Aim: Lamotrigine is a broad-spectrum anticonvulsant drug widely used as mono- or adjunct therapy in adults and children. The aim of this study was to develop a liquid formulation of lamotrigine to fulfil the unmet needs of children and geriatric epileptic patients. Materials and Methods: Suspension formulation was prepared using Carbopol 974P as a suspending agent. It was evaluated for its sedimentation and re-dispersibility, solubility, morphology, particle-size distribution, rheological properties, pH measurement, uniformity of dosage unit, in vitro drug release behaviour and results were compared with marketed formulation Lamictal tablets. Results: The release profile of marketed product Lamictal tablets and developed lamotrigine oral suspension shows a complete release profile throughout physiological pH in all three media (0.1N hydrochloric acid, 4.5 pH acetate buffer and 6.8 pH phosphate buffer) and shows similar release as a marketed product. Microscopic observation clearly indicates the stability of the suspension (no aggregation of suspended particles) during the storage period of 12 months. The content uniformity of suspension was found well within the specified limits. Conclusion: Lamotrigine oral suspension was developed successfully and found a suitable alternative for a commercially available tablet for the treatment of epilepsy in children and geriatric patients.


The propagation of a radiation heat wave through a thin foil of solid gold was investigated experimentally. The wave is driven by the intense thermal radiation in 1--3-mm-diam gold cavities heated by an intense laser pulse (duration 0.8--0.9 ns, wavelength 0.35 {mu}m) to temperatures of more than 200 eV. Evidence of the propagating wave was obtained from the delayed onset of intense thermal emission from the outer side of the foil. The results agree with theoretical predictions for a self-similar ablative heat wave and with numerical simulations.


In the framework of his transcendental philosophy Kant strictly separates morality from aesthetics. The pleasure in the good and the pleasure in the beautiful are two different kinds of pleasure (zwei Arten des Wohlgefallens). As a consequence, a moral act as such cannot be beautiful. Only in a second step does Kant indicate possible connections between morality and aesthetics in his comments on aesthetic ideas, symbolism, the sensus communis, and education in general. In Confucius by contrast, we do not find such a radical separation between beauty and morality. He talks of humaneness (ren, 仁) and ritual (li, 禮). Projecting Kantian notions into the Analects, "beauty" seems to slide between the two and "moral" acts appear to be beautiful. One might wonder whether Confucius missed a point, or whether Kant overdid the separation. Or maybe both conceptions, of morality as well as of beauty, cannot so easily be translated from one philosophical tradition, or mind, to the other, and there is nothing like ren and li in Kant. In this essay I ask whether there is an "inner" and an "outer" in Confucius, and I introduce Kant's notion of "subjective purposiveness" and relate it to the Confucian notions of dao (道) and tian (天) as well as to ren and li. Reading the Analects, one easily feels that Confucius trusts in certain correlations between the inner and the outer, where I think here of the inner as moral feeling or ren (humaneness, benevolence) and of the outer as li (ritual). We should practice (outer) rituals to acquire the right (inner, moral) attitudes. One feels this suggestion is based on the belief that outer performances can make us aware of inner feelings for human values. Of course, there is no guarantee: "The Master said, Clever words and a pleasing countenance—little humaneness [ren]


Spectroscopic characteristics of intracenter transitions in disordered crystals of sodium-yttrium double fluoride Na0.4Y0.6F2.2: Pr3+ with cubic structure, grown by Stockbarger-Bridgeman method, are investigated theoretically and experimentally in order to evaluate their potential for application as active media of solid state lasers emitting in visible spectral range.


of the royal chapels from metropolitan visitation, when he said, 'And it troubles me much, Sire, that you, whom God keep, set yourself to defend the iniquity of hell, God pardon you," was not likely to shrink from his claims for recognition of less spiritual rights. Hence the tedious lengths to which he would go to secure his aim. An instance of this stubborn persistence is to be found in his correspondence with, and relating to, the executors of the will of Archbishop Boniface. Pecham claimed that some of the money at their disposal, at least six hundred marks, should be given to him because of the expense he incurred in repairing the buildings left in ruin since the days of Boniface, and also, to build new ones. A new chapel was needed at Otford, 'which we intend to build, God willing, of fair stone,' writes Pecham to Peter Albi, rector of Wrotham and Lyminge, and one of Boniface's executors, 'for it is not decent that such a fine hall as is there should have nothing but a cheap wooden chapel.'2 But the money was long withheld, and wrongfully withheld, in the opinion of Archbishop Pecham. He soon found a means of punishing the offender, even though it meant refusing a favor to Margaret,Queen of France, a kind friend to the Archbishop when he was formerly in France, for Pecham felt he had good reason to refuse. Peter Albi, on whose behalf the Queen begged a favor, had not only despised the hints about the money but had grievously neglected his benefices.3 Perhaps Archbishop Pecham was painting the scene blacker than it really was in order to get anything at all from the unwilling hands of his predecessor's executors. At any rate he could afford to build as well as the chapel at Otford a very beautiful new chapel at Teynham, which was finished by 19283. His reason for building at Teynham was as delightful as his reason for building at Otford was artistic. He writes to Queen Eleanor in 19283 to thank her for her gift of good venison from the New Forest, to reprove her for receiving lands acquired by usury of Jews, and finally to tell her, 'This letter was written at Teynham, where I have had made a very beautiful chapel to solace you when you pass this way, and truly more for the ease of your body than of mine.'4


J.B., a male,agedseventy-threeyears,while being treated for diverticulosis of the sigmoid colon, complained of irritation of the prepuceand glans penis. Examinationon November 5, 1929, revealed a mild chronic balanitis with thickening of a ttght redundantprepuce. .Mild antiseptic baths were given for immediate relief, and circumcision was advised. Six weeks later the patient complained of increasing di1Dculty in retractingthe prepuceand statedthat a tender "wart" had made its appearance. Examination revealed increasedthickening of the prepucewith granulationsand purulentexudateon its deep surface. On the dorsal aspect toward the left side was a flattened cauliflower-like lesion about the size of a threepennypiece,situatedon the fornix of the prepuceand extendingon to the corona and glans penis. The tumour was indurated and commencing to ulcerate. The glands of the groins were palpable, but it was thought that they were clinically normal or mildly inflammatory. The diagnosisof squamous-celledcarcinoma was confirmed by biopsy. There was no reaction to the Wassermanntest. Retractionof the prepucewas di1Dcult and painful, so a dorsal slit was made on January4, 1930,with local anresthesia. Dr. Moran was consultedand with his cooperation and material radium treatmentby a surfacemethod was instituted, applications being for ten hours daily over a period of eighteendays. A mould of Colombia paste 1·5 centimetresin thicknesswas made to ensheaththe whole length of the penis, the proximal end resting upon the pubes and fixed in position by means of a strap passed around the pelvis. Thirty-five milligrammes of radium elementin sevenfoci were disposedaround t.he circumference of the mould at the level of the lesion, the long axes of the tubes being parallel to each other. For flltration a layer of platinum 0·5 millimetre in thicknesswas employed. The testesand neighbouringparts were protectedby lead sheeting. At no time during treatment was there any disturbanceof micturition. The radium reaction had disappearedat the end of six weeks, the epitheliomaat the end of three weeks. Circumcision with local anresthesiawas carried out immediately after the subsidenceof the reaction. The wound healed very slowly. The glands of the groins received no treatment whatever. To date there is no evidenceof metastases.


Devices based on scintillation detector are highly sensitive to photon radiation and are widely used to measure the environment dose rate. Modernization of the measuring path to minimize the error in measuring the response of the detector to gamma radiation has already reached its technological ceiling and does not give the proper effect. More promising for this purpose are new methods of processing the obtained spectrometric information. The purpose of this work is the development of highly sensitive instruments based on scintillation detection units using a spectrometric method for calculating dose rate. In this paper we consider the spectrometric method of dosimetry of gamma radiation based on the transformation of the measured instrumental spectrum. Using predetermined or measured functions of the detector response to the action of gamma radiation of a given energy and flux density, a certain function of the energy G(E) is determined. Using this function as the core of the integral transformation from the field to dose characteristic, it is possible to obtain the dose value directly from the current instrumentation spectrum. Applying the function G(E) to the energy distribution of the fluence of photon radiation in the environment, the total dose rate can be determined without information on the distribution of radioisotopes in the environment. To determine G(E) by Monte-Carlo method instrumental response function of the scintillator detector to monoenergetic photon radiation sources as well as other characteristics are calculated. Then the whole full-scale energy range is divided into energy ranges for which the function G(E) is calculated using a linear interpolation. Spectrometric method for dose calculation using the function G(E), which allows the use of scintillation detection units for a wide range of dosimetry applications is considered in the article. As well as describes the method of calculating this function by using Monte-Carlo methods and the features of its application. The results of the calculation function G(E) for the detection unit on the basis of NaI(Tl) detector (O40 mm, h = 40 mm) to use it as a comparator for kerma rate in the air certification of low intenseе photon radiation fields.


Pure katabatic flow is studied with a Prandtl-type model allowing eddy diffusivity/conductivity to varywith height. Recently we obtained an asymptotic solution to the katabatic flow assuming the validity ofthe WKB method, which solves the fourth-order governing equation coupling the momentum and heattransfer. The WKB approximation requires that eddy diffusivity may vary only gradually compared tothe calculated quantities, i.e., potential temperature and wind speed. This means that the scale heightfor eddy diffusivity must be higher than that for the calculated potential temperature and wind speed. The ratio between the maximum versus the mean eddy diffusivity should be less than that for thescale heights of the diffusivity versus the calculated quantities (temperature and wind). Here we justify(a posteriori) the WKB method independently based on two arguments: (i) a scaling argument and (ii )a philosophy behind a higher-order closure turbulence modeling. Both the eddy diffusivity maximumand the level of the relevant maximum turbulent kinetic energy are above the strongest part of the nearsurfaceinversion and the low-level jet which is required for the WKB validity. Thus, the numericalmodeling perspective lends credibility to the simple WKB modeling. This justification is importantbefore other data sets are analyzed and a parameterization scheme written.


Treatment with hypomethylating agents, such as 5-azacytidine (Vidaza; Celgene Corporation, Summit, NJ, USA), has shown efficacy in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (Kantarjian et al, 2007; Fenaux et al, 2009; Voso et al, 2009) and is becoming the standard of care in this setting. 5-azacytidine has been shown to prolong the time to leukaemic transformation and improve overall survival in higher risk MDS (Fenaux et al, 2009). Chromosome 7 deletions, which are frequent in therapy-related myeloid neoplasms and are associated with poor prognosis, are associated with a favourable response to 5-azacytidine (Raj et al, 2007). To our knowledge, there are no clinical data on the role of hypomethylating drugs in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and there is only limited experience with other 'epigenetic' drugs, such as inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDAC) (Dickinson et al, 2009). We report a patient with a therapy-related MDS and a concomitant relapse of HL who was treated with 5-azacytidine. A 46-year-old man was diagnosed in 1996 with classical nodular sclerosis HL, stage IIB with supradiaphragmatic nodal involvement, and was treated with eight cycles of ABVD chemotherapy (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine), achieving complete remission (CR). The first relapse occurred in 2000 and treatment consisted of the Stanford V regimen, consisting of weekly administration of cytotoxic drugs (mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, vinblastine, vincristine, bleomycin, etoposide, prednisone) for 12 weeks, followed by 36-Gy involved-field radiotherapy on cervical node residue. The second relapse occurred in 2002, and was treated with DHAP (dexamethasone, cytarabine, cisplatin)-like chemotherapy, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation using BEAM (carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan) as conditioning regimen, obtaining CR. Two years later the patient had a new, histologicallydocumented, relapse of HL with B-symptoms, and was treated with involved-field radiotherapy (total dose 4500 cGy), and four cycles of MOPP chemotherapy (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone), achieving CR. At this time the patient had an impaired haematological reserve, which required reduction of chemotherapy dose, packed red blood cell and platelet transfusions, antibiotics and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration, and had relapsing episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. In 2006, due to persistent macrocytosis, mild neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, he was diagnosed with therapy-related MDS (t-MDS), with 4% bone marrow blasts, monosomy 7 and del(12)(p11) in 14 of 20 metaphases, resulting in an Intermediate-1 score in the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS). The t-MDS did not show any signs of progression until 2009, when platelet and absolute neutrophil counts significantly decreased, with no evidence of lymphoma involvement at the trephine biopsy. A computerized tomography (CT) scan revealed multiple enlarged subdiaphragmatic lymph nodes, with a high [18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-dglucose–positron emission tomography (F-FDG PET)/CT metabolic activity, and a maximal Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) of 16 (Fig 1A). A CT-guided biopsy of the inguinal lymph node confirmed the fourth relapse of HL. At 59 years of age, the patient had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 1, with significant comorbidities including pulmonary emphysema, hypertension, recurrent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm, and post-surgical


. We consider a p -Laplace problem in a strip with two-constant boundary Dirichlet conditions. We show that if the width of the strip is smaller than some d 0 ∈ (0, +∞ ], then the problem admits a unique boundedsolution,whichisstrictlymonotone.Hencethisuniquesolutionisone-dimensionalsymmetricand belongs to the C 2 class. We also show that the problem has no bounded solution in the case that d 0 < +∞ and the width of the strip is larger than or equal to d 0 . An analogous rigidity result in the whole space was obtained recently by Esposito et al. [8]


The article is focused on description of the sociolect of polish female basketball players. Through the analysis of spoken (recordings from the matches and press conferences) and written sources (websites dedicated to female basketball) it was possible to create the basketball dictionary with about 160 lexical entries. The basketball lexicon consists of words taken from other sociolects and those created inside the basketball environment. It is affected by two main opposing tendencies - to precision and sparing with words. The sociolect of female basketball players is focused on the game and its rules in offense and defense, how the basketball court looks like and how the players call for each other. The language tendencies, characteristic for the sport, such as: metaphor of a basketball match as a war, appreciation of bravery, reflex and common work for the good of the team, are also visible.


We present a variety of different protocols for solving the "100 Prisoners and a Light Bulb" riddle, including explicit computations of average runtimes. This is an updated and corrected version of the original unpublished document released on December 5, 2002 at http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/. The protocols presented here should be attributed to many members of [wu::forums], an online forum of mathematical riddles at wuriddles.com. Our quest to optimize the 100 prisoners problem is never ending, and there are many clever algorithms that have yet to be incorporated in this article.


Water is not only essential for drinking but also needed for agriculture and industrial use. However, for safe and sustainable use of water for any sector, its quality is to be ensured. Therefore, the study was carried out for water quality of samples collected from different sites in the Lake periphery as well as in the catchment areas. Groundwater samples were collected from different locations of Sambhar Lake city and its adjoining area for their physico-chemical studies. The standard methods of APHA were used to analysis 8 samples collected from hand pumps, bore wells and tube wells of the specified area. The analytical results show pH varies between 7.4-8.6, Electrical conductivity between 1723 μs/cm-23400 μs/cm, Total hardness between 402.0 mg/l-3657.0 mg/l, Calcium between 103.21 mg/l-943.43 mg/l, Alkalinity between 309.69 mg/l-496.92 mg/l, Chloride between 543.0 mg/l-9926.0 mg/l, Magnesium35.11 mg/l-316.0 mg/l, Total dissolved solids between 1175 mg/l-14900 mg/l, Sulphate between 117.6 mg/l-943.98 mg/l, Fluoride between 0.69 mg/l-2.01 mg/l, Nitrate between 7.69 mg/l-28.45 mg/l, Iron between 0.19 mg/l-0.42 mg/l, Boron between 0.76 mg/l-1.98 mg/l, Zinc between 0.01 mg/l-0.97 mg/l, Chromium between 0.012 mg/l -0.033 mg/l, Copper between 0.037 mg/l -0.065 mg/l, Manganese between 0.11 mg/l-0.97 mg/l, Lead 0.011 mg/l-0.12 mg/l, Sodium 67.0 mg/l -2312.0 mg/l, Potassium 3.40 mg/l -18.90 mg/l.


subspace Abstract. Investigation of structural integrity has been a critical issue in the field of civil engineering for years. Visual inspection is one of the most available methods to explore deteriorative components in structures. Still, this method is not applicable to invisible damage of structures. Alternatively, system identification methods are capable of tracking modal properties of structures over time. The deviation of these dynamic properties can serve as indicators to access structural integrity. In this study, a modal tracking technique using frequency-domain system identification from seismic responses of structures is proposed. The method first segments the measured signals into overlapped sequential portions and then establishes multiple Hankel matrices. Each Hankel matrix is then converted to the frequency domain, and a temporal-average frequency-domain Hankel matrix can be calculated. This study also proposes the frequency band selection that can divide the frequency-domain Hankel matrix into several portions in accordance with referenced natural frequencies. Once these referenced natural frequencies are unavailable, the first few right singular vectors by the singular value decomposition can offer these references. Finally, the frequency-domain stochastic subspace identification tracks the natural frequencies and mode shapes of structures through quick stabilization diagrams. To evaluate performance of the proposed method, a numerical study is carried out. Moreover, the long-term monitoring strong motion records at a specific site are exploited to assess the tracking performance. As seen in results, the proposed method is capable of tracking modal properties through seismic responses of structures.


In this study we provide a new conceptualization of R&D leadership with a multilevel and integrative approach. Integrated leadership is being conceptualized based on extant literature. This study develops an inventory to access integrated leadership. It examines the impact of integrated leadership on R&D performance and leader performance. It also examines the moderating effects of leaders' motivation, knowledge sharing, R&D climate and HRM practices between integrated leadership and R&D performance and leader performance. Data were collected from selected 139 R&D laboratories in India; from each laboratory one leader and three of his or her subordinate scientists working in coordination with the leader, were surveyed administering the questionnaire. The subordinate assessed the leadership and knowledge sharing, and the leader assessed all other variables. An instrument to access integrated leadership includes, cognitive, personal, and interpersonal factors. ]


An auto voice changing apparatus receives music from a stereo or multi-sound, digital or analog recording and either plays the recorded music as is, or uses the recorded music as instrumental accompaniment by eliminating the vocal sounds from the reproduced music and substituting vocal sounds provided through a microphone. The control is based solely on a single auto voice switch, control information from the recording, and detection of vocal sounds from the microphone.


Recent successes in the pure culture study of true rumen bacteria responsible for carbohydrate fermentations are outlined. Some account is also given of the rumen ciliate protozoa as fermentative agents. The power of polysaccharide synthesis and storage is very marked in many of these biochemically active rumen micro-organisms, both bacteria and protozoa. On the other hand little is yet known about individual microbial species responsible for extensive nitrogenous transformations in the rumen.


We consider a closed BCMP queueing network consisting an infinite server or terminal node, R job classes (chains) and single-server, fixed-rate nodes. Approximations for the normalization constant or partition function are constructed based on the ray method and the method of matched asymptotic expansions and are valid for networks with a large number $M\sb{j}$ of jobs for each j, (j = 1, 2, ..., R) and a large number K of nodes. Explicit formulas are given from which the performance measures of the system can be calculated. Examples are presented to illustrate the usefulness and accuracy of the approximate formula.
Next, we consider queueing networks with a load dependent queueing node in which the service or processing rate depends on the node's state or load. The analysis is new and extension of our earlier work on the load independent networks.


Objective To explore the relationship of leptin receptor(LEPR)gene rs1137100sites single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)with simple obesity. Methods 200preschool children in Liuzhou were enrolled.Body height,weight and waistline were measured,LEPR gene rs1137100(A/G)sites single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected by SNaPshot assay. Results The AA,AG and GG genotype frequencies of LEPR gene rs1137100(A/G)in simple obesity group and normal control group were 66.4%,29.9%,3.7% and 68.3%,27.7%,4.0%,respectively,the A,G allelic frequencies in simple obesity group and normal control group were 81.3%,18.7% and 82.2%,17.8%,respectively.And OR was 1.06,95%CI was 0.64~1.74.The genotype and allelic frequencies of rs1137100(A/G)in simple obesity children were not significantly different from those in controls(P0.05),the LEPR gene rs1137100(A/G)sites single nucleotide polymorphisms were found in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. Conclusions LEPR gene rs1137100polymorphisms are not associated with simple obesity in Chinese Zhuang preschool children in Liuzhou of Guangxi province.


Since inception, human being has made tremendous changes at the structural conformation of its peripheral society, although absence of connectivity between various entities results in partial distribution of information. In this paper, an Internet of Things based architecture to conceptualize the society as an information system is proposed. Metcalfe's law has been revisited and applied to rationalize the interconnection between Internet of Things with society in respect to the traditional networks. Experiments have been performed by involving Internet of Things based cloud services. Results demonstrate the convergence of domain specific societal parameters with digital.


Background: 3D-scaffolds have been shown to direct cell growth and differentiation in many different cell types, with the formation and functionalisation of the 3Dmicroenvironment being important in determining the fate of the embedded cells. Here we used a hydrogel-based scaffold to investigate the influences of matrix concentration and functionalisation with laminin on the formation of the scaffolds, and the effect of these scaffolds on human neural progenitor cells cultured within them.


This paper proposes four unit-price auction procedures with multiple heterogeneous items: the pay your bid auction, the lowest winner's bid auction, the highest loser's auction, and the pay the next highest bid to yours auction. Our model is the same as the one analyzed by Varian (2007) and Edelman, Ostrovsky, and Schwarz (2007) and is a special case of Baba (1997) and Baba (1998) which assumes that the value of the item is supermodular with respect to a bidder's type and a public signal and multiplication is a special example of supermodularity. All four unit-price auction procedures yield the same expected revenue to the seller and implement the optimal auction under the assumptions of unit demand, indivisible items, no collusive behavior, and risk-neutrality of bidders and the seller. Further, the lowest winner's auction and the highest loser's auction satisfy a fair criterion in the sense that each winner pays the same unit-price regardless of the item s/he wins. In addition to internet keyword auctions, wide range of procurement auctions such as road repair contracts and school districts' milk procurement are applications of our model. The lowest winner's bid auction and the highest loser's bid auction are desirable for public procurement contracts because of their satisfying fair criterion and robustness against collusion in addition to their achieving efficient allocation and implementing the optimal auction mechanism. JEL Classifications: C72, D44, M37.


Tablet of washing or cleaning product free of phosphate, of one or multiple phases, characterized in that the phase or one of the phases contains, with respect to its total weight, a) from 15% to 89.8% by weight of sodium carbonate and / or sodium hydrogen carbonate b) from 10% to 84.8% by weight of citrate c) from 0.05% to 20% by weight of polymer with washing or cleaning activity, is free of bleaching agents and, with respect to the total weight of the phase, it contains less than 1% by weight of citric acid, the polymer comprising washing or cleaning activity c) a polymer of the group of amphoteric polymers.


Measurements are reported on the AC and DC conductivity of evaporated films and single crystals of MoO3. In both cases a frequency-dependent conductivity is observed at low temperatures, and it is established that this is a true bulk property. A model is developed which shows that long-range potential wells surrounding centres such as (O2-) vacancies play a substantial role in the transport process. In particular, DC conduction requires movement of carriers between such wells, while AC conduction can occur within a single well. The resulting difference in the distribution of relaxation times and hopping distances involved can account for inconsistencies between parameters deduced from DC, AC and high-field transport measurements. An improved method is proposed for the calculation of the density of states involved in hopping transport.


We study the substorm dipolarization occurring from 1730 to 1930 UT on Sep 14, 2004 based on DSP/TC1, Cluster and Polar data, combined with the aurora and geosynchronous energetic particle measurements and ground-based magnetic field observations. During this time period the IMF was continuously southward. Substorm onset started at about 1822 UT. Three minute later at 1825 UT TC1, which was located at (–10, –2, 0) RE (GSE) in the near-Earth tail, saw a sharp decrease of magnetic BX component, accompanied by sudden increases in both the ion temperature and thermal pressure. Two minutes further later, energetic electron injection was observed by LANL-02A in the pre-midnight sector at geostationary orbit. About 23 minutes later at 1850 UT, the same signatures as observed by TC1 were observed by Cluster at (–16, 1, 3) RE (GSE) in the mid-tail. Meanwhile, POLAR, which was located much higher and more close to the Earth at (–7.5, 3.5, –4.0) RE (GSE), saw a sudden change in the elevation of the magnetic field at about 1855UT. Aforementioned time sequence of substorm activities indicates that the expansion onset took place at about 1822UT and TC1 and Cluster observed dipolarization (tail expansion) 3 and 28 minutes later, respectively. This means that tail expansion was propagated from source region in the near-Earth tail to the mid-tail. Detailed calculations imply that the source of the dipolarization was situated at about X = −(8.5 − 8.7) RE and the tailward progression speed was about (70~82) km·s-1. A substorm paradigm is proposed to explain the observations in this substorm event: Earthward flow produced by magnetic reconnection in the mid-tail creates favorable conditions for substorm initiation in the near-Earth; after the expansion onset the dipolarization front propagates down to the tail.


Common factory layouts design is focused on the characteristics of products, their corresponding production processes and the type of company. Thus, factory layout planning seeks to arrange individual organizational resources in a defined area, based on the optimization of transport costs. Moreover, living systems found in the nature are confronted with similar logistical problems. Literature in this regard has shown, that living systems have the ability to cope with short- and long-term changes. Hence, the main question arising from the described problematic is: which criteria should be considered for developing bio-inspired layouts. Consequently, this paper explores new efficient approaches for factory and material flow planning, using biomimetics, which combines the disciplines of biology and technology with the goal of solving technical problems. A literature review is conducted to acknowledge nature principles associated to logistic problems analyzing their ability to increase efficiency and flexibility in factory layouts. By means of a morphological analysis, different criteria and characteristics relevant for companies willing to adopt a bio-inspired layout are analyzed. Finally, preliminary results indicate that biological principles and structures, e.g. nautilus shell, help to improve the allocation of organizational resources in factory layouts. Further findings show that bio-inspired layouts are more suitable for intermitted material flow, rather than for continuous material flow.


An axial fan (1) and a fan rotor (2) are provided as well as a method of manufacturing same, wherein the rotor hub comprises an outer shell having on its outside a hub surface which is essentially rotational-symmetrical about the centre axis of the rotor hub; and wherein the rotor hub has a front end and a rear end and a diverging section there between, where the radius of the hub surface in the diverging section is increased by the distance to the front end on the hub; and wherein the rotor hub and the blades are made as separate metal parts; and wherein the rotor blades are securely mounted to the diverging section on the hub surface.


Early in 1915 during a short journey in Macedonia I took the opportunity of exploring the site and neighbourhood of Olynthus (Fig. 1), because it is hoped that the British School at Athens will before long be able to begin excavations there. I spent two days in the territory of Olynthus examining sites at Hagios Mamas, Myriophyton and Molivopyrgos as well as the ruins at Pizla, Magazudia and Palaioportes, all near Polygyros, which are those of mediaeval or modern villages. Although somewhat impeded by a heavy fall of snow I had the satisfaction of seeing for myself the comparative warmth of the climate of Olynthus even in winter. All about the reputed site of Olynthus the snow soon melted, whereas to the west beyond the village of Portaria towards the Kara Burun promontory, the snow remained for several days. The biting north-west Vardar wind which freezes the western end of Chalkidike in winter is kept off from Olynthus by the range of hills behind Polygyros, some of which are over three thousand feet high. Along the coast from Hagios Mamas to Molivopyrgos the territory of Olynthus is warm, faces south and is fertile, producing oil, corn, wine and silk. The low ground towards the coast is covered with olive groves, while the hills to the north are clothed with oak woods which were undoubtedly finer in antiquity than they are to-day. In most of the houses in Polygyros the doors and floors are of oak instead of the usual pine. These circumstances, coupled with the good anchorage at Molivopyrgos (the ancient Mekyberna), make it easy to understand the wealth and commercial importance of Olynthus. In addition to its other advantages, from Polygyros there runs the best road northwards into the upper country. Iron is said to be found in the hills and to-day mines of chrome and magnesite are worked along the coast.


Mast cells migrate toward histamine through H 4 receptor (H 4 R), which involves the activation of Rac1 and Rac2. Transglutaminase catalyzes the incorporation of histamine into cellular proteins, the process called histaminylation. Although several reports suggest possible roles of histaminlylation in mast cell signaling, there is no direct evidence showing its significance in cellular function. To explore the functional significance of histaminylation, we first investigated the effect of cystamine, a transglutaminase inhibitor, on H 4 R-Rac pathway in mast cell. Cystamine attenuated histamine-induced migration and Rac activation, suggesting that H 4 R-Rac signaling requires transglutaminase. Organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3) transports histamine into cytoplasm from extracellular space. Given the histaminylation occurs and regulates signaling in mast cells, we next examined if OCT3-mediated transport of histamine plays any role in H 4 R signaling. Decynium-22, an inhibitor of OCT3, suppressed histamine-induced migration and Rac activation, suggesting the involvement of OCT3 in H 4 R-Rac signaling. Our findings support the idea that transported histamine and transglutaminase activity modulate H 4 R-Rac pathway.


The IκB kinases IKKα and IKKβ are critical in activating the NF-κB pathway. Although these proteins have a similar structure that includes kinase, leucine zipper, and helix-loop-helix domains, they exhibit marked differences in their kinase activity and functional properties. For example, IKKβ has a 10–20-fold higher level of kinase activity for IκBα than does IKKα. Furthermore, disruption of the murine IKKβ gene, but not the IKKα gene, results in severe defects in activating the NF-κB pathway. Mice lacking IKKβ succumb to severe hepatic apoptosis because of failure to activate the NF-κB pathway, whereas mice deficient in IKKα exhibit skin and skeletal abnormalities and an embryonic lethal phenotype. To better characterize differences in the functional properties of these kinases, hybrid IKK proteins were constructed by domain swapping, and their kinase activity was assayed. These studies demonstrated that differences in the IKKα and IKKβ helix-loop-helix domains are primarily responsible for differences in their kinase activity. In contrast, their kinase and leucine zipper domains exhibited relatively conserved function. These studies further define the properties of IKKα and IKKβ, which are involved in their unique regulatory roles.


Nikolay V. Sokolov – PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Liliya S. Rekhtina –Sociologist, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Email: lisabet‑firstname.lastname@example.com
The article assesses structural-age changes in the phenomenon of migration. Migration as a mass process is now increasingly subject to the consequences of population ageing, leading to a process that can be called 'migration of the elderly'. Paradoxically, the discovery of this phenomenon was an additional result of the study into the social risks of youth migration. Interestingly, the aging of migration manifests itself precisely against the backdrop of youth migration transformation. Thus, we have found them to be interrelated and mutually complementary processes. The methodology of this research lies at the intersection of theories exploring the phenomenon of mass migration and sociological concepts that describe the aging of the population, primarily those studying the 'third age'. The empirical basis of the study is formed by street polls conducted in St. Petersburg in 2016. The surveys collected data on the age, gender, geographical and occupational structure of migrants. The analysis focused on a target group of migrants who moved to St. Petersburg over the age of forty, in the period 1995–2016. These studies reveal the 'aging' and 'growing up' of migration processes. The nature of 'senior' migration differs from the stereotypes about 'youth' migration. Social and family ties play a leading role here, as elderly migrants are oriented towards them. The observed trends of migration aging allow us to predict a significant complication of adaptation and integration. This can lead to inefficiency in the traditional mechanisms behind the interaction of the host community and senior migrants. Older migrants are not viewed as a cheap labour by the host country, as this category of migrants requires special treatment and approach. Senior migration includes mechanisms of social reconstruction, which captures the host society from the inside, acting as a powerful creative source. It is also a source of serious risks: this could lead to the radical impairment of migration management on the part of the constituent entities of the host community.


There is ample evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals face discrimination in the healthcare setting. Providing high‐quality health care for older LGBT adults will require active steps by organizations, institutions, advocacy groups, and health professionals that create an environment that is free from discrimination. This position statement that the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Ethics Committee developed addresses the vision of the AGS for the care of LGBT older adults and specific steps that can be taken to ensure that they receive the care that they need.


In this study, different spiral inductor implementations are compared. Q enhancement techniques are also evaluated in minimizing inductor losses on a 0.25 /spl mu/m epitaxial CMOS process. Inductor coupling between adjacent inductors was also considered in this study by measuring the S/sub 21/ parameter between the inductors implemented. Reported structures that minimize inductor coupling and layout strategies are explored in reducing coupling. From measured results, octagonal spiral inductors have higher Qs compared to square spirals. Results from the study have shown that patterned ground shields not only improve inductor Q but also limit inductor coupling. In integrating multiple inductors, a diagonal configuration improves isolation by at least 5 dB when compared to a horizontal configuration.


Suppose a country imports a homogeneous good from n foreign countries/producers and wants to eliminate tariffs on imports from m < n of them. If foreign producers differ in their marginal costs, which ones will be among the m that are granted free trade? This paper shows, among other things, that under constant marginal cost and fairly general assumptions about demand it will be the least efficient producers.


In a previous paper by the same author [1], a simplified analysis of the heat and moisture response of protected membrane roofs (PMR) was discussed. The analysis included a ΔU-correction to the thermal transmission coefficient U of the equivalent, conventional roof to account for the effects of percolation, evapora tion, and butt joint losses between the insulation boards. This second paper presents experimental results. The hygrothermal performances of five Protected Membrane Roof systems (PMR) were monitored to a varying degree of completeness for a number of years in the period between 1981-1992. The systems included extruded polystyrene boards, mineral fibre boards, a composite foam-concrete board manufactured with expanded polystyrene, and a composite foam-concrete board manufactured with extruded polystyrene. The monitoring indicated that the heat and moisture response of a protected mem brane roof is substantially reduced when ponding water is present either below or above the insulation. The reduction increases when the vapour diffusion resistance of the insulation material is low. Both conclusions supported the ΔU-correction, derived from the simple model. They have prompted changes in the design of PMRs and modifications to the corresponding design rules.


Submitted for the MAR07 Meeting of The American Physical Society Novel mechanism of dissipation in synthetic rotary motors CORINA BARBU, VINCENT CRESPI, The Pennsylvania State University — We study novel mechanisms of dissipation in nanoscale and molecular-scale motors. In traditional treatments of such systems, the background degrees of freedom are integrated out into a thermal bath, and the rotator is coupled directly to this bath via phenomenological terms such as viscous damping or Langevin forces. We have investigated a situation in which one degree of freedom is pulled out from the thermal bath and into the explicit equations of motion, interposed between the bath and the motor. We describe a regime in which the deceleration of an unpowered rotor follows a universal power law, rather than a standard exponential decay. Corina Barbu The Pennsylvania State University Date submitted: 20 Nov 2006 Electronic form version 1.4


max. power 125db) and obtained the following results concerning the annual change of the type and the degree of the hearing loss and some characteristics of congenital and acquired deafness. 1. In 93% of cases contained the type of high-tone hearing loss and flat-type hearing loss. The majority of the average hearing loss was between 80 and 100db. There were no remarkable difference between the hearing of right and left ear. II. There were some progressive cases in the acquired deaf, especially in younger deaf children. III. No difference was proved in the type of hearing loss between the congenital and the acquired deaf. The acquired deaf were invaded more severely than the congenital deaf. IV. The similarities were presented in the audiograms of the brothers and sisters. However, the degree of their hearing loss were not the same. V. The deafness, caused by infantile paralysis was more severe than those of caused by meningitis and encephalitis. There were many varieties in the type of audiograms of the deaf caused by labyrinthitis.


Genotoxicity assessments were conducted on male Sprague Dawley rats treated with 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) and 4‐nitroquinoline‐1–oxide (4NQO) as part of an international validation trial of the Pig‐a mutant phenotype assay. Rats were orally exposed to 0, 11.5, 23, or 46 mg/kg/day 5‐FU for three consecutive days (Days 1–3); blood was sampled on Days −1, 4, 15, 29, and 45. Pig‐a mutant phenotype reticulocyte (RETCD59−) and mutant phenotype erythrocyte (RBCCD59−) frequencies were determined on Days −1, 15, 29, and 45, and percent micronucleated reticulocytes (%MN‐RET) were measured on Day 4. Rats were treated with 4NQO for 28 consecutive days by oral gavage, at doses of 1.5, 3, or 6 mg/kg/day. RBCCD59− and RETCD59− frequencies were determined on Days −1, 15, and 29, and MN‐RET were quantified on Day 29. Whereas 5‐FU was found to increase %MN‐RET, no significant increases were observed for RBCCD59− or RETCD59− at any of the time points studied. The high dose of 4NQO (6 mg/kg/day) was observed to markedly increase RBCCD59− and RETCD59− frequencies, and this same dose level caused a weak but significantly elevated increase in MN‐RET (approximately twofold). Collectively, the results provide additional support for the combination of Pig‐a mutation and MN‐RET into acute and 28‐day repeat‐dose studies. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 55:735–740, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A new species of stingless bee, Trigona (Trigonisca) discolor , is described from the Pacific slope of Costa Rica. A brief discussion on its systematic position in also given.


Energy efficiency is paid more and more attention in subway systems to reduce the operational cost as well as ensure an environmentally friendly transportation mode. Optimization on the driving strategy and efficient utilization of the regenerative energy are two effective methods to reduce the energy consumption in electric rail systems. This paper proposes a cooperative train control model to minimize the practical energy consumption, i.e., the difference between the traction energy of the successive train and the reused energy from regeneration. Firstly, we design a numerical algorithm to calculate the optimal driving strategy with a given trip time, in which the variable traction forces, speed limits, and gradients are considered. Then we formulate a cooperative train control model to adjust the trip time of the successive train for efficient use of the regenerative energy. Finally, the optimal driving strategy of the following trip is obtained for the successive train with the optimal departure time. Furthermore, some case studies based on the Beijing Yizhuang subway line are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach on energy-saving.


The response of apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca L.) to deficit irrigation (DI) was studied in two cropping seasons using a local cultivar 'Amor El Euch' in a Mediterranean region of Tunisia. The specific objectives were to evaluate the effects DI on 1) the soil-water availability in the tree root zone, 2) the plant and fruit growth parameters including leaf proline content, various fertility variables, fruit quality, and fruit yield, and 3) the water use efficiency (WUE) and water savings for mature 'Amor El Euch' apricot trees. Regulated irrigation (RI) treatments included: RI-1: irrigation to fulfill 100% crop consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ETC) from phenological stage I through IV (control); RI-2: irrigation to fulfill 50% ETC from stage I through IV; RI-3: irrigation to fulfill 100% ETC during stages I and II, and 50% ETC in stages III and IV; and RI-4: irrigation to fulfill 100% ETC during stages I, II, and III (preharvest) and 50% ETC in stages III (postharvest) and IV. Results showed that soil-water content were within the readily available water (RAW) level in the 2003 cropping season and below the RAW level during the 2004 season most probably due to 50% more total rainfall received during the prior season. The DI resulted in a significant increase in the leaf proline content during both seasons probably due to the developed response of trees to drought stress. Fruit diameter, length, and degree of firmness increased with an increase in water stress. On the other hand, fruit yield was significantly lower for RI-2 (2003, 2004) and RI-3 (2004) treatments than that for the control treatment. There was no significant decrease in fruit yield for RI-3 (2003) and RI-4 (2003, 2004) compared with the control treatment. Increased WUE resulted in up to 50% irrigation water savings during the DI treatments. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


This paper deals with the possibility to utilize methods used for locomotive design, or to determine locomotive performance, and their application in 1:8 scale model railroads. It includes design of a measuring carriage to obtain necessary data, which are analyzed and compared to real railroads.


Studies over the past two decades have provided important information on evolution. An essential discipline gradually formed called evolutionary developmental biology, or evo-devo combines the principles of evolutionary biology and developmental biology to investigate the genetic and environmental factors that affect the development of organisms and how these elements affect evolutionary change. In this discipline, evolution can be explained by genetics, cell biology, and developmental biology. These fields provide crucial insights into how genetic variation, cellular processes, and developmental mechanisms contribute to population changes over time. With the popularity of emerging information technologies such as mobile Internet and big data, the global digital economy is booming. The development of gene sequencing technology has led to the rapid growth of genomic data, and the combination of large-scale genomics, metabolomics, and functional research systems, known as "big data" and bioinformatics, has brought about a "technological revolution" in evolutionary research. Therefore, enhancing the interconnection between scientific research in various fields is extremely necessary and will be effective.


Introduction Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a recognized procedure for treatment of medial compartment osteoarthritis. Patellofemoral (PF) joint degeneration is widely considered to be a contraindication to medial unicompartmental knee replacement. We examined the validity of this preconception using information gathered prospectively on consecutive patients who underwent UKA using the Repicci II® UKA prosthesis for medial compartment osteoarthritis. Methods We prospectively collected data on 147 consecutive patients who underwent the Repicci II® UKA for medial compartment osteoarthritis. All operations were performed between July 1999 and September 2000 by the same surgeon. The status of the PF joint was assessed intra-operatively in all patients, and accordingly patients were divided into two groups, one group with a normal PF joint, and the second group with degenerative changes of the PF joint. Variables measured for outcome included the International Knee Society (IKS) score, limb alignment, and range of motion. Radiographs were assessed for progression of disease or failure of implant. The mean follow-up was 9.4 years (range: 5–10.7 years). Patients were reviewed initially at 2 weeks, and then at 6 months post-operatively. They were subsequently reviewed on an annual basis. All patients completed an IKS score preoperatively and at last follow-up. Age, gender, BMI, length of hospital stay, perioperative complications, all subsequent surgery, including revision of the prosthesis, and survivorship at 10 years was recorded, and results of the 2 groups compared. Results A total of 147 patients were included in the study. None were lost to follow-up. Sixty nine had associated PF osteoarthritis (group A) while 78 patients had a normal PF compartment when assessed intra-operatively (group B). Post-operative outcomes of the two groups were compared using the ANCOVA analysis with adjustment for pre-operation values firstly, and adjusting also for gender, age, BMI and follow-up secondly. There were no significant differences in terms of IKS, alignment, and flexion between the two groups. However, patients in group B had significantly better extension post-operatively than patients in group A (p Conclusion We concluded that damage to the articular cartilage of the patellofemoral joint to the extent of full-thickness cartilage loss is not a contraindication to the Repicci II® unicondylar knee arthroplasty for medial compartment osteoarthritis. However, extension is significantly improved post-operatively in those patients with minimal or no PF joint degenerative disease.


A hazardous and not fully understood aeroelastic phenomenon is the transonic dip, the decrease in flutter dynamic pressure that occurs for most aircraft configurations in transonic flows. The difficulty of predicting this phenomenon forces aircraft manufacturers to run long and costly flight test campaigns to demonstrate flutter-free behaviour of their aircraft at transonic Mach numbers. In this project, subsonic and transonic flutter calculations for the KTH-NASA generic fighter research model have been performed and compared to existing experimental flutter data from wind tunnel tests performed at NASA Langley in 2016. For the flutter calculations, industry-standard linear panel methods have been used together with a finite element model from NASTRAN. Further, an alternative approach for more accurate transonic flutter predictions using the full-potential solver Phi has been investigated. To predict flutter using this new methodology a simplified structural model has been used together with aerodynamic meshes of the main wing. The purpose of the approach was to see if it was possible to find a method that was more accurate than panel methods in the transonic regime whilst still being suitable for use during iterative design processes. The results of this project demonstrated that industry-standard linear panel methods significantly over-predict the flutter boundary in the transonic regime. It was also seen that the flutter predictions using Phi showed potential, being close to the linear results for the same configuration as tested in Phi. For improved transonic accuracy in Phi, an improved transonic flow finite element formulation could possibly help . Another challenge with Phi is the requirement of an explicit wake from all lifting surfaces in the aerodynamic mesh. Therefore, a method for meshing external stores with blunt trailing edges needs to be developed. One concept suggested in this project is to model external stores in "2.5D", representing external stores using airfoils with sharp trailing edges.


Adversarial robustness has become a central goal in deep learning, both in theory and practice. However, successful methods to improve adversarial robustness (such as adversarial training) greatly hurt generalization performance on the clean data. This could have a major impact on how adversarial robustness affects real world systems (i.e. many may opt to forego robustness if it can improve performance on the clean data). We propose Interpolated Adversarial Training, which employs recently proposed interpolation based training methods in the framework of adversarial training. On CIFAR-10, adversarial training increases clean test error from 5.8% to 16.7%, whereas with our Interpolated adversarial training we retain adversarial robustness while achieving a clean test error of only 6.5%. With our technique, the relative error increase for the robust model is reduced from 187.9% to just 12.1%.


Let H be a k ‐partite k ‐graph with n vertices in each partition class, and let δk−1(H) denote the minimum codegree of H . We characterize those H with δk−1(H)≥n∕2 and with no perfect matching. As a consequence, we give an affirmative answer to the following question of Rödl and Ruciński: if k is even or n≢2(mod4) , does δk−1(H)≥n∕2 imply that H has a perfect matching? We also give an example indicating that it is not sufficient to impose this degree bound on only two types of (k−1) ‐sets.


Recent breakthroughs in semi-supervised semantic segmentation have been developed through contrastive learning. In prevalent pixel-wise contrastive learning solutions, the model maps pixels to deterministic representations and regularizes them in the latent space. However, there exist inaccurate pseudo-labels which map the ambiguous representations of pixels to the wrong classes due to the limited cognitive ability of the model. In this paper, we define pixel-wise representations from a new perspective of probability theory and propose a Probabilistic Representation Contrastive Learning (PRCL) framework that improves representation quality by taking its probability into consideration. Through modelling the mapping from pixels to representations as the probability via multivariate Gaussian distributions, we can tune the contribution of the ambiguous representations to tolerate the risk of inaccurate pseudo-labels. Furthermore, we define prototypes in the form of distributions, which indicates the confidence of a class, while the point prototype cannot. More- over, we propose to regularize the distribution variance to enhance the reliability of representations. Taking advantage of these benefits, high-quality feature representations can be derived in the latent space, thereby the performance of se- mantic segmentation can be further improved. We conduct sufficient experiment to evaluate PRCL on Pascal VOC and CityScapes to demonstrate its superiority. The code is available at https://github.com/Haoyu-Xie/PRCL.


For the purpose of maintenance requirements or for some applications in the chemical industry (for instance chlorine) the centrifugal compressor must be designed with a horizontally (axially) split casing. Beyond the decision about the type of manufacturing (cast or welded) or about the material selection one of the utmost issues regarding the design of the compressor lies in the leak tightness of the flanges. The design of the compressor casing needs detailed checking for tightness. In order to ensure a proper design with respect to integrity of stress and tightness under test and operating conditions several FE Analyses and resulting criteria have been developed by the OEMs. Furthermore in order to demonstrate the leak tightness the casing is subjected to a hydrostatic test prior to the assembly of the inner parts and rotor. According the API specification a hydrostatic pressure of at least 1.5 times maximum design pressure is applied. This standard procedure is usually considered to be sufficient for demonstrating the casing integrity, the tightness in operation and to check the accuracy of the FE analysis. However some applications require the use of several sections (consisting of some stages) inside one casing. According to the stage configuration hot and cold casing sections might be close to each other. In operation the compressor casing is subjected not only to pressure but also to thermal loading. These potential high temperature gradients can considerably influence the compressor behaviour regarding its tightness. The conventional hydrostatic test can even be less critical than at some particular operating conditions of the compressor on site. This paper describes some experiences of the author's company with this type of compressors and the performed calculations. Different configurations are analysed and compared between each others. The paper shows the steps for the optimization of casings in order to develop an appropriate split line flange design supported by FE calculations. Some examples of different casing concepts are shown and discussed. At last the paper highlights some decisive issues which influence the tightness of compressor like: Design of inner casing Arrangement of sections Geometry of flange Design and arrangement of bolts.


In a recent decade many universities responded to challenges of the internet penetration into the society and economics by simply adding computerized facilities to their existing curriculum services as their e-learning strategy [3] so that the traditional teaching and learning model could be preserved. This e-learning strategy deployment is now being challenged by the emergence of Social Networking System/Site (SNS). In order to evaluate how SNS would have affected current Higher Education System (HES), one needs to look into the inner working of value exchange within a broader societal community to extract relational interactions among its participating components (entities), and substantiate what had been challenged internally of a community to prepare for the external intrusion of SNS in a foreseeable future. In this paper, a triple-entity learning community framework is proposed with its Core Value that glues the participating entities together (Figure 5). Prior to this framework, graduate's employability issues as part of the Core Value are brought to the surface to help educators revise their existing e-learning strategies, so that curriculum content providing educational resources to its clients will be serviced in a more timely and responsive manner.


China's steady growth has put it on a path to become a great trading power globally and a primary initiator of trading rules regionally. This paper takes the ongoing FTA between China and ASEAN as a showcase and argues that this FTA by itself has the dynamism to alter the economic and geopolitical landscape in East Asia that will put Taiwan at a disadvantage, both economic and politically, in terms of its being excluded from any trade bloc. However, the exact consequences or costs that Taiwan must face will mainly depend on how sincerely the FTA is implemented. Besides, the FTA between China and ASEAN might have unexpected, indirect and positive effects on the demand for cross-Strait links.


Miller, G.J., Remeika P., Parks, J.D., Stout, B. & Waters, V.E., 1988 A preliminary report on a half-a-million year old cutmarks on mammoth bones from the Anza-Borrego Desert Irvingtonian in: Mojave Desert Quaternary Research Symposium, Abstracts of Proceedings San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly 35 (3-4): 41 Miller, G.J., Remeika P., Parks, J.D., Stout, B. & Waters, V.E., 1991 A preliminary report on a half-a-million year old cut marks on mammoth bones from the Anza-Borrego Desert Irvingtonian Imperial Valley College Museum Society Occasional Paper 8: 1-47 Olsen, S.J., 1972 Osteology for the Archeologist, no. 3, the American Mastodon and the Woolly Mammoth Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts Olsen, S.L. & Shipman, P., 1988 Surface modification on bone: trampling versus butchery Journal of Archeological Science 15: 535-553 Parks, J., Stout, B., P. Remeika, P. & Waters, V., 1989 A progress report on half-million-year old marks on mammoth bones from the Anza-Borrego Desert MCDANIEL & JEFFERSON: Mammuthus meridionalis from Borrego Badlands


The rhemica! shift of x-ra)' absorption edges of various compounds of Co, Cu, Ga, As, Mo and W has been ealeulated using Fermi encrgy data. The calculated and experimentally observed values agree fairly wcll.


We consider a production-inventory system with capacity constraint and item returns correlated to demand. The system is modelled by an M/M/1 make-to-stock queue with lost sales. A satisfied demand incurs an item return with a certain probability, after an exponentially distributed return lead-time. We distinguish two cases: When the number of items to be returned is observable and when it is not observable. For the first case, we partially characterize the optimal policy. For the second case, we consider a simple base-stock policy as a heuristic. Finally, we carry out a numerical study in order to investigate the impact of return lead-time on these policies. In particular, we exhibit interesting limit behavior, when the return lead-time is either small or large.


The private road transport sector is one of the major sources of CO2 emissions currently. To control CO2 emissions from private vehicles, two policy tools—a personal carbon tax and personal carbon trading in the transportation sector (TPCT for short)—have been discussed in many studies. In this paper, to compare the effectiveness and equity of these two instruments, a theoretical individual driving decision model is built, and two scenarios of carbon tax and TPCT are analyzed. The model proves that TPCT provides more incentive to reduce personal driving demands; however, a carbon tax can correspond to the criteria of equity that TPCT may not meet. To test the theoretical model, a stated preference survey of 700 samples is conducted among Chinese city drivers. The survey results provide empirical support for the theoretical conclusions and verify the potential for changing driving behavior under different policies. Compared to a carbon tax, the TPCT policy leads to a greater reduction of CO2 emissions in the private transport sector, at the expense of equity, under the circumstances that prevail in China.


The human visual system encodes optical information perceived by photoreceptors in the retina into neural spikes and then processes them by the visual cortex, with high efficiency and low energy consumption. Inspired by this information processing mode, an universal artificial neuron constructed with a resistor (R s) and a threshold switching memristor can realize rate coding by modulating pulse parameters and the resistance of R s. Owing to the absence of an external parallel capacitor, the artificial neuron has minimized chip area. In addition, an artificial visual neuron is proposed by replacing R s in the artificial neuron with a photo-resistor. The oscillation frequency of the artificial visual neuron depends on the distance between the photo-resistor and light, which is fundamental to acquiring depth perception for precise recognition and learning. A visual perception system with the artificial visual neuron can accurately and conceptually emulate the self-regulation process of the speed control system in a driverless automobile. Therefore, the artificial visual neuron can process efficiently sensory data, reduce or eliminate data transfer and conversion at sensor/processor interfaces, and expand its application in the field of artificial intelligence.


The circuit analysis methods and process Boeing Aerospace used on a large, ground-based military command, control, and communications (C/sup 3/) system are described. This analysis was designed to help identify electromagnetic interference (EMI) critical circuits. The methodology used the MIL-E-6051 equipment criticality categories as the basis for defining critical circuits, relational database technology to help sort through and account for all of the approximately 5000 system signal cables, and Macintosh Plus personal computers to predict critical circuits based on safety margin analysis. The EMI circuit analysis process systematically examined all system circuits to identify which ones were likely to be EMI critical. The process used two separate, sequential safety margin analyses to identify critical circuits (conservative safety margin analysis, and detailed safety margin analysis). These analyses used field-to-wire and wire-to-wire coupling models using both worst-case and detailed circuit parameters (physical and electrical) to predict circuit safety margins. This process identified the predicted critical circuits that could then be verified by test.<<ETX>>


Membrane-Associated Ring-CH (MARCH) family proteins were recently reported to inhibit viral replication through multiple modes of action. Previous work proved that human MARCH8 blocked Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP) maturation. Our study here demonstrates that human MARCH1 and MARCH2 share a similar pattern to MARCH8 in restricting EBOV GP-mediated viral replication. Human MARCH1 and MARCH2 retain EBOV GP in the trans-Golgi network (TGN), reduce its surface display, and impair EBOV GP-pseudotyped virions infectivity. Furthermore, we uncover that the host proprotein convertase (PC) furin could interact with human MARCH1/2 and EBOV GP intracellularly. Importantly, the furin P domain is confirmed to be recognized by MARCH1/2/8, which is critical for their blocking activities. Besides, bovine MARCH2 and murine MARCH1 also impair EBOV GP proteolytic processing. Altogether, our findings confirm that MARCH1/2 proteins of different species showed a relatively conserved feature in blocking EBOV GP proteolytic processing, which could provide a reference for subsequent antiviral studies and may facilitate the development of novel strategies to antagonize enveloped virus infection.


This paper presents a method of auditing the events in digital rights management systems aiming at the deficiency of current digital rights verification technology. The method includes depicting events with an extendable model and a log-based digital rights management security auditing system which collects and analyzes logs.


This is a book 1 which offers large material to the philosophic student of Schleiermacher, yet it disappoints the reader rather by its lack of sustained interest in the biographical facts of his life and of the course of his friendships. The enduring influence of the sunny piety he met among the ' Brethren' is noted. We have the penetrating remark that Schleiermacher never quite appreciated the moral depth of Kant. An intriguing quotation is given of his description of Eleanore Grunow. So much sharpness and force and freedom from all sentimentality, at the same time so soft in pure yielding gentleness and love.' Such concrete matter, however, is buried in the fully documented account of the philosophic interactions of the Aufkldrung with large quotations from the relevant correspondence. If one were to suggest that the book might have been shorter, the reply would doubtless be that it might easily have been made far, far longer. For Schleiermacher and his friends were copious writers. In regard to ' Love,' for example, here are sixteen pages of quotation and comment without one sentence to cause a smile or quicken the pulse and without the faintest suspicion of uneasiness lest too much is being said. One may more or less accept as an astounding feature of his great work on Dogmatic that all its quarter of a million words were in some way simultaneously envisaged in his mind so that every expression hangs together and every part may be relevantly related to every other. But must we extend this respectful regard to all his correspondence ? In so beautifully printed a book it seems ungracious to point out one awkward slip, ' er' for ' sire ' near the foot of p. 80.


Existing face anti-spoofing (FAS) models have achieved high performance on specific datasets. However, for the application of real-world systems, the FAS model should generalize to the data from unknown domains rather than only achieve good results on a single baseline. As vision transformer models have demonstrated astonishing performance and strong capability in learning discriminative information, we investigate applying transformers to distinguish the face presentation attacks over unknown domains. In this work, we propose the Domain-invariant Vision Transformer (DiVT) for FAS, which adopts two losses to improve the generalizability of the vision transformer. First, a concentration loss is employed to learn a domain-invariant representation that aggregates the features of real face data. Second, a separation loss is utilized to union each type of attack from different domains. The experimental results show that our proposed method achieves state-of-the-art performance on the protocols of domain-generalized FAS tasks. Compared to previous domain generalization FAS models, our proposed method is simpler but more effective.


Moderate physical training enhances the defense mechanisms, while intense physical training induces to immune suppression. The underlying mechanisms are associated with the link between nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. It suggests autonomic patterns and modulation of immune response. Immune cells, when exposed to regular bouts of stress, develop a mechanism of tolerance. In many tissues, it has been demonstrated that the response to aggressive conditions is attenuated by moderate physical training. Thus, training can induce tolerance to aggressive/stressful situations. In this review, studies suggesting the adaptation mechanisms of the immune system in response to physical training will be reported.


Much of the western United States is considered to be rangeland. Rangeland areas produce a diverse mix of benefits and products, and their overall health, in an ecosystem context, is of national importance.Because sediment yield from a watershed is an integrated expression of all soil erosion and sedimentation processes occurring within it, it is logical that we seek to quantify and interpret sediment yield in the context of soil/site stability and watershed function as measures of rangeland health. Depth integrated suspended sediment samples were combined with runoff measured using flumes to calculate sediment discharge and yield from two experimental watersheds in the southwestern USA. Sediment yield estimates for individual runoff events were summed to produce estimates of annual sediment yield from these two rangeland watersheds. Estimated annual sediment yield data were then combined with the concepts of sediment delivery ratio and soil loss tolerance to assess soil/site stability at the watershed scale. Analyses suggest that using sediment yield estimates from distributed watershed processes with time-space averaged soil loss tolerance values is inconsistent. Thus, new distributed soil/site stability criteria are needed to replace the soil loss tolerance concept in assessing the health of rangeland watersheds. Sediment transport/yield models are used at interior points in a watershed to simulate distributed sedimentation processes. However, application of these models requires calibration and validation data and is thus dependent upon the availability of sediment concentration and yield databases. Therefore, additional efforts are required to build sediment yield databases through rescue of historical data along with continued measurement and monitoring at existing and new sampling sites.


Continuous profiles of deuterium excess, d = δD − 8δ18O, in the snow-pack have been measured at continental, high-elevation stations: Dye 3/4B (2480 m a.s.l.) in southern Greenland, and Site G (3110 m a.s.l.; 70 km south-east of Crête) in central Greenland. Figure 1 shows the δ18O and the d profiles along the upper 4.3 m of firn at Site G. These profiles represent the snow accumulation from late 1974 to mid-1985, judging from the clear seasonality in the δ18O record. There is also a seasonality in the d values, which generally range from +5 to +12 ‰. In contrast to the findings at low-elevation stations, the two seasonal cycles are not in antiphase; the d curve lags the δ18O curve by only approximately 90°. These same features appear when plotting similar data from Dye 3. Modelling of the data proceeds in three steps. First, the isotopic composition of vapour evaporating from an oceanic source area is calculated on the basis of Merlivat and Jouzel's (1979) model, which takes kinetic effects into account. Secondly, the vapour is advected to the ice sheet, without mixing with vapour from other sources. Any liquid precipitation is assumed to be formed by a Rayleigh condensation process down to −5°C. Thirdly, the snow formation at lower temperatures is modelled, taking account of kinetic effects due to supersaturation of vapour with respect to ice (Jouzel and Merlivat 1984). The result of this modelling is that the initial mixing ratio (wso; g H2O/kg dry air; data from IAEA/WMO) largely determines the change of d in the precipitate as δ18O decreases during cooling. Furthermore, the absolute magnitude of the deuterium excess is mainly determined by the sea-surface temperature (Ts) in the source area. The combined result of these effects is shown in Figure 2, the upper part of which applies to a high-latitude source region (Weathership A at 62 °N, 34 °W), and the lower part to a mid-latitude source region (Weathership E at 35 ° N, 48 ° W). dvo is the deuterium excess of the parent vapour as it leaves the source area; dpo is that of first-stage precipitation predicted by the model, and dp is the predicted deuterium excess in the precipitate at Site G. In the high-latitude case, dvo and dpo have pronounced summer minima and winter maxima. As the cooling proceeds (until the observed δ18O values at Site G are reached), this cycle is inverted so that at Site G the model predicts maximum dp in August and minimum dp in January, and deuterium excesses on the ice sheet which are far too low (cf. Fig. 1). This is true regardless of the choice of parameters for the model. In contrast, starting with vapour from a mid-latitude source (such as the Weathership E area), the model predicts for Site G a maximum in September and a minimum in March, with values of 14 and 4‰ respectively. The latter results are in good agreement with the observations at Site G (Fig. 1), and also with those at Site 4B, in respect of the annual mean as well as the seasonal amplitude and the phase. We conclude that, in contrast to polar low-elevation stations, the ice sheet receives precipitation from moisture which originates predominantly from much lower latitudes. The moisture has probably been carried northward at considerable altitudes by the cyclonic conveyer belts, and is thus more or less separated from the ocean surface at an early stage. A more complete description of the model will be submitted to Tellus in the near future.


The early connections between Mathematical Logic and Computer Science date back to the thirties and to the birth itself of modern Theoretical Computer Science, and concern computability. This survey wishes to emphasize how alive and fruitful this relationship has been since then, and still is.


With the continuous increase of construction waste production in China, the treatment of construction waste resources is an important way to reduce. In this paper, the problems existing in the traditional process are improved and optimized. The improved process flow is optimized from four aspects: increasing the crushing ratio, improving the screening effect, enhancing the aggregate strength and reducing the dust. The focus is on the particle shaping and strengthening process, gel strengthening process and crushing spray dust removal process of the crushed aggregate, which makes up for the shortcomings of the current treatment process and improves the treatment efficiency and quality of construction waste. The focus is on the particle shaping and strengthening process, gel strengthening process and crushing spray dust removal process of the crushed aggregate, which makes up for the shortcomings of the current treatment process and improves the treatment efficiency and quality of construction waste. It can provide reference for the treatment of construction waste resources.


Different s oil individuals require d ifferent land use and management practices for op timum performance and yield. This is only possible if there is adequate information o n the physico-chemical properties of the soi l type i n que stion. Too frequently, farmers and other land users in t he So utheastern Nigeria h ave treated or handled t he soils of this sub r egion i n a similar manner, wrongly believing that all the soils are the same. This wrong notion and a pproach has often led to s eriously low return on investment, both for agricultural production and other land use types. Studies were carried out in 2001 and 2002 on five rep resentative p rofiles deri ved from five d ifferent parent materials, namely basement complex rock, sandstone, basalt, shale and c oastal plain sands, to pr ovide information on the physico- chemical properties of the soils derived from t he various parent materials. Samples were collected from the genet ic ho rizons of the m odal profiles and then subjected to routine anal ysis and for i ron and aluminum contents. The results sho wed that the soils d iffer in their physico-chemical properties a nd these differences h ave very sig nificant so il management i mplications. T he information provided will hopefully lead to a more profitable and sustainable manner of exploiting the soil resources by the various land users.


Maculopathy is a common cause of visual-impairment of pathologic myopia,which is difficult to observe by conventional slit-lamp biomicroscopy in clinic because of chorioretinal atrophy associated with pathologic myopia.Optical coherence tomography(OCT)is a method that allows to acquire cross-sectional anatomical pseu-color pictures of macular in-vivo clearly and observe morphological changes of macular precisely.The application of OCT makes it more possible to observe details about maculopathy of pathologic myopia to better guide its diagnosis and therapy.Here is to make a brief review on the application of OCT in maculopathy of pathologic myopia.


We study cobordisms and cobordisms rel boundary of PL locally-flat disk knots D n−2 ֒→ D n. Cobordisms of disk knots that do not fix the boundary sphere knots are easily classified by the cobordism properties of these boundaries, and any two even-dimensional disk knots with isotopic boundary knots are cobordant rel boundary. However, the cobordism rel boundary theory of odd-dimensional disk knots is more subtle. Generalizing results of Levine on cobordism of sphere knots, we define disk knot Seifert matrices and show that two higher-dimensional disk knots with isotopic boundaries are cobordant rel boundary if and only if their disk knot Seifert matrices are algebraically cobordant. We also find necessary and sufficient conditions to realize a Seifert matrix cobordism class among the disk knots corresponding to a fixed boundary knot, assuming the boundary knot has no middle-dimensional 2-torsion. This classification is performed by relating the Seifert matrix of a disk knot to its Blanchfield pairing and by establishing a close connection between this Blanchfield pairing and the Farber-Levine torsion pairing of the boundary knot (in fact, for disk knots satisfying certain connectivity assumptions, the disk knot Blanchfield pairing will determine the boundary Farber-Levine pairing). In asddition, we study the dependence of disk knot Seifert matrices on choices of Seifert surface, demonstrating that all such Seifert matrices are rationally S-equivalent, but not necessarily integrally S-equivalent.


A 2.0T gasoline engine was modified to a dual-injection engine. Numerical simulation method is used to study the influence of fuel type and fuel injection strategy on the in-cylinder mixture formation process, combustion process and soot emission of dual-injection gasoline engine. The simulation results show that an appropriate increase in the intake port fuel injection ratio can improve the uniformity of the air-fuel mixture. Increasing the fuel injection ratio in the intake port of the dual-injection system, the proportion of fuel directly injected into the cylinder decreases and the oil film distribution in the cylinder is reduced. Among the three injection schemes, the flame front of the D85 injection scheme reaches the cylinder wall earliest, and the flame spreads faster; the soot mass fraction generation decreases with the decrease of the GDI injection ratio. In particular, the amount of soot generated under the D65GDI injection ratio is significantly reduced.


This study explores the initial configurations that lead to an eventual approach to a given planet, particularly Jupiter, using the invariant manifold of Lyapunov orbits around Lagrangian points L1 or L2. Reachability to the vicinity of planets would provide information on developing a process for capturing irregular satellites, which are small bodies orbiting around a giant planet with a high eccentricity that are considered to have been captured by the mother planet, rather than formed in situ. A region several times the Hill radius is often used for determining reachability, combined with checking the velocity of the planetesimal with respect to the mother planet. This kind of direct computation is inapplicable when the Hill sphere is widely open and its boundary cannot be clearly recognized. Here, we thus employ Lyapunov periodic orbits (LOs) as a formal definition of the vicinity of Jupiter and numerically track the orbital distribution of the invariant manifold of an LO while varying the Jacobi constant, CJ. Numerical tracking of the manifold is carried out directly via repeated Poincaré mapping of points initially allocated densely on a fragment of the manifold near the fixed points, with the assistance of multi-precision arithmetic using the Multiple Precision Floating-Point Reliable Library. The numerical computations show that the distribution of the semi-major axis of points on the manifolds is quite heavily tailed and that its median spans roughly 1–2 times the Jovian orbital radius. The invariant manifold provides a distribution profile of a that is similar to that obtained using a direct method.


For Hg, all samples (0.1g) were treated with 12 mL of an oxidizing mixture and 3 mL of HF in a Telfon digestion vessel put in a microwave oven. After cooling, the solutions were diluted to 50mL with double-distilled de-ionized water. A flow-injection system was used. The six-step sequential extraction procedure is carried out in our Lab. The procedure allows us to determine the forms of Sb in these coals as waterleachable, ion-exchangeable, organic matter-bound, carbonatebound, silicate-bound, and sulfide-bound, and the results of proximate and ultimate analyses and trace element contents in coals are determined. The Sb content in five selected coals is in the range of 0.11 0.43 μg/g with an average of 0.27 μg/g. It is significantly lower than the average world value of 3 μg/g. Antimony is poorly correlated with total sulfur content in five coals (r= 0.12). Sulfide-bound Sb accounts for 16% to 28% of the total Sb in four coals with the exception of sample HB, which may contain negligible amount of pyrite. Antimony is not correlated with the ash content (r= 0.04). But silicate-bound Sb is the most abundant form of Sb in the coals (33% 61%). Fraction of silicate-bound Sb in coals decreases in the order of HB (60%), HA (41%), and HC (35%). Organic matterand carbonate-bound fractions of Sb are higher in bituminous coals than in anthracite and natural coke. It indicates that the Sb in the organic matter and carbonate may be incorporated into silicates and sulfide during metamorphism.


We study the X-ray emission from NGC1277, a galaxy in the core of the Perseus cluster, for which van den Bosch et al. have recently claimed the presence of an UltraMassive Black Hole (UMBH) of mass 1.7 times 10^10 Msun, unless the IMF of the stars in the stellar bulge is extremely bottom heavy. The X-rays originate in a power-law component of luminosity 1.3 times 10^40 erg/s embedded in a 1 keV thermal minicorona which has a half-light radius of about 360 pc, typical of many early-type galaxies in rich clusters of galaxies. If Bondi accretion operated onto the UMBH from the minicorona with a radiative efficiency of 10 per cent, then the object would appear as a quasar with luminosity 10^46 erg/s, a factor of almost 10^6 times higher than observed. The accretion flow must be highly radiatively inefficient, similar to past results on M87 and NGC3115. The UMBH in NGC1277 is definitely not undergoing any significant growth at the present epoch. We note that there are 3 UMBH candidates in the Perseus cluster and that the inferred present mean mass density in UMBH could be 10^5 Msun/Mpc^3, which is 20 to 30 per cent of the estimated mean mass density of all black holes. We speculate on the implied growth of UMBH and their hosts, and discuss the possibiity that extreme AGN feedback could make all UMBH host galaxies have low stellar masses at redshifts around 3. Only those which end up at the centres of groups and clusters later accrete large stellar envelopes and become Brightest Cluster Galaxies. NGC1277 and the other Perseus core UMBH, NGC1270, have not however been able to gather more stars or gas owing to their rapid orbital motion in the cluster core.


Canada thistle was named Carduus arvensis by Tabernaemontanus in 1687, Cirsium arvense by Tournefort in 1700, Serratula arvensis by Linne in 1753, Cirsium arvense by Scopoli in 1772, Carduus arvensis by Robson in 1777 and Cnicus arvensis by Hoffman in 1804. The name Cirsium arvense Tourn. was adopted, but more recently Canada thistle has been referred to as Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. The cardinal number of chromosomes for the Cirsium genus is 17.


Experimental laboratory testing of cast in-situ lightly reinforced concrete columns was conducted to investigate the collapse behaviour and drift capacity of such columns when subject to cyclic lateral loading. Four column specimens with a range of axial load and longitudinal reinforcement ratios were tested. The experimental results indicated that lightly reinforced concrete columns were able to sustain lateral drifts much greater than code and design guideline recommendations whilst maintaining axial load carrying capacity without catastrophic collapse. Complementary theoretical analyses have been developed to model the lateral forcedisplacement relationship for the column by considering each of the flexural, yield penetration, and shear deformation displacement components. The theoretical model was shown to predict the experimental results with very good accuracy and could be used with confidence for further parametric studies involving other column configurations and axial loading scenarios.


Waqf is a foundation providing actualization of religional, cultural, social and economical activities according to service areas in the cities and the rural areas where they are established. As a result of this, the city life of Ottoman had contiuned its vividness in every period. In this study, it will be worked to present the mosque and the masjid waqfs of Antep between the years 1880 and 1900 according to the judicial (şer'iyye) registers of Antep.


this one seems most convincing and most at home on questions of grammar, metre, and orthography; C.'s background in philology is evident. The historical aspect is handled with a less sure touch. As Professor Kenney confesses of Cambridge, 'In the structure of the Tripos there is no recognition of the fact t ha t . . . any literary text is a historical document. Its genesis is a historical fact. It has a historical context and historical consequences' (Inaugural Lecture, p. 12). When C. does make genuinely aesthetic points, these can be very good (for instance, the treatment of ii.l, viii.85 ff., x.15); at least one reader would have welcomed more, and less of the speculations about the original publication and order of the poems, what exactly Gallus was up to at the time of the Tenth Eclogue, or the effect on Dodona of its sack by the Aetolians in 219 and by Aemilius Paulius in 167 (p. 259, provoked by the learned epithet Chaonias).


Objective To observe the curative effects of surgery combined with postoperative instant electronic line radiation to treat burn scars.Methods A total of 98 patients with burn scars admitted to our hospital were divided into Group A(n = 49) and Group B(n = 49) in sequence.Acting as control group,Group A was treated by simple surgical operation,and Group A,acting as trial group,was additionally treated by postoperative instant electronic line radiation treatment.All the patients were followed up for one year.Results The overall effective rate was 67.35% in Group A and 95.92% in Group B,between which there was a significant difference(P 0.01).The recurrence rate of Group A was 34.69%,significantly higher than that(4.08%) of Group B(P 0.01).Conclusion It is suggested that postoperative instant electronic line radiation is effective on the treatment of burn scars with a high effective rate and low recurrence rate.


Human placental ribonuclease inhibitor (HRI) is an acidic protein of M r~50 kD with an amino acid composition characterized by unusually high contents of leucine and cysteine. It is a cytosolic protein that protects cells from the adventitious invasion of pancreatic-type ribonuclease. HRI is consisted of 7 leucine-rich repeats. The repeat units must form either a circle, a helix, or a line. Of these, a circular arrangement may bring the N- and C-termini into close proximity. 5′-termini of 30 bp deletion-mutated HRI cDNA was constructed and inserted into plasmid pPIC9K, and then transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115 by electroporation. After screening the colony, the transformant was cultured and the product was purified with affinity chromatography. The affinity of the recombinant human RI with deletion-mutation for RNase A and its capacity of inhibition to RNase A activity were examined. The results indicated that there was two-times decreases in the affinity for RNase A compared with the wild type of RI. Residues 1~10 of HRI could be deleted without destroying its inhibitory activity.


Given a sequence φ = (φn) of non-negative integers, we examine two related questions about dynamical realizations of φ. The sequence is exactly realizable if there is a dynamical system (X, T) (a homeomorphism of a compact metric space) for which fn(T) = #{x ∈ X | T n x = x} = φn for all n ≥ 1, and is realizable in rate if there is a dynamical system (X, T) for which fn(T)/φn −→ 1 as n → ∞. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for a sequence to be exactly realizable and discuss sufficient conditions for a sequence to be realizable in rate. Using these conditions, we show that (for example) no non-constant polynomial is exactly realizable, and show that a binary recurrence sequence with non-square discriminant can only be exactly realized with a unique ratio of initial terms. Realization in rate is always possible for sufficiently rapidly-growing sequences , and is never possible for sufficiently slowly-growing sequences. For powers of n, we show that (⌊n α ⌋) is realizable in rate if α is large, and is not if α is small. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the growth of fn(T) and the growth in the number of orbits of length n under T .


Three experiments in subjective probability forecasting were designed, and these experiments were conducted in four forecast offices of the U.S. National Weather Service. The first experiment involved credible interval temperature forecasts, the second experiment involved point and area precipitation probability forecasts, and the third experiment involved the effect of guidance forecasts on precipitation probability forecasts. In each case, some background material is presented; the design of the experiment discussed; some preliminary results of the experiment are presented; and some implications of the experiment and the results for probability forecasting in general and probability forecasting in meteorology in particular are discussed.


We thank J.M. Duart Clemente et al. for their interest in our article and raising important issues. Interestingly, the incidence of preoperative neck pain was low in our series despite this being a younger cohort of patients without degenerated and fused spines. In addition, neck pain was not a complaint noted during the follow-up period though we have not presented this in the results. We agree that the main goal of surgery is decompression for neurological improvement and not motion preservation. Ours was a unique group of younger patients with soft discs that stands in contrast to the older set of patients with degenerated and largely fused spines reported in Western series [1]. Having performed the oblique corpectomy with good outcomes, we noted the preservation of motion in the short term as a secondary finding that has not been reported previously with this technique. We have also documented a reduction in cervical motion with longer follow-up indicating that the body tends to fuse the spine with production of anterior osteophytes in this relentlessly progressive degenerative disease [2]. Furthermore, the analysis of data from our consecutive series of 153 patients demonstrated that the neurological function and thereby functional outcome was markedly improved following oblique corpectomy. This improved status remained without secondary worsening on long-term follow-up [3]. The technique of oblique corpectomy ensures the removal of the entire posterior surfaces of the affected vertebrae compressing the cord at presentation. The subsequent ''cervicoarthrosis'' that could reform on the long term are predominantly at the anterior surfaces of the vertebrae and cannot, therefore, endanger the decompressed spinal cord. This would explain the lack of progressive neurological deterioration at least due to a compressive element at the segments treated. We agree wholeheartedly that although motion preservation is not the primary objective of this surgery, we could avoid or at least retard the development of adjacent segment disease. Longterm follow-up is, of course, mandatory to ensure that these patients do not develop progressive kyphosis or adjacent segment disease.


In most coding systems, for image or audio signals, the bit allocation or quantization assignment problem is one of the important issues to minimize the distortion for a given bit budget. By exploiting the empirical distortion-quantization and rate-quantization relations, we propose a model based bit allocation method for JPEG-like coders. The empirical relations have been established using the regression technique which provides a low computational complexity to construct the preprocessing for the bit allocation. From the empirical relations, we can establish the modeling for the distortion-quantization and rate-quantization relations. Using the model, we simplify the problem of the quantization assignment and then obtain an efficient method for solving the simplified problem.