1. The effect of vitamin E on the metabolism, utilization and storage of vitamin A has been studied in the rat. 2. Male weanling rats were given a vitamin A-deficient, vitamin E-deficient diet until growth had ceased for 3 days, and each rat was then given 50 i.u. vitamin A palmitate. The rats were divided into four groups and given the diet with the addition of 10% methyl oleate or 10% cod-liver oil methyl esters, or either of these diets supplemented with 100 ppm D-α-tocopheryl acetate. There was no increase in maximum weight-gain response in the two groups given vitamin E. There was a significantly lower weight-gain response in the groups given cod-liver oil methyl esters. This effect was not influenced by the presence of vitamin E in the diet. 3. Weanling rats of both sexes were made deficient in vitamins A and E and then divided into two groups. One group received, every other day, 1·75 i.u. vitamin A palmitate and 0·6 mg D-α-tocopherol given together; the second group received the two vitamins, in the same amounts, on alternate days. After 28 days there was no difference in the growth of the two groups of rats, irrespective of sex. 4. Vitamin A-depleted, vitamin E-deficient rats were given 17·51 μg '14C-carbinol'retinyl acetate and then a vitamin A-deficient, vitamin E-deficient diet or that diet supplemented with 100 ppm D-α-tocopheryl acetate. After 6 days, the total remaining '14C'retinol and its lipidsoluble metabolites were measured in the carcasses of the rats. Vitamin E administration did not affect the metabolism of the vitamin A dose or its effect on growth. 5. Vitamin E-deficient rats were given vitamin A until their liver reserves exceeded 30000 i.u. and were then divided into two groups. One group received a diet deficient in vitamins A and E and the other received, in addition to this diet, a weekly oral supplement of 1 mg D-α-tocopheryl acetate. The vitamin E supplement significantly decreased the rate of vitamin A depletion from the liver during the next 6 weeks. This effect, which was not found to occur when the initial liver reserves were only 3000 i.u., suggests a role for vitamin E in connexion with the capacity of the liver to bind vitamin A. 6. The relationship between vitamin A and vitamin E in vivo cannot, in the light of these results, be regarded as that between an antioxidant and a peroxidizable substrate.


Abstract The authors' lived experience of devising a professional development programme for research supervisors and securing SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association) accreditation informs this paper. Our first purpose is to outline the programme and discuss its uniqueness in using a community of practice model in conjunction with practitioner inquiry for developmental and for assessment processes simultaneously. The second purpose is to discuss the challenges and benefits in securing SEDA accreditation for the programme, and how we managed to do this whilst retaining the richness of the conversations that colleagues find rewarding and useful. In sharing our model, we aim to encourage others to think about how dialogic and community of practice approaches might be embedded in professional development and accreditation opportunities in their own institutions.


The paper concerns the third grade fluid system with the time-fractional derivative of the order α∈(0,1). We first establish unique existence criterion of weak solutions in the case that the dimension n=3. Then we prove the sufficient condition of optimal pairs.


We obtain characterizations of compactness for resolvent families of operators and as applications we study the existence of mild solutions to nonlocal Cauchy problems for fractional derivatives in Banach spaces. We discuss here simultaneously the Caputo and Riemann-Liouville fractional derivatives in the cases and


We propose a novel distance to calculate distance between high dimensional vector pairs, utilizing vector quantization generated encodings. Vector quantization based methods are successful in handling large scale high dimensional data. These methods compress vectors into short encodings, and allow efficient distance computation between an uncompressed vector and compressed dataset without decompressing explicitly. However for large datasets, these distance computing methods perform excessive computations. We avoid excessive computations by storing the encodings on an Encoding Tree(E-Tree), interestingly the memory consumption is also lowered. We also propose Encoding Forest(E-Forest) to further lower the computation cost. E-Tree and E-Forest is compatible with various existing quantization-based methods. We show by experiments our methods speed-up distance computing for high dimensional data drastically, and various existing algorithms can benefit from our methods.


Seven strains showing activity in MRS(De Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe) solid medium containing X-gal were selected from kimchi, yogurt, and earthworm feces. The strain isolated from yogurt showed the greatest activity.
Enzyme activity was higher in cell suspensions than in cells or culture filtrates. The isolate was inferred to be a lactic acid bacterium based on Gram staining, biochemical tests, and the fact that it was isolated from commercial yogurt. The optimal concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and minerals for cell growth and enzyme production were investigated. The results of this study are applicable to the production of β-galactosidase using lactic acid bacteria.


An effective algorithm of determining Gromov--Witten invariants of smooth hypersurfaces in any genus (subject to a degree bound) from Gromov--Witten invariants of the ambient space is proposed. The Appendix is joint with E. Schulte-Geers.


Metaphor is not only a kind of rhetorical means but also a mode of human thinking. Though there are different ways of classifying metaphor, in essence, it is a cognitive phenomenon. Orientational metaphor has four specific properties: non-arbitrariness, creativity, systematicity and multidimensionality.


The title that I have chosen for the 108th Oration, to open the 1988 teaching session, is not an excuse to indulge in a theological discourse this is neither the time nor the place. Nor do I wish, as a joint appointment University staff member, to discuss the special arrangements in Belfast which accord such individuals a contract of employment with both the University and the Health Board. Such a discussion might suggest distinctions which do not exist in reality. There is a great unity of purpose shared by all members of staff in this Hospital. The three cardinal features of academic medicine namely, patient care, teaching and research -


MOS-FET, with - a semiconductor substrate (1) of a first conductivity type; - arranged on a substrate (1) gate; - a channel region of the first conductivity type is positioned at a surface portion of the substrate corresponding to a defined beneath the gate region; - a low concentration and a high concentration source region (15, 17) of a second conductivity type which are positioned under a surface portion of the substrate corresponding to one of opposite sides of the channel region; - a low concentration and a high concentration drain region (15a, 17a) of the second conductivity type which are positioned under a surface portion of the substrate corresponding to the other of the opposite sides of the channel region; - a pair of first impurity regions (10, 10a) of the first conductivity type which are positioned so as to surround the low-concentration source region of the second conductivity type and the low concentration drain region of the second conductivity type; and - a second impurity region (11) of the first conductivity type on a portion of a volume in ...


Cylindrical liquid can of water and CMC was simulated by solving the governing equations for continuity, momentum and energy conservation, using "COMSOL®" multiphysical coupling field software package which based on finite element method of analysis. Through finding out cold spot of 100 °C, 105 °C,110°C and 115°C in the can and sterilization minimum value spot, temperature and sterilization value were compared. The results indicated that there were differences between cold spot and F minimum value spot. thus, in order to ensuring food safety, the original sterilization time should be moderately prolong, especially for thinlyfluid.


The light microscopic appearance of punctations and pore complexes of the cuticle of Acanthonchus duplicatus Wieser, 1959 are shown by electron microscopy to be due to the presence of dense material within the middle (matrix) layer of the cuticle in the form of rods and collar-like rings. The cuticle is considered to be composed of three layers. The rods of the middle layer are complex, having radiating prong-like processes at both proximal and distal ends. Patterns of five, six, seven, and eight radiating processes have been seen although most rods show the six-rayed pattern. Similar patterns are shown in the cuticle of a Halichoanolaimus sp. The pore complex is composed of a depression in the surface of the cuticle, a transverse slit-like pore, and the collar-like ring of dense material in the middle cuticle layer. It is concluded that this morphology is not indicative of campaniform sense receptors. The dense rods and rings of the middle cuticle layer may serve as supportive structures in the cuticle. ...


Objective To investigate the association between interferon regulatory factor 6(IRF6) gene mutation and non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate(NSCL/P).Methods 186 Ningxia patients with NSCL/P and 200 normal controls were recruited in this study.DNA was extracted and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms(PCR-RFLP) was used to identify genotypes of the samples.Case-control study was carried out.Results No significant difference were found in Q49X,F57L and L436V's genotype and alleles between NSCL/P patients and normal controls(P0.05).Conclusion IRF6 gene Q49X,F57L and L436V mutations were not associated with NSCL/P in Ningxia people.


In Metro Cebu in the Philippines trained research assistants interviewed caretakers (usually mothers) of less than 2-year-old children who died between July 1988 and December 1991 with signs and symptoms of diarrhea or acute respiratory infection. Researchers divided the 412 cases into 3 groups--acute watery diarrhea alone acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) and combined diarrhea and ALRI--and compared them with controls who also had signs and symptoms of diarrhea or acute respiratory infection but survived. They wanted to learn what factors determine survival among sick children. Diarrhea ALRI or a combination of both diarrhea and ALRI were responsible for 45% of all deaths in less than 2-year-old children. In all 3 disease categories mothers higher education was significantly associated with reduced mortality. Even though malnutrition increased the likelihood of mortality in children with acute watery diarrhea and ALRI alone it did not affect the risk of mortality in children with both diarrhea and ALRI. Children whose caretakers administered oral rehydration therapy (ORT) were no more likely to die than those whose caretakers did not administer ORT. Further antibiotics did not reduce the risk of mortality in children with ALRI. The more signs of dehydration children in diarrhea or those with combined diarrhea and ALRI had the more likely they were to die. These signs included dry mouth loss of tears sunken eyes decreased urination and increased thirst. More pronounced labored breathing was somewhat more frequent in ALRI cases than ALRI controls but it was not significant. These results indicated that the child survival interventions (ORT immunizations early antibiotic therapy for pneumonia) in Metro Cebu were not sufficient to reduce mortality in this community setting.


The contradiction between the socialized nature of the modern health-care system (inclusive of both clinical and social medicine) versus the narrow control over it is obvious in private health-care. However, this contradiction is present to some extent, in its own way, even in the public health facilities in India. To formulate a program for health-care for all in India, it is necessary to grasp these contradictions in both private and public health-care and accordingly conceptualize a strategy to overcome, resolve these contradictions.


FENE-P bead–spring chains unravel in the presence of large enough velocity gradients. In a turbulent flow, this can result in intermittent added stresses and exchanges of energy between the chains and the fluid, whose magnitudes depend on the degree of unravelling and on the orientations of the bead–spring chains. These effects are studied by calculating the average behaviour at different times of an ensemble of chains, contained in a fluid particle that is moving around in a random velocity field obtained from direct numerical simulation of turbulent flow of a Newtonian fluid in a channel. The results are used to evaluate theoretical explanations of drag reduction observed in very dilute solutions of polymers. In regions of the flow in which the energy exchange with the fluid is positive, the possibility arises that turbulence can be produced by mechanisms other than the interaction of Reynolds stresses and the mean velocity gradient field. Of particular interest, from the viewpoint of understanding polymer drag reduction, is the finding that the exchange is negative in velocity fields representative of the wall vortices that are large producers of turbulence. One can, therefore, postulate that polymers cause drag reduction by selectively changing the structures of eddies that produce Reynolds stresses. The intermittent appearance of large added shear stresses is consistent with the experimental finding of a stress deficit, whereby the total local shear stress is greater than the sum of the Reynolds stress and the time-averaged shear stress calculated from the time-averaged velocity gradient and the viscosity of the solvent.


This study analyzes the recovery voltage changes when a low-voltage circuit breaker opens with load and short-circuit faults and explains the reignition types under different recovery voltages. Reignition probability models of a single-pole contact and three-pole contact under different reignition types are established. The variation law of the contact erosion amount with the arc starting phase angle is analyzed. The distribution characteristics of the electrical life under three reignition types are obtained by simulating the low-voltage circuit breaker electrical life with a random arc starting phase angle. The results show that the electrical life of contacts obviously decreases after reignition, and that the electrical life changes differently with different reignition types. Specifically, the electrical life of a single-pole contact and three-pole contact is reduced by different degrees for the same reignition type. Hence, the influence of reignition on the electrical life distribution characteristics of a low-voltage circuit breaker cannot be ignored.


Conventional routing schemes that aim to provide better routing performance in order to offer better Quality of Service (QoS) may not be effective especially for time sensitive data delivery across the wireless section of the network. Wireless transmission has unique characteristics that need to be addressed and taken into account when come to path selection. Using the right routing metric for performance measure can further enhance the QoS of the link and improve the overall transmission path performance by reducing the chances for distortion and transmission error caused by the wireless channel itself. Owing to the understanding of this requirement for wireless transmission, the link signal strength can be included as one of the many important parameters for decision making of the best path selection. Hence, in this paper we proposed a path selection scheme that is based on the link signal strength of path for path selection in ad hoc network environment. Our simulation results also show that the performance of the proposed scheme is promising and has the potential to be adopted for other routing schemes.


For the sensiti ve processof slow extraction from a synchrotrona reliable control of the beamlossesis needed. We have testedseveraltypesof particledetectorsmounted at theextractionpathof theSIS:A BF -tubefor pureneutron detection,a liquid anda plasticscintillator detecting neutrons,gammasandchargedparticlesand an Ar filled ionization chambermainly sensiti ve to chargedparticles. While thecountrateis quitedifferent,thetimeevolutionof all detectorsignalsduringthespill aresimilar, but theplastic scintillatorhasthehighestdynamicrange.This type is goingto beusedfor beamalignment. 1 DEMAND FOR LOSS MONITORS To control thebeamlossesduringthebeamalignmentand operationof an acceleratorit is an importantissueto prevent permanentactivation. At the GSI heavy ion synchrotronSIS all heavy ions canbe acceleratedfrom 11.4 MeV/u to a variablefinal energy up to GeV/u. During the last yearsa large increaseof beamcurrentup to a factor of 100 in particularfor heavy speciouswas possible dueto the installationof anelectroncoolerandanupgradeof theLINAC [1]. Mostof theexperimentsareusing third orderresonanceextractionhaving anextractiontime of several seconds.Most of the lossesoccur during this extraction,someof themareunavoidable,othersshouldbe minimizedby carefulsettingof theacceleratorparameters like tunechanges,focusing,steeringangles,in particular of theseptaetc.Thehighestactivationis measuredaround theelectrostaticseptum(mostlydueto 'unavoidable'losses for slow extraction), the following dipole magnetinside the SIS and the magneticseptadue to their small acceptance(heretheright orientationof thetransverseemittance is needed).Comparedto otherlargeacceleratorsthereare somedifferencesconcerningthe loss: Firstly the currents in termsof particlespersecondarerelatively low dueto the long cycle time usingslow extraction. Secondlydifferent ionswith awidespanof currentandfinal energy areaccelerated.Thirdly thedetectorsshouldbeusedfor thealignment procedureandnot for creatingan emergency interlock (like usedelsewherefor quench-protectionof super conductionmagnets). The crosssectionof the productionof secondaryparticles is not well known for heavy ions. The energy of the colliding nuclearsystemis comparableto the energy of it constituentsleadingto a morecomplex reactionmechanism,as usede.g. for high energy protons[2]. MoreFigure1: Thedetectorsinstalledat theSIS-extraction. over, the penetrationdepthis in the order of several cm, and the assumptionof a ' thick target' cannot be applied for particleshitting thevacuumchamber . Someinvestigationsusingheavy ionshavebeenmadeto measurethecross section,scalinglaws andangulardistribution [3], but not all neededparameters(ion speciousandenergy) arecovered. In additionthe chargedprimary or secondaryparticlesloosea noticeableamountof energy in the targetdue to electronicstopping.Thereforethemainsecondaryparticlesreachingthedetectorareexpectedto beneutronsfrom fragmentationandspallationprocesses. Theangulardistribution is peakedin forwarddirectioninsidea conehaving anopeningangleof severaldegreeswith a strongdepending on the primary ion's energy [3]. Due to all thesedependences, anabsolutedosecannotbegeneratedfrom the data. 2 TYPES OF DETECTORS Differentdetectorshavebeentestedat theSISin adistance of 3 m andan angleof 20 from the magneticsepta, seeFig. 1. Oneof themis only sensiti ve to neutrons,while theothershavedifferentsensiti vity to othersecondaryparticles, seebelow. For the purposeof beamalignment,a high dynamicrangei.e. large count-ratecapabilityanda backgroundfreeoperationis needed.Generaldemandsare aneasyandhazard-freeinstallationandastableoperation. Liquid scintillator: An olderdevice form NuclearEnterprisecontainingNE 213liquid scintillator(decaytime 3.2 ns[4]) in acylindercontainerof 1 l wasinstalled.Thelight generationis basedon collisionsof the neutronswith hydrogenatomsof the polymers(elasticn+p-reaction),the DIPAC 2001 Proceedings ESRF, Grenoble


ITS(Intelligent Transportation System) is a transportation system which is supported by modern science and technology. Developing and applying this system can strengthen the relation among roads, vehicles, drivers and environments, improve the security of road, the efficiency of transportationsystem, the quality of environment and so on. The complexity of the running guarantee system of the desert expressway is determined by the particularity of the desert expressway. Through analyzing and studying ITS, the general structure of the running guarantee system, and the constituents and the primary functions of each component are analyzed from the viewpoint of active control and around the particularities of the desert environment, from which the ponderance of influenced factors of the transport system and the dependent degree of guarantee system along roads are determined. Finally the architecture and function of the running guarantee system on the desert expressway based on ITS technique are discussed. These thoughts are provided to improve intelligent level of the guarantee system, fast response ability and entirely harmonic ability.


Conclusions The hamster is highly resistant to doses of a virulent strain of the human type of tubercle bacilli that produces widespread tuberculosis in guinea pigs. Twenty-four days after infection 0.1 cc of 5% and 10% Old Tuberculin elicits no skin response. Therefore, in our opinion, we consider hamsters of little or no value in routine diagnostic procedures for tuberculosis.


The article analyzes the socio-economic situation of Jews in the Italian kingdom during the formation of a national state (1870) before the adoption of racial laws in 1938. The issue of the role of education in the life of the Jewish population as a means of integration into Italian society is discussed. A particularly significant event in the life of the Jewish population is the emergence of their own press, thanks to which Italian Jews could broadcast knowledge not only among their fellow tribesmen, but also in non-Jewish environments. However, the radical turn of the fascist regime towards anti-Jewish legislation, which took place in 1938, radically changed this situation. Soon after, Jews were excluded from the life of the Italian nation. One of the most tragic and dramatic periods in the Jewish history of the 20th century will last for seven whole years.


Diversity is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in software engineering. A higher diversity rate in professional software teams has been shown to positively influence communication, innovation, and performance. Understanding whether similar effects exist in software development teams at an educational level would be important to identify potential challenges and opportunities that might affect students at later professional stages. Therefore, in this paper we investigate the impact of diversity on key teamwork skills such as communication, collaboration, and productivity in student software development teams. In particular, we conducted several surveys on project work progress throughout an introductory software engineering course with students and their tutors regarding these teamwork metrics. We investigate how the self-assessments and the project outcomes relate to seven aspects of diversity, and find correlations between teamwork satisfaction and team diversity. We see deteriorations in certain teamwork metrics over the project timeline—independently of the team diversity. Our findings suggest that the impact of diversity on student teams may be more complex than on professional teams: diversity minorities in teams may feel frustrated more easily. Consequently, it is important to ensure that software development courses maintain motivation and decrease possible frustrations regarding teamwork.


Port scanning is used to identify vulnerable machines, and in most cases a precursor to more sophisticated attacks. Early detection of port scans results in reducing the impact and propagation of distributed attacks and worms. Many algorithmic, threshold and visual based solutions have been proposed each one boils down to testing X events across in Y size time window in one way or other. Consequently, the accuracy and detection time for each detection solutions ends up to the threshold or sensitivity of detector that also depends upon scanner deployment point. Parallel to these solutions, port scanning has also gone stealthy. Attackers are using diverse techniques to attenuate the scanning pattern either distributing it in time, feature and/or address space. This article proposes an adaptive threshold based generic solution for detecting various port scans and DDoS attacks using Time Independent Feature Set. Instead of using a fix threshold for scan detector, the paper adapts the fuzzy linguistic set boundaries consequently adapting threshold according to network traffic feature such as number of TCP connected sessions. Experiments carried out using DARPA 98/99 Data set shows an early detection of port scans with high detection accuracy.


ABSTRACT We investigate the role of spatial effects in the analysis of the relationship between climate-related disasters and forced migration. As a case study we select South and Southeast Asia due to the area's large exposure to these hazards. The spatial regressions show that short- to medium-distance forced migrations are considerably affected by climate-related disasters, independently of the economic expectation associated with the destination. Moreover, we find that this relationship is disaster-type specific. Finally, we detect a competition among migrants, as the decision to move as an adaptation strategy is found to be dependent on the migratory behaviour of neighbouring countries.


The present study deals with the preparation of fermented milk which has the potential of a probiotic product. The volatile compounds formed in fermented milk prepared with the Pediococcus pentosaceus MTCC 5151; a potential probiotic culture are determined. The data on gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the volatile fractions of the fermented milk were presented. The volatile compounds produced with the addition of probiotic culture were different which were not found in milk or even in fermented milk from commercial culture (as given in the text). Through the literature survey it is known that these compounds have tremendous therapeutic importance and therefore it is evident that the supplementation of probiotic cultures can add up to the flavour, subsequently making the product more desirable to the consumers.


Services section has been mushrooming over the last decades and now dominates economic activity in most industrialized economies. Drawing on an array of interdisciplinary theoretical underpinnings stemming from trust, risk, trying, emotion, and consumer satisfaction, this paper proposes an integrated model to examine the causal relationships amid these constructs. The analysis of data from 415 Chinese consumers reveals that consumer innovativeness and emotions are very significant antecedents of risk perception of service, trust, service quality, and perceived benefits, which ultimately lead to consumer satisfaction of such services in EME. This comprehensive framework contributes to a foundation for future studies to investigate the roles of risk perception and trust vis-a-vis innovativeness and emotion in such an emerging IT artifact as e-services in EME.


Historical introduction to salivary secretion microstructure of mammalian salivary glands and its relationship to diet electrophysiological correlates of fluid secretion by salivary acini secretion of electrolytes and water by salivary glands secretory protein synthesis and constitutive (vesicular) secretion by salivary glands the dynamics of exocytosis of performed secretory granules from acini in rat salivary glands autonomic control of salivary blood flow capillary dynamics in salivary glands myoepithial activity in salivary glands movements of organic molecules from blood to saliva and from glands to blood synthesis and secretion of human salivary immunoglobulins hormonal regulation of salivary glands, with particular reference to experimental diabetes.


—Some American marten population characteristics (numbers, density, body weights, sex and age ratios, natality, mortality-survivorship, immigration-emigration, home ranges) were studied at four sites in the southern part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Teton County, Wyoming, in 1975-1979. Ninety-eight different martens were examined. Males (n = 25) weighed 1,111 g (± 110 SD, range 875-1,235), whereas females (n = 17) averaged 743 g (± 83 SD, range 600-900). Live-trapping showed sex ratios of 1.5MT. OF, whereas carcasses showed 3.0MT. OF. Of27 males that were aged, 12 (44%) were less than 1 year old and 2 were 9-10 years old. Of 10 females, 6 were less than 1 year old and 1 was 12-13 years old. The mean length oftime a male was present on the major study area was 144 days ( ± 266 SD, range 1-1,364), and for females it was 145 days ( ± 45 SD, range 1-560). Home ranges for six males averaged 3.2 km" ( ± 20 SD, range 0.7-5.8) on the main study area. Some management implications are given. American martens (Maries americana vulpina) are medium-sized, solitary carnivores that were historically abundant in North American mature and old-growth coniferous forests (Strickland and Douglas 1987, Clark et al. 1987). Martens have been significantly reduced over the last 100+ years by extensive habitat alteration and overexploitation and have been completely extirpated in some portions of their range. Today, most states and Canadian provinces classify martens either as furbearers subject to regulated trapping or as a rare and protected species. Reintroductions to unoccupied former range in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado in the last few decades have been relatively successful (Richardson et al. 1986: 171). Martens are relatively abundant in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) of northwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and southern Montana. This is largely the result of relatively little habitat alteration (e.g., timber harvests) and limited trapping occurring in this mostly intact biogeographic area, which includes Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and seven national forests. However, because small marten populations are susceptible to local extinction, the species has been classed as "sensitive" and as an "indicator species' on Bridger-Teton, Targhee, and Gallatin National Forests under the 1976 National Forest Management Act. To aid marten conservation and management, we present data on population characteristics from four sites in Teton Countv, Wyoming, in the southern part of the GYE.


Outlier Detection is very much popular in Data Mining field and it is an active research area due to its various applications like fraud detection, network sensor, email spam, stock market analysis, and intrusion detection and also in data cleaning. Here we will study some outlier detection technique which are mainly based on distance-based outlier detection with ranking approach and give some idea about the new technique which we will implement in future.


This study addressed how male gender-role variables were related to help seeking in male batterers prior to treatment and differences between self-referred and court-ordered batterers. Four questionnaires on help-seeking attitudes and male gender-role variables were given to 109 men that attended an information session before attending treatment. Results indicated that help-seeking attitudes were negatively correlated with feeling connected to all men through similarities. Self-referred men, compared with court-ordered men, were more likely to have higher help-seeking attitudes. In contrast, court-ordered men felt more connection to all men through similarities as compared with self-referred. The implications of help seeking and male gender-role attitudes for counseling batterers are discussed.


Myxopapillary ependymoma is a type of glioma and arising from supportive tissue of brain and spinal cord. It grows slowly.1 The subcutaneous myxopapillary ependymoma is quite rare tumour and mostly develop in children and adolescents.2 Several cases of ependymoma are reported in literature with only one case is reported in Asian population. We are reporting a case of 23 years old male having swelling below sacral region and diagnosed clinically as lipoma. The swelling was excised and diagnosed as subcutaneous myxopapillary ependymoma histologically.


Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS) is a key technology for the production of pharmaceutical grade peptides and the replacement of piperidine with alternative bases is a piece of the puzzle moving toward a greener technology.


Purpose: To examine functional balance and mobility in adolescents with cerebral palsy classified at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I following an intensive short-duration virtual reality (VR) intervention. Methods: Single-subject, multiple-baseline design with 4 adolescents. Outcomes included the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB&M), the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), the Timed Up and Down Stairs, and the Gross Motor Function Measure Dimension E. Assessments were recorded 3 to 6 times at baseline, 5 times during intervention, and 4 times at follow-up. Daily 90-minute VR intervention was completed for 5 consecutive days. Visual, statistical, and clinical significance analyses were used. Results: Statistically significant improvements were shown in all adolescents on CB&M and 6MWT. True change was recorded in all for the CB&M and in 3 for the 6MWT. Conclusions: Functional balance and mobility in adolescents with cerebral palsy classified at GMFCS level I improve with intense, short duration VR intervention, and changes are maintained at 1-month posttraining.


The 4-year-old dog presented as an emergency after becoming trapped in a stair gate when his owners were out. It was estimated that he had been struggling for up to 6 hours. Compartment syndrome with associated rhabdomyolysis were diagnosed


Given a non circular spacial closed curve whose total torsion is an integer multiple of $2\pi$, we construct a germ of a smooth surface that contains it as a hyperbolic principal cycle.


Transferable skills, such as learning skills as well as oral and written communication skills, are needed by today's experts. The learning of transferable skills was studied during a multidisciplinary two-week, research-oriented intensive course in atmospheric sciences. Students were assessed on their experience of learning data analysis, writing reports and articles, oral presentation, learning and teaching, as well as project and time management skills and the importance of learning these transferable skills in the beginning and at the end of the course. The learning outcomes were constructively aligned with the course and it supported the learning of transferable skills needed by researchers working with multidisciplinary research questions. The methods of teaching were group work, data analysis of real scientific questions and real scientific data, a few expert lectures, discussions with experts and peer-support, and the course evaluation that was based on the groups' oral presentations and a written report. The groups consisted of seven to eight students and four to six assistants who were working side-by-side for the period of the course. Students considered data analysis, including the formulation of research questions, as the most important transferable skill of the course and stated that it was also what they learned the most. We conclude that the students felt that working with real scientific questions and data in multidisciplinary groups supports the learning of transferable skills. The findings suggest that the students may have learned transferable skills from peers, assistants, and teachers while working in small groups of students in different stages of their studies. The study was conducted from student feedback from one course only, but we have observed while organizing over 50 similar courses that working on real scientific questions and data in a multidisciplinary and multicultural course has been motivating for both the teachers and the students. We recommend this method to be used by research groups who are training the future generation of researchers and experts in atmospheric sciences and other fields.


Problems related to waste collection and demand for improved solid waste collection services are examined using a household survey in Mekelle city. The focus of the empirical analysis is largely to determine the factors that influence the willingness to pay for improved waste collection services. Results of household survey data analyzed using logit model are presented. The fact that households are dissatisfied with the current waste collection services shows about 90 percent of the households in the city are willing to pay a positive amount where the mean willingness to pay is 8.78 birr a month. Demographic features such as education, age, household size and gender are found to have insignificant impact on the demand for improved services of waste collection. Whereas, household income and current access to waste disposal containers have significant influence on the decision whether or not to purchase the new collection services. While demand for the services increases with income, showing that the services are normal goods, the willingness to pay decreases with the distance of (access to) communal waste disposal containers. One major area of intervention in order to improve solid waste management is ensuring adequate supply of waste collection services. In addition, cost sharing can be practiced through price discrimination for the collection services provided, which ultimately would help improve waste management.


London, while he had been left behind in Bristol serving as a physician to the fashionable society he despised. Why did things go sour? In part, Beddoes suffered from trying to do too much too fast: politics, public health, medical research, statistics, geology, reviewing, poetizing, tracts for the poor, all in a life overcrowded already with routine medical practice. He felt compelled to frenzy of activity, because life's problems, above all suffering, were so pressing. But, as a result, as his writings show, nothing got done in depth, or with adequate time for reflection. In part, Mrs Standfield hints, his was not an exceptionally penetrating mind. He took his best ideas from his seniors, and inspired his juniors, but he himself seems to have suffered from the lack of a close coterie of critical colleagues who might have given real sharpness to his intellect. In the midst of the Lunar Society, might he have achieved more?


The main goal of this study is to investigate the dynamic properties of main lithotypes outcropping on the island of Malta and to evaluate the general features of the local seismic response through the combined use of geophysical methods based on Rayleigh waves and horizontal to vertical noise spectral ratios. These kind of studies have unfortunately never been undertaken in Malta and, therefore, no shear wave velocity values and fundamental frequency of outcropping lithotypes have been published. The proposed preliminary results represent a valid set of data useful for evaluating seismic hazard and risk for the Maltese islands. Even if the seismic activity around the archipelago is generally of low to moderate magnitude the islands in the past were struck by large events in Sicily and the Hellenic arc resulting in considerable damage.


In order to meet the needs of the deceleration performance study of hydraulic damper in engineering,based on the Fluent simulation,it is used Gambit to establish a mathematical model to verify the correctness of the model through the comparison with the experimental result.On the basis of all above,it analyzes the relative relationship between the mtor resistance torque of the hydraulic gear damper and the rotational speed.It defines the K coefficient as a solution and a research method to describe and analyze the deceleration performance of hydraulic damper for engineering practice.


We present a general method to compute the nonlinear matter power spectrum for dark energy and modified gravity scenarios with percent-level accuracy. By adopting the halo model and nonlinear perturbation theory, we predict the reaction of a ΛCDM matter power spectrum to the physics of an extended cosmological parameter space. By comparing our predictions to N-body simulations we demonstrate that with no-free parameters we can recover the nonlinear matter power spectrum for a wide range of different w0-wa dark energy models to better than 1% accuracy out to k ≈ 1 h Mpc−1. We obtain a similar performance for both DGP and f (R) gravity, with the nonlinear matter power spectrum predicted to better than 3% accuracy over the same range of scales. When including direct measurements of the halo mass function from the simulations, this accuracy improves to 1%. With a single suite of standard ΛCDM N-body simulations, our methodology provides a direct route to constrain a wide range of non-standard extensions to the concordance cosmology in the high signal-to-noise nonlinear regime.


This study surveys science information resources and science information resource services institutions existing in the field of scientific research to analyse their strengths and weaknesses, which provide theoretical foundation of planning an effective and efficient nation-wide science information transfer system for Korea. This study also suggests right directions of developing a centralised system of science information for Korea.


Long-term unemployment can have serious negative consequences for the individual, society and the economy. People who are unemployed for long durations can find it increasingly difficult to gain employment as time goes by. Individuals who are long-term unemployed often have limited employability due to their low levels of educational attainment, depreciation of skills and the substantial investments necessary to restore these skills. They can also face significantly lower earnings and restricted career prospects. In Ireland, there is a suite of employment schemes and other supports which encourage long-term unemployed people to return to work. This research study explores the role played by pre-employment interventions provided by the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) to assist a subset of those who are furthest away from the labour market, i.e. individuals who are classified as very long-term unemployed and with low levels of educational attainment.


A semantic application typically is a heterogenous system of interconnected components, most notably a reasoner. OWLlink is an implementation-neutral protocol for communication between OWL 2 components. It specifies how to manage reasoning engines and their knowledge bases, how to assert axioms, and how to query inference results. A key feature of OWLlink is its extensibility, which allows the addition of required functionality to the protocol. We introduce the OWLlink structural specification and extension mechanism. Furthermore, we present two extensions, one for retrieving previously asserted axioms and one for retracting axioms from a reasoner. Finally, we describe a binding to HTTP/XML and give an overview of existing implementations.


A method for switching game screen based on a player's hand waving range is applied to a game console. The game console comprises a control unit, a body sensing unit, a storage unit, and a display unit. The method comprises the following steps: after reading game software by the control unit, displaying a first game screen on the display unit; receiving body sensing information sent from the body sensing unit by the control unit; and generating first human skeleton information based on contents of the body sensing information for defining an initial range and a first range; when it is determined that the player's palm moves outside the initial range and a movement position of the player's palm is inside the first range by the control unit based on subsequently generated body sensing information, displaying a second game screen on the display unit; if it is determined that the movement position of the player's palm is outside the first range, continuously displaying a plurality of game screens on the display unit. The play can switch the current game screen just by waving the palm upon playing the game, accordingly increasing the convenience of playing the game by the player.


The article examines the question of the feasibility of expanding the object of ethnopolitics at the expense of ethnic groups, formed as a result of migration, as well as the need to take into account the ethnic characteristics of migrants while regulating migration processes on the background of the current migration situation in Ukraine and the prospects for its further development. On the basis of the analysis of the theoretical works of Ukrainian and foreign authors, political and international legal documents, legislation of Ukraine, it was concluded that in the interests of social unity is the recognition of diversity as a value and resource of development, the spread of ethnopolitics measures to "new" migrant minorities, the provision them guarantees against violation of rights, marginalization, forced assimilation. Unfavorable demographic situation, massive forced migration of Ukrainians abroad because of the war, as well as irreversible military losses of the population can lead to a shortage of labor force necessary for the post-war reconstruction of the country. If own labor and intellectual potential will be insufficient, Ukraine may need additional labor force from abroad for post-war recovery. Although Ukraine is currently unattractive to immigrants, their number compared to other countries is small, due to the war it has decreased, potential economic development and the need for additional labor force, closer ties with the EU may increase immigration, which will lead to the growth of ethnic, linguistic, cultural diversity The complexity of the ethno-cultural structure of society can have a positive character, contribute to the mutual enrichment of cultures and the common good, but it can also lead to negative consequences – a conflict of values, cultural norms, a breach of social unity. Under such conditions, the requirements for the migration policy of the state, as well as for its ethnopolitics, will naturally grow. This actualizes the intensification of the state's activities on the integration of newcomers into Ukrainian society, the formation of a tolerant attitude of the indigenous population towards migrants and migration, the prevention of all forms of discrimination, the prevention of racism and xenophobia, the deepening of intercultural dialogue, the awareness that unconditional protection of the rights of national minorities in the civilized world is impossible without ensuring a general climate of tolerance towards "others", which also applies to migrants.


The aim of the present study is determinate if the steel space grid envelope structures, for tall buildings (framed tube), are more optimal and efficient if their design is based on the isostatic lines of their equivalents structural elements according to their solicitations. In this study, 600 models of tall buildings, for different triangled facades and geometric slenderness, are analyzed. The methodology employed consisted of detecting the wind loads that affects tall buildings applying the Equivalent Static Wind Loads (ESWL) in relation to the wind speed and turbulence result of the roughness terrain and the topographic. However, it was also needed to establish the frequencies and modes of vibration of each structure as well as defining the coefficients of pressure, force and moments produced by the wind. The results conclude that space grids are more efficient if they do adopt the trajectory of the main and dominant load, in this case the wind.


Photonic methods for electric field sensing have been demonstrated across the electromagnetic spectrum from near-DC to millimeter waves, and at field strengths from microvolts-per-meter to megavolts-per-meter. The advantages of the photonic approach include a high degree of electrical isolation, wide bandwidth, minimum perturbation of the incident field, and the ability to operate in harsh environments.  Aerospace applications of this technology span a wide range of frequencies and field strengths. They include, at the high-frequency/high-field end, measurement of high-power electromagnetic pulses, and at the low-frequency/low-field end, in-flight monitoring of electrophysiological signals. The demands of these applications continue to spur the development of novel materials and device structures to achieve increased sensitivity, wider bandwidth, and greater high-field measurement capability.  This paper will discuss several new directions in photonic electric field sensing technology for defense applications. The first is the use of crystal ion slicing to prepare high-quality, single-crystal electro-optic thin films on low-dielectricconstant, RF-friendly substrates. The second is the use of two-dimensional photonic crystal structures to enhance the electro-optic response through slow-light propagation effects. The third is the use of ferroelectric relaxor materials with extremely high electro-optic coefficients.


One of the most fundamental, 1 yet controversial, tenets of regional anesthesia practice has been the adage "no paresthesia, no anesthesia." Implicit to this concept is the requirement for direct needle-nerve contact to achieve a successful block. The advent of ultrasound (US) guidance for peripheral nerve blockade (PNB) has enabled providers to position the needle tip purposefully as close as possible to, and even inside, the target nerve. Consequently, much of the contemporary regional anesthesia literature has focused on the question "How close is too close?" while investigators challenge the safety limits of US-guided PNB. Regrettably, the risk of nerve injury persists despite US guidance and is underscored by reports of new functional deficits after interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) performed under US guidance by experienced providers. Given that mechanical needle-nerve trauma is an important mechanism of peripheral nerve injury, providers are cautioned to avoid intentional intraneural injection or needle-nerve contact during US-guided PNB.8,14,15 Potentially hazardous needleto-nerve proximity may be especially relevant during US-guided ISB, where inadvertent injection beneath the epineurium may be as high as 50%. Subepineural, and particularly intrafascicular, injection of local anesthetic may increase the risk of nerve injury.17 Neural elements of the interscalene brachial plexus are predominantly comprised of axonal tissue and may be especially


The feeding program carried out during the pre-partum and post-partum period in
 dairy cows is crucial to preserve their reproductive performance. The goal of the
 present study was to assess the effect of black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) supplementation
 on ovarian activity, uterine involution, and hormone profiles in dairy cows maintained
 at high-altitude conditions. A total of 10 Holstein dairy cows were divided into 2
 groups: control (C; n=5) and supplemented group (AM; n=5). A dehydrated black wattle
 (AM; Acacia mearnsii) supplement was administered to AM group and adjusted to 22% crude
 protein per animal (Dehydrated Supplement; MS= 2.7 kg AM/day per cow, ~20% of total DM).
 Body weight (BW) was recorded individually in different periods (day 15 pre-partum, and
 day 19, 34, and 49 post-partum). Ovarian [follicles (FL), corpora lutea (CL)] and
 ovarian diameter (OD; mm)] and uterine structures [uterine horn thickness (HT; mm),
 cervix length (CrL; cm) and diameter (CD; cm), and uterine involution %] were assessed
 till day 34 postpartum. Moreover, hormone profiles such as thyroid-stimulating hormone
 (TSH; IU/mL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH; IU/mL), luteinizing hormone (LH;
 IU/mL), and progesterone (P4; ng/mL) were measured till day 49. Statistical differences
 were observed in BW when day 15 prepartum was compared to day 19 postpartum (p=0.05).
 However, no differences were observed between C and AM group regarding BW within each
 timepoint (p>0.05). No changes were observed in FL over time irrespective of the
 group studied (p<0.05). However, FL was significantly different when C and AM group
 were compared within each time-point (p< 0.05). Although no significant differences
 were observed on day 5 post- partum regarding the number of CL, significant differences
 were observed on day 25 and day 34 postpartum between groups (p> 0.05). OD increased
 from day 5 to Day 35 post-partum irrespective of the group assessed and differ between
 groups within time-points (p< 0.05). Differences were observed in TSH within day 19
 and day 49 post-partum (p< 0.05). FSH was statistically different between groups on
 day 19 post-partum (p< 0.05). LH was more variable than TSH and FSH among and within
 time-points and groups (p< 0.05). Differences were observed between groups regarding
 P4 within day 19 and 49 post-partum (p< 0.05). In conclusion, overall although no
 differences were observed in BW between groups or time-points, the supplementation with
 AM showed differential patterns in reproductive tract structures/dimensions and hormone
 levels in dairy cows maintained at high-altitude conditions


This paper aims to analyze the social marketing actions performed by the Health and Prevention in Schools (SPE) project from the perspective of Service-Dominant Logic (LDS), a new marketing paradigm. At LDS, it is assumed that the benefit proposed by the SPE project is not consolidated without the active participation of the beneficiaries. This participation is necessary for resources from value proposers and beneficiaries to be integrated, enhancing value co-creation. After literature review and document analysis, the data analyzed showed that there is alignment between the actions proposed in the SPE project and the assumptions of the LDS, which would permit their application in improvements to the project. Suggestions are then made so that the benefits perceived by people with the change proposed by the SPE Project are maximized and the propensity to behavioral relapses minimized, thus bringing lasting benefits to the community.


In an event-based scenario, a system decides when to update the actuators based on a real-time triggering condition (TC) on the measured signals. This condition can be defined in various forms and varies depending on the system properties and design problem. This paper proposes a framework to design the TC while keeping $\mathcal {L}_p$ performance within desired limits. Our general framework captures several existing state-based triggering rules as a special case, and it can achieve the performance objectives while reducing transmissions. Indeed, this general structure is shown to enlarge the minimum interevent time by a specified amount, for a desired period of time. Numerical examples suggest that the proposed mechanism effectively enlarges the average sampling time.


Introduction: Despite the scarcity of natural disasters, local terrorism, and other forms of disasters, they pose a major public health challenge when occur. Nurses should receive fitting training to identify, treat and possibly supervise local disaster preparedness initiatives. Insufficient resources have been allocated to the education that nurses receive in government hospitals. Aim: Researcher intended to assess nurses' perceptions toward disaster management process in Alexandria and Jeddah Governmental Hospitals. Research question: Is there a difference between nurses' perceptions toward the disaster management process in Alexandria and Jeddah governmental hospitals?.Methodology: ADescriptivecomparative cross sectional study design was utilized in this study. The study was conducted at governmental hospitals in Alexandria and Jeddah cities. Convenient sample was used; the estimated sample size is 200 nurses at governmental hospital in Alexandria and 200 nurses at governmental hospital at Jeddah who provided direct care for patients regardless of their age, gender, qualifications, and experiences. Results:The mean score of disaster skills and family preparedness at Jeddah were 29.7±9.2 and 8.2±3.7. While at Alexandria were 22.6±8.1 and 6.9±2.5 respectively. Also, Mean score of nurses' perception of patient management and total of mitigation/response stage at Jeddah were 41.7±13.3 and 53.6±15.5. While at Alexandria were 38.0±8.6 and 47.8±11.2 respectively. Moreover, 39% of nurses worked in Jeddah hospital was perceived total preparedness stage in strong level, while 43.5% of them was in moderate level for nurses worked at Alexandria hospital.Conclusion: The present study revealed that there was a high positive correlation between studied nurses at Alexandria and Jeddah cities according to total preparedness stage and response stage of disaster management process. While there was slight positive correlation of total evaluation stage, with a mean scores of nurses working in Jeddah higher than nurses in Alexandria.Recommendations: Managers must evaluate nurses' disaster core competencies regularly to achieve effective preparation plans and trainingprograms.Regular training programs including disaster drills withoccasionalhospital‐ widedisasterandemergencyscenarios.Future studies must investigate obstacles to nurses' disaster preparedness and strategies for preparing nurses for all stages of the disaster managementcycle.


The anodic oxidation of iridium and evolution on iridium oxide films in has been investigated using x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The binding energy of the O 1s level decreases with anodic polarization of the electrode while the relative amount of oxygen compared to iridium remains constant. The XPS results are consistent with a model of subsequent deprotonation of the anodic iridium oxide upon anodic polarization. A reaction path for evolution and corrosion on iridium oxide is proposed. Valence band spectra of the oxide surfaces confirm the proposed model.


The study area——Zhandanzhao is located in the center of Dalate Baner in Inner Mongolia.Based on 3S techniques and combined with the ground review,the Land-sat TM images of 1987,1995,2000 and 2003 were interpreted,and the changes of sandland were analyzed by using the database of desertification dynamics from 1987 to 2003.RS and GIS softwares,such as erdas 8.6,Arcview 3.3 and Arcinfo 7.1 were used as interpretation tools.The results showed that: In the past nearly 20 years,the desertified lands were in the situation of reverse-develop-reverse.The amplitude contraction of semi-fixed dune increased,but the amplitude contraction of mobile dune reduced.On the patch number,the trend of desertified land patch number is growing.The number of mobile dune was in the situation of decrease-increase-decrease.The other desertified lands patch number is increasing in varying degrees.The developing of desertification is the result of natural and artificial factors.The quantitative description of the impact of the annual average temperature,annual average wind speed,annual average precipitation,population and the number of livestock on desertification was made in the paper.In all factors,population,livestock and annual average wind speed have the most obvious impact.


althoughthiacalix[4]arenes have transition metal ion binding ability.Such modification may involve the upper and lower rims ofthe molecule, as well as the bridging sulfur atoms. Alkyl-ation of hydroxyl groups of tetrahydroxythiacalixarenes inthe lower rim has been used to limit the macrocycleconformation and thereby tune complexation properties.


The overcrowded molecules 1,1,3,3-tetra-tert-butyldisiloxane-1,3-diol (2) and penta-tertbutyldisiloxanol (4) have been obtained during the attempted synthesis of tri-tert-butylsilanol and di-tert-butylsilanediol by reaction of tri-tert-butylsilane and di-tert-butylchlorosilane, resp., with silver nitrate. Compounds 2 and 4 were also formed either by condensation of two molecules of di-tert-butylsilanediol or by co-condensation of the silanediol with tri-tert-butylsilanol in the presence of jo-toluenesulfonic acid. Reactions of tri-tert-butylsilanol with silicon tetrachloride yielded 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexa-tert-butyl-3,3-dichlorotrisiloxane.


Automotive radar and 5G communication systems require for their high frequency functionality substrates with low dielectric constants, which are capable to operate at elevated temperatures for long lifetimes. Special substrates based on laminate Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology come here into focus due to their cost benefit against ceramic substrates. But the matrix of these substrates is based on polymers like for example PPE (Polyphenylether) or PTFE (Polytetra-floureten). In general, polymers are susceptible to ageing, which may already be initiated at mild conditions and short times (e.g. during the expected usetime) and can have a potential large influence on the reliability as the properties can change massively.To enable the development of reliable electrical components, the behavior during the desired lifetime of the used materials is of importance. In this paper we focus on thermo-oxidative ageing effects of a Radio Frequency (RF) application suitable PCB material and how this effect can be considered transiently in a numerical simulation approach. For this approach, first extensive material characterization was performed on samples aged for different periods of time at 175°C. This temperature was selected as this is the specified maximum operating temperature for the material. These different states of the material were then used within the simulation model, where the ageing process is simulated and a gradual – continuous change of one state to the other is calculated.


Object of the present invention is to provide a toner without reinforcing environmental printing paste, the printing paste, characterized by comprising: acrylic emulsion, preventing plug network agents, antiblocking agents, thickeners, fillers, parts by mass count, content of each component are as follows: acrylic emulsion 55-85, 2-9 preventing plug network agent, release agent 1.5-2.5, 4-6 thickeners, fillers 0-30.


The essential task in tracing the source of the theft is to secure the digital proof from the location where the data was misused. But, more significantly, the data evidence must be sent to the main server without being intercepted by a Man-in-the-Middle assault. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange Algorithm is used to securely exchange cryptographic keys from the admin and investigator. Here different layers of security have been identified. The proposed method uses message digest, encryption and steganography to implement secure transfer of digital evidence from the crime scene.


IT S E E M S T O B E A L M O S T A C R U E L J O K E T O F O I S T T H E B U R D E N O F F I N D I N G A positive sense of "rhetoric" in Kant upon anyone, including oneself. Why look to the arch-champion of the enlightenment for a defense of the art of rhetoric? What hope does persuasion have in a thinker who explicitly castigates rhetoric in his 1790 Critique of the Power of Judgment, a cornerstone to modern aesthetics? Indeed, the lack of a sensed hope in these matters has led to a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, with many rhetorical scholars failing to examine Kant's rhetorical thought because they are sure that the reasons that have caused a tradition to abandon him are good reasons for all critical interpreters. For instance, Clifford Vaida points out that "Kant's explicit comments on rhetoric are few, casual, and derisive. Consequently, he has not been studied closely by rhetoricians" (1996, 373). Brian Vickers connects Kant to Plato's


This study is the intersection of psychoanalytic and literary discourses in reading Rosa's Grande sertao: veredas. Based on the idea that the subject is revealed only by the language, it is natural to establish the links between literary criticism, psychoanalysis and language. Thus, the text is where we can find the subjectivity so, literary text is seen here as the privileged place of its revelation, through the rhetorical resources. The objective of this paper is to point out a reading of the novel Grande sertao: veredas, by using psychoanalytic instruments.


In conjunction with the development of a wind turbine drivetrain testing facility, a fully configurable 15 MVA Hardware-In-the-Loop medium-voltage electric grid system capable of four-quadrant operation is being designed and installed. To successfully operate this system when performing fault ride-through evaluations, a control algorithm has been developed to prevent saturation of the interface transformer's magnetic core. Prior to full implementation of this grid system, the high power components of the system are being evaluated using a real-time digital simulation (RTDS®) environment in order to identify any potential control or interface issues. In this paper, the various modeled components are discussed, the implementation of the feed-forward control algorithm to prevent interface transformer saturation is presented, and finally, the results of a test scenario are shown with and without the saturation control algorithm in place.


Dispersion management modules based on large effective area, relatively short, high-order mode fibers, are shown to have high tolerance to optical nonlinear effects, thereby allowing both dispersion and slope compensation without significant input power limitations.


Some Effects of Channel Roughness on Stream Flow GLADYS E. BRADEN, MJnneapoUs, Minnesota A bo~n~ary layer exists between any surfacE" and the fluid with which it comes In contact, and between which there is re-lntlve ,·elocity. It has been observed on many streams that a thin layer of water adjacent to the ('hannel walls does not move with the SHme velO uh~th, }Iinnesota area, some are in the vicinity of Lander, Wyoming, alld in lellowstone Park. Close observation will show that even streams flowing through alluvium !lln'e a thin layer of water adjacent to the channel walls that does not IJIoye at all, but instead clings to the &lightly roughened walhiJ. Water very lIear the wall may be seen to move slowly downstream, but it nUlY mO"e upstream, even when the main flow is going over a CllS r any grent length of wall, instead it may be seen for a few inches here and there. It thE:' ,'plodty of the stream is very great, the boundary layer will lellve the ('}umnel wall for a short distance. This may be seen when a stream has a very steep gradient. The narrow band of foaming water on each side of the ('hannel is the houndary Inyer. The boundary layer may grow in width so IlIueh that thE' mnin flow is squeezed so as to be invisible. Commonly the houndary layer Is lIot fonmy. .A turbulent boundary layer develops from a laminar one, hut it has a l:uninnr sub-layer. If channel roughness is ~m('h that the Jlrnjt>Ctlons due to roughness extend beyond the laminar sub-lay(>r into the turbulent layer, there is a thickening of the turbulent layer and tl corresponding increase in frietional resistance. Downstream from ea('h protuberance the boundary layer increases in width, thus it will haye a jagged edge alon~ It very rough wall. Boulders jutting above the water in the main flow, divide it, hilt it \luites immediately dowllstream from the wa ke, an area of Mo-culled "dead wat(>r" that forms behind an obstruction. If stream ,'elocity is low the houndary layer adheres to the boulder. With an inc'rens(> in velocity the houndary layer leaves the surface of the houlder and two "ortlces form at the downstream end of the boulder and are opposite each other. The boundary layer is beginning to break away from the boulder. A further inerease in "plocity makes the break away more noticeable. The vortic(>s at this stage are larger and better developed. Th(>y extend their bounds and, eventually hr(>uk away. They die out a little farther downstream in the main flow, Other vortices grow and follow them so that there is a regular procession of "ortices leaving the "vortex street". The vortices are detached perlodl(·all~.. either in pairs or alternately from each side. R€'('ause of the gradient in the boundary layer, the velo('ity on the llnd(>rside of, for instance, a grain of sand on the stream bed, is less than t!lat on top. It ig because of this Magnus effect, that the sand In'ain which lies a little higher on the bed than those near it, is lifted up through the hounda ry layer. If the grain is small It will be held in suspension by the !'tream, but if it larger it will fall back on the bed as soon as it has risen a~n'e the boundary layer for it has then lost its lift. The velocity gradient near the bed may be changed if water seepfiJ down Into the becl. The boundary layer is of importance in the study of the suspended lOad of a stream for it explains saltation. Turbulence Is said to arise in the boundary layer in most instances, and it is associated with dltu88lon.


Quasi-cw UV light sources are of interest for replacing frequency-doubled Ar-Ion lasers in several applications. Our target application in semiconductor inspection requires a narrow bandwidth cw or quasi-cw source at 258nm, which cannot be achieved by frequency converting the output of a (modelocked) Neodymium-based laser. We developed a fiber MOPA system which operates at a high repetition rate of 5MHz and generates 1ns long pulses. The system consists of a low power oscillator and four consecutive amplifier stages. which boost the average power to 40W at 1031nm. The IR output of the fiber system is frequency doubled and quadrupled using LBO and CLBO crystals for SHG and FHG, respectively. We achieved SHG conversion efficiencies of up to 82% and a UV power of up to 14W.


The following is an edited transcript of the panel discussion held at the SPIE Conference called "Stray Radiation V" at SPIE's 30th Annual International Technical Symposium. The Panel Discussion was on Stray Light Problems, Concepts, and Tools.


The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive factors of objective response rate (ORR) and progression‐free survival (PFS), and the correlation of albumin‐bilirubin (ALBI) grade with decreased appetite and fatigue in hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with lenvatinib.


The interest of users in handheld devices is strongly related to their location. Therefore, the user location is important, as a user context, for news article recommendation in a mobile environment. This paper proposes a novel news article recommendation that reflects the geographical context of the user. For this purpose, we propose the Explicit Localized Semantic Analysis (ELSA), an ESA-based topical representation of documents. Every location has its own geographical topics, which can be captured from the geo-tagged documents related to the location. Thus, not only news articles but locations are also represented as topic vectors. The main advantage of ELSA is that it stresses only the topics that are relevant to a given location, whereas all topics are equally important in ESA. As a result, geographical topics have different importance according to the user location in ELSA, even if they come from the same article. Another advantage of ELSA is that it allows a simple comparison of the user location and news articles, because it projects both locations and articles onto an identical space composed of Wikipedia topics. In the evaluation of ELSA with the New York Times corpus, it outperformed two simple baselines of Bag-Of-Words and LDA as well as two ESA-based methods. Rt10 of ELSA was improved up to 46.25% over other methods, and its NDCG@k was always higher than those of the others regardless of k.


Liquefied bamboo resin was synthesized by using phenol and polyethylene glycol( PEG-400) as liquefied reagent. Liquefied bamboo foam( LBF) was then prepared by adding surface active agent,curing agent,foaming agent and isocyanate to the resin. The effects of isocyanate content on the structure and properties of LBF were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy( SEM) and tests of compressive strength,oxygen index and weatherability. The results showed that with the increasing of isocyanate content,the bubble structure of LBF became more uniform. The compressive strength increased to 0. 399 MPa,the oxygen index first increased to 48. 8% and then decreased,while the rate of mass loss was lowered and the compressive strength variation was narrowed. However,the excess of isocyanate addition will make the LBF become fragile.


Introduction: The percentage of unintentional childhood poisoning cases in a given population (population attributable risk) can be calculated; determination of such risk factors associated with potentially modifiable risk factors, are necessary to focus prevention strategies.Methods: We calculated PARs, using 120 cases with unintentional poisoning and 360 controls in a hospital based matched case control study. The risk factors were accessibility to hazardous chemicals and medicines due to unsafe storage, child behavior reported as hyperactive, storage of kerosene and petroleum in soft drink bottles, low socioeconomic class, less mother education and history of previous poisoning.Results: The following attributable risks for the indicated risk factors were observed:12% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 8% - 16%) for both chemicals and medicines stored unsafe, 19% ( 15% - 23%) for child reported as hyperactive, 40% (38% - 42%) for storage of kerosene and petroleum in soft drink bottles, 48% (42% - 54%) for low socioeconomic status, 38% (32% - 42%) for no formal mothers education and 5.8% ( 2% -10%) for history of previous poisoning. 48% of cases of overall study population could be attributed to at least one of the six risk factors. Among girls, this proportion was 23 percent and 43 percent among boys. About half of the unintentional childhood poisoning cases in this Pakistani population could be avoided.Conclusion: Exposure to potentially modifiable risk indicators explained about half of the cases of unintentional poisoning among children under five years of age in this Pakistani population, indicating the theoretical scope for prevention of the disease.


The synthesis and characterization of a new series of chiral poly(ester-amide)s are reported. They were prepared by the simple reaction of diacid chlorides with biphenolic azo chromophores and optically active dihydroxy compound (isosorbide) in dimethyl acetamide at 100 °C. The polymers containing isosorbide units were optically active. The polymers showed Tg between 100 and 190 °C and were stable up to 400 °C. These poly(ester-amide)s showed a positive solvatochromism in UV–visible absorption spectra. Second harmonic generation activities were measured by the powder method.

© 2001 Society of Chemical Industry


This research aims to investigate the connection between students' retention and critical thinking skills in diverse academic skills in biology learning. The research samples were 202 tenth-grade students in the second semester who learned biology. A class equivalence test determined four high and four low academic skills classes. An essay test was employed in this study to examine retention and critical thinking skills. The study indicates a significant connection between students' retention and critical thinking skills in various academic skills in high school biology learning. High academic skills have a lower contribution of critical thinking skills to retention than low academic skills. Students' less serious learning attitudes and practices give a low contribution of critical thinking skills to retention in high academic skills. The regression equation lines between students' retention and critical thinking skills in diverse academic skills are not parallel and do not coincide. The regression equation line for low academic skills seems steeper than that for high ones. It means that students' retention improvement rate due to the influence of critical thinking skills in high academic skills is lower than in low academic skills.


Greater utilisation of DC power distribution within aircraft systems is still largely prevented by the significant challenge of developing lightweight, effective DC protection systems. By considering circuit breaker, fault detection and power network design aspects, this paper proposes new performance criteria for optimised protection of DC aircraft power systems and discusses the resulting system level design and operability benefits which can be attained. Through the analysis and simulation of a representative DC aircraft electrical system, fast acting fault detection and solid state circuit breaker technologies are identified as being critical to this scheme. This paper then presents analysis to help assess the impact of successfully implementing this protection scheme on the circuit breaker's design and operation requirements.


We prove that if the equality of words xu = u1x k 1 · · ·unxn holds for three positive values of k, then it holds for all values of k. As a consequence, if x = x1 · · ·xn holds for three positive values of k, then the words x, x1, . . . , xn are powers of a common word. The most important method in our proofs is to assign numerical values to the letters, and then study the sums of the letters of words and their prefixes.


Compulsory voting is first and foremost an institutional remedy for low electoral turnout in parliamentary elections. In this article, the effect of compulsory voting on two other dimensions of the well-being of democracy is explored, namely civic participation and political trust. Some support for the proposition that compulsory voting enhances the legitimacy of political institutions is provided; by contrast, mandatory electoral participation has a negative impact on the level of civic participation.


Aim of work The aim of the present work was to compare the efficacy of PUVA versus broad band UVA as a substitute to UVA1 in the treatment of early stage MF (IA, IB, IIA). Patients and methods; Thirty patients with early stage MF (IA and IB) were included in this prospective, randomized clinical trial. They were randomly divided into two equal groups; group A (15 patients receiving PUVA) and group B (15 patients receiving BBUVA at 20 J/cm/session). The patients received three sessions/week for 13 weeks i.e. forty sessions. The patients were compared regarding clinical, histopathological, immunohistochemical (By measuring the bcl-2 level) and overall responses.


An investigation is described in which needlefelt fabrics were designed and constructed. The effect of fibre fineness on filtration characteristics is demonstrated.


AU‐rich elements (AREs) in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of numerous mammalian transcripts function as instability elements that promote rapid mRNA degradation. Tristetraprolin (TTP) is an ARE‐binding protein that promotes rapid mRNA decay through mechanisms that are poorly understood. A 31 nucleotide ARE sequences from the TNF‐alpha 3′ UTR promoted TTP‐dependent mRNA decay when it was inserted into the 3′ UTR of a beta‐globin reporter transcript, indicating that this short sequence was sufficient for TTP function. We used a gel shift assay to identify a TTP‐containing complex in cytoplasmic extracts from TTP‐transfected HeLa cells that bound specifically to short ARE sequences. This TTP‐containing complex also contained the 5′–3′ exonuclease Xrn1 and the exosome component PM‐scl75 because it was super‐shifted with anti‐Xrn1 or anti‐PMscl75 antibodies. RNA affinity purification verified that these proteins associated specifically with ARE sequences in a TTP‐dependent manner. Using a competition binding assay, we found that the TTP‐containing complex bound with high affinity to short ARE sequences from GM‐CSF, IL‐3, TNF‐alpha, IL‐2, and c‐fos, but did not bind to a U‐rich sequence from c‐myc, a 22 nucleotide poly U sequence or a mutated GM‐CSF control sequence. High affinity binding by the TTP‐containing complex correlated with TTP‐dependent deadenylation and decay of capped, polyadenylated transcripts in a cell‐free mRNA decay assay, suggesting that the TTP‐containing complex was functional. These data support a model whereby TTP functions to enhance mRNA decay by recruiting components of the cellular mRNA decay machinery to the transcript. J. Cell. Biochem. 100: 1477–1492, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


GaN technology has matured significantly in the last year. The unique device properties that have been demonstrated are enabling for novel microwave circuit architectures. This paper gives an overview on the general advantages and capabilities of GaN based electronic devices, highlights the basics of GaN device fabrication and gives application examples in the field of discrete power amplifiers, high power and robust low noise GaN based MMICs. The paper ends with a conclusive remark on current device reliability issues.


The present work aims to study the practices developed by teachers in relation to environmentalissues in Tiradentes elementary municipal school, Mata/RS. For that, the search reach ourobjective we adopted the deductive method and descriptive, and methodological procedureswere based on interviews with teachers guided by a research tool with open and closed questions.It was possible to know the opinion of seven teachers about the work in class on EnvironmentalEducation. With this information, the data were tabulated and interpreted, resulting in someconclusions. It was observed that there is little concern of teachers to update themselves onenvironmental issues and that environmental education is not yet fully integrated into theteaching practice classes, being addressed in simple and barely consciousness way. Informationsuch as that could serve to the practices reflection on the schools developed seeking to improvethe teaching quality.


It has been observed that {311} defects form, grow, and eventually dissolve during annealing of Si-implanted silicon wafers. The fact that for subamorphizing silicon implants {311} defects initially contain the full net dose of excess interstitials, and that the time scale for dissolution of these defects is about the same as the time scale of transient enhanced diffusion (TED) leads to the conclusion that {311} defects are a primary source of interstitials under TED conditions. We describe a comprehensive model which accounts for the evolution of these defects during ion implant annealing, and in combination with point defect parameters from previous work also correctly predicts TED behavior.


This article introduces the form and appearance of concrete slab crack,analyzes its causes from design,construction and the application of material,and illustrates its preventive measures and mending methods to ensure construction quality of concrete structure.


Introduction Computer tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) can be performed with improved image quality and at lower radiation dose when heart rate is lowered to less than 60 beats per minute (bpm). In our centre intravenous Metoprolol is administered on the CT table targeting a heart rate below 60 bpm. The aim of this audit was to assess the efficacy of intravenous beta-blockade to achieve optimal heart rates in patients undergoing CTCA. Methods We carried out a retrospective case note review of all patients undergoing CTCA between 1 – 30 November 2018. Scanning was performed using a 320-detector row scanner with prospective gating (Toshiba Aquilon One). Data collected included attending radiologist/cardiologist, dose of Metoprolol, heart rate at time of image acquisition and baseline patient characteristics. Results Case notes of 131 consecutive patients referred for CTCA were reviewed. The mean heart rate achieved was 61.7 bpm (range 30–130 bpm). The average administered dose of metoprolol was 15.5 mg (range 0–60 mg). 51% of patients achieved a heart rate less than 60 bpm at the time of scanning. For patients achieving target heart rates below 60 bpm the average dose of metoprolol was 9.3 mg, and 22.4 mg for those with heart rates greater than 60 bpm at the time of image acquisition. Conclusion Routine administration of intravenous beta-blocker peri-procedure fails to achieve optimal heart rate control in approximately half of all patients undergoing CTCA. Alternative protocols including pre-treatment with a short course of oral beta-blockers should be considered.


OBJECTIVES: To compare 1‐year institutionalization and mortality rates of patients who were delirious at discharge, patients whose delirium resolved by discharge, and patients who were never delirious in the hospital.


The statistical method "meta-analysis" is perhaps unique as a contribution to empirical inquiry of many types because it arose entirely within the practice of education research. In spite of its origins, meta-analysis has found its widest application and most important contributions in the field of medicine. Contrasting the success of meta-analysis in medicine and education reveals interesting lessons for the future of education research. The findings of research studies in education are highly variable. Context matters in very significant ways when studying education phenomena, and decades of research have produced little understanding of these contextual influences. The findings of education studies remain varied in unaccountable ways.


There is a long history of studying and making use of ductile cast iron in China.Over the years,the foundrymen in China have carried out a lot of valuable research and development work for measuring parameters and controlling the quality in ductile cast iron production.Many methods,such as rapid metallographic phase,thermal analysis,eutectic expansion ratio,surface tension measurement,melt electrical resistivity,oxygen and sulfur activity measurement,ultrasonic measurement and sound frequency measurement,have been used and have played important roles in Chinese casting production in the past.These methods can be generally classified as liquid testing and solid testing according to the sample state.Based on the analysis of the present situation of these methods applied in the Chinese metal casting industry,the authors consider that there are two difficult technical problems to be currently solved in monitoring ductile iron quality.One is to seek an effective method for quickly evaluating the nodularizing result through on-the-spot sample analysis before the liquid iron is poured into the mould.The other is to find a nondestructive method for accurately identifying casting quality before castings are delivered.


Summary Introduction: The mucocele of the sphenoide sinus its a benign rare lesion. Those lesions are probably diagnosed late because they are asymptomatic or cause non-specific symptoms. The clinical characteristics depend on its location and can include fronto-orbital pain, oculomotor nerve palsy, decrease of visual acuity, exophthalmos and olfaction disorders. The findings of the CT and the MRI of nose and paranasal sinuses have increased the diagnostic accuracy. The treatment consists of marsupialization and drainage of the mucocele via endoscopic sinus. The prognosis for vision depends on the length loss of the visual acuity preoperative. Objective: Report a case of sphenoid mucocele of big dimensions. Case Report: The authors report a case of sphenoid sinus mucocele in a male patient of 48 years old, that has suddenly presented amaurosis. Final Comments: The caracteristics of the sphenoid mucocele are reviewed with special attention for the clinical and radiological findings, as well as the surgical treatment.


"Cousin" worlds—slightly bigger or slightly hotter than Earth—can help us understand planetary habitability, but we need more lab and numerical experiments to make the most of this opportunity.


Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI) is a neurobehavioral syndrome characterized by later life emergence of sustained neuropsychiatric symptoms, as an at‐risk state for dementia (Ismail Z, Alzheimers Dement, 2016). However, the associations between MBI and a risk of phenocoversion to dementia and its neuroanatomical correlates in MCI are still unclear.


The article is devoted to the study of the possibilities of bioindication for coniferous and deciduous woody and herbaceous plants for assessing the state of atmospheric air in an urban area where there is no significant anthropogenic impact and there are no large industrial enterprises. At the same time, there has been an increase in the population, an increase in the number and the development of small businesses and organizations, an increase in units of use and, consequently, an increase of vehicle traffic in the recent years. Studies were performed on both of these departments of the plant kingdom in order to compare the results. A dynamic analysis of the results of the study with archived data was also carried out.


For six years, the Augustinian recollects have focused on the theme of revitalization. now in 216, the time has come to take decisions that bring about a better evangelical quality. making decisions in life is always difficult, but one does not live without them. it is like the parable of the train. the following pages show the importance of this moment for the personal and institutional experience of the Augustinian recollect family: it is a decisive moment, that is, a time to decide. the decision shall be realized only if we have been revitalized beforehand, making discernment possible, and that same decision is to be directed toward a greater vitality. Hence, the linear order of the process is presented as follows: revitalization, discernment, decision, and revitalization.


Flavonoids of Dryopteris villarii (Bellardi) Schinz & Thell have recently been studied for the first time [10-13], leading to the identification of eight flavonoid glycosides (based on kaempferol, quercetin and apigenin), five acetylated flavonoid glycosides (based on kaempferol and quercetin), four flavonoid glycosides (based on kaempferol and quercetin) acylated with hydroxycinnamic acids, and quercetin 3-O-(acetylcinnamoylglucoside). In addition, three free flavonoid aglycones (kaempferol, quercetin and apigenin) have been identified. The present paper deals with the identification of three flavonoids (1-3) from aerial parts of Dryopteris villarii. These products were isolated by preparative paper chromatography, followed by column chromatography on Sephadex LH-20, and preparative RP HPLC.


It is possible that the formation of the Oort Cloud dates back to the earliest epochs of solar system history. At that time, the Sun was almost certainly a member of the stellar cluster, where it was born. Since the solar birth cluster is likely to have been massive (1000--10 000 Msol), and therefore long-lived, an issue concerns the survival of such a primordial Oort Cloud. We have investigated this issue by simulating the orbital evolution of Oort Cloud comets for several hundred Myr, assuming the Sun to start its life as a typical member of such a massive cluster. We have devised a synthetic representation of the relevant dynamics, where the cluster potential is represented by a King model, and about 20 close encounters with individual cluster stars are selected and integrated based on the solar orbit and the cluster structure. Thousands of individual simulations are made, each including 3 000 comets with orbits with three different initial semi-major axes. Practically the entire initial Oort Cloud is found to be lost for our choice of semi-major axes (5 000--20 000 au), independent of the cluster mass, although the chance of survival is better for the smaller cluster, since in a certain fraction of the simulations the Sun orbits at relatively safe distances from the dense cluster centre. For the range of birth cluster sizes that we investigate, a primordial Oort Cloud will likely survive only as a small inner core with semi-major axes < 3 000 au. Such a population of comets would be inert to orbital diffusion into an outer halo and subsequent injection into observable orbits. Some mechanism is therefore needed to accomplish this transfer, in case the Oort Cloud is primordial and the birth cluster did not have a low mass. From this point of view, our results lend some support to a delayed formation of the Oort Cloud, that occurred after the Sun had left its birth cluster.


With increasing level 1 evidence demonstrating improved detection of clinically significant prostate cancer and decreased detection of insignificant disease using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) in biopsy-naïve men, the EAU decided to incorporate mpMRI into their prostate cancer guidelines in 2019. In consequence, a steady increase in use of mpMRI scans can be expected over the next few years which represents a major challenge for radiologists and healthcare systems. Reducing scanning time and costs without compromising diagnostic accuracy are important measures to respond to increasing demands in the healthcare economy. In this publication, van der Leest et al. propose a new noncontrast biparametric MRI (bpMRI) scanning protocol which could lower scanning time and prevent potential harmful impacts of gadolinium injection (1). In this threearm comparative study, three different scanning protocols were compared: The mpMRI approach with T2-weighted (T2WI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map and dynamic contrastenhanced (DCE) imaging as recommended by the Prostate Imaging-reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 standards, a bpMRI protocol with T2WI in three planes, DWI and ADC and a "fast" bpMRI protocol with T2WI in the axial plane only, DWI and ADC. All three protocols were evaluated prospectively in 626 biopsy-naïve men and the images were assessed by two highly experienced radiologists of a single center before the biopsy. Patients with PI-RADS category 1–2 findings underwent 12-core systematic biopsy while patients with PI-RADS categories 3–5 underwent in-bore MRI-guided biopsy and 12-cores systematic biopsy. With histopathology as the ground truth sensitivity was 95% in all three protocols with lower specificity for "fast" bpMRI (65%) compared to bpMRI and mpMRI (69%). Due to higher PI-RADS 3 rate 2.2% more men would undergo additional prostate biopsy with all of them having either insignificant or no cancer on final histopathology. Inter-reader agreement was almost perfect for all protocols while slightly lower (90%) for "fast" bpMRI compared to the other two modalities (93%). With a scanning time of 7:49 min compared to 13:07 min and 15:57 min for bpMRI and mpMRI, "fast" bpMRI demonstrated a significantly lower scanning time with acceptable compromises in diagnostic accuracy. These results, based on the Dutch healthcare system, also translated into a 54% reduction of scanning costs of the "fast" bpMRI approach compared to mpMRI. The findings of this study are really encouraging and we congratulate the authors for this well-designed and clinically impactful study. With indications widening for mpMRI in prostate cancer diagnostics, this study represents a first step towards improved efficiency, cost effectiveness and hopefully accessibility for patients. Multiparametric MRI has been shown to be the best and only imaging Editorial Commentary


Article history: Received July 10, 2011 Received in Revised form September, 12, 2011 Accepted 25 September 2011 Available online 30 September 2011 Railroad maintenance engineering plays an important role on availability of roads and reducing the cost of railroad incidents. Rail is of the most important parts of railroad industry, which needs regular maintenance since it covers a significant part of total maintenance cost. Any attempt on optimizing total cost of maintenance could substantially reduce the cost of railroad system and it can reduce total cost of the industry. The paper presents a new method to estimate the cost of rail failure using different cost components such as cost of inspection and cost of risk associated with possible accidents. The proposed model of this paper is used for a realworld case study of railroad transportation of Tehran region and the results have been analyzed. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


It is desirable for orthopaedic implants to possess good osteointegration and anti-biofilm ability simultaneously for the prevention of implant associated infections and promotion of osteointegration. In this study, both of the anti-biofilm ability and osteogenic activity of a Mg–Zn alloy as a novel magnesium alloy were investigated systematically. The in vitro findings revealed that the Mg–Zn alloy promoted osteogenic differentiation and gene expression in the rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs), and showed better antibacterial ability than titanium (Ti). Good antibacterial ability was also observed in vivo in a rat distal femur model; the micro-CT and histological results revealed superior osteointegration of the Mg–Zn alloy in vivo despite the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The alkaline pH together with magnesium and zinc ions released from the Mg–Zn alloy may have synergistic effects on the antibacterial ability and osteogenic activity of the Mg–Zn alloy. The results demonstrate that the Mg–Zn alloy possesses osteointegration ability even in the presence of MRSA.


The aims of this study were to find out general traits of speed judgements made by school children and to estimate the role of the concept of safety margin when they were requested to cross the road. Both experiments were done from a developmental point of view. From a primary school, 415 pupils (3rd grade to 6th grade, respectively) participated on the speed judgement study. The results indicated the judged speeds were 70% of the actual speeds from 30 km/h to 50 km/h, disregarding the grades. On the safety margin study, 129 pupils (1st to 3rd grade and 6th grade) from another school participated. The data showed that the concept of safety margin could be introduced at 3rd grade. Poor judgements were shown on the lower grades where they relied only on the distance cue. It could be emphasized that the safety education program for the lower grades should be different from that used for the higher grades. (A)