In patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), blocking immature leukemia cells from migrating to the bone marrow increased the cancer-killing effect of chemotherapy in a recent phase Ib/IIa trial. "Homing of leukemia cells to the bone marrow depends on CXCR4, a chemokine receptor, which the drug BL-8040 blocked," said Gautam Borthakur, M.D., associate professor in the department of leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Blocking CXCR4, which is involved in cell migration and adhesion, prevented immature leukemia cells from hiding in the bone marrow, where they can cause recurrence, said Borthakur, lead researcher of the study that he presented in Orlando, Fla.at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December 2015 (abstr. 2546; https;/ ash.confex.com/ash/2015/webprogram/ Paper82437.html). The composite complete remission rate in 22 patients was 38% at the three highest doses. "The idea is that if we can disrupt cancer cell adhesion to the bone marrow, we can flush out cancer cells hiding there," Borthakur said. BL-8040 also increased cancer cell death by mobilizing immature AML cells to move into peripheral blood, where cytarabine, given later, killed them. Two days after taking BL-8040, patients showed a 40.2fold mobilization of immature AML cells, as well as substantial apoptosis (programmed cell death) of immature progenitors remaining in the bone marrow. Granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, increased 3.1-fold on day 3, and blood cells began differentiating into mature cells. A maintenance trial with BL-8040 and cytarabine is being planned, Borthakur said. In AML the bone marrow overproduces immature, dysfunctional blood cells, or blasts, that do not develop into normal, functional blood cells. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells in the peripheral blood. But chemotherapy does not kill immature cells sheltered by the bone marrow and its microenvironment, which is thought to be a reason for high rates of minimally residual disease after treatment and eventual disease recurrence. In recent years researchers have begun focusing on the bone marrow and the microenvironment, progenitor and stem cells, and adhesion molecules like CXCR4 to target the disease at its roots. "The microenvironment has long been considered a target in solid tumors, but only recently have researchers focused on it for blood cancers," said Craig Jordan, Ph.D., Nancy Carroll Allen Professor and chief of the division of hematology at the University of Colorado in Aurora. Researchers debate whether the immature cells must leave the bone marrow to be killed or whether cells are more vulnerable while residing in it, Borthakur said.


Tungsten is a promising candidate for the plasma-facing components of a future fusion reactor, but its use is strongly restricted by its inherent brittleness. An innovative concept to overcome this problem is tungsten fibre-reinforced tungsten composite. In this paper we present the first mechanical test of such a composite material using a sample containing multiple fibres. The in situ fracture experiment was performed in a scanning electron microscope for close observation of the propagating crack. Stable crack propagation accompanied with rising load bearing capacity is observed. The fracture toughness is estimated using the test results and the surface observation.


Thirty-two patients operated upon for forty-five histologically confirmed neurilemomas of the extremities had pain, tenderness, and paresthesias more frequently than had been reported by other investigators. Multiple neurilemomas were also frequent and occurred in six of the thirty-two patients studied. The hand was the site of ten of the forty-five tumors and the foot the site of four. The clinical and operative manifestations of these smooth, glistening, white encapsulated tumors suggest that the proper diagnosis should be made more often preoperatively. Neurilemomas are always benign lesions. Local removal is the only treatment indicated.


More sophisticated fuzzy clustering algorithms, like the Gustafson–Kessel algorithm [11] and the fuzzy maximum likelihood estimation (FMLE) algorithm [10] offer the possibility of inducing clusters of ellipsoidal shape and different sizes. The same holds for the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm for a mixture of Gaussians. However, these additional degrees of freedom can reduce the robustness of the algorithm, thus sometimes rendering their application problematic. In this paper we suggest methods to introduce shape and size contraints that handle this problem effectively.


This paper presents a novel approach to increase the excitation flux in magnetizing state and prolong stored energy discharge in a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG). This purpose is achieved by using a multi-winding SRG in which the coils in every phase can be paralleled in magnetization period and then shift to series connection in demagnetizing time. It's demonstrated that faster phase charging and more ideal generating function is achievable. Reconfiguration from parallel to series and vice versa is accomplished by a new Parallel to Series Converter (PSC). This accomplishment is first proved theoretically, and then through Finite Element (FE), the simulation of this model is developed. Finally, comparing the conventional asymmetric bridge with the proposed converter, its significant advantages are analyzed. Applying the new converter, excitation current reaches to about nine times higher than the Conventional Series Converter (CSC), and demagnetizing period lasts about three times longer than Conventional Parallel Converter (CPC).


Abstract Many urban analysts believe suburban sprawl has become an important issue because it helps generate two types of problems: growth‐related difficulties like rising traffic congestion, and high concentrations of poor minority households in core‐area neighborhoods. However, a careful regression analysis of measures of both sprawl and urban decline shows no statistically significant relation between these two conditions. The basic nature of the American urban development process would cause core‐area poverty concentrations even if sprawl were replaced by more compact growth forms. But sprawl does aggravate growth‐related problems. Those problems could be attacked through either alternative overall growth strategies—such as high‐density, tightly bounded growth—or specific anti‐sprawl tactics, such as regional tax‐base sharing and regional coordination of land uses. But no feasible policies are likely either to alleviate traffic congestion much or cause most American regions to abandon sprawl.


The study presents a frequency-domain methodology for computing the structural dynamic response of an elastic aircraft to single and ripple ejections, accounting for the time variation of the inert...


Firstly, let me thank the organisers of this conference for the invitation to speak at this conference. I hope that my credentials for being here are that I am a practitioner. I represent an organisation, Praxis, which works with vulnerable migrants, by which I mean refugees, asylum seekers, people on temporary visas, victims of human trafficking, visa overstayers, victims of domestic violence whose situation is complicated by their immigration status and Accession State nationals with varying entitlements. These are all people whose relationship with the State in which they reside rests upon the phraseology of a stamp in a passport. Some of these people may find themselves detained in maximum security prisons, and have to cradle their children there. For a number of them, their safety and their very lives are dependent upon their status. So there are significant words in the title of today"s conference which have immediate coinage for their situation – "human" – "right" – "law" – "the use of law" –" modern state".


Abstract: Marxists and other sociologists alike have suggested that homeowners will be more involved in politics and hold more conservative attitudes than will tenants. However, there has been only limited research done on these topics, with very little of it having to do with Canadians. Underlying this hypothesis is an assumption that homeowners are more socially and economically integrated than are tenants, and that, therefore, homeowners act more conservatively and participate more. This study tests the "political incorporation" predictions for a national sample of Canadians. It asks whether the predictions hold overall, and whether the effect extends to people who express dissatisfaction with their material standard of living. Further analyses also ask whether there are differences between homeowners with and without a mortgage. Some theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. Resume: Tant les marxistes que les liberaux ont formule l'hypothese selon laquelle les individus qui sont proprietaires de leur logement sont a la fois plus politises et plus conservateurs que ceux et celles qui sont locataires. La recherche a ce sujet demeure cependant limitee, tout particulierement dans le cas canadien. Cette hypothese repose sur la premisse selon laquelle le conservatisme et la plus grande participation politique des proprietaires proviennent de leur plus grande integration sociale et economique. La pressente etude soumet cette hypothese -- dite de "l'incorporation politique" -- a une nouvelle verification, utilisant un echantillon de Canadien(ne)s. L'auteure se demande si cette hypothese se confirme dans le cas des proprietaires dont le bas niveau de vie constitue une source d'insatisfaction, et cherche a determiner si la detention d'une hypotheque (ou non) introduit une variation significative. Enfin, l'auteure reflechie sur quelques implications theoriques de l'etude. Introduction The Hypothesis that Homeownership Affects Political Activity and Political Attitudes Scholars from differing theoretical perspectives have shared the view that homeowners will think and act in ways that protect their stake in the system. It is suggested that because homeowners gain materially through domestic property ownership they will be both more likely than tenants to participate in mainstream political activities and to assume more conservative political attitudes on economic and social issues. This set of predictions is articulated, for example, in the Marxist "political incorporation thesis" and in British neo-Weberian consumption sector theories. Of course, there are also marked differences within and among these two schools of thought. This study is concerned with testing the political incorporation predictions concerning homeownership and politics. Engels first articulated the political incorporation thesis concerning homeownership in The Housing Question (1972[1936]). This is the position that workers will become "incorporated" into the ideology supporting capitalist class relations to the extent that their demands for decent working and living conditions are satisfied. Since Engels' work, various neo-Marxists have discussed the results of labour's struggles outside of the workplace for improved provisions of collective consumption (e.g., Castells, 1977; 1978; Harvey, 1976; 1978). According to Harvey (1976), one of the ways in which capital responded to workers' protests around housing was to promote homeownership. He argues that extending homeownership to the working class serves to reinforce capitalist hegemony because it legitimizes market-based approaches to the provision of housing and promotes the acceptance of victim-blaming themes to explain housing inequalities (also see Edel, 1982; Jaret, 1983). The more general Marxist proposition that worker affluence serves to diminish working class loyalty is captured in the "political embourgeoisement" thesis. In the postwar period, embourgeoisement theorists predicted a decline in working class politics as workers became more affluent and assumed "bourgeois" consumption habits and values. …


The strong hydrogen bond, in which a hydrogen atom is centered between two electronegative atoms in a single minimum potential has been widely discussed but rarely definitively observed. The compound 4-cyano-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione has the shortest symmetrical O−H···O hydrogen bond yet reported, at 239.3 pm. Neutron crystallography reveals the hydrogen-bonded proton to be nearly centered between the two oxygens, with a highly elongated thermal ellipsoid. Inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the normal and isotope labeled molecule reveal a hydrogen-bond vibrational frequency at 46.0 meV (371 cm-1). This frequency is too low to be compatible with a single-minimum potential and indicates a low-barrier double minimum. The temperature dependence of the NMR properties confirms the existence of a thermally accessible vibrationally excited state for the bond. Because other short hydrogen bonds show similar NMR behavior, it is likely that no "strong" hydrogen bond of this sort has yet been dis...


Abstract The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) will be the primary daily global monitoring sensor on the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites, scheduled for launch on the EOS-AM platform in June 1998 and the EOS-PM platform in December 2000. MODIS is a 36 channel radiometer covering 0·415-14·235 μm wavelengths, with spatial resolution from 250 m to 1 km at nadir. MODIS will be the primary EOS sensor for providing data on terrestrial biospheric dynamics and process activity. This paper presents the suite of global land products currently planned for EOSDIS implementation, to be developed by the authors of this paper, the MODIS land team (MODLAND). These include spectral albedo, land cover, spectral vegetation indices, snow and ice cover, surface temperature and fire, and a number of biophysical variables that will allow computation of global carbon cycles, hydrologic balances and biogeochemistry of critical greenhouse gases. Additionally, the regular global coverage of these var...


The relation of the coherence parameters of the theta-rhythm of the electric activity of the cerebral cortex with the originality of the solution of a divergent task was investigated in females under study. Two groups were distinguished by the results of the task execution: persons with non-standard solutions and persons with typical answers. EEG analysis showed that the originality of the solution of a divergent task is related to closer interactions of frontal, central and parietal lobes of both cerebral hemispheres and the post-temporal lobe of the right hemisphere.


1. Introduction.- 2. Linear and quasi-linear systems with piecewise constant argument.- 3. The reduction principle for systems with piecewise constant argument.- 4. The small parameter and differential equations with piecewise constant argument.- 5. Stability.- 6. The state-dependent piecewise constant argument.- 7. Almost periodic solutions.- 8. Stability of neural networks.- 9. The blood pressure distribution.- 10. Integrate-and-fire biological oscillators.


Methanolic and aqueous extracts of the leaves of Barringtonia acutangula Linn. belonging to the family Barringtoniaceae, commonly known as Hinjal, were screened for their antibacterial activity against some selected organisms causing urinary and gastrointestinal tract infection, fish-virulent pathogens, human and plant pathogenic fungi. The methanolic extract, which exhibited potent antimicrobial activity, was subjected to high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). Chromatography of the methanolic extract was carried out with an acetone-hexane (4:6) solvent system. HPTLC fingerprinting patterns were developed at three different wave lengths viz. 254, 366 and 650 nm. Antimicrobial activity was carried out against selected bacterial and fungal strains by a disc diffusion assay method at a concentration of 1000 μg/ml and minimum inhibitory concentration values were calculated by a two-fold serial dilution method at a concentration range of 7.8-1000 μg/ml. The yield (%) of methanolic and aqueous extracts was found to be 12.6 and 16.1% (w/w), respectively for the air-dried plant leaves. Antimicrobial screening revealed that the extract showed potent activity against bacterial and fungal strains, namely Enterococcus faecalis (22.9 ± 0.23 mm, MIC 31.25 μg/ml), Aspergillus niger (27.2 ± 0.15 mm, MIC 62.5 μg/ml) and Candida albicans (23.3 ± 0.87 mm, MIC 31.25 μg/ml). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


LA FONCTION THERAPEUTIQUE DU DISCOURS PROPHETIQUE (PROPHETES-GUERISSEURS DE COTE D'IVOIRE) (The Therapeutic Function of the Prophet Healers' Verbal Intervention at the Ivory Coast) by JEA~r-1'ma~R~ LEHMANN. Psychopathologie africaine, 8, no. 3 ( 1972 ) : 355-82. ( In French. ) The author discusses at length the treatment of psychosomatic disorders by prophet healers at the Ivory Coast. These disorders are in the view of various writers by no means confined to the industrialized developed countries, but are widespread in developing countries; for example, in Africa. Headache, dizziness, general tiredness, chest and abdominal pains, trembling, impotence, insomnia, etc., abound in Africa and nothing can be done for patients suffering from such disorders at the local hospital. A visit


The administration of certificates is an important part of the general administration of the higher education, which has a direct effect on the reputation of the institute and the personnel cultivating quality. The regulation of electronic registration of the higher education certificates, which has been put into operation recently, is reasonable and valid for the new circumstance of the social development.This paper discusses this new system and its characteristics and makes some suggestions for the improvement of the work at various levels of the administration.


Cajanus trypsin inhibitor (CTI) and Cajanus trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor (CTCI) previously purified from cv TAT-10 were further characterised. The modification of the inhibitors revealed the presence of lysine at the trypsin reactive site in both CTI and CTCI. Modification of tyrosine at the reactive site of CTCI did not abolish chymotrypsin inhibition suggesting the presence of leucine or phenylalanine as reported in other chymotrypsin inhibitors. CTCI did not contain tryptophan. Dissociation constants for the inhibitors with bovine trypsin were in the region of 0.69 nmol (CTCI) and 0.029 nmol (CTI). Although the protease inhibitors lost their inhibitory activity on exposure to 2-mercaptoethanol they remained attached to the enzyme. The inhibitors were not very effective against the protease from Helicoverpa armigera which is a serious field pest of Cajanus. Dissociation constants for the inhibitors with the larval enzyme were in the region of 100 nmol.


In this paper we give a new technique to obtain the Hamiltonian function in order to solve the driftless control affine systems (distributional systems) with positive homogeneous costs. The method consists by using the Lagrange multipliers and Legendre transformation associated to a singular Lagrangian. This method could be an alternative to the classical Pontryagin Maximum Principle.


The history of English language has three periods of time; Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. The linguistic forms in English development are different each period. This research aims to find out one of the changes, that is, the affix changes from Middle English to Modern English form that found in both of The Miller's Tale Story Middle English and Modern English versions. This research also aims to find out the spelling changes in affixes. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The data, which are the collection of words that have affixes found in The Miller's Tale, were identified based on the base of the words and its affixes and its were classified based on the type of its functions. Based on data analysis, there are seven affixes in Middle English which have been changed in Modern English form. These changes occur in the deletion of vowel, change of vowel, substitution of the affix, and elimination of the affix. The spelling change also influenced the change in suffixes. Some of the vocabularies change into the new words and some of the words change only in its vowel.


Many composers of the 20th and 21st century have dedicated exceptional parts for the tuba in their symphonic works for the wind band. However, among all of them, the American Gregory Fritze stands out, a great connoisseur of the band's instrumental template, compositional technique and the possibilities of this instrument, because above all, he is a tuba player. This article gathers a selection of the most outstanding excerpts for tuba in Gregory Fritze's woks for wind band and a practical proposal for the cataloging and analysis of those excerpts, delimited in a «technical file», which will be applied to all of them. It will be important to know the close relationship that Mr. Fritze maintains with Spain and its music wind bands, as well as with the International Wind Band Contest «City of Valencia», to understand when, where and how he creates these works.


A comprehensive evaluation of model-based analysis of English education TOPSIS method based on information entropy,entropy is introduced to determine the index weight.To some extent,it overcomes the interference of human factors,so that the evaluation results are more scientific and more reasonable.We choose 6 schools in an area as data sampling and prioritize quality of English teaching by using the method.The paper makes theoretial analysis of the optimal and obtains conesponding results.


Summary Collagenase activity, measured in terms of amount of hydroxyproline released, was significantly higher in muscle and heart of white muscle diseased (selenium deficient) lambs than normal (selenium supplemented) lambs. No significant differences were found in the activity of this enzyme in liver and kidney between normal and deficient lambs. The significance of these results are discussed.


This study focuses on the cultural dimensions of home countries and its influence on multinational enterprises' (MNE) performance. We hypothesize that collectivism at home countries enhances MNEs' ...


The present paper, taking Shanghai as an example, describes the method that GIS is applied to the information transmission system of the road conditions of city traffic. The design pattern, the realization frame and the information transfer mechanism are studied especially. The results suggest that the traffic information transmission time is shortened and the reporting is more accurate. Thus the city traffic management is improved.


When lightweight aggregate concrete is prepared,scoria is mixed in as the coarse aggregate,while steel fibers,polypropylene fibers and hybrid fibers are added respectively.The effect of different fiber additives with different number of freeze-thaw circulation on weight loss rate of LWAC,as well as on its relative dynamic elastic modulus and frost resistance is investigated.Results indicate that the addition of fibers can reject the crack initiation and improve the frost resistance of LWAC.In terms of weight loss rate of LWAC and relative dynamic elastic modulus,hybrid fibers are proved to be the best additives for the preparation of LWAC.


Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and its applications are widely used in studying gene regulation and epigenetic mechanisms due to its decreasing cost and high throughput. Here we used MNase-seq technology to determine the nucleosome positions in human erythroleukemia k562 cells by direct sequencing of nucleosome ends with the SOLiD high-throughput sequencing technique. However, during the reads mapping and data pre-analysis steps, only 40% of the sequenced reads can be mapped to the reference genome hg19 and there are some extremely high peaks (EHPs) in the profiles of mapped reads on the reference genome. Mathematical models were developed to analyze the unmapped reads and nearly 25.3% of the unmapped reads were found due to genome variants, base-calling errors and gaps of the reference genome. We also investigated EHPs and proposed methods to deal with the EHPs for the downstream data analysis.


Abstract: This paper presents a rigorous conceptual specification of sensitive business processes (SBPs) to improve the localization and identification of crucial knowledge mobilized and created by these processes. It covers all relevant aspects relating to business process modeling and knowledge management (BPM-KM), i.e. the functional, the organizational, the behavioral, the informational, the intentional and the knowledge dimensions. In this research work, we focus more specifically on the description of the « Functional Dimension», which represents the core dimension in SBP modeling. Precisely, we present BPMN4FM, an extension of the most suitable business process modeling formalism BPMN 2.0 to explicitly represent, integrate and implement the functional dimension of SBP, exploring the collaboration, interaction and knowledge aspects. Besides, we evaluate the relevance of BPMN4FM concepts through a real SBP scenario from medical domain.


A field experiment was conducted during 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 to evaluate the performance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars under different crop establishment methods and their effect on succeeding wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Fiori & Paol.) at the Project Directorate for Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Rice grown under unpuddled conditions gave higher systems productivity than rice transplanted after puddling. However, productivity of rice and wheat and system as a whole under unpuddled and transplanted conditions did not differ significantly. Similar trend was observed in basmati rice-equivalent yield (BREY). Net returns were also not influenced significantly by crop establishment methods. Among rice varieties, 'IET 15339' gave superior performance followed by wheat variety 'PBW 226' in respect of yield and net returns.


Pathologic fractures due to disseminated metastases are common and often involve major long bones, where the metastasis is responsible for wide bone erosion that is equivalent to major bone loss. Stabilization of these fractures necessitates tumor excision and reconstruction of the destructive metastatic process.


This study proposes a chattering-free non-linear sliding-mode controller for interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drive systems. First, the input-output feedback linearisation technique is used to derive a linearisation model. Next, the upper bounds of the modelling uncertainties are considered, and then a new non-linear sliding-mode control algorithm is proposed to obtain a chattering-free controller. Finally, the stability of the proposed controller is derived based on Lyapunov theory and Barbalat's lemma. A digital signal processor, TMS320LF2407, is used to realise the proposed control system. The experimental results show that the proposed system can effectively reduce the chattering phenomenon and achieve satisfactory performance, including fast transient responses, good load disturbance rejection responses and good tracking responses.


Background: Elder abuse is a violation of human rights. Elder abuse has disturbing consequences for older persons such as poor quality of life, psychological distress, and loss of property and security. It is also associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Objective of the study was to identify the magnitude and the pattern of elder abuse experienced by the elderly, which made them to join old age home. Methods:  The study was a cross sectional study carried out in the old age homes of Davangere district, Karnataka, India for a period of 1 year with the sample of about 105 elderly residing in old age homes. Results: Out of 105 elderly, majority were in the age group of 60 – 69 (48%).  Females (65%) outnumbered the males (35%). Majority of the residents were from rural background (71%). The magnitude of elder abuse in our study was found to be 35.2%. Regarding the type of elder abuse, majority of the residents experienced verbal abuse (70%) followed by physical abuse (13%). Daughter-in-law was involved in majority of the cases of elder abuse i.e., (45.9%), followed by their son (24.3%). Conclusions:  The magnitude of elder abuse is on the higher side in our study, which made them to join old age home. This finding, questions the general perception in India whether the families are the safest place for the elderly to live.


OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of MexAB-OprM and its repressor protein-MexR in planktonic and biofilm Pseudomonas aeruginosa(PAE).METHODS P.aeruginosa PAO1 was used in this study.PAO1 biofilm were built up in eppendorf tube in vitro.The planktonic PAE were exposed to 1/2 MIC of imipenem and ciprofloxacin for 4 hours.The biofilm PAE was exposed to 4 MIC imipenem and 2 MIC ciprofloxacin for 12 hours,the expressions of multiple drugs efflux pumps MexAB-OprM and MexR were detected by real-time quantitative PCR at the day 3 and 5 after biofilm formation.RESULTS Expression of efflux pump MexAB-OprM gene was significantly decreased(P0.05)with the formation of biofilm as compared to the plantonic one,reaching its lowest expression nearly 10 folds decrease.There was no difference between planktonic and bioiflms in the expression of repressor protein MexR.No significant difference was found in the expression level of MexAB-OprM and MexR with the induction of imipenem and ciprofloxacin between planktonic and biofilms PAE.CONCLUSION Formation of PAE biofilm can decrease the expression of efflux pump MexAB-OprM gene with no effect on MexR gene.Imipenem and ciprofcoxacin showed no effect on the expression of MexAB-OprM and MexR gene in either planktonic or biofilm PAE.


Emergency capability is the key to control the development of gas accidents,reduce the social loss and protect the safety of city.Therefore,it is necessary to give a comprehensive evaluation on emergency capability.Based on the actual situation in Tianjin,the indicator system of city gas emergency capability evaluation was studied.The influence factors of which were divided into two grades and finally the indicator evaluation system was established.Then,according to the indicator system,the gas emergency capability of Tianjin was evaluated with the G1 method firstly.The results showed,the indicator system of city gas emergency capability evaluation covered a wide range,which could reflect the real situation,and through verification,the evaluation result which was obtained with the G1 method was in line with the actual situation and reflected the recent level of city gas emergency capability.


Aim: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a complex disease with different subtypes that affect patients' quality of life. This study aim to evaluate the severity of CRSwNP and the risk of treatment resistance using the "Japanese epidemiological survey of refractory eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis" (JESREC) algorithm in outpatients at a university hospital.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted reviewing the medical records of CRSwNP outpatients. Clinical data including age, sex, blood eosinophilia, computered tomography (CT) scans, presence of asthma, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use were assessed.
Results: Medical records of 83 patients diagnosed with CRSwNP were analyzed, with 44 (53%) females and 39 (47%) males. The mean age was 61.8 years ± 14.1 years (range: 19–90 years). According to the JESREC algorithm, 9 (10.8%) patients were categorized as non-eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (neCRS), and 74 (89%) were classified as eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (eCRS). Among the eCRS patients, 13 (17.6%) were mild, 32 (43.2%) were moderate, and 29 (39.2%) were severe. Asthma was identified as a comorbidity in 57 patients (68.6%).
Conclusions: A predominance of eCRS with moderate to severe risk of treatment resistance was confirmed. Considering the heterogeneity of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), the JESREC algorithm comes up as an instrument that uses objective criteria to assess higher risks of recurrency and refractoriness among patients before surgical treatment, helping to predict type2-driven biologics need.


Objectives This study aimed to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients with spinal stenosis and lumbar vertebral disk degeneration, and the correlation of diabetes with these diseases. Study Design This is a cross-sectional study. Methods This case–control study was performed during 2012–2014 with 110 patients suffering from lumbar spinal stenosis and 110 patients with lumbar disk herniation, who were diagnosed using clinical and radiological evidences. Additionally, 110 participants who were referred to the clinic and did not show clinical signs of degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine entered the study as a control group. Demographic data and medical histories of the patients were collected using checklists. Results A total of 50 patients (15.2%) were diagnosed with diabetes, which comprised 32 (29.1%) in the stenosis group, 7 (6.4%) in the lumbar disk herniation group, and 11 (10%) in the control group. The prevalence of diabetes in women with spinal stenosis and women with lumbar disk herniation was 35.9% and 10.3%, respectively, whereas prevalence of diabetes in women was 10.9% in the control group. This difference was statistically significant in the spinal stenosis group in comparison with the controls (P < 0.0001). Conversely, no significant difference was found in men. Conclusions There is an association between diabetes and lumbar spinal stenosis. Diabetes mellitus may be a predisposing factor for the development of lumbar spinal stenosis.


A baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) containing high levels of the trace element selenium (Se) with potential chemopreventive, immunomodulating and antioxidant activities. Selenium is introduced into yeast during fermentation and incorporated into selenocompounds, such as selenomethionine and glutamyl SE methylselenocysteine. Selenium functions as a cofactor for antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidases and thioredoxin reductase.


Abstract Health preventative measures are important in reducing transmission of COVID‐19, yet death‐related thoughts might hinder preventative action. Using two online samples (N = 948), we examined how mortality salience (MS) may produce health‐related proximal and distal defenses relevant to COVID‐19, examining health optimism and appearance self‐worth as moderators. MS decreased perceived vulnerability as a proximal defense for those with high health optimism (Study 1), while those with low health optimism decreased perceived response efficacy of face masks and intention to wear a protective face mask (Study 2). Additionally, those with high appearance self‐worth displayed increased intention to wear an aesthetically appealing face mask as a distal defense to MS (Study 2). Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering how mortality concerns may channel health‐defeating and health‐promoting behaviors in respect to COVID‐19 and provide insight into how to produce sustained engagement in health preventative action to combat the pandemic.


This paper aims at developing robust control on a PIC processor. The robust control algorithm is developed under the Matlab/Simulink environment, and by using real-time workshop tools, the code is generated and deployed into the PIC processor. This method gives an advantage of building complex control systems on to a chip level with less development time. This method of algorithm development on the chip gives the flexibility of incorporating a complex control system, such as a robust control into any stand-alone system that has plant uncertainties and that requires constant stability measures.


Documentation of architectural and archaeological heritage must be a multidisciplinary approach that enables analysis and interpretation from many fields of expertise. Nowadays, the representation of the architectural/archaeological survey represents a monumental change in capabilities thanks to the acquisition and alignment of massive survey data describing the geometry, appearance and context of the target environments. The construction of models is the point of departure for essential activities – from cataloguing to preservation, from design to restoration and valorization – linked to the knowledge of Cultural Heritage.  The presented research focuses on the control over data quality from massive 3D acquisition, in terms of metric accuracy, by comparing 3D image-based acquisition methods with consolidated methods, in order to present the enormous potentialities inherent in models obtained through 3D surveys.


We analyzed data from Ontario's provincial testing program to ascertain if the reading, writing, and mathematics skills of grade 6 immersion students were comparable to those of regular English program students. Various immersion program designs were taken into account. The analysis confirms the results of earlier program evaluations that any lags in immersion students' achievement in reading, writing, and math disappear by grade 6. We offer two explanations to account for this result. The lag explanation holds that taking reading, writing, and math in French until the end of grade 3 creates a lag in achievement until English is introduced into the curriculum, after which immersion students catch up to regular students' performance. The selection explanation suggests that immersion test performance improves by grade 6 relative to regular English program counterparts because the composition of the grade 6 cohort is more select than that of earlier cohorts.


The retroperitoneal tumors are infrequent and are classified according to the original tissue. This is a case presentation of a 50 years old female patient...


Background Oxidative stress (OS), through excessive and/or chronic reactive oxygen species (ROS), is a mediator of diabetes-related damages in various tissues including pancreatic β-cells. Here, we have evaluated islet OS status and β-cell response to ROS using the GK/Par rat as a model of type 2 diabetes. Methodology/Principal Findings Localization of OS markers was performed on whole pancreases. Using islets isolated from 7-day-old or 2.5-month-old male GK/Par and Wistar control rats, 1) gene expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR; 2) insulin secretion rate was measured; 3) ROS accumulation and mitochondrial polarization were assessed by fluorescence methods; 4) antioxidant contents were quantified by HPLC. After diabetes onset, OS markers targeted mostly peri-islet vascular and inflammatory areas, and not islet cells. GK/Par islets revealed in fact protected against OS, because they maintained basal ROS accumulation similar or even lower than Wistar islets. Remarkably, GK/Par insulin secretion also exhibited strong resistance to the toxic effect of exogenous H2O2 or endogenous ROS exposure. Such adaptation was associated to both high glutathione content and overexpression (mRNA and/or protein levels) of a large set of genes encoding antioxidant proteins as well as UCP2. Finally, we showed that such a phenotype was not innate but spontaneously acquired after diabetes onset, as the result of an adaptive response to the diabetic environment. Conclusions The GK/Par model illustrates the effectiveness of adaptive response to OS by β-cells to achieve self-tolerance. It remains to be determined to what extend such islet antioxidant defenses upregulation might contribute to GK/Par β-cell secretory dysfunction.


In this thesis a novel model of gene and protein kinetics of retrovirus Human T-cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is proposed. This model is characterized by positive and negative feedback phenomena, similarly to synthetic relaxation oscillators delivered into prokaryotes and able to exhibit limit cycles. To investigate the potential use of the HTLV-1 circuit as a novel oscillator for eukaryotes, the periodic behavior of gene and protein kinetics is analyzed. Techniques to mutate the retroviral genome in order to obtain, practically, oscillations in viral gene and protein expression are discussed.
Since, under certain conditions, discreteness and stochasticity may play important roles so that the predictions coming from deterministic differential equations do not accurately describe the system's true behavior, this latter was tested by Gillespie's exact stochastic simulations. These showed that: a) stochastic phenomena induce loss of synchronicity in viral expression among clones and b) the expression of the retrovirus transactivator protein Tax can substantially deviate from its deterministic steady state value; in other words, stochastic phenomena can sporadically induce relevant fluctuations of Tax expression, which is the main signal related to retrovirus activation, over the expected level corresponding to the steady state solution. These results suggest mechanisms of viral activation similar to those proposed for HIV by Weinberger et al.1: the virus tends to latency, but stochastic phenomena can induce the persistence of the transactivator protein at expression levels higher than the steady state value, which favors retrovirus activation. However, the steady state level of Tax expression should reasonably be as important, in determining retrovirus HTLV-1 activation, as the noise affecting it and causing stochastic transient expression pulses.
To gain a better insight, the characteristics of Tax expression at steady state are investigated in terms of duration of its transient pulses, due to stochastic phenomena, and its Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR), which combines the protein expression level and the variance of the noise affecting it. As a second step, the system parameters most affecting either Tax SNR or the duration of its transient expression pulses are identified, in order to select candidates for future experiments of selective system perturbation. The rational is that a better understanding of retrovirus regulatory mechanisms, and the identification of system parameters (and corresponding biological processes) affecting them, can open the way for the selection of drug targets to hit in order to avoid retrovirus activation and protract latency.


The Buffalo State Hospital has lately issued its twenty-sixth annual report, which covers the year ending September 30, 1896. During this period there has been an increase in the population of the institution of 53 men and 210 women, total 263. Of this number, however, 207 were transfers of chronic cases from other institu tions. The hospital accommodations have been enlarged during the year and its affairs are in a progressive and satisfactory state.


Summary Drawing extensively upon innovation theory, and particularly upon models of the dissemination process in innovation, the author analyses ways in which teacher education can contribute to the improvement of educational practice. The importance of a strategy for innovation is stressed, and the concept of 'linkage' is identified as central to the contribution of the teacher education institution.


ABSTRACT Remote sensing is considered as an increasingly important technology for military intelligence. New satellite missions, such as Sentinel 2A, may provide systematic datasets for monitoring vast areas of interest. However, there is a great need to understand the information retrieved from such sensors. This paper contemplates the results obtained from a one-year field spectroradiometer campaign, aiming at the detection of underground military structures in Cyprus, covered with crops. The measurements were taken at the following test areas: (a) vegetation area covered with vegetation (barley), in the presence of an underground military structure, and (b) vegetation area covered with vegetation (barley), in the absence of an underground military structure. The ground hyperspectral signatures were resampled to the Sentinel-2A sensor using the appropriate Relative Spectral Response Filters (RSRF). Ten vegetation indices were utilized for the identification of the detection of underground military structures. Results have shown that differences exist between these ten vegetation indices, thus some of them are sufficient to distinguish the two areas. The phenological analysis of these measurements have shown the period of head emergence stage is suitable for monitoring crop marks. Sentinel-2A results were also validated with field spectroradiometer results which were acquired during a simultaneous in-situ campaign.


Summary An annual number of around 46 patients was found to have airgun missile injuries in a review of patients attending the Accident and Emergency


Abstract The theory of the quantized electromagnetic fields is used to find the fields arising from multipoles moving in prescribed trajectories. The currents which are the sources are partitioned into polarization and magnetization currents. Unlike for the case of a fixed electric multipole, there is a magnetization-type current which is a generalization of the well-known Röntgen current for a moving electric dipole. The vector potentials for moving electric and magnetic dipoles and electric quadrupoles are found within the Coulomb gauge and compared with those obtained within the Lorentz gauge. These potentials are used to find the electric and magnetic fields for the three cases. These new results are shown to reduce to the well-known fields for fixed sources.


Since the 1960s, civilian aviation has been a prime target for a myriad of terrorist organizations, which have engaged in asymmetrical tactics such as skyjacking, aircraft bombings, and attacks against airports. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has employed a multilayered security strategy in an attempt to secure commercial aviation. To that end, behavioral analysis, sometimes referred to as "behavioral profiling," has become an integral layer of aviation security that monitors the behavior and mannerisms of air travelers. However, the technique is not without critics. The present article examines the current state of behavioral analysis as applied to aviation security and provides recommendations for its proper role and function within a larger security framework.


Alfred Mansour, Huda Akil and Stanley J Watsonareatthe Mental Health Research Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Washtenaw Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0720, USA, Henry Khachatudan is at the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Un/versity of Tennessee, College of Medicine, 875 Monroe Avenue, Memphis, TN38163, USA, and Michael E. Lewis is at Cephalon, Inc., 145Brandywine Parkway, West Chester, PA 19380, USA. Anatomy of CN$ opMd receptors


Abstract The inverse problem which consists in recovery of a nonlinear source in the equation of hyperbolic type is considered. The solution of the inverse problem is based on the additional boundary condition. The theorem of existence and uniqueness of solution of the inverse problem is proved in small. The convergence of the iterative method for solving the inverse problem is established.


Objective: Although maxillary antral taps are the standard for collecting pus for culture, they sometimes reveal no growth. Intraoperative mucosal cultures are another method to collect pathogen samples. This study compared aerobic bacterial cultures from mucosa and pus from chronic maxillary rhinosinusitis patients. Methods: A prospective study of 22 chronic maxillary rhinosinusitis patients was conducted. Antral pus and mucosa collected during endoscopic sinus surgery were immediately sent to a microbiological laboratory. The degree of concordance between maxillary sinus mucosa aerobic bacterial cultures and pus cultures was then analyzed. Results: Twenty-seven specimens were obtained for the cultures. The proportions of positive mucosal and pus cultures were 40.74% and 51.85%, respectively. The common aerobic pathogens from the two culture techniques were Pseudomonas  aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . A concordance between the pus and mucosal cultures was demonstrated by 19 out of 27 specimens (70.37%). Compared with the pus cultures, the mucosal cultures had a specificity of 84.62% (95% CI, 54.55%-98.08%), a sensitivity of 57.14% (95% CI, 28.86%-82.34%), a predictive value of a positive result of 80% (95% CI, 50.83%-93.93%), and a predictive value of a negative result of 64.71% (95% CI, 48.96%-77.80%). Conclusion: Similar pathogenic bacteria were recovered from the mucosa and pus. Given the high degree of similarity of the bacteria found, the good concordance rate, and the high specificity and positive predictive value of the mucosal cultures compared with the pus cultures, mucosal cultures should be a reference standard and an option when pus is unavailable, especially with immunocompromised patients.


Abstract : This report consists of world weather and climate extremes that have been extracted from various sources. The report contains discussions covering the measurement of various meteorological elements, measurement practices, and instrumentation. All extremes are presented in terms of their location and date and, where supportive information is available in the professional literature, detailed discussions of the extreme event are provided. The elements covered in this report include surface air temperature, precipitation (rainfall, snowfall and hail), wind, thunderstorms, air pressure, solar radiation, dew point temperature and fog. The report contains five maps. There is one each for the worldwide extremes of temperature, precipitation, and other elements. The remaining two maps show U.S. state extremes for monthly temperature (absolute maximum and absolute minimum) and precipitation (maximum monthly and maximum 24-hour).


By using the ZnO with the purity of 99.9% and the mass fraction of 98%,the ceramic target of 2% Al2O3 as the sputtering target material,the Al2O3-dopping ZnO film was prepared on the glass substrate pre-deposited ZnO and Al2O3 by the magnetic sputtering method.The effect of two different ZnO and Al2O3 buffer layers on the micro-structure and opto-electronic performance of AZO film was investigated and contrasted.The XRD,SEM and UV-Vis method was also used to measure and analyze the effect of different buffer layer on the structure and opto-electronic performance of AZO film.The results showed that at the substrate temperature of 200 ℃,sputtering time of 30 min,bias-voltage of 60 V and the annealing temperature of 300 ℃ in N2 atmosphere,the prepared film exhibited the average transmission of 83%~87% in the visible light,and the lowest resistivity of AZO thin film decreased from 9.2×10-4 Ω·cm(glass) to 8.0×10-4 Ω·cm(ZnO) and 5.4×10-4 Ω·cm(Al2O3) respectively.


Yanez, D., Scollan, N. D., Davies, D. R., Dewhurst, R. J., Merry, R. J., Evans, R., Newbold, C. J. (2004). Effect of feeding silage differing in water soluble carbohydrate content on numbers and diversity of rumen-microorganisms. Reproduction Nutrition Development, 44, (Supplement 1), S13-S14. Concerns and responses to food safety, health and environmental issues. 4th Joint INRA-RRI Symposium on Gut Microbiology.


This paper presents a method that allows simultaneous map building and path planning for mobile robots in unknown environments. A graphical representation of a workspace in variable resolutions is constructed using measurement data obtained by omnidirectional distance sensors. At the same time, a search for a feasible path to the target destination is executed using the constructed graph map. The proposed method is evaluated by performing simulations and experiments using an omnidirectional mobile robot equipped with laser range finders. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 186(4): 59–69, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22493


23 students majored in PE were selected at random,of whom were 17 boys and 6 girls. The test is carried out by using self-comparison on pre-exercise,2 months after,exercising and 4 months after exercising of the profile of mood states( POMS) and symptom checklist( scl-90). The result shows that aerobics exercise prescription teaching can affect students' psychological quality with emphasis,can effectively relieve the depressed motion,floridness,nervousness and anger,but not tiredness,and that there is no distinct difference between the score of POMS and of SC-90.


The invention provides compounds containing indoquinone, and a preparation method and application thereof. The invention relates to heterocyclic compounds containing N, the chemical general formula of which is disclosed as V. The invention discloses a general formula and synthesis method of the compounds, and application of the compounds as bactericide, weedicide and plant growth regulator. The compounds can be mixed with agriculturally acceptable assistants or synergists to prepare bactericide, weedicide and plant growth regulator. The invention also discloses application of the compounds inthe fields of agriculture, forestry and horticulture when being combined with commercial bactericide, weedicide and plant growth regulator, and a preparation method of the compounds. The invention also discloses antivirus activity of the compounds, application of the compounds in preventing and treating mammal diseases when being combined with commercial antiviral agents, and a preparation methodof the compounds.


Under the same moving condition, bearing balls fell to the metal plate equipped with transducer, by which the receiving signals were transformed into electric signals, then acoustic emission signals were formed after amplifying and filtering. Experimental results showed that the bearing balls with defects could be distinguished according to ringing count. The method was high in speed and reliability and was easy to realize automatic sorting.


This research is entitled Collaborative Pillars of Rural Development, which is located in Latdalam Village, South Tanimbar District, Tanimbar Islands Regency, Maluku Province. With a qualitative descriptive model, researchers took field data to obtain scientific facts related to How Collaborative Pillars Drive Latdalam Village Development. And the results of this study are (1) the communication of the driving pillars of village development in the village of Latdalam (Village Government, Churches, and Customary Institutions) needs to be maximized; (2) Commitment from the driving pillars and the community needs to be implemented with high development and awareness, and suggestions are given to this problem, namely: Implementation of the concept of Collaborating the village driving pillars in Latdalam, because healthy collaboration will create healthy ones, and be an example which is good for the next generation to maintain and develop the concept of collaboration in subsequent developments.


In this session, Holly Mercer presented a case for finding global solutions to improve the metadata that are available for journals, particularly small, independent, open-access journals. She discussed the scholarly communication lifecycle and described how in her view the metadata value chain underpins the scholarly communication system. Examples of the importance of metadata to discovery, access, and use of publications were provided. Suggestions of how librarians can help editors and publishers enhance discoverability and usability for patrons were also provided.


Cross-session pose a challenge to the application of EEG-based emotion recognition (ER), which is due to the non-stationary nature of EEG that causes the EEG to reveal distribution discrepancies over time, thereby leading to degradation of performance. The traditional way is by collecting labelled data over multiple sessions and then retraining a new model, but this is time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this paper, we propose the Maximizing Domain Discrepancy for EEG-based ER (MDD-ER) to improve cross-session performance. MDD-ER applies distinct domain adaptation strategies to alleviate feature distribution discrepancies between source session and target session at different levels: for shallow features, we use maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) to align the source and target domains based on statistical criterion, and for deep features, we adversarially train two classifiers, which effectively improves the alignment precision of the source and target domains due to the consideration of the class of features. Consequently, the proposed MDD-ER method can improve model generalization across sessions. We conduct comprehensive experiments on SEED dataset, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MDD-ER method in cross-session ER.


Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) have many well known structural advantages compared to traditional construction materials such as steel and concrete. Conversely, due to their relatively recent appearance in the marketplace, questions about the durability and aging of FRC are still the subject of much discussion and study. In this paper, an analytical-numerical framework for compilation, interpretation, and application of experimental data to actual engineering analysis and design is proposed. The formulation includes elastic anisotropic relations; aging viscoelastic anisotropic constitutive equations in terms of state variables; and age-adjusted failure and degradation criteria, all in a setting of large displacements with small strains. The equations are set in a form adequate for numerical analysis in a finite element context, considering thermal and hygrometric effects and using an incremental-iterative solution procedure to account for strain-softening post-critical effects.


Vehicular communication has been widely concerned by academia and industry. Wireless channel characterization and modeling are the foundation of communication systems. Compared with typical road scenarios such as urban and suburban areas, wireless channel characterization in intersections is a challenging task. In this article, channel measurements at 5.9 GHz in street intersection scenarios are carried out and provide data for the characterization and modeling of time-varying vehicular channels. This article proposes a double-slope path loss model, which can accurately reflect the signal propagation loss at intersections. Furthermore, the time-varying spatial characteristics of multipath are extracted and analyzed, and the azimuth and elevation spread of arrival are statistically characterized. The influence of obstacles on multipath spatial characteristics in intersection scenarios is investigated. Then, we investigate the spatial stationarity of channels and analyze the possible reasons for the differences in spatial stationarity of different scenarios. In addition, based on multipath extraction, we quantitatively analyze the energy of dense multipath components in different propagation scenarios. The research in this article can enrich the investigation of vehicular channels and enable the analysis and design of vehicular communication systems.


The key of translating modal operators in Chinese legislative texts is to functionally and adequately render the responsibility and obligation conveyed in legal documents.With Systemic Functional Grammar as the theoretical basis,we employ the parallel corpora in PCLLD and tagged different values to the system of modal operators to analyze the translation problems in Chinese legislative texts.The investigation suggests that translators of Chinese legislative texts should cautiously treat the modal operators so that language variety should not be overemphasized;equivalence in the legal sense should be the primary rule to be followed so as to maximally represent unity,authority and compulsoriness of the law.


Simultaneous lasing of stable 34 lines with /spl sim/100 GHz channel spacing in 1535-1562 nm range is demonstrated from a frequency shifted feedback type multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser including a gain flattening filter.


AFTA is an agreement among ASEAN countries that has begun to be implemented. Indonesia olefins petrochemical industry is also affected by the implementation of AFTA, which requires domestic and imported inputs. This study aims to describe the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the olefin industry and to estimate the impact of the CEPT-AFTA. The method used is descriptive analysis using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Revealed Trade Advantage (RTA) for some sub-sectors olefin petrochemical industries from upstream to downstream. Export-import data used are secondary data from each country that analyzed in some point of time. The result of the calculation and description of existing data indicates that in general, the competitiveness of Indonesia petrochemical products in ASEAN are relatively low. Implementation of the CEPT-AFTA will further reduce the competitiveness of Indonesia petrochemical products.


The M80 Ring Road Upgrade is a $2.25 billion project, jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments. The section between Furlong Road and Sunshine Avenue was awarded to BMD Constructions, with GHD as the lead design consultant. BMDrs Design and Construct (DC one of the most prestigious awards in civil infrastructure.


Traditional games are games that provide a special color of culture as well as the  identity or characteristic of an area that needs to be maintained that aims to stimulate early childhood especially about the recognition of  numbers in English.The purpose of this stud email@example.com was to describe traditional games as a medium in learning English for early childhood. This type of research is qualitative with a phenomenological approach. Data collection methods are interviews, observation and documentation. The research subjects were the principal and class teacher. The data analysis technique used triangulation method (observation, interview and documentation study). The results showed that learning English through traditional games from South Kalimantan (Badaku) in TK Matahariku can (1) increase children's English vocabulary in the form of numbers reach category very active or BSB with 100% and (2) can stimulate children's intelligence in recognizing numbers category very active or BSB with 95%. The implications of using traditional games as a medium for learning English for early childhood provide convenience for teachers and children in the classroom.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present evidences on the spillover effects of a cash transfer addressed to poor elders in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach - Using the Brazilian National Households Survey (PNAD) the authors assess the effects of an income transfer to the elders on household composition and the labor supply of elders and co-residing relatives, under a regression discontinuity design. Findings - The authors do not find strong evidences of changes in the household composition due to the program. However the authors found reductions in the elders' labor force participation, indicating that the program allow elders to retire. Moreover, the transfer yields a decrease in the labor force participation of co-residents, depending on their age. The authors also observe decreases in child labor. Originality/value - Along with the cash comes context-dependent effects, showing there are many latent aspects of these transfers yet to be uncovered.


Based on the importance of fast and non-invasive detection technology of glucose monitoring, a glucose sensor based photonic crystal hydrogel material was prepared. The phenylboric acid was the glucose recognition molecule and the three-dimensional non-close packed array was the signal transformation structure. The experimental results show that the recognition behavior of the hydrogel is shown in the form of diffraction wavelength. As the glucose concentration increases from 0 mol/L to 50 mM, the blue shift of the diffraction wavelength occurs at 10 nm, showing a good sensing property.


Plasmonic, including of located surface Plasmon resonance (LSPR) and surface plasmon polariton (SPP), is a special kind of electromagnetic mode in nanometer scale. Plasmonic nanostructures can be generated to improving the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices. In the paper, the concepts of plasmonic and their influences by different metal nanostructure were introduced. Then the different principles of light utilization of plasmonic nanostructure in thin film photovoltaic cell was analyzed.


At the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), an Executive Order–"Protections and Connections for High Quality Natural Habitats," is influential in directing resources toward investments in habitat connectivity improvements. A habitat connectivity retrofit program is in its early phases of development, with cost estimates completed for nine proposed projects. Deer and elk carcass removal data and outputs from rare forest carnivore least cost distance models were the primary sources of information used to select these project locations. Each one employs, primarily, highway right-of-way fencing, jump-out escape ramps, double-cattle guards at intersecting side roads, and under-crossings to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and provide wildlife with safe access to habitat on either side of the highway. Staff resources have also been directed toward a statewide habitat connectivity assessment. WSDOT co-leads the multi-organization working group that is producing the assessment. The group has completed a study plan, selected sixteen focal species, and assembled draft geographic information system models that utilize least cost distance and circuit theory modeling methods to provide insights to landscape characteristics conducive to wildlife movements. The outputs from these models will be used to support the development of priorities for future habitat connectivity retrofit projects.


Abstract MATTERSON et al. (1966) reviewed the literature on the use of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in laying hen feeds. These workers also presented data which indicated that DDGS could comprise as much as one-third of the gross protein content of a laying ration, and at the same time replace all of the fish meal, alfalfa, milk by-products, and some of the vitamin supplements (B12 and choline) in the 1962 New England College Conference Laying Ration. It is generally accepted that methionine (sulfur amino acids) is the first limiting amino acid in a corn-soybean meal type diet. Harms et al. (1967) reported that a linear response could be obtained in performance of laying hens by feeding graded levels of methionine from 0.214 to 0.308 percent, with total sulfur amino acid levels of 0.392 and 0.528 percent, respectively. This work was conducted with corn-soybean meal type diets which are very…


In the context of the philosophy of unity the article analyzes the teachings of St. Frank about nature, man and society. They are evaluated as a utopian project, aimed at the harmonious development of mankind in the future of spiritual unity Godmanhood. The review of the concept allows us to see the options for the future development of human society.


Gansu Province has 17 kinds of national products of geographical indications.From kind of products,scope of their protection of geographical indications,use of the special signs of geographical indications,national standards of quality,trademarks of geographical indications,the certification of good agricultural practice for Chinese crude drugs and so on,this article describes present protection situation of the national products of geographical indications,and puts forward the pointed proposals.


In the preemergence test, flumioxazin at 0.1 to 0.3 lb AI/A severely reduced the onion crop stand. Flumioxazin applied caused significant onion injury of 23 to 37% at 2 WAT for rates of 0.04 to 0.1 lb AI/A. Fluroxypyr and carfentrazone applied postemergence did not show any onion injury at 5 WAT. Fluroxypyr and carfentrazone did not offer acceptable control of annual yellow sweetclover at any rate. Carfentrazone at 0.063 lb AI/A demonstrated activity on lambsquarters and control nearly approached acceptable levels at 83% after 5 WAT. Fluroxypyr did not provide acceptable control of lambsquarters.


The existence of tertiary institutions as one of the spearheads of improving human resources in the field of education is an indisputable fact. Higher education as a very complex institution requires benchmarks that can be used as a reference in assessing success in its management. One of the main benchmarks that can be used is the existence of an information system. Higher Education Management Information Systems In the Field of Higher Education Data Collection, colleges that are managed with a good information system will be able to control the management of the institution well. Management information system, which is often known by the acronym MIS, is the application of information systems within the organization to provide the information needed by all levels of management. Management Information System (MIS) can be defined as a collection of interaction information systems that are responsible for collecting and managing data to provide useful information for all levels of planning and control activities. Some of the supporters of MIS, the role of Information Technology (IT) as part of an Information System (SI) has changed dramatically. Currently, IT is not only positioned as a tool for organizational activities but has become an organizational strategy to achieve goals. A higher education institution is an academic organization that uses information technology in shaping various business processes in it. This form of organization has its own distinctive character, so that the form of the required information system must have its own character. The Islamic University of Kalimantan (UNISKA) Muhammad Arsyad Al Banjari is the oldest and largest private university in South Kalimantan, founded by the UNISKA foundation based on Bachtiar's notarial deed No. 6 dated July 7, 1981. Currently UNISKA MAB has 9, nine faculties, 20 undergraduate study programs, and 4 PACASARJANA Programs or Masters Study Programs. In this study, research procedures are shown to obtain the current management information system for higher education and the problems that arise in this collaborative higher education data collection activity. According to Sekaran (2000) there are 3 types of research, namely: 1) exploratory research, namely research that aims to seek clarity on a problem; 2) descriptive research, research that aims to find a description of an object; and 3) verificative research (explanatory research), research that aims to answer the problem formulation. This study is a descriptive-qualitative research (descriptive-caulitative research), because it wants to know and at the same time describe the objective conditions of the data collection mechanism carried out by UNISKA MAB and the problems that arise in the data collection collaboration. The approach used is a qualitative approach. Qualitative research starts from the phenomenological paradigm whose objectivity is built from the formulation of certain situations lived by certain individuals or social groups, and is relevant to the objectives of the research. A qualitative approach is used to get an overview of the problems faced by UNISKA MAB in order to improve and empower the higher education management information system. With the following conclusions: 1. Not all lecturers understand and use SIPEG so that it becomes an obstacle to the quality and quantity of Uniska's HR data collection and many lecturers do not take care of Jafung only as teaching staff, 2. Lecturers use Manual and Sipeg Uniska MAB data and 3. Support implementation Uniska HR Management Information System exists but it is not yet optimal because to maximize the need for good IT equipment and campus bandwidth, something good requires large funds.


Rubblization is a treatment technique for old cement concrete pavement crushing and it has some advantages such as low costs,convenient construction,resource-saving and so on,which can significantly improve the driving conditions of cement concrete pavement.At the same time,rubblization can effectively prevent the destruction of reflective crack and have good application value.


The influence of the two-step aging time on the mechanical properties and exfoliation corrosion susceptibility of a 7050 aluminum alloy plate was investigated by means of hardness tests,conductivity tests,transmission electron microscopy(TEM),electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS).The results show that through the aging at low temperature for a short time,the main age-hardening precipitates in the matrix are GP zone and η′ phase,then through the second step aging at elevated temperature the age-hardening precipitates are transformed to η phase gradually.And with the increase of the aging time,the η phase and precipitates on grain boundary become coarser gradually,PFZ becomes wider at the same time,which results in the increase of hardness,then decreases and continuous channels become discontinuously distributed,and the resistance to exfoliation corrosion of the 7050 aluminium alloy plate is improved.The exfoliation corrosion development depends on grain boundary microstructure and chemical composition,starts and expands with formation and development of pitting corrosion.With the increase of the aging time,the exfoliation corrosion degree becomes serious,then improves,and serious again.


Demographic changes have aroused considerable anxiety in transition countries, affecting fiscal policy, labor markets, investment and savings behavior. Montenegro faces an aging population, falling fertility rates, low income per capita, low savings rate and a national budget constrained by fiscal deficits, escalating social costs, and foreign debt service problem. Devising a viable solution for the economic and social welfare of current and future generations is critical.


This paper describes the application of an FTC scheme on the RECONFIGURE benchmark model. The proposed scheme is built around an LPV based model reference sliding mode control allocation scheme. The idea is to use the existing industrial controller to generate an LPV based reference model and then to incorporate sliding mode (for robustness) and control allocation (for automatic control signal redistribution) elements to ensure nominal fault-free performance can be maintained in the face of actuator failures and wide variations in the flight envelope. The application results shown in this paper demonstrate the potential of the proposed scheme.


The moment capacity of structural beams is influenced by the presence of shear in the beam. In general, the presence of shear reduces the moment carrying capacity of the beam. Thus, the design of beam-tocolumn connections using capacity design concept should consider the presence of shear in the beam. Current design code specifications for design of beam-to-column connections do not consider the effect of reduction in maximum developable moment capacity in the beam, due to the presence of shear. This may result in the heavier connections. In this paper, the interaction between shear and moment, for various AISC beam sections is investigated. Shear-moment curves are analytically developed for a spectrum of AICS sections. It is observed that the shear-moment interaction for the AISC sections may be represented using straight lines. This interaction is used to estimate the maximum shear and moment that is likely to be developed in the beam during extreme earthquake shaking. These shear and moment estimates can be used to design the connections for the beam-column interface. Beam length-to-depth ratios for which the shear-moment interaction becomes significant are calculated. It is shown that for deep beams, neglecting the presence of shear can overestimate the design moment demands, and underestimate the design shear demands for the beam-to-column connections.


Under the assumptions that inspections in CSP-1 are not perfect and each defective shipped to the buyer will be fined a return cost, this paper investigates a joint policy between precise inspection and CSP-1 for non-repairable products, where precise inspection is introduced to screen out the defectives for the products behind the procedure of CSP-1. By using the criterion of maximizing the unit net profit, the following five decision variables are determined: (1) the optimal clearance number, (2) the optimal sampling frequency, and (3) the proportions which should be taken precise inspection for the defectives identified by CSP-1, the non-inspected items in the procedure of CSP-1, and the non-defectives identified by CSP-1. Overall, the analytical results indicate that depending on seven parameters (Type Ⅰ error, Type Ⅱ error, the selling price of an item, the unit opportunity cost, the unit return cost, the unit cost of precise inspection, and the process defective fraction), two main inspection policies for CSP-1 are "Do not inspect" and "Do 100% inspection." Besides, for the defectives and the non-defectives identified in CSP-1 and the non-inspected items, two main proportions which should be performed precise inspection are: 100% and 0%.


This paper deals with spatial discretization of dynamical systems, such that the resulting discretized model is structured as a set of interconnected subsystems. We start by discretizing a dynamical system using an appropriate method (e.q. the finite element method) and discuss a general framework for partitioning a single discretized system into two interconnected systems. As it turns out, partitioning the discretized system into a set of interconnected systems appears to be a straightforward extension of the proposed procedure — we simply recursively apply the procedure. When doing so, we derive a general condition for preserving the interconnection structure, i.e. a necessary condition on the discretized system matrices such that the interconnection graph between the resulting subsystems matches the interconnection graph between the respective physical subdomains of the original system. This framework allows us to address a local discretization error (i.e. an error in a subsystem) influence on the overall system response. Furthermore, by considering a series of successively finer discretizations of an individual subsystem, we are able to construct a series of successively finer discretized system models with respective uncertainties.


Abstract Osteoarthritis is a prevalent condition in older adults that causes many patients to require a hip or knee replacement in order to improve quality of life and reduce pain. Reducing sedentariness prior to surgery may aid in improving physical function and post-operative outcomes. Thus, we performed a pragmatic randomised controlled feasibility study with 2:1 allocation into intervention or usual care in Birmingham, UK. The intervention involved multiple techniques to reduce sedentary behaviour, including motivational interviewing and action planning. The primary outcome was feasibility, assessed using mixed methods. We included exploratory measures to inform a future definitive trial, such as ActivPal3 objective measurement of physical activity and sedentariness, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Basic Psychological Needs questionnaire, and serum cardiometabolic biomarkers. Assessments were at baseline, one-week pre-surgery, and six-weeks post-surgery. We recruited 35 participants aged 64-87 years eight weeks before hip or knee arthroplasty. The study was found to be feasible with some modifications. Within-group comparisons showed that the intervention group significantly improved their physical function (SPPB) score by 0.71 points (95% CI 0.07 to 1.36, p=0.032), a clinically significant increase. Additionally, those in the intervention group retained to post-surgery trended towards a mean sedentary time reduction of 66 min.d-1 (p=0.497). In this older mobility-limited surgical population it is feasible to use behavioural techniques to displace sedentary time to activity. Future trials should further assess the effect of reducing sedentariness on health in larger samples of older adults with osteoarthritis undergoing orthopaedic surgery.


Abstract Many Indigenous groups in Taiwan, including the Bunun, inhabited remote mountainous regions. Beginning in the 1930s, all mountain settlements were relocated to lower-lying areas by the colonial authorities. These groups lost the territories where they used to hunt, practice slash-and-burn agriculture, and carry out other social and cultural practices. Having being separated from their ancestral lands for decades, their knowledge of their former settlements and traditional ways of life is gradually disappearing. In recent years, there is a tendency among the younger generation of Indigenous people to organize and participate in roots-seeking expeditions. As their knowledge about the former settlements is limited, they seek help from the elderly—and archaeologists. Since 2014, I have collaborated with Bunun communities, recording their ancestors' lands in the Lakulaku River Basin by joining archaeological surveys on roots-seeking trips. During these surveys, I had to learn Bunun values and gain knowledge of the Lakulaku River Basin via the bodily experience of moving through and being in the landscape with its traditional inhabitants. By applying remote-sensing technologies such as airborne lidar in our surveys, our team managed to identify and record settlements that were unfamiliar to the Bunun.


A series of N-alkyl- and N-benzyl-glutarimides related to bemegride have been synthesized both by the Guareschi procedure and by N- alkylation.


The output power of a Photovoltaic (PV) system is affected by changing of weather conditions such as temperature and irradiance. However, the PV characteristic curve has a certain point called the maximum power point (MPP). An algorithm is needed to ensure the PV at the Maximum Power Point, which is called the MPPT Algorithm. This algorithm must be able to produce maximum power in rapidly changing weather condition. In this paper, simulation justification of an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System ANFIS-PSO based on MPPT PV controller has been provided to reach MPPT PV. Simulation system consist of three simulations: Variable Temperature and Constant Irradiance; Variable Irradiance and Constant Temperature; Variable Temperature and Variable Irradiance as Simultaneous. The performance of the ANFIS-PSO controller method is compared to Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (Inc). It provides fast response, precise and accurate PV tracking under rapidly changing weather conditions like irradiance and temperature. The simulation show that the PV system has been functional with zero steady state error and rapid tracking convergence velocity under highly irradiation. An ANFIS-PSO has better performance tracking ability compared with conventional method like P&O and Inc for proper training under uniform and ununiform weather conditions. An ANFIS-PSO can generate the output active power which is higher than another controller. The efficiency of an ANFIS-PSO reach 98.36% in Standard Test Condition (STC). The main contribution of this proposed method for academic knowledge is to obtain the best MPPT configuration based on ANFIS-PSO algorithm and acceptance of MPPT controller design.


Background: Deterioration of cooling abilities of cooling towers leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the technological and production equipment. Cooling capacity reserve is especially important in summer when the inflowing air is hot. According to the published data, the problem of insufficient water cooling in cooling towers has been the subject of a wide range of studies aimed at improving design and operation parameters. However, there is still not enough data about the effect of water flow distribution on the water cooling efficiency in the apparatus. Evaporative cooling towers as large installations are characterized by uneven phase distribution, which makes it necessary to determine the value of unevenness of spraying density distribution over the cross section of the cooling tower and the unevenness influence on the water cooling efficiency in the apparatus, as well as to plot the cooling tower performance curve in order to determine its efficiency taking into account the unevenness. Materials and methods: We suggest accounting for the unevenness of the spraying density distribution in a cooling tower by using the static distribution function. «Вестник ИГЭУ» Вып. 6 2016 г. ФГБОУВО «Ивановский государственный энергетический университет имени В.И. Ленина» 16 Results: It has been experimentally determined that there is significant unevenness of spraying density distribution over the cooling tower cross section. A statistical method has been developed for estimating the influence of the unevenness on the overall mass transfer coefficient of the evaporation process. Based on the statistical method of assessing the unevenness impact on the process intensity, it has been found that the higher is the value of spraying density distribution unevenness, the slower is the mass transfer. A performance curve has been plotted taking into account the spraying unevenness that can be used to determine the cooling capacity of the cooling tower. A method has been suggested to determine the performance of a cooling tower based on spraying density uneven distribution over cross sections. Conclusion: When designing and operating cooling towers, it is essential to know the law of spraying density distribution – to make calculations more precise – and performance – to assess its efficiency. Elimination of spraying density unevenness is a reserve for increasing the apparatus efficiency.


One hundred and four patients receiving hemodialysis and undergoing anaemia treatment with darbepoetin alfa intravenously once weekly were switched to a biweekly dosing schedule and followed for 24 weeks. The darbepoetin alfa dose was adjusted to maintain the target Hb concentration of 11–14 g/dL. A significant decline in the erythropoiesis-stimulating agent resistance index was observed over the 24-week follow-up, beginning with week 16, whereas the mean dose of darbepoetin alfa did not change significantly after switching to the biweekly dosing schedule. Other factors that might affect resistance to erythropoiesis remained unchanged.


In order to solve the problem of generating dot matrix of colored graphics in the development of embedded system,a feasible algorithm was designed by using Matlab image processing function and its powerful matrix calculation function,and then the algorithm was optimized aiming at the problems of complicated operation,conversion distortion,data spill,picture mixing and matching with the C grammar,etc.existed in traditional methods.The proposed algorithm is proved with the experimental system which adopts DSP30F6010A as the core processor and LMT057DNAFWU as display.The result shows that the image converted has little distortion and good compatibility.This method can be used to image conversion of most formats and the graphic dot matrix is applicable for the development of colored interface based on the embedded system.


In order to explore the submodules in the Hardy space over the bidisk, a new equivalence relation which is based on the core operator, namely congruence, was introduced in [8]. As we know, the structure of the submodules in H ^2(ⅅ^2) is very complicated. So it is beneficial to study some good examples of submodules. This paper studies the congruence of the Hardy submodule over the bidisk. It will be shown that the congruence of two inner sequences based submodules can be totally described by the ratio of their inner sequences.


This paper foccused on available information on air cleaner as a means of environmental control in various indoor environments. We also provide some measurement results on the effectiveness of air cleaners in removing pollutants and improving IAQ as the health impact of pollutant removal. Reviews those of effects of air cleaner that are not by the existing chamber test methods but by the results on removal efficiency at the various field tests could be shown


Abstract This paper presents a theory of price determination for winegrapes in California. As the California wine economy developed, winegrape contracts took on a role as one of the centerpieces of this transformation. The theory is presented and it is shown how two important factors, weather and fi nancial uncertainty, served to shape the contracts. Hence, long term planting contracts for new vineyards, specifying the price, helped ameliorate the uncertainty to growers. Similarly, shorter contracts played a similar role for established vintners. The model deals with two types of growers: those with contracts made well before the year in question and those who will sign a contract in the Spring of the year of harvest. This paper hopes to illuminate these elements and their interaction. The model is then empirically estimated and tested. (JEL classifi cation: K12, Q11)


High plasma concentrations of the essential branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) isoleucine, leucine and valine are discussed as risk factors for the onset of several diseases. Information about the contribution of the overall diet to plasma BCAA concentrations is controversial. Our objective was to investigate which dietary pattern is associated with plasma BCAA concentrations and whether further nutrients besides BCAA, such as other amino acids, may contribute to disease risk. Based on the cross-sectional KarMeN (Karlsruhe Metabolomics and Nutrition) study, fasting plasma amino acid concentrations, as well as current and habitual dietary intake were assessed in 298 apparently healthy individuals, 171 men (57.4%) and 127 women (42.6%) with a mean age of 44.5 and 51.6 years, respectively. All reported foods were summarized into 35 food groups. We used reduced rank regression to derive dietary patterns that explain as much variation as possible in plasma BCAA concentrations. For further analysis, we focused on the first derived habitual dietary pattern which explained 32.5% of plasma BCAA variation. This pattern was high in meat, sausages, sauces, eggs, and ice cream but low in nuts, cereals, mushrooms, and pulses. The age, sex, and energy intake adjusted dietary pattern score was associated with an increase in animal-based protein together with a decrease in plant-based protein, dietary fiber and an unfavorable fatty acid composition. Besides BCAA, alanine, lysine and the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan were positively associated with the dietary pattern score as well. All of these factors were reported to be associated with risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases before. Our data suggest that the overall dietary pattern contributing to high BCAA plasma concentrations may modulate chronic diseases risk, rather than the dietary intake of BCAA.


Ataxia telangiectasia (A‐T) is an inherited, recessive, cancer‐prone disease with associated immunodeficiency and chromosome abnormalities involving TCR loci. The latter phenomena implicate errors of the enzyme(s) responsible for assembly of antigen receptor genes (recombinase) in disease pathogenesis. Here we report the location of a human recombination activating gene (RAG2), in addition to RAGI, on chromosome 11, band p13, thereby formally demonstrating linkage of these genes in humans and showing that they are not linked to the known locus responsible for the A‐T syndrome. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Liouville Type Theorems for p⁃harmonic Functions on Submanifolds in a Hadamard Manifold HAN Yingbo ,JIANG Kaige ,ZHANG Qianyu (1.College of Mathematics and Statistics, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China; 2.School of Mathematics, Sun Yat⁃Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; 3.College of Electromechanical and Information Engineering, Chongqing College of Humanities, Science and Technology, Chongqing 401524, China) Abstract:Let m⁃dimensional complete non⁃compact oriented submanifolds in Hadamard manifolds have finite total curvature and non⁃positive sectional curvature. Further, it is assumed that the first eigenvalue of Laplacian in M is bounded by an appropriate constant. Then, when the norm of L of the smooth function u is finite, any p⁃harmonic func⁃ tion must be a constant(p≥ 2) .


Recently, the convolutional neural network (CNN) based approach for on-satellite ship detection in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images has received increasing attention, since it does not rely on predefined imagery features and distributions that are required in conventional detection methods. To achieve a high detection accuracy, most of the existing CNN-based methods leverage complex off-the-shelf CNN models for optical imagery. Unfortunately, this usually leads to expensive computational cost, which is hard to process in real time using resource-constrained devices deployed in the harsh satellite environment. In this paper, we propose OSCAR-RT, the first end-to-end algorithm/hardware co-design framework for On-Satellite CNN based SAR ship detection, which can simultaneously produce an accurate and hardware-friendly CNN model and an ultra-efficient FPGA-based hardware accelerator that can be deployed on satellites. With the real-time on-satellite processing speed in mind, we start from a state-of-the-art compact CNN model for optical imagery. To eliminate the sharp decrease in the detection accuracy for SAR imagery, we analyze the discrepancy between the SAR domain and optical domain, and propose to adapt the model by adjusting the output feature size to better detect relatively smaller objects in SAR imagery. To improve the detection speed, we propose to develop a fully-pipelined inter-layer streaming accelerator architecture, where all the layers of the CNN model can be concurrently processed using on-chip FPGA resources. To achieve this architecture, we first propose a hardware-guided, progressive, and structural pruning strategy, which is guided by our modeled hardware metrics and applies state-of-the-art coarse-grained and fine-grained filter pruning, as well as mixed-precision quantization techniques. Moreover, to improve the reusability and portability of the hardware accelerator design, we develop a library of highly optimized CNN components in high-level synthesis, together with their performance and resource models. Finally, we map the pruned CNN model onto these hardware library components in a fully-pipelined inter-layer streaming fashion, by adjusting their parallelism factors to balance the execution of each layer and fit into the resource constraint. Experimental results using the adapted MobileNetV1, MobileNetV2, and SqueezeNet models on the widely used SAR ship detection dataset (SSDD) demonstrate the effectiveness of OSCAR-RT: for the MobileNetV1 model, it achieves an average precision of 94%, a detection speed of 652 frames per second on the Xilinx VC709 FPGA evaluation board, while consuming about 5.8W power.


Weld defects such as blowholes and surface pores occur due to zinc vaporization during the gas metal arc welding of lap fillet joints of Zn-coated steel. In this study, the effect of porosity on fatigue behavior was investigated. A Zn-coated steel sheet with the strength of 590 MPa and a thickness of 2.3 mm was used as the base material. Three kinds of specimens with weld pore defects, such as blowholes and surface pores, were prepared and the tensile shear strength, hardness and fatigue behavior were investigated. The pore defects in the welds reduced the tensile shear strength. In the fatigue test, at higher load stresses between 122 and 366 MPa, pore defects reduced the fatigue life of the weld. However, the pore defects in the welds did not significantly affect the fatigue life of the welds at stresses below 92 MPa.


The Chinese table tennis, winning almost every important match all over the world, has always been at the very top of the world list though the ITTF has practiced a series of restrictive rules against China since 2000. It is not a good trend for the sake of the development of the sport. As facts have already proved,it is practically ineffective to change the situation by modifying the rules. Only when it is popularized and promoted all over the world can table tennis enjoy a more brilliant future. The writer puts forward some helpful suggestions so as to make the sport globalization.


Objective: To compare different techniques for debonding of ceramic brackets in terms of adhesive remnant index (ARI). Material and methods: A sample of 100 extracted human premolars were randomly and equally allocated into 5 groups of 20. Thereafter, monocrystalline ceramic brackets were bonded to teeth using light cure composite resin. Among the 5 groups; group I: served as control, group II: chemical assisted debonding using peppermint oil, group III: ultrasonic assisted debonding, group IV: diode laser assisted debonding, and group V: Er: YAG laser assisted debonding. Brackets were then debonded using a universal testing machine, followed by ARI assessment. Results: A statistically significant higher ARI scores was found solely in Er:YAG laser assisted debonding. Yet, no significant difference was found with chemical, ultrasonic, and diode laser assisted debonding. Conclusion: Er:YAG laser could be effective for debonding of ceramic brackets. Hence, this method might be recommended to alleviate enamel damage.


A sterilizing filter is equipped with a synthetic polymer membrane (34A or 34B) which has a surface having, formed thereon, multiple first protrusions (34Ap or 34Bp) each having a two-dimensional size of 20 nm to 500 μm exclusive as observed in the normal direction, wherein the synthetic polymer membrane (34A or 34B) is arranged so as to have a predetermined shape, the tilt of the normal line on the above-mentioned surface varies in accordance with the position of the normal line on the above-mentioned surface and the tilt of the normal line on a surface opposed to the above-mentioned surface varies in accordance with the position of the normal line on the surface opposed to the above-mentioned surface in the arrangement of the synthetic polymer membrane (34A or 34B) in the predetermined shape, and at least a part of the above-mentioned surface is so configured as to be in contact with a gas or a liquid.