture.


The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that a wing with segmented control surfaces can redistribute its load, inboard or outboard, in order to perform active shape control while still maintaining level flight. Methods will be presented for controlling the plunge deflections of an aircraft wing structure. One possible solution to improving the flight envelope is a wing design with multiple segmented control surfaces all along its span. This will give an aircraft far more control over its lift distribution in comparison to a typical wing. In order to construct a wing with segmented trailing edges, it must first be shown that deflections under lift loads can be controlled. This paper introduces the research performed by the Structures, Propulsion, and Controls Engineering (SPACE) Center using a Fiber-Optic Strain-Sensing (FOSS) system that is currently implemented on the Odyssey UAV. The research will use a set of strain-based Displacement Transfer Functions (DTF) and the FOSS System both of which were developed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). Aerodynamic loads are obtained through the use of the software Athena Vortex Lattice (AVL). In addition, structural modeling is carried out with the use of finite element software. The results indicate that the shape of a wing structure can be controlled through the manipulation of segmented control surfaces to re-distribute lifting loads.


Using Density Functional Theory (DFT), the desorption energies of Hydrogen in Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium nanoparticles is calculated. The type of nanoparticles studied were M n H xn with M=Li, Na, K and n varying from 2 up to 30. For each nanoparticle, several different geometries were studied in order to find the one with the lowest energy. The results were compared with similar calculated results for Beryllium and Magnesium nanoparticles. Mixed Li n-x Na x H n nanoparticles were also studied.


The identification of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes, efficient in potassium (K) uptake and utilisation, for low-K-input sustainable cotton production represents an important environmentally friendly approach in relation to genetic resource management. It would reduce the costly input of K-fertilisers and manage K resources in agro-ecosystems. K use efficiency of 25 cotton genotypes was evaluated under adequate and deficient K conditions in hydroponics. Although low K supply reduced the growth of all genotypes, a considerable genotypic variation was found among genotypes for their biomass production (dry weight of shoot and root, and leaf area). K-efficient and K-inefficient genotypes were identified on the basis of their growth responses at deficient K supply. Cotton genotypes that had higher growth at deficient K supply were K-efficient. The correlation analysis revealed that K-efficient genotypes had more capacity to uptake K under its deficient condition. However, ranking of genotypes by two different methods showed that the only most desirable, 'efficient-responsive' genotype was NIBGE-2 with excellent adaptation potential to both the K levels. The genotypes CIM-506 and Desi okra were 'non-efficient' and 'nonresponsive' at deficient and adequate K conditions, respectively, with low shoot dry weight. For the first time, such a big number of cotton genotypes are screened and identified for their K-use efficiency, in order to exploit their potential for sustainable production under K deficiency stress. Also, for the first time, we are recommending the ranking of crop genotypes in screening experiments involving different methods to ensure the validity of results to be utilised in future studies focusing on developing nutrient-efficient crop genotypes for low-nutrient input sustainable agriculture.


Abstract Siphonostegia chinensis Benth. is a common Chinese herbal medicine widely distributed in eastern Asia. The complete chloroplast genome of S. chinensis was newly sequenced in this study. The total chloroplast genome size was 148,961 bp, its structure and gene contents were well conserved as typical chloroplast characteristics. The overall guanine-cytosine (GC) content of the S. chinensis chloroplast genome is 36.4%. The chloroplast genome encodes 130 unique genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. We used the cp genome of S. chinensis and 20 other chloroplast genomes to perform a phylogenetic analysis, which indicated that S. chinensis is sister to Schwalbea americana in Orobanchaceae.


This article briefly describes the experiences of one science library in a system-wide project to convert serial entries, primarily periodical titles, to AACR2 using OCLC. The intent of AACR2 to simplify identifying periodicals titles has not proven to be entirely successful due to factors inherent to serials and periodicals. Many of these factors apply also to collections in the social sciences and humanities.


Jana Steinová submitted a PhD thesis which encompasses several aspects of the lichen symbiosis, using the zeorin-containing red-fruited Cladonia species as model group. The concept of the lichen symbiosis has suffered important changes during the last decades, adding more relevance to the, often neglected in the past, photosynthetic partners and including the study of other organisms associated to the symbiosis like bacterial communities. Jana's thesis takes into consideration this new perspective on the lichen symbiosis and using a well-known group of lichen-forming fungi (although not taxonomically well understood) and proposes an holistic research which ranges from the molecular-based species delimitation of the fungal partners, the characterization of the diversity of photosynthetic partners associated and the study of the microbial communities typically found on the surface of these species including state-of-the-art microscopic techniques.


Semi-solid agar has been developed as an analogue for soil to be used in corrosion studies, especially those involving microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). This is in response to the recognition of major short comings of the traditionally utilized electrolytes for soil corrosion. Soil corrosion is typically studied in solution systems which are unable to replicate the physical characteristics of soils which are intrinsic both to the corrosion of metals in soil and, when studying MIC, the movement of microbes through soil. The development process has focused on the use of semi-solid agar as an electrolyte. The stable electrochemical region of semi-solid agar and the effect of nutrients on the system have been determined and a series of experiments determining the effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens on carbon steel in the system conducted. The studies have shown that a correlation exists between the semi solid agar system and clay based soils in terms of the properties and resultant corrosion behaviour of carbon steel in contact with the system. This paper reviews the research to date and then considers the next steps in the system development. It discusses the system in relation to the wider soil corrosion literature and suggests applications where it would be advantageous to use semi solid agar or derivatives of the system.


Protein Tyrosine Kinases as Targets for Cancer and Other Indications Mark Pearson, Carlos Garcia-Echeverria, and Doriano Fabbro Inhibitors of Signaling Interfaces: Targeting Src Homology 2 Domains in Drug Discovery Carlos Garcia-Echeverria PI3-Kinase Inhibition: A Target for Therapeutic Intervention Peter M. Finan and Stephen G. Ward Src as a Target for Pharmaceutical Intervention: Potential and Limitations Mira Susa, Martin Missbach, Rainer Gamse, Michaela Kneissel, Thomas Buhl, Jurg A. Gasser, Markus Glatt, Terence O'Reilly, Anna Teti, and Jonathan Green Activated FLT3 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase as a Therapeutic Target in Leukemia Blanca Scheijen and James D. Griffin JAK Kinases in Leukemias, Lymphomas, and Multiple Myeloma Renate Burger and Martin Gramatzki Glivec(R) (Gleevec(R), Imatinib, STI571): A Targeted Therapy for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Elisabeth Buchdunger and Renaud Capedeville Platelet-Derived Growth Factor: Normal Function, Role in Disease, and Application of PDGF Antagonists Tobias Sjoblom, Kristian Pietras, Arne Ostman, and Carl-Henrik Heldin Structural Biology of Protein Tyrosine Kinases Sandra W. Cowan-Jacob, Paul Ramage, Wilhelm Stark, Gabriele Fendrich, and Wolfgang Jahnke Testing of Signal Transduction Inhibitors in Animal Models of Cancer Terence O'Reilly and Robert Cozens Phosphoproteomics in Drug Discovery and Development Michel F. Moran, Jarrod A. Marto, Cynthia J. Brame, Olga Ornatsky, Mark M. Ross, Leticia M. Toledo-Sherman, Alfredo C. Castro, Brett Larsen, Henry Duewel, Christopher Hosfield, Christopher Orsi, Thodoros Topaloglou, Daniel Figeys, Jarrod A. Caldwell-Busby, and David R. Stover Index


The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) was established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 1969, to bring together natural and social scientists to identify emerging or potential environmental issues and to address jointly the nature and solution of global environmental problems.National governments and research scientists may be equally concerned with issues of global environmental change, but their interests - and their timelines - are not the same. Governments are often focused on short-term effects and local impacts of global phenomena. Scientists, on the other hand, are loath to engage in speculation about the specific consequences of large-scale environmental trends.How then can we translate scientific understanding of these trends into public policy?"Communicating Global Change Science to Society" examines the growing number of instances in which governments and scientists have engaged in research projects in which the goal is to inform policy decisions. It assesses these experiences and suggests their implications for future collaborations.The book begins with a discussion of interactions between science and policy, particularly as they relate to the broad significance of environmental change. It then addresses concerns that emerge from this discussion, including how scientific research results are communicated in democratic societies, the uses (and misuses) of scientific findings, and what the natural and social sciences could learn from each other.


This essay presents a detailed comparison of the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard in Colombia and Brazil. Based on this, the strategies that both countries have implemented to identify the advances and benefits obtained are developed.
In addition to this, it seeks to demonstrate the contributions of the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard in the business field to the environmental sustainability of Colombia and Brazil, taking into account the processes developed for the compliance of the norm in the organizations. Finally, all this leads to identify the implementation processes of the norm in each country that may have the greatest contribution to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the Conference of United Nations on Sustainable Development RIO + 20.


Aim. A study of the racial composition of broomrape on sunflower crops in the northern part of the Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. Assessment of the resistance of hybrids and sunflower test lines to broomrape was carried out by a modified soil method. Results. The broomrape parasitizing on the fields of sunflower has a high degree of virulence, which overcomes the immunity of the best hybrids of domestic and foreign breeding, resistant to the E, F and G races of this parasite. Conclusions. The emergence of new very aggressive broomrape races (E, F and G) indicates the important need to solve the problem of creating breeding material resistant to new races of this parasitic plant. Intensive with the accumulation of parasite races E, F and G in the sunflower crops is associated with the disruption of crop rotations and the saturation of fields with hybrids of this culture, resistant mainly to 4 (D) and 5 (E) races of the parasite.
Keywords: Orobanche сumana Wallr., race, sunflower, hybrid, root system, root allocation, srigolactones.


In the extant literature, adult-onset offending has usually been identified using official sources. It is possible, however, that many of the individuals identified would have had unofficial histories of prior offending. To investigate this issue, the men from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) were examined. The CSDD is a prospective longitudinal study of men from inner-city London, followed from age 8 to age 48. Onset of offending was identified using official records and then the self-reported offending of the adult-onset offender group (with a first conviction at age 21 or later) was compared to others. All the adult-onset offenders self-reported some previous offending in childhood and adolescence but most of this offending was not sufficiently frequent or serious to lead to a conviction in practice. About one-third of adult-onset offenders were considered to be self-reported delinquents who were realistically in danger of being convicted because of the frequency of their offending. For some, the adjudication by the criminal justice system was simply the first time that their ongoing pattern of offending had been detected. Their lack of detection was because the types of offences they were committing had lower detection rates.


The lowest 1D(e) resonances below the n = 2 and n = 3 thresholds are calculated using a method of complex-coordinate rotation. The results, obtained with the use of Hylleraas functions, are believed to be of high accuracy. This work should serve as a useful reference for other investigations.


Designing of cross section profile of cutter is one of the necessary preconditions of realizing the CAD technique of special revolving tools. In this paper, taking the example of typical special revolving milling cutter, a designing method of cross section profile of cutter is presented. The exactness of the method is verified by the calculated illustrations of milling cutter and burr.


A new species of Neotropical Psychodidae, Alepia zavortinki spec. nov., is reported from tank bromeliads at high elevations in both the Luquillo and Central Mountains of Puerto Rico. Fourth instar larva and adults are described and figured. It is possible to relate larvae and adults because males and females were reared from the larvae and pupae collected from various bromeliads (Vriesea sintenisii and Guzmania berteroniana). Bromeliads are adapted to intercept canopy litter and throughfall water, and decaying litter is washed into and retained by the leaf bases. It is from this aquatic habitat that the larvae and pupae were collected.


The overall aim of the proposed skin lesions classification method is to improve the quality and accuracy of existing skin diagnostic system by establishing superior feature extraction and classification of skin lesions from standard digital images. At first, images of skin lesions are pre-processed by resizing, removing hair, removing noise by filtering and enhancing contrast. Rather than using RGB/HSV/YCbCr color plane, the proposed segmentation of the preprocessed images is carried out by Color Thresholding in Lab color plane in order to obtain better contrast between normal and diseased regions. Moreover segmented RGB images obtained after color thresholding in Lab plane are validated by open source software Interactive Segmentation Tool to yield an improved segmented image for feature extraction. Then higher order statistics based analysis in RGB, HSV, YCbCr, Lab, Luv, NTSc color planes, histogram based analysis in RGB, HSV, YCbCr planes and Image Quality Analysis(IQA) are performed for feature extraction. The features thus obtained from segmented images are fed to SVM and kNN classifiers to classify four classes of skin lesions such as Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Keratoacanthoma and Squamous cell carcinoma. The simulation results of the proposed method is obtained using Dermnet database from where the four types of skin lesions images are obtained. In comparison to the another state of the art method of skin lesions classification, it is found that the proposed method is capable of producing better F1 score and accuracy.


Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of 2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 2% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX), 2.4% iodine potassium iodide (IKI), 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and bioactive glass (BAG) on four selected microorganisms (E. faecalis, E. coli, S. aureus, S. pyogenes). Materials and Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined in an incubation period of 24 hours for the selected medicaments on standard bacterial strains using the microdilution method. Results: MIC/MBC values of EDTA for S. aureus and S. pyogenes were both 0.066% (dilution factor of 1/256). The MIC/MBC values of EDTA for E. faecalis were 0.033% (1/512) and 0.13% (1/128). The MIC dilution factor of EDTA was equal/two-fold higher for IKI and NaOCl for E. coli, 8-fold higher for S. pyogenes and 16-fold higher for S. aureus and E. faecalis within clinically relevant concentrations of the test irrigants. All microorganisms were resistant to BAG and CHX. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that EDTA exhibits strong in vitro antimicrobial effect against S. aureus, S. pyogenes and E. faecalis in 24 hours. NaOCl displayed activity equivalent to that of IKI on E. coli, S. aureus and E. faecalis.


The β- and γ-radiations of 113g,m Ag have been studied by using Ge(Li), NaI(Tl) and anthracene detectors. The activities were produced by the 114 Cd(γ, p ) reaction. By various coincidences, including Ge(Li)–Ge(Li) configuration, most of the 30 γ-rays of the 5.3 h 113 Ag observed were fitted to a level scheme of 113 Cd consisting of the following 16 levels; 263.7, 298.4, 316.1, 583.9, 603.0, 681.0, 708.5, 821.0, 883.6, 936.3, 988.7, 1050.1, 1126.7, 1194.9, 1479.4 and 1665.4 keV. In the 113m Ag decay a total of 7 γ-rays were observed to populate the five levels at 298.4, 316.1, 441.9, 583.9 and 708.5 keV. The spins and parities were tentatively assigned from the transition intensities, and were compared with the results of ( d , p ) experiments.


This session will include two invited industry presentations on challenges ahead in the design, manufacturing, and testing of wireless communications devices.


Plants are the one of the glorious and fascinating source of natural biopesticides. The present investigation was carried out for pytochemical analysis and to assess the nematicidal and nematostatic potential of aqueous extract of some plant parts viz., Ageratum conyzoides and Coccinia grandis against hatching and nematicidal behavior of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in vitro conditions. The second stage juveniles (J2) were exposed at 24, 48 and 72 hours in different concentration (S, S/2, S/10, and S/100) of plant extracts. During in vitro condition inhibition of egg hatchability and J2 juveniles' mortality varied according to the concentration of plant extract. The extract of Ageratum conyzoides leaves and stem exhibited highly promising mortality (98-100%) after 72 hours of exposure periods while the plant extract of C. grandis leaves and fruit showed minimum mortality (56-60%) after 24 hours of exposure periods. There was a gradual decrease in egghatching with an increase in the concentration of aqueous extract of plants. A. conyzoides leaves and stem extract elucidating most effectiveness in reducing egghatching and increase in mortality of J2 juveniles of M. incognita. Concentration of the extract was directly proportional to the mortality of second stage juveniles and inversely proportional to the egghatching. Phytochemical analysis in various solvent of different polarity such as ethanol, methanol, acetone, chloroform, petroleum and water marked the impressive outcome of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, protein, amines, glycosides, carbohydrate, steroids, mucilage, gums, terpenoids and phlobatannins in the plant extracts. The aqueous extract of Ageratum conyzoides showed maximum egg inhibition and J2 juvenile mortality due to the presence of phytoconstituents such as alkaloid, tannins, phenol, saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, carbohydrate, protein, mucilage/gum and phlobatannins while Coccinia grandis showed minimum egg inhibition and juvenile mortality.


A study was done in order to describe the clinical and epidemiological oral cancer behavior in Guantanamo province from 2007 to. 2011 The study group consists of 44 people diagnosed with oral cancer at the same time forming the sample. Age group, sex, topography and risk factors: a form of data collection with the following variables is constructed. Between the age groups 60-69, 70-79 and over 80 years old and males showed higher percentage of patients with oral cancer, being located more often this entity on the roof of the mouth and the risk factors most prevalence are age, smoking and oral sepsis.


The crystal structure of the title compound, N-phenylimidocarbonimidic diamide hydrochloride (phenylbiguanide hydrochloride), C8H12N5+·Cl−, (BIGH)+·Cl−, has been redetermined with higher precision and with the location and free refinement of all H atoms.


The application of dry on-line processing holographic storage materials such as photorefractive material, photopolymer and photoaddressable polymer on high-density digital holographic storage are summarized. Their composition, holographic data storage characteristics, merits and shortcomings are described in detail. Finally, the recent development and prospects of these materials are briefly discussed.


The bordered pit membrane of cypress is characterized by a margo and torus composed of a dense network of microfibrils oriented in a predominately radial direction with amorphous materials deposited on the torus. Incomplete border pit aspiration often results, presumably because of the angular shape of the inner side of the pit aperture and the fact that the torus is only slightly larger than the aperture. Differentiating pit membranes are characterized by a decidedly thickened torus formed prior to secondary border formation. Removal of the matrix substance from the margo and thinning of the torus occur simultaneously. After matrix removal, the margo is perforated and the torus attains its mature dimension.


A fundamental task in computer vision is extracting low-level features from the image. Since this is one of the first tasks executed by most vision-based systems, imprecisions and errors committed during its execution are propagated to the next stages thus affecting the system overall performance. Therefore, robust and precise feature extractors are mandatory in computer vision. In the literature, two kinds of low-level features are commonly used: natural features, and artificial patterns of features. Natural features are extractable only from scenarios rich in textured elements. On the other hand, artificial patterns of features can be easily crafted by using commodity printers, which permits its application in a diversity of scenarios. Moreover, since the real dimensions of the pattern are known beforehand, the usage of artificial patterns allows the construction of metric systems. This thesis presents a new detection technique for patterns formed by roundish features. The new technique is composed of two stages: the extraction of candidates for features of the pattern; and the searching for the elements (among the candidates) that actually constitute the pattern. Differently from the techniques found in the related literature, the proposed one does not restrict the patterns to be rectangular grids of regularly-spaced features, but it allows the creation of a variety of patterns through the use of graphs (the pattern template). Experimental results collected from two case studies evidence that the new technique is robust to uneven and low-lighting conditions.