The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of tourism in rural regions with emphasis on behavioral geography of the rural residential and to present strategies in order to improve these regions. In this study, procedure documents and field methods have been employed. After studying relevant resources, questionnaires have been used in order to obtain the rural residential attitudes about the ways of developing the industry of tourism in the region. After the analysis of the questionnaires' data, strategies have been concluded to develop the industry of tourism. Therefore, the rural tourism has an effective role in developing the rural regions and the behavior of the rural residential has an effective role to attract tourists. However, various natural capacities play an effective role in attracting tourists.


Nineteen years ago a 65 m experimental sewer section was commissioned in Virginia, Free State. It comprised three sets of 900 mm diameter concrete pipe, each of which contained nine different types of cementitious materials. In the intervening period valuable information was obtained by monitoring the performance of these materials, and this information has now been combined with the predictive theory, developed in the United States and known as the Life Factor Model (LFM), to produce a sewer design manual. It will be published later this year by the PIPES Division of the Concrete Manufacturers' Association (CMA).


Introduction: Thymus cysts are lesions not frequently seen on our daily practice. They are mainly diagnosed during adolescence, but can be identifi ed in any age group. These lesions are usually assymptomatic. The diagnosis is usually made by histological examination because imaging studies not always allow the differential diagnosis with more common lesions such as cystic hygroma. Surgery is the treatment of choice and prognosis is excellent if the lesion is completely removed.Case report: The authors describe a case of a male sex adolescent with 12 years old presenting with a cervical mass varying in size with Valsalva maneuver.


Abstract Estimation of suspended sediment load is one of the important topics in river engineering. Different methods are used for estimating the sediment rate. In recent years, different artificial intelligence (AI) methods, such as artificial neural network (ANN), have been used for the estimation of sediments in rivers. In this research, the suspended sediment load has been studied by using regression trees (RTs) and model trees (MTs). The study area has been located in Hyderabad watershed in west of Iran. The input data included the flow discharge, sum of three days discharge, sum of five days precipitation and the suspended sediment discharge were considered as output in the models. The numbers of total data of sediment discharge was 223 records. The obtained results were compared with ANN method (feed forward back propagation algorithm) and sediment rating curve (SRC). Results showed that RT and MT outperformed ANN method in the study area. The method of SRC had high accuracy for daily sediment discharge less than 100 ton per day in comparison with AI models, while the AI models had higher accuracy for high sediment discharge. Moreover, the combination of artificial intelligent models had high accuracy regarding to each model lonely.


One of the important earnings of an individual is home. Home security has been a major issue as burglary/theft/crime rates are increasing drastically day-by-day. Everybody wants to take proper measure to insure protection of home and prevent intrusion. These crimes can cause catastrophic consequences, both financially and emotionally. In addition, there was need to automate currently present home security system with the help of new technological advancement. Internet of things (IoT) is one of the major advancement in technology as nonliving things can be controlled through Internet. This could lead to advancement of analytical and computational power. The proposed system emphasises on home security with the power of IoT. The proposed system would continuously monitor through various sensors and alert user when any problem is noticed. The system would retrieve data from various sensors and store those data on cloud server. Data analysis and interpretation would be carried by application on the central server and would be notified to the user on mobile device or on the proposed system.


The reactions of propanonilchromenes with protonic and aprotonic acids were investigated. The possibility of aromatisation of thiopyranochromen-2-ones' 4Н-thiopiranic fragment was demonstrated using NMR 1Н spectroscopy method in time and new chromenothiopyrilium perchlorates (thriftoracetates) were discovered.


In this introduction to the Sudanese documentary film 'Talking About Trees', Sobers brings the storyline to a Bristol context. He charts Bristol's own history of professional Black filmmakers, and argues that making films alone is no longer enough. For filmmakers passionate about representation and social justice, we have the responsibility to also consider how the work will be seen and archived, making our work accessible for future audiences, creatives and researchers. A failure to take care of this aspect of the city's filmmaking history, will see the narrative of 'Talking About Trees' played out closer to home.


By fermentation simulation in vitro, this paper studied bifidobacterium proliferation effect on banana resistant starch, and bifidobacterium fermentation of banana resistant starch. After banana resistant starch simulate digestion in vitro through artificial gastric juice and intestinal juice, vaccinating bifidobacterium in rat feces, using digestion products as substrates for the fermentation in anaerobic conditions, samples were collected at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 h after fermentation, the p H value, SCFAs and lactic acid were measured respectively. The results showed that when banana starch were added to the medium, bifidobacterium increased 3.51 log cfu/m L. As the extension of fermentation time, p H value gradually reduced, SCFAs and lactic acid increased. After 20 h fermentation, total acid content of SCFAs was 118.52 mmol/L, and lactic acid content was 8.147 mmol/L. The experiment proved that banana resistant starch was conducive to the growth of intestinal bifidobacterium, and could be used by intestinal bacteria, maintaining the acidic environment.


Abstract Multinational Corporations and Foreign Direct Investment has been identified as agents of underdevelopment and dependency of the less develop countries, in a quest to achieve their economic motives. The institution also served as a tool in influencing the political power of the host countries, under development and dependency, theory is employed to guide the analysis of this work. The theory hinges on the fact that the multi-national corporations plays strategic role in determining production, accumulations, exploitation and politics of the world and the less develop countries in particular. The theory further explains slaves trade, colonialism and imperialism was responsible for the under development of the third world states. Content analysis is employed as a source of data collection and its revealed that the multi-national corporation/FDI are agents of both growth and underdevelopment of the host countries. The paper critically reviewed the existing literature both conceptually, empirically and thematically and relied on secondary sources of data and examination of official documents as its methodology. The paper is structured into six interrelated compartments. Also in the recommendations the role of MNCS and FDI should be inconsonant with the host country's home grown policies and not policies from without. The major findings has it that the over reliance on the monocultural production such as oil, by the host countries is responsible for the dominant of the periphery's economy by the multinational corporations and foreign direct investment. This is in addition to lack of political will in the part of the leaders/governments of the host countries. The paper concludes or rather recommends that the less develop countries should diversity massively to agriculture, and other sources, as an alternative to oil and other monoculture source. This is in additions to high level of exportation to international markets. Full fledge political will in the part of the host countries should be encouraged. Least or short of the above suggestions the issues raised will remain unresolved. Keywords: Multi-national Corporation, Foreign Direct Investment, Third-World.


The objectives of the present work were to detect Leptospira seropositive animals. The ELISA results report only IgG antibodies, which could be attributable to chronic infections or else, that they are healthy carriers. All polymerase chain reaction positive animals should be considered potential sources of infection.


We present a modified algorithm for adaptive Wiener filtering using two quadrature reference signals for a dynamic estimation of the phase and amplitude of interferometric signals. The advantages of the noise resistance of the modified algorithm with respect to the random deviations of the phase step and the observation noise effect are demonstrated in comparison with the original algorithm. We report the estimates of the error in determination of the phase shift step and signal phase in the interferometry of the controlled phase shift as well as the experimental results regarding the envelope of the partially coherent interferometric signals, which were obtained when determining the inner microstructure of the objects in optical coherence tomography.


In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t In this paper, we proposed a new two-parameter lifetime distribution with increasing failure rate, the complementary exponential geometric distribution, which is complementary to the exponential geometric model proposed by Adamidis and Loukas (1998). The new distribution arises on a latent complementary risks scenario, in which the lifetime associated with a particular risk is not observable; rather, we observe only the maximum lifetime value among all risks. The properties of the proposed distribution are discussed, including a formal proof of its probability density function and explicit algebraic formulas for its reliability and failure rate functions, moments, including the mean and variance, variation coefficient, and modal value. The parameter estimation is based on the usual maximum likelihood approach. We report the results of a misspecification simulation study performed in order to assess the extent of misspecification errors when testing the exponential geometric distribution against our complementary one in the presence of different sample size and censoring percentage. The methodology is illustrated on four real datasets; we also make a comparison between both modeling approaches.


The aim of this study is to examine the determinants of international banking. In doing so, it utilizes data from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). In particular, the primal variable of interest is drawn from BIS Consolidated Statistics and refers to banks' foreign claims. is defined as the sum of "international claims" (cross border claims & local claims of foreign affiliates in foreign currencies) plus "local claims in local currency" of bank foreign affiliates (branches and subsidiaries). This sum is called "foreign claims" and inter-office positions are netted out. A review of the literature on international banking and finance would suggest that international banking and finance on the one hand and trade and FDI on the other are all intertwined. The second most striking conclusion is, however, that all these activities are geographically confined as far as the significant role of distance makes it clear. Banks in particular do not seem to extend too far from their home markets. Geography seems to be important and might be even more significant than only the effect of distance would suggest. If spatial dependency is present in banks' foreign claims, and there are strong indications in the literature that this might be the case, accounting for it would reveal possible indirect channels in which borrowing from and lending to foreign countries through international banking might be affecting the risks that the banking system of a country is exposed to. The keyword here is "indirect effects" or financial spillovers that might be operating in a fashion that subsequently connects countries beyond those immediately involved in borrowing and lending relationships with each other. The geographical aspects of international banking will be explored by the means of global and local statistics of spatial dependency in an initial exploratory data analysis level. While pursuing the analysis at an econometric modeling level, priority will be given to models containing spatial lags (although other alternatives may be considered) as these naturally lend themselves to the exploration of possible spatial financial spillovers and regional feedback mechanisms.


There are three diversities of models that are symbolized the management of watershed system,which are the centralized management model from America,the decentralized management model from Japan and the centralized-decentralized management model from Australia.In the meantime,models of these three countries have complete legal system,which makes us realize that the domestic management of watershed system should be the integrated management including the department,region,content and market.


【Objective】 The effects of traditional Chinese medicine and qiudi on some biochemical indexes in sera of chickens infected with E.tenella were studied.【Method】 One hundred and sixty hyline brown chickens of 14-day-old were randomly and equally divided into control group(Ⅰ),infected group(Ⅱ),traditional Chinese medicine group(Ⅲ)and qiudi group(Ⅳ).All chickens were orally inoculated with 8×104 sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella except chickens of groupⅠ,at the same time the chicks of group Ⅲ and Ⅳ received water with 10 g/L(crude drug)of anticoccidial herbal medicine and 1 mg/L(effective concentration)of qiudi for 12 days respectively.Five chicks were selected at random from each group and bled from hearts at pre-infection and 3,6,9,12 day post-infection,then sera were separated.The contents of TP,ALB,Tg,UA,Cre and activities of LDH,ALP were measured.【Result】 Compared with groupⅡ,seral TP content of group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ significantly increased by 22.31%(P0.05),33.57%(P0.05) and 17.48%(P0.05),24.23%(P0.05)respectively on the 6th,9th day post-infection(dpi),the contents of ALB and Tg also increased by 26.17%(P0.05),48.23%(P0.05)and 49.25%(P0.01),40.30%(P0.01)on 6 dpi,but UA content significantly decreased by 42.39%(P0.01)and 42.48%(P0.01)on 3 dpi,the activity of LDH significantly decreased by 30.77%(P0.01),30.13%(P0.01)and 23.36%(P0.05),21.21%(P0.05)on 3 dpi and 6 dpi,the content of Cre and ALP activity decreased by 17.51%,12.52% and 16.92%,14.39% respectively,on the 6th day of post-infection.Compared with group Ⅰ,seral TP content of group Ⅲ significantly increased by 24.94%(P0.05)on 3 dpi,but Tg content of group Ⅳdecreased by 32.99%(P0.05),and UA content of group Ⅲ and Ⅳ significantly increased by 111.66%(P0.01),111.36%(P0.01);69.45%(P0.01),76.25%(P0.01) and 35.09%(P0.05),43.99%(P0.05)respectively on 3 dpi,6 dpi and 9 dpi,the content of Cre significantly increased by 45.41%(P0.05),49.94(P0.05)and 49.97%(P0.05),59.05%(P0.05) on 3 dpi and 6 dpi,but the other parameters were not significant.【Conclusion】 The results implied that traditional Chinese medicine and qiudi could keep the relative stability of seral biochemical indexes by resisting coccidial infection to a certain extent.


This study is on achieving Quality output in the Nigerian banking sector through total quality management skills. The study is motivated by the need to challenge the banking sector in Nigeria to employ best practice like other global banks around the world. The study made use of primary data sourced from the customers of eight (8) selected banks through administering of questionnaire. Their responses were tested using appropriate statistical tools like the simple percentage and the Chi-square research techniques; our study revealed that although quality output can be achieved in the Nigerian banking sector using total quality management skills but for the existence of obvious impediments that have made it look impossible. Therefore, the study recommended that such impediments like corrupt practices, ignorance, e-network failure and power problem be promptly tackled and eliminated to give the Nigerian banks competitive edge amongst top banks the world over.


1. This study investigated first the effects of forskolin on cardiac rhythm, and second the roles of calcium in cardiac arrhythmogenesis by cAMP.


Objective:To find a feasible method to stimulate tumor-draining lymph node(TDLN) cells in clinic.Methods:CTL activity of TDLN cells induced by different stimulus (IL-2 group, IL-2+autologous tumor antigen group, IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen group) was measured by the method of maximal LDH enzyme release. The mechanisms were explored by observation in morphology and detection of the CD83 positive rate of TDLN cells.Results:The level of growth of TDLN cells induced by (IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen) was significantly higher than TDLN cells induced by IL-2 and (IL-2+autologous tumor antigen)(P0.01). Antitumor CTL activity of TDLN cells induced by IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen was significantly higher than the two other groups. The CD83 positive rate of TDLN cells induced by IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen was significantly heightened.Conclusion:The method of stimulating tumor-draining lymph node(TDLN) cells by (IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen) is better than by IL-2 or (IL-2+autologous tumor antigen). The results might be assotiate with the facts that TDLN cells induced by IL-2+GM-CSF+IL-4+autologous tumor antigen could produced more dendritic cells(DC).


The software development domain is very dynamic and only around 28% of the projects that follow project management methodologies stay on schedule. This paper shows methods that try to solve this by aiming identification of the problems encountered by team members faster. The goal of the project is to allow project managers to find meaningful insights on the clarity and structure felt by team members on the tasks they are working on. The system we developed collects data from third party tools used for the development of software projects and correlates it with the marks given by team members for Structure & Clarity daily. We built models for prediction of Structure & Clarity using Random Forest Regression, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM).


Carbonaceous aerosols can act as cloud condensation nuclei and thereby change the optical properties of clouds. They are composed of two components, called black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC). OC, like sulfate aerosol, is mainly scattering. BC may be distinguished by its resistance to chemical and thermal attack and by its ability to strongly absorb solar radiation; specific absorption coefficients are estimated in the range of 3 mg to 20 mg (Liousse et al. 1993). This ability lowers the single-scattering albedo of aerosols, therefore reducing the amount of solar radiation reflected by the aerosols. The presence of BC in cloud may also reduce the cloud albedo. One aspect that is important in the assessment of indirect forcing by carbonaceous aerosols is to include the effect of BC on absorption by clouds. We have modeled this effect in the following manner.


It is shown here that if Y is a closed subspace of the free topological group FM (X) on a k-space X then FM (X) has a closed subgroup topologically isomorphic to FM (Y). Thus the problem of determining whether FM (Y) can be embedded in FM (X) is reduced to that of checking if FM (X) contains a closed copy of Y. As an extension of the above result it is shown that if A, A,…, Aare (not necessarily distinct) closed subspaces of FM (X), where X is a k-space, then FM (X) has a closed subgroup topologically isomorphic to FM ( A× A×… × A).


The novel coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, upended our lives may be in irreversible ways during its initial spread throughout the world in March 2020. It forced us all, willingly or unwillingly, to keep social distance from each other to slow down the spread of COVID-19. As scientists, we started speculating what kind of separation is between the constitutes of different objects in the Universe. In this work, we study the "social" distance between elements inside various objects, no matter their size, mass, and nature. We consider things ranging from diamond, baseball to Saturn, asteroid belt or M87 Black Hole, to name a few. We show our results in the form of a fascinating mass/"social" distance plot, where a cool cartoon figure represents each object.


A level indicating system 10 comprises a magnetic float 18, 19 of sufficient buoyancy to float on the surface of a liquid 17, and a measuring device 21. The measuring device 21 comprises a strip of magnetic material 23 of a lower magnetic power than the magnetic float 18, 19 and magnetically sensitive media 22 contained within the device. When the measuring device 21 is remote from the magnetic float 18, 19, the magnetically sensitive media 22 is attracted to and aligned with the magnetic strip 23, and when the measuring device 21 is placed in the vicinity of the magnetic float 18, 19 a quantity of the magnetically sensitive media 22 which falls within the magnetic field generated by the float 18, 19 is attracted towards and realigns to form a pointer 24 in the direction of the magnetic float 18, 19.


It's a woman's world, as Dental Products Report Editorial Advisory Board member Dr. Sheri Doniger alluded to in last year's introduction to Dental Products Report's Top 25 Women in Dentistry. But what does that mean for female dentists?


We study the linearly full holomorphic 2-spheres in a complex Grassmann manifoldG(2,5) by using harmonic sequence and moving frames.We construct some examples of homogeneous holomorphic 2-spheres in G(2,5) by applying the irreducible unitary representations of SU(2).Then,we determine all linearly full degenerate holomorphic 2-spheres with constant Gaussian curvatures of 2/3 and 4/3,up to U(5) equivalence.Moreover,we prove that all non-degenerate holomorphic 2-spheres with constant Gaussian curvature of 4/3 must be U(5) equivalent under some conditions.


This paper presents a new method for minimization of logic functions. We summarized minterm and implicant selection rules for direct cover algorithms and introduced OFF based ordering method. As other minterm and implicant selection algorithms use ON minterms and runs in minimization phase, they may not find real isolated minterms for insignificant functions. The proposed method uses OFF minterms for ordering minterms. Thus insignificant functions including Don't Care minterms, could be handled easily with this approach. Results revealed that although proposed algorithm use running time in reordering process, it saves much time in simplification process. In addition, output functions are more simplified with OFF based ordering method.


The catalytic hydrocarbon steam reforming process for the production of synthesis gas is accomplished using a nickel-based catalyst. The catalyst is designed to suit fixed-bed continuous-flow tubular reactor operation. It is manufactured in cylindrical form and possesses a relatively high crushing strength. The nickel active ingredient is homogeneously dispersed on the carrier surface in its oxide form. The currently applied reformers are vertical continuous-flow reactors consisting of several hundred tubes in which the reactants—hydrocarbon and steam—are introduced at the top of the reactor tubes and the reformed gaseous products are collected at their bottom ends. Performance and long-term uninterrupted operation of hydrocarbon steam reformers are severely affected by the alteration of the crushing strength of catalyst pellets.

Changes in the crushing strength of the catalyst along the reformer tube under actual operating conditions were investigated and the results are presented here. The usefulness of the crushing strength as a diagnostic test for catalysts is discussed. This test has direct bearing on the selection of prospective catalyst charge, the reuse of partially used catalyst charge, and the investigation of catalyst failures.


This review describes the role of microorganisms in the degradation and detoxifi cation of pesticides and persistent pollutants. Processes performed by microorganisms in the environment are discussed. Typical pathways of transformation of different pesticides and toxic xenobiotics ,especially chlorinated aromatic compounds, are demonstrated. The enzymatic and molecular mechanisms of microbial degradation of chlorophenoxyalkanoic herbicides(2,4-D and 2,4,5-T) and chlorophenols are explained as an example. The possibility of using active strains-degraders for bioremediation of contaminated soil are shown.


For the study of the state of drive axle housing stress under the dynamic load,the vertical vibration of the car 4 degrees of freedom dynamic equation was built and dynamic load was solved by the machinery vibration theory.As the drive axle housing for example,the finite element method was applied to solve the dynamic stress of the weak parts of the drive axle housing.The strength and deformation analysis of the drive axle housing was made.The results show that the study has reference and application value for the drive axle housing design.


Electricity Demand Forecasting techniques with Artificial Intelligence based on Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models have been widely used in the past 20 years. These techniques play an important role in the construction of next generation of Smart Grid. However, applied machine learning in this real world presents challenges, it requires resources (Datasets from Smart Meters and other IoT-connected devices), skills (Machine Learning Algorithms, python or other programming languages) and knowledge (conventional load forecasting methods, intelligent load forecasting methods). For this purpose, we have developed, a new Smart Grid Artificial Intelligence Prediction Simulator called SGAIPS, that can provide a systematic short term electricity load forecasting based on Smart meters and Machine Learning algorithms. The starting point for using SGAIPS is the construction of dataset by loading or generating smart meters' data. The next step is to create, train and test the machine learning models. And the final step is to predict the energy consumption. SGAIPS is a zero code Simulator for Smart Grid, that aims to simplify the creation and implementation of virtual smart meters, machine learning models and intelligent forecasting methods.


Data from cows in two Angus lines, established in 1971 and comprising a yearling weight selection line (AS1) and its contemporary control (ACO), were recorded over three periods per year to estimate food intakes at pasture in a 3-year study begun in 1991. In each period, daily organic matter intake (DOMI) was estimated using chromic oxide slow-release devices. In total, 126 cows were included over an average of 2.6 periods each. Forty-six cows were slaughtered after weaning to determine if there were any line differences in body composition. The repeatability of DOMI estimates was 0.46¦0.04, whilst the value between cows was 0.24¦0.05. The AS1 cows were 15.0% heavier and ate 10.5% more than the ACO cows (P < 0.001). Estimated intakes per unit body weight or per unit metabolic body weight did not differ between lines. Adjusted calf weaning weights at 6 months of age per unit DOMI of the dam were 20.2 and 19.4 kg/kg respectively ( P < 0.05), a 4.1% increase by the AS1 line. The AS1 cows had 17.7% (P < 0.001) heavier carcasses than ACO cows. When adjusted to equal hot carcass weight on a log-log basis, AS1 cows had significantly more bone and less fat ( P < 0.01) than ACO cows. Kidney weights, but not heart or liver weights, were significantly greater for AS1 cows than for ACO cows (P < 0.01) when adjusted to a constant empty live weight. It was concluded that the cow-calf pairs in the AS1 line had a 4% greater calf weaning weight per unit of DOMI by cows than those in the ACO line, and differences were associated with cows which had relatively larger kidneys, more % bone and less % carcass fat soon after weaning.


The relevance of the requirements for improving the quality of seed cleaning and calibration machines in seed production is emphasized, in this direction, a constructive improvement option has been developed as a working hypothesis for the purpose of conducting research. conditions are created for the passage of the entire cleaned and calibrated seed material through a separate sieve at the separation and purification stage. During the study, the specific load of the grain mass, the frequency of vibrations of the working organ and the angle of inclination relative to the horizon changed, the fraction separated from the lower layer of the grain mass changed, the effect on the quantity was determined.


Laureen A. Maines, Chair; Eli Bartov; Anne Beatty; Christine Botosan; Patricia M. Fairfield; D. Eric Hirst; Teresa E. Iannaconi; Russell Mallett; Mohan Venkatachalam; Linda Vincent April 2003 The Financial Accounting Standards Committee of the American Accounting Association ("the Committee") is charged with responding to requests for comment from standard setters on issues related to financial reporting. The Committee is pleased to respond to the IASB (hereafter, the Board) Exposure Draft on Business Combinations (hereafter, the ED). The comments in this letter reflect the views of the individuals on the Committee and not those of the American Accounting Association. Our response is presented in five sections. First, in order to evaluate the ED we describe the Committee's perspective on the desired attributes of a general business combinations standard. In the second section, we evaluate the ED within the rubric of this preferred standard. The third section describes the Committee's general comments and recommendations on the proposals in the ED. The fourth section summarizes relevant academic accounting research findings that form the basis for the Committee's views. We note that much of this research does not directly investigate issues relating to the purchase method of accounting for business combinations. Given the lack of direct research on purchase method accounting, the Committee's opinion is based on inferences from related research, as well as the Committee's understanding of the IASB's Framework for the Presentation and Preparation of Financial Statements ("Framework"). The final section summarizes our position.


ABSTRACT A novel superhydrophobic film simulating the structure of a lotus leaf was prepared using triethoxyvinylsilane-modified silica (SiO2) nanoparticles. The surface characteristics of this coating were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometry, atomic force microscope, and static contact angle (CA) measurements. Triethoxyvinylsilane reacted with the hydroxyl groups on the SiO2 surface forming vinyl hydrophobic terminations by ammonia-assisted catalysis. The resulting coating surface showed excellent superhydrophobicity since a CA of 156° could be achieved when the modified silica nanoparticles were coated on glass. This surface repelled aqueous liquids because of its hierarchical roughness and surface vinyl terminations. Its superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning properties were illustrated by the rolling movements of rhodamine-labelled water droplets with red colour on this coating.


The nuclear accident at Three Mile Island nine years ago triggered a re-examination of the safety philosophies at the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). This led to the establishment of the Severe Accident Policy in 1985 and the Safety Goals Policy in 1986. Continued efforts by the nuclear industry and its regulators are directed to reducing still further the risks of nuclear accidents and to improving quantitative methods of probabilistic risk assessment. Despite the potentially large consequences of a nuclear accident, the probabilities of such accidents are being rendered sufficiently small for many plants to make meaningful the application of de minimis risk concepts as cutoff levels of regulatory concern in the treatment of severe accident issues. The complexities and uncertainties of nuclear risk assessment present a difficult challenge of risk communication essential to public acceptance of the nuclear energy option. This paper is Part III of a three part series exploring the implicit and explici...


This paper studies the optimal performance of an irreversible four-heat-source refrigeration cycle with the phenomenological heat transfer law.The fundamental optimal relation and the maximum rate of refrigeration and its corresponding coefficient of performance of the cycle are derived.It is revealed that a four-heat-source refrigeration cycle is equivalent to a three-heat-source refrigeration cycle,which may be transformed into a three-heat-source refrigeration cycle to achieve better refrigeration effect.


Convergent and efficient syntheses of the microbial natural products gymnoconjugatin A and B are reported and were based on a linchpin coupling strategy using a boron/tin hetero-bis-metallated butadiene system.


5073 Background: Although response to CT is common in pts with advanced UC it is rarely durable. Sunitinib is an oral small molecule inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases regulating angiogenesis including VEGFR-1, -2, -3, and PDGFR-α, -β with demonstrated antitumor activity in a variety of solid tumors. Inhibition of angiogenesis following CT may delay disease progression. Therefore, we are evaluating maintenance sunitinib in a phase II study.

METHODS
Pts with advanced UC, > stable disease (SD) after 4-6 cycles of CT, a performance status (PS) 0-2, adequate organ function and < 42 days from last CT dose were randomized to sunitinib 50 mg or placebo; 4 weeks (wks) on 2 off in 6 wk cycles. Pts were stratified by response to CT. Disease was assessed every 12 wks. Pts were unblinded for progression or unacceptable adverse events (AEs), with placebo pts offered open label sunitinib. The primary end point is 6 month progression rate using a modified version of the randomized selection design (Simon 1985). 42 pts/arm are to be accrued to allow selection of the superior arm with 90% probability. Other endpoints include safety, response rate (RR), time to progression, median survival, RR to open label sunitinib and correlation of changes in serum VEGF and sVEGFR-2 levels with outcome.

RESULTS
To date, 28 pts have been registered and 26 have completed > 12 wks of therapy. Median age is 69 years (48-81) and PS is 1 (37% PS 0, 52% PS 1). 12% had a complete response (CR) to prior CT, 46% a partial response (PR) and 42% SD. 14 pts have progressed after a median of 2 cycles (range 1-12). 7 pts received open label sunitinib at progression, 1/7 remains on treatment. Median duration on open label therapy is 2.2 months (11 days-15 months). Best response to open label therapy to date is progressive disease (2 pts), SD (2 pts) for 24 wks, PR in 1 pt through 60 weeks and 2 pts have not reached first assessment. Grade 3 AEs on open label sunitinib included: bladder hemorrhage, increased creatinine, fatigue, thrombocytopenia and hand-and-foot syndrome. No grade 4 or 5 AEs were observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Preliminary results indicate that maintenance sunitinib post CT is feasible in advanced UC pts and is associated with clinical activity. Supported by Pfizer. [Table: see text].


Purpose: This research aims to determine the prevalent conflict management styles of medical specialists. Material and methods: By means the directindividual poll was studied the opinion of 302 medical employees at four general hospitals on the territory of the town of Plovdiv and town of Asenovgrad, Bulgaria. Of all respondents, 223 (73.8±2.53%) were healthcare specialists, and 79 (26.2±2.53%) were physicians. ThomasKilmann conflict instrument (TKI) was used to assess the person's predisposition to the preferred behavioural style of conflict resolution. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v. 16. Results: In a conflict situation, preferred behavioural strategies among investigated medical professionals are compromise (7.65±0.10) and avoidance (7.44±0.11), less competing(4.01±0.13). Physicians are more likely to express collaboration and competing while healthcare professionals prefer avoidance as a strategy of behaviour in a conflict situation. Conclusions: The behaviour of medical practitioners in conflict situations has a complex determinant. This puts forth the necessity to take into account the complex conditions of the individual personal qualities, the type of working relationships, the specifics of the working environment which influence the occurrence of the conflicts in the hospital and the measures for their solution.


Proteins and enzymes are the structural units of evolution and serve as a reliable marker to establish phylogenetic relations of grass hoppers, variations in these molecules could be easily resolved on electrophoretic gel. Alpha amylases as well water soluble proteins in this study revealed large variations regard to molecular weight and number. Based on these two features similarity and distance matrix computed and the values obtained are utilized to construct phylogenetic trees. In the phylogenetic trees the species Atractomorpha crenulata ramified earlier than other pyrgomorphids. All the six pyrgomorphid grass hoppers showed the monophyletic origin from a common ancestor. Congeneric species Chrotogonus oxypterus and Chrotogonus trachypterus with common generic morphological features showed the diversification from two different nodes of phylogenetic tree. Six species of pyrgomorphid grasshoppers showed a difference in diversification for Alpha amylases, proteins and combination of these two molecules resulted in phylogenetic trees not identical to each other. The formation of nodes, branch length and position of terminal taxa differed in each one these cases. The knowledge of molecular phylogeny of pyrgomorphid grasshoppers is least compared other orthopterans, in this regard the present analysis has helped to understand the phylogenetic relationship among a few species of pyrgomorphid grass hoppers.


Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a prodromal phase to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) that appear to disproportionally affect Hispanics/Latinos, the largest ethnic minority in the US. The genetic architecture of MCI is poorly understood especially among Hispanics/Latinos. We performed a genome‐wide association analyses in Hispanincs/Latinos to identify genetic loci associated with MCI with consideration of genetic background.


The performance evaluation of local road programmes will help us determine whether those programmes are to be reenforced or cut down. This study focuses on the output and outcome of local road programmes, which has been financed by Local Transfer Fund. The findings are as followes: 1. Local road programmes have contributed to the growth of pavement rate and the enhancement of local road functions. But there`s no evidence of the betterment of road safety and comfort due to those programmes. 2. The analytic results showes that production induced effect amounts to 67,060 billion won as result of local road programmes, value-added induced effect to 28,730 billion won, and employment induced effect to 1,119.351 employees. 3. Those programmes have mitigated the disparity of road capital among local governments . Finally, local road programmes have achieved the good performances against the goals and targets of those. And it is needed for central government to reenforce those programmes for the local competitiveness.


A technique to precisely measure the efficiency of thermoelectric modules has been developed within the framework of the Japanese project "The Development for Advanced Thermoelectric Conversion Systems" supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). For modules operating in the temperature difference of up to 550 K, this technique can accurately measure both the heat flow rate through a module and the generated electrical power. Techniques to measure the efficiency of modules constructed by the different participating companies are crucial for the development of thermoelectric modules and for judging the progress of this project itself. However, neither commercially available modules that operate at temperatures above 573 K nor an efficiency measurement technique for such modules are readily available. At the laboratory level, relatively few evaluation systems for higher temperature modules have been developed. In this project, the measurement conditions for evaluation of such modules have been defined. Based on these defined conditions, we have developed an efficiency measurement system for different types of modules that operate in the temperature difference of up to 550 K


Background: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic tumor and the world's fourth most common cancer in women. Most patients respond to first-line treatments and have a low risk of recurrence, but refractory patients, and those with metastatic cancer at diagnosis, remain with no treatment options. Drug repurposing aims to discover new clinical indications for existing drugs with known safety profiles. It provides ready-to-use new therapeutic options for highly aggressive tumors for which standard protocols are ineffective, such as high-risk EC. Methods: Here, we aimed at defining new therapeutic opportunities for high-risk EC using an innovative and integrated computational drug repurposing approach. Results: We compared gene-expression profiles, from publicly available databases, of metastatic and non-metastatic EC patients being metastatization the most severe feature of EC aggressiveness. A comprehensive analysis of transcriptomic data through a two-arm approach was applied to obtain a robust prediction of drug candidates. Conclusions: Some of the identified therapeutic agents are already successfully used in clinical practice to treat other types of tumors. This highlights the potential to repurpose them for EC and, therefore, the reliability of the proposed approach.


The presence of a high number of zero flow trades continues to provide a challenge in identifying gravity parameters to explain international trade using the gravity model. Linear regression with a logarithmic linear equation encounters an indefinite value on the logarithmic trade. Although several approaches to solving this problem have been proposed, the majority of them are no longer based on linear regression, making the process of finding solutions more complex. In this work, we suggest a two-step technique for determining the gravity parameters: first, perform linear regression locally to establish a dummy value to substitute trade flow zero, and then estimating the gravity parameters. Iterative techniques are used to determine the optimum parameters. Machine learning is used to test the estimated parameters by analyzing their position in the cluster. We calculated international trade figures for 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. We just examine the classic gravity equation and discover that the powers of GDP and distance are in the same cluster and are both worth roughly one. The strategy presented here can be used to solve other problems involving log-linear regression.


In pointing out the sources of success of contemporary enterprises, increasing 7 importance is attached to people and their work, in particular, to safe and healthy working 8 conditions. It is also emphasized that in order to improve occupational safety and health in an 9 enterprise, it is necessary to use appropriate organizational methods to encourage the 10 involvement of employees in these activities. The paper discusses the use of the assumptions 11 of gamification as a tool for increasing employee involvement in raising the level of OSH in 12 the enterprise. The study was aimed at interpreting and critically assessing the previous 13 scientific output devoted to the analysed issues. Within the framework of presentation of case 14 studies of enterprises, critical analysis (including analysis mainly in terms of showing the 15 relationship between shaping occupational safety and health and the use of gamification) 16 concerned the case of an enterprise operating in Poland in which activities for the improvement 17 of working conditions conducive to raising the level of occupational safety and health were 18 conducted on the assumptions of gamification. 19


A survey was performed on the survival of 446 peripheral intravenous infusion sites in 82 babies in a neonatal intensive care unit. Median survival was 31 hours. Factors identified by multivariate survival analysis as significantly decreasing site survival were faster infusion rates, total parenteral nutrition rather than dextrose, decreased gestational age, and co‐infusion of phosphate, ceftazidime and metronidazole. Pancuronium, aminophylline and, possibly, saline and ampicillin increased survival. These data indicate that, while neonatal infusions fail more rapidly than infusions in adults, there appear to be relatively few factors that have marked effects of the rate of failure.


Carbon‐based supercapacitors are one of the most widely used commercial products. Organic electrolyte systems, such as tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate/acetonitrile (TEABF4/ACN), remain dominant after decades of development due to cost and performance advantages. However, improving the capacitance of existing carbon‐electrolyte systems not by altering the pore structure and surface properties of activated carbon is full of challenges. Herein, a non‐Faraday organic ferroelectric salt additive (diisopropylamine perchlorate, DIPAP) that can significantly increase capacitance from the standpoint of electrolyte dielectric modulation is proposed for the first time. Compared to counter ions, DIPA+ plays a vital role in capacity enhancement, in which electron‐rich N‐doped mesoporous carbon can greatly boost capacity by promoting local ion mobility. In situ Raman and theoretical studies show that small‐size DIPA+ can enter the pore and be enriched closer to electrode surfaces than TEA+ and ACN, allowing it to regulate the distribution of electric double‐layer species and dielectric properties (i.e., effective thickness of dielectric and/or relative dielectric constant), increasing capacity by up to 21.6–45.8% with only 1 wt% DIPAP while maintaining desired rate performances. The understanding of the mechanism of capacitance increase by such additives opens up new avenues for further extension of the commercialized carbon electrode‐organic electrolyte system's potential.


The traditional H-K clustering algorithm can solve the randomness and apriority of the initial centers of K-means clustering algorithm. However, it will lead to a dimensional disaster problem when apply to high dimensional dataset clustering due to its high computational complexity. Clustering ensemble exerts ensemble learning technique to get a better clustering result through learning merged data set of multiple clustering results. The objective of this paper is to improve the performance of traditional H-K clustering algorithm in high dimensional datasets. Using ensemble learning, a new clustering algorithm is proposed named EPCAHK (Ensemble Principle Component Analysis Hierarchical K-means Clustering algorithm). In the EPCAHK algorithm, the high dimensional dataset is mapped into a low dimensional space using PCA method firstly. Subsequently, the clustering results of the hierarchical stage for obtaining initial information (e.g., the cluster number or the initial clustering centers) are integrated by using the min-transitive closure method. Finally, the final clustering result is achieved by using K-means clustering algorithm based on the ensemble clustering results above. The experimental results indicate that comparing to the traditional H-K clustering algorithm, the EPCAHK obtains a better clustering result. The average accuracy of the clustering results can reach up to 90% or above, and the stability for the large high dimensional dataset is also improved.


A group of children suffering from Nocturnal Enuresis (NE) does not respond completely to current therapies. Bedwetting became unacceptable for numerous parents, to the point of blaming their children and adopting punitive means of coping. Parental corporal punishment often occurs in association with other discipline techniques such as time-out, withdrawal of privileges and verbally and physically violent behaviors. The aim of this study is to investigate how the punishments in enuretic children can influence therapy response. ENURESIS: ARE PUNISHMENTS USEFUL FOR TREATMENT AND FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT?


In this paper, a new algorithm for building stochastic clustered dot screens is being proposed. A large dither matrix comprising thousands of stochastically laid out screen dots is constructed by first laying out the screen dot centers. Screen dot centers are obtained by placing discrete disks of a chosen radius at free locations when traversing the dither array cells according to a random space filling curve. After Delaunay triangulation of the screen dot centers, the maximal surface of each screen dot is computed. An array of preliminary threshold values is obtained by dividing each screen dot into 256 iso intensity regions. The final dither threshold array is generated by smoothing the preliminary array. By changing the disk radius, the screen dot size can be adapted to the characteristics of particular printing devices. Experiments show that the proposed stochastic screen generation method is of interest for high resolution printing devices:at 1200dpi, a stochastic screen generated with a disk of radius r =8 corresponds to a traditional screen of 150lpi.


The main point of cultivation technology for No.1 Tongyuan Cucurbit awning precocious bumper crop in spring as follows: Electric heating hotbed, cultivation strong sprout; Executes the full base fertilizer, rational close planting; Keeps warm frostproof, well ventilated fallswet; The ethylene presses female, ties up the vine pruning; The prevention primarily, the disease- carrying insect early governs; The prompt recovery, after picks the top dressing.


A new hole-transporting material, 1,3,4,5,6,7-hexaphenyl-2-{3'-(9-ethylcarbazolyl)}-isoindole (HPCzI), has been synthesized. The new compound is a highly phenylated isoindole with good thermal and chemical stabilities. Thermal analysis using scanning calorimetry shows the compound to have a high melting point at 311.5 °C. Its bulky structure leads to good film-forming properties of the compound via thermal evaporation. Aside from the high hole mobility, the compound possesses other important attributes required for a good hole-transporting host material for applications in organic electroluminescence. The photophysical property of HPCzI and its performance as a hole-transporting material in a double-layered electroluminescent device were investigated. At a drive voltage of 8.8 V and a current density of 20 mA/cm2, the device with a configuration of ITO/HPCzI/AlQ3/MgAg (30 Ω/□:700 A:700 A:2000 A) showed a green AlQ3 emission with a current efficiency of 3.5 cd/A.


Weapon stores become more and more diverse and complex with the development of relative technologies.As the requirements to combat simulation and embedded training are improved constantly,the universal simulation technology of weapon store management function is improved correspondingly.Based on analysis to requirements of simulation,the design idea of non-hard-coded simulation software was proposed for building a reference of universal modeling for Store Management System(SMS) function simulation by taking account of the functions of weapon SMS and the modeling method of High Level Architecture(HLA) and pattern design.It provides a reference for the simulation of weapon SMS in combat training.


Southwark Council's plannning committee agreed last night (Tuesday 1 July), that the derelict former Surrey Docks stadium will make way for a brand new public park and a new astroturf football facility at the St Paul's ground on Salter Road.


Dr. Gaynor, a physician cancer specialist, uses a mind-body approach to medicine and also combines traditional methods of medicine with alternative methods. In his practice he discovered that people who recovered from illness against all odds and against medical prognostication all had one thing in common. This was an awareness of their soul essence or inner being. This awareness was &dquo;enough to set the healing process in motion.&dquo; From this awareness he developed his theoretical base for practice. This base is that all healing occurs on several levels. On the physical level healing may result from traditional treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, antibiotics, acupuncture, massage and other treatments. In addition, healing must address why the &dquo;illness or depression developed.&dquo; At this level the concern is not with fixing symptoms but with identifying the truth that is being ignored or dealing with the unconscious aspects of the illness which are hidden. In addition to assisting healing, this framework is useful for dealing with the emotions of fear, depression, and sadness and with helping one discover the meaning of life and how to live it while being aligned with the higher self. To assist others to &dquo;recognize and use this healing essence,&dquo; Dr. Gaynor developed the program called the Essence Guided Imagery. It includes medical science, nutrition, counseling, dream awareness, and guided imagery. The book focuses on two aspects of this program which are meditation and guided imagery that can be done independently by patients. In part 1 of the book, Dr. Gaynor discusses his early career and how he discovered


At the time of investigating the amount of noise in a peek‐a‐boo co‐ordinate indexing system, I produced some peripheral data concerning punching errors and would like to comment on the figure of 27 per cent which was quoted in the published results. This figure, however, was only a percentage of total noise and the actual percentage of punching errors was 089 per cent which was calculated on the basis that sixty‐six erroneously punched documents were retrieved out of a total retrieval figure in one hundred searches of 1,781 documents. Now this 089 per cent figure does not mean that in the punching of every hundred documents there was only approximately one error, what it does mean is that in one hundred searches only about one error per hundred retrieved documents was revealed.


[This report is] an examination of the effect of early long-term unemployment on the later careers of young men. Focusing on young men who had experienced a period of long-term unemployment more than five years ago, this report studies how far they can recover from early difficulties and go on to establish successful careers. Based on in-depth interviews with 32 young men in the West of Scotland, the report examines how they attempt to move from unemployment to stable jobs. It describes how some become trapped in insecure work and the extent to which existing policies fail to address effectively deficiencies in the supply or demand for quality labour. The research suggests that few young men who experience an early period of long-term unemployment manage to make a complete recovery. Most remain trapped in the casual and insecure sectors of the labour market. With unemployment levels being relatively low, the problem for many young men was not so much finding work, but finding jobs that offered training and a degree of long-term security.


A separation scheme is presented for the systematic determination by neutron activation of 13 trace impurities in Al for nuclear reactor technology. The determinations are based on a group separation of the activated nuclides in the carrier free state by ion exchange, isotopic exchange, and coprecipitation. The separated fractions are then analyzed by gamma spectrometry. All the impurities that give rise to long-lived gamma-emitting isotopes were considered. Quantitative separation was studied for the most common impurities and for the elements of greater importance from a nuclear standpoint. The presence of other impurities may be detected and their quantity may be roughly estimated by analysis of the gamma spectra of the separated fractions. The rare earths are separated as a whole. The carrier free state makes the ftnal separation of individual rare earths simpler and faster. The absence of gravimetric yield determinations results in a considerable saving of time. The complete analysis requires 7 hr, including the activity measurements. Automation of the ion exchange separations decreased the operating time still further. (auth)


Several first-time landslides occurred in the Maskinonge area, Quebec, during the summer, which is rather unusual. They have been studied in detail, including a site investigation. The results show the following: (i) piezocone tests indicate that the clay mass close to the slopes of precarious stability is softened; (ii) the failure surface develops within the softened zone; and (iii) three of the four landslides occurred during the summer period when pore pressures are low, indicating that failure could be due to fatigue phenomena.


The use of syngas from waste or biomass gasification to generate electricity is a way which is attracting increasing attention especially with regard to the demands of regenerable energy consumption and to the reduction of waste disposal. In order to feed the syngas to a gas motor or a gas turbine the gas has to be cleaned. In future also the coupling of biomass gasification with a fuel cell will be applied, which needs a very efficient gas cleaning. The decomposition of tars and the removal of particles from the gas are the key issues of gas cleaning. Up to now these two steps are performed in two separate units. Normally, the tars are decomposed in catalytic beds or honeycomb structures. The catalytic decomposition is achieved at temperatures between 750 C and 900 C depending on the catalyst used. Particles are removed by filtration of the hot gas. Filtration at high temperatures and with high efficiencies is possible when using ceramic filter elements. Ceramic hot gas filters are well established in advanced coal gasification, such as the integrated gasification combined cycle process, as well as in waste and biomass gasification and pyrolysis processes. Since the catalytic reaction requires high temperaturesmore » the gas has to be reheated after the particles are removed in the filter or the hot unfiltered gas has to flow through the catalytic unit. If the gas is filtered first, reheating of the gas stream is an additional cost factor. Furthermore, pipes downstream of the filter can be plugged, if the temperature of the gas falls below the condensation temperature of the heavy hydrocarbons. Using the second way of hot unfiltered gas flows through the catalytic unit, there is the problem of deactivation of the catalyst by deposition of dust at higher dust concentrations. At worst the catalytic unit can be plugged by dust deposition.« less


Open recirculating cooling systems have been vital elements in industry since the early 20th century. Their purpose is to release excess heat from processes through water evaporation so that production can be carried out at optimal temperature. With the global development of industrial activities such as manufacturing, electricity and chemical production, the demand for cooling capacity keeps increasing. Biofouling is one of the main phenomena negatively affecting the performance of wet cooling systems. This phenomenon leads to: (i) loss of heat transfer efficiency, (ii) clogging, (iii) microbiologically influenced corrosion, and (iv) health risk associated to the development of pathogens. Controlling bacterial growth in open recirculating cooling systems is very challenging, and is generally performed via dosage of disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite. Due to biofouling and the increasing concerns linked to chemical consumption and water discharge, attention has been given to investigate more sustainable approaches to cooling systems operation. Knowledge on the bacterial communities, disinfection impact and biofilm composition is however limited and a more in-depth characterization of biofouling is required to effectively establish new control strategies. The objectives of this thesis were to contribute to the available knowledge on biofouling in cooling systems and to investigate sustainable and predictable alternative operations, providing results of direct relevance to practice. Attention was given to the identification of factors selecting the microbiome of cooling water subjected to conventional operation, characterization of cooling tower biofilms without disinfection, and assessment of the impact of temperature on biofilm composition. Then, alternative approaches to biofouling control were tested at pilot-scale. Phosphorus depletion was investigated as a solution for limiting biofilm growth and high pH was considered as a Legionella pneumophila control method. These studies were performed with the use of recent analytical methods such as next generation amplicon sequencing (NGS), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and flow-cytometry, which allowed collection of valuable data and a better characterization of biofouling...


This chapter highlights the main causes of submarine cable faults arising from external human aggression, examines the various legal and policy challenges faced by States in minimizing such faults, and discusses best practices on the protection of cables by both governments and the cable industry. Analysis undertaken in a 2007 study indicates that between 72-86 per cent of all cable faults are caused by external aggression. The equipment and practices employed in bottom contact fishing activities can be very detrimental to submarine cables. Coastal States and archipelagic States have an express right to adopt laws and regulations relating to innocent passage/archipelagic sea lanes passage through their territorial sea and archipelagic waters in order to protect submarine cables. Around the world governments are coming to the realization that submarine cables represent critical infrastructure, on par with power generation and food and water distribution. Keywords: archipelagic States; archipelagic waters; cable industry; coastal States; submarine cables


In this study on long-term educational programs (LTP) in nature, facilitated by an environmental agency we followed two distinct programs enacted in schools and in nature parks as case studies. Data were collected through observations of activities in schools and in the outdoors and through interviews with students, teachers and facilitators. In one program there were more student-centered and hands on activities and substantial environmental action. In the other program it was the students' first experience with outdoor and environmental education, and the teachers were more active in the outdoors as "story tellers" and role models. In this program, the students brought up their own concern of littering rather than following the environmental agency's concern of illegal herb harvesting. In general, in both programs the participant students expressed high satisfaction, and indicated learning about the environment. We found as well limited collaboration between the operating environmental organization and the schools and no connection to the school curriculum. Post priori, teachers as well as the environmental educators acknowledged the need to address the school curriculum and to better involve the teachers.


This document defines a YANG data model that can be used to deliver a
Layer 2 Provider Provisioned VPN service. These services include
Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS) and Virtual Private LAN service
(VPLS). This model is intended to be instantiated at management system
to deliver the L2VPN service, and is not a configuration model to be
used directly on network elements. This model provides an abstracted
view of the Layer 2 VPN service configuration components. It will be
up to a management system(orchestrator) to take this as an input and
use specific configurations models to configure the different network
elements to deliver the service. It is called as north bound L2VPN
Service YANG data model. How configuration of network elements is out
of scope of the document, and is defined in document[I-D.shah-bess-
l2vpn-yang].


A method for measuring electron isodose curves in plastic water using a X‐ray film array is described. The method is used for validation of a treatment planning system data. The array was used to measure both the profile and depth dose data required. Two techniques to determine the dose profile at different positions were used. Dose profile was determined and compared with simulation technique using Cad‐Plan software. Measurements and simulation has shown to be in good agreement.


Broadcast is one of the most fundamental services in WSNs. In asynchronous WSNs which every node has different wake/sleep schedule, the broadcast protocol may be achieved by multiple unicasts. Moreover, in the duty-unaware asynchronous networks which the nodes do not know when their neighbors wake up, it is difficult to realize the broadcast protocol. In our paper, we propose a new broadcast protocol to reduce the data redundancy and total transmission energy under the condition of covering the whole networks. We first set up a global optimal transmission cost tree, then based on this tree we set up a local delay coordinate for each node to decrease the total waiting delay. The proposed protocol combines the global optimization and local optimization to balance the transmission cost and waiting cost in broadcasting. The experiment evaluation shows that our proposed protocol can be more efficient in duty-unaware WSNs than the ADB protocol.


This study aims to criticize the novel Assalamualaikum, Beijing! by using a structural approach. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative Data in this study are in the form of words, sentences, and paragraphs contained in the novel. Data collection techniques in this study are library techniques, see, and note. The data analysis technique used is hermeneutic reading. The results obtained from this study are structural analysis of the novel Assalamualaikum, Beijing! Asma Nadia's works which include; 1) The theme is patience in accepting all the trials and trials of life. 2) The main characters in the novel are Asmara (Asma or Ra), Dewa and Zhongwen. 3) The grooves used are mixed grooves or back and forth. The background contained in this novel is divided into three places, such as hospitals, bus stops, mosques, etc .; time settings such as evening and night; and setting the atmosphere like emotion, disappointment, and happiness. 4) The point of view used is the third person. 5) The mandate in the novel is that as humans we must be steadfast, patient, not discouraged, and surrender to Allah SWT for all the trials of life that are passed. The criticism of the novel Assalamualaikum, Beijing! that is located in the plot and characterization names contained in the novel. Where the names of Asma and Ra were initially thought to be two different figures but it turned out that the middle and end of the story only found out that the name was a character with the full name Asmara. While the plot lies in the story of a character named Asma who is so easy through all the tests of life he receives without any description of the story of his struggle through one by one the test. It is inversely proportional to real life, where many people today are actually depressed to suicide in the face of their life trials. So the author should describe more clearly the struggle carried out by Asma in facing the test so that it can be emulated and copied by the community.


lessly or cautiously, but not irresponsibly, since he is subject to correction from his informants so long as he has contact with his informants. The promise in transform grammar is projected in the realm of final analysis. Neither the prediction of open corpus field work nor the promise of transform grammar can by-pass the problem of eliciting, though they can handle the problem differently [see below]. It turns out that however they handle the problem of eliciting, both emerge with statements of structure of classes of morphemes and sequence classes ('grammaticalness'), irrespective of restrictions on individuals within the classes. But it is precisely in the stance that each takes upon facing the restrictions and special privileges within classes ('selection') that open corpus preliminary analysis differs from transform grammar final analysis. The former characteristically turns to cultural domains, as body parts, or artifacts; for Hopi, we say that all body parts may combine with a set of possessor affixes; for Fox, Bloomfield says that all manufactured articles (artifacts) are inflected for the same gender, and so on. It is certainly possible to approach the problem of 'selection' through cultural domains, but not without loose-ends and intersection (as detailed in Hopi Domains, IUPAL Memoir 14, 1957). In effect, the promise of transform grammar is to solve the problem of 'selection'; to generate all possible utterances from rules which leave neither loose ends nor uneconomical intersections.


This article is the second of three articles which present and discuss several of the key concepts in use when attempting, in a research or military context (e.g., in doctrines and regulations), to describe the different forms of insurgency. One of the assumptions in this work has been that all insurgent wars are different, with their own local or regional conditions. The author has also said that it should nevertheless be possible to try to find certain basic characteristics in these forms of warfare. We can also find in this article some of the key concepts and problems regarding insurgency, guerrilla warfare and methods of insurgency as well.


9549Background: Preclinical findings have shown a synergy between RT and anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody in several tumor animal models for both local tumor control and distant effects. Preliminary...


This article draws attention to two spray-painting actions that occurred simultaneously in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil) in 2016, when two large-scale public artworks with a common theme were targ...


In teaching-learning process, a teacher is an indispensable component without which teaching – learning process would be futile. If teacher does not get satisfaction on his job then the whole teaching-learning process cannot proceed smoothly. A large number of teachers in present day are not satisfied with their profession. Job Satisfaction is a primary requisite for any successful teaching-learning process. If the teachers attain satisfaction towards their teaching, they will be in position to satisfy the educational objectives. The present study was conducted to enquire the Job Satisfaction on randomly selected 374 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe teachers at Secondary level in West Bengal. It was found that there was a significant difference in Job Satisfaction of Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribe Secondary level teachers. The Scheduled Caste Secondary level male teachers are significantly different from the Scheduled Caste Secondary level female teachers in respect to the Job Satisfaction. But the Scheduled Tribe Secondary level male teachers are not significantly different from the Scheduled Tribe Secondary level female teachers in respect to the Job Satisfaction. The present study also reveals that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Secondary level rural teachers, Arts teachers and serving own district teachers are not significantly different from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Secondary level urban teachers, Science teachers and Serving Other District teachers in respect to the Job Satisfaction.


Aims We report the case of a 54-year old male who was admitted to our intensive care unit due to respiratory failure andCOVID-19 disease. The patients' comorbidities were allergic asthma and obesity;he was on no regular medication. On day15 after admission to the ICU, invasive ventilation was started, and on day 19, melena, with a drop in hemoglobin levelfrom 12.9 g/dl to 8.5 g/dl, was observed. Methods In the emergency gastroscopy, three ulcerations were seen in the duodenal bulb. Two ulcerations showed visiblevessels (Forrest IIa), and were treated with a standard hemoclip as well as an "Over-the-Scope-Clip" (OTSC, Ovesco). Thethird ulceration was covered by a large clot (F IIb). After mobilization of the clot, the ulceration was seen to have perforatedinto the retroperitoneum. Results The patient underwent emergency surgery in which the perforation was sutured. Conclusions Studies have shown a high risk for gastrointestinal complications, such as gastrointestinal ischemia and ileusin critically ill patients with COVID-19 disease. In this case, we postulate that critically ill patients with COVID-19 may havea higher risk of GI bleeding and ulcer perforation. However, it is unclear whether these complications can be specificallyattributed to the underlying COVID-19 disease or the therapeutic anticoagulation, which all critically ill patients with COVID-19 recieve as standard of care. Further studies are needed to confirm or rule out these assumptions. Nevertheless, specialattention should be paid to gastrointestinal complications in critically ill COVID-19 patients.


The ion-exchange behavior of the ammonium ion on crystalline zirconium phosphate (c-ZrP) was studied by pH titration and X-ray powder diffraction. The ion-exchange capacity of c-ZrP was 4.4 meq/g in an acidic solution and 6.6 meq/g in an alkaline solution. At an exchange of 66% the Zr(NH4PO4)1.33(HPO4)0.67·H2O phase was present and at an exchange of 100% Zr(NH4PO4)2·H2O phase was present. The forward and backward titration curves exhibited a hysteresis loop. This results from the presence of the different phases in the titration of each direction. Through the ion-exchange cycle, the crystallinity of c-ZrP was maintained.


The energy dependence of the fission cross section for 239Pu(n,f) and 241Am(n,f) is analysed in terms of the double-humped fission barrier model to deduce the barrier heights. Good fits were obtained by assuming the first barrier is axially asymmetric, while assuming the second barrier is mass asymmetric. Barrier height parameters were obtained and compared with other results. The level density was calculated in the frame of the semi-microscopic combined method, and compared with other methods.


Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LAD) is an autoimmune blistering disease characterized by IgA antibodies against epidermal autoantigens. The antigen for the major type of LAD (


Praziquantel, 2-cyclohexylcarbonyl-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexahydro-4H-pyrazino[2,1-a]isoquinolin-4-one, is a novel antiparasitic drug possessing one chiral center.[1] In the study of structure-activity relationship of praziquantel we were interested in its structural modification. 1-Benzyl Reissert compound of isoquinoline is required as starting materials for the synthesis of praziquantel analogues with modified chiral centers. On the other hand, we want to know what could be obtained when 1-benzyl Reissert compounds were exposed to high pressure catalytic hydrogenation. In this paper we report the results in the hydrogenation of 1-benzyl Reissert compound.……


Beginning at the age of 70, physicians' physical health, mental health, and cognition skills should be evaluated to determine whether they should continue practicing medicine, according to a paper recently published in the Journal of Medical Regulation.


Edge enhancement is a predominant process in vision based applications. The performance of the image analysis and interpretation tasks depends on the quality of the image features. It insists that an image should be pre-processed to enhance the fine details like edges. Linear Unsharp Masking (UM) is a conventional method to enhance the edges in the image. The effect of Unsharp Masking depends on the scaling factor provided by the user. In this paper, a novel reference free edge enhancement method called, Particle Swarm based Unsharp Masking (PSUM) is introduced where the scaling factor is optimized through Particle Swarm Optimization by minimizing the blur function without a priori information about the content of the image. The proposed work has been tested over various types of images and low resolution videos and proved to enhance the edges.


A brush adapted for cleaning of the teeth, mouth, and gums of the user, comprising a toothbrush handle, ordinary toothbrush bristles affixed to one surface of a brush head at one end of said handle (hereinafter deemed the "brush end") in the usual and customary manner, and shorter, softer bristles, (hereinafter deemed "mouth bristles") for cleaning of the interior of the mouth and for massaging of the gums affixed to all surfaces of the above-mentioned brush head at the brush end of the toothbrush handle.


Objectives: To grow the 3D in vitro tumor models with A549 and H1229 cell lines of NSCLC. To irradiate 3D In Vitro tumors with hypo-fractionated SBRT similar to RTOG0813 and RTOG0915 protocols to investigate the treatment response. Methods: Two human cell lines of NSCLC A549 and H1229 were obtained from tissue culture core facility at our local university. The tumor cells were grown in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 0.5 mM sodium pyruvate, 10 mM HEPES, and 1% penicillin / streptomycin in a humidified incubator containing 5% CO2 at 37 oC. The soft agar colony was formed according to the co-author's previous publication [1-2], where the top layer of the mixture was made up of a lighter concentration of agar (0.3 mL of 0.36% agar medium) and 3x104 tumor cells of either A549 or H1229 in a 24 well-plate. The bottom layer was formed with a denser concentration of agar (0.5 mL of 1% agar medium). On top of the heterogeneous agar gels, RPMI-1640 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 0.5 mM sodium pyruvate, 10 mM HEPES, and 1% penicillin / streptomycin were added to agar gels one day after the plating. Subsequently, cell media was replaced weekly. After 21 days, 3D tumor models were formed and irradiated with SBRT protocols similar to RTOG0815 and RTOG0915, i.e., 40Gy in 5 fx, 50Gy in 5 fx, 60Gy in 5 fx, 34Gy in single fx, and 48Gy in 4 fx were delivered on a clinically commissioned TrueBeam linac. Each treatment was triplicated and compared to the control condition with no radiation. The cells were allowed to grow for another 5 days before termination. Five pictures of colonies were taken with microscope magnifications of 10X for each well. The number of colonies was counted with counting tools in Photoshop software. The minimum 50 cells (i.e., larger than 100 micrometers) was counted as a 3D tumor colony from three independent wells under the same radiation dose and fraction conditions. Results: The survival fraction was calculated as the number of 3D tumor colonies with radiation divided by that without radiation. For A549 tumors, a decreased trend was observed with dose escalation of RTOG0813. The survival fraction was 1.000+/-0.023, 0.915+/-0.161, 0.648+/-0.235, and 0.398+/0.043 for 0, 40Gy in 5fx, 50Gy in 5 fx, and 60Gy in 5 fx, respectively. In contrast, H1229's 3D tumor models had survival fraction of 1.000+/-0.197, 0.993+/-0.141, 0.784+/-0.197, and 0.811+/-0.111 for the RTOG0813 dose escalation respectively. For RTOG0915 arms, the single fractional radiotherapy 34Gy had much smaller survival fraction than the 48Gy in 4 fx arm. For A549's 3D tumors, the survival fraction was 0.607+/-0.252 and 0.955+/-0.265 for the 1 2 Open Access Abstract


During the past several decades, we have come to appreciate that mechanical ventilation practices affect outcome in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Physiologic evidence suggests that overdistention of alveoli can lead to ventilator-induced lung injury,1,2 and cyclic opening and closing of alveoli is also injurious.3,4 ALI is a heterogeneous disease,5 so tidal volume (VT) is preferentially directed to more normal or recruitable lung units, and these areas may be more susceptible to repeated overinflation, overdistention, and tissue injury. In addition to animal and physiologic data, we know that low-VT ventilation improves survival in patients with ALI,6 and, furthermore, this mortality decrease is reinforced by strong anti-inflammatory biological effects, including lower levels of several key inflammatory cytokines in both plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients who receive low-VT ventilation.7,8


Feedthrough perturbation growth equations in an incompressible spherical shell geometry were derived by small amplitude perturbation alalysis,and RT instability models on transparent gelatin spherical shell with initial perturbation on the outer surface were numerically calculated . This shell was imploded with high pressure gases.The calculations show that in the low wave number band, the outer surface is stable, while the feedthrough growth on the inner surface is rapid, resulting in the observed phase inversion. The perturbation growth behavior in the high wave number band is opposite to that in the low wave number band. The interface stability of the spherical shell geometry is better than that of the cylinder


In 2011, Boston Biomedical Consultants, Inc. (BBC) created a digital archive of the information collected over its 35-year history in IVD consulting. BBC investigated open-source programs to build and maintain a digital archive of the company's intellectual property without a large monetary investment from the firm. Using the DSpace Digital Repository Software, the In Vitro Diagnostics Database (IVDb) was created, archiving the company's library files and providing a searchable online database for staff use. The result has been a user-friendly, robust database that has proven to be a valuable research tool created with little monetary investment (∼$600 in hardware costs).


July 2008 1 P rogrammaBLe instruments have been available in one form or another for many years. Although specific capabilities vary, a programmable instrument allows the user to create and store a set of instructions (a program) in the instrument itself, where it can be executed on demand. Early programmable instruments generally had quite limited capability and capacity, which restricted the usefulness of the programmability to relatively small and simple applications. Larger or more complex applications required the use of a separate computer or controller, which controlled the instrument via a communications interface, often GPIB. Improvements in computing technology and programming languages and the steadily declining cost of embedded computing capacity have led to a new generation of programmable instruments. This new breed of instruments breaks through the old limits to provide greatly increased capability and flexibility. One key improvement realized in these instruments is the use of a scripting language to provide programmability. This article provides a detailed look at scripting and how it can enhance speed and simplicity in test and measurement.


This study aims to define the level of utilizing blended learning in teaching science from the point of view of science teachers (85 male and female teachers) who are working in private schools of Ajman Educational Zone. The study also aims to find if there are significant differences according to gender, years of experience, or the fact that those teachers attended training courses in the field of smart learning. To achieve the goals of this study, an instrument was used to measure the level of utilizing blended learning in teaching science. The study showed the following main results: the level of utilizing blended learning in teaching science was high. There are statistically significant differences in utilizing blended learning according to the years of experience and training courses (in favor of less experienced teachers and teachers who attended training courses in the field of smart learning). The results did not show any statistically significant difference according to the gender. In the light of the study findings and their interpretation, the study highly recommends holding training courses in the field of blended learning and providing the necessary tools to implement it. Key words: Blended learning, science teachers, science education


The standard covering-law model of explanation sets forth a for mal, deductive account of explanation. The account faces two kinds of formal objections. The fust is the problem of explanatory relevance. This concerns the specification of formal conditions for relevant logi cal derivations. The second difficulty is the problem of "self" -explana tion. This involves specifications which govern the role that a given statement is allowed to play in an explanatory deduction of itself. A revision of the standard covering-law model provides a natural way to avoid both of these problems. And, it also has the virtue of not being an ad hoc solution.


Hyperspectral unmixing is one of the most important techniques in the remote sensing image analysis. In recent years, the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) method is widely used in hyperspectral unmixing. In order to solve the nonconvex problem of the NMF method, a number of constraints have been introduced into NMF models, including sparsity, manifold, smoothness, etc. However, these constraints ignore an important property of a hyperspectral image, i.e., the spectral responses in a homogeneous region are similar at each pixel but vary in different homogeneous regions. In this paper, we introduce a novel region-based structure preserving NMF (R-NMF) to explore consistent data distribution in the same region while discriminating different data structures across regions in the unmixed data. In this method, a graph cut algorithm is first applied to segment the hyperspectral image to small homogeneous regions. Then, two constraints are applied to the unmixing model, which preserve the structural consistency within the region while discriminating the differences between regions. Results on both synthetic and real data have validated the effectiveness of this method, and shown that it has outperformed several state-of-the-art unmixing approaches.


In this paper we introduce the content-based image classification using wavelet transform with Daubechies type 2 level 2 to process the characteristic texture consisting of standard deviation, mean and energy as Input variables, using the method of Fuzzy Neural Network (FNN). All the input value will be processed using fuzzyfication with 5 categories namely Very Low (VL), Low (L), Medium (M), High (H) and Very High (VH). The result will be fuzzy input in the process of classification with neural network method. Batik images will be processed using 7 (seven) types of batik motif which is ceplok, kawung, lereng, parang, megamendung, tambal and nitik. The results of the classification process using FNN is Rule generation, such that for a new image of batik motif types can be immediately determined after FNN classification is completed. For the level of precision, this method is between 90-92%, including if we use the rule generation to determine the level precision is between 90-92%.


On 15 October 1997 at 4:43 AM EDT, the Cassini spacecraft was successfully launched on a Titan IVB/Centaur on a mission to explore the Saturnian system. It carried three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) and 117 Light Weight Radioisotope Heater Units (LWRHUs). As part of the joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) safety effort, a contingency plan was prepared to address the unlikely events of an accidental suborbital reentry or out-of-orbital reentry. The objective of the plan was to develop procedures to predict, within hours, the Earth impact footprints (EIFs) for the nuclear heat sources released during the atmospheric reentry. The footprint predictions would be used in subsequent notification and recovery efforts. As part of a multi-agency team, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) had the responsibility to predict the EIFs of the heat sources after a reentry, given the heat sources' release conditions from th...


One potential barrier to electronic trading is the almost co mplete absence of any guarantees, for either trading party, that each will meet th eir obligations. Trust can be acquired from the use of a well-known name with an established reputation, when people are involved, but if the traders are software agents, names mean very little in the absence of reputation models. Thus, we aim to establish confidence by the use of verifiable trading frameworks, which we call electronic institutions, and which specify rules for interaction, roles that (electronic) agents m ay play, the forms of discourse (via speech acts) in which agents may participate and the obligations that agents may acquire. We are aiming to ground our specification of electro nic institutions in process algebras augmented with places and in this paper we examine the specification of some key aspects of a prototypical e-institution using th e Seal and (typed Safe) Ambient calculi, in order to compare their properties. Plac es offer a nice correspondence with some aspects of our modelling approach, but although the type systems do permit the statement of some desirable (static) properti es, our needs are not fully met, nor are there yet adequate tools to support our objectiv es.


Objective Research of psoriasis has been hampered by the lack of an ideal animal model. The mouse tail model has been used for screening drugs for the treatment of psoriasis.Methods We used this model to evaluate anti parakeratotic activity of arotinoid ethylester.Results The skin was examined histologically for signs of induced granular layers in previously parakeratotic areas,epidermal thicknesses were also measured. Topical arotinoid ethylester could induced remarkedly a granular layer in the tail scales and was more potent than retinoic acid and vehicle solution alone.Conclusion These results show that arotinoid ethylester is an effective drug for treatment of psoriasis.


The short-lived killifish is a promising candidate for the study of aging and longevity. S urgeons and transplant centers nationwide increasingly have rejected hearts donated for trans-plantation despite a growing need for them, according to a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine. The study also found that the rejection of " marginal " donor hearts — those with undesirable qualities, such as being small or coming from an older donor — varied significantly across geographical regions. In other words, some hearts rejected in one region would be accepted in another. " We've become more conservative over the past 15-20 years in terms of acceptance, which is particularly troubling because of the national shortage of donor hearts and the growing number of critically ill patients awaiting heart transplantation, " said Kiran Khush, MD, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine. Khush, who treats heart transplant patients, is lead author of the study, which was published online Feb. 10 in the American Journal of Transplantation. Estimates show that more than 20,000 patients in the United States could benefit from heart transplant surgery each year. Yet only 1,949 patients received transplants in 2011, according to the study. The findings point to a pressing need for a set of consistent, scientifically based guidelines to provide surgeons and transplant centers with a standardized method of determining whether a marginal donor heart should be used for transplantation. National trends " There is likely a significant number of suitable donor hearts that are not getting used, " said John Nguyen, a co-author of the study who is trained as a nurse and works as part of a clinical team at the Oakland-based California Transplant Donor Network , a federally designated organ procurement organization that helps facilitate organ donation to transplant centers across the nation. " Creating a more systematic way of evaluating these hearts based on scientific evidence could increase the number of heart transplants. " " Invariably, we receive donor heart offers that we're not sure if we should accept, " Khush said. " Different surgeons vary as to which hearts they will accept. As patients wait longer, they often get sicker, and we often lose patients. Increasing the supply of donor hearts is, of course, a great concern of mine. " To look at national trends in donor-heart use for transplant, researchers examined data from the federal government's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network on …


Observations of optical and near-infrared counterparts of binary neutron star mergers not only enrich our knowledge about the abundance of heavy elements in the universe and help reveal the remnant object just after the merger, which is generally known, but can also effectively constrain the dense properties of the nuclear matter and the equation of state (EOS) in the interior of the merging stars. Following the relativistic mean-field description of nuclear matter, we perform a Bayesian inference of the EOS and the properties of the nuclear matter using the first multi-messenger event GW170817/AT2017gfo, together with the NICER mass–radius measurements of pulsars. The kilonova is described by a radiation-transfer model with the dynamical ejecta, and light curves connect with the EOS through the quasi-universal relations between the properties of the ejecta (the ejected mass, velocity, opacity, or electron fraction) and binary parameters (the mass ratio and reduced tidal deformability). It is found that the posterior distributions of the reduced tidal deformability from the AT2017gfo analysis display a bimodal structure, with the first peak enhanced by the GW170817 data, leading to slightly softened posterior EOSs, while the second peak cannot be achieved by a nuclear EOS with saturation properties in their empirical ranges. The inclusion of NICER data results in a stiffened EOS posterior because of the massive pulsar PSR J0740+6620. We provide the results at nuclear saturation density for the nuclear incompressibility, the symmetry energy, and its slope, as well as the nucleon effective mass, from our analysis of the observational data.


Suppose $R$ is a profinite ring. We construct a large class of profinite groups $\widehat{{\scriptstyle\bf L}'{\scriptstyle\bf H}_R}\mathfrak{F}$, including all soluble profinite groups and profinite groups of finite cohomological dimension over $R$. We show that, if $G \in \widehat{{\scriptstyle\bf L}'{\scriptstyle\bf H}_R}\mathfrak{F}$ is of type $\operatorname{FP}_\infty$ over $R$, then there is some $n$ such that $H_R^n(G,R [[ G ]]) \neq 0$, and deduce that torsion-free soluble pro-$p$ groups of type $\operatorname{FP}_\infty$ over $\mathbb{Z}_p$ have finite rank, thus answering the torsion-free case of a conjecture of Kropholler.


69 Background: Approximately 25% of patients treated with immediate post-prostatectomy (adjuvant) radiotherapy will develop a biochemical failure within 5 years after radiotherapy when doses of 60-64 Gy are used. We wanted to report on the safety and biochemical outcome of adjuvant intensity-modulated radiotherapy (AIMRT) with a median dose of 74 Gy.

METHODS
Between 1999 and 2008, 104 patients underwent a radical prostatectomy followed by AIMRT +/- androgen deprivation (AD). Indications for AIMRT were capsule perforation, seminal vesicle invasion and/or positive surgical margins at prostatectomy specimen. All patients were irradiated at a single tertiary academic centre. AD was initiated in 65% of the patients on the basis of seminal vesicles invasion, pre-prostatectomy PSA > 20ng/mL, Gleason score ≥ 4+3 or personal preference of the referring urologist. A median dose of 74 Gy was prescribed to the planning target volume using IMRT in all patients. AD consisted out of a LHRH analogue for 6 months. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS). Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to examine the influence of patient- and treatment-related factors on bRFS.

RESULTS
The median follow-up was 5 years. Late toxicity: no patients developed grade 3 gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. Grade 2 GI toxicity was seen in 8%. Seven patients (7%) and 24 (23%) developed grade 3 and 2 genitourinary (GU) toxicity, respectively. An urethral stricture was observed in 8 patients (8%). The 3- and 5-year actuarial bRFS was 91% and 85%, respectively. On univariate analysis bRFS rates was reduced with seminal vesicle invasion (p < 0.04) or Gleason score ≥ 4+3 (p < 0.02) or negative margins (p < 0.001). AD and preoperative PSA levels did not influence bRFS. None of the variables remained significant on multivariate analysis.Eight patients had a distant clinical relapse (pelvic lymph nodes: 3, bone metastases: 3 and 2 patients had both). Seven patients died (3 prostate cancer related deaths).

CONCLUSIONS
Adjuvant high-dose IMRT after prostatectomy is safe. Five-year bRFS is excellent. No significant financial relationships to disclose.