Special relativistic limit of the gauge theory of gravitation developed by Otiyama, Kibble, Hayashi and Bregman is discussed. In the limit, the energy-momentum conservation splits into the separate conservations for the matter field and for the gauge fields. The conservation law of the total spin angular momentum, which is inherent in this theory and might appear to contradict with the special relativistic theory of fields, is discussed in detail. For most Lagrangians other than the exceptional ones, not only the sum of the spin tensors of the gauge fields but also its divergence does not vanish even in the special relativistic limit and the total angular momentum conservation of the matter field is also obtained in this limit, and there arises no trouble. An interpretation of the conservation of the total angular momentum in the special relativistic theory of fields is also given.


A short-chain 15N-peptide mixture characterized by an average chain length of 2.3 was obtained when 15N-labeled yeast protein has hydrolyzed enzymatically by thermitase from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris. Fifteen newborn Wistar-rats were given a single pulse of [15N]glycine. [15N]H4Cl and [15N]yeast protein-thermitasehydrolysate (YPTH) in a dosage of 50 mg 15N excess kg-1 by gastric tube. In comparison with [15N]glycine the 15N-incorporation rates of brain, muscle and liver were approximately 150% higher after [15N]YPTH-application. Uniform labeling, high 15N-enrichment, almost complete absorption, avoidance of imbalances and the low price make this tracer substance superior to other tracers conventionally used for organ labeling.


The arterial calcification process was recognized as soon as 1812 to be a common feature of atherosclerosis [1]. The common belief is that calcification results from the passive deposit of calcium in vascular tissues. This view is not correct. By contrast, many lines of evidence demonstrate that calcification is an active and regulated process involving a change of phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells into osteoblast-like cell, leading to focal ossification points. This phenomenon may be associated with atherosclerotic plaques and has a focal intimal expression, or it may be a systemic, generalized process, interesting the media, corresponding to the classical Monckeberg disease. It remains to be discussed whether the intimal and medial calcifications share the same pathophysiology [2].


In the global era, English is needed as one of international languages. English is learned by many people in the world to access information and to convey or communicate ideas to solve problems of life. Reading as a basic skill of language has to be mastered because reading comprehension is crucial for academic success to achieve the purpose of learning language. A strategy is needed to increase learners' reading comprehension actively and practically enable learners to understand a text comprehensively. Learners who do not know or use appropriate strategies in language learning especially in reading comprehension often learn passively and slowly.
There are some factors that may influence the learners' success in their reading comprehension. One of them is applying a technique in their reading activity. Mind-mapping concept is considered as one of techniques hopefully used to improve learners' reading comprehension. The strategy makes learners to become active because they are involved independently in teaching and learning process. The more learners are involved in learning and teaching process, the more they can comprehend the materials learned. The mind-mapping concept can be applied to improve learners' reading comprehension ability to help them understand information or get inputs from the texts. By applying mind-mapping concept, learners can understand and remember the contents of text easily. Key Words: English language, Reading Comprehension, Mind-Mapping Concept


This concept proposes to use thermal processes alone to extract water from the lunar South Pole and launch payloads to low lunar orbit. Thermal steam rockets would use water propellant for space transportation. The estimated mass of a space water tanker powered by a nuclear heated steam rocket suggests it can be designed for launch in the Space Shuttle bay. The performance depends on the feasibility of a nuclear reactor rocket engine producing steam at 1,100 degrees Kelvin, with a power density of 150 Megawatts per ton of rocket, and operating for thousands of 20 minute cycles. An example uses reject heat from a small nuclear electric power supply to melt 17,800 tons per year of lunar ice. A nuclear heated steam rocket would use the propellant water to launch and deliver 3,800 tons of water per year to a 100 km low lunar orbit.


Author(s): Tran, Thai-Truong Du | Advisor(s): Chang-Hasnain, Constance J | Abstract: The synthesis of III-V nanowires and pillar-structures on silicon is a promising approach for realizing low cost, large scale III-V photovoltaics. However, performances of III-V nanowire solar cells have not yet been as good as their bulk counterparts, as nanostructured light absorbers are fundamentally challenged by enhanced minority carriers surface recombination rates. The resulting nonradiative losses lead to significant reductions in the quantum yield for external spontaneous emission, which, in turn, manifest as penalties in the open-circuit voltage. In this work, calibrated photoluminescence measurements are utilized to construct equivalent voltage/current characteristics relating illumination intensities to Fermi-level splitting ΔF inside InP microillars. Fermi-level splitting is a good indicator of what voltage can be achieved in a given material. Under 1-sun, we show that splitting can be close to ΔF~0.89eV in undoped pillars. Several strategies to increase the external quantum yield are tested. By cleaning pillar surfaces in acidic etchants the splitting can be increased to ΔF~0.96 eV. Pillars with nano-textured surfaces can yield splitting of ΔF~0.92 eV. Finally, by introducing n-dopants, ΔF greater than 1eV can be achieved, which is due to larger a wider bandgap energy in n-doped Wurzite InP, the increaesed brightness of doped materials, as well as the extraordinarily low surface recombination velocity of InP. These results provide further evidence that InP micropillars on silicon could be a promising material for low-cost, large scale solar cells with high efficiency. Furthermore, strategies for mitigating shunt-path formation in pillar devices have been studied; during the growth of pn-junctions care has to be taken that the core-shell growth mode of the micropillars will not result in a pn-junction where both sides of the junction will be in direct contact with the substrate. It was found that regrowth can be used to prevent such shunt paths between the substrate and the shell of the pillars. Under monochromatic illumination equivalent to 1 sun, open-circuit voltages of larger than 0.604 V could be achieved, which is compares well to other state-of the art results for III-V nanowire solar cells. The discrepancy between the achieved open-circuit voltage and the results from the contactless I-V measurements is explained with unoptimized device design. For further improvement it could be necessary to bury the pn-junction inside higher bandgap materials, and to use n-doped InP material as the light absorber.Akin to Moore's law in the IC industry, it is believed that next-generation optical components will become more and more integrated onto chips, and perhaps even become integrated with silicon CMOS-electronics. The core-shell growth mode allows for the synthesis of single-crystalline III-V pillar-structures on silicon substrates, offering a pathway for monolithic, CMOS-compatible on-chip integration of active optical components. The viability of the pillar approach has been previously underlined by demonstration of lasers, light emitting diodes, and avalanche-photo-detectors. In this work, the modes of nanopillar lasers are studied in detail; it was found that modes with high azimuthal quantum numbers can exhibit quality factors of the order of 102, which is sufficiently high to achieve lasing at room temperature under pulsed optical pumping. Continuous-wave operation of optically pumped lasers could be demonstrated at 4K temperature as well. The radiation pattern of lasing modes are observed in experiments, and in combination with polarization measurements and Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulations all quantum numbers of the modes could be identified. Strategies to enhance the quality factor for modes with low azimuthal quantum numbers are discussed as well.The atomically sharp tips makes nanoneedles attractive for applications requiring electric field enhancements such as Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). The possibility of using the nanoneedle structure for Superfocusing was studied in simulations. In FDTD simulations it was found that the needles could allow for electric intensity enhancements of the order of 106, showing that nanoneedles could be a promising structure for delivering optical power to nanoscale dimensions.Due to the Wurtzite crystal structure nanoneedles exhibit selection rules for nonlinear light generation that are different from selection rules of bulk III-V materials, which exhibit the more common Zincblende phase. Polarization measurements were performed to confirm the Wurtzite selection rules in the pillar material. Potential applications for nonlinear light generation using nanoneedles could be in imaging. Another nanophotonic structure attractive for nonlinear optics are high-contrast gratings. In this work, second harmonic generation from AlGaAs near-wavelength high-contrast gratings was studied in polarization-dependent reflection measurements. The grating design was found to be critical in determining the strength and polarization dependence of the second harmonic signal. The second harmonic response was enhanced by more than 3 orders of magnitude compared to flat AlGaAs surfaces without gratings. These enhancements are due to the diffractive nature of the gratings, specifically their ability to change the direction of light waves.


CV. Lestari Jaya is an enterprise that produce roof i?½ tile, There are some Production centrals of roof i?½ tile in Malang, One of them is CV. Lestari Jaya. CV. Lestari Jaya located in Dukuh Wendit Pakis Malang. In applying this planning, CV. Lestari Jaya must compete with after enterprises or factories. CV. Lestari Jaya have to maintain costumers, and also anticipate market need which always increase. Knowing this condition, the writer will give an alternative to solve this problem with identification and analyze the condition of enterprise, not only internal and external condition but also the profit, of enterprise competitive by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Linear Goal Programming (LGP) Method In this thasis Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used because by using this method the out come of priority calculation indicate of roof i?½ tile which wanted by costumers than other products CV. Lestari Jaya that produce genteng super wendit will try to increase the quality of their product. Linear Goal Programming (LGP) Method was also used in this thesis by using QS (Quantitative System) program was obtained the stategy of planning of developing roof-tile Industry based on priority consecutively, then emphasizing the analysis was calculating the quantity of roof-tile product to find the better one. So, the purposes reached whit optimun valve it also anticipate the need market and maximize the enterprise / factory profit, too.


Tannin acyl hydrolase (E.C.188.8.131.52) commonly referred to as tannase, is an industrially important enzyme that is mainly used in the food, chemical, beverage and pharmaceutical industry. In this study, tannase production was investigated using Aspergillus niger isolated from bark of tannin rich Acacia nilotica. Optimization of culture conditions for maximum tannase production included studying the effects of incubation period, incubation temperature, pH, carbon and nitrogen sources, inducers and metal ions on A. niger and enzyme activity. The optimum culture conditions determined were tannic acid as inducer, 7 days(168hrs) incubation period, 30°C incubation temperature, pH 5.0, 1%(w/v) tannic acid as carbon source and 1%(w/v) sodium nitrate as nitrogen source for maximum tannase activity. Tannase was purified 7.17 fold with a specific activity of 101.428U/ml protein and a yield of 18.35%. Molecular characterization included the zymography and purification of tannase enzyme.


ABSTRACT A non-Bayesian time-varying model is developed by introducing the concept of the degree of market efficiency that varies over time. This model may be seen as a reflection of the idea that continuous technological progress alters the trading environment over time. With new methodologies and a new measure of the degree of market efficiency, we examine whether the US stock market evolves over time. In particular, a time-varying autoregressive (TV-AR) model is employed. Our main findings are: (i) the US stock market has evolved over time and the degree of market efficiency has cyclical fluctuations with a considerably long periodicity, from 30 to 40 years; and (ii) the US stock market has been efficient with the exception of four times in our sample period: during the long recession of 1873–1879; the recession of 1902–1904; the New Deal era; and the recession of 1957–1958 and soon after it. It is then shown that our results are partly consistent with the view of behavioural finance.


The biomolecular homochirality in living organisms has been investigated for decades, but its origin remains poorly understood. It has been shown that circular polarized light (CPL) and other energy sources are capable of inducing small enantiomeric excesses (ees) in some primary biomolecules, such as amino acids or sugars. Since the first findings of amino acids in carbonaceous meteorites, a scenario in which essential chiral biomolecules originate in space and are delivered by celestial bodies has arisen. Numerous studies have thus focused on their detection, identification, and enantiomeric excess calculations in extraterrestrial matrices. In this review we summarize the discoveries in amino acids, sugars, and organophosphorus compounds in meteorites, comets, and laboratory-simulated interstellar ices. Based on available analytical data, we also discuss their interactions with CPL in the ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regions, their abiotic chiral or achiral synthesis, and their enantiomeric distribution. Without doubt, further laboratory investigations and upcoming space missions are required to shed more light on our potential extraterrestrial molecular origins.


Abstract Proteins are modularly built from a limited set of approximately 1000 structural domains. The evolutionary relationship within a domain family suggests that the knowledge about a common fold structure can be exploited for the design of small molecule libraries in the development of inhibitors and ligands. This principle has been used for the synthesis of inhibitors for kinases sharing the same fold. It can also be applied for proteins which share the same fold architecture yet belong to different functional classes. Bestatin – originally known as an aminopeptidase inhibitor – was employed as guiding structure for the development of leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitors. A combinatorial approach helped to identify inhibitors for sulfotransferases which share structural similarity with nucleotide kinases using a kinase inhibitor core structure as guiding principle.


Reservoir Permeability is one of the most important characteristics of hydrocarbon bearing formations. A good knowledge of a formation's permeability helps geophysicist to efficiently manage the production process. Formation permeability is often measured in the laboratory from cores or evaluated from well test data. Core analysis and well test data, however, can only be gotten from a few wells in a field due to economic factors, while majority of wells are logged. In this study, an artificial neural network has been designed with PETRELTM, which is able to predict permeability of a formation using the data gotten from geophysical well logs with good accuracy. A case study from XZ field offshore Niger Delta is presented. Five well log responses (Gamma Ray Log (GR), Deep Resistivity (RD), Formation Density (DEN), Neutron Porosity (PHIN) and Density Porosity (PHID)) were initially used as inputs in the ANN to predict permeability. Core permeability from one of the wells (OS1) was used as target data in the ANN to test the prediction. The accuracy of the ANN approach is tested by regression plots of predicted values of permeability with core-permeability which is the standard. Excellent matching of core data and predicted values reflects the accuracy of the technique. Permeability estimations/predictions presented in this paper have a correlation coefficient of 0.8 where 1.0 is a perfect match. This work showed that prediction result is improved by adding core porosity in the training, carefully selecting input data and increasing the number of iterations reasonably.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of TIEG-siRNA on Smad2, p-smad2 and collagen IV in diabetic nephropathy rats induced by streptozotocin (STZ).

METHODS
Ten Sprague-Dawley rats injected with STZ were randomly divided into TIEG-siRNA and Control groups. Other five normal rats were used as control. Each of the TIEG-siRNA and Control groups were injected with TIEG-siRNA and Control 0.5 ml via tail vein at 0 and 72 hours respectively. All rats were sacrificed at week 4 after a successful modeling. To confirmed the efficacy of TIEG-siRNA in rat kidney, the TIEG levels were determined by fluorescence quantitative PCR. The expressions of Smad2, p-smad2 and collagen IV protein were detected by immunohistochemical method while Smad2 and p-smad2 examined by Western blot.

RESULTS
The TIEG levels were greatly down-regulated in the TIEG-siRNA treated group (0.0636 ± 0.0066) versus the empty vector treated group (0.1054 ± 0.0111) (P < 0.05). The immunohistochemical semi-quantitative method indicated that there was a decrease in the TIEG-siRNA treated group versus the empty vector treated group: (2.13 ± 0.19)% vs (2.53 ± 0.34)% in Smad2, (21.77 ± 2.00)% vs (27.03 ± 2.51)% in p-smad2 and (3.67 ± 0.42)% vs (4.85 ± 0.43)% in collagen IV. Western blot also showed that smad2 in the TIEG-siRNA treated group (0.32 ± 0.09) was much lower than that in the empty vector treated group (0.50 ± 0.04). And p-smad2 in the TIEG-siRNA treated group (0.16 ± 0.01) was much lower than that in the empty vector treated group (0.32 ± 0.02) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
TIEG-siRNA may be useful in preventing the progression of diabetic nephropathy through influencing the expression of Smad2 and its activation and down-regulating collagen IV.


Quality assurance is a systematic approach to the delivery of consistent, high quality services. It requires the implementation of quality systems based on international quality standards. Modern quality practice has yet to be addressed within healthcare.


The privatization of distribution systems has resulted in the development of multiple-microgrid (multiple-MG) systems where each microgrid independently operates its local resources. Moreover, the high integration of independent distributed energy sources could lead to operational issues such as grid congestion in future distribution systems. Therefore, this paper provides a transactive-based energy management framework to operate multiple-MG distribution systems; while, alleviating grid congestion in a decentralized manner. In this respect, alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is considered to develop an operational framework that copes with distributed nature of multiple-MG systems. In this context, a novel procedure in the context of ADMM is proposed to distributedly determine transactive coordinator signals which address energy prices as well as power losses and grid congestions. Furthermore, each MG takes into account stochastic programming and the conditional value-at-risk index to handle the uncertainty of its operational scheduling. At last, the proposed framework is applied on IEEE 37-bus and 123-bus test grids to investigate its efficacy in distributed energy management of multiple-MG systems.


From an extrapolation of previously reported thermoelectric power (TEP) data of Zr-Ni glasses for Ni contents below 70 at.%, large negative TEP values were expected for alloys with about 90 at.% Ni. By contrast, in the present work, large positive values (as high as + 8 μV / K in some cases) were obtained at room temperature for melt-quenched Zr10Ni90, Zr9Ni91 and Hf11Ni89 alloy ribbons either in the amorphous or crystalline state. The TEP was found to be positive and to increase monotonously from 4.2 K to 320 K with a broad maximum around room temperature. These anomalously large positive thermopower data are suggested to be explained based on ideas developed for crystalline solid solution alloys of Ni with early transition metals.


 Abstract — This paper examined ICT usage of ICT for smart learning programme in Imo State University. The investigation was a survey. The population comprised five hundred and twenty (520) lecturers in Imo State University of which 250 lecturers were selected for the study using a stratified sampling technique. Out of 250 questionnaires administered to the lecturers, 200 questionnaires were successfully completed and returned giving the response rate of 80%. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentages, and frequency distributions. The findings showed that external devices have the highest level of utilization with a mean of 3.75, statistical packages show the highest non utilization amongst the ICT facilities by lecturers, the extent utilization mobile phone devices have a mean of 3.99 and 100% utilization by the lecturers of Imo State University, the extent of Computer and internet utilization show high usage by lecturers. The study thus recommended There is need for regular workshops aimed at increasing lecturers' level of utilization of these facilities in teaching in other to ensure optimal use by the lecturers in their teaching


In this research, we present an analysis of a photonic integrated frequency shifter as a stage for a THz dual comb generator. We studied the performance of the PIC by simulating it with standard building blocks, and aimed toward an improvement of the output signal quality. We revised two approaches of the PIC by simulating two modes of generating a double side band modulation suppressed carrier (DSB-SC) with a Mach Zehnder modulator structure (MZM). One approach was using a single Electro-Optic Phase Modulator (EOPM) on an MZM structure (SE-MZM), and the other one was using Double EOPM (DE-MZM). We found a cleaner spectrum with the DE-MZM, since this structure is usually applied to reduce the chirp effect in optical communication systems. We obtained 23 dB of side mode suppression ratio SMSR with one filter, and 44 dB of SMSR with a two-stage filter. In the case of DE-MZM, we obtained a clean tone on intermediate frequency (IF) free of spurious sidebands and comb in IF frequency with 10 dB more power compared to SE-MZM.


Food production in Swaziland follows a dualistic pattern of the land tenure system, namely; the Traditional Tenure System (TCT) and the Title Deed Tenure system (TDT). Land tenure plays a major role in the development and performance of the agricultural sector by influencing land ownership and its use. The Ministry of Agriculture has observed the differential in maize production among the TCT and TDT farmers. The purpose of this study was to empirically establish whether land tenure as an institution contributes to the observed maize productivity differentials among Swazi farmers. Maize as a staple food for the Swazi Nation and used as a measure of food security, was used in the study to present the impacts of land tenure on maize productivity. The study used a purposive sampling technique to obtain a sample of 63 farmers from both TCT and TDT. Data were collected in 2008 from the Manzini region. Data were analyzed using descriptive and recursive regression models. The results confirmed the existence of differentials in maize yields and the size of land holdings between TDT and TCT farming households. Tenure security was found to influence land improvements through access and use of credit, while the level of education influenced the use of credit. Maize productivity was positively influenced by the amount of capital used, while TCT farmers are constrained by finance and land availability. The results further indicated that TDT farmers were highly mechanized, while TCT farmers mainly used livestock to cultivate their land. Therefore, there is a need for the review of the land tenure system in order to clearly and sufficiently define tenure rights on TCT so, as to promote land productivity.


Novel nondestructive recycling methods for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are under investigation but lack the process engineering specifications required for full-scale operation. Specifically, the ability of end-of-life LIB components to withstand the stresses inherent in industrial manufacturing techniques has not been established. In this paper, we mechanically characterize the electrodes of both fresh and "cycle-aged" (C-A) cells, and couple this with electrochemical analysis to establish reprocessing requirements in the context of roll-to-roll (R2R) direct recycling. Cycle-aging is found to significantly reduce the tensile strength of electrodes and C-A cathodes reach elastic deformation at a lower strain than do fresh cathodes. This implies that both roll tension and calendering force may need to be reduced for C-A components relative to fresh components to avoid irreversible damage. Electrochemical analysis suggests that phase change and buildup of electrolyte residues at both the primary particle and in the inter-particle pore space may contribute to cathode degradation. The combination of these mechanical and electrochemical findings is crucial to informing the process design of industrial-scale nondestructive LIB recycling methods.


Abstract. Understanding the sources of light-absorbing organic (brown) carbon (BrC) and its interaction with black carbon (BC) and other non-refractory particulate matter (NR-PM) fractions is important for reducing uncertainties in the aerosol direct radiative forcing. In this study, we combine multiple filter-based techniques to achieve long-term, spectrally-resolved, source- and species-specific atmospheric absorption closure. We determine the total aerosol absorption at seven wavelengths based on the Aethalometer attenuation measurements, calibrated with the multi-wavelength absorption analyzer. We measure the spectrally-resolved imaginary part of the refractive index, k, for methanol extracts and determine the source-specific k for organic aerosol (OA) fractions using positive matrix factorization. The average k at 370 nm is found to be 0.06 for fresh biomass smoke, 0.03 for winter-oxygenated OA, and 0.006 for other less absorbing OA, which translates to corresponding mass absorption efficiencies (MAE) in dilute bulk solutions of 1.4, 0.7 and 0.13 m2 g−1. We apply Mie calculations to estimate the contributions of these fractions to total aerosol absorption. While enhanced absorption in the near-UV has been traditionally attributed to primary biomass smoke, here we show that anthropogenic oxygenated OA may be as important for BrC absorption during winter, especially at an urban background site. We demonstrate the absence of tar-balls in residential biomass burning particles of this study, and attribute the totality of the NR-PM absorption at shorter wavelengths to methanol-extractable BrC. As for BC, we show that the mass absorption cross-section (MAC) of this fraction is independent of its source, while we observe evidence for a lensing effect associated with the presence of NR-PM components. We find that bare BC has a MAC of 6.3 m2 g−1 at 660 nm and an absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) of 0.93 ± 0.16, while in the presence of coatings its absorption is enhanced by a factor of ~1.4. This falls within the global average enhancement factor of 1.5 ± 0.3 from filter-based techniques. Based on Mie-calculations of closure between observed and predicted total light absorption, we provide the first experimental evidence for a suppression of the lensing effect by BrC. The total absorption suppression remains modest, ~10–20 % at 370 nm, and is restricted to shorter wavelengths where BrC absorption is significant. Our long-term observations at locations representative of European urban background and rural Alpine sites show that extractable particulate BrC accounts for ~30 % of the absorption in the near-UV range (370 nm) on a yearly basis. However, if lensing suppression occurred due to internal mixing of BC and BrC as apparently the case for many samples in our study, then the additional absorption by BrC (vs transparent OA) would be partially compensated by a concurrent BC lensing factor reduction, which manifests as lower than expected total aerosol AAE values. Overall, when integrated with the solar spectrum at 300–900 nm, bare BC is found to contribute around two thirds of the solar radiation absorption by total carbonaceous aerosols, amplified by the lensing effect (with an interquartile range, IQR, of 8–27 %), while the IQR of yearly average contributions by particulate BrC is 6–13 % (13–20 % at the rural site during winter).


We report results of a magneto-transport study on thin films of the topological semi-metal candidate PdSb$_{2}$ (PS). We observe a positive correction to magneto-conductivity at low temperatures, which is a signature of weak anti-localization (WAL). We analyze the WAL data within the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka (HLN) theory and extract the dephasing length (L$_{\phi}$) whose temperature dependence reveals the various phase relaxation mechanisms. From the WAL effect, we also extract $\alpha$ (the number of transport channels). The evolution of $\alpha$ with temperature and film thickness reflects how the coupling between different conducting channels (Topological surface channels and bulk channels) changes. Additionally, the electron-electron interaction (EEI) effect was observed in the temperature-dependent conductivity at low temperatures. From the EEI effect, we get an alternate estimate of the number of transport channels and obtain a value similar to that obtained from the analysis of the WAL effect. This suggests that in disordered films, the EEI effect can be used to get information about the coupling of the topological surface states with each other and with bulk states.


Abstract:  The bioclaustration of the pyrgomatid barnacle Ceratoconcha aff. costata within the carbonate skeleton of a colonial hermatypical coral (Tarbellastrea reussiana) is described from a middle Miocene basaltic rocky palaeoshore on a small north‐eastern Atlantic islet of Porto Santo (Madeira Archipelago, Portugal). The resulting structure is named as a new trace fossil Imbutichnus igen. nov., characterized by a small, funnel‐like cavity, a circular to oval cross‐section, with a nearly cylindrical shape in the upper part and a conical shape towards the base. Imbutichnus costatum isp. nov. is defined as a bioclaustration structure produced by the overgrowth of a pyrgomatid barnacle by a coral. From an ethologic point of view, Imbutichnus is attributed to the Impedichnia category. In terms of palaeoecology, it is interpreted as the result of a parasitic relationship. This is also the oldest record of pyrgomatid barnacles in the eastern Atlantic and clearly demonstrates that the Miocene palaeogeographic range of Ceratoconcha was much wider than previously assumed.


During in vitro digestion of forages by rumen microorganisms in polycarbonate centrifuge tubes, forage particles formed dense mats which were raised above the level of media by entrapped gas. This did not occur with polyethylene centrifuge tubes. In vitro organic matter digestion was higher in polyethylene than in poly-carbonate tubes. Vacuum infiltration of water into samples prior to inoculation increased in vitro digestion with both types of tubes but to a greater extent with samples of high than of low digestion. Regression analysis of in vivo digestibility on in vitro digestion showed that the lowest residual standard deviation was with polyethylene tubes and vacuum infiltration, but omission of vacuum infiltration gave satisfactory results.


In this paper we provide a detailed construction of an equivalence between the category of Lawvere theories and the category of relative monads on the obvious functor $Jf:F\rightarrow Sets$ where $F$ is the category with the set of objects ${\bf N}$ and morphisms being the functions between the standard finite sets of the corresponding cardinalities. The methods of this paper are fully constructive and it should be formalizable in the Zermelo-Fraenkel theory without the axiom of choice and the excluded middle. It is also easily formalizable in the UniMath.


Single crystals of Pd2Si have been grown using a modified cold crucible Czochralski method. The crystals were characterised by X-ray diffraction analysis and density measurements. The resistivity has been measured as a function of temperature (10-1000 K) in the directions parallel (//) and perpendicular ( perpendicular to ) to the c axis of the hexagonal structure Pd2Si behaves like a metallic compound with an anisotropy sigma / sigma perpendicular to =1.6 at 293 K (referring to the c-axis direction) and a residual resistivity ratio in the range 130 to 210. The parallel-resistor model has been successfully used to interpret the resistivity data.


Orientation: South African automotive organisations require talented employees to compete both nationally and on a global scale, within the setting of Industry 4.0.Research purpose: This article was aimed at identifying talent management approaches for South African automotive organisations to ensure the availability of talent for Industry 4.0 talent demands.Motivation for this study: In general, South African organisations struggle with securing, developing and retaining talent, a challenge aggravated by accelerated technological breakthroughs accompanying Industry 4.0.Research approach/design and method: This article reports on the quantitative component of a combined method study conducted in South Africa's automotive industry. Data were collected from operational and human resource management professionals in automotive organisations through convenience sampling.Main findings: A greater collaborative effort is required of key stakeholders associated with the automotive industry and within automotive organisations to address the issue of talent in a holistic and focused manner.Practical/managerial implications: The adoption of advanced technologies in the automotive industry necessitates the upskilling and reskilling of current employees, and a renewed focus on attracting talent specifically targeted for Industry 4.0 developments which require collaboration between government, automotive industry, and educational institutions.Contribution/value-add: The article emphasised a holistic approach to talent supply and management for South African automotive organisations in consideration of Industry 4.0, with implications for the government, educational institutions and the automotive industry.


To the Editor: The authors present novel findings in the field of myofascial pain and trigger points that make use of recent advances in high-density surface electromyography (HDsEMG). HDsEMG was used over the trapezius muscle to assess the location of peak EMG average rectified value (ARV). The location of peak ARV was compared between individuals with and without myofascial pain, in addition to assessing the relationship between the location of peak ARV and that of the palpated myofascial trigger point (MTrP). EMG outcomes were evaluated during isometric shoulder elevation ramp contractions to either 15% or 60% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The authors report a significant caudal shift in the location of the peak ARV in individuals with myofascial pain versus asymptomatic controls; however, they were unable to demonstrate a relationship between the location of peak ARV and the location of the trapezius MTrP. The authors suggest these findings support a change in motor control in individuals with myofascial pain. There are a few potentially significant observations that should be addressed to assist with the interpretation of these findings. Firstly, the findings of this study contrast with previous research suggesting that MTrP exhibit increased EMG activity characterized by increased baseline and/or spontaneous endplate activity.1 In the present study, however, 6 of 13 MTrP were located either outside of the HDsEMG electrode array (Fig. 5) or along its border. The potential impact of this on the reliability of EMG recordings, peak ARV calculations, and/ or the lack of correspondence between peak ARV and MTrP location was not addressed. A larger sample size could have addressed this potential limitation. Figure 2 illustrates the ARV peak position (cm) for both groups and it appears that the initial ARV peak positions are significantly different between groups for each MVC target (15% and 60%). In particular, differences exist in both the initial position and direction of movement during the initial ramp contraction in both 15% and 60% MVC contractions for asymptomatics. It is unclear whether this was expected or whether this was unaccounted for in the analysis. Initial peak positions are not presented in Figure 4, making it difficult for the reader to interpret the findings in a physiological context. Furthermore, variability in baseline EMG activity existed between symptomatics and asymptomatics and we are unsure as to how the authors addressed this in their analysis. Normalizing their findings to baseline, for example, would enable group comparisons; otherwise, it is unclear whether these effects were a function of motor control adaptations or simply due to baseline differences. Finally, similar to previous work by Holtermann et al,2 which demonstrates nonuniform activation of the upper trapezius during intense ramp contractions, the authors also report nonuniform activation of the upper trapezius muscle characterized by a caudal shift in the location of peak EMG amplitude recordings during the 60% MVC contraction, but not the 15% MVC. In line with Holtermann and colleagues, it is possible that these findings may simply be due to the increased muscle activations evoked in the 60% MVC group, and not motor control adaptations. The absence of nonuniform contraction at 15% MVC is justified as "probably due to the limited force modulation requested during this task"; it would have been interesting if the authors provided their perspectives on potential physiological explanations for these muscle activation differences observed between the low and high MVC groups. We would otherwise like to commend the authors for this interesting and important work, which provides a basis for further research into the poorly understood area of motor control in myofascial pain syndrome. We hope that these comments provide additional perspectives for consideration when interpreting these data in a physiological and clinical context.


We use end point simulations to estimate the excess chemical potential of water in the homogeneous liquid and at the interface with a protein in solution. When the pure liquid is taken as the reference, the excess chemical potential of interfacial water is the difference between the solvation free energy of a water molecule at the interface and in the bulk. Using the homogeneous liquid as an example, we show that the solvation free energy for growing a water molecule can be estimated by applying UWHAM to the simulation data generated from the initial and final states (i.e., "the end points") instead of multistate free energy perturbation simulations because of the possible overlaps of the configurations sampled at the end points. Then end point simulations are used to estimate the solvation free energy of water at the interface with a protein in solution. The estimate of the solvation free energy at the interface from two simulations at the end points agrees with the benchmark using 32 states within a 95% confidence interval for most interfacial locations. The ability to accurately estimate the excess chemical potential of water from end point simulations facilitates the statistical thermodynamic analysis of diverse interfacial phenomena. Our focus is on analyzing the excess chemical potential of water at protein receptor binding sites with the goal of using this information to assist in the design of tight binding ligands.


A multi-trait, multi-test approach to investigate the convergence or discrimination between behavioural tests putatively targeting the same or different animal personality traits has been recommended, yet whether and how the approaches affect the identification of behavioural syndrome(s), the suite of correlated personality traits, requires investigation. Here, we used behavioural measures collected from five commonly used behavioural tests targeting three personality traits, evaluated their convergence/discrimination through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and then explored whether the identification of syndrome changed based on the approach we used to quantify personality traits. Our results indicated that tests presumably targeting the same personality trait actually measured distinct behavioural aspects. Syndrome defined using correlation changed due to how we identified personality traits, but not when using structural equation models (SEMs). Overall, this study emphasizes that it is critical to clarify the approach and terms we use for 'personality traits' in the field of animal personality.


In a sample of 77 dyads, involving depressed patients at least 50 years of age and their family or friends (informants), patient illness burden and cognitive decline were associated with self-informant rating discrepancies for facets of Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) Openness and Extraversion. Informant judgments about Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were not associated with illness burden or cognitive function, underscoring the potential utility of risk-detection strategies that rely on informant-report in these two domains. Findings suggest the need for research on how patient illness severity and cognitive function affect how friends and family use or misuse information when making judgments about older depressed patients.


The entropy of the Ising model in the mean field approximation is derived by the Hamilton–Jacobi formalism. We consider a grand canonical ensemble with respect to the temperature and the external magnetic field. A cusp arises at the critical point, which shows a simple and new geometrical aspect of this model. In an educational sense, this curve with a cusp helps students acquire a more intuitive view of statistical phase transitions.


Effective response to information security incidents is a critical function of modern organisations. However, recent studies have indicated that organisations have adopted a narrow and technical view of incident response (IR), focusing on the immediate concern of detection and subsequent corrective actions. Although some reflection on the IR process may be involved, it is typically limited to technical issues and does not leverage opportunities to learn about the organisational security threat environment and to adapt incident response capabilities. Given the science of incident response is rooted in practice, it is not surprising that the same criticisms can be applied to much of IR literature. However, a review of literature in the area of organisational learning suggests that improvements can be made to the incident response process. This paper proposes that future incident response research must incorporate a learning focus, improve feedback timing on learning activities, facilitate double-loop learning and incorporate an informal learning perspective within both formal, procedural incident response processes as well as unstructured, informal environments.


We combine the power flow model with the proportionally fair optimization criterion to study the control of congestion within a distribution electric grid network. The form of the mathematical optimization problem is a convex second order cone that can be solved by modern non-linear interior point methods and constitutes the core of a dynamic simulation of electric vehicles (EV) joining and leaving the charging network. The preferences of EV drivers, represented by simple algorithmic strategies, are conveyed to the optimizing component by realtime adjustments to user-specific weighting parameters that are then directly incorporated into the objective function. The algorithmic strategies utilize a small number of parameters that characterize the user's budgets, expectations on the availability of vehicles and the charging process. We investigate the collective behaviour emerging from individual strategies and evaluate their performance by means of computer simulation.


The unsteady cavitating flow around an NACA0015 hydrofoil at an angle of attack of 8°was simulated by a modified RNG k-e turbulence model with two different cavitation numbers of 1 and 1.5,and the Reynolds number of 3×105. The structure of unsteady cavitating flow was obtained and so were the flow characteristics of its evolution process. Results show that the re-entrant jet plays an important role in the initiation and development process of cavity. The cavity first appears in the leading edge. Then the clockwise vortex developed in the same location moves to downstream along the surface of hydrofoil. The cavity grows up gradually and sheds from the hydrofoil and the shedding locations are different according to the cavitation numbers. The initiation and development process of the cavity accompany the pressure fluctuation. The amplitude and the frequency of pressure fluctuation of cavitating flow with a large cavitation number are obviously greater than that with a smaller caviation number.


It is increasingly apparent, and equally inevitable, that the tough questions arising out of the allocation of income and deductions between related taxpayers residing in different countries have become more acute. The tax authorities of each country responsible for collecting revenue understandably want to get their fair slice of the pie. In the United States, the knife used to cut the pie is section 482, labeled by one commentator as "an in terrorem provision of the Internal Revenue Code. . . ." Although that provision has been around since 1928, the IRS only began to use it aggressively in the international field in the 1960s.2 That other major industrial countries now want to put a knife in the pie is only natural. To fail to do so would be to acquiesce in a distortion of the revenue base.3 The lost revenue potential is significant. Of adjustments made by the IRS in 1968 and 1969, for example, the average for a pricing misallocation was $1,796,000 per adjustment. 4 Obviously the impact of such a tax adjustment on an individual corporation can be dramatic. Moreover, the correlative adjustment of the foreign tax situation may no longer be possible.'


Psychology, along with the majority of professions and scientific disciplines, has undergone dramatic shifts in gender composition over the past two decades. These changes have prompted concern that this increased participation by women may lead to erosion in the status of these occupations. This article describes the results of a case study of psychology conducted by a subcommittee of the American Psychological Association's (APA's) Task Force on the Changing Gender Composition of Psychology to examine the discipline's changing gender composition and the factors related to these shifts. Societal and disciplinary trends are examined, along with data on the patterns of men's and women's involvement in the educational pipeline and workplace. The results provide little support for the concern over the increasing representation of women and its impact on the prestige of the discipline. Rather, they suggest that changes in the nature and status of psychology per se may be at least partly responsible for the changes in male and female participation and that the nature, magnitude, and causes of these disciplinary changes require further examination. Specific recommendations for the APA prepared by another subcommittee of the Task Force are also presented in the Appendix.


About the book: This volume consists of a collection of recent research articles dedicated to Vladimir Rittenberg on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Various aspects of solvable models in different areas of theoretical and mathematical physics are covered. Particular topics include diffusion, self-organized criticality, classical and quantum spin chains, two-dimensional lattice models, quantum algebras, and conformal field theory. The list of contributing authors contains altogether 34 names, including among others, Baxter, Cardy, Itzykson, Martin, McCoy, Nahm, Pearce and de Vega.


The ability to electrically control transparency and scattering of light is important for many optoelectronic devices; however, such versatility usually comes with additional unwanted optical absorption and power loss. Here we present a hybrid switchable solar window device based on polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) coupled to a semiconducting absorber, which can switch between highly transmissive and highly scattering states while simultaneously generating power. By applying a voltage across the PDLC layer, the device switches from an opaque, light-scattering structure (useful for room light dimming, privacy, and temperature control) to a clear, transparent window. Further, enabled by the very low operating power requirements of the PDLC (<0.8 mW/cm2), we demonstrate that these switchable solar windows have the potential for self-powering with as little as 13 nm of a-Si.


A controlled trial of betamethasone therapy was carried out in 282 mothers in whom premature delivery threatened or was planned before 37 weeks' gestation, in the hope of reducing the incidence of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome by accelerating functional maturation of the fetal lung.
 Two hundred and thirteen mothers were in spontaneous premature labor. When necessary, ethanol or salbutamol infusions were used to delay delivery while steroid or placebo therapy was given. Delay for at least 24 hours was achieved in 77% of the mothers. In these unplanned deliveries, early neonatal mortality was 3.2% in the treated group and 15.0% in the controls (p 0.01). There were no deaths with hyaline membrane disease or intraventricular cerebral hemorrhage in infants of mothers who had received betamethasone for at least 24 hours before delivery. The respiratory distress syndrome occurred less often in treated babies (9.0%) than in controls (25.8%, p 0.003), but the difference was confined to babies of under 32 weeks' gestation who had been treated for at least 24 hours before delivery (11.8% of the treated babies compared with 69.6% of the control babies p. 0.02).
 There may be an increased risk of fetal death in pregnancies complicated by severe hypertensionedema-proteinuria syndromes and treated with betamethasone, but no other hazard of steroid therapy was noted.
 We conclude that this preliminary evidence justifies further trials, but that further work is needed before any new routine procedure is established.


Background A goal of effective electronic health record provider documentation platforms is to provide an efficient, concise, and comprehensive notation system that will effectively reflect the clinical course, including the diagnoses, treatments, and interventions. Objective The aim is to fully redesign and standardize the provider documentation process, seeking improvement in documentation based on ongoing All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group–based coding records, while maintaining noninferiority comparing provider satisfaction to our existing documentation process. We estimated the fiscal impact of improved documentation based on changes in expected hospital payments. Methods Employing a multidisciplinary collaborative approach, we created an integrated clinical platform that captures data entry from the obstetrical suite, delivery room, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nursing and respiratory therapy staff. It provided the sole source for hospital provider documentation in the form of a history and physical exam, daily progress notes, and discharge summary. Health maintenance information, follow-up appointments, and running contemporaneous updated hospital course information have selected shared entry and common viewing by the NICU team. The interventions were to (1) improve provider awareness of appropriate documentation through a provider education handout and follow-up group discussion and (2) fully redesign and standardize the provider documentation process building from the native Epic-based software. The measures were (1) hospital coding department review of all NICU admissions and 3M All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group–based calculations of severity of illness, risk of mortality, and case mix index scores; (2) balancing measure: provider time utilization case study and survey; and (3) average expected hospital payment based on acuity-based clinical logic algorithm and payer mix. Results We compared preintervention (October 2015-October 2016) to postintervention (November 2016-May 2017) time periods and saw: (1) significant improvement in All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group–derived severity of illness, risk of mortality, and case mix index (monthly average severity of illness scores increased by 11.1%, P=.008; monthly average risk of mortality scores increased by 13.5%, P=.007; and monthly average case mix index scores increased by 7.7%, P=.009); (2) time study showed increased time to complete history and physical and progress notes and decreased time to complete discharge summary (history and physical exam: time allocation increased by 47%, P=.05; progress note: time allocation increased by 91%, P<.001; discharge summary: time allocation decreased by 41%, P=.03); (3) survey of all providers: overall there was positive provider perception of the new documentation process based on a survey of the provider group; (4) significantly increased hospital average expected payments: comparing the preintervention and postintervention study periods, there was a US $14,020 per month per patient increase in average expected payment for hospital charges (P<.001). There was no difference in payer mix during this time period. Conclusions A problem-based NICU documentation electronic health record more effectively improves documentation without dissatisfaction by the participating providers and improves hospital estimations of All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group–based revenue.


The advances in the educational field and the high complexity of student modelling has provoked it to be one of the more investigated aspects in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs). The Student Models (SM) should not only represent the student's knowledge, in a wide sense, but rather they should be, insofar as it is possible, a snapshot of the student's reasoning process. In this article, a new approach to student's modelling is proposed that benefits of the Ontological Engineering advantages, so widely used at the present time, to advance in the pursue of a more granular and complete knowledge representation. The goal is to define an ontological basis for SMs characterized by a high flexibility for its integration in varied ITSs, a good adaptability to the student's features, as well as to favor a rich diagnostic process with nonmonotonic reasoning capacities, allowing the treatment of the contradictions raised during the student's reasoning and diagnosis.


Abstract Objective: Reduced semantic memory performance is a known neuropsychological marker of very early Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the task format that best predicts disease status is an open question. The present study aimed to identify the semantic fluency task and measure that best discriminates early-stage AD patients (PATs) from cognitively healthy controls. Method: Semantic fluency performance for animals, fruits, tools, and vehicles was assessed in 70 early-stage AD PATs and 67 cognitively healthy participants. Logistic regressions and receiver operating characteristics were calculated for five total score semantic fluency measures. Results: Compared with all other measures, living things (i.e., total correct animals + total correct fruits) achieved highest z-statistics, highest area under the curve and smallest difference between the upper and lower 95% confidence intervals. Conclusion: Living things total correct is a powerful tool to detect the earliest signs of incipient AD.


BACKGROUND: Purely ligamentous lesser arc, Mayfield grade 3 and 4, perilunate dislocations (PLDs) are uncommon. Current recommendations are for open reduction and repair of the interosseous ligaments to prevent the development of scapholunate dissociation and degeneration to a scapholunate advance collapse (SLAC) wrist. This study proposes a less invasive treatment method which includes closed reduction and pinning alone without repair of the scapholunate interosseous ligament. We propose that most patients will obtain good function and pain scores and the few that develop instability may still have a reconstruction performed through a naive surgical field
METHODS: Dislocations were reduced anatomically and held with buried K-wires which were removed at 6 weeks with no specific rehabilitation protocol observed. Subjective assessment included Mayo wrist scoring system, wrist range of movement, instability and grip strength testing. Radiological measurements included scapholunate distance, scapholunate angle, radiolunate angle and osteoarthritis
 RESULTS: Ten male patients, median age of 35 years, were followed up for a median of 22 months. Seven patients underwent a closed reduction and anatomical pinning while three underwent open reduction due to unachievable reduction by closed means. All of these patients presented at a median of 14 days after the injury occurred. None of the patients had their scapholunate ligaments repaired or reconstructed. Mayo scores included three excellent scores, two good scores and five fair scores. Instability was found clinically in one asymptomatic patient who had a positive Watson shift test. Radiological scores include a median scapholunate distance of 2 mm, a scapholunate angle of 70° and a radiolunate angle of 15°. Osteoarthritis was found in two patients, all of whom were asymptomatic
DISCUSSION: Current recommendations in the literature are that PLDs should be reduced via an open surgical technique with repair of the scapholunate interosseous ligament (SLIL) and percutaneous pinning. However, the results of this treatment strategy are not optimal and do not confer uniformly good results. We propose a closed anatomical reduction and percutaneous pinning of the PLD. Our study shows that most patients will demonstrate good function and pain scores when managed this way. A smaller number of these injured wrists will go on to develop instability. However, the advantage of our method over the current recommendations is that when this happens the reconstruction of the SLIL will be made easier through a naive surgical field
CONCLUSION: We recommend the closed reduction and anatomical pinning of a purely ligamentous lesser arc injury. This treatment strategy yields good results at medium term follow-up and preserves the option for the reconstruction of the scapholunate interosseous ligament should instability develop


Feedforward neural networks were used to model three parameters during the Space Shuttle Main Engine startup transient. The three parameters were the main combustion chamber pressure, a controlled parameter, the high pressure oxidizer turbine discharge temperature, a redlined parameter, and the high pressure fuel pump discharge pressure, a failure-indicating performance parameter. Network inputs consisted of time windows of data from engine measurements that correlated highly to the modeled parameter. A standard backpropagation algorithm was used to train the feedforward networks on two nominal firings. Each trained network was validated with four additional nominal firings. For all three parameters, the neural networks were able to accurately predict the data in the validation sets as well as the training set.


Does the effectiveness of neural language models derive entirely from accurate modeling of surface word co-occurrence statistics, or do these models represent and reason about the world they describe? In BART and T5 transformer language models, we identify contextual word representations that function as *models of entities and situations* as they evolve throughout a discourse. These neural representations have functional similarities to linguistic models of dynamic semantics: they support a linear readout of each entity's current properties and relations, and can be manipulated with predictable effects on language generation. Our results indicate that prediction in pretrained neural language models is supported, at least in part, by dynamic representations of meaning and implicit simulation of entity state, and that this behavior can be learned with only text as training data.


Identification of objects in an image plays a crucial role in UAVs, self-autonomous vehicles, and other applications. It is vital to have the capability to navigate and identify objects at any time of the day, especially at night, when we encounter situations of low-light and dark conditions. This necessitates the ability to have a proper object detection model to predict the object in these conditions. We introduce a way to detect and classify objects in images taken with thermal cameras using different image processing techniques, pattern recognition, and machine learning algorithms. We have done a comparative study of two different models with appropriate hyper-parameter tuning that allows us to choose the right model for their application based on the constraints involved in the problem. We present an extensive study of the models based on the COCO evaluation metrics and other important loss metrics. Experimental results on the FLIR dataset confirm that we can use the pre-trained models in object detection to train, identify, and label objects in thermal images.


The novel antitumor antibiotics PD 114,759 and PD 115,028 were evaluated for their ability to cause repairable DNA damage and the induction of SOS functions in bacterial systems. PD 114,759 and PD 115,028 were preferentially toxic to DNA repair-defective Escherichia coli WP100 uvrA recA in comparison to wild-type E. coli WP2 at concentrations of 10 approximately 30 micrograms/ml in agar diffusion assays. Both compounds were inducers of cell filamentation and prophage lambda (two E. coli SOS functions) at concentrations of 0.1 approximately 1 microgram/ml. In addition, the ability of PD 114,759 and PD 115,028 to retain their filamentation-inducing effects under both aerobic conditions and anaerobic conditions suggests that a bioreductive, rather than an oxygen-requiring, mechanism is involved in the DNA-reactive effects of these agents.


Both the Kelvin wave and the Kolmogorov turbulence interpretations presented in the PRL, [v. 103, 084501 (2009) by J. Yepez, G. Vahala, L.Vahala and M. Soe, arXiv:0905.0159] are misleading, and much more theoretical analysis needs to be done for the interpretation of the important numerical results obtained by the authors. A way to do this is suggested.


Background—The increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) during oral conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) may explain the initial excess of cardiovascular disease observed in clinical studies. Because the effect of transdermal estradiol (E2) on CRP is unclear, we compared CRP changes after 6 and 12 months of transdermal E2 and oral CEE in a randomized 2×2 retinoid-placebo trial. Methods and Results—A total of 189 postmenopausal women were randomized to 50 &mgr;g/d transdermal E2 and 100 mg BID of the retinoid fenretinide (n=45), 50 &mgr;g/d transdermal E2 and placebo (n=49), 0.625 mg/d oral CEE and 100 mg BID fenretinide (n=46), or 0.625 mg/d oral CEE and placebo (n=49) for 1 year. Sequential medroxyprogesterone acetate was added in each group. Relative to baseline, CRP increased by 10% (95% CI −9% to 33%) and by 48% (95% CI 22% to 78%) after 6 months of transdermal E2 and oral CEE, respectively. The corresponding figures at 12 months were 3% (95% CI −14% to 23%) for transdermal E2 and 64% (95% CI 38% to 96%) for oral CEE. Fenretinide did not change CRP levels at 6 and 12 months relative to placebo. Relative to oral CEE, the mean change in CRP after 12 months of transdermal E2 was −48% (95% CI −85% to −7%, P =0.012), whereas fenretinide was associated with a mean change of −1% (95% CI −34% to 40%, P =0.79) compared with placebo. Conclusions—In contrast to oral CEE, transdermal E2 does not elevate CRP levels up to 12 months of treatment. The implications for early risk of coronary heart disease require further studies.


Drying characteristics of coriander seed particles were experimentally analyzed in a reduced pressure superheated steam fluidized bed. The typical moisture gain, reported in some other studies during the warm-up period of the process, was reduced in most of the cases by supplying additional heat into the column. The experimental results demonstrated that the drying rate increases and the equilibrium moisture content decreases by increasing the operating temperature. However, variation of the operating pressure (40–67 kPa) and the superficial steam velocity (2.3–4.0 m/s) did not present significant effects on the moisture contents. The degree of superheating was found to be the most important parameter for the process. The experiments also showed that the equilibrium moisture content decreases upon increasing the degree of superheating. Finally, employing a reduced pressure superheated steam fluidized bed appears as an option to carry out drying processes at relatively lower temperatures.


A subpopulation of radial glial cells has been identified in the mouse prosencephalon during the second half of embryonic development. This subpopulation, specified by the putative cell adhesion molecule CD15 (Lex, FAL), is arranged in a segmented pattern within the telencephalon and diencephalon. Glial processes, spanning the prosencephalic wall, first appear at E10.5 and remain clearly visible until E19, when staining of discrete nuclei begins to appear. Registration of the correspondence between ventricular and pial surfaces, however, is still possible due to the persistence of individual CD15‐positive fibres. These can be traced even when the initial simple linear (radial) orientation between ventricular and pial surfaces becomes complicated and distorted. After birth, CD15 immunoreactivity is distributed in a mosaic pattern in the forebrain. Because radial glial cells provide a scaffolding system for postmitotic neurones, the pattern of CD15‐positive fibres in the embryonic prosencephalon may also demarcate future discrete regions of the postnatal brain.


Earlier linkage analyses of nystatin resistance loci in Dictyostelium discoideum tentatively mapped the nysB and nysC loci to the previously unmarked linkage group V. The data presented here establishes that nysB maps to linkage group VI and that nysC maps to linkage group IV. The third nystatin resistance locus, nysA, maps to linkage group II.


A computer‐simulated software training system (CSSTS) delivers a specific form of computer‐based training in which participants are allowed to select various training features within a simulated software environment. Given the growing use of these systems as end‐user training (EUT) aids, there is a need for greater understanding of how participants use these systems, as well as whether participant‐controlled learning environments are truly effective. The present research examines how a particular learner characteristic, software self‐efficacy, drives appropriation in a high learner control, CSSTS environment. Contrary to notions in the literature, results from spreadsheet and database software training courses reveal that pre‐training specific software self‐efficacy constitutes a significant, negative predictor of faithful appropriations of the CSSTS. This research also establishes a positive relationship between faithful appropriation and increases in software self‐efficacy (SSE). In essence, faithful appropriations lead to greater increases in SSE, which influences software skills performance. In addition, the research validates prior EUT research by extending prior findings to a database training environment. A psychometrically sound measure is put forth to capture database self‐efficacy.


In planar microcavities, the transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic (TE-TM) mode splitting of cavity photons arises due to their different penetration into the Bragg mirrors and can result in optical spin-orbit coupling (SOC). In this work, we find that in a liquid crystal (LC) microcavity filled with perovskite microplates, the pronounced TE-TM splitting gives rise to a strong SOC that leads to the spatial instability of microcavity polariton condensates under single-shot excitation. Spatially varying hole burning and mode competition occurs between polarization components leading to different condensate profiles from shot to shot. The single-shot polariton condensates become stable when the SOC vanishes as the TE and TM modes are spectrally well separated from each other, which can be achieved by application of an electric field to our LC microcavity with electrically tunable anisotropy. Our findings are well reproduced and traced back to their physical origin by our detailed numerical simulations. With the electrical manipulation our work reveals how the shot-to-shot spatial instability of spatial polariton profiles can be engineered in anisotropic microcavities at room temperature, which will benefit the development of stable polariton-based optoeletronic and light-emitting devices.


The ability to engraft human PBMC or fetal tissue immune cells in the severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse has created a need for characterization of these systems and their application to disease models. We demonstrate that SCID mice reconstituted with PBMC support the growth and differentiation of a restricted set of B cells. Human IgG levels of 1-2 mg/ml (10-20% of normal human serum levels) were routinely achieved in spite of a serum half life of only 12 d. Ig levels peaked around 50 d and Ig production was maintained for greater than 100 d. The Ig was greater than 85% IgG though some IgM, IgA, IgD, and even IgE could be detected. However, the human IgG produced in hu-PBL-SCID mice was pauci-clonal when analyzed by isoelectric focusing and by kappa/lambda light chain usage. Using a new polymerase chain reaction based analysis capable of monitoring individual VH family utilization, we found that the engrafted B cells showed skewed and restricted human VH subfamily utilization. These parameters were markedly variable among hu-PBL-SCID mice reconstituted from the same donor cell population at both early (21-50 d) and late stages (greater than 100 d). Hu-PBL/CVI-SCID mice constructed with cells from patients with common variable immunodeficiency with an in vitro block in terminal B cell differentiation produced human Ig responses that were quantitatively the same as those produced by hu-PBL-SCID mice from normal donors. The hu-PBL-SCID system using PBMC appears to lead to growth and Ig production by a small number of B cells and results in a restricted B cell repertoire.


The p53-MDM2 interaction is a well-known protein-protein contact, and its disruption is a key event for p53 activation and induction of its oncosuppressor response. The design of small molecules that can block the p53-MDM2 interaction and reactivate the p53 function is a promising strategy for cancer therapy. To date, several compounds have been identified as p53-MDM2 inhibitors, and X-ray structures of MDM2 complexed with several ligands are available in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. These data have been exploited to compile a hierarchical virtual screening protocol. The first steps were aimed at selecting a focused library, which was submitted in parallel to docking and pharmacophore model alignment. Selected compounds were subjected to inhibition assays of both cellular vitality (MTT) and p53-MDM2 interaction (ELISA and co-immunoprecipitation), disclosing four nanomolar inhibitors.


Processes of digital image processing and image recognition of transformer fan state recognition are expounded in this paper. According to the features of transformer fans, analysis and studies on image processing algorithms such as annulus extraction, image segment and corrosion are given. To solve problem that the identification accuracy is directly affected by image preprocessing effects in the method of whole annulus criterion, a sub-annulus criterion method is proposed to implement fan state recognition in this paper. This method makes full use of the distribution feature of annulus pixels, divides the annulus into equal two parts at pixel number forming sub-annuluses and selects the proportions of fan blade pixels in sub-annuluses as the binary state feature quantities to realize state classification. Experimental results prove that this method can effectively reduce the high demand of recognition accuracy to image processing effects and it has advantages in many other aspects, such as simple computations, strong applicability and perfect recognition performance.


When African Americans traveled to the part of the planet formerly known as the Soviet Union, they found many surprises. Maxim Matusevich takes us on a walk down memory lane back to the time when Russians were Soviets, and communism was cool.


This study was designed to investigate the seasonal effect of gastrointestinal nematode parasitism on weight gain of recently weaned sheep and goats in an area of West Java. Most animals were allowed to graze during the day and kept in pens with a raised slatted floor during the night Three trials were conducted in tandem,each for a period of4 months . The effect of parasitism was assesed by comparing weight gain of untreated animals with that of otherwisesimilar group treated each 2 weeks with oxfendazole or albendazole to suppress nematode parasitism . There was no difference between weight gain of treated and untreated sheep and goats during the dry season . Moreover, during the dry season both treated and untreated sheep and goats grew at about twice the rate of untreated animals and 25 percent greater than treated animalsduring the wet season . As faecal egg counts (and, thus, presumably the level of parasitism) were the same throughout the year it was concluded that the low level of nutrition during the wet season was the main determinant affecting pathogenicity of gastrointestinal nematode parasitism in this study. Furthermore, improved nutrition during the wet season in areas similar to that of this study, especially in sheep and goats for the first 10 weeks after weaning, may obviate the need for anthelmintic therapy, being a means to both increase weight gain and negate the effect of nematode parasitism Key words: Sheep, goat, oxfendazole, albendazole, nematode parasitism


throughout the world. The local assembly thus proclaims its culture's participation in the totali ty of God's creation. The principal contribution of this book is not new information about the liturgy, the church, or theology, but a high and hopeful way of viewing these in the service of the assembly of God's people. Lathrop understands the assembly as the most appropriate way to understand the church, the key to ecumenicity, and the hope for bringing the cultures of the world as expressions of God's creation.


In this paper, it is shown how a large mode-stirred reverberating chamber can be used to physically generate a set of non-line-of-sight propagation channels, which are naturally and objectively classified by means of the bit error rate (BER) norm. The experiments are accomplished at the mode-stirred reverberating chamber of the Universita di Napoli Parthenope (formerly Istituto Universitario Navale), and the electromagnetic input signal is a global system for mobile communications, one at 1.8 GHz. It is shown that it is possible to change the BER by means of the stirring process and/or the chamber loading. The proposed technique calls for fast measurements, and therefore, it is amenable to industrial use. The methodology is general and suitable to any digital electromagnetic signal, provided no distortion of modulation occurs.


Famines are a common occurrence in the Sahelian region of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2004, a drought occurred in Niger, resulting in a production shock, higher grain prices and a severe food crisis. Whereas a drought in 2000 resulted in lower per capita grain production relative to 2004, a food crisis did not occur. Similar to the Bangladeshi famine of 1974, the government and the media were quick to blame grain traders for the crisis, arguing that the removal of governmental regulations had led to a market failure during the crisis. Using a dataset that combines information on prices, transaction costs, rainfall, trade flows and food crisis status, we exploit rainfall variation to estimate the impact of drought on grain market performance in Niger during crisis and non-crisis years. Time series tests suggest that grain markets in Niger respond to supply shocks, and that markets are more integrated during drought years. Exploiting the exogenous nature of extreme rainfall in a difference-in-differences framework, we find that drought reduces grain price dispersion across markets. This impact is stronger as a higher percentage of markets are affected by drought, as was the case in 2004/2005. The results suggest that a market failure did not occur in 2005, contrary to media claims. Early warning systems in West Africa should focus on the spatial impact of drought and magnitude of production at the sub-regional level, as well as monitor prices in key forecasting markets. And finally, policies regarding the impact of local purchases and regional trade need to be carefully examined and discussed.


Under magnetically quiet conditions, the outer plasmasphere is the equatorw ard boundary of the region in which high-latitude processes, such as convection, significantly affect the ionosphere. The low-latitude side of the ionospheric midlatitude trough is located in the plasmasphere. The behaviour of the nightside trough is influenced by field-aligned flows of plasma, as well as by convection drifts, thermospheric winds and particle precipitation. The modelling of field-aligned flow of thermal plasma at high latitudes (the polar wind) still presents problems. The composition of the background neutral atmosphere plays a role in causing the occasional dominance of He+ in the topside ionosphere. Penetration of magnetospheric electric fields into the outer plasmasphere can influence the rate of refilling of the upper reaches of the flux tubes.


Objective To assess the relationship between daily trauma admissions and observed weather variables, using data from the Trauma Audit and Research Network of England and Wales and the UK Meteorological Office. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Twenty-one accident and emergency departments (ED) located across England. Participants All patients arriving at one of the selected ED, with a subsequent death, inpatient stay of greater than 3 days, interhospital transfer or requiring critical care between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2006. Main Outcome Measures Daily counts of adult and paediatric trauma admissions. Results Multivariate regression analysis indicated that there were strong seasonal trends in paediatric (χ2 likelihood ratio test p<0.001), and adult (p=0.016) trauma admissions. For adults, each rise of 5°C in the maximum daily temperature and each additional 2 h of sunshine caused increases in trauma admissions of 1.8% and 1.9%. Effects in the paediatric group were considerably larger, with similar increases in temperature and hours of sunshine causing increases in trauma admissions of 10% and 6%. Each drop of 5°C in the minimum daily temperature, eg, due to a severe night time frost, caused adult trauma admissions to increase by 3.2%. Also the presence of snow increased adult trauma admissions by 7.9%. Conclusion This is the largest study of its kind to investigate and quantify the relationship between trauma admissions and the weather. The results show clear associations that have direct application for planning and resource management in UK ED.


The traditional analog signal processing is expected to progressively substituted by the processing times of the digital domain in the VLSI .Within this novel paradigm ,digitally controlled delay lines should play the vital role in the digital-to- analog converters ,and in analog intensive circuits. From a practical point of view, nowadays, DCDL is a key block in the many applications like All Digital Phase Locked Loop, All Digital Delay Locked Loop, All Digital Spread Spectrum Clock Generator, etc. The classical method to design the DCDL is mostly based on the AND delay units and a MUX to select the output so called MUX based DCDL. Other designs are tree based MUX delay unit, inverter based, NAND based delay elements. The NAND based DCDL produce glitches which limit their employability in many applications. In most common application DCDL is used to process the clock signal, therefore glitch free DCDL operation is required. In this paper NAND based DCDL present the glitch free circuits by the control switching of the delay control codes. The proper driving circuits are also designed to drive the control bits to the DCDL with the timing constrain for the delay control code. The proposed DCDL has the same resolution and minimum delay of the previously existing DCDL. The proposed glitch free DCDL is implemented in the ADDLL for the verification that confirms the correctness of the designed glitch free DCDL.


Acanthus ilicifolius is a spiny herb found in mangrove of southern Thailand. It is also widely distributed in India and other tropical regions of Asia. The plant is reported to contain phytochemicals including alkaloid and wide range of glucosides  (lignan and phenylethanoid). In traditional medicine, the plant is used in the treatment of diseases ranging from snake bite to skin diseases. A. ilicifolius (sea holly) occurs in tropical Asia and Africa, through Malaya to Polynesia. It is a vine shrub or tall herb, up to 1.5 m high, scarcely woody, bushy, with very dense growth. Common names of which are holy leaved acanthus, sea holly and holy mangrove. A. ilicifoliusis abundantly available in freshwater ecosystem of Pichavaram mangroves located in southeast coast of India. The review analyses traditional medicinal usage, and phytochemical  investigations done on the A. ilicifoliusis medicinal plant.


The process of modeling contaminant volume, rainfall intensity, and soil depth was investigated on diesel leaching and retention in soil subjected to oil pollution from five Base Transceiver Stations. The experimental runs were carried out over three operating parameters which include contaminant volume (50-350 ml), rainfall intensity (5- 10 mm/h), and soil depth (30 - 90 cm) using Response Surface Methodology. Among all variables, soil depth and rainfall intensity significantly influenced the diesel leaching rates. According to results that were found out via ANOVA, the model was fitted to the experimental data with high coefficients. Furthermore, using the statistical modeling approach, the rates predicted via RSM were estimated by varying the contaminant volume at 10 ml, rainfall intensity is 7.5 mm/h; soil depth yielded 54.3 cm while the amount of diesel leached and retained gave 5958.8 mg/L and 3682.5% respectively at the desirability of 1.00. However, at a soil depth of 30 cm, contaminant volume was found to be 50 ml, rainfall intensity is at 10 mm/h to obtain maximum diesel leaching rates, and the amount retained in the soil. The model was validated by computing the %error, which ranges between 0.04 and 8%. This indicates that the model can be implemented.

 Key words: Diesel leaching, soil pollution, organic pollutants.


Abstract Gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, have important applications in mammalian embryos for generating novel animal models in biomedical research and lines of livestock with enhanced production traits. However, the lack of methods for efficient introduction of gene editing reagents into zygotes of various species and the need for surgical embryo transfer in mice have been technical barriers of widespread use. Here, we described methodologies that overcome these limitations for embryos of mice, cattle, and pigs. Using mutation of the Nanos2 gene as a readout, we refined electroporation parameters with preassembled sgRNA-Cas9 RNPs for zygotes of all three species without the need for zona pellucida dissolution that led to high-efficiency INDEL edits. In addition, we optimized culture conditions to support maturation from zygote to the multicellular stage for all three species that generates embryos ready for transfer to produce gene-edited animals. Moreover, for mice, we devised a nonsurgical embryo transfer method that yields offspring at an efficiency comparable to conventional surgical approaches. Collectively, outcomes of these studies provide simplified pipelines for CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing that are applicable in a variety of mammalian species. Summary Sentence Efficient gene editing in mouse, pig, and cattle embryos by delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 reagents with electroporation.


This study determined the biotypes of group A streptococci (GAS) isolated from 66 pharyngeal and 62 skin and soft-tissue infections. Among all GAS isolates tested, the most common biotypes were 1 and 3, irrespective of the isolation source and the severity of clinical symptoms. However, compared with the pharyngeal group, a more heterogeneous distribution of biotypes was observed among the cutaneous group of isolates, including seven isolates that were non-typeable but had an identical biotype pattern, suggesting that they may represent a new biotype.


Objective: Report a case of central diabetes insipidus (DI) associated with ketamine infusion. Case Summary: A 2-year-old girl with long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency and stable hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was admitted to the pediatric intensive care with pneumonia. She subsequently developed respiratory failure and required intubation. Continuous ketamine infusion was used for the sedation and facilitation of mechanical ventilation. Shortly after infusion of ketamine, the patient developed DI and responded appropriately to vasopressin. Discussion: The Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale indicated a probable relationship between the development of central DI and ketamine. The most likely mechanism involves ketamine's antagonist action on N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors, resulting in inhibition of glutamate-stimulated arginine vasopressin release from the neurohypophysis. Conclusion: This is the second case report of ketamine-induced central DI and the only report in children. Clinicians who sedate children with continuous ketamine infusions should monitor patients for developing signs and symptoms of DI by measuring serum sodium and urine output prior to, during, and after ketamine infusion in order to make a timely diagnosis of this potentially serious complication.


Millimeter-wave (mmWave) using conventional phased array (CPA) enables highly directional and fixed angular beamforming (FAB), therefore enhancing physical layer security (PLS) in the angular domain. However, as the eavesdropper is located in the direction pointed by the mainlobe of the information-carrying beam, information leakage is inevitable and FAB cannot guarantee PLS performance. To address this threat, we propose a novel fixed region beamforming (FRB) by employing a frequency diverse subarray (FDSA) architecture to enhance the PLS performance for mmWave communications. In particular, we carefully introduce multiple frequency offset increments (FOIs) across subarrays to achieve a sophisticated beampattern synthesis that ensures a confined information transmission only within the desired angle-range region (DARR) in close vicinity of the target user. More specifically, we formulate the secrecy rate maximization problem with FRB over possible subarray FOIs, and consider two cases of interests, i.e., without/with the location information of eavesdropping, both turn out to be NP-hard. For the unknown eavesdropping location case, we propose a seeker optimization algorithm to minimize the maximum sidelobe peak of the beampattern outside the DARR. As for the known eavesdropping location case, a block coordinate descend linear approximation algorithm is proposed to minimize the sidelobe level in the eavesdropping region. Moreover, we propose an inverted subarray subset technique to further randomize the sidelobes against sensitive eavesdropping. By using the proposed FRB, the mainlobes of all subarrays are constructively superimposed in the DARR while the sidelobes are destructively overlayed outside the DARR. Therefore, FRB exhibits prominent effect on confining information transmission within the DARR. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed FDSA-based FRB can provide superior PLS performance over the CPA-based FAB.


A structural phase transition has been found using electron diffraction technique in PrRu4P12 accompanied by a metal-insulator (M-I) transition (TMI = 60 K). Weak superlattice spots appeared at (H,K,L) (H + K + L = odd) position at a temperature of T = 12 K and 40 K. Above T = 70 K, the spots completely vanished. The space group of the low-temperature phase is probably Pm. This is the first observation of a symmetry other than Im in skutterudite compounds.


As the development of e-commerce, many new e-commerce models, such as B2B2C, are emerging. In the traditional e-commerce environment, when customers search for certain merchandise, they have to visit different websites time after time because of the lack of a unified and integrated center of e-commerce. On the other hand, many distributed business resources can not be shared sufficiently and efficiently, such as business logic services. The paper first introduces a new distributed e-commerce model based on grid service. The model supplies a platform of access to business data and business resources with a unified form, which facilitates e-commerce clients. The technology and principle related to the model are researched deeply, including the model of semantic transform based on XML technology, the model of data integration based on OGSA-DAI and the mechanism of sharing distributed resources based on grid services Finally it presents a frame of a simple instance.


We present a solid-state implementation of an all-optical spin-based quantum computer. Our proposal for a quantum-computing device is based on the spin degrees of freedom of electrons confined in semiconductor quantum dots, thus benefitting from relatively long coherence times. Combining Pauli blocking effects with properly tailored ultrafast laser pulses, we obtain sub-picosecond spin-dependent switching of the Coulomb interaction, which is the essence of our gating operations. This allows us to realize fast quantum gates which do not translate into fast decoherence times and pave the way for an all-optical spin-based quantum computer.


Background/Aim: The host's systemic inflammatory response is thought to affect the progression of cancer and the antitumor effects of chemotherapy. Meta-analyses have reported that the peripheral blood platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a prognostic indicator of this effect. Therefore, we hypothesized that PLR may differ, depending on sentinel lymph node metastasis (SLNM) in patients diagnosed with cT1N0M0 breast cancer by preoperative imaging. This study investigated the ability of preoperative PLR to predict SLNM in patients diagnosed with cT1N0M0 breast cancer. Patients and Methods: This study included 475 patients with cT1N0M0 breast cancer diagnosed by preoperative imaging. Peripheral blood was obtained at diagnosis, i.e., before surgery. PLR was calculated from preoperative blood tests, by dividing the absolute platelet count by the absolute lymphocyte count. Results: The probability of SLNM was significantly higher (p=0.002) in cases where the tumor diameter was larger than 10 mm. The incidence of SLNM was significantly high in the high (preoperative) PLR group (p=0.031). Multivariate analysis revealed that high PLR [compared to low PLR, p=0.021, odds ratio (OR)=1.815, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.093-3.090] and large tumor size (compared to small tumor size, p=0.001, OR=2.688, 95%CI=1.524-4.997) were independent factors influencing SLNM. Conclusion: PLR may act as a predictor of SLNM in cT1N0M0 breast cancer.


Comprehending how the brain interacts with the external world through generated neural signals is crucial for determining its working mechanism, treating brain diseases, and understanding intelligence. Although many theoretical models have been proposed, they have thus far been difficult to integrate and develop. In this study, we were inspired in part by grid cells in creating a more general and robust grid module and constructing an interactive and self-reinforcing cognitive system together with Bayesian reasoning, an approach called space-division and exploration-exploitation with gridfeedback (Grid-SD2E). Here, a grid module can be used as an interaction medium between the outside world and a system, as well as a self-reinforcement medium within the system. The space-division and exploration-exploitation (SD2E) receives the 0/1 signals of a grid through its space-division (SD) module. The system described in this paper is also a theoretical model derived from experiments conducted by other researchers and our experience on neural decoding. Herein, we analyse the rationality of the system based on the existing theories in both neuroscience and cognitive science, and attempt to propose special and general rules to explain the different interactions between people and between people and the external world. What's more, based on this model, the smallest computing unit is extracted, which is analogous to a single neuron in the brain.


The blood-retinal barrier plays an important part in the processes of retinal pathophysiology. A new clinical method for the study of the blood-retinal barrier by vitreous fluorophotometry appears to satisfy the necessary requirements in that it is quantitative and shows good reproducibility and high sensitivity. The application of this method to a series of diabetic patients with apparently "normal" fundi revealed the presence of a significant breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier in the early stages of retinal involvement in diabetes. The extent of the breakdown can be measured allowing for comparative and evolutionary evaluations. The disturbance of the blood-retinal barrier, as evidence by vitreous fluorophotometry, appears before microaneurysms or capillary closure can be demonstrated by fluorescein angiography.


The effectiveness of clinical pharmacists and attending physicians in altering the prescribing of metronidazole and clindamycin by resident physicians was evaluated, and the effect of these changes on antibiotic costs was determined. In July 1983, clinical pharmacists and attending physicians educated resident physicians about the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of substituting metronidazole for clindamycin in the treatment of intraabdominal and pelvic infections. A three-month educational program was implemented, which included distribution of a newsletter and involvement of clinical pharmacists in patient rounds. The use patterns of these drugs were then monitored for a 12-month period. A total of 425 treatment periods for 414 patients were reviewed, representing 91% of all therapy with metronidazole and clindamycin. Metronidazole use increased from 18.2% one month after implementation of the educational program to a plateau of 50% by November. Clindamycin expenditures decreased by more than 50% from the previous fiscal year, resulting in a savings of $33,469 to the pharmacy. The prescribing patterns of resident physicians were altered and cost savings were realized as a result of a comprehensive educational program that focused on substituting metronidazole for clindamycin. The program's success was enhanced because an equally efficacious agent was available and because of the participation of clinical pharmacists in patient rounds.