Personal preferences and financial incentives make homeownership desirable for most families. Once a family purchases a home they find it impractical (costly) to frequently change their ownership of residential real estate. Thus, by deciding how much home to buy, a family constrains their ability to adjust their asset allocation between residential real estate and other assets. To analyze the impact of this constraint on consumption, welfare, and post-retirement wealth, we first investigate an individual's optimal asset allocation decisions when they are subject to a "homeownership constraint." Next, we perform a "thought experiment" where we assume the existence of a market where a homeowner can sell, without cost, a fractional interest in their home. Now the housing choice decision does not constrain the individual's asset allocations. By comparing these two cases, we estimate the differences in post-retirement wealth and the welfare gains potentially realizable if asset allocations were not subject to a homeownership constraint. For realistic parameter values, we find that the homeowner would require a substantial increase in total net worth to achieve the same level of utility as would be achievable if the choice of a home could be separated from the asset allocation decision. The robustness of the analysis is evaluated with respect to the model's parameters and initial state variables. We find that changes in the values of the constraint (i.e., the value of the home) and the expected real rate of home value appreciation are the only state variables or parameter that is associated with a large change in asset allocation and/or the burden imposed by the housing constraint. This finding suggests the importance of a detailed examination of the impact of inter-regional differences in home prices and expected rates of appreciation on asset allocation and post-retirement wealth.


GE is developing a moving-bed, high temperature desulfurization system for use in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation systems. Reusable zinc-based mixed-metal oxide sorbents are being developed for this process, now being tested at the pilot plant scale. Recent tests have focused on: (1) evaluation of Z-Sorb{trademark} III sorbent, a proprietary H{sub 2}S sorbent developed by Phillips Petroleum Company, and (2) construction and testing of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactor for HCl removal. Z-Sorb{trademark} III sorbent lost more than 50% of its reactivity and sulfur absorption capacity in less than 200 hours of pilot plant testing. Interactions between the sorbent and steam in the coal gas (and/or regeneration gas) appear to be a likely cause for the loss in reactivity. Development and testing of alternative sorbents is now underway.


Generally, the bottom-up learning approaches, such as neural-network, to obtain the optimal controller of target task for mechanical system face a problem including huge number of trials, which require much time and give stress against the hardware. To avoid such problems, a simulator is often built and performed with a learning method. However, there are also problems that how simulator is constructed and how accurate it performs. In this paper, we are considering a construction of simulator directly from the real hardware. Afterward a constructed simulator is used for learning target task and the obtained optimal controller is applied to the real hardware. As an example, we picked up the pendulum swing-up task which was a typical nonlinear control problem. The construction of a simulator is performed by backpropagation method with neural-network and the optimal controller is obtained by reinforcement learning method. Both processes are implemented without using the real hardware after the data sampling, therefore, load against the hardware gets sufficiently smaller, and the objective controller can be obtained faster than using only the hardware. And we consider that our proposed method can be a basic learning strategy to obtain the optimal controller of mechanical systems.


The performance-based seismic vulnerability analysis is the basis for evaluating the seismic reliability of structures, which is of great significance to the prediction of seismic damage and the establishment of seismic design codes based on the reliability theory. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the methods of seismic vulnerability analysis, the current research status, and the remaining problems in this field is presented. Firstly, the methods of structural seismic vulnerability analysis are categorized, and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are summarized, and the research progress in this field is discussed in detail; Finally, it is concluded that the research on the seismic vulnerability of structures in China has not yet produced research results of practical engineering significance. A set of more effective seismic vulnerability analysis theories should be established to directly guide the performance-based seismic design of structures by reasonably and accurately quantifying relevant factors such as ground shaking input parameters and performance level damage indicators.


Bioturbation in the outer Bengal Fan is influenced by two major factors, bottom-water oxygenation and turbidite deposition. Biogenic traces reflect changing bottom-water oxygenation over the last 17 m.y.; in the Miocene clear oxygenation cycles are developed in the hemipelagically deposited sections. Since the Pliocene these cycles are less pronounced and an intermediate level of oxygenation is documented by the trace fossils. As only three closely spaced sections were studied, it is uncertain whether the change in oxygenation is a regional phenomenon or just a local effect resulting from changing bottom topography due to intraplate deformation. Turbidite deposition also strongly influences bioturbation at the sites studied. In the outer Bengal Fan, fine-grained parts of turbidites are often burrowed. In contrast, biogenic reworking is less intense or nonexistent in the sandy parts of turbidites. A considerable number of the fine-grained sections are bioturbated by Phycospiphon, and the thickness of the reworked section can exceed the penetration depth of this trace. In this case, we infer that bioturbation and sediment accumulation were in equilibrium and that sedimentation was relatively slow for normal deposition by a turbidity current of the order of 1 cm per day during an event.


Ocean waves can be destructive as steeper waves, due to their high energy, erode the sandy beaches. If these waves are made to break prematurely and away from the beach and attenuate them, then, beach erosion could be reduced. This can be economically accomplished by a submerged reef suitably designed and constructed at some distance offshore. This paper experimentally investigates the armour stone stability of the submerged reef and influence of its varying distance from shore on ocean wave transmission. A stability equation for a submerged reef has been obtained. It is found that a 0.25m (7.5m) high reef, having a crest width of 0.1m (3.0m) and of constructed with an optimum armour of weight of 30gms (0.81Ton) at a seaward distance of 4m (120m) in a water depth up to 0.4m (12m) can achieve a wave transmission of 51% for the test wave conditions.


ABSTRACT Added values to project economy from oil recovery process and difficulties of the oil recovery mechanism are the main differences between light oil and conventional oil reservoirs. One needs to gain distillate rate in the steam distillation technique in crude oil recovery; however, this needs particular experiments. In this research, the approach inspired a new intelligent solution named the least square support vector machine to monitor the distillate rate in the steam distillation method for oil recovery goals. The suggested low parameter model is applied to the gathered experimental data from prestigious attentions to train and develop and test the introduced approach. The predicted outcomes from the low parameter model were contrasted to the relevant measured data points and generated results of conventional and empirical correlations. A comparison between the gained solutions of our method and the alternatives proves that the proposed vector machine approach estimates the distillate rate in the steam distillation process for oil recovery more precisely in contrast with the previous and empirically applied models.


One of the physicists who shared the 2001 Nobel prize for creating the first Bose–Einstein condensate has surprisingly decided to abandon atomic physics and move into science education. Carl Wieman is leaving his present position as distinguished professor of physics at the University of Colorado in the US and joining the University of British Columbia (UBC) in neighbouring Canada. In his new post Wieman will support a major science-education initiative to which UBC has committed C$12m (about 78m) over the next five years.


The authors retrospectively studied adults who underwent tonsillectomies after recurrent tonsillitis. They used quality of life scores and measured number of days off work because of illness and the number of visits to doctors.

It is surprising that they did not include the not insubstantial rate of perioperative and postoperative complications in the results of their study and the discussion section.

The number of postoperative hemorrhages is 1.4% (1) to 3.3% (2).

The fact that a simple PubMed search using the search terms "tonsillectomy" and "perioperative or postoperative complications" shows up 24 meta-analyses. To me, this confirms that the procedure is not trivial.

Two years ago, Deutsches Arzteblatt published a CME article on the topic of tonsillectomy in children (3). The authors postulated rightly that the indication for this intervention should be very narrowly defined.

The article by Senska et al is mostly of no value in this respect because it is subject to bias, especially in terms of the included patients: someone who has decided to have a tonsillectomy is bound to be convinced by this procedure and will give positive scores in order not to have to have to live with the feeling that they have risked health and life unnecessarily.


Database security, corruption, and loss can be disruptive, time-consuming and expensive to organization operation and business continuity. Therefore, data protection and availability is a high priority and a sensitive concern during the design and implementation of information systems infrastructure. This paper proposes a novel technique for designing and implementing a database recovery and security system based on the threshold secret sharing scheme. Furthermore, a network-based database protection technique is devised and presented. Analysis of the proposed technique shows that it is effective and comprehensive while not imposing significant delay in order to secure, distribute and recover the data


Based on innovative nano-optical structures and design, an embedded metal-wire nanograting was fabricated for using as a broadband polarizer or polarizing beam splitter to reflect TE-polarized light and transmit TM-polarized light, and AR coating was designed in order to achieve best efficiency for both polarizations. An upper-cladding layer of the same material as the gratings is deposited on the ridge of the gratings, whereas the metal wire is deposited in the grating trenches. This embedded structure makes the grating firmer in its applications. By optimization of the designed structure and AR coating, high polarization efficiency and low insertion loss with a broad wavelength ranges 1000-2000 nm and a wide angular tolerance are obtained


Background: FNAC is a useful tool for initial diagnostic work up of thyroid nodule prior to both ultrasound and scintigraphy due to its diagnostic usefulness and cost-effectiveness. It is also useful if a suspicion of cancer exists. It has reduced the need of imaging and surgery and has increased the yield of cancer in patients who come for surgery. Terminology of reporting thyroid FNACs varied markedly from two category schemes to six or more category schemes making it difficult for clinicians to interpret the reports and hindered the sharing of clinically meaningful data among multiple institutions. To address this problem, the National Cancer Institute proposed a new system, named 'the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology' (TBSRTC) in a conference organized in Bethesda. This system also described the risks of malignancy in each category and their recommended clinical management. Aim: To classify the thyroid lesions according to Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology and to find out the pathological spectrum of different thyroid lesions Material and methods: After taking approval from the institutional ethical committee and informed consent, this study was conducted on 250 cases at Department of Pathology SN Medical College, Jodhpur on patients aged between 10 to 70 years of any gender presenting with thyroid swelling. FNAC was performed and diagnosis given as per Bethesda classification. Results: Out of the total 250 cases studied 10 cases (4%) were Non Diagnostic/ Unsatisfactory, 220 cases (88%) were Benign, 5 cases (2%) were AUS, 4 cases (1.6%) were SFN/FN, 2 cases (0.8%) were Suspicious for malignancy and 9 cases (3.6%) were Malignant. Conclusion: TBSRTC provides uniform reporting system for thyroid FNA and as it has high specificity, it facilitates effective communication among health care providers.


Shakespeare is one of the most often performed playwrights at the Festival de Teatro Clásico de Almagro [The Almagro Festival of Classical Theater], an event initially created to celebrate Golden Age drama in which, nowadays, Shakespearean productions often outnumber those by individual national authors. Throughout the history of the festival, several Shakespearean productions have been staged in the Corral de Comedias, an original seventeenth-century venue that reactivates the use of space encoded in the playtext due to its similarities with Renaissance playhouses. This article has a double purpose: first, to examine the abundance of Shakespeare in Almagro as a phenomenon that finds its explanation in factors ranging from Shakespeare's popularity to the role of modern translation and, second, to focus on how Shakespearean productions at the Corral de Comedias have negotiated new meanings of Shakespeare in performance, generating an interplay between Renaissance and Golden Age venues in contemporary performance.


Sentiment analysis incorporates natural language processing and artificial intelligence and has evolved as an important research area. Sentiment analysis on product reviews has been used in widespread applications to improve customer retention and business processes. In this paper, we propose a method for performing an intensified sentiment analysis on customer product reviews. The method involves the extraction of two feature sets from each of the given customer product reviews, a set of acoustic features (representing emotions) and a set of lexical features (representing sentiments). These sets are then combined and used in a supervised classifier to predict the sentiments of customers. We use an audio speech dataset prepared from Amazon product reviews and downloaded from the YouTube portal for the purposes of our experimental evaluations.


Abstract This study presents several aspects of the mutual interaction between lipids and proteins. Nutritional and technological implications of the reaction of oxidized lipids with proteins are discussed. Changes are highlighted in the content of amino acids and protein digestibility, formation of cross-links, flavor compounds, as well as the formation of colored non-enzymatic browning products. Attention is paid to the agents which may determine the reaction of amino acids with the products of lipid oxidation, i.e. the presence of catalysts or inhibitors in the environment, the presence of water, pH of the environment, temperature or reaction time. It was also noted that the conformation of the protein structure, the surface charge, the affinity, and the accessibility of reactive groups affect the intensity of these interactions. This review article presents methods which reduce oxidative rancidity due to the use of antioxidant compounds, particularly the possibility of the use of natural antioxidants that reduce the number of lipid and protein oxidation products, and are simultaneously able to model the nutritional value of food.


Introduction Localized cultural identity movements emerging in much of the world are often described as a retreat into "roots" and represented as a response to the threat of some vague set of processes known as "globalization." But such representations obscure the role of multiple transnational pathways in supporting localized movements that claim to act in defense of particular models of place and culture. While research investigating the transnational dimensions of such localized movements is just beginning, much of that work has focused on links and ties across national borders established through processes of migration. Work that examines the polymorphic and shifting characteristics of socio-spatial relations, and the way they take advantage of, and help to produce, political opportunity structures that contribute to the formation of these movements, is much less common. Yet, the insights that derive from such work can reveal the importance of diverse socio-spatial relations in establishing the "pathways" that channel the ideological, symbolic and material resources that underpin what appear to be localized, place-based phenomena. More specifically, ethnographic work investigating these movements also illustrates the ways in which the transnational interaction that facilitates their emergence and shapes their structure is simultaneously a process of transculturation. In this paper, I examine the recent emergence of a cultural–political struggle over identity in a small region of northern Pakistan known as Baltistan. Specifically, I describe how the political opportunity structures that allow an oppositional cultural politics to emerge in Baltistan


Development of the International Atomic Energy Agency (the Agency) Waste Management Database (WMDB) began in 1989. The WMDB contains information on national radioactive waste management programmes, plans and activities, relevant laws and regulations, policies and radioactive waste inventories. Information contained in the WMDB was provided by Member States in response to three questionnaires issued by the Agency over the last decade. The information is compiled, stored and disseminated by the Agency in reports. Development of a new version of the WMDB, the Net-Enabled Waste Management Database (NEWMDB), is to be completed by early 2001. The NEWMDB will provide user-friendly data collection and improved dissemination of radioactive waste management information via the Internet. The NEWMDB is being developed to: • support the routine reporting of status and trends in radioactive waste management based on quantitative data, rather than anecdotal information, • assess the development and implementation of national radioactive waste management programmes, • support the Indicators of Sustainable Development for the safe and environmentally sound management of radioactive waste, and • conform, to the greatest extent practicable, with the reporting requirements of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. A key feature of the NEWMDB is that it allows Member States to report their waste management programmes and inventories according to their own national waste classification scheme(s). However, Member States are required to define their classification scheme(s) in relation to the Agency's proposed scheme. This feature will allow the Agency to transpose Member State supplied, radioactive waste inventory information according to a unified waste classification scheme and to roll up this information into a comprehensive, international radioactive waste inventory. Another key feature is that Member States can customize submissions to the NEWMDB to match their nuclear infrastructures. A prototype of the NEWMDB was evaluated by representatives from 19 Member States in an interregional workshop held at Agency headquarters in July 2000. Participants agreed that the customizable reporting structure would significantly improve submissions to the NEWMDB for Member States with complex nuclear infrastructures (such as Canada, France, Germany, UK, USA) as well as for those with less complex infrastructures (such as Belarus, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Philippines).


Base on the similarity theory,taking the horseshoe lining,city-gate lining and round lining for example,the value and distribution regularities of normal frost heaving pressures(hereinafter as frost heaving pressures) in tunnels excavated in fractured rock mass in cold regions under different constraints and frozen depths were studied by model test.It is found that the larger the frozen depth is,the larger the frost heaving pressure.The stronger the top constraint is,the larger the frost heaving pressure.For the horseshoe lining and city-gate lining,the top constraint has great effect on the frost heaving pressures on the arch and inverted arch.For the round lining,the influence of the top constraint on the frost heaving pressure in all lining is almost the same.The frost heaving pressure is the maximum on the city-gate lining and the minimum on the round lining.The largest frost heaving pressure all occurs near the foot of an invert arch for the three kinds of lining.The test data basically coincide with the data observed in situ.


"Strong robustness" is reserved for design techniques which guarantee prespecified performance for all t in [0, ¿), over pre-specified plant uncertainty range. There are few of these. Actually, robustness is an unnecessary label as it is an obvious requirement of any worthy design technique.


The importance of the wireless communications in the fire fire-fighting and rescue is introduced.Secondly,the papers analyzes the problems that exist the use of wireless communications from fire communications equipment,technology and management aspects of fire safety.The measures to solve these problems are proposed in the end.


The autoxidation of 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenol (1), 2,6-di-t-butylphenol (2), and 2,4-di-t-butylphenol (3) is catalyzed by phthalocyanine-Fe(II) (PC-Fe(II)) and salcomine-pyridine (SAL-Py). PC-Fe(II) gives, preferentially, the coupling product of such phenoxy radicals as 4, 7, and 8. SAL-Py, on the other hand, gives o-and p-benzoquinones, such as 5 and 6, resulting from the coupling of the phenoxy radical and the hydroperoxy radical. Metal phthalocyanines including Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), or Cu(II) as the central metal ion are inactive as catalysts for the oxidation. PC-Fe(II) does not catalyze the autoxidation of phenol itself and mono-alkylated phenols.


The reaction of the intramolecularly coordinated diaryltellurium(IV) oxide (8-Me2NC10H6)2TeO with acetonitrile proceeds with oxygen transfer and gives rise to the formation of the novel zwitterionic diaryltelluronium(IV) acetimidate (8-Me2NC10H6)2TeNC(O)CH3 (1) in 57% yield. Hydrolysis of 1 with hydrochloric acid affords acetamide and the previously known diarylhydroxytelluronium(IV) chloride [(8-Me2NC10H6)2Te(OH)]Cl.


Short spikes build a serious problem for asynchronous data transfer. Digital filters can serve to eliminate these spikes. In the case of binary signals, a digital filter can be realized with the help of a couple of counters. This type of filter is well suited for an implementation in programmable logic circuits.


This paper compares the differential value and effects of on‐the‐job socialization with pre‐service forms of socialization on officers' criticality evaluations of different police tasks and functions. The study itself, based on part of a larger job task survey conducted under the auspices of a state criminal justice training council, includes over 70 percent of all patrol officers (municipal police, sheriff's deputies, and state troopers) and their first‐line supervisors in a rural New England state. Based on a review of the literature on police socialization, it is hypothesized that on‐the‐job socialization has a much greater impact on criticality evaluations than the combination of pre‐service factors.


In order to investigate whether the response duration covaries with varying of the response rate, we trained four rats to press each of two levers on a variety of concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement condition consisted of five schedules of reinforcement using food. When the response rates fell within a given range on each of reinforcemcnt schedule, a punishment schedule using an electric shock was added to that reinforcement schedule. Five different schedules combining reinforcement and punishment comprised the punishment condition. We employed the local response rate which refers to the number of responses per minute on each lever, and the response duration which refers to the mean duration that rat pressed down the lever.The results indicated that only in the punishment condition, the response duration negaitively correlated with the response rate. These results implied that the response rate alone does not entirely describe the response strength in the punshment condition. We further discussed validity of the suppression ratio. We suggest that both temporal behavioral measures and traditional response rates are necessary for precise description of the behavioral suppression.


The objective of this study was to identify, through the opinion of the schoolchildren of an eighth grade class of a public and state school in the city of Niteroi, whether /how/why the curriculum component Physical Education has left, over time, gaps about their learning. It is a case study, based on the theoretical reference of Moscovici's social representations (1961), and used a mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative) through a semi-open questionnaire. The results obtained give us indications that the absence of Physical Education in the initial years of Elementary Education may have contributed to the lack of interest of these students, as well as the lack of plurality of contents of the body culture of the movement and the possible lack of discussion about the contents presented during the school trajectory of the discipline Physical Education.


How to cite this paper: Koutoupis A. . G., & Pappa, E. (2018). Corporate governance and internal controls: a case study from Greece. Journal of Governance & Regulation, 7(2), 91-99. http://doi.org/10.22495/jgr_v7_i2_p8 Copyright © 2018 The Authors This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b


(1) School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK, (2) Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Imperial College London, London, UK, (3) Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italy, (4) Astronomical Institute, CAS, Prague, Czech Republic, (5) LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France, (6) Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA, (7) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, (8) Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Paris, France, (9) School of Electrical Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, (10) Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA, (11) Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA


There is a growing body of literature suggesting that maternal exposure to ambient air pollution during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes. The aim of the research was to assess the relationship between ambient air pollution during the first three months of pregnancy and the risk of a congenital anomaly among children born in Brisbane. A retrospective cohort design was employed where a citywide average of daily PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 m), bsp (light scattering particles), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were linked to the days of gestation for term singleton live births in the Brisbane local government area for the period of 1st July 2000 to 30th June 2003. Maternal exposure estimates for each pollutant were calculated as the average of the daily concentrations within each of the first three months of pregnancy. An inter-quartile range increase in PM10 during the second month of pregnancy was associated with an 8% (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 - 1.15) increased risk of delivering a neonate with a reported congenital anomaly. Further research is warranted where specific congenital anomalies are examined.


Weak acid cation (WAC) resins are normally utilized for softening high TDS produced water. The main disadvantage of the WAC process is that the resins require regeneration with hydrochloric acid followed by sodium hydroxide. This is expensive and necessitates the utilization of exotic, corrosion resistant alloys for construction.


Background: Due to the countless easily accessible pharmacies, inadequate literacy of the population, lack of legislation
for dispatching medications without a physician's prescription, disproportionate doctor-patient ratio, and now the
ragging pandemic, the issue of self-medication is on the rise. In the eld of ophthalmology, these self-medicated patients not only threaten their
vision but are also at risk of developing other ailments due to the drugs used.
Objectives: To study how many patients among the general population are self-medicated, the drugs they have used, the method of procuring the
drug, to assess their knowledge on the medications used, and to look for the harmful side effects caused by these drugs.
Method: An observational study was done on 200 patients from February - November 2021. All patients above18 years were taken. A
questionnaire based on the study was handed to the patient to ll. Results and statistical conclusions were drawn from it.
Result: 62 of the 200 patients were self-medicated. 51.61% were males and 48.39% were females. 32.26% belonged to 29 - 42 years. The most
common symptoms which were self-treated were redness 35.48%, itching 16.13%, and foreign body sensation 19.35%. 35.48% received the
drug from a pharmacy, 19.35% were self-prescribed and 19.35% used leftover medication from previous illnesses. 35.48% used a steroid and
antibiotic combination eyedrop, 12.90% used articial tears and 12.90% had used antibiotic eye ointments. 12.90% were not aware of the drug
they had used. None of the patients were aware of the side effects of the drug or had read the leaet of the drug they used. Five patients had
developed complications because of the drug they had abused.
Conclusion:Currently around one-third of the studied population are self-medicated and this trend is on the rise requiring critical history taking


Circadian clocks are required to coordinate metabolism and physiology with daily changes in the environment. Such clocks have several distinctive features, including a free-running rhythm of approximately 24 h and the ability to entrain to both light or temperature cycles (zeitgebers). We have previously characterized the EARLY FLOWERING4 ( ELF4 ) locus of Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) as being important for robust rhythms. Here, it is shown that ELF4 is necessary for at least two core clock functions: entrainment to an environmental cycle and rhythm sustainability under constant conditions. We show that elf4 demonstrates clock input defects in light responsiveness and in circadian gating. Rhythmicity in elf4 could be driven by an environmental cycle, but an increased sensitivity to light means the circadian system of elf4 plants does not entrain normally. Expression of putative core clock genes and outputs were characterized in various ELF4 backgrounds to establish the molecular network of action. ELF4 was found to be intimately associated with the CIRCADIAN CLOCK - ASSOCIATED1 ( CCA1 )/ LONG ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL ( LHY )- TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION1 ( TOC1 ) feedback loop because, under free run, ELF4 is required to regulate the expression of CCA1 and TOC1 and, further, elf4 is locked in the evening phase of this feedback loop. ELF4 , therefore, can be considered a component of the central CCA1 / LHY - TOC1 feedback loop in the plant circadian clock. Hin dIII- Eco RI fragment. The ELF4 coding region was amplified against genomic DNA by PCR with the primers ELF435S-L, 5 # -AAAAGATCTCC-GGTCCAACTAAGAAGAAACAAT-3 # and ELF435S-R, 5 # -AAAAGATCTC- GACTTTGACGAAAATCAAAAAG-3 # and this fragment was subcloned between the 35S promoter and the terminator as a Bam HI fragment. This constructwas used togenerate multiple homozygouslines that overexpressed ELF4 ( ELF4 - ox ). All tested lines behaved similarly in all assays. Wild-type Ws lines harboring the CAB2 : LUC 1 , CCA1 : LUC , or CCR2 : LUC transgene were crossed into both the elf4 - 1 mutant and the ELF4 - ox line termed ELF4 - ox - 11 ; in each case, double homozygous lines were identified in the F 2 generation and bulked. We report experiments using the F 3 generation of these lines. Gating experiments utilized the CAB2 : LUC transgenic line (i.e. the 2CA/C insertion present in accession C24; Millar et al., 1995) introgressed into Ws and elf4 - 1 . ELF4 : LUC wasconstructed bysubcloning approximately a1.5-kb fragment from the bacterial artificial chromosome clone T28M21 as a Xba I- Nco I frag- ment into pZIP221B. This fragment is between 1.7 kb and 260 bp upstream of the translational start site. The LUC 1 gene from pLUC 1 (Promega) was sub- cloned into this resultant vector as a Nco I- Xba I fragment (pELF4-incomplete: LUC 1 ). A fragment was PCR amplified using an arbitrary upstream primer and the primer 5 # -AACCATGGTCTCGCCGTTCCTCTTCATAA-3 # . This PCR productwas digested with Nco I andthe fragment intersected into the Nco Isite of pELF4-incomplete:LUC 1 , resulting in the completed transcriptional fusion pELF4P:LUC 1 . Similarly, an upstream primer


It was aimed to show the effect of anxiety and depression on erectile dysfunction seen after coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19). Between March and July 2021, the participants completed the International Index of Erectile Function, Beck Depression Inventory and Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 forms at the beginning and after the 1st month of the disease. We investigated the psychological impact of COVID‐19 on the development of erectile dysfunction. The mean age of 156 male patients in the study was 54.74 ± 8.01 years. It was determined that the mean International Index of Erectile Function scores of the patients before COVID‐19 were 73.42 ± 3.43 and decreased to 68.28 ± 12.86 after COVID‐19 (p < .01). The patients' erectile function scores were significantly lower after COVID‐19 (29.45 ± 1.23, 27.69 ± 4.33, p < .01, respectively). Their Beck Depression Inventory scores were statistically significantly higher after COVID‐19 (1.69 ± 2.56, 2.22 ± 2.79, p < .01, respectively). Their Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 scores were also statistically significantly higher after COVID‐19 (4.69 ± 1.63 6.56 ± 2.40, p < .01, respectively). A negative correlation was found between the increase in the Beck Depression Inventory score during the pandemic process and the decrease in the International Index of Erectile Function score (r = −0.356, p = <.001). A negative correlation was also found between the increase in the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 score and the decrease in the International Index of Erectile Function score (r = −0.200, p = .012). One of the main factors post‐COVID‐19 erectile dysfunction is anxiety and depression due to the disease.


society a certain degree of change is expected; in a modernizing society, on the other hand, change is an overriding national value, and the planned and purposeful use of communication therefore bulks large. That is why, in the last few years, a number of scholars and national planners have decided that the use of communication in support of the modernizing process is worth their active attention. And this is the reason, of


"The international economy is far too important to be left to the economists." With these words, Jeffrey Sachs—who, as Director of the Harvard Center for International Development, is one of the most influential development economists and has coordinated structural adjustment programs around the world, from Bolivia in the 1980s to Russia in the 1990s—closed his remarks before a select group of lawyers who gathered at Yale University at the end of 1998 to listen to his speech on the role of law and economics in the management of global markets (Sachs 1998). Sachs is right. The global economy—like policy decisions on the national economy, from setting the annual rate of inflation to the definition of the extent and content of social expenditures—is a political issue and, as such, its management concerns not just the "experts" but also professionals from different disciplines and citizens in general. Regardless, as the reader will easily notice while studying the remarkable book by Yves Dezalay and Bryant Garth that I introduce in these pages, Sachs' words are more interesting because of the circumstances in which they were uttered and their implication with regard to those circumstances, than for what they affirm, for two different reasons. In the first place, the person giving this advice is an economist and those listening to him are lawyers. As Dezalay and Garth lucidly demonstrate in their book,


S>It is demonstrated that the Neuman-- Wigner theorem on the impossibility of intersection of terms of the same symmetry is not valid for electrons in the field of two Coulomb centers. Terms for large and small distances between nuclei are compared for the case when the nuclear charges are different. It is indicated that term intersections exist which are important for charge exchange processes during collisions between hydrogen atoms and nuclei. (auth)


In the second edition of What is Environmental History?, J. Donald Hughes outlines the development of the study of the relationship between humans and nature across time. In tracing the emergence of the field, Hughes's work underscores the extent to which environmental history is a necessarily interdisciplinary endeavour covering a wide geographic scope. Paulo Rui Anciaes positions this as a text to be approached as a concise reference work to supplement environmental history research.


Maryati KT, Sugiyarto. 2009. Characterization of white grub (Melolonthidae; Coleoptera) in salak plantation based on morphology and protein banding pattern. Bioteknologi 6: 80-87. This research aims to find out the white grub (Melolonthidae; Coleoptera) variability based on the morphological characteristic and protein banding pattern found in "salak pondoh" farm in Regencies of Sleman, Yogyakarta and Magelang, Central Java. Each area has five sampling points. Morphological analysis on white grub was conducted using descriptive method and analysis on protein banding pattern was conducted using qualitative analysis based on the presence or absent of band pattern on the gel, and qualitatively based on the relative mobility value (Rf) of protein. The result indicated that the white grub in Sleman and Magelang, based on morphology characteristic is only one species, namely Holothricia sp. Based on the protein banding pattern, the white grub sample have differences of protein band number and protein molecular weight.


The proposed micro strip-feed antenna consists of glass shaped with defected ground structure for cognitive radio application. The proposed antenna uses FR-4 substrate having thickness of 1.6mm and dielectric constant of 4.4. By using two switches a combination of wideband and narrowband antennas into the same substrate is designed. The antenna can be used as a wideband antenna when both switches are in on position. Micro strip-fed planer glass-shaped monopole operates from 2.6 GHz to 12.6 GHz which is used as a sensing antenna. The narrowband antenna designed to operate from 9.4- 12.08GHz (s1 on, s2 off), 6.68-9.4GHz, 10.76-12.37GHz (s1 off, s2 on), 9.62-12.62GHz, 4.09-4.2GHz (s1 off, s2 off). The proposed antenna was designed by using software HFSS 13.0 (Higher frequency simulation software).


Forecasting and evaluation of the social,economic and environment effect produced by the geological disaster prevention project in Chaoyang coal mine were carried on by use of ecological effect evaluation model and sustainable development model proposed by Robert Costanza and Palph d'Arge.It as concluded that the ecological benefit increment produced by geological disaster prevetion project in Chaoyang is RMB9.774.032.46 yuan,and the overall environment of the mine will step into a sustainable development stage in 2007 in general.It is believed that only the forest environment in Chaoyang coal mine area could be recovered and protected effectively,the sustainable utilization of the forest resource of the mine would be realized to ensure the sustainable development of the economy and its environment.


ABSTRACT Literature data have revealed that wheat kernel stress–strain relationships, thermal conductivity, and specific heat support the assumption of isotropy. Accepting this premise, we show that drying complexity can be reduced by properly defining the kernel shape and an accurate model. Therefore, we present an irreversible thermodynamics procedure for obtaining transport properties of a wheat kernel. The numerical solution of the associated nonlinear conservation equations was based on the Radial Basis Functions method. Drying behavior of both prolate ellipsoidal and spherical grain kernels is presented and compared. The predicted moisture and temperature profiles correlated favorably with experimental drying profiles, obtained for two temperatures of 47 and 67.5°C.


Abstract Past research has shown that success is predominantly attributed to internal factors and failure attributed to external factors. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether this attributional pattern was also found when subjects were performing a motor task. The degree of ego involvement in the task (evaluation) and the effect of prior practice (novelty) were also investigated in order to determine the extent to which these variables affect subjects' self-attributions. Thus, the effects of ego involvement and past experience following success and failure on causal attributions were investigated in a 2 × 2 × 2 (evaluation × novelty × outcome) factorial design with 80 college undergraduates. The task was a motor maze. Consistent with past research, subjects showed a relative tendency toward internal attributions over external attributions and a tendency toward stable attributions over unstable attributions. Moreover, success increased the relative bias toward internal attribution...


This is the first report on Albanian archaeology to appear in AR. Its preparation and submission were agreed during a visit which M. F. Smith made to Albania in the summer of 1983 at the invitation of the Centre for Archaeological Research in Tirana and with the support of the British Academy. Professor Smith, who has edited and adapted the report, wishes to thank both these bodies, as well as the author, for their generous co-operation and assistance.


It is not clear whether or not the x-ray diffuse intensity scattered by crystals outside the Bragg spots can be entirely explained by considering thermal vibrations. Striking discrepancies are found in some cases, when x-ray data are compared with phonon dispersion relations determined via inelastic neutron scattering. A careful analysis is carried out for niobium, which exhibits anomalies (humps) in the elastic neutron diffuse scattering intensity. These anomalies are not found in the x-ray diffuse scattering, which can be very accurately accounted for by considering incoherent (Compton) scattering plus first- and higher-order phonon scattering. The latter was calculated using dispersion relations obtained by neutron inelastic scattering. It seems unlikely that hydrogen may be responsible for the extra scattering observed with neutrons. No explanation is found for this discrepancy between x-ray and neutron results.


Principles derived from the manner in which students master subject matter in a collaborative setting match rather closely principles used to describe how language is learned. These language learning principles inclucle the fact (1) that no one learns a language without interaction with other humans, the fact (2) that negative affect restricts language learning and positive affect facilitates language learning, the fact (3) that human beings learn language from a mal-formed corpus of the object to be learned and the fact (4) that students learn language only from comprehensible input. These four principles, derived from studies in language acquisition or learning, provide an explanation for the effectiveness of collaborative learning.


In this article light will be thrown upon so-called case-lists, a medieval source material based upon abstracts of the Norwegian Christian Laws. I have chosen to focus on one aspect in particular: the case-lists also present medieval legislation otherwise lost for posterity, and we therefore catch a glimpse of unknown felonies centred on taboos concerning food, sex and heathen practice; for instance, in a "kinky" combination so far unheard of: men having sex with women who ate horsemeat were liable to a fine of 40 marks. Following an outline of the case-lists, and remarks on methodological problems posed by these sources, the felonies will be presented and placed in a historical context. Finally, I will address the question of provenance of the case-lists.


Optical quality Pb2MoO5 single crystals were grown by the Low Thermal Gradient Czochralski (LTG Cz) technique. The resulting Pb2MoO5 crystals had diameters of 40–50 mm and lengths of ~100 mm. The phase composition of the grown crystals was identified by X-ray single crystal structure analysis; the space group is C2/m and a = 14.2221(11), b = 5.7852(5), c = 7.3262(6) A, β = 114.168(2)° and Z = 4 (R1 = 0.0336). Pb2MoO5(20−1) substrates were prepared by cleavage, and the surface properties were evaluated by RHEED and AFM. The superposition of wide Kikuchi lines and crystal reflexes was found by RHEED. The AFM measurements indicate a surface roughness as low as ~0.2 nm. Thus, atomically smooth surfaces of Pb2MoO5 were formed by cleavage.


This book focused on conducting an outcomes evaluation of the solar lantern project by Howard Foundation. The evaluator used both qualitative and quantitative approaches in the evaluation design. The evaluation was aimed at assessing the extent to which the outcomes of the solar lantern project that include , improving the academic performance of programme clients by 50%, increasing the study time of the programme clients by 100% and establishing functional study groups have been achieved. Questionnaires, document reviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Findings revealed that the solar lantern project failed to improve the academic performance of the programme clients by 50%.The findings of the evaluation also revealed that the project failed to increase the study time of the programme clients by 100%. It was also noted through the evaluation that the study groups established were not functional. Various challenges faced by the programme clients that have resulted in the failure of the project to achieve its intended outcomes were also highlighted in the evaluation. The evaluation also highlighted the positive and negative unintended outcomes of the project


Background The clinicopathological spectrum of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL), also known as nodular lymphocyte predominant B-cell lymphoma, partially overlaps with T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLCBL). NLPHL histology may vary in architecture and B-cell/T-cell composition of the tumour microenvironment. However, the immune cell phenotypes accompanying different histological patterns remain poorly characterised. Methods We applied a multiplexed immunofluorescence workflow to identify differential expansion/depletion of multiple microenvironmental immune cell phenotypes between cases of NLPHL showing different histological patterns (as described by Fan et al, 2003) and cases of THRLBCL. Results FOXP3-expressing T-regulatory cells were conspicuously depleted across all NLPHL cases. As histology progressed to variant Fan patterns C and E of NLPHL and to THRLBCL, there were progressive expansions of cytotoxic granzyme-B-expressing natural killer and CD8-positive T-cells, PD1-expressing CD8-positive T-cells, and CD163-positive macrophages including a PDL1-expressing subset. These occurred in parallel to depletion of NKG2A-expressing natural killer and CD8-positive T-cells. Discussion These findings provide new insights on the immunoregulatory mechanisms involved in NLPHL and THLRBCL pathogenesis, and are supportive of an increasingly proposed biological continuum between these two lymphomas. Additionally, the findings may help establish new biomarkers of high-risk disease, which could support a novel therapeutic program of immune checkpoint interruption targeting the PD1:PDL1 and/or NKG2A:HLA-E axes in the management of high-risk NLPHL and THRLBCL.


Combining with the construction of the canopy with steel structure of the urban trail traffic station,the essay studies the construction technology of the canopy with steel structure of the elevated platform,solves the difficulties of fabrication of long and large steel structure and super high hoisting,which has provided experience and guidance for similar construction.


Conversations, to interact with others and exchange ideas, are important in higher education. The sudden shift to online learning caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced opportunities for face-to-face conversations at universities in Britain (Dost et al., 2020) and has led to students experiencing stress and isolation (Carolan, et al., 2020). It has been a difficult learning experience for many first-year students.


The popularity of WiFi hotspots provides convenient environmental conditions for WiFi indoor location, making WiFi indoor location with high commercial value. In order to improve the quality of indoor positioning system and improve the accuracy and efficiency of indoor positioning, this system designs a WiFi indoor positioning system based on a combination of fingerprint identification on Android platform. Experimental results show that this WiFi indoor positioning system can be more accurate for indoor positioning.


tag=1 data=Local laws. by Ross Jackson and Mark Dwyer.

tag=2 data=Jackson, Ross%Dwyer, Mark

tag=3 data=Law Institute Journal.

tag=4 data=64

tag=5 data=11

tag=6 data=November 1990

tag=7 data=1076-1078.

tag=8 data=LOCAL GOVERNMENT%LAW

tag=10 data=Local laws are perhaps the most 'grass roots' of all legislation. They are the rules of the local community and often have far-reaching social consequences.

tag=11 data=1990/2/11

tag=12 data=444

tag=13 data=CAB


[Objective] To investigate the putative effects of the activity levels of MMP-2,-9 in the plasmas of breast cancer. [Methods] The values of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in breast cancer plasmas were determined by densitometric scan of zymograms during the period of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. [Results] The expression levels of MMP-2 andMMP-9 in breast cancer patients were both significiantly decreased after the third period of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(P 0.01). And the levels of the enzymes were both significantly lower in PR than in NR(P 0.01). [Conclusion] The CEF regimen neoadjuvant chemotherapy may inhibit the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2,-9 in breast cancer plasmas,and the changes of the activity of the two enzymes may serve as predictors of clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.


In this paper, we aim to analyze the characteristics of feeder voltage variation in power systems due to random allocation of solar photovoltaic systems from a data‐driven approach, search the dangerous photovoltaic system allocation patterns along a specific power system. We conducted the investigation on benchmark radial distribution circuits with a random integration of certain amount of photovoltaic systems. Severe voltage deviation occurs along the tail part of each circuit line, and the connecting nodes between feeder and lateral circuit lines tend to be vulnerable to the integration of photovoltaic systems. Different allocation patterns of photovoltaic systems resulted in a data set of voltage variation in the distribution system, k‐Medoids clustering algorithm was proposed in this study to partition this data set into several clusters, which would contribute to the search of photovoltaic system allocation patterns with similar voltage deviation response.


"Nanotechnology may well rival the development of the transistor or telecommunications in its ultimateimpact."– Charles M. Vest, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"Nanotechnology has given us the tools. . .to play with the ultimate toy box of nature – atoms and molecules.Everything is made from it. . . .The possibilities to create new things appear limitless. . ."- Horst Stormer, Nobel Laureate, Columbia University & Lucent Technologies


Light reflectance and transmission from soft tissue has been utilized in noninvasive clinical measurement devices such as the photoplethysmograph (PPG) and reflectance pulse oximeter. Most methods of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy focus on the volume reflectance from a semi-infinite sample, while very few measure transmission. We have previously shown that examining the full scattering profile (FSP), which is the angular distribution of exiting photons, provides more comprehensive information when measuring from a cylindrical tissue, such as earlobe, fingertip and pinched tissue. Our hypothesis is that the change in blood vessel diameter is more significant than the change in optical properties. The findings of this work demonstrate a realistic model for optical tissue measurements such as NIR spectroscopy, PPG and pulse oximetery.


Spatial and temporal control of intracellular calcium signaling is essential for neuronal development and function. The termination of local Ca2+ signaling and the maintenance of basal Ca2+ levels require specific extrusion systems in the plasma membrane. In rat hippocampal neurons (HNs) developing in vitro, transcripts for all isoforms of the plasma membrane Ca2+ pump and the Na/Ca2+ exchanger, and the major nonphotoreceptor Na+/Ca2+,K+ exchangers (NCKX) were strongly upregulated during the second week in culture. Upregulation of plasma membrane calcium ATPases (PMCAs)1, 3, and 4 mRNA coincided with a splice shift from the ubiquitous b‐type to the neuron‐specific a‐type with altered calmodulin regulation. Expression of all PMCA isoforms increased over 5‐fold during the first 2 weeks. PMCA immunoreactivity was initially concentrated in the soma and growth cones of developing HNs. As the cells matured, PMCAs concentrated in the dendritic membrane and often colocalized with actin‐rich dendritic spines in mature neurons. In the developing rat hippocampal CA1 region, immunohistochemistry confirmed the upregulation of all PMCAs and showed that by the end of the second postnatal week, PMCAs1, 2, and 3 were concentrated in the neuropil, with less intense staining of cell bodies in the pyramidal layer. PMCA4 staining was restricted to a few cells showing intense labeling of the cell periphery and neurites. These results establish that all major Ca2+ extrusion systems are strongly upregulated in HNs during the first 2 weeks of postnatal development. The overall increase in Ca2+ extrusion systems is accompanied by changes in the expression and cellular localization of different isoforms of the Ca2+ pumps and exchangers. The accumulation of PMCAs in dendrites and dendritic spines coincides with the functional maturation in these neurons, suggesting the importance of the proper spatial organization of Ca2+ extrusion systems for synaptic function and development. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We construct native binary 2D binary cyclic codes capable of correcting multiple occurrences of multiple non-overlapping pre-defined 2D error shapes using frequency domain techniques. The starting location of each error shape is determined using a novel decoding algorithm based on a careful selection of the common zero set. The proposed code construction is generic and offers superior coding rates compared to the native 2D BCH code with the same error correction ability.


The purpose of the abstract is to provide a synopsis of your work in a clear (readable, well organized, avoiding jargon), concise (without excess wordiness or unnecessary information), and cohesive (nice flow between the parts) manner. These are guidelines that can help you write a compelling abstract:


students, to have supplied an Arabic-English, or even an Arabic-Arabic glossary alphabetically arranged. If students have enough Arabic to work through this selection, they could, with such an aid, easily enjoy the use of Professor al-Tayyib's extensive Arabic commentary, thus incidentally training themselves in the use of the commentary, itself an indispensable skill for all students of Arabic. An index of the poets whose work figures in the selection would also be a useful addition. Four pages of errata are included in this printing—but these are mostly minor irritants caused mainly by broken ligatures, or unclear pointing, and are too insignificant to spoil the considerable pleasures to be derived from the use of this excellent publication.


Abstract Vegetation growth is often limited in metal mine spoils under semi-arid climatic conditions. This study was conducted to determine whether a one-time biosolids application, limestone and wood residue addition could enhance the establishment of vegetation on metal mine spoil under these conditions. Municipal sewage sludge (as biosolids) were applied at a rate of 0 tons/acre (control), 10 dry tons/acre, 20 dry tons/acre, and 30 dry tons/acre (0, 22.4, 44.8, and 67,2 Mg/ha, respectively), to the Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation tailings impoundment located near Magna, Utah. Five test sites on the impoundment were monitored for 12 months from August 1994 to August 1995 during the first growing season. Above ground biomass production, percent cover of individual plant species, and the concentration of heavy metals in plant tissue were evaluated. A conclusion of the study is that biosolids application enhanced the plant growth capability of the tailings significantly. The N, P, Ca and Zn contents of t...


This study was carried out to examine which of intravenous glucose or acetate would be rapidly oxidized to CO2 in growing chickens fed a semi-purified diet.


This paper describes the issues involved in signal design for radio navigation satellite services. The formation of an effective signal structure is essential for any such system. However, the process is complex and involves a large number of parameters. It can be hard to identify all effects of a given variable and hence its full effect on system performance. An analysis method, proposed for use in the ESA comparative system study, is described here. This method aids the identification of the important parameters and the selection of the optimum signal structures. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Outlier identification often implies inspecting each z-transformed variable and adding a Mahalanobis D 2 . Multiple outliers may mask each other by increasing variance estimates. Caroni & Prescott (1992) proposed a multivariate extension of Rosner's (1983) technique to circumvent masking, taking sample size into account to keep the false alarm risk below, say, α = .05. Simulations studies here compare the single multivariate approach to "multiple-univariate plus multivariate" tests, each at a Bonferroni corrected α level, in terms of power at detecting outliers. Results suggest the former is better only up to about 12 variables. Macros in an Excel spreadsheet implement these techniques. The impetus of the present work was to identify, in the context of a graduate course in multivariate statistics, sound statistical procedures to recommend for the examination of multivariate data for the detection of outliers, assuming normal distributions . The basic consideration is that the statistical criterion beyond which a piece of data would be considered an outlier must take into account both the number of cases (subjects) inspected as well as the number of variables examined if the variables are inspected one by one. This is required to adequately control the risk of falsely rejecting at least one case that actually belongs to the population. In particular, a fixed critical z-score, irrespective of number of variables or of sample size, can hardly be recommended. Beyond controlling for false alarm (FA) rate,


The goal of this paper is to use defected ground structure(DGS) in microstrip antennas at microwave frequencies. The DGS structures are introduced to improve the performance of planar array antenna in terms of return loss, gain, directivity and antenna efficiency. The array of two by two (2×2) planar array antenna with inset feed technique based on quarter wave impedance matching is designed and simulated using IE3D software. The proposed design consists of a triangular shaped DGS. The simulated results shows that the proposed array antenna has gain of 6.43dBi, directivity of 6.55dBi, antenna efficiency of 97.28 and return loss of -17.86dB at 2.5 GHz.