The paper compares changes in the celebration of holidays in the period from 1992 to 2018. The data originate from large Estonian children's lore corpora from 1992, 2007, and 2018. The first collections are preserved at the Estonian Folklore Archives of the Estonian Literary Museum (ELM) in Tartu, Estonia, and the 2018 collection as well as the digitized data of the earlier campaigns are available in the digital archives EFITA – the Research Archives of the Department of Folkloristics of the ELM. The calendar corpus allows us to monitor changes in the structure and essence of folk/ethnographic/local traditions, feasts celebrated at home, church feasts, and public holidays at school. The authors indicate that endeavours to establish national public holidays to accompany traditional agrarian ones began in the early 20th century. During the 20th century, the system of holidays changed three times (1918, 1940, 1991) due to political changes: the establishment of an independent state in Estonia, the loss of independence and continuation as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, and restoration of independence in 1991. In addition to state, church, and folk holidays different ways to introduce novel international holidays (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Mother Tongue Day), and a search for new forms of celebration were also noteworthy during this period. As students, youngsters participate in the celebrations of their school as well as in the celebrations of public holidays, and at the same time are involved in maintaining their family traditions.


We report on our experience with TREC OpenSearch, an online evaluation campaign that enabled researchers to evaluate their experimental retrieval methods using real users of a live website. Specifically, we focus on the task of ad hoc document retrieval within the academic search domain, and work with two search engines, CiteSeerX and SSOAR, that provide us with traffic. We describe our experimental platform, which is based on the living labs methodology, and report on the experimental results obtained. We also share our experiences, challenges, and the lessons learned from running this track in 2016 and 2017.


This study analyzed local and national news-papers to determine how each framed the Jena Six controversy and to determine if either broke from traditional episodic coverage in framing crime and African Americans. Local papers more frequently put a human face on the issue, while national papers more frequently framed it as a moral wrong. However, unlike previous studies, this analysis found that both local and national papers used more thematic than episodic coverage, suggesting that sometimes the circumstances surrounding a crime can be so egregious that societal factors must be included in coverage.


This paper addresses a novel noise-compensation scheme to solve the mismatch problem between training condition and testing condition for the automatic speech recognition (ASR) system, specifically in the car environments. The conventional spectral subtraction schemes rely on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) such that attenuation is imposed on that part of the spectrum that appears to have low SNR, and accentuation is made on that part of high SNR. However, since these schemes are based on the postulation that the power spectrum of noise is in general at the lower level in magnitude than that of speech. Therefore, while such postulation is adequate for high SNR environment, it is grossly inadequate for low SNR scenarios such as a car environment. This paper proposes an efficient spectral subtraction scheme focused to specifically low SNR noisy environments by distinguishing the speech-dominant segment from the nose-dominant segment in speech spectrum. Representative experiments confirm the superior performance of the proposed method over conventional methods. The experiments are conducted using car noise-corrupted utterances of Aurora2 corpus.


The surface of macrophages inhabiting the peritoneal and alveolar spaces is pleomorphic in structure. The internal structure of these cells has been widely described and is not discussed here. Although external cell morphology has been well characterized by many researchers, this subject has not been reviewed. This review, therefore, describes in detail the surface features of macrophages as well as factors affecting macrophage morphology. Morphological studies of human cells are emphasized. Functional studies are presented and, when possible, morphological parameters are correlated with cell function. Because cigarette smoking has been well studied, the effects of this pulmonary insult are described in detail.


Abstract. The gyre-scale, dynamic sea surface height (SSH) variability
signifies the spatial redistribution of heat and freshwater in the ocean,
influencing the ocean circulation, weather, climate, sea level, and
ecosystems. It is known that the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF)
mode of the interannual SSH variability in the North Atlantic exhibits a
tripole gyre pattern, with the subtropical gyre varying out of phase with
both the subpolar gyre and the tropics, influenced by the low-frequency
North Atlantic Oscillation. Here, we show that the first EOF mode explains
the majority (60 %–90 %) of the interannual SSH variance in the Labrador and
Irminger Sea, whereas the second EOF mode is more influential in the
northeastern part of the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA), explaining up to
60 %–80 % of the regional interannual SSH variability. We find that the two
leading modes do not represent physically independent phenomena. On the
contrary, they evolve as a quadrature pair associated with a propagation of
SSH anomalies from the eastern to the western SPNA. This is confirmed by the
complex EOF analysis, which can detect propagating (as opposed to
stationary) signals. The analysis shows that it takes about 2 years for sea
level signals to propagate from the Iceland Basin to the Labrador Sea, and
it takes 7–10 years for the entire cycle of the North Atlantic SSH tripole
to complete. The observed westward propagation of SSH anomalies is linked to
shifting wind forcing patterns and to the cyclonic pattern of the mean ocean
circulation in the SPNA. The analysis of regional surface buoyancy fluxes in
combination with the upper-ocean temperature and salinity changes suggests a
time-dependent dominance of either air–sea heat fluxes or advection in
driving the observed SSH tendencies, while the contribution of surface
freshwater fluxes (precipitation and evaporation) is negligible. We
demonstrate that the most recent cooling and freshening observed in the SPNA
since about 2010 were mostly driven by advection associated with the North
Atlantic Current. The results of this study indicate that signal propagation
is an important component of the North Atlantic SSH tripole, as it applies
to the SPNA.


Context. The paper is about methods for multiple image deconvolution and their application to the reconstruction of the images acquired by the Fizeau interferometer, denoted LINC-NIRVANA, under development for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The multiple images of the same target are obtained with different orientations of the baseline. Aims. To propose and develop a blind method for dealing with cases where no knowledge or very poor knowledge of the point spread functions (PSF) is available. Methods. The approach is an iterative one where object and PSFs are alternately updated using deconvolution methods related to the standard Richardson-Lucy method. It is basically an extension, to the multiple image case, of iterative blind deconvolution methods proposed in the case of a single image. Results. The method is applied to simulated LBT LINC-NIRVANA images and its limitations are investigated. The algorithm has been implemented in the module BLI of the software package AIRY (Astronomical Image Reconstruction in interferometrY), available under request. The preliminary results we have obtained are promising but an extensive simulation program is still necessary for a full understanding of the applicability of the method in the practice of the reconstruction of LINC-NIRVANA images.


Saponites and vermiculites may assume at least 11 ordered or semi-ordered layer stacking sequences. For a given relative humidity, the layer stacking type assumed is a function of the nature of the interlayer cation, the layer charge density, the mean size of the particles, and the di- or trioctahedral character of the sheets. For each interlayer cation, a succession of layer stacking types can be observed as relative humidity increases. For high relative humidity, some particular layer stacking types exist, but only for low-charge minerals. No other differences have been found for saponites and vermiculites in each successive layer stacking type. The degree of order that these layer stacking types imply is probably due to the existence of electrostatic bonds between hydrated interlayer cations and surface oxygens of the substituted tetrahedra. For octahedrally substituted 2:1 phyllosilicates, however, the disorder of the layer stacking sequences is related to a highly delocalized distribution of negative charges on the surface oxygens of the layers.A study of the superstructures detected in saponites and vermiculites indicates that the interlayer cations tend to be located as far as possible from one another. The superstructures exist only with some cations and some layer stacking types and if the layer charge density is compatible with the charge produced by the cation distribution in this kind of superstructure.


Next to doing nothing, fixing a problem is often the worst thing you could do with it. Fix a problem but miss the context, and you still have the problem--only it's bigger, it's weirder, it costs more, and everybody's grumpy. When something comes at you with a "problem" label, use it as an opportunity to connect things up, to explore, to ask the bigger questions, to find the new possibilities. When we react to a problem, we put ourselves into a dilemma. To find fruitful and creative solutions, we need to be in a place of choice, with many possibilities. Real participation--giving people real choice--is the only way you can bring people's intelligence and life experiences to bear on the situation at hand.


Abstract In this study, an independent dose verification plugin (DVP) using the Eclipse Scripting Application Programming Interface (ESAPI) for brachytherapy was developed. The DVP was based on the general 2D formalism reported in AAPM-TG43U1. The coordinate and orientation of each source position were extracted from the translation matrix acquired from the treatment planning system (TPS), and the distance between the source and verification point (r) was calculated. Moreover, the angles subtended by the center-tip and tip-tip of the hypothetical line source with respect to the verification point (θ and β) were calculated. With r, θ, β and the active length of the source acquired from the TPS, the geometry function was calculated. As the TPS calculated the radial dose function, g(r), and 2D anisotropy function, F(r,θ), by interpolating and extrapolating the corresponding table stored in the TPS, the DVP calculated g(r) and F(r,θ) independently from equations fitted with the Monte Carlo data. The relative deviation of the fitted g(r) and F(r,θ) for the GammaMed Plus HDR 192Ir source was 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. The acceptance range of the relative dose difference was set to ±1.03% based on the relative deviation between the fitted functions and Monte Carlo data, and the linear error propagation law. For 64 verification points from sixteen plans, the mean of absolute values of the relative dose difference was 0.19%. The standard deviation (SD) of the relative dose difference was 0.17%. The DVP maximizes efficiency and minimizes human error for the brachytherapy plan check.


AIM OF THE STUDY
The extent of degenerative changes in the lumbar spine as seen on conventional radiographs is interpreted on the basis of visualized osseus structures and indirect signs such as diminution of disc height. In order to analyze the accuracy of these interpretations we compared and correlated different stages of degeneration in conventional radiographs with cuts of large-specimen cryomicrotome sections (LSCS), offering a direct macroscopic vision of the degenerative anatomic features.

METHOD
A total of 50 human cadaver lumbar spines with 251 spine segments (Th 12 - S1) was investigated by plain radiograms and LSCS. The degenerative changes were differentiated into 5 stages for both diagnostic measures. Criteria for radiological degeneration were: diminution of disc space, presence of osteophytes and sclerosis of the endplates. Degenerative changes as seen by LSCS were evaluated by the following features: cracks in the endplate, bleeding into the intervertebral disc, alignment of the annulus fibrosus fibres and osseous alterations in the spine segment.

RESULTS
Complete matches of the evaluated radiological and macroscopic stages of degeneration were observed in 206 cases. A difference of 1 degree on the degeneration scale was registered in 42 segments, whereas a difference of 2 degrees was seen in 3 cases. The correlation coefficient between the degeneration stages of the two diagnostic measures scored rho = 0.883.

CONCLUSION
The comparison of the different degrees of degeneration in the lumbar spine as evaluated by both plain radiographs and LSCS revealed a good correlation.


Potash is the main raw material for the production of agricultural fertilizers. Herein, random forest (RF) models fusing variable importance and wavelet transform were proposed to determine the K content in a potassic salt ore. Specifically, 53 potassic salts samples were analyzed, of which 37 were treated as the calibration set. An original RF model was developed for regression with the optimized parameters ntree and mtry. However, RP2 (0.7399) and the modeling time (251.8 s) of the RF model were not satisfactory. Thus, we initially explored the effect of different variable importance (VI) thresholds on the quantitative results. When the VI threshold was set to 0.090, the variable number of the VIRF model was reduced from 27 620 to 3355. There were no significant improvements for VIRF in the other model performance parameters such as RMSEP and RP2. Then, wavelet transform was adopted to screen the input variables of the RF model (defined as WTRF). Their promotion ratios were 16% (RP2 from 0.7399 to 0.8555), 38% (RMSEP from 0.1798 to 0.1106), 62% (MRE from 0.2740 to 0.1032), and 11% (MRSD from 0.0686 to 0.0613). In the case of modeling time, it was promoted by about three orders of magnitude. Upon further using the variable importance for the WTRF model (defined as WT-VIRF), because all the selected input variables filtered by wavelet transform contributed significantly to the quantitative results, no more variables were removed and then, the WT-VIRF model achieved the exact result with the WTRF model. Thus, all the results demonstrate that the RF model combined with WT is a promising methodology for the quantitative analysis of the K content in potassic salt ores.


In the present work, possibilities of the extraction–pyrolysis method (EPM) to produce FePt nanoparticles with the face-centered tetragonal (fct) phase were studied. A mixture of fine-disperse powder of carbonyl iron and n-trioctylammonium hexachloroplatinate [(С8Н17)3NH]2PtCl6 solution in toluene, preliminary produced by the solvent extraction method, is used as a precursor. Precursors with a different molar ratio of metals were used. The performed investigations show that as a result of pyrolysis in the air (Tpyr = 600°C, tanneal = 30 min), a FePt alloy with the fct phase is produced. Moreover, such phases as FePt3 and/or Fe3Pt with the cubic structure may be also present in the final products. The phase composition of the produced samples depends on the Fe:Pt molar ratio in the precursor. An increase of the fct phase part with the growth of the iron content from 40 to 60 mol% is observed. Also, with the Fe80%Pt20% molar ratio of the metals in the precursor, only the ordered fct phase along with a small amount of hematite and iron chloride exists in the produced sample. Magnetic measurements confirm the fct-FePt phase formation in all produced samples and evidence that the coercivity exceeds the value (3 kOe) at the 50 mol% Fe concentration in the precursor and significantly decreases with increasing the Fe concentration to 80 mol%.


Four experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the dietary antagonists molybdenum (Mo) or iron (Fe) on copper (Cu) metabolism and physiology of sheep. In experiment 1, dietary Mo or Fe was provided in diets of Charollais cross growing lambs to investigate the effects on Cu status and performance. Dietary Mo or Fe had no effect on lamb performance but there were significant effects on Cu status. Plasma copper (Pl-Cu) concentrations were significantly higher in lambs that received dietary Mo (P<0.001) and ceruloplasmin (CP) activities were significantly lower (P<0.01) in lambs that received dietary Mo. Dietary Mo significantly altered the CP:Pl-Cu ratio in addition to significantly reducing liver Cu concentrations. No clinical symptoms were observed. In experiment 2, the effect of dietary Mo or Fe on immune responses of Charollais cross growing lambs were investigated. Cell mediated and humoral immunity were not affected by dietary treatment despite liver Cu concentrations being significantly lower (P<0.001) in lambs fed dietary Mo. In experiment 3, dietary Mo or Fe was provided in diets to Charollais cross growing lambs to investigate the effects on Cu status and trace element accumulation in the pituitary, ovary, cerebellum and liver. In addition, effects on pituitary function and ovary morphology were investigated. Dietary Mo significantly (P<0.001) reduced Cu concentrations in the liver in addition to significantly increasing (P<0.001) Mo concentration in the liver and ovary. Dietary Mo was found to significantly increase retention of ACTH in the pituitary gland. There were no conclusive effects of dietary treatment on pituitary or ovary histology. In experiment 4, dietary Mo or Fe was provided in the diets of Scottish Blackface wethers to determine the effects on Cu status and hepatic CP mRNA expression. CP mRNA expression was found to be unaffected by dietary treatment. These studies confirmed that dietary Mo was a more potent antagonist on Cu metabolism and physiology in sheep than dietary Fe.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of finishing and polishing on color stability of a nanofilled composite resin (Filtek Z350 XT) according to different immersion media. Material and method: Composite disks (10 mm diameter, 2 mm thickness) were prepared for each group (n = 6) using a stainless steel mold. The groups were divided according to the presence or absence of finishing and polishing procedure and immersion media (artificial saliva, artificial juice- KAPO  Coca-Cola  flavors: pineapple, orange, strawberry and grape). The finishing and polishing procedures were performed using Super -Snap  disks. The specimens were stored in artificial saliva for 24 hours (baseline) and were analyzed using a color spectrophotometer by CIELab system. Then, they were immersed in different media for 5 minutes, 3 times a day, every 4 hours during 60 days. They were stored in artificial saliva at 37 ± 1°C during the immersion intervals. After this time, new measure of color was performed. The data were analyzed using Kruskall-Wallis test and Mann- Whitney test. The significance level was 5%. Result: The results showed that the finishing/polishing not significantly influence the color stability of resin composite (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the color stability of the studied resin after immersion in different media (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The finishing and polishing procedures and the immersion media did not have influence on color stability of nanofilled resin Filtek Z350 XT. Descriptors: Composite resins; color; dental polishing.


The French 4F consortium has obtained new results on microstructured optical fibers for the development of Ytterbium active fibers with a large core and for the transport of intense laser beam via hollow-core photonic crystal fibers. In the case of active fibers, several methods to obtain fiber preforms have been tested (MCVD, OVD, powders, sol-gel), as well as suited designs. The fiber specifications are targeted for optimum laser performances, such as a mode field diameter larger than 30 μm, a polarization extinction ratio greater than 15 dB, no air clad and a cladding absorption at 976 nm larger than 10 dB/m. Bending radius is also limited to a relatively small diameter (about 20 cm). The fiber will allow a laser operation exceeding 150 W. The fiber for beam delivery consists of inhibited-coupling guiding fiber and allowing guidance of high levels of pulse energy and average power.


Contrary to metastatic tumors of the omentum, primary tumors of the omentum are very rare. A 10-year-old girl presented with low abdominal pain. Imaging studies showed a multiseptated hemorrhagic tumor. The mass from the omentum was removed completely and confirmed as a malignant rhabdoid tumor. Despite aggressive chemotherapy, she died after 9 months due to disease progression. We report one case of primary malignant rhabdoid tumor of the omentum for the first time.


We constructed and developed a brief test assessing capacity for discriminating the direction of lines. Application of the test to patients with unilateral brain disease disclosed a remarkably high frequency of defective performance in those with right hemisphere lesions. The performance of patients with left hemisphere lesions was comparable to that of control patients. Brevity and ease of administration make the test convenient for clinical use.


and Applied Analysis 3 In the sequel, let q > 1 4p and . . . , φ, ψ, φ, ψ, . . . the unique prime period-two solution of 1.1 with φ < ψ. Define f ∈ C φ, ψ × φ, ψ , φ, ψ by f ( x, y ) p y qx y 2.2 for any x, y ∈ φ, ψ and g ∈ C φ, ψ , φ, ψ by y∗ g ( y ) p y − y2 qy 2.3 for any y ∈ φ, ψ . Then


The book explores tensions in the relationship between citizenship and constitutions. It starts from the proposition that the citizen is a central figure in most if not all constitutional set-ups at the state level, and then highlights the paradox that in many constitutions matters of citizenship are not regulated in detail. The idea of the 'constitutional citizen' is developed and explored in Part Two, across chapters looking at the ideal of citizenship, modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship, and citizenship rights. Two themes emerge in those central chapters: the potential role of superordinate constitutional principles such as equality and dignity in filling out the concept of constitutional citizenship and the question as to how states should determine the boundaries of citizenship. Should it be via the constitution as interpreted by courts, or via the legislature as representing the people? Part Three of the book explores some of the challenges which the idea of constitutional citizenship faces today. It looks at the effects of the rise of populist politics in many countries, including the acceleration in some countries of constitutional amendments to mirror an exclusivist concept of the people. Then it turns to the fragmentation of the governance of citizenship. Here we see a turn away from an exclusive focus on the state and an increased impact of international institutions on citizenship. An exploration of the paradox of the simultaneous rise of populism and globalisation forms the centrepiece of the book's conclusions.


Phylogenetic relationships among 40 New World and Old World members of Apiaceae subfamily Apioideae, representing seven of the eight tribes and eight of the ten subtribes commonly recognized in the subfamily, were inferred from nucleotide sequence variation in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of 18-26S nuclear ribosomal DNA. Although the sequences are alignable, with only 11% of sites excluded from the analyses because of alignment ambiguity, divergence values in pairwise comparisons of unambiguous positions among all taxa were high and ranged from 0.5 to 33.2% of nucleotides in ITS 1 and from 0 to 33.2% of nucleotides in ITS 2. Average sequence divergence across both spacer regions was 18.4% of nucleotides. Phylogenies derived from ITS sequences estimated using neighbor-joining analysis of substitution rates, and maximum likelihood and parsimony methods give trees of essentially similar topology and indicate that: (1) there is little support for any existing system of classification of the subfamily that is based largely on morphological and anatomical features of the mericarp; (2) there is a major phylogenetic division within the subfamily, with one clade comprising the genus Smyrnium and those taxa belonging to Drude's tribes Dauceae, Scandiceae, and Laserpitieae and the other clade comprising all other examined taxa; and (3) the genera Arracacia, Coaxana, Coulterophytum, Enantiophylla, Myrrhidendron, Prionosciadium, and Rhodosciadium, all endemic to Mexico and Central America, comprise a clade but their relationships to other New World taxa are equivocal. A phylogeny derived from parsimony analysis of chloroplast DNA rpoCl intron sequences is consistent with, but considerably less resolved than, relationships derived from these ITS regions. This study affirms that ITS sequences are useful for phylogenetic inference among closely related members of Apioideae but, owing to high rates of nucleotide substitution, are less useful in resolving relationships among the more ancestral nodes of the phylogeny.


In order to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen fertilizer levels on physiological traits, plant height, yield components, and seed yield of rapeseed genotypes a split-plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications was carried out at the Baykola Agriculture Research Station, Mazaandaran during 2010-11. Four levels of nitrogen, as urea fertilizer, including of 0, 70, 140 and 210 kg ha -1 were considered as main plots and four rapeseed genotypes including of L7, Zafar, RGS003 and Hyola401 were considered as subplots. The result of analysis of variance revealed that the traits, including number of days to flowering, number of days to end of flowering, number of days to maturity, plant height, siliques pods per plant, seeds per silique, seed yield and oil yield were significantly affected by nitrogen levels. Genotype effect was significant effect on all the traits except seeds per silique. Hyloa401 and Zafar respectively with 3831.2 and 3893.7 kg ha -1 of seed yield, and also 1638 and 1591 kg ha -1 of oil yield were classified at the same statistical group. Non significant interaction effects of nitrogen fertilizer application and genotypes were achieved for all of the studied traits, indicated that the trend of variation of these traits due to nitrogen levels were similar in all genotypes. A significant positive correlation of seed yield with the other studied the traits, except days to flowering, indicated that increasing of nitrogen level application made increasing of the traits and finally seed yield.


Liver transplantation has been developed in Mainland China for about 40 years, from clinical trials to maturity. Its number has become the second in the world, its quality is also in line with the international level, and the source of donors has gradually transitioned to donation after citizen's death (DCD). This chapter is aimed to elaborate the liver transplant work in China from the history and current status of liver transplantation, the main operating methods, major indications, donor maintenance and donor quality assessment, postoperative major complications, and application of immunosuppressive agents to the postoperative follow-up. Liver transplantation is a meaningful and challenging work currently in China; all the Chinese transplant surgeons and scholars are devoting themselves to this work in order to give more effective help to the patients.


Abstract The process of hearing involves a series of events. The energy of sound is captured by the outer ear and further transferred through the external auditory canal to the middle ear. In the middle ear, sound waves are converted into movements of the tympanic membrane and the ossicles, thereby amplifying the pressure so that it is sufficient to cause movement of the cochlear fluid. The traveling wave within the cochlea leads to depolarization of the inner ear hair cells that, in turn, release the neurotransmitter glutamate. Thereby, the spiral ganglion neurons are activated to transfer the signals via the auditory pathway to the primary auditory cortex. This complex combination of mechanosensory and physiological mechanisms involves many distinct types of cells, the function of which are impacted by numerous proteins, including those involved in ion channel activity, signal transduction and transcription. In the last 30 years, pathogenic variants in over 150 genes were found to be linked to hearing loss. Hearing loss affects over 460 million people world-wide, and current treatment approaches, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, serve to improve hearing capacity but do not address the underlying genetic cause of hearing loss. Therefore, therapeutic strategies designed to correct the genetic defects causative for hearing loss offer the possibility to treat these patients. In this review, we will discuss genetic causes of hearing loss, novel gene therapeutic strategies to correct hearing loss due to gene defects and some of the preclinical studies in hearing loss animal models as well as the clinical translation of gene therapy approaches to treat hearing loss patients.


Background and Aims:  To analyse the genetic determinants of berry sugar content in grapevine varieties, a method that combined measurements of total soluble solids (TSS) from berries sampled at a fixed stage after veraison with data on the yield and the leaf area was tested.

Methods and Results:  Over three seasons, differences in TSS at harvest for Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes were explained by differences in the veraison dates and in the fruit-to-leaf ratios. TSS, yield and leaf area were also evaluated for 120 genotypes, which were progeny from a cross between Riesling and Gewurztraminer. Thermal timescales (degree-days) proved relevant for describing sugar accumulation in the parent varieties, and when berries were sampled at a fixed heat sum after veraison in the progeny, the genotypic variability of sugar content was considerably reduced compared with the measurements on the same date at the end of the season. A negative relationship between the fruit-to-leaf ratio and the sugar content was also detected in the progeny.

Conclusions:  The evolution of TSS during berry ripening can be described using thermal timescales. Additionally, information on the yield and the leaf area needs to be integrated to analyse the behaviour of genotypes.

Significance of the Study:  A method to characterize the genotypic effect on fruit sugar accumulation after eliminating the contribution of veraison dates and crop load was proposed.


We review soft and hard fragmentation of heavy quarks into heavy mesons with special emphasis on the Peterson model and those currently obtained from leading-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. We reduce the hard fragmentation functions to the Peterson form, maintaining a strong interaction coupling constant and meson decay constant/wavefunction at the origin of the non-relativistic meson bound state. This form is assumed to be useful when a light degree of freedom is involved in heavy meson and baryon fragmentation. We investigate heavy baryon production in various cases when one, two and three heavy quarks are involved in the formation of such states. We demonstrate the behaviour of fragmentation functions as well as their total fragmentation probabilities.


Nabbit is a work-stealing library for executing dynamic task graphs with arbitrary dependencies. We prove that Nabbit achieves asymptotically optimal performance for task graphs whose nodes have constant in-degree and out-degree. We have implemented Nabbit in the multithreaded programming language Cilk++. Since the implementation of Nabbit required no modification to the Cilk++ runtime system, it should not be hard to port it to other fork-join languages and libraries. In order to evaluate the performance of Nabbit, we implemented a dynamic program representing the Smith-Waterman algorithm, an irregular dynamic program on a two-dimensional grid which is used in computational biology. Our experiments indicate that when task-graph nodes are mapped to reasonably sized blocks, Nabbit exhibits low overhead and scales as well as or better than other scheduling strategies. In some cases, the Nabbit implementation even manages to outperform a divide-and-conquer


Ohmic heating is the direct passage of an electric current through food and the subsequent heating of the food due to its electrical resistance. The absence of an intermediate step between the energy source (electricity) and the food that is common in other processes provides significant energy savings and efficiencies. It is a very rapid process and therefore there is little time for heat loss from the food and environmental losses are minimised. Therefore, it can justifiably be regarded as one of the greenest food heating processes. Although the concept is simple, the application is not. Ohmic heating of foods has developed significantly over the past three decades but it has been known for significantly longer. In the 1950s and 1960s, significant research was undertaken into the process, largely at the request of electrical utility companies, rather than the food industry. Those efforts did not result in significant industrial applications, primarily because of problems with electrode design, electrode polarisation and fouling. Other difficulties include applying an electric current directly to a food consisting of food particles of conductivity differing from that of the main food matrix. Current advances in developing materials for making electrodes to conduct the electricity to the food and a better understanding of the heating process of complex foods, obtained by improved modelling and computational techniques, give this 'green' process a very bright future.


Despite increasing research effort and conservation focus on sharks, small species of little commercial value are often overlooked, although they make a considerable contribution to global diversity. The poorly known Colclough's shark, Brachaelurus colcloughi, is naturally rare to uncommon and is encountered only irregularly. Collating all known records (n = 50), we review the species' geographic and bathymetric distribution, habitat, reproductive biology and diet. All but four B. colcloughi records are from within a core distribution of <2° latitude on the Australian east coast. Bathymetric distribution is from less than 4 to 217 m depth, with all but three records from less than 100 m depth. The species shelters on rocky reefs during the day and is thought to forage nocturnally around reefs and adjacent substrates. B. colcloughi is viviparous, with litter sizes of 6–7. Mature males and females have been observed from 61.0- and 54.5-cm total length, respectively. Gravid females have been collected in austral winter months. Dietary analysis indicates a predominantly piscivorous diet. Our results are placed in the context of existing threats and future research and management directions, demonstrating that shark species with low abundances and restricted ranges, such as B. colcloughi, require a suite of management arrangements to ensure long-term population viability.


This study was focused on the application of white and blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) as sources for the photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes in liquid phase with visible light. The photocatalytic activity of N-doped titanium dioxide, synthesized by direct hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide with ammonia, was evaluated by means of a batch photoreactor. The bandgap energy of titanium dioxide was moved in the visible range from 3.3 eV to 2.5 eV. The visible light responsive photocatalysts showed remarkably effective activity in decolorization process and in the removal of total organic carbon. Methylene blue was also used as a model dye to study the influence of several parameters such as catalyst weight and initial concentration. The effect of dye on the photocatalytic performance was verified with methyl orange (MO). The results demonstrated that the right selection of operating conditions allows to effectively degrade different dyes with the N-doped TiO2 photocatalysts irradiated with visible light emitted by LEDs.


This paper describes the robot arm with a high affinity to a human arm, an increased demand for which is anticipated in welfare-related and elderly nursing fields. We used the spherical bearing and the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator for the arm that we developed. Moreover, to achieve the affinity, safety, and the controllability by a good balance, it examined the control law in consideration of the characteristic of the mechanism and the actuator. The pneumatic artificial muscle is lightweight and high power. In addition, it is possible for it to emit exhaust into the atmosphere because the transmission medium of its energy is air, and it needs neither a tank nor maintenance like hydraulic equipment. In addition, safety to a person and the environment is high because the base of the actuator is a soft polymeric material even if the damage to the artificial muscle is caused. On the other hand, because the device is composed of a thin film cylinder, and easily receives the influence of the outside power for the conversion of the volume change in rubber into physical contraction axially, and its passive character is strong, precise positional control is difficult. Therefore, we apply the H/sub /spl infin// control that is the method of frequency shaped, and construct a stubborn system to the unstructured uncertainty.


In what sense can works of art constitute a community? How can an artist's particular subject position participate in a social connection established by art? Taking issue with current claims that community precedes works of art and determines them ideologically, the article argues that a community is what might be generated by works of art and the subject position behind them. Since my argument revolves around the tension between the social and subjective aspects of works of art, the article begins by returning to two major articulations of the decline of the subjective in Western art. It then examines two canonical essays about Israeli art that embody the tension between subjectivity and the constitution of a community. The solution I offer is based on Freud's notion of social bonds and their relation to the unconscious.


After X‐irradiated and nonirradiated mice (C3H/He) as well as athymic nude mice and haired littermates (BALB/c) were infected with influenza A virus (Kumamoto strain, H2N2), they were examined for survival period, the development of consolidation in the lungs and the characteristics of the cells infiltrating the lung tissues. In two different T‐cell deficient groups, there was a definite delay in the development of consolidation compared with their respective controls and this was reflected in prolonged survival periods: 5 days longer for irradiated mice and 6 days longer for nude mice. In both T‐cell deficient and normal groups, about 70% of the cells obtained from consolidated lung tissues after virus infection were found to be small lymphoid cells and there were no morphological differences between the T‐cell deficient and normal groups. None of these small lymphoid cells from the peripheral blood or the spleens of T‐cell deficient mice responded to concanavalin A. In the lungs of both X‐irradiated mice and nude mice, however, a definite increase in cells having natural killer activity was found at the late stages of the influenza infection, suggesting their participation in the development of consolidation.


This study aims to analyze the factors that influence the capital structure sharia banking in Indonesia during the period 2011-2015. This research uses quarterly time series data which is analyzed by multiple regressions. The sample used in this research is 8  sharia  banks  in  Indonesia  and  chosen  by  purposive  sampling.  The  independent variables  in  this  study  are  company  size,  company  growth  rate,  income  stability, structures and dependent variables in this study is the capital structure. The Analyzer used is multiple linier regression analysis. The results showed that company size, company growth rate, sales stability and asset structure have a significant effect on capital structure, and F test results show that company size variables, company growth rate, income stability, and the asset structure jointly affect the capital structure. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the factors considered by the bank in determining the capital structure is the composition of the assets and the earned income. Therefore, syariah banking in Indonesia needs to optimize the income and the total assets which are owned.


The outlook for moderate growth in global demand for minerals and metals in the medium term lead mining companies to direct their investments so focused on increasing efficiency, minimizing their costs and risks. This paper presents, as a case study, survey of the main risks that occur in capital projects of a large-sized national mining company and its influence on different phases of the life cycle of these projects. Interviews with project managers, including data collection in workshops focusing on risk management of capital projects, allowed us to know internal and external risks to the project and new risks have not been studied in the literature, increases the importance of this work.


Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurocognitive condition, which can cause a variety of functional impairments that can result in the development of negative self-perceptions. These maladaptive beliefs often lead to the development of maladaptive thoughts or cognitive distortions. Research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious treatment for adults with ADHD. Yet data on the association between cognitive distortions in adult ADHD is limited, particularly, regarding self-concept. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact that cognitive distortions, problems with self-concept, gender and age have on symptoms of ADHD in a group of adults (N = 130), who presented to a universitybased outpatient clinic, specializing in the assessment and treatment of ADHD. Results suggest that problems with self-concept significantly and positively predicted ADHD symptom severity. Additionally, cognitive distortions significantly, positively predicted problems with self-concept, whereas gender was not significantly predictive, in this regard. However, gender, age, and cognitive distortions were not significantly predictive of ADHD symptoms.


We have used AB-52, a monoclonal antibody which recognizes both the A (94,000 daltons) and B (120,000 daltons) proteins of human progesterone receptors (hPR), and hPR-50, a PR complementary DNA probe isolated from a T47D-pcD library, to study the structure and hormonal regulation of the hPR mRNAs and proteins in human breast cancer cells. RNA blot hybridization analysis of poly(A+) RNA shows that T47DCO, an estrogen resistant human breast tumor cell line in which PR are constitutively expressed, contain at least six PR mRNAs ranging in size from 2.5 to 11.4 kilobases. All six are mature cytoplasmic messages that are also present in normal human endometrium and in PR-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells, but not in PR-negative cells. Using hPR-50 RNA synthesized in vitro as a 1.3 kilobase standard, we calculate that MCF-7 cells contain approximately 16 message molecules per cell which are increased to approximately 45 by estradiol treatment; T47DCO cells contain approximately 90 message molecules per cell constitutively expressed. Treatment of T47DCO cells with progesterone leads to down-regulation of immunoreactive A- and B-receptors in the first 8-12 h, followed by their replenishment during the next 48 h. In parallel, hPR message levels initially decrease and then return to pretreatment levels. The synthetic progestin R5020 chronically down-regulates A- and B-receptors; the proteins are profoundly suppressed for at least 48 h, while PR mRNAs fall to less than 15% of control. However, with both hormones, parallel changes in protein and message levels are observed, suggesting that progestational agonists autoregulate the levels of their own receptors by inhibiting transcription of the PR gene. Antagonists appear to have different effects. With the antiprogestin RU 486 there is discordance between hPR protein and message levels which may be due to an ineffective inhibitory interaction between the antagonist-occupied receptors and PR genes, thereby disrupting the negative feedback loop.


Fabrication of bulk heterojunctions with well-ordered arrays of organic and inorganic semiconductors is a promising route to increasing the efficiency of polymer photovoltaic cells. In such structures, almost all excitons formed are close enough to the organic-inorganic interface to be dissociated by electron transfer, all charge carriers have an uninterrupted pathway to the electrodes, and polymer chains are aligned to increase their charge carrier mobility. Furthermore, ordered structures are interesting because they are relatively easy to model. Studies of ordered cells are likely to lead to better design rules for making efficient photovoltaic cells.


Analog Electronic Technology is a theoretical and practical course, the theory is very abstract and difficult to understand, difficult for students to understand and accept, in order to solve this problem, we have introduced simulation software for teaching, through the simulation software, abstraction The working process of the circuit waveform, images, numbers and other forms of visual, image display in front of students. The article introduces the characteristics of simulation software in the teaching of analog electronic technology, helps to break through the difficulties of classroom teaching, helps to improve students 'interest in learning, and helps to cultivate students' ability of innovation and entrepreneurship. Taking class B and class A and B power amplification circuits as an example, the article presents the students with intuitive waveform simulation through software simulation. The interface is simple and versatile, easy to learn and easy to use, which enhances students' understanding and mastery of circuits and improves teaching effectiveness.


Introduction
 Relapse of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) following allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) is a common occurrence associated with a poor outcome with limited treatment options. Donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) are commonly employed in this setting in an attempt to exploit the allogeneic graft versus lymphoma (GVL) effect to induce remissions. There is however a paucity of data describing the efficacy of DLIs in inducing remissions in NHL subtypes and the risk of subsequently developing graft versus host disease (GVHD). We report here the largest series of patients with NHL receiving DLI for relapse after alloSCT.
 Methods
 Patients relapsing after an alloSCT for NHL and receiving DLI were identified on the EBMT database. Centres were invited to contribute additional data. 118 patients [follicular lymphoma (FL) n=28, diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) n=28, T cell lymphoma (TCL) n=52 and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) n=10] from 39 centres who received DLI as the only treatment for relapse were identified. Patients receiving DLI in combination with other therapy were excluded from this analysis. The median age at alloSCT was 50 (range 18-73) years. There were 81 male and 37 female patients who underwent an alloSCT with reduced intensity (RIC) (n=90) or myeloablative conditioning (MAC) (n=28) at a median of 2.4 (range 0.3-26.3) years from diagnosis. Allogeneic cells were provided from matched sibling (n=63), unrelated (n=47) or mismatched family (n=8) donors and 85 patients received either ATG/ALG or CAMPATH as part of GVHD prophylaxis. The median time from alloSCT to relapse was 3.8 months (range 18 days-67 months).
 Results
 Patients received a median of 1 (range 1-19) DLI at a median starting dose of 1.5 x106 CD3/kg (range 0.01-120x106 CD3/kg) at a median of 152 days (range 18-2136) post alloSCT. The median last dose of DLI was 10x106/kg (range 0.1-180x106/kg) given at a median of 353 days (range 41-2725) post alloSCT. The median time from relapse to the first DLI was 35 days (range 0-168). Acute GVHD and chronic GVHD prior to DLI was reported in 29% and 14% of patients, respectively. Of 93 evaluable patients 47 (51%) patients achieved a complete remission, 10 (11%) a partial remission, 13 (14%) stable disease and 23 (25%) had progressive disease following DLI. The median duration of response was 36 months (range 1-168). When analysed according to histology the overall response rate (ORR) (CR+PR) for FL was 84% (CR 68%), DLBCL 41% (32% CR), TCL 54% (46% CR) and MCL 86% (CR 71%). The median duration of responses for FL, DLBCL, TCL and MCL were 30 (range 2-150), 38 (4-76), 37 (range 1-168) and 50 months (13-116) respectively. With a median follow up of 77 months after the 1st DLI 36 (31%) patients remain in complete remission, 29 (25%) without any further therapy. 37 (35%) went on to receive additional antilymphoma therapy after the DLI. Of 17 patients with FL achieving a CR post DLI 12 (71%) remain in remission without further therapy at a median of 78 (9-158) months after DLI. Of 18 patients with TCL that achieved a CR with DLI, 15 (83%) remain in remission without further therapy at a median of 95 (range 42-161) months after DLI. Following the DLI 43 (36%) patients developed aGVHD (6 grade I, 13 grade II, 11 grade III, 9 grade IV, 4 grade unknown) and 33 (28%) developed cGVHD (11 limited, 20 extensive, 2 unknown). Following the first DLI the cumulative incidence of relapse was 31% (CI 22-41) at 4 years and of NRM 28% (CI 20-37). The 4-year PFS after 1st DLI was 39% (CI 30-50) and the OS, 44% (CI 35-54).
 Conclusions
 DLI induce significant rates of disease response in patients with NHL relapsing after alloSCT providing clear proof of principle of the allogeneic GVL effect. The rates of response are most impressive in FL and MCL. The majority of patients with TCL and FL that achieve a CR post DLI remain in remission with long term follow up. Acute and chronic GVHD is a significant complication of DLI.

 Robinson: Sandoz: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Chalandon:Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel costs. Beelen:Medac: Consultancy, Other: Travel Support. Finke:Neovii: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel grants, Research Funding; Medac: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel grants, Research Funding; Riemser: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel grants, Research Funding. Tischer:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Other: Jazz Advisory Board. Corradini:Amgen: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Novartis: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Abbvie: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Sandoz: Other: Advisory Board; Sanofi: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Gilead: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Roche: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Lecturer; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board & Lecturer.


Abstract Objective: To evaluate pregnancy outcomes with low-lying placenta according to the distance from placenta to cervical os. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of singleton pregnancies with low-lying placenta (placenta edge within 20 mm of internal os on transvaginal sonography) delivered at our hospital from 2002 to 2012, excluding suspected placenta accreta and vasa previa. Vaginal delivery was offered in the absence of another indication for cesarean. Outcomes were stratified according to placenta-os distance ≤10 mm and 11–20 mm. Results: Of 98 pregnancies with low-lying placenta, 41% had placenta-os distance ≤10 mm and 59% placenta-os distance 11–20 mm. Fifty-four percent had a trial of labor. Six (15%) with placenta-os ≤10 mm and 21 (36%) with placenta-os 11–20 mm delivered vaginally, p = 0.02. Bleeding necessitating cesarean occurred in 25%, and postpartum hemorrhage in 43%; neither complication associated with placenta-os distance. Third-trimester bleeding prior to delivery hospitalization was reported in 44% and associated with later bleeding requiring cesarean in 51% versus 4% of those without third-trimester bleeding, p < 0.001. Conclusion: Whereas low-lying placenta does not contraindicate labor, we found significant risk for bleeding complications, regardless of the planned mode of delivery. Placenta-os distance did not significantly affect outcomes in our series.


Heteromorphic sex chromosomes have evolved repeatedly across diverse species. Suppression of recombination between X and Y chromosomes leads to rapid degeneration of the Y chromosome. However, these early stages of degeneration are not well understood, as complete Y chromosome sequence assemblies have only been generated across a handful of taxa with ancient sex chromosomes. Here we describe the assembly of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Y chromosome, which is less than 26 million years old. Our previous work identified that the non-recombining region between the X and the Y spans ∼17.5 Mb on the X chromosome. Here, we combined long-read PacBio sequencing with a Hi-C-based proximity guided assembly to generate a 15.87 Mb assembly of the Y chromosome. Our assembly is concordant with cytogenetic maps and Sanger sequences of over 90 Y chromosome clones from a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library. We found three evolutionary strata on the Y chromosome, consistent with the three inversions identified by our previous cytogenetic analyses. The young threespine stickleback Y shows convergence with older sex chromosomes in the retention of haploinsufficient genes and the accumulation of genes with testis-biased expression, many of which are recent duplicates. However, we found no evidence for large amplicons found in other sex chromosome systems. We also report an excellent candidate for the master sex-determination gene: a translocated copy of Amh (Amhy). Together, our work shows that the same evolutionary forces shaping older sex chromosomes can cause remarkably rapid changes in the overall genetic architecture on young Y chromosomes.


ABSTRACT The implementation of revenue management in the hospitality industry has significantly increased in the past years. It started in the rooms departments and is slowly evolving to be further used for conference and event spaces, as well as food and beverage outlets. At the same time, advancements in technology allow new products such as automated revenue management systems to develop. On one hand, the opportunities are to make use of big data and shift to a science-based revenue management. On the other hand, risks include the increased vulnerability such as through hacking or data leaks. The current debate is often dominated by the fear of possible job loss and a lack of trust in the new technology. Nonetheless, the industry is slowly shifting towards automation and will have to adapt over time.


The toxicity, deterrence and repellence of aqueous extracts of seeds, leaves and fruits of Cabralea canjerana ssp. polytricha (Meliaceae) on the cabbage caterpillar, Ascia monuste orseis (Lepidoptera), were evaluated in laboratory. Aqueous extract of 3, 5 and 10% were obtained by infusion of dried and pulverized biological material in distilled water, filtered after 24h. Within 48h after preparation, cabbage leaves were immersed in the extracts or in distilled water and used in tests to verify differences on larval survival and on larval life-time between control and treatments. Extract repellency and deterrence were evaluated in free and non-free-choice tests for treated and non-treated cabbage leaves, by comparisons among the consumed area and the number of larvae per leaf portion. It was observed 100% larval mortality in the treatments in contrast to the 87% survival rate in the control. Larvae fed on treated cabbage leaves did not live as much as the control ones. Seed extracts, contrary to leaf and fruit extracts, had a repellent effect but it was not sufficiently intense to avoid leaf consumption. It was observed a reduction on larval leaf consumption in all free-choice treatments using 10% extracts. When the larvae did not have the option to consume non-treated leaves, they fed on treated leaves, but consuming smaller portions, especially when 10 and 5% extracts were used.


Purpose: To analyze the changes over two decades in HIV-infected pregnant women followed at a highly specialized regional center for antenatal care in southern Italy. Method: Since 1985, all HIV-infected pregnant women attending our center have been monitored using progressively updated protocols. Results: By December 2006, 230 deliveries in 159 women had been monitored. Deliveries in HIV-infected women increased from 0.16% (4/2,499) of all deliveries in 1985 to 0.73% (15/2,042) in 2006. The sociodemographic profile of the women changed greatly over the study period, and there was a shift from injecting drug use to heterosexual contact as the main transmission route and an increased proportion of foreign women. Subsequent to improvements in clinical care, the proportion of infected pregnant women receiving antiretroviral treatment increased from 27% (17/63) before 1996 to 81% (63/78) in 2006, with a corresponding decrease in the mother-to-child transmission rate from 36% (16/44) to 0.6% (1/157). Conclusion: The increasing number of HIV-infected pregnant women can be attributed to nonselective antenatal HIV screening, the spread of HIV infection through heterosexual contacts, and the desire of HIV-infected women to have children. In this context, highly specialized reference centers can play an important role in providing HIV-infected pregnant women with optimal care and in reducing mother-to-child transmission rates to very low levels.


Importance of social responsibility in businesses success increases day by day.. Social responsibilities perception of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences students as prospective stakeholders like business owners, shareholders, managers, accountants, marketing expert, or customers, will be essential in the settlement of responsibility consciousness in business world. Existing research shows that students reach social responsibility awareness through issues and discussions in undergraduate education. In this study, it is stated that students' perceptions of the importance of social responsibility, change in respect to demographic factors, especially gender; and differences in social responsibility perceptions of student from different faculty departments are mentioned. The results of this research exposed that business administration department students' social responsibility perceptions are more developed than that of other departments' students. Besides, when gender is considered, females' level of perception is found to be higher than that of males in all departments.


ABSTRACT Twenty-four samples of beach sand were collected on a grid pattern along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, and were analyzed for their heavy mineral content. The per cent of heavy minerals by weight was plotted on a map for each sample site and contours were drawn through points of equal weight per cent. The contours parallel the shore and the weights decrease waterward, suggesting that the trend of old shorelines and possibly even the strand line itself may he determined by heavy mineral weight studies of ancient lake and marine marginal sands.


The heliocentric orbits of STEREO A and B with a separation in longitude increasing by about 45° per year provide the unique opportunity to study the evolution of the heliospheric plasma sheet (HPS) on a time scale of up to ~2 days and to investigate the relative locations of HPSs and heliospheric current sheets (HCSs). Previous work usually determined the HCS locations based only on the interplanetary magnetic field. A recent study showed that a HCS can be taken as a global structure only when it matches with a sector boundary (SB). Using magnetic field and suprathermal electron data, it was also shown that the relative location of HCS and SB can be classified into five different types of configurations. However, only for two out of these five configurations, the HCS and SB are located at the same position and only these will therefore be used for our study of the HCS/HPS relative location. We find that out of 37 SBs in our data set, there are 10 suitable HPS/HCS event pairs. We find that an HPS can either straddle or border the related HCS. Comparing the corresponding HPS observations between STEREO A and B, we find that the relative HCS/HPS locations are mostly similar. In addition, the time difference of the HPSs observations between STEREO A and B match well with the predicted time delay for the solar wind coming out of a similar region of the Sun. We therefore conclude that HPSs are stationary structures originating at the Sun.


Splenic enlargement (splenomegaly) develops in numerous disease states, although a specific pathogenic role for the spleen has rarely been described. In polycythemia vera (PV), an activating mutation in Janus kinase 2 (JAK2V617) induces splenomegaly and an increase in hematocrit. Splenectomy is sparingly performed in patients with PV, however, due to surgical complications. Thus, the role of the spleen in the pathogenesis of human PV remains unknown. We specifically tested the role of the spleen in the pathogenesis of PV by performing either sham (SH) or splenectomy (SPL) surgeries in a murine model of JAK2V617F-driven PV. Compared to SH-operated mice, which rapidly develop high hematocrits after JAK2V617F transplantation, SPL mice completely fail to develop this phenotype. Disease burden (JAK2V617) is equivalent in the bone marrow of SH and SPL mice, however, and both groups develop fibrosis and osteosclerosis. If SPL is performed after PV is established, hematocrit rapidly declines to normal even though myelofibrosis and osteosclerosis again develop independently in the bone marrow. In contrast, SPL only blunts hematocrit elevation in secondary, erythropoietin-induced polycythemia. We conclude that the spleen is required for an elevated hematocrit in murine, JAK2V617F-driven PV, and propose that this phenotype of PV may require a specific interaction between mutant cells and the spleen.


An improved approach based on support vector machine (SVM) called the center distance ratio method is presented for license plate character recognition. First the support vectors are pre-extracted. A minimal set called the margin vector set, which contains all support vectors, is extracted. These margin vectors compose new training data and construct the classifier by using the general SVM optimized. The experimental results show that the improved SVM method does well at correct rate and training speed.


Abstract. This paper describes a framework for a mathematics lesson design called ELPSA. It is comprised of five learning components, namely: Experience, Language, Pictorial, Symbolic and Applications. This framework provides assistance for students to make sense of mathematics ideas in classrooms, through sequenced activities that draw of students' personal experiences, encourage multiple forms of representation and apply mathematics knowledge to new experiences. This paper explains the theory that underpins the framework, and highlights the manner in which the respective components promote mathematics thinking. It concludes with a demonstration on how the ELPSA framework can be used in the process of designing lessons for Number Patterns Keywords: ELPSA, framework, number patterns


Background Alcohol-attributable harm remains a serious public health problems in Australia and internationally. Quantifying these costs enables the relative size of various health problems to be gauged and health priorities set. Identifying cost-effective interventions provides an evidence base for resource allocation to achieve value for money. Objectives The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost of alcohol-attributable harm in Western Australia (WA) and identify cost-effective initiatives to reduce this harm. Methods Data was sourced from the WA Health Department including from the hospital morbidity data collection, the emergency department data collection and death registration records. This data was linked to enable records from the same person to be determined. Records of offences committed was obtained from the WA Police Service. Alcohol-attributable fractions were used to assess the extent to which health events and offences were attributable to alcohol. Costs were assigned to events by direct mapping, cost modelling or top-down cost allocation. A review was conducted to identify effective alcohol harm prevention initiatives, with data from this review forming the basis of effectiveness and resource use calculations. Cost savings of reducing injuries was determined from estimates of the cost of alcohol-attributable harm. Findings The cost of alcohol-attributable injury events will be presented in total and by sex, age group, mechanism and region. Cost components will be shown including health sector costs, criminal costs, property and vehicle damage, loss of productivity and quality of life loss. Benefit-cost ratios and cost per quality-adjusted life years will be produced for effective prevention initiatives for environmental and community-based interventions. Policy implications Given scarce resources, findings will provide guidance to policy makers about how to select initiatives to reduce alcohol-attributable harm from injury at a state and regional level. Many findings will be generalizable to other jurisdictions.


Acute lung injuries due to acute lung infections remain a major cause of mortality. Thus a combination of an antibiotic and a compound with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activities can help to overcome acute lung infection-induced injuries. Curcumin derived from the rhizome of turmeric has been used for decades and it exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, immunomodulatory properties by downregulation of various inflammatory mediators. Keeping these properties in mind, we investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin in a mouse model of acute inflammation by introducing Klebsiella pneumoniae B5055 into BALB/c mice via the intranasal route. Intranasal instillation of bacteria in this mouse model of acute pneumonia-induced inflammation resulted in a significant increase in neutrophil infiltration in the lungs along with increased production of various inflammatory mediators [i.e. malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), nitric oxide (NO), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha] in the lung tissue. The animals that received curcumin alone orally or in combination with augmentin, 15 days prior to bacterial instillation into the lungs via the intranasal route, showed a significant (P <0.05) decrease in neutrophil influx into the lungs and a significant (P <0.05) decrease in the production of MDA, NO, MPO activity and TNF-alpha levels. Augmentin treatment alone did not decrease the MDA, MPO, NO and TNF-alpha levels significantly (P >0.05) as compared to the control group. We therefore conclude that curcumin ameliorates lung inflammation induced by K. pneumoniae B5055 without significantly (P <0.05) decreasing the bacterial load in the lung tissue whereas augmentin takes care of bacterial proliferation. Hence, curcumin can be used as an adjunct therapy along with antibiotics as an anti-inflammatory or an immunomodulatory agent in the case of acute lung infection.


The flavoprotein CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) is now generally believed to be a magnetosensor, providing geomagnetic information via a quantum effect on a light-initiated radical pair reaction. Whilst there is considerable physical and behavioural data to support this view, the precise molecular basis of animal magnetosensitivity remains frustratingly unknown. A key reason for this is the difficulty in combining molecular and behavioural biological experiments with the sciences of magnetics and spin chemistry. In this review, we highlight work that has utilised the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which provides a highly tractable genetic model system that offers many advantages for the study of magnetosensitivity. Using this "living test-tube", significant progress has been made in elucidating the molecular basis of CRY-dependent magnetosensitivity.


This study has an aim to analyze the effects of ADS on conjunctivitis patients among the residents of Seoul, Korea, between 2005 and 2008. For this purpose, the number of medical services provided to conjunctivitis patients on the days of windblown dust storms and the days without any windblown dust storms were analyzed by conducting paired t-test. The interactive effects of the ADS density and the accuracy of ADS forecast on the fluctuation of conjunctivitis cases were also investigated. The results showed that, even with an accurate forecast issued 24 hours prior to the event, the average number of medical services provided for conjunctivitis was higher on the index days than the comparison days. On the other hand, in cases of failure to provide an accurate forecast 24 hours prior to the ADS event, the number of conjunctivitis attacks reported was statistically significantly higher on the index days for 3~5 days after the occurrence of a dust storm in relation to the comparison days. We also found that the rate of increase in asthma treatments on the index days with low level of PM 10 concentration rather than high PM10 level was more significant for all lag days. This study provides evidence that ADS events are significantly associated with conjunctivitis symptoms and the failure to forecast ADS events with low PM10 level might aggravate conjunctivitis disease.


Over the last few years, a worryingly number of attacks against SSL/TLS and other secure channels have been discovered. Fortunately, at least from a defenders perspective, these attacks require an adversary capable of observing or manipulating network traffic. This prevented a wide and easy exploitation of these vulnerabilities. In contrast, we introduce HEIST, a set of techniques that allows us to carry out attacks against SSL/TLS purely in the browser. More generally, and surprisingly, with HEIST it becomes possible to exploit certain flaws in network protocols without having to sniff actual traffic.


Styrene-7,8-oxide (SO) is generated at low concentrations from the oxidation of styrene during the processing of reinforced plastics. Since exposure to SO has important health implications, we developed air sampling and analytical methods to measure low levels of airborne SO in the presence of styrene and its other oxidation products, namely phenylacetaldehyde (PAA) and acetophenone (AP). Both active and passive air monitors were used. The active sampling method, which employed adsorption on Tenax, was suitable for measuring SO, PAA and AP but had limited capacity for styrene due to breakthrough. The passive monitor employed a carbon adsorbent and was suitable for measurement of styrene and SO but not PAA and AP due to poor recovery. After sampling, the analytes were extracted from the adsorbents with ethyl acetate and measured by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection or mass spectrometry. By maintaining the injection port at 70 degrees C, the thermal rearrangement of SO to PAA was minimized. Recovery of styrene and SO from the passive monitor depended upon loading and was corrected by linearization of the Freundlich isotherm. The limits of detection for SO, PAA, and AP were 0.2 ppb using the active monitor, and for SO was 1 ppb using the passive monitor. The sampling precision for SO (RSD from personal measurements) was 5.0% for the passive monitor and was 13.4% for the active monitor over a range of exposures from 5-150 ppb. The corresponding precision for styrene was 5.3% for the passive monitor for levels ranging from 1.2 to 104 ppm. Measurements of 235 personal exposures with the active monitor in 12 facilities manufacturing fiberglass-reinforced plastics (FRP) showed that levels of AP and PAA were below 7.8 ppb and 5 ppb, respectively. In contrast, SO averaged 30.4 ppb (SE=2.4) in these FRP facilities, ranging from below 0.2 ppb to 190 ppb. The active monitor was also used to detect airborne SO at levels of approximately equals 1 ppb in one facility manufacturing styrene butadiene rubber, suggesting that SO is generally present during the polymerization of styrene. Personal passive monitoring in the 12 FRP facilities (n = 657) revealed mean concentrations of styrene ranging between 1.8 and 55.4 ppm, and for SO between 1.7 and 62.6 ppb. The ratio of the mean styrene level to the mean SO level varied between 449:1 and 1,635:1 among the 12 FRP facilities.


The purpose of the study was to identify the mainstream journalistic competencies which are demanded by the employment market today. Research methods. With the help of content analysis of vacancy announcements for journalists, the most frequent professional requirements addressed to applicants by employers for the relevant positions were identified. The sample consisted of vacancy advertisements from two popular job search websites work.ua and ua.jooble.org with a total of 70 text units. The chronological boundaries of the sample amounted to 1 month. Territorial borders are the cities of Dnipro and Kyiv. The identified professional requirements were systematised on the basis of Z. Weischenberg competency model supplemented by the latest journalistic competencies, which were updated in connection with the needs of the time. Methods of analysis such as synthesis and generalisation were used to interpret the results of content analysis. Results. The conducted content-analytical research allowed to draw conclusions about the ratio of both established and new competencies that characterise the journalistic profession. It was found that journalistic skills, represented by a number of instrumental skills, define all the types of journalistic positions, regardless of specialisation and functional features. The results of the content analysis also allowed us to state the interest of employers in the skills required when working in cross-media and social networks. Higher education as a requirement for candidates was presented in less than 50% of advertisements, while the experience was updated in almost 80% of the analysed vacancies. These data correlate with today's popular approaches to the deinstitutionalisation of journalism education, its transfer to the practical-applied field. In the United States, in particular, it is presented by the model of education as a training hospital, while in Germany it is built in accordance with the Dortmund model. It is stated that the practice of opening of media-based schools of journalism is gradually being introduced in Ukraine. Novelty. For the first time, professional requirements for journalists were systematised on the basis of content analysis of vacancy advertisements. Competency priorities of employers were revealed. Practical significance. The results and conclusions can be used to optimise the competency model of journalism education. Key words : competencies, professional requirements, journalism, employment market, media industry, model of journalism education.


The literature contends that the lack of strategic business planning is a major drawback in the implementation of business process initiatives such as total quality management. In addition, it is evident that strategic planning firms achieve better performance than other firms. However, strategic planning often fails due to problems or barriers encountered at the implementation stage. It is unclear from the limited research carried out to date what actions, if any, firms can take to minimise or eliminate these barriers. This paper examines the concept of strategic planning and identifies the barriers to its implementation. It considers the suitability of formal strategic planning as the key to eliminating or reducing implementation barriers by comparing the extent to which the barriers are experienced in formal and non‐formal planning firms. The paper also examines the extent to which the barriers are experienced by high and low performing firms.


Sweat and oil, produced from eccrine and sebaceous glands, are secreted from the pores and distributed across the skin. If the fingerprint ridges are not hydrated with sweat or oil then the print will not have as much detail. Normal latent prints are extracted with fingerprint powder or superglue fuming. Gun blue is a chemical that is typically used to maintain and improve the metal finish of firearms, protecting against rusting and scratches. In preliminary studies gun blue helps enhance the ridge characteristics on fingerprints because once gun blue is dry its texture is similar to fingerprinting powder. For this project I tested the gun blue theory on gun cartridges collected from a local gun range loaded and fired by a male, female, and unknown. I collected 9mm and 12 gauge cartridges immediately and hours after firing. Cartridges were placed in a super glue fuming chamber then treated with gun blue. Preliminary results so that fingerprints were easier to view and lift after applying gun blue compared to commonly used fingerprint powder.


Diorganotin(IV) derivatives of monothio β-diketones of the general formula R2Sn(R'CSCHCOR')2 (R = Me, Bu, Ph; R' = Ph, Me; R'' = Ph, p-FC6H4, 2-F,4-OMeC6H3) have been synthesized by the reactions of R2SnCl2 or R2SnO with monothio β-diketones. Complexes of the type, SnX2(R'CSCHCOR')2 (X = Cl, Br, OAc), have also been synthesized. These compounds have been characterized by element analyses as well as by i.r., 1H n.m.r., and Mossbauer spectra. Ebullioscopic molecular weight determinations show them to be monomeric in benzene.


A series of 7 experiments used dual-task methodology to investigate the role of working memory in the operation of a simple action-control plan or program involving regular switching between addition and subtraction. Lists requiring switching were slower than blocked lists and showed 2 concurrent task effects. Demanding executive tasks impaired performance on both blocked and switched lists, whereas articulatory suppression impaired principally the switched condition. Implications for models of task switching and working memory and for the Vygotskian concept of verbal control of action are discussed.


Review of last 15 years literature and own experimental data on role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox signalization in induction of cell protective systems and development of adaptive resistance. Modem ideas of ROS involvement in redox signalization, induction of transcription factors and protective proteins, ways of cell response to ROS, essential limitations of exogenic antioxidants are shown. Concept of ROS involvement in non-specific component of increase resistance is introduced. Peculiarities of author's method of adaptation to change oxygen level are discussed. Experimental data on efficacy of adaptation to periodic hypoxiahyperoxia from ROS-induced stresses are presented.


We present physical/mathematical models base on partial differential equations (PDEs) and efficient numerical simulation schemes based on the Finite Element (FE) method for multi-field problems, where the acoustic field is the field of main interest. Acoustics, the theory of sound, is an emerging scientific field including disciplines from physics over engineering to medical science. We concentrate on the following three topics: vibro-acoustics, aero-acoustics and high intensity focused ultrasound. For each topic, we discuss the physical/mathematical modeling, efficient numerical schemes and provide practical applications.


This case study is presented for use with graduate students in educational administration. The intent is to further those students' preparation to deal with cultural and organizational change, along with the examination of the role of the administrative team as instructional leaders. One of the primary roles of the building principal is to be the instructional leader and create a climate that is conducive to learning. The scenario for this case is built around a negative atmosphere that will require campus-level administrators to transform the campus into a high-performing school in a brief period of time.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of rehabilitation of flared root canal on the fracture resistance of root and post-core system.

METHODS
Thirty-two simulated tooth roots made of polymethyl methacrylate were divided into 4 groups, including the normal root canal group and 3 flared root canal groups. One flared root canal group was rehabilitated by light-cared composite, another group was rehabilitated by amalgam, and the third flared root conal group was not treated. Casting post and core restored every simulated tooth root. Each specimen was embedded in acrylic resin and then fixed in a special jig on the universal load-testing machine. A compressive load was applied at a 90-degree angle to the long axis of the core until fracture, at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min; the maximum of load was recorded.

RESULTS
The means of load in normal root canal group, light-cared composite rehabilitated group, amalgam rehabilitated group, not treated group were 202.92 N, 194.60 N, 146.89 N, 142.09 N. It was shown that the load of normal root canal group is significantly greater than the load of not-treated group (P < 0.01); the light-cared composite rehabilitated group is significantly stronger than the not-treated group (P < 0.01), but there is no significant difference between the light-cared composite rehabilitated group and normal root canal group, and no significant difference between the amalgam rehabilitated group and not-treated group (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The rehabilitation of flared root canal using suitable material not only changes the shape of root canal, but also increases the fracture resistance of root canal because of its thicker and stronger root canal wall which obviously improves the fracture resistance of post and core.


In this article we examine Mel Gibson's controversial 2004 film The Passion of the Christ and the critical response it evoked within the American cultural context. Focusing on the modern fascination of especially Hollywood with generating "real" experiences for the viewing audience, we argue that the film and its critics are both caught up in a particular cultural debate regarding differing social and political visions and practices. Special attention is given to the spectacle of violence in the film, examining particularities of The Passion in the larger context of Gibson's cinematic work. However, rather than criticising Gibson's film for its violence or for being "unfaithful" to history and the Gospels, we explore the ideological and socio-cultural underpinnings of Gibson's cinematic work, situating it more fully within the visual context of Hollywood and the cultural and political milieu of America. In our view, The Passion has distinctive features that come together to create a uniquely "American Gospel."


Regional Agency for Parks (ARP) of Lazio region undertook an investigation on the conservation status and distribution of Alectoris graeca in the region to draw up the regional Action Plan for the species. In spring (March-June), surveys of rock partridge were conducted using playback technique in point-counts to obtain the density of rock partridge in each study area; in summer (end of August – early October), a survey was conducted with pointing dogs to establish the breeding success of the species. Data collected in spring were used to develop an habitat-suitability model following the Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) technique. The spring and summer surveys highlighted an areale shrinkage of rock partridge in Latium where it is currently confined to some Apennine areas. In these areas rock partridge showed an overlall density of 0.86 pairs/km2. In summer, groups of rock partridge included, on average, 4.2 juveniles that is a quite low value as compared to the results obtained in other Italian areas. Habitat-suitability model indicates that in the region rock partridge prefers areas with meadow and pastures at high altitude, with quite steep slope, South exposure, rocks and cliffs. The Action Plan detected several actions which can produce positive effects for the conservation of the species. Key-words: Alectoris graeca, density, breeding success, habitat-suitability model, Action Plan, Lazio region. 141 Avocetta 37: 141-144 (2013)


A group of drugs used in Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy (IAC) have intrinsic ionic properties, which can be used for filtering excessive drugs from blood in order to reduce systemic toxicity. The ion-exchange mechanism is utilized in an endovascular Chemofilter device which can be deployed during the IAC for capturing ionic drugs after they have had their effect on the tumor. In this study, the concentrated solution theory is used to account for the effect of electrochemical forces on the drug transport and adsorption by introducing an effective diffusion coefficient in the advection-diffusion-reaction equation. Consequently, a multi-physics model coupling hemodynamic and electrochemical forces is developed and applied to simulations of the transport and binding of Doxorubicin in the Chemofilter device. A comparison of drug adsorption predicted by the computations to that measured in animal studies demonstrated the benefits of using concentrated solution theory over the Nernst-Plank relations for modeling drug binding.


As a part of Web services triangle architecture, UDDI registry takes on the task of service registration and discovery, which plays an important role in the open, distributed and dynamic Web services environment. However, the current UDDI registries cannot meet the needs of practical applications. This paper proposes a domain-oriented UDDI registry architecture and addresses some new concepts such as service property schema, service relationship and service constraint. Compared with other extended UDDI registries, this architecture can improve the usability and operability of UDDI registry a great deal, fulfill the requirements of some applications more friendly and thus is very suitable for some specific domains


OBJECTIVE
To study aspects of the microclimate in a shantytown (favela), in order to understand the influence of the land occupation pattern on its climatic parameters.

METHODS
The study was carried out in a shantytown located in the southwestern region of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, between February 19 and July 31, 2003, i.e. covering the whole autumn and parts of the summer and winter. The air temperatures were measured every hour on a microclimate scale, at four points within this densely populated shantytown and, as a control, on a tree-lined street nearby.

RESULTS
In the summer, the average hourly temperatures in the shantytown were between 18.5 degrees C and 29.5 degrees C but, away from it, they were 2 degrees C to 3 degrees C lower at the hottest times of the day. In the autumn, the temperatures ranged from 15.5 degrees C to 25.5 degrees C and in the winter, 13.5 degrees C to 25.5 degrees C. The chilliest time in the shantytown was before dawn in the autumn and at 7 a.m. in the winter. The temperature variation was greater inside the shantytown than outside of it. The temperatures were within the comfort range for around 50% of the time. Temperatures below the lower limit (18 degrees C) were more frequent than those above the upper limit (24 degrees C). Temperatures above the upper limit were more frequent in the shantytown than outside of it.

CONCLUSIONS
The land occupation is a temperature differentiation factor. In the shantytown, the temperatures were higher during the daytime (by up to 3 degrees C) and lower at nighttime (by 1 degrees C on average). The shantytown environment accentuated the temperature extremes, while the temperatures in the control street were milder.


We present a visualization tool/or dynamic memory allocation information obtained from instrumenting the runtime allocator used by C programs. The goal of the presented visualization techniques is to convey insight in the dynamic behavior of the allocator. The purpose is to help the allocator designers understand how the performance and working of the allocator depend on the actual allocation scenarios in order to optimize its functionality by decreasing fragmentation and improving response lime. We use an orthogonal dense pixel layout of time versus memory space which can show tens of thousands of allocation events on a single screen. We enhance the basic idea with several new techniques: antialiased metric bars for detecting high and low activity areas; cushion cursors for checking correlations of multiple views; and a view to show correlation between program structure (functions) and memory allocations. The presented techniques are demonstrated on data from a real application.


To the Editor.— The article on the physical death of Jesus of Nazareth 1 missed the mark: one simply cannot do an autopsy without a corpse. Even if the New Testament, upon which the authors relied principally for "facts," were historical, it is not unanimous in saying that Jesus was crucified. The Book of Acts, which some scholars consider more ancient than the Gospels, says that Jesus was hanged from a tree. 2 Whether Jesus died during the ordeal is not a new question; there was a period spanning the early Middle Ages when the Church said Jesus did not die, not even physically. I find the authors' use of the term "the Jews" too general, too vague, and too liable to be used for mischief, as it has so often been used in the past 2,000 years. Which Jews did the authors have in mind? Surely not Jesus' original followers,


The relationships between testis size, hormone secretion and sperm production were studied during the spring (December) and autumn (May) in rams of two breeds with different breeding seasons and body weights (Corriedale and Australian Merino) maintained on native pastures and under natural photoperiods in Uruguay. Blood samples were collected at 20-min intervals during a 260-360-min period in 13 rams (four Corriedale, nine Australian Merino) during the late spring and autumn. Rams were weighed and testis size was estimated by orchimetry at each time period. Sperm production was estimated during a 2-week period, 2 months before blood collection and during each week following every blood collection. There was no relationship between testicular size and sperm production measured at the same time, nor between live weight and sperm production. In contrast, testicular volume during the late spring was correlated with sperm production in the autumn (r = 0.65; P = 0.02). The autumn serum LH was higher in Corriedale than in Merino rams. LH pulsatility was unaffected by season, but LH pulse frequency tended to be higher in Corriedale than in Merino rams, particularly in the late spring (2.37 versus 1.56 pulses/6 h; P = 0.08). Serum testosterone concentration was similar in both breeds and seasons. FSH levels were higher in the late spring than in the autumn in both breeds (Corriedale: 2.83 +/- 0.48 versus 2.17 +/- 0.24 ng x mL(-1); Merino: 2.23 +/- 0.24 versus 1.88 +/- 0.17 ng x mL(-1)). FSH and testosterone concentrations during the late spring were positively correlated with autumn sperm production (P = 0.07 and P = 0.03, respectively). In conclusion, the present experiment suggests that LH secretion is not a good parameter for the prediction of sperm production. In contrast, in our conditions (breeds and native pastures) testicular size and testosterone or FSH concentrations from the late spring may be used to predict sperm production in the autumn.


Genuine heteroleptic neodymium and samarium complexes of formula [Cp*'Ln[(p-tol)NN](BH4)] (Cp*' = C5Me4(nPr), (p-tol)NN = (p-tol)NC(Me)CHC(Me)N(p-tol), Ln = Sm: 1a, Ln = Nd: 1b) have been synthesized for the first time. These unprecedented homologues of early lanthanocenes are prepared by a metathetic reaction between their monocyclopentadienylbisborohydrido precursors with the corresponding potassium diketiminate. Both complexes were obtained in good yields and were characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Complex 1 a has an non-solvated dimeric structure, as indicated by its crystallographic data. The chloroneodymium analogue [Cp*'Nd[(p-tol)NN](Cl)] (2b) was only obtained as a part of a mixture. Analysis of crystals of 2b by X-ray diffraction revealed a molecular structure very similar to that of 1a. Preliminary isoprene polymerization experiments were carried out with 1 b in the presence of an alkylmagnesium coactivator. The resulting bimetallic Nd/Mg system behaves as an efficient and highly stereospecific catalyst with the synthesis of trans-1,4-polyisoprene with more than 98% regularity. The control of the polymer structure is related to the steric hindrance around the lanthanide atom.


Methanol has always been the basic raw material for new energy sources. In addition, it is an important kind of clean energy. The carbon and oxygen resources inside carbon dioxide are used to synthesize methanol through hydrogenation process, which helps to realize the recycling of carbon resources and reduce the dependence on fossil energy and the burden of environment. This project focuses on the catalyst in the process of the synthesis of methanol and the use of kinetic models for analysis to prove the accuracy of the process of synthesis of methanol.


Objective: Dual blockade with an Angiotensin Receptor/Neprilysin Inhibitor (ARNI) reduces proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis in diabetic TGR(mREN2)27 rats (i.e., rats displaying angiotensin II-dependent hypertension) more strongly than single AR blockade (ARB), despite a similar effect on blood pressure. Here we investigated whether this is due to improved renal hemodynamics and/or suppression of renal inflammation. Design and method: TGR(mREN2)27 rats were made diabetic with streptozotocin for 12 weeks, and treated with placebo (n = 10), valsartan (ARB; n = 8) or valsartan/sacubitril (ARNI; n = 8) from week 9–12. Blood pressure was measured by telemetry. Effective renal plasma flow (eRPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were assessed by quantifying para-aminohippuric acid and inulin clearances. Renal inflammation was quantified by qPCR (CD68 and CD3&egr; expression, representative for macrophages and T cells, respectively) and fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. Results: ARNI and ARB lowered blood pressure identically, while only ARNI reduced albuminuria. Severe, chronic ischemia and globally sclerotic glomeruli occurred less frequently in kidneys of ARNI-treated animals vs. ARB-treated animals and controls. ARNI, but not ARB, increased eRPF, and a similar trend was observed for GFR. No treatment affected filtration fraction. ARNI decreased CD68 mRNA expression in both renal cortex and medulla, while ARB increased CD68 as well as CD3&egr; expression in renal medulla. FACS analysis revealed no differences between the treatment groups in the immune-cell fractions that had infiltrated the kidney. Conclusions: Improved renal hemodynamics, combined with reduced macrophage infiltration, may underlie the stronger beneficial effects of ARNI on albuminuria and renal histology in diabetic TGR(mREN2)27 rats versus ARB.


Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as Twitter and Facebook have become a significant testing ground for Artificial Intelligence developers who build programs, known as socialbots, that imitate actual users by automating their social-network activities such as forming social links and posting content. Particularly, Twitter users have shown difficulties in distinguishing these socialbots from the human users in their social graphs. Frequently, legitimate users engage in conversations with socialbots. More impressively, socialbots are effective in acquiring human users as followers and exercising influence within them. While the success of socialbots is certainly a remarkable achievement for AI practitioners, their proliferation in the Twitter-sphere opens many possibilities for cybercrime. The proliferation of socialbots in the Twitter-sphere motivates us to assess the characteristics or strategies that make socialbots most likely to succeed. In this direction, we created 120 socialbot accounts in Twitter, which have a profile, follow other users, and generate tweets either by reposting messages that others have posted or by creating their own synthetic tweets. Then, we employ a 2k factorial design experiment in order to quantify the infiltration effectiveness of different socialbot strategies. Our analysis is the first of a kind, and reveals what strategies make socialbots successful in the Twitter-sphere.


Quenching is an important part of the production chain of steel components. The final properties of the product are largely determined during this stage, and this renders quenching as one of the most critical stages of production, requiring design and optimization specific to the product. The simulation of quenching requires the solution of a multi-scale/multi-physics problem with complex boundary conditions because of the simultaneously occurring heat transfer, phase transformation, and mechanical interactions. The aim of this paper is to provide an updated review of research studies on the simulation of quenching. The subject is covered from the pioneering work up to very recent advances in the field, with special emphasis on future research needs for improving the industrial usage of heat treatment simulations.