have enabled some widows or repudiated women to support themselves and avoid the humiliation of dependence on kin networks. Moreover, their independence often means that they can avoid the pressure to remarry and give up their children. For these women, the dower is still an important source of property. Its destination is more likely to be the husband (or the conjugal unit itself) than the bride's father or the bride herself, signaling the shift to women deriving security from the conjugal bond rather than kin. For these women, wage labor is an onerous burden that constitutes part of the double-shift syndrome. Inheritance is less important to these women, and they continue to give it up as a time-honored strategy to retain kin support in case of repudiation or widowhood. With their wages and some kin support, they may be able to sustain their households in the event of male absence through death or repudiation. For the better-off professional women, the dower is of seriously diminished significance (hence the greater prevalence of the token dower); at the same time, they press claims to inheritance more often. They feel less in need of kin support in the event of the end of conjugality and feel more strongly positioned to press for the rights guaranteed them under Islamic law because they are able to support themselves. Indeed they have higher rates of singlehood than do other categories of women. In a book jam-packed with information of a highly complex sort, the detailed conclusion most usefully reiterates the main points of the book. This book will remain a standard scholarly source on women's access to property for many years to come. Although specifically focused on the topic of property, it will certainly find its way onto the required reading list for graduate students in Middle Eastern anthropology, history, and gender studies.


Review of the Subject. — A small bungalow in a grove of oak trees just outside of Riverhead, Long Island, with a line of poles along a country road, carrying two copper wires, and ending by a stream nine miles southwest of Riverhead, — this in brief describes the Atlantic coast "ear" of the Radio Corporation of America, where the wireless messages from England, France, Germany and Norway are received, disentangled, amplified, converted into current of telephonic frequency and automatically relayed over telephone circuits to the Broad St. Office in New York, where operators take the messages by ear, or automatic recorders mark the dots and dashes on tape. The present paper deals with the two copper wires on the line of poles, for they constitute the wave antenna which has not only marked a distinct advance in the reduction of interference and "static," but because of its aperiodic nature and effectiveness as an energy collector, has made possible the sumultaneous reception of a large number of messages by one antenna, and the automatic relaying of the messages over land wires. The use of two wires is not an essential feature of the wave antenna but permits flexibility in the location of the receiving station. In its elementary form the wave antenna consists of a straight horizontal conductor. (See Fig. 10) of the order of a wave length long, parallel to the direction of propagation of the desired signal, with the receiving circuit located at the end farthest from the sending station and with the end nearest the sending station grounded through a resistance of the proper value to practically prevent reflections. Under these conditions the desired signal waves produce comparatively feeble currents at the end nearest the sending station and strong currents at the receiver end, while disturbances coming from the opposite direction cause feeble currents at the receiver end and strong currents at the end farthest from the receiver (nearest the transmitting station) (See Fig. 2). This comparative immunity of the receiving set to disturbances coming from a direction opposite to the desired signal is lost if reflections are permitted to occur at the end farthest from the receiver. The growth of current in the direction of travel of the space wave depends on the velocity of propagation of waves on the antenna in comparison with the velocity of the space waves, the received current being strongest if the two are equal. If the characteristic wave velocity on the antenna is less than that of the space waves (or less than the velocity of light) increasing the length of the antenna increases the received current up to a certain point, after which further increase in antenna length reduces the received current. The length for maximum signal depends on the velocity ratio and wave length. The slower the antenna or the shorter the wave length received the shorter the length for maximum signal. It is very frequently the case, however, that the best directive properties are obtained with an antenna longer than that which gives the strongest signal. The effect of the space wave is to produce in the wire a signal frequency electromotive force which affects the different parts of the antenna progressively as the space wave passes over the line. On this basis the received current can be calculated in terms of the frequency and intensity of the induced electromotive force, the direction of the space waves and the length and electrical constants of the antenna. By assuming the direction to be changed while all other factors remain the same, and calculating the relative value of received current for various directions of signal wave, we can determine the directive properties of the antenna. The result is best shown by means of a polar directive curve. For each assumed direction for which the received current has been calculated, a radius is drawn, with length proportional to the received current. The curve drawn through the ends of these radii is known as the directive curve for the antenna. Directive curves are given (Figs. 35 to 41) which bring out the effects of antenna length, relative to the wave length, velocity of propagation, and line attenuation. The directive curves are for the most part drawn with the maximum radius taken as unit length, since this makes comparisons of directive curves easier. In general, it is found that moderate line losses are not appreciably detrimental to the directive properties of the antennas, while the fact that velocities obtainable with unloaded lines are materially below that of light, results in an actual improvement in directive properties in most cases. As a rule the longer the antenna the sharper its directive curve. While it is possible to obtain fair directive properties with antennas less than a half wave length long, this length is considered about the shortest that can be recommended. By a process of balancing, it is possible to produce a "blind spot" or direction of zero reception, at any angle more than 90 deg. from the signal. One method of obtaining this result is by producing reflections of certain phase and intensity at the end opposite to the receiver. Reflections at the receiver end of the antenna, on the other hand, do not alter the directive properties of the antenna. Experimental work thus far has given a qualitative check on the theory and calculations of the wave antenna, and it is hoped that further observations and measurements will shortly be made. Experimental data on wave front tilt, on which the action of the wave antenna depends, is especially meagre. Data on wave velocity and line losses on an existing antenna can be obtained by means of a radio frequency oscillator and one or two hot-wire milliammeters. Measurements taken by the writers show much higher attenuation and lower velocities for ground return circuits than for metallic circuits. Ground resistance explains this effect. The mean depth of return currents at the longer radio wave lengths appear to be of the order of several hundred feet. The more wires in multiple in the antenna, the lower the velocity and the higher the rate of attenuation (See Fig. 66 and 68). Reduction of atmospheric disturbances or "static", has probably received more attention from experimenters than any other one phase of radio reception. Of the various lines of attack none has been more fruitful than the employment of directive receiving systems. Every increase in directivity has resulted in an improvement in stray ratio. The wave antenna carries the principle farther than any previous type. Conditions on the eastern coast of North America are especially favorable for taking advantage of differences in direction, for the European stations are to the northeast while the predominating direction of static is from the southwest. Various practical engineering problems in connection with the wave antenna, including its application to short wave reception, are discussed toward the close of the paper.


On historical grounds China claims the islands of the South-China Sea, however, its claim is not in line with the territorial and economic eligibilities provided by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas. Since 2014 China has been building artificial islands and using oil rigs thus it was able to completely take over the control of the area and completely change the strategic balance in the South-China Sea Beijing's own benefit. The region will turn into the stage of military rivalry between China and the USA in South-East Asia. This situation forces the countries of the region to choose between China and the USA, which is a rather complex task because their economic dependence is a lot larger on Beijing than on Washington while the military and economic strengthening of China is increasingly dangerous for these states.


The present invention, for preparing a biological sample, in particular to the cartridge 100 and associated devices 150 for staining tissue or cell sample 1. Cartridge 100 has a reaction chamber 116 which can be closed by the substrate 140 for holding a sample 1, the reaction chamber 116 is further connected to the fluid inlet system 113, 115 and a fluid outlet system 123 and 125. When the substrate 140 is closed and the reaction chamber, the fluid inlet system, the reaction chamber and a fluid outlet system, constitutes a fluid system which is closed to the environment with respect to exchange of fluid. Pressure-driven flow through the reaction chamber 116 may be derived, for example, by driving the deformable membrane 114, 124.


The generalization of Einstein's special theory of relativity (SRT) is proposed. In this model the possibility of unification of scalar gravity and electromagnetism into a single unified field is considered. Formally, the generalization of the SRT is that instead of (1+3)dimensional Minkowski space the (1+4)-dimensional extension G is considered. As a fifth additional coordinate the interval S is used. This value is saved under the usual Lorentz transformations in Minkowski space M, but it changes when the transformations in the extended space G are used. We call this model the extended space model (ESM). From a physical point of view our expansion means that processes in which the rest mass of the particles changes are acceptable now. If the rest mass of a particle does not change and the physical quantities do not depend on an additional variable S, then the electromagnetic and gravitational fields exist independently of each other. But if the rest mass is variable and there is a dependence on S, then these two fields are combined into a single unified field. In the extended space model a photon can have a nonzero mass and this mass can be either positive or negative. The gravitational effects such as the speed of escape, gravitational red shift and deflection of light can be analyzed in the frame of the extended space model. In this model all these gravitational effects can be found algebraically by the rotations in the (1+4) dimensional space. Now it becomes possible to predict some future results of visible size of supermassive objects in our Universe due to new stage of experimental astronomy development in the RadioAstron Project and analyze phenomena is an explosion of the star V838 Mon.


Investment in the capital market generally has a higher rate of return compared to investing in the financial market. Investors sometimes get difficulty in determining which stocks will produce a large return with a small risk. The method used to describe the application of CAPM in this research is done by grouping the efficient, yet inefficient stocks of the banking sector based on the CAPM method. The method in the sample selection was a purposive sample method and obtained 40 banking sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during the period of August 2016 - July 2018. The results of this study indicate that there are 31 efficient stocks out of 40 stocks in banking sector. It can be seen that there are 31 banking stocks with a positive average rate of returns and 9 banking stocks with a negative average rate of returns. Meanwhile, the implication of this study is that banking sector shares have efficient shares, since the average rate of return is higher than the expected returns.


A new cinnamide derivative together with N ( p -hydroxyphenylethyl) p -coumaramide and vanillic acid has been isolated from the stems of Solanum verbascifolium L., the structure of the new compound was elucidated as N -2-hydroxy-2 ( p -hydroxyphenylethyl) p -coumaramide ( 1 ) on the basis of physical and chemical evidence and spectral analysis.


Shells stated to be membranes having edge disturbances which lead to simplified design procedure especially for shells of double curvature; analogy between shell curved in one direction and beam on elastic foundations provides rapid means by which design may be made; stiffening influence of edges and types of failure; use of small scale inexpensive models; need for further research emphasized.


In this article we inquire into the strategic intent behind the design of election laws. Presuming that institutional designers are strategic and rational, we identify the extent of information incompleteness as determining their objectives for rule choice. For different levels of information incompleteness, we assess empirically the validity of explaining actual choices with designers' electoral goals. Using parameter-specific predictions for players' institutional preferences (obtained from a game-theoretic model which assumes electoral success as the design goal) we find that design does not always meet the criterion of elections-aimed rationality (electoral rationalizability). We identify a structural difference between levels of electoral rationalizability in two sets of European electoral reforms, those that accompanied the late 19th—early 20th-century franchise expansion, and those during the post-communist franchise creation in East—Central Europe. For the later sub-sample we rely on a qualitative assessment of electoral rationalizability since extremely high levels of information incompleteness in these cases do not allow us to apply the model reliably. We provide evidence linking the structural difference in electoral rationalizability between the two sub-samples and the sub-sample variation in electoral rationalizability in the late 19th—early 20th century to the quality of information available to the designers.


Objective
To explore the choice of the best mode of delivery after cesarean section.

Methods
From January 2015 to December 2016, the clinical data of 2 526 pregnant women admitted in the Eighth People's Hospital of Taiyuan were retrospectively analyzed.A total of 971 cases were cesarean section, among them, the second cesarean section in 367 cases(control group B), cesarean section vaginal delivery in 604 cases(observation group). At the same period, another 186 cases with non-scar uterine pregnancy by vaginal delivery were selected as control group A. The maternal and child outcomes were compared among the three groups.

Results
The time of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, hospital stay, the incidence of neonatal asphyxia in the control group A were (6.30±3.03)h, (288.67±220.67)mL, (1.37±0.72)d, 3.76%, respectively, which in the control group B were (6.30±3.03)h, (415.87±356.20)mL, (4.32±0.83)d, 3.54%, respectively, which in the observation group were (5.98±2.87)h, (276.44±211.84)mL, (1.42±0.65)d, 3.48%, respectively.The postpartum hemorrhage of the control group B was significantly higher than that of the observation group[(415.87±356.20)mL vs.(276.44±211.84)mL], the difference was statistically significant(t=11.271, P<0.05). The length of hospital stay of the control group B was also longer than that of the observation group[(4.32±0.83)d vs.(1.42±0.65)d], the difference was statistically significant(t=18.034, P<0.05).

Conclusion
In the condition of emergency intercourse with cesarean section, it is safe and feasible to give the vagina trial to the pregnancy of cesarean section which meets the conditions of vaginal delivery.

Key words:
Cesarean section, repeat; Vaginal birth after cesarean; Pregnancy outcome


The instability of the production of renewable energy resources (RESs) is a major problem for its installation and integration with the utility grid. A hybrid AC/DC microgrid facilitates the good operation of RESs with a storage system in grid-tied mode and the possibilities of smart energy management. The present work is being carried out on smart control strategy for a hybrid AC/DC microgrid (HMG). This paper deals with a real-time Hybrid control system (HCS) for a grid-connected HMG where the supervisory control based totally on fixing an optimization hassle objectives to minimize operating cost with the maximum usage of renewable resources, minimum usage of the utility grid, extending energy storage systems (ESS) lifetime. The power references for renewable energy resources (RESs) are scheduled by the use of CPLEX solver which uses as input strength measurement, archived facts and stored climate forecast statistics previously measured regarding the modern status. The experimental study verifies well the supervision methodology; thus, the proposed algorithm respects the optimization in real-time operation under different constraints.


[Objective]To detect and analyze chromosomal abnormalities in head and neck squamous carcinomas(HNSCC).[Methods]HNSCC cell lines(18 cases) and normal head and neck squamous cells(4 cases) were cultured and harvested when in metaphase.G-banding of chromosomes was with Wright's stain.Chromosomal changes were characterized with karyotypes according to the International System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature(ISCN 1995).[Results]The cellular chromosomes of normal control group showed normal human chromosome karyotype.The chromosomal karyotypes in 18 cases of HNSCC cell lines were complicated but not random.(1)Loss of chromosome material occurred more often.(2)Chromosomal imbalances detected in HNSCC cell lines included loss of 2q,3p,4,8p,9p,13,14,15,17,18,21,and 22;and gain of 3q,7,8q,11q13,and 20.(3)Most of chromosomal breakpoints were located at the centromeric regions.[Conclusion] Chromosomal aberration of HNSCC is not random,but regular.Multiple unbalanced chromosomal structural rearrangements and numerical changes in HNSCC may lead to activation and amplification of oncogenes,and inactivation and lost of tumor suppressor genes;which contribute to the development of HNSCC.


>The reduction of aqueous slurries of uranyl carbonate at elevated temperature with compressed hydrogen in the presence of metal catalysts and certain organic promoters is shown to yield uranium dioxide. The reduction takes place in a sequence of steps. The purity and sintering properties of the dioxide make it of interest as a starting material for fuel element production. Simple control can be exercised over the surface area and oxygen/uranium ratio of the product during reduction. (auth)


,In a recent article, Palmgreen, Wenner and Rayburnl illustrated the utility of using gratifications obtained to predict viewer's choices of competing news programs. Results of both t-tests and discriminant analyses indicated that the decision to view a particular television news program was strongly related to the perception of gratifications obtained (or potentially available from) the various programs. These results strongly supported a model of viewing choice which clearly contrasts the gratifications which might be obtained from the programs being evaluated rather than one which addresses the specific differences between gratifications sought and gratifications obtained.2 The general form of such a model is:


The Berau Continental Shelf (BCS) is located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The area is part of the Coral Triangle in the central Indo-West Pacific and features an extremely high biodiversity. Like many other coastal ecosystems around the world, the BCS is under pressure from human activities. Land-use changes of the catchment area of the Berau River lead to increased loads of sediment, nutrients and pollutants in river discharge as a result of mining, logging, and agriculture development. These conditions may affect water quality and imply a number of negative impacts on the BCS coastal ecosystems. The main objectives of this thesis are to understand the tidal dynamics and circulation patterns at the BCS, to investigate spatio-temporal river plume spreading at the BCS, to identify the relationship between the salinity levels and coastal ecosystem health and to understand intratidal circulation patterns on the BCS coral reefs system. This study is based on a number of extensive field surveys in combination with numerical modelling. Flow velocities, sea surface elevations, salinity profiles and meteorological data were gathered during three field campaigns in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The field data were collected in the Berau Delta network, estuary and in the close vicinity of coral reefs. The observed data were used to set-up, calibrate and validate hydrodynamic models.


Seasonal dynamics in soil seed bank was studied using germination trials in tropical forests in Xishuangbanna. Twenty soil samples were taken from a seasonal rain forests and two secondary forest dominated by Macaranga denticulata and Mallotus panculatus at the ends of two dry and rainy seasons respectively. The seasonal changes in seed storage, species composition and seed distribution in soils in the three forests were analyzed. The seed storage of two secondary forest sampled at the end of dry season was higher than that sampled at the end of rainy season, and more species presented at the end of dry season. Seed in the upper layers of soil in the two secondary forests tended to the same trends. In Contrast, the seed storage of seasonal rain forest sampled at the end of rainy season was higher, with more species presented in the upper soil layer. The seasonal changes of some dominated species in soil seed banks was also studied in this paper.


A high-energy ball milling procedure has been developed to produce amorphous alloys in Ti_50(Cu_0.45Ni_0.55)_44− x Al_ x Si_4B_2 ( x = 0, 4, 8, 12) powder mixtures. The milling products were characterized using x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and transmission electron microscopy. The Ti-based amorphous alloy powders prepared through this solid-state process exhibit a well-defined glass transition and a supercooled liquid region (Δ T _x =64 K) close to the largest achieved so far for Ti-based undercooled melts. The substitution of Al for Cu and Ni has beneficial effects on stabilizing the supercooled liquid. Residual nanocrystals of the αTi structure are uniformly dispersed in the amorphous matrix. The composite alloy powders offer the potential for consolidation in the supercooled liquid region to bulk lightweight amorphous alloys and the possibility to attain desirable mechanical properties.


Summary By reversing emphasis from precursor uptake to product accumulation and release, we posit that lactate production ('lactagenesis') supports carcinogenesis and it is the explanation and purpose of the Warburg effect. We posit that in carcinogenesis, aberrant cell signaling due to exaggerated and continually high lactate levels yields an inappropriate positive feedback loop that increases glucose uptake, glycolysis, lactate production and release, decreases mitochondrial function and clearance and upregulates glycolytic enzyme and monocarboxylate transporter expression thereby supporting angiogenesis, immune escape, cell migration, metastasis and self-sufficient metabolism, all of which encourage progression to cancer.


One of the main drivers for platform-based development and production is the possibility to combine customization with economies of scale. The reuse of common resources in multiple, customized design variants is one way of achieving this. However, the economic benefits may be easily lost. A relatively small design differentiation, for example, may lead to a relatively large number of parts having to be modified. More fruitful approaches that can support carry-over without major drawbacks include, for example, adopting a carefully planned development process or to reusing more abstract design knowledge.


The network management function includes monitoring the activities of all network devices and the activities of the user. It also logs the anomalous or malicious activity of the user called intrusions. Normally the administrator would detect network problems or intrusions by analyzing the information in the log file at regular intervals of time. It is proposed to use aural signaling of malicious events. Thus a suitable auralization of all the modules in a network management application would allow a network administrator to take the necessary corrective actions. The goal of this research is to investigate usefulness of auralization in intrusion detection. The work focuses on the auralization of an intrusion detection system and an experimental determination of the effectiveness of the auralization performed. The auralization would allow the administrator to detect some attacks like Denial of service, which would assist in providing better service to the legitimate users by thwarting the intrusions immediately. The work attempts to find the effectiveness of auralization in early detection of false positives as well as in monitoring intruders and vulnerable hosts in a timely manner.


This study was designed as an exploratory investigation to determine experimentally some of the reactions of the miraeidia of a particular species of trem&tod© to some of the various environ mental conditions that might he encountered in nature and the ability of the miraeidia to penetrate and establish themselves in the inter mediate snail host* Past reports on the biology of amphistome miraeidia have been restricted to more or less incidental observations included in life-history accounts* A knowledge of the biology of the snail vector of any fluke is essential to a sound approach to fluke control* Eggs of P* microbothrioides were secured by collecting the adult worms from the rumens of cows, Bos taurus. and placing them in warm water where the eggs were laid* The eggs were incubated in constant temperature ovens and stimulated by chilling to hatch at desired times* Specimens of the intermediate snail host* S, cubensis* were ex posed to miraeidia in standard reference water* a laboratory-prepared medium* uniform in composition* free of organic compounds and containing the minerals usually found in surface waters* The eggs were rapidly destroyed by desiccation when removed from water* and freezing for one to four hours caused a marked decrease in viability* Those frozen five hours or longer were completely destroyed* Refrigeration of undeveloped eggs at 5° C. prevented development; but the viability of the eggs in one lot decreased from 69% to 30% during twelve months of refrigeration* and the minimum incubation period for


Recently, one of our explorationists called me to his office the day before the big meeting and said, "Pat, the gravity doesn't work over here!" I quickly checked with the gravity data (I needed to be positive before I spoke), and concluded that the gravity data and model were fine. I asked the interpreter "if we could possibly put more salt here?" because that seemed a viable interpretation that accommodated both the seismic and gravity data.


SUMMARY The MICE sector (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions), has generated high foreign exchange revenue for the economy worldwide. In Thailand, MICE tourists are recognized as 'quality' visitors, mainly because of their high-spending potential. Nonetheless, Thailand's MICE sector has been influenced by a number of crises in the past since September 11, 2001. While a number of researchers have discussed the tourism market segmentation strategies during a crisis situation, less effort has focused on the MICE sector. Using Thailand as a case study, this research has adopted Seaton and Bennett's (1996, p. 31) concept of tourism market segmentation in order to understand the market segmentation strategy implemented by organizations in the MICE sector in time of crisis.


This thesis introduces a design of multi-channel digital PWM controller that can be used with on-chip programmable system.The controller having complete PWM output capacity.It based on the Avalon on-chip bus technology and accord with its transmission timing.This controller is complemented on the Cyclone II FPGA of EP2C5F256C6.It is shown that the PWM controller has a high reusability,easy to debug and realizing multi-channel controlling and can be applied to any on-chip programmable system which support Avalon bus.


This paper presents a mechanistic model for the prediction of CHF of subcooled flow boiling based on liquid sublayer dryout model. In the model, By writing critical wavelength of Helmholtz Instability to both left and right sides of vapor blanket and by assuming these two wavelengths are equal to each other, the vapor blanket velocity U{sub B} can be written as a simple function of average velocity of liquid bulk V{sub {ell}} which can be obtained by the knowledge they have known. Then, on the base of U{sub B}, other important parameters such as vapor blanket length L{sub B} and liquid sublayer thickness {delta} can be calculated easily. The model is simple with explicit physics nature, and is characterized by the absence of empirical constants. To verify the present model, two databases (include about 2,400 points) are used. One gathered by Celata used to verify his model is characterized by high mass velocity and low-medium system pressure. The other gathered by Pei is characterized by high pressure and low-medium mass velocity. The verification showed that present model could keep its validity in a wide range of operating conditions (mass velocity up to 70 Mg/m{sup 2}s, system pressure up to 17.5more » MPa). Figure A-1 shows a comparison of calculated versus experimental CHF. About 89% of data points are predicted within {+-}30%. Comparison between Celata model and the present model shows that although present model shows a little worse prediction than Celata model with the data base collected by Eclat, it shows a much better prediction with the data base collected by Pei. A general better prediction than Celata model is obtained with both the databases collected by Celata and Pei.« less


Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) concepts need to be combined to understand better how students learn in more complex environments. For this reason, this paper combines Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The primary purpose of this paper was to reduce the student's cognitive load through a lecture note. With the help of HCI design-centered principles on a lecture note, we have implemented the lecture note to lessen students' cognitive load. The lecture note could be an example of how HCI can be designed in a lecture note. This paper has discussed the research questions with several learning theories that measured students' cognitive load. Based on learning theories and HCI design principles, we have developed two lecture notes; the first is HCI design-based, and the second is in the absence of HCI design principles. The reason for making two lecture notes is to observe which lecture note is reducing or increasing students' cognitive load when we may conduct the survey1. The survey was performed among some undergraduate students. When studied, the cognitive load was lowered among the student in lecture one, where the HCI design concepts were applied, and the average cognitive efficiency was 1.52 from 143 participants. And the lecture note two, where HCI design principles did not apply, has increased students' cognitive load. The cognitive efficiency of lecture note two was 0.60 from 112 participants, which illustrates the importance of HCI in lecture notes.


ABSTRACT This study aimed to map, separate, and estimate soya bean and corn crop areas in Paraná State, Brazil, in the harvest years 2012/13 and 2013/14, using the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. Thus, two methodologies were integrated, the first considering heterogeneity on the dates of crop cycles, the scenes required to generate images of minimum and maximum vegetation indexes, creating a colour composite red, green, and blue (RGB), and identifying two cultures simultaneously. In the second methodology, soya bean and corn were identified and mapped using the selection of pure pixels and the supervised classification algorithm Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM). In order to avoid overlapping areas, we multiplied the results from the first and second methodologies to obtain the final separation. The final validation of the mapping was compared to official data, identifying high correlation to crops. Based on Medium-Resolution Linear Imaging Self-Scanner (LISS-III) and Land Remote Sensing Satellite (Landsat-8) images, the similarity of global accuracy (GA) and kappa accuracy indices was determined, being classified as good and excellent, respectively. It showed that the use of the two consortium methodologies for separation and overlap elimination of these crops in the state of Paraná was efficient.


The effects of a glyceroethanolic macerate of the leaves of Olea europaea L. and of oleuropein on excito‐conduction and on the right atrial and ventricular monophasic action potential (MAP) have been studied in anaesthetized dogs using the technique of endocavitary recording. At the higher doses tested, a slight increase in the sinusal cycle of the sinoatrial conduction time and of the sinus node recovery time, together with a prolongation of the atrioventricular and intraventricular conduction and an increase of the atrial and ventricular MAP duration were observed. This may be due to a decrease in the repolarization phase 3. These electrophysiological effects indicate an inhibitory action both on the swift influx of sodium and on the slow influx of calcium, as well as a decrease in potassium conductance.


A framework providing differentiated dual-failure restorability is proposed for single-failure-protected optical networks. Without deteriorating the overall dual-failure restorability, dual-failure restorability of high-class flows can be relatively higher than that of low-class flows by over 30%.


OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess overall nursing home (NH) implementation of pressure ulcer (PU) prevention guidelines and variation in implementation rates among a geographically diverse sample of NHs.


In the constant advancement of technology, protection of one's property becomes a major concern for each individual. To secure one's property the protection such as locks and keys mechanism were used but this mechanism can be easily replicated. This study aims to developed a device and a security system that replaced the conventional lock and keys mechanism to secure one's property. This device also established a strong security based on the secret knock pattern security system. This security system consists of Arduino Mega, Piezo Sensor, and uses a Secret Knock that is known only to the owner. The researchers conducted hardware and system functionality. Thirty (30) trials were made in checking the accuracy of changing knock patterns where they obtained a 100% accuracy. Thirty-one (31) trials were made to check the accuracy of detecting incorrect patter. The experiments conducted obtained a 100% accuracy in detecting incorrect pattern. mobile devices In the study where the researcher proposed to create an integrated Home Security System based on a microcontroller. This is where the lock is secured by the LED-based resistive screen input panel, which operates by detecting light intensity variations produced by the photodiode emitted by the round red and finger-reflected LEDs [4]. The study found that the effective use of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) reduced the rate of catastrophic failures and increased the efficiency and productivity of industrial operations. Diversification of the remote-control platform is a clear trend in the production of smart appliances. This paper proposes an analysis of the remote-control system for smart devices, focused on the Zigbee wireless sensor network. The remote controller can be used to ask and check the status of home appliances. The proposed work combines the design and implementation of a modern home security system with a lightweight, self-configured remote controller based on a wireless sensor network [5]. In another research called "Energy-efficient Smart Home focused on Wireless Sensor Network utilizing LabVIEW," this house uses technology to track the environment with the aid of various sensors, monitor electrical appliances and contact the outside world. The demands for home automation increase every day. In this article, the researcher designed the design and implementation of a smart home powered by LabVIEW using a wireless sensor network. The recorded data were


A method and apparatus are provided for temporarily accessing content using a temporary license. The method includes creating an authenticated license that enables a use of the content, creating a temporary license that enables a use of part of the content, and transmitting the authenticated license and the temporary license to a device.


This study aimed to develop a rubric, which is theoretically validated and statistically tested, to assess Korean English pre-service teachers'...


Electric bulb technology evolved over the decades with striking innovations and a corresponding shortcoming. The paper examines the pros and cons of the different bulbs available in the market. It was observed that all bulbs had their unique advantage and disadvantage. However, the review showed that some of the shortcomings can be overcome. Hence, it is possible to relate with either the old and new bulb technology without many environmental hazards and technical errors. It was also observed that the health hazards in the compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be modified to drastically reduce its health hazards. Salient recommendations were made to aid researcher for further work.


This chapter presents a sketch of the grammatical evidential system and related epistemic meanings in Gitksan, a critically endangered indigenous language of the Tsimshianic language family spoken in the northwest interior of Canada. In addition to providing a description of the kinds of evidential meanings the individual evidentials encode, I apply a number of basic syntactic and semantic tests that provide a more detailed picture of the individual evidentials. A specific feature of the Gitksan evidentials, which is examined in detail, is how they can be used to express epistemic modal meanings, and how a speaker's choice of which evidential to use in a particular speech context is conditioned by her evaluation of the information acquired in that context. One of the effects of this choice is the expression of what can be translated as modal force.


3 case reports demonstrating the influence of hormones on epilepsy specifically the frequent occurrence of prementrual precipitation of seizures in the female epileptic clinic population are presented along with a literature review concerning this problem. The first case was that of an 18 year old female who had the onset of grand mal and psychomotor seizures at the menarche and who in spite of adequate medical care continued to suffer seizures premenstrually. The second case was that of a 47 year old female who had been free of seizures since her childhood and after receiving estrogens as therapy for a menopausal syndrome suffered a recurrence of seizures with grand mal attacks. The third case was that of a 29 year old female suffering from petit mal and psychomotor epilepsy while taking oral contraceptives (OCs) but upon withdrawal of the hormonal preparation developed psychomotor seizure status. The literature review in general suggested that estrogens adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisone lower the threshold for seizures while testosterone progesterone and deoxycorticosterone acetate elevate the seizure threshold. A warning was made concerning the precipitation of seizures due to sudden withdrawal of OCs containing a strong progesterone effect.


Abstract Objectives: to evaluate the relation between breastfeeding and postpartum weight reten-tion. Methods: this prospective cohort study involved 641 newborns and their mothers, followed up to twelve months postpartum. Data were collected from June 2015 to February 2017. In the first interview, we investigated data regarding socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, obstetric history, weight, and gestational age of the infant at birth. Maternal weight and breastfeeding status were obtained at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postpartum at the mother's home. A descriptive analysis of maternal weight retention according to the lactation status was performed. Multiple linear regression models evaluated the effect on exclusive breastfeeding and total breastfeeding duration on maternal weight retention at 6 and 12 months postpartum, considering potential confounders. Results: 512 and 490 mothers were evaluated at six months and at twelve months post-partum, and the mean weight retention was 1.79 (SD=5.52) and 1.69 (SD=6.69) kg, respectively. Regardless of the confounders, the mean postpartum weight reduction for each day of exclusive breastfeeding was 11 (CI95%= -0.019 to -0.003) and 16 grams (CI95%= -0.026 to -0.007) for 6 and 12 months, respectively. The total maternal breastfeeding duration had the same effect. Conclusions: longer periods of exclusive breastfeeding and total breastfeeding are associated with lower postpartum weight retention.


A method of absorption spectroscopy including obtaining absorption data at multiple wavelengths along more than one line-of-sight path through a quantity of gas of interest. The method further includes identifying more than one temperature and gas species concentration bin along the multiple line-of-sight paths and creating a map of temperature and gas species concentration. The map thus created will have at least two-dimensional information derived from select temperature and gas species concentration bins identified along more than one line-of-sight path. Apparatus for implementing the above method is also disclosed.


With the popularization of computer in clothes enterprises, product data overflow leads to confusion management. So that a product data management system in order to solve the problem is designed. As a result, this system is working well.


Video data traffic is moving from Broadcast to Internet (e.g. OTTTV) distribution. Related economic models are different. It requires to review the rate control paradigm moving from Constant Bitrate (CBR) model to Variable Bitrate (VBR) model using a capped bitrate constraint. In this paper, we propose a Constant Quality Control (CQC) algorithm which minimizes the bitrate under constraints of a target video quality level and a capped bitrate. CQC algorithm relies on a R-D model which considers the temporal distortion propagation along a video sequence. Introducing a D(Q) model, and a capped bitrate constraint, the optimal local quantizers are computed to fulfill a target level of distortion. Consistency and R-D performances of the proposed solution are verified in the context of HEVC. It meets the target level of quality with an average deviation of 6.9% while reducing bitrate of −7.6% in average compared to constant QP mode. CQC algorithm is particularly well adapted to the OTT-TV distribution, where the Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) mechanism is built on top of quality levels.


A new kineticallybased spectrophotometric method for the determination of micro quantities of neomycin is described in this paper. It is an adaptation of the modified Berthelot method which is a widely used colorimetric procedure for urea determination. The method was developed due to neomycin effect on 2,2'�dicarboxyindophenol formation. The experimental conditions for successful determination of neomycin were optimized. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for the neomycin concentration interval of 77- 154 µg/mL, ranges from 0.7 to 1%. The method was directly applied to determining neomycin in ophthalmic drops. The obtained results in analyzed pharmaceutical samples were in accordance with discdiffusion microbiological method results.


Background: Clavicle fracture is common in adults associated with high non-union rate and post-operative complications. The aim of this prospective study was to reduce the postoperative complications in clavicle fracture (Type 15-A2 and 15-B1) by using wise lock plates (manufactured by Auxein Medical Private Limited).

Methods: In this prospective study of 25 patients (11 patients had 15-A2 fracture, 14 patients had 15-B1 fracture) recruited with one year follows up period followed by physical exercises after one month of the surgery. The fractures were treated with two different plates: 3.5 mm wise lock clavicle hook plate and 3.5 mm wise lock superior anterior clavicle plate. X-ray was used to check the union, non-union. Functional outcome of the patients were assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS) score at post-operative follow up at 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months and 1 year.

Results: Postoperative outcome was good with none of the patients showing non-union or delay in the union of fracture site. The encountered complication registered were residual pain which was mild (4 cases), and hypoesthesia (2 cases).

Conclusions: Osteosynthesis of clavicle fracture with 3.5 mm diameter locking plates attributed as superior, anterior and hook plating system showed excellent results with low rate of complications.


Dispersions powder clearcoat (clearcoat powder slurry) preparable by dispersing a powder clearcoat in an aqueous medium and wet milling the slurry resulting powder, adding to the powder slurry before its wet milling at least one adduct of ethylene oxide and / or propylene oxide of at least one glycol, characterized in that together with the adduct used for 0, 1 to 1, 9 parts by weight of at least one organic solvent high dissolving power per 100 parts by weight of the solids of the clearcoat powder slurry.


Previous studies have not paid much attention to the heterogeneous effects of air pollution on subjective well-being. By matching the 2018 China Labour-Force Dynamics Survey data (CLDS2018) with urban air pollution data, we empirically examine the impact of air pollution on subjective well-being across pollution levels, income levels, gender, age, education as well as city size and region. Empirical analysis shows that an increase in air pollution has a negative and statistically significant impact on the well-being and the effect varies considerably across pollution levels, income levels, age, gender, education level, city size and region. Re-estimation using air pollution data released by the U.S. embassy in China shows that the empirical results presented in this paper are robust. After accounting for potential endogeneity and selection bias, PM2.5 continues to have a significant negative impact on the well-being of residents. Our analysis shows that air pollution is an important contributor to the Easterlin paradox, and (in the process of air pollution control) attention needs to be paid to both individual heterogeneity and urban differences.


Premise of the Study Studies on the diversity of epiphyllous bryophytes have been limited because of minute and incomplete specimens and a lack of taxonomic expertise. The recent development of the DNA barcoding approach has allowed taxon identification and species discovery of many obscure groups of organisms. Methods With DNA extractions from 99 samples of 16 species, we compared the efficiencies of six DNA markers (rbcL, matK, trnL‐F, psbA, ITS1, and ITS2) in their ability to amplify, using a standard set of primers, as well as their discriminatory power, using distance‐based and tree‐based approaches with nucleotide data. Results The amplification success was relatively high (70–90%) with all of the markers, except for matK, which yielded no success. The barcoding gap, as calculated from the difference between inter‐ and intraspecific genetic distances, was the highest in ITS2, whereas the highest numbers of monophyletic groups were found with ITS2 and rbcL. Discussion rbcL should be used as a main barcoding marker with the addition of ITS2 for epiphyllous species. The development of DNA barcoding as a tool for quantifying species diversity will provide a rapid and reliable identification tool for epiphyllous bryophytes.


The discussion about the war plays not only a central role in German literature of the 20 th century, but it also holds a very important and indispensable place in Croatian literature, considering the events of the previous war on Croatian territory (i.e. former Yugoslavia) around 1990. Wars are, as Carsten Gansel says: "similar to revolutions, fundamental disturbances of the social system status, a social 'state of emergency'" (Gansel 2012: 9-12). Literature as a form of 'self-observation of societies' (H. Bohme 1998: 476–485) constitutes a medium, in which 'fault conditions' (Gansel 2012: 9-12), caused by wars, can be thematized. The "dualism of offender and victim, observer and combatant, army and civil population, rulers and subjects" (also in socio-political everyday life), find expression in literature, by processing it literarily and discussing it. In her work, Dasa Drndic thematizes exceedingly controversial and lively past and current war discourses in socio-cultural context from the perspective of the past, as well as of the present. Her work, i.e. her texts, can be considered as a cultural form of expression, which "in symbolic presentation provides individual, and/or generation-specific reminiscence of the collective memory [1] " (Gansel 2011:11). Dasa Drndic discusses openly and without reservation already controversially conducted discourses about the Second World War, Holocaust, escape, expulsion, camp and destruction, especially after 1945, as well as the roles of the offender and victim not only in the Second World War and the 'Yugoslavian war' (civil war, fatherland war) from an – let's say – own perspective. In her most recent work Belladonna (2012) [2] , she even goes one step further, by thematizing and questioning the present everyday life interwoven with experiences, events and stories from the past through illness, suffering, dying, death and being a victim of diverse socio-political and socio-cultural systems until it becomes unbearable. Dasa Drndic, a retired professor of Modern English Literature and author of several award-winning novels, with residence in Rijeka and several study and research periods amongst others in the USA, Canada, Serbia, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, born 1946 in Zagreb, is, besides Slavenka Drakulic, Dubravka Ugresic and Ivana Sajko, one of the most read and most committed (as well as the most controversial) author of contemporary Croatia. [1] Collective stories are based on collective memory, which – as opposed to the individual memory - is developed in social interdependency of members of a collective. The individual memory, which is formed by the collective memory of the social-historical environment, builds, however, individual stories. See:Gansel/Kaulen 2011. [2] All quotations of the novel Belladonna (2012) will be marked/quoted only with ´Belladonna´ and the page number. All quotations have been translated from Croatian into German by the author of this article, as a German Translation of the novel Belladonna is not yet available. The novel Sonnenschein, which is on a paratextual level very important for this study, is currently being translated from Croatian into German (status: 29.9.2014). The German translation will be presented at the book fair in Leipzig in 2015.


While long term health consequences of smoking as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, or pulmonary diseases have been largely analysed, short term health consequences of smoking have been poorly studied, as the case of teenage smokers who are short duration smokers. Some studies, mainly from the United States and northern European countries, have shown that more absence from school, poorer self perceived health, more frequent use of medication, and more frequent contact with health services are more prevalent among adolescent smokers.1,2 However, in southern European countries this relation has been rarely assessed. The aim of this study was to examine the association between daily smoking among adolescents and their self perceived health, different health problems, use of medication, and use of health services.

Data were gathered from three similar designed Spanish National Health Interview Surveys representative of the general non-institutionalised population of Spain that were conducted in 1993, 1995, and 1997 by the Spanish Ministry of Health. We pooled the data to obtain an adequate sample size. The study sample was set up by 2261 adolescents aged 16–18 years who had complete information on smoking (1215 boys and 1046 girls, only two adolescents were not included because of missing information). Adolescents were classified as daily smokers (adolescents who declare smoking at least one cigarette daily at the time of interview), …


e17002Background: Chemotherapy concurrent with radiotherapy has become the standard treatment for cervical cancer patients with high risk factors. However, the treatment modality in patients with l...


Web filtering is an inductive process which automatically builds a filter by learning the description of user interest from a set of pre-assigned web pages, and uses it to assign unprocessed web pages. In Chinese web filtering, content similarity analysis is the core problem, while Chinese words divided syncopation technology, ambiguousness of Chinese words and Chinese context-sensitive expression customs are all disturbing factors. The automatic-learning and relativity-analysis abilities of Machine Learning algorithms help solve the above problems and make ML useful in Chinese web filtering. From evaluation of four general ML algorithms (Decision Tree, Rule Induction, Bayesian algorithm and Support Vector Machines) by analyzing their description and generalization abilities and comparing their robustness and efficiency, SVM indicates most fitful for Chinese web filtering. While in practical applications, filtering results can be divided into three levels of relative, similar and homology based on user demand. A model of biased algorithms can be helpful. BSVM (for Biased Support Vector Machines) imports a stimulant function, uses training examples distribution n+/nand an user-adaptable parameter k to express the user bias degree of different classes and can help improve the positive examples filtering efficiency. Key-Words: Chinese web filtering, Machine Learning algorithms, Biased Support Vector Machines


A first-principles pseudopotential study of the phase stability of the III-V semiconductors GaAs and AlAs is reported. For both compounds we study the zinc-blende, wurtzite, NaCl, CsCl, \ensuremath{\beta}-tin, NiAs, and sc16 structures, the latter being the binary analog of the metastable bc8 structure observed in Si and Ge. For GaAs we have also considered a structure of orthorhombic symmetry with four atoms per unit cell. This structure is the same as that recently discovered for ZnTe III [Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1805 (1994)], and includes as a special case the Pmm2 structure which had previously been suggested as the structure of GaAs II. Comparison is made with the experimental transition pressures, equations of state, and internal parameters of these compounds. We investigate the recent suggestion that the sc16 structure is very low in energy in III-V compounds. We find that sc16 GaAs is thermodynamically stable to all the other phases studied in a very small range of pressures, but sc16 AlAs is not thermodynamically stable at any pressure. For both GaAs and AlAs we find that the CsCl structure is thermodynamically stable at very high pressures.


Images and historical and political
conspicuousness of refugees : the Palestinians since 1948.
This article studies the production of images of Palestinian refugees by various
actors : photographers, filmmakers, heads of audiovisual departments of first the Quakers
and the Red Cross, then the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and finally the PLO. In all these images the Palestinians
became visible as such only after 1967. The contents and style, the political role of these
pictures and their relationship to Palestinian history and to the vision of the refugees by
themselves are treated in depth.


Worldwide spread of influenza A virus (IAV) strains, which are resistant to currently available antiinfluenza agents such as viral neuraminidase inhibitors, has encouraged identification of new target molecules for anti-influenza agents. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing oxidative stress play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of lung injuries induced by infection with IAVs, therefore suggesting that anti-oxidative therapeutics targeting cellular molecules could be beneficial against IAV infection without inducing drug-resistant IAV strains. We recently found that the normal cellular prion protein, PrPC, whose conformational conversion into the amyloidogenic isoform, PrPSc, in the brain is a key pathogenic event in prion diseases, is expressed by lung epithelial cells and exerts a protective role against IAV infection in mice by reducing ROS in infected lungs. The Cu content and activity of antioxidative enzyme Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase, or SOD1, were lower in the lungs of PrPC-knockout mice, suggesting that the anti-oxidative activity of PrPC is probably attributable to its function of activating SOD1 through regulating Cu content in lungs. Here, we introduce PrPC as a novel modulator of influenza and its potential implication for anti-oxidative therapies for IAV infection. We also introduce other candidate targets reported for antioxidative anti-influenza therapies. Introduction Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are enveloped, negative sense, single-stranded RNA viruses, causing seasonal epidemics of influenza affecting about 20% of the world population annually, with 250,000-500,000 deaths each year (Fiore et al., 2008). The young and elderly and those with underlying chronic diseases in lung or cardiovascular systems are particularly vulnerable to IAV infection (Fiore et al., 2008). There have been so far four pandemics of influenza in the past; the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic caused by infection with IAV subtype H1N1, the 1957-1958 Asian flu pandemic by H2N2, the 1968-1970 Hong Kong flu pandemic by H3N2, and the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic by H1N1, causing greater than 50 million deaths worldwide (Nickol and Kindrachuk, 2019). Potential risks of emergence of new IAV subtypes and their worldwide spread leading to new flu pandemics are still high. In addition, many sporadic infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 to humans, causing high morbidity and mortality in infected people, have been reported (Nunez and Ross, 2019). As of July 2018, a total of 860 cases of H5N1 infection in humans have been confirmed and 454 deaths have been reported (Nunez and Ross, 2019). There have been only a few cases of humanto-human transmission of HPAIVs (Nunez and Ross, 2019), suggesting a very low likelihood of pandemic threat of H5N1 infection in human populations. However, there are potential risks that HPAIVs might change their pathogenic properties in humans and produce new types of progeny viruses, which are more susceptible to humans and more easily spread among human populations through human-to-human infection, eventually causing new flu worldwide in the world. !21 Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. (2020) 37: 21-32. caister.com/cimb Prion Protein is a Novel Modulator of Influenza: Potential Implications for Anti-Influenza Therapeutics Prion Protein as a Modulator of Influenza Sakaguchi and Chida Vaccines against the viral surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) are currently available as a prophylactic measure against IAV infection (Yamayoshi and Kawaoka, 2019). However, they are only effective if they target the current circulating viruses. Furthermore, they also cannot reduce the ongoing threat of new pandemic strains since production of the vaccines takes a long time. Inhibitors of the viral neuraminidase (NA), which is essential for release of IAV progenies from infected cells, are the currently available major antiviral agents (Robson et al., 2019). The efficacy of the agents has been clearly demonstrated. However, the agents need to be used within 48 hours of onset and are most effective within 24 hours (Robson et al., 2019). In addition, certain strains of IAVs have already acquired resistance to these anti-influenza agents and have been spreading in human populations worldwide (Robson et al., 2019). The anti-influenza agents target the viral molecules, thereby stimulating the emergence of drug-resistant IAVs, which carry mutations in the genes encoding those molecules. Therefore, identification of new target molecules for anti-influenza agents is urgently awaited. Many cellular molecules play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of IAV infection (Marques et al., 2019), suggesting that these cellular molecules could be plausible targets for new anti-influenza agents. Lines of evidence indicate that oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of IAV infection (Akaike et al., 1990; Oda et al., 1989; Vlahos and Selemidis, 2014). We recently identified that the normal cellular prion protein, PrPC, could have a protective role against lethal infection with IAVs in mice by functioning as an anti-oxidative molecule by regulating an anti-oxidative enzyme in lungs (Chida et al., 2018). In this review, we introduce PrPC as a novel potential candidate target for anti-oxidative therapeutics against IAV infection, as well as other candidate targets reported for antioxidative anti-influenza therapeutics. Brief overview of IAV infection IAV infection begins with attachment of the virus to the surface of the airway or lung epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages through specific binding of the viral surface protein HA to either α2,3or α2,6linked sialic acids expressed on the cell surface (Chutinimitkul et al., 2010; van Riel et al., 2010). Seasonal and pandemic IAV strains use α2,6-linked sialic acids for binding to the host cells while HPAIV strains use α2,3-linked sialic acids (Shinya et al., 2006; van Riel et al., 2010). α2,6-linked sialic acids are prominently expressed in the trachea, whereas α2,3-linked sialic acids are expressed by alveolar type II (ATII) epithelial cells (Shinya et al., 2006; van Riel et al., 2010). This specific expression of α2,3linked sialic acids in ATII cells, which is located in the respiratory tract terminus, alveolus, have been suggested to explain why HPAIV strains have difficulty infecting humans. Binding of IAVs to the cells triggers endocytosis of the virus into them. The acidic environment of the endosomes causes fusion of the virus with the endosomal membrane, resulting in release of the viral genome into the cells eventually leading to propagation of the viral progenies (Pinto and Lamb, 2006). The M2 viral protein is activated in the endosomes and forms an ion channel on the viral membrane, allowing entrance of protons into the viral core to dissociate the ribonucleoprotein complex (Pinto and Lamb, 2006). The newly replicated viral progenies are still bound to the host cells through linkage of HA of the progenies to sialic acids on the cell surface (Rossman and Lamb, 2011). The viral protein NA cleaves the link, allowing release of the progeny viruses from the host cells and spread of IAV infection in the lungs (Rossman and Lamb, 2011). IAV infection can be cleared by the host immune systems. The innate immune system detects IAV infection through recognition of the virus by host cells via interaction of pathogen-associated molecular patterns, which are present in the virus or generated during infection, with cellular pattern recognition receptors such as the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I), and NOD-, LRRand pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) (Iwasaki and Pillai, 2014). TLR3 and TLR7 recognizes dsRNA and ssRNA in endosomes, respectively, and RIG-I detects 5'-triphosphate viral ssRNA that is generated in the cytoplasm after IAV infection (Iwasaki and Pillai, 2014). These interactions between viral and cellular molecules trigger activation of innate immunity against IAV infection, leading to production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, recruiting immune cells into the infection sites, activating adaptive immune responses against IAV infection, eventually eliminating IAV infection (Iwasaki and Pillai, 2014). NLRP3 is expressed in monocy tes , dend r i t i c ce l l s , neu t roph i l s , macrophages, and epithelial cells and forms the multiprotein complexes called inflammasomes together with the ASC protein and pro-caspase 1 (Guarda et al., 2011). IAV infection triggers f o rma t i on and ac t i va t i on o f t he NLRP3 i n f l ammasomes , resu l t i ng i n re lease o f interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18 and thereby


Luminescence is the emission of light by an object. Living organisms including certain bacteria are capable of luminescence. Bacteria are the most abundant luminescent organisms in nature. Bacterial luminescence is due to the action of the enzyme called luciferase. Other interesting features of marine microorganisms are having their ability to survive at low temperatures and high salinity. In the present study, marine water samples were collected from different sites of Nagapattinam sea shores, and analyzed the physicochemical characteristics. The effect of salinity, pH concentration on the growth and luminescence of these 10 strains was also studied. From the samples, bioluminescent bacterial strains were isolated using Sea Water Complex Agar and TCBS medium. Ten bioluminescent bacterial strains were isolated and identified based on cultural, morphological and biochemical charactertics which are belonged to the genera of Vibrio sp and Pseudomonas sp.


Because of the problems such as poor expansibility and difficult work division in building Web application system,this article introduces Struts,Hibernate and reasearches Struts+Hibernate frame.Then Tahe forestry resource management system is implemented using the architecture of Strus+Hibernate.So the efficiency,maintainability and expansibility of the system are improved.The practice results show that programes run reliably.The great performance can meet actual application's demands.


Two kinds of heroines′ images are very special in the narration of the novels about the Cooperation Movement.One is the image of "female model" or "female hero" with strong male tendency,the other is the image of the bold and active pursuit of "new farmers" and awakened females.In creating these two kinds of heroines′ images,the writers have adopted the unique technique of gender rhetoric by fitting them into the grand narratives of the revolutionary politics.However,these female protagonists,in the active participation of the revolutionary political movement,have obtained their legal status and meanwhile also lost their self subjectivity.


Changes in homeostatic balance of the body, primarily at the cellular-molecular level, are a relevant research object in fundamental and applied studies. They can be eligible indicators for predicting negative effects under exposure to chemical risk factors. The aim of this study was to substantiate markers of a transformed plasma proteomic profile in children. These markers should have prognostic value and an evidence-based association with combined aerogenic exposure to metal oxides (copper and nickel oxides used as an example). We propose an innovative methodical approach based on plasma proteomic profiling that includes the following: identification of identical proteins and genes encoding their expression; quantification of indicators within the 'identical protein – a chemical concentration in blood' system; prediction of negative effects as per indicators of homeostasis destabilization at the cellular-molecular level under chronic aerogenic exposure to chemicals. The proposed algorithm was tested by comparing changed proteins and peptides identified in plasma proteomic profiles of children exposed simultaneously to nickel and copper oxides in ambient air in actual conditions and small rodents under experimental combined and isolated exposure to the analyzed chemicals in levels equal to real ones. Long-term aerogenic exposure simultaneously to copper and nickel oxides was established to create elevated nickel and copper levels in blood of exposed children substantiated as markers of exposure. They were up to 2.4 times higher against the same indicators in unexposed children and reference levels as well. The results of field observations were verified by elevated levels of the same chemicals in blood under experimental modelling of an equivalent combined exposure performed on biological models. APOBEC1 complement factor (the А1CF gene) was substantiated as an identical proteomic marker based on plasma proteomic profiling in experimental and field investigations. It has an evidence-based association with markers of exposure (nickel and copper simultaneously identified in blood). Lower expression of this protein under persistent combined aerogenic exposure to nickel and copper oxides makes it possible to predict such a negative effect as modification of low density lipoproteins with further induction of atherosclerotic changes in vessels, the latter being a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases.


The present invention relates to a mineral wool which can be dissolved in a physiological medium, it comprises the following ingredients with the following weight percent of: SiO RO (CaO + MgO) 4 - 15%; Fe TiO


(Japanese Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition) Vol. 79 (2008) No. 5 (pp. 452–520) JSSSPN Awards Pedological studies on soil organic matter of volcanic as soils Teruo HIGASHI Tsukuba Univ. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 425–428, 2008) Studies on the absorption, the accumulation, and the tolerant of cadmium in plants Isao HASEGAWA Nihon Univ. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 429–432, 2008) Ecology and function of mycorrhizal symbiosis Masanori SAITO Natl. Inst. Agro-Environ. Sci. (present address; Tohoku Univ.) (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 433–436, 2008) JSSSPN Technological Advance Awards Study on rice direct seeding in flooded soil Minoru YAMAUCHI Natl. Agri. Res. Cent. West. Region, NARO (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 437–440, 2008) Extension of the suitable soil management technology by the development of the information system on the database of farming land Norio YASUDA (Former) Mie Pref. Agri. Res. Inst. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 441–443, 2008) JSSSPN Progress Awards Estimation of emission factors and investigation on mitigation options of nitrous oxide from agricultural fields Hiroko AKIYAMA Natl. Inst. Agro-Environ. Sci. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 444–445, 2008) Study of aluminum tolerant QTL in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana Yuriko KOBAYASHI Gifu Univ. (present address; Riken Bioresource Cent.) (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 446–447, 2008) A molecular ecological study of soybean-nodulating rhizobia in terms of the diversity and the distribution Yuichi SAEKI Miyazki Univ. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 448–449, 2008) Studies on meatl accumulating mechanisms of hyperaccumulator plants Takafumi MIZUNO Mie Univ. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 450–451, 2008) Elucidation of adaptation mechanisms of plants grown under low phosphorus conditions Jun WASAKI Hokkaido Univ. (present address; Hiroshima Univ.) (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 452–453, 2008) Original Papers Effect of crack generation on plant water uptake and quality and quantity of rice yield in heavy clay soil fields cultivated with paddy rice Yoshihiro KANETA, Daigo TAKAHASHI and Takashi SATO Fac. Bioresour. Sci., Akita Prefect. Univ. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 454–460, 2008) This study investigated the relationship between tillage method and crack generation in heavy clay soil fields cultivated with paddy rice on reclaimed land in Hachirogata, and analyzed the effect of crack size on plant water uptake and the quality and quantity of rice yield. Cracks in puddled fields appeared in 20 days after midseason drainage, and thereafter propagated rapidly and continuously until the end of August. The puddled fields contained a greater number of cracks than a non-puddled field. Stomatal apertures and transpiration of the rice flag leaves were higher in the non-puddled field with fewer cracks than in plants in the puddled fields. The rice roots on the field surface were frequently severed by the large cracks. The dry weight of the rice roots extending from the plants was 10–37% lower in the puddled fields than in the non-puddled field. Plant uptake of soil water and irrigation water were lower in the puddled field with large cracks than in that with small cracks. The number of panicles and the amount of unhulled rice did not differ among the three plots. The percentage of ripened grains and the thousand-grain weight were lower in the puddle field with large cracks. The rice yield decreased in order of the non-puddled field, the puddled field with small cracks, and the puddled field with large cracks. The rice yield in the puddle field with large cracks was 21% lower than that in the non-puddled field. The percentage of whole grains in the puddled field with large cracks was notably lower than that in the puddled field with small cracks and the non-puddled field. Moreover, the percentage of white as well as cracked rice kernels was remarkably higher in the puddled field with large cracks. These results suggest that the presence of large cracks in a puddled field decreases both plant water uptake and the quality and quantity of rice yield. Key words: crack, heavy clay soil, plant water uptake, transpiration, quality. Variation of nitrate concentration of spring water in double-cropped paddy fields in Marugame plain Seiko YOSHIKAWA*1, Hiroshi YAMAMOTO*2, Masanori YOSHIDA*1 and Akira ISHIHARA*3 *1 Natl. Agric. Res. Cent. Wes. Reg., Natl. Agric. Food Res. Org. *2 Natl. Inst. Livestock and Grassland Sci., Natl. Agric. and Food Res. Org. *3 Kagawa Prefect. Environ. Res. Cent. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 461–470, 2008) This study was conducted to clarify the variation of nitrate concentration of spring water and to estimate the discharge of nitrate from the double-cropped paddy fields into shallow groundwater in Doki-river alluvial fan in Kagawa by means of analysis of chemical properties of Desui-spring water, irrigation-canal water, and river water. The results were: 1) It was estimated that nitrate nitrogen was stored in soil water after the fertilizer input for the second crop and was flown into the shallow groundwater mainly at the first stage of irrigation of paddy fields. 2) Nitrate nitrogen outflow from double-cropped paddy fields to shallow groundwater was estimated to be 34.9 kg ha−1, which corresponded to 10.3% of total nitrogen input. 3) The concentrations of annual-mean NO3-N, SO4-S and Cl− of spring water increased with the increase of distance from the fan apex. Especially Cl− concentration showed the highest rate of increase within them. Key words: alluvial fan, double-cropped paddy field, nitrate nitrogen, springs, water quality. Effects of silicate fertilizer application on the yield of rice plants grown under insufficient light condition Hiroshi FUJII*1, Shizuka MORI*2 and Ho ANDO*1 *1 Yamagata Univ, *2 Yamagata General Agric. Res. Cent., Dep. of Agro-Production Sci. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 471–477, 2008) Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of nitrogen and silica on the yields of rice plants under insufficient light condition. Results obtained were as follows: 1. A linear negative relationship was observed between sunshine irradiation periods and the rice yield ratios of Si-application plot to no Si-application plot in rice straw application experiment. The rice yield ratios were 113, 106, and 101 for the year of shorter, average, and longer sunshine irradiation periods (average irradiation time; 5.5, 7.0, and 8.1 h d−1), respectively. This result indicates that Si application is more effective for the rice yield in relatively shorter sunshine irradiation than in longer irradiation. 2. The amounts of SiO2 and N uptake by rice plants and the rice yields were higher in the year of longer sunshine irradiation (1996) than in the shorter year (1995), regardless of soil type (significant at 5% level). 3. The recoveries of topdressed N by rice plants in the panicle formation stage were 57.9, 40.0, 34.8, and 31.4% under irradiation conditions of 545, 325, 208, and 146 MJ, respectively. 4. Apparent photosynthetic rate of flag leaf was significantly higher in Si application plot than in no Si application plot. In addition, brown rice and dry matter productions in the heading to maturity stages of rice were higher in Si application plot than in no Si application plot. Key words: insufficient light condition, rice plant, rice yield, silicic acid. Change of spring water utilization in Doki-river alluvial fan, Kagawa Prefecture, Western Japan Hiroshi YAMAMOTO*1, Seiko YOSHIKAWA*2, Masanori YOSHIDA*2 and Akira ISHIHARA*3 *1 Natl. Inst. of Livestock and Grassland Sci., Natl. Agric. Food Res. Org., *2 Natl. Agric. Res. Cent., Wes. Reg., Natl. Agric. and Food Res. Org., *3 Kagawa Prefect. Environ. Res. Cent. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 478–486, 2008) This study was conducted to clarify a change of shallow groundwater utilization after the establishment of large scale irrigation system built in 1975 in the Doki-river alluvial fan, Kagawa Prefecture. As the shallow groundwater is used for the irrigation of rice cropping from springs named as "Desui", the water level and discharge of springs and water balance in a research field were surveyed in a severe drought year, 1994 and in a normal-weather year, 1995. The results were: 1) Most of the springs are distributed in the wash trench of alluvial fan. 2) Water level of springs kept high from June to October and low from November to May relating to the supply of irrigation water. 3) Water discharge from springs increased in the irrigation period, and decreased or disappeared in the non-irrigation period. The flow velocity of the shallow-groundwater was calculated to be 11 m d−1. 4) The mean discharge of spring water per unit area of research field was estimated at 6.1 mm d−1, from which the repeated use ratio of spring water to the percolation water was calculated at 54% in the drought summer 1994. The ratio in the summer of normal-weather 1995 became as large as 96%, calculated from mean discharge of spring water 13.3 mm d−1. 5) The repeated use ratio of channel water to the percolation water was 31% in the summer 1994 and 12% in the summer 1995, whish showed a decrease compared with the value of summer 1956. 6) These results could be considered that the shallow ground water utilization through springs increased after the construction of large scale irrigation system. Key words: alluvial fan, repeated use, shallow groundwater, spring. Notes Root uptake of 14C leached from the low-level radioactive waste for sub-surface disposal with engineered barriers by Daucus carota L. Transfer assessment on the case using acetic acid as 14C -source Hiroyuki SUZUKI*1, Hiroshi KUMAGAI*1 and Shigeo UCHIDA*2 *1 Grad. Sch. Pharm. Sci., Chiba Univ., *2 Natl. Inst. Radiological Sci. (Jpn. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 79, 487–490, 2008) Effects of subsoil application of aluminum cattle manure compost on soil phys


This article aims to find relevant determinants of the total number of followers in social media of the Portuguese public Higher Education Institutions. To pursuit that objective, data on the number of followers in Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube was collect for all the 34 public institutions in Portugal. This data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation, mean difference, and multiple linear regression analyses. It was found that Facebook is the social media application that assures higher audiences, followed by LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, in the given order. It was also found that the number of faculty members, being a university, and being in coastal mainland are relevant determinants of the total number of followers of Higher Education Institutions in social media. When combined, these determinants explain 62,5% of the variability of the total number of followers. Taking this result into consideration, a ranking of the institutions according to how well they perform compared to what could be expected based on the identified determinants is also presented.


Abbreviations and translations Introduction: beyond therapy 1. Freedom as rationality 2. Justifying Spinoza's conception of freedom 3. Autonomy and responsibility 4. Freedom and happiness 5. The good 6. The natural law 7. Benevolence 8. The free man 9. Rational deliberation 10. The character of freedom 11. The freedom of the citizen Conclusion: 'the true freedom of man' Bibliography Index.


Abstract:Statues of the gods, or spirit images (shenxiang 神像), remain among the most ubiquitous material objects in the religious culture of modern-day Taiwan. Notwithstanding, research to date has yet to examine adequately the people and processes that produce, consecrate, and enshrine these statues, work that effects a transformation of these cult statues into sacred presences. How should we understand the relationship between these artistic and ritual processes and the resulting spirit image that is born out of them? The article argues that the spirit image at the heart of this study, a statue of the Daoist god Guangcheng Zi 廣成子, emerges in the context of its religious lifeworld not as a discrete entity, but rather as an "assemblage," a coming together of the people who contribute to it, the materials those people use, and the specific spirits and divine powers those people invoke.摘要:神像仍普遍存在於現今台灣宗教文化中,此乃屬於物質性的文物之一。然而迄今為止針對相關人員,以及製造、開光、安座等使塑像轉化為聖物的過程,這類的研究仍不足。該如何理解這些藝術和科儀的過程之間的互動關係,進而了解這兩者與其生成之神像間的關係?這篇文章主要探討的主題為道教神明廣成子的神像,在宗教世界觀之下,其並不是以分離的實體存在,而是以一個「集合體」出現於此世界觀之中,此集合體包括了貢獻的人員、人員所使用之材料、以及他們所祈求的對象,例如神明、靈氣等。


The current study aimed to identify the level of cognitive dissonance among students of Al al-Bayt University in Jordan in terms of gender, academic specialization and level, and to reveal the predictive ability of emotional intelligence for cognitive dissonance. The study sample consisted of 235 male and female students from Al al-Bayt University. The Cognitive Dissonance Scale (Al-Adamat & Atoum, 2022) and the Emotional Intelligence Scale (Al-Alwan, 2011) were used to collect the data. The findings of this study indicated that the level of cognitive dissonance was average. Statistically significant differences were identified in the level of cognitive dissonance in terms of gender, higher scores being reported by males. Also, there were significant differences in terms of academic specialization, in the favor of humanities major, and academic level, in the favor of the second, third and fourth year students. In addition, findings revealed that emotional intelligence explained 9.3% of the cognitive dissonance variance.


Background: Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is a relatively rare and slowly growing tumor of the major salivary glands, usually arising from the parotid and rarely from the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands. ACC accounts for 3 to 4% of parotid tumors, 2 to 6% of all salivary gland tumors and 10 to 17% of all malignant salivary gland tumors. Case report: A 40-year-old woman reported a slow growing mass in the oral cavity. The transoral aspiration biopsy was reported as pleomorphic adenoma arising from the minor salivary glands of the junctional zone of base of tongue. Rest of the neck examination was normal and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed the mass confined to the superficial layers of the tongue without invasion. Intervention: The tumor was resected transorally with adequate margins. The tumor histology was typical of ACC with the margins free and wide on all the sides. The patient was kept on monthly follow-up where palpable nodes developed during the course of 6 months. The neck was addressed with supraomohyoid dissection and followed up without irradiation. Conclusion: ACC is a low-grade malignant salivary neoplasm rarely diagnosed in minor salivary glands of the oral cavity. The overall prognosis after surgical resection depends on the extent of lesion and the adequacy of the initial resection. Hence, keeping in mind the malignant potential of the disease careful long-term follow-up is advised.


Blood Products Advisory Com  mittee on March 9, 2006. They proposed that men who have sex with men be banned from donat ing blood for one year after a sex ual encounter. Supporters of continuing the lifetime deferral point to the in creased prevalence of HIV among men who have sex with men. Yet this rationale places an emphasis on a group that's regarded as be ing at high risk rather than on highrisk behavior. Perma nently barring blood donations from any man who's had sex with another man—even once—fails to take into account that different sexual acts carry different risks, as well as the date of last possible expo sure. The FDA's policy also per petuates the stereotype that all gay men engage in risky sexual behavior. Some have cited concerns about the "window period" of HIV incubation, during which a newly infected person hasn't yet developed antibodies against HIV and will thus test negatively for the virus. Nucleic acid amplifica tion technology is now used to Why Can't Men Who Have Sex With Men Donate Blood?


The effects of an insoluble surfactant on the motion of a drop or bubble as it is driven by a pressure gradient through a capillary tube is investigated numerically. We find that a drop in a straight capillary tube can either approach a steady-state shape or develop a re-entrant cavity at its rear. For a gas bubble moving through a constricted capillary tube, we find that snap-off can occur and surfactants enhance the snap-off process. The effects of the parameters on the dynamics of bubble snap-off are illustrated and discussed.


The article actualizes the problem of tolerance in the social-psychological aspects. The ethnic diversity of society in peaceful coexistence requires from each subject of ethnos ability to understand, respect and accept. Tolerance of Interethnic relations is a necessary condition for positive interaction of people in a complex ethnically diverse world.


A very sensitive analytical mcthod for the determination of mercury(1l) after extraction of its bromide-rhodamine 6G complex into benzene has been developed. The optimum pH range for the extraction is 0.5-4.5. The molar absorptivity and Sandell sensitivity arc 8.2 X 10' I.mole-'. cm-' and 2.5 ng ~rn~~rerpeetively. The interference various ions has been studied. The method is applicable to the determination of mercury in coal and sea water. Key worda: Mercury(1I) determination, solvent extraction, bromide, rhodamine 6G, benzene


This paper describes a simple simulation model for left-turn cross-path crashes, where a probabilistic gap acceptance model for the turning driver is combined with a standard braking model for the opposing driver. Data for the modeling the turning driver's behavior were collected at an intersection near the University of Minnesota campus, while data characterizing the opposing driver's reaction time and braking rate were taken from the literature. After placing an approximately 3.5-second lower bound on acceptable gaps, the model generated collision rates similar to those reported in the literature. The model characterizes left-turn crashes as resulting when the turning driver accepts a minimal gap and takes an atypically long time complete his/her turn, while the opposing driver takes an atypically long time to react before braking. While this scenario may in fact describe some left-turn cross-path crashes, a reconstruction of an actual fatal crash was more consistent with the opposing driver reacting normally, but the turning driver selecting a gap shorter than any observed in our field study. This suggests that a failure of attention, rather than a failure of gap perception, may have been responsible. Characterizing the rate at which such attention errors occur would then be necessary to accurately predict left-turn crash frequencies.


Visbur inherited after his father Vanland. He married the daughter of Aude the Rich, and gave her as her bride-gift three large farms, and a gold ornament. They had two sons, Gisle and Ond; but Visbur left her and took another wife, whereupon she went home to her father with her two sons. Visbur had a son who was called Domald, and his stepmother used witchcraft to give him ill-luck. Now, when Visbur's sons were, the one twelve, the other thirteen years of age, they went to their father's place, and desired to have their mother's dower; but he would not deliver it to them. Then they said that the gold ornament should be the death of the best man in all his race; and they returned home. Then they began again with enchantments and witchcraft, to try if they could destroy their father. The sorceress Huida said that by witchcraft she could bring it about by this means, that a murderer of his own kin should never be wanting in the Yngling race; and they agreed to have it so. Thereafter they collected men, came unexpectedly in the night on Visbur, and burned him in his house. Domald took the heritage of his father Visbur, and ruled over the land. As in his time there was great famine and distress, the Swedes made great offerings of sacrifice at Upsal. The first autumn they sacrificed oxen, but the succeeding season was not improved by it. The following autumn they sacrificed men, but the succeeding year was rather worse. The third autumn, when the offer of sacrifices should begin, a great multitude of Swedes came to Upsal; and now the chiefs held consultations with each other, and all agreed that the times of scarcity were on account of their king Domald, and they resolved to offer him for good seasons, and to assault and kill him, and sprinkle the altar of the gods with his blood. And they did so.1


305 Background: JCOG0912 supports the non-inferiority of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) compared with open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for clinical stage I gastric cancer relapse-free survival (RFS), suggesting that LADG should be considered a standard treatment option when performed by experienced surgeons. No prospective study evaluating laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) and laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy (LAPG) has been completed in terms of both safety and long-term survival. Considering that the results of the phase III trial to evaluate the long-term outcome of LADG (JCOG0912) could guarantee that of LATG/LAPG, we conducted a single-arm confirmatory trial (JCOG1401) to evaluate the safety of LATG/LAPG for clinical stage I proximal gastric cancer and JCOG1401 confirmed the safety of LATG/LAPG. Long-term outcomes as the secondary endpoints of this study are reported here after 5-year follow-up period. Methods: Laparoscopic operators were limited to credentialed surgeons. The extent of nodal dissection was selected based on the Gastric Cancer Treatment Guidelines in Japan. The primary endpoint was the proportion of grade 2 (CTCAE ver. 4.0) or greater esophageal anastomotic leak. The sample size was determined to be 245 considering a threshold of 8% and expected value of 3% with a one-sided alpha error of 2.5% and statistical power of 90%. The secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and RFS. Results: Between April 2015 and February 2017, 245 patients were enrolled. Among them, 1 patient was excluded from safety analysis due to ineligible. LATG/LAPG was performed in 195/49. 170/47/17/8/2 patients had pStage IA/IB/II/IIIA/IIIB disease and 190/31/15/8 patients had pT1/T2/T3/T4 disease, respectively. Grade 2 or greater esophageal anastomotic leak was 2.5% (6/244) (95% CI 0.9-5.3), as previously reported. 5-year OS was 91.2% (95% CI 86.9-94.2). 5-year RFS was 90.0% (95% CI 85.5-93.2). Among 22 deaths, 14 patients died without recurrence and 8 patients died with recurrence. Twelve recurrences were observed in 5/2/4/1 patients for pT1/T2/T3/T4. The sites of recurrence were peritoneal metastasis in 2 cases, hematogenous metastasis in 9 cases (liver: 6, bone: 2, lung: 1), and other in 1 case. Conclusions: The long-term outcomes of LATG/LAPG for Stage I gastric cancer patients were excellent and seem comparable to those of open procedures. Similar to JCOG0912, JCOG1401 guarantee the long-term survival of LATG/LAPG. Clinical trial information: UMIN000017155 .


The voltage spectra of different types of two-phase PWM techniques for three-phase voltage inverters are investigated and compared. Different PWM control methods are suggested and adequate analytical equations of the motor voltage harmonics are given. The two-phase PWMs, however, for the low fundamental voltage region and the same commutation frequency of the inverter results in considerably higher voltage harmonics and, therefore, higher motor harmonic losses and torque pulsations than the three-phase modulation. The two-phase PWMs can only produce better results than the three-phase ones in the high voltage region. The theoretical results are verified by computer calculations as well as by means of simulation and experimental investigations.


Interest in identifying the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains intense. Two nested case-control studies showed that in young, predominantly white adults in whom samples were collected before clinical disease onset, higher serum levels of 25(OH)D were associated with a reduced risk of developing MS.1,2 In the Nurses' Health Study cohorts, higher dietary intake of vitamin D was associated with a lower risk of developing MS among American nurses; supplemental intake of more than 400 IU daily was associated with a 40% reduced risk. A more recent mendelian randomization study, which included 14,498 MS cases and 24,091 healthy controls with European ancestry, showed that alleles related to lower vitamin D levels were associated with increased MS risk.2,3 This study design increases the confidence that the preceding observations reflect a causal association rather than confounding. However, the time period when vitamin D exposure is relevant to reducing MS risk remains uncertain, including whether early-life exposure to vitamin D influences MS risk.2,4


Several problems existed in chemical education practice in some normal colleges at present.The primary cause was that education practice mode was too single,education practice time was not reasonable fully,and trainees lacked professional knowledge and professional skills.For improving quality of chemical education practice,education practice mode and time should be reformed,and education basic skills,professional skills and professional knowledge should be stressed.


A method of measuring the change in specimen cross section in inhomogeneous deformation is described. A continuous measure of the specimen diameter over the whole specimen gauge length is obtained provided the object is small and has a smoothly changing cross section. The sum of two transducer outputs allows a plot of the specimen profile to be made. Diameter change can be measured over 0?2 in with a maximum resolution of better than 10 ?in.


A new genetic algorithm (GA) based image segmentation method is proposed for image analysis. This method using a mean square error (MSE) based criterion can segment an image into some regions, while estimating a suitable region representation. The criterion is defined as MSE caused by interpolating each region of an observed image with a parametric model. Since the criterion is expressed with not only the parameters of the model but also shape and location of the regions, the criterion can not be easily minimized by the usual optimization methods, the proposed method minimizes the criterion by a GA. The proposed method also includes a processor to eliminate fragile regions with the Markov random field (MRF) model. Though the thresholds of the existent methods negatively affect image segmentation results; since no thresholds are required in the proposed method, it segments images more accurately than the existent methods.