The rate of left ventricular volume change (dV/dt) is by definition left ventricular ejection rate during systole and filling rate during diastole, and in the absence of valvular regurgitation or intracardiac shunts, is equal to systolic aortic valve flow and diastolic mitral valve flow respectively. A computerized technique for the calculation of instantaneous left ventricular dV/dt from cineangiographically measured left ventricular volume is presented. Curve smoothing was accomplished by passing a second degree polynomial through nine consecutive volume points using the least squares technique. Validity of this technique was demonstrated by the high degree of correlation of systolic dV/dt with instantaneous ascending aortic blood velocity (flow) measured simultaneously with an electromagnetic catheter-tip velocity transducer in ten patients.Peak left ventricular systolic ejection rate (S dV/dt) was calculated from single plane cineangiographically measured left ventricular volumes in 113 adult patients and related to other measures of cardiovascular function. Mean S dV/dt for the group of 29 normal patients was 427 ± 129 cc per second and was not significantly different in patients with coronary artery disease (21), aortic stenosis (13), mitral stenosis (11), or cardiomyopathy (9), but was increased significantly in patients with valvular regurgitation (19). S dV/dt correlates poorly with the ejection fraction and with left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and is not a reliable measure of left ventricular function. The primary determinant of S dV/dt appears to be total left ventricular stroke volume. When S dV/dt is divided by end-diastolic volume (EDV), the resultant S dV/dt/EDV correlates well with peak normalized circumferential fiber shortening rate (r = 0.89, P < 0.01) and with ejection fraction (r = 0.69, P < 0.01). The correlation coefficient of S dV/dt/DV with LVEDP was r = 0.36 (P < 0.01) and with arterio-venous oxygen difference, r = 0.38 (P < 0.01). Thus, S dV/dt/EDV appears to be a measure of ventricular function. S dV/dt occurs in midsystole in normal subjects and in patients with mitral regurgitation and is not delayed in patients with aortic stenosis. The three patients with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis appeared to have characteristic changes in the left ventricular ejection rate curve with an increase in S dV/dt (and especially S dV/dt/EDV), with S dV/dt occurring earlier in systole than normal.


Abstract Problem, research strategy, and findings: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the most common financing mechanism for subsidized housing production in America. We investigate how and to what extent states are currently using the LIHTC to prepare for and recover from disasters. We systematically code guidelines in the 2017 LIHTC qualified allocation plans from 53 states and territories to identify disaster-related provisions. Twenty-four states and territories include provisions for preparedness or recovery in their allocation plans, of which 13 include only preparedness provisions, 3 include only recovery provisions, and 8 include both types. Preparedness provisions address project design and siting, whereas recovery provisions direct credits to disaster-affected areas or the replacement of damaged units. Using t tests, we compare three sets of states—those without any disaster-related provisions, those with either preparedness or recovery provisions, and those with both types of provisions—across measures of housing cost, demographic composition, disaster exposure, and political ideology. States with higher homeownership rates, lower home values, and lower rents are more likely than other states to have either or both types of provisions. Future research should investigate state adoption of disaster-related LIHTC provisions to better inform affordable housing policy. Takeaway for practice: State governments could mitigate disaster-related hazards and help speed recovery by including locally relevant preparedness and recovery provisions in their LIHTC allocation plans. These provisions could encourage resilient construction, weigh the social costs and benefits of LIHTC construction in floodplains, or waive program rules to address postdisaster housing shortages.


New compounds of 4-anilino-6-substituted quinazoline were designed, synthesized and tested for their EGFR-TK and tumor growth inhibitory activities. The synthesized compounds were appended with amides 6 and 7, dithiocarbamate ester 8a–f or urea/thiourea 9–12 moieties at C-6 of the quinazoline ring to work as extra hydrogen bond acceptors. All the synthesized compounds were effective against EGFR-TK activity, particularly, derivatives 8a, 8f and 9 with IC50 values of 0.14±0.003, 0.119±0.003, and 0.115±0.002 μM, respectively, showed the best activities. The three compounds were further assayed for their cytotoxicity against MCF-7, H-69, SKOV-3 and LS-174T cell lines. Multikinase enzymes inhibition activity of compound 9 was further screened including VEGFR-2, c-MER, c-MET and Her-2. Compounds 8a, 8f, and 9 were docked into the ATP binding site of EGFR-TK which also had resemblance binding pattern to erlotinib with extra binding mode with Cys-773 at the gatekeeper of the enzyme. Cell cycle analyses of MCF-7 cells treated with 8a and 9 was measured in addition to other related factors such as Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-9, and PARP-1.


In this study, we compared selected silymarin components, such as quercetin (QE), 2,3-dehydrosilybin (DHS) and silybin (SB), with the anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin (IND) in terms of their wound healing potential. In view of the fact that pathological cutaneous wound healing is associated with persistent inflammation, we studied their anti-inflammatory activity against inflammation induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We investigated the regulation of crucial pro-inflammatory transcription factors—nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1)—as well as the expression of downstream inflammatory targets by Western blotting, real-time PCR (RT-PCR), electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in vitro using primary normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). We demonstrated the greater ability of DHS to modulate the pro-inflammatory cytokines production via the NF-κB and AP-1 signaling pathways when compared to other tested substances. The prolonged exposure of LPS-challenged human dermal fibroblasts to DHS had both beneficial and detrimental consequences. DHS diminished interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion but induced the significant upregulation of IL-8 mRNA associated with NF-κB and AP-1 activation. The observed conflicting results may compromise the main expected benefit, which is the acceleration of the healing of the wound via a diminished inflammation.


A series of metal-organic hybrid compounds were synthesized using two new phosphonic acids, pyridyl-4-phosphonic acid and p-xylylenediphosphonic acid (H(2)O(3)PCH(2)C(6)H(4)CH(2)PO(3)H(2)). The phosphonic acid ligands have been synthesized from their corresponding bromides following two different types of reactions. The reaction of pyridyl-4-phosphonic acid with three different divalent metal salts results in the formation of molecular structures of different dimensionality. The reaction of Cu(II) with the phosphonic acid under hydrothermal conditions yields a three-dimensional (3D) open framework structure having the molecular formula [Cu(4)(NC(5)H(4)-PO(3))(4)(H(2)O)(10)] (1). The reactions with Mn(II) and Zn(II) salts with the same phosphonic acid resulted in a two-dimensional layered and a dinuclear compound with molecular formulas [Mn(3)(NC(5)H(4)-PO(3))(4)(H(2)O)(6)(ClO(4))(2)] (2) and [Zn(2)(NHC(5)H(4)-PO(3)H)(2)Cl(4)] (3), respectively. Compound 1 crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system having space group P with structural parameters a = 7.4564(15) Angstrom, b = 9.1845(19) Angstrom, c = 11.582(2) Angstrom, alpha = 100.842(3) degrees, beta = 104.303(3) degrees, gamma = 94.774(3) degrees, and Z = 1. Compound 2 crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system, space group P, with structural parameters a = 7.6871(14) Angstrom, b = 10.576(2) Angstrom, c = 14.470(3)Angstrom, alpha = 81.340(3) degrees, beta = 81.561(3) degrees, gamma = 68.757(3) degrees, and Z = 2, whereas compound 3 crystallizes in a monoclinic crystal system with space group P2(1)/n. The structural parameters are as follows: a = 8.4969 (5) Angstrom, b = 9.3911 (5) Angstrom, c = 12.3779 (6) Angstrom, beta = 90.860(17) degrees, and Z = 4. The pyridylphosphonate ligand shows different ligation behavior toward the three divalent metal ions. On the other hand, p-xylylenediphosphonic acid on reaction with Co(II) formed a 3D compound [Co(2)(O(3)PCH(2)C(6)H(4)CH(2)PO(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)] (4) with a layered and pillared structure. Compound 4 crystallizes in an orthorhombic crystal system with space group Pnma. The structural parameters are a = 21.744(4) Angstrom, b = 5.6744(10) Angstrom, c = 4.7927(9) Angstrom, and Z = 4.


Based on adaptive complementary filtering (ACF) principles, this paper presents a cascaded estimation method to estimate the longitudinal and lateral velocities of a vehicle. The observation process is first carried out to estimate the longitudinal velocity, followed by the lateral speed observer in another ACF. Both of the ACFs are regulated by a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter with adaptive filtering parameters. Quick-response motor torques are attainable to induce the relevant vehicle states in a dynamic inverse coupled tire model (ICTM). Meanwhile, an additional kinematics-based approach is lumped into ACF to enhance the robustness against modeling discrepancy to zero. The errors of estimation are proved to converge by Lyapunov method. On an electric ground vehicle (EGV) equipped with four independently actuated in-wheel motors (FIAIWM), two maneuvers were conducted to evaluate the proposed method. Experimental results indicate that the proposed estimators are capable of matching with the measured longitudinal and lateral velocities accurately, and highlight it as a low-cost solution in practice.


The interaction of business and environment has been an issue since early 70s. The study of consumers' attitude and purchasing intention toward green packaged foods helps marketers and providers to understand how to improve their green products, what type of green packaging they need and how to attract consumers to buy their products. Packaging as the final tool to reach the consumers has a salient role to transfer the message of green foods. In so far as green packaging is concerned, it is a very new concept in Malaysia. As of today there has been no empirical research on Malaysians attitudes and purchasing behavior toward green packaging. Subsequently the aim of this research would be toward this issue. For the purpose of the study a survey was conducted through mall-intercept personal survey. A total of 134 questionnaires were collected within the Klang Valley in Malaysia. Result of the study indicated that consumers' positive attitude along with demographics can shape the marketing strategy of green food providers.


The screening, early diagnosis and early treatment project of the upper gastrointestinal cancer had achieved good results since its launch. However, from a national perspective, the endoscopic screening of upper gastrointestinal cancer was still not optimistic, such as the poor rate of the early diagnosis, the low rate of 5-year survival in rural areas, and the disparity of the standardized screening and diagnosis in different areas. Therefore, the situation of upper gastrointestinal cancer prevention and treatment is still severe. Under the guidance of the "Healthy China 2030" plan, based on the international experience and domestic actual circumstance, it is suggested that the screening of high-risk population in high-risk areas should be changed into the opportunistic screening in primary medical institutions. The opportunistic screening could expand the coverage of the screening, early diagnosis and early treatment project of the upper gastrointestinal cancer, and increase the early diagnosis rate in rural areas and primary medical institutions, which could improve the 5-year survival rate of patients with the upper gastrointestinal cancer, and then achieve the sustainable development of the cancer prevention and treatment in China.


The lock-up clutch attached to a torque converter can improve highly the efficiency of power transfer from an engine by locking up with the transmission gears directly at a high speed instead of fluid coupling. Upon locking up, NVH problems take place due to the connecting impact, so that damper springs or hydraulic dampers which can absorb the impact are applied to the lock-up clutch. The location, the number of springs, and the diameters of damper springs and wires are important design parameters. The damper springs are designed based on the impact energy and dynamics and located on the lock-up clutch piston disk following finite element analysis of vibration. The minimum allowable thickness and the contour of the piston disk are determined using the finite element analysis based on strength and stiffness. The change in the location and the number of damper springs results in the variation of natural frequency. The impact absorbtion is highest when the springs are located at the edge of a piston disk, based on the energy balance.


As a base model for space weather application, we develop an ionospheric model (SAMI2-CNU) by revising the open source SAMI2 model. The revision includes the photoionization of X-rays in the range below 50 Å and photoelectron impact ionization. As a solar flux input to the model, we utilize the real-time solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray (1 ~ 105.0 nm) fluxes of the FISM (flare irradiance spectral model). In order to verify the SAMI2-CNU model, we compare the peak densities of the E and the F2 layers with those from the GIRO (Global Ionospheric Radio Observatory) network for 110 days with the F10.7 range of 70 - 280 in the last solar cycle. The model provides larger values of NmF2 by 30 - 40%, but the NmE values are reasonably close to the ionosonde values. By carrying out a linear correlation analysis between the model and the ionosonde values, we derived scale factors of 0.67 and 0.41 for the photoionization rates in the F2 and the E regions, respectively. With these scale factors, the SAMI2-CNU model allows us to match the ionosonde NmF2 and NmE values within 7% on the average. We also simulated ionospheric changes during eight solar flare events and found averaged 20% and 46% enhancements of NmF2 and NmE, respectively, over the pre-flare values. Although the SAMI2-CNU model has the same problem with matching the NmF2 enhancement as the original SAMI2, it provides reasonable estimates of the NmE increase, as well as reasonable matches of the NmF2 and the NmE values with the ionosonde values. Thus, the SAMI2-CNU model can be used as a physics model in the data-assimilated model that is being developed for the regional ionosphere around the Korea peninsula.


Synapses are the site of connections between various nerve cells to interact, where neural information is processed through the mechanisms of synaptic transmission mediated by chemical messengers, including excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Whereas signals at excitatory synapses are mediated by the amino acid glutamate, inhibitory signals are mainly mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Exploring the mechanisms underlying the synaptic transmission and changes in its strength is, therefore, essential for our understanding of brain functions. The inhibitory synapse plays a critical role in controlling various functions of the brain. However, the mechanisms that regulate the strength of transmission at inhibitory synapses are poorly understood than those that regulate excitatory synapses. Therefore, I have been interested in the roles of neuromodulators on inhibitory GABAergic synapses in the cerebellum, whose basic neural circuits and synaptic mechanisms have been more thoroughly investigated than have those of other regions of the mammalian central nervous system. This knowledge base would allow results of experiments on cerebellar synapses to be interpreted more easily. Consequently, our studies have revealed that GABAergic synapses in the cerebellum are well modulated by different neuromodulators (monoamines and purines) liberated by different synaptic inputs converging on the same inhibitory synapses. (日本医科大学医学会雑誌 2009; 5: 152―158)


Advances in high-throughput sequencing have increased the availability of microbiome sequencing data that can be exploited to characterize microbiome community structure in situ. We explore using word and sentence embedding approaches for nucleotide sequences since they may be a suitable numerical representation for downstream machine learning applications (especially deep learning). This work involves first encoding ("embedding") each sequence into a dense, low-dimensional, numeric vector space. Here, we use Skip-Gram word2vec to embed k-mers, obtained from 16S rRNA amplicon surveys, and then leverage an existing sentence embedding technique to embed all sequences belonging to specific body sites or samples. We demonstrate that these representations are biologically meaningful, and hence the embedding space can be exploited as a form of feature extraction for exploratory analysis. We show that sequence embeddings preserve relevant information about the sequencing data such as k-mer context, sequence taxonomy, and sample class. Specifically, the sequence embedding space resolved differences among phyla, as well as differences among genera within the same family. Distances between sequence embeddings had similar qualities to distances between alignment identities, and embedding multiple sequences can be thought of as generating a consensus sequence. Using sample embeddings for body site classification resulted in negligible performance loss compared to using OTU abundance data. Lastly, the k-mer embedding space captured distinct k-mer profiles that mapped to specific regions of the 16S rRNA gene and corresponded with particular body sites. Together, our results show that embedding sequences results in meaningful representations that can be used for exploratory analyses or for downstream machine learning applications that require numeric data. Moreover, because the embeddings are trained in an unsupervised manner, unlabeled data can be embedded and used to bolster supervised machine learning tasks. Author summary Improvements in the way genomes are sequenced have led to an abundance of microbiome data. With the right approaches, researchers use this data to thoroughly characterize how microbes interact with each other and their host, but sequencing data is of a form (sequences of letters) not ideal for many data analysis approaches. We therefore present an approach to transform sequencing data into arrays of numbers that can capture interesting qualities of the data at the sub-sequence, full-sequence, and sample levels. This allows us to measure the importance of certain microbial sequences with respect to the type of microbe and the condition of the host. Also, representing sequences in this way improves our ability to use other complicated modeling approaches. Using microbiome data from human samples, we show that our numeric representations captured differences between different types of microbes, as well as differences in the body site location from which the samples were collected.


Understanding how hosts minimize the cost of emerging infections has fundamental implications for epidemiological dynamics and the evolution of pathogen virulence. Despite this, few experimental studies in natural populations have tested whether, in response to disease emergence, hosts evolve resistance, which reduces pathogen load through immune activation, or tolerance, which limits somatic damages without decreasing pathogen load. Further, none has done so accounting for significant natural variation in pathogen virulence, despite known effects on host responses to infection. Here, we investigate whether eastern North American house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) have evolved resistance and/or tolerance to their emerging bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum. To do so, we inoculated finches from disease‐exposed and disease‐unexposed populations with 55 distinct isolates of varying virulence. First, although peak pathogen loads, which occurred approximately eight days postinoculation, did not differ between experimentally inoculated finches from disease‐exposed versus unexposed population, pathogen loads subsequently decreased faster and to a greater extent in finches from exposed populations. These results suggest that finches from exposed populations are able to clear the infection through adaptive immune processes. Second, however, finches from exposed populations also displayed lower symptom severity for a given pathogen load, suggesting that a damage‐limitation mechanism, or tolerance, has accompanied the evolution of immune clearance. Our results highlight that resistance and tolerance should be seen as complementary, not alternative, defense strategies: the evolution of resistance benefits from the concomitant evolution of tolerance mechanisms that protect against the damage of immune activation, whereas the evolution of tolerance without resistance will risk runaway selection on pathogen virulence.


A machine learning technique is applied to the design and optimization of reflectarray antennas to considerably accelerate computing time without compromising accuracy. In particular, support vector machines (SVMs), automatic learning structures that are able to deal with regression problems, are employed to obtain surrogate models of the reflectarray element to substitute the full-wave analysis tool for the characterization of the unit cell in the design and optimization algorithms. The analysis, design, and optimization of a very large reflectarray antenna for Direct Broadcast Satellite applications are accelerated up to three orders of magnitude. This is here demonstrated with three examples: one showing the design of a reflectarray and two for the crosspolar optimization, one with one coverage for each linear polarization (Europe and the Middle East) and another with a Middle East coverage working in dual-linear polarization. The accuracy of the proposed approach is validated by means of a comparison of the final designs with full-wave simulations based on local periodicity obtaining good agreement. The crosspolar dicrimination and crosspolar isolation are greatly improved using the SVMs while considerably reducing computing time.


The aim of these study was to examine the effect of the replacement fish meal with chicken feather meal (CFM) for eel Anguilla bicolor larvae. The study was conducted at the Laboratory of Ichthyology, Faculty of Marine and Fisheries of Syiah Kuala University on September to October 2017. The Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 7 treatments and 4 replications were used in this study. The  tested dosage of CFM were of 0% CFM (control), 10% CFM, 20% CFM, 30% CFM, 40% CFM, 50% CFM and 60% CFM, where each treatment were contained of protein 32.26% (0% CFM), 33.09% (10% CFM), 36.20% (20% CFM), 39.10% (30% CFM), 41.22% (40% CFM), 45.43 ( 50% CFM) and 40.02% (60% CFM). The experimental fish were stocked in the plastic container at the stocking density of 15 fish container-1 and fed the experimental diets at the feeding level of 10% body weight a day for 60 days. The results showed that the application of CFM in the diet was not given a significant effect on the weight gain, daily weight gain, specific growth rate (P>0.05). In addition, the fish fed on CFM did not show growth rate even reduces the body weight of the experimental fish. It is concluded that the application of the CFM in diet gave the negative effect on the growth performance of the eel larvae.


Most ripple-fired explosions have a unique signature in the spectrum that can be used to quickly identify them when monitoring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We want to know the importance of high-frequency (> 16 Hz) seismic data in identifying these explosions. The deployable seismic verification system (DSVS) in Wyoming records data up to 50 Hz with good signal to noise, so it is an excellent source for determining the benefits of recording data over 16 Hz. We developed a database of 118 known earthquakes and 176 known ripple-fired explosions. We calculated a binary spectrogram and an average binary spectrum for each event and developed criteria based on the number of peaks and nulls above certain thresholds to classify events as ripple-fired explosions. Using data at frequencies up to 50 Hz, 50% of the known ripple-fired explosions were correctly identified, and another 22% had banding in the spectrogram but did not meet the established criteria. The other 27% of the known ripple-fired explosions had no banding. To test the importance of high-frequency (> 16 Hz) data, we recalculated spectrograms between 0 and 16 Hz for the 135 known ripple-fired explosions and earthquakes that had banding. Eleven of the 135 could not be identified correctly if data over 16 Hz was excluded; 5 had information at frequencies over 16 Hz that was critical to seeing any banding. But the vast majority of events were correctly identified in the pass band of 0 to 16 Hz, suggesting that higher-frequency data do not significantly help to identify most ripple-fired explosions in Wyoming.


Abstract Objectives: General practitioners were surveyed by questionnaire for their opinions on their needs and usage of a new child psychiatric service in the Midwestern Health Board. Methods: The questionnaire was returned by 72% of GPs. Their practices included inner city, new towns, country town, and rural communities. Results: It was found that 160 children were awaiting referral to the new service of which the most prominent presenting problems were hyperactivity, learning difficulties, enuresis, poor parenting skills, dysfunctional families, anorexia/eating disorders and psychosomatic problems. Primary school children required more frequent referral than secondary school children. GPs appreciated telephone access to the psychiatrist and for the service to be available for emergencies. A few GPs requested discussion meetings following referral. Most GPs were satisfied with any member of the multi-disciplinary child psychiatric team assessing the children. Conclusions: This study was a useful method of assessing the numbers and nature of problems which might present to a new child psychiatric service in order that staff and treatment programmes could be organised. Results suggest that further research is necessary.


Abstract Insurance accounting has for many years proved a challenging topic for standard setters, preparers and users, often described as a "black box". Will recent developments, in particular the July 2010 Insurance Contracts Exposure Draft, herald a new era? This paper reviews these developments, setting out key issues and implications. It concentrates on issues relevant to life insurers, although much of the content is also relevant to non-life insurers. The paper compares certain IFRS and Solvency II developments, recognising that UK insurers face challenges in implementing new financial and regulatory reporting requirements in similar timeframes. The paper considers resulting external disclosure requirements and a possible future role for supplementary information.


B cell stimulatory factor-1 (BSF-1) acts on resting B cells to increase expression of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and to prepare for more prompt entry into S phase in response to anti-IgM and lipopolysaccharide. It also acts as a costimulant, with low concentrations of anti-IgM, to cause resting B cells to synthesize DNA. Unlike anti-IgM, BSF-1 does not cause elevation in inositol phospholipid metabolism or in concentration of intracellular free calcium, nor does it enhance such biochemical responses to anti-IgM. Furthermore, increased expression of class II MHC molecules to BSF-1 is observed when essentially all extracellular calcium is chelated by EGTA, whereas lower concentrations of EGTA completely inhibit increases in class II molecules in response to anti-IgM. These results indicate that BSF-1 effects on resting B cells are not mediated by the inositol phospholipid metabolic pathway.


We have found evidence for the presence of two distinct ancient stellar components (both ≥10 Gyr old) in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We used the ESO Wide Field Imager in conjunction with the Very Large Telescope/FLAMES spectrograph to study the properties of the resolved stellar population of Sculptor out to and beyond the tidal radius. We find that two components are discernible in the spatial distribution of horizontal branch stars in our imaging and in the [Fe/H] and vhel distributions for our large sample of spectroscopic measurements. They can be generally described as a "metal-poor" component ([Fe/H] < -1.7) and a "metal-rich" component ([Fe/H] > -1.7). The metal-poor stars are more spatially extended than the metal-rich stars, and they also appear to be kinematically distinct. These results provide insight into the formation processes of small systems in the early universe and the conditions found there. Even this simplest of galaxies appears to have had a surprisingly complex early evolution.


This study examines the role national culture plays in the relationship between the competitive environment, firm strategies, and firm performance by extruding prior empirical work to the international marketplace. We find that business strategies remain an important determinant of firm performance when considering the effects of national culture, competitive environment, and industry in which firms compete. Implications for global managers and future research are discussed.


In this paper we look at the interplay between the level of household leverage in the economy and fiscal policy. When the fiscal rule is defined on lump-sum transfers, government spending or consumption taxes, the impact multipliers of transitory fiscal shocks become substantially amplified in an environment of easy access to credit by impatient consumers. However, when the government reacts to debt deviations by raising distortionary taxes on income, labour or capital, the effects of household debt on the size of the impact output multipliers vanish or even reverse. We also find that differences in fiscal multipliers between high and low indebtedness regimes belong basically to the short run, whereas the long-run multipliers are barely affected by the level of household debt in the economy. Finally, we find that fiscal shocks exert an unequal welfare effect on impatient and patient households that can even be of opposite signs.


Agile methods are being used as a new way of developing software. They are basically used to fasten software development cycle by keeping an eye on its quality. Using Agile methods in any project along with quality assurance perspective is a crucial task. Many software developing organizations are using Agile methods now a days in their projects to reduce cost involved in a project. Agile methods are best suited for small projects as they require less resources and able to generate output in less time. Testing of these small projects is also an easy task. However, many organizations are also using Agile methods for medium and large scale projects. These projects also have large as well as geographically distributed teams. Further testing of these projects cannot be done on regular basis due to the size of the projects. Assuring quality of these projects using Agile method is a challenging task. Many Agile methods are being used by software developing organizations to build high quality software. Each Agile method has its own strengths and weaknesses. This research work is based on purposing a novel hybrid Agile methodology DXPRUM. The DXPRUM is a combination of three of the Agile models named as Dynamic Systems Development Method, Extreme Programming and Scrum (D comes from DSDM, XP from Extreme Programing, RUM from Scrum). The objective is to combines the strengths of all the three Agile methods by removing their weaknesses. The main strength of DXPRUM will be the in time delivery of the project to customer with reduced cost and high quality.


Objective To characterize the significance of correlated autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its complication lupus nephritis (LN) in a large cohort of patients. Methods Clinical data were statistically analyzed in 1699 SLE patients with or without nephritis who were diagnosed and treated during 2002–2013 in the northeast region of China. Reactivity to a list of 16 autoantibodies was detected by the serum test Euroline ANA profile (IgG). Serum titers of the anti-nucleosome autoantibodies were measured by ELISA assays. Kidney biopsies were examined by pathologists. Immune complex deposition was identified by immunohistochemistry stain. Results Simultaneous positivity of anti-dsDNA, -nucleosome and -histone antibodies (3-pos) was prevalent in SLE patients with LN compared to Non-renal SLE patients (41% vs 11%, p< 0.001). Significant correlations were found between any two of the above three anti-nucleosome antibodies in LN patients. In comparison to non-3-pos cohorts, 3-pos patients with LN had significantly higher serum levels of the three antibodies and more active disease; was associated with type IV disease; suffered from more severe renal damages; received more intensive treatment and had worse disease outcome. The serum levels of these three autoantibodies in 3-pos LN patients were significantly decreased when they underwent clinical recovery. Conclusions Simultaneous reactivity to anti-dsDNA, -nucleosome and -histone antibodies by Euroline ANA profile (IgG) may indicate severe nephropathy in patients with SLE.


The gut operon was subcloned into various plasmid vectors (M. Yamada and M. H. Saier, Jr., J. Bacteriol. 169:2990-2994, 1987). Constitutive expression of the plasmid-encoded operon prevented utilization of alanine and Krebs cycle intermediates when they were provided as sole sources of carbon for growth. Expression of the gutB gene alone (encoding the glucitol enzyme III), subcloned downstream from either the lactose promoter or the tetracycline resistance promoter, inhibited utilization of the same compounds. On the other hand, overexpression of the gutA gene (encoding the glucitol enzyme II) inhibited the utilization of a variety of sugars as well as alanine and Krebs cycle intermediates by an apparently distinct mechanism. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity was greatly reduced in cells expressing high levels of the cloned gutB gene but was nearly normal in cells expressing high levels of the gutA gene. A chromosomal mutation in the gutR gene, which gave rise to constitutive expression of the chromosomal gut operon, also gave rise to growth inhibition on gluconeogenic substrates as well as reduced phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity. Phosphoenolpyruvate synthase activity in general varied in parallel with that of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. These results suggest that high-level expression of the glucitol enzyme III of the phosphotransferase system can negatively regulate gluconeogenesis by repression or inhibition of the two key gluconeogenic enzymes, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and phosphoenolpyruvate synthase.


To evaluate the health risk of the workplace environment of a general hospital toward the hospital workers, a questionnaire survey on the perception of risk at the workplace environment and environmental measurements at 27 locations with 240 workers in the hospital were made from October 25th, 1993 to October 30th, 1994. The results were as follows ; 1. By the environmental measurements, 86 workers(36%) were found to be exposed to poor or harmful degree of general illumination, 193 workers(80%) were exposed to poor or harmful local illumination, 34 workers(14%) were exposed to poor or harmful degree of thermal condition and 180 workers(75%) were exposed to poor or harmful noise level, but nobody was exposed to poor or harmful dust and toluene concentration. Also nobody was exposed to poor or harmful level of radiation or anticancer/antibiotic agents. 2. The subjective perceptions on the environmental conditions felt by the workers were different from the objective findings by the environmental measurements. The workers underscored the poor illumination state and overscored the dust concentrations. Also workers oversensitized about the thermal condition, the noise level, the radiation level, the toluene concentration and anticancer/antibiotic agents 3. The sources of noise were the dialogue(179 workers) and the office instruments(131 workers). The sources of dust came from the clothes(108 workers) and the building materials(79 workers). 4. The questionnaire survey showed that the 28 workers were exposed to poor or harmful level of the antibiotics, 10 workers to alkali or acid and 6 workers to drug dust in the pharmacy but the above findings could not be proved by the environmental measurements.


Due to the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), the IoT devices are becoming utilized at the edge network at a much higher rate. Conventionally, the IoT devices lack the computation resources required for carrying out ultra-edge analytics. In this paper, we go beyond the typical edge analytics paradigm, which is mostly limited to user-smartphones, and investigate how to embed intelligence into the ultra-edge IoT sensors. To conceptualize the smart IoT sensors with enhanced intelligence, we select the arrhythmia detection task employing Electrocardiogram (ECG) trace as one of the mobile health (mHealth) cases. The existing approaches are not feasible for ultra-edge IoT sensors due to the extensive noise-filtering and manual feature extraction phase. Hence, in this paper, to facilitate the analytics, we propose a Deep Learning-based Lightweight Arrhythmia Classification (DL-LAC) method, which employs only single-lead ECG trace and does not require noise-filtering and manual feature extraction steps. As the proposed technique, we design a one-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture. Complying with the ANSI/AAMI EC57:1998 standard, four heartbeat types are taken into consideration as class labels. The efficiency and the generalization ability of the proposed model are evaluated, employing four different datasets from PhysioNet. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed DL method outperforms traditional methods such as the Delay Differential Equation (DDE)-based optimization, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), and Random Forest (RF). The proposed DL-LAC illustrates encouraging performance in terms of time and memory requirement when the trained model is transferred to virtualized microcontrollers connected to IoT sensors.


Abstract : Live organisms offer the opportunity to monitor water resources for toxic conditions by measuring changes in their established behavioral and physiological responses. The U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research uses fish ventilatory pattern analysis to monitor aquatic environments for toxic conditions. The Center and APL have initiated an exploratory analysis of data from a series of controlled, single-substance validation tests being conducted at Fort Detrick, Maryland. This article presents the results of some preliminary analyses and outlines future directions for follow-on studies.


Resin transfer molding (RTM) finishes the resin impregnation and composite fabrication at the same time. It simplifies the process for composites fabrication and has the advantages of automation, low cost, and versatile design of fiber reinforcement. Therefore, the RTM process is widely used in the architecture, automotive, and aerospace industries. However, in the RTM process, resin must flow through the fiber reinforcement in the planar direction, which, in some cases such as fabrications of large panels, may need a long time for the mold filling. If the part dimension is too large or the fiber permeability is too low, the mold filling process may not be able to complete before the resin gels. Therefore, some modification for the RTM process is necessary in order to reduce the mold filling time. In the compression transfer molding, the mold opens a small gap for the resin to fill in between fiber mats and the mold, and then compresses the fiber reinforcement to be impregnated by the resin in the thickness direction. In this way, since resin is forced into the fiber reinforcements in the thickness direction, the damage of the fibers will be minimized. In addition, the mold filling time will be reduced due to the different flow path of the resin inside the mold. This study explored the possibility of using the compression transfer molding process and also identified the key parameters regarding the process.


In learning tasks with label noise, improving model robustness against overfitting is a pivotal challenge because the model eventually memorizes labels, including the noisy ones. Identifying the samples with noisy labels and preventing the model from learning them is a promising approach to address this challenge. When training with noisy labels, the per-class confidence scores of the model, represented by the class probabilities, can be reliable criteria for assessing whether the input label is the true label or the corrupted one. In this work, we exploit this observation and propose a novel discriminator metric called confidence error and a sieving strategy called CONFES to differentiate between the clean and noisy samples effectively. We provide theoretical guarantees on the probability of error for our proposed metric. Then, we experimentally illustrate the superior performance of our proposed approach compared to recent studies on various settings, such as synthetic and real-world label noise. Moreover, we show CONFES can be combined with other state-of-the-art approaches, such as Co-teaching and DivideMix to further improve model performance.


In order to strengthen the management and security status monitoring of the internal network of medical units and make up for security vulnerabilities in time, an ad hoc network link security situation identification method is proposed. According to the architecture of the ad hoc network, it is analyzed that it has the advantages of strong persistence and its own protocol. Combined with the data of detection equipment and security log, the hierarchical acquisition model is used to obtain the situation elements such as port scanning attack and flood attack. The transmission rate factor, forwarding rate factor, dispersion factor, and node aggregation factor are regarded as eigenvectors. We determine the relationship between identity, difference, and opposition, identify the security situation through the description of the node state, and conduct quantitative processing to obtain the final identification result. The experimental results show that the weight value of this method is the same as the standard weight, which can identify the security situation level, obtain the specific situation value, and present a more intuitive identification result.


Information-Centric Networking (ICN) has seen a significant resurgence in recent years. ICN promises benefits to users and service providers along several dimensions (e.g., performance, security, and mobility). These benefits, however, come at a non-trivial cost as many ICN proposals envision adding significant complexity to the network by having routers serve as content caches and support nearest-replica routing. This paper is driven by the simple question of whether this additional complexity is justified and if we can achieve these benefits in an incrementally deployable fashion. To this end, we use trace-driven simulations to analyze the quantitative benefits attributed to ICN (e.g., lower latency and congestion). Somewhat surprisingly, we find that pervasive caching and nearest-replica routing are not fundamentally necessary---most of the performance benefits can be achieved with simpler caching architectures. We also discuss how the qualitative benefits of ICN (e.g., security, mobility) can be achieved without any changes to the network. Building on these insights, we present a proof-of-concept design of an incrementally deployable ICN architecture.


In the last twenty years, following a fast and strong expansion, microfinance has been characterized worldwide by a relevant heterogeneity of the actors involved, especially in its main segment, microcredit. The socio-economic vulnerability of the population involved in this type of project led to the need for new concepts of sustainability, based on a schism between the institutionist and the welfarist approaches. Previous impact assessments demonstrated that a proper access to financial services improves life conditions among economically active poor persons by increasing their entrepreneurship opportunities and thus their income. Nevertheless, commercial and institutional approaches can lead astray from the original purpose, considering microfinance merely as a new tool to access financial services and not as a whole range of social processes driven by both financial and social services. Based on a research paper on the microfinance sector in Jordan, one of the most developed Arab countries in terms of microlending, this study analyses the different approaches of microfinance adopted in Jordan in the last years, focusing on the socio-economic impacts and the development of a relevant social return, at three levels: personal, communitarian and regional levels. The research shows the need for the implementation of new procedures within microfinance institutions (MFIs), based on specific approaches that allow the fulfillment of all the requirements related to the business cycle, in both an economic and a social perspective. From the access to financial services to the management of the micro-enterprise, the population targeted by the MFIs faces a diverse range of challenges, therefore loan officers should act as social workers and business developers, adopting specific follow-up procedures able to contribute to a real social impact.


The catalyst-free conjugate addition of pyrroles to β-Fluoro-β-nitrostyrenes was investigated. The reaction was found to proceed under solvent-free conditions to form 2-(2-Fluoro-2-nitro-1-arylethyl)-1H-pyrroles. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated through the preparation of a series of the target products in a quantitative yield. The kinetics of a conjugate addition of pyrrole was studied in detail to reveal the substituent effect and activation parameters of the reaction. The subsequent base-induced elimination of nitrous acid afforded a series of novel 2-(2-Fluoro-1-arylvinyl)-1H-pyrroles prepared in up to an 85% isolated yield. The two-step sequence herein proposed is an indispensable alternative to a direct reaction with elusive and unstable 1-Fluoroacetylenes.


The Texas Tech Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Transportation worked together with the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a survey of successful bicycle policies and practices in the United States. The team developed and released an online survey targeted at various groups including Metropolitan Planning Officials, government officials, bicycle users, bicycle advocacy groups, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employees, and TexITE members. The purpose of this survey was to rate various issues of funding, safety, and organization to create a clear picture of how successful bicycling would appear in Texas, particularly in mid-size cities. Although it is gaining popularity as a means of transportation, bicycling has historically been underutilized in the United States. The federal transportation funding program in the United States has focused on highway construction and maintenance for automotive travel. As a result, many U.S. cities have been developed with very little thought for the use of bicycling for recreation or travel. Insufficient and badly-designed bicycle facilities have caused many problems, including insufficient access, insufficient street markings, limited right-of-way, discontinuity, or heavily motorized vehicle traffic on bike paths. These challenges make it difficult for bicyclists to properly access and use the necessary facilities. The goal of this research project was to synthesize successful practices of bicycle planning in mid-size cities, including reviews of bicycle practices in the U.S. and successful experiences in planning, design, and implementation of bicycle facilities, conduct a survey of successful bicycle policies and practices in the U.S., and identify common problems in bicycling and key factors for promoting bicycling transportation. Key findings include that funding, culture, education, and engineering are equally important for promoting bicycling; funding and consistent commitment is the primary issue for transportation agencies while safety is the primary concern for bicyclists; there are few differences between city sizes for bicycle users and government officials; and that it is likely that bike plans are underutilized in mid-size cities. The research team suggests that the following actions be taken to properly plan and implement effective bicycle strategies: long-range and short-term transportation plans should be made with an aim at building livable societies in which bicycling is given dual consideration with automobile travel; local government agencies should be responsible for developing the bicycle plan and should be given authority to use federal funding for financing bicycle projects; mid-sized cities should have at least one bicycle coordinator employed by the city or local metropolitan planning organization (MPO); and state and local transportation agencies should be aware that promoting bicycling is a long-range endeavor which requires continuous funding support and coordinated planning, design, and maintenance efforts.


The thermal stabilization of thin gold nanowires with a diameter of about 2 nm by surfactants is investigated by means of classical molecular dynamics simulations. While the well-known melting point depression leads to a much lower melting of gold nanowires compared to bulk gold, coating the nanowires with surfactants can reverse this, given that the attractive interaction between surfactant molecules and gold atoms lies beyond a certain threshold. It is found that the melting process of coated nanowires is dominated by surface instability patterns, whereas the melting behaviour of gold nanowires in a vacuum is dominated by the greater mobility of atoms with lower coordination numbers that are located at edges and corners. The suppression of the melting by surfactants is explained by the isotropic pressure acting on the gold surface (due to the attractive interaction) which successfully suppresses large-amplitude thermal motions of the gold atoms.


Identification of active species and the rate-determining reaction steps are crucial for optimizing the performance of oxygen-storage materials, which play an important role in catalysts lowering automotive emissions, as electrode materials for fuel cells, and as antioxidants in biomedicine. We demonstrated that active Ce(3+) species in a ceria-supported platinum catalyst during CO oxidation are short-lived and therefore cannot be observed under steady-state conditions. Using time-resolved resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy, we quantitatively correlated the initial rate of Ce(3+) formation under transient conditions to the overall rate of CO oxidation under steady-state conditions and showed that ceria reduction is a kinetically relevant step in CO oxidation, whereas a fraction of Ce(3+) was present as spectators. This approach can be applied to various catalytic processes involving oxygen-storage materials and reducible oxides to distinguish between redox and nonredox catalytic mechanisms.


Mismatch in elastic and mechanical properties of the film–substrate interface is common when engineering alloys are hard coated. Knowledge of interface stresses due to applied external tractions can be useful in evaluating propensity for coating failure as a function of material properties and for coating design. Using plane strain modeling and displacement formulation, interface stresses are calculated and presented here as a function of elastic modulus ratios. Results are also discussed from application perspectives.


Nucleophosmin 1 (NPM-1) is a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed nucleolar protein that functions as a molecular chaperone shuttling protein-binding partners between the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm. NPM-1 and has been assigned more than a dozen functions in the cell, including ribosome biogenesis and centrosome duplication. The NPM-1 gene maps to chromosome 5q35, a region that is the target of deletions in both de novo and therapy-associated MDS in humans. Additionally, heterozygous mutations in the NPM-1 gene have been identified in 60% of cytogenetically normal adult AMLs. Mutant NPM-1, (NPMc+), commonly results in the generation of a novel nuclear export signal (NES) leading to cellular mislocalization of NPMc+ from the nucleolus and nucleus to the cytoplasm. The role of NPMc+ in contributing to AML however remains unresolved to date. Two hypotheses to explain the role of NPMc+ in leukemogenesis have been advanced. The first purports that aberrant cytoplasmic mislocalization of NPMc+ also mislocalizes a number of NPM1-cargo proteins into the cytoplasm including for example, the tumor suppressor Arf, leading to the activation of the c-MYC oncogene, thereby contributing to leukeomogenesis. A second hypothesis states that reduction in wild type levels of NPM-1 in the nucleolus as a result of both heterozygosity as well as mislocalization into the cytoplasm following association with NPMc+, contributes to tumorigenesis. To address these hypotheses we generated a series of IL-3-dependent cell lines from the bone marrow of NPM1+/+ and NPM+/-mice. In addition, we stably transduced an NPMc+ expression vector into the NPM+/- cells resulting in the NPM+/-c+ line, thereby providing cellular models for both NPM1 haploinsufficieny as well as mutant NPM-1 associated AML. We then sought to examine the role of the master myeloid transcription factor C/EBPα in contributing to NPM-1-associated AML. C/EBPα is a single exon, bzip transcription factor that generates four isoforms derived from separate in-frame AUGs resulting in the translation of a nucleolar p50, a full length p42, a p40 and a dominant negative p30 isoform. We found that in NPM+/-c+ and OCI-AML3 cells (derived from a CN-AML patient harboring the NPMc+ mutation), only the p40 isoform of C/EBPα migrated to the cytoplasm while the full length p42 isofom remained in the nucleus. The p40 isoform of C/EBPα lacks the first 14 N-terminal amino acids when compared to the full length p42 isoform, and its function has not been well described in the literature. However, we have demonstrated that like the full length p42 isoform, the p40 isoform is also capable of transcriptional activation as measured by a reporter gene assay. Hence mislocalization of p40 could affect the overall activity of C/EBPα in NPMc+ expressing cells. We next sought to determine the contribution of NPM-1 haploinsufficieny to C/EBPα activity using our NPM+/- cells. We showed that a) expression levels of the dominant negative p30 isoform of C/EBPα are elevated in NPM+/- cells thereby blocking the activity of wildtype p42 b) C/EBPα p42 protein in the nucleus is rendered inactive due to phosphorylation by an unknown kinase at the S21position and c) expression of the downstream targets of C/EBPα (lactoferrin, MMP8, MMP9, gp91phox) are blocked in NPM+/- cells. These observations together suggest that in CN-AML where one copy of NPM-1 is wildtype and one copy is mutant (NPMc+), both haploinsufficient levels of wild type NPM-1 as well as mutant NPMc+ contribute to aberrant myeloid differentiation by inactivating C/EBPα activity. Our data thus provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of mutant NPM-1 associated AML. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract Background Various screening tools, ranging in complexity, have been developed to predict large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke in the prehospital setting. Our objective was to determine whether newly-developed LVO stroke scales offer a clinically-meaningful advantage over the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS). Methods We retrospectively analyzed prehospital patient care records linked with hospital data from 151 EMS agencies in the United States, between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. We compared the CPSS to the Rapid Arterial Occlusion Evaluation (RACE), Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS), and the Vision, Aphasia, Neglect (VAN) assessment for LVO prediction. For each stroke scale, we used the intersection of sensitivity and specificity curves to determine optimal prediction cut-points. We used area under the ROC curve and 95% confidence intervals to assess for differences in discriminative ability between scales. Results We identified 13,596 prehospital records with one or more documented stroke scales of interest. Among these, 4,228 patients were diagnosed with stroke. Over half (57%, n = 2,415) of patients diagnosed with stroke experienced an acute ischemic stroke. Of patients with ischemic stroke, 26% (n = 628) were diagnosed with LVO. A CPSS score of 2 or higher demonstrated sensitivity = 69% and specificity = 78% for LVO. A RACE score of 4 or higher demonstrated sensitivity = 63%, specificity = 73%. A LAMS score of 3 or higher demonstrated sensitivity = 63%, specificity = 72% and a positive VAN score demonstrated sensitivity = 86%, specificity = 65%. Comparing the area under the ROC curve for each scale revealed no statistically significant differences in discriminative ability for LVO stroke. Conclusions In this large sample of real-world prehospital patient encounters, the CPSS demonstrated similar predictive performance characteristics compared to the RACE, LAMS, and VAN for detecting LVO stroke. Prior to implementing a specific screening tool, EMS agencies should evaluate ease of use and associated implementation costs. Scored 0–3, the simple, widely-used CPSS may serve as a favorable prehospital screening instrument for LVO detection with a cut-point of 2 or higher maximizing the tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity.


As Catholic and other religious health care systems and institutions take on a larger presence in the health care field, they have begun to exert enormous influence over the health care of those they serve. As hospitals throughout the country face growing financial difficulties, religiously affiliated institutions have increasingly turned to mergers with non-sectarian institutions as a remedy. Many of these now religiously-affiliated hospitals restrict the services they provide in accordance with religious beliefs and doctrine, including prohibiting all forms of contraceptive services and counseling, as well as medical and surgical abortions, sterilizations, and even emergency contraception to victims of rape. But patients' rights are not the only ones at stake — the rights of thousands of hospital employees are affected as well. Hospitals that follow religious doctrine in treating their patients often also insist on adherence to the doctrine by all those who are employed there regardless of the employees' personal beliefs or convictions. This article explores the problem faced by doctors and other health care professionals as their freedoms of speech, belief, and association are curtailed by the fear of job loss, demotion, or other adverse employment actions. The article then proposes a potential litigation strategy that may be used to combat the power of religious health care facilities to force their employees to conform to religious directives. The Church Amendment, a piece of legislation attached to the Health Programs Extension Act of 1973, contains a valid conditional spending provision that may be used to prohibit sectarian hospitals from restricting the pro-choice beliefs, words, and outside actions of the health care professionals they employ.


Yttrium oxide thin films have been deposited on Si (100) substrate by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), hard and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAFS) are employed to investigate the origin of oxygen vacancies and their influence on the structure and atomic distributions. The XRD results indicate that the Y2O3 thin films strongly orient the (111) axis of the cubic structure. Analyses on the Y K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structures reveal that the coordination number of Y atoms decreases and the bond length of Y-O contracts due to the loss of oxygen atoms. The X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis together with a theoretical approach further confirms the oxygen vacancies formation and their possible location.


Monte Carlo simulations of electron scattering in silver have been performed at 6 and 20 keV to investigate the relation between electron transport, backscattering and depth distribution of characteristic X-ray production of tracer elements. The simulation models used combine the use of elastic cross sections, either of Rutherford or of Mott type, with approaches to inelastic scattering given by either the Bethe stopping power or by the energy loss- and momentum transfer-dependent dielectric functions derived from optical constants. A comparison of the simulation results shows that the model with Mott cross section and dielectric function results in better agreement between calculated and experimental energy spectra of backscattered electrons. However, the dominant term in models of Phi ( rho z) curves is elastic scattering and the Mott cross section yields better agreement with experimental results.


Mitigation and control of bacterial corrosion must have been prioritized for failure anticipation by corrosion associated with microorganisms. Using synthetic inhibitor for material protection from corrosion have problems because it is not eco-friendly. This work conducted preliminary studies on T. cordifolia stem extracts at various methanol ratios against P. aeruginosa biofilm as a new eco-friendly inhibitor. The T. cordifolia stem was extracted by the maceration method with a different ratio of methanol solvent (100, 75 and 50 %). The bacterial activity was assessed using the dilution method (MTT assay) to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using Follin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride (AlCl3) colorimetric, respectively. Meanwhile, the structure of the active compounds in the extract was identified by using the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The yields of T. cordifolia extracts are 9.45, 7.56 and 8.40 % at 100, 75 and 50 % of methanol ratios, respectively. The total phenolic content (TPC) in crude methanol extract of T. cordifolia is 11.20, 9.46 and 6.56 % for 100, 75 and 50 % of methanol ratios. Meanwhile, the flavonoid content (TFC) was obtained is about 5.25, 0.64 and 0.33 % for 100, 75 and 50 % of methanol concentrations, respectively. The T. cordifolia extract has antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa in all ratios of methanol concentrations. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of T. cordifolia methanol extract was found at 4096 µg/mL. Methanol solvent concentration with the most active antibacterial activity of the extract was 50 %, followed by 75 and 100 %. The structures of the active compound in the methanolic extract of T. cordifolia are a phenolic group, and it is in the alkaloid derivatives (Calopiptin, d-Lirioferine (Lirioferine), Moupinamide, Piperanine, and Yuanhunine).
HIGHLIGHTS

The crude methanol extract of Tinospora cordifolia stem has potential against aeruginosa in the marine environment
The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was found at 4096 µg/mL of extract in a ratio of 50:50 (v/v) of methanol to water
The compound structures in cordifolia methanol extracts are Calopiptin, d-Lirioferine (Lirioferine), Moupinamide, Piperanine, and Yuanhunine

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The current climate and energy context is triggering the massive deployment of solar energy technologies in the short term. As a consequence, the number of Photovoltaic (PV) systems that will be set up in urban areas will drastically increase. Such large-scale integration must be guided by careful consideration of a diverse set of criteria, including energy resources and demand, as well as socio-economic and environmental factors. In this paper, a decision aiding approach is introduced to rank a set of buildings based on their suitability to host photovoltaic systems in the particular case of urban environments. The study takes place in the context of a Franco-Swiss project covering the Grand Genève (Greater Geneva) agglomeration. A list of decision criteria is defined and the ELECTRE III outranking method is used to solve the problem and provide efficient ranking of the different solutions. exposed with particular attention paid to the decision criteria as well as the different actors involved in the decision process. The decision problem is then solved and the results of the multi-criteria problem is presented and discussed. Finally, the perspectives of the current work are illustrated.


Three species of Chrysosplenium in Heilongjiang Province, the People's Republic of China were karyomorphologically observed. The chromosome number of 2n=12 for C. ramosum and that of 2n=24 for C. sinicum and C. pseudofauriei var. pseudofauriei were observed and verified the previous reports. The chromosome numbers of C. ramosum and C. pseudofauriei var. pseudofauriei grown and collected in China were observed here for the first time. Chromosome characters of three species for chromosome sizes, chromosome length from the largest to the smallest chromosome in alignment and centromeric positions of chromosome complement were similar to the previous reports; small sizes, bi-modal decrease in chromosome length and consisted of median-, submedian- and subterminal-centromeric chromosomes for C. ramosum, and small sizes, mono-modal decrease in chromosome length and consisted in median- and submedian- centromeric chromosome for C. sinicum and C. pseudofauriei var. pseudofauriei.


Background Medial meniscal extrusion (MME) is the medial displacement of the meniscus, which extends beyond the tibial margin. Studies have shown an association between MME and knee pain and that surgical treatment can reduce the extent of MME. Here, we describe the beneficial effects of physical therapy as a feasible conservative treatment for MME. Methods Data of 30 patients with knee osteoarthritis who underwent stretching of the semimembranosus tendon and passive range of motion (ROM) exercises twice a week for 8 weeks were retrospectively analyzed. MME was the measured distance between the medial meniscus and the line connecting the medial borders of the femur and tibia using ultrasound. Ultrasound findings of surrounding tissues, including the deep posterior bundle of the medial collateral ligament (dMCL), were recorded. Additionally, knee extension ROM was measured, and inner knee pain when walking was evaluated using a numerical rating scale. Results There were significant improvements between the baseline and 8 weeks for MME in the non-weight-bearing position (3.6 ± 0.3 mm vs. 3.0 ± 0.4 mm), MME in the weight-bearing position (4.3 ± 0.4 mm vs. 3.8 ± 0.5 mm), ROM (−12.3° ± 4.1° vs. −3.1° ± 3.8°), and knee pain (7.0 ± 0.9 vs. 1.1 ± 1.4) (each p < 0.001). In almost all cases in which the knee extension ROM improved, the dMCL was bulging at the baseline; after 8 weeks, the dMCL was flattened, suggesting ligament tension on ultrasound imaging. Conclusion Stretching of the semimembranosus tendon and passive ROM exercises may reduce the extent of MME in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The ultrasound findings suggest that improvement in knee extension ROM may have led to the re-acquisition of MCL tension, which may have influenced MME reduction. Therefore, physical therapy may be a feasible conservative treatment for the reduction of MME.


Most of contemporary constitutional lawyers investigating federalism focus only on the system's normal functioning. In contrast to this mainstream approach in this article we argue that in order to understand true challenges of compound communities in today's epoch of crisis a scholar has to look for the ways a federation caught in the trap of exceptional situation deals with the either/or decisionist dilemma. The article is divided in three parts. In the first part we ask the three major questions: Who is guardian of the federal constitution? What enables the parallel political coexistence of a federation and its composing parts? What is the relationship between federalism and democracy? In the second part, we present some of todays most distinguished federal scholars' arguments that negate the importance of whether-or decisionistic dilemma for understanding compound communities' constitutional nature. In the last part, we land from the sky of theoretical discussions to the realm of history in order to look for the answers to Schmitt's questions in concrete experience of compound political communities.


The science behind athletic performance has progressed significantly with the advancement of technology and research of sport. The current review examines further the effects of several external factors on athletic performance. Factors were deemed external if they involved either variables out of the athlete's control or an athlete's conscious decision. Addressing playing environment, voluntary consumption of alcohol, sleep, a variety of emotions, and team environment contributes to a better understanding of the wide variety of factors that may influence athletic performance. The conclusions reveal ways in which awareness of external factors may impact overall performance. . FACTORS IN PERFORMANCE 4 External Factors and Athletic Performance Humans have participated in sports since the earliest days of existence. Perhaps not as sports are viewed currently, but running during a hunting brigade or jumping over a stream involved motions that are still used today. With the introduction of competitive sports, most notably from the Greeks and Romans, scientists began looking for ways to improve athletic performance and, ultimately, to win. Anatomists and kinesiology professionals have discovered many internal factors that contribute to sports performance such as muscle fiber type, genetics, and VO2 max. In addition to these, external factors such as playing environment, voluntary alcohol usage, sleep, emotions, and the team environment may also influence sports performance. These specific external factors will now be discussed in greater detail.


This review aims to highlight many of the difficulties encountered in trying to achieve the task of delivering proteins and peptides through oral administration. The necessity of controlled protein and peptide release, protection and stability in the gastrointestinal tract, and ability to target specific areas are only a handful of the many problems associated with trying to engineer a useful solution. Current research gives strong indication that both cyclodextrins and nanoparticles could be highly useful in the search for a suitable method for such successful oral delivery of proteins and peptides. This review focuses on the use of cyclodextrins in pharmaceuticals, aiming to discuss the use of cyclodextrins in conjunction with nanoparticles for oral delivery of proteins. Both classical applications and more advanced "nanomedical" approaches are discussed. In order to achieve a complete overview this review will include background information about cyclodextrins, nanomedicine and their role in oral delivery systems. The use of absorption enhancers like cyclodextrins, bile salts and surfactants was used to facilitate bio-availability into the system. The state-of-the-art technology and challenges in this area are discussed, with typical examples.


The
effect of two solvents, liquid water and 1,4-dioxane, has been
studied from first-principles on the hydrodeoxygenation of propionic
acid over a Ni(111) catalyst surface model. A mean-field microkinetic
model was developed to investigate these effects at a temperature
of 473 K. Under all reaction conditions, a decarbonylation mechanism
is favored significantly over a decarboxylation pathway. Although
no significant solvent effects were observed on the decarbonylation
rate, a substantial solvent stabilization of two key surface intermediates
in the decarboxylation mechanism, CH3CCOO and CH3CHCOO, leads to a notable increase of the decarboxylation rate by
2 orders of magnitude in liquid water and by 1 order of magnitude
in liquid 1,4-dioxane. Furthermore, a significant solvent stabilization
of the transition state of C–H bond cleavage of the α-carbon
of CH3CHCO, relative to the stabilization of the C–C
bond cleavage of the α-carbon of CH3CHCO, leads to
a change in dominant pathway in the liquid phase environments. Finally,
a sensitivity analysis shows that the C–OH bond cleavage of
propionic acid and C–C bond cleavage of the α-carbon
of CH3CHCO are the most rate controlling states in the
gas phase. In contrast, in solvents the dehydrogenation of CH3CHCO becomes the most influential step. This shift in rate
controlling state is attributed to the solvent effect on the dehydrogenation
of CH3CHCO, which is facilitated in the aqueous phase.
Overall, it is likely that the investigated (111) facet of Ni is not
active for the hydrodeoxygenation of propionic acid in either the
gas or the liquid phase and other Ni facets or phases must be responsible
for the experimentally observed kinetics.


the study is the mean Goal Attainment Scale T (GAS-T) score. Here, we describe assessments of aboBoNT-A injection practices for the first injection cycle only. Results: A total of 102 patients (38 female; 64 male) aged 2.1– 16.7 years have been enrolled and treated as of January 2018. Injection guidance technique was recorded for 65 patients (64%): electrostimulation, n=43 (66.2%); electromyography, n=17 (26.2%); and ultrasound, n=7 (10.8%). In total, 78 patients (76.5%) were injected in the gastrocnemius (GC) and 49 patients (48.0%) in the soleus (S). Non-gastrocnemiussoleus complex muscles injected were: hamstrings, n=53 (52.0%); adductors, n=21 (20.6%); tibialis posterior, n=9 (8.8%); rectus femoris, n=3 (2.9%); gracilis, n=2 (2.0%); hallux flexors, n=1 (1.0%); toe flexors, n=1 (1.0%); and others, n=9 (8.8%). Conclusions/Significance: This is the first observational study of an FDA-approved botulinum toxin for pediatric lower limb spasticity. First analysis of information from currently enrolled subjects provides an initial assessment of injection practices in a pediatric spasticity population presenting for treatment.


Objectives: Analysis of a large local autopsy collective to gather epidemiological and histopathological data on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We examined a large dataset of 44,104 autopsies performed at the Institute of Pathology, Basel, Switzerland, including 2 autopsy collectives (1969–1983 and 1988–2012) to gather current data on HCC in the advanced stage. A total of 398 HCC were diagnosed, accounting for around 1% of all autopsies. Results: As expected, most patients developing HCC had advanced stages of liver fibrosis or cirrhosis (F3/F4). However, in the more recent autopsy collective (1988–2012), our data also show an increase of HCC arising in livers without or with only mild to moderate fibrosis (F0–F2). Extrahepatic metastasis was found in 156 of 398 HCC (39.1%), with lung metastasis (74.5%) being the most common, followed by the bones (24.8%) and adrenal glands (19.1%). Conclusions: Our data therefore seem to suggest that, in the last 2 decades, despite the introduction of new therapeutic modalities for HCC, no significant changes have been observed regarding the metastatic pattern of advanced HCC. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel Received: December 7, 2015 Accepted: April 13, 2016 Published online: June 18, 2016 Manuel Schlageter, MD Department of Pathology, University Hospital Basel Schönbeinstrasse 40 CH–4031 Basel (Switzerland) E-Mail Manueleric.schlageter @ usb.ch © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel 1015–2008/16/0836–0301$39.50/0


This work explores the concepts of work readiness and self-perceived employability, addressing contextually the perceptions from third-year bachelor students enrolled in the degree of Cultural Heritage and Tourism at the University of Macerata in academic year 2018-2019. The research aim was to identify perceptions of undergraduates in terms of skills and employability potential to design effective teaching interventions. Following literature review, the paper describes collected data and discusses around key research questions, related to (a) perception the world of work; (b) assessment of possessed skills; (c) estimation of employment possibilities; (d) perception of preparation to the labour market. Results show a gap between perceptions of the labour market and possessed skills, a medium-low self-perceived employability, and a low engagement in career development activities, where, to the other hand, perceived preparation provided by the university is declared as medium-high. Conclusions highlight the need of further work to better understand the implications of results for effective learning design.


The current research examines a moderator who predicts in what situations punishment can have detrimental effects on cooperation. We hypothesized that when a punishment system is perceived as procedurally unfair, people's cooperation level decreases. Results of two experiments indicated that participants cooperated less in a group-based trust game when punishment was inconsistent between persons (i.e. not all group members would be punished for defection) than when punishment was consistent between persons (i.e. any group member who defected would be punished) or when there was no punishment. These effects were mediated by perceived belongingness. The authors conclude that an unfair punishment system leads people to feel marginalized as a group member, and this prompts them to display less cooperation.


PurposeThis paper aims to study the evolution of definitions of internet of things (IoT) through time, critically assess the knowledge these definitions contain and facilitate sensemaking by providing those unfamiliar with IoT with a theoretical definition and an extended framework.Design/methodology/approach164 articles published between 2005 and 2019 are collected using snowball sampling. Further, 100 unique definitions are identified in the sample. Definitions are examined using content analysis and applying a theoretical framework of five knowledge dimensions.FindingsIn declarative/relational dimensions of knowledge, increasing levels of agreement are observed in the sample. Sources of tautological reasoning are identified. In conditional and causal dimensions, definitions of IoT remain underdeveloped. In the former, potential limitations of IoT related to resource scarcity, privacy and security are overlooked. In the latter, three main loci of agreement are identified.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not cover all published definitions of IoT. Some narratives may be omitted by our selection criteria and process.Practical implicationsThis study supports sensemaking of IoT. Main loci of agreement in definitions of IoT are identified. Avenues for further clarification and consensus are explored. A new framework that can facilitate further investigation and agreement is introduced.Originality/valueThis is, to the authors' knowledge, the first study that examines the historical evolution of definitions of IoT vis-à-vis its technological features. This study introduces an updated framework to critically assess and compare definitions, identify ambiguities and resolve conflicts among different interpretations. The framework can be used to compare past and future definitions and help actors unfamiliar with IoT to make sense of it in a way to reduce adoption costs. It can also support researchers in studying early discussions of IoT.


Intense intraseasonal cooling events in the tropical south Indian Ocean are examined using eight years of TRMM observations. These events occur almost every year during austral summer when the intertropical convergence zone is displaced south of the equator and roughly collocated with a thermocline ridge. Composite maps of SST, OLR and surface winds, based on eleven cooling events with SST exceeding 1°C, suggest that reduced solar radiation, enhanced evaporation and possibly strong entrainment over the thermocline ridge all play a role in the SST cooling. OLR and covariability in SST exhibit latitudinal variations in spectrum. A distinct southern mode around 10°S–5°S exhibits a peak in coherence‐squared at a period of 65 days. In contrast, an equatorially symmetric mode has a coherence‐squared peak at 35 days. This may hint at a possible feedback onto the atmosphere from strong intraseasonal SST variability over the south Indian Ocean.


In the two decades since New York v. United States was decided, commentators have debated what should give rise to a justiciable Guarantee Clause claim. One common argument is that direct democracy inherently conflicts with the requirement, implicit in the Clause, that states provide a republican (representative) form of government. An offshoot of this argument claims that courts should conjure up substantive Guarantee Clause remedies and strike down specific initiatives that infringe individual rights. It is no surprise that California is a frequent target of this criticism. This Article argues that California's initiative system, by design and in operation, is aligned with the scope and purpose of the Guarantee Clause, and reinforces rather than undermines the state's republican form of government. While an initiative can be used to amend the state constitution, laws that fundamentally change the basic governmental plan or framework must pass through the republican strictures of the revision process. Furthermore, the California Supreme Court's decision in Strauss v. Horton highlights the primary pitfall of stretching the Guarantee Clause beyond its limits to protect individual rights. At its core, the Clause is directed at the structure of state government. Individual rights are better policed and protected by other constitutional guarantees, such as due process and equal protection, that are designed


Most anesthesiologists estimate blood loss by rough visual assessment, by noting its effects on cardiovascular parameters, by weighing of swabs, by substraction of fluids used in surgical irrigation from blood in suction reservoir, either by laboratory estimation or by trusting their experience and instinct. I describe here a simple and practical method of estimating operative blood loss (OBL). It is based on colour comparison of two solutions containing blood using simple equipments readily available in any operating room, without the need to know the patients' initial Hb or Hct or depend on laboratory results. Using visual comparative colorimetry (VCC) in a clinical setting is simple. We collect five ml of patient's blood in a heparinized syringe and use it to prepare a standard 1% solution in water (sample A) (as our pilot study revealed that the optimum concentration of hemoglobin in samples to be compared appears to be about 0.15 gms% i.e. 1% solution). In a large container, a homogenous solution of lost blood is prepared by washing all the soaked swabs. Blood collected in the suction bottle is added to the solution. Sufficient amount of water is then added, so that the final colour of the solution resembles the prepared standard. Now, 10 ml of this solution is taken by a 10 ml syringe in a test tube. Another test tube is filled with 9 ml plain water. Blood from the original patient sample, suitably diluted to 10% (according to the pilot study) is now loaded in an insulin syringe and added drop by drop into the second test tube (sample B). Both solutions are visually compared against an x-ray view box for colour match. Once a colour match is obtained, the amount of blood required to obtain this result (Vb) is noted. OBL is then calculated in ml by using a simple mathematical formula: OBL = Vb / Vc X Vd Where Vb is the volume of blood added to obtain a colour match, Vc is the volume of the sample (10 ml in this case) and Vd is the total volume of the prepared homogenous solution (diluents). Similar samples were sent to the laboratory by a blinded investigator for colour comparison using a spectrophotometer for the naked eye to obtain a colour match. Results revealed that dilute solution 1-2% gave accurate results; the range of error was much higher in readings by spectrophotometer than in our method, the mean error was 2.3%. By using VCC, it is much easier to make an informed decision regarding blood transfusion and avoid unnecessary single unit transfusions. However, the accuracy of the method depends on meticulous preparation of solutions and accurate titrations. Of course, the need to observe universal precautions for handling bio-hazardous material cannot be over-emphasized.


Setting: Initial evaluation of asthmatic males and females, fourteen years and older at the Tishreen University Department of Internal Medicine outpatient clinic. Objectives: Asthma triggers are defined as factors reported by the patient to cause attacks or exacerbation. We speculated that it would be useful to track a pattern for triggers in our country. We anticipated the pattern would enable us to improve our care of asthmatics, enrich our asthma education program and enhance the curriculum of medical students. Methods: A questionnaire was administered prospectively by the same chest physician. Spontaneous and subsequent directed answers were recorded. The percentage of patients affected by each trigger was calculated. Results: Environmental tobacco smoke and household dust were common reported triggers. Narguileh side-stream smoke and seasonal sandstorm dusts were specific regional triggers.


With up to 65,536 compute nodes and a peak performance of more than 360 teraflops, the Blue Gene®/L (BG/L) supercomputer represents a new level of massively parallel systems. The system software stack for BG/L creates a programming and operating environment that harnesses the raw power of this architecture with great effectiveness. The design and implementation of this environment followed three major principles: simplicity, performance, and familiarity. By specializing the services provided by each component of the system architecture, we were able to keep each one simple and leverage the BG/L hardware features to deliver high performance to applications. We also implemented standard programming interfaces and programming languages that greatly simplified the job of porting applications to BG/L. The effectiveness of our approach has been demonstrated by the operational success of several prototype and production machines, which have already been scaled to 16,384 nodes.


The recovery of iron bearing minerals from the reject products of the beneficiation of iron ores is a challenge concerning the sustainability of the preliminary stage of iron and steel making. This investigation addressed the production of iron ore concentrate within the specifications of Samarco's pellet feed from a representative sample of the concentrator I desliming cyclone's (101.6 mm, 4") overflow. The experiments included stages of microdesliming and flotation. The developed microdesliming method was efficient and the concentrate produced via cationic reverse flotation presented silica content compatible with pellet feed requirements.


Ethernet ring protection (ERP), defined in ITU-T recommendation G.8032, is a promising technology to realize the SONET/SDH-grade resilience in carrier Ethernet infrastructures. With its own loop prevention technique to block a link called ring-protection-link (RPL) in an ERP ring, the ERP introduces a new optimization problem named RPL positioning whose objective is to find the optimal RPL location to minimize the required ring capacity for given traffic demands. In this paper, we derive the optimal RPL positioning as an integer linear programming (ILP) problem and additionally propose an optimal RPL positioning algorithm for more effective ring loading. By evaluations, we demonstrate that our proposed algorithm is indeed capable of finding the optimal RPL equal to the results by an exhaustive search emerged in prior works or the formulated ILP model. But, it is more efficient in computing time than the exhaustive search and the ILP model.


Racial segregation between U.S. workplaces is greater today than it was a generation ago. This increase happened alongside declines in within-establishment occupational segregation, on which most prior research has focused. We examine more than 40 years of longitudinal data on the racial employment composition of every large private-sector workplace in the United States to calculate between- and within-establishment trends in racial employment segregation over time. We demonstrate that the return of racial establishment segregation owes little to within-establishment processes, but rather stems from differences in the turnover rates of more and less homogeneous workplaces. Present research on employment segregation focuses mainly on within-firm processes. By doing so, scholars may be overstating the country's progress on employment integration and ignoring other avenues of intervention that may give greater leverage for further integrating firms.


Objective:To analyze the consistency of pepsin assay kit, pepsin IHC, reflux symptom index(RSI) and reflux finding score(RFS) in the diagnosis of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease(LPRD). Methods:The clinical data of 61 inpatients with laryngeal diseases who were admitted to the Department of Otolaryngology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from May 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The RSI and RFS scores, the Formwitz score of pepsin immunohistochemistry, and the results of pepsin detection kit were recorded. ICC group correlation coefficient and Kappa consistency analysis was used for three detection methods. Results:Among 61 patients, 30 cases were positive and 31 cases were negative for the pepsin test kit, with a positive rate of 49.18%. The positive rate of pepsin immunohistochemistry was 45.90%(28/61), and the diagnostic agreement rate between the two was 70.49%. The consistency between them was high(κ=0.409). The positive rate of RSI and RFS in diagnosing LPRD was 62.30%(38/61), and the consistency rate was 73.77% with pepsin detection kit. The consistency between them was high(κ=0.486). Taking pepsin IHC as the reference standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of pepsin detection kit were 71.43%(20/28), 69.70%(23/33), 66.67%(20/30) and 74.19%(23/31), respectively. Using RSI and RFS scales as reference criteria, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of pepsin detection kit were 89.29%(25/28), 60.61%(20/33), 65.79%(25/38) and 86.96%(20/23), respectively. Analysis of correlation coefficient within ICC group: ICC value was 0.628, 95% confidence interval(0.497-0.741), the three methods have good consistency. Conclusion:The RSI and RFS scale scores were in good agreement with the pepsin test kit, and the pepsin test kit was also in good agreement with pepsin immunohistochemistry. As a non-invasive diagnostic technique, the pepsin test kit can be widely used in the diagnosis of pharyngeal reflux in combination with pepsin immunohistochemistry and RSI and RFS scale.


The study was conducted at Nnewi –South of Anambra State, Nigeria  to characterize soil in erosion prone area in order to know  nutritional values of the soil to enable farmers employ appropriate measures to conserving the soils for high  productivity. Soil auger studies were made  at  three locations  where traverse was cut.Three profile pits designated ECH/UK/ 01 (upper slope) , ECH/UK/ 02 (middle slope ) and ECH/UK/ 03 (lower slope)  were sited and  samples of soils were taken to test for physico-chemical properties of the soils. The results revealed that the soils are  deep, well drained , dark reddish brown to reddish brown, and yellowish red of the Munsell color notation. The soil texture in the three pedons have coarse texture that ranged from sandy clay loam to sandy loam, with high percentage of sand which is the reflection of the parent material. The bulk density ranged between between 1.50 – 1.80 g/cm 3, , soil pH  (3.33 – 4.09) indicating very strong acidity status,  O.C.(0.28 – 0.89%), O.M (0.48- 1.54%), total N ( 0.042 – 0.98%), Available P ( 2.80 – 11.00 mg.kg- 1 ),  Na + ( 0.113 – 270cmol.kg- 1 ), K + (0.036 – 0.087 cmol.kg- 1 ), Mg ++ (0.80-5.60 cmol.kg- 1 ), Ca++(0.42 – 10.40 cmol.kg- 1 ), EA (0.24 -1.28 cmol.kg- 1 )  CEC( 3.104 – 16.966 cmol.kg- 1 ), and BS ( 80.28 – 96.06%) indicating low fertility rate of the soil due to heavy leaching and intensive agricultural activities that leads to erosion of the soil to devastating stage, which could be restored by reforestation programme, integrated Nutrient Management Options, and Effective public enlightenment campaign about the advantages of soil conservation for environmental sustainability.


Determination of stature is an important parameter of personal identification along with others like age, sex, race etc of an individual. The present study is an attempt to examine the relationship between the statures of middle finger length of 100 females of Karnataka, in south Indian population in age ranging from 17 to 19 years. Linear and multiple regression equations for stature estimation were calculated.


Depending on the scale of the problem, continuous system simulation is usually carried out
on large computer systems or in personal computers running continuous system simulation
languages; there is little in between. This thesis describes the development of an inexpensive
parallel-processing simulator in which outwardly identical processing elements are configured
to digitally simulate continuous system transfer functions and the other components needed
to model the computing and control functions of physical systems. [Continues.]


Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) learn to represent a 3D scene from just a set of registered images. Increasing sizes of a scene demands more complex functions, typically represented by neural networks, to capture all details. Training and inference then involves querying the neural network millions of times per image, which becomes impractically slow. Since such complex functions can be replaced by multiple simpler functions to improve speed, we show that a hierarchy of Voronoi diagrams is a suitable choice to partition the scene. By equipping each Voronoi cell with its own NeRF, our approach is able to quickly learn a scene representation. We propose an intuitive partitioning of the space that increases quality gains during training by distributing information evenly among the networks and avoids artifacts through a top-down adaptive refinement. Our framework is agnostic to the underlying NeRF method and easy to implement, which allows it to be applied to various NeRF variants for improved learning and rendering speeds.


For the engineering educator, implementing and integrating professional, institutional, and pedagogical goals into a course is complex and becomes more so when working with first-year students. These students are not always comfortable with problem-posing situations, and as tasks increase in complexity, so does the difficulty in thinking and writing. The question then arises as to how to help students become more comfortable with problem-posing as they write and think in a new academic community. This paper reports on a study integrating learning communities with problem-posing by using a model of critical thinking to structure writing assignments that require students to report about in-class, team-based activities applied to engineering concepts. The effectiveness of this approach was measured by assessing writing and critical thinking skills and surveying engineering and writing attitudes. Students in three sections of an Introduction to Engineering course were paired in two sections of English composition, and one section was not paired. The study also included several students in a female only composition class (total n=68). Results of the study show that mean scores of paired students were generally higher in both writing and critical thinking and significantly higher on one subscore of critical thinking. Paired course students also showed significant positive changes in viewing themselves as writers.