With a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) being able to exceed 90% for those prepared by the hot injection method, CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) have attracted intensive attention for white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). However, the whole process is carried out in a 3-neck flask via air isolation and at a relatively high temperature. In addition, CsPbBr3 QDs suffer from poor stability under ambient atmosphere. In this work, an effective strategy through doping of Sn2+ ions at room-temperature is proposed to improve the emission efficiency and stability of CsPbBr3 QDs. Compared with pure CsPbBr3 QDs, a higher PLQY and a better stability are obtained. The detailed physical mechanism for this performance enhancement is discussed and described. An optimum result is found at an Sn2+ doping amount of 20%, which shows a high PLQY of 82.77%. WLEDs based on these 20% Sn2+ doped CsPbBr3 QDs are also studied, exhibiting a high color rendering index of 89 and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 3954. The method proposed here provides an effective strategy to enhance the fluorescence and stability of CsPbBr3 QDs, which might have promising potential in the lighting fields.


Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery for closure of the persistently patent arterial duct is an effective answer to the modern effort of seeking repair of congenital cardiac malformations with minimally invasive techniques. Between June, 1994, and December, 2002, 150 consecutive patients with an echocardiographic diagnosis of isolated patency of the arterial duct were referred to our Institution for video assisted thoracoscopic closure. The median age at the time of operation was 45 months, with a range from 3 to 161 months, and mean weight was 18 kg, with a range from 4.2 to 73 kg. Video assisted closure was possible in 139 patients (93%). The mean operative time was 37 min, with a range from 14 to 89 min. In the remaining 11 patients (7%), seen early in our experience, we converted to a mini-thoracotomy to achieve closure. In no instance did we encounter major haemorrhage requiring blood transfusion, and there were no hospital deaths. The mean period of stay in hospital was less than 24 h in 61 patients, less than 48 h in 88 patients seen earlier in our experience, and 21 days in 1 patient because of a persistent chylothorax. Other complications included palsy of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve in 1 patient, with partial regression at 6 months follow-up. We conclude that closure of the arterial duct by video-assisted thoroscopy combines the advantages of safe and complete extraluminal occlusion with an excellent clinical and aesthetic result, minimal postoperative pain, and short stay in hospital at low cost.


Abstract Detection distance is an important and common auxiliary variable measured during avian point count surveys. Distance data are used to determine the area sampled and to model the detection process using distance sampling theory. In densely forested habitats, visual detections of birds are rare, and most estimates of detection distance are based on auditory cues. Distance sampling theory assumes detection distances are measured accurately, but empirical validation of this assumption for auditory detections is lacking. We used a song playback system to simulate avian point counts with known distances in a forested habitat to determine the error structure of distance estimates based on auditory detections. We conducted field evaluations with 6 experienced observers both before and after distance estimation training. We conducted additional studies to determine the effect of height and speaker orientation (toward or away from observers) on distance estimation error. Distance estimation errors for all evaluations were substantial, although training reduced errors and bias in distance estimates by approximately 15%. Measurement errors showed a nonlinear relationship to distance. Our results suggest observers were not able to differentiate distances beyond 65 m. The height from which we played songs had no effect on distance estimation errors in this habitat. The orientation of the song source did have a large effect on distance estimation errors; observers generally doubled their distance estimates for songs played away from them compared with distance estimates for songs played directly toward them. These findings, which we based on realistic field conditions, suggest measures of uncertainty in distance estimates to auditory detections are substantially higher than assumed by most researchers. This means aural point count estimates of avian abundance based on distance methods deserve careful scrutiny because they are likely biased.


SUMMARY The Antarctic fishes, isolated over evolutionary history in the sub-zero waters of the Southern Ocean, are an ideal group for studying the processes of cold adaptation. One species of Antarctic notothenioid fish, Trematomus bernacchii, has lost the ability to induce heat shock proteins (Hsps) in response to exposure to acute thermal stress or to the toxic heavy metal cadmium, an important part of the cellular defense response to such stressors. To elucidate the mechanism responsible for the lack of Hsp induction, we examined several stages of the hsp gene expression pathway, including transcription factor activity, Hsp70 mRNA production and protein synthesis patterns, in hepatocytes from T. bernacchii. Hsp70 mRNA was detected, as was heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) with DNA-binding activity. However, exposure to elevated temperature and to chemical inducers of the heat shock response failed to increase Hsp70 mRNA levels, HSF1 activity or the concentration of any size class of Hsps. These results suggest that Hsps, inducible in nearly every other species, are expressed constitutively in the cold-adapted T. bernacchii.


Synthetic siliceous mesoporous materials are of great value in many different applications, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and medical fields, but historically the resource materials used in their synthesis have been expensive. Recent efforts have focused on indirect synthesis methods which utilize less expensive silicate minerals as a resource material. The purpose of the present study was to investigate talc, a natural silicate mineral, as one such resource. It was used as raw material to prepare two advanced materials: porous silica (PS) and ordered mesoporous silica (MCM-41). The PS, with a specific surface area of 260 m2/g and bimodal pore-size distribution of 1.2 nm and 3.7 nm, was prepared by grinding and subsequent acid leaching. The MCM-41, with a large surface area of 974 m2/g and a narrow pore-size distribution of 2.8 nm, was obtained using a surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), by hydrothermal treatment using the as-prepared PS as a source of Si. The two resultant materials were characterized by small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), solid-state magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and N2 adsorption-desorption measurements. Based on these measurements, possible processes of transformation of PS from talc, upon acid treatment, and the formation of MCM-41 were investigated systemically. Acid leaching induced the transformation of a rigid layered structure to a nearly amorphous one, with micropores formed by a residual layered structure and mesopores formed from a condensed framework. The MCM-41 was a mixture of silanol groups (Si(SiO)3(OH)) and a condensed Q4 framework structure (Si(SiO)4), with a small amount of remaining Q3 layered structure (Si(SiO)3OMg). The increased Q4/Q3 value confirmed greater polymerization of MCM-41 than of PS. At the low CTAB concentration used (2 wt.%), the highly charged silicate species controlled the surfactant geometry. Charge-density matching, together with the degree of polymerization of the silicates, determined the resultant mesophase.


Interview with Ivan Arteaga, Mexican national and immigrant to Princeton, Texas, as part of the DFW Metroplex Immigrants Oral History Project. The interview includes Arteaga's personal experiences of childhood and education in Mexico City. Arteaga also talks about his family's decision to immigrate to Provo, Utah, his first impressions of the U.S., marriage, deciding to relocate to Texas, opinions regarding anti-immigrant feelings prevalent in American culture and regarding the U.S. immigration bureaucracy, as well as his feelings about his two children's U.S. citizenship.


Searching for objects in an indoor environment can be drastically improved if a task-specific visual saliency is available. We describe a method to learn such an object-based visual saliency in an intrinsically motivated way using an environment exploration mechanism. We first define saliency in a geometrical manner and use this definition to discover salient elements given an attentive but costly observation of the environment. These elements are used to train a fast classifier that predicts salient objects given large-scale visual features. In order to get a better and faster learning, we use intrinsic motivation to drive our observation selection, based on uncertainty and novelty detection. Our approach has been tested on RGB-D images, is real-time, and outperforms several state-of-the-art methods in the case of indoor object detection.


Viewing emotional as compared with neutral images results in an increase in force production. An emotion-driven increase in force production has been associated with increased brain activity in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and primary motor cortex (M1). In many instances, however, force production must be held constant despite changes in emotional state and the neural circuits underlying this form of control are not well understood. To address this issue, we designed a task in which subjects viewed pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images during a force production task. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging and examined functional connectivity between emotion and motor circuits. Despite similar force performance across conditions, increased brain activity was evidenced in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and left ventral premotor cortex (PMv) when force was produced during emotional as compared with neutral conditions. Connectivity analyses extended these findings by demonstrating a task-dependent functional circuit between dmPFC and ventral and dorsal portions of premotor cortex. Our findings show that when force production has to be consistent despite changes in emotional context, a functional circuit between dmPFC and PMv and dorsal premotor cortex is engaged.


Tumor is one of the fateful diseases that human must confront. Currently, quantitative research is still the principal body of the research on cancer. Qualitative research can compensate the limitations of quantitative research in evaluating therapeutic effects on cancer, it can profoundly understand the attitude, experience, confidence, presumable problems and obstacles of doctors and patients to the therapy. This article introduces the necessity and general situation of development in applying qualitative research methods in the researches on tumor, and the main problems and developing tendency for extending in China.


A nomenclatural overview of the genus Sibbaldianthe (Rosaceae, tribe Potentilleae) is provided, following the recent re-circumscription of genera in subtribe Fragariinae based on molecular phylogenetic and morphological evidence. It is demonstrated that the names Potentilla orientalis and P. semiglabra were in fact published by Yuzepchuk (Juzepczuk) without Latin descriptions in 1935, not in 1934; thus, these names and the combinations based on them are invalid. New combinations are validated: Sibbaldianthe subg. Schistophyllidium ( Potentilla subg. Schistophyllidium ); Sibbaldianthe imbricata ( Potentilla imbricata ), S. moorcroftii ( P. moorcroftii ), S. orientalis ( Schistophyllidium bifurcum subsp. orientale , P. orientalis , nom. inval. ), and S. semiglabra ( Schistophyllidium bifurcum subsp. semiglabrum , P. semiglabra , nom. inval. ). Nomenclature, distribution patterns, and data on chromosome numbers of all recognized taxa are discussed. Lectotypes of four names are designated; data on types of other names are provided when available. As currently outlined, the genus Sibbaldianthe contains seven species: two ( S. adpressa and S. sericea ) in subg. Sibbaldianthe and five in subg. Schistophyllidium .


In connection with actuality of smallpox vaccination at present its methods and means are discussed to increase the safety of the first immunization with live vaccines.


The almost sure value of the Hausdorff dimension of limsup sets generated by randomly distributed rectangles in the Heisenberg group is computed in terms of directed singular value functions.


Objectives Beryllium sensitisation (BeS) and chronic beryllium disease (CBD) are caused by exposure to beryllium with susceptibility affected by at least one well-studied genetic host factor, a glutamic acid residue at position 69 (E69) of the HLA-DPβ chain (DPβE69). However, the nature of the relationship between exposure and carriage of the DPβE69 genotype has not been well studied. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between DPβE69 and exposure in BeS and CBD. Methods Current and former workers (n=181) from a US nuclear weapons production facility, the Y-12 National Security Complex (Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA), were enrolled in a case–control study including 35 individuals with BeS and 19 with CBD. HLA-DPB1 genotypes were determined by PCR-SSP. Beryllium exposures were assessed through worker interviews and industrial hygiene assessment of work tasks. Results After removing the confounding effect of potential beryllium exposure at another facility, multivariate models showed a sixfold (OR 6.06, 95% CI 1.96 to 18.7) increased odds for BeS and CBD combined among DPβE69 carriers and a fourfold (OR 3.98, 95% CI 1.43 to 11.0) increased odds for those exposed over an assigned lifetime-weighted average exposure of 0.1 μg/m3. Those with both risk factors had higher increased odds (OR 24.1, 95% CI 4.77 to 122). Conclusion DPβE69 carriage and high exposure to beryllium appear to contribute individually to the development of BeS and CBD. Among workers at a beryllium-using facility, the magnitude of risk associated with either elevated beryllium exposure or carriage of DPβE69 alone appears to be similar.


This cooperative study (8 French Cardiology Departments) was undertaken to determine the postoperative outcome of patients with pure, chronic, non-ischemic mitral regurgitation and poor left ventricular function (ejection fraction less than 50%). Seventy-three patients, 48 males and 25 females with a mean age of 55.5 +/- 12.1 years were included. Fifty-eight patients were in Class III or IV of the NYHA Classification. The average cardiothoracic ratio was 0.59 +/- 0.07. Forty-six patients were in atrial fibrillation. The average ejection fraction was 43 +/- 5 per cent (end systolic volume: 97.8 +/- 37.9 ml/m2; end diastolic volume: 175.2 +/- 67.6 ml/m2). Sixty-one patients underwent prosthetic mitral valve replacement and 12 had a Carpentier valvuloplasty. Two patients died after the operation and 20 died during follow-up (average 48.1 +/- 27.6 months), giving a 5 year actuarial survival rate of 69.6 per cent. In the long-term, fifteen per cent of patients were in NYHA Class III or IV. A multivariate Cox analysis showed that the only predictive factors of a poor outcome were age and female sex. These results of surgery for mitral regurgitation with moderate to severely altered left ventricular function were relatively good, but this study does not allow evaluation of the evolution of patients with mitral regurgitation and very poor left ventricular function (no patients with ejection fraction less than 25%).


ABSTRACT: The development of the international insurance industry along with the growth of the Brazilian insurance market forced the modernization of the insurance legal regime in Brazil with the Law 126 of january 15, 2007. The possibility of using arbitration as a mechanism for resolving disputes under reinsurance agreements reveals that the new Act offers an important tool for the efficiency of the system, and intends to place the country in equal footing with other jurisdictions in the effort to encourage and promote its reinsurance market. However, the use of arbitration, according with the Act, shall conform to specific legislation, which may lead to some initial speculation as to the extent and scope of the parties freedom of contract. This article aims at providing a preliminary discussion of the use of arbitration under the new reinsurance legal regime in the country.


Several researchers have demonstrated that phonological awareness is an important factor in reading development and, it has also been confirmed that there is a positive relationship between reading and phonological awareness: evidences reveal that measures of phonological awareness skills in prereaders are related to their later suc-


Twenty years ago diphenylhydantoin was introduced for the treatment of epilepsy. It quickly became the most useful anticonvulsant medication because it was effective in preventing seizures and its sedative effect was minimal. The treatment of 84 epileptics has been included in this report with three goals in mind: 1) to show that the drug is generally useful by itself; 2) to point out that diphenylhydantoin is superior to other anticonvulsants in some patients; and 3) to emphasize the need for adequate dosage. Progressive neurologic diseases and fixed structural lesions of the brain are present in a significant number of patients in whom good control of seizure cannot be achieved. Uncommonly one sees sensitivity reactions which are similar to the allergic responses to other medications. Toxic reactions occur frequently if one exceeds the patient9s tolerance to the drug but these are readily reversible. The cause of gingival hyperplasia, which is an annoying and common side reaction, was discussed in detail. It seems most likely that this reaction is due primarily to a local toxic effect of diphenylhydantoin as it is secreted in the saliva. The mechanism of action of diphenylhydantoin was discussed in the light of recent and relevant research. The effect of the drug in animals on seizure patterns, seizure threshold and concentration of electrolytes in the brain was reviewed. The basic clue to its primary anticonvulsant effect may be its ability to produce a shift of sodium from inside the cells of the brain to the extracellular space. Other metabolic and humoral effects of diphenylhydantoin were cited and these include its relationship to the pituitary-adrenal system, its ability to lower the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, and its property of increasing the concentration of serotonin in brain tissue. The important anticonvulsants which have been introduced since the advent of diphenylhydantoin were reviewed and emphasis was placed upon the usefulness and limitations in comparison to diphenylhydantoin.


The capability of controlling the motion of nanoobjects on a surface would open perspectives in nanofabrication. Here, we show the proof of concept that the displacement of a 2D nanostructure on a surface can be controlled by means of two perpendicular electric fields. With a specifically designed sample holder, we displace a 2D negative island on Si(001) along a close loop, in a low-energy electron microscope. Our technique could be applied to other systems to assemble nanomaterials.


Background: Although the poor health of people experiencing homelessness is increasingly recognised in health discourse, there is a dearth of research that has quantified the nature and magnitude of chronic health issues and morbidity among people experiencing homelessness, particularly in the Australian context. Methods: Analysis of the medical records of 2068 "active" patients registered with a specialist homeless health service in Perth, Western Australia as of 31 December 2019. Results: Overall, 67.8% of patients had at least one chronic physical health condition, 67.5% had at least one mental health condition, and 61.6% had at least one alcohol or other drug (AOD) use disorder. Nearly half (47.8%) had a dual diagnosis of mental health and AOD use issues, and over a third (38.1%) were tri-morbid (mental health, AOD and physical health condition). Three-quarters (74.9%) were multimorbid or had at least two long-term conditions (LTCs), and on average, each patient had 3.3 LTCs. Conclusions: The study findings have substantial implications from both a health risk and healthcare treatment perspective for people experiencing homeless. The pervasiveness of preventable health conditions among people experiencing homelessness also highlights the imperative to improve the accessibility of public health programs and screening to reduce their morbidity and premature mortality.


C adastral is a system of registration of rights to the property of both movable and immovable belonging to the Property Law, including the system of registration of land rights. In the Indonesian Customary Law System, there is separate ownership of land and buildings or houses, which are caused by different ownership of the legal subject of the owner and the legal subject of the owner of the house or building. As the customary legal system is not written, then the practice of separate ownership is not explicitly registered which indicates and provides the base of ownership to the land builder. In Minangkabau custom, there is heritage land called as Ulayat , which is controlled by tribes and administered by tribal administrators, each tribal family member can build a house on tribal land that is ulayat . Likewise, in North Sumatra known as the Sultan's Grant Land derived from the Sultan's Grant can be built a house or building separately of its ownership. The building of the house or building is not registered, but it is legally recognized. This customary law practice shows the recognition of building objects on land not the owner of the building. In the practice of apartment ownership, it is recognized that a housing unit is a separate object either vertically or horizontally with the foundation of the Flats Act which is de facto separate from the land, since the land is a joint or land owned together, but the registration of ownership of the unit the flats are incorporated in a certificate of ownership rights of the apartment units, this is because the apartment regime in the registration system is subject to the land law regime which raises many problems in society. This study aims to build the concept of legal vacuum in the form of the development of building cadastral system as an alternative solution to create legal certainty on the ownership of buildings, especially in buildings Flats due to time constraints rights to the Right to Build Building which is a common land. The research method used is the normative juridical method by looking deeper into the legal postulates against the establishment of a property registration regime on buildings that are an integral part of the flats in which there is a right to unit units of flats, shared parts, shared objects, and land together.


At the EU summit in Hampton Court on 27 and 28 October in discussions of a suitable European economic and social model that could assure sustainable prosperity and help master the challenges of the future, repeated reference was made to the performance of the Nordic member states. Despite—or because of—the high public sector share of GDP, all three countries have achieved budget surpluses and have low levels of income inequality. Yet there is no uniform Nordic model of employment and taxation. Striking differences exist between the individual countries. Finland suffers from persistent unemployment; Denmark has the most business-friendly tax policies in the EU; and Sweden has drastically cut back its welfare state. In the meantime the reduction of the government share of GDP has become a common feature of all three countries. Although a transfer of the Nordic system to the large EU economies is not possible for structural and historical reasons, individual economy-policy elements can indeed be adopted.


This paper investigates the determinants of intraindustry trade (IIT), horizontal IIT (HIIT), and Vertical IIT (VIIT) in the automobile industry in Portugal. The trade in this sector between Portugal and the European Union (EU-27) was examined, between 1995 and 2008, using a dynamic panel data. We apply the GMM system to solve the problems of serial correlation and the endogeneity of some explanatory variables. The findings are consistent with the literature. The difference between per capita incomes and factor endowments present a positive sign. These results are according to Heckscher-Ohlin predictions. The economic dimension has a positive impact on trade. A negative effect of the distance on bilateral trade was expected and the results confirm this, underlining the importance of neighbour partnerships for all trade.


This study examined what lay people mean when they judge the "risk" of activities that involve the potential for accidental fatalities (e.g., hang gliding, living near a nuclear reactor). A sample of German and American students rated the "overall risk" of 14 such activities and provided 3 fatality estimates: the number of fatalities in an "average year," the individual yearly fatality probability (or odds), and the number of fatalities in a "disastrous accident." Subjects' fatality estimates were reasonably accurate and only moderately influenced by attitudes towards nuclear energy. Individual fatality probability correlated most highly with intuitive risk ratings. Disaster estimates correlated positively with risk ratings for those activities that had a low fatality probability and a relatively high disaster potential. Annual average fatality rates did not correlate with risk ratings at all. These findings were interpreted in terms of a two-dimensional cognitive structure. Subjective notions of risk were determined primarily by the personal chance of death; for some activities, "disaster potential" played a secondary role in shaping risk perception.


"The Chinese Postmodern" is a pioneering study of today's Chinese experimental fiction, exploring the works of such major writers as Can Xue, Ge Fei, Ma Yuan, Mo Yan, Xu Xiaohe, and Yu Hua from the perspective of cultural and literary postmodernity. Focusing on the interplay between historical psychology and representational mode, and between political discourse and literary rhetoric, it examines the problem of Chinese postmodernity against the background of the cultural-political reality of twentieth-century China.The book seeks to redefine Chinese modernity and postmodernity through the analyses of both orthodox and avant-garde works. In doing so, the author draws on a number of theories, psychoanalysis and deconstruction in particular, revealing the hidden connection between the deconstructive mode of writing and the experience of history after trauma and showing how avant-garde literature brings about a varied literary paradigm that defies the dominant, subject-centered one in twentieth-century China.The distinctiveness of "The Chinese Postmodern" is also found in its portrayal of the changes of literary paradigms in modern Chinese literature. By way of characterizing avant-garde fiction, it provides an overview of twentieth-century Chinese literature and offers a theorization of the intellectual history of modern China. Other issues concerning literary theory are explored, including the relationships between postmodernity and totalitarian discourse, between historical trauma and literary writing, and between psychic trauma and rhetorical irony. This book will appeal to readers in the fields of Chinese literature and culture, modern Chinese history, literary theory, and comparative literature.Xiaobin Yang is Croft Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi.


A model for positron binding to polar molecules is considered by combining the dipole potential outside the molecule with a strongly repulsive core of a given radius. Using existing experimental data on binding energies leads to unphysically small core radii for all of the molecules studied. This suggests that electron–positron correlations neglected in the simple model play a large role in determining the binding energy. We account for these by including the polarization potential via perturbation theory and non-perturbatively. The perturbative model makes reliable predictions of binding energies for a range of polar organic molecules and hydrogen cyanide. The model also agrees with the linear dependence of the binding energies on the polarizability inferred from the experimental data (Danielson et al 2009 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 42 235203). The effective core radii, however, remain unphysically small for most molecules. Treating molecular polarization non-perturbatively leads to physically meaningful core radii for all of the molecules studied and enables even more accurate predictions of binding energies to be made for nearly all of the molecules considered.


Background: Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) is a tool that consist of five main components: the corporate name, logo, font type, color palette and slogan/tagline. The CVI can be implemented on different carriers such as signage, interior elements and printed wear. However, the role of Interior Design as a carrier of CVI is not yet established. Purpose: To establish the role of Interior as a carrier of Corporate Visual IdentityMethodology: In this study a qualitative research was conducted, with a cross-sectional research design. The empirical data was collected through qualitative interviewing. The analysis was conducted through categorization of meanings and patternmatching.Conclusion: The company's environment is a vital factor for organizations when displaying the idea of itself to its customers, but the specific role that the interior has as a carrier of Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) has been a rather neglected subject in academic research. This study contains empirical evidence that confirms that the interior has a vital role as a carrier of CVI and that it is significant for maintaining consistency. Interior design that conveys CVI is not a cost, it is an investment; it creates an added value for the company and its customers that can be several times higher than the amount that the company invests in it.


Lindera obtusiloba (LO) BLUME from the genus Lindera (Lauraceae) is a medicinal herb traditionally used in Southeast Asian countries. Indigenously, extracts of different parts of the plant have been used to improve blood circulation and treat allergy, inflammation, rheumatism, and liver diseases. LO is a rich source of therapeutically beneficial antioxidative phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, butenolides, lignans and neolignans. Moreover, recent studies have unravelled the pharmacological properties of several newly found active constituents of LO, such as anti-inflammatory antioxidants (+)-syringaresinol, linderin A, anti-atherosclerotic antioxidant (+)-episesamin, anti-melanogenic antioxidants quercitrin and afzelin, cytotoxic 2-(1-methoxy-11-dodecenyl)-penta-2,4-dien-4-olide, (2Z,3S,4S)-2-(11-dodecenylidene)-3-hydroxy-4-methyl butanolide, anti-allergic koaburaside, (6-hydroxyphenyl)-1-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside and 2,6-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl-1-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside and the antiplatelet-activity compound Secolincomolide A. These findings demonstrate that LO can be a potential source of antioxidants and other prospective therapeutically active constituents that can lead to the development of oxidative stress-mediated diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, allergies, inflammation, hepatotoxicity, and cancer. Here, the antioxidant properties of different species of Lindera genus are discussed briefly. The traditional use, phytochemistry, antioxidative and pharmacological properties of LO are also considered to help researchers screen potential lead compounds and design and develop future therapeutic agents to treat oxidative stress-mediated disorders.


The acoustic spectrum of a propeller-driven aircraft is dominated by a series of spectral lines that are harmonically related to the blade rate (which is equal to the product of the propeller rotation rate and the number of blades on the propeller). We show that an array of acoustic sensors towed below the sea surface can be used for the passive detection and localization of such an aircraft. The acoustic energy from an aircraft is found to reach the subsurface sensors via two propagation paths: a bottom reflection path that enables the aircraft to be detected at long ranges, and a direct path that is present only when the aircraft passes overhead. For each of these paths, the observed variation with horizontal range of the Doppler shift in the blade rate closely matches the variation predicted by the simple model presented in this paper. Good agreement between theory and experiment is also obtained for the variation with horizontal range of the aircraft's apparent bearing. Thus, by using the observed Doppler shift and apparent bearing information, we were able to estimate the aircraft's horizontal range, speed, direction, and altitude.


BACKGROUND
Iodine deficiency is a public health problem in many developing countries where pregnant women and children are the more susceptible populations.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association of iodine nutritional status with the weather, availability of iodine in salt, and degree of social exclusion in preschool children of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico.

METHODS
Cross-sectional study in 1,333 children < 5 years; in these, urinary iodine and iodine in the salt was measured, and annual average of humidity, type of location and degree of social marginalization in the localities where they lived was recorded.

RESULTS
24.5% of children evaluated had < 100 µg/l of urinary iodine excretion, and 28.6% of salt samples contained < 20 ppm of iodine; iodine urine average of wet weather children was lower (209.09 ± 6.8 µg/l) than in dry climates (274.7 ± 5.86 µg/l; p < 0.05); the iodine content of salt in children living communities with high levels of marginalization was less than with low marginalization (23.5 ± 1.2 and 32.9 ± 2.7 ppm, respectively; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
The humidity and the degree of social marginalization of the locations were associated with lower iodine content of salt and urinary iodine in children evaluated.


In Swedish and Norwegian litigation cases, the evidence situation is handled in very different ways. Swedish law uses burden of proof while Norwegian law uses the overweight principle. The purpose of the thesis is to distinguish and, based on a perspective of legal certainty, comment on the differences between the methods. The burden of proof is brought to light when the parties in a dispute come with each their competing claim. It then becomes up to the judge to impose the burden of proof on one of the parties. This means that the party in question, with the help of evidence, must come up with the proof requirement that has been put forward for their claim to be the basis for the judgment. If they fail, the judgment will be added to the other party's claim. Thus, this party does not have to reach any evidence that the judgment must be based on its claim, it is sufficient that the party having the burden of proof fails to reach it. The overweight principle is raised in the same situation as the burden of proof but solves the problem in a different way. Instead of burdening one of the parties, it is up to each and every one to prove that one's own claim is more likely than the other party's. The judge has the task of deciding which claim is most likely and then base the judgment on it. (Less)


The Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA), founded in Ceylon in 1898, was one of many Buddhist socio-cultural organisations established between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that imagined Buddhism as a global religion, compatible with colonial modernity and its educational, recreational, and religious goals. However, the YMBA functioned differently in its different locations, and this article will focus on the history of two YMBA branches, established in the eastern Himalayan urban centres of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, to explore how local agents adapted this model of social organisation to fit their own contexts. The founders of these two branches, a rebel Sikkimese noble turned Theravadin monk and educator, and a British army officer turned Buddhist preacher, both represent ways that Buddhism was constructed during a period of transnational intellectual cosmopolitanism. Their activities suggest how the particular locations of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, perched as they were between empires, facilitated such forms of global affiliation.


Background The cardiac regenerative potential of newly developed therapies is traditionally evaluated in rodent models of surgically induced myocardial ischemia. A generally accepted key parameter for determining the success of the applied therapy is the infarct size. Although regarded as a gold standard method for infarct size estimation in heart ischemia, histological planimetry is time-consuming and highly variable amongst studies. The purpose of this work is to contribute towards the standardization and simplification of infarct size assessment by providing free access to a novel semi-automated software tool. The acronym MIQuant was attributed to this application. Methodology/Principal Findings Mice were subject to permanent coronary artery ligation and the size of chronic infarcts was estimated by area and midline-length methods using manual planimetry and with MIQuant. Repeatability and reproducibility of MIQuant scores were verified. The validation showed high correlation (r midline length = 0.981; r area = 0.970 ) and agreement (Bland-Altman analysis), free from bias for midline length and negligible bias of 1.21% to 3.72% for area quantification. Further analysis demonstrated that MIQuant reduced by 4.5-fold the time spent on the analysis and, importantly, MIQuant effectiveness is independent of user proficiency. The results indicate that MIQuant can be regarded as a better alternative to manual measurement. Conclusions We conclude that MIQuant is a reliable and an easy-to-use software for infarct size quantification. The widespread use of MIQuant will contribute towards the standardization of infarct size assessment across studies and, therefore, to the systematization of the evaluation of cardiac regenerative potential of emerging therapies.


How the other half lives, this work provides an understanding of the key player in the middle eastern theatre. A leading expert explains why the West has failed to understand Iran and offers a new strategy for redefining this crucial relationship. For more than a quarter of a century, few countries have been as resistant to American influence as Iran. The US and Iran have long eyed each other with open suspicion - a climate that has fostered the shrinking circles of mistrust and jumping to conclusions that may still result in open warfare. What gets lost along the way could prove crucial to averting future conflict: with a new hard-line Iranian president making incendiary pronouncements and pressing for nuclear developments, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. Ray Takeyh, a leading expert on Iran's politics and history, has written a groundbreaking book that demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how the fault lines of Iran's domestic politics serve to explain its behaviour. In "Hidden Iran", he explains why this country has so often confounded American expectations and why its outward hostility does not necessarily preclude the normalisation of relations. Through a clearer understanding of the competing claims of Muslim theology, Republican pragmatism and factional competition, he offers a new paradigm for managing Western relations with a rising and largely unknown power.


This work in progress aims to provide a unified introduction to statistical learning, building up slowly from classical models like the GMM and HMM to modern neural networks like the VAE and diffusion models. There are today many internet resources that explain this or that new machine-learning algorithm in isolation, but they do not (and cannot, in so brief a space) connect these algorithms with each other or with the classical literature on statistical models, out of which the modern algorithms emerged. Also conspicuously lacking is a single notational system which, although unfazing to those already familiar with the material (like the authors of these posts), raises a significant barrier to the novice's entry. Likewise, I have aimed to assimilate the various models, wherever possible, to a single framework for inference and learning, showing how (and why) to change one model into another with minimal alteration (some of them novel, others from the literature). Some background is of course necessary. I have assumed the reader is familiar with basic multivariable calculus, probability and statistics, and linear algebra. The goal of this book is certainly not completeness, but rather to draw a more or less straight-line path from the basics to the extremely powerful new models of the last decade. The goal then is to complement, not replace, such comprehensive texts as Bishop's \emph{Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning}, which is now 15 years old.


ABSTRACT When an optical beam propagates through dielectric blocks, its optical phase is responsible for the path of the beam. In particular, the first order Taylor expansion of the geometrical part reproduces the path predicted by the Snell and reflection laws whereas the first order expansion of the Fresnel phase leads to the Goos-Hänchen shift. In this paper, we analyze the effects of the second order Taylor expansion of the geometrical phase on the shape of the optical beam and show how it affects the transversal symmetry of Hermite-Gaussian beams. From the analytical expression of the transmitted beam, it is possible to determine in which transversal and parallel dielectric blocks configuration the transversal symmetry breaking is maximized or when the symmetry is recovered. We also discuss the axial spreading delay.


BACKGROUND In the wake of aging societies, pro-natalist policies have been used around the world to promote childbearing in developed countries. Very little research investigates the causal effect of the Australian government's baby bonus policy as a once-off, non-means tested incentive scheme on the observed individual fertility. OBJECTIVE We investigate the role of immigration in raising fertility beyond what could be achieved by the Australian-born population. The impact of this policy is heavily reliant on the effectiveness of monetary incentives in boosting fertility, yet it is not clear who drives this effect. METHODS We utilize triple difference-in-difference (DDD) strategy to evaluate the relationship between childbearing and introduction of the baby bonus in a quasi-experimental setting. We evaluate the quasi-experimental setting by using propensity score matching. RESULTS Our findings highlight the role of immigrant women in driving the success of the policy. Moreover, the impact is found to be highest among immigrant women with low levels of human capital, which diminishes with age. CONCLUSION The results imply that the role of immigrants, especially that of a young workforce, in aging societies may be greater than has been previously attributed. CONTRIBUTION This paper not only provides scope for the analysis of pro-natal policies within the context of Australia but investigates its impact on immigrant women vis-a-vis nativeborn women. We find the immigrant contribution to be significant in driving the success of pro-natal monetary incentives. Australia is an exemplar for this analysis due to early adoption of pro-natalist incentives for childbearing amidst a population with high immigrant concentration.


The main objective of this research work is to establish the relationship between Customer Relationship Management and customer acquisition in JMA solutions, Perú, 2020. A census sample was taken of 85 clients of the company JMA Soluciones, where thesurvey represented by the questionnaire consisting of 20 items. For the hypothesis test, the non-parametric Rho de Spearman statistic was used, where the correlationcoefficient (0.701) of the Client Management variable was selected. of Relationships (CRM) and the variableCustomer of positive and significant significance (0.000 ˂ 0.05. In this way the study concluded allowing to know theexistence between the Customer Relationship Management and Customer acquisition constructs.


We study how the Einstein relation between spontaneous fluctuations and the response to an external perturbation holds in the absence of currents, for the comb model and the elastic single-file, which are examples of systems with subdiffusive transport properties. The relevance of non-equilibrium conditions is investigated: when a stationary current (in the form of a drift or an energy flux) is present, the Einstein relation breaks down, as is known to happen in systems with standard diffusion. In the case of the comb model, a general relation, which has appeared in the recent literature, between the response function and an unperturbed suitable correlation function, allows us to explain the observed results. This suggests that a relevant ingredient in breaking the Einstein formula, for stationary regimes, is not the anomalous diffusion but the presence of currents driving the system out of equilibrium.


Hexavalent chromium is found to be a strong mutagen, and it also is a potential carcinogen in man. DNA flow cytometry, growth measurements, and determinations of mitotic index show that 1-2 microM K2Cr2O7 produces a prolongation of the G2 phase of the cell cycle in NHIK 3025 cells. By increasing the chromate concentrations (greater than 2 microM K2Cr2O7) the cells are also arrested in G2 phase. We have found, using synchronized cells and measuring cell cycle time, that the most chromate-sensitive part of the cell cycle is S phase. This phase is also somewhat prolonged, and the cells became arrested in early S phase at high toxic K2Cr2O7 concentrations (8 microM). Our results thus indicate that K2Cr2O7 has an effect within S phase--maybe on DNA/RNA synthesis--and also interferes with processes necessary for progression through the G2 phase.


Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most commonly diagnosed primary malignancy affecting the bone. UbcH10 is a cancer-related E2-ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme. An overexpression of UbcH10 is significantly associated with tumor grade and cellular proliferation. However, limited evidence exists with regard to the biological function of UbcH10 in OS. The present study created a UbcH10 knockdown OS cell line using lentivirus-mediated RNA interference. The expression of UbcH10 was significantly reduced in UbcH10-targeted small hairpin RNA-expressing lentivirus OS cells. The downregulation of UbcH10 suppressed OS cell proliferation and colony formation ability via decreased Ki-67 expression. UbcH10 knockdown OS cells exhibited impaired invasion and migration abilities. Furthermore, knockdown of UbcH10 led to decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinase-3 and -9 in OS cells. The present study demonstrated the role of UbcH10 in OS cell proliferation, invasion and migration, which suggests that UbcH10 may be a potential candidate for OS therapy.


Currently, no approved treatments are available to combat infections with nidoviruses, a group of positive-stranded RNA viruses, including important zoonotic and veterinary pathogens. Previously, the cyclophilin inhibitors cyclosporine (CsA) and alisporivir (ALV) were shown to inhibit the replication of diverse nidoviruses (both arteriviruses and coronaviruses), and they may thus represent a class of pan-nidovirus inhibitors. In this study, using the arterivirus prototype equine arteritis virus, we have established that resistance to CsA and ALV treatment is associated with adaptive mutations in two transmembrane subunits of the viral replication machinery, nonstructural proteins 2 and 5. This is the first evidence for the involvement of specific replicase subunits of arteriviruses in the mechanism underlying the inhibition of their replication by cyclophilin inhibitors. Understanding this mechanism of action is of major importance to guide future drug design, both for nidoviruses and for other RNA viruses inhibited by these compounds. ABSTRACT Previously, the cyclophilin inhibitors cyclosporine (CsA) and alisporivir (ALV) were shown to inhibit the replication of diverse RNA viruses, including arteriviruses and coronaviruses, which both belong to the order Nidovirales. In this study, we aimed to identify arterivirus proteins involved in the mode of action of cyclophilin inhibitors and to investigate how these compounds inhibit arterivirus RNA synthesis in the infected cell. Repeated passaging of the arterivirus prototype equine arteritis virus (EAV) in the presence of CsA revealed that reduced drug sensitivity is associated with the emergence of adaptive mutations in nonstructural protein 5 (nsp5), one of the transmembrane subunits of the arterivirus replicase polyprotein. Introduction of singular nsp5 mutations (nsp5 Q21R, Y113H, or A134V) led to an ∼2-fold decrease in sensitivity to CsA treatment, whereas combinations of mutations further increased EAV's CsA resistance. The detailed experimental characterization of engineered EAV mutants harboring CsA resistance mutations implicated nsp5 in arterivirus RNA synthesis. Particularly, in an in vitro assay, EAV RNA synthesis was far less sensitive to CsA treatment when nsp5 contained the adaptive mutations mentioned above. Interestingly, for increased sensitivity to the closely related drug ALV, CsA-resistant nsp5 mutants required the incorporation of an additional adaptive mutation, which resided in nsp2 (H114R), another transmembrane subunit of the arterivirus replicase. Our study provides the first evidence for the involvement of nsp2 and nsp5 in the mechanism underlying the inhibition of arterivirus replication by cyclophilin inhibitors. IMPORTANCE Currently, no approved treatments are available to combat infections with nidoviruses, a group of positive-stranded RNA viruses, including important zoonotic and veterinary pathogens. Previously, the cyclophilin inhibitors cyclosporine (CsA) and alisporivir (ALV) were shown to inhibit the replication of diverse nidoviruses (both arteriviruses and coronaviruses), and they may thus represent a class of pan-nidovirus inhibitors. In this study, using the arterivirus prototype equine arteritis virus, we have established that resistance to CsA and ALV treatment is associated with adaptive mutations in two transmembrane subunits of the viral replication machinery, nonstructural proteins 2 and 5. This is the first evidence for the involvement of specific replicase subunits of arteriviruses in the mechanism underlying the inhibition of their replication by cyclophilin inhibitors. Understanding this mechanism of action is of major importance to guide future drug design, both for nidoviruses and for other RNA viruses inhibited by these compounds.


I suffer from tinnitus since many years ago. I am one of millions with this rather incapacitating and adverse problem. In a similar way to many other patients, I reached the vast information existing in forums and websites, with an interest in analyzing, studying, and researching the subject of tinnitus. This allowed me to get insights into drugs ototoxicity, sound therapies, and counselling, as well as to implement tutorial videos. Thus, the main goal of this article is both to provide to other patients my own testimony as a tinnitus sufferer and to show to the tinnitus specialists the studies and research that have allowed me to suggest a musical neuromodulation therapy. Furthermore, a call to the therapeutic community is made about the necessity of implementing a common protocol of tinnitus treatment, both in primary and specialized care, with a special reference to the scientific community to continue researching on the mechanisms and future therapies of tinnitus.


INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUNDThere are typically three options for accomplishing specific instruction in business ethics. Business curricula may mandate a course external to the business school in ethics or business ethics specifically from a course within liberal arts departments, typically philosophy. Alternatively, business programs may offer a business ethics course as a stand-alone course within the business school. Finally, business ethics instruction may be infused throughout several courses within the business curriculum in lieu of a separate course. The method of instruction under study represents the infusion approach, where students receive an introduction to business ethics in a management fundamentals course and a multi-step approach to reasoning through business dilemmas. Business ethics is reinforced using the same approach to solving dilemmas subsequently in marketing, upper level management, and strategic management courses. In an effort to assess the effectiveness of the infUsion approach, the authors surveyed students (pretest) in the management fundamentals course prior to receiving any ethics instruction. The same students were surveyed several semesters later (posttest) at the conclusion of ethics interventions in the upper level management capstone course. Results of the pretest/posttests were then compared to determine the impact of ethics education.The study of ethics often investigates individuals' reported thought processes or ways of analyzing ethical issues. Actions are in many ways more difficult to capture and analyze, and as such ethics research often encompasses psychological aspects and moral reasoning about issues with ethical content, as opposed to the study of actions taken. Moral reasoning has its roots in the cognitive moral development theories of Kohlberg (1969), who proposed a three level, six stage (two stages at each level) model. Level one, the pre-conventional level, assumes individuals are primarily concerned with rewards and punishment. This level of moral reasoning has been referred as Personal Interest. Individuals reasoning at level two, the conventional level, consider the consequences of behavior in relation to others, and to laws and other codes of conduct. This level of moral reasoning has been referred to as Maintaining Norms. Level three, the post-conventional level, is the highest level and universal truths become a primary focus, often referred to as Principled Moral Reasoning.James Rest (1986) proposed a four-component model of cognitive moral decision making that includes cognitive moral development as one component of the overall decision making model. Stage one, moral sensitivity, involves recognizing the ethical component of an issue and determining alternative courses of action. Stage two, moral judgment, relates to cognitive moral development and is the stage where alternatives are weighed against an individual's sense of morality and the most appropriate course of action is identified. The next stage, moral motivation (intent), involves placing moral judgments about the appropriate action above other considerations such as practical expediency and requires an individual to assume personal responsibility for outcomes. The final stage, moral character, requires an individual to carry out his or her moral intent despite obstacles and fatigue that may otherwise prevent the ethical action from being implemented (Rest, et al., 1999a). The stages would seem to logically move in a somewhat sequential fashion, although Rest theorizes that the components of the decision making model interact in a complex reciprocal manner. Notably, several models used in general business ethics research incorporate the four-component model (e.g., Jones and Ryan, 1997; Jones, 1991; Ferrel et al., 1989).Rest (1979) also developed a survey instrument for assessing individual moral reasoning levels. The resultant Defining Issues Test (DIT) was a practical improvement over prior interview-based methods of discerning levels of moral reasoning. …


PROJECT STATEMENT IN 2008, DURING A TIME of national financial turmoil and uncertainty, Boston College (BC) began to realize its historic Middle Campus master plan, beginning with the development of Stokes Hall, a new humanities building (figure 1). Such confident support for the study of the humanities was especially significant during a time when many institutions would have questioned this investment and dismissed its importance. The decision to build underscored BC's commitment to its Jesuit mission: to give students the richest possible humanities-based education, one that serves as the foundation for the development of generous, thoughtful, and inquisitive community members. David Quigley, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, summarized the building's goals best. He stated: "Stokes Hall embodies Boston College's enduring commitment to the liberal arts, which is a cornerstone of Jesuit education and the heart of our identity. Humanities in particular form the core of our undergraduate requirements, which enables us to integrate the academic, social, and spiritual development of our students as they study here. This building is intentionally designed to support that liberal arts commitment and to foster student formation through enhanced student-faculty interaction." [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Situated on the undulating terrain of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is divided between Lower, Middle, and Upper Campus plateaus. Stokes Hall is located on the Middle Campus, the university's original plateau identifiable by its Collegiate Gothic design and traditional campus quadrangles. This plateau supports the majority of the academic buildings. The Middle Campus also forms the aesthetic identity at the core of the school. The project team developed Stokes Hall in response to the long-term goals of the master plan specific to the Middle Campus plateau. The Lower Campus supports dining, dormitories, and administration buildings in a more modern architectural style, and the Upper Campus is home to underclassmen dormitories. The university leadership, most notably the president, demonstrated a strong conviction in early planning discussions for Stokes Hall that matching or exceeding the quality of the surrounding campus context was paramount to the new facility's success (figure 2). The size of the site was limited, and land on the Middle Campus, as a general resource, is finite. Any decisions made for this site, including the building program, needed to be balanced between the building's capacity, its potential impact on any future development, and the overall image of the BC community. Housing the humanities program or a new food service facility were the two uses originally considered for the site. While the program needs of the two uses differed widely, the general design parameters and planning goals remained the same: to fulfill the university's mission with great efficiency, express its identity with clarity, and provide the level of building performance and efficiency expected. The project was made possible through fund-raising and a generous gift by university trustee Patrick T. Stokes '64 and his wife Anna-Kristin "Aja" Stokes, P'91, '94, '97. All project teams worked extremely closely together and communicated with university leadership to successfully keep the project under the construction budget of $62 million. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] Early planning and program explorations were extremely informative. A primary design driver was the school's commitment to a form of the Collegiate Gothic aesthetic unique to Boston College. However, this design goal needed to be met without sacrificing other building efficiencies. The team began work by first delving into the school's own story and history as a basis for understanding how this style would inform the planning process. HISTORICAL CONTEXT When Boston College relocated from Boston's South End to the village of Chestnut Hill in the early 1900s, Collegiate Gothic was just evolving as the style of choice on American campuses as a response to the architectural styles of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. …


We observe bond-selective fragmentation of the nitrous oxide molecule upon site-specific 1s excitation at either the terminal or the central nitrogen atom. Our results can be interpreted as a chemical "memory effect" where the fragmentation process memorizes the inital site of energy deposition. We empty a new "Zero Kinetic Energy Photoelectron"-photoion coincidence technique using monochromatized x-ray synchrotron radiation from BESSY.


Korea experiences rapid population aging and increase in health expenditure. The elderly made up a record 13.1% of the total population and 37.8% of the total health spending in 2015. And this would be accelerated because the baby boomers are becoming 65 years old and more by 2020. Catastrophic Health Expenditure(CHE) is the index which can represents the households` burden of health spending. Despite its importance, there has been few studies about CHE of the elderly households and especially no panel study yet. Therefore, this study is carried out. The study used 3-year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study conducted from 2012 to 2014. We defined CHE if a household`s health expenditure is equal or greater than the threshold value if income remaining after subsistence needs has been met. We used 3 different threshold values which are 10%, 20% and 30%. In order to look at the elderly households which experienced CHE in depth, correspondence analysis and panel logit analysis were conducted. Also, based on the Two-part Model, Panel analysis was conducted in order to define the factors that affect the households which experienced CHE at 10% threshold level to spend health expenditure. This study showed two notable results. First, there has been a difference in CHE occurrence rates among 3 different age groups, which implies that the older people are, the more easily they can experience CHE. Secondly, the households with no private insurance are showed to have a higher CHE occurrence rate, showing that private insurance does not make a significant difference in health spendings. With the results, private insurance can play its role in protecting households from CHE as a supplement of national health insurance. Therefore, this study can be used as evidence to develop healthcare policy for the elderly. Also, it needs to conduct studies on CHE especially about different age groups.


Intact mitochondria isolated from bakers' yeast and showing respiratory control by ADP, released H2O2 to the suspending medium at rates of 220.127.116.11 nmol/min per mg of protein depending on the mitochondrial metabolic condition. Release of H2O2 from mitochondria increased 1.3 times in swollen mitochondria and 1.2 times after osmotic shock, i.e., when the outer membrane was damaged. Under physiological conditions, yeast cytochrome c peroxidase, mainly located in the intermembrane space, utilized about 53-55% of the H2O2 generated by the respiratory chain at the inner membrane, partially preventing H2O2 diffusion to the cytosol. Apparently, the outer mitochondrial membrane was highly permeable to H2O2. It is claimed that the risk of cell injury due to H2O2, O-2 and HO is slightly higher in the stationary phase than in the logarithmic phase of growth.


Expression of the constitutively active androgen receptor splice variant AR-V7 is associated with resistance to anti-androgen therapies and worse clinical outcomes in prostate cancer. Dimerization is a requirement for AR-V7 transcriptional activity, but whether that occurs through homodimerization or heterodimerization remains poorly understood. Because NR3C-family nuclear hormone receptors rely on a highly conserved D-box motif within the DNA-binding domain to mediate dimerization, we hypothesized that AR-V7 can heterodimerize with other NR3C-family nuclear hormone receptors, with a particular interest in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Like AR-V7, GR is upregulated in prostate cancer following androgen blockade, regulates canonical AR target genes, and is associated with resistance to anti-androgen therapies. Using NanoBRET technology in HEK293 cells, we found that AR-V7 interacts with liganded NR3C-family nuclear hormone receptors, including the full-length androgen receptor, the progesterone receptor, the mineralocorticoid receptor, and, most notably, GR. Using co-immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays, we demonstrate that AR-V7 associates with GR following androgen blockade in both the VCaP cell line and the CWR-22RV1 cell line, two models of prostate cancer that express endogenous AR-V7 and GR. Preliminary ChIP-Seq experiments in these cell lines suggest AR-V7 and GR chromatin occupancy at the same genomic sites in a ligand-dependent manner. Taken altogether, this data suggests AR-V7 can utilize GR as an alternative binding partner to initiate heterodimerization and transcriptional activation. Citation Format: Eric Bueter, David Hosfield, Erin McAuley, Phillip Selman, Geoffrey Greene, Suzanne D. Conzen, Russell Z. Szmulewitz. The androgen receptor splice variant AR-V7 associates with the glucocorticoid receptor following androgen blockade [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1016.


Deep-sea environmental datasets are ever-increasing in size and diversity, as technological advances lead monitoring studies towards long-term, high-frequency data acquisition protocols. This study presents examples of pre-analysis data treatment steps applied to the environmental time series collected by the Internet Operated Deep-sea Crawler "Wally" during a 7-year deployment (2009–2016) in the Barkley Canyon methane hydrates site, off Vancouver Island (BC, Canada). Pressure, temperature, electrical conductivity, flow, turbidity, and chlorophyll data were subjected to different standardizing, normalizing, and de-trending methods on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of the treated variable and the range and scale of the values provided by each of the different sensors. The final pressure, temperature, and electrical conductivity (transformed to practical salinity) datasets are ready for use. On the other hand, in the cases of flow, turbidity, and chlorophyll, further in-depth processing, in tandem with data describing the movement and position of the crawler, will be needed in order to filter out all possible effects of the latter. Our work evidences challenges and solutions in multiparametric data acquisition and quality control and ensures that a big step is taken so that the available environmental data meet high quality standards and facilitate the production of reliable scientific results.


Dielectrophoresis (DEP)—the motion of particles in non-uniform AC fields—has been used in the investigation of cell electrophysiology. The technique offers the advantages of rapid determination of the conductance and capacitance of membrane and cytoplasm. However, it is unable to directly determine the ionic strengths of individual cytoplasmic ions, which has potentially limited its application in assessing cell composition. In this paper, we demonstrate how dielectrophoresis can be used to investigate the cytoplasmic ion composition by using ion channel blocking agents. By blocking key ion transporters individually, it is possible to determine their overall contribution to the free ions in the cytoplasm. We use this technique to evaluate the relative contributions of chloride, potassium and calcium ions to the cytoplasmic conductivities of drug sensitive and resistant myelogenous leukaemic (K562) cells in order to determine the contributions of individual ion channel activity in mediating multi-drug resistance in cancer. Results indicate that whilst K+ and Ca2+ levels were extremely similar between sensitive and resistant lines, levels of Cl− were elevated by three times to that in the resistant line, implying increased chloride channel activity. This result is in line with current theories of MDR, and validates the use of ion channel blockers with DEP to investigate ion channel function.


Summary Galanthamine, used as a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and lycorine possessing important biological properties, are widely distributed alkaloids in the members of Amaryllidaceae family. In the present study, the contents of these alkaloids have been quantitatively determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with diode array detector (DAD) in the aerial parts and bulbs of Galanthus woronowii Losinsk. collected from different localities in Northeastern Turkey. A simple extraction method utilizing columns pre-packed with diatomaceous earth (Extrelut®) was used. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an isocratic system with a mobile phase of trifluoroacetic acid-water-acetonitrile (0.01:90:10) applied at a flow rate of 1 mL min−1. Validation studies were also carried out to show that the method is specific, accurate, and precise. In the tested specimens, the lycorine content ranged between 0.008 and 0.364% whereas the galanthamine content was found to be ...


Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity throughout the world, accounting for 16.7 million deaths each year. The underlying pathological process for the majority of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, a slowly progressing, multifocal, chronic, immune-inflammatory disease that involves the intima of large and medium-sized arteries. The process of atherosclerosis begins in childhood as fatty streaks—an accumulation of lipids, inflammatory cells, and smooth muscle cells in the arterial wall. Over time, a more complex lesion develops into an atheroma and characteristic fibrous plaques. Atherosclerosis alone is rarely fatal; it is the further changes that render fibrous plaques vulnerable to rupture; plaque rupture represents the most common cause of coronary thrombosis. The prevalence of atherosclerosis is increasing worldwide and more than 50% of people with circulatory disease die of it, mostly in modern societies. Epidemiological studies have revealed several environmental and genetic risk factors that are associated with the early formation of a pathogenic foundation for atherosclerosis, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and smoking. The purpose of this review is to bring together the current information concerning the origin and progression of atherosclerosis in childhood as well as the identification of known risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in children.


This article discusses the contribution American social scientists have made to the study of poverty over the past 25 years as viewed from a comparative perspective. It has two parts. The first concentrates on the measurement of poverty and the fact that the U.S. poverty line remained fundamentally unchanged in that period despite increasingly important deficiencies in the way it was calculated. The second analyzes the broadened scope of U.S. research on the causes of poverty and its growing impact on poverty policy far beyond the United States.


An oxidative metabolism of Collembolan Proisotoma minuta was determined with a model compound of aldrin and dieldrin in this paper. The seven-day LD50 values for aldrin, dieldrin, and piperonyl butoxide in salt solution were 0.496, 0.367, and 8.346 mg L−1, respectively. When P. minuta were exposed to aldrin, dieldrin was the sole metabolite. The conversion of aldrin to dieldrin was known to be catalyzed by P450 monooxygenases system. It has been shown that the synergist piperonyl butoxide inhibited the metabolism of aldrin in P. minuta.


The paper deals with the recent Weiss/PSPP decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the German Federal Constitutional Court, attempting to contextualise these decisions within previous conflicts between these two courts. The FCC's case law is studied through the perspective of three different types of reviews it developed: fundamental rights review, ultra vires review and constitutional identity review. Then, a detailed analysis of the Weiss and PSPP cases is given in order to understand the repercussions of the first case in which the FCC officially exercised its proclaimed competences and declared the CJEU and ECB's decisions as ultra vires, undermining fundamental principles of the EU legal order. This act could potentially lead to significant changes in current mechanisms of resolving disputes between the highest courts of the EU and national legal orders. Finally, the future of judicial conflicts is discussed through the analysis of the Weiler/Sarmiento model and the system (or lack of system) of resolving the conflicts currently in place. The paper concludes by highlighting that the Weiss/PSPP decisions could very well be those that finally stimulate a long-needed solution.
Keywords: judicial conflicts, Bundesverfassungsgericht, judicial review, economic cooperation, Weiss, PSPP.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution − Non-Commercial − No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Suggested citation: L Oreskovic, 'Clash of the Titans: The Impact of Weiss on the Future of Judicial Conflicts in the EU' (2020) 16 CYELP 245.


In a political climate in which the role of government is actively being questioned, Martha Fineman's "vulnerability theory" is rapidly gaining momentum as a justification for expansive social welfare laws. Despite the growing body of literature applying vulnerability theory to a broad range of legal problems, scholars have yet to critically explore the theory's limitations. This article fills that void by analyzing the theory's utility and scope. It shows how examining vulnerability theory through the lens of old-age policy reveals the theory's limited prescriptive value and its tendency — as currently articulated — to promote unduly paternalistic policies. It then describes how vulnerability theory could be refined to provide greater respect for individual liberty and to enhance its value as a tool for defining the appropriate role of government. Finally, it argues that, although Fineman's theory of vulnerability does not indicate how to allocate resources among vulnerable individuals, vulnerability may nevertheless be a useful construct around which to design social policy.


This study investigates the estimation of continuous-time Box–Jenkins model parameters from irregularly sampled data. The Box–Jenkins structure has been successful in describing systems subject to coloured noise, since it contains two sub-models that feature the characteristics of both plant and noise systems. Based on plant-noise model decomposition, a two-step iterative procedure is proposed to solve the estimation problem, which consists of an instrumental variable method for the plant model and a prediction error method for the noise model. The proposed method is of low complexity and shows good estimation robustness and accuracy. Implementation issues are discussed to improve the computational efficiency. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Background: to investigate the frequency and distribution of new ischemic brain lesions detected by diffusion-weighted imaging on brain magnetic resonance imaging after aortic arch surgery. Methods: This preplanned secondary analysis of the randomized, controlled ACE (Aortic Surgery Cerebral Protection Evaluation) CardioLink-3 trial compared the safety and efficacy of innominate versus axillary artery cannulation during elective proximal aortic arch surgery. Participants underwent pre and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. New ischemic lesions were defined as lesions visible on postoperative, but not preoperative diffusion weighted imaging. Results: Of the 111 trial participants, 102 had complete magnetic resonance imaging data. A total of 391 new ischemic lesions were observed on diffusion-weighted imaging in 71 (70%) patients. The average number of lesions in patients with ischemic lesion were 5.5±4.9 with comparable numbers in the right (2.9±2.0) and left (3.0±2.3) hemispheres (P=0.49). Half the new lesions were in the middle cerebral artery territory; 63% of the cohort had ischemic lesions in the anterior circulation, 49% in the posterior circulation, 42% in both, and 20% in watershed areas. A probability mask of all diffusion-weighted imaging lesions revealed that the cerebellum was commonly involved. More severe white matter hyperintensity on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (odds ratio, 1.80 [95% CI, 1.10–2.95]; P=0.02) and lower nadir nasopharyngeal temperature during surgery (odds ratio per 1°C decrease, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.00–1.32]; P=0.05) were associated with the presentation of new ischemic lesion; older age (risk ratio per 1-year increase, 1.02 [95% CI, 1.00–1.04]; P=0.03) and lower nadir temperature (risk ratio per 1°C decrease, 1.06 [95% CI, 1.00–1.14]; P=0.06) were associated with greater number of lesions. Conclusions: In patients who underwent elective proximal aortic arch surgery, new ischemic brain lesions were common, and predominantly involved the middle cerebral artery territory or cerebellum. Underlying small vessel disease, lower temperature nadir during surgery, and advanced age were risk factors for perioperative ischemic lesions. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02554032.


In formal language theory, many families of languages are defined using grammars or finite acceptors like pushdown automata and Turing machines. For instance, context-sensitive languages are the languages generated by growing grammars, or equivalently those accepted by Turing machines whose work tape's size is proportional to that of their input. A few years ago, a new characterisation of context-sensitive languages as the sets of traces, or path labels, of rational graphs (infinite graphs defined by sets of finite-state transducers) was established.

We investigate a similar characterisation in the more general framework of graphs defined by term transducers. In particular, we show that the languages of term-automatic graphs between regular sets of vertices coincide with the languages accepted by alternating linearly bounded Turing machines. As a technical tool, we also introduce an arborescent variant of tiling systems, which provides yet another characterisation of these languages.


Background Previous studies have showed that structural abnormalities such as erosions and geodes could be detected in wrist of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) using high-field MRI whereas corresponding anomalies were invisible using conventional 1.5 T MRI. Similar observations have not been reported so far for patients with either an early form of RA or patients with axial and peripheral forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA). Objectives In the present study, we compared wrist MRI investigations performed at 1.5 and 3 T in SpA and early RA patients (less than one-year disease evolution). We aimed at determining whether synovitis, geodes and erosions are similarly observed in both cases. Methods The study was conducted in the wrist of 9 SpA patients (6 with ankylosing spondyloarthritis (AS) and 3 with psoriatic arthritis) and in 7 early RA patients. Age in the RA group ranged from 35 to 54 (6 females, 1 male) while it ranged between 22 and 64 in the SpA group (7 females, 2 males). All the patients provided their written informed consent before their inclusion in the protocol which was approved by the local ethics committee. MRI investigations were performed at 1.5T (Philips Achieva) using a Flex-M coil and at 3T (Siemens Verio) using a 4-channel flexible coil. In both cases, subjects were asked to lie down in the supine position inside the scanner and wrist was scanned at 1.5T using a T1-SE and a PD-FS-SE and at 3T using both a VIBE and a DESS sequences. MR images were analyzed by one senior radiologist (CC). Results In the RA group, we identified more abnormalities at 3T as compared to 1.5T for 1 patient while for 5 patients the number of abnormalities was identical in both cases. 1 patient did show no abnormality. Similarly, in the SpA group, more abnormalities were observed at 3T as compared to 1.5T for 2 patients. In those cases, more erosions were identified whereas geodes, synovitis and oedema were similar. These two patients had AS with peripheral and axial pain without psoriasis. For 1 patient with structural abnormalities, the results at both fields were similar. In 6 patients, (including 2 patients with psoriatic arthritis), we did not detect any structural abnormality. Conclusions In the present study, we illustrated that for both RA and SpA patients, MRI investigations performed at high-field can detect wrist abnormalities which were not detectable at 1.5T. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE) of a digital x-ray imaging system describes how much of the signal to noise ratio of the incident radiation is sustained in the resultant digital image. This measure of dose efficiency is suitable for the comparison of detectors produced by different manufacturers. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) stipulates standard methods and conditions for the measurement of the DQE for single exposure imaging systems such as flat panel detectors. This paper shows how the calculation is adapted for DQE measurements of scanning systems. In this paper it is described how to measure the presampled Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) using an edge test method and how to extract the horizontal and vertical components of the Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) in a way that is insensitive to structured noise patterns often found in scanned images. The calculation of the total number of incident photons from the radiation dose measurement is explained and results are provided for the Lodox low dose full body digital x-ray scanning system which is developed in South Africa.


In recent years, rechargeable nonaqueous lithium air battery has attracted wide attention due to its very high theoretical energy density. However, it is at early stage of research because there are still many challenges for developing lithium air battery. In this paper, the concept, structures, challenges of lithium air battery and two special types of lithium air batteries are briefly summarized. In addition, the lithium sulfur battery which also belongs to rechargeable lithium metal battery and has high energy density was introduced.


This thesis summarizes the results and challenges of a series of experiments in the field of atomic and molecular physics carried out employing innovative light sources such as X-ray free electron lasers, high harmonic generation sources and ultrafast mid-IR lasers. The key feature common to all of them is the ability to provide ultrashort light pulses with a pulse duration in the 1-100 fs range (1 fs = 10-15 s) which in principle allows the investigation atomic and molecular dynamics unfolding on such time scales. The experiments described in this thesis constitute the first steps in this direction and shed light on the new challenges and opportunities that arise naturally when highly innovative tools are employed. In the main technological chapters, which follow a brief description of the various light sources, a variety of experimental techniques will be described, such as velocity map imaging, electron Time-of-Flight spectroscopy, ion Time-of-Flight mass spectroscopy and covariance mapping. Among these velocity map imaging is the one which has been used more extensively. A VMI spectrometer for electrons with kinetic energies in the 0-200 eV range has been designed and tested for the Artemis Lab at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. For the analysis of the output images two well established algorithms for Abel inversion have been implemented and compared. In the first experimental chapter one of the first applications of the new Artemis VMI spectrometer will be described. In the TRPEI (time-resolved photoelectron imaging) Artemis experimental campaign the radiation produced by the monochromatized HHG beamline was employed to study the photoelectron angular distribution of electrons ejected from valence and inner valence shells in a number of atomic and molecular samples. Each of the remaining experimental chapters will be devoted to an experiment carried out at the first Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser facility in the world: the Linac Coherent Light Source. In the chapter devoted to the ring opening of 1,3-cyclohexadiene (CHD) a complex molecular reaction, namely the conrotatory electrocyclic opening of CHD to form the linear isomer 1,3,5-hexatriene, is studied on a time scale of 1 ps by X-ray induced fragmentation. Double core hole creation is the subject of the following chapter where the process is investigated with covariance mapping. Finally X-ray induced molecular dynamic following core excitation of molecular oxygen is addressed in the last chapter.


In volume seam carving, i.e., seam carving for 3D cost volume, an optimal seam surface can be derived by graph cuts, resulting from sophisticated graph construction. To date, the graph-cut algorithm is the only solution for volume seam carving. However, it is not suitable for practical use because it incurs a heavy computational load. We propose a multipass dynamic programming (DP)-based approach for volume seam carving, which reduces computation time and memory consumption while maintaining a similar image quality as that of graph cuts. Our multipass DP scheme is achieved by conducting DP in two directions to accumulate the cost in a 3D volume and then tracing back to find the best seam. In our multipass DP, a suboptimal seam surface is created instead of a global optimal one, and it has been experimentally confirmed by more than 198 crowdsourced workers that such suboptimal seams are good enough for image processing. The proposed scheme offers two options: a continuous method that ensures the connectivity of seam surfaces and a discontinuous method that ensures the connectivity in only one direction. We applied the proposed volume seam carving method based on multipass DP to conventional video retargeting and tone mapping. These two applications are completely different; however, the volume seam carving method can be applied similarly by changing the axes of the cost volume. Even though the results obtained using our methods were similar to those obtained by graph cuts, our computation time was approximately 90 times faster that of graph cuts and the memory usage was eight times smaller than that of graph cuts. We also extend the idea of tone mapping to the contrast enhancement method based on volume seam carving.


An aerosol physics test facility was used in a series of eight experiments to gather an integrated comprehensive broad base of data on the fate of surrogates of microorganisms that cause smallpox, plague, glanders, anthrax, and viral hemorrhagic fevers. The results are directly relevant to the public health issue of how to protect the occupants of buildings against bioterrorism. The test conditions were directly relevant to the indoor air environment situation, and the results can be generalized to buildings that are now occupied. The reductions in concentrations of relevant viruses and bacteria—including gram-negative fermenters and nonfermenters, gram-positive cocci and bacilli, and spores—were substantial and statistically robust. The data show that the bioterrorism-relevant aerosolized viruses and bacteria, including spores, respond like small particulates to the primary (electrical) forces that control the distribution of small particulates in a room. Further, these relevant microorganisms respond like small particulates to means designed to control airborne particulates. The results could be used to anticipate the effects of a bioterrorist attack on the public health, provide information on means that can be used to minimize such effects, and used to make decisions on how best to protect occupants of specific buildings at minimal cost and with assurance of success.


For a field approaching a critical period of reappraisal and rethinking of methods, user education is well served by secondary material. A definitive history of training in the use of the library by Bonn in 1960 has been followed by a steady flow of review articles on the subject. Tidmarsh in 1968 concentrated on instruction in the use of academic libraries. After briefly tracing the historical background in Britain and America she went on to describe developments in Britain in theory and practice following the proposals of the Library Association University and Research Section in 1949 for a three‐stage user education programme. She concluded her review with a discussion of the three main problems that were then, and to a certain extent still are, hampering the spread of user education—inadequate finance, lack of timetabled time, and indifference of academic staff. Mews reviewing developments in teaching the use of books and libraries, again with reference to British academic libraries for the period 1966–70, examined courses reported during that period paying particular attention to instruction for new students and undergraduates. Trends she noted included a move to the use of audio‐visual aids and to the appointment of information officers, bringing new opportunities for person‐to‐person enquiries. Surveying current practice in 1970 Pugh noted many difficulties faced by library instruction programmes at the time. These problems were taken up by Scrivener in a significant article describing instruction in library use as a persisting problem. 'The welter of writing shows clearly the extent of interest in the subject and equally clearly that it is a problem (or complex of problems) to which no generally accepted solutions have been found.' In America the approaches to teaching library skills to college students have been studied by Dudley, a study which included descriptions of two accredited courses at the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses of the University of California. More recently Givens after discussing the history of the role of the library in user education studied the educational developments of the 'sixties and the libraries' response. He discussed the componsnets of a user education programme and the rethinking and reorganization that would be required to achieve that programme.


In the modular construction industry of Canada, workers experience awkward postures and motions (reaching above shoulder, back bending backward, elbow/wrist flex, etc.) due to improper workstation designs. The awkward postures often lead to worker injuries and accidents, which do not only reduce the productivity but also increases the production cost. Therefore, the ergonomic posture analysis becomes essential to identify, mitigate and prevent the awkward postures of workers when workstation designs are changed. This paper proposes a novel framework to conduct the worker ergonomic posture analysis through the 3D reconstruction of human body from the video sequences captured by a monocular camera. The framework consists of four components: tracking worker of interest; detecting worker joints and body parts; refining 2D worker pose; and generating 3D human body model. The human body model generated from the framework could be used to estimate the joint angles of the workers to identify whether their postures meet the ergonomic requirements. The proposed framework has been tested on real construction videos, and the test results showed its effectiveness.


The purpose of this study was to devise a suitable notational analysis system (video analysis combined with hand notation) to help coaches and players improve their performance during penalty corners in field hockey. The design of the system sought to highlight successful tactics, while eliminating the unsuccessful ones. Two hundred and fifty penalty corners from the 1998 field hockey World Cup in Holland were analysed using video analysis and a hand notation system. Results showed that most successful goals were scored from straight shots that were either flicked or undercut. The average number of touches which resulted in a straight shot/outright goal was found to be three. Unsuccessful goals occurred most often when the ball was saved by either the goalie or a defender or when the attacker lost possession. Most shots that were on target, resulted in a save. These shots were usually hit without the ball leaving the ground. This information could be used by coaches and players to concentrate a portion of training time to perfecting these successful tactics and discouraging the unsuccessful ones. The ability to score from penalty corners can be the determining factor in winning a match


The relation among solidarity, religion, and the environment is a timely and pressing topic – or cluster of related topics. It has become clear that religion plays a salient role in forging social solidarity and, in the process, of shaping cultural perspectives that pertain to politics, education, the economy, and the environment. In this article, I do the following: (1) I argue that religion and solidarity should not be treated as anomalies in modernity, and that both religion and solidarity continue to play a significant role in local and global events; social solidarity in particular remains an essential condition for addressing many challenges that confront the globe today, including social justice and environmental degradation. (2) Drawing mainly on the work of the social theorist, Emile Durkheim, I show the role solidarity plays in establishing freedom of conscience and individual rights (moral individualism), moral pluralism, moral education, economic justice, and political community; this broad discussion will constitute the greater part of this article. Finally, (3) I discuss the relation among religion, solidarity, and environmental degradation; I argue that religion and solidarity can provide important cultural resources to combat global trends that threaten the environment.


We have fabricated planar first-derivative gradiometers in which an asymmetric flux transformer patterned in a single-layer YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x} film is permanently bonded to a directly coupled magnetometer based on a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The gradiometer base line is 48 mm. The common mode rejection of uniform magnetic fields is typically one part in a few hundred. The outputs of two such gradiometers are subtracted digitally to form a second-derivative gradiometer. Additionally, three orthogonal SQUID magnetometers are used to reduce the residual response to uniform magnetic fields to better than 100 ppm. The system is able to detect magnetic signals from a human heart in an unshielded environment.


The use of polarized synthons is a highly desirable strategy, as it generally enables unprecedented retrosynthetic disconnections for the synthesis of unique substances. Herein, a new approach for α-oxygenated ketones, α-thioketones and α-thio thioketals via an intermolecular umpolung reaction between nucleophiles (alcohols/thioalcohols) and N-alkenoxypyridinium salts, which were generated from the corresponding alkynes, has been developed for the first time. The reactions proceed with good substrate scope and excellent functional group tolerance in one-pot manner. Applications of the products, α-oxygenated ketones, to the synthesis of other valuable synthetic moieties has also been successfully achieved.


A macroscopic model of an urban traffic network is proposed in this paper. Such a model considers explicitly queues in the links, in order to take into account congestion phenomena which usually characterize urban traffic neworks (spillbacks, bottlenecks, etc.). The traffic network is modelled by means of a directed graph, and the equations which drive the dynamics of the system derive from the well-known LWR model. The proposed model has been applied to the urban traffic network of the city of Bologna, North Italy; in this connection, some results are reported in the paper.


This report provides an assessment of accounting, financial reporting and auditing requirements and practices in Nepal. The report uses international financial reporting standards and international standards on auditing as benchmarks and draws on international experience and good practices in the field of accounting and audit to assess the quality of financial reporting and make policy recommendations. The reports on the observance of standards and codes (ROSC) accounting and auditing addresses two strategic objectives in the Country Partnership Strategy FY14-FY18 (poverty reduction and shared prosperity). The report aims to support the Government of Nepal in preparing a country action plan aimed at further enhancing the quality of corporate financial reporting to facilitate improvement of business climate, attract foreign direct investment, and foster business development. The policy recommendations also target small and medium enterprises that form the backbone of Nepal's economy.


We present new photometry for the Galactic thick-disk globular cluster Palomar 11 extending well past the main-sequence turnoff in the V and I bands. This photometry shows noticeable, but depleted, red giant and subgiant branches. The difference in magnitude between the red horizontal branch (red clump) and the subgiant branch is used to determine that Palomar 11 has an age of 10.4 ± 0.5 Gyr. The red clump is used to derive a distance d⊙ = 14.3 ± 0.4 kpc and a mean cluster reddening of E(V - I) = 0.40 ± 0.03. There is differential reddening across the cluster, of order δE(V - I) ∼ 0.07. The color-magnitude diagram of Palomar 11 is virtually identical to that of the thick-disk globular cluster NGC 5927, implying that these two clusters have a similar age and metallicity. Palomar 11 has a slightly redder red giant branch than 47 Tuc, implying that Palomar 11 is 0.15 dex more metal-rich, or 1 Gyr older, than 47 Tuc. Ca II triplet observations, such as those of Rutledge and coworkers, favor the hypothesis that Palomar 11 is the same age as 47 Tuc, but slightly more metal-rich.