PROBLEM/CONDITION
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen in the United States; however, no precise data on the prevalence and incidence of chlamydia infection are available because currently no comprehensive national surveillance system exists for chlamydia. Despite the absence of such a system, states do report numbers of male and female chlamydia cases to CDC on a quarterly basis.

REPORTING PERIOD COVERED
This report summarizes and reviews the chlamydia surveillance data received by CDC from 1987 through 1991.

DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM
Summary data on cases of chlamydia reported to state health departments were sent quarterly to CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. The quarterly data from each state included total number of chlamydia cases by sex and by source of report (public, private).

RESULTS
From 1987 through 1991, the number of states with legislation mandating reporting of chlamydia increased twofold. The reported chlamydia rate from those states also doubled during the same time period, from 91.4 cases per 100,000 population in 1987 to 197.5 cases per 100,000 population in 1991.

INTERPRETATION
This twofold increase in the rate of chlamydia reported to CDC did not represent a doubling in chlamydia prevalence or incidence during this time period. Instead, the increase resulted from the increase in the number of states with reporting laws and from the initial attempts of those states to identify and report diagnosed chlamydia infections.

ACTIONS TAKEN
More accurate measures of the number of chlamydia infections and of trends in the chlamydia infection rate are needed to justify, develop, and evaluate public health programs to control chlamydia infections. An outline of possible surveillance activities for local communities is presented.


7519Background: ME-401, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor highly selective for PI3Kδ was studied in a phase 1b trial for patients (pts) with R/R FL or CLL/SLL. The starting dose was based on pharma...


Emission and absorption measurements have been made in rf glow discharges through pure argon and through argon with 1% O2 added. The results indicate that added O2 reduces the amount of excitation of neutral argon, particularly the concentration of metastable atoms. At the same time, increased emission is observed from argon ions when O2 is added. This is attributed to an increase in the argon ion concentration. The results of these experiments have important implications regarding the mechanisms operative in rf sputtering processes. Namely, under the conditions studied (rf power density of 10 W/cm2 and argon pressure 4×10−2 Torr) direct electron impact ionization appears to be the predominant maintenance mechanism of the glow rather than ionization resulting from metastable atom collisions. In addition, it is proposed that addition of oxygen to the argon discharge atmosphere serves to increase the secondary electron emission coefficient of the fused silica target.


A method is proposed to model individual patterns of growth over time by linear combinations of optimally chosen weighted orthogonal vectors. The goal is to distinguish individuals who track from nontrackers. Nontrackers are defined as those who follow different, usually more complex, growth patterns than trackers. Thus, nontrackers require more vectors than do trackers in modeling their longitudinal observations. A method of specifying the class-specific vectors and individual weights is demonstrated. When the proportion of nontrackers in the population is small, a modified form of the Akaike maximum entropy criterion is used to select the number of vectors appopriate for each person and also to classify each person into a tracking category. When the proportion of nontrackers is large, the modified Akaike criterion together with scatterplots of the growth curve weights are needed to distinguish trackers from nontrackers. The apprach is illustrated with longitudinal observations of height measured in an e...


Dissolving the sample of dust absorbed in the atmosphere collected from a farm through the air filters with hydrochloric acid,nitric acid,hydrofluoric acid,and perchloric acid,and then determines harmful heavy metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS),like Chromium,copper,arsenic,cadmium,lead and so on to test air quality of crops growth atmospheric environment.It is verified that the operating parameters of different instruments have influence on the determination results.Experiments show that: in the selected experimental conditions,the elements of being analyzed have low detection limits,accuracy and good precision.Sample analysis results show that the main heavy metal pollutants in the crops growth atmospheric environment are chromium,copper,arsenic,cadmium and lead;the relative standard deviation(RSD) of the results of several determination of national standard sample are less than 5%.It is concluded that the air quality of the farm is good and suitable for crops growth.


Given the decarbonization objectives set at the European level, the evolutionary scenarios of the electric system envisage a significant paradigm shift in the use of electricity. The expected evolution, which mainly involves users connected to the distribution networks, concerns the spread of small-scale distributed generation, the growth of the electricity demand and an increasingly dynamic electrical market. In this context, the Distribution System Operator (DSO) certainly plays a central role. The planning of the distribution network must consider this evolution, improving the traditional planning criteria and developing advanced methodologies of analysis. The recent technological evolutions in the field of data analysis allow us to evaluate different investment scenarios, aiming to identify the best interventions in terms of safety, reliability, and sustainability. In this paper we describe an advanced planning tool able to support the technical/economic analyses necessary for the choice of interventions on the distribution network. The algorithm, based on a genetic approach, exploits AI techniques for the multi-objective optimization of the configuration of the grid, aiming to simultaneously optimize different parameters (e.g., costs, quality of service and load KPIs). The method allows the evaluation of the technical benefit of the interventions and their prioritization according to technical/economic criteria. The optimized network proposed by the tool on a case study network have shown significant benefits in terms of technical needs satisfaction while keeping costs under control.


Abstract The ground state rotational spectra of the 15N isotopic species of acetyl cyanide have been measured in the region from 8 to 40 GHz. The rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been determined by a least squares fit to about 38 transition frequencies with J ≦ 14. The potential barrier parameter V3 and the angle a between the top axis and the 'a-axis' have been determined by a least squares of the (A-E) splittings of about 27 transitions. The methyl top moment of inertia was fixed at 3.14 amu Å2


Systems engineers and project managers have a wide range of tools and approaches they use to assess risk, but these approaches have not helped to reduce failures as much as hoped. Post‐failure analyses may not be enough to prevent a future failure, even at the same organization. In this paper, we present a risk assessment prototype that goes beyond collecting information about the failures or failure causes themselves and aims to consider the human actions that lead to failure. Our method adds "crowd signals" to capture the human actions and behaviors that we know eventually lead to failures. Crowd signals are data derived from a set of questions that members of a project team answer, and are used as input for our prediction models. We collected data from 18 different engineering student projects at Purdue University and built two types of models: one to predict schedule failures and one for technical requirements failure.


It is generally held that artistic marketing should not interfere artists' creation as it is their personal expressions free from utility. The fact is,however,that the artistic organizations' participation in artistic creation can promote the development of art.


Software agent platforms have enjoyed a broad interest in the last 20 years from many parts of computer science research and industry. In the previous sections of this survey we discussed the impact of platform design on agent systems and proposed a categorization of agents and their platforms, identifying intelligent agents, mobile agents, and simulation agents as the main branches of agent technology. This article is the last part of a three-part survey on agent platform technology. We now present the numbers of our survey on platforms. Also, we comment on recent trends in software engineering. Michael Zapf: E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com 1 Agent platforms in numbers In the first part of our survey we introduced three classes of agent technology: multi-agent and intelligent agent systems, mobile agent systems, and simulation agent systems. In the second part we commented on standardization efforts and identified two major endeavors, the MAF and FIPA standard. Also, we presented three agent platforms that are significant for each of these classes. We now take a quantitative look at the history of agent platform engineering in the last two decades. We analyzed the evolution of the agent platform technology by the number of available platforms over the years, the life time of platforms, the relative weight of the categories, and adoption of standards.


The effects of deviator stress, molding moisture content, stabilizer type and content, curing period, and soil type on the resilient modulus (Mr) of lime- and cement-stabilized cohesive soils were investigated by using Hydrite R (kaolinite) and sodium bentonite (montmorillonite) blends. It was found that Mr increases with decreasing deviator stress, increasing lime and cement content, and extended curing period. Moisture variations around optimum had little effect on Mr with higher lime contents. Multiple regression analyses and Student's t-tests indicated that all the factors investigated were significant and could be related to Mr by predictive regression equations. For a given stabilizer type and content, the low-plasticity clay (CL) soil produced the best results. The cement-stabilized CL soil normal cured for 28 days produced the highest Mr value. However, cement stabilization was not found to be very effective for the high-plasticity clay (CH) soil. Mineralogical composition has a marked effect on the Mr of lime and cement-stabilized cohesive soils. Kaolinitic CL soils work better than montmorillonitic CH soils with both lime and cement.


Genes widely used in systematic studies have proven valuable for the resolution of relatively shallow ( 300 MYA) divergences, but genes useful for moderately deep divergences have been lacking. Computerized data bases of gene sequences are growing at a rapid pace and provide a rich resource of genes likely to contain phylogenetic information about many levels of divergence. Despite the fact that the chosen gene must be appropriately matched to the phylogenetic divergence(s) of interest, little attention has been given to the estimation and/or evaluation of the likely phylogenetic utility of genes. Knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among organisms for which gene sequences are commonly available provides a powerful tool for estimating this utility


Data on detergents and heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, copper, chromium, mercury and zinc are used in order to estimate pollution and sanitary quality of water as well as contamination of fish from Billings Reservoir, SP, Brazil. The results of this work are a warning with regard to the potential risk of human consumption of fish from that Reservoir, even though commercial fishing is now practically restricted to the riverheads of the affluents of the rivers Capivari and Pequeno near Ribeirao Pires and along the rivers Curucutu and Taquacetuba. Data from CEAGESP (Companhia de Entreposto de Armazens Gerais do Estado de Sao Paulo) show that in 1980 only 64 tons of fish came from S. Bernardo do Campo.


A numerical approach for transient CFD analyses of autoclave curing process is presented, aimed at finding a trade-off between accuracy and computational cost that can make it industry-affordable. A steady-state, conjugated heat transfer (CHT) analysis is carried out for the simultaneous simulation of solid and fluid regions to obtain a spatial distribution of the heat-transfer coefficient (HTC). This distribution and the curing temperature diagram are then used as boundary conditions for a transient heat-transfer simulation of the solid parts only. Results are compared to both experiments and coupled fluid-solid steady-state CHT simulations, proving that the proposed methodology is accurate and less computationally expensive than a fully-coupled, fluid-solid simulation.


This paper discusses the present situation of Yu folk music and the existing conditions and feasibilities for its further development.The paper also makes suggestions as regards how to develop Yu folk music.


Bromochloromethyleneiminium hexachloroantimonate BrClC=NH 2 + SbCl 6 - crystallizes in the space group P2 1 /c with a=979.6(5), b=1140.5(5), c=2162.1(10) pm, β=102.45(4) o and Z=8. It is isostructural with Cl 2 C=NH 2 + SbCl 6 -


Synthesis of 4,9(11)-androstadiene-3,17-dione.

The total synthesis of 4,9(11)-androstadiene-3,17-dione (23) is described starting from (1 S, 7 aS)-1-t-butoxy-7a-methyl-5,6,7,7a-tetrahydroindan-5-one (8) as a CD-building block. The key step involves alkylation of 8 with 1-chloro-7,7-o-phenylenedioxy-octane-3-one (14) a novel AB-synthon to give the diketone 15. 15 is converted to the secosteroid 20via the diene enol ether 17 using a previously described procedure. Low temperature methylation of 20 affords predominantly the 10β-methyl compound 21, which is readily transformed into the title dione 23.


We read with great interest the recent article by Zerimech et al. proposing a protease-antiprotease imbalance as a key pathophysiological mechanism in the progression of COVID-19 to severe ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) [1]. In this correspondence, we would like to offer new evidence relating to this finding by providing the concentrations of two C-terminal protease cleavage products of alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) in plasma. A deficiency in alpha-1-antitrypsin, a protease inhibitor and acute-phase protein with anti-inflammatory properties, has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. A first association was observed by Vianello et al. who found regions in Italy with higher incidence of hereditary AAT deficiency to be affected more severely by the pandemic [2]. Aside from its anti-inflammatory effects, AAT also has antiviral properties. It has been shown that AAT inhibits the transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2), which is necessary for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to enter the cell [3]. In patients with COVID-19, the ratio of proinflammatory IL-6 and AAT was able to predict disease severity andmortality [4]. Similarly to chronic lung disease [5], an antiprotease–protease imbalance has been proposed to contribute to disease severity in patients with COVID-19 by Zerimech et al. [1]. The study found higher peak values of neutrophil elastase (NE) and matrix metalloprotease-12 (MMP-12) in patients who died from severe COVID-19. A variety of enzymes and pathophysiological conditions has been identified that are associated with the formation of C-terminal peptides of AAT (CAAPs) including NE and MMP-12. Some CAAPs have also been proposed to serve as putative biomarkers for a variety of diseases. Analysis of sepsis patients demonstrate that certain CAAPs are significantly increased in blood during systemic inflammation compared to healthy individuals [6]. To the best of our knowledge, there is hitherto no evidence for the formation of CAAPs during viral infections. However, a recent proteomic study comparing mild and severe patients with COVID-19 found different concentrations of AAT peptides in the urine, indicating a distinct AAT cleavage pattern during host response to viral infection [7]. To clarify the role of CAAPs during severe COVID-19, we have analyzed plasma concentrations of two AAT fragments, C-36 (cleavage product of i.a. NE) and C-42 (cleaved i.a. by MMP-12), using our newly developed LC/MS-MS method [6]. Patients samples were obtained from a subgroup of an ongoing single-center prospective cohort study on days three (T1) and seven (T2) after onset of severe disease in patients with severe COVID-19 (n=10) and compared with patients with bacterial sepsis of pulmonary origin (n=10) and healthy controls (n=10) [8]. All three cohorts showed no significant differences in sex (all cohorts 30% female) and age (median healthy: 65 y, sepsis: 63 y, COVID-19: 61.5 y). Patients had a similar disease Arite Bigalke and Charles Neu (first authors) as well as Michael Kiehntopf and Sina Coldewey (senior authors) contributed equally to this work.


The purpose of this study was to investigate conflicting findings in previous research on personality and job performance. Meta-analysis was used to (a) assess the overall validity of personality measures as predictors of job performance, (b) investigate the moderating effects of several study characteristics on personality scale validity, and (c) appraise the predictability of job performance as a function of eight distinct categories of personality content, including the "Big Five" personality factors. Based on review of 494 studies, usable results were identified for 97 independent samples (total N= 13,521). Consistent with predictions, studies using confirmatory research strategies produced a corrected mean personality scale validity (.29) that was more than twice as high as that based on studies adopting exploratory strategies (.12). An even higher mean validity (.38) was obtained based on studies using job analysis explicitly in the selection of personality measures. Validities were also found to be higher in longer tenured samples and in published articles versus dissertations. Corrected mean validities for the "Big Five" factors ranged from .16 for Extroversion to .33 for Agreeableness. Weaknesses in the reporting of validation study characteristics are noted, and recommendations for future research in this area are provided. Contrary to conclusions of certain past reviews, the present findings provide some grounds for optimism concerning the use of personality measures in employee selection.


Oil palm mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) is able to grow in empty bunches (tankos) of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq). This mushroom is commonly consumed, especially by people in Sanggau Regency, West Kalimantan. Palm mushrooms can be a variety of processed products, one of which is meatballs. The purpose of this study was to determine the financial feasibility of the oil palm mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) meatball business in Sanggau Regency and whether or not this business was feasible to run. The method stages in this research include literature study and the manufacture of oil palm mushroom meatballs, data collection through the questionnaire method, and financial feasibility analysis including BEP, R/C Ratio, IRR, ROI, and PP. The results of the respondent's assessment, as a whole, indicate that this oil palm mushroom meatball is feasible to sell with a financial analysis of the feasibility of the oil palm mushroom meatball business, with a BEP value of Rp. 5.368.00, BEP receipt of Rp. 235,294.00, BEP units are 29 units. The value of R/C ratio is 1.4, IRR is 47%, ROI is 29%, and PP is for 1 month. The conclusion from this research is that this business is feasible to run.


The mining, under the condition of the shallow coal seam, the thick loose beds and the thin base rock in Shendong mining area in Shaanxi province of China, makes the surface subsidence take on the situation of the discontinuous falling crack failure. A great deal of analysis and research indicates that the crack damage is controlled by the key strata in the overburden strata. Therefore, the key for solving the control of mining damage under this condition is to research the rules of the key stratum failure in the shallow seam. Taking 1203 longwall face in Daliuta mine of Shendong mining area as the example, the paper studies the relationship between the stability condition of the key stratum structure and the mining damage, supplying the theoretic evidence for the environmental protection and the confirmation of the reasonable and economical controlled mining methods in Shendong mining area.


In this paper, an identification method is proposed for linear continuous time delay processes with unknown non-zero initial condition and disturbance from pulse tests. Multiple integral is used and integral intervals are specifically chosen to enable easy identification of the system parameters in one step. The effectiveness of the identification method is demonstrated through simulations.


PREFACE INTRO: THE EVANGELICAL MOSAIC 1. We Are with the Jewish People 2. Promise and Prophecy, Love and Remorse: The Bases of Evangelical Support for Israel 3. The Arab and Muslim Enemy 4. The War with Islam As a Faith 5. Criticisms of Christian Zionism 6. Its My Land and Keep Your Hands off of It 7. Gods Timetable 8. For I Will Bring Them Back 9. George W. Bushs Faith 10. Christian Zionists, Bush, and the Intifada 11. Evangelicals and the Dynamics of George W. Bushs Middle East Policy


The decentralized connective stabilization problem of the expanded structure of large-scale systems is considered.It is assumed that a large-scale system is constituted by adding new subsystems iteratively on the original one,i.e.,an expanded system.Then,the decentralized connective stabilization problem of the system becomes how to design the local control law of the new subsystems without changing the decentralized control laws of original structure.Therefore,the subsystems and,as a result,the expanded system are both stable and connectively stable.The sufficient condition for the decentralized connective stabilization of the expanded structure of large-scale systems is obtained by use of Lyapunov theory and LMI approach.The design method of the decentralized stabilization controller of the expanded structure is given.A numerical example shows the effectiveness of the method proposed.


in medicine, surgery, dentistry, pharmacy, chemistry, nursing, veterinary science, biology, medical bibliography, etc., including much collateral information of an encyclopaedic character." We can think of nothing medical to which this volume does not contain an answer; thus if we look up ' karyokinesis ' we find a fullpage colour illustration; " staining methods" devotes 25 admirable and well indexed columns to a description of all histological and laboratory stains in general use;


Self Help Group (SHG) is a small voluntary association of poor people preferably from the same Socio-Economic Background. Self Help Group (SHG) comes from the people's desires to meet their needs and determine their own destines through the principle "by the people, for the people and of the people".Self – help emphasizes self-reliance, self production and self-employment by mobilizing internal resource of the persons, the group or the community. They come together for the purpose of solving their common problems through self-help and mutual help.


Many construction industries that use composite materials do not have any guideline on the properties and the strength of the composite materials. That results in difficulties to achieve the designed specification of a construction. This research work explores the relationship between thickness of the composite materials and its flexural strength. The objective is to analyze the influence of thickness on composite strength. The specific properties studied under this project are thickness of a tube at different diameters by keeping others properties such as composition of fibreglass and resin constant. The fibreglass tube is tested using three point bending test machine. At the end of the study, it is found that composite materials have elasticity properties before its fails like brittle materials.


This revised edition includes health care topics of current interest such as treatment and care of the senior citizen, terminally ill patients and their families, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, teenage and high risk pregnancy, infection control and safety in the medical office. Discusssions of patient teaching considerations and legal and ethical complications are included in every chapter.


A method for security monitoring of control devices in which programmable logic controllers or microcomputers responsive remote units via a bus system, which regulate, control or monitor a process, wherein - a monitoring unit (2) is connected as a receiver to the bus, - the safety-related functions of the process (12) with the necessary logic to monitor hazardous operations or movements (13) are added, - the monitoring unit with safety-related decentralized units (7, 9) communicates and parallel to the overall process monitors all of the safety functions, - the monitoring unit in case of error causes a safe system state, and wherein - the safe system state via the decentralized units (7, 9) is brought about


A 35-year-old woman, with headaches for 6 years, was admitted to our Department of Neurology. X-ray showed an osteolytic lesion in the parietal bone, suggesting the presence of hemangioma. CT and MRI (figure) confirmed the tumor, of honeycomb-like internal structure, pressing the adjacent cortex. Neurosurgery of the tumor involved total …


[1] The Southern Apennines chain is related to the west-dipping subduction of the Apulian lithosphere. The strongest seismic events mostly occurred in correspondence of the chain axis along normal NW–SE striking faults parallel to the chain axis. These structures are related to mantle wedge upwelling beneath the chain. In the foreland, faulting develops along E–W strike-slip to oblique-slip faults related to the roll-back of the foreland. Similarly to other historical events in Southern Apennines, the I0 = XI (MCS intensity scale) 23 July 1930 earthquake occurred between the chain axis and the thrust front without surface faulting. This event produced more than 1400 casualties and extensive damage elongated approximately E-W. The analysis of the historical waveforms provides the chance to study the fault geometry of this "anomalous" event and allow us to clarify its geodynamic significance. Our results indicate that the MS = 6.6 1930 event nucleated at 14.6 ± 3.06 km depth and ruptured a north dipping, N100°E striking plane with an oblique motion. The fault propagated along the fault strike 32 km to the east at about 2 km/s. The eastern fault tip is located in proximity of the Vulture volcano. The 1930 hypocenter, similarly to the 1990 (MW = 5.8) Southern Apennines event, is within the Mesozoic carbonates of the Apulian foredeep and the rupture developed along a "blind" fault. The 1930 fault kinematics significantly differs from that typical of large Southern Apennines earthquakes, which occur in a distinct seismotectonic domain on late Pleistocene to Holocene outcropping faults. These results stress the role played by pre-existing, "blind" faults in the Apennines subduction setting.


Regulatory T (Treg) cells have been shown to be involved in downregulating immune responses in autoimmunity, transplant rejection, and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). The subpopulation of TCRαβ+ CD4- CD8- (double-negative, DN) T cells has been described to suppress immune responses in both mice and humans. Of particular interest, infusion and/or activation of murine DN T cells specifically suppressed alloreactive T cells and prevented development of GvHD after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Moreover, clinical studies in patients after SCT revealed an inverse correlation between the frequency of circulating DN T cells and the severity of GvHD, suggesting a therapeutic potential of human DN T cells. However, the molecular mechanism of suppression still remains unclear. To gain a better understanding of DN T-cell functionality, we investigated whether human DN T cells modulate distinct TCR signaling processes in conventional T cells. We found that DN T cells selectively inhibit the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway but not activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). The crucial function of mTOR signaling was confirmed by treating effector T cells with a chemical activator of protein kinase Akt, which induces mTOR phosphorylation. Indeed, enforced activation of the mTOR pathway rendered conventional T cells unsusceptible to DN T cell-mediated suppression. Given that mTOR is a critical regulator of cellular metabolism, we further determined the impact of DN T cells on the metabolic framework of conventional T cells. Intriguingly, DN T cells significantly diminished upregulation of the glycolytic machinery, expression of glucose transporters and glucose uptake in conventional T cells. These findings indicate that DN T cells inhibit metabolic reprogramming of conventional T cells by abrogating mTOR signaling, thereby inducing a quiescent phenotype. Further understanding of the mechanisms involved in human DN T-cell suppression may have important implications for using them as a cellular-based therapy to limit alloreactive immune responses. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The origin of the population of very massive stars observed within ∼0.4 pc of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Centre is a mystery. Tidal forces from the black hole would likely inhibit in situ star formation whilst the youth of the massive stars would seem to exclude formation elsewhere followed by transportation (somehow) into the Galactic Centre. Here, we consider a third way to produce these massive stars from the lower mass stars contained in the nuclear stellar cluster which surrounds the supermassive black hole. A passing gas cloud can be tidally shredded by the supermassive black hole forming an accretion disc around the black hole. Stars embedded within this accretion disc will accrete gas from the disc via Bondi–Hoyle accretion, where the accretion rate on to a star, |$\dot{M}_\star \propto M_\star ^2$|. This super-exponential growth of accretion can lead to a steep increase in stellar masses, reaching the required 40–50 M_⊙ in some cases. The mass growth rate depends sensitively on the stellar orbital eccentricities and their inclinations. The evolution of the orbital inclinations and/or their eccentricities as stars are trapped by the disc, and their orbits are circularized, will increase the number of massive stars produced. Thus accretion on to low-mass stars can lead to a top heavy stellar mass function in the Galactic Centre and other galactic nuclei. The massive stars produced will pollute the environment via supernova explosions and potentially produce compact binaries whose mergers may be detectable by the LIGO–VIRGO gravitational waves observatories.


In recent years, several cases of questionable practice in the processing of building permits in Norway have been revealed. Meanwhile, authorities claim the risk of corruption associated with the processing of building permits is more obvious than before. This study investigates the size of the opportunity space for questionable practice in the processing of building permits. Questionable practice includes both illegal practice in the form of corruption and legal, but unethical practice. Further, this paper examines if the opportunity space is being exploited, before suggesting countermeasures. A greater predictability in the processing could increase the Lean Construction and reduce costs. It has been conducted a literature review and seven interviews with caseworkers and heads of departments in five municipalities in Norway. The study is limited to the examined municipalities. The results show that the processing of building permits is based on great responsibility delegated to the caseworkers and that there is a certain opportunity space. However, this space is not being exploited in the examined municipalities. Measures, e.g. implementing a new processing system, are anyhow proposed.


Objective To examine the awareness of knowledge about prevention and control of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome( AIDS) among college students and to provide evidences for conducting effective health education on AIDS among the students. Methods With random cluster sampling,1 800 students in Shanghai University of Political Science and Lawwere recruited for an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey. Results Among the 1 661 students with eligible response,the awareness rate for AIDS prevention and control knowledge was 79. 83%( 1 326 /1 661) and the female students had a significantly higher rate compared to the male students( 85. 26% vs. 76. 56%,χ2=77. 59; P 0. 05). The awareness rates of three major routes of human immunodeficiency virus( HIV) transmission( sexual,blood-borne,and mother-to-child transmission) were all higher than 95% in the male and female students,but the awareness rate for whether mosquito bite could spread HIV / AIDS was only 63. 01%. Most of the students manifested discrimination to HIV infected persons; more male students reported sexual behaviors than the female students and the students with sexual behaviors reported lowcondom usage rate. Conclusion Specific health education on HIV / AIDS should be promoted among colleges students according to characteristics of the students.


Sintering behavior and thermal expansion properties of the solid solution series Nd_2−xCe_xCuO_4±δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.20) have been investigated over the temperature range of 298 to 1100 K. Significant anisotropy in the lattice expansion coefficient in the a/b and c crystallographic axes was noted on increasing Ce content, which is consistent with the tetragonal unit cell. The lattice expansion in the c axis was found to decrease on increasing temperature for compositions up to x = 0.10, which is likely to be from variations in the oxygen stoichiometry. A variation in the sintering behavior was also noted on varying Ce content, with the onset of sintering temperature reaching a maximum at x = 0.10. A secondary sintering stage was noted for compositions with x > 0.10. Associated with the introduction of a secondary stage on sintering is an overall increase in the temperature at which the sintering is at a maximum.


We use data from the new ISTAT-BES database to estimate the socio-economic determinants of subjective well-being in Italian regions between 2004 and 2016. Empirical findings show that subjective well-being is positively associated with education, income and social relations. Our findings imply that governments should improve subjective well-being increasing the level of investment in education, deepening economic growth, reducing income inequality and promoting social relations.


The correlation between cytologic response to estrogen therapy and clinical symptomatic improvement, endometrial histology and withdrawal bleeding from a progestational compound was studied in postmenopausal women. Two clinical investigations were carried out: one in a group of surgical menopausal subjects who were treated with 1.25 mg of conjugated estrogens each day for 21 days; after which the medication regimen was interrupted for 7 days. In the second group, natural postmenopausal patients were given a continuous low dose, 0.625 mg of conjugated estrogens, supplemented by a progestational agent approximately every 3 months. The results indicate that each individual responded differently to the same total amount of estrogen administered. However, a similar degree of cytologic stimulation was observed in each subject at each treatment cycle. A change in symptoms did not necessarily correspond to the degree to which the cytogram changed, but the endometrial response and the success or failure of inducing withdrawal bleeding by a progestational compound correlated well with the total superficial cell count.


Our tasks is to study in Finnish conditions, how to build a cheap hoe suitable for cereals, which are the benefits of inter-row hoeing and to find out the capacity of this method.


With globalization, commercial banks are facing increasingly strong competition, and their success now depends less on their hard power, but more on such soft powers as product ideas and moral orientation. Consequently, how to win customer with higher service quality, and to maintain and enlarge customer groups, becomes a central issue for them. By way of a customer questionnaire, this paper investigates the relationship between commercial bank's CSR orientation, reputation and customer loyalty. By analyzing a sample of 216 customers from a commercial bank's 12 sub-branches in western China, the paper finds that a commercial bank's CSR orientation is significantly correlated to its reputation and customer loyalty, and that its reputation mediates CSR orientation's impact on its customer loyalty. To realize a differentiated competition, commercial banks are advised to better concentrate on their CSR efforts, and engage in such sustainable efforts as social enterprise, green finance and sustainable finance, so as to enhance their reputation and customer loyalty.


Coaches Yerge and HHty put the Owl squad through its first week of strenuous training with practice twice daiiy, consist ing of conditioning exerc ises and the fundamentals. such as faiiing on the haii, tackiing. punting and catching punts, and charging. This hard work has piaced the men in ex ceUent condition and the next week practice wiii be more advanced and intensive as the coaches begin to whip the team into more definite shape.


Coordination compounds of aspartic acid were synthesized in basic and acidic media, with metal ligand M : L stoichiometric ratio 1 : 2. The complexes were characterized using infrared, electronic and magnetic susceptibility measurements, and mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial activity of the compounds was determined against three Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacteria and one fungus. The results obtained indicated that the availability of donor atoms used for coordination was a function of the pH of the solution in which the reaction was carried out. This resulted in varying geometrical structures for the complexes. The compounds exhibited a broad spectrum of activity and in some cases better activity than the standard.


The conventional way of organizing indices in large data base systems is to use balanced tree structures such as B-trees or static tree structures, e.g. ISAM. It is well known in practice that most applications do not have a uniform record reference distribution but rather the 80/20-rule or Zipf's law applies. The balanced index implementations mentioned do not exploit these skewed access patterns.
 This paper, which is an extract from the author's Ph.D.-thesis, proposes a data structure - the C-tree - which is designed to exploit the skewness of such access distributions with the intent of obtaining short response times for transactions accessing the index. An analytical model of the proposed structure and a B-tree is used for making a comparative evaluation of the structures. Conclusions are drawn and discussed with regard to the circumstances under which the proposed structure outperforms the B-tree.


Abstract : A method for the generation of a single short duration stress pulse in a solid is described briefly in this report. A giant laser pulse of 10 to 20 nanosecond duration is used to heat a layer of liquid on top of the solid. The heating occurs at constant volume, producing a pressure which is relieved by a wave propagating through the liquid layer. A 0.2 microsecond pulse is produced when a 0.25 mm layer of ethyl alcohol is used.


The importance of the charge-transfer interaction from the highest occupied (HO) molecular orbital (MO) of a donor to the lowest unoccupied (LU) MO of an acceptor molecule has been stressed on the basis of the numerical results of the calculation on a model of the SN2 reaction of methyl chloride. The effect of a counter ion on the frontier orbitals has been discussed. For the E2 reaction of ethyl chloride, it has been discussed how the orienting effect of the leaving nucleophile is transmitted to the trans-β-hydrogen by means of the frontier electron density. The influence of the rotation about the Cα–Cβ bond upon the reactivity of β-hydrogen has also been discussed.


This study aimed to understand the demographics, clinical characteristics, and psychoacoustic status of subjective tinnitus patients to explore the factors associated with acute and chronic tinnitus in the general hospitals of Shanghai.


Abstract Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to wind profiler observations to study the vertical profile of the wind field and its temporal evolution. The rationale for decomposing time–height wind profiler data using PCA is twofold. The orthogonal vertical profile vectors are determined empirically from the variance of the observations, and the time evolutions of these vectors are not simple sinusoids, but are temporal varying signals that can be directly related to other measurements. As an example of its utility, PCA is used to compare the annual and interannual variation of zonal wind measured with a 50-MHz VHF wind profiler above Christmas Island, Kiribati, with the difference between surface pressures measured at Tahiti, French Polynesia, and Darwin, Australia. The high correlation coefficients relate the vertical profile of zonal wind observed in the central Pacific with the variation of convection in the western Pacific. Complex PCA (C-PCA) allows the analysis of data consisting of ampli...


In urine cytology, the diagnosis of atypia is subjective and clinical management based on these results can be difficult to determine. In this study, the authors determined the percentage of atypical urine diagnoses that progressed to positive cytology or surgical pathology results over an 11‐year period.


Solid Pseudopapillary Neoplasms (SPN) of the pancreas are rare neoplasms representing 1-2% of all pancreatic tumors, and considered as low-grade malignancies. This pathology mainly affects young women. Its prognosis is usually excellent when the tumor is limited to the pancreas, with a cure rate greater than 95% after a complete surgical resection. Preoperative diagnosis is always difficult. SPNs can be metastatic. Hepatic and lymph node localizations are the most reported in the literature. The recurrence rate after surgical resection is 3-9%. We report the case of a 36-year-old patient who was complaining of abdominal pain for 2 months. An abdominal contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography (CT) scan showed a solido-cystic mass of the tail of the pancreas. The patient underwent laparoscopic radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy. The diagnosis of SPN with lymph node metastasis was confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry, requiring adjuvant chemotherapy.


Thank you for downloading microsoft visual basic 60 introduction to programming. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their favorite novels like this microsoft visual basic 60 introduction to programming, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some harmful virus inside their computer.


At examination of 203 patients with psoriasis the nail plates have been changed at 69 (34 %) patients, among them there were 39 men and 30 women. Nail plates of fingers of hands have been changed at 66 patients, and nail plates fingers of foot have been changed at 50 patients. Psoriasic onychopathy occured both at men, and women.Lesions of nail plates of fingers of hands occurred more often and have been changed in the form of thimble symptom, onycholysis, longitudinal lines, lines of Bo, leukonychia, hyponychial hemorrhages. The hyponychial hyperkeratosis was typical for nail plates of fingers of feet.


ABSTRACT Historically, fan attendance at sporting events has always been considered an advantage for the home team. The level of fan attendance at soccer matches was evaluated as a decisive effect to modify the performance of the home teams in the most important soccer leagues around the world. We exploit the effects of the absence of spectators driven by COVID-19 pandemic mitigation policies. We find that the advantage of the home field, measured by the proportion of wins and also by the numbers of goals and points scored, is remarkable in many leagues. We performed comparative hypothesis tests with eight of the world's top soccer leagues, confirming a decrease in the probability of a home win, greatly affecting the matches´ outcomes.


Discourse marker is a cohesive device which represents different logical meanings,and it points out how parts of discourse are cohered,and then the whole discourse is semantically cohered.Discourse not only marks local coherence in a sentence or between sentences,but also points out global coherence between paragraphs and the relationship between one sentence and the discourse.So,discourse coherence of discourse markers is greatly helpful to the understanding of discourse and the improvement of reading capability.


Soil attributes may be influenced by the relief generating homogeneous productivity zones. From this hypothesis, we identified soil attribute groups, its spatial variability and relationship with productivity and relief by Factor Analysis (FA) and geostatistics methods. The study was conducted in a Oxisol cultivated with Conilon coffee in the State of Espirito Santo. The AF group in Factor 1 (F1) attributes related to soil aggregation was not associated with relief and productivity. Its spatial variability is influenced by management as showed by the lower spatial continuity and dependence in 0 – 0.10 m depth and by pure nugget effect in 0.10 – 0.20 m depth. From the factor 2 (F2), obtained in two depths, can be grouped soil attributes related to water retention, mainly the clay, microporosity and moisture which together increase at a higher altitude and lower slope where occur higher productivity areas. The spatial variability of F2 indicates greater continuity and spatial dependence, suggesting influence of relief in the spatial variation structure.


To the Editor: In their Research Letter, Drs Niederle and Roth reported that fellowship markets without a match offered similar salaries as those that do. Although the authors acknowledged that "the market for fellowships is not the same as the market for residencies," they nonetheless concluded that "eliminating the resident match would not necessarily increase residents' wages." Their underlying comparison between fellowship and residency, however, is misleading: an applicant for nephrology fellowship, for instance, in which there is no match, is not in the same market as an applicant for pulmonary/critical care, in which there is. The correct comparison from which one could draw conclusions about the effect of a match on fellowship salary would be between the salaries paid to fellows who obtain positions through the match and the salaries paid to fellows who are offered positions in the same fellowship program outside the match. I suspect that the salaries would be found to be identical in this circumstance. The very existence of a residency match allows all programs to pay lower salaries because the participating programs can operate as a cartel.


The paper suggests an automatic tuning method for fuzzy controller of an unknown system. Tuning is composed of rough tuning and fine tuning phases. The main idea is to obtain a second-order model for the process from two points on the Nyquist plane and to perform optimization of the fuzzy controller rule-base with this model. The two frequency points are found using a simple estimation technique from relay control results.<<ETX>>


By performing three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations of subrelativistic jets and disk winds propagating into the magnetized inhomogeneous interstellar medium (ISM), we investigate the magnetic effects on the active galactic nucleus feedback. Our simulations reveal that the magnetic tension force promotes the acceleration of the dense gas clouds, since the magnetic field lines, which are initially straight, bend around the gas clouds. In the jet models, the velocity dispersion of the clouds increases with an increase in the initial magnetic fields. The increment of the kinetic energy of the clouds is proportional to the initial magnetic fields, implying that the magnetic tension force increases the energy conversion efficiency from the jet to the gas clouds. Through simulations of the mildly collimated disk wind and the funnel-shaped disk wind, we confirm that such an enhancement of the energy conversion efficiency via the magnetic fields appears even if the energy is injected via the disk winds. The enhancement of the acceleration of the dense part of the magnetized ISM via the magnetic tension force will occur wherever the magnetized inhomogeneous matter is blown away.


According to the typical structure of power communication network and features of power communication service for smart grid, a service routing allocation optimization algorithm is proposed based on the reliability of power communication network. Taking service average risk degrees and service risk balancing degrees as reliability evaluation indexes of power communication network, the algorithm used non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm(NSAG Ⅱ) for communication service routing optimized allocation. During the genetic coding, a priority-based indirect coding approach is used for chromosome coding; during the decoding, blocking array is used to prevent the emergence of dead path. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed optimization algorithm are verified by simulation. The method is applicable to various business requirements of power communication network on 1 to 1, 1 to N, N to 1 and multiple nodes in determined order, and thus available for service channels arrangement and network operation mode optimization of power communication operation department on business level.


Consortium of pentacholorophenol degrading bacterial strains were isolated from tannery effluents in Jajmau, Kanpur, India were enriched in a lab scale chemostat for enhancement of their degradation potential and used in a lab scale bioreactor for the degradation of PCP. The isolated bacterial strains were identified as Flavobacterium species. The enrichment potential for PCP degradation by this consortium was enhanced during growth in the chemostat 91.0% reduction in PCP levels was observed within 80 hrs. Revealing possible applications of this consortium for bioremediation of sites contaminated with PCP. Bacterial consortiums were able to degrade the PCP concentration of 30mg l -1 .


Abstract A direct numerical simulation of an oblique shock wave impinging on a turbulent boundary layer at Mach number 2.28 is carried out at moderate Reynolds number, simulating flow conditions similar to those of the experiment by Dupont et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 559, 2006, pp. 255–277). The low-frequency shock unsteadiness, whose characteristics have been the focus of considerable research efforts, is here investigated via the Morlet wavelet transform. Owing to its compact support in both physical and Fourier spaces, the wavelet transformation makes it possible to track the time evolution of the various scales of the wall-pressure fluctuations. This property also makes it possible to define a local intermittency measure, representing a frequency-dependent flatness factor, to pinpoint the bursts of energy that characterise the shock intermittency scale by scale. As a major result, wavelet decomposition shows that the broadband shock movement is actually the result of a collection of sparse events in time, each characterised by its own temporal scale. This feature is hidden by the classical Fourier analysis, which can only show the time-averaged behaviour. Then, we propose a procedure to process any relevant time series, such as the time history of the wall pressure or that of the separation bubble extent, in which we use a condition based on the local intermittency measure to filter out the turbulent content in the proximity of the shock foot and to isolate only the intermittent component of the signal. In addition, wavelet analysis reveals the intermittent behaviour also of the breathing motion of the recirculation bubble behind the reflected shock, and allows us to detect a direct, partial correspondence between the most significant intermittent events of the separation region and those of the wall pressure at the foot of the shock.


A process for the production of methane from carbon, hydrogen and methanogens or methanogens Archaea anaerobic including the steps dioxide: a) providing a container anode reaction (14) containing a positive electrode (anode) and means liquid electrolyte comprising water and ionizing material; b) providing a container cathode reaction (12) containing a negative electrode (cathode), an aqueous electrolytic growth substrate, methanogens or methanogens, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, wherein the container cathode (12) and the aqueous substrate growth is pressurized to a pressure from 5 to 1,000 bar with a pressurizing fluid consisting of liquid carbon dioxide, or a mixture of liquid carbon dioxide and hydrogen; c) connecting the reaction vessels with first and second connection means which allow electrons and / or ions to pass between the containers electrolytically anode and cathode reaction; d) applying an electric current to the positive electrode and the negative electrode: hydrogen -achieving ionization in the cathode reaction vessel (12) for producing hydrogen and also for increasing the pH of the aqueous electrolytic growth substrate; and - achieving ionized oxygen in the first reaction vessel (14) to form oxygen, wherein the electrolysis is carried out intermittently to control the pH in the reaction vessel cathode (12).


Corruption has been an issue for Thailand for a long time. The survey conducted by the Transparency International, which is the Global Coalition Against Corruption has shown that Thailand ranked 88th in 2012 among 174 countries which were surveyed. The ranking for Thailand has not improved over the past 10 years. Corruption occurs when people misuse their duties for personal gain. Studies on reasons for corruption indicate that the main cause of corruption is human needs. When comparing reasons for people to commit corruption and the fraud triangle theory, they are quite related.

Therefore, this paper attempts to explore the Fraud Deterrence System program which is modified to be used with the corruption model as a tool to alert the business owners, government bodies and state enterprises for a potential corruption in their organization. However, eliminating corruption from the society is not easy. While there is need for a tool to detect and prevent corruption from occurring, there is also a need to promote a mindset and a culture of "sufficient economy" for people to help reduce their unnecessary needs.


Objective To understand the current health service quality status of township health centers in rural areas ana put forward improvement solutions pertinently. Methods Use"self-appraisal table for health service quality of township health centers"designed by the experts of the project"strengthening basic health service in rural poor areas of China"to collect information,utilize Microsoft Excel to establish database,apply the principle of ARCH theory to analyze data,compute total scores of two level index according to the designed formulary. Results The public health service quality is somewhat low,such as physical examination rate of 0~7 years old children,Immunization Rate of Infants and so on,the medical record writing is not so regular. Conclusion Establish health service appraisal system,carry out more training of medical record writing,pay more attention to the public health service quality improvement.


Over the last several months, Google Earth has posted updated commercial satellite imagery over Iran which includes several nuclear sites. New imagery from June 22, 2010 covers the Arak heavy water reactor and heavy water production facility. Compared with earlier imagery from November 2009, also available on Google Earth, there do not appear to be major external changes at either the reactor site or the heavy water production facility—though construction continues inside the buildings (see figures 1 and 2). Assorted construction activity at heavily guarded sites along the mountainside adjacent to the Arak site, such as here and here, continues. In July 2011, Google Earth also posted new imagery of the Gchine mine and mill from November 8, 2010. Previous imagery of the site available on Google Earth was from February 9, 2010. There do not appear to be any new ponds under construction, although the waste tailings level can be seen changing here (see figures 3 and 4). In August 2011, Google Earth added imagery from March 6, 2011 of the Ardakan yellowcake production plant. The facility is being constructed very slowly, with few buildings added each year. Comparing the new imagery to a picture from October 2009, a few more buildings have been constructed (see figures 5 and 6). Two large square excavations can be seen here (see figure 7). One or both of these excavations could be for a tailings pond. A building towards the south of the site, under construction in previous imagery, now appears to be a hardened facility (see figures 8 and 9).


IN REPRESENTING lawyers we see first hand the consequences of the mistakes lawyers--even great lawyers--make every day. Still, it is one thing to recognize where other lawyers made mistakes and quite another to implement within our own firms the practices that we preach will prevent avoidable claims. Like every professional faced with the allegation that he or she departed from the accepted standards in their field, lawyer defendants react more strongly to the existence of a claim. Perhaps like the physician who knows too much about illness, an attorney knows too much about the consequences of a malpractice claim and the impact of protracted litigation. Whatever the reason, lawyer clients are challenging. Managing the relationship from the outset is the most effective way of building a relationship designed to eliminate or minimize the effect of the claim. This article is intended to address the intertwined issues of managing the relationship with the attorney-client and how to use that relationship to better protect our own practices while successfully defending the claim. I. Engagement Of Defense Counsel The call comes in--usually from the insurer--"can you take a new assignment?" Does anyone ever say "no" to that question? Probably not, but the issue bears repeating that one of the sound principles of risk management is a recognition that the law firm has the time and resources to devote to the new matter. Usually this is not an issue in a professional liability defense firm. However, if the case involves an unusual response or the client or insurer is insisting upon the direct of involvement of a particular attorney, no good can come of saying "yes" when you know the firm does not have the necessary resources to devote to the needs of the representation. A. Documenting the Intake The only way that a firm can control the intake of cases is if every attorney is required to record the important information on each engagement in a uniform manner--no exceptions. For any risk management program to work, all potential retentions with new or existing firm clients must be entered on standardized intake sheets and entered by third parties in the firm's system. The intake sheet should contain, at a minimum, the following information: * the name, address and contact number of the client and any entities related to the client; * the date of the intake; * the nature of the representation; * if the client is a new client without established terms of compensation, the terms and conditions of the engagement; * if the client is a new client, the identity of the person authorizing the engagement; * the name, address and contact numbers of all parties and all of the attorneys involved in the representation; and * the terms/names which should be included in a conflict search. Two issues bear emphasizing here: the terms or names that should be run for a conflict search optimally should not be selected by a clerical person. If that is the practice in your firm, make certain that all attorneys understand that part of the conflicts analysis requires the attorney to verify that the non-professional staff included all appropriate names in the search. Second, most of us "get it" when it comes to recognizing the consequences of ensuring that the conflicts analysis process be as thorough as possible. If your firm practices beyond the area of representing attorneys, the absolute necessity of including the identity of all attorneys in the conflict system both at the time of intake and as the representations proceed is sometimes lost. As will be discussed further below, the need to include the attorneys representing the parties in all matters in which the firm is involved is essential to any meaningful conflicts analysis. B. Conflicts Conflicts are the bane of every law firm's existence. …


Measu~ed g-values were used to obtain improved eigenvectors for the " i ' 2p 3p configuration of neon I. Good agreement was found between calculated and. observed }ransition probabilities.


SnNb2O6/NiCo-LDH Z-scheme heterojunction with abundant oxygen vacancies exhibited highly activity and stability toward photocatalytic H2 evolution, ascribed to the regeneration of oxygen vacancy by engineering the crystallinity.


This paper outlines trends in asylum applications to 38 industrialized countries since 1989. Applications to Australia of onshore arrivals are just two percent of the total. While Australian applications are subject to many of the same influences, the source country composition is distinct and the time profile is somewhat different from that of the other countries. We also provide a survey of existing quantitative research on refugee displacement and asylum applications. In the light of existing studies we specify and estimate a model to explain asylum applications in 19 major destination countries from 48 source countries over the period from 1997 to 2012. Finally, we develop a quantitative index of asylum policies, which covers 15 components of asylum policy for 1997 to 2012. This shows that on average policies became tougher, especially between 2000 and 2006. Australian policy shifted more than average. It turned sharply restrictive in 2001 followed by a distinct easing from 2008 that was reversed after 2012.


Alpine space is an international area consisting of several countries that share some common features such as geographic or economic situations. Due to their central position in Europe and their intense economic activity, the different regions of this area have to deal with the common problem of the increasing traffic streams across the Alps. This project asks for the implementation of a common strategy in order to contain negative effects on the environment, which are derived from transport dynamics. Implementing a common strategy would require a set of common instruments. Alpine countries have tried to get through the divergences that have prevented them to coordinate transports policies by proposing innovative solutions that are able to conciliate the two main concerns about transalpine transports: (1) the risk of circulation saturation; and (2) the environmental menace. Under the constraint of political acceptability, an infrastructural policy that is based on the construction of a new railway network across the Alps seemed to be the best solution to conciliate those two aims. However, recent conflicts and enduring delays in accords between France and Italy about one of these projects, the high-speed railway Lyon-Turin, shows how the lack of common instruments makes it difficult to achieve shared objectives. The aim of this paper is to analyze the case study of the Lyon-Turin Railway that the authors consider exemplary for what happens at the bigger scale of alpine space decisional processes: the existence of many dimensions affecting the question (European, national and local dimensions) and the lack of common frameworks for measuring phenomena that policies aim to manage. The objective is to reconstruct the framework of this decision-making process on the basis of traffic indicators and data used within it in order to understand why it becomes difficult to achieve shared objectives.


In the post-harvest processing of breeding material, the absence of a sieve machine of appropriate productivity that meets all the requirements for breeding machines is relevant today. For research, a mock stand of the sieve machine was used, on which the kinematic parameters of the sieve mill and the tilt angles of the sieves were determined.


Due to the difficulties in practical applications of differential games,the paper introduces the rough control,a new artificial intelligence method.Rough set theory can depict and treat incomplete and inexact information.Based on simple introduction of rough set,rough logic and rough control,the paper tries to in troduce them into differential game,and using pursuit-and-evasion problem as an example to discuss the method of rough differential game model.The model has embodied the merits of simpleness,rapidness,and easy implementation of control algorithm,and it also diminishes the requirments of differential game for exact mathematical model and integrated information.At the same time,a simple comparison between rough control and fuzzy control is made.


This study focuses on realistic evacuation plan due to the chemical accident such as the ammonia (30 kg) leakage. Using the scenario of ALOHA program, indoor and outdoor toxic concentration was evaluated at each 5 spot from leak point. First, It took only 4 minutes to reach the Level of Concern (LOC, 150 ppm) at 10m from leak point so it was possible to stay only 4 minutes indoor. Second, It took 23 minutes to reach the Level of Concern (LOC, 150 ppm) at 25m from leak point, recording 189 ppm (Max) indoor and 1,280 ppm (Max) outdoor. Third, at the 30m from leak point, it was measured below 150 ppm for 60 minutes and reached 131 ppm(Max). So it was possible indoor evacuation plans to be established rather than outdoors from more than 30 meters from the point of accident. Therefore, this study proposes not only the effective indoor and outdoor evacuation plan at chemical materials leakage accidents. but also a much more systematic emergency evacuation plan at plants handling hazardous chemical materials.


Biometrics is an application area in which different biological traits of a person is taken as input for person identification or authentication. This is highly needed for security reasons. Unimodal biometrics is easy to implement as it uses only one trait or modality of a person but it has many drawbacks like spoofing, non-universality, etc. Multimodal biometrics uses more than one modality of a person like face, fingerprint, iris, retina, gait, etc. Spoofing more than one trait of a person is difficult and so these systems are more secure and reliable.


Na-kanemite has been completely converted to a new layered silicate in a reaction mixture of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) solution, water and 1,4-dioxane as solvent via hydrothermal treatment at temperatures above 130 °C. The effects of the content of TMAOH and water as well as the type of organic solvents on the conversion of Na-kanemite were investigated. TMA and Na cations were found to be essential for the formation of the new phase (designated as KLS3). Without the use of organic solvent, Na-kanemite was also converted to a KLS3 phase at higher temperatures (e.g.150 °C) and for 5 days. 29Si MAS NMR and FT-IR data indicated that a structural change into the kanemite sheets occurred leading to the formation of a three-dimensional silicate network where Q4 silicon species were detected.


Due to the increased number of students and regulations, all educational institutions have renewed their interest to appear in the number of complexity and flexibility since the resources and events are becoming more difficult to be scheduled. Timetabling is the type of problems where the events need to be organized into a number of timeslots to prevent the conflicts in using a given set of resources. Thus in the intervening decades, significant progress has been made in the course timetabling problem monitoring with meta-heuristic adjustment. In this study, ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm approach has been developed for university course timetabling problem. ACO is believed to be a powerful solution approach for various combinatorial optimization problems. This approach is used according to the data set instances that have been collected. Its performance is presented using the appropriate algorithm. The results are arguably within the best results range from the literature. The performance assessment and results are used to determine whether they are reliable in preparing a qualifying course timetabling process.


Objective: To investigate the current spectrum of cannabis-based product use through a patient survey at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Clinic. Background: Cannabis-based products (CBP) are used both recreationally and for symptomatic management in MS. Design/Methods: The study was approved by the UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board. All patients attending the UBC MS clinic from January 2018 to March 2018 were invited to participate. The survey included: patient demographics (gender, age, and employment status), self-reported MS-specific data (subtype, disease duration, previous and current disease modifying therapies, symptomatic medications), and CBP use (formulation, frequency, perceived benefits/side-effects). Results: Of 600 surveys distributed, 259 were returned and completed. Responders were 75% female, and the most common age range was 45–55 years. Those with a diagnosis other than MS were excluded (n=14). Fifty-seven respondents did not provide their level of CPB usage and were removed. CBP use was daily for 20% (n=37), weekly for 6% (n=11), monthly for 4% (n=7), rarely for 21% (n=40), and 49% never used (n=93). The CBP users (daily, weekly or monthly) represented 29% and were predominantly relapsing-remitting disease subtype (62%). CBP use included: oral (n=43, 78%), smoked/vaporized (n=42, 76%), topical (n=14,25%) and mucosal (n=5,9%). Reasons for initiation of CBP were: pain (n=39, 71%), sleep (n=39, 71%), mood (n=24, 44%), spasticity (n=22, 40%), tremor (n=11, 20%), bladder dysfunction (n=5, 9%), and other (n=8, 15%). Many of these individuals (35%) had not tried other symptomatic medications. Conclusions: 55 of the 188 survey respondents (29%) who attend the UBC MS clinic use CBP. Responder bias may cause overestimation of CBP use. The most frequent formulations were oral and smoked. Pain and sleep were the most common symptoms being treated and perception of CBP benefit was high. Disclosure: Dr. Schabas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vukojevic has nothing to disclose. Dr. Taylor has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sayao has nothing to disclose. Dr. Devonshire has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with EMD Serono, Biogen-Idec, Teva Neurosciences, Novartis, Allergan, Genzyme, and UCB. Dr. Traboulsee has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Biogen Idec, Chugai, Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Teva Innovation. Dr. Traboulsee has received research support from Biogen Idec, Chugai, Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Teva Innovation. Dr. Carruthers has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Roche, EMD Serono, Sanofi, Biogen, Novartis, and Teva. Dr. Carruthers has received research support from Teva Innovation Canada, Roche Canada.


We report on the mechanism and the upper limits in the increase of oxygen ion conductivity at oxide hetero-interfaces, particularly the 8.3%Y2O3-ZrO2/SrTiO3 (YSZ/STO) as a model interface. We consider two factors contributing to the increase in ionic conductivity at or near the interface: 1) a favorable strain state to shift and/or change the symmetry of electron energy levels to provide improved charge transfer and mobility. 2) the alteration of the defect chemistry to enhance the density and distribution of oxygen vacancies. First principles and Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations were performed to identify the atomic-scale nature of the hetero-interface and the oxygen vacancy migration barriers and diffusivity. Our results suggest that the modulation in both the lattice strain and the defect chemistry due to the YSZ/STO interface can enhance the ionic conductivity in YSZ up to six orders of magnitude by reducing the migration barrier and increasing the oxygen vacancy concentration, respectively.


Senior high school American history teaching units developed around significant themes or areas reflecting the nation's exploration, settlement, and growth can be rewarding and meaningful teaching-learning experiences. One such unit, planned around the theme of settlement of the American Great Plains, can serve to illustrate the value of this approach to teaching. A study of this broad section of the nation, stretching from Texas to the Canadian border and from the Mis-


Mechanical Turk is useful for generating complex speech resources like conversational speech transcription. In this work, we explore the next step of eliciting narrations of Wikipedia articles to improve accessibility for low-literacy users. This task proves a useful test-bed to implement qualitative vetting of workers based on difficult to define metrics like narrative quality. Working with the Mechanical Turk API, we collected sample narrations, had other Turkers rate these samples and then granted access to full narration HITs depending on aggregate quality. While narrating full articles proved too onerous a task to be viable, using other Turkers to perform vetting was very successful. Elicitation is possible on Mechanical Turk, but it should conform to suggested best practices of simple tasks that can be completed in a streamlined workflow.


Objective To study the expression of S1RT1 in breast cancer with diabetes mellitus,and analyze the correlation between SIRT1 and p53,and analyze blood lipid differences in breast cancer tissue without diabetes mellitus and breast cancer tissue with diabetes mellitus,and to research its relation with type 2 diabetes mellitus and assesse the clinical value.Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expressions of SIRT1 and p53 in 30 breast cancer patients with diabetes mellitus and 30 breast cancer patients without diabetic mellitus,and their correlation was analyzed.Results The positive rate of SIRT1 in breast cancer tissue with diabetes mellitus was significantly lower than that in breast cancer tissue without diabetic mellitus(P <0.05).In SIRT1 positive tissue,the expression level of p53 was significantly higher than that in SIRT1 negative tissue(P < 0.05 ).The expression of SIRT1 was significantly positively related with p53 expression in breast cancer tissue with diabetes( P < 0.05).BMI and TG in breast cancer group with diabetes mellitus were significantly higher than those in breast cancer group without diabetic mellitus( P < 0.05 ),but HDL was lower( P =0.05 ).However,CHO and LDL had no significant differences in both groups( P >0.05 ).Conclusions SIRT1 is up-regulated in breast cancer,but the posltive rate of SIRT1 in breast cancer tissue with diabetes mellitus is significantly lower than that in breast cancer tissue without diabetic,and is associated with the progression of diabetes mellitus.SIRT1 protein is significantly positively correlated to p53 expression and it may be involved in the adjustment process of blood lipids,SIRT1 might be a new biological target in diabetes and breast cancer.

Key words:
Breast neoplasms;  Diabetes me]litus, type 2 ;  Genes, p53 ;  SIRT1


1. Germination of the seed and development of the seedling of Dionaea proceed as follows: the hypocotyl and the primary root elongate, rupture the nucellar cap, and push aside the seed lid; the cotyledons partially emerge, turn green, and straighten up, carrying the seed with them; one cotyledon releases itself completely and the other remains attached by its tip end, the two then diverging and young leaves appearing between them. The stem apex, which gives rise to leaves in spiral succession, gradually moves horizontally from between the cotyledons, forming a subterranean rhizome from the lower surface of which adventive roots arise; the cotyledons, hypocotyl, and primary root finally cease to function and are sloughed off the basal end of the rhizome of the now independent plant. 2. The main aspects of the anatomy of the seedling are as follows: the hypocotyl and the primary root are similar in structure, both having epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, and a diarch stele; there is no transition region in the hypocotyl, the vascular bundles being inverted where they enter the cotyledons; the cotyledons, with stomata and stellate hairs present on both upper and lower surfaces, have a median collateral endarch vascular bundle from which two or more lateral branches extend. 3. The rhizome appears to consist of an agglomeration of overlapping undiverged leaf bases with several vascular bundles coursing through them. 4. The stele of the root of a young plant is usually tetrarch, whereas the stele of the root of a mature plant is most often octarch. 5. The root hairs, which begin to form a few millimeters behind the growing point, soon turn brown and become thick-walled, often persisting throughout the life of the root. Of the microchemical tests used to determine the composition of their cell walls, the chromic acid test for cutin alone gave positive results. They appear, therefore, to be vestigial structures. 6. The evidence gained from a comparative study of the development of Dionaea and the plants closely related to it indicates that Dionaea should be placed in the family Droseraceae and in the order Sarraceniales.


The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) instrument has been the most frequently used airborne instrument built in-house at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, having flown scientific research missions on-board various aircraft to many locations in the United States, Azores, Brazil, and Kuwait since 1983. The CAR instrument is capable of measuring scattered light by clouds in fourteen spectral bands in UV, visible and near-infrared region. This document describes the control, data acquisition, display, and file storage software for the new version of CAR. This software completely replaces the prior CAR Data System and Control Panel with a compact and robust virtual instrument computer interface. Additionally, the instrument is now usable for the first time for taking data in an off-aircraft mode. The new instrument is controlled via a LabVIEW v5. 1.1-developed software interface that utilizes, (1) serial port writes to write commands to the controller module of the instrument, and (2) serial port reads to acquire data from the controller module of the instrument. Step-by-step operational procedures are provided in this document. A suite of other software programs has been developed to complement the actual CAR virtual instrument. These programs include: (1) a simulator mode that allows pretesting of new features that might be added in the future, as well as demonstrations to CAR customers, and development at times when the instrument/hardware is off-location, and (2) a post-experiment data viewer that can be used to view all segments of individual data cycles and to locate positions where 'start' and stop' byte sequences were incorrectly formulated by the instrument controller. The CAR software described here is expected to be the basis for CAR operation for many missions and many years to come.


The interaction of lomefloxacin (LMF) with human serum albumin (HSA) in the presence of copper ions in a physiological medium and its thermodynamic characteristics were investigated by multi-spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that both LMF and LMF-Cu2+ could quench the fluorescence of HSA with a static quenching mechanism, indicating that LMF or LMF-Cu2+ could react with HSA. The apparent binding constants/numbers of binding sites were estimated as 4.924×105 L·mol−1/1.473 for LMF-HSA, 8.990×104 L·mol−1/1.785 for LMF-Cu2+-HSA, 1.10×105 L·mol−1/1.21 for LMF-Cu2+ and 7.30×102 L·mol−1/0.82 for HSA-Cu2+, respectively. ΔH and ΔS for LMF-HSA system were calculated to be −2.189 kJ·mol−1 and 61.25 J·mol−1·K−1, while those for LMF-Cu2+-HSA system were −7.401 kJ·mol−1 and 47.63 J·mol−1·K−1. Although the values of ΔH and ΔS in these two systems were different, the treads were similar, which indicated that electrostatic interactions in these two systems played a major role. According to Forster theory, the distances were given as 5.006 nm for HSA-LMF and 4.709 nm for HSA-LMF-Cu2+. Synchronous fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra confirmed further that the conformations of human serum albumin before and after interacting with LMF or LMF-Cu2+ were different. All the results revealed that copper ions promoted the interaction of lomefloxacin with human serum albumin.


A study was carried out on aging behaviour of a 6082 alloy processed by two different severe plastic deformation techniques: ECAP and asymmetric rolling. Both techniques were able to generate an ultrafine-grained structure in samples processed at room temperature. It was stated that severe straining promotes marked changes in the postdeformation aging kinetics. The peaks of β′′/β′ transition phases were anticipated and of progressively reduced intensity over the coarse grained alloy. A further peak accounting for onset of recrystallization also appeared in the most severely deformed samples. Full consistency in peak shape and position was found when comparing materials processed by ECAP and asymmetric rolling.
Isothermal aging treatments performed at 180°C revealed that in the severely deformed samples, aging became so fast that the hardness curves continuously decreased due to overwhelming effects of structure restoration. On the contrary, aging at 130°C offers good opportunities for fully exploiting the precipitate hardening effects in the ultrafine-grained alloy.


Abstract: Desert tortoises have been a subject of controversy since their listing as threatened in 1990. With a wide geographic range and more living individuals than any other listed land animal, biologists have needed to detect population trends against a "noisy" background of strong annual changes. We obtained annual population estimates of desert tortoises over 6 consecutive years at a 2.59‐km2 plot in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Our estimates, based on weekly spring surveys, varied substantially, particularly between wet and dry years. Concurrently, we followed 10 radiotagged animals for 3 years to corroborate the surveys. Population density was determined separately for each year and for all years combined. Our best population estimate was an average of 67 adult tortoises, three times more than the density reported in a 1978 survey of the same site. Annual mortality was low ( <10%), and the animals showed extreme site fidelity. Apparent changes in population size were most strongly related to the animals' varying susceptibility to capture. In dry years, home ranges decreased, captures decreased, and effort required to find each tortoise nearly doubled. Our data confirm that tortoises are likely to be undercounted during dry years and call into question earlier studies conducted during droughts.


To address the above mentioned challenge and create some laboratory teaching equipment it was decided to have individual hardware modules which model the function of each block in a block diagram. These individual modules are patched together according to the block diagram of the experiment of interest. This would allow simple as well as complex systems to be constructed easily by simply following the block diagram.


The Wavelength- routed optical network has become a topic of keen interest for its attractive and unique features Since wavelength conversion increase the efficiency and performance of a network, it play an important role in wavelength -routed optical network. Wavelength conversion is one of the challenging features of wavelength- routed network that eliminate wavelength continuity constraints as well as improve blocking probability performance typically in backbone networks. This paper reviews the analytical models to quantify the benefits of wavelength converter. We focused on literature on wavelength-routed network, benefits of wavelength conversion, and challenges of wavelength conversion and some of the probabilistic model.


Prospects for much of the federal government's research enterprise may be looking up ([see main text][1]). But NASA's budget trajectory is still headed down. The agency's annual budget has fallen by $1 billion, to $13.6 billion, in the past 4 years, and it has taken an aggressive cost-cutting campaign by NASA chief Daniel Goldin to stave off the cancellation of major programs. And right now, next year looks even worse, largely due to cost overruns on the international space station.

 [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/278/5342/1390


Turpan is located at northwest of our country's and east of Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region,with total area of 67.56×105 hm2.The variation of land utilization was studied using the statistics data in the years of 1999—2008.Comprehensive analysis indicates that,the farm crop area increased,while farmland area varied little or keep constant,For example,the variety speed of farmland was 0.13% lower than that of 1.86% at the garden province.In the residents ground,water conservancy facilities used ground was increased with 2.84% speed in relation to total output value and population growth.In 2008,the unused grounds decreased 0.12% than that in1999,which was mostly appropriated by inhabitation place and mining.


Electrical spin injection into silicon was studied in a ferromagnet/insulator/silicon/insulator/ferromagnet structure, where the insulator is Si3N4. Si3N4 barriers conduct by hopping conduction at low voltages, but switch to Fowler-Nordheim tunneling at high voltages. In the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling regime a magnetic field dependence of the output current consistent with spin dependent transport through the silicon is observed; in the hopping conduction regime reduced magnetic field dependence of the output current is observed. This voltage dependence of the magnetic sensitivity strongly supports the existence of spin injection into silicon. After correction for Lorentz magnetoresistance, the magnitude of this signal is 4.1%+/- 0.5% (12%+/- 5%) for p-type (n-type) Si.


Recommendations have been established for both autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation in a diverse range of malignant and non-malignant hematologic disorders. Despite the manifold advantages, it is imperative to carefully consider certain issues. Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a frequently encountered complication subsequent to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, typically manifests as mucositis, diarrhea, or hepatitis. In the context of chronic GvHD, this complication can occur in up to 50% of transplantation cases. Chronic liver GvHD is typified by a progressive onset of cholestatic jaundice accompanied by a significant elevation in alkaline phosphatase levels. However, it is noteworthy that the hepatitic variant of liver GvHD demonstrates notable distinctions from its classical counterpart. In the hepatitic variant, discernible hepatocellular injury and a remarkable surge in transaminase levels are often observed, particularly during the tapering phase of immunosuppressant. Recently, there has been an increased recognition of autoimmune hepatitic features within the liver biopsy findings of the hepatitic variant of liver GvHD, underscoring its significance as a plausible differential cause of acute hepatitis. To further elucidate this matter, we hereby present a compelling case study involving a 31-year-old male diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, who developed jaundice 153 days following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Liver histology unequivocally confirmed the presence of autoimmune hepatitis, as evidenced by positive serum anti-LKM1 results. Citation: Piwchan S, Chuensakul S, Virochsangaroon C, Sripariwuth E (2023) Anti-LKM1 Autoimmune Hepatitis as a Mimicker to Hepatitic Variant of Liver Graft-VersusHost-Disease Following HLA-Identical Stem Cell Transplantation-A Case Report and Literature Review. Ann Case Report. 8: 1354. DOI:10.29011/2574-7754.101354


This paper presents the idea of Alexandrov L-quasi-G-filter space and examines its relationship with L-fuzzy relations. It is proved that every Alexandrov L-quasi-G-filter induces an L-fuzzy relation and vice-versa. By identifying certain functors, the study has brought out the connections between the categories of Alexandrov L-quasi-G-filter spaces and Alexandrov L-fuzzy pre-uniform spaces. Further, the study has explored and thereby establishes the scope of Alexandrov L-quasi-G-filter spaces in mathematical modeling and decision-making processes.


We study the population inversion and Q-function of a two-level atom, interacting with single-mode laser light field, in a $q$-analog harmonic oscillator trap for increasing $q$. For $\tau=.003(q=e^{\tau})$ the collapses and revivals of population inversion become well defined facilitating experimental observation but for large $\tau \sim 0.1$ the time dependence of population inversion is completely wiped out.


AbstractThis quotation from a non-technical paper by a respected classic of (bio)membrane thermodynamics (Katchalsky, 1971) was chosen as motto for it suggests the kind of fascination exerted by the abstract and rigorous treatments of thermodynamics, which provide correct descriptions of phenomena, even without knowing the details of the systems in which they take place and of the mechanisms they have. The inescapable drawback is also suggested, namely that — in spite of being correct — such results bring very few, if any, new information about the mechanisms of the processes tackled.


New conceptualizations were introduced to address the emerging need to develop innovativeness and creativity attitudes in future engineering professional . Thus, entrepreneurial engineering education needs an environment where future engineers can be formed through practical
learning and the interaction with forces, ideas and inspirations, in the final perspective of effectively
identifying, acquiring, developing, and transferring technology into new business products and services. This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur for engineering students. A questionnaire was used to measure the level of entrepreneurial competencies. The questionnaire was based on the Personal Entrepreneurial Competence Model, developed by McClelland Individual. Participants were recruited from the final year students of eight programs under the Faculty of Engineering. Of the 432 questionnaires distributed,
210 were collected back, giving a response rate of approximately 49%. Findings suggest that final year
engineering students have respectable entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors, and are competent to be engineerpreneur. The study also recommended that we need an environment that does not insist that engineers become entrepreneurs, but one where the two can meet, and business leaders can organize our nation effectively.


Background and Aim: Active engagement in healthcare can foster healthy behaviors and promote health, especially among older adults dealing with the complexities of managing comorbid chronic illnesses. This study tested the efficacy of an intervention for increasing patient engagement and improving health-related quality of life among older adults with multiple chronic illnesses. Method: The intervention, Making the Most of Your Healthcare, uses evidence-based behavior change techniques to deliver publicly available patient education materials. We report the results of a three-group randomized controlled study conducted in a primary care setting. Seventy-nine participants were assigned to the intervention group, an attention control group, or usual care. The intervention and attention control groups attended a two-hour workshop and participated in two phone calls; one before and one after a naturally-occurring medical encounter. The intervention group's contacts were on patient engagement and the attention control group contacts were on general safety. Self-report measures were gathered by telephone interviews at baseline and six-months following baseline. Results: Differences were not found for patient activation, self-reported health or unhealthy days in the past month. The treatment group showed improved self-efficacy for self-management following intervention. Conclusions: Contrary to expectations, patient activation scores improved for both the treatment and usual care groups but not the attention control group. These initial findings suggest potential benefits for short-term, low-intensity patient engagement interventions. The intervention can be refined based on participant feedback. Additional testing is required to determine whether changed in patient activation with a refined intervention are possible.


This study investigated whether multiple bioactivity of terrein such as anti‐inflammatory and anti‐oxidant inhibits age‐related inflammation by promoting an antioxidant response in aged human diploid fibroblast (HDF) cells. HDF cells were cultured serially for in vitro replicative senescence. To create the ageing cell phenotype, intermediate stage (PD31) HDF cells were brought to stress‐induced premature senescence (SIPS) using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Terrein increased cell viability even with H2O2 stress and reduced inflammatory molecules such as intracellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1), cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), interleukin‐1beta (IL‐1β) and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α). Terrein reduced also phospho‐extracellular kinase receptor1/2 (p‐EKR1/2) signalling in aged HDF cells. SIPS cells were attenuated for age‐related biological markers including reactive oxygen species (ROS), senescence associated beta‐galactosidase (SA β‐gal.) and the aforementioned inflammatory molecules. Terrein induced the induction of anti‐oxidant molecules, copper/zinc‐superoxide defence (Cu/ZnSOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) in SIPS cells. Terrein also alleviated reactive oxygen species formation through the Nrf2/HO‐1/p‐ERK1/2 pathway in aged cells. The results indicate that terrein has an alleviative function of age‐related inflammation characterized as an anti‐oxidant. Terrein might be a useful nutraceutical compound for anti‐ageing. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper ileitis specifically with civil engineering design aspects of the Roxburgh power project. After dealing briefly with investigations (ind alternative proposals, various facets of the design of the spillway and sluice block, diversion channel, dam and powerhouse are described and some notes are included on the preparation of contract documents for the work. Hydraulic model tests, specification details, quantities and costs are given in appendixes.


In every language there are different types of pauses, the most general division being made between filled and unfilled ones (Trouvain 2003: 27). The latter type either consists of silence or is phonetically filled with breathing, whereas in the former the so-called fillers of different kinds (separate sounds, syllables and even whole words) are used. In Modern Irish filled pauses occur quite frequently in spontaneous speech, especially on the phrase border which can be accounted for by the fact that in such speech the process of formulating thoughts takes place at the very moment of speaking. Thus, it is not uncommon that the verb is chosen as the pause filler due to its initial position. In these cases auxiliary verbs are often used (different forms of the verb 'to be' tá, bhí and of the copula is, an). Some other instances include pauses filled by particles (in interrogative sentences) and articles, if a noun takes the initial place in emphatic construction. The present paper presents an analysis of some of such cases based on Connacht Irish material.


We use detailed information about American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending to identify the distinctive effects R&D stimulus had on county level employment dynamics. ARRA R&D and science funding was awarded to over half the counties in the country. Counties with research universities and existing manufacturing employment were more likely to receive funding. We estimate that, over the program's five-year disbursement period, each one million USD in R&D and science spending was associated with twenty-seven additional jobs in the county that received the stimulus and one additional job in adjacent counties. The average cost of a job for a year was less than $15,000.