The objective of this work was to evaluate the response of five birdsfoot trefoil populations (Lotus corniculatus L.), selected under severe and intense grazing (P38, P37, P9 and P3) or cutting (population Corte), one rhizomatous population from Morocco and two cultivars, Sao Gabriel (Brazil) and ARS 2620 (USA), to different cutting intervals (20 and 40 days). The trial was carried out in a greenhouse for 224 days. The plants were submitted to the treatments during four months, when it was made four and two cuttings for the 20 and 40 day intervals, respectively. In the following months, aerial part of the plants was totally removed and after 70 days of regrowth, evaluation of roots and aerial section were performed. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis was performed, obtaining the Mahalanobis distance (Md), dendogram by UPGMA method and the relative contribution of the characters for genetic divergence. There was no genotype × cutting interval interaction and the genotypes presented a reduction on dry matter yield of roots, crown and aerial sections, number of stems and plant height when submitted to frequent cuttings. The most divergent genotypes were Marrocos and P9 (Md = 108.7) and the most similar ones were Sao Gabriel and P37 (Md = 7.8). The results suggest exclusion of the population P9 because of its weak performance and the utilization of the populations Corte and P37 as progenitors in the birdsfoot trefoil breeding program. Root dry matter accumulation and plant height were the characters that contributed most to genetic divergence and they can be used for selection works.


Thanks to improved surgical tecniques the use of dental implants has increased greatly. However, high rates of osseointegrated correctly implants, over the years are undermined by disease of bacterial etiology in the perimplant zone, especially by Gram negative anaerobes such as in gingivitis and periodontitis, in particular: Fusobacterium spp.(F.), Treponema denticola (T.d.), Tannerella forsythensis (T.f.), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.), Prevotella intermedia (P.i.) e Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g.). The mechanic treatment (MS) results in a reduction of the total bacterial count (TBC) and a slight change in the subgingival bacterial microflora towards the less pathogenic species and more like those of a healthy periodontium.Also the use of a probiotic in the form of buccal tablets of Lactobacillus reuteri (L.r.), as demonstrated in this study, is thought to improve and modulate the composition of plaque, as it is able to exert an inhibitory effect on oral bacteria that support caries, gingivitis, periodontal and perimplant disease with a combination of different mechanisms.


A clonal cell line derived from a functional and transplantable rat thyroid tumor was established in continuous monolayer culture by the use of enzymatic dissociation followed by an alternate culture-animal passage procedure. After being implanted backin the animal and again plated in culture, epithelial-like cells aggregated and rearranged themselves over the bottoms of dishes in structures resembling cross sections of a normal thyroid gland. The same morphology and growth pattern were maintained after innumerable subcultures and freeze/thawing periods. Cells grew with a population-doubling time of about 24 h in serum-supplemented synthetic medium. Cell monolayers stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) showed a uniformly epithelial-like morphology; their cytoplasm contained abundant PAS-positive material that was resistant to enzymatic digestion with amylase. Thin-layer chromatography of acid-butanol cell extracts in primary and clonal cultures, followed by a specific and sensitive staining method for iodine compounds, demonstrated the presence of monoiodotyrosine (MIT), diiodotyrosine, and triiodothyronine-thyroxine. In contrast, in similar extracts obtained from a cultured liver cell line, the only iodinated amino acid was MIT. Thus, with regard to the above criteria, this cell line preserved specialized thyroid cell morphology and function.


In cloud environments, hardware configurations, data usage, and workload allocations are continuously changing. These changes make it difficult for the query optimizer of a cloud database management system (DBMS) to select an optimal query execution plan (QEP). In order to optimize a query with a more accurate cost estimation, performing query re-optimizations during the query execution has been proposed in the literature. However, some of there-optimizations may not provide any performance gain in terms of query response time or monetary costs, which are the two optimization objectives for cloud databases, and may also have negative impacts on the performance due to their overheads. This raises the question of how to determine when are-optimization is beneficial. In this paper, we present a technique called ReOptML that uses machine learning to enable effective re-optimizations. This technique executes a query in stages, employs a machine learning model to predict whether a query re-optimization is beneficial after a stage is executed, and invokes the query optimizer to perform the re-optimization automatically. The experiments comparing ReOptML with existing query re-optimization algorithms show that ReOptML improves query response time from 13% to 35% for skew data and from 13% to 21% for uniform data, and improves monetary cost paid to cloud service providers from 17% to 35% on skewdata.


The feeder design has been improved by the feeder teams at the ITER Organization (IO) and the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Science (ASIPP) by incorporating the results of mechanical and thermal analyses as well as the system integration and assembly tolerances in the present CAD model. The feeder design is being finalized progressively, and will be delivered to the Chinese Domestic Agent (CNDA) for further procurement arrangement (PA) activities. Pre-PA manufacturing studies and tests performed at ASIPP have been effective in clarifying feeder design feasibility and component manufacturability. This paper reports the recent advancements on feeder design, analysis and manufacturing studies.


Conventional methods to calculate reflection transit time (RTT) is based on pulse counter analysis. An alternative to this approach is separating forward and backward components from a pulse waveform to calculate the RTT. State-of-the-art in wave separation requires simultaneously measured pressure and flow velocity waveforms. Practically, getting a simultaneous measurement from a single arterial site has its limitations, and this has made the translation of wave separation methods to clinical practice difficult. We propose a new method of wave separation analysis that requires only a single pulse waveform measurement using a multi-Gaussian decomposition approach. The novelty of the method is that it does not require any measured or modelled flow velocity waveform. In this method, the pulse waveform is decomposed into the sum of Gaussians and reconstructed based on model criteria. RTT is calculated as the time difference between normalized forward and backward waveform. The method's feasibility in using RTT as a potential surrogate is demonstrated on 105 diverse selections of virtual subjects. The results were statistically significant and had a strong correlation (r>79, p<0.0001) against clinically approved artery stiffness markers such as Peterson's elastic modulus (Ep), pulse wave velocity (PWV), specific stiffness index (β), and arterial compliance (AC). Out of all the elasticity markers, a better correlation was found against AC.Clinical Relevance—This simulation study supplements the evidence for the dependence of pulse wave reflections on arterial stiffness. It provides a new method to study wave reflections using only a single pulse waveform.


Smart city is able to make the city source and infrastructure more efficiently utilized, which improves the quality of life for citizens. In this framework, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) play an important role to collect, process, and analyze the corresponding information. However, the massive deployment of WSNs consumes a significant energy consumption, which has raised the growing demand for green WSNs for smart cities. Exploiting the recent advance in collaborative energy and information transfer to power the WSNs and transmit the data has been considered a promising approach to realize the green WSNs for smart cities. We propose an architecture design of the green WSNs for smart cities, by exploiting the collaborative energy and information transfer protocol, and illustrate the challenging issues in this design. To achieve a green system design, the sensor nodes in WSNs harvest the energy simultaneously with the information decoding (ID) from the received radio frequency signals. Specifically, the energy-constrained sensor nodes partition the received signals into two independent groups to perform energy harvesting (EH) and ID. The sensor nodes then use the harvested energy to amplify and forward the information signals. We study the joint optimization of subcarrier grouping, subcarrier pairing, and power allocation such that the transmission rate performance is maximized with the EH constraint. The joint optimization problem is solved via dual decomposition after transforming it into an equivalent convex optimization problem. Simulation results tested with the real WSNs system data indicate that the performance of our proposed protocol can be significantly improved.


Abstract This paper proposes a novel fault diagnosis scheme using parameter estimation of the stator resistance, especially in the case of the open-phase faults of PMSM drives. The stator resistance of PMSMs can be estimated by the recursive least square (RLS) algorithm in real time. Fault diagnosis is achieved by analyzing the estimated stator resistance of each phase according to the fault condition. The proposed fault diagnosis scheme is implemented without any extra devices. Moreover, the estimated parameter information can be used to improve the control performance. The feasibility of the proposed fault diagnosis scheme is verified by simulation and experimental results.


Poisoning, burns, and other accidents experienced by 1037 Dunedin children during their first three years of life are described. 7.8% of the children ingested poison, 4.9% were burned, and 21.4% experienced other accidents for which medical advice was sought. The children who had been poisoned were of significantly lower intelligence than the remainder although those who had had other accidents did not differ significantly in this respect. The mothers of children poisoned or who had had accidents were not significantly different from the remainder in terms of general mental ability or training in child development.


The calculation of the structural intensity allows for a better understanding of the NVH behavior of complex structures as it shows vibratory energy flows between an excitation and radiating areas. However, the information gathered is underlying aleatory and epistemic uncertainties and needs to be dealt with carefully. In this paper two aspects are discussed: Firstly how the structural intensity calculation helps to reduce uncertainty in NVH design and secondly what currently existing uncertainties need to be considered and how they can be further reduced. This does not only include an improvement of the current calculation process itself but also an extension towards an integrated, holistic calculation of vibratory energetic quantities for structure-borne and air-borne sound.


Abstract Elevated estradiol levels associated with ovulation-stimulating drugs used to treat infertility and ovarian punctures involved with in vitro fertilization (IVF) have led to concerns regarding long-term cancer effects. Assessed risks, however, have been contradictory. This may reflect small sample sizes and short follow-up times, as well as an inability of many studies to adjust for appropriate potential confounders, such as causes of infertility and parity. While early studies of ovulation-stimulating drugs suggested large increases in large ovarian cancer risk, more recent studies have not confirmed this. However, several investigations have noted risk elevations associated with drug use or IVF among women who remain nulliparous, possibly due to resistant infertility. Studies also suggest increases in borderline ovarian tumors, although the effects of surveillance bias are unclear. Investigations have not shown large increases in breast cancer risk, although a few studies suggest possible increases in select subgroups, including nulliparous women or those with high drug dosages in the distant past. A few studies have evaluated risks of other cancers (endometrium, colorectum, thyroid, and melanoma), without definitive results. Since women exposed to fertility treatments are just beginning to enter typical cancer age ranges, further well-designed investigations are needed to fully delineate long-term effects.


Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are a broad group of non-coding small RNAs with important biological functions in germline cells. It is well known that piRNAs can maintain genome integrity via silencing retrotransposons. Previous studies on the animal models harboring gene deletions have shown that the genes involved in piRNA biogenesis and their defective expression can result in the spermatogenic dysfunction. In the past decade, significant progress has been achieved for piRNAs and their roles in male germ cells. This review addresses the advances on piRNAs and piRNA biogenesis-associated genes, with a particular focus on the Moloney leukemia virus 10-like 1 (MOV10L1) gene, whose role in primary piRNA processing and in the 'ping-pong' cycle during secondary piRNA processing has been illustrated. The biological characteristics of piRNA has been summarized, and emphasis was laid on the roles of MOV10L1 in the mediation of piRNA biogenesis and retrotransposons silencing by DNA methylation. Furthermore, the association between MOV10L1 gene polymorphisms and complete maturation arrest in men has been discussed. Hence, thorough literature review was conducted in order to obtain a greater understanding of the function of MOV10L1 and its mechanisms underlying spermatogenesis in mice and humans.


Objectives: To determine the frequency, and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among postgraduate gynae residents during COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors.Methodology: It was a web based cross sectional survey conducted from July 2020 to August 2020. A structured google proforma comprised of a brief introduction of the study followed by the consent of participants, characteristics of study participants, and depression, anxiety, stress scale (DASS-21) was used. All the postgraduate gynae trainees working in different tertiary care hospitals of the country who submitted their response were included. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23.Results: Total numbers of respondents were 268. Their mean age was 29.10±2.62 years. Most of them were female trainees i.e., 264(98.5%) while 4 (01.5%) were male. Hundred thirteen (42.2%) were unmarried, 152(56.7%) were married and 03(01.1) were divorced. Most of the respondents were fourth year trainees i.e., 98(36.6%), followed by 2nd year, first year, and 3rd year 76(28.3, 49(18.3), 45(16.8) respectively. Out of 268, the study participants or their family members who got infected with COVID-19 were 132 (49.3%). Mean DASS score for depression, anxiety, and stress were, 6.17±3.30, 5.80±3.40, and 7.34±3.12 respectively. The frequency of the study participants who have depression, anxiety and stress during COVID-19 pandemic were 177 (66.8%), 198 (71.6%), and 150 (56%) respectively.Conclusion: Significant number of post-graduate gynae trainees have varying degree of depression, anxiety, and stress ranging from mild, moderate, severe and very severe according to DASS-21 scale


To the Editor. —Biochemical characteristics of the vitreous have been studied in animals, but very few studies have been conducted in clinical cases.1,2The major difficulty has been the problem of collecting undiluted vitreous samples from human eyes. We have invented a safe method and device for this purpose. Materials and Methods. —A collection bottle with openings on both sides was tightly secured to the suction tubes; one tube, 10 cm in length, was connected to the cutter and the other was fitted to the pump of the vitreous machine. Initally, the vitreous cavity was observed and cut without suction pressure to determine a safe depth and position for the tip of the cutter. Next, the infusion cannula for air was opened and inflated. After collecting a certain amount of vitreous, we stopped the machine, and the air in the infusion pipe was changed to an irrigating solution. We


A new technique for the anatomical study of the choroidal blood vessels is described. The main advantage of this technique conducted on 24 human eyes is that it allows the observation of the whole length of any ciliary vessel from its origin through the sclera and within the choroid up to its termination in the choriocapillaris. This technique has provided additional data on the systematization of the choroidal vascular network: (1) the posterior ciliary arteries (PCA) and their branches are arranged into two independent groups; paraoptic and distal PCA; (2) there is no specific macular short PCA; (3) no anastomoses between the short PCA are observed; (4) different interpretations of the lobular systematization can be made - the end arterioles and venules can be interpreted either as peripheral or central depending upon the topography given to the lobules.


The large-scale deployment of wind and solar power poses challenges to the electricity system by introducing variability on the generation side. To handle these variations, variation management strategies can be employed to ensure that generation meets demand. Such strategies include the deployment of storage and investments in wind and solar capacities in different regions connected by a network of transmission lines. This thesis investigates the interplay of such strategies, with special focus on the geographic distribution of wind power in Europe. The research questions addressed here include: To what extent can geographic distribution of wind power tailor aggregate output? What are the main characteristics of a cost-effective electricity system that is based on renewable energy? How does the system cost increase with the penetration levels of wind power and solar power? How should the time dimension be handled in electricity investment models that aim to design systems with a large share of variable renewable energy (VRE)? Five optimization models, characterized by comparatively high temporal resolution, are developed to answer these questions. Two of the models apply multi-objective optimization, whereby Conditional Value-at-Risk is used as a measure of the variation in wind power output/residual demand. Two of the models are network models that specifically target the effect of optimizing the transmission network so as to make better use of wind and solar power capacities. This thesis shows that the diverse weather patterns in Europe can be exploited to achieve effective smoothing of wind power, provided that there is sufficient transmission capacity to trade variations in generation and demand. Furthermore, it is shown that dispersing wind power and building transmission lines is the most cost-efficient strategy to design an electricity system with a large share of renewable generation. A system that contains a large share of variable renewables is also shown to be versatile, in the sense that it is possible to combine large-scale variable generation with considerable amounts of base-load generation, provided that the transmission network is enhanced. The marginal cost for generation from variable resources increases in an approximately linear fashion with the penetration level of such resources, up to a VRE penetration level of around 80%. The marginal cost for achieving a VRE penetration level of 80% is approximately 50% higher than the initial cost. It is concluded that if wind- and solar power capacity is to be allocated over the entire area of Europe, at the same time as the transmission network is expanded, the cost for a future power system with a high (~80%) penetration of VRE will not be prohibitive.


This study examined capital structure and corporate performance of listed pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. The study specifically analyzed the impact of short-term debt (STD), long term debt (LTD) and Firms Size (FZ) on return on equity (ROE). The study focused on five pharmaceutical companies listed on the Nigeria stock exchange. Secondary data were collected from annual reports of sampled pharmaceutical companies over a period of six years (2012-2017) and were analyzed using descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, pooled OLS estimator, fixed effect estimator, and random effect estimator and Hausman test. The most consistent and efficient estimator revealed that short term debt exerts insignificant positive effect on return on equity, with coefficient estimate of 0.094800 (p=0.0946> 0.05), effect of long-term debt is negative and significant, with coefficient estimate of -0.302446 (p=0.0094< 0.05), and firms size exert insignificant negative impact on return on equity, with coefficient estimate of -0.026763 (p=0.3892> 0.05). The study concluded that using large proportion of debt significantly influence the performance of pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that firms should consider the mixture of equity and debt for better performance of the organization, since they are major determinants of corporate performance.


This paper presents a multi-agent framework based on argumentative agent technology for the automation of the workflow selection and execution. In this framework, workflow selection is coordinated by agent interactions governed by the rules of a dialogue game whose purpose is to evaluate the workflow's properties via argumentation. Once a workflow is selected using this process, the workflow is executed by dynamically configuring workflow engines to coordinate the participating agents' workflow activities.


We previously targeted EGFP (a mutant of green fluorescent protein) to the lumen of the mouse sperm acrosome and reported the time course of EGFP release during the acrosome reaction. In the study reported here, we estimated the pH within the mouse sperm acrosome utilizing the pH-dependent nature of EGFP fluorescence. The average intra-acrosomal pH was estimated to be 5.3 +/- 0.1 immediately after sperm preparation, gradually increasing to 6.2 +/- 0.3 during 120 min of incubation in TYH media suitable for capacitation. Spontaneous acrosome reactions were noted to increase concomitantly with acrosomal alkalinization during incubation. We also demonstrated that acrosomal antigens detected by monoclonal antibodies MN7 and MC41 did not dissolve following the acrosome reaction in pH 5.3 media, but dissolved at pH 6.2. These data suggest that acrosomal alkalinization during incubation conducive for sperm capacitation may function to alter acrosomal contents and prepare them for release during the acrosome reaction.


The authors analysed 303 patients with closed craniocerebral trauma resulting from falling from a height. The material obtained was treated by the methods of statistical analysis to reveal the relations of the severity of the craniocerebral trauma and the rate of the impact. Language: ru


The authors study the Flory model for the melting of a semiflexible polymer chain on a lattice. Using a field theoretical representation of the partition function, they propose a new mean-field theory. Within this theory, the system undergoes a first-order transition at temperature Tc, between a liquid-like phase at temperature T)Tc and an ordered (almost stretched) phase at T(Tc, in agreement with the original Flory idea. In addition, they find a disorder point TD()Tc), separating two liquid phases with different short-range correlations. For T)TD, the short-range correlations are isotropic, whereas for T(TD, one-dimensional short-range order sets in. This disorder point may be relevant to the glass transition.


A feasibility study on the tidal current power generation by making use of a bridge pier in the narrow strait is introduced. Current velocity increases near the pier, therefore the tidal power generation becomes more efficient because the power is proportional to the cubic of the current velocity. Furthermore, the pier is convenient for the maintenance of the hydraulic turbine and the power unit. The project is now underway at the Ikitsuki Bridge in Tatsuno-Seto Strait of Nagasaki Prefecture. A Darrieus turbine is adopted for tidal current power generation because it is simple in structure with straight wings rotating around a vertical axis, so that it has no directionality against the motion of tidal flow which changes its direction twice a day. However, there is one defect in the Darrieus turbine; its small starting torque. Once it stops, a Darrieus turbine is hard to re-start until a fairly fast current is exerted on it. To improve the starting torque of the Darrieus turbine, a hybrid turbine, composed of a Darrieus turbine and a Savonius rotor is proposed. A combined Darrieus and Savonius turbine was tested in the circulating water channel. Finally, power generation experiments using a 48 pole electric generator were conducted in a towing tank and the power coefficients were compared with the results of experiments obtained in the circulating water channel.


In recent years, a renewed interest in the development of unmanned air vehicles (UAV's) led to a wide range of interesting applications in the fields of reconnaissance and surveillance. In these types of mission, the noise produced by propeller driven UAVs is a major drawback, which can be partially solved by installing an electric motor to drive the propeller. The evolution of high performance brushless motors makes electric propulsion particularly appealing, at least for small and medium size UAVs. All electric propulsion systems developed to date are though characterized by the limited range/endurance that can be obtained with a reasonably sized battery pack. In this paper we propose a hybrid propulsion system based on recently developed, high efficiency micro-turbines which can be used to power an electric generator. The UMGT is under evaluation in our department, to achieve the optimal configuration and performances. For this scope a new compact regenerative combustion chamber has been developed and several tests has been carried out, with the aim to reduce weight and dimension and increase vehicle payload. In a high range/endurance mission the ultra-micro-turbine can provide the energy required for the cruise phase (the so-called "transfer to target"), while in the final approach, in which a quiet flight attitude is a demanding item, the battery pack drives the motor. The mission requirements adopted in the preliminary aircraft design presented here consist mainly of a long endurance (> 12 hours) step, with a cruise speed of 33.3 m/s and a dash speed of 45 m/s at an altitude of 5000 meters. The maximum take-off weight is 500 N, with a payload of 80 N. Under the above assumptions, a flying wing configuration for the UAV was defined, with a length of 1.6 meters and a span of 2.5 meters. A system of elevons assures the pitch and roll motion while a double vertical tail, in which a pusher propeller is lodged, guarantees the yaw stability and control.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Large quantities of live data about an environment can be easily and cheaply collected using a network of small sensors (IoT). However these sensors typically do not display any information directly, and it can be difficult to understand the data collected. Conversely VR environments used for training, require scenarios to be created, populated with rich data. By linking the VR system directly to the IoT data broker we import the live (or recorded) status of real hardware from an industrial environment into the virtual world allowing a remote viewer to monitor the operation of the system.


This study clarified the tephrochronology of late Pleistocene to Holocene strath terraces younger than approximately 50ka, based on their geomorphologic configuration between marker tephra and terraces, that are distributed between the Kakinoki and Suhara districts of the Aburuma River, central east margin of the Niigata Basin, central Japan. Six levels of strath terraces (Ab-I, Ab-II, Ab-III, Ab-IV, Ab-V and Ab-VI) have developed and four tephra ashes (Ab-t4, Ab-t3, Ab-t2 and Ab-t1) have fallen since approximately 50ka. Ab-t2 can be correlated with the widespread tephra As-K (Asama-Kusatsu, 13ka), Ab-t3 with AT (Aira-Tanzawa, 25ka) and Ab-t4 with DKP (Daisen Kurayoshi, 50ka). Ab-t1 is thought to have fallen after 13ka. Only the Ab-II Terrace distributed locally in the upper reaches was formed by the primary movement of the Higashinomyo landslide approximately 50ka.


Access to information as a necessary precondition for human flourishing is recognized explicitly in the UNESCO Strategic Development Goals, and mirrored by the work of universities globally to reduce barriers to information, especially research outputs. Growing international attention has turned to learning and teaching resources, particularly textbooks as a key barrier to fully engaging with, and participating in, higher education. The affordances of open texts provide an alternative to commercially published and often exclusionary access practices; and empower educators and students in co‐creation and open sharing of information and knowledge. This paper examines the design of an ongoing institutional grants program predicated on a facilitated community learning approach for academic staff seeking to adopt, or adapt open textbooks into the curriculum as one mechanism to increase access to information. The participants' experiences and personal learning were captured through a series of semi‐structured interviews that inform the iterative design of the ongoing grants program that could be transferred to other institutions seeking to support educational change.


Transfer of Sym-plasmids from the clover rhizobia to avirulent mutants of the same rhizobia species or of alfalfa rhizobia resulted in recombinants with a restored symbiotic activity. Transfer of these plasmids into the wild type isogenic strains lead to a decrease of their symbiotic activity. These data confirm the hypothesis on the crucial role of avirulent rhizobia strains in the transfer of Sym-plasmids which directs evolution of these bacteria


The European Alps are a mountain belt that is characterized by a series of discrete orogenic events, which have long been recognized. Despite the inherent episodic nature of orogenic evolution, the Alps have been continuously exhumed, mainly by erosion, but also by normal faulting. Since continental collision started in the late Eocene/Early Oligocene evidence for ongoing erosional exhumation has been preserved in synorogenic sediments that accumulated in basins adjacent to the pro‐ and retro‐side of this double‐vergent mountain belt. This long‐term erosion record can be used to determine exhumation rates. Lag‐times calculated from fission‐track (FT) ages of detrital zircon from synorogenic sediments are fairly constant for the European Alps since the Oligocene–Late Miocene. Although the fast exhuming areas were unroofed at rates of 0.4–0.7 km Myr−1, the overall average exhumation rate is between 0.2 and 0.3 km Myr−1 on a regional scale. The detrital and bedrock zircon FT data of the Alps do not detect the increase in erosion rates since the Pliocene over the past ∼5 Myr, as shown elsewhere. This increase cannot be detected yet with the detrital zircon FT method because not enough rock has been removed to widely expose zircons with Pliocene or younger cooling ages in the Alps. Long term (30 Myr) exhumation rates appear to have been approximately constant when averaged over a sliding time window of about 8 Myr, or depth window of 5 to 10 km (ZFT closure depths); shorter‐term fluctuations are not identified using this method.


In Africa and many other developing countries in the Asia Pacific and Latin America, child sexual abuse is a serious problem that is on the increase. Cases of child sexual abuse are rarely reported because the majority of the perpetrators are related or close to the abused children, such as fathers, uncles, brothers, and, in some instances, their school teachers. Utilizing the Zimbabwean experience, this paper examines the problem of child sexual abuse. It argues that although Zimbabwe has ratified local, regional, and international conventions that purport to protect children, child sexual abuse is still rampant in the country. Helping professionals, such as social workers, should put this problem on their agenda.


Metin Heper is professor of politics and dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and has been visiting professor at a number of important universities outside Turkey, including Harvard and Princeton. In this book he addresses one of the most important policy issues facing the state of Turkey. It is particularly timely because of the international interest in the Kurdish issue in several countries of the Middle East. Heper poses a new paradigm for evaluating the relationship between the state of Turkey and its Kurdish minority. The main point of his book is that the current state and the Ottoman Empire before it have not used ethnicity as a basis for governance of the Kurdish minority but rather attempted as much as possible to assimilate the Kurds on the basis of a common religion and a shared interest in the Turkish nation. One of the most telling parts of the book is the preface, in which Heper notes that he became aware of ethnicity only in secondary high school, when he found that one of his schoolmates was Jewish. He uses this and other anecdotes to illustrate his contention that ethnicity is not a major factor in Turkish thinking about other ethnic groups — and this concept plays a vital role in his explanation of relations between the Turkish majority and the Kurdish minority. The book begins with an excellent description of the policies of the Ottomans toward the several nonTurkish minorities of the empire. Heper details the system of governance of the sultans, noting particularly that both Muslim and nonMuslim communities were allowed a significant degree of autonomy and were permitted to follow their


Background:Anastomotic leakage (AL) limits the outcome after laparoscopic anterior resection (LAR) for middle-low rectal cancer. The study investigated the efficacy of laparoscopic anastomosis enhancing suture (LAES), preventive ileostomy and transanal drainage tube placement in reducing anastomotic leakage after LAR for middle-low rectal cancer.Methods:From April 2016 to April 2019, a prospective cohort study was performed on consecutive patients who underwent LAR for middle-low rectal cancer in Changzheng hospital. The patients were divided into group A, B, C and D in which LAES, transanal drainage tube placement, protective ileostomy, and no preventive treatment were applied, respectively. Clinical characteristics, operative variables and postoperative complication were compared between the groups.Results:Among 320 patients, 24 (7.5%) developed AL and incidence rate of AL was 1.3%, 12.5%, 1.3% and 15.0% in the four groups, respectively. Left colic artery preservation and neoadjuvant chemotherapy were found not associated with the incidence of AL. A total of 0, 2, 2 and 5 patients had anastomotic bleeding in the four groups, respectively. No patient underwent reoperation in group A and group C, while 5.0% (4/80) of the patients had reoperation in group B and group D due to grade C AL with severe symptoms.Conclusions:Compared with preventive ileostomy, LAES was effective in preventing AL after LAR for middle-low rectal cancer and relieving the complications of AL. The transanal drainage tube placement did not reduce the risk of AL.The study was retrospectively registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 28th June 2016 (code: ChiCTR-IOR-17011777).


This paper presents the results of the reaming process for two types of the 15-PH stainless steel. This paper also presents a comparison between several cutting conditions, aiming to define the best relation between cutting speed and feed per teeth for a solid carbide multi tooth reaming tool. It was observed that the feed rate is the main aspect for a reasonable chip formation due to the preciptation hardening profile that usually provides a poor chip formation condition. The tool wear was related with the roughness profile and it was possible to conclude that the wear for the reaming process is strictly concentrated at the flank surface and no chipping can be measured before the total collapse of the tool when the chip is not correctly extracted from the hole. The hole preparation was performed in order to submit the reamer to a industrial common condition for a H7 quality profile. The aging heat treatment showed to be worst for the tool wear, however it proved to be reliable for the chip formation. All the cutting condition can be considered as "severe" and the tool perfomance is acceptable for this type of material.


UNLABELLED
This family is the tenth reported world-wide and the second reported in Europe. Two of 3 brothers, their mother and probably their maternal grandmother were affected.

CLINICAL FEATURES
paroxysmal bouts of ataxia and dysarthria, nystagmus of permanent gaze, the dominant autosomal transmission, the benign nature of the affection and the remarkable efficacy of acetazolamide were typical of familial paroxysmal ataxia. Specific points emphasized are the presence of a mild pyramidal syndrome as a permanent finding in 2 of these patients, and the anomalies of visual (longer lag period) and somesthetic (slowed conduction rate in the lemniscus medialis) evoked potentials probably the result of extension into other pathways than the cerebellar system. The finding of some degree of glucose intolerance, noted previously (Aimard, Vighetto et al., 1983) raises the question of the place of this disease in the group of paroxysmal ataxias due to pyruvic metabolism disorders.


Southeast Asia mosaics of agriculture and tropical forest landscapes have been heavily shaped by the progression of industrial plantations, from colonial times to now. In Indonesia and in Malaysia, the history of corporations undertaking these activities is indissociably from the land cover change, when "clearing the forest and expanding the agricultural frontier" was a colonial policy. For example in most instances, forests where replaced by industrial gambier plantations, then rubber plantations, and finally oil palm plantations, but direct conversions of forests into industrial plantations continue to happen until today. Controversies about deforestation and oil palm sustainability emerged in this context. Most of the land use changes have been made by the biggest of these corporations, which became corporate giants and diversified their activities to almost all sectors of the economy, from automobile to banking and telecoms. In Indonesia like in Malaysia, most of the development of industrial palm oil plantations is under the control of a fistful of giant corporations.
Most of today's proposed solutions to curb deforestation by oil palm are market tools such as palm oil trade bans or regulations and palm oil certifications, that are supposed to influence the economic decisions of private actors that are developing oil palm. However oil palm corporations are so diversified and embedded into the national economies, with many other stakes at play than deforestation, that many other factors could influence their corporate decision making, and outweigh the market tools that have been used up to day to try to influence their economic decisions. Works dating from Porter et all suggest that financial factors such as the shape of the network of ownership shares may play more on the corporate decisions than the market itself, while other works suggest that the nature of the financial ownership (government-owned versus privately-owned) is the essential driver of the corporate decision.
This work is a pioneering attempt to understand the main structural drivers of corporate decision making of major oil palm plantation corporations. Using network analysis methods, it quantifyed and analysed the corporate structures of the main players among the oil palm plantation companies in Malaysia. The eight major Malaysian corporations were studied, consisting of 4,331 companies' shareholding data, covering ten levels of shareholding. The corporations are Sime Darby, Boustead, IJM Plantations, Kulim, IOI Corp, KLK, Genting Plantations, and Jaya Tiasa. Network metrics described the financial topologies of the corporations, and did confront their ownership nature such as government-linked companies (GLCs) and family-owned businesses (FOBs) with measurable patterns controlling decision making processes such as structural control and decisions load.
Contrary to the expectation, we found that the measurable decision making was not influenced by the ownership nature (whether the corporations is government linked or is privately owned), but was extremely influenced by the financial structure of the corporations, that is their topology such as the number of the companies within the corporation, its more or less hierarchical structure, and the overall size of the financial "pyramid" of the corporation. We also found that the measurable decisions load and structural control seem to predict an intrinsic structural flexibility of the corporations.
The implications of these findings could help to rethink the political governance of deforestation and also opens a brand-new field of research for the description and analysis of the deep financial structures that govern the behaviour of corporations. First, this tells us that maybe, understanding and addressing the financial forces that shape the actions of plantations corporations would be more efficient for oil palm and forest sustainability, than antagonising countries and regions through trade bans. Second, we have now a method that allows us to assess and to rank the companies according to their deep characteristics: we can identify the most resilient corporations and prioritize them in order to develop long term sustainable practices.


Abstract Various uplift markers suggest asymmetrical uplift of Tenerife Island, with stable conditions in the north but significant uplift of up to 45 m in the south over the past ~42 ka. Fossil shells in beach deposits uplifted by 7.5–9 m were 14C-dated at a Holocene age of 2460±35 bp (1σ). This confirms earlier results and documents very young, and probably still ongoing, uplift of southern Tenerife potentially caused by ascending magma. This underlines that southern Tenerife is probably undergoing a further cycle of volcanic activity that started ~95 ka ago.


When Murphy (1) introduced the chick embryo as a soil for the growth of foreign tissues, it appeared that it might prove to be a medium for the growth of human neoplasms as well as for the transplantable tumors of animals, offering thus a wide field for investigation. This report presents the results of experiments that were undertaken to determine any differences that may occur between tumor growth in the original species and in the chick embryo. The problem was divided into three parts. The first dealt with the results obtained with tumors of different growth rates, though it included, also, a study of the general characteristics of tumors growing in the chick embryo and the results obtained with human tumors inoculated into this medium. The second problem was a comparison between early stages of tumor grafts in the chick and in the original species. The third dealt with the effect of prolonged residence in the chick upon the growth of a mouse tumor therein, and its behavior when returned to the animal. In the experiments undertaken the eggs employed were obtained from one dealer, but were not all from the same breed of fowl. It does not seem likely, however, that a difference of breed would have an influence on the growth of tumors from a different class of animal. The eggs were incubated at 39.4°C. and inoculations were made on the fifth to the eighth day of incubation, the eggs having been previously candled and the location of the embryo marked. The technique of the inoculation, similar to that described by Peebles (2) and later developed by Murphy (1), was as follows: With a small knife a square of about 7 mm. was cut in the shell and carefully removed. The vitelline membrane was then torn with sterile forceps and the tumor graft inoculated with a pair of curved forceps through this opening upon the underlying allantois. The fragment of shell was then replaced and sealed with paraffin. After inoculation, the eggs were returned to the incubator and kept there until the seventeenth or eighteenth day of incubation, when they were removed and examined for the graft.


This study investigated the comparison of psychometric properties of multiple-choice test using confidence and number right scoring among senior secondary school students in Ibadan metropolis. The study adopted a descriptive design of survey type. The population for the study consisted of Senior Secondary School two (SSS II) students in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo state, Nigeria. A sample of 400 Agricultural science students was selected across 4 Local Government Areas in Ibadan metropolis, using purposive (mainly Agricultural Science Students) and random sampling techniques. The instrument used for the study was Agricultural science Multiple-choice Test. The 50 items Agricultural Science 4-option test was administered on the Students. Data collected were analyzed using paired samples t-test, Kuder-Richardson (KR-21), Cronbach alpha, and Fisher z-test. The results obtained revealed that significant difference existed in the difficulty indices with Number Right (NR) and Confidence Scoring Method (CSM) with mean of 55.42 and 44.01 respectively. Also, there was a significant difference in the CSM and NR in the discrimination indices with NR and CSM has mean of 0.57 and 0.52 respectively. It was found that NR significantly improved the difficulty and discrimination indices. Furthermore, the finding revealed that there was no significant difference between NR and CSM in the reliability coefficient. Based on these findings, it was recommended that number right scoring method should be used to assess Agricultural science students' performances because it makes test item appear moderate in terms of difficulty level and is very easy for students to guess the items right.


Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) composed of low-power, low-cost sensor nodes are expected to form the backbone of future intelligent networks for a broad range of civil, industrial and military applications. These sensor nodes are often deployed through random spreading, and function in dynamic environments. Many applications of WSNs such as pollution tracking, forest fire detection, and military surveillance require knowledge of the location of constituent nodes. But the use of technologies such as GPS on all nodes is prohibitive due to power and cost constraints. So, the sensor nodes need to autonomously determine their locations. Most localization techniques use anchor nodes with known locations to determine the position of remaining nodes. Localization techniques have two conflicting requirements. On one hand, an ideal localization technique should be computationally simple and on the other hand, it must be resistant to attacks that compromise anchor nodes. In this paper, we propose a computationally light-weight game theoretic secure localization technique and demonstrate its effectiveness in comparison to existing techniques.


Have you ever lied about your gambling habits to anyone, or tried to conceal the fact you've gambled? Have you ever bet more than you could afford to lose, or gone back the next day to try and win back the money you've lost? Your gambling may be becoming problematic and it's time to seek help. Breaking Free: How to Stop Gambling is a self-help workbook, packed full of practical exercises, worksheets and questionnaires, designed to help you assess the extent of your gambling problem, and develop strategies to combat it. The materials use a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approach to guide you through practical steps and techniques that can help you take back control of your habit. All of the materials have been developed by leading experts in the field and are evidence-based interventions, and are designed to help you to break free from your gambling problem.


Idiopathic chronic pelvic pain and tenesmus are challenging for healthcare providers owing to their unknown aetiology and poor response to treatment.1 Neuromodulation of pudendal and sacral nerves (S3) with laparoscopically implanted electrodes is an invasive treatment option used for these conditions.2 Electroacupuncture (EA) provides a less invasive method of stimulating the pudendal and sacral nerves and has been used for lumbar spinal canal stenosis.3 In our experience EA can also be used to treat chronic pelvic pain and recurrent tenesmus.

The usual approach to pudendal nerve stimulation involves finding the inferior border of the piriformis muscle and needling at an angle towards the midline, avoiding the sciatic nerve (figure 1). This is a difficult approach that is not easily reproducible and often stimulates the gluteus maximus, resulting in robust gluteal contraction. …


ABSTRACT Attributing the tempestuous nature of Australia-Indonesia relations to marked cultural differences is almost an article of faith in Australian foreign policy analysis. Indeed, policy and media commentary tends to depict the bilateral relationship as frequently in crisis and at risk of irreparable damage. This article contends that constructs which characterise Australia-Indonesia relations as especially fragile overlook powerful strategic imperatives as a basis for ongoing cooperation. The article examines two key variables shaping Australia-Indonesia relations in the post-authoritarian era—resilience and respect. A perceived lack of consultation by successive Australian Governments on policy announcements of vital national concern to Indonesia has been a catalyst for repeated bilateral tensions in the post-authoritarian era. This has been compounded by important shifts in Indonesia's post-authoritarian polity and the state's rising significance in international economic and political terms. The article concludes that in spite of periodic bilateral tensions, Indonesia-Australia relations have remained surprisingly resilient. Such resilience is based on an appreciation by foreign policy elites in both states about the relationship's utility for maintaining stability and prosperity in a transitional Indo-Pacific order.


The following Kemer problem on the nilindex of the radical is solved: it is shown that the Jacobson radical of a relatively free associative algebra over an infinite field of positive characteristic is a nilideal of bounded index. A basis of the identities with forms for matrix algebras over infinite fields of positive characteristic is described. Bibliography: 10 titles.


Background Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is an emergency medical condition that can be life-threatening if not managed properly. We designed DKA management guidelines based on the current American Diabetes Association recommendations. No previous studies have been done to demonstrate the effects of DKA guidelines on the residents' knowledge, quality of patient care and financial impact on the hospital. Design Longitudinal case-control study with two arms: educational and patient care/financial impact. An electronic Web-based assessment/educational tool was used to evaluate DKA knowledge level in internal medicine residents. Multiple aspects of patient care, length of hospital stay and hospital charges were compared before and after guidelines implementation. The same measures were used for analysis in a non-teaching local hospital where no DKA guidelines were implemented. Methods A Web-based testing software (TestWare) was used for educational/assessment testing before and after DKA guidelines implementation. Resident level of knowledge, reflected by test scores, was compared to residents at the same level of training. All patients admitted during one calendar year were included in the study. Comparisons between two hospitals were done and each patient chart was reviewed to analyze the degree of compliance and changes in patient care cost before and after DKA guidelines introduction. Results The total number of internal medicine residents tested before and after the DKA guidelines implementation was 37 and 65 respectively. Testing scores improved from 48% to 54% after implementation of the guidelines (p = .06). The total number of patients was 178. Overall, the degree of compliance with current guidelines improved in both hospitals (49% before to 77% after at Community Medical Center [p < .05] versus 67% and 88% at University Medical Center [p < .05]). An increase in hospital charges without changes in the length of hospital stay was noted. Conclusion The Web-based educational/assessment testing tool was effective, leading to improvement on average in the knowledge level by 9%. The introduction of DKA guidelines after Web-based testing significantly improves care for patients with DKA. Web-based educational/assessment testing followed by DKA guidelines implementation can be utilized in any hospital striving to improve quality of care for DKA patients.


We have investigated the effects of a directly nanopatterned active layer on the electrical and optical properties of inverted polymer solar cells (i-PSCs). The capillary force in confined molds plays a critical role in polymer crystallization and phase separation of the film. The nanoimprinting process induced improved crystallization and multidimensional chain alignment of polymers for more effective charge transfer and a fine phase-separation between polymers and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) to favor exciton dissociation and increase the generation rate of charge transfer excitons. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency with a periodic nanostructure was enhanced from 7.40% to 8.50% and 7.17% to 9.15% in PTB7 and PTB7-Th based i-PSCs, respectively.


Geometry theorem proving forms a major and challenging component in the K-12 mathematics curriculum. A particular difficult task is to add auxiliary constructions (i.e, additional lines or points) to aid proof discovery. Although there exist many intelligent tutoring systems proposed for geometry proofs, few teach students how to find auxiliary constructions. And the few exceptions are all limited by their underlying reasoning processes for supporting auxiliary constructions. This paper tackles these weaknesses of prior systems by introducing an interactive geometry tutor, the Advanced Geometry Proof Tutor (AGPT). It leverages a recent automated geometry prover to provide combined benefits that any geometry theorem prover or intelligent tutoring system alone cannot accomplish. In particular, AGPT not only can automatically process images of geometry problems directly, but also can interactively train and guide students toward discovering auxiliary constructions on their own. We have evaluated AGPT via a pilot study with 78 high school students. The study results show that, on training students how to find auxiliary constructions, there is no significant perceived difference between AGPT and human tutors, and AGPT is significantly more effective than the state-of-the-art geometry solver that produces human-readable proofs.


This study introduces a decision-making evaluation method for flexibility in surfactant flooding. The method aims to capture the effects of uncertainty in the time series for both technical and economic parameters and produce a near-optimal policy with respect to these uncertainties as they vary with time. The evaluation method used was the least-squares Monte Carlo (LSM) method, which is best-suited for evaluating flexibility in project implementation. The decision analyzed was that of finding the best time to start surfactant flooding during the lifetime of a field under uncertainty. The study was conducted on two reservoir models: a 3D homogeneous model and a 2D heterogeneous model. The technical uncertainties considered were the residual oil saturation (ROS) to the surfactant flood, surfactant adsorption, and reservoir heterogeneity, and the main economic uncertain parameters considered were oil price, surfactant cost, and water-injection and -production costs. The results show that the LSM method provides a decision-making tool that was able to capture the value of flexibility in surfactant-flooding implementation and provides some insight into the effect of uncertainty on decision making, which can help mitigate adverse circumstances should they arise or capture the upside potential if circumstances prove beneficial. The results found that the optimal policy obtained was reliable and that heterogeneity and different well-placement patterns affect the value of flexibility and optimal policy for different reservoir models. Furthermore, possible extensions to enhance the LSM method were discussed.


The article presents the results of the study aimed at identifying the features and basic approaches to the introduction of museum pedagogy on the example of museums in Kolomyia. Using the competency-based approach, the authors specify the main approaches to the formation of museum pedagogy as an effective tool for preserving the Ukrainian material and spiritual heritage, including entrepreneurship. The study identified the effective aspects of the introduction of museum pedagogy in the Carpathian educational space based on awareness and  cooperation that reflect the multifunctionality of all structures of influence and ensure the effectiveness of the educational space in general.
The study used theoretical methods, focused interviews as well as methods of pedagogical reconstruction, assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the work. Museum pedagogy promotes the implementation of patriotic, aesthetic, legal and moral education, which are provided by the Concept of the New Ukrainian School.
The obtained results of the research confirmed the effectiveness of the chosen ways of introduction of museum pedagogy in the Carpathian educational space. This allowed to significantly increase the levels of its manifestation, namely to replace traditional learning with individual, to use innovative and non-traditional learning technologies; implement competency-based, differentiated, personality-oriented, individual approaches, innovative learning technologies; plan subject-to-subject ways to get feedback; to promote universal human values.


When does a sequence of events define an everyday scenario and how can this knowledge be induced from text? Prior works in inducing such scripts have relied on, in one form or another, measures of correlation between instances of events in a corpus. We argue from both a conceptual and practical sense that a purely correlation-based approach is insufficient, and instead propose an approach to script induction based on the causal effect between events, formally defined via interventions. Through both human and automatic evaluations, we show that the output of our method based on causal effects better matches the intuition of what a script represents


Vitamin D reportedly plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus; however, this role is unclear and debated. This study investigated the association between 25(OH) vitamin D, vitamin D-binding proteins, and vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms in healthy individuals and those with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) from South Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving subjects of mixed ancestry aged ≥20 years. Males presented with higher mean 25(OH) vitamin D levels than females, while females exhibited significantly higher serum vitamin D-binding protein levels. Significant differences in mean 25(OH) vitamin D levels were observed in normo-glycaemic, prediabetes, screen-detected DM, and known DM individuals. Vitamin D receptor SNPs Fok1 and Taq1 were not associated with glycaemic status. Fok1 was not associated with 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency, while Taq1 was associated with vitamin D insufficiency. This study showed a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in this South African population, with decreased vitamin D levels observed in hyperglycaemic individuals, which was not linked to either vitamin D-binding protein or polymorphisms in Fok1 of the VDR gene. These results may be used as a platform for further research into diagnosis and treatment of hyperglycaemia.


The present study aims at comparing the in vivo effect among B. thuringiensis (bioinsecticide), chlorpyrifos (organophosphorus insecticide) and flufenoxuron (insect growth regulator) on the biochemical parameters, toxicity some reproductive parameters and histopathological changes in tissue specimens of different organs of albino rats. In flufenoxuron and chlorpyrifos administrated rats body weight and kidney weight significantly decreased as compared with the corresponding weights of the control groups. Also, significant reduction occurred in total protein and serum cholinesterase activity after oral administration of chlorpyrifos and flufenoxuron. Values of total lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol significantly increased throughout the experiment and hyperlipidemia, hypercholesolemia and hyperuremia were noticed in chlorpyrifos and flufenoxuron administrated rats. Also, the mean values of serum transaminases (ALT and AST) and alkaline phosphate (ALP) activities were increased. Prolonged administration of chlorpyrifos caused no effect on hemoglobin concentration, however, it significantly decreased leukocyte count, erythrocyte count, hematocrite values, platelet count and blood indices. On the other hand, flufenoxuron exerted significant decreases in all hematological parameters as compared with the control group. Likewise, chlorpyrifos and flufenoxuron administration significantly decreased testis weight, concentration of sperm cells, percentage of live sperms but on the other hand, caused increase in percentage of abnormal sperms. The orally administration of flufenoxuron and chlorpyrifos led to histopathological changes in liver, kidneys and testis of the treated rats. On the other hand, bio-insecticides (Bacillus thuringiensis) did not show such hazardous effects on the orally administrated rats and consequently it would be safe to people and can be used on all food crops.


A methodology to measure Near Infrared (NIR) scintillations in gaseous and liquid Ar, using Geiger-mode APDs (GAPDs) sensitive in the NIR and pulsed X-ray irradiation, is described. This study has been triggered by the development of Cryogenic Avalanche Detectors (CRADs) with optical readout in the NIR using combined THGEM/GAPD multiplier, which may come to be in demand in coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and dark matter search experiments. A new approach to measure the NIR scintillation yield at cryogenic temperatures has been developed, namely using GAPDs in single photoelectron counting mode with time resolution. The time structure of NIR scintillations and their light yield were measured both for primary scintillations and that of secondary at moderate electric fields (electroluminescence), in gaseous and liquid Ar.


Eighteen years after the first detailed work appeared on the electrical activityofthe brain(Berger, 1929) we have still no adequate understanding of its mechanism. There have been many hypotheses, and to review all the supportive data for each would be too space-consuming, but since they are described in the journals a reference list may suffice. For example, there is the evidence, based on the observed behaviour of the EEG with rising body temperature and with metabolic stimulants and depressants (Hoagland, 1936), for the dependence of the electrical rhythmicity on continuous steady-state chemical events within the cortical cells. This hypothesis attempts only an explanation of the resting rhythm, and Hoagland (1944) states that the findings should not be interpreted as meaning that the only modifiers of brain wave frequencies are necessarily changes in cell respiration. There is the hypothesis of Gerard (1941) that the EEG is a rhythmic variation of a somatic potential, demonstrated as a steady DC potential difference between the pia, where the axones end, and the area near the ventricle where cells lie (in the frog's brain). Gibbs and others (1940) suggested that the electrical activity of the cortex is a manifestation of the activity of a great number of chemical oscillators having i,different natural periods. The hypothesis that interplay between the"deeper centres and the cortex is responsible for the alpha rhythm grows out ofthe work ofBishop (1933, 1936), of Lorente de No (1934, 1935), and of Dusser de Barenne and McCulloch (1938). It was suggested that the cortical cells are in continuous interactivity


The effect of immobilization on bone formation in the knee and hip was studied by means of oxytetracycline. One leg of 11 growing and 13 adult rabbits was immobilized so that the knee was held in extension but the hip was free. In the knee, degenerative changes developed consistently with a severity proportional to the length of the immobilization time. In most of the rabbits given oxytetracycline 1-13 days before they were killed considerably more oxytetracycline was incorporated in the bone in the immobilized knee region and slightly more in the hip region of the same leg than in the corresponding areas of the other leg. This indicates an increased turnover of bone tissue in the immobilized leg compared with the non-immobilized leg.


Soft errors are becoming an increasingly important issue for circuit reliability. Traditional techniques to protect against soft errors, like triple modular redundancy (TMR), have a large cost in terms of area and power. This has motivated the development of specific protection techniques for various types of circuits. In this paper, techniques to protect adaptive filters are presented, which provide reasonable reliability with reduced cost and power consumption. An adaptive equalizer case study is used to discuss and evaluate the proposed techniques in terms of both protection and cost.


The impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on small group and individually purchased (i.e., non-group) health insurance will depend upon many factors. These include the characteristics of the health insurance markets prior to reform, whether plans are grandfathered or are newly created under reform, the health status and claims experience of the covered group or individual, individual coverage decisions, policy decisions that will be made at the state level, and success of cost containment efforts. Thus, many factors will interact and affect premiums, making it difficult, if not impossible, to make generalized statements of the effect of the new law on premiums. Here, we present the central factors that will influence premiums for coverage of different types, identify the direction of that influence, but do not attempt to quantify the end result of the various interactions.


Abstract A guild of Neotropical rainforest dung- and carrion-feeding beetles (Scarabaeinae, Aphodiinae, Trogidae) at Reserva Florestal Ducke in Amazonian Brazil was inventoried using baited pitfall traps continuously for 56 weeks during September 1977 to October 1978. The 20 traps were baited with either dung or carrion, and the preservatives in the traps were solutions of either chloral hydrate or picric acid so that all combinations of bait and preservatives were present. A total of 19,416 specimens, 66 species, 20 genera, two subfamilies of Scarabaeidae (Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae), and two families (Scarabaeidae and Trogidae) were collected during the 56-week study. The by-catch of approximately 300,000 other insects was retained at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) for further studies. In the dung traps, 14,413 specimens were collected (74% of all scarabaeoids collected). In the carrion traps, 5,003 specimens were collected (26% of all scarabaeoids collected). The mean number of individuals collected per week in all traps was 345.7 ± 14.6 (SEM) with a range of 144 specimens on 11 October 1978 to 649 specimens on 19 September 1978. The mean number of species taken per week for all traps was 33.0 ± 0.9 (SEM) with a peak catch of 47 species in week 19 (17 January) and a minimum of 18 species in week 51 (29 August). All 66 species were taken in the dung traps, but only 34 species were taken in the carrion traps. Differences between the number of individuals and species captured in the chloral hydrate and picric acid solutions were negligible and demonstrate no real advantage of either one except for easier availability and safety of the chloral hydrate solution. Regression analyses indicated no correlation of precipitation with numbers of individuals or numbers of species taken weekly in the traps. If the "rare" species (singletons and "tourists" comprising less than 0.005% of the total catch in each bait group) are eliminated from the analysis, then the dung traps took 10 weeks to acquire the 17 "common" species (48 species eliminated), and the carrion traps took 12 weeks to capture the 11 "common" species (23 species eliminated). This illustrates the necessity for long-term trapping to accurately identify the species diversity in a study area. In the dung traps, the 17 common species accounted for 95% of the total numbers collected. In the carrion traps, the 11 common species accounted for 96% of the total numbers collected. The last new species to enter a dung trap was in week 48, and the last new species to enter a carrion trap was in week 53. The data show that "trapping out" in this primary rainforest site did not occur since weekly captures remained robust.


A-ROCA †d) , and Josep-Llu´os FERRER-GOMILA ††e) , Nonmembers SUMMARY An electronic ticket is a contract, in digital format, between the user and the service provider, and reduces both economic costs and time in many services such as air travel industries or public transport. However, the security of the electronic ticket has to be strongly guaranteed, as well as the privacy of their users. We present an electronic ticketing system that considers these security requirements and includes the exculpability as a security requirement for these systems, i.e. users and the service provider can not falsely accuse each other of misbehavior. The system ensures that either both parties receive their desired data from other or neither does (fair exchange). Another interesting property is reusability. Thanks to reusability the tickets can be used a predefined number of times with the same security as single tickets. Furthermore, this scheme takes special care of the computational requirements on the users side by using light-weight cryptography. We show that the scheme is usable in practice by means of its implementation using mobile phones with Near Field Communication


The subjects involved in the present study were 113 patients with hepatocellular carcinomas who had undergone hepatectomy in our hospital during the past 10 years. During the surveillance, 79 of the 113 patients (69.9%) had recurrence in the residual liver. The cumulative non-recurrence rate at 2 and 5 years was 48.4% and 18.1%, respectively and the cumulative survival rate at 2 and 5 years was 83.8% and 47.5%, respectively. The recurrence in the residual liver tended to occur in the group with the larger tumor size, in the single nodular surrounding proliferative types and in the aneuploid types. There were no differences in the recurrence rate and state relating to the operative procedure. To improve the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, it is necessary to consider the hepatic functional reserve after hepatectomy, and to make plans for multidisciplinary therapy, including such further treatment as transcatheter arterial embolization, infusion chemotherapy and preoperative percutaneous ethanol injection.


Two new galumnellid mites, Galumnella parageographica n. sp. and Porogalumnella microsetosa n. sp., are described from Indian soils. Galumnella parageographica n. sp. is morphologically most similar to G. geographica Mahunka, 1995 from Malaysia, from which it differs by tuberculated pteromorphs, the presence of a median pore on the notogaster and monodactylous legs. Porogalumnella microsetosa n. sp. is morphologically most similar to P. reducta Mahunka, 1995 from Malaysia, from which it differs by the presence of polygonal ornamentation in the anogenital region and nearly smooth sensilli. An identification key to the known species of Porogalumnella is provided.


Examination of heat generation in an earthmover tire traversing rigid terrain indicates that almost all heat originates in the tire bulk; heat generated in the contact area is small and can be neglected. Modeling of equilibrium bulk heat requires using the same compound for model and prototype, keeping both tires geometrically similar, and running them at constant speed long enough to reach equilibrium temperature. Then, three model rules apply; one allows for geometrical distortion of cord arrangement in static loading, and the others impose similar mechanisms of heat generation and dissipation on the model and prototype. The effect of cord distortion on heat generation is unknown, however, and has to be assessed experimentally. Preliminary tests indicate that the model rules of heat generation are basically correct. Problems associated with stress distortion (due to cord distortion), heat convection, and inflation pressure buildup (due to heat buildup) remain. Self- modeling tests on the same tire, and scale model tests with geometrically similar tires are recommended.


Sorting of products is a very difficult industrial process. Continuous manual sorting creates consistency issues. This paper describes a working prototype designed for automatic sorting of objects based on the color. TCS230 sensor was used to detect the color of the product and the PIC16F628A microcontroller was used to control the overall process. The identification of the color is based on the frequency analysis of the output of TCS230 sensor. Two conveyor belts were used, each controlled by separate DC motors. The first belt is for placing the product to be analyzed by the color sensor, and the second belt is for moving the container, having separated compartments, in order to separate the products. The experimental results promise that the prototype will fulfill the needs for higher production and precise quality in the field of automation. To reduce human efforts on mechanical maneuvering different types of sorting machines are being developed. These machines are too costly due to the complexity in the fabrication process. A common requirement in the field of color sorting is that of color sensing and identification. The purpose of this model is to design and implement a system which automatically separates products based on their color. This machine consists of three parts: conveyor belt, color sensor, and dc motor. The output and input of these parts was interfaced using PIC microcontroller.


BACKGROUND
Women with semi-immunity to malaria who live in regions where the disease is endemic are at increased risk for more frequent and severe episodes of malaria during pregnancy. Recent findings indicate that this increased risk might persist beyond delivery, but the underlying mechanisms for this change in risk are poorly understood.

METHODS
One hundred fifty women were included in a cohort study in Lambaréné, Gabon, and were actively followed up weekly for 10 weeks after delivery, as were nonpregnant control women who had been matched to them by location and age. Parasites in samples of placenta and blood were genotyped by use of polymerase chain reaction amplification of the merozoite surface antigen 2 gene and the subtelomeric variable open reading frame gene of Plasmodium falciparum.

RESULTS
Eleven puerperal women had cases of clinical malaria, compared with 1 control woman (rate ratio, 9.8; P=.006). Eighteen puerperal women had P. falciparum parasitemia, compared with 6 control women (rate ratio, 2.7; P=.03). Five of 16 puerperal women (31%) with parasitemia on follow-up had identical parasites in their placentas and blood, and 11 of these cases (69%) were the result of reinfection. Puerperal women remained at equal risk for the development of parasitemia throughout the first 10 weeks after delivery. Use of bed nets, use of chloroquine prophylaxis during pregnancy, presence of malaria episodes during pregnancy, gravidity, and age were not associated with the acquisition of parasitemia during follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS
Compared with nonpregnant women, puerperal women have a considerably increased risk for the development of malaria and/or parasitemia. This increased risk is caused both by the recurrence of P. falciparum parasitemia and by the increased susceptibility to new infections, although the latter plays a more significant role.


Milk and dairy products have an important role in human nutrition, especially in the first years of life, once these products are sources of high quality protein, carbohydrates; fat and mineral salts necessary for growth. Therefore, it is essential to ensure the integrity and intrinsic quality of milk and dairy products for human consumption. Raw milk represents an ideal growth medium for several microorganisms that have been identified as food borne pathogens or as causative agents of bovine mastitis, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes.


At this time there is no hypothesis of kinship in Mexican hares based on a comparison of the molariform tooth enamel, which represent valuable of information for systematic purposes, used to describe fossil and extant species. We describe the patterns of the enamel of five species of hares using the second and third upper premolars and third lower premolar. The enamel pattern was identified and described using a microscope and reference photographs. The enamel pattern was compared among species and informative characters were identified or recognized, in order to discriminate species. We also found that the third lower upper molar and the second upper premolar were the most useful teeth to better discriminate the species. It was found that L. insularis is closer to L. californicus, they share a simple enamel pattern, while L. alleni shows a complex pattern in number of folds and forms, and is more similar to L. callotis and L. flavigularis . It was concluded that these characters distinguish the pattern of tooth enamel, which generally shows little variation within the species, but more significantly among species.


Ras-like small GTP-binding proteins of the Rab family regulate trafficking of the secretory or endocytic pathways. Rab3 proteins within the Rab family are expressed at high levels in neurons and endocrine cells, where they regulate release of dense-core granules and synaptic vesicles (SVs). Rab3A is present as either the soluble or the SV membrane-bound form in neurons that are dependent on the GDP- or GTP-bound states respectively. GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) is known to induce the dissociation of Rab3A from synaptic membranes when GTP is depleted. In an earlier study, Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM) was also shown to dissociate Rab3A from synaptic membranes by forming an equimolar complex with Rab3A in vitro. We have examined a possible role for Ca(2+)/CaM in modulating both the binding of guanine nucleotides to Rab3A and the GTPase activity of Rab3A. The basal level of Rab3A GTPase activity was not affected by an association with Ca(2+)/CaM. Ca(2+)/CaM-Rab3A complex that was formed in synaptic membranes was able to bind guanine nucleotides, whereas the Rab3A-GDI complex could not. In addition, Ca(2+)/CaM led to the replacement of the GDP molecule in the Rab3A-GDI complex with GTP in Rab3A. Taken together, these results suggest that CaM may have a role in stimulating GTP binding to Rab3A that is complexed with GDI, which leads to the formation of an active GTP-bound form of the Rab3A-Ca(2+)/CaM complex.


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images are used increasingly more for Earth observation. While SAR images are useable in most conditions, they occasionally experience image degradation due to interfering signals from external radars, called radio frequency interference (RFI). RFI-affected images are often discarded in further analysis or preprocessed to remove the RFI. However, few on-ground radars can cause RFI in SAR images and such information can thus increase domain awareness greatly over both land and sea, where, e.g., localizing and characterizing RFI signals in the ocean could help classify otherwise overlooked ships. The aim of the current study is to detect and localize RFI signals automatically in Sentinel-1 level-1 images and further characterize the on-ground radar. The spatial structure of RFI signals vary greatly. A convolutional autoencoder (CAE) was therefore developed to reconstruct RFI-free Sentinel-1 images. Conversely, RFI-affected images could not be well reconstructed. Anomalous heatmaps were then developed to automatically detect and localize RFI anomalies in the images under varying environmental and geographical conditions, whereafter the external radar characteristics were extracted manually from Sentinel-1 level-0 data. We could consequently classify and localize RFI signals believed to originate from both stationary radars and ship-borne radars. We further argue that the calculated ship-borne radar characteristics correspond to those of air-surveillance radars. Empirically, the method showed better detection results than those of previous studies. Our study shows that more information can be extracted from certain detected objects, such as ships, from SAR images.


Objective To determine whether patients with lumbosacral (LS) radiculopathy and peripheral polyneuropathy (PPNP) exhibit sudomotor abnormalities and whether SUDOSCAN (Impeto Medical, Paris, France) can complement nerve conduction study (NCS) and electromyography (EMG). Methods Outpatients with lower extremity dysesthesia underwent electrophysiologic studies and SUDOSCAN. They were classified as normal (group A), LS radiculopathy (group B), or PPNP (group C). Pain severity was measured by the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Demographic features, electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) values on hands and feet, and SUDOSCAN-risk scores were analyzed. Results There were no statistical differences in MNSI and VAS among the three groups. Feet-ESC and hands-ESC values in group C were lower than group A and B. SUDOSCAN-risk score in group B and C was higher than group A. With a cut-off at 48 microSiemens of feet-ESC, PPNP was detected with 57.1% sensitivity and 94.2% specificity (area under the curve [AUC]=0.780; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0646–0.915). With a SUDOSCAN-risk score cut-off at 29%, NCS and EMG abnormalities related to LS radiculopathy and PPNP were detected with 64.1% sensitivity and 84.2% specificity (AUC=0.750; 95% CI, 0.674–0.886). Conclusion SUDOSCAN can discriminate outpatients with abnormal electrophysiological findings and sudomotor dysfunction. This technology may be a complementary tool to NCS and EMG in outpatients with lower extremity dysesthesia.


Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is a viral disease found in cattle which is caused by a retrovirus, bovine leukemia virus (BLV), and is found worldwide. EBL is characterised by a long incubation period of approximately three years, eventually resulting in tumours (lymphosarcoma). The disease should be distinguished from sporadic bovine leukosis (SBL), which is mainly found in young cattle between the age of four months and two years.


Description: Broadband communications has become the major focus for industry for offering rich multimedia IP services in next generation networks. This book deals with the state-of-the-art and the underlying principles of key technologies which facilitate broadband telecommunications including millimetre wave gigabit Ethernet, terahertz communication, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology, orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM), ultra wideband (UWB) and the fourth generation (4G) network technologies. The book illustrates the use of these technologies, including high resolution three-dimensional millimetre wave radar imaging and terahertz imaging techniques. Within the next few years advances in graphic rendering and the application of millimetre wave radar technology will enable high resolution radar surveillance and operators of industrial processes to control their machines and to navigate remotely even in poor visibility environments. The principles and performance of terahertz imaging are also demonstrated in this important book. The performance and success of emerging all-IP networks depend largely on the efficiency of broadband technologies and this book provides the basis for 4G networks and explores key performance measures such as quality of service and handover between distributed networks (mobile and fixed). The book also demonstrates the medical and biomedical applications of broadband wireless communications.


In this project we present two mathematical models for the human tympanic membrane. The eardrum can be viewed as an example of the vibrating drum problem. In the first model, we treat the tympanic membrane as a rectangular region. In the second model the tympanic membrane is considered as a disk. Both models use a wave equations. We study the impact of changes in the membrane tension related to trauma or tumors which cause the frequencies of vibration to either increase or decrease.


A finite language is said to be decomposable, if it can be written as a catenation of two non-empty languages. In this paper a parallel algorithm for finding the decomposition of finite languages is proposed. The effectiveness of the algorithm is assessed based on the experimental results provided for selected languages.


Web accessibility for people with disabilities is a highly visible area of research in the field of ICT accessibility, including many policy activities across many countries. The commonly accepted guidelines for web accessibility (WCAG 1.0) were published in 1999 and have been extensively used by designers, evaluators and legislators. W3C-WAI published a new version of these guidelines (WCAG 2.0) in December 2008. One of the main goals of WCAG 2.0 was testability, that is, WCAG 2.0 should be either machine testable or reliably human testable. In this paper we present an educational experiment performed during an intensive web accessibility course. The goal of the experiment was to assess the testability of the 25 level-A success criteria of WCAG 2.0 by beginners. To do this, the students had to manually evaluate the accessibility of the same web page. The result was that only eight success criteria could be considered to be reliably human testable when evaluators were beginners. We also compare our experiment with a similar study published recently. Our work is not a conclusive experiment, but it does suggest some parts of WCAG 2.0 to which special attention should be paid when training accessibility evaluators.


The problem I want to discuss arises from a certain view of the relation between intentions and actions. In forming prior intentions for future actions we aim at providing guidance for those actions. We could also say that in considering what we should do at some future time (or times) and arriving at a decision, we are exercising authority over our future selves. This is more than a metaphor, as I will argue: the guidance we give to our future actions is the same as the guidance provided for us by authoritative pronouncements from someone else (or by the authority of customary norms). Guidance provided by authority, however, may be of two kinds: epistemic or coordinative. We are guided by epistemic authority if we act on its pronouncements in the belief that in doing so we are acting on the balance of reasons as they already apply to us independently of the fact of those pronouncements. Or, rather, as they apply at least approximately. We have reason to believe that by deliberating on the relevant reasons directly and acting on our conclusions, we will not do better. We are guided by coordinating authority if the reasons which antecedently apply to us do not suffice


Background: The data about the association between Helicobacter pylori putative virulence factors; iceA and jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT with clinical outcomes are still controversial. We identified and analyzed two putative H. pylori virulence factors in Nepalese strains. Methods: The iceA and jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT allelic types were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Histological analysis were classified according to the updated Sydney system and the Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment (OLGA) system. Results: Among 49 strains, iceA1 negative/iceA2 positive (iceA2-positive) was predominant type (57.1%, 28/49) and 20 (40.8%) were iceA1 positive/iceA2 negative. The remaining one (2.0%) was positive for both iceA1 and iceA2 (iceA1/iceA2-mixed). Patients infected with iceA1-positive strains tended to be higher OLGA score than iceA2-positive strains [1.45 [1] vs. 0.07 [0.5], P = 0.09, respectively). The jhp0562 negative/β-(1,3)galT positive was predominant type (25/51, 49.0%), followed by double positive for jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT (15/51, 29.4%) and jhp0562 positive/β-(1,3)galT negative (11/51, 21.6%). Activity in the corpus was significantly higher in jhp0562 negative/β-(1,3)galT positive than double positive of jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT positive [mean (median); 1.24 (1) vs. 0.73 (1), P = 0.03]. There was association between iceA and subtype of vacA signal region (e.g., s1a, s1b or s1c) and combination subtypes of signal and middle regions (e.g., s1a-m1c) (P = 0.02, r = 0.29; and P = 0.002, r = 0.42, respectively). In addition, jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT genotypes associated with cagA pre-EPIYA type (e.g., 6 bp-, 18 bp-, or no deletion-type) (P = 0.047, r = 0.15). Conclusion: The inconsistency results of the association between iceA, jhp0562/β-(1,3)galT and histological scores suggesting that these genes may associate with genetic heterogeneity rather than as a true virulence factor.


Abstract The paper deals with the accuracy of the real GDP growth forecasts produced by two Czech non-governmental institutions: the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (CMKOS) and the Czech Banking Association (CBA) in the years 2007-2014 and 2011-2014 respectively. Utilizing a research method composed of simple (AFE), scale-dependent (RMSE) as well as relative (MASE) error measures, we found out that (i) CMKOS predictions achieved a lower forecasting error on average, beginning with a notable overestimation in the first turnover point from growth to decline (2008-2009), yet followed by gradual improvement resulting in superior accuracy over set benchmarks (Ministry of Finance, Czech National Bank, OECD) in later years (2010-2014). The CBA predictions, on the other hand, exhibited (ii) a high level of interconnection with official bodies (MF, CNB), but with overall inferior forecasting accuracy, despite the shorter time frame (2011-2014). Overall, the study suggests that of the two surveyed non-governmental bodies, only CMKOS forecasts represent a viable alternative to the official predictions published by the Ministry of Finance or the Czech National Bank, as CBA forecasts were found to be a less accurate satellite of these bodies.


The potential for both positive and negative effects arising from direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines challenges health policymakers to develop regulatory schemes which selectively capture the positive aspects of the practice. Australia has dealt with this quandary by banning the practice, while New Zealand and the United States permit it. However, in recent times pharmaceutical companies have been increasingly successful in introducing promotional materials into the Australian market. This article demonstrates that the Australian ban is consistent with striving for the major policy goal of quality use of medicines, thus providing the basis for arguing that solutions to strengthen the ban against the identified threats ought to be implemented. Quality use of medicines can be most effectively achieved via the combined effect of the strengthened ban and the mimicking of the limited positive aspects of direct-to-consumer advertising by government provision of non-promotional information to consumers.


Computer modeling of heavy oil reservoirs has become progressively more challenging in order to represent geological reality and its impact on fluid flow. A method has been developed in which completion, production, and injection information, coupled with the static well data, are used to model enhanced permeability channels that have been created around the wells as a result of production and/or injection. Court heavy oil field located in West Central Saskatchewan, Canada is a Bakken heavy oil reservoir (17oAPI, in-situ viscosity of ~155 c.p). The field, which has been under an active waterflood depletion strategy for the last 20 years, has achieved a recovery factor to date of ~ 24%. The geological complexities found in the Bakken Formation at Court introduce many challenges for history matching. It was discovered that successful history matching required the introduction of enhanced permeability modifications (EPMs). The EPM regions were superimposed over the geological model. Flow simulations using the EPMs region concept resulted in a significant improvement in the overall quality of the history match at both the group and field levels. Sensitivity studies were also undertaken to determine the minimum EPM requirement to gain the history match. This paper describes how to use completion, production and injection data in the flow model to predict the high permeability zones in the vicinity of a wellbore. As it will be discussed in more detail, this technique allows for the achievement of a reasonable history match using a Black Oil reservoir simulator. The model was history matched to liquid rate, water cut, and pressure. The simulation model has been used to evaluate the current waterflood and predict the possible future enhanced oil recovery (EOR) opportunities for this field.


The physical configuration of the problem is a porous-fluid layer which is horizontally unbounded, in the presence of uniform heat source/sink in the layers enclosed by adiabatic and isothermal boundaries. The problem of double diffusive Bènard-Marangoni convection in the presence of vertical magnetic field is investigated on this porous-fluid system for non-Darcian case and is subjected to uniform and nonuniform temperature gradients. The eigenvalue, thermal Marangoni number is obtained in the closed form for lower rigid and upper free with surface tension velocity boundary conditions. The influence of various parameters on the Marangoni number against thermal ratio is discussed. It is observed that the heat absorption in the fluid layer and the applied magnetic field play an important role in controlling Benard-Marangoni convection. The parameters which direct this convection are determined and the effect of porous parameter is relatively interesting.


The Silver Peak volcanic center is part of a late Tertiary volcanic province in western Nevada and eastern California characterized by slightly alkaline, potassic lavas. The rocks of the Pliocene Silver Peak center have an alkali-lime index of 55.5, a K2O/K2O + Na2O ratio of 0.5 at 60 percent SiO2, and range in composition from trachybasalt to rhyolite, with latite the most voluminous. Chemical and mineralogical variations in the intermediate and silicic lavas are compatible with differentiation by crystal fractionation. The differentiation trend is similar to calc-alkaline suites with progressive enrichment in silica and alkalis but no relative enrichment in iron. Relatively high water pressures during crystallization are indicated by the ubiquitious presence of biotite or hornblende. The parent magma of the intermediate and silicic part of the series is believed to have a composition of trachyandesite with approximately 56 percent silica. The potassic nature of trachyandesite in this province is tentatively related to depths of a Tertiary subduction zone beneath western North America. Associated trachybasalts of the Silver Peak center are nepheline normative and characterized by high strontium contents, low Rb/K and Rb/Sr ratios, and relatively high Sr87/Sr86 ratios (.7061). These are believed to represent a separate parent magma derived from material previously depleted in rubidium.