Highly dispersed Co catalysts supported on SiO2 were prepared in the presence of ethylene glycol (EG) by co-impregnation and tested in the vapor-phase hydrogenolysis of ethyl lactate to 1,2-propanediol. The synthesis parameters of Co metal loading, ratio of EG to cobalt nitrate, type of alcohol and calcination temperature, which influenced the physical properties of the Co3O4 nanoparticles, were investigated through the use of X-ray diffraction (XRD). It revealed that the ratio of EG to cobalt nitrate and the type of alcohol significantly affected the particle size of Co3O4 supported on SiO2. During co-impregnation with EG, the interaction between Co and the SiO2 support was strongly enhanced, resulting in the high dispersion of cobalt species and the decrease of Co3O4 particle size from 16 nm to below 5 nm; the significantly enhanced cobalt dispersion was associated with the formation of amorphous cobalt silicate. Meanwhile the conversion of ethyl lactate was greatly improved to 98.6% from 69.5%, with 98.0% selectivity of 1,2-propanediol over 10% (w, mass fraction) Co/SiO2 catalysts under the given reaction conditions (2.5 MPa and 160 °C). The obtained catalysts were 1511 Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. 2016 Vol.32


Critical Art Encounters offer sustained and at times meditative engagements with contemporary artworks. This Critical Art Encounter is a kind of reprise, a return to a joint performance by visual artist Suné Woods, poet and theorist Fred Moten, and musician and theorist James Gordon Williams. Titled You are mine. I see now, I'm a have to let you go, the piece was performed live at the Hammer Museum during their 2018 biennial event "Made in L.A." This special section of liquid blackness aims to sample the fully realized collaboration and audiovisual experimentation that took place in the largely improvised art event. This Critical Art Encounter includes the intimate ecological exploration that takes place in Woods's video work; Moten's poem "the general balm," which was written in part for the performance and later published in his book of poetry and criticism all that beauty (2019); and finally, a conversation with Erin Christovale, an associate curator at the Hammer who helped organize the event. Although not all three artists are featured (Williams's original compositions can be heard in the footage from the performance), we were fortunate to expand this creative dialogue by including a curatorial perspective. Thus we are able to consider how this work expresses liquidity as both a concern of contemporary black art and a call to the congregation.


The effects of driving under the influence of alcohol can be severe. In an effort to reduce the number of drunk drivers, alcolocks have been deployed. However, if a driver tries to cheat the system and succeeds, the effects may cause severe damage to both humans and property. One way of beating the system is by fooling the breathalyzer that the breath produced doesn't contain alcohol. This is usually done using a device which either filters a breath, or by having a device that blows clean air into the alcolock. In this paper the problem of if it's possible to determine whether a true breath is made by using facial and feature detection, is answered. A true breath is an unobstructed, real breath from a person. True breath identification can be used in order to, for example, determine if a mouthpiece-less alcolock device is being used correctly. To solve this problem facial and feature detection was used. In order to find the best methods for facial and feature detection, research result in this area was used. The method used to solve this problem works by first tracking the face. The mouth is then searched for in the lower part of the face region. After that the mouth is found, the lips are to be extracted from the mouth area using various methods. The lip tracking is then used to determine the mouth state, it does this by calculating the distance between the different points produced by the lip tracking. The mouth state, mouth and face tracking are then used during the identification process to determine if a real person was present and if he/she made a true breath. The test fails if the mouth is closed during the time of breath or if there is no mouth or face present. Attempts to manipulate, result in a failed alcohol test. In the majority of the test cases the tracking and mouth state scored acceptable or better results. The performance of the system concluded that it's possible to complete the analysis in real time. The result of this thesis is a true breath identification system. It still has some issues in cases where the illumination and lighting is uneven or bad. Facial hair may also interfere with the tracking in some cases. Although there are still some areas that needs improving, this work was more of a proof of concept. This thesis shows that it is possible, under certain circumstances, to determine a true breath using facial and feature detection.


This paper provides an overview of the risk and protective factors for child abuse and neglect. It is important that practitioners and policy-makers working with children and families operate from a broad understanding of these risk and protective factors and the ways in which they interact. Understanding the risk and protective factors for child abuse and neglect is important for developing effective prevention interventions for vulnerable families. Although child protection authorities use specific risk assessment instruments to determine if a child is at risk of maltreatment, it is beneficial for all professionals who work with families to have a broad, general understanding of the factors that may place children at risk of harm, the factors that can protect them from harm, and the ways in which these risk and protective factors tend to interact. It is essential to keep in mind that while certain risk factors may exist among families where child abuse and neglect occurs, this does not mean that the presence of these factors necessarily leads to child abuse and neglect. In other words, the presence of one or more risk factors does not necessarily result in child abuse and neglect, just as the presence of protective factors does not guarantee that children will be kept safe. For instance, one risk factor is large family size. This should never be interpreted as meaning that all children in large families are at high risk of being subjected to maltreatment. It simply means that at the population level there is a statistical association between family size and child maltreatment. Child maltreatment occurs in a minority of families, and most people, even those experiencing many risk factors, do not abuse or neglect their children. Indeed, substantiated cases of child maltreatment can also occur in families that experience none of the commonly associated risk factors.


Obesity's genetic, metabolic, behavioral, and environmental influences make the disorder difficult, but not impossible, to manage. Treatment at an early age is crucial, as 80% of obese adolescents will become obese adults, and are unlikely to "outgrow" obesity on their own. The author describes some of the current notions about the etiology of obesity, associated medical risks, and behavioral and medical treatments available for obese adolescents.


ABSTRACT Quinate and protocatechuate are both abundant plant products and can serve, along with a large number of other aromatic or hydroaromatic compounds, as growth substrates for Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. The respective genes are part of the chromosomal dca-pca-qui-pob-hca cluster encoding these pathways. The adjacent pca and qui gene clusters, which encode enzymes for protocatechuate breakdown via the β-ketoadipate pathway and for the conversion of quinate or shikimate to protocatechuate, respectively, have the same direction of transcription and are both expressed inducibly in response to protocatechuate. The pca genes are governed by the transcriptional activator-repressor PcaU. The mechanism governing qui gene expression was previously unknown. Here we report data suggesting the existence of a large 14-kb primary transcript covering the pca and qui genes. The area between the pca and qui genes contains no promoter activity, whereas a weak, constitutive promoter was identified upstream of quiA (quiAp). The 5′ end of the quiA transcript was mapped. Northern blot analysis allowed the identification of a 12-kb transcript spanning pcaI to quiX. An analysis of the pca and qui gene transcripts in a strain missing the structural gene promoter pcaIp led to the identification of two pcaIp-independent transcripts (4 and 2.4 kb). The 2.4-kb transcript makes up about 25% of the total transcript abundance of quiA, and thus the majority of transcription of the last gene of the area is also driven by pcaIp. This report strongly supports the organization of the pca and qui genes as a pca-qui operon and, furthermore, suggests that PcaU is the regulator governing its expression.


This article uses a political opportunity approach to study the relationship of minority groups to the political community in Britain. The main argument is that the
British race relations approach established in the 1960s had an important effect that still shapes the patterns of political contention by different minority groups today. Original data on political claims-making by minorities demonstrate that British 'racialised' cultural pluralism has structured an inequality of opportunities for the two main groups, African-Caribbeans and Indian subcontinent minorities. African-Caribbeans mobilise along racial lines, use a strongly assimilative 'black' identity, conventional action forms, and target state institutions with demands for justice that are framed within the recognised framework of race relations. Conversely, a high proportion of the Indian subcontinent minority mobilisation is by Muslim groups, a non-assimilative religious identity. These are autonomously organised, but largely make public demands for extending the principle of racial equality to their non-racial group. Within the Indian subcontinent minorities, the relative absence of mobilisation by Indian, Sikh and Hindu minorities, who have achieved much better levels of socio-economic success than Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims, suggests that there is also a strong socioeconomic basis for shared experiences and grievances as Muslims in Britain. This relativises the notion that Muslim mobilisation is Britain is purely an expression of the right for cultural difference per se, and sees it as a product of the paradoxes of British race relations.


Summary
Epidemiological investigations of tularemia in Arkansas revealed that the highest incidence of human tularemia within the State occurred during the months of April through September, with approximately 56 per cent of the yearly reported cases having a history of tick bite. These epidemiological investigations prompted a cooperative project between the Communicable Disease Center and the Arkansas State Board of Health.
Data collected for two consecutive years indicate that the lone star tick is the predominant tick in Arkansas, followed by the American dog tick during the summer, as represented by collections from cattle and dogs and by dragging. The American dog tick was found to be the more widely distributed of the two species within the State. The lone star tick predominated in the more mountainous and heavily wooded areas.
Pasteurella tularensis was isolated from six different lots of lone star ticks (1 in 1951 and 5 in 1952) collected from dogs and cattle and by drags. Two of the positive lots were composed entirely of adult female lone star ticks. Though one large collection of American dog ticks was removed from the same hosts at the time the positive lone star ticks were collected, none of the American dog tick collections was found to be positive for tularemia.
Blood specimens were taken from the hosts from which the positive lots of ticks were removed. Of sera of seven dogs submitted for the tularemia agglutination tests, six were found positive in dilutions from 1:40 to 1:640. Three cow blood specimens gave positive tularemia reactions in dilutions of 1:80.


Originally published in 1953, on behalf of the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries, this book presents an account regarding 'the application of the theory of compound interest'. Numerous illustrative examples and exercises are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the nature of compound interest and financial history.


We compared performance of past 'winners' and past 'losers' over the look-ahead period of one month for various portfolios that consist of the US ETFs and the holdings of the US equity Select Sector SPDRs in 2007 – 2017 and 2011 - 2017. Namely, we verified the conventional pattern described in the literature according to which there is mean reversion (i.e. past losers outperform past winners in near future) for short past periods and persistent momentum (i.e. past winners outperform past losers in near future) for longer past periods. We also compared performance of the momentum-based strategies with that of the equal-weight benchmark portfolios (EWBPs). We found that performance of the momentum strategies depends on portfolio holdings and whether the bear market of 2008 is included in the data sample. The conventional momentum pattern was statistically significant only for a multi-asset ETF portfolio in both 2007-2017 and 2011 -2017, and for the proxies of the SPDR S&P500 ETF and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR ETF in 2011 – 2017. However, we found other, sector-specific momentum patterns that may be explored for arbitraging past winners and past losers of the equity sector ETF holdings between themselves and/or with their EWBPs.


Modern day Bosnia suffers from widespread ethnic segregation, solidified by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Bosnian war. This has resulted in a lack of intergroup contact and the deepening of ethnic divisions. Using the 'contact hypothesis' that was developed in the field of social psychology, this article highlights the need for intergroup contact as an essential element for reconciliation initiatives, and addresses challenges to intergroup contact in the Bosnian context. The author suggests three practical ways to improve meaningful intergroup contact in Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1) develop and support interethnic special interests groups that create a common ingroup identity among members of different ethnic groups in the pursuit of a common, overarching, cooperative goal; 2) increase knowledge of 'the other', for example through interethnic education for youth and young adults; and 3) the productive use of intergroup problem solving workshops for grassroots community leaders, supplemented with public communication training for participants not already in a position to have their voices heard by their communities. Initiatives, such as these, can contribute toward eventual reconciliation among the ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


Traffic in communication networks fluctuates heavily over time. Thus, to avoid capacity bottlenecks, operators highly overestimate the traffic volume during network planning. In this article we consider telecommunication network design under traffic uncertainty, adapting the robust optimization approach of Bertsimas and Sim [Oper Res 52 (2004), 35–53]. We present two different mathematical formulations for this problem, provide valid inequalities, study the computational implications, and evaluate the realized robustness. To enhance the performance of the mixed‐integer programming solver, we derive robust cutset inequalities generalizing their deterministic counterparts. Instead of a single cutset inequality for every network cut, we derive multiple valid inequalities by exploiting the extra variables available in the robust formulations. We show that these inequalities define facets under certain conditions and that they completely describe a projection of the robust cutset polyhedron if the cutset consists of a single edge. For realistic networks and live traffic measurements, we compare the formulations and report on the speed‐up achieved by the valid inequalities. We study the "price of robustness" and evaluate the approach by analyzing the real network load. The results show that the robust optimization approach has the potential to support network planners better than present methods. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, 2013


We consider the Moran model with recombination, which describes the evolution of the genetic composition of a population under recombination and resampling. There are $n$ loci (or sites), a finite number of letters (or alleles) at every site, and we do not make any scaling assumptions. In particular, we do not assume a diffusion limit. Due to the huge state space, it is notoriously difficult to find the full distribution of types in a sample. We therefore take an alternative route by concentrating on the joint probabilities of types at tuples of loci. Taking the usual genealogical approach, this is described via a process on the set of partitions of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ (backward in time), which may be considered as a marginalised version of the ancestral recombination graph, and sheds new light on the work of A. Bobrowski, T. Wojdyla and M. Kimmel (2009). With the help of an inclusion-exclusion principle we show that the type distribution corresponding to a given partition may be represented in a systematic way, in terms of so-called recombinators. The same is true of linkage disequilibria of all orders. Considering a graphical representation of the Moran model together with the ancestral process suggests a duality relation between the two. This will be taken up in the following talk.


In 1985, the Norwegian Orthopaedic Asso- ciation decided to establish a national hip register, and the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register was started in 1987. In January 1994, it was extended to include all artificial joints. The main purpose of the register is to detect inferi- or results of implants as early as possible. All hospitals participate, and the orthopedic surgeons are supposed to report all primary operations and all revisions. Using the patient's unique national social security number, the revi- sion can be linked to the primary operation, and survival analyses of the implants are done. In general, the survival analyses are performed with the Kaplan-Meier method or using Cox multiple regression analysis with adjust- ment for possible confounding factors such as age, gen- der, and diagnosis. Survival probabilities can be calculat- ed for each of the prosthetic components. The end-point in the analyses is revision surgery, and we can assess the rate of revision due to specific causes like aseptic loosen- ing, infection, or dislocation. Not only survival, but also pain, function, and satisfaction have been registered for subgroups of patients. We receive reports about more than 95% of the pros- thesis operations. The register has detected inferior im- plants 3 years after their introduction, and several unce- mented prostheses were abandoned during the early 1990s due to our documentation of poor performance. Further, our results also contributed to withdrawal of the Boneloc cement. The register has published papers on economy, prophylactic use of antibiotics, patients' satisfaction and function, mortality, and results for dif- ferent hospital categories. In the analyses presented here, we have compared the results of primary cemented and uncemented hip pros- theses in patients less than 60 years of age, with 0-11 years' follow-up. The uncemented circumferentially po- rous- or hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated femoral stems had better survival rates than the cemented ones. In young patients, we found that cemented cups had better sur- vival than uncemented porous-coated cups, mainly be- cause of higher rates of revision from wear and osteoly- sis among the latter. The uncemented HA-coated cups with more than 6 years of follow-up had an increased revision rate, compared to cemented cups due to aseptic loosening as well as wear and osteolysis. We now present new findings about the six common- est cemented acetabular and femoral components. Gen- erally, the results were good, with a prosthesis survival of 95% or better at 10 years, and the differences among the prosthesis brands were small. Since the practice of using undocumented implants has not changed, the register will continue to survey these implants. We plan to assess the mid- and long-term results of implants that have so far had good short-term results. n


A three-step solution-based process had been used synthesize powders of GaN, AlN and their alloys. The complete solid solubility and tunable nature of these nitride band gaps in the visible spectrum were the motivation of these studies due to their application in solid state lighting. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy confirmed the reduction in oxygen content for the GaN powders to as low as 4 atom % with an 8 % oxygen to nitrogen ratio. Relative to commercial GaN powders, the bandedge of the powders synthesized by such approach also shifted to higher energy, which indicated fewer defects, as observed from reflectance measurements. Inspired by the use of rare-earth elements as color emitters in fluorescent lamp phosphors, these elements were also used as activators in our nitride material. Visible emission was demonstrated through photoluminescence measurements in AlN powders activated with rare-earth elements Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, Tm³⁺. These ions showed emission in the red, green and blue regions of the visible spectrum, respectively. Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ co-activation was also observed in an AlN sample that indicated successful energy transfer from the host to sensitizer, and subsequently to another activator. Tb³⁺ emission was observed under cathodoluminescence in GaN powders synthesized by the same method, and a concentration study showed no effect of concentration quenching up to 8 atom %. Using the same source powder, a pulsed-laser deposited thin film was fabricated that showed both band gap emission and activator-related emission, suggesting a reduction of defects when the powders were deposited as thin films. Additionally, GaN: Tb³⁺ films were also fabricated using metallorganic vapor phase epitaxy using precursors with and without oxygen ligands. Tb³⁺ emission was only observed in the sample fabricated from the precursor with oxygen ligand, suggestion that oxygen may be required for effective rare earth luminescence. Finally, Ga₁-xAl/xN alloy powders ( x = 0.5) and Ga₁-x-yAl/xDy/yN (x = 0.10, 0.30, y = 0.01) powders were synthesized using the solution method while incorporating a stainless steel pressure vessel, which increased the synthesis pressure and aided the formation of a single phase hydroxide precursor. This in turn produced a single phase alloy nitride in the final step. Dy³⁺ emission that was not observed in GaN powders was also observed in the Ga₁-x-yAl/xDy/yN powder. This suggested that the incorporation of aluminum enabled rare- earth emission in the nitrides synthesized for these experiments. However, attempts to sputter nitride alloy thin films via radio frequency sputtering were unsuccessful; only very minor peak shifts in the X-ray diffraction patterns were observed. Nevertheless, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicates the presence of Al in the Ga₀.₅Al₀.₅N film deposited on a Si substrate. This suggested that Al atoms may have segregated from the alloy lattice during the deposition process, with only a small amount of Al atoms incorporated into the GaN lattice


This paper proposes the method, which allows predicting such reliability figures of a discrete algorithmic process as the fuzzy time and the fuzzy probability of correct execution. Fuzzy numbers represents the uncertain source modeling data. Fuzzy rule bases used for taking into account dependence of source data on many influencing factors. Fuzzy logic inference, fuzzy extension principle together the crisp reliability models of algorithmic processes are used for modeling.


Realistic visualization is one of the key components for effective computer-assisted surgery simulations. Objects in the simulated environment should always provide correct visual appearance. In addition to properly changing the model geometry or topology in response to externally applied forces, such as cutting and dragging actions, the correct object appearance must be displayed after the geometry or topology is modified. Geometric surface representations of objects provide a direct and intuitive form for use in simulation systems, and they are relatively easy to implement. The disadvantage of geometric surface representation is that the interior content of the object is missing. When object cutting is performed that alters the object topology involving this interior, the correct appearance cannot be provided. Volumetric data representations retain objects in the volume element format and have the advantage of preserving volume content. A potential disadvantage of manipulating such volumes is reduced speed and flexibility. This paper describes an approach which combines geometric and volumetric representations to provide a real-time and realistic interactive surgery simulation system. This system users geometric representation for efficiency and volume content for appearance. Physics-based object deformation and 3D texture mapping provide an effective means of interactive volume visualization for realistic data-specific surgery simulation.


An analysis of the ignition delay time dependence on microwave energy input time, electric field strength, and discharge energy at high-pressure conditions is presented for a combined laser-microwave ignition. The existence of a saturation power effect at high-pressure conditions is predicted. An analytical formula for a laminar flame velocity is obtained for a case of the reaction rate dependence on vibrational temperature.


Intestinal mesenchymal cells deposit extracellular matrix in fibrotic Crohn's disease (CD). The contribution of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) to the mesenchymal cell pool in CD fibrosis remains obscure. The miR‐200 family regulates fibrosis‐related EMT in organs other than the gut. E‐cadherin, cytokeratin‐18 and vimentin expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry on paired strictured (SCD) and non‐strictured (NSCD) ileal CD resections and correlated with fibrosis grade. MiR‐200 expression was measured in paired SCD and NSCD tissue compartments using laser capture microdissection and RT‐qPCR. Serum miR‐200 expression was also measured in healthy controls and CD patients with stricturing and non‐stricturing phenotypes. Extra‐epithelial cytokeratin‐18 staining and vimentin‐positive epithelial staining were significantly greater in SCD samples (P = 0.04 and P = 0.03, respectively). Cytokeratin‐18 staining correlated positively with subserosal fibrosis (P < 0.001). Four miR‐200 family members were down‐regulated in fresh SCD samples (miR‐141, P = 0.002; miR‐200a, P = 0.002; miR‐200c, P = 0.001; miR‐429; P = 0.004); miR‐200 down‐regulation in SCD tissue was localised to the epithelium (P = 0.001‐0.015). The miR‐200 target ZEB1 was up‐regulated in SCD samples (P = 0.035). No difference in serum expression between patient groups was observed. Together, these observations suggest the presence of EMT in CD strictures and implicate the miR‐200 family as regulators. Functional studies to prove this relationship are now warranted.


This anthology consists of twenty-five revised papers, first presented at the thirteenth Uddevalla Symposium, August, 19-22, 2010[1], at Jonkoping University, Sweden. The overall theme was "Innovation and Multidimensional Entrepreneurship – Economic, Social and Academic Aspects". This year's Uddevalla Symposium was organized as a Special Session within the 50th Anniversary ERSA congress 2010. Session organizers were Professor Kingsley E. Haynes, Dean, School of Public Policy, George Mason University & Professor Roger R. Stough, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, George Mason University, USA. A broad range of topics were listed among the themes for Special Sessions within this ERSA congress. One of them (and the largest) was the 13th Uddevalla Symposium to which forty papers were submitted. This session had an interdisciplinary character and provided an opportunity for researchers to discuss their ongoing research that was relevant to clarifying the role of innovation and multidimensional entrepreneurship in the growth and development of regional economies and regional economic systems. The papers were subdivided into nine different subthemes: Multidimensional Entrepreneurship, Regional Innovation Systems, Economic Development, Social Capital, Entrepreneurial Behavior, Rural Development, Industries, Firm Performance & Clusters, and Cities (for a detailed program; see the website: www.symposium.hv.se) 1Uddevalla Symposium is an international scientific symposium established in 1998 in Uddevalla, Sweden. The primary objective is to foster research collaboration and bring together leading-edge views between experts, researchers and insightful practitioners from various fields of regional science, international business, economics, entrepreneurship and small business economics as well as from regional economics, regional planning, economic geography/economic history/political science and sociology in order to increase our knowledge as regards research questions related to "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Functional Regions".


When constructing a search tree for multiplayer games, there are two basic approaches to propagating the opponents' moves. The first approach, which stems from the MaxN algorithm, assumes each opponent will follow his highest valued heuristic move. In the second approach, the paranoid algorithm, the player prepares for the worst case by assuming the opponents will select the worst move with respect to him. There is no definite answer as to which approach is better, and their main shortcoming is that their strategy is fixed. We therefore suggest the MaxN-paranoid mixture (MP-Mix) algorithm: a multiplayer adversarial search that switches search strategies according to the game situation. The MP-mix algorithm examines the current situation and decides whether the root player should follow the MaxN principle, the paranoid principle, or the newly presented directed offensive principle. To evaluate our new algorithm, we performed extensive experimental evaluation on three multiplayer domains: Hearts, Risk, and Quoridor. In addition, we also introduce the opponent impact (OI) measure, which measures the players' ability to impede their opponents' efforts, and show its relation to the relative performance of the MP-mix strategy. The results show that our MP-mix strategy significantly outperforms MaxN and paranoid in various settings in all three games.


Seed shattering is a major problem in birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) seed production and limited information is available describing the effects of agronomic practices on shatter losses. The objectives of this research were to: (i) quantify the effects of soil-water availability on seed shatter and (ii) determine optimal harvest time on the basis of a heat unit method to minimize birdsfoot trefoil seed losses under western Oregon climatic conditions. Six treatments varying in water depletion percentage and replenishment amount were applied in 1994 and 1995 and two treatments in 1996 on a Woodburn silt loam soil (fine-silty, mixed, mesic Aquultic Argixeroll) near Corvallis, OR. The total amount of shattered seeds was correlated with total harvested seed yield (r = 0.93). Crop water stress index (CWSI) was inversely related to the percentage of seeds shattered (r = -0.76). Increasing amounts of applied water increased the potential of seed yield shattered (r = 0.65). Seed shatter losses fluctuated during the late-reproductive period, but were not influenced by irrigation or fluctuating climatic conditions. A total of 109 heat units (approximately 11 d), which were determined on the basis of a 10°C base temperature, were accumulated from the time of initial pod dehiscence until rapid seed shattering. The average seed yield losses due to shattering was 3 to 5.3 kg ha d -1 . The non-irrigated control treatment generally produced more seeds than irrigated treatments. It is, thus, best not to irrigate birdsfoot trefoil grown for seed in western Oregon because increasing amounts of irrigation water increased seed shattering.


Smartphones are the most popular personal electronic devices. They are used for all sorts of purposes, from managing bank accounts to playing games. As smartphone apps and services proliferate, the amount of sensitive data stored on or processed by handheld devices rise as well. This practice entails risks, such as violating users' privacy, stealing users' identities, etc. Particularly, stealing an unlocked device grants full access to sensitive data and applications. In this survey, we examine whether users adopt some basic practices to protect their sensitive personal data themselves, or is there a need to further strengthen their protection? Our statistical analysis assesses smartphone users' security attitudes and practices among different age groups. Finally, we investigate the factors that affect the attitude of users with respect to their practices for the protection of personal data.The results of this study, show that while many smartphone users do take some security precautions, a high percentage (24%) of them still ignores security and privacy risks. In addition, 19,1 % of users do not follow any practices to protect their PINs and Passwords.


Due to its antioxidant properties and favorable safety profile, glutathione (GSH) finds use in protein formulations by improving overall protein stability. Once degraded, primarily by oxidation into glutathione disulfide (GSSG), the protecting effect of GSH is lost. A simple, direct method using reversed-phase separation and charged-aerosol detection (RP-CAD) to quantitate GSH is described in this paper. The analytical methodology is also capable of monitoring several by-product degradants of GSH, both oxidative and non-oxidative. For high-concentration protein formulations, the method provides direct analysis of GSH and its degradants in the presence of protein at up to 225 mg/mL simply through a dilution of the sample. Quantitation of many amino acids typically included in pharmaceutical protein formulations is also possible. Use of an online diverting valve in the method prevents interference in the detector from the high protein concentration in formulation. Accuracy and effectiveness of this method is demonstrated through monitoring the stability of GSH in high-concentration protein formulations through confirmation of GSH concentration and mass-balance of its loss over time. Monitoring GSH stability in protein formulations is necessary, as GSH concentration is indicative of protein stability.


This thesis examines, From an ecological approach, the effects that Police interview room environment have on the perceptions of the users of such environments. The research takes into account the perspectives of the different categories of persons involved, e.g. Police, victim, witness, suspect and Solicitor. Starting from a review of the relevant Police and psychological literatures and a pilot study using a variety of questionnaires and interview techniques, the first main study involves objective assessment of environmental factors such as sound, temperature, humidity, light and colour. Two subsequent studies explore the perspectives of Police interviewers and Solicitors. In a final study the perspectives of Police interviewers, victims, witnesses and suspects are compared. The main finding of the thesis is that environmental stimuli such as sound, temperature, humidity, light, colour, spatial aspects and tidiness have an effect on users' perceptions. Factors relating to the design of the interview room environment are also shown to be important. The category of the perceiver also affects the perceived importance of the various environmental factors. The thesis ends by recommending that further research should be undertaken to take account of variations in the environmental stimuli that occur in the course of the interview and that it would be useful to make a detailed analysis of the social interaction during the interview. Proposals are also made for the introduction of changes to existing interview environments.


Women Entrepreneurs play a significant role in the global economy in this 21st Century. The purpose of this study is to examine the specific challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the southwestern states of Nigeria. Data were collected from businesses owned by women who reside within the six state capitals of Southwestern states of Nigeria. The cities are Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oshogbo, Akure, and Ado-Ekiti. Similar big cities within each state were surveyed to increase the number of respondents for state capitals where a small number of questionnaires were retrieved. Out of Seven hundred and twenty (720) questionnaires distributed, Five hundred and two (502) questionnaires were viable using the SPSS package. The questionnaire contained two sections. Section 1 for general information. Section 2 contained questions relating to motivational factors and the challenges faced by these women entrepreneurs, which, in their opinion, constitutes barriers to the successes of their businesses. The main challenges facing women entrepreneurs today in South West Nigeria are lack of adequate training, access to start-up capital, and poor family support.


As the robot soccer system becomes stabilized, it has been used as an educational platform with which various topics on mobile robotics can be taught. As one of key topics in the education of mobile robotics is computational intelligence-based navigation, this paper proposes a multiobjective population-based incremental learning (MOPBIL) algorithm to obtain the fuzzy path planner for optimal path to the ball, minimizing three objectives such as elapsed time, heading direction and posture angle errors in a robot soccer system. MOPBIL employs the probabilistic mechanism, which generates new population using probability vectors. As the probability vectors are updated by referring to nondominated solutions, population converges to Pareto-optimal solution set. Simulation and experiment results show the effectiveness of the proposed MOPBIL from the viewpoint of the proximity to the Pareto-optimal set, size of the dominated space, coverage of two sets and diversity metric. By implementing each of the solutions into the educational platform, it can be educated how multi-objective optimization is realized in the real-world problem.


Here, we predict the effect of the spontaneous deformation of a flexible ferromagnetic ribbon induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). The geometrical form of the deformation is determined both by the type of DMI and by the equilibrium magnetization of the stripe. We found three different geometrical phases, namely (i) the DNA-like deformation with the stripe central line in the form of a helix, (ii) the helicoid deformation with the straight central line and (iii) cylindrical deformation. In the main approximation the magnitude of the DMI-induced deformation is determined by the ratio of the DMI constant and the Young's modulus. It can be effectively controlled by the external magnetic field, what can be utilized for the nanorobotics applications. All analytical calculations are confirmed by numerical simulations.


Background: Systematic reviews are increasingly used to inform health policy-making. The conflicts of interest (COI) of the authors of systematic reviews may bias their results and influence their conclusions. This may in turn lead to misguided public policies and systems level decisions. In order to mitigate the adverse impact of COI, scientific journals require authors to disclose their COIs. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency and different types of COI that authors of systematic reviews on health policy and systems research (HSPR) report. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional survey. We searched the Health Systems Evidence (HSE) database of McMaster Health Forum for systematic reviews published in 2015. We extracted information regarding the characteristics of the systematic reviews and the associated COI disclosures. We conducted descriptive analyses. Results: Eighty percent of systematic reviews included authors' COI disclosures. Of the 160 systematic reviews that included COI disclosures, 15% had at least one author reporting at least one type of COI. The two most frequently reported types of COI were individual financial COI and individual scholarly COI (11% and 4% respectively). Institutional COIs were less commonly reported than individual COIs (3% and 15% respectively) and non-financial COIs were less commonly reported than financial COIs (6% and 14% respectively). Only one systematic review reported the COI disclosure by editors, and none reported disclosure by peer reviewers. All COI disclosures were in the form of a narrative statement in the main document and none in an online document. Conclusion: A fifth of systematic reviews in HPSR do not include a COI disclosure statement, highlighting the need for journals to strengthen and/or better implement their COI disclosure policies. While only 15% of identified disclosure statements report any COI, it is not clear whether this indicates a low frequency of COI versus an underreporting of COI, or both.


The aim of this paper is to provide empirical analysis of the geographical mobility of PhDs during the beginning of their career, by using long term data (1970-2000) about France. First of all, we highlight the low mobility of PhDs: more than 60% of them supervise their first PhD in the region where they defended their own one. Then, thanks to a second database, we show that this mobility level is not specific to the Higher Education and Research system. We test the impact of structural determinants with a gravity model (sample selection model) and we observe in particular the influence of the scientific size of regions and spatial distance on the PhDs' mobility.


Independent inventors accounted for approximately half of all patents in Britain and Japan by 193'8 despite the rise of the corporate economy and the spread of industrial R&D. A mixture of patent renewal and historical citations data reveals that the quality of independent invention was high. Active markets for inventions created incentives for independents, especially in large cities like London and Tokyo, which dominated spatially. Alongside evidence for the US, the findings show that in countries with different patent systems and at varying stages of economic development, a key component of overall inventive activity originated from outside the boundaries of firms.


Spacing and obliquity, when used together, are known to provide one of the most weight efficient solutions for armor protection. Although this configuration has been widely used over almost 100 years there is little quantitative or design data for such systems. In the present study a series of tests were performed using a steel-cored 7.62mm bullet (DAG 7.62x51) against RHA plates of varying thicknesses, spacing and obliquity of the front plate. This work showed that front plate should be substantially thinner than the rear, a ratio of 0.48:1 gave the best results. The highest mass efficiency (2.00) was for a large spacing (400mm) but this could be reduced to 50mm with only a 17% reduction in ballistic efficiency if a slightly more oblique front plate was used.


Background: Many members of the genus Satureja L. (Lamiaceae) have interesting pharmacological and biological properties. Objective: In this research, major essential oil (EO) compositions, rosmarinic acid (RA) content, and antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the leaf extracts of nine Satureja species (S. bachtiarica, S. mutica, S. sahandica, S. macrantha, S. atropatana, S. edmondi, S. spicigera, S. isophylla and S. intermedia) were assessed. Methods: The chemical composition of EO was determined using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. RA content of the extract was detected using a High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) method, and the 2,2diphenyl-2-picrylhydracyl hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging procedure was used to study of antioxidant capacity. Results: According to the analytical results, EO of the most samples were mainly composed of pcymene, γ-terpinene, thymol, and carvacrol. There was a wide variability for RA content among the studied species ranging from 0.03 mg g RA (S. sahandica) to 1.11 mg g RA (S. isophylla). The lowest IC50 in the radical scavenging assay was shown by S. sahandica extracts as compared to the other samples. This activity was followed by S. spicigera and S. edmondi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) varied from 0.06 to 32 mg ml, however, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value differed from 0.06 to ˃64 mg ml. Moreover, S. sahandica revealed the lowest inhibitory activity against all microorganisms tested particularly on E. coli. Conclusion: In conclusion, the extracts of certain Satureja species have the potential to be considered as alternatives for synthetic food preservatives and antibiotics.


Specific antibodies are invaluable tools for proteomics research. The availability of thoroughly validated antibodies will help to improve our understanding of protein expression, localization and function; fundamental processes and features of all living organisms. The objectives of the studies in this thesis were to develop high-throughput methods to facilitate the generation and purification of monospecific antibodies, and to address problems associated with antigen selection for difficult target proteins and subsequent validation issues. In the first of the studies, it was demonstrated that antibodies specific to human proteins could be generated in a high-throughput manner using protein epitope signature tags (PrESTs) as both antigens and affinity ligands. A previously developed purification process was adapted to a high-throughput format and this, in combination with the development of a protein microarray assay, resulted in monospecific antibodies that were used for profiling protein expression in 48 human tissues. Data obtained in these analyses suggest that a complete Human Protein Atlas should be attainable within the next ten years. In order to reduce the number of animals needed for such a massive project, and improve the cost-efficiency of antibody generation, a multiplex immunization strategy was developed in a further study. Antisera from rabbits immunized with mixtures of two, three, five and up to ten different PrESTs were successfully purified and analyzed for specificity using protein arrays. Almost 80% of the animals immunized with up to three PrESTs yielded antibodies towards all the PrESTs administered, and they yielded comparable immunohistochemical staining patterns (of consecutive human tissue sections) to those of antibodies obtained from traditional single PrEST immunizations. Proteins with highly similar sequences to other proteins present a major challenge for the proteome-wide generation of antibodies. In another study, Cytokeratin-17 which displays high sequence similarity to closely related members of the intermediate filament family, was used as a model and the specificity and cross-reactivity of antibodies generated against this target were investigated using epitope mapping in combination with comparative IHC analyses. Antibodies identified by epitope mapping as binding to the most unique parts of the Cytokeratin-17 PrESTs also showed the most Cytokeratin-17-like staining pattern, thus further supporting the strategy of using sequence identity scores as the main criteria for PrEST design. An alternative antigen design strategy was investigated for use in raising antibodies towards G-proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs). The extracellular loops and N-terminus of each of three selected GPCRs were assembled to form single antigens and the resulting antibodies were analyzed by flow cytometric and confocal microscopic analyses of cell lines over-expressing the respective receptors. The results from both flow cytometric and immunofluorescence analyses showed that the antibodies were able to bind to their targets. In addition, the antibodies were used successfully for the in situ analysis of human brain and pancreatic islet cells.


Colitis by cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an inflammation of the large bowel which leads to mucous and submucous ulceration producing bloody diarrhea of uncertain evolution. This disease is well known in immunosuppressed (IS) patients but is very rare in immunocompetent (IC) patients, particularly in association with the initiation of the ulcerative colitis (UC). The case of an immunocompetent male who developed UC following colitis by primary CMV is presented. Although the immunologic mechanism of UC is undoubtable, this case suggests the possibility of CMV being a triggering factor of UC.


The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project estimates the frequencies, amplitudes, and linewidths of more than 250,000 acoustic resonances of the sun from data sets lasting 36 days. The frequency resolution of a single data set is 0.321 microhertz. For frequencies averaged over the azimuthal order m, the median formal error is 0.044 microhertz, and the associated median fractional error is 1.6 × 10−5. For a 3-year data set, the fractional error is expected to be 3 × 10−6. The GONG m-averaged frequency measurements differ from other helioseismic data sets by 0.03 to 0.08 microhertz. The differences arise from a combination of systematic errors, random errors, and possible changes in solar structure.


Drawing on extensive participant observation and interviews concerned with barriers to census enumeration in colonias (irregular migrant settlements along the United States-Mexico border) and Mexican migration to the United States, we argue that recent ethnography has overemphasized the role of domination and resistance. While power is fundamental to cultural analysis, we also need to examine behavior we call slantwise, that is, actions that are obliquely or only indirectly related to power relations. Ethnographic fieldwork from both sides of the United States-Mexico border uncovered a range of behaviors (including unorthodox building techniques in colonias, hybrid language practices, complex and fluid household structures, nonlinear mobility patterns, and unpredictable political loyalties of migrants) that do not fit neatly into the domination-resistance axis. We argue for the relevance of the slantwise concept for understanding such behaviors, not as a replacement for studies of naturalized domination and resistance, but as a complement to them.


ABSTRACT:Angkor Borei, Cambodia was an important urban center related to the early first millennium c.e. polity known as Funan. Excavations in the protohistoric period Vat Komnou Cemetery site uncovered over 1300 glass and stone beads, which are important material indicators of trade. In this article, we review data from earlier studies and add new previously unpublished data on glass and stone beads from this collection as well as previously unpublished glass compositional analyses from the nearby site of Oc Eo, Vietnam. Examinations of the glass beads highlight the presence of large quantities of high alumina mineral soda glass associated with Sri Lankan or South Indian bead production as well as smaller quantities of other glass types in circulation throughout Southeast Asia. Compositional and morphological studies of agate/carnelian beads show strong affinities with the Indian bead industry, while the garnet beads came from raw material sources in southern India. Overall, Angkor Borei's bead collection shows strong contacts with different regions of South Asia. Comparison with the bead assemblages of other contemporaneous sites demonstrate strong affinities with sites farther inland, such as Phum Snay and Prei Khmeng, Cambodia and Ban Non Wat, Thailand rather than other maritime coastal sites in Southeast Asia. We argue that the stone and glass beads at Angkor Borei are related to intensified interaction with South Asia and that elites at Angkor Borei used these exotic prestige goods to build alliances with sites farther inland forming an intraregional exchange network we call the Mekong Interaction Sphere.


MOTIVATION
Small non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes play important regulatory roles in a variety of cellular processes. However, detection of ncRNA genes is a great challenge to both experimental and computational approaches. In this study, we describe a new approach called positive sample only learning (PSoL) to predict ncRNA genes in the Escherichia coli genome. Although PSoL is a machine learning method for classification, it requires no negative training data, which, in general, is hard to define properly and affects the performance of machine learning dramatically. In addition, using the support vector machine (SVM) as the core learning algorithm, PSoL can integrate many different kinds of information to improve the accuracy of prediction. Besides the application of PSoL for predicting ncRNAs, PSoL is applicable to many other bioinformatics problems as well.

RESULTS
The PSoL method is assessed by 5-fold cross-validation experiments which show that PSoL can achieve about 80% accuracy in recovery of known ncRNAs. We compared PSoL predictions with five previously published results. The PSoL method has the highest percentage of predictions overlapping with those from other methods.


Environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) in Australia are seemingly more politically active and influential than ever before. They have been at the forefront of recent high-profile debates on issues of national significance including the Great Barrier Reef, the renewable energy sector, factory fishing trawlers, forest conservation and of course climate change. Yet important questions about ENGOs remain: what new strategies and tactics have ENGOs used to increase their visibility and influence on Australian policymaking in recent years? How should we understand their contributions to contemporary governance arrangements? This paper addresses these important questions by critically analysing the increasingly used ENGO tactic of withdrawing or denying a 'social licence to operate' (SLO) to various corporate actors via three recent campaigns. These include the campaigns against Gunns Limited's proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill, Seafish Tasmania's FV Margiris/Abel Tasman factory fishing vessel, and salmon producer Tassal's bid to farm salmon on Tasmania's East coast. I argue that SLO is best understood as 'governance via persuasion', a mode of governance first proposed by Bell and Hindmoor (2009) to capture political activity akin to 'governance without government' that incorporates appeals to normative values. Whilst the success of ENGO campaigners appears to support the society-centred view of governance, I contend instead that ENGOs' SLO campaigns many ultimately enhance state-led hierarchy and therefore support a state-centric relational account of governance. This is because ENGOs in fact demand (and succeed) in bringing about greater government regulation as a result of publicising concerns about corporate actors. Employing the SLO strategy may promote opportunities for ENGOs to participate in subsequent network governance processes alongside state and corporate actors.


This resource is a guide for researching entrepreneurial concepts such as: innovation, creativity, business funding, marketing, self-employment and developing a business plan.


Optimum nonlinear receivers for digital signaling over channels with a relatively long impulse response become too complex to be practical. In this paper a suboptimum but simple and practical receiver is proposed for such channels. The receiver consists of a linear adaptive equalizer in cascade with a maximum-likelihood sequence estimator. A general method of finding the error probability of a maximum-likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE) in the presence of correlated noise is developed. An upper bound on the performance of an MLSE is also presented for the case when thc actual channel is different from the channel estimate known to the MLSE. The performance of the proposed receiver is analyzed and results of the analysis and computer simulation are shown for a typical telephone channel.


ABSTRACT Vitek 2 (bioMérieux Inc., Durham, NC) is a widely used commercial antimicrobial susceptibility test system. We compared the MIC results obtained using the Vitek 2 AST-GN69 and AST-XN06 cards to those obtained by CLSI broth microdilution (BMD) for 255 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, including 25 isolates of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. In total, 25 antimicrobial agents were examined. For 10 agents, the MIC data were evaluated using two sets of breakpoints: (i) the Vitek 2 breakpoints, which utilized the 2009 FDA breakpoints at the time of the study and are equivalent to the 2009 CLSI M100-S19 breakpoints, and (ii) the 2014 CLSI M100-S24 breakpoints. There was an overall 98.7% essential agreement (EA). The categorical agreement was 95.5% (CA) using the Vitek 2 breakpoints and 95.7% using the CLSI breakpoints. There was 1 very major error (VME) (0.05%) observed using the Vitek 2 breakpoints (cefazolin) and 8 VMEs (0.5%) using the CLSI breakpoints (2 each for aztreonam, cefepime, and ceftriaxone, and 1 for cefazolin and ceftazidime). Fifteen major errors (MEs) (0.4%) were noted using the Vitek 2 breakpoints and 8 (0.5%) using the CLSI breakpoints. Overall, the Vitek 2 performance was comparable to that of BMD for testing a limited number of Enterobacteriaceae commonly isolated by clinical laboratories. Ongoing studies are warranted to assess performance in isolates with emerging resistance.


Star formation driven outflows are a critically important phenomenon in theoretical treatments of galaxy evolution, despite the limited ability of observational studies to trace galactic winds across cosmological time-scales. It has been suggested that the strongest Mg ii absorption-line systems detected in the spectra of background quasars might arise in outflows from foreground galaxies. If confirmed, such 'ultrastrong' Mg ii (USMg ii) absorbers would represent a method to identify significant numbers of galactic winds over a huge baseline in cosmic time, in a manner independent of the luminous properties of the galaxy. To this end, we present the first detailed imaging and spectroscopic study of the fields of two USMg ii absorber systems culled from a statistical absorber catalogue, with the goal of understanding the physical processes leading to the large velocity spreads that define such systems.

Each field contains two bright emission-line galaxies at similar redshift (Δv≲ 300 km s−1) to that of the absorption. Lower limits on their instantaneous star formation rates (SFRs) from the observed [O ii] and Hβ line fluxes, and stellar masses from spectral template fitting indicate specific SFRs among the highest for their masses at these redshifts. Additionally, their 4000-A break and Balmer absorption strengths imply they have undergone recent (∼0.01–1 Gyr) starbursts. The concomitant presence of two rare phenomena – starbursts and USMg ii absorbers – strongly implies a causal connection. We consider these data and USMg ii absorbers in general in the context of various popular models, and conclude that galactic outflows are generally necessary to account for the velocity extent of the absorption. We favour starburst-driven outflows over tidally stripped gas from a major interaction, which triggered the starburst as the energy source for the majority of systems. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results and speculate on the overall contribution of such systems to the global SFR density at z≃ 0.7.


Recently, unikernels have emerged as an exploration of minimalist software stacks to improve the security of applications in the cloud. In this paper, we propose extending the notion of minimalism beyond an individual virtual machine to include the underlying monitor and the interface it exposes. We propose unikernel monitors. Each unikernel is bundled with a tiny, specialized monitor that only contains what the unikernel needs both in terms of interface and implementation. Unikernel monitors improve isolation through minimal interfaces, reduce complexity, and boot unikernels quickly. Our initial prototype, ukvm, is less than 5% the code size of a traditional monitor, and boots MirageOS unikernels in as little as 10ms (8× faster than a traditional monitor).


BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of biliary complications after adult living donor liver transplantation (ALDLT) with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy (R-Y HJ) or duct-to-duct hepaticocholedochostomy (D-D HC).

METHODS
Biliary complications were reviewed in 20 consecutive ALDLT recipients surviving more than 1 month, including 10 patients who underwent R-Y HJ and 10 patients who underwent D-D HC reconstructions.

RESULTS
Ten biliary complications were seen in 8 patients (40%) from the study group. Specifically, 1 case of biliary leakage and 1 case of biliary hemorrhage were observed in the R-Y HJ group (20%), and 2 biliary leakages, 4 biliary strictures, and 2 C-tube related biliary leakages were seen in 6 patients from the D-D HC group (60%). Three of the 5 patients (60%) who underwent right lobe graft ALDLTs experienced biliary stricture. All cases of biliary leakage and biliary hemorrhage were stopped spontaneously by continuous drainage. Three patients in the D-D HC group with anastomotic strictures were successfully treated with percutaneous interventions. Only 1 patient with anastomotic stricture in the D-D HC group with left lobe graft required intrahepatic R-Y HJ reanastomosis. Two cases of C-tube related biliary leakages were treated with endoscopic management.

CONCLUSIONS
Biliary complications such as anastomotic strictures were common in the D-D HC group rather than in the R-Y HJ group. D-D HC reconstruction should be applied cautiously, especially in the right lobe graft ALDLT cases.


Eighteen kinds of porous materials from carbons, zeolites, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have been extensively investigated for desulfurization and decarburization of the biogas, natural gas, and flue gas by using a molecular modeling approach. By considering not only the selectivity but also capacity, Na-5A, zeolite-like MOF (zMOF), and Na-13X, MIL-47 are screened as the most promising candidates for removal of sulfide in the CH4CO2H2S and N2CO2SO2 systems, respectively. However, for simultaneous removal of sulfide and CO2, the best candidates are zMOF for the natural gas and biogas (i.e., CH4CO2H2S system) and MOF-74-Zn for the flue gas (i.e., N2CO2SO2 system). Moreover, the regeneration ability of the recommended adsorbents is further assessed by studying the effect of temperature on adsorption. It is found that compared to the zMOF and MIL-47 MOFs, the Na-5A and Na-13X zeolites are not easily regenerated due to the difficulty in desorption of sulfide at high temperature, which results from the stronger adsorbent–adsorbate interactions in zeolites. The effect of sulfide concentration on the adsorption properties of the recommended adsorbents is also explored. We observe that the zMOF and MIL-47 are also superior to the Na-5A and Na-13X for desulfurization of gas mixtures containing high sulfide concentration. This is because MOFs with larger pore volume lead to a greater sulfide uptake. The effects of porosity, framework density, pore volume, and accessible surface area on the separation performance are analyzed. The optimum porosity is about 0.5–0.6, to meet the requirements of both high selectivity and uptake. It is expected this work provides a useful guidance for the practical applications of desulfurization and decarburization. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2928–2942, 2013


Measures of instructional behaviour are specific process indicators reflecting teacher effectiveness. The Mathematics in Primary Schools (MIPS) study poses the question of: 'How is pupil progress and teachers' instructional behaviour, within schools, related?' This is conducted by tracking pupil progress in primary school mathematics from Year 1 to Year 2 and by collating a number of contextual/process variables situated at the pupil/classroom and school levels. This paper, which adopts, a multi-stage, stratified sample, involves 1,786 pupils, 99 teachers and 40 schools, within the statistical framework of a 3-level hierarchical linear model. This paper also reports the findings of the pilot study. Although the paper is limited by the inability to use multilevel statistical techniques due to the relatively small sample size of the pilot study and, the as yet, unstandardised pupil scores on Maths 6 (NFER), the utility of this paper lies in its description of the challenges faced when engaging in school effectiveness research.


Introduction: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most prevalent inherited disease of kidney in adults. Approximately, 30-50 percent of these patients will have one or more urinary tract infections during their lifetime. Treatment is somewhat more complicated with an infected cyst and if the patient doesn't respond to antimicrobial therapy, surgical nephrectomy is the treatment of last resort. Case report: In this article, we report a 56 year old woman with ADPKD and diabetes. The patient had multiple pyocysts and didn't respond to antimicrobial therapy. The cysts were drained and washed under sonography guidance and the patient was treated. Conclusion: Drainage of pyocysts in ADPKD with sonographic guide and frequent rinsing can be a good replacement for nephrectomy in patients that don't respond to antimicrobial therapy and are candidates for nephrectomy.


Risicovoorspelling en risicoverlaging bij patienten met manifest vaatlijden Engelstalig abstract The number of patients with clinical manifest arterial disease is increasing because of the aging of the population. Patients with manifest arterial disease have an increased risk of a new vascular event in the same or different arterial bed. Medical treatment of vascular risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus) and lifestyle changes (healthy diets, exercise, quit smoking) can reduce the future risk. Studies presented in this thesis not only confirm the high prevalence of vascular risk factors in patients with manifest arterial disease, but also demonstrate the relevance of non-invasive screening on asymptomatic arterial disease. Standard screening for asymptomatic arterial disease identified a limited number of vascular abnormalities that necessitated immediate medical attention. But the screening revealed a high prevalence of peripheral arterial disease and carotid artery stenosis. Furthermore we found that the presence of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis was associated with a 50% increased risk of recurrent vascular events (hazard ratio (HR) 1.5, 95% CI 1.1 - 2.1) in patients with clinical manifest arterial disease or type 2 diabetes but without a history of cerebral ischemia. Thus, the presence of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis of ? 50% indicates higher risk in patients already known to be at high risk. We evaluated new strategies aiming at better risk factor-management in order to delay or to prevent progression of atherosclerosis. An additional letter to the treating specialist with medical treatment recommendations in case of new or poorly controlled risk factors resulted in marginal increase in medication use compared with trends in medication use in usual care. The extra care given by a nurse practitioner in addition to usual care and on top of a vascular screening and prevention program resulted in achievement of more treatment goals for systolic blood pressure (odds ratio (OR) 2.7, 95% CI 1.3 - 5.4), total cholesterol (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5 - 7.3), LDL-cholesterol (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.5 - 8.6), and BMI (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.2 - 13.1) compared to usual care alone. Another way to achieve effective and efficient risk factor-management may be nurse practitioner guided treatment by Internet-communication with individual patients in addition to usual care. Goal setting to change behavior and the online-relationship between a nurse practitioner and a patient can continue for many years because of the repeated episodic nature of the atherosclerotic vascular disease process. The other part of this thesis concerns about risk prediction. The existing prediction models, intended for patients without cardiovascular disease or diabetes, underestimated the predicted risk in our cohort of patients with clinical manifestations of arterial disease. A new prediction model including traditional risk factors, history and extent of atherosclerosis showed that prediction of recurrent vascular events is possible after 1-year of follow-up but not at 3 or 5-years in patients with symptomatic cardiovascular disease. Indicators for a higher cardiovascular risk in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease are older age (HR 1.85, 95% CI 1.48 - 2.30), impaired renal function (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.69 - 0.91), elevated homocysteine levels (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02 - 1.05), and a history of coronary heart disease (HR 2.30, 95% CI 1.51 - 3.51).


Many recent object retrieval systems rely on local features for describing an image. The similarity between a pair of images is measured by aggregating the similarity between their corresponding local features. In this paper we present a probabilistic framework for modeling the feature to feature similarity measure. We then derive a query adaptive distance which is appropriate for global similarity evaluation. Furthermore, we propose a function to score the individual contributions into an image to image similarity within the probabilistic framework. Experimental results show that our method improves the retrieval accuracy significantly and consistently. Moreover, our result compares favorably to the state-of-the-art.


This is a study of kimberlite and lamproite intrusions located in southern India within the Eastern Dharwar craton (EDC). Bulk-rock major-element, trace-element, REE- and Nd- isotopic data support previous studies that have classified the ultramafic magrnatism located in the EDC as either Group I kimberlite or lamproite. This study reports new high-precision Ar-Ar age data for southern Indian ultrapotassic rocks (kimberlites and lamproites). Previously, the Chelima lamproite (ca. 1400 Ma) was considered to be one of the oldest lamproites in the world. However, our age data suggest that at least one lamproite (Pochampalle from Krishna lamproite field) was generated in the same region 100 Ma before the Chelima event. The Pochampalle lamproite was emplaced around ~ 1500 Ma as shown by the Ar-Ar data in this study, roughly 250 Ma before the other Krishna lamproites. It would seem that the Pochampalle lamproite was also derived from an isotopically distinct source region with a lower 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratio than other Krishna lamproites. These findings not only have implications for regional ultramafic/ultrapotassic magrnatism, but also demonstrate that the mantle processes for producing lamproitic melts existed earlier than previously thought. This study also presents the first Hf isotopic analyses of perovskites from Indian kimberlites. Perovskites fall into two distinct groups in Hf isotope space, suggesting a degree of heterogeneity in the source of the kimberlites in the EDC. The kimberlites are all found in such close proximity that lateral variations in the source are unlikely, but this does not preclude vertical heterogeneity in the source region(s). I propose a model of kimberlite generation with a vertically heterogeneous source that has undergone separate periods of enrichment and depletion before kimberlite melt generation and emplacement at ~ 11 00 Ma.


The presence of carbohydrate residues on the outer surface of PMN granules has been demonstrated by the use of ricin-conjugated ferritin. The binding of the lectin was inhibited by alpha-lactose. No difference in the binding densities of azurophil or specific granules was observed.


The present Master thesis was written during an internship at Deutsche Post DHL Solutions& Innovations, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL. The main purpose was to make a patent portfolio benchmark for the previously identified business competitors of the DPDHL group. The research questions aimed to find out how relevant the patent portfolio analysis is for comparing competitors and whether or not the results can be matched with other types of rankings. The benchmark was made using the PatentSight software tool. PatentSight allows the patent portfolio analysis of individual companies as well as groups of companies (competitors). The software tool is based on a new approach to benchmark patent portfolios called Patent Asset Index. This approach uses several indicators to measure the patent portfolios strengths. The indicators are based on relatively widely used measures of patent analysis such as the number of citations that a patent has received. However, these measures are further adjusted by the PatentSight indicators in order to prevent false results due to the difference in patents' ages, for instance. The results of the patent portfolio benchmark and their comparison with other rankings have confirmed previous research findings that the patent portfolio analysis is a useful tool which can remove uncertainties and provide new perspectives but cannot be used as single indicator of the competitors' strength.


Invasion by Porphyromonas gingivalis has been proposed as a possible mechanism of pathogenesis in periodontal and cardiovascular diseases. Porphyromonas gingivalis have direct access to the systemic circulation and endothelium in periodontitis patients by transient bacteremia. Periodontitis can be described as one of the predominant polymicrobial infections of humans. In the present study, P. gingivalis strains were tested for their ability to invade a human gingival epithelial cell line (Ca9-22) and human aortic endothelial cells in coinfection with Fusobacterium nucleatum using antibiotic protection assays. Coinfection with F. nucleatum resulted in 2–20-fold increase in the invasion of host cells by P. gingivalis strains. The invasive abilities of P. gingivalis strains were significantly greater when incubated with a F. nucleatum clinical isolate (which possesses strong biofilm-forming ability), than when incubated with a F. nucleatum -type strain. In inhibition assays with metabolic inhibitors, a difference in inhibition profiles was observed between mono- and polymicrobial infections. Collectively, our results suggest that F. nucleatum facilitates invasion of host cells by P. gingivalis . Investigations of polymicrobial infection of host cells should improve our under-standing of the role of P. gingivalis in periodontal infection and proatherogenic mechanisms.


Young people are typically confident in the use of the latest technologies and because many aspiring athletes are from this age range, sport psychologists and coaches should consider using this technology in their work. A key question for applied sport psychology practitioners and coaches, therefore, is what technologies will be used by and beneficial for athletes? Here, we deal with MP3 technology to enhance performance. The use of MP3 technology by athletes is often seen as an integral part of mental preparation. Typically, music folders are arranged on an MP3 player to contain music of different genres. However, we assist athletes in developing music folders with specific purposes. For example, folders may be established containing music that is intended to relax, motivate energies, develop confidence or a combination of these. The advent of video MP3 players has introduced further possibilities for the use of technology among sport and exercise psychologists, coaches and athletes. Within our practice, we use video iPod players to reinforce correct technique, direct attention to key goals/objectives and motivate athletes. For example, images of the athlete performing can be merged with images of the role models they aspire to beat. Nowadays as computer technology becomes more sophisticated the ability to produce videos with associated music becomes easier. Athletes value technology and coaches can build upon this by demonstrating how it can be used effectively to enhance performance.


The most important step in the final testing of fabricated ASICs or the functional testing of ASIC and FPGA designs is the generation of a complete test set that is able to find the possible errors in the design. Automatic Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) is often done by fault simulation which is very time-consuming. Speed-ups in this process can be achieved by emulating the design on an FPGA and using the actual speed of the hardware implementation to run proposed tests. However, faults then have to be actually built in into the design, which induces area overhead as (part of) the design has to be duplicated to introduce both a faulty and a correct design. The area overhead can be mitigated by run-time reconfiguring the design, at the expense of large reconfiguration time overheads. In this paper, we leverage the parameterised reconfiguration of FPGAs to create an efficient Automatic Test Pattern Generator with very low overhead in both area and time. Experimental results demonstrate the practicality of the new technique as, compared to conventional tools, we obtain speedups of up to 3 orders of magnitude, 8X area reduction, and no increase in critical path delay.


This article analyzes three eighteenth-century sodomy cases in New Mexico to highlight the ways in which colonial authorities passed judgment on their subjects and the landscapes that they inhabited. Examining how ethnocentric outlooks shaped the ways in which Spanish colonizers interlinked sin and physical space illuminates the process by which colonial authorities made biased value judgments, deeming native peoples and indigenous spaces as sinful. The first case (1728) examines the denunciation and subsequent exoneration of a Spanish resident accused of sodomy. The second case (1731) highlights the tensions between spaces regarded as civilized and other areas removed from the purview of the Spanish state that colonizers viewed as morally suspect. The third case (1775) reveals how colonial authorities attempted to normalize local denizens' sexual comportment in locations deemed asexual. By analyzing gender and sexuality alongside the environment, this essay problematizes descriptions of seemingly natural landscapes and elucidates the cultural construction behind pejorative tropes used to justify conquest.


: New data are presented on the organization of H+-pumps in plasma membranes of cells of bacteria fungi, plants and animals. It is shown that H+-ATPase of bacteria differs in principle from H+-ATPases of plasma membranes of other organisms. The transport H+, K+-ATPase functioning in cells of mucous membrane of the animal stomach as an electroneutral H+-pump is similar by its properties to Na+, K+-ATPase of plasma membranes of animal cells. H+-ATPase of plasma membranes in cells of fungi and higher plants which functions as an electrogenic H+-pump differs essentially from H+-ATPases of F0 X F1-type. Distribution of H+-ATPases in cells of different organisms and their evolution are under discussion.


Cloud computing services are realized through the mapping of the service layer network into the physical infrastructure. Multiple failures in the physical infrastructure could disrupt cloud network connectivity and cause cascading failures impacting cloud service customers. As the physical infrastructure has limited resources, most early research works for survivable virtual network mapping were concentrated on the single link failure scenario. In this paper, we study survivable cloud network mapping with multiple physical link failures and a special case, Shared Risk Link Group (SRLG) failure. We present the necessary and sufficient conditions to guarantee a survivable mapping with multiple physical link failures. Corresponding mixedinteger linear programming (MILP) formulations which avoid the enumeration of failure link combinations are proposed. We also provide the corresponding formulations for the SRLG case. Computation results demonstrate the viability of our approaches.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to establish if patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation have an abnormal spectrum of the P wave.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Thirty-five patients with previous documented atrial fibrillation were compared with a control group of 29 patients. A signal-averaged ECG was performed using an ART-1200-EPX system, and a segment covering the last 75 ms of the P wave and the next 25 mg was analyzed in each of three orthogonal leads (X, Y, Z) and in a combined one (C). The area under the spectral curve between 20 and 50 Hz was divided by the area between 0 and 20 Hz (x 100 = AR50).

RESULTS
Patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation had greater AR50 on leads Y (78.3 +/- 42.9 vs 54.4 +/- 14.8; p < 0.01) and C (82.2 +/- 52.1 vs 58.4 +/- 14.6, p < 0.05) when compared with the control group. In the subset of patients without structural heart disease AR50 in lead X was greater. The criterion "AR50 > 55 in lead Y" identified paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with a sensitivity of 77.1% and a specificity of 85%.

CONCLUSIONS
This method may be useful to detect patients at risk for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.


There is increasing interest in the problem of nonparametric regression with high-dimensional predictors. When the number of predictors $D$ is large, one encounters a daunting problem in attempting to estimate a $D$-dimensional surface based on limited data. Fortunately, in many applications, the support of the data is concentrated on a $d$-dimensional subspace with $d \ll D$. Manifold learning attempts to estimate this subspace. Our focus is on developing computationally tractable and theoretically supported Bayesian nonparametric regression methods in this context. When the subspace corresponds to a locally-Euclidean compact Riemannian manifold, we show that a Gaussian process regression approach can be applied that leads to the minimax optimal adaptive rate in estimating the regression function under some conditions. The proposed model bypasses the need to estimate the manifold, and can be implemented using standard algorithms for posterior computation in Gaussian processes. Finite sample performance is illustrated in an example data analysis.


This article examines the roles of organizational structure of decision-making and external pressure in determining the practice of environmental management. Using contingency theory, this study argues that having a decentralized structure, entrepreneurial firms are able to adapt to external pressure while implementing environmental management. The data were drawn from 106 small and medium-sized firms in the United Kingdom. The study found that a decentralized structure is positively associated with the practice of environmental management while external pressure from global awareness and social relationships has less impact on firms' environmental management. Interestingly, the impact of decentralized structure on environmental management is strengthened in the context of high level of technological dynamic. Overall, the findings of the study have provided some recommendations to theory and practice of environmental management especially in the context of entrepreneurial firms.


It is with great regret that we announce the passing of the CEL/ELC's first Honorary Secretary, Dr Thomas Fraser, who died on 24 October 2014 at his home in Royan. Tom was born in Scotland on 20 December 1942. He held several appointments at the universities of Caen and Lille and was the director of the Unité de Formation et de la Recherche des Langues Etrangères Appliquées of Université de Lille 3. Backed by his University, he was a prime actor in the initial phase of Erasmus student mobility, which prepared him for European co-operation in the area of languages. Tom was one of the founders of the CEL/ELC. He represented France on the SIGMA Scientific Committee on Languages (1994–1995), which paved the way for the creation of the CEL/ELC, and also for a series of EU network and development projects. Initially, things were not so easy. The EU Commission was reluctant to admit Tom to the SIGMA Committee because he was a Scot – although he held a French passport. The CEL/ELC was fortunate that Tom was able to persuade his University to host the CEL/ELC launch conference in June 1997. He subsequently arranged for his University to award an honorary doctorate to Prof. Wolfgang Mackiewicz, then President of the CEL/ELC, in 2004. Tom proved himself a dedicated European. Not only was he the first CEL/ELC Secretary but he also played a leading role in five large-scale network projects, launched from within and by the CEL/ELC – TNP1, TNP-D, TNP2, TNP3, and ENLU. He was the co-ordinator of the TNP1 sub-project on Language Studies for Students of Other Disciplines, the outcomes of which are as relevant today as they were in 1999. He also participated in the DIALANG project for the development of diagnostic tests in 14 European languages on the Internet. On his 69th birthday, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. We are proud and grateful that, in spite of his illness, Tom attended and addressed the 2012 CEL/ELC Forum, marking the 15th anniversary of our association. Those who were there were very moved by the speech he made on that occasion – 15 years on: reflections from retirement on multilingualism and Europe. The CEL/ELC pays tribute to Tom. He will be remembered for the contributions he made to our association and its initiatives. The CEL/ELC and its projects benefited greatly from Tom's capacity for intercultural mediation and he will be warmly remembered for his kindness and good humour.


There has always been a problem in making sure that patients take the medicines which doctors prescribe for them in accordance with their instructions. The problem varies from the patients who forget the occasional tablet, or take rather too large a dose of the mixture, to those who never even bother to get their prescription dispensed. Other patients, for example, 'feel better' half-way through their course of treatment, and leave the remainder in the bathroom cupboard. This can be particularly serious in a course of antibiotic therapy, when resistance can develop in the bacteria as a result of insufficient length of exposure to the full dose of the medicine which was intended completely to eradicate the infection. Another major problem is typified by the treatment of asymptomatic raised blood pressure. Here the patient may even feel worse as a result of side-effects of the medication, and may disregard the long-term potential benefit of a reduced risk of suffering from a stroke or a heart attack. The Briefing refers to the methods which are used to try to assess the extent of the problem; it gives some estimates of the degree of non-compliance among patients; it discusses the reasons for this non-compliance; and it proposes strategies to improve the situation. Among other factors, it suggests that the widespread extent of non-compliance indicates a breakdown of confidence and mutual respect between the doctor and patient. In a satisfactory doctor patient relationship the patient should fully understand all aspects of his treatment and should be careful to follow accurately the doctor's advice; if the patient for any reason disregards this advice he should frankly explain his reasons for doing so to the doctor. Otherwise the doctor is acting in the dark as to what therapy is actually being received and the patient is failing to make a frank and constructive contribution to his own treatment. With an honest therapeutic dialogue between the patient and the doctor, the pharmacist who dispenses the medicines can also play an important role. At least one experiment has shown how the behaviour of the pharmacist can crucially influence patients' compliance. The Briefing refers only to the problem of compliance in General Practice. There may also be a problem with hospital patients, which is not discussed in this paper.


Background Obese pregnant women have exaggerated hyperlipidaemia, increased insulin resistance and poorer endothelial function which may be related to their increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes. However lean and obese women gain similar fat mass during pregnancy so the underlying cause of the diverse metabolic response to pregnancy is unclear. Hypothesis The distribution of adipose tissue either prior to or accrued during pregnancy determines maternal metabolic adaptation to pregnancy. Method Women (n=60) were recruited at antenatal booking; 30 with body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 and 30 with BMI <30 kg/m2. They were classified, based on a waist circumference of 80 cm, into 'apples' (central fat distribution) or 'pears' (lower body fat distribution). Plasma markers of metabolic pathways were assessed at booking. Results All obese women were apples and showed the metabolic characteristics previously described for obese pregnancy. Non-obese apples (NOA, n=13) had thicker subcutaneous (mean (SD) NOA 22.0 (8.1) vs NOP 17.4 (5.2) mm, p=0.011) and visceral (12.7 (4.0) vs 7.8 (2.3) mm, p=0.001) fat (assessed by ultrasound) and higher plasma log C reactive protein (CRP) levels (0.69 (0.31) vs 0.32 (0.35), p=0.006) than non-obese pears (NOP, n=17). The difference in visceral fat thickness and CRP was maintained after adjustment for booking BMI. Conclusion Lean women with a central fat distribution have a pronounced pro-inflammatory status at booking and may be susceptible to a poor metabolic adaptation to pregnancy as in obesity.


ABSTRACT The 3C protease (3Cpro) from foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), the causative agent of a widespread and economically devastating disease of domestic livestock, is a potential target for antiviral drug design. We have determined the structure of a new crystal form of FMDV 3Cpro, a chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease, which reveals features that are important for catalytic activity. In particular, we show that a surface loop which was disordered in previous structures adopts a β-ribbon structure that is conformationally similar to equivalent regions on other picornaviral 3C proteases and some serine proteases. This β-ribbon folds over the peptide binding cleft and clearly contributes to substrate recognition. Replacement of Cys142 at the tip of the β-ribbon with different amino acids has a significant impact on enzyme activity and shows that higher activity is obtained with more hydrophobic side chains. Comparison of the structure of FMDV 3Cpro with homologous enzyme-peptide complexes suggests that this correlation arises because the side chain of Cys142 contacts the hydrophobic portions of the P2 and P4 residues in the peptide substrate. Collectively, these findings provide compelling evidence for the role of the β-ribbon in catalytic activity and provide valuable insights for the design of FMDV 3Cpro inhibitors.


The research and development of wireless communication systems is often based on relatively simple models of the network topology, the radio channel and the radio propagation. This is considered to be mostly appropriate, as only under these conditions the complex technical problems in this field can be fully solved to their theoretical boundaries. However, it can also be the case that algorithms or concepts created under simplified assumptions perform in a significantly different way, when they are applied in more realistic scenarios.

This Thesis presents research work which can be seen as a step towards extending the existing research on Coordinated Beamforming to a complex network scenario, i.e. to a large-scale heterogeneous multi-carrier network. For this purpose, a complex simulation framework has been developed. This is used to analyse the significant implications the conditions in a complex network can have on the achievable performance gains. In more detail, the out of cluster interference and the number of mobile stations are identified as factors which heavily influence the performance. This knowledge is then used to design a novel scheduling heuristic, designed to be able to adapt to the particular network scenarios and to estimate the extent of the achievable performance gains. Our simulation results show that the new heuristic achieves significant performance gains for a low number of mobile stations (by applying zero forcing precoding) as well as for a high number of mobile stations (by a coordinated resource assignment that intelligently pairs mobile stations when applying maximum ratio transmission). The Thesis also demonstrates that the effect of the out of cluster interference can cause the reduction of the achievable gains. Due to the knowledge of performance limiting factors, the scheduling heuristic is in addition able to realize a trade-off between complexity and performance by excluding transmission parameters from the scheduling process which are not expected to be beneficial.


Azatricyclo and its derivatives occupy an important position in medicinal and pesticide chemistry with having a wide range of bioactivities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor activities. Similarly, the sulfonamide groups were proved to possess various biological properties such as antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antitubercular and antiviral agents as well as HIV protease
inhibitors. In view of these biological and medicinal importances, X-ray crystallographic studies for the azatricyclo sulfonamide derivatives have been carried out. The structures were solved by direct methods and refinement was carried out using least squares procedures. The detailed information on the molecular conformation in the solid state, IUPAC name and chemical diagram of the compounds are reported.


A clinical finding about one or more characteristics of leiomyosarcoma and endometrial stromal sarcoma, following the rules of the TNM AJCC v7 classification system.


. We consider two versions of an oscillating compound Poisson process with reflections from two boundaries. The versions are constructed from an upper continuous compound Poisson process ξ ( t ) and two functionals of it, namely the exit time from an interval and first upcrossing or downcrossing times from the upper or lower boundaries, respectively. The basic characteristics of the processes considered in the paper are given in terms of the potential and resolvent of the process ξ ( t ) introduced earlier by V. S. Korolyuk.


An Ice-Detecting and Ice-Melting System of Electricity-Transmitting Lines based on ZigBee Wireless Communication uses ZigBee wireless network as the flat. Sub nodes are placed at some places of the electricity- transmitting lines. The sub nodes detect the icing status of electricity-transmitting lines by using the vibration tube ice sensors and send the ice signals to the main node via the ZigBee wireless network. The main node sends the ice signals to PC via USB interface and launches the ice-melting system at the same time. The principle and sense organ structure of the vibration tube ice sensor are briefly introduced. The hardware and software designs of sub node and main node are stress explained. Finally, the theory of the controllable inductor and capacitor compensation ice-melting system is particularly expatiated.


1. Abstract Syncytin-1 serves as an enveloped membrane glycoprotein encoded from env gene and expressed in placenta specifically as HERV-W member product of human genome playing an essential role in cell fusion process of from trophoblast to syncytiotropho-blast during each individual pregnancy. It is widely maintained that unusual expressive levels of syncytin-1 have close relationships to obstetrical syndromes such as pre-eclampsia as a typical gestational hypertension symptom. In this review, correlations be-tween syncytin-1 and related diseases are in detailed discussions


Individuals with bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs) rely mostly on interaural level difference (ILD) cues to localize stationary sounds in the horizontal plane. Independent automatic gain control (AGC) in each device can distort this cue, resulting in poorer localization of stationary sound sources. However, little is known about how BiCI listeners perceive sound in motion. In this study, 12 BiCI listeners' spatial hearing abilities were assessed for both static and dynamic listening conditions when the sound processors were synchronized by applying the same compression gain to both devices as a means to better preserve the original ILD cues. Stimuli consisted of band-pass filtered (100–8000 Hz) Gaussian noise presented at various locations or panned over an array of loudspeakers. In the static listening condition, the distance between two sequentially presented stimuli was adaptively varied to arrive at the minimum audible angle, the smallest spatial separation at which the listener can correctly determine whether the second sound was to the left or right of the first. In the dynamic listening condition, participants identified if a single stimulus moved to the left or to the right. Velocity was held constant and the distance the stimulus traveled was adjusted using an adaptive procedure to determine the minimum audible movement angle. Median minimum audible angle decreased from 17.1° to 15.3° with the AGC synchronized. Median minimum audible movement angle decreased from 100° to 25.5°. These findings were statistically significant and support the hypothesis that synchronizing the AGC better preserves ILD cues and results in improved spatial hearing abilities. However, restoration of the ILD cue alone was not enough to bridge the large performance gap between BiCI listeners and normal-hearing listeners on these static and dynamic spatial hearing measures.