Herein, we describe the synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles by the hydrolysis and condensation of titanium tetrachloride. The resulting nanoparticles were immobilized on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based nanofibres by an electrospinning technique in order to allow simple isolation and reuse of titania semiconductor photocatalyst. The composite nanofibres were heat treated to convert the polymer nanofibres to carbon nanofibres and to convert amorphous TiO2 to crystalline TiO2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the rutile phase was the major phase and the equatorial peaks of PAN disappeared after heat treatment at 600°C. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed that some TiO2 nanoparticles were encapsulated whereas some were surface residing on the electrospun nanofibres. The TiO2 nanoparticles were found to lower the cyclization temperature of PAN as indicated by differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Photocatalytic studies on the degradation of methyl orange dye under UV light irradiation showed that composite nanofibres were capable of degrading organic contaminants in water. The carbon nanofibres with surface residing titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2/CNF-SR) showed the highest photocatalytic activity (59.35% after 210 minutes) due to direct contact between the TiO2 photocatalyst and methyl orange.


Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that effective vaccines constitute a central element of successful pandemic control. Although everyone in Germany has had the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, some people remain hesitant or refuse to get vaccinated. To address this phenomenon as well as to examine the unvaccinated population more closely, the present study investigates (RQ1) factors explaining the COVID-19 vaccination status (RQ2) trust in different types of COVID-19 vaccines, and (RQ3) people's specific reasons for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Methods We base our findings on a representative survey that we conducted in Germany in December 2021 with 1,310 respondents. Results In response to the first research question, a logistic regression shows that trust in specific institutions (e.g., medical experts and authorities) is positively related to vaccination status, whereas trust in companies and COVID-19-related social and alternative media consumption decreases the likelihood of being vaccinated. Furthermore (RQ2), while vaccinated people trust mRNA-based vaccines (e.g., BioNTech), most unvaccinated people put greater trust in recently developed protein-based vaccines (e.g., Novavax), albeit on a low level. Finally, our study reveals (RQ3) that the most important reason why people choose not to get vaccinated is that they wish to make their own decisions about their bodies. Conclusion Based on our results, we suggest that a successful vaccination campaign should address COVID-19 risk groups and lower income populations, increase trust in different public institutions and newly developed vaccines in advance, establish a multisectoral approach, and debunk fake news and misinformation. Furthermore, since unvaccinated respondents state that the desire to make their own choices about their body is the main reason why they have not gotten vaccinated against COVID-19, an effective vaccination campaign should emphasize the need for general practitioners who have a closer relationship with their patients who, in turn, trust their doctors.


User activities in peer-production communities have mainly been examined under the assumption that individuals are rational individuals who are always cognizant of what they are doing and why. We argue that not all use is the same; while some behaviors are governed by conscious motivations, others may be a habitual response that is developed out of routine. We take a more granular approach to explaining what people are doing in online communities and how motivations and habits explain their use of specific features. In the context of the peer-production community Everything2 we employ both server log data and self-report, finding that habit is a non-conscious-driven behavior that is more associated with less cognitively-demanding tasks than content production.


A. B. Bezborodov and N. V. Eliseeva, eds., Istoriia Kommunisticheskoi Partii Sovetskogo Soiuza (History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union). 671 pp. Moscow: Rosspen, 2013. ISBN-13 978-5824318241. Stephen A. Smith, ed., The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism. xiii + 658 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN-13 978-0199602056. 95.00 [pounds sterling]. These two volumes both attempt to take stock of the state of the historical field with respect to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) as well as of international communism. Though a host of monographs has been dedicated to the history of various aspects of the Communist Party, a synthetic survey has not been written since the 1960s. (1) The situation is different when it comes to surveys of the history of the Soviet Union, and the number of German-language works is especially large. (2) Histories of international communism have become a cottage industry in Oxford, which recently produced three monographs within a short space of time. (3) The currently available Handbook, edited by Stephen A. Smith, a senior research fellow at Oxford, is comparable only to Stephane Courtois's Dictionnairedu communisme. (4) That author is admittedly something of a bete noir to the editors of both volumes on account of the Black Book of Communism. (5) The authors of the History of the CPSU (Istoriia Kommunisticheskoi partii Sovetskogo soiuza) view the latter work as the apogee of anticommunism (26, 74-75); the editor of the Handbook of the History of Communism is similarly displeased with its fixation on communism's crimes (4). Some historical representations of international communism, such as those put forward by Jeremy Brown and Robert Service, are not devoid of a sense of reckoning. By contrast, several contributors to the Handbook might safely be assigned to the end of a spectrum that was once called "leftist." For the Russian authors of the History of the CPSU, it is their own, still moving and emotional history that matters, even if each historian obviously takes a different perspective. The two volumes have rather little in common. In my opinion, the task of synthetic overviews is, above all, to convey the fundamental facts, dates, and their interpretations. At their best, they open new perspectives on old problems and critically illuminate both old and new scholarly debates. In the conclusion, I offer a fuller account of these desiderata--ones I wish would be met in all collective volumes of this type. I begin, however, by presenting the most important assertions and historical claims advanced in each book. The History of the CPSU Istoriia KPSS was assembled under the guidance of Aleksandr B. Bezborodov and Natal'ia V. Eliseeva. Tike all the volume's contributors, they work at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) and have a distinguished publication record. The introduction to the History of the CPSU makes a number of assertions as to the Party's core characteristics, though they are only partly reflected in the structure of the volume. They characterize the Party as a mass organization; as an "apparatus"; and as a minimally transparent ruling class making high demands on its members and ruthlessly combating dissenters and enemies, at the very least until 1953. For the period after 1964, the volume highlights the aging of the leading cadres--along with their limited inclinations and abilities toward reform. Chapters 2-6 are structured chronologically. Chapter 7, by A. V. Shubin and F. G. Taratorkin, deals with the CPSU in its international relations and chapter 8, by N. A. Borisov and S. P. Dontsev, is dedicated to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation from 1992 onward. Chapter 1, by Bezborodov and L. A. Molchanov, delivers an in-depth survey of the Party's self-presentation, its archival records and published documents. The historiography of the last decade is presented in a sparsely annotated bibliography, mainly of empirical-positivisitic reworkings of the history of the Communist Party in Russia (62-73). …


Background: Urine cytology (UC) is a classic marker used to detect bladder malignancy through urine examination microscopically at the presence of malignant transitional cells that are released. UC  is also used to evaluate recurrence after past treatment. A new method that is simpler, faster and easier is by measuring protein in urine produced by malignant cells, namely nuclear matrix protein-22 (NMP-22). The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of NMP-22 and UC to histopathological biopsy in diagnosing bladder carcinoma and to evaluate whether the NMP-22 test could be used for bladder carcinoma screening and recurrence monitoring.Methods: Diagnostic tests on 24 suspected bladder malignancies were performed by taking urine samples for NMP22 examination and UC. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative NMP-22 and UC on histopathological biopsy were analyzed.Results: Positive results were obtained in 21 (87.5%) and negative in 3 (12.5%) NMP22 examinations. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of NMP-22 on histopathological biopsy were 95%; 67%, 95%, 67%. Sensitivity, specificity,positive predictive value and negative UC on histopathological biopsy were 38.1%; 100%, 100%, 18.8%.Conclusions: NMP-22 sensitivity is higher than UC in diagnosing bladder carcinoma. NMP-22 can be used for bladder carcinoma screening and for recurrence monitoring


Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,—Last year I had the honour of delivering the Maudsley Lecture, and I brought forward a certain amount of evidence in favour of the genetic causation of dementia praecox. I have continued these investigations and published the results in papers entitled "Further Pathological Studies in Dementia Praecox, especially in Relation to the Interstitial Cells of Leydig," Proc. Roy. Soc. Med. , 1922, vol. xv (Section of Psychiatry), pp. 1–30; also "The Reproductive Organs in Relation to Mental Disorders," Brit. Med. Journ. , March 25, 1922. The former investigation included 27 cases of dementia praecox, the onset occurring in adolescence; also the results obtained in 9 cases of psychoses other than dementia praecox occurring in post-adolescence, and 4 cases of primary dementia, in which the demential symptoms came on in post-adolescence. From these investigations, and from others which I have been pursuing, I have come to the conclusion that it is better to speak of primary dementia, which may occur either in the pre-adolescent period, adolescence, or post-adolescence; moreover, I am of opinion that all the psychoses belong to one group and are genetic in origin. In those forms of psychoses in which recovery takes place—for example, confusional insanity or exhaustion psychosis, benign stupor, periodic insanity, or manic-depressive insanity—we may assume there is a suspension of neuronic function in the highest psychic level; but all these conditions I have found may end in a terminal dementia, in which the changes in the reproductive organs and in the brain do not differ from those met with in the primary dementia of adolescence, the dementia indicative of a suppression of function. In the primary dementias, naturally, the symptoms may be partially due to a suspension, and partially to a suppression of function, and I would explain partial remission of symptoms by a partial restoration of function in neurones in which the nuclear change was either not present or not advanced.


Excerpt] This chapter proposes tests of various notions of equality of opportunity and applies them to intergenerational income data for the United States and Britain. Agreement is widespread that equality of opportunity holds in a society if the chances that individuals have to succeed depend only on their own efforts and not on extraneous circumstances that may inhibit or expand those chances. What is contentious, however, is what constitutes "effort" and "circumstances." Most people, we think, would say that the social connections of an individual's parents would be included among circumstances: equality of opportunity is incomplete if some individuals get ahead because they have well-connected parents. This and other channels through which circumstances affect income opportunities in an intergenerational context are discussed in Section 2. Section 3 then formulates four, increasingly stringent criteria for equality of opportunity. In Section 4, we turn to an empirical implementation of these criteria to test for equality of opportunity in the United States and Britain. The results, presented in Section 5, provide only the weakest of support for equality of opportunity in the United States and no support at all in Britain. Concluding remarks are presented in Section 6.


The linked dataset of AI research articles and patents reveals that substantial contribution of public sector is found for AI development. In addition, the role of researchers who are involved both in publication and patent activities, particularly in private sector, increased over time. That is, open science, publicly available by research articles and propriety technology, protected by patents are intertwined in AI development. In addition, the impact of AI, combined with big data and IoT, defined "new" IT on innovation is discussed, by comparing with traditional IT, consisted by technological progress of
computers and software developments. Both of new and traditional IT could be understood by using the framework of GPT (general purpose technology), while the organization of new IT innovation can be characterized by emergence of multiple eco-systems, instead of the pattern of platform leadership, found in traditional IT.


The paper provides some practical rules for the choice of the evaluation procedure for orchards, in relation to different environmental situations. In particular, different evaluation approaches are illustrated distinguishing areas with specialised production systems and areas with mixed production systems. The problems related to the application of the income approach and the market comparison approach are illustrated in the different cases. The paper is completed by some examples concerning the evaluation of pear orchards in specialised systems and peach orchards in mixed production systems. In conclusion, some critical notes are reported about the methodology proposed by Ribaudo for the synthetic evaluation of vineyards of different age. The paper argues that the age relation approach has weak scientific bases, is difficult to apply and does not guarantee the reliability of the results, compared to analytical approaches.


Income per capita suggests that the period 1913-1950 is one of missed opportunities for improving living standards in Europe. However, life in Europe during these years improved significantly, as citizens began experiencing dramatic declines in mortality, working time and inequality thanks to (among others) the spread of modern medicine and the introduction of the 8-hour working day. To measure the contribution of these aspects to broader welfare, I apply a new utility-based framework that, contrary to previous composite indices such as the Human Development Index, allows for a welfare analysis directly comparable to GDP across countries and time. The results using the new measure shows that income per capita underestimates welfare growth significantly (up to five percent annually). Moreover, with this indicator cross-country differences in living standards are much larger and more persistent than other composite indices of well-being imply. These findings call for a reappraisal of the evolution of living standards during the period 1913-1950 and, more generally, of the measurement of multi-dimensional welfare in historical contexts.


Remarks on Shipbuilding in the Hanseatic PeriodAs naval architects especially interested in the history of shipbuilding during the Hanseatic period, we feel compelled to highlight some disturbing aspects of the scholarly discussions of shipping among Hanseatic historians. In particular, we note a number of definitions and findings that simply cannot be squared with the physical and technical principles which modern naval architecture has discovered. Of course, we all agree that Hanseatic shipbuilding was a rough-and-ready affair, in which trial and error led to an intuitive understanding of the physical principles involved, even if these were not articulated. Blissfully unaware of maritime engineering, Hanseatic historians have, however, advanced arguments which, viewed in the light of the current state of knowledge in shipbuilding science, are unconvincing.
For instance, concepts such as wales or bends and other structural terms, e.g. deck beams and watertight decks, are described without any clear explanation of their function. Moreover, the definitions of deadweight tonnage, freeboard, calculation of displacement, and the dependency of ship safety on freeboard are inadequate. In short, there is a crying need for cross-polination between Hanseatic historians and naval architects, since a linkage between the archival material and the scientific principles of maritime engineering cannot be but fruitful.


Hemodialysis patients are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Higher than expected cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in this population has been attributed to dislipidemia as well as inflammation. The causes of inflammation in hemodialysis patients are multifactorial. Several markers were used for the detection of inflammatory reaction in patients with chronic renal disease. These markers can be used for the prediction of future cardiovascular events. Among the several parameters of inflammatory markers, serum, CRP is well known and its advantages for the detection of inflammation and its predictor ability has been evaluated in several studies. This review addressed the associated factors and markers of inflammation in hemodialysis patients. In addition, their ability in predicting future atherosclerosis and effect of treatment has been reviewed. However, this context particularly in using CRP as a prediction marker of inflammation and morbidity requires further studies.


Previously isolated promoter mutations that allow expression of the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifHDKY operon in the absence of nifA (R. Bitoun, J. Berman, A. Zilberstein, D. Holland, J.B. Cohen, D. Givol, and A. Zamir, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 80:5812-5816, 1983) were further characterized. pRB1 and pRB5, containing, respectively, point and duplication mutations in the nifHDKY regulatory region, were transformed into Escherichia coli and K. pneumoniae hosts with different nifA and ntrA backgrounds. nif transcription start sites were determined by nuclease S1 mapping. The results indicated that nifA-independent expression from both mutants did not require ntrA. Transcription from pBR5 started 3 base pairs (bp) upstream of the start site of nif-regulated transcription and could stem from a canonical promoter sequence generated at the junction between the two copies of the duplicated sequence. In the presence of nifA-ntrA, transcription from pRB5 started predominantly at the site characteristic of the nif-regulated promoter. The site of constitutive transcription initiation in pRB1 was located 33 bp upstream of the point mutation and 40 bp upstream of the start of nifA-ntrA-activated transcription. Low-level transcription from the upstream site was also evident, in the absence of nifA or nifA or both, with the plasmid containing the wild-type nifHDKY regulatory region. However, when nifA and ntrA were present to activate transcription from the major nif promoter, no activity was evident from the upstream site in either pRB1 or the parental plasmid. Thus, the mutation enhanced the activity of a pre-existing constitutive promoter, the activity of which was repressed on nifA-ntrA activation of the major nif promoter.


The plant family Balsaminaceae comprises only two genera, and they are a study in contrasts. While Impatiens is an impressively prolific genus, with over 1,000 species and more being discovered each year, its sister genus, Hydrocera, has one solitary species, H. triflora. The two genera also differ in geographic distribution and habitat type (Impatiens species are widely distributed in much of the Old World and N. America, while H. triflora is confined to wetlands specific to S. India, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia). Other contrasting features include plant habit, habitat, floral architecture, mode of seed dispersal, and a host of other traits. The family Balsaminaceae is therefore an excellent model for studying speciation and character evolution as well as understanding the proximal and evolutionary forces that have driven the two genera to adopt such contrasting evolutionary paths. Various species of the Impatiens genus are also commercially important in the ornamental flower industry and as sources of phytochemicals that are of medicinal and other commercial value. As a preliminary step towards studying the genomic basis of the contrasting features of the two genera, we have sequenced and assembled, de novo, the genome of an iconic Impatiens species from N. America, namely I. capensis, and report our findings here.


Extensive accumulations of collapsed lake and shore sediment are present above the Herman level adjacent to the Agassiz lake plain in southeast North Dakota. The presence of these deposits indicates that ice-dammed lakes existed on top of stagnant glacial ice while Lake Agassiz was developing. Lake Agassiz did not simply expand northward from its southern end; but rather, when the superglacial lakes coalesced, the resulting Lake Agassiz flooded areas along much of the length of the Herman Beach.


Most areas of Python data science have standardized on using Pandas DataFrames for representing and manipulating structured data in memory. Natural Language Processing (NLP), not so much. We believe that Pandas has the potential to serve as a universal data structure for NLP data. DataFrames could make every phase of NLP easier, from creating new models, to evaluating their effectiveness, to building applications that integrate those models. However, Pandas currently lacks important data types and operations for representing and manipulating crucial types of data in many of these NLP tasks. This paper describes Text Extensions for Pandas, a library of extensions to Pandas that make it possible to build end-to-end NLP applications while representing all of the applications' internal data with DataFrames. We leverage the extension points built into Pandas library to add new data types, and we provide important NLP-specfific operations over these data types and and integrations with popular NLP libraries and data formats.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of earthquake and wind loading on high rise structure in Malaysia. Conservatively, structural design in Malaysia overlook the significance of both loading (earthquake and hurricane) as they rarely take place in this region. However, occurrences of several tremors in neighbouring countries were enough to put us in fear. So, it is the time for us to revise existing structures to check for their reliability in facing any unforeseen natural disaster. This paper will be the key for any enhancement necessary to be implemented to our existing structures. The method of study mainly involves extended analysis of high rise frame structure and its behaviour towards movement and shakes in complying with UBC 1997 and IS 1893. Starting with simple vertical load analysis and then imposing earthquake and wind loading, the integrity of the frame structure is analysed. The behaviour in term of displacement, and the serviceability limit state of a particular structural will be studied and evaluated in order to quantify the maximum magnitude of lateral loads whereby a rigid frame structure could withstand before it starting to fail. This study analytically proves the outstanding performance of gravity designed structure towards typical wind and seismic conditions in Malaysia (35m/s for wind speed and 0.03g for seismic). However, existing structures in Malaysia without lateral loads design are expected to fail whenever wind and seismic forces are going beyond the typical conditions. The whole analysis demonstrates the understanding of certain code of practices, establish the ability of analysing and deducing the behaviour of structures, handling existing software, and interpreting the results and data to provide relevant comments and modifications whenever needed.


In patients with left ventricular end diastolic dimensions >5--< or =5.5 cm myocardial revascularization was associated with significant decreases of diastolic and systolic left ventricular dimensions in immediate postoperative period. This adaptational phenomenon was called passive reducing left ventricular remodeling. In patients with left ventricular end diastolic dimensions <5 and >5.5 cm revascularization was associated with dilation of the left ventricle. Restoration of myocardial blood supply produced overall positive effect on left ventricular functional capacity in patients with various severity of its postinfarction remodeling. Pathways of realization of this positive effect could be different.


Abstract Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has in several studies been linked to substance use, including cannabis use. However, crucial gaps remain regarding how to understand this association. Analyzing the association between ADHD and substance use is complicated because of a pronounced overlap between ADHD, conduct problems, and traits such as sensation-seeking. Objectives: Using data from a large and nationally representative study among Swedish adolescents, this study explored the role of conduct problems, but also of sensation-seeking, in accounting for the association between ADHD and cannabis use. Results: There was a notable association between ADHD and cannabis use that was attenuated when conduct problems were controlled for. The association between cannabis use and conduct problems, in turn, was attenuated when sensation-seeking was controlled for. Individuals with both ADHD and conduct problems were more likely to have used cannabis than individuals with ADHD only, but not compared with individuals with conduct problems only. Conclusions: Whereas conduct problems largely explain the link between ADHD and cannabis use, sensation-seeking seems to account for the association between conduct problems and cannabis use.


Most road design standards recommend using a spiral curve for transitions. (e main advantages of using this curve are the gradual increase in the centrifugal force, creating a suitable space for presenting superelevation, and providing a correct perception of the curve for the driver. In this research, vehicle dynamic simulation software CarSim and TruckSim is used to assess the forces imposed on the vehicles. In this regard, 360 scenarios are considered for sedans, SUVs, and trucks, which consist of variations of the road geometry (simple or spiral horizontal curve), curve radius, and type and speed of the vehicle. In addition, the regression analysis is performed to examine the relationships between the lateral acceleration (as a dependent variable) and the vehicle speed, curve radius, and vehicle type (as independent variables). (e results indicate that in all cases, safety in the spiral horizontal curve is greater than that in the simple horizontal curve, and the maximum side friction factor, lateral acceleration, roll rate, roll angle, yaw rate, and lateral distance in the simple horizontal curve are higher than those in the spiral horizontal curve. Moreover, the difference percentage of the side friction factor, lateral acceleration, yaw rate, and lateral distance between the simple and spiral horizontal curves is the highest in SUVs, followed by sedans and trucks, while the difference percentage of the roll rate and roll angle is the highest in sedans, followed by SUVs and trucks. (e results of regression analysis illustrate that the coefficient of determination (R) in the proposed model is 0.972, 0.964, and 0.981 for sedans, SUVs, and trucks, respectively, indicating the strong relationships between the dependent and the explanatory variables as well as the capability of the model to cover the data.


This article presents a description and analysis of young Palestinian refugees media use in the context of a newly globalized media age. Refugees, like diasporic populations everywhere, live in a world marked by de-territorialization and re-territorialization, where such populations often come to think of themselves as part of a national community via mediated representations. The new media – satellite television and the internet – has helped shape their understanding and connection to Palestine and other Palestinians. For the young refugees living in refugee camps in Beirut, maintaining a strong connection to Palestine and a Palestinian community motivates their media access and use, which is tied to their desire to return to Palestine, even one made up of a geographically different area in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). Indeed, it is via media that the refugees have come to learn of the OPTs, where they hope to 'return' to live in a recognized Palestinian state.


QIIB's net profi t jumps more than 5% to QR927mn in 2019 Leading Islamic bank QIIB has posted a net profi t of QR927mn in 2019, up 5.1% from the previous year. The bank's results were announced after a meeting of its board of directors in Doha yesterday by QIIB chairman and managing director, Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani. The board of directors recommended to the Annual General Assembly of shareholders the distribution of cash dividends equivalent to 42.5% of the capital (QR0.425 per share) subject to obtaining the Qatar Central Bank's approval. The earnings per share stood at QR0.58 in 2019. Sheikh Dr Khalid said that "The results of QIIB for 2019 indicate that we were able to keep pace with the momentum and growth of the Qatari economy and its ability to overcome various challenges and accomplish greater achievements in all sectors, thanks to the support and patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani". He said, "In 2019, the Qatari economy continued its positive performance and all indications are that it is at the forefront of the region's economies, which drew the attention of investors in various countries who sought to take advantage of the opportunities it provides. Qatari economy's dynamics positively refl ects on the local economic sectors, namely banking, which is reckoned as a key driver of growth and one of the most important factors for economic stability". Sheikh Khalid added, "During 2019, QIIB continued to focus on the local market as part of its strategy, especially with the availability of great opportunities that contribute to the development of the country and the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030. We are honoured to take part and actively contribute to achieving some of the goals of the QNV 2030". He noted, "Our focus on large projects did not diminish our interest in small and mediumsized enterprises, which we continued to support during the past year, not to mention our distinguished partnership with Qatar Development Bank to support and fi nance SMEs. "In parallel with QIIB's focus on the local market, the bank did not fail to strengthen its partnerships globally, building on the strength and solid reputation of the Qatari economy and the bank's long history of growth and stability, which made it one of the most important institutions for Islamic banking in Qatar and the region as a whole. There is no doubt that 2019 was a good year for our foreign partnerships that we seek to develop in order to enhance returns to shareholders and strengthen the bank's fi nancial position". QIIB chief executive offi cer, Dr Abdulbasit Ahmad al-Shaibei highlighted the bank's fi nancial indicators for 2019 and said, "The bank's total assets at the end of 2019 amounted to QR56.8bn compared to QR50.3bn at the end of 2018, with a growth rate of 13.1%. The fi nancing activities portfolio increased to QR37bn compared to QR28bn in 2018, which represents a growth rate of 32.2%. He said, "The bank's total equity stood at QR8.2bn at the end of 2019 while its capital adequacy under Basel III registered 18.5%, which refl ects the strength of QIIB's fi nancial position amid various risks. "QIIB results for 2019 are encouraging, even as we aspire to achieve better results. But in general, they refl ect the positive atmosphere that the Qatari economy is witnessing in various sectors, in terms of favourable opportunities, stimulating and encouraging competition for work, innovation and multilateral partnerships that contribute to achieving good growth fi gures". Al-Shaibei noted, "Through these results, we are happy to contribute to the growth of the Qatari economy, as we strove during the past year to implement the interim and strategic plans laid down by the Board of Directors. The results are satisfactory for us, as most of the bank's fi nancial indicators improved, the bank's established position kept its strength, and even as the bank's confi dence index rose. "Credit rating agencies affi rmed QIIB's high ratings with a stable outlook based on a number of factors, namely the strength of the bank's position among other Islamic banks, quality of its assets, strong profi tability, and quality of fi nancing portfolio, growth in operational income and overall improvement in operational effi ciency". In terms of foreign investment, al-Shaibei noted, "QIIB kept interacting with global markets and strengthening its various partnerships. 2019 was a special year for the bank as it successfully issued Sukuks twice during the same year with a very competitive pricing and very strong international allocation. Both Sukuks were listed on the London Stock Exchange. QIIB received ISO 27001, one of the world's most prestigious accreditations in information security, which refl ects its high standing in the protection of the bank's and customers' data. The bank also obtained, for the fourth time in a row, the highest certifi cation in the protection of payment card data (PCI-DSS).


Abstract The aim of this article is to analyze journalistic texts on migratory movements appeared on the main newspapers of Spanish-speaking countries along 2017. The focus is put on the subjects that the newspapers highlight, the regions selected and the linguistics elections being made. The research has a multidisciplinary approach that uses the concept of representation, as being used in linguistics pragmatics and cultural anthropology. We use the database Factiva® as the starting point to collect the journalistic pieces that we use for our analysis. The search has been refined using linguistic, contextual, geographic and chronological criteria. Two sub-corpora have been built with the texts obtained through the search. One focuses strictly on Spanish press and the second one is related to the Hispanic area (seven newspapers have been chosen to build this corpus, and each one of them represents one of the seven ample dialectal areas of Spanish language). The qualitative analysis is based on the key words of each of these sub-corpora; such key words are stablished from a text-mining technique that offers the most relevant words and sentences of the first 100 texts obtained through every specific search.


Electrofocusing of heparins and subsequent polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has shown that two types of heparins are present in different tissues. One of the types (from beef lung tissues) gives only a single band in agarose gel electrophoresis and 21 molecular species after electrofocusing and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The other type of heparin (from pork intestinal mucosa) gives two bands in agarose gel electrophoresis and 42 molecular species after electrofocusing and polyacrylamide. Ascorbic acid treatment of the pork intestinal mucosa heparin reduced the number of molecular species to 21. A suggestion is made that some heparins exist as monomeric or dimeric molecular species forming single or double helixes.


As is often the case with healthcare treatment dilemmas, it matters in what "voice" an ethical difficulty is related. In this instance, the voice of the healthcare team is clearly heard as the patient's medical condition is described. The voice of the patient is heard as she cries out in pain. The patient's son's voice is heard as he identifies the religious guidelines that must be observed in his mother's care. Finally, it is the voice of the Hospital Ethics Committee that is heard as it deliberates the questions brought to it.


In patients often require repeated colonoscopy as a result of poor colonic preparation. A study of 101 inpatients was conducted to determine the most effective bowel preparation strategies. Results suggest patients on certain medications and with certain medical histories react differently to bowel preparation. Patients with diabetes, renal disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or chronic constipation should receive a more aggressive preparation to obtain optimal results. Likewise, patients who are taking narcotics and laxatives need to be identified and can be expected to require additional preparation to be properly cleansed. Clear liquid diet prior to the administration of the bowel preparation was the only diet modification that affected quality of preparation. The optimal bowel preparation was a 6-liter Golytely® preparation along with a secondary preparation (e.g., tap water enema, Fleets enema, Dulcolax tablets). Results showed a 50% satisfactory rating of bowel preparation was achieved in patients who took 3/4 to all of their preparation. The best results were obtained when the colonoscopy procedure was conducted within 6–11 hours of bowel preparation completion.


Ca2+-Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is an abundant synaptic protein that was recently shown to regulate the organization of actin filaments leading to structural modifications of synapses. CaMKII is a dodecameric complex with a special architecture that provides it with unique potential for organizing the actin cytoskeleton. We report using biochemical assays that the β isoform of CaMKII binds to and bundles actin filaments, and the disposition of βCaMKII within the actin bundles was revealed by cryoelectron tomography. In addition, βCaMKII was found to inhibit actin polymerization, suggesting that it either serves as a capping protein or binds monomeric actin, reducing the amount of freely available monomers to nucleate polymer assembly. By means of fluorescent cross-correlation spectroscopy, we determined that βCaMKII does indeed bind to monomeric actin, reaching saturation at a stoichiometry of 12:1 actin monomers per βCaMKII holoenzyme with a binding constant of 2.4 × 105 m–1. In cells, βCaMKII has a dual functional role; it can sequester monomeric actin to reduce actin polymerization and can also bundle actin filaments. Together, these effects would impact both the dynamics of actin filament assembly and enhance the rigidity of the filaments once formed, significantly impacting the structure of synapses.


The thesis of this paper is that the ability to transfer marketing knowledge into various environments and situations is extremely important to our students. Marketing educators should become more sensitive to the issues and implications that transfer entails, and we must create awareness and increase students' skills in these pivotal directions. Major issues surrounding transfer are discussed in conjunction with its close relative, metacognition, and propositions are tendered that should encourage much additional thought among marketing educators. The results of an assignment involving metacognition and transfer are reported. Discussion is provided and research directions are proposed that will be important to the future inclusion of transfer in our courses.


The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of methanol and chloroform extracts of five lichen species, Melanohalea exasperata, Physcia aipolia, Usnea florida, U. subfloridana and Xanthoria parietina. Antimicrobial activity in culture assays of these foliose and fruticose lichen extracts were examined against two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli), two Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus), and the yeast Candida albicans using the paper disc method through determination of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The obtained results indicated the existence of different levels of antibiotic substances in the chloroform and the methanol extracts of the examined lichen species. The chloroform extracts of Usnea subfloridana showed the highest activity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa while the methanol extracts of this species were not active against these microorganisms. The chloroform extracts of the examined species exhibited more significant antimicrobial activity than the methanol extracts. None of the species were active against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. Most of the lichen extracts indicated a moderate antifungal activity against Candida albicans, except for Physcia aipolia, which was not active.


The research focus of this study is the voting behavior of the elected members of the United States House of Representatives on the issue of national immigration. This work specifically focuses on selected immigration roll call votes taken during the 99th and 104th Congresses. An examination of the voting behavior of the 435 elected representatives from each year will be examined by considering eight hypotheses that question the immigration voting behavior of various sub groups within congress. During the 1980s and 1990s Congress took several major legislative actions in regards to the issue of national immigration. It was hypothesized that not only the tone, but the voting manner of the United States House of Representatives, has become more restrictive on immigration issues during that period. In examining the results of the hypothesis a clear distinction between the voting behavior of the House in 1986, and the voting behavior of the House in 1996 became apparent. Also, the Republican party has clearly become more supportive of greater immigration controls, whereas their Democrat counterparts have remained constant in their support for less restrictive immigration policies. In a final analysis of the two Houses a pattern of polarization in immigration voting was evident, with the majority of movement being towards the more restrictive end of the scale. In conclusion it was found that support for more restrictive immigration policies has grown between the 99th Congress and the 104th Congress, and that this support has not been confined solely to the Republican party. It was also found that immigration has become a more divisive issue, both within the two parties and within the House overall. A more conservative viewpoint on immigration is now the norm in the United States House of RepresentativesDEDICATION


Two infants with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease presented with respiratory distress after an initial asymptomatic interval of one to two months. In both patients the finding of bilateral eventration of the diaphragm prior to the loss of deep tendon reflexes or other evidence of muscle weakness led to surgical repair in an attempt to ameliorate the respiratory difficulty. The underlying progressive neuromuscular disease did not become apparent until 3 to 4 months of age and was confirmed in each instance by muscle biopsy and by postmortem examination. We speculate that other infants presenting early in life with fatal respiratory distress of unknown etiology may also have this unusual variant of Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.


Low or zero carbon fuels are crucial for maritime transportation decarbonization goals. This paper assesses potential localities for maritime biofuels (biobunkers) production in Brazil, Europe, South Africa, and United States considering geographical, logistic, and economic aspects. This assessment combines georeferenced and techno-economic analyses to identify suitable fuel production hotspots based on not only plant performance and costs but also on logistic integration and biomass seasonality. Five technology pathways were considered: Straight vegetable Oils (SVO), Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO), Fischer–Tropsch Biomass-to-liquids (FT-BTL), Alcohol oligomerization to middle distillates (ATD), and Hydrotreated Pyrolysis Oil (HDPO). Findings reveal that biomass concentration in Brazil makes it the region with highest biobunker potential, which are mostly close to coastal areas and surpasses regional demand. Although other regions registered more limited potentials, hotspots proximity to ports would enable fossil fuel replacements in these areas. For all cases, biobunker costs (USD 21–104/GJ) are higher than conventional marine fuels prices (USD 11–17/GJ). Only 15% of the hotspots' carbon prices that would allow its competitiveness are lower than USD 100/tCO2. Alternatives to incentivize biobunker production would be, first, to establish mandatory fuel blends and second, to join forces with other sectors that would be benefited from the co-production of advanced biofuels.


Traditional forms of functional foods are the agricultural raw products, especially fruits and vegetables for fresh consumption. The picture which took shape about the functional fruits and vegetables in the consumers – according to a representative national survey of SZIE GTK MI in 2006 – is schematic and low-differentiated with the exception of few products. This article presents the results of a Miksa Deri research program that came true in international cooperation. The program aimed at the tracking development of fresh fuits and vegetables.


Abstract #3050 Expression of the GATA-3 binding protein correlates with estrogen receptor (ER) alpha expression in primary and cultured breast cancer cells. While the significance of this correlation and role of GATA-3 in breast cancer remains unclear, GATA-3 may serve as a good prognostic indicator in breast tumors. Recently, a reciprocal interaction between GATA-3 and ER has been demonstrated. GATA-3 may regulate ER levels through binding to an enhancer region upstream of the ER gene while ER can associate with and regulate GATA-3 expression. Meta-analyses of several cancer microarrays indicate that GATA-3 is co-expressed with ER and other ER responsive genes, further suggesting a role of GATA-3 in the ER signaling pathway. Our laboratory has been investigating the role of the RNA binding protein HuR/ELAV1 in control of mRNA stability in breast cancer cells. We have previously reported that ER mRNA stability is increased through binding of HuR to the 39UTR. Microarray analysis of those transcripts associated with HuR in MCF7 cells showed that GATA-3 mRNA associates with HuR compared to an IgG control. Biotin pulldown assays using a biotinylated GATA-3 RNA probe confirmed that HuR binds to the GATA-3 39untranslated region (UTR). Inhibition of HuR using siRNA probes decreased GATA-3 mRNA and protein expression, further indicating a role for HuR in regulation of GATA-3 mRNA stability. siRNA mediated inhibition of GATA-3 expression significantly reduced ER mRNA and protein levels. Surprisingly, we found that GATA-3 bound to the ER mRNA by binding to two out of four regions within the ER 39UTR, suggesting that while GATA-3 may play a role in upregulation of ER mRNA transcription through the enhancer interaction, GATA-3 may stabilize ER mRNA once transcribed by binding to the ER 39UTR. Studies are ongoing to fully characterize this role of GATA-3 in control of ER mRNA stability. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 3050.


A tracking program to study the nonlinear effect of the longitudinal motion for particles in the circular accelerator has been written. When the R.F. voltage V/sub 0/ = 1.2MV is used, we find that ..gamma../sub T/ jump or a faster acceleration rate is needed in RHIC. The simulation result can be understood analytically via the nonlinear equation of motion. For the ..gamma../sub T/ jump scheme, there is little bunch shape dilution or deformation in the transition energy crossing. At a bunch area of 0.3 ev-sec/amu, ..delta gamma../sub T/ = 0.6 in 30 msec is satisfactory to eliminate the beam loss and preserve the bunch area. By manipulating the momentum aperture, the acceleration rate can be increased substantially at the transition energy region. To eliminate beam loss, /+-/0.8% of momentum aperture is needed. On the other hand, when the R.F. voltage is reduced to 100KV, while maintaining the same acceleration rate, the bunch survival rate across the transition energy is dramatically increased. This resulted from both smaller momentum spread and longer adiabatic time at the transition energy region due to the smaller voltage. 11 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.


Protein phosphatase (PP2A) 2A is a hetero‐trimeric holoenzyme that consists of a core dimer composed of a catalytic subunit that is tightly complexed with the scaffolding subunit PR65/A. This core dimer associates with variable regulatory subunits of the PR55/B, PR61/B′, PR72/B′′ and PR93/PR110/B′′′ families. As PP2A holoenzymes containing PR55/B have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, we characterized the PR55/B family with particular emphasis on its distribution and expression in the brain. We determined the genomic organization of all members of the PR55/B family and cloned their murine cDNAs. Thereby, two novel splice variants of PR55/Bβ were identified. In addition, Northern blot analysis revealed multiple transcripts for the different PR55 subunits, suggesting a higher variability within the PR55 family. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that all PR55/B subunits were widely expressed in the brain. PR55/Bα and Bβ protein expression varies significantly in areas of the brain affected by neurodegenerative diseases such as the hippocampus or cerebellum. At the cellular level, PR55/Bβ protein expression was confined to neurons, whereas PR55/Bα was also expressed in activated astrocytes indicating that the PR55 isoforms confer a different function to the holoenzyme complex. As PP2A dysfunction has been demonstrated to contribute to various human diseases, dissecting the PP2A holoenzyme and its particular function in different cell types will assist in the development of novel therapeutic strategies.


Resilience building is a complex and an intricate process within low SES school communities. Six primary schools in Tasmania took part in the study and used various school-based contextual programs, strategies, and techniques to foster resilience. A total of 934 primary aged students took part in the study in 2014 and 870 primary aged students took part in the study in 2015. All students completed a pre and post-Resilience Survey. Using pre-Resilience Survey data, each of the six schools developed their own contextual intervention or support program to either increase a deficit or foster an asset or strength concerning resilience. Programs implemented by several schools are discussed in terms of correlations to show how a program has come to contribute towards resilience. The current study found that students from low SES communities who were better connected in their school communities, that is those that were involved in outside school activities, and who believed that they were supported and had clear expectations (boundaries) expected of them felt a stronger in-school commitment to learning and identified strong social competencies. There was also an increase in student responding to identifying their strength/s and positive aspiration, due to hours a school devoted to teaching social and emotional wellbeing. Also, there is a significant contribution to an individual's social-emotional wellbeing regarding the internal and external assets, which are enhanced by the schools' use of resiliency and health literacy resources and teaching practices. A core finding of the study is that it counters the argument that one program fits or serves all aspects of resilience. Importantly, this study found that those schools who implemented a school-wide approach to dealing with resiliency and health literacy achieved better student outcomes regarding student social-emotional wellbeing than those schools which did not. Implications of the study are discussed.


ABSTRACT A new species in the Group II complex of the gekkonid lizard genus Lepidodactylus Fitzinger is described based on recently collected material from Namoluk Atoll, Mortlock Islands, Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. Lepidodactylus oligoporus Buden, n. sp., is distinguished from other members of Group II by differences in the numbers of midbody scale rows (130–134), fourth-toe scansors (15–19), interorbital scales (34–35), and precloacal/femoral pore-bearing scales (12–15) and by the lack of cloacal spurs and the presence of a moderate amount of webbing between the toes. In body size and scutellation, it most resembles L. novaeguineae Brown & Parker from New Guinea and L. pulcher Boulenger from the Admiralty Islands.


We present a case of a woman with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated lung adenocarcinoma who received gefitinib for 2 years and obtained a partial response. The patient then developed liver metastasis and a breast lesion, displaying high estrogen receptor (ER) expression and harboring the same EGFR mutation. From the radiological studies, it was not possible to make a differential diagnosis between primary breast cancer and breast metastasis from lung cancer. After the removal of the breast nodule, thanks to the clinical history, radiology, and above all, molecular and immunohistochemical investigations, a diagnosis of breast metastasis from lung adenocarcinoma was made. This case emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive clinical, pathological, and molecular analysis in the differential diagnosis between primary breast cancer and metastases from extramammary tumor to guide adequate treatment decision making.


A hyperproperty relates executions of a program and is used to formalize security objectives such as confidentiality, non-interference, privacy, and anonymity. Formally, a hyperproperty is a collection of allowable sets of executions. A program violates a hyperproperty if the set of its executions is not in the collection specified by the hyperproperty. The logic HyperCTL^* has been proposed in the literature to formally specify and verify hyperproperties. The problem of checking whether a finite-state program satisfies a HyperCTL^* formula is known to be decidable. However, the problem turns out to be undecidable for procedural (recursive) programs. Surprisingly, we show that decidability can be restored if we consider restricted classes of hyperproperties, namely those that relate only those executions of a program which have the same call-stack access pattern. We call such hyperproperties, \emph{stack-aware hyperproperties.} Our decision procedure can be used as a proof method for establishing security objectives such as noninference for recursive programs, and also for refuting security objectives such as observational determinism. Further, if the call stack size is observable to the attacker, the decision procedure provides exact verification.


The authors reveiw the anatomy, circulation, planning and techniques of preparing ileofemoral flaps. The possibilities of application of these flaps, advantages and disadvantages of the procedure are discussed. The authors use ileofemoral flaps as a new effective procedure for covering sores of the trochante area.


In the literature, many wireless local area network (WLAN) performance estimations are done with the assumption of uniformly distributed stations (STAs). On the contrary, in practice STAs are distributed unevenly among access points (APs) in the network, causing hot spots and under utilized APs (Bejerano, Han, and Li, 2004). Considering a WLAN is made up of multiple APs, having some APs carrying excessive loads (i.e. hot-spots) degrades both considered APs as well as the overall network performance. The system performance can be improved by associating incoming STAs effectively throughout the network, in a sense to balance the network load evenly between APs. Currently employed user association method in IEEE 802.11 WLANs considers only the received signal strength of APs at STAs, and associates STAs to the closest (in signal strength sense) AP ignoring its load. Novel user association algorithms are required in order to increase the network performance. In this work, a new association algorithm is proposed taking into consideration not only the received signal strength of the APs but also AP loadings. Proposed algorithm predicts the effective data rate of the connection and avoids the congestion. In hot-spot areas, system throughput improvement up to 90% is observed compared to current association algorithms


The computer program LIAR (LInear Accelerator Research Code) is a numerical modeling and simulation tool for high performance linacs. Amongst others, it addresses the needs of state-of-the-art linear colliders where low emittance, high-intensity beams must be accelerated to energies in the 0.05-1 TeV range. LIAR is designed to be used for a variety of different projects. LIAR allows the study of single- and multi-particle beam dynamics in linear accelerators. It calculates emittance dilutions due to wakefield deflections, linear and non-linear dispersion and chromatic effects in the presence of multiple accelerator imperfections. Both single-bunch and multi-bunch beams can be simulated. Several basic and advanced optimization schemes are implemented. Present limitations arise from the incomplete treatment of bending magnets and sextupoles. A major objective of the LIAR project is to provide an open programming platform for the accelerator physics community. Due to its design, LIAR allows straight-forward access to its internal FORTRAN data structures. The program can easily be extended and its interactive command language ensures maximum ease of use. Presently, versions of LIAR are compiled for UNIX and MS Windows operating systems. An interface for the graphical visualization of results is provided. Scientific graphs can be saved in the PS and EPS file formats. In addition a Mathematica interface has been developed. LIAR now contains more than 40,000 lines of source code in more than 130 subroutines. This report describes the theoretical basis of the program, provides a reference for existing features and explains how to add further commands. The LIAR home page and the ONLINE version of this manual can be accessed under: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/grp/arb/rwa/liar.htm.


This short paper concerns a legal-philosophical and legal-theoretical (but in fact, more interdisciplinary) problem of so called cognitive enhancement and of what to do with (possible) influence of neuroscience on legal and moral responsibility. The problem of responsibility in the law is treated as one of the most important themes in jurisprudence. We say that some people are responsible for behaviour (e.g. the competent, adults). But we must seek the limits of the idea that responsibility "tracks" mental capacity. According to the paper assumptions, we should consider two fundamental questions. Firstly, have some professionals such as surgeons, soldiers, pilots a responsibility (duty) to cognitively enhance themselves (by e.g. drugs)? Secondly, if so, after the enhancement should they be acquired by greater responsibilities (greater standard of care)? I see some dangers for morality, freedom, human rights in the case of two positive answers for these questions. I analyse some projects of recommendation of the law change. I strictly highlight really potential axiological problems, too.


Much work within the field of childhood studies has focused on the social discourses through which childhood is understood. This article draws on this work in developing a critical framework for considering the appeal of Beryl the Peril. The article examines the influence of conceptualisations of childhood prevalent in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These theorised children as disruptive and requiring restraint. Approved literature for children sought to socialise them into the adult order. However, a more subversive strain, identifiable in Lewis Carroll's Alice novels, celebrated an anarchic vision of childhood. This article examines how Beryl the Peril negotiated these conflicting conceptions of childhood. Beryl is an unruly force; her opponent, and representative of social authority, is Dad. Their clashes play out the tensions in these articulations of childhood. The development of Beryl over nearly 60 years provides an opportunity to examine how her subversive spirit has remained appealing.


The Royal Cemetery at Tepe Marlik was excavated in one incredible 14-month season. The 53 intact tombs contained a fabulous array of precious metal vessels, jewelry, sculpture, weapons, and other artifacts. The gripping tale of these excavations and a detailed report of the excavation and the artifacts from the burials is presented in these two lavishly illustrated volumes. University Museum Monograph, 87


Background: In Ph+ALL, responsiveness to single-agent imatinib (IM) is determined by the disease stage: whereas more than 90% of pts. with newly diagnosed Ph+ALL achieve a complete remission (CR), the CR rate in patients who failed previous chemotherapy is only 20–30%, with a median time to progression of only 2.2 months. Approximately 80% of pts. with Ph+ALL who relapse during IM-based therapy express a BCR-ABL Tyrosine Kinase Domain (TKD) mutation known to confer high-level IM resistance. We recently showed that in 30– 40% of pts. with de novo Ph+ALL, the same mutation found at relapse is already detectable at a low level prior to first IM exposure; in conjunction with the high response rate, this finding indicates limited growth kinetics of the mutant BCR-ABL clones. To elucidate the reasons for the low CR rate observed in advanced Ph+ALL receiving IM salvage therapy, we compared the frequency and type of up-front mutations, the level of mutant clones, and the outgrowth kinetics of mutations during the first 4 weeks of IM monotherapy in de novo Ph+ALL pts. and in pts. who had failed prior chemotherapy. Patients and methods: We employed denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (D-HPLC) and cDNA sequencing to examine bone marrow and/or peripheral blood samples collected pre-treatment, during therapy and at the time of relapse from 54 pts. with newly diagnosed Ph+ALL (>55 yrs.) enrolled in a GMALL study of combined IM and chemotherapy (n=48) or treated analogously (n=6) and from 67 Ph+ALL pts. who were enrolled in the initial phase II studies of single-agent IM as salvage treatment after prior chemotherapy. Results: Prior to first IM exposure, TKD mutations were detected in 33% (21/63) of pts. with advanced Ph+ALL and 31% (9/29) of pts. with de novo Ph+ALL. The incidence of mutations observed at relapse was substantially higher but did not differ significantly between the two cohorts: 70% in pts. with advanced disease who relapsed on IM monotherapy (33 of 50 pts.; P-loop 48%, T315I 16%, A-loop 2%) and 84% in de novo ALL pts. (n=26), treated with combination therapy (P-loop 46%, T315I 15%, A-loop 9,5%). In contrast, the outgrowth of cells expressing mutated bcr-abl during the first four weeks of IM therapy was considerably more rapid in Ph+ALL pts who had failed prior chemotherapy: mutations were detected after 2 and/or 4 weeks IM in only 44% of patients (8/18 evaluable) with newly diagnosed Ph+ALL, whereas 69% of patients (27/39) with advanced Ph+ALL expressed mutant BCR-ABL on at least one of these timepoints. Moreover, the percentage of mutated BCR-ABL was below 1% in all 8 pts. with a mutation in the former cohort (de novo Ph+ALL), but higher than 5% (range: 5 – 100) in 16 of the 27 advanced disease pts (59%) who had a TKD mutation. Conclusions: In Ph+ALL, the incidence, distribution pattern and level of TKD mutations detected prior to - or at relapse on - IM does not differ between pts with newly diagnosed leukemia and those having failed prior chemotherapy. In contrast, patients with advanced disease are characterised by considerably more rapid outgrowth kinetics of leukemic cells expressing BCR-ABL mutations, providing clinical-translational evidence for a cooperative effect between mutational and non-mutational resistance mechanisms.


The resistance characteristics of a trimaran are studied, varying the bottom profile and transom stern of the main hull. The bottom profile is varied in three cases (convex, flat, concave). Using the experimental and numerical methods, the resistance performance of each hull form is compared. The experiments are carried out in ship model basin, and the numerical simulations are performed by a finite-difference method, based on the Marker and Cell scheme. Euler and continuity equationsare used for the governing equations of the flow field around a trimaran with transom stern. The agreement of both results is good. The optimal bottom profiles for transom stern are presented for low-speed and high-speed regions, respectively.


Diabetic Retinopathy is a public health disease worldwide, which shows that around one percent of the population suffers from this disease. Likewise, another one percent of patients in the population suffer from this disease, but it is not diagnosed. It is estimated that, within three years, millions of people will suffer from this disease. This will increase the percentage of vascular, ophthalmological and neurological complications, which will translate into premature deaths and deterioration in the quality of life of patients. That is why we face a great challenge, which is to predict and detect the signs of diabetic retinopathy at an early stage.For this reason, this paper presents a Machine Learning model focused on the optimization of a classification method using support vector machines for the early prediction of Diabetic Retinopathy. The optimization of the support vector machine consists of adjusting parameters such as: separation margin penalty between support vectors, separation kernel, among others. This method has been trained using an image dataset called Messidor. In this way, the extraction and preprocessing of the data is carried out to carry out a descriptive analysis and obtain the most relevant variables through supervised learning. In this sense, we can see that the most outstanding variables for the risk of diabetic retinopathy are type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.For the evaluation of the proposed method we have used quality measures such as: MAE, MSE, RSME, but the most important are Accuracy, Precision, Recall and F1 for the optimization of classification problems. Therefore, to show the efficacy and effectiveness of the proposed method, we have used a public database, which has allowed us to accurately predict the signs of diabetic retinopathy. Our method has been compared with other relevant methods in classification problems, such as neural networks and genetic algorithms. The support vector machine has proven to be the best for its accuracy.In the state of the art, the works related to Diabetic Retinopathy are presented, as well as the outstanding works with respect to Machine Learning and especially the most outstanding works in Support Vector Machines. We have described the main parameters of the method and also the general process of the algorithm with the description of each step of the analysis model. We have included the values of hyper parameters experienced in the compared methods. In this way we present the best values of the parameters that have generated the best results.Finally, the most relevant results and the corresponding analysis are presented, where the results of the comparison made with the methods of Neural Networks, SVM and Genetic Algorithm will be evidenced. This study gives way to future research related to diabetic retinopathy with the aim of conjecturing the information and thus seeking a better solution.


Summary

A device that infiltrated water over a small circular surface area having a radius ranging between 1.45 mm and 2.5 mm was used to measure the sorptivity of initially air-dry aggregates of size greater than 20 mm. The small infiltration area caused the water uptake to be dominated by capillarity that allowed the use of a simple formula to obtain the sorptivity from the steady-state flow rate that occurred very early after the start of imbibition. The results of measurements of sorptivity made on a fine sand agreed with those obtained from measurements on one-dimensional water infiltration into columns of the sand. Sorptivity measurements on stabilized aggregates of a clay soil and on air-dried field aggregates of a clay soil were easily made. The simplicity and rapidity of the method allowed measurements to be conveniently replicated.


The study aims to develop the concepts of school culture through the transformational leadership process. The study used qualitative methods with a phenomenological design involving case studies in Citra Berkat Kindergarten Surabaya. To collect the data, the researchers used interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis employed qualitative and descriptive techniques. The results of this study showed that Citra Berkat Kindergarten Surabaya has developed school cultur based on values. It was concluded that IPE (Integrity, Professionality, and Entrepreneurship) for kids is relevant to introducing entrepreneurship in early childhood education. The transformational leadership of the principal school of Citra Berkat Kindergarten has a complete picture of how the organization should be. The school principal expresses the organizational values basic principles to be shared and realized by all components of Citra Berkat Kindergarten.


Increased human demands upon water resources and growing uncertainty surrounding climate change have focused attention on the need to determine environmental flows (e-flows) to protect and sustain river ecosystems. Internationally there have been several advances but within England an anthropocentric approach to water resources management has led to polices that set minimum flows founded in fear of water shortage. By exploring the history of flow management in England and its influence on current practice, and by introducing the concept of 'ecological drought' as a basis for managing future flows, this thesis makes two valuable contributions to the e-flows debate. It also explores the influence of George Baxter who more than 50 years ago proposed that compensation flows below dams could be varied to meet the seasonal ecological requirements without reducing water supplies.

In this thesis, hydrological assessments are made of watercourses spanning the 'natural – heavily modified' continuum located across the River Trent and Great Ouse catchments of central England, using a dataset of 48 stations and approximately 1000 station-years. Analyses highlight a variety of 'ecological drought' responses, in magnitude, timing and duration, with extreme low flows being rarely observed on all watercourses in the same year. This suggests e-flow determinations at the local, sub-catchment, scale would have benefits for environmental protection and water supply. A variety of potential e-flow metrics are examined and Baxter's hypothesis tested. It is shown that supporting flows during the key ecological periods of spring and autumn, while sustaining current levels of abstraction, would risk degradation of the rivers through the increased frequency and duration of extreme low flows. Finally, the thesis examines practical issues impacting on any future e-flows policies relating to climate change and hydrometry.


We experimentally evaluated 3 different rating conditions that balanced accountability and anonymity, and evaluated the impact of each on the accuracy of subordinates' ratings of their supervisors. Self-accountability, the rating method that reflects the status quo, involved the anonymous
 submission of ratings. Ratee accountability involved the rater being identified to the ratee (their supervisor). In the external-accountability condition the rater was held accountable to a consultant. We used two popular rating methodologies. Although not all results reached significance,
 the pattern of results pointed to external accountability and ratee accountability generally resulting in more accurate ratings than did self-accountability.


To identify a commonly deleted region of 13q14 in idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF), we used fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis to test for deletion of the RB1 and BRCA2 genes, and the microsatellite loci D13S319 and D13S25, in a series of 25 patients. A further two patients with myelofibrosis secondary to polycythaemia vera and essential thrombocythaemia with reciprocal 13q translocations were studied in an attempt to further define the CDR. Twenty out of 21 patients with a cytogenetically normal chromosome 13 failed to show allelic loss with any of the four probes. In contrast, all four cases with cytogenetic deletion of 13q14 and both cases with 13q translocations involving 13q14 exhibited loss of RB1, D13S319 and D13S25. Loss of the BRCA2 locus was present in a single case only. Our results indicate that cryptic deletions of the 13q14 in myelofibrosis are rare. In addition, the genetic loss associated with cytogenetic 13q14 deletions or reciprocal translocations involving 13q14 is large and encompasses the gene‐rich region around RB1, D13S319 and D13S25.


Healthcare is a dynamic and complex sociotechnical system. Human factor principles have been recognised to improve care delivery and patient safety.

 To determine if the workload among foundation doctors working in the surgical department was excessive leading to burnout and to propose solutions.

 A retrospective audit was performed in a general surgical department at a District General Hospital. Data were collected for 3 months in 2022 from the patient record system.

 There were 7 consultant-led teams in the surgical department comprising a surgical registrar and senior house officer. 6 of them have a foundation doctor each. The number of on-calls (13-hour shift from Monday-Thursday or Friday-Sunday) has a median of 5. In August, the cumulative patients under the care of a team ranged from 57 to 300. In September, the number ranged from 77 to 277. In October, the number ranged from 98 to 302.

 The number of patients under the care of different teams varied greatly which signified some foundation doctors might have more workload. The workload should be ideally consistent and sustainable to optimise patient care. The next step would to be assess their burnout risk using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). With the data, the aim would be to create measures for decreasing or sharing the cognitive workload. If the occupational stressors are not addressed, the rippling effect could be detrimental to both the healthcare workers and patients.


We will study the cosmological solutions of a class of Galileon models. A special class of the Bianchi type I power-law solutions will be presented in this paper. We will show that these Bianchi type I power-law solutions are stable during the inflationary phase. In addition, we will also show that the presence of a phantom field induces at least an unstable mode for the perturbation equation and destabilizes the power-law solutions.


We present an alternative method of evaluating Quality Estimation systems, which is based on a linguistically-motivated Test Suite. We create a test-set consisting of 14 linguistic error categories and we gather for each of them a set of samples with both correct and erroneous translations. Then, we measure the performance of 5 Quality Estimation systems by checking their ability to distinguish between the correct and the erroneous translations. The detailed results are much more informative about the ability of each system. The fact that different Quality Estimation systems perform differently at various phenomena confirms the usefulness of the Test Suite.


There is an increasing body of literature from both clinical and basic science studies regarding opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH). Although there has been debate about its clinical relevance, it is becoming clear that OIH presents a clinical challenge in acute, chronic, and cancer pain settings. OIH is a paradoxical response to an opioid agonist, whereby instead of an analgesic, or antinociceptive effect occurring, there is an increase in pain perception. This may occur in the area of the pain being treated or may be a more generalized increase in pain, often with features associated with neuropathic pain, such as hyperalgesia or allodynia. It is different from tolerance, where an increased dose of opioid is required to get the same analgesic effect, but there is no increase in pain as a result of opioid administration. In order to address this problem, a greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms and more knowledge about its clinical manifestations of OIH are needed. Basic science studies are beginning to clarify some of the contributory mechanisms, many of which are similar to those that underlie the development of tolerance. From laboratory models of OIH, it is clear that, as with many chronic pain states, there are both peripheral and central changes in nociceptive processing. Alterations in the spinal cord are important, with some form of central sensitization occurring. This is likely to involve the ionotropic glutamate receptor, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, known to play a key role in central sensitization. In rodent models of OIH, using chronic opioid administration, C-fibre potentiation has been demonstrated, similar to that seen with central sensitization. This can be prevented with NMDA receptor block and a range of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of NMDA receptor antagonists in preventing OIH. 3 Spinal neurones in culture show increased NMDA receptor activity after chronic morphine administration, also seen acutely with remifentanil or a dynorphin agonist. Further evidence for the involvement of glutamate comes from work using gabapentin, which has a presynaptic effect on glutamate release, and dose dependently decreases OIH from repeat fentanyl in rats. Minville and colleagues, in this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, present findings that add further weight to the importance of the NMDA receptor in acute OIH. Their model has the benefits of more closely mimicking the clinical situation than some previous models, and as such their findings may be more directly translatable. Using a mouse fracture model combined with intramedullary pinning, and intermittent parenteral administration of sufentanil, they demonstrated the development of both mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia, after an initial antinociceptive effect. This OIH was prevented by ketamine, which also prevented the reduced efficacy of postoperative morphine if sufentanil was given alone. Modulation of spinal input by descending pathways from the brainstem is also implicated in the development of OIH, with a shift in the balance between descending inhibitory control towards pronociceptive systems. These pronociceptive systems may be more active in certain chronic pain states and also seems to play a role in OIH, acting via 5-HT3 and possibly 5-HT2 receptors. Ondansetron, a widely used 5-HT3 antagonist, blocks signs of OIH. Several endogenous neuropeptides may also work via descending spinal pathways, with increased endogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) in the brainstem contributing to OIH, with this effect being reversed by CCK-2 antagonists. Substance P, acting via NK-1 receptors, may also be involved, as destruction of NK-1 containing neurones, with the toxin saporin, prevents OIH. 9 Spinal administration of an NK-1 antagonist reverses OIH, with increased NK-1 receptor internalization in the dorsal horn detected in OIH. The NK-1 receptor may also interact with NMDA receptors to modify descending control.


Forest degradation leads to the gradual reduction of forest carbon stocks, function, and biodiversity following anthropogenic disturbance. Whilst tropical degradation is a widespread problem, it is currently very under-studied and its magnitude and extent are largely unknown. This is due, at least in part, to the lack of developed and tested methods for monitoring degradation. Due to the relatively subtle and ongoing changes associated with degradation, which can include the removal of small trees for fuelwood or understory clearance for agricultural production, it is very hard to detect using Earth Observation. Furthermore, degrading activities are normally spatially heterogeneous and stochastic, and therefore conventional forest inventory plots distributed across a landscape do not act as suitable indicators: at best only a small proportion of plots (often zero) will actually be degraded in a landscape undergoing active degradation. This problem is compounded because the metal tree tags used in permanent forest inventory plots likely deter tree clearance, biasing inventories toward under-reporting change. We have therefore developed a new forest plot protocol designed to monitor forest degradation. This involves a plot that can be set up quickly, so a large number can be established across a landscape, and easily remeasured, even though it does not use tree tags or other obvious markers. We present data from a demonstration plot network set up in Jalisco, Mexico, which were measured twice between 2017 and 2018. The protocol was successful, with one plot detecting degradation under our definition (losing greater than 10% AGB but remaining forest), and a further plot being deforested for Avocado (Persea americana) production. Live AGB ranged from 8.4 Mg ha–1 to 140.8 Mg ha–1 in Census 1, and from 0 Mg ha–1 to 144.2 Mg ha–1 Census 2, with four of ten plots losing AGB, and the remainder staying stable or showing slight increases. We suggest this protocol has great potential for underpinning appropriate forest plot networks for degradation monitoring, potentially in combination with Earth Observation analysis, but also in isolation.


In this paper, practical methods for improving GPS– PPP (Global Positioning System–Precise Point Positioning) accuracy in urban canyons are presented and examined in real severe circumstances. In our previous work, the method for improving positioning accuracy is presented by using a barometric pressure sensor. And the usefulness of the method was shown by the experiments such that the number of satellites used in the position calculation was artificially decreased to 3. In this paper, the algorithm proposed in our previous work is tested for the automobile which runs in real severe circumstances such as near the skyscrapers, raised expressways and the feasibility and usefulness of the proposed method with few satellites are shown.


The reliability of eight methods for estimating gestational age in the third trimester of pregnancy has been assessed in patients with fetuses of known maturity. Late ultrasound cephalometry, amniotic fluid creatinine estimations and lecithin/ sphingomyelin ratio were found to be significantly more reliable than the other five methods. The mean of estimated gestational ages provided by the three techniques used in combination gave a significantly more accurate prediction of fetal age than any single test and allowed formation of a 'maturity profile'.


History of alchemy is a field not always covered by serious scientists, due to the recent popular interest in metallic transmutation and the development of alchemical medicine. Thus, I am pleased to see a carefully prepared book by two distinguished Swiss scientists editing and interpreting a marvelous and precious colored handwritten booklet, which belonged to Ulrich Ruosch, a locally very famous seventeenth-century physician in the Swiss county of Appenzell. It is the smallest alchemical volume known in Switzerland: measuring only 6 x 8 x 1.6 cm, it contains fifty-two parchment pages mostly showing colored pictures with annotations in typical alchemical crypticism. It deserves—from a twenty-first-century point of view—a careful interpretation, and this has been excellently done by the authors. Rudolf Gamper and Thomas Hofmeier first describe the handwriting in detail, providing colored illustrations of almost every page. This chapter is followed by a short overview of the history of alchemy, particularly in Switzerland. The main part of the book is devoted to the interpretation of the text and symbols in Ruosch's booklet. Biographical information, some edited sources, and glossaries complete the fascinating volume. One might argue that this book will be of interest just to people familiar with, and particularly interested in, the history of medicine in Switzerland, but this is definitely not the case. First of all, it offers much information on iatrochemistry in general, and it gives deep insight into alchemical symbolism—in both cases relying on the most relevant historical literature. Furthermore, it is beautifully illustrated and very pleasant to read and look at.


Received: Revised: Accepted: November 27, 2013 February 05, 2014 March 09, 2014 A 7-year-old female Yorkshire terrier dog presented with anorexia and fever due to pyometra; ovariohysterectomy was therefore performed. Histopathological examination showed multiple cysts of variable sizes with hyperplasticity of luteal cells, and the patient was diagnosed with cystic ovarian disease. An abnormal growth and infiltration of adipocytes in the uterus, especially at the border between the endometrium and myometrium, was accidentally identified. Based on the clinical features and histopathological findings, a diagnosis of pure uterine lipoma along with ovarian cystic disease was made. Further immunohistochemical study revealed that the lipomatous tissue was positive for the protein S-100, vimentin, and desmin, as well as estrogen receptors alpha and beta, which is in contrast to humans. Our results suggest a possible role of estrogen receptor signaling in abnormal lipomatous tissue changes in the canine female genital tract. We present here the first case of pure uterine lipoma in a dog and describe its characteristics. ©2014 PVJ. All rights reserved


In the 25 years since the introduction of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) into the UK, there have been dramatic changes in the surgical management of posterior segment pathology. Initially, these were largely exploratory—the new found ability to access the structures and surgical pathology of the posterior segment enabling a wide range of treatment methods previously impossible to contemplate, let alone accomplish. Control of the intraocular environment, improved delivery of internal tamponade and the design of a battery of common gauge micro instruments led rapidly to an explosion of innovative techniques.

During the past 15 years, the initial explosion has given way to a (largely) quiet revolution, with the development and refinement of established and proved methods and their direction along logical paths of treatment, in conditions which hitherto caused severe and permanent loss of sight.

The paper by Ah-Fat et al , in this issue of the BJO (p 396), reminds us that PPV offers …


Clinical governance of healthcare and community services by healthcare organizations requires the use of validated tools for identifying the specific healthcare needs of the local population. The population served by a local health organization may be large and although data regarding this population as a whole is useful for a preliminary evaluation, it may be too generic for an accurate estimation of the healthcare needs at the district level since different districts may face different challenges and have profoundly different realities. In this context, it can be strategically useful to use a system of indicators targeted at districts, the latter regarded as the basic unit of the health care system and characterized by a relatively constant structure and size.A set of district indicators has been developed and adopted by a local health authority in Rome (Italy) "ASL Roma B", as part of a collaborative project with the Public Health Agency of the Lazio region. In this paper, we present the main results of the first four years of implementation of the system (from 2007 to 2010).The data shows that even within a metropolitan health organization serving an apparently homogeneous population, health needs, provision of services and outcomes may vary greatly between different districts suggesting the adoption of diverse operational strategies.


The sensibility of 375 pasteurellae of bovine origin (215 pasteurella multocida--and 160 pasteurella haemolytica--strains) was examined against 16 antibiotics or chemotherapeutics by agar diffusion technique. A great part of the strains was resistant to oxacillin (41,18%), tylosin (79,14%), streptomycin (53,21%), sulfonamides (57,33%) and tetracycline (47,20%). Only a few resistant strains were found for cephalothin (5,07%), polymyxin B (0,27%) and enrofloxacin (0,53%). While 16,27% of all isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, 100% of the pasteurella strains proved to be sensible to its structural analogon florfenicol. This is affirmed by the low minimal inhibitory concentrations (0,25-1,0 micrograms/ml) of this antibiotic.


In applications of supervised learning applied to medical image segmentation, the need for large amounts of labeled data typically goes unquestioned. In particular, in the case of brain anatomy segmentation, hundreds or thousands of weakly-labeled volumes are often used as training data. In this paper, we first observe that for many brain structures, a small number of training examples, (n=9), weakly labeled using Freesurfer 6.0, plus simple data augmentation, suffice as training data to achieve high performance, achieving an overall mean Dice coefficient of $0.84 \pm 0.12$ compared to Freesurfer over 28 brain structures in T1-weighted images of $\approx 4000$ 9-10 year-olds from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. We then examine two varieties of heteroscedastic network as a method for improving classification results. An existing proposal by Kendall and Gal, which uses Monte-Carlo inference to learn to predict the variance of each prediction, yields an overall mean Dice of $0.85 \pm 0.14$ and showed statistically significant improvements over 25 brain structures. Meanwhile a novel heteroscedastic network which directly learns the probability that an example has been mislabeled yielded an overall mean Dice of $0.87 \pm 0.11$ and showed statistically significant improvements over all but one of the brain structures considered. The loss function associated to this network can be interpreted as performing a form of learned label smoothing, where labels are only smoothed where they are judged to be uncertain.


ABSTRACT This paper presents a the study on air curtain system of top and bottom bi-directional jet air discharge for blocking the spread of smoke in case of tunnel fire. The five kinds different air curtains of A, B, C, D, and E of models for various performance tested after manufactured. A results of the various performance test obtained the best efficiency from E model air curtain. And optimize the injection angle of the air curtain nozzle through the three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and analyzed the effects of external pressure of tunnel. and also single factor design have been applied. At present, our attention is focused on the velocity distribution(flow width and flow position) of 1.5m on the ground in tunnel. Also, analyzed the influence of draft in the tunnel. Detailed effects of discharge angle of air curtain and velocity at nozzle exit are discussed. 1. 서 론 터널 방연 에어커튼이란 터널 내부에서 화재가 발생했을 때 운전자들이 안전하게 대피할 수 있는 피난공간을 확보하기 위해 고압 공기를 분사해 화재시 발생되는 유독성 연기를 차단하는 시설이다. 현재 전국 고속도로 상에 있는 500 ∼1,000m 터널 123개소 가운데 93개소의 터널에는 피난연결통로가 설치되지 않은 것으로 파악됐다.


Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) are prominent members of the avifauna in Australia, typically with four to five resident species in any area. We recorded vocalisations from six species resident around Adelaide in South Australia: the Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata, Little Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera, Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala, White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenostomus penicillatus, New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae and Crescent Honeyeater Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera. The larger honeyeaters (Red and Little Wattlebird) produced characteristically harsh vocalisations covering a wide range of frequencies. Crescent and White-plumed Honeyeaters had a varied and complex repertoire of calls and songs which were quite musical in nature. Noisy Miners and New Holland Honeyeaters produced vocalisations dominated by simple single note whistles. Each species had specific vocalisations emitted in different contexts: alarm, distress, begging and contact calls as well as song. Alarm and distress calls of the six species had common characteristics and typically induced responses from other honeyeater species.


Abstract : The electromagnetic scattering responses of nonlinearly loaded antenna structures excited by single-tone or multi-tone incident fields are considered in the frequency domain by employing a combination of the method-of-moments and a harmonic balance technique. Subsequently, standoff detection and localization of the scatterers in the presence of a half-space or within a complex room is demonstrated with a subspace imaging procedure by exploiting the steady-state, multistatic harmonic scattering responses collected over an aspect-limited aperture. For the half-space problem, the attenuation rates of the harmonic scattered fields as a function of sensing range are investigated; the Green's function vector in the imaging functional is derived efficiently with the application of second-order-accurate asymptotic propagation techniques; and nearfield imaging performance for single and multiple targets is also examined in the presence of noise and linear clutter. For the sensing-through-the-wall problem, the effectiveness of the imaging technique is analyzed with the assumption that the complex-room environment Green's function is not known a priori. This study is intended to provide an analysis and simulation framework needed to facilitate the development of a complementary nonlinear detection capability for an existing near-ground, forward-looking linear imaging radar system.


In this paper, the stand-alone photovoltaic system for cathodic protection of underground pipelines is presented. The proposed system offers continuous and automatic adjustment of the applied voltage so that the buried pipelines receive the exact current. A modified perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is used to improve dynamic and steady state performance. The battery stores excess energy generated by PV array and supplies the load when there is a shortage of the photo voltaic (PV) power. To extend the battery lifetime and the system efficiency, the battery is connected to the DC link by a ZVS bidirectional Buck-Boost converter. A classic PI controller regulates output voltage by controlling the duty cycle of the converter. The supervisor controls the converter to operate system in suitable modes based on the state of charge (SOC) of the battery and DC link voltage. The simulation verified that the output voltage obtains the constant voltage under any climatic conditions. Keyword: DC-DC converter, Photovoltaic, Maximum power point tracking, Anode-bed, Cathodic protection.


Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most frequent injuries to the knee joint in the young. ACL repair is a major orthopedic procedure most often performed in the younger adult population. Early stabilization of the knee joint by ACL reconstruction also decreases the risk of injury to other important structures. At ACL reconstruction, the biggest problem is usually the exact placement of drilled tunnels. This significantly affects the outcome of surgery, i. e., range of motion, knee joint stability, reaction of the synovium in the knee, pain, impingement and potential graft failure with lesion development. However, 70 % of ACL reconstructions are carried out by orthopedic surgeons whose experience is limited to less than 20 ACL repair procedures in a year! Arthroscopy does not allow the surgeon to gain a complete 3D view of important anatomical structures, particularly in the anteroposterior direction. Computer-assisted navigation systems should aid in minimizing these problems. First reports on the use of computer-assisted navigation in ACL reconstruction, which have already been published in the international literature, have provided clear evidence that more exact bone tunnel placement can be achieved with navigation than with the use of conventional techniques. In addition, kinematic navigation enables us to measure anteroposterior and rotational knee stability, isometry, impingement and the angles of bone tunnel placement. It permits a choice from various types of graft. Last but not least, kinematic navigation provides a tool for recording surgery outcomes without a necessity to use further examination methods. Its drawbacks, namely, the learning curve, additional fixation of navigation probes to the femur and tibia and slightly longer operative time, should be considered in the context of presumed long-term benefits for the patient.