Integral circuit is the key element to restore the signal in the current-based electronic voltage transformer(EVT),and its performance directly affects the steady and the transient characteristics of the EVT.An integral circuit withDC-isolating control used in the current-based EVTwas proposed.It can effectively block the DC component of the input signal,resulting in the improvement of the transient performance of the EVT.And its frequency width can assure below 40th harmonic voltage measurement.The method of using the thermal resistor to compensate the temperature characteristic of the integral circuit was also proposed,which can improve the stability of the EVT.An EVT prototype based on the designed integral circuit was developed and then tested.The analysis and then experimental results demonstrated the practicability and the validity of the proposed integral circuit.


Recent applications of active flow control to the low-pressure turbine section of a gas turbine are reviewed and evaluated. Unique aspects of the low-pressure turbine flow environment such as frees...


This paper analyzes the status quo of textile and costume trade between Taiwan Strait,elaborates the active impact of early trade lists of ECFA on mainland textile and costume enterprises and points outs that,in post-ECFA stage,mainland enterprises should take the opportunity to meet the challenge by actively entering into Taiwan market based on their reality through the consolidation of the cooperation of textile and costume industry between Taiwan and mainland in order to form a cooperative force in fiercely competitive international textile and costume market and to mutually upgrade the economic competence of textile and garment industry,promoting economic development of the whole China market and boosting the global competence of Taiwan and mainland.


The depression of arterial blood pressure in the presence of halothane (a gaseous anaesthetic agent) is used, in a digital control system, as a measure of the depth of anaesthesia in an animal subject. The control system maintains the blood pressure at desired levels by vaporizing halothane into a respiratory circuit connected to the animal. The response of blood pressure to Halothane varies with the physiological state of the animal. Hence the feasibility of replacing the current fixed term controller by an adaptive controller was investigated. A discrete transfer function model relating blood pressure to halothane input signal was identified from measured data, using a pseudo random input signal, and used in comparative studies on alternative control systems. A new method of adaptive control was used to cope with the non-minimum phase model and shown to provide better performance when the model is subject to variations.


Genes residing in highly branched, fractal melons [Cucumis melo ssp. agrestis (Naud.) Pangalo] have the potential for increasing yield in dessert melon types, C. melo L. ssp. melo (Zalapa et al., 2006). A horticulturally unique C. melo ssp. agrestis germplasm, designated CR1 (Fig. 1), was received in 1995 from Mr. Claude Hope, Cartago, Costa Rica, by the USDA-ARS Cucumber and Melon Breeding Project, Madison, WI. The earlyflowering (in Wisconsin), monoecious CR1 is rapid-growing, indeterminate and bears many (up to 100 fruits/plant) small (3 to 6 cm in diameter) (Staub et al., 2004; Zalapa, 2005; Zalapa et al., 2006) fruits on an indeterminate, highly branched (six to 12 primary branches) plant with standard length internodes, i.e., not compact, si (Denna, 1962; Paris et al., 1984). The architectural type of CR1 is unique and distinct from vining (Rosa, 1924), dwarf (Denna, 1962; Mohr and Knavel, 1966), and birdnest (Paris et al., 1981, 1982, 1984) plant habits, and thus, is designated here as a ''fractal'' type (Prusinkiewicz and Lindenmayer, 1990) because of its highly branched, radiant growth habit when compared with standard vining phenotypes such as 'Top Mark' (Fig. 1). The fractal architecture of CR1 is, thus, a function of its internode length and comparatively high numbers of primary, secondary, and tertiary branches (Zalapa, 2005). This report describes the highly branched, fractal-type melon USDA 846-1 line and 81 derived recombinant inbred lines (RIL) that were made available to melon breeders for development of U.S. western shipping melons with a highly branched, fractal-type architectural growth habit to increase genetic diversity and yield potential for commercial field production. This germplasm will be useful in breeding and genetic studies for deployment of marker-assisted selection for quantitative traits associated with fruit yield and quality.


There was a controlling variable called mathematics language teaching besides eight "MM" variable,which could affect one's mathematics understanding and his mathematics temperament.The supplement of mathematics language teaching was valuable to develop dialectic thinking style of "MM" teaching method and to overcome the tendency of extremist teaching.There was the unique characteristic of mathematics language teaching in each mathematics cell,which form corresponding unique mathematics characteristic.The combination of unification of subject characteristic and "MM" teaching method could achieve the goal of developing student's broad mathematics language ability.


Thomas O. Mason, Esq., Robert E. Korroch, Esq., and Francis E. Purcell, Jr., Esq., Williams Mullen, for the protester. Robert M. Tata, Esq., Carl D. Gray, Esq., and Kevin J. Cosgrove, Esq., Hunton & Williams LLP, for Earl Industries, LLC, an intervenor. Rhonda L. Russ, Esq., Naval Sea Systems Command, for the agency. Edward Goldstein, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST


Objective: In ordrr to improve the results of valve replacement for the patients with severe valvular heart disease.Methods:A retrospective study was carried out review experience.297 cases with severe valvulat heart disease underwent valve replacement operation.Preoperatively,the LVd(A-P)was59.9±13.8mm(70mm in 69,23.2%)LAs(A-P)60.2±16.6mm(60mm in 133,44.8%),LVFS 29.0%±8.4%,LVEF 54.9%±13.4%,C/T 0.66%±0.09 . Results: Early postoperative complication included:Re-open in 8(2.7%),LCOSin 16(5.4%),respiratory insufficiency in 6(2.0%),hepatic dysfunction in 5(1.7%),renal insufficiency in 6(2.0%),complication of CNS in 4(1.3%),acute pancreatitis in 1(0.3%),periprosthetic leakage in 3(1.0%),pericardia effusion in 16(5.4%)and death in 4(1.3%). On 10 th -14 th post-operative day, UCG showed that LVd(A-P),LAs(A-P)and C/T were decreased significantly (P0.05%),but LVFS and LVEF also decreased. Conclusion:MVR with preservation of valve and the subvalvular structures, correct selection of artificial valves in DVR , TVP with TR,utilizing warm blood cardioplegia (warm-cool-warm)and enhancing post-operativce treatment can significantly improve the results of valve replacement for the patients with severe valvular heart disease.


Reply: Does Age Really Impair Aesthetic Outcome in Breast Reduction Surgery? Sir: I thank Dr. Bonomi et al. for their comments on "Increasing Age Impairs Outcomes in Breast Reduction Surgery."1 This article was based on a very large retrospective review of more than 2000 breast reduction procedures performed by multiple plastic surgeons throughout an academic medical system over a 10-year period. Surgical techniques comprised the range of those used for breast reduction, with Wise pattern, inferior pedicle breast reduction representing the preferred technique, as is the norm with most articles investigating breast reduction outcomes. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the issues raised in this letter from Milan. First, there is no question that there are multiple studies beyond the one cited that demonstrate significantly elevated risk of complications from breast reduction surgery in the setting of elevated body mass index and tobacco use, and these references are cited in the article. Large amount of tissue resection, on the order of greater than 1 kg per side, has also been often cited as a confounding factor. Although our data collection included these variables, the focus of this article was on the impact of age, a factor that has been shown to impair surgical outcomes but has not been well studied in the plastic surgery literature. Data including body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and connective tissue disorders, as you mention, were included in our multivariate statistical analysis. We included these data to be sure that the variable we were testing, age, was in fact a significant variable, canceling out the effects of other variables included in the analysis, such as those listed. Statistical analysis such as chi-square that tests the impact of a single variable on an outcome does not account for the impact of other factors that may be more important than the variable tested. This is why we used multivariate analysis, and this is more completely described in the Methods section of the article. The impact of age on breast reduction outcomes is not actually the impact of body mass index, medical comorbidities, or tobacco use. The antibiotic protocol in this study was neither universal nor scientifically assessed. Generally, antibiotic use at our institution for breast reduction procedures is related to the presence of drains. Intravenous antibiotics are given before incision and throughout the duration of the patient hospital stay, which was most often overnight, when the patient was not an outpatient. Most patients have drains removed the morning after surgery, particularly after Wise pattern, inferior pedicle breast reduction. Patients who underwent vertical techniques and superior pedicle breast reduction with nipple grafting tended to maintain drain tubes for 1 week, with oral antibiotics prescribed while drains were in place. This practice, however, is not evidencebased, and many hospitals are now promoting antibiotic protocols for surgery patients who include preoperative dosing and three subsequent antibiotic doses of either a first-generation cephalosporin such as cefazolin or clindamycin in the setting of penicillin allergy. Antibiotic use is becoming more restricted with growing concerns over bacterial resistance to antibiotics, with no scientific evidence demonstrating a benefit of prolonged antibiotic treatment, even with drains in place. The study of antibiotic use in breast reduction surgery and its impact on outcomes would be a welcome, original article that would be a valuable contribution to evidence-based medicine guidelines toward which we aim. Again, I thank Dr. Bonomi et al. for their comments and their interest in this article. I hope this response better explains why we believe age has a greater impact on breast reduction outcomes than previously believed. DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e318254fed2


Field experiment was carried out to compare the differences in agronomic characters,incidence of diseases and insect pests,yield,output value and chemical composition among Yunyan87,Yunyan97,Yunyan99,Yunyan203,PVH19,K326,KRK26 and Honghuadajinyuan.The results showed that the effective leaf number was higher in Yunyan203 and KRK26,but lower in PVH19 and Yunyan87;the leaf area index was higher in Yunyan99,Yunyan203,Honghuadajinyuan and Yunyan97,but lower in PVH19 and Yunyan87;the weather spot on Yunyan99,Yunyan97,KRK26 and Honghuadajinyuan was significantly less than that on other varieties,and the brown spot on Honghuadajinyuan,Yunyan87 and Yunyan97 was relatively higher than that on other varieties;the highest yield and output value of flue-cured tobacco were in Yunyan87,Yunyan97 and Yunyan99,but PVH19 had obviously lower yield and output value;the highest sugar content in flue-cured tobacco was in Yunyan99,Yunyan97 and KRK26,and theirs nicotine content was close to the appropriate range;the best ratio of sugar to nicotine was in Yunyan99 and KRK26,but the best ratio of nitrogen to nicotine was in Yunyan99 and Yunyan97.Therefore,comprehensive analysis of agronomic characters,occurrence degree of weather spot and brown spot,yield of tobacco leaves,output value,chemical composition and other indicators,the results showed that Yunyan99 was the best in overall performance.


SAPO-5 and SAPO-34 Molecular Sieves were synthesized with diethylamine and tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide as dual-template under hydrothermal conditions. The products were characterized by XRD,SEM,XRF and NH3-TPD. The catalysts were tested in the styrene oxide rearrangement reaction.The influence of feeding order and heating mode were investigated in detail. The results indicate that pure SAPO-5 and SAPO-34 can be synthesized with different feeding order and heating mode,in condition of the same sources and same ratio of the reactants. The SAPO-34 catalyst with strong acid sites had lower selectivity to phenylacetaldehyde because of the formation of oligomers,while the SAPO-5 catalyst with only weak acid sites exhibited better catalytic performance in the styrene oxide rearrangement reaction.


Regression trees have been known to be an effective data mining tool for semiconductor yield analysis. The regression tree is built by iteratively splitting data set and selecting factors into a hierarchical tree model. The sample size reduces sharply after few levels of data splitting and causes unreliable factor selection. In contrast, the forward regression analysis selects the influential variables all the way with the same set of data. Regression analysis is, however, not capable of splitting data into groups with different models. In this research, we propose a sample- efficient regression tree (SERT) that combines the forward regression and regression tree methodologies and show that SERT is effective in discovering yield-loss causes during the yield ramp-up stage where the sample size available for analysis is extremely small.


Packaging materials, such as cardboard, must endure vigorous loads during handling and transport, which could lead to damage to the packaged goods. To ensure that the transported goods reach the consumer safely, a profound knowledge of the behavior of packaging materials under impact loads is required. This study experimentally investigated the behavior of two different cardboard materials under impact loads. Different kinetic energy levels were obtained using a specially developed test rig. First, the resulting damage of the specimens was qualitatively characterized based on digital analysis. Second, the damage was quantitatively analyzed using the imprint diameter after impact as the characteristic parameter. It was found that three different damage phenomena occurred on both investigated materials: imprint, cracking, and breakthrough. Different imprint diameters were detected with increasing kinetic energy of the impactor. The impact load resistance of the material with the higher grammage was higher than that of the material with the lower grammage.


Background: Methanolic extract of Napoleona imperialis, was evaluated for anti-inflammatory effect. Method: Inflammogens used were carrageenan, histamine and formaldehyde. Napoleona imperialis (200-600mg/kg) was administered orally 30 minutes before the induction of inflammation. Diclofenac (10-100mg/kg) and chlorpheniramine (10-100 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally. Results: Extract and Diclofenac significantly (F4, 12=15.55, P<0.01; F4, 12=13.76 P<0.01, respectively) inhibited inflammation induced with carrageenan, with extract's maximal inhibitory effect of 64% at dose 400 mg/kg. Diclofenac showed maximal inhibitory effect of 67% at dose 30 mg/kg. Extract and chlorpheniramine significantly (F4, 12=22.14, P<0.01; F4, 12=16.81, P<0.001, respectively) reduced histamine-induced edema with extract having maximal inhibitory effect of 73% at 200 mg/kg. Chlorpheniramine also had maximal inhibitory effect of 70% at 10 mg/kg. Extract and diclofenac significantly (F3, 16=11.06 P<0.001; F3, 16=22.4 P<0.0001, respectively) reduced acute phase of the formaldehyde-induced arthritis. Extract produced maximal effect of 67% at 200 and 400 mg/kg. Diclofenac had a maximal effect of 85% at 100 mg/kg. The chronic phase was ameliorated by extract and diclofenac significantly (F3, 16=11.18 P<0.001; F3, 16=18.07 P<0.0001, respectively). Extract and diclofenac also significantly (F3, 24=19.38 P<0.0001; F3, 24=59.89 P<0.0001, respectively) minimized progression of inflammation from acute to chronic phase. Extract produced a maximal effect of 83% at 400 mg/kg at chronic phase. Diclofenac also had maximal effect of 98% at 30 and 100 mg/kg. Extract and diclofenac, significantly (F4, 12=5.09 P<0.05; F4, 12=31.98 P<0.001, respectively) reduced arthritic score. Conclusion: This study shows methanolic extracts of Napoleona imperialis leaves have anti-inflammaory effects.


Introduction: Multiple acquisitions along the longitudinal magnetization curve as done with the Look-Locker (LL) technique perturbs the inversion recovery curve. The b-SSFP sequence perturbs magnetization minimally compared to other sequences [1]. However, when inversion recovery is incomplete (if TRseq<5T1max) or the flip angle is relatively large (>10° for GM/WM/CSF mapping), a three parameter model needs to be used to obtain correct T1 values [2]. A drawback though is that about six to ten LL phases are needed for a good fit. This compromises scan time or resolution. To improve temporal efficiency, ideally one would like to acquire the fewest number of phases allowed by the model. A scheme that corrects for modulated and/or incomplete inversion recovery using a simple two parameter model with three acquired phases is presented here. Factors affecting the accuracy of the proposed correction for T1 are also discussed here.


A unified theory is presented which describes nonlinear wave propagation in two-layer inviscid and incompressible fluid of arbitrary depth. We consider the two-dimensional systems, in which a layer of lighter fluid overlies a layer of heavier one resting on a flat bottom. The two cases of rigid and free upper boundaries are dealt with separately. We derive approximate nonlinear evolution equations (NEEs) for interfacial and free surface elevations on the basis of a systematic perturbation method with respect to the steepness parameter. We also discuss on NEEs arising from various limiting cases of fluid depth and compare them with existing NEEs. It is found that our theory includes almost all existing nonlinear theories as special cases.


Ensuring privacy and confidentiality concerns of data owners is an important aspect of a secured information system. This is particularly important for integrated systems, which allow data exchange across organizations. Governments, regulatory bodies and organizations provide legislations, regulations and guidelines for information privacy and security to ensure proper data handling. These are usually specified in natural language formats, contain default requirements and exceptions, and are often ambiguous. In addition, interacting concerns, which are often multilayered and from different stakeholders, e.g., jurisdictions, need to be considered in software development.
Similar to other security concerns, analysis of confidentiality concerns should be integrated into the early phase of software development in order to facilitate early identification of defects—incompleteness and inconsistencies, in the requirements. This dissertation presents research conducted to develop a method to detect these defects using goal models which support defaults and exceptions. The goal models are derived from annotations of the natural language sources. A prototype tool is also developed to support the method.
The evaluations conducted indicate the method and tool provide benefits, including distinguishing requirement interferences and conflicts, exception handling, and navigation between annotated documents and the goal models.
Although current limitations of the method include a manual user driven annotation step, the method provides features that assist in early analysis of confidentiality requirements from natural language sources.


Rich Moth has written an important book that makes illuminating connections among theory, practice, and activism in the context of mental health services. This is grounded in a meticulous, long-term ethnographic project which has closely examined the operation of community mental health care in the UK. The content of this book is, however, internationally relevant beyond the borders of the UK case study. Moth offers a lens of politicized professionalism, allied to the demands of people who use services, to advance a persuasive argument against the hugely negative and pervasive impact of the neoliberal political economy on mental health care systems. This is a must read for mental health nurses and other practitioners who feel immense consequential strain in their every-day work but can struggle to make meaningful sense of their predicament and, hence, identify what to do for the best. Moth asserts the value of practitioners becoming part of a politically aware resistance, forging alliances with other stakeholders including service users to challenge the inequities and inadequacies of care so constrained by neoliberal forces. To accomplish this, he articulates a comprehensive theoretical reading of policy, practices, context, and events that interweaves analyses of social structure, culture, and agency. In doing so, Moth is particularly interested in the forms of political agency that could underpin action in defence of ideals of care and the associated political imagination to conceive of alternatives to the neoliberal order.


The shift toward any-time any-place any-pace learning raises new challenges for the teaching of mathematics within higher education. Compounding these challenges are issues relating to student ability and mathematical dexterity as well as the constant drive to remove mathematics as a barrier to progression, in particular, for those students pursuing a computing or business programme.


The incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has been increasing in the last few decades. Interestingly over this period, the incidence of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma remained stable. However, the proportion of patients with early stage, small or localized tumors remained the same. This reflects a true increase in the incidence without a corresponding significant gain in our ability to detect cholangiocarcinoma at an earlier stage. As a result, the cholangiocarcinoma related mortality has also increased significantly. Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a major risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma in the Western population. Although identification of cholangiocarcinoma at an earlier stage has significantly better outcomes, our ability to detect these early cancers is limited. Tumor markers (CA 19-9 and CEA) may have value for screening in some settings, but effectiveness for detecting small early stage tumors is questionable and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography is used in some centers without robust evidence to support its utility. Currently endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with brush cytology or biopsy is not recommended as screening modality in PSC due to its low sensitivity. However, ERCP with brush cytology is recommended for sampling biliary and pancreatic strictures, but sensitivity continues to be low. False negative results are usually attributed to limitation in cell acquisition and corresponding low cellularity. Techniques have been attempted to improve cell acquisition, including use of intraductal biopsies, alone or in combination with brush cytology and use of large bristle versus small bristle brushes have been examined. Diagnostic accuracy of biliary brushing at our center has been higher than what is reported in the literature. We theorize that it might be due to the fact that we submit both the brush (cut from the neck) and sheath rinse which, to our knowledge, is not a common practice. The underlying hypothesis for this technique is that during the brushing, cells may be dislodged from the brush into the protective sheath. The sheath scrapes the duct wall in the area of stricture potentially further dislodging cellular material into the sheath. The aim of this study was to determine impact of incorporating sheath rinsing on cellular yield of biliary brush cytology. This prospective study was performed at am US tertiary care center. The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board. Consecutive patients who underwent ERCP over a one month period for biliary strictures were enrolled. The procedure was performed by an advanced endoscopist with more than 20 years of experience performing ERCP. The specimens were obtained during the ERCP by brushing the common bile duct, common hepatic duct, and right and left hepatic ducts. A ConMed sheathed colonoscopy brush was used. The brush diameter is 3.0 mm and the sheath outer diameter is 2.1 mm. The brush and the sheath were advanced above the stricture using a monorail technique. The lead edge of the sheath and the brush were advanced and withdrawn through the stricture for a total Received: May 25, 2017 Revised: August 25, 2017 Accepted: August 26, 2017 Correspondence: Frederick C. Johlin Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins drive, 4553D JCP, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA Tel: +1-319-356-4030, Fax: +1-319-535-6399, E-mail: email@example.com


Assessment of potassium levels in agricu ltural soils of Nyamira County, Kenya was necessitated by the observed progressive drops in maize acreage y ields over the years despite use of phosphorus and nitrogenous fertilizers. In the study, concentration levels of potassium and other soil fertility indices such as, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable cations, soil pH, available nit rogen, total and available phosphorus were determined. Five composite soil samples were collected at depths of between 0-30 cm fro m five farms that have consistently been under intensive cultivation. Fractionation of potassium was achieved by sequential extract ion of soil sampleswith distilled water, ammoniu m acetate and nitric acid in that order. Concentration levels of potassium in the ext racts were determined using a flame photometer. Potassium concentration levels obtained fro m the water soluble soil ext racts were used to calculate thermodynamic parameters such as free energy of replacement, potassium activ ity ratio and ion ic strength of the soil solution. The relationship between the adsorbed and equilibriu m potassium concentration, quantity/intensity was determined by plotting Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The isotherm was used to determine the buffering capacity ofpotassium and the concentration levels of potassium adsorbed on un-specific sites in the soil. The suitability of the adsorption equation was determined by applying the least square regression analysis. Fro m the study available potassium in the soils ranged fro m 57 to 70 mg/kg and had amean value of 60±5.54.2 mg/kg (ammoniu m acetate method). The water soluble potassium ranged fro m 1.8 to 2.2 mg/kg with a mean of 2.02±0.16 mg/kg. Nitric acid ext racted potassium had a mean of 149.±2.306 mg/kg. The mean free energy of replacement, ∆���� , was found to be −3572 ± 44.98 cal/mol indicating that the soils have low supplying power of potassium. The potassium buffering capacity of the soils was found to have a mean of 1.189±0.06 mg /kg. The amount of potassium adsorbed on un-specific sites of the soilshad a mean value of 6.993±2.378 L/kg. These findingsreveal the extent of potassium depletionin the soils of this region and will form a baseline for wo rking acreage potassium doses required for remediation.


The microstructure of La_1– x A_ x (A = Ca or Sr)MnO_3–δ thin films grown by liquid-delivery metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on (001) MgO and (110)_pseudo-cubic LaAlO_3 were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The La_1– x Ca_ x MnO_3–δ thin film on large lattice mismatched MgO exhibited very defective microstructures and consisted of two typical regions. The first region was close to the film–substrate interface and had an epitaxial relationship to the substrate with many differently oriented domains nucleated on the substrate surface. The second region consisted of columnar grains with some degree of texture. In contrast, the smaller lattice-mismatched La_1– x Sr_ x MnO_3–δ/(110)_pseudo-cubic LaAlO_3 film had good crystalline quality with highly oriented columnar grains but exhibited complicated dislocation structures. Apart from the misfit dislocations formed at the film–substrate interface, two types of anomalous dislocations with limited contribution to relieving misfit stresses were also observed. One type of dislocation had extra planes in the film and some climbed into the substrate. These dislocations were considered to form from dislocation loops during nucleation of the film. The other type of dislocations had extra planes parallel to the film–substrate interface and glided into the substrate side resulting in a 2° tilt of the film with respect to the substrate. The complicated dislocation configurations present in the sample were related to the complex strain field in the film. The relative strains along the interface measured in the film were heterogeneous. The variations of the strains in the film were related to the local Curie temperature changes and second-order phase transitions of the film.


BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is one of the systemic features of COPD. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of osteoporosis in a sample of COPD out-patients, and investigate the correlation between T-score (a comparison of the patient's bone mineral density to that of a healthy 30-year-old of the same sex and ethnicity) and several factors suggested to be associated with osteoporosis. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we conducted dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone mineral density scans of the hips and lumbar spine, and collected data on smoking and alcohol habits, menopausal status, comorbidities, inhaled and oral corticosteroid dose and duration of treatment, previous bone fractures, pulmonary function tests, calcium intake (via questionnaire on food frequency), vitamin D intake (via questionnaire on sunlight exposure), and physical activity (via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire). RESULTS: We evaluated 95 patients. Forty (42%) were osteoporotic, 40 (42%) were osteopenic, and 15 (16%) had normal bone mass. We found significant bivariate correlations between femoral-neck T-score and body mass index (r = 0.551, P < .001), and femoral-neck T-score and International Physical Activity Questionnaire total activity score (r = 0.378, P < .001). There was a significant inverse relationship between femoral-neck T-score and BODE (body mass index, air-flow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity) index (r = −0.246, P = .02). We also found significant correlations between T-score and FEV1 (r = 0.251, P = .01), forced vital capacity (r = 0.229, P = .03), percent-of-predicted functional residual capacity (r = −0.415, P < .001), inspiratory capacity (r = 0.252, P = .01), ratio of inspiratory capacity to total lung capacity (r = 0.241, P = .02), and absolute and percent-of-predicted diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (r = 0.366, P < .001, and r = 0.338, P = .003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We identified a high prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in out-patients with COPD. Patients with osteoporosis had more severe COPD than patients with normal bone mass.


Abstract Dynamic behaviour of contact impact forces in strongly nonlinear discontinuous vibroimpact system is studying. Contact impact force is one of the most significant vibroimpact system characteristics. We investigate the 2-DOF vibroimpact system by numerical parameter continuation method in conjunction with shooting and Newton-Raphson methods. We simulate the impact by nonlinear contact interactive force according to Hertz's contact law. This paper is the continuation of the previous works [1,2]. We have determined the instability zones and bifurcations points for loading curves [1] and frequency-amplitude response [2] under variation of excitation amplitude and frequency. In this paper we investigate the behaviour of contact forces at bifurcation points particularly at discontinuous bifurcation points where set-valued Floquet multipliers cross the unit circle by jump that is their moduli becoming more than unit by jump. It is phenomenon unique for nonsmooth systems with discontinuous right-hand side. We observe also the contact forces increase at nT -periodical multiple impacts regimes. We also learn the change of contact forces behaviour when the impact between system bodies became the soft one due the change of system parameters.


In the current fiscal year FY01, several CFD simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of moisture in biomass/coal, particle injection locations, and flow parameters on carbon burnout and NO{sub x} inside a 150 MW GEEZER industrial boiler. Various simulations were designed to predict the suitability of biomass cofiring in coal combustors, and to explore the possibility of using biomass as a reburning fuel to reduce NO{sub x}. Some additional CFD simulations were also conducted on CERF combustor to examine the combustion characteristics of pulverized coal in enriched O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} environments. Most of the CFD models available in the literature treat particles to be point masses with uniform temperature inside the particles. This isothermal condition may not be suitable for larger biomass particles. To this end, a stand alone program was developed from the first principles to account for heat conduction from the surface of the particle to its center. It is envisaged that the recently developed non-isothermal stand alone module will be integrated with the Fluent solver during next fiscal year to accurately predict the carbon burnout from larger biomass particles. Anisotropy in heat transfer in radial and axial will be explored using different conductivities in radial and axial directions. The above models will be validated/tested on various fullscale industrial boilers. The current NO{sub x} modules will be modified to account for local CH, CH{sub 2}, and CH{sub 3} radicals chemistry, currently it is based on global chemistry. It may also be worth exploring the effect of enriched O{sub 2}/CO{sub 2} environment on carbon burnout and NO{sub x} concentration. The research objective of this study is to develop a 3-Dimensional Combustor Model for Biomass Co-firing and reburning applications using the Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics Code.


Objective:We detected the promoter methylation status of RASSF1A in various types of ovarian epithelial tumors,and evaluated its possible correlation with the expression of RASSF1A protein,and explored the mechanism in ovarian epithelial tumors.Methods: Promoter methylation of RASSF1A was detected using MSP(methylation-specifc polymerase chain reaction) in 62 cases of ovarian malignant epithelial tumor,21 cases of borderline cystadenoma and 30 cases of benign cystadenoma.The expression of RASSF1A was evaluated by immunohistochemistry S-P staining method.Results: RASSF1A promoter methylation rates in epithelial ovarian cancer and borderline cystadenoma was 58.06% and 42.85%,respectively,significantly higher than that in benign cystadenoma(13.33%).The difference was significant(P0.05).The frequency of hypermethylation of RASSF1A gene in epithelial ovarian cancer was not correlated with histological types,age and the menopause status(P0.05);but it was strongly related to histologic cell types and clinical stage(P0.05),there was a closely consistency between RASSF1A methylation and the decrease of protein expression.Conclusion: Methylation of RASSF1A genes is commonly seen in epithelial ovarian cancer.Methylation of RASSF1A promoter may play an important role in the down-regulation of RASSF1A expression.


We report, for the first time, experimental observation of multi-solitons in an active FM mode-locked fiber laser. Not only bound soliton pairs but also triple- and quadruple-soliton bound states can be generated.


Let {ξ,i≥1} be a standard normal sequences with rij=Cov(ξi,ξj).M(nk)is the kth maximum which appear at L(nk).The paper obtained the joint asymptotic distributions of L(n2)and M(n2)under the condition(rijlog(j-i)→γ∈(0,∞)(j-i→∞)).


More than one third of adults in this country are obese, up from about one in ten 50 years ago. The rate for adolescents is even more dramatic, going from one in twenty 30 years ago to a shocking one in six today. Equally alarming, obesity has become a byproduct of social and economic injustice: obesity is more prevalent in poor communities and strikes minorities most. Obesity-related illnesses strain our health care system and harm whole communities. They are, tragically, increasingly a problem of the young, and they are of such concern that First Lady Michelle Obama has adopted childhood obesity as her cause. The evidence is compelling that the obesity epidemic is largely caused by people's eating unhealthy food, consuming bigger portion sizes, and engaging in less physical activity. These unhealthy behaviors are not just, or even mainly, a matter of poor decisions individuals make; rather, the environment in which people live determines behavioral choice. If fresh vegetables are not available and affordable, people cannot buy them. If playgrounds are unsafe, parents will not let their kids play there. If children are bombarded by ads for fast food, they will fill up on junk. People cannot be expected to exercise choices they do not have. Given this, governmentand foundationfunded obesity-prevention programs have focused on improving the environment to encourage healthier eating and more physical activity by, among other means,


Plastic pollution has become a problem in recent years. Various methods are used to reduce and prevent plastic pollution. Many methods have been used to estimate the abundance and transportation of plastics in waters, especially rivers. This paper presents the use of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to observe plastic waste in river flow. Monitoring plastic debris was conducted at the downstream part of the Citarum river in the Muara Gembong sub-district, Bekasi Regency, West Java Province, on March 6, 8, and 10, 2021. The type of drone used was the DJI Phantom 3 Pro. Data analysis uses the CVAT program developed by Intel to label images. The results show differences between visual counting and UAV, visual counting has a higher value than UAV, but VC might suffer from an observer bias. The counting bias is dependent on the current and the ability of the eye. On the other hand, the results of aerial surveys during the calculation process can be reinterpreted manually or automatically and corrected again. Monitoring plastic debris using UAVs can be an alternative to observing the plastic transportation process in rivers, especially in areas that are difficult to access.


Due to the long-term and future presupposition of urban planning, public participation has gradually become an indispensable link in urban planning. By analyzing the way big data intervenes in public participation, the importance and possibility of establishing a public participation system framework based on big data are clarified. Finally, by exploring how to build a two-way interactive public participation system between the government and the public, this paper puts forward some ideas on the public data platform built by using big data. We hope to promote the development of public participation in urban planning practice through the exploration of the system framework and big data platform.


Four selected thioesters (1–4) were prepared and pyrolyzed in the absence of promoters either alone or in isoquinoline solvent. These esters include benzyl thiobenzoate (1), phenyl phenylthioacetate (2), benzyl phenylthioacetate (3), and phenyl thiobenzoate (4). Pyrolysis of 1 gave mainly 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylthiophene in addition to benzene, biphenyl, benzyl thiol, and benzoic acid. Thermal decomposition of 1 under nitrogen gave benzaldehyde, benzil, and only a trace of benzoic acid in addition to the former products. Compound 2 afforded essentially toluene and dibenzyl in addition to benzene, biphenyl, phenyl sulphide, thiophenol, and phenyl acetic acid. Thermolysis of 3 gave toluene and stilbene beside small quantities of benzyl thiol and phenylacetic acid. Finally, thermal decomposition of 4 in isoquinoline gave benzene, biphenyl, phenyl sulphide, thianthrene, thiophenol, benzoic acid, and 1-phenylisoquinoline. H2S and CO are also produced in all cases. In these rearrangements, the C—S bonds undergo hom...


Cysteamine is a kind of bioactive compound,it is an ingredient of the molecule of coenzyme A that exists in the animal body,it has good effects in improving the growth and development and enhancing the production trait of animal;in addition,it has the good characteristics of broad applicability,low price and convenience,therefore,it can be used as the feed additives ideally.This article reviews the application of cysteamine in the ruminants and the relative existent problems.


This article discusses the relations between health and biotechnology in contemporary times. To do so, it is a feature of essayistic critical analysis and reflective on the subject. At first draws up the research problem to be analyzed by constructing of critical theories with contribution of poststructuralist discussions. In a second stage is discussed at length the major issues involved in this trial, namely, health and biotechnology, and the relations established between them today. Finally, analytical testing is conducted on the topic in question, directing them as possible discussions to be conducted within the academic space.


Using a combination of automated diffraction tomography and precession electron diffraction techniques, quasi-kinematical electron diffraction data sets were collected from intermetallic Ni1+xTe1 embedded nanodomains and ion-thinned specimens of 6H–SiC semiconductor. Cell parameters and space groups were found automatically from the reconstructed 3D diffraction volume. The extracted intensities were used for fast ab initio structure determination by direct methods.


The present invention relates to a transistor-controlled load measurement, in particular the circuit arrangement of the current consumption of the electric motor, wherein by measuring the output bipolar transistor (T1) of the control current (I


This paper is devoted to robust adaptive sliding mode control for time‐delay systems with mismatched parametric uncertainties. Sufficient conditions for the existence of linear sliding surfaces are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities, by which the corresponding adaptive reaching motion controller is also designed. Simulation studies show the effectiveness of the control scheme. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Industrial tanninc acid was prepared from Beihua,a kind of Chinese gall,with a chemical method.Its technical specifications meet the Chinese National Standard GB 5308-85.


In a typical wedge structure developed in layered sedimentary rocks, displacement is transferred from a deep fault to a shallow fault. The deep and shallow faults dip in opposite directions and merge with one another to form a wedge-shaped indentor. Displacement within the wedge fault system is transferred vertically into structures overlying the faults instead of being transferred laterally toward the foreland as in a typical fault-bend fold. Wedge structures associated with basement-involved contractional uplifts are commonly observed where faults that uplift a basin margin emanate from competent basement rocks into layered sedimentary rocks within the basin. Two categories of basement-involved wedge structures have been identified based on the level of the wedge point with respect to the basement surface. In the first category, the wedge point occurs within the sedimentary section overlying the basement, and in the second category, the wedge point occurs within the basement material. Interpretations of both categories of basement-involved wedge structures imaged in long-offset seismic data from the Hanna Basin in south-central Wyoming are presented.


At the request of Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., the writer has attempted to put together a few notes on methods found useful in obtaining well-preserved specimens for helminthological purposes. Of the large number of methods that have been recommended for the various groups by different authorities, only a limited selection can be given, and preference is given, where possible, to those which are comparatively simple and can be employed in the field or under the limited conditions of a field laboratory, while at the same time experience has shown them to give sufficiently good results for ordinary purposes.


James Bowen explains why there are reasons to be 'cautiously optimistic' about Amanda Spielman's appointment as Ofsted's next Chief Inspector.


The paper summarizes unique commissioning technique of non-bypass wet limestone-gypsum flue gas desulfurization(FGD) system.In accordance to different stages in boiler commissioning,such operational technologies as serosity displacement method,alkalization,low pH value,method of adding gypsum seed,low inlet pressure of gypsum swirler and low absorber level are adopted.The measures like adjustment and optimization of combustion technique of boilers,adoption of low-sulphur coal,early oil-break and use of electrical precipitator are adopted to ensure the unit and FGD system can put into operation safely and reliably.


A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a set of sensors that are integrated with a physical environment. These sensors are small in size, and capable of sensing physical phenomena and processing them. They communicate in a multihop manner, due to a short radio range, to form an Ad Hoc network capable of reporting network activities to a data collection sink. Recent advances in WSNs have led to several new promising applications, including habitat monitoring, military target tracking, natural disaster relief, and health monitoring. The current version of sensor node, such as MICA2, uses a 16 bit, 8 MHz Texas Instruments MSP430 micro-controller with only 10 KB RAM, 128 KB program space, 512 KB external
ash memory to store measurement data, and is powered by two AA batteries. Due to these unique specifications and a lack of tamper-resistant hardware, devising security protocols for WSNs is complex. Previous studies show that data transmission consumes much more energy than computation. Data aggregation can greatly help to reduce this consumption by eliminating redundant data. However, aggregators are under the threat of various types of attacks. Among them, node compromise is usually considered as one of the most challenging for the security of WSNs. In a node compromise attack, an adversary physically tampers with a node in order to extract the cryptographic secrets. This attack can be very harmful depending on the security architecture of the network. For example, when an aggregator node is compromised, it is easy for the adversary to change the aggregation result and inject false data into the WSN. The contributions of this thesis to the area of secure data aggregation are manifold. We firstly define the security for data aggregation in WSNs. In contrast with existing secure data aggregation definitions, the proposed definition covers the unique characteristics that WSNs have. Secondly, we analyze the relationship between security services and adversarial models considered in existing secure data aggregation in order to provide a general framework of required security services. Thirdly, we analyze existing cryptographic-based and reputationbased secure data aggregation schemes. This analysis covers security services provided by these schemes and their robustness against attacks. Fourthly, we propose a robust reputationbased secure data aggregation scheme for WSNs. This scheme minimizes the use of heavy cryptographic mechanisms. The security advantages provided by this scheme are realized by integrating aggregation functionalities with: (i) a reputation system, (ii) an estimation theory, and (iii) a change detection mechanism. We have shown that this addition helps defend against most of the security attacks discussed in this thesis, including the On-Off attack. Finally, we propose a secure key management scheme in order to distribute essential pairwise and group keys among the sensor nodes. The design idea of the proposed scheme is the combination between Lamport's reverse hash chain as well as the usual hash chain to provide both past and future key secrecy. The proposal avoids the delivery of the whole value of a new group key for group key update; instead only the half of the value is transmitted from the network manager to the sensor nodes. This way, the compromise of a pairwise key alone does not lead to the compromise of the group key. The new pairwise key in our scheme is determined by Diffie-Hellman based key agreement.


This Special Issue contains a selection of nine papers originally presented at The Fifth International Congress "Design and Modeling of Mechanical Systems" (DMMS 2013), which took place in Djerba, Tunisia from 25 to 27 March 2013. This conference is concerned with the latest scientific developments in the design and modelling of mechanical systems. Following the tradition of this conference, DMMS 2013 provides an international technical forum for experts and researches from both academia and industry to meet and exchange new ideas and present the results of their ongoing research in various Mechanical Engineering disciplines. The aims of this special issue are twofold:


This paper investigates whether sophisticated market participants, namely institutional investors and financial analysts, value smoothness in earnings. In particular, I investigate whether these market participants value smoothness in earnings differently depending on the source of such smoothness, i.e., depending on whether the income streams are naturally smooth versus whether they have been manipulated by firms to appear smooth using real or artificial smoothing techniques ('managed' income smoothing). Further, I examine whether the smoothing decisions made by firms are consistent with the preferences of institutional investors and analysts. The evidence indicates that analyst following is positively associated with natural smoothness in income, and both analyst following and institutional investment are negatively associated with managed smoothness in income. The results also indicate that income smoothing is less prevalent in firms with higher analyst following and institutional investment. I interpret the above evidence as indicative of managers' tendencies to smooth income less using real and artificial techniques, given that such activities are penalized by sophisticated market participants. The evidence presented here also signifies the importance of capital market considerations in managers' reporting decisions.


This essay uses Leslie's matrix model to predict the quantities of aging population of every county in Shanghai,and calculates the facilities for the elders needed in ageing peak of every county. Results show that the quantity will reach a peak in 2020. Different district has different requirement in pension beds. Pudong has the largest gap in pension beds.According to the prediction of 5% and 10%,the total gap is172928 to 329834 beds. Luwan is the smallest,respectively needs 6566 to 14877 beds. If using the ratio of 1: 7 to have pension service personnel,114. 4 to 228. 9 thousand people will be needed in aged care industry.


The behavior patterns in everyday life such as home, office, and commuting, and buying behavior model by day of the week, sea-son, location have hierarchies of various temporal granularity. Generally, in usual hierarchical data analysis, a basic hierarchical structure is given in advance. But it is difficult to estimate hierarchical structure beforehand for complex data. Therefore, in this study, we propose the algorithm to automatically extract both hierarchical structure and pattern from time series data using swarm intelligent method. We performed the initial operation test and confirmed that patterns can be extracted hierarchically.


A rolling-element bearing is one of the most vital components in machinery and maintaining the bearing health condition is very important. Intelligent fault detection and diagnosis based on deep sparse autoencoder (DSAE) is presented to improve the current maintenance strategy. The conventional maintenance strategy suffers from manual feature extraction and feature selection. In this project, the DSAE model made up of multiple layers of neural networks that can perform automated feature extraction and feature dimensional reduction is proposed. The DSAE model is used to extract the important features from the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) images by learning the high-level feature from the unlabeled images. However, the DSAE model requires hyperparameter selection of which manual hand-tuning is time-intensive. The DSAE model contains four hidden layers and requires 12 hyperparameters selection. The hyperparameter is automatically selected using an optimization algorithm. The comparative study is conducted on three optimization algorithms, namely particle swarm optimization (PSO), grey wolf optimizer (GWO) and genetic algorithm (GA). The overall analysis result shows that the proposed model achieved 100% diagnosis accuracy. Furthermore, the proposed model is tested with a completely new dataset and the result indicated that the DSAE model achieved 93.5% accuracy for the new dataset. The grey-wolf optimizer optimized quicker compared to PSO and GA.


This paper puts forward a new multiple gird scheme, which is used with the combination of explicit time marching method, finite volume difference code and distributed body force. The calculation of a centrifugal impeller shows that the author's multi grid scheme improves the converging speed about three times and that the calculation results fit fairly well with the measurement.


Objective:To observe the clinical effect of treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy in the integrative medicine.Methods:41 cases were randomly divided into treatment group for 21 cases and control group for 20 cases,in which,control group applying Western medicine hypoglycemic and symptomatic treatment,based on that,treatment group plus Huoxue Tongluo decoction for 30 days as a course,and observed 2 courses.Results:The efficacy rate in treatment group was 80.4%,and control group was 45.0%,which showed that treatment group was better than control group(P0.01).Compared nerve conduction velocity,treatment group was better than control group(P0.01 or P0.05).After treatment,FBG decreased in the treatment group,but which had no statistically significant,while HbAIc obviously decreased,which had statistically significant(P0.01).Conclusion:Effects of Huoxue Tongluo decoction plus Western medicine treat DPN was obviously better only Western medicine.


Highway pavements are usually subjected to many types of failures "distresses" since these pavements are exposed to traffic load and weather conditions. Therefore, many agents tried to enhance the asphalt mixes to reduce the possibility and severity of distresses by adding additives to replace small amount of binder (bitumen). SBS in one of the most used additives that been used in many states. In recent years, the SBS has been used in pavement of about 1.2km to be experimental sections within Basra-Baghdad expressway. This paper examines the pavement condition index (PCI) for the experimental section after about six years form been paved and exposed to traffic. So far, only minimal distresses including cracks and potholes were recorded without reducing the initial PCI value of 100. Further work will be followed to examine the mechanical properties of the layers such as the indirect tensile strength and rutting resistance.


With the rapid development of greenhouse technology and Internet of things technology, more and more intelligent sensors are widely used in the field of intelligent agricultural control. The types of plant growth data obtained are more and more abundant, and the amount of data is more and more huge. The traditional data processing mode only relying on Cloud Computing Center will lead to the increasing demand for computing power, slow system response-speed, and high bandwidth network continuous connection and so on. If data processing can be solved locally, part of the previous cloud computing tasks will be migrated to the local, which will provide guarantee for low delay, high reliability, data conversion, message distribution and intelligent control. In this paper, based on the edge computing scheme, the computing task of cloud computing center is transferred to the edge controller, which effectively solves the problems of cloud computing network bandwidth, long delay, waste of resources and so on. In addition, aiming at the problem of high coupling of greenhouse environment, fuzzy control method is used to realize the rapid adjustment of greenhouse environment.


Highly ordered arrays of parallel Fe70Co30 nanowires with a diameter of about 50 nm and a length up to about several tens of micrometers were synthesized by two electrical fields in an anodized aluminum oxide film. The magnetic properties in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K were studied. When the applied field is along the long axis, the temperature dependence of coercivity of Fe70Co30 nanowire arrays shows a linear decrease with temperature increasing, which can be understood by a phenomenological nucleate model.


Objective To study the effects of different doses of sodium glutamate on learning and memory function of mice.Methods Eighty mice were randomly divided into 4 groups,including control group(distilled water,20 mL·kg-1) and sodium glutamate group(0.375,0.75 and 1.5 g·kg-1).The step-down test and step-through test were adopted to investigate the effects of sodium glutamate on learning and memory function after the mice were ingested by different doses of sodium glutamate.Results In step-down test and step-through test,0.75 g·kg-1 and 1.5 g·kg-1 sodium glutamate increased the error times and shortened the latency(P0.05 or P0.01),compared with the control group.Conclusion Sodium glutamate can impair learning and memory function of adult mice in a dose-dependent manner.


The goal of this work is to investigate the system configuration and information management of primary care delivery with electronic visits (e-visits). We consider a medical institution employing primary care physicians and other clinicians that offer office visits (in-person) and e-visits (through secure messaging from patient portals), and where different queue-joining behaviors: denoted as the mixed strategy, the duplication strategy and the threshold strategy are adopted by flexible patients based on different system configurations. Different queueing models are developed to capture flexible patients' queue-joining behaviors according to queueing information provision. In particular, we develop the equilibrium behavior of a dual server system where state information is available for one of the servers and the flexible patient exhibits a utility-maximizing behavior, which extends the literature on the analysis of queueing systems with strategic customers. The duplication strategy with deletion offers the least expected waiting time for the patients, and the threshold strategy provides the next best performance which is superior to the mixed strategy, which demonstrates the value of information. Note to Practitioners—We present a novel analytical framework for modeling the primary care delivery system and obtain the equilibrium patient flows under different queue-joining behaviors. This framework enables a rigorous analytical investigation of system configurations and their influence on system performance under a reasonable level of abstraction. System efficiency can be improved by taking advantage of patients' heterogeneity in care preferences and time sensitivity. Queue information management and coordination of servers are found to be crucial in achieving the best efficiency, especially with growing flexible customers in the population. The methodology and analysis put forth in this study provide actionable insights into care delivery planners engaged in facilitating e-visits, especially during the COVID pandemic.


The article analyses the main problems of TPS bodies activity. Special attention is given to the assessment of the degree of the citizens awareness about TPS bodies.


Join in the fun this summer and sign up for free to the Big Summer Read! Keep the children reading over the holidays - they will love the challenge!


The patient is a 22-year-old female with a history of pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect. She was operated three times and during the last intervention the right ventricle-pulmonary artery conduit was changed because stenotic and was inserted a Shellhigh 23 mm. She developed significant pulmonary valve regurgitation and some degree of stenosis. The patient …


This research was carried out to determine the tolerance of two different varieties of grass pea (Latyhrus sativus L.) against drought stress in the Laboratory of Field Crops Department of the Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University. A local landrace, which has been grown for many years in Yumrutaş village of Acıpayam district in Denizli province and the registered Ceora variety with the low ODAP content was used as plant materials. In the study, six different drought stresses were formed with solutions, which have 0, -2, -4, -6, -8, 9.8 bar water holding power respectively using polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG 6000). The trial was established according to 2-factorial and 4-replicate randomized trial design. As a result of the study, germination was not observed at -8 and -9.8 bar drought level, while successful germination was observed in other levels. According to the results obtained, germination rate, root length, stalk length, rootlet fresh weight and stalk fresh weight ranged from %90-100, 30.05-67.87 mm, 32.60-9.07 mm, 170.25-918.65 mg and 13.00-792.10 mg respectively. As a result, while there was no difference in germination rate between 2 genotypes, it was found to be significant difference in seedling growth and local landrace was seen to be more tolerant.


Adrenergic receptor (AR)‐mediated signalling is modulated by oxygen levels. Prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) are crucial for intracellular oxygen sensing and organism survival. However, it remains to be clarified whether or how PHDs are involved in the regulation of β2‐adrenoceptor (β2‐AR) signalling. Here we show that PHD2 can modulate the rate of β2‐AR internalization through interactions with β‐arrestin 2. PHD2 hydroxylates β‐arrestin 2 at the proline (Pro)176, Pro179 and Pro181 sites, which retards the recruitment of β‐arrestin 2 to the plasma membrane and inhibits subsequent co‐internalization with β2‐AR into the cytosol. β2‐AR internalization is critical to control the temporal and spatial aspects of β2‐AR signalling. Identifying novel regulators of β2‐AR internalization will enable us to develop new strategies to manipulate receptor signalling and provide potential targets for drug development in the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with β2‐AR signalling dysregulation.


This paper analyzes the relationship between the central government and local governments from the perspective of incomplete contract theory,and resolves their boundary based on above analysis in terms of economic efficiency.Our analyses show that centralization will reduce the local governments' motivation to exert effort,and that decentralization will increase the local governments' initiative.When the central government decides whether to centralize or decentralize,we should consider both the externalities that the central government and local governments impose on each other and the utility function forms which are used as the benchmark.The process of demarcating the boundary is a process of institutional change accompanied by economic development,which improves the economic efficiency.


The design of the ACTS multibeam antenna is described, and its performance is evaluated. The multibeam antenna is designed to cover the continential U.S. and provides three fixed spot beams for high burst rate operations and two scanning beams for low burst rate operations. The antenna has one main reflector, a dual polarized subreflector, and two orthogonal feed assemblies. The feed system is to receive a linearly polarized communication signal from 28.9-30.0 GHz and to provide the elevation and azimuth error tracking signals at 29.975 GHz with a 0.01 deg tracking accuracy. The feed system uses a single multiflare conical horn and a multimode coupler to provide a symmetric primary pattern for the communication signal. The sidelobe characteristics of the reflector, and the relation between the sidelobe level and surface distortion are studied. It is noted that the performance measurements for the multibeam antenna correlate well with predictions for secondary patterns and scan characteristics.


The Pituacu, Abaete, Tororo and Paixao lagoons, in the city of Salvador-BA (Brazil) have in common the insertion of a lentic ecosystem in the urban environment of a developing city. This research describes the pattern of seasonal variation of non-conservative and biological physical-chemical parameters during the years 2017 and 2018 in 16 points spatially distributed in the four lagoons during the rainy season (from April to July) and dry season (August to November). Water quality was determined in accordance with the Water Quality Index (WQI) and application of the Trophic State Index (TSI), in addition to the CONAMA ordinancy 357/2005. The results showed that the four monitored lagoons exhibit some parameters outside the conformities established by CONAMA ordinances, in addition they are strongly eutrophic, but in a contrasting way, with good quality ratings considering their use, with the exception of Lagoa de Pituacu. It is concluded that systematic assessments should be considered more frequently with the aim of collecting greater and more accurate information on the quality conditions of these ecosystems, and studying their quality changes as a reflection of the urban condition on their conservation.


M) or after exposure to 100% CO (30 min exposure and kept in air for 10 min), the cells were challenged in vitro with anti–IgE (1 μg ml–1) in the presence or in the absence of HbO2 (10–4 M) and of ODQ (10 –4 M). Histamine release was measured fluorimetrically. HO activity was evaluated as bilirubin formed mg –1 protein. Human basophil activation was evaluated using a Coulter cytometry. Cells were double stained with fluorescent antibodies to label the IgE on human basophil membranes and to label CD63 antigen expressed on activated cells. Human basophil activation was evaluated as the percentage of CD63 expressing cells. Human basophils stimulated with anti-IgE express an increase of CD63 protein on cell membrane and histamine release. Preincubation with hemin significantly decreases the number of CD63 expressing cells and the release of histamine in response to antigen. Control values were obtained when preincubation with hemin was carried out in the presence of HbO2 or ODQ (table 1). Exposure to CO also significantly decreases the immunological activation and histamine release, which were restored by ODQ or HbO 2 treatment. Human basophils possess the inducible isoform Granulocyte Biology


Recently social network services(SNSs) have become important media to keep in touch with acquaintances as well as to share experiences of daily lives. Through these SNSs, users can directly share photos, opinion and information. In this work, we implemented a web-based collaborative social curation system which can help users to generate a social album about a specific common event. Our social curation system contains four parts: collecting social contents from multiple web services, grouping those contents according to sub-events, organizing the grouped contents with addition of explanatory sentences (storytelling), and presentation of the result of storytelling phase. In each part, our implementation addresses practical solutions to the problems ailing previous contents creation researches as well as services. In addition to the implementation of whole web-based collaborative social curation system, our main contribution can be summarized as 1) collecting and recollecting social media contents from heterogeneous services automatically and 2) providing collaboration environment based on user expertise to construct a meaningful story.


To improve efficiency of spectrum usage and supporting of QoS in distributed environment,spectrum load ba-lancing algorithm based on the game theory was proposed.The non-cooperation game model was established by designing payoff function.NASH equilibrium solution was calculated through best reply.Based on QoS requirement of allocation demands source allocation was done imposing equilibrium strategies for optimality spectrum usage.Simulation results show it can utilize the bandwidth efficiently,and achieve the balance of load.Converge of algorithm is verified.


A technological scheme of treating organic waste water including pre-treatment, photocatalytic treatment and post-treatment, and during the photocatalytic treatment, a powerful reaction system is used and consists of TiO2 or modified TiO2 as catalyst, active carbon fiber net as catalyst carrier, and H2O2, O3 and two-valent ferrous salt as auxiliary oxidants and can result in multiple oxidation process including photocatalytic oxidation, photochemical oxidation, ferriin reagent oxidation, etc. The present invention also provides the specific design of a practical industrial photocatalytic reactor. The present invention is suitable for the effective degradation of organic matter in high-concentration difficult-to-degrade organic waste water.


Cultural and dual-inheritance models of evolution present ambiguities not typically present in biological evolution. Criteria and the ability to specify the adaptive value of a trait or cultural practice become less clear. When niche construction is added, additional challenges and ambiguities arise. Its dynamic nature increases the difficulty of identifying adaptations, tracing the causal path between a trait and its function, and identifying the links between environmental demands and the development of adaptations.


This paper presents a formulation of a Lacunary approximation for the class ninth of spline function at uniform mesh points and the function values at the end points of the interval. Error bounds for the function and its derivatives are derived. Finally, efficiency estimation and convergence orders are also illustrate errors derivations.


The removal of boron from aqueous solution was carried out by electrocoagulation (EC) using magnesium electrodes as anode and stainless steel electrodes as cathode. Several operating parameters on the removal efficiency of boron were investigated, such as initial pH, current density, initial boron ion concentration, NaCl concentration, spacing between electrodes, electrode material, and presence of carbonate concentration. The optimum removal efficiency of 91. 5 % was achieved at a current density of 3 mA/cm² and  pH = 7 using (Mg/St. St. ) electrodes, within 45 min of operating time. The concentration of NaCl was o. 1 g/l with a 0.5cm spacing between the electrodes. First and second order rate equation were applied to study adsorption kinetics. The adsorption process follows second order kinetic model with good correlation. The energy consumption was evaluated for the optimum operating conditions. It was in the range of 1.296 to 1.944 Kwh/m3 . The overall expected increase in the operating cost of water treatment using membrane desalination facility (for example) will be about 20%.


The graft copolymerization of methylacrylic acid onto PET fibers by the AIBN have been investigated. The graft yield increased with reaction time, the concentration of monomer and the reaction temperature. In addition the graft yield changed with the concentration of initiator. The maximum graft yield was obtained at AINB concentration of 5 0×10 -3 mol/L. Results showed that the properties of PET fibers grafted with methylacrylic acid, including moisture regain and dyeability, were improved.


Existing appearance-based gaze estimation methods suffer from tedious calibration and appearance variation caused by head movement. In this paper, to handle this problem, we propose a novel appearance-based gaze estimation method by introducing supervised adaptive feature extraction and hierarchical mapping model. Firstly, an adaptive feature learning method is proposed to extract topology-preserving (TOP) feature individually. Then hierarchical mapping method is proposed to localize gaze position based on coarse-to-fine strategy. Appearance synthesis approach is used to increase the refer sample density. Experiments show that under the condition of sparse calibration, proposed method has better performance in accuracy than existing methods under fixed head pose without chinrest. Moreover, our method can be easily extended for head pose-varying gaze estimation.


A literature review allows us to distinguish two types of high efficiency therapy: HED (high efficiency dialysis), with low ultrafiltration coefficient membranes, and HFD (high flux dialysis), with high ultrafiltration coefficient membranes. Data reported show an unchanged hematochemical with the same, or better, treatment tolerance, but there are few data on hydrosaline balance (and correlate hypertension) and middle moleculas removal. Finally we report the experience of our centre in 59 months of treatment in four patients.


Research in the field of human simulation has led to significant advancement in quality, time, and cost management for products like military and athletic equipment and vehicles. There is, however, a critical need for human simulation models to run in real time, especially those with large-scale problems like motion prediction (a single motion problem involves prediction of between 500-700 outputs). Hence, this work addresses that need by developing a new design of artificial neural network (ANN) that is capable of providing real-time motion results with maximum accuracy and minimal training. The success of the new ANN design is proven for the intended problem of motion simulation and other experimental and real-world problems. In addition, the design creates a new tool for the analysis of the task being simulated. The new implemented ANN algorithms will open a new area of advancement and capability in the digital human modeling field. Although the new ANN design is driven by its use with motion prediction problems, the consequent ANN design can be used with a broad range of large-scale problems. The motion problem is simply a well-studied example for the proposed developments


There is a close connection between Direct Product and XOR lemmas in the sense that in many settings, we can prove one given the other. The known reductions that are used for the above purpose are either in the non-uniform setting or give non-matching parameters. By non-matching parameter we mean that $k$-wise Direct Product lemma implies $k'$-wise XOR lemma (and vice versa) for $k \neq k'$. In this work, we discuss reductions between $k$-wise Direct Product and $k$-wise XOR lemmas. That is, we show that if the $k$-wise direct product lemma holds, then so does the $k$-wise XOR lemma and vice versa. We show that even though there is a perfectly uniform reduction in one direction, the reduction in the other direction requires some amount of non-uniformity. We give reductions in both directions matching information-theoretic bounds up to polynomial factors. Our techniques also give a small quantitative improvement over the known results about proving $k$-wise XOR lemma using $2k$-wise Direct Product lemma.


A shift gear assembly is provided to minimize a mechanical shock on the shift gear assembly during a speed shifting process by continuously adjusting a rotation speed and a torque. An input member(200) includes an input gear and an input side carrier disk. The input gear is implemented on a main shaft(100). Plural input side planetary gears are radially arranged in the input side carrier disk, so that the planetary gears are rotated according to a rotation force inputted from a power source. An output member(300) includes an output side carrier disk and an output gear. Plural output side planetary gears are rotatably arranged in the output side carrier disk, so that the rotation force from the input side planetary gear is outputted. A pair of torque couplers(400) are connected between the input and output members. The torque couplers change the rotation force of the input side planetary gear into a continuous rotation ratio and deliver the continuous rotation ratio to the output side planetary gear.


At the end of the ITRS, new materials, nanotechnologies and device architectures will be needed for nanoscale CMOS and beyond-CMOS. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-based devices are promising for the ultimate integration of electronic circuits on silicon [1]. We will discuss a number of key issues, including: the performance of singleand multi-gate thin film MOSFETs; the comparison between Si, Ge and III-V SOI channels; the effects of strain, high-κ materials, and Schottky source-drain (S/D) contacts. We then proceed to beyond-CMOS nanodevices based on nanowires or tunnel FETs and, finally, to an overview of advanced memory architectures on the nanoscale. Strained SOI is very interesting for boosting performance, with electron and mobilities enhanced by uniaxial tensile and compressive strains respectively, down to ultrathin channels [2]. Schottky S/D engineering is also promising for nanoscale CMOS, with PtSi/Si contacts producing record current drive and RF performance in p-channel SOI MOSFETs [3]. In the high-κ arena, the product of κ and the energy barrier that determines the gate leakage current can be set lower for double-gate (DG) SOI than bulk CMOS, offering a wider choice of gate dielectrics [4]. Multi-gate architectures based on volume inversion are expected to provide higher current drive down to sub-10nm gate lengths [5]. Further out, multi-bridge-channel MOSFETs [6] and gate-all-around SOI nanowires with tunable thresholds [7] represent the ultimate integration of innovative nanodevices with promising electrical properties. In the advanced memory arena, we will discuss capacitorless one-transistor DRAMs [8] and various variants of FinFlash memories that offer good downscaling prospects [9]. Independent DG FinFETs are also candidates for enhanced SRAM performance due to lower leakage and better noise margins [10]. Finally, there are promising tunneling FET candidates that may provide sharp switching for beyondCMOS low-power applications, including DG high-κ TFETs, strain Ge DG with asymmetric source/drain and feedback TFETs [11–13]. This work was supported by the Nanosil European Network of Excellence and the Sinano Institute.


In the period 2001–2004, several hundreds of underground shelters (mainly abandoned galleries, caves, and cellars) in W and SW Bohemia (Czech Republic) were explored for insect cadavers with visible fungal growth. At 27 localities, 94 infected cadavers of six insect taxa were collected. The most frequent infected insects were Triphosa dubitata, Scoliopteryx libatrix (Lepidoptera; Geometridae and Noctuidae, resp.) and unidentifed mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae). On the collected cadavers, altogether 20 species of microfungi (including sterile mycelia) were recorded, most of them belonging to entomopathogens. The most frequent was Paecilomyces farinosus (36 % of all samples) and Cordyceps sp. (15 %) which had affinity to C. tuberculata and C. riverae. Close association with insects was shown by Cordyceps sp. (with Triphosa dubitata) and Conidiobolus destruens (with unidentified mosquitoes). On the contrary, Paecilomyces farinosus was recorded on five different insect species. Also several other interesting species were found (e.g. Hirsutella guignardii, Engyodontium cf. parvisporum), probably not yet recorded from the Czech Republic. Microphotographs of some microfungi studied are included.


The present study analyzes policies on cloud computing (CC) in five countries (USA, UK, Japan, Australia, and Singapore) and deduces their implications. It also suggests and analyzes a list of 15 guidelines, 20 check lists, and a service analysis model to implement a public service based on cloud computing (PSBCC). The outline of the necessary procedure for the implementation of a PSBCC is proposed. The analysis model of the service to be implemented is proposed to select the PSBCC that is to be implement according to the promoted policies. The checklist to determine the PSBCC implementation is proposed, which can also be used as data to examine the validity of the implementation. These suggestions provide a systematic method to establish high-quality PSBCC, and the established PSBCC is expected to reduce Information Communication Technology (ICT) operation costs and promote service innovation from the business perspective.


Remote appliance control is a core vision for the smart home. Even in the next few decades, it is inevitable that conversional appliances and smart devices will coexist together to help people live better. For this reason, this paper proposed a remote control model for the conversional appliances to integrate with smart home environment. Based on the model, a smart home portal combined with video surveillance system was built to realise conversional appliance control in smart home. Due to the video-based control, total appliance control cycle is based on 'what you see is what you have done'. The main benefits of this model come from simple design, mature technologies, lightweight architecture, and practicable for implementation.


Abstract Background Perinatal HIV transmission has dramatically decreased with combination antiretroviral (ARV) regimens, but complications among HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children, such as microcephaly, warrant ongoing surveillance. Methods We evaluated HEU children enrolled in the Surveillance Monitoring for ART Toxicities (SMARTT) study, a prospective cohort study conducted by the PHACS network at 22 US sites. Microcephaly was defined using 2000 CDC Growth z-scores for head circumference (HC) measured at 6–36 months of age (z-score <−2) and using Nellhaus standards (<2nd percentile) after age 3 ("SMARTT" criteria), or using Nellhaus standards across all ages. Modified Poisson regression models were fit to obtain relative risks (RRs) for associations between in utero ARV exposure and microcephaly status, adjusted for potential confounders. Sensitivity analyses were conducted. Neurodevelopmental functioning was compared between HEU children with vs. without microcephaly. Results Among 3055 SMARTT participants enrolled as of April 2017 with a HC measurement over 5.1 years median follow-up (IQR = 3.0, 7.2), 159 (5.2%, 95% CI: 4.4–6.1%) had microcephaly identified by Nellhaus criteria and 70 (2.3%, 95% CI: 1.8–2.9%) by SMARTT criteria. In adjusted models, in utero exposure to efavirenz (4.7% exposed) was associated with increased risk of microcephaly by both Nellhaus standards (aRR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.51) and SMARTT criteria (adjusted RR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.22, 5.37). These associations were more pronounced among children exposed to combination regimens of efavirenz which included zidovudine+lamivudine than those including tenofovir+emtricitabine (Figure 1). Associations of microcephaly with efavirenz persisted in several sensitivity analyses (Figure 2). Protective associations were observed for darunavir exposure (aRR = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.24, 1.00). HEU children with microcephaly had lower mean scores on neurodevelopmental assessments at ages 1 and 5 years and higher prevalence of impairment than those without microcephaly. Conclusion Efavirenz exposure during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of microcephaly in infancy and childhood. These findings may support identification of alternatives to efavirenz as part of first-line ARV therapy. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


The term "industrial democracy" is often used in a way which includes every effort made by industry to humanize work. In order to have a fruitful discussion of "industrial democracy" it is necessary to limit the meaning of the term to include only the efforts aiming at giving the employee greater influence as regards his work and his workplace. Of special interest are the efforts to give the employee more influence through new patterns of work organization and through co-determination on a high level within the companies. These efforts have specially been concentrated on experiments with partly autonomous groups and on experiences with worker representatives on the decision-making bodies of the companies. Different forms of partly autonomous groups are being tried in several countries. The theoretical basis for the autonomous groups is the concept of the socio-technical system in which the technical and the social aspects of the job are to be combined by the worker's motivation and engagement. This engagement is created by a new pattern of work organization: Instead of delegating the responsibility for planning, work distribution, control and output of the department to a foreman, this responsibility is delegated to the whole work group. The traditional pattern of a worker sticking to one job in his department is substituted by a pattern where each worker is trained to manage as many jobs as possible within his department. This makes possible a very flexible way of working in the department because the workers can substitute each other and concentrate their efforts on the jobs which are most urgent at the moment. The typical management part of


Experimental data collection methods and a corresponding numerical model are presented to investigate the quality of waveguide fabrication in nonlinear optics. The method utilises white light interferometry and standard image recognition techniques to calculate a waveguide propagation constant function. This enables comparison of a numerical second harmonic spectrum in quasi-phasematched materials, such as periodically poled lithium niobate, with the waveguide's experimental phasematching spectrum. Using the presented method, a 3rd order polynomial fit to waveguide ridge width is demonstrated to be in good agreement with experimental phasematching spectra. The presented technique provides a nondestructive route to discriminate between issues in fabrication steps in nonlinear waveguide design.


Polymetallic (Manganese) nodules attracted the attention of world community in the mid sixties as a potential economic resource of strategic minerals like Copper, Nickel and Cobalt. Since then both industrialized and developing countries have become increasingly aware of the economic importance of the recoverable resources. India as a pioneer investor in the Indian Ocean has retained an area of 75,000 sq. km. for various research and development works. The estimated total resources in the Indian Ocean is estimated to be about 15 x 10 10 tonnes and the existing prime area suitable for first generation mining of nodules is around 50 x 10 4 Sq. Km. The Nodules from the Central Indian Basin (CIB), only, meet the first generation mine site criteria and scientific studies have confirmed that the ore grade nodule resources are mainly concentrated between 10° S and 16° S. Also at 2% cut-off grade, nearly one third of the explored area in CIB provides high grade regions. India has developed a crawler based shallow bed mining system, as a part of joint activities with University of Seigen, Germany, and the system has been tested up to 400 m depth. The system constitutes a crawler based collector module, Riser module (flexible hose) and Control module. The data generated form trials at shallower depths is being used for preliminary design for nodule mining system suitable for operations in CIB. An Emerging Concept of a deep seabed mining system is discussed in this paper. The land resources of the world in respect of four metals, namely Manganese, Cobalt, Nickel and Copper are presented and compared with potential metal resources of deep sea manganese nodules. Also an attempt has been made for inference on future metal requirements and prices based on present and historical consumption and production patterns.


A novel kind of switched reluctance motor (SRM) with short flux path is proposed in this paper. Phase excitation in the SRM gives short flux paths, hence reducing the magnetomotive force required to drive the machine, resulting in significant reduction of copper wire and core losses compared to the typical SRM with diametric circulation of magnetic flux. To verify the performance, the characteristics analysis of a double-stator SRM, a 6/5 SRM with C-core structure, and a 4/5 two-phase SRM, which all have short flux paths, and a comparison with conventional SR motors are executed. The comparison demonstrates that the proposed motor offers some advantages in terms of torque and efficiency.


Patients who present to the office with visual disturbances require a full eye examination to assess the nature of the problem. The direct ophthalmoscope is a useful, portable, inexpensive tool that allows examination of the optic nerve head and macula, magnified about 15 times. The ophthalmoscope was invented by Dr Hermann von Helmholtz in 18511 and has remained an essential component of ocular examinations.

While direct ophthalmoscopy is a relatively simple skill to master, many barriers can make it a challenge to perform on certain patients, such as those with cataracts or small pupils and those who cooperate poorly. Pupillary dilation has been shown to increase the ease and accuracy of direct ophthalmoscopic examination,2 but there are concerns about the practicality and safety of dilating patients' pupils in the office.


5-(9′-Fluorenylidene)-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptene (1) has been chemically reduced with alkali metals (Li, Na, K, Cs) to the respective radical anions, radical trianions and radical penta-anions, which have been studied by EPR, ENDOR and TRIPLE resonance spectroscopies. The absolute assignment of the proton hyperfine splitting (hfs) to the 10 (11) positions and to positions in the fluorenyl moiety was feasible by synthesizing and studying the reduction of the selectively deuteriated derivatives 2–6. Comparison of the experimental hfs with those calculated by the INDO method provided important information about the structural changes accompanying the reduction.


This position paper aims to present a proposal for collaborative long term research amongst ERCIM members in the context of the current ESPRIT Call on Intelligent Information Interfaces (I ). The paper outlines work proposed to be carried out in the context of the Connected Community Schema of ESPRIT Intelligent Information Interfaces initiative. The proposed work is primarily concerned with the way in which a specific community (such as for example the user interface design community within ERCIM as well as other corporate organisational or institutional working communities) may progressively and incrementally consolidate accumulated wisdom into reusable, sharable and expandable knowledge repositories. As an example, we provide a tentative scenario of such a community emphasising core activities, the issues to be addressed and the benefits to be obtained through suitable


SUMMARY In this study, Anginex lipoplexes (AxL) were developed for intracellular delivery of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) to endothelial cells of tumor vasculature. Physicochemical characteristics, stability, cell binding and cell uptake of this system were investigated in HUVEC. Upon transfection of HUVEC with AxL containing siVEGFR2, considerable gene silencing was achieved. INTRODUCTION Since the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) as a gene regulation process, successful delivery of ncRNAs appears as the major challenge for therapeutic activity. ncRNAs are mediators of the RNAi phenomenon and are involved in various processes in cells among which cell proliferation and cell migration play a central role in angiogenesis. Prevention of angiogenesis inhibits tumor growth as it restricts the access of tumor cells to oxygen and nutrients. Endothelial cell (EC) activation is the first step in angiogenesis and is influenced by various effectors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the major trigger in EC activation. Therefore, siRNA silencing VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) gene of EC seems an effective tool to inhibit tumor progression. Although different polymeric and lipidic delivery systems have already been investigated, efficient delivery to EC has remained a challenge. Here, we developed lipoplexes targeted to tumor EC for delivering siRNA against VEGFR2. Anginex, a 33-mer peptide, was used to target galectin-1 receptors the expression of which is upregulated upon EC activation. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Lipoplexes were formed by complexation of siRNA with protamine in 20mM Hepes Buffer containing 5% glucose at pH:7.4 and consequent hydration of a lipid film (solvent evaporation-lipid film hydration method). The lipid film was composed of DOPE:CHEMS:PEG2000-DSPE:MaleimidePEG2000-DSPE (6:4:0.3:0.3). The prepared lipoplexes with a total lipid concentration of 10 mM and RNA concentration of 1 uM were extruded repeatedly through polycarbonate membranes with a final pore size of 100 nm by a high-pressure extruder. A solution of 0.5 M Hepes, 0.5 M Hydroxylamine, 0.25 mM EDTA at pH:7 was added to N-succinimidyl S-acetylthioacetate (SATA) modified Anginex at volume ratio of 1/10 and incubated for 45 minutes at room temperature to deprotect the SATA groups. Unprotected peptides were then added to lipoplexes at a concentration of 10 ug peptide per 1 umol phospholipid and left at 4°C overnight. Uncoupled peptides were separated by ultracentrifuge for 60 minutes at 200,000XG (Brandwijk et al., 2007). Hydrodynamic diameter of lipoplexes was measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) on an ALV CGS-3 system (Malvern Instruments Ltd., Worcestershire, UK) and Nanosight LM-10SH (NanoSight Ltd. Wiltshire, UK). ζpotential was determined by Zetasizer Nano-Z (Malvern Instruments Ltd., Worcestershire, UK). Complex stability was evaluated by gel retardation and encapsulation efficiency was determined by Ribogreen assay after treatment of samples with Triton X-100 5% and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)1%. Cytotoxicity was studied by Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity Assay (LDH) on HUVEC. Cell binding and uptake were investigated by flow cytometry after treatment of HUVEC with AxL containing Alexa488-labeled siRNA. Gene knockdown was determined by measuring expression of VEGFR2 in HUVEC using Western blot. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Monodisperse AxL with an average size of 126 nm and a net negative charge were prepared and were shown to protect the encapsulated siRNA when treated with Triton X-100 5% and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) 1% as demonstrated in Fig. 1.


Current high strain rate testing techniques typically rely on the split‐Hopkinson bar (SHB). The early response in an SHB test is corrupted by inertia making it difficult to accurately characterise the transition from elasticity to plasticity for metals. Therefore, a new test method is required. This article is the second in a two‐part series which aims at developing a new high strain rate test for elasto‐plasticity identification using the image‐based inertial impact (IBII) method. The goal of this article is to validate the new method experimentally using IBII tests on aluminium 6082‐T6 (minimal rate sensitivity) and stainless steel 316L (rate sensitive). Comparison of the quasi‐static and dynamic stress–strain curves for the aluminium case showed minimal difference providing experimental validation of the method. The same comparison for the steel showed that the method was able to detect rate sensitivity.


The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum (NQF) have announced the 2014 recipients of the annual John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The Awards were presented on March 23, 2015 at the NQF Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. For 2014, three recipients were selected and the recipient of the Award for Individual Achievement is Mark L. Graber, MD, FACP, senior fellow, Health Care Quality and Outcomes Program, RTI International and Editor in Chief of the journal Diagnosis. The Eisenberg Awards recognize major achievements of individuals and organizations in improving patient safety and healthcare quality, consistent with the aims of the National Quality Strategy – better care, affordable care, and healthy people and communities. Better care in particular focuses on improving the overall quality by making healthcare patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe. The John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards were established in 2002 by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission in memory of John M. Eisenberg, MD, Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Eisenberg was a member of the founding Board of Directors of NQF and an impassioned advocate for healthcare quality improvement. These annual awards perpetuate the enduring contributions of this healthcare and community leader by


Chlorophytum laxum R. Rr. (Liliaceae) is a common perennial herb occurring in many parts of India, Ceylon, Borneo, Tropical Africa and Australia. The earlier cytological studies report two numbers of chromosomes, viz. 2n = 14 & 16, for the species. The present study, based on meiotic behaviour, concludes that this species is a segmental allopolyploid from two closely related but still unknown species with 2n = 8 chromosomes. Further evolution proceeded in two different directions. In one, diploidization by chromosomal rearrangements resulted into species with 2n = 16 chromosomes, while in the other, elimination of a non-homologous segment gave rise to species with 2n = 14 chromosomes and several autopolyploids.


There is a clinical overlap between hypervascularized sarcomas and arteriovenous malformations (AVM). MRI imaging should be interpreted with caution keeping in mind that some cancers could mimic AVM. A biopsy is mandatory in doubtful cases.