Purpose - This study aims to investigate the impact of sentiment shocks based on US investor sentiments, bearish and bullish market conditions. Earlier studies, though very few, only consider the effect of investor sentiments on stock returns of emerging frontier Asian (EFA) markets. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses the application of regime switching model because of its capability to explore time-varying causality across different regimes unlike traditional linear models. The Markov regime switching model uses regime switching probabilities for capturing the potential asymmetries or non-linearity in a model, in this study's case, thereby adjusting investor sentiments shocks to stock market returns. Findings - The results of the Markov regime switching method suggests that US sentiment, bullish and bearish market shocks act as a main contributors for inducing variation in EFA stock market returns. The study's non-parametric robustness results highlight an asymmetric relationship across the mean series, whereas a symmetric relationship across variance series. The study also reports Thailand as the most sensitive market to global sentiment shocks. Research limitations/implications - The sensitivity of the EFA markets to these global sentiment shocks highlights their sensitivity and implications for investors relying merely on returns correlation and spillover. These findings also suggest that spillover from developed to emerging and frontier equity markets only in the form of returns following traditional linear models may not be appropriate. Practical implications - This paper supports the behavioral aspect of investors and resultant spillover from developed market sentiments to emerging and frontier market returns across international equity markets offering more rational justification for an irrational behavior. Originality/value - The study's motivation to use the application of regime switching models is because of its capability to explore time-varying causality across different regimes unlike traditional linear models. The Markov regime switching model uses regime switching probabilities for capturing the potential asymmetries or non-linearity in a model, in the study's case, thereby adjusting investor sentiments shocks to stock market returns. It is also useful of the adjustment attributable to exogenous events.


On the occasion of its one hundredth issue ("Faire des sciences sociales du politique", Politix, 100, 2012/4), the journal Politix offers a series of retrospective points of view following three contributions: one by two members of the journal's committee, [...]


ABSTRACT Delayed processing of peripheral blood or peripheral blood mononuclear cell isolation and cryopreservation can lead to the detection of somewhat higher levels of CD31 expression on naïve CD4 T cells by flow cytometry. These observations should be considered in the planning of multicenter clinical trials and in the interpretation of the results of functional studies.


Abstract : The Ninth American Peptide Symposium was held on the campus of the Univ. of Toronto June 23-28, 1985. There were 685 registrants at the meeting, which dealt with the Chemistry and Biology of Peptides. This report consists of the program of this meeting.


A method for operating an injection valve having a nozzle needle (12), which prevents in a closed position, a metering of fluid and otherwise releases the metering of fluid, and with a solid body actuator (18), which is designed to act on the nozzle needle (12) and to influence their position, wherein, for an injection process - at a predetermined sampling values (KG_W) are detected a parameter for a state of charge of the solid body actuator (18), - a start reference point in time (t_BEG) is determined, - one end of the reference time (t_END) is determined in terms of time correlating to an operating phase in which the solid body actuator (18) is discharged to a predetermined reference state by absorbing the energy in a discharge resistor - depending on a value (KG_W) of the characteristic variable for the state of charge of the solid body actuator (18), which is detected correlated to one end of the operating phase, and a predetermined reference value (REF_W), a correction reference value (KOR_BW) is determined, - a correction value curve (KOR_VERL) depending from the end of the reference time (t_END), the start reference point in time (t_BEG) and the correction reference value (KOR_BW) is determined and - the detected values (KG_W) are corrected to the characteristic value for the state of charge depending on the correction value curve (KOR_VERL).


Solvent effects play a crucial role in mediating the interactions between proteins and their ligands. Implicit solvent models offer some advantages for modeling these interactions but they have not been parametrized on such complex problems, and therefore it is not clear how reliable they are. We have studied the binding of an octapeptide ligand to the murine MHC class I protein using both explicit solvent and implicit solvent models. The solvation free energy calculations are more than 103 faster using the Surface Generalized Born implicit solvent model as compared to FEP simulations with explicit solvent. For some of the electrostatic calculations needed to estimate the binding free energy, there is near quantitative agreement between the explicit and implicit solvent model results; overall the qualitative trends in the binding predicted by the explicit solvent FEP simulations are reproduced by the implicit solvent model. With an appropriate choice of reference system based on the binding of the dischar...


People with I/DD are often vulnerable because of poor or absent skills in communication. They may have problems telling those around them that they do not feel well and have a problem that requires medical care. They are at a higher risk for chronic medical conditions such as dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, and decubitus ulcers and require special supports to thrive in home and community settings.

Conducting mortality reviews for people with I/DD enables systematic identification of challenges in effective medical care for the sub-population, leading to recommendations that have the potential to result in improved length and quality of life for this vulnerable population. The DOH will continue to enhance existing efforts by engaging more key stakeholders in the state to improve the robustness of the review completed and recommendations developed. More information on DOH DDD may be found on the Division's webpage: https://www.health.hawaii.gov/ddd/.


Six generation i. e. P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2 of nine crosses viz., Co-4 x K-851, Co-4 x Pusa bold-1, Co-4 x Pusa 9632, VRMGg-1 x K851, VRMGg-1 x Pusa bold-1, VRMGg-1 x Pusa 9632, GM-4 x K-851, GM4 x Pusa bold-1 and GM-4 x Pusa 9632 of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) were grown in two seasons viz., summer and kharif 2003 at college farm, N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari in randomized block design replicated thrice, with a view to study the extent of heterosis, inbreeding depression, heritability, genetic advance and nature of gene action governing grain yield and its attributes. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among various generations for majority of the characters in all the crosses indicating presence of appreciable amount of variability in the materials tested. Inadequacy of additive-dominance model was evident by the significance of scaling tests A, B, C and D as given by Mather (1949) indicating presence of non-allelic gene action in most of the crosses for various traits studied. Crosses VRMGg-1 x Pusa 9632, GM-4 x K-851 and VRMGg-1 x K-851 recorded significant positive heterosis over better parent for grain yield per plant and its related components. The per se performance of these crosses was also higher for the respective traits in summer season. Similarly, during kharif crosses Co-4 x Pusa bold-1, Co-4 x Pusa 9632 and VRMGg-1 x K-851 depicted high per se performance for grain yield and majority of its components with significant high positive heterobeltiosis. Crosses showing high heterotic effects for grain yield and its components also manifested significant inbreeding depression which indicated involvement of dominance gene effects in the expression of the various traits. The results revealed that both additive and dominance gene effects were significant for majority of the traits in all the nine crosses studied, however the magnitude of dominance gene effects was much higher than the additive effects in all the crosses for majority of the traits which indicated pre-dominant role of dominance gene effects in the inheritance of grain yield and its related traits. Among epistasis gene effects dominance x dominance played important role in the expression of grain yield and its related traits like pods per plant, pod length, 100-seed weight and harvest index in majority of the crosses while additive x dominance showed major contribution in the expression of branches per plant. For clusters per plant and days to 50 per cent flowering, additive x additive played predominant role in majority of crosses. Magnitude of non-fixable component was high for grain yield and some of its components. Diallel selective mating or biparental mating in early segregating generations might prove to be effective approach in further enhancing the grain yield. In some of the crosses fixable components were significant, positive and of considerable magnitude for yield components like clusters per plant, pods per plant, pods per cluster and 100-seed weight. Directional selection would be beneficial in isolating more efficient segregants in these crosses for important yield attributes which ultimately helps in further elevating the yield potential. C E R T I F I C A T E


 Company Names Matching in the Large Patents Dataset Timofey Medvedev, Alexander Ulanov HP Laboratories HPL-2011-90R1 Names matching; duplicate detection; clustering; patents This paper addresses the name matching (duplicate detection) problem in the US patent dataset. It contains more then 400K unique company names spellings. In order to solve the matching problem we choose appropriate string similarity measure and clustering approach and estimate their parameters. Finally we apply them to the whole dataset and estimate the positives and negatives rates. External Posting Date: July 21, 2011 [Fulltext] Approved for External Publication Internal Posting Date: July 21, 2011 [Fulltext] Copyright 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Company Names Matching in the Large Patents Dataset Timofey Medvedev and Alexander Ulanov Hewlett-Packard Labs, Information Analytics Lab 1 Artilleriyskaya, St.Petersburg, Russia, 191104 {timofey.medvedev,email@example.com Abstract. This paper addresses the name matching (duplicate detection) problem in the US patent dataset. It contains more then 400K unique company names spellings. In order to solve the matching problem we choose appropriate string similarity measure and clustering approach and estimate their parameters. Finally we apply them to the whole dataset and estimate the positives and negatives rates. This paper addresses the name matching (duplicate detection) problem in the US patent dataset. It contains more then 400K unique company names spellings. In order to solve the matching problem we choose appropriate string similarity measure and clustering approach and estimate their parameters. Finally we apply them to the whole dataset and estimate the positives and negatives rates.


This paper describes how EMC principles are integrated throughout the undergraduate curriculum at San Francisco State University (SFSU). With increase in clock frequencies and data rates in digital circuits, as well as with a push toward microwave and higher frequency ranges in communication systems, the problems of electromagnetic interference are becoming more pronounced. It is imperative for graduating engineers to have operative knowledge of EMI and corresponding remedies. The EMC-related principles and applications are incorporated in two electromagnetics, one communications and one EMC course and are supported by hands-on experience in a newly developed state-of-the-art high-frequency laboratory. The lab exercises and design projects are described at the web site http://http.engineering.sfsu.edu/nsf/. They help students understand the difficult EM/EMC concepts and expose them to practical EMC applications.


Trace impure elements B,P,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu and Zn in solar grade polysilicon were determined by glow discharge mass spectrometry(GD-MS).The operating parameters and conditions of GD-MS were optimized and selected.Under the conditions f semi-quantitative,precision of the trace impurity determined by the GD-MS was investigated.The results show that all RSDsof B,P,Na,Al,K,Ca,Fe,Ni,Cu,Co and Zn were less than 30%,and the precisions were good.Partial results of elements determined by GD-MS coincided with those by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS).With verification test by ICP-MS,the recoveries of standard addition were 85.2% ~ 125%,the detection limit were 0.14 ~ 2.85 ng / mL and RSDs were 1.6% ~ 12%.


Concurrent ML (CML) is a statically-typed higher-order concurrent language that is embedded in Standard ML. Its most notable feature are first-class synchronous operations, which allow programmers to encapsulate complicated communication and synchronization protocols as first-class abstractions. This feature encourages a modular style of programming, where the actual underlying channels used to communicate with a given thread are hidden behind data and type abstraction. While CML has been in active use for well over a decade, little attention has been paid to optimizing CML programs. In this paper, we present a new program analysis for statically-typed higher-order concurrent languages that is a significant step toward optimization of CML. Our technique is modular (i.e., it analyses and optimizes a single unit of abstraction at a time), which plays to the modular style of many CML programs. The analysis consists of two major components: the first is a type-sensitive control-flow analysis that uses the program's type-abstractions to compute more precise results. We then construct a control-flow graph from the results of the CFA and analyze the flow of known channel values using the graph. Our analysis is designed to detect special patterns of use, such as one-shot channels, fan-in channels, and fan-out channels. These special patterns can be exploited by using more efficient implementations of channel primitives. We show that our analysis is correct.


Appropriate allocation of virtual machine (VM) contributes significantly in the compelling work in data centres. Virtual machine allocation is in fact distribution of collection of supporting devices known as virtual machines to the structure of tactile devices, hosts or the physical machines positioned in the datacentre. And certainly this allocation if blended with novel machine learning techniques will provide splendid results. This paper analyses the intended efficacious machine learning techniques for the foremost concern of data centres which is allocation of virtual machine to the concrete devices known as hosts or physical machines. The core purpose of this research is to explore some of the peculiar machine learning techniques for allocation of virtual machines in efficient data centre architecture.


This paper aims to provide an outline of the surgical pathology of the most common tumours of the nervous system in children and adults, and briefly summarise their common genetic changes. The reader is referred to more comprehensive texts for further details about brain tumour classification and the genetic abnormalities of these tumours.1

Most recent classifications of brain tumours build on the 1926 work of Bailey and Cushing.2 This classification named tumours after the cell type in the developing embryo/fetus or adult which the tumour cells most resembled histologically. The cell of origin of the majority of brain tumours is unknown as no pre-malignant states are recognised, as is the case in some epithelial tumour forms. In some tumours, cells may be so atypical that it is difficult to compare them with any normal cell type—hence the use of terms such as glioblastoma. Many unsound or illogical terms have remained in the classifications, as once established in a complex medical setting they are difficult to change. In this paper the terminology and definitions of the World Health Organization classification of 2000 will be exclusively used.1 There are more than 120 entities in this classification and here we will concentrate on those that most frequently occur in adults and children. These are the pilocytic astrocytomas, ependymomas, and medulloblastomas in children, and the diffuse astrocytic tumours (including astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytomas, and glioblastomas), oligodendrogliomas, and meningiomas in adults.

Tumours of the central nervous system often have a wide morphological spectrum and classification is dependent on the recognition of areas with the characteristic histology for a particular tumour type. Immunocytochemical methods may be required to demonstrate the expression by the tumour cells of an antigen typically expressed by a particular cell type and thus to assist in classification. Unfortunately there are …


Manufacturing sector is largely relying on its supply chain performance to bring efficiency in production in terms of cost and time. Internet of Things (IOT) and Dynamic Data and Information Processing Capabilities (DDIPCs) are found as strong predictors of organizational agility which can probably play part in supply chain performance. Use of IOT and DDIPCs basically enhance flexibility in organizational operations resulting in their smooth functioning. So, this study has tried to analyze the impact of use of IOT and DDIPCs on supply chain performance of manufacturing sector in Thailand in mediating role of organizational agility. Around 67 organizations have been used as sampling frame as data has been collected from their employees through questionnaire-based survey which was subsequently analyzed through SPSS and AMOS by applying tests of CFA and SEM. Hypotheses testing has concluded that both use of IOT and DDIPCs significantly increase supply chain performance through direct and indirect paths. Organizational agility has been also found as significant mediator in respective relationship. Originality in this study lies in association between use of IOT and DDIPCs with supply chain performance which was not tested before. This study has its implications and future research indications too.


Tensions between the pro-choice and pro-life organizations have become so intense that a Washington conflict resolution group has promoted a network for life and choice. Even this group centers its attention on the rhetoric of the very movements which have intensified the conflict. So, it remains a captive of the status quo. In this paper, I propose ways of polling Americans about abortion that challenge the political status quo and are based upon social science perspectives and studies of abortion issues. Sociologists have found that the choices that Americans make about unwanted pregnancies have been governed by religious norms and norms of responsible parenthood. They also have demonstrated that medical providers may severely limit the conditions under which abortions are available. Realistic poll questions should investigate whether the present and emerging norms concerning reproduction serve the nation well. They would also inquire how the reproductive norms and ethics most popular in such centers of opinion-making as Washington D. C., New York and Los Angeles should relate to parallel norms in Little Rock Sioux Falls, and Salt Lake City


The author analyses the causes and possible consequences of the actual financial and economic crisis, expresses the opinion that it can take a form of chronic disease and have significant duration of time. In opinion of the author, it's necessary now to take adequate measures to elaborate principles of new world economic model.


Romanian health and safety regulations require employers to monitor the exposure by a suitable procedure in any case where it is necessary for ensuring the maintenance of adequate control of exposure of employees to hazardous substances. Objectives. The aim of this study was to estimate the occupational exposure risk of electroplating plant's workers. Materials and methods. Indoor air quality was evaluated by workplace measurements of chemicals in two cadmium-nickel-chrome electroplating and zinc coating units. For the determination of internal exposure 69 workers (mean age: 42.7±6.3 years, mean exposure length: 20±7.4), including 28 women, and a matched control group (72 subjects) were examined in a cross-sectional study. Whole blood samples were analyzed for cadmium and post-shift urine samples for beta 2-microglobulin. The dermal exposure levels of heavy metals were measured by wipe sampling in combination with adequate analytical techniques. 23 electroplaters belonging to workplaces with major risk were analyzed for chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei in peripheral lymphocytes. The results were statistically analyzed through usual methods (Student's t-test, χ-test, Pearson′s correlation coefficient). Results and discussion. Airborne concentrations exceeded threshold limit values (TLV-TWA) for cadmium, chromium, nickel, cyanide, sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid and trichloroethylene. Mean concentrations of cadmium in whole blood, of dermal chrome, cadmium and nickel and of urinary beta 2-microglobulin were significantly higher among electroplaters than in controls. A positive correlation was found between urinary beta 2-microglobulin and blood cadmium levels. The prevalence of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei in peripheral lymphocytes was significantly higher in exposed as compared with controls. Conclusions. The study revealed the presence of a high occupational risk in metal plating shops. The concentrations of a great number of chemicals, some of them inducing cancer, exceeded the allowed exposure limits. The results confirm that beta 2-microglobulin is a sufficiently sensitive indicator for use in monitoring heavy metal occupational exposure, especially for cadmium. As a complement to traditional exposure assessment, monitoring deposition of aerosols on employees' skin can be a simple and quick screening method for identifying deposited metals.


This study finds that the consumption of minerals and oil reserves of India has grown several times faster than the GNP. This has reduced the estimated reserves of several Non-renewable Resources (NRRs), whose estimated life spans in India vary from 9 to 47 years. It uses the Liontief Input Output tables to decompose the gross demand for NRRs, and finds that private consumption expenditure is responsible for nearly half of their demand, followed by investment (28%), and exports (12%). However, the NRR intensity per rupee of expenditure is twice as high in investments and exports when compared to private consumption. Imports meet about half of the demand for NRRs in the Indian Economy. Direct imports of NRRs which were about 28% of total imports in 1989-90, satisfied about 35% of the total demand for NRRs in the Indian Economy. Other imports had an NRR content which met about 11% of the total NRR demand. In general, the NRR intensity of non-NRR imports is much higher than the NRR intensity of exports, indicating that India's foreign trade conserves Non-renewable resources on the whole. Looking at the different industrial sectors, it is found that the demand for NRRs is highly skewed, with about half of the total demand for NRRs being accounted for by three sectors, and 86% of the NRR demand being due to only nine sectors. Any strategy aiming to conserve non-renewable resources should concentrate on these sectors. Consumption expenditure in about 20 sectors of consumption was more NRR intensive (per rupee spent at 1989- 90 prices) than others. Likewise, exports in about 11 sectors were more NRR intensive than the average. An economic strategy to conserve non- renewable resources would do well to attempt to reallocate expenditures and exports away from these sectors to other sectors that are less NRR intensive.


Abstract In South Africa and elsewhere, the integration of science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) is a contentious issue. This is due to both knowledge systems being underpinned by diverse epistemic authorities. This paper explores the possibilities and challenges associated with the integration of the two knowledge corpuses and how a Dialogical Argumentation Instruction (DAI) teaching approach could mitigate or aggravate such integration. A science class in a local school in Cape Town was exposed to a series of indigenous knowledge (IK) integrated science lessons for six weeks. The DAI approach comprised lessons structured after Toulmin's Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and with argumentation frames developed to categorize the learners argument responses. Individual, group and whole class activities examined various ways for processing indigenous foods through fermentation. Data sources involved classroom observations, written argumentation frame responses and one focus group interview. The Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) has been used to capture and interrogate learners' arguments and experiences in mediating between science and IKS epistemologies beyond the scope of the logical deductive/inductive approach which TAP analysis employed. Analysis of learners' arguments revealed that they held both science and IKS worldviews and that they used them interchangeably without experiencing cognitive conflicts. The focus group interview showed that learners appreciated the inclusion of IK in the science lessons and felt that its inclusion can enhance their understanding of science. Discounting challenges faced, the DAI showed some promise, pending further investigations, that it could mediate the enactment of a science-IK curriculum.


An important step in the solution of a matrix nearness problem that arises in certain machine learning applications is finding the zero of $f(\alpha) = \bm{z}^T \exp(\log X + \alpha\bm{z}\bm{z}^T)\...


Antecedents: although echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization are used as first option tools for congenital heart diseases diagnosis, computed tomography angiography is a minimally invasive exam that through two to three dimensional images in real time gives an adequate approach to patients having this type of pathologies that require a rapid and precise evaluation of its extracardiac anatomy. Objective: describe the institutional experience from August 2005 to August 2006 in the use of angiography by tomography as a complementary diagnostic method in the evaluation of pediatric patients with congenital heart diseases. Method: serial descriptive study. 58 pediatric patients with clinical and echocardiographic diagnosis of congenital heart diseases were evaluated through the General Electric Multislice Lightpeed/16 scanner. Results: 58 patients with history of congenital heart disease were evaluated through CT angiography. Mean age was 2.4 ± 4.03 years. Twenty (33.8%) had diagnosis of pulmonary atresia, four (6.7%) had tricuspid atresia, eight (13.5%) had double-outlet right ventricle, seven (11.8%) had tetralogy of Fallot, nine (15.2%) had alterations of the aortic arch, seven (11.8%) had coarctation of the aorta, two (3.3%) had interrupted aortic arch, six (10.3%) had persistent ductus arteriosus, four (6.7%) had anomalous venous drainage and three (5.1%) had transposition of the great arteries. High quality images that allowed assessing the precise vascular anatomy were obtained. Conclusions: computed tomography angiography turned out to be a useful tool in the diagnostic approach of congenital heart diseases, because it allowed a tridimensional anatomic reconstruction. New studies that may permit the assessment of sensitivity, specificity and concordance level of this technique with other invasive diagnostic methods available for the diagnosis of this type of diseases, are required.


Submarine power cables have been widely used for energy link across seas. Solid grounding at both ends is a common design which leads to highly induced current in the armor. To reduce the induced current, nonmagnetic copper wires are used by manufactures to replace the magnetic steel wires. However, the replacement effect is seldomly studied in detail. This paper establishes a 110 kV subsea cable in ATP/EMTP software. Different armor designs are applied in the model to study the nonmagnetic armor effect on the induced current. It has been shown that the nonmagnetic copper wire does not necessarily lead to lower induced current. Meanwhile the current in lead sheath is also affected.


Shortcuts in clinical reasoning delay accurate diagnoses and result in inappropriate treatment. Psychologists have described these shortcuts as heuristics and have created a classification system for these errors. The defined heuristics include premature closure, anchoring bias, blind obedience, the availability heuristic, and framing effects. With greater knowledge of the common diagnostic pitfalls, physicians can attempt to avoid these errors.


How to further improve the performance of optical communication systems will be an important guarantee for the successful construction of next-generation optical networks. This paper builds an optical transmission simulation system on the VPI simulation platform. By changing the system parameters such as fiber length, transmitter bit rate, global bit rate and sampling rate, observed and analyzed the changes of spectrum and eye diagram of the optical transmission simulation system. The experimental results show that the transmitter bit rate and global bit rate have a greater impact on the spectral bandwidth of optical communication systems than the optical fiber length and sampling rate.


A series of novel substituted 2-mercaptoimidazoles was synthesised
efficiently and in high yields using one-pot synthesis from m-hydroxyacetophenones.

The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established, their molecular
activity was investigated against some bacteria and fungi were further validated using molecular
docking study.

Reaction of o-hydroxyphenacylbromide (2) with substituted aniline and KSCN, in the
presence of catalyst p-toluene sulfonic acid afforded 4(a-r) in good yield. The structure of compounds
(4a-r) was confirmed by IR, NMR and MS.

The compounds exhibited excellent antimicrobial potency against the tested microorganism.


Close examination of in-school sus pension programs may reveal that their effectiveness has not been as com plete as expected or claimed. Basically, the problem lies in the meaning of "effectiveness" and the criteria used to deter mine such effectiveness.


The rates of reactions between the title compound and various straight-chain and branched primary and secondary amines to form the corresponding monoaminopentachlorocyclotriphosphazenes have been measured in tetrahydrofuran at different temperatures. The straight-chain primary amines all react at the same rate, but α-branched primary amines and secondary amines react more slowly. Although the entropy of activation makes the greatest contribution to the free energy of activation in all these reactions, the reduction of the rates is related to increases in the enthalpy of activation. Detailed analysis of the data supports a two-step mechanism. Comparison with data in the literature clarifies the steric course of the reaction and elucidates the role played by steric factors.


Cloth is extremely weak in bending and its deformation is generally a small-strain-large-displacement post-buckling process. Cloth has multi-pattern deformation characteristics, which means it can form different shapes under the same boundary and loading conditions. The present paper aims to simulate cloth multi-pattern phenomenon by the minimum potential energy principle and the conjugate gradient method. Numerical examples are given and the predicted results conform well to our daily perception of cloth multi-pattern deformation.


Introduction: It has been reported that cardiovascular effects are among the possible health effects of being exposed to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF EMSs). Material and Methods: This study has been conducted to evaluate the long term effects of exposure to magnetic and electric fields on electrocardiogram signal changes. Nine power transmission posts having different voltages were chosen. The study was conducted in three stages. First, the intensity of root mean square (rms) of magnetic and electrical fields was assessed in different spots where the operators were spending more time. Then based on each operator's work habits the time–weighted mean of intensity of rms in magnetic and electrical fields over a 12 hour period was estimated and used as an index for each operator. In the next step, 102 individuals were chosen among the operators according to their job and medical history. Each subject had an eletrocardiogram taken while being relaxed. The cardiograms were used to extract 5 parameters including number of heart bit, wave time of P, complex QRS, interval time of PR and QTC. Using poly regression analysis method, the synchronized effects of independent variables such as age, job history, time–weighted mean of magnetic and electrical field on the extracted parameters of electrocardiogram signal was analyzed. Results: The obtained results show that the synchronized effects of the variables can cause changes on PR and QTC interval of electrocardiogram signal. The most changes on PR and QTC interval are caused by the exposure to magnetic and electrical fields. Discussion and Conclusion: Studying the effects of electromagnetic field on electrocardiogram signal is representative of effects of these fields on repolarization of cardiac cells. On the other hand, the heart rhythm and the number of heart bit are under the control of automatic system of central nervous system. Therefore, it is important to analyze electrocardiogram signal as well as heart rate variability signal in order to evaluate the field effects on the function of heart automatic system of central nervous system.


In this paper,an improved dual-window tracking algorithm based on tracking differentiator filter is proposed to meet the practical requirement in real-time and precision of the target tracking system.The possible position of moving target center in the next frame image is predicted by TD filter.A search region for target is generated around the target center position.Simulation results illustrate that the proposed algorithm has superior features,such as its independences to model information,higher prediction precision.It also can meet the practical requirement in real time processing.


In this research, the effect of central bank intervention within a heterogeneous expectation exchange rate model is investigated. The results are supporting both chartists and fundamentalist regimes. In the period investigated, chartist dominates in determining the exchange rate. While BI foreign exchange intervention can effectively push the market exchange-rate to its long-run fundamental equilibrium, however, Bank Indonesia's effort to exert a stabilizing effect of foreign exchange interventions, the result does not show a success. Keywords: exchange rates, foreign-exchange intervention, switching regression JEL Classification: F31, E52, C24


The invention relates to an FFS anti-permeation array substrate and a preparation method thereof, wherein, the method for preparing the FFS anti-permeation array substrate comprises the following steps: a transparency electrode layer is deposited on a glass substrate and a transparency electrode pattern is formed in a reflecting area; the transparency electrode pattern and the glass substrate aresculptured to make embossing on the glass substrate; a grid, a grid line, a gate insulation layer, an active layer, a source drain electrode, a pixel electrode, a passivation layer and a common electrode are formed in sequence; the FFS anti-permeation array substrate comprises the glass substrate and an array structure, wherein, the glass substrate is provided with a reflecting area and a transmission area, and embossings which has the function of reflection are made on the surface of the glass substrate within the reflecting area. The invention can cause the technologies to be simpler, reducethe cost, increase the output and raise the reflectivity as well.


Non-collagenous extracellular matrix fibronectin (FN) and laminin (LN) located on the epithelial basement membranes were deemed to prevent tumor cells from invading interstitial substance. Whereas emerging evidences bring to our attention in the process their crucial roles of promoting evolution in several tumors. We investigated the fibronectin and laminin expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues, as well as their associations with the densities of microvessels and stromal myofibroblasts (MFs) in tumor mesenchyme, finally analyzed their clinical significance. 53 tumor specimens were collected. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the levels of fibronectin and laminin expression in tumor tissues, and the densities of microvessels and stromal myofibroblasts in tumor mesenchyme. The fibronectin and laminin expression in ESCC tissues were conspicuously abundant. Fibronectin upregulation was proportionate to high microvessels density (MVD) (P = 0.008) and plentiful stromal myofibroblasts (P = 0.016). Analogously, laminin expression had positive relationships with MVD (P = 0.039) and quantity of stromal myofibroblasts (P = 0.023). Their respective associations with TNM stage (FN: P = 0.000, LN: P = 0.004) and venous invasion (FN: P = 0.002, LN: P = 0.011) were verified to be intimate. Moreover, survival analyses revealed statistical discrepancies between outcomes of the patients with negative/weak/moderate and strong expression patterns of both fibronectin and laminin, however their values of predicting prognosis independently were skeptical. We proposed that the upregulated fibronectin and laminin in ESCC tissues were related to the malignant properties of tumor through establishing a permissive environment for tumor invasion and metastasis.


This work concentrates the modeling efforts presented in last year's VSGC conference paper, "Model Development for Cable-Harnessed Beams." The focus is narrowed to modeling of space-flight cables only, as a reliable damped cable model is not yet readily available and is necessary to continue modeling cable-harnessed space structures. New experimental data is presented, eliminating the low-frequency noise that plagued the first year's efforts. The distributed transfer function method is applied to a single section of space flight cable for Euler-Bernoulli and shear beams. The work presented here will be developed into a damped cable model that can be incorporated into an interconnected beam-cable system. The overall goal of this work is to accurately predict natural frequencies and modal damping ratios for cabled space structures.


The case study that I present here incorporates the transformative power of fairy tales with memory reconsolidation. The client's transformational growth also included journaling with original artwork. In the fairy tale that illuminates my case study, I begin as so many fairy tales do. Once upon a time, a Devil created a mirror that enhanced and amplified evil with ugliness and shadow. This enchanted mirror could also mute goodness and light. The Devil gleefully smashed goodness and light, creating glass shards that he cast down and embedded in the eyes and hearts of human beings. This wounding created chaos in the mind and pain in the heart. In this fairy tale


This paper proposes a hybrid harmony search algorithm that incorporates a method of reinitializing harmonies memory using a particle swarm optimization algorithm with an improved opposition-based learning method (IOBL) to solve continuous optimization problems. This method allows the algorithm to obtain better results by increasing the search space of the solutions. This approach has been validated by comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with that of a state-of-the-art harmony search algorithm, solving fifteen standard mathematical functions, and applying the Wilcoxon parametric test at a 5% significance level. The state-of-the-art algorithm uses an opposition-based improvement method (IOBL). Computational experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm. In quality, it is better in fourteen of the fifteen instances, and in efficiency is better in seven of fifteen instances.


Designed for multiple device-to-device clusters (D2DC) multicast communications is proposed in this research which is an efficient resource allocation scheme. To maximize the sum effective throughput the transmit power and the channel are apportioned to D2DC. Given that the nature of administration is rationed for cellular communications at a specific degree. Our examination details a channel assignment conspire utilizing fractional data of gadget areas. For this situation, we acquire the disturbance likelihood and viable throughput of D2DC communications incomparative outline. This process is carried by increasing the cluster size, code words and subcarriers. we proposed the algorithm here is a sensible channel allocation (CA) conspire utilizing partial information of device locations (CA-PIL). Consequently planned methodology can naturally lessen the measure of required framework overhead contrasted and the Channel Allocation (CA) conspire utilizing full information of device locations (CA-FIL).The forthcoming CA-PIL strategy accomplishes the close ideal aggregate Effective Throughput got by CA-FIL when an enormous number of D2D devices work in the clusters.


Lessons learned and results from BepiColombo/Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) thermal test model testing are presented. The MMO Thermal Test Model (TTM) was elaborately tested in four Thermal Balance Tests (TBTs): TBT with a 1 solar constant simulator at the Tsukuba Space Center in November 2009, TBT with infrared panels at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in February 2009, TBT with a 10 solar constant simulator at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in October 2010, and TBT of the MMO TTM and MOSIF TTM composite at ESTEC in December 2010. This last MOSIF-MMO test was conducted by the European Space Agency.


Primary objective Various oilseeds and their by-products usually constitute a major source of dietary protein as aquafeeds for warmwater herbivorous/omnivorous fish species. The oilseed meals available in India are fairly rich in protein and most of them are traditionally used as valuable feed for farm animals. However, among the factors that limit incorporation of these ingredients in aquafeeds are amino-acid imbalance and presence of anti-nutritional factors. Enhancement of the nutritive value of these ingredients and reduction (or removal) of anti-nutritional factors can be attempted by processing so as to increase the bio-availability of these nutrients. It has been found that various anti-nutritional factors can be destroyed by the process of extrusion cooking. Extrusion is a process whereby raw feed material is exposed to controlled conditions of high temperature, pressure and moisture. In the present experiment, extrusion cooking is used to reduce the anti-nutritional factor tannin in linseed (Linum usitatissimum) meal. Research design A single-screw cooking extruder, designed and manufactured at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, was used for the study. Experiments were carried out following a rotatable central composite design to determine the optimum values of the process variables for which maximum reduction of tannin (Y) occurs. The process variables selected for the study were: barrel temperature (X1) (60–100°C), extruder speed (X2) (60–100 rpm) and oilseed moisture content (X3) (30–50%). Following the design, a second-order response model was fitted. Main outcomes and results The optimized values of the process variables were found to be X1=82.5°C, X2=90 rpm and X3=41.22%, and the value of the predicted response (i.e. reduction of tannin Y) was found to be 61.25%.


The task known as Camera-Based Document Image Retrieval has become increasingly relevant in the last decade due to the spread of mobile devices, which usually include digital cameras. A solution to this problem, particularly one suitable for use in the limited hardware of those platforms, is of great interest to a number of applications. For that reason, we have explored existent solutions to the problem, and implemented a modified version of the Locally Likely Arrangement Hashing (LLAH) method, in the form of a C++ library called pARagraph. Bearing in mind its usefulness for mobile devices, we adopted several optimizations in the implementation, focused in reducing execution time and, primarily, memory consumption. The pARagraph library was evaluated in regard to its accuracy, execution time and memory usage; from experimental results on a database comprised of 389 documents, we have obtained over 90% retrieval accuracy on most configurations, and retrievals required on average less than 100 ms and about 200 MB of memory.


We present a coupled model approach to improve the water balance at the catchment scale. The model is composed of a land surface and unsaturated zone model (MARMITES) coupled with the groundwater model MODFLOW. We aim to quantify spatio;temporally the water fluxes of the unsaturated and saturated zones and to assess the impact of typically underestimated water fluxes, such as groundwater transpiration and groundwater evaporation, on groundwater resources.


T he high frequency of peritonitis during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has hindered the development and acceptance of this technique (1). Bacterial contamination can be related to two major factors: the poor technology of the original devices and the patients' clinical condition. Therefore, since the inception of CAPD, there have been many technical improvements intended to reduce the risk of contamination of the dialysate. These improvements concerned the composition of the dialysate, the PD catheter, and, mainly, the bag connectors. However, the evolution of the CAPD population, with the increase of elderly patients, does not make for an easy medical situation (2). We report here on the experience of our CAPD program, started in May 1978, which has included 262 patients. Because this therapy was introduced early in our center, we have followed its evolution and have observed the impact of all changes. We will first consider the technical modifications and then the patient's condition.


. This research is dedicated to the determination of maximum working capacity temperature of tool hard alloy cutters during a processing of parts by means of cutting made of hard-to-cut materials including assessment of possibility of using of tools made in Russian Federation without loss of the processing efficiency.


Product codes have emerged as a key technique in optical communications. However, the conventional ChasePyndiah decoding algorithm faces challenges in achieving the high throughput required by future optical transport networks. Consequently, research efforts have focused on optimizing hard decision decoding algorithms, such as iterative bounded distance decoding (iBDD). In this paper, we propose an iterative ordered statistics decoding (iOSD) algorithm that adopts OSD to decode component codes based on fixed soft messages. We introduce the bounded OSD technique and integrate additional iBDD iterations to mitigate error propagation and correct residual errors. Simulation results show that the proposed iOSD can achieve the error-correction performance of Chase-Pyndiah decoding.


Billiards are important equipment for table tennis players or fans. When the table tennis ball machine fails, the sensor in the ball machine sends out an error signal, automatically transmits the built-in tool, damages the ball machine according to the planned maintenance method, and automatically completes the maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to study the intelligent repair system of table tennis server based on data analysis algorithm. This paper introduces the research background, significance and application scenarios of the intelligent repair system of table tennis ball server, summarizes the research status of fault diagnosis and genetic algorithm at home and abroad and some representative research results, and proposes the main work and research content of this paper. Using genetic algorithm can automatically correct the internal combination error of the ball machine, the effectiveness of the debugging method, and the proposed automatic debugging method is verified by the test. Through the experimental comparison of the self-repair method based on genetic algorithm implemented in this paper, it is found that the proposed error correction method based on genetic algorithm has the fastest repair speed, the success rate is 87.6%, and the confidence is high.


In Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢, the Goddess of Disenchantment 警幻仙子 seems both Buddhist (in trying to disenchant Baoyu 寶玉 from emotional attachment 情) and Confucian (in advising him to study for entering officialdom), but is in fact a messenger for the Cheng-Zhu 程朱 school of Neo-Confucianism who has adopted Buddhist disenchanting strategies. Her antipathy toward carnal indulgence indicates that she symbolizes a new and unblemished form of the Cheng-Zhu school. In the context of the novel, this change of state ideology could only refer to that which occurred when the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Manchus. Thus, only when we read Dream of the Red Chamber allegorically, especially as a national allegory, are we able to detect the hidden sentiments of the remnant subject. Metafictional theory helps lay bare the three fold structure of the novel in which both the outermost narrative, representing the position of the author, and the middle layer narrative, representing that of the Qing ruler, are trying to win over the allegiance of the innermost layer, that of the remnant subject, who clings unrelentingly to his emotional attachment to the fallen Ming. The correspondences between "disenchantment" in the novel and in the Dayi juemi lu (大義覺迷錄 Report on Disenchantment in Light of the Great Principles, issued by the Yongzheng Emperor), both in terms of name and content of discourse, further substantiate the argument that this novel is a semi-memoir written to reinforce the will of the remnant subject not to serve the new usurper-rulcr.


Abstract Second-time coronary artery bypass grafting is sometimes technically challenging due to severe adhesion of the heart, difficulty of identifying target coronary arteries, advanced sclerosis of the ascending aorta and limited availability of graft vessels. Here we report a patient, in whom a coronary-to-coronary bypass grafting from the native right coronary artery to the left anterior descending artery using a free right internal mammary artery was used as a graft conduit.


Potato crisps are one of the food commodities that contribute most to overall dietary human exposure of acrylamide. This investigation has estimated the dietary exposure to acrylamide form potato crisps in the Spanish population. Sampling of potato crisps (n = 36) from 16 different producers were carried out in March 2008. An average level of 740 µg kg−1 (ranging from 81 to 2622 µg kg−1; minimum to maximum) and a median of 592 µg kg−1 were obtained. Acrylamide levels in marketed potato crisps have been significantly reduced (nearly to 50%) compared with a previous sampling performed 4 years earlier. The observed signal value (90th percentile) was 1377 µg kg−1 with 86% of the samples with acrylamide levels lower than 1000 µg kg−1. Dietary exposure to acrylamide from potato crisp consumption in the total Spanish population was estimated to be 0.042 µg kg−1 body weight day−1 by using a deterministic approach based on the National consumption database. In a second study, dietary exposure (based on a 3-day food record) was determined to be 0.053 µg kg−1 body weight day−1 for the adult population (17–60 years) and 0.142 µg kg−1 body weight day−1 for children (7–12 years). The contribution of potato crisps to the estimated dietary acrylamide exposure of the Spanish population is moderate as compared with other European Member States.


Objective To evaluate the postoperative shunt restenosis of transjugular intrahepatic portasystemic shunt (TIPS) using polytetrafluoroethyoethylene (PTFE) covered stent in patients with portal hypertension,and discuss its influencing factors.Methods The clinical data of 82 patients with portal hypertension were retrospectively analyzed.TIPS with PTFE covered stent was carried out in all patients,and the preoperative Child-Pugh score was (6.74 ± 1.05) scores.The patients were followed up for 12-55 (24.9 ± 10.4) months.Single and multiple factor analysis using Cox regression were performed to evaluate the influencing factors.Results Under the local anaesthesia,TIPS was successful performed in all 82 patients.The portosystemic pressure gradient decreased from preoperative (27.46 ±4.08) mmHg (1 mmHg =0.133 kPa) to postoperative (15.71 ±2.07) mmHg,and the difference was statistically significant (t =1.804,P < 0.01).The Child-Pugh score 3 months after operation was (6.57 ± 1.43) scores,and there was no statistical difference compared with that before treatment (t =12.931,P> 0.05).During the follow-up period,shunt restenosis of covered stent occurred in 8 patients,and the rate of restenosis was 9.8% (8/82).Cox single analysis showed that the covered stent length within portal vein 1.0 cm and its location in hepatic vein had statistical significance,and multiple factor regression analysis showed that the covered stent location in hepatic vein was the independent influencing factor of shunt restenosis (OR =26.647,95% CI:8.257-20.061,P =0.005).Conclusions TIPS with PTFE covered stent can markedly increase the shunt patency rate.A proper location of the covered stent within hepatic vein carries lower restenosis incidence.Hyperextension of the stent into portal vein is not recommended.

Key words:
Hypertension, portal;  Portasystemic shunt,transjugular intrahepatic;  Covered stent;  Restenosis


In the previous paper, it was observed that film-like fragments were peeled from the surface of tracheid by the fiberizing treatment of cooked spruce wood, and those were recognized as a part of the middle lamella by means of an electron microscope. The present paper deals with characterization of the peeled fragments. Results obtained are summarized as follows : (1) Lignin concentration of the fragments (P-I, P-I-Di and P-III) is more than two times as much as that of tracheid (Table 1). Arabinan and galactan in the fragments (P-III) are much higher than those in tracheid (Table 2). Consequently, it was confirmed that the fragments are a part of the middle lamella. (2) Degrees of sulfonation and condensation of guaiacyl unit in the middle lamella lignin are almost the same as those in the secondary wall lignin. (3) The amounts of arabinan and galactan in the middle lamella of spruce wood, which were reported by H. Meier in 1961, are remarkably higher than the present results. It is, therefore, presumed that arabinan and galactan in the middle lamella are selectively decomposed during sulfite cooking. (4) Wood chips cooked with sulfite liquors are ruptured selectively at the middle lamella by the fiberizing treatment. High concentration of sulfonated lignin and degradation of hemicellulose in the middle lamella may cause such a selective rupture.


A unique new tetracyclic tetraterpenoid has been isolated from the Chinese soft coral Sarcophyton tortuosum Tixier-Durivault and designated as methyl sartortuoate. Its chemical and crystal structures as well as its absolute configuration were determined by IR, UV, NMR and X-ray diffraction analysis. The authors have also suggested a possible route for its biogenesis.


We present the first comparison between new fAPAR and LAI products derived from the GlobAlbedo dataset and the widely-used MODIS fAPAR and LAI products. The GlobAlbedo-derived products are produced using a 1D two-stream radiative transfer (RT) scheme designed explicitly for global parameter retrieval from albedo, with consistency between RT model assumptions and observations, as well as with typical large-scale land surface model RT schemes. The approach does not require biome-specific structural assumptions (e.g., cover, clumping, understory), unlike more detailed 3D RT model approaches. GlobAlbedo-derived values of fAPAR and LAI are compared with MODIS values over 2002–2011 at multiple flux tower sites within selected biomes, over 1200 × 1200 km regions and globally. GlobAlbedo-derived fAPAR and LAI values are temporally more stable than the MODIS values due to the smoothness of the underlying albedo, derived via optimal estimation (assimilation) using an a priori estimate of albedo derived from an albedo "climatology" (composited multi-year albedo observations). Parameters agree closely in timing but with GlobAlbedo values consistently lower than MODIS, particularly for LAI. Larger differences occur in winter (when values are lower) and in the Southern hemisphere. Globally, we find that: GlobAlbedo-derived fAPAR is ~0.9–1.01 × MODIS fAPAR with an intercept of ~0.03; GlobAlbedo-derived LAI is ~0.6 × MODIS LAI with an intercept of ~0.2. Differences arise due to the RT model assumptions underlying the products, meaning care is required in interpreting either set of values, particularly when comparing to fine-scale ground-based estimates. We present global transformations between GlobAlbedo-derived and MODIS products.


Contment.-Joint manifestations may be the initial complaints and the leading symptoms in intrathoracic tumours. They can easily be mistaken for arthritis. The disappearance of these symptoms immediately after the removal of the tumour in a patient who had been almost bedridden and helpless is convincing evidence of the relation of such a tumour to the osteo-arthropathy. The original description of this osteo-arthropathy by Bamberger and Marie, by whose combined names this disease is often called, was followed by many case reports. The older literature on this subject includes X-ray studies, similar to the one observed in this case, but only recently have there been reports of the successful removal of such tumours resulting in the disappearance of the osteoarthropathic changes. In this case, the pathology was found to be a neurofibroma. Operation revealed no connexion with any anatomical structure. Severe hypertrophic osteo-arthritis occurs also in carcinoma of the bronchus. In these cases, lack of response to treatment for the arthritis has led to the diagnosis of primary carcinoma of the bronchus.


Objective To study the function of Huatuo Jiancong decoction on antagonising Aβ toxicity to neuron.Method The primary cultured murine neurons were randomly divided into control group,model group,Ginsenoside Rg1 group and Huatuo Jiancong decoction group.All the rats,beside the rats in control group,were damaged by Aβ1-42.In Huatuo Jiancong decoction group,the SD rats were treated by the decoction and then thier serum containing medicine ingredients was taken for antagonising Aβ toxicity,Ginsenoside Rg1 in the control group was used for that.Then,the photographs of cell shapes were observed and MTT and calculating the living rate detected;the LDH,T-AOC,NO in supernatant liquid were detected.Results MTT and T-AOC were increased in Huatuo Jiancong decoction group,compared with model group(P0.05),while LDH and total NO decreased(P0.05).Conclusion The decoction can protect remarkably neuron poisoned by Aβ,and the mechanism may be its antioxidation function.


This study proposes new control systems to improve running stability of micro scale electric vehicle by using electric motor. Electric motor has the following merits : fast response compared with both an engine and a hydro-mechanical actuator, easy controllability of torque and formulation of torque characteristic, small and high power. These merits make it more feasible to implement traction control system on electric vehicles than conventional vehicle powered by engines. In this paper, traction control system based on LQI control theory is proposed for electric vehicles. The controller is designed with the objective to follow the disired relative velocity between the wheel and the vehicle body, instead of slip ratio as the conventional method. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed controller is verified by the computer simulation and experiment that uses small scale electric vehicle with in whell-motors.


Difficulty in generalizing and lack of adapt ability are important factors that hamper a computer aided process planning (CAP P) system from being popular and practical. New manufacturing philosophies such as Concurrent Engineering require special characteristic of a CAPP system. Propose d in this paper is a CAPP framework system for Concurrent Engineering (CAPPFS C E) which can meet the requirements of Concurrent Engineering and whose informati on models, function models and decision logic can be customized by users to form various CAPP application systems. Its function requirements are discussed broadly. An architecture for CAPPFS CE is presented. It is based on abstract in formati on models (AIMs) and abstract function models (AFMs). The kernel is formed by cu stomization interpretation, internal process control and decision engine. A new information modeling and system development method, information element method ( IEM), is introduced to build up AIMs, decision engine, and AFMs and then realize a CAPPFS CE. THCAPP SHELL, a CAPPFS CE developed by IEM, is demonstrated. A CAPP system produced by customizing THCAPP SHELL for complex structural parts i n a concurrent engineering environment is shown.


The article studies the possibilities of localization of the accident scene, objects, traces and different landmarks by using portable electronic navigation devices during the investigative action such as searching accident scene, verifi cation of testimony and experimental investigation.


Background: The pathways and control of oil seed sugar unloading and metabolism are not well understood. Results: The UDP-specific sucrose synthase isozyme RcSUS1 is the dominant sucrolytic enzyme of developing castor oil seeds. Conclusion: RcSUS1 expression and phosphorylation at Ser-11 are modulated by photosynthate translocated from leaves. Significance: This research may facilitate the development of effective biotechnological strategies for oil seed metabolic engineering. Sucrose synthase (SUS) catalyzes the UDP-dependent cleavage of sucrose into UDP-glucose and fructose and has become an important target for improving seed crops via metabolic engineering. A UDP-specific SUS homotetramer composed of 93-kDa subunits was purified to homogeneity from the triacylglyceride-rich endosperm of developing castor oil seeds (COS) and identified as RcSUS1 by mass spectrometry. RcSUS1 transcripts peaked during early development, whereas levels of SUS activity and immunoreactive 93-kDa SUS polypeptides maximized during mid-development, becoming undetectable in fully mature COS. The cytosolic location of the enzyme was established following transient expression of RcSUS1-enhanced YFP in tobacco suspension cells and fluorescence microscopy. Immunological studies using anti-phosphosite-specific antibodies revealed dynamic and high stoichiometric in vivo phosphorylation of RcSUS1 at its conserved Ser-11 residue during COS development. Incorporation of 32Pi from [γ-32P]ATP into a RcSUS1 peptide substrate, alongside a phosphosite-specific ELISA assay, established the presence of calcium-dependent RcSUS1 (Ser-11) kinase activity. Approximately 10% of RcSUS1 was associated with COS microsomal membranes and was hypophosphorylated relative to the remainder of RcSUS1 that partitioned into the soluble, cytosolic fraction. Elimination of sucrose supply caused by excision of intact pods of developing COS abolished RcSUS1 transcription while triggering the progressive dephosphorylation of RcSUS1 in planta. This did not influence the proportion of RcSUS1 associated with microsomal membranes but instead correlated with a subsequent marked decline in SUS activity and immunoreactive RcSUS1 polypeptides. Phosphorylation at Ser-11 appears to protect RcSUS1 from proteolysis, rather than influence its kinetic properties or partitioning between the soluble cytosol and microsomal membranes.


Objective To explore the effect of tympanostomy tube insertion under endotoscopy combined with adenoidectomy with electrocautery in treatment of secretive otitis media(SOM) in 55 childish patients.Methods The general situation of children after treatment has been recorded,such as average duration of middle ear fluid retention,changes in hearing,complications,recurrence rate following removal or extrusion of tube and middle ear infection rate.Results The hearing ability is recovered in all 55 cases,and audibility threshold increased by 23.4 dB at 0.5,1.0 and 2.0 kHz of pure tone test.The average duration for middle ear fluid retention after operation was 8.7±1.4 days,42 ears(65.6%) cured,19 ears(29.7%) improved and 3 ears(4.7%) failed.Three months after ventilation tube removed,secretive otitis media recurred in 3 ears including 1 ear complicated with infection.The complications mainly manifested as detachment of tube in 5 ears,otorrhea in 2 ears,unhealed membrane perforation in 2 ears and calcification of tympanic membrane in 1 ear.Conclusion Tympanostomy tube insertion under endotoscopy combined with adenoidectomy by electrocautery is effective in treatment of childish patients with SOM.The hearing ability of children has been improved,the duration of middle ear effusion is also shortened,and the relapse rate and infection rate are reduced.This kind of therapeutic procedures can be applied for treatment of childish patients with secretive otitis media.


Springs are unique freshwater ecosystems that present a natural laboratory for testing which environmental variables are important in shaping invertebrate communities. In my study, 22 freshwater springs were sampled throughout Iceland's volcanically active zone. Analysis of environmental variables with invertebrate communities determined that spring type, temperature, and pH were significant in shaping invertebrate communities. The significance of type and temperature were predicted, but pH was surprising as a significant variable. Although springs are considered constant at their sources, rapid changes in environmental variables have been documented with increasing distance downstream from the rheocrene spring source. Previous studies have attempted to determine where a spring source ends and a springbrook begins, and physical definitions based on temperature and distance have been used to define the boundary between spring source and springbrook. Four rheocrene springs in the Hengill geothermal area were sampled at the source and at various points downstream to determine where invertebrate community shifts occur and the forces driving them. Community changes were observed, but a specific faunistic boundary could not be established for the spring source-springbrook continuum.


Objective To study the mechanism of restenosis in vein as well as its prevention and treatment, neointimal formation was investigate in an organ culture model with human saphenous vein. Methods Saphenous vein segments were obtained from 6 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG) and cultured. After 14 days, sample was obtained for Histochemical staining and immunohistochemistry. On the other hand, detection of apoptotic cells by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling was carried out. Results Cultured saphenous vein segments developed neointimal formation and marked thickening of the media within 14 days. There was significant difference between normal saphenous veins and cultured saphenous veins( P 0.01); neointimal cells were positive for α-smooth muscle-actin (α-actin). There was no significant difference between normal saphenous veins and cultured saphenous veins through detection of apoptotic cells. Conclusion These results suggest that cell growth and migration contribute to neointimal formation and medial thickening in cultured human saphenous vein. These neointimal cells are probably myofibroblasts. Inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation of myofibroblasts may have potential therapeutic implications in the treatment for vein graft disease.


The authors presents the case of a five years old child that was murdered by hands strangled and also she had signs of physical and sexual abuse. The difficulty of characterizing the sexual violence, if was rape or sexual abuse otherwise copulation, was diagnosing sexual intercourse. The medical literature indicates that the hymenal characteristics are the essencial element for this diagnose. However, the hymenal rupture, recent or not, like certain sign would be controversial if accidental trauma occurred in the perineum.


No adequate immunotherapy has so far been shown to be effective in anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) antibody neuropathy.1 Rituximab was assessed in two randomised controlled trials, both including only patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (WM) being an exclusion criterion.2

The aim of our multicentre retrospective study was to assess whether the response to rituximab in patients with anti-MAG antibody neuropathy would differ according to the associated haematological condition.

We reviewed the clinical and laboratory features of 33 patients (21 men, mean age at time of therapy: 64.6±10.3, range: 41–87, mean neuropathy duration at time of therapy: 4.67 years±4.82, range: 0.5–17) with anti-MAG antibody neuropathy who underwent therapy with rituximab single agent in five Italian neurological centres. Twenty-five (73.5%) patients had Immunoglobulin M (IgM) MGUS and 8/33 had WM, according to bone marrow biopsy. The mean age was significantly different in the two groups (62.5±10.3 years in MGUS vs 70.5±7.9 years in WM, p=0.04). The mean neuropathy duration was 4.56±4.8 years in MGUS versus 5.6±5.1 years in WM (p=0.62, Mann-Whitney U test).

Anti-MAG antibodies were assayed by ELISA (Buhlmann Laboratories AG) (28 patients) or Western blot (5 patients). The median antibodies titre was 51 200 (range: 7500–800 000) in MGUS and 56 000 (range: 11 126–600 000) in patients with WM. Patients with low (<10 000 Buhlmann Titer Units) titre were included for clinical and neurophysiological features consistent with anti-MAG neuropathy. Antibody titres were not retrievable in two patients.

Twenty patients were therapy-naive, while 13 …


There are approximately 6000 people in Victoria with a severe communication impairment. This paper presents the results of a state-wide survey conducted to provide information on speech pathology services to these individuals. The data were gathered from service providers from a cross-section of facilities. The results showed that severe communication impairment is an under-resourced and under-serviced area. The availability of speech pathology services was limited. Where speech pathologists offered a service to non-speaking clients, a long-term time commitment was involved and clients predominantly attended for two years or more. Time and resource constraints limited the effective provision of services. There is a limited number of speech pathologists employed in servicing severely communicatively impaired people, and a lack of knowledge about non-speech communication among the service providers. Direct speech pathology intervention alone cannot meet the diverse needs of this large population. Various op...


Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) C and D are novel members of the VEGF family that show some selectivity toward lymphatic endothelial cells. Recent studies suggest that VEGF-C may be involved in lymphangiogenesis and spread of cancer cells via lymphatic vessels. However, whether other VEGF family members play a role in lymph node metastasis is largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore whether expressions of VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D are correlated with lymph node status in lung adenocarcinoma. Total RNA was isolated from 60 surgical specimens of lung adenocarcinoma with (n 5 27) or without (n 5 33) lymph node metastasis. The relative mRNA abundance of VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D was measured by real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis based on TaqMan fluorescence methodology. We found that, as single factors, expression of none of the four VEGF family members clearly correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis. The only tendency noted was for higher VEGF-B and VEGF-C and lower VEGF-D levels in the node-positive group. However, twoway scatterplot analysis revealed that tumors with lymph node metastasis were associated with a pattern of low VEGF-D and high VEGF-A, VEGF-B, or VEGF-C, such that the ratios of VEGF-D:VEGF-A, VEGF-D:VEGF-B, or VEGF-D:VEGF-C were significantly lower in the nodepositive group. Strikingly, none of the 11 tumors with high VEGF-D levels metastasized to lymph nodes. Furthermore, a low VEGF-D:VEGF-C ratio correlated with the presence of lymphatic invasion, and six of seven tumors with a pattern of very high expression of VEGF-C and low expression of VEGF-D displayed lymph vessel invasion that extended along the bronchovascular tree beyond the main tumor. Finally, levels of VEGF-A, but not VEGF-B or VEGF-C, were higher in tumors with large nodal metastasis ( >1 cm) than in those with small (<1 cm) nodal metastasis. These results support the hypothesis that two VEGF family members are involved in lymph node metastasis at two distinct steps; VEGF-C facilitates entry of cancer cells into the lymph vasculature, whereas VEGF-A promotes the growth of metastatic tumor through angiogenesis. The results also suggest that the balance between VEGF-C and VEGF-D could be important rather than the level of VEGF-C alone. Whether a low VEGF-D level plays a causative role in lymph node metastasis requires further investigation. INTRODUCTION The VEGF family is a group of growth factors that regulate the growth of endothelial cells (1, 2). The founding member, VEGF-A, plays essential roles in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis (3). Its crucial role in tumor angiogenesis and blood-borne metastasis has been documented in a variety of cancers (4). Although expression of VEGF-A in cancer has been studied extensively, the roles of other VEGF family members, i.e., VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D, in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis are poorly understood (5). VEGF-C (6–9) was initially identified as a ligand of VEGFR-3, which at the time was an "orphan" receptor that showed sequence similarity to VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2. Because expression of VEGFR-3 is largely restricted to lymphatic endothelium (10–12), the major function of VEGF-C appears to be the regulation of lymphatic vessel growth. Transgenic mice that overexpress VEGF-C in keratinocytes develop numerous dilated lymphatic vessels in the skin (13). Recent studies suggest that VEGF-C may promote spread of cancer cells through lymphatic channels (14, 15). VEGF-D was isolated as a fosinducible factor from mouse skin fibroblasts (16) and through database searches for sequences that show homology to VEGF-C (17, 18). Because of their sequence similarity, VEGF-C and VEGF-D are thought to have similar biological functions. In the present study, we studied the expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in lung adenocarcinoma and investigated its relationship to lymph node metastasis, one of the most important prognostic factors in lung cancer (19, 20). We also studied the Received 11/12/99; revised 2/25/00; accepted 2/28/00. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisementin accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. 1 Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the Second Term Comprehensive 10-year Strategy for Cancer Control from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan. 2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Pathology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tsukiji 5-1-1, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045 Japan. Phone: 81-3-3542-2511; Fax: 81-33248-2463. 3 The abbreviations used are: VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGFR,VEGFreceptor;FAM,6-carboxyfluorescein;TAMRA,6-carboxyN,N,N9,N9-tetramethylrhodamine; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR. 2431 Vol. 6, 2431–2439, June 2000 Clinical Cancer Research Research. on November 1, 2017. © 2000 American Association for Cancer clincancerres.aacrjournals.org Downloaded from expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-B. VEGF-A appears to be involved in lymph node metastasis of lung and colorectal cancers (21–23); the significance of VEGF-B expression in tumors is still unclear (5, 24, 25). MATERIALS AND METHODS Tissue Samples and Patients. Tissue samples were obtained from 60 primary lung adenocarcinomas that were resected at the National Cancer Center Hospital in 1997 and 1998. Normal lung tissues were obtained from nontumorous portions of the lobectomy specimens that were distant from the primary tumor. These control specimens were taken from lung tissues histologically confirmed to be without fibrosis, inflammation, or emphysema. Tissues were quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen until RNA extraction. Lymph node status was determined by routine pathological examination of dissected pulmonary hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes, as well as intrapulmonary lymph nodes. At least six dissected lymph nodes were histologically examined in all of the node-negative cases. Because some of the tumors without lymph node metastasis were putative noninvasive adenocarcinomas, as described by Noguchi et al. (26), these tumors were analyzed as a separate group. The clinicopathological features of the patients are summarized in Table 1. The stage of the disease was based on the Tumor-Node-Metastasis classification of the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (27). Cell Lines and Culture. Lung adenocarcinoma cell lines A549, RELF-LC-MS, VMRC-LCD, and ABC-1 were obtained from the Japanese Cancer Research Resources Bank (Osaka, Japan), and HLC-1 and LC-2/ad were obtained from the RIKEN Cell Bank (Tsukuba, Japan). The lung adenocarcinoma cell line L-27 was established in our laboratory. All cell lines were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS, glutamine, and antibiotics in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO 2 and 95% air. RNA Extraction. Total RNA was isolated using an RNeasy kit (Qiagen). The purity and concentration of RNA were determined by spectrophotometry at 260 nm. The quality of RNA was checked by the electrophoresis of 2–3mg samples in a 1% agarose gel, staining with ethidium bromide, and examining the 28S and 18S rRNA bands on a UV transilluminator. No significant degradation was observed in any RNA samples. Real-Time RT-PCR. The quantitation of relative mRNA abundance was carried out using a real-time fluorescence detection method using TaqMan chemistry (28). This method has been used in several recent papers to measure gene expression (29–32). Briefly, 50 ng of total RNA were reverse transcribed, and the gene of interest was PCR amplified with rTth DNA polymerase using gene-specific primers in a singletube, single-enzyme system. During PCR amplification, the 59-39 nuclease activity of the rTth DNA polymerase releases a TaqMan probe that hybridized to amplified sequences. The TaqMan probe contains a reporter dye (FAM) at the 5 9 nd and quencher dye (TAMRA) at the 39 end. Cleavage of the probe by rTth DNA polymerase separates the reporter from the quencher. The resulting increase of fluorescence signal can be detected by the laser detector of the ABI Model 7700 Sequence Detection System (Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems, Urayasu, Chiba). In this system, the cycle at which the fluorescent intensity first exceeds a threshold value ( Ct) is determined for each sample. By running serial dilutions of a reference sample, a standard curve is generated in each experiment. The target message of the unknown sample is then determined by measuring its Ct and by using the standard curve. The linearity of the standard curve ensures that the starting quantity of the target molecule is inversely proportional to itsCt. The reference RNA samples used to generate standard curves were obtained from a lung adenocarcinoma cell line, L-27, for VEGF-A, VEGF-B, and VEGF-C, and a neuroblastoma cell line, NB39 nu, for VEGF-D. All experiments were performed in duplicate, and the mean values were calculated. The results were normalized for 18S rRNA, the abundance of which was also determined by TaqMan RT-PCR. The results were expressed in arbitrary units. Negative controls lacking template RNA were always included in each experiment. The following oligonucleotides were used for real-time RT-PCR: (a) forward VEGF-A primer, 59-CTTGCCTTGCTGCTCTACC-39; reverse VEGF-A primer, 5 9-CACACAGGATGGCTTGAAG-39; VEGF-A probe, 59-FAM AGTTCATGGATGTCTATCAGCGCAGCT TAMRA-39; (b) forward VEGF-B primer, 59-AGCACCAAGTCCGGATG-3 9; reverse VEGF-B primer, 59-GTCTGGCTTCACAGCACTG-3 9, VEGF-B probe, 59-FAM AGATCCTCATGATCCGGTACCCG TAMRA-39; (c) forward VEGF-C primer, 59-TGCCGATGCATGTCTAAACT-39; reverse VEGF-C primer, 59 -TGAACAGGTCTCTTCATCCAGC-39; VEGF-C probe, 59 -FAM CAGCAACACTACCACAGTGTCAGGCA TAMRA-39; (d) forward VEGF-D primer, 59-GTATGGACTCTCGCTCAGCAT-39; reverse VEGF-D primer, 59-AGGCTCTCTTCATTGCAACAG-3


Positive relationships between island size and species richness have been found for oceanic and non‐oceanic islands. However, the effect of isolation, also predicted by island‐biogeographical theory, seems challenging to test. Species‐specific mechanisms drive the perception of distance and space for animals, and therefore isolation patterns are masked when described at the community level. We used epiphytic plants (canopy islands) and their spider communities to study how functional group and species‐specific use of space modifies the effect of island‐level predictors on species richness.


This work reviews recent research on the design and control of interfaces in engineering nanomaterials. Four case studies are presented that demonstrate the power of a multimodal approach to the characterization of different types of interfaces. We have used a combination of conventional, high resolution, and analytical transmission electron microscopy, microbeam electron diffraction, and three-dimensional atom probe to study polymer–clay nanocomposites, turbine rotor steels used for power generation, multicomponent aluminum alloys, and nanocrystalline magnetic materials.


The article presents the model research on impacts exerted by means of transport on the structures. In modelling the dynamics of transport systems the dynamic properties of the ground forming the foundation soil for tracks or roadways have been taken into account. The ground has been modelled as an elastic half-space. The dynamics of an infinite mass band being in contact with an elastic half-space has been investigated. As part of the research on impacts exerted by means of transport on structures a model of a problem has been examined where an automotive vehicle, representing a concentrated force in motion, is in contact with a roadway described as a rigid body coupled with an elastic half-space. It has been demonstrated that a surface (Rayleigh) wave propagates in the ground, being a continuous (elastic) medium, and acts on a structure modelled as a rigid body. The research results have been presented in the form of vertical and horizontal transmittances of the ground for different frequencies of loading with different unit forces.


A regional coupled ocean atmosphere model is developed and used to research regional climate change and sea air interaction over the South China Sea area. The atmospheric model performs the time integration simultaneously with ocean model. The sea surface temperature has been transferred from ocean model to atmosphere model and wind stress heat flux has been transferred from atmosphere model to ocean model. The model has conducted 3 month time integration from May to July in 1995. The coupled model gives us a more realistic ocean circulation field than that from a pure ocean model with COADS wind stress and heatflux data as external forcing, and well presented ocean current circulation and middle scale sea air interaction in South China Sea area.


The paper defines concept of campus emergency early-warning information from early-warning view and completed classification of early-warning information based of information sources,and built conception model of campus emergency early-warning information analyzing inluding early-warning information obtaining,pretreatment,storage and analysis by process of information analyzing.All of these provides theoretical basis of acquiring significant early-warning information and a way of improving campus emergency management decision effectively,also the guidance for the improve universities campus emergency management capability and make emergency management system more efficiency,more systematic and more standard.


Objective To study the level of inhibitory member of the ASPP family(iASPP) in invasive lobular breast carcinoma(ILBC) and its clinical significance.Methods The expression of iASPP-mRNA in the ILBC was analyzed by RT-PCR,then the average optional density of RT-PCR products was assayed by Quality one soft-ware.The relationship between the level of iASPP-mRNA and clinical pathological factors was analyzed.Results The iASPP-mRNA was expressed in 34 cases of ILBC(87.2%),but there were no expression in adjacent tissues of the tumor.The expression of iASPP-mRNA in cancer tissues was markedly higher than that in adjacent tissues(P0.01).There was significant difference between the patients aged≤45 years group and 45 years group(P0.01),between TNM stage Ⅲ、Ⅳ cases and stage Ⅰ、Ⅱ cases(P0.01),and between lymph node metastasis cases and none lymph node metastasis cases(P0.01).There was no difference between the expression of iASPP-mRNA and the expression of estrogen receptor(ER) or progesterone receptor(PR).Conclusions iASPP-mRNA is over-expressed in ILBC,and the detection of iASPP may be useful in the diagnosis,individual treatment and predicting the prognosis of ILBC.


Purpose: This study was carried out to understand the degree of moral distress of nurses and to provide scientific data for searching measures to efficiently manage their moral distress. Method: The survey was conducted with 302 nurses at the general hospital in City D by using the self-report type of questionnaire composed of 66 questions of 5-point Likert scale in four dimensions. Result: The mean scores of moral distress of nurses showed higher than average in all four dimensions: of 150 in the situational dimension, of 90 in the cognitive dimension, of 25 in the behavioral dimension, and of 65 in the emotional dimension. In addition, moral stress of each factor in the situational area showed in negative medical behavior, in lack of respect for autonomy of patients, excessive economic burden , in irrational organizational administration and in negative nursing behavior. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop the intervention program to help nurses to reduce their moral distress since its degree showed considerably high.


Creating legal professionals whose training matches the best in the world is an immediate need for a country that is growing by leaps and bounds. With growth and development comes the need to have legally trained professionals who can rise up to the new challenges posed by an ever-growing economy. On the other hand, legal professionals are also needed to advance the cause of social justice in the country. Although social justice was one of the goals of creating a new nation, the nation has still failed its destitute. It was with this experience that NLUs were set up in the country to groom lawyers as social engineers who would rise to the occasion and fill the gap of quality legal education in the country. However, largely there are many other interventions needed to improve the quality of legal research as well as practice in the country. The intervening jurisdiction of both the Bar Council of India as well as the University Grants Commission has also resulted in a lack of centralized planning and vision. Increasing grants for research, attracting well qualified faculty and setting up new research centers are some of the steps that could be taken in this direction.


A new algorithm is proposed to estimate the two-dimensional (2D) elevation-azimuth angle of a wideband linear frequency-modulated (LFM) signal utilizing a triangular array. This temporal-invariance ESPRIT algorithm is developed based on the time-delayed data sets collected by the triangular array. The approach can offer closed-form direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of the LFM signal with no a priori knowledge of the incident source's frequency spectrum. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is verified by Monte Carlo simulation. Closed-form Cramer-Rao bounds of the direction-of-arrival and parameters of the LFM signal are also derived.


Due to technology scaling, it is expected that future chips would integrate tens to hundreds of functional units. The growing power and design costs limit the benefit of continuously increasing the universality and complexity of these units and motivate the usage of specialized hardware modules. These modules are likely to be replicated in order to exploit the inherent parallelism of many tasks. This trend already exists in CMPs (moving from multi-core to many-cores), ASSPs and FPGAs. In this paper, we revisit the network on-chip (NoC) mapping problem in light of this expected trend. Specifically, we leverage the use of on-chip replicated specialized modules to minimize traffic and hence to reduce the power consumed by the NoC. We further improve the interconnect efficiency by making the mapping algorithm aware of the set of modules traversed by application data. To this end, we present an enhanced modeling of the resources and timing requirements within a system on-chip (SoC). We evaluate the benefit of the proposed approach and show a significant reduction in the cost of communication.


The aim research are (1) Delay in the implementation of the project; (2) Thebank capital; (3) materials of project; (4) relationship betwen Owner, projectconsultant, and contractor. This research was conducted in Sleman Daerah IstimewaYogyakarta. The sampleof this research is 15 person, with random sampling. Thedata of Analysis using Descriptive of quantitative and percentage. The result aredelay in the implementation of the project, the bank capital were 38.5% and 53.3%respectively. The relationship betwen Owner, project consultant, and contractor werethe result 43,8%. Thats means the relationship is unfavourable.Keyword: project, relationship


Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) is the task of choosing the right sense of a polysemous word given a context. It is obviously essential for many natural language processing applications such as human-computer communication, machine translation, and information retrieval. In recent years, much attention have been paid to improve the performance of WSD systems by using combination of classifiers. In (Kittler, Hatef, Duin, and Matas 1998), six combination rules including product, sum, max, min, median, and majority voting were derived with a number of strong assumptions, that are unrealistic in many situations and especially in text-related applications. This paper considers a framework of combination strategies based on different representations of context in WSD resulting in these combination rules as well, but without the unrealistic assumptions mentioned above. The experiment was done on four words interest, line, hard, serve; on the DSO dataset it showed high accuracies with median and min combination rules.


The understanding of the scientific dynamics of an environment, whether technological orcompetitive, occupies a predominant place in the discussion of adaption and survival of firms. In thecase of avionics, the upheaval in the 2000's is the consequence of profound changes in its two mainsectors, aeronautics and electronics. This drove the Computer Department, part of the AvionicsDivision of Thales Group, to question its ability to handle these evolutions. In this thesis, we examineone of these mechanisms, the sensing dynamic capability (defined as the aptitudes deployed by firmsin order to adapt routines and organizational capabilities) and we put it into practice throughtechnological intelligence capability.By studying the deployment of this ability inside the Department, we show how technologicalintelligence contributes to the learning process of the firm, as it is used by managers in order toinfluence the selection process of Product Policy. In order to achieve this, we adopted a researchinterventionmethodology (with the support of an industrial agreement CIFRE) based on two steps.First of all, we show that through the operationalization of the technological intelligence ability in thedepartment, managers put the latter to use in the selection of product policies. Secondly, the results ofthe technical studies conducted for this deployment add to the understanding of the scientific andtechnological dynamics of the avionics sector.


Dionysios Georgios Papadimitriou: User Experience in Virtual Reality, Conducting an evaluation on multiple characteristics of a Virtual Reality Experience Master of Science Thesis Tampere University Master's Degree Programme in Human-Computer Interaction November 2019 Virtual Reality applications are today numerous and cover a wide range of interests and tastes. As popularity of Virtual Reality increases, developers in industry are trying to create engrossing and exciting experiences that captivate the interest of users. User-Experience, a term used in the field of Human-Computer Interaction and Interaction Design, describes multiple characteristics of the experience of a person interacting with a product or a system. Evaluating User-Experience can provide valuable insight to developers and researchers on the thoughts and impressions of the end users in relation to a system. However, little information exists regarding on how to conduct UserExperience evaluations in the context of Virtual Reality. Consecutively, due to the numerous parameters that influence User-Experience in Virtual Reality, conducting and organizing evaluations can be overwhelming and challenging. The author of this thesis investigated how to conduct a User-Experience evaluation on multiple aspects of a Virtual Reality headset by identifying characteristics of the experience, and the methods that can be used to measure and evaluate them. The data collected was both qualitative and quantitative to cover a wide range of characteristics of the experience. Furthermore, the author applied usability testing, think-aloud protocol, questionnaires and semi-structured interview as methods to observe user behavior and collect information regarding the aspects of the Virtual Reality headset. The testing session described in this study included 14 participants. Data from this study showed that the combination of chosen methods were able to provide adequate information regarding the experience of the users despite encountered difficulties. Additionally, this thesis showcases which methods were used to evaluate specific aspects of the experience and the performance of each method as findings of the study. iii


With the coming of the "5 g era", intelligence, digital transformation is a major problem faced by radio, film and television networks. This paper uses the k-means algorithm to analyze its market demand data. According to the clustering analysis, the key attributes of broadcasting network products in the future are extracted. The clustering results can be divided into three categories, and then infer the trend of its technology development: First, the promotion of digital technology, which is from video, audio, text compression coding and modulation transmission, so that the content storage capacity is more abundant, data transmission more rapid. Second, the continuous upgrading of operation platform technology, middleware and system integration technology, including standardization technology, full-service support technology and platform establishment. Third, the improvement of basic network technology, which is from network access technology to network transmission technology, the formation of advanced technology entry point and transmission fluency. Fourth, the optimization of network technology, which is from the network architecture, to form an integrated, mature network system. Keywords-Intelligent Products; K-Means Algorithm; Clustering Analysis


With the further advancement in the reform of higher education,students' awareness of rights is gradually increasing.The maintenance of college students' rights is becoming a key issue of college management.It is a useful attempt to work with the professional student association to maintain the college students' rights effectively.


In the light of three aspects of the open access, client development and database retrieval, this paper discusses the practical significance of the mind emancipating on the construction and revolution of university library's digital resources, and points out that emancipating the mind must break away from three bottlenecks existing in the investment system, one-sided characteristic development and digital copyright dispute in the development of university library's digital resources on the concept and on the system.