This paper presents a guide to, and critical reflection upon, using synchronous online
interviewing for Higher Educational research. A description of the practical aspects of
carrying out synchronous online interviews using Instant Messenger (hereafter IM) as
the communication platform, including ethical issues, is provided. Respondent and
researcher reflections upon the quality and utility of IM set out here indicate that IM
was an effective communication platform for higher educational research interviewing.


Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant disorder characterized predominantly by neurofibromas, café‐au‐lait spots, and Lisch nodules. The disease is caused by disruptive mutations of the large NF1 gene, with half of cases caused by new mutation. Less than 100 constitutional mutations have thus far been published, ranging from very large deletions to point mutations. We have pursued NF1 mutation analysis by heteroduplex analysis (HDA) and single‐strand conformational polymorphism analysis (SSCP) of individual exons. We streamlined these techniques to eliminate the use of radioactivity, to apply both methods to the same PCR product, and to multiplex samples in gels. Applied simultaneously to a set of 67 unrelated NF1 patients, HDA and SSCP have thus far identified 26 mutations and/or variants in 45 of the 59 exons tested. Disease‐causing mutations were found in 19% (13/67) of cases studied. Both techniques detected a variety of mutations including splice mutations, insertions, deletions, and point changes, with some overlap in the ability of each method to detect variants. Hum Mutat 9:548–554, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Complex of Sn (II) was synthesized with hexahydrocyclotriphosphazene and studied with the help of Mass, IR and EPR spectra, assigning its molecular formula as (N3P3H2)6–Sn3–P4N5 with quadridentated geometry. The complex has also found effective against Klebsiella gm-ve and Staphylococcus gm+ve bacteria.


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Dumping of MVB cargo (green) into the vacuole (red) fails in mutants (right) that cannot oligomerize ESCRT-I.

Anew endosomal protein keeps ESCRT-I too wrapped up in itself to be attracted to anyone else, Chu et al. reveal on page [815][2]. This matchbreaker prevents the


As a kind of traditional Chinese herbal medicine,safflower had a long history of medicine,which was one of the main blood circulation drugs.Safflower contained a variety of chemical constituents,flavonoids was the main active ingredient.It had a variety of pharmacological function,playing an important role on the cardiovascular,nervous system,immune system.As a more popular traditional Chinese herbal medicines,safflower had been paid more and more attention for researching and exploiting after continuous development and application.Through the literature review,to pharmacological activity,development and application of safflower were reviewed from the domestic and foreign scholars,providing references for further study,rational exploitation and utilization of safflower.


ABSTRACT In this study, the first DNA barcodes of water mites collected in Uttarakhand State of India are presented. The first data for nine species were uploaded into the BOLD Systems. Two species, Sperchonopsis himalayaensis sp. nov. (Sperchontidae) and Aturus uttarakhandensis sp. nov. (Aturidae), are described as new for science. http://urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5395BED3-E36B-479E-93DF-BC30DA51BAB6


Bradbury's sensitivity to the supernatural opens chapter six with his fictional reflections on his long-dead father. His sense of immortality and creative purpose opened out from a request by director George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn to script Maeterlinck's The Bluebird as an international film project. The chapter goes on to track his conviction that intellect is a danger to creativity and his belief in fiction writing as an intuitive search for truth. Bradbury's anti-intellectual tendencies and his self-taught views on visual art surface in mid-1970s Los Angeles Times book reviews he published on photojournalist Archie Lieberman, comics creator Stan Lee, and the photography of Yoshikazu Shirakawa.


Providing an easy to process, heat and UV, and highly suitable for large-screen display, the display comprising a magnetic fluid a magnetic fluid display panel having a stable and uniform dispersion containing magnetic suspended particles and filled with two pieces of transparent plates of intervals the space between the magnetic fluid and an image display controller which selectively according to image signal data, generating a magnetic fluid toward the magnetic field of a display panel and a pixel matrix within its thickness range. When the magnetic fluid displaying the required number of plate magnetic fluid is determined by the signal magnetic field to activate the image, which is controlled orientation of the magnetic particles. Accordingly, a combination of light transmissive and light blocking resulting pixel region, to be generated out of the magnetic fluid, thereby forming an image.


1. The aircraft system, comprising: the wing having an inner portion and an outer portion; ! and a winglet coupled to the wing at the outer portion, wherein the winglet has a first surface facing at least partially to the board and a second surface facing at least partially outwardly, and the first surface region comprises a recess. ! 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the area with the recess is concave relative to adjacent regions of the first surface, the adjacent regions contain regions located on both sides of the area with the recess in a direction along the chord, and the region, disposed away from the wing span direction. ! 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the winglet comprises a front edge and a rear edge, and wherein the first surface of the winglet is convex near the leading edge, convex near the trailing edge and concave between the leading and trailing edges. ! 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the recess has an area with the front-most point, and most approximate to the rear point in the direction along a chord, wherein the region with a recess having a proximal point closest to the wing in the spanwise and distant point, farthest from the wing span direction. ! 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the most forward point is located between about 20% and about 40% of the length of the chord winglet intersecting the forwardmost point. ! 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the most proximal to the tail point is located between about 45% and about 65% of the length of the chord winglet intersecting the most proximal to the tail point. ! 7. The system of claim 4, wherein a remote


The advancement of artificial intelligence in the field of manufacturing has led to innovative methods to enhance productivity. Introduction of soft computing and machine learning techniques in industries have played a major role in reducing costs and increasing process efficiency. Optimization of machining processes such as surface finish brings about significant reduction in manufacturing costs. This research paper develops an optimization model by comparing two approaches – fuzzy logic and artificial neural network (ANN). The experiment is designed using Taguchi approach and the model is developed using fuzzy logic and ANN techniques. The validation is done for both the techniques and the one that provides minimal error is selected for predictive and optimization analysis. The selected method is suggested to be used in industries to optimize surface finish.


Objective To optimize nursing service flow-sheet and ensure the clinic visit safe and fast for the Olympic Games personnel.Methods Preparation period:environment preparation,nurse training,and Olympic Games clinic flow-sheet development. During Olympic Games period,the duty for each nursing position is clear,the managers supervised at real time to provide special feature service which the outpatients were very satisfied.Results The Olympic Games clinic flow-sheet system carried out smoothly.It provided outpatients exact and in time services.The non medical treatment time was decreased obviously. Conclusion The Olympic clinical flow system carried out smoothly.It has provided visiting clinical exactly in time to the outpatients.It has shorted the un-visiting clinical time obviously.


The subject of this study is the modeling of the spatial distribution of the medieval population. To take into account the conditions of heterogeneity of the territory in modeling, the author develops a variational approach proposed by S.M. Huseyn-Zadeh. The model is based on the idea of settlement, placement of the population on the territory as a process in which each of its participants is guided in their activities by achieving goals dictated by natural considerations, for example, maximum accessibility to their cultivated area, maximum proximity to the central settlement (center). Using the methods of calculus of variations and the concept of Pareto optimality within this approach makes it possible to identify and numerically describe the relationships between the optimal parameters of the system. In the previous paper, the author proposed a model of a one-level hierarchy of the placement of centers (central settlements). Additional analysis of historical material leads to the need to refine the model, namely, adding a hierarchy of centers to it. In this regard, this paper proposes a model of spatial placement with a two-level hierarchy of centers. The approbation of the proposed model is carried out on the material of the scribal books of the Shelonskaya Pyatina of the Novgorod land of the end of the XV century. The high degree of conformity of the obtained theoretical and empirical data allows us to consider mathematical modeling as an adequate and convenient auxiliary tool in studying the nature and dynamics of historical rural settlement systems. The possibilities of the proposed modeling also in terms of filling data gaps are demonstrated by the example of the task of reconstructing the approximate population of the Shelonskaya Pyatina of the considered time period.


DC are furnaces have gained increasing favour with steel makers all over the world. DC arc furnaces have advantages over their conventional AC counterparts because of their greater supply-friendly nature. Although DC are furnaces still generate flicker, the stochastic component in their harmonics arc reduced and their demands on the supply network are much more compatible with the supply than that of AC arc furnaces. In spite of the relative advantages, however, the input characteristics of DC furnaces still need to be quantified in order to achieve optimal integration with the supply system. System measurements on a 25 MVA DC arc furnace with its filters are correlated with results obtained by numerical integration, and with that obtained through a frequency-domain analytical model that employs harmonic superposition. The behaviour of induction motors is also investigated in this model, when they are subjected to the voltage distortion produced by a DC furnace.


A recent study undertaken by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) revealed gum trees, certain crops, indigenous trees and shrubs, flowering plants in suburban gardens and even roadside wildflowers or weeds are all critically important to South Africa's indigenous honey bees.


All living things are different-in spccies,individual characteristics and other factors.Stretch out a hand before you ,and you see five fingers of different lengths.If you attempt to modify your hand by making the long fingers shorter or pulling at the shorter ones to lengthen them,you are bound to suffer unbearable pain and frustration because this conflicts with nature.


: Renewable technologies such as solar present some of the possibilities for indoor and outdoor lighting in the remotest rural Africa where grid connections may take ages. This paper examined the key determinants that drive household lighting fuel using a nationally representative sample (14,415 households) across Rwanda. Results from a multinomial probit regression show that rural location, house ownership, household wealth, and nonfarm work are some of significant factors that influence lighting fuel choices in Rwanda. Robustness of the results indicates that household wealth levels and other regional differences are likely to influence choice probability for using clean energy sources such as solar confirming the need to priotise wealth generation. The study's findings suggest the need for joint efforts by government and non-state actors to priotise household wealth generation, promotion of non-farm activities and improvement of infrastructures to reduce rural-urban bias and differences across the regions, assuming that wealth will motivate rural households to switch to clean energy sources.


McMaster's University Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) Program has a mandatory 12month cooperative (co-op) work experience as part of its academic requirements for graduation. To assist students in attaining co-op opportunities they must enroll in a career development credit course to equip them with vital knowledge and tools necessary to obtain and retain co-op work experiences. Students also receive ongoing support and guidance from Engineering Co-op & Career Services (ECCS) department, which connects students with employers and provides individual career counselling services. Despite this training and the availability of services, many students struggle to obtain workplace coops. In response the School of Engineering Practice and Technology (SEPT) implemented an undergraduate career peer co-op mentoring program as a further support mechanism to engage and motivate students. A pilot mentorship program was launched in 2014-15 for a select group of students and based on the positive response; an ongoing program was adopted and has run for the last two years. The program is formal in nature with a senior student mentor randomly matched with approximately 10-12 junior students as their mentees. To date, the program has impacted 362 second-year students (the mentees) and 36 senior students (the mentors). For the purposes of knowledge sharing, the paper will discuss the benefits of peer mentoring, the design and structure of the SEPT undergraduate career co-op peer mentoring program, feedback from participants, along with lessons learned from the outcomes of the last three years.


The chapter reports the results of an exploratory study examining the use of personal blogs for the development of L2 writing skills in fully online language courses. The chapter outlines the methodology of the blog project including pedagogical objectives, task design, selection of digital tools, and implementation. The study involved 48 beginning students who used blogs for their writing assignments over the course of two consecutive summers. Both quantitative and qualitative data collected from post surveys, blog entries, and comments, and final interviews were analyzed. The results indicated that students perceived blogging as an effective tool for building their writing skills. Moreover, the chapter revealed that feedback scaffolding affected students' efforts to make improvement on both content and form. The study concludes that while writing performance can be assessed by the implementation of a well-designed blog project, sufficient time for feedback interaction and strategies for effective use of feedback are vital to foster reflective thinking and collaborative learning.


This study aims to find out interrelationship between the impact of the paradigm shift in the spatial structure of the city and changing in the spatial structure of cities. Speculating this relationship, the paper analyzes current city's changing elements particularly the correlation of city's historical events with shift in the structure of urban space in the same era, to give future spatial structure of the city. The major argument is focused on how to set up a basic analytical frame predict that makes it possible to predict the future urban spatial structure that is to be changed by the social changes.


The Gray — Scott system used as a model of three-component autocatalytic reaction X + 2Y → Y, Y → Z, demonstrates the complex behavior and was studied in a number of papers. In this work we refine the known results of the bifurcation analysis of the Gray — Scott system and show them by diagram in parameter space. In addition we construct localizing sets for compact invariant sets of the system, i.e. the sets in the phase space containing all compact invariant sets of the system.


In an experimental study, the morphofunctional features of the spleen of 6-month-old white rats were studied in normal conditions and in chronic radiation sickness. The study found that in response to the action of a chronic radiation factor in the spleen of white rats, there is a decrease in structural parameters. This is reflected in the morphological parameters of the organ. As a result, the functional activity of the spleen's lymphoid tissue decreases.


In human hermaphrodites, testes are preferentially situated on the right and ovaries on the left side. This asymmetry can be related to the results of measurements on the growth of fetal gonads. Testes exceed ovaries in weight, protein and DNA contents in fetuses of the same crown-rump length, and in both sexes, right gonads exceed left gonads in the same criteria. These findings, support the hypothesis that in mammals, a basic growth rate will convert the bipotential gonadal rudiment into an ovary while an increased growth rate is required for testicular development. Relative growth rates of chick embryo gonads are largely, although not entirely, the opposite of those in mammals: during the major period of gonadal differentiation, the ovary exceeds the testes in growth. The expression of H-Y antigen in birds and mammals seems to correspond to the presence of the faster growing gonad. These data do not support the hypothesis that H-Y antigen is the primary determiner of sex but a secondary involvement is likely.


The relationship between Ca 2+ ATPase and Ca 2+ transport in plasma membrane vesicles isolated from pulp cell of apple fruits (malus pumila) were probed by using 45 Ca 2+ trace technology etc, and effect of selected inhibitors and stimuli of Ca 2+ and CaM on Ca 2+ ATPase, SOD and PEA activities were investigated in solution culture experiment using flesh discs of apple. Results showed that the Ca 2+ ATPase is stimulated by the Ca 2+ ionophore A23187 and is localized at the plasma membrane. Ca 2+ ATPase activity and Ca 2+ uptake present very similar saturation kinetics with erythrosin B,demonstrating that it is this enzyme that drive Ca 2+ transport in plasma membrane vesicles. Ca 2+ ATPase activity were markedly influenced by both Ca 2+ and CaM, while both SOD and PEA activities were regulated only by Ca 2+ , but none by CaM.


Abstract The in vitro production (IVP) of bovine embryos increases the selection intensity in cattle and reduces the generation interval, which is very important in the genetic gain. In Romania, this reproductive biotechnology has shown a timid evolution in the last years, although the need for genetic improvement in the area is present. The aim of this paper is to describe the work that resulted in first bovine embryos obtained through IVP in North-Eastern Romania. Oocytes were collected by slashing ovaries from slaughtered cows, matured in a TCM199-based medium and fertilized in TL-based medium microdrops with sperm processed by swim-up procedure. The presumptive embryos were cultured one day in TCM199 and 8 days in SOF-based medium and evaluated in days 7, 8 and 9 after fertilization. We retrieved an average number of 83 usable oocytes/IVF session, which represents 73.8% from the total harvested oocytes. The average number of cleaved embryos was 50.8 per IVF, reflecting an average cleavage rate of 61.2%. An average of 8.6 blastocysts/IVF session was obtained, representing 10.4% of the selected oocytes or 16.9% of the number of cleaved embryos. Although suboptimal, the results were comparable with other reports on IVP in cattle. The adapted IVP protocol, based on maturation with TCM199, fertilization in microdrops of TL and culture of presumptive embryos one day in TCM199 and afterwards in SOF seems to offer acceptable results and will be used for further attempts to produce bovine embryos.


Principles of laser heterodyne measurements will be reviewed, and spectroscopic requirements for measuring stratospheric molecules from balloon and spacecraft altitudes will be presented for the infrared, sub-mm and mm regions of the spectrum.


Background: The National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) data suggests that anemia is widely prevalent among all age groups, and is particularly high among the most Vulnerable – nearly 50 per cent among pregnant woman. Though government has provided free of cost treatment of anemia to all pregnant ladies, due to low adherance and compliance anemia is still prevalent among them. An operational study was done on 24 yr old anemic pregnant lady to study the potentiality of improvement to the adherance and compliance to anemia treatment during pregnancy using mobile social media technology. Methods: We have used in depth interview method and observation by using mobile phone. Results: Before tele-follow up patient's Hemoglobin level was 8.3 gm/dl which improved after 5 telefollow up to 10 gm/dl and her adherance score was 3 out of 8 i.e. low level compliance that also had been increased to 6 i.e. medium level compliance Conclusions: Tele-follow up method used during pregnancy motivated to improve her compliance, but also empowered her to act on external barriers such as improper prescriptions.


Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) mediates triglyceride absorption and chylomicron secretion from the intestine and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion from the liver, by linking lipid molecules with apolipoprotein B (ApoB). Inhibition of MTP reduces the level of all ApoB-containing lipoproteins, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL). High-throughput screening has produced several families of compounds that are effective in vitro and in vivo as MTP inhibitors and some drugs are currently at clinical trial stage. Drugs that inhibit MTP can potentially be very effective in reducing atherosclerotic vascular disease by lowering levels of all the atherogenic lipoproteins. Partial inhibition of MTP by an inhibitor could be particularly useful when combined with other drugs that alter lipid metabolism but marked inhibition of MTP could cause significant adverse effects.


This is a survey of topological properties of open, complete nonpositively curved manifolds which may have infinite volume. Topics include topology of ends, restrictions on the fundamental group, as well as a review of known examples.


During the reformation period in our country,more and more vulnerable groups come into being.Their inferior positions embody not only in their humble income and low political status,but also in low degree of education and little information.Under the circumstances of market economy,libraries are affected greatly and shown in an inadaptable situation when serving the vulnerable groups.This paper discusses how libraries insist on the idea of "Public Library Manifesto" of UNESCO and guarantee the vulnerable groups' rights to make use of all the culture and information resources inside the libraries equally.


With n(NaCl)n((NH_4)_2SO_3)=2.0~2.1,ammonium sulfite reacts with brine under 60℃ to produce sodium sulfite crystal.The crystal is transformed into anhydrous sodium sulfite after separating,cleaning and drying.Ammonium chloride crystal is separated out after cooling the mother liquor Ⅰ(with Na_2SO_3 separated) to 20℃.The mother liquorⅡ(after separating NH_4Cl) is concentrated and Na_2SO_3 crystal is obtained.The barren solution is mixed with mother liquorⅡ and is concentrated to get crystals.The separated NH_4Cl is dried,so byproduct(ammonium chloride) can be obtained.The advantages of this method are low cost of raw materials,getting byproduct(ammonium chloride),good economic returns and no pollution.


Objective To investigate influence of the mode of ovarian surgery on reproductive hormones in female premenopausal patients. Methods 75 female patients with uterine benign diseases were divided into 3 groups according to the mode of operation; group Ⅰ, simple hysterectomy; group Ⅱ , hysterectomy plus uni-lateral adnexectomy; and group Ⅲ , hysterectomy plus bilateral adnexectomy. The FSH, LH, E2 were measured before operation and 2,6,12 months after operation. Results There were no significant differences in the measuremens in group Ⅰ . In group Ⅱ , there were significant differences at 2,12 months after operation compared with the baseline. In group Ⅲ , there were significant changes of reproductive hormones after operation. Conclusion Simple hysterectomy would not influence the reproductive hormones, but ovarectomy did induce some changes.


A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach to off-line signature verification is presented. First, each of the signature images is represented as a landmark point set, which includes turning points, isolated points, trifurcate points, intersection points and termination points on signature skeleton. Then we propose a novel deformable grid partition technique. Based on landmark point matching, we build the matching relations between planar regions to get the deformable grids, and then extract grid features from them. By using HMM in signature modeling, the deformable grid partition method shows remarkable improvements over traditional grid partition methods in discriminative ability.


The Women's Court is an umbrella term, a common denominator, for a series of initiatives which differ from the mainstream judicial procedures and have been taking place since the early 1990s. These initiatives are not an alternative to the official judiciary systems but aim to supplement, and are therefore complementary to these official systems, especially with a view to transitional justice mechanisms. This text, while focusing on one of those initiatives – established following the violent break-up of Yugoslavia – will contextualize the Women's Court not only within the recent, short, albeit very significant, history of alternative (transitional) justice systems, but – importantly for the argument of this text – will also situate this initiative within relevant theoretical concepts of justice. A description of the Women's Court and its history is followed by locating it within the mainstream concept of justice as well as within feminist and the transitional justice concepts. Finally, returning to this initiative, some key issues are highlighted and assessed, despite the fact that this initiative is still an ongoing process and is therefore understandably difficult to evaluate.


The present program of this group follows two main lines. The first is a continuation of the research on noise in electron beams and a more general study of the noise in active devices. The second is a study of the problems involved in high-power beam tube design. I. Noise. Several experiments for measuring the value of H/S in the beams originating from "low-noise guns" are in progress. Three methods for making such a determination have been proposed, and it is hoped to try all of them by the end of the year. The theoretical work leading to the formulation of the minimum "noise measure" for microwave beam tubes is being extended to cover all types of active devices (transistors , for example). 2. High-Power Beam Tubes. A study of the phenomena in dense, high-power beams, both solid and hollow, has been started. Both theoretical and experimental work will be carried out to determine the limits to the maximum practical beam perveances in klystrons and traveling-wave tubes. In order to understand better the family of beam tubes, a "distributed" klystron consisting of eight closely spaced, uncoupled cavities is being built. A theoretical analysis of this kind of device is also under way. During the coming year it is planned to make detailed studies of the efficiency of a number of commercially available, pulsed klystron amplifiers. 1. Minimum Noise Figure of Traveling-Wave Amplifiers We have decided to investigate the conditions under which the minimum noise figure of a traveling-wave amplifier can be realized. Previous theoretical investigations (1) indicate that the minimum noise figure is given as F. = I + 4w 4QC f f n1/2 (S-H) Fmin kT max fmin] In this expression, the quantity (S-II) is most significant, since it is an inherent characteristic of the electron gun, and is invariant to lossless beam transformations. The measurement of these parameters required the construction of quite a bit of new equipment. This construction was completed; it includes: a movable-cavity demountable vacuum system, which does not require sliding seals; an electromagnet thirty inches in length; a radiometer modulator; and a direct-reading noise-figure indicator (2).


Recently, Sukbae Lee et al. reported inspiring experimental findings on the atmospheric superconductivity of a modified lead apatite crystal (LK-99) at room temperature (10.6111/JKCGCT.2023.33.2.061, arXiv: 2307.12008, arXiv: 2307.12037). They claimed that the synthesized LK-99 materials exhibit the Meissner levitation phenomenon of superconductors and have a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) higher than 400 K. Here, for the first time, we successfully verify and synthesize the LK-99 crystals which can be magnetically levitated with larger levitated angle than Sukbae Lee's sample at room temperature. It is expected to realize the true potential of room temperature, non-contact superconducting magnetic levitation in near future.


The wall has tubes arranged vertically to each other, where each tube comprises an external sealed skin, an internal micro perforated or a micro porous internal skin and an absorbing and filtering intermediate skin, where the absorbing and filtering intermediate skin is represented by a geotextile felt non-woven sheet. The external sealed skin is made of rigid PVC. The external skins include dimensions in pre-cut to suit any opening or a drawing in the wall. A special composition substrate is made of a mineral/plant mixture at an interior of the tube.


Due to the increase in the search for Personal Trainer services, customers have become more demanding when it comes to hiring this service. Knowing which factors influence this decision is valuable to professionals of this field. This article presents a research whose general objective is to check the factors that influence the customer when choosing a Personal Trainer. The specific objectives try to verify the influences of scientific knowledge, interpersonal relationship, personal marketing and cost-benefit factor at the moment the customer chooses the professional. The research was done in two academies in Tubarao, Santa Catarina, with people who use Personal Trainer services and it attempted to investigate what they consider to be essential in a professional according to the specific objectives. The research tool was a closed questionnaire prepared in the Likert style. After applying the questionnaire, the SPSS 22 software was used to analyze the results. The most important result is that the hiring of the Personal Trainer service is based on his technical knowledge, and it is essential for the client that he master the technique of the exercises, the way of its execution and its benefits. It is concluded that the ideal profile of the Personal Trainer desired by the customers, in Tubarao, Santa Catarina, is of a qualified professional, regardless of the remuneration, clients are looking for quality service and want someone who is an example of conduct in their Field as well as a pleasant interpersonal relationship.


Feature models and their extensions have been proposed and used over the past 20 years for modeling the commonality and variability of software systems. However, the increasing runtime demands and post-deployment configuration procedures of self-adaptive, context-aware and pervasive systems has brought the need for modeling context features. In addition, many critical systems that demand stringent collaborative features at runtime need also to share information dynamically. In this research-in-progress paper, we sketch our vision of where feature modeling should go to support collaborative aspects of systems. Our proposal suggests identifying and annotating context features models with collaborative information that becomes particularly useful for critical and swarm-based systems that require information exchange at runtime.


Human papilloma virus (HPV) is associated with the progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), particularly tonsils and base of tongue. HPV (+) HNSCC represent a distinct disease entity from those are implicated in carcinogen. The molecular mechanism underlying HPV tumorgenesis are appreciated, with its two major oncogens E6 and E7, inactivating p53 and Rb, respectively. However, the ideal technique for HPV determination on archival material or tissue remains uncertain. This paper reviewed the epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy and prevention. � Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2012;55:71-5


Objectives: Administration of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARB) at bedtime as opposed to upon wakening increases the sleep-time relative blood pressure (BP) decline and their efficacy in lowering nocturnal BP. Urinary albumin excretion in non-dippers has been shown to be significantly greater than in dippers, although the potential effects on renal function of reverting the non-dipping pattern have not been clearly elucidated. Accordingly, we evaluated the administration-time-dependent effects on urinary albumin excretion of treatment with ARB in subjects with essential hypertension. Methods: We studied 815 untreated non-proteinuric hypertensive subjects (321 men), 48.7 ± 13.5 years of age, assigned to receive an ARB in monotherapy either on awakening or at bedtime. BP was measured at 20-min intervals from 07:00 to 23:00 h and at 30-min intervals at night for 48 h before and after 12 weeks of treatment. The subjects collected their urine during the first 24 h of each BP monitoring session. Results: The reduction in awake BP was similar for both treatment-times. Treatment at bedtime, however, was significantly more efficient in reducing asleep BP (17.2 versus 11.2 mmHg after morning treatment; P < 0.001). The sleep-time relative BP decline was increased towards a more dipping pattern only after bedtime dosing (P < 0.001). Urinary albumin excretion was significantly reduced after treatment, and to a significant larger extent after bedtime dosing (P = 0.032). This albumin reduction was independent of the change in awake BP after treatment, but highly correlated with both the decrease in asleep BP and the increase in sleep-time relative BP decline (r = 0.321; P < 0.001), independently of treatment-time. Conclusions: Bedtime administration of ARB provides higher efficacy, as compared to morning treatment, in reducing the asleep BP mean, and improves the sleep-time relative BP decline towards a more dipper profile. This might be clinically relevant, as nighttime BP is a better prognostic marker of cardiovascular mortality than awake BP. Most important, the normalization of the circadian BP pattern towards a more dipper profile is associated with a significant decrease in urinary albumin excretion.


School of PsychologyUniversity of Western AustraliaPerth WA 6009AustraliaSummaryEvidence exists for a nonverbal capacity for the apprehen-sion of number, in humans [1] (including infants [2, 3]) andinotherprimates[4–6].Here,weshowthatperceivednumer-osityissusceptibletoadaptation,likeprimaryvisualproper-ties of a scene, such as color, contrast, size, and speed.Apparent numerosity was decreased by adaptation to largenumbers of dots and increased by adaptation to small num-bers, the effect depending entirely on the numerosity of theadaptor, not on contrast, size, orientation, or pixel density,and occurring with very low adaptor contrasts. We suggestthatthevisualsystemhasthecapacitytoestimatenumeros-ity and that it is an independent primary visual property, notreducible to others like spatial frequency or density oftexture [7].Results and DiscussionJevons, a 19


A woman at 39 weeks' gestation with a previous Cesarean delivery had severe abdominal pains and rupture of membranes shortly after ingesting 5 ml of castor oil. Forty-five minutes later, repetitive variable decelerations prompted a Cesarean delivery. At surgery, a portion of the umbilical cord was protruding from a 2-cm rupture of the lower transverse scar.


Only 3 reports of primary lymphangioma of bone were found in the literature. Since none of these has appeared in radiological journals, a fourth case is presented with a brief review of the findings in the previous 3. The first report concerned a case localized to the ilium; in the other 2 multiple bone sites were involved. In the example to be reported here the bone lesions were widespread. All cases show lytic bone defects which increase in size until structural units give way or until vital organs are involved by pressure or direct extension. Microscopically the lesion consists of dilated lymphoid channels. Historical Review In 1947 the first case of lymphangioma of bone was recorded by Bickel and Broders (1). The patient, a five-year-old girl, showed almost complete destruction of the left ilium. The process progressed, with partial collapse of the pelvis and with extension to the sacrum and hip. A course of x-ray therapy had no effect and extension continued. Cohen and Craig (2) presented a patient w...


To assess childhood family influences on adolescent sexual activity, 69 boys were studied in sixth grade and again in tenth grade. Boys' self-restraint in sixth grade was hypothesized to mediate the effects of family influences on number of sexual partners four years later. Family scores included observed family interaction patterns, sons' reports of parents' child-rearing practices (rejection, support, child-centered/indulgence), and household composition. In different models, Time 1 family scores and sons' self-restraint accounts for 34 and 48 percent of the variance in sons' subsequent sexuality. As predicted, regression analysis revealed that restraint mediated family influence at Time 1 on the number of sexual partners at Time 2. Notably, intact family, supportive family and child-centred/indulgent parenting were associated with T1 restraint which in turn, was associated with sexual activity. Additionally, family/parenting scores were directly associated with adolescents' sexuality. In discriminant analyses, family scores predicted boys' status as virgins/nonvirgins four year later with greater than 70% success. Discussion focuses on the nature of the family influences and the mechanisms by which they relate to adolescent male sexuality.


Beta-blockers (BB) is an established treatment following presentation with myocardial infarction (MI). However, there is uncertainty as to whether BB use beyond the first year of MI has a secondary preventive role in patients without heart failure and/or left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD).

 To investigate the association between BB treatment beyond one year after MI for patients without heart failure or LVSD and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes.

 We used data from SWEDEHEART, the national Swedish register for coronary heart disease, to identify patients with MI who were hospitalised between 2005 and 2016. Deterministic linkage of individual patient data was performed with the National Patient Register, the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, and the National Cause of Death Register. Patients with heart failure or LVSD with left ventricular ejection fraction <50% were excluded. Follow-up started at 1 year after hospitalisation with first MI (index date), when patients were allocated into two groups according to BB treatment. Information about BB treatment at index date and during follow-up was obtained from the Swedish National Prescribed Drug Register. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality, recurrent MI, unscheduled revascularisation or hospitalisation for heart failure. Secondary outcomes comprised the individual components of the composite outcome, CV death and stroke. Comparison of outcomes between the study groups was performed using Cox and Fine-Gray regression models adjusting for relevant clinical factors after propensity-score weighting. In the main intention-to-treat analysis, patients were censored at end of follow-up (31st December 2017), death or at pre-specified outcome, whichever came first. In supplementary per-protocol analysis, patients were, in addition, censored at the time of first BB discontinuation or switch between treatment arms.

 A total of 43,618 patients with MI were hospitalised between 2005 and 2016. Of these, 34,253 (78.5%) were prescribed BB and 9,365 (21.5%) were not on BB treatment at index date 1 year following MI. The median age of the population was 64 years, 25.5% were female, and 36.2% had a STEMI. Median follow-up was 4.5 years. In the intention-to-treat analysis, and after multivariable adjustments and propensity score weighting, BB treatment was associated with a similar rate of the composite CV outcome (hazard ratio [HR] 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.93–1.04) compared with no BB treatment. A similar finding was observed when censoring for BB discontinuation or treatment switch during follow-up in a per-protocol analysis (HR 0.98; 95% CI 0.98–1.06). Similar associations were observed for all secondary outcomes (Figure 1).

 BB treatment beyond one year after MI for patients without heart failure or LVSD is not associated with a different risk of cardiovascular outcomes compared with patients who do not receive BB.

 Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): The study was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF-agreement.


To improve the compensation mechanism for lost-land farmers,we should,first,improve the law system and clarify related issues to guide practice;second,we should improve the supporting systems,such as the publicizing,public hearing systems,formulate the detailed,clear and feasible process for land expropriation and make the job of housing demolition and resident relocation to be more standardized,legalized and humanistic;third,we should formulate the scientific and rational standard for compensation and adopt the scientific and rational way of compensation;fourth,we should establish a fair mechanism for dealing with dispute and negotiation;and fifth,we should strengthen supervision and improve the ability to implement policies.


Using the example of the representations and practices relative to the resolution of misfortune among the Senufo Fodonon, this article aims to show the non‐autonomy and irrelevance of categories such as 'therapeutic,' 'illness,' 'medicine,' usually taken for granted by anthropology. These activities and representations refer to — and depend on for their coherence — heterogeneous domains of social organization extrinsic to 'illness,' in biomedicine's isolation of this concept. These domains consist of the matrilineage structure, the form of initiation institutions, the logic of secrecy, and the unobservable 'religious' entities which are fluctuating and transformable (ancestors, spirits, twins, etc.) amongst which the possible causalities of the misfortune are selected. Following the stages of the "therapeutic processes,"; the first part describes one of two aspects — the procedures and institutions concerning the resolution of illness — and shows that they form a sub‐set of the local ways of treating the ...


Using the bond-based peridynamics and the parallel computation with binary decomposition, an adjoint shape design sensitivity analysis(DSA) method is developed for the dynamic crack propagation problems. The peridynamics includes the successive branching of cracks and employs the explicit scheme of time integration. The adjoint variable method is generally not suitable for path-dependent problems but employed since the path of response analysis is readily available. The accuracy of analytical design sensitivity is verified by comparing it with the finite difference one. The finite difference method is susceptible to the amount of design perturbations and could result in inaccurate design sensitivity for highly nonlinear peridynamics problems with respect to the design. It turns out that -continuous volume fraction is necessary for the accurate evaluation of shape design sensitivity in peridynamic discretization.


The Tattapani Geothermal field produces + 1800 1pm thermal water of 100{degrees}C from five production wells. The hot water production can sustain electricity production of 300 kWe by using a binary cycle power plant. The heat energy of effluent water from power plant can be utilized for direct heat utilization on horticulture, aquaculture, cold storage, silviculture etc; to augment the economics of the power plant be spot can be developed as a centre for tourist attraction by constructing botanical park, greenhouse, geyser show and crocodile farm. The direct heat utilization shemes can be planned in cascading order to achieve maximum utility of thermal water. Additional deep drilling is essential for optimum commercial utilization of the Geothermal energy. The direct heat utilisation shemes along with binary cycle power plant may help in development of the geothermal energy and boosting the economy of this region.


Abstract: What are the politics of allegory? For several decades, Latin American literary studies have been haunted by Fredric Jameson's (in)famous claim that "all third world texts are […] national allegories," accompanied, more recently, by a critical counter-tradition in Latin Americanism that rejected Jameson's argument without pursuing alternative readings of allegory. What would happen if, after the death of allegorical reading in Latin American studies, we were to return to the question of allegory in the work of Paul de Man, who argued that allegory always allegorizes the impossibility of reading? This essay traces the politics, or metapolitics, of allegorical representation, and of allegorical readings, in Latin American studies and concludes with an analysis of César Aira's El congreso de literatura as an example of the allegorization of the impossibility of a politics grounded in sovereign decisionism.


Information on the distribution of Anisancylus Pilsbry, 1924 in South America is provided. For first time, we recorded A. dutrae (Santos 1994) in Minas Gerais state and 2 new localities in northeastern Brazil. Anisancylus obliquus (Broderip & Sowerby, 1832) is widely distributed in Chile, Peru, central and southern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil while A. dutrae is restricted to Brazil. This freshwater genus shows a disjunct distribution in South America that could be explained by tectonics and evolution of the basins. To understand this peculiar distributional pattern, additional studies should be performed combining biogeographic and phylogeographic analyses.


A dynamic model for a transducer-electromotor-pressure loop and a fresh air valve-CO2 volume content loop was established in order to eliminate the coupling of each loop in a variable-air-volume (VAV) air-conditioning system and effectively control the system. In addition, decoupling control technology based on the PID (proportion-integral-differential) ANN (artificial neural network) was used to eliminate the coupling between the two loops. Its operation condition shows that the decoupling control technology based on the PID ANN is feasible to the decoupling control of the two loops in a VAV air-conditioning system.


The stagnation phenomenon of isotropic hardening is observed in the cyclic loading behavior of metals. An extended formulation of this phenomenon is formulated so as to describe the smooth evolution of isotropic hardening by incorporating the concept of the subloading surface, which falls within the framewodc of stress space formulation. In addition it is furnished with the controlling function of the isotropic hardening stagnation variable and thus it does not require any return-mapping algorithm.


There is a lack of data from cohort studies for the incidence of skin tears among an elderly population in an Asian country. We estimated the cumulative incidence of skin tear, and identify its risk factor.


In Germany, the eighteenth century was the age of enlightenment, the age, that is, that called for the independence of reason. Although the ethos of this age found its clearest (and certainly its most famous) articulation towards the end of the century with Immanuel Kant and his critical philosophy, he was not the first to issue this call. Instead, that task fell to Christian Thomasius (Thomas) at the end of the seventeenth century. It was then taken up and further developed in a theological (pietist) direction by a number of minor figures, the Thomasians, and reissued in a rationalist direction in the early and middle part of the eighteenth century by Christian Wolff and his followers. The development of their position(s) as well as their philosophical (dis)agreements took place by and large at the University of Halle and against the context of pietism. 1. Christian Thomasius (1655–1728) 1.1 Biography/Work 1.2 Philosophy 2. Christian Wolff (1679–1754) 2.1 Biography/Work 2.2 Philosophy 3. Context, Influences, and Disciples 3.1 Pietism 3.2 The Thomasians 3.3 The Wolffians 3.4 Disputes 4. Beyond Wolff 4.1 Aesthetics 4.2 Common Sense Bibliography Academic Tools Other Internet Resources Related Entries


After China entered WTO, financial innovation has become an important method which can push forward the opening our financial market, promote the development of capital market and strengthen competition ability of our financial market. As a kind of important invest instrument, DR (Depository Receipt) has raised wide concern. The article begins with the concept and circulate mechanism of ADR, elaborates on the background of DR, analyzes the difficulty of issuing the DR reasonably and puts forward some suggestion in current time. The author thinks that the circumstance of CDR is not mature.


This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of various approaches for addressing the challenge of multilingual sentiment analysis in low-resource African languages. . The approaches evaluated in the study include Support Vector Machines (SVM), translation, and an ensemble of pre-trained multilingual sentimental models methods. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the performance of each approach based on experimental results. In our findings, we suggest that the ensemble method is the most effective with an F1-Score of 0.68 on the final testing. This system ranked 19 out of 33 participants in the competition.


PURPOSE: Provided are phase shift mask blanks and phase shift masks of the halftone type for use in the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits, wherein light of exposure wavelength is attenuated by the phase shift film. Also a method of manufacturing such phase shift mask blanks and phase shift masks is provided. CONSTITUTION: The phase shift mask blank has a phase shift film of MoSiOC or MoSiONC on a transparent substrate, and optionally a chromium-based light-shielding film, a chromium-based antireflection film or a multilayer combination of both on the phase shift film. The manufacture method involving depositing the MoSi base phase shift film by a reactive sputtering technique using a sputtering gas containing carbon dioxide produces a phase shift mask blank and phase shift mask of quality, with advantages of in-plane uniformity and easy control during manufacture.


This study aimed to characterise the immune mechanisms relevant to viral clearance in interferon (IFN)‐α‐treated chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from sustained complete IFN‐α therapy responders (n = 8), nonresponders (n = 13), untreated patients (n = 10), and healthy controls (n = 5) were measured retrospectively upon stimulation with recombinant HCV‐antigens (core, helicase, NS3, NS4, and NS5) and the secretion of IFN‐γ and interleukins (IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐10, and IL‐12) were tested by ELISA. Furthermore, IFN‐γ as well as IL‐10 secreting CD4+ T cells were quantitated by intracellular cytokine staining. Anti‐HCV core and NS3‐specific IgG subclass antibodies were quantitated in the corresponding patient sera. Sustained therapy responders had more frequent and stronger NS3 and helicase‐specific cellular immune responses than nonresponders, untreated HCV patients and healthy controls. Independent from therapy outcome HCV‐stimulated T cells in IFN‐α treated patients secreted preferentially IFN‐γ The Th2 cytokines IL‐4 and IL‐10 were even decreased in nonresponders, while the IL‐12 secretion was not influenced. With respect to the humoral immune response sustained complete responders showed significantly reduced IFN‐γ independent anti‐HCV‐core and ‐NS3 IgG1 antibody synthesis. In conclusion, vigorous NS3‐specific T‐helper cell responses were associated with viral clearance in IFN‐α recipients; however, the cytokine and antibody analysis argues against a Th1/Th2 imbalance as a major factor that influence the therapy outcome. J. Med. Virol. 64:340–349, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


GENERATIONS An accessible but underutilized source of services for elders. Home healthcare has grown rapidly in the past twenty years. Between I987 and 1997, Medicare spending for homecare rose at an annual rate of 21 percent, and its share of total Medicare expenditures increased from 2 percent to 9 percent (HCFA, 1999). Concurrently, the number of homecare agencies certified by Medicare and the number of patients they served annually doubled. In 1997, home healthcare cost Medicare $16.7 billion and served approximately 4 million Medicare enrollees, 72 percent of whom were age 65 or older. However, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 curbed the rapid growth in home healthcare by greatly restricting Medicare reimbursement to home health agencies. The growth of home healthcare reflects several factors. The older adult population in the United States has increased in size as has life expectancy. Equally important, however, are factors that have made homecare more beneficial to the older adult population. Of particular relevance was the expansion of eligibility under Medicare in 1989, which broadened eligibility criteria. Need for services grew with the implementation of Medicare diagnostic related groups and similar measures to decrease the lengths of hospital stays. As a result, patients being discharged have greater need for nursing care at home. Finally, rapid technological advances have made it possible for increasingly sicker and more disabled patients to receive more complex care outside traditional medical facilities (HCFA,1999). Homecare agencies typically offer a range of services, including skilled nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and housekeeping assistance. The great majority (85 percent) of patients are referred to homecare agencies for medical diagnoses or postsurgical recovery necessitating skilled nursing care (Kramarow et al.,1999; Munson, 1999). Most homecare agencies also provide social work services, often for clients referred to them by social services agencies. A growing number also offer psychiatric homecare services. PSYCHIATRIC HOMECARE Psychiatric homecare principally serves patients who are referred to home healthcare agencies with a primary diagnosis that is a mental disorder. In 1997, only 2.2 percent of patients who received Medicare-reimbursed home healthcare received mental health services, with little variation across age, gender, or race or ethnicity (HCFA, 1999). Older psychiatric homecare patients are typically referred to home healthcare agencies upon discharge from psychiatric inpatient units. Psychiatric homecare is primarily appropriate for the subset of psychiatric patients who reside in the community but have functional disabilities that limit their ability to live independently. Few research studies have examined the nature and scope of routine psychiatric homecare services. In general, care is provided by registered nurses experienced in mental health nursing, including master's-level clinical nurse specialists. Psychiatric homecare programs can range from providing broadly defined services to focusing narrowly on specific patient subgroups such as youth, patients with serious and persistent mental illness, substance abusers, or elders (Carson, 2001). Ideally, psychiatric homecare programs that serve elders employ nurses who are experienced in working not only with elders who have the common late-life diagnoses of dementia and depression but also with the growing number of aging adults who have histories of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or other chronic mental disorders. Psychiatric homecare nurses visit patients in their own homes to conduct a range of activities, including managing patients' medication regimens; monitoring patients' clinical status and the side effects of their medications; evaluating patients for referral to skilled nursing, rehabilitative, or social services; and providing psychosocial counseling (Carson, 2001; Ward-Miller, 1995). …


This research was based on how important to increase the students self regulated learning. Self efficacy and parent social support were the factors assumed to affect the self regulated learning. The purpose of this research were to describe: (1) self efficacy, (2) parent social support, (3) self regulated learning, (4) the relationship between self efficacy with self regulated learning, (5) the relationship between parent social support with self regulated learning, and (6) the simultaneous relationship between self efficacy and parent social support with self regulated learning. This research used a quantitative method with correlative descriptive type. The population in this research was the students at SMP Negeri 29 Padang many as 522 students. The sample in this research was many as 213 students who selected with a proportional stratified random sampling technique. The instrument was a Likert scale model. The results of instrument reliability test showed that self efficacy was much as 0.851, parent social support 0.946 and self regulated learning 0.860. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistic, simple regression, and multiple regression. This discover research show: (1) students self efficacy was at high category, (2) students parent social support was at high category, (3) students self regulated learning was at high category, (4) there was a positive and significant relationship between of self efficacy to self regulated learning, (5) there wasa positive and significant relationship between of parent social support to self regulated learning, and (6) there wasa positive and significant simultaneous relationship between of self efficacy and parent social support with self regulated learning. Implications of these results could be used as suggestion to arrange programs of guidance and counseling service at the school.


D.H. Lawrence wrote many critical essays about novels as genre which are "Art and Morality," "Morality and the Novel," "Why the Novel Matters," "The Novel and the Feeling," and "The Novel." It is not easy to find out his concept of the novel through his works in both novels and his critical essays because of the variety of writing, the changes of intention in idea, and his own prose style which makes it difficult to catch the meaning. The area of his linguistic experiments in the essays has a kind of abstract and metaphysical characteristics. So, we easily misunderstand his views as an intellectual doctrine or miss the real function and meaning without careful translation of the language in his essays. To transmit his real message about the novel, he uses his own language and rhetoric in the essays which are construed as a kind of metaphor using contradictory words such as "quick" and "dead," and rhetorical "double-voiced" discourse, in terms of Bakhtin. That makes himself counted as a character of his works. His discourse in the essays can be translated as "performative" rather than "constative" because of his "speech act" as rhetoric which can be, in a word, a "performative rhetoric of verbal persuasion."


A novel convex approach for reduced-order multi-objective controller synthesis is presented, and experimentally validated on an overhead crane test setup. For this setup, a discrete-time linear time-invariant model is identified. Starting from a full-order controller for the identified model, reducedorder multi-objective ℋ∞ controllers are designed by successively solving convex optimization problems. Experimental validation results on the test setup sustain the practical potential of the proposed controller design approach.


9088 Background: Nilotinib is indicated for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The reported incidence and risk of rash from this medication vary widely and have been inconsistentl...


This is a comparative study of eye movement behaviour of teleost fish from 5 families with diverse visual specialisations and oculomotor function. In chapter 3 I compared basic oculomotor parameters in three species of fish from the families Creediidae, Syngnathidae and Pinguipedidae, that show asynchronous eye movements and a fovea. All three species showed a close correlation between their specific retinal specialisation, oculomotor range and the lifestyles and feeding habits. Direction of gaze was correlated in the two independently moving eyes in both sandperch (Pinguipedidae) and pipefish (Syngnathidae) but not in the sandlance (Creediidae). Properties of spontaneous and fixational fast eye movements (saccades) in the species studied show many similarities to those found in other vertebrates. The apparent independence of the two eyes in the teleosts studied seem to set them apart from many other vertebrates, where eye movements are largely correlated with respect to each other. The results presented in chapter 4, however, reveal a regular switching of saccadic activity between the left and the right eye in sandlance, pipefish and sandperch, suggesting that the two eyes are in some way correlated. Since saccades are often a motor correlate of attention this finding suggests that these teleosts with asynchronous eye movements may show periodic shifts of attention while observing their environment. In chapter 5 the correlation between the two eyes was also tested during optokinetic nystagmus. This basic response shown by all animals stabilises the gaze against rotational head movements and translation. In most vertebrates the optokinetic response is tightly yoked in both eyes. This is also the case for the butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) which shows strong yoking of the eyes during spontaneous eye movements. However some capacity for independent optokinesis in the two eyes was observed. Both sandlance and pipefish are capable of following two conflicting stimuli independently. However monocular occlusion in the pipefish unmasks a link between the two eyes, which is overridden when both eyes receive visual input. The sandlance never showed any correlation between eyes during optokinesis, even during monocular stimulation. This suggests that there are different levels of linkage between the two eyes in the oculomotor system of teleosts, depending on the visual input. One of the main functions of the oculomotor system in vertebrates and most invertebrates is to keep the image of the world relatively still on the retina. As shown in chapter 6 the sandlance breaks this universal rule of image stabilisation by showing large postsaccadic drifting eye movements as part of its normal oculomotor behaviour. In these animals, up to 40% of spontaneous saccades are followed by a drifting movement, either binocularly or in one eye only. The drifts are large and are always directed towards the most relaxed position of the eye, indicating that this form of eye movement is not visually driven. However the eye is visually responsive and saccades and an optokinetic response can be elicited during a drift. The drifting speed and the known acuity of the sandlance eye suggest that, during the drift, the image quality is not degraded. Several advantages of this unusual oculomotor behaviour can be related to the unusual optics and lifestyle of the sandlance. A unique modification of the eye muscles of billfish (Xiphiidae) maintains the eye and brain above ambient temperature; however the function of this adaptation and its effect on the oculomotor system is unknown. Chapter 7 aims to provide an insight into the visual abilities of billfish derived from anatomical observations of their retinal structure. The observations help explain the effect the increased retinal temperature might have for vision and eye movements. The blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) shows a well developed temporal area centralis and no visual streak, suggesting that a functional oculomotor system is required in this fish. A convergence of cones to ganglion cells at a ratio of at least 5:1 is present even in the area of highest acuity. The finding of two cone types suggest that the animal is capable of wavelength discrimination. Regional differences in size and composition of photoreceptors between dorsal and ventral retina potentially affect colour vision and sensitivity. The anatomical results suggest that sensitivity and spatial summation are of high priority to billfish. The possible function of the warm retina for increasing temporal resolution is discussed. These findings show the adaptability of the oculomotor system to suit the needs of different teleost lifestyles. However most of the parameters established for the oculomotor system of higher vertebrates also hold for teleosts.


Sisimitalia henriquei sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on specimens collected in Boquete, Panama. This new species can be easily distinguished from other congeneric species based on the external coloration and shape of the paraphyses. A key to the species of the genus is also presented.


A study of 62 renal allografts was made to determine which characteristics of acute rejection may allow early identification of those grafts with a very low probability of ultimate success. Graft survival was reduced to below 20% and patient survival to below 50% with the fourth acute rejection episode. Of those grafts which were unable to return the serum creatinine value to within 20% of the prerejection level, 93% ultimately failed and 47% of the patients died. These features of acute rejection offered the best guides to the ultimate outcome of the transplant and are useful in determining when to abandon a renal allograft rather than subject the patient to the risks of additional immunosuppression.


Historically, taxonomic classification and biological diversity understanding have been based on morphological descriptions. Derived from a mathematical quantitative revolution, morphological studies have experienced an important renewal due to the development of shape analysis rooted in statistical multivariate methods and novel visualisation techniques. Wireworms are click beetles larvae from the genus Agriotes (Coleoptera: Elateridae) that cause considerable damage to field crops. Changing environment generates different degrees of stress in insects and reflects on the ability of an individual to overcome it and spread further. In this study we analysed morphological differences in 258 wireworms of genus A. ustulatus (standard morphological determination) from 8 populations in Croatia. The selected larvae were from the same developmental instars. Landmark based geometric morphometric techniques were used to explore the pattern of shape variation of the head capsule caused by different environmental conditions. The principal component analysis revealed a well-defined pattern of variation between the analyzed populations. Moreover, differences between populations emerged also from the canonical variation analysis, and confirmed by the Procrustes ANOVA (F: 5.94 p< 0.001). From our study clear morphological differences between the populations emerged. Preliminary results indicate that GM is potentially a powerful, cheap and simple, method for wireworm species diagnostics.


Science and technology at this time are developing so rapidly. Accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency are the main things offered with the development of technology. One form of this aspect is the creation of an automatic randomization system of an object with a mobile robot system. This study aims to produce a mobile robot prototype for object tracking that utilizes sensor vision as the main component in tracking an object, where the system built can distinguish an object based on color and can approach the object automatically because in this robot an autonomous mobile robot system is applied. In this research, it combines two main components, namely hard components and soft components. The hard components are composed of the Pixy CMU Cam5 as a sensor vision to recognize objects that have been targeted, the DC motor is used as a robotic locomotor to approach the intended object, the L298N Driver Shield Motor as the DC motor processing of the microcontroller, and Arduino UNO as the main microcontroller in the mobile robot tracking object prototype. The soft components consist of the PixyMon application which is used for the process of configuring digital images of color-based objects and the Arduino IDE which is used to write robotic movement system programs when they have recognized objects which are then uploaded into the microcontroller. As a result of the tests that have been carried out, the DC motor can move according to the specifications that have been made and the pixy sensor vision can capture pixels of well-configured colors.


It is easy to mistake the United States for an empire. But as John D. Kelly explains here, the American approach to global relations is best understood as a competition - one in which the United States, through the reshaping of economic theory and the global economy itself, imposes its own rules on a game played to win. How and where the United States implements these rules can be tracked through complexities in diplomacy and business. But Kelly here cleverly uses the quintessential American game of baseball to show how the United States maintains and advances its dominance over other nations. A thought-provoking read, "The American Game" could well revolutionize our understanding of the United States' influence on global politics and economics.


Objective: To design and synthesize a series of novel ursolic acid(UA) derivatives bearing different kinds of charge and to study their in vitro anti-tumor activities.Methods: Ursolic acid derivatives bearing different charges were prepared and their water-solubility as well as logP values were predicted.Their cytotoxicity against PC-3 cells was evaluated by MTT assay.Cell cycle analysis and Annexin V/PI dual staining were performed to investigate the anticancer mechanism.Results: The water-solubility of UA was enhanced via the chemical modification.The derivatives bearing negative charge had weaker cytotoxic effects than UA upon PC-3 cells.However,the ones bearing positive charge exhibited more powerful cytotoxicity than UA against the same cell line,involving the occurrence of apoptosis as well as cell cycle arrest.In particular,both elevated water-solubility(70-fold of that of UA) and a IC50(48 h) less than 10 μmol·L-1 against PC-3 cells were achieved by three UA derivatives: UA-3,UA-4 and UA-5b.The cell-cycle arrest in G0/G1 as well as apoptosis(50%) was observed after the treatment of one of the three derivatives against PC-3 cells.Conclusion: The introduction of groups of positive charge to UA is an effective way to improve its water-solubility and anti-proliferative activities.


For Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, a statistical method is advanced to establish the quantitative correlation between the controllability of structure parameters and the homogeneity of device properties. Setting many parameters fluctuating independently and simultaneously, the collective effect of multi-parameters can be straightly obtained. For a typical InGaAsP/InP single- photon avalanche diode, it is seen that device homogeneity with excess bias fluctuation within 50% requires uncertainty in layer thickness and doping level better than ~3%.


AbstractRecursive equilibrium theory is extended and generalized. Optimality of equilibria and supportability of optima are established in a direct way. Four economic applications are reformulated as recursive competitive equilibria and analyzed.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


We consider the radiative processes for conditions expected in photospheres of neutron stars (NSs) with magnetic fields B∼1014–1016 G. The radiative opacities are employed to construct model photospheres and to calculate the spectral flux and specific intensity emitted by these objects which are thought to be associated with Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs).We consider the radiative processes for conditions expected in photospheres of neutron stars (NSs) with magnetic fields B∼1014–1016 G. The radiative opacities are employed to construct model photospheres and to calculate the spectral flux and specific intensity emitted by these objects which are thought to be associated with Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs).


A two-dimensional embankment breach analysis was conducted to estimate the postulated worst case flood levels to support the combined operation and construction licensing of a nuclear power plant. A multi-dimensional hydrodynamic model, Delft3D-FLOW, was used to simulate flooding from an instantaneous breaching of the embankment of an on-site cooling reservoir with a surface area of about 7,000 acre (2,800 hectare) and an average height of 40 ft (12.2 m). The Delft3D-FLOW feature for solving rapidly varying flows ("Flooding scheme") was utilized for the analysis. The results capture the water level variation due to the initial flood wave impact on the safety-related power buildings and the subsequent quasisteady state flooding conditions that prevail for a few minutes. Various tailwater conditions (including dry bed) were analyzed to determine the critical flood level to be used as the design basis for the safety related facilities of the nuclear power plant.


This July 9, 1958, White Sands Missile Range test was considered unsuccessful because of the short flight time (3.8 seconds) caused by the loss of the beacon at liftoff. It involved a XW-7-72 warhead and an XM51 adaption kit.


III-V semiconductors components such as Gallium Arsenic (GaAs), Indium Antimony (InSb), Aluminum Arsenic (AlAs) and Indium Arsenic (InAs) have high carrier mobilities and direct energy gaps. This is making them indispensable for today's optoelectronic devices such as semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers at 1.3 μm wavelength operation. In fact, these elements are led to the invention of the Gallium Indium Nitride Arsenic (GaInNAs), where the lattice is matched to GaAs for such applications. This article is aimed to design dilute nitride GaInNAs quantum wells (QWs) enclosed between top and bottom of Aluminum (Gallium) Arsenic Al(Ga)As distributed bragg mirrors (DBRs) using MATLAB® program. Vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs) structures are based on Fabry Perot (FP) method to design optical gain and bandwidth gain to be operated in reflection and transmission modes. The optical model gives access to the contact layer of epitaxial structure and the reflectivity for successive radiative modes, their lasing thresholds, emission wavelengths and optical field distributions in the laser cavity.


iAbstract Background: Regarding the undesirable effects of anxiety on physiologic indexes of human body and development of post-surgery intensified symptoms, attempt to reduce the degree of anxiety is of prime necessity. Objective: The goal of this study was to study the effect of two verbal and audio methods of training on patient's anxiety before surgery. Methods: This was an empirical study carried out at Imam Khomeini Medical Center in Sari (Iran) during 2009-2010. Three groups of patients, each group consisting of 35 individuals were included in the study. Samples were taken through accessibility while grouping was made completely at random. The research tools were demographic questionnaires, checklist for vital signs as well as characteristics anxiety questionnaires. Findings: The results showed significant differences between the two test groups and also the control group in terms of anxiety levels and their conditions two hours before operation (P=0.03). The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the group under verbal education two hours before operation was 17.2±2 and 8.6±1 cmHg, and in group trained with handout 18.9±1 and 8.9±1 cmHg, respectively. There was a significant difference between two test and control groups. Conclusion: Based on results found through this study, it is suggested that at the time a patient is admitted to anesthesia clinic, in addition to routine examinations, some verbal education should be given to lower the unwanted and harmful physiological effects of anxiety which provides a better ground for risk free post-operation recovery for patient.


Abstract Badger Meles meles sett distribution was analyzed in a protected area (425 ha), NE Italian Alps, extending from 1000 to 1600 m a.s.l. Thirty setts with a mean number of 1.8 entrances were recorded, all localized below boulders. In order to examine the factors affecting sett choice, 12 variables were considered including physical and morphological characteristics, human disturbance, vegetation cover and tree/shrub species around the sites. Variables for 30 sett sites were compared with those for 30 randomly selected ones. Sett sites were localized on more sloping soils and under larger boulders, with a narrower slope angle than random sites. In addition, they had a thicker total vegetation cover and were more distant from disturbance sources. Around the sett, broadleaved trees were more common than around the random sites. Using a logistic regression model, the factors affecting sett site selection were primarily the physical characteristics of boulders (slope angle with the soil and size) and, in second order, disturbance. The study area seemed to offer a large number of suitable boulders below which badgers can dig a sett, whose size probably depends on the morphological characteristics of the soil rather than extent of use.


Heritage has always been an important vehicle through which the past has been mobilized in the present in the nameof specifc cultural identities and communities. Or more specically, as Barbro Klein taught us, "heritage is phenomena in a group's past that are given high symbolic value and therefore, must be protected for the future" (Klein 2000:25). In what ways have contemporary political processes, neoliberal market forces, and identity politics of the 21st century affected understandings of Swedish heritage in American contexts? Has this changing context affected the manner in which people invoke heritage? This paper analyzes tensions that emerge at the nexus of vernacular expressions and institutional heritage management.


This study provides an exploration of the future energy trends in the UK by assessing existing energy scenarios studies and their predictions compared with actual data. The criteria for inclusion were to be national in scope, backcasting and comprehensive (covering the electricity sector). The importance of assessing the historic energy system projections could conduct us to improvements in future energy scenarios. The three studies considered relate to the same four factors: growth indicators, fuel prices, new installations and power stations retirement. The scenarios review revealed several common and different themes although all were developed under the same national targets. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of KES International


We study possible smooth deformations of the generalized free conformal field theory in arbitrary dimensions by exploiting the singularity structure of the conformal blocks dictated by the null states. We derive in this way, at the first nontrivial order in the ε expansion, the anomalous dimensions of an infinite class of scalar local operators, without using the equations of motion. In the cases where other computational methods apply, the results agree.


The problem of moral realism does not seem to play a major role in the Hebrew Bible. However, some texts like Genesis 18 and others do show that this problem was a pressing one for at least some Old Testament writers, and that it was coped with through arguing with God. Taking Genesis 18 as an exemplary case, this article displays the conditions for the possibility of moral realism in the Hebrew Bible as well as some threads of its unfolding.


THE ROLE OF PROTECTIVE AND NON-PROTECTIVE NITRIC OXIDES (NOs) IN IMMUNE RESPONS Nitric oxides (NO), included in this term are radical NO., (ionic) NO-, NO, NO2, NO2-, NO3-, N2O3,N2O4, S-nitrosothiols, peroxynitrite (ONOO-), and nitrisyl-metal complex. NOs are radical substances which have characteristic both protective and non-protective immunity due to unable to distinguish pathogen DNA or host DNA. NO is by_product of arginine metabolism. NO plays roles in muscle relaxation to prevent platelets aggregation, as intra cell neurotransmitter, mediated macrophage of tumor cell and bacteria. The activity is under controlled by NO-synthetase (NOS) which has three isomers, namely NOS1 or neural NOS (nNOS), NOS2 or inducible NOS (iNOS) and NOS3 or endothelial NOS (eNOS). The role of iNOS/NO in immune system could be as a protective and non-protective which work simultaneously and depend on the immune system equilibrium. The function of iNOS/NO is as regulator and effector. As regulator the function includes change of lymphocyte from proliferation and modulated cytokine response. As effector the function includes necrosis and immnunoprotective activities. The main target of NO 2 toxicity is lungs but depends on the concentration of toxicity and duration of exposure to the target Keywords : arginine, immonology, NOS, nitric oxide, protective


This email was distributed to the Rhodes College community by Margaret Handwerker on behalf of Provosts and Vice President for Academic Affairs Charlotte Borst.


The modelling of weld pool oscillation is carried out in order to make clear the natural frequency and the oscillation mode of the pool in the fully penetrated welding of thin plate. The oscillations of the elliptical pool are discussed because the molten pool in the traveling arc welding takes the oval shape. In the case of the elliptical pool with a finite depth having both a top surface and a bottom surface, the dispersion relation between the natural frequencies, the pool shape, the surface tension and the density of the melted metal is derived.


BACKGROUND
To control rising costs, state Medicaid agencies are enrolling recipients in managed care health plans (MCPs). We performed this study to assess this policy's impact on accessibility and outcomes of Medicaid-funded prenatal care.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective, controlled study with three cohorts: a study group of 1106 Medicaid recipients enrolled in three MCPs, a matched comparison group of 4830 recipients receiving care in the fee-for-service (FFS) system, and a second matched comparison group of 4434 non-Medicaid enrollees of the same MCPs. Data on prenatal care use and birth outcomes were obtained through linkage of claims and discharge files with birth certificate files.

RESULTS
Medicaid recipients enrolled in MCPs used prenatal care similarly to those in the FFS system and showed equal or modestly improved birth-weight distributions. However, Medicaid MCP enrollees showed poorer use of prenatal care and birth outcomes compared with non-Medicaid enrollees of the same plans.

CONCLUSIONS
Enrollment in MCPs has a neutral or small beneficial effect on the prenatal care received by the Medicaid population. However, providing financial access and modifying the system of care for this population did not result in parity with the general population.


Quantitative analysis of the electron beam induced current in conjunction with high-resolution scanning makes it possible to evaluate the minority-carrier lifetime three dimensionally in the bulk and the surface recombination velocity two dimensionally, with a high spacial resolution. The analysis is based on the concept of the effective excitation strength of the carriers which takes into consideration all possible recombination sources. Two-dimensional mapping of the surface recombination velocity of phosphorus-diffused silicon diodes is presented as well as a three-dimensional mapping of the changes in the minority-carrier lifetime in ion-implanted silicon.


Objective To compare the clinical therapeutic effect of chlorpromazine hydrochloride injection on Zusanli acupoint and methylphenidate muscular injection for patients with intractable hiccup.Methods 34 cases of hepatic carcinoma patients with intractable hiccup in our hospital from Aug 2005 to Aug 2006 were randomly divided into experiment group and control group. 20 patients in the experiment group were treated with chlorpromazine hydrochloride injection on Zusanli acupoint, and 14 patients in the control group with methylphenidate muscular injection. Clinical therapeutic effect in both groups was investigated and compared.Results Therapeutic efficacy of the experiment group was prior to the control group.Conclusion Chlorpromazine hydrochloride injection on Zusanli acupoint should be generalized for its good effect on intractable hiccup.


Received September 7, 2020 Revised September 10, 2020 Accepted September 10, 2020 Tetanus is a fatal disease caused by the infection Clostridium tetani found in animal feces and soil. It is a vaccine-preventable disease and rarely occurs in developed countries. However, approximately 30 cases still occur annually in South Korea. Tetanus, commonly called lockjaw, cause contraction of the masseter muscles in the early stage, resulting in trismus as the first symptom. As it progresses, spasm extends to various muscles in the face, neck, shoulder, and back, leading to distorted facial expression, dysphagia, backward arching of the body, dyspnea, and even death. Early diagnosis of tetanus is critical because it can quickly become fatal if left untreated. We present a case of trismus caused by tetanus and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis of acute trismus.


Purpose – A fundamental internet marketing challenge is that consumers can quickly move from seeks to one web site to another if they cannot easily find what they want on a given web site. This paper address the web site navigational design issues associated with internet marketing.Design/methodology/approach – A two‐year participant observation study in a UK tourism marketing organisation is provided in order to demonstrate a web site design approach in action.Findings – Existing web site design approaches such as hierarchy charts and storyboards can assist in structuring web site content but do not necessarily cater well for making web sites straightforward to use by consumers. Human computer interface web site design approaches typically relate more to style, appearance and functionality than to structuring web site content. Web site content ranking and grouping can allow straightforward access to web site content, by making frequently required content the most accessible and by grouping related conten...


Epidemiological evidence links smoking to an increase in the incidence and severity of cardiovascular disease. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for susceptibility are unknown. The accumulation of lipids in macrophages induces an inflammatory response, with secretion of cytokines and proteases, and leads to necrosis and loss of collagen content within atherosclerotic lesions. Therefore, the effect of cigarette smoke on lipids in the atherosclerotic process and consequences was examined. Initial studies revealed that cigarette smoke attenuated cholesterol efflux. Subsequently, the end result of cigarette smoke exposure on atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE deficient mice demonstrated a significant increase in necrosis along with a dramatic decrease in the collagen content of lesions in ApoE deficient mice exposed to smoke for 20 weeks. Cigarette smoke extract (CSE) impaired the cholesterol efflux ability for ApoAI and correlated with ABCA1 loss and increased MMPs (9, 12, 13, in human THP-1 cells additionally MMP1 is increased), TLR4/Myd88 and TNFα expression in mouse bone marrow derived macrophages (BMdM) in vitro and in vivo in peritoneal macrophages elicited after 5 days of smoke exposure. Furthermore, by increasing ABCA1 expression with LXR agonist treatment the CSE-induced up regulation of MMPs (MMP-9 and 13) and TNFα was inhibited signifying a correlation between the cigarette smoke induced loss of ABC transporters and MMP induction. Moreover, BMDMs isolated from Cre-LysM-ABCA1 deficient mice displayed an increase in mRNA expression of MMPs (9, 12, 13) at a basal level, which was appreciably augmented with CSE as compared to control macrophages. The LXR induced decrease in MMPs and TNFα expression as well as decreased MMP-9 activity in macrophages was confirmed to be ABCA1-dependent since ABCA1 KO macrophages exposed to CSE did not exhibit this response. These findings establish that the effect of cigarette smoke on macrophage ABCA1-dependent cholesterol efflux impairment leads to both an increase in proteases and inflammatory cytokines and this combination of events is likely synergistic in ultimately generating a more vulnerable plaque through the increase in plaque necrosis and a decrease in collagen content.


As to the full hudraulic bulldozer,the paper establishes the drive property equation which can reflect the whole performance and studies the drive performance of the bulldozer.In addition,the results of efficiency, detained from the theatrical and practical analysis,are compared in the paper.


What are next generation datacenter and high performance computing requirements, how does TE Connectivity transfer these requirements into a next generation connectivity platform. The Coolbit platform answers this and the most recent results will be discussed.


Taking an oral vitamin D supplement in addition to standard asthma drugs reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks that require systemic corticosteroids and lowers exacerbations needing hospital admission or emergency department care, a Cochrane review of clinical trials in adults and children with asthma has found.1

Low blood levels of vitamin D have been associated with increased risk of asthma attacks in children and adults with asthma. Several clinical trials have investigated whether vitamin D might improve control of asthma but have …


New advanced displays have shown to alter the flying qualities of piloted aircraft. Present handling qualities specifications do not include the effect of the display. A preliminary analysis of the influence of the display in a single axis tracking task is performed. The display is modelled by a set of parameters and a relation with tracking performance and pilot ratings is established via fixed-base simulation.


The rapid development of railway transport of passenger renders enormous market for train snack,but along with which dominating railway catering security and quality problems arise.Inquiry into public opinions about train snack put forward a tentative renovation plan,which may cultivate a stylistic culture in railway catering service and provide travelers with cheap and fine train snack.All these are supposed to arouse railway departments and catering theory researchers' concerns.


Water is well thought-out as one of the basic need of human life. Beside its significant role in incomecontribution in the region, tourism industry is almost blamed as an environmental demolisher and polluter inBali. This matter writer interest for research something result quality waste water processing at one casehotel and specific as know bacteriology and chemistry quality, because the result of quality hotel waste waterprocessing very influential about water of river already polluted as physical, chemistry and bacteriology.The study aimed to investigate water quality of Ayung River at the nearest outlet of a star hotel STP and atupper-site rive..The research of methodology is hotel waste water analysis be based on the Minister of EnvironmentLife Regulation number 52, 1995. Analysis result waste water process and water ofr river be based onGovernment Regulation number 82, 2001. The water analysis results evidently showed that water sample taken during the 1st - 3th weeks beforeprocessing at hotel's STP were classified as heavily polluted based on water quality class I, II, III, and IV,with lowest pollution index (PI) of 33.23 and highest at 42.56. Amazingly, samples taken after STPprocessing were categorized as heavily polluted as well, based on water quality class I II, III, and IV. Thelowest PI was 13.4 and the highest at 22,15. Water sample taken at the nearest STP outlet at river wascategorized as slightly polluted based on water quality class I and fill quality criteria based on water qualityclass II, III, and IV. Water sample taken at upper-site of Ayung River was categorized as slightly pollutedbased on water quality class I, and fill quality criteria polluted based on criteria of water quality class II, III,and IV.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether face mask fit during anesthesia affects the occurrence of fire episodes during laser surgery in nonintubated cadaveric rodents under volatile anesthesia.

DESIGN
Adaptive single-center randomized controlled trial with an interim analysis.

SAMPLE
100 dead rats intended for animal consumption.

PROCEDURES
Rat carcasses were randomly allocated to undergo simulated anesthetic procedures with 2 face masks: open mask versus tight-fitting mask. Under volatile anesthesia, 4 cutaneous surgeries were performed (skin biopsies at 3 different sites and resection of a pinna) by means of a diode laser on each carcass. A single interim analysis of 50 rats was planned a priori to drop an arm of the study in the case of a highly significant difference in the incidence of fire events. Surgeries would have continued with the other face mask until completion of the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.

RESULTS
Overall, 25 surgeries were performed with open face masks and 75 with tight-fitting masks. During 400 surgical procedures on 100 rat carcasses, 11 (11%; 95% confidence interval, 5.62% to 18.83%) fire events occurred. Ten fire events occurred with the open masks, and 1 fire event occurred with the tight-fitting masks (relative risk, 30.0; 95% confidence interval, 4.0 to 222.8). All of the fire events occurred on different carcasses when cheek skin biopsy was performed. Procedure time, body weight, and surgeon did not significantly concur in the prediction of fire events.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Modification of open masks by the addition of a latex diaphragm significantly reduced the occurrence of fire ignition during laser surgery. Results suggested that open masks should not be used for laser surgery of nonintubated rodents during volatile anesthesia. Additionally, results indicated that surgical lasers should be avoided for facial surgery of nonintubated anesthetized rodents, even if tight-fitting masks are used.


Tyrophagus is considered as a world-wide genus. Its complex history is traced and its position in the Acarina is re-examined against the background of recent classification changes. Eleven species of Tyrophagus are recognized and keyed. Neotypes are designated and described for putrescentiae Schrank, 1781, and longior Gervais, 1844, and a case is made for declaring dimidiatus Hermann, 1804, a species name brought into the group by A. C. Oudemans, to be a nomen dubium. Lectotypes are indicated for australasiae Oudemans, 1916, javensis Oudemans, 1916, vanheurni Oudemans, 1924, deliensis Oudemans, 1923, and muris Oudemans, 1924. Of these, the last two are treated as uncertain species, while vanheurni is judged to have no status. T. palmarum Oudemans, 1924, and T. perniciosus Zakhvatkin, 1941, are redescribed, and three species are described as new.


The improvement of skills in engineering and science teaching are essential factors to strengthen and support the research and the processes development. It is also clear that engineering and science applications are strongly related to instrumentation and measurement systems, as well as the resources and requirements applied. Considering the relevance of the science of measurement in engineering applications, this article presents an approach for further developments in engineering education, where new lines are pointed out. The discussion is structured around the study plan and its scientific syllabuses of the master's degrees offered in Portuguese universities. The commonality of subjects that emerged from metrology and engineering practices tied to employability skills required from graduates and postgraduates of engineering degrees is presented. It is also explained the support given by the literature and by the professional experience from professors and metrologists are fundamental elements that may be considered.


Literary language is significant and aesthetic,which presents its own poetic effects with the concrete breakthrough of language in many cases.Poetry,as the typical representation of this highly cohesive literary language,is in the earnest demand of displaying the poetic effect from the aesthetic point of view.This paper analyzes the presentation of these aesthetic characteristics on linguistic level and on sup-linguistic level,and discusses the importance of aesthetic understanding in the interpretation of poems.