Abstract : This report describes a program of empirical and theoretical research on how category-level generalizations facilitate human performance in learning tasks, especially when the categories are acquired in an unsupervised environment. An information-processing model is described in which people are assumed to spontaneously search for patterns and regularities among the training instances, and use them as a basis for forming general concepts. These concepts, in turn, enable learners to economize their encoding of further instances by focusing selectively on their most informative features. The resulting memory organization appear to optimize later access to the information from long-term memory. Several memory experiments are described which provide strong support for these claims. Two similarity experiments are also reported; these demonstrate that concept learning affects the evaluation and judgement of training instances as predicted by our theory, specifically, that comparison are strongly affected by the informative (surprising or unusual) features of the objects being compared. We also introduce a new procedure for observing the spontaneous acquisition of concepts in an unsupervised task. This task provides a trial-by-trial index of the strength of subjects' default generalizations about the concept. Keywords: Attention; Mental model; concepts/categories; Unsupervised learning; Memory encoding; Memory retrieval.


Chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (cGVHD) is a major cause of nonrelapse morbidity and mortality following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). α‐Galactosylceramide (α‐GC) is a synthetic glycolipid that is recognized by the invariant T‐cell receptor of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in a CD1d‐restricted manner. Stimulation of iNKT cells by α‐GC leads to the production of not only immune‐stimulatory cytokines but also immune‐regulatory cytokines followed by regulatory T‐cell (Treg) expansion in vivo.


A distinctive feature of South African society is that a great number of this country's political leaders, intellectuals, artists, writers and activists were jailed under the apartheid regime. One consequence of this is that the prison memoir has become, in South Africa, a remarkably prevalent and influential form of autobiography. Indeed, the apartheid prison emerges as a privileged site for the construction of emergent notions of citizenship and leadership, a kind of testing-ground for new notions of South African identity. The obvious example is Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, where the prison is instrumental in the translation of the notion of a freedom fighter into a model for post-apartheid subjectivity. In some ways, the prison autobiography is rather like a laboratory where ideas of"self" and particularly the relationship between self and nation, the individual and the collectiveare produced, analysed, dissected and tested. In many of these memoirs, individual experience is used to illustrate a collective predicament. Individual experience is de-emphasised in favour of collective experience. This blurring of the distinction between self and community in prison occurs at least in part because solidarity and consensus were seen as important tools of struggle against the prison's (and by extension, the apartheid regime's) attempts to divide and isolate. At an ontological level, what Foucault terms the prison's drive towards "individualisation" (Foucault 1991: 193) was actively resisted through the constant hard labour of manufacturing a cohesive collective identity. Thus for a writer like Caesarina Makhoere, the exigencies of life in prison and her powerful Black Consciousness sensibility collude practically to foreclose the dimension of a private subjectivity. Where she speaks about private experience, it is immediately related back to a collective level. For instance, when she recounts growing up in a small house, she explains that most houses in Mamelodi township are small, and remarks "... they do not comply with the Freedom Charter" (Makhoere 1988: 3). The Freedom Charter, which prefaces Makhoere's autobiography, serves for her as a kind of witness to transcendent truth and justice. It represents the collective will on whose behalf Makhoere speaks, and confers meaning on her individual experience. For Makhoere, even looking at the stars and fantasising is an incontestably communal experience:


We describe the rare case of a 19 year-old patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia (Wermer syndrome), presenting with insulinomas as well as primary hyperparathyroidism. Echocardiography revealed evidence of calcific deposits in the interventricular septum. The latter may be explained by long-standing hypercalcemia.


Abstract Natural resources of off shore island of Bay of Bengal (BoB) have been used for multiple purposes and have strongly influenced socio-economic development. Conventional methods of collecting information about coastal area are relatively costly, time consuming and inaccurate. On the other hand Remote Sensing (RS) observation with its unique capability provides cost-effective support in compiling the latest information about the environment of coastal area, while Geographic Information System (GIS) facilitates uses for multidisciplinary analysis and decision support. Integrated analysis of RS and GIS can gives a vital input for better planning for exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of resources. In this study Sandwip Island of the BoB has been selected as study area. Landsat MSS (80 m) data of 1973, Landsat TM (30 m) data of 1989 and 2010 were used to generate digital data base of different time period, analysis of erosion and accretion and finally produced digital map of Sandwip island of Bangladesh in different time period. For land water layer generation, near-infrared band of (0.76 to 0.90 μm) has been used to develop an algorithm. In this study DN values of water in band 4 of Landsat-TM have been collected carefully from the histogram of the selected images and applied in the developed algorithm. Erosion and accretion map has been produced using raster base GIS and ArcGIS analysis. The study reveals that about 7068 ha area has been disappeared in the sea during 37 year (1973-2010) of which during 1973 to 1989 the rate of erosion per year was about 316 ha but during 1989 to 2010 it was reduced to 24 ha only. Keywords: Conventional, Remote sensing, GIS, Erosion, Accretion


Being able to clearly identify the complexity of a project would impact its management in such a way so as to generate important change in how it should be directed. The development of a project could vary from stability and predictability to instability and failure. The constant search for competitiveness, efficiency, and speed drives organizations to predict the amount of effort invested in the management of certain types of projects as well to establish methods to evaluate factors and decisions using consistent and objective bases. Though there are numerous ways of determining the complexity of a project due to what can be called "the principle of complexity analysis uncertainty", the very way analysis is defined could lead to imprecise evaluations that do not adequately support decisions. In order to conduct analysis, one of the first steps involves understanding the causes of complexity in the projects, for which they can be grouped in various categories. The Project Management Institute proposes a structure that is aligned with program and project management, which establishes an important starting point. There are various areas of project management that begin with complexity analysis; one of the most important areas is risk management.


In vitro cultures of Laminaria digitata (Hudson) Lamouroux stipe medullary explants (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) gave rise to friable morula‐like masses of pigmented cells. Upon subculture under continuous white light, they grew out as filaments, which tended to dissociate into spherical isolated cells, leading to the establishment of a suspended cell‐filament culture. Depending on culture conditions, this cell‐filament suspension underwent various forms of growth, including regeneration of morphologically normal sporophytes, and this developmental pathway was stimulated by blue light. Genotyping with nine polymorphic microsatellite markers indicated that the regenerated sporophytes and the cell‐filament suspension shared the same genotype. As assessed by flow cytometric analysis of isolated nuclei, the cell‐filament suspension exhibited a 2C nuclear DNA content, whereas the regenerated sporophytes displayed a 4C level. Chromosome counting, however, showed that both the mother suspension and the regenerated sporophytes were diploid, suggesting the involvement of polyteny in the regeneration process.


This clear and concise guide to acute pain management is multidisciplinary and a useful reference source for an acute pain service team. The text draws on the experience of two centres of excellence, one in Australia and the other in the US.


In foreign language teaching, teachers generally depend on course books but many of the course books that are used by Turkish Ministry of Education do not contain authentic materials. However, literary texts are also authentic materials and they can be used to teach English. This study is conducted at a private school in Kutahya, in order to highlight the effectiveness of the use of literary texts in English teaching. The study examines the use of Short Stories with beginner levels studying at Middle School. To do so, a sample of 57 Turkish students were selected. The research design is two-sided, both descriptive and experimental. The experimental part is conducted for 3 weeks and a grammar test was administered to search the grammar improvement of students. In the descriptive part, a belief questionnaire was administered towards the inclusion of short stories to English lessons. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The results showed a positive difference in grammar scores and in the beliefs of students towards the literary texts. Therefore, the findings in general, seem to convince that the inclusion of short stories to language teaching can boost the students' grammar knowledge.


Space–time singularities are studied in both the (D+d)-dimensional string theory and its D-dimensional effective theory, obtained by the Kaluza–Klein compactification. It is found that space–time singularities in the low dimensional effective theory may or may not remain after lifted to the (D+d)-dimensional string theory, depending on particular solutions. It is also found that there exist cases in which space–time singularities appearing in high/low dimensional space–times do not necessarily happen on the same surfaces.


ABSTRACT Most of the literature on tourism taxation focuses on indirect taxes, on their use as a policy to promote tourism or as a system for collecting and controlling revenue. This document addresses an issue which has thus far remained almost unexplored; the direct taxation of tourism through the corporate tax borne by companies in the sector. The proposed objectives are twofold: first, to verify whether direct taxation leads to an additional tax on the tourism sector, which compensates for the lower collection due to the application of reduced rates in indirect taxation; and second, to ascertain whether there are differences between the different subsectors of the tourism sector in this regard. For this, a random sample of 16,266 Spanish companies for the period 2014–2018 is used, taken from the SABI (Iberian Balance Analysis System) base. Results show that Spanish tourism companies are taxed above average, although less than most subsectors of the services sector, such that it cannot be said that there is compensation for the lower VAT tax burden. However, the exception is travel agencies, who bear a much higher levy on corporate tax whilst at the same time enjoying a special VAT regime.


Guiding autonomous vehicles inside a scenario to navigate to given goal positions requires an accurate and precise knowledge of the vehicle's position and orientation. This paper proposes a method, and its implementation, to improve the placement of a given number of visual markers inside a predefined indoor scenario so that a vehicle flying in there can accurately and continuously estimate its pose in order to avoid collisions. In order to estimate the pose of the vehicle the localization method fuses the positions of the several visual markers which are estimated from data retrieved by the vehicle's on-board camera. Both the optimization method and the localization system proposed are tested in two prototype scenarios. The most relevant experimental results of the simulation with the implemented model and algorithm are presented, as well as open issues and possible improvements to future approaches to the problem.


Characteristic Accounting is under definite space -time. We should considerate Chinese characteristic accounting as the composition of forces of international economy, technologic tidall and local cultural atmosphere. From the economic angle, the most significant feature of socialism market economy is public -owned based economy institution. This article analyzes the Chinese characteristic accounting from the angle of property right, institution and economy and compare the disparity with existing accounting.


FIELD: chemistry. SUBSTANCE: as test-device used is piezo-quartz resonator with natural frequency of fluctuations 10 MHz, electrodes of which are modified by application on them of polydiethyleneglycolsuccinate from individual acetone solution in such a way that weight of sorbent film after removal of solvent by drying in drying chamber at temperature 40-50°C for 15-20 min constituted 15-20 mcg, which is placed into closed compartment of detecting static monochannel gas analyser and kept in it for 5 min to establish stable zero signal. After that, sample of nitrogen-containing mineral fertiliser weighing 0.050 g is sampled into sampler and dissolved in distilled water (10 cm 3 ). After that, it is tightly closed with polyurethane plug, through which 1 cm 3 of sodium hydroxide solution with concentration 4 mol/dm 3 is introduced, obtained solution is kept at temperature 20±1°C for 15 minutes to saturate gas phase with ammonia vapours. After that, 1 cm 3 of balanced gas phase is sampled through polyurethane plug with syringe and injected into closed detection compartment of static monochannel gas analyser, fixed for 60 s with changing frequency of fluctuations of piezo-sensor, analytic signal - maximal change of fluctuation frequency ΔF max for 60 s ΔF max =f(τ) is calculated and content of ammonia is determined by calibration curve, built in ΔF max coordinates of concentration of ions NH 4 + (ΔF max =f (C NH4 + , %)), content of ammonia is determined. Calibration curve is built by standard solutions of ammonia nitrate, for fertilisers, containing nitrogen in different forms, by content of ammonia nitrogen its content is calculated in terms of total nitrogen, for which purpose obtained by calibration curve ammonia concentrations are multiplied by correction factor 82.4. EFFECT: elaboration of method of assessing quality of nitrogen-containing mineral fertilisers with application of piezo-sensors, making it possible to assess quality of nitrogen-containing mineral fertilisers and extend range of determination of total nitrogen concentrations with application of piezo-quartz converter with thin-film coating, characterised by high sensitivity, with low limits of ammonia detection, accuracy, expressiveness and selectivity of analysis, objectivity of measurement and decision-taking. 2 dwg, 1 tbl


Abstract— The photochemical ramifications of the high ultraviolet flux on the primordial earth prior to the formation of the ozone layer have been considered in a study of the ultraviolet photochemistry of uroporphyrinogen (urohexahydroporphyrin), a colorless compound which absorbs strongly at wavelengths less than 220 nm. Urohexahydroporphyrin was investigated since it is the first macrocycle formed on the biosynthetic pathway of chlorophyll and can be used to test the hypothesis that the biosynthetic pathway to chlorophyll recapitulates the evolutionary history of photosynthesis.


Information technology has had a profound impact on various fields. Health care institutions are not exempted from this effect. These institutions generate a high volume of information which should be collected, distributed, registered, retrieved and summarized. The application of technology in health care in forms of electronic health record and e-health system is one of the most important issues which can be helpful in improvement of health care quality [1]. One of the first steps could be providing the hardware, national standardization of protocols and improvement of computer skills of caregivers [2-4]. Supports and contribution of different ministries and non-governmental organizations are essential in effective e-health implementation [5]. Various e-health applications such as telemedicine, email consultation and distance education have been performed in strategic programs of different countries [6]. Implementation and practice of these applications have received higher attention in some countries. World Health Organization (WHO), expressing the benefits of e-health, has announced that e-health must be one of the essential parts of any strategy and the most important plan in order to vicissitude the health care system in the 21st century [7]. The structural characteristics of Iran's health system reminding the necessity of information technology development in medical field are as follows: variation of disease in reprobated areas and concentration of resources in large cities, dramatic effect of awareness in improving health and reducing the disease incidence, the necessity of immediate access to patients' health records by physician, access to information and disease statistics in medical research, medical cooperation as the essential requirement for synergy, the need of professional counseling without the physical presence of patients, the necessity of increasing treatment efficiency, patients' reverence and providing the best service with the least concern for patients and relatives and also providing the necessary equipment for physician [1]. It seems more attention is required to present the strategies which increase the probability of success in implementation of any practical means of this technology in Iran. E-health has gradually stepped into international health system to increase the quality of treatment and access to economic treatment. The increasing demand for education and research has made e-therapy the only solution to these challenges [7,8]. The present study is a nonsystematized review to investigate literature about electronic health in Iran. Volume 5 Issue 5 2017


Concrete is one of the most used construction material in the world. The constant
development and research for better concrete has led to bioconcrete, which is concrete
infuse with micro-organisms that benefits the concrete by production of calcium
carbonate. However, the production of calcium carbonate is limited to the calcium
available in the cement. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to add calcium nutrient
source in the form of calcium lactate in bioconcrete and study the engineering concrete
properties and self-healing of micro-cracks. The bacteria used in this study is 3%
Enterococcus faecalis and 5% Bacillus sp. Whereas the calcium lactate that is added
into this study is in concentrations of 0.22 g/L, 1.09 g/L and 2.18 g/L. Concrete with
dimensions of 100 mm × 100 mm × 500 mm for prisms, cylinders of 150 O × 300 mm
and cubes of 150 mm × 150 mm ×150 mm are used to test for the engineering concrete
properties at 7th, 14th and 28th day and self-healing of micro-cracks in concrete is in the
range of 0-100 days. This research has contributed significantly to the finding of
overall improvement of concrete properties from the addition of calcium lactate in
bioconcrete. This is confirmed with the improvement of engineering concrete
properties and self-healing of micro-cracks with the addition of 2.18 g/L of calcium
lactate for both bacteria. UPV and micro-structure analysis were conducted to verify
self-healing. Based on overall results, concrete with Bacillus sp with 2.18 g/L is most
ideal.


A sensor element of interdigital capacitor (IDC) electrodes covering with tungstated-zirconia thick film has been tested as an ammonia sensor. The sensor has been found to respond rapidly to changes in the concentration of ammonia in oxygen rich atmospheres. The sensor showed negligible cross-sensitivity to propene, CO, and NO. It was found that subnano-sized polytungstate clusters are uni- formly supported on the zirconia surface, and the strong acid sites derived from the polytungstate clusters are effective for selective adsorption of ammonia. The sensing mechanism of the tungstated-zirconia thick film was investigated by means of in-situ FT/IR. Temperature dependence and dynamic response of the conductivity were in good accordance with the surface concentration of ammonium ion adsorbed on Bronsted acid site. The role of ammonium ion as a migrating species for ammonia sensing was suggested.


We investigate spin thermodynamic processes taking place during Hartmann–Hahn cross‐polarization experiments in solids, in which spin polarization is transferred between two nuclear spin species by the application of two strong rf fields. As is well known, optimum cross polarization is achieved for a particular ratio of the two rf field strengths called the Hartmann–Hahn condition; we find experimentally that this condition provides the optimum transfer not only on kinetic grounds, as is usually supposed, but also for thermodynamic reasons. By measurement of the evolution of the spin observables in a ferrocene single crystal we demonstrate the existence of a quasi‐equilibrium state with nonuniform spin temperature and less than maximum entropy. A modified spin thermodynamic theory is developed whose main features are the important role of the dipolar energy for the quasi‐equilibrium state and the existence of constants of the motion other than the total energy. A new cross‐polarization experiment is sugge...


Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country in transition is characterized by many socio-economic problems, which has further contributed to the current global economic crisis. However, despite the existence of awareness about the high rate of unemployment, especially among young people, very little has been done by the authorities, and by the young people themselves. Using a sample of 107 students, with different study orientations, of whole area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we wish to examine whether and to what extent, the current economic condition of this country have had an impact on their psychological passive conception of reality and attitudes towards the future, as well as quality communication that young people are divided.


Fractal theory considers that everything in nature is an aggregate with different hierarchical configurations, which have infinitely exact hierarchy and self-similarity characteristics despite unlike scale of different parts. In virtue of fractal theory, we can regard it as a basis and a means of architectural design in order to make architecture close to nature and humanity. On the other hand, we can also evaluate architecture quantitatively through finding out the lack by analyzing distribution of scale of hierarchies In architecture, and judging its rationality by contrasting between different scales in various things. Thus, fractal theory provides more scientific standard for architectural estimation.


An improved version of a mechanical device for retrieving ribbons of ultrathin sections free of wrinkles is described. The device is simple and easy to use and can be used by both right- and left-handed operators. A grid is grasped by forceps which are held in position by a magnet in such a way that it can be lowered into the water well behind the floating sections. After a ribbon has been properly aligned, moved to the grid and fastened by an end-section, the grid with the sections is slowly drawn up and out of the water with a rack-and-pinion mechanism.


It analyzes the equity of utilization of health service under three basic medical schemes,and compares the needs and utilization of health services,and compares the equity of utilization of health service with concentration index by household survey data.The equity of utilization of outpatient services is better than the equity of inpatient utilization,which should be improved.Therefore,the government should improve the level of compensation of inpatient utilization service under new rural cooperative medical and urban residents' schemes,and also to increase the resident's income and integrate three basic medical schemes improve the equity of utilization of health service.


Abstract Vulvar carcinoma is a rare tumor occurring in female patients. Though more than 40% of vulva cancers are due to the infection of human papillomavirus (HPV), understanding of HPV and vulvar carcinoma is insufficient. HPV expression is regulated by cellular and viral transcription factors that bind to specific elements within the ligase chain reaction. These proteins bind with different affinity to host cell proteins and disrupt normal epithelial differentiation and apoptosis. Immunotherapy does not target tumors, but instead targets the host immune system. Active immunotherapy is tumor-targeting or immune-targeting monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. Nonspecific active immunotherapy is mainly cytokine therapy. In the treatment and prevention of HPV, the most popular research projects were regarding peptide, recombinant protein and DNA-based vaccines, recombinant virus and other targets in HPV infection. Since the cervix and vulva are both susceptible areas, these studies may be able to help reduce prevalence of vulvar precancerous lesions and prevent all cancers caused by HPV.


* This paper constitutes the substance of a brief address given on the occasion of the graduation of the first class from the Jewish Center School of the Congregation Shaaray Tefila, Far Rockaway, New York, Sunday evening, June 21, 1936. After three years, the remarks then made seem appropriate to the celebration of the first decade (recently completed) of an unusual effort to integrate the spiritual culture of the Jewish people with the growing heritage of American civilization.


Two research groups have independently elucidated the first crystal structures of the cannabinoid receptor CB1, a cell-membrane protein involved in a host of appetite, pain-sensation, memory, and other physiological processes. The protein's floppy movements between active and inactive states make it difficult to study, so Alexandros Makriyannis of Northeastern University and colleagues designed a strong inhibitor to bind and help immobilize CB1 to get a better glimpse of its structure (Cell 2016, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.004). Meanwhile, a team led by Daniel M. Rosenbaum of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center published a CB1 structure with slightly higher resolution, which they stabilized by binding the antiobesity drug taranabant (Nature 2016, DOI: 10.1038/nature20613). Because cannabinoids are quite varied themselves, Ken Mackie of Indiana University says the new papers "finally give us a clear sense of the nooks and crannies in CB1 that cannabinoids can interact with." Despite some d...


Little is observationally known about the progenitors of Type Ibc supernovae (SNe) or the typical activity of SNe progenitors in their final years. Here, we analyse deep Large Binocular Telescope imaging data spanning the 4 yr before and after the Type Ibc SN 2012fh using difference imaging. We place 1σ upper limits on the detection of the progenitor star at M_U > −3.8, M_B > −3.1, M_V > −3.8 and M_R > −4.0 mag. These limits are the tightest placed on a Type Ibc SN to date and they largely rule out single star evolutionary models in favour of a binary channel as the origin of this SN. We also constrain the activity of the progenitor to be small on an absolute scale, with the RMS UBVRoptical variability ≲ 2500 L⊙ and long-term dimming or brightening trends ≲ 1000 L⊙ yr^(−1) in all four bands.


Under the precondition of maintaining existing operating mode and main circuits of the lathes,one used PLC to replace the traditional control made,then the its control circuits were simplified greatly to make its fault ratio reduced.The results show that it is good practice by analyzing results of both designs.


Pain is a significant problem for millions of Americans, in many cases leading to disability and decreased quality of life, as well as a variety of other problems and millions of pain medication prescriptions. Of the pain prescriptions given, a large number are for opioids, which carry significant risks and are associated with complications. Over-the-counter medications commonly used for pain are also associated with risks and complications. For a variety of reasons, many Americans are seeking pain management alternatives. This article identifies and explains selected nonpharmacologic approaches to pain management and how they can be used and implemented in the healthcare setting.


scan revealed that the the had herniated into the thoracic cavity through a hiatus of the diaphragm(hernia orifice ) that there was the diaphragmatic between the hernia orifice and the esophageal hiatus. From these parahiatal hernia complicated by gastric volvulus was diagnosed. Endoscopic repair of the hernia was difficult. So we returned the herniated gastric body and lateral segment of the liver to the abdomen under laparoscopy, then closed the hernia orifice with sutures. After the operation, the patient was associated with reflux esophagitis(Los Angeles Classification ) it subsided with conservative therapy. The patient was discharged from the hospital on the 20th postoperative day. No recurrence has occurred as of six months after the surgery and her postoperative clinical course has been satisfactory.


Place names are a vital part of our everyday lives because when we travel, we can determine the position of a place based on street names. Naming is in the hands of political power so it is worth observing the elements of the toponymical structure with a critical eye. Whether commemorative street names reflect the historical perspective of a broader or a narrower social group makes a difference, because if the latter prevails, alternative place names can easily be born. In my study, I would like to present some of the different lines of research on place names and briefly describe case studies of foreign countries and cities that highlight the different attributes of toponymy. I will then summarize the past and present of place names in Budapest followed by a qualitative and quantitative analyses of the 6th and 13th districts of the capital. Terézváros has a number of symbolic street names which were renamed in times of political change. The 13th district consists of several neighbourhoods with different toponymical structures, which offers us interesting research opportunities.


A comparison is made between the deformation-induced zone beneath nanoindentations obtained by Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Since there are resolutional limitations associated with EBSD, especially at very small scan sizes, it is not known how accurately the deformed volume beneath the imprints can be characterized. To aid in answering this question, cross-sectional EBSD and TEM samples of nanoindentations were fabricated by means of a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) workstation, analyzed, and subsequently compared with each other. For large indentations as well as for shallow ones, agreement of the determined zones was found. The results of the EBSD and TEM experiments were also used to characterize the deformed volumes. In the EBSD maps of large indentations, strongly confined deformation patterns were found, while for the shallow indentations the observed patterns are more diffuse. The TEM micrographs and the Selected-Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) support these facts and give insight into the dislocation structure of the deformation zone.


Water pipeline leakage detection is still an important issue, particularly for the development of smart cities. Thus, this paper reviews water pipeline leakage detection techniques, which can be classified into three different categories, namely, software-based, hardware-based, and conventional methods. We compare the advantages and disadvantages for all the methods in the groups and thoroughly discuss the hardware-based method, which is our focus. Specifications on water pipeline testbeds used in the previous works are also highlighted. Since many recent techniques are based on accelerometer or vibration sensors, a comparative study that includes the cost and accuracy in identifying the pipeline leaks is presented. The theoretical computation of the vibration induced from our water pipeline testbed is also demonstrated and compared with the actual vibration data collected from the experimental works using three different sensors, namely, MPU6050, MMA7361, and ADXL335.


P66 is a Borrelia burgdorferi surface protein with β3 integrin binding and channel forming activities. In this study, the role of P66 in mammalian and tick infection was examined. B. burgdorferiΔp66 strains were not infectious in wild‐type, TLR2−/−‐ or MyD88−/−‐deficient mice. Strains with p66 restored to the chromosome restored near wild‐type infectivity, while complementation with p66 on a shuttle vector did not restore infectivity. Δp66 mutants are cleared quickly from the site of inoculation, but analyses of cytokine expression and cellular infiltrates at the site of inoculation did not reveal a specific mechanism of clearance. The defect in these mutants cannot be attributed to nutrient limitation or an inability to adapt to the host environment in vivo as Δp66 bacteria were able to survive as well as wild type in dialysis membrane chambers in the rat peritoneum. Δp66 bacteria were able to survive in ticks through the larva to nymph moult, but were non‐infectious in mice when delivered by tick bite. Independent lines of evidence do not support any increased susceptibility of the Δp66 strains to factors in mammalian blood. This study is the first to define a B. burgdorferi adhesin as essential for mammalian, but not tick infection.


This study was funded by the Sistema de Investigacion del Mar de Cortes (SIMAC-CONACYT 00BCS7006) and the International Foundation for Science (IFS A/3816-1). M. K. M. is the recipient of a doctoral fellowship from CONACYT.


The paper is devoted to a topical issue of philosophy and science of law: a definition of the subject of legal philosophy. Approaches to this problem taken by Soviet and later Russian lawyers are analysed in the paper. A conclusion is drawn that, despite differences in approaches taken, all lawyers include legal philosophy in the system of juridical science. Hence, the definition given by these scholars for the subject of legal philosophy is the same as for that for the science of law. Further, a justification is given that legal philosophy is not included in the general legal theory but identifies directions of cognition of law, legal methodology, lays down approaches and fundamental problems of law, and looks for way to solve them. Therefore, the subject of legal philosophy includes fundamental issues of legal being, nature of law, methods of cognition of law, values of law, perception of law, legal logic, place the man takes in legal relations. Legal philosophy serves as that very 'bridge' which is the connecting link between 'pure' philosophy and the theory of state and law that constitutes a foundation for the whole juridical science. The position of the scholars trying to consider legal philosophy as two, in fact, separate disciplines: a philosophical and a juridical one, is examined and critisised. Finally, a conclusion is made that legal philosophy is a specialised branch of philosophy, whose subject of study includes fundamental problems of legal ontology, legal gnoseology, legal axiology, legal anthropology, legal logic, legal ethics, legal axiology, and legal consciousness.


1PG Scholar, Dept. Of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, JNTUACEA, Anantapuramu, A.P., India 2Asst.Professor, Dept. Of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, JNTUACEA, Anantapuramu, A.P., India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***-------------------------------------------------------------------AbstractThis paper proposes a loss-minimizing strategy is proposed for induction motor drives to ensure maximum efficiency operation for a given torque demand. The continuous needs of energy savings require higher efficient electrical drives which uses Adjustable Speed Drives (ASDs). Due to its ruggedness, simple technology, maintenance-freeness and low cost, the Induction Machine (IM) still represents the major energy consumer in ASDs. For applications that require flux-weakening, IMs provide a better solution for ASDs. The efficiency of IM drives can be improved by flux adaptation according to the load demand. The flux adaptation can be done through three categories of loss-minimizing strategies, implemented for scalar or vector control of induction motor drives. These loss minimizing strategies are 1) control of a single motor variable, such as the displacement power factor or the slip frequency 2) the search control, where the motor flux is iteratively adapted to minimize the input power and 3) loss model of the motor and/or the power converter. The proposed strategy directly regulates the machine stator flux according to the desired torque, using an optimal stator flux reference. Therefore, the proposed strategy is suitable for motor control schemes that are based on direct flux regulation, such as direct torque control or direct flux vector control. The maximum efficiency per torque (MEPT) stator flux map is computed offline using the traditional no-load and short-circuit tests' data. This strategy makes the motor efficiency is significantly improved below rated torque compared to the constant rated flux operation An iron loss model based on the stator flux and frequency is also proposed for the calibration of the machine loss model and also for on-line monitoring of the iron losses during motor.


In a recent study by Han et al. the authors highlight that a tumor growth inhibition metric termed time-to-tumor-growth (TTG) derived from imaging time-series data is a strong predictor of survival. The authors demonstrate the strength of TTG's correlation to survival using Kaplan-Meier curves in Figure 2 of their article. Indeed, the relationship seems incredibly strong, maybe too good to be true. Perhaps it could well be as we now explain. One of the key forms of bias when using covariates that are time-dependent, which TTG and, in fact, any model-derived metrics are, is timedependent (immortal time) bias. In basic terms, this form of bias relates to the failure to account for the time taken to estimate a time-dependent covariate when performing a survival analysis. The Kaplan-Meier's plotted in Figure 2 of Han et al. assume that TTG is known at the beginning of the study; which is clearly not true. TTG can only be calculated once a certain amount of time-series data has been collected. Therefore, the Kaplan-Meier curves in Figure 2 are incredibly misleading and biased. The article by Suissa suggests options as to how to handle time-dependent covariates. One simple option could be to adjust the survival time to account for the time needed to estimate TTG. By accounting for the time taken to estimate TTG, the authors would have an unbiased view on the relationship between TTG and survival. We encourage the authors to show this figure such that readers can see what the unbiased relationship looks like; unlike the biased one published. It must be stressed that this form of bias has been rife in survival analysis with the co-authors of Han et al. publishing similar results in another journal. We implore people using such metrics to consider approaches that account for correcting time-dependent bias or at least state why it does not apply to their analysis.


Purpose
This study aims to determine the differences in information professionals' perceived news literacy skills and sharing behaviors with their demographics (gender, age, qualification, professional experience and working designation).

Design/methodology/approach
Using a quantitative research design, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect the data from information professionals working in university libraries.

Findings
Findings reveal that the use of social media channels for sharing news was significantly higher among the professionals in the age group <30 years as compared to the older age groups. Female professionals determine the authenticity of a news story more frequently than males. The study concludes that the factors such as age, education level and work experience significantly influence information professionals' use of social media for sharing news and their news literacy skills.

Practical implications
The study holds some important practical implications in terms of identifying demographic factors in the perceived news literacy skills and sharing behaviors. Having information about the significant variations in demographics may help in adopting the targeted approaches for organizing news literacy sessions, as well as to develop a framework for news literacy instructions.

Originality/value
This study adopted the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education given by the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) to develop the theoretical framework and questionnaire. The validated questionnaire on news literacy skills has been specifically constructed for the study in absence of finding any in the literature. Moreover, studies were hardly found assessing the difference of demographics with information professionals' perceived news literacy skills and their news sharing behaviors.


We investigate hypersurfaces M in semi-Riemannian spaces of constant curvature satisfying some Ricci-type equations and for which the tensor H3 is a linear combination of the tensor H2, the second fundamental tensor H of M and the metric tensor g of M .


The quality of teaching is the core of education work in institutions of higher learning.The factors that affect the quality of teaching in institutions of higher learning are many and varied. One important factor among them is management. The author thinks that total quality management must be put into effect if we want to improve the quality of teacthing.The article expounds the basic idea of total quality management and brings to light to the possibility and necessity of putting total quality management into effect as well as discusses the methods how to do it.


The article provides an overview of the official Swedish attitude towards trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, places this view in an international context, and also critically analyzes prob ...


It is not too difficult to date the start of this story. The theme of the relationship between population and resources seems to have been one which I have pursued off and on for all of my adult academic life. My first memory of being really excited by the problems behind 'Savage Wars' was in my third year as a history undergraduate at Oxford in 1962/3, when I wrote a long essay titled 'What does one mean by the term "Industrial Revolution"?' I have this essay in front of me now and note the following sections in it which, some thirty years or so ago, foreshadow some of the themes explained in 'Savage Wars'. Since this is my very first encounter with a problem which I am still trying to work out thirty years later, and since I am engaging in an archaeology of knowledge, it is perhaps worth including the section on the demographic situation and industrial revolution in England.


Atmospheric correction of satellite data is necessary for
many applications of remote sensing;
ATCOR is widely used for atmospheric correction of
Rapid Eye data;
No uncertainty estimation of using ATCOR for
atmospheric correction of Rapid Eye data


Summary Background: eight mules with angular limb deformity (ALD) type carpus varus and carpus valgus were studied. Objective: to evaluate a biopsy technique of the distal growth plate of the radius using a Jamshidi needle. Methods: thirteen limbs with ALD were biopsied immediately before undergoing corrective surgery. The site of biopsy depended on the severity of ALD and surgical technique. The samples were preserved and processed for histopathological study. Results: of all biopsies evaluated, only three were successfully obtained. Conclusions: the biopsy technique used was not efficient (23% success rate), however it allowed us to describe the physeal dysplasia in mules with ALD. Our findings agree with those previously described in horses.


The increasing complexity of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the educational environment prompts the research aimed at investigating the modern social and cultural landscape and identifying acmeological mechanisms of social and psychological aspects of the school safe climate. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the concept of "cultural traditions" proposed by D. B. Zilberman and devoted to normative and value types of attitudes to reality. The purpose of the study is to establish the correlation between the assessment of the social and psychological aspects of the school safe climate and the value and normative types of attitudes to reality. The latter are seen as the ways for the subjects of the educational process to express the attitude to the basic values. Research hypotheses: 1) Subjects of the educational environment who regard basic values as significant represent a value type; 2) The value type of the personality determines the educational environment as a safer one. The study sample includes: 1177 students aged 13 to 16 (60% of boys, 40% of girls, average age 14.9), 925 parents aged 28 to 57 (93% of females, 7% of males; average age 39.0), 136 teachers aged 23 to 74 (95% of females, 5% of males; average age 38.7) from Kazan. Research methodology: the test "Value Orientations" (by M. Rokich), the original questionnaire on the social and psychological aspects of the school safe climate (by E. N. Gilemkhanova). Evidently, the subjects of the educational environment who regard basic values as significant represent a value type as opposed to a normative type. The research shows that the value type of attitude determines the identification of the educational environment as a safer one. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the results obtained open up the possibility for interpreting D. B. Zilberman's concept in the context of acmeological determinants of social and psychological aspects of the school safe climate. The results of the study can be used to provide psychological and pedagogical support to the subjects of the educational process. Additionally, they are of importance for those implementing complex measures to organize a safe educational environment of the school.


In practical application studies of glider formations, ocean currents are a major influencing factor in their path planning. The purpose of this paper is to solve the path planning problem of glider formations in time-varying ocean currents and establish gliders, glider formation, and ocean current models based on existing data. The Doc-CNN architecture is tailored to conform to the operation and environment characteristics of gliders in practical application. After experiments, the algorithm of the improved architecture can be used in the path planning task of glider formation. The algorithm architecture is compared and tested on two datasets, grid maps and ocean maps. Doc-CNN has an advantage over architecture without being tailored to glider characteristics and makes full use of known global information and local information collected by gliders themselves. The results show that the path planning problem of glider formation in ocean currents can be solved by using Doc-CNN.


Analysis and simulate international relationship by using high-tech cluster of information technology is important and meaningful to the modern research of strategic work and the strategic decision-making. This paper use Multi-Agents system to model the international relationship with macrocosmic level and microcosmic level. For the microcosmic level shows activities and the rules of correlative activities of countries, propose a reinforcement learning algorithm to improve cooperative efficiency among agents, which based on common goal and joint rewards to insure agents to learn cooperative behavior. A prototype and an experiment were given.


IgM antibodies againstvirus E were measured by ELISA in 35 positive and 18 negative serum samples for IgGantibodies against hepatitis virus E, without evidence of infection with hepatitis A, B or C virus.Measurement of the same antibodies in 25 additional samples positive for IgM antibodiesagainst hepatitis A virus but without study for hepatitis virus B or C.


It is very risky to cleft grafting the power of communication,so the thoughtful consideration should be taken before this process to reduce the construction risk.In this article,the basic principle and requirement of power cutover was described,then the implementation process,the requirement after cutover and the emergency processing were discussed in detailed.


Polypeptides are one of the key versatile and unique bio-molecular building blocks of life. They are very well known to be the basic components involved in myriad cell metabolic activities. Most of these functions rely on the fundamental fold that the polypeptide adopts in the three dimensional space. The polypeptide chains fold into definite 3D structures with well defined and organized secondary structures which inturn is a resultant of several non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals forces, pi-pi stacking, steric effects and many such factors. Here lies a wide scope to design novel building blocks that would lead to the unambiguous understanding of the complex protein structure.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology to systematize the determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty and the relationship with the perceived quality of service in traditional retail stores in the South and Island regions of Portugal. The proposed conceptual model aims to analyse if perceived service quality (five dimensions of SERVQUAL) directly contribute to customer satisfaction, customer-perceived value and corporate image. The results show that service quality significantly influences corporate image, perceived value and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, perceived value and quality service are the main determinants of customer satisfaction. Additionally, customer satisfaction, corporate image and perceived value significantly affect behavioural intentions towards the act of buying. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this study contributes to the consumer behaviour literature and service quality management in specific industry contexts.


Objective To explore the short tandem repeat(STR) loci polymorphism in Yunnan Bulang nationality to provide basic data for population study,forensic cases and parentage testing.Methods The genetic distributions of 15 STR loci were investigated with the use of co-amplification,genescan and genotype in blood samples obtained from 97 unrelated Bulang nationality.Results 118 STR alleles and 229 genotype were obtained in 15 loci,with the allele frequencies ranging from 0.005 2~0.556 7,heterozygosity(H) 0.556 7~0.876 3;discrimination power(DP) 0.745 9~0.956 5,cumulative discrimination power(CDP)0.999 999 999 999 999%,probability of exclusion(PE) 0.354 7~0.841 7,cumulative probability of exclusion(CPE) 0.999 999 966%;polymorphism information content(PIC) 0.502 8~0.852 5.Conclusions The 15 STR loci used in this study is highly polymorphic in Bulang population and can be applied to population study and forensic practice.


This article provides a tutorial introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) research for those involved in Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI). The general theme espoused is that much of the current work in AI, particularly in the areas of natural language understanding systems, rule induction, programming languages, and socratic systems, has important applications to CAI. It is hoped that this tutorial will stimulate or catalyze more intensive interaction between AI and CAI.


Abstract : The ability of certain human breast cancer cells (HBC) to metastasize to bone may be related to cellular expression of the small acidic sialoproteins osteopontin (OPN) and bone sialoprotein (BSP). Expression of these proteins may promote primary tumor cell invasion, and/or the development of bone metastases. The purpose of this study is to compare BSP and OPN expression in HBC to bone metastatic potential and to examine potential breast cancer cell responses to BSP.


In this work, a novel band‐notched ultrawideband (3.1–10.6 GHz) Y‐shaped microstrip patch antenna with dual inverted‐L slots is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a wideband Y‐shaped monopole antenna and dual inverted‐L slots, producing band‐notch characteristics. To obtain sufficient bandwidth when the return loss (RL) < −10 dB, but still generate band‐notch characteristics, we propose that a partial ground plane, a coaxial probe source, and two inverted‐L slots can be used. The measured bandwidth of the fabricated antenna is from 2.96 to 4.85 GHz (from 6.05 to 12.65 GHz when the RL < −10 dB), and the frequency notch band is from 5.15 to 5.825 GHz. The measured gain is 3.66–4.58 dBi, which drops to −3.80 dBi in the notch band. The azimuth and elevation of the experimental 3‐dB beam width (HPBW) are 72.58° and 88.59° at 7.0 GHz, respectively. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 2797–2799, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23814


Objectives : Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNs), collaborations of practitioners and academic researchers, have provided platforms for conducting research to address clinical questions generated from daily routine care. This review aimed to critically analyse articles from PBRNs that are related to complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) and to suggest future directions for a PBRN which is appropriate for Korean Medicine (KM). Methods : PubMed, PBRN registries in Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and relevant PBRN websites were searched up to November 2019 for research articles from PBRNs that focused on CIM regardless of study design. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. The included studies were read in full, classified and summarised according to their topics. Results : A total of 51 articles published from 1998 through 2020 were included in this review. They were categorised into three principal themes based on research questions and findings: health services research (embracing researches examining characteristics of patients and CIM practitioners/practices, and communication between patients and practitioners); effectiveness and safety of CIM practices/interventions; and feasibility studies of instruments and interventions in PBRN settings. The study designs varied including surveys (n=30), prospective observational studies (n=6), 2ndary analyses of existing studies (n=7), protocols (n=7), retrospective chart review (n=1) and qualitative study (n=1). Quality of the included studies greatly varied. Conclusions : PBRNs can serve as a feasible platform for conducting practice-relevant research on KM and CIM. Considering growing demands on evidence-base for routine practice of KM amid various stakeholders, a PBRN in KM community and further researches nested within PBRN designs are warranted.


A new fossil species, Pteridium dachingshanense, is described from the Early Cretaceous strata in Dachingshan Range of Neimonggol Autonomous Region (Inner Mongol), China. The species shows some characteristics of Pteridium, such as the continuous marginal sorus and a true scarious indusium. It differs from the living bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum in its overall smaller size, more or less reduced pinnules, smaller combined terminal pinnules, and obscure venation. The secondary veins arising from the midvein near the base of the pinnules seem to form a little fan-like pattern. New species traces the history of Pteridiaceae back to the Cretaceous period.


Chlorophyll deficicncy in leavcs of higlicr plants signifies a sub-normal amount of this compound in the cells. Since chlorophyll is involved in synthesis of organic matter ~vh ich is an esselltial function for the living organis~n, it is not surprising that a variety of genctic systems controlling this function have been observed and investigated. Color variation in green leaves caused by chloropl~yll deficiency may be the result of changes in environment such as by temperature (Phiniley and Iia\i, 1954), by chemicals (Euller, Bracco and Heller, 1948), b y fungi ( ~ y a n , GreenblG and Al-Delaimy, 1961), by viruses, as a trait transmitted by the cytoplasm (Wolf , 1959) o r by genetic changes in the nuclei. G c n o t y ~ i c ontrol is the mechanism most frequently encountered in many plants including species of Nicolicuzn. A number of chlorophyll deficient types in tobacco have been found t o be inherited in i\/Iendelian fashion; e.g., virescent (Valleau and Stoltes, 1957), genetic vienbanding (Valleau, 1958), yellow crittenden (Valleau, 1957) and \vl~itc seedling (Clausen and Cameron, 1950). T h e white seedling mutation nus induced by X-ray treatment (Goodspeed, 1930) and behaved as a monogenic recessive in the tobacco varietv Red Russian. In crosses with a number of other varieties this mutation ivas shown to be controlled by duplicate loci. Chlorophyll deficient seedlings were found in Delcrest, a variety of fluecured tobacco. Under preliminary testing these appeared to be heterozygous for a recessive mutant gene. All three phenotypes could be distinguished by visual examination because of incomplete dominance of the nornlal allelle. This mutant, not previously dcscribed in N. tilbncz~ln, seeliled promising as all addition to the stoclts of genetic marlters. T h e present paper is a report of the nature and genetic behavior of this new mutant in flue-cured tobacco.


In a globalizing world, linked in so many ways by economic, political, and security concerns, it is important to recognize the local impact of the global and the global impact of the local. This is a sufficient justification to focus on the promises and challenges of religious pluralism, which has implications for the democratic governance of multi-religious societies. Peaceful democracy depends on people's willingness to cooperate with one another, which in the final analysis depends on a shared sense of community. The 20th century bears witness to the fact of people doing unspeakable things to those for whom they lack community feeling. This is especially true of people who see themselves threatened by: outsiders, economic forces, or things they do not understand. Thus, conflict wracks Sri Lanka, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia. Both Sri Lanka and Rwanda were once peaceful, even progressive, but now they are aflame. Former Yugoslavia has seen four wars or quasi-wars in eight years: Croats against Serbs (twice), both against Bosnians, and now Serbs against Albanians. Whatever their causes, they have eradicated pan-Yugoslav society and set its inhabitants at odds along ethno-religious lines. India and Northern Ireland continue to suffer religious strife, while many of the various former Soviet Republics have split ethnically. Simultaneously, there is a growth of religious fundamentalism in several traditions. Though different in scale and scope, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and other faiths have found new vigour in a self-conscious return to "tradition". Various authors have charted this resurgence and noted their similarity to inter-ethnic strife. They have suggested the creative shaping of a social order that encourages people to value their stake in each other's lives. The book under review is an excellent endeavour in that direction. It is essentially a product of an international conference organized by the Malaysian Association for American Studies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in late August 2002. The 14 chapters of almost equal length, revised and updated with the inclusion of a section on Europe, present a variety of views from both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars on the nature and impact of religious pluralism on the way of life of people in Southeast Asia, America, and Europe. This is analysed in the larger context of the region's relationship with modernity, democracy, and globalization.


Abstract Caries is a disease of the oral cavity characterized by tooth decay due to the dissolution of minerals on the teeth by Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) attached to the teeth surface. One way to prevent the bacteria from decaying the teeth is by gargling with a mouthwash containing antibacterial ingredients from herbs. The results of our previous research on the Syzygium cumini fruit showed that it was one of the natural ingredients with antibacterial compounds against S. mutans. This study aimed to determine the antibacterial effects of the Syzygium cumini fruit which was formulated in the form of mouthwash against S. mutans. Syzygium cumini fruit was made into mouthwash preparations which were then tested for stability, including for the organoleptic and antibacterial tests. The results of the organoleptic test showed that the Syzigium cumini fruit mouthwash with formula 4 was the best choice for the mouthwash formula. Antibacterial test results showed that the Syzigium cumini fruit could inhibit the growth of S. mutans, characterized by the formation of a hallo zone with an average diameter of 8 mm. This diameter indicated that the Syzygium cumini fruit mouthwash had moderate inhibition against S. mutans. Keywords: Syzygium cumini, mouthwash, Streptococcus mutans, dental caries


Studies were carried out in order to investigate t h reaction of two types of maize cultivars to the infection by diseases and pests de pending on nitrogen fertilization and on the method of magnesium application. Both in case of di seases and pests, only the number of plants was recorded which were damaged or infected by a gi ven pathogen and the result was expressed by the percentage of damage or infestation. The two studied maize cultivars showed different susceptibility to infestation by pathogens. It was found that the size of the applied nitrogen dose modified the infection of maize plants by fusariosi s d sease and exerted an effect on the extent of feeding by frit fly and European corn borer. The us of magnesium and the method of its application did not exert any effect on maize reaction to diseases or pests.


For saving energy in industrial furnaces, various forms of insulation are used such as bricks, blocks, castable and fibers. Lightweight refractory insulation panels on the basis of Perlite (~30 wt.%) with chemical bonding (H3PO4) were successfully prepared by Extruding technique after sintering at 900-1100 °C. Properties such as density, sintering shrinkage percent, permanent linear change (PLC) and cold crushing strength are measured. The particle morphology was directly imaged by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mineral phases present in the samples were determined at room temperature by using X-Ray diffraction patterns. According to results, samples with 30 wt.% Perlite with Phosphate bond in the range of 950-1000 °C to have the desired properties such as strength~ 30-35 Kgf/cm 2 , density~ 0.42-0.45 g/cm 3 and application temperature at ~ 1100 °C.


The financial system of a country is essential because it highlights the economic flows that are established between economic agents and state institutions as well as among a number of other components that contribute to the realization of the gross domestic product. On the other hand, the financial-banking system is the one that facilitates the correlation of the obligations and rights of the economic agents and highlights at any moment what the evolution was at one point. Of course, the financial-banking system has existed for a long time and in general terms it is defined as the total of financial and local activities in a country. In principle, we are talking about public finances, which provide an adequate framework for the realization of money resources and public funds, the modalities and instruments used in general with a certain link between public finances and the legislative framework that are not mutually exclusive. The existence of public financial resources is carried out in any social organization by the distribution of gross domestic product of amounts intended, being included in the consolidated budget, meeting the needs of the social environment. In other words, finance expresses social relations of an economic nature, in a monetary expression, which appears in the oldest times. Of course, the public finance system has evolved and adapted according to the requirements or characteristics of the company. From this point of view, in this article we can identify a period until the First World War, an interwar period, which coincides with the beginning of the formation of the Romanian unitary national state in 1918, then it is the period of the Second World War, and since 1945 until 1989, a period of the stagnant economy where public finances had a certain structure, a certain evolution, a certain organization, and many others. Then, since 1990, a market economy has its own characteristics, and on this background, public finances are changing and appropriate to the system of market economy. Here some elements can be detached, but they are not essential in terms of the role of public finances. The authors' study also presents some graphs and series of data that reveal – especially in the most recent period – the evolution of tax revenues, the structure of revenues and expenditures, the public debt of Romania and many others that are on all of which are highlighted and also relate to budget implementation.


To determine whichat investigations and treatment modalities are used for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and the reasons why some treatments are used more commonly than others. Furthermore, we would like tTo ascertain what are the barriers,, if any, to using various technologies in the treatment of POPof POP and SUI. This abstract describes the data of the SUI portion of the survey.


This paper presents efficient and practical implementations of sequential data assimilation methods for the Simplified Parameterizations, primitive‐Equation DYnamics (SPEEDY) Model, a well‐known numerical model, into the data assimilation community for climate prediction. In the SPEEDY model, the time evolution of dynamics is performed via the second‐order Leapfrog integration scheme; this time integrator relies on two steps: the position and the velocity. The computational implementation of SPEEDY blends the time integrator and the spatial discretization of dynamics to accelerate algebraic computations. Thus, there is no access to the right‐hand side function of the ordinary differential equations governing the time evolution of model dynamics. Consequently, the SPEEDY model is often treated as a black box wherein positions and velocities work as inputs and outputs. Since observations in operational data assimilation only match position states, we can exploit augmented vector states to propagate analysis innovations from positions to velocities. For this purpose, we formulate three variants of ensemble‐based filters and perform numerical experiments to assess their accuracies. We consider two scenarios for the experiments: an ideal case wherein positions and velocities can be observed and a more realistic one wherein measurements are only accessible for position states. Besides, we discuss the effects of the ensemble size on the accuracies of our formulations and, even more, the typical case in which velocities are not updated across assimilation steps. The results reveal that all filter formulations' accuracies remain the same in terms of Root‐Mean‐Square‐Error by neglecting observations from velocities (a realistic scenario) even for cases wherein the number of measurements decreases to 6% of model components. Furthermore, for all discussed filter implementations, the propagation of analysis increments from position to velocities improves up to 100% the performance of filter implementations wherein velocities are not updated, a typical operational scenario.


In this paper, we present a biological inspired coarse-to-fine approach to detect pedestrians in a given image. In the coarse detection step, a probable pedestrian area is predicted with both global and local features. Global orientation features are extracted to infer the spatial configuration of an image scene. Specifically, the vertical location of the pedestrian area is retrieved based on the spatial relationship between the target and other objects, and the local skin color and edge feature points are computed to refine the horizontal pedestrian location. Employing the predicted locations as top-down spatial information, we can generate the skin color saliency map based on the center-surround computation so as to find out target related sub areas. In the fine detection step, we input the extracted HOG-LBP features of candidate areas into an SVM classifier to detect pedestrian. Compared with traditional target detection methods, our biological inspired method consumes significantly less time but does not lose much detection accuracy.


From the Pannonian hinterland c. 50 mausolea and cellae memoriae are known, and in the first part of this paper I introduce some of them, with a short analysis. In the second part some conclusions are drawn about meaning of these funerary monuments in the Late Roman society. Social status, economic wealth and religious identity are mentioned in connection with the representation of those mausolea and cellae memoriae. The role of Christianity is also discussed. This paper, on the one hand is a short summary of some of these special funerary buildings, while on the other hand, methodological questions are raised in order to achieve a more convincing interpretation in the context within Late Antique Pannonian society instead of simple art historical or architectural analysis.


T intergovernmental struggle for the tax revenues of multinational enterprises constantly assumes new configurations. Straightforward transfer pricing cases still make up the bulk of cross-border tax disputes. However, as governments have become more experienced in transfer pricing, and the financial crisis has caused profits and tax revenues to drop, more sophisticated arguments are applied in order to protect national tax bases. For example, it is now more common for a transfer pricing dispute to question whether a controlled transaction exists at all rather than question the pricing of a controlled transaction. Items that may trigger such discussions include local marketing intangibles, business facilities, or profit potentials. Another controversial item that this article will analyze is whether the mere presence of a subsidiary on a marginal market may constitute a compensable transaction for transfer pricing purposes.


Abstract A new approach to the determination of the geodetic latitude of a point from the size of a geocentric ellipse which passes through the point is introduced. It produces a solution from the geocentre out and is shown to improve the efficiency of existing iterative methods.


The vacuum drying method of transformer was briefly introduced in this paper.And the principle and equipment needed of "cyclic pressure" vacuum drying and the judgement basis and method to determine the end of vacuum drying were further described.The "cyclic pressure" vacuum drying process can reduce the drying time about one-third to improve the passing rate of dielectric strength,thus improve the product quality and save energy.


Abstract Reflecting a larger context of profound political polarization, controversies and protests around campus speakers have exposed deep social fractures, highlighting an important normative question for campus leaders and educators: how should we make decisions about what views are reasonable and thus merit debate on campus? Although it may be received wisdom that institutions of higher learning in a democratic society are obligated to provide forums for the unfettered, open exchange of ideas, that sense is built on the assumption that the ideas put forward for consideration are reasonable and defensible. Should any and all perspectives always be up for debate? Must campus communities provide forums for viewpoints that democratic societies regard as patently untrue or beyond the pale of what is right and good? In this article, I make the case that, because their missions center discovery and knowledge production, grounded in academic freedom, colleges and universities are far from spaces where anything goes. Valuing free speech does not have to come at the expense of students' and faculty members' pursuit of knowledge and truth, a (some might say the) fundamental mission of higher education. Campus speech controversies are not only—or even primarily—about free speech, I argue, but about knowledge and truth.


| In a cyclohexyl bromide (CHB)-decalin mixture sterically stabilized PMMA spheres have a positive charge. Together with a Debye screening length of several microns this results in long-ranged repulsive interactions. Water forms a stable interface with CHB and, with its high dielectric constant, absorbs ions from the oil phase. This reduces the screening even further and leads to 'Coulombic' crystals with extreme lattice constants (tens of microns). The oil-water interface often is charged, repelling the similarly charged particles in the oil phase, leaving a large zone depleted ( (cid:24) 50 microns). However, independent of the sign or magnitude of interfacial charges, at short range the attraction between the charged particle and its image, in the higher dielectric constant water, dominates. Thus, the charged hydrophobic particles get permanently bound to the interface, forming a 2D 'surface crystal'. The crystal density can be controlled with an electric (cid:12)eld that drives the particles to the surface. Using the speci(cid:12)c properties of this particle-oil-water system we can make particle-coated droplets ('colloidosomes'), geometric particle packings enveloped by a water sheath and particle transporting channels.


Purpose: To examine the association between weight loss and type 2 diabetes remission among vulnerable populations living in medically underserved areas of the Mid-Southern United States. Design: Quantitative, retrospective cohort study. Setting: 114 ambulatory sites and 5 adults' hospitals in the Mid-South participating in a regional diabetes registry. Participants: 9,900 adult patients with type 2 diabetes, stratified by remission status, with 1 year of baseline electronic medical record data, and 1 year of follow-up data for the 2015-2018 study period. Measures: The outcomes were diabetes remissions, categorized as any remission, partial remission, and complete remission based on the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association. The exposure was weight loss, calculated by the change in the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a proxy measure. Analysis: χ2 tests, Fisher's exact tests, and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used to examine the differences in patient characteristics by remission status across the 3 remission categories, as appropriate. Multiple multivariable logistic regressions adjusting for confounders were performed to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for the associations between weight loss and diabetes remission. Results: Among 9,900 patients identified, a reduction of 0.3 kg/m2 (standard deviation: 2.5) in the average BMI from the baseline to the follow-up was observed. 10.8% achieved any type of remission, with 9.8% for partial and 1.0% for complete remissions. Greater weight loss was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of any (aOR = 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-1.08), partial (aOR 1.06, 95% CI, 1.04-1.07), and complete diabetes remission (aOR 1.10, 95% CI, 1.07-1.13). Conclusions: Weight loss is significantly associated with diabetes remission among patients living in medically underserved areas, but complete remission is rare.


The authors describe an approach to connecting hardware resources for high-performance computation. Two basic algorithms are designed for configuring binary tree topologies. The configuring command can be issued from any processing mode. The algorithms can select proper modes for connection while maintaining good utilization of processing nodes. 7 references.


We present seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice extent (SIE) over the 1982–2013 period using two suites of retrospective forecasts initialized from a fully coupled ocean‐atmosphere‐sea ice assimilation system. High skill scores are found in predicting year‐to‐year fluctuations of Arctic SIE, with significant correlations up to 7 month ahead for September detrended anomalies. Predictions over the recent era, which coincides with an improved observational coverage, outperform the earlier period for most target months. We find, however, a degradation of skill in September during the last decade, a period of sea ice thinning in observations. The two prediction models, Climate Model version 2.1 (CM2.1) and Forecast‐oriented Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR), share very similar ocean and ice component and initialization but differ by their atmospheric component. FLOR has improved climatological atmospheric circulation and sea ice mean state, but its skill is overall similar to CM2.1 for most seasons, which suggests a key role for initial conditions in predicting seasonal SIE fluctuations.


INTRODUCTION
OHVIRA syndrome is a rare entity characterized by renal and Mullerian anomalies. The objective of the video is, through a clinical case, to discuss the importance of diagnosis, management and treatment, to avoid the complications that this syndrome entails, and to improve the long-term prognosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We report the case of a 10-year-old girl who consulted for abdominal pain, being diagnosed with OHVIRA syndrome. We describe the diagnosis and the surgical technique. In addition, we perform a systematic review in PubMed to report the published literature of this topic and we show the optimal management of this pathology.


We present the 970-1175 A spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 12 starburst galaxies observed with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer FUSE. We take benefit of the high spectral resolution of FUSE to estimate a continuum as much as possible unaffected by the interstellar lines. The continuum is rather flat with, in few cases, a decrease at lambda <~1050 A, the amplitude of which being correlated with various indicators of the dust extinction. The far-UV SEDs are compared with synthetic population models. The galaxies with almost no extinction have a SED consistent with an on-going star formation over some Myrs. We derive a mean dust attenuation law in the wavelength range 965-1140 A by comparing the SED of obscured galaxies to an empirical dust-free SED. The extinction is nearly constant longward of 1040 A but rises at shorter wavelengths. We compare our results with other studies of the extinction for galaxies and stars in this wavelength range.


This article is a gentle introduction to the mathematical area known as circle packing, the study of the kinds of patterns that can be formed by configurations of non-overlapping circles. The first half of the article is an exposition of the two most important facts about circle packings, (1) that essentially whatever pattern (i.e. combinatorics) we ask for, we may always arrange circles in that pattern, and (2) that under simple conditions on the pattern, there is an essentially unique arrangement of circles in that pattern. In the second half of the article, we consider related questions, but where we allow the circles to overlap. The article is written with the idea that no mathematical background should be required to read it.


Financial statements comprise of insightful statistics about likely risk and the return associations of many decisions and have significant role in firms' success, particularly for SMEs. Thus, through a sample of 94 Pakistani small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this study inspects the influences that could have impact on firms' practice of the financial statements in making significant financial decisions. Principle component analysis finds key factors which define use of financial statements containing; experience, knowledge and ability. Logit analysis then discloses that these variables have significant association with whether Pakistani SME owners use financial statements while making business decisions. Findings indicates that the owners of Pakistani SMEs practice financial statements in decision making rendering to their knowledge about financial statements, experience and finally their ability to interpret figures confined in financial statements. Outcomes should be valuable for SME owners, educators, and the service providers.


Applies some previously developed control laws for stabilization of mechanical systems with non-holonomic constraints to an experimental system consisting of a mobile robot towing a trailer. The authors verify the applicability of various control laws which have appeared in the recent literature, and compare the performance of these controllers in an experimental setting. In particular, the authors show that time-periodic, non-smooth controllers can be used to achieve exponential stability of a desired equilibrium configuration, and that these controllers outperform smooth, time-varying control laws. The authors also point out several practical considerations which must be taken into account when implementing these controllers.


Considering the emergence of the fact that the pathogenic bacteria may be an additional negative factor influencing male fertility and worsening sperm quality. The isolated Staph. aureus and E.coli were found resistant to the antibiotics used in treatment . This study was conducted to evaluate the using probiotic of Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285 ® alternative antibiotic against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli causing urogenital tract infections in vitro . The growth inhibitory effect produced by Lb. acidophilus CL1285 on the pathogenic Staph. aureus and E.coli was tested on solid medium using agar diffusion methods. In the latter instance, the direct effect of Lb. acidophilus and bacteriocin on pathogenic isolates led to the growth inhibition of the bacterial cells after 24 h of their incubation at 37 °C. Lb.acidophilus CL1285 bacteriocin was purified by gel filtration and it increased in specific activity by antibiogram . The purified bacteriocin recorded an apparent four polypeptides with molecular weights,63,45,38,and 30 KDa. Amino acid analysis showed that the bacteriocine consists of 14 amino acids with high content of alanine, asparagine. glycine, tryptophane and glutamic acid . The results suggest that Lb. acidophilus and Cell Free Supernatants (CFS) containing bacteriocin of L. acidophillus inhibited Staph. aureus and E. coli pathogenic bacteria. So Lb. acidophillus are meant to treat infections in male urogenital tract infections; however more studies including in vivo need to be performed.


The plasmonic absorption/amplification spectrum of terahertz radiation in a double-layer graphene nanoribbon array is theoretically studied. It is shown that this graphene structure exhibits strong plasmon response and giant amplification in a broad terahertz-frequency range.


In this article we discuss the Eastern European Union Countries (EEUC) issue of the European contenentalisation/re-continentalisation process. We point out how the tracing, projecting and realizing of Trans continental meridian transportation corridors and axes could facilitate the development of peripheric and marginalized regions. The article is presenting a view (vision) regarding the Trans meridian transport connectivity of Eastern European Union countries and in particular – Bulgaria and Romania. It states that concrete transport corridors axes, sub axes and corridors are an important tool for integrated and joint development (economic, social, ecologic) of some less developed regions in the mentioned countries. The article also pointed out that it is needed Transportation grid innovation that make the regional development to happen. They affect the Balkan Peninsula Transport Grid vision with parallel and meridian axes and corridors.


A method for accelerating anaerobic fermentation of residual sludge by utilizing a zero-valent iron technology comprises the following steps: mixing a high solid sludge with a solid ratio of less than 10% and iron scraps, putting the mixture into an anaerobic fermentation reactor, and inoculating with anaerobic microorganisms; undergoing the anaerobic fermentation in the reactor with stirring, and collecting methane generated during the fermentation process; having requirements of the stirring speed, the pH value in the reactor, the temperature control during the stirring process; after finishing fermentation, discharging the sludge, wherein the residual iron scraps remaining in the anaerobic fermentation reactor are used for next batch of the sludge fermentation. With the method for accelerating the anaerobic fermentation of the residual sludge by utilizing the zero-valent iron technology, the following technical effects are achieved: reduction of the high solid sludge is promoted after the anaerobic fermentation, and at the same time, the methane generation amount during the fermentation process is improved. The method has low investment cost, simple technical operation, and strong processing ability, and can be applied to upgrade reconstruction of new built sludge anaerobic fermentation equipment or existing equipment.


Objective:To research the inhibitory effect of sPD-1 protein on H22 liver cancer in mice. Methods:The mouse hepatoma H22 cells were injected intraperitoneally into the BALB/c mice to establish H22-bearing mice model,and all the 24 mice H22-bearing mice were randomized into three groups according to different treatment;PBS group(model group),DDP group(positive control),and sPD-1 protein group.After 15 days' treatment,ascites samples were taken out from the tumor bearing mice for Treg cells detection,and survival days were compared.Results: The life prolonged days in sPD-1 group(25.75±4.30) and DDP(25.00 + 4.41) group were significantly longer than that in control group(16.63 + 2.67)(P0.05).Compared with that in DDP group and model group,Treg cells in ascites of sPD-1 protein group were significantly less. Conclusion:sPD-1 protein has an anticancer effect on H22 liver cancer in mice,and can promote the immune function and prolong the survival time.


To investigate primarily the dietary intake, as well as demographics and selected lifestyle factors, of women experiencing nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, nausea only, or women who are symptom free.


Multipotent stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to possess immunomodulatory capacities and are therefore explored as a novel cellular therapy. One of the mechanisms through which MSC modulate immune responses is by the promotion of regulatory T cell (Treg) formation. In this study, we focused on the cellular interactions and secreted factors that are essential in this process. Using an in vitro culture system, we showed that culture‐expanded bone marrow‐derived MSC promote the generation of CD4+CD25hiFoxP3+ T cells in human PBMC populations and that these populations are functionally suppressive. Similar results were obtained with MSC‐conditioned medium, indicating that this process is dependent on soluble factors secreted by the MSC. Antibody neutralization studies showed that TGF‐β1 mediates induction of Tregs. TGF‐β1 is constitutively secreted by MSC, suggesting that the MSC‐induced generation of Tregs by TGF‐β1 was independent of the interaction between MSC and PBMC. Monocyte‐depletion studies showed that monocytes are indispensable for MSC‐induced Treg formation. MSC promote the survival of monocytes and induce differentiation toward macrophage type 2 cells that express CD206 and CD163 and secrete high levels of IL‐10 and CCL‐18, which is mediated by as yet unidentified MSC‐derived soluble factors. CCL18 proved to be responsible for the observed Treg induction. These data indicate that MSC promote the generation of Tregs. Both the direct pathway through the constitutive production of TGF‐β1 and the indirect novel pathway involving the differentiation of monocytes toward CCL18 producing type 2 macrophages are essential for the generation of Tregs induced by MSC. Stem Cells 2013;31:1980‐1991


The insertion of CO2 into epoxides and aziridines has been studied using density functional theory (B3LYP) and ab initio (MP2) methods, and the effect of substitution for the two reactions are further explored. It is found that the reactivity of epoxides and aziridines are similar, and insertion of CO2 proceeds through a concerted mechanism. The substitutions of methyl and phenyl does not change the reaction mechanism, but the transition state for the substitution on the attacking position becomes loose with a lower free energy barrier. The substitutions of methyl and phenyl decrease the free energy barrier, with phenyl substitution having a greater affect. The results also show that the free energy barriers for the insertions of CO2 into aziridines are ~10 kcal mol−1 lower than the corresponding reactions of CO2 with epoxides.


The effects of nutrition on infant growth and development are put forward. In Indonesia there are variations in infant feeding practices. Governments nutrition promotional efforts are set forth. In North Sulawesi there is no shortage of food. However ignorance is prevailing. Shortage of Puskesmas program executors is another hanicap. Lack of breastfeeding and infant nutrition knowledge among mothers attending Manados general hospital was ascertained. A better health and nutrition education program inherent to a particular community is deemed necessary. To gain success the doctor must have sufficient background in public health and methods of organizing a primary care program. A devoted personnel is a must. The Village Community Health Development Program and Village Nutrition Program must grow from the community. Material assistance is equally important. (authors)


economy. The author would probably agree that a re-write, eliminating duplications, clearing up some confusing passages (for example, discussion of personal income on p. 223), and more firmly incorporating materials made available only recently, would help the readability considerably. Those who are only casually interested in Soviet economic development might find the book too detailed and some passages unnecessarily polemical. The experts in the field will object to the inadequate description of Jasny's estimating procedures, all-important for the evaluation of his findings (four appendix notes were left out of the original manuscirpt "for technical reasons"). The author points out more than once that he "has only his pencil as an assistant"; this fact explains such drawbacks as misspelled names (Laspeyres index appears consistently as Laspeure index), unclear translations from Russian ("fixed investment spent and put into operation"), and some misinterpretations of the work of others (for example, R. P. Powell's index of Soviet construction is taken as equivalent to the index of net investment). Yet the central themes are forcefully presented, and the book remains an interesting account of the Soviet industrial growth based on the author's encyclopedic factual knowledge of the Soviet economy. GEORGE J. STALLER, Cornell University


This paper analyzes the basic structure of microcontroller and researches CMOS circuit photon emission mechanism, by using single-photon detection device, builds a collection of photon emission experiments platform for microcontroller. By studying the AT89C52 microcontroller, analyzes the microcontroller photon emission information and the relationship between the perform operation and the process of data. At the same time analyzes the influence of the microcontroller photon emission by different operate voltage. Through analysis about the photon emission of microcontroller, demonstrates that the microcontroller information security exist risk. Keywords-photon emission; dependency analysis; microcontroller; single-photon detectors; side-channel analysis


Quantitative measurement of the characteristics of microscopic objects has become an increasingly important technique particularly in the field of biology. This paper describes an instrument used for obtaining the size and optical density of objects on the specimen slide. Although methods for making these measurements have long been available, they are usually tedious and time-consuming, and little attention has been paid to the adaptation of the system to human requirements for comfort and ease. This is particularly true for cytological measurements where variations in individual cells are such that large numbers of cells must be selected before, the results are statistically significant. A projection system overcomes many of the disadvantages of the other methods by not constraining the eyepoint to a fixed position, permitting direct measurement of size or area with a scale or planimeter, and allowing the photometer field to stop to be always under direct visualization. The design, and performance of a projection microphotometer and its application to several biological measurement problems is thoroughly discussed.


Background: This paper investigates a swift gastrointestinal outbreak in central India and further explores environmental, agent, and host interactions culminating into outbreak. Materials and Methods: Epidemic investigation was launched as per the standard protocol laid by Center for Disease Control to capture the clinico-microbiological pattern of disease. Descriptive and observational epidemiological analysis was performed. Results: This cholera like watery diarrheal episode presented along with vomiting and abdominal cramps had an attack rate of 45.11%. The mean duration of illness was 61 h with a predilection to pediatric age group. Clinico-microbiological picture probed the enterotoxicogenic Escherichia coli contaminated well-water as a source for the outbreak initiated by geo-environmental stimulation. Conclusion: The findings endorse the need of serviceable environmental sanitation strategies in order to prevent the disease transmission through water.


A back massage robot is designed, which has the characteristics of small size and diversified massage techniques compared with other massage instruments. To design the massage robot, the motor position, spring and connecting parts were analyzed to achieve appropriate massage head structure. The robot collects data via a variety of miniature sensors to improve the stability of the massage. Based on the characteristics of back massage, an improved round-trip path planning algorithm model was established to improve the massage coverage of the robot. The physical model and experimental platform of the robot were built, and the influence of signal duty cycle on the massaging effect of the massage head was discussed by testing the values of acceleration. Meanwhile, the influence of steering and speed on the massage manipulation of the massage wheel was analyzed to obtain six best massage techniques.


Several studies have demonstrated the use of biomimetic approaches in the synthesis of a variety of inorganic materials. In this study, a low-temperature and natural pH procedure for the synthesis of silica was developed using hydrolytic enzymes. For the preparation of silica particles at room temperature and pH 7, a screening test for enzyme-catalyzing direct hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethoxysilane by using 5 types of hydrolases; pepsin, trypsin, esterase, and two lipases were chosen as biocatalysts; moreover, these enzymes can promote the precipitation of silica within 3 days. The 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements indicated that the enzyme activity in ionic liquids was higher than that in aqueous buffer solutions, and that the obtained silica particles were highly polycondensed. Under ionic liquid conditions, it was observed that enzymes were effectively encapsulated in the sol–gel silica material. In addition, for siloxane bond formation the catalytic activity of silica–enzyme composites was higher than that of free solution enzymes.


Abstract : The long-term goals of this project are to develop new strategies for the use of oligonucleotides tagged with multiple fluorescent labels as hybridization probes of specific nucleic acid sequences. First, we have designed (and continue to design) new classes of fluorescent labels for DNA. Second, we have developed novel modes of interaction between fluorescent labels, leading to color changes on detection of nucleic acids. Finally, we have developed new methods for increasing specificity of nucleic acid recognition.


A method has been developed for measuring small differences between the vapour pressures of two samples. V.p. differences were determined between water samples with a high concentration of oxygen-18 (H2O18 and D2O18) and samples with a low concentration in the temperature range 15–90°C. Differences between the vapour pressures of water containing ∼55 % O17 and samples containing high concentrations of O16 and O18 respectively, in the range 40–90°C, have also been measured. Using these results, vapour pressure ratios between the pure isotopic species were calculated.