National renewable energy policies often have many goals, and frequently an aspiration is the development of domestic renewable energy technology manufacturing capacity. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM) in India is an example; besides targeting an installation of 20GW of grid-tied solar power capacity, it includes industrial policy to strengthen a photovoltaic solar manufacturing base. We develop and apply a framework to examine the likely efficiency and equity implications of the policy's domestic content requirement (DCR), which requires 100% of crystalline silicon cells and modules in NSM plants to be sourced domestically. We suggest that any efficiency improvements would be driven largely by surplus gains by domestic manufacturers at the potentially large expense of electricity consumers. Our analysis reveals three observations that suggest this equity implication is unlikely to change throughout the NSM: (1) developers continue to favor substitute thin-film technology, bypassing the DCR, (2) the manufacturing base has become less competitive over time, and (3) ancillary domestic industries that could provide complementary skills are uncompetitive.


Drought affects plant growth and yield in many agricultural areas worldwide by producing negative water potentials in the root zone that reduce water availability, affecting plant development and metabolism. This study investigated the effect of varying moisture regimes (100% field capacity (FC), well-watered plants, 50% FC (moderate water stress), and 25% FC (severe water stress)) on growth parameters, chlorophyll content, and bioactive molecule patterns, and the impact on antioxidant, lipoxygenase (LOX), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities in Rosa damascena. The water deficit treatments reduced biomass production for both treatments (−29 and −33%, respectively, for MWS and SWS) and total chlorophyll (−18 and −38% respectively for MWS and SWS), relative to the control. The 50% FC treatment had the greatest effect on the phenolic profiles and their respective functionalities, with significant increases in the levels of total phenolic, benzoic (gallic, p-coumaric, and syringic acids) (+32%), and cinnamic (caffeic and trans-cinnamic acid) acids (+19%) and flavonoids (epicatechin-3-O-gallate) (+15%) compared to well-watered leaves (control leaves). The 50% FC treatment also exhibited the highest potential antioxidant activities (apart from NO-quenching activity), evidenced by the lowest IC50 and EC50 values. The inhibitory LOX and AChE capacities varied depending on the severity of stress, with superior activity in the 50% FC treatment. Overall, the drought tolerance in rose was associated mainly with its suitable manipulation of antioxidant production and orderly regulation of LOX and AChE activities.


Murrah buffaloes (15;8.7±0.2kg milk; 156±22d parturated; 2nd-4th lactation) divided into three similar groups were offered either 3kg concentrate mixture (T1, 3kg concentrate mixture and urea molasses mineral block (UMMB) prepared by cold process (T2) or 2.25 kg concentrate mixture and UMMB (T3), supplemented with 10 kg sorghum fodder and ad lib wheat straw for 120 days. The CP content of concentrate mixture and UMMB was 20 and 29%. The milk yield (kg) per animal was 6.6, 7.1, 6.7 and daily feed intake (kg) was 10.58, 11.75 and 11.34 for treatments T1, T2, and T3, respectively, being non significantly (P<0.05) different. However, the DM and CF digestibility were significantly (P<0.05) higher in group T2, than in T1 and T3 variation between groups T1 and T3 was non significant. It was concluded that by supplementing UMMB ad lib alongwith basal diet to milch buffaloes yielding around 7 litres of milk in their late lactation, 25% of concentrate mixture can be saved.


All individuals have traditionally considered medicinal plants as a healthy source of life, and its therapeutic characteristics have proven to be quite effective in treating a wide range of illnesses. Another benefit of using medicinal plants is that they are completely natural. Since ancient times, people have utilized traditionally to treat common infectious disorders, and the belief that some plants possessed therapeutic properties was widely recognized even before mankind discovered there were microorganisms. Due to their antibacterial qualities, several plants have been utilised in traditional medicine for a long time. The therapeutic benefit of these plants is specifically found in a few chemical compounds that have a clear physiological effect on the human or animal body. Alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds are among these bioactive ingredients, which are primarily secondary metabolites, that are most significant. Cells of microorganisms are poisoned by these phytochemicals. Individuals with Nephrolithiasis or kidney stone disease, is a condition that accumulate calculi (stones) within the renal pelvis and tubular lumens. Stones are formed when crystals precipitate (separate) from urine. When the urine concentration of compounds that help prevent stone formation (citrate) is low or when that of substances that help create crystals (calcium, oxalate, and uric acid) is high, stones may form. Current research aims for assessment of the invitro anti urolithiatic activity of Sterculia urens by employing the method such as nucleation assay Our study indicates that, sterculia urens can be a great source of antiurolithiatic agents, which are most likely mediated by the suppression of CaOx crystallization.


This paper presents some evidence on the dynamics of population across all Italian locations (municipalities or LLMs) over the period 1951-2011, with the aim to detect whether Gibrat's law (random growth, i.e. the orthogonality between growth and initial levels) holds. We find that random growth is consistently rejected. From 1951 to 2011, population shifted from initially smaller to relatively larger locations; while the growth rate of very large urban areas was not different from the average one. This result is confirmed for all subperiods and holds when we consider the Centre-North and the South separately. We interpret this result through the lens of structural change, as recently proposed by the literature. We find that structural change away from agriculture and, to a lesser extent, away from manufacturing had a big role in explaining population divergence across locations. JEL: Gibrat law, Population divergence, Structural change


Based on Gabor's holographic principle a generalized, qualitative model of the interaction of any signal carrier with the living material is presented. The model is applied to describe various physiological and psychophysical events, including brain functioning.


A multi-bit representation in the time domain has been applied to a Delta\Sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which consists of an asynchronous Delta\Sigma  modulator (ADSM) and a time-to-digital converter (TDC). Current-mode circuits are included in the ADSM to suppress the variation in the node voltage. The TDC is based on a ring oscillator-based TDC comprised of four stages of differential delay element followed by a counter and a phase detector. The 1st-order noise-shaping was experimentally obtained for the TDC fabricated by using 0.18-µ m standard CMOS technology. A successful operation of the ADC has been obtained by transistor-level circuit simulation.


N THIS RAIC Details article we are taking a new approach. Instead of I documentin details from an actual building, we present prototypical details which in this case are being proposed by a manufacturers' association. These proposed standard details are then discussed by a panel of experts in building science. Such debate and the sharing of technical knowledge is vital to the growth and prosperity of both architects and the construction industry in this country. We are therefore grateful to the Society of the Plastics Industry for exposing the details to some fairly vigorous scrutiny. Each expert reviewed the drawings independently and each has found fault with different aspects of them. Obviously even the design of a simple building is still not a straightforward issue and shows that we all have something to learn. The comments and the SPI response are not exhaustive and readers will no doubt find other things to discuss. We welcome comments, but ask that they be limited to 200 words.


Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) and ‐4 mediate signals from a great variety of bacterial gut products, giving the host a panel of microbe‐recognizing receptors. Under homeostatic conditions, TLRs act as protective receptors of the intestinal epithelium. When homeostasis is disrupted in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, TLR2 and ‐4 are deregulated. Our study demonstrates, by using a trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid‐induced colitis model of Crohn's disease, the constitutive expression and the up‐regulation of TLR2 and ‐4 at messenger and protein levels in colon extracts, as well as in macrophages, dendritic cells, and lymphocytes from mesenteric lymphoid nodes. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) treatment induced a decrease of TLR2 and ‐4 expressions approaching ethanol control levels. Our results suggest that VIP modulation of TLR2 and ‐4 could be explained by two possible mechanisms. The first one would be the secondary reduction of TLR2 and ‐4 caused by the VIP‐mediated decrease of inflammatory mediators such as interleukin‐1β and interferon‐ γ, which synergize with bacterial products, contributing to the amplification of TLR presence in the intestine. The other possible mechanism would involve a VIP‐mediated decrease of nuclear factor‐κB, which would cause a direct down‐regulation of TLR expression. In summary, the resultant physiological effect is the decrease of TLR2 and ‐4 expressions to homeostatic levels. Our study describes for the first time the role of a peptide present in the gut microenvironment as an effective modulator of the initial steps of acute inflammation, acting at local and systemic levels and leading to the restoration of the homeostasis lost after an established inflammatory/autoimmune disease.


In this paper we argue for the incorporation of critical pedagogy in the teaching of sociology. We first establish the theoretical and emancipatory rationale for critical pedagogy with a review of the neomarxist concept of reproduction. We then examine a specific application of critical pedagogy in the sociology curriculum of Western Oregon University. We give particular attention to a course sequence on community organizing in which students have developed a successful tenants union that serves as a vehicle for both personal and social transformation.


Pluto is a small, cold planet on the outskirts of the known solar system. Pluto's diameter (∼2370 km) is roughly equivalent to the distance from New York to Las Vegas, or about two-thirds the size of our Moon. Pluto has one known moon of its own, Charon, whose diameter (∼1250 km) is slightly more than half of Pluto's. Unlike seven of the other eight planets (Uranus is the exception), Pluto rotates on its side, as does Charon in its orbit around Pluto. Charon's distance from Pluto is 19,636 km, compared to the Earth–Moon distance of 384,400 km.

Despite their proximity, Pluto and Charon are covered by bright frosts of differing compositions: H2O ice covers Charon, whereas Pluto's surface is predominantly N2 frost that has traces of methane and carbon monoxide ices. Both objects have densities near 2 gm/cm3, implying a roughly even mixture of rock and H2O ice for their bulk compositions.

The Pluto/Charon system has a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun. A Pluto recedes from the Sun, much of its thin N2 atmosphere will condense as frost on the surface. This periodic redeposition of fresh frost takes place every Pluto year (248 Earth-years) and is the reason that Pluto's surface has one of the highest albedos in the solar system.

The Pluto/Charon system currently represents one of the wide open frontiers in the solar system. No spacecraft has visited Pluto/Charon (although NASA has plans for an upcoming Pluto–Kuiper Belt mission). The angular diameter of Pluto is only a tenth of an arcsecond at best, which is just about the resolving limit of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based observatories that have adaptive optics capabilities. Consequently much of what is known about the Pluto/Charon system has been pieced together from indirect clues or observations taken during unique observing geometries.

Much has been determined by infrared spectroscopy. A rare opportunity to study Pluto's atmosphere takes place when Pluto passes directly between Earth and a star (stellar occulations). The 1988 occulation provided the most detailed and direct information about Pluto's atmosphere.

Keywords:

Pluto;
Charon;
orbital dynamics;
surface;
atmospheres;
origins;
spectroscopy;
stellar occultation;
Volatile Transport


Croton is one of the largest genera in the Family Euphorbiaceae. Its species are distributed in a wide range of environmental and climatic conditions. The plants have for a long time been exploited for medicinal purposes but still hold the potential for nutritional purposes. The seeds of the plant have been exploited in oil extraction to produce biofuel but the residual seedcake has been less utilized. The use of croton seed and seedcake as feed has been in practice in Kenya and other countries but questions on its safety have been raised. Croton seeds are known to contain various phytochemicals and toxins such as crotin I, crotonic acid and tiglic acid that have deleterious health effects on animals. Notwithstanding the rich nutritional composition of the croton seeds, its safety concerns have limited their utilization as feeds. The croton seeds are rich in both essential fatty acids and protein whereas the residual seedcake is only rich in protein. However, the seedcake has toxic phytochemicals that include cardiac glycocides, alkaloids, phorbal esters and many others which are injurious to the animals and could result in death. Detoxification of the seedcakes poses a breakthrough for their use in poultry feeding. However, such techniques should not reduce the rich nutritional property of these seeds. This review focuses on the utilization of croton seedcake as a possible animal feed, documenting breakthroughs and limitations of the practice.


A novel method is proposed in this study to recognize the line structure of table-form documents, e.g. telephone bills and office documents. The line structures of table-form documents are mainly composed of horizontal and vertical line segments. By treating the segment structure as line patterns, the problem of structure recognition is turned out to be the searching of line pattern matching, which can be solved by adopting the technique of relaxation. The proposed method consists of a learning phase and a recognition phase. In the former phase, line structures of various kinds of table-form documents are taken as templates and are extracted through a line extraction algorithm, in which an unique number functioning as a form ID is assigned to each line pattern. In the latter, by adopting the method of relaxation, the line pattern of the testing document is matched to those patterns created in the previous phase and the form ID of the best matching is chosen as the ID of the testing document. To increase the performance of the proposed method, an algorithm was presented to reduce the number of line segments in the matching process. The experimental results reveal the practicability of the proposed methods.


The effect of third-order balanced spherical aberration on the axial irradiance of holographic lenses is considered. It is shown that the number of principal maxima of axial irradiance increases for large aberrations, and the position of these points can be different from the position of the minimum aberration variance point.


Online testing is becoming a popular way to deliver language tests, partly because of its reduced cost, partly because of the high quality of test data collection. In language tests, interface validation has received a limited attention in professional literature (García, Magal, da Rocha, & Fernández, 2010). This paper will show the validation process of the OPENPAU application, which aims at language testing exam delivery through an attitudinal study. The real importance of this project is that it offers reliable solutions at a low cost for the needs of a nationally delivered online test that can serve to assess all the traditional language skills (namely speaking, listening, reading and writing) in an efficient, simple and cost-effective manner. Our paper presents the design, development, and evaluation of a tablet PC software application for assessing both productive and receptive skills in foreign languages for its prospective use in the Final Test of Baccalaureate. The software development has been carried out within the OPENPAU project (FFI2011-22442), funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.


A manufacturing method for branched polycarbonate of the present invention comprises: a step of manufacturing a first raw material by mixing an aromatic dihydroxy compound, diarylcarbonate and 60-140 ppb (weight) of a catalyst with respect to the aromatic dihydroxy compound and reacting the same; a step of manufacturing a second raw material by mixing an aromatic dihydroxy compound, diarylcarbonate, a phosphorus based branching agent and 350-450 ppb (weight) of a catalyst with respect to the aromatic dihydroxy compound and reacting the same; and a step of performing melt polymerization on 100 parts by weight of the first raw material and 1-20 parts by weight of the second raw material. The branched polycarbonate manufactured by the manufacturing method has excellent thermal stability since catalyst content is low and exhibits excellent color stability and mobility.


Feeder Automation plays an important role in improving quality and reliability of power supply, and is also one of the important contents of the Distribution Automation. As the fundamental control unit of Feeder Automation, a Feeder Terminal Unit (FTU) can quickly collect the fault information, report the remote signal state deflection information to the master station when a failure occurs, and achieve fault isolation and power recovery, according to the telecomm and sent by the master station. Based on communications needs between FTU and the master station in this article, I introduce 32-bit floating point DSP chip TMS320F28335 as the core processing chip, design the hardware schematic structure diagram of FTU, and achieve RS485 serial communication of FTU in accordance with IEC60870-5-101 Protocol. At last, through communication experiment test between the host computer (PC) and the FTU, this part meets the IEC60870-5-101 Protocol requirements.


Reference facilities being limited in Botswana, a search of the English literature since 1967 only has been possible. In that time, however, no similar case of long-term oesophageal obstruction by a foreign body has been recorded nor has an earlier case been mentioned in the reports consulted on the management of oesophageal foreign bodies (Tucker, 1970; Hoeksema and Huizinga, 1971). Therefore, this case, if not unique, is at least unusual. The number of foreign bodies found in the oesophagus has increased greatly since the end of the second world war (Hoeksema and Huizinga, 1971), including such objects as coins, pins, dentures, and bones (Rains and Capper, 1965). More bizarre oesophageal foreign bodies have been recorded in Africa such as a maize cob found in a Kenyan patient (Davey, 1968). However, the swallowing of a foreign body is usually witnessed either by a parent or sibling or heralded by the onset of choking, pain, or dysphagia. Rarely does an ingested foreign body give rise to long-term ill effects other than by penetration of the oesophageal wall. Gray's Anatomy (1958) quotes four sites of anatomical narrowing of the oesophagus: first at the level of the cricopharyngeus, second where it is crossed by the arch of the aorta, third where it is crossed by the left main bronchus, and fourth where it pierces the diaphragm. The inferior constrictors and the cricopharyngeus, by virtue of their attachments to the laryngeal cartilages, have a fixed transverse diameter. Therefore, most oesophageal foreign bodies are found in the cervical oesophagus (Tucker, 1970). Of foreign bodies which become impacted in the thoracic oesophagus, most are held up at or near the cardia but a few lodge at the constriction caused by the bronchus (John, 1969). It has been said that the swallowing of a large, solid bolus such as poorly chewed meat will result in the object becoming impacted, usually in the lower oesophagus (Paul and Juhl, 1965). The morula stone swallowed by this child was such a bolus. Morula is the Setswana name for a tree of the Anacardiaciae family, Sclerocarya cafira Sond. The fruit is the size of a small plum and pale yellow when ripe. It is aromatic and edible, being eaten by baboons, monkeys, and elephants as well as humans. It has the local reputation of making elephants drunk and is often a cause of choking in young children due to lodgement of the stone in the upper oesophagus. Like many African plants and trees, the morula has many medicinal uses-for example, the Zulus regard it as a potent insecticide (Watt and Breyer-Brandwizk, 1962).


Spoken Language Understanding (SLU) in task-oriented dialogue systems involves both intent classification (IC) and slot filling (SF) tasks. The de facto method for zero-shot cross-lingual SLU consists of fine-tuning a pretrained multilingual model on English labeled data before evaluating the model on unseen languages. However, recent studies show that adding a second pretraining stage (continued pretraining) can improve performance in certain settings. This paper investigates the effectiveness of continued pretraining on unlabeled spoken language data for zero-shot cross-lingual SLU. We demonstrate that this relatively simple approach benefits either SF and IC task across 8 target languages, especially the ones written in Latin script. We also find that discrepancy between languages used during pretraining and fine-tuning may introduce training instability, which can be alleviated through code-switching.


QuickChange mutagenesis is the method of choice for site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) of target sequences in a plasmid. It can be applied successfully to small plasmids (up to 10 kb). However, this method cannot efficiently mutate bigger plasmids. Using KOD Hot Start polymerase in combination with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) purified primers, we were able to achieve SDM in big plasmids (up to 16 kb) involving not only a single base change but also multiple base changes. Moreover, only six polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycles and 0.5 μl of polymerase (instead of 18 PCR cycles and 1.0 μl of enzyme in the standard protocol) were sufficient for the reaction.


In this paper, the effect of cultivation medium wit h differential acidity on the dissimilatory sulfate reduction process in bacteriu m Desulfovibrio piger Vib-7 isolated from the human intestine was studied. Microbiologic al, biochemical, and biophysical methods of the studies, and statistical processing of the results were used; the obtained data were compared with those from literature. The most intensive growth of intestinal bacterium D. piger Vib-7, sulfate and lactate dissimilation, and sulf ide and acetate production was determined at the optimum pH 7.0–8.0 . A correlation and crosscorrelation analysis of these processes under the e ffect of differential acidity of the culture medium was carried out. The described results of these studies can be the prospects to clarify the etiological role of these bacteria in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases humans and animals.


An extraordinary effort by the new U.S. administration prevented former CIA officer Sabrina de Sousa from being the first ever extradited for an alleged CIA misdeed, according to her spokesman.


A sequential C1-homologation-nucleophilic substitution tactic is presented for the preparation of rare unsymmetrical dithioacetals. The judicious selection of thiosulfonates as convenient sulfur electrophilic sources - upon the homologation event conducted on an intermediate α-halothioether - guarantees the release of the non-reactive sulfonate group, thus enabling the subsequent nucleophilic displacement with an external added thiol [(hetero)aromatic and/or aliphatic]. Uniform high yields and excellent chemocontrol were deduced during the extensive scope study, thus documenting the versatility of the direct technique for the preparation of these unique and manipulable materials.


Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy with histologic variability depending on where in the world it is diagnosed, with most of these cancers occurring in China and other parts of Asia. Previous studies with cytotoxic chemotherapy combinations led to a plateau median overall survival of approximately 10 to 12 months, as well as a need for more effective treatment options. Cytotoxic chemotherapy served as the control arm in 3 studies that evaluated the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy + chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone; in all 3 prospective randomized trials, the addition of immunotherapy resulted in a survival benefit in the first-line relapsed/metastatic setting. Data support these immunotherapy regimens as new standard-of-care systemic therapy options for unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic esophageal cancers, and these regimens have now been incorporated into the NCCN Guidelines.


The renaissance of interest in American legal history has been greatly aided by
a variety of developments in the materials and methods of legal research. Legal
history has become a new center of attention in American legal education and
scholarship and has attracted similarly enhanced interest in university history
departments. Fortunately, this comes at a time when increasingly sophisticated
research techniques and sources are gaining wide acceptance in both the
academic and legal communities. Professor Cohen surveys the effects of these
advances on research in American legal history.


In order to estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) of a broadband distributed source, a class of fast algorithms, such as central frequency algorithm, median algorithm and mean algorithm, are presented. The algorithms estimate the DOA of the broadband distributed source fron the secondary diagonal elements of the covariance matrices generated from every frequency domain of the received broadband signals, thus avoiding unwrapping of phases. Simulation results demonstrate that when SNR is high and spread angle is not big, the central frequency algorithm and the median algorithm are almost identical; while when SNR is low, the median algorithm outperforms the central frequency. Furthermore, the mean algorithm is not sensitive to the spread angle and has a better performance.\;


We address the energy efficiency analysis of the relay channel under ergodic fading. The study considers full duplex and half duplex terminals. Since the capacity of general relay channels is unknown, we investigate achievable rates with decode and forward and capacity upper bounds with the cut-set bound. The maximum rate per energy and the slope of the spectral efficiency with the energy per bit are computed to asses the impact of the duplexing capabilities, the resource allocation and the channel fading distribution.


This essay ideally follows and complements a study of mine on Heidegger's Beitrdge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis), focusing in particular on the relation to ancient Greek thought in the movement from the first to the other beginning.1 Here, I return to an earlier discussion by Heidegger, analogously tense and contrasted in its approach to the Greek beginning.2 I will attempt to trace Heidegger's approach to Aristotle in its luminosity and disclosive character, but also point to its fragility and instability. At stake in this operation will have been some contribution to a re-occurrence of the past-to an encounter with the past allowing it to take place in its disruptiveness and unfore seen character. At the same time, this contribution will have had to do with us-with us who are interrogating ourselves about our own possibility and belong in that which is irreducible to us. The eventuating of mindfulness, or eventuating as mindfulness (Besinnung), comes to pass as self-mindfulness (Selbstbesinnung) (Beitrage §19). In the 1924-25 lecture course on Plato's Sophist, which is conspicuously devoted as well to a reading of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Heidegger already introduces an understanding of history, of historical inquiry, as a reformulation of the question concerning us: This past, to which our lectures are seeking access, is nothing detached from us, lying far away. On the contrary, we are this past itself. And we are it not insofar as we explicitly cultivate the tradition and become friends of classical antiquity, but, instead, our philosophy and science live on these foundations, i.e., those of Greek philosophy, and do so to such an extent that we are no longer conscious of it: the foundations have become obvious. (7; emphases added) Accessing "this past" indicates, thus, accessing ourselves. It concerns us in our being, how we understand ourselves and, more broadly, how we are, that is, how we live. What is brought to the fore is the proximity, even the immediacy, of the past with respect to us-of the past in and as us. Yet, realizing this co-incidence in no way means experiencing the past in terms of familiarity or obviousness. On the contrary, it is precisely in regarding ourselves as well as our provenance as obvious that we miss the mysterious profundity of this question and fail to experience the anguish (Not) of becoming obscure to ourselves. Realizing this coincidence, experiencing the immediacy of the past in and as us, far from allowing us to bring the past to presence in the mode of naive historicism and rest secure on that ground, casts a shadow across us, opens us up to that which we cannot appropriate. We are revealed to ourselves as dispersed, stretched out, traversed, constituted in such openness. Here lies the possibility of reawakening to our uncanny circumstance and becoming aware of the covering over of its strangeness, incipiently recapturing the primordial insight of the remembrance of forgetfulness. Experiencing mystery bespeaks becoming aware of oblivion as such. Distress follows upon this awareness that stares into the opacity of the withdrawing. Again, Heidegger remarks: To understand history cannot mean anything else than to understand ourselves-not in the sense that we might establish various things about ourselves, but that we experience what we ought to be.... The authentic possibility to be history itself resides in this, that philosophy discover it is guilty of an omission, a neglect, if it believes it can begin anew, make things easy for itself. (7) What is noteworthy here is the deontological demand emphatically inscribed in accessing ourselves. The work of intimacy with the open that we are results in an ethical directive-in an insight orienting becoming. Later in the lecture course, and certainly in his later work, Heidegger will be quite impervious to this kind of language. For instance, even in the middle of his analysis of Aristotle's ethical discourse he avoids discussing the question of eudaimonialagathon in terms of that which orients becoming, as that which moves life. …


In the present study, quench tests were carried out to characterize the fracture behavior of advanced pore-free SiC with damage tolerance during thermal shock. The residual strength of specimens after the quench tests was also measured. It is found that the critical temperature difference and the decrease in residual strength of this material are larger than those of conventional SiC. This is because the fracture is dominated only by flaw size since the wake zone is not generated during thermal shock with high strain rate. The critical temperature difference as well as the crack propagation is calculated with the aid of the unified theory of thermal shock.


In this issue of Clinical Cancer Research , Hansson et al. vaccinated 28 patients (IgG myeloma, Salmon-Durie stages I and II) with autologous myeloma idiotype protein and assessed the effect of adding either granulocyte macrophage colonystimulating factor (GM-CSF) alone or the combination of GMCSF and interleukin 12 (IL-12) during the vaccination program (1). Idiotype-specific T-cell responses as measured by proliferation and ELISPOT assays, and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions were more frequent in patients receiving GM-CSF and IL-12 compared with those treated with IL-12 alone (85% versus 33%). The median time to myeloma progression was 108 weeks in immunologic responders compared with 26 weeks for nonresponders, which provides the first tentative evidence that idiotype vaccination in myeloma may translate into clinical benefit. Immunologic nonresponse was associated with an increase in CD4/CD25/Foxp3 cells (Treg cells). The immunogenicity of the idiotype protein in myeloma has been investigated for more than three decades (2). Vaccination with the idiotype protein is attractive because it provides for multiple patient-specific tumor epitopes which can be readily purified from the peripheral blood of patients with myeloma. The idiotype protein can induce humoral immunity, however, in contrast to lymphoma, myeloma cells do not express the IgG idiotype on the cell surface, and hence, the contribution of idiotype antibodies to any vaccine-induced clinical responses in myeloma is unclear. The immunogenic peptides contained in idiotypes are mostly derived from the variable CDRI, II, and III regions rather than the framework region of the IgG molecule inducing CD4 and CD8 T cell immune responses (3, 4). Idiotype-pulsed dendritic cells (DC) can induce autologous idiotype-specific T cells from patients with myeloma, which have the ability to kill primarymyeloma cells. This proves that idiotypes are indeed naturally processed andpresented bymalignant plasma cells (5). Cytolysis of myeloma cells is mostly HLA class I– restricted andmediated via the perforin/granzymemechanism (5). Naturally occurring idiotype-specific T cells are present in monoclonal gammopathy of underdetermined significance and multiple myeloma, and were also detected in the present study. However, in advanced myeloma, the T cell responses may be shifted to type 2 inflammatory cellular responses (6, 7). This pool of preexisting idiotype-specific T cells could potentially be expanded by vaccination with idiotype proteins, but the functional activity of these T cells is a matter of debate. Active immunization in experimental animal models provides protection against challenge with myeloma tumor cell lines (2, 8). However, results in human clinical trials with idiotype vaccination have thus far been disappointing. Immunologic responses occur in <50% of patients and clinical responses are rare (9). Perhaps this is because idiotype proteins are weak immunogens and induce only weak to intermediate affinity T cells. There have been attempts to enhance immune responses by linking idiotypes to keyhole limpet hemocyanin or tetanus toxoid in order to recruit helper T cells (10). Others have added GM-CSF at the site of injection to attract DCs and promote the processing and presentation of idiotype antigens (11). GM-CSF seems to be a critical component of vaccination regimens in lymphoma, which have clinical efficacy (12, 13). Clinical trials with ex vivo idiotype–pulsed DCs have not been successful either, which in part, can be explained by the use of immature DCs and/or the i.v. administration of DCs (14). In addition, vaccination with immature DCs may favor the induction of Tr1-like regulatory T cells (15, 16). In patients with myeloma, DCs are functionally abnormal in vivo and exhibit an immature phenotype with reduced expression of the costimulatory molecule B7.1 (17). These DCs have a reduced ability to stimulate antigen-specific T cells and present patientspecific idiotype proteins to autologous T cells (18). Excess secretion of transforming growth factor h, IL-6, and IL-10 by myeloma cells and/or the myeloma microenvironment are responsible for these abnormalities (17, 18). Transforming growth factor h and IL-10 can induce tolerance of antigenspecific T cells and skew the immune response to a type 2 T-cell response. IL-6 is also an autocrine and paracrine growth factor for myeloma cells and inhibits the development of DCs from CD34 progenitor cells (18). The number of high-potency DCs is lower with more advanced myeloma disease (18, 19). The level of h2 microglobulin reflects tumor burden and is a poor prognostic factor in the International Staging System. h2 Microglobulin also has detrimental effects on DC function and reduces IL-12 production by monocyte-derived DCs. h2 Microglobulin reduces the expression of costimulatory and adhesion molecules by DCs and negatively affects the induction of T cell responses (20). Furthermore, it has recently been reported that DCs may directly support the clonogenic growth of primary myeloma cells (21). Taken together, these observations emphasize the ability of myeloma to dysregulate the function of ex vivo and in vivo generated DCs and helps to explain the poor clinical results of idiotype vaccination trials. It is of interest to note that in the study by Hansson et al., the number of baseline CD4/CD25/Foxp3 Treg cells in immunologic responders was lower compared with nonresponders. In two-thirds of the immune responders, the immune response The Biology Behind


In heterogeneous graph, we can mine high-order neighbor information or semantic information using meta-path, or only use the original connection, and then obtain high-order neighbor information indirectly through residual connections. Both two methods can get good results, but the latter can improve the efficiency without prior knowledge and meta-path mining. We take the second approach, proposing a novel relation heterogeneous graph neural network (RHGN) which adds edge features to the message aggregation of nodes and updates edge information by comparing different edge types through auxiliary tasks. Extensive experiments on two real-world heterogeneous graphs of node classification tasks show that our proposed model works better.


The reasons for kerosene catching fire of HZ3MZ3220 bearing external lapping machine were analyzed, a series of measure and method were adopted .


The paper proposes a new lightweight encryption design ANU-II which supports block length of 64 bits with a key size of 80/128 bits. ANU-II is modified and efficient version of existing lightweight cipher ANU [1]. The metrics which makes the ANU-II efficient as compared to ANU are memory size, latency, throughput and power. ANU-II outclasses the cipher ANU on all important design metrics. ANU II cipher design results in only 1852 bytes of Flash memory which is 20% less memory requirement than ANU cipher design. The ANU-II cipher design encrypts a 64-bit block of plaintext in 146.35 us which is very less as compared to ANU design which needs 1708.5us. ANU-II needs only 24mW of dynamic power while ANU cipher design on the same platform consumes 27mW of dynamic power. ANU-II design consists of a single S-Box, few shift operators and a couple of XOR gates. We believe that ANU-II design is the smallest lightweight design till date in terms of memory requirement, execution time and power consumption.


The purpose of this review paper is to present the techniques, approaches and methods for assessing the ground settlements induced by tunneling. Tunneling operation poses threat to adjacent structures by creating subsidence, heave, and vibrations which make the structure more vulnerable. With the advent of urbanization and innovative technologies, utilizing underground space is becoming a sustainable practice day by day. The assessment of ground settlement induced by tunneling is significant to policy makers, practitioners and designers associated with tunneling. The versatility of geological strata and condition has led the practice even more challenging. The multidimensional aspects and problems of tunnel applications has made the practice a complex one requiring incorporation of interdisciplinary nature of this study such as geology, civil engineering, mining engineering specially rock engineering and rock mechanics. This paper also addresses the issues regarding various methods, constitutive models, different ground conditions for instance, mixed faced soil and rock interface ground), roles effect of dimensions on analysis and prospects of multi and interdisciplinary roles.


Abstract Extract Sir:- Since the first report of anthelmintic resistance in N .Z. in 1979(9) many new cases have been found. Published instances of resistance, together with some other cases investigated by us, are summarised in Table I. In addition, but not tabulated, there are numerous unsubstantiated reports of resistance (i.e. reduced efficacy of drenches, apparently not related to drenching procedures) as well as a number of confirmed but unpublished records.


The standard narrative of what defines an ideological conflict for electoral politics is not applicable to multiethnic countries like India. We develop two alternative ideological scales, the politics of statism and the politics of recognition, which we argue frame the Indian party system. Debates around class conflict, and about divisions between church and state, cities and rural areas, and the center and the periphery, were less central to the formation of the Indian state than were the state's role in development and its efforts to accommodate marginalized groups. An ideological divide should not merely be the province of a political elite but should also be stable over time—it must be found in partisan differences across decades and there must be a mechanism by which the ideas associated with this divide are transmitted from the elite to the voters.


Five decades of independence has increased the literate population in the country. But only a handful of the literate populations able to fetch a gainful sustainable employment. The changing world economies and global market trends/ forces at a rapid pace, reducing productive age of the employed population and the increased levels of competition are some of the triggering factors for such a situation. No longer are the pools of knowledge and expertise acquired during initial years of education are sufficient for the "new work order". What is now required is in addition to the academic qualifications the ability to put that knowledge and expertise to use in unfamiliar circumstances. In the given changing scenario the responsibility of higher education system has increased manifold. The focus has to be shifted now on the capacity enhancement of unemployed and underemployed youth instead of mere production of literate population and degree holders. Youth unemployment almost always goes hand in hand with a wide range of weaknesses which cause the key competencies of these young people to deteriorate. Some of these shortcomings are deficient cognitive and educational competencies, a lack of social skills, minimal integration into contact networks, a lack of the capacity to deal with, face and propose efficacious solutions to problems, and lastly, deterioration in the competencies because of low self-esteem and the search for self-development. In the given scenario the role of higher education has to be extended to fill in the gaps between the qualifications acquired and missing skills/traits to get one placed in the job market enhance productivity at work place and skills to sustain the acquired jobs. These skills and capacities are not the one time acquired knowledge; these are the ever evolving trait which needs to be upgraded along with the changing work environments i.e. external market forces and the internal work environments. Enough has been written on "employability skills" and the deficient skills amongst the students. It is essential for any job aspirant to have skills to meet the hiring needs of current business world. As per the report by NASSCOM, a mere 10% of fresh graduates are actually employable. Similar surveys done on Engineers and MBAs it has been found that a vast majority of professionally qualified people are also not ready for work. Changes in the world of work require much more flexible approaches to work design and management of people. The only thing which is constant in this universe is the change. The global change across the world has affected all aspects of life including work life, to meet these challenges and global changes one has to equip oneself with the skills to meet them. The perception towards work has also changed from the earlier times to the present.


Abstract Surface‐plasmon‐mediated phenylacetylide intermediate transfer from the Cu to the Pd surface affords a novel mechanism for transmetalation, enabling wavelength‐tunable cross‐coupling and homo‐coupling reaction pathway control. C−C bond forming Sonogashira coupling and Glaser coupling reactions in O2 atmosphere are efficiently driven by visible light over heterogeneous Cu and Pd nanoparticles as a mixed catalyst without base or other additives. The reaction pathway can be controlled by switching the excitation wavelength. Shorter wavelengths (400–500 nm) give the Glaser homo‐coupling diyne, whereas longer wavelength irradiation (500–940 nm) significantly increases the degree of cross‐coupling Sonogashira coupling products. The ratio of the activated intermediates of alkyne to the iodobenzene is wavelength dependent and this regulates transmetalation. This wavelength‐tunable reaction pathway is a novel way to optimize the product selectivity in important organic syntheses.


The invention relates to a flexible vascular prosthesis comprising a synthetic support impregnated with at least one covalently cross-linked dextran and / or at least one functionalized dextran derivative covalently crosslinked. The invention also relates to a method for preparing this prosthesis.


It is challenging to use conventional one-variable-at-time (OVAT) batch experiments to evaluate multivariate/inter-parametric interactions between physico-chemical variables that contribute to the adsorptive removal of contaminants. Thus, chemometric prediction approaches for multivariate calibration and analysis reveal the impact of multi-parametric variation on the process of concern. Hence, we aim to develop an artificial neural network (ANN), and stepwise regression (SR) models for multivariate calibration and analysis utilizing OVAT data prepared through experimentation. After comparing the models' performance, ANN was the superior model for this application in our work. The standard deviations (SD) between the observed and ANN-predicted values were very close. The average correlation coefficient (R2) between observed and ANN-predicted values for the training dataset was 96.9%. This confirms the ability of our developed ANN model to forecast lindane removal accurately. The testing dataset correlation coefficients (89.9% for ANN and 67.75% for SR) demonstrated a better correlation between observed and predicted ANN values. The ANN model training and testing dataset RMSE values were 1.482 and 2.402, lower than the SR values of 4.035 and 3.890. The MAPE values for the ANN model's training and testing datasets, 0.018 and 0.031, were lower than those for the SR model. The training and testing datasets have low RSR and PBIAS values, implying model strength. The R2 and WIA values are above 0.90 for both datasets, proving the ANN model's accuracy. Applying our developed ANN model will reduce the cost of removing inorganic and organic impurities, including lindane, and optimize chemical utilization.


This paper presents and implements a method to detect actuator faults (loss of effectiveness) for a quadrotor unmanned helicopter (known as the Qball-X4) altitude control. Fault model is presented with the first principle physical modeling method. Mathematical model is further adjusted based on the grey-light-box scheme to adjust the model parameters and reduce model uncertainty of the Qball-X4. The Kalman filter is used for the fault detection and state estimation purpose with integration of a LQ (linear quadratic) technique based controller for controlling the altitude of the Qball-X4. The benefit of using this method is that it is robust to the process and measurement noises. The method is implemented and experimentally tested in the platform of the Qball-X4 helicopter.


BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES This study examined the association between refined grain consumption by subtype and the incidence of hypertension from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study data. SUBJECTS/METHODS In total, 5,018 participants (2,439 men and 2,579 women) from 40 to 69 years without hypertension were recruited at the beginning (2001–2002). Blood pressure and antihypertensive medication use were assessed biennially for the incidence of hypertension during the 8-year follow-up period (2009–2010). Hypertension was diagnosed as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or antihypertensive medication use. Dietary intake including refined grains was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire at baseline and the follow-up (2005–2006). A multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident hypertension according to refined-grain consumption. RESULTS A total of 1,377 cases of hypertension (710 men and 667 women) were newly ascertained. Frequent noodle consumers (≥ 5 servings/week) among the women had a 2.3-fold higher risk of hypertension than infrequent noodle consumers after adjustment for potential confounders (HR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.33–4.01, P for trend = 0.0001). However, no significant association was found among the men. The intake of other refined grain products such as white rice and breads was not associated with the incidence of hypertension. CONCLUSIONS Frequent noodle consumption was positively associated with a risk of incident hypertension in South Korean women.


The opportunity of achievement of the target serum UA (sUA) level in pts with gout, stratified by renal function, is not studied.To compare the probability of the sUA level achievement during therapy with febuxostat in patients with gout, stratified according to renal function.The prospective study included 136 pts aged ≥18 years with a crystal-verified diagnosis of gout and sUA level >360 µmol/L who had never taken febuxostat or other urate-lowering drugs (at least 2 weeks before the start of the study). All pts were prescribed febuxostat 80 mg/day; if the target sUA level (<360 µmol/l) was not achieved, the dose was increased to 120 mg/day. Prophylactic anti-inflammatory drugs (AIDs) were taken: colchicine in 59 (43.4%) pts, NSAIDs - 51 (37.58%) pts, GC - 12 (98.8%) pts. 14 (10.3%) pts did not take AIDs. Laboratory tests (serum levels of glucose, creatinine, UA) before and after 26 weeks of therapy were collected. GFR was calculated using CKD-EPI formula before and after therapy. The pts were initially divided into groups depending on the CKD stages according to the level of GFR (CKD-EPI): C1 – normal or high renal function (>90 ml/min/1.73 m2), C2 – mildly decreased (60-89 ml/min/1.73 m2), C3 - moderately decreased (30-59 ml/min/1.73 m2), C4 – severely decreased (15-29 ml/min/1.73 m2). The observation period covered at least 26 weeks, the primary end point was the achievement of the target sUA level. The dynamics of GFR was also assessed. Statistica 12.0 package was used for statistical data processing.It was found that 30 (22.12%) pts had CKD stage 0-1, 28 (66-20.6%) pts - C2, 62 (45.6%) pts – C3, 16 (11.8%) – C4. 98 (72.1%) pts received febuxostat 80 mg/day, 38 (27.9%) pts - 120 mg/day. Pts with CKD C4 were older than ones with CKD C2 (p=0.00001) and CKD C0-1 (p=0.002); had a longer duration of gout (p=0.003); they were more likely to have subcutaneous tophi than pts with CKD C2 (p=0.007). The frequency of diagnosing DM, hypertension, as well as the sUA level in the groups did not differ. The levels of sUA, GFR in patients with gout, stratified by the level of GFR at baseline and after 26 weeks of febuxostat therapy, are given below (Table 1).Table 1.Levels of UA, eGFR in patients with gout, stratified by the level of eGFR at baseline and after 26 weeks of febuxostat therapy.ParametersAll patients, n=136CKD С0-1, n=30CKD С2, n=28CKD С3, n=62CKD С4, n=16UA baseline, µmol/l472,4±99,3451,9±102,8486,9±103,8476,9±86,7468,3±109,8UA after 26 weeks, µmol/l306,27±104,4298,6±104,8*282,2±95,8*318,9±97,6*313,5±106,9*Δ UA, µmol/l166±10,2153,3±10,7204,7±12,4157,9±17,8154,8±14,9UA<360 µmol/l, n (%)117 (84)25 (83)25 (89)51 (82)13 (81)GFR baseline, ml/min/1.73 m263,98±15,3101,3±18,175,9±9,750,2±5,526,5±2,6GFR after 26 weeks, ml/min/1.73 m264,74±26,9102,8±28,6*76,7±9,350,9±6,927,3±4,9* - p<0.05 between baseline and 26 weeksThe target sUA level was achieved in 33 (87%) patients with DM (the probability did not depend on the initial GFR value). Achievement of target sUA level was registered in 84% of general sample: in 83% of pts with CKD C0-1, 89% - CKD C2, 82% - CKD C3, 81% of pts with CKD C4. Mean GFR values increased in all groups, but significant differences registered in patients with CKD C0-1 (p=0.002) only.The ability to achieve the target sUA level while taking febuxostat in patients with gout does not depend on renal function, exceeding 80% in patients with CKD C4. The drug is well tolerated regardless of renal function.Maxim Eliseev Speakers bureau: Berlin Chemie Menarini Group, Sobi, EGIS, CSC, MosFarma, Alium Group, Olga Sheliabina Speakers bureau: Berlin Chemie Menarini Group, Maria Chikina: None declared


Disclosed is related to lifetime characteristics and a lithium metal composite oxide is a positive electrode active material of safety was improved lithium or lithium ion secondary battery and its manufacturing method. To A for this, the lithium ions capable of absorbing and releasing lithium metal composite oxide as the core particles, structurally stable on the surface of the oxide, amorphous lithium cobalt low reactivity with the electrolyte to form a coating layer containing the composite oxide. The amorphous lithium cobalt composite oxide, for reaction with the electrolyte solution is small, to suppress the decomposition of the electrolytic solution, also stabilizes the surface structure of the lithium-metal composite oxide as a cathode active material, the high-temperature storage characteristics not only improving the safety and life characteristics.


The invention discloses a system application installation package loading processing method, device and terminal. The system application installation package loading processing method includes that renaming a system application installation package as a spare system application installation package before updating the system application installation package; judging whether a system application installation updating package is loaded successfully, wherein the system application installation updating package is obtained through updating the copy version of the spare system application installation package; if the loading is failed, using the spare system application installation package to load. The system application installation package loading processing method, device and terminal solve the problem of the prior art that a terminal cannot be started due to data exception in the system application installation package due to an error generated when copying the system application installation package to generate a spare file; the system stability and user experience are improved.


This study assesses faculty and student perceptions regarding dual relationships in mentoring, friendships, monetary interactions, informal social interactions, and romantic-sexual relationships. Results indicate faculty-student and gender differences.


We discuss an approach for fitting robust nonlinear regression models, which can be employed to model and predict the contagion dynamics of the Covid-19 in Italy. The focus is on the analysis of epidemic data using robust dose-response curves, but the functionality is applicable to arbitrary nonlinear regression models.


Summary

1. For most ecologists, detection probability (p) is a nuisance variable that must be modelled to estimate the state variable of interest (i.e. survival, abundance, or occupancy). However, in the realm of invasive species control, the rate of detection and removal is the rate-limiting step for management of this pervasive environmental problem.

2. For strategic planning of an eradication (removal of every individual), one must identify the least likely individual to be removed, and determine the probability of removing it.

3. To evaluate visual searching as a control tool for populations of the invasive brown treesnake Boiga irregularis, we designed a mark–recapture study to evaluate detection probability as a function of time, gender, size, body condition, recent detection history, residency status, searcher team and environmental covariates.

4. We evaluated these factors using 654 captures resulting from visual detections of 117 snakes residing in a 5-ha semi-forested enclosure on Guam, fenced to prevent immigration and emigration of snakes but not their prey. Visual detection probability was low overall ( = 0·07 per occasion) but reached 0·18 under optimal circumstances.

5. Our results supported sex-specific differences in detectability that were a quadratic function of size, with both small and large females having lower detection probabilities than males of those sizes. There was strong evidence for individual periodic changes in detectability of a few days duration, roughly doubling detection probability (comparing peak to non-elevated detections). Snakes in poor body condition had estimated mean detection probabilities greater than snakes with high body condition. Search teams with high average detection rates exhibited detection probabilities about twice that of search teams with low average detection rates. Surveys conducted with bright moonlight and strong wind gusts exhibited moderately decreased probabilities of detecting snakes.

6.Synthesis and applications. By emphasizing and modelling detection probabilities, we now know: (i) that eradication of this species by searching is possible, (ii) how much searching effort would be required, (iii) under what environmental conditions searching would be most efficient, and (iv) several factors that are likely to modulate this quantification when searching is applied to new areas. The same approach can be use for evaluation of any control technology or population monitoring programme.


The invention relates to a light precursor cable, comprising a core, a shielding layer, a waterproof layer, a tensile layer, a waterproof wear-resisting layer, a damping layer and a buoyancy layer, wherein the shielding layer coats the core, the waterproof layer coats the shielding layer, the tensile layer coats the waterproof layer, the waterproof wear-resisting layer coats the tensile layer, the damping layer coats the waterproof wear-resisting layer, and the buoyancy layer coats the damping layer. The light precursor cable has the characteristics of light weight, strong tension, wear resistance, small creep deformation, cutting resistance and water repellency; the length of the cable which is sunk into water is reduced under the condition that a float marker is not used, so that power loss of a tractor tug is greatly reduced to significantly reduce the operation difficulty of shallow sea operation.


Based on the basic theory of self-organizing data mining and the backgrounds of bicycle's frame design,several body sizes and body characters,which may have impact on the bicycle's frame sizes,and the corresponding frame sizes are selected as data sample,then create input/output models in Knowledgeminer are created.Finally,the quantitative relationship between body characters and frame sizes is found,and the the customization design of the bicycle's frame is realized.


The nanothread of polyaniline (PANI) using ammonium persulphate ((NH4)2S2O8) as an oxidant was prepared. The solution is composed of 0.4 mol dm 3 aniline, 1.0 mol dm 3 hydrochloric acid, and different proportions ethanol. The resulting products were characterized using infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis spectra, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis techniques, and X- ray diffraction. The experimental results show that the con- tent of ethanol has effects on the morphology of PANI, but the effects on the conductivity are not very obvious. When the volume ratio of ethanol to aniline is 1:2, the more uni- form and regular PANI nanothread can be prepared. © 2005


Hybridization is a process of crossing two different species and the offspring are known as hybrids. When these hybrids have more superior characteristics than both parents,
they are said to possess hybrid vigor or positive heterosis which is a breeding goal in aquaculture. Hybrids can exhibit many commercially preferable characteristics for
aquaculture such as faster growth, better feed conversion, increased resistance to diseases, tolerance to crowded conditions, and more uniformity in size and form among
other traits. In view of the good qualities that are Imparted in the offspring of such crosses, hybridization remains as one of the effective methods of selective breeding that
can enhance production efficiency in aquaculture. The Significance of heterosis can be appreciated by the combination of useful parental qualities in hybrids of the first generation In terms of aquaculture production, and also the output from using these hybrids (if they are fertile) as a valuable resource for further selection. New hybrids
have been successfully produced since 2005 at the Hatchery, BMRI, UMS. There are four types of hybrid that were produced at the Hatchery which are: Tiger Grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus x Giant Grouper, E. lanceolatus (TGxGG); Orange-Spotted Grouper, E. coioides x Giant Grouper, E. lanceolatus (OGxGG); Orange-Spotted Grouper, E. coioides x Tiger Grouper, E. fuscoguttatus (OGxTG), and Mouse Grouper, Cromileptes altivelis x Tiger Grouper, E. fuscoguttatus (MGxTG). Among these four hybrids, the TGxGG has the highest market value for Hong Kong. At present, the wholesale price of TGxGG is RM80 - 120jkg for the Hong Kong market and this has made TGxGG to become the main species in grouper culture in Southeast Asia.


Physiology and diseases of the udder are an important facet of reproduction and production of Camelidae. Camel milk has been a source of nutrients for millions of people in African, Middle-eastern and Asian countries. Several types of camels have been identified as potential "dairy" breeds and could be used as a source of protein for these populations in drought stricken areas. Mammary gland function is also very important for the health and growth of newborns since udder diseases are known to have a negative effect on both of these factors and can pose public health hazards for populations consuming camel milk [1,2]. Llamas are also kept for milking in some parts of South America [3].


We report the results of operation of Alcator C-Mod with all high-Z molybdenum Plasma Facing Component (PFC) surfaces. Without boron-coated PFCs energy confinement was poor (HITER,89 ~ 1) due to high core molybdenum (nMo/ne 0.1%) and radiation. After applying boron coatings, nMo/ne was reduced by a factor of 10-20 with HITER,89 approaching 2. Results of between-discharge boronization, localized at various major radii, point towards important molybdenum source regions being small, outside the divertor, and due to RFsheath-rectification. Boronization also has a significant effect on the plasma startup phase lowering Zeff, radiation, and lowering the runaway electron damage. The requirement of lowZ coatings over at least a fraction of the Mo PFCs in C-Mod for best performance together with the larger than expected D retention in Mo, give impetus for further high-Z PFC investigations to better predict the performance of uncoated tungsten surfaces in ITER and


Style transfer aims to apply the style of an exemplar model to a target one, while retaining the target's structure. The main challenge in this process is to algorithmically distinguish style from structure, a high‐level, potentially ill‐posed cognitive task. Inspired by cognitive science research we recast style transfer in terms of shape analogies. In IQ testing, shape analogy queries present the subject with three shapes: source, target and exemplar, and ask them to select an output such that the transformation, or analogy, from the exemplar to the output is similar to that from the source to the target. The logical process involved in identifying the source‐to‐target analogies implicitly detects the structural differences between the source and target and can be used effectively to facilitate style transfer. Since the exemplar has a similar structure to the source, applying the analogy to the exemplar will provide the output we seek. The main technical challenge we address is to compute the source to target analogies, consistent with human logic. We observe that the typical analogies we look for consist of a small set of simple transformations, which when applied to the exemplar generate a continuous, seamless output model. To assemble a shape analogy, we compute an optimal set of source‐to‐target transformations, such that the assembled analogy best fits these criteria. The assembled analogy is then applied to the exemplar shape to produce the desired output model. We use the proposed framework to seamlessly transfer a variety of style properties between 2D and 3D objects and demonstrate significant improvements over the state of the art in style transfer. We further show that our framework can be used to successfully complete partial scans with the help of a user provided structural template, coherently propagating scan style across the completed surfaces.


The sample matrix inversion (SMI) method is applied in the constrained least mean square (LMS) array of the Griffiths (1959) array. The mean square error (MSE) performance measure of the SMI method in both arrays is presented. The total output power (TOP) performance of the SMI method in the constrained LMS array is also presented. In using the SMI method to obtain the MSE and the TOP of the constrained LMS array, the adaptive weight vector is computed based on the estimate of the received signal correlation matrix and the knowledge of the arrival angle of the desired signal. The weight vector of the Griffiths array is also computed, based on the estimate of the correlation matrix and the knowledge of the cross correlation vector between the reference signal and the received signal. >


A genetic algorithm, coupled to a finite difference time domain simulator, is presented for the optimisation of passive THz devices. A broadband THz micropatch antenna has been designed using this system and tested using a vector network analyser in the frequency range 0.75 THz to 1.10 THz.


As Latin America has moved through the second half of the twentieth century, both the public and private sectors have required increasing levels of technological skills and specialized expertise. In the public sector, this necessity has occasioned the rise to prominence of a sector known in Latin America as profesionales y técnicos. This emergent elite has assumed a significant role in shaping and implementing public policy because its members command skills critical to the functioning of modernizing technological society. As a result, participation by professionals and técnicos has become central to bureaucratic efficiency, economic development, and the manipulation of symbols that reinforce political legitimacy. Yet the political role of professionals and técnicos has been little explored, and direct relationships between professional elites and national parties, often central to the democratization of developing nations, have received minimal attention.


In this paper, we investigate self-triggered synchronization of linear oscillators in the presence of communication failures caused by Denial-of-Service (DoS). A general framework is considered in which network links can fail independent of each other. A characterization of DoS frequency and duration to preserve network synchronization is provided, as well as an explicit estimate of the synchronization velocity. An example is given to substantiate the analysis.


This paper deals with the mitigation of electromechanical wave propagation in power systems. Different conventional controllers addressed this problem, such as the conventional PSS and the conventional fuzzy logic PSS. In this paper, the fuzzy logic PSS is assisted by auxiliary signals from the fuzzy logic PSS of the interconnected machines to augment the damping of electromechanical wave propagation and the associated oscillations. The neighboring machines speed deviation and its derivatives signals are exploited through the fuzzy logic PSS to assist the local fuzzy logic PSS. The disturbance propagation and reflection phenomena are considered in the design of the adopted strategy. The efficacy of the proposed assistance of the conventional fuzzy logic PSS are examined through different simulation results. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v14i3.7837


Hydrogen production by water splitting with photoelectrochemical cell is one of novel ways to provide clean and renewable energy. Ag-In-S ternary semiconductor thin film prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) on the surface of indium tin oxide conductive glass represented a mixture phase of AgInS2/AgIn5S8. Under the visible light irradiation with intensity of 100 mW/cm2, the photocurrent density could be up to 12 mA/cm2. After long term irradiation, however, photocorrosion occurred on Ag-In-S film resulted in the photocurrent decay. Thus, zinc sulfide (ZnS) with a wide energy bandgap represented a superior stability and no absorption of visible light were prepared as protective layers on the surface of Ag-In-S film deposited by CBD method. After a long time photoelectrochemical measurement under visible light irradiation, the modified Ag-In-S photocatalyst with one ZnS protective layer deposited by CBD method showed an obvious enhancement in the durability without a serious decay in photocurrent.


Rare B meson decays are an ideal place to search for the effects of new particles that could arise in extensions to the Standard Model and couple to the flavour sector. Measurements of the rare B decay processes at LHCb are presented. The relationship between these different measurements is described. Finally, the implication of these measurements for SUSY/Exotic searches is discussed.


Many single molecule fluorescence imaging modalities use a laser beam to excite fluorescent structures or fluorescent markers attached to molecules of interest. This excitation laser shows an inherent gaussian intensity distribution across its profile, which is disadvantageous due to the decreasing intensity at the periphery of the beam. A common way of tackling this issue is to crop the gaussian beam with an adjustable rectangular aperture in the excitation beam path with concomitant loss of overall intensity as the field of view decreases. In this thesis, a new beam path was assembled by utilizing a Top Hat beamshaper element which transforms the gaussian beam profile into a homogeneous intensity distribution with no significant loss of intensity. The standard deviation of this uniform intensity distribution decreased by 30% compared to the gaussian laser beam. Another issue that was addressed in this thesis is the stability of the microscope setup. Single molecule fluorescence microscopy (SMFM) experiments can be time consuming, as the particles of interest are often not just imaged momentarily but tracked over time to investigate the dynamic behavior. Also in single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) thousands of images are recorded to finally achieve image resolution down to a few nanometers. During that time span of up to hours, drifts along the optical axis can occur resulting in de-focused images or even the loss of the fluorescence signal. Thus, the equipment with an automatic focus stabilizing system for long term measurements is substantial. The implementation and characterization of such a Focus Hold System (FHS) is presented in this thesis. A cost effective and hardware based approach, utilizing the back reflection of an external infrared laser diode to register movements between the microscope's objective and the sample plane, was realized. The implemented FHS proved to maintain the z-position of the microscope within ±100nm of the set value.


Previous research in psychophysics has shown that the time course of recovery from forward masking is prolonged in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (Nelson and Turner, 1980). In order to evaluate the physiological basis for the change in the time course of forward masking, evoked response recordings were obtained from the inferior colliculus of the chinchilla both before and after noise induced hearing loss. Evoked response "forward‐masking" functions were obtained by measuring the masker level required to produce a 50% reduction in the response to a probe tone (re: probe response alone) which followed the masker at various time intervals (2 to 100 ms). The time course of "forward masking" was estimated by fitting a time constant to the data. Animals were exposed to a pure tone that produced either 30–50 dB of asymptotic threshold shift or 25–30 dB of permanent threshold shift. The time constants fit to the "forward‐masking" function were found to be prolonged in the region of hearing loss. In ge...


1. I am most grateful to Robert Dixon, Joe Isaac and Bob Wallace for helpful comments on a draft of the review. Marjorie Harper also kindly looked through the draft for factual errors. 2. Placed strategically throughout the volume is an absorbing collection of photos relating to various episodes of Copland's life. 3. I am one of many, many people who, as an undergraduate, was gently guided onto the right path through conversations with her. 4. I am much indebted to Bob Wallace who was there for providing this evaluative description.


This study analyses the role of fundamentals and financial factors in determining firm investment in India with imperfect capital market in a panel VAR framework. Previous research in this area is based on the test of significance (or some variant of this) of the cash flow variable in the investment equation. In this strand of research, cash flow is considered to be a financial factor. The major theoretical problem of this approach is that in a forward-looking model cash flow might be correlated to fundamental variable(s) of a firm. Because in a forward looking model, current cash flow of a firm also incorporates expectation of fundamentals. There is a problem of disaggregating the fundamental effect of cash flow from the finance effect. Thus, a statistically significant cash flow may not imply that financial market imperfections determine investment. This could be resolved in a VAR framework as it uses a simultaneous equations model. An econometric model is formulated with the joint determination of investment, marginal profit (marginal with respect to capital stock), cash flow and balance sheet variables. The latter captures financial market imperfections while cash flow is modelled to reflect both fundamental factors as well as financial market imperfections while marginal profit is a pure fundamental variable. Using VAR methodology with dynamic panel is a newer approach in the panel regressions. By suitable orthogonal decomposition (such as Choleski decomposition) of the shocks (to cash flow or to fundamental or financial variables)and then looking at the impulse responses one can understand the nature of dynamic adjustments of investment, fundamentals and financial factors.


The bipolar configuration is regarded as a promising way for the integration of distributed/centralized energy resources (CER and DER) in future meshed DC grid. In order to achieve a DC-DC voltage conversion capability with bipolar integration, a monopolar-to-bipolar DC-DC converter interface is usually requested for the inner power collection network of a given CER/DER with the monopolar configuration. Three topologies of the "monopolar-to-bipolar DC-DC converter interface" have been proposed in this paper, termed as dual-DAB topology, three-port topology and four-port topology, respectively. A detailed topology analysis is given, and the power transmission features have been derived with the considerations of unbalanced neutral-line current. The corresponding control strategy has been proposed for the constant voltage at monopolar side and zero neutral-line current at the bipolar side. Finally, all proposed control strategies have been validated by simulation results.


treatment of many subsidiary characters, apparently to add romantic interest, creates the impression that she is following the pattern of a work of fiction rather than the requirements of a serious biography. There is no space here to enumerate the many errors in historical fact that appear in this book. The author displays insufficient knowledge of the historical setting to give us perspective on White's actual importance. Rather she accepts at their face value his own estimates of himself, and his rather narrow views of the affairs of the period. In a book dealing largely with the development of transportation, not a single map is presented, and there are no diagrams nor even adequate descriptions of such technical devices as the "bear trap lock" or the "switchback railroad." Josiah White was not the greatest pioneer of his age, as Eleanor Morton implies, but he was important enough to deserve a good biography. It is still to be written. SwarthmoreCollegeTheodore Paullin Quaker Anecdotes. Collected and Arranged by Irvin C. Foley and Ruth Verlenden Poley. Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Pendle Hill, 1946. 57 pp. Fifty cents.


Abstract The variable regions of the T-cell receptor for antigen (TCR) and antibodies serve as recognition elements, enabling T and B cells to bind antigen with high specificity. Nevertheless, the complex recognition requirements of T cells, which respond to antigen only in the context of a self MHC molecule, do not permit the generation of antigen-specific lymphocytes, which could serve as universal effector cells. To enable the generation of non-MHC-restricted T cells of predetermined specificity, we took advantage of the similarity between the antibody and the T-cell molecule and expressed in T-cell lines chimeric T-cell receptor (cTCR) genes in which the TCR variable region is replaced by an antibody variable region of defined specificity. In another design, the antibody recognition unit has been used in the form of a single-chain Fv (scFv) to create hybrid molecules with other receptor subunits, including the ζ chain of the CD3 complex and the γ chain of the high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcϵRI). T-cell lines transfected with the chimeric TCR or scFvR exhibit cytotoxicity or secrete cytokines in response to antigen displayed either on a solid substrate or on the surface of target cells. We describe here the various configurations of the chimeric receptors that we have produced. Technical aspects, including the choice of vector, antibody sequences, and triggering molecule, are reviewed.[ep [rs


The present The compounds are useful as inhibitors of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, and therefore is useful as an anti-hyperlipidemia and anti-hypercholesterolemic drug .BACKGROUND


Coprinus comatus fruit bodies were cultivated on a substrate containing mulberry leaves. After harvesting, the fruit bodies were dried and pulverized, the resultant powder (CFTM) was fed to diabetic mice, and the effects on body weight, the levels of blood sugar, serum insulin, hepatic glycogen and fructosamine, blood lipid metabolism, oxidative stress indicators, and enzyme activities related with glucose metabolism in the liver, were evaluated. CFTM exhibited a higher hypoglycemic effect compared to that observed in diabetic mice fed normal C. comatus fruit bodies cultivated without mulberry leaves or a freezedried aqueous extract of mulberry leaves. CFTM promoted insulin secretion, reduced oxidative stress indicators, and increased the activity of enzymes associated with glucose metabolism, but did not significantly improve the rate of lipid metabolism.


The Review is pleased to give hospitality to CLARE Group articles, but is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed; responsibility for these rests with the author. Members of the CLARE Group are M.J. Artis, A.J.C. Britton, W.A. Brown, W.J. Carlin, J.S. Flemming, C.A.E. Goodhart, J.A. Kay, R.C.O. Matthews, D. Miles, M.H. Miller, P.M. Oppenheimer, M.V. Posner, W.B. Reddaway, J.R. Sargent, M.FG. Scott, Z.A. Silberston, J.H.B. Tew, S. Wadhwani and M. Weale. Between 1950 and the oil price increase of 1973, British Coal lost most of its markets for direct sales to industry and households. Its hold over electricity generation actually strengthened in the 1960s and 1970s, as competition from petroleum faded and the contribution from nuclear energy was delayed and limited by technical and financial problems. But competition from coal imports has increased; and a radically new technology for using natural gas to generate electricity has developed. This new technology arrived simultaneously with the privatisation of electricity supply. The new structure of ownership has not changed the fundamental nature of the choices open to generators or big customers, but has liberated decision making from some key constraints, and removed some powers from Ministers. Coal imports and gas usage are rapidly eroding British Coal's market, towards a level one tenth of 1960's sales. By the time the public noted the speed of the final contraction of coal, in the autumn of 1992, it was already too late even for a modest application of the brakes. The author argues that this is to be regretted. For the future, the nuclear question remains open, but is perhaps a dubious bet for the UK after all the effort and errors of the past.


Abstract 1. A food restriction study in conjunction with light control was conducted with commercial broiler chicks in a tropical environment. 2. Chicks on treatments 1 and 2 were fed continuously while those on treatments 3 and 4 were fed during the day (from 06.00 h to 18.00 h) and night (from 18.00 h to 06.00 h) respectively. Chicks on treatment 1 received only natural light during the day, while those on treatments 2, 3 and 4 received supplementary lighting during the night in addition to natural light during the day. 3. Food consumption by birds on treatment 2 was significantly higher at 56 days of age, followed by birds on treatments 1, 4 and 3. 4. The pattern of body weight gains was similar to the order of food consumption. 5. Efficiency of food utilisation was poorest for birds on treatment 2. 6. Mortality rates were not influenced significantly by the feeding regimen and lighting pattern. 7. Dressing percentage and proportion of abdominal fat were greatest for birds on treatment 2.


Hyperglycemia causes enhanced glucose metabolism by the polyol pathway in tissues not requiring insulin for glucose uptake. It has been suggested that the high level of aldose reductase activity may cause functional and structural abnormalities in diabetes and may be involved in the development of late complications. To elucidate the effect of an aldose reductase inhibitor (ponalrestat) on kidney function in uncomplicated insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), 20 normoalbuminuric IDDM patients were randomized to follow either 6 mo of treatment with ponalrestat (n = 11, mean ± SD age 30 ± 8 yr, diabetes duration 10 ± 6 yr) or 6 mo of placebo (age 33 ± 7 yr, diabetes duration 12 ± 6 yr). The glomerular filtration rate (clearance of [125I]iothalamate) was significantly reduced from 140 ± 18 to 129 ± 10 ml · min−1 · 1.73 m−2, 2P = 0.02) in the ponalrestat-treated patients, whereas no change was seen after placebo (142 ± 12 vs. 141 ± 12 ml · min−1 · 1.73 m−1). The renal plasma flow (clearance of 131I-labeled hippuran), urinary albumin excretion rate (radioimmunoassay), fractional albumin clearance, and renal vascular resistance were unchanged in both groups. HbA1c showed a modest increase during ponalrestat (7.9 ± 1.8 vs. 8.7 ± 1.5%, 2P = 0.01) but was unchanged during placebo. No side effects of ponalrestat were observed. Thus, inhibition of aldose reductase may reduce the characteristic hyperfiltration in uncomplicated IDDM.


A 3 years old previously healthy boy presented with h/o fever, gross hematuria and vomiting after ingesting a locally popular ayurvedic drug formulation called GERU which contains Ferric oxide. On investigations he was found to be G6PD deficient which lead to Intravascular hemolysis and Methemoglobinemia due to oxidative stress. He was aggressively managed and was discharged in a stable condition after 5 days.


This chapter dispels the myths and provides a fundamentally sound model of design for Six Sigma (DFSS) which the authors believe should serve as the basis for current applications and future renditions of DFSS in engineering environments. Tailoring DFSS to meet the particular needs of different industries and corporations is expected, encouraged, and accommodated. The IDDOV process selected is consistent with and embodies Taguchi methods, known as quality engineering in Japan. The portion of quality engineering, known as robust engineering in the West, encompasses three phases, concept/system design, parameter design, and tolerance design, which correspond to the develop concept and optimize design phases of IDDOV. The management system contains two components: (1) a high-level enterprise system for planning, launching deploying, growing, sustaining, and periodically revitalizing the initiative and (2) a project management system to ensure excellence of execution of the DFSS process that leads to superior outcomes.

Keywords:

design for Six Sigma (DFSS);
IDDOV process;
project management system;
quality engineering


Ian Wood heralds a recent VCAT decision which takes a different view on the application of ResCode objectives and standards.


This chapter provides an historical portrait of the complex and emergent journey of U.S. higher education with an emphasis on funding and fiscal dynamics. Topics explore the various time periods that have shaped higher education and financial means through state and federal governments, philanthropic donations, and the integration of business and corporate partnerships. The role(s) and goal(s) of the academy have evolved over time as the country expanded and business practices emerged. However, there is no centralized plan for the development or maintenance of U.S. higher education. This chapter traces the rise of higher education, the growth of business and industry, and the shift of governmental oversight and wherewithal. This interplay of funding and finance includes the role of business revenue in the initiation, maintenance, and growth of universities and colleges.


In order to enhance reliability of ship power system,a brittleness analysis method is proposed.Using weighted graph as brittleness model,the edges represent the brittleness link between subsystems,and the weight of edges is described the degree of brittleness link between subsystems,each particle represents a latent collapse path,and adaptive function value is decided by weighted function.Chaos particle swarm optimization is adopted to search the most impossible collapse path that is the biggest collapse path,thus the evolution of the brittleness process between subsystems can be found out,through prevent and control the biggest collapse path of brittleness can effectively prevent occurrence of the collapse of the whole system.


This work evaluates effect of aloe gel coatings on post-harvest quality management of red ripe tomato fruits. Red ripe tomato fruits were purchased from Mandate market, Ilorin, Kwara State. It was sorted and washed with potable water. The sample was divided into four (4) lots for dip treatment in already prepared different aloe vera solutions and labelled: A0 (control), A1 (1.5% aloe vera), A2 (50% aloe vera) and A3 (100% aloe Vera). The pre-treated lots were stored on a laboratory shelf at ambient for 15 days. Physicochemical and nutritional properties were evaluated using standard procedures. Moisture (97.58%) and ash contents (0.68%) of lot A3 (100% aloe gel) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the other lots. Results showed that lot A1 had the lowest weight loss of 13.1%, while A3 recorded the highest (37.2%). Lot A1 had significantly (p<0.05) higher sensory attributes than the other lots. At day 15, TTA was between 0.13 and 0.35 %, with lot A1 recording significantly (p<0.05) higher value of 0.35 %. TSS content of the tomato fruits decreased with increase in storage with exception to lot A2 which had the highest value (5.30 oBrix). There was a decrease in pH value of both the untreated and treated lots. The results also showed that the vitamin C content of the stored tomato fruits increased significantly (p<0.05) in all the lots as storage days progressed. The result from the study showed that Lot A1 retarded water loss and delayed fruit softening thereby making them acceptable to consumer.


Physiological evaluation of newborn l ambs at b irth revealed four main causes of hypothermia and death : p lacental insufficiency, intrapartum hypoxaemia, i nadequate heat product ion and starvation . No similar evidence seems to be avai lable for calves and thus the present study measures parameters used in previous lamb studies to evaluate the physiological status of calves and the incidence of the four factors in newborn dairy calves. The study was carried out in the Manawatu region during spring 200 I . M ult iparous and primiparous cows about to calve were observed continuously. A l l dystocias were assisted. With in 30 m inutes of birth the rectal temperature of each calf and a jugu lar blood sample were taken. T ime to stand on al l four feet and b i rth weight were also measured. The packed cel l volume and plasma concentrations of glucose, fructose and lactate were analysed as ind ices of prenatal and intrapartum status A subset of calves was then fol lowed up after p ick-up to 4 days of age taking rectal temperature twice daily and a jugu lar blood sample at approximately 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours after birth. P lasma was analysed for glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, urea and gamma-glutamyl transferase concentrations to determ ine energy status of the calves for the first four days after birth and to determine whether calves had sufficient colostrum i ntake ind icative of passive immunity The physiological status of calves at birth was fairly uniform Calves born after dystoc ia had significantly h igher plasma lactate concentrations, took significantly longer to stand and had significantly lower packed cell volumes than normally born calves. The higher plasma lactate concentrations and longer time to stand in these calves indicate hypoxia at b i rth and reduced vigour. As packed cel l volume was not sign ificantly elevated in calves with s ignificantly elevated plasma l actate concentrat ions it is suggested that placental insufficiency was not a major problem The majority of calves had relatively high rectal temperatures suggesting that thermogenesis was not impeded. The majority of calves fol lowed up to 4 days of age were in good energy balance. Starvation and hypothermia were not major issues as j udged by relatively h igh p lasma urea and beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations and rectal temperatures. T he majority of IV


Measuring beliefs in quality of life research requires researchers to deal with endogeneity and social desirability issues. The connectionist theory of cognition suggests that individuals have mental models composed of associations between concepts. Moreover, structuralist perspectives consider beliefs form an interrelated system. Therefore, the estimation of causal effects of beliefs is undermined by these interdependent relationships of beliefs. This article introduces factorial surveys (FS) as a useful method to solve these potential problems. To demonstrate the appropriateness of this method, this study presents a design and application of FS to a representative sample of Chileans and their beliefs about what determines happiness. The findings provide a folk theory (or a lay theory) of happiness determinants, where health is the most important determinant of happiness, followed by income and lifestyles. In addition, the reliability and cognitive bias of FSs are addressed, finding support for their applicability in developing countries. A potential reduction of social desirability bias in FSs is discussed in the conclusions.


A new approach that minimizes the total active laser target designation time is proposed for guidance of laser guided weapons.The laser guided weapons can make full use of INS/GPS guidance,and estimate the error of the weapon-to-target vector by covariance information within a Kalman filtering.At any time,the missile needs to be sure that it can navigate to any point within the area around the target that is described by this covariance.Therefore,at each moment during the flight,there exists a covariance threshold above which the weapon cannot guarantee its ability to navigate to the target.In our proposed approach,when the threshold is exceeded,the weapon requests a brief laser designation of the target.The laser designation provides an accurate measurement of the bearing of the target with respect to the missile,and this is used to improve the estimation of the weapon-to-target vector.In turn,this can be fed back into the Kalman filter to improve the internal state estimation.The approach can minimite the laser designation time while guaranteeing the attacking precision.


Trade, warfare, and diplomacy are the three pivotal phenomena which make the embeddedness of the Ottoman Empire in a wider global framework most easily apparent. This chapter deals with Ottoman subjects, and therefore concentrates on Muslim and non-Muslim merchants visiting the polities. It also focuses on seventeenth-century Istanbul merchants. The chapter then deals with the Armenians, who tried to trade in Marseille and, more successfully, established a position in eighteenth-century Holland. Moreover, by the eighteenth century, Balkan traders, who were all still subjects of the sultans, were active in the Habsburg lands and also participated in the fairs of Leipzig. The traders of the Netherlands, de facto a republic from the last quarter of the sixteenth century and de jure independent from Spain as of 1648, soon achieved a leading position in the European business world. Keywords: Istanbul merchants; Muslim merchants; Netherlands; Ottoman Empire; Ottoman trade; Venice


Monovision is an optical correction for presbyopes that consists of correcting one eye for far distance and the other for near distance, creating a superimposition of an in‐focus with a blurred image. Brain adaptation to monovision was studied in unexperienced observers by measuring visual evoked potentials from 64‐channels. The first clear effect of monovision on visual evoked potentials was the C1 amplitude reduction, indicating that the unilateral blurring induced by monovision reduces feed‐forward activity in primary visual area. Monovision led also to an increased amplitude of the P1 and pP1 components, with the latter originating in prefrontal regions. This effect probably works as an attentional compensatory activity used to compensate for the degraded V1 signal.


Aim To develop a multiplex PCR method for rapid identification of Y.pestis strains.Methods This procedure was based upon the use of a single polymerase chain reaction with multipe pairs of primers directed to three Y.pestis specific sequences.pEra plasmid located gene(caf1) encoding Y.pestis specific capsular antigen fraction.pPst plasmid located gene(pla) encoding plasminogen activator.3a primer pair designed by using highly Y.pestis specific region on chrosmosomal DNA.Results The selected primers amplified a 171 bp fragment from caf1 gene,a 276 bp 3a gene and a 480 bp pla gene.No PCR product was generated for closely related becteria,inclusing Y.pseudotuberculosis,Y.enterocolitica and others in Enterobacteriaceae.Conculsion This multiplex PCR system is specific for rapid identification of Y.pestis among pathogenic Yersinia species and other Enterbacteriaceae having antigens common to Y.pestis. Since this method is simple and accurate,it will be useful to identify Y.pestis in case of emergency and for the surveillance of epidemics.


Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy can spread infections if the equipment is not cleaned properly. We report a case of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia likely spread by unclean CPAP equipment and accessories. A 48-year-old man with severe obstructive sleep apnea was using CPAP equipment that had never been cleaned for 5 years. He experienced intermittent mild fever for 6 weeks. His chest images showed a solitary pulmonary granuloma. Pneumocystis jirovecii was identified from the bronchoalveolar fluid, the CPAP mask, and the air tubing. The fever subsided immediately after changing to a clean CPAP device. We prescribed sulfamethoxazole 400 mg and trimethoprim 80 mg twice daily for one month. Three months later, the pulmonary granuloma disappeared, and Pneumocystis jirovecii was absent in the bronchoalveolar fluid. Poorly cleaned CPAP devices could harbor Pneumocystis jirovecii and spread pulmonary infection in immunocompetent persons. Appropriate cleaning of CPAP equipment is essential to minimize infection risk.