Algal cells experience strong circadian rhythms under diurnal light, with regular changes in both biomass composition and transcriptomic environment. However, most metabolic models – critical tools for bioengineering organisms – assume a steady state. The conflict between these assumptions and the reality of the cellular environment make such models inappropriate for algal cells, creating a significant obstacle in engineering cells that are viable under natural light. By transforming a set of discreet transcriptomic measurements from synchronized Chlamydomonas cells grown in a 12/12 diel light regime (1) into continuous curves, we produced a complete representation of the cell's transcriptome that can be interrogated at any arbitrary timepoint. We clustered these curves, in order to find genes that were expressed in similar patterns, and then also used it to build a metabolic model that can accumulate and catabolize different biomass components over the course of a day. This model predicts qualitative phenotypical outcomes for the sta6 mutant, including excess lipid accumulation (2) and a failure to thrive when grown diurnally in minimal media (3), representing a qualitative prediction of phenotype from genotype even under dynamic conditions. We also extended this approach to simulate all single-knockout mutants with genes represented in the model and identified potential targets for rational engineering efforts. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We have developed the first transient metabolic model for diurnal growth of algae based on experimental data and capable of predicting phenotype from genotype. This model enables us to evaluate the impact of genetic and environmental changes on the growth, biomass composition and intracellular fluxes of the model green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The availability of this model will enable faster and more efficient design of cells for production of fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.


Scientific article summarization is a challenging task not least due to the lack of large annotated corpora. In this research proposal, we present an approach to construct a large annotated corpus for scientific articles using semi-supervised/automatic annotation approaches. We intend to apply deep learning methods to increase a small seed of annotated corpus. Then, we will measure the quality of the annotated corpus on down stream informative summaries using various evaluation techniques.


Iran has an arid to semi‐arid climate where water resources are limited. Irrigation planning plays an essential role in the growth and development of crops. This study aims to enhance the current status of irrigation scheduling and improve farm water management on sugarcane farms in Khuzestan province, Iran. The AquaCrop model and the surface energy balance algorithm for land (SEBAL) were used to simulate sugarcane growth and performed well in estimating actual evapotranspiration and final yield based on the calibration and validation results. Four irrigation scenarios were considered: scenario 1, irrigation according to the current situation; scenario 2, irrigation based on maximum allowable depletion (40%–55%); scenario 3, irrigation based on field capacity; and scenario 4, deficit irrigation (causes 5% reduction in yield). Water efficiency based on water consumption (WPIR), transpiration rate (WPTr), and evapotranspiration rate (WPET) were estimated to compare the scenarios in terms of water consumption. Scenario 3 was the selected scenario in which WPIR, WPTr, and WPET were increased about 108.3%, 2.1%, and 1.0%, respectively. Finally, the scenarios were evaluated economically, and the results showed that improving irrigation management slightly increased the benefit.


Microgrid controller capabilities vary widely throughout the commercial space, making it difficult to establish a standardized procedure for product acceptance or for evaluating future modifications. This paper presents an approach for evaluating the functional performance of microgrid controllers based on IEEE Std 2030.7-2017 [1] and IEEE Std 2030.8-2018 [2]. A microgrid controller was programmed with the core functionality described in the standards and incorporated into a Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HIL) testbed that included a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) running a sample microgrid system. A test plan was developed to evaluate the core control functions under steady-state and transient conditions using IEEE Std 1547-2018 [3] as a guideline for performance criteria. Simulation results and performance metrics are given for sample cases at the end of the paper.


This article presents the results of an experimental test of the effectiveness of probation of  a program for psychological and pedagogical support of working with gifted children and describing the results of diagnosing the holistic development of gifted students. We have designed a structural and informative model of the introduction of the program of psychological and pedagogical support of working with gifted children into the integral educational process of the specialized school "Zerde". And also on the basis of this model, a plan of work with gifted children in the conditions of the specialized school "Zerde" was developed. The essence of the experimental work was to test the developed model for implementing the program of psychological and pedagogical support of working with gifted students, which is based on methods of work with gifted children, sufficient for their holistic development in the conditions of the specialized school "Zerde".
The article presents the results of diagnostics of the holistic development of the personality of a gifted student studying at the specialized school "Zerde" in Astana, and also revealed the effectiveness of the implementation of the work plan of a pedagogical psychologist to provide psychological and pedagogical support for gifted students. The article also presents the results identified by comparing the control and experimental groups. As a result of the formative experiment, we revealed that the number of students who have had positive changes due to the active involvement in various types of creative activity has increased, which was our assumption about the beginning of experimental work. The evaluation of the results of experimental work was based on the criteria and indicators characterizing the holistic development of the personality of a gifted teenager.
Key words: diagnosis of holistic personality development, criteria and indicators of holistic personality development, a formative experiment, implementation model, a program of psychological and pedagogical support.


Objective To explore the relationship between the change of intestinal environment and cirrhosis in rats.Methods 90 male SD rats were divided into 4 groups randomly:normal group,preventive group,late treatment group and model group.The preventive group and the late treatment group were given bifidobacterium at different period.At 11 weeks,the pathology of livers were observed by HE stain and alanine aminotranstferase(ALT),albumin(AL),endotoxin(ET) and nitric oxide(NO) were meaured after the rats were sacrificed.Results The pathological process of liver in preventive group and late treatment group were improved.Serum ALT levels and plasma levels of ET and NO significantly reduced in rats of preventive group and late treatment group compared with those in rats of model group(P0.05~0.01),and serum AL levels were increased compared with those in rats of model group (P0.05).Conclusion Bifidobacterium could stabilise and remit pathological process of cirrhosis by changing intestinal environment.It suggested the change of intestinal environment ,such as intestinal bacteria overgrowth,was one of important factors in the pathogenesis of cirrhosis.


By the composing of the rotation movements with the concurrent instantaneous axes in a point, a rotation movement with the instantaneous axis passing through that point is obtained. The resultant instantaneous angular velocity is sum of the component angular velocity. As examples of the mechanical systems in which appear the concurrent rotation movements are: the pivot bearings of the radial-axial with balls type, the ball radial bearings and the planetary mechanisms with bevel gears which are used both as differential to automotives and as orientation mechanisms (wrist) on the industrial robots.


In order to meet the needs of a variety of automotive communication services, vehicle antennas working in multiple frequency bands are emerging. It promotes the development of antenna in the direction of multifrequency and miniaturization. Based on the above research background, this paper designs a vehicle antenna for the requirements of mobile communication frequency band. The antenna consists of a half-t monopole and a half cone monopole, which are vertically placed on a metal floor. T-shaped branches mainly work at low frequency, while cone-shaped branches mainly work at high frequency. The tapered branch is used to improve the impedance matching, increase the bandwidth of the antenna, and the antenna miniaturization is realized by using half reduction technology. The antenna is processed and measured, and the working frequency bands are 720MHz-960MHz and 1.6GHz-4GHz, covering amps, GSM, LTE and 5G.


With observation and on spot statistics, this paper analyzed the serve receiving and defense of libero player in the competition of 1998~1999 national tournament. The author explicate the role that libero player can play in the competition with the practice of the new rule.


Cryptococcus is a fungal pathogen whose virulence relies on proliferation in and dissemination to host sites, and on synthesis of a defensive yet metabolically costly polysaccharide capsule. Regulatory pathways required for Cryptococcus virulence include a GATA-like transcription factor, Gat201, that regulates Cryptococcal virulence in both capsule-dependent and capsule-independent ways. Here we show that Gat201 is part of a negative regulatory pathway that limits fungal survival. RNA-seq analysis found strong induction of GAT201 expression within minutes of transfer to host-like media at alkaline pH. Microscopy, growth curves, and colony forming units to test viability show that in host-like media at alkaline pH wild-type Cryptococcus neoformans yeast cells produce capsule but do not bud or maintain viability, while gat201Δ cells make buds and maintain viability, yet fail to produce capsule. GAT201 is required for transcriptional upregulation of a specific set of genes in host-like media, the majority of which are direct Gat201 targets. Evolutionary analysis shows that Gat201 is conserved within pathogenic fungi but lost in model yeasts. This work identifies the Gat201 pathway as controlling a trade-off between proliferation, which we showed is repressed by GAT201, and production of defensive capsule. The assays established here will allow characterisation of the mechanisms of action of the Gat201 pathway. Together, our findings urge improved understanding of the regulation of proliferation as a driver of fungal pathogenesis. Author Summary Micro-organisms face trade-offs in adapting to their environments. For example, pathogens adapting to host niches must balance investing in proliferation – reproduction and growth – against investing in defense against the host immune system. Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated fungal pathogen that can infect human airways and, in immunocompromised people, can move to the brain to cause life-threatening meningitis. It is well appreciated that fungal persistence in these sites depends on production of a sugar capsule that surrounds the cell, hiding it from host detection. However, in both the lung and brain, fungal proliferation through budding is also a major driver of pathogenesis: both cryptococcal pneumonia and meningitis are characterised by high yeast burden. This presents a trade-off between production of a metabolically costly capsule and cellular proliferation. The regulators of Cryptococcus proliferation are poorly understood, as they are distinct from other model yeasts at the level of cell cycle and morphogenesis. In this work, we study this trade off under host-like alkaline conditions that restrict fungal growth. We identify a GATA-like transcription factor, Gat201, and its target, Gat204, that positively regulate capsule production and negatively regulate proliferation. The GAT201 pathway is conserved within pathogenic fungi but lost in other model yeasts. Together our findings reveal how a fungal pathogen regulates the balance between defense and proliferation and highlight the need for improved understanding of proliferation in non-model systems.


The invention relates to a full-automatic steel bar bending machine, which comprises a machine frame, wherein a full-automatic intermittent double-roll material delivery device, a cam device, a variable-speed device with adjustable material delivery length, a steel bar shaping device and a shearing device are arranged on the machine frame. The full-automatic steel bar bending machine has the advantages that the bending and shearing of a steel bar can be completed in a pure-mechanic and full-automatic way, the error caused by manual operation is avoided, the circling quality of the steel bar is guaranteed, and the working efficiency is improved.


This paper details how transmission and insertion loss can be defined for the multi-inlet case. Two different procedures are used for calculations and are compared against one another. The first is an impedance matrix approach that has been proposed in the past and is especially suitable for deterministic approaches like BEM. The other is a superposition method that does not require assembling or inverting a matrix. Though each approach can be extended to the n-inlet situation, the superposition approach is mathematically simpler but requires the source impedance to be known a priori. Transmission and insertion loss can be determined using either method, and results using either method are shown to be equivalent. The methods are demonstrated and compared for a two-inlet one-outlet expansion chamber.


Reminiscence Work with Old People highlights the fact that such work has many contributions to make to the well-being of elderly people. Quality of life is seen as a vital concern within caring professions and as life expectancy increases, every benefit for the 'period from retirement to death' should be utilised.


In this paper, the circle formation control of multi-agent systems with first-order dynamics in a two-dimensional plane is studied. The goal is to achieve the desired circle formation for the multi-agent system initially located outside the circle, that is, drive the multi-agent system to the circle in finite time and then form the prescribed formation on the circle. To the end, we need to design corresponding control laws for the task of the two stages, respectively, and a unified formation control law is also designed. Then, the convergence of the multi-agent system is proved by using Lyapunov function and matrix graph. Finally, the validity of the control law is illustrated by numerical simulation.


Old boys networks, fraternities, free-mason shops — many of us look at them with suspicion. The worry about the dangers of oligarchies is not new. Adam Smith1 noted that "people of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." However, do the powerful indeed purposefully organize into such 'rich-club' structures or do the connections we observe arise merely as a natural consequence of a stochastic process — if you have many connections, you are quite likely to connect 'by chance' to another well-connected member of the community. On page 110 of this issue, Colizza and colleagues2 tackle the intricate problem of quantifying the existence of systematically created oligarchies within networks, and apply their findings to cases from many different areas. Surprisingly, they find that the Internet, which had been reported to display an oligarchic structure3, in fact does not. At its core, the question that Colizza et al.2 address is no different from the problem of deciding if, for example, someone who is 6 foot 5 inches — or 196 cm — is tall or not. Obviously, the question only makes sense if one defines the group of people with whom the person in question is being compared. A height of 196 cm is significantly larger than the height of the average adult female, but it is significantly smaller than the height of the average centre player in the US national basketball association (NBA). The challenge clearly is in identifying the appropriate group for making the comparison. An NBA scout will not decide if a prospect is tall enough to play centre by comparing his height to the heights of the general population. In the same spirit, Colizza and her co-workers demonstrate that the first measure3 introduced to quantify the presence of oligarchies in complex networks is prone to misinterpretation: it will take increasing values as the number of connections of the nodes in the network increases. Thus, an oligarchy will always appear to be present, even if the network is random. This shortcoming, which casts doubt on the conclusions that can be drawn from such an analysis, can be circumvented. Colizza et al. show that the value of the so-called rich-club coefficient needs to be compared with its expected value for a random network whose nodes have the exact same number of connections as the network one is interested in. In other words, an appropriate null model has to be found for comparison. Colizza and colleagues have now found the correct null model for the rich-club coefficient and, when applied to real networks, it reveals some surprises; they uncover that the Internet does not have an oligarchic structure whereas, for example, scientific collaborations do. That is, a social network, such as the one created by the scientific collaborations among researchers displays a markedly rich-club structure. This tells us that our worries about oligarchies within social systems are not unwarranted. The ultra-rich and powerful do not congregate at the Davos meetings by pure chance. On the other hand, rather unexpectedly, local hubs in the Internet, while providing rich connectivity to other nodes, are not tightly interconnected among themselves. The importance of the findings reported by Colizza et al. is not restricted to the detection of oligarchies in networks. They demonstrate that — to prove the saying "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics" wrong — appropriate null models are needed to provide a suitable normalization before drawing conclusions from absolute measurements. Indeed, similar considerations apply to the analysis of one of the most important (and intensively studied) properties of complex networks — their modular structure4,5. Most real networks are organized into modules; think, for example, of groups of friends or collaborators within social networks, or of pathways within the metabolism. The relevant questions are: Can we determine whether a network has a significantly modular structure? Is modularity enhanced during the


By the end of September, 1689, Peter's rivals were defeated and at the age of seventeen he began to rule Russia. Until his mother's death in early 1694 he would not rule alone, for Natalia, her younger brother Lev Kirillovich, and others of the Naryshkin clan and the larger Naryshkin faction would exercise power together. Peter was not idle, however, for in these years he not only grew up and spent more and more time in the German Suburb, he also began to form the group of favorites, Russian and foreign, on whom he would rely in later years. By the end of the decade, Peter had also captured the Turkish fort at Azov, traveled in Western Europe, and helped lay the foundation for the Northern War against Sweden. For the time being, it was a Naryshkin government. They began by rewarding their most important allies, the foreign officers, who received a month's pay as a bonus, and the musketeers, who all got a ruble a year as extra salary. Another beneficiary of the new regime was Patriarch Ioakim. He had convinced Peter to arrest Sil′vestr Medvedev as an associate of Shaklovityi in September. At the same time, Ioakim secured an even greater triumph, the expulsion of the Jesuits from Russia.


Abstract The layer-by-layer self-assembly of poly(diallyldimethyl-ammonium) chloride, PDDA; graphite oxide, G, nanoplatelets; and polyethylene oxide, PEO, onto transparent indium tin oxide substrates, S, have provided cationic working electrodes which, with lithium wires as reference and counter electrodes, functioned as high energy density rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Specifically, very high specific capacities (1232 and 1134 mAh.g−1) have been determined for batteries which had positive electrodes of ten sandwich layers of self-assembled films: S-(PDDA/GO/PEO)10 and S-(PDDA/PEO)10. The importance of the exfoliating GO into nanoplatelets and the colloid chemistry of self-assembly are discussed.


Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are an increasing threat to the Internet community. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) have become a key component in ensuring the safety of systems and networks. As networks grow in size and speed, efficient scalable techniques should be available for IDSs. Gnutella is a Peer to-Peer (P2P) networking model that currently provides decentralized file-sharing capabilities to its users but the distinction between server and client is pale. Due to Gnutella's dependence on a central unit, the program is vulnerable to security breaches. Methods/Statistical analysis: An IDS to detect DDoS attacks by simulating Artificial Immune System (AIS) is herein proposed. The proposed system uses an algorithm based on anomaly and signature-based detection mapped to AIS called "Generation of Detector (Genetic Algorithm)" to detect DDoS attacks. Each time an attack is identified, a new generation is added to the detectors dataset to detect the intrusions. Results: Simulation results show that the proposed method not only has adaptability, scalability, flexibility and variety but also has high accuracy and correctness. Conclusion/Application: The proposed algorithm efficiently reduces the false positives, thus the detection rate of intrusions is increased. Hence, the overall detection rate increases which ultimately increases the functional efficiency of the network to an acceptable level.


The number and variety of cultures past and present have divided members of the human race throughout the course of history. Our differing cultural perspectives make it difficult to grasp the process of evolving values, and often allow us to ignore or discount the cultures of others, and cultures of the past, or the future, as well. Because culture is the means by which we encode our experience of the world, it is also our reality. Thus, at this moment when social conflicts and destructive practices threaten not only our future as a species but the future of our world as a living system, we must seek new ways for individuals and cultures to cooperate and use technologies wisely to restore and guard the environment while bringing the benefits of sustainable prosperity to people everywhere. The global initiative "Design Me a Planet," outlined and discussed in this article, aims to help accomplish this vital and long-desired goal.


Averaging-normalization, applied to weakly nonlinear wave equations provides a tool for identification of slow manifolds in these infinite-dimensional systems. After discussing the general procedure we demonstrate its effectiveness for a Rayleigh wave equation to find lowdimensional invariant manifolds.


Stenares Hagen is one of the derivatives of the highly composite genus Myrmeleon Linn. Stenares hyaena (Dalman) and S. improbus (Walker) were described under the genus Myrmeleon Linn. while S. harpyia (Gerstaecker) was described under Palpares Rambur. Banks (1913) referred to seven species of Stenares Hagen from different regions of the world of which S. hyaena (Dalman), ·S. improbus (Walker) and S. harpyia (Gerstaecker) are known to occur in India. Later, he (1931) described one more species, S. frazeri from Coorg, Karnataka. The author, while studying different species of Stenares Hagen from the old and recent survey collections lying at Zoological Survey of India, encountered a new species from Andhra Pradesh which has been described itt the paper. Besides, a key to four Indian species examined along with illustrations, a literature review of a species and the suitable references have also been incorporated. Altogether five species including the new one are reported in the paper.


Abstract: The present study was conducted to find out the effect of intensive interval training on biomotor speed and white blood cells ( WBC's) of males. Fifty (N=50) healthy male students of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab were selected through equated group design. Further, they were randomly assigned to experimental (n=25) and control (n=25) groups. The experimental group had participated in the twelve weeks intensive interval training, having an intensity of 80%-90% with recovery of 90 to 180 seconds whereas control group did not participate in intensive interval training programme. To ensure the uniform testing conditions, the subjects were tested during evening hours only. For measuring the speed of subjects, the 50 yard dash was organised. The blood samples of subjects were analysed to get the actual white blood cells counts. Training intensity was established by using the Karvonen formula. The't'-test was applied to find out the significant differences in mean scores (pre-test and post-test) with regard to the experimental and control groups on the variables; biomotor speed and white blood cells. For testing the hypothesis, the level of significance was set at 0.05. It is concluded from the results that significant difference has been observed in experimental group on the variable of speed whereas insignificant difference has been found on the variable of white blood cells. However, insignificant differences had been noticed in control group on the said variables. Therefore, it is safely surmised that to increase the biomotor speed, the intensive interval training method can be used.


Introduction: As a prevention, fluoride is used systemically as well as topically in the oral cavity.  Thanks to fluoride prophylaxis, one of the most common bacterial disease in the world can be significantly reduced. This disease is dental caries. As such, it constitutes a huge problem in current stomatology, especially the type that affects small children - early childhood caries (ECC). Fluoride has beneficial effects not only in caries prevention but also in arresting and inhibiting the active decay process. Nevertheless, in recent years the use of fluoride is claimed to be controversial due to its toxic properties.
Aim: The aim of this study is to summarize the current knowledge on the effect that fluoride has on caries diseases affecting children and the safety of its use based on the available research.
Materials and methods: Review of the current literature based on data available in: Pubmed, Ncbi, NIH, AAPD (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) and EAPD (European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) websites using the following phrases: fluoride, fluoride in caries prevention, fluoride in caries, fluoride mechanism, fluoride toxicity, fluoride safety, caries, early childhood caries (ECC).
Conclusions: The use of fluoride is debatable, due to its toxic properties when used in excessive doses. The analysis of the studies proved that fluoride concentrations used in dentistry for the prevention and treatment of early childhood caries (ECC) are safe for the children's organism. The benefits resulting from its use in modern dentistry, which should be based on prophylaxis, are indisputable.


Probabilistic failure analysis of nuclear piping components due to a combined degradation mechanisms is a challenging issue. At present the majority of analyses were done by assuming a single failure mechanism for a specific location of a piping system. But in reality, this might not be an accurate approach. A tiny crack might be present in a weld location due to fabrication defect or initiated due to fatigue after a short incubation time of plant's start up. This pre-existing or initiated crack then may be further matured by the synergistic effect of different probable degradation mechanisms e.g. fatigue, stress corrosion cracking, etc. In this study the development process of an advanced probabilistic fracture mechanics code has been described which can handle this combined failure mechanisms. Numerical examples are also presented to rationalize the use of such methodology.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Dear Editor, Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a heterogeneous disorder with a wide range of clinical phenotypes and a variable course (Dyck et al., 1975; Kuwabara et al., 2006). Although randomized, controlled trials have shown the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) (Eftimov et al., 2009), corticosteroids, and short-term plasma exchange (Mehndiratta and Hughes, 2002; Mehndiratta et al., 2004), some patients with CIDP experience relapse. We report the efficacy of long-term regular plasmapheresis as a maintenance therapy for CIDP patients with frequent treatment-dependent relapses. Of the 82 consecutive patients with CIDP whose condition fulfilled published criteria of European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society (EFNS/PNS) (Joint Task Force of the EFNS and the PNS, 2005), seen at Chiba University Hospital between 1984 and 2009, five were treated with long-term plasmapheresis. The inclusion criteria were (1) no or limited responses to corticosteroid treatment, (2) clear improvement by one or more Hughes grade (Hughes et al., 1978) by IVIg or plasmapheresis, (3) more than two treatment-dependent relapses, and (4) receiving monthly maintenance plasmapheresis for >12 months. Plasmapheresis was performed with a second filter (Evaflux 3A, Kurare Co. Ltd., Kurashiki, Japan) or Immusorber TR-350 (Asahi Medical Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The use of the second filter can avoid replacement fluid and therefore is more common than simple plasma exchange in Japan. The patients initially received plasmapheresis twice a week for 3 weeks (total six times). Then the interval of the treatment was gradually extended; once a week for 4 weeks, every 2 weeks for 4 weeks, and finally monthly


Perylene-3,4-dicarboxylic anhydride (3) is prepared from technical grade perylene-3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic anhydride (1) in 25% yield by a partial decarboxylation reaction using noncondensing amines. Perylene-3-carboxylic acid (4) and perylene-3,4-dicarboxylic imide (5) are prepared in the same way in yields of 24% and 76%, respectively, by a variation of the reaction conditions.


OBJECTIVE
Right ventricle to pulmonary artery anatomic discontinuity is common in complex congenital heart malformations. Handsewn conduits are a practised method of repair. In a proof-of-concept study, we evaluated pulmonary valve replacement with a handsewn pericardial valved pulmonary conduit in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS
A pulsatile flow-loop model (in vitro) and an acute 60-kilogram porcine model (in vivo) were used. With echocardiography and pressure catheters, baseline geometry and fluid dynamics were measured. The pulmonary valve was replaced with a handsewn glutaraldehyde treated pericardial valved pulmonary conduit corresponding to a 21-mm prosthetic valve, after which geometric measurements and fluid dynamics were reassessed.

RESULTS
in vitro, 15 pulmonary trunks at 4 L/min and 13 trunks at 7 L/min, and in vivo, 11 animals were investigated. The valved pulmonary conduit was straightforward to produce at the operating table and easy to suture in place. All valves were clinically sufficient in vitro and in vivo. The mean transvalvular pressure gradient in the native valve and the conduit was 8 mmHg (SD: 2) and 7 mmHg (SD: 2) at 4 L/min in vitro, 19 mmHg (SD : 3) and 17 mmHg (SD: 4) at 7 L/min in vitro, and 3 mmHg (SD: 2) and 6 mmHg (SD: 3) in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS
Our proof-of-concept demonstrates no early evidence of structural damage to the conduit, and the fluid dynamic data was acceptable. The handsewn conduit can be produced at the operating table.


Despite a sharp increase in minor surgery by GPs there has been no compensatory decrease in hospital referrals, new research suggests.


In this study, we evaluate the performance of several imaging modes of X-band satellite SAR data in mapping various forest logging operations. We use stripmap and spotlight data acquired by DLR's TanDEM-X mission and ICEYE SAR satellites. Also, the potential of InSAR coherence data is evaluated. Experiments are performed over the study site located in the central part of Finland. Reference data are represented by forest management plans and harvester logging tracking reports. Our results indicate that not only clear-cutting, but also forest thinning operations can be detected using advanced imaging modes of satellite SAR data even at X-band, primarily using high resolution imaging modes and interferometric SAR capability.


As an important branch of machine learning, clustering is wildly used for data analysis in various domains. Hierarchical clustering algorithm, one of the traditional clustering algorithms, has excellent stability yet relatively poor time complexity. In this paper, we proposed an efficient hierarchical clustering algorithm by searching given nodes' nearest neighbors iteratively, which depends on an assumption: the representative node (root) may exist in the densest data area. The experiments results preformed on 14 UCI datasets show that our algorithm exhibits the best accuracies on most datasets. Moreover, our method has a linear time complexity which is significantly better than other traditional clustering methods like UPGMA and K-Means.


The large-scale model of the Streaming-Fiber fast current oil skimmer was modified to improved performance in waves and viscous oils. Modification included a sorbent foam belt rotation beneath the fiber array to intercept and collect any oil escaping from the fibers, and separate flotation for the fiber array to improve wave conformance by decoupling the array motions from the skimmer vessel. Testing indicated benefits from both of these modifications. The program involved small-scale foam capacity tests and small-scale model tests, as well as testing of the large-scale model atOHMSETT. A preliminary prototype design, utilizing the most promising developments of date, is included in the report.


Abstract. Benlembarek K, Lograda T, Ramdani M, Figueredo G, Chalard P. 2021. Chemical composition, antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of Taxus baccata essential oil from Algeria. Biodiversitas 22: 5475-5483. This work aims to study the chemical composition, the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of Taxus baccata essential oil of Algeria. The essential oil was obtained by hydro distillation; its chemical composition was determined by GC and GC-MS analysis. The antibacterial and antifungal activities are evaluated by the disk diffusion method against three-gram negative bacteria, four-gram positive bacteria and four phytopathogenic fungi. The evaluation of antioxidant activity is carried out by the DPPH scavenging method. Twenty-seven compounds have been identified in the essential oil, where the major product was undecanone-2, followed by nonanone-2, tridecanone-2, decanone-2 and the methyl dehydroabietic. The T. baccata essential oil showed moderate antibacterial and antifungal activities against the strains tested, with the exception of E. faecalis, MRSA and Fusarium graminum, which have shown significant resistance. T. baccata essential oil has a moderate antioxidant activity.


ABSTRACT This special issue of the journal is about one of the most significant, yet largely overlooked, international rights instruments concerning indigenous peoples: the ILO Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. It offers a highly needed critical perspective bringing together practitioners, institutional actors, indigenous leaders and academics in an attempt to take stock of nearly 30 years of its existence.


To the issues of online public opinions pre-warning,this paper proposed a pre-warning method based on intuitionistic fuzzy reasoning. Described the theory of the state and trend analysis about online public opinions,which came from the battlefield state and trend analysis in the field of military,and it selected seven modes of the state and trend analysis about online public opinions. The experimental result using 7 topics of online public opinions shows that the method can estimate the threat's level much precisely,and to a degree,the estimate is fit for the opinion of experts'experience. So,the method is availiable.


[Objective] To study the release of organic matter from excess sludge under microwave energy and their influencing factors.[Method] The release of organic matter from excess sludge under microwave energy was investigated with different microwave power and contact time.[Result] The results indicated that extend the contact time and increase microwave power was helpful to organic matter release.Turbidity and the concentration of the total organic matter,protein and polysaccharide of supernatant increased with the increase of microwave power and contact time.Zeta potential and pH varied in a manner of opposition.The concentration of protein and polysaccharide of supernatant increased from 40,54 mg/L to 130,170 mg/L,respectively.Zeta potential and pH decreased from-11.2 mV,7.80 to-5.1 mV,7.07,respectively.The lowest of Zeta potential and pH was-5.1 mV and 7.07 under the condition of microwave power(700 W) and contact time(60 s),respectively.There existed a good correlation between PN/PS ratio and Zeta potential,and coefficient was 0.54-0.98.[Conclusion] Microwave energy could be beneficial for the release of organic matter from excess sludge.


A field experiment was carried out at Agronomy Field, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh during the period from November 2009 to March 2010 with a view to finding out the effect of appropriate dose of USG on growth and yield of wheat. Six levels of nitrogen (T 0 , T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , T 4 and T 5 ) were applied as treatments for growth and yield of wheat var. Bijoy for this study. Among the application of USG, treatment T 5 produced the superior results on morpho-physiological and growth characters of wheat except number of non sterile spikelet where USG treatment T 2 performs the best (1.82). As results, T 5 produced the highest plant height (95.77 cm), number of total tiller hill-1 (4.96), no. of effective tiller (4.13), no of non effective tiller (1.00), number of total spikelet (20.22), no of spikelet spile -1 (10.92), sterile spieklet (18.70), no of grains spike -1 (46.27), 1000-grain yield (51.39 g), grain yield (2.42 t ha -1 ) and straw yield (4.06 tha -1 ). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v4i2.10164 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 4(2): 143-146, 2011


A number of previous studies have examined various statistical methods for the prediction of geomagnetic activity, particularly based on predictor input of solar wind variables. However, investigation of the potential for a simple binary prediction system based on either "quiet" or storm-level activity of the planetary magnetic field has been severely lacking. The goals of the current analyses were to identify potential space weather models for the accurate prediction of geomagnetic storm events. Furthermore, while the deleterious or negative effects of increases in geomagnetic activity on a range of terrestrial systems have been focused on in the past, theoretical perspectives on the potential benefits of significantly increased geomagnetic perturbations are considered


Fully epitaxial Co2FexMn1−xSi(CFMS)/Ag/Co2FexMn1−xSi current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistive devices with various Fe/Mn ratios x and top CFMS layer thicknesses tCFMS were prepared. The highest magnetoresistance (MR) ratios, 58% at room temperature and 184% at 30 K, were observed in the sample with x = 0.4 and tCFMS = 3 nm. Enhancement of interface spin-asymmetry was suggested for x = 0.4 compared with that at x = 0. A MR ratio of 58% was also observed even in a very thin trilayer structure, CFMS(4 nm)/Ag(3 nm)/CFMS(2 nm), which is promising for a next-generation magnetic read sensor for high-density hard disk drives.


This thesis expounds systematically the army's role in the South political Reconstruction.First ,the army suppressed the racialist's terrorism, safeguarded the unity of America, provided a steady society for the Congress to reconstruct the South democratically.Second, the army intervened the administration and legislation of the South ,reformed the politics of the South.Third , with the help of the army,the blackmen first exercised the right to vote and stepped the government in American history .The democratic State governments composed by blacks and whites were established. The development of the South political democratization stepped forward.


Recent empirical evidence suggests that fiscal consolidation mainly based on tax hikes has a more recessionary impact on economic growth than those based on expenditure cuts. This paper evaluates the effects of fiscal adjustment plans identified through the narrative approach on macroeconomic activity. I incorporate fiscal plans into the vector autoregression model to investigate transmission channels of fiscal consolidation and accompanying policy. I check whether monetary policy, uncertainty, or financial markets can explain the heterogeneous effects of fiscal adjustment plans. I find that the financial market and macro uncertainty are the most important, explaining about 90% of the total difference.


The Navy is currently developing technologies and studying design options for a planned new cruiser called the CG(X). This report explores the reasoning behind the development of these cruisers, the budgetary actions taking place to enable their development, selected technical specifics of their design, and various other information relating to defense procurement costs.


Objective To investigate the status of pain,self-efficacy and quality of life of patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc,and explore the correlation among them.Methods A total of 100 patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc were investigated with Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire,Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire.Results The pain rating index of patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc was(9.77±4.66),and the score of visual analogue scale was(52.08±14.56),and the score of present pain intensity was(2.11±0.53).The score of pain self-efficacy was(32.26±11.15).The score of the eight dimensions of the quality of life of patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc were significantly lower than the norm group and the difference was statistically significant(P0.01).There was a positive correlation between patients' self-efficacy and their quality of life,while there was a negative correlation between patients' pain level and their quality of life.Similarly,there was a negative correlation between the score of visual analogue scale,pain rating index and the score of pain self-efficacy(P0.01).Conclusion For patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc,the pain,self-efficacy and quality of life are interacting each other.Nurse should explore effective interventions to improve patients' quality of life.


This article proposes a hierarchical distributed voltage control (HDVC) scheme for active distribution networks (ADNs) with high penetration of photovoltaics based on distributed model predictive control (DMPC) and alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The reactive power outputs of several photovoltaic clusters (PVCs) and photovoltaic (PV) units within each PVC are optimally coordinated to keep PV terminal voltages and the voltages of all critical buses of ADNs within the feasible range and mitigate voltage fluctuations. In the ADN layer, a distributed reactive power control scheme based on DMPC is designed for the PVC, which regulates the voltages of all critical buses to be closed to the rated value and mitigates the reactive power variations. In the PVC layer, the reactive power outputs of PV units are optimized based on ADMM to minimize the voltage deviation of each PV terminal and track the reactive power reference from the PVC control. The proposed HDVC scheme requires communication only between neighboring PVC controller, while each PV controller only communicates with the corresponding PVC controller. This regulates the voltages in a completely decentralized manner and effectively reduces the computation burden of the PVC and PV controllers. A modified Finnish distribution network with 10 PVCs was used to validate the control performance of the proposed HDVC scheme.


Abstract Across two studies, we examined how the reaction of a woman who was targeted by potentially disparaging sexist jokes by a male joke-teller affected men's and women's perceptions of the jokes, the woman who was told the jokes, and the male joke-teller. Participants viewed videos in which a man told sexist jokes to a woman who responded with amusement, offense, ambiguity, or nonverbal disapproval. We found that the woman's reaction to the sexist humor affected the perceptions of both the male joke-teller and the woman. Our results suggest that expressing nonverbal disapproval may be an effective way to produce negative perceptions of a man telling sexist jokes (Study 1) and may increase positive perceptions of a woman who confronts them (Study 2). Further, expressing verbal offense may be an increasingly acceptable way of confronting sexist jokes, perhaps due to recent cultural shifts in perceptions of confronting sexism more generally (Study 2). Our findings offer reason to be optimistic about changing norms with regard to confronting sexist humor.


In this talk, I review recent progress towards developing accurate and precise nuclear forces in the framework of chiral effective field theory. The new generation of NN potentials up to fifth order in the chiral expansion is shown to provide excellent description of phase shifts and to yield a convergent pattern for low-energy NN observables. I also address the issue of uncertainty quantification and discuss some recent results in nucleon-deuteron scattering.


ABSTRACT In proglacial landscapes, such as western Greenland, eolian transport plays an important role for the influx of particulate material to lakes. On the basis of an analysis of a sediment profile and surface sediments from several lakes, we show that eolian activity has a strong influence on sediment deposition in time and space. Principal component analysis revealed that sediments that accumulated during periods with high eolian activity were enriched in zirconium—originating from coarse silt and sand fractions preferentially transported by wind—and depleted in rubidium. In addition, zirconium to rubidium ratios in the surface sediment of four additional lakes decreased with distance from the ice sheet. Finally, previously published data show that pH and alkalinity tend to be higher in lakes close to the front of the ice sheet, which we speculate is coupled to a larger supply of fresh eolian material. These findings demonstrate that lakes in proglacial landscapes may receive a substantial part of their sediment load through eolian deposition, and that this is especially true close to the glacial outwash plains along the ice margin.


In the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks, crisis management has become reprioritized in both the public and the corporate sector. The authors argue that crisis simulations can and should be a crucial feature of preparatory efforts to deal with crises. Drawing from crisis management literature, and their own experience with crisis simulations, they explore how different types of crisis simulations can help crisis managers to prepare for "traditional" disasters as well as modern crises and contingencies.


We present polarimetric maps of the Circinus galaxy nucleus in the 𝐵𝑉𝑅𝐼 bands, obtained with VLT/FORS2. Circinus is the closest Seyfert 2 galaxy and harbours an archetypal obscured active galactic nucleus (AGN). Recent high angular resolution imaging revealed that a major fraction of its mid-infrared (MIR) emission is coming from the polar region. Previously, we demonstrated that these observations are consistent with a model of a compact dusty disc and a hyperboloid shell, resembling a hollow cone on larger scales. Here we focus on the AGN core, up to 40 pc from the central engine, and compare the observations to the radiative transfer models. Polarization maps reveal a conical structure, coinciding with the ionization cone. The wavelength-dependence of the polarization degree indicates that scattering on dust grains is producing polarization. The observed polarization degree ( ≈ 1 − 3%) is lower than predicted by the models; however, this is only a lower limit, since stellar emission dominates the total flux in the optical. The observed polarization angle ( ≈ 30 ◦ ) is reproduced by the model of a dusty disc with a hollow cone that is illuminated by a tilted anisotropic central source. An accretion disc aligned with the ionization cone axis, and alternative dust geometries, such as a paraboloid shell, or a torus enveloped by ambient dust, are inconsistent with the data. We conclude that the optical polarimetric imaging supports earlier evidence for the presence of dust in the polar region, tentatively associated with dusty outflows.


In recent years Grapholitha molesta has become the main pest on fruit trees and the population has being on the rise and the incidence is especially serious in the areas where peach, pear, apple and apricot etc. were grown in a mixed way and the development of the fruit industry has be affected seriously. With Grapholitha molesta in the plum, peach and apple orchards in the agricultural development zone in Kelamayi municipality in Xinjiang as the object of study, the fluctuation dynamics, population density of Grapholitha molesta and the degree of its harm to fruit were investigated by setting traps. It was found that there were 4 incidence peaks of Grapholitha molesta in Kelamayi region during May to August and the biggest population density was found in the plum orchard, and secondly in the apple and peach orchards. The fruit of the plum was harmed most seriously, the peach was harmed secondly and the apple was not harmed basically. The order of various traps' effects in trapping Grapholitha molesta was as follows: sticky type trap 1sticky type trap 2bottled trap.


Abstract : This report summarizes a study conducted to standardize the fuel performance data used in the Ramjet and Laser Aerodynamics Division of the Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory. The NASA One-Dimensional Equilibrium (ODE) thermochemical computer program was used to generate the fuel combustion product properties contained in the tables and graphs in this report. Thermochemical equilibrium data (molecular weight, specific heat ratio, and ideal temperature rise) is presented for JP-4, JP-5, JP-7, and RJ-5 combusted in air at constant pressures of 1, 5, and 10 atmospheres, at fuel-to-air ratios from 0.025 to 0.10, and at total air temperatures from 400 to 2500R. The combustion process was assumed adiabatic and a constant fuel temperature of 298.15K was maintained. The fuel and air properties used in the calculations are presented.


OBJECTIVE
To screen the differentially expressed genes in human colorectal cancer (CRC) tissue.

METHODS
Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays HG-U133 representing 32,264 human genes including 19,308 known genes and 12,956 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were used to detect the gene expressions of CRC tissue paired with normal mucosa tissue. The microarray findings were confirmed by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR). The gene expression profiles were analyzed by intersection and complement, rank sum test and t test.

RESULTS
Totally 3,125 genes and ESTs expressed differentially were detected in normal and cancer tissues, consisting of 974 up-regulated and 2,151 down-regulated genes with 247 ESTs present in CRC tissue and absent in normal mucosa and 162 ESTs absent in CRC tissue but present in normal mucosa. A percent of 80.1% of the differentially expressed genes were not reported in the literatures.

CONCLUSION
The strategy of data mining provides a foundation for filtering molecular markers and interpreting molecular carcinogenesis of CRC.


This dissertation analyzes how government regulations can affect entrepreneurship and small business performance. In my first essay, I focus on the relationships between occupational licensing regulation and key business outcomes. In the second essay, I explore whether businesses started as franchises survive longer than those launched as independent businesses, and whether there is a link between state franchise relationship regulation aimed at preventing franchisor opportunism and the survival of franchised businesses. In the final essay, I analyze how personal bankruptcy laws affect entrepreneurship. All three essays rely on confidential U.S. Census Bureau micro-data.


Introduction A negative attitude towards the body supposed to lead to eating disorders and to increase the level of social anxiety. Objectives The research aim is to study the characteristics of eating behavior and social anxiety in women who have negative attitude towards their body. Methods The following methods have been used: Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ); Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26); Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation (BFNE); Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM), Social avoidance and distress scale (SADS). The sample consists of 98 women in the age from 18 to 60 years belonged to three age groups: Group 1: N=41, mean age 21.0+3.1; Group 2: N=29, mean age 29,5+4,9; Group 3: N=28, mean age 47,5+12,5. Results We have found out a statistically significant correlation between the negative attitude towards the body and the social anxiety. The more a woman dislike her appearance the higher is the level of social anxiety and the higher is the risk of eating disorders. It should be mentioned that all the negative tendencies are more prounouced in the youngest age group. Conclusions The research results can be implemented when designing prevention programs. Such programs are extremely important for young women in the age from 18 to 24 years as they have the highest risk of forming an eatind disorder as well as the social anxiety disorder.


As for coalmine high voltage distribution network, the decaying DC component of zero-sequence current during the single-phase earth fault obviously influences both velocity and accuracy of fault line selection. For this reason, on the basis of researching low-frequency transient process during single-phase earth fault in-depth, combining with total-least-squares matrix pencil algorithm a zero-sequence current low-frequency transient synthetic amplitude criterion, which integrates decaying DC component with active component, is proposed. The proposed criterion not only can reduce the influence of decaying DC component on the action velocity of fault line selection protection, but also can obviously enlarge the difference of criterion characteristic quantities between fault and non-fault feeders, thus the accuracy of fault line selection can be effectively improved. The correctness of the proposed criterion is validated by large amount of PSCAD/EMTDC based simulation of typical fault cases.


Postgraduate education, training and assessment in Forensic Medicine in Sri Lanka are conducted by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo (PGIM). This local training program commenced about three decades ago in order to prepare trainees for the diploma and MD examinations in Forensic Medicine. The basic structure of this programme has remained relatively unchanged over the years except for a few minor modifications. In keeping with the current recommendations of the PGIM and based on best evidence medical education (BEME) the Board of study in forensic medicine has designed an outcome based postgraduate curriculum with changes to the training programme. The new programme is aimed at producing specialists who will meet accepted universal standards. The purpose of this paper is to explain the need for a change, outline how the learning outcomes were identified, and highlight the training pertaining to four new learning outcomes. The experience of the author in the design and implementation of an innovative undergraduate curriculum in Forensic Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine Colombo more than a decade ago has also been used in the design of this curriculum. Medico-Legal Journal of Sri Lanka 2013; 1(2) : 1-9


1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China; 3GE Healthcare, Life Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China; 4PET-CT Center, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China


* Introduction: Risk and Return * Deposits and Bonds * Equity Investment * Options, Warrants and Convertibles * Foreign Investments: The Currency Dimension * Collective Investments and Performance Evaluation * Stock Indices and Stock Index Futures * Financially Engineered Investments * Concluding Remarks * Glossary


now, as set out here, the lower, half was featured on our cover and in the editorial of our previous issue, 15.6), explores the life and culture of the rural area where he lived, as well as the capital city Santo Domingo, the beach, and the border with Haiti. Here, on the beach, Bergner moves, as well as elsewhere in the mural, from the specific towards the general and/or symbolic, from a particular condition, in this case of the curiosity of the two children, towards an action that might begin to satisfy, extend and deepen that curiosity as it turns into an experience. Or the father may choose to enforce the boundary that marks the limit of 'the separated world that makes him comfortable' and, as Bergner has put it, makes 'uncomfortable' the relationship between American tourists and the local Dominicans. Either way, what sense will the two children make of that experience? Will the girl eventually assume her father's position, that of the characteristic state of mind of the tourists who, as Bergner puts it, 'are happy to enjoy the tropical sun and the ocean, but would prefer to forget that many people actually live on the island, and that they are much poorer than the tourists.' And if so, what sense will the boy make of all this? Or have we reached the point at which curiosity and individual or mutual sense-making end, and various forms of 'public opinion' or 'knowledge' take over? Some answers are suggested by making use of one of the images and investigations in this issue. Gathered together as elements of a collective investigation they can be conceived as three stages: the storm; riding the storm; and beyond the storm


Objectives Although spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) are standard of care to extubation readiness, no tool exists that optimises prediction and standardises assessment. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and clinical impressions of Extubation Advisor (EA), a comprehensive clinical extubation decision support (CDS) tool. Design Phase I mixed-methods observational study. Setting Two Canadian intensive care units (ICUs). Participants We included patients on mechanical ventilation for ≥24 hours and clinicians (respiratory therapists and intensivists) responsible for extubation decisions. Interventions Components included a predictive model assessment, feasibility evaluation, questionnaires and interviews with clinicians. Results We enrolled 117 patients, totalling 151 SBTs and 80 extubations. The incidence of extubation failure was 11% in low-risk patients and 21% in high-risk patients stratified by the predictive model; 38% failed extubation when both the model and clinical impression were at high risk. The tool was well rated: 94% and 75% rated the data entry and EA report as average or better, respectively. Interviews (n=15) revealed favourable impressions regarding its user interface and functionality, but unexpectedly, also concerns regarding EA's potential impact on respiratory therapists' job security. Conclusions EA implementation was feasible, and users perceived it to have potential to support extubation decision-making. This study helps to understand bedside implementation of CDS tools in a multidisciplinary ICU. Trial registration number NCT02988167.


Four-dimensional quantum universe on a computer Abstract: The question: "what is the structure of the universe at the Planck scale (10 −35 m)" is a long-standing problem of theoretical physics. We can expect that at this scale the spacetime be- comes non-homogeneous, with rapid quantum fluctuations of geometry. The correct description of such a structure should be quantum theory of gravity and construction of such a theory is one of the biggest challenges in theoretical physics. Quantum theory of gravity should at the same time explain the macroscopic four-dimensional geometry of the universe, described by the general theory of relativity. In this article a possible construction of such a theory, based on the method of causal dynamical triangulations, is discussed. This theory gave for the first time a description which connects the short-distance quantum effects with a correct long-range asymptotics. Pre- liminary results obtained for a model of "pure gravity" without matter are discussed. Even this simple version of the model predicts instability, leading to the Big Bang, and a four-dimensional universe on a macroscopic scale.


We introduce a Markovian model describing the paths that pin an elastic interface moving in a two-dimensional disordered medium. The scaling properties of these "elastic pinning paths" (EPP) are those of a pinned interface belonging to the universality class of the Edwards-Wilkinson equation with quenched disorder. We find that the EPP are different from paths embedded on a directed percolation cluster, which are known to pin the interface of the "directed percolation depinning" class of surface growth models. The EPP are characterized by a roughness exponent α = 1.25, intermediate between that of the free inertial process (α = 3/2) and the diode-resistor problem on a Cayley tree (α = 1). We also calculate numerically the mean cluster size and the cluster size distribution for the EPP.


Objective
To investigate the role of biological conduit containing nerve growth factor (NGF) and nerve fragments in the regeneration and repair process of peripheral nerve injury, in order to provide a theoretical basis for clinical peripheral nerve repair.

Methods
A rat model of peripheral nerve injury was established. The experimental animals were randomly divided into four groups: control group (A), autogenous adventitial small gap anastomosis plus autologous nerve fragment group (B), autogenous adventitial small gap anastomosis plus NGF and autologous nerve fragment group (C), and biological conduit plus NGF and autogenous nerve fragment group (D). Gross morphology observation, microscopic observation at the anatomical site, and histological observation were conducted. Measurement data are expressed as mean±standard deviation, and analysis of variance was performed to compare myelinated nerve fibers, Schwann cell number, and motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) values among the three groups, followed by pairwise comparisons using the LSD-t test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results
In group A, at the 8th week, the sole ulcer appeared to heal spontaneously, and the right lower limb started to show voluntary activity. The rats with plantar ulcer of the lower limb still did not show significant self-healing at the 12th week, and there was no limb activity. The lower limbs of rats in the other groups showed significant self-healing at the 6th week, with spontaneous activity in the right lower limb. At the 12th week, the toe of the right lower extremity of group A rats was still contracted and could not move freely, while most of those in the remaining three groups had activities. In the longitudinal sections, regenerated nerve fibers were observed in the small gap lumens constructed in groups B, C, and D. At 12 weeks after operation, the numbers of myelinated nerve fibers in groups A-D were 22.30±4.66 (per visual field at ×400 magnification), 51.60±4.45, 56.20±4.66, and 59.20±5.81, respectively, and the difference among the four groups was significant (F=298.48, P<0.001). The numbers of Schwann cells in groups A-D were 16.00±2.24 (per visual field at ×400 magnification), 21.00±3.40, 30.20±3.03, and 34.80±3.35, respectively, and the difference among the four groups was significant (F=197.63, P<0.001). At the 12th week after surgery, the MNCV values in groups A-D were 7.57±1.79 (m/s), 11.49±1.12, 13.86±2.03, and 20.16±2.48, respectively, and the difference among the four groups was significant (F=188.80, P<0.001). The number of myelinated nerve fibers, the number of Schwann cells, and MNCV were significantly higher in group D than in groups A-C (t=26.55, 5.45, 2.15, P<0.001, < 0.001, =0.034; t=21.87, 16.05, 5.35, P<0.001; t=23.19, 15.97, 11.60, P<0.001).

Conclusion
Combined use of autologous nerve fragments and NGF significantly improves the repair of nerve injury in the peripheral nerve regeneration microenvironment, and this finding provides a theoretical basis for clinical repair of peripheral nerve injury.

Key words:
Biological conduit; Nerve growth factor; Autologous nerve fragment; Peripheral nerve


A 4 μm thick polypropylene film (CH2) commonly used for sample mounting in XRF experiments appears to be free of the phosphorus and calcium contaminants that are present in the 2 μm Mylar (C10H8O4) backing film currently used for mounting liquid and crystalline protein samples for microPIXE. After analysing the polypropylene using microPIXE it was found that it contained no contaminants above the minimum detectable limits. The additional thickness of the polypropylene does not significantly affect the PIXE spectra, while the fact that polypropylene contains no oxygen is a great advantage in determining the thickness and composition of the sample matrix from the RBS spectrum. Use of this backing is now allowing us to make accurate trace element measurements of phosphorus and calcium in biological samples of proteins, DNA, and phospholipids.


Instead of attempting to interpret Bakhtin's carnival and his theories of dialogism as if they represented two independent strains of thought in his writings, this article proposes to see the two as being intimately linked with one another. For this discussion, we present several major interpretations of Bakhtin's carnival, as they appear in several languages, and we attempt to show the hidden dialogic moments of these same interpretations. Likewise, we use theories of utterance to explore several hitherto unsuspected links between the carnival and dialogism.


In order to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with accelerated global N cycle, a hybrid pretreatment procedure combining hydrothermal treatment (HTT) with ammonia stripping was developed to effectively recover N as a valuable ammonia product from chicken manure (CM). Processing of the CM at 180 °C for 30 min resulted in a 208% increase in soluble organic carbon (SOC) and 46% conversion of organic-N to ammonia-N. Analysis of carbon mass balance revealed that carbohydrates, proteins, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were the major contributors to SOC (∼100%) in the processed CM under this HTT condition. Further prolongation of holding time to 60 min or increase of HTT temperature to 220 °C resulted in some increase in ammonia yield but obvious decrease in SOC concentration and possible formation of inhibitory or nonbiodegradable products as well, compromising the practical value of the processed CM as feedstock for methane production. After ammonia recovery through a circulating stripping system ...


The principal purpose of this paper is to examine which research approaches are best suited for
determining the requirements of the next generation of interactive interpretation support systems for
cultural heritage site. We are optimistic that such systems if properly designed to exploit the potential
of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs), can not only meet, but even exceed
visitor-user expectations. The research framework proposed to achieve this ideal integrates insights
from both Interpretive Archaeology and interpretive IS research. We call the application of ICT's in
systems for communicating cultural heritage information "e-Heritage Systems or e-HS. We define
"Interpretive Archaeology Systems"(IAS) as a subclass of e-HS, the design of which is informed by
hermeneutics and phenomenology, Therefore, the principal purpose of the paper is to promote a shift
from e-HS to IAS. To illustrate the fruitfulness of our preferred approach for IAS requirements
identification, we derive a set of criteria from our research philosophy and apply them to the
evaluation of an existing e-HS: the ARCHEOGUIDE in Olympia.


A 16-year-old adolescent presented with 1-year history of asymptomatic progressive skin lesions affecting the trunk. He reported that the lesions had initially started as brownish flat lesions, some of which had recently developed lumps within them. He denied manipulation or trauma at the sites of the lesions. He had no associated systemic symptoms. He also denied a family history of a similar condition or of keloid formation. He was otherwise healthy and on no drug therapy. Physical examination revealed multiple, welldemarcated, hyperpigmented, indurated atrophic plaques. Within some of these plaques, skin-colored to hyperpigmented firm nodules were present, some of which were arranged in a linear pattern (Fig. 1). A punch biopsy that included parts of an indurated plaqueandcontainednodular lesionwas taken (Figs. 2–4).


The scope of Modelica has been extended from a language primarily intended for physical systems modeling to modeling of complete systems by allowing the modeling of control systems including state machines. This paper describes the state machines introduced in Modelica 3.3. Any block without continuous-time equations or algorithms can be a state of a state machine. Transitions between such blocks are modeled by a new kind of connections associated with transition conditions. The paper gives the details for building state machines and includes several examples. In addition, the complete semantics is described using only 13 Modelica equations.


In this chapter, the authors investigated how ideological differences between the two main political traditions in Ghana manifested in their campaign lyrics. The authors diachronically interrogated the 2012 and 2016 campaign songs of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party of Ghana using critical discourse analysis. The findings suggest that there are no clear manifestations of ideological differences between the two political traditions in their campaign songs. The songs had pragmatic themes that essentially dwelt on the lived socio-economic conditions of the voters. As such, these daily economic needs of the voters became the defining concerns in political campaign songs rather than ideological affinity.


Spent fluid catalytic cracking catalysts (S-FCC-Cs) constitutes a fraction of the hazardous solid waste generated in the petrochemical industry. The resource application of S-FCC-Cs remains a challenge. This study aims to explore utilizing S-FCC-Cs in asphalt mortar as a means to enhance resource utilization. Five different S-FCC catalysts were used as substitutes for mineral powder in the asphalt slurry at varying proportions. The high-temperature rheology of the resulting spent FCC catalyst-modified asphalt slurry was analyzed using temperature scanning tests and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) tests conducted at different temperatures and substitution doping levels. As the proportion of alternative doping increased, both the phase angle and irrecoverable creep flexibility decreased, while the absolute values of the rutting factor, deformation recovery rate, and irrecoverable creep flexibility difference increased. Moreover, as the temperature rose, the phase angle increased while the rutting factor decreased. The inclusion of an alternative admixture significantly improved the high-temperature performance of the asphalt mastic. This improvement was attributed to several factors, including the increase in the elastic component, enhanced deformation resistance, and improved deformation recovery. While the high-temperature performance of spent FCC catalyst-modified asphalt mastic gradually declined with increasing test temperature, all performance indices remained superior to those of limestone mineral powder asphalt mastic. In addition, the asphalt mortar modified by S-FCC-C JX with a surface area and hydrophilic coefficient of 105 m2/g and 1.026, respectively, exhibited the best rutting resistance and resilience performances among the five mortars, suggesting that the two factors co-affected the high-temperature rheological properties of S-FCC-C asphalt mortar. Considering stress sensitivity, it is more advantageous in improving the high-temperature deformation resistance of asphalt slurry at the JX dosage of 20%. These research findings offer valuable guidance for the application of S-FCC catalysts in asphalt pavement.


In this book, Oliver Godsmark has sought to study the complex process of reorganisation of states in India after independence, a process which actually started during the colonial period. He has tr...


PEPCK‐C gene is expressed primarily in the liver, kidney, and adipose tissue. Using a mouse model with a deletion of the PPAR binding site in the endogenous PEPCK‐C gene promoter (PPARE‐/‐ mice), we have altered the regulation of the PEPCK‐C gene expression in the liver and ablated gene expression in the white adipose tissue (WAT). The hepatic expression of PEPCK‐C is reduced during fasting which protects the mice from developing diabetes. The mice, however , develop moderate insulin resistance as measured by hyperinsulinemic‐euglycemic glucose clamps and 2‐deoxyglucose uptake. Treatment of the mice with rosiglitazone either with normal chow or high fat feeding worsened the insulin resistance in the PPARE‐/‐ mice, however treatment with pioglitazone improved insulin resistance in the PPARE‐/‐ mice. These data suggest that the PPAR binding site in the PEPCK‐C promoter is an important regulator of the glyceroneogenesis pathway and dysregulation of PEPCK‐C contributes to development of insulin resistance.


We summarize recent results by the BABAR and Belle Collaborations on the search for CP violation and new physics beyond the Standard Model in several rare B meson decays. The measurements exploit the final BABAR and Belle Upsilon(4S) datasets, which consist of approximately 470 and 772 million BBbar pairs, respectively.


In this paper the eigenwaves of a periodic impedance diffraction grating (DG), and the reflection and transmittance on a finite DG are under investigation. The approximate boundary conditions (ABC) were used for simulations. The refined expression for impedance dielectric strips is obtained. Singular part of the approximate integral equations (IE) is extracted and analytically transformed. As a result an IE of second type with a smooth kernel has been derived and solved with the collocation method and the Galerkin method.


This paper presents a novel perspective on archiving architecture documents in large organizations. Designing and architecting a system deals with modeling the high level structure of a system in terms of views, architectural patterns and styles. Aspects such as knowledge management and archiving of architecture work done on artifacts of software projects challenge the large organizations. Knowledge management in such organizations depends on how well the company preserves the knowledge acquired on projects and how well the company provides the facilities to retrieve that architectural knowledge. The main issue in identification of the architecture documents is how we annotate these documents while storing in the repository. We have identified an approach on how these architecture documents can be annotated with architecture properties, and provided a comprehensive search design on the architecture documents already stored in the database. We describe how this perspective offers a good solution on archiving architecture documents and outlines various issues worthy of further exploration.


The Responding to Family Violence (RFV) study was one part of a very significant research program that examined the impact of the 2012 family violence amendments.


The relationship between parliamentary rules and legislative outcomes is a central question in the study of Congress. A well-established and fruitful approach to this question interprets parliamentary rules in terms of voting and agendas. Rules governing germaneness (Shepsle 1979), amendment procedures (Denzau and Mackay 1983, Weingast 1990), conference committees (Shepsle and Weingast 1987), and discharge petitions (Krehbiel 1990) have all been productively analyzed in terms of how they systematically structure the congressional agenda, that is, what alternatives are voted on, and in what order. The parsimonious votes-and-agendas framework allows us to understand the policy implications of a complex and seemingly disparate set of legislative rules and strategies. It is an excellent example of how formal models have contributed to social science by inspiring powerful analogies (e.g., the vast array of scenarios that can be usefully thought of as Prisoner's Dilemmas.) Yet this structured process of generalization can be taken too far (e.g., the use of "demand curves" in scenarios where the analog of price is not remotely exogenous.) The historic usefulness of the votes-andagendas framework does not imply that it offers the best approach to all aspects of legislative rules and organization.


Grammatical Error Correction (GEC) seriously suffers from a scarcity of data, both annotated and unannotated, as humans do not intentionally make grammatical errors. To account for this, we make use of the plentiful unlabeled plain text available and augment a dataset with artificial noise to increase our effective training data and pre-train our model as a denoising autoencoder (DAE), which offers an intuitive data augmentation solution for GEC. In a novel approach, we enhance our DAE, a Transformer Model, with a cross-document context mechanism and use a parallel encoder to encode the cross-document context before fusing the two contexts of the encoders in the decoder. Supplied by the combination of document similarity metrics and any unlabeled plain text, this serves as a new method of equipping a GEC model with supplemental context and allowing it to glean grammatical information from a separate plain text corpus. We evaluate our model on the CoNLL-2014 GEC Shared Task and achieve results that approach state-of-the-art for single models and show great potential with ever available and plentiful plain text.


The aim of this paper is to compare the optimization capability of two algorithm. The first one is a traditional algorithm, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the other one is a recently developed algorithm, Social Network Optimization. To make a comparison between the two algorithms, the optimization of a planar reflectarray is here used as a complex, non-linear electromagnetic benchmark problem.


This paper introduces the development course of surface modification technologies,such as chemical vapor deposition(CVD),ion plating and ion chemical heat treatment processes.The merits and shortcomings and improvements of these technologies are pointed out,and a novel ion plating process which has same basic component for both deposited layer and substrate is introduced briefly.


Bacterial conjugation, transduction and transformation/competence are the major mechanisms for lateral gene transfer (LGT)/horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the microbial world. Whereas transduction and transformation depend on the recipient to participate in the process via homologous recombination, conjugation is a function of the donor cell, which identifies a suitable recipient cell and transports the DNA into it in an active, donor-dependent manner. A wide range of recipients is possible, including those of other genera or kingdoms [1,2]. A single donor cell can convert a population of recipient cells to donor cell status via the process of epidemic spread, which is a feature of conjugation alone. The effectiveness of these mechanisms, particularly conjugation, in disseminating traits such as antibiotic resistance is remarkable, with resistance to newly available antibiotics appearing within months of their introduction [3]. In general, conjugative elements, either plasmidic or integrative in nature, accumulate antibiotic and heavy-metal resistance as well as many other traits on smaller mobile elements such as integrons, insertion sequences, integrative phage-based elements and transposons (reviewed in [4]). These elements, which are also capable of intracellular movement, are then introduced into a new host via conjugative transfer. It is now recognized that maintenance of the conjugative element in the new host/recipient cell is not essential, and that the cargo of genes can be incorporated into the recipient cell genome by homologous recombination, transposition or integration. Thus, while we can easily observe the evidence for lateral gene transfer, it has been more difficult to monitor it happening in nature. A key feature of conjugative elements is the expression of the genes for transfer. Transfer systems utilize type IV secretion systems, which form the transferosome, to transport the DNA between cells (Figure 1) [5]. A nucleoprotein complex called the relaxosome consists of the relaxase, which makes a single-stranded break ('nicks') the DNA at nic within the origin of transfer (oriT ), as well as auxiliary proteins bound to adjacent sites. The relaxosome is then linked to the transferosome via the coupling protein. Mobilizable elements encode an oriT region and the components of the relaxosome but use the transferosome and coupling protein (usually) to effect their transfer [6]. Plasmids can be defined as broad or narrow host range depending on their replication systems with the transfer and replication regions coevolving, suggesting that they are coregulated. The sequencing of many bacterial genomes has revealed the presence of mobile elements that are related to prophages in that they are capable of Regulation of bacterial conjugation: balancing opportunity with adversity


Diagnostic ceramics from the pastoralist site of Kasteelberg are sufficiently numerous to show stylistic variation through time, and can be potentially used as chronological markers. Three phases of the Kasteelberg ceramic sequence have been identified, beginning c. 18(X BP. A few vessels of the earliest two phases of the Kasteelberg sequence are also found on coastal forager sites. Later forager sites, both on the coast and inland mountains, contain ceramics with a different decorative style. The frequency of potsherds varies so tremendously between sites that they might be used to differentiate those groups which made the pottery from those who were just users. If so, the early coastal foragers probably obtained their pots from the pastoralists.


We examine a relationship between the phenomenological equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter near normal nuclear density and neutron-rich nuclei in laboratories and in neutron-star crusts. In this study, we use about 200 EOS 's, which are systematically constructed in such a way as to provide a reasonable fit to empirical masses and radii of stable nuclei by simplified Thomas-Fermi calculations. As for neutron-rich nuclei in laboratories, matter radii and masses are shown to be functions of the symmetry energy density derivative coefficient L. We also find that the boundary density between the core and crust of neutron stars is a decreasing function of L. We expect that future systematic measurements of the matter radii and masses of neutron-rich nuclei could help deduce the L value, which in turn could give useful information about nuclei in neutron-star crusts.


Objective: Analyze the results of scientific productions about nursing care for women victims of domestic violence and learn about the main factors related to this violence. Methods: It is an integrative review of the literature, which aims to gather, analyze and synthesize pre-existing studies on a given theme, data collection was done through the databases, LILACS, SciELO and VHL, 19 were selected articles published during the period 2013 to 2020. Results: It was possible to approach the theme through factors associated with domestic violence, such as poverty and education level. In addition, it was notable that domestic violence occurs in different ways, such as physical, verbal, moral and psychological. Regarding health professionals, the role of nursing professionals in relation to women victims of domestic violence is essential, even to assist in the creation of public policies. Final Considerations: It was identified that nursing professionals are the ones who most easily identify situations and / or cases of domestic violence, since they provide full-time assistance to patients.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text ABSTRACT Objective: Specifying the nutrient content and bioactive compounds in milk from long-term lactation for the purpose of finding additional sources of donors' milk for human milk banks. Method: Human milk samples were collected from 43 mothers of term infants (term infant human milk, TIHM) (3–6 weeks of lactation) and 50 mothers who have breastfed for over a year (long-nursing human milk, LNHM). The milk collection time was 24 hours. The analyses of fat, protein, carbohydrate and energy content were performed with human milk analyzer MIRIS (Miris HMA™ ); lactoferrin and vitamin C content using high performance liquid chromatography in reversed phase (RP-HPLC); total antioxidant activity (TAC) and lysozyme by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); and the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) via spectrophotometric methods. Sociodemographic characteristics of both groups of mothers have been compiled. Results: Higher fat content and energy value was found in LNHM than in TIHM. Protein content in LNHM and TIHM did not differ. Carbohydrate content was lower in LNHM than in TIHM. TAC, CAT and GPx activity were higher in LNHM compared to TIHM. No significant differences in the content of lysozyme, lactoferrin and vitamin C between the studied groups were found. Conclusions: The findings suggest that after 12 months of lactation, human milk still has significant nutritional value, does not lose bioactive components and can be considered for use in human milk banks.


The study is focused on the low temperature oxidation of highly viscous oil by air oxygen and catalysts under reservoir conditions. The process leads to a decrease in oil density and changes in oil viscosity as well as to the formation of carbonyl, carboxyl, ketone, aldehyde and other oxygen bearing compounds in oil. Analysis of the composition of oil components and the molecular and mass distribution of n-alkanes shows partial oil upgrading.


Cocurricular pursuits are integral to the educational program and— whether or not they carry academic credit—have legitimate links to regular courses and to the purposes of middle level and high schools. They underpin the goal of teaching students to be responsible and fulfilled human beings with opportunities that develop character, critical thinking, social skills, and talents (NASSP 1996). Cocurricular activities also provide students with a network of peers and adults who have interests and talents similar to their own. Students who participate have the chance to excel individually, be part of a group, and gain real-life lessons about the importance of teamwork, responsibility, commitment, and hard work (Educational Research Service 1999). Participation in cocurricular activities improves an adolescent's chances of avoiding such risky behaviors as dropping out, becoming a teenage parent, engaging in delinquency, smoking, or abusing drugs or alcohol through three mechanisms, according to Zill, Nord, and Loomis (1995): • Time displacement: the widely held notion that if a young person spends a great deal of time in beneficial or harmless activities, he or she will not have time to get into mischief. • Commitment building: the argument that participation in constructive activities, by developing skills, creating aspirations, and providing rewarding experiences, strengthens a young person's commitment to conventional institutions, such as school, and traditional career pathways. • Group pressure: the idea that participation in teams, clubs, or other group activities promotes a sense of membership or belonging.


Students and of ABSTRACT As technology-mediated innovations like Mobile Learning Devices (MLDs) spread rapidly across the globe, there are growing concerns on the actual factors that influence students in Higher Educational institutions (HEIs) to accept technology-mediated innovations like smartphones, tablets, and portable computing devices for their educational pursuit. This study adopted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical basis in an attempt to investigate factors that might influence students to accept or decline the use of technology-mediated innovations specifically MLDs for academic purposes from the perspectives of three universities in Ghana. A set of online questionnaire survey was used to collect the needed data from (N=1,030) students. The researchers also conducted data analysis and presentation of findings by testing the suggested research model through Structural Equation Modelling. A regression analysis was also carried out with the help of SmartPLS to assess the path coefficient of the data collected for the model. This study identified influencing factors such as students ' awareness levels, m-learning technology types, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness as some of the central factors that determine how students use and accept m-learning devices in Ghanaian universities. The study reported limitations such as expensive internet data, poor internet infrastructure, insecurity, privacy issues, and unavailability of electricity as some of the factors limiting the acceptance of MLDs by students in Ghana. Despite the limitations reported in this study, the results from the statistical analysis, show that there are high levels of MLDs acceptance among students from the three sampled higher educational institutions in Ghana. The study recommends that school authorities and governments in developing countries such as Ghana incorporate MLDs in their current higher educational systems. attracting new audiences (Criollo-C et al., 2018; Kankam, 2020). This study is aimed at evaluating factors that influence students ' acceptance, and perceptions of the perceived usefulness of mobile learning devices from three convenient sampled universities in Ghana.


The plant of test turntable system contains model uncertainties as time-delay, parameters, etc. The realizations of controllers can't be quite accuracy. The design concepts of the non-fragile robust performance of the system with the perturbations of the controlled members and the controllers are presented. It can be used to solve the non-fragile robustness problems of the turntable control system. It is also suggested that the design of the non-fragile robust performance can be formulated as a Hinfin mixed sensitivity problem. The selections of the weighting functions are studied and the Hinfin non-fragile robust PID controllers are solved. The simulation results show that the proposed method is valid.


Process routes for Al-Mn aluminum alloy sheets produced via an advanced twin belt caster (FLEXCASTER) have been successfully tried. Compared with a conventional DC processed Al-Mn aluminum alloy sheets, the FLEXCAST Al-Mn aluminum alloy sheets have higher tensile strength at elevated temperatures from 474 to 673K due to high solute solution of Mn as a consequence of the rapid cooling rate during solidification and elimination of a homogenization step from the process. It is found that there is a good correlation between the strength at 473K and the solute solution amount of Mn, and fine precipitate is a very important factor for higher strength at 673K.


The development of systems with different features becomes increasingly challenging, given the actual context, implying on the search for new approaches for requirements elicitation. One of these approaches is design thinking (DT), a process of encouraging innovation used by designers, which presents itself as fundamental in the success of new products. This scenario motivates the importance of knowing DT concepts and their techniques, which can support requirements elicitation. In this context, the authors present DTA4RE (DT assistant for requirements elicitation), a tool that suggests DT techniques for requirements elicitation, which can be used by both students and professionals who would like to adopt DT in their projects. The DTA4RE is composed of a set of 27 techniques that could be suggested to the user through a recommendation questionnaire as well as an open repository with material to support the application of these techniques. Results from the authors' two empirical studies with software engineering undergraduate and graduate students and industry professionals indicate that DTA4RE has helped in the selection of and in the learning of DT techniques when considering real problems. Most participants considered the questions from the recommendation questionnaire easy to answer, and the techniques suggested by the tool useful.


Monitoring of biosignals on a daily basis plays important roles for the health management of elderly. The monitoring system for the daily life, the system should not require the subjects to take special effort like wearing a sensor. We propose biosignals measurement using wide-range load sensor on the bed. The sensing system can detect the body weight, heartbeat and respiration simultaneously by just lying on the bed. We have developed load sensor using quartz crystal resonator (QCR load sensor) as wide-range load sensor. However, the measurement range was not sufficient for the simultaneous measurement of biosgnals on bed. To realize such sensing system, we propose a QCR load sensor utilizing vacuum sealing technology for expanding the measurement range. We improved the oscillation characteristics of the QCR by the vacuum sealing to stabilize the sensor output. Accordingly, the resolution of the sensor was improved. Moreover, the load capacity of the sensor was increased by improving the bonding strength of sensor structure. The fabricated sensor had a measurement range of 0.27 mN - 1180 N (4.4 × 106). This wide enough compared with the conventional force sensor (103 - 104).Also, we developed mechanically robust jig of QCR load sensor for practical use of QCR load sensor. We succeed in simultaneous measurement of weight, heart rate, and respiration rate using fabricated QCR load sensing system. The accuracy of heart rate and respiration rate measurement are 0.4 bpm (0.6 %) and 1.1 brpm (6.1 %), respectively, in standard deviation of error compared with ECG signal.


We present a theoretical analysis of electron heat flux inhibition in the solar wind when a significant portion of the heat flux is carried by strahl electrons. We adopt core-strahl velocity distribution functions typical for the solar wind at 0.3–4 au to demonstrate that strahl electrons are capable of generating highly oblique whistler waves at wave numbers kρe ∼ 1, where ρe is typical thermal electron gyroradius. The whistler waves are driven by electrons in the anomalous cyclotron resonances (the fan instability) and propagate at typical angles of about 70°–80° to the strahl that is usually anti-sunward. The group velocity of the whistler waves is predominantly parallel to the strahl, thereby facilitating efficient scattering of strahl electrons. We suggest that the highly oblique whistler waves drive pitch-angle scattering of strahl electrons, resulting in halo formation and suppressing the heat flux of strahl electrons below a threshold that is shown to depend on βe. The proposed fan instability is fundamentally different from the whistler heat flux instability driven by the normal cyclotron resonance with halo electrons and being ineffective in suppressing the heat flux of the strahl.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Transient receptor potential canonical 5 (TRPC5) channels are widely expressed, including in the CNS, where they potentiate fear responses. They also contribute to other non‐selective cation channels that are stimulated by G‐protein‐coupled receptor agonists and lipid and redox factors. Steroids are known to modulate fear and anxiety states, and we therefore investigated whether TRPC5 exhibited sensitivity to steroids.