Abstract Background To curb the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, new cases must be prevented. Preventive therapy is an effective intervention but treating all individuals with latent TB infection (LTBI) based on current diagnostics, tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon gamma release assay (IGRA), is not feasible. Using proteomic analysis we are developing a peripheral blood marker of LTBI infection that would identify people at high risk for TB progression. Methods Plasma was collected in an ongoing TB household contact study in Kampala, Uganda in which TST-/IGRA- are enrolled and followed for IGRA/TST conversion. Longitudinal sample sets (0,6,12 months) from 81 participants including 24 TST/IGRA converters, 29 resisters (remained TST/IGRA negative), and 28 baseline positives (LTBI) underwent proteomic and multiplex cytokine analysis. Proteomic analysis was performed by multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) using an MRM-MS assay containing 163 host proteins represented by 392 unique peptides, all of which we have described to significantly change during Mtb infection in our previous study of household contact converters. Results Differential expression of proteins measured by MRM-MS and cytokine assays were assessed. The largest number of significant changes were measured in the LTBI vs Converter comparison. The vast majority of the changes were elevated expression in the converter group compared to the latent group, suggesting that all the biologies affected were induced in the converters (Figure 1). We identified protein panels that were able to predict conversion as in our earlier study. However, the protein panels defined in our earlier study that could distinguish a future converter from a future resister with high fidelity did not have a similar performance in this study. Figure 1 Differential expression analysis of latent TB, LTBI vs. converter. Significant changes by both p-value (set at 0.05) and q-value (a correction for multiple comparisons, set at 0.10). Conclusion Peripheral blood protein changes are associated with conversion to LTBI. In this study we found that the protein panels predictive of conversion were different from our previous study. While there are many possible reasons, an important difference between the two studies was the definition of conversion: TST in the older study and QuantiFERON in the current study. We are continuing to investigate this difference and developing time-sensitive protein panels to capture recent conversion. Disclosures Eustache Paramithiotis, PhD, CellCarta Biosciences: Employee.


The propagation of swirl and the choking criteria of swirling transonic airflow are examined both numerically and experimentally in underexpanded airflow at matched nozzle reservoir pressure as well as matched mass flow. It was found that the swirl number is not conserved in the expanding subsonic flowfield inside nozzle but decreases as the throat is approached. It was also found that the throat velocity itself (not any of its components) is choked in a swirling flowfield. Therefore, the application of swirl always results in a reduction in axial Mach number component. Since the mass flow through nozzle is a function of throat density and axial Mach number, the reduction in the latter with swirl explains the observed reduction in mass flow (discharge coefficient) at matched nozzle reservoir pressure. Greater reservoir pressures, on the other hand, result in higher throat densities, which compensates for the reduced axial Mach number, and the mass flow rate can be matched its non-swirling value. It was also found that the distribution of subsonic Mach number (not any of its components) in a swirling flow is solely dependent on cross-sectional area, similar to non-swirling flows, i.e., non-swirling and swirling flows have the same subsonic Mach number profile. The supersonic swirl number was found to experience a slight local increase within shock structure, where the axial momentum undergoes significant reduction, whereas the tangential one is preserved and experiences no change.


This paper examines the implications of various contracting alternatives between exporting and importing firms on the volume of international transactions. The contracts that we study are determined in a bargaining situation under exchange-rate uncertainty. First we look at contracts which entail an ex ante commitment on price and quantity of exports without the possibility of renegotiation ex post. Second, spot contracts, i.e., the price and the quantity of exports are negotiated after the exchange the rate is known. A third type of contracts consists of ex ante commitment and ex post renegotiation. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.


Introduction: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry captures data on acute leukemias (AL) that morphologically do not conform to well characterized acute leukemic entities in the established French-American-British (FAB) nomenclature. Not much is known about population level outcomes of these rare AL. We performed a comprehensive survival analysis of these rare AL over a forty-year period using the SEER registry.

Methods: SEER 18 dataset was queried to identify adult patients (pts > 18 years) diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and rare AL from 1973-2012. Rare AL cases were identified using ICD-O-3 morphology codes and included Leukemias, Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) (9800-01, 9860) and myeloid sarcoma (9930). Data on demographics,follow up and survival was abstracted. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors influencing survival of rare AL and survival patterns were compared to AML and ALL. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are reported.

Results: We identified 61,550 AML pts, 13,457 ALL pts, 525 myeloid sarcoma pts and 13,446 pts with leukemia NOS. Median age at diagnosis was 68 years (yrs, range 18-100) for AML, 54 yrs (18-100) for ALL, 65 yrs (18-95) for myeloid sarcoma and 76 yrs (18-100) for leukemia NOS. Gender distribution was similar with females comprising 45.9% of AML, 43% of ALL, 42.3% of myeloid sarcoma and 47.2% of leukemia NOS cases. Over 80% pts in all categories were Caucasian. Median survival was as follows: 0.4 (0-40) yrs for AML; 1.4 (0-39.8) yrs for ALL; 0.7 (0-32.9) yrs for Myeloid Sarcoma; and 0.3 (0-38.9) yrs for leukemia NOS. In univariable analysis, younger age predicted for better survival for both myeloid sarcoma and leukemia NOS (p 60 yrs with rare AL was as follows: 2.68 (2.13-3.37; p 60 yrs had a better outcome (HR=0.93; 0.91-0.95; p 60 yrs (HR= 0.77; 0.69-0.87; p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Pts with leukemias NOS have poor outcomes compared to AML and ALL but prognosis has improved in recent years. The most probable explanation is identification of prognostic molecular mutations that has allowed accurate risk-stratification of pts using the WHO classification and in turn better selection of treatment strategies. Several reasons have limited our understanding of these rare AL - small numbers, exclusion from clinical trials and wide variability in treatment options used. Efforts at better molecular characterization of these AL holds the most promise for improving outcomes.

![Figure][1]

![Figure][1]

![Figure][1]

Disclosures Sekeres: Celgene Corporation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; TetraLogic: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

 [1]: pending:yes


This paper uncovers the demand of households in four communities (Srodae, Effiduase, Koforidua-ada, and Betom) in the New Juaben Municipality in Ghana for better solid waste disposal services. The study used the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and the respondents were selected by means of simple random sampling for interviewing. The Willingness to Pay (WTP) was elicited using single bounded Dichotomous Choice (DC) format and the data were analyzed using the probit model as one of the efficient and priori superior procedures used in analyzing binary response data. The median WTP was GHC 2.23 (US$ 1.13) per household per month and the mean WTP was GHC 3.67 (US$ 1.85) per household per month. The most significant and influencing factors that affect WTP in this study are the environmental safety concern of the respondent, level of satisfaction of current waste disposal services, education, household size, length of stay in the current residence, walking time to public dumpster, and sex of respondent.


Poster: "ECR 2015 / C-2495 / Pelvic ultrasonography in evaluating reproductive maturity in anorexia nervosa - a useful technique in clinical practice." by: "M. Rowe, C. Davies, S. Otero, F. Connan; London/UK"


The creative process can help to create innovative and growing development of software (SW) and information technology (IT). By improving the knowledge we create trust in the effectiveness of the preventative measures system in medicine. Spiral model development concept of multimedia application is very dynamic regarding the education in medicine, where the regulation share is the essential part of each educational process.

With the spiral model our work can be structured very clearly through next steps: analysis, specification, design, implementation, testing, integration and maintenance.

The spiral model development concept was presented on the example of e-materials for the respiratory physiology and pathophysiology study. The results were analyzed and a new step of prototype development was designed on the basis of questionnaires. Testing and implementation in the medical environment were carried out.

The spiral model development concept of multimedia application can create all needed conditions for the effective spiral evolution of IT for the constant and permanent improvement of the communication between a patient and the medical staff.


Careful control during the bromolactonization of β,γ;-unsaturated acid (4) was required to regioselectively afford the trans-β-lactone (3) as the major diastereomer. Radical debromination of (3) followed by a three-step sequence of reactions afforded the lipase inhibitor (–)-tetrahydrolipstatin (1).


How many COVID-19 cases have gone undetected? And are those who had mild cases of the disease—perhaps so mild they dismissed it as a cold or allergies—immune to new infections? If so, they could slow the spread of the burgeoning pandemic Labs and companies around the world have raced to develop antibody tests, and a few have been used in small studies and received commercial approval, including several from China But so far, large-scale data from such tests—for example showing what fraction of people in the hard-hit city of Wuhan, China, might now be immune—is still lacking or at least not public Scientists hope that will soon change as more tests become available


ABSTRACT In the last decades, Brazil has been consolidated as one of the world's largest producers of food, with emphasis on soybeans, sugarcane and beef production. With the opening of new markets and the increase in demand, a competitive scenario was developed among farming activities, resulting in changes in land use and cover. Thus, this study aimed to verify the spatial and temporal land use changes, through intensity analysis, in the microregion of Presidente Prudente, São Paulo state, in two time intervals, 2004–2007 and 2007–2015, in addition to determining the relevance of pasture in this context. The identification of land uses occurred through the analysis of the spectrum-temporal pattern of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), in such a way that six classes were identified, annual crop, water, sugarcane, forest, pasture and urban area. The categories annual crop and sugarcane had more intense variations of losses and gains in the studied time intervals. The category pasture was the primary supplying source of the area, showing a reduction of approximately 180,000 hectares in the analyzed period, losing area with greater intensity for the categories of annual crop and sugarcane.


Chinese housing purchase restriction policy is an important macro-control policy of real estate, but the study is rarely focused on the process of this policy. The multi-streams theory can explain the process of policy change effectively as a new theoretical tool for the policy process analysis. Improvement of multi-streams theory provides an interpretative theoretical framework with policy change of Chinese housing purchase restriction and conducts an empirical research on this process as well, because political stream is the core of three streams which affects other ones. Three streams push the policy change, and they illustrate a progressive trend among different steps, which providing an explanation from another angle that different from the classical one.


Fast changing customer taste, increasing global competition, and stiffer environmental norms forced organisations worldwide to device novel manufacturing strategy. The present research focused on novel approach to model green lean and agile manufacturing with the factors of sustainable strategic advantage within Indian automotive SMEs environment by applying structural equation modelling. Weight assignment of various factors are done applying entropy value methodology. After validating the model, various attributes of green lean and agile manufacturing were ranked using variety of MCDM techniques in relation to sustainable strategic advantage. Ranking has been finalised using the novel and most robust MULTIMOORA algorithm. Ranking suggested most important attributes were customer satisfaction, closely followed by problem prevention and identification, responsiveness, and others. Outcome may help in prioritisation of various attributes of green lean and agile manufacturing in order to develop more productive manufacturing system to attain significant sustainable strategic advantage for Indian SMEs in automotive sector.


Abstract : Numerous examples of alpha-deuterium isotope effects are known in which closely related reactions may give either normal or inverse or even a negligible isotope effect. This statement may be supported by reference to solvolytic displacement of halides and sulphonates from methyl, ethyl and isopropyl where the common nucleophile is water. By contrast, Leffek showed that displacement of tosylate ion from methyl gave a normal isotope effect, while McLean and Leffek found that amines and methyl iodide gave an inverse effect. Other examples could also be cited to emphasise the dange of simple explanations and to emphasise the need for a broader experimental base from which to construct generalisations. (Author)


Road accidents rates are very high nowadays, especially two wheelers. Timely medical aid can help in saving lives. This system aims to alert the nearby medical center about the accident to provide immediate medical aid. The proposed framework automatically learns feature representation from the spatiotemporal features of pixel intensity. We consider the accident of the vehicles as an unusual incident. The possibility of an accident is determined based on the artificial intelligence approach and alarm is generated with preventive measures.


57. Pinto-Ribeiro F, Moreira V, Pêgo JM, Leão P, Almeida A, Sousa N: Antinociception induced by chronic glucocorticoid treatment is correlated to local modulation of spinal neurotransmitter content. Mol Pain 2009; 5:41 58. Jaggi AS, Singh N: Differential effect of spironolactone in chronic constriction injury and vincristine-induced neuropathic pain in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 2010; 648:102–9 59. Uesugi K, Sekiguchi M, Kikuchi S, Konno S: The effect of repeated restraint stress in pain-related behavior induced by nucleus pulposus applied on the nerve root in rats. Eur Spine J 2011; 20:1885–91 60. Alexander JK, DeVries AC, Kigerl KA, Dahlman JM, Popovich PG: Stress exacerbates neuropathic pain via glucocorticoid and NMDA receptor activation. Brain Behav Immun 2009; 23:851–60


with magnitudes larger than 8.0 in Chile (the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake, the 2014 Mw 8.0 Iquique earthquake and the 2015 Mw 8.3 Illapel earthquake), with total ruptures propagating nearly 2000 km along the Chile Andean megathrust fault zone. To estimate the influences of these earthquakes on surrounding areas and the fracture zone, we built a heterogeneous ellipsoid Earth model using the Finite Element Method. The co-seismic displacements in both near field and far field and the stresses change induced by each earthquake were investigated, and the combined co-seismic effects of the three earthquakes were also calculated to estimate future earthquake risk.


Picture books, no matter how simple they seem on the surface, harbour many truths for young readers, for example, Gorilla, tells of the loneliness of a girl whose father is rarely able to spend any time with her.


The data of B-scanning of 120 eyes with various diseases are analyzed. The authors pay special attention to the morphology of posterior segments of the vitreous and posterior hyaloid detachment and to relationship between tissues of the posterior segment and the type of pathological process. Sonograms with certain nosological entities are described and deciphered.


This handbook reports the results on the techniques of the criminal investigator in the performance of serial number restoration. The handbook is primarily focused for use on handguns but can apply to any object which have markings which have been obliterated intentionally or unintentionally. All known methods are compared, gun metals are categorized, and optimum methods for individual metals are described. The handbook is written in such a way that it can be used as an indepth textbook for the novice and yet be very useful to the experienced criminologist as a reference manual.


This article reviews the properties, commercial manufacturing aspects, and uses of the three xylene isomers, ie, o-xylene, m-xylene, and p-xylene, and the ethylbenzene present in mixed xylene streams. Chemical reactions discussed are migration of the alkyl groups, including 1,2 intramolecular shifts and transalkylation; reactions of the alkyl groups, including oxidation, polycondensation, and ammoxidation; reactions of the aromatic ring; and complex formation. Aspects of commercial manufacture that are covered include initial production of mixed xylenes; separation processes used to produce high purity p-xylene, o-xylene, and m-xylene; and xylene isomerization processes. Catalytic reforming and toluene disproportionation/transalkylation are the primary mixed xylene production routes discussed. The xylene isomer separation processes of crystallization, adsorption, and complex formation are described. The commercially important xylene isomerization processes are reviewed. Worldwide production data for the three xylene isomers and ethylbenzene are presented along with a list of the U.S. producers and their production capacities. Analytical techniques and important health and safety factors are also summarized.

Keywords:

Xylenes;
Ethylbenzene;
Xylene polymers;
Separations;
Isomerization;
Motor gasoline;
Solvents


Epistula Claudiana: Der neuentdeckte Brief des Kaisers Claudius vom Jahre 41 n. Chr. und das Urchristentum. Eine exegetisch-historische Untersuchung. By STEPHAN LOSCH. Pp. 48. Rottenburg a.N.(Wurttemberg): Bader'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1930. M. 3.60. T H E literature evoked by the letter of Claudius to Alexandria (P. Lond. 1912, edited in Jews and Christians in Egypt) continues to grow. Mr. Losch's monograph, even after all that has been written, makes some contributions of value to the interpretation of the letter, or rather to that portion of it which deals with the anti-Jewish disturbances. The title might suggest that the author accepts the view of S. Reinach and G. de Sanctis, that the passage referring to the Kouvri rt? T?7S oL/covfievrj*; votro? contains an allusion to Christian propaganda at Alexandria; but this is not the case. He states very fairly the arguments in favour of that view, but dismisses it as improbable and unnecessary. None the less he contrives to extract from the passage matter for an interesting dissertation on the phraseology of early Christian texts.


The calculation of one-electron propagators in a strongly correlated limit is discussed in detail. An improved Hubbard-like approximation is adopted. The equations of motion for the propagators are derived and solved using the Fourier transformation, and the self-consistency problem is briefly discussed. (JFP)


An investigation of Poisson's ratios and band gap behaviors of 2D hierarchical re‐entrant lattice structures is conducted using finite element method (FEM). The structure with a hierarchy order n (n≥1) is constructed by replacing each outmost vertex of the re‐entrant octagons of a hierarchical structure of hierarchy order n−1 with a smaller self‐similar re‐entrant octagon. The dispersion relation and transmission spectrum of the proposed hierarchical structures are analyzed based on the Bloch's theorem. The effects of geometrical parameters, order of rotational symmetry and orientation angle of some types of re‐entrant polygon cores on the lattice Poisson's ratio and band gap structures are also investigated. Results show that the re‐entrant structures with first order hierarchy exhibit a wider band gap and a stronger attenuation effect compared with structures without structural hierarchy. The first order 2D hierarchical re‐entrant structure with a negative Poisson's ratio of −0.032 exhibits the widest band gap, 17.8% wider than that of the zeroth order 2D re‐entrant structure. The order of rotational symmetry and the orientation angle of the re‐entrant polygon cores of the lattice have a strong impact on the lattice Poisson's ratio and band structures.


The Center for the Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the branch "Yakub Kolas Institute of Linguistics" Minsk, Republic of Belarus In the article the analysis of memorating the urbanity of the city of Termez. The author identifies five bases of lexical and semantic groups of memoratives, motivated by representatives of different eras, nationalities and types of activity. The analysis of the gender ratio of anthroponymic street names is given. Research materials can help in the study of the culture, history and language of the Uzbek people.


Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement had been satisfied in previous years by one-sentence catchall provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities. This procedure meets the statutory requirement but has, according to some observers, weakened the ability of Congress to oversee intelligence activities. Over the last two years, Congress has met its statutory requirement by passing three intelligence authorization bills that included classified schedules of authorizations and that were signed into law. Key issues debated during the passage of these bills included the adequacy of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) authorities, Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit authority over the intelligence community, and measures to combat national security leaks. These three bills appear to reflect a determination to underscore the continuing need for specific annual intelligence authorization legislation. Annual intelligence authorization acts were first passed in 1978 after the establishment of the two congressional intelligence committees and were enacted every year until 2005. These acts provided specific authorizations of intelligence activities and were accompanied by reports that provided detailed guidance to the nation's intelligence agencies. The recent absence of intelligence authorization acts has meant that key intelligence issues have been addressed in defense authorization acts and defense appropriations acts that focus primarily on the activities of the Department of Defense (DOD). Several Members have maintained that this procedure has been characterized by misplaced priorities and wasteful spending estimates that could run into billions. One example is the eventual cancellation of a highly classified and very costly overhead surveillance system that had been approved without support from the two intelligence committees. The challenge for the 113th Congress will be to help shape intelligence priorities while the intelligence community shifts from a decade of growth to a time of shrinking budgets. Reforms since 9/11 have attempted to create a more collaborative, integrated community. Reflecting that reality, intelligence priorities, and corresponding budget cuts, will be spread across six Cabinet departments and two independent agencies. The two intelligence committees are positioned to have the most comprehensive information on intelligence activities broadly defined, including those conducted by agencies and those within DOD. Congress has an important role in intelligence oversight and in helping the community to avoid what DNI James Clapper in March 2013 called " another damaging downward spiral " similar to that which he said occurred after budget cuts in the 1990s. The annual intelligence authorization bill will be …


High‐performance R2Fe14BNx‐type magnets (R=Nd and/or Pr/Dy) were successfully prepared by sintering. The optimum magnetic properties are coercivity iHc: 680–1440 kA/m; Hc: 500–1000 kA/m; Br: 1.0–1.3 T; and (BH)m: 180–250 kJ/m3 depending on the composition and processing parameters, especially the proper sintering conditions, including nitrogen intake at 1040 to 1050 °C. The magnets thus obtained have Tc values of 335 to 370 °C depending on the nitrogen content, which should be <6 at. % for thermal stability. The anisotropy field increases from 6.2 to 8 T with addition of nitrogen, and magnetization measured at 2 T increases by 18%. The weight loss after immersion in a 5% HCl solution for 30 min is 25% less for nitrogenated magnets than for those without nitrogen, due to the replacement of the Nd‐rich phase at grain boundaries by more corrosion‐ resistant nitrides.


A deterministic model for millimetre-wave indoor radio propagation is proposed, based on geometrical optics. In addition, the accuracy of the model is examined by comparing the results with those obtained from measurements.


Objectives To explore the features of cognitive dysfunction of the patients with cerebral tumors and effect of surgery on it.Methods The preoperative and postoperative cognitive function were assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and statistically analyzed in 100 patients with cerebral tumors.Results The incidences of cognitive dysfunction in the patients with cerebral tumors were 48.0% and 62.0% respectively before and after surgery.The incidence of the cognitive dysfunction was significantly higher after the operation than that before the operation (P0.05).The incidence (61.7%,37/60) of cognitive dysfunction in the patients with frontal and/or temporal tumors was significantly higher than that (30.0%,12/40) in patients with the non-frontal and non-temporal tumors (P0.05).And the visuospatial and executive,memory,attention and language functions impairment in the patients with frontal and/or temporal tumors were significantly more severe than that in the patients with non-frontal and non-temporal tumors (P0.01).The incidence (70.3%,26/37) of cognitive dysfunction in the patients with left hemisphere tumors was insignificantly higher than that (53.5%,23/43) in the patients with right hemisphere tumors (P0.05).Conclusions There is cognitive dysfunction in the patients with cerebral tumors,in whom,the cognitive dysfunction may be worsened by surgery.MoCA is a sensitive method to assess the cognitive dysfunction in the patients with cerebral tumors.


The tensile properties of alloy ZA27 at ambient temperature and elevated(from 275℃ through the solidus) temperatures were studied. The tress-strain plots at varies temperatures and the relationship between the mechanical properties of the alloy and temperatures are obtained. The results show that, the strength decreases with increasing temperature, the alloy exhibits high deformation ability at elevated temperatures, and the fracture modes are dependent on temperature. At about 275℃, alloy ZA27 has high plasticity and very small resistance to deformation, so it is suitable for the alloy to be processed by deformation at this temperature range.


The numerical solution of optimal control problems by indirect methods (such as multiple shooting or collocation) usually requires a considerable amount of analytic calculation to establish a numerically tractable system. The reason for that is that certain steps in the analytical preparation of the calculation, which are simple in principle, may be very elaborate and can lead to rather complex expressions. Implementation of these into numerical code by hand is tiresome and error-prone. In spite of the rather high standards of numerical algorithms for such problems (BOCK[l, 2, 3], BULIRSCH [4], DEUFLHARD/FIEDLER/KuNKEL [6]) the analytic calculations-often classified as simple in principle, but rather tedious in realistic examples-are nowadays mostly still done by hand-and thus prone to calculation errors. We present the package OCCAL [9] (mnemotechnically for Qptimal Qontrol CALculator), a system capable of automating this analytic processing to a reasonable extent by means of a modern symbolic manipulation language, intending to solve as many of the arising problems as possible. Our combined symbolic-numeric system symbolically analyzes the given problem, using the Computer Algebra System REDUCE. This approach additionally permits to generate optimized and correct numerical subprograms for use with existing numerical solvers for boundary value problems. These are employed in the second step to obtain numerical solutions. Let us introduce in short the notation we are going to use throughout this paper. We start from a vector of state variables y(t), y: [a, b] ---t R n and a vector of control variables u(t), u: [a, b] ---t Rk which are subject to a system of ordinary differential equations: y' = f(t, y, u)


An iterative algorithm can be modeled by a cyclic data-flow graph. The bottleneck for scheduling cyclic data-flow graphs lies on dependencies that form cycles. The maximum computation-time-to-delay ratio among all the cycles in the graph, gives a lower bound on pipeline schedule length. In this paper, a framework for algebraic transformations is proposed to reduce the lower bound. A novel algorithm is proposed to apply transformations within iterations or over iteration boundaries. A set of beneficial transformations are chosen, and applied simultaneously in each pass of the algorithm. A measure of criticalness on loops is used to identify transformations leading to potential lower bound reduction. Experimental results show that substantial reductions on the lower bound are achieved, and shorter pipelined schedules are generated.


Following periods of 1 or 3 1/2 hours of haemorrhagic shock in 12 anaesthetized ventilated greyhounds, ultrafiltrates of plasma taken 4 hours after retransfusion exibited significantly increased depressant activity on guinea‐pig atrium in vitro. This effect was significantly greater following prolonged hypotension and could not be accounted for by changes in electrolyte composition. It is suggested that this effect may be related to defective myocardial function following haemorrhagic shock.


X-shaped rigid methylthio arylethynes (MTA) have been demonstrated to mediate the assembly of gold nanoparticles. The structural attributes of MTAs include molecular rigidity, π-conjugation, and importantly the tunability in terms of size, shape, and binding strength. The size, kinetics, optical, and spectroscopic properties of the MTA mediated assembly are shown to be tunable by these structural attributes. This is the first example demonstrating an interparticle structurally tunable assembly in terms of size, shape, and binding properties, and an intriguing surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect as well. These findings could lead to unprecedented control of the interparticle spatial properties in nanoparticle assemblies for the exploitation of the unique optical and spectroscopic properties.


The design of the optical link for the downstream (from a head-end or a central office to a fiber node near the customer premises) and upstream (from the customer premises to the head-end or central office) transmissions in a hybrid fiber-coax access system is reviewed in detail. Particularly, the end-to-end bit-error performance of 64-QAM transmission using a hybrid fiber-coax system test bed designed for delivery of 77 AM-VSB and 25 64-QAM video channels covering the frequency band 54 - 702 MHz was studied. Error-free QAM transmission was achieved with the use of modulated analog carriers and Reed-Solomon (204,188) error-correction coding indicating that in hybrid fiber-coax systems transport of AM- VSB and 64-QAM signals can be realized maintaining both analog and digital performance requirements. Results are also presented on the design and choice of optical transmitters for the upstream path. The role of laser clipping in setting system signal-to-noise and dynamic range for error-free QPSK transmission in the upstream direction is described.


In this article, we study the analytical solution of time-fr actional Navier-Stokes equation based on the combination o f natural transform (NTM) and homotopy perturbation method (HPM). Th e analytical scheme gives a series solutions which converge s rapidly within few iterations. The efficiency and simplicity of the s cheme is clearly demonstrated, and the solutions obtained a re compared with the solutions of the existing techniques.


The problem of the socio-pedagogical aspects of the problem of the use of psychoactive substances in a pandemic is interpreted on the basis of an empirical study. The article presents the results of an anonymous online survey conducted jointly by Assistant Professor Dr. Daniel Polihronov and student Mariela Andreeva – a student in the master's program "Pedagogy of deviant behavior" at the Faculty of Pedagogy at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" within the project "Social and pedagogical aspects of the problem of the use of psychoactive substances". The primary data processing was performed by Mariela Andreeva, and the analysis and interpretation of the data in the article were written by Daniel Polihronov.


A significant fraction of nearby galaxies contain nuclei with intermediate LINER/H II properties, but the physical nature of these objects remains largely unknown. In order to ascertain the origin of the nuclear activity, we have embarked on a study of a sample of these "transition" sources. In this first part, we present the results of our high-resolution radio observations. These show that about 25% of the transition nuclei display clear AGN characteristics: a compact, flat-spectrum, high-brightness-temperature radio core.


Abstract The effect of straining was investigated on laser welded composite semiproduct which was stamped at deep drawing. Three specimens with various strain values were taken from the drawn cup and studied by means of light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and hardness profile measurements. Higher deformation imposed higher mechanical strengthening of the base metal, heat affected zone and of the fusion zone. Fusion zone strengthening was less intensive which can be attributed to the initial fusion zone structure predominantly composed of martensite.


Cloud computing is a prevailing approach for running various data-analysis algorithms to obtain insight from massive raw data. However, the current cloud computing architecture suffers from large computation and communication overhead when processing data in big size. In this work, we develop a systematic approach to efficiently process large-scale image processing tasks under an edge-assisted cloud computing architecture. We use a two-stage processing mechanism, which is to pre-process raw data on edge servers and feed only the most relevant information to the cloud, for the purpose of reducing system overhead. We model and formulate a problem that jointly optimizes the responding strategy and task placement strategy. We then propose a solution with a queuing mechanism to capture the impact of background workload on heterogeneous edge devices. We implement our system and use extensive experiments to validate its efficacy and efficiency in practice.


T H E absorption and elimination of inhalation anaesthetics were studied at the end of the last century and the beginning of this by Bert (1878, 1883a, b, c), Nicloux (1906a, b, 1907a, b) and other research workers, and their findings were confirmed by Haggard (1924a, b, c, d, e), Robbins (1936), McCollum (1930) and other more recent investigators. The findings of the early workers have been collected in monographs by Winterstein (1926) and Kochmann (1923). They showed that the depth of anaesthesia is dependent upon the concentration of anaesthetic in the blood and central nervous system and that these are controlled by the concentration in the inhaled air. From this it follows that the more rapidly can this concentration in the blood be altered, the easier is the control of the depth of anaesthesia by the anaesthetist.


A pilot study of hydrological effects of litter and soil layers was carried out on different density plantations of Pinus sylvestris L. Var. mongolica Litv. in the southeast of Mu Us Sandland. For the purpose of evaluating the hydrological function of litter and soil quantitatively, 30 standard plots (10 types of forest×3 replications) were investigated. The soil physical characteristics and water-holding capacity were determined. The results showed that: (1) The total storage capacity of litter among 10 forest types, generally followed by the sequence of forest densities, were PIII = PIV > PX > PVII > PIX > PVI > PVII >PV > PII > PI; the maximum water-holding capacity and effective water-holding capacity of litter, for 10 forest types, were 2.46-8.23 t/hm2 and 0.163-6.42 t/hm2, respectively. (2) There were no significant differences in water content, bulk density and the maximum water-holding capacity of soil amongst these forest types, with the variation range of 8.94-16.54%, 1.10-1.66 g/cm3 and 200.43266.43 t/hm2, respectively. However, the non-pore porosity of soil among these 10 forest types varied greatly with a variation range of 0.99-4.32%. The hydrological effects of soil were the highest in the PIII and PIV plots, and the lowest in the PI plot. (3) The power function model can better indicate high correlation coefficients between the water absorption rate of litter and its immersion time, and also between the water-holding capacity of litter and its soaking time. The stable infiltration rates of soil in 10 different forest stands were consistent, while they varied greatly with a range of 0.11-0.89 mm/min after 20 minutes. (4) In this study, the hydrological effects of forest litter and soil in PIII and PIV plots were the best, and the optimal afforestation density was 1500 to 1800 plants per hectare. The results show that thinning should be done timely and appropriately in this study area to prevent the recession of a forest stand. Besides, it is unapproachable whether Pinus sylvestris Var. mongolica can be planted in large scale or in high density, and further research is needed. Nat. Env. & Poll. Tech. Website: www.neptjournal.com Received: 5-2-2015 Accepted: 7-4-2015


This factsheet for farmers in Nicaragua provides information on tomato tospovirus, a viral disease of tomatoes (
 Solanum lycopersicum
 ). It includes details about its symptoms, biology, insect vectors, control and photos of affected tomato plant and fruit.

 PROMIPAC, Estelí


The paper shows the results of comprehension treatment on remaining slags of shaft tank distillation and leaching slag of hydrometallurgical zinc and gas producer slag and Al-Fe-Zn slag of fine distillation in Huludao zinc smelter.


And at least one continuous OLED layer (4), a first electrode layer (5), a second electrode layer (6), in a lighting device having a plurality of optical collimating means, the second electrode layer ( 6) is in seeing electrical contact with the OLED layer (4) in a partition with spaced apart from each other that are located within the acceptance angle of the collimating means (6a). Such lighting devices are efficient to manufacture, yet high energy efficiency.


This paper discusses some implications for the study of marital stability of a causal model in which education and occupation are seen as causes of income. Proper time order then places marital stability events after all three of these measures of social class. The class variable closest to instability is income. Therefore, assessment of the direct effects of education or occupation on marital stability must first remove the effects of income. Data from the 1960 Census using the percent of ever-married males living with the first spouse as a measure of marital stability are subjected to multivariate analysis. Little positive effect of education or occupation is found when the effects of income on stability are removed. Two alternative models which might explain how income acts to alter the risks of marital stability are discussed. A second measure of marriage behavior among ever-married males is analyzed. This study allows a reexamination of inferences that are often drawn regarding alleged white and nonwhite differences in attitudes toward marriage. An explanation of white and nonwhite differences in stability of first marriages is advanced. The possibility that income maintenance programs might increase marital stability is examined.


PC ,used as NC system , can help to flexiblely direct the tool's track with varied interpolation in order to produce parts of complicated shapes . This article puts forward a design in which NC system is operated by LTP of PC and as well describes the way to design its software and hardware.


Based on a reverse gravity model,endogenous nodal attractions of 28 cities are estimated using the al-gebraic method with a Chinese railway passenger database with known exogenous spatial interaction and imped-ance.Then nodal attributes that contribute to the nodal attractions are examined using correlation index and lin-ear regression function.We find that the 28 cities'nodal attractions show a decreasing trend from east to west and the hierarchical structure presents a "spindle" feature.Among many factors,the employees is the best indica-tor of nodal attractions and whether the city is a transport hub or not has an important influence on its nodal at-traction in the "axis-spoke" network.The linear fitting results of nodal attractions indicate that the composite in-dex can achieve better fitting effect than a single indicator.


MOST PEOPLE REGULARLY involved with the sport of horseracing tend to be libertarian in nature. They, by and large, regard governmental intrusion as a combination of simplistic, paternalistic, and wrong-headed idiocy. At best, they see governmental regulation as a necessary evil. Racing people believe that government generally gets it wrong, and racing would much prefer—like Greta Garbo—to be left alone. But there was one time in the history of horseracing in New York state when governmental intrusion was welcomed. For basically a two decade period from the early 1890s to the early 1910s, the courts in New York regularly ruled in favor of horseracing interests. The court system for a remarkable period of time regularly protected the racetrack industry from a series of attacks from progressive reformers and other anti-race horse gambling forces. Without this continuing protection, it is questionable whether horseracing would have survived in New York. The period from the 1890s to the early 1910s was probably the height of the progressive movement in the United States. One of the elements of the progressive movement was a movement to curb vice, and gambling was one of the chief vices. "In the late nineteenth century, middle-class women and men crusaded against alcohol, pornography, prostitution and gambling."1 "State governments under pressure from progressives and rural constituents did try to bar or at least supervise horse racing and boxing."2 As a result, the sport of horseracing—with the exception of "cities outside Maryland and Kentucky" 3—was largely banned. The progressive years witnessed the apex of the prohibition of legal gambling. In 1897, there were 314 racetracks in the United States. By 1908, that number had dropped to 25.4 The Chicago Tribune noted that thoroughbred racing "is one of the few sports which must report loss of ground and setbacks resulting almost in decadence in the opening decade of the twentieth century."5 "Racing has been wiped out in Illinois, New York, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, California, Washington, and the District of Columbia."6 "By the early 1920's, legal race betting had been eradicated from nearly every state."7 Despite a blackout on horseracing in New York for approximately two and a half years from late 1910 through May of 1913, New York was able to emerge from the progressive era with its horseracing industry surviving. A number of New York's more famous tracks—Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, and Gravesend went under, but the sport itself continued. The story of this survival is a study of how the court system kept horseracing live in New York. This is not to say that the litigants, the court system, and the Legislature were all acting with the best


The liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules is a phenomenon which is nowadays recognized as the driving force for the biogenesis of numerous functional membraneless organelles and cellular bodies. The interplay between the protein primary sequence and phase separation remains poorly understood, despite intensive research. To uncover the sequence-encoded signals of protein capable of undergoing LLPS, we developed a novel web platform named BIAPSS (Bioinformatics Analysis of LLPS Sequences). This web server provides on-the-fly analysis, visualization, and interpretation of the physicochemical and structural features for the superset of curated LLPS proteins.


This paper gives an overview on different mechanisms of macro-segregation upon direct-chill (DC) casting of aluminum alloys. With the advances in computer simulations and in experimental techniques it became possible to look at the impact of individual mechanisms in relation to the macroscopic parameters of the transition region of a DC cast billet and to the microscopic parameters of the billet structure. It is demonstrated that natural thermo-solutal convection in the liquid and slurry (semi-liquid) parts of the billet facilitates positive centerline segregation. Solidification shrinkage in the mushy (semi-solid) zone deflects the liquid flow towards the periphery of the billet and induces the negative centerline segregation, which magnitude depends on the steepness of the solidification front. The effects of thermo-solutal convection and shrinkage-induced flow depend on the structure of the billet to the extent that this structure influences the coherency and permeability of the transition region. The size of the billet, the casting speed and the presence of forced convection can change the ratio between the convective and shrinkage contributions and dramatically alter the segregation pattern. Free-floating crystals make negative contribution to the segregation in the regions of the billet where they concentrate, usually in the central portion of the billet. This is experimentally demonstrated by direct measurement of the composition of such grains and of the areas of their concentration. Their presence, however, does not necessarily mean that the segregation in the centre of the billet is negative. Other mechanisms of macro-segregation, e.g. convective flow, may compensate for the effect of free-floating grains especially in grain refined billets. Paper is illustrated by own experimental and computer-simulation results.


The chapter reviews some aspects of the broad and complex problem of delamination in composites. The focus is put on computational models for delamination predictions in the framework of a damage tolerance design. Both delamination initiation and its propagation under quasi-static and cyclic loading are addressed, and their simulation by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM) is discussed. However, dynamic delamination propagation under impact loads, as well as the prediction of the effect of delamination on the ultimate failure, is not considered in this chapter.

Basically, two modeling approaches are reviewed, namely Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) in the form of the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) and Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) applied to interface problems, that is, Cohesive Zone Models. Both approaches have recently been implemented in commercially available FE software. A summary of the respective peculiarities and limitations is presented. The significance of 2D laminated plate/shell elements that ensure the capturing of relevant through-thickness effects is emphasized.

The authors believe that a comprehensive knowledge of where obsolescence can strike and how to plan to manage obsolescence must be incorporated into the earliest stages of design.

Keywords:

cohesive zone models;
continuum damage mechanics;
delamination;
finite element method;
numerical simulation;
virtual crack closure technique


Classical facility location models like the P-median problem (PMP) and the uncapacitated fixed-charge location problem (UFLP) implicitly assume that, once constructed, the facilities chosen will always operate as planned. In reality, however, facilities "fail" from time to time due to poor weather, labor actions, changes of ownership, or other factors. Such failures may lead to excessive transportation costs as customers must be served from facilities much farther than their regularly assigned facilities. In this paper, we present models for choosing facility locations to minimize cost, while also taking into account the expected transportation cost after failures of facilities. The goal is to choose facility locations that are both inexpensive under traditional objective functions and also reliable. This reliability approach is new in the facility location literature. We formulate reliability models based on both the PMP and the UFLP and present an optimal Lagrangian relaxation algorithm to solve them. We discuss how to use these models to generate a trade-off curve between the day-to-day operating cost and the expected cost, taking failures into account, and we use these trade-off curves to demonstrate empirically that substantial improvements in reliability are often possible with minimal increases in operating cost.


In the process of ground-based SAR slope deformation monitoring,in order to obtain high quality image and satisfy the need of phase unwrapping,we always need to filter the interferometric phase. Phase filtering can not only improve the signal to noise ratio of the image but also reduce the residuals of interferometric phase image,which contributes to a better phase unwrapping. Thereby the accuracy and feasibility of deformation retrieval can be improved. For the space-variant characteristics of ground-based SAR interferometric phase image,we studied four classic and efficient ground-based SAR interferometric phase filtering algorithm in this paper. Then ground-based SAR slope deformation monitoring experiment was carried out. Four filtering results of the real ground-based SAR interferometric data were given to compare and evaluate the various filtering algorithms by quantitative and qualitative analysis. Finally,the optimal filtering algorithm is given,which lay the foundation for the ground-based SAR interferometric phase real-time filtering optimization and subsequent data processing.


Medium-band imaging with HST/WFPC2 in the F410M filter has previously revealed a population of compact Lyman-α emission objects around the radio galaxy 53W002 at z ≃ 2.4. We report detections of similar objects at z ≃ 2.4 in random, high-latitude HST parallel observations of three additional fields, lending support to the idea that they constitute a widespread population at these redshifts. The three new fields contain 18 Lyman-α candidates, in contrast to the 17 detected in the deeper exposure of the single WFPC2 field around 53W002. We find substantial differences in the number of candidates from field to field, suggesting that significant large-scale structure is already present in the galaxy distribution at this cosmic epoch. The likely existence of z ≃ 2.4 sub-galactic clumps in several random fields shows that these objects may have been common in the early universe and strengthens the argument that such objects may be responsible for the formation of a fraction of the luminous present-day galaxies through hierarchical merging. Subject headings: galaxies: evolution—galaxies: formation—cosmology: largescale structure of universe Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA Contract NAS 5-26555.


The wind-proof and dust suppressing wall, built on the open-air storage yard of certain power plant, was simulated. Based on the study of surface wind pressure, the factors influencing the wind-proof and dust suppressing wall were analyzed, including the velocity of natural wind, the height and opening ratio of wall. The wind velocity has significant effect on the performance of wind-proof and dust suppressing wall, that is, the effective height of wall determines that of piles to be protected. The optimal structural parameters of the wind-proof and dust suppressing wall are: 175 m long, 30 m high and 4 mm thick with opening ratio of 0.3~0.4.


The association between low birth weight and cardiovascular disease is amplified by the development of obesity. We explored the effects of postnatal high-fat (HF) feeding in dexamethasone (Dex)-programmed rats, in which prenatal glucocorticoid overexposure is associated with reduced birth weight and adult glucose intolerance. Male Wistar rats exposed to Dex or vehicle (Veh) during the last week of gestation were weaned onto HF or control diets for 6 months. Dex-exposed animals were of lower birth weight and showed catch-up growth by 7 wk. There were no differences in obesity or hyperinsulinaemia between Dex-HF and Veh-HF animals. However, Dex-HF animals had increased hepatic triglyceride content compared with Veh-HF animals. mRNA transcript profiles in adipose tissue revealed depot-specific changes in the expression of genes involved in fatty acid esterification and triglyceride synthesis and storage with prenatal Dex exposure. Thus, antenatal glucocorticoid overexposure in rats does not confer increased sensitivity to HF diet-induced obesity, but increases susceptibility to fatty liver. This may be due to depot-specific-programmed alterations in fat metabolism in adipose tissue.


A method is described for making graphical comparisons of galvanometers of different resistances and periods. The effective sensitivities in a given circuit can also be easily compared.


Lamb wave can propagate over distances in composite laminates and has the potential to be used in Nondestructive Testing (NDT). This paper presents the application of the fundamental order anti-symmetric (A0) mode Lamb wave to detect the through-thickness hole defect in the quasi-isotropic composite laminate. The algorithm of this quantitative near-field imaging technique is developed to classify the region of the defect. The proposed method estimatescharacteristics of the region of interest having somewhat inhomogeneity contrasted to the surrounding area. The method deals with locating the overlappingpoints of the incident and scattered wave filed at the boundary region of the defect. The overall computational process along with the analytical study is thoroughly described and investigated the outcome through numerical experiments. Generation of the 3D FE geometry, as well as meshing and the dynamicsimulation, was solved using LS-DYNA. Three cases are considered with varying diameter of the defect. The numerical result depicts in good agreement with the analytical study. The results exhibit that the discussed method enables locating the edge of the defect in the form of the image.


The semantically associated network on the Web is a Semantic Link Network built by mining the associated relation between Web pages. The associated link from page A to page B indicates that users who have browsed page A is likely to also browse page B. This paper explores the statistical properties of the associated network on the Web. Web pages of a specific domain are automatically downloaded by a Web crawler to build an associated network. We analyze the associated network at different domain thresholds and classify the topology into three states, that is, the original state, the kernel state and the final state. A mathematical model is built to study the in‐degree distribution, the out‐degree distribution and the total‐degree distribution for both the kernel state and the final state. By tuning the model parameters to reasonable values, we obtain the distinct power‐law forms for the three degree distributions with exponents that agree well with the statistical data. The proposed model can not only describe the evolving processes of the associated network on the Web, but also provides theory basis for complex applications such as semantic community discovery, intelligent browsing and recommendation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The concrete was regarded as a kind of four-phase composite material consisting of aggregate,mortar,interfacial transition and random micro-defects.The defects were characterized as circular pores and penny cracks.The stresscrack width model was employed to depict the nonlinear constitutive relationship among the aggregate,mortar and interfacial transition.The stress-strain curves of specimens during failure process under uniaxial tensile load as well as the load-displacement curves under bending tension were obtained.The influences of the circular pores and penny cracks as well as their contents on the failure process and the ultimate load of concrete were analyzed.The results show that the ultimate load of concrete specimens with circular aggregate is larger than that with arbitrary polygon aggregate.The defects can weaken the macro-mechanical properties of concrete.The penny cracks are more disadvantageous than the circular pores.


Low soil fertility and low microbiological activity have been widely observed in certain newly cultivated lands. To develop effective agricultural management practices that can improve soil quality rapidly, a field experiment was conducted on paddy fields reclaimed from unused, low-slope, hilly wasteland in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Southeast China. The six treatments that were applied included (1) control (CK), no crops were planted and no fertilizers were applied; (2) R, rice planted without fertilization; (3) RR, rice–ryegrass rotation without fertilizer application; (4) RRM, rice–ryegrass rotation with the application of mineral fertilizer; (5) RRMO, rice–ryegrass rotation with the application of mineral fertilizer and organic manure; and (6) RRMH, rice–ryegrass rotation with mineral fertilizer and humic acid application. The results showed that the application of fertilizer with ryegrass cropping improved the amounts of soil organic C (SOC) by 115–296% and particulate organic C (POC) by 162–256% (p < 0.05). Additionally, the RRMO treatment had the highest soil quality index value (0.81), which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of the other treatments. The random forest model showed that N-related properties (including urease activity, total N, and particulate organic N), C-related properties (including SOC, POC, and cellulase activity), and available P could significantly (p < 0.05) explain the response of rice yield to different fertilization management strategies. Compared with CK, the cultivated land quality grades of RRMO and RRMH increased from Grade 9 to Grade 7. However, the RRMH obtained the highest net profit from farmland quota trading. Overall, RRMO and RRMH are suggested to rapidly improve soil productivity and maximize the economic benefit of newly cultivated land utilization, respectively.


The detection of unsound wheat kernels in traditional wheat purchasing is affected by human factors, resulting in wrong wheat grading. At present, computer-based recognition of wheat kernels has generally low accuracy, and few types of wheat kernels can be recognized. To quickly, accurately, and objectively recognize wheat kernels, this study proposed an improved strategy of wheat kernel recognition method based on deep learning. First, a large number of collected wheat images were labeled, and the wheat kernels were divided into five categories: perfect kernels, broken kernels, impurities, sprouted kernels, and moldy kernels. Second, the improved strategies of VggNet-16, ResNet-34, EfficientNet-b2, DenseNet121, and Vit models were proposed. Based on the two-stage target detection method, the improved network model was used to detect wheat kernels. Moreover, the accuracy of the model was verified by performing comparative tests. Results show that the improved network structure is obviously improved, and the highest accuracy rate of wheat kernel identification is 96%. The precision, recall rate, and F1-score of VggNet-16-W, ResNet-34-W, EfficientNet-b2-W, and DenseNet121-W models are above 97%. This study provides a good reference for rapid and accurate detection of wheat quality.

Keywords: deep learning; image recognition; improved strategies; network model; wheat kernels


Cardiovascular diseases especially coronary heart disease (CHD) is the main disease cause death in the world. The mortality rate of CHD (26.4%) is higher than the mortality rate of cancer (6%). Indonesian Health Department in 2002 reported that one of four people were died due to CHD. Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for CHD. Hyperlipidemia is lipid metabolism disorder characterized by an elevation of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 1. Arcangelisia flava Merr is a plant belongs to Menispesmaceae family, comonly known as yellow root. A flava is Indonesian medicinal plant that have been used traditionally for malaria, diabetes mellitus (DM), urinary stones, jaundice, diarrhea and skin abscess 2,3,4.The water extract of A. flava showed antimicrobial activity5. Methanolic extract of A. flava has antioxidant and cytotoxic effect against brine shrimps and breast cancer cells (MCF-7)4. The Ethyl acetate fraction of A. flava have been proven to reduce blood sugar level of diabetic rats6. The major chemical compounds of stem of A. flava is alkaloid including berberine, palmatine, jathorrizine and columbamime7. Flavonoid, saponin, tanin and furanoditerpene are other compounds of A. flava8. Berberine isolated from Coptis sinensis can decrease total cholesterol and triglycerides by increasing expression of the hepatic low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR)9. Our previous study showed that methanol extract of leaf of A. flava reduced TC and LDL cholesterol. These extract was capable to decrease the atherogenic index value and the number of foam cells10,11. Antihyperlipidemic effect of A flava was caused by berberine and flavonoid in the extract. The berberine content of stem was higher than leaf of A. flava12. In order to know the antihyperlipidemic effect of stem extract of A. flava, the influence of methanolic extract of A. flava stems (EMBAf) on total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels has been determined in hyperlipidemic induced rats.


The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of cooperative learning experience through the roleplay among undergraduate students participating in a liberal arts course related to multicultural education of 'I' university in Korea. In this study, we adapted qualitative research method, including participatory observation and focus group interview. We collected reports, questionnaires, journals, and roleplay scripts. We analyzed the implications of experiences of students in terms of interdependence and individual responsibility as core elements of cooperative learning. Results are as follows: First, interdependence was experienced by students in dealing with conflicts in the cooperative learning process. It reflected their own will to pursue and practice a strategy for harmony and coexistence among members. Moreover, interdependence meant positive trust among members, formation of human relationship, and expression of interest and praise for members. Second, recognizing that one's role in a team influences on other members and team achievement, students seriously took individual responsibility. Individual accountability meant performance of assigned role, compliance of promise, and care for members. Individual accountability is rooted on and realized by interdependence.


BACKGROUND
Hepatoma cells are morphologically different from those of the normal liver. Intermediate filaments (IFs) are important in building the cellular architecture and maintaining the outline of cells. Plectin is a cross-linking protein that organizes the cytoskeleton into a stable meshwork, which can maintain the uniform size and shape of hepatocytes. Apoptosis might be the most possible pathway for creating plectin deficiency in the in vivo state.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Apoptosis was induced by staurosporine (STS) treatment in liver cells. The protein expression of cytokeratin 18 (CK18) and plectin as well as the morphology of the liver cells and the distribution of CK18 and plectin in the cells was studied after STS treatment.

RESULTS
Plectin was cleaved in the liver cells during apoptosis and CK18 was modulated. Morphological changes were observed in the liver cells.

CONCLUSION
By affecting the organization of IFs, plectin might play an important role in the pleomorphism of hepatoma cells and even the tumorigenesis of hepatoma.


Virtually no information is currently available regarding the relative effects of innate and experiential factors on the development of species identification in fish. Those studies which have approached the problem through schooling behavior have confounded species identification with attraction to a single available school of species-mates. In this study, isolated Brachydanio rerio spent significantly less time in nonpolarized schools with species-mates than controls when animals of a related species were available as an alternative. This difference suggests the involvement of experiential factors in species identification and questions the assumption that species identification is entirely innate.


3-Chlorobenzo[b]thiophene-2-carbonyl chloride reacted readily with 2-amino-, 3-amino-, or 4-aminopyridine to give the corresponding amides. Photocyclization of the amides afforded the following lactams: [1]ben-zothieno[2,3-c][1,5]naphthyridin-6(5H)-one (14), [1]benzothieno[2,3-c][1,6]naphthyridin-6(5H)-one (7), [1]benzo-thieno[2,3-c][1,7]naphthyridin-6(5H)-one (11), and [1]benzothieno[2,3-c][1,8]naphthyridin-6(5H)-one (3). These lactams have been converted to other derivatives including in two instances the unsubstituted ring system.


"The article discusses the content and language integrated learning approach (CLIL) as one of the advanced and valuable techniques in the system of professional training and the investigation of modern methods of professionally-oriented education developed in methodological science, taking into account their impact on the stimulation of students to study a foreign language. Strengthening training actions has always been one of the central objectives of teaching generally and, especially, in teaching foreign languages to students of non-linguistic majors. This determines the relevance of this work. The aims and objectives are specified, as well as the criteria and principles for the performance of content and language integrated learning are revealed, attention is given to the importance of its integration with special disciplines, ways to solve problems that arise when choosing and maintaining the necessary material, as well as in the learning process. "


Maqamat is considered as the most important topic among the others in Sufism because it is the ethics and process of the heart and spirit that seeks to guide people for returning to Allah SWT. In "al-Ghunyah Lithalibi Thoriqi al-Haq 'Azza wa Jalla," al-Jilani—the Sufi figures who founded the Qadiriyah, the oldest and most widespread of the Muslim congregation— formulated the spiritual levels that a salik should take. Although al-Jilani does not call these spiritual levels as maqamat, but in the tradition of Sufism this is commonly called maqamat. Al-Jailani detailed the seven levels of the maqamat, namely al-taubah, al-zuhd, al-tawakkul, al-syukr, al-s}abr, ar-rid}hā and al-s}idq. Al-taubah is considered as the first gate for a salik to get God's blessings in this world and the hereafter. Al-zuhd did not mean to leave the world at all, as long as it did not neglect man from God and could help the religion and the hereafter. This is what distinguishes between Al-Jilani's thought and the others which means al-zuhd is to leave the world.


ABSTRACT A growing number of studies investigated the effects of additional consequentiality scripts on respondents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) and/or their beliefs in the survey arena. However, these works barely provide a clear distinction between policy and payment consequentiality, despite the possible varying effects of these two alternative beliefs. This study explored the impacts of additional policy and payment consequentiality scripts on respondents' WTP and stated beliefs using a split-sample approach. Econometric analyses revealed that the policy and payment consequentiality scripts had significantly positive and negative impacts on respondents' voting behaviours, respectively. Especially, the latter script was more influential than the former one. The payment consequentiality script was also found to be significantly effective in improving respondents' stated payment consequentiality beliefs. These results suggest that emphasising payment consequentiality of a survey is important to encourage respondents to exhibit more careful attitudes towards a hypothetical scenario, thereby reducing some forms of bias in stated preference methods.


Nager acrofacial dysostosis is an oromandibular hypogenesis syndrome characterized with limb abnormalities. Even though its phenotypic characteristics are similar to those of Treacher-Collins Syndrome, it is considered as a separate disorder. The main concern for an anesthesiologist is the facial and mandibular malformations complicating airway management. These problems may also be associated with airway obstruction in the postoperative period. Herein we present the anesthetic management of a 4-year-old male patient with Nager syndrome.
Key words: Nager Syndrome, Airway management, Cleft Palate


Volume 24 published quarterly in 2006 was comprised of 45 articles (654 pages) and 88 authors and co-authors from a variety of topic areas as defined by the Journal of Economic Literature classification system. Table 1 Provides a distribution of articles via Journal of Economic Literature topic area. JOURNAL STATISTICS Active participation in the annual conferences of the Western Economic Association International (WEAI) is encouraged by editors and members of the editorial board. Table 2 provides information on the number of sessions that were sponsored by Contemporary Economic Policy at the annual meeting in San Diego in 2006 and the Pacific Rim conference in Beijing in 2007. CEP sponsored 20 sessions in San Diego (9% of the total sessions) and 14 sessions in Beijing (26% of the sessions). The WEAI conferences provided approximately 31% of our total manuscript submissions for 2006-2007. During the 2006-2007 publishing cycle 182 manuscripts were submitted for review to CEP. There were 56 manuscripts submitted from the San Diego and Beijing conferences as well as 126 non-conference submissions. At this time, 9 manuscripts have been accepted for publication, 96 rejected with 77 decisions pending. These figures are consistent with the more recent acceptance rates ranging from 23% in 1999-2000 to approximately 29% in 2004-2005 (see Table 2). An important contribution to enhancing the quality of the journal is the refereeing process. CEP uses a double-blind process with the objective of obtaining 3 referee reports for each manuscript. As Table 2 demonstrates we are making a significant effort to contact referees and make sure that the editorial team has well grounded input in order to make informed decisions regarding the manuscripts. During 2006-2007 we received 260 referee reports that have helped to provide constructive input to improve accepted manuscripts as well as input for authors of rejected manuscripts. Individuals that have generously provided there contribution as referees for the journal are listed in Table 3. The time to decision for authors is a critical variable for most journals but is particularly important for CEP since the objective is to inform current policy debates. The editorial team is working hard to reduce the time to first decision so that important contributions to the policy debates are available as soon as possible. The most recent statistics indicate that a first decision is made in 25 weeks on average for 2005-2007, down from 34 weeks on average in 2003-2004. In order to continue to improve on this average we switched to an online submission process through Wiley-Blackwell (http:// mc.manuscriptcentral.com/coep). We have been using this system since we changed publishers from Oxford University Press to Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. This change allows authors and referees to track the progress of their contributions in a timely manner. BEST ARTICLE AND EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARDS As with every volume there are a number of articles deserving of special recognition. The editorial team wishes to recognize two articles of particular relevance to policy debates in two important areas, worker compensation among foreign-owned firms and national security and oil markets. CHANGES AT THE JOURNAL During the past year there have been several changes at the journal. First, Andrew Gill has resigned as a co-editor. Andy has served as co-editor since the fall of 1998. During this time he has made a significant contribution in managing manuscripts in the areas of health, sports and education. His contribution will be truly missed. Second, Kristen Monaco has also resigned this past year. Her contribution in the areas of labor, transportation and industrial organization will also be difficult to replace. Another change at the journal this year is the introduction of a book review section. Jack Hou has agreed to serve as book review editor for the journal. …


: Corporate governance is an important mechanism to ensure the normal operation of a company and protect the interests of investors. The quality of accounting disclosure is one of the core contents of corporate governance and an important way for investors to obtain information. This study comprehensively analyzes the relationship between corporate governance and the quality of accounting disclosure, and explores the influencing factors of corporate governance on the quality of accounting disclosure. Corporate governance factors such as board independence, board size, and incentive mechanisms for senior management can have a positive impact on the quality of accounting disclosure; However, factors such as excessive concentration of board power, the quality and integrity of board members, and equity structure have a negative impact on the quality of accounting disclosure. The research aims to provide decision-making basis for investors, regulatory agencies, and company operators, improve investors' understanding and trust in the company's financial situation, and promote the long-term stable development of enterprises and the healthy operation of the market.


In the view of the facts that algal extracts have been used in agriculture as a source of plant growth stimulating agents and Indole-3-acetic acid(IAA)has been shown to be present in the extracts,a study was planned to establish the identification of IAA in the kelp(Laminaria japonica Aresch.)extract and study the regulative function for lower plants by the effects on the growth and the biochemical metabolism of the four marine microalgae Chlorella sp.,Dunaliella salina,Chaetoceros muelleri,Porphyridium cruentum and Isocrydid galbana.IAA identification was based on co-chromatography with the standard,analysis of UV spectra,and atmospheric pressure electrospray mass spectrometry(APESI-MS).IAA was purified by silica gel and HPLC.In addition,the effects of different concentrations of IAA from the kelp on the growth and the biochemical metabolism of the four microalgae grown in f/2 culture medium were studied.The results showed that IAA from the kelp was regulative for the growth of the five marine microalgae.However,the responses and sensitivities of the four microalgae were different to IAA from the kelp.The treatments with high concentrations of IAA significantly inhibited the accumulation of total cellular proteins in Chlorella sp..Compared with treatment control,significant differences were observed on the inhibition of the accumulation of total cellular proteins in Porphyridium cruentum subjected to different treatments with low concentrations of IAA from the kelp ranging from 25 μmol/L to 75 μmol/L.IAA from the kelp had a very significant effect on the chlorophyll biosynthetisis of Chlorella sp..IAA from the kelp was not obvious to regulate the accumulation of cellular polysaccharide in the five marine microalgae.


Querying very large RDF data sets in an efficient manner requires a sophisticated distribution strategy. Several innovative solutions have recently been proposed for optimizing data distribution with predefined query workloads. This paper presents an in-depth analysis and experimental comparison of five representative and complementary distribution approaches. For achieving fair experimental results, we are using Apache Spark as a common parallel computing framework by rewriting the concerned algorithms using the Spark API. Spark provides guarantees in terms of fault tolerance, high availability and scalability which are essential in such systems. Our different implementations aim to highlight the fundamental implementation-independent characteristics of each approach in terms of data preparation, load balancing, data replication and to some extent to query answering cost and performance. The presented measures are obtained by testing each system on one synthetic and one real-world data set over query workloads with differing characteristics and different partitioning constraints.


The main aim of this work was to create a model and carry out simulation tests of a hydraulic system for generating a pressure pulse with strictly defined time parameters. Obtaining a proper pressure course is a key condition for correctness of a long-term testing of hydraulic components durability, including e.g. new types of hoses. The requirements regarding the shape of the impulse were formulated on the basis of the ISO 6803:2008 standard which concerns hydraulic pressure testing of rubber hoses and hose assemblies without flexing. In the first step, a mathematical model of the system was built using equations describing the system geometry, flow equations and flow balances formulated for the separated volumes. Next, a simulation model of the hydraulic system was created in Matlab-Simulink. After obtaining flow characteristics, a model of a required pressure signal generator was built, followed by a fuzzy logic controller created in the Anfis editor of the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox. During the iterative tuning process, parameters of the fuzzy controller were adjusted. Then, the curves of the obtained and the required pressure for different values of the flow rate of the working medium were compared. As arises from the comparison results, the fuzzy logic controller fulfills the requirements and thus may be an advantageous option for generating the pressure signal.The main aim of this work was to create a model and carry out simulation tests of a hydraulic system for generating a pressure pulse with strictly defined time parameters. Obtaining a proper pressure course is a key condition for correctness of a long-term testing of hydraulic components durability, including e.g. new types of hoses. The requirements regarding the shape of the impulse were formulated on the basis of the ISO 6803:2008 standard which concerns hydraulic pressure testing of rubber hoses and hose assemblies without flexing. In the first step, a mathematical model of the system was built using equations describing the system geometry, flow equations and flow balances formulated for the separated volumes. Next, a simulation model of the hydraulic system was created in Matlab-Simulink. After obtaining flow characteristics, a model of a required pressure signal generator was built, followed by a fuzzy logic controller created in the Anfis editor of the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox. During the iterative tun...


The bimolecular kinetics of addition of pyridine to fulvenone (1), benzofulvenone (2), and dibenzofulvenone (3) in pyridine matrixes at 15 to 70 K have been investigated by FTIR matrix isolation spectroscopy. A detailed kinetic analysis reveals a one-to-one correspondence between the disappearance of ketenes and the appearance of the corresponding ketene-pyridine zwitterions ("ketene ylides") formed upon nucleophilic addition. Perturbed second-order kinetics according to the Kohlrausch model were found to describe the data adequately, whereas pseudo-first-order and strict second-order kinetics did not. These results indicate that the bimolecular reaction examined takes place in a heterogeneous medium where distributions of second-order rate constants are obtained. The heterogeneity index, α, obtained from the model varies from 0.35 to 0.56. These findings are consistent with the matrix model proposed by Raff in which the structure of the pyridine matrix is composed of inhomogeneous fast sites where the magnitude of the true reaction rate for chemical reaction exceeds the diffusion rates of both ketene and pyridine molecules. Arrhenius and Eyring thermokinetic parameters obtained from these data reveal that the barrier for reaction under these conditions is very small (less than 1 kcal mor) with a very large negative entropy of activation (ca. - 80 cal K mol). When compared with analogous solution phase kinetic results from laser flash photolysis experiments, it is concluded that the kinetics observed at these low-temperature conditions are largely that of matrix reorganization. This sets a lower limit for the rates and an upper limit for the activation parameters of the actual chemical reactions. Furthermore, identical magnitudes for E, ΔH. and ΔS are found even when they are calculated from second-order rate constants based on the incorrect bimolecular model applicable to homogeneous media. It is suggested that the technique of dynamic matrix isolation spectroscopy is not adequate to obtain chemically meaningful activation parameters in bimolecular reactions. Caveats are also pointed out concerning the experimental interpretations of nonlinear Arrhenius plots obtained in cryogenic matrixes, implicit assumptions about the constancy of medium properties in the construction of Arrhenius and Eyring plots, and the calculation of thermokinetic parameters from data fits to linear forms of the Arrhenius and Eyring equations.


FIELD: manufacturing technology. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a pellet consisting of aramid pulp, filler material and moisture, wherein pellet contains not more than 90 wt% aramid pulp, at least 10 wt% filler material and less than 10 wt% moisture and in which amount of moisture, amount of aramid pulp and amount of filler material is 100 % by weight of pellet. EFFECT: invention also relates to a method for production of such pellet. 14 cl


A nested grid sampling scheme was used to collect and analyze data to generate soil chemical property
variation maps. Several regular sampling grids were nested within each other to achieve a variety of sample spacings.
Soil samples were taken in a 200 m × 200 m area on a 50 m regular grid that included nests on 10, 2, and 0.5 m grids.
The samples were analyzed for salt pH, percent organic matter, plant available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium.
Summary statistics and geostatistical analysis of the soil test results showed that pH and potassium were spatially
dependent, while organic matter and phosphorus were less spatially dependent at the scale of this study. Nested grid
sampling techniques provided an independent way of determining whether spatial dependence was present in the data;
however, nesting was found inadequate for semivariance analysis.


Municipal wastewater treatment plant will produce a large number of sewage sludge in the meantime of disposing sewage,if handled improperly,it will cause serious environmental pollution and waste of resources.One option that exhibits especial promise,due to its potential to valorize the sludge,is converting sludge into adsorbents. Preparing activated carbon with municipal sludge can not only achieve the goal of resource utilization but also produce the versatile and low-cost adsorbent materials.Sewage sludge-based activated carbon has caused great concern of many researchers and in-depth research due to its good environmental and social benefits.An overview of domestic and foreign research progress of the preparation of sewage sludge-based activated carbon and its application in wastewater treatment are reviewed.Besides,a comprehensive analysis of adsorption effect of pollutants in wastewater on sewage sludge-based activated carbon is conducted.


This thesis studies the life-cycle of semiconductor facilities and the potential roles that they may play once they reach the end of their life. Specifically, the author's findings are based on studies associated with the decommissioning of a semiconductor manufacturing facility ("fab") at the Intel Corporation's Aloha Campus in Portland, Oregon. With increasing demarids for its products, Intel is constructing newer and more modern facilities to support large-scale manufacturing efforts. As newer product lines and facilities come on line, older product lines are being eliminated and older semiconductor facilities that produced them are consequently being shut down largely without regard for what their use will be afterwards. As such, this study starts by first looking at the concept of facility life-cycle with respect to semiconductor manufacturing facilities. After discussing potential pre-shutdown planning requirements, the author presents an empirical framework for evaluating possible roles that these fabrication facilities could play after they are taken out of service. In brief, the framework consists of five general steps (1) establish reference state; (2) develop list of alternatives; (3) establish decision factors; (4) generate measures for comparison; and (5) compare and contrast to draw conclusions and is based upon a thorough consideration of all relevant technical, strategic, and financial issues. The paper then applies the framework to a current semiconductor manufacturing facility that was the focus of this research. The example developed for Intel's Fab 4 demonstrates that a combination of a short-term role (utilizing the building as a manufacturing support platform) and a long-term strategy (combining the resources of Fab 4 and Fab 5) appears to be the "most feasible" set of alternatives. In addition, the methodology is then applied to other examples of past and potential future wafer fabrication facility decommissioning projects. Conclusions from this research indicate that a process-oriented (rather than outcome-oriented) framework best captures the iterative and dynamic nature of the problem. As such, the major contribution of this methodology is that it presents a framework for how to think about the problem rather than how to immediately solve it. As such, the author believes that the research results presented herein are not intended to be a panacea for what remains to be a difficult problem. However, since companies will no longer be able to walk away from existing facilities, the author concludes that incremental investment and planning for adaptive re-use during the facility's lifetime would appear to offer numerous advantages over waiting until after it is shut down. Co-Thesis Advisor: E. Sarah Slaughter Title: Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Co-Thesis Advisor: Charles Fine Title: Professor of Management Acknowledgments: The author gratefully acknowledges the support and resources made available to him through the MIT Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) program, a partnership between MIT and major U.S. manufacturing companies. In particular, the author would like to thank Professor Sarah Slaughter for her dedication in helping accomplish the task at hand and her touches of personal and professional advice throughout. Similarly, as the host company for this research, the author would also like to acknowledge the support of Intel Corporation and its numerous employees that the author had the opportunity to work with. In particular, the author would like to single out Mr. Steve Cox for his supervision, insight, advice, and friendship during the research process. In addition, the author would also like to thank his wife Kerry (for putting up with his numerous late night efforts), his daughter Olivia (who was born during the course of this research), and his two cocker spaniels (Holly and Molly) for providing moral and instrumental support during this process. Evaluating End-of-Life Strategies for Decommissioned Semiconductor Facilities CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT.................................... ............. 9 1.1 THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY ................................................................................... ......................... 9 1.2 FACILITIES AS AN ELEMENT OF STRATEGY........................................................................................................9 1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH............................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND OF SEMICONDUCTOR FACILITIES AND ADAPTIVE RE-USE ............ 13 2.1 SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 BACKGROUND ON SEMICONDUCTOR FACILITIES ............................................................................................... 15 2.3 FACILITIES AS AN ASSET -AN ANALOGY: .................................................................................................. 16 2.4 THE FACILITY LIFE CYCLE AND THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTIVE RE-USE ....................................... .......... 17 CHAPTER 3: ELEMENTS OF FACILITY CLOSURE .................................................................................. 19 3.1 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 PRE-PLANNING ISSUES ........................................................................................ ......................................... 20 3.3 EQUIPM ENT DECOMMISSIONING........................................................................................................................24 3.4 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 29 4.1 DATA CO LLECTION .......................................................................................... ............................................ 29 4.2 R ELEV AN CE........................................................................................................................................................30 4.3 ANALYSIS M ETHODS ......................................................................................... ........................................... 30 CHAPTER 5: HIERARCHICAL PRESENTATION OF FRAMEWORK............................ ......................... 31 5.


According to the complexity and low calculation precision of realizing weighted Voronoi diagram of large-scale data,this paper proposed a parallel raster-based algorithm using Euclidean distance to generate weighted Voronoi diagram based on MapReduce and successfully applied to recommend service,which it characterized by the high precision and could be used to handle points,polylines,polygons and any features.Experimental results show that this algorithm can significantly improve the speed of raster Voronoi diagram when dealing with large-scale raster data and recommend the optimal supermarket of combination factors.


With the development of hardware and communication technology, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices have become more powerful in computing, caching, and communication. The enhancement of equipment makes it possible for IoT devices to act as caching helpers in cache-enabled networks to address the conflict between the limited caching resources and the sharply increasing data traffic. However, how to efficiently utilize the caching resources of IoT devices and edge servers is a challenging problem especially when contents are of different sizes. In this article, we focus on the probabilistic caching for contents of different sizes in heterogeneous IoT networks, aiming at improving the offloading rate for backhaul links. We present a mathematical framework to formulate the hit probability of cache-enabled IoT networks based on stochastic geometry and propose an improved caching probability conversion (CPC) algorithm to derive the closed-form solutions of optimal caching probabilities. Moreover, we further extend the network model with serving capacity constraint, i.e., caching devices can only serve a limited number of users simultaneously and solve the corresponding nonconvex problem by the difference of convex (DC) programming. We validate our analytical framework by the Monte Carlo method and give extensive numerical results to compare the performance of the proposed strategy with that of two existing caching strategies.


Abstract : An artificial standard root canal system was used to evaluate the ability of gutta percha filling techniques. No significant difference was noted in the abilities of chloropercha, Kloroperka, and chloroform-dip to replicate the canal system. All three chloroform techniques replicated the system significantly better than lateral condensation. In volumetric evaluation, the chloropercha fills decreased in volume 12.42% in 2 weeks while Kloroperka decreased only 4.86% & chloroform-dip only 1.40%. How significant the 1.40% shrinkage is in relation to seal is unknown. (Author)


Radiographic films have a large range of applications. In many of these applications, the behavior of characteristic curves is very important for assessing the image quality and radiography setup. Radiographic film digitization and visualization are always performed by light transmission, and the characteristic curve is known as a behavior of optical density as a function of the radiation exposure. Because optical density is a function of metallic silver generated by chemical development in silver halides, when an image is visualized by light transmission, a silver amount map is indirectly seen. However, this measurement is limited by the optical instrument, and a very weak light signal cannot be distinguished from background light or background noise. In this way, highly exposed films can contain areas with different silver concentrations, but this cannot be seen because the optical density measurement is limited. One of the ways through which it is possible to overcome such limitation is to use a different method for ascertaining the quantity of silver remaining on the developed films, and one of the quantitative techniques that suit this purpose is X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The purpose of this paper is applying μ-XRF so as to obtain a point-by-point silver intensity map to detect objects with low optical contrast on conventional radiographic films. The results of this work have shown a higher linear range in measurement using XRF, and as consequence, small objects and details in low-contrast or overexposed radiographic images could be visualized by the silver mapping technique, and the same results could not be achieved using light transmission methods. A first approach about spatial resolution and contrast was made showing strong and weak points of this way to scan radiographic films. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Summary In Poland dairy farming has become more concentrated for the last 10 years. However the extent of fragmentation is still higher than in Western European countries. Only farms with more then 35 cows and with an average milk production of at least 6000 l/year will retain potential for growth and market competitiveness. In the Plock region there are still usused opportunities for the growth of dairy production if the scale of production is increased. Key words: milk production, concentration, profitability