Ret rearrangements are common in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), with reffPTC-3 commonly seen in children exposed to ionising radiation. In this setting reffPTC-3 has been correlated with solid/follicular variant morphology, poorer prognosis and aggressive tumour behaviour. We aimed to assess the prevalence of the common ret chimeric transcripts (reffPTC-I and reffPTC-3) in a group of "sporadic" PTC. We also correlated tumour morphology with specific ret rearrangements. Thyroid follicular cells were laser capture microdissected from I-IE stained slides of archival PTC (n=28). Total RNA was extracted and analysed for expression of GAPDH, reffPTC-I and reffPTC-3 using TaqMan PCR. RePTC-1 and reffPTC-3 transcripts were detected in 43% and 18% of PTCs respectively. RePTC-3 correlated strongly with the solid/follicular variant (55%) and was not detected in conventional PTC. ReWTC-1 was not detected in any case of solid/follicular variant carcinoma. In one case of tall cell variant chimeric transcripts of both reffPTC-I and reffPTC-3 were detected within the same tumour. There is a significant prevalence of reffPTC transcripts in this sporadic group of PTC. ReffPTC-3 correlates with the solid/follicular variant and is not present in conventional PTC. ~ 1 1 1 (DCr) am specidiscd antigen presenting cells critical in initiating immune rerponaer and de4rxmining their phewtypc. The novd C-type lectin DC-SIGN is expreraul on immature DCs. triple- labdlcd confocal microscopy co-locpiirr DC-SIGN witb DC2 marLen on lymph node DCs, concordant witb previous results in d polyps. Therefore, DC-SIGN+ cells am likely to induce incf€dvc anti-humur immune responses. either via tolema induction 01 failure to induce response8 (immature DCs) or thc induction of Th2 phenotype rcrpanscs (Dc2s). of other woplsrmr. evm tolemnce to tuaKNv antigens. Both the lneddobw md ndts of We have previously identified that interleukin-4 (lL4) is involved in the response of normal articular chondrocytes to mechanical stimulation, and that altered lL4 signalling may play a role in the aberrant mechanotransduction response of chondrocytes from osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage. IZA signalling involves activation of receptor-associated JAKs that in turn phosphorylate STATs, and lead to regulation of gene transcription. The aim ofthis study was to investigate whether there is a difference in expression of lL4 receptor subunits and associated JAK signalling molecules between normal and OA cartilage. The IL-4 receptor (IZAR) is a heterodimeric receptor made up of the IL4Ra subunit and one of either the IL13R or yc. Expression of the mRNA for IL13R, IL4Ra and yc in both normal and OA chondrocytes was shown by RT-PCR. Immunostaining of frozen sections of human cartilage showed positive staining for IL~Ru, IL13R and yc subunits in both normal and diseased cartilage. Chondrocytes in both normal and OA cartilage expressed JAKs 1-3 and tyk2, with intense staining for tyk2 and JAK3, and weak staining for JAKl and JAK2. These results indicate that chondrocytes from both normal and OA cartilage express the same IL4R subunits and JAKs, suggesting that differences in signalling may be due to differences in activation rather than expression.


: Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) hosts long-lived phonon polaritons, yielding a strong mid-infrared (mid-IR) electric fi eld enhancement and concentration on the nanometer scale. It is thus a promising material for highly sensitive mid-IR sensing and spectroscopy. In addition, hBN possesses high chemical and thermal stability as well as mechanical durability, making it suitable for operation in demanding environments. In this work, we demonstrate a mid-IR CO 2 gas sensor exploiting phonon polariton (PhP) modes in hBN nanoresonators functionalized by a thin CO 2 - adsorbing polyethylenimine (PEI) layer. We fi nd that the PhP resonance shifts to lower frequency, weakens, and broadens for increasing CO 2 concentrations, which are related to the change of the permittivity of PEI upon CO 2 adsorption. Moreover, the PhP resonance exhibits a high signal-to-noise ratio even for small ribbon arrays of 30 × 30 μ m 2 . Our results show the potential of hBN nanoresonators to become a novel platform for miniaturized phonon-enhanced SEIRA gas sensors.


In order to study the seismic behavior of precast concrete walls with different connection types for vertical reinforcements, the quasi‐static test on five concrete shear walls, including precast shear walls and cast‐in‐place shear wall was carried out. Test results showed that the failure mode of precast concrete walls was nearly the same as that of the cast‐in‐place concrete shear wall: in boundary elements at bottom of the shear wall, the vertical reinforcements yielded under tension, and the concrete was crushed under compression. The stress of vertical reinforcements could be effectively transferred by the sleeve‐mortar splicing. The specimen with hoop stirrup splicing had in‐plane rigid slide between the precast region and the cast‐in‐place region, whose ultimate drift ratio and energy dissipation capacity were lowest. The ultimate drift ratio of all specimens was larger than 1%. Based on results and analysis, recommendations for practical design for precast shear wall structures were proposed.


In this paper we describe a kind of unsteady phenomena in a transonic axial fan rotor at stable operating points based on the observation from numerical simulation results. Single-passage and full-annulus time-accurate simulations were implemented for several different operating points, when the unsteadiness phenomena occurred. Thanks to the recently introduced GPU acceleration technology, all these time-consuming computations were executed on a desktop computer. As is shown in frequency-domain analysis results, the frequency-domain behaviors of the calculated flow field at different operating points are different in single-passage and full-annulus results, which means that the single-passage simulation may lead to incorrect conclusions when simulating unsteady flow field near stall. It can be observed from flow fields that flow parameters in different passages are at different phases at the same moment. Spillage flows periodically appear in front of the blade leading edges at the tip region and no separation is observed at the blade leading edge in this process. The spillage flow is closely linked with a vortex structure, which is shed from the tip leakage vortex at the leading edge region. The circumferential movement of the vortex delivers a mechanism of propagation for the spillage status. Although the spillage occurs at some instants, these operating conditions are still stable because the leading edge region is occupied by the incoming main flow at other instants when the flow at this region is improved.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


In the field of mathematical finance, there is often a need for density calculations in the pricing of securities. The Kolmogorov forward equation gives such a density when the price can be modeled by a stochastic differential equation. We use the Heston model, which gives a volatility dimension to our solution density. In order to avoid tricky boundary conditions involved in numerically solving a forward equation, we use a symmetry relation that transforms the forward equation into a Kolmogorov backward equation. We numerically solve the backward equation and transform it back into the forward solution.


The paper analyzes the SCADA system that is widely used in process monitoring, points out that the traditional SCADA system has disadvantage in expanding efficiency and development cost, then discusses the technology characteristic of OPC and its development in detail, therefore proposes OPC technology to expand the existing SCADA system by some software kit and DLL in VB environment, gives the detail designing of the whole system, discusses the process of development of OPC server and OPC client. The method adopted is simple, time saving and lowcost.


The initiation of polymerization of α-methylstyrene and p-methoxystyrene with 9-anthranylmethyl salts proceeds by hydride transfer from the monomer to the initiator. As a result, macromonomers with a double bond as head group are formed. These products polymerize and copolymerize by radical and ionic mechanism leading to graft and block copolymers. Styrene and α-caprolactone polymerize with the same initiator by cationation of the monomer. In this case each macromonomer contains one photoreactive anthranylmethyl group which may photodimerize. As a result copolymers of the type AA or AB are produced.


Spanish and Romanian contrast vowel sequences [CiV] in hiatus and corresponding diphthongs [CjV], with some interspeaker variation. Both languages contain surface diphthongs derived historically by gliding, /CiV/ > [CjV]. They both show a strong tendency for blocking gliding word‐initially, supported by native speaker judgments: Sp. [miope], Rom. [miopu] short‐sighted; Sp. [italjana], Rom. [italjana] Italianf. Data from six speakers of each language confirmed this variation. The duration and F2 transition rate of the vocalic sequence were compared, in words containing [i.a] and [ja]. [ia] was significantly longer in hiatus, and had a significantly slower transition rate than in [ja]. However, the ranges of the hiatus and [ja] sets showed some overlap, suggesting that hiatus resolution is not a categorical phonological process. Instead, lexical items fall on a hiatus‐to‐[ja] continuum. Further comparison of ranges and standard deviations confirmed the correlation between this variation and word position. I...


Due to the limitation of working conditions and working environment, the ventilation pipeline safety monitoring system in an underground laboratory is facing the technical difficulties of high wind speed and high background noise. In order to effectively guarantee the safe operation of fresh air system, an abnormal early warning method for pipeline operation based on pipe wall vibration and acoustic wave is proposed, which can realize the monitoring and location of pipeline resonance and other safety incidents.


Cancer drivers converge on NOTCH Cancer genome–sequencing projects have emphasized the handful of genes mutated at high frequency in patients. Less attention has been directed to the hundreds of genes mutated in only a few patients—the so-called "long tail" mutations. Although rare, these mutations may nonetheless inform patient care. Loganathan et al. developed a reverse genetic CRISPR screen that allowed them to functionally assess in mice nearly 500 long tail gene mutations that occur in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). They identified 15 tumor-suppressor genes with activities that converged on the NOTCH signaling pathway. Given that NOTCH itself is mutated at high frequency in HNSCC, these results suggest that the growth of these tumors is largely driven by NOTCH inactivation. Science, this issue p. 1264 Functional analysis of rare mutations in head and neck cancers reveals that NOTCH signaling is disrupted in most tumors. In most human cancers, only a few genes are mutated at high frequencies; most are mutated at low frequencies. The functional consequences of these recurrent but infrequent "long tail" mutations are often unknown. We focused on 484 long tail genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and used in vivo CRISPR to screen for genes that, upon mutation, trigger tumor development in mice. Of the 15 tumor-suppressor genes identified, ADAM10 and AJUBA suppressed HNSCC in a haploinsufficient manner by promoting NOTCH receptor signaling. ADAM10 and AJUBA mutations or monoallelic loss occur in 28% of human HNSCC cases and are mutually exclusive with NOTCH receptor mutations. Our results show that oncogenic mutations in 67% of human HNSCC cases converge onto the NOTCH signaling pathway, making NOTCH inactivation a hallmark of HNSCC.


Mobility performance is at the heart of each cellular technology, including omni-present LTE networks. It becomes even more significant when such system is supposed to reliably support state-of-the-art devices, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), emerging at rapid pace in our surroundings. Contemporary network deployments, addressing mainly the needs of terrestrial users, were not optimized to serve UAVs moving below and above the typical cellular antenna heights. Thus, it is worth checking how they can handle these novel and distinctive services, also with respect to mobility robustness. This paper elaborates on the challenges ahead which must be tackled to make existing LTE networks sufficiently capable of accommodating Aerial Vehicles. We present simulation results in various environments, obtained for different user equipment's (UE's) heights and velocities. Furthermore, we describe and analyze the identified issues. Finally, we also suggest potential optimizations and future research goals.


Automation is a step in the right direction towards increasing road safety. It helps reduce the number of accidents on the roads. It also increases independence by giving individuals more freedom with full automation. Several causes of traffic congestion can also be avoided, potentially reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Therefore, we have integrated four different systems into the study that contribute to the smooth functioning of self-driving cars. The Traffic Sign Recognition System is one of the most essential historical past studies subjects for figuring out self-sufficient automobile riding structures. It is used to recognize various signs and traffic lights on the road. This ensures more traffic safety by complying with traffic rules. The pothole and road crack detection systems help detect road depressions. This allows the vehicle to change course accordingly and prevent damage to the vehicle. The lane detection system allows the vehicle to stay in the lane without deviating, which is an important aspect of autonomous driving. A Pedestrian Detection System helps detect pedestrians walking down the street and prevent accidents and deaths. This paper proposes the implementation of a traffic sign recognition algorithm using a convolutional neural network (CNN). With high detection rates and speedy execution, convolutional neural networks have improved the maximum performance of computer vision tasks. The developed CNN model provided an accuracy of 95%. This model allows us to examine and apprehend visitor signs, which is a totally essential mission for all self-driving cars. The proposed composite system allows self-driving cars to record and manipulate themselves and perform the required functions without human intervention.


With an aim to investigate inclusion across borders, quantitative and qualitative data were examined that came from 18 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, France, Iceland, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. Four themes emerged in this study: (1) concerns with student outcomes in inclusive settings; (2) teachers' beliefs and the ways they relate to their practices; (3) inclusive schools philosophies and practices; and (4) the intersection of inclusion and exclusion. Although international policies, knowledge, and understanding about inclusion and inclusive practices continue to advance throughout the world, there are manifestations of provincialism and discrimination predominantly marked by ethnicity, socio‐economic status, and ability. While a reality for some students, inclusion remains an aspiration for too many.


Older people are no less prone to experiences of crisis and loss than any other age cohort. Indeed, it could be argued that this group is even more prone to such experiences, although both the therapeutic literature on crisis intervention and the thanatological literature on loss and grief pay relatively little heed to the needs and circumstances of older people. This article therefore seeks to go some way toward redressing the balance by exploring the significance of crisis and loss as part of the lived experience (le vecu) of older people. The arguments presented are set in the context of the need to recognize and challenge the significant role of ageism.


The article presents the scientific research: cognitive level of values of those who are studing the social work. According to the theoretical and empirical resarch there few indicators of conseptional level of values such as: the attitude to the values, their meanings, the knowing the essence of values and the factors of values. The data reveals, that students choose the terminal values (final purposes) as the most important such as health, happy falimy, and important are following ones: happy life, inner harmony, mature love, selfesteem, friendship, wisdom, courage. At the same time there is luck of attention to beauty, creativity and national security. The instrumental values (which help to reach the final goals) are following: the most important is honor and others as altruizm, intelligence, sophistication, sensibility, self-control, compation, width of views, forgiveness, courage (more then a half). So the student do not see important values such as pride, imaginations and obedience. The results show that the students understand better meaning of terminal values rather than instrumental ones. The student do not know enough the meanings of the values that are not important for them. According the students the terminal and instrumental values are related to the same areas of values, which are their chosen the factors of values. Article in Lithuanian doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2012.092


The University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering requires its undergraduates to take a semester-long course, Advanced Writing Communication for Engineers, to gain writing and public speaking skills. One specific goal of the course is to improve students' abilities to write for a variety of audiences, including the general public. To this end, all students in the course submit articles to the Engineering Writing Program's Illumin magazine, an online periodical whose purpose is to educate the public on the ways engineering affects our everyday lives. Illumin has a strong readership, providing students with a real audience to envision and invoke as they write. This paper provides background on Illumin magazine and presents a classroom approach developed by the author for teaching about writing for the general public. The approach centers on research by Jeanne Fahnestock that argues that "transforming" technical information for the public often involves a shift in genre, from the forensic, in which facts are established, to the epideictic, in which the subject is praised or celebrated. After a summary of Fahnestock's work and the ways the author introduces the research in the classroom, the paper provides suggestions for discussion topics that the research raises. Fahnestock's findings in the classroom usually spark debate on the persuasive and ethical nature of science writing that might seem "objective" to students or a general audience. The aim of this classroom approach is to enable students to better understand the rhetorical and ethical implications of writing for the general public and apply them to their Illumin articles and their own professional writing. The paper concludes with a case study to illustrate one student's improvement from draft to final submission.


The impacts of two sequential tropical cyclones (TCs), Kyarr and Maha, [from October 24 to November 06, 2019, over the Arabian Sea (AS)] on upper ocean environments were investigated using multiple satellite observations, Argo float profiles and numerical model outputs. To obtain a realistic TC strength, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to reproduce Kyarr and Maha. During Kyarr and Maha, three distinct cold patches were observed at the sea surface with a maximum sea surface cooling of approximately 5°C. The comparison between WRF model simulation results and ERA5 wind field showed that the WRF model simulation indicated high simulation accuracy with respect to the SST decrease in the AS under the influence of Kyarr and Maha's wind stress curls. Meanwhile, concentration of chlorophyll a (chl-a) and positive relative vorticity of sea surface also appeared in the three cold patch areas. Through the use of eddy detection algorithms, three mesoscale cold cyclonic eddies were identified along the track of TC Kyarr, and the locations of these cold eddies were highly correlated with three obvious negative sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs). The radii of the three cold eddies were 69 km, 50 km, and 41 km. With a focus on the thermodynamic responses of the three cold eddy fields to Kyarr and Maha, the central regions of the three cold eddies were explored. The central regions of the three cold eddies exhibited relatively shallow mixed-layer depths (MLDs) and low mixed-layer temperatures (MLTs). The depth integrated heat (DIH) content was also calculated to explore the heat flux exchanges occurring in different layers in the upper 200 m of the centre of each eddy. The results showed that DIH in each eddy centre varied by one order of magnitude, accounting for between 127.3 MJ m-2 and 1220.0 MJ m-2 of heat loss. This study suggests that the effect of long forcing time on intense positive wind stress curls can produce upwelling caused by Ekman response, which is the main influencing factor of the three cold eddies generation mechanism. At the same time, the positive relative vorticity injected into the sea surface also has some contribution. TC-induced vertical mixing and upwelling (strengthened by unstable structures inside the cold eddies) cause substantial redistribution of the DIH, and related heat flux exchanges at different layers occur in the eddy fields.


Synopsis : It is very important for reducing the fluctuation of sinter qualities to decrease the SiO2 variation of the fine are bed in sinter feed. In order to reduce the variation, a new bed monitoring system and an advanced bed stacker which controls the segregation of a stocked pile have been developed and applied to the actual plants. The results obtained from these activities are as follows ; 1) The SiO2 variation is very remarkable at the bed reclaiming stage between fine are bed and sinter pallet. 2) The SiO2 variation can be estimated by the longitudinal and cross sectional bed model. 3) The SiO2 variation of bed cross section (o-w) is about seven times as large as in logitudibal bed direction (ƒÐL), and is related with the variation of sinter (us). 4) It is effective for reducing the variation to adopt the advanced bed stacker. The variation can be reduced to half compared with result of the conventional system. 5) About 3 to 5% of returned fine and 3 to 4 kg/t of coke consumption can be reduced by introducing both the new monitoring system and the advanced bed stacker. 6) The SiO2 variation of sinter (as) can be reduced from O.06—O.09 wt% to 0.04-0.05 wt% by introducing this system.


The growth of data in Network channels seem to have been a burden to examine suspicion. Anomaly detection is basically the deviation points left from the regular pattern of data; such observations have been a strenuous task in the case of data which is large in number. Consequently, there are several algorithms propound for this purpose of anomaly detection. This paper gives a brief overview description on the proposed SVM Classification algorithm for anomaly detection in network channel considering the input data to be the traces from the Network channel. IndexTerms— Network channel, Anomaly Detection, SVM Classification; ________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Transition metal oxide and silica mixtures represent a perspective group of active materials that have recently been proposed as for various heterogeneous photocatalysis processes. Surprisingly, silica present in minor amount isn't dentrimental for charge transfer in the hybrid semiconductor-silica layer and among other applications allows for the fabrication of titania-silica photoanodes and other photonic components [1]. In this paper, we report about the influence of ball-milling on the optical properties of silica-bonded particulate titania patterns fabricated by inkjet printing. A previously optimized printing protocol [2] was used to fabricate composite titania-silica patterns of various area and thickness. The employed "ink", consisted of a commercial titania nanoparticles (Evonik P-25) and a recently reported organo-silica binder [3]. The previous studies proved the binder presence is beneficial for a number of reasons (stability of the stock suspension, rheological behavior during inkjet printing and bonding the printed nanoparticles). However, the soluble organo-silica binder needs to be mineralized in order to render it fully insoluble and significantly improve the printed layer mechanical properties. As reported recently [4], three different processes can be employed for this purpose: (a) thermal annealing, (b) UV-curing, and (c) atmospheric plasma treatment in a coplanar dielectric barrier discharge. All three processes yield composite titania-silica patterns with interesting photonic functionality. However, the way the two components interact is to a great extend depending on the texture of the titanium dioxide, which can be conveniently controlled by ball-milling the liquid formulation prior to printing it. Since the titania texture has a direct impact on the optical properties, spectroscopic ellipsometry can be used to extract valuable information about the extent of milling. By correlating ellipsometric data with measurements obtained by other methods (nitrogen sorption, mechanical profilometry), we have shown that as the titania aggregates are broken into smaller fragments and eventually primary crystallites, the porosity and surface roughness is decreasing. Thus ellipsometric measurement can be employed as quick process control tool.


Accurate global horizontal irradiance (GHI) forecasting promotes power grid stability. Most of the research on solar irradiance forecasting has been based on a single-site analysis. It is crucial to explore multisite modeling to capture variations in weather conditions between various sites, thereby producing a more robust model. In this research, we propose the use of spatial regression coupled with Gaussian Process Regression (GP Spatial) and the GP Autoregressive Spatial model (GP-AR Spatial) for the prediction of GHI using data from seven radiometric stations from South Africa and one from Namibia. The results of the proposed methods were compared with a benchmark model, the Linear Spatial Temporal Regression (LSTR) model. Five validation sets each comprised of three stations were chosen. For each validation set, the remaining five stations were used for training. Based on root mean square error, the GP model gave the most accurate forecasts across the validation sets. These results were confirmed by the statistical significance tests using the Giacommini–White test. In terms of coverage probability, there was a 100% coverage on three validation sets and the other two had 97% and 99%. The GP model dominated the other two models. One of the study's contributions is using standardized forecasts and including a nonlinear trend covariate, which improved the accuracy of the forecasts. The forecasts were combined using a monotone composite quantile regression neural network and a quantile generalized additive model. This modeling framework could be useful to power utility companies in making informed decisions when planning power grid management, including large-scale solar power integration onto the power grid.


The size of the crossover was reduced using synthesized structures that have smaller dimensions and similar characteristics to conventional segments. The results of modeling and experiment are also presented, which allowed us to compare the results and determine that the proposed design is working. At the same time, the dimensions due to the structures were reduced from 5776 mm2 to 2112 mm2.


Abstract
Garrison churches in India are sites of imperial glory that construct a different history of the colonial rule to this day – a history of dedication and great sacrifice of the colonisers. These sacred spaces, exclusively created for the British forces and administrative offices, went beyond their normative spiritual and moral roles and their love-and-peace-keeping-mission, to boost the spirit of the British in the victory of the Empire. The garrison churches comprise of several tablets, commemorative plaques and such other symbols erected in memory of the army officers and regiments, who died in battles or succumbed to epidemics. They serve multiple functions, including that of obituary, tributes and historical records. There are also tablets raised by the officials in loving memory of their deceased family members.
This paper applies Deleuze's notion of assemblage to identify the different ways in which the British colonial past is represented and interpreted and the co-mingling of faith and the imperial powers in colonization by studying two South Indian garrison churches – St.Mark's Cathedral, Bengaluru and St. Thomas Church, Chennai. On the one hand, the "constellation" of tablets articulated a sense of pride and brotherhood in the British mission of colonisation and on the other hand, reinforced a hierarchy within the British through the identification of the Lt. Colonels, Captains, Majors and other significant officials but leaving out the innumerous individual soldiers in the salutations / condolences. There are large discontinuities in chronology of these tablets as well as its organization within the church space. From the territorialisation and reterritorialisation and of these memorials, the paper seeks to address the assemblage centric construction of the British identity and history.


For the optimal selecting problem of risk response actions in software project risk planning stage,an interval model is proposed,which selects the satisfactory combination of risk response actions according to the minimum of risk response cost and risk level,combined with decisionmaker's risk preference,from the whole project perspective.Due to gain the exact value of risk probability and risk loss with very difficulty,the model denotes the parameters by interval numbers.Then,an iterative algorithm based on the definition of interval distance and the method of interval numbers ranking is given to solve the model.A case analysis shows the effectiveness and the maneuverability of the model and the algorithm.


The paper discusses functionality of invariant self-regulation with reference to professional self-development of the individual as a subsystem of his complete personal development. Sources of professional self-development and functions of a principle of invariant self-development are defined. The model of realization of a principle of invariant self-regulation of the subjects professional self-development is presented. It is established that self-management and self-regulation act as the basic mechanism of professional self-development of the subject of the future or real professional work.


AIM To investigate the interaction between implanted fetal cardiomyocytes and host cardiomyocytes and the angiogenesis effects of implanted fetal cardiomyocytes on the host cardiomyocytes and the development of fetal cardiomyocytes implanted into adult acute infarction myocardium. METHODS After labelled with DAPI, cultured rabbit fetal cardiomyocytes were implanted into the actue myocardial in farction site of adult rabbits via direct injection. The myocardial infarction model was established by ligating the left anterior decending artery. Specimens were harvested 4 weeks after the cell implantation. The results were observed by histologic methods and electronic microscopy examination. RESULTS Intercalated disks were observed between the grafted and the host cardiomyocytes, with the implanted cardiomyocytes parallel to the host myocardium in an aligning direction. The area of myocardial infaction decreased and the vascular density of implantationsites increased compared with those of the control groups ( P 0.05). CONCLUSION The fetal cardiomyocytes, after being implanted into the acute myocardial infarction, can differentiate into mature cardiomyocytes in the host heart, which not only repair the structure of the damaged cardiomyocytes and improve the systolic function of the host heart, but also induce angiogenesis in the core of the infarct.


The number of building occupants is an important indicator for predicting building energy consumption and developing control strategies for building automation. However, most occupancy estimation models were developed depending on the training steps where the true number of occupants is necessary. In order to calculate the occupant number independently, the newly-developed parameter estimation models were proposed, which are based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) approach and Bayesian analysis. A combination of multiple common measurements is used, including real-time CO2 concentration, energy consumption of facilities and make-up air system. The model starts by smoothing the raw CO2 concentration data using moving average, two-hour median as well as globally smooth. Then, ML and Bayesian analysis are used to establish the occupancy estimation models. The proposed models are evaluated in a commercial office which contains 36 occupants for validation. We find that the calculation errors could be reduced by using moving averaged data and globally smoothed data. The superiority of the parameter estimation models can be identified based on its lower calculation error and higher calculation accuracy compared to the previous established models. Practical Application Occupancy estimation models developed in this study are able to calculate occupant numbers independently and accurately in a non-intrusive way based on the indoor carbon dioxide concentration. This can provide input to a predictive building controller based on the application of occupancy estimation models. This could be applied to buildings across a district, informing demand-side management systems by employing occupancy behaviour and energy characteristics of individual buildings. This could allow both utility companies and building operators to simultaneously optimise their performance and benefit from this dedicated control strategy.


Objective: In patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI), it is known that vital capacity of the supine position is larger than that of the sitting position, but after pulmonary rehabilitation treatment, the effect on assessment of vital capacity according to the posture is not yet clearly known. In this study, we evaluated the significance of posture on assessment of pulmonary function after pulmonary rehabilitation treatment in patients with cervical SCI. Method: Twenty-eight patients with cervical SCI were participated in this study. The pulmonary function was evaluated by measuring vital capacity (VC), tidal volume (TV), maximum insufflation capacity (MIC) and forced expiratory volume at the first second (FEV) in both supine and sitting position, before and after the 4 weeks pulmonary rehabilitation treatment. The parameters of pulmonary function were analyzed and compared according to the posture. Results: Before pulmonary rehabilitation treatment, VC, TV, MIC and FEV of the supine position were significantly larger than those of the sitting position (p<0.05). After pulmonary rehabilitation treatment, VC, TV, MIC and FEV of the supine position were also significantly larger than those of the sitting position (p<0.05). Vital capacity, TV, MIC and FEV were significantly improved after pulmonary rehabilitation treatment both supine and sitting position (p<0.05), but the improvement ratio of VC, TV, MIC and FEV between supine and sitting position were not significantly different (p>0.05). Conclusion: For the proper assessment of the pulmonary function after pulmonary rehabilitation treatment in patients with cervical SCI, the significance of posture should be considered.


The Animal Law Research Guide is a starting point for legal research into animal law Animal law books available CLIC


Material build-up on the membrane surface is one of the vital challenges faced by Reverse Osmosis (RO) operations which leads to many operational and maintenance issues. Literature review reveals that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools predict flow behaviour and concentration patterns quite accurately when applied to cross-flow membrane operations and can be used to investigate the resulting flow and concentration patterns by changing the membrane secondary structure. In the present work, the mesh length of the feed side spacer is varied in a systematic manner to study the resulting impact on wall shear stress and mass transfer coefficient of a mono-valent solute (such as NaCl). Ansys Fluent enabled flow visualization explaining the variations in wall shear stress and similarities in mass transfer coefficients for the two membrane walls. It was interesting to note that the shear stress on top membrane wall was significantly higher compared to the bottom membrane wall (3 to 8 times higher at Reh=100 for the cases studied), when top and bottom spacer filaments were oriented in axial and transverse direction to the flow respectively. However, the average mass transfer coefficient values for the two walls were estimated to be almost similar for low to moderate filament spacing.


The distinctive feature of Earth is life, and the most exclusive and extraordinary feature of existing life is its vast diversity. Currently, natural freshwater resources are under critical crisis. A contemporary environmental issue is basically conservation of freshwater biodiversity which will lead to the strengthening of ecosystem resilience. It was detected that the reality of increasing anthropogenic activities were continuously degrading the earth's aquatic ecosystem. The conservation of freshwater resources are the most unprecedented challenges for human interferences ranging from depletion of physical structure to extinction of gens, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. Overexploitation, loss of aquatic habitat and fragmentation, water pollution, destruction by land use activities, the introduction of invasive aquatic species, over harvesting and changes in geochemical cycles and global climate change are major threats to freshwater biodiversity. Human survival is basically affected by the loss of aquatic biodiversity as well as being plaintive for its own sake. Biodiversity can be conserved only by proper understanding, knowing the facts of proper planning and effective management of human affairs.


1. Determining the Therapeutic Range Acupuncture-MoxibustionThere have been innumerable reports on this subject, but in Japan it is most important that the results heretofore reported be summarized so that questions such as, according to modern medicine for which diseases acupuncture-moxibustion are most effective, for which diseases the therapeutic effects are still questionable, for which diseases are ineffective and moreover for which they are impairing may be answered.It is best if the therapeutic effect is indicated empirically. The problem then is whether or not the therapeutic effects can be appreciated according to modern medical classifications.2. Medical Mishaps with Acupuncture-MoxibustionThe most feared accident other than such mechanical mishaps as broken needles or injury to profound tissue is infection from the needles. The prevention of such infection and genseral rules must be undertaken by the acupuucture association.3. Concrete Measures to Be Taken by Western and Eastern MedicineHow should medical doctors, acupuncture-moxibustion therapists and blind therapists be regulated. As the blind therapist request on the sense of touch, treatment can considered to be more precise that of the normal therapist. As the acupuncture-moxibustion therapist deals specifically with this therapy, his technique may sometimes be superior to that of the therapy his technique may sometimes be superior to that of that of the physician whose main concern is disease. The medical doctor's perception of basic medicine and clinical experience and test is profound.The three have their individual strong points. How can the coopereration of three groups be realized? The application of medical insurance and other practical medical problems must be solved.4. Internationalization of Acupuncture-MoxibustionProgress in this field will be made through international cooperation. For this purpose the fundamental medical consciousness of Japanese acupuncture-moxibustion, that is the international unification of the mastering of skills, nomenclature, etc., should be dealt with at once.5. Principles of Acupunture and MoxibustionAcupuncture anesthesia research sprang originally from pharmaceutical research and has greatly advanced. The main object of acupuncture hower should be its therapeutic effects for disease.In spite of this there has not been much progress made in understanding the involved mechanism.. There is a circulatory transmission phenomenon along the meridians; it is also known that the electrical resistance and impedance changes at various acupoints. There has been almost how-ever about why such points are effective as therapeutic points. The cooperation of acupuncture-moxibustion therapists is greatly wanted.


In order to resolve the problems that an automatic transmission control system in the prior art is provided with multiple gears, is complex in operation and the like, the invention provides an automobile automatic transmission two-gear control system. The automobile automatic transmission two-gear control system comprises an automatic transmission computer control unit (TCU), an automatic transmission, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a gear-shifting handle, an automatic transmission output shaft locking device, an automobile speed sensor and a rotation speed sensor, wherein the gear-shifting handle is provided with a forward gear D and a reversing gear R, a forceful neutral gear parking switch is arranged inside the gear-shifting handle, and the TCU controls the automatic transmission to be in different work states according to the signals of the automobile speed sensor, the rotation speed sensor, the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. The automobile automatic transmission two-gear control system has the advantages of reducing the number of gears of the gear-shifting handle, simplifying operation, avoiding maloperation, being high in system automatic degree, being simple in structure, being free of large changing on the automatic transmission control system in the prior art, and being easy to realize.


The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves novel drugs that appear to be effective for their intended uses and whose benefits outweigh their risks. The legal standards for drug approval are widely understood to require evidence of efficacy from two or more clinical trials that independently demonstrate statistically significant effects in favor of the experimental drug and on endpoints that reflect a clinical benefit to patients. However, the FDA has the authority to be flexible in applying the approval standards, particularly in the case of drugs that are intended to treat serious medical conditions. This regulatory flexibility, however, is frequently and repeatedly criticized for putting patients at risk. The two overall aims of this thesis were a) to develop a guide on how to access, retrieve, and use of clinical trial data that supported FDA approval of novel treatments published by the agency itself; and b) to describe characteristics and extent of clinical trial evidence that supported FDA approval of novel drugs for cancer indications between 2000 and 2016. These aims were addressed in three manuscripts, and we describe the methods used to retrieve and manage the clinical trial information in a fourth manuscript.

Manuscript 1 "How to use FDA drug approval documents for evidence syntheses": The FDA publishes information about the clinical trial evidence that supported approval of novel drugs and therapeutic biologics in the drugs@FDA database in form of "drug approval packages". Information in the main document extends over hundreds of pages and is structured in a way that may be unintuitive for researchers. Although the value of this source of potentially unpublished clinical trial information is undisputed, its use in evidence syntheses of drug interventions remains limited. Based on our experience in using the drugs@FDA database and drug approval packages, we provide step-by-step instructions on how to navigate through the database as well as how to access, efficiently find and retrieve, and use the clinical trial information. Our guide may promote better use of this information, which may improve the completeness and validity of future evidence syntheses of drug interventions.

Manuscript 2 "The Comparative Effectiveness of Innovative Treatments for Cancer (CEIT-Cancer) project: rationale and design of the database and the collection of evidence available at approval of novel drugs": We describe the rationale and efforts made to identify all clinical trials that supported FDA drug approval between 2000 and 2016 for the treatment of cancer and to retrieve pertinent information about trial design and treatment effects on overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective tumor response. Most data retrieval steps were conducted by two data reviewers (who worked independently and who were guided by an instruction manual) to reduce random errors that would affect the quality of the collected data. The study design can be applied in the future for projects with similar scopes, and the collected data will be used in the future for numerous research projects.

Manuscript 3 "Clinical trial evidence supporting US FDA approval of novel cancer therapies between 2000 and 2016": Using the data collected in the CEIT-Cancer project, we analyzed the 127 clinical trials that supported FDA approval of 92 novel drugs for the treatment of 100 cancer indications. The median number of enrolled patients was 193 (interquartile range [IQR]: 106, 448). Fifty-one percent (51%) were randomized controlled, and 75% were open-label. The hazard ratio (HR) for the pooled average treatment effect on overall survival was 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73, 0.81; I-squared [I2] = 47%), and HR = 0.52 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.57; I2 = 88%) for progression-free survival. The odds ratio for objective tumor response was 3.58 (95% CI: 2.77, 4.62; I2 = 87%). The median absolute survival gain was 2.40 months (IQR: 1.25, 3.89). These findings indicate that novel cancer treatments are supported by trials with design features that have the potential to threaten the validity of the findings and that the overall absolute survival difference is small.

Manuscript 4 "Corroborating characteristics of single pivotal trial evidence supporting FDA approval of novel cancer therapies": For experimental new drugs intended to treat serious conditions, the FDA may grant marketing approvals based on evidence from a single trial alone (instead of two or more) if certain trial characteristics are met. The presence of one or more of these trial characteristics defined by the FDA may increase the FDA's confidence in the validity of a single clinical trial and may therefore provide corroborating evidence of efficacy. Our results show that 36 out of 100 approvals of novel cancer treatments were based on evidence from a single trial alone. Sixty-four percent (64%) were large and multicentric trials; 64% had consistent effects across different subgroups; 42% had consistent effects across endpoints; and 33% had very low p-values for the primary endpoint. Overall, 92% of clinical trials that supported FDA approval alone fulfilled at least one of the corroborating characteristics. Whether the presence of one or more of these corroborating characteristics indeed provides a safeguard against threats to the validity of trials remains to be answered.

The background information provided in the manuscripts and this thesis improve the understanding of the regulatory considerations that are made to bring novel cancer treatments to market. The results of the analyses provide insight into the characteristics of the clinical trial evidence and the number of clinical trials that supported drug approval in the fields of oncology and malignant hematology.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the laterality in the human brain of the gustatory system under the taste quality associated with MSG, monosodium glutamate, and NaCl, a common cooking salt. A total of 24 subjects participated in a block-design functional magnetic resonance imaging study. The stimuli were presented in liquid form at suprathreshold concentrations and delivered through a computer controlled gustometer. We stimulated the left and right side of the mouth separately in order to relate the statistical parametrical map to the site of the stimulus and the specific taste quality. The results showed tastant dependency of the laterality for the gustatory system. Specifically, a contralateral activation in the thalamus was found for stimulation with MSG, while stimulation with NaCl resulted in a predominantly ipsilateral activation. Following the effects of the site of stimulus application through the insula, frontal operculum (putative primary gustatory areas) and the orbitofrontal cortex (putative secondary gustatory areas) we tried to describe the laterality of the gustatory pathway. Most interestingly, for MSG we observed the possibility of a direct connection between thalamus and orbitofrontal cortex indicating a new role for the orbitofrontal cortex in gustatory processing.


Scanning a first digital slide image at diagnostic resolution, followed by deconvolution into multiple independent images having one stained for each image, to obtain an improved diagnostic resolution of a digital slide images. Single stained image enhancement processing by the image adjustment, and / or is processed by the image analysis algorithms. Single image data group obtained from the image analysis algorithms may be stored. Furthermore, the generated emphasized processed single image can be re-coupled to the second digital slide images emphasizing process in the diagnostic resolution. .FIELD 1


We have determined spectroscopic ages of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo Cluster using spectra of very high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N > 100 Å-1). We observed eight galaxies with the Subaru Telescope and have combined this sample with six galaxies previously observed with the WHT. To determine their ages, we have used a new method based on the Hγσ age indicator, which is virtually independent of the effects of metallicity. Apart from ages we have estimated abundances of various elements. In this paper we present the observations, the data reduction, and the reliability of the Hγσ method. The results of this investigation are presented in a companion paper.


. The main competitiveness factors aviation industry in Russia within the framework of the competitive diamond model proposed by Michael Porter have been considered. Aviation industry in Russia has the potential for further growth, but for its implementation it is necessary to modernize production, form the mechanisms for promotion, sales and after sales services of aviation products on the international and domestic markets, and to increase the priority of civil aircraft construction in comparison with military programs.


With the deepening and growing cooperation between Russia and China, studies pertaining to relevant international cooperations between the two states, including those on defense and security cooperation, have drawn the attention of many researchers. However, the differences in schools of research on safety and cooperation have made the boundaries on said matter more complex and diverse. Russian and Chinese researchers have further displayed different understanding and perception on the definition of national safety cooperation. Hence, the paper aims to carry out in depth analysis and discussion on the definition of defense and security cooperation based on Russian and Chinese literature.


On the basic the ordinary optimal design about worm gearing, a new design was provided. Used fuzzy mathematical theory and reliability design method, the mathematical model of the multi\|object optimum design of worm gearing with fuzzy reliability restraint was established and an example was given. the result of optimal design proves that this method is feasible and practical.


Usually the tourism flows are explained by demand, economic growth, and revealed comparative advantage (neoclassic trade theory). This manuscript examines the link between intra-industry trade and international tourism flows. We have examined the Portuguese intra-industry trade in this sector. The analysis apply the static (Grubel and Lloyd) and dynamic index (Brulhart). Our results show that the tourism services are important for a small economy such as Portugal. The intra-industry trade is very significant between Portugal and the following countries: Spain, USA, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Canada.


This paper analyzes the impact of C-ITS service on driving behavior, focusing on a pilot project in Daejeon–Sejong, South Korea. C-ITS, an advanced technology, enables bidirectional wireless communication between vehicles or infrastructure, allowing for real-time traffic data collection and dissemination. The study uses a unique analytical method, employing parallel processing techniques for variable extraction and a paired t-test to examine the short-term effects of C-ITS on driving behavior. Findings indicate a significant change in drivers' behavior, particularly in average speed, hard braking rate, severe deceleration rate, speeding rate, and excessive speeding rate, towards safer trends after receiving C-ITS warning services. Reductions in hard braking and severe deceleration were immediate after C-ITS service initiation, while a decrease in excessive speeding was observed after four months. Further research is needed to identify other potential influencing variables and provide an unbiased evaluation of C-ITS effectiveness. The study's implications highlight its role in promoting public acceptance of C-ITS-service-based cooperative autonomous driving strategies.


This study investigated the value of a sensorimotor program to the sensory integration of aphasic students. The sensorimotor program, designed to enhance sensory integration, utilized sensory stimulation through motor activities. The relationship of change between three groups, one experimental and two control, was investigated. The experimental group received the sensorimotor program 20 minutes daily for seven months during the school year. One control group received only a remedial physical education program and the other control group received neither program. The statistical evidence shows a significant trend towards improved sensory integration after a sensorimotor program.


Various types of hyperpigmentation are widely spread cause of visit to dermatologist and cosmetologist. Mostly a cosmetic defect, hyperpigmentation could decrease a life quality in patients. The article covers main contemporary methods to correct non-tumorous melanine skin hyperpigmentations, effective combinations of some therapeutic modalities. Observation included 32 patients with various clinical forms of nontumorous melanine skin hyperpigmentations, aged 27 to 68 years. The lesion was localized on face, decollete area and back of hands in 26 (81.2%) patients, in 6 (18.7%) patients - on trunk or extremities. The patients underwent local therapy with medications including glycolic acid, ascorbic acid and liquorice extract as a monotherapy, and combined with laser therapy (755 nm). Local therapy with medications including glycolic acid, ascorbic acid and liquorice extract as a monotherapy, and combined with laser therapy (755 nm) demonstrated high efficiency and could be considered as a safe method of esthetic correction of hyperpigmentation, but combined therapy appeared considerably more therapeutically effective.


In Sweden many new mobile payment solutions and services have been proposed during the last years. Banks and payment providers have proposed different forms of person to person (P2P) and Point of Sales (PoS) services that are tested and taken into commercial use. The Swedish mobile operators have joined forces and formed a joint venture that offers a separate charging solution that can be used for mobile payments and e-commerce, i.e. not using the phone bill. Early 2013 the SMS ticket for public transportation was changed substantially with the entrance of many new actors. In this paper we use the ARA model (Activities, Resources and Actors) in order to analyse the new mobile payment solutions and services looking into the activities, roles and responsibilities of different actors. We also apply the activity system approach describing the Activity system content, structure and governance and activity design themes indicating the main value creation drivers. The analysed cases include mobile payment services for P2P transactions, payments in shops, and ticketing for public transport and parking. The technology, services, and new constellations of actors seem to work fine but there are challenges for the adoption of new services both due to both the multitude of solutions as well as the need to register and manage new user accounts with the payment providers offering new solutions.


Accounts of mothering have both contributed to feminist theory's development and depended on certain of its central concepts. Some of its critics, however, argue that feminist theory is undermined by the problems of exclusion and essentialism. Here I distinguish between these two problems and consider their implications for questions about mothering. I conclude that exclusion and essentialism do not present insurmountable obstacles to theorizing motherhood, but do suggest new directions for such theorizing.


ABSTRACT Glyphosate (GlyP), a widely used nonselective herbicide, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), GlyP's most common product of degradation in the environment, seem not to pose any major health threats. However, due to their persistence and the large quantities applied worldwide, they have become a source of concern. This justifies that their simple and swift determination is of considerable relevance. This work presents two indirect capillary electrophoretic methodologies using as chromophores 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNB) and pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC), both associated with hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Although both methods showed suitable analytical parameters, DNB evidenced to be slightly superior. The recoveries values were close to 100%, correlation coefficients were above 0.99 and the limits of detection (LODs) values were below 0.5 mg L−1 (2.9 µmol L−1) and 0.4 mg L−1 (3.6 µmol L−1) for GlyP and AMPA, respectively.


Multiplication of two sparse matrices (SpGEMM) is a popular kernel behind many numerical solvers, and also features in implementing many common graph algorithms. Though many recent research efforts have focused on implementing SpGEMM efficiently on a single GPU, none of the existing work has considered the case where the memory requirements exceed the size of GPU memory. Similarly, the use of the aggregate computing power of CPU and GPU has also not been addressed for those large matrices. In this paper, we present a framework for scaling SpGEMM computations for matrices that do not fit into GPU memory. We address how the computation and data can be partitioned across kernel executions on GPUs. An important emphasis in our work is overlapping data movement and computation. We achieve this by addressing many challenges, such as avoiding dynamic memory allocations, and re-scheduling data transfers with the computation of chunks. We extend our framework to make efficient use of both GPU and CPU, by developing an efficient work distribution strategy. Our evaluation on 9 large matrices shows that our out-of-core GPU implementation achieves 1.98-3.03X speedups over a state-of-the-art multi-core CPU implementation, our hybrid implementation further achieves speedups up to 3.74x, and that our design choices are directly contributing towards achieving this performance.


A packaging and applicator device (1) of a cosmetic or care product containing at least one volatile hydrocarbon solvent, the device being tightly closed and comprising at least two elements at least one is made of plastic. said elements are adapted to be moved relative to each other to allow the application of the plastic produit.La is chosen so that said (or said) element (s) will undergo (es) not change when sensitive mass (s) is (are) placed in prolonged contact with the vapor of said solvent.


The solid state structural transformation with loss of 4,4'-bipyridine of the two-dimensional coordination polymer phyllo-diaquacobalt(II){4-α,α-xylenediylbis(phenylphosphinate)-4,4'-bipyridine} dihydrate 1 or phyllo-diaquanickel(II){4-α,α-xylenediylbis(phenylphosphinate)-4,4'-bipyridine} dihydrate 2 to phyllo-cobalt(II){4-α,α-xylenediylbis(phenylphosphinate)} 1' or phyllo-nickel(II){4-α,α-xylenediylbis(phenylphosphinate)} 2', respectively, either by heating or, just for 1, by solvent washing is presented. For 1 → 1', the coordination polymer goes from light pink to deep blue, indicating a change in the CoII coordination environment from octahedral to tetrahedral. For 2→ 2', the color changed from light green to violet. In the single crystal structures of 1 and 2, the bipyridine ligands are stacked along the crystallographic x direction. The loss of 4,4'-bipyridine from 1 and 2 to form 1' and 2', respectively, was followed by thermogravimetric analysis and powder X-ray diffraction studies. Nitrogen adsorption studies show that 2' from solvent washing is porous, with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 190 m2 g−1. The compounds were further characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, elemental analysis and scanning electron microscopy.


Abstract This paper aims to transfer central, influential concepts and ideas from person-centered education into the context of technology-enhanced learning. We systematically review promotive activities and humanistic educational concepts and share our experiences in introducing and actually living these activities and interpersonal attitudes in technology-enhanced environments. Students' reactions confirm the validity of our approach, which proposes to complement personal resourcefulness with Web-supported activities. Our primary goal is to make learning in today's knowledge society a growthful experience for learners as well as facilitators. Introduction Currently, the academic scene is characterized by intense efforts to increase the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning and to make education more accessible to everybody. The primary vehicles to achieve these goals are to introduce technology support for teaching and learning and to accompany this organizational development step through staff development programs (Attwell, Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Fabian, Karpati, & Littig, 2003). In our experience of introducing learning technology into parts of our face-to-face courses, technology can contribute to enhancing learning only if instructors—or better facilitators—are resourceful persons who meet certain conditions in interpersonal behavior. They are capable of providing a learning atmosphere in which learners feel respected and understood, and communication is transparent and can freely flow between all participants. In fact, this finding confirms recent (Bangert, 2004) as well as earlier (Rogers, 1983) research in person-centered education (Cornelius-White, 2006; Cornelius-White, Hoey, Cornelius-White, Motschnig-Pitrik, & Figl, 2004). For example, a similar statement has been made by Carl R. Rogers, who defines significant learning in this way: "Significant learning combines the logical and the intuitive, the intellect and the feelings, the concept and the experience, the idea and the meaning. When we learn in that way, we are whole." (Rogers, 1983, p. 20) He notes that, "We know […] that the initiation of such learning r ests not upon the teaching skills of the leader, not upon scholarly knowledge of the field, not upon curricular planning, not upon use of audiovisual aids, not upon the programmed learning used, not upon lectures and presentations, not upon an abundance of books, though each of these might at one time or another be utilized as an important resource. No, the facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities that exist in the personal relationship between the facilitator and the learner." (C. R. Rogers, as cited in Kirschenbaum & Henderson, 1989, p. 305)


On road traffic safety accrutly is evaluted. Analyses its influence factors on the basis of analyzing the present condition of road traffic safety at home and abroad, emphatically discusses different evaluation methods of road traffic safety at home and abroad, for example, absolute number method, accident rate method, accident intensity analysis method, approximation and math statistics method, model method, time array analysis method , gray evaluation method and so on, and points out its advantages ,shortcomings and practicable capability. The paper result has guiding significance for evaluation on road traffic safety.


The gross moist stability relates the net lateral outflow of moist entropy or moist static energy from an atmospheric convective region to some measure of the strength of the convection in that region. If the gross moist stability can be predicted as a function of the local environmental conditions, then it becomes the key element in understanding how convection is controlled by the large‐scale flow. This paper provides a guide to the various ways in which the gross moist stability is defined and the subtleties of its calculation from observations and models. Various theories for the determination of the gross moist stability are presented and its roles in current conceptual models for the tropical atmospheric circulation are analyzed. The possible effect of negative gross moist stability on the development and dynamics of tropical disturbances is currently of great interest.


For a connected network on Poisson points in the plane, consider the route-length $D(r,\theta) $ between a point near the origin and a point near polar coordinates $(r,\theta)$, and suppose $E D(r,\theta) = O(r)$ as $r \to \infty$. By analogy with the shape theorem for first-passage percolation, for a translation-invariant and ergodic network one expects $r^{-1} D(r, \theta)$ to converge as $r \to \infty$ to a constant $\rho(\theta)$. It turns out there are some subtleties in making a precise formulation and a proof. We give one formulation and proof via a variant of the subadditive ergodic theorem wherein random variables are sometimes infinite.


It is a pleasure to participate in this issue honoring a longtime
friend and colleague, Norman Sutin. In the early days of
electron transfer almost 50 years ago, Norman pioneered the
application of fast stopped-flow techniques to the study of
electron-transfer reactions, determining the effect of the driving
force, -ΔG°, and reorganization energies on the rates of
electron-transfer reactions, and extending Henry Taube's innersphere
atom-transfer mechanism to fast reactions. Later, Norman
initiated the use of "Rubpy", tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II),
to studies of photoinduced electron transfer by showing that its
excited state can be quenched by electron transfer. Today,
"Rubpy" is a central player in the quest to construct solar
conversion devices to split water, and a Google search on tris-
(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) returns almost 100,000 hits!


Without setting the information of the substance or a chemical reaction, it is possible to, selecting a representative few wavelengths from the waveforms in the number of wavelengths and it is possible to reduce the analysis of large airborne etching data takes the (工 數), effective monitoring of the etch by ? it is an etching apparatus capable of performing a set of monitoring. In the etching apparatus, the waveform changes for determining the presence or absence of change in a plurality of lots to obtain a light emission intensity waveform of the etching process time axis? Wafer? Search step by OES data? Acquisition function 511, and a plurality of light emission intensity waveform presence determining function 521, and calculates correlation waveform to calculate a correlation matrix between the emission intensity waveform matrix function 522, a waveform classification function 523 to classify the light emission intensity waveform in groups and, for typical light emission intensity waveform from the group representatives were selected having a waveform selection function (524).


Over the last decades, an increasing number of toddlers and pre-schoolers have been introduced to organized sports and physical activity. Furthermore, there has been a growth in the offering of com...


Identifying Asia's engines for economic growth has to be done on both domestic and regional levels, as the economic strength of individual countries comprises the strength of the region as a whole. Conversely, regional policies affect domestic situations. In line with this framework, three of the four models we suggest human capital development, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and corporate governance are primarily domestic in nature. On the regional level, we take a closer look at free trade agreements (FTAs). • Human Capital Development: Human capital development can be achieved by the two-pronged model of vocational schools (to harness employment potential) and Business Accelerator Programs (to foster entrepreneurship). • Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): SMEs channel the entrepreneurial spirit to promote productivity. This necessitates the active support of the educational sector, the government, the private sector, and external organisations. • Corporate Governance: There is a need to complement the existing checks and balances in the stakeholder model by introducing Independent Agencies, which institutionalize transparency and accountability. • Free Trade Agreements (FTAs): FTAs make a positive contribution, as long as they support the economic growth of individual countries and, more importantly, serve the interests of the entire region and promote eventual global integration.


In this paper a technique is presented which improves the noise immunity of TSPC circuit. This technique is compared with other existing techniques. Analysis is carried out both for super and sub-threshold regions of operation. Investigations consider different performance criteria viz. n ooise immunity curve, power consumption, delay, average noise threshold energy (ANTE), PANTE and DANTE. The new technique gives better results in the form of improved noise immunity of the TSPC logic. It is found that power dissipation is decreased by over three orders in sub-threshold regime. Scaled technology offers better noise immunity in sub-threshold regime. Simulation results are presented for 180nm technology node.


This paper contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of carbon trading schemes when contrasted with carbon taxes in reducing environmental externalities. An experimental survey explored individual's behavioural response to a personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme or a carbon tax (CT), both affecting personal transport and domestic energy choices. Responses were two-staged: first, whether to change behaviour or not, and second, how much to change. Results from the first stage indicate that those on high incomes and car users were less likely to change their behaviour, while those who had already changed their behaviour due to concern about climate change, lived in larger households or faced the CT were more likely to change. The second stage revealed fewer significant effects, the impact of already changing behaviour persisted and, in this case, those who faced PCT were likely to make greater changes. Both schemes appear to be capable of reducing individual carbon consumption; however, the evidence on the effectiveness of a PCT relative to a simpler CT is mixed and insufficient to make a strong case for such a complex scheme over a more straightforward tax.


To differentiate tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) strains in southcentral China, strain identification of TMV isolates collected from fields of sweet peppers or chillies in the cities of Shanghai (30°N), Wuhan (30°N), Chengdu (30°N), Lhasa (30°N), and Dali (25°N) was performed by using the series of TMV-resistant Capsicum spp. carrying the genes of L+, L1, L2, L3, and L4, respectively. As anticipated, no isolates were identified as P0 strain, because all of the TMV isolates were collected from cultivars with a L1 resistance gene. On the other hand, it was found that the P1 and P1, 2 strains which can infect cultivars with the L1 resistance gene were widespread in southerncentral China. In addition, the P1, 2, 3 strains which can break down the resistance of cultivars with L3 resistance gene was also detected in Shanghai. No isolates were capable of infecting C. chacoense Jacq. harbouring the L4 resistance gene. Based on the study of the variability of TMV strains in China, methods for the breeding of sweet pepper for TMV-resistance were evaluated.


The provision of the clean drinking water in remote and energy constrained areas have been a persistent problem in the developing world. Developing countries in general have financial constraints to expand electric grid, thus impeding the energy servicing for essential provisions. To this end, Solar photovoltaic-powered water pumping systems (SPVWPS) have long been explored as a highly potent solution for provision of water in off-grid areas. In this context, many modeling exercises have been conducted to develop customized and optimal solutions for specific climatic conditions of different regions in the world. Most of these models simulate or validate critical aspects of the systems, such as pumped volumetric flow using climatic data as model input. These models are centered around different aspects of the energy conversion chain and models of solar photovoltaic arrays. It is rare to see models involving the volumetric flow rate by users as an input parameter. This study incorporates volumetric flow rate of the water usage as an input parameter. Such a model has not been developed and simulated for particular climatic conditions of Pakistan. This study used climatic data (Ambient Temperature and Irradiance) and water usage volumetric flow rate as input parameters. The water usage flow rate helps incorporate user behavior in the model, an under explored research gap in such SPVWPS models. The model was simulated on MATLAB Simulink, using the climatic data for Lahore, Pakistan. The representative reliability of the system design were assessed. The model serves as a simple, yet effective tool to gauge the reliability of SPVWPS designed on a static lump sum water demand basis in a dynamic setting. This reduces the chances of the over or under sizing the system and gives a preliminary estimate of the need and feasibility to incorporate cutting-edge technologies such as AI in such systems.


Members of the genus Ceratomyxa Thélohan, 1892 are coelozoic parasites in marine teleosts, and most of them are known to infect the gall bladders (Lom and Dykova, 2006). To date, approximately 300 species belonging to Ceratomyxa have been reported (Rocha et al., 2015). Although most Ceratomyxa species are relatively less harmful to their host than histozoic myxosporeans (Alvarez-Pellitero and Sitjà-Bobadilla, 1993), several Ceratomyxa species have been reported to cause severe pathological changes on their parasitizing location of the host (Gunter et al., 2009). In a previous study on the parasites of cultured rock bream (Oplegnathus fasciatus), we reported a new species Ceratomyxa oplegnathus from the gallbladder (Cho et al., 2006). In the present study, we found another Ceratomyxa species, C. sparusaurati, from the gallbladder of rock bream. C. sparusaurati was first reported from gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) in the Mediterranean by Sitjà-Bobadilla et al. (1995), and is known to be able to provoke inflammatory reactions and histopathological damage such as vacuolization, sloughing, and detachment of epithelial cells (Palenzuela et al. 1997). In the present study, we investigated the morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of C. sparusaurati using light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


Bilal Mateen and Raphael Sonabend are searching for Santa Claus, armed only with a statistical model to predict ear size based on age. The plan sounds ridiculous, but there's a serious lesson here about the limits of predictive models


Conformations and dynamics of 1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane (1) with chiral l-menthyl substituents on the phosphorus atoms and several metal complexes thereof were investigated by a variety of DNMR methods. In solution 1 adopts a C(2) symmetrical "crown"-like conformation (CW) and the conformational preference and dynamics of the complexes depend on the type of metal: for the Cu complex the CW form is preferred, whereas the Pd, Pt, or Mo complexes exist in an equilibrium of two "chair-boat"-like conformations (CB/CB*). The barriers of interconversion between these two conformations for the Pd and Pt complexes are about 2 times higher than for the Mo complex. Quantum chemical calculations (B3LYP/6-31G(d)) are in agreement with experimental findings.


A posteriori error estimation for typical Euler-Bernoulli beam bending problems is developed using a recovery operator based on a smoothing technique that is applied in the context of one-dimensional fourth-order problems. The development exploits a discrete superconvergence property of the 'bending moments' of the trial space interpolant of a polynomial solution of sufficiently low degree at certain Gauss points, and the superconvegence property of the energy norm difference of the trial space interpolant (of the weak solution) and the finite element approximation. An asymptotically exact error estimator is developed.


Aliphatic amines of increasing chainlength (butyl, capryl, lauryl, and palmityl) and increasing degree of unsaturation (stearyl, oleyl, and linoleyl) were bound by amide bonds to polyacrylic acid resin. Mitochondrial membrane proteins solubilized with cholate and deoxycholate were chromatographically separated on such resins.

The separation efficiency as measured by the number of protein fractions and their specific cytochrome content was highest with capryl or linoleyl resins while the free polyacrylic acid resin or the stearyl resin proved to be the most ineffective ones.

These effects are discussed in terms of free thermal mobility of the aliphatic chains necessary for hydrophobic interaction with the membrane proteins.


Aims During out of hour handovers at St Charles Hospital – the two duty SHO (senior house officers) cover on site, whereas the on-call registrar and consultant are available to contact by phone. Some trainees may experience difficulties in contacting their seniors for support, or may not feel comfortable doing so. Trainees may also feel like they would benefit from being more informed of the hospital situation, or added learning and educational opportunities from the shift. The aim of this project was to improve the out of hours support for the on-call SHOs – which we hope to have positive short (such as improving confidence and performance) - and longer-term impacts (improving retention in the deanery and specialty). Method The project proposed instating a 15-minute Zoom call at the start of each night shift (9:30pm) which involved the on-call team (SHOs, registrar, consultants and ideally bed managers). Firstly – a survey monkey questionnaire was sent to trainees to gain a baseline on how supported/informed/ease and learning opportunities for that shift. The project then piloted three separate Plan Do Study Act cycles of change and collected feedback from trainees after each cycle. Both qualitative feedback and quantitative feedback from trainees were collected in the Likert scale format after each PDSA cycle. Result Results showed that a key benefit of this call is that any pressing issues can be brought up and addressed. Furthermore, for the benefit of the trainees, generally trainees felt more supported whilst they are on call, and got to know the fellow on call team. In addition, trainees reported feeling more at ease when calling their senior colleagues. Conclusion It is particularly important for doctors to feel supported and informed during their on call shift, especially in the current climate, where there are fast changes and adaptations taking place due to the pandemic. By adding a short meeting at the beginning of each night shift, doctors in the hospital demonstrated an increase in feeling supported, informed and having educational opportunities during their on call shifts. In the long term, by addressing on call issues and making trainees feel more confident and supported during their shift, is likely to benefit and improve recruitment and retention.


Using numerical simulations of galactic disks that resolve scales from ∼1 to several hundred pc, we investigate dynamical properties of the multiphase interstellar medium (ISM) in which turbulence is driven by feedback from star formation. We focus on effects of H ii regions by implementing a recipe for intense heating confined within dense, self-gravitating regions. Our models are two dimensional, representing radial-vertical slices through the disk, and include sheared background rotation of the gas, vertical stratification, heating and cooling to yield temperatures T ∼ 10 − 104 K, and conduction that resolves thermal instabilities on our numerical grid. Each simulation evolves to reach a quasi-steady state, for which we analyze the time-averaged properties of the gas. In our suite of models, three parameters (the gas surface density Σ, the stellar volume density ρ*, and the local angular rotation rate Ω) are separately controlled in order to explore environmental dependences. Among other statistical measures, we evaluate turbulent amplitudes, virial ratios, Toomre Q parameters including turbulence, and the mass fractions at different densities. We find that the dense gas (n>100  cm−3) has turbulence levels similar to those observed in giant molecular clouds and virial ratios ∼1–2. Our models show that the Toomre Q parameter in the dense gas evolves to values near unity; this demonstrates self-regulation via turbulent feedback. We also test how the surface star formation rate ΣSFR depends on Σ, ρ*, and Ω. Under the assumption that the star formation rate (SFR) is proportional to the amount of gas at densities above a threshold nth divided by the free-fall time at that threshold, we find that ΣSFR ∝ Σ1+p with 1 + p∼ 1.2–1.4 when nth = 102 or 103 cm−3, consistent with observed Kennicutt–Schmidt relations. Estimates of SFRs based on large-scale properties (the orbital time, the Jeans time, or the free-fall time at the mean density within a scale height), however, depart from rates computed using the measured amount of dense gas, indicating that resolving the ISM structure in galactic disks is necessary to obtain accurate predictions of the SFR.


The Social Security Disability Insurance program has expanded rapidly during the past few decades, and CBO projects that, under current law, future spending for the program will significantly exceed the revenues dedicated to it.


The sections in this article are

Introduction
Methods
Difference Spectroscopy
Principles of FT-IR
Sample Preparation
Transmission Cells
Attenuated Total Reflection Technique

Time-Resolved FT-IR Techniques
Trigger Techniques
Photobiological Systems
Caged Compounds
Micro-Mixing-Cells

Static FT-IR
Band Assignments
Rapid Scan FT-IR
Stroboscopic Technique
Step-Scan FT-IR
Experimental FT-IR set-ups
Step-Scan FT-IR of Noncyclic Reactions
FT-Raman spectroscopy

Kinetic Analysis

Application to Proteins
Bacteriorhodopsin
Bacterial Photosynthetic Reaction Centers
Cytochrome c Oxidase
The GTPase Mechanism of Small GTP Binding Proteins
The GAP Catalyzed GTPas Reaction

Conclusion

Acknowledgments


Slavery is more prevalent today than at any point in human history. Society's heightened scrutiny and new government policy is forcing businesses and nations to act in lieu of reputational, financial, and legal repercussions. However, slavery hides within complex supply chains, making it difficult to identify instances of human exploitation. This study takes a consumption perspective by investigating the potential of footprinting in exposing modern slavery impacts embodied in upstream supply chains. A multi‐regional input–output analysis extended with a slavery satellite account enables footprints of direct and indirect incidents of modern slavery to be quantified. The footprints reveal a displacement of slavery from developed to developing nations through the global supply chains of production. Accountability for enslavement significantly increases for countries and regions like North America, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan due to a high dependence on imports with embodied human exploitation. The results expose hotspot sectors, including construction, trade, and agriculture. These footprints go beyond current estimates of slavery in supply chains, revealing hidden impacts and the true risk, which may enable more effective action into improving global social sustainability and support companies to responsibly manage their supply chains.


This paper present a new control method for single-phase PWM inverters that realizes zero steady-state output voltage error. Zero steady-state output voltage error is achieved by using an output voltage controller based on lossless digital resonant circuit. Analysis and design method of this controller is presented in this paper. Experimental results are included to verify the proposed concept.


Skin optical clearing effect ex vivo and in vivo was achieved by topical application of low molecular weight paramagnetic magnetic resonance contrast agents. This novel feature has not been explored before. By using collimated transmittance the diffusion coefficients of three clinically used magnetic resonance contrast agents, that is Gadovist, Magnevist and Dotarem as well as X‐ray contrast agent Visipaque in mouse skin were determined ex vivo as (4.29 ± 0.39) × 10−7 cm2/s, (5.00 ± 0.72) × 10−7 cm2/s, (3.72 ± 0.67) × 10−7 cm2/s and (1.64 ± 0.18) × 10−7 cm2/s, respectively. The application of gadobutrol (Gadovist) resulted in efficient optical clearing that in general, was superior to other contrast agents tested and allowed to achieve: (a) more than 12‐fold increase of transmittance over 10 minutes after application ex vivo; (b) markedly improved images of skin architecture obtained with optical coherence tomography; (c) an increase of the fluorescence intensity/background ratio in TagRFP‐red fluorescent marker protein expressing tumor by five times after 15 minutes application into the skin in vivo. The obtained results have immediate implications for multimodality imaging because many contrast agents are capable of simultaneously enhancing the contrast of multiple imaging modalities.


L-band backscattering coefficient (ao) data collected over the Dutch Flevoland test site by the NASA/JPL airborne SAR within the MAESTRO-1 campaign are reported and discussed. Some geophysical parameters that appear to be effective in controlling the copolar and cross-polar radar responses are identified and their influence is analyzed. Measured data are compared with those predicted by a physical model we developed to estimate oo from suitable sets of ground parainet er s.


In this paper,we give another proof of the following theorem:a real quadratic form is positive definite if and only if all leading principal minors of its matrix are greaterthan zero。


Trigonometric regression is widely used in medical sciences, biological, and engineering. It is very important for obtaining optimal designs of lower-order trigonometric polynomials on an arc in practice. However, a few attention has been paid to this field. In this article, we develop the optimal designs for trigonometric model with cosines terms or since terms only on partial symmetry cycle using canonical moments.


Ten substrates were formulated by blending perlite or parboiled fresh rice hulls (PFH) at 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, or 60% (v/v) with sphagnum peat. After 6 weeks, NH 4 + concentrations were not significantly different among substrates containing perlite and those containing equivalent amounts of PFH. Nitrate concentrations were significantly higher in the 40% perlite substrate than in the 40% PFH substrate, but there were no significant differences in NO 3 - concentrations among the remaining substrates containing equivalent amounts of PFH or perlite. When tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) was grown in the substrates for 5 weeks, tissue N concentrations were not significantly different between equivalent perlite and PFH-containing substrates. Non-parboiled fresh rice hulls produced organically contained a higher number of viable weed seeds than non-parboiled fresh rice hulls produced conventionally. No weed seeds germinated in the PFH. 'Better Boy' tomato, 'Bonanza Yellow' marigold (Tagetes patula L. French M.), 'Orbit Cardinal' geranium (Pelargonium xhortorum L.H. Bailey), 'Cooler Blush' vinca (Catharanthus roseus L.G. Don), 'Dazzler Rose Star' impatiens (Impatiens walleriana Hook. f.), and 'Bingo Azure' pansy (Viola xwittrockiana Gams) were grown in sphagnum peat-based substrates containing perlite or PFH at 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, or 40% (v/v). Dry root weights of vinca and geranium were not significantly different among plants grown in the substrates. Tomato plants grown in 10%, 15%, 25%, 30%, and 35% PFH had significantly higher dry root weights than those grown in equivalent perlite-containing substrates. Impatiens grown in 35% PFH had higher dry root weights than those grown in 35% perlite. Marigold grown in 20% perlite had higher dry root weights than those grown in 20% PFH. However, there were no significant differences in impatiens or marigold dry root weights among the remaining substrates containing equivalent amounts of PFH or perlite. Dry root weights of pansy grown in 10%, 20% 25 %, 35 %, and 40% perlite were not significantly different from those grown in equivalent PFH-containing substrates. Across substrates, root dry weights of impatiens, marigold, and pansy grown in perlite-containing substrates were not significantly different from those grown in PFH-containing substrates. No significant difference in dry shoot weights of vinca, geranium, impatiens, and marigold occurred between equivalent perlite and PFH-containing substrates. Tomato plants grown in 20% to 40% perlite had significantly higher dry shoot weights than those grown in equivalent PFH-containing substrates. However, dry shoot weights of tomato grown in 10% to 15% perlite were not significantly different from those grown in equivalent PFH-containing substrates. Dry shoot weights of pansy grown in 10%, 25%, 30%, 35%, and 40% perlite were not significantly different from those grown in equivalent PFH substrates.


The hetero-/homogeneous combustion and interaction of hydrogen-fueled catalytic microreactors were investigated numerically. A two-dimensional CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model was developed, using elementary homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reaction schemes, surface radiation heat transfer, heat conduction in the solid wall, and external heat losses. Computations were carried out to study the effects of the wall thermal conductivity, equivalence ratio, microreactor dimension, and inlet velocity on combustion characteristics, flame stability, and hetero-/homogeneous interaction. Despite the micro-scale, large transverse gradients in species mass fractions and temperature exist in the fluid and large axial gradients in temperature may exist in the walls. Wall thermal conductivity is crucial in determining the flame stability, as the walls transfer heat upstream for ignition of the cold incoming reactants but at the same time are responsible for heat losses. Combustible mixtures with compositions away from the stoichiometric point decrease the homogeneous chemistry contribution and the operating temperature. The microreactor dimension and inlet velocity have a strong effect on homogeneous flame stability. Smaller microreactors result in extinction because of the inhibition of homogeneous combustion induced by heterogeneous reaction; larger microreactors result in blowout due to the reduction of the heterogeneous contribution. Hetero-/homogeneous interaction maps were constructed in terms of microreactor dimension and inlet velocity.


Agency problem exists in every business because of the interest conflicts between managers and shareholders. There is a need to find a balanced method to increase the business' profit and ensure managers' working efficiency. Employees can reach their potential ability under this harmonious environment that everyone can show their talents on their own stages. A compensation package is one of the solutions to maintain the balance and provide mutual benefits between those two parties. Businesses can choose different compensation applications with their stock ownership guidelines to achieve their goal because the compensation package varied in different markets. Each fields will have specific requirements for managers. The incentive plan can encourage managers' motivation and protect the shareholders' interest from overpaying or underpaying. The performance related evaluation gives the manager the opportunities to challenge themselves on earning business profit. Their performance will be compared with their colleagues which gives the company a competitive environment.


In 1995, the Getty Research Institute purchased the Manly Palmer Hall Collection of Alchemical Manuscripts.1 Among the largest of its kind, Hall's collection was built over a prolific sixty-year career as a theosophical preacher and occultist at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, an organization he founded in 1934. Hall's first major acquisition was a collection of manuscripts compiled by the obscure Enlightenment physician and alchemist Sigismund Bacstrom. Bacstrom's name is virtually unknown in the history of science. The only publication to his credit, an account of a sea voyage to the Arctic printed in an esoteric philosophical journal, indicates little of his remarkable


Plastics are materials widely used in all sectors. The subject of interest in recent years has become so-called microplastics, whose composition and structure are causing new environmental hazards. The presence and accumulation of microplastics in the environment threaten the ecological balance, the water environment, food sustainability and safety, and ultimately human health. Human exposure to microplastics is primarily through the oral route, so the main source of human exposure to microplastics is diet. Despite many studies focusing on microplastic contamination in seafood, fish, and shellfish, estimating total human exposure to microplastics via the oral route is difficult, due to the lack of research on other foods in this area. The risks to human health from inhaling microplastics remain unclear. According to the WHO, there is no reliable evidence of the harmful effects of microplastic on the human body, but the phenomenon requires further research. Likely health effects of human exposure to microplastic include respiratory and gastrointestinal effects, oxidative stress, and cancer. There is a need to raise public awareness about environmental exposure to microplastics and effective waste management.


The primary use of antioxidants is to break free radicals' reaction to save the body from damage due to free radicals. Free radicals react with molecules around them to obtain electron pairs and achieve stability or molecular atoms and achieve stability or molecular atoms. This reaction would be continuously processed in the body. It would cause various diseases such as cancer, heart, cataracts, premature aging, and other degenerative diseases if it did not stop. The oxidated linoleic acid substrate determined the antioxidant of Xanthosoma nigrum Stellfeld activity. The oxidation results in the form of malondialdehyde (MDA) would be reacted with thiobarbituric acid formed products in the form of a red complex (MDA-TBA), which absorption was measured by spectrophotometer at λ 532 nm. Xanthosoma nigrum Stellfeld extract with a concentration of 100 ppm, 150 ppm, 200 ppm, and 300 ppm had the inhibition of 19,32%, 21,85%, 29,47%, and 31,05%. The positive control, with α-tocopherol 200 ppm, had inhibition of 85,14%.


This report presents a comprehensive literature review of the toxicity of the combustion products of flexible polyurethane foam and the thermal decomposition products of this polymer. Combustion toxicity results obtained using different test methods but measuring the same toxicologic endpoints were compared. That is, time to incapacitation and time to death using the USF and FAA test methods were compared. Also, LC50 values using the DIN, NBS, and University of Pittsburgh tests were compared. The results indicate that despite the use of different test methods, foam densities, formulations, fire retardants, and other additives, combustion toxicity data were generally considered comparable when similar endpoints were compared. Neither CO nor HCN appeared to be the primary cause of death due to the combustion products of flexible polyurethane foam, although they were probably contributory factors. Under conditions of oxidation and pyrolysis, polyurethane foams decomposed into a liquid polyol component and a "yellow smoke." The polyol decomposed into CO, CO2, and low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons including ketones, ethers, and/or esters. At high temperatures (greater than 800°C), the "yellow smoke" decomposed into HCN and other nitrogen-containing compounds such as acetonitrile, acrylonitrile, and benzonitrile. Twice as much HCN was produced under pyrolytic conditions as in oxygen-rich atmospheres. Various amounts and types of other combustion compounds were produced, depending on the temperature and oxygen availability.