Background Outcome of patients with atrial septal defect (ASD) and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) relates to right ventricular (RV) function.
 Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remains the gold standard for evaluating the RV function but it is not used routinely. We investigated the relationship between MRI and multiple echocardiography parameters, including the Right Ventricle End-Systolic Remodeling Index (RVESRI), a new prognostic marker in patients with PAH.
 Methods 23 patients with ASD and severe PAH (median age 49y.o.[39-59], Sp0 2 92% [90-95], WHO functional class II or III, mean pulmonary artery pressure 51mmHg [40-59]) were included between 2014 and 2018. All patients underwent MRI and echocardiography assessment. Echocardiographic measurements of RV remodeling and function included TAPSE, RV fractional area change (RVFAC), peak systolic velocity of the tricuspid valve (S'TV), right atrial (RA) area, RV strain, Systolic to diastolic ratio, eccentricity index and RVESRI, defined by septum length divided by lateral wall length (Figure 1). Pericardial effusion was noted.
 Results Median RV ejection fraction (EF) evaluated with MRI was 46 % [34-59]. RV dysfunction (RVEF < 45%) was observed in 43% of patients. Median RVFAC and
 RVESRI were 29.6%[23-34] and 1.6[1.4-1.7] respectively. By spearman correlation, RVFAC and RVESRI were significantly correlated to RVEF (Rho 0.62, p < 0.007 and
 Rho -0.51,p < 0.02 respectively). By linear regression, RVFAC and RVESRI were also correlated to RVEF (R 2 =0.36, p < 0.003 and R 2 =0.34, p < 0.08). Pericardial effusion was associated with RV dysfunction (p< 0.008) and a lower RVFAC (p < 0.01). TAPSE, S'TV and RV strain were not correlated with RVEF.
 Conclusion RVFAC, RVESRI and pericardial effusion were markers of RV dysfunction in patients with ASD and severe PAH. RVESRI appears as a simple and reliable parameter for follow-up. Its prognostic value in patients with CHD remains to be demonstrated.


In this paper, we introduce two Galerkin formulations of the Method of Fundamental Solutions (MFS). In contrast to the collocation formulation of the MFS, the proposed Galerkin formulations involve the evaluation of integrals over the boundary of the domain under consideration. On the other hand, these formulations lead to some desirable properties of the stiffness matrix such as symmetry in certain cases. Several numerical examples are considered by these methods and their various features compared. AMS subject classifications: 65N38, 65N30, 65N35, 65N80


Based on the great abundance of information resources, mass media culture has penetrated into people's lives. From the perspective of new media, literature and film are facing opportunities and challenges on their respective platforms. They interact with each other. The strong visual perception and image form have become the important reasons that attract movies better than literature. At the same time, a good film needs a good movie script.


Nowadays computer science is a diversified discipline with a wide range of interdisciplinary applications. Because of that, teachers at primary or high schools unavoidably face the following problem: What are the most useful fields, topics and applications of computer science and programming, and how can we teach them to be motivating enough for a student from the Z generation. In this paper we give a possible answer for the question above by presenting a short introductory session in programming for students in primary and high school. Our primary aim with the above session is to motivate students to continue their studies in engineering higher education. We also present our experiences about two experimental classes here.


In prepn. of electrode, a substrate of an electrically concluctive metal such as Ti, Ta, Nb, Zr or an alloy of these is used, and a coating of an electrode-active substance is on this substrate. Between these is an intermediate layer consisting of a mixt. of; (1) at least one oxide of a tetravalent metal from gp. of Ti and Sn; (2) at least one oxide of a divalent or trivalent metal from the gp. of Al, Ga, Fe, Co, Ni and Tl, and contg. Pt dispersed in this mixt.


Transmission infrared spectroscopy has been used to detect formation of the species PH{sub 2} and PH upon PH{sub 3} adsorption and decomposition on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-supported Rh surfaces. In addition, a unique bonding configuration of PH{sub 3} has been identified that is a precursor to this decomposition process. The precursor state displays a v(PH{sub 3}) vibration that is shifted considerably to lower wavenumbers with respect to the chemisorbed state due presumably to two-center bonding. The population of the precursor state is a sensitive function of temperature, exposed surface metal sites, and surface pretreatment, and precedes the initial phosphine decomposition. The P-H stretching vibration characteristic of this precursor state is quite distinct from that of physisorbed PH{sub 3}, chemisorbed PH{sub 3}, or the partial decomposition fragments, PH{sub 2} and PH.


High resolution plan view images of clean and Au deposited Si(111) surfaces are presented. Corner holes and small holes between dimers of the DAS model of the 7×7 structure were clearly resolved. In the case of the Si (111) 5×1-Au structure the 5 times period fringes did not show fine details.


Proposed a cost-benefitanalyzation framework for distance education platforms from the view of IT-Governance theory. Major features of the framework include: (A) identifying performance from 5 domains of common IT-Governance models(B) assessing project risk and benefit by anonlinear evaluation algorithm(C) evaluating the cost-benefitratio on the inputs of risk, benefit and investment. The frameworkhas been applied in severalprojects. The paperdiscussed the models in the framework, and compared the evaluation results outputted by the framework and that byexperts.


ixing and injection processes of polycarbonate and ABS (acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene) blend were studied in order to optimize the impact strength. Mixing time (rotation speed) and temperature were selected as the main mixing process factors. In the course of injection step, temperature and pressure of injection, and mould temperature were chosen as process factors and blend composition was selected as material factor. The Taguchi orthogonal array was applied to determine the significance level of each factor. An experimental model was developed to predict and optimize the impact strength. Based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), blend composition, mixing time, and temperature, and mould and injection temperatures, had more effect on impact strength of the blend, respectively. However, injection pressure has no significat effect. Then, the level of each factor for maximum impact strength was determined. The validation test approves the result. Hence, the model is suitable for PC/ABS part design with desired impact strength.


Idiopathic megacolon is an acquired disease of unknown pathogenesis characterized by massive dilatation and aperistalsis of the colon. Idiopathic megacolon typically manifests as abnormal bowel movements, abdominal pain, and bloating. We report a case of adult idiopathic megacolon with intestinal obstruction. Subtotal colectomy and ileostomy were performed for his treatment. Then the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment of adult idiopathic megacolon be discussed.

Key words:
Constipation; Intestinal obstruction; Idiopathic megacolon


This study presents a LiDAR-Visual-Inertial Odometry (LVIO) based on optimized visual point-line features, which can effectively compensate for the limitations of a single sensor in real-time localization and mapping. Firstly, an improved line feature extraction in scale space and constraint matching strategy, using the least square method, is proposed to provide a richer visual feature for the front-end of LVIO. Secondly, multi-frame LiDAR point clouds were projected into the visual frame for feature depth correlation. Thirdly, the initial estimation results of Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) were carried out to optimize the scanning matching accuracy of LiDAR. Finally, a factor graph based on Bayesian network is proposed to build the LVIO fusion system, in which GNSS factor and loop factor are introduced to constrain LVIO globally. The evaluations on indoor and outdoor datasets show that the proposed algorithm is superior to other state-of-the-art algorithms in real-time efficiency, positioning accuracy, and mapping effect. Specifically, the average RMSE of absolute trajectory in the indoor environment is 0.075 m and that in the outdoor environment is 3.77 m. These experimental results can prove that the proposed algorithm can effectively solve the problem of line feature mismatching and the accumulated error of local sensors in mobile carrier positioning.


A New Posttranslational Modification in the Methane-Generating Enzyme from a Methanogenic Archaeon Methanogenic archaea universally use methyl coenzyme M reductase (MCR) for catalyzing the final methane-forming reaction step of methanogenesis. MCRs from Methanobacteriales and Methanococcales were phylogenetically subdivided into three types: MCR types I, II, and III. Wagner et al. (e00197-17) determined the first X-ray structures of the type III enzyme. The catalytic site was identical to the others, reflecting the chemically challenging mechanism of methane formation. However, there is an unexpected modification in MCR type III from Methanotorris formicicus, which is 6-hydroxy-tryptophan, a new posttranslational modification that was, so far, found only in the -amanitin toxin.


This paper aims to identify details of interaction and mutual influence of tourism and transport infrastructure development using a combination of sociological and statistical methods. For the analysis, five key sites were selected in several parts of Siberia, differing in natural, socio-economic, and ethnocultural quality, but possessing the presence of compact indigenous communities that reproduce traditional forms of both cultural life and economic activity. While each community has its own unique culture and resources for development, several similar characteristics were revealed. It has been revealed that tourists themselves and workers of the tourism sector, including local residents, are unequivocal supporters of transportation system development. A significant part of the population, recognizing the need and advantages of having a well-functioning transport infrastructure, expresses a negative attitude towards easy accessibility of the territory for outsiders who violate the rules and regime for usage of natural resources and augment economic and cultural competition for the local population. Understanding key processes of interrelations, both explicit and hidden, concomitant to socioeconomic development of remote indigenous communities, with the simultaneous development of tourism and transport, allows the authors to propose a model outline of attitudes of local communities towards tourist and transport perspectives in the territory of their residence.


Recent research into the Moroccan troops who fought in the Spanish Civil War has both drawn from and contributed to insights gained from new historiographical developments in the field of the Spanish conflict as well as other European twentieth-century conflicts. Studies examining the experiences and choices of low-level participants of the war, whether soldiers or civilians – on both the Francoist and republican sides – have increasingly shown that they were players in possession of a certain degree of agency, however limited. That agency allowed these low-level players, whether Spanish or Moroccan, to influence war events to a higher degree than previously thought possible, and has shown that mobilisation for and maintenance of the war effort depended on a certain mixture of coercion and negotiation, even within the more authoritarian Francoist camp. In the European context, the Moroccan participation in the 1936–9 war has its special characteristics, one of which is that its military significance weighed heavier than other colonial contributions to European battlefields between 1914 and 1945, and therefore the agency of Moroccans was more consequential. Nevertheless, it has much in common with other European experiences. A recent collaborative volume on British, French, Spanish and Dutch colonial armies in the first half of the twentieth century, Colonial Soldiers in Europe (2016), edited by Eric Storm and myself, has helped put the Moroccan–Spanish experience in European perspective. Similarities abound, not only in colonial soldiers' experiences of fighting in foreign lands, but also between the various Western European attempts at controlling, i.e. limiting, the cultural and human consequences of this massive irruption of male warriors into the continent. Of the foreign contingents that intervened in Spain, on both the republican and rebel sides, the Moroccans – the Moors as they were better known then – were among the most numerous. From 1936–9 a total of around 80,000 found their way to Spain. Along with the Spanish Legion, the other main component of the Army of Africa, they played a decisive role in preventing an early rebel defeat and securing General Franco's victory. For many contemporary observers of the war their presence represented either the embodiment of savagery, or a simpleton's bravery and nobility. Nevertheless, Moroccan troops were for a long time the least academically studied of the major foreign fighters in the war. Access to the relevant Spanish archives was restricted. The Moroccan soldiers, many of them illiterate, rarely left written accounts of their experiences. In Morocco itself there has been little official interest in profiling the role of the Moroccans in the Spanish war, compared to what has been perceived as the glorious episode of participation in the liberation of Europe during the Second World War. Abdul Haqq Al Miryani's The Moroccan Army throughout History (Al-Jaish al-Magrhibi abra al-Tarikh), for example, which follows the development of Moroccan forces across the Middle Ages towards the second half of the twentieth century and which went through five editions from 1968 till 1997, ignores the role of the Moroccans in Franco's army in Spain save for one sentence. Aside from a few seminal articles and books in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the early 2000s that saw a rapid succession of monographs on the relationship between Morocco and the war. Historians such as Sebastian Balfour have described how the political seeds of the civil war and the brutality with which it was waged were mainly planted during the Moroccan colonial wars of the early twentieth


Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) fibers have been extensively studied for various applications. In this work, PLLA and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were prepared by coelectrospinning to form composite nonwoven materials. The structures and diameter distribution of the electrospun PLLA/PVA composite nonwovens were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The wetting behavior of the electrospun PLLA/PVA composite nonwovens was also investigated using static contact angles and dynamic water adsorption measurements. It was observed that the addition of PVA in the electrospun PLLA/PVA composite nonwovens significantly alerted the contact angles and water adsorption of the composite materials. It was also found that the increase in the content of PLLA led to the increase in the surface contact angle and decrease in water adsorption of the electrospun PLLA/PVA nonwoven materials. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008


Introduction Many diseases of adulthood are associated with a woman's age at menarche. Genetic variation affects age at menarche, but it remains unclear whether in women of African ancestry the timing of menarche is regulated by genetic variants that were identified in predominantly European and East Asian populations. Methods We explored the genetic architecture of age at menarche in 3145 women of African ancestry who live in the USA, Barbados and Nigeria. We undertook a genome-wide association study, and evaluated the performance of previously identified variants. Results One variant was associated with age at menarche, a deletion at chromosome 2 (chr2:207216165) (p=1.14×10−8). 349 genotyped variants overlapped with these identified in populations of non-African ancestry; these replicated weakly, with 51.9% having concordant directions of effect. However, collectively, a polygenic score constructed of those previous variants was suggestively associated with age at menarche (beta=0.288 years; p=0.041). Further, this association was strong in women enrolled in the USA and Barbados (beta=0.445 years, p=0.008), but not in Nigerian women (beta=0.052 years; p=0.83). Discussion This study suggests that in women of African ancestry the genetic drivers of age at menarche may differ from those identified in populations of non-African ancestry, and that these differences are more pronounced in women living in Nigeria, although some associated trait loci may be shared across populations. This highlights the need for well-powered ancestry-specific genetic studies to fully characterise the genetic influences of age at menarche.


In this issue of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Weil et al. report on patterns of care and survival outcomes of patients with early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma, utilizing data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) [1]. There have been two prior NCDB publications, both reporting on the same patient population with similar endpoints and findings: Olszewski et al. included patients treated from 2003 to 2011 [2], and Parikh et al. analyzed patients treated from 1998 to 2011 [3]. This study extends the analysis to include patients treated from 2012 to 2018. With the inclusion of more recently treated patients, key findings include a continued decline in radiation utilization in this population, but essentially unchanged sociodemographic factors that were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving combined modality therapy (CMT). Similar to the two earlier NCDB studies, there is an approximately two-fold increase in odds of survival in the CMT group. The authors also identify an apparent reduction in survival gain with CMT in more recently treated patients. The main reason for the decline in radiation utilization is the growing use of positron emission tomography (PET)-response to select patients for chemotherapy alone, which is a recommended option in more recent versions of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. This is despite three randomized trials that used doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) have either failed to demonstrate non-inferiority or shown significantly inferior outcomes with the omission of radiation therapy after an interim and/or end of therapy complete PET response (a stringent definition of complete PET response of Deauville scores 1–2 were used in two of the trials) [4–6]. A 5year progression-free survival (PFS) of only 87.1% found in the experimental arm of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Groupe d'Etudes des Lymphomes d'Adulte/Lymphoma Study Association (EORTC/GELA/LYSA) H10F trial is clearly suboptimal in this group of highly selected favorable patients [4]. It is remarkable that even with the overrepresentation of patients with significantly worse prognosis due to poor PET-response in the CMT cohort, this updated NCDB analysis continues to show a superior survival outcome in the CMT group. Why does the trend of omitting radiation continue despite the lack of evidence supporting its practice? A frequent justification is that the modest PFS benefit of radiation is surpassed by its 'late toxic side effects.' This line of outmoded thinking discounts the radical changes to the radiation techniques, dose, and fields, and tends to wrongly equate local radiation to systemic therapy. Additionally, this antiquated belief has been repeatedly refuted, for instance, in a recent microsimulation study from the Oxford group [7]. In the study, the authors developed a model that used Hodgkin lymphoma recurrence data from the RAPID trial, and estimated late effect risks associated with radiation using doses to organs at risk in patients on the CMT arm of the trial. Of note, it assumes that all late effects are from radiation, with no contributions from chemotherapy or salvage therapy. Despite these assumptions, the authors found, with the exception of current smokers, that there is a life expectancy and quality-adjusted life expectancy gain with the addition of radiation among all groups of early-stage patients, regardless of age at treatment, gender and sites of involvement. Their finding suggests that among noncurrent smokers, the survival gain from the improved disease control with radiation outweighs any life years lost from late effects of radiation as delivered on the RAPID trial. The results are perhaps unsurprising, since numerous dosimetric studies have demonstrated a 5to over 10-fold reduction in mean doses to critical


With the rapid development of technology, the application of artificial intelligence technology in life is becoming more and more extensive, and intelligent robots play an important role in life. A smart car that can carry out the maze patrolling of three branch roads is designed. This smart car is mainly controlled by the STC89C52 chip and driven by the L298N chip. In this work, the ground information is firstly collected and transformed by the 4-channel TCRT5000 infrared reflection sensor module. Then, TCRT5000 infrared reflection sensor module converts the collected ground information into digital signals and transmits them to the main control chip. Finally, the recognition of the road and the control command such as go forward, turn left and turn right can be implemented through the main control chip. The power system of the smart car is composed of the L298N motor drive module and two DC motors. The main control chip controls the rotation speed and steering of the two DC motors separately, and uses the principle of differential steering to achieve left and right steering. The design uses sensor technology and uses C language for programming, so that the car automatically recognizes the three-way road. This design can be used in driverless vehicles and artificial intelligence related fields.


Objective To observe the effects of Naoxintong Capsules on cerebral edema induced by focal lesion of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion,myeloperoxidase(MPO) activity and the expressions of intercellular adhesion molecule1(ICAM-1),vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) and E-selectin in rats.Method The model of brain middle cerebral artery ischemia/reperfusion was established by the thread approach.The influence of Naoxintong Capsules on brain water content,MPO activity and the expressions of ICAM-1,VCAM-1 and E-selectin were observed.Result Naoxintong Capsules in the dose of 0.24 g/kg or 0.48 g/kg relieved cerebral edema,decreased MPO activity,reduced the expressions of ICAM-1,VCAM-1 and E-selectin.Conclusion Naoxintong Capsules has a protective effect on rat brain from cerebral edema induced by the injury of focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.The mechanism is related to that Naoxintong Capsules can decrease MPO activity and reduce the expressions of ICAM-1,VCAM-1 and E-selectin in rat brain.


A robust predictive control strategy is proposed for discrete-time multi input/output systems with non-equal delays on signal buses. It is based on a separation property between control and prediction. The input delays are taken into account in the control law synthesis and the output delays are handled using an original steady-state Kalman predictor of order equal to the length of the system state. Robustness, especially against uncertain delays, is improved using a state extension for the predictive gain synthesis.


Bombax ceiba L. also called red silk cotton tree is a large deciduous tree which belongs to family Bombacaceae. The tree and its many parts such as leaves, bud, flower, stem bark, roots and gum are claimed for its therapeutic and used in pharmacologic activities like Cytotoxicity, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-diabetic, Hypotensive, Anti-obesity, Antioxidant, Antiangiogenic, Antimicrobial, and Aphrodisiac. It is noted to contain some important phyto constituents like mangiferin, vanillin, anthocyanins, polysaccharides, shamimin and lupeol. This paper is an overview to support the credibility of B. ceiba with the few scientific studies that have been conducted so far.


The invention discloses a method for extracting an active ingredient from maca. The method comprises the following steps of: performing vacuum drying on roots and stalks of the maca which are taken as a raw material, breaking walls, crushing, performing wet granulation, performing supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, separating to obtain a fat-soluble active substance in the maca, and extracting maca polysaccharide from maca extract residue by a hot water extraction method. According to the method, a functional active factor in the maca is extracted by a supercritical carbon dioxide extraction technology, and then the maca polysaccharide in the extract residue is extracted by the hot water extraction method; and the high-efficiency extraction and comprehensive utilization of the active ingredient in a maca raw material are realized by a separation and screening combination method from a crude extract to an effective part and the active ingredient.


In this paper, the SMD isolator for IMT-2000 handset is designed, fabricated and analyzed. We have designed the SMD isolator using EM simulation tool. Electrical results have improved in comparison with a conventional model. It provides an insertion loss of 0.3 dB at 1.95GHz and an isolation of 21.5 dB or more over a frequency range of 1.92 through 1.98 GHz. The dimension of the isolator is 4/spl times/4/spl times/1.8 mm.


Shallow trench isolation (STI) etch is the process used to form fin channel structures in logic FinFET devices. Fin bowing is a common and key challenge during the STI etch process, especially for advanced nodes with higher aspect ratio. In this study, a virtual STI etch process was established and calibrated using the SEMulator3D® platform by Coventor Inc. A virtual design of experiments (DOE) revealed that ion angular distribution function (IADF) and hard mask (HM) profile taper are two key factors that induce a bowed fin profile. Wide ion angle distribution causes direct ion impingement at the sidewall, and a tapered HM profile will create ion scattering that bombards the adjacent fin sidewall. Both mechanisms result in fin bowing. In this study, we explored process trends and sensitivities of IADF, HM angle, HM height and space CD on fin bowing. Our results provide guidance on fin bowing profile reduction optimization, including enhanced sidewall passivation and implications on etch tool and hardware selection that impact ion distribution angle control and HM profile optimization.


This study aims to evaluate the environmental characteristics which provide visitors with pleasant sensory stimulations so as to help them in selecting a store. The survey research was carried out to examine the visitors' perceived importance and satisfaction on the environmental characteristics. Store selection variables for urban entertainment center were reclassified as 9 non-physical environment factors and 15 physical environment factors. Results are as follows: First, In consumption modes, entertainment, retail, and dining are considered as more important in this sequential order. Second, visitors were of the opinion that public transport, way finding, and resting places are also important. In particular, way finding is highly important, but most of the time visitors are unsatisfied. Thus it is necessary to consider this when coming up with construction plans. Third, single layer type requires more concentrated planning, as a result of ISA, proximity, crowded space, approach to destination, wayfinding, and resting place, are of great importance, but low in their satisfaction. And in multi-layer type, it is necessary to produce more intensive plans for parking lot, crowdedness of space, wayfinding, and resting place which are not satisfactory even if they are highly important. Fourth, it was found that when planning Urban Entertainment Center, non-physical environment factors such as product and service are important, but physical environment factors need to be considered first.


Temporal-logic based falsification of Cyber-Physical Systems is a testing technique used to verify certain behaviours in simulation models, however the problem statement typically requires some model-specific tuning of parameters to achieve optimal results. In this experience report, we investigate how different optimization solvers and objective functions affect the falsification outcome for a benchmark set of models and specifications. With data from the four different solvers and three different objective functions for the falsification problem, we see that choice of solver and objective function depends both on the model and the specification that are to be falsified. We also note that using a robust semantics of Signal Temporal Logic typically increases falsification performance compared to using Boolean semantics.


The miscibility of a phenyl benzoate side group liquid crystal polymer (LCP) with a similar low molecular mass liquid crystal (LC) has been studied as a function of temperature and molecular mass by calorimetry and optical microscopy. The nematic to isotropic transition temperatures of the pure polymer and the LC are 112 and 48.8°C, respectively. There is a broad miscibility gap for polymer weight fractions below 50% and temperatures below 72°C. A relatively small increase in miscibility is observed when the polymer molecular mass decreases. In the systems investigated here, the experimental temperature/weight fraction phase diagram is well reproduced by a mean field model combining the Flory-Huggins model for isotropic mixing and the Maier-Saupe theory for nematic ordering. Consequences of the miscibility gap with regard to the behaviour of LCP brushes swollen in a similar low molecular mass nematic liquid crystal are discussed.


Introduction: While type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been shown to be both a risk factor and consequence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the bidirectional relationship between T2DM and PDAC remains to be fully understood. Due to spatial proximity of insulin-producing beta cells, PDAC tumor cells are presumably exposed to a highly concentrated insulin microenvironment, which may contribute to the dysregulation of the insulin receptor gene INSR. There are two isoforms of insulin receptor: IR-A and IR-B. IR-A activity has been associated with oncogenic function and is upregulated in several cancer types. This leads to questions regarding the role of INSR and more specifically, how the ratio of the two isoforms may potentiate tumor aggressiveness in PDAC. Results: Using data from whole-genome and RNA sequencing of metastatic PDAC (mPDAC) from both the PanGen (n=70; NCT01855477) and Personalized Oncogenomics (n=22; NCT02155621) trials, we identified somatic copy loss of INSR in 39/92 (42%) patient tumors, with the majority of such cases (35/39; 90%) showing heterozygous copy loss. There was no statistical association between INSR copy status and PDAC transcriptomic subtypes. INSR expression was lower in basal-like versus classical subtype tumors (p=1.1e-4), and INSR expression was further attenuated in basal-like tumors with heterozygous copy loss of INSR (p=0.0041). The ratio of IR-A:IR-B expression was heterogenous across samples, and heightened IR-A:IR-B ratio was significantly (p<0.05) associated with expression of genes linked to the PI3K-Akt signaling axis (CCDC88A, THEM4) and glucose metabolism (HK1, G6PC, PKLR) in basal-like tumors. Interestingly,HK1 and IGF1R were significantly upregulated, independent of IR-A:IR-B ratio, among basal-like (p 9.1e-9 and p=1.4e-5, respectively) compared to classical subtype tumors. Conclusion: These data indicate that heightened IR-A:IR-B ratio is associated with the expression of key pathways converging on PI3K signalling and glucose metabolism in mPDAC, while highlighting that several IR-A:IR-B-associated gene correlations are unique to basal-like tumors. Such findings warrant further investigation of relative INSR isoform expression in mPDAC and pre-clinical models to elucidate the role of the oncogenic isoform, IR-A, in driving tumor aggressiveness in basal-like subtype tumors.
 Citation Format: Lan V. Tao, James T. Topham, Joanna M. Karasinska, Erica S. Tsang, Andrew Metcalfe, Hassan Ali, Dawn Ashforth, Rachel Goodwin, Patricia A. Tang, Oliver F. Bathe, Janessa Laskin, Marco Marra, Daniel J. Renouf, David F. Schaeffer. Elucidating the role of insulin receptor isoform expression in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2022 Sep 13-16; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(22 Suppl):Abstract nr B066.


An image recognition system can be based on a single-layer neural network composed of Min/Max nodes. This principle is easy to use for greyscale images. However, this article deals with the possibilities of utilising neural nets for colour image recognition. Several principles are demonstrated and tested by recently developed software. A new modified Min/Max node Single Layer Net, suitable for recognition in HSV (Hue Saturation Value) colour space, is presented in this paper.


Negative effects arising from the operation of parallel structure mechanisms near special positions of the first kind are considered, as well as an approach that makes it possible to build effective working zones for such mechanisms in terms of speed, which is experimentally tested on a model of a five-link robot.
Keywords: parallel structure mechanism, working area, vibrations, stepper motor, tooth mesh frequency, five-link mechanism.


AbstractStudents at Oxford can now read for a combined honours course known as PPP: Philosophy, Psychology and Physiology. It seemed an odd mixture to me when I first discovered its existence, butI soon reflected that it would not have seemed at all odd to Dante, and that he would cheerfully have added to the group the fourth P of Poetry. Writing as he did in the period after the Sicilians and in the wake of Cavalcanti, his early love poems are full of psychology and physiology as he dramatizes the complex interactions of the psyche, mind, eyes and heart, and reports the messages carried by the indispensable spiriti sensitivi.


The invention relates to the technical field of renewable energy resources, and especially relates to a method for manufacturing biogas and organic fertilizer by straw. The invention comprises the following steps of: (1) straw pretreatment; (2) straw retting; (3) anaerobic fermentation; (4) utilization of fermentation products. The invention significantly increases the degradation rate and biogas yield of straw, stabilizes the pH value of the fermentation system by combining with the bactericide pretreatment, facilitates the normal proceeding of anaerobic fermentation, and thus increases the methane content in the biogas. The invention greatly saves cost, and has almost no sewage discharge; the utilization rate of renewable energy resources is increased; the biogas produced by crop straw anaerobic fermentation is treated by purification procedures of desulphurization and dehydration, and thus can be used as fuel for resident cooking or for power generation; on the other hand, residues produced by straw anaerobic fermentation are separated into biogas residues and biogas slurry which can be prepared into solid and liquid organic fertilizer, and the organic fertilizer is easy to be absorbed by crops, and can greatly increase the comprehensive utilization rate of straw resources.


The complex course of the reaction of pyrrole with formaldehyde has been completely elucidated by quantitative 13C NMR spectroscopy using the inverse‐gated decoupling technique. The final product is 2,5‐bis(hydroxymethyl)pyrrole (with a free 1‐position), but three main intermediates containing 1‐hydroxymethyl groups were identified, and the rise and subsequent fall of their populations followed. The intermediacy of additional compounds (formals) also renders the reaction more complex. The molar fractions of four hydroxy‐methylpyrroles present in the reaction mixtures were calculated from the 13C NMR data and plotted against time. At 45 and 65°C pyrrole reacted completely with formaldehyde in 1 h and in less than 30 min, respectively. This work illustrates the utility of the 13C NMR investigation of an industrially important reaction.


Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments were conducted under various tensile stress levels for poly(methyl methacrylate) with different amounts of impurities and microscopic defects. Compared with a highly purified sample of optical fiber grade, the commercially available samples containing many impurities showed that the generation of submicrocracks starts at much lower stress levels. Furthermore, it was revealed that the number and size of such submicrocracks become larger in samples irradiated by γ-rays, which produce internal microscopic defects. These results suggest that such impurities and microscopic defects existing in the virgin samples tend to become nuclei for the submicrocracks upon the application of a tensile stress, causing a significant influence on the microscopic deformation process in amorphous polymers.


We empirically analyze aggregate price setting by means of a nonparametric representation of the structural New Keynesian Phillips curve derived from Calvo (1983) pricing for a large cross-section of 14 industrialized economies. State-dependence of the Calvo parameter is tested in a functional-coefficient regression framework. We reject state-invariant pricing. Moreover, problems reported in the extant literature of insignificant and implausible estimates of the Phillips-curve relation are mitigated in the state-dependent specification.


The appraisal theory is a kind of new development about interpersonal function in systemic functional linguistics.The paper applies such a functional approach to analyze both the result of the final judgment and the ratio decidendi of the case about Liu Yong,trying linguistically and legally to tell why the Supreme Court of P.R.C revised the original judgment and executed Liu Yong right after the criminal verdict took effect..In addition,the paper offers a primary discussion on the probably positive changes for the making of criminal written judgment brought by the appraisal approach.


In this contribution, the optical backscattering properties of atmospheric non‐spherical particles are analyzed after long‐range transport with a highly sensitive and accurate UV‐polarization lidar. Far from the source region, the aerosol cloud is considered as a mixture of spherical (s) and non‐spherical (ns) particles. Aerosols UV‐depolarization serves as an independent means to discriminate ns from s‐atmospheric particles. Vertical profiles of aerosols backscattering coefficient βa and UV‐depolarization ratio δa are provided for two ns‐particles case studies, on volcanic ash and desert dust, in the troposphere of Lyon (45.76°N, 4.83°E, France). Achieved polarization‐sensitivity and accuracy allows tracing different atmospheric layers with a 75 m‐altitude resolution. The depolarization ratio δa of the mixed (a) = {s, ns} aerosol cloud is then analyzed in the frame of the scattering matrix formalism. Observed δa‐values, which range from a few to 38.5% (19.5%) for volcanic ash (desert dust) particles, only equal the intrinsic depolarization ratio of ns‐particles when there is no detectable s‐particle, and in the presence of s‐particles, δa is always below δa,ns. By coupling our accurate lidar measurements with scattering matrix, we retrieved vertical profiles of backscattering coefficient, specific to ash (dust) particles, which is new. This ash (dust) specificity is then discussed within our error bars. We hence developed a methodology giving access to the number concentration vertical profile of specific particulate matter in the troposphere.


In this paper a single phase high frequency AC (HFAC) microgrid is presented as an exciting step towards integrating renewable energy sources in a distributed generation system. A very important task in the microgrid is to control the power flow between the microgrid and the local grid, which can be accomplished by using an active filtering solution called universal active power line conditioner (UPLC). Besides, for optimum HFAC bus utilization, it is extremely important to compensate for reactive power, load current harmonics resulted from non-linear loads, and voltage distortions resulting from the source and/or converter non-linearity. A unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), which integrates shunt and series active filters, is a power electronic solution to accomplish all these functions. The controllers for both the UPQC and UPLC are based on the instantaneous single phase p-q theory and the results obtained show that the successful implementation of HFAC microgrid with adequate power flow and power quality control ensuring the improved system utilization


hypoglycemic agent along with metformin. Although the management of diabetes was attempted by the "experts" of the Pharaoah of Egypt 3500 years ago and by Shushruta, the modern times efforts began only in the in the early 1900. In the year 1937, hypoglycemic activity of sulfur compounds was noted, and five years later, Michel Janbon noted hypoglycemia while using antibiotic para amino sulfonamide-isopropyl-thiodiaozole. Its secretogogue action was confirmed by Loubatieres in 1946 and tolbutamide was the first SU to be marketed in Germany in 19501-2.


Sang Sang, Lin Bing, and Gen Niao are created as growing juveniles in Cao Wenxuan's most famous masterpiece The Growth Trilogy. Each book tells the story of these three juveniles 'growing-up, not only the physiological growth, but also psychological growth. Tribulation, pity, and poetry are the consistent core of the growth aesthetics in the three works. Growth is full of tribulations,but they never defeat the juveniles. On the contrary, thanks to the tribulation, the juveniles contemplate the world with pity and grief. At the same time, the scenery of countryside, and tenderness between people fill growth with poetry.


Perhaps more than any other country Israel is a state founded on a consciousness of history. How does this special place for history (especially for early history, where archaeology provides much evidence) influence the purpose and the manner of Israeli archaeology?


The fracture development in overlying strata of goaf and the flowing law of gas in mining-induced fracture field is important to reasonably locating the area of gas drainage with high-level borehole.So,this paper analyzes the development law of fracture in overlying strata and the flowing law of gas in mining-induced fracture field.Basing on the fracture distribution in "vertical three-zone" and the distribution of mining-induced "O" type fracture ring in overlying strata of goaf,and the gas flowing law in mining-induced fracture under "U" type ventilation,the areas in goaf,which have great influence on gas overrun at upper corner of working face,are fount out,the optimal area of gas drainage by high-level borehole is located at about 50 m behind working face in theory,and it is considered that the developmental conditions of fracture in overlying strata in this area is a key to the optimal design of strata level arrangement of high-level borehole.The study provides a theoretical basis for the parameters optimization of gas drainage by high-level borehole.


Infantile acid maltase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disease that invariably leads to death in the first 2 years of life. Debrancher deficiency, also an autosomal recessive disease, however, carries a slowly progressive course. We report a hypotonic infant with a typical clinical course of infantile acid maltase deficiency in whom biochemical investigation revealed complete deficiencies of both acid maltase and debrancher enzyme. (J Child Neurol 1994;9:90-91).


Purpose – This study aims to develop and test a theoretical model to delineate the effects of target market characteristics, firm characteristics and strategic resources, and product characteristics on standardization decisions in brand management of emerging market firms. The effects of standardization on brand performance in international markets are also to be explored.Design/methodology/approach – The study develops a model based on the extant literature and tests its relevance through a survey of eligible managers in charge of international brand operations of 94 strategic business units in Turkey.Findings – The empirical findings indicate that several factors exist as significant drivers of standardization decisions at various levels of brand management. Interestingly, even though firm characteristics and strategic resources were found to be the most critical drivers of brand performance, standardization versus adaptation approaches did not have any significant impact on strategic brand performance....


CD ETA – Collaborative Digitization of Natural and Cultural Heritage Franca Fauci, Alessandro Monti The Foundation for Research and Innovation of the University of Florence (FRI) is partner of a five-year Interreg Project "CD-ETA – Collaborative Digitization of Natural and Cultural Heritage", whose Lead partner is Euroregion Pleven-Olt, a cross border association of the municipalities from Pleven District (Bulgaria) and the municipalities from Olt (Romania). The partnership is balanced both in terms of regions and competencies of the participating organizations: Estonian War Museum (Estonia); University of Patras (Greece); Foundation for Research and Innovation (Italy); Harghita County Council (Romania); Regional Development Agency of Gorenjska (Slovenia); Association of Municipalities of the Ribera Alta Region, (Spain); Foundation Saint Mary the Royal of Historic Heritage (Spain). The main objective of the project is to improve the implementation and the adoption of policies on digitization for natural and cultural heritage, through the identification of best practices and the drawing up of 8 Action Plans, one for each member state partner.


Industrial washing oil as solvent, pyrolysis gas produced from Bai Yinhua lignite during thermal extraction was studied by gas chromatography. The effects of temperature and solvent coal ration on coal pyrolysis gas were investigated. The results showed that: Pyrolysis gas produced mainly in CO, CO2, O2, H2, CH4, and so on, in which the total amount of oxygen containing compounds nearly 40%, significant effects of deoxidation was achieved. The increase of heat extraction temperature can significantly increase the degree of bond breaking and the gas formation rate, the gas yield and the rate of oxygen increase significantly, while the gas yield increases with the decrease of the solvent coal ration.


Highway trucks transported the equivalent of 55,513 rail carloads of interstate shipments of California fresh fruits and vegetables during 1953. Counts at the border check stations showed outbound passings for 1952 to be 51,155 carloads, and 44,646 in 1951. These figures compare with the 1953 railroad car passings of 297,946, with 283,721 in 1952, and with 273,337 in 1951. On the average for those three years, about 15% of interstate shipments of California fresh produce were by truck. A special study of 1,477 trucks leaving California during the week of July 2531, 1 9 5 3 l o a d e d with fruit and vegetablesshowed that, on the average, the trucks carried 19% more packages than the rail-car equivalent used in FederalState Market News Service reports. Truck movement from California is predominantly to western points. On the average-for the three years 1951 to 1953-96.7% of interstate trucks crossing the borders were destined for 'points west of the Mississippi River. Rates vary seasonally as truckers of fresh produce-exempt from route and rate supervision by the Interstate Commerce Commission-are free to bargain on rates. However, the rate advantage of trucking decreases with distance, andaccording to obtainable informationdisappears in the area south of the Great Lakes. The amount of produce trucking to western markets means that figures on interstate passings of rail cars probably exaggerate the importance of the eastern markets to the California produce industry. The indications from truck unloads at the three major California marketsSan Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles -suggest that over one quarter of all California produce is marketed within the state. According to 1950 data-the last available-28.05$ of outbound shipments went through the Oregon border station of Dorris; 22.80% went through Yuma, and 16.60% through Blythe into Arizona; Yermo passed 11.14%, and Truckee, 6.07% into Nevada. Another important factor in truck transportation is speed. The exact time en route varies with each trucker, and there is no guarantee of any particular performance, but-as an example-36


The local stress tensor is defined as the field thermodynamically conjugate to the local strain ten  sor. Any freeenergy change resulting from a strain can then be expressed either in terms of the stresses or in terms of the équivalent singleparticle external force field. Using this équivalence, one obtains a welldefined expression for the local stress tensor in terms of this force field. On this basis we obtain unambiguous expressions for the surface tension and for the location of the surface of ten sion of a planar


In this study, border disease virus (BDV) infection was suspected in a goat herd in Riyadh province, KSA. The outbreak was unusual in that the typical clinical signs of border disease, i.e., tremor and/or fleece changes were not present; manifestations of disease were restricted to abortion and the birth of small weak kids. The diagnosis was confirmed by virus detection from dead-born fetuses, seroprevalence and pathology. Impression smears from internal organs of aborted feti with suspected border disease (BD) were stained with the direct fluorescent antibody technique and examined by fluorescent microscopy, as well as prepared samples were assessed by antigen ELISA, where the two assays indicated the existence of BDV antigen. In addition; the serological investigation performed to determine the prevalence of (BDV) antibodies using ELISA revealed concurrent infection of BDV among this goat herd. Histopathological changes were confined to the brain, spinal cord and liver. Lesions were especially pronounced in the white matter of the cerebrum and the cerebellum. This is the first study that shows the presence of BDV and serologically positive animals to BDV in KSA. Further studies are needed in order to determine the prevalence of the disease in the other goat and sheep populations and the strains of the virus may be present in KSA.


On the basis of analyzing the development of vegetable industry in Heilongjiang Province,proposed comments as promoting the standardized production,improving the level of quality and safety of vegetable production,optimizing the structure of the export production,implementing commercialization processing and handling,strengthening the vegetable industry technology support,improving the technology innovation and promoting the level of application,developing the industrialization and market,improving the benefits of vegetable industry and so on.


Powder compaction is a continually and rapidly evolving technology where it is a highly developed method of manufacturing reliable components. To understand existing mechanisms for compaction, parameter investigation is required. Experimental investigations on powder compaction process, followed by numerical modeling of compaction are presented in this paper. The experimental work explores compression characteristics of soft and hard ductile powder materials. In order to account for deformation, fracture and movement of the particles, a discrete-finite element analysis model is defined to reflect the experimental data and to enable investigations on mechanisms present at the particle level. Effects of important simulation factors and process parameters, such as particle count, time step, particle discretization, and particle size on the powder compaction procedure have been explored.


We evaluated laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) on silica glasses by two kinds of ultra-short soft X-ray laser pulses (13.5 nm, 70 fs, and 13.9 nm, 7 ps). The comparison of our experimental results and the reported values observed by nanosecond soft X-ray pulse revealed a pulse width dependence of LIDTs on silica glasses in the soft X-ray region. The relationship between the pulse width and LIDTs provided valuable discussions of the laser-induced damage mechanism.


Life cycle analysis (LCA) is used to assess the environmental impacts of two options in an urban solid waste management policy. The approach is based on the assessment of an "incremental" system, whereby only the processes that are affected by the policy – the processes that are different accross policy alternatives – are included in the analysis. The approach allows for simpler modeling, better defined system boundaries and less demand for data than a classical separate comparison of two alternatives. Furthermore, the incremental approach is relevant when the goal is to assess the environmental impacts of constructing supplementary facilities. This methodology is applied to assess life cycle environmental impacts of anaerobic digestion and electricity generation from biogas in the organic solid waste management scheme for San Francisco as a replacement of the currently used composting facilities. The analysis shows a net beneficial impact of the proposed project with the majority of the benefits from energy recovery. However, this process may result in detrimental impacts on climate change although these impacts are partially an artifact of LCA and they warrant further study. 1 Goal and scope of the project


Objective To investigate the morbidity and mortality of female lung cancer in Xiaoshan District,and to provide the scientific basis for prevention and treatment of the cancer.Methods The data of new lung cancer cases and lung cancer deaths from Xiaoshan Cancer Registry during 1992-2005 were collected.The morbidity and mortality of female lung cancer patients were analyzed.Results The average morbidity and mortality of female lung cancer from 1992 to 2005 in Xiaoshan were 19.52/100 000 and 15.88/100 000 respectively,showing a trend of increasing.Conclusion Due to risk factors such as environmental factors,passive smoking and cooking fumes,female lung cancer is becoming one of the most common and increasing malignant neoplasm in Xiaoshan District.


A lawsuit was filed alleging that negligence on the part of Victor Hurtuk, a physical education teacher, led to Sara Whittemore's falling on her upper back from a height of approximately four feet during a "levitation" parachute activity in physical education class.


Topical gel preparations are intended for skin application or to certain mucosal surfaces for local action or transdermal penetration of medicament or for their emollient or protective action. Topical delivery of drugs can be achieved by incorporating drug into the gel matrix for effective delivery of drugs, thus avoiding first pass metabolism and for increased local action in pain management and skin diseases. NSAID's are non-steroidal drugs having excellent anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity but NSAID's produces GIT ulceration, liver and kidney trouble especially in case of oral administration. In view of adverse drug reaction associated with oral formulations, many NSAID's are increasingly administered by topical route. Hydrophilic polymers like guar gum and carbopol-940 were used in an attempt to develop topical hydrogel formulations of diclofenac sodium. Evaluation tests for visual appearance, pH, viscosity, spreadability, assay, in vitro drug release, ex vivo drug release were performed. In vitro drug release studies were carried out by using USP V dissolution apparatus. The effects of polymer composition on the rate of ex vivo drug release from the gel formulations were examined through rat abdominal skin mounting on Franz diffusion cell at 32 ± 0.5 o C. No prominent changes in physicochemical properties of formulation were noticed after its exposure to accelerated conditions of temperature (40 ± 2 o C) and humidity conditions (75 ± 5% RH). On exposure to accelerated stability conditions, spreadability, p H and viscosity values were found to be slightly increased but were comparable with initial values and the stability of the formulation was found to be unaffected. The gel formulation, (F8) consisting of 1% w/v guar gum 1% w/v carbopol 940 at 1:1 ratio was found to be suitable for topical application based on in - vitro evaluation and ex - vivo permeation studies. The optimized formulation, F8 was found to have good patient compliance because of its ease of spreadability and the therapy was found to be improved as, the bioavailability of the drug was enhanced.


This thesis analyzes the influence of consumer culture in Nepaliteejsongs. This research is based on the study of six selected teejsongsbelonging to three decades ranging from 1990s to 20202s. The songs are "Bedanako p oko"(Pack of pain), "Bharara ra rani c hari"(Fluttering queen - bird) "Teej aayodidilinajanihainar a" (Aren't you going to bring sister in teej) "Poilajana paam " (May I get chance to elope) "Hong Kong kosari le Nepal kodhuloudaa yo" (Hong Kong's sari is sweeping dust in Nepal) and "Dar khayekosurmaa " (In a mood after the feast). There is a change in the content and style of Nepali teej songs of the 1990s compared to those of the present time (2020s) as a reflection of change in social attitude and behavior. A comparative study of the teej songs from the 1990s and 2020s show that teej songs have shifted both in terms of the use of images for women freedom or happiness in lyrics and also in the presentation of consumption of food, dress, ornaments and gadgets during teej celebrations in their visual representations. In this thesis, I argue that Nepali teej songs manifest the dominant consumer ideology of the time they are produced in.


Let F be a formally real field, P a, preordering and p a form over F. We shall say that a pair (p, P) is maximal if p is P-anisotropic and P is maximal among the preorderings over which p is anisotropic. For a given q-cone Q (cf. [7]) we shall define a preordering P(Q) and show that, P being a preordering, (p, P) is a maximal pair for some form p if and only if P is of finite index and of the form P = P(Q) for some q-cone Q; such a preordering will be called a q-fan in this paper. The main purpose of this paper is to characterize a q-fan in terms of the q-dimension which is defined in §3, and give a reduction formula on q-dimensions (Theorem 3.6 and Theorem 3.9).


Aim: A comparison of clinical outcomes between percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) and surgical drainage in the management of perinephric abscesses was made in a contemporary cohort. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical features of perinephric abscesses in a single community-based hospital. Demographics, predisposing factors, symptoms and signs, laboratory data, diagnosis at admission, microbiological data, management and outcomes were recorded. Clinical outcomes were then compared between patients receiving PCD and surgical drainage. Results: Twenty-seven patients with perinephric abscesses were enrolled. Primary management involved a combination of antibiotic therapy and PCD for abscess in 12 (44.4%) patients. Eleven (40.7%) patients required surgical drainage for treatment of perinephric abscesses. No significant difference in the mean duration of hospitalization was found between the two groups (P=0.148). In addition, there was one mortality in the PCD group and another patient expired in the surgical drainage group due to multiple organ failure. Conclusions: The clinical outcome of perinephric abscess is dependent on early treatment and adequate drainage. PCD with a large-size catheter is less invasive and functions as a suitable choice for the draining of perinephric abscess, especially in critically ill patients.


Lo Presti et al. (1999) reported in their article the description of a new Legionella species, Legionella taurinensis. We think it useful to provide some information about the origin of the type strain of this new species. The type strain reported as Turin I no. 1T (ATCC 700508T) and the strains Turin I no. 2, Turin II no. 180 and Turin II no. 195 of the 'Turin cluster ' have been isolated in our laboratory, the Infectious Diseases Institute of Turin, University of Turin (Legionella Reference Center for Piedmont Region) in March 1988 (Director Professor Paolo Gioannini) from a water sample of an oxygen bubble humidifier. The specimens were collected in a big university hospital (1850 beds) in Turin, where nosocomial Legionella infection occurred.


The manner in which we acquire a relative autonomy in reality shares very little likeness with the conception of autonomy championed by the philosophical tradition, from Plato and the Stoicists up to Kant. Starting from an autobiographical account, the author describes certain essential stages in the acquisition of autonomy : the parents' opening gift ; socialisation and various relational circles ; serendipity as antidote to the pressures of conformity ; progress in self-knowledge and in the perception of one's relations with others.


the fibula. A locking tower is inserted into the plate immediately distal to the fracture line. Next, a bicortical screw is placed from superior to inferior approximately 2 cm proximal to the fibular fracture leaving the screw head proud approximately 16 to 20 mm. Using a reduction clamp, the fracture is reduced placing the tines between the locking tower and the cortical screw, which pro-duces length when the clamp is rotated. (Figures 1 and 2). This maneuver allows fracture distraction and rotation to restore appropriate fibular alignment without the reliance of intact dense cortical bone as points of contact. The bicortical screw substitutes as the cortex of the proximal fracture fragment releasing the stress otherwise applied by the reduction clamp on the osteoporotic bone during the reduction. Once reduction is achieved, a screw is placed over the proximal fragment through the plate to hold reduction. Appropriate restoration of fibular length and rotation in the coronal and sagittal planes is verified under fluoroscopy.


The coal mine water was a kind of important water resources.According to the water quality features of northwest mine water,the paper introduced the relevant treatment process for the mine water.Besides,it also analyzed the direction of the mine water's comprehensive utilization.


Natural products, or secondary metabolites, have proven significant to the existence of life. They have been used for countless reasons throughout history, including nonessential purposes such as dyes for textiles and paints. Less trivial uses, such as those related to health better demonstrate the importance of natural products. Toxic natural products had been used to bolster hunting efficiency and insect pheromones. Therapeutic natural products have long been used as dietary supplements and medicines. The ubiquitous nature of natural products and their derivatives in current medicinal validates continued investigations in all areas of natural product research. Our laboratory has a longstanding tradition in the synthesis and evaluation of biologically interesting natural products. We have viewed natural product synthesis as a tool to expand our understanding of organic chemistry. Of particular are natural products with novel architectures. The synthetic study of these natural products often inspires creativity to solve complicated synthetic challenges, and leads to the development of new methodologies. Novel structural characteristics and attractive bioactivities of two natural product families, zoanthamine alkaloids and Illicium sesquiterpenes, caught our interest for the stated reasons. Research herein describes work directed towards synthesis of the ABC ring system of norzoanthamine, total syntheses of Illicium sesquiterpenes jiadifenolide and jiadifenin. Chapters 1 and 2 narrate the background and research related to the norzoanthamine ABC ring motif. Chapters 3 and 4 report the total syntheses of jiadifenolide and jiadifenin, and their biological studies related to their neurotrophic activity


The invention provides a method for single-sided fabric finishing, which comprises the following steps: 1) pre-drying fabric; 2) applying finishing solution on a single side of the fabric by means of spraying; and 3) drying the fabric obtained in the second step, and obtaining the finished fabric product after drying. The method has a simple technical process, and can greatly improve the production efficiency in fabric finishing. After the single-sided finishing, such as the single-sided water-repellent and oil-repellent finishing, the fabric not only can meet the requirements for water repellence and oil repellence, but also can be worn more comfortably, thereby improving the product grade.


Abstract For an arbitrary group G, and a G-adapted ring R (for example, R = ℤ), let 𝒰 be the group of units of the group ring RG, and let Z∞(𝒰) denote the union of the terms of the upper central series of 𝒰, the elements of which are called hypercentral units. It is shown that Z∞(𝒰) ⩽ (G). As a consequence, hypercentral units commute with all unipotent elements, and if G has non-normal finite subgroups with R(G) denoting their intersection, then [𝒰,Z∞(𝒰)] ⩽ R(G). Further consequences are given as well as concrete examples.


Systemic hypertension, characterized by elevated blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg, is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Hypertension also associates with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is becoming common due to a modern diet and lifestyle. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a high‐fat "Western" diet had effects on hypertension and associated NAFLD. Normotensive Wistar‐Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were placed on a normal chow or high‐fat diet for 8 weeks; blood pressure was measured fortnightly and body weight recorded weekly. As expected, SHR had elevated blood pressure compared to WKY. Diet did not influence blood pressure. Compared to SHR, WKY rats gained more weight, associating with increased white adipose tissue weight. Normotensive rats also had higher plasma cholesterol and triglycerides in response to a "Western" diet, with no changes in plasma glucose levels. Neither strain developed atherosclerosis. Interestingly, high‐fat diet‐fed SHR had increased liver weight, associating with a significant level of hepatic lipid accumulation not observed in WKY. Further, they exhibited hepatocellular ballooning and increased hepatic inflammation, indicative of steatohepatitis. These findings suggest that a high‐fat "Western" diet promotes features of NAFLD in SHR, but not WKY rats. Importantly, the high‐fat diet had no effect on blood pressure.


A bench scale catalytic distillation (CD) apparatus was established, which was used to study the performance of CD in hydrolyzing methyl acetate ( MeOAc) in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) production. Three operational parameters, the mole ratio of feed water to MeOAc ( R m), the volume ratio of reflux to feed MeOAc ( R f) and space velocity ( S ), were defined and investigated experimentally and the experimental results were discussed in detail. A comparison between CD and fix bed reactor (FBR, the currently used technology by most PVA manufactory) was also made. According to the experimental results, the optimal operational condition was suggested. The experimental results lead to such a conclusion that the CD technology has more advantages than FBR technology in hydrolyzing MeOAc, much higher hydrolysis ratio can be reached by CD and more energy can be saved.


This article describes our study about federated learning by using the front view-based training process in autonomous driving as an example. The overlap of camera views among users creates training data correlation. It is shown that this correlation undermines the optimization performance of the federated learning process. To reduce the negative effect of correlation within training data while limiting wireless channel resource utilization, a federated learning protocol with user selection is proposed. The protocol selects a limited number of users with sufficient spatial separation in each round of federated learning. An exclusion zone is applied to maintain separation during user selection. Experimental results show that in an example deployment scenario with a user density of 0.05, applying a discrete exclusion zone (DEZ) to prevent selecting the first three nearest users and applying a geographical exclusion zone (DEZ) to avoid selecting users within 70 m have equivalent effects on reducing training data. Furthermore, both methods can provide the performance of five-user federated learning approaches, an ideal case without correlation in the training data.


Data drawn from a longitudinal case study of change is used to examine contextual factors in the conception, uptake and operation of manufacturing cells. Attention is given to the external context of change and the importance of internal factors, such as the technical configuration of work, and the culture and history of plant operations, in shaping change outcomes. In charting a number of contextual dimensions, political process is also identified as a central element which overlaps and intertwines with context. Highlights how political process and context are important in shaping both the process of change (for example, local implementation strategy and employee responses to change) and change outcomes (for example, operating practices around the new cell arrangements).


The problem of high impedance fault (HIF) detection in resonant grounding distribution systems has not been well solved. In practical applications, the existing detection methods either have complex calculation processes and low accuracy or have a weak ability to adapt to complex fault conditions, which limits the adaptability of the existing methods. Based on a theoretical analysis, a novel faulty feeder detection method based on the inner product transformation of extreme values is proposed in this paper. First, to eliminate the interference of high-frequency components, the low-frequency characteristic modes of zero-sequence current of each feeder are extracted by the variational mode decomposition (VMD) algorithm. On this basis, the low-frequency intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) are processed by the first-order difference to obtain the current waveform after the difference. Second, the zero crossing point of the differential current waveform is obtained, and then the extreme value point of the original zero-sequence current is calibrated, including the maximum and minimum. Third, at the extreme value point, the comprehensive inner product values (CIPV) of each feeder are calculated. Then, when the values are positive, it is judged as a bus fault, when the value has at least one negative value, it is judged as a feeder fault, and the feeder with the minimum value is judged as a faulty feeder. A large number of simulations and field tests show that this method has better fault detection accuracy in practical applications and is suitable for strong noise interference and asynchronous sampling.


The present invention discloses one kind of reinforcing purifying pre-reservoir system for treating the plain river network area. The reinforcing purifying pre-reservoir system includes four parts: surficial runoff colleting and regulating subsystem; depositing plant grating subsystem; reinforcing purifying ecological permeable dam subsystem; and pre-reservoir area. The said four parts are connected successively to form one complete reinforcing purifying pre-reservoir system for treating the plain river network area. The system can eliminate N and P containing nutritive salts, suspended solid and one pollutant from surficial runoff and other pollution sources to reduce pollution load. The present invention can reach the target of eliminating TN in 60 %, TP in 70 % and SS in 80 %, and the technology may be used in plain river network area.


Acknowledgments Preface CHAPTER ONE: A SKETCH OF SCHOPENHAUER'S CENTRAL IDEAS: A NEGLECTED GENIUS The Fourfold Root Transcendental Idealism and the Metaphysics of Will Freedom, Determinism and the Will\ The Basis of Ethics: Reason versus Compassion CHAPTER TWO: THREE MAJOR THEMES OF SCHOPENHAUER'S PHILOSOPHY: TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM, PANPSYCHISM, AND DETERMINISM Kant's Epistemology Schopenhauer's Version of Idealism, and his Evaluation of Kant Why I Am Not an Idealist A Suggestion Schopenhauer's Panpsychism and its Philosophical Ancestry Objections to Panpsychism Considered Causal Power as Metaphysically Basic Determinism and Responsibility Quantum Mechanics CHAPTER THREE: SCHOPENHAUER'S ANTI-KANTIAN ACCOUNT OF MORALITY: KANTIAN ETHICS: ITS APPEAL AND ITS PUZZLING ASPECTS Schopenhauer Reads Kant's Ethics Compassion as the Basis of Ethics Evaluative Remarks Wittgenstein's Ethical View and Its Schopenhauerian Roots CHAPTER FOUR: SCHOPENHAUER'S AESTHETICS: THE MEANING OF ART AND MUSIC: SCHOPENHAUER'S AESTHETIC THEORY IN GENERAL Schopenhauer's Theory of Music in Particular The Character of Genius Summary of My Suggestions CHAPTER FIVE: PESSIMISM, DEPRESSION, AND SALVATION: PESSIMISM AS A PHILOSOPHICAL ORIENTATION Optimism and Pessimism as Personality Traits The Danger of the Attribution Fallacy Depression and the Psychological Roots of Pessimism Salvation as Recovery from Depression Schopenhauer on the "Acquired Character" Salvation as Denial of the Will Now That My Ladder's Gone


In the gathering of information about students at different age levels there remain certain areas for which available techniques of investigation are inadequate. There are other areas where available techniques cannot be used without certain unfortunate by-product results which should be avoided. The writer has for some time attempted to investigate certain of these areas, not by developing new types of techniques and instruments, but by estab lishing a new relationship with the students who are investigated.


The extraction of neutrino mixing parameters from neutrino oscillation experiments relies on the reconstruction of the incident neutrino energy and knowledge of the neutrino-nucleus interaction cross-section for various nuclei and incident neutrino energies. The energy reconstruction is done using the yield and kinematics of particles produced from neutrino interactions in nuclei. However, none of these energy reconstruction techniques have been tested experimentally using beams of known


Pathological high-frequency oscillations (HFOs, 200–600 Hz) observed in depth-EEG and on scalp EEG recordings are recognized to be potentially valuable biomarkers of the epileptogenic zone responsible for generating seizures. Many research studies have been dedicated to detect, classify, simulate and understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for their generation. However, broadly classifying the HFOs into classes of wide frequency bands may negatively impact the quality of information carried by these electrophysiological biomarkers. In this paper, we perform a comparative study of various signal processing methods for estimating the dominant frequency of HFOs. The novelty is to make use of a physiologically-plausible computational model in which the HFO frequency can be tuned a priori. Results indicate that non-parametric methods best estimate the frequency of the low-amplitude fast oscillations characteristic of HFOs.


Finally, the establishment of an analogous affinity between the individual's ideal-forming power and the forms to be discerned in his environment as a whole, natural and social, is the ultimately satisfying condition of life. The ethical implications of this thesis are left unexamined. The aesthetic theory is open to the usual objections to expression theories—in being unclear where it is most interesting; the author rightly rejects emotion as the sole candidate for artistic expression, preferring "perceptions, discernments, awarenesses"—of "presences". Unfortunately the author uses "presences" as a bridge-term, eliminating the subject-object gap and related (interesting) questions. The question remains: must art have this purpose? Must it mean something? The book leaves the track in tackling this question empirically. The author observes as a fact that any perceptual element or pattern of elements will have "intuitive meaning" for any perceiver (roughly: arouses associated expectations or memories). But an artist may disregard such meanings and attempt to offer us simply a pattern of line and colour. The author follows and illustrates successive steps towards and then back from this aim in the experimental developments of modern art, from Impressionistic naturalism, through Cezanne and the Cubists to the Abstractionists, and back again (in his view) to the Surrealists. He quotes artists on their work side by side with examples of it. He then asks himself the question: Do works claiming only the appeal of abstract patterns succeed? and answers: They don't. They fail to maintain interest. This is surely the right way to treat the question, though the answer claims a brute facticity where many would suspect a dubious verdict. "What, then, is lacking in merely decorative art? The author's answer is "intuitive meaning". The intuitive meaning of a form is the body of beliefs with which the recognition of the form is associated for the perceiver without conscious reflection. Some such associations will be idiosyncratic, some general; some can be brought to consciousness, some not. If a form is to provide us with a fully satisfactory aesthetic apprehension it must embody such associated meanings, but these must both be subordinated to a unified perceptual pattern and themselves constitute an "intuitive unity". What counts as an intuitive unity is unfortunately left unexplained. The intuitive meaning of La Giaconda is said to be fascinatingly self-contradictory. But I suspect Mr. Howell was Idealist enough to welcome this.


Though short and concise,song titles epitomize all the important information of the songs and they are very helpful in drawing listeners' attention and disseminating the songs widely among people.In the translation of song titles,the following principles should be observed: striving for conciseness,adhering to the principle of dynamic equivalence,leaving for listeners a margin for imagination,using ingeniously the four-character pattern,and retaining high aesthetic value.


Abstract The emplacement of displaced Zimbabweans depends on the particular political economies and the modes of belonging operating at the sites at which they find themselves. This is shown by examining the situation of Zimbabweans working or seeking work on commercial farms in northern Limpopo Province, South Africa, in the border zone with Zimbabwe. As Zimbabweans flee their country in part to find a cash currency that has more value than the Zimbabwean dollar, their Zimbabwean citizenship gives them a particular symbolic currency in these jobs. Many of the border zone farmers are keen to employ them as their desperation for work typically predisposes them to work harder and often for lower wages than South Africans. Yet this latter currency is also shaped by public debates and institutional practices regarding 'Zimbabweans' in the wider political economy of South Africa, which in turn inform the circulation, conditions, and vulnerabilities of these Zimbabweans on the farms.


According to the principia of colligation, opening, innovation and cel erity, a new experiment teaching system adapting the requirement of the society development and training the creativity of student was constructed based on the experiment content, teaching mode, method of examination and appraisement,etc.


Despite deserving his much-needed holiday, Fabian Rivers, recent graduate rep on BVA Council, felt somewhat guilty about leaving a new grad to take on extra responsibility.


Recently, we showed that infection with dengue virus increases the locomotor activity of Aedes aegypti females. We speculate that the observed increased locomotor activity could potentially increase the chances of finding a suitable host and, as a consequence, the relative biting rate of infected mosquitoes. We used a mathematical model to investigate the impact of the increased locomotor activity by assuming that this activity translated into an increased biting rate for infected mosquitoes. The results show that the increased biting rate resulted in dengue outbreaks with greater numbers of primary and secondary infections and with more severe biennial epidemics.


The correlation between the shielding effectiveness and transfer impedance of a 50 /spl Omega/ shielded cable was evaluated. The methods used in the performance of the investigation to induce the currents and voltages into the wires and cables were by use of an electric dipole antenna and a current probe. A direct correlation between shielding effectiveness and transfer impedance was recorded on a BNC cable that was terminated in 50 /spl Omega/ at both ends.


This volume contains the Princeton "L. P. Stone Lectures of 1914, revised and elaborated." They are six in number and deal with the more pressing apologetic problems of Christianity: "What Is the Christian Faith ~" "The Christian Faith and Modern Science" ; "The Christian Faith and Psychology" ; "The Christian Faith and Recent Philosophy"; "The Christian Faith and Other Religions"; "The Christian Faith and Biblical Crticism." The author shows wide and accurate acquaintance with the various critical questions of the day in all these fields. His frankness and general spirit of fairness are entirely satisfactory. He walks firmly in a secure rational faith amid all the forms of doubt and uncertainty that stalk abroad. He has read many apologetic works and quotes rather too freely at times, but is independeur withal. Covering so large a scope in a single volume much of the discussion must needs be summary. Here, however, it is always clear and incisive. The items reviewed are the important ones. There was need for such a general survey of the field and this work must, on that account, be set down as one of the best of recent apologetic volumes, one among the list of first selections.


Evidence exists that ultraviolet radiation (UV) affects molecular targets in the nucleus or at the cell membrane. UV-induced apoptosis was found to be mediated via DNA damageand activation of death receptors, suggesting that nuclear and membrane effects are not mutually exclusive. To determine whether participation of nuclear and membrane components is also essential for other UV responses, we studied the induction of interleukin-6 (IL-6) by UV. Exposing HeLa cells to UV at 4 °C, which inhibits activation of surface receptors, almost completely prevented IL-6 release. Enhanced repair of UV-mediated DNA damage by addition of the DNA repair enzyme photolyase did not affect UV-induced IL-6 production, suggesting that in this case membrane events predominante over nuclear effects. UV-induced IL-6 release is mediated via NFκB since the NFκB inhibitor MG132 or transfection of cells with a super-repressor form of the NFκB inhibitor IκB reduced IL-6 release. Transfection with a dominant negative mutant of the signaling protein TRAF-2 reduced IL-6 release upon exposure to UV, indicating that UV-induced IL-6 release is mediated by activation of the tumor necrosis factor receptor-1. These data demonstrate that UV can exert biological effects mainly by affecting cell surface receptors and that this is independent of its ability to induce nuclear DNA damage.


A survey of candidate high-index lens materials for UV lithography optics is presented. These materials may enable extension of 193 nm immersion lithography to smaller features sizes, while reducing lens system sizes.


From the angle of comparative literature, the essay discusses the important influences of Japanese drama on TIAN Han's drama creation, drama theory and drama movement. It also reveals the arduous process of TIAN Han's development from a student studying in Japan and a literature youth into a famous modern dramatist of China.


Within soil degradation processes soil erosion is on the first place, as consequence of improper land man-agement, first of all soil tillage system and practices. Results of 10 years (1995-2004) of our investigation (investigation endure now 21st year) show guidelines in tillage practices. At first; traditional tillage practiced in this agricultural region up/down the slope on Stagnogley on slopes of 9 % and more is unsustainable in growing of row crops-maize and soybean, because of disastrous or extreme soil erosion. But, in growing of crops of high density, like wheat this practice is sustainable. On the other side, No-tillage and contour tillage resulted in much lower water erosion in comparison with up/down the slope tillage. At the beginning of experiment in the first two years No-tillage as system was not sustainable. Stabilization of yields of growing crops on the level which is statistically the same or higher than on other tillage treatments on notillage plot started after ten years of no-tillage practice. These investigations suggest the conclusion that high density crops like winter wheat, spring barley and oilseed rape are relatively suitable crops for growing under reduced tillage systems. Soybean tolerates no-till practices in climatically favourable years, but with higher risk in dry years. Maize was shown as a very risky crop without tillage even in climatically average years. We agree with assertion of Solbrig [1] that no tillage is a process, a new philosophy and way of thinking in arable farming of Europe, and not a technology.


The dengue infection is a viral infection presenting with high fever accompanied with many hematological changes (positive tourniquet test, thrombocytopenia and atypical lymphocytosis) [1]. This serious infection can result in a bleeding episode and this can result in death [2]. In the management of dengue, it is required to monitor for a possible hemorrhagic episode. Early detection and prompt fluid replacement therapy is the key process for managing the severe dengue case [1]. Following up of the patient in dengue hemorrhagic fever seems to be a difficult issue. The standard laboratory investigation is usually limited. Based on a standard automated complete blood count (CBC), the finding of thrombocytopenia is common, however, this is usually too late for early diagnosis. How to use other CBC parameters to predict the hemorrhagic episode seems to a topic to be discussed. Here, the author discusses the possibility of using a platelet distribulogram in automated CBC in following up and early detection of a hemorrhagic episode in dengue infection.


In order for the unlicensed or secondary users to use the licensed spectrum cognitive radio has been proposed. The licensed frequencies can be made use of by unlicensed users through dynamic spectrum access so as to reduce spectrum scarcity. This requires intelligent spectrum sensing techniques. The detection of unused frequency bands is the most challenging task in cognitive radio. In this study such unused spectrum is predicted by exploring the primary users presence in minimum time using matched filter based detection incorporating optimal threshold selection, thereby increasing the sensing accuracy and interference reduction of secondary network.


................................................. v Introduction .............................................. 1 Chapter I The Motif of the Journey and Hawthorne's Reading . . . 23 Chapter II F a n s h a w e .................................................... 56 Chapter III Walking in Hawthorne's First-Person Narratives . . . . 78 Chapter IV Walking in Hawthorne's Third-Person Narratives . . . 145 Chapter V The Image of Walking in Hawthorne's Romances . . . . 198 Bibliography.............................. .............277


The C4.5 algorithm still has weaknesses in predicting or classifying data if a large number of classes are used which can lead to increased decision-making time. So an approach is needed to improve the performance of the C4.5 algorithm with the selected split attributes that use the application of the average gain value to help predictions. The C4.5 algorithm is one of the Decision Tree methods in the classification process using the information entropy concept. The C4.5 algorithm uses the split criteria from ID3, the Gain Ratio is a modification of the method. The ID3 algorithm uses Information Gain (IG) for the split attribute criteria, while the C4.5 algorithm with Gain Ratio (GR), where the root value comes from high gain. The conclusion of the tests that have been carried out using the Water Quality dataset in the C4.5 method has an accuracy rate of 91.30%, with a classification error rate of 8.70%. Successful implementation using the C4.5 method in predicting the Water Quality dataset.


One variety of pond fish with an unique taste is milkfish. However, because milkfish has small spines all over its body, consuming it may feel uncomfortable. A further technique is to cook milkfish with high pressure in a pan (presto). Until now, the ASLI Posdaya group has been producing presto milkfish according to traditional methods in the Pandanwangi subdistrict of Malang City. The program carried out by the community service team at Unmer Malang aims to assist product development by improving infrastructure and improving marketing skills. The process includes providing production tools, instruction and assistance for pressure milkfish production, digital marketing, and product diversification. The implementation of supporting infrastructure and facilities in the form of a pressure cooker, oven, deep fryer, and vacuum sealer are the outcomes of this service activity. As a result, both the quality of the manufacturing and the rate of business turnover increase. Additionally, partners can use Facebook and Instagram as marketing tools and there has been an increase in insight into the rapid milkfish production process.


Due to the exponentially increasing number of amateur photographers and their photo collections, there is a growing need for automatic aesthetic assessment within amateur photography, both to rank within the collections and to help amateur photographers take better pictures. The problem is inherently difficult not only in sterilizing the data set from preference for content, but due to the soft and personal preferences inherent in photography appreciation. While many labs are beginning to make indents into this problem with algorithms based on historically taught features, each has taken their own path. This paper looks at three recent studies ([1], [2], and [3] ) and compares their data sets, algorithms, and user testing. Finally this paper does a new analysis on the Panorama data and individual users to yield promising results in line with the other papers, getting an average of 89% with all features and 91% with spacial features. It also followed [3] 's lead and attempted to maintain the maximum efficiency with as few interpretable features as possible. Its results lend credence to the concept that different features are more significant in distinguishing the good and bad in amateur photography than professional photography. In the world of digital cameras and cheap data space, the field of photography and art production is no longer limited to classically trained or monetarily invested individuals. Consequently, photography has been inundated with a deluge of amateur photographs. Not only does this distill the quality of the photographs produced, but it perhaps changes the conception of what aesthetic qualities are needed to call a photo good or powerful. Furthermore, with the significantly lowered cost of time and money per pixel, collections of photos has grown within the private space of personal hard drives. Theres a need to be able to distill personally preferred aesthetics in order to help both professional and amateur photographers sort the good from the bad. Within this world, the need for aesthetic assessment arises, whether to glean the bad photos from the good, to improve all photos, or as suggestions to photographers for better shots. However this problem is inherently troublesome in finding a good dataset, free from content bias and classically trained phoCopyright c © 2012, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. tographers. Not only is the current free online public content mostly unlabeled but a ranking of a photos quality is greatly related to the photos content. A blurry photo of a sleeping kitten can rate much higher than a well composed photo of a table. Historical efforts (such as [4], [5], and [6]) have used the DPChallenge.com photo contest database of 12,000 photos due to its robust labeling. Table 1 shows the cited aesthetic assessment studies, their databases, and results. However that particular database is not only based on users preferences skewed towards significant content but a photography sample potentially skewed towards classically taught photographers (aka those who want to make money off their content). Others have looked into other databases [7], and [8] but have not yet come up with one free from the content bias. Three more recent studies, [1], [2], and [3] have made valiant efforts at creating an aesthetic assessment tools and tested them on data suitably less noisy with content bias. They not only work on eliminating content bias within their databases, they look into novel ways on making accurate algorithms based on classic photography rules, and follow up with user studies to assess the accuracy of their algorithms on new data. [2]uses the DBChallenge.com photographs to evaluate while [3] uses a 2 class Fickr.com 650 photo database and [1] uses AB game generated 100 photo database with 2,470 unique comparisons with ten user inputs apiece. While each looks at particular classic photography strengths,[3] relies on simply on rule of thirds and visual weight, and the horizon line, [2]s algorithm relies heavily on what other papers call simplicity, hue, and contrast but from a more bottom up perspective, and [1] relies heavy on rule of thirds, occlusion, subject size ratio, and spacial from a bottom up perspective. Each then rates how well their algorithm does in the real world: [3] uses their algorithm to first edit the photos and then compare them to the original photo; [2] takes new photos and edits them for best and worst optimization and then ask users their preferences; [1] similarly predicts on users preference between two photos. The following sections go into further details on each studies database, algorithms, and user studies. This paper looks into the flaws in each and creates new results with the Panorama database using the strengths of each. It also suggests where we take the Panorama data from here to make it more robust and widely used. Paper Data Set source Algorithm Features Accuracy on Test Set [4] DPchallenge.com Naive Bayes Classifier Blur, Simplicity, Hue Count, etc 76% [6] DPchallenge.com Adaboost Clarity, Composition,Simplicity, Lighting, Color combination 93% [5] DPchallenge.com ListNet Rule of Thirds, Simplicity, Contrast 93% [2] DPchallenge.com Adaboost (BOaP) Simplicity, Saliency, Texture, Color hue, etc 92% [3] Flickr.com soft-mapped SVR Rule of thirds, golden weight ratio, 86% [8] Photo.net Naive Bayes Classifier 56 features [1] Panorama SVR Rule of Thirds, Spacing, Occlusion, Number of objects, etc 65% This Paper Panorama SVR Horizon Tilt, Cropped Images, Sight Line, Occlusions 85% This Paper Panorama SVR Spacial BOaP 91% Figure 1: Past Studies, their features and their reported accuracies


This paper proposes a novel adaptive optical packet assembly algorithm, which utilizes traffic prediction and the Internet traffic characteristics at multi-time scales to improve the network performance. Simulation results assess the merits of the algorithm. (2 pages)


The adult education literature on disruptive behavior of adult learners was reviewed and a survey on disruptive behavior of adult learners was conducted with adult educators. The findings are synthesized in a conceptual framework for understanding the types and causes of disruptive behavior, which fall into the categories of inattention, acting-out, and threatening/harmful/violent. Factors that may contribute to disruptive behavior are the presence of a disability; history of an impoverished social background and/or of exposure to personal violence; personal stressors such as child care and job demands; and, in the learning environment, inadequate instruction, disconnection with the instructor and/or other learners, and ineffective intervention by the instructor. A set of guidelines is offered for preventing and managing disruptive behavior. It is further recommended that research be directed toward identifying interventions that are effective with specific adult education populations and how to train adult educators to deal with disruptive behavior.


Immediate enrollment in physical therapy and facilitation of the spinal motor neuron excitability are very important. We previously suggested that the F-wave parameters were significantly increased during motor imagery. Thus, motor imagery is a beneficial method to facilitate the spinal motor neuron excitability for patients with various motor dysfunctions. We also indicated that the imagined muscle contraction strength may not affect the spinal motor neuron excitability. Additionally, kinesthetic imagery can more facilitate the spinal motor neuron excitability; however, longer duration of motor imag - ery may decrease the spinal motor neuron excitability. Thus, when applying motor imag ery to physical therapy, slight imagined muscle contraction strength may be sufficient to facilitate the spinal motor neuron excitability, and the duration and strategy of imagery should be considered.