The Mexican peso crisis struck in late December 1994, coinciding with a new Mexican administration and the end of the first year of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The crisis poignantly highlighted the success and the inadequacy of the treaty--success in the expansion of trade and capital flows, and inadequacy in institutional capacity. The Canadian, Mexican, and US governments defined the agreement so narrowly that they failed to devise a mechanism that could monitor, anticipate, plan, or even respond to such a serious problem. The president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, has boldly proposed transforming the free trade area into a common market like Europe's. In this visionary study, Robert A. Pastor seizes Fox's idea and maps out the paths toward making it a reality. He analyzes NAFTA's successes and shortcomings, extracts lessons from the European Union's 40 years of reducing disparities between rich and poor countries, and proposes ways that NAFTA can adapt and incorporate those lessons. The centerpiece of the book is a detailed proposal for new institutions and "North American plans" for infrastructure and transportation, immigration and customs, and projects aimed at lifting the poorer regions.This book is the first to propose a detailed approach to a North American Community--different from the European Common Market but drawing lessons from its experience. It will be of considerable interest to policymakers as well as researchers and students of international political economy, world trade, and foreign affairs.


Microbacterium sp. AJ-Z was isolated from fenugreek ( Trigonella foenum-graecum ) root nodules on Yeast Extract Mannitol (YEM) medium. Colonies of the bacteria isolates grown were rod shape, whitish, translucent, sticky nature. The results showed responded of the fenugreek seedlings grown on Nitrogen free medium (NF) to inoculated with Microbacterium sp. AJ-Z isolate at 30 min. and successful to form nodules its roots in the rate of 70% after 7 days with rate number of nodes/seedling was 2.9 superiority on the other which grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium and 0.7% agar. Nodules produced have a spherical shape, pinkish and indeterminate in growth and after a few days, its shape becomes elongated.


HM-1 killer toxin secreted from Hansenula mrakii inhibits the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells by interfering with beta-1,3-glucan synthesis. We found that HM-1 killer toxin killed intact cells but not protoplasts. In addition, cells lacking the functional KRE6 allele (kre6 delta) became resistant to higher concentration of HM-1 killer toxin. As reported by Roemer and Bussey [(1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88 11295-11299], cells lacking functional KRE6 had a reduced level of the cell wall beta-1,6-glucan compared to that in cells harboring the normal KRE6. These results suggest that the cell wall beta-glucan is involved in the action of HM-1 killer toxin. Addition of HM-1 killer toxin with several kinds of oligosaccharides revealed that either beta-1,3- or beta-1,6-glucan blocked the cytocidal action of HM-1 killer toxin whereas alpha-1,4-glucan and chitin did not. Mannan also interfered with HM-1 killer toxin action, but this inhibitory effect was much weaker than that observed with beta-1,3- or beta-1,6-glucans. Thus, it appears that the cell wall beta-glucan interacts with HM-1 killer toxin, and that this toxin-beta-glucan commitment is required for the action of HM-1 killer toxin.


Aim: the increasing number of total hip arthroplasties in case of young, physically active patients means an increasing number of revision surgeries as well. For these patients the use of ceramic bearings could be an appropriate solution because of its reduced wear and a predicted longer lifetime. In this paper we would like to present our short experiences with non-cemented, ceramic-on-ceramic total hip prosthesis, in case of young patients. Materials and Methods: between January 2011 and December 2012, 32 hip arthroplasties were performed in case of 31 young patients diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the femoral head. The clinical and radiological follow-up of these patients was carried out for an average of 1,5 year. The average age was 47 years (25-51) in the moment of the surgery. The clinical assessment of the patients were carried out by the Harris Hip Score and Visual Analog Scale, performed before and 3, 6, 12 month after surgery. The radiological evaluation was based on the anteroposterior and axial radiographs performed at the above mentioned time points. Results: in each cases the bony ingrowth of the prosthesis took place. No stressshielding phenomenon was observed at the proximal part of the femur. In one case at six month control X-ray we noticed the damage of the ceramic insert and no further complications were observed. The patient refused the revision surgery for now. Conclusions: the fourth-generation ceramic component for non-cemented endoprosthesis used in case of young patients has very good early clinical and radiological results.


In this paper we present two approaches to Lindenmayer systems: the rule-based (or 'generative') approach, which focuses on L-systems as Thue rewriting systems and a constraint-based (or 'modeltheoretic') approach, in which rules are abandoned in favour of conditions over allowable expressions in the language (Pullum, 2019). We will argue that it is possible, for at least a subset of Lsystems and the languages they generate, to map string admissibility conditions (the 'Three Laws') to local tree admissibility conditions (cf. Rogers, 1997). This is equivalent to defining a model for those languages. We will work out how to construct structure assuming only superficial constraints on expressions, and define a set of constraints that well-formed expressions of specific L-languages must satisfy. We will see that L-systems that other methods distinguish turn out to satisfy the same model.


To study the effects of structural alterations of chromosomes caused by tandem repeats on the meiotic recombination, the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) 5A chromosomes with different structure from ten wheat cultivars were used to investigate their meiotic recombination using non-denaturing fluorescence in situ hybridization (ND-FISH) technology. Fifteen cross combinations were carried out and they were divided into seven F1 categories. The structural difference between the intercalary regions of the long arms of the two 5A chromosomes (5AL) in the F1 categories III, VI, and VII was greater than that in the categories I and II, subsequently, the recombination frequencies in the distal regions of the 5AL arm in the progenies from the three categories were significantly lower than that from the categories I and II. For the two 5A chromosomes in the F1 categories VI and VII, the structural differences in the distal regions of both of the two arms were greater than that in the categories IV and V. So, the recombination frequencies in the intercalary region of the 5AL arm in the progeny from the categories IV and V were higher than that in the progeny from the categories VI and VII. The breakage of 5A chromosome together with the 5A translocations and the breakage of some other chromosomes were observed in the progeny from the F1 categories V, VI, and VII. These chromosomal variations were not observed in the progenies from the other four F1 categories. In conclusion, the smaller structural difference between the 5A chromosomes in distal regions of the two arms resulted in a higher recombination frequency in interstitial region and vice versa. The 5A chromosome with complex cytological structure can be used to induce genetic variations of wheat genome.


Artocarpin is an isoprenyl flavone from Artocarpus species (Moraceae).
Trees of the genus comprise about 50 species, and are native to tropical
and subtropical Asia. First isolated from the root of A. heterophyllus (jackfruit),
artocarpin has been reported in other Artocarpus species such as A.
altilis, A. chempeden, A. kemando and A. maingayi. Recently, artocarpin
has also been isolated from A. incisus, A. chama, A. lowii, A. anisophyllus,
A. scortechinii, A. odoratissimus and A. hirsutus. It has a molecular formula
of C26H28O6 and a 5,7,2',4'-tetrahydroxylated structure with three benzene
rings. Ring B has a 2',4'-resorcinol moiety and there is a methoxy group at
C-7 of ring A. At C-3 and C-6 of artocarpin are the isoprenyl substituents.
Some data on the content of artocarpin in extracts and fractions of different
solvents and species of Artocarpus have been presented. Other flavones
prenylated at C-3 and C-6 include artelasticin, artelastofuran, cudraflavone
C and norartocarpin. The inhibition of tyrosinase and melanogenesis are
two skin-whitening activities of artocarpin. It protects UVB-induced skin
damage. Besides its cosmeceutical activities of skin-whitening and photo
protection, artocarpin possesses other pharmacological properties such
as cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiandrogen,
antitubercular, antiplasmodial, neuraminidase inhibitory, termiticidal and
wound healing activities. In the conclusion, some research studies of interest
for the future have been proposed.


Over the past decade the use of screening and surveillance modalities has been associated with a small but significant decrease in the incidence of colorectal cancer and an increase in curability of lesions that are found. Although consensus-based international guidelines have stressed the variety of possible diagnostic options that can serve this purpose, in many countries colonoscopy withremoval of all polyps has become the test of choice. The evidence-base for this choice is largely derivative rather than direct and prospective, and many uncertainties remain in its use as a primary screening modality. This review examines our current guidelines relative to risk stratifying the populations offered the test; the onset, interval, and discontinuation of testing; and the important role of operator variability in outcome.


Drawing from Paul Ricoeur's work on how the uncertainties of temporality are given coherence through narrative, this essay explores how popular songs mediate the human experience of time. It develops this idea via a brief illustrative study of how "Waterloo Sunset" refashions ordinary time through a narrative that celebrates the cyclical repetition of a moment, and suggests a more general tendency for pop songs to humanize the paradoxes of the "triple present" and to harmonize the tensions between phenomenological "lived time," "cosmic time," and "clock time" (categories drawn from Ricoeur). The essay outlines ways that a cyclical popular song aesthetic resonates with a broader series of temporal experiences understood in relation to concepts of ritual, accelerating social time, and plotless biography. In arguing for the importance of time and temporality in the study of popular music and self-identity, the essay is deliberately exploratory, seeking to open up a series of issues with the intention of complementing existing approaches to the relationships between music, identity, and social life.


Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common causes of deafness and, at present, there is no treatment for the recovery of the normal hearing threshold after prolonged exposure to loud acoustic stimuli and the generation of acoustic trauma. Prolonged exposure to noise can cause oxidative stress in the cochlea which results in the loss (via apoptotic pathways) of the outer hair cells of the organ of Corti. It has been demonstrated that some antioxidant molecules, for example L-N-acetyl-cysteine, can prevent oxidative stress in the inner ear. Aim of the study was to evaluate whether L-N-acetyl-cysteine, given at various dosages, can preserve the fine structures of the cochlea from the insult of continuous noise. A series of 18 Sprague Dawley male albino rats were exposed to continuous noise (8 kHz octave band noise, 105 dB SPL, 4 hours), and cochlear functionality was evaluated by recordings of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and distortion products otoacoustic emissions). The group which showed the best protection was that which received a total dosage of 1500 mg/kg of L-N-acetyl-cysteine. These data suggest that while L-Nacetyl-cysteine can partially protect the cochlea from continuous noise, the protection effect is strongly dose-dependent: lower dosages do not fully protect the cochlea and higher dosages can damage the rat systemically (e.g. pulmonary toxicity).


Automatic machine translation evaluation was crucial for the rapid development of machine translation systems over the last two decades. So far, most attention has been paid to the evaluation metrics that work with text on the sentence level and so did the translation systems. Acrosssentence translation quality depends on discourse phenomena that may not manifest at all when staying within sentence boundaries (e.g. coreference, discourse connectives, verb tense sequence etc.). To tackle this, we propose several documentlevel MT evaluation metrics: generalizations of sentence-level metrics, language(pair)-independent versions of lexical cohesion scores and coreference and morphology preservation in the target texts. We measure their agreement with human judgment on a newly created dataset of pairwise paragraph comparisons for four language pairs.


This advocacy brief explores some areas where ageism intersects with gender-based discrimination. The situation, challenges, opportunities, and diversity of older women in our societies are often overlooked in discussions concerning women and gender and, to some degree, in those devoted to older persons. This brief, produced by UN DESA, UN Women, and the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons with support from AARP, seeks to spark a conversation among relevant stakeholders on how to better integrate old age and gender perspectives in policymaking. The gendered nature of aging plays an important role in shaping the lives of older persons. While both women and men experience ageism when they get older, 1 women experience aging and its impact differently. Gender-based discrimination and inequalities are exacerbated at older ages, with these inequalities emerging from gendered stereotypes deeply rooted in cultural and social norms. 2 The combination of ageism and sexism has a unique and aggravating effect on discrimination and inequality. Gender stereotypes and sexist attitudes do not vanish with age but rather are compounded with assumptions about later life, such as frailty, dependence, lack of ability, and passivity. 3 Other intersectional factors, such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national or social origin, or other status, exacerbate the risk of gender inequality and discrimination in later life. The discrimination and inequality faced by older women are usually the result of disadvantages accumulated over the life course, which ageism and age discrimination only exacerbate. As a result, many older women are denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. The COVID-19 pandemic further increased the disproportionate effect of discrimination on older persons, and especially on older women. According to the World Economic Forum, the pandemic, in a mere two years of its beginning, has increased the gender wealth gap by a generation. This means that women will continue to reach older age in a more disadvantaged position than men unless structural changes are made. the carried out by 2.5 the of domestic work as men older persons depicted as and recipients of unpaid care, and domestic work continues for women in old with many older older and family members even as the financial and cost of this goes Available showing that older women at the global level are more likely to reside alone than older men (21 percent and 10 percent respectively) suggest that women across age groups are more likely than men to provide care to older persons and less likely than men to receive it in their old age. 23 UN Women's rapid gender assessments revealed that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of older women (57%) aged 60 years or more reported increased time spent on unpaid care and domestic work. Nearly four in ten women aged 60 years or over have reported their mental and emotional health being negatively affected due to the pandemic.


We report complex coacervation between a primarily hydrophobic protein, elastin, and a strong polyanion DNA (2 kbp) in aqueous and salty solutions at room temperature, 25 °C. The associative interaction at fixed elastin and varying DNA concentration, thereby maintaining a mixing ratio of r = [DNA] : [elastin] = 0.0027 to 0.093, was probed. What distinguishes this study from protein-DNA coacervation reported earlier is that the protein used here was mostly a hydrophobic polyampholyte with low linear charge density, and its complementary polyelectrolyte, DNA, concentration was chosen to be extremely small (1-35 ppm). The interaction profile was found to be strongly hierarchical in the mixing ratio, defined by three distinct regions: (i) Region I (r < 0.02) was defined as the onset of primary binding leading to condensation of DNA; (ii) Region II (0.02 < r < 0.08) indicated secondary binding which led to the formation of fully charge neutralized complexes signaling the onset of coacervation; and (iii) Region III (0.08 < r < 0.12) revealed growth of insoluble complexes of large size facilitating liquid-solid phase separation. The degree of complex coacervation was suppressed in the presence of a monovalent salt implying that screened Coulomb interactions governed the binding. Small angle neutron scattering data attributed an amorphous structure to the coacervates. The elastin-DNA system belongs to a rare class of interacting biopolymers where very weak electrostatic interactions may drive coacervation, thereby implying that coacervation between DNA and proteins may be ubiquitous.


Abstract A circular warp-knitting machine was designed using a novel approach that uses a conical needle-bed. This machine was built and successfully tested. The interaction between the patterning and knitting mechanisms of a warp-knitting machine is critical for the performance of the machine. In a circular warp-knitting machine, geometric parameters such as the diameter of the patterning rings and the distance between the patterning rings and the needles can significantly affect the patterning capability of the machine. This paper describes an approach to modelling the yarn and needle paths in a novel circular warp knitting machine with a conical needle-bed and patterning rings, using equations that govern the relationship between the different geometric parameters in order to calculate the amplitude of the shogging movements and optimise machine performance. A set of mathematical equations governing the geometric relationship that determines the limits of the motion of the patterning rings is presented. The algorithms have been created and successfully tested using a case study. A mathematical model and appropriate algorithms are developed that prove useful design tools for the designer of the circular warp knitting machines using conical needle-bed.


Background: Malaria is a life threatening disease caused by Plasmodium spp that are transmitted to people through the bite of infected mosquitoes. This study was undertaken to determine malarial infection among patients attending General Hospital Gboko, Benue State, Nigeria and evaluate the performance of the Histidine Rich Protein (HRP-2) pf Rapid Diagnosis Test (RDT) in screening clinical cases of  Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a field setting.
Methods and Findings: The study was conducted between June and October 2010. Thick blood smears were prepared using standard parasitological procedures, other information concerning the patients were obtained using a well structured questionnaire. Prevalence rate of malaria irrespective of Plasmodium species among the patients examined was 39.5% (102/258). Prevalence rate of malarial infection was not significantly different between sexes (I‡2 = 0.01, p>0.05), age groups (I‡2 = 6.44, p>0.05), educational status (I‡2= 6.1, p>0.05) and occupation of the patients examined (I‡2= 8.4,  P>0.05). The study also revealed predominance of  Plasmodium falciparummalaria (59.1%) among all the positive cases of malaria. Performance of the HRP-2 pf RDTs showed a sensitivity of 89.5% and specificity of 100% in the area. Conclusion: The results obtained suggested that microscopy remains the gold standard method for diagnosis of malarial infection, although the HRP-2 pf RDTs can be used where microscopy is not available and in cases where urgent malaria diagnosis is needed.


Clinical case demonstrates a cardiovascular phenotype of Fabry disease — rare inherited disorder, linked with female sex. Clinically manifest Fabry disease is described in female patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The specifics of differential diagnostics described, as of management, and indications for genetic diagnostics and prescription of genotype-specific enzyme replacement therapy.


eople living in urban areas have an aspiration to be in touch with nature, attractive environments, places where they can recreate, play and have leisure that enhances their health and well-being. To help achieve these desires landscape elements play a vital role and thus become an integrated part of everyday urban life. Resilient landscape can help to achieve "sustainability" at a macro level, "health" at a miso level and "well-being" at a micro level in urban areas. Most people spend maximum time at their home, experiencing various landscape elements during daily routines. These elements knowingly or unknowingly happen to be the part of their life and people get attached to them which also affect their well-being. This paper identi fi es the landscape elements that effects people and their housing through a review of literature. The paper also categorizes the identi fi ed landscape elements from practitioners' perspectives that should be created in developing housing for the health and well-being of the residents.


This paper presents a methodology for both the calibration and sensitivity analysis of the hydraulic simulation model relative to the C-Town distribution system included in the framework of the Battle of Water Calibration Networks. As regards the calibration, an automatic process based on the SCE-UA algorithm was initially performed then followed by a manual refinement. The subsequent sensitivity analysis allows for the quantification of the effect of the calibrated model parameters on the output variables of the hydraulic model; this latter analysis was performed following a technique based on the Monte Carlo-Latin Hypercube approach. The application of the calibration process leads to a set of parameters which enables the hydraulic model to properly reproduce the observed measures both in fire flow test conditions and in extended period simulation (one week). The sensitivity analysis highlights which of the input variables (pipe roughnesses, minor valve losses, pump speeds) most affect the output variables (reservoir water levels, node pressures and pipe flows), thus providing information useful within the context of system design, rehabilitation and real-time management.


The quarterly activities of the Advanced Gas Turbine Systems Research (AGTSR) program are described in this quarterly report. As this program administers research, we have included all program activity herein within the past quarter as dated. More specific research progress reports are provided weekly at the request of the AGTSR COR and are being sent to NETL As for the administration of this program, items worthy of note are presented in extended bullet format following the appropriate heading.


The Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) transforms long pulses from Linac 3 into high brilliance ion bunches for LHC by means of multi-turn injection, electron cooling and accumulation. The LEIR injection comprises a magnetic DC septum followed by an inclined electrostatic septum. The electrostatic septum has been newly designed and built. The magnetic septum is mainly recovered from the former LEAR machine, but required a new vacuum chamber. Dynamic vacua in the 10-12mbar range are required, which are hard to achieve due to the high desorption rate of ions lost on the surface. A new interlock and displacement control system has also been developed. The major technical challenges to meet the magnetic, electrical and vacuum requirements will be discussed.


OBJECTIVE
There is limited literature in the Indian subcontinent on the attitude of the medical personnel regarding blood donation. The purpose of the present study was to identify and assess the barriers that prevent people from becoming blood donors and also to devise recruitment strategies to increase the blood collection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was conducted in a tertiary care centre with attached medical college in Tamilnadu amongst 750 medical personnel. A self administered questionnaire was used for data collection from each individual.

RESULTS
Amongst the 750 medical personnel under study, 470 were never donors and 280 were lapsed donors. The foremost reason for not donating blood among lapsed donors and non donors was never being asked again.

CONCLUSION
Donors often donate blood once and rarely return to make a second or subsequent donation. Further education, motivation and dissemination of information would help in recruitment and retention of non-remunerated blood donors.


HANS BERGER ON THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM OF MAN Supplement 28: Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. Translated and edited by Pierre Gloor. (Pp. xi+ 350; illustrated; 215s.). Elsevier: Amsterdam. 1969. To anyone who has studied electroencephalography exclusively in the English-speaking countries, this book fills a significant gap in the study of the history of the subject which has hitherto been, if not shrouded in mystery, at least dismissed as ofno particular importance. Not only is it refreshing to read descriptions of the EEG described from a standpoint of total naivete ('a current exhibiting considerable oscillations is present at all times', but also it is of value to follow Berger's methods, which are very different from the traditional English approach. We note almost with a sense of shock: 'on the basis of my own investigations I must therefore resolutely disagree with the assertion made by Adrian and Mathews that the EEG is absent in the blind'. (By 'EEG' Berger here means what we should today refer to as alpha rhythm.) For the reviewer, the main interest in these collected translations has not so much been to discover what Berger demonstrated; this is well enough known, but more to discover what he did not demonstrate. For example, 'the experiments were initially unsuccessful and only when the two clay electrodes were placed 4 cm apart in the vicinity of a scar running vertically from above downwards through the middle of the enlarged trephine opening, was it possible with large magnifications to obtain continuous oscillations of the galvanometer string'. We can sympathize with Berger when he discusses the difficulties of recording from intact skin which 'according to the studies carried out by Einthoven, and especially by Gildenmeister, creates very complicated electrical conditions which are not easily comprehended'. A sentence which remains true to this day! The illustrations from the very first paper of some of the single channel EEGs, usually recorded together with an electrocardiogram, would not cause any particular comment if published today. Berger's scientific quality is well demonstrated in the first few papers by the very careful studies which he undertook and presents, with the aim of establishing that the phenomena are in fact arising from the brain and are not due to blood flow in the scalp or cerebral vessels, or to fine tremulous movements or other artefacts. A recurring theme throughout the series of papers is Berger's surprise at the fact that the recorded electrical activity appears to decrease upon sensory stimulation, rather than to increase, as he would have predicted. This finding is hinted at in the first report, and is discussed in detail in the second. The very last sentence of the last report returns again to emphasize 'the decrease in the amplitude of the potential oscillations of the human brain' which occurs in association with active conscious activity. This book contains (as its sub-title says) the 14 original reports on the human electroencephalogram. It is well produced with excellent copies of the illustrations. The translation is always readable, although it does reflect the complexity which must have characterized the German text. There is an introduction by Pierre Gloor who is professor of clinical neurophysiology at Magill University, Montreal, Canada, which contains a fascinating brief biography of Hans Berger, and fills in a good deal of his background and the milieu in which he worked and which, more than anything else, helps to make the papers come alive. In summary, this book is to be recommended to all serious students of electroencephalography who will find it rewarding, although to read it thoroughly is no light undertaking. It is to be recommended also to all those interested in the history of what must be almost a unique achievement in the application of scientific methods to clinical material by a clinician who was seeking, above all, to further 'the proper study of mankind'.


Human respiratory syncytial virus is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and other respiratory infections in infants and the elderly worldwide. We have developed two new oral vaccines using Salmonella typhi TY21a to carry and express the immunogenic epitopes of RSV fusion (F) and attachment (G) glycoproteins on its surface, separately. To evaluate the efficacy of the designed vaccines, BALB/c mice were orally immunized and then infected with RSV. Immune response analyses showed that cellmediated, mucosal and humoral immunity in the vaccinated mice were significantly enhanced compared to the control group. Both vaccines generated a balanced Th1/Th2 immune response which is crucial for efficiency of vaccines against RSV. Furthermore, histopathological examination proved that these vaccines were safe as they did not cause any Th2-associated adverse effects in the lungs of RSV-infected mice. The findings of this research suggest that Salmonella-F and Salmonella-G vaccine candidates may have strong potential to prevent RSV infection.


To clarify the mental stress relief effects of wrist warming, we conducted an experiment involving 8 healthy participants and evaluated the differences in psychological and physiological responses between using a warm armrest and normal temperature armrest after mental workload from a timed typing test. Psychological responses were evaluated with a questionnaire: using 21 questionnaire items with 7 mood state categories: "Active", "Anger", "Comfort", "Relaxed", "Strained", "Anxiety / Uneasiness", and "Languor/Boredom". Furthermore, physiological responses were evaluated with changes in the 3 following parameters: heart rate, skin temperature of the base of the little finger, and galvanic skin temperature. In this experiment, we used NeXus-10 MARKII for measurement and BioTrace+ for analysis. From our findings, when participants used the warm armrest after mental workload, their questionnaire scores of "Anxiety /Uneasiness" and "Comfort" were improved. In addition, we found that, in many of the participants, the skin temperature of the base of little finger was increased, although it was not in contact with the armrest. These results seem to suggest that wrist warming relieves mental stress.


This paper examines food demand before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 and studies the effects of the situation on households' demand for food in rural Indonesia, in the case of Bengkulu Province. The research data is taken from the Indonesia Socio-Economic Survey (SUSENAS) as a microdata set which is collected annually by Indonesia Central Statistics Agency (BPS) from 2017 to 2021. The effect of COVID-19 on food demand estimates using the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS). The results demonstrate that prepared food expenditure is the largest portion of household expenditure on food in the Bengkulu rural area. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, animal source food is the most sensitive to food expenditure, but after the outbreak, prepared food is the most sensitive. Staple food is the most expenditure-inelastic before and after the outbreak. Expenditure for animal source food, vegetables & fruits, and prepared food have significant differences between before and after the outbreak. All the food groups substitute for each other before the outbreak, whereas staple food and prepared food cannot be regarded as a substitute for each other after the outbreak. There are eleven of the compensated price elasticities whose differences between before and after the outbreak are significant, whereas as a set the compensated price elasticities are significantly different between before and after the outbreak. Other food is the easiest to be substituted for both phases. Prepared food is the most difficult to be substituted before the outbreak, but the staple food is the most difficult to be substituted after the outbreak. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the demand for vegetables & fruits increases, but the demand for staple food and prepared food decreases, ceteris paribus. Family size, children, gender, age, and other demographics variables have an impact on household food demand. These findings imply that after the outbreak, the supply of vegetables & fruits should be increased and that government support for suppliers of staple food and prepared food will be preferable.


A new characterization of the interior of the convex hull of a finite point set is given. An inclusion test based on this characterization is, on average, almost linear in the number of points times the dimensionality.


At present, a real objects-based full-color holographic system usually uses a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera array or depth camera to collect data. It then relies on a spatial light modulator to modulate the input light source for the reconstruction of the 3-D scene of the real objects. However, the main challenges the high-quality holographic 3-D display faced were the limitation of generation speed and the low accuracy of the computer-generated holograms. This research generates more effective and accurate point cloud data by developing an RGB-D salient object detection model in the acquisition unit. In addition, a divided point cloud gridding method is proposed to enhance the computing speed of hologram generation. In the RGB channels, we categorized each object point into depth grids with identical depth values. The depth girds are divided into M × N parts, and only the effective parts will be calculated. Compared with traditional methods, the calculation time is dramatically reduced. The feasibility of our proposed approach is established through experiments.


Abstract Thirty years of research, and especially the refinements of many geological, geochemical and geophysical techniques, have uncovered many new facets of the geology of the Scandinavian Caledonides, also correcting some fundamental misconceptions. Our present understanding is that of a sequence of allochthons, some derived from Baltica, but others of probably exotic origin, in part from the Laurentian margin that collided with Baltica, but perhaps also from other parts of Rodinia. The present paper summarizes the main features of the Scandinavian Caledonides, proposing some rethinking of the traditional schemes, which were developed lacking a substantial amount of the information we have today, and discusses the main advances since the last major synthesis in 1985.


PURPOSE
Complex injuries of the upper ureter with significant loss of length are difficult to manage. Traditional options include nephrectomy, bowel interposition and autotransplantation. The advent of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has created a new option when preservation of functioning renal parenchyma is desirable. We update our experience with severe iatrogenic ureteral injuries requiring laparoscopic nephrectomy and autotransplantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Seven patients with severe ureteral injuries were referred for definitive management. In all cases preoperative evaluation demonstrated comparable split renal function and anatomy not amenable to routine reconstruction. Transperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy and autotransplantation to the ipsilateral pelvis were attempted.

RESULTS
Of the patients 5 had a history of nephrolithiasis with intervention resulting in the ureteral injury and 5 underwent prior endoscopic or open management of the defects. All cases were associated with dense perinephric and perihilar fibrosis. Operative and warm ischemic times averaged 508 and 5 minutes, respectively. After ex vivo graft preparation, ureteral and vessel length and quality were adequate for transplantation in 6 cases. In the other patient the renal pelvis was not amenable for reconstruction. Urinary drainage consisted of ureteroneocystostomy in 2 cases and ipsilateral ureteroureterostomy in 4. There were no intraoperative complications and all grafts functioned immediately. Hospitalization averaged 6.4 days. At a mean followup of 17 months imaging studies demonstrated functioning renal autographs with a mean decrease in serum creatinine of 5%.

CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic nephrectomy in conjunction with autotransplantation is a viable option for severe proximal ureteral loss. Acceptable perioperative morbidity and excellent graft function were obtained in all cases when the kidney was transplanted. Close cooperation with a transplant team is crucial to coordinate graft harvest, ensure appropriate organ preparation and select the optimal urinary anastomosis.


Chicken anaemia virus (CAV), a member of the genus Gyrovirus, is the etiological agent of chicken infectious anaemia. CAV infects bone marrow-derived cells, resulting in severe anaemia and immunosuppression in young chickens and a compromised immune response in older birds. We investigated the molecular epidemiology of CAV in sick chickens in China from 2014 to 2015 and showed that the CAV-positive rate was 13.30%, in which mixed infection (55.56%) was the main type of infection. We isolated and identified 15 new CAV strains using different methods including indirect immunofluorescence assay and Western Blotting. We used overlapping polymerase chain reaction to map the whole genome of the strains. Phylogenetic analyses of the obtained sequences and related sequences available in GenBank generated four distinct groups (A–D). We built phylogenetic trees using predicted viral protein (VP) sequences. Unlike CAV VP2s and VP3s that were well conserved, the diversity of VP1s indicated that the new strains were virulent. Our epidemiological study provided new insights into the prevalence of CAV in clinical settings in recent years in China.


In this paper we present our ndings gathered during the evaluation and testing of Windows Server High-Performance Computing (Windows HPC) in view of potentially using it as a production HPC system for engineering applications. The Windows HPC package, an extension of Microsofts Windows Server product, provides all essential interfaces, utilities and management functionality for creating, operating and monitoring a Windows-based HPC cluster infrastructure. The evaluation and test phase was focused on verifying the functionalities of Windows HPC, its performance, support of commercial tools and the integration with the users work environment. We describe constraints imposed by the way the CERN Data Centre is operated, licensing for engineering tools and scalability and behaviour of the HPC engineering applications used at CERN. We will present an initial set of requirements, which were created based on the above constraints and requests from the CERN engineering user community. We will explain how we have congured Windows HPC clusters to provide job scheduling functionalities required to support the CERN engineering user community, quality of service, user- and project-based priorities, and fair access to limited resources. Finally, we will present several performance tests we carried out to verify Windows HPC performance and scalability.


The main attractiveness of Web services is their capacity to provide interoperability among heterogeneous distributed systems. Increasingly, companies and organizations have adopted Web services as a way to interoperate with their business partners. In such a scenario, Web services choreography can be applied in the specification of interorganizational business processes. However, the dynamic nature of business partnerships requires mechanisms for agile designing and deploying of choreographies. In this paper, we present an infrastructure that aims to address the above concern. Our approach, which is based on WS-CDL, BPEL, and UDDI standards, aims to reach flexibility by providing mechanisms for sharing, finding and executing choreographies in a friendly manner for the user. We also present a prototype implementation and its application in a supply chain integration system.


The discourse on African Renaissance in South Africa shapes the current stage of a post-apartheid political culture of memory. One of the frameworks of this negotiation of the past is the representation of religion. In particular, religious traditions that formerly occupied a marginalised status in Africanist circles are assimilated into a choreography of memory to complement an archive of liberation struggle. With respect to one of the most influential African Instituted Churches in South Africa, the Nazareth Baptist Church founded by Isaiah Shembe, this article traces an array of memory productions that range from adaptive and mimetic strategies to contrasting textures of church history. Supported by a spatial map of memory, these alternative religious traditions are manifested inside as well as outside the church. Against a hegemonic Afrocentrist vision, they are assembled from fragments of an intercultural milieu of early Nazareth Baptist Church history.


Received Jun 2, 2022 Revised Jul 23, 2022 Accepted Aug 15, 2022 This work discusses the study and development of a graphical interface and implementation of a machine learning model for vehicle traffic injury and fatality prediction for a specified date range and for a certain zip (US postal) code based on the New York City's (NYC) vehicle crash data set. While previous studies focused on accident causes, little insight has been offered into how such data may be utilized to forecast future incidents, Studies that have historically concentrated on certain road segment types, such as highways and other streets, and a specific geographic region, this study offers a citywide review of collisions. Using cutting-edge database and networking technology, a user-friendly interface was created to display vehicle crash series. Following this, a support-vector machine learning model was built to evaluate the likelihood of an accident and the consequent injuries and deaths at the zip code level for all of NYC and to better mitigate such events. Using the visualization and prediction approach, the findings show that it is efficient and accurate. Aside from transportation experts and government policymakers, the machine learning approach deliver useful insights to the insurance business since it quantifies collision risk data collected at specific places.


Within the distributed power generation market, the most economical solution today is to generate power through small gas turbine systems, arbitrarily categorized as microturbines (5-200 kW) and miniturbines (200-500 kW). The thermal efficiency of such microturbines without and with a recuperator is about 20 and 30% respectively, thus having a substantial performance improvement with a recuperator. The cost of the recuperator is about 2530% of the total power plant cost, so there is an incentive to develop high performance recuperator at minimum cost. While the offset strip fin geometry is one of the highest performing surfaces, it is also expensive to manufacture due to brazing requirements. This favors the use of all prime surface heat exchangers with no brazing. Note that the compact heat exchanger surface design data are obtained experimentally in the current state-of-the art and many papers have been published. Hence, in this paper, our focus on recuperators will be on the design (various types of heat exchanger surfaces and novel designs), material/finished heat exchanger cost, performance, durability, packaging and other related issues. The discussion and coverage is primarily for metal heat exchangers since ceramic heat exchangers are still in the infant stage after the last 50 years of development associated with the gas turbine applications.


It may be said that the history of Japanese zoo, aquarium and social education is characterized by lack of the independence of will. As for it, the establishment of the zoo as a leader of the natural science and scientific research has been disturbed. In the Meiji period, the scientific research has not been laid to the essence of the organization as for the zoo, the aquarium at the historical standing point in Japan. It was surrounded by various breaks to come from different motives and value standards although the legislative system based upon the freedom after the Second World War was maintained, and the development of the research in the zoo has been poor. The breaks have been present in the zoo as follows: break between duties and the research, break between pure science and practical technique, break between social education administration and the scientific research administration, break between the applied veterinary medicine and zoology, break between reductionism and comparative zoology, break between education administration and the environmental administration, and break between education administration and the construction administration. It is desired that zoo will be established as a leader of the scientific research.


We demonstrate that in important cases Propositions 3 and 4 in Eijffinger, Hoeberichts, and Schaling (Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, May 2000) may fail. Moreover, their monetary policy delegation arrangement, which advocates that central banker preference uncertainty may be desirable, is dominated by other arrangements without any such uncertainty. Finally, their way of modelling preference uncertainty leads to arbitrary effects on average monetary policy. Without these, preference uncertainty is never desirable.


This piece uses resource dependence theory to analyze an NGO (non-governmental organization) network, the "Network for Combating Domestic Violence of China Law Society" (NCDVCLS), an organizational network formed by specialists, social elites, GONGOs (government-operated NGOs), grassroots NGOs, and other participants. It identifies the matching of resources among members to be the core factor of success in its formation. The piece further posits that, within the interconnections of the network, members controlling key resources occupy the dominant positions and control the direction of the relationship.


This paper discusses the applicability of a compact rolling piston refrigeration compressor to portable refrigerators. The capacity of this compressor is 1 cc. Using a 12 V BLDC motor, the compressor is driven from 2500 rpm to 6000 rpm. The height of the compression module and motor is approximately 56 mm, and their weight is approximately 374 g. We confirmed the effective operation of the compressor components by evaluating their compression and cooling performance.


Human tumors were transplanted into athymic nude mice. From blood samples in the final stage of their passages we observed that in some of these lines, human lung cancer lines mostly, blood glucose generally decreased with increasing size of the tumor grafts. This observation was the reason for further investigations. Eight out of 13 human lung cancer lines caused a decrease of blood glucose in grafted mice. The extent of decrease was directly correlated with the proliferation of grafts. The results raise hope that the model of human malignant tumors, xenotransplanted and passaged into athymic nude mice, could be helpful in research on IGF and related substances.


Sulfur is an essential element for the growth and development of plants that synthesize cysteine and methionine residues from the reductive assimilation of sulfate. Besides its incorporation into proteins, cysteine is the building block for the biosynthesis of numerous sulfur-containing molecules and cofactors. The required sulfur atoms are extracted either directly from cysteine by cysteine desulfurases or indirectly after its catabolic transformation in 3-mercaptopyruvate, a substrate for sulfurtransferases (STRs). Both enzymes are transiently persulfidated in their reaction cycle, i.e. the abstracted sulfur atom is bound to a reactive cysteine residue in the form of a persulfide group. Trans-persulfidation reactions occur when sulfur atoms are transferred to nucleophilic acceptors such as glutathione, proteins or small metabolites. STRs form a ubiquitous, multigenic protein family. They are characterized by the presence of at least one rhodanese homology domain (Rhd), that usually contains the catalytic, persulfidated cysteine. In this review, we focused on Arabidopsis thaliana STRs presenting the sequence characteristics of all family members as well as their biochemical and structural features. Then, the physiological functions of peculiar STRs in the biosynthesis of molybdenum cofactor, thio-modification of cytosolic tRNAs, arsenate tolerance, cysteine catabolism and hydrogen sulfide formation are discussed.


Spirotrichilins A (1) and B (2), two novel limonoids with an unprecedented spiro[cyclopenta[b]furan-2,1'-cyclopentan] ring system in A/B/C rings, were isolated from the fruits of trichilia connaroides. Their planar structures and absolute configurations were established based on 1D-, 2D-NMR data, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) exciton chirality method and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT)/ECD calculation. A benzilic acid-like rearrangement in ring A was proposed as the key step in the plausible biogenetic pathway of 1 and 2.


Covering techniques have recently emerged as an effective tool used for classification of several infinite families of connected symmetric graphs. One commonly encountered technique is based on the concept of lifting groups of automorphisms along regular covering projections ℘:  ˜ X  →  X . Efficient computational methods are known for regular covers with cyclic or elementary abelian group of covering transformations CT(℘) . In this paper we consider the lifting problem with an additional condition on how a group should lift: given a connected graph X and a group G of its automorphisms, find all connected regular covering projections ℘:  ˜ X  →  X along which G lifts as a sectional split extension. By this we mean that there exists a complement ˉ G of CT(℘) within the lifted group ˜ G such that ˉ G has an orbit intersecting each fibre in at most one vertex. As an application, all connected elementary abelian regular coverings of the complete graph K 4 along which a cyclic group of order 4 lifts as a sectional split extension are constructed.


Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is widely used for temporal data processing. However, existing methods can neither learn the discriminative prototypes of different classes nor exploit such prototypes for further analysis. We propose Discriminative Prototype DTW (DP-DTW), a novel method to learn class-specific discriminative prototypes for temporal recognition tasks. DP-DTW shows superior performance compared to conventional DTWs on time series classification benchmarks1. Combined with end-to-end deep learning, DP-DTW can handle challenging weakly supervised action segmentation problems and achieves state of the art results on standard benchmarks. Moreover, detailed reasoning on the input video is enabled by the learned action prototypes. Specifically, an action-based video summarization can be obtained by aligning the input sequence with action prototypes.


A parametric study was conducted on small scale, subsonic Venturi nozzles. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different operating conditions and different geometric parameters on the performance of the nozzle. In this study, the performance of the nozzle was defined as the ratio of suction mass flow to motive mass flow, or the suction ratio. The parametric study included 15 different nozzle geometries, under various operating conditions, for a total of 55 case studies. The parametric study was conducted using CFD in Ansys Fluent. Additionally, experimental validation was conducted for several 3D printed nozzles. Dimensional analysis of the parameters was completed to determine the form of a dimensionless correlation for the suction ratio as a function of the other parameters. The case studies were run through a constrained multi-variable global optimization code to determine the dependency on each dimensionless group. This correlation can be used as a design guide for Venturi nozzles. If operating conditions dictate an optimum suction ratio, the ideal nozzle geometry can be determined. Alternatively, based on the geometry of a given nozzle, the resulting suction ratio can be determined.


Nevus unius lateris is a rare congenital hamartoma derived from the ectoderm, considered to be a systematized verrucous variant of an epidermal nevus. Due to its extensive unilateral distribution, it is frequently associated with neurological, musculoskeletal, auditory, and visual abnormalities. A case report of a 25-year-old female patient with a diagnosis of nevus unius lateris without associated comorbidities is presented.


As farmers in a transition economy search for new crop enterprises with a potential for income enhancement they are faced with increased risks in the process of resource allocation. It has been noted that biased estimation of production function estimates results from the lack of accountability of risks. Since peanut production in Bulgaria has increased at a varying rate since 1989 it is important that we examine the risks associated with input use. The data for this study were collected from farmers from 18 villages in the southern part of Bulgaria. A total of 205 farmers were surveyed for this study. Peanut yield in Bulgaria is positively related to the quantity of seed used, fungicide, manual labor, investment level and mechanized labor used. Peanut yield is negatively influenced by investment levels but positively by the increase of manual labor. The response of yield to quantity of seed used is elastic, and an addition of a kg of peanut seeds may increase yield by 32kg. However, as the quantity of seeds used per ha increases the risk is expected to increase, hence farmers may be cautious in increasing the quantity of seeds used. Investment capital, manual labor and mechanized labor are positively related to yield and there will be a reduction in yield if the optimal levels of those inputs are surpassed. Thus farmers may increase yield and production by augmenting the seeding rate, other factors remaining constant.


Abstract:  Considerable difficulty has been associated with the taxonomy of the genus Graptemys (Map Turtles and Sawbacks) over the last 50 yr, likely attributable to the relatively recent divergence of lineages and morphological variation within species. One trait that has been inconsistently defined has been the costal scute pattern of Graptemys flavimaculata, with many authors describing various blotch or ring patterns, or both. This study seeks to describe and quantify costal scute pattern via ring presence throughout the range of G. flavimaculata using both contemporary (field-captured) and historical (museum specimen) sources. Comparisons were made for contemporary individuals and historical specimens of both sexes throughout the geographic range. The pattern of all blotches dominated both sources (89.8%), whereas historical specimens had a higher rate of ring presence (15.1%) compared with contemporary individuals (8.6%). For contemporary data, ring presence was lower in headwater reaches (4.1–4.8%), but higher in middle to lower reaches of the river system (8.9–35.5%). Pattern variability might be attributable to environmental selection, incubation temperatures, genetic divergence, or a combination thereof. For historical specimens, geographic patterns observed were incongruent to contemporary data and likely attributable to geographic sampling bias. Considerable temporal and sexual bias was also observed in the specimen record as a result of species protections in the early 1990s and sampling methodology, respectively.


The Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) is one of the most challenging tasks in bioinformatics. It consists of aligning several sequences to show the fundamental relationship and the common characteristics between a set of protein or nucleic sequences; this problem has been shown to be NP-complete if the number of sequences is >2. In this paper, a new incomplete algorithm based on a Greedy Randomised Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) is presented to deal with the MSA problem. The first GRASP's phase is a new greedy algorithm based on the application of a new random progressive method and a hybrid global/local algorithm. The second phase is an adaptive refinement method based on consensus alignment. The obtained results are very encouraging and show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.


ancer remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite decreases in the cancer death rates in high-resource countries, such as the USA, the number of cancer cases and deaths is projected to be more than double worldwide over the next 20–40 years (1). Globally by 2030, it is projected that there will be ∼26 million new cancer cases and 17 million cancer deaths per year. The projected increase will be driven largely by growth and aging of populations and will be largest in lowand medium-resource countries. Under current trends, increased longevity in developing countries will nearly triple the number of people who survive to age 65 by 2050 (1).


The progress of information, communication and transportation technology has had a wide influence on daily life, and even overhauled the social system. It is difficult to put the process of social, cultural and political change nowadays apart from the development of global dynamics. The process of globalization has a huge influence on the development of religious values. Religion as a view that consists of various doctrines and values has a great influence on society. They recognize the importance of the role of religion in social life - the politics of the world community. plays an important role in the process of globalization. Because of the importance of the role of religion in people's lives, it is necessary to understand the extent of religion in responding to various social problems. Religion is reduced to provide rules of life and as an instrument for understanding the world that will bring happiness to human life. In line with these changes, finally emerged three forms of fundamental paradigms that developed among Muslims in the face of globalization, namely: conservative, liberal and alternative paradigms.
Keywords: Paradigm, Islamic, Globalization.


Although synovitis detection is optimal with contrast-enhanced, high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the increased accessibility of power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) has meant that it is more frequently utilised in the clinical setting. However, with the advent of low field extremity MRI (eMRI) and its practical advantages,1 there is a need to understand what is the most sensitive tool for routine clinical use. eMRI has been evaluated with respect to its ability to assess rheumatoid arthritis erosions in comparison with both high field MRI and radiography.2–4 There is relatively little published work, however, on eMRI's ability to assess synovitis in comparison with high field MRI,4–7 and three of these reports used intravenous contrast, which further limits feasibility. Only one group have published …


We study the exact controllability of two systems by means of a common finite-dimensional input function, a property called simultaneous exact controllability. Most of the time we consider one system to be infinite-dimensional and the other finite-dimensional. In this case we show that if both systems are exactly controllable in time T 0 and the generators have no common eigenvalues, then they are simultaneously exactly controllable in any time T >T0. Moreover, we show that similar results hold for approximate controllability. For exactly controllable systems we characterize the reachable subspaces corresponding to input functions of class H1 and H2. We apply our results to prove the exact controllability of a coupled system composed of a string with a mass at one end. Finally, we consider an example of two infinite-dimensional systems: we characterize the simultaneously reachable subspace for two strings controlled from a common end. The result is obtained using a recent generalization of a classical inequality of Ingham.


Geology is an important aspect in the development of tourism in an area. One of the attractions in a natural tourism location is certainly highly controlled by the geological setting in the area. The purpose of this research is to assess tourism values of geological features in the Bongo and surrounding areas as a basis for developing geotourism on the southern coast of Gorontalo. The research location is at coordinates N 00029'42" - N 00029'51" and E 12301'26" - E 12303'32". The method used in this study is a surface geological survey, which includes field data collection in the form of lithology, geological structure and geomorphology. The standard used for assessing tourism values is the technical guide for assessing geological heritage resources by the Geological Survey Center. The results showed that the lithology unit of the study area consists of granite, volcanic breccia and reef limestone. The geological structure in the research area is shear fracture with main stress that relatively directed to northwest-southeast. The geomorphic unit of the study area consisted of two units, namely volcanic hills, and marine units. The results of the assessment of tourism values on geological features explain that the Bongo and surrounding areas are included in the medium category. Improvements are needed on low value criteria, namely vulnerability, relationships with other values, and economic level.


In this paper we propose a new motion simulator base don tendon controlled tensegrity structures. The simulator is equipped with a robust nonlinear controller which achieves robust tracking by the simulator of a desired motion. The controller parameters can be tuned to guarantee tracking to within a prespecified tolerance and with a prescribed rate of exponential convergence. The design is verified through numerical simulations for specific longitudinal motions of a symmetric aircraft.


In this paper we develop a recommendation framework to connect image content with communities in online social media. The problem is important because users are looking for useful feedback on their uploaded content, but finding the right community for feedback is challenging for the end user. Social media are characterized by both content and community. Hence, in our approach, we characterize images through three types of features: visual features, user generated text tags, and social interaction (user communication history in the form of comments). A recommendation framework based on learning a latent space representation of the groups is developed to recommend the most likely groups for a given image. The model was tested on a large corpus of Flickr images comprising 15,689 images. Our method outperforms the baseline method, with a mean precision 0.62 and mean recall 0.69. Importantly, we show that fusing image content, text tags with social interaction features outperforms the case of only using image content or tags.


The site of incision for cataract extraction after filtering operations has been a subject of prolonged debate. This presents a serious problem because of the close relationship to delayed reformation of the anterior chamber and failure of the filtering cicatrix with recurrence of glaucoma. The literature was reviewed, and a technique for cataract extraction through a perpendicular incision made superiorly in clear cornea with no conjunctival flap was described by one of us (H.G.S.) in 1956. 1 Encouraging results from operating upon 22 eyes were reported. The present paper describes certain modifications of that technique and the results in operating on 65 eyes. These results are compared also with extraction by 2 other methods: (1) a 2-plane incision, as for conventional cataract extraction, made inferiorly with a small conjunctivalcorneal flap; and (2) the same incision made superiorly, the filtering operation having been done inferiorly to permit routine cataract extraction above.


The cultural properties are complex objects of cultural, economic and investment mechanism. The acts against them appear as an interdisciplinary problem, the combat against these diverse actions can be realized by the regulations of the various areas of law. However, the threatened values, the size of the damages and the related crimes with great weight make the intervention of criminal law necessary. Italy is characterized by one of the wealthiest cultural heritages of the world. For this reason, Italy takes a leading role in fighting against actions violating these values. This protection is realized at different levels and by several measures. In addition, the Italian system is characterized by special police forces dedicated to law enforcement in this field. The Italian and Hungarian system have been examined and compared them in the field of the criminal law protection of cultural property in order to give appropriate suggestions and to make the Hungarian protection system more effective. The paper will introduce the constitutional bases, the legislation, the organization system, and practical experience in both country and compare them. With the help of this comparative analysis, it will be possible to improve the protection of cultural properties in Hungary and hopefully it will give useful advice for other countries.


INTRODUCTION
Cannabis sativa has been cultivated for human use for about 5,000 years, and has likewise been used in the treatment of epilepsy for thousands of years.

STATE OF THE ART
Cannabidiol (CBD), which was isolated from cannabis sativa in 1940, has an anti-seizure effect and no psychoactive activity. Its effectiveness in reducing various types of seizures has been proven in animal seizure and epilepsy models. Recent randomised, placebo-controlled trials have confirmed its effectiveness in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
The aim of this position paper was to present the specific mechanism of CBD's anti-seizure action and current indications for CBD's use in epilepsy. The only cannabis-derived drug that has successfully passed clinical trials and has obtained United States Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency approval for epilepsy is Epidiolex®. This paper presents the outcomes of the completed clinical trials with the use of this drug.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
CBD may be an effective drug in drug-resistant epilepsy, particularly in Dravet Syndrome, Lennox- Gastaut Syndrome and seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex. Additional randomised, placebo-controlled studies with CBD are needed.


Genotyping‐by‐sequencing methods such as RADseq are popular for generating genomic and population‐scale data sets from a diverse range of organisms. These often lack a usable reference genome, restricting users to RADseq specific software for processing. However, these come with limitations compared to generic next generation sequencing (NGS) toolkits. Here, we describe and test a simple pipeline for reference‐free RADseq data processing that blends de novo elements from STACKS with the full suite of state‐of‐the art NGS tools. Specifically, we use the de novo RADseq assembly employed by STACKS to create a catalogue of RAD loci that serves as a reference for read mapping, variant calling and site filters. Using RADseq data from 28 zebra sequenced to ~8x depth‐of‐coverage we evaluate our approach by comparing the site frequency spectra (SFS) to those from alternative pipelines. Most pipelines yielded similar SFS at 8x depth, but only a genotype likelihood based pipeline performed similarly at low sequencing depth (2–4x). We compared the RADseq SFS with medium‐depth (~13x) shotgun sequencing of eight overlapping samples, revealing that the RADseq SFS was persistently slightly skewed towards rare and invariant alleles. Using simulations and human data we confirm that this is expected when there is allelic dropout (AD) in the RADseq data. AD in the RADseq data caused a heterozygosity deficit of ~16%, which dropped to ~5% after filtering AD. Hence, AD was the most important source of bias in our RADseq data.


The goal of human-robot motion retargeting is to let a robot follow the movements performed by a human subject. Typically in previous approaches, the human poses are precomputed from a human pose tracking system, after which the explicit joint mapping strategies are specified to apply the estimated poses to a target robot. However, there is not any generic mapping strategy that we can use to map the human joint to robots with different kinds of configurations. In this paper, we present a novel motion retargeting approach that combines the human pose estimation and the motion retargeting procedure in a unified generative framework without relying on any explicit mapping. First, a 3D parametric human-robot (HUMROB) model is proposed which has the specific joint and stability configurations as the target robot while its shape conforms the source human subject. The robot configurations, including its skeleton proportions, joint limitations, and DoFs are enforced in the HUMROB model and get preserved during the tracking procedure. Using a single RGBD camera to monitor human pose, we use the raw RGB and depth sequence as input. The HUMROB model is deformed to fit the input point cloud, from which the joint angle of the model is calculated and applied to the target robots for retargeting. In this way, instead of fitted individually for each joint, we will get the joint angle of the robot fitted globally so that the surface of the deformed model is as consistent as possible to the input point cloud. In the end, no explicit or pre-defined joint mapping strategies are needed. To demonstrate its effectiveness for human-robot motion retargeting, the approach is tested under both simulations and on real robots which have a quite different skeleton configurations and joint degree of freedoms (DoFs) as compared with the source human subjects.


The article discusses the proposal for a "Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights of the European Union," whose central element is a binding effect of its fundamental rights not only to state authorities, but also to powerful private internet companies, which have a potential similar to that of the state to infringe on fundamental rights in the digital era. The article outlines the traditional German approach to fundamental rights and its underlying distinction between state and society, which makes it difficult for German scholars to handle a so-called horizontal effect of fundamental rights. Finally, the article discusses the main objections to such a horizontal effect and shows some practical problems it has the potential to cause in German and European constitutional law.


Four cases of bilateral orbital idiopathic inflammatory pseudotumors are analysed as regards their clinical, CT and ultrasonographic features. Bilateral orbital involvement tends to occur in a younger age group while optic nerve involvement is invariable. Certain echographic features like variation of angle kappa, increase in the width of retrobulbar fat complex and decreased orbital pulsations on M-scan are highlighted.


A semi-empirical formula is given which allows one to calculate the total thermal cross section of an imperfect single crystal as a function of crystal constants, temperature and neutron energy E, in the energy range between 3 meV and 10 eV. The formula also includes the contribution of the parasitic Bragg scattering to the total cross section that takes into account the crystal mosaic spread value and its orientation with respect to the neutron beam direction. A computer program (ISCANF) was developed to calculate the total attenuation of neutrons using the proposed formula. The ISCANF program was applied to investigate the neutron attenuation through a copper single crystal. The calculated values of the neutron transmission through the imperfect copper single crystal were fitted to the measured ones in the energy range 3 - 40 meV at different crystal orientations. The result of fitting shows that use of the computer program ISCANF allows one to predict the behaviour of the total cross section of an imperfect copper single crystal for the whole energy range.


As a result of machining a vast amount of metal chips are formed. These metallic chips can be recycled by melting. The high amount of energy required for melting process significantly increase the cost of recycling and it causes environmental pollution because the required energy generally derived from fossil fuels ( Gronostajski J.; Matuszak A., 1999 ). Therefore, researchers are working on alternative methods for the recycling of chips in order to reduce usage of fossil fuels and environmental pollution as a result of utilization of fossil fuels. In this study the possibility of the recycling of metal chip by means of hot pressing under particular temperatures and pressures instead of conventional melting recycling process has been investigated. A new metal matrix composites which are compose of spheroid graphite cast iron SGCI(GGG-40) and tin-bronze(CuSn10) was produced by this new sustainable method.


The productivity of local rice originating from breeder rice seedlings is quite high and valued higher in the grain market providing benefits for local rice farmers. But the need for farmers to continue to produce and increase productivity requires additional working capital, one of which is from microfinance institutions. This study aims to analyze the accessibility of Indramayu breeders in micro-credit to increase their farming production. The research location is in Indramayu District, West Java with samples of breeders in 15 sub-districts, spread in 40 local rice center villages using purposive sampling technique. The data of this study are primary data obtained from interviews with questionnaire guidelines. Time of data collection from August to October 2018. The analytical tool used is binary logistic regression with a maximum likelihood approach. The results of the analysis show that the opportunity for accessibility of breeders and general farmers in microcredit is 15.94%, while the rest do not or do not have access. Only the variable number of dependents of farmer families has a significant positive effect on access to micro credit. Based on the Exp (B) value it shows that the greater the family dependents have the opportunity 1,313 times compared to the small family dependents. Keywordsfarmer rice seed breeders, local rice seed, accessibility, microfinance institutions


Contemporary American Literature or the modern American literature starts generally after World War II. As one of the most diverse nations in the world, the United States has different events in regards of the time and place of the Contemporary Period of American Literature. This literary period has a wide range of issues and styles so that there are no sufficient perspectives to make lasting conclusions. That is why it is not easy to categorize American literature since the end of World War II. However, it is said that contemporary American literature has characteristics that clearly identify or reflect the multiculturalism of contemporary American society. Then, it is very important to not let aside the several events in order to have a general background of this period. To begin with, the Civil Rights Movement was a political movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the Southern of United States (1955-1965). There were many efforts to fight against racial oppression and abolish the institution of slavery. Secondly, the Vietnam War occurred during the Cold War and lasted from 1959 to 1975. The purpose was to impose communist system over the entire nation. It took place in Vietnam, Southeast Asia and it has been said it is the longest military battle in the history of the United States. Thirdly, all over these years, United States has been the attraction of many immigrants who want to succeed in that land, and to achieve their "American dream". According to BBC NEWS, immigration has been always present in US history; and the immigration flow to this country has first accelerated after the French Revolution and during the 19th century. Hence, American ports are full with German, Chinese, Irish, Italian, and Polish immigrants. For a half century, immigrants from diverse cultures have sought freedom and opportunity in what is now the United States of America. Challenges are inevitable as immigrants adjust to life in a new country, with a new language, and as their new neighbors become acquainted with them. The writers among them recorded their experiences in letters, journals, poems, and books, from early colonial days to the present. Marie Arana stated in her essay 'Today, one in four among us has a strong tie to a foreign past. More than one in five was born elsewhere or has an immigrant parent. We are a nation of many voices, myriad histories — a hotbed of artistic possibility. It is little wonder that from this vibrant and variegated culture, a new American literature has sprung' (eJournalUSA,4). Among those immigrants some of them came from Middle East countries which called Arabs.


Conventional submarines regularly operate near the surface to recharge batteries and to meet operational requirements. During these operations, a submarine will generate surface waves which can significantly increase its resistance and thus the required propulsive power. In addition, forces and moments are induced in the vertical plane that can adversely affect the trajectory of the submarine. A number of design and operational factors influence the wavemaking resistance and the vertical forces and moments. These include the proximity to the free surface, forward speed, size and configuration of the appendages, and the length to diameter (L/D) ratio. These effects are dependent on the interaction of the various hull-borne wave systems, which in turn are highly dependent on the Froude number.

In order to quantify these effects, a series of captive model experiments on a 1.556m model of the DARPA SUBOFF submarine was conducted in the Australian Maritime College towing tank supplemented by Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations of the model under varying conditions and configurations. This paper describes the RANS CFD modelling of the SUBOFF geometry at different L/D ratios and Froude numbers to determine the influence of these parameters on resistance.


Lawachara National Park (LNP) has good potentials to develop as a valuable tourism product with its own uniqueness. This paper aims to identify factors that affect the satisfaction and loyalty intention of tourists to visit Lawachara National Park in Moulvibazar as their forest based tourism destination. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 138 tourists who visited Lawachara National Park. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the tourists' satisfaction. Factors, intended for measuring tourists' satisfaction, were divided into five main constructs: accessibility, hospitality, expenditure attraction and entertainment facilities and environmental factor. The findings of this study indicate that LNP has a strong position only in attraction whereas it is lacking in facility and services. A great majority of tourists are mesmerized by the captivating beauty of this park. On the other hand, they express their displeasure with such issues as lack of basic infrastructural facilities such as public toilet, washroom and toilet facilities, expensive accommodation, lack of recreational facilities, cleanliness of the park and shopping facilities. This study has implications for policy planners and private stakeholders to take necessary measures for developing and promoting Lawachara National Park as a forest-based tourism attraction in our country.


Self-supervised contrastive learning between pairs of multiple views of the same image has been shown to successfully leverage unlabeled data to produce meaningful visual representations for both natural and medical images. However, there has been limited work on determining how to select pairs for medical images, where availability of patient metadata can be leveraged to improve representations. In this work, we develop a method to select positive pairs coming from views of possibly different images through the use of patient metadata. We compare strategies for selecting positive pairs for chest X-ray interpretation including requiring them to be from the same patient, imaging study or laterality. We evaluate downstream task performance by fine-tuning the linear layer on 1% of the labeled dataset for pleural effusion classification. Our best performing positive pair selection strategy, which involves using images from the same patient from the same study across all lateralities, achieves a performance increase of 14.4% in mean AUC from the ImageNet pretrained baseline. Our controlled experiments show that the keys to improving downstream performance on disease classification are (1) using patient metadata to appropriately create positive pairs from different images with the same underlying pathologies, and (2) maximizing the number of different images used in query pairing. In addition, we explore leveraging patient metadata to select hard negative pairs for contrastive learning, but do not find improvement over baselines that do not use metadata. Our method is broadly applicable to medical image interpretation and allows flexibility for incorporating medical insights in choosing pairs for contrastive learning.


This paper presents a method of information processing using biomolecular input signals and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) signaling constructed on a DNA scaffold. Logic operations are achieved by encoding molecular inputs into an arrangement of fluorescence dyes using simple DNA reactions and by evaluating a logic expression using local photonic signaling that is much faster than DNA reactions. Experimental results verify the operation of a complete set of Boolean logic functions (AND, OR, NOT) and combinational logic operations using a FRET-signal cascade.


Abstract : Three painted aluminum panels were examined to verify total coating thickness and to determine the thickness of each coating layer. The approach was to remove free-film samples from each panel, fracture the films, and then examine at high magnification the cross sections using a field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The initial film removal method was not successful. It was decided to back-score a section of each panel and then freeze-fracture a whole segment. The FE-SEM micrographs confirmed the thickness measurements made earlier using an Elcometer. The observed morphology of each coating film was consistent across the entire thickness, and no layering could be determined. Energy dispersive spectroscopy was used to analyze each film and then map the elemental distributions across each film thickness. The use of quantitative elemental mapping showed the actual chemical distributions and indicated the presence of two distinct layers. On each panel, one layer accounted for a minimum of about two-thirds of the total thickness of the paint film, but both layers were the epoxy primer. No discrete chromate layer was detectable.


Purpose. To measure the size of the Achilles tendons in congenital clubfeet using ultrasonography before and after percutaneous tenotomy. Methods. 15 boys and 12 girls (39 feet) aged one to 11 (mean, 5) months with idiopathic clubfeet underwent percutaneous tenotomy (Ponseti method). The size of each Achilles tendon was measured ultrasonographically by a single radiologist before and after surgery. In patients with unilateral clubfoot, the normal foot was used as a referent. Longitudinal scans assessed the echotexture, echogenicity, and continuity of the tendon. Transverse scans assessed the shape, echotexture, echogenicity, thickness, and width of the tendon. The size of the Achilles tendon was estimated as an elliptical area using the formula: π(thickness)x(width)/4. Results. Before tenotomy, homogenous, hyperechoic, and linear continuous shadows were noted in longitudinal scans of both the normal and affected Achilles tendons. In transverse scans, the tendons were elliptical, homogenous, and echogenic in appearance. Four weeks after tenotomy, the tendons appeared as heterogeneous, linear continuous shadows with regular margins irrespective of patient age. There was decreased echogenicity in the treated foot. The transverse section of the tendons was elliptical with a heterogeneous echotexture that was predominantly hypoechoic. There was no significant difference in normal, unilateral, and bilateral tendons before and after tenotomy. Conclusion. The study reasserts functional continuity of the Achilles tendons 4 weeks after tenotomy using clinical and ultrasonographic methods.


244 DOI: 10.37398/JSR.2021.650530 Abstract: In this paper, classes of modified regression--type exponential estimators for estimating population means using known parameters of auxiliary variable have been suggested. The biases and mean square errors of the suggested classes of estimators have been derived up to first order of approximation and theoretical conditions for which the suggested estimators are more efficient than other existing estimators considered in the study have also been established. Numerical illustration has been conducted and the results revealed that the suggested estimators are more efficient than existing estimators even for extreme cases of correlation coefficient.


INTRODUCTION: The use of once daily basal body temperature (BBT) to identify the fertile window is wrought with user error and lack of precision. Alternatively, continuous, core body temperature allows one to identify patterns in temperature associated with circadian rhythm, including the transition of the follicular phase to luteal phase and its transient drop in temperature. This nadir occurs 1 to 2 days before the luteinizing hormone surge, providing a true predictor of a woman's fertile window. Prima-Temp has developed a self-inserted flexible vaginal ring that continuously monitors core body temperature, and passively communicates to a smartphone app. METHODS: This multi-site study compared ovulation predicted by this continuous core temperature sensor with: 1) daily oral BBT, 2) urine LH ovulation prediction kit, 3) serum progesterone levels, and 4) transvaginal ultrasound. 20 female subjects used the sensor for 3 menstrual cycles each. The study also identified user acceptance and ease of use of the vaginal ring. RESULTS: Comparison between all methods was analyzed by the temporal relationship of a positive test given by each method from the true day of ovulation recorded by ultrasound. Statistics analyzed the ability of each method to identify ovulation via paired t test and multilevel model approach. The resulting novel sensor and algorithm correctly predicted ovulation. CONCLUSION: This innovative sensor and its associated app will measure continuous core temperature and circadian rhythm providing a novel, safe, effortless and more accurate method of ovulation prediction.


A new method of lateral cephalometric analysis referred to as the Dawjee analysis is introduced. Landmarks, planes and angles are defined, and the technique is outlined. The Dawjee analysis is primarily focused on evaluating craniofacial structures in the vertical dimension and this introductory presentation demonstrates its application in both open and deep bite cases. Studies are in progress to develop a set of standardised values for this technique in a South African population sample.


We show that gigahertz acoustic waves in semiconductor superlattices can induce terahertz (THz) electron dynamics that depend critically on the wave amplitude. Below the threshold amplitude, the acoustic wave drags electrons through the superlattice with a peak drift velocity overshooting that produced by a static electric field. In this regime, single electrons perform drifting orbits with THz frequency components. When the wave amplitude exceeds the critical threshold, an abrupt onset of Bloch-type oscillations causes negative differential velocity. The acoustic wave also affects the collective behavior of the electrons by causing the formation of localized electron accumulation and depletion regions, which propagate through the superlattice, thereby producing self-sustained current oscillations even for very small wave amplitudes. We show that the underlying single-electron dynamics, in particular, the transition between the acoustic wave dragging and Bloch oscillation regimes, strongly influence the spatial distribution of the electrons and the form of the current oscillations. In particular, the amplitude of the current oscillations depends nonmonotonically on the strength of the acoustic wave, reflecting the variation in the single-electron drift velocity.


Abstract Tracing the history of legal concepts from the decline of European feudalism to the Reformation, this paper examines ways in which the concept of guilt shaped the first evolution of modern law, and it claims that the early revolutionary junctures in the construction of the law were centred around specific and distinctive conceptions of guilt. It argues that, through the history of medieval and early-modern European society, the law learned positively to abstract and account for itself through internally formative exchanges over the subject of guilt, and changes in law's observation of guilt reflected a growing refinement in law's societal sensibility, in its inclusivity, in its patterns of imputation and in its positive powers of self-legitimation. Guilt formed the term around which the law enacted the necessary stages of its social adaptation and produced constructs to underwrite the requirement for general, abstracted and positively inclusive law that constitutes modern society. The ultimate result of guilt's evolution as a legal figure became visible in the fact that the law progressively intensified its positivity and inclusivity, and it amplified the legal and normative resources that it permitted modern societies to store, utilize and reproduce.


PHEVs/PEVs have received increasing attention because of their low pollution emissions, low energy dependence, and high fuel economy. In the near future, most PHEV/PEV enabled parking decks are expected to be powered by small-scale and onsite distributed energy resources. This paper interfaces Microgrid components with the simulated PHEV/PEV parking station and evaluates the high penetration of PHEV/PEVs to the Microgrid.


: Fermentation captures both the meaning of culture and nature in a process of food transformation. Food heritages and landscapes protect and promote 'food' as part of the cultural and environmental values of places. Food tourists aim to discover places through its food, and the values attached to food production and consumption. This research note explores the unexplored relationship between fermentation and food from a tourism perspective. The production and consumption spaces represent avenues towards the process of attaching tourism values to fermentation, which are manifested in products such as bread and beverages such as beer, and also have a strong connection with places such as cheese in Italy and whisky in Scotland. Drawing from the understanding of fermentation as a source of authenticity in food and beverage tourism, the paper is the first to discuss the values of fermentation as a place-based expression to develop the link between food and tourism. This offers theoretical and practical implications of fermenting tourism and opens new opportunities to expand the understanding of the role that people, places and practices play in food tourism spaces. The research note also anticipates the crucial role of fermenting tourism in food tourism management and marketing in the context of regenerative and sustainable development.


Status quo paradigms of evaluation design and data collection are experiencing a 'big bang' disruption from novel and rich data streams that leverage emergent information and communication technologies coupled with dramatic increases in connectivity. Food security and nutrition are complex problems that continue to be a primary focus of both emergency and development programs and policy. Food and nutrition security evaluation and information systems (FNSI) have a long history of integrating traditional data collection methods with emergent technology such as geographic information systems and remote sensing. This paper briefly reviews the evolution of FNSI from a complex systems perspective. It then analyzes the utility of recent technological advances and provides examples of how novel methods of information capture, curation, analysis and communication strengthen FNSI. A new analytical framework is presented based on a value stream comparison of conventional information and emergent FNSI. The paper's conclusions highlight remaining gaps and challenges.


This paper attempts to reveal what perceptions listed Japanese companies currently hold about the core corporate governance question of who owns the company ("sovereignty view"). The paper takes a hypothesis-finding approach based on the results of a questionnaire survey of Japanese companies conducted in 2005. The following characteristics can be extracted from the recent sovereignty views of Japanese companies. Although 1) it is acknowledged that inclination toward shareholder sovereignty is becoming evident in recent years, 2) such a shift is not necessarily taking place in a uniform manner but is a phenomenon conspicuously observable in "shareholder-oriented" companies; and 3) the phenomenon is developing primarily in aspects related to emphasis on shareholder interest and share prices. On the other hand, 4) even shareholder-oriented companies (that is, needless to say, employee-oriented companies) place at least some emphasis on the roles of employees. Indeed, 5) shareholders having a tangible influence on corporations are present in (or so judged by) a relatively large number of shareholder-oriented companies and apparently this is exactly why these companies take a shareholder-oriented stance. In other words, it is not necessarily the case that they have intrinsically developed faith in shareholders. 6) Discrepancies between the principle of shareholder sovereignty as a public stance and employee sovereignty as a true stance are particularly visible in shareholder-oriented companies but the same holds true, though to a varying extent, for employee-oriented companies. Thus, the presence of such discrepancies is posing a fundamental dilemma to listed Japanese companies as a whole.


This study examined changes in the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the stalk-median eminence (SME) and posterior pituitary (PP) during the preovulatory PRL surge. Immature female rats were injected with PMSG on day 28. Blood PRL levels were low on the morning of day 30, rose to a peak from 1400-1600 h, remained at a lower plateau from 1800-2400 h, and declined to basal levels on the morning of day 31. SME, PP, and striatum were removed from PMSG-treated rats at selected times during the periovulatory period and from age-matched control rats. TH activity was determined in tissue homogenates by a coupled hydroxylation-decarboxylation assay. Apparent Km and maximum velocity values with respect to 6-methyl tetrahydropterine were estimated from substrate saturation curves. The kinetic parameters for TH in either the SME or the PP of control rats were similar at 1100 and 1800 h on day 30. However, the apparent Km in both tissues was significantly lower than that in the striatum. The affinity of TH in the SME and PP was unchanged before and during the peak phase of the PRL surge, reduced significantly during the late plateau, and returned to presurge levels in the morning of day 31. TH activity in the striatum was similar at all times examined. To determine the state of activation of the enzyme, tissue homogenates were preincubated with cAMP, ATP, and magnesium. TH activity in the SME during the peak phase was unchanged by cAMP, and that in the PP was modestly increased. The relatively inactive enzyme in both tissues during the plateau phase was markedly activated by a cAMP-dependent mechanism. The low affinity of striatal TH was greatly increased by cAMP at both times. These data suggest that TH in the SME and PP exists in an activated state most of the time and is transiently inactivated during the plateau phase of the PRL surge. In contrast, TH in the striatum is relatively inactive in the basal state and is not affected by hormonal changes induced by PMSG. We conclude that the peak PRL surge occurs in spite of active dopamine (DA) neurons, suggesting that it is generated by a nondopaminergic mechanism. Decreased TH activity in DA neurons in the SME and PP may prolong the PRL surge during the plateau phase, whereas increased DA activity coincides with the termination of the surge.