In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine, military units, first of all, are the bearers of power and act in public relations as subjects of realization of the goal set by the state in the form of repulse of possible aggression from outside, and therefore the main tasks, internal structure, subordination, reporting and control in this area is governed by constitutional and administrative law. However, in some cases, the military unit for the implementation of its tasks may act as an independent entity in civil law, and therefore, certain relations are governed not only by constitutional, administrative, economic, but also civil law. This paper will deal with contractual obligations.
The supply contract is extremely important in providing Ukraine, its subjects and state entities with the necessary goods, performance of works, provision of services. In essence, the institute of contract law is a legal means of implementing state policy in the field of industrial production, construction, national defense, social assistance, science, culture, the implementation of basic social and production tasks. Currently, there is a trend aimed at increasing the budget funds used through public procurement.
In this regard, an urgent problem is the effective legal regulation of public relations related to the supply of goods for public use. The regulatory framework governing these legal relations must be transparent, understandable to all participants in trade and procurement operations, operational on changes in socio-economic conditions in the country, have an anti-corruption orientation. The quality of goods purchased for the state also remains a long-standing problem.
One of the topical issues for the science of civil law is the question of the subject of the contract, with which the Central Committee of Ukraine connects the conclusion of the contract, its validity and some other significant circumstances. According to case law, disputes arising from the contract are usually complicated by non-compliance by the parties with the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine on the subject of the contract.
The article analyzes the subject of the contract for the supply of material resources to military units. Military units are considered by the author as legal entities of a subject of public law.


Manali is a popular hill resort of India located in state of Himachal Pradesh in north-western Himalayan
region of the country. It attracts about a million tourists annually. As a result the town has a large number of hotels and floating population of the town touches a peak of about 35,000 against a fixed population of about 5000 residents during peak season.
Proper solid waste management has been a burning issue at Manali for sometime as the descretion of landscape
was beginning to be noticed by large number of tourist visiting the place. Collection of waste has been a major
constraint due to difficult hilly terrain. Disposal options are also limited as the land for disposal is hard to come by. Manali is a favourite summer resort for a large number of
important decision makers and prominent citizens of India, including the Prime Minister, clean Manali has therefore
been an issue for consideration at national level. Government of Himachal Pradesh under a funded scheme invited the author to study the situation and
formulate a solid waste management project strategy for Manali. The work therefore was undertaken in 1999 to
study existing situation and develop a properly formulated action plan.


A case in which the enterotoxins of Staphylococcus aureus may have served as bacterial superantigens is presented. This 71-year-old man developed proteinuria and renal dysfunction after contacting pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), coagulase type II. The infection occurred after surgery for recurrent lung cancer. Staphylococcus enterotoxins B, C, and TSST-1 were detected from the bacillus. Ten days after the onset of pneumonia, proteinuria was noted; urinary protein was as high as 1.8 g/day. The serum creatinine was elevated from 1.0 mg/dl to 3.7 mg/dl. Several immunological reactions were detected; the serum levels of IgG and IgA were increased, and the selective usage of T-cell receptor V beta (TCRV beta) was observed. Serum levels of IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) were also elevated. Examination of the renal biopsy specimen by light microscopy showed minor to mild mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. Immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated the deposition of IgG, IgA, and C3, mainly along the capillary walls. Electron microscopy revealed electron dense deposits, mainly in the subepithelial areas, and injury to the glomerular basement membrane. When the pneumonia improved following antibiotic therapy, the renal function also improved, and proteinuria decreased. The levels of immunoglobulins and the usage of TCRV beta also decreased. Because staphylococcus enterotoxins act as superantigens, we believe this to be a typical case of superantigen-related glomerulonephritis.


The activity of blood plasma renin and the renal cortical layer in persons who had suddenly died, was much lower in those with arterial hypertension than in those without it. A more pronounced increase in the activity of blood plasma renin and the renal cortex was noted in persons with hypertension who had died against a background of alcoholic intoxication as compared to persons without hypertension. In sudden cardiac death of persons without hypertension there was a positive correlation between plasma renin activity and alcohol concentration in the blood. Such a correlation was undetectable in the presence of hypertension. In small alcohol concentrations in the blood higher plasma renin activity values were noted in persons with hypertension than in those without it. Aldosterone concentration in the blood of patients with arterial hypertension and without it did not practically differ. The presence of alcohol in persons without hypertension resulted in a significant increase in aldosterone concentration in sudden cardiac death as compared to those with hypertension. A positive correlation between renin activity and aldosterone concentration was noted in all the groups under study.


This study aimed to determine whether accuracy and sensitivity concerning neurological prognostic performance increased for survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) treated with targeted temperature management (TTM), using OHCA and cardiac arrest hospital prognosis (CAHP) scores and modified objective variables. We retrospectively analyzed non-traumatic OHCA survivors treated with TTM. The primary outcome was poor neurological outcome at 3 months after return of spontaneous circulation (cerebral performance category, 3–5). We compared neurological prognostic performance using existing models after adding objective data obtained before TTM from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and biomarkers to replace the no-flow time component of the OHCA and CAHP models. Among 106 patients, 61 (57.5%) had poor neurologic outcomes. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve for the OHCA and CAHP models was 0.89 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81–0.94) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.82–0.95), respectively. The prediction of poor neurological outcome improved after replacing no-flow time with a grey/white matter ratio measured using CT, high-signal intensity (HSI) on diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), percentage of voxel using apparent diffusion coefficient value, and serum neuron-specific enolase levels. When replaced with HSI on DWI, the AUROC and sensitivity of the OHCA and CAHP models were 0.96 and 74.5% and 0.97 and 83.8%, respectively (100% specificity). Prognoses concerning neurologic outcomes improved compared with existing OHCA and CAHP models by adding new objective variables to replace no-flow time. External validation is required to generalize these results in various contexts.


According to the correspondence between 2D Young diagrams and Maya diagrams and the relation between 2D and 3D Young diagrams, we construct 3D Young diagrams in the approach of Maya diagrams. Moreover, we formulate the generating function of 3D Young diagrams, which is the MacMahon function in terms of Maya diagrams.


A new method for trace analysis of gases, based on the pulsed photoacoustic Raman spectroscopy (PARS) technique, is described. The method has been applied to the analysis of mixtures of CH(4) in N(2), CO(2) in N(2), and N(2)O in N(2) at concentrations near 1 ppm. The apparatus used is described in some detail. Means of improving the method's sensitivity as well as sensitivity-limiting processes are evaluated. The analytical capabilities of this technique are compared with both direct (IR) absorption and other Raman techniques such as CARS and stimulated Raman gain spectroscopy (SRGS).


This article considers some of the methodological issues faced by a team working in the emerging field of participatory arts and health research. It argues that, in order to optimize research rigour, there is a need to address four fundamental issues. First, researchers should define the scope of the art(s) under study (in terms of domain, level of participation and potential impact); second, they should adopt a concept of health appropriate for the target sample group; third, the research method should be consistent with the extent and type of evidence already existing in the area and that to be sought; and finally, there is a need to select a means of data collection and communication that accurately represents both the outcomes/impacts of arts interventions and the experiences of research subjects, which may not be reducible to the language conventionally used in research. The issues are illustrated with an account of one research project being undertaken by the team.


Design Thinking is recognised as a mind-set, a toolkit, a process, and a methodology, with debates over its definition and identity now widespread. As we continue to understand the impact of Design Thinking we can acknowledge opposing opinions on it, from a failed experiment to an enabler of innovation. It has been hailed as design's greatest export, yet there is increasing disquiet amongst the design community regarding the misuse and dilution of Design Thinking leading to the devaluing of design as a skilled practice. This workshop will aim to engage participants in constructive debate and activities surrounding the application of design thinking, it's positioning within design practice, and significance across non-design industries. By gaining a better understanding how Design Thinking is viewed, used, and evaluated, can we develop a more rigorous methodological framework for its application across a range of industries to 'unlock' innovation in answering complex issues?


Robotics competitions are a way to challenge researchers, roboticists and enthusiastic to address robot applications. One of the well-known international competition is the Micromouse where the fastest mobile robot to solve a maze is the winner. There are several topics addressed in this competition such as robot prototyping, control, electronics, path planning, optimization, among others while keeping the size of the robot as small as possible. A simulation can be used to speed-up the development and testing algorithms but faces the gap between a simulation and reality, specially in the dynamics behaviour. There are some simulation environments that allow to simulate the Micromouse competition, but in this paper, an Hardware-in-the-loop simulator tool is presented where the simulated robot is controlled by the same microcontroller used by the robot. By this way, the developed algorithms are tested and validated with the limitations and constraints presented in the real hardware, such as memory and processing capabilities. The robot dynamics, the slippage of the wheels, the friction and the 3D visualization are present in the simulator. The presented results show that the same code and hardware controlling the simulated and the real robot identically.


We study the heating rate of r-process nuclei and thermalization of decay products in neutron star merger ejecta and macronova (kilonova) light curves. Thermalization of charged decay products, i.e., electrons, α-particles, and fission fragments, is calculated according to their injection energy. The γ-ray thermalization processes are also properly calculated by taking the γ-ray spectrum of each decay into account. We show that the β-decay heating rate at later times approaches a power-law decline as ∝t−2.8, which agrees with the result of Waxman et al. We present a new analytic model to calculate macronova light curves, in which the density structure of the ejecta is accounted for. We demonstrate that the observed bolometric light curve and temperature evolution of the macronova associated with GW170817 are reproduced well by the β-decay heating rate with the solar r-process abundance pattern. We interpret the break in the observed bolometric light curve around a week as a result of the diffusion wave crossing a significant part of the ejecta rather than a thermalization break. We also show that the time-weighted integral of the bolometric light curve (Katz integral) is useful to provide an estimate of the total r-process mass from the observed data, which is independent of the highly uncertain radiative transfer. For the macronova in GW170817, the ejecta mass is robustly estimated as ≈0.05 M⊙ for Amin ≤ 72 and 85 ≤ Amin ≤ 130 with the solar r-process abundance pattern. The code for computation of the heating rate and light curve for given initial nuclear abundances is publicly available.


In this work a complex of Schiff base of tetra-diiminobenzene-P-amino benzenephthalocyaninato with tetra diimino-benzene as peripheral groups. The compounds were synthesized with different central metal ions(Al, Fe, Cu and Zn) were synthesized, identified by elemental analysis and spectroscopically, their dc electrical conductivity of their thin films were measured with and without iodine doping. The dc electrical conductivity of iodine doped thin films of the compounds were compared with iodine un-doped thin films of the compounds. The study shows that the measured dc electrical conductivity of the doped Schiff base has higher dc conductivity than un-doped. It shows that the conductivity of the bridged phthalocyanines of aluminum Schiff base has higher dc conductivity than the others, while planar phthalocyanines of zinc Schiff bases has lower dc conductivity. The study, also, shows that the peripheral groups on the phthalocyanine rings as the Schiff base have clear influence on the dc conductivity of all compounds. The stacking and the bridging of the phthalocyanine rings has also effect on the dc electrical conductivity. The bridged compounds have higher conductivity than unbridged compounds


A series of artificial antigens were synthesized on the basis of the FC(Acm)KNKEKKC(Acm)S peptide from the beta 2-glycoprotein I sequence: lipophilic analogues, the peptide-BSA conjugate, and multiple antigen peptide (MAP) containing eight copies of the peptide on an oligolysyl core. The solid phase method for acylation of the peptide with fatty acids and the HPLC analysis of the acylpeptides were described. Antigenic properties of the resulting compounds were evaluated by CL-ELISA.


Experiments were conducted to determine the conditions for assay of hepatic phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) activity in the chicken and to determine the developmental pattern of PAH activity in liver 25,000 x g supernatant. PAH activity was detected in liver supernatant and (postnuclear) 25,000 x g particulate fraction. Optimum assay conditions differed for the two cell fractions, the most notable difference being a broad pH optimum of 7.7 to 9.2 for the supernatant and 4.7 and 5.6 for the particulate fraction. The PAH activity in the supernatant increased to a maximum as L-phenylalanine concentration in the assay medium increased from 0.02 to 0.5 mM and 1.0 mM. Activity increased in the particulate fraction as the Phe concentration increased to 0.5 mM. Substrate inhibition of PAH activity occurred at Phe concentrations of 3 to 5 mM in the supernatant but not in the particulate fraction. Concentrations of the cofactor, 6(R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin, ranging from 0.09 to 0.75 mM, resulted in maximal PAH activity. The developmental pattern of PAH in supernatant was determined using a modified assay in which substrate and cofactor concentrations and pH were optimum. The PAH activity in liver supernatant was present at a low level in 11 d chick embryos and increased several fold between Days 15 and 17 to a maximum at Days 17 to 21. Activity declined at hatching to levels that were present in 11 to 15 d embryos and remained at this level in male chicks through 4 wk of age. Mature males had higher PAH activity than mature laying females.


During July 12-16, 2012, the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Board of Animal Health identified respiratory illness among swine and persons at a county fair held July 8-14. On July 16, specimens were collected from four persons with respiratory illness; two had become ill on July 12 and sought care at an emergency department, and two were identified as part of the subsequent public health investigation. All four persons were swine exhibitors or family members of swine exhibitors and had close contact with swine. On July 18, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing at the Indiana State Department of Health laboratory identified suspected influenza A (H3N2) variant (H3N2v) virus* in all four specimens. On July 21, partial genome sequencing at CDC confirmed H3N2v virus with the influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 virus M gene; the viruses detected in the four specimens are similar to 12 viruses detected in 2011 and one detected earlier this year. None of the four persons were hospitalized, and all have fully recovered.


The National Ammonia Reduction Strategy Evaluation System (NARSES) model (spreadsheet version) was used to estimate ammonia (NH3) emissions from UK agriculture for the year 2009. Year-specific livestock numbers and fertiliser N use were added for 2009 and revised for previous years. The estimate for 2009 was 231.8 kt NH3, representing a 2.3 kt increase from the previously submitted estimate for 2008. Backward and forward projections using the 2009 model structure gave estimates of 317, 245 and 244 kt NH3 for the years 1990, 2010 and 2020, respectively. This inventory reports emission from livestock agriculture and from nitrogen fertilisers applied to agricultural land. There are a number of other minor sources reported as 'agriculture' in the total UK emission inventory, including horses not kept on agricultural holdings, emissions from composting and domestic fertiliser use.


We develop a localisation theory for certain categories, yielding a 3-arrow calculus: Every morphism in the localisation is represented by a diagram of length 3, and two such diagrams represent the same morphism if and only if they can be embedded in a 3-by-3 diagram in an appropriate way. The methods to construct this localisation are similar to the Ore localisation for a 2-arrow calculus; in particular, we do not have to use zigzags of arbitrary length. Applications include the localisation of an arbitrary model category with respect to its weak equivalences as well as the localisation of its full subcategories of cofibrant, fibrant and bifibrant objects, giving the homotopy category in all four cases. In contrast to the approach of Dwyer, Hirschhorn, Kan and Smith, the model category under consideration does not need to admit functorial factorisations. Moreover, our method shows that the derived category of any abelian (or idempotent splitting exact) category admits a 3-arrow calculus if we localise the category of complexes instead of its homotopy category.


SUMMARY A major technical challenge in controlling modular and reconfigurable robots is associated with the kinematics and dynamic model uncertainties caused by reconfiguration. In parallel, conventional model uncertainties such as uncompensated joint friction still persist. This paper presents a modular distributed control technique for modular and reconfigurable robots that can instantly adapt to robot reconfigurations. Under the proposed control method that is based on joint torque sensing, a modular and reconfigurable robot is stabilized joint by joint, and modules can be added or removed without the need to adjust control parameters of the other modules of the robot. Model uncertainties associated with link and payload masses are compensated using joint torque sensor measurement. The remaining model uncertainties, including uncompensated dynamic coupling and joint friction, are compensated by a decomposition-based robust controller. Simulation results have confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method.


An endophytic fungus, Neofusicoccum parvum JS-0968, was isolated from a plant, Vitex rotundifolia. The chemical investigation of its cultures led to the isolation of a secondary metabolite, (3R)-5-hydroxymellein. It has been reported to have antifungal, antibacterial, and antioxidant activity, but there have been no previous reports on the effects of (3R)-5-hydroxymellein on atherosclerosis. The oxidation of lipoproteins and foam cell formation have been known to be significant in the development of atherosclerosis. Therefore, we investigated the inhibitory effects of (3R)-5-hydroxymellein on atherosclerosis through low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) oxidation and macrophage foam cell formation. LDL and HDL oxidation were determined by measuring the production of conjugated dienes and malondialdehyde, the amount of hyperchromicity and carbonyl content, conformational changes, and anti-LDL oxidation. In addition, the inhibition of foam cell formation was measured by Oil red O staining. As a result, (3R)-5-hydroxymellein suppressed the oxidation of LDL and HDL through the inhibition of lipid peroxidation, the decrease of negative charges, the reduction of hyperchromicity and carbonyl contents, and the prevention of apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) aggregation and apoB-100 fragmentation. Furthermore, (3R)-5-hydroxymellein significantly reduced foam cell formation induced by oxidized LDL (oxLDL). Taken together, our data show that (3R)-5-hydroxymellein could be a potential preventive agent for atherosclerosis via obvious anti-LDL and HDL oxidation and the inhibition of foam cell formation.


Bat movement and behaviour are still mostly understudied over large scales. High‐altitude, nocturnal activity makes visual identification of bats from the ground virtually impossible, dramatically hindering our ability to study their movement ecology. Despite the wide use of radar in aeroecology, its application to study specific taxa is limited due to incomplete target classification abilities. BATScan is a bat classifier for vertical‐looking radar data, which enables identifying bats and characterizing their unique aeroecology. We constructed the classifier using data from 10 radar deployments, covering a wide range of habitats on a central bird migration flyway over a 7‐year period, comprising ~18 million observations. We analysed animal migration above the Hula Valley, home to over 30 species of bats spanning a range of 5–150 g in size and exhibiting a variety of ecological characteristics. We distinguished bat‐labelled radar echoes for training according to phenology, morphology and movement ecology of bats, birds and insects. Several non‐bat datasets were constructed and joined to train classifiers under increasing levels of difficulty. Class imbalance in the resulting training data was handled using a generative adversarial network for up‐sampling the much smaller bat dataset. The resulting classification tool reached a high level of accuracy and precision, and was further scrutinized with an extensive set of ecological validations. Bats perform seasonal migrations over long distances, but little is known about the spatial and temporal characteristics of this movement, and the ability to study it at a large scale has so far been limited. We present the Israeli BATScan dataset, containing over 60,000 bat observations spanning the entire country and representing multiple habitats. Using this data, we produce an unprecedented large scale, highly detailed documentation of the yearly movements of bats on a major migration flyway, and distinguish this pattern from bird migration over space and time. So far, radar aeroecology dealt primarily with birds, increasingly with insects, and only rarely with bats. We present BATScan, a classification tool that can incorporate bats into the framework of radar aeroecology to finally enable a comprehensive description of animal aeroecology.


This project deals with the problem at the core of chemical processes, that of creating a structure for the reaction-separation-recycle system. New methods have been developed for the synthesis of such structures capable of screening a wide range of options and taking account of all of the trade-offs simultaneously. For the first time these methods are capable of fully taking into account the interactions between the reactor design options and the separation system design. Project description In most chemical processes, the effluent from the reactor is separated into products, by-products and unreacted feed. The unreacted feed (and in some cases the by-products) can be recycled back to the reactor system. Despite the research effort on process synthesis over the last two decades, very few systematic procedures have been proposed for the synthesis of reactorseparator-recycle systems. Existing approaches mostly use heuristics based on the study of reactors and separation systems in isolation. As a result, the coupling of reactors with separators has not been properly investigated. Recent work has allowed a more systematic approach to be developed. The approach proposes a general superstructure of different reactor options and separation tasks and features all the potential interconnections among the proposed units. Optimisation techniques are used to determine the trade-offs and the optimal structure and operating conditions of the flowsheet The approach has highlighted the importance of the coupling between the reaction and the separation system and confirmed the potential benefits of an integrated approach. The separation process often serves to improve the performance of the reactor, for example by providing recycles of suitable purity. On the other hand, the reactor performance may be tailored to facilitate the separation process. These opportunities are also being examined, in particular for highly non-ideal systems, with azeotropes and liquid-phase immiscibility. The resulting composition of the reactor effluent could significantly affect the ease of separation of the products. A systematic approach to flowsheet design that considers both the reactor and separation system is being developed for these types of systems.


Growth of New Zealand fur seal pups was investigated at Taumaka, Open Bay Islands, New Zealand, from November 1974 to September 1976. Pups were weighed and curvilinear length, axillary girth and foreflipper length measured at about ages 55, 190, 235 and 290 days. Males are significantly heavier and larger than females at each age, wtih the exception of axillary girth at 235 days. Pups born during the austral summer of 1974–5 were smaller overall than were pups born during the following summer. This difference was so great that males aged 140 days in 1976 were larger and heavier than males aged 235 days in 1975. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the difference in growth rates of pups born during the two years may have been a consequence, either directly or indirectly, of environmental temperatures. Pups born during the warmer season (1974–5) had the slower growth.


UBL is the leading interchange format for business documents. It is designed to operate within a standard business framework such as ISO/IEC 15000 (ebXML) to provide a complete, standards-based infrastructure that can extend the benefits of existing EDI systems to businesses of all sizes. The European Commission has declared UBL officially eligible for referencing in tenders from public administrations, and in 2015 UBL was approved as ISO/IEC 19845:2015.


The interstellar detections of isocyanic acid, methyl isocyanate, and very recently also ethyl isocyanate, open the question of the possible detection of vinyl isocyanate in the interstellar medium. The aim of this study is to extend the laboratory rotational spectrum of vinyl isocyanate into the millimeter wave region and to undertake a check for its presence in the high-mass star forming region Sgr B2. The rotational spectrum of vinyl isocyanate was recorded in the frequency regions 127.5-218 and 285-330 GHz using the Prague millimeter wave spectrometer. The spectral analysis was supported by high-level quantum-chemical calculations. We assumed local thermodynamic equilibrium to compute synthetic spectra of vinyl isocyanate and to search for it in the ReMoCA survey performed with ALMA toward Sgr B2(N). We also searched for ethyl isocyanate in the same source. Accurate values for the rotational and centrifugal distortion constants are reported for the ground vibrational states of trans and cis vinyl isocyanate. We report nondetections of vinyl and ethyl isocyanate toward the main hot core of Sgr B2(N). We find that vinyl and ethyl isocyanate are at least 11 and 3 times less abundant than methyl isocyanate in this source, respectively. Although the precise formation mechanism of interstellar methyl isocyanate itself remains uncertain, we infer from existing astrochemical models that our observational upper limit for the CH3NCO:C2H5NCO ratio in Sgr B2(N) is consistent with ethyl isocyanate being formed on dust grains via the abstraction or photodissociation of an H atom from methyl isocyanate, followed by the addition of a methyl radical. The dominance of such a process for ethyl isocyanate production, combined with the absence of an analogous mechanism for vinyl isocyanate, would indicate that the ratio C2H3NCO:C2H5NCO should be rather less than unity.


Using an innovative computer model, Dave Stegman and his coauthors might have solved a decades-old mystery about the Moon's geology. A giant plume of hot rock, they say, might have burst out from the lunar core four billion years ago, kicking off a series of events that endowed the moon with a temporary magnetic field. Stegman's model is prompting scientists to re-examine studies of magnetic lunar rocks collected during the early Apollo missions. The research has even caught the attention of the world media, who have dubbed his lunar hypothesis the Big Burp Theory. Notoriety aside, Stegman's work is advancing the application of a popular and versatile analysis method that's been around since the 1950s: finite-element analysis. With FEA, a computer breaks a complex problem into small pieces that are easier to process.


In obese patients the risks of morbidity and mortality is increased with high probability in surgical procedures. The secondary metabolic disturbances of obesity do not require special regimes for parenteral and enteral nutrition in most cases, since the common marked hyperinsulinemia is normalized quickly during the catabolic phase. Due to a preoperative weight reduction of approximately 10% a normalization of the disturbed metabolic parameters and impaired lung function almost can be achieved. In the stressed obese patient a hypocaloric, parenteral nutrition enriched with proteins seems useful, whereby endogenous fat deposits serve as energy donators without using lean body mass.


Pressure ulcers can occur for innumerable factors in critical patients, mainly in ones in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This study was carried out with the objective to describe to nursing personnel and family members the process to prevent pressure ulcer. This is a descriptive and qualitative research. A number of 12 technicians, 01 nurse, and 52 family members of patients were involved in the study from February to May, 2005. According to the statements from the participants before and after nursing care orientation, home care is "simple and easy" and that the instrument to evaluate risk patients (Branden Scale) is of "easy application". It was observed that, for the majority of family members and/or caretakers, there was a great satisfaction in being able to, with simple procedures, prevent pressure ulcers and provide more comfort to a patient in the family or in an intensive care unit


In the current study we sought to determine whether mutation burden (MB) is reflected in gene expression patterns. We generated 389 gene expression profiles and 311 mutation profiles from 182 cases, split into a training set of 97 and test set of 84. Copy number variants (CNV), rearrangements (TX) and short variant mutations (SV) were identified with FoundationOne Heme (F1) and U133Plus2.0 (u133) gene expression data, GEP70 and GEP80 risk scores, subgroup and CNV calls provided by Signal Genetics. 145 Kegg pathways, transcription factor binding sites (TFbs) for 195 TF mapped to u133 genes and 1161 F1 features and u133 GEP signatures/scores were evaluated for enrichment of defined genes. u133 data for normal plasma cells (n=22), MGUS (n=44), smoldering MM (n=12), relapsed MM (n=76), and MM cell lines (n=42) were derived from GSE31162. Newly diagnosed MM samples came from GSE31162 (n=584), GSE19784 (n=321), GSE15695 (n=247) and E-MTAB-317 (n=233). Of 593 genes assayed by F1, 293 were mutated at least twice. There were a total of 3454 mutations (average = 11, minimum = 3, and maximum = 37). KRAS was mutated in 40 tumors, while TP53 was mutated 45 times in 31 tumors. TP53 and 62 other genes had 2 or more unique mutations in a single tumor. A linear curve of MB exhibited a sharp upward inflection at 19 mutations. We sought to determine if GEP could identify characteristic features of MM flanking the inflection point. A training set of 97 (86 = 21 MB) and a test set of 84 (49 15 but = 21MB) was produced. A mean ratio identified 576 genes exhibiting 2-fold higher expression in MM with high MB (hiMB) and 1617 genes from low MB (loMB). Notably, forty-four of the 293 mutated genes were in this list of genes. A geometric mean ratio of the two gene sets was then calculated for all samples. The mean of the resulting score (MB.2) was higher in MM with hiMB (1.66) than MM with loMB (-0.235) in the training set. MM with hiMB (0.329) had a higher MB.2 score than the group with intermediate MB.2 (0.158) and both higher than MM with loMB (-0.122). MB.2 was lowest in normal PC (-0.518) and progressively increased with disease progression: MGUS (-0.341), SMM (-0.308), MM (0.199), relapsed MM (0.334), MM cell lines (1.168).[SP1] 57% of the 182 cases harbored only SV mutations, 32% had SV and CNV, 32% SV and TX and 7% had SV, CNV and TX mutations. SV only mutations were present in 76% of MB.2 quartile 1 (MBq1) and 30% of MBq4. SV, CNV and TX mutations were present in 4% of MBq1 and 17% of MBq4. MB.2 was positively correlated with GEP70, GEP80, proliferation index, and TP53 target genes in MM and genes modulated by thalidomide and dexamethasone in PGx studies, in at least 6 of the 7 cohorts studied. The CD2 subtype, a myeloid classification and GEP70 low risk were significantly overrepresented in both MBq1 and GEP70q1 in all 7 cohorts. Conversely, the MF, MS, and PR subtypes, GEP70 and GEP80 high risk, as well as +1q, amp1q21, and del13q were significantly overrepresented in MBq4 and GEP70q4 in all 7 cohorts. MB.2 [SP2] genes derived from MM with loMB where enriched in 45 of 148 Kegg pathways. Notable were Hedgehog, Prostaglandin, Tx factors in cancer, HOX, MYB signaling, ephrin-B reverse signaling and embryonic stem cells. Five pathways related to B-cell biology were enriched. Mitotic cell cycle, integrin signaling, chromatin acetylation, ubiquitin ligation, and G1 to G1/S were underrepresented. MB.2 genes from MM with hiMB were enriched in TP53, lipid lysis, complement cascade, adherens junctions, Wnt regulation of CYR61, cyclins, prostaglandins, cell cycle, and MYC target pathways. Interferon signaling, TNF-NF-kB, EGFR, NOD, endoplasmic reticulum, ubiquitin ligation, Wnt-Hedgehog-NOTCH and BMP-SMAD modules were underrepresented. An enrichment of Rel and NF-kB TFbs was observed for genes negatively correlated with MB.2. and genes positively correlated with MB.2 and GEP70 were enriched for E2F and TP53 binding site. In conclusion, we show that MB can be captured by GEP in MM, that MB increases with disease progression, and pathways enriched by hiMB and loMB are different and may imply differences in pathogenesis as well as treatment. [SP1]This is an important finding - suggest emphasizing more [SP2]Starting with this para suggest referring to groups are low vs high mutation burden for improved readability. Disclosures Shaughnessy:Signal Genetics: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties. Cho:Genentech Roche: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Agenus, Inc.: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Chari:Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Array Biopharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen Inc.: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding. van Laar:Signal Genetics, Inc.: Employment. Jagannath:Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Myer Squibb: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Barlogie:Signal Genetics: Patents & Royalties.


The present invention relates to a direct heating type metal meting furnace and, more specifically, to a direct heating type metal melting furnace which can directly transfer the heat of a heating element by directly putting the heating element containing silicon carbide into molten metal and radiating electromagnetic waves into the heating element, thereby increasing heat efficiency and maintaining the temperature of the molten metal with low energy. The direct heating type metal melting furnace does not need a combustion space for a heating unit, but needs only the space as much as the amount of the molten metal so that it can have high space efficiency. Accordingly, the present invention can reduce heat loss and can obtain the enough amount of the molten metal even through equipment is small. Since the heat of the heating element is directly applied into the molten metal, the heating of the heating element directly causes the increased temperature of the molten metal. Thus, the heat efficiency is high even through the heat of the heating element is not higher than the temperature of the molten metal. Also, the present invention can reduce maintenance costs and the unit costs of production because of the high heat efficiency.


Background: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a global problem with various occupational activities being associated with reports of chronic pain. Aim: The aim of the study is to identify the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain and the associated occupational risk factors among the uMhlathuze Municipal employees (uMhlathuze Local Municipality is an administrative area in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The municipality is named after the Mhlatuze River). Method: A cross-sectional survey of a sample of employees from the Community Service department of the municipality will be conducted. A detailed interview questionnaire based on the standard Nordic ergonomic questionnaire will be used. It will focus on the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain, individual, physical, psychosocial factors, and symptoms in the previous year. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis will be conducted using STATA 13 (Most of its users work in research, especially in the fields of economics, sociology, political science, biomedicine and epidemiology). Conclusion: The prevalence and factors associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain in this study population will be reported.


We solve for optimal combinations of glide speeds and crab angles that minimize the glide slope at an arbitrary angle to the wind along a constant course heading. In this general case glide slope minimization is posed as a variational problem with both graphical and nurnerical solutions. The graphical solutions are obtained by tangent plotting of the along-course component of the glide polar for any constant crosswind component. The numerical solutions are obtained by seeded iterations with a Taylor series expansion about an analytic solution in the asymptotic limit of a small crosswind component. These solutions reveal that speeds-to-fly in severely oblique winds can actually increase with increasing tailwind component in order to avoid glide slope degradation from excessively large crab angles. Furthermore, indicated speeds-to-fly decrease with altitude in the absence of wind gradients aloft (as in absorption and insulation layers). On the other hand, if wind gradients are present aloft and obey Long's solution then indicated speeds-to-fly remain invariant with altitude. Within a lee wave field, it is shown that the glide slope between any two points is minimized by an orthogonal series of constant course glides proceeding crosswind through regions of lift and directly with or against the wind through regions of sink. The solutions were also used to compute the flattest possible glide slopes that may be achieved across the spectrum of production sailplanes under a variety of extreme conditions. It was found that larger aspect ratios and low wing loadings have an increasing advantage with increasing tailwind and diminishing crosswind component. However, this advantage is greatly diminished with increasing headwind and crosswind components. Speed-to-fly and along-course speeds segregated according to wing loading with tailwind and weak crosswind components, but varied inversely with wing thickness for oblique headwings and direct crosswinds. The practice of ballasting was shown to be advantageous for all oblique headwinds, direct crosswinds, and even in strong oblique tailwinds.


While the dominant approach to persistent storage in practice is to use a relational DBMS, there are some specialist applications that rely on object stores. The performance of these applications depends on the efficiency of the object store's concurrency control mechanism. Today's predominant concurrency control mechanism is strict two-phase object locking. In the 1980s, an interesting alternative was developed: commutativity-based semantic locking. In theory, it can outperform traditional locking schemes in certain scenarios with appropriate commutativity potential. In this paper, we study the real-world performance of different locking strategies in a particular industrial application from the telecommunications sector. We compare object-based locking and commutativity-based semantic locking. We found that, in this application, semantic locking performs equally to, but no better than, object locking in reasonable mixes of real- world transactions, and that it only outperforms in a deliberately contrived mix.


The paper describes an experimental approach to study the formation damage induced by drilling muds in oil bearing formations. This approach includes (i) static and dynamic invasion tests on long core samples performed either under CT Scanning or with specific equipment allowing pressure measurements along the core sample, and (ii) characterization of both external and internal mud cakes by means of Cryo-SEM examinations. A series of seven water-based mud invasion experiments has been conducted on high permeability clayey sandstones. The amount and the extent of formation damage have been quantified. The results show that global oil return permeabilities vary from 44% to 90% of initial permeability depending on oil viscosity and overbalance pressure. Hysteresis of saturations due to retention of invaded aqueous filtrate was always observed, up to 17 saturation units. This induced an adverse relative permeability effect which may significantly contribute to oil permeability impairment.


How do people explain their behavior in socially unacceptable political situations? Exploring this question will give us insight into how the public responds to and frames collective decisions regarding controversial topics. We analyze accounts of the outcomes of racially sensitive statewide referenda in two states to understand the public responses to such political predicaments. Distinguishing four broad categories of these accounts—denials, justifications, excuses, and confessions—we find some clear-cut differences in their use between proponents and opponents of the ballot measures. These results have implications for political thought and dialogue regarding politically-sensitive issues and other heated policy issues. We also discuss how the different account dynamics in these two cases presaged subsequent political developments in these states, which might provide insights into why some such cases continue to be fiercely contested while others fade from public debate.


Accurate, microphone-based speaker localization in real-world environments, like office spaces or meeting rooms, must be able to track a single speaker and multiple concurrent speakers in the presence of reverberations and background noise. Our Multi-band Joint Position-Pitch (M-PoPi) algorithm for circular microphone arrays already shows a frame-wise localization estimation score of about 95% for tracking a single speaker in a noisy, reverberant setting. In this paper, we present two extensions of the M-PoPi algorithm to improve the localization estimation accuracy also for multiple concurrent speakers. These extensions are a weighted spectro-temporal fragment analysis as a pre-processing step for the M-PoPi algorithm and a particle filter-based tracking as a post-processing step. Experiments using real-world recordings of two concurrent speakers in a typ-ically reverberant meeting room show an improvement of the frame-wise localization estimation score from 43% using the plain M-PoPi algorithm to 66% using the M-PoPi algorithm with both extensions.


ISSUE ADDRESSED
Whether posters promoting stair use are effective in increasing objectively measured physical activity in a sample of New Zealand professional employees.

METHODS
Forty-six participants (27 men and 19 women) recruited from two professional worksites wore one sealed pedometer during all waking hours (total physical activity [TPV]), and another sealed pedometer during working hours (worksite physical activity [WPV]), for three days over four separate occasions. The study protocol was a crossover design with the first worksite receiving the treatment (posters) for three weeks, followed by a six-week washout period, then a three-week control. The second worksite received the control prior to the treatment period. Measurements were taken at the beginning and end of each three-week block.

RESULTS
The posters were ineffective at increasing objectively measured work and total physical activity levels in this sample. Trivial (0.04) to moderate Cohen effect sizes (-0.79) were shown. When posters were visible in the worksites, mean step counts decreased (-868 steps [WPV], and -1,861 steps [TPV]). Women's step counts (-9% [WPV] and -13% [TPV]) were more negatively affected by the posters' appearance when compared with men (-2% [WPV] and -8% [TPV]).


Long-term manned space flights are dependent on bio-regenerative life support systems (BLSS). Plants in BLSS will be important for food production, CO 2 /O 2 conversion, and water purification. Stem sap flow is an important indicator of transpiration and growth of plants. In the present study, we created three low gravity levels in parabolic airplane flights and investigated stem sap flow of sweetpotatoes, which are candidate crops in space agriculture. We observed that stem sap flow with forced air movements was promoted at gravity levels lower than 1 g. Air movement around the plants is very important in order to develop BLSS that is able to maintain healthy plant growth with high yields for long-term periods.


We analyze the impact of venture capital on firm performance ; more precisely, we investigate whether venture capital adds value to innovative French companies in terms of increasing their survival time. To this end, we use a hand-collected data set based on a sample of 139 French companies that went public at the "Nouveau Marché" between 1996 and 2002 to compare the survival rates of venture capital backed and non-venture capital backed companies. We develop two sets of econometric models to evaluate the factors that affect the fate of French initial public offerings. First, we estimate a discrete time duration model to explain the probability of exit. Second, we apply a competing risk model to account for heterogeneity in firm exit (liquidation versus merger/acquisition). Contrary to common wisdom, the estimates show that venture capital backed companies have a lower survival rate than non-venture capital backed companies and have a higher probability of being liquidated than other firms. Our results are comparable to those obtained in previous studies on Germany and Belgium which show that receiving venture capital does not improve firm survival. JEL Classification : G24 ; O32.


PANDAS (Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection) is a rare condition first described in 1998. It describes the presence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tics with an episodic course, and a temporal relationship to Group A beta haemolytic streptococcal infection (GABHS). Recurrent episodes can be disruptive and upsetting for a child, but the best way to treat the condition has yet to be established. Penicillin prophylaxis has not proved effective, and other therapies are experimental. There is some evidence in the literature to support the role of tonsillectomy in improving the condition. We report a case of a 6-year-old boy who presented with tic and hemi-chorea associated with GABHS throat infection. He had a recurrence of his symptoms associated with a further GABHS infection, but has had no further symptoms following tonsillectomy. This case report lends further evidence to the role of tonsillectomy in the management of PANDAS.


Seven different commercial F₁ hybrids and two F₂ populations were evaluated by multiplex PCR to identify plants that are homozygous or heterozygous for Ty-1 and Mi, which confer resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl disease and root-knot nematode, respectively. The Ty-1 and Mi markers were amplified by PCR and identified by digestion of the amplicons with the TaqI enzyme. The hybrids E13 and 288 were found to be Ty/ty heterozygous plants with 398-, 303-, and 95-bp bands, and B08, 314, 198, and A10 were found to be ty/ty homozygous plants with a 398-bp band; whereas 098 did not give any PCR products. The hybrids E13 and 198 were found to be Mi/Mi homozygous plants with 570- and 180-bp bands, and 288 and A10 were found to be Mi/mi heterozygous plants, with 750-, 570- and 180-bp bands, and B08, 109 and 314 were found to be mi/mi homozygous plants with only a 750-bp band. We additionally developed a multiplex PCR technique for JB-1 and Mi, which confer resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl disease and root-knot nematode. The JB-1 marker identified the genotype of the Ty gene, and the plants that produced the 400-bp band were ty/ty homozygous plants, whereas the plants that produced 400- and 500-bp bands were resistant to tomato yellow leaf curl disease. We conclude that multiplex PCRs can be used to reproducibly and efficiently detect these resistance genes.


Submarine hot springs play an important role in global heat transfer; element cycling; economic ore deposition; and as an energy source for chemosynthetic ecosystems. Almost four decades of deep-sea exploration have revealed hydrothermal venting to be a ubiquitous phenomenon across the global ocean floor, yet these systems have only recently been discovered in Antarctica. Between 1998 and 2012, high-temperature vents were detected and sampled along the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) and within the Kemp Caldera, which forms part of the South Sandwich island arc, during four research cruises to the Scotia Sea. These vent sites are the first discovered south of the polar front, and they have a distinct faunal assemblage that has characterised them as a new biogeographic province. In this thesis, I investigate the controls on hydrothermal fluid chemistry at the ESR and the Kemp Caldera, using the rare earth elements (REEs) as geochemical tracers. I demonstrate that REE distributions in hydrothermal fluids and associated sulphate deposits are variably influenced by reaction with the host rock; temperature and phase separation; fluid composition and magmatic gas injection; and anhydrite precipitation/dissolution. Secondly, I assess tissue bioaccumulation of metals in Kiwa tyleri sp. nov., the dominant macrofaunal species at the ESR vent sites, in response to their environmental exposure. Significant variation in metal burden between tissues reflects both abiotic and biotic controls on metal uptake, including external concentration; trophic position; ecological niche and behavioural traits; in addition to cellular mechanisms of regulation. Finally, I investigate proteomic pathways of metal regulation in the shallow water mussel, Mytilus edulis, and the vent-living mussel, Bathymodiolus sp. I show that both species have strong defence mechanisms against metal toxicity and oxidative stress, which may be important for successful colonisation of hydrothermal systems. This work highlights the diversity in chemical compositions of fluids venting in back-arc and island-arc settings, and provides an insight into metal regulatory mechanisms that may have facilitated faunal colonisation of these extreme habitats.


This essay discusses the implications of some important work in experimental philosophy to criminal law and tort law. Joshua Knobe and others have demonstrated experimentally that we attribute intent more to those whose actions lead to bad results than to those whose actions lead to good results. In one version, a middle-management executive boasts that his new process will not only make money for the company, but help the environment. His boss approves the new venture, but makes it clear that he doesn't care about helping the environment, he's doing it for the money. Sure enough, the new process does help the environment. Yet we do not give the boss credit for intentionally having made the environment cleaner. In contrast, when the mid-level manager laments that the new process will make money at the expense of damaging the environment, we attribute blame to a boss who orders the process to go forward notwithstanding the negative side-effect. In this essay, I argue that the asymmetry results from the fact that we all have intuitive baselines of intent. We generally expect that people will act within social norms to accomplish socially-useful goals, and when they cause harm, they do so accidentally. Since the boss acted below the baseline when there was a good outcome, we are unlikely to attribute intent. In contrast, when harm ensued, his state of mind was worse than the baseline, which makes the attribution of intent more natural. Two significant legal ramifications are discussed. First, the fact that we set a high baseline for acceptable conduct suggests that legal systems are more likely to be organized around expecting the good and punishing the bad, notwithstanding the fact that economists argue persuasively that the two are equivalent in many situations. Second, the finding that people regard a known, negative side-effect of an act as intentional in its own right is embedded as a principle in tort law, and is represented in Section 8A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. This section has brought controversy in light of courts drawing different lines as to how much knowledge is sufficient to trigger the provision. The essay discusses the relationship between this controversy and the moral intuitions of the subjects in the experimental philosophy studies.


A 63-year-old- female was admitted to our hospital complaining of cough. Based on CT, bone centigram and peripheral blood findings, a diagnosis of gastric carcinoma accompanied by bone marrow metastasis was made. As DIC developed following hospital admission, S-1 and docetaxel(DOC)therapy was initiated(daily oral administration of 80 mg/m(2) S-1 for 14 days and DOC at 40 mg/m(2) on day 1, q3w). Recovery from DIC was achieved. S-1 and DOC therapy is considered to be effective for DIC due to bone marrow metastasis of gastric carcinoma. S-1/DOC is thought to be an effective chemotherapy against progressive gastric carcinoma accompanied by disseminated carcinomatosis bone marrow with DIC.


The new species Melanospora subterranea is described from China, based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses. This is the first record of Melanospora species parasitizing Chinese black and white truffles (Tuber indicum and T. huidongense), and its host range indicates that the new species might be a disease threat to commercially exploited European truffles including Tuber melanosporum and Tuber magnatum. Apparent polyphyly within the Ceratostomataceae can be explained at least in part by inadvertent sequencing of the host fungus instead of the parasite.


Most important source of distortion in underwater environs are Haze and Hue alteration. Haze is produced because of the effect of light scattering by particle present in the underwater environment. Hue alterations occur when light enter deeper in underwater. These two issues make the picture look darker and low luminosity.Haze removal and Hue altered enhancement is important for this kind of low visibility and low contrast underwater images. The existing Dark Channel Prior method effectively removes Haze but color change is not processed. In this paper underwater image enhancement is carried out in two steps. In the first step Haze in the underwater image is removed using dark channel prior. In the second step Hue alterations handled by wavelength compensation. Once depth map is derived, luminance of foreground and background inside the image can be separated and compared. To regulate the Hue alteration wavelength can be compensated using average RGB channels in the image. After computing the scale value of each RGB component, wavelength is compensated together with the average RGB and scale value of each channel in the image. Performance of the proposed method of wavelength compensated image is evaluated using the PSNR, Focus Measurement, Contrast Improvement Index, and Feature Similarity Index. Performance measurement of the wavelength compensation produces better enhancement results than existing method.


Two-Dimensional Principal Component Analysis (2DPCA) has been widely used for feature extraction in palmprint recognition. However, it is sensitive to variable illumination. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to solve this problem by combing phase congruency (PC) with 2DPCA. Our method consists of two parts. One is to extract the palmprint phase congruency features which are invariant to changes in image illumination. The other is transforming the palmprint phase congruency features into subspace by 2DPCA, which is able to classify the individual palmprint representation optimally. The design of Gabor filters for phase congruency feature extraction is also discussed. The PolyU palmprint database was used to generate the results. Experiments show that phase congruency significantly improves system performance whilst 2DPCA outperforms many existing subspace projection methods. The proposed method achieves 99.44% recognition rate on the PolyU database, and its feature extraction and matching time is 0.311s.


Good policy intentions do not always translate into the desired outcome. Nearly a decade ago, the European Commission (EC) launched two new entities with the goal of building a European-wide ecosystem—one to support frontier research, the European Research Council (ERC), and the other to boost innovation, the European Institute of Technology (EIT). Today, the ERC is considered the gold standard for funding frontier research of scientific excellence, with a budget that almost doubled in 2014 under Horizon 2020, the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. What about the EIT? While acknowledging the progress made, an April report by the European Court of Auditors states that the EIT's overly complex operational structure and past management problems have impeded its overall effectiveness. In fact, continuous evaluations and adjustments will probably be needed to turn it into a success.


Green and yellow foxtail [Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. #3 SETVI and S. glauca (L.) Beauv. #SETLU] seed germination after 14 days were similar at 15, 20, and 25 C. However, at 10, 30, and 35 C, green foxtail seed germination was higher than that of yellow foxtail, indicating that temperature extremes influenced green foxtail seed germination less than that of yellow foxtail. Seed germination of both species was initiated at about the same time; however, green foxtail seed germinated 1 to 2 days faster than yellow foxtail at all temperatures. After 72 h in −4 bars osmotic potential solution at 25 C, green foxtail seed germination was 70% compared to 12% for yellow foxtail, suggesting that green foxtail seed may germinate more rapidly than yellow foxtail seed in soils with limited moisture.


The present research project addresses the question of how the theological literacy and agency of volunteer church leaders can be fostered so that cooperative church leadership can be achieved. The Protestant Churches of the Canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and Austria, together with the Centre for Church Development of the University of Zurich, designed a participatory research process. The aim was to increase the communicative and participative competence of volunteers. Together, through a creative and discursive process, the foundations, educational processes and tools necessary for theological empowerment were developed with the volunteer church leaders. The cooperative project combines research and practice in the sense that practitioners were actively involved in generating, evaluating and discussing the data. In addition, in this project we found ways to continue participatory research – for example through online discourse formats – and thus not lose the essence of such research in times of covid-19.


We report here the formation of symbiotic plasmids (pSyms), by genetic recombination between rearranged pSyms, which lack symbiotic information, and resistance plasmids carrying parts of different symbiotic plasmids (R's). This recombination was found to occur both between plasmids derived from different Rhizobium phaseoli isolates, and between plasmids derived from strains obtained from the same original isolate. We also present evidence on the formation of a functional symbiotic plasmid by recombination of an R', carrying nif and nod genes from strain CFN42, and an indigenous plasmid present in this strain (pCFN42e), which was thought to be unrelated to its symbiotic plasmid (pCFN42d). These data are discussed with respect to the stability and transfer of Rhizobium symbiotic information.


Background The role of pathogen-mediated febrile illness in sub-Saharan Africa is receiving more attention, especially in Southern Africa where four countries (including Namibia) are actively working to eliminate malaria. With a high concentration of livestock and high rates of companion animal ownership, the influence of zoonotic bacterial diseases as causes of febrile illness in Namibia remains unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings The aim of the study was to evaluate exposure to Coxiella burnetii, spotted fever and typhus group rickettsiae, and Bartonella henselae using IFA and ELISA (IgG) in serum collected from 319 volunteer blood donors identified by the Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia (NAMBTS). Serum samples were linked to a basic questionnaire to identify possible risk factors. The majority of the participants (64.8%) had extensive exposure to rural areas or farms. Results indicated a C. burnetii prevalence of 26.1% (screening titre 1∶16), and prevalence rates of 11.9% and 14.9% (screening titre 1∶100) for spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsiae, respectively. There was a significant spatial association between C. burnetii exposure and place of residence in southern Namibia (P<0.021). Donors with occupations involving animals (P>0.012), especially cattle (P>0.006), were also significantly associated with C. burnetii exposure. Males were significantly more likely than females to have been exposed to spotted fever (P<0.013) and typhus (P<0.011) group rickettsiae. Three (2.9%) samples were positive for B. henselae possibly indicating low levels of exposure to a pathogen never reported in Namibia. Conclusions/Significance These results indicate that Namibians are exposed to pathogenic fever-causing bacteria, most of which have flea or tick vectors/reservoirs. The epidemiology of febrile illnesses in Namibia needs further evaluation in order to develop comprehensive local diagnostic and treatment algorithms.


An unprecedented triple catalytic, general ring-opening cyanation reaction of cyclopropyl ketones for the construction of γ-cyanoketones is described. The key is to merge photoredox catalysis with Lewis acid catalysis and copper catalysis to enable the selective cleavage of the carbon-carbon bonds and the selective coupling of the generated radical and cyanide anion.


This article is written for business executives, managers, team leaders, and HR specialists who recognize the importance of employee creativity and corporate innovation for competing in today's marketplace, and wish to maximize it in their companies. The article explores the relationship between workforce diversity in an organization and the organization's capacity for innovation and creativity. There have been many reasons put forth for the value of increased diversity in the corporation. Among them: it more closely reflects the global marketplace in which the corporation competes, and it provides a richer, more rewarding working environment for all employees. Here is yet another: a diverse workforce offers the potential for generating more creative ideas against the various challenges the corporation faces. The author draws a comparison between divergent thinking, known to be a key process in creative individuals when trying to solve a problem, and creative group process on a project team comprised of members with diverse backgrounds and experience. Just as the individual engages in divergent thinking to get "clues" from a variety of sources, the team can draw on the differing perspectives within the group to generate a range of creative solutions to their company's problems and opportunities. However, diverse teams can also present problems, because of those differing perspectives. The author therefore concludes with five practical guidelines for those planning and conducting idea generation sessions, so as to maximize creative output and maintain a positive, productive climate.


We describe how a time series of optical resonance spectra of an evaporating, non-spherical, irregular aerosol particle levitated in an electrodynamic balance exhibits patterns which are related to its evaporation kinetics. Simulated spectra of an evaporating, model aerosol particle show comparable features. If these patterns are used to deduce the particle size change with time, the resulting vapor pressures and enthalpies of vaporization compare favorably with literature data for both crystalline ammonium nitrate and succinic acid particles.


Naming is a fundamental aspect of language and is virtually always assessed with visual confrontation tests. Tests of the ability to name objects by their characteristic sounds would be particularly useful in the assessment of visually impaired patients, and may be particularly sensitive in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We developed an auditory naming task, requiring the identification of the source of environmental sounds (i.e., animal calls, musical instruments, vehicles) and multiple-choice recognition of those not identified. In two separate studies mild-to-moderate AD patients performed more poorly than cognitively normal elderly on the auditory naming task. This task was also more difficult than two versions of a comparable visual naming task, and correlated more highly with Mini-Mental State Exam score. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable, although ROC analysis revealed auditory naming to be slightly less successful than visual confrontation naming in discriminating AD patients from normal participants. Nonetheless, our auditory naming task may prove useful in research and clinical practice, especially with visually impaired patients.


The article explores the idea of change in the higher educational process that is implemented via the problem-based learning strategy. Problem-based learning (PBL) is widely understood as an epistemological transformation in higher education. It is emphasized that the transformation should take place throughout the educational process, and assessment is an inseparable and very important part thereof. The study was aimed at revealing the experiences of participation in the assessment processes in PBL of students attending social science programmes in Lithuania. The empirical study, employing a semi-structured interview method, has shown that the students feel empowered when they have the opportunity to assess the entire educational process and (self-)assess the efforts related to the possibilities to become actively engaged in improvement of the assessment strategy. The study has also shown students' critical approach to the previous experience of assessment in the educational process. Difficulties of student participation in the assessment process in PBL were also identified. They were largely due to the change in the assessment system employed by the teacher and the manifestations of student bias when participating in (self-)assessment.


Autopsied pubic symphyses of 10 male and 10 female non-rheumatoid subjects and of 11 subjects with RA were studied. Osteo-arthritic changes were common in all elderly symphyses. This caused changes in the structure of the end plates and trabeculae. Some non-rheumatoid samples showed changes suggestive of erosion, but no evidence of inflammation. At microradiography the erosions seen in rheumatoid symphyses differed from the controls due to a lack of reactive sclerosis in the surrounding bone, although true inflammation was seen histologically in only two cases.


Ca+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) in the heart involves local Ca2+ signaling between sarcolemmal L-type Ca2+ channels (dihydropyridine receptors, DHPRs) and type 2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2s) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). We reconstituted cardiac-like CICR by expressing a cardiac dihydropyridine-insensitive (T1066Y/Q1070M) alpha1-subunit (alpha1CYM) and RyR2 in myotubes derived from RyR1-knockout (dyspedic) mice. Myotubes expressing alpha1CYM and RyR2 were vesiculated and exhibited spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations that resulted in chaotic and uncontrolled contractions. Coexpression of FKBP12.6 (but not FKBP12.0) with alpha1CYM and RyR2 eliminated vesiculations and reduced the percentage of myotubes exhibiting uncontrolled global Ca2+ oscillations (63% and 13% of cells exhibited oscillations in the absence and presence of FKBP12.6, respectively). alpha1CYM/RyR2/FKBP12.6-expressing myotubes exhibited robust and rapid electrically evoked Ca2+ transients that required extracellular Ca2+. Depolarization-induced Ca2+ release in alpha1CYM/RyR2/FKBP12.6-expressing myotubes exhibited a bell-shaped voltage dependence that was fourfold larger than that of myotubes expressing alpha1CYM alone (maximal fluorescence change was 2.10 +/- 0.39 and 0.54 +/- 0.07, respectively), despite similar Ca2+ current densities. In addition, the gain of CICR in alpha1CYM/RyR2/FKBP12.6-expressing myotubes exhibited a nonlinear voltage dependence, being considerably larger at threshold potentials. We used this molecular model of local alpha1C-RyR2 signaling to assess the ability of FKBP12.6 to inhibit spontaneous Ca2+ release via a phosphomimetic mutation in RyR2 (S2808D). Electrically evoked Ca2+ release and the incidence of spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations did not differ in wild-type RyR2- and S2808D-expressing myotubes over a wide range of FKBP12.6 expression. Thus a negative charge at S2808 does not alter in situ regulation of RyR2 by FKBP12.6.


In this paper, we develop new methods for analyzing high-dimensional tensor datasets. A tensor factor model describes a high-dimensional dataset as a sum of a low-rank component and an idiosyncratic noise, generalizing traditional factor models for panel data. We propose an estimation algorithm, called tensor principal component analysis (TPCA), which generalizes the traditional PCA applicable to panel data. The algorithm involves unfolding the tensor into a sequence of matrices along different dimensions and applying PCA to the unfolded matrices. We provide theoretical results on the consistency and asymptotic distribution for the TPCA estimator of loadings and factors. We also introduce a novel test for the number of factors in a tensor factor model. The TPCA and the test feature good performance in Monte Carlo experiments and are applied to sorted portfolios.


We demonstrate the feasibility of a compact real-time 3D optoacoustic (OA) imager employing a novel low-cost software-defined ultrasound digital acquisition platform. It supports simultaneous signal acquisition from up to 192 ultrasound channels and a direct optical link (2x 100G Ethernet) to the host-PC for high-frame-rate image acquisitions. Real-time 3D imaging experiments with light-absorbing phantoms and the wrist of a healthy volunteer are reported. These results pave the way toward a new generation of compact, affordable, and flexible hand-held OA scanners.


In today's China, how are we supposed to understand the notion of "work," after the chaos of the socialist period, and after the conversion to capitalism, and now after globalization? Marx said that labor makes people, this was one of his fundamental principles. So how are we supposed to understand labor today? What does it mean for us? —Grass Stage, World Factory The insistence on "socialism with Chinese characteristics" often sounds quite vacuous, and yet it is a constant reminder of the Chinese resistance to dissolution into capitalism and the continued reaffirmation of one kind of socialist past in the search for another kind of socialist future. —Arif Dirlik, "Back to the Future"


NHS hospital trusts in England recorded a combined deficit of almost a billion pounds in the first three months of this year, higher than the deficit for the whole of the previous financial year.

Figures published by national regulators Monitor1 and the NHS Trust Development Authority2 showed that the NHS trust and foundation trust sectors recorded a combined deficit of £930m (€1260m; $1420m) in the first quarter of 2015-16, compared with £822m for the whole of 2014-15.3

The disclosure lays bare the rapidly deteriorating financial position at most NHS hospitals and indicates that the £2bn end of year deficit previously forecasted for NHS trusts finances is likely to be exceeded.

Monitor's figures showed that 118 of England's 151 foundation trusts (78%) ended the period in deficit with …


The media is one of the most important institutions in society. It is a reality that media play very substantial role in the production and social distribution of knowledge. In addition to that, mass media provides the greatest communication opportunities to the people. Also, contemporary media provides very distinctive weapons to obtain power, wealth and prestige in the society. If media owners and elites are so powerful, the identification of media elites is of great importance. Hence, this study aims to analyse contemporary Turkish media: A full picture of Turkish media elites in terms of important social, political and demographic indicators will be given in this paper. The managers, editors, influential columnists and reporters of major Turkish media elites are defined as Turkish media elites.  Firstly, the paper will focuse on the demographic peculiarities of Turkish media elites. Secondly, the educational background and family structure of Turkish media elites will be examined. Then, social origins and other social characteristics of Contemporary Turkish media elites will be investigated.


The regeneration of periodontal tissues to cure periodontitis remains a medical challenge. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop a novel biomaterial that could induce cementogenesis and osteogenesis in periodontal tissue engineering. Calcium silicate (Ca-Si) based ceramics have been found to be potential bioactive materials due to their osteostimulatory effect. Recently, it is reported that zirconium modified calcium-silicate-based (Ca3ZrSi2O9) ceramics stimulate cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of osteoblasts. However, it is unknown whether Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramics possess specific cementogenic stimulation for human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) in periodontal tissue regeneration in vitro. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramic disks and their ionic extracts could stimulate cell growth and cementogenic/osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs; the possible molecular mechanism involved in this process was also explored by investigating the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway of hPDLCs. Our results showed that Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramic disks supported cell adhesion, proliferation and significantly up-regulated relative alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, cementogenic/osteogenic gene expression (CEMP1, CAP, ALP and OPN) and Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway-related genes (AXIN2 and CTNNB) for hPDLCs, compared to that of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) bioceramic disks and blank controls. The ionic extracts from Ca3ZrSi2O9 powders also significantly enhanced relative ALP activity, cementogenic/osteogenic and Wnt/β-catenin-related gene expression of hPDLCs. The present results demonstrate that Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramics are capable of stimulating cementogenic/osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs possibly via activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway, suggesting that Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramics have the potential to be used for periodontal tissue regeneration.


Published 4 decades ago, "Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies" (Cialdini et al., 1976) is the most influential study of sport consumer behavior. This article features re-creations of Studies 1 and 2, exactly 40 years after the original publication. The results of Study 1 were reproduced, with participants more than twice as likely to wear school-affiliated apparel after wins and 55% less likely after losses. The study also extends the BIRGing literature in its investigation of the influence of gender and the effect's salience over time. Study 2's results were not reproduced. However, study participants were significantly more likely to use first-person plural pronouns, providing further empirical evidence of BIRGing behaviors. This article makes a novel contribution to the sport consumer behavior literature by advancing the study of one of the field's most foundational theories and serving as an impetus for future investigations of BIRGing motivations.


Abstract. China have occurred unprecedented urban growth over the last two decades. It is reported that the level of China's urbanization increased from 18 % in 1978 to 41 % in 2003, and this figure may exceed 65 % by 2050. The change detection of long time serious remote sensing images is the effective way to acquire the data of urban land-cover change to understand the pattern of urbanization. In this paper, we proposed the similarity index (SI) and apply it in long time series urban land-cover change detection. First of all, we built possible change trajectories in four times based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) that extracted from time series Landsat images. Secondly, we applied SI in similarity comparison between the observed change trajectory and the possible trajectories. Lastly, verifying the accuracy of the results. The overall accuracy in four periods is 85.7 % and the overall accuracy of each two years is about 90 % and kappa statistic is about 0.85. The results show that this method is effective for time series land-cover change detection.


Optimal growth and sporulation on agar of an isolate of Verticillium chlamydosporium occurred at 32°C and 22°C, respectively. Differences in the numbers of colony-forming units isolated from the root surface of tomato plants grown at different temperatures reflected the rate of hyphal growth on agar. However, the numbers of colony-forming units in soil at different temperatures was related to the effect of temperature on sporulation in vitro; the fungus was most abundant in soil at 22°C, which was the optimal temperature for sporulation. After one nematode generation the most extensive root colonisation occurred at 20°C followed by 25 and 30°C. As a result, egg-masses exposed on the root surface were most extensively colonised at 20°C followed by 25 and 30°C. Total egg and juvenile counts showed that greatest control of Meloidogyne was achieved at 25°C (c 90%), while control at 20 and 30°C was usually 60-70%. The lower level of control by V. chlamydosporium at 20°C may result from a reduced proportion of nematode egg-masses exposed on the root surface at this temperature. Eggs of M. arenaria, M. incognita and M. javanica were equally susceptible to parasitism by V. chlamydosporium. Of these three species, M. arenaria induced large galls and formed large egg-masses while M. incognita and M. javanica induced small galls and formed small egg-masses at 20°C. The end result was that control with V. chlamydosporium was approximately the same for the three nematode species.


Abstract To determine the continuity of known Fe-rich emery horizons and to explore new deposits in the Elmacik area (Yatagan, Turkey), a geophysical survey was carried out using magnetic and electrical methods. Magnetic measurements were taken in the target area of 5 km2 and a vertical electrical sounding technique was applied at 15 locations in the alluvial/eluvial (A/E) part of the area in order to explore possible placer emery horizons, and to investigate the thickness of the A/E assembly and any probable faults. Significant magnetic anomalies occur in the vicinity of old and abandoned emery pits in the marbles of Mt Ismail. The anomalies in the marbles were caused by Fe-rich emery bodies, which did not crop out and were not more than 10 m deep. The magnetic anomalies in the A/E part of the area were weak in amplitude and may suggest small new placer emery deposits. The result of the vertical electrical soundings indicated two fault zones, one in a N–S direction, and the other approximately in an E–W direction. The thickness of the A/E assembly varies from 2–3 m to 60–100 m. A low resistivity zone, which is located in the mid-east of the A/E part of the study area, correlates well with the long-wavelength magnetic anomaly. According to the survey results, further exploration activities should take place around abandoned emery pits.


Location management (LM) is an important function in a personal communication network to track movements of mobile terminals (MTs) for call delivery. It is well-known that the total signaling cost of a distance-based LM scheme is the lowest among dynamic location management schemes for PCS networks. In this paper, we derive the joint probability distribution of two random variables: the moving distance of an MT and the number of location updates resulting from the moving distances exceeding the distance threshold. As special cases, the probability distributions of an MT's moving distances and the number of location updates during an LM interval are obtained. These statistics are generally applicable to irregular cell topologies and general cell residence time distributions. Based on the derived statistics, the optimal distance thresholds for distance based LM schemes with blanket paging and sequential paging are solved analytically. Numeric results show that our optimized distance-based LM scheme outperforms some well-known LM schemes in total LM cost.


This article examines two hieratic graffiti found in the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak during the ARCE Conservation Project. The texts probably date to the end of the Twentieth Dynasty up to the beginning of the Twenty-first Dynasty. A translation with commentary is supplemented by photographs and digital facsimiles of the individual texts.


ABSTRACT:This article explores how Fran Ross's 1974 novel Oreo uses humor to challenge static notions of Black, Jewish, and American identity. Through her mock heroic quest, Oreo's eponymous protagonist develops WIT ("Way of the Interstitial Thrust"), a system of self-defense that draws on her multifaceted identity as a Jewish, African American woman and that she uses to successfully navigate spaces that threaten her with physical violence and symbolic erasure. In its hilarious exploration of the complexity and commodification of identity in the late twentieth century United States, Oreo provides a still-relevant example of how humor can create new spaces for minoritized subjects who exist in the "interstices" of the landscape of American cultural production.


Abstract:This article analyzes two documentary tasks, planning for the future and preserving the past, within and across multiple domains in everyday life. Data come from interviews with forty-seven Canadian participants and photographs of their tools and documents. Both tasks support multiple everyday life domains (e.g., family, work, community), their associated social roles (e.g., father, employee, volunteer), and functional roles that transcend domains and their associated communities (e.g., maintainer—of a car, of one's health, or of a social or family relationship). Planning for the future supports documenting what to do and when, where, and how to do it, but also how to be and how to be in relationship with others. Preserving the past supports documenting accountable truths and commemorating a meaningful past. It involves both recording past events and archiving and curating objects of documentary significance. Taking a sociocultural approach to the analysis of tasks reveals three themes about everyday life as a context for documentary practices: everyday life is not unitary, different domains reflect different conditions and communities, and past- and future-focused tasks are not clearly demarcated.


This paper explores the dynamic behavior of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Boussinesq equation, which is a nonlinear water wave equation used to model wave packets in dispersive media with weak nonlinearity. Specifically, we investigate the equation's traveling wave solutions using the Riccati equation mapping method. Our results include solitary and soliton solutions, each with their own set of parameter values. To provide a comprehensive understanding of these solutions, we present them in general form and visualize their significance using various graphs, such as 3D, 2D, and contour plots. The computational effort and resulting outcomes highlight the efficacy of our approach, which has the potential to be applied to other nonlinear physical problems in fields such as mathematical physics, engineering, and nonlinear science.


It is the purpose of this paper to show that optical accuracies can be reached with electronic tracking if the refractive index is known at the site of the radar, as well as at the site of the target. This is the case in tracking space vehicles with microwaves. The index can be measured at the tracking site and it is unity beyond the denser atmosphere. Ionospheric influences can be neglected in the higher kilomegacycle range. It is also shown that the uncertainty of the course of any particular profile between the surface of the earth and the target has only minute effects on range and angular errors. Accuracy limits are determined and presented numerically. The inherent high precision of modern electronic tracking systems can be fully utilized under these conditions; this is not the case in tracking vehicles flying in the atmosphere.


Reducing fluctuations and mitigating the variability of wind energy is essential for its integration in grids, electricity markets, microgrids, and distributed generation settings. In this work, we present a storage-based wind power smoothing system that uses novel optimization algorithms to reduce the variability of wind energy. The system considers forecasted and actual energy generated, battery size, and energy prices and determines export rates that have low variability and maximize either the energy exported or revenue earned. Our optimization algorithms are novel as they model an equivalent relaxed buffer system that uses only linear constraints and allows the computation of optimal smoothing solutions in an efficient manner. This enables the system to be used in an online manner in real time as well as in planning and operations. The smoothing system and the mathematical models and programs used in optimization are presented along with preliminary simulation results that demonstrate the need and effectiveness of the system with the help of real wind energy data. Finally, we compare wind smoothing to video smoothing and point out the important similarities and differences.


High energy physics scientists analyze large amounts of data looking for interesting events when particles collide. These analyses are easily expressed using complex queries that filter events. We developed a cost model for aggregation operators and other functions used in such queries and show that it substantially improves performance. However, the query optimizer still produces suboptimal plans because of estimate errors. Furthermore, the optimization is very slow because of the large query size. We improved the optimization by a profiled grouping strategy where the scientific query is first automatically fragmented into subqueries based on application knowledge. Each fragment is then independently profiled on a sample of events to measure real execution cost and cardinality. An optimized fragmented query is shown to execute faster than a query optimized with the cost model alone. Furthermore, the total optimization time, including fragmentation and profiling, is substantially improved.


This contribution deals with validation and verification issues in
aircraft noise prediction. We use two different comprehensive
simulation software: FLIGHT and PANAM. The comparison is done on the
basis of extensive flight data taken on an Airbus A319-100 operated by
Lufthansa. This paper aims to contribute to the establishment of
rational validation standards, as well as realistic accuracy margins
on integral noise metrics. The computer codes are briefly
described. Results are shown for a variety of microphone positions,
located sideways and directly along selected departure and approach
flight ground tracks.


Expanding Choice: Moving to Linux and Open Source with Novell Open Enterprise Server is a concise, authoritative guide for IT professionals to help evaluate and implement Novell's open source technologies. You will be able to understand and assess the advantages of open source technologies through the discussion of specific, customer-tested implementation strategies for both open source and traditional software. You will also review the benefits and costs of both open source and closed source software systems. Find out how Novell's new Open Enterprise Server combines the choice and flexibility of SUSE Linux with the reliability of Novell's proven networking software in Expanding Choice: Moving to Linux and Open Source with Novell Open Enterprise Server.


Materials and Methods The active compounds in DO, their targets, and targets associated with hyperlipidemia were screened across various databases, and the hidden targets of DO in treating hyperlipidemia were forecast. The compound-target (C-T), protein-protein interaction (PPI), and compound-target-pathway (C-T-P) networks of DO were set up with Cytoscape software. The hub genes and core clusters of DO predicted to be active against hyperlipidemia were calculated by Cytoscape. The DAVID database was adopted for Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Next, we used the high-sucrose-fat diet and alcohol (HFDA)-induced hyperlipidemia rats to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect of DO. Results In this study, we obtained 264 compounds from DO, revealed 11 bioactive compounds, and predicted 89 potential targets of DO. The network analysis uncovered that naringenin, isorhamnetin, and taxifolin might be the compounds in DO that are mainly in charge of its roles in hyperlipidemia and might play a role by modulating the targets (including PPARG, ADIPOQ, AKT1, TNF, and APOB). The pathway analysis showed that DO might affect diverse signaling pathways related to the pathogenesis of hyperlipidemia, including PPAR signaling pathway, insulin resistance, AMPK signaling pathway, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease simultaneously. Meanwhile, in the HFDA-induced hyperlipidemia rat model, DO could significantly decrease the level of TC, TG, LDL-c, and ALT in serum, and increase HDL-c as well. The liver pathological section indicated that DO could ease liver damage and lipid cumulation. Conclusion In summary, the biological targets of the main bioactive compounds in DO were found to distribute across multiple metabolic pathways. These findings suggest that a mutual regulatory system consisting of multiple components, targets, and pathways is a likely mechanism through which DO may improve hyperlipidemia. Validation experiments indicated that DO may treat hyperlipidemia by affecting NAFLD-related signaling pathways.


The decade of criticism directed at The Political Philosophy of Hobbes has found the critics united in rejecting many of Warrender's conclusions, but it has not produced a generally accepted alternative interpretation. I shall argue in this paper that this has happened because the critics have not been searching enough in their criticism. Often they have taken over without discussion two crucial but highly questionable features of Warrender's book: first, his ignoring the definition of 'obligation' given in Leviathan; and, second, his presentation of logically independent conclusions about Hobbes's theory as if they were related. As a result of the first, Warrender's critics have sometimes followed him into error; and, as a result of the second, they have sometimes been led to dismiss correct conclusions in the belief that these were logically bound up with other conclusions that really were wrong. Too often they have thrown out the baby and kept the bathwater.


The recent growth of the Australian economy has created labour and skills shortages. A key point is, however, that labour shortages in many areas, particularly service industries, could be filled by mature workers. Many of these workers will delay retirement or return to the workforce after retirement. One argument is that mature workers' experience should be highly valued. Moreover, this cohort possesses superior knowledge to younger workers. Among other things, this relates to corporate knowledge, mature judgment, lower absenteeism, greater work ethic and reliability. Generally, mature workers are noted for their loyalty. Against a background of the resource-based view (RBV) at firm level, this paper seeks to demonstrate the increased benefits of utilising mature workers. We argue that when combined with superior HRM practices, it is possible for an organisation to improve its competitive advantage and increase productivity. We suggest, however, that organisations need to increase their focus on age-neutral attraction, retention and development policies.


philosophy as a whole. He makes it clear, for example, tha t although he considers the metaphysics contained in his logical calculus to be the only type of metaphysical theory which can lay claim to the s t a tu s of an exact science, it is not on tha t account the only, or the only valuable, type of metaphysics. There is also the "medi t ierende" metaphysics of "letzte Dinge , " which, though not s tr ict ly scientific, may yet be " t iefs innig" and of great value. Indeed, Scholz goes on to avow his allegiance to the Leibnizian "medi t ierende" philosophy. And this leads him, finally, to a spirited disavowal (in answer to a criticism of his position by E. Kaila) of the conventionalistic thesis , associated with Carnap's 35212 and IV 82, tha t logic has a merely linguistic import . Scholz is part icularly vehement— rightly, in the opinion of the reviewer—against the view tha t an anti-metaphysical positivism is a necessary consequence of the modern mathematical logic. One supposes tha t Scholz must find considerable vindication in the more recent evolution of Carnap 's thought —particularly in Carnap's XIV 237, where even the Leibnizian theory of possible worlds is invoked, though presumably without metaphysical implications. R O B E R T E. LUCE