This paper is devoted to a quantitative study of the sensitivity of cell decomposition path planning to various key criteria dealing with optimality and computational complexity. More specifically, the work analyzes the influence of various types of cell decomposition approaches (e.g. trapezoidal, rectangular) and cost functions used during the trajectory search phase (e.g. L1, L2 norms) in the performance of the whole path planning algorithm. This paper also addresses the generation of random environments where obstacles are randomly placed according to a dispersion factor. The included comparison among cell decomposition key criteria is based on numerous simulation experiments that also accounts for the number of obstacles in the environment.


The measurements of the temperature dependence of the sound attenuation coefficient α(T) were performed with the sintered oxide superconductors of BaPb1-xBixO3 (BPBO: Tc,max=12 K at x = 0.25) and (La1-xSrx)2CuO4 (LSCO: Tc,max=38 K at x = 0.07). In the curves of α(T) versus T several peaks were observed below room temperature: the peak points were T ∼ 30, 75 and 150 K for BPBO (x = 0.25) and T ∼ 100 and 200 K for LSCO (x = 0.07). Some of these peaks exhibit the existence of optical modes in the B. Z. center whose energy in the temperature scale is identified with the peak points. Using these experimental results we calculated the phonon dispersion curves and found a good similarity in the softening behaviors of optic phonons between BPBO and LSCO. On the basis of these results, we discussed about the origin of the high Tc in these materials.


We report measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of twinned single crystals of YBa2Cu3O6+x from just above their superconducting transition tempe


In this paper the performance characteristic of reactive powder concrete is simply introduced. Reactive powder concrete is to be applied to telegraph pole. The finite element analysis software is used to analyse and calculate the two kinds of concrete telegraph poles. The result indicates obviously that the telegraph pole that is made of reactive powder concrete is superior to the common concrete telegraph pole in some aspects by the analysis and comparison of the last datas. As far as the application of project is concerned, it has definite referenced value.


Specific hydraulic phenomena in a pump intake which can cause adverse effects on pump performance include free surface vortices, pre-swirl magnitude, and air entrainment. In this regard, critical submergence is a significant parameter which is defined as the depth at which the free surface vortex begins entraining air. Identification of air entrainment at pump intakes and the recommendation of possible solutions to them is usually done by conducting experiments on reduced scaled models. In the present case study, the surface vortex formation is investigated in a 1:10 pump intake model. A novel Anti-vortex device (AVD) has been proposed in the present work and the efficacy of the same has been investigated through experimental study. The provision of AVD and other elements in the pump intake have resulted in the reduction of required submergence by 64% relative to submergence as per Hydraulic Institute Standards (S HIS ) at 1.5 F m (Model Froude number) in a 1:10 scale model.


Abstract: The generic approach of radioactive waste management is to use more reliable natural and engineered barrier systems for more hazardous waste. The guidance for treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste is based on data obtained on waste material characterization. Characterization of radioactive waste gives important waste material parameters and enables its classification according to national regulations. Although classification schemes are country dependent, there is a generic consensus that end points (e.g. storage and disposal) and conditioning methods (e.g. immobilization and packaging) depend on the level of radioactivity and radionuclide lifetime. Radioactive waste processing routes are specified herein using the new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) radioactive waste classification scheme which is based on long-term safety of waste.


The present invention provides a method of abnormality of the output of the resolver for compensating for environmentally-friendly vehicle. The method comprising: a current motor position angle before compensation θn, ORG set an angle [theta] n to the current position of the motor; obtaining current sampling [n] and the previous sampling position between the motor [n-1] Δθn [rad], and a front samples [n-1] and the more previous sampling position between the motor [n-2] Δθn-1 [rad]; calculated variables a, expressed as the variable a is the current sample [n] and the previous sampling motor position change between [n-1] Δθn [rad] and the previous sampling [n-1] and the more previous sampling position between the motor [n-2] Δθn-1 the difference between [RAD] value; by comparing the calculated variables a and a calibration variable K to determine whether to perform compensation; current motor position angle calculation for compensation of θn [rad]; and the current motor position angle using the calculated compensation with θn [rad] rotor position information to compensate for the absence of an electric motor.


In order to increase the node energy utilization and lengthen the lifetime of the wireless sensor network (WSN), a novel clustering node sleep scheduling algorithm based on data fusion (DFS) is proposed in this paper. DFS increases cluster head's sleep time by adapting the data fusion window, which can realize the goal of energy saving and increase the whole network's lifetime. Simulation results show that the DFS method improves the effectiveness of the network energy consumption and it has better performance on the network coverage maintenance with effectively extending the lifetime of the network.


In the past 10 years, various sudden public outbreaks of diseases worldwide have posed great threats to the economic and social development of countries. However, there is a lack of case studies and empirical studies on the fight against major outbreaks in foreign public health Journal of Public Administration and Governance ISSN 2161-7104 2020, Vol. 10, No. 4 http://jpag.macrothink.org 279 institutions. Based on a review of classical materials and narrative research methods, this study combs the institutional profile, function allocation, and funding input of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and focuses on the CDC's important measures and experiences in preventing and controlling the Ebola virus in West Africa during 2014–2015. According to the research, the main characteristics of CDC's epidemic prevention and control in the United States are effective organizational structure and system, as well as the abilities of emergency management of rapid response. Furthermore, these two advantages and characteristics have penetrated the construction of the incident management system, adoption of specialized technical means and tools, and wide cooperation network and organizational coordination. Accordingly, the enlightenment of public health institutions regarding ―epidemic prevention‖ and ―anti-epidemic‖ is proposed from two aspects: system construction and ability enhancement.


The Leicester Polytechnic School of Law Yearbook of Law Computers and Technology (now the International Review of Law, Computers & Technology) was first published in 1984. A cursory glance at its contents shows that of the seven refereed articles published, only one was on substantive information technology law; the six other articles were on topics ranging from information retrieval systems to the use of technology in the court room. This focus on the technology in law rather than on the law of technology was also reflected in BILETA (the then British and Irish Law and Technology Association) which was formed very soon after in 1986. The Association's founding institutions were the then North East London Polytechnic (now University of East London), University of Warwick and Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University). At its inception the association had four constituent parts, of which only one was for the embryonic subject of information technology law. The Association's main focus was on technology in law and legal education, that being retrieval systems, computers in legal education and expert legal systems. BILETA and the International Review shared common founders and through them a common philosophy to carry the message of the importance of the academic discipline of law and technology in whatever form it takes. It was obvious that for the furtherance of both organisations that the International Review should therefore publish at least some part of the proceedings from BILETA conferences. Scroll forward almost thirty years, the International Review in its present incarnation is publishing its 27 volume and in March 2012 BILETA held its 27 Annual Conference at Northumbria University Law School, organised by Paul Maharg and Abhilash Nair.. The International Review is again devoting a special edition to the publication of proceedings from that 27 conference, but how things have changed. Another cursory glance this time at the conference proceedings and indeed at the contents of this edition shows how the pendulum has swung in the discipline away from technology to law. Over 75% of the papers were on matters of substantive law arising from the development and use of technology. In short, what is the appropriate type, level or scope of legal regulation required. The remaining 25% of papers were on technology within legal education. The theme of the 2012 conference was 'Too many laws, too few examples', a quotation borrowed from the French revolutionary, Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just. The papers presented at the conference explored a wide range of issues within this theme. Do too many laws stifle creativity? Or do we have the wrong laws? Is there a better alternative to legal regulation in our technological societies? Is our world a better place because we have too many laws that regulate our use of technology? How best can technology be regulated for educational and ethical purposes in learning justice? These and many more complex questions and issues were discussed and debated at what proved to be a highly successful and lively conference. This double issue contains a collection of papers presented in a variety of streams including intellectual property, regulation, defamation, and data protection and privacy. Selected papers presented in the legal education stream are being published in the European Journal of Law and Technology, by Paul Maharg and Sefton Bloxham.


During these past twenty years, interventional radiology has seen tremendous growth that the founders of the specialty would never have imagined. All major advances in our field can fall into one of two general categories. The first is the inclination of the interventionist to become much more aggressive in the introduction of alternatives to major surgical procedures, i.e. balloon angioplasty, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts, and endovascular stent grafting. The second is the increased reliance on non-invasive techniques for conventional vascular diagnosis. This edition of Seminars deals with two of the most frequently used techniques, namely computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Because of our interest in vascular intervention, it is critical that interventional radiologists are the physicians who champion these new techniques. Not only will the interventional radiologist recognize the potential of these non-invasive modalities, but we are the only ones who will also be able to recognize their shortcomings. Another equally important reason for our involvement is that, if we do not become the experts in non-invasive vascular imaging, we may find ourselves bypassed in the evaluation of patients with all forms of vascular disease, be it traumatic, congenital or acquired. When one looks at the progress that has been made in CTA and MRA during the past five years, it is fairly obvious that "invasive" catheter based diagnostic angiography will very shortly be replaced by a much simpler, out-patient procedure that will not require any intervention other than intravenous injection. The authors and the guest editor of this edition of Seminars have attempted to give the readers a sampling of the techniques available, the advances that have been made and the excitement in this new field of cross-sectional vascular imaging.


N 1 MAY 1967 I had just arrived in Cologne from Berkeley, California, to take up my new position as Stockhausen's personal assistant. We had met in his composition seminar at the UC Davis campus. It was a heady, doubly significant time for me: I had decided to swap a graduate degree in music for an apprenticeship with the master and I was returning to Germany, from where my family had emigrated in 1952. Already we were on the train to Basel, to rehearse his piece Solo with Heinz Holliger, the Swiss oboist and composer. As we sped upstream along the banks of the Rhine, my mind racing through a maze of earliest memories, he disclosed in outline form his still fresh ideas for a new piece. It was to be called Prozession. The ideas were, as usual, succinct and comprehensive: four instrumentalists would play a sequence of events, gradually transforming them parametrically according to a sequence of


Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and thus is of much interest to both medical professionals and lay people. Recently, it has become clear that cardiovascular disease is influenced by diet and nutrition. Ronald S. Smith's Nutrition, Hypertension, and Cardiovascular Disease claims "for the first time" to discuss in one volume "all the important topics on nutrition, as they relate to hypertension and cardiovascular disease." As might be expected from this claim, Mr. Smith has undertaken a task much too ambitious for a two-hundred-page book. Smith does present quite a bit of information. The book is divided into seventeen chapters, each discussing from one to three food components. The last six chapters relate each food component to hypertension, while the first eleven discuss all other cardiovascular diseases. Discussion of each mineral, vitamin, or foodstuff generally follows the same organization, beginning with a discussion of results of some animal experiments, followed by results of some human clinical and epidemiologic studies. He concludes each section with a summary, then recommends modifications of the diet. Although Smith claims to be scientific, drawing material "directly from scientific journals and monographs," he is at times distinctly unscientific. The book is filled with numerous misspellings and contains a number of incorrect definitions. When he draws conclusions from studies, he often blurs the distinction between association and etiology. Many of the studies he cites are uncontrolled or have very small sample sizes. It is extremely difficult to evaluate the evidence he presents because it is often incompletely presented; although he includes a list of references at the end of each chapter, he does not footnote the text, making it impossible to find the original articles. In his discussion of the effects of dietary protein on cardiovascular disease Smith says, "More evidence is necessary to convince critical thinkers, and maybe future research will not support our conclusions here." This statement could well be applied throughout the book. Rather than concentrating on a single aspect of cardiovascular disease, Smith constantly changes focus among myocardial ischemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and other problems. This constant change of focus makes the information presented difficult to assimilate. From his evaluation of the effect of each food component on different cardiovascular diseases, Smith formulates a recommendation on how much of each substance should be included in the diet. Because of his manner of presentation, it is often not at all clear how he arrived at his recommendations. Fortunately, his conclusions seldom vary from the already established Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs), and those that do vary only slightly. None of his recommendations seems potentially harmful. Although Smith's book is already too broad in scope, it is disturbing that he never recognizes that nutrition is also important to other aspects of health and disease processes. Recommendations of dietary changes to reduce the risk and consequences of cardiovascular disease do not make sense unless also evaluated in light of how these changes might affect other disease processes.


Two species of spatangoid echinoid belonging to Heteraster Orbigny, 1853, are described from Lower Cretaceous deposits (Gadvan and Dariyan formations) at the Kuh-e Gadvan and Banesh sections situated in Zagros Mountains, south of Iran. Heteraster couloni (Agassiz, 1839) is confirmed in the Barremian and Heteraster delgadoi (Loriol, 1884) in the late Aptian-Albian of Iran. The occurrences of Heteraster and other spatangoid echinoids in Iran show a clear distinction between assemblages from the southern and northern margins of the Tethys during the Early Cretaceous.


Surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) sensors can sensitively visualize refractive index (RI) changes in living cells on the surface of a sensor chip, without labeling, in real time. In this study, we developed a technique for the clinical diagnosis of immediate-type allergy using basophil separation chip for SPRI.


Author(s): Rashkin, Rebecca Jennifer | Advisor(s): Guthaus, Matthew R | Abstract: A binaural beat is an auditory illusion that occurs when each ear is listening to a tone that is slightly different from the other ear. It is theorized that listening to binaural beats increases brain activity in the frequency range corresponding to the frequency of beats presented. Hence, individuals listen to binaural beats intending to entrain their brains to experience a specific mental state.There has been relatively little research on how binaural beats affect heart rate variability, or the variation of time between heart beats. Heart rate variability is associated with heart health. In this thesis we present an application called SoundSlug, which generates binaural beats and records heart rate data. We conducted a study using SoundSlug where we presented 31 research participants with two binaural beat frequencies and a control condition with no binaural beats. Findings suggest that binaural beat conditions do not affect heart rate variability significantly from the condition with no beats. However, all audio conditions trended toward lower heart rate variability than the baseline silence.


We apply deep graph convolutional neural networks for Quality-of-Transmission estimation of unseen network states capturing, apart from other important impairments, the inter-core crosstalk that is prominent in optical networks operating with multicore fibers.


THE 1996 European program, the Inter Regional Information Society Initiative (IRISI), prompted the Piedmont Region to develop IRISI Piemonte, a milestone in regional policies designed to help create an information society. The program represented a confluence of several already existing experiences of information technology applications carried out by local governments. IRISI Piemonte, however, was the first information and communications technologies (ICT) program applied at the regional level that was open to international comparisons (thanks to the ERIS@ network), and aimed at promoting local area development, preventing unequal regional growth, and favoring the integration of Piedmont in the European context. Since then, several additional ICT initiatives have been launched that have owed as much to external stimuli provided by national and European governmental policies as to the steady progress in communication technologies. In the following, we put those initiatives into a more comprehensive framework. This paper deals with ICT regional initiatives and policies that support regional development and the developmental paths of sub-regional areas. More specifically, the aim of the paper is: Begun in 1994 by four European regions, IRISI marked an important endeavor for Piedmont. It represented a regional engagement for supporting firm competitiveness and local government modernization. Its aims were: a. building a telecommunications infrastructure able to support both the applications and services for the Information society b. supporting the development of start up applications in order to favor the technological transfer for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the creation of egovernment c. stimulating an interest in ICT among a large and diversified public. ERIS@ is the European Regional Information Society Association. , www.erisa.be . Occelli 2005


It has been estimated that, by the year 2000, 30% of the American population will hold minority status. More than 50% of minority individuals who seek counseling services terminate after the first session, compared to 30% for white clients. This study examined whether counseling technique was a relevant factor in multicultural counseling by comparing the Rogerian person-centered approach to reality therapy in counseling dyads involving a white counselor and a black client. Black undergraduate students (N=31) viewed videotaped counseling sessions that used either reality therapy or person-centered therapy and completed feedback forms expressing their degree of satisfaction with each scene. The findings revealed that black students viewed reality therapy as more beneficial than person-centered therapy. Black students viewed reality therapy more favorably than person-centered therapy on 7 of 15 statements. The counselor in the reality scene was viewed as honest by 90% of subjects, while the counselor in the person-centered scene was viewed as honest by 52% of the subjects. Only 29% of the subjects felt that the client on the videotape should return to the person-centered counselor, compared to 81% who agreed that the client should return to the reality therapy counselor. (NB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Listening in Counseling


The chromosomes of the giant forest hog, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni, the warthog, Phacochoerus aethiopicus and the bush pig, Potamochoerus porcus are studied. Their sex- and nucleolar chromosomes are compared mutually and with those of the domestic pig, Sus scrofa.

All four species have similar X and Y chromosomes. The only bush pig sow examined, however, exhibits an extraordinary situation with two very different X chromosomes. One of these X's, which is of the ordinary type, is present in the boars together with a Y.

Each species has two pairs of nucleolar chromosomes, which resemble each other in all the pigs studied. Secondary constrictions and silver staining may appear in one or in both the members of these pairs near the centromeres.

Robertsonian translocations probably occurred during the differentiation of all the chromosome complements. More complex chromosomal rearrangements, however, are needed to explain the evolution of the chromosome set of the bush pig.


The invention relates to a repeatedly detachable safety integrated counter cabinet body for use in a financial business place. The cabinet body comprises a front enclosing plate and a rear enclosing plate, wherein the front enclosing plate is in a horizontal U shape, and side enclosing plates are formed on two sides; the rear enclosing plate is platy; the rear connecting edge strip of the rear enclosing plate and a grooved vertical post connecting edge strip of the front enclosing plate are fixedly connected by uniformly distributed screws to form a box-shaped cabinet body; paper money hoppers are formed in the middle of the top parts of the front enclosing plate and the rear enclosing plate; and the cross sections of the paper money hoppers are in U shapes. In the invention, the main body of a safety counter in the financial business plate can be detached, so the complete repeated use of the combined safety integrated counter is possible. The industrialization, integration and assembly of the safety integrated counter are realized completely, the needs of bank network construction for standardization, quick and convenient installation and convenient movement are satisfied, and compared with the conventional products, the cabinet body has the advantage that: the economy is greatly improved on the premise of ensuring safety.


Tunable filters and lasers are key devices for future all optical networks. A tunable Fabry-Perot filter or vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) has been demonstrated with a micromachined distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). Various advantages including wide wavelength tuning range, polarization insensitive operation and 2-dimensional array integration can be expected for such micromachined devices. We proposed a temperature insensitive add/drop filter and VCSEL using a micromachined DBR mirror tuned by differential thermal expansion coefficients. We experimentally demonstrated its temperature insensitive operation, wavelength trimming of over 20 nm and 2-dimensional integration of multi-wavelength filters. There is a strong demand for increasing the number of wavelength in rapidly progressing WDM systems. In this paper, we scale up the 2-dimensional integration of multi-wavelength vertical cavities, demonstrating a 4/spl times/4 multiple wavelength micromachined GaAlAs-GaAs filter array.


"Separate but equal" public schooling is less often identified with the Asian American struggle for equality, but as Ms. Kuo documents, the Chinese American community in San Francisco was engaged in a protracted struggle for access to educational facilities from which they were legally excluded. In an environment hostile to "Orientals," attempts to gain access through the courts subsequently by applying political pressure proved to be largely unsuccessful and compelled pragmatic but unsatisfactory alternatives for educating Chinese American children. But as the Chinese American population in San Francisco expanded and the segregationist sentiment eroded, de jure segregation slowly became defacto segregation.


Due to the depletion of conventional petroleum-based fuels and increasing environmental concerns, industries have been developing new combustion technologies with acceptable cost ranges and minimum system modifications for consumers. Among many approaches, the utilization of plasma ignition systems is considered as a promising pathway to achieve greener transportation while maintaining conventional internal combustion engine systems. Plasma contains highly reactive radicals, and those have a great potential of enhancing chemical reactions that are beneficial for reducing carbon emissions. The primary objective of this paper is to provide an overview of currently available plasma-assisted combustion systems including recent achievements in research and development, and technical challenges for successfully implementing a new ignition system. This review will introduce various plasma-assisted combustion approaches from worldwide projects, covering non-thermal and thermal plasma systems in internal combustion engines.


The development of composite materials comprised of postconsumer polymers and natural fibers is important for the possibility to obtain materials that are more compatible with the environment. Depending on the application of these materials and their final disposal, the relevant degradation processes must be considered in the studies of these materials. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of the degradation process in simulated soil and in the aging accelerated UV chamber on the properties (tensile strength, chemical, morphology) of the composites developed with recycled expanded polystyrene matrix reinforced by curaua fiber. In the tensile strength tests, it was found that the presence of the curaua fiber and the coupling agent did not have significant effect in the degradation processes of the polymer matrix. However, the use of the coupling agent without the addition of fiber curaua promoted the accelerated degradation of the matrix. The carbonyl index was used as the main assessment parameter of the degradation of the composites, since an increasing in the carbonyl index was observed in the initial periods of degradation decreasing for longer time periods. The presence of cracks in the samples following exposure to UV was observed, but no biofilm formation was identified in the samples exposed to the simulated soil. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:967–977, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers


This transversal study investigated the perception of patients
and undergraduate dental students on facial and
dental esthetics. Fifty volunteers (25 patients treated at
the Integrated Clinic of the School of Dentistry at State
University of Paraiba and 25 undergraduate dental
students) were enrolled as participants, characterizing
a non-probabilistic sample. Two specific questionnaires
were used as research instruments. The data were
analyzed by means of descriptive statistics (absolute
and percent distributions). The association between the
variables was verified by the Chi-square and Fisher's
exact tests, considering the value of p 0.05) were observed between the groups regarding
tooth arrangement in dental arch. It was concluded that
the teeth have an important role in the facial appearance
for patients as well as for undergraduate dental
students.


ABSTRACT Tamil migration to colonial Malaya has been the subject of well-documented research based on colonial archives, observations of colonialists, newspapers, and community records; and sometimes focused on landmark developments that showcase the fortunes of the migrant community. However, these accounts do not reveal the personal, mundane, and lived experiences of the thousands of migrants who landed in Malaya. Drawing from the recollections of selected Tamil migrants who were born in or migrated between the 1930s and 1950s and finally settled in Singapore, we retell their life stories from the time they disembarked at the colonial port cities. Using narrative analysis, we illustrate that their final destination is as unintended and unexpected as the uncertainty of colonial migration. These narratives are examined within the colonial context of Tamil migration to Malaya.


Abstract Monte Carlo calculations of the pair correlation function g(r) and numerical solutions of the Percus-Yevick equation are reported for a Lennard-Jones potential, the krypton potential of Barker et al. and a long range three-body (triple dipole and dipole-dipole-quadrupole) potential at 297 K and densities between 2 and 14 × 1027 atoms/m3. We compare in real and Fourier space, and also calculate the pressure and compressibility. The latter two quantities are compared to experimental data on the 297 K isotherm, and while the PY results are in agreement the Barker et al. potential results are significantly different for ρ > 3 × 1027 atoms/m3. It is found that if the point where u(r) = 0 is chosen appropriately either Lennard-Jones or Barker et al. potential would yield a reasonable fit to the structure factor, S(q), for q > 2 A−1. The shape of the attractive part of the potential influences S(q) mainly for q < 1 A−1. Except at values of q < 2 A−1 the effect of three-body forces on the structure facto...


The Pathology and Treatment of Leucorrlicea. By W. Tyler Smith, M.D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, Physician Accoucheur to St. Mary's Hospital, &c. &c.?London, 1855. 8vo, pp. 217. One would naturally imagine, on first seeing an octavo volume, containing no less than 217 pages, on " Leucorrhcea," that the author of such a work on such a subject must indeed be the victim of a cacoethes scribendi but little suited to command attention from the members of so practical


Herbicides are chemical molecules used for destruction of weeds. Massive usage of herbicides has resulted in two global problems: increase in weed resistance and harmful impact of human health [1, 2]. In order to facilitate development of novel, more specific herbicides and of strategies for impeding the weed resistance, we have carried out extensive in silico analysis of the set of herbicides. Herein, we present results revealing links between structural, physicochemical, ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion) and toxic features for herbicides (Figure 1). The analysis has been done by using proper machine learning approaches. References: [1] A. Forouzesh, E. Zand, S. Soufizadeh, S. S. Foroushani, Weed Res. 55 (2015) 334-358. [2] V. I. Lushchak, T. M. Matviishyn, V. V. Husak, J. M. Storey, K. B. Storey, EXCLI J. 17 (2018) 1101-1136.


Three-wave frequency mixing is theoretically investigated under simultaneous single- and two-photon resonances; one of the fundamental fields is weak while another one is strong. The influence of field splitting on nonlinear susceptibility is studied for both homogeneously- and Doppler-broadened transitions. We analyzed the role of interference of quantum transitions via quasilevels in absorption and nonlinear generation and its impact on mixing process. The possibility of significant enhancement of nonlinear generation efficiency in optically dense media is demonstrated.


Background: Type II diabetes mellitus (T2D) is one of the most common chronic metabolic diseases. It is associated with a state of chronic inflammation resulting in both microvascular and macrovascular complications. The adinosinergic axis plays an important anti-inflammatory protective role through conversion of ATP (produced as a result of inflammation) into adenosine (a potent anti-inflammatory mediator) through CD39 and CD73. Various peripheral blood leucocytes hold CD39 and CD73 with different degrees.
Objective: To determine the expression of CD73 and CD39 on different peripheral blood leukocytes including Treg cells to uncover their inflammatory modulation role in T2D subjects in comparison to normal control ones. The level of their expression will be correlated with various anthropometric and biochemical parameters in diabetic patients.
Materials and Methods: Venous blood was collected on EDTA anticoagulated tubes from 45 T2D patients; 15 with early T2D and 30 with complicated T2D with both microvascular and macrovascular complications. Twenty-five normal subjects, with no family history of T2D, were included. Immunophenotyping of the samples were performed on Navios Flow cytometer (Coulter Electronics, USA), using phycoerythrin (PE)-labelled CD39 antibodies, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled CD4 antibodies, peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex: CY5.5 conjugate (PerCP-CY5.5)-labelled CD73 and allophycocyanin conjugate (APC)-labelled CD25.
Results: CD39 expression was highest in early cases of T2D in comparison to least expression in complicated T2D on peripheral blood total lymphocytes, CD4+ lymphocytes and CD4+CD25+ lymphocytes.
Conclusions: The increased expression of CD39 in early non-complicated cases of T2D indicates a state of low-level chronic inflammation owing to their role in production of adenosine; a potent anti-inflammatory mediator. This is reversed when CD39 expression in peripheral blood leucocytes is assessed in complicated T2D patients, which emphasise their role in protecting the patients from diabetic complications.


Hypertension (HTN) is the most prevalent cardiovascular disease risk factor. Although HTN incidence rises profoundly with age in both sexes, females are relatively protected when they are young and after menopause, females ultimately exceed males in the incidence and adverse outcomes of HTN. In male mice with SMC‐specific deletion of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR‐KO), we showed protection from the aging‐associated rise in blood pressure (BP). We show that in males, the mechanism involves SMC‐MR transcriptionally repressing vascular miR‐155 expression with age, which then promotes an increase in expression of miR‐155 target genes, Cav1.2, the pore‐forming subunit of the L‐type calcium channel (LTCC) and the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R). Further studies revealed that restoration of SMC‐specific miR‐155 rescues the aging phenotype observed in male mice. Specifically, raising SMC‐miR‐155 expression resulted in decreased Cav1.2 and AT1R expression and LTCC‐and AT1R‐mediated vasoconstriction. In female mice, however, Cav1.2 and AT1R expression did not change with age. Additionally, vasoconstriction to LTCC agonist BayK‐8644 and Ang II are not increased in aging females compared to young females. These results suggest that mechanism of vascular aging and BP control are distinct between males and females. These data support that sex‐specific therapies may be beneficial in managing vascular aging and BP control.


The ongoing euro crisis and its management have, in recent years, shed fresh light upon the debate surrounding the significance of Franco-German relations to European economic integration. With the single currency engulfed in apparent never-ending instability, two questions dominate the agenda of contemporary analysis: how did we get here? And what happens next? This dissertation does not attempt to answer the latter. As the title suggests, this dissertation does, however, critically examine the motivations behind the intensification of Franco-German economic integration in Europe during the Mitterrand-Kohl era; the result of which was the establishment of EMU. By evaluating key events and scrutinising major theoretical analyses, this dissertation determines that both Kohl and Mitterrand were driven by national interests, domestic pressures and a shared sense of European vision, all of which were exercised within an increasingly strict set of operational parameters that encouraged further European economic integration between the two nations. Moreover, this dissertation also establishes that the primary consequence of the integrationist economic agenda pursued by Mitterrand and Kohl from 1982-1995 has been an ongoing attempt by a German-led Franco-German partnership to retrospectively refashion the economic governance model of the Euro Area; a task performed by integrating the European economy yet further with the creation of fiscal institutions such as the European Stability Mechanism and, in recent months, the Single Resolution Mechanism.


We study the maximum zero-run length, L/sub max/, of cosets of convolutional codes, and show that an associated block subcode to a large extent determines L/sub max/. A communication system or storage system may use a coset of a binary convolutional code for both symbol synchronization and error control. To achieve symbol synchronization, the coset must have a short maximum zero-run length, L/sub /(max). The shortest values of L/sub max/ can be found in the class of convolutional codes of rate (n-r)/n for which at least one row of a minimal parity check matrix is nonpolynomial. We focus on this class.


infections originated from seamen of the Southern Line who fell ill on the homeward voyage and brought the disease into Japan proper. The epidemic ceased in November, but the next summer it started up again and recurred every summer until 1945. Meanwhile, other cities (Hiroshima, Kure and Fukuoka) were also infected. These cities are all situated on the seacoast between 33 and 35 degree north latitudes. The number of typical cases was estimated at 200,000, but the total number including abortive or suspected cases is considered to be much greater. The author has conducted observations and experiments on the disease since the first outbreak in Nagasaki.


The invention is a lampshade structure of a back light module taking the LED as light source, which is applied on the back light module taking the LED as light source, and includes a metal cover piece, a circuit board and a reflecting plate, wherein the metal cover piece is formed by bending a metal plate to form a holding space corresponding to a side edge of a light conducting plate. The longitudinal profile of the reflecting plate is a continuous wavilness to form a plurality of dents and the reflecting plate is held in the space. One side of the reflecting plate is provided with a reflecting surface. The circuit board is fixed on the metal cover and provided with a plurality of LEDs arranged at intervals. The LEDs are respectively corresponding to the dent of the reflecting plate so as to further lead the light emitted from the LED to be sufficiently reflected to the light conducting plate by the dent of the reflecting plate. Therefore, the optical loss is reduced and the brilliance and light-out uniformity of the back light module are improved.


Articulated hand gesture recognition is much studied due to increasing interest on application of Human-Computer-Interaction. Generally, model-based approach has been used for hand gesture recognition because the movement of human hand presents motion of high degrees of freedom (DOF). However, there is matching problem for hand model with input image. In this paper, we introduce a simple model of cardboard model to avoid the difficulty of matching problem. First, we extract the hand area and edge of the hand, and then perform distance transform to use the hand shape information for matching real hand with the model. In the next procedure chamfer matching is applied to the model. The cardboard model is composed of 16 parts for presenting a human hand and each part has parameters expressing position, rotation and scale of fingers. We find the reference pose model which resembles RMS value obtained by chamfer matching. The DOF of the hand is constrained with linked structure of palm and fingers. Simple database for the hand model of back, palm, and individual finger are used. Each model has an edge feature and it is used for calculating chamfer distance which presents the difference of distance between edge of input image and the cardboard model. This method chooses the most similar reference model. Therefore, we can estimate the information for very complicate hand pose and motion.


We synthesized a novel banana-shaped molecule based on a 1,7-naphthalene central core that exhibits a distinct mesomorphism of the nematic-to-nematic phase transition. Both the X-ray profile and direct imaging of atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations clearly indicates the formation of an anomalous nematic phase possessing a two-dimensional (2D) tetragonal lattice with a large edge (ca. 59 Å) directed perpendicular to the director in the low-temperature nematic phase. One plausible model is proposed by an analogy of skyrmion lattice in which two types of cylinders formed from left- and right-handed twist-bend helices stack into a 2D tetragonal lattice, diminishing the inversion domain wall.


We describe the process by which we developed a statewide field destination protocol to transport patients with suspected emergent large vessel occlusion to a comprehensive stroke center.


Objectives : The purpose of this study is to present two case reports on the treatments of psoriasis who has functional gastrointestinal disorder.Methods : We administered herbal medicine to two patients who showed psoriasis with functional gastrointestinal disorder and evaluated the results by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index(PASI).Results : After the treatment two patients showed improvements in PASI. PASI of patient 1 changed from 8.8 to 0.8; patient 2 from 7.0 to 0.2Conclusions : The results suggest that herbal medicine can be an effective treatment for psoriasis who has functional gastrointestinal disorder.


This article presents the results of a study into the effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment in preventing crime. Using court appearance records, the officially recorded offending rates of a sample of 11,126 people on the public methadone program between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2000 were determined to see whether they were lower during periods when they were on the methadone program than during periods when they were off the program. After adjusting for time spent in custody, officially recorded offending rates were found to be significantly lower for most people during periods when they were in methadone treatment than during periods when they were out of it. A reduction in officially recorded offending rates was found for all age groups and both men and women but the reduction was much more substantial for young women. When the reductions in officially recorded offending were scaled up to allow for offences that do not result in the prosecution of an offender, it was found that, for every 100 persons in methadone for one year, NSW gets 12 fewer robberies, 57 fewer break and enters and 56 fewer motor vehicle thefts.


Problems in graduate education of clinical Chinese medicine are discussed. Theoretic learning is not deep and wide enough. Tutorial system is not deep-rooted and effective guidance is unavailable. Chinese medicine atmosphere is not rich enough for clinical practice period. These problems make it even hard for students to assume heavy task after graduation. This paper suggests taking master-apprentice mode into contents of graduate education. Prestigious physicians can help train students' clinical knowledge and skills, and increase their comprehensive quality in clinical practice. The writers' own experience during their tenth five-year research task is further introduced.


This well known passage has given rise to some discussion in recent years, the words being the centre of the fray. The Scholiast says Most modern commentators have followed the Scholiast. But Mr. J. A. Stewart in the Classical Beview (Vol. vii. 3–59) follows the President of Magdalen College, Oxford, in stating that the Scholiast was led astray by the proverb and that there is really no reference at all to the game ot Polis, and compares with it the passage from the Meno, 77 A.


The private universities in Egypt were initiated based on a presidential decree in 1996. Since then, a number of universities were open, with two different opposing perspectives for two different parties of stakeholders. The first was the hope of the educators and of many parents to achieve quality education away from the typical bureaucratic governmental university education that has been long deteriorated according to several factors out of scope of this paper. On the other hand, was the dream of a number of investors and other parents of less able and less qualified students to acquire a paidfor university graduation certificate with the least effort. The paper at hand tackles this issue. Aiming at evaluating the experiment of quality assurance of private education in Egypt. The paper dissects the concept of the private education in Egypt through reviewing an experiment of a quality assurance project of the architectural programs in one of the renowned private universities in Egypt. The methodology is based on a review of the private education system, and the national quality assurance project set criteria. Then, an analysis of the response of the department and the university to the project and its requirement between the practices and the paper work is criticized. Some lights are then shed on the challenges confronting the success of the process, including society and its misconception, together with the conflict of interests between the educators, investors and students. The discussion and conclusion shed light on the strategic planning as the only hope towards the quality assurance of private university education in Egypt.


This paper presents a method to infer the intent of an aircraft by using inverse optimal control. Assuming that the observed or estimated trajectory of the target aircraft is the approximate local optimum, the current method calculates the weight of each term of the objective function that represents the flight's intent. The intent may include direct travel to a waypoint; circling around a waypoint; holding airspeed/heading/turn rate; avoiding certain regions such as those with adverse weather or special-use airspaces; and resolving conflicts with other aircraft. By incorporating the second-order optimality condition (i.e., the positive definiteness of the projected Hessian of the Lagrangian), the method approximately satisfies the sufficiency of the local optimality of the given trajectory. Moreover, the method also guarantees the uniqueness of the inferred intent. The effectiveness of the current method in terms of the reasonableness of the inferred intent as well as real-time applicability is demonstra...


According to the requirements of the power grid safety,reliability and rapidity,this paper proposes that the variable parameter PID control is used to realize the loop control of current and voltage ring plan on the PMSG back-to-back PWM,so as to improve the wind generator dynamic response speed. Based on a complete mathematical model,it also uses PSCAD /EMTDC to structure and simulate the model and combined with IEEE14 node model of wind generator,researches on the characteristics of the grid-connection. The simulation results show that the PMSG model is set up reasonably,control strategies on faults are made have a good response,the system low voltage through performance is shown to be good and the results are consistent.


This is a cross-sectional descriptive study that was designed for estimation of erythropoietin level in CKD patients with iron deficiency anemia during the period of January 2012 to December 2012. Serum concentration of iron and ferritin were measured in all samples to detect iron status. All subjects were taken at the age 18 to 80 years. The result showed that serum concentration of erythropoietin mean value 2.67 mIU/ml (±2.36 SD) which is decreased whereas hemoglobin level was found 8.67gm/dl (±1.39 SD) which is significantly lower than normal people. Serum iron and serum ferritin level also significantly lower (13.78 µg/dl (± 2.58 SD) and 73.35 ng/mL (± 26.81 SD) respectively. In chronic kidney disease patient with iron deficiency anemic patient, there is decrease erythropoietin level as there is an attempt to restore red blood cell production level to normal. This is also seen in reduction of blood flow to the kidney (as in blood loss) and hemoglobinopathies with increased affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen. As there is low level of serum erythropoietin that causes low level of serum iron and low level of serum ferritin observed in the study.


The effect of extravascular lung water (EVLW) and relationship to functional status as a result of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) are not well understood. We sought to quantify changes in clinical variables, EVLW, airway anatomy, spirometry, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide before and after treatment for ADHF.


The present study uses a two-phase mixed-methods design to explore the role of motivation to acculturate within the international student experience. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test acculturation motivation (AM) as a predictor of international student adjustment and permanent residency intentions, over and above age, gender, academic year, and English competence. Greater motivation to acculturate was indeed a significant predictor of international student adjustment and increased intentions of pursuing permanent host country residency. To better understand how international students' experiences relate to levels of AM, qualitative analyses were employed. International students with low levels of AM were more likely to express negative feelings about cross-cultural adjustment, university perception, and peer relationships, compared to students with high levels of AM. Despite such differences, academic and developmental struggles as well as academic successes were similarly voiced across both comparison groups.


We investigate the gender gap in academic promotions, focusing on the Italian system, in which candidates first participate in a nationwide competition to obtain a scientific qualification and then successful candidates compete to obtain a position at the department level. We estimate the gender gaps in the probability of success at these two stages, controlling for several measures of productivity. Whereas no gender differences emerge at the national level, women have a lower probability of promotion at the department level. Robustness checks suggest that estimated gender gaps are not results of measurement errors.


Computer techniques are used in calculating velocity selection of hydrogen atoms for use in maser frequency standard. Technique permits designer to resolve design problems of multiple focusing magnets employed in atomic velocity selection. There is excellent agreement with hand calculations in constant magnetic moment approximation.


This paper describes a computer–based modelling, simulation and validation effort to aid in the development, testing and procurement of a lightweight, High Mobility Trailer (HMT) towed by the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The US Army is acquiring an HMT capable of performing strategic operations in various climates and environments while hauling payloads up to 1140 kg. A series of field tests and analytical studies were conducted to evaluate candidate trailers. This study employed computer–based modelling and simulation to determine the upper bounds of vehicle performance under various adverse operating conditions, and parameter and design sensitivity studies to identify more stable system configurations. This paper reports on the modelling, simulation, validation and analysis of a HMMWV towing multiple–configuration HMT's.


wishes to thank the Southwestern Historical Quarterly's Ryan Schumacher, Walter Buenger, and anonymous reviewers for incisive comments and suggestions. This article is adapted from his master's thesis completed at Texas Christian University, where he would like to thank professors Todd Kerstetter, Gregg Cantrell, and Max Krochmal. The special collections staff of TCU's Mary Couts Burnett Library provided critical research help. 1 Amon Carter to William Monnig, Nov. 10, 1921, box 221, West Texas: 1921–1938 folder, Amon G. Carter Papers (Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas; hereafter cited as AGC Papers). "Don't Sell Texas Short!": Amon Carter's Cultivation and Marketing of West Texas Nature


Animal density is a fundamental parameter in ecology and conservation, and yet it has remained difficult to measure. For terrestrial mammals and birds, camera‐traps have dramatically improved our ability to collect systematic data across a large number of species, but density estimation (except for species with natural marks) is still faced with statistical and logistical hurdles, including the requirement for auxiliary data and large sample sizes, and an inability to incorporate covariates. To fill this gap in the camera‐trapper's statistical toolbox, we extended the existing Random Encounter Model (REM) to the multi‐species case in a Bayesian framework. This multi‐species REM can incorporate covariates and provides parameter estimates for even the rarest species. As input to the model, we used information directly available in the camera‐trap data. The model outputs posterior distributions for the REM parameters—movement speed, activity level, the effective angle and radius of the camera‐trap detection zone, and density—for each species. We applied this model to an existing dataset for 35 species in Borneo, collected across old‐growth and logged forest. Here, we added animal position data derived from the image sequences in order to estimate the speed and detection zone parameters. The model revealed a decrease in movement speeds, and therefore day‐range, across the species community in logged compared to old‐growth forest, whilst activity levels showed no consistent trend. Detection zones were shorter, but of similar width, in logged compared to old‐growth forest. Overall, animal density was lower in logged forest, even though most species individually occurred at higher density in logged forest. However, the biomass per unit area was substantially higher in logged compared to old‐growth forest, particularly among herbivores and omnivores, likely because of increased resource availability at ground level. We also included body mass as a variable in the model, revealing that larger‐bodied species were more active, had more variable speeds, and had larger detection zones. Caution is warranted when estimating density for semi‐arboreal and fossorial species using camera‐traps, and more extensive testing of assumptions is recommended. Nonetheless, we anticipate that multi‐species density estimation could have very broad application.


The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system plays an important role in the processes responsible for the formation of myocardial infarction (MI). It is involved in the regulation of oxidative stress, in the development of endothelial dysfunction and inflammatory response, in destabilization of atherosclerotic plaque, regulation of vascular tone and circulating blood volume. A significant part of these effects are mediated through the molecules of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway and the nuclear factor NF-kappa-B1. The aim of this study was to analyze associations of MI with combinations of alleles/genotypes by polymorphic markers rs310216*JAK1, rs12693591*STAT1, rs3212780*JAK3, rs2293152*STAT3, rs28362491*NFKB1, rs4762*AGT, rs2368564*REN, rs4343*ACE, rs5186*AGTR1, rs1800875*CMA1, rs4491175*LINC02748, rs1799998*CYP11B2, rs2285666*ACE2, rs1403543*AGTR2. The material for the study was the DNA of patients with onset MI at the age of 45 years (144) and the control group (152). All study participants were male, ethnically Russian. Combinations were searched using the APSampler software. The selection criteria for combinations were: a P value <0.05 after adjusting for multiple comparisons (Benjamini-Hochberg FDR procedure) and an OR value of more than 3 for high-risk markers and less than 0.3 for protective markers. As a result of the analysis, combinations of alleles with both increased and reduced risk of MI were obtained, in which allelic variants rs5186*AGTR1, rs2368564*REN, rs4491175*LINC02748, rs1800875*CMA1rs2285666*ACE2, rs1403543*AGTR2, rs12693591*STAT1, rs3212780*JAK3, rs2293152*STAT3 occur.


In this study, the unsteady development of multi‐plume sprays has been investigated by large eddy simulations with Eulerian–Lagrangian multiphase approach for both global spray characteristics and local flow features. Multi‐plume sprays are injected at the injection pressures of 10 MPa and 15 MPa, and the temperature of Ts = 297.65 K into the ambient air at the atmospheric pressure and temperature of Ta = 293.15 K. Experimentally obtained global multi‐plume spray characteristics in terms of spray shape and penetration are used to validate the present numerical simulations. The present numerical predictions for Sauter mean diameter and its temporal variation agree well with the empirical correlations. The predicted droplet size distribution evolves temporally and spatially, and exhibits bimodal distribution, until eventually the mode for small droplet sizes dominates. The spray plumes are found to have limited interaction due to the relatively large orientation angles between the plumes. Because of the momentum transfer from the liquid to gas phase, spray‐induced air jets appear in the multi‐plume sprays. Using vorticity, pressure, and λ2 − criterion fields, it is shown that the spray‐induced air jets form similar vortical structures as single phase jets. Similarities between the spray‐induced air jets and single phase jets in terms of the shear layer vortical structures such as hairpin‐like vortices improves our understanding of the entrainment and mixing processes in multi‐plume sprays. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Researches on machined surface roughness prediction in the face milling process of steel are presented in the paper. The data for modelling by the application of neural networks have been collected by the central composite design of experiment. Input variables are the parameters of machining (number of revolutions – cutting speed, feed and depth of cut) and the way of cooling, while the machined surface roughness is output variable. In the modelling process the algorithms Back-Propagation Neural Network, Modular Neural Network and Radial Basis Function Neural Network have been used. Various architectures of neural networks have been investigated on a data sample and they have generated the prediction results which are at the RMS (Root Mean Square) error level of 5.24 % in the learning phase (8.53 % in the validation phase) for the Radial Basis Function Neural Network, 6.02 % in the learning phase (8.87 % in the validation phase) for the Modular Neural Network and for the Back-Propagation Neural Network 6.46 % in the learning phase (7.75 % in the validation phase).


Environmental hypoxia represents a major physiological challenge for Eriocheir sinensis and Palaemonetes sinensis and is a severe problem in aquaculture. Therefore, understanding the metabolic response mechanisms of E. sinensis and P. sinensis, which are economically important species, to environmental hypoxia and reoxygenation is essential. However, little is known about the intrinsic mechanisms by which E. sinensis and P. sinensis cope with environmental hypoxia at the metabolic level. Hypoxia–reoxygenation represents an important physiological challenge for their culture. In this study, respiratory metabolism and respiratory metabolic enzymes of E. sinensis and P. sinensis were evaluated after different hypoxia and reoxygenation times. The results showed that environmental hypoxia had a dramatic influence on the respiratory metabolism and activities of related enzymes. The oxygen consumption rates (OCR) significantly increased as hypoxia time increased, while the ammonia excretion rate (AER) was significantly lower than that in the control group after 8 h hypoxia. The oxygen to nitrogen ratio (O:N) in the control group was <16, indicating that all the energy substrates were proteins. After environmental hypoxia, the O:N significantly increased, and the energy substrate shifted from protein to a protein–lipid mixture. The OCR, AER, and O:N did not restore to initial levels after 2 h or 12 h reoxygenation and was still the same as after 8 h hypoxia. As environmental hypoxia time increased, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) gradually decreased and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) gradually increased. Both SDH and LDH were gradually restored to normal levels after reoxygenation. Therefore, environmental hypoxia should be avoided as much as possible during aquaculture breeding of E. sinensis and P. sinensis. Further, since OCR will significantly increase after a short period of reoxygenation, secondary environmental hypoxia due to rapid consumption of oxygen should also be avoided in aquaculture.


BACKGROUND

A validated model describing the nitritation-anammox process in a granular sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system is an important tool for: (a) design of future experiments; and (b) prediction of process performance during optimization, while applying process control, or during system scale-up.

RESULTS

A model was calibrated using a step-wise procedure customized for the specific needs of the system. The important steps in the procedure were initialization, steady-state and dynamic calibration, and validation. A fast and effective initialization approach was developed to approximate pseudo steady-state in the biofilm system. For oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) estimation, long-term data, removal efficiencies, and the stoichiometry of the reactions were used. For the dynamic calibration a pragmatic model fitting approach was used – in this case an iterative Monte Carlo based screening of the parameter space – to find the best fit of the model to dynamic data. Finally, the calibrated model was validated with an independent data set.

CONCLUSION

The calibration procedure presented is the first customized procedure for this type of system and is expected to contribute to achieving a fast and effective model calibration, an important enabling tool for various biochemical engineering design, control and operation problems. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry


This paper details the design and implementation of a WiFi enabled RFID system for the convenience and safe driving of vehicles. The speed of the vehicle is controllable from sign posts along the highway or near toll booths or any other controls on the high way. Toll charges can be paid automatically without stopping but with necessary slowing down. If driver violates the traffic rules, amount can be deducted by the RFID Reader. Driver does cashless transaction using EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) every time since RFID Reader is rechargeable and account is stored on the records. The benefits include reducing the speed to avoid collisions with the other vehicles in the queue. Movement of vehicle will ultimately be smooth and hence traffic which aids to early clearance near tollbooth.


Although platelet‐activating factor (PAF) is implicated as an important mediator in the pathogenesis of hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion (IR) injury, the precise mechanism of its action has not been studied. We examined the hypothesis that PAF may influence neutrophils by promoting the production of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) and cytokine‐induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC), a member of the interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) family, and may be associated with liver and lung injury during the early phase of reperfusion after total hepatic ischemia. Rats pretreated with a specific PAF receptor antagonist exhibited suppression of the increase in plasma TNF‐α and CINC levels, as well as the priming of peripheral neutrophils for superoxide production after reperfusion when compared with animals pretreated with physiological saline. These effects resulted in a reduction of plasma liver enzymes and of hepatic and pulmonary neutrophil sequestration, as well as an increased survival rate. There was a strong correlation between the time course of CINC release and hepatic or pulmonary neutrophil sequestration. We concluded that PAF activates neutrophils, either directly or by promoting the production of TNF‐α and CINC, and is involved in hepatic IR injury.


Empirical Bayes methods of estimating the local false discovery rate (LFDR) by maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), originally developed for large numbers of comparisons, are applied to a single comparison. Specifically, when assuming a lower bound on the mixing proportion of true null hypotheses, the LFDR MLE can yield reliable hypothesis tests and confidence intervals given as few as one comparison. Simulations indicate that constrained LFDR MLEs perform markedly better than conventional methods, both in testing and in confidence intervals, for high values of the mixing proportion, but not for low values. (A decision‐theoretic interpretation of the confidence distribution made those comparisons possible.) In conclusion, the constrained LFDR estimators and the resulting effect‐size interval estimates are not only effective multiple comparison procedures but also they might replace p‐values and confidence intervals more generally. The new methodology is illustrated with the analysis of proteomics data.


Group. Maternal antenatal vitamin D supplementation and offspring risk of atopic eczema in the first 4 years of life: evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:659–66. 6 Cooper C, Harvey NC, Bishop NJ et al. Maternal gestational vitamin D supplementation and offspring bone health (MAVIDOS): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2016; 4:393–402. 7 Wall CR, Stewart AW, Camargo CA Jr et al. Vitamin D activity of breast milk in women randomly assigned to vitamin D3 supplementation during pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr 2016; 103:382–8. 8 Hattangdi-Haridas SR, Lanham-New SA, Wong WHS et al. Vitamin D deficiency and effects of vitamin D supplementation on disease severity in patients with atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis in adults and children. Nutrients 2019; 11:1854. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081854.


The development of micro- and nanoelectronics needs chemical diagnostics of structures with nanometre resolution. The progress in scanning probe microscopy, in particular, in the method of scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) (S.T. Purcell et al, Nanotechnology, vol. 12, pp. 168-172, 2001; F.A. Stevie et al, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 2476-2482, 1999), could solve this problem. The depth resolution of this method achieves by now a sub-nanometer barrier (S. Hofmann, Rep. Prog. Phys., vol. 61, pp. 827-888, 1998), but the lateral resolution amounts to no better than tens of nanometers. The goal of this work is to improve the lateral resolution of SAM by image processing using Tikhonov's method of deconvolution that takes into account the probe transfer function.


Significance Specific RNAs are enriched at protrusive regions of migrating cells. This localization is important for cell migration on 2D surfaces. However, in vivo, tumor cells navigate complex 3D environments often in collective groups. Here, we investigated protrusion-enriched RNAs during collective 3D invasion. We show that specific RNAs exhibit a striking accumulation at the front of invasive leader cells. We provide insights into the mechanism underlying RNA accumulation at the invasive front, and we further demonstrate that it is required for efficient 3D invasion of tumor cells. We additionally observe RNA enrichment at invasive sites of in vivo tumors, supporting the physiological relevance of this mechanism and suggesting a targeting opportunity for perturbing cancer cell invasion. Localization of RNAs at protrusive regions of cells is important for single-cell migration on two-dimensional surfaces. Protrusion-enriched RNAs encode factors linked to cancer progression, such as the RAB13 GTPase and the NET1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor, and are regulated by the tumor-suppressor protein APC. However, tumor cells in vivo often do not move as single cells but rather utilize collective modes of invasion and dissemination. Here, we developed an inducible system of three-dimensional (3D) collective invasion to study the behavior and importance of protrusion-enriched RNAs. We find that, strikingly, both the RAB13 and NET1 RNAs are enriched specifically at the invasive front of leader cells in invasive cell strands. This localization requires microtubules and coincides with sites of high laminin concentration. Indeed, laminin association and integrin engagement are required for RNA accumulation at the invasive front. Importantly, perturbing RNA accumulation reduces collective 3D invasion. Examination of in vivo tumors reveals a similar localization of the RAB13 and NET1 RNAs at potential invasive sites, suggesting that this mechanism could provide a targeting opportunity for interfering with collective cancer cell invasion.


The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for calibrating a kinematics as well as a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which in particular are used to expand a calibration classes of parallel and serial robot kinematics, which have not been specifically designed to achieve the utmost precision, but preferably have a high repeatability. For this purpose, a method is proposed which comprises the following steps: - moving the kinematics such that the kinematics assuming a number of poses with predeterminable accuracy, - determining first configuration vectors by reading the Aktorauslenkungen described in the occupied poses data, - determining a function for the transformation of the configuration space, by evaluating the first and second configuration of vectors, wherein the second configuration vectors are imaged by a control function in each case on one of the poses, and - Definition of a calibrated control function One after performing only the function to transform the configuration space and then the control function.


We analyzed the data of Stokes I, Q, and U in the C and X bands and investigated the large-scale magnetic field structure of NGC 3627. The polarization intensity and angle in each band were derived using Stokes Q and U maps. The rotation measure was calculated using polarization angle maps. Moreover, the magnetic field strength was calculated by assuming energy equipartition with cosmic ray electrons. The structure of the magnetic field was well aligned with the spiral arms, which were consistent with those in the former studies. We applied the magnetic vector reconstruction method to NGC 3627 to derive a magnetic vector map, which showed that the northern and southern disks were dominant with inward and outward magnetic vectors, respectively. Furthermore, we considered the large-scale structure of the magnetic field in NGC 3627 and observed that the structure is bi-symmetric spiral in nature, and that the number of magnetic field modes is mB = 1 in the outer region of galaxy. In addition, NGC 3627 has a mode of two spiral arms that were clearly visible in an optical image. The ratio of the mode of the spiral arms to that of the magnetic field is 2 : 1. In terms of NGC 3627, the large-scale magnetic field may be generated via the parametric resonance induced by the gravitational potential of the spiral arms.


The conclusion of Coulomb's law from the first principles of energodynamics is given, based on non-uniform distribution of electric charge in space


The invention discloses a method for forecasting short-time traffic flows at urban signalized intersections. The method comprises the following steps: forecasting the waiting pass-through time of an upstream single intersection; estimating the spatial steering rate of the upstream single intersection; and creating a short-time traffic flow forecasting double-layered model of the urban signalized intersection. Short-time traffic flow forecasting is a main component for realizing traffic real-time self-adaptive control to urban main roads. The method provided by the invention achieves the self-adaptive capability of signalized intersections and improves the service level and efficiency of the intersections.


Biotechnology and the Human Good by C. Ben Mitchell, Edmund D. Pellegrino, Jean Bethke Elshstain, and Scott B. Rae is a thoughtful, carefully argued perspective on the ethics of new developments in biotechnology, such as human enhancement, human germ-line engineering, cloning, nanotechnology, and cybernetics.


The Guacimal River catchment has an area of 181 km2 and is located in the NW of Costa Rica, between the coordinates 84.745° W-10.016° N and 84.909° W-10.325° N. In this territory, as in most of the country, detailed geomorphological studies are scarce; therefore, the objective of this paper is to present the geomorphological mapping at a scale of 1:25,000 of the Guacimal River, which allows us to explain the dynamics of the agents involved in the modeling of the catchment. The work methodology consisted of three stages: pre-mapping, field activity and post-mapping, which resulted in a map in which ten relief forms are represented, ordered according to their morphogenesis in endogenous modeled and exogenous (fluvial, gravitational and littoral). This document will be the base line for land use planning, both continental and coastal, and for local risk management.


Neonatal hypoglycaemia has long been a medical conundrum. The mere definition and operational threshold with which to offer treatment has long been and continues to be debated. Severe and symptomatic hypoglycaemia negatively impacts long-term neurodevelopment. How to balance treatment without risking adverse consequences and without overutilization of health care resources are discussed often. As a result, this research study sets out to challenge the dogma of the required treatment at glucose <47 mg/dL. One aspect that distinguishes this study from others was its unique clinical design. While most other studies are retrospective, this study was a prospective, randomized, non-inferiority study assessing the current operational threshold for hypoglycaemia treatment with a lower threshold. The study allowed for neurodevelopmental outcomes <0.5 standard deviations below the mean, as a threshold for non-inferiority. Given one standard deviation from the mean is considered normal, this was a reasonable threshold. Additionally, the study was able to achieve its goal of 85% neurodevelopmental follow-up at age 18 months, which is impressive for a condition that is usually short-term and often viewed as benign. There were a few critical aspects of this study. First, it was underpowered to assess infants of diabetic mothers. Second, aside from the treatment threshold, there was no defined protocol for how to treat hypoglycaemia, and it was left to provider discretion despite wide practice variations. Lastly and most importantly, follow-up at 18 months of age is likely too soon to detect differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes; therefore, most follow-up studies focus on 24 months of age or higher. The CHYLD studies by McKinlay et al found no difference in neurodevelopmental outcomes between neonate with hypoglycaemia (defined as glucose <47 mg/dL) and those without at 24 months of age, but did find differences in executive and visual-motor functioning at 4.5 years of age.1,2 Several additional studies with longer-term follow-up have shown differences between cohorts with and without neonatal hypoglycaemia. For instance, Wickström et al (2018) showed evidence of motor and cognitive delay at 2-6 years of age-associated with moderate hypoglycaemia (defined as glucose <40 mg/dL).3 Kaiser used 4th-grade standardised testing to assess 10-year follow-up and found an association with decreased literacy and mathematics scores with a single incidence of glucose <45 mg/dL and even further disparity at lower thresholds of <40 mg/dL and <35 mg/dL.4 A systematic review by Shah in 2019 concluded neonatal hypoglycaemia is associated visual-motor impairment and executive dysfunction in early-childhood (2-5 years of age) and neurodevelopmental impairment and low literacy in mid-childhood (6-11 years of age).5 Given this evidence, it is reasonable to conclude while this study showed no difference at 18-month follow-up that longer-term follow-up might show differences. As this study completed in 2011, it would be interesting to see whether a 4to 6-year follow-up is assessed, and if so, what the results show. In conclusion, while it may be too soon to instil practice changes based on the results of this study, there is potential if longer-term follow-up can show similar results.


Acknowledgements Testing Plan and Results With many injuries to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons described above, physical therapy is necessary for proper recovery of strength and a healthy range of motion, 60 ̊ to 180 ̊ of extension. Currently, continuous passive motion (CPM) machines are sometimes used in correlation with other practices of physical therapy to lessen healing time and increase maximum flexibility after such an injury, avoiding arthofibrosis. CPM machines are therapy tools that cycle a patient through the full range of motion about the knee .


A piston top (10) for thermal internal combustion engine, comprises an upper face (11) intended to be turned towards a yoke (12) arranged in the upper part of a combustion chamber (13) delimited in its lower part by said piston roof (10), said upper face (11) comprising a cavity (14). Said cavity (14) has a shape such that at any point of the depth (H) of the cavity (14), the cavity (14) has, in a cutting plane (P) perpendicular to the sliding direction (D ) of the piston (15) equipped with said plunger top (10) relative to the engine cylinder, a section having a non-circular contour. It also describes an internal combustion engine.


Road curb detection and tracking is essential for the autonomous driving of intelligent vehicles on highways and urban roads. In this paper, we present a fast and robust road curb detection algorithm using 3D lidar data and Integral Laser Points (ILP) features. Range and intensity data of the 3D lidar is decomposed into elevation data and data projected on the ground plane. First, left and right road curbs are detected for each scan line using the ground projected range and intensity data and line segment features. Then, curb points of each scan line are determined using elevation data. The ILP features are proposed to speed up the both detection procedures. Finally, parabola model and RANSAC algorithm is used to fit the left and right curb points and generate vehicle controlling parameters. The proposed method and feature provide fast and reliable road curb detection speed and performance. Experiments show good results on various highways and urban roads under different situations.


Traceability is defined as the possibility to correlate the various artefacts (from requirement to source code) generated when developing software. In the context of software product line development, the problem is made even harder due to some characteristics specific to this software development approach. In this paper we discuss these problems specific to traceability for software product line development. We propose a taxonomy of traceability links. We also present a model to manage traceability of design decisions in the presence of uncertainty.


Gastric secretion of mucus was studied in dogs by collecting secretions from vagally‐denervated or ‐innervated gastric antral pouches. Mucous secretions were studied for volume and for concentration of nitrogen, hexsoses, hexsosamines, L‐fucose and sialic acid concentrations in dialyzed, lyophilized mucosubstance. Gastric mucosal content of mucus of rats was measured by analyzing the concentration of hexsosamine and sialic acid in freeze‐dried gastric mucosal scrapings. Vagal stimulation of the gastric antrum and administration of cholinomime‐tic agents had no detectable influence on either the volume or the biochemical composition of antral mucus. Insulin‐induced hypoglycemia appeared to depress the secretion of mucus. Adrenergic stimulation was without influence. Serotonin had a strong stimulatory effect on the volume of mucus secretion but did not alter its biochemical composition. Cortisone had a profound inhibitory influence on the secretion of mucus and altered its biochemical composition by decreasing the concentration of sialic acid. Parathyroid extract was found to increase gastric mucosal content of mucus in rats.


Objective To discuss the clinical results of arthroscopic reconstruction of posterior and anterior cruciate ligaments of the knee with double semitendinous tendons. Methods 62 patients with posterior and anterior cruciate ligament ruptures underwent arthroscopic reconstruction of the ruptured ligaments with semitendinous tendons. The clinical symptoms and results of drawer test and lachmans test for the patients were compared before and after operation. Results The mean follow up was 18 months. The mean score improved from 43 preoperatively to 94 postoperatively according to Lysholms evaluation. Conclusion This procedure is simple to perform under arthroscopy with limited invasion and satisfactory clinical results.


Ketamine, an old intravenous anesthetic, is a non-narcotic and non-barbiturate drug. It mainly works by noncompetitive antagonist at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Ketamine has several properties of the ideal anesthetic agent. Therefore, its properties are interesting in various clinical settings, although it can produce the psychological adverse effects. This present short review aims to describe the pharmacology of ketamine.


35 consecutive DSAEK cases were evaluated retrospectively. In group-A (nA=15) the tissue adhesive (Re Sure Adherent Ocular Bandage, Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., Bedford, MA) had been used, prior to placement of one suture, while in group-B (nB=20), only nylon sutures were used for the closure of corneal incisions. Peri-operative complications were noted. Visual Acuity, refraction and topographic cylinder, Intraocular Pressure (IOP), and endothelial cell counts (ECC) were monitored long-term for up to two years.


Abstract Background: Prognosis of advanced pancreatic cancer is dismal and the novel targeted therapies, albeit successfully used to treat many advanced tumors, have shown modest results. We performed a meta-analysis in order to quantify the effect size on survival of adding targeted therapy to single agent gemcitabine. Methods: Randomized phase III trials comparing gemcitabine mono-therapy versus gemcitabine plus a targeted agent in first-line treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer designed on survival as primary outcome were selected. Search was done through Medline and the registry of the NIH. Keywords used for searching were 'pancreas', 'pancreatic', 'gemcitabine'. Study quality was assessed with MERGE criteria. Findings were depicted in classical Forest plots. Publication bias was evaluated by the construction of funnel plot. Results: Nine studies met the meta-analysis inclusion criteria including 4564 patients. The target therapies were: erlotinib, cetuximab, rigosertib, elpamotide, bevacizumab, aflibercept, axitinib, masitinib and ganitumab. There was no statistically significant heterogeneity among the nine trials (p = 0.77). The hazard ratio (HR) of the pooled analysis was 0.998 (CI 95%: 0.932–1.068). Subgroup meta-analysis was also performed in anti-EGFR and anti-angiogenesis trials: the pooled HR were 0.94 (CI 95%: 0.705–1.175) and 1.055 (CI 95%: 0.913–1.197), respectively. Conclusions: The present meta-analysis does not show significant improvements in survival for targeted drugs in advanced pancreatic cancer. The possible reason of these results could be linked to the biology of pancreatic cancer as well as to the absence of predictive factors.


Many people have experienced the connection between stress and getting sick. Colds, influenza, herpes and allergies seem worse when we are severely stressed at work or in the home. Others are never sick until they go on vacation (that is, after the stress is over), and then they spend the whole time fighting the virus. Because of intrinsic connections like these, many researchers are today exploring whether (and how) stress and illness are actually linked. One specific focus of this research is to study the effects of stress on the immune systems; after all, if stress affects immunity, that would be one way in which stress could contribute to illness. The function of the immune system is to protect us from organisms that cause disease, and from other materials that would be harmful to the body. Cells of the immune system (i.e ., white blood cells) circulate throughout the body in the blood and are also located in various organs, including the bone marrow, thymus, lymph nodes and spleen. There are a number of different kinds of white blood cells, but the most important in this context are lymphocytes. Of the various tests that reflect the integrity of the immune system, some simply assess the number of white blood cells circulating in the blood; others quantify the amount of antibody in the circulation. Antibodies are proteins produced by certain lymphocytes when harmful substances invade the body. Once antibodies are produced, they attach to the harmful substance, mark it for destruction by other white blood cells, and prevent it from causing infections. Other tests of the immune system determine how well specific lymphocytes are functioning . One test assesses "lymphocyte A lymphocyte: stress may weaken the capacity of lymphocytes to combat infection.


The Effect Of Blackcurrant Polyphenols On Recovery And Performance In Elite Endurance Athletes In Preparation For The World Championships Nathan A. Lewis, Richard Burden, Georgie Bruinvels, James Cheeseman, Stuart Pickering, Chris Price, Kevin Currell, Jan Bartu, Glyn Howatson, FACSM, Charles R. Pedlar. English Institute of Sport, Bath, United Kingdom. St Mary's University, London, United Kingdom. British Modern Pentathlon, Bath, United Kingdom. Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


The competition between nonmagnetic spin-Peierls (SP) and magnetic Neel ground states has been investigated in CuGeO3 doped with Zn, Ni, Mn, and Si. The analysis of specific heat, Cp, data in CuGeO3, measured as a function of magnetic field, supports a SP transition at TSP=14K. The replacement of Cu2+ by Zn2+, Ni2+, or Mn2+ reduces TSP and stabilizes a Neel state, not a spin-glass phase as previously suggested. No significant difference in Cp was observed for Zn- and Ni-doped samples. We suggest that the Neel state depends on |S-S|, where S is the spin of the dopant and S=12. © 1995 The American Physical Society.


UNLABELLED
Creative thinking is required to solve the many challenges the oral health care delivery system faces in meeting the needs of the U.S.

POPULATION
Access to oral health care services varies widely across the country based on a host of factors including individual patient characteristics, demographic variables, and distribution of professionals by locale. There is also significant variability of need, so that many new solutions have been proposed to meet the needs of specific areas. In late 2012, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry embarked on a feasibility study to determine whether its existing DDS program could be extended closer to underserved areas of Missouri and surrounding regions by utilizing distance education and a clinical training facility in conjunction with another public university. This article describes the study and its outcomes. Other institutions may find this process useful as they assess factors that could impact the success of future programming and seek new solutions to long-standing problems.


This paper provided the following suffi ci ent condition for constructing the unsolvable algebra equations by radicals:Let the integral coefficient polynomial f(x)is irreducible in the rational numbe r field Q,if t,the number of real roots of algebra equa tion f(x)=0 satisfies 1tn,then the equation is unsolvable.Based on the obove coudition,a type of unsolvable algebra equations of real coefficient trin omial is constructed.


Abstract The social-psychological approach to inter-organizational relationships is a timely and relevant focus of research in light of the increasing roles of coordination, cooperation and coalignment in strategic marketing channel systems. In this paper, the authors investigate boundary spanning attitudes and behaviors, and they posit social interaction as a salient theoretical underpinning of marketing channel relationships.


Abstract The Tatarlı tumulus in Central Anatolia housed a tomb chamber with painted wooden walls and ceiling. Datable to the fifth century BCE on the basis of style and dendrochronology, it represents a very rare example of the almost lost genre of painting on wood during antiquity. The Tatarlı tomb chamber is not only the largest painting on wood preserved from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, but is also unique in construction and decoration. To explore this important work of art, an interdisciplinary project was set up to bring together the interests of archaeology, architecture, conservation, scientific analysis and computer studies. The aim of the project is the reconstruction and exhibition of the chamber in the Archaeological Museum in Afyon, Turkey.


To adequately reflect the pedagogical reality in the scientific theory, establish regularities of the pedagogical process developing in globalizing society, find efficient instruments for solving urgent educational problems it is important to differentiate between the notions of globalization and internationalization in present-day educational context. In the article, the differentiation rests on distinguishing between two planes – that of objective processes, with regular cause-and-effect links, and that of guiding ideas, norms, and rules of educational activity.


Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is sometimes mentioned as the disease of "firsts". 1) It is the first disease where the term "leukemia" was used. 2) It is the first neoplastic disorder which was found to be associated with a recurrent chromosomal abnormality. 3) It is the first disease where targeted therapy against a fusion protein was used. Entrance of BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors, first imatinib and then dasatinib and nilotinib, into clinical practice within the last decade has fundamentally changed both treatment and follow-up of CML. In this review, practical points about CML have been summarized, with a special emphasis to treatment and follow-up.


The invention relates generally to methods for calibrating X-ray detection systems, said systems comprising at least an X-ray generator, and a detection assembly including a matrix (10) of semiconductor detector pixels and processing and calibration electronics (20, 21, 22, 23).


Aim To design and synthesize 4-aminopiperidine derivatives monoamine reuptake inhibitors.Methods The target compounds Ⅰ1-Ⅰ9 were prepared by N-alkylation of 4-aminopiperidine derivatives,and compounds Ⅰ10-Ⅰ17 were obtained by reduction of compounds Ⅰ1-Ⅰ9 with NaBH4.Results and conclusion Seventeen new target compounds were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by HR-MS and 1H-NMR.The results of preliminary pharmacological test showed that five of seventeen compounds possessed diverse monoamine reuptake inhibitors activities.


Paracetamol dosing for children in UK hospitals causes debate and disagreement between clinicians. We think that the current recommendations in the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) for oral paracetamol contribute to this. The doses recommended for all indications, except postoperative pain, are based on the age of the child rather than their weight. We understand that the BNFC reflects the recommended dose for overthecounter (OTC) use of paracetamol and therefore needs to be easy for parents to use, however, additional information about suitable doses for hospitalised children is needed. We decided to survey clinicians to see if it was possible to gain consensus on which doses should be used for paediatric inpatients. We surveyed UK clinicians (paediatric anaesthetists, pain nurse specialists and pharmacists) in June 2020 to examine paracetamol dosing preferences for hospitalised children. Fortysix paediatric acute care clinical sites with representation from the UK paediatric pain special interest group (the Paediatric Pain Travelling Club) and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacist Group responded to the survey.


Stimulated by the recent development in the research area of second language vocabulary acquisition both in China and abroad, the author, by means of a questionnaire, conducted a survey of learner beliefs about vocabulary learning and strategy use by 203 non-English major freshmen in Tsinghua University. Based on the results, the author made some pedagogical suggestions on both the teaching of vocabulary knowledge and instruction in learning strategies.


Many objects of nanoscopic dimensions involve fluid-tethered chain interfaces. These systems are of interest for basic science and for several applications, in particular for design of nanodevices for specific purposes. We review recent developments of theoretical methods in this area of research and in particular of density functional (DF) approaches, which provide important insights into microscopic properties of such interfaces. The theories permit to describe the dependence of adsorption, wettability, solvation forces and electric interfacial phenomena on thermodynamic states and on characteristics of tethered chains. Computer simulations for the problems in question are overviewed as well. Theoretical results are discussed in relation to simulation results and to some experimental observations.


Performing LASIK surgery that is customized for each eye can offer more pleasing outcomes in terms of both patient safety and comfort, claims Kerry K. Assil, MD.


The purpose of this study was to describe the configuration of auditory speech images, in which phonologically similar words are represented closely to one another. Experiment I was carried out with a set of 10 two-syllable-words, while experiment II was with a set of 12 such words as stimuli. In each experiment, 10 subjects were required to read aloud each pair of two-syllable-words and to rate the auditory similarity between the two items. The similarity responses were analyzed by ALSCAL, yielding three-dimensional configuration. The overall configuration revealed that the vowel of the last syllable was the most important, while the first sound of a word was not critical in judgment of similarity. However, the problems need further research, whether these results remain valid also for longer syllables, or influence of accents on such similarity.


Deregulation: In tandem with the appreciation of real estate values, the deregulation of consumer lending in the 1980s left the door wide open for unscrupulous operators. Federal laws passed in 1980 and 1983 preempted both state usury ceilings on mortgage lending secured by first liens (whether purchase money or not),[4] as well as state limitations on risky "creative financing" options, such as negatively amortizing loans.[5]


Live migration of Virtual Machines (VM) is an important part of cloud and data center management that allows load balancing, physical machine (PM) maintenance, and consolidation. Maintaining low network usage spikes and fast times during live migration are necessary goals to ensure that the performance of the migrating VM as well as that of other VMs in the cluster is not degraded. In this paper we present a proactive memory sharing protocol that utilizes the commonality of memory pages between VMs due to similar resident Operating Systems and applications to achieve these goals. The proposed method identifies and distributes important shared pages in a cluster over time substantially reducing network usage and enabling fast times during migration. We implement our approach on a test cluster and demonstrate the time and bandwidth benefits achieved with real world loads for both pre and post copy live migration.