Abstract Extensive areas in the upper Midwest have been invaded by spotted knapweed, and effective management strategies are required to reestablish native plant communities. We examined effects of mowing, mowing plus clopyralid, or mowing plus glyphosate in factorial combination with hand pulling and burning on knapweed abundances on a knapweed-infested site in western Michigan. We applied mowing and herbicide treatments in summer 2008, and seeded all plots with native grasses and forbs in spring 2009. We conducted the knapweed pulling treatment from 2009 to 2012 in July. The prescribed burn was conducted in April 2012. By 2012, hand pulling reduced adult knapweed densities to 0.57 ± 0.12 m−2 (0.053 ± 0.011 ft−2) (mean ± SE), which was 5.8% of nonpulled treatments, juvenile densities to 0.29 ± 0.07 m−2 (2.1% of nonpulled treatments), and seedling densities to 0.07 ± 0.06 m−2 (2.6% of nonpulled treatments). After 3 yr, hand pulling reduced seed bank densities to 68 ± 26 m−2 as compared to 524 ± 254 m−2 in nonpulled treatments and 369 ± 66 m−2 in adjacent untreated areas of the study site. Without hand pulling, effects of mowing or mowing plus glyphosate were short-lived and allowed knapweed to rapidly resurge. In comparison, although a single mowing plus clopyralid treatment maintained significantly reduced densities of knapweed for 4 yr, by 2012 knapweed biomass in the nonpulled clopyralid treatment was approximately 60% of that in the other nonpulled treatments. Burning had minimal impacts on knapweed densities regardless of treatment combination, probably as a result of low fire intensity. Results demonstrated that persistent hand pulling used as a follow-up to single mowing or mowing plus herbicide treatments can be an effective practice for treating isolated spotted knapweed infestations or for removing small numbers of knapweed that survive herbicide applications. Nomenclature: Clopyralid, glyphosate, spotted knapweed, Centaurea stoebe L. Management Implications: We studied the interactive effects of mowing, herbicides, hand pulling, and burning on spotted knapweed control in western Michigan. Effects of a single mowing or mowing plus glyphosate on spotted knapweed were short-lived. In contrast, a single application of mowing plus clopyralid maintained reduced knapweed densities for 4 yr after treatment. In the fourth year, however, knapweed biomass in the nonpulled mowed plus clopyralid treatment was approximately 60% of the other nonpulled treatments, evidence that knapweed was resurging in the clopyralid treatment as well. Contrary to expectations, there were minimal effects of a single spring burn on spotted knapweed densities, probably as a result of suboptimal season of burn and cool burn-day temperatures, which caused low fire intensity. In comparison to other treatments, hand pulling more effectively controlled all knapweed life stages after 3 yr of treatment. Initially, hand-pulling removals were greatest on mowed-only plots (44 ± 7 m−2, mean ± SE), increased in both clopyralid and glyphosate-treated plots in the second year as knapweed populations began to recover from herbicides, and then equalized at greatly reduced levels (0.6 ± 0.1 m−2) across all mowing and herbicide treatments by the fourth year. Removing knapweed by hand requires a large investment of time, however, and this must be taken into account when planning strategies for restoring knapweed-infested sites. To be effective, hand pulling needs to be applied persistently in advance of seed dispersal over several years. Hand pulling can be an effective practice for treating relatively small knapweed infestations in areas being restored to native vegetation, or as a follow-up treatment after herbicides have been used to reduce large infestations. Hand pulling also provides a treatment option in natural areas where herbicides are restricted to prevent damage to native plants.


Basal sediment debris from the Greenland ice sheet was examined with the hope of recovering microfossils that could be used to determine and date changes in ice sheet size through time. Basal debris and debris-laden ice from the lower 18 m of the Camp Century ice core, northwest Greenland, revealed the presence of common freshwater and rare marine diatoms. These diatoms may have lived in the vicinity of the Camp Century site in the Late Neogene prior to development of the Greenland ice sheet. More likely, they lived during a Pleistocene interglacial period, when the volume of ice in the Greenland ice sheet was smaller than it is today and the site was ice free. A warmer and/or longer interglacial period than the present Holocene "interglacial" is suggested to explain the large decrease in ice sheet volume. Key words: diatoms, interglacial, Pleistocene, Camp Century ice core, Greenland


In this study, a meta-model based method is proposed for automatic generation of STEP AP 203 file for mechanical part of the mechatronic system from the SysML model. System modeling technology in SysML is firstly presented and then the model of EXPRESS language is employed to transfer the information from SysML through the model transformation method. Based on the information parsed from the resulting EXPRESS model, the STEP file is finally generated by creating the B_REP model in STEP AP 203 standard. The proposed method is illustrated with a case study named as inverted pendulum system (IPS).


There have been successive waves of plant migration north across the Scottish Border since the end of the Ice Age. For those species that never penetrated far into Scotland and which lack specialised means of long-distance dispersal, the distinctive distribution patterns shown by BSBI's tetrad mapping provide evidence of the likely dates and dispersal mechanisms of the migrations, separating out migration relating to man's activities. Twelve distribution maps have been prepared for native or archaeophyte species that illustrate contrasting histories. Conclusions are drawn as to whether or not species which lack specialised means of long-distance dispersal are able to migrate north over fragmented natural habitats in response to climate change.


Oxide coatings for solar cells deposited from organic solutions were studied. Among them, an Al203 layer was found to decrease the surface recombination velocity of a silicon wafer to about 1 /10 of its value with no coating. The new constitutions were designed by inserting a thin Al203 layer between the silicon substrate and the antireflective layers. IR absorptions and the capacitance-voltage characteristics indicated that the reduced surface recombination velocity corresponded to the decrease of the surface state den-sity by the terminating action of H or OH. Instead of TiO2, a Ta205 layer was introduced to improve the absorption of the short wavelength radiation. By inserting the thin Al203 layer, the efficiency of the solar cell increased by about 5%.


Group decision‐making is a process wherein multiple individuals interact simultaneously, analyze problems, evaluate the possible available alternatives, characterized by multiple conflicting criteria, and choose suitable alternative solution to the problem. Technique for establishing order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) is a well‐known method for multiple‐criteria decision‐making. The purpose of this study is to extend the TOPSIS method to solve multicriteria group decision‐making problems equipped with Pythagorean fuzzy data, in which the assessment information on feasible alternatives, provided by the experts, is presented as Pythagorean fuzzy decision matrices having each entry characterized by Pythagorean fuzzy numbers. A revised closeness index is utilized to obtain the ranking of alternatives and to identify the optimal alternative. The developed Pythagorean fuzzy TOPSIS (PF‐TOPSIS) is illustrated by a flow chart. At length, practical examples interpreting the applicability of our proposed PF‐TOPSIS are solved.


The metabolomic approach and data-mining gains increasing significance in phytochemical analysis. The aim of the current work was to examine the effects of the N source concentration and ammonium-nitrate ratio on the pattern of phenylethanoid glycosides (PG) of the tissue cultures of Plantago lanceolata L. The experiment was carried out using a full factorial experimental design, the metabolome was investigated with LC-ESI-MS3; using modified Murashige Skoog media, 10, 20, 40, 60 mM total N source concentrations and 0, 0.11, 0.20, 0.33 ammonium-nitrate ratios were tested. Phenomena were sought using accepted data-visualization and data-mining methods. The effects of the treatment on the individual metabolites was also examined. From the tissue culture, 16 natural products could be putatively identified as PGs. The concentration of these reacted very differently to the treatments, despite the compounds were of the same metabolite group. Plantamajoside and acteoside were detected as major PGs. Their maximal concentration was 3.54 ± 0.83% and 1.30 ± 0.40%, respectively, on media 10 (0.33) and 40 (0.33). Most of the examined 89 abundant natural products were affected by the composition of the media. The N source concentration and the ammonium-nitrate ratio significantly influenced the concentration of 42 and 10 compounds, respectively. For cumulation of many compounds, compositions, such as 10 (0), 10 (0.11) and 40 (0.33) were found to be optimal, which significantly differ from the widely used Murashige Skoog medium – 60 (0.33). Computer simulation has shown, that using one-factor-at-a-time experimental design instead of full-factorial would have led to suboptimal yields with respect to many natural products. If the N source is optimized first, followed by the ammonium-nitrate ratio, this bias is significantly less during one-factor-at-a-time experimental design.


In this paper, we study the invariant subspaces and reducing subspace of the weighted Bergman space over polydisc. The minimal reducing subspaces of a class of analytic Toeplitz operators are completely described, and Beurling-type theorem of some invariant subspaces of Toeplitz operators T zi (1≤ i ≤ n )on the weighted Bergman space over polydisc is also obtained.


Motivated by the dual need of developing alternative non-carcinogenic building material products from local raw materials and the need for sustainable solid waste management of polyethylene packaged water sachets waste in Nigeria, an asbestos-free composite material, polycrete, viable for use as ceiling and partitioning boards in buildings was recently developed by the author. The technical viability of forming a durable composite material from polyethylene fibers (shredded/granulated polyethylene sachets- poly-fibers), and cement in durable economic mix ratio of 1:4 by volume (i.e. one part of cement with 4 parts of fiber) was established with test specimens cast in plastic moulds as presented at RETAV Conference 2009, at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. In order to meet workability requirements (for easy penetration of nails), some amount of paper was also added to introduce some ductility to the mix. Building on the success of initial trials with model specimens, prototype ceiling boards, 600mm x 600mm in size are now being investigated for production. Replicating the mix ratios as established for the model specimens in the prototype production, final product weight of 4.4kg per piece was achieved. It was considered desirable to reduce the weight per product to about 3.5kg so as to be comparable with lighter ceiling products made from gypsum (Plaster of Paris - POP). Various combination weights of Portland cement, poly-fibers, waste paper, and water were varied with the objective of producing a 600mm x 600mm prototype with a product weight not exceeding 3.5kg. This paper presents results of the trials and establishes a minimum weight of 2.5kg Portland cement, 0.5kg poly-fiber, 0.1kg paper and 2.25kg of water to produce a 600mm x 600mm by 5.0mm thick ceiling board with a product weight of 3.35kg. Production process was replicated several times with durable prototypes being formed each time. A comparable asbestos-cement ceiling sheet (produced by Nigerite - 1.2m x 1.2m x 3.5mm thick in dimension - four times the surface area of polycrete product) weighs 8.0kg. In addition to the asbestos-free attribute of polycrete, other obvious advantage of Polycrete Decorative Ceiling board over the Nigerite product is the artistic pattern design embossed on it, making it aesthetically more pleasing to home owners than the plain version of Nigerite product.


THE MAJOR phase of contemporary surgical treatment of retinal detachment is the application of diathermy to produce focal areas of heat injury at selected sites in the eye. The surgeon hopes that the proliferation which occurs in the reparative phase of reaction to the injury will lead to the development of chorioretinal ad-hesions. The procedure is an exacting one which too often fails because the inflicted injury is inadequate, misplaced, or excessive. If it is excessive anatomical reattachment of the retina may take place, but function is impaired or lost as a result of either immediate heat injury or its complications and sequelae. To improve techniques, more controllable methods of adminis-tering diathermy and a better understanding of the reactions to heat of the various ocular tissues are needed. Many clinical im-pressions have been reported but relatively little data on these two fundamental aspects of the surgical treatment of retinal detachment obtained suit-ability of the various types of diathermy for ophthalmic surgery further investigation, and improved methods of studying reactions of the ocular tissues to thermal injury must be developed. We have been working on these problems for several years and plan additional studies. present


The prevalence of microalbuminuria in adult hypertensive patients without diabetes varies among studies, with reported ranges from below 10% up to about 25%. The development of microalbuminuria in primary hypertension likely reflects glomerular injury, a point reinforced by a recent study which demonstrated that the risk of development of microalbuminuria was related to the presence and evolution of glomerular hyperfiltration. The presence of microalbuminuria, even in nondiabetic patients, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and there seems to be a relationship between not only the presence of microalbuminuria, but also its severity in determining total cardiovascular risk. There is also a strong association between microalbuminuria and inflammatory markers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, suggesting a pathophysiologic role of inflammation and vascular dysfunction in the development of kidney damage. Given these clear relationships, current guidelines for assessment of hypertensive adults include screening for microalbuminuria, and treatment to reduce microalbuminuria has been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in large-scale clinical trials. In children, however, extensive data on microalbuminuria and its relationship with blood pressure (BP) are mostly lacking, so current clinical practice guidelines are less clear. The National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group stated that there was insufficient evidence to recommend routine assessment of microalbuminuria in hypertensive children and adolescents, whereas the more recent European Society of Hypertension pediatric guidelines recommend that microalbuminuria be assessed, but also note that there is no evidence to guide the practitioner in using this information. The 2011 Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute did not even mention microalbuminuria. However, the recently issued pediatric guideline from the Canadian Hypertension Education Program does recommend inclusion of urine microalbumin excretion in order to assess for the presence of target organ damage in children with confirmed hypertension; this recommendation was based on the results of one singlecenter study, which will be discussed later. Thus, the practitioner who cares for hypertensive children and adolescents has conflicting guidance from consensus organizations on whether to routinely screen for microalbuminuria, or what to do with the results of such testing if performed anyway.


The ecological village is constructed based on the background of sustainable development and recycle economy.The conception and characteristic,management mode and innovation of the ecological village were explained with the theory of recycle economy in this article,as well as the advantage of the ecological village in China was introduced.


The bachelor thesis is primarily focused on aspects and expressions of rivalry between siblings of the same sex and also observes in which parts those aspects and expressions affect their lives. Theoretical part of this bachelor thesis is devoted to socialization of child's personality in family, school and society. An extensive part deals with the concept of siblings, relationships between firstborn and second-born sibling of the same sex. The last chapter is devoted to sibling rivalry, its reasons and expressions. The practical part of the thesis contains a description of research project and research results. We present transcriptions of interviews supplemented by our interpretation.


The 2005 riots in France in response to the tragic deaths of Bouna Traoré and Zyed Benna from Clichy-sous-Bois raised anew questions about the situation of immigrants in the banlieues of France. Maboula Soumahoro assesses the state of the media and the République française.


Agricultural activities play a major role to design rural landscapes, through interactions
between actors and resources. In this paper, we provide an outlook on the interactions
between farming systems, landscapes and land use among the international scientific
literature. We made the hypothesis that the majority of studies dealing with landscape
generally do not take into account agricultural practices and farm management. This result in a potential bias in future landscape designing. We proposed a three-step methodology: The first step consisted of a manual data-mining based on an ontology of key-words built by expert knowledge. A temporal analysis of the
key-words was also performed with some bibliometric tools. In a second step, we analysed each study case according to a grid composed of four axes: i) Framework of the study; ii) level of land use and farm management analysis; iii) spatial and temporal scales considered; iv) extension to a modelling approach. Finally, we used a Multiple Correspondence Analysis then an Ascendant Hierarchical Classification on the corpus of selected papers to build a typology of articles. 210 papers were selected and a typology was built. The combination of expert knowledge and statistical methods into data-mining approaches revealed that few studies connected the dynamic - in space and time - of crop distribution and management with landscape and resources management whereas the number of studies on landscape dynamic is increasing. Landscape designing requires that agronomists pay more attention to the articulation between landscape management, resources management and farming systems


Background: Transphenoidal microscopic approach is minimally invasive surgery in case of pituitary adenoma. Comparatively less complication than transcranial approach. Objective: The purpose of the study to see the outcome of transphenoidal microscopic removal of pituitary adenoma. Results: The study showed the majority 8(53.33%) of patients were female. It was documented that 7(46.66%) of patient had age group 21-40 years. It was evident that 13(86.66%) of patient had macroadenoma. Among the 15 patients 14(93.33%) had visual disturbance and 1(6.64%) had pituitary apoplexy. Tumor was totally removed under microscope in 10(66.67%) cases. It was documented that 12(80.11%) of patients improved after surgery. Conclusion: Transphenoidal microscopic pituitary surgery is one of the important procedure which can save many lives with lack of postoperative complication. Chatt Maa Shi Hosp Med Coll J; Vol.14 (2); Jul 2015; Page 38-42


The 'local' community of Matera has been studied in a pioneering work by Lidia De Rita, who focused on the unique configuration of its neighborly relations, defining "psycho-groups", featured by their not codified laws and affected by topographical defects in the formation of normal groups. In the second half of the 20th century, Matera radically changed its status: from a "national shame", it was declared a "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO; in addition, it was definitively crowned in the hearth of the European scenario, thanks to the European Capital of Culture program (ECoC). In this rapidly evolving background, this work aims to investigate the re-signification of this 'glocal' community by means of three crucial variables—culture, participation, and sense of community and identity—as experienced across the complex pathway leading to Matera 19 (M19). In order to analyze the psychosocial value of the Cultural Heritage of the Mega Event M19, as it was socially constructed and perceived, both "front stage" (opening and closing ceremonies) and "backstage" (through interviews with key actors) positioning were analyzed by means of critical discourse analysis. The emerging social-epistemic rhetoric revealed a kaleidoscope of meanings, where the opportunities offered by M19 dealt with a missed fulfillment of needs and with the fact that the unicity of Matera still has to deal with its unresolved fragilities.


This article uses piecewise regression to explore diminishing returns to population density and identifies the density thresholds in the three most populous Canadian metropolitan areas beyond which any increase in population density is associated with declining marginal returns in transit mode split. An improved understanding of diminishing returns will enable planners and transit operators to focus on specific transit modes and service areas where increasing population densities are more likely to correlate with higher transit mode splits.


A kinetic study was carried out on the acetalization reaction of 1,3-butanediol, as a model compound for poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), in water, under acidic conditions. Since these equilibrium constants of ketalization reaction of 1,3-butanediol and ethylene glycol are so small, the kinetic parameters were estimated from the hydrolysis reactions of the corresponding ketals. It was made clear that these reactions proceed in the reversible bimolecular reaction, and the heat of reaction and activation energy are nearly equal to that of PVA. The rate constants of hydrolysis reaction (k's) of model compounds were calculated on the basis of value of acetone ketal, Hammett-Taft's equation log k's/k'so - 0.54(n - 6) = ρ*σ* was established, and the value of ρ* was obtained (3.60), which coincided with the value of PVA. Therefore, it was made clear that the hydrolysis reactions of acetals and ketals are electrophilic reaction (SE II reaction) and the step of rate determination is the formation of hemiacetal and hemiketal. The rate constants of hydrolysis reaction of 1,3-butanediol acetals and ketals were approximately 10-20 larger, and those of ethylene glycol were approximetly 50-80 larger except for ketals, and those of ethanol were roughly 2000-10,000 larger compared with that of high-molecular weight compound ( PVA ). It can be well explained that these differences in the rate constant depend on their entropy and the mobility of molecules.


Edward R. Landa and Robert G. Gast: Evaluation of crystallinity in hydrated ferric oxides. Clays and Clay Minerals21, 121–130 (1973).On p. 126, Fig. 8, the caption and ordinate should read 4·18Å rather than 4·13Å. Also on p. 126, Fig. 8(a), the abscissa should be reversed, i.e. it should read 1·00 to 0·00 from left to right.


Abstract 4147 VRE is a well known infectious complication among immunocompromised patients. We previously reported that early-onset VRE bacteremia after aHPCT was associated with a rapidly deteriorating clinical course and death (Bone Marrow Transplant 2005; 35: 497–499). The current analysis was performed to identify risk factors for the development of VRE infection after aHPCT and to determine its prognostic importance for other post transplant outcomes. From 1997–2011, 800 consecutive adult patients with hematologic diseases underwent aHPCT at our institution. These included 448 (56%) males and 723 (90%) Caucasians. The median age was 46 yrs (range, 18–71), 451 (56%) had ≥ 2 chemotherapy regimens before aHPCT, 92 (12%) had prior radiation therapy, 470 (59%) were in remission at transplant, and comorbidity scores included: 280 (36%) low, 229 (30%) intermediate and 268 (34%) high-risk. The most common diagnoses were AML (306), ALL (111), MDS (110), CML (87), and NHL (85). 389 (49%) patients had unrelated donors, 676 (85%) were 8/8 HLA matched, 632 (79%) had myeloablative transplants, and HPC sources included 532 (66%) bone marrow, 213 (27%) peripheral blood progenitor cell, 55 (7%) umbilical cord blood. Eighty-three (10%) pts developed VRE after aHPCT and 8 of these had recurrent episodes. The median time from transplant to the first episode of VRE was 54 days (range, 2–2256); 37 (45%) occurred during the initial transplant hospitalization and 9 (11%) were in outpatient reduced intensity conditioning transplants. Due to the many different underlying diagnoses a recursive partitioning analysis was performed which categorized them into 3 risk groups for VRE: ALL (high risk), AML/MDS/CLL (intermediate risk) and all other diagnoses (low risk). Incidences of VRE by date of aHPCT were 6.1% (1/97-4/01), 10.9% (5/01–8/04), 12.5% (9/04–6/08) and 16.5% (7/08–12/11). Multivariable Cox analysis found 6 risk factors for VRE infection: year of aHPCT (per one year increase) (p=0.047), intermediate + high comorbidity score (p=0.005), active disease at transplant (p=0.014), ALL diagnosis (p=0.003), unrelated donor (p Seventy-three (88%) pts with VRE died at a median of 1.2 mos (range, 0–32) after it was detected. However, only 4 (6%) of these deaths were due to VRE while the remaining resulted from other infections (27%), disease relapse (23%), non-pulmonary organ failure (12%), GVHD (22%), pulmonary failure (6%) and graft failure (4%). We conclude that the incidence of VRE after aHPCT has increased over time and is highly associated with mortality although not usually directly from VRE. Strategies to further enhance immune reconstitution post transplant and strict adherence to infection control measures are needed particularly for those with ALL, alternative donors, higher comorbidity scores or not in remission at the time of aHPCT. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


ANY CONTROVERSIAL aspects to thyroid M nodule management still exist. Important among these is the determination of which nodules require surgical removal because of the possibility of carcinoma, which may be treated nonsurgically, and which may be merely observed with reasonable safety. There is growing recognition21 61 91 10 of the relationship of the presence or absence of isotopic function in a thyroid nodule to the possible presence of cancer. This report is part of a study designed to correlate clinical and histological aspects of nodular thyroids with graphic records of the nodules obtained by means of special equipment that traces actual distribution of radioactive iodine (1131) in all parts of the gland. In particular, the relation of carcinoma to isotopic function is presented.


In this work, the non-linear (NL) dielectric properties of the Sr 0.75 Ba 0.25 Nb 2 O 6 (SBN) ferroelectric thin film prepared by the chemical method were investigated. The NL dielectric properties were obtained by using the measurements of the dielectric permittivity of the material as a function of the DC bias and the AC driving fields in a wide frequency (100 Hz–10 MHz) and temperature (150 K–350 K) range. An anomalous behavior of the non-linear dielectric response was observed when submitted to high electric fields levels. The obtained results were analyzed concerning one of the models for the dielectric response of relaxors ferroelectrics materials currently discussed in the literature.


In this study about the maintenance and improvement of the Quality Management System (QMS), we will first assess the degree of maintenance and analyze the reasons why the level of maintenance is rather low (Part 1). Then we will investigate the reasons why ISO 9001 certification has not brought significant improvement to the performance of the organization (Part 2).


Aims: To report the perinatal outcomes of a large series of twin pregnancies with severe twin–twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) managed with laser ablation surgery in an Australian tertiary perinatal centre and to compare the outcome with other large cohorts.


Evolutionary relationships of true butterflies (Papilionoidea) are addressed using sequence data from nuclear, 28S ribosomal RNA, and the mitochondria), protein-coding gene, ND1. We include a reanalysis of morphological characters from the literature to obtain an independent estimate of phylogeny. Neither morphology nor sequence data produce a single tree, and their results disagree on the relationships of Pieridae, Lycaenidae, and Riodinidae. The total evidence analysis corroborates Kristensen's hypothesis of butterfly family evolution. Lycaenids and riodinids form a clade and are placed as the sister to Nymphalidae. Pieridae is placed as the sister taxon to this apical clade and not as the sister to Papilionidae. Nymphalid subfamily relationships remain enigmatic, particularly the placement of Ithomiinae and Libytheinae.


Abstract Selenium-promoted oxidations enable a broad range of valuable oxidative functional group interconversions. Anilines are oxidized with hydrogen peroxide in water in the presence of selenium catalysts. The selenium catalyst determines the nature of the oxidation product; whereas nitroarenes are obtained employing diphenyl diselenide or benzeneseleninic acid, azoxyarenes are formed using selenium dioxide or sodium seleninate. The reaction mechanism relies on the reactivity of Se(IV) active oxidants, while Se(VI) species have been demonstrated not to be involved in. Graphical Abstract


A systematic investigation of the reliability and the possible degradation mechanisms of Au-LaB/sub 6/ Schottky contacts to GaAs is presented. Due to a relatively large barrier height ( approximately=0.9 eV) LaB/sub 6/ Schottky contacts are particularly interesting for low leakage current device operation, even at elevated temperatures. The high thermal stability enables sophisticated fabrication processes in connection with ion implantation. The dependence of the contact reliability on certain annealing and processing techniques during device fabrication is demonstrated. Accelerated lifetime tests, in combination with electrical measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) sputter profiling, have been performed, indicating that optimized technological parameters yield reliable contacts with good electrical characteristics.<<ETX>>


Meroterpenoids, meroindenon (1) and merochlorins E (2) and F (3), were isolated from a marine-derived bacterium belonging to the genus Streptomyces. Their chemical structures were established using extensive analysis of MS, UV, ECD, and NMR spectroscopic data. Compounds 1-3 possess a tetrahydroxynaphthalene core and a C15-isoprene unit. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited strong antibacterial activities against B. subtilis, K. rhizophila, and S. aureus, with a range of MIC values from 1 to 2 μg/mL.


Researchers, practitioners, educators and psychologists have recognized that life is full of problems to be solved and that humans are problem-solvers. The structure of this book includes six chapters. Chapter 1 addresses approaches underlying social problem-solving approach, main concepts and factors influencing an individual's performance of social problem solving. Chapter 2 presents methodological issues in social problem-solving assessment. Chapter 3 identifies interpersonal difficulties in adolescents to develop a taxonomy of adolescent interpersonal problems, while chapter 4 points to modifying an empirically supported, multidimentional model of social problem solving to design test subscales/scales and standardizing testing procedures which base on a cognitive-behaviour-analytic approach to develop test items. Chapters 5 and 6 present evidence concerning test reliability and validity and discussions of psychological testing properties, as well as implications for practice and future research.


Physicochemical studies on the interaction of cationic surfactants dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), N-dodecyl-N-2-hydroxyethyl-N,N-dimethylammonium bromide (C12HDAB), and N-dodecyl-N,N-2-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl ammonium bromide (C12DHAB) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were performed by fluorimetry, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and ξ-potential measurements. The quenching efficiency of the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA and the interaction strength with BSA increased with increasing numbers of hydroxyethyl constituents in the head group. In each of the surfactant/BSA systems studied, the specific binding site was Trp-213 and the hydrophobic interaction was predominant while a contribution of the hydrogen bond was also observed in the presence of hydroxyethyl. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The issue of Water Security has increasingly gained the global concern. Henan province is presently confronted with the severe imbalance in water resources distribution and drinking water security, which is extremely detrimental to agricultural production. In the study of regional water resources optimization, with the guide of systmetic theory, based on improved adaptive genetic algorithm, corresponding mathematical model is established in this article to deal with some problems which include precocious or non-global convergence or slow convergence. The result shows that the improved algorithm has good global search ability and rapid convergence rate, which lays a theoretical foundation for global optimization problem of water resources allocation, which has been already adopted by Water Conservancy Bureau of Anyang city, and good effects have beed brought.


Summary: Short-term stability or test-retest reliability of self-reported personality traits is likely to be biased if the respondent is affected by a depressive or anxiety state. However, in some ...


This work proposes a new method to identify non-technical losses in typical Electrical Power Distribution Systems (EPDS). Aiming to improve the efficiency of on-site inspection for fraudulent clients, the consumers are classified in suspects and non-suspects using the Optimum-Path Forest (OPF) classifier. The authors propose an improvement to this method using results of a Distribution State Estimator (DSE) and geographic information. The method is tested in the IEEE 123 Bus Test Feeder considering a group of consumers for each load. The consumers are based on typical Brazilian residential consumers. The results indicate that the proposed method improves the performance of previously developed techniques and is suitable for both typical and smart EPDS. The best results are obtained when the DSE and OPF are associated using normalized data as the input for this hybrid approach, with expected success rate of up to 72.43% for on-site inspections in the EPDS test system.


Rod-shaped fiber composite structure with metallic load transfer elements, consisting of a rod-shaped fiber composite part and at the end of the rod-shaped fiber composite part held form-fitting metallic load transfer elements, characterized in that - the rod-shaped fiber-reinforced part of the cup-shaped base components (1) with a predominantly axial fiber reinforcement consists, - are connected to each other, the base components (1) each formed at its ends for the positive reception of a load introduction element (3, 4) and the cup-shaped base components (1), and - the basic components (1) of a bandage (2) are surrounded with a circumferential fiber reinforcement.


Abstract : This project identifies and describes research organizations in China, Japan, and South Korea which IDA researchers could contact to further their own research. Asian think tanks have traditionally produced less independent and creative research than their American counterparts, reflecting the fact that most Asian think tanks are government-run and a strong Confucian tradition limits the contributions of younger researchers. But especially in Japan and Korea think tanks have begun to engage in more independent research in the 1990s. The products of this research should be made available to IDA researchers engaged in projects with an Asian component. Although IDA does not have the manpower to establish an Asian research center that could conduct its own research, information exchange and research collaboration could be promoted by utilizing the Asian networks of IDA's core Asian specialists, by hosting workshops and lecture series to which Asian researchers are invited, and by jointly sponsoring conferences and small research projects with Asian research centers.


With the development of the data, block chain technology has gradually become the focus of the world. In block chain's consensus algorithm, the typical Byzantine problem is often mentioned. In this paper, the Trimmed mean aggregation rule is proposed based on the stochastic gradient descent method to solve the Byzantine problem. We introduce the concept of Byzantine resilience and proves that the aggregation rule satisfies the Byzantine resilience condition, and the aggregation rule has O(dnlogn) complexity. Finally, in our experiment, we compare various aggregation rules and demonstrate that the Trimmed mean aggregation rules are robust.


Education plays a dominant and vital role in an individual's personal and professional growth. The growth and progress of a society without education is only wishful thinking. Globally, the education system has been divided into three phases that include primary, secondary, and post-secondary, also called tertiary or higher education (HE). HE is considered the last and highest stage of formal education. HE is a significant game-changer that enhances gainful employment opportunities and improves the country's value system, civic sense, and socio-economic uplift. The HE of Balochistan is still lagging and is not capable of bringing forth a way forward for the socio-economic development of the people of Balochistan. This study aims to address the problems and current status of HE in Balochistan and provide policy recommendations to sort out those issues. The methodology for conducting this study was based on a detailed survey of the universities. A questionnaire was circulated among the vice-chancellors of the universities and the former vice-chancellor of the University of Balochistan, as well as the former Chancellor and Governor of Balochistan, across the province. The study concluded that the universities are facing severe financial constraints in revenue generation; they may not fulfil the demands of the university.


The article is devoted to analysis of influence of inertia forces and forces of pressure of gases on the form and character of tear and wear of details of piston group of tank diesel engine В-84.


AUTHOR Boardman, Anthony E.; Phillips, Barbara R. TITLE Simultaneous Equations Models of the EduCational Process for High and Low Achievers. Fels Center of Government Discussion Paper No. 89. INSTITUTION Pennsylvania Univ., Philadelphia. Government Studies Center. SPONS AGENCY Ford Foundation, New York, N.Y.; National Inst. of Education (DREW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Apr 76 NOTE 48p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Francisco, California, April 19-23, 1976); For related documents, see ED 117120 and ED 097404 AVAILABLE FROM The School of Public and Urban Policy, University of Pennsylvania, 39th and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19174


The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made public a data set showing what hospitals charged and what Medicare paid for the one hundred most common inpatient stays. By law payments approximate a hospital's cost of providing a service. However, the data shows a wide dollar gap between Medicare payments and what hospitals actually charged. We explore the origins of hospital pricing using the technique of Independent Component Analysis, a form of blind source separation. Discovered source signals were interpreted by putting them into context with conditions, including characteristics of individual hospitals and the marketplaces in which they operate. This high-dimensional data consisting of over 100 variables was explored using Weave, a web-based analysis and visualization environment. Four underlying processes that exert influence on hospital pricing were identified, including one that revealed distinguishing features of hospitals at the extreme high and low ends of the charge distribution. Perhaps surprisingly, hospitals that lie on opposite ends of the price scale were found to have many attributes in common as well.


To prevent the emission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes(SARS)in the hospital ,we groped for the sterilization and isolation system and protection measures after we treated the first patient of SARS in Mar.2003.These measures include establishment of ward hardware; sterilization to ward; protection to hospital workers; patients isolation protection and patients' effects sterilization. It is proved that good sterilization and isolation system can effectively control the emission of SARS. Moreover, we discussed some issues met in the work of protection ward.


Understanding the influence of gas flow maldistribution in honeycombs can be beneficial for the process design in various technical applications. Although recent studies have investigated the effect of maldistribution by comparing the results of numerical simulations with experimental measurements, an exhaustive 3D full-field comparison is still lacking. Such full-field comparisons are required to identify and eliminate possible limitations of numerical and experimental tools. For that purpose, spatially resolved flow patterns were simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and measured experimentally by non-invasive NMR velocimetry (MRV). While the latter might suffer from a misinterpretation of artefacts, the reliability of CFD is linked to correctly chosen boundary conditions. Here, a full-field numerical and experimental analysis of the gas flow within catalytic honeycombs is presented. The velocity field of thermally polarized methane gas was measured in a regular 3D-printed honeycomb and a commercial monolith using an optimized MRV pulse sequence to enhance the obtained signal-to-noise ratio. A second pulse sequence was used to show local flow propagators along the axial and radial direction of the honeycomb to quantify the contribution of diffusion to mass transport. A quantitative comparison of the axially averaged convective flow as determined by MRV and CFD shows a very good matching with an agreement of ±5% and 10% for printed and commercial samples, respectively. The impact of maldistribution on the gas flow pattern can be observed in both simulation and experiments, confirming the existence of an entrance effect. Gas displacement measurements, however, revealed that diffusive interchannel transport can also contribute to maldistribution, as was shown for the commercial sample. The good agreement between the simulation and experiments underpins the reliability of both methods for studying gas hydrodynamics within opaque monolith structures.


Program induction for answering complex questions over knowledge bases (KBs) aims to decompose a question into a multi-step program, whose execution against the KB produces the final answer. Learning to induce programs relies on a large number of parallel question-program pairs for the given KB. However, for most KBs, the gold program annotations are usually lacking, making learning difficult. In this paper, we propose the approach of program transfer, which aims to leverage the valuable program annotations on the rich-resourced KBs as external supervision signals to aid program induction for the low-resourced KBs that lack program annotations. For program transfer, we design a novel two-stage parsing framework with an efficient ontology-guided pruning strategy. First, a sketch parser translates the question into a high-level program sketch, which is the composition of functions. Second, given the question and sketch, an argument parser searches the detailed arguments from the KB for functions. During the searching, we incorporate the KB ontology to prune the search space. The experiments on ComplexWebQuestions and WebQuestionSP show that our method outperforms SOTA methods significantly, demonstrating the effectiveness of program transfer and our framework. Our codes and datasets can be obtained from https://github.com/THU-KEG/ProgramTransfer.


New data and preliminary results from an experimental study of the p + 11B reaction are presented. Using proton energies in the range of 167 – 170 keV the 2+ resonance in 12C at an excitation energy of 16.11 MeV was populated. Detecting the emitted a-particles in full kinematics allows us to study 12 C resonances and their properties. In addition to the 3-α break-up of the 16.11 MeV resonance we observe γ-transitions to lower lying resonances. Transitions to the 3− state at 9.64MeV, the 1− state at 10.84 MeV and the 1+ state at 12.71 MeV are clearly seen. The transitions to the 1− state has not been observed previously. In addition we see decays to structures of natural parity at excitation energies around 11-13 MeV. The results illustrate that the indirect detection of γ-decays is an effective technique for studying the low lying resonance spectrum of 12C.


This paper incorporates the idea of micro-financing into bandwidth allocation in wireless networks. Resource allocation in heterogeneous wireless networks has been widely studied from the perspective of maximizing the system utilization or maximizing the carried traffic in the network. However, measurements show that the distribution of signal strength at different parts of a region is similar to the income distribution in an economic framework, wherein certain users are starved of spectrum causing "spectrum poverty" or "spectrum access poverty" to those users. This paper proposes a micro-finance model-based spectrum usage etiquette to help those with poor spectrum availability, loan spectrum from different service providers for small periods of time, and thus alleviate spectrum poverty. We price each user according to the credit history of the user. Results indicate micro-financing-based spectrum etiquette results in overall benefit for the entire system. Numerical results show 20-50% increase in the overall system utilization for the micro-finance model-based spectrum etiquette, compared to the traditional spectrum allocation model. Individually, the micro-finance model results in a 50-75% reduction in the new call blocking and 30-80% in call dropping performance for delay in-tolerant traffic and 25-50% reduction in the mean delay for delay tolerant traffic. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research on micro-finance based spectrum etiquette to improve overall system performance.


In this paper, we present a bifrequency acousto-optic polarization splitter (BAOPS) used to select independently the two polarization states of an arbitrary polarized input beam with two acoustic carriers. We make use of a dual frequency anisotropic interaction in the crystal, two acoustic waves diffract the optical beam, each frequency being tuned for interaction with only one of the beam polarizations. We explain how this double interaction is made possible by a proper cut of the paratellurite crystal and for a chosen launching angle of the input beam. In a first part we derive the theory underlying the acousto-optic interaction and the design of the paratellurite device. Then we describe our experimental setup, show some experimental results and discuss them.


As the scalable deployment of PON network and the maturity of next generation PON technologies, optical link fault management should be well considered. OTDR is now under study in the industry. Based on our study and real network operation experience, we give an analysis on use case and functional requirements of OTDR, which could be used as a guide in OTDR development and implementation.


A constant temperature wine cabinet comprises a cabinet body and a cabinet door. A plurality of layers of wine frames for storing wine bottles are arranged in the cabinet body. A shutter blind parallel to each wine frame on the whole is arranged below the corresponding wine frame from the last but one wine frame. A crosspiece is arranged outside each shutter blind. An independent inner cabinet door is arranged between every two adjacent crosspieces. An independent inner cabinet door is arranged between the top of the cabinet body and the topmost crosspiece. An independent inner cabinet door is arranged between the bottom of the cabinet body and the bottommost crosspiece. A rotary knob for controlling the corresponding shutter blind to be opened and closed is arranged on each crosspiece. Each layer of wine frame is provided with one independent inner cabinet body and can be isolated from the other layers of wine frames, and the influence, caused when the cabinet door is opened and closed, on the whole temperature and humidity inside the cabinet body is lowered to the largest extent.


The CMYK color space was partitioned according to its characteristics.Forward and inverse models of each color space partition conversion are constructed based on RBF neural network,which has the advantages of optimal approximation,global optimization characteristics,and highly nonlinear transformation.A better neural network model was got by sample model training,simulation experiments,and final experimental data analysis and processing.The model has very high precision.


Coleus amboinicus (Lour) (torbangun) has been used traditionally as a breast milk stimulant, flavoring agent in many cuisines, and reported to possess many pharmacological values. The aim of this study was to explore the utility of the Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) technique to identify the phytochemical contents of torbangun. In this study, total phenolic content and flavonoid in torbangun were determined using spectrophotometric method. The GC-MS analysis was used to identify the chemical constituents of torbangun, which was sequentially extracted with a wide range of solvent or solvent mixture from nonpolar-moderately polar and finally polar solvent. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents in the methanol extract of torbangun were 42.17±2.96 mg GAE/g and 11.20±0.58 mg QE/g, respectively. The identified chemical constituents in torbangun were sugar, hydrocarbon, ketone, terpenes, phenolics, fatty acid, fatty alcohol, steroids, alkaloids, and others, whereas the dominant constituents were phenolic compound, alkane, and sugar. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the effectiveness and rapid extraction of the PLE technique. Many valuable compounds in torbangun were extracted using gradual composition of solvent and were able to identify certain compounds in different polarities of solvents that are important in functional food preparation, pharmaceutical, and metabolomics research.
Keywords: bioactive, extract, nontoxic, plant, solvent


Near-eutectic ternary system Sn-Ag-Cu is becoming an evident choice in transition to lead-free technology in the microelectronic industry in view of numerous advantages comparing to other lead-free alternative solders. The present article investigates the principles of Sn-Ag-Cu alloy crystallization and ultrasonic influence on the nucleating alloy in order to optimize its microstructure. It has been shown that size, shape and quantity of intermetallic phases Ag3Sn, Cu6Sn5 and a phase composition of the near-eutectic ternary system Sn-Ag-Cu is under ultrasonic frequency influence.


A fundamental problem in the applications involved with aerodynamic flows is the difficulty in finding a suitable dynamical model containing the most significant information pertaining to the physical system. Especially in the design of feedback control systems, a representative model is a necessary tool constraining the applicable forms of control laws. This article addresses the modelling problem by the use of feedforward neural networks (NNs). Shallow cavity flows at different Mach numbers are considered, and a single NN admitting the Mach number as one of the external inputs is demonstrated to be capable of predicting the floor pressures. Simulations and real time experiments have been presented to support the learning and generalization claims introduced by NN-based models.


We present analytical calculations for the average value and the variance of the number of peaks developing at the surface of 1+1 and 2+1 growing ballistic deposits. Our results are compared with numerical simulations.


Spores of Fusarium oxysporum f. lycopersici or Verticillium dahliae (potato strain) ingested by Pristionchus Iheritieri (a saprozoic nematode) survived exposure to otherwise lethal solutions of free chlorine, thiabendazole or the methyl ester of l-butylcarbamoyl-2-bendimidazole carbamic acid. Viability of mechanically-freed or defecated spores were the same.


This document introduces an optimization (interior-point based) mathematical methodology to solve the problem of inverse time directional overcurrent relays (identified as "67" according to ANSI) coordination in power systems, when used as the only protection and when they are part of a protection scheme combined with distance relays (identified as "21" according to ANSI). PALABRAS CLAVE: Lineal programming, Power systems protection, Interior-Point Method, Distance relays, Overcurrent relays, Electric systems.


In this article, we have substantiated the function of appeals in the letters of Lesya Ukrainka. We have studied the outgoing correspondence to Olga Kobylyanskaya. We analyzed the psycholinguistic orientation of appeals, conditions and factors of influence on the formation of linguistic products. We decoded the psychological meanings of the addresses and we interpreted the emotional saturation of specific units. It is a fact: writing is a fundamental unit of the epistolary text, within the framework of which the real traditions and relationships of correspondents are deciphered and interpreted. The formation of appeals, their appearance, emotional saturation is influenced by the personal and internal vicissitudes of the participants in communication and the social language environment. The issue of the peculiarities of the functioning of appeals in the letters of Lesya Ukrainka through multi-vector prisms is highlighted in the works of many linguists, in particular in the editions of S. Bogdan (semantic-syntactic, linguocultural, psycholinguistic and other aspects).), G. Arkulishin (lexical and semantic aspect), N. Zhuravleva (individual author's and one-time awards), etc. The purpose and objectives of the study is to identify and analyze the texts of personal outgoing correspondence of Lesya Ukrainka, in particular, correspondence with Olga Kobylyanskaya, to determine the psycholinguistic characteristics of the appeals in these letters and to study the emotional and expressive nature of linguistic neoplasms. Special attention is paid to appeals, expressed in a variety of ways, in which the conotativity and expressiveness of semantic linguistic units are encoded. In the letters of Lesya Ukrainka, a more intimate mood of communication is activated, expressed, in particular, in the existence of diminutive-affectionate and psychologically deep ones in the epistolary. The psychology of the ethnos is realized in the epistolary text through the use of well-grounded adjectives that give the language of writing a kind of folk song, folklore coloring. The etymological analysis of Olga Kobylyanskaya's references helps to create a complex psychological portrait of the addressee. So, great importance in the formation of opinions and the formation of thinking of Lesya Ukrainka is played by his education, social circle, interests, desires, activities and psychological organization.


Prediction of various ecological system variables or consequences (such as beach closings), as well as effective management of pollution at the watershed scale, require estimation of both point and non-point source material transport through a watershed by hydrological processes. The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and Western Michigan University are developing an integrated, spatially distributed, physically-based water quality model to evaluate both agricultural non-point source loadings from soil erosion, animal manure, and pesticides, and point source loadings at the watershed level. We are augmenting an existing physically based integrated surface/subsurface hydrology model. It is a two-dimensional, spatially-distributed accounting of moisture in several layers (zones) for every "cell" (1 square kilometer) of a watershed. We modified the model to allow flow routing between adjacent cells surface zones, upper soil zones, lower soil zones, and groundwater zones. We are expanding it, by adding material transport capabilities to it, to include movement of other materials besides water. We will gather information on pollutants in Saginaw Bay watersheds and apply the model to simulate the movement of various materials into the bay, producing estimates useful to ecological system forecasters.


In the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini sent two warships on a world cruise to enhance their status as world leaders.


where 0 < |c| < 1 is a complex number, and aj(z), j = 0, 1, ... , n, and Q(z) are rational functions, ao(z) ^ 0, an(z) = 1. We mentioned that if all coefficients of (1.1) are constant, then (1.1) has no transcendental meromorphic solution. The argument given in [1], however, is not correct. The purpose of this note is to give a correct proof of this claim. To do this we assume that (1.1) with constant coefficients aj and Q possesses a meromorphic solution /. First we note that if / has a pole ZQ ^ 0, then, by (1.1), / has infinitely many poles of the form cfzo, j £ N, so that the poles of / accumulate at 0, a contradiction. Thus the only possible pole of / is at 0. We now argue analogously to the proof of Theorem 1.1 in [1]. As there we put s = 1/c and we define


Pollutants in sewage of ceramic factory are mainly organic compounds,which have good biodegradability and are easily treated by biotreatment.This method use BIOFOR to treat sewage of ceramic factory which contains ρ(CODCr) of 400 mg·L~(-1), ρ(BOD5) of 200 mg·L~(-1), ρ(NH_3-N) of 35 mg·L~(-1) and ρ(SS) of 300 mg·L~(-1)). The running effect indicated that the process features a higher efficiency of treatment,simple operation,low cost,small occupation of land.The quality of the treated water can reach the first order of sewage emission standard (GB8978-1996).


A method is given for economically constructing any 2-bridge knot or link K. This construction gives an upper bound of c(K) + 3 for the edge number of K, except in the case of the unlink and the Hopf link, and has the added advantage of realizing a projection with c(K) crossings.


This paper took the MK60DN512ZVLQ10 chip as a micro controller,in combination with the driver module of half bridge driver chip BST7960,which realized the controlling of DC motor speed by using the FTM module of K60 to generate the PWM signal. This design had such characteristics as wide range of speed regulation,high precision,fast response,strong ability of drive and high stability.


STEP-NC is a new data format for manufacturing control. Part of the ISO 10103 Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Information (STEP) suite, STEP-NC covers numerical control (NC) of machine tools. One of its applications is to enable integrated on-machine measurement of machining processes using vision systems and other sensors. In this paper we describe the manufacturing process and manufacturing resource models in STEP-NC that can be used to enable this type of measurement. These descriptions include the machine setup so that the configuration of the part can be identified and corrected, the machine kinematics so that the actions of a machine while adding or subtracting material can be verified, and the product tolerances so that the quality of the final part can be predicted and corrected during the machining. INTRODUCTION To reliably and safely meet design tolerances, manufacturing has a highly disciplined culture that minimizes mistakes. It is very different than the culture of computer programming where an informal trial-and-error approach enables continuous innovation. Part of the issue for manufacturing programming is that industry has been using the same vector-based languages for manufacturing control for more than forty years (see Figure 1). The discipline applied to the use of these languages is superb with Product Data Management (PDM), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Computer-Numerical Control (CNC) systems each managing their part of the problem, but like an assembly language, a vector language is very difficult to manage. FIGURE 1 – Vector-based control codes STEP Manufacturing is an ISO team that is developing a next generation language for CNC control. The new language enables the implementation of a new layer for CNCs that links the control to independent sensor systems (See Figure 2). Therefore, applications can be written to compare the inprocess state of a part with the model predicted by a planning % N05 G54 N10 G00 Z10.000 N15 G91 G0 Z200 N20 T5 D1 WW N30 G90 M5 N35 G00 X0.000 Y-150.000 N40 G00 Z5.000 N45 M08 N50 S3183.000 N55 M03 N60 F1477.000 N65 G00 X60.000 Y-150.000 N70 G00 Z5.000 N75 G00 X60.000 Y-150.000 N80 G01 Z-0.500 ... machine-specific part


We propose two bio-inspired architectures for representing the role of the adaptive cerebellar microcircuit in correcting the motor behavior based on current errors: the feedforward and the recurrent schemes. While in the first architecture, the cerebellum adds adaptive torque corrections and its weights are adjusted depending on the motor-error signal, in the second one it adds sensory correction terms to the controller and its weights depend on the sensory error.
Biological systems perform adaptation of dynamics and kinematics models for accurate control with low power actuators, while in robotics, robots normally achieve very high precision and high speed motion with high forces and high energy consumption. This industrial approach cannot be used in the framework of human interaction applications because it is potentially dangerous in case of malfunctioning. Thus, adoption of compliant strategies of dynamics and kinematics models abstraction and adaptive control schemes in real time in the field of robotics are required. Furthermore, the cerebellum is able to acquire intrinsic models through experience by a perceptual feedback that allows the motor learning to proceed. These models are called internal models. Motivated by this, we implemented a cerebellum model able to adapt its corrections and store the sensory consequences or feedforward motor commands for predicting appropriate actions when needed. We addressed this study with a machine learning approach (LWPR algorithm) embedded in the control loops in which the LWPR module abstracts the functionality of the input layer to the cerebellar cortex. LWPR provides optimal input representation to the granular layer in terms of neural resources, that is, it adapts its neural resources incrementally and according to the input data structure. Moreover, we built compliant control systems combining the feedback error learning approach and adaptive predictive control.
This dissertation first introduces a description of the cerebellar microcircuitry and of the role of internal models in motor control. Then, we present the control systems based on inverse and forward internal model for controlling a robot arm in which a feedback error controller leads to a precise, compliant and stable control during manipulation of objects and the cerebellar-machine learning synergy makes the robot adaptable to changing conditions. Finally, we show the principal results obtained of the performance evaluation of both systems. We demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the models with experiments on a 3-DOF and 7-DOF light-weight robot arm.


Objective To explore the clinical effect of hysteroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of intrauterine lesions in infertility women. Methods One hundred and ninety-two infertility women in our hospital from January 2009 to December 2012 were diagnosed with hysteroscopy and treated with oviduct liquid instillation under hysteroscopy, and the common type of intrauterine lesions were summarized. Results Among 192 cases of infertility women, 139 cases had intrauterine lesions, with the rate of 72.39%. Fifty-two cases(37.41%) were intrauterine adhesion, significantly higher than other types of intrauterine lesions(P 0.05). The fallopian tube obstruction was obviously improved after oviduct liquid instillation. Conclusions Hysteroscopy is safe and reliable, and has little impact on patients. It has a good prospect in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.


Glassware, for example, the level of precious metal inclusions in the glass substrate for a liquid crystal display is a flow of glass through the Q agitation apparatus, E is a stirring efficacy of its device, the Q · E for that device at the same time maintain a high product, stirring the molten glass in the stirring conditions such that the magnitude of the shear stress to the surface of the chamber wall (19) and stirring means (13) tau is reduced chamber (11) reduced by.


The PK‐LR gene has been studied in 12 unrelated patients with red cell pyruvate kinase deficiency and hereditary nonspherocytic haemolytic anaemia (CNSHA). The entire codifying region of the R‐type PK gene and the flanking intronic regions were analysed by single‐stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) followed by direct sequencing of abnormal DNA. 10 different mutations were identified in 22/24 alleles at risk. Eight of these were missense mutations that caused the following single amino acid changes: G514C (172Glu‐Gln), G1010A (337Arg‐Gln), G1015C (339Asp‐Gln), T1070C (357Ile‐Thr), C1223T (408Thr‐Ile), G1291A (431Ala‐Thr), C1456T (486Arg‐Trp) and G1595A (532Arg‐Gln). Two were nonsense mutations: G721T (241Glu‐Stop) and C1675T (559Arg‐Stop). 7/22 alleles demonstrated the same C1456→ T mutation. The study of the polymorphic site at nucleotide (nt) 1705 performed in all cases disclosed a 1705 C/C mutation in 10 and a 1705 A/C mutation in three.


Marine diesel engine for the traditional design features,described collaborative design system framework,on this basis,the workflow management technology,parametric design,conflict management and other key enabling technology are researched. Based on these contents it has developed a web-based collaborative CAD subsystem marine diesel engine to achieve the task management,parametric rapid design,conflict management and other functions.


how much he trades with his neighbors. Towle's book not only fills a long need for a summary of useful plants of pre-Columbian Peru, but will aid anyone who wants to study plants today in fields and markets, wherever Indian cultures persist, from Mexico to central Chile. She has done an excellent job of identifying difficult materials and surveying a scattered literature notable for errors in identifications of plant materials. Towle is a Research Fellow in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University and for the past 15 years has been identifying collections from excavations in western South America. The Botanical Museum has a long tradition of work in useful plants and remarkable collections of specimens and reference works. The past director, Oakes Ames, wrote Economic Annuals as well as many works on orchids; staff members have written the best-known text on economic botany and many papers on native drugs, rubber, grasses, corn, and other useful plants; the present director, Paul Mangelsdorf, is the recognized authority on the origin of corn. This book begins with a simple description of the geography and cultural setting of Peru. Most of the book is devoted to descriptions, occurrences, and uses of about 100 plants found in pre-Columbian sites in Peru. References are made to material cited by earlier authors, to the many papers by Towle, and to unpublished studies, especially to those of the Huaca Prieta collections of Junius Bird. Identifications made in earlier works are verified, questioned, or corrected, and the criteria used in identification are sometimes discussed. References to publications and to identifications made by specialists make it possible to have confidence in the names applied. The scientific names include the valid name, place of publication, and common synonyms which have made the literature so confusing. The most frequently encountered common names are given, with their sources and, occasionally, a discussion of their origin. The drawings in Plates I-IV are excellent and will help one to know and identify materials. Most valuable are the illustrations of the edible part and the starch grains of some common root, tuber, and rhizome crops. Very few herbaria or museum collections have examples of these. Unfortunately, there are no figures of four other earth vegetables frequently encountered in Peruvian fields and markets: arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), papa lisa or ulluca (Ullucus tuberosus), yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia), and anu (Tropaeolum tuberosum). Explanations for the ten good plates of pottery reproductions of plant forms would have been improved by the addition of scientific names. "Warty squash," for example, is rather vague, as warty squashes are found in the three most common cultivated species of squashes. "Warty squash" is listed in the index and can be found in the text as a common name for Cucurbita moschata. The word "tunta," however, which identifies Plate XV, B, is not listed in the index, nor mentioned in the text where there is a good short description of the two forms of dried potatoes, chuno and moray, or tuna. Only chuno and moray are indexed. The last part of the text discusses plant materials chronologically for each of several geographical divisions, except for the "Epoch of Pre-Agriculture," which is described for the central Andes as a whole. It summarizes the evidence for agriculture and for plant use in Peru and, when used with the discussions under the individual plants, gives a fairly good idea of the vegetal resources of ancient Peru. For one who is only slightly familiar with Peruvian archaeological periods, it may be somewhat difficult to compare the discussions of the various areas without referring to other publications. A chart showing the relationships of the cultures in the various areas and plants known for each period would have been a great help. There is a good short bibliography and an index with remarkably few omissions.


Antarctic meteorites differ from meteorites fallen in other places in their mean terrestrial ages. Boeckl estimated the terrestrial half-life for the disintegration of stone meteorites by weathering under the climatic conditions of the Western United States to be about 3600 years. Antarctic meteorites, however, have terrestrial ages up to 70000 years, indicating larger weathering half-lives. The terrestrial ages of meteorites are determined by their concentration of cosmic-ray-produced radionuclides with suitable half-lives (C-14, Al-26, and Cl-36). These radionuclides have yielded reliable ages for the Antarctic meteorites. The distribution of terrestrial ages of Allan Hills and Yamato meteorites are examined.


Abstract Plant health and nutrition are strongly influenced by the availability of water. The objective of this study was to evaluate the different patterns of initial growth and nutritional efficiency of ten drought-stressed Eucalyptus clones. Water stress conditions were induced by osmotic stress, by gradual addition of polyethylene glycol 6000 over a 20-day period. Drought stress significantly reduced the dry matter of leaves, roots, and the whole plant as well as the nutritional efficiency of most clones. Clone PL040 was [...]


Starting from the feature of blackbody radiation,article obtained wave spectrum with high SNR through the wave spectrum noise analysis on thermal infrared band on specific atmospheric model according to object on the earth's surface,background atmosphere,parameter of sensor,taking account of the thermal infrared band's self-irradiation in atmosphere and the relativity of the atmospheric radiation.


Modified physicochemical properties of polyaniline (PANI) colloids in response to various polymerization conditions are being made to enhance the electrical conductivity of PANI that can be used in supercapacitor purpose. In this paper, an attempt has been made to improve the mechanical stability of PANI by synthesizing with different concentrations (0.8, 1.65, 2.0, and 2.5 mmol) of dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA). The DBSA doped PANI colloids were characterized by using XRD, Raman spectra and SEM. PANI containing 2.0 mmol of DBSA has the highest percentage of crystallinity (Xc %) as analyzed from XRD spectrum. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to investigate the influence of the feed concentration of DBSA on the morphology of the polymer.  A detailed study on the  Raman spectroscopies of PANI-DBSA colloids has been carried out  which shows that intensity of RAMAN spectra are directly proportional to the increased crystallized region of doped PANI samples; higher intensity may attribute due to the large change in polarization associated with the formation of covalent bond in PANI.


The experiment was conducted at CCS, HAU, Regional Research Station, Kamal, Haryana, during 2001-2002 on the plant crop of sugarcane. The treatments consisted of control, application of NP, NPK, NPKZn, N+FYM @ 12.5t/ha, N+pressmud (PM, sulphitation @ 12.5t/ha) and N+green manuring of daincha in situ (GM), NP+FYM. NP+PM and NP+GM, NPK+FYM, NPK+PM and NPK+GM. The rates ofN, P, K and Zn were 150 kg N, 50 kg P 2 O 6 , 50 kg K 2 O and 25kg ZnSO 4 /ha. Application of NPK increased the cane yield, number of millable cane (NMC) and single cane weight (SC , cane length, cane diameter and sucrose (%) and commercial cane sugar (CCS%) over NP treatment, while NPKZn was at parwith NPK. N with organic manure was at par with NP with regard to these parameters. Organic manure with NP further increased yield parameters number of millable cane (NMC) and single cane weight (SCW), cane length, and cane diameter, which were at par with NPK. Organic manure with NPK gave maximum values of these parameters. The results indicate that application of organic manure with NP and NPK are the better treatments to sustain sugarcane production.


Purpose: The purpose of this cross–sectional study was to define genetic markers of advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: In retrospective study 186-386 unrelated Caucasians with type 2 diabetes were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: advanced PDR (diabetics with PDR in wich vitrectomy was performed) and control group (diabetics with duration of diabetes of more than 15 years, without retinopathy).

The PCR was used to analyse candidate genes: gene polymorphism G-174C of the interleukin –6 (IL- 6), -553 T/A, –834 T/A and -921 C/G of the beta fibroblast growth factor (BFGF), 634 C/G and –2549 insertion/deletion of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), (AC)n of the aldose reductase, K469E of the intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), Bgl II of the α2β1 integrin, –429 T/C and –374T/A of the receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and mutations C282Y and H63D of the hemochromatosis.

Results: Genetic risk factors for PDR in Caucasians with type 2 diabetes were the alele Z-2 of the aldose reductase (AC)n gene polymorphism (OR 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.4-3.8; p = 0.03), the C282Y mutation of the hemochromatosis gene (OR = 3.0, 95 % confidence interval = 1.2-8.0; p = 0.02) and the genotype EE of the E/K ICAM polymorphism (OR 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.1-4.7; p = 0.025). We failed to demonstrate other tested gene polymorphisms as genetic risk factors for PDR in Caucasians with type 2 diabetes.

Conclusions: Gene polymorphisms of the aldose reductase, the ICAM, and the hemochromatosis mutations could be used as genetic markers for PDR.


The comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the processes of local ordering of multicomponent alloys was carried out. Experimental techniques included atom-probe tomography and measurement of electrical resistivity during isochronal annealing. The theoretical study was carried out by atomistic modeling methods. The evolution of the system was described in the framework of the multiscale paradigm which is based on quantum-mechanical calculations. The initial stage of the decomposition of a solid solution of CoCrFeNi alloy with the formation of Ni4Cr and Ni2Cr precipitations was demonstrated for the first time by the employed approach.


Historically, prolonged lactation has been a traditional practice in many communities, reportedly reaching 15 years amongst Eskimos in 19th century King William Land. Nevertheless, there has long been speculation that extended breastfeeding adversely impacts on maternal and child health. A note in the Lancet in 1842 records the case of a woman who breastfed her child for over 3 years and then developed epilepsy. The attending physician wrote: 'The worst symptoms of debility at last attended this monstrous proceeding'. More recently an association between prolonged breastfeeding, typically defined as any breastfeeding beyond the first year of life, and malnutrition has been reported. At face value this finding calls into question current advice that children should continue to be breastfed, while receiving appropriate and adequate complementary foods, until at least 2 years of age. However, a Acknowledgements


According to their material sources, China's pegrnatities can be divided into two broad types: (1) the crust-source pegmatites derived mainly from the upper continental crust, which can be subdivided into metamorphic differentiated, mixed metasomatic and anatectic magmadifferentiated pegmatites, and (2) the mande-source pegmatites generated from the mantle, incIuding those related to late differentiates and carbonatites. In space, carbonatites are usualIy accompanied with atkaii syenite. The criteria of discriminating the two-source pegmatites of China are listed as follows: 1. Rock-forming minerals (micas and feldspars); 2. REE distribution patterns; 3. Zr/Hf ratios-in zircons; and 4. Species of apatite and REE contents.


Storey Shear-Based Adaptive Pushover (SSAP) procedure has originally been de- veloped for estimating seismic demands of planar frames. An extension and modification of the SSAP, has recently been proposed to estimate seismic demands of asymmetric buildings, represented by a 3D structural model. In order to investigate the capability of the proposed Modified-SSAP in severe mass asymmetric buildings, in the current paper, the method is evaluated for a 12-story asymmetric reinforced concrete moment resisting building with a torsionaly dominant fundamental natural mode, representing torsionaly flexible buildings. Results of the storey drift predictions of the Modified-SSAP are compared with Nonlinear Re- sponse History Analysis (NRHA) as well as estimations of the well-known Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA) procedure, subjected to a set of seven near-field ground motions. Alternative correction factors for the target displacement to improve the results are also examined. An acceptable compatibility of storey drift estimations of pushover procedures is observed, while Modified-SSAP is more compatible with the results of rigorous NRHA when proper correction factors for the target displacement are applied.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac arrhythmia characterized by a highly irregular heart rate. It is the most prevalent arrhythmia in the general population in the United States and most developed countries, and is strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality from adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Moreover, patients with AF are correlated with increased healthcare expenditures, making the burden of AF on society extremely large. In this proof-of-concept study, we present an innovative device to be used as a screening tool for AF. The device consists of a modified electronic scale that is able to obtain an ECG and analyse it for the presence of AF. The classification algorithm is based on the RdR map method that plots RR intervals versus change in RR intervals. After optimizing the algorithm on a learning set of 77 ECGs from 45 patients, the performance of the device during a blind validation of 76 ECGs from 44 patients was: accuracy = 83%, sensitivity = 83%, specificity = 83% (N = 76 ECGs). Applying a constraint that each ECG recording contains a minimum of 7 beats in order to be eligible for classification, accuracy improved to 89% (sensitivity = 83%, specificity = 90%, N = 70). In conclusion, we present an innovative device to detect AF in a manner that can be implemented into current physician workflow without increasing the time or cost of each clinical encounter.


The invention relates to a nickel-based catalyst used for the autothermal reforming of ethanol for producing hydrogen and a preparation method thereof. Aiming at the problems of structural change, oxidation and sintering of active ingredients and deactivation of the conventional catalyst during the autothermal reforming of the ethanol, the invention provides a novel catalyst with a stable structure, sintering resistance, carbon deposit resistance, oxidation resistance and high activity. The chemical formula of the catalyst is NiaMgbAlcXdO4.5+/-delta, wherein X is an auxiliary agent Fe or Mn, a is 0.25 to 0.40, b is 2.6 to 2.75, c is 0.1 to 0.8 and d is 0.2 to 0.9. A brucite-based (Mg(OH)2.mH2O) hydrotalcite structure is taken as a precursor, so that the active ingredient nickel and the auxiliary agent heteroion component are introduced into a laminated structure and a position between laminated structures; meanwhile, the auxiliary agent iron or magnesium is introduced, so the reducibility and stability of the active ingredients of the catalyst are improved, and the yield of the hydrogen is obviously improved and remains stable.


Background: It has been long known that Helicobacter species are one of the leading causes in gastrointestinal diseases. Recently, it is emerging as one of the causes leading to gallbladder diseases, such as gallbladder cancer and gallstones. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between Helicobacter species and gallbladder cancer and gallstones.Method: This meta-analysis assessed case-control studies from the year 2001 to 2022. A comprehensive literature search was performed in Pubmed, Scopus, Embase, dan Plos One. Review manager 5.4.1, along with the Mantel Haenszel method, was utilized to analyze the data extraction. The methodological index was utilized to assess the risk of bias from the included studies. The odds ratio is calculated with a confidence interval of 95%. P 0.05 was considered significant.Results: Twenty case-control studies from the year 2001 to 2018 with a total number of 2,065 participants were included. We found that there is a low risk of bias and a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group; gallbladder cancer (random effect: OR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.35–4.19; p = 0.003) and gallstones (fixed effect: OR = 4.17; 95% CI: 2.71– 4.62; p = 0.00001).Conclusion: Results of this meta-analysis demonstrated that the patients with Helicobacter species have an increased risk of gallbladder cancer and gallstones.


Pyrite acts as a catalyst in the mineral processing, and the speed of ferric ion reduction and mineral decomposition increases with increasing cathodic points. In this study, the ferric ion interaction on the (100) and (110) surfaces of pyrite was studied using the density functional theory calculations. The analysis of stability, density of states, and electron density were performed to understand the interaction between the ferric ion and pyrite surfaces. The results showed that pyrite surface is chemically active and tends to absorb ferric ion between two surface sulfur atoms. The hyperconjugation between the 3d orbital of ferric ion and the 3p or 3d orbitals of surface atoms provides the conditions for the Fe3+ ion adsorption. The molecular orbital (MO) and electron density analyses indicate that the 3p orbitals of S atoms play a more important role in bonds formations relative to the 3d orbitals. The (110) surface is more active, and the adsorption energy is larger than that of surface (100), which is the result of decreased cation coordination and the presence of sulfur at the surface. Subsequently, the interaction of the Fe2+ ion, as product of Fe3+ ion reduction and its competitor for adsorption, on the surfaces was studied. The Fe2 + ion adsorbs stronger at the surface of (110), and the adsorption energies at (100) and (110) surfaces were obtained as −24 and −47 kcal/mol, respectively. In general, the Fe3+ ion is a stronger oxidizing agent than Fe2+ on pyrite surfaces.


This paper discusses the performance of two data-driven translation methods for the translation of a very constrained sublanguage: dates. As a first result, we show that an example-based method is outperformed by a statistical method for the translation of dates from Chinese into English when small random training corpora are used: 750 random examples suffice to translate almost perfectly a corpus of 4,018 dates for both methods. As a second result, we prove that 58 dates theoretically suffice to translate the same corpus of 4,018 dates perfectly and we verify this fact experimentally with an example based method, while a statistical method fails at translating 345 dates in the 4,018 dates to translate.


than current polygenic theories presumably also focused on such systems. The theory is at a disadvantage compared with polygenic theories when activation of the virus is considered. The oncogene implicated in Burkitt's lymphoma is known to be activated by two environ mental stimuli: chronic antigenic stimulation from the malaria parasite and the Epstein Barr virus. The brain is well protected from viruses, immune com plexes, and mutagens in general when compared with extracerebral cells in every one ofwhich the virogene must be present ifpresent at meiosis. The notion that the virogene is activated by other genes is not borne out by the monozygotic twin pair concordence rates unless a massive rate ofmutation in significant genes (and no others) is postulated. This seems rather unlikely. Thus Dr Crow asks of his virogene certain non pareil capabilities, stretching the definition of the words †̃¿ virus', †̃¿ virogene', etc. much as a clever science fiction writer adapts topical scientific con cepts for creative effect. True, my information comes from perusal of library textbooks (Emery, 1985; Wetherall, 1985) and is probably outdated; the parent sciences are constantly throwing up new marvels which will probably become grist to further theories. But my distrust of such theories goes beyond their inherent unlikeliness. In compressing the natural history of schizophrenia into the imper ceptible transactions of genes, virogenes, and muta gens, squeezing out the role of brain tissue and the environment that it works on, there is a real danger of a reductio ad absurdwn, symmetrical to the equally reductionist environmental theories of the 1960s. Indeed, it is tempting to see Dr Crow's and similar theories and the Scheff/Lidz/Cooper axis as oppos ing keystones in the overarching false antitheses of nature and nurture. The opposition is more precise even than that; 1960s theorists strove to exclude medical concepts, Dr Crow strives to exclude every thing but. To the majority who work or live with patients with schizophrenia, unfamiliar with genetics but knowing that the environment is somehow important, these theories must indicate that it is us, not their charges, who are out of our wits. M. F. Biusrow Department of Psychological Medicine St Bartholomew's Hospital London ECJ


This very ground-breaking and credible research on restorative justice results in a powerful elucidation of Afikpos traditional system of settling disputes between individuals and organizations. The main focus of this academic analysis is rooted in an understanding of Afikpos established, legal, political and social systems and its contradictions with the burden of alien legal systems. Throughout the text, the author compares Afikpos long-established lawful system to Western Europeans judicatory schemes. The authors study comprises an array of case-notes in support of his compelling analysis against totally replacing the traditional legal system in modern era with Western European models. The author has personal experiences in the Afikpo customary arrangement, and vigorously advocates for a method of local level jurisprudence based on the value and experience of social and political circumstances.


(342k Cerebral Tumour. KUTTNER (Berl. klin. WVoch., September 12th, 1892) reports two cases in which the symptoms resembled those of an ordinary apoplectic seizure. (1) A man, aged 33, in previous good health, suddenly became unconscious, and shortly afterwards was found to have a left hemiplegia, with some paresis of the whole of the left side of the face. Sensation was impaired in the paralysed limbs, but not in the face. The urine contained albumen, leucocytes, and casts. Later some recovery took place in the leg, but a month after the onset the patient became restless and complained of much pain in the head. Objects on the left side did not seem to be so easily seen as on the right, but any further examination of the eyes was impossible. Swallowing then became difficult, and he died. At the necropsy the lungs were found to be ceJematous, the heart hypertrophied, and the kidneys somewhat atrophied. The right occipital lobe bulged, and the gyri lhere were flattened. A large cystic glioma occupied the hinder part of the right cerebral hemisphere. Both ventricles were filled with fluid except the posterior part of the right one, which was encroached upon by the growth. There was no trace of a fresh liaemorrhage. (2) A woman, aged 30, had suffered from pain in the back of the head for the past six months. She suddenly b(eame unconscious, and remained so for thirtysix hours. The right arm and leg and lower part of the face were paralysed. The patient's condition varied between consciousness with much complaint of headache and unconsciousness. No optic neuritis could be made out. The urine contained albumen, but no formed elements. Death took place in deep coma a fortnight after the acute attack. At the necropsy carcinoma was found in the lung and brain. In the left temporal lobe there was extensive softening, and a mass with a nodulated surface, and about the size of a pigeon's egg, lay in the middle of this softening. Tumours of the brain may at times give rise to no symptoms. The apparent onset of the disease may be acute, after which symptoms persist and gradually increase or the acute symptoms are due to a haemorrhage into the tumour. It was different in these two cases, for death occurred tolerably soon after the acute onset, and there was no haemorrhage. It is admitted that the paralysis may come on suddenly in cerebral tumours. According to Ladame, these apoplectic attacks are nearly always due to softening or hremorrhage. In the second case there was softening, and the fluctuating symptoms corresponded to such a lesion. There was no such change in the other case, and the author suggests that it might be due to the exacerbation of a chronic hydrocephalus. Thus apoplectic attacks with or without previous symptoms may occur in cerebral tumour without any coarse lesion being found afterwards to account for them.


Although there are more than 1,000 described species of thrips from Europe, the Mediterranean region, and Africa, since 1983 only 130 species have been intercepted in cargo and shipments of plants coming into the various ports-of-entry in the United States. Of these, only 23 species consistently made up ca. 85% of the identifiable thrips. This paper is a checklist of thrips commonly intercepted on plants coming into the U.S. from Europe, the Mediterranean region, and Africa; keys with figures are included for the 57 represented genera. It is the first of a five-part series aimed to facilitate identifications by port identifiers at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA, APHIS), ports-of-entry.


We read with great interest the paper by Gerbes et al 1 summarising recent advances in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and that by De Toni et al 2 reporting the importance of early diagnosis for survival of HCC. As these papers suggest, early HCC diagnosis needs to be improved, and the use of MRI for diagnosing HCC is increasing.

Contrary to most other cancers, a non-invasive diagnosis based on imaging characteristics without mandatory pathological confirmation is acceptable for HCC.3–5 However, previous major guidelines have lacked exact definitions of the imaging diagnostic criteria for HCC.6 This could be more problematic for MRI, which provides multiparametric information from complex MRI sequences. To standardise the imaging interpretation of lesions in patients at risk of HCC, the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) was introduced in 2011,6 updated in 2018,7 and fully integrated into the American …


This paper presents a sensorless control for a stall regulated variable speed wind turbine, where the speed reference is obtained from the estimated aerodynamic torque. The LQG/LTR methodology is applied to the design of an optimal discrete-time feedback controller for a Wind Energy Conversion System, aiming to maximize the efficiency on energy conversion and to minimize the detrimental dynamic loads due to wind fluctuation and ripple torque. The trade-off between the efficiency maximization of the energy conversion and the dynamic load effects minimization is considered in the quadratic cost function of the LQG/LTR design. The resulting control structure is simulated considering a step variation on wind speed. The performance of the proposed control scheme is discussed showing that it really leads the WECS operation near to the maximum efficiency point and reduces the detrimental dynamic loads. It is also presented some alternatives for sensorless control for the electrical generator.


Nanotechnology can profoundly benefit our health, environment and everyday life. In order to make this a reality, both technological and theoretical advancements of the nanomaterial synthesis metho ...


Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is one of the key regulatory features to drive biomolecular processes and hence is targeted for designing therapeutics against diseases. Small peptides are a new and emerging class of therapeutics owing to their high specificity and low toxicity. For achieving efficient targeting of the PPI, amino acid side chains are often stapled together resulting in the rigidification of these peptides. Exploring the scope of these peptides demands a comprehensive understanding of their working principle. In this work, two stapled p53 peptides have been considered to delineate their binding mechanism with mdm2 using computational approaches. Addition of stapling protects the secondary structure of the peptides even in the case of thermal and chemical denaturation. Although the introduction of a stapling agent increases the hydrophobicity of the peptide, the enthalpic stabilization decreases. This is overcome by the lowering of the entropic penalty and the overall binding affinity improves. The mechanistic insights into the benefit of peptide stapling can be adopted for further improvement of peptide therapeutics.


This article reports on the influence of three modalities used in three versions of instructional software designed for different learning styles. Students having visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles are grouped and experimentally investigated through three different versions of the software. The results indicated that cognitive load (CL) perceptions of auditory learning style students were significantly higher than the visual and kinesthetic ones. The sources of the CL were generally perceived similarly in the groups. However, some senses by Auditory and Kinesthetic Group students were remarkable in terms of inducing CL. The study concludes with suggestions for practitioners and researchers.


The support for recording achievements in sports achievements, two of which are the ability to enter oxygen (O2) into the lungs and further the ability to take up this oxygen so that it can be utilized in the process of providing energy. The second function of O2 is to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) through respiration. These two processes are carried out simultaneously at least between the respiratory cycle and its close relationship with hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is part of the blood which has a function to bind O2 and CO2 at the end in the process of respiration. The purpose of this study was to determine evidence of a relationship between HB and VO2max. This research is a descriptive correlational study. Samples are sports athletes who are preparing for Pre PAPUA. The number of samples was 83 athletes in the game group consisting of sand volleyball (6), badminton (17), Petanque (12), table tennis (13), and Futsal (35). Measurement of VO2max was done by using the Bleep test and HB with the Hb test. Based on Kendall's tau non-parametric analysis, it is found that HB and VO2max are sufficiently correlated, so it is not certain that the higher the HB the higher the VO2max, although in the process of supplying energy these two variables are mutually supportive and relate.