Author(s): Nemser, Daniel | Advisor(s): Rabasa, Jose | Abstract: The history of race in Latin America is commonly glossed as mestizaje, a phenomenon itself defined as the movement from original purity into increasing racial or cultural mixing. This dissertation tells a different story: it investigates and historicizes particular formations of mixing and purity, the operations through which they are produced and rationalized, and the political logics according to which they are deployed. I examine three historical moments marked by the specter of racial insurgency: "Indian" uprisings (1692), "mestizo" rebellions (1566-1567), and "black" conspiracies (1612). As eruptions of racialized paranoia, these episodes of political crisis in and around what Angel Rama calls the colonial "lettered city" generate a rich archive of discourse on bodies and boundaries. By analyzing these moments, I argue that racial discourse is always already mediated by and articulated through particular categories of mixing and purity which, like race, are themselves contested and contingent. At times, race is best seen through sideways glances that reveal the mechanisms of its production at the margins. Mixing and purity are two modalities of a single operation, and it is in the play between them that racial formations emerge.Colonial actors perceived, organized, and intervened in the world around them through a grid of intelligibility structured by categories of mixing and purity. These categories were embedded in, permeated, and tied together the human body and the material world. Divergent formations of mixing and purity filled and in many ways structured debates over the chemical composition of beverages like pulque, a traditional indigenous alcohol made from the fermented juice of the maguey plant; the built environment and segregated layout of the cityscape; the Colegio de Ninos Mestizos in Mexico City, dedicated to converting mestizo boys into missionary priests fluent in indigenous languages; and the nature of black blood and Nahua conceptualizations of lineage. These debates, intensified by crisis, demonstrate that mixing and purity were far from self-evident but emerged only through conflict, even among "lettered" elites. They also generate particular modes of engaging with the colonial world, from state interventions and regulatory mechanisms to alternative solidarities rooted in different kinds of political projects and imaginaries. Mixing and purity operate as tactics and strategies, and the genealogy of mestizaje maps the field of conflict on which they are deployed.


Background: Mortality and morbidity due to recurrent ischemic stroke is gradually increasing in Bangladesh due to gradual increase of life expectancy. Previously many studies were done to identify the risk factors of ischemic stroke. But there was scanty data about risk factors of recurrent ischemic stroke. So,it is time demanding to find out those risk factors for ischemic stroke recurrence to reduce the mortality and morbidity from recurrent ischemic stroke. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of recurrence ischemic stroke events within one year of follow up after discharge from hospital admitted due to first ever stroke.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort study. This study was conducted on 150 patients admitted in Neurology ward of BSMMU, presenting with first ever ischemic stroke. Patients mRS were evaluated three monthly interval for one year. Sudden onset mRS deterioration than previous one during this one year period was categorized as recurrence.
Results: Stroke recurrence was found in 30 patients including 8 patients who died due to stroke recurrence. the most frequent age group was > 75 years representing 44.4% who developed recurrence of stroke The cumulative risk of recurrence rate was 14.7% at three months, 15.3% at six months, 17.3% at ninth months,20% at one year. Old age, Male sex, Hypertension, DM and dyslipidemia were the most common risk factors among recurrent stroke patients.
Conclusion: It was concluded that in hospital admitted patients of first ever stroke, recurrence events was more in patients of older male patients with multiple risk factors.First three months was the worst period for recurrence after index stroke.
Bangladesh Journal of Neuroscience 2019; Vol. 35 (1): 33-38


Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is a low-power, non-von-Neumann, general-purpose paradigm for classical computing using transistor-free logic. Here, classical bits are encoded on the charge configuration of individual computing primitives known as "cells." A cell is a system of quantum dots with a few mobile charges. Device switching occurs through quantum mechanical inter-dot charge tunneling, and devices are interconnected via the electrostatic field. QCA devices are implemented using arrays of QCA cells. A molecular implementation of QCA may support THz-scale clocking or better at room temperature. Molecular QCA may be clocked using an applied electric field, known as a clocking field. A time-varying clocking field may be established using an array of conductors. The clocking field determines the flow of data and calculations. Various arrangements of clocking conductors are laid out, and the resulting electric field is simulated. It is shown that that control of molecular QCA can enable feedback loops, memories, planar circuit crossings, and versatile circuit grids that support feedback and memory, as well as data flow in any of the ordinal grid directions. Logic, interconnect and memory now become indistinguishable, and the von Neumann bottleneck is avoided.


In this presentation it will be tried to explicitly emphasize possible advantages of the practical use of the Learning Management System Moodle in combination with various creative and collaborative Web 2.0-applications (i.e. "Moodle Deluxe") in the context of EFL-seminars at Vienna University of Education for future language teachers. The practically-oriented part of this demonstration is dedicated to the extensive potential of Moodle with its didacticallyimplemented Web 2.0 tools. The author seeks to emphasize that successful working procedures with "Moodle Deluxe" (in this context for student teachers) are not based on technical competence but on didactical talent and creativity (i.e. the knowledge of how internal Moodle Plug-ins and external Web 2.0 applications can be effectively used in EFL lessons).


Based on analysis of degradation and transformation of organic compounds in coke plant wastewater through every stage of the A 1 A 2 O biofilm system,several typical nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (pyridine,indole,quinoline,isoquinoline,2\|methyl quinoline and 8\|hydroxyl quinoline) in coke plant wastewater were selected for the study. The results showed that when phenol is as co\|substrate,these compounds nearly all be removed after treatment by A 1 A 2 O process.Under the anaerobic condition,the order of degradation rate is indole2\|methyl quinoline8\|hydroxyl quinolineisoquinolinequinolinepyridine.There exist antagonistic action between indole and quinoline and synergistic action between pyridine and quinoline.When pyridine was added,the antagonism between indole and quinoline decreased.


This paper presents a series of literature review on organizational commitment among knowledge workers and discusses other factors which influences organizational commitment but are usually given little attention to. Despite of all the studies that have been conducted in the past decade, researchers have yet to come to an agreement on the characteristics of organizational commitment and how it develops among employees. With that in mind, it is necessary to define organizational commitment clearly and how it plays a role in retaining employees as well as augmenting organization performance. This paper includes a figure that encompasses of the antecedents of organizational commitment among knowledge workers. These antecedents were categorized into five categories; specifically, personal characteristics, job satisfaction, organizational justice, role states and employee perceptions. Thus, this paper proposes to function as a modern review, analysis and synthesis of the organizational commitment. Along with that, this paper intends to prepare a foundation for future researchers and practitioners studying organizational commitment among knowledge workers. © 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK


Limestone mining has the potential into environmental damage that involve modify an ecosystem. The attempt that contrived to reduce the disturbances are rehabilitation. This research was conducted to examine the growth response of Leucaena leucocephala inoculated with AMF and soil ameliorant in a limestone post-mining soil. The design used was a split-plot design in a completely randomized design with 3 factors. The first factor was AMF inoculum (Daemonorops draco AMF and MycoSilvi), the second factor was organic fertilizer of compost, and the third factor was inorganic fertilizer. The variables used in this study expressed by height, diameter, biomass, root colonization, and nutrient absorption of the plant. The analysis showed that the combination of MycoSilvi and compost 7.5% gave best result of height, diameter, and biomass, with significantly increased by 962.67%, 899.41% and 1440.67% to control plant. It also gave best result of nutrient uptake N, P, and K, with significantly increased up to 17.64 g plant-1, 2.42 g plant-1, and 18.05 g plant-1. In general, AMF showed a good percentage of root colonization with an average 36.67-86.67%. Further research is needed to determine the response to the growth of seedlings planted in the field.


There is a big difference between the result and theory for traditional staining when using the classical methyl green-pyronin stain to show the distribution of DNA and RNA.In order to get the clear experimental result,the experiment has been improved.The experiment has been improved by weather needing dissociate with hydrochlonic acid,the time of dissociation,the temperature of temperature,the time of dying.It is chear when the monoclonal antibody monoclonal antibody is dyed without dissociation,it is chear when the lower eoidermis of the Allium cepa Linn is properly dyed in 20 ℃ for 2 minutes with 0.1 M/L hydrochlonic acid.It is chear when the Allium cepa Linn which has white scarfskin is dyed without dissociation for 4-5 minutes.The improved methyl green-pyronin stain can offer a consision way for biology experimental teaching by reason of the simplified approach,the curtate time and the abvious effect.


PCT No. PCT/US84/01872 Sec. 371 Date Jul. 11, 1985 Sec. 102(e) Date Jul. 11, 1985 PCT Filed Nov. 20, 1984 PCT Pub. No. WO85/02408 PCT Pub. Date Jun. 6, 1985.A method is provided for the controlled introduction of a reagent into a liquid, preferably a reagent peremeable substantially hydrocarbon liquid, which method comprises the steps of: (a) placing as in a geological crude oil reservoir solid polymeric bodies, each body comprising a reagent permeable polymeric matrix containing a substantially water insoluble reagent such as at least one of a wax crystal modifier, demulsifier, scale inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, biocide, ashless dispersant, antioxidant and mixtures thereof in said liquid (includes both crude and refined hydrocarbon liquids); and, (b) leaching out said reagent from said bodies at a controlled and predetermined rate into said liquid.


There is an interwoven inner relationship between the accounting information and a company's managerial structure, and high-quality accounting information must be based on a company's excellent managerial structure; while the numerous malpractices in the managerial structure of the companies in China at the present stage are the very sources of the accounting information distortion. Only by starting from tackling the malpractices can the accounting information quality be improved radically.


T he Kidd antigens are clinically relevant blood group antigens, notorious for causing hemolytic transfusion reactions. The Kidd glycoprotein is encoded by the SLC14A1 gene with two major codominant alleles, JK*A (JK*01) and JK*B (JK*02), which result from a single-nucleotide polymorphism, 838A>G. JK null phenotypes have primarily been found in the Polynesian, Asian, and Finnish populations, but other null and variant alleles have also been identified in people of other ethnic backgrounds. Here, we report a novel JK null allele found in a 37-year-old African Brazilian patient with sickle cell disease (SCD) without recent transfusions admitted in the hospital with hemoglobin of 6.4 g/dL who was predicted to type Jk(a+b+) by a genotyping panel (ID-CORE XT, Progenika, Grifols), but who typed Jk(a–b+) with BioRad antisera in gel cards.


In the region of Earth most sensitive to climate change, spring snowmelt serves as a measurable indicator of climate change and plays a strong role in the feedbacks that amplify Arctic warming. We characterize the melt season and attribute melt onset in a region of northern Canada during the spring snowmelt season from 2003 to 2011. Melt onset dates are obtained from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System retrievals. Energy balance and meteorological fields are obtained from NASA's Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications product. Analysis of three distinct subregions demonstrates that typical values of energy balance terms vary across the region and have different roles in melt attribution. Melt is controlled more by advective energy farther southwest where melt onset begins sooner, compared to higher levels of radiative energy over the tundra. This study demonstrates that a relatively small region can exhibit large differences in controls on spring snowmelt both within the region and interannually, and these differences can be understood in the context of factors ranging from the large‐scale synoptic pattern to land cover and the local energy balance. Being able to attribute melt onset to those drivers that are changing as the high latitudes warm as opposed to those that do not (i.e., insolation) allows better long‐term prediction of melt season dynamics and the climatological processes influenced by snow cover and its feedbacks.


Dynamic membrane bio-reactor(DMBR) combined with coagulation process was adopted to treat bleaching effluent from straw pulping line. The results showed that dynamic membrane could be formed in 60 min. when MLSS was 10g/L, HRT was 24h, average COD and lignin concentration of influent were 1344mg/L and 390 mg/L respectively, the effluent average COD and lignin concentration of DMBR were 260 mg/L and 192 mg/L respectively. The effluent of DMBR was further treated by coagulation process; the average COD and lignin concentration of the effluent were 117mg/L and 63 mg/L respectively. When the addition of PAC was 0.54g/L, the dynamic membrane could be recovered in 30 min and the backwashing interval of the dynamic membrane bio-reactor could be longer than 29 h.


Field and pot culture studies were conducted at Bengaluru to study the influence of three tillage practices, viz. conventional tillage (3 ploughings + 3 inter cultivations), reduced tillage (2 ploughings + 2 inter cultivations) and minimum tillage (1 ploughing + 1 inter cultivation) and three nitrogen management practices, viz. 100% N through Urea, 100% N through integrated supply (50% N through urea+ 25% N through FYM+ 25% N through Glyricidia) and 100% N through organic source (50% N through FYM+ 50% N through Glyricidia) on live weed seedbank and yield of fingermillet (Eleusine coracana L.) under rainfed pigeonpea-fingermillet system in Alfisols. The results showed that conventional tillage reduced the infestation of Borreria articularis, Cynodon dactylon and Cyperus rotundus compared to other tillage practices. However nitrogen management practices didn't influence live weed seed bank significantly. Among tillage practices, conventional tillage recorded significantly higher fingermillet yield (3.03 t/ha) compared to other tillage practices and among nutrient management practices integrated supply of N recorded higher yield of 2.67 t/ha compared to other nutrient management practices. More live weed seeds were distributed in upper 10 cm soil depth in minimum tillage whereas in conventional tillage live weed seed distribution was more or less uniform in the soil profile studied.


Objective To study the main pharmacological action of Yangxue Shengru Oral Liquid.Methods Effects of Yangxue Shengru Oral Liquid on Hb and RBC in puerperal rat and acute bleeding mice were observed.Its effects on breast milk secretion of puerperal mice and swimming time of mice were observed.Results The levels of Hb and RBC in puerperal rat and acute bleeding mice decreased markedly.After the treatment of Yangxue Shengru Oral Liquid the level of Hb and RBC in mouse increased markedly.The milk quantity of puerperal mice increased markedly.The swimming time of mice prolonged markedly.Conclusion Yangxue Shengru Oral Liquid has pharmacological effect on enriching blood,anti-fatigue and promoting puerperal breast milk secretion.


The common definition of the term "intuition" is "suddenly, direct understanding". In this sense, the definition of "an intuition" can be made as a "premonition". In this case, the intuition to be defined as the instant reality of a proposition is "no direct deduction in the direct, immediate" or "prior". Such an expression is important from a philosophical point of view, because philosophers define it as a situation that confuses people with the idea of experimenting with intuition by the knowledge of the person who has knowledge and has proved correct. Intuition is regarded as a concept, direct, immediate information. In this context, "direct knowledge, instant knowledge" roughly refers to "knowledge that does not require competence to make a definition of a concept". Intuition is not inferential information about existence. Perception from the Dscartes to Husserl is one of the most important problems in the epistemology, which is seen as a special field of philosophy, especially in the Modern Age. According to Descartes, intuition is mind; It is an action of the mind. Intuition and reasoning are two important mental actions. There is no science, you leave out mental intuition and reason. These are the most definite ways of information; Mind can never accept other initiatives. For this reason, the first principles such as Cogito (I think therefore, I am) can only be reached with intuition; On the contrary, can only be achieved through inference. According to Kant, intuition is very important. Time and space, as the conditions of experience, do not exist in objects, they form the structure of intuition. We have pure a priori intuition, namely time and space. Time and space are pure forms; We hear the matter with them. According to Bergson, intuition or "pure perception" is an extension of instinct and has been able to expand consciousness, unlimited thought on the object, and the object it thinks. Intuition is the flow of unconscious consciousness, the ability to "give in" and "to dive into thoughts"; It is pure and the real man is grasped. Bergson suggests that wages can not be captured through concepts because concepts are perfectly designed and frozen. According to Husserl, intuition is an important act; . With this method, the essence of the phenomenon is obtained.


The expert panel of hepatobiliary surgeons has presented an expansive and comprehensively thought out review on a number of key issues that continue to challenge the oncology community, especially regarding which of the various local or regional therapies are optimal and their best timing in patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastasis.1 The authors have expertly broken these challenges into four key areas: approaches to bilateral colorectal liver metastasis; approaches to synchronous presentations of colorectal cancer and liver metastasis; intra-arterial therapies, and ablation strategies that include the use of radiofrequency and microwave technology and external beam radiotherapy.1 These topics are reviewed to varying extents and key consensus statements given at the end of each section to provide further guidance in the management of colorectal liver metastasis.

The optimal approach and timing in the surgical therapy of patients with bilateral colorectal liver metastasis remain challenging because of the substantial heterogeneity among patients in this group. Clear consensus indicates that the ability to remove all metastatic deposits, leaving an adequate liver remnant, is key to the underlying definition of resectability.2 Variables that confound this definition include the presence of significant underlying comorbidity in the patient, the timing of the patient's referral based on the extent of chemotherapy that has been administered, the underlying bias of the referring medical oncologist and, lastly, the underlying desire of the patient, predominantly based on his or her overall goals and understanding of the overall outlook for survival.

One-stage hepatectomy optimizing the parenchyma-sparing techniques of either resection or ablation is an evolving technique that can be used in patients with bilateral colorectal metastasis for multiple reasons; these include the technique's facility to allow the avoidance of a second operative procedure and to ensure that any interruption of chemotherapy is minimized. As the authors have highlighted, the incidence of recurrence in patients with bilateral colorectal metastasis is high, even when complete resection has been achieved.1 This high level of recurrence is strongly acknowledged by the medical oncology community and thus reducing the overall duration of interruption of chemotherapy remains a goal. Hypothetically, a one-stage operation might beneficially address local liver-specific progression and even overall progression. Any continued interruption of therapy should not exceed 12 weeks, which should include a 4-week period prior to hepatectomy and a 6–8-week recovery period after hepatectomy. Based on these criteria, one-stage hepatectomy aimed at achieving optimal lesion control through the complete resection and/or ablation of all disease should and can be considered. The authors suggest a very conservative ablation diameter of ≤ 1 cm, a standard that has been disproven in a number of key ablation articles.1 Other experienced surgeons utilizing high-quality intraoperative ultrasound have shown that lesions measuring < 3 cm in size can be treated successfully with up-to-date ablation modalities and outcomes similar to those obtained in wedge resection or sub-segmental resection can be achieved.3–6 Thus, consideration should be given to methods of optimizing a one-stage technique using resection or ablation alone or a combination of these under the appropriate circumstances.

Appropriately, and with initial enthusiasm, the authors mention the continued evaluation of the use of intra-arterial therapies to downsize metastasis.1 A large amount of safety data derived from patients who have undergone hepatectomy following yttrium-90 radioembolization and drug-eluting bead therapy or a combination of these is available from a number of high-volume institutions.7–9 Hepatectomy performed at least 4–6 months after radioembolization or drug-eluting bead therapy appears to be safe. Similarly, hepatectomy after prior intra-arterial therapy appears to be safe.9 Thus, patients in whom disease has been downsized by such intra-arterial therapies should undergo evaluation for surgical treatment of all known disease.

The optimal approach to synchronous presentations of colorectal and liver metastases has been well established and continues to evolve through the three different surgical strategies outlined in the consensus paper.1 The respective benefits and efficacies of the 'simultaneous', 'colorectal first' and 'liver first' approaches have each been demonstrated in the appropriate setting based on individual patient characteristics. The advent of minimally invasive hepatectomy contributes further to the consideration of timing and extent of resection.10–13 Recent reports from a number of large institutions have demonstrated the possible advantages to be derived from the use of laparoscopic hepatectomy in patients with colorectal liver metastasis, predominantly in the reduction of adverse events and overall length of stay, as well as in overall improvements in quality of life.14

The authors have appropriately reviewed the use of hepatic–arterial infusion (HAI) therapy and clearly state that surgeon technique and volume are key components to the delivery of successful HAI therapy.1 It should be emphasized that an additional key to the success of HAI therapy is the medical oncologist.15,16 The complexity of patient management and the apparently limited overall benefit to be derived from this therapy outwith the context of programmes with extensive experience have raised questions on its sustainability.17 Trial-based evidence of patient benefit is required prior to wider acceptance of this therapy and specialty expertise will remain mandatory for its successful implementation.

The consensus document addresses chemoembolization by combining conventional transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and newer approaches using drug-eluting beads.1 It should be noted that these are quite different therapies; they use different types of chemotherapy and catheter, and involve different arterial flow endpoints.18 Therapeutic TACE typically entails the delivery of chemotherapy with embolic flow stasis in the segmental artery of the treated lesion, whereas therapy with drug-eluting beads does not seek to induce stasis because in this context stasis tends to increase morbidity without increasing overall efficacy.18,19

A further question regarding arterial embolization therapies refers to their timing in the sequence of multidisciplinary therapy for advanced colorectal liver metastases. Should intra-arterial therapy be considered after systemic chemotherapy failure or earlier in the sequence for an enhanced response? Is there even a role for arterial embolization in high-risk resectable disease in terms of improving recurrence-free survival? The consensus paper is not able to provide clear guidelines in this respect because data are not yet available and the field is rapidly evolving. First-line trials in unresectable liver only/liver-dominant colorectal liver metastasis with yttrium-90 (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00724503) and drug-eluting bead therapy (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00932438), and a trial of yttrium-90 as a second-line therapy (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01483027) are currently enrolling. Progress in this area is therefore anticipated, but the issues involved will remain topics of major debate.


The history of geography in education and public acceptance is one long lamentation. Often the complaints refer to memorizing uninteresting facts and figures, the confusing mix of all kind of subjects treated superficially, useless in practical life etc. Many pupils don't like it and so do parents who rarely see the benefit of the subject for the future lives of their children. Consequently, also policy makers don't like it and this can be seen in the many educational reforms. The situation of geography education in schools and universities is reflecting this criticism as well, often resulting in the reduction or even abolishment of geography in the curricula. Understanding why this attitude is so persistent is a research subject on its own. In Flanders this has however not raised any interest from the academic world. In general, the interest for the problem comes from societies devoted to geography. The surveys on geo-literacy, such as first initiated by the National Geographic Society, showed the horrifying poor level of geographical knowledge and skills amongst young people. Since the Gallup survey in 1988 this has not really improved despite all efforts and initiatives made. What can we learn from these surveys? Are all 'countermeasures' such as geo-Olympics and contests, quizzes and games, websites and geomentors really effective? The image of geography form the public remains scattered and fuzzy, and mainly geographers themselves are the cause of this. The problem of geography's image is the internal fragmentation of the discipline and the poor communbication by geographers in the public debate. Academic researchers lost interest in the problems in teaching at secondary education level as well as in popularizing their work due to the stringent merit system and publication stress at universities. Nevertheless, the position of geography in the universities suffers similar problems although last 15 years a revival can be noticed.


This paper presents an optimal two-stage estimator for discrete-time stochastic systems subject to disturbances evolving in accordance with a dynamic state equation. The proposed two-stage estimator gives an optimum state estimate expressed as x/sub k/k//sup 1/=x/sub k/k//sup 1/+/spl beta//sub k/k/ x/sub k/k//sup 2/, where x/sub k/k//sup 1/ and x/sub k/k//sup 2/ are computed via two reduced-order filters and where /spl beta//sub k/k/ is the coupling term assuring the optimality of the solution.


Very large-scale integral imaging (VLSII) systems utilizing multiple micro-optics arrays and display devices can be used for wide viewing angle 3-D displays. We analyze the distortion of 3-D integral images when micro-optics arrays are placed on a spherical surface and are used in direct pickup integral imaging. We show that 3-D orthoscopic real images with non-negligible depth always suffer from image distor- tion, while orthoscopic virtual images do not. Also, nonplanar (curved) display panels and image sensors are not currently available. We pro- pose a solution to remedy this problem by placing a spherical lens in front of a planar lenslet array. © 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. (DOI: 10.1117/1.1824907) tion on VLSII using spherical surfaces to determine what kind of integral images are formed and how direct camera pickup can be used to obtain elemental images. We attempt to provide analytical answers to some of these questions. Also, nonplanar ~curved! display panels and image sensors are not currently available. We propose a solution to remedy this problem by modeling the VLSII with lenslet arrays arranged on spherical surfaces as an II system with planar lenslet arrays, on which thin lenses with proper focal lengths are attached. Our analysis illustrates that 3-D orthoscopic real images with large depth always suffer from image distortion, while orthoscopic virtual im- ages do not. Preliminary experiments are presented. 2 Analysis


. Gynogenetic (meiotic) Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters) lines can be produced easily with the simple ultraviolet (UV) spermatozoan irradiation technique detailed in this study. One hundred per cent haploid gynogens were achieved by eggs fertilized with UV-irradiated (254 nm, 4.2 W/m2 for 7 min) red tilapia spermatozoa. Survival of the haploid gynogens were 5% and all haploid fry were deformed. Hybridization between female O. mossambicus and male red tilapia produced 100% red offspring. Thus the red colour can be used as a marker to identify fish that are not gynogens. Activation of eggs with 7-min UV-irradiated spermatozoa from red tilapia and subsequent heat shocking at 420C for 3 min resulted in 100% diploid gynogens (black).


Purpose. The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of the common pan-Romance state in the intellectual history of Romance philology. The author analyzes various viewpoints on the common pan-Romance state, including the arguments of supporters and opponents of its existence.
Novelty. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of interpretations of the common pan-Romance state in contexts of the history of the Romance languages through the prism of intellectual history and the history of ideas.
Materials and methods. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of interdisciplinary historiography proposed in intellectual and cultural history, which allows us to analyze the problems of the common pan-Romance state as part of the history of ideas and an invented historiographic tradition or intellectual construct.
Results. The article analyzes 1) the arguments of supporters of the existence of a common Romance state as a stage between Latin and Romance languages, 2) the ideas of critics and opponents of the idea of a common Romance state, who tend to look for the origins of the Romance languages directly in Latin, 3) the possibilities and potency of revising early viewpoints in contexts the history of late Latin and the early genesis of the Romance languages. The article also analyzes 1) the arguments of supporters and opponents of the existence of the common Romance state through the prism of intellectual history and the history of ideas, 2) the history of Romance philology through the prism of the archaeology of ideas, which allows us to trace how the arguments of supporters and opponents of the common Romance state have changed, 3) the general logic of the development of Romance philology through the prism of the transformation of ideas about the general Romance state.
Conclusions. The results of the study suggest that 1) ideas about the common Romance state in the history of Romance linguistic became a common historiographic place, turning into an invented intellectual and historiographical tradition, 2) discussions and debates about the existence or absence of a general Romance state stimulated the search for new ideas, contributing to the development of Romance philology, 3) the controversy and debatability of the concept of the general Romance state in the history of Romance philology will remain a factor contributing to intellectual discussions and actualization of the role of revisionism as a universal factor in the development of modern interdisciplinary linguistics.


We first analyzed the characteristics of modern mechanisms and its creative design. Then, we present five methods for modern mechanism creative design (MMCD),and they are:(1) by making use of the controllability of drive-elements;(2) by making use of the knowledge bases of computer aided conceptual design;(3) by making use of a few links to accomplish complex motion process;(4) by making use of existing theory on relative disciplines, such as optics, electronics, hydraulic theory, etc;(5) by making use of bond graph theory to make mechanism type transformation.


Venture investment would be significance to the development of national economic .The paper analyzes current situation of the form of venture investment organization as well as its deficiency and discusses legal system relating to venture investment organizations .


This paper discusses the research carried out on Macrobius' texts (fl. V c.) in the Soviet epoch by Tatyana Miller (1963), Ilya Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1972), Victoria Ukolova (1986, 1989, etc.), Alexei Losev and Aza Taho-Godi (1990, etc.). The study of Macrobius' texts in Russia dates back to the 1960–70s, a time when a gradual revision of the attitude to various types of mentality, the history of ideas and intellectual history began in Russian historiography, a time when researchers began to pay more attention to specific texts and their thorough and deep reading, asserting the generic community of the history of texts and history itself. The contribution of the scholars mentioned above to Russian "macrobievedenie" ("criticism of Macrobius") is demonstrated, and the stimulating influence of their work on post-Soviet researchers is revealed.


Through the prediction based on reliability counting method, identified weak links of automatic control system, achieved the reliability modeling of marine power station and structured reliability block diagrams and the reliability mathematical models, the reliability and mean time between failures (MTBF) of marine power station are obtained under different work conditions. The marine power station reliability modeling acquired from different work conditions accords with the actual operating mode, and all these work can supply more scientific theoretical support for study on reliability of marine power station.


Thermal barrier coating (TBC) is used to protect hot parts of gas turbine from a high-temperature environment. Recently, TBC delamination damage was also reported in some Japanese electric power plants. It is important to establish a TBC delamination evaluation-method for preventing such damage. It is known that the delamination is due to a reduction of interface cohesion between coating layer and substrate, and then the reduction is caused by a formation of thermally growth oxidation (TGO) layer at the interface. Thus, it is necessary to understand TGO layer growth behaviour and the growth mechanism. The aim of this study is to examine effect of an aging temperature and an aging time on TGO layer growth under various aging temperature conditions, and then to discuss a TGO growth mechanism through SEM observation of a cross section of aged TBC specimen. As some results obtained, TG0 layer was not formed at the aged temperature below 973 K. In aging temperature range between 1 073 K and 1 173 K, Al2O3 as TGO layer was formed at the interface between top coating and bond coating layer. At aging temperature 1 273 K, (Co, Cr, Al) complex oxidation in addition to Al2O3 at the interface was observed. It was shown from TGO growth curve that the growth exponent n was 0.3 in aging temperature range 1 073 K to 1 173 K, and then 0.1 at 1 273 K in contrast with 0.5 for a metal oxidation process. Then, TGO layer grew by diffusion of oxidizing species on grain boundary in coating layer. Additionally, the reason that the growth exponent at 1 273 K was reduced was due to what the complex oxidation layer was acted as barrier to the species diffusion.


In an uncertain economic environment, risk averse investors demand risk premiums, to hold in their portfolio, assets subject to this uncertainty. This paper investigates if a conditional variance, a measure of total risk, is a significant determinant of the risk premium of the Bolivian financial assets, using ARCH (Autoregressive Conditional Heterocedastic) models. The ARCH models explicitly model time varying conditional variances by relating them to variables known from previous periods. The paper also tests the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model), which provides a theory for the pricing of assets with uncertain returns using GARCH (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heterocedastic) models. This essentially assumes that agents update their estimates of the means, variances and/or covariances of returns each period, using the newly revealed surprises in the last period's asset returns. In this context, a GARCH process is estimated to the Bolivian financial market, where the expected return of each asset is proportional to the conditional covariance of each return with that of a market portfolio.


It has been shown in the late 1960s that each formula of first-order logic without constants and function symbols obeys a zero-one law: As the number of elements of finite models increases, every formula holds either in almost all or in almost no models of that size. Therefore, many properties of models, such as having an even number of elements, cannot be expressed in the language of first-order logic. For modal logics, limit behavior for models and frames may differ. Halpern and Kapron proved zero-one laws for classes of models corresponding to the modal logics K, T, S4, and S5. They also proposed zero-one laws for the corresponding classes of frames, but their zero-one law for K-frames has since been disproved.In this paper, we prove zero-one laws for provability logic with respect to both model and frame validity. Moreover, we axiomatize validity in almost all irreflexive transitive finite models and in almost all irreflexive transitive finite frames, leading to two different axiom systems. In the proofs, we use a combinatorial result by Kleitman and Rothschild about the structure of almost all finite partial orders. On the way, we also show that a previous result by Halpern and Kapron about the axiomatization of almost sure frame validity for S4 is not correct. Finally, we consider the complexity of deciding whether a given formula is almost surely valid in the relevant finite models and frames.


The drainage characteristics of the Jaisamand catchment have been studied using Survey of India's topographic sheets of 1: 50, 000 scales. The drainage pattern for delineated Jaisamand catchment was exported to ARC/GIS-10 software for morphometric analysis. The parameters computed by standard methods and formulae. The present study included computation of stream order, stream length, stream frequency, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, form factor, circulatory ratio, elongation ratio, relief ratio, ruggedness number etc. Then prioritization of different sub-basins for soil conservation measures was carried out. The total length of stream segments was maximum in first order streams and decreased as the stream order increased. The total stream length in the Jaisamand catchment was 7351.83 km. The values of the stream length ratio varied from 2.31 to 6.29 for the whole Jaisamand catchment. The average relief of the catchment was 413 m and it varied from 83 to 413 m in the sub-basins of the study area. The drainage density in the whole basin and sub-basins of the study area showed variation from 2.33 to1 1.50 km1 km−2 suggesting high drainage density.


Spatial clustering can be defined as the process of grouping object with certain dimensions into groups such that objects within a group exhibits similar characteristics when compared to those which are in the other groups. It is an important part of spatial data mining since it provides certain insights into the distribution of data and characteristics of spatial clusters. Spatial clustering methods are mainly categorized into four: Hierarchical, Partitional, Density based and Grid based. All those categorizations are based on the specific criteria used in grouping similar objects. In this paper, we will introduce each of these categories and present some representative algorithms for them. In addition, we will compare these algorithms in terms of four factors such as time complexity, inputs, handling of higher dimensions and handling of irregularly shaped clusters.


This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Organically managed ruminant systems place particular emphasis on maximising production from forage. Therefore, it is important that efficiency measures take full account of forage inputs. The Livestock Production Efficiency Calculator (LPEC) calculates the total metabolisable energy (ME) required by livestock and estimates forage inputs as the difference between total requirement and that supplied by other measured feeds. Productivity is expressed in terms of output (£) minus other valued inputs (£) per unit of forage ME. Estimates of production parameters were used to produce productivity indices for thirteen organic dairy herds. The productivity of herds was compared, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the potential impact of a number of economic and production scenario. The relationships between yield, fertility, culling and herd productivity were examined. The advantages of this productivity analysis of organic production systems is that full account is taken of the most important input i.e. grazed and conserved forage and that all of the determinants of productivity and their interactions are considered.


Starting from the development background and present situation of IT manufacturing Industry of our country, this paper discusses the developing prospect and today's information requirement of IT manufacturing Industry of our country, and makes corresponding analyses based on this.


Hydrogen as fuel for transportation sector is going to play a prominent role when it comes combating the climate change, as its only by-products are heat and water. Rapid surge in adoption rate for fuel cell vehicle (FCV) could be driven by improvements in fuel cell technology, as well as rise in number of Fuel Cell Vehicle Charging Station (FCVCS).
 This paper explores how a gas turbine from the Baker Hughes™ portfolio can be used to create a circular economy model for hydrogen fueling stations. Solid Oxide Electrolyzer (SOE) and carbon capture unit are the two prime components that are integrated to the gas turbine. The SOE unit, powered by the gas turbine, generates hydrogen for refueling the FCVs and to use for itself as a blended fuel, bringing down the carbon footprint.
 Proposed FCVCS solution can refuel about 250 FCVs in half a day of operation (50% power split). Economic analysis shows that the solution is lucrative with attractive return on investment. The solution is flexible to incorporate Power-to-X conversions. Modular nature of the solution makes it easy to implement in city limits as well as in remote locations, along the highways, where grid availability is a challenge.


This article is the Spanish translation of an article presented at the IIR conference in Strasbourg, France (see the Bulletin of the IIR, reference 2008-2761). Freeze-drying continues to increase in importance due to the widespread development of protein therapeutic agents. This results in a great interest in analytical approaches to formulation and process development based on a better understanding of the physical chemistry of freezing and freeze-drying. This article describes how two analytical methods, differential scanning calorimetry and freeze-drying microscopy can help the formulation scientist to develop the optimum freeze-dried protein formulation allowing the most efficient freeze-drying process.


Management of Tree Ferns (Cyathea spp.) for Handicraft Production in Cuetzalan, Mexico .mAt least two tree fern species of the genus Cyathea, C. divergens var. tuerckheirnii R.M. Tryon and C. fulva (Martens & Galeotti) F6e (1), are harvested by local artisans from tropical montane forest remnants in the Cuetzalan region of northeastern Puebla state (Mexico) to produce handicrafts used for garden ornamentation. The intensity and frequency of handicraft production are driven by local and regional tourism. Although it is illegal to extract and trade these products (2), offenses are currently unpunished in the region. Adventitious tree fern roots (known in Mexico as "maquique") are harvested and commercialized all over the world for use as growing substrate for epiphytes (3, 4, 5). In Mexico, three tree fern species are reported to be exploited for this use: Alsophila firma D.S. Conant, Cyathea fulva (Martens & Galeotti) F6e, and Cyathea divergens var. tuerckheimii R.M. Tryon (6). However, there are apparently no studies that document the extraction and trade of maquique (7). In this study, we described the current extraction of maquique and quantified the mean financial incomes of artisans from the trade of maquique handicrafts. Based on the information obtained, we evaluated the economic importance of handicraft production and trade to the artisans' families, and estimated the rate of extraction of adult tree ferns.


Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) is important in leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion and transmigration, and also has regulatory roles in angiogenesis, apoptosis, and cell signaling (1). PECAM-1 mediates adhesive interactions between adjacent cells by direct homophilic binding, whereby membrane distal domains of PECAM-1 molecules bind in an antiparallel manner to facilitate firm leukocyte adherence to vascular endothelium and their subsequent transmigration into the interstitial tissue. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of PECAM-1 are associated with graft-versus-host disease after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation and with the development of cardiovascular disease (2, 3). We recently showed that PECAM-1 genotype has a marked influence on monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells in vitro, demonstrating for the first time a functional effect of PECAM-1 polymorphism (4). In an attempt to understand how PECAM-1 polymorphisms influence its molecular structure and hence function, we have modeled the stereochemical protein structure of PECAM-1 and predicted the effect of genetic polymorphisms on the resulting structure. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of PECAM-1 encoding amino acid substitutions at positions 125 (leucine/valine), 563 (serine/asparagine), and 670 (arginine/glycine) occur in strong genetic linkage and form two common haplotypes denoted LSR and VNG. The amino acid polymorphism at position 125 (125L/V) is located within domain 1, which is involved in PECAM-1/ PECAM-1 homophilic interactions and most likely influences leukocyte/endothelial cell adhesion. Because the crystallographic structure of human PECAM-1 has not been elucidated, we generated homology models based on the crystal structure of the three N-terminal domains of rat neural cell adhesion molecule (Protein Data Bank accession


1. A method for increasing the outer diameter and the diameter of the lumen of the artery donating patient, comprising: a fluid connection node of one end of pump tube donating artery; fluid connection other end of pump tube assembly with a receiving location; iperekachivanie donating oxygenated blood from the artery into the receiving location at a flow rate and for a time sufficient to achieve a constant increase in the outer diameter and the diameter of the lumen donating arterii.2. A method according to Claim. 1, where it gives artery selected from the group consisting of the radial artery, ulnar artery, the brachial artery or the femoral arterii.3. A method according to Claim. 1, where the receiving location is an axillary vein, subclavian vein, brachiocephalic vein, jugular vein, superior vena cava, femoral vein, iliac vein, inferior vena cava or right predserdie.4. A method according to Claim. 1, where the patient needs to place the vascular access for hemodialysis dostupa.5. A method according to claim 1, which further comprises:. Use of at least part of donating artery continuously-increased outer diameter and the diameter of the lumen to create arteriovenous fistula, arteriovenous graft or bypass graft upatsienta.6. A method according to Claim. 1, where the pump tube assembly pumps blood at a rate of between 50 ml / min and 2500 ml / Min.7. A method according to Claim. 1, wherein the average shear stress in the wall donating artery is between 1.5 Pa and 23 Pa, when the pump operates trubka.8 node. A method according to Claim. 1, where the average velocity of blood in the artery donating species is between 10 cm / s and 120 cm / s, when the pump assembly operates


Introduction: In the evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), the frequency of ordering computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) has considerably increased, prompting concerns of overuse. This retrospective study evaluates the utilization and diagnostic outcome of CTPA, using the Well's Criteria and serum D-dimer level, in patients with suspected PE, at the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center. We propose a clinical predictive model in the diagnosis of PE to reduce the overuse of CTPA ordering.


Data on accident precursors can help in estimating accident frequencies, since they provide a rich source of information on intersystem dependencies. However, Bayesian analysis of accident precursors requires the ability to construct joint prior distributions reflecting such dependencies. For example, the failure probabilities of a particular safety system under normaland accident conditions, respectively, will generally not be identical (because of the effects ofthe accident), but will almost certainly be correlated (since both failure probabilities reflect the performance of the same components, with the same inherent levels of reliability). In this paper, we explore the use of copulas (a method of representing joint distribution functions with particular marginals) to construct the needed prior distributions, and then use these distributions in a Bayesian analysis of hypothetical precursor data. This demonstrates the usefulness of copulas in practice. The same approach can also be used in a wide variety of other contexts where joint distributions with particular marginals are desired.


Abstract This paper reports research on the impact of introducing a range of extension approaches into the wool-growing regions of Tasmania Australia to meet an emerging knowledge and skills gap in the sector. The wool-growing industry of the state has experienced minimal government extension support for over 15 years. There is a failure in both private and public-sector extension services in meeting the current collective needs of the industry. A new industry funded initiative funded by the grower body Australian Wool Innovation Ltd and hosted with the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR), an arm of the University of Tasmania, is filling this void. The approaches included the establishment of grower groups, workshops, demonstrations and newsletters in a coordinated extension programme. The research interest lay in learning of the value of these different approaches in developing and maintaining sustainable sheep and wool production systems in the state. The research methodology involved evaluating change according to Bennett's hierarchy. Techniques used included surveys of participants from respective industry segments and analysis of relevant secondary information and data. Findings indicate that the programme has affected substantial on-ground changes in stock and property management by businesses involved. There was evidence of group members taking a more strategic view of their businesses from involvement in the programme. Group members (65%), industry active (53%) and service sector (65%) survey respondents indicated that the biggest outcomes of their involvement were improved technical or management skills. Members of groups and service-sector respondents saw even more impact (70%) on improved information seeking skills. The interactive and passive extension methodologies employed in this initiative have positioned the programme as a catalyst for change amongst producers, and have served as a mechanism to fill a serious information vacuum in the industry. They also appear to have realised positive social capital outcomes within the grower community during the difficult circumstances of sustained drought. Finally, the segmentation of the extension target audience appears to be paying dividends in terms of programme delivery and resource allocation.


Samuel H. Beer, the distinguished authority on the theory and practice of British politics, died at the age of 97 on 7 April 2009. His achievement as a scholar, a highly revered teacher and a political activist are well known and widely acknowledged. He was the first foreigner to be honoured as a vice-president of the Political Studies Association and the first recipient of the Isaiah Berlin prize for Lifetime Achievement in Politics. In 2007 the Political Studies Association made a special presentation at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in recognition of his long and distinguished contribution to the study of British politics. He was president of the British Politics Group whose annual award for the best dissertation was named after him. Honorary degrees were bestowed upon him by Harvard, Depauw and Drake Universities in the US and Sussex and Ulster in the UK. He was honoured at a seminar and dinner in the House of Lords on the occasion of his 90th birthday attended by politicians and journalists as well as academics. He did not let on until some time later that it was only his 89th birthday. A similar occasion organised by former colleagues and students in the US got the timing right.


The mortality risk associated with surgical tracheostomy has declined from 3–4% quoted in studies before 1985 to < 1%. The total complication rate has also declined over the same period from up to 90% to < 40%. The complication rate is doubled in ICU versus non-ICU patients and in tracheostomies performed in emergency situations. This is mainly due to an 8-fold increase in the intra-operative (as opposed to postoperative) complication rate, which itself is dependent on the surgical speciality performing the procedure. Most studies comparing percutaneous and surgical tracheostomies have shown that the operative time is halved with the percutaneous technique. The recent trend towards a single dilator technique may reduce the operative time further. Percutaneous tracheostomies are associated with less intraand early postoperative complications including fewer stoma infections and reduced bleeding problems due to the tamponade effect of the tightly fitting tracheostomy tube. Long-term complications of tracheostomies are more difficult to assess. Cosmetic results are improved in the percutaneous group and it appears that clinically significant long-term sequelae are no more frequent than with surgical tracheostomies. However, further studies are awaited. An important advantage of the percutaneous procedure is that it is usually performed in the ICU, eliminating the risk of transferring ventilated patients to and from the operating department. However, percutaneous tracheostomy does have some disadvantages compared with the open procedure. It was first described as a 'blind' technique with the risk of malpositioning the tracheostomy tube but bronchoscopic guidance has been shown to reduce this complication and is strongly advised. Although less likely to become dislodged than a surgical tracheostomy, the re-insertion of a dislodged percutaneously fashioned tube can be more difficult as the stoma may close immediately. Trainees should be encouraged to intubate these patients orally in the emergency situation. Percutaneous tracheostomy


A field plot experiment was conducted to study effect of organic fertilizers on yield and quality of rice grains and nitrogen use efficiency.The results showed that,the rice yield is much higher under the facility treatments of 20% pig manure and 10% pig manure decomposed organic fertilizer and 20% biogas fertilizer instead of pure fertilizer treatments.Compared with CK treatments the rice yield respectively increased by 103.49%,81.62% and 74.64% under the three treatments and increased by 38.67%,23.77% and 19.02% than that of the pure fertilizer treatments.The 20% pig manure decomposed organic fertilizer instead of 20% nitrogen fertilizer had the highest nitrogen use efficiency of 32.64% which was 2.66% higher than pure chemical fertilizer.And both that of 20% pig manure and 10% pig manure decomposed organic fertilizer were higher compared to the pure fertilizer treatments with the growth of 1.12% and 1.04%.According to the results,we organic fertilizer can increase the rice yield and nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency.Furthermore,compared with pure fertilizer treatment,replacing the same proportion of chemical fertilizer by either 10% of the straw,or 20% of the pig manure,or 30% of the pig manure organic fertilizer or 20% biogas could lower chalk whiteneww.And replacement of the same proportion of chemical nitrogen fertilizer by either 20% of pig manure or 20%,or 10% or 30% of pig manure decomposed fertilizer could improve the rice gel consistency,10% of the straw instead of 10% chemical fertilizer treatment had a lower amylase content.In conclusion,organic fertilizers could improve the appearance quality of rice and cooking quality.


This document summarizes the proceedings of a workshop on Bioremediation and Its Societal Implications and Concerns (BASIC) held July 18-19, 1996 at the Airlie Center near Warrenton, Virginia. The workshop was sponsored by the Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as part of its fundamental research program in Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR). The information summarized in these proceedings represents the general conclusions of the workshop participants, and not the opinions of workshop organizers or sponsors. Neither are they consensus opinions, as opinions differed among participants on a number of points. The general conclusions presented below were reached through a review, synthesis, and condensation of notes taken by NABIR Program Office staff and OHER program managers throughout the workshop. Specific contributions by participants during breakout sessions are recorded in bullet form in the appropriate sections, without attribution to the contributors. These contributions were transcribed as faithfully as possible from notes about the original discussions. They were edited only to make them grammatically correct, parallel in structure, and understandable to someone not familiar with the NABIR Program or BASIC element.


THE INVENTION CONCERNS A PAPER WITH BASE LAYER DRIED FORMED A MIXTURE PIGMENT ETOU AN OFFICE AND A BINDING OR PIGMENT IS EQUAL FRACTION OF 90 OR MORE BY WEIGHT, OF PIGMENT PARTICLES POSSESS DIAMETER AVERAGE 0.1 A 3M BINDING AND IS MAINLY HYDROPHILIC. THIS PAPER SUITABLE FOR REGISTRATION PROCESS INK PROJECTION.


AbstractNovel liquid crystals possessing a fluorinated alkyl group, perfluoroalkyl 4′-alkoxybiphenyl-4-carboxylate were prepared. The Sc-SA and SA-I transition temperatures were much higher than those of the corresponding non-fluorinated compounds, and exhibited anomalous increase with increase in the chain length of fluorinated alkyl group. These behaviors could be explained by their high linearity and rigidity compared with hydrocarbon alkyl group, as evidenced by MM2' calculations.


Grounding resistance's value has direct impact on power supply and use personnel safety,equipment's normal operation and measurement data stability.Analysis was carried out to the area of grounding device,material,construction method and measurement method etc factors impacting on grounding resistance,straight line three-pole method and non-interpole measurement principle given.Correct measurement method and suitable,measures can effectively reduce grounding resistance.


Through comparing the data of El Nina and solar eclipse, a determined causalitybetween El Nino phenomena and the solar eclipses is found. By defining the annualsolar eclipse-El Nino coefficient R and the accumulative solar eclipse-El NinoCoefficient R2, we found that once R1, 9 or R2, 10 in a certain year there willcertainly be E1 Nino that year and vise versa. The years since 1948 inevitablyobserved this quantitative causality. The thermal-dynamic mechanism is advanced andsome results of prediction experiments are also given in this paper.


One-dimensional microwave transmission line cavities can be used as a quantum bus to couple distant qubits on a chip. The strong coupling of single photons to superconducting qubits[1] has been widely studied but this regime remains to be demonstrated clearly for electron spin qubits. Motivated by a proposal to use strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) to couple electron spins confined in a quantum dot to the cavity field[2] we study double quantum dots (DQDs) fabricated from InSb nanowires placed within a cavity. We fabricate half wavelength superconducting transmission line cavities using dc-magnetron sputtered Niobium films. Using a micron scale alignment technique we place two InSb nanowires onto prefabricated gates at either end of the cavity where the electric fields are highest. The charge states of the two double InSb QD devices are probed with the cavity transmission demonstrating the dispersive readout of the device.


MANET is a self managing and eminently dynamic wireless connection of nodes. Group communication in MANETs expanding its usability in the real scenario day by day. Hence multicast support is a desirable feature for ad hoc networks. Several multicasting protocols have been proposed such as MAODV, ODMRP,CAMP, FRRM, PUMA, ABAM etc. FRRM is a energy efficient multicast protocol.It sends the data by retrieving recently used paths from memory of node, but in the absence of path in cache memory, it floods the route request packets in whole network. This consumes a large amount of energy. In this paper, we propose an enhanced FRRM (Familiar route retrieval for multicasting) routing protocol which mitigates this problem of finding the path to the destination using forwarding route request packets to only selected nodes. The nodes are selected on the basis of shortest distance from the destination. The effectiveness of proposed protocol is compared with existing FRRM and ODMRP protocols by using NS-2.


The article is devoted to one of the urgent problems of ensuring the personal safety of juvenile convicts in prison. The theoretical and methodological study of the analyzed phenomenon allowed us to single out the general opinion of scientists and the factors that determine the current state of personal safety of juvenile convicts in educational colonies of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, in the pre-trial detention centers of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, as well as at the stages of going to the place of serving the criminal sentence in in the form of deprivation of liberty and those under investigation for crimes committed in places of deprivation of liberty. The author of the article analyzes the provisions established in article 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the right of all convicted persons, as well as persons in custody in the pre-trial detention center of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, to trial for personal security is guaranteed by the penitentiary institutions of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, and this right is ensured by the following imperatives: 1). Article 13 of the Law of the Russian Federation of July 21, 1993 No. 5473-I "On Institutions and Bodies Executing Criminal Sentences of Imprisonment"; 2). Article 19 of the Federal Law of July 15, 1995 No. 103-FL "On the Detention of Suspects and Accused of Committing Crimes". The article analyzes legal scientific literature on the expression of various opinions of researchers regarding the personal safety of juvenile convicts in prison. The author completely agreed with many of the stated points of theoretical researchers, and at the same time formulating the following proposition. The author, in turn, determines that the problem of personal security of juvenile convicts in places of deprivation of liberty is also of great importance for the relations that are taking shape in the Russian penal system as a whole. This is due to the fact that punishment always involves the restriction of the rights and freedoms of persons who committed crimes in the educational colonies of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, and, as a result, the special nature of the relationship between the staff of the penitentiary institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and convicts. So, the urgency of the problem today is, first of all, ensuring personal security, as well as the constitutional rights and legitimate interests of juvenile convicts in the investigation of crimes committed in the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, is also manifested in the fact that depriving citizens of their freedom, the state agrees to comply their legal status, to protect the life and health of the convict. It should be noted that the concentration of persons who committed crimes in prisons, a significant proportion of which are grave and especially grave, as well as a number of other reasons entail a real threat of new crimes committed by prisoners of various nature and degree of public danger. In this regard, there is the possibility of unlawful influence on juvenile convicts who are participants in the criminal process in the framework of a case instituted on the fact of committing a crime in the institution of the Russian penal system. As a result, the author's concept is formulated - "Ensuring personal security, rights and legal interests of juvenile convicts". This material presented in the article does not contain information (information) related to state secrets of the Russian Federation.


This volume presents a spectrum of current research on ancient surface decoration (painting mosaic, and stuccowork/plasterwork) that offers new avenues of exploration and directions of inquiry.


In this study, a modification of exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Spirulina sp. algae biomass with silica (HES) and exopolysaccharide from Spirulina sp. algae biomass with silica coated by magnetite particles (HESM) has been done successfully. A series of experiments with the batch method were conducted to test the ability of HESM adsorption of Pb(II) ions in solution. Identification of functional groups of HESM adsorbents was studied using infrared spectrometer (IR) while surface morphological analysis and composition of the constituent elements of HESM were performed using scanning electron microscope-energy (SEM). Concentration of Pb(II) ion in the adsorption process were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES Adsorption of Pb(II) ions with HES and HESM is optimum at pH 7 and concentration at 25 ppm with the adsorption capacity on HES at 3.85 mg g−1 while on HESM at 272.63 mg g−1, contact time of 15 min and it tends to follow second orde pseudo kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model.


This paper presents one of the first extensive intercomparisons of models and methods used for estimating stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE). The study is part of the European Union project Influence of Stratosphere Troposphere Exchange in a Changing Climate on Atmospheric Transport and Oxidation Capacity (STACCATO). Nine different models and methods, including three trajectory methods, one Eulerian method, two Lagrangian and one Eulerian transport model, and two general circulation models applied the same initialization. Stratospheric and tropospheric tracers have been simulated, and the tracer mass fluxes have been calculated through the tropopause and the 700 hPa surface. For a 12-day case study over Europe and the northeast Atlantic the simulated tracer mass fluxes have been intercompared. For this case the STE simulations show the same temporal evolution and the same geographical pattern of STE for most models and methods, but with generally different amplitudes (up to a factor of 4). On the other hand, for some simulations also the amplitudes are very similar.


Engineering design generally considered as goal-oriented, controlled, conclusion making process to manufacturing a product. While designing a mechanical component, designers always consider certain objective like tensile and flexural strength, deflection, weight, wear and tear, fatigue, etc. It is very difficult to accommodate all the objectives govern by multiple variables in the design of components. For this purpose, concentration has been given on the optimization of certain components of the mechanical design specially bearing. Bearings are extensively used in machine to reduce the friction and enhance rotational motion. Any critical failure of it, would not only affect the overall systems performance but also its reliability, safety, availability and cost-effectiveness. Objectives like long fatigue life i.e. higher dynamic load capacity, rating life need to be achieved collectively in the design of the rolling element bearing. The objective of this article is to highpoint influence of the advanced optimization techniques in design optimization and to determine and understand various methods of fault diagnosis of bearings to accomplish superior performance and to withstand global competitive environment.


A .D . 600 and (2 ) medieval and Renaissance Latin commentaries on Latin and Greek authors of the same period. The work should serve to illustrate and illuminate a chapter in the development of scholarship from antiquity down to A.D. I600. The editorial board consists of: R. J. Clements, M. E. Cosenza, J. Hutton, P. Kibre, P. O. Kristeller, D. P. Lockwood, M. R. P. WIcGuire, B. Marti, R. V. Merrill, E. M. Sanford, J. J. Savage, J. R. Strayer, A. Taylor, S. H. Thomson, and B. L. Ullman. Inquiries regarding the project may be addressed to any member of the board. COlulwUNICATION


A monster is a malformed fetus. Fetal anomalies and monstrosities are common cause of dystocia in bovines (Shukla et al., 2007) and are disturbances of development that involve the sexual organs and cause great distortion of the individual (Vegad, 2007). They are usually associated with either with infectious diseases or congenital defects (Arthur et al., 2001) and may or may not interfere with birth (Sharma et al., 2010; Gupta et al., 2011). Abnormal duplication of germinal area in fetus will give rise to congenital fetal abnormalities with partial duplication of body structure (Robert, 2004). Varying degree of fusion occurs; but anterior duplications are more seen in ruminants and swine (Arthur et al., 2001). It is important to know various types of monsters which cannot be removed without Caesarean section most of the time (Gupta et al., 2011; Sharma, 2006). Case History and Clinical Observation A four-year-old indigenous, primiparous buffalo with the history of natural service 308 days before was presented in the Veterinary Hospital Dandaru. The animal was presented with the complaint that in spite of continuous straining for last 6 h after the expulsion of fi rst water bag, there was no progression to the stage of parturition. Per vaginal examination revealed an abnormal fetus with two heads joined at neck in anterior longitudinal presentation, dorso-pubic position with both the fore limbs retained against dorsal border of the vagina. As the fetus was a monster and was in dorso-pubic position, Caesarean section was done.


[Extract] The Northern Australia Health Service Delivery Situational Analysis ("Situational Analysis") is an initiative of the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA). The CRCNA is investing in industry-led research collaborations to develop new technologies,products and services which address industry issues in northern Australia. The aim of theSituational Analysis is to identify strategic long-term development and growth opportunities forthe health sector in northern Australia, towards a goal of improving the health and prosperity of northern Australian communities. The Situational Analysis is comprised of a series of outputs, namely: a literature review, export and demand analysis, SWOT analysis, research investment analysis, costing study and socialisation activities.


The invention belongs to the technical field of streaming data processing and provides a method, device and cluster for sharing data streams between different task topologies. The method comprises the steps that the first task topology is issued into the cluster; information of the data streams in the first task topology is obtained; the information of the data streams in the first task topology is written into management nodes of a relation type database; issuing information of a data stream needing to be subscribed by the second task topology is obtained from the management nodes of the relation type database, wherein the data stream needing to be subscribed is one data stream in the first task topology; the second task topology is issued into the cluster and reads the issuing information, and the corresponding data stream in the first tack topology is subscribed according to the issuing information. Compared with the prior art, the method, device and cluster for sharing the data streams between the different task topologies are not prone to errors and high in efficiency.


A multiresolution dynamic genetic algorithm searching technique is introduced to enhance the on-line model identification for finite-discrete state, discrete-time Markov models with continuous-range observations under white Gaussian noise. Markov chains with 3 states and 4 states are implemented. Key-Words: Markov Chains, Morkov Models, Transition Probabilities Matrix, State variables, Evolutionary Algorithms.


A method of detecting interconnect defects in a semicon ductor device. The method comprises positioning a portion of a semiconductor Substrate, having a plurality of intercon nects, in a field of view of an inspection tool. A voltage contrast image of the portion is produced. The Voltage (21) Appl. No.: 11/356,702 contrast image is obtained using a collection field that is at least about 1 percent different than an incident field. The method further comprises using the Voltage contrast image (22) Filed: Feb. 17, 2006 to determine defective ones of the interconnects. (73) Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX


Binary decision diagram (BDD) methodology is the most recent approach to improve Boolean reliability models assessment. The final size of the BDD, and therefore the ultimate benefits of this technique, are very sensitive to the initial variable ordering that has to be fixed prior to conversion. Several variable ordering strategies have been proposed in the literature, all of them focused on the treatment of single fault tree models. This paper proposes some extensions of existing variable ordering schemes for the case of combinations of non-disjoint fault trees, as is the case in quantifying sequences of event trees. These extensions work by combining ordering schemes applied to each fault tree, and exploring the cases where variables within the domains intersection are kept together or not. They have been specifically designed to be applied together with an incremental procedure to compute the BDD of the sequence accumulatively and to be used to quantify sequences of dynamic event trees. Preliminary results show the potential of this approach.


The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the working settings of millions of office employees. Recently, the study of the cardiac autonomic control profile (CACP) has been suggested as an early screening tool in occupational medicine. In this study we describe the CACP in relation to different working conditions. Seventeen healthy office active employees (age: $38\pm 7\ yrs,\ 9/8$ males/females) were studied, by means of electrocardiogram 24-hour Holter monitoring, while alternating working at home (SMART) and in the office (OFFICE), respectively. The beat-to-beat series of the time distance between two consecutive R-wave peaks was extracted during the 24 hours. Parametric power spectral analysis was iterated over the RR series during daytime (DAY) and nighttime (NIGHT). The degree of perceived stress, as measured via the visual analogue scale, was higher in OFFICE. During NIGHT the variance of the RR series was higher in SMART than in OFFICE situation. A similar tendency was observed for the absolute power of RR series in high frequency band. We conclude that the expected circadian rhythm of the vagal control is more evident in the SMART situation than in the OFFICE condition and the perceived stress is lower, with beneficial effects for the cardiovascular system and for the overall status of the entire organism.


DOI: 10.14684/intertech.13.2014.203-207 Until late 80s, three distinct phases in the evolution of experimental Electrical Engineering laboratories are identified. The third evolution phase, marked by the great insertion of digital equipment and intensive use of the Internet, made the use of experimental labs with remote access a viable possibility. The functional characteristics of this new kind of experimental laboratory led to dramatic advances in distance learning activities, as well as in experimental corporative research involving highly costly equipment. At this work, the historical evolution of experimental laboratories, focused in electrical engineering, with a view to shared use through web, is discussed. The integration of this technology in different segments of teaching and research are also discussed, particularly, the use of the Power Quality Remote Laboratory and its potential in teaching and research activities is shown as example. Index Terms - Experimental Laboratory, Experimental Research, E-learning.


Current practice in ecclesial liturgical acts for persons of the same sex is diverse, to say the least. It makes sense not only to start with current local practice as part of contextualized practical theology, but with one's own practice as a theologian. Practical theology as the theory of practice cannot begin with anything else than a theory of one's own practical doings in the field of liturgy. However, individual practice needs to be put into relation, first, to the practice-theory of one's church, its teachings and administration, and, second, to ecumenical practice in Christianity. In my case, personal practice means not primarily the practice of a Lutheran pastor in a South-German urban Lutheran congregation or—later on—as chaplain in a palliative care ward of a university hospital, but the practice of an openly gay Christian male (white, generation X, middle class) who has asked for a blessing service twice. My practice in question is not the practice of the person on the pastor's side of the altar, but on the parishioner's side. Asking for a liturgical act of blessing of a same-sex union resembles a kind of practice not often paid attention to, unlike several empirical studies asking why heterosexual couples still ask for wedding services in times of growing rates of divorce and alternative forms of living together. Liturgical practice of parishioners, however, is no less in need of theory than professional action. A same-sex couple—as much as bride and groom—have an idea of what their worship is about, why people gather as an assembly, or how the elements of service should be arranged. Ruard Ganzevoort writes: "The challenge ahead is the development of theological categories from the material of our own discourse, and that is praxis. Practical theology might truly become theology of praxis: building theological theory from the material of human praxis." Human praxis in case of liturgical acts for same-sex unions starts with the couple involved.


Advanced planning and automation are increasingly important in modern mines. Sophisticated methods for long-term mine planning are often used, and the advent of autonomous machines makes the actual ...


Spartina alterniflora is one of the most serious invasive species in the coastal saltmarshes of China. An accurate quantitative estimation of its canopy leaf chlorophyll content is of great importance for monitoring plant physiological state and vegetation productivity. Hyperspectral reflectance data representing a range of canopy chlorophyll content were simulated by using the PROSAIL radiative transfer model at a 1nm sampling interval, which was based on prior knowledge of S.alterniflora. A set of indices was tested for estimating canopy chlorophyll content. Subsequently, validation were performed for testing the performance of indices, based on the PROSAIL model using in situ data measured by a Spectroradiometer with spectral range of 350-2500nm in a late autumn in a sub-tropical estuarine marsh. PROSAIL simulations showed that the most readily available indices were not good to be directly used in canopy chlorophyll estimation of S.alterniflora. The modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index MCARI[705,750] was linear related to the canopy chlorophyll content (R2=0.94) , but did not achieve a satisfactory estimation results with a high RMSE (RMSE=0.95 g.m-2). We optimized the index MCARI[705,750] by introducing a scale conversion coefficient to the formula to solve data units inconsistent, which is between the practical application unit and the unit used in the process of establishing the index, and balance scale transformation through radiative transfer models and examing corresponding canopy reflectance index values. We proposed index Optimized modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index OMCARI[705, 750]. The results showed that the index OMCARI[705, 750] had higher precision of prediction of chlorophyll for S.alterniflora (R2=0.94,RMSE=0.41 g.m-2 ).


The recent publication of the CRASH-3 trial [1] was eagerly awaited for by the Emergency Medicine community. Indeed, tranexamic acid (TXA), with its relatively safe profile [2–6], seemed destined to become a standard of treatment for the haemorrhaging (critical care) patient if one is to believe the widespread adoption of the drug in countless trauma guidelines worldwide. This interest for the medication arose following the publication of the CRASH-2 trial results in 2010 [2], an impressive multicentre international randomised controlled study of 20211 patients, which showed an absolute (mortality) difference of 1.5% in favour of TXA. It was soon followed by other studies and trials [3,5,6], and although these later publications failed to demonstrate a statistically significant mortality benefit, the momentum for TXA was set. And while the exsanguinating patient of CRASH-2 seemed to have benefited from the administration of TXA, a pragmatic question remained: will the drug be beneficial to a more common presentation of everyday Emergency Medicine, that is, the intracranial bleed? While a subgroup analysis had shown a trend towards mortality reduction in the intracranial bleeding patient in a CRASH-2 cohort [7], and a second small trial trended towards a mortality benefit for intracranial bleeding patients treated with TXA [8], the CRASH-3 study aimed to answer this question (as well as attempting to address its influence on disability and adverse events) with a large international multicentre randomized (placebo) controlled trial. The answer, as with all clinical trials, is a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no.


Let an unbiased coin be used to form an ω-sequence S of independent tosses. Let N be the positive integers. The finite initial segment of length n ∈ N is denoted by Sn (thus, S1 holds exactly the first toss). For n ∈ N , let Hn be the proportion of heads that show up in Sn. Pick a positive real number D, to be thought of as a number of standard deviations from the mean of the standard normal distribution. For n ∈ N , call Sn newsworthy just in case: (1) 2Hn − n √ n ≥ D


Summary form only given. The "Volfilter" is an in situ OAUGDP sterilizable air filter for HVAC air ducts that has been loaded (via a nebulizer) with microorganisms in a test assembly. Previous exploratory research showed that the numbers of both S. aureus and bacterial virus Phi X174 on an air filter could be reduced by several decades (/spl sim/99.99%) by 10 minutes of exposure to a OAUGDP surface plasma. Results from Phase II of an EPA subcontract with EEC are presented. Further data have been gathered for additional microorganisms and more time points along the survival curve, after improvements were made to the electrode geometry of the filter, the power supply impedance matching, and the atomization of the microbes. Lastly, we have measured the effects of repeated plasma exposure on the air filter fabric strength.


OF THESIS A Descriptive Analysis of the Elderly Who Utilize Mental Health Services With Implications for Program and Policy Development


There are increasing demands and interests in Shari'ah compliant stocks in Malaysia. The identification of Shari'ah compliant stocks is known as Shari'ah screening, which is announced to the public twice a year. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate whether the announcements provide valuable information and the impact of such announcements on stock returns. This study applies market model to estimate the stock returns. Alternative hypotheses that are being tested are the inclusion (removal) of stocks in (from) the Shari'ah Compliant List give a significant effect on the stock Cumulative Average Abnormal Return (CAAR). Employing the event study methodology in years 2007 – 2015, this study provides unambiguous evidence that the inclusion of a stock in the Shari'ah Compliant List has increased the price that lead positive stocks returns 1 day within the announcement date. Meanwhile, the removal from the list results a negative stock returns due to the declined of the stock price. As such, the announcements of Shari'ah Compliant List do carry informational value and have significant effect on the stock returns in Malaysian capital market. Shari'ah compliance announcement is significant especially to the Muslim investors to assist them avoiding prohibited investment activities. The present study has significantly contributed to the Malaysian Efficient Market Hypothesis as well as to the practical implication for the companies in avoiding with haram activities.


The paper analyzes Rafael Spregelburd´s La Terquedad (The Stubbornness) based on an interpretation of the notion of stubbornness as Planc's nonsense of stubbornly pursuiting sense through the invention of an artificial, numerical and universal language that cancels the differences, supported on the protagonist's desire to give back to men that primitive faculty that God once gave them of a speech without language. Our investigation is based on an analysis of the temporal organization of facts in the play's plot, which begins and ends with the primitive man, with the negation of language; even of the artificial one invented by Planc: that numerical alphabet proposed as a solution to the capricious multiplication of its own words carried out by each language. We understand that the play rests on a circular structuring of the fable that reproduces the stubbornness of the protagonist and helps to highlight a notion of language without relation to the world, a language turned on itself.


Three examples involving size effects are presented with implications concerning the formability: small Ni-20wt.%Cr resistive bridges, magnetic micro-sensors performed with (Ni, Co, Fe) based alloys and copper clad aluminum thin wires. The mechanical properties are directly linked to the ratio thickness over grain size (t/d ratio) of the parts. These metallurgical considerations must be taken into account when we are concerned by the numerical simulation of the process of such components. It is shown that the simulations can correctly reproduce the softening effect linked to a decrease in thickness and in number of grains across the thickness: the quality of the final shape strongly depends on the number of grains across the thickness. Finally the effect of a moderate increase in temperature on these results will be briefly reported.


This paper introduces a design and simulation of an adaptive shunt active filter (SAF) for harmonic mitigation of an arc welding machine. This type of welding machines causes unacceptable current distortions in the utility electrical distribution system, especially when an adjacent manufacturing facility with extensive electronic controls exists. This work demonstrates effective use of active low-pass filter with the pulse width modulator PWM carrier strategy to control the current of active filter. The method is based on frequency domain. A model of a typical power system coupled with arc welding machine is presented. The active filter are implemented in power electronic simulation software, representative waveforms and spectral analysis is presented, simulation results show that the proposed active filter is very effective in harmonic elimination of an arc welding machine.


The estimation problem for dynamic systems with several time scales is considered. The method of asymptotic decomposition is used to reduce dimension and to simplify the structure of the observers.


The purification of water for domestic consumption involves several stages of treatment of the raw water to remove suspended solids, colour and bacteria before entering the distribution network. The individual treatment processes include clarification, disinfection, pH adjustment, filtration and taste and odour removal. The paper outlines the gradual introduction of automation strategies including neural net based colour prediction.


Today, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a standard of care in a number of haematological diseases. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) are used in the vast majority of autologous transplantations and are increasingly often used in the allogeneic setting as well, where they represent the stem cell source for most of the patients. Principal reasons for the shift from bone marrow stem cells towards PBSCs in allogeneic transplantation include faster stem cell engraftment/donor chimerism following transplantation as well as easier stem cell collection. However, PBSC mobilization, both in the auto- and the allo- setting, remains a demanding task that requires careful planning with high level of coordination and cooperation of medical professionals of different profiles. Despite the advances in this field, some patients with haematologic diseases still fail to mobilize sufficient autologous PBSCs and therefore cannot be treated with potentially curative therapeutic options that require stem cell support. Insights into the physiology of PBSC mobilization have recently revealed the crucial role of the CXCR4/SDF1-alpha axis. This receptor ligand interaction is responsible for stem cell retention in the bone marrow and agents used for stem cell mobilization act by disrupting this axis. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is currently the most widely used cytokine for mobilization. It is used in different schedules and dosing schemes, in its pegylated and nonpegylated form, and while in the allogeneic setting it is used alone, in the autologous setting it often follows chemotherapy priming. Its mechanism of action is indirect - by inducing release of metalloproteinases which disrupt the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis it leads to release of haematopoietic stem cells into the blood stream. Direct CXCR4 antagonists have recently been developed as novel, alternative mobilizing agents. AMD3100 (plerixafor) works by directly inhibiting the interaction between SDF-1 and its receptor CXCR4, and it can mobilize haematopoietic stem cells within hours. Plerixafor has been tested alone or in combination with growth factors in clinical trials in both autologous and allogeneic settings. Results of these studies have been recently published and are very promising. Given in combination with G-CSF it was efficient in yielding sufficient number of CD34+ cells in lymphoma and myeloma patients previously failing mobilization with chemotherapy and/or cytokine treatment. Another study has demonstrated that allografts from HLA-matched sibling donors can be succesfully mobilized and collected using plerixafor without G-CSF. Sufficient numbers of PBSC have been collected in two third of donors after just one dose of plerixafor and transplants with these cells showed rapid and complete engraftment. Plerixafor was well tolerated in these studies producing only mild and transient adverse side effects. Although the experience with plerixafor is still relatively limited and further data on its efficacy and safety are eagerly awaited, a new drug on the horizon is always an exciting event for the whole transplant community.


We consider an orienteering problem (OP) where an agent needs to visit a series (possibly a subset) of depots, from which the maximal accumulated profits are desired within given limited time budget. Different from most existing works where the profits are assumed to be static, in this work we investigate a variant that has arbitrary time-dependent profits. Specifically, the profits to be collected change over time and they follow different (e.g., independent) time-varying functions. The problem is of inherent nonlinearity and difficult to solve by existing methods. To tackle the challenge, we present a simple and effective framework that incorporates time-variations into the fundamental planning process. Specifically, we propose a deterministic spatio-temporal representation where both spatial description and temporal logic are unified into one routing topology. By employing existing basic sorting and searching algorithms, the routing solutions can be computed in an extremely efficient way. The proposed method is easy to implement and extensive numerical results show that our approach is time efficient and generates near-optimal solutions.


Vehicle collisions with large wild animals are a safety issue for motorists and an ecological concern for wildlife populations. The objective of this research was to advance the efficacy of Idaho Transportation Department's (ITD's) project planning to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife and to provide wildlife connectivity options across and under roads. A Wildlife-Vehicle Collision (WVC) Prioritization Process was developed through lessons learned from other U.S. States and Ontario Canada's efforts, and Geographic Information System (GIS) modeling of data and maps already available in Idaho. The GIS maps were based on WVC crash and carcass data, Wildlife Highway Linkages maps, and species' habitat maps. The resulting maps of WVC priority areas statewide and within ITD districts were the first of a 13 step process developed for the project. Users of this process further identify priority areas in ITD Districts based on other data such as: Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) knowledge of wildlife populations, transportation plans, land ownership, field surveys of existing structures, options such as fencing, bridges, and culvert, and their cost-effectiveness. This WVC Prioritization Process was a step along a series of actions which ITD has undertaken and will continue to take to reduce risks associated with WVC and provide wildlife connectivity along Idaho roads.


The literature is unanimous in highlighting that banking crises have a negative impact on GDP, usually more pronounced in developing economies. The magnitude of the losses is more controversial: the quantitative results of studies on the repercussions of banking crises on economic activity, in fact, are quite uneven. Estimates on the correlation between financial variables and GDP indicate output losses generally greater than ten percentage points of pre-crisis output and exhibit high variability, as a result of the large number of different methodologies adopted to measure real costs. The very high values thus obtained often reflect a problem in identifying the causal nexus between banking crises and real output fluctuations. The most recent literature, which examines the relevance of specific channels of transmission based on individual data, tends to produce a lower estimate of the direct causal effects of banking crises, which are rarely found to cause an output loss exceeding 2 per cent.