Abstract The variety of generic drugs available has been remarkable in the Brazilian pharmaceutical sector, which allows the consumer wide freedom of choice among the various presentations for the same agent. Recognized as equivalent in quality and effectiveness, these presentations differ only in external aspects of the formulation, such as brand, price, advertisement, packaging, etc. In this context, knowing the determinants that lead to a specific choice is very important since it can provide adequate positioning according to the real consumer perception, resulting in a competitive differential. Thus, the focus of this study is perception, understanding and possible impact generated by the packaging and label of generic drugs in a small city located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The main objective of this article is to raise aspects related to the packaging of generic drugs considered by consumers as elements of choice and preference. For the study, two focus groups and direct observations were made with consumers of generic drugs, to acquire impressions from several labels of the same drug, followed by the formulation and application of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four blocks, with (1) personal information; (2) general aspects of drugs understanding; (3) packaging perception; and (4) scenario evaluation. Finally, the treatment and analysis of the data obtained as the basis for the conclusions of the study is presented.


In the era of the competition of cities for their inhabitants and attracting investment for their development, an interesting, recognizable (strong) brand has a significant impact on its competitiveness. At the same time, the analysis of modern scientific literature indicates the absence of a unified approach to the definition of a brand; a particular difficulty is the insufficient definition of the concepts of a territory brand and a city brand. This article is devoted to the study of the development problems and the formation of the brand of Irkutsk. The aim of the work is the analysis of various sociological studies conducted in recent years, in which the opinion of the inhabitants of the city of Irkutsk on its image is studied. The results will serve as one of the elements in the development of the city's brand. The authors analyze the sociological studies which used various research methods: a semi-structured interview, a questionnaire, a content analysis of electronic media. They observe the individual components of the city's image and highlight their influence on the formation of the city's brand. The authors identify the key city symbols and interpret their specific character according to the Irkutsk residents. They come to the conclusion that the inhabitants of Irkutsk consider it necessary to form the concept of the city, which should become the basis for creating a brand of the city and of the territory as a whole.


I Like many kinds of historical document, account books might at first sight be taken for handy repositories of unvarnished facts. There is, on the face of it, a good fit between the purpose for which the records were created — to provide a reliable record of income and expenditure — and the needs of a certain kind of historian, searching for data relating to prices, living standards, the development of markets and the movement of commodities. Dedicated to the piecemeal itemization of dates, places, purchases and prices, account books are utilitarian documents that seem to have no ulterior motives or hidden designs to stand in the way of modern data-mining operations, whether large or small in scale. Rash generalizations such as these inevitably crumble on closer inspection. Just as inventories from the early modern period have been shown to be highly partial documents that are shaped as much by contingent practices and conventions as by any reality that we might take them to represent, so account books were subject to cultural pressures that make them distinctly partial and often perilous guides to the past. In James Aho's influential analysis, double-entry bookkeeping emerged in Italy in response to the ban on usury and the increasing insistence of ecclesiastical authorities on rituals of confession and penance. The new-model accountancy offered a form of mercantile self-scrutiny to parallel the intensified soul-searching of the Christian undergoing penitential confession. The account-book functioned as a rhetorical tool, designed to demonstrate that the merchant was honest, his profits just rather than sinful. 'How . . . can a written document lend credence to such claims? At a minimum, by being brief, concise, orderly,


Studies show that 80-90% of losses are caused by human failure, both as individuals and organizations. Yet, only 3.4% of organizations have mature processes in place to actively identify, evaluate, and manage their risks. Safety culture, which has been introduced for more than two decades, has been considered as an effective approach to improve safety performance. Having a positive safety culture is now seen as a prerequisite for, and the basis for, good safety performance. Thus, good safety culture is considered a predictor of good safety performance. However, there are only a limited number of studies that examine the relationship between safety culture and safety performance. This study used a safety culture maturity framework and the level of injury as the variables measured at five sites of PT. X. Data for both variables were secondary data obtained directly from PT.X. The five sites were found to have a statistically significant difference between their injury rates but no statistically significant difference was observed between their safety culture maturity scores. The figure for the safety culture maturity in each site can be considered similar, considering that they have implemented a safety management system for more than two decades. At PT. X, the safety culture maturity alone cannot be considered to have a direct correlation with safety performance. There may be several other factors that contribute to safety performance. However, in sites with a high injury rate, a lower SCM score was identified in twelve elements of safety culture maturity when compared to the sites with low injury rates.


Objective To understand the dysmenorrhea status in high school girls and the relationship between living habits,menopausal status,physiological hygiene of menstrual period and dysmenorrhea. Methods A total of 734 high school girls were selected by the stratified random sample method in the same high school and investigated by utilizing the self-made dysmenorrheal questionnaires. Results The prevalence rate of dysmenorrhea was 58.09% (48.01% being slight,47.34% moderate and 4.56% serious). The prevalence rate of dysmenorrhea increased with the grade. The single factor analysis showed that the affecting factors of dysmenorrhea included having breakfast,sleep time,exercises,age,menarche age,menstrual age,menstrual cycle and menstrual period. The factors entering the dysmenorrheal regression model were having breakfast,sleep time,exercises,menstrual age,menstrual cycle and menstrual period. Conclusions Dysmenorrhea is very common in high school girls and it is affected by many factors.


A new spectroscopic correlation is described, namely that the cation of a 2-amino-derivative of pyrimidine (or of a fused pyrimidine) has an u.v. spectrum similar to that of the neutral species of the 2-oxo-analogue. This correlation (which does not extend to the 4-derivatives) is attributed to a formal similarity between the guanidinium and the urea types of resonance. Correlation was found to be less tight in the corresponding pyridine series, where amidinium and amide resonances were concerned.


We consider the following class of equations of (gKdV) type $$\partial_t u + \partial_x (\partial_x^2 u + |u|^{p-1}u) = 0, \quad p\mbox{ integer},\quad t,x \in \mathbb{R}$$ with mass sub-critical ($2 5$). We prove the existence of 2-solitary wave solutions with logarithmic relative distance, i.e. solutions $u(t)$ satisfying \[\left\|u(t)- \bigg( Q (\cdot - t - \log (ct)) + \sigma Q (\cdot - t + \log (ct))\bigg)\right\|_{H^1}\to 0 \ \ \mbox{as} \ \ t\to +\infty,\] where $c=c(p)> 0$ is a fixed constant, $\sigma = -1$ in sub-critical cases and $\sigma = 1$ in super-critical cases. For the integrable case ($p=3$), such solution was known by integrability theory. This regime corresponds to strong attractive interactions. For sub-critical $p$, it was known that opposite sign traveling waves are attractive. For super-critical $p$, we derive from our computations that same sign traveling waves are attractive.


This article examines the way in which the availability of cheaply produced polyester flags has changed the symbolic landscape in the public places of Northern Ireland. The "tradition" of flying flags to express identity is common throughout the world and an important feature of an annual marking of residential and civic spaces in Northern Ireland. Such displays have been a consistent part of the reproduction of political identities through commemoration and the marking of territory. However, the availability of cheaply produced textiles has led to a change in the way the displays take place, the development of a range of new designs and helped sustain the control of areas by particular paramilitary groups. It highlights how the "symbolic capital" of the national flags can be used by different social groups having implication on the status and value of the symbol.


Bilateral open inguinal herniorraphy was performed in Cuenca, Ecuador, and monitored via low-bandwidth (128 kilobits per second [Kbps]) satellite communication by consultants in Richmond, Va, for consensus regarding identification of standard surgical landmarks.


In this study, a robotic orthosis for lower-limb rehabilitation training is developed. The robot includes two hip and knee joints. Each joint is actuated by a pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) in an antagonistic configuration. The bi-articular muscles are used to increase the stiffness of robotic orthosis. The robotic orthosis is evaluated not only by comparing to the normal human walking but also in trajectory tracking control mode. The experiment results show that the angle trajectory of the robotic orthosis is closed to the trajectory of normal human walking and it can also guide the subject to it designated trajectory.


Objectives
 Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a rare and aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with a poor prognosis. Common frontline (1L) regimens include brentuximab vedotin plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (A+CHP), and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone with or without the addition of etoposide (CHOP and CHOEP, respectively). Based on the 5-year update of the ECHELON-2 trial, patients with previously untreated CD30-expressing PTCL on A+CHP continued to demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with CHOP. Our objective was to estimate the future number of patients alive and progression free with A+CHP over 10-years, based on the 5-year follow-up results from ECHELON-2.
 Methods
 An oncology simulation model, from the United States perspective, was developed with a 1-month cycle length that estimates population-level outcomes of PTCL patients based on disease incidence, treatment patterns, PFS, and OS of commonly used regimens for PTCL. Incidence of PTCL, 19.26 cases per 100,000 persons, was derived using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) estimates for NHL in 2020 and the estimated proportion of PTCL cases (~4%) within the NHL category, provided by the Lymphoma Research Foundation. To populate the base case model, treatment patterns following 1L utilization of CHOP (65%) and CHOEP (35%) were varied over time and compared to A+CHP (40%). The model also includes a portion of patients in remission in 1L who are eligible to receive transplant therapy. Additional model inputs were derived from: 1) ECHELON-2, with 5-year PFS rates of 51.4% (95% CI 42.8, 59.4) for A+CHP, 43.0% (95% CI 35.8, 50.0) for CHOP, and OS HR 0.72 (95% 0.53, 0.99); 2) published literature to inform PFS for consolidation and subsequent lines of therapy; and 3) expert clinicians' opinion on commonly used regimens for relapsed/refractory PTCL (included in the model were brentuximab vedotin, romidepsin, pralatrexate, ifosfamide in combination with carboplatin and etoposide [ICE], and gemcitabine-based regimens). Annual prevalence of patients living progression-free with PTCL in the 1L setting with each prescribed scenario was estimated for 10 years (year 2031) with and without the availability of A+CHP.
 Results
 The cumulative number of patients with newly diagnosed PTCL between 2026 and 2031 was estimated at 8,020. The number of patients alive and progression-free based on 1L treatment was estimated at 6,304 in a scenario without A+CHP and 7,414 with A+CHP (Δ+1,110, 17.6% increase) in 2031. It was also estimated that 1,203 patients would progress to second-line treatment with CHOP vs 1,119 patients with 1L A+CHP (Δ-84, 7.0% decrease) in 2031.
 Conclusions
 The durable and significant improvements in PFS and OS of A+CHP vs CHOP in the 5-year follow-up data from ECHELON-2 estimated an increase in the number of 1L PTCL patients who remain progression free and alive for greater than 10 years. This improvement in outcomes may translate into an increased prevalence of PTCL patients, reflecting an increased number of patients in remission and options to undergo transplant therapy when necessary.

 Burke: Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Roche/Genentech: Consultancy; SeaGen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Beigene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Epizyme: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; X4 Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Kymera: Consultancy; MorphoSys: Consultancy; Kura: Consultancy; Verastem: Consultancy. Yu: Seagen, Inc: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Bloudek: Seagen, Inc: Consultancy. Liu: Seagen, Inc: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Fanale: Seagen, Inc: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Phillips: Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy, Other: received travel expenses from Incyte, Research Funding; ADCT, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cardinal Health, Incyte, Karyopharm, Morphosys, Pharmacyclics, Seattle Genetics: Consultancy.


The census quality testing of our country is through extracting less than 1‰ capacity of sample of plot investigated,then comparing the individual record of general survey with that of quality testing on the same sample of the plot investigated,and determining the error between them.In a province,the individual's omission rate,the rate of age and sex mistakes in the census are calculated according to the number of the individual error of all samples of the plot investigated.There are at least two aspects of insufficiencies.On the one hand,the quantity of the sample is too small;on the other hand,the calculation about the error rate does not conform to the requirements of sample investigation theory.


A new record for energy-efficient oxide-confined 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) particularly suited for optical interconnects is presented. Error-free performance at 25 Gb/s is achieved with dissipated/total power of only 56/83 fJ/bit. We determine the influence of the oxide-aperture diameter on the energy-efficiency of high-speed VCSELs by comparing devices with different aperture diameters all operating at 25 Gb/s. We show that our present single-mode VCSELs are more energy-efficient than our multimode ones.


The Miami blue butterfly, Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri, is a state-endangered taxon in Florida and a candidate for federal listing. This once common butterfly saw a dramatic decline in population number and abundance in the 1970s and 1980s, but significant collections of individuals prior to this decline are deposited in natural history museums. Using museum specimens, we quantified the genetic diversity in a historical population present in Key Largo, Florida in 1940, 1960, and 1980. Genetic diversity was consistently high within this historical population, but diversity was observed to decrease over the decades sampled. A comparison of historical diversity from the Key Largo population with the extant populations on Bahia Honda State Park (BHSP) and Key West National Wildlife Refuge (KWNWR) revealed differences in allelic frequencies, but only minor differences in the overall number of alleles. The historical distribution of butterflies throughout the Florida Keys further suggests a metapopulation structure. This structure involved partially-isolated populations of C. t. bethunebakeri that were loosely connected via gene flow and that underwent localized extinction and colonization events along the chain of suitable habitat in the Florida Keys. It appears that a "mini-metapopulation" currently exists on BHSP and KWNWR; structures that are similar to the historical metapopulation structure and distribution of populations on a larger scale. Knowledge of historical distribution helps to plan future reintroduction events with captive-bred butterflies. Additional populations of butterflies may represent undiscovered genetic diversity that, if appropriate, may be further incorporated into captive-breeding efforts.


— This article proposes a method for selective identification of pedestrians from a thermal aerial image. The proposal uses a K-Means classifier to identify a specific group of individuals, through a thermal marker made with a Peltier tablet. Real flight experiments were performed using a UAV, leading to suitable results.


X-ray computed tomography (CT) gives major possibilities by looking through the industrial parts with complex geometries, but one of the largest challenges is the quality assurance of measurements. This Ph.D. project at DTU Mechanical Engineering deals with the development of procedures for quality assurance of CT for industrial measurements both in the manufacturing and in the meat processing industries. Various methods and reference objects have been developed in this project to establish metrological traceability of measurements. Moreover investigations as well as international comparisons in the field of application on the two different areas have been carried out. Different reference objects have been developed and introduced for the manufacturing industry: step gauge, step cylinder and a cylindrical multi-material assembly. These objects can be used for correction of measurement errors in the CT model. Moreover, two reference objects are calibrated objects from the manufacturing industry: a threaded tube from the medical industry and a LEGO brick from the toy industry. Establishment of traceability for all objects is performed using coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) with known uncertainty. The stability has been documented for all reference objects except for the step cylinder and the cylindrical multi-material assembly. A design of experiment (DOE) was performed on measuring errors arising in a CT, in terms of material density and orientation of scanned step gauges. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows that all main factors and their interactions are significant. The maximum deviation from the reference value can be reduced by compensating for systematic errors, but it is more complicated to correct for vertical orientations in high density materials. In an interlaboratory comparison involving 27 laboratories from 8 countries, measurements were carried out using CT on two common objects from the manufacturing industry, a threaded tube and a LEGO brick. The comparison has shown that CT measurements on the industrial parts used lie in the range 6-53 μm, with maximum values up to 158 μm, compared to average uncertainties below 5.5 μm using CMMs. A test was performed to check if X-ray contrast modalities can be applied for metrological purposes. Traditionally, segmentation between multi-materials in CT scanning is done by using different edge detection techniques and threshold algorithms, but these are only available for multi-materials where the densities are not close to X-ray modalities overcome this problem by constructing dark field, phase contrast and transmission images. development related to stability issues on the used CT is needed to create a metrological tool using X-ray contrast modalities.


Absorption of microwaves vs. magnetic field near zero field by high-temperature superconductors shows a large number of equally spaced lines in the superconducting state. The intensity of these lines vs. magnetic field is similar to that of Josephson currents which are induced in such oxide superconductors. There is a strong temperature dependence of the intensity with a peak somewhat below the superconducting transition temperature, Tc. The lines and microwave absorption completely vanish above Tc. The intensity of these low-field lines has been examined in four different samples, YBa2Cu3O7, YBa2Cu3O7–Ag, BiSrCaCu2Oy and Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr4Ca2Cu3Oy. In each case the intensity as a function of temperature shows a shallow minimum well below Tc. The temperature, T0, at which this shallow occurs was determined. A discussion of the liquid-like behaviour related to the flux liquid is given. Motional narrowing of the lines was detected.


In 1616, Sir William Harvey was the first to describe the importance of right ventricular (RV) function in his seminal treatise, De Motu Cordis : "Thus the right ventricle may be said to be made for the sake of transmitting blood through the lungs, not for nourishing them."1,2 For many years that followed, emphasis in cardiology was placed on left ventricular (LV) physiology, overshadowing the study of the RV. In the first half of the 20th century, the study of RV function was limited to a small group of investigators who were intrigued by the hypothesis that human circulation could function adequately without RV contractile function.3 Their studies, however, were based on an open pericardial dog model, which failed to take into account the complex nature of ventricular interaction. In the early 1950s through the 1970s, cardiac surgeons recognized the importance of right-sided function as they evaluated procedures to palliate right-heart hypoplasia. Since then, the importance of RV function has been recognized in heart failure, RV myocardial infarction, congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension. More recently, advances in echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging have created new opportunities for the study of RV anatomy and physiology.

The goal of the present review is to offer a clinical perspective on RV structure and function. In the first part, we discuss the anatomy, physiology, aging, and assessment of the RV. In the second part, we discuss the pathophysiology, clinical importance, and management of RV failure.

### Macroscopic Anatomy of the RV

In the normal heart, the RV is the most anteriorly situated cardiac chamber and lies immediately behind the sternum. In the absence of transposition of great arteries, the RV is delimited by the annulus of the tricuspid valve and by the pulmonary valve. As suggested by Goor and Lillehi,4 the RV can be described in …


Gas Metal Arc Welding Process (GMAW) is also known as a MIG Welding, in this process different parameters play most important role for quality, productivity and cost of welding. This paper presents the influence of welding parameters like welding speed, welding voltage, welding current, wire feed rate, etc. on weld bead geometry and bead hardness of medium carbon steel material during MIG welding process. Depth of penetration, bead height and bead width will be considered as bead geometry in this paper. Taguchi technique has been used as acquire the data and Taguchi orthogonal array play most important role for minimize the experimental reading. So, also step of Taguchi method is included in this paper based on literature study.


IEEE802.11ad wireless LAN (WLAN) set in a vehicle was examined in order to know how much throughput quality was observed in congestion cases. As such a congestion case, two WLAN were used to measure throughput when vehicle frames and windows of a vehicle mitigate interference from other WLANs of other vehicles. Experiments by using real 802.11ad devices were performed and provided many useful qualitative results. For example, throughput degradation by interference is very large, 71.9% with door opened and is still large, 32.1% through glass windows. The results also revealed that steel frame doors are effective enough to shield the interference regardless of glass windows being opened or closed.


Educating America's Children for Tomorrow (ED-ACT) - Title I: Empowering Parents and Students - Requires the Secretary of Education to award the total amount of certain applicable education funding directly to local educational agencies (LEAs).(Sec. 101) Requires such direct awarding of all the funds that are appropriated for the Department of Education for the fiscal year for programs or activities under specified provisions of: (1) the Goals 2000: Educate America Act; (2) the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994; (3) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and (4) the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.Sets deadlines for each LEA to conduct a census to determine, and report to the Secretary, the number of kindergarten through grade 12 students in the State for the academic year. Sets forth: (1) a formula for determination of such award amounts, based on relative numbers of such students and of educationally disadvantaged students in each LEA; and (2) penalties for false information.Authorizes each LEA to use its allotment award for specified types of innovative assistance programs. Sets forth accountability requirements.Requires direct award to eligible LEAs of ESEA title A part 1 funds for educationally disadvantaged students, for support of programs or activities that the LEAs deem appropriate.Title II: Prohibition Regarding Funding for Developing or Implementing National Education Standards - Prohibits any Federal funds from being obligated or expended to develop or implement national education standards. Title III: Troops-To-Teachers Program - Troops-To-Teachers Program Improvement Act of 1999 - Transfers from the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation with respect to the Coast Guard to the Secretary of Education (Secretary) jurisdiction over a program to assist eligible members of the armed forces after their discharge, release, or retirement to: (1) obtain certification or licensing as elementary or secondar


Enzymes are deformable molecules which often adapt their conformation to the substrate's geometry. In the case of restriction enzymes acting on DNA, the substrate (DNA) is deformable also. While it is well established that external mechanical stress exerted on an enzyme modulates the enzymatic activity, the effect of mechanically stressing the substrate is less explored. Here we present the restriction enzyme EcoRV with a series of pre-bent DNA substrates and observe modulation of the overall speed of the enzymatic reaction by up to a factor 50. While in all cases the reaction is slowed down compared to the unstressed substrate, we observe peaks in the reaction rate as we vary the state of stress of the DNA substrate. Both bending moments and torsional moments on the DNA substrate affect the reaction rate.


Objective The purposes of this study were to explore the relationship between personal-ity traits and coping strategies among primary glaucoma patients. Methods 100 patients with primary glaucoma participated the investigation adopting Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and the Medical Coping Methods Questionnaire (MCMQ). Data underwent analysis using descriptive and Spearman rank correlation methods. Results L(lie scale) was (57.83±4.13). The primary glaucoma patients usually took different coping style from norm, facing was (16.91±2.21), avoiding was (15.69±2.01), yielding was (11.54±2.03), all was significantly different than those of norm. L was evidendy negatively correlated with facing, positively correlated with avoiding. Conclusions The personality traits of primary glaucoma pa-tients are different from norm people. They usually take avoiding and yielding coping style, while facing coping style is rarely adopted. Patients with exocentric personality and easy to communicate are apt to adopt positive coping style, while in patients who are identical in emotion and lie, they may take avoiding and yielding coping styles.

Key words:
Primary glaucoma;  Patient;  Personality traits;  Coping strategies


In this paper, a modal analysis is applied for a hung Euler-Bernoulli beam with a lumped mass. We first derive the equations of motion using the Hamillton's principle. Then regarding the tension of beam as constant, we characterize the eigenfrequencies and the feature of eigenfunctions. The approximation employed here is corresponding that the lumped mass is sufficiently large than that of beam. Finally we compare the eigenfrequencies derived here with those obtained based on the Southwell's method.


Abstract Corrosion inhibitors are known to adsorb to a variety of corrosion product layers. Under conditions of high shear, the fracture of corrosion product scale is one important aspect affecting...


ABSTRACT This paper presents result of researching personal information exposure of Korean twitter and facebook users. Personally identifiable information such as e-mail and phone numer is expo sed in the accounts less than 1%. However there are many cases that a person is identified by non personally identifiabl e information. For example, 350 thousands accounts are distinguished with other accounts because its name is unique. U sing combination of information such as name and high school, we can distinguish 2.97 millions accounts. We also found 170 thousands account pairs that are candidate of one users' own account. Linkability between two accounts in two different doma ins means that the person is identified. Currently, only personally identifiable information is protected by policy. Thi s paper shows that the policy has limited effects under the circumstances that a person can be identified by non personally identifiable information and the account linking is possible.Keywords: SNS, Pricacy, Personal Information, K-Anonymity, Re-identification


On the basis of data flow analysis,this paper translates program into data flow descriptive markers and obtains reach in and out definitions sets of basic blocks through data flow reach-definition anlysis.It establishes relation between function input and output to achieve static understanding.Experimental results demonstrate that string operating functions such as copy routine are correctly identified without extra clue by using this method.


Submitted for the DFD15 Meeting of The American Physical Society Aeromechanics of the Spider Cricket Jump: How to Jump 60+ Times Your Body Length and Still Land on Your Feet EMILY PALMER, Johns Hopkins University, NICOLAS DESHLER, Washington International School, DAVID GORMAN, CATARINA NEVES, RAJAT MITTAL, Johns Hopkins University — Flapping, gliding, running, crawling and swimming have all been studied extensively in the past and have served as a source of inspiration for engineering designs. In the current project, we explore a mode of locomotion that straddles ground and air: jumping. The subject of our study is among the most proficient of long-jumpers in Nature: the spider cricket of the family Rhaphidophoridae, which can jump more than 60 times its body length. Despite jumping this immense distance, these crickets usually land on their feet, indicating an ability to control their posture during "flight." We employ high-speed videogrammetry, to examine the jumps and to track the crickets posture and appendage orientation throughout their jumps. Simple aerodynamic models are developed to predict the aerodynamic forces and moment on the crickets during 'flight'. The analysis shows that these wingless insects employ carefully controlled and coordinated positioning of the limbs during flight so as to increase jump distance and to stabilize body posture during flight. The principles distilled from this study could serve as an inspiration for small jumping robots that can traverse complex terrains. Rajat Mittal Johns Hopkins University Date submitted: 29 Jul 2015 Electronic form version 1.4


In a conventional sonar system, which uses LFM signal for detecting targets with varying speed, the results of multiple LFM Doppler correlators are aligned and the maximum alined result are selected as a test cell for detecting targets. As the number of the LFM Doppler correlators are increased for accurate target detection, as the required computational complexity and the memory are also increased. This fact makes it difficult to implement the accurate LFM target detector. In this paper, we propose a new fast target detection which is robust for the variation of target speed. Because the proposed method uses the summation of alined results of large numbers of LFM Doppler correlators, the proposed method increase SNR and provide robust SNR for the variation of target speed. And the proposed method can provide very fast target detection by implementing the process, the summation of alined results of large numbers of LFM Doppler correlators, as one summation filter.


To explore the epidemiological understanding of Newcastle disease virus(NDV) in ducks,10 NDVs isolated from outbreaks in duck flocks in Shandong Province during 2007-2009 were characterized both biologically and genetically.All 10 strains were velogenic strains based on their MDT(50.4-60.0) and ICPI(1.66-1.78).Ducklings challenged with the strains showed visible clinical symptoms and autopsy changes,and the morbidity and mortality were up to 70%-100% and 20%-70%,respectively.Compared with genotype Ⅰ-Ⅵ NDV,great variation were occurred,especially at 1-30aa,101-124aa,479-494aa and 509-516aa of F protein of the 10 isolates,which displayed the same characteristic amino acid substitutions at position 52,71,176,272,314,402 and 489 with NDV strains obtained in recent years.Nucleotide analysis revealed that the homology among the 10 isolates was 95.8%-99.9%,and shared 95.7%-99.8% identities with genotype Ⅶ NDV since 2000,but only 83.8%-90.9% identities with LaSota and F48E9.Phylogenetic analysis showed that all the 10 isolates were of the genotype Ⅶd virus and had two RsaⅠ sites at position 973 and 1 249 bp which were characteristic to most strains of goose origin.The results indicated that the strains of genotype Ⅶd NDV had been the major pathogen responsible for the most epizootic ND outbreaks in duck flocks in China,and NDV isolated from ducks was likely originated from that of goose flocks.


Equations to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are routinely used for the diagnosis and classification of chronic kidney diseases (CKDs). Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation is an old one and has been replaced in many countries by CKD Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation, but MDRD is still available in routine practice worldwide, especially in developing countries. Many users of MDRD, don't know that it has two different versions (equations). This idea makes confusion in practice and affected the developers of this equation in internet websites and mobile applications. In this review, we will focus on this dilemma and try to solve it by explaining the basics of these two versions, and when I can choose each version, then the reflection of this issue on about 105 websites/Applications from different countries around the world. After that, we will give recommendations for both developers and seekers of this equation about overcoming this debate.


This article interrogates what appears to be an inconsistency – the enduring prevalence of Christianity and the surge of gender-based violence (henceforth GBV) in Botswana, particularly as evidenced by murder-suicides. It investigates the possibility of a connection between Christianity and GBV. To search for such a connection, I used a feminist analytical approach to analyse the text of Hosea, Christian/Biblical teachings relating to gender and traditional Setswana socialisation. The book of Hosea, some Biblical teachings and some aspects of Setswana culture separate men and women in dualistic terms, present women as inferior to men, perceive women's sexuality as devious, and prescribe violent control of women. Since this flawed outlook is evident in GBV in Botswana, I was led to investigate a hypothetical connection between GBV and Christian/ Biblical teaching. The article ends with recommendations for a response and for reconstructing a gender-empowering alternative.


All modern Verb Second languages have some sort of resumptive strategy where a fronted element is followed by a resumptive element, pushing the finite verb to third position. This chapter investigates adverbial resumption in a cross-linguistic and diachronic perspective. A fundamental difference is made between specialized and generalized resumptive particles, The chapter shows that there is a resumptive cline which represents an implicational hierarchy. While all the languages that have been investigated accept a resumptive element after a fronted adverbial clause, only some accept resumption after a fronted generalized adverb. This cline seems to be representative also for the diachronic development of the resumptive structure.


Rehabilitation needs are rising worldwide. The World Health Organisation recognises that many countries are not equipped to meet existing rehabilitation needs and has issued a call to action; Rehabilitation 2030 encouraging countries to focus on rehabilitation as a health priority. We sought to identify the rehabilitation needs of patients admitted to a tertiary hospital, measure the complexity of rehabilitation needs, and identify appropriate setting to meet these needs.

 All admitted patients were identified using the electronic patient admissions system on February 17th, 2023. Patients under the care of emergency medicine were excluded. Data was collected by teams of two healthcare professionals familiar with rehabilitation. Data collected: demographics; most appropriate location of care—Hospital, Community, Rehabilitation Unit; Clinical Frailty Score (CFS); Rehabilitation Complexity Score (RCS); estimated Length-of-Stay (LoS).

 640 patients identified. Median age was 71. 42% (269/640) >75 years, 47% (127/269) CFS 4–6, 16% (43/640) CFS 7–9. 12% (78/640) identified as having rehabilitation needs best met in a rehabilitation unit. Rehabilitation needs were identified across specialities, majority identified in Medicine 36% (28/78), and Stroke 28% (22/78). Average RCS 9.4, max RCS 18. Highest average RCS 12 identified in Neurosurgery patients. 3% (33/640) estimated LoS of >3 months, 30% (10/33) with primary rehabilitation needs. Average RCS 12.71 in patients with estimated LoS 3–4 months, 12 in LoS > 4 months.

 Our study identifies significant and complex rehabilitation needs in the acute hospital setting. Rehabilitation needs were diverse across specialities, with certain areas showing increased complexity of needs and longer estimated lengths of stay. Increased numbers of specialist rehabilitation beds are needed to ensure patients rehabilitations needs are optimised.


Abstract : During an August 1998 briefing on the effects of the pace of work on personnel in the Numbered Air Forces (NAFs) of the Air Combat Command (ACC), General Richard E. Hawley, the ACC Commander, asked if RAND could offer an analysis of the number of NAFs that were needed by ACC to meet warfighting requirements. This documented briefing was prepared in response to that question. Building on the results of a survey of NAF personnel conducted by RAND in spring 1998, this research examined the number and kinds of personnel assigned to the ACC NAFs, historical data on the flow of personnel into the NAFs, exercise schedules from ACC, and staffing requirements for different conflict scenarios. This briefing uses these data to explore the current capacity of the NAFs to support wartime missions, and hence, to explore the question of how many NAFs are required by ACC. This research was performed in Project AIR FORCE's Resource Management Program. The contents of this briefing should be of interest to ACC, NAF commanders, and Department of the Air Force staff responsible for personnel policies and plans and operations.


Abstract: The Decree on Climate 2019 represents an innovative and concrete framework for applying the international recommendations aimed at preventing and mitigating the effects of climate change. It focuses, in addition to many environment-related aspects, on the old-growth forests, recognizing them as forest ecosystems of high environmental value, defining their main ecological traits. According to this legislation, the extent of these forests in Italy is important, since many forest ecosystems have been left unmanaged from more than 60 years. Even if these stands are not always characterized by high level of naturalness, they are currently evolving towards more complex structures, due to the absence of human-related disturbance. Old-growth forests are unique ecosystems with a high structural complexity and peculiarities that are absent in managed forests. They are also an essential point of reference for sustainable forest management and environmental monitoring, in terms of conservation of biological diversity and ecological processes. For these reasons, they represent a unique benchmark for developing silvicultural models that incorporate knowledge of structural complexity (vertical and spatial) and developmental processes, duration of development and particularly the role of disturbances in creating structural legacies that become key elements of the post-disturbance stands. These forests, as the new Decrete underlines, must be protected, preserved and monitored in a long-term perspective, in order to safeguard their biodiversity, avoiding the structural simplification, which often characterizes the managed forests.


The purpose of this study was to determine how much influence the Shadow Boxing exercise had on increasing VO 2Max in boxing. The method used in this research is experiment. The design used is a One group Pre-test-post test design. The sample of this research was conducted on sixth semester students of Sport Coaching Education, amounting to seven students. Based on the results of the study, the average increase in maximum aerobic endurance capacity or VO 2Max is before being given Shadow Boxing training by 24.3 and after being given Shadow Boxing training by 31.78. This proves that the Shadow Boxing exercise gives positive impact on VO 2Max . hence, this exercise can be recommended to be added as a special portion of the exercise menu for boxers who have problems with poor aerobic capacity.


The paper introduces the improvement of cutting glass passivated dice by usingAmerican dicing saw machine 1006A,and the application of treating dice by using cooling system.According to the technology and experiment proof, the quality and yield of the product improveddistinctly after the improvement of equipment.


Segmentation of lungs in the setting of scleroderma is a major challenge in medical image analysis. Threshold based techniques tend to leave out lung regions that have increased attenuation, for example in the presence of interstitial lung disease or in noisy low dose CT scans. The purpose of this work is to perform segmentation of the lungs using a technique that selects an optimal threshold for a given scleroderma patient by comparing the curvature of the lung boundary to that of the ribs. Our approach is based on adaptive thresholding and it tries to exploit the fact that the curvature of the ribs and the curvature of the lung boundary are closely matched. At first, the ribs are segmented and a polynomial is used to represent the ribs' curvature. A threshold value to segment the lungs is selected iteratively such that the deviation of the lung boundary from the polynomial is minimized. A Naive Bayes classifier is used to build the model for selection of the best fitting lung boundary. The performance of the new technique was compared against a standard approach using a simple fixed threshold of -400HU followed by regiongrowing. The two techniques were evaluated against manual reference segmentations using a volumetric overlap fraction (VOF) and the adaptive threshold technique was found to be significantly better than the fixed threshold technique.


The unit 23 for determining the conditions for an automatic idling prevention of an automatic stop system for an internal combustion engine changes the conditions for an automatic idling prevention when decelerating and the conditions for an automatic idling prevention when stopping with a decrease in the amount remaining in the battery 5 energy, the frequency of execution of control of the automatic idling prevention during deceleration and controlling the automatic idling prevention to reduce when stopping. In the conditions for an automatic idling prevention when decelerating and the conditions for an automatic idling prevention when stopping, to be changed through the unit 23 for determining the conditions for an automatic idling prevention, a battery capacity threshold value is not included. When the amount of energy remaining in the battery decreases below a first threshold value Q2, changes the unit 23 for determining the conditions for an automatic idle avoid the conditions for an automatic idling prevention during deceleration so that the frequency of execution of the control of the automatic idling prevention during deceleration as compared with the case where the amount of energy remaining in the battery is equal to or higher than the first threshold value Q2 is reduced. When the amount of energy remaining in the battery decreases below a second threshold value Q3, which is lower than the first threshold value Q2, the unit 23 changes to determine the conditions for an automatic idle avoid the conditions for an automatic idling prevention when stopping so that also the frequency of execution of control of the automatic idling prevention compared when stopping with the case in which the amount of energy remaining in the battery is equal to or higher than the second threshold value Q3 is reduced.


The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of anxiety level and level of task difficulty (putting distance) on the putting performance of amateur golfers under pressure. Seventy-five golfers participated. Four distances (1.25m, 1.50m, 1.75m, and 2.00m) were established as putting distances with a particularly high level of failure anxiety. Club movement kinematics (club head's linear amplitude, movement time, and mean velocity), putting score, and final resting position of missed putts were used as performance indicators. Participants hit one putt each from each distance under both low-pressure and high-pressure conditions. From the results of cognitive anxiety measured based on a questionnaire and somatic anxiety measured based on heart rate, it was confirmed that the pressure situation established by this research functioned effectively for the participants. From the results of analysis of variance, for the club's linear amplitude, movement time, mean velocity, and putting score, no significant association between anxiety and putting distance was apparent. On the other hand, from analysis of the final resting position of missed putts, it was conceivable that 1.50m putts were particularly impacted by pressure. Moreover, from the reduced movement time of the follow-through by participants with increased cognitive anxiety under pressure, the research suggested that cognitive anxiety had a greater impact than somatic anxiety on decrease of performance under pressure.


Ruth & Vincent Megaw questioned the motivation behind the current critique of the use of the term 'Celtic' for the La Tène Iron Age in ANTIQUITY (1996: 175–81). They explained it is a nationalist reaction derived from insecurity about modern English identity. Here we have a reply to their paper, which rejects these interpretations.


Differential ionization chambers are used in order to measure the difference in the electron capture rate of $^{52}\mathrm{Fe}$ nuclei in different chemical compounds. Combination with the corresponding M\"ossbauer isomer shifts of these Fe compounds permits the determination for the M\"ossbauer transition in $^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$ of $\ensuremath{\Delta}〈{r}^{2}〉=\ensuremath{-}(33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3){10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ${\mathrm{fm}}^{2}$.


When Ukrainians went to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections on 31 March 2002, they were choosing the membership of a political institution that is distinctive in the post-Soviet context. Ukraine's 450seat unicameral legislature, the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council), is the only national assembly outside the Baltic states and Georgia where representatives from all the major political forces in the country can consistently express their views and even pass or delay important legislation from time to time. It is one of the few governmental institutions of any kind in the region that has not been completely taken over by the country's president, where some notion of the need to check executive power still survives, and where real discussions take place about different political approaches to national problems. For these reasons—and despite the country's (accurate) classification by experts as a "superpresidential" regime—parliamentary elections in Ukraine typically feature vigorous electioneering, high turnout, and active participation by all political forces, including groups drawn from civil society. The 2002 elections were no exception: Turnout reached over 60 percent among the country's 38 million registered voters. Civil society organizations were more active than ever before, with several coordinating their efforts and issuing an appeal as early as July 2001 in which they called on politicians, journalists, and activists to promote freedom and fairness in the upcoming elections. In addition to monitoring campaigning in the districts and providing an army of trained poll watchers on election day, NGOs helped voters to overcome gaps and Nadia Diuk is director for Central Europe and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. Myroslava Gongadze was a 2001–2002 Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the International Forum for Democratic Studies in Washington, D.C., and is currently a visiting scholar at George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies.


Facts have proved that, the development of science and technology, is always a double-edged sword. With 3D printing striding forward like a raging fire, intellectual property risk it could cause also surfaced. 3D print easily copy, share, modify functions, and products produced by these functions, are likely trigger a new intellectual property risk.


The purpose of this paper is to give an analytic proof of Seven's Theorem which asserts that for a fixed compact Riemann surface R. there exist only finitely many compact Riemann surfaces S of genus > 1 such that there exists a nonconstant holomorphic mapping of R onto S.


The impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the governments in Nigeria (state and federal) manifested in a repeated ASUU strikes, having implications on students and society in the contemporary changing world. Hence the study examines the adverse impacts of the strikes on university students and the society that embodies the stakeholders. The study discovered that the strikes are orchestrated largely by the union quest to protect its members' welfare and swift greeting of any perceived unfriendly steps by the government with strike actions while the government fell short in funding and entrenching a right legal milieu for negotiation and regulation of ASUU. With the secondary sourced data from journals, newspapers, journals, books and the internet while underpinning the research with the social contract theory, the study concludes that the public university students are exposed and tempted to indulge in social vices, have a sense of being disadvantaged unlike their private colleagues, and the society developmental agenda is threatened because of the poor quality of graduates produced from the Ivory Tower. It recommends that government and ASUU should renegotiate their agreements while the former should also ramp up the budgetary funding allocation to the University amongst others.


The invention discloses a capacitor impregnant containing modified aqueous talcum powder and a preparation method thereof. The capacitor impregnant comprises the following raw materials by weight: 108-112 parts of castor oil, 4-6 parts of modified aqueous talcum powder, 3-5 parts of modified tree ash, 1 part to 3 parts of alumina, 0.8 part to 1.2 parts of vermiculite and 1.4-1.6 parts of polysorbate 80. The capacitor impregnant adopts the castor oil as a main material and is low in cost. Simultaneously, the modified aqueous talcum powder, the modified tree ash, the alumina, the vermiculite and the polysorbate 80 are added. Adsorption performance of moisture in the impregant is improved by modifying the aqueous talcum powder and the tree ash. The capacitor impregant has good flowability and heat resistance, is free of corrosion and impurity, and is capable of effectively improving electric performance of a capacitor and prolonging service life of the capacitor.


Objective To investigate the clinicopathological features of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods From December 1956 to August 2012,the clinicopathological features of RCC were studied in 705 cases and related literatures were reviewed.Results The diameter of RCC ranged from 0.6 to 18.0 cm,which the average size was 4.6 cm.The proportions of the clear cell,papillary,multilocular clear cell,chromophobe and unclassified histologic subtype were 88.9% (627/705),4.1% (29/705),3.3% (23/705),1.3% (9/705) and 2.4% (17/705),respectively.According to the Fuhrman grading system,the proportions of grade 1,2,3,4 were 19.0% (116/612),58.3% (357/612),18.1% (111/612)and 4.6% (28/612),respectively.The rates of invasion into the renal pelvis,perirenal fat and vascular were 10.9% (66/603),10.6% (64/603) and 4.8% (29/603),respectively.Of 705 cases,464 (76.6%)cases were in T1,65 (10.7%) cases in T2,73 (12.0%) cases in T3,and 4 (0.7%) cases in T4.As to the lymph node and distant metastasis,the rate was 2.8% (17/606) and 3.5% (21/606).The percentages of stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ RCC were 74.3% (450/606),9.9% (60/606),11.7% (71/606) and 4.1%(25/606),respectively.The 3-,5-,10-and 15-year disease-specific survival rate for RCC was 92.8%,86.9%,76.8% and 55.5%,respectively.To those patients with clear cell RCC,the disease-specific survival at the same time point was 92.8%,88.1%,77.4% and 55.4%,respectively.Multivariate analysis showed that the stage was the only independent prognostic factor for RCC.Conclusions Tumor stage of RCC is the independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival.The evaluation of renal sinus invasion and lymph node should be noted in the diagnosis of RCC.

Key words:
Carcinoma, renal cell;  Pathology, clinical;  Prognosis;  Survival analysis


In 1973-1974, the U.S. faced the so-called "Energy Crisis" due to the Arab oil embargo and a quadrupling of world crude oil prices by OPEC. This led the U.S. to use a" Price Control" policy in the domestic energy market. The effects of such policy are explored and well documented. However, the responses of OPEC producers to such a policy need further attention. This paper examines the effects of these price controls on OPEC"s extraction path. It also examines the relation between the harm function and the change in OPEC production. The results show some evidence that OPEC did respond differently to price controls applied by the U.S. For some periods it cut production, while in other periods production levels increased. The results also show some evidence regarding Wirl (2008) that OPEC includes political support as part of its objective function when it comes to oil extraction.


Within individual sera, mouse IgG1 and IgG2a subclass antibodies against the antigenic detetminant oligio‐D‐Allanine are likely to have similar combining sites. The antibodies are characterized by two methods, by their rate of binding to antigen equipped sheep red blood cells and by the hapten inhibition of antigen binding. The two characteristics are shown to be independent. The subclass antibodies of thirteen different sera differ by a factor of about 10 in their rate constant and by a factor of about 50 in affinity for hapten. In contrast, IgG1 and IgG2a within the same serum have strikingly similar rate constants (factor 1.02–1.33) as well as very similar affinities (factor 1.1–2.7). Since it is higly improbable that correlation in two independent criteria occurs by chance, the IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies are asssumed to have similar combining sites.


An experimental setup has been developed to study prebreakdown phenomena in dielectric materials under controlled conditions. A highly sensitive photon counting system coupled with a lens system detects the threshold field for light emission as a function of the nature of the gas. The samples are located in a chamber in which the pressure can be varied from 5.10/sup -7/ to 2.10/sup +3/ torr. Some results are presented concerning the influence of the nature of the gas dissolved in polyethylene samples on the electroluminescence threshold field and light pattern. The presence of electronegative gas molecules in the sample strongly affects the observed behavior by changing the volumetric and interfacial conditions. Good agreement is found between the values of the threshold field for light emission reported and those by other workers if the sensitivity of the detection systems is considered.<<ETX>>


To the editor: Since its formation in June 1974 the permanent health protection branch (HPB) advisory committee on drug bioavailability (see Can Med Assoc J 109: 920, 1973) has reviewed the protocols of all bioavailability studies carried out or sponsored by the HPB. The committee has evaluated the results of those studies and made recommendations to the HPB. The purpose of the present communication is to acquaint members of the health professions with some of these recommendations and the subsequent actions the HPB has taken. The committee has continued to examine data on digoxin products on the Canadian market as a consequence of actions taken in 1973 resulting in withdrawal of certain products. This information was communicated to the health professions in December 1973. The HPB is exercising careful and continuing surveillance over the manufacture and quality control of digoxin products, with emphasis on the consistent bioavailability of available products. Protocols for assessment of the bioavailability of diphenylhydantoin (phenytoin) dosage forms were reviewed by the committee, as were the resulting data when the HPB study was completed. All products were of satisfactory bioavailability; details of the full study will be published soon in the scientific literature. The committee has evaluated the data resulting from a bioavailability study of phenylbutazone (100 mg) products. The data showed that there were considerable differences between products in the total amount of phenylbutazone absorbed as well as in the rate at which the drug was absorbed.


The evolution of interconnect technologies is presented in terms of density and electrical performance, and compared to the parallel evolution of transistor characteristics and circuit complexity. Definition of "gate delays" and "interconnect delays", and their evolution, are presented. The increasing impact of interconnect delays is emphasized, together with signal integrity problems and cross-coupling effects. Safe design solutions are presented (when available), and interconnect technology evolution is suggested, or required, to solve new problems which are approaching due to increased operating frequency and reduced power supply voltage. Trade-offs between interconnect resistances (vias and wires), capacitances (intra and inter layer) and their impact on performance are discussed. As a conclusion, the main requirements for interconnect technology evolution are presented from a circuit design viewpoint.


Abstract Introduction: We present an updated version of our previously validated robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) training model,1,2 which includes the reconstructive part of the procedure in addi...


A noise map drawing technology was developed for analyzing noises radiating from turbochargers of vehicles engines. The map was obtained by superposing turbocharger noise data onto a compressor performance map. The characteristics of a special noise could be easily understood with it since the noise distribution was shown on the turbocharger operation area. It was shown on the map for the turbocharger of a passenger car engine that the special noise were abruptly increased over a certain turbocharger speed, and the range of the high level noise became wider as the speed increased. It was possible to analyze engine operation area causing the turbocharger noise problem by plotting an engine operation line to the noise map. Furthermore, the map could propose a proper engine operation line not causing the noise problem by comparing it and turbocharger noise contours. This paper showed that a turbocharger noise problem could be solved by limiting an engine operation line with the turbocharger noise map and the line plotted on the map.


A novel Decision-Directed Receiver (DDR) has been arrived at based' on heuristic considerations for coherent demodulation of arbitrary Continuous Phase-Modulated (OPM) constructions received over AWGN channel. The complexity of the DDR is a linear function of the observed symbol intervals. However, repeated processing of the received (signal + noise) waveform segments is required. The error probability analysis of the DDR for a subclass of CPM known as CPFSK is presented. It is noted that the low-complexity DDRs are attractive by virtue of their superior error performance relative to the well known Average Matched Filter (AMF) receivers, at least for certain modulation indices, for example h = O.S.


A general approach for fabricating metallic and semiconducting nanostructures has been developed based on "dip pen" nanolithography combined with electrochemical reduction of water soluble salts. This method can be used to directly write many different types of metal or semiconductor features on Si substrates with sub 50 nanometer linewidth. This simple but powerful method has great potential in fabricating functional nanodevices with high degree of control over their locations and structures.


The ability to measure polished and strongly reflective surfaces with steep flanks in true color information has been mandatory for the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Localized Corrosion when it came to purchasing a new measurement device to perform meaningful corrosive investigations. Today, the institute uses high resolution 3D measurement device for the evaluation of individual corrosive mechanics, leading to the development of new measures to avoid corrosive attacks.


Problems which have been elaborated to relate to phenomenon less optimal its make-up of original region revenue where tending to because the happening of degradation of trust of investor society at Local Government so that have implication to compliance of investor in fulfilling fiscal obligation of them. The Purpose of this research is to know description concerning accurate variable, and also measure influence of relations public marketing and human resource quality to trust and compliance of investor in executing fiscal obligation of them. The methods of this research are descriptive and explanatory survey. Unit analysis of this research is investor on duty Government of Sub-Province of South Bangka, sample size is 92 Investor. Statistical test to be used by path analysis. The research finding, that is Marketing public relations and quality of HRM have an effect on to trust of investor. Marketing Public relations and quality of HRM simultaneous have an effect on to compliance of investor in fulfilling fiscal obligation of them. Trust of investor have an effect on to compliance of investor in fulfilling fiscal obligation of them


In the first year of China's 11 th five-year plan,both energy conservation target and pollutant emission con- trol target failed to be realized.This paper probes into the target-making process and target-implementing process to see what the formal rules are and how they operate informally.It is demonstrated that,on one side,local governments have little opportunity to present their willingness in the target-making process though formal rules do give them enough space,and on the other side,target-based responsibility system the legal effectiveness of which is in vagueness can not give local governments proper expectation.Based on the analysis above,corresponding countermeasures are put forward.


The pupil response to light can reflect various kinds of diseases which are related to physiological health. Pupillary abnormalities may be influenced on people by autonomic neuropathy, glaucoma, diabetes, genetic diseases, and high myopia. In the early stage of neuropathy, it is often asymptomatic and difficulty detectable by ophthalmologists. In addition, the position of injured nerve can lead to unsynchronized pupil response for human eyes. In our study, we design the pupilometer to measure the binocular pupil response simultaneously. It uses the different wavelength of LEDs such as white, red, green and blue light to stimulate the pupil and record the process. Therefore, the pupilometer mainly contains two systems. One is the image acquisition system, it use the two cameras modules with the same external triggered signal to capture the images of the pupil simultaneously. The other one is the illumination system. It use the boost converter ICs and LED driver ICs to supply the constant current for LED to maintain the consistent luminance in each experiments for reduced experimental error. Furthermore, the four infrared LEDs are arranged nearby the stimulating LEDs to illuminate eyes and increase contrast of image for image processing. In our design, we success to implement the function of synchronized image acquisition with the sample speed in 30 fps and the stable illumination system for precise measurement of experiment.


Writing instructional objectives on lesson plan should not be missed. It exactly becomes a must. This present study aimed to intently explore English teachers' lesson plans through learning objective theory. This research employed a descriptive qualitative research design. The documentations were five lesson plans primarily gained from ayoguruberbagi.kemdikbud.go.id. The data were purposively selected with different topics and teachers. The researcher identified the learning objectives one by one. Those were then analyzed using Dick, Carey and Carey and Bloom's theory to be categorized into three items namely CN (condition), B (behavior) and CR (criteria). The findings revealed that two among five English teachers still have inadequacy in case of creating objectives which comprises the completeness of CN (condition), B (behavior) and CR (criteria). Then, condition was found as the lowest aspect. However, all teachers had fully applied observable verbs on their learning objectives. Thus, it is required for the teachers to pay more attention to those three existences as well as the selection of verbs before designing learning objectives


OBJECTIVE
To construct cell lines producing high-titer recombinant retroviruses of human glucocorticoid receptor beta (hGRbeta).

METHODS
The recombinant retrorinal vectors of message and antisense cDNA of hGRbeta were transfected into PA317 cells by liposomes, respectively, and cell colonies were selected with G418. The titers of viruses from the 2 cell culture supernatants were determined by colony numbers produced in NIH3T3 cells.

RESULTS
The presence of aimed RNAs in supernatant of the G418-resistant cell cultures were detected by RT-PCR and subsequent sequence analysis. The titers of retroviruses were 2. 0 x 10(5) and 1.8 x 10(5), each for recombinant message and antisense hGRbeta cDNA.

CONCLUSION
We demonstrated here the obtaining of transfect PA317 cells that produce recombinant retroviruses containing message and antisense RNAs of hGRbeta with highly infective efficiencies.


The socioecological framework is a multilevel conceptualization of health that includes intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, environmental, and public policy factors. The socioecological framework emphasizes multiple levels of influence and supports the idea that behaviors both affect and are affected by various contexts. At present, the sports medicine community's understanding and application of the socioecological framework are limited. In this article, we use the socioecological framework to describe potential avenues for interventions to reduce sport-related deaths among adolescent participants.


The present paper describes the new microstrip pseudocombline filters with symmetrical frequency response and small size, which operate at frequency f0 ≈ 1.8 GHz. Filters are implemented on dielectric substrates with εr = 92 and contain step-impedance resonators.


SUMMARY
We present Systems Biology Metabolic Modeling Assistant (SBMM Assistant), a tool built using an ontology-based mediator, and designed to facilitate metabolic modeling through the integration of data from repositories that contain valuable metabolic information. This software can be used for the visualization, design and management of metabolic networks; selection, integration and storage of metabolic information; and as an assistant for kinetic modeling.

AVAILABILITY
SBMM Assistant for academic use is freely available at http://www.sbmm.uma.es.


The main focus of the current study is to evaluate the dynamic behavior of a cantilever retaining wall considering backfill and soil/foundation interaction effects. For this purpose, a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) with viscous boundary is developed to investigate the seismic response of the cantilever wall. To demonstrate the validity of the FEM, analytical examinations are carried out by using modal analysis technique. The model verification is accomplished by comparing its predictions to results from analytical method with satisfactory agreement. The method is then employed to further investigate parametrically the effects of not only backfill but also soil/foundation interactions. By means of changing the soil properties, some comparisons are made on lateral displacements and stress responses. It is concluded that the lateral displacements and stresses in the wall are remarkably affected by backfill and subsoil interactions, and the dynamic behavior of the cantilever retaining wall is highly sensitive to mechanical properties of the soil material.


The calculation of risk is the important procedure of information security risk evaluation which is the basic of risk management. At present,there is no uniform standard and concrete method for the risk calculation.Based on the analysis of some information security risk calculation methods,the paper puts forward an integrated and improved method for the risk calculation.This arithmetic considers the conjunct effects to the assets when some threats happen synchronously and the duplex effects of the risk,that is,it can make some profits when the threats happen.At last,an calculation example is given to illustrate the new risk calculation method.


The reactivity of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) towards 12 different aldehydes was tested. YADH was inhibited by pre-incubation with citral, citronellal, p-cuminaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde, m-tolualdehyde, trans-cinnamaldehyde, salicylaldehyde, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and benzaldehyde, although of these aldehydes only trans-cinnamaldehyde acted as a substrate for the enzyme. HLADH was inhibited, to a much smaller extent, by pre-incubation with citral, salicylaldehyde, citronellal, p-anisaldehyde, piperonaldehyde, trans-cinnamaldehyde, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and p-cuminaldehyde and all of these aldehydes acted as substrates for the HLADH. Immobilisation of the enzymes on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B gave protection against inhibition by the aldehydes, suggesting a means of significantly extending the useful lifetime of the enzymes when they are used in industrial processes.


Nest site features and habitats of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla were studied in Gotland, Sweden, during 2008–2017. Here, the entire population depended on suitable trees for nesting. The mean age of the nesting trees was 173 years. Only 9% of these trees were younger than 125 years. The mean distance from nests to roads was 400 metres. The mean distance to permanent residences and recreational cottages was 1.5 km and 1.2 km, respectively. Although the nests were not located far from human activities, the eagles were very shy. Therefore, they need protected areas around the nesting trees, especially during the breeding season.


The operation of plate tectonics on Earth is essential to modulate its atmospheric composition over geological time and is thus commonly believed to be vital for planetary habitability at large. It has been suggested that plate tectonics is very likely for super-Earths, with or without surface water, because a planet with a larger mass tends to have sufficient convective stress to escape from the mode of stagnant-lid convection. Here, this suggestion is revisited on the basis of the recently developed scaling laws of plate-tectonic convection, which indicate that the planetary size plays a rather minor role and that the likelihood of plate tectonics is controlled largely by the presence of surface water.


Japanese policymakers have been troubled by the 'declining fertility problem' for two decades, ever since a sharp drop in births raised public awareness of the issue in 1990. This article explores why it took a full decade before government officials diagnosed the problem and called for a shift toward gender-egalitarian labour market policies in order to reverse the fertility decline. It also asks why the prescribed changes have yet to be adopted, despite continued hand-wringing over fertility rates. Both delays, it argues, stem from the ability of Japanese women — who began entering the workforce in an era when they had already gained full control of their fertility — to 'exit' from the work—family reconciliation challenge by postponing or opting out of motherhood. This deprived the reform movement of the 'voice' needed to transform male breadwinner structures that are rooted not only in public policies, but also in private sector practices.


In the paper we give several existence conditions under which different types of inconsistencies can occur in a data warehouse and propose a classification of these inconsistencies based on their sources. Every type of inconsistency can be eliminated, or at least minimized, at various stages of building a data warehouse. We also propose a methodology and a procedure which aim at the elimination of these inconsistencies.


Organisations are now adapting a design approach to strategic decision-making. Yet, this is constrained by an undeveloped understanding of design thinking processes within the strategy context. We address this context; exploring the theoretical linkages between the dynamic capabilities literature and design thinking. Through a qualitative study of eight Australian innovation managers utilising a design approach, we synthesise dynamic capability literature with design thinking practices. We find that design thinking entails the routines that constitute a dynamic capability. In this paper we discuss how design thinking incorporates sensing and seizing loops, which enable managers to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, strategic threats, develop new business models, and how design instigates effective, collective resource reconfigurations that help adapt to changing circumstances.


Abstract The objective of this work was to study the effect of different dietary fibers on rheological properties of yoghurts fortified with these fibers [1, 2, 3]. Commercial fibers from apple and inulin were used. The effect of addition of dietary fibers in yoghurt [4, 5] was investigated by a rotational viscometer, Brookfield viscometer (Brookfield Engineering Inc., Model RV-DV I Prime) with RV spindles. The Brookfield viscometer DV I Prime with disk spindles represents an easy and cheap method for rheological characterization of non-Newtonian fluids, in this case of yoghurt. Syneresis and pH did not show any difference, while only apple fiber yoghurt showed colour differences compared to control.


Chilean boldo ( Peumus boldus Molina) is the boldo species more consumed around the world. The digestive and hepatobiliary disorders represent the main targets of its action. Part of the pharmacological properties of this herb is associated with the chemical composition of its essential oil. On the other hand, some toxic compounds can also be found in this fraction (e.g.: ascaridole). The Artemia salina bioassay is an in vivo test often employed to evaluate the toxicity of foods and its constituents, since it is considered fast, very low cost, simple and sensitive. Additionally, when this micro crustacean is affected by the toxicity of some substance, a similar dose of this substance often affects que human being. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of the essential oils of Chilean boldo commercial samples that were sold packed on sachets (group 1: six samples) or plastic bags (group 2: four samples). This toxicological evaluation was carried out determining the lethal dose (LD 50 ) of these essential oils by the Artemia salina bioassay. The essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation (2 hours). Six methanol solutions of each essential oil were produced (5, 10, 30, 60, 100 and 150 ppm) and tested against Artemia salina . The mean LD 50 of the total samples tested was calculated as (32.59 ± 19.00) ppm, with the minimum value being 16.75 ppm (sachet sample) and the maximum one being 82.96 ppm (plastic bag sample). All these LD 50 values were below 200 ppm, indicating the highly cytotoxicity potential of all these essential oils. It could encourage, for instance, future studies to verify and test the antitumor activity of these essential oils. The mean LD 50 value of the first group [(26.20 ± 5,59) ppm] (sachets) was not statistically different (p>0.05) from that stablished for the second group (42.18 ± 28.75) ppm (plastic bags).


The Southern Ocean ecosystem is unique on a global scale because of complex ocean dynamics (e.g. fronts, eddies and their interaction with topography), seasonal sea ice advance and retreat, and biochemical cycles relating to all these physical factors. These ecosystems have been a↵ected by climate change over at least the last three decades and the assessment and evaluation of these changes - both at present, and for the future - are urgently required tasks. A key element in understanding and managing Southern Ocean ecosystem change is a better understanding of the physical processes that influence oceanic transport and spatial patterns of recruitment. Simulation models provide a powerful approach to address questions regarding transport processes, including testing alternative theories and predicting conditions under future climate change scenarios.
This thesis develops methods for dispersal modelling to investigate transport of larval - juvenile stages of two important species: Patagonian toothfish and Antarctic krill. These approaches treat larval - juvenile stages as passive particles whose transport by ocean currents can be modelled using Lagrangian particle tracking. Key datasets used to inform this work are: i) remotely sensed surface geostrophic velocity data, ii) ocean model output and iii) physical parameters such as oceanic front position, topography and sea ice concentration.
This thesis is composed of general introduction (Chapter 1), three main dispersal modelling works (Chapter 2–4) and discussion & conclusion (Chapter 5). The second chapter focuses on egg and larval transport of Patagonian toothfish on the Kerguelen Plateau, with results suggesting that successful spawning grounds and transport patterns are coincident with in situ observed data. The second and third chapters focus on Antarctic krill. In particular, Chapter 3 develops a biologically relevant measure of retention time and the results indicate a significant relationship between the length of retention time and observed krill population size. Here retention time is defined as the time that a particle remains in a particular region. Chapter 4 develops a model to test hypotheses for the formation of the observed phenomenon of surface krill patches. Such surface patches are composed mainly of young krill. Results from this chapter support the hypothesis that surfaces patches can form as a result of the release and transport of juvenile krill from the sea ice edge zone during spring and that the distribution of these patches may have shifted to the south due to reductions in sea ice extent over the last 80 years. The tools and methods developed in this thesis have broader applications for other biological particles and will be made available for use by other researchers as an R package.


Title of Document: ALTERNATIVE MIGRATORY PATHWAYS OF JUVENILE STRIPED BASS IN THE PATUXENT RIVER ESTUARY, MARYLAND Christian William Conroy, M.S., 2012 Directed By: Dr. David H. Secor Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences Although highly migratory striped bass Morone saxatilis utilize spatially diverse and dynamic estuarine systems as nurseries, early dispersal behaviors have remained largely unknown. Using otolith chemistry, we identified consistent migratory and residence behaviors in juvenile striped bass year classes. Migrants were further separated by size and age into contingents that shared similar ontogenetic dispersal thresholds. We identified a small group of larval dispersers that moved to mesohaline waters prior to reaching 6 mm. Resident juveniles experienced better early growth that migrants. Small migrants had the lowest growth rates prior to dispersal, but afterward showed enhanced growth rate. Positive growth inflections were also observed for a group of migrants that reinvaded freshwater at larger sizes. Striped bass migration seems to be controlled by individual growth trajectories, where movement is driven by poor growth in the natal habitat. ALTERNATIVE MIGRATORY PATHWAYS OF JUVENILE STRIPED BASS IN THE PATUXENT RIVER ESTUARY, MARYLAND


This paper details a Hardware-in-the-Loop Facility (HIL) developed for evaluation and verification of a missile system with dual mode capability. The missile has the capability of tracking and intercepting a target using either an RF antenna or an IR sensor. The testing of a dual mode system presents a significant challenge in the development of the HIL facility. An IR and RF target environment must be presented simultaneously to the missile under test. These targets, simulated by IR and RF sources, must be presented to the missile under test without interference from each other. The location of each source is critical in the development of the HIL facility. The requirements for building a HIL facility with dual mode capability and the methodology for testing the dual mode system are defined within this paper. Methods for the verification and validation of the facility are discussed.


Retained austenite as a key constituent in final microstructure plays an important role in TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels. The volume fraction, carbon concentration, size, and morphology of this phase are the well‐known parameters which effects on the rate of transformation of retained austenite to martensite and the properties of steel, are studied by many researchers. Of the transformation of retained austenite to martensite under strain in a TRIP steel is studied in this paper. The experimental results show that the transformation rate of retained, austenite with similar characteristics, to martensite in differently processed TRIP steel samples, exhibits an anisotropic behavior. This phenomenon implies a kind of variant selection of martensitic reaction of retained austenite under strain and is explained by ferrite texture developed in steel.


The article is concerned with a process of detection of senior students having a talent for teaching, whose major is not only in education science, with an aim to provide them with an opportunity of postgraduate education and employment as teachers in higher schools. The author pays special attention to the special training course "Introduction to Teaching Activity".


The interfacial chemistry between evaporated Ag and poly(p‐phenylene sulfide) (PPS) has been investigated with x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The initial stages of nucleation and growth of Ag in the subatomic‐layer regime were monitored. The PPS core level spectra exhibit no detectable changes as a function of Ag coverage; however, the Ag 3d5/2 peak position shifts ∼0.6 eV to higher binding energy at low Ag coverages. At low Ag coverages, the valence band spectra consist of two main features centered at 2.5 and 5.9 eV. Unrestricted Hartree–Fock (UHF) molecular orbital calculations suggest that the 5.9 eV band consists of weakly perturbed Ag 4d orbitals and bonding Ag 4d–S 3p hybrid orbitals. The 2.5 eV band consists of antibonding Ag 4d–S 3p hybrid orbitals. Molecular mechanics results suggest that the sulfur atom transforms from a bent to either a trigonal pyramidal or trigonal planar configuration after bonding with Ag. Both the molecular orbital calculations and molecular mechanics results sug...


In Sishilicheng depression of Yanqi Basin, Badaowa Formation becomes one of the most important payzones when searching for subtle trap. In this study, the formation is restored through seismic-line description and by 4 seismic lines across the depression. And then, the arrange style and reflection termination kind of inner layers and the drilling lithological compound characteristics are analyzed. Badaowa Formation can be classified into 3 sequences. And 4 tract systems are also recognized (including low stand tract, transgressive tract system, highstand tract and forced regressive tract system) within these sequences. In addition, some sedimentary facies belts are presented, including lowstand delta, alluvial fan and channel, based on an analysis of both seismic faices and sedimentary facies. The results illustrate that the series foreset developed at forced regressive tract system not only is a response of sandstone interbedded with shale, but also has a potential to developing lithological trap. It will be an important target for further exploration.


Research on agglomeration economies in China is on starting stage.For the lack of theoretical studies,empirical instruments and basic data,empirical studies in this field are scarce,and systematic studies on the existence,strengthen and forms of agglomeration economies in various industries is insufficient.This paper first discriminates different forms of agglomeration economies on theoretical basis,and then makes systematic review on different ways of measuring agglomeration economies.It concludes that all measurement can be divided into for basic groups,direct measuring by estimating the influence of agglomeration factors on firms output or productivity in micro scope,by estimating the influence of agglomeration factors on output or average productivity in industrial or area scope,by estimating the relation between output or average productivity in industrial or area scope with index measuring agglomeration levels,and indirect measuring by analyzing the gradual changing patterns of factors prices in space.


It has already been reported1 that the electric strength of argon liquid with steady voltage depends on the nature of the electrodes. In particular the strength is strongly influenced by the anode as well as by the cathode surface when oxygen is present as an impurity. The present investigation extends the earlier work by considering the electrode effects in more detail.


A map of lithological distribution in the Precambrian basement in Kansas is presented. The map is based upon the densir+ and magnetization distributions within a specific layer as calculated by &e inverse approach presented by Xia and S&owl (1992). and on well data. The deuth to the tou of the layer is determined from the digitizedtopographic map of the Precambrian basement (Cole, 1976) constrained by additional well data (Cole and Watney, 1985). The thickness of the upper Precambrian layer is determined by trial-and-error such that the calculated density/magnetization models show reasonable correspondence with known geology. Rock-type boundaries are determined visually, consistent with the potential fields and well data.


Tissue culture is an aseptic propagation and multiplication technique, it can also eliminate viral systemic conditions that already exist in the plant. Garlic (Allium sativum L) belongs to the genus Allium sp, which is propagated through the clove. The purpose of this study was to observe influenced explant source (Meristem, shoot tip) and the cultivar of galic in proliferation. The media composition were MS with supplement (Sucrose 30 gL−1 + IAA 2 mgL−1 + Kinetin 2 mgL−1 + GA3 0.01 mgL−1 + gelgro 2 gL−1, pH 5.7). The results showed that culture contaminants were generally caused by bacteria and fungi from the explant (endogenous) or improper treatment of surface sterilization. The percentage of proliferation in all varieties of explant shoot tip was higher than meristem, and the abnormal growth for both types of explant were 15 - 35%. Plantlets were infected with OYDV and SYSV in a range between 44.44 - 73.50 %.


This report provides a brief introduction to Geneva and its many international organisations and aims to share some of the insights gained during discussions held with various key persons at the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Nursing Review (INR), the official journal of the International Nursing Council.

*Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


This paper discusses the performance of Gurbānī kīrtan rendered by female singers, an activity that is an integral part of the Sikh spiritual practice, yet at a professional level has always been considered a male domain. The study is framed within the wider context of Indian traditional culture, analyzing the social norms that for centuries prevented women from public exposure in the fields of religious and classical music. In relation to the Sikh tradition, the author explores the variety of musical forms (classical and folk) adopted by female kīrtanīe for performing Gurbānī hymns, raising important issues about music education. Based on ethnographic research among the community of contemporary kīrtanīe, the article explores the key role of media in promoting female performers during the last three decades, through dedicated TV and radio shows, social networks and web sites. In the author's analysis, each decade has brought about radical shifts in the strategies of production and perception of Gurbānī kīrtan, opening up new opportunities for performance by female kīrtanīe.


The table look-up approach is based on prestoring in fast, random-access, core memory the desired answer (e.g., crop-type) for all combinations of multispectral scanner outputs from selected channels. Specifically, each set of measurements from a given point on the ground is interpreted as that address in core memory where the answer can be retrieved. Substituting the simple retrieval operation for the length y computations required by the conventional approach offers two advantages: (1) the processing time is reduced by more than an order of magnitude; (2) the multispectral scanner data can be processed by computers having minimal sophistication, complexity, and cost. These two advantages may make it possible to use an onboard computer to perform the classification function in flight.


Diabetes mellitus is the most common health problem in the world. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exposed great intrinsic anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal activities. Chitosan is an oligosaccharide biopolymer with a great ability to lower hyperglycemia, and ascorbic acid is a water-soluble vitamin with strong antioxidant activity.

 The present study aimed to estimate AgNPs/chitosan/ascorbic acid nanocomposite (Ag-NCs) anti-diabetic properties in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Eighteen male Wistar albino rats were divided into three main groups (6 rats/group); control, diabetic, and Ag-NCs groups. Control group: after a single dose of citrate buffer at PH 4.5 (0.1 mol/L, i.p), the rats orally received 1 ml distilled water daily for four weeks. The diabetic model was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg, i.p) for type 1 diabetes and the rats orally received 1 ml distilled water daily for four weeks. The diabetic group was treated orally with Ag-NCs (0.25 mg/Kg body weight) daily for four weeks.

 AgNPs/chitosan/ascorbic acid nanocomposite group showed a reduction in the concentrations of glucose, NO, MDA, LDL, and the activities of AST, ALT, ALP, and GGT. At the same time, it caused a general increase in insulin, albumin, TB, TC, TG, HDL, CAT, SOD, and GSH levels. The histopathological investigation illustrated regeneration of damaged pancreatic beta cells and a clear improvement in the hepatic architecture.

The suggested mechanism of action for Ag-NCs in decreasing diabetic complications in the liver involved two pathways; the hypoglycemic activity and the antioxidant role of AgNPs, chitosan, and ascorbic acid.


On the method of virtual power in continuum mechanics.- Higher gradient and micro-polar continua as specific cases.- Integrated multi-scale characterization and modeling of ductile failure in heterogeneous materials.- Fractals in mechanics of materials.- Modeling and experimental verification of damage and fracture processes of composites under mechanical and thermal loading.- Multi-scale modeling of damage and failure in composite materials.- Micro-damage mechanics, macro-damage mechanics, and synergistic damage mechanics.- Molecular approaches for multi-field continua: origins and actual developments with applications to fibre composites and masonry-like materials.


Consensus-ADMM (C-ADMM) is devoid of being completely decentralized due to its dependency on star-topology and central coordinator. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for simultaneous optimization and consensus, to completely decentralize C-ADMM, and enabling implementation on any connected undirected graph. We present the necessary conditions on the algorithm parameters for it to be stable while proving its convergence. We also highlight the difference between our algorithm and Distributed-ADMM (D-ADMM), existing in literature. We show the way to choose algorithm parameters through simulations for desired results. We also show how our algorithm outperforms D-ADMM through simulations.


We have recently identified mammalian spinal preganglionic sympathetic neurons as spinal oxygen sensors (SOS). These cells are excited by hypoxia, silenced by hyperoxia, and contribute to oxygen‐sensitive sympathetic responses important for cardiovascular regulation. In general, terrestrial vertebrates experience acute or chronic hypoxia only during pathophysiological states. In contrast, aquatic vertebrates routinely experience environmental hypoxia and hypoxic sensitivity is critical to homeostatic regulation. The aim of the current study is to identify SOS neurons in aquatic larval amphibians. We test the hypothesis that endogenously hypoxia‐sensitive neurons are present in the spinal cords of larval bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus). Spinal cords were isolated from bullfrog tadpoles and incubated for 8 hours in either artificial cerebrospinal fluid or high Mg/low Ca solution to synaptically maintain or isolate cells. Preparations were then exposed to either hyperoxia, normoxia or hypoxia (PO2 of 700, 300 or 100 mmHg respectively) for 3 hours, after which tissues were fixed, sliced and stained to reveal early gene protein expression (c‐Fos) characteristic of cellular activation. Results illustrate the presence of hypoxia‐activated neurons in both synaptically intact and isolated preparations, indicating SOS neurons in amphibian spinal cords. We are characterizing the identities of these cells.