The problem of corrosion of metal equipment is one of the most actual problems in oil industry. One of the methods to solve this problem is the development of new low-toxic, accessible and effective corrosion inhibitors. For this purpose, we carried out the synthesis of the new α-aminophosphonates based on syntanyl phosphites, formalin and diethanolamine according to the Kabachnik-Fields reaction. The resulting products are characterized by 1H, 31P, 13C NMR, IR and mass spectroscopy methods. The obtained compounds contain a long radical chain of industrial (poly)ethoxylated alcohol residue with different length of the hydroxyethyl fragment, as well as an active center containing O-P-C-N fragment, which impart them inhibitory properties toward corrosion processes. The anticorrosive activity of the new aminophosphonates was studied by gravimetric analysis method. In the article the effect of concentration, time and degree of ethoxylation of the hydrocarbon radical in alpha-aminophosphonates on the protective effect of inhibitors was studies. It was shown that the obtained aminophosphonates exhibit high values of the protective effect of steel in a highly mineralized medium containing 250 g/m3 СО2 and 200 g/m3 Н2S. The high value of the protective effect (82-85 %) at inhibitor concentration of 25 mg/l was found. The maximum protective effect at 50 mg/ml dosage of the inhibitor is 94.3 %, while there is a decrease of the corrosion rate (less than 0.04 mm/year).


Room temperature electrode poling is by far the simplest and the most convenient way of preparing piezoelectric films of poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVF2. A shortcoming of this poling technique is, however, the relatively low electric field (<3.5 MV/cm) that can applied to the film without incurring instantaneous flashover or arcing around the film edge. We demonstrate here that by simply adding a rubber O ring and a plastic plate to the regular electrode poling setup, it is possible to pole biaxially oriented PVF2 films with fields up to about 9 MV/cm for at least 5 s without incidence of breakdowns. The piezoelectric e31 coefficient of the poled film rises sharply with increasing field but, after reaching a value of about 21 mC/m2 (d31=7.5 pC/N) at 2.5 MV/cm, it levels off gradually to a value of about 31 mC/m2 (d31=11 pC/N) at fields above 6 MV/cm.


DkOnJNOLOCALISATION OF THE pS3 TUMOtni SUPPRESSOR GENE PRODUCT IN NORMAL AND DISEASED HUMAN EPIDERMIS. M J Edwarda, R Thomas. C M Mills, P J Dykes and R Marks. Department of Dermatology, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN. The p53 tumour suppressor gene product Is a nuelear phosphoproteln which Is thought to piay a central role In the negative regulation of cell growth and division. The wild type p53 protein can Inhibit DNA synthesis and block cell growth ln the G1 phase of the cell cycle. However, studies Into the function of the wild t>pe p53 In growth control have proved difficult, due ln part to the proteins short half life In cultured mammalian cells. We have Investigated the expression of the wild type p53 gene produet in normal human epidermis and In the hyperprobferating epidermis of psoriasis lesions. Cryostat sections (4iim) of normal and psoriatic human skin were exposed for 30 minutes at 37'C to one of the foUowlng:-a) an IgC monoclonal antibody eontrol. b) monoclonal antibody speciflc for wild type p53 protein, c) monoclonal antibody with specificity towards mutant p53 and denatured normai p53 protein. The primary antibody was then localised using a two step immunoperoxidase procedure. The molecular weight of the p53 gene product was confirmed by the immunopreclpltatlon of I^^Sl methionine labelled proteins from skin explants. Wild type p53 protein was detected within the nuclei of epidennal cells from ixjth normal and psorlatle epidermis. However, higher levels of wild type p53 were detected in resolving psoriasis lesions when compared with normal eplficrii.ls. Mutant p53 was not detected ln normal human epidermis. Mutant p53 protein was detected in the nuclei and cytoplasm of resolving psoriasis lesions. Our data suggests that the p53 tumour suppressor gene product is being expressed at high levels ln resolving psoriasis lesions. Two explanations can be proposed for the presence of mutant p53 In psoriasis lesions. Firstly, a mutation may have occured In the wild type p53 gene. However, a more likely explanation is that the mutant p53 monoclonal antibody has recognised a denatured form of the wild type p53 protein which in turn reflects an increased rate of wild type p53 protein turnover in these lesions.


We analyzed the magnetization reversal process of non-oriented electromagnetic steel sheets using the extended Landau free energy model (eX-GL). The model is a new analysis approach that can connect the macroscopic function and the microscopic structure beyond the hierarchy by using data science technique. It can treat grain boundaries and defects, which frequently occur in actual magnetic materials, furthermore it can visualize the inhibiting factors of magnetization reversal back to the original image. As a result, we could draw the experimental energy landscape of an electromagnetic steel sheet for the first time, and the magnetic domain walls that contribute to magnetization reversal was selectively visualized.


The paper analyses the influence of the real exchange rate (RER) on the income elasticities of the demand for imports and exports in a balance of payments constrained growth framework (BPCG). Theoretically, we identify the transmission mechanisms through which the real exchange rate affects the elasticities and discuss its implications. Empirically, a novel two-stage test is carried out. First, we estimate the trade income elasticities for each country in different periods. Secondly, we evaluate the effect of the level of the RER over the elasticities. The results provide empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis of endogeneity of the income elasticities, especially for developing countries in Latin America.


Assessing a corporations performance may become easier with the introduction of a less complex sustainable balanced scorecard with a single indicator outcome, writes Graham Hubbard.


The article deals with some peculiarities of adaptation of foreign first-year students of a military academy to the educational process. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of some factors, which cause difficulties during foreign first-year academy students adaptation. Some directions of pedagogical support of their adaptation are considered.


Aircraft is a high complexity,repairable,multi-component system.Accurate and timely maintenance direct bearing on the safety of flying transport missions.Trace aviation maintenance practices,has experienced corrective maintenance,time based maintenance and condition based maintenance(CBM),in three stages.With the development of CBM condition monitoring and fault diagnosis,failure prediction and maintenance decision-making techniques and theories,highlights the effectiveness and economy of maintenance.Aviation developed countries have identified the CBM as the primary means of aircraft maintenance.Meanwhile,on the complex system condition monitoring,fault prediction based on physical models and methods of maintenance decision model optimization gradually become the researching focuses.


Coordination of ruthenium trichloride with hydrazones derived from diacetylmonoxime and substituted benzoyl hydrazides [viz. diacetylmonoxime benzoylhydrazone (DMBH), diacetylmonoxime isonicotinoylhydrazone (DMINH), diacetylmonoxime nicotinoylhydrazones (DMNH), diacetylmonoxime 2-chlorobenzoylhydrazones (DMOCH), diacetylmonoxime 4-chlorobenzoylhydrazone (DMPCH), diacetylmonoxime 4-methoxybenzoylhydrazones (DMPMH), diacetylmonoxime 4-nitrobenzoylhydrazones (DMPNH) and diacetylmonoxime 4-methylbenzoylhydrazone (DMPTH)] has been studied and dinuclear complexes of the type [Ru(L)Cl(H 2 O)] 2 Cl 2 have been isolated. Octahedral complexes are characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductance, magnetic susceptibility, electronic, infrared, 1 H NMR, mass and thermal studies. The infrared spectra show that the hydrazones behave as bidentate ligands either in the amide or imido form. The ligands and their metal complexes have been screened in vitro for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The results indicate that in the complexes the biocidal activity of the ligand increases on complexation.


This paper investigates an Internet of Things (IoT) system in which multiple devices are observing some object's physical parameters and then offloading their observations back to the BS in time with opportunistic channel access. Specifically, each device accesses the common channel through contention with a certain probability firstly and then the winner evaluates the instant channel condition and decides to accept the right of channel access or not. We analyze this system through the perspective of Age of Information (AoI), which describes the freshness of observed information. The target is to minimize average AoI by optimizing the probability of device participation in contention and the transmission rate threshold. The problem is hard to solve since the AoI expression in fractional form is complex. We first decompose the original problem into two single-variable optimization sub-problems through Dinkelbach method and Block Coordinate Descent (BCD) method. And then we transform them to Monotonic optimization problems by proving the monotonicity of the objective functions, whose global optimal solution is able to be found through Polyblock algorithm. Numerical results verify the validity of our proposed method.


The electrokinetic potential, aka the zeta potential, has gained importance for the surface analysis of membranes and filters of various kinds. A significant number of membrane zeta potential results presented in the literature refer to the analysis of flat sheet polymer membranes for nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. These membranes play a major role in the process of seawater desalination. When in use, the membrane surfaces get exposed to feed water with high salinity while the zeta potential is commonly determined in the presence of a dilute aqueous solution of a simple electrolyte. Although the discrepancy in the ionic strength between measurement and filtration does not reduce the quality of information gained from the zeta potential analysis, it is desirable to know the effective charge at the membrane-feed water interface under environmental conditions. We present an analytical approach to obtain reliable zeta potential data at high ionic strength corresponding to seawater and brines of even higher salinity despite of the experimental restriction to measurements at 0.1 mol/l and below.


Leaf and leafstalk explants of Dionaea musci pula were cultured on mediums supplemented with different concentration and kinds of hormone.And the effect of the mediums on generation induction of advantag eous bud were compared, the result are in the follows: the most adaptive medium for induction of bud of Dionaea muscipula is 1/2MS+N)0.2mg/L+6-BA0.2mg/L ;The most advantageous medium in the growth of the different plantlet of Diona ea muscipula is 1/5MS+N)0.5-1.0 mg/L.


[His] greatest wish … was for a knowledge of justice and an understanding heart It is easy to be depressed about the state of law these days. As the voters have become increasingly fearful and hateful, legislators and judges have made our law less generous and honorable. The death penalty has been reintroduced and corners have been cut in procedural protections to speed it along. The honorable basis of the exclusionary rule—the unwillingness of judges to countenance wrong-doing—has been abandoned. Legal aid for the poor has been cut back. The steam has gone out of civil rights enforcement. There no longer seems to be a vision among lawyers that law can be a source of nourishment for society. The positivist vision of law—the will of the strong—dominates legal thinking. Even the liberals, "burnt-out" and cynical in the light of legal realism, do not think of law as special.


Introduction * 1. Understanding Manga through Reading, Drawing and Producing 2. The Power of Storytelling * 3. The Power of Seen and Unseen Worlds * 4. Manga and Society * 5. Motion through Line * 6. Expanding Manga's Boundaries


Early Childhood Education (ECE) comprises of essential programs andactivities that are critical to holistic development, academic success andfuture achievements of children. The purpose of this study was toinvestigate the challenges faced by the teachers in implementing earlychildhood education in primary schools. The descriptive research designwas used. All the primary schools located in Lahore district was thepopulation of the study. A sample of two hundred ECE teachers wasselected randomly from the population. The sample consisted of onehundred male and female teachers from rural and urban primary schools.There was a questionnaire developed for data collection. The findings ofthe study revealed that most of the teachers were not completely aware ofthe early learning development standards. Materials related to ECEclassrooms were not enough for the students. Moreover, primary schoolteachers need more training and facilities for the implementation of ECEin their schools. There was a significant difference between the perceptionof the male and female and rural and urban teachers. In light of thefindings, researchers recommended that teachers' training should bearranged for awareness of early learning development standards andpedagogical skills


Abstnd-The la)'er-\\;se laminate theory or Reddy is extended to account for multiple delaminations between la)·en. and the associat~ computational model is developed. DeJaminatior.s bct"un lalers of composite plates are modeled byjump discontinuity conditions at the interra~, Geometric nonlinearity is included to capture la)'cr buckling. The strain energy release rate distribulion alonl the boundary ofdelaminations is computed by ~ novel aJlorithm. Thecomputational model prcKnled is \-alicbled through sa'eral numerical examples. .


Considerable progress has been made in uncovering the numerous functions of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) and its associated carbohydrate, polysialic acid (PSA), in ontogenetic development and in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory in the adult. Perturbation of NCAM functions by ablation of NCAM or by disruption of NCAM-mediated interactions in vitro or in vivo impaired synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, fear conditioning, induced amnesia in a passive avoidance task, and caused spatial memory deficits. The mechanisms underlying action of NCAM and PSA at different phases of learning and memory consolidation are, however, unknown. To investigate the contributions of PSA versus the extracellular domain of the NCAM glycoprotein backbone on learning we acutely injected NCAM, PSA-NCAM and PSA into the dorsal hippocampus of wild-type mice at different phases of auditory fear conditioning. As an internal control that injections into the hippocampus would not have unspecific effects on hippocampus-independent forms of learning, we used a fear conditioning paradigm in which an animal was simultaneously subjected to hippocampus-independent learning of tone and hippocampusdependent learning of context. Only PSA, either attached to NCAM or alone, but not NCAM, injected before training, impaired formation of hippocampus-dependent contextual memory, as measured by the freezing response. Consolidation of contextual memory was affected only by PSA-NCAM when injected during its late, but not its early phases. None of the tested compounds disturbed extrahippocampal cued memory. Mice lacking the polysialyltransferase (ST8SialV/PST) responsible for attachment of PSA to NCAM in adulthood showed a mild deficit only in hippocampal contextual learning, when compared to NCAM deficient mice that were disturbed in both contextual and cued memories. Formation of contextual memory in NCAM deficient mice could be restored by pre-training injection of PSA-NCAM into the hippocampus, suggesting that a mechanism for PSA-NCAM function in learning is not mediated by modulation of NCAM-NCAM homophilic interactions but rather through its heterophilic partners. These in vivo results are supported by in vitro data showing the inhibitory effects of PSA on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in wild-type mice and restorative effects of PSA on Oleg Senkov PhD thesis 8 Abstract impaired CA1 LTP in NCAM deficient hippocampal slices. In summary, our data support the view that polysialylated NCAM is involved in both formation and late consolidation of contextual memory, and supports synaptic plasticity. By using tamoxifen-inducible Cre-recombinase LoxP system which allowed us to induce temporally controlled ablation of the NCAM gene in the brain of adult mice – we show that NCAM is required for formation and/or retention of hippocampus-dependent contextual memory, whereas amygdala-contingent cued memory is less dependent on inducible ablation of NCAM. These results are intriguing since constitutive prenatal NCAM ablation causes both hippocampaland amygdala-dependent deficits in fear conditioning, and thus raise the question whether NCAM is critical for development of the amygdala, or the levels of NCAM expression in the amygdala after inducible ablation remain sufficiently high to mediate its functions. Strikingly, severe cognitive deficits in learning and memory of contextual and cued information in NCAM deficient mice could be rescued by facilitation of activity of the NMDA subtype glutamate receptors via systemic administration of D-cycloserine, as an agonist of the glycine site of these receptors. These results correspond to data from ongoing in vitro studies demonstrating a rescue of CA1 LTP in NCAM or PSAdeficient hippocampal slices by D-cycloserine. Thus, we suggest that a loss of NCAM and/or PSA leads to a deficit in NMDA receptor function during induction of synaptic plasticity and fear learning. Since lower concentrations of D-cycloserine were sufficient to restore levels of hippocampus-dependent contextual memory as compared to amygdala-based cued fear memory, there may be interesting differences in regulation of NMDA receptors by PSA-NCAM in the hippocampus and amygdala. The significance of these findings is underscored by studies uncovering a genetic link between schizophrenia and mutations in the polysialyltransferase ST8SiaII/STX, and a deficit in PSA and overproduction of soluble NCAM in schizophrenic brains.


Let t1, . . . , tn be independent, but not necessarily identical, {0, 1} random variables. We prove a general large deviation bound for multi-variate polynomials (in t1, . . . , tn) with small expectation (order O(polylog(n))). Our result can be used to substitute Janson's inequality in several problems with a crucial advantage that it is symmetric (i.e. we have strong bound on the deviation in both directions). Few applications will be discussed. Part of this work was done while the author was with the Institute for Advanced Study ( Priceton, NJ) and was supported by a grant from NEC and the state of New Jersey 1


We have developed a method of manipulating single DNA molecules for application in single-molecule analysis. Using a bead cluster formed by laser trapping, the technique allows single DNA molecules to be manipulated at any point on the molecule without the need for prior chemical modification as in DNA-bead complex techniques. We describe the method and the characteristics of cluster formation, and present examples of actual DNA molecule manipulation.


A method for evaluating, by an radio frequency identification reader (1), a data stream signal (DS) in respect of data and/or collision, comprises comparing the data stream signal (DS) with at least one threshold level, particularly a data bit level and/or a collision level, and evaluating the results of the comparison, wherein both the threshold level and its adaptation speed (a(n)) are adapted in dependence of the course of the data stream signal (DS) and/or the course of said threshold level.


An improved description of copper‐ and iron‐cylinder impact (Taylor) test results has been obtained through the use of dislocation‐mechanics‐based constitutive relations in the Lagrangian material dynamics computer program EPIC‐2. The effects of strain hardening, strain‐rate hardening, and thermal softening based on thermal activation analysis have been incorporated into a reasonably accurate constitutive relation for copper. The relation has a relatively simple expression and should be applicable to a wide range of fcc materials. The effect of grain size is included. A relation for iron is also presented. It also has a simple expression and is applicable to other bcc materials but is presently incomplete, since the important effect of deformation twinning in bcc materials is not included. A possible method of acounting for twinning is discussed and will be reported on more fully in future work. A main point made here is that each material structure type (fcc, bcc, hcp) will have its own constitutive beha...


This article describes the evolution of career development in UK employing organisations over the period 2000-2020. It looks at the characteristics of career development in organisations; the business drivers for supporting the career development of employees; some of the ideas that
 have influenced how employers think about career development; and key career development practices. The article also explores the challenges that constrain effective career development for employees. In addition to published material, the article includes some case examples of current practice,
 drawing on semi-structured interviews with NICEC Fellows, specialists in organisational careers work and HR professionals.


Abstract : An algorithm is given for constructing optimum variable-length alphabetic binary code. The algorithm needs O(n squared) operations and 4n storage locations, where n is the number of letters in the alphabet. The same algorithm can be used for constructing optimum binary search trees. (Author)


Poland turned in an impressive performance since the fall of communism, and even during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008. Highly innovative public policies helped catalyze a vibrant private sector, which in turn enabled high economic growth, low unemployment, increased exports and labor productivity, leading to a much-improved standard of living for many citizens. However, comparatively low wages have led up to 12 percent of the population to live and work in other countries. One of the reasons for this is lower rates of innovation and R&D spending than in peer countries. In the context of these various innovative forces and disruptions, this paper focuses on a set of policy actions supported by the Government to promote innovation and competitiveness in Poland's private businesses. The paper seeks to answer two main questions: What is the nature of initial innovations in Poland's public sector that enabled private sector innovation? And, were more recent government programs supported by the World Bank successful in promoting increased business innovation and competitiveness? The paper draws on the author's recent mission to Poland as part of a World Bank evaluation of the policy operation series (IEG in press)


Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) were fabricated by using the mist deposition method. The mist flow of two organic materials poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and [6,6]-Phenyl C61 butyric Methyl Ester (PCBM) was generated using an ultrasonic oscillator and deposited on substrates as active layers of OSCs. Their thickness strictly depended on the substrate temperature. The current-voltage characteristics depended on the duration time of the mist deposition. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) was about 1.61%.


that the Pnyx had not already been reconstructed: one would have to "come down" from the Akropolis in order to go anywhere else, whether to the Agora or the Pnyx; the Three Thousand did not need to meet in any place as large as the Pnyx. Certainly we need a better explanation of the source of his error if we are to conclude that Plutarch is wrong. Moysey suggests that "this colorful account had become commonly accepted folklore by Plutarch's day some 500 years after the fact."4 But as A.W. Gomme wrote, "invented stories are usually in accord with the traditional picture, not contrary to it."5 Moysey himself draws attention to the fact that the Thirty were notorious for plundering or even tearing down public buildings. Is it probable that someone would invent a story crediting the oligarchs with rebuilding the Pnyx, of all places? The fact that the anecdote does not fit the traditional picture of the "Thirty Tyrants" is a strong argument against the hypothesis that it is fictitious. Plutarch's assessment of the motives behind the re-


The study of the Diophantine equation x^2-Dy^4=N (D and N are the given integers, D>0 and D is non-square) has caused some authors interests, such as Cohn, Tzanakis, LI Jin-xiang, LIN LI-juan. Cohn has proven some conclusions. For example: N(5, 44)=1, (x, y)=(7, 1); N(5, 11)=2, (x, y)=(4, 1), (56, 5); N(5, -44)=3, (x, y)=(6, 2), (19, 3), (181, 9). Tzanakis has proven some conclusions while y≡0(mod8).For example: N(2, 17)=0, N(2, 41)=0, N(8, 17)=0, N(2, 97)=0. LI Jin-xiang has proven one conclusion: N(3, 46)=2, (x, y)=(7, 1), (17, 3). LIN LI-juan has also proven one conclusion: N(3, 22)=2, (x, y)=(5, 1), (85,7). But this Diophantine equation x^2-3y^4=166 still has not been solved until now. In this paper the author has proved that the Diophantine equation x^2-3y^4=166 has only positive integral solutions (x, y)=(13, 1), (193, 13) with the primary methods of recursive sequence, quadratic remainder and congruence.


The invention relates to a reclosable pouring element (1) having a base body (2) and a closing cap (3) which, at the same time, represents the opening means. A flange surrounding the opening area of the pouring element (1) is connected to a flat gable composite packaging (P) in a fixed manner. In addition, the closing cap (3) has lateral holding spigots (4) which are held in corresponding recesses (5) of the base body (2). In order to provide a secure connection between the base body (2) and the closing cap (3) and to provide a reliable opening and closing function of the flat gable composite packaging, the recesses (5) are arranged on the packaging side in the base body (2) in such a way that, on the packaging side, the closing cap (3) can be squeezed into the recesses (5) which receive the lodging spigots (4).


Abstract This paperwork is focused on the quality of AlSi6Cu4 casting with different wall thicknesses cast into the metal mold. Investigated are structural changes (the morphology, size, and distribution of structural components). The quantitative analysis is used to numerically evaluate the size and area fraction of structural parameters (α-phase, eutectic Si, intermetallic phases) between delivered experimental material and cast with different wall thicknesses. Additionally, the Brinell hardness is performed to obtain the mechanical property benefits of the thin-walled alloys. This research leads to the conclusion, that the AlSi6Cu4 alloy from metal mold has finer structural components, especially in small wall thicknesses, and thus has better mechanical properties (Brinell hardness). These secondary Al-castings have a high potential for use in the automotive industry, due to the thin thicknesses and thus lightweight of the construction.


Samples of five winter/tropical commercial fabrics were tested for abrasion (i.e. wear) performance. Results showed similar trend in weight loss and decrease in thickness due to rubbing. Pure woolen fabrics were found fast in colour in comparison with blended ones. Blended fabrics also developed more pills. Woolen fabrics were the most outstanding for abrasion properties.


We demonstrate that the widely used multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree- Fock method is restricted to a certain class of applications and fails for scenarios where periods of low entanglement occur during the propagation. By using illustrative and physically relevant examples, based on the Hubbard model of solid state physics, we show the existence of serious instabilities in the method itself and demonstrate that the method does not converge with respect to electron correlations. Possible cures of the approach are discussed.


Proposed is the basic design model of entrained-bed coal gasification system, which will be a tool to identify the basic design parameters and the feasible operating range of each component in the system. The present design model is composed of three major design modules for coal/oxidizer burner nozzle, gasifier with refractory, preheater, slag discharge hopper and product gas quenching system. Each design module is constructed by incorporating lumped-mass based design approach with thermochemical data and relevant correlation in order to give the basic design specification of the component, and is then coupled together with other design module. Using the present design model, parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influences of gasification system design variables on the performance parameters of key component, and then scale-up analysis is performed to obtain design data for large scale IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) application. Furthermore, the present model will be combined with the data base of marketable products, from which the designer can select the product suitable to the component design specification obtained from design modules.


Abstract Evidence is presented that a naturally occurring hydrilla‐growth inhibitor also inhibits the germination of lettuce seeds. The effect is concentration dependent, and the development of both hypocotyledons and dicotyledons is retarded, though no morphological changes are noted in comparison with control samples. In addition, a photodynamic action is involved: the number of seeds developing cotyledons and hypocotyledons in a given time is significantly reduced in the samples exposed to light and the growth inhibitor in comparison to control samples exposed to inhibitor, but maintained in the dark. From experiments with sodium azide, it seems probable that the observed photodynamic action is mediated by singlet oxygen (O2 1Δg).


. We study the problem of optimal linear estimation of the functional A(cid:1)ξ = (cid:1) ∞ j =0 (cid:1)a ( j ) (cid:1)ξ ( − j ) depending on unknown values of a vector stationary sequence (cid:1)ξ ( j ) = { ξ k ( j ) } Tk =1 from observations upon the sequence (cid:1)ξ ( j ) + (cid:1)η ( j ) for j ≤ 0 where (cid:1)η ( j ) = { η k ( j ) } Tk =1 is a vector stationary sequence, being uncorrelated with (cid:1)ξ ( j ). We obtain relations for the mean square error and spectral characteristic of the optimal estimator of the functional. We also find the least favorable spectral densities and minimax (robust) spectral characteristics of optimal estimators of the functional for a particular class D of spectral densities.


Objective To explore the value of combined examination of serum tumormarkers carbohydrate antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and whole body bone scan in the diagnosis of bone metastasis in breast cancer. Methods Whole body bone scan and serum CA15-3 and CEA levels with a electrochemical luminescence assay were performed in 97 patients with breast cancer (46 cases with bone metastasis and 51 cases without bone metastasis) and 45 patients with benign breast diseases. As for the negative cases who had significant pains in bones, CT or MRI was performed to make sure. Results The serum level of CA15-3 and CEA were significantly higher in patients with bone metastasis than those in patients without bone metastasis and the benign lesions. The positive predicting values were 76.09% and 80.43%. Most patients with bone metastasis had positive results in bone scan (95.65%), only 2 cases had negative results (4.35%), which is positive by CT or MRI Seven. Seven patients without bone metastasis and Three patients with the benign lesions had positive results in bone scan, that may be caused by previous operation or injury. The combined determination of CA15-3, CEA and whole body bone scan had a better performance in sensitivity, specificity and accuracy than each single way. Conclusion The combined determination of CA 15-3, CEA and whole body bone scan were valuable in the diagnosis of bone metastasis in breast cancer.

Key words:
Breast neoplasms;  Neoplasm metastasis;  Carcinoembryonic antigen;  CA-15-3 antigen; Whole body imaging;  Tomography, emission-computed, single-photon


Psychometric properties (reliability, internal consistency, factor structure, and construct validity) of the Swedish version of the Noise Sensitivity Scale were satisfactory. Support for the external validity of Weinstein's findings was described.


This study purposes to know about the effect profitability and solvability against stock price and audit delay as intervening variable. The subjects in this study use mining sector companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the period 2014-2018 and the method in this study uses purposive sampling. The analysis technique is used multiple regression and path analysis. The result of this study that profitability affects to stock price, audit delay can't interfere with the effect of profitability on stock price, but audit delay interfere with the effect of solvability on stock price.


The state of utilities and infrastructure within an academic institution plays a vital role in learning and the development of human capital. Hence, this study seeks to examine the management practices used in maintaining facilities in a government-owned tertiary institution and then examine the conditions of critical facilities and their related services in the institution. To achieve the study's goal, a questionnaire survey approach was used to collect information about users' and property managers' perceptions of maintenance management practices. The results revealed the existence of a maintenance policy covering critical systems and services. The discovery also implies that maintenance tasks are generated and planned in response to inspections and user requests. Respondents' perceptions of the state of facilities and utilities indicate that they are in good condition. While literature shows school infrastructure issues remain an ongoing concern, the majority of respondents affirm security and electricity as the most important critical infrastructure and services in the institution, amongst others. The most important limitation of the current study lies in the fact that the findings may not be generalizable to other tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Hence, more research needs to be done in order to gather more information about maintenance management practices in public universities and other educational institutions to improve critical facilities and services to enhance learning outcomes.


At present, the urgent task is to preserve and broadcast the cultural values of different peoples. From this point of view, symbols of Chinese benevolent culture can be seen as an important form of cultural communication. Three symbols of good wishes were chosen as the objects of the study: dragon, lotus and phoenix. Despite the prevalence of these images, there are practically no works in the literature that comprehensively, from different points of view, would describe the semantics of each of them. Thus, the goal is to reveal the history of these symbols, their meaning and traditions of use in a benevolent culture. The author identified and systematized the main images and meanings of the three symbols of Chinese culture. Based on the results of the work, the author came to the conclusion that all three symbols have a number of hidden images and meanings that can vary depending on the way they are depicted, and also have opposite meanings when combined with other symbols (for example, a dragon combined with a phoenix).
Purpose. The article considers the symbolism of the benevolent culture of the PRC, as one of the connecting threads in the development of Chinese identity. The symbolism is illustrated by examples of some of the most common images used in jade art – the dragon, lotus and phoenix. The author aims to reveal the history of the use of these images, their symbolism and traditions of use in a benevolent culture.
Methodology. The research is based on hermeneutic, comparative and axiological methods.
Results. The results of the work are that the author identified and systematized the main images and meanings of the three symbols of Chinese culture: the dragon, the phoenix and the lotus.
Practical implications. The results of the study can be used in the educational process when teaching courses on the history and culture of China, including history, art history, oriental culture, sinology, etc. The study of the cultural values of China, in particular, the symbolism of auspicious ornaments, allows you to broadcast, preserve and transmit the history and traditions of the art of the Middle Kingdom.


Applying heat balance sap flow gauges to plant stems <10 mm in diameter has been difficult because a miniature design is needed that can be attached to a range of stem geometries. This report presents a modified gauge design for use on small plant stems of irregular geometry and shows results from Glycine max with stem diameters of 3–4 mm. The gauge was evaluated on container-grown plants by comparing gauge measurements of flow to gravimetric estimates of transpiration. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory and greenhouse, using artificial and natural lighting, respectively. Laboratory comparisons of gauge versus gravimetric water loss measurements indicated that the instrument was accurate to within ±5% when soil water was not limiting. Similar results were obtained from greenhouse tests except when soil water availability was low and cumulative gauge estimates became 30–45% less than gravimetric measurements. Differences may have reflected reduced plant water uptake or errors in sap flow estimates associated with low flow rates. Gauge accuracy was not improved by including the rate change in heat storage (S) in the flow calculations because S was always less then 3% of the total heat balance. Relationships between system temperature and sap flow rate suggested a diagnostic test for determining optimum power input. A time constant of 15 s indicated potential application in many agronomic and physiological studies.


Many aspects of protein function, cell biology, human physiology, and disease are influenced by pH changes. However, our mechanistic understanding of pH effects in most of these areas is limited. This is especially true in the case of cell signaling, for which very few pH‐sensing receptors and signaling cascades have been identified. To address this issue, we are studying how pH regulates G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest and most therapeutically targeted family of cell‐surface receptors in humans. Unlike most cellular proteins, GPCRs are regularly exposed to a wide range of dynamic pH values (from pH 7.4 on the cell surface, to pH 5.0 in endosomes) and can be chronically exposed to acidic microenvironments caused by cancer and processes such as inflammation. While there are more than 800 GPCR family members, only three receptors (i.e. GPR4, GPR65, and GPR68) are known to be activated directly by pH. In this study, we used structural informatics and cell‐based signaling assays to predict and validate residues responsible for pH sensing by these receptors. As part of these efforts, we engineered and interrogated 44 GPR4, GPR65, and GPR68 point mutations in a library of 440 cell strains that covered all possible GPCR‐Gα subunit signaling combinations. This comprehensive strain library included 14 mutations predicted by our structural informatics software, pHinder, and the full set of 30 mutations for these receptors available in the literature. Our results for the known mutants agree with previous reports and expand our understanding of the relationship between Gα‐signaling specificity and pH sensing. More importantly, several of our newly predicted mutations appear to have a greater influence on the pH‐sensing capabilities of these receptors than any of the previously reported GPR4, GPR65, and GPR68 mutations to date. Most of the pH‐sensitive residues predicted by pHinder were found within the protein core, a region that has been largely overlooked when considering pH‐sensing properties of GPCRs. Our cell‐based experiments confirmed that these residues are critical for pH sensing and provide a more thorough knowledge‐base for understanding GPCR pH sensing. We anticipate that the outcome of these studies will enable us to more comprehensively quantify the extent of pH sensing across the GPCRome and rationally engineer new pH‐sensing GPCRs for use in industry, synthetic biology, and medicine.


We report the case of a 25-year-old woman in the second trimester of pregnancy with acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with miliary tuberculosis. Delivery of the baby by caesarean section at 24 weeks gestation resulted in an immediate and sustained improvement in respiratory function and maternal survival. We believe this to be the first report suggesting a role for caesarean section, performed with the aim of an improvement in maternal respiratory function, at such an early point in pregnancy.


Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are approved in combination with temozolomide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). The addition of TTFields resulted in a significant improvement in overall survival. TTFields are low-intensity alternating electric fields that are thought to disturb mitotic macromolecules' assembly. However, most GBM patients eventually develop resistance to TTFields. The mechanism of TTFields resistance remains largely unexplored. Understanding how GBM cells circumvent the biophysical forces of TTFields and their downstream effects will improve therapeutic efficacy of this novel anti-cancer treatment modality.

 A panel of GBM cell lines were treated continuously with TTFields at the clinically approved frequency of 200 kHz using an in vitro TTFields system until cells with relative resistance to the cytotoxic effects of TTFields. A systems approach aided by innovative network ranking computational algorithms were utilized to analyze global gene expression profiles and identify resistance pathways, which were subsequently validated experimentally.

 TTFields-induced chromosomal instability such as the formation of cytoplasmic micronuclei is preserved in resistant cells, indicating that TTFields resistance is mediated through a non-biophysical mechanism. This acquired TTFields resistance phenotype is associated with a transition of GBM cells to a stem-like state as determined by a neurosphere assay. Using an innovative computational platform, we methodically dissected this stemness program in resistant cells. Mechanistically, Prostaglandin E Receptor 3 (PTGER3) is the top ranked master regulator responsible for resistance. PTGER3 is rapidly upregulated in GBM cells upon exposure to TTFields and further increases with prolonged treatment as resistance sets in. Pharmacological inhibition of PTGER3 either using aspirin to reduce prostaglandin E production or PTGER3-specific inhibitors resensitized cells to TTFields.

 We have identified a novel pathway with PTGER3 at the apex that plays a critical role in TTFields resistance. This pathway is a potential therapeutic target to reduce resistance to TTFields therapy in GBM.


A 5-year-old boy presented to the ophthalmology outpatients clinic after being referred by his optician for a spot in his left eye. The boy was asymptomatic. His father reported that the spot had been there for some time but had not changed in size or shape. The patient was otherwise healthy, had


Population growth - nationals and expatriates Non-indigenous citizens and "stateless" residents The national composition of expatriate populations Nationals and expatriates in the workforce Illegal workers Women In the population and In the workforce Expatriates and Shi'Ites In the GCC countries - security concerns, political, social and cultural Implications "We" and "they" - relations between nationals and expatriates Foreign labour - a temporary or permanent migration? Restructuring the labour market.


When testing new algorithm of InSAR,compared with real SAR data creating interferogram simulating interferogram is more ascendant.The simulation of interferogram can help us understand InSAR processing.This paper studied simulation of InSAR interferogram,multifractal technology,simple simulation and simulation of real radar sensor parameters and orbit data.The last two methods had been simulated.


The impact of international tourism on a country's economic growth has attracted a great deal of attention among economists and policy makers. This study probes tourism-led growth (TLG) hypothesis for India employing bounds test and Johansen approaches of cointegration using annual data for the time span from 1980 to 2006 in a multivariate framework. Empirical results reveal the absence of a long-term equilibrium relationship between international tourist arrivals and economic activity in India. It also fails to establish any short-run relationship between international tourist arrivals and economic growth in an unrestricted vector autoregression framework. Thus, this study rejects TLG hypothesis for India.


An effective and selective method for the oxidation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as the liquid oxygen source and activated‐carbon‐supported ruthenium (Ru/AC) as the catalyst was developed. This reaction system allowed HMF to be oxidized in water under mild reaction conditions efficiently, as it was shown to have lower mass‐transfer resistance than gaseous oxygen‐assisted oxidation systems. In addition, we could selectively control the components of the oxidation products by adjusting the reaction conditions. We optimized several reaction parameters such as the reaction temperature (75 °C), time (t=1 or 6 h), base additive (sodium carbonate), and the HMF/catalyst ratio (50 or 10) to attain the desired products in maximum yields. Thus, 5‐formyl‐2‐furoic acid was obtained in a high yield up to 92 % with a HMF/catalyst ratio of 50 and a reaction time of 1 h, whereas 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid was obtained in a maximum yield of 91.3 % with a HMF/catalyst ratio of 10 and a reaction time of 6 h. A possible mechanism for the selective oxidation of HMF was also discussed. We envision that the H2O2‐mediated oxidation systems proposed in this study would be of great benefit to other organic oxidation systems.


The influence of adsorbents like activated carbon (AC) and iron oxide nanoparticles (IO) on the filtration efficiency of polymeric ultrafiltration (UF) membranes is proposed to investigate by incorporating them in wt % of 0.25, 1.5 and 2.5 with cellulose acetate (CA). The completely homogenous CA/AC and CA/IO casting solutions were obtained by sonicating AC and IO, respectively in N, N'-dimethyl formamide (DMF) followed by mechanical stirring with CA. By dry/wet phase inversion technique, novel CA mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were synthesized which were later evaluated for their characteristics using atomic force microscope (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). In comparison to the neat CA membrane, pure water flux of CA MMMs containing 2.5 wt % AC and 0.5 wt % IP were increased from 5.61 Lm -2 h-1 to 11.22 and 7.17 Lm -2 h -1 , respectively. These results suggest that the higher addition of AC influenced the membrane permeability whereas the amount of IP is found not to be surpassed beyond 0.5 wt% for improved flux. The wettability found by contact angle analysis suggests the higher productivity of CA MMMs and are evident by the adsorption nature of the chosen fillers. The polymer enhanced UF studies for rejecting COD, BOD and dissolved salts from the textile industry effluent has also been performed. The significance of CA MMMs lies on higher rejection efficiency with no compromise in membrane permeability.


Abstract Wet wind tunnel tests have provided calibrations and intercomparisons of the LAMP's cloud liquid water content probes (three Johnson–Williams sensor heads and one PMS ASSP). The tunnel liquid water content was deduced with a rotating cyclinder technique. The results show that the Johnson–Williams dynamic response is different according to the sensor head and control units that are used. The tests with the ASSP give an evaluation of the maximum airspeed beyond which the measurements am unreliable.


This paper introduces the connotation of professional consciousness, introduces the relationship between the navigation professional consciousness and maritime security, and analyzes particularity of the navigation professional consciousness. By adopting Delphi method, summarizes the composition of navigation professional consciousness, points out the weaknesses of this area. Aiming at the deficiency, some methods about cultivating nautical students' professional consciousness are applied in practice training courses. According to the analysis of teaching experiments data, some suggestions are brought forward to improve nautical students' professional consciousness.


: Fuzzy set and neutrosophic set are two efficient tools to handle the uncertainties and vagueness of any real-world problems. Neutrosophic set is more useful than fuzzy set (intuitionistic fuzzy sets) to manage the uncertainties of a real-life problem. This study introduces some new concepts of single-valued neutrosophic graph (SVNG). The authors have discussed the definition of regular SVNG, complete SVNG and strong SVNG. The shortest path problem is a well-known combinatorial optimisation problem in the field of graph theory due to its various applications. Uncertainty is present in almost every application of shortest path problem which makes it very hard to decide the edge weight properly. The main objective behind the work in this study is to determine an algorithmic technique for shortest path problem which will be very easy and efficient for use in real-life scenarios. In this study, the authors consider neutrosophic number to describe the edge weights of a neutrosophic graph for neutrosophic shortest path problem. An algorithm is introduced to solve this problem. The uncertainties are incorporated in Bellman – Ford algorithm for shortest path problem using neutrosophic number as arc length. They use one numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


Terahertz (THz) all‐optical modulation, that is, the transformation from optical signal to THz signal, is critical for the THz communication system. Here, an ultrasensitive all‐optical modulator for THz waves based on a silicon‐poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)‐perovskite hybrid system is presented, with the silicon substrate as the photon absorption layer, which enables its near‐infrared (NIR) light driven THz modulation and exhibits a large modulation depth up to −45 dB under a moderate light intensity of 2.18 W cm−2. The enhanced modulation mechanism of the hybrid system is investigated, which demonstrates the essential role of PEDOT:PSS and passivated perovskite layers in promoting the charge separation at the interface and therefore increasing the surface photoconductivity of the device under light irradiation. This study opens a new window for the design and preparation of high‐performance THz photonic devices.


R&D plays an important role in the innovation process which is increasingly vital to current and future profits for high technology firms. Naturelly, it is R&D talents that is intensely craved for the better being of a high technology firm's growth and development. This paper examines the competition between high technology firms in the talent market based on the Hotelling spatial model. We aim to construct a modified Hotelling spatial model based on some hypotheses to study the impact of the employment cost rate and salary incentive mechanism on the firm's equilibrium location in the Hotelling model. At last, we focus on the change rule of the equilibrium location affected by the mentioned factors and give some reasonable explanations.


The purpose of this study was to develop and study the learning achievement on "Industrial Organization Psychology" from e-Learning courses. The sample groups were 42 third year students of computer technology division, Faculty of Technical Education , Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, drawn by using purposive sampling. The research instruments were as follows: 2 e-Learning chapters and achievement tests. Statistics used were arithmetic mean, percentage, standard deviation and T-test.
The results showed that: The efficiency of e-Learning courses on "Industrial Organization Psychology" equal to 80.15/80.12 which higher than the set criterion 80/80. The learning achievement of the learners after using the instruction was higher at significant level of .01.


Stellar metallicity is an important metric in analyzing stellar evolution. Measuring metallicity (e.g., [Fe/H]) usually requires spectroscopic data, but difficulties associated with gathering spectra for distant objects severely reduces the number of stars for which metallicity can be calculated. The Sloan Expedition for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) spectroscopic surveys are one of the most abundant public-sources of objects with spectra. Despite cataloging over 106 objects, the SEGUE data makes up only 0.4% of the data in SDSS photometric surveys. To overcome the limited spectra, this machine-learning method can approximate [Fe/H] from the 5 SDSS photometric filters with a root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of 0.277 dex. The RMSE from this method is similar to the scatter expected in [Fe/H] measurements from low-resolution spectra. Therefore, this method achieves similar accuracy to low-resolution spectra but can be applied to a few orders of magnitude more stars than what the current spectroscopic surveys allow.


Taking Shandong Peninsula Blue Sea Economic Zone up to the national ocean strategy as a background,based on Shandong Peninsula Blue Sea Economic Zone constructing the modern ocean-featured economic zone of the coordinated development of the economy,the society and the ecology,and focusing on the environment construction of Shandong Peninsula Blue Sea Economic Zone,this article analyses deeply that as a new development concept,Shandong Peninsula Blue Sea Economic Zone is of important practical environmental ethical value and of long-term environmental ethical value.It will make people play economic benefits,social benefits and ecological benefits in an equally important place,develop an energy-conserved and ecology-protected growth way and consumption way and construct Shandong Peninsula Blue Sea Economic Zone of human and nature harmonious development,thus it can provide demonstration and reference for the sustainable development of national ocean economy.


Abstract The distribution, facies and plate tectonic position of Permian and Triassic phosphorites, which differ significantly from those of other Phanerozoic periods, are reviewed and compiled to investigate the driving factors for their exceptional distribution pattern. The interval is characterized by a small number of deposits and a shift of phosphorite sedimentation into high latitudes. There is only one occurrence of a "phosphorite giant", it is of Permian age. The phosphogenic systems are sensitive to conspicuous changes in climate and resulting depositional environment in shelfal sea areas. The spatial and temporal distribution of phosphorites in Permian and Triassic are not the result of an anomalous ocean composition as earlier proposed, but the adaptation of phosphorite genesis to the exceptional and, for the Phanerozoic, unique paleogeographic and climatic pattern during supercontinent formation. The simple paleogeo-graphic configuration and the extreme climate pronounce the complex interplay of factors controlling global phosphorite genesis, which are primarily the availability of broad sea areas in suitable climatic belts and sea level changes, with further access to related major upwelling systems as a supporting factor. The temporal phosphorite distribution is not directly linked to proposed oceanic anoxic events. Freshwater phosphorites may be indicative of abundant lake stratification in higher latitudes.


Strategies to improve rail transport are often based on infrastructure developments in order to eliminate the bottlenecks of the network. This is necessary but insufficient to change the modal split. It is also essential to improve the overall quality of the rail supply taking into account the shippers' needs, such as frequency and time of transport. After a short literature analysis of the rail freight models, this paper describes an optimisation method for the planning of the freight rail services by using the infrastructures in an effective, rational and customers-oriented way. On the basis of an exogenous estimation of the demand, the model determines the frequencies of the freight trains and the routes of the freight flows by minimising total generalised costs. The generalised cost function comprehends the operating costs on the links and on the nodes of the rail network, as well as the monetary value of the transport time. Several type of nodes are considered: marshalling yards, border stations, nodes where additional locomotives are attached or detached, intermediate stops, and combined transport terminals. Capacity constraints for lines, nodes and trains are also taken into account. The explicit consideration of the train frequency allows the model to approximate the waiting time for connections and therefore to better estimate the total transport time for the freight demand with respect to other approaches. The model has been applied to the north-west transalpine rail network for the PRIMOLA Interreg project. This case study is presented in the last part of the paper.


Nineteenth century French philosopher Henri Bergson emphasized the importance of attention, learning, humour and joy for life. This short book, part of the Life Lessons series from The School of Life, takes Bergson's work and highlights his ideas most relevant to solving ordinary everyday dilemmas. Michael Foley shows himself to be a highly informed and adept reader of Bergson's writings and makes efficient and effective use of some of their key ideas in this short book, writes Keith Ansell-Pearson.


Abstract. Amniotic fluid samples were extracted with chloroform and methanol for lipids. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was used to separate the phospholipids. Lecithin spots from the TLC were scraped and methylated for fatty acid (FA) analysis by gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The FA composition of the lecithins from 61 samples of amniotic fluid were determined. These included 17 from diabetic mothers, 36 from Rh sensitized mothers and 8 from normal or pre‐eclamptic mothers at gestational ages from 26–42 weeks. The percentage of saturated FA increased from 58–70% at gestational ages of 26–31 weeks to 75–90% after 37 weeks gestation. Palmitic acid comprised 24–51%, myristic acid 0–4%, stearic acid 18–44% and oleic acid 16–32% of the lecithin FA between 26–31 weeks gestation. With increasing gestational age, the percentage of palmitic and myristic acids increased, while the percentage of stearic and oleic acid decreased. Five of 27 infants, delivered within seven days of obtaining the amniotic fluid samples and between 24–42 weeks gestation, developed RDS. The lecithins from the five patients with RDS had no myristic acid and decreased palmitic acid (4 of 5<60%) compared with healthy infants of similar gestational age. The amniotic fluid lecithin from the five infants with RDS had 16–35% stearic acid while only two of 22 healthy infants had >9% stearic acid (11 & 17%). The ratio of stearic acid to oleic acid (SA/OA) was >1.3 in all five infants with RDS, and <1.3 in all healthy infants. Amniotic fluid from infants born between 34 and 38 weeks gestation who develop RDS has not only decreased. Five of 27 infants, delivered within seven days characteristic FA patterns associated with decreased surfactant activity. The percentage of stearic acid more closely parallels pulmonary maturity than the concentration of lecithin or the L/S ratio.


We studied the photoluminescence taken at 5 K from ${\mathrm{Z}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{O}/\mathrm{M}\mathrm{g}}_{0.27}{\mathrm{Zn}}_{0.73}\mathrm{O}$ quantum wells on lattice-matched substrates which were grown by laser molecular-beam epitaxy. Well-width dependence of the coupling between localized excitons and longitudinal-optical phonons was estimated experimentally. It is found that the Huang-Rhys factor S, which determines the distribution of luminescence intensities between the phonon replicas and the zero-phonon peak, increases significantly when the well width increases. We assign this variation to (i) the fact that electric field present across the well layer by polarization effects tends to push electrons and holes to the opposite side of well layer, and (ii) the localization of the excitons in the plane of the wells due to potential fluctuations that are induced by well width and barrier height fluctuations.


11.03.2008 – 25.03.2015 1996 – 2004 Director of the Council of PhD Studies of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" București 2007 – 2010 Supervisor. The program for recognition of bachelor degree in pharmacy Ministry of Education 2000 ongoing 1994 – 1996 President of the Romanian College of Pharmacists 2000 – 2010 Consultant, National Medicine Program Romanian Government 2000 – 2006 External Expert National Agency of Medicine – Quality Assessment Department 1998 – ongoing Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" București


Contact retells the First encounter between a group of Martu women and children and 'whitefellas' in 1964. Rodney Appleyard delves into the processes that underpin the award-winning documentary.


Market structure models are used to identify submarkets or to test for the presence of submarkets where within-group competition is much stronger than across group competition. The implicit assumption in such models is that the brands in a submarket compete on the basis of their shared product features. However, if significant variety-seeking effect exist in the market, such an assumption may not be valid. We present a model based on a subset selection procedure for analyzing competitive market structures and develop tests of significance for variety-seeking effects present in the market. For each brand in the market, the subset selection procedure identifies sets submarkets of brands that are in "close" competition. The competitive market structure is defined by the possibly overlapping submarkets that are identified for each brand and the model provides insights on whether the brands in a submarket are of a reinforcing or a variety-seeking kind. The application of our model to two different consumer packaged goods markets highlights its contribution relative to extant methods.


During the Spring of 1754, the Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture of Paris sent to the Ecole academique of Marseille, founded two years previously, a consignment of academy-figures, drawn by its professors, to serve as models for the pupils of the new institution. During the Revolution part of these collections was dispersed. A list of these drawings, twenty-one of them, that we discovered at the end of the text of a discourse by the painter Michel-Francois Dandre-Bardon, who, from Paris, was responsible for the young Marseille school, has enabled us to clarify the gift of these works. Thanks to this unpublished document, it has been possible for us to find in public and private collections or on the art market, part of the sheets of this set, all of which are recognisable through the inscription (Acad. Roy. or A. R.) followed by a number corresponding to that of the list.


We have developed a graduate course on the role of history in teaching mathematics, emerging from our program of undergraduate teaching with original historical sources and a collaboration with high school teachers. Graduate students in the course learn about use of history worldwide, and prepare a teaching module for a setting of their choice, usually based on original historical source material. We describe the course goals, impacts, pedagogical design and content, resources, results, and challenges. Further material is available at math.nmsu.edu/~history .


Used the large-scale finite element analysis and design software ANSYS to simulate a vehicle moving through the cement concrete pavements, analyzed the dynamic response of the cementconcrete pavements, and took contrast with thecondition of thestatic load stress response. The simulation results indicated thatthemoving load response and thestatic load response of the cement concrete pavement are very greatly different. It is a kind of economical, feasible method to simulate vehicle loads using the computer. The article offered helpful reference for the road modelling using ANSYS.


An elderly Asian man returned from Bangladesh with an 18-month history of intermittent hiccoughs, anorexia, weight loss and fever. He had type 2 diabetes on insulin therapy with deteriorating glycaemic control. Examination revealed a thin, pale man, with intermittent hiccoughs, darkening of palmar


External treatment can improve adriatic's disease greatly and also has been used widely.For better development,we should pay more attention to larger sample,multi-center,randomized controlling and research of mechanism.


Today, many countries are making efforts to advance eco-friendly technologies and new energy enterprises. Our government has also shown much interest in policies related to eco-friendliness, green growth, energy conservation, and CO2 reduction. Recently, more attention has been given to LED lighting, with low-carbon, green energy in mind, and there has been a trend in dimming control systems for energy conservation. The purpose of this research is to examine the changes and longevity of automatic lighting control systems in apartment underground garages through an investigation of regulations and documentation related to garage lighting systems. As well, through the investigation of underground garage lighting environments in 8 apartment houses, it will provide basic data regarding luminance levels and uniformity. The results of this study are as follows. 1) Currently, the government approach to reducing lighting energy is through laws and policies which require a changeover to automatic lighting control systems in apartment underground garages. These are expected to continually increase. 2) It is necessary to secure a standard for items such as measurement of lighting, luminance level, methods of control on applying automatic lighting control system. As well, work is needed to standardize a minimum luminance level and level of uniformity. 3) Currently, there is a need to improve the standard of illuminance. For example, there needs to be regulations set for the uniformity of lighting in all driving aisles, parking areas, entries & exits, as well as pedestrian access areas. Besides these, there must be separate daytime and nighttime lighting standards for vehicle exits and entrances.


We calculate (in the context of the standard model) the rate for radiative decay of a heavy-quark--antiquark /sup 3/S/sub 1/ bound state into Higgs-boson pairs, i.e., GAMMA(V-italic..-->..H-italicH-italic..gamma..). This process has contributions from diagrams containing the three-Higgs-boson self-coupling. We investigate whether that coupling is measurable in decays of the t-italic-quarkonium system or a hypothetical, heavy, fourth-generation b-italic'-quarkonium. We also briefly discuss the prospects for measuring such trilinear Higgs-boson couplings in heavy-quarkonium decays for two-Higgs-doublet theories.


Obesity is a common and complex health problem which has been dramatically increasing in the world. It is also considered as an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease. Kidney is one of the most energy‐demanding organs in the human body, which has the second highest mitochondrial content and oxygen consumption only next to the heart. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nexus between mitochondrial function and kidney injury by using dietary‐induced obese minipig model.


When ellipsoidal red cells from patients with hereditary elliptocytosis are subjected to shear stress in a rheoscope the cells rotate around their short axis and align themselves perpendicular to the flow. At high shear stress they deform into an ellipsoid of revolution with the major axis of the ellipse normal to the flow. This change in the direction of the long axis is not the result of simple reorientation of the cells. Rather, the short axis of an elliptocyte exposed to increasing shear stress expands while its long axis contracts. It is this process that eventually brings about the apparent reorientation.

Elliptocytes in a well mixed suspension are randomly oriented. As a consequence, the initial diffraction pattern displayed by the ektacytometer is a hazy circle. As the shear stress is increased this becomes rhomboid due to expansion of the central region of each cell (a change confirmed by the rheoscope). Central expansion coexisting with polar remnants of the resting elliptocytic cell shape gives rise to the rhomboid outline. As the shear stress in the ektacytometer approaches 120 dynes/cm2 the characteristic, elliptical diffraction pattern seen with normal cells makes its appearance. As the shear stress is decreased, the rhomboid pattern reappears followed by a new elliptical pattern oriented at right angles to the one seen under high shear. This pattern arises from the resting shape of the elliptocytes which have all been oriented at right angles to the shear stress as it decreased to zero. As a consequence of this uniform cellular orientation, all exposures to shear stress after the initial one start with a deformability index of less than zero if it is calculated in the usual fashion from the axial ratio of the shear deformed cells. Certainly under these circumstances and possibly in other conditions as well the use of the less-specific term "ektacytometric index" would be less misleading.


Varroa destructor is an ectoparasitic mite causing devastating damages to honey bee colonies around the world. Its impact is considered a major factor contributing to the significant seasonal losses of colonies recorded every year. Beekeepers are usually relying on a reduced set of acaricides to manage the parasite, usually the pyrethroids tau-fluvalinate or flumethrin, the organophosphate coumaphos and the formamidine amitraz. However, the evolution of resistance in the populations is leading to an unsustainable scenario with almost no alternatives to reach an adequate control of the mite. Here we present the results from the first, large-scale and extensive monitoring of the susceptibility to acaricides in the Comunitat Valenciana, one of the most prominent apicultural regions in Spain. Our ultimate goal was to provide beekeepers with timely information to help them decide what would be the best alternative for a long-term control of the mites in their apiaries. Our data show that there is a significant variation in the expected efficacy of coumaphos and pyrethroids across the region, indicating the presence of a different ratio of resistant individuals to these acaricides in each population. On the other hand, the expected efficacy of amitraz was more consistent, although slightly below the expected efficacy according to the label. HIGHLIGHTS Varroa destructor is causing severe damages to honey bee colonies worldwide. There are very few acaricides available to manage the parasite. The evolution of resistance is limiting our capacity to control the mite. We estimated the expected efficacy of the main acaricides in many Spanish apiaries. The information was shared with beekeepers for them to decide the best treatment to control the mite.


The present invention relates to a virtual private network connection method of the mobile node using Mobile IP. According to the present invention, first, the mobile node creates the VPN user authentication information, the mobile IP registration request including a message and transmits the virtual private network gateway. Then, the virtual private network gateway to the verified virtual private network access authority of the mobile node reads the VPN user authentication information from the mobile IP registration request message and query the database with the VPN user authentication information is pre-recorded. As a result, when the access authorization, and allocates a private IP by the recording a private IP in a response message for the mobile IP registration request message sent to the mobile node. Accordingly, the mobile node is made and the connection of the virtual private network. According to the invention, the construction cost is low topology is simple, it is possible to establish a virtual private network is a network traffic is small with less burden on the mobile node and the network, the mobile environment.


It has always been the claim of India's politicians that their country is a 'secular' state. However, although the Preamble to the Constitution of 1950 proclaims India to be 'democratic', it makes no mention of secularism. Fobbed off at the time as of no consequence, this omission was quite deliberate and reflected an awareness on the part of the designers of the constitution, notably Nehru and Ambedkar, that its provisions under 'freedom of religion' did not amount to what they understood to be 'real' secularism, namely the kind of polity famously embodied in the 1791 First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.


It is by now well known that, among its other achievements, China leads the world in the development of innovative and sophisticated methods to control its citizens' access to information. Less well known, but equally pernicious, is China's aggressive campaign to extend its censorship system outside its borders. Consider the case of the Melbourne film festival last fall. A few days before the festival was set to open, Richard Moore, its executive director, received a call from the local Chinese consulate. The Chinese official urged the festival to withdraw a documentary about the life of Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled activist committed to the cause of China's Uighur minority. In a stunning display of arrogance, the consulate official told Moore that the festival needed to "justify" the inclusion of the Kadeer film. This demand was followed by threatening e-mails, ugly phone messages, and a cascade of faxes. As part of the campaign, hackers broke into the festival's online booking site and manipulated material in order to make it appear that the Kadeer session had been sold out. Moore himself received messages threatening his family. While the Kadeer film was ultimately shown, Moore acknowledged that in the future festival organizers would think carefully about how to showcase controversial works.


A novel practical asymmetric route to a chiral hexahydropyrroloquinoline derivative 2, a key fragment of TAK-480, is reported. The corresponding substrate, enamine 19, was directly transformed to a diastereopure and enantiopure (3aR,4R,9bR)-hexahydropyrroloquinoline 16 through a rhodium-catalyzed hydrogen-mediated domino cyclization consisting of four steps; (1) asymmetric hydrogenation of enamine, (2) hydrogenation of iminium olefin in a lactam, (3) dehydration and catalytic sulfonation, and (4) cis-selective intramolecular cyclization. A tuned asymmetric catalyst [Rh(cod){(2S,4S)-PTBP-SKEWPHOS}]OTf that we previously developed was found to promote improved reaction activity and be the most suitable catalyst for a multikilogram manufacturing for preclinical research. The resulting stereoselective domino cyclization drastically reduced several synthetic steps, and the resulting waste compared to the discovery route that required chiral preparative high-performance liquid chromatography and silica gel colu...


The purpose of this study is to empirically test several hypotheses developed on the basis of the literature review regarding reference price and purchase behavior. To analyze the data collected from 378 respondents, multiple regression analysis was performed with SPSS/PC + 7.0. The results can be sumarized as follows. First, the higher the price, perception of regular sale price and shopping efforts, the greater the value of product. Second, the greater shopping efforts, the greater attractiveness of the deal. Finally, the greater the perception of regular sale price and the higher the price, the greater the willingness to buy.


Formation of gas hydrates in oil/gas pipelines has to be properly managed as they can often lead to plugging, primarily by deposition, causing safety issues and significant expenses for repair and recovery. Early detection of hydrate deposition is thus critical for managing such risks and establishing stratagies for hydrate mitigation and remediation. Here, a permittivity probe is applied to an 1-inch vertical pipe system in order to detect hydrate deposition. The vertical pipe system simulates a deadleg, which is a pipe section used for intermittent services and maintenance in hydrate management. Hydrate deposition under water saturated gas environment is monitored by measuring the dielectric constant of the hydrate layer, which is considered as a three-component mixture of hydrates, gas, and water. The permittivity responses upon hydrate formation and dissociation are observed, and their physical interpretations are also provided. By applying appropriate models, thickness, wetness, and porosity of hydra...


Solid state transformers (SSTs) and multi-level power conversion systems have been researched actively. These techniques are able to control voltage and current easier than conventional systems and have a potential to reduce the volume and weight of the power conversion systems. We develop a multilevel converter with the series-connected SST units for solar power conditioning system (PCS). In each SST unit, an LLC converter driven by SiC-MOSFETs are included, and we propose a control method of the LLC converter to keep the efficiency for solar PCS in which the input voltage form photovoltaic panel changes. The proposed method is evaluated with a prototype SST unit, and its efficiency shows 98% or more even if the case of the input voltage from the panel is relatively high.


Abstract : This report documents the design definition, implementation, and test of a User Oriented MIL-STD-1750 Microcomputer and Monitor System. The system design incorporates several experimental features to enhance program development and measurement in an avionics integration laboratory environment, the most noteworthy of which is a monitor real time memory map function. (Author)


An adaptable solar based refrigeration system for emerging markets. By using appropriate technology and high levels of local communcal empowerment, a customizable and affordable solar refrigeration system can be cocreated. The proposal is a culturally adaptable icemaker through a scalable technical design using low entry production techniques and simplistic technical subsolutions. The solar based refrigerator works on solarheat, is a closed system and is completely made of sustainable materials.


Abstract Study Objectives To assess differences in cognitive impairment in a group of patients with schizophrenia receiving first-generation long-acting antipsychotics (FG-LAI) versus Aripiprazole long-actinginjectable (ALAI). Method A descriptive, cross-sectional, multi-centerstudy. Study sample: 28 outpatients with stable schizophrenia (18 men and 10 women) with ages ranging from 22 to 64years. Inclusion criteria were: Clinically stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (according to DSM-5 criteria) and without any changes to their antipsychotic or antidepressant therapy in the last six months. Simple stratified sampling was performed to collect data from patients with schizophrenia receiving FG-LAI (n=14) versus patients with schizophrenia receiving Aripiprazole long-acting injectable (ALAI) (n=14) Groups were matched by age, gender, years of evolution of the disease, and years on formal education. Functionality in the different cognitive domains was evaluated based on the Brief Assessment of cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS.), a hetero-applied instrument, which Spanish version has been validated. BACS evaluates the following cognitive domains: Verbal memory (V.M): Word list test Working memory (W.M): Digit sequencing task Motor speed (M.S): Token motor task Verbal fluency (V.F): Semantic or category fluency Attention (A): Symbol coding Executive function (E.F): Tower of London The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 statistical package Differences between the means of quantitative variables were assessed using the independent-sample Student-t test. Individual test scores were converted into standardized (T and Z) scores and composite scores that were corrected for age and gender. Informed consent was obtained from all patients according to the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association). Results In the group receiving ALAI, the most severely impaired cognitive domain was attention, whereas motor speed was barely affected. In contrast, verbal memory was most impaired, whereas motor speed was the least impaired cognitive domain in the group receiving FG-LAI. Patients with schizophrenia taking ALAI showed a better cognitive function in all domains (except for motor speed and attention) than patients receiving FG-LAI. Summarized results in Table1. Conclusions In our study, patients with schizophrenia receiving Aripiprazole long-acting injectable have better cognitive function than patients receiving first-generation long-acting antipsychotics.


The growing shortage of water combined with the sharp increase in population and the development of large cities due to rapid urbanization are different aspects of an important problem, and the competition among the various consumers of water increases concerns about the protection of the environment and health. Agriculture represents the greatest burden on the availability of water and most international projects dealing with water reuse are aimed at this sector. The reuse of water for irrigation cannot overlook certain risks for human health and the environment which depend on the quality of the recycled water, its use, soil characteristics and climatic conditions.  Urban wastewaters, if separated from those of industrial origin, contain concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds that present only limited problems for human health in the case of reuse for irrigation. On this basis, the present study examines various characteristics of wastewaters coming from different urban wastewater treatment plants and surface water bodies situated in the eastern Po basin and in particular the Provinces of Bologna and Ferrara. The application of multivariate statistical methods can allow us to interpret the large and complex matrices of analytical data obtained during monitoring campaigns. In particular, cluster analysis, which discriminates data on the basis of the degree of similarity among different classes of quality, was able to characterize the quality of the wastewaters of the various plants. Moreover, it was possible to distinguish different types of water in the surface water bodies of the sub-basins in the Provinces of Ferrara and Bologna.


Samples from cohesive soil horizons, with different physical properties were extracted from boreholes made across the Timis Plain, West Romania region, with the aim of determining their electromagnetic properties. The frequency (ω) and volumetric water content (θ) dependencies of the complex dielectric permittivity, er(ω) = e′(ω)−je″eff(ω) and complex magnetic permeability, μr(ω) = μ′(ω)−jμ″(ω) of the soil samples, over the frequency range of 10kHz to 2MHz, have been investigated. Using the complex dielectric and magnetic measurements for various volumetric water content values, the frequency (ω) dependence of the attenuation parameter, α, the phase constant, β, the propagation constant, γ, and the reflection coefficient, R, was determined. The results are correlated with the dielectric relaxation and electric conductivity absorption processes over the investigated frequency range. The data obtained is very important for different applications of nondestructive testing on soils, and in evaluating the data...


Livermore National Laboratory | Both direct and indirect drive iner-tial con(cid:12)nement fusion rely on the formation of spherical implosions, which can be a challenge under temporal and spatial drive variations (either from discrete laser beams, a complex hohlraum radiation environment, or both). To that end, we ex-amine the use of large simulation databases of 2D capsule implosions to determine the sensitivity of indirectly driven NIF designs to time-varying low-mode radiation drive asymmetries at varying convergence ratios. In particular, we de(cid:12)ne and calcu-late a large number of extensive quantities for the simulations within the database and compare with the equivalent quantities extracted from fully 3D simulations and those used in 1D hydrodynamic models. Additionally, we discuss some of the practical challenges of searching for physical insight in multi-petabyte datasets.


A novel method is reported here to attach ZnO nanoclusters accurately at the end of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a hydrothermal system. The ends of MWCNTs were selectively functionalised using gas-phase functionalisation in ammonia. ZnO/MWCNT heterojunctions are formed accurately at the nanotube-ends through hydrothermal microemulsion synthesis. The reverse micelle of sodium dodecyl sulphate combines with the positive nitrogen-containing basic groups at the MWCNT end and act as the microreactors for ZnO nanoclusters. The sidewalls of the MWCNTs remain intact without any ZnO particles functionalisation. The results represent a versatile approach that is highly scalable and could pave the way toward versatile heterojunction devices fabrication.


Objective: To study the relation between the expression intensity of antigen CD57 and prognosis of typical medullary carcinoma, atypical medullary carcinoma and scirrhous carcinoma. Methods: The expression intensity of antigen CD57 in lymphy cells nearby the carcinoma was determined by S-P method. Results: The single factor analysis showed the level of CD57 expression in the tissues around carcinoma affects the prognosis of breast cancer. Cox regression model turned out that CD57 was a independent prognostic factor of breast cancer(P0 000?1).Conclusion: The expression level of CD57 nearby carcinoma has relation to the clinical stage,pathological-type and status of axalliary node.We may judge the prognosis by determing the level of CD57.


To generate design proposals that favor thermal comfort of the users is necessary to estimate the neutral temperature and ranges of thermal comfort in outdoors. A study of thermal comfort of an outdoor recreational space, in warm and cold periods in a desert climate, is presented. A questionnaire based on ISO 10551 was designed. Dry bulb temperatures, gray globe temperatures, relative humidity and wind speed were measured. 822 surveys were applied to the warm period and 863 to the cold period. Neutral temperature and ranges of comfort with the method of averages by thermal sensation interval's, were estimated. Passive, moderate and intense activities were analyzed. The periods studied showed a behavior of asymmetric climate. Neutral temperatures are approximately symmetrical with respect to their range of thermal comfort. Persons subject to intense activity have better adaptation to climate.


An observation quality evaluation system for onboard dual frequency GPS is presented in this paper. We investigate how to evaluate the quality of onboard dual frequency kinematic GPS receiver using in-flight observations, and provide several indices of onboard observation quality evaluation. To come over high dynamic characteristics of onboard observations, we design an efficient method of outlier elimination and cycle slip detection. Then via linear combination of original observations, the kinematic observations noise is extracted, and the observation quality is evaluated. Further more, we provide an algorithm to compute the correlation of different types of observations, and analyze the relation between the observation quality and sightline direction. We achieve a series of reliable quality evaluation results by experiments on the data from CHAMP satellite and provide reasonable explanation. The results of CHAMP data analysis contribute to better understanding of receivers and applications of GPS.


Based on the theory of digital signal processing, this paper designs a DTMF signal synthesis and detection system through visual interface interaction by using GUI toolbox in MATLAB, and gives the generation and detection scheme of DTMF signal. The experimental results show that the performance of the system is good, and it can help beginners to understand the process of telephone dialing and decoding.


Abstract Religious and racial identities are being reconceived as responses to cultural environments. Many Jews continue to hold conflicting ideas about their identity. We will trace the realities and challenges of being Jewish in the USA through Anzia Yezierska's "The Lost Beautifulness." The short story demonstrates the failure of Americanization and the need for a hybrid identity for Jewish-American immigrants to solve their identity crisis in the American context. The main character uses the white paint for the kitchen as a symbolic path towards assimilating American concepts of whiteness, cleanliness, and beauty, apparently making her equal to and accepted by the American mainstream middle and upper-class population.


Party control over higher education in reform-era China has been a relatively neglected topic in the extant literature. Seeking to remedy this neglect, this article focuses on an aspect of the topic that has remained unstudied in Western scholarship: namely, the post-1989 regime's efforts to strengthen and professionalize political education (PE) in universities by intensifying the 'disciplinary construction' of PE. The article finds that these efforts have been partially successful in meeting the regime's objectives. The training of PE teachers has been considerably professionalized; PE courses have become more attractive and effective; and more students tend to accept the Party-sponsored views and policies taught in PE courses, and to support Party leadership.


Word senses change during history. This paper first establishes the lexical semantic structures for the modern word "yiyi". On the basis of written texts the senses of "reluctant to part" and "sway" were gleaned. However, in the Book of Odes compiled around 600 BC, the word meant "luxuriant" or "strong". On the other hand, the "yi" morpheme had the senses of "attached", "lean on", and other similar senses. Around the beginning of the first century, a sense of "love" emerged and subsequently the senses of "reluctant to part" and "mild and gentle" appeared.


Sole markings have been produced by pouring suspensions of plaster-of-paris and water into tanks containing settled clay or gelatine. The observed processes lead to new or modified hypotheses concerning the origin of dendritic ridges, longitudinal furrows, certain tool marks and frondescent marks. In other experiments, load structures were produced by sieving sand and plaster-of-paris mixtures on to settled clay of varying densities.


Second Order Generalized Integrator (SOGI) cells are used for notch filtering due to their simplicity and harmonic rejection capability. SOGI and Dual SOGI (DSOGI) filter cells, combined with Frequency Locked Loops (FLL) to adjust the notch frequency, are commonly used in both single-and three-phase grid following (GFL) power converters for synchronization, i.e. SOGI-FLL and DSOGI-FLL, respectively. The FLL relies on a gradient descent method to minimize a cost function built up around one inner SOGI cell variable, the in-quadrature voltage estimation, and one outer variable, the error signal due to the SOGI filter cell. As a result, the FLL generates relatively large DC offsets and harmonic distortion passing through the outer SOGI cell variable, which deteriorates the frequency estimation and then, the SOGI-FLL performance. To attenuate these issues, the method proposed only uses inner SOGI cell variables. It minimizes the deviation between the estimated grid frequency and the frequency of the signal across the SOGI cell, which is detected through the Teager Energy Operator (TEO). The proposal is validated in simulation and experimentally.


Abstract BACKGROUND: Five-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is used for fluorescence-guided resections of malignant glioma at a dose of 20 mg/kg; yet, it is unknown whether lower doses may also provide efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To perform a double-blinded randomized study comparing 3 different doses of 5-ALA. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with suspected malignant glioma were randomly assigned to 0.2, 2, or 20 mg/kg 5-ALA. Investigators were unaware of dose. Intraoperatively, regions of interest were first defined in tumor core, margin, and adjacent white matter under white light. Under violet–blue illumination, the surgeon's impression of fluorescence was recorded per region, followed by spectrometry and biopsy. Plasma was collected after administration and analyzed for 5-ALA and protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) content. RESULTS: The positive predictive value of fluorescence was 100%. Visual and spectrometric fluorescence assessment showed 20 mg/kg to elicit the strongest fluorescence in tumor core and margins, which correlated with cell density. Spectrometric and visual fluorescence correlated significantly. A 10-fold increase in 5-ALA dose (2-20 mg/kg) resulted in a 4-fold increase of fluorescence contrast between marginal tumor and adjacent brain. tmax for 5-ALA was 0.94 h for 20 mg/kg (0.2 kg: 0.50 h, 2 mg/kg: 0.61 h). Integrated PPIX plasma levels were 255.8 and 779.9 mcg*h/l (2 vs 20 mg/kg). Peak plasma concentrations were observed at 1.89 ± 0.71 and 7.83 ± 0.68 h (2 vs 20 mg/kg; average ± Standard Error of Mean [SEM]). CONCLUSION: The highest visible and measurable fluorescence was yielded by 20 mg/kg. No fluorescence was elicited at 0.2 mg/kg. Increasing 5-ALA doses did not result in proportional increases in tissue fluorescence or PPIX accumulation in plasma, indicating that doses higher than 20 mg/kg will not elicit useful increases in fluorescence.


Abstract The evaluation of a university language center, to establish the extent to which it is an effective and leading-edge institution, must focus on five major factors: The quality of its language learning/teaching, its teachers' pre-service and in-service training, its treatment of students, its premises and equipment, and its management. Any decision to innovate to improve quality in one of these areas will always impact on the other areas. Managing change successfully in a university language center thus requires analysis of the tensions and impacts that innovation in one area may generate for the entire structure. To illustrate the questions involved, we will use case studies to examine the implications for all the various actors of a university language center of the establishment of online placement testing and online registration within a center. Using new technology in this innovative manner affects a number of areas that develop tensions between each other. The set of tensions which arises is a dynamic factor required for the development of language centers which wish to remain competitive, but it requires proactive measures which anticipate the changes to be made, while still maintaining the highest standards at all levels.