Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were doped by ammonium borate as the sources of nitrogen and boron. Under the protection of Ar gas, boron-nitrogen doped CNTs were prepared through nitriding and boronization at high temperature. It is a conductive additive. Then, the obtained CNTs were mixed with activated carbon (AC), SP, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cellulose fiber to prepare electrodes. With all the materials, a symmetric electric double-layer supercapacitor (EDLC) was assembled. Next, the materials and electrodes were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The factors, chemical connections, and specific surface area of the CNTs were analyzed by X-ray energy spectrum analysis (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), as well as a specific surface area and porosimetry analyzer (BET). In addition, the electrochemical performances of electric double-layer capacitors were tested with the help of cyclic voltammetry, constant-current charging and discharging, and so on. From the results, we can make a conclusion, that is, both B and N atoms were added into the CNTs and formed bonds successfully with carbon atoms mutually. Besides, the specific surface area is about 1.5 times than that of the CNT. When the charge/discharge current density reaches 50[Formula: see text]mA/g, we can find that the mass specific capacitance of the capacitor can run up to 32.19[Formula: see text]F/g. Also, we observe that the maximum power density is close to 220[Formula: see text]W/kg (700[Formula: see text]mA/g), and the energy density can arrive 9.31[Formula: see text]Wh/kg (50[Formula: see text]mA/g). Based on the impedance test, the electrodes are characterized with low impedance. After 2000 cycles, the boron-nitrogen doped double-layer capacitors maintain a capacitance retention ratio of above 95%. Its power density can still achieve 220[Formula: see text]W/kg when the energy density keeps at 3.46[Formula: see text]Wh/kg. In other words, the electrochemical performance functions of the electric double-layer capacitors are enhanced while the CNTs serve as the electrodes.


criteria. Median age was 73 years-old. Stage repartition was 146 (87%) cT2, 11 (6,5%) cT3 and 10 (6%) cT4. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given in 31 (18,5%) patients. RT alone was administered in 8 (5%) patients and 159 (95%) received trimodal therapy. Post treatment cystoscopy and cytology were normal in 148 (87%) patients (Flow chart). Seventy-two (43%) underwent biopsy to assess response. Of these patients, a for-cause biopsy was performed in 13 (68%) patients whereas 53 (36%) had a control biopsy in the setting of normal cystoscopy and cytology. For cause biopsy demonstrated residual MIBC in 7 (36%), NMIBC in 2 (10%), and benign histology in 10 (52%). Control biopsy demonstrated residual MIBC in 4 (7%), NMIBC in 5 (9%), and benign histology in 44 (83%). CONCLUSIONS: Up to 7% of patients will have residual invasive disease despite normal cystoscopy and cytology. A systematic routine biopsy after RT is recommended to assess response in all patients who are surgical candidates. Larger multi-institutional studies are needed to confirm these findings.


This paper divided the social networks into internal networks and external networks,examined the impact of social networks and trust on the innovation capability of the new vetures in the definition of the entrepreneurial team, through 112 valid questionnaires from the enterprises of Jilin Proince.The results showed that the internal and external networks were positively related to innovatiove capbility,and the trust in team members as the adjustment variable affected their relationship.Trust can promote knowledge and information sharing within a firm,however,because trust would generate obstacles on information checking,it will result in negative conditions between external networks and innovative capability. So there will be a positive relationship between internal social networks and a firm's innovative capability when trust within an entrepreneurial team is higher.But there will be a less positive relationship between external social networks and a firm's innovative capability when trust within an entrepreneurial team is higher.


ABSTRACT
 Although drosophilids are widespread models in genetics and molecular biology, their diversity and distribution is relatively poorly known. Field information is important because it provides an appropriate framework to interpret genetic and evolutionary studies. We sampled drosophilids in the Brazilian savanna, one of 34 biodiversity hot spots worldwide. This extremely rich and endangered biome is highly seasonal and consists of a vegetation mosaic, ranging from open fields to riparian forests; these forests occupy only 5% of the Brazilian savanna but concentrate most of the biome's diversity. Twelve monthly collections in a riparian forest of the Brazilian savanna revealed 61 drosophilid species, comprising the genera Amiota Loew, Drosophila Fallén, Neotanygastrella Duda, Rhinoleucophenga Hendel, Scaptodrosophila Duda, Zaprionus Coquillett, and Zygothrica Wiedemann. This richness represents about a half of the recorded drosophilid species of the whole biome, and includes five new occurrences for the Brazilian savanna: the genus Amiota, Drosophila coffeata Williston, D. neorepleta Patterson and Wheeler, D. pseudosaltans Magalhães, and Rhinoleucophenga brasiliensis (Lima). This result suggests that drosophilid richness in this biome is likely to be high but remains understudied.


An improved and scaleable process for Dutasteride (1), a synthetic 4-azasteroid derivative essentially used for the treatment of prostate diseases, is described.


Part XII in the series Chemical Studies on Mexican Plants Used in Traditional Medicine. For Part XI, see: Mata, R. eta!. (1990) Phytochemistry, in press. Taken from the Ms. and Bs. theses of F. Calzada and R. LOpez, respectively. 2 DivisiOn de BioquImica y Farmacia, Facultad de Qulmica, Universidad Naciona! Autónoma de Mexico, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico, D. F., Mexico Jardin Botánico, Instituto de Biologla, Universidad Nacional AutOnoma de Mexico, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico, D. F. Instituto de QuImica, Universidad Nacional AutOnoma de Mexico, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico, D. F. Address for correspondence


Abstract : The Air National Guard is struggling to develop leaders that have the right combination of experience, training, and education strategic thinkers prepared to work at the highest level of strategy and policy-making. General Craig McKinley, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, perceiving a shortage of strategic thinkers in the National Guard, committed to build(ing) a bench of future leaders who are ready to step into key positions as needs and opportunities arise.Residence senior developmental education and many advanced civilian degree programs facilitate the transition from the tactical world to the strategic realm. Unfortunately, only about 10 of the Air National Guard colonels through major generals have residence professional military education and only 58 in those ranks have advanced academic degrees. Most of the Air National Guard bench lacks the academic tools and credentials to operate with maximum effectiveness at the highest levels of strategy and policy-making.To build a bench of well-prepared strategic leaders, the Air National Guard must put officers that have tactical experience, residence senior developmental education, and advanced academic degrees into senior leader positions. One way to achieve this is to create a system whereby every officer selected for 0-7 attends senior developmental education before becoming a general.


We analyze a hand-collected sample of bribery cases from around the world to describe how the payment of bribes affects shareholder value. The net present value of a bribe conditional on getting caught is close to zero for the median firm in our sample. However, controlling for industry, country, and firm characteristics, a $1 increase in the size of the bribe is associated with an ex ante $6–$9 increase in the value of the firm, suggesting a correlation between the size of bribes and the size of available benefits. Proxies for information disclosure appear significant in explaining these benefits with more disclosure associated with lower benefits. However, this result is driven by democratic countries where bribe-paying firms receive smaller benefits relative to the bribes they pay. Information disclosure is not significant in autocratic countries. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.


Nancy Fjallbrant Chalmers University of Technology Library Gothenburg, Sweden firstname.lastname@example.com This paper will give an overview of the academic networks and discuss the practical and potential applications for their use in improving communication in an international organisation such as IA TUL. This overview will include a presentation of navigational tools such as Gopher, W AIS (Wide Area Information Server), World Wide Web, Archie, WHOIS etc. Aspects that will be presented include: Electronic mail for rapid communication in an international environment. File transfer used in the production of the IATUL News. The possibility of starting an IATIJL News Conference or Bulletin Board. Collaborative projects in information provision making use ofWAIS. The development of flexible and transferable courses on the use of information sources. Electronic publishing and its possible effects on our member libraries. The paper will be directed towards seeing how lA TUL as an organisation can benefit from the academic networks.


Although many of the theological areas McFague treats are topics addressed in systematic theology, this book is more an exercise in developing a corrective Christian vision for our time than an exercise in systematic theology per se. In her extensive critiques of topics such as theologies of God that emphasize God's transcendent sovereignty, of redemption that spiritualize salvation, and of sin that do not attend to the lie that renders all of nonhuman nature inferior to us, McFague expresses the Protestant critical principle with persuasive power. This is complemented by a Catholic-like sacramentalism that she believes is needed so that Christianity can develop an appreciation for the intrinsic value of all that composes the body of God (perhaps a theme to be developed further in a fourth volume). McFague herself pointedly asks: does her model help (157)? My answer is "yes" and "no." It does provide creative insights into the common creation story in a way that may help many Christians to remythologize the relation of God to a world threatened with ecological disaster. However, what is lacking is socio-political analysis so that the model will give rise not only to thought but also to constructive praxis. Finally, the metaphor of body, although thought-provoking when applied to God, also tends to treat the body as an abstraction. What is neglected is the possible limitation of the metaphor: the fact that the body of every concrete earthly being eventually dies and decays. This book should be accessible to upper-level undergraduate students and would find a natural home in courses that focus on theologies of God and creation, science and religion, and feminist theology, especially eco-feminism.


Abstract : Researchers at MIT have constructed a novel proof-of-concept demonstration of memory-driven narrative structuring of information. Their demo system is a confederation of three systems they are developing: The Story Workbench semi-automatic annotation tool, the Genesis Commonsense Reasoning and Story Understanding system, and the Analogical Story Merging (ASM) algorithm. They first constructed linkages that allowed stories to be passed from the Story Workbench, through the Commonsense Reasoner, to the ASM system, so that higher-level plot patterns could be discovered automatically and returned to the Genesis system for discovery in an evolving story. They performed an experiment in which they constructed six stories, three of which illustrated the high-level plot pattern of revenge, the other three illustrating the high-level plot pattern of pyrrhic victory. They held on story of each type out for testing, and, using the confederated system, extracted both plot patterns from the remaining four stories. Using the patterns, they then were able to find the correct patterns in the held-out test stories. Also, in preparation for further experiments in this vein, they annotated a corpus of 16 Russian folktales in 16 different representations, approximately 20,000 words, which is the largest, most deeply-annotated narrative corpus assembled to date.


BACKGROUND: Based on anecdotal evidence, waterpipe may provide gateway to cigarette smoking onset among youth. This hypothesis is yet to be examined using appropriate study design and a theoretical model of behavioral change. AIM: To compare the risk of cigarette smoking initiation for waterpipe-only and never-smokers among a school-based sample of adolescents from Irbid, Jordan. METHODS: A total of 1454 cigarette naive participants were drawn from the Irbid longitudinal study of smoking behavior out of 1781 seventh-graders who were enrolled at baseline (2008) and completed the study questionnaire of smoking behavior annually through 2011. Grouped-time survival analysis was used to compare the risk of a subsequent initiation of cigarette smoking between waterpipe smokers (n=298) and never smokers (n=1156) using Adjusted Hazard Ratio [AHR] and 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI]. RESULTS: Risk of cigarette initiation among waterpipe smokers was significantly higher than never-smokers after adjusting for potential confounders (AHR: 1.67; [95% CI: 1.46-1.92]). The association between waterpipe and cigarette smoking initiation was dose dependent. As frequency of waterpipe smoking increased, the probability of cigarette initiation increased (P for linear trend < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Waterpipe smoking temporally predicted cigarette initiation among this cohort of Jordanian adolescents and this effect was dose-dependent.


Summary The present investigations were undertaken to ascertain the extent of lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress and antioxidative system during ripening of two varieties of ber fruits (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.) differing in their shelf lives, viz. Umran (8–9 days) and Kaithali (4–5 days). Based on visual observations, fruits were categorized as immature green (IG), mature green (MG), turning colour (TC), ripe (R) and overripe (OR). Lipoxygenase (LOX) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) value and H2O2 content increased significantly during ripening in both varieties, obtaining 3-, 3- and 2.5-fold increase in Umran and 4-, 3.5- and 3-fold increase in Kaithali, respectively. Kaithali being short-lived variety, exhibited higher values of these parameters at almost all the stages of fruit ripening. Activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) increased during initial stages but thereafter decreased, whereas that of peroxidase (POX) decreased continuously during ripening. On the other hand, catalase (CAT) activity increased continuously as ripening progressed. In general, antioxidative enzymes exhibited comparatively higher activity in Umran. Total ascorbic acid content increased from IG to TC stage, while total glutathione increased up to MG stage and thereafter decreased in both varieties. Kaithali had higher content of ascorbate than Umran. b-Carotene and a-tocopherol also decreased as ripening progressed. However, the decrease was more pronounced in Umran as compared to Kaithali.


A better understanding of the rainfall climatology of the Middle East region identifying the mechanisms responsible for the rain producing systems is essential for effective utilization of the water resources over the arid region. A comprehensive analysis on the rainfall climatology of the Middle East region is carried out to bring out the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall and mechanisms responsible for the rain events. The study was carried out utilizing rainfall, OLR, wind and humidity data sets procured from TRMM, NOAA and NCEP-NCAR. Climatology of annual rainfall brings out two areas of alarmingly low rainfall in the Middle East region: one in Egypt, Jordan and adjoining areas and the other in the southern part of Saudi Arabia. Daily rainfall analysis indicates that northern region gets rainfall mainly during winter and spring associated with the passage of Mediterranean low pressure systems whereas rain over the southern region is caused mainly by the monsoon organized convection, cross equatorial flow and remnants of low pressure systems associated with the monsoon during the summer season. Thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere reveals that the region does not have frequent local convection due to insufficient moisture content. The sinking motion associated with the sub tropic high pressure system and subsidence associated with the Walker circulation are responsible for maintaining warm and dry air over the region.


In this day and age, using municipal solid waste (MSW) as fuel to produce heat and electricity has becoming an industry trend. However, compare with other fuels, the flue gas of waste combustion contains a lot of corrosive components such as hydrogen chloride and ash. When the temperature of the steam which inside the boiler is too high, some elements like chlorine, sulfur and its compounds will corrode the pipe, and also lower the power generation efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the high-temperature anti-corrosive materials and antisepsis technology for super heaters to improve the steam parameters. Some specific methods about how to prevent high temperature corrosion were illustrated in this report, mechanism and precaution measures related to high temperature are also discussed in this paper.


Relationship of international law and municipal law — Conduct of foreign relations — Division of powers between Executive and courts — Recognition of governments — Matter for Executive — Non-justiciable political question — Vietnam — Entitlement to assets in the United States of Republic of Vietnam State succession — Vietnam — Takeover of South Vietnam by North Vietnam — Ownership of Vietnamese assets in the United States — The law of the United States


The practical assessment of the intellectual property is a complex and difficult issue due to the myriads of factors influencing it, and to the fact that the methodologies applied differ from one country to another, from one continent to another. Therefore, the responsibility of those who carry out transactions with these intangible assets is maximum, as they also have social and/or political implications. The classical methods for appraising the intellectual property are the same as those used for assessing the intangible assets.


Dear Editor, Millions of patients are now taking medications for the treatment of osteoporosis, which represents actually a major health care issue. The most frequently prescribed drugs are the bisphosphonates, powerful inhibitors of osteoclastic activity. Randomized controlled trials have documented their efficacy in the prevention of bone loss and in the reduction of fractures in postmenopausal women and men with established osteoporosis. However, multiple rare safety issues that were not observed in clinical trials have now emerged with post-marketing surveillance and increasing clinical experience, such as inflammatory eye reactions. We will report a case of a 62-year-old osteoporotic woman who presented for management of a recurrent swollen left eye that followed the introduction of the zoledronic acid. We will also present a mini-review of the available data on bisphosphonate-reported ocular side effects.


Objective To study the impact of expression level of monocyte chemoattractant protein-4 (MCP-4/CCL13) in peripheral blood of psoriasis vulgaris who received the narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) therapy.Methods Sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detected peripheral blood levels of serum MCP-4 in 24 cases of psoriasis vulgaris before and after treatment with NB-UVB and 24 healthy human.Results Twenty four cases of psoriasis vulgaris showed serum level of MCP-4 was (255.35±79.31)pg/mL,and normal control group was (32.43±10.41)pg/mL,which had statistically significant (t=13.145,P0.05) difference.After NB-UVB treatment for 12 weeks,MCP-4 levels in psoriasis patients were significantly decreased (88.19±23.97)pg/mL,which had statistically significant difference compared with before(t= 9.229,P0.05).Conclusion NB-UVB can reduce the serum level of MCP-4 in patients with psoriasis vuigaris,and MCP-4 may be involved in value-added keratinocytes prolifer-ation and pathogenesis of psoriasis.


Palm fuel ash (POFA) and rice husk ash (RHA) are usually disposed to open areas and landfills without treatment, resulting in environmental problems. Both materials fulfilled the criteria as pozzolanic material, thus can be used as substitutes to cement. This paper presents the comparison in the fresh and hardened properties between self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing POFA and RHA. The SCC mixtures were produced based on water/binder ratio of 0.6. Both POFA and RHA were introduced in concrete replacing 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% of cement by weight. The fresh SCC was tested for three (3) fresh properties including filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance. Meanwhile, the hardened properties of concrete were tested for its compressive strength. The fresh properties of SCC incorporating POFA and RHA fulfilled all the requirements of SCC which include the filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance. Meanwhile, SCC containing RHA had higher compressive strength than the SCC containing POFA for all different replacement level. This is because RHA had higher SiO2 content than POFA, thus promote more pozzolanic reaction to improve the strength of concrete. Furthermore, the optimum replacement level of POFA and RHA in SCC are 10% and 20%, respectively. However, the compressive strength of both SCC containing POFA and RHA were still lower than the control SCC. It is suggested that the SCC containing POFA and RHA to be cured for longer period to achieve better or equivalent strength to the control SCC.


Objective: To evaluate the clinical results of the galvanoforming technique in implant supported fixed prosthesis. Method: 7 cases with completely edentulous and partially edentulous jaws underwent implant-supported fixed prostheses. 34 implants were placed. Among them, 4 patients were treated with 6 single ceramic crowns, 3 patients were treated with 3 fixed bridges. Ceramic copings were fabricated using galvanoforming technique. Clinical examination and radiographs were conducted. The age range was between 22 and 58. The mean follow-up time was 27 months (14-37 months). Results: No implant was lost during the loading time. No fracture or loosening of the prosthesis was observed. In one case, ceramic crack was observed during tightening of the horizontal screw in the clinic. All the patients were satisfied in the end of their treatment. Conclusion: It was demonstrated that galvanoforming technique was a predictable approach in the fabrication of implant-supported prosthesis due to its high precision and biological compatibility, which fully meet the clinical requirement of esthetics and passive fit for such dentures.


The invention discloses an underground self-expansion hanger, which is applied to oil development. An oil pipe or a casing which is commonly used in an oil field and is accordant with the air pollution index (API) standard is adopted; the outer wall of a pipe body is sleeved with 3 to 10 self-expansion rubber barrel components prefabricated by a vulcanization process in a plant; each self-expansion rubber barrel component consists of an inner bush and a self-expansion rubber barrel; through holes are uniformly distributed on the wall of the inner bush; self-expansion rubber barrels are vulcanized in the through holes; on a using field, the self-expansion rubber barrel components are sleeved on the outer wall of the pipe body; the distances between two adjacent self-expansion rubber barrel components are the same; pipe bodies at the two ends of each self-expansion rubber barrel component are sleeved with a limiting ring respectively; and the limiting rings are fixed on the pipe bodies through fastening bolts. The underground self-expansion hanger has the advantage that: under the condition that the oil pipe is not extracted, the hanger is seated and sealed and is hung in the oil pipe for realizing a well completion process.


.............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ...................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Approach ........................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 3: Ground Filtering ................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 4: Initial Height Threshold .................................................................................. 10 Chapter 5: Border Points ................................................................................................... 11 5.1: k-means Background ............................................................................................ 11 5.2: k-means Application .............................................................................................. 12 5.3: Identify Border Points ............................................................................................ 15 Chapter 6: Area Threshold ................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 7: Vegetation Removal ........................................................................................ 18 Chapter 8: Edge Filter ....................................................................................................... 22 vii Chapter 9: Area Threshold #2 ........................................................................................... 23 Chapter 10: Classification ................................................................................................. 24 Chapter 11: Extrusion Notes ............................................................................................. 27 Chapter 12: Accuracy Tests .............................................................................................. 29 Chapter 13: Results ........................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 14: Conclusion..................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 15: Future Work .................................................................................................. 44 References ......................................................................................................................... 46


The philosophies and practices of teaching Theatre Directing as a discrete subject at university are discussed. In the directing courses, the teaching philosophy at Victoria University reflects the traditional on-the-job training by putting students under pressure to deliver a public performance within a short timeframe; while the in-house production assessment at Otago University allows more time for reflection and deeper consideration of essential directing skills.


I was recently invited to Japan to learn more about how nursing care is delivered in the home, and to compare and contrast services in Japan with services in the UK.


Abstrcat People expected the three stages and two transitions of the model of government functionaries.First,change from"moral people"to"economic people".Second,change from"economic people"to "public people".As an Envisagement of a superior model of government functionaries to "moral people"and "economic people","public people"can not really represent government functionaries because encouragement and Discipline don't complement each other in this model.Justice is associated with both ethics and social and political systems and the government bodies.As a result,demanding government functionaries for justice can encourage as well as discipline them.Therefore,government functionaries should be "just people".


Standby power supplies have become a necessity in British industry. New control methods enable them to be used in the most efficient way


Abstract Five studies (trials I to V) were conducted on ranches located in the intermountain west to determine the effect of sustained-release parasite control (Ivomec SR Bolus®, Merial Limited, Rahway, NJ) on cattle performance and fecal nematode egg counts. Cattle in trials I to IV grazed irrigated meadows for 156 d (n=250 yearling heifers), 117 d (n=250 yearling steers), 85 d (n=150 yearling heifers), and 85 d (n=60 calves), respectively. In trial V, yearling steers (n=200) grazed dry high-desert range for 190 d. Weights and fecal samples were taken initially and at the end of each trial. Cattle were paired by weight and randomly assigned to treatment 1) Control: no deworming for the grazing period or 2) SRI: sustained-release ivermectin. For trials I to V, total gain difference (SRI minus Control) and ADG difference were 10.0 kg and 0.064 kg/d ( P P P P =0.05), and −0.48 kg and −0.003 kg/d ( P =0.86), respectively. For trials I to V, mean initial, final Control, and final SRI fecal egg counts in eggs per gram were 0.4, 15.2, and 0.1; 6.0, 8.3, and 0.0; 75.8, 57.0, and 16.6; 76.0, 39.1, and 0.0; and 1.8, 2.0, and 0.0; respectively. Treatment of cattle grazing irrigated meadows with sustained-release ivermectin resulted in improved weight gain and fecal egg counts that were diminished to near zero. No differences ( P >0.05) in weight gains were detected for cattle administered sustained-release ivermectin that grazed dry high desert range.


Use of antimicrobial impregnated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement in the treatment of orthopaedic infections is widely accepted. 1 Antibiotic powder is routinely added to PMMA, and formed into beads or spacers when treating infected bone or periprosthetic infections.  Antibiotics placed into the PMMA elute via a water diffusion process. 2 This results in high local doses of the antimicrobial agent with reduced systemic toxicity. 3 Two stage reimplantation protocols utilizing antibiotic loaded PMMA cement generally provide the highest rates of successful treatment. 4,5 With the increasing number of resistant organisms, success of this treatment protocol requires antimicrobial therapy targeted at the specific organism found.  There exists a great deal of data on the use of certain antimicrobial agents in PMMA cement. 1,6,7 However, there are few published reports of the addition of rifampin.  This is the first clinical report on the failure of Palacos ® R cement (Heraeus Kulzer GmbH, Wehrheim, Germany) to set when rifampin is added.


Abstract : In this project we have made strides towards developing a mesoscopic statistical framework (MSF) to model non-equilibrium ensemblescomprised of large numbers of simple components. As a testbed, we have considered inhomogeneity formation in driven non-equilibriumsystems, namely we seek to predict whether inhomogeneities appear and to develop a description of inhomogeneity formation that is validacross particle and system scales. These systems can be tricky to analyze as mesoscale structures can lead to highly nonlinear macroscopicresponses e.g. near a critical concentration, the effective yield stress and viscosity of a suspension may increase by many orders ofmagnitude with the addition of a small number of particles. Historically these systems have been modeled either by tracking individualparticles (which rapidly becomes prohibitively computationally expensive as the number of particles increases), or by taking aphenomenological continuum approach in which the nonlinearities are measured experimentally for specific systems rather than derivedfrom microscopic principles.In this project we have developed a hybrid approach which operates at the mesoscale and hence reduces computational cost (relative to MDapproaches) while maintaining a direct link between effective material properties and microscopic dynamics.


ABSTRACT Social scientists studying toxic epidemics have often endeavored to shed light on the differences between scientists' and nonscientists' epistemic perspectives. Yet, little attention has been paid to the processes through which a toxic epidemic emerges as a phenomenon. A Luoi Valley of Central Vietnam was extensively sprayed with chemical defoliants (including Agent Orange) during the Vietnam War. The latent toxic effects of these chemicals, however, went largely unnoticed until the late 1990s. By juxtaposing the history through which the notion of "Agent Orange Sickness" emerged in the United States with an ethnographic study of A Luoi, I explore the notion of poison under which Agent Orange became recognizable as a poison.


In the spring of 2016, Scripps Research Institute California graduate student Anna Owensby texted a friend: "I have this feeling right now that there isn't really a place for me ... People like me aren't supposed to get a Ph.D., we are addicts or homeless or in jail." Owensby, 26, was a fourth-year graduate student. In her first years at Scripps, she was briefly hospitalized to evaluate her mental health, and she changed lab groups. Her new adviser, Scripps molecular medicine professor Dennis W. Wolan, had assisted in finding her a therapy group that seemed to be helping her. The group was not in Owensby's insurance network, but Scripps was paying for the sessions. She passed her Ph.D. candidacy exam at the end of 2015, at which time her committee members indicated that she was progressing appropriately and that they had no nonacademic concerns about her. Then, in the space


The default statutory model of corporate governance contemplates not a single hierarch but rather a multi-member body that acts collegially. Why? This article reviews evidence that group decisionmaking is often preferable to that of individuals, focusing on evidence that groups are particularly likely to be more effective decisionmakers in settings analogous to those in which boards operate. Most of this evidence comes not from neo-classical economics, but from the behavioral sciences. In particular, cognitive psychology has a long-standing tradition of studying individual versus group decisionmaking. This article contends that behavioral research, taken together with various strands of new institutional economics, sheds considerable light on the role of the board of directors. In addition, the analysis has implications for several sub-regimes within corporate law. Are those sub-regimes well-designed to encourage optimal board behavior? Two such sub-regimes are surveyed here: First, the seemingly formalistic rules governing board decisionmaking processes turn out to make considerable sense in light of the experimental data on group decisionmaking. Second, the adverse consequences of judicial review for effective team functioning turns out to be a partial explanation for the business judgment rule.


We develop a theory for embedding a random graph using graph neural networks (GNN) and apply it to address the challenge of developing a near-optimal learning algorithm to solve the NP-hard problem of scheduling multiple robots with timevarying rewards. In particular, we consider a class of reward collection problems called Multi-Robot Reward Collection (MRRC). Such MRRC problems well model ride-sharing, pickup-and-delivery, and a variety of related problems. Our theory enables a two-step hierarchical inference for precise and transferable Q-function estimation for MRRC. For scalable computation, we show that the transferability of Q-function estimation enables us to design a polynomial-time algorithm with 1− 1/e optimality bound. Experimental results on solving NP-hard MRRC problems highlight the near-optimality and transferability of the method.


[Objective] The aim was to compare and analyze several Saccharum varieties′ main agronomic traits,main economic traits,plant diseases and insect pests,and lodging-resistance situation.[Method] Comparison test between one-year old plant and one-year old perennial root of ten Saccharum varieties was carried out at Beihai City,Guangxi in 2010-2011,taking Xintaitang No.22 as control.[Result] Liucheng 05-129 and Yuetang 00-318 showed more prominent.The sucrose content of Liucheng 05-129's one-year old plant and one-year old perennial root was higher by 0.07 and 1.30 percentage than those of control,resp.,and their yield was higher by 0.05,22.6 t/hm2 than those of control,resp.;The sucrose content of Liucheng 05-129's one-year old perennial root was higher by 0.93 percentage than that of control,and the yield of its one-year old plant was higher by 16.39 t/hm2 than that of control.Guitang 02-531's ratoon character showed better,plant diseases and insect pests' incidence rate was a little,and its perennial root′s yield and sucrose content was higher by 0.93 t/hm2,0.93 percentage than those of control.[Conclusion] The study provides a reference for selecting good Saccharum varieties planting in Guangxi region suitably.


The influence of thermal and thermobaric (TBT) effects on the structure, microstructure, and dielectric properties of ceramics based on solid solutions of the La1.8Ca0.2Ni0.8M0.2O4+δ (M = Co, Cu) composition was studied. TBT treatment of the samples leads to a change in the grain morphology of ceramics and an increase in the dielectric constant compared to its value only after heat treatment. The change in the anisotropy of the coordination (La,Ca)O9 and (Ni,M)O6 polyhedra after TBT contributed to interlayer polarization in the crystal structure of La1.8Ca0.2Ni0.8M0.2O4+δ.


In order to study the dynamic response rule of semi-rigid base asphalt pavement structure under moving load,a full-scale test ground was built,and set-in sensors were used to detect the dynamic response of accelerate loading facility at the bottom of the surface layer under wheel load,and the influences of the lateral distribution of bottom of surface layer,axle load and temperature on the dynamic response of pavement sructure were studied.Results show that the longitudinal flexural-tensile strain at bottom of surface layer presents alternating strain under moving wheel load and the load position only influences its magnitude.The lateral flexural-tensile strain presents quite complex,and it presents tensile strain at the bottom of the tire crown.It presents compressive strain at the positions of two tires middle and two tires lateral.It presents alternating strain at the bottom of the tire shoulder.The flexural-tensile strain at the bottom of the surface layer can not reflect the pavement damaging condition by the overload trucks.Temperature has significant influence on the dynamic response of the asphalt pavement structure,and the dynamic responses at 30 ℃,40 ℃ and 50 ℃ are respectively equivalent to 3 times,8.9 times and 13.3 times of dynamic response at common temperature state.


Equal opportunities policies, and other programmes for the elimination of racial and sexual discrimination at work, frequently place great store by the formalisation of the recruitment process. This article suggests that such recommendations fail to take account of the nature of recruitment to most occupations. This point is developed by the presentation of both a typology of modes of discrimination in the recruitment process and an empirical case study.


This paper studies the technology and cloud platform of "cloud computing" in detail. Technically, this paper studies Map-Reduce, HDFS, and BigTable in cloud platform technology. Using the theoretical thinking of comprehensive advantages, the design ideas and principles of the smart tourism service model based on the network platform are proposed, and the overall architecture of the smart tourism service model based on the network platform is constructed according to the three dimensions of the tourist demand level, network platform development stage, and service resource aggregation and integration. The virtual network interaction platform is realized through Unity3D combined with Web3D technology, and the system interaction function is realized according to the communication principle of the front and back of the web page, including the fast switching of scenic spots, the selection of roaming methods, and the realization of navigation maps. In the user evaluation stage, usability and user satisfaction of the system were effectively measured by the SUS system usability scale and the heuristic experiment combined with Likert scale. The virtual reality system of smart tourist attractions based on somatosensory interaction integrates immersion, interactivity, gameplay, education, and dissemination. It can break the time and space barriers for the creation and experience of smart tourist attractions, improve the extremely cold experience environment of smart tourist attractions, increase the display and publicity dimensions of smart tourist attractions, change the situation of one-way passive reception of traditional smart tourist attractions, and improve the interaction and interaction of tourists. It also provides new teaching and design methods for creators of smart tourism scenic spots, which is conducive to the promotion of teaching in smart tourism scenic spots. It enhances the importance of ice and snow culture in the ice and snow industry, changes the traditional business model of ice and snow scenic spots, and uses modern technology to make up for the cultural development defects of smart tourism scenic spots. The digital sustainable development construction of smart tourism scenic spots provides new ideas.


The design idea,structure and main functions of Management System for Science and Research in University have been analyzed and discussed. Then ,combining with the situation of my university, The basic design of Database Tables based on 3NF is stressed on , at last, more detailed discussion is made on the implementation method for the system.


A new imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine-containing pyrrolyl ligand HL (HL = 3-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine) was synthesized and employed in the organometallic chemistry of titanium. The syntheses, structures, catalytic properties and antitumor activity of three titanium complexes supported by HL are reported. Reactions of Ti(NMe2)4 and Ti(NEt2)4 with 2 equivalents of HL, led to the production of titanium bisamido complexes TiL2(NMe2)2 (1) and TiL2(NEt2)2 (2), respectively. Treatment of Ti(OiPr)4 with 2 equivalents of HL resulted in the formation of TiL2(OiPr)2 (3). All complexes were characterized by elemental analyses and NMR studies. The solid-state structures of 2 and 3 were further established by single X-ray crystallography. The titanium bisamido complexes 1 and 2 are shown to be good pre-catalysts for the hydroamination of alkynes. Complex 1 was found to be an active catalyst for the ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone. The cytotoxicity activities of 3 towards the tumor cells HCT-116, PC3 and MCF-7 were measured. Complex 3 exhibited good antitumor properties.


This article discusses the Islamic rules and its influence on social economic life. This article would like to see as deep as if the teachings of attention to the economic aspects of human life. This article tries to analyze the rules of zakat on Islam in the Quran and Hadith pared with the economic approach. This article would like to conclude that the rules of Islam does not deny the life of the world.


Summary An antigenic variant of Type A2 influenza virus appeared between 1960 and 1962. Although it was associated with human disease in the Far East in 1962, outbreaks were not noted in the United States until January 1963. This variant appears to lack one or more antigens present in the older A2 virus, in that rooster antisera prepared to the 1957 strains readily inhibit current strains by HI test, whereas similarly prepared antisera to 1962–1963 viruses react weakly if at all with older strains. Antibody to the current strains in young adults' sera drawn in 1962 was found to be present at a significantly lower level than that to older A2 viruses. No adequate evaluation can be made of the effect of the present shift upon disease in man. Controlled studies of vaccine prophylaxis hopefully will yield this information. The tissue culture neutralization test (hemadsorption-inhibition) was found to be a reliable method for measuring neutralizing antibody to influenza virus. This method is even more specific than the HI with rooster sera in demonstrating differences among strains. It has the further advantage of obviating the need for preliminary chemical or enzymatic treatment of human sera, and gives a better measure of antibody than other serologic tests.


This information booklet, initiated by the Australian Tax Research Foundation, attempts to review the issues involved in establishing a taxation system for superannuation. It is primarily concerned with the taxation of occupational superannuation and pension plans, as distinct from any national pension plan or Social Security. However, in countries where it is possible for retirees to receive income from both sources, it is important that some form of integration between the two systems exists. Hence, at times within this study, it is inevitable that reference will be made to Social Security.


A dual band modified Sierpinski antenna for WiFi applications. The design is based on Sierpinski triangle fractal printed and it covers both the 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz Wifi Band. The antenna has a maximum gain of ~3.6 dBi and total size of 5.5×4 cm. An overview of the antenna design along with the full wave simulation is provided.


A Giant Colonic Diverticulum (GCD) is a rare manifestiation of colonic diverticular disease. It is more often located in the sigmoid colon. It is defined by a colonic diverticulum greater than 4cm in diameter (medium size 4-9cm). It is usually located at the anti-mesenteric border of the sigmoid colon. It was first described in 1946, although less than 200 cases are reported in the literature, mostly as case reports. While GCD pathophysiology remains unclear, the "Ball-valve" theory is the most accepted. GCD should be managed with surgical excision. If it presents as acute diverticulitis, it should be treated according to clinical guidelines.


Introduction. To ensure the effectiveness of the country's foreign economic policy, it is necessary to form an effective system of international trade and economic relations (ITER). The priority of the development of the agricultural sector in Ukraine necessitates the determination of the peculiarities of these relations in this area. To create the appropriate manage-ment tools, it is necessary to develop the methodological approach to determine the development level of this area.
The purpose of the study is to determine the content and sequence of implementation of the methodological approach to determine the development level of international economic relations in the agricultural sector.
Results. The paper presents a sequence of the developed methodical approach, which includes 5 stages, where each is characterized by the use of many methods and obtaining the corresponding results. At the first stage, which involves the analysis of existing approaches, it is proposed to use traditional methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and systematization. At the second stage of substantiation of the set of indicators of the analysis it is offered to use methods of comparison and generalization. In the third stage, which includes checking the sample for the normal distribution law, it's proposed to use the graphical method. The fourth stage involves the calculation of the integrated indicator of the develop-ment of ITER by forms, which is implemented using taxonomic analysis. The fifth stage involves the substantiation of the patterns of development of ITER in the agricultural sector, which is implemented using an analytical method. The generali-zation of methods of multidimensional statistical analysis for the study of international trade and economic relations has been done with the definition of their advantages and disadvantages. The indicators to be used for evaluation are considered. The classification of indicators into stimulants, destimulants and nominators is considered.
Key words: agricultural sector, international trade and economic relations, taxonomic analysis, stimulators, des-timulants, methodical approach.


In this paper, the author uses well know Structural Engineering theorems to solve for physical constants for the universe. The universe is in static equilibrium. Thus, these rules of statics apply to the universe. We show how the speed of light is derived to be c=2.997. In keeping with the theme of Astro-Theology, the physical universe are inseparable.


The geometry of platinum clusters Ptn (n = 2–10, 13, 19, 24, 38, 55 and 75) was optimized at the UBLYP/CRENBS, UBPW91/CRENBS, UBPW91/LANL2DZ and UPBE0/LANL08 levels for different spin states in order to establish their structure, thermodynamic properties, and obtain reference data for the calibration of interatomic potentials. The optimized cluster structures and energies were used to elaborate the atomic parameters of the empirical potentials of Gupta and Sutton-Chen, and modified versions of these potentials SCG5 and SCG5A developed for better description of medium-range interactions. The new DFT-calibrated potentials were used for the global optimization of cluster structure in the broad nuclearity range of n = 3–150 using the modified methods of Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) and Metropolis Monte Carlo Simulated Annealing (MMC-SA). Optimization was performed using the original code GLOBUS that implements local and global optimization methods in conjunction with various empirical potentials and their modi...


We have studied the paramagnetic using the techniques of pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR). The powder sample revealed two well-separated lines from the distinct sites at room temperature and at 77 K. The distinct frequency shifts of the two lines appear to arise from electron transfers. Furthermore, the two sites have very short spin-lattice relaxation times (). The frequency-shifted site has the shorter than the unshifted one, reflecting the difference of the electron environments of the two sites.


A new water treatment process which aims to purification of contaminated high-turbid water is provided.In order to purify high-turbid water,this new process combines circumfluence of purified water with pellet coagulation in the rotational flow rationally,in accompany with the selection of optimal conditions of coagulants in the multi-step dosage process.In the pilot treatment plant,this process can decrease turbid and get rid of organic contamination which exists in high-turbid water largely,moreover,the mutagenicity of water is feminie after the process.This process is economic and practiacal and can applied in the practical operation of water treatment plant.


This paper presents an algorithm in spatial domain which gives less distortion to the cover image during embedding process. Minimizing embedding impact and maximizing embedding capacity are the key factors of any steganography algorithm. Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) is the familiar metric used in discriminating the distorted image (stego image) and cover image. Here matrix embedding technique is chosen to embed the secret image which is initially Huffman encoded. The Huffman encoded image is overlaid on the selected bits of all the channels of pixels of cover image through matrix embedding. As a result, the stego image is constructed with very less distortion when compared to the cover image ends up with higher PSNR value. A secret image which cannot be embedded in a normal LSB embedding technique can be overlaid in this proposed technique since the secret image is Huffman encoded. Experimental results for standard cover images, which obtained higher PSNR value during the operation is shown in this paper.


This article discusses the classification of hоuses built of local materials, taking into account the regional specifics of the Kyrgyz Republic and based on the analysis and generalization of the practice in thе Central Asian rеgion. Experimental and theoretical studies were conducted on the classified types, based on the results of which a rating was made on the economic component, construction technology and seismic resistance.


The article presents the results ofstudy ofprotein peroxidation, the degree of oxidized proteins fragmentation and the level of proteins containing tyrosine (endogenous intoxication) in plasma of patients with glaucoma. The increase of insult to proteins as a result offree radical processes intensification and the enhancement of endogenous intoxication manifestation have been revealed in patients with ocular pathology.


This article looks at the cold fusion issue which got a lot of attention in 1989. It provides interesting background information, a brief explanation of the experimental methods and problems encountered, and the basis for some of the controversy. The current state of the research effort is also outlined.


This NASA conference publication contains the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Proof-Carrying Code and Software Certification, held as part of LICS in Los Angeles, CA, USA, on August 15, 2009. Software certification demonstrates the reliability, safety, or security of software systems in such a way that it can be checked by an independent authority with minimal trust in the techniques and tools used in the certification process itself. It can build on existing validation and verification (VV especially where source code is not available, or the code author and user are unknown to each other. The workshop wiII address theoretical foundations of logic-based software certification as well as practical examples and work on alternative application domains. Here "certificate" is construed broadly, to include not just mathematical derivations and proofs but also safety and assurance cases, or any fonnal evidence that supports the semantic analysis of programs: that is, evidence about an intrinsic property of code and its behaviour that can be independently checked by any user, intermediary, or third party. These guarantees mean that software certificates raise trust in the code itself, distinct from and complementary to any existing trust in the creator of the code, the process used to produce it, or its distributor. In addition to the contributed talks, the workshop featured two invited talks, by Kelly Hayhurst and Andrew Appel. The PCC 2009 website can be found at http://ti.arc.nasa.gov /event/pcc 091.


Many of the secondary schools have had threats to safety from within originating from fires, insect bites, loose and sharp objects, poorly constructed buildings inadequate and poorly ventilated rooms all these among others makes the learner, the teacher and the workers insecure while in school. The study aimed at assessing the influence of the principal's training on safety management in all the public schools in Nzaui sub-County, Makueni County Kenya. A mixed method was used consequently applying the concurrent triangulation strategy. Qualitative data was thematically examined beside the research objects then presented in description forms. It was evident from the findings that insecurity was on the rise in many secondary schools in Nzaui Sub-county. It further revealed that principals' training has not been operative in security management in public secondary schools. Thus, the study commends that the principals should develop training mechanism to promote security management in their school. The principals should allocate sufficient resources for employment and training of security staff and purchases of advanced security installations.


This paper will discuss a Virtual Exchange (VE) between the University of Michigan (USA) and the High Institute of Technological Studies of Béja (Tunisia) that took place between October and December 2019. Students from Tunisia and USA were enrolled in two entrepreneurship courses in their respective universities and joined together to work in groups on an innovative project on 'creating a prototype for a seawater farm in the region of Khniss' to be presented at the end of the semester. As this project was student-centered, the main focus was to show its impact on the students through their testimonials on what challenges they encountered and what benefits they gained from this experience at an academic and personal level. These testimonials showed that despite differences in intercultural communication competencies between American and Tunisian students and the use of English as a lingua franca, students gained valuable skills in team communication, collaboration, and coordination in a large team spread over two continents. Students taught each other and learned from each other while working toward solving a social and environmental problem the world is struggling with. Another light was shed on the impact of this VE on the instructors, the pedagogy adopted to conduct the project, as well as the contribution of the instructional support staff. Moving from a directive to a student-driven approach was rewarding for the Tunisian instructor who learned how to push students out of their comfort zone, dive into uncertain areas, and ask questions rather than accepting the norms. On his part the American instructor learned that it is possible to create meaningful, unconventional student-led projects across languages, cultures, and geography as long as the teams (students and faculty) are excited and committed to the project. He also learned that students get inspired to be brave, thoughtful, and resourceful when they can witness what effective professional collaboration by faculty looks like.


: In this study, a 3-Dimensional finite element simulation of a braking cycle including braking and cooling steps is presented. In order to induce thermal stresses, thermo-mechanical material behaviour and interactions between pad and discs are considered in the simulation. The results reveal that compressive and tensile stresses are happening in the braking and cooling steps respectively. Cyclic tensile stresses in the disc of heavy trucks would lead to the initiation of superficial radial cracks in them. The occurrence of hot spot phenomenon in the discs are also observed and discussed thoroughly. The proposed model could be utilized to estimate fatigue life of the braking discs in the automobiles and heavy vehicles..


In English teaching,many teachers ignore the nonverbal communication,and don't pay attention to the importance of the nonverbal communication.So this paper does some analysis and research on the importance of nonverbal communication in language communication,which includes body language,object language,environmental language and paralanguage.It explains the importance of nonverbal communication in English teaching.


Let R be a ring and D : R n ! R be n-additive mapping. A map d : R ! R is said to be the trace of D if d(x) = D(x;x;:::x) for all x 2 R: Suppose that ; are endomorphisms of R. For any a;b 2 R, let (; )= a (b) + (b)a. In the present paper under certain suitable torsion restrictions it is shown that D = 0 if R satises either (; )= 0, for all x 2 R or (; );x m >(; )= 0; for all x 2 R. Further, if 2 Z(R), the center of R, for all x 2 R or = 0, for all x 2 R; then it is proved that d is commuting on R. Some more related results are also obtained for additive mapping on R.


In argon plasma induced by radio frequency of 13.56MHz,radial and axial profiles of plasma parameters have been measured versus pressure by Langmiur probe and axial intensity of Ar spectrum at 750.3nm has been obtained versus pressure using the emission spectrum.The results show that the same diversification appears in both data.Axial intensity of Ar+ spectrum at 434.8nm was measured with the pressure,and the ratios of 434.8nm Ar+ spectrum intensity to the 430.0nm Ar's were obtained with pressure in three axial positions.The results indicate that a high density uniform and stable plasma has formed in the middle and at the top of the discharge chamber,its density descends at the target and the plasma density decreases slowly below the middle of the chamber.The plasma parameters change slightly in radial area within 6~7cm,a radially uniform and stable plasma also occurs.


of multiple components (JAcoBsoN, 1972; TAMAKi, 1972). These facts suggest that quantitative relationships between components as wcll as qualitative diflerences among components of sex pheromones are important factors, thatirelease mating behavior and permit mate recognition (TAMAKi, l972). spodoptera litura (F.) is distributed in south-east Asia, the Pacific Islands, and India, and is an important pest of various vegetable crops in south-


tion, occasional spelling and grammatical errors, and incomplete or inconsistent bibliographical data (TSAR/Tsar; 1998 misprinted as 1989) all contribute to a recurrent sense of imprecision and unreliability. The text concludes with a useful index of proper names and some thematic concepts, but excludes the informative 'List of Contributors' usually found in such collections. Finally, all readers of prairie literature will lament the exclusion here of Robert Kroetsch's conversation with Rudy Wiebe at Canadian Mennonite University in 2007. Only once, and then very briefly, does the editor quote from it directly, though it might well have been the most valuable and interesting part of the collection. Oddly, too, while singing the praises of Kroetsch, to whom the collection is dedicated, the text gives only minimal attention to the writing of this central prairie figure. (JOHN J. O'CONNOR)


The molecular structure of gaseous 4-fluoro-2′,4′,6′-trimethylbiphenyl was determined by electron diffraction. The average of two independend determinations leads to the following parameters for the structure: CC(ring) = 1.398(1),CC(methyl) = 1.522(5), CH(ring) = 1.082(6), CH(methyl) = CH(ring) + 0.015 = 1.097(6), CF = 1.324(7), Cl-Cl′ = 1.488(9) (inter ring bond), ∢(C,C,H) = 109.9(1.8)° (angle of methylgroup tetrahedra), α = 124.9(0.6)° (angle of ortho-methyl-groups towards the inter ring bond), φ = 77.5(2.1)° (angle of torsion between the planes of the two phenyl rings) which are in good agreement with respect to known structural data on biphenylderivatives. A very interesting result is the angle of torsion with 77.5° which is by 6.5° smaller than the value of 84(1)° determined by X-ray crystallography for the corresponding 4-iodo-compound in the crystalline state1. In all determinations known to us til now for comparable derivatives of biphenyl the angle of torsion was found larger in the gaseous state than in the crystalline state.


Manufacturing activities contribute a lot of toxic wastes to the environment; hence this study was carried out to investigate the effect of industrial activities on the neighbouring Surrounding Atonsu-Kaase- Ahinsan industrial/residential area in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Questionnaires were administered, interview method used in the case of the non-literate residents and the drop-and-collect method in the case of the health officials, KMA workers, literate residents and other governmental workers. The observation method was used to collect data on the level of environmental pollution. The study revealed air and water pollution as the most dominant type of pollution in the area.


Address for reprints: Eberhard Grube, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FAPSIC. Heart Center Bonn, Department of Medicine II. University Hospital Bonn. Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Phone: +49-228-287-15217 Fax: +49-228-287-16423 Email: email@example.com Since 2002, the treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis has been revolutionized by introducing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) as a complementary technique to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). During this time, TAVI has become the standard of care for elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis at low, intermediate, and high surgical risk when the femoral approach can be implemented safely. (1-4) 2016 was already a breakthrough for this technology, as this was the first time when overall in-hospital mortality after transvascular TAVI was numerically lower than after isolated SAVR in Germany. Despite the fact that the patient cohorts were completely different and SAVR patients were at a numerically lower surgical risk, as indicated by the German aortic valve score, similar in-hospital survival was only found in the low-risk group, whereas TAVI was superior in patients at intermediate, high, and very high risk. (1-4) The development was made possible by the introduction of innovative transcatheter heart valves (THVs) and refinement of technical skills that have contributed to the decreased complication rates associated with TAVI. Increasing operator experience, smaller sheath diameters, standardized pre-procedural planning with the introduction of computed tomography as gold standard, and improved vascular closing techniques have resulted in significantly lower rates of vascular complications. (5) Therefore, it is not surprising that a so-called "event-free" TAVI procedure has the lowest post-procedural morbidity and mortality. (6) The next step is a simplification of the procedure, which should contribute to a further decrease in complications by rendering the procedure less invasive, but also a reduction in procedural time and hospital stay, as well as staff workload and costs. Moving to conscious sedation without transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance of the TAVI procedure, abandonment of balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) for predilatation, avoidance of Foley and Swan-Ganz catheters, and finally post-procedural transfer to intermediate care or even only telemetry units with early ambulation, instead of an intensive care unit, are options for achieving this ultimate refinement. (5) In this issue of the Journal, Fava et al. assessed the impact of a simplification of the TAVI procedure [the so-called "minimalist approach" (MA)] on postprocedural patient outcome in a single-center experience. (7) To this end, the authors compared 229 consecutive patients who underwent a MA-TAVI with 74 standard approach (SA) patients. The authors concluded that their simplified TAVI approach proved to be feasible and safe, as it reduced procedure duration and in-hospital stay, with 30-day outcomes similar to those of the SA, and providing better comfort for the patient. Although the learning curve and increasing operator experience may explain at least in part the beneficial effect of the "minimalist approach", (since the first patients in their center were treated with SATAVI and then the operators switched completely to the MA-TAVI approach) the authors can be congratulated for this important analysis. They simplified their TAVI procedure over time by implementing the following strategies:


FIELD: radio engineering, communication. SUBSTANCE: method includes receiving an input code word with "strong" or "weak" solutions; decoding the input code word in a LDPC decoder; generating an output decoded code word; if the next input code word is present at the input of the decoder, receiving and processing said code word, otherwise decoding is completed; for a specified type of a LDPC decoder, predetermining the dependence of the distribution law of the number of iterations when decoding the input code word on the signal-to-noise ratio; and for a specified number of iterations, the dependence of the distribution law of the syndrome weight when decoding input code words on the signal-to-noise ratio; when decoding each input code word, recording the number of iterations performed during decoding, and for a specified number of iterations, the syndrome weight; constructing a histogram of the distribution of the number of iterations at a specified time interval, which is compared with previously obtained dependences of the distribution law of the number of iterations when decoding an input code word on the signal-to-noise ratio, and finding an estimate of the current signal-to-noise ratio; for a specified number of iterations, constructing a histogram of the distribution of the syndrome weight on a specified time interval, which is compared with previously obtained dependences of the distribution law of the syndrome weight when decoding input code words on the signal-to-noise ratio, and finding an estimate of the current signal-to-noise signal; based on the obtained signal-to-noise ratio estimates in each measurement channel, generating the final estimate of the current signal-to-noise ratio, for example via weighted summation and normalisation. EFFECT: high noise-immunity owing to the use of an estimate of the current signal-to-noise ratio at the input of a receiving device. 23 cl, 14 dwg


The present study evaluated two hypotheses concerning the comparability of scores of the WISC and WISC-R through correlation of obtained scores on both scales. Forty subjects, representing 10 age levels, constituted the experimental sample. Each subject was administered the WISC, followed in 28 days by the WISC-R.
Data analysis revealed significant (.05) correlations between scores on comparable WISC and WISC-R subtests except Arithmetic and Coding. The Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores correlated .5468, .5773, and .6240 respectively (p < .01).
Conclusions were drawn that caution should be taken in comparison and interpretation of scores on the two scales due to several low correlation coefficients obtained as well as numerous changes between the scales. Further study is recommended.


Any type of genetic recombination involving exchange of DNA between nonhomologous chromosomes, which often occurs as the result of non-homologous endjoining of broken DNA strands. Chromosomal translocation is involved in repairing broken DNA and in maintaining cell viability at the expense of long term genomic stability. T his process is is associated with particular types of leukemia, infertility and Down Syndrome. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


Based on the solufion of a malfunction of the suberged continuous ultra-filtration system used in realaimed water treatment and finding the cause of the malfunction,an effective chemical cleaning was caried out.The system has recovered normal operation.


Introduction: In recent years, with the rapid development of renewable energy generation, the stability of the power grid has been greatly reduced. In response to this problem, integrating the user side transferable load into the power market has become the key to the development of future power grid. At present, large transferable loads have entered the electricity market in some pilot areas of China, but the relevant research on small and medium-sized transferable users entering the electricity market is still few.Methods: This paper proposes the concept of generation load aggregators. A two-stage generation load aggregator robust optimization model is developed to obtain the scheduling scheme with the lowest operating cost under the worst scenario. The model consists of distributed renewable power, transferable load, self-provided power, energy storage, etc. Uncertainties of renewable energy and load are introduced in the model. By using the column constraint generation algorithm and strong pairwise theory, the original problem is decomposed into the main problem and sub-problems to be solved alternately, so as to obtain the scheduling scheme with the lowest operating cost in the worst scenario under different conservatism.Results: The solved results are compared with those without the generation load aggregator, illustrating the role of the generation load aggregator in relieving peak and valley pressure on the grid from the load side, reducing the cost of electricity for loads, and promoting the consumption of renewable energy. The comparison with the deterministic optimization algorithm shows a significant decrease in the total cost and validates the performance of the selected solution algorithm. The boundary conditions for the use of energy storage by generation load aggregators for peak and valley reduction under the time-sharing tariff mechanism are also derived.Discussion: This study can provide reference for the investors of generation load aggregators when planning whether to install energy storage or the scale of energy storage, and also help the power market management department to design a reasonable incentive mechanism.


Health Information Services deal with repository, retrieval and make use of medical information in order to improve service quality and reduce cost. Medical staff, administrative staff and patients are typical users of such services. Behavior of these adopters is influenced by technology and user characteristics, social and organizational environment. This paper evaluates the determinants of Health Information Service adoption among users and analyzes the relationship of these determinants with the behavior of the users. Moreover, a taxonomy of factors that influence technology usage is provided. According to this taxonomy user and service characteristics, social and intermediary factors like usefulness and ease of use influence health service adoption.


The question of the origin of 'natural' human language has fascinated the scientific world for a very long time and seems to be generating a renewed level of interest. This paper will show that all elements converge to indicate a long and slow process of separation by which the hominids very progressively became distinguished from the other higher primates and more generally from other animal species. Biological and neurological developments created favourable structures for the future emergence of human languages. These developments were further potentialized by the appearance of new forms of co-operation within human communities. Such anthropological, socio-cultural and 'political' elements were determinant in allowing the transition to the specifically human functions of language. If these elements are not taken into consideration, researchers are reduced to imaging the appearance of a mutation from which solely Homo sapiens would have benefited and from whichHomo neanderthalensis would have been excluded, as must equally be excluded any intermingling between the various varieties of hominids.


We present the problem of estimating cortical connectivity between different regions of the cortex from scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) or magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data as system identification of a nonlinear state-space model. The state equation is based on a nonlinear multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) model with radial basis function (RBF) kernels. The RBF kernels capture the nonlinear dynamics of the cortical signals and provide a framework for measuring interactions between cortical regions of interest (ROIs) based on the definition of Granger causality. The observation equation relates the cortical signals associated with each ROI to the observed E/MEG data using a set of parsimonious spatial bases to represent spatially extended cortical sources. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is derived to obtain maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of the nonlinear state-space model parameters directly from the observed data. We show that this integrated approach for measuring cortical connectivity performs significantly better than the conventional decoupled approach in which cortical signals are first estimated by solving the inverse problem followed by fitting a MVAR model.


ABSTRACT This study investigated coping style, work-related cognition, and victimization history as predictors of job satisfaction and burnout in child abuse professionals. Subjects were 215 participants in a conference on sexual abuse victim treatment. We developed a questionnaire assessing a variety of cognitions related to work with human services clients. One of the findings was that job satisfaction showed no relation to items portraying simple optimism or pessimism about helping clients, but satisfaction was related to a number of cognitions that combined realism and hope in a distinctive fashion. The coping strategies of Planful Problem Solving, Positive Reappraisal, and Seeking Social Support were associated with positive work experience, and the coping mechanisms of Confrontive Coping, Escape/Avoidance, and Accepting Responsibility were associated with negative work experience. Job satisfaction was higher in subjects reporting a childhood history of sexual abuse or neglect.


.................................................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Outline of thesis ................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 2: Assessing the utility of SPOT-5 data and the Random Forest ensemble algorithm to classify land use/cover in a complex environment 2.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.3 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................... 9 2.3.1 Study area ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.2 Data acquisition and pre-processing ............................................................................. 12 2.3.3 Field data acquisition .................................................................................................... 12


Malaria is still a major public health problem worldwide. Malaria and its negative collateral effects on school performance can be prevented by adopting a SMC Strategy in school. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of ASAQ administered for Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) duringone malaria transmission season in children aged 6-15 years in suburbanschools. It was a randomized, open study comparing ASAQ associated with standard care in SMC to standard care alone. Two hundred (200) students were included in the study. The children were randomized into two arms of 100, one arm had receive ASAQ in SMC and the other arm the standard care for malaria recommended by the PNLP (prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment using CTAs). ASAQ was administered 3 days (D0, D1, D2) duing 4 successive months. The study lasted six months, from October 2013 to April 2014. At the end of our study, we had 21 cases of clinical malaria in the arm ASAQ (-), against three cases of uncomplicated malaria in the arm ASAQ (+), 86% protective efficacy against clinical malaria by ASAQ and 36 cases of malaria infection in the arm ASAQ (-) against 12 cases in the arm ASAQ (+). Its protective efficacy was 67% (p <10-3). ASAQ is effective in SMC among school children and provides a protection against uncomplicated malaria and infection. It could be a good alternative to SP-AQ for SMC.


The problem of joint iterative multiuser detection and channel estimation for the uplink of differentially coded asynchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS- CDMA) systems with periodic spreading sequences is considered. The proposed receiver consists of a first stage of channel esti- mation, soft interference cancellation and soft-in-soft-out (SISO) multiuser filtering, followed by a second stage of single-user iterative decoders. The single-user iterative decoder for each user consists of a powerful combination of a recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) decoder and a differential decoder which incorporate their soft information in an iterative fashion. In terms of channel estimation for the first iteration, the multipath channel is estimated blindly by exploiting orthogonality between the signal and noise subspaces. In the next iterations, the channel estimates are improved by using the soft estimates of the coded bits of each user provided by the single-user iterative decoders in conjunction with the output of multiuser detector. By exchanging soft information between the two stages, the receiver performance is improved through iteration. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed Turbo multiuser receiver offers performance approaching the single-user bound. Keywords-Code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems, Iterative channel estimation, Differential encoding, Minimum- mean-square-error (MMSE) filtering.


The paper analyzes the importance of the column pole design,studys the high problem of column pole design,puts forward the hour of different column pole design at the request of notice of problem,points out the column pole in addition to stronger adornment more important a kind of safety device,so its strength must satisfy engineering developments with the high degree standard.


Objective To explore the ultrasonographic characteristics of fetal hemivertebrae.Methods Prenatal ultrasound data of 29 fetuses with hemivertebrae confirmed by imaging examination after odinopoeia or birth were retrospectively analyzed.Results The ultrasonography characteristics of fetal hemivertebrae were found as followed:In sagittal section,the spine lose the normal curve,the affected vertebra was not in alignment and was smaller than the normal vertebra.In coronal section,the affected vertebra was triangle or wedge and the spine was shown as scoliosis or angulation deformity.In cross section,the affected vertebra was smaller than the normal one with irregular shape.The hemivertebrae occurred in the thoracic vertebra in 14 fetuses(14/29,48.28%),in the lumbar vertebra in 13 fetuses(13/29,44.83%) and in the sacral coccygeal vertebra in 2 fetuses(2/29,6.90%).There were 12 fetuses(12/29,41.38%) being complicated with 15 kinds of congenital malformations,among them congenital heart disease was common.Conclusion There is certain characteristics of fetal hemivertebrae in prenatal ultrasound and congenital heart disease is a common complicated deformity.


Tourism has been identified as a primary development sector in Ohio's effort to diversify and expand its economy. To encourage growth, the state government launched a comprehensive tourism planning effort in 1983. The initial focus of the new "Ohio, the heart of it all!" program was to encourage Ohioans to vacation within their own state. The next developmental phase will focus on enlarging the targeted visitor source regions to include neighbouring and selected other states and to attract foreign visitors.Major features of Ohio's resource base for tourism are analyzed and mapped. Major tourist regions and primary and secondary urban tourist centres are identified and for delimited.Ohio ranked 16th among the 50 states in the number of foreign visitors in 1983. A large proportion of those visitors are Canadians traversing the state. Others are attracted to the three larger metropolitan centres (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus) or to those places possessing a particular attraction or hosting a special event...


As vehicles are become intelligent for convenience and safety of drivers, the in-vehicle networking (IVN) systems and smart modules are essential components for intelligent vehicles. However, there are obstacles for the wide acceptance of the smart modules, Firstly, because it is very difficult to develop the smart module that supports all the existing IVN protocols, the smart module must be independent of the type of networking protocols. Secondly, when the smart module is to be replaced due to its failure, it is necessary to replace the transducer only keeping the original microprocessor and network transceiver. This paper deals with the IEEE 1451 based smart module that describes the digital interface between a network transceiver and a sensor module. Finally, efficacy of the IEEE 1451 based smart module was evaluated on the experimental model.


Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a critical strategy in the treatment of hematopoietic diseases, but it is not free of complications. Those occurring in the central nervous system (CNS) exhibit potential severity and poor prognosis, the most frequent being infection and hemorrhagic stroke secondary to thrombocytopenia. Up to 3% of transplant recipients develop a stroke; however, despite the relationship between thrombocytopenia and bleeding at any level, ischemic strokes have also been described in patients with thrombocytopenia. The aim of our study was to review the development ischemic stroke following allogeneic HSCT and to identify possible associated risk factors. 3 GVHD cutaneous 50% in the of thrombotic microangiopathy, suspicion of it. 50% immunosuppressive on calcineurin inhibitors or corticosteroids. 75% a hemorrhagic (hemorrhagic cystitis, sublingual hematoma). Aspergillusspp pneumococcal coexistence microorganism at pulmonary level. positivized in in 50%


Electron spin resonance studies have been performed on arrays of single-crystalline Si nanowires (NWs), 375 nm long and of top diameter of about 5 nm, fabricated on (100)Si by top-down etching and final thinning by thermal oxidation in dry O2/N2 at . The SiO2/SiNW interfaces, showing a density of inherent electrically detrimental defects substantially exceeding that of standard technological (100)Si/SiO2, are of inferior electrical quality. An extensive study of the passivation kinetics in H2 and forming gas ambient reveals that, even under optimized conditions, the defect system cannot be inactivated to device grade (at best, improvement in H2), due to the excessive interface stress as exposed by the enhanced spread in activation energy for hydrogen passivation kinetics. The data reveal the inability, of intrinsic nature, to sufficiently suppress defects, preventing to reach device-grade functioning of solar cells using single-crystalline NW arrays on (100)Si in the current state of manufacturing.


Statins are conventionally used medicaments for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and hypertension. Apart from the aforementioned pharmacological action, statin use was associated with increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis due to its immunomodulatory property. The present study focused to demonstrate whether statin use accelerated arthritic incidence. The Ex vivo antioxidant study was performed using Lipid peroxidation (LPO) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity assay. Both the Antioxidant study was evaluated from tissue homogenates. Each homogenate was centrifuged, and the resulting supernatant fraction was used to determine the enzyme activity. The histopathological analysis of ankle joints was conducted by hematoxylin eosin staining technique. The result obtained from Lipid peroxidation study showed that both Pitavastatin and Lovastatin treated tissues exhibited significant increase (p<0.001) in enzyme activity due to the elevated level of malonaldehyde formation. The Superoxide dismutase activity assay of both test drugs on tissue homogenate was found that significant decrease (p<0.001) in SOD level contributed cartilage degradation due to the generation of free radicals. The histopathological analysis also revealed that scattered inflammatory cells destructs the normal articular structure in rat joint tissues showed the evidence of arthritic induction. The study confirmed that statins had a strong influence on arthritic onset by oxidative stress in patients with hyperlipidemia and hypertension.


This study investigates whether cognitive failures mediate the potential influence of work demands and conscientiousness on body balance problems and domestic near-falls at home after work. The participants were 109 employees (55% female). We used the Workplace Cognitive Failure Scale (WCFS) to measure the frequency of failure in memory function, failure in attention regulation, and failure in action execution. Performance constraints, time pressure, and concentration demands were assessed by the Instrument for Stress-Oriented Task Analysis (ISTA). In a structural equation model, work-related cognitive failure significantly mediated the influence of work demands on after-work domestic body balance problems encountered in the previous 4 weeks. Work-related cognitive failure did not mediate the directional link between conscientiousness and body balance problems. Mental work demands have aftereffects after work is finished. The risk of domestic fall is due in part to cognitive failure that reflects cognitive strain from mental workload. Work redesign is likely to reduce the risk of falling not only at work, but also after work at home. Stumbling, slipping, and near-falls are the most frequent safety-threatening incidents at work and home (SUVA, 2010). In this context, near-falls occur 20 times more fre- quently than actual falls. Major efforts have been made to find reliable antecedents to occupational slip, trip, and fall (STF) accidents and these have found that greater age is most closely related to risk. In addition, after work, cogni- tive resources are often depleted and this may increase the risk of falls at home. This study investigates whether men- tal work stressors, cognitive failure, and stumbling, slip- ping, and near-falls at home are interrelated. More specif- ically, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive failure at work is a mediator of the link between mental work stress- ors and STF near-accidents at home, after work is finished.


Myelin-reactive Th cells in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) express Kv1.3, a voltage-gated K+ channel essential for Th cell activation and function. Recently, we have demonstrated that Kv1.3 deletion prevents experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS, by inducing a regulatory Th cell phenotype independently of Foxp3. However, the mechanism by which Th cells with regulatory properties develop in the absence of Kv1.3 remains unclear. Foxo1 has been shown to function in induction of tolerance and in Treg cell lineage commitment. Foxo1 nuclear exclusion is induced in effector Th cells by downstream T cell receptor (TCR) signaling. Herein, we demonstrate an increase in nuclear Foxo1, with concomitant reduction in T-bet, in Kv1.3 KO Th cells. Surprisingly, Kv1.3 deletion does not impair TCR-induced intracellular Ca2+ flux or the activation of the Ca2+-sensitive transcription factor NF-AT. Instead, the absence of Kv1.3 leads to p56lck relocalization from TCR to the IL-2R complex, thereby contributing to the increase in Foxo1 and the differentiation of Treg cells in the absence of changes in Foxp3 expression. Herein, we demonstrate that regulatory Th cells are generated in the absence of Kv1.3 as a consequence of disrupted TCR signaling during formation of the immunological synapse, rather than impaired Ca2+ flux, resulting in upregulation of Foxo1. These data highlight Foxo1 as a novel target for induction of Treg cells in autoimmune diseases such as MS.


In Sw ed en, as in m any other countries, the patterns of partnership form ation and dissolution has changed substantially w ith a general trend tow ard s less stable unions. This stud y aim s to give insight about the d evelopm ent of child bearing caused by union in stability. Stepfam ily fertility is stud ied for the period 1970–2011. It is m easured by stud ying how m any child ren w ho at birth have half-siblings, and by stud ying how m any w om en and m en have child ren w ith m ore than one partner. The analysis is based on register d ata containing inform ation on child bearing histories of all w om en and m en in Sw ed en. The results show that the im pact of stepfamily fertility has d eclined in the 2000s. In a logistic regression m od el the reasons for this d ecline is explored . The res ults of the regression m od els show that factors such as postponem ent of fam ily form ation, higher ed ucational levels and increasing num bers of foreign born only partly can explain the d ow nturn. Thus, there are also other explanations. One could be increasin g gend er equality.


This paper presents an interview with Senator Dr. Malinee Sukavejworakit chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Health (Thailand) and Vice- President of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development. Issues discussed included population and reproductive programs; sex education in schools; level of HIV/AIDS awareness among parliamentarians type of services available for HIV/AIDS infected people; accessibility of antiretroviral drugs; and violence against women.


Noni (Morinda citrifolia Linn. ) Is one of medicinal plants in Indonesia that has been used empirically. Utilization any substances have potential toxicity depend on the dose that the reason to it should be assay early. The purpose of this study was to determine the toxicity potential of ethanol extract of leaves, fruit flesh and noni seeds by Brine Shrimp Lethality Test (BSLT) method. The data were analyzed by probit method to obtain LC 50 (Lethal Concetration 50%) and assay with one way ANOVA statistic test. The value of LC 50 in ethanol extract of leaf, fruit flesh and noni seeds were 25,32 μg/ml, 35,56 μg/ml, 27,23 μg/ml respectively (p<0,05) according to statistical test one way ANOVA. BSLT test results showed that LC 50 <1000 μg/ml which means that the three samples are toxic and potentially anti-cancer to be investigated further.


The idea of gap-funding program, in which academic scientists are given research funding for developing proof-of-concept and prototype, has recently attracted attention as a policy measure of commercializing academic science. While the earliest programs of its kind were initiated about a decade ago, we still lack empirical evidence on its effectiveness. Using the detailed dataset of the gap-funding program at MIT, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, I observe two mechanisms that gap-funding program can facilitate academic commercialization. First, by providing research funding that allows academic freedom of problem selection and mode of disclosure, gap-funding program attracts applications from junior faculty members with commercialization interests. Second, providing research funding for prototype development and networking opportunities with industry practitioners increases the likelihood that an academic invention results in start-up founding. Moreover, its positive impact is larger for inventions without intellectual property rights protection, partly because of the reduced level of uncertainty after prototype development. However, awarding gap-funding does not increase the likelihood of technology licensing to incumbent firms. Together, I argue that gap-funding program can be a useful policy toolkit for regional economic development by fostering academic entrepreneurship. Thesis Supervisor: Professor Charles L. Cooney Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Director, Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation Thesis Supervisor: Fiona E. Murray Associate Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Faculty Director, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship


VUR is the most common urological anomaly in children occurring in 25–40% of cases with acute pyelonephritis. Of children with symptomatic VUR, 30–50% have radiological evidence of renal scarring, resulting from congenital dysplasia, acquired damage after infection, or both. Reflux nephropathy (RN) can be the most common cause of childhood hypertension. Follow-up studies show that 10–20% of children with RN develop hypertension or end-stage renal disease. Older studies consistently attributed 15–30% of chronic renal failure in children and young adults to chronic pyelonephritis and reflux nephropathy. However, awareness of VUR-related morbidity has led to more widespread diagnosis and treatment, which appears to have altered the epidemiology of hypertension and renal failure in children and young adults [1–3].


Laryngeal chondrosarcoma (LC) is a rare, slowly growing malignancy. The preferred treatment is laryngeal preservation surgery (LPS). Some patients may require multiple interventions or total laryngectomy (TL). We investigated risk factors for retreatment and TL, and assessed the impact of LPS on oncological and functional outcomes.


s the f orms from the particular. These f orms are ,·,hat vIe d o knOi'] or recognize in t he. particulars. "Hith conceptionalism and Thomisffi, medieval real ism slowly dies a'\vay. Actually', ho'\vever , nominalism gained the day. Hill iam of Occam, f o l l ovJing the century of Aristotlian victory, again completely rejected the forms in terms of a re-s ' atement of nominalism. Occam fel tha t tJ:e f orme did not represent entities, but rati'er ,only a collection of individual particulars wl,ici we have experienced. Thus un iversals or forms are symbols of a large number of particular example s , but t hey themselves d o not have any ontological status . occam did not feel as PIa Lo that tie f orms t:Jere neces sary for l:nowlec1ge--a presuppos ition of Occam 14bich \'las taken owr by many w.odern thinker " 0 Before closing with medieval thought I would l ike to comment that the medieval vievrpoint of Aristotlianism is through a Pla : onistic in terpre tation. For although Ti'oma: did use many