The study of effects of one plant (including micro‐organisms) on the growth of another plant through the release of low‐molecular compounds (predominantly secondary metabolites) into the environment, defines allelopathy (Rice, 1984). Today, research in allelopathy is conducted by weed scientists, crop scientists, plant ecologists, microbial ecologists, community ecologists, agroecologists and natural products chemists, amongst others, often using an interdisciplinary approach. The number of multi‐author books on the subject has increased in recent years (e.g. Narwal et al., 2000; Kohli et al., 2001; Reigosa and Pedrol, 2002). Despite the numerous studies, doubts that allelopathic interactions occur in situ still exist. Methodological impasses and the complexity of the soil environment are frequently cited as arguments against its occurrence. However, a number of recent ecological case studies provide convincing evidence that keystone species in natural plant communities may actually exert allelopathic effects, through the release of secondary metabolites into the soil, which influence nutrient availability, thus providing new corroborative arguments. In the introductory chapter Mallik and Inderjit present a well‐researched historical survey of allelopathy and introduce the various perspectives and associated problems in the current concept of allelopathy.

Nagle and Wedge review antifungal secondary metabolites from cyanobacteria and algae. Generally, functions of secondary metabolites in algal defence is still a rather unexplored area, although associations of fungi with algae and cyanobacteria in freshwater and marine environments are well documented and some fungi may cause substantial yield losses in sea‐farming cultures of macroalgae. Nagle and Inderjit try to outline possible ecological roles for cyanobacterial secondary metabolites. The production of biotoxins may facilitate maintenance and survival of algal blooms in herbivore‐rich environments, such as coral reefs.

Gallardo‐Williams and Martin focus on phytotoxic compounds from cattail, Typha domingensis. Aromatic and fatty acids may account for growth‐suppressing properties of leachates of the roots and stolons of cattail that become especially dominant in disturbed wetlands. Macias and collaborators review the secondary metabolites that have been isolated from various sunflower species, among them sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpene lactones, diterpenes, triterpenes and flavonoids. Various biological activities are mentioned with a particular focus on in vitro phytotoxicity.

Souto and Pellissier focus on the soil as the environment for allelochemical interactions. They provide arguments for why we have to study soil micro‐organisms in more detail to understand feedback mechanisms that shape plant communities. Kaur, Inderjit and Keating argue that the effect of the substratum should not be neglected in an allelopathy context and illustrate the biotic and abiotic factors that may affect allelochemicals. Nilsen critically evaluates investigations of allelopathy in various habitats, including semiarid chaparral shrubs, subtropical closed canopies as well as temperate and boreal shrubs. To separate allelopathy from competition he suggests imaginative field manipulation experiments. Mallik focuses on the ecosystem level of allelopathy. Studies of conifer regeneration failure in the Northern boreal forest reveal that keystone species of the canopy and soil may act as ecosystem engineers that define habitats by specific allelochemical–nutrient interactions. Jose reviews the controversial viewpoints concerning the activity of juglone, a metabolite of the black walnut tree, one of the classical cases of allelopathy.

Gliessman investigates possible applications of allelopathy in sustainable agriculture. The main goal is not to replace synthetic chemicals by allelochemicals but to view allelopathy as one component in complex interactions in agroecosystems, such as the influence of mixed crop cultures or cover crops on weed control, herbivore resistance, yield improvement and long‐term sustainability. Inderjit and Bhowmik review the potential and limitations of the use of allelochemicals as herbicides. In most of the investigated cases, the majority of which were invasive weeds of fields and pastures, the putative active allelochemicals showed less activity than the crude extract. This and a number of other issues, such as toxicity to non‐target species, limit the application of allelochemicals as herbicides per se. Conversely, cover crops or weed‐suppressing cultivars that release their own allelochemicals may provide a means to combat invasive weeds in crops. Inderjit and Nayyar try to examine the role of abiotic factors that contribute to stress in plants and may thus determine functions of allelochemicals. Koricheva and Shevtsova review the different quantification methods of allelochemicals in plant tissues, and suggest a number of alternative statistical tests to those commonly used.

In the final chapter, Murphy summarizes the current knowledge of allelopathy of pollen. The phenomenon has been found in a number of insect‐ and wind‐pollinated plants including monocotyls and dicotyls. Various classes of secondary metabolites have been isolated from pollen that may exert either stimulatory or inhibitory effects on formation of the pollen tube.

Is this an allelopathy book for biologists? Yes, from my point of view it certainly is. The book is well edited and touches a broad range of topics for all those who want to expand their knowledge regarding interactions between organisms and factors that may contribute to shaping plant communities. I would not, however, consider it a book for students because it demands a certain amount of background knowledge. The choice of topics is well balanced and offers the reader interesting insights into diverse allelopathic phenomena. The sheer diversity of interactions that secondary metabolites are involved in may induce the reader to become more familiar with this plant trait. On the downside, I found that one chapter written by chemists may have the opposite effect because of the too formal presentation of the secondary metabolites and their pharmacological activities. In most of the chapters, a more ample use of illustrations would also add to the information.

In recent years various other books on allelopathy have been published—one that compares with this one is by Reigosa and Pedrol (2002). Both are more aimed at the plant ecologist and ecophysiologist rather than the crop scientist. The price of this book may deter prospective buyers from adding it to their private collection, but this book presents a valuable addition to libraries.


Majority of studies proved that labor mobility and the effect of immigration differs with respect to the business cycle. The aim of the paper is to investigate differences in workers allocation within European countries during recession and expansion period. The presented analysis split European counties on two groups: a) West and South Europe; b) Middle and East Europe (post-communist economies). The specialization of workers is studied concentrating on differences between natives and immigrants with secondary or lower education. For the expansion period was found a sizable relocation of native workers to occupations with more interactive rather than manual content after immigration in West and South European counties. This effect was not found for recession period and for post-communist economies.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm growth and the moderating role of business environment for Russian and Finnish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For hypothesis testing, structural equation modeling is applied to the data set of 104 Russian and 117 Finnish privately owned SMEs. Results show that while in the Finnish market context EO dimensions are directly associated with firm growth, in the emerging Russian market the relationship is moderated by the dynamic and hostile environment. The results also provide evidence of the nature of EO for SMEs operating in Russia.


A serum cholesterol lowering agent or a preventive or therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis, which each comprises a combination of a compound represented by the following general formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof with a cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitor and/or a fibrate type cholesterol lowering agent. (I) (b) (a) [In the formula, A1, A3, and A4 each is hydrogen, a group represented by the formula (b), or a group represented by the formula (a), provided that at least one of these is a group represented by the formula (a); A2 is C1-5 alkyl, etc.; and n, p, q, and r each is an integer of 0, 1, or 2.]


Objective To study the molecular characteristics of anti-tumor T cell clones by analyzing the sequence of TCRβ CDR3 region from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of patients with colorectal cancer.Methods The 24 TCR(V gene from TIL and PBL in pre-operation and post-operation were amplified by the method of combined reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with denaturation polyacrylamide sequencing gel eletrophoresis and gene sequencing,Which is called TCRβ gene repertoire.Results There were clonal expression of T lymphocytes both in TIL and PBL from colorectal cancer patients,some of which expressed the same amino acid sequence motif in the CDR3 region. The hydrophobic or polar residues and glycin had special distribution in CDR3 region.Conclusion The anti-tumor T cell clones from patients with colorectal cancer had the common features in TCRβ CDR3 region,which will be helpful for us to develop new methods of immunotherapy to tumors.


The authors have pointed out the significance of virescence to the residential quality in mine area and proposed the ecological design which can purify the air,beautify the environment and adjust one's body and mind.


Rainfall in the Levant drylands is scarce but can potentially generate high-magnitude flash floods. Rainstorms are caused by distinct synoptic-scale circulation patterns: Mediterranean cyclone (MC), active Red Sea trough (ARST), and subtropical jet stream (STJ) disturbances, also termed tropical plumes (TPs). The unique spatiotemporal char- acteristicsofrainstormsandfloodsforeachcirculationpatternwereidentified.Meteorologicalreanalyses,quantitative precipitation estimates from weather radars, hydrological data, and indicators of geomorphic changes from remote sensingimagerywereusedtocharacterizethechainofhydrometeorologicalprocessesleadingtodistinctfloodpatterns in the region. Significant differences in the hydrometeorology of these three flood-producing synoptic systems were identified: MC storms draw moisture from the Mediterranean and generate moderate rainfall in the northern part of the region. ARST and TP storms transfer large amounts of moisture from the south, which is converted to rainfall in the hyperaridsouthernmost parts of the Levant. ARST rainfall is local andintense, whereas TP rainfall is widespread andprolongedduetohighprecipitationefficiencyandlarge-scaleforcing.Thus,TPrainfallgenerateshigh-magnitudefloodsinthelargestcatchments;integrationofnumerousbasinsleadstosedimentfeedingfromthesouthintotheDead Sea, exhibited in large sediment plumes. Anecdotal observations of the channel with the largest catchment in the region(NahalHaArava)indicatethatTPfloodsaccountfornoticeablegeomorphicchangesinthechannel.Itprovides insights into past intervals of increased flash flood frequency characterized by episodes of marked hydrogeomorphic work; such an increase is especially expected during intervals of southerly situated and southwesterly oriented STJs.


The invention relates to a valve group (10) for a pump (1) of a cooling circuit and the pump comprising the valve group, wherein the pump comprises a pump body (2) having a housing compartment (200) in which the valve group (10) is insertable in an extractable manner. The valve group (10) is suitable for being placed in a closed configuration, in which the transit of liquid is prevented. The valve group (10) comprises a valve body (12) and an obturator (30), wherein the valve body (12) is fitted with a through duct (14), the obturator (30) is housed in the duct (14), rotates around a rotation axis Y-Y, and comprises an active portion (31), and the active portion (31) rotates in an offset manner in relation to the rotation axis Y-Y.


The fresh meat keeping agent comprises ginger juice as main raw material and appropriate amount of antioxidizing agent and bonding agent, it is highly effective and non-toxic and is suitable for fresh-keeping for fresh pork as well as for chicken, duck, mutton and beef, the expiry period is 24h, 20h, and 15h at 25 deg. C, 30 deg. C and 35 deg. C respectively, the meat kept fresh meets the requirements of national hygiene standard for first grade freshness of fresh meat.


This paper deals with different aspects of transition and the ways to overcome it. Different challenges countries in transition face take place in this respect, particularly in the Republic of Macedonia. Theoretical approaches and practical aspects of the impact and consequences of the prolonged transition are given in this paper, as well as the possibilities of escaping from this situation caused by the process of transition.


In Shendong coalfield, large cross-section underground gateways are often excavated for large machine transportation. It causes large deformation of the surrounding rock and the phenomenon of rib spalling. In this study, taking Xiaobaodang coal mine as the engineering background, a newly designed rebar bolt for large deformational roadway support was introduced to control large deformation. Results that the peak anchoring force of the new bolt increased by 20-30%, the total energy absorption of the system is increased by 35-50%, the post-peak displacement increases by 4.5mm comparing with traditional leftspiral non-longitudinal rebar bolt. The support schemes were analyzed by using FLAC3D, the newly bolting effect was better than the original scheme when the new rebar bolt was used in full-length anchorage and the increased bolting interval. This study provides a referencr for the similar roadway support.


This study aims to find out how the implementation of e-Planning at the Research and Development Agency of Palembang City in preparing development planning in Palembang City. This study uses qualitative methods in essence to observe directly and use interviews to explore problems related to research. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews, and direct observation. In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants intended to obtain in-depth information about e-planning policies. This study concludes that, the effectiveness of the implementation of the e-Planning System of the Research and Development Agency of Palembang City most of the achievement of proposing program activities from the OPD has been carriead out well, the obstacles in implementing the e-planning system include some employees who are not capable and understand, and lack of integrated with each other


ABSTRACT:The paper offers a partial, broad-stroke sketch of visual perception, and argues that certain kinds of normal visual misperceptions are systematic and widespread.


Aim:To study the formulation and processing of glipizide sustained-release pellet capsules,and to perform in vitro dissolution tesing.Methods:The pellets were prepared by extrusion/spheronization.Orthogonal design was used to screen the formulation of glipizide sustained-release pellet capsules and to optimize the manufacturing process.Results: The optimized formulation of glipizide sustained-release pellet and processing followed as:5 g of glipizide,4.5 g of MCC,5 g of EC,7 g of HPMC(K4M),and 50% alcohol as adhesive.In the extrusion/spheronization,speed of extrusion of 200 r/min,time of extrusion of 5 min,speed of spheronization of 35 r/min,and time of spheronization of 10 min were selected as the processing conditions.The prepared pellets had good spheronization.The critical angle of plan was 12.4°,and the recovery was 93.8%.Moreover,in vitro release of glipizide sustained-release pellet capsules properly described by first-order kinetics and the sustainedrelease of the pellets was evident.Conclusion: The sustained-release glipizide pellets with in vitro sustained release characteristics were successfully prepared.


The Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP) has provided a 10‐week residential summer internship program for underrepresented minorities since 2009. Six weeks prior to the planned 2020 residential program, the gravity of the COVID‐19 pandemic prompted the unanimous decision of the PEP leadership and staff to deliver a virtual program. However, this decision engendered a new set of considerations for a successful undergraduate research program. In this article, we discuss how PEP and its partner institutions galvanized around PEP's overarching goals and guiding principles to rapidly adapt its course, research projects, and supplementary activities for a virtual environment. Based on the insights and feedback from multiple sources, we offer insights and lessons learned for other summer internship programs adapting their programs for a virtual delivery.


An investigation of the operation characteristics (temperature of operation, frequency limit) and current-voltage characteristics of single-electron transistors based on aluminum and its oxides was carried out. A proposed estimation method of the operation characteristics, two-dimensional numerical model and single-electron device simulator SET-NANODEV were used for these investigations.


Part 1: The Role and Value of Marketing Research Chapter 1: Marketing Research and Managerial Decision Making Chapter 2: Overview of the Research Process and Research Proposals Chapter 3: Information Driven Technology and the Research Process Chapter 4: Market Intelligence and Database Research Part 2: Designing Marketing Research Projects Chapter 5: Secondary Research: Designs, Searches and Sources Chapter 6: Exploratory Research using Qualitative and Observation Methods Chapter 7: Analyzing and Reporting Qualitative Research Chapter 8: Descriptive Research Designs Using Surveys Chapter 9: Causal Research Designs and Test Markets Part 3: Designing and Conducting Surveys Chapter 10 Sampling: Theories, Designs, and Plans Chapter 11: Overview Measurement: Construct Development and Scaling Chapter 12: Advanced Measurement Designs for Survey Research Chapter 13: Questionnaire Designs: Concepts and Issues Part 4: Data Preparation, Analysis, and Reporting Results Chapter 14: Preparing Survey Data for Analysis Chapter 15: Data Analysis: Testing for Significant Differences Chapter 16: Data Analysis: Testing for Associations Chapter 17: Overview of Multivariate Analysis Methods Chapter 18: Preparing and Presenting Marketing Research Reports


Abstract Recent results from large-eddy simulations indicate that the eddy diffusivity for scalar diffusion through the top of a convective boundary layer is different from that for diffusion through the bottom. From this, one can show that the eddy diffusivity is not well behaved in general and can have singularities. As an alternative to the high-resolution approach using eddy-diffusivity closure, we propose an improved integral method for calculating scalar transport in the convective boundary layer. Based on an analytical parameterization for the mean scalar profile, it is computationally as simple as the familiar "mixed-layer" integral method but is physically more realistic, allowing a mean scalar gradient within the mixed layer. We present sample results for the evolution of humility, CO and O3 profiles during the day.


Abstract
 A new Allacta xizangensis sp. nov. (Blattodea: Ectobiidae: Pseudophyllodromiinae) is described and assigned to the polygrapha species group. Four known species, A. robusta, A. bimaculata, A. transversa, A. ornata, are re-described and illustrated based on type material and specimens kept in the collection of Southwest University (SWU), Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU), Hebei University (HBU), China and Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (ZIN). The hitherto unknown male of A. transversa is described with a special display of its genitalia. A key is given to identify the males of Allacta from China. The tarsomere ultrastructure of all the legs of A. ornata was examined by scanning electron microscopy.


Clinical Case A 41-year-old obese woman underwent elective gastric banding and had syncope on postoperative day 1. Vitals signs were notable for bradycardia (38 beats per minute [bpm]) and hypotension (73/45). Telemetry monitoring revealed high-grade atrioventricular (AV) block and dopamine was started, with improvement of symptoms and vital signs. On interview, the patient recalled a camping trip in Long Island, New York, one month prior to admission. There had been ensuing arthralgia, but she did not recall an insect bite. Physical exam was unremarkable. She was admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) and started on ceftriaxone for suspicion of Lyme disease. Attempts at weaning the dopamine resulted in a 10-second ventricular pause and a temporary pacing wire (TPW) was placed via the right internal jugular vein. Subsequently, the Lyme IgG/IgM titers returned at 4.59 IU (normal < 0.9 IU, unequivocal 0.91–1.09 IU, positive > 1.1 IU). It was explained to the patient that the TPW would be required to maintain a safe heart rate until AV conduction resumed or a stable junctional escape rhythm developed. She expressed concern about the possibility of a lengthy hospitalization, since she has two small children at home without proper supervision. Four days later, she was still noted to have thirddegree AV block without a stable escape rhythm, but she was adamant about being discharged. As a result of patient pressure, a permanent pacemaker (PPM) with a single-pass VDD lead was implanted. She was observed overnight and was discharged the next day.


ABSTRACT Aside from mentioning possible issues of hidden identities and curriculum development relating to anorexia, little research has been done exploring how discourses of eating disorders and images of the body have been mediated by teachers and learners in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classroom. Drawing upon an ethnographic EAP classroom case study, this article explores how particular meanings of anorexia were framed, discussed, and challenged in this classroom context by an instructor and her students engaged with discourses surrounding eating disorders in a YouTube video, Anorexia: The 10 Most Common Misconceptions about Eating Disorders. I employ a mediated discourse nexus analysis approach to examine the ways in which the teacher and her students differentiated between facts and opinions presented in the video, and the critical engagements with the various representations of eating disorders and the accompanying discourses of the body in different societies.


OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the curative effects and cost of domestic metformin tablets and joint-venture made metformin tablets in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.METHODS:A total of 120 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to receive joint-venture made metformin tablets(Group A) or domestic metformin tablets(Group B) at a dose of 0.5g tid for 4wk.RESULTS:There were no significant difference between 2 groups in curative efficacy(P0.05).C/E of an empty stomach and 2h after meal were 787.23 yuan and 743.52 yuan, respectively for Group B,and 1 085.20 yuan and 933.09 yuan,respectively for Group A.CONCLUSION:Group B is more economical for type 2 diabetes.


Trevor Young-Hyman is a research analyst at Mount Auburn Associates, an economic development consulting firm in Boston, Massachusetts. In Autumn 2008, he will enter the PhD Program in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research interests are in the relationship between national development levels and regional economic development strategies, as well as local governance in transitional democracies.


Based on the structural characteristics of bedded salt rock mass,a mesoscopic damage constitutive model is proposed by introducing the existing mesoscopic damage constitutive model and using mixture theory.The damage of Yunying bedded salt rock under triaxial compression is calculated;and the effect of confining pressure on the equivalent additional lateral stress in salt rock is analyzed.The results show that the model can describe the experimental phenomena well;and the experimental results have important significance for the underground oil/gas storage of deep salt rock and the stability analysis of underground storage in bedded salt rock mass.


Generally, study of economical illumination is not considering productivity by lighting improvement, therefore, these studies are fear to digress from the actual conditions.Relations of Illumination Levels E as exponential function and Productivity P introducing from psychometrics and econometrics in behavioral sciences, are followed.P=klogE+αwhere, k and α: coefficientsCoefficient k and α are indroduced from various seeing tasksksinθ+αcosθ=0Qwhere, θ and OQ: coefficientsGenerally, θ=70° and OQ=42 for various seeing tasks in Past experiments.Economical illumination levels of industrial lighting are introducedE (logE+123.5/k-3.77) =B/k2where, B: fixed charge (yen/day), k2: lighting cost (yen/day).


This paper addresses a sensor scheduling problem for a class of networked sensor systems whose sensors are spatially distributed and measurements are influenced by state dependent noise. Sensor scheduling is required to achieve power saving since each sensor operates with a battery power source. A networked sensor system usually consists of a large number of sensors, but the sensors can be classified into a few different types. We therefore introduce a concept of sensor types in the sensor model to provide a fast and optimal sensor scheduling algorithm for a class of networked sensor systems, where the sensor scheduling problem is formulated as a model predictive control problem. The computation time of the proposed algorithm increases exponentially with the number of the sensor types, while that of standard algorithms is exponential in the number of the sensors. In addition, we propose a fast sensor scheduling algorithm for a general class of networked sensor systems by using a linear approximation of the sensor model.


An IBM-PC-compatible computer program, called Mfactor, that uses a generalized procedure for making spectral mismatch corrections is described. The program operation is described, and several examples are given. A method to calibrate primary reference cells using a National Institute of Standards and Technology lamp in conjunction with Mfactor is presented.<<ETX>>


Combined load tests of prestressed concrete cylinder pipe, presented by Tremblay in the proceedings of this conference, are analyzed. Data gathered during the tests includes first visible cracking, vertical deflection, strains in concrete, mortar, steel cylinder, and prestressing wire at combined loads. In this paper the test results are analyzed and compared with the corresponding values calculated using an analytical model that accounts for the nonlinear stress-strain relationships of the constituent properties, including tensile softening and cracking of core concrete and coating mortar, and that also accounts for moment redistribution resulting from the changes in the stiffness of sections around the pipe under combined loads. Agreement between the observed and calculated combined loads at first visible core and coating cracks, vertical deflection and wire strain is good to excellent.


We look at whether monetary decisions constitute a significant macro‐finance risk for interest rate options and related implied volatilities. We devise an option‐pricing model based on the dynamics of the Federal Reserve's target rate via a regime‐shift approach modeled as discrete Markov chain capturing the timing of Federal Open Market Committee meetings. We find that the regime‐shift risk is significantly priced and that the downward and stable regimes of the target rate, associated with a decline in real activity, display higher probabilities of occurrence under the risk‐neutral measure. We also observe that implied volatilities display a counter‐cyclical behavior. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 36:66–87, 2016


Objectives: Although previous research reported prevalence of sedentary behavior (SB) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of SB in the post-COVID-19 era remains unexplored. Prevalence, patterns, and determinants of post-COVID-19 total SB, and domain-specific SB in Saudi
 adults was examined. Methods: Participants (N=1,255; 55% females; 50% aged 20 to 29 years old) completed a Web-based survey (December 2, 2022 ‐ January 25, 2023). The Arabic version of the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire estimated SBs (hours/day) during weekdays
 and weekend days. Respondents self-reported personal, anthropometric, and socioeconomical variables. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests assessed patterns of total and domain-specific SB and Kruskal-Wallis tests evaluated its determinants. Results: Most participants (54.7%) spent excessive
 time (≥8 hours/day) in total SB especially during weekdays (p<.001). Leisure-time SB was higher compared to other domain-specific SB (p<.001). Occupational-time SB was higher on weekdays while leisure-time SB was higher during weekends days (p<.001). No statistically significant
 differences were found for transportational-time SB. Age and occupation were the main determinants of SB (p<.005) while other correlates had more complex associations. Conclusions: Current efforts to reduce SB and suggest that Saudi policymakers, physicians, and researchers target
 not only daily total SB, but also domain-specific SB, especially in the post-COVID-19 era.


"What would Mom or Dad want?" This is one of the most common questions families face when caring for an older adult with dementia. As dementia progresses, patients lose the ability to make medical decisions for themselves, and families must try to guess what their loved ones would have wanted. Clinicians often find themselves trying to help families think back to past conversations for clues as to what a loved one's wishes might have been. We strive to honor the values of the person before they had dementia because these are the values most would agree should guide medical care if the person is no longer able to make decisions themselves. During this process, families and clinicians may look to standard advance directives and be surprised by what is missing: any guidance that applies to the special circumstance of surviving for years with worsening cognitive impairment. An advance directive for dementia would address this gap by providing insight into what patients' values, goals, and preferences might have been if they were still able to participate in the conversation.


Due to the notable separation between academia and the life of common people in face of the concepts of morality, ethics, and bioethics, the objectives are t...


Objective:To investigate mechanism of high-glucose-inducing injury to human peritoneal mesothelial cells. Methods: (1)The cultured human mesothelial cells were exposed to culture medium containing different concentrations of glucose (1.5%,2.5%,4.25%), with 4.25% mannitol and normal culture medium as control for 48 hours.Then mitochondrial membrane potential(Ψ) and the apoptotic rate were measured by flow cytometry,and caspase-3 activity was measured by ApoAlert(tm) CPP33/Caspase-3Assay kits. (2) The cultured human mesothelial cells were exposed to 4.25% glucose culture medium containing different concentrations of mitochondrial transition pore inhibitor-cyclosporin A (0.01, 0.1μmol/L) for 24 hours, with 4.25% glucose culture medium as control, Then the apoptotic rate was measured by flow cytometry and caspase-3 activity was measured by ApoAlert(tm) CPP33/Caspase-3Assay kits. Results:(1) The percentage of mesothelial cells with loss of mitochondrialΨ was significantly higher in high glucose groups than that in normal culture medium group, which was increasing as glucose concentration increases. The percentage of mesothelial cells with loss of mitochondrialΨ was also significantly higher in 4.25% glucose groups than that in 4.25% mannitol group. (2) Caspase-3 activity and the apoptotic rate of mesothelial cells was significantly higher in 4.25% glucose group and 2.5% glucose group than that in normal culture medium group, but no significant difference in 1.5% glucose group and 4.25% mannitol group compared to in normal culture medium group. Caspase-3 activity and the apoptotic rate of mesothelial cells was also significantly higher in 4.25% glucose group than that in 4.25% mannitol group. Caspase-3 activity and the apoptotic rate of mesothelial cells was increasing as glucose concentration increases. (3) There was significantly positive correlation among the apoptotic rate of mesothelial cells, caspase-3 activity of mesothelial cells and the percentage of mesothelial cells with loss of mitochondrialΨ. (4) Apoptotic rate and caspase-3 activity of mesothelial cells was significantly lower in 0.1μmol/L CsA group than that in control. Conclusion: (1) High-glucose can induce loss of mitochondrial Ψ , apoptosis and caspase-3 activation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells in dose-dependent manner. (2) Caspase-3 activation in progression of high-glucose-inducing apoptosis of human peritoneal mesothelial cells by mitochondria activation.


The purpose of this essay is to locate someone in the academic community who might be interested in a major commercial computer problem totally ignored at ACM conventions and into choose an example intended to be significant-the 25th anniversary issue of ACM Communications. Ninety percent of commercial applications programmers have this environment: The hardware, operating system and language exist. No one wants them touched. In a language like COBOL, PL/1 or Assembler, I must write an applications program. How do I proceed if I already know the language and the operating system? If anyone has been considering that problem, it has escaped my attention. Because the problems seem more challenging in hardware, operating systems and languages, the computer community represented at AFIPS meetings and in ACM literature explores those problems. As an illustration of what might be done, I sketch very briefly some possibilities we have been exploring. The computer job is the proper design unit for commercial applications programming. For a model of office work of wide relevance, a computer job can be presented with a structure invariant to the application. Excluding sorts, that invariant job has three steps. Each has five program parts. In some steps, some parts are empty. Four of the five parts do processing. The logic in them is application dependent, but their structure is invariant. It has these features: • The organization is modular and the module is rigorously defined. • The module is independent; given arguments always produce the same values. • The basis for dividing a program part into modules (including one module) is record-type. (The selection 14 of record types requires a value judgment.) The fifth program part accesses all the records and transfers program execution within itself and among the processing parts. Continuous processing and batch processing differ only in this part. For thP fifth part, the logic-at the level just above coding-is application independent and can be presented as a series of logic diagrams. All the data in all the reports in one system*-including all levels of totals, all page and column headings (unless they are preprinted) and all constants but excluding duplicates-are the Information Set. (I) • All the reports produced in one cycle (i.e.-for transactions over one period of time) are produced by one computer-job. That subset of I is 1,. • All the reports produced in one step of a job are a subset of 1,. …


Plasmodium parasites caused Malaria. Indonesia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that endemic to malaria. The burden of malaria is more in the eastern part of Indonesia than the Western part as well as the endemicity. Some cases of malaria will develop to severe form. Usually, the manifestation of children and adult are different. We reported a severe case of malaria in a 14-year-old boy who develops several manifestations such as anemia, hypoglycemia, sepsis and black water fever. We successfully treated the patient with Artesunate intravenous and continued with Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine.


A de-ionized water cooling system consisting of a microchannel heat sink and some equipment that can be applied to a chip is suggested. To optimize the structure, three kinds of pin fins (rhombus, pentagon and hexagon) are described. The heat transfer performance, the fluid flow and the pressure drop of the microchannel heat sink are simulated by commercial CFD solver Fluent. The inlet and the outlet are arranged at the side face of the heat sink. The volume of it is condensed, so other layer can be attached above or below to satisfy packaging. The maximum temperature of the chip with hexagon pin fins was the lowest one at a dissipation power of 50 W compared with other reference pin fin configurations.


Irish Brigades Abroad examines the complete history of the Irish regiments in France, Spain, Austria and beyond. Covering the period from King James II's reign of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1685, until the disbandment of the Irish Brigades in France and Spain, this book looks at the origins, formation, recruitment and the exploits of the Irish regiments, including their long years of campaigning from the War of the Grand Alliance in 1688 right through to the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. What emerges is a picture of the old-fashioned virtues of honour, chivalry, integrity and loyalty, of adventure and sacrifice in the name of a greater cause.


We study the polynomials which enumerate the permuta- tions � = (�1,�2,...,�n) of the elements 1.2,...,n with the condition �1 �2 > ... > �n m) and prescribed up-down points n −m,n −m+1,...,n −1 in view of an important role of these polynomials in theory of enumeration the permutations with prescribed up-down structure similar to the role of the binomial coeffi- cients in the enumeration of the subsets of a finite set satisfying some restrictions.


The two oil shocks of the 1970s reduced the GDP growth rate, and since that period, sudden oil price increases have been considered as a major source of economic slowdown in the world. We thus estimate simple linear regression model (SLRM), dynamic regression model (DRM) and VAR model to evaluate the impact of oil price increases on the U.S economic growth. Our results indicate strong weaknesses on the relation between these two factors in what way that the relation has had a low significant effect caused by the existence of breakpoints and the asymmetric effects of the oil price variations.


The invention discloses a box body shunting device on an assembly line. According to the box body shunting device, a roll ball net chain is adopted to replace a traditional roller assembly line; a flat belt matched with the rolling ball net chain is used to replace a box pushing baffle block so as to control box bodies to move to an operation area and further realize the shunting of the box bodies. According to the box body shunting device, the box bodies can move more stably and the damage to the box bodies due to the excessively-great action force of the box push baffle block is avoided; and in addition, the operation space is saved and the safety is improved.


Recently, we and several other authors have written about the possibilities of using stochastic approximation techniques for fitting variational approximations to intractable Bayesian posterior distributions. Naive implementations of stochastic approximation suffer from high variance in this setting. Several authors have therefore suggested using control variates to reduce this variance, while we have taken a different but analogous approach to reducing the variance which we call stochastic linear regression. In this note we take the former perspective and derive the ideal set of control variates for stochastic approximation variational Bayes under a certain set of assumptions. We then show that using these control variates is closely related to using the stochastic linear regression approximation technique we proposed earlier. A simple example shows that our method for constructing control variates leads to stochastic estimators with much lower variance compared to other approaches.


Omerli reservoir, one of the reservoirs supplying drinking water to most of Istanbul, suffers from eutrophication. Luxuriant growth of chroococcal cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa (Kutz.) Kutz., was recorded in water samples obtained after an immense fish mortality in October 1999. 2.1 μg microcystin-LR equiv. l -1 was measured in the raw water and 5.84 μg microcystin-LR equiv.mg -1 was measured in the scum (as dry weight) samples. After disappearance of the bloom, very few cyanobacterial species were recorded during the following winter and spring. In the following year, the Istanbul Municipal Water Authority decided to apply copper sulphate (algicide) to the reservoir in order to prevent cyanobacterial blooms. Treatment started in April 2000. 1600 kg CuSO 4 (53.3 kg d -1 ) were applied to the surface waters. The dose was then increased to 4800 kg (160 kg d -1 ) and to 5050 kg (168.3 kg d -1 ) in May and June respectively. In mid-July, after the addition of 5000 kg (166.67 kg d -1 ), treatment was stopped. M. aeruginosa appeared again and the treatment recommended at the beginning of August. Between 1 and 19 September algicide treatment was stopped and. M. aeruginosa bloomed again. Its biomass reached 78.91 mg.l -1 (fresh weight) at the surface water and 120.72 mg.l -1 at I m depth, on September 20, 2000. After adding 800 kg algicide (26.67 kg d -1 ) to the surface water M. aeruginosa's biomass decreased to 34.75 mg.l -1 at the surface water and 38.88 mg.l -1 at 1 m depth. A considerable difference of water quality was observed before and after the treatment. At the water surface, total phosphorus (TP) was 123.47 μg.l -1 before and 97.36 jg.l -1 after; pH was 10.11 before and 9.5 after; Euphotic zone (Z eu ) was 2.43 m before and 3.31 m after; Z eu /Z mix (Z mix : mixing zone) was 0.27 before and 0.41 after and M. aeruginosa biomass decreased by 3.1 fold after adding algicide. On the contrary, total nitrogen (TN) concentration increased slightly after algicide application.


The structural and electronic properties of hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives in rhubarb, namely, chrysophanol, emodin, physcion, aloe-emodin, rhein, and their radicals were investigated at density functional level. The bifurcated hydrogen bond property of the studied structures was investigated using the atoms in molecules theory. It turned out that the presence of the dihydroxy functionality increases the radical stability through hydrogen bonds formation and favors hydrogen atom abstraction. Bond dissociation energy and ionization potential were also determined to know if the radical scavenging activity of these compounds proceeds via an H-atom or an electron-transfer mechanism. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011


Social conflict is a certainty for multiethnic societies such as Indonesia. As such efforts to prevent and seek a resolution to conflicts are an absolute matter. Writers through their works may actively contribute by creating works that contain values and attitudes of peace. The novel Kubah by Ahmad Tohari is one of the works that discuss the reconciliation of the 1965 tragedy. This novel explains the stages of reconciliation that both offenders and victims may go through. These stages are revealing the truth, forgiveness, and healing.


We use the density function of a harmonic space to obtain estimates for the eigenvalues of the Jacobi operator; when these estimates are sharp, then the harmonic space is a symmetric Osserman space.


In this article, we develop an online probabilistic metric-semantic mapping approach for mobile robot teams relying on streaming RGB-D observations. The generated maps contain full continuous distributional information about the geometric surfaces and semantic labels (e.g., chair, table, and wall). Our approach is based on online Gaussian process (GP) training and inference and avoids the complexity of GP classification by regressing a truncated signed distance function (TSDF) of the regions occupied by different semantic classes. Online regression is enabled through a sparse pseudo-point approximation of the GP posterior. To scale to large environments, we further consider spatial domain partitioning via a hierarchical tree structure with overlapping leaves. An extension to a multirobot setting is developed by having each robot execute its own online measurement update and then combine its posterior parameters via local weighted geometric averaging with those of its neighbors. This yields a distributed information processing architecture, in which the GP map estimates of all the robots converge to a common map of the environment while relying only on local one-hop communication. Our experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the probabilistic metric-semantic mapping technique in 2-D and 3-D environments in both the single- and multirobot settings and in comparison to a deep TSDF neural network approach.


The article addresses the rapid increase of barley and spring wheat in North Dakota. The Agricultural Experiment Station, North Dakota State University, could at this time, increase one
bushel of an experimental barley (potential variety) within the United States to 150,000 bushels (150,000 times) in one year or 7,500,000 times in 15 months in four crops. A few years prior this would have required three or more cropping seasons in North Dakota. In more recent years it was accomplished in two cropping
seasons by using an Arizona increase during the winter months.


Objective To investigate skeletal imaging appearances of osteomalacia type skeletal fluorosis and its mechanism. Methods 12 cases of osteomalacia type skeletal fluorosis from high fluoride area were studied. The authors also investigated the clinical appearances, other laboratary test and radiographs of the patients. Results 12 cases had chronic endemic dental fluorosis the clinical major appearances included: spinal column pain, joints ache and muscles aching pain of four limbs, obvious lumbus and legs achs, restrained joints, Achilles tendon pain, "O" or "X" legs, spinal column curve, limbs abnormal sensation. The laboratary test: fluorine contents in urine were 7 8~12 6 mg/L, average value was 10 4 mg/L. The radiographic appearances included: decrease of bone density, increase of bone density, or both of them were existed simultaneously, haziness of bone structure, osteoporosis and haziness of cortical bones, hollow vertebral bodies at both ends, pelvic malformation, acetabular invagination, false fracture of pubis and ischia, bowleg or knock klnee, curved tibia and fibula, and dysplastic bone were also found. Conclusion When both of osteomalacia and osteosclerosis were existed simultaneously, bones malformation, acetabular invaginaton and false fracture were important evidence in imaging diagnosis of osteomalacia type skeletal fluorosis.


From its earliest conception, borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been said to entail problematic issues related to sexuality. It is surprising, then, that relatively little research has been conducted on sexuality among this group of mental health clients, and that such research has been limited with regard to samples and measures of sexuality. In this article, we provide an overview of BPD as well as the existing research on sexuality among these clients. We then provide some possible explanations for these research findings and conclude with considerations for counselors when working with clients who exhibit BPD symptoms.


In the pre-chemotherapeutic era, the prognosis for patients diagnosed as having acute lymphocytic or acute non-lymphocytic leukemia was uniform: all patients died within a rather limited period of time. The exception to this rule were very few patients, who had prolonged survival or even remissions that occurred spontaneously. With the development of increasingly effective chemotherapeutic regimens, it became more important to predict which patients would do well on a given treatment schedule and which would not. The most impressive gains in remission incidence and survival have been obtained in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In adults, significant progress has been achieved in the treatment of ALL with approximately 44% of patients being long-term survivors.'.* In non-lymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL), remission rates have been steady between 60 and SO%, but relapse rate is high: less than 20% of all patients survive five years and the majority of relapses occur during the first and second year after the achievement of remission.' In a number of studies, prognostic factors have been investigated and age and white blood cell count were identified as significant prognostic parameters in ALL, while age, presence of Auer rods, and absence of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) were found to be good prognostic signs in ANLL.3 In this study, we present data from a multi-variate analysis of a large number of patients with adult ANLL and a smaller number of patients with ALL. The special emphasis of this study was the evaluation of the possible prognostic importance of flow cytometry-derived variables, such as S-phase, RNA content, and DNA index.


This paper focuses on the discourse marker "why".In Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory,the discourse marker "why" in verbal communication can be seen as a signpost which constrains the concomitant background selection,negotiates and renegotiates mutual cognitive environment,thus constraining and guiding through interpretation process and ensuring smooth conversation.This analysis covers four distinct marker functions of "why": marker of attitude and emotion,marker of frame,rectifier of incorrect assumption,and delay device.The research illustrates the procedural meaning of the discourse marker "why".


This research is projected to analyze the steering system dynamic characteristics and vehicle body rolling stability of conventional and electric power assisted steering have been performed to deduce the relation between steering system performance and vehicle body roll stability for different operating conditions. Eight degrees of freedom model for rack and pinion steering system has been used for conventional and electric power assisted on the column steering system with PD control, and their effect on the vehicle stability of its lateral, yaw, and body roll motion specially. The model has been excited through unit torque on the steering hand wheel. A response comparison has been performed between the two steering systems. The results analysis illustrated that the electric power assisted steering with PD controller generates quieter response dynamics at high frequency response in all steering model elements than that unassisted system. The vehicle body roll torque of the assisted steering has smoother response within comfortable ride frequency range and low signal magnitude within 65% to 70% of those values of the unassisted system as a damping effect of the steering electric motor. Consequently, this assisted steering system is safer for the vehicle lateral stability response, good ride comfort, and longer service life of the steering mechanism and suspension system elements under quitter response of assisted electric motor damping effect.


The Objective this empirical research is conducted with the main purpose to assess whether the short-run underpricing level of IPOs on privatization is lower or not compared to the privately owned enterprises in Indonesia. The aim is intended to identify whether the presence of excessive underpricing is occurred among the Privatization IPOs in Indonesia. Method are used to fullfil the objective, the samples are derived from both SOEs and Non-SOEs that conducted the Initial Public Offerings (IPO) during period 2000-2009. The total final samples used are 147 samples. Moreover, this research focuses on the initial return of the first trading day to determine the underpricing level. The data is also analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov Smirnov test, parametric tests, Non-parametric tests and Multiple Regression Analysis. Result of the research shows the evidence that the extent of underpricing is significantly lower in IPOs conducted by the SOEs compared to the privately owned in Indonesia. Furthermore, the result also clarifies that there is no occurrence of excessive underpricing within the Privatization IPOs in Indonesia.Conclusion is the degree of underpricing within the SOEs is proven to be lower than the Non-SOEs. This fact is supported by the reasons of tight standardize legislation, underwriter's reputation, budget deficit in Indonesia, and well-established industry within the SOEs.


In this work, we propose a post-quantum UC-commitment scheme in the Global Random Oracle Model, where only one non-programmable random oracle is available. The security of our proposal is based on two well-established post-quantum hardness assumptions from coding theory: The Syndrome Decoding and the Goppa Distinguisher. We prove that our proposal is perfectly hiding and computationally binding.


Abstract Polynomial representation formulae for power sums of the extended Fibonacci-Lucas numbers are established, which include, as special cases, four formulae for odd power sums of Melham type on Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, obtained recently by Ozeki and Prodinger (2009).


A multilayer film electrode has been developed that is well-suited for diffusionless electron transfer studies of acidic proteins. The multilayer electrode is comprised of trypsin-solubilized cytochrome b5 adsorbed electrostatically to a self-assembled HO2C(CH2)7SH/gold substrate via an intervening bridging layer of cationic poly-L-lysine.


Front-end planning of construction sites can have a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of site operations and/or the cash flow associated with resource management. A well-planned site can: (i) minimize travel time; (ii) decrease time and effort spent on material handling; (iii) increase productivity; and (iv) improve safety, and hence decrease construction cost and time. Despite its importance, it is often ignored in the planning phase of construction projects. In practice, space allocation on construction sites is typically carried out on a first-come-first-serve basis, which could result in chaotic sites and productivity losses. This thesis presents an interactive CAD-based model, designed to support site layout planning and to provide a framework that meets the versatility needed in actual construction practice. The developed model performs its task at two levels: site representation, and site space analysis and allocation. The site representation is carried out using object-based concepts in an open architecture. The model offers three tiers of objects: (i) site objects, (ii) construction objects, and (iii) constraint objects. This classification assists in formalizing the representation needed for modeling construction sites. A formal structure for each tier of objects is proposed to facilitate the creation of new objects and reuse of domain knowledge. The space analysis and allocation is performed through a geometric approach, inspired by human reasoning, in search for the optimum or near-optimum location for temporary facilities. The model has a number of interesting features: (i) it provides a flexible support of a wide range of objects for site planner. This permits the set up of different construction projects via selection of objects stored in their respective libraries; (ii) the model has a built-in feedback to support the development of new objects and/or updating existing ones. This allows for the gradual expansion and enrichment of the supporting libraries; (iii) the geometric space analysis is visualized graphically and provides a range of ranked near optimum solutions. This feature facilitates user's comprehension of, and interaction in the layout process; and (iv) the system allows site planners to define search criteria based on their knowledge and expertise. It also allows for generation of a number of what-if scenarios, utilizing different rules and comparing the final layout results. A prototype of the developed model called CASL is implemented using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in AutoCAD environment. AutoCAD is dynamically linked to the relational database of Microsoft Access, which hosts the object libraries. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


"Art: Another Language for Learning" presents true stories about childhood development, with accompanying discussions about the role of the art processes as well as products. It helps teachers and parents understand what they see when they look at children's art-and how to respond so that they may extend communication and advance learning. Authors Cohen and Gainer provide an ideal resource for anyone without previous art training now working with children. Moreover, they encourage teachers, students, and parents to embrace the myriad ways art can unlock doors, encourage expression, and enhance learning.


This chapter examines the early nineteenth-century grisette as a literary type, and traces her reappearance on the cultural scene as a figure of nostalgia at the turn of the nineteenth century. By the turn of the century, the grisette of the 1830s and 1840s still regularly appeared throughout French popular culture as a sign of heightened romantic longing for a lost Paris, a France of small-scale industry, sentiment, and elegance. She was frequently conflated with contemporary garment workers, tethering living belle époque workingwomen to a figure of literary wistfulness. Parisian garment workers were repeatedly cast in the mold of a pleasing throwback, a woman at once thoroughly embedded in the modern Parisian landscape and yet, also, out of time, carrying within her the essence and soul of a lost or endangered France. The most popular grisette at the turn of the century was Musset's Mimi Pinson, who was featured in songs, poems, postcards, ballet, vaudeville shows, short stories, novels, and films. This chapter also develops a physiognomy of the grisette's belle époque descendant, the midinette, a modernized version of the type, and inheritor of both the grisette's cultural significance and her limitations. From strike reportage to pulp novels to monuments, the Parisian garment worker found eroticized and socially useful shades of herself promoted around her city and nation in these years, shades which more often than not moved backward in time to the grisette of the 1830s and 1840s.


In this paper, we study the hyperbolic reaction−diffusion equations for the irreversible Brusselator. We show that the phase speed of traveling oscillating chemical waves can be obtained from the linearized hyperbolic reaction−diffusion equations. The Luther-type speed formula is obtained in the lowest-order approximation. We also solve the hyperbolic reaction−diffusion equations for two spatial dimensions and study the evolution of patterns formed. The patterns can evolve from a symmetric to a chaotic form as the reaction−diffusion number is varied. The two-dimensional power spectra of such chaotic-looking spatial patterns are shown still to preserve some symmetry in the two-dimensional reciprocal space although the cross sections of the power spectra have the signatures of chaotic patterns. It is interesting that even chaotic patterns have some sort of symmetry in the two-dimensional reciprocal space−Fourier space.


Oreocnide integrifolia (Gaud.)Miq (Urticaceae) leaves are used to alleviate diabetic symptoms in folk medicine in northeast India. In the present study, dose and duration dependent hypoglycemic potentials were evaluated in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Administration of aqueous leaf extract (100, 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg body weight orally once daily) to diabetic rats reduced glycemic levels by 56 % by 4 weeks of treatment and was comparable to standard reference drug Metformin. The experimental data also revealed significant improvement in lowering lipid profile, Urea, Creatinine, Hb, HbA1c and insulin levels. The present study clearly demonstrates hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential of Oreocnide integrifolia leaf extract.


A novel and simple route for synthesizing nanocrystalline ceramic powders in molten salt was introduced in the paper. Titanium carbide (TiC) was prepared via the reaction of metallic magnesium powders with titanium dioxide (TiO2), carbon source and molten salt in an autoclave at 650°C. Carbon source (oxalic acid and citric acid) in this paper was stable, low toxic and cheap. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the products were cubic TiC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the samples consisted of particles with an average size of 200 nm and 100 nm in diameter, respectively. Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) analysis of the samples suggested the products contained carbon and titanium elements. The product was also studied by the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It had good thermal stability and oxidation resistance below 350°C in air.


The magnetic wave interactions on a thin film with interfaces having the profile of a periodic array of rectangular grooves are investigated. The film is assumed to be magnetized uniformly normal to the midplane. The technique is based on a transmission line model which is valid even for large relative depths of variation of the film thickness. When specialized to small relative depths of variation of the film thickness, the spectral characteristics of the power reflection coefficient determined by this large‐amplitude theory are in good agreement with those predicted by the existing small‐amplitude theories. The present large‐amplitude theory shows that the small‐amplitude theory gives the maximum of the power reflection coefficient reasonably correctly but overestimates the center frequency, the error increasing with the increasing values of the relative depth of variation of the film thickness. The investigation of the characteristics of the first two band gaps with the help of the present large‐amplit...


Many studies have been made on the internal structures of verbs and nouns, but less is known about the internal structure of adjectives. A close examination of adjectives suggests that some adjectives have complex internal structures like items in other lexical categories. In this paper, I propose the internal structures of adjectives in Japanese in the framework of Distributed Morphology proposed by Marantz (1997 and subsequent work). I demonstrate that Japanese adjectives come in four types in terms of their syntactic and semantic properties, and claim that each type of adjectives has a different internal structure. This claim reveals that there is a close relationship between the internal structures of adjectives and their interpretations; the internal structure of adjectives determines their semantic type. This paper also demonstrates that there is a correlation to some extent between the morphology and the semantics of adjectives in Japanese. Keywords: Japanese adjective, morphological structure, Distributed morphology


The availability of P in Andisol is low because phosphate is absorbed by allophane, Al and Fe minerals on the colloidal surface so that it is not available for plants. This research aim was to determine the effect of phosphate solubilizing microbes and chicken manure in increasing P availability and the growth of green beans (Phaseolus radiatus L.) plants on Andisol. This research was carried out at the Greenhouse and Laboratory of Soil Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan. This research used a randomized block design with 2 treatment factors and 3 replications. The first factor is phosphate solubilizing microbes (PSM), namely: (M0) without application, (M1) 5 gr mycorrhiza, (M2) 5 gr Burkholderia cepacia bacteria, (M3) 5 gr Talaromyces pinophilus fungi. The second factor is the dose of chicken manure, namely: (A0) 0 gr, (A1) 80 g, (A2) 120 g and (A3) 160 g. The results showed that the administration of phosphate solubilizing microbes and chicken manure could increase P-available by 10.78-50.82%, total leaf area by 8.63-65.18%, plant dry weight by 2.46-58.25% and plants P content by 24-99%, the best treatment was the interaction of T. pinophilus fungi with a dose of 160 gr / plant chicken manure.


Abstract Corona virus disease (COVID‐19) has created pandemic in the world as declared by WHO on March 12, 2020. It is a viral disease caused by SARS‐CoV 2 virus and has affected large populations in over 120 countries. There is no specific treatment available and management is empirical. Until such time that an effective vaccine is available for COVID‐19 viral infection, one can repurpose known therapeutic drug molecules such as angiotensin receptor 2 blocker, a commonly used antihypertensive drug, to control COVID‐19 virus from gaining entry into the host cell by blocking the angiotensin receptor. Clinical trials should also be undertaken to use statins, which are lipid‐lowering drugs but have anti‐inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties to prevent acute lung injury in COVID‐19 infection.


Due to few cells in memory that have shorter retention time, DRAM controller have to raise the refresh frequency to keep data integrity, and hence produce unnecessary refresh for the other normal cells, which result in large refresh overhead and the delay of memory access. In this paper, we propose an integration scheme to integrate retention-aware refresh and BISR techniques. Based on the RAAR method, our strategy can choose the most appropriate way of weak cell fixing to minimize the waste of non-weak row refresh. A dynamic programming algorithm with a state transition equation is proposed to resolve this problem. Experimental results show that with this BISR integration scheme, we can further reduce refresh power than without applying it.


Aiming at the characteristics of complex structure, changeable movement and the difference in emission and stability, put forward the emission performance index based on the study of internal air launch system; study the influence of the initial pitch angle of the carrier, characteristic diameter of stabilization parachute and some other characteristic parameters on emission properties; study the system's stability and put forward the concept of generalized stability through the research of kinetic equation, moreover, calculate stability domain through Monte Carlo calculation method.


This paper describes a basin study in which traditional unit hydrograph analysis methods were compared to the E. J. Inman hydrograph technique. Study results indicate that, where suitable estimates of lagtime and peak discharge can be obtained, the recently developed Inman hydrograph approach can be accurate and cost effective. This is particularly true where time, cost, or data availability constraints preclude the use of other methods and where preliminary flow volume estimates must be made. It was also evident that lagtime is a critical factor and errors in this parameter are directly related to errors in hydrograph width.


To investigate the effect on small intestine mediated by the ischemic preconditioning after ischemic-reperfusion injury.SD rats were randomly assigned into the following study groups,S group: sham operation group,n=8;A group: ischemic-reperfusion injury group,n=8;B group: ischemic preconditioning on the rat's small intestine plus ischemic-reperfusion injury group,n=8.When the intestine was reperfused for 1 h,the MDA and MPO of the intestine were determined.The SOD and NO were determined in serum as well.The morphological change of the epithelial basement membrane was oberserved by light microscope.MPO and MDA in A group was significantly higher than those in S and B group.SOD and NO in A group were lower than those in S and B group as well;The mucosal wet weight,villus height and villus area in A group were significantly lower than those in S and B group.The lesion of the morph was milder in B group than that in A group through light microscope.Ischemic preconditioning had an early protective effect on the rat small intentine after ischemic-reperfusion injury.


This volume constitutes the proceedings of WoF'15, the First International Workshop on Focusing, held on November 23rd, 2015 in Suva, Fiji. The workshop was a half-day satellite event of LPAR-20, the 20th International Conferences on Logic for Programming, Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning.
The program committee selected four papers for presentation at WoF'15, and inclusion in this volume. In addition, the program included an invited talk by Elaine Pimentel.
Focusing is a proof search strategy that alternates two phases: an inversion phase where invertible sequent rules are applied exhaustively and a chaining phase where it selects a formula and decomposes it maximally using non-invertible rules. Focusing is one of the most exciting recent developments in computational logic: it is complete for many logics of interest and provides a foundation for their use as programming languages and rewriting calculi.


ABSTRACT:This article offers an alternative to the dominant reading of Katherine Mansfield's "Bliss" as a story about Bertha Young's repressed homosexuality, arguing that it can also be read as a story about her unfulfilled desire for communion with Pearl Fulton unmediated by language. In this reading, which pays close attention to the story's language, the pear tree that has been central to the story's interpretation for decades becomes a nonverbal icon as well as a symbol of Bertha's sexuality.


The most important meteorological data are:ambient temperature, precipitation quantity, air humidity, amount and type of clouds, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and speed, visibility, weather phenomena. These coefficients impact the effectiveness of various combat activities, especially those conducted in an open space. Knowledge of future weather conditions is essential for planning the location, calculating times, choice of means, and other aspects relevant to the upcoming operations. Taking weather conditions into account is vital, specifically when it comes to planning combat operations, where the accuracy in cooperation is of paramount importance. Rocket forces and artillery is a particular type of armed forces where weather conditions are critical. The effectiveness of artillery depends on ballistic calculation precision, and so knowledge of atmospheric conditions is fundamental. Atmospheric data are collected from sounding using a single probe attached to a balloon. It is generally known that particular meteorological parameters change in a smooth spatial manner depending on various coefficients. Information about the atmosphere collected by a single probe may be insufficient, due to the possibility of a balloon drifting away from the area of interest, and the calculations are based on data received from its probe. In this paper, I will suggest a method for preparing artillery use meteorologically, which takes into account the distribution of particular meteorological coefficients over a given area.


The problem of the determination of the space requirements for warehouse systems operating under a dedicated storage policy, full turnover-based storage, is investigated. Space shortage occurs when demand exceeds the warehouse storage capacity. The additional space requirement is satisfied by considering a leased storage space. The warehouse storage capacity problem is then formulated as a non-linear programming model to minimize the total cost of owned and leased storage space. An iterative search procedure, which always generates the optimal solution, is developed. Illustration of the approach for systems operating under the standard economic-order-quantity inventory model is provided. The results obtained using the optimization approach presented can be used for determining bounds or approximations for the first-cut design of the storage space requirements.


Future leaders of a newly formed and innovatively structured organization can be formed by means of an education intervention with a particular focus on foresight and reflection.


Modeling fur and hair remains one of the hottest subjects in modern computer graphics. Although some promising techniques to model and render furry and hairy objects were developed in the recent past, and several commercial packages are available, the problem still remains very challenging. The article presents a fresh practical technique to model and render fur and hairs, that is applicable for actual animation production process. This is demonstrated using images and videos taken from real, commercially-created animations.


The magnetic and dynamic properties of several β‐phosphorylated nitroxide radicals in glycerol solution were studied by X‐band ESR spectroscopy in the 180–380 K range. The parameters of interest were obtained from the least‐squares fit of experimental spectra. These radicals display a large, weakly anisotropic 31P hyperfine coupling varying from 3 to 6 mT according to the orientation of the C(2)—P bond in the molecular frame and nearly independent of the temperature. Some of these radicals, with a five‐membered cyclic structure, undergo an exchange between two conformers due to ring puckering, whose kinetics have been determined from the evolution of spectral shapes between 230 and 280 K. This motion, which modulates the 31P hyperfine coupling and leaves that of nitrogen unchanged, is hindered by substitution in position 4 of the ring of a proton by a phenyl group. All these radicals are found to undergo an anisotropic tumbling motion with correlation times decreasing from 100 to 0.1 ns between 280 and 380 K. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


. Strains of two salmonid species, brown trout, Salmo trutta L., and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., were compared for the purpose of marine aquaculture. Survival rate, growth and sexual maturation rate were investigated. Brown trout performances were good and allowed for intensive production.


THE ADVANTAGE OF THE TACHOMETER IS THAT IT PROVIDES FOR EVERY TRAFFIC ACCIDENT AT LEAST ONE OR TWO INCORRUPTIBLE WITNESSES WHO CANNOT BE MISTAKEN. IF TACHOMETERS WERE TO BE FITTED TO VEHICLES INVOLVED IN ALL ACCIDENTS IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO RECONSTRUCT THE COMPLETE PROGRESS OF THE JOURNEY DURING THE LAST STRETCH OF 1 - 2 KM. OR 1 - 2 MINUTES (TIME RECORDERS) BY REFERENCE TO THE TIME - DISTANCE - SPEED RECORDED. MOREOVER, WITH THE USE OF SUITABLE ATTACHMENTS IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH THE PERIOD OF USE OF THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE PERIOD OR DISTANCE OVER WHICH THE VEHICLE'S LIGHTS WERE SWITCHED ON, THE DIRECTION INDICATORS OR THE USE OF THE WARNING HORN. FROM THE TRAFFIC SAFETY VIEWPOINT THERE ARE FURTHER ADVANTAGES IN USING THE EQUIPMENT. IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE BY A GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE POLICE TO DETERMINE, WITHOUT DIFFICULTY, THE SPEED OF ALL VEHICLES INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. THE EXPERT IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS WOULD BE FAR BETTER PLACED THAN HE IS TODAY TO MAKE A FIRM STATEMENT TO ASSIST THE MAKING OF DECISIONS IN LEGAL CASES CONCERNING THE ACTIONS OR NEGLECT OF THE ACCIDENT PARTICIPANTS. TO HELP CLARIFY THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE EQUIPMENT TOWARDS ROAD SAFETY, WHICH ARE AT PRESENT ONLY SPECULATIVE, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT TWO CASE STUDIES SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN, NAMELY THAT TRAFFIC PSYCHOLOGY INVESTIGATIONS SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN WITH THE HELP OF MOTIVE-ANALYSIS METHODS, AND ALSO HALF OF THE VEHICLES IN A 2,000 UNIT CAR POOL SHOULD BE EQUIPPED WITH DEVICES IN ORDER THAT A LONG TERM STUDY BE CARRIED OUT INTO THE ACCIDENTS OCCURRING TO BOTH HALVES OF THE POOL.


The precipitation of topologically close-packed (TCP) phases in a Ru-containing single-crystal Ni-based superalloy has been investigated. The high-angle annular dark field, selected area electron diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to analyze the TCP precipitates in this study. The intergrowth of P phase with µ phase was found. This finding indicates that P phase may nucleate at stacking faults and subsequently grow at the expense of µ phase. The orientation relationship between P and µ phases was and .


There are several major trends in signal interpretation in animal communication systems: from mere behaviour to specialized signals, from emotional signals to referential ones, from innate signals to arbitrary symbols; all of them are essential for the emergence of human language because human language is specialized and based on referential signs of symbolic nature. A need for a constant increase of the amount of symbols gave rise to phonology, syntax and other language-specific features. Focusing on signal interpretation makes it possible to construct a consistent model of language origin. It also provides a solution to the problem of honest communication emergence as well as a solution to the problem of gradual change.


The invention relates to a method for the functional checking of an error detection unit of a CAN-bus controller unit (3.1), which for the transmission of transmission frames via at least one reception and transmission line (3.2, 3.3) with a connecting unit (4) is connected to a CAN is connected to the data bus (5), in which a data transmission frame comprises at least a header, payload and CRC check data area and at least a part of the recorded in the payload data field of at least one recorded in the CRC check data CRC check bit is secured. The invention is characterized in that to the tested CAN bus controller unit (3.1) is transmitted in a test cycle, an erroneous transmission frame, wherein the data transmission frame in through the at least one CRC check bit secured data field at least a bit error, the erroneous data transmission frames in between the CAN-bus controller unit (3.1) and the terminal unit extending receiving line (3.3) is introduced, and that during the test cycle, the verification of the faulty data transmission frame is checked as faulty by the error detection unit (4).


We expect that when combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses a patient's HIV viremia, a steady increase in CD4-cell count will ensue. In


Part of a two-level introductory course for three to six-year-olds. With the help of Max and Millie, two friendly monsters, children learn to say and understand useful language items. The course can be used to study either American or British English.


Closures of trauma centers have accelerated since 2001. These closures may be disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities. We evaluate how driving time between ZIP codes and nearest trauma centers changed nationwide from 2001–2007. During this period, 24% of the population experienced increased driving times to the nearest trauma center. Communities with disproportionately high numbers of African Americans, uninsured, people living in poverty and in rural areas were more likely to experience deteriorating access than other communities. Remaining trauma centers serving these communities should be allocated funding, and efforts to coordinate trauma care at the regional level should account for access disparities. INTRODUCTION Timely access to care is critically important for patients with traumatic injuries or emergent conditions. Although health outcomes depend on many factors (e.g., severity of injury), trauma patients who do not receive care in a timely fashion are at increased risk of death.(1– 3) Trauma centers are integral to emergency care because they reduce mortality.(4) While a significant proportion of the public mistakenly believes emergency departments are synonymous with trauma centers,(5) facilities that offer trauma center services are designated or certified by a government or independent entity to provide trauma care in defined areas. The importance of trauma centers is recognized. Indeed, objective 8 of the Injury and Violence Prevention topic area of the U.S. government's Healthy People 2020 initiative is to increase access to trauma care in the U.S.(6)Unfortunately, trauma centers have been closing at accelerated rates over the past two decades, with 339 of the 1125 existing trauma centers closing from 1990–2005.(7–10) Closures are attributed to the high costs of trauma care, comparatively poorer patient populations, and underfunding.(11–14) Thus, public health experts and patients are concerned that the documented benefits of trauma centers(13, 15, 16) may not be equally available to all populations. Corresponding Author Telephone: (415) 572-6779 Facsimile: (415) 206-5818 email@example.com. NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Health Aff (Millwood). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 October 1. Published in final edited form as: Health Aff (Millwood). 2011 October ; 30(10): 1912–1920. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0510. N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript Previous research suggests that hospital closures might affect distance to care, which can lead to negative patient outcomes, especially for time-sensitive conditions.(1–3, 17) This may hold true for trauma center closures as well. Few studies have examined geographic access to trauma care for vulnerable populations measured by time to arrival or distance to care as an outcome variable. Our study examines whether geographical access to care, defined here as driving time to the nearest trauma center, has improved or deteriorated between 2001 and 2007 for vulnerable population; specifically the socio-economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, and rural communities. We consider driving time to nearest trauma center since the majority of field trauma cases are transported on roadways and inter-hospital transfers are beyond the scope of the study. STUDY DATA AND METHODS To establish the existence of trauma centers between 2001 and 2007, we extracted data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Surveys; including all general, acute, short-stay hospitals that offered trauma center services. The survey data also include trauma center characteristics such as size, ownership, and teaching status. We relied on the AHA surveys instead of the Trauma Information Exchange Program database, which identifies trauma centers based on the American College of Surgeons/ Committee on Trauma (ACS) definition, because data was not available for the entirety of our study period. The AHA survey asks hospitals to identify themselves as a: regional resource trauma center, community trauma center, rural trauma hospital, or other (state-specific). For our analysis, a hospital is considered a trauma care center if it provides any type of trauma care specified in the AHA surveys (all levels included). We obtained the longitude and latitude coordinates of each trauma center's location using physical address or heliport location in order to calculate distance to the nearest trauma center.(18) We linked this dataset with the 2000 Census to obtain demographic characteristics of US communities as defined by ZIP code tabulation area level (created by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical calculations of U.S. Postal Service ZIP codes, and in most cases identical to ZIP codes; henceforth referred to as "ZIP codes" in this paper) such as percent population under the Federal poverty line, unemployed, uninsured, of racial/ethnic minority groups, elderly, and/ or foreign-born, and the longitude and latitude coordinates of each ZIP code. We further supplemented our dataset with county-level percentages of uninsured residents, data obtained from the 2005 Area Resource Files (ARF).(19) Outcome measures Distance to trauma care—Although geographic availability of a trauma center is only one component of healthcare access, it is important because of trauma's acute nature. In this study we look at geographic availability of trauma centers as a reasonable, but incomplete, proxy for access to trauma care(2). We measured distance between trauma center location and ZIP code's population center location by calculating the straight-line distance between the two locations. The distance calculation based on longitude and latitude coordinates is highly correlated with actual driving distance, especially for urban areas.(20, 21) To better understand how trauma center closures affected people between 2001–2007, we converted distance between ZIP code and nearest trauma center into driving time. We accomplished this by using a previously validated formula to convert straight-line distance into actual transportation time.(21, 22) We then determined how driving time to the closest trauma center changed between 2001–2007. We classified the communities according to whether the calculated driving time between each community and the nearest trauma center satisfied one of the following conditions between 2001 and 2007: 1. Did not increase (including a Hsia and Shen Page 2 Health Aff (Millwood). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 October 1. N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript handful of communities that experienced a decreased driving time) 2. Increased by less than 30 minutes; or 3. Increased by more than 30 minutes. Because there is no standard measurement for changes in driving time, we looked at the overall mean for the communities with a positive increase in driving time, which was 29 minutes. We chose a 30minute increase as the cutoff point for trauma access change categories because it represents a meaningful increase in driving time while ensuring adequate sample size. Data Analysis Our unit of analysis was at the community-level, defined by ZIP Codes established by the U.S. Census Bureau. First, we analyzed the change in driving time from 2001–2007 and compared area characteristics between communities that experienced no increase in driving time and those that experienced increased driving time to the nearest trauma centers. We performed a multinomial regression to determine which factors were associated with the community's risk of experiencing an increase in driving time to the nearest trauma center. The change-in-driving time outcome variable was categorical, and defined as: no change in driving time, increased by <30 minutes, and increased by ≥ 30 minutes. The multinomial logit is the appropriate estimation method because our dependent variable is categorical and not continuous. We describe the predicted variables in more detail below. All regression models were weighted by the population of each community in order to obtain populationbased estimates of the relative risks. The communities included in the study are nationally representative of >99% of the US population, according to the 2000 Census. All analyses were done using Stata 11.(23) Predictor Variables—Our main objective was to examine whether vulnerable populations experienced a disproportionate increase in driving times. We divided the communities into urban and rural categories based on whether the ZIP code was in a Metropolitan Statistical Area as defined by the 2000 Census. After differentiating rural and urban areas, we categorized each area according to whether the community had low, medium, or high shares of vulnerable characteristics. We classified each community using the following steps: first, to characterize vulnerability we looked at the percentage of economically disadvantaged, racial/ethnic minorities, uninsured, foreign born, and the elderly (as detailed below).(19) Second, we categorized each community's level of vulnerable population into low, medium, and high by 3-quartiles of the distribution for each of these vulnerability characteristics in rural and urban areas across the United States. For instance, an urban ZIP code was classified as having a "high" share of elderly if the percentage of its elderly population was in the upper third (67–100%) of the distribution of elderly in all urban areas, and likewise for "medium" (34–66%) and "low" (0–33%) shares. By including the urban/rural indicator and the 3-level categorization of vulnerable population, we determined whether rural communities experienced access deterioration relative to urban communities, and if so, how vulnerable populations fared within them. We categorized vulnerable populations in each ZIP code as follows: Economically disadvantaged. We included 2 measures of economically disadvantaged. We divided communities into 3 categories


the function of recognizing EBV-infected cells is lost, conditions are created for their unlimited proliferation with the possibility of forming benign and malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, epithelial and mesenchymal origin. Hodgkin's lymphoma is extremely rare in children younger than 5 years old. A feature of the presented case of EBV-associated Hodgkin's lymphoma is an early manifestation of the disease on the background of the absence of classic markers of EBV-infection. Verification of the diagnosis was possible only on the basis of immunohistochemical research.


A numerical procedure is derived for the solution of the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations in two phase-space variables. Derivatives with respect to the phase-space variables are approximated by a weighted sum of the values of the distribution function at properly chosen neighboring points. The resulting set of ordinary differential quations is then solved by using an apprGeriate time-integration scheme. The secv:.e y of the proposed method is tested with some simple model problems. The results for the free-streaming case, linear Landau damping, and nonlinear Landau damping are investigated and compared with those of the splitting scheme. The proposed method is found to be very accurate and efficient.


eBay promises to engage everyone while asserting its organizational logic and configuring people. eBay encourages members to identify as traditionally gendered and heterosexual by employing personalization and Web 2.0 conventions. Members tend to follow eBay's directives and self-present with such culturally approved identities as binary gendered individuals and heterosexual couples. These identities, including the over 1000 portrayals of heterosexual couples and chaotic homes that I analyze using the humanities methods of close visual, textual and theoretical analysis are worth studying because they are derived from significant identifications with objects, consumerism and the company, and compromised by the messy aspects of collecting and the purportedly defiling features of used objects. Members' depictions of disordered homes negatively code individuals, render the eBay site and auctions as less desirable and suggest the association of the company with goodness and heteronormative purity is fraudulent. The clutter and disorganization of other Web 2.0 sites also troubles traditional identity positions and organizational logics. Further research into the ways norming occurs in these settings is imperative because narratives about internet empowerment make it difficult to identify how regulation and personalization work together.


People working with EC often face two key problems: How to get clues-to-sale from Web-visiter? How to make maximal profits?This paper designs an EC system model based on multi-Agent, structures customer-inquiring Agent, purchasing Agent, saling Agent and managing Agent, and this multi-Agent system could solve above two problems rightly.


US Navy experience gained from the mine countermeasures (MCM) operations against the mines planted by Iraq during Operation Desert Storm highlighted the need for a centralized platform for support of MCM operations. USS INCHON (LPH-12) has been selected by the US Navy as the most cost-effective platform to provide a near-term solution which will meet all requirements. After a brief discussion of MCM operations, other candidate MCS platforms studied, and the far-term (new construction) MCS(X), the remainder of the paper focuses on the conversion of the LPH-12 to operate as the centralised platform for MCM operations.


Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom. Although fears of a vast epidemic appear on the surface not to have been supported by a huge increase in clinical cases, the figures tell us that the disease is far from conquered and that new cases still occur at about a rate of 100 per month. This article will examine some of the issues regarding HIV infection, with particular emphasis being placed on the epidemiology of the disease, where so much still can be done in the field of health education.


Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV‐6), a member of the betaherpesvirus family, has two distinct species: HHV‐6A and HHV‐6B. HHV‐6B real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) has been used to distinguish between active and latent viral infection. In this study, we developed a real‐time RT‐PCR assay to detect HHV‐6A‐specific transcripts and evaluated its reliability for analysis of clinical samples. To develop HHV‐6A‐specific real‐time RT‐PCR assays, three different classes of gene transcripts (immediate early: U90; early: U12; and late: U100) were selected as targets. Serial d ilutions of plasmid DNAs containing target sequences and RNAs extracted from HHV‐6A‐infected cells were used to determine assay specificity and sensitivity. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from patients with either primary or reactivated HHV‐6B infection, and one patient with X‐linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X‐SCID) with HHV‐6A reactivation, were used to evaluate assay reliability. The HHV‐6A‐specific real‐time RT‐PCR assays amplified plasmids containing the target sequences at concentrations between 10 and 1 × 106 copies per reaction. The intra‐assay coefficients of variation were less than 5%. The three classes of HHV‐6A gene transcripts were not detected in any HHV‐6B sample isolated from the patients. In the X‐SCID patient, high copy numbers of HHV‐6A U12 and U100 transcripts were detected in PBMC samples during viremia. Thus, we successfully established highly sensitive and reproducible real‐time RT‐PCR methods targeting three classes of HHV‐6A gene transcripts. This method should be useful for discriminating active HHV‐6A infection from either latent infection or chromosomally integrated HHV‐6A (ciHHV‐6A).


by Robert M. Parr and Carla R. Fjeld He lealth authorities in all countries are concerned about the nutrition of their population. In the industrialized world, major concerns are related to what has been called "over nutrition". With higher affluence and urbanization, diets tend to become higher in energy and fat, especially saturated fat. They also have less fibre and complex carbohydrates, and more alcohol. These and other risk factors are leading to increased incidence of obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, anaemia and some cancers, with immense social and health care costs. For developing countries, the problems chiefly lie on the other end of the spectrum. "Under nutrition", or malnutrition, is the principal enemy, mainly of poor people who experience the most widespread and severe effects of malnutrition. Some statistics are truly alarming. More than 780 million people — 20% of the developing world — are chronically undernourished. About 190 million children under five years of age, including more than 150 million in Asia and 27 million in Africa, suffer from protein-energy malnutrition. Every day, 40 000 children under the age of five die, and malnutrition is a major contributing factor. Some 2000 million people in more than 100 developing countries suffer from micronutrient deficiencies that can lead to blindness, mental retardation, and even death. Many problems are not new — indeed, most of them have been recognized for years. Their severity varies widely from one country to another, and also over time. Some countries have observed significant decreases in diet-related mortality in recent years; many others, however,


Most experts are using manual techniques to diagnose dyslexia. Machine learning algorithms are capable enough to learn the knowledge of experts and thus, automation of the diagnosis process is possible. In this research, we propose an automated diagnostic and classification system. The system is trained by pre-classified data of 857 school children scores in spelling and reading. The twenty-fifth percentile was applied on the scores to label the data. The scores of the twenty-fifth percentile and below were marked as indicators of children who were likely to have dyslexia while the scores above the twenty-fifth percentile were considered to be indicators of children who were non-dyslexic. The system has three components: the diagnostic module is a pre-screening application that can be used by experts, trained users and parents for detecting the symptoms of dyslexia. The second module is classification, which classifies the kids into two groups, non-dyslexics and suspicious for dyslexia in spelling and reading. A third module is an analysis tool for researchers. The results show that 23% of children were at risk for dyslexia in the training data and 20.7% in the testing data with 98% of accuracy.


A diffusion equation containing information about the structure of the liquid–vapor interface is constructed to describe self‐diffusion in a one component, two phase fluid. Analysis of the diffusion equation in the limit of vanishing interface thickness leads to interfacial matching conditions, one of which was previously assumed ad hoc. From a study of the asymptotic long time behavior of the equation, it is found that an ordinary self‐diffusion experiment can not be expected to provide information about the interface structure. A numerical study of the diffusion equation shows that the reduced time to diffuse through the interface is independent of the ratio of the vapor and liquid densities, which is the one free parameter in the diffusion equation. An experimental test of our prediction that it takes the same time to diffuse from the liquid to the vapor as vice versa is suggested.


The growth of meromorphic solutions for a class of k-order homogeneous linear differential equations with meromorphic coefficients is studied,and some sharp results for their hyper-order are obtained.