The term mental rotation refers to a mental process during which individuals "encode the spatial information into an image, rotate the image mentally, and then access the image in its new orientation" (Warren, 1994, pp. 107-108). Spatial perspective taking is based on a mental rotation process of the self. In spatial perspective taking, individuals seem to rotate themselves mentally into others' orientation to adopt their spatial perspective (Kessler & Thomson, 2010). The mental representation of space is essentially visual (Huttenlocher & Presson, 1973), and some of its aspects, such as perspective, are considered to be visually acquired (Arditi, Holtzman, & Kosslyn, 1988). However, there is another point of view according to which mental representation, even perspective (Heller et al., 2002), neither results from nor reflects visual perception (Millar, 1976). Paivio (1986) suggested that imagery can result from every sensory modality. Some studies have underlined the force of touch in specific tasks, by which individuals with visual impairments performed as well as or even better than their sighted counterparts (Heller, 1989; Heller, Brackett, Scroggs, & Allen, 2001; Noordzij, Zuidhoek, & Postma, 2007). Various studies have been conducted to evaluate mental rotation (Carpenter & Eisenberg, 1978; Dulin & Hatwell, 2006; Marmor & Zaback, 1976) and perspective taking (Millar, 1976) in individuals with visual impairments. The results suggested that visual imagery facilitates the performance of a mental rotation task (rotation of either an object or of the self). The aims of the study presented here were to examine the mental rotation ability of individuals with visual impairments and the effect of visual status, gender, and chronological age on this ability. For this purpose, two tests were conducted--the clock test and the room test. The first test was in essence a perspective task (Huttenlocher & Presson, 1973), and the second test was a mental manipulation task (Penrod & Petrosko, 2003). However, because both tests require conceptually difficult mental rotations (Millar, 1976), we refer to them both as mental rotation tests. METHOD Participants In our study, we followed the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. In addition, we obtained consent from the participants using the appropriate forms and according to the procedure suggested by the World Medical Association. Twenty-eight individuals with congenital visual impairments were selected, 15 boys and 13 girls, aged 6 years, 8 months, to 18 years (M = 12.37). The sample was randomly selected, and none of the participants had additional disabilities. Of the 28, 14 participants, aged 6 years, 8 months, to 17 years, were totally blind (from birth or prior to age 3) or had only light perception (M = 11.90), and 14 participants aged 8 years, 6 months, to 18 years, had residual vision (M = 12.85). The visual acuity of the participants with residual vision was better than 20/400 and worse than 20/200, and their central functional visual fields were better than 20 degrees (binocularly), examined through a confrontation method using a pen light. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Materials and design Three white cardboard squares measuring 25 x 25 centimeters (or about 10 x 10 inches) were used in the first test. In the center of the first square, a fixed, constant indicator made of black sandpaper was placed in a similar direction to that of a clock hand pointing to number 6 (see Figure 1, section a). Similarly, in the center of the second square, there was a fixed, constant indicator that pointed toward the clock position between numbers 7 and 8 (see Figure 1, section b) (hereafter position 6 and position 7.5). In the center of the third square there was an indicator that was fixed with a metal nail in such a way that it could be turned (see Figure 1, section c). …


Should patients with epilepsy be monitored during sleep to prevent sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)? The study by van der Lende et al.1 provides additional evidence that the answer is probably yes in certain populations. These investigators compared the incidence of SUDEP at 2 residential centers for adults with severe epilepsy (>90% had convulsive seizures, and ∼50% were on ≥3 antiepileptic drugs). The center with less intensive nocturnal monitoring had a nearly 3-fold higher SUDEP incidence that was not explained by other factors (e.g., seizure severity). Sadly, despite monitoring, supervision, and expert care at both centers, the SUDEP rate remained 2- to 5-fold greater than population-based studies of patients with epilepsy. Unlike some other case-control studies, the incidence of SUDEP was higher among individuals with higher IQ and less benzodiazepine use.


Market economy is competitive economy.The survival and development of rentreprise lies in competence power.Private economy has become an important factor and a sustaining power of national economy.After the second undertaking,private economy is entering the third that aims at developing core competitive power.


A method of constructing codes capable of correcting an arbitrary number of asymmetrical errors is given. The method is related to a problem in the additive theory of numbers.


Increased risks in monoamniotic twin pregnancies are due primarily to cord entanglement,1 leading to compression and fetal asphyxia. Unfortunately, the prevalence of this condition has been reported to be 40 to 70% in monoamniotic twin pregnancies.1,2 Therefore, when cord entanglement is diagnosed, we must be able to predict whether or not fetal asphyxiation will occur. In singleton pregnancies, umbilical venous pulsations have been observed in abnormal fetuses with heart failure or in normal fetuses using pulsations of the umbilical arteries.3 We present a case of monoamniotic twin pregnancy in which umbilical venous pulsations suggested tight cord entanglement leading to progressive preloading of the fetal heart.


Intestinal parasitosis is a frequent disease in children with diverse therapies and controversial effectiveness. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of metronidazole, secnidazole and albendazole as monotherapies in children. 399 children were included and divided in three groups. Group A were of children with amoebiasis divided in two subgroups: A1 treated with metronidazole and A2 with secnidazole. Group B presented giardiasis. Subgroup B1 treated with metronidazole, B2 with secnidazole and B3 with albendazole. Group C presented blastocystosis and its subgroups C1 and C2 were treated with metronidazole and secnidazole respectively. Patients were children from two months to 14 years of age, attending the Autonomous University Hospital los Andes, Las Gonzalez Out-Patient Clinic and the La Azulita Hospital, in Merida state, Venezuela during 2005. The most frequent parasitosis was Entamoeba histolytica (49.1%), Blastocystis hominis (32.5%) and Giardia lamblia (18, 2%). Pre-school and school children were 52.1% and 64.3% from the suburban and rural areas. The clinical exam depended on the parasite etiology. We considered clinical improvement if the symptoms disappeared, and the parasitology was cured if the copro-analysis was negative. Children with amebiasis presented similar clinical improvement with both medicines and greater parasitological cure with secnidazole. Children with giardiasis showed greater clinical improvement and parasitology cure with secnidazole and low effectiveness with albendazole. Children with Blastocystis hominis showed greater clinical improvement and parasitology cure with metronidazole. We conclude that secnidazole has greater therapeutic effectiveness in children with amebiasis and giardiasis and metronidazole in children with Blastocystis hominis. We do not recommend albendazole against giardiasis


SUBTITLE: TWO DECADES OF DEREGULATION LEAVES OWNER-OPERATORS ON SHORT END OF STICK. SIDEBAR: RECESSION DEALS DEATH BLOW TO CARRIERS CRIPPLED BY DEREGULATION.


The chemistry of electronic gases is reviewed, and their use as relevant examples of practical chemistry in the classroom is discussed. Electronic gases can be defined as those gases used in manufacturing by the electronics (i.e., semiconductor) industry. They are generally specialty gases used in relatively low volumes and high purity for specific applications. They are used in many different processes in the electronics industry, but the four most common applications are deposition and doping, etching, special atmospheres, and cleaning. The chemistry of electronic gases can be used in the classroom to provide many interesting examples of molecular structures, chemical reactions, periodic trends, and environmental chemistry.


This study tests the appropriateness of two competing hypotheses drawn from the public finance literature about the impact of municipal utility profits on local tax and spending patterns. By comparing data from cities that own their electric utilities to nonelectric cities, this research finds that neither city expenditures nor property tax rates are signifIcantly affected by the transfer of profits. The evidence suggests that the profits are used by cities with relatively weak tax bases to obtain revenues from tax-exempt institutions, homeowners, and nonresidents.


Load flow, voltage stability & short circuit analyses of a power system are essential for both design and operating stage performance monitoring and to ensure reliable grid operations by adequate protection scheme settings. In this research work, electrical model of a 1240 MW combined cycle power plant (CCPP) is developed on Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP) and load flow, voltage stability & short circuit analyses are performed. Effect of power grid voltage instability on system buses of the power plant is evaluated. Using load flow analysis that exploits Newton-Raphson algorithm, buses operating at under voltage due to power grid voltage instability are identified and their voltages are improved according to given voltage constraints that are based on buses criticality with respect to loads. On-load tap changers and reactive power compensation are used to improve steady state voltage stability. Optimal position for capacitor banks placement and number of capacitor banks are suggested by using optimal capacitor placement module of ETAP. The results of short circuit analysis are compared with short circuit current values experienced by the power plant sources. Consequently, favorable results have been accomplished through ETAP for all power system analyses.


Rik Peels has once again forcefully argued that ignorance is not equivalent to the lack or absence of knowledge. In doing so, he endeavors to refute the Standard View of Ignorance according to which they are equivalent, and to advance what he calls the ―New View‖ according to which ignorance is equivalent (merely) to the lack or absence of true belief. I defend the Standard View against his new attempted refutation.


"Principles contained are reflected in things" and "Clearing the mind and smelling scenes" expounded by Zong Bing are two modes of responding to things. The works created by using these two modes are of two types, one of which is like philosophical poetry and the other lyric poetry. The two types of works, though different in their visual impressions, have achieved the same effects in clearing human mind and spirit. The meaning of "With thoughts in Fancy upon Appreciation Tao is achieved when the mind transcends" supplies landscape painters with a set of painting techniques and more importantly, with a set of methods for seeking artistic spirit. "Thoughts in Fancy", as the chief mode of Zong Bing's second-round responding to things,including "no separation by space" and "no restraint by time", is of extraordinary significance to the creation of painting art.


SUMMARY

Seventeen patients have been treated by a new type of urethroplasty, which embodies an inverted U-shaped flap of scrotal skin. It has certain practical advantages. It is technically easy to perform and can be used to deal with a stricture of any length from one end to the other of the urethra.


In this work a new series of microcapsules for self-healing coatings were successfully prepared by an in-situ polymerization route with poly (urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) as a shell material and a mixture of methacryloxypropyl terminated dimethyl silicone oil (2MA4000) and 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (I-184) as core materials. The UV curing properties of the core materials were performed by the gel yield. The surface morphology and shell wall thickness, the particle size and distribution, and the chemical structure and properties of microcapsules were characterized by SEM, FTIR, laser particle size analyzer and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results indicated that the gel yield of 2MA4000 with 3 wt.% Irgacure-184 was 63.35%. The spherical microcapsules (particle size of mostly 20-50 μm) were produced with a relatively thin shell wall of 20-90 nm, a filling content of 84 wt.%, and a high yield of 71.4 wt.%. The microcapsules exhibit a good heat resistance. The core of the microcapsule was under a good preservation state during the encapsulated process, and part of the core which was in the interface between oil and water participated in the reaction of urea and formaldehyde. It makes the microcapsule wall being the organosilicon modified PUF resins, which promotes the thermostability of the microcapsule wall and compatibility with organosilicon coating.


Comprehensive measurements on the reversible and total magnetothermal effect, the reversible susceptibility and the magnetization curves of annealed nickel and cobalt have been made. It is shown that, for reversible changes in magnetization, there is no significant change in the value of the `rotational' coefficient bdouble prime for nickel in high fields, and that reversible changes in intrinsic magnetization and rotations of the magnetization vectors must predominate. For cobalt, with a higher coercivity, these effects also predominate even in relatively low fields. There is no evidence of the reduction in the numerical value of b'' in high fields, which has been deduced from the results of earlier work, and it is suggested that if any additional effects are present in high fields they must be irreversible. There is good agreement with the results of Tebble, Wood and Florentin and of Bates and his co-workers.


Oil-based cutting fluids in machining are not only a burden for the environment, but also pollute the machined workpieces with residues. Cryogenic media such as carbon dioxide (CO2) are established incrementally as a cleaner alternative to conventional cooling lubrication methods. For this reason, this article investigates the suitability of CO2 as a coolant for turning of materials such as Copper OFE, Stainless Steel 316LN (SS 316LN) and Niobium high RRR, which are used at CERN for a wide range of accelerator components e.g. radio-frequency (RF) cavities and ancillaries. They are examined with regard to surface pollution, surface roughness and tool wear. The tests concerning surface pollution show that CO2 does not leave any residues on the workpieces surface and is therefore suitable for ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) applications. The tests regarding surface roughness show an improvement of the surface quality of all investigated materials compared to the tested conventional cooling methods emulsion, alcohol and straight oil. In contrast, in the investigation of tool wear, the performance of emulsion cooling could only be achieved with the addition of a minimum quantity of oil. Cryogenic Machining, Surface Integrity, Tool wear, Clean Machining


This paper summarizes the status of management information systems with emphasis on applications to planning and management of airline maintenance and refurbishment operations. Past approaches to management of launch operations are reviewed and analyzed for their applicability to the Space Shuttle era. Factors affecting the selection of a management information system for the Shuttle will be analyzed and discussed.


Selected references on attitudes toward the hiring of socially disadvantaged persons for use in projects concerned with poverty and the utilization of manpower.


In this paper, the sea surface currents in the offshore area of Lianyungang, China, were derived from the hourly sea surface temperature data provided by Himawari-8 satellite by using the Maximum Cross-Correlation (MCC) method. We set different parameters of the template window size, time interval and search length in MCC method and compared the estimated currents with in-situ measurements of the High-Frequency Surface Wave Radar. The results show that the template window size has the greatest influence on the accuracy of the retrieved currents, while the search length has the smallest effect. Both the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) in speed and the average error in direction decrease with the increase of the template window size regardless of the time interval or search length. Overall, the RMSE decreases with the increase of time interval, but $\theta$ slightly increases. The shorter the search length, the smaller the error of result is. The RMSE of the derived speed and $\theta$ of the current direction without quality control are 0.19 m/s and 33.01°, respectively, when the template window size is set as 45 km×45 km, the time interval is 6 h, and the search length is 10 km.


The growth of car production governs new environmental regulations "End-of Life Vehicles" (ELV) to enforce car manufacturer to substitute synthetic material to bio based materials. Low mechanical properties of natural fibre composite confine their application in automotive non-structural components. Hybridizations of kenaf with glass fibre along with epoxy PBT toughening did not completely fulfill the required impact property of the developed bio-composite bumper beam to substitute with typical material of the bumper beam glass mat thermoplastic (GMT). Therefore, in the first stage of the geometrical improvement "concept selection" concluded that the double hat profile (DHP) is the most suitable concept out of eight bumper beam concepts when six parameters with different weight are determined. In second trial, the usage of strengthen rib is employed to improve the impact property and performance of the bumper beam for utilization of hybrid kenaf/glass fibre as a car bumper beam.


In this research, we present an analysis of the optimal investment, consumption, and life insurance acquisition problem for a wage earner with partial information. Our study considers the non-linear filter case where risky asset prices are correlated to the factor processes under constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) preferences. We introduce a more general framework with an incomplete market, random parameters adapted to the Brownian motion filtration, and a general factor process with a non-linear state estimation and a correlation between the state process (risky asset prices) and the factor process. To address the wage earner's problem, we formulate it as a stochastic control problem with partial information where the risky assets prices are correlated to the factor processes. Our framework is extensive since the non-linear filter applied to the linear case gives a more robust result than the Kalman filter. We obtain the non-linear filter through the Zakai equation and derive a system of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and two backward stochastic differential equations (BSDE). We establish the existence and uniqueness of the solution, prove the verification theorem, and construct the optimal strategy.


Thioacetamide complexes are used for the synthesis of metal sulfide powders. In the title molecular complex, [CdI2(C2H5NS)2], the CdII atom is located on a twofold rotation axis and is tetrahedrally coordinated by two iodine atoms and two thioacetamide molecules. The Cd—I distance is 2.7615 (17) A and the Cd—S distance is 2.5586 (17) A.


This study aims to evaluate the performance development of Mataram City PELTI tennis athletes both exogenously and endogenously from athletes, coaches, facilities, and infrastructure as well as the level of readiness of Mataram City PELTI athletes. This research method is descriptive with the survey method. The instrument used is a questionnaire consisting of 80 questions with a Guttman scale. The results of the research of the administrators and trainers of the Mataram City Pelti seen from exogenous factors fall into the "Good" category. Meanwhile, endogenous factors fall into the "moderate" category. And in terms of athletes seen from exogenous factors included in the "medium" category. Meanwhile, the endogenous factors are in the "Good" category. In conclusion, the achievement development of the Mataram City PELTI tennis field based on the point of view of the administrators/coaches and athletes is in the "medium" category.
Keywords: Evaluation, PELTI Mataram City


Introduction: The metal industry plays an essential role in rapid economic growth. The growth is straight with the worker increment and high occupational disease risk. Various materials, especially in the metal industry, can initiate contact dermatitis in the workplace. Skin is the organ that exposes frequently, and skin disease is the most common disease among occupational dermatitis. Allergens and irritants exposure contribute to contact dermatitis. In Indonesia, occupational skin diseases are 97%, and Irritant Contact Dermatitis (ICD) is the most case, around 66.3%. This study aims to describe the influencing factors of contact dermatitis in metal industries workers. Methods: The study is a literature review using the electronic database search, namely Google Scholar, Research Gate and Garuda. The keywords occupational contact dermatitis and metal contact dermatitis are applied. The inclusion criteria are online databases from 2017 to 2022, completed articles, relevant titles and abstracts. Exclusion criteria include not completed articles, not relevant titles and abstracts. Results: The twelve articles use the same method, namely cross-sectional design. The questionnaire, observation, and interview were applied for the data collection method. This literature review presents factors influencing contact dermatitis: work duration, contact duration, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and personal hygiene. The articles reviewed collection are obtained through descriptive tests and analytical. Conclusion: As the review result that there are affected factors to contact dermatitis: contact duration, frequency duration, PPE usage, and personal hygiene. PPE is the dominant influencing factor to metal contact dermatitis.


Abstract.  The research aims to analyze ecological value of meiofauna as bioindicator in Losari Coast, Makassar. The total meiofauna abundance was 66791 indv/m2, consisted of 12 phylum and 91 species/genus. The stations located at the mouth of the Jeneberang River, Tanjung Merdeka, and the Tallo River  are research sites with high levels of abundance, due to the presence of organic contaminants produced by surrounding anthropogenic activity that trigger high growth of meiofauna.  ostracoda, oligochaeta, tunicata and ciliophora are the phylum with high levels of abundance compared to other meiofauna, as it that phylum has a high adaptability to the entry of pollutant material in the water. Diversity index and evenness indicates  the meioufauna in the Losari Coast categorized by a high level of diversity and evenly distributed. While  dominance index indicated that no dominant meifauna species, except at research stations located around the Losari Beach reclamation project. Keywords: Abundance, meiofauna, anthropogenic, Coastal Losari Beach, Makassar


An x-cut LiNbO3 substrate has been doped with Yb3+ ions by thermal diffusion from an Yb metal film of thickness 7nm. Polarised absorption and fluorescence spectra of the dopant ion have been measured using Ti-diffused y-propagating channel waveguides prepared in the doped region. Yb is a diode- pumpable laser ion with characteristics which can be compared favourably with those of Nd in some respects; for example the small energy difference between pump and laser photons reduces thermal load facilitating high power operation. A waveguide laser geometry is particularly advantageous for Yb due to the quasi-3-level nature of the laser transition. The simple fabrication technique described here has been used to produce a system which may have the potential to operate as an Yb waveguide laser in an electro-optic host crystal.


It discloses a novel method for treating endometriosis. The method includes administering to a female subject in need thereof, a therapeutically effective amount of particles comprising an agent capable of inhibiting phagocytic cells of a female subject.


Acoustic vector quantities such as particle velocity and intensity are usually estimated using the finite‐difference technique. We present an alternate method, termed the wave vector method, for estimating vector quantities in acoustic fields in which the reactive intensity is small relative to the active intensity. This method utilizes the same equipment necessary for the finite‐difference method, yet reduces sensitivity to sensor phase mismatch at low frequencies and eliminates bias error at high frequencies. The method is developed for arbitrary sensor configurations, and numerical results are presented for the special case of a regular tetrahedral configuration. [Work supported by NASA Stennis Space Center and STI Technologies.]


Several 3-alkyl-6-(2,4-dichlorophenoxymethyl)-s-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles 3a-3e and 6,6′-bis(3-aryl-s-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles) 3f-3j were synthesized. The structures of all the compounds synthesized were elucidated by elemental analyses and spectral data. The representative compounds 3a and 3b exhibited moderate biological activities.


For applications such as video surveillance and human computer interfaces, we propose an efficiently integrated method to detect and track faces. Various visual cues are combined with the algorithm: motion, skin color, global appearance and facial pattern detection. The ICA (independent component analysis)-SVM (support vector machine) based pattern detection is performed on the candidate region extracted by motion, color and global appearance information. Simultaneous execution of detection and short-term tracking also increases the rate and accuracy of detection. Experimental results show that our detection rate is 91% with very few false alarms running at about 4 frames per second for 640 by 480 pixel images on a Pentium IV 1 GHz.


Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the transitional experiences of graduate nurses who had previously trained as enrolled nurses (ENs). Design: A small survey design was utilised to collect data using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Setting: Data was collected by the use of telephone interviews. Participants: The participants consisted of four male and two female Bachelor of Nursing graduates, who had previously qualified as ENs. All graduates were aged between 23 to 27 years of age and had worked as ENs in the clinical practice area for two to three years. The graduate nurses in this study came from the same university in which the researchers were employed. They provided an 'opportunity group' for selection. Main outcome: Transition is stressful for all new graduates, including those with previous qualifications as ENs. Results: The findings indicated that the transition from student to registered nurse is as stressful and labile for this student cohort as has been reported with regard to graduate transition generally. Conclusion: Industry expectations of these graduates must be aligned to their perceptions and abilities. Nursing graduates who previously trained as ENs require the same degree of guidance, support and understanding afforded other graduates upon entry into the workforce. (author abstract)


Ethanol is believed to be one of the best alternatives to replace gasoline, because ethanol is a renewable energy source and environmentally friendly. The present study focuses on the optimization of palmyra sap as a source for ethanol production. Statistical experimental design using Box-Wilson central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the quantitative effects of sugar, urea, and inoculum concentration on ethanol production. It was found that palmyra sap could be used as a substrate for ethanol production using Zymomonas mobilis (NRRL B-14234). A maximum ethanol concentration of 58.97 g L -1 was obtained after optimizing the parameters of fermentation. The optimum values of sugar, urea, and inoculums concentration were 206.01 g L -1 , 3.16 g L -1 , and 23.05% (v v -1 ), respectively, with ethanol yield of 0.3039 g g -1 . A high similarity was observed between the predicted and experimental results, which reflected the accuracy and applicability of RSM to optimize the process for ethanol production.


In tropical region inadequate quality and quantity of feed are major constraints to livestock production sector. Most of feed resources are low in nutrient content to meet nutrient requirement of maintenance, production and reproduction. Therefore this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of ensiling graded level of poultry litter with desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum) on intake, preference, fermentative and nutritional characteristics of silage in case of Bonga Sheep . Poultry litter (Pl) and desho grass (Dg) was ensiled by four treatments; T1 (100%Dg), T2(80%Dg+20%Pl), T3(70%Dg+30%Pl) and T4(60%Dg+40%Pl) in three replications for 30 days. Ten Bonga sheep were used to evaluate the free choice intake of silage in a cafeteria style. The experimental design was complete randomized design (CRD). Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance and significant means. Ensiling with poultry litter significantly (P T2> T1 > T4. It is concluded that desho grass ensiled within 20% to 30% poultry litter improved Crude protein (CP) content and intake by Bonga sheep when compared with control and 40% poultry level. Keywords: silage, poultry litter, desho grass, palatability trail, Bonga, sheep


Objectives: Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is better than intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in terms of its plan qualities and efficiency for the treatment of prostate cancer. It remains unclear whether its use in salvage radiotherapy to prostatic fossae is safe and effective. Herein we report the dosimetric and clinical results of salvage radiotherapy to prostatic fossae using VMAT. Methods: Fifteen consecutive patients with a rising prostate-specific antigen after radical prostatectomy in our institution received salvage radiotherapy using VMAT. Prostate-specific antigen control and acute toxicities within 1 year after treatment were retrospectively reviewed. For comparison, IMRT plans were also generated for 12 of these patients and the quality of these plans in terms of organ-at-risk sparing (volume of bladder and rectum receiving 60 and 70 Gy), target coverage (conformation number and the prescribed dose of D90), and the number of monitor units. Results: After salvage radiotherapy using VMAT, all patients had a decrease in their prostate-specific antigen with a complete response rate of 87%. The recorded toxicities were rectal bleeding, tenesmus, urinary frequency, nocturia, and urinary incontinence. After a median follow-up of 20 months, two patients endured treatment failure. There was no significant difference between the VMAT and IMRT plans in terms of quality. The mean number of monitor units by VMAT (488) was significantly smaller than that used by IMRT (519) [p < 0.001]. The mean beam-on time was 171 (range, 92-228) seconds with treatment delivered by VMAT. Conclusions: It is efficient, effective, and safe to use VMAT as salvage radiotherapy to the prostatic fossa.


This paper presents the score level fusion of multimodal biometrics using Hanman-Anirban entropy function. Entropy function captures the uncertainty in the scores. The experimental results ascertain that Entropy based score level fusion outperforms over existing methods of score level fusion such as t-norms, sum and max. We have validated our claim on finger-knuckle-print (FKP) dataset consisting of left index, left middle, right index and right middle FKP. The features of FKPs are extracted using the Gabor Wavelet. The implementation is done using MATLAB and the performance of the proposed technique is evaluated using Receiver Operating characteristics (ROC) curve. The proposed score level fusion approach achieves significant improvement in the performance over the individual FKP. We obtain Genuine acceptance rate of 99% with FAR of 0.001 %. General Terms Multimodal Biometrics, Entropy, Authentication.


Multiyear civilian manned missions to explore the surface of Mars are thought by NASA to be possible early in the next century. Expeditions to Mars, as well as permanent bases, are envisioned to require enhanced piloted vehicles to conduct science and exploration activities. Piloted rovers, with 30 kWe user net power (for drilling, sampling and sample analysis, onboard computer and computer instrumentation, vehicle thermal management, and astronaut life support systems) in addition to mobility are being considered. The rover design, for this study, included a four car train type vehicle complete with a hybrid solar photovoltaic/regenerative fuel cell auxiliary power system (APS). This system was designed to power the primary control vehicle. The APS supplies life support power for four astronauts and a limited degree of mobility allowing the primary control vehicle to limp back to either a permanent base or an accent vehicle. The results showed that the APS described above, with a mass of 667 kg, was sufficient to provide live support power and a top speed of five km/h for 6 hours per day. It was also seen that the factors that had the largest effect on the APS mass were the life support power, the numbermore » of astronauts, and the PV cell efficiency. The topics covered include: (1) power system options; (2) rover layout and design; (3) parametric analysis of total mass and power requirements for a manned Mars rover; (4) radiation shield design; and (5) energy conversion systems.« less


Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) in localizing the origin of outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias (OTVAs) and compare its performance with that of seven published 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) algorithms. Methods Patients with OTVAs who were undergoing catheter ablation were prospectively investigated. The OVTA origins were localized using both ECGI and seven 12-lead ECG algorithms, with the successful ablation site set as the gold standard. The performance of the ECGI and 12-lead ECG algorithms were compared. Results Twenty-seven patients were enrolled into the study. The ECGI system correctly identified the chamber of OTVA origin in 27/27 (100%) patients and the sublocalization within the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in 21/22 (95.5%) patients. However, the ECG algorithms correctly diagnosed the chamber and sublocalization in only 21/27 (77.8%) patients and 13/22 (59.1%) patients, respectively, which was significantly lower compared with the ECGI system. Conclusions Non-invasive ECGI can accurately predict the origin of OTVAs in a manner that is superior to that of conventional 12-lead ECGs in differentiating the RVOT from the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) and septum from free wall in the RVOT. This provides a useful tool to guide catheter ablation. This trial has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration number: ChiCTR1900025527).


Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are both chronic inflammatory respiratory disorders with a worldwide increase in incidence. Chronic mucus hypersecretion is prevalent in both diseases (1, 2) and is associated with more severe symptoms and exacerbations in asthma (3) and lower quality of life, accelerated lung function decline, increased risk of exacerbations, and higher mortality in COPD (1). Within the airway epithelial layer, goblet cells are responsible for the secretion of the mucin proteins MUC5AC and MUC5B, the main constituents of mucus in the respiratory tract. Processes that contribute to chronic mucus hypersecretion are goblet cell metaplasia, excessive mucus production, and impaired mucociliary clearance. Goblet cell metaplasia and loss of columnar ciliated cells represent key features of the chronically remodeled airways in both asthma and COPD. Environmental risk factors for asthma and COPD include allergens, viral and bacterial infections, cigarette smoke, and air pollutants, which encounter the airway epithelial lining of the respiratory tract and disturb cellular homeostasis. This leads to increased mucosal permeability and is associated with increased numbers of mucus-producing cells (4, 5). Moreover, disruption of epithelial barrier function may propagate chronic inflammation and airway remodeling (4, 6). Indeed, many of the susceptibility genes for asthma and COPD are expressed in the airway epithelium, highlighting the importance of events at the mucosal layer for the pathogenesis of both diseases (4, 6). Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms that underlie abnormalities in the airway epithelium of asthma and COPD are yet to be elucidated. The pseudostratified airway epithelial layer consists of various epithelial cell types, of which basal cells, secretory club cells, mucus-producing goblet cells, and columnar ciliated cells are the major cell types. Basal cells serve as progenitors that can differentiate into an intermediate state of secretory club cells, which differentiate subsequently into either mucus-secreting goblet cells or mucus-clearing ciliated cells (7). The Notch signaling pathway plays a crucial role in controlling the fate of airway epithelial cells in the developing airways, regulating stem/progenitor cell renewal and differentiation. In the adult lung, the mechanisms by which Notch signaling components modulate cellular homeostasis and responses to environmental insults are less well understood (8). Notch2 (Notch receptor 2) signaling has been shown to mediate cytokine-driven goblet cell hyperplasia of human airway epithelial cells (9), whereas Notch1 and Notch3 were reported to drive airway basal cell differentiation toward secretory cells (10). During airway epithelial differentiation, Notch3 can prime a pool of basal cells into club cells that can later undergo differentiation into goblet or ciliated cells through Notch1/Notch2 downstream signaling, for which Notch ligand Jag1 (Jagged1) and Jag2 availability is required (11, 12). Specifically, Jag1 has been implicated in human airway epithelial cell differentiation toward secretory cells (13), whereas Notch3 has been shown to regulate goblet cell hyperplasia in airway epithelial cells from patients with COPD in response to rhinovirus infection (11). Furthermore, a recent study showed higher expression of Notch3 expression, but lower expression of Notch1, in asthmatic airway epithelium compared with control epithelium (15). Inhibition of Notch3 blocked MUC5AC production upon in vitro differentiation (15). Although expression of Notch target genes was found to be similar in club cells from patients with asthma and control subjects (9, 10), recent single-cell sequencing data in bronchial brushings have shown that the Notch target gene signature is lost in goblet cells and mucous ciliated cells in asthma (16). Collectively, this reveals an intricate interplay between Notch signaling components, encompassing balanced expression and timing during airway epithelial differentiation. Although Notch signaling has been shown to contribute to mucous cell differentiation under homeostatic conditions, its involvement in allergen-induced goblet cell metaplasia has not been studied. In this issue of the Journal, Carrer and colleagues (pp. 46–56) (8) describe novel prophylactic and therapeutic effects of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) downregulation of Jag1 and Notch2 on goblet cell metaplasia in a house dust mite (HDM) mouse model of allergen-induced asthma. The authors show that ASO-mediated knockdown of either Jag1 or Notch2, but not Jag2, Notch1, or Notch3, results in reduced expression of the secretory cell marker Scgb1a1 (secretoglobin family 1A member 1) and increased expression of the ciliated cell marker FoxJ1 (forkhead box J1) in unchallenged and HDM-exposed mice, as well as reduced mucus production with lower mRNA expression of Muc5ac, Muc5b, and their transcriptional regulator Spdef (SAM pointed domain-containing Ets transcription factor) upon HDM exposure (Figure 1). This was accompanied by a robust amelioration of airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine as measured by whole-body plethysmography and a trend toward improved lung function parameters, with a significant effect on forced vital capacity as measured by flexiVent (SCIREQ), whereas proinflammatory cytokines were not significantly affected. The findings of Carrer and colleagues are of particular interest, given the emerging role of disturbances in the airway


Excommunication is the solemn declaration of the church that a sinner because of his impenitence is no longer a member of the church, that he is to be regarded as a heathen man and a publican (Mt 18:17), that his sin is bound upon him on earth and in heaven (Mt. 18:18). Exclusion from the visible church takes place because it has become evident that by his impenitence the sinner declares the Lord's verdict, which stands on its own merits and is not supplemented by any human power or authority. The purpose of excommunication is that this last and most severe preaching of the law might yet bring the sinner to see his error and that he thus may in the end still be saved. All of this implies that the congregation must be as sure as is humanly possible that the sinner is indeed impenitent.


Human-annotated textual explanations are becoming increasingly important in Explainable Natural Language Processing. Rationale extraction aims to provide faithful (i.e., reflective of the behavior of the model) and plausible (i.e., convincing to humans) explanations by highlighting the inputs that had the largest impact on the prediction without compromising the performance of the task model. In recent works, the focus of training rationale extractors was primarily on optimizing for plausibility using human highlights, while the task model was trained on jointly optimizing for task predictive accuracy and faithfulness. We propose REFER, a framework that employs a differentiable rationale extractor that allows to back-propagate through the rationale extraction process. We analyze the impact of using human highlights during training by jointly training the task model and the rationale extractor. In our experiments, REFER yields significantly better results in terms of faithfulness, plausibility, and downstream task accuracy on both in-distribution and out-of-distribution data. On both e-SNLI and CoS-E, our best setting produces better results in terms of composite normalized relative gain than the previous baselines by 11% and 3%, respectively.


Between the computer-knowledgeable {open_quotes}techie{close_quotes} and the technical writer is a chasm created by differences in knowledge bases and skills. Although this gap is widened by misunderstandings and misconceptions of system development roles, it is bridged by mutual need and dual appreciation. Often the editor/writer is {open_quotes}behind{close_quotes} from beginning to end. The writer normally joins the team after the programmers are well into system development and do not want to {open_quotes}waste time{close_quotes} discussing fundamentals. The writer is usually excluded from technical discussions because it is assumed that he/she would not understand anyway. Later in the system development cycle, the writer has no time to polish the documentation before a new version of the software is issued which implies that the documentation must be revised. Nevertheless, the editor/writer`s product is critical for the end-user`s appreciation of the software, a fact which promotes unity to complete the comprehensive package of software and documentation. This paper explores the planks in the bridge that spans the chasm between developers and their fundamental PR agents, the technical editors/writers. This paper defines approaches (e.g., The Circling Theory) and techniques (Bold Thrust!) employed for effective communication -- between software developer and technical writer as well as between themore » software and the end-user.« less


In patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, preoperativechemotherapy orchemoradiotherapy hasbeen showntoimprove outcome with respect to survival. Patients who respond to induction therapy have a significantly improved survival, comparedwithpatientswhodonotrespondtothetherapy.However, surrogatemarkersthatpredictresponseorprognosis—especially early in the course of therapy—are not available in clinical routine. In patients with esophageal cancer, PET with the glucose analog 18 F-FDG can be used for assessing response to therapy. Therapy response can be assessed with 18F-FDG PET and 18FFDG PET/CT late, that is, after completion of therapy, and early in the course of therapy. In adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction, 18 F-FDG has been established and validated in several studies as a surrogate marker that allows prediction of responseandprognosis,whereasinotherstudies 18 F-FDGPETwas not predictive of response and prognosis. The MUNICON study was an initial unicenter trial showing that a PET-guided treatment algorithm was feasible in patients with adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction. The results of this study are important toward individualization of multimodal treatment. The use of 18 FFDG PET and PET/CT for therapy monitoring in esophageal cancer is the subject of intense discussion, underlining the need for randomized multicenter studies. From a methodologic point of view, the most important issue in therapy monitoring using 18 FFDGPETandPET/CTisthestandardizationofpatientpreparation, data acquisition and processing, and data interpretation, especially for prospective randomized multicenter studies. In conclusion, single-center studies investigating response assessment in patients with esophageal cancerhave provided promising results.


Candidate should have working knowledge and experience in AutoCAD software as well as Microsoft Office. The right candidate should also be familiar with NFPA Standards and International Building/Fire Code. NICET Certification is preferred but not required. Applicant need to be able to read blueprints, conduct surveys of existing systems in field, attend job meetings, and be willing to train with Hydratec Fire Sprinkler software.


A series of novel rod- coil diblock copolymers on the basis of mesogen- jacketed liquid-crystalline polymer were successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization from the flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) macroinitiator. The hybrid diblock copolymers, poly{2,5-bis((4-methoxyphenyl)oxycarbonyl)styrene}-block- polydimethylsiloxane, had number-average molecular weights (M n's) ranging from 9500 to 30,900 and relatively narrow polydispersities (1.34). The polymerization proceeded with first-order kinetics. Data from differential scanning calorimetry vali- dated the microphase separation of the diblock copolymers. All block copolymers ex- hibited thermotropic liquid-crystalline behavior except for the one with M n being 9500. Four liquid-crystalline diblock copolymers with PDMS weight fractions of more than 18% had two distinctive glass-transition temperatures. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1799 -1806, 2003


From the connotation and feature,the current situation and countermeasure of universities employment consultation and instruction are analyzed and studied in the text,which will provide the valuable reference.


This experiment tests the modality congruency hypothesis, which suggests that in short-term recall of auditory or visual verbal information false memories can be suppressed more effectively if presentation modality and recall mode are in congruent relation (i.e., in oral recall of auditorily presented and written recall of visually presented materials). The experiment is based on the DRM paradigm (as used by Kellogg, 2001). The results demonstrate more intrusions if presentation and recall are in an incongruent relation than if they are in a congruent relation. This finding supports the assumption of a privileged pathway from the auditory input system to oral output on the one hand, and from the visual input system to written output on the other hand, which aids source monitoring.


An efficient method for data smoothing via least-squares, polynomial fitting is presented. The method has applications to smoothing experimental data that occur in digital form at uniformly spaced intervals of the independent variable, and it calculates smoothed derivatives of the data with equal efficiency. The work estimate for the method is independent of the length of the smoothing window; thus it avoids explicit convolutions. The storage required is also independent of the window length, except for the actual storage of the original data points.


Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder. It is characterized by the presence of extracellular aggregated fibrillary form of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles caused by the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein. Monomeric form of Aβ peptide in α-conformation is not toxic but it can undergo self-aggregation to form β-conformation which is neurotoxic. The most promising approach to combat AD is to prevent the self-aggregation of Aβ peptide. Recently, it has been reported that C-terminal (CTerm) of human albumin (HA) binds to the Aβ1–42 peptide and impairs the Aβ1–42 aggregation and promotes disassembly of Aβ1–42 aggregates. In this work, using potential of mean force (PMF) and binding free energy (BFE) calculations, we have demonstrated the effect of CTerm of HA on the dimerization of Aβ1–42 peptide. From the PMF profile, we noticed Aβ1–42-CTerm Heterodimer (10.99 kcal mol − 1) complex to have higher disassociation energy than Aβ1–42-Aβ1–42 homodimer (2.23 kcal mol − 1) complex. And also from the BFE calculations, we found that the binding affinity between Aβ1–42 peptide and CTerm (ΔGbind = −32.27 kcal mol − 1 from MM-GBSA and ΔGbind = −2.83 kcal mol − 1 from MM-PBSA (molecular mechanics–Poisson − Boltzmann surface area)) to be stronger than the Aβ1–42 peptide and another Aβ1–42 peptide (ΔGbind = −16.20 kcal mol − 1 from MM-GBSA and ΔGbind = −1.95 kcal mol − 1 from MM-PBSA). In this study, our findings from PMF and BFE analysis of the two complexes provide salient structural, binding and unbinding features and thermodynamics that support the ability of CTerm of HA in affecting the dimerization of Aβ1–42. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma


This paper is position paper that seeks to explain the role of education in community transformation, growth and development. Education is not only an end but a process or procedure that enhances a society. Education is an important goal by itself and because of its relevance, it must be ensured that all children have access to education, for without education, communities, families or individuals cannot adopt new technologies that would improve their lives, farming and entrepreneurial endeavours and alleviate poverty and hunger. Access to basic quality education is needful for the eradication of poverty, reduction of child and maternal mortality, attainment of gender equity and the elimination of diseases that kill millions of people around the world. Education is therefore seem in this paper as a very vibrant tools for community transformation and development in 21st century Nigeria.


The success of the Fermi Large Area Telescope in studying gamma-ray pulsars offers hints about future work above 10 GeV. The infrastructure for discovering pulsars will be similar between LAT and any future telescope. Some of the Fermi LAT results suggest intriguing questions about the future of high-energy pulsar studies.


The Tatla Lake Metamorphic Complex (TLMC), which lies on the southwest side of the Intermontane Belt (IMB) in British Columbia, has characteristics typical of a metamorphic core complex: anticlinorial amphibolite-grade gneissic and migmatitic core underlying a 1− to 2.5+-km-thick zone of mylonite and ductilely sheared metamorphic rocks which is in fault contact beneath an upper plate of low-metamorphic-grade cover rocks of the 1MB. Ductile shearing in the TLMC involved tonalitic to granodioritic orthogneiss and structurally overlying amphibolite-grade metasedimentary rocks and greenschist-grade chlorite-actinolite-albite schist. Structures observed throughout the ductilely sheared rocks include a gently dipping mylonitic foliation (Ss), containing a mineral lineation (Ls) which trends toward 280° (100°) ± 20°. Minor folds of variable trend (Fs), almost exclusively confined to metasedimentary rocks, are interpreted as synductile shear. Vergence of these folds defines a movement sense and direction of top toward 290° ± 20°. Kinematic indicators from rocks not deformed by synductile shear folds indicate a tops-to-the-west sense of shear, while those within metasedimentary rocks (deformed by Fs folds) yield conflicting results, with a tops-to-the-west sense predominating. Calculated a directions from Fs folds which deform Ls lineations indicate nearly horizontal Ds movement, subparallel to 290°–110°. The entire metamorphic core of the TLMC has been deformed by upright, west to west-northwest trending, shallowly plunging map-scale folds (F3). The steeply dipping, northwest trending Yalakom fault cuts all units and forms the southwestern margin of the TLMC. U-Pb zircon geochronology has documented the existence of Cretaceous (107–79 Ma, in the core) and Eocene 55–47 Ma, (in the mylonitic zone) deformation and metamorphism in the TLMC. K-Ar dates for biotite and hornblende of 53.4–45.6 Ma record the uplift and cooling of the TLMC. During early and middle Eocene time (55–47 Ma) metamorphic rocks of the TLMC were carried to higher crustal levels along the footwall of the TLMC normal ductile shear zone. Final uplift and development of F3 folds (post-47 Ma) are possibly related to dextral motion along the Yalakom fault The TLMC has structural style and timing of deformation similar to other metamorphic core complexes in southeastern British Columbia. Local and regional evidence is consistent with the formation of the TLMC in a regional extensional setting within a vigorous magmatic arc. Similar interlayered gneisses with near-horizontal layering and foliation may underlie the entire southern IMB.


How to embed more secret message into Web page with keeping good imperceptibility simultaneously is a trade-off problem for information hiding schemes. This paper presents a novel Web page information hiding method based on three inherent features of current Web page's HTML Code matrix. This method firstly exploits chaotic transform to deal with secret message, then embeds each bit of secret message into cover Web page according to the random odevity of character amount contained by each row(column) in cover Web page's HTML code matrix. Its process is very simple to understand and easy to implement. It can improve the largest embedded capacity (LEC) of cover Web page greatly with keeping good imperceptibility at the same time. We test our approach on two test data sets which include 1000 Web pages in total. The experiment results show that the max LECs for these two data sets are up to 11291 bits and 13545 bits respectively. The average LECs for two data sets has improvement of 80.2% and 24% more than that of other Web page information hiding method .


Health-related quality of life was evaluated among a small sample of persons living with HIV disease in a rural area, primarily African Americans. Survey results were supplemented with semi-structured interviews with some of the respondents. Interviews suggest that poor perceptions of quality of life may be enhanced by stigma originating from within the medical community. Many respondents were non-compliant to medical treatment.


Advances in electrochemical energy storage science require the development of new or the refinement of existing in situ probes that can be used to establish structure - activity relationships for technologically relevant materials. The drive to develop reversible, high capacity electrodes from nanoscale building blocks creates an additional requirement for high spatial resolution probes to yield information of local structural, compositional, and electronic property changes as a function of the storage state of a material. In this paper, we describe a method for deconstructing a lithium ion battery positive electrode into its basic constituents of ion insertion host particles and a carbon current collector. This model system is then probed in an electrochemical environment using a combination of atomic force microscopy and tunneling spectroscopy to correlate local activity with morphological and electronic configurational changes. Cubic spinel Li{sub 1+x}Mn{sub 2-x}O{sub 4} nanoparticles are grown on graphite surfaces using vacuum deposition methods. The structure and composition of these particles are determined using transmission electron microscopy and Auger microprobe analysis. The response of these particles to initial de-lithiation, along with subsequent electrochemical cycling, is tracked using scanning probe microscopy techniques in polar aprotic electrolytes (lithium hexafluorophosphate in ethylene carbonate:diethylcarbonate). The relationship between nanoparticlemore » size and reversible ion insertion activity will be a specific focus of this paper.« less


The present invention provides a light conversion device, a backlight module and a display device, relates to the field of display technology, in order to improve the utilization of the light source. Embodiments of the present invention, the light conversion means comprises a collimator lens and a reflection module, a collimator lens for collimating the natural light, and is converted to linearly polarized light comprises two mutually perpendicular directions of oscillation of light; the a collimator lens provided with polarization splitting surface side sheet, and irradiating the linearly polarized light obtained through the collimator lens to the incident angle of the polarization beam splitter plate is acute; said polarization separation sheet for the linearly polarized the vibration direction of the polarization beam splitter and the light transmission sheet of the same transmission axis direction of the light reflecting other vibration direction; means for reflecting the light reflected at least twice by the reflection polarizing beamsplitter, so that the reflected light passes through the polarizing beam splitter and the transmitted light sheet emitted in the same vibration direction. The present invention is mainly used in display.


Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are environmentally responsive biopolymers. These protein based polymers are specific in that they exhibit phase separation in response to a number of stimuli. Some of these stimuli include temperature, light, and pH. There are a large number of factors to consider when designing ELP constructs that allow for control of the transitioning behavior, some of which include amino acid sequences, protein concentration, salt concentration, and the polymer chain length. Elastin-like polypeptides are soluble in water at low temperatures, however, upon an increase in temperature, the proteins become insoluble in water and phase separate. This point of temperature triggered phase transitioning shows lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior and is referred to as the inverse transition temperature (Tt). The transition is completely reversible and the ELPs will return back into solution upon decreasing temperature below the Tt. The linear elastin-like polypeptide (GVGVP)40 and the trimerized (GVGVP)40foldon were expressed in a bacterial system using Escherichia coli (E. coli). Exploiting ELP temperature triggered transitioning to an insoluble state, highly concentrated protein solutions were formed for each sample.


The oral mucosite is the acute effect more common and the most restrained of dose to radio and chemotherapy. It's important your prevention because these can to carry to interruption of the treatment, compromising the tumoral control and the overlife's index. The radiotherapy promotes important oral complications and the dentist must to known the treatments and protocols disposable for the control


The stress in casting mass concrete is affected by varied temperature .Based on this ,the formation and classification of temperature cracks are discussed and the messures to prevent the cracks suggested.


The Good Friday Agreement signed in Belfast in 1998, but still in a process of development, is one of a number of peace agreements emerging from apparently intractable conflicts, since the end of the cold war. This article focuses on a relatively unexamined aspect of the Agreement - the international relevance of its innovative provisions on equality of citizenship and internationalised governance. The Belfast Agreement both implicitly and explicitly deals with the problematic issue of citizenship in a state which is highly contested at the constitutional level. Its development of an equality agenda and dynamic cross-border institutions of governance in a situation where ultimate sovereignty and allegiance remains contested is a departure from current international norms. The peace process around the Agreement also reflects a significantly increased international involvement in the Northern Ireland conflict. External support and mediation was essential in brokering an Agreement and will inevitably be important in sustaining the new forms of citizenship which are promised in its provisions. Both in its processes and in the framework for citizenship and governance suggested by the Agreement, Northern Ireland can provide a useful example to the increasing number of nationalist conflicts in the post cold war world. ...


The results of the above described experiments suggest that Abderhalden's reaction may be of use in the study of protozoal diseases. In the case of East Coast Fever it is seen that in early stages of the disease only the lymphatic and suprarenal glands seem to be affected, whilst in later stages destruction of tissue takes place in practically all the organs, and this corresponds with the results of microscopical examinations of the various tissues. Various experiments were performed with dogs infected with Babesia canis, but in most cases, owing to the presence of haemoglobin in the serum, the controls gave positive results as well as the organs + serum. The blood of a dog taken at the commencement of the infection was found to contain substances having a destroying action on liver tissue, but not on the other organs employed, whilst in later stages of the disease practically all the organs were affected.


In this paper, we suggest a preimage attack on Hashing with Polynomials [2]. The algorithm has n-bit hash output and n-bit intermediate state. (for example, n = 163). The algorithm is very simple and light so that it can be implement in low memory environment. Our attack is based on the meet-in-the-middle attack. We show that we can find a preimage with the time complexity 2 + 2 ∗ (n+1/33) and the memory 2 even though the recursive formula H uses any f whose each term's degree in terms of x is 2 for a non-negative integer a. We recommend that hash functions such as Hashing with Polynomials should have the intermediate state size at least two times bigger than the output size.


The experimental and clinic data supporting S- ademetionin application in NAFLD complex therapy were presented. The therapy corrects an oxidative stress in hepatocytes and transforms the nutrition behavior in patients with excessive body weight when depressive syndrome is developed.


Fatigue and fracture of structural components are the principal modes of failure for those structural systems that are dominated by tensile dynamic (oscillatory) loads. As the structure deteriorates with growing fatigue cracks, integrity can be ensured by a maintenance program of periodic inspection and repair. Analysis of the process for the purpose of making decisions relative to design and inspection rules is complicated by the fact that the load-producing environment, material properties, and inspection performance all possess significant uncertainty. Reliability methods can be used to manage this uncertainty. Because of the complexity of the problem, simulation is employed. A simulation method, using importance sampling and an equivalent-member model for series structures, is demonstrated to provide efficient solutions.


Lipid peroxidation has been suggested to be a significant contributor for cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease, mainly on hemodialysis. One of the consequences of increased ROS production in this setting is oxidation of LDL leading to ox-LDL particles, and changes the apoB100 too, originating particles of minimally oxidized LDL, also called electronegative LDL (LDL-), which can occur in the circulation of this patients leading to atherosclerosis. Moreover, it was demonstrated that a depletion of antioxidants in the blood of hemodialysed patients due diet restriction, losses in dialysis process and other factors lead to oxidative stress. The objective of this review is to discuss the importance of the oxidative markers in chronic kidney disease patients with emphasis on the electronegative LDL.


Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radar forms large virtual aperture and improves the cross-range resolution of radar imaging. Sparse signal recovery algorithms can be used to improve image quality of target with sparse property in spatial domain. Conventional sparse signal recovery-based MIMO radar imaging method rearranges the received two-dimensional (2D) or 3D signals into a vector, then linear equations describing the relation between the received signal and the reflectivity of the scatterers are solved. However, this method occupies huge memory spaces and increases the computational load. In this study, by introducing synthetic codes, multidimensional linear equations of MIMO radar imaging are derived, which occupy less memory spaces and cost less computationally. A L
 1
 L
 0
 norms homotopy sparse signal recovery algorithm for multidimensional linear equations is used to recover the image. Simulation results verify the high efficiency of using multidimensional linear equations.


This PhD thesis elaborates on a proposal made by the Dutch theoretical physicist G. 't Hooft (1999 Nobel prize in physics), to the effect that quantum mechanics is the emergent theory of some underlying, deterministic theory. According to this proposal, information–loss effects in the underlying deterministic theory lead to the arrangement of states of the latter into equivalence classes, that one identifies as quantum states of the emergent quantum mechanics. In brief, quantisation is dissipation, according to 't Hooft. In our thesis we present two mechanisms whereby quantum mechanics is explicitly seen to emerge, thus explicitly realising 't Hooft's proposal. The first mechanism makes use of Verlinde's approach to classical mechanics and general relativity via holographic screens. This technique, first presented in 2010 in order to understand the emergent nature of spacetime and gravity, is applied in our thesis to the case of quantum mechanics. The second mechanism presented to support 't Hooft's statement is based on a dictionary, also developed by the authors, between semiclassical quantum mechanics, on the one hand, and the classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics, on the other. This thermodynamical formalism, established by Nobel prize winners Onsager and Prigogine, can be easily mapped into that of semiclassical quantum mechanics.


INTRODUCTION This chapter describes research in progress on the philosophical concept of authenticity – used as a framing device for providing an interpretation of aspects of both ethical and practical action on the part of information systems (IS) professionals. Ethical codes and prescriptive IS development methods for IS professionals can be found in most developed countries in the world. Here it is argued that ethical codes and IS methods may be of limited value in IS work. One key problem here is that IS analysts and designers have to intervene in organisations (and thereby intervene in the lives of the members of those organisations). It is argued that an important issue for IS research is whether they choose to do so in (what will be characterised as) an authentic manner, rather than doing so in sincere adherence with either a code of professional ethics or with a series of methodological precepts.


In the modern world, an aerial platform (auto-hydraulic lift) is an integral part of a rich model range of special crane equipment. The first primitive lift consisted of a lever, hinged on the base. A traction rope was placed on one side of the lever, and a counterweight on the other. With the help of his own physical strength, a person was able to rise to a small height using such a simple lifting mechanism. Currently, many types of lifts are used, which differ in height characteristics and the design of the lifting mechanism. Goal. The aim of this work is to study the kinematics of the moving elements of a hydraulic lift using a virtual model created on the basis of the Autodesk Inventor Professional software package. The model is based on an existing physical object. To study the kinematics of individual units and the installation as a whole, we use the method of modeling individual units and units of a machine, collecting them into a single mechanism with the task of all possible movements of structural elements in the Inventor package. Methodology. The assigned tasks can be solved by special design tools that are included in the software product, namely the environment for dynamic modeling, stress analysis. These tools are accessed while working in the "Assembly" environment, using the ribbon tabs "Design" and "Environments". The results of further research will bepresented in future publications.


DMPK, IMED Oncology, AstraZeneca, Waltham, Massachusetts (C.G); Early Chemical Development, IMED Pharmaceutical Sciences, AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden (M.A., C.S.E); Medicinal Chemistry, IMED Respiratory Inflammation and Autoimmunity, AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden (R.J.L.); and Legacy R&D at Wilmington, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Delaware (C.G., C.S.E., P.D., J.E.H., B.D., G.C., M.A.S., M.C., M.S.) This article has not been copyedited and formatted. The final version may differ from this version. DMD Fast Forward. Published on January 8, 2018 as DOI: 10.1124/dmd.117.078873


The invention director tin 5-sulfonamide derivatives, pharmaceutical compositions containing these derivatives, and their use as molecular imaging agents, apoptosis their use for the diagnosis or treatment of diseases or disorders associated with control of the disorder, It provides a method for evaluating the therapeutic effect of the test substance for the method of synthesizing a derivative thereof, a method for the molecular imaging of caspase activity and apoptosis, and caspase activity.


With the methods or the measures of GC-MS analysis,this paper studies the distribution of anthraxolite and the characteristics of biomarkers from the Jinding lead-zinc deposit and discusses the correlation between organic matters and Pb,Zn.The results show that the organic matter content is consistent with the distribution of Zn,but a negative is observed between organic matter and Pb.Furthermore,in order to investigate the role of organic matter,this paper studies anthraxolites comprised of cement,squama and eyeball-shaped type with electron microprobe.A lot of ore-forming elements are found in anthraxolites,and the components and the categories of ore-forming elements in anthraxolites are consistent with those in the ore-body with these anthraxolites. The role of anthraxolites in the Jinding lend-zinc deposit is different for various occurrence modes.The cement anthraxolite and the squama anthraxolite are most important to this deposit.During the forming process of the cement anthraxolite and the squama anthraxolite,organic matters can dissolve and move ore-forming elements and result in their reducing,but eyeball-shaped type anthraxolite formed latterly and only plays an alternant role in the Jinding Pb-Zn deposit.


With increasing prevalence of early-onset dietary-related diseases in Chinese young people, understanding their motives for food choice and the associated factors is particularly important for further behavioral interventions and food policy decisions. In our study, the food choice questionnaire was adopted, to measure Chinese young people's motives for food choice at an administrative division level in mainland China, and to understand physiological and socio-economic effects on the motives. Compared to ethical concern which was rated least important, sensory appeal, convenience and health were three most important motives ranked by people from Southwest, Southcentral, East, Northeast and North regions, while people from Northwest ranked familiarity as one of their most important motives. Canonical discriminant analysis indicated clear similarities and differences for each region of residence. Analysis of variance showed socioeconomic factors played independent roles in food choice motives. However, physiological factors, including body mass index, waist-hip ratio, self and caregivers'health conditions didn't show any independent effects or interactions with socioeconomic factors. Cluster analysis indicated that Chinese young people from six experimental regions were mainly grouped in five different motive-oriented clusters. Nearly 40 percent of young people were basically health-oriented food consumers. Together, it would be possible to alter motives for food choice towards health by changing some socio-economic factors, like level of education, monthly expenses. These data are important for further studies on health conditions and eating behaviors of Chinese young people distributed in different areas.


This paper briefly reviews the changing usage of the concept of police culture in studies of policing. It argues that what are regarded as the early classic studies in the field (which hardly used the term culture itself) analyzed the world-views of police officers are primarily shaped in a dialectical interaction with structural factors stemming from the police role. Some of these factors are intrinsic to policing in any circumstances, others vary between political economies, social and organizational forms, and general cultures.


AIM To evaluate sex differences and the effects of oestrogen Submit a Manuscript: http://www.wjgnet.com/esps/ Help Desk: http://www.wjgnet.com/esps/helpdesk.aspx DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i3.426 426 January 21, 2017|Volume 23|Issue 3| WJG|www.wjgnet.com World J Gastroenterol 2017 January 21; 23(3): 426-436 ISSN 1007-9327 (print) ISSN 2219-2840 (online) © 2017 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.


TLC320AD50C, an audio chip is widely used. This papers introduces the design McBSPs of theTMS320VC5402 the audio chip TLC320AD50C. As well as the audio chip TLC320AD50C is controlled by the TMS320VC5402 in a typical application and the Method of the audio chip TLC320AD50C sampling frequency is set. It also introduces the working principle initialization methods of the McBSPs of TMS320VC5402 the audio chipTLC320AD50C.


Abstract Background The concept of financial protection as part of healthcare has received increasing attention in the health systems of the world. Thus, national governments and international organisations such as the World Bank and other agencies of the United Nations have focused on the risk that high health expenditures pose to the financial security of poor and vulnerable populations such as women and children. The purpose of this paper is to describe the healthcare financing scheme for the poor in Turkey, known as the Green Card system. Methods A systematic review of published and unpublished literature was used to describe the Green Card system. In addition, this study provides information on the general climate of healthcare in Turkey, with special focus on the lack of insurance coverage as it relates to poverty and to health problems in the country. Results This study discussed how the Turkish poor currently gain access to medical care, and presents implications for policy changes toward increasing service utilisation. Approximately 14 per cent of the Turkish population are using the Green Card system to access medical care, and these numbers are increasing due to the recent economic crises in Turkey. The Green Card model has many successes, in addition to problems arising from legal and budgetary restrictions and incomplete coverage. Conclusions The Green Card implementation was a temporary solution at the beginning, but now the system is becoming a permanent scheme for the poor. Thus government officials should try to identity new financial sources for the scheme although the country is currently suffering from a heavy load of increased taxes and premiums.


Crushed marble samples from two quarries in Franklin and Sparta, Sussex County, were analyzed for amphibole content using x-ray diffraction. Regulatory asbestos fiber content was measured using light microscopy. Respirable amphibole fiber content was determined using electron and light microscopy. Cadmium and zinc were measured using atomic absorption. Total amphibole content ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 percent by weight. Regulatory asbestos fibers were measured at 16.9 and 42.0 fibers per milligram in pulverized marble samples from the quarries in Franklin and Sparta, respectively. Respirable amphibole was measured by light microscopy at 9.6 and 7.6 regulatory fibers per milligram in the same respective samples. A substantial amount of amphibole fiber was also found in worn and weathered gravel composed of marble. Observations under light and electron microscopes indicate that most of the fibers in the crushed stone samples are derived from prismatic to acicular amphibole. Amphibole of semiasbestiform to asbestiform habit accounts for a small but discernable portion of the total fiber content. Most fibers are the result of cleavage, although there is some evidence for fibrillar development in some of the amphibole. Habit-type is important in interpreting the data on amphibole content presented here. Most of the amphibole fibers noted, although considered asbestos for regulatory purposes, are derived from amphibole which does not meet mineralogical or commercial criteria for asbestos, and which cannot be equated with asbestos in physical or biological terms. In interpreting actual asbestos content, content of fibers of aspect ratio greater than 20 seems to be a more reasonable criterion than content of fibers above the regulatory limit of 3. Average cadmium concentration in Sparta crushed stone samples was relatively high, about 660 ppb. At Franklin, cadmium is much lower, averaging about 67 ppb. Zinc averaged 111 ppm at Sparta and 26 ppm at Franklin. Sphalerite and aragonite were identified as cadmium-bearing mineral species in the stone. Cadmium in pulverized carbonate rocks bears further study as a source of cadmium in soils to which such limestones


Review of: Choo, Chun Wei. The inquiring organization: how organizations acquire knowledge and seek information. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.


To understand the changing role of funding sources in shaping conservation science in the United States, we analyzed acknowledgments from published studies, trends in research funding, and survey responses from conservation scientists. Although the U.S. federal government was the most frequently acknowledged source of support overall, U.S. foundations and NGOs were the predominant sources for tropical and socioeconomic research. Acknowledgments of foundation support for conservation research increased over the last two decades, while recognition of federal funds declined. Concordant trends in funding and acknowledgments indicated a changing landscape for conservation science, in which federal support has not kept pace with the growth in conservation research efforts or needs. Survey responses from conservation scientists about their funding sources were consistent with acknowledgment data, and most (64%) indicated that shifts in funding sources and amounts affected the type of research they conduct. Ongoing changes in the funding landscape shape the direction of conservation research and may make conservation science more vulnerable to economic recessions.


Parboiled rice is nothing but rice precooked with the husk on. The process causes many changes in the grain constituents, leading to distinct grain properties. Cracks and chalkiness are healed during the kernel's cooking, so that breakage of rice during milling of parboiled rice is dramatically reduced. Vitamins and micronutrients are not easily removed during milling of parboiled rice, making it nutritionally vastly superior. The cooking in restricted moisture causes novel starch polymorphs to be formed, viz. annealed starch, lipid–amylose complexes I and II and retrograded amylopectin and amylose. Parboiled rice for this reason needs much longer to cook and the cooked grains become relatively hard and distinct. The disruption of fat globules in the aleurone layer pushes the fat outwards, as a result of which undermilled parboiled rice has poor flow, packing and milling properties.


The "June Festival" of Regong is religious and nongovernmental Festival participated by the Zangs,the Tus and the Hans in part in Tongren county,Qinghai province.This article,depended on the religious theory,elaborates nongovernmental religion concerning "June Festival" of Regong.


Vol. 35, No. 2, 2018 The most appropriate audience for Hartley's study is a wide range of students and general readers who enjoy Dickens's fiction and wish to discover for themselves some of the basics of literary study. Appendices include a biographical "Timeline," "Further Reading" with "General" and chapter by chapter selections (these could be augmented), and an index. The eight well-chosen illustrations are reproduced in a gray tone, whose sharpness in some instances leaves room for improvement.


In each case, each of the two channels (A, B) double-channel network comprising one of the communication control device (2,6) with respect to. For two of the channels (A, B) is to ensure that operates temporally match the current state ( "ready", "abort") replacement of the interface on the external or chips (1a, 1b) takes place via. Cold start operation only if both communication controllers are in the "ready" state, or as long as is followed that state is executed.


The High Performance Computing (HPC) community has a long history of educating researchers, students, and practitioners to use HPC systems effectively and efficiently, primarily through informal, non-graded workshops and short courses. While nearly all workshop evaluations capture user satisfaction and perform pre- and post-workshop evaluations, to our knowledge none of them capture changes in user behavior as a means of evaluating learning. To more fully evaluate a student's skill development and capture improvements in the use of HPC systems, we developed a data centric method for evaluating informal HPC training. The evaluation methodology is described in four steps: design clear learning objectives, map the learning objectives and content to the data collection instruments and queries of interest, collect the data, and explore and analyze the data. This is a process easily adaptable by any HPC center because we focus on data that are available to all HPC trainers, e.g. workshop surveys, questions, and job performance data from the HPC system, primarily from an HPC scheduler.


Multi-state systems have recently attracted a great deal of interest with regards to reliability and maintenance. Since most mechanical equipment operates under some sorts of stress or load, it tends to degrade over time, thus possibly resulting in discrete degradation states (damage degrees), ranging from perfect functioning to complete failure. Over recent years, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) have been applied to model these discrete degradation states for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. However, most of the reported researches on HMMs for multi-state equipment in the literature consider only one degradation mechanism of degradation processes. The present paper proposes a novel model called multi-branch HMM (MB-HMM) to deal with deterioration processes modeling under multiple competing modes. To illustrate the proposed approach, a numerical study is given.


The present invention is as a conditioning (conditioning) method of the suspended catalyst, the catalyst comprising taking at least a portion of the reaction medium from one or more reactors, the suspension, the at least partly separated by a deactivated catalyst in a membrane filtration over 1 and purified, It relates to a conditioning method for performing the one or more membrane filtration as diafiltration (diafiltration).


The Hapcheon impact crater is the only meteorite impact crater identified on the Korean peninsula. However, the morphology of the impact crater and the nature of the meteorite collision are unknown. In this study, we analyzed the sedimentary facies using grain size data; computed tomography images, 14C, 10Be, and optically stimulated luminescence dating on a >66-m-long sediment core (20HCL04) recovered from the Hapcheon Basin. Four sedimentary units and 10 types of facies were documented in the Hapcheon Basin sediment core. The sedimentary units comprise 1) a lower part (unit 1) that is dominated by moderately to well-sorted coarse gravel, which contains some impact-related sediments; 2) a middle part (units 2 and 3) dominated by well-laminated mud; and 3) an upper part (Unit 4) that is dominated by poorly sorted coarse gravel supplied from the surrounding mountain slopes by alluvial and fluvial processes. After the meteorite impact, the Hapcheon impact crater was filled with deposits from the crater wall after ca. 1.3 Ma and the Hapcheon Basin became a deep lake environment. After ca. 0.5 Ma, sediments were supplied from the surrounding mountains until the lake was filled. Finally, sediments were deposited in an alluvial fan setting. In addition, the Hapcheon Basin sedimentary cores contain a tephra layer and deformed soft sediments that can be used to investigate volcanic and seismic events on the Korean Peninsula over the past 1.3 Ma.


Valine and phenylalanine were used as model amino acids for the synthesis of ester conjugates with a fused oxobenzopyran, in order to evaluate its applicability as a photocleavable protecting group for solution phase organic and peptide synthesis. The behaviour of the corresponding conjugates towards photocleavage was evaluated by irradiation in methanol/HEPES buffer (80:20) and acetonitrile/HEPES buffer (80:20) solutions, in a photochemical reactor at different wavelengths (300 and 350 nm), followed by HPLC/UV monitoring.


Over the past four hundred years,under the influence of the western philosophy,many achievements in the physical world have been made with the precise control of time and space.While,human being is a complex of physical matter and mental spirit.So far,we can hardly control human's mind as effectively as human's physical body,and neither do we fully understand the nature of Mind.The present article tries to analyze the cause and the outcomes of this imbalanced system which has resulted in many limitations and loopholes in medicine and life science.The possible ways to improve are discussed and the blueprint for future medicine and life science is predicted.

Key words:
Medicine;  Circle of the sciences;  Balanced development


Membrane mimetic chemistry has become a vitally important area of research (1-5). It is directed to the development of chemistries based on membrane-mediated processes in organized surfactant assemblies and molecular hosts. Aqueous and reversed micelles, microemulsions, mono layers, organized multilayers, bilayer or black lipid membranes (BLMs), and vesicles are considered to constitute the organized surfactant as semblies (1, 6). Molecular hosts include naturally occurring cyclodextrins (7) and synthetic crown ethers, cryptands, and spherands, collectively referred to as cavitands (8, 9). Organization and compartmentalization in membrane mimetic systems are exploited for reactivity control (2), transport (1 , 10), recognition (1 , 9, 1 1), drug delivery (12-14), and artificial photosynthesis (15-18). Reactivities' in the microheterogeneous environments of membrane mimetic systems cannot be described in terms of homogeneous kinetics. Attention has to be given to the partitioning of the reactants between the organized assembly and the bulk phase and to the structural and dynamic features of the system. Different kinetic treatments have been proposed for "fast" and "slow" reactions occurring in the different membrane mimetic systems. The important factor is, of course, the rate of reaction relative to the rates of reactant(s) and surfactant assembly reorganizations. A large variety of diverse approaches have been taken. Physical organic chemists . have focused their attention on reactions whose rates were appreciably slower than the time scale needed for the reorganization of the membrane


This paper considers the problem of estimating on-line the time-variant transformation relating a person's feet position in the image of a first, fixed camera, to his head position in the image of a second, pan-tilt-zoom camera. The transformation allows to acquire high-resolution images by steering the PTZ camera at targets detected in a fixed camera view. Assuming a planar scene and modeling humans as vertical segments, we present the development of an uncalibrated framework which does not require any 3D known location to be specified, and it allows to take into account both zooming camera and target uncertainties. Results show good performances in slave camera target head localization, degrading when the high zoom factor causes a lack of feature points in the slave camera.


A cutting tool having diamond impregnated stepped undercut tooth has better lateral stability and a long life, when it comprises one-piece cutting segments having between two adjacent floors (8,9) a separating line ( 10,14) at least inclined with respect to the segment of the cutting edge.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the current debate between business ethics and economics by examining the underlying ideologies of each side.Design/methodology/apprach – It is our intention in this article to examine the stories business ethicists and economists utilize to explain how the world works. A two dimensional model is employed to accomplish this goal by plotting the two sides' different theories of human nature on one axis and the two sides' different theories of society on the other axis.Findings – This article provides a framework for assisting practitioners and scholars/teachers in better understanding the origins and causes for the debates that take place on complex issues regarding the economic domain.Research limitation/implications – A limitation of this article is that while it offers better understanding of positions, it does not offer guidance to the reader in crafting future strategies. Space does not warrant doing so in this article; however, it is an important issu...


Remdesivir (RDV) is a direct‐acting antiviral agent that is approved in several countries for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). RDV exhibits broad‐spectrum antiviral activity against positive‐sense RNA viruses, e.g. SARS‐CoV‐2 and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and non‐segmented negative‐sense RNA viruses, e.g. Nipah virus (NiV), while segmented negative‐sense RNA viruses such as influenza (Flu) virus or Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) are not sensitive to the drug. The reasons for this apparent pattern are unknown. Here, we expressed and purified representative RNA‐dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) and studied three biochemical parameters that have been associated with the inhibitory effects of RDV‐triphosphate (TP): (i) selective incorporation of the nucleotide substrate RDV‐TP, (ii) the effect of the incorporated RDV‐monophosphate (MP) on primer extension, and (iii) the effect of RDV‐MP in the template during incorporation of the complementary UTP. The results of this study revealed a strong correlation between antiviral effects and efficient incorporation of RDV‐TP. Inhibition in primer extension reactions is heterogeneous and usually inefficient at higher NTP concentrations. In contrast, template‐dependent inhibition of UTP incorporation opposite the embedded RDV‐MP is seen with all polymerases. Molecular modeling suggests a steric conflict between the 1'‐cyano group of RDV‐MP and conserved residues of RdRp motif F. We conclude that future efforts in the development of nucleotide analogues with a broader spectrum of antiviral activities should focus on improving rates of incorporation while capitalizing on the inhibitory effects of a bulky 1'‐modification.


In recent times, there are numerous requirements for the material having properties like better strength, light weight, better chemical properties and other merits. Here, the Friction Stir Welding is considered and the effects on the result of the quality of the weld joint. The welding parameters of tool pin profiles, rotational speeds and welding speeds are considered for the effects on the results. The results obtained here of the weld joint are of mechanical properties like ultimate tensile strength and hardness. The base material considered for the current research is Mg AS41A alloy. Besides the base material considered, the tool material considered here is HCHCr D2 Tool Steel. There are two different tool pin profiles selected here in this research work: Triangular tool pin profile and Hexagonal tool pin profile. The best result is obtained in the weld joint manufactured at 1500 rpm rotational speed and 17 mm/minute with hexagonal tool pin profile. The weld joint formed by the triangular tool pin profile gave poor results. This research paper discusses the mechanical properties like ultimate tensile strength and hardness of the weld joints obtained in this research. Also, the comparison between the hexagonal tool pin profiles and triangular tool pin profiles is made in this research work.


The electrical isolation in n-type GaAs layers produced by proton irradiation at temperatures from −100 to 300 °C was investigated. The threshold dose for the isolation (Dth) was found almost identical for irradiation at temperatures from −100 to 220 °C. At 300 °C, a dose of ≅1.3 times higher is required for the isolation threshold. In samples irradiated to a dose of Dth at −100 °C or nominal room temperature, the isolation is maintained up to a temperature of ≈250 °C. In those samples irradiated at 300 °C it persists up to ≈350 °C. For doses of 3Dth or above, the stability of the isolation is limited to temperatures of 450–650 °C, irrespective of the irradiation temperature (Ti). For practical applications where doses in excess to 5Dth are usually employed, the irradiation temperature (from −100 to 300 °C) has only a minor effect on the formation and thermal stability of the electrical isolation.


Student‐led clinics (SLCs) offer unique clinical placement experiences and address unmet community rehabilitation needs. There is growing evidence that SLCs provide high‐quality experiential practice and adequate quality of patient care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient satisfaction with student‐led care and students' perception of their learning experiences in a student‐led physiotherapy clinic.


— C urrently, the most common method for establishing a secret key is by using public key cryptography. However, public key cryptography consumes significant amount of computing resources and power which might not be available in certain scenarios. Hence this project discovers the scheme which implements the concept, when source sends a data to the destination, data is being forwarded to the intermediate nodes one by one, based on Received Signal Strength (RSS) secret key will be generated which is passed to both the source and the destination. A random key will be parsed by both source and destination which is exchanged between both for verification. Both of them generates hash key value of the secret keys, which will also be verified by both of them only then the data can be viewed by the destination. Thus a strong verification scheme at the destination end can be achieved. This ensures authentication of the source and destination. Authentication is a primitive that enables a node to ensure the identity of peer node with which it is communicating with. Hence the security level will be increased by using the Secret Key Extraction mechanism. network and also update the necessary details in the database concerned. Encryption is based on the RC4 algorithm and the particular node selects the file to be encrypted, enters the key and encrypts it and sends to the destination. The conclusions drawn in this project, specifically details the predictable channel attack, that are primarily for key extraction using RSS measurements can be resolved by unpredictable encryption technique . Future work of this project addresses how authentication will be implemented and the time complexity will be reduced. This project would like to explore this in mere future.


Conservation is playing a prominent role in the development of a farm bill by the 110th Congress. This report introduces some of the issues that are influencing the development of a conservation title. It then reviews the contents of the House-passed bill, H.R. 2419.