We consider methods for large-scale unconstrained minimization based on finding an approximate minimizer of a quadratic function subject to a two-norm trust-region constraint. The Steihaug-Toint method uses the conjugate-gradient method to minimize the quadratic over a sequence of expanding subspaces until the iterates either converge to an interior point or cross the constraint boundary. However, if the conjugate-gradient method is used with a preconditioner, the Steihaug-Toint method requires that the trust-region norm be defined in terms of the preconditioning matrix. If a different preconditioner is used for each subproblem, the shape of the trust-region can change substantially from one subproblem to the next, which invalidates many of the assumptions on which standard methods for adjusting the trust-region radius are based. In this paper we propose a method that allows the trust-region norm to be defined independently of the preconditioner. The method solves the inequality constrained trust-region subproblem over a sequence of evolving low-dimensional subspaces. Each subspace includes an accelerator direction defined by a regularized Newton method for satisfying the optimality conditions of a primal-dual interior method. A crucial property of this direction is that it can be computed by applying the preconditioned conjugate-gradient method to a positive-definite system in both the primal and dual variables of the trust-region subproblem. Numerical experiments on problems from the CUTEr test collection indicate that the method can require significantly fewer function evaluations than other methods. In addition, experiments with general-purpose preconditioners show that it is possible to significantly reduce the number of matrix-vector products relative to those required without preconditioning.


OBJECTIVE
To present normal images and sonographic variants of the anal canal to be used as reference for the study of sphincter and anal canal abnormalities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Sixty subjects without known anal canal disease were studied by means of anal endosonography. Subject were divided according to age in two groups (up to 50 years and more than 50 years). All of them underwent an outpatient study with B&K medical ultrasound 2,003 scanner and 1,850 multifrequency transducer.

RESULTS
Four layers can be sonographically identified in the anal canal: an inner hyperechoic layer which is the submucosa, a second hypoechoic layer which is the internal sphincter, a third one which is a longitudinal muscle and the outer hyperechoic layer which is the external sphincter and the only to be found in the low anal canal. In people older than 50 years, both sphincters were significantly thicker (0.3-0.5 mm). At the high anal canal 40% of women presented an anterior gap in the external anal sphincter.

CONCLUSIONS
Anal endosonography allows an easy division in high-, mid-, and low anal canal. In some women there is a gap at the mid-high anal canal that must be taken into account in order to avoid diagnostic errors. An internal sphincter thickness greater than 3.5 mm should be considered abnormal at any sex or age.


BACKGROUND
In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has increased immensely. In parallel, rates of noncommunicable diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, are rising rapidly in resource-limited settings. This study aims to evaluate the relation between subclinical atherosclerosis and HIV-related and traditional cardiovascular risk factors in HIV-infected patients in rural South Africa.

METHODS
A cross-sectional study was performed among HIV-infected patients visiting a health center in Limpopo, South Africa. Demographic and HIV-related information was collected, and cardiovascular risk was assessed. Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) was measured and the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis (CIMT >0.78 mm) was calculated. The association between cardiovascular or HIV-related determinants with CIMT was analyzed using linear and logistic regression models adjusted for age and sex.

RESULTS
The median CIMT in 866 subjects (median age [interquartile range], 41 [35-48] years; 69% female) was 0.589 mm (interquartile range, 0.524-0.678 mm), and values seemed higher than in healthy Western reference populations. In fact 12% of subjects (106 of 866) had subclinical atherosclerosis. Hypertension, high body mass index, previous cardiovascular event, diabetes mellitus, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate, metabolic syndrome, and the Framingham Heart Risk score were independently associated with CIMT. No HIV-related determinants were associated with CIMT.

CONCLUSIONS
In a predominantly female HIV-infected population in South Africa, CIMT values are considerably high and associated with cardiovascular risk factors, rather than HIV-related factors. This finding emphasizes the need to screen for cardiovascular disease among persons with HIV infection in resource-limited settings. Ideally, this screening would be integrated into care for chronic HIV infection, posing a major challenge for the future.


Robust estimation of soil moisture using microwave remote sensing depends on extensive ground sampling for calibration and validation of the data. Soil surface sealing is a frequent phenomenon in dry environments. It modulates soil moisture close to the soil surface and, thus, has the potential to affect the retrieval of soil moisture from microwave remote sensing and the validation of these data based on ground observations. We addressed this issue using a physically-based modeling approach that accounts explicitly for surface sealing at the hillslope scale. Simulated mean soil moisture at the respective layers corresponding to both the ground validation probe and the radar beam's typical effective penetration depth were considered. A cyclic pattern was found in which, as compared to an unsealed profile, the seal layer intensifies the bias in validation during rainfall events and substantially reduces it during subsequent drying periods. The analysis of this cyclic pattern showed that, accounting for soil moisture dynamics at the soil surface, the optimal time for soil sampling following a rainfall event is a few hours in the case of an unsealed system and a few days in the case of a sealed one. Surface sealing was found to increase the temporal stability of soil moisture. In both sealed and unsealed systems, the greatest temporal stability was observed at positions with moderate slope inclination. Soil porosity was the best predictor of soil moisture temporal stability, indicating that prior knowledge regarding the soil texture distribution is crucial for the application of remote sensing validation schemes.


ABSTRACTIn this paper, the multiple kernel learning (MKL) is formulated as a supervised classification problem. We dealt with binary classification data and hence the data modelling problem involves the computation of two decision boundaries of which one related with that of kernel learning and the other with that of input data. In our approach, they are found with the aid of a single cost function by constructing a global reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) as the direct sum of the RKHSs corresponding to the decision boundaries of kernel learning and input data and searching that function from the global RKHS, which can be represented as the direct sum of the decision boundaries under consideration. In our experimental analysis, the proposed model had shown superior performance in comparison with that of existing two stage function approximation formulation of MKL, where the decision functions of kernel learning and input data are found separately using two different cost functions. This is due to th...


Abstract High-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry was used to investigate energetics of a series of rare earth niobates RE3NbO7. All of investigated compounds were found to be stable in enthalpy in respect to their oxides. The enthalpy of formation from oxides becomes more exothermic as the size of the RE cation increases, a trend seen previously in other RE compounds including pyrochlores, perovskites, and phosphates. For smaller RE cations the enthalpy of exchange of RE between niobates and titanates is close to zero, whereas larger RE are energetically favored in the titanate pyrochlores. Implications of the results from the geochemical and material engineering points of view are discussed.


Dispersion-corrected DFT calculations were performed on (a,a) nanotubes (a = 5-10) attached by a U-shaped functional group consisting of p-xylene-linked double 9,10-di(1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene)-9,10-dihydro anthracene terminated by CnH2n chains (n = 6, 8, and 9), and their ring-closing macrocycles containing tubes. The reactant precursors and macrocycles are denoted by UP-n-(a,a) and (a,a)@Cycle-n, respectively. We found that UP-n-(a,a) are energetically preferable relative to the dissociation limit toward a U-shaped functional group (UP-n) and a tube (initial state) due to the attractive CH-π and π-π interactions. The attractive interactions are enhanced by increasing the tube diameters and CnH2n chain lengths because UP-n structures can be easily adjusted to interact with the tubes. The stability of (a,a)@Cycle-n and related (a,b)@Cycle-n is sensitive to tube diameters due to the restriction of ring structures. When diameter differences between a Cycle-n and a tube (D-d) are larger than 5 Å, (a,a)@Cycle-n plus C2H4 are energetically preferable relative to the initial state. However, the (a,a)@Cycle-n plus C2H4 byproduct is always energetically unstable relative to UP-n-(a,a). The DFT calculations found that the energy differences were low at D-d values ranging from 7 to 8 Å, explaining the tube-diameter-selective formation of the mechanically-interlocked tubes, observed experimentally.


The photocatalytic partial oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol to the corresponding aldehyde (p-anisaldehyde) was performed under simulated solar irradiation by using home prepared N-doped TiO2 catalysts. The photocatalysts were prepared by a sol–gel method, using TiCl4 as TiO2 precursor and NH4Cl, urea or NH4OH as N-doping sources. A commercial TiO2 (Degussa P25) was also used for comparison aims. The prepared catalysts were characterized by BET specific surface area, XRD, ESEM and UV-vis spectroscopy. The reactivity results show that (i) the doped catalysts are predominantly amorphous, and they show selectivity values far higher than those of the corresponding undoped ones and of well crystallized catalysts – even if the last ones show a higher activity – and (ii) exploitation of solar light significantly increases the reaction selectivity. In addition, different light sources were also used in order to investigate the effect of radiation wavelength ranges on the reactivity and selectivity to aldehyde.


Although simple reaction time (RT) to a tone showed a statistically significant increase between 18 and 93 years of age in a sample of 220 men and women, the amount of increase was slight, less than 2 msec/decade. Consequently, the appreciable slowing of more typical behavior with age does not seen attributable to some general process in the central nervous system as has been argued. This degree of stability found for simple RT with age, unexpected from the body of previous work, may reflect equivalence of age groups and use of optimal RT technique. In a second study eight old participants (73 to 84 years) matched on the optimal technique with eight young participants (18 to 24 years) were markedly slower with a long constant preparatory interval but not with elimination of timing cues. Together, the two studies show that simple high level of preparation was either easy of impossible to attain. Behavioral slowing with age can result from ineffective control processes.


Treatment with erlotinib, an inhibitor of the epidermal growth factor receptors, has significantly improved the overall survival rate and quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who had failed the standard first- or second-line chemotherapy. In Clinical hospital for lung diseases "Jordanovac" a total of 36 patients were treated with erlotinib. The response rate was as follows: in four patients (11%) complete response was achieved, in five (4%) partial response, while fourteen patients (39%) had stable disease. Hence, the evident clinical benefit of treatment with erlotinib was registered in 23 patients (64%) altogether. The treatment was well tolerated and it was not associated with significant toxicity. Our results confirm the antitumour efficacy of erlotinib and show a clear treatment benefit for patients with non-small cell lung cancer in our country.


Immunoglobulin L-chain metabolism was studied in normal mice, mice with sodium maleate-induced renal tubular disease but normal glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and mice with both tubular disease and decreased GFR. The proteinuric rate of L-chain was increased twofold in mice with tubular disease alone though there was no alteration in the over-all rate at which L-chain disappeared from the circulation in these animals. This was in sharp contrast to findings in mice with tubular disease and a decreased glomerular filtration rate in which L-chain disappearance rates were markedly reduced. These findings demonstrate that in the normal state, L-chain and presumably other proteins of similar size pass through the glomerulus and are avidly taken up and catabolized by the convoluted tubular cells. In tubular proteinuric states this linked uptake-catabolic function fails, resulting in elevated urinary excretion but normal serum levels and turnover rates of these proteins. In uremic states with decreased glomerular filtration, less small protein is delivered into the tubular lumen and the processes of excretion and catabolism are reduced. This results in prolongation of the survival of small proteins and explains the elevated serum concentrations of these proteins observed in uremia.


The prevalence of hair loss has increased during COVID‐19. In this study, we review the current literature on incidence and characteristics of various types of COVID‐19‐related and COVID‐19‐vaccine‐ related hair loss including telogen effluvium, alopecia areata, friction alopecia and anagen effluvium. Regarding most of them, the more severe the infection, the more profound and prolonged the course of alopecia. However, the most important issue is reassuring the patients of the non‐serious nature of this complication, since psychological support is the most important factor in the earlier resolution of the condition.


Functional connectivity analysis of resting state fMRI data has recently become one of the most common approaches to characterizing individual brain function. It has been widely suggested that the functional connectivity matrix, calculated by correlating signals from regions of interest, is a useful approximate representation of the brain's connectivity, potentially providing behaviorally or clinically relevant markers. However, functional connectivity estimates are known to be detrimentally affected by various artifacts, including those due to in-scanner head motion. Treatment of such artifacts poses a standing challenge because of their high variability. Moreover, as individual functional connections generally covary only very weakly with head motion estimates, motion influence is difficult to quantify robustly, and prone to be neglected in practice. Although the use of individual estimates of head motion, or group-level correlation of motion and functional connectivity has been suggested, a sufficiently sensitive measure of individual functional connectivity quality has not yet been established. We propose a new intuitive summary index, the Typicality of Functional Connectivity, to capture deviations from normal brain functional connectivity pattern. Based on results of resting state fMRI for 245 healthy subjects we show that this measure is significantly correlated with individual head motion metrics. The results were further robustly reproduced across atlas granularity and preprocessing options, as well as other datasets including 1081 subjects from the Human Connectome Project. The Typicality of Functional Connectivity provides individual proxy measure of motion effect on functional connectivity and is more sensitive to inter-individual variation of motion than individual functional connections. In principle it should be sensitive also to other types of artifacts, processing errors and possibly also brain pathology, allowing wide use in data quality screening and quantification in functional connectivity studies as well as methodological investigations.


Archives have directly and indirectly served for memory. What is collected in archives, how it is presented to users, and how users understand and use the documents affects how a given society remembers its past. Some archival scholars see that how users interpret documents from their perspectives and by social interests may play a central role in constructing social memory because memories are often triggered by individual and social concerns of the present time. Therefore, knowing what causes users to seek for a certain materials, how they use those materials and why can offer a clue to learn how archives serve for social memory. In the Web space, the interaction between users and archives/archival materials can be easily observed. Beyond making access simple for users and promoting archival documents using Web technology, archives can serve the broader purpose of memory by skillfully exploiting the characteristics of Web 2.0 and digital cultures in a way to observe how users engage in and contribute to archival contents available on the Web. This study examines the discourses on memory in the archival context, and in particular, how archives can serve as platforms for memory within the new environment of Web 2.0 technologies. It surveys discussions on memory in relation to archives, history, and evidence, focusing on the user and use context as it is represented in the archival literature. This paper discusses how that technology provides features that allow us to see collective memory being constructed in the archives, and presents examples of how the Web 2.0 technology can structure the way users share their memories in building a larger narrative around the archive.


Developing an ability to classify ventricular fibrillation (VF) into cases where restoration of an organized electrical activity (ROEA) is achieved after the application of a defibrillatory shock, and telling these cases apart from cases where such a restoration does not happen, is of paramount importance to guide first-aid therapy in patients in cardiac arrest. Indeed, VF is a medical emergency of enormous proportions and it is one of the first causes of sudden death in a large range of population's age. In this article, we address this problem in the light of recent achievements in the field of machine learning and present results with the use of a new machine called GEM (Guaranteed Error Machine) applied to a group of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. While our results indicate that this methodology is promising, it remains a fact that this study is still at the outset, and by this article we also want to make the current state of the art available with the use of GEM to others and indicate what we believe are the research priorities for the near future. This is done in the belief that this important medical endeavor is better addressed by the cooperation of various teams, possibly carrying complementary expertise.


The K1 and K10 associated genodermatoses are characterized by clinical symptoms of mild to severe redness, blistering and hypertrophy of the skin. In this paper, we set out to computationally investigate the structural and functional effects of missense mutations on the 2B domain of K1/K10 heterodimer and its consequences in disease phenotype. We modeled the structure of the K1/K10 heterodimer based on crystal structures for the human homolog K5/K14 heterodimer, and identified that the missense mutations exert their effects on stability and assembly competence of the heterodimer by altering physico-chemical properties, interatomic interactions, and inter-residue atomic contacts. Comparative structural analysis between all the missense mutations and SNPs showed that the location and physico-chemical properties of the substituted amino acid are significantly correlated with phenotypic variations. In particular, we find evidence that a particular SNP (K10, p.E443K) is a pathogenic nsSNP which disrupts formation of the hydrophobic core and destabilizes the heterodimer through the loss of interatomic interactions. Our study is the first comprehensive report analyzing the mutations located on 2B domain of K1/K10 heterodimeric coiled-coil complex.


The Vaca Muerta–Quintuco system (uppermost lower Tithonian–lower Valanginian) is a thick shallowing-upward sedimentary cycle consisting of dark bituminous shales, marlstones, limestones, and sandstones, cropping out in the Neuquen Basin, west–central Argentina. This paper analyzes three outcrop sections in Chos Malal area, northem Neuquen province. Detailed facies analysis allows us to differentiate six facies associations, representing basinal to proximal outer ramp facies of a homoclinal carbonate ramp system (Vaca Muerta Formation) and basinal to shoreface facies of a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic shelf system (Quintuco Formation), prograding westward from the eastern margin of the basin. Two sequence hierarchies were recognized: 5 composite depositional sequences (third order) and 15 high-frequency sequences (fourth order). Fluctuations in organic matter content within the Vaca Muerta Formation suggest a relationship with depositional sequences, finding the highest values associated with transgressive systems tract, whereas the transition to the Quintuco Formation shows a strong decrease in total organic carbon. The x-ray diffraction studies show an increase of clay minerals and quartz in the transgressive systems tract of the Vaca Muerta Formation and an increase in the content of calcite in highstand systems tracts. This pattern is reversed in the Quintuco Formation. Our sequence stratigraphic approach contributes to the understanding of the relationship between organic matter, clay minerals, facies, stacking pattern, and relative sea level changes in this exceptional shale oil and shale gas unconventional reservoir. This study may be helpful for a better postulate of petrophysical and geomechanical models for unconventional exploration.


ANALYSIS OF FIELD DATA AND SPATIAL METHODS FOR THE PARAMETRIZATION OF A SPATIAL DUFF CONSUMPTION MODEL William Levi Gill Field data collected from the consumption of organic forest soil (duff) by smoldering combustion are analyzed to determine the spatial patterns as input for a smoldering combustion model. Moisture, organic, and inorganic contents were measured at longleaf pines to detect patterns that could be used to explain the spatial patterns in post-burn consumption. The model takes these environmental predictors as input values and then outputs spatial consumption patterns. Methods are also developed to describe the two-dimensional spatial patterns of consumption created by the smoldering combustion. The spatial patterns revealed that smoldering combustion occurs most often at the base of a tree stem at the reintroduction of wildland fire in long-unburned forest. The data from the organic soil parameters were unable to completely predict this behavior, indicating that other factors might be involved. Duff depth was noted as being significantly higher at the areas of smoldering initiation indicating that understanding the soil characteristics of these deep duff mounds at the tree base will help predict smoldering patterns, and therefore deserve further research.


The random walk function is a mathematical function derived from studies of the mass transport and flow of diffusible materials through tubes. Approximations to the function were first used some time ago in the field of cardiac tracer dilution curves, but in the absence of rapid and reproducible curve fitting the method never became commonplace. The current study uses the latest curve-fitting techniques and shows how the method may be used with precision in the analysis of time-activity curves from dynamic oesophageal and blood flow studies. The physiological basis of the method is given and parameters obtained which relate to both the rate of flow and the local dispersion of the bolus.


Although microenterprises and small business (MSEs) may sometimes serve as a 'seedbed' from which larger enterprises emerge, very often certain factors constrain them from expanding. Using longitudinal data covering a period of 30 years, this article examines the 'graduation' problems of 37 MSEs in Eastern Nigeria. It shows that the rate of graduation of these enterprises was not only unimpressive, cases of stagnation and failure were numerous. An evaluation of the case histories of the 'graduated' firms indicates that they had been able to adopt innovative management strategies which were not only absent in the non-graduated firms, but are also uncommon amongst the MSEs in Africa.


Owing to the enormous potential of weight saving and the consequential reduction of pollutant emissions, the use of hybrid components made of steel and aluminum alloys is increasing steadily, particularly concerning automotive lightweight construction. Especially in the automotive industry, remote laser beam welding has been established as a suitable and efficient method for joining similar material for several years. In contrast to this, thermal joining of steel and aluminum alloys involves different metallurgical and technological challenges, due to the formation of hard and brittle intermetallic phases, which decrease the strength and the formability of the dissimilar joints. In this context, the results presented show investigations on remote laser beam welding for dissimilar lap joints of the austenitic chromium–nickel steel material X5CrNi18-10 and the precipitation hardening aluminum wrought alloy AA6082-T6. For example, lightweight battery housings for electromobility are potential applications for this technology. Among other things, the influence of the energy per unit length (welding speed) and the number of welding seams on the achievable strengths are analyzed. Characterization of the dissimilar joints includes the use of tensile shear tests, metallographic analyses, hardness tests, and elemental analyses, depending on the energy per unit length.Owing to the enormous potential of weight saving and the consequential reduction of pollutant emissions, the use of hybrid components made of steel and aluminum alloys is increasing steadily, particularly concerning automotive lightweight construction. Especially in the automotive industry, remote laser beam welding has been established as a suitable and efficient method for joining similar material for several years. In contrast to this, thermal joining of steel and aluminum alloys involves different metallurgical and technological challenges, due to the formation of hard and brittle intermetallic phases, which decrease the strength and the formability of the dissimilar joints. In this context, the results presented show investigations on remote laser beam welding for dissimilar lap joints of the austenitic chromium–nickel steel material X5CrNi18-10 and the precipitation hardening aluminum wrought alloy AA6082-T6. For example, lightweight battery housings for electromobility are potential applications fo...


Introduction. Peculiarities of the 'Cultural Revolution' in China's national regions remain a poorly studied issue in modern Oriental studies. In this regard, Hulunbuir league of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region had been a strategically important and geopolitically significant region of the country. This territory bordered on the Mongolian People's Republic and the USSR, therefore the central government of China considered its population potentially dangerous and marginal. The People's Revolutionary Party of Inner Mongolia had two party factions in Hulunbuir league: the 'unification' faction, and the 'justice' one. The Maoists viewed the 'Mongol Unification' faction of the People's Revolutionary Party of Inner Mongolia as a particularly dangerous, separatist trend. Goals. The paper aims to examine the political events and facts that took place in Hulunbuir league in 1965–1968. Objectives. Chronologically, the first objective is to examine the ideological and political campaigns —struggle against the 'Four Olds', and the 'Four Purges' — as a prehistory to the 'Cultural Revolution'. The second objective is to analyze the cardinal changes that took place in the leadership of the party committee and local authorities in 1966–1968. The third problem studied deals with repressive activities of the Red Guards and Zaofan in Hulunbuir league, their division into two fighting camps. The fourth objective is to examine the creation of the aimag revolutionary committee and its activities in 1968. Materials. The work analyzes three collections of official documents published in the PRC. The information thereof is supplemented with materials from works by Russian and foreign authors. The article provides a comparative analysis of events and facts, translates some terms from Mongolian and Chinese. Results. The introducing part the paper examines a prehistory of the 'Cultural Revolution', the ideological and political campaigns. Its main part studies the events of the 'Cultural Revolution' in the region. In July of 1966, a special working group arrived in Hailar on behalf of the CPC Northern Bureau. Members of this group were cadre Party workers from Hubei and Shanxi provinces. In September of 1966, Party Committee Secretary of Hulunbuir league Qi Junshan and Deputy Secretary Zhargal were dismissed from their posts. Red Guards appeared in Hulunbuir in August of 1966 and began organizing 'struggle meetings'. They actively recruited local Mongolian youth. In 1967, the Red Guards in Hulunbuir split into two opposing factions. They were confronting each other and for a while forgot about 'class enemies'. Activities of the Red Guards were out of control of the regional authorities, and the situation needed stabilization. In March of 1967, the State Council and the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China decided to create a military council in Hulunbuir league, also referred to as 'the first line to contain the Revolution and stimulate production'. On December 20, 1967, a revolutionary committee was formed in Hailar. In March of 1968, Shangmin, a loyal follower of Mao Zedong, became the leader of the revolutionary committee. Making false accusations, he intensified repressions against members of the 'Mongol Unification' faction. Conclusions. Political events in Hulunbuir league in 1965–1968 were directly related to the situation in the whole autonomous region and country. Repressions against members of the 'Mongol Unification' faction were a distinctive feature of the repressive policy in the region. Still, the appointments of cadre Party workers from central provinces are a poorly understood issue. So, the 'Cultural Revolution' in this territory of Inner Mongolia obviously has local features that require further scientific research.


Within the SmartAgriFood project the envisaged functions of Future Internet (FI) were collected and explained to the business users. 135 in depth interviews in 6 countries, and 8 focus group discussions in 5 countries were carried out for identifications and evaluation of the potential applications in the agri-food chain in the Smart Food Awareness area. Privacy was seen as a key function of the FI. The majority of the potential application ideas were rated as applicable to ensure improved awareness for the food chain members. There is a need for systematic explanation of the new enabling functions of the FI to the potential business users in a user-friendly way to foster the identification of new application opportunities. In some cases there is a difference between the priorities set by them and the behaviour of the consumers.


The book gives a detailed analysis of the present situation of chieftaincy in relation to the state in Africa, especially in the case of the Republic of Togo. Van Rouveroy makes it unquestionably clear that African chiefs are still a factor of importance despite the facts that there was a time when they were severely criticised because of their collaboration with the colonial powers and their socalled feudal past and that attempts have even been made to abolish the whole institution.


With the increase of online courses, many instructors utilize quizzes as a preferred method of assessment. This is especially true for large courses due to the flexibility and convenience that online quizzes can provide since they are often automatically graded by a learning management system. Consequently, it is important that online quizzes are effective in meeting learning goals and encouraging student mastery. This paper will explore how the use of low-stakes quizzes combined with meaningful feedback can help encourage student mastery and serve as a deterrent to cheating in online courses.


In this paper, a crosstalk compensation scheme for high speed single-ended on-chip signaling is presented. To reduce the effect of crosstalk in bandwidth enhanced channel employing capacitively driven interconnect, a crosstalk feed-forward equalizer is proposed, which compensates for the low-pass nature of the crosstalk. The proposed scheme is verified using a three-channel 10 mm on-chip interconnect implemented in 130 nm CMOS process. Measurement results show that the proposed transceiver effectively removes the crosstalk for data rates of up to 2.5-Gb/s while consuming 0.96 mW, which corresponds to energy efficiency of 0.41 pJ/bit.


We present Probabilistic Doxastic Temporal (PDT) Logic, a formalism to represent and reason about probabilistic beliefs and their temporal evolution in multi-agent systems. This formalism enables the quantification of agents' beliefs through probability intervals and incorporates an explicit notion of time. We discuss how over time agents dynamically change their beliefs in facts, temporal rules, and other agents' beliefs with respect to any new information they receive. We introduce an appropriate formal semantics for PDT Logic and show that it is decidable. Alternative options of specifying problems in PDT Logic are possible. For these problem specifications, we develop different satisfiability checking algorithms and provide complexity results for the respective decision problems. The use of probability intervals enables a formal representation of probabilistic knowledge without enforcing (possibly incorrect) exact probability values. By incorporating an explicit notion of time, PDT Logic provides enriched possibilities to represent and reason about temporal relations.


In tortoises (Testudo horsfieldi Gray) and in pond turtles (Emys orbicularis L.) rostral portions connections of the dorsomedial hippocamp with various structures of the forebrain and the diencephalon have been studied. Reciprocal connections of the hippocamp with the olfactory bulb have been revealed by means of the horseradish peroxidase method. Other olfactory centers of the hemisphere (anterior olfactory nucleus, olfactory tubercle, bandaletta diagonalis (Broca) nucleus and medial nucleus of the anterior amygdaloid area) send to the hippocamp their afferent fibres. An essential number of peroxidase-labelled cells are detected in the anterior thalamic, anterior dorsolateral and anterior dorsomedial nuclei (the lateral preoptic, the periventricular, the lateral and the mamillary (niclei) are labelled in less number. By means of the anteriograde axons and terminas degeneration, it has been stated that descending axons of the dorsomedial hippocamp terminate in the same nuclei of the dorsal thalamus, in which the labelled cells are revealed after injection of horseradish peroxidase into the hippocamp. The experiments demonstrate that there is a considerable prevalence of the hippocampal fibres descending to the thalamic nuclei comparing those descending to the hypothalamus. The results obtained demonstrate structural heterogeneity of the tortoise hippocamp. The data on connections of the tortoise three thalamic nuclei with the hippocamp make it possible to consider them as limbic structures.


Crystallization plays a critical role in determining crystal size, purity and morphology. Therefore, uncovering the growth dynamics of nanoparticles (NPs) atomically is important for the controllable fabrication of nanocrystals with desired geometry and properties. Herein, we conducted in situ atomic-scale observations on the growth of Au nanorods (NRs) by particle attachment within an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (AC-TEM). The results show that the attachment of spherical colloidal Au NPs with a size of about 10 nm involves the formation and growth of neck-like (NL) structures, followed by five-fold twin intermediate states and total atomic rearrangement. The statistical analyses show that the length and diameter of Au NRs can be well regulated by the number of tip-to-tip Au NPs and the size of colloidal Au NPs, respectively. The results highlight five-fold twin-involved particle attachment in spherical Au NPs with a size of 3–14 nm, and provide insights into the fabrication of Au NRs using irradiation chemistry.


Article abstract The authors report five patients with recurrent psychogenic seizures (PS) during pregnancy, with multiple emergency room visits and continued intake of antiepileptic drugs obtained from various sources, despite awareness of the psychogenic nature of their attacks and the risks of antiepileptic drug use in pregnancy. These patients demonstrate that preexisting PS may persist during pregnancy, and there will be patients who continue to take antiepileptic drugs despite awareness of the risks inherent to these treatments. New-onset or persisting PS with pregnancy can be indicative of serious emotional conflicts, and the child should be considered at risk.


In the given article the author propose the method of prosthetics of abdominal wall by preperitoneal incision in patient with urgent hernia of inguinofemoral area. Suggested method allowed to improve the results of surgical treatment of urgent abdominal hernia.


Central sleep apnea (CSA) is a neurological breathing disorder resulting from intermittent disruptions in the neural drive to breath. CSA and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), caused by partial or complete airway blockage, sometimes occur together. The remede System (Respicardia, Minnetonka, MN) is an implantable device that delivers transvenous phrenic nerve stimulation therapy (TPNS) to treat CSA. A patient who failed previous Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) therapies presented with severe CSA and OSA with a baseline Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) of 98.1 events/hour. The patient was implanted with a TPNS device and titrated to maximum effectiveness. His CSA improved, but still had persistent OSA. PAP therapy was added to supplement the TPNS. With TPNS off, PAP therapy treated obstructive events but not the central events. TPNS alone treated the central events but not the obstructive events. With both therapies on, CSA and OSA were controlled and breathing was normalized (AHI=3.8). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01816776.


Efficient representations for spatio-temporal cellular Signaling Data (SD) are essential for many human mobility applications. Traditional representation methods are mainly designed for GPS data with high spatio-temporal continuity, and thus will suffer from poor embedding performance due to the unique Ping Pong Effect in SD. To address this issue, we explore the opportunity offered by a large number of human mobility traces and mine the inherent neighboring tower connection patterns. More specifically, we design HERMAS, a novel representation learning framework for large-scale cellular SD with three steps: (1) extract rich context information in each trajectory, adding neighboring tower information as extra knowledge in each mobility observation; (2) design a sequence encoding model to aggregate the embedding of each observation; (3) obtain the embedding for a trajectory. We evaluate the performance of HERMAS based on two human mobility applications, i.e. trajectory similarity measurement and user profiling. We conduct evaluations based on a 30-day SD dataset with 130,612 users and 2,369,267 moving trajectories. Experimental results show that (1) for the trajectory similarity measurement application, HERMAS improves the Hitting Rate (HR@10) from 15.2% to 39.2%; (2) for the user profiling application, HERMAS improves the F1-score for around 9%. More importantly, HERMAS significantly improves the computation efficiency by over 30x.


Abstract Relationships between live body condition score (BCS) and carcass fat depots have not been well established in equine. Our study was designed to quantify the relationship between BCS and fat depot measurements from equine carcasses. Live horses (n = 429) were evaluated immediately prior to immobilization at a commercial equine processor. Horses were independently assigned a BCS by a panel of three trained evaluators; BCS was evaluated by visual appraisal and manual palpation of the neck, withers, back, ribs, behind the shoulder, and tailhead. Median BCS frequencies were: 3.0 (n = 9), 4.0 (n = 43), 5.0 (n = 116), 6.0 (n = 86), 7.0 (n = 72), 8.0 (n = 76), and 9.0 (n = 27). Sex (stallion [n = 5], mare [n = 159], or gelding [n = 114]) and breed type (draft [n = 56], stock [n = 363], pony [n = 8], or mule [n =3]) were also denoted. Horses were processed for human consumption according to industry-accepted procedures under the supervision of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. During the harvest process, all kidney–pelvic–heart (KPH) fat was trimmed from the carcass and weighed. After chilling, the marbling score was subjectively evaluated using beef grading standards. Carcass fat trim was weighed during the fabrication process. As BCS increased, hot carcass weight (HCW), absolute KPH weight, KPH expressed as a percentage of HCW, marbling score, neck fat depth, absolute weight of trimmed carcass fat, and trimmed carcass fat as a percentage of HCW increased (P < 0.01). A strong correlation (r = 0.74; P < 0.01) was detected between BCS and absolute KPH weight. Similarly, correlations between BCS and percentage of KPH (r = 0.65), neck fat depth (r = 0.60), absolute trimmed carcass fat (r = 0.58), trimmed carcass fat as a percentage of HCW (r = 0.54), marbling score (r = 0.54), and HCW (r = 0.52) were also detected (P < 0.01). These data indicate a strong relationship between subjective live BCS and objectively measured carcass fat depots in various equine breed types and sexes.


Successful electricity distribution business requires management of a wide variety of data. Long-term planning, construction, and operation of networks as well as customer services are all based on analysis of different kinds of data. Future trends of distributed generation and electrification of transportation raise expectations of having more information available in planning and operation of electricity infrastructure.Traditionally, the amount of data used by Distribution System Operators (DSO) has been limited. However, the amount of both internal and external data has increased rapidly in the past decade because of smart meters and other measuring devices installed in the grid. Smart grids produce large amounts of data but also require significant amounts of external data to operate efficiently. External data can also be widely exploited in the network planning process, for instance by providing a significant resource for estimating the impacts of future trends. Therefore, it is increasingly important to make use of open data resources and recognize their value for the DSOs in their processes. However, businesses have not yet made use of the potential of open data to the fullest despite of the significant value they could bring.This paper describes how to enhance distribution system asset managment by incorporating novel data sources into different stages of grid development and operation processes.


The Response to Intervention (RTI) model has been of growing interest to educators for several decades, culminating in the 2004 enactment of federal regulations. The mutual and cooperative dependence between research and practice is evident regarding practical RTI implementation. The RTI process shows promise to meet the individual education needs of diverse populations. An Alaska school district that includes rural/remote schools and varied populations including minority majority classrooms describes its positive experience with the RTI process. The RTI process may be a key to improving minority student Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) scores. Further statistical research is clearly warranted.


Summary The deposition of 14.2 mg of cupric-chelated N -hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene in the intramedullary cavity of the right femur and 12.6 mg of nonchelated N -hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene in the intramedullary cavity of the left femur of 10- to 16-week-old female Osborn-Mendel rats resulted in embolism of the compounds to the lungs in 12 of 32 rats and the development of epidermoid neoplasms in the lungs of 3 of 29 rats that survived. Twenty-eight sarcomas developed at the site of injection of the cupric chelate in 21 of the 29 rats during an observation period of 55 weeks; only one rat developed sarcomas at the site of injection of the nonchelated compound. Three of the 28 tumors were rhabdomyosarcomas; an additional 3 giant-cell sarcomas were presumed to be extraosseous in origin. Twenty-two tumors in 17 rats were composed of either bone-forming or bone marrow elements. Nine of the tumors were predominantly of osteogenic cells, two of chondrogenic cells, one of fibrogenic cells, four of reticulum cells, two of plasma cells, and four of vasoformative tissues. However, many of these tumors contained more than one type of neoplastic cell. Of note were four tumors composed of mixtures of reticular tissues and three tumors composed of both osteogenic and vasoformative neoplastic cells. These complexities of structure and behavior simulated well the characteristics of the bone tumors of man.


Purpose Metallic artifacts can result in an artificial thickening of the coronary stent wall which can significantly impair computed tomography (CT) imaging in patients with coronary stents. The objective of this study is to assess in vivo visualization of coronary stent wall and lumen with an edge-enhancing CT reconstruction kernel, as compared to a standard kernel. Methods This is a prospective cross-sectional study involving the assessment of 71 coronary stents (24 patients), with blinded observers. After 256-slice CT angiography, image reconstruction was done with medium-smooth and edge-enhancing kernels. Stent wall thickness was measured with both orthogonal and circumference methods, averaging thickness from diameter and circumference measurements, respectively. Image quality was assessed quantitatively using objective parameters (noise, signal to noise (SNR) and contrast to noise (CNR) ratios), as well as visually using a 5-point Likert scale. Results Stent wall thickness was decreased with the edge-enhancing kernel in comparison to the standard kernel, either with the orthogonal (0.97 ± 0.02 versus 1.09 ± 0.03 mm, respectively; p<0.001) or the circumference method (1.13 ± 0.02 versus 1.21 ± 0.02 mm, respectively; p = 0.001). The edge-enhancing kernel generated less overestimation from nominal thickness compared to the standard kernel, both with the orthogonal (0.89 ± 0.19 versus 1.00 ± 0.26 mm, respectively; p<0.001) and the circumference (1.06 ± 0.26 versus 1.13 ± 0.31 mm, respectively; p = 0.005) methods. The edge-enhancing kernel was associated with lower SNR and CNR, as well as higher background noise (all p < 0.001), in comparison to the medium-smooth kernel. Stent visual scores were higher with the edge-enhancing kernel (p<0.001). Conclusion In vivo 256-slice CT assessment of coronary stents shows that the edge-enhancing CT reconstruction kernel generates thinner stent walls, less overestimation from nominal thickness, and better image quality scores than the standard kernel.


One of the few physical controversies of the nineteenth century that skill smoulder is that regarding the relation between metallic contact potential and the electromotive force of any voltaic cell. While the dispute as to the physical facts themselves is now almost extinct, the dispute as to the interpretation of these facts remains. In a recent paper, which will be referred to as Part I, the author has made a first application of quantum mechanics to such problems of electrochemistry. Instead of dealing with the problems of widest significace, the spceial problem of "overpotential" was there analysed, in order to show that the new method was capable of giving definite results where other methods had been less successful. In the present paper the general question of the voltaic cell will be considered, including electrode potentials, the meaning of solution pressure, the role of contact potential, and of chemical energy. At the beginning of the century it was still uncertain whether the Volta contact potential difference between two metals was due to some intrinsic property of the metals, or to an adventitious surface layer of moisture or gas. But in 1906 Einstein proclaimed the intrinsic nature of the potential difference as being approximately equal to the difference between the photoelectric work functions characteristic of the two metals ( Φ 1 - Φ 2) = eB.


3002. Bailey, Geoffrey N., Margaret R. Deith, and Nicholas J. Shackleton. OXYGEN ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND SEASONALITY DETERMINATIONS: LIMITS AND POTENTIAL OF A NEW TECHNIQUE. American Antiquity. 1983,48(2):390-398. This paper presents a critical assessment of Killingley's approach to the determination of month of collection of marine molluscs by prehistoric people. The basis of the method is careful oxygen isotope measurements made in successive growth increments in the shells. The authors have analyzed specimens of Monodonta and Patella collected live on the coast of northern Spain, in conjunction with seasonality studies on molluscs from prehistoric sites in the neighborhood. These studies confirm the necessity of making careful analyses of each species under consideration. Given the significance both of interspecies differences and of climatic variability on timescales from a year upwards (particularly important in Killingley's area), the conclusion that his apparent accuracy of ± a month is illusory.


Around the world health professionals and authorities, in many cases, do not have the ability to visualize health related spatial information to make time-sensitive decisions. The high cost of deploying a desktop Geographical Information System (GIS) for Public Health management coupled with the need for specialised training in order to use geospatial tools have contributed to the low uptake of GIS as a decision support tool in public Health management. Lack of a real time data collection and visualization tool for health facilities has in many cases led to late responses in situations where time critical decision had to be made. This research reviewed recent literature on GIS in health care with particular emphasis on web GIS technologies and how they can aid in analysing health care needs, access, and utilization to support in the planning and evaluation of new service locations as well as use of GIS in disease surveillance. This research is aimed at producing a Web based GIS that can be used to collect data from health facilities and in turn provide this data to public health administrators to support decision making, it also focuses on creating a portal for public interaction with health facilities spatial information.


Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with a 962-nm Bragg wavelength was fabricated in trans-4-stilbenemethanol doped poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer optical fibers (POFs) using a phase mask with 17% zeroth-order diffraction for the inscription wavelength of 325 nm. The effect of zeroth-order diffraction of the phase masks on FGB in POF was first examined by observing micrographs of the gratings. A linear relationship between the fiber axial strain and shift of the FBG was observed up to 6.5% tensile strain with a strain sensitivity of 0.916 pm/ . However, this shift was notably affected by the time-dependent stress relaxation in the fiber, especially when the FBG was subject to a relatively higher strain > 2%.


We demonstrate that the performance of NbN lattice cooled hot electron bolometer mixers depends strongly on the interface quality between the bolometer and the contact structure. Both the receiver noise temperature and the gain bandwidth can be improved by a factor of 2 by cleaning the interface and adding an additional superconducting interlayer to the contact pad. Using this we obtain a double sideband receiver noise temperature of 950 K at 2.5 THz and 4.3 K, using a 0.4/spl times/4 /spl mu/m HEB mixer with a spiral antenna. At the same bias point, we obtain an IF gain bandwidth of 6 GHz. To comply with current demands on THz mixers for use in space based receivers we reduce the device size to 0.15/spl times/1 /spl mu/m and use a twin slot antenna. We report measurements of the noise temperature, LO power requirement, stability and the direct detection effect, using a mixer with a 1.6 THz twin slot antenna and a 1.462 THz solid state LO source with calibrated output power.


In wireless sensor networks with mobile sink, mobile sink traverse the sensing area and aggregate the data from nodes near the mobile sink. In this scheme, mobile sink can reduce the total energy consumption by dividing the network to the multiple clusters. Since, energy consumption is proportional to the sum of square of communication distance, dividing the network into smaller clusters can reduce the amount of energy required for transmission. Previous researches concluded that increasing number of the cluster reduces energy required for data transmission. However, these ideas do not take into account the energy consumption due to data request message flooding in dense networks. In this paper, we focus on the data request flooding problem which is the massive energy consumption for data request message in dense network. Moreover, we point out that energy consumption of data transmission and data request message are controlled by the number of clusters in the network.


The application of the revised Bloom's taxonomy in the development of chemistry problems in the domain of knowledge is still difficult for some chemistry teachers. This paper is a practical study of the preparation of learning objectives and the development of chemical items by applying the revised Bloom's taxonomy which includes three domains, namely knowledge (cognitive), attitude (affective), and skills (psychomotor). This paper is focused on the preparation of learning objectives and the development of chemistry items for the assessment of the domain of knowledge which includes the levels of remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The six cognitive processes are sequential from the lowest cognitive processes to the highest cognitive processes called C1-C6 cognition processes. The methodology in this paper consists of three steps, namely examining the meaning of each level of cognition in the revised Bloom taxonomy, developing learning objectives that are in accordance with the cognitive level being studied and continuing with the arrangement of the problem items in chemistry subjects. The strengths of this study are very helpful for chemistry teachers in developing learning objectives and chemistry questions in the domain of knowledge based on the revised Bloom taxonomy, because this study is equipped with descriptions of each cognitive process, examples of learning objectives and appropriate question items. Examples of questions given in this paper are multiple choice types and essay tests, because each type of question has its advantages. The result of this study is that the application of the revised Bloom's taxonomy to the development of chemical problems requires an understanding of each level of the cognitive level in the revised Bloom's taxonomy, as the basis for developing learning objectives and the appropriate problem questions.


BACKGROUND
Giant Condyloma Acuminatum (GCA) is a rare, slow growing, large cauliflower tumor of the penile foreskin and perianal region with benign histologic appearance but high propensity for local invasion and recurrences. GCA is associated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) types 6 and 11 and it also has considerable risk of neoplastic transformation into fully invasive squamous cell carcinoma into about 5 years.

OBJECTIVE
Because of the rarity of perianal GCA, to date there is no general agreement on the best method for treatment. We wanted to know if surgical approach only was a good method to treat our case.

CASE REPORT
A 28 years old man, HIV-negative, with a 4 years history of perianal GCA quickly growing underwent full tickness local excision at least 0,7 cm margin of normal tissue with skin grafting taken from the thighs. Fecal contamination was avoided by diet and loperamide per os. At two years follow-up no recurrence was detected.

CONCLUSION
Surgical approach with full tickness excision and immediate skin-grafting and regular follow-up demonstrated effective to treat GCA and to minimize disease recurrence.


In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987) Pope John Paul II
proposes solidarity as a social virtue for our fragmented yet
interdependent world. This lens raises several important questions,
but also suggests new opportunities for moral formation and the
promotion of institutional charism in the context of Catholic
higher education. Employing a praxis methodology, this dissertation
begins by analyzing contemporary declines in social capital and the
rise of atomistic individualism. The philosophical writings of
Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor help us to understand the
moral and spiritual roots of these sociological trends. With the
context established, the dissertation next traces the development
of solidarity in the Catholic social tradition and attempts to
locate the virtue within a Thomistic moral framework. Closely
related to both charity and justice, the vision of solidarity
advanced is linked to Aristotle's notion of civic friendship,
perfected in its origin (the dignity of the human person) and goal
(the common good). Constructive proposal are grounded in the
concept of social practices developed by MacIntyre and adapted by
religious educators and practical theologians. Beyond textual
analysis, this dissertation includes a national survey of 87 senior
mission leaders at Catholic colleges and universities. From these
findings, concrete recommendations are offered for the practices of
mission leadership and service-learning.


The features o f the linear dimensions and acoustic density o f spleen in practically healthy men with different somatotypes from Podillya are set. Found that in men with ectomorphic somatotype length, thickness, height o f the spleen and splenic index was significantly larger or have significant tendency to greater value compared with men with mesomorphic and endo-mesomorphic somatotype. Determined significant tendency to greater value splenic index in men with endo-mesomorphic somatotype compared with men with an average somatotype intermediate. Acoustic density o f spleen in longitudinal section statistically significant smaller or has a significant tendency to lower values in men with mesomorphic somatotype compared with men with endo-mesomorphic somatotype and middle intermediate. Significant differences in the diameter o f splenic vein between men with different somatotypes not installed.


The speckle phenomenon remains a major hurdle for the analysis of SAR images. The development of speckle reduction methods closely follows methodological progress in the field of image restoration. The advent of deep neural networks has offered new ways to tackle this longstanding problem. Deep learning for speckle reduction is a very active research topic and already shows restoration performances that exceed that of the previous generations of methods based on the concepts of patches, sparsity, wavelet transform or total variation minimization. The objective of this paper is to give an overview of the most recent works and point the main research directions and current challenges of deep learning for SAR image restoration.


This study aims to describe the design and development of a STEM problem-solving activity involving mathematics and physics content. It is an activity whose starting point is a question based on a real problem: to identify the areas of the classroom where the intensity of sound is higher. In this way, the problem involves the physics of sound. However, in addition, by trying to give an answer to the initial question, students have the opportunity to develop progressively more complex mathematical models from already known mathematical concepts and procedures. The analysis of the results of the implementation based on the identification of the learning opportunities and the catalyst elements that generate them, allows us to state that the activity encourages students to enrich their mathematical models by incorporating new mathematical concepts such as the function of two variables. We conclude that the design of the activity and the choice of data acquisition technology are key, but also the interaction between the students and the teacher.


Category research has flourished over the last decade. While this body of work has prioritized the behavioral and economic consequences of stable classification systems, the papers in this special issue challenge this orientation by highlighting the importance of category dynamics for improving our understanding of markets and fields. We show how these papers support the emergence of category maintenance, the recategorization of mature categories, and the consolidation of new categories as understudied phenomena and as the next research challenges to pursue. After connecting the main findings of the papers in this special issue into a unified process model, we discuss various alternative pathways to further explore those challenges. We also point to how this theoretical endeavor runs on slippery slopes and might lead to cul-de-sacs such as terminological balkanization. We conclude by highlighting the need for developing a more comprehensive understanding of category dynamics.


Thin films of tantalum oxide hold promising functional properties for electronic applications such as resistive random-access memory. For this aim, correlating the structure and charge transport properties of oxygen-deficient derivatives is crucial. Here, using electron scattering measurements from nanoscale volumes in a transmission electron microscope (TEM), we report how oxygen content affects short-range order in amorphous TaOx thin films, where 1.34 ≤ x ≤ 2.50. By extracting the bond lengths, we observe that the dominant type of Ta–Ta distances change with decreasing oxygen content from next-nearest-neighbor, ∼3.8 Å, to nearest-neighbor, ∼3 Å. We relate this decrease to the Ta–O polyhedral network within the film, namely decreasing oxygen content increases the presence of TaO5 at the expense of TaO6 polyhedra. The reduction in oxygen content is accompanied by a significant reduction of electrical resistivity of the films from over 4.3 × 103 to (4 ± 0.05)×10−3 Ω × cm. In particular, we observe a sharp percolative decrease in resistivity of three orders of magnitude, at x ∼ 1.9. Ta oxidation states, measured by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, suggest that the main polyhedral building block within the TaO2.5 film is TaO6, while in oxygen-deficient films, the relative fractions of TaO5 polyhedra and metallic Ta increase. At even lower oxygen content, x ∼ 1.34, TEM and x-ray diffraction detect crystallites of Ta with cubic and metastable tetragonal structures. We propose that TaO5 polyhedra and Ta crystallites increase conductivity due to direct bonding of Ta atoms, as manifested by nearest-neighbor Ta–Ta bond length, thus enabling conductive paths for charge transport.


The humanitarian response undertaken in Haiti after the earthquake that struck on 12 January 2010 has been one of the most complex ever. However, as the first anniversary of the quake approaches, the Haitian state, together with the international community, is making little progress in reconstruction.

The Haitian authorities need to show greater strategic leadership and take decisions that reflect the priority needs of the Haitian population. They need to initiate public infrastructure projects that put people to work and build skills; support people to return home, or allocate land for new houses; and invest in agriculture. The international community should do much more to support these efforts by increasing the capacity and accountability of Haitian institutions rather than sidelining them.


To assess the effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in elderly patients with and without renal insufficiency, we conducted an open-label, randomized, prospective three-period cross-over study. Twenty-nine patients at least 65 years old were assigned to groups with preserved GFR (> 1.16 mL/s [70 mL/min]) or with renal insufficiency (GFR 0.50–1.16 mL/s [30–70 mL/min]). Patients received 800 mg ibu-profen three times daily, 20 mg piroxicam daily, or 200 mg sulindac twice daily for 1 month. Three-hour inulin and two-day creatinine clearances were measured before and after the first and last doses of NSAIDs. Ibuprofen, piroxicam, and sulindac decreased inulin clearance after single-doses in both groups of patients. In patients with renal insufficiency, creatinine clearance did not change after administration of ibuprofen for 1 month (0 ± 0.06 mL/s, mean ± standard error), but was decreased similarly with administration of either piroxicam or sulindac (-0.12 ± 0.06 mL/s [-7.2 ± 3.6 mL/min], P < 0.02). One patient with preserved GFR, but with other risk factors for NSAID-asssociated renal impairment, met our criteria for withdrawal by experiencing at least a 40 μmol/L (0.5 mg/dL) increase in serum creatinine above their baseline value. Our data indicate that NSAIDs do not adversely affect GFR in patients with preserved renal function unless they have another risk factor for NSAID-associated renal impairment. In contrast, patients with renal insufficiency may have significant chronic decrements in GFR with long-acting NSAIDs such as piroxicam and sulindac, but not with short-acting ibuprofen. Such patients should have renal function monitored while being treated with long-acting NSAIDs.


Narrowband filters that are utilized in the IF stages are almost the most effective components when the performance parameters such as the Intermodulation Spurs (IMS) and noise floor of the entire strip are considered. Thus, selectivity of the IF filters should be as high as possible. Required sharpness and ultimate rejection often dictate high Q-structures like cavity or waveguide structures, but these type of filters fail to comply with physical parameters such as space and weight that planar filters do. On the contrary, other problems arise in this type of filters. The most severe ones are dispersion and bandwidth enlargement. In this paper, a technique to control the bandwidth of the planar filter while keeping loss and the length same is told.


Digital microfluidics (DMF) holds great potential for the alleviation of laboratory procedures in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). The electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) technology provides dynamic culture conditions in vitro that may better mimic the natural embryo microenvironment. Thus far, EWOD microdevices have been proposed for in vitro gamete and embryo handling in mice and for analyzing the human embryo secretome. This article presents the development of the first microfluidic chip utilizing EWOD technology designed for the manipulation of bovine embryos in vitro. The prototype sustains the cell cycles of embryos manipulated individually on the chips during in vitro culture (IVC). Challenges related to the chip fabrication as well as to its application during bovine embryo IVC in accordance with the adapted on-chip protocol are thoroughly discussed, and future directions for DMF in ARTs are indicated.


Abstract Herein we establish a relation between quantum irreversibility and the chaotic semi-classical solutions for a spin-boson Hamiltonian system. We obtain quantum averages by numerically integrating the appropriate Liouville-Von Neumann equations of motion and find these averages to be less erratic than the corresponding chaotic semi-classical trajectories. However, the quantum averages are shown to be dissipative as measured by the entropy of the spin subsystem and to suppress the phenomenon of "revivals".


We examine trends in the productivity of the pharmaceutical sector over the past three decades. Motivated by Ricardo's insight that productivity and rents are endogenous to demand when inputs are scarce, we examine the industry's aggregate R&D production function. Using exogenous demand shocks to instrument investments, we find that demand growth can explain a large portion of R&D growth. Returns to scale have been stable whereas total factor productivity has declined significantly. Predicted rents based on our estimates and Ricardo's theory closely match the trends we observe.


In this paper we describe an network intrusion detection system implemented on the IXP1200 network processor. It is aimed at detecting worms at high speeds by matching the payload of network packets against worm signatures at the lowest possible levels of the processing hierarchy (the microengines of an IXP1200 network processor). The solution employs the AhoCorasick algorithm in a parallel fashion, where each microengine processes a subset of the network traffic. To allow for large patterns as well as a large number of rules, the signatures are stored in off-chip memory. Using an old version of the IXP network processors (the IXP1200), the system is capable of handling close to 200 Mbps with full content scan for realistic


Phytoplankton production and physiology were investigated at six selected locations during a research cruise in early October 2007 in Tanzanian coastal waters. The dataset included photosynthesis– irradiance and active fluorescence parameters, phytoplankton absorption coefficients, and pigment concentrations. Primary production was estimated to vary over the range 0.79–1.89 g C m−2 d−1. Diagnostic pigments indicated that micro–nanophytoplankton comprised the communities at three stations and nano–picoplankton at the other three stations. At all stations, the populations maximised their photosynthesis in the upper water column under elevated irradiance and low nutrient conditions. Significant photosynthetic activity was also observed at depth under very low light where the communities increased their quantum yield of photochemistry and the proportion of accessory chlorophylls b and c and photosynthetic carotenoids.


The research paper is an attempt to provide ease to the potential customers of the Two-wheeler electric vehicle in the selection process depending upon their respective prerequisites. The selection of the vehicle among alternatives is a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. This paper develops an evaluation model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the magnitude of each criterion numerically and the fuzzy Technique for Order of Preferencebased on Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to obtain the final ranking. For our studyBrand trust, Price of the vehicle, Range, Charging Time, Cost per km, Battery Life, Aesthetics, Service, Durability, we considered the critical parameters and the elements of the discussion. The study delved into the domestic market of India for the process of evaluation. The methodology included a survey questionnaire conducted among the postgraduates and undergraduates of the institute, Professionals from industries, some entrepreneurs and others. The insights derived from the study are likely to provide a better understanding of the Two-wheeler electric vehicles market for consumers. Alternatively, the managers and organizations can help their consumers in selecting optimum alternatives from the existing convoy. The study emphasizes the degree of ease and related parameters. The study follows by further subdividing the preferred Two-wheeler EVs ranking for Entrepreneurs and Businessmen, Students, Working Professionals, and others. The collected data authenticates the premise mentioned above.


Abstract Question: How do studies of the distribution of genetic diversity of species with different life forms contribute to the development of conservation strategies? Location: Old-growth forests of the southeastern United States. Methods: Reviews of the plant allozyme literature are used to identify differences in genetic diversity and structure among species with different life forms, distributions and breeding systems. The general results are illustrated by case studies of four plant species characteristic of two widespread old-growth forest communities of the southeastern United States: the Pinus palustris - Aristida stricta (Longleaf pine - wiregrass) savanna of the Coastal Plain and the Quercus - Carya - Pinus (Oak-hickory-pine) forest of the Piedmont. Genetic variation patterns of single-gene and quantitative traits are also reviewed. Results: Dominant forest trees, represented by Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) and Quercus rubra (Northern red oak), maintain most of their genetic diversity within their populations whereas a higher proportion of the genetic diversity of herbaceous understorey species such as Sarracenia leucophylla and Trillium reliquum is distributed among their populations. The herbaceous species also tend to have more population-to-population variation in genetic diversity. Higher genetic differentiation among populations is seen for quantitative traits than for allozyme traits, indicating that interpopulation variation in quantitative traits is influenced by natural selection. Conclusion: Developing effective conservation strategies for one or a few species may not prove adequate for species with other combinations of traits. Given suitable empirical studies, it should be possible to design efficient conservation programs that maintain natural levels of genetic diversity within species of conservation interest.


Viruses are believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune type 1A diabetes in humans. This pathogenic process can be modeled in the BBDR rat, which develops pancreatic insulitis and type 1A-like diabetes after infection with Kilham's rat virus (RV). The mechanism is unknown, but does not involve infection of the pancreatic islets. We first documented that RV infection of BBDR rats induces diabetes, whereas infection with its close homologue H-1 does not. Both viruses induced similar humoral and cellular immune responses in the host, but only RV also caused a decrease in splenic CD4+CD25+ T cells in both BBDR rats and normal WF rats. Surprisingly, RV infection increased CD4+CD25+ T cells in pancreatic lymph nodes of BBDR but not WF rats. This increase appeared to be due to the accumulation of nonproliferating CD4+CD25+ T cells. The results imply that the reduction in splenic CD4+CD25+ cells observed in RV-infected animals is virus specific, whereas the increase in pancreatic lymph node CD4+CD25+ cells is both virus and rat strain specific. The data suggest that RV but not H-1 infection alters T cell regulation in BBDR rats and permits the expression of autoimmune diabetes. More generally, the results suggest a mechanism that could link an underlying genetic predisposition to environmental perturbation and transform a "regulated predisposition" into autoimmune diabetes, namely, failure to maintain regulatory CD4+CD25+ T cell function.


The covalent attachment of methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) is a well established strategy used to improve the pharma- ceutical properties of several biomolecules. Since the pioneering work of Abuchovsky, PEGylation has emerged as a powerful technol- ogy of significant relevance, not only for the development of new and better drugs, but also for application in material science. Peptides and proteins are the most traditional targets for PEGylation due to their intense and diverse biotechnological applications. The terminal amino group, as well as the  -amino group of lysine and the thiol group of cysteine, are all well known nucleophilic sites that have tradi- tionally been used to couple peptides and proteins to mPEG derivatives. Advances in the methods for preparation of the mPEG starting materials, together with a careful selection of new mPEG functional end-groups have allowed new reactive mPEGs to emerge, which show narrow polydispersity and controlled reactivity, providing more homogeneous conjugates. In the last few years the trend has moved towards site-selective, reversible and enzymatic PEGylation using a new generation of tailor-made reagents and strategies. The main goal of this article is to present some of the most relevant achievements obtained in the PEGylation of peptides and proteins. The chemistry underlying the current methods used for the preparation of mPEG reagents, as well as the chemistry involved in the PEGylation reactions are presented in detail, in order of stimulating the synthetic and polymer chemist to turn their attention in this fascinating multi and interdisciplinary field of research.


A dynamic and intricately connected tissue-resident immune cell network continuously monitors the lungs, which are incessantly subjected to external environmental insults. The lungs are protected by the respiratory epithelium, which not only serves as a physical barrier through mucociliary mechanisms, but also a reactive one that can release cytokines, chemokines, and other defence proteins in response to danger signals. In the maintenance of pulmonary homeostasis in health, the lung-resident immune cell network instructs tolerance to innocuous particulates and can rapidly and efficiently drive immunity and memory to pathogenic antigens. This review examines the spatiotemporal dynamics that underlie the exquisite network of highly specialised immune cells and their mediators in the support of pulmonary tissue homeostasis and effective lung immunity in health. In particular, this review examines the specialised immune cells that reside in distinct populations within the diverse compartments of the lung, and the molecular signals that retain and recruit lungresident immune cells, to further our understanding of how these can be targeted therapeutically to return inflamed or diseased lungs to homeostasis.


In this report I describe a modification of the gelatin-matrix method for determining the percentages of bacterial cells having active electron transport systems. This modification is one-step fluorochroming followed by use of an antioxidant solution instead of the secondary gelatin layer. The modified technique is more successfully applicable to water samples containing high densities of flocculant particulate matter, owing to the brighter green fluorescence of the cells, which contrasts with the red-orange fluorescence of the floc.


Smart speakers are increasingly being adopted by families in the U.S. In many cases, a smart speaker is shared by family members, which might make the sense of ownership uncertain. Through a diary and interview-based study with 20 Asian Indian parents and teenagers living in the U.S., this study through thematic analysis highlights various aspects of smart speakers that support or hinder the fulfilment of the psychological needs – self-efficacy, self-identity, territoriality, autonomy, and accountability and responsibility – that foster a sense of ownership. The paper also discusses the experiences of a cultural group that is not well represented in prior HCI work, and thus, it will add useful nuances and knowledge about inclusivity to the study of smart-speaker technology in HCI. Finally, it contributes six actionable design guidelines, including guidelines that relate to maintaining conversational context across different interactions and fostering a sense of ownership among users who share smart speakers, through the use of territorial markers.


Pentahelicene (PH) exhibits the largest absorption ( gabs) and luminescence ( glum) dissymmetry factors among the helicene family but is configurationally and (photo)chemically labile, encumbering its application to chiroptical materials. To bypass the pitfalls, three PH units are merged in a single molecule to build D3-symmetric triple pentahelicene, hexabenzotriphenylene (HBT), which attains indeed the configurational and (photo)chemical robustness through equilibrium with a C2-symmetric conformer that interrupts the racemization and photocyclization. UV-vis, circular dichroism (CD), and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectral examinations reveal the significantly larger gabs and glum values for HBT than for any of configurationally robust single [ n]helicene ( n ≥ 6) and C2-symmetric triple pentahelicene, trinaphthotriphenylene (TNT). Theoretical calculations precisely reproduce the main features of the experimental CD and CPL spectra of PH, HBT, and TNT, and the relevant electric and magnetic transition moments and their mutual angles well rationalize the relative CD and CPL intensities of all the single and triple pentahelicenes.


Barnea candida oocytes, submitted to D-600 (100 microM) 15-20 seconds after insemination in order to inhibit Ca++ uptake but not acid release, fail to exhibit germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) whereas penetrated spermatozoa are able to decondense normally. Oocytes transferred in 100 mM Na-acetate seawater at pH 6.3, 1 minute after insemination, in order to inhibit acid release, fail to undergo GVBD and sperm nuclear decondensation. Upon return of these oocytes to normal seawater and treatment with an excess of KCl, they exhibit GVBD and decondensed sperm nuclei are seen within their cytoplasm. These results show that sperm nuclear decondensation does not require GVBD or Ca++ uptake but may be related to an intracellular pH increase.


In order to explore the presence of larvae of Trichinella spiralis in pork obtained from public markets and ambulatory markets "tianguis" (open market) from...


BACKGROUND
Little information is available until today regarding the effect of platinum-doublet chemotherapy with bevacizumab followed by pemetrexed as a sole maintenance treatment. Original data concerns different induction regimens plus bevacizumab with bevacizumab maintenance to progression in advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Two consecutive groups of patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC received carboplatin, vinorelbine and bevacizumab for four cycles. Group A (2010-2012) did not receive any maintenance therapy, whereas group B (2012-2013) received pemetrexed switch maintenance (500 mg/m(2)) every three weeks until disease progression.

RESULTS
The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.4 months and 7.3 months (p<0.001) and one-year survival was 42% and 52% for Group A (n=20) and B (n=22) patients, respectively. Disease control rates were 65% and 86% (p=0.104). Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism occurred in three (15%) and seven (32%) patients in group A and B, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The inferior PFS (p<0.001) without maintenance suggests that induction treatment including bevacizumab should not be planned without subsequent maintenance treatment. Whether it is better to use pemetrexed or bevacizumab, or a combination of both, as maintenance therapy is not yet established.


Abstract : The present book contains the 12th International Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel Materials in Kirchberg, Tyrol, Austria. The series of these schools started in 1985. Originally the school was held every second year and was devoted to conducting polymers. After the discovery of high temperature superconductors the periodicity changed to an annual format and the topic alternated between conjugated polymers and superconductors. Since fullerenes are both conjugated compounds and (in some cases) superconductors, it was tempting to choose fullerenes as topic for the Kirchberg schools. The evident extension of this topic is carbon nanotubes and so the title changed from Fullerenes via Fullerene Derivatives and Fullerene Nanostructures to Molecular Nanostructures. This gradual change enables us to keep a fairly large interdisciplinary scientific community together and to stimulate numerous international cooperations. A compilation of the previous Kirchberg Winterschools will be presented in the table at the end of this preface. The term Molecular Nanostructures implies the "bottom-up" (synthetic) approach, as opposed to the "top-down" (lithography and etching) techniques in semiconductor technology. As for the physics, we are in a field where solid state physics and molecular physics overlap. This is nicely seen on the example of carbon nanotubes: Their diameter is in the order of a few nanometers and thus perpendicular to their axis nanotubes are molecular (different diameters lead to different electronic structures), along their axis they are extended solids. Most oral contributions to the winterschool were on carbon nanotubes, and there are also three chapters of the proceedings and a large part of the chapter on applications devoted to this topic. The majority of the posters was on fullerenes and fullerides.


This study discusses the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on the environment and on human health. Quantitative data and qualitative impacts are taken from US experience since shale gas extraction in Europe still is in its infancy, while the USA have more than 40 years of experience already having drilled more than 50,000 wells. Greenhouse gas emissions are also assessed based on a critical review of existing literature and own calculations. European legislation is reviewed with respect to hydraulic fracturing activities and recommendations for further work are given. The potential gas resources and future availability of shale gas is discussed in face of the present conventional gas supply and its probable future development. IP/A/ENVI/ST/2011-07 June 2011


In this paper, we present a comparison of IP routing in mobile environments. We consider four protocols: mobile IP, mobile IP with paging support, mobile IP regional registration and mobile IP regional registration with paging support. The comparison is done by mathematical modeling and simulation. The comparative metric is signaling costs which are measured by a composition of registration and paging messages. The comparison considers several system parameters such as the number of base stations in the paging area, cell perimeter and mobile node velocity.


Abstract Currently no national guidelines exist for the management of scabies outbreaks in residential or nursing care homes for the elderly in the United Kingdom. In this setting, diagnosis and treatment of scabies outbreaks is often delayed and optimal drug treatment, environmental control measures and even outcome measures are unclear. We undertook a systematic review to establish the efficacy of outbreak management interventions and determine evidence-based recommendations. Four electronic databases were searched for relevant studies, which were assessed using a quality assessment tool drawing on STROBE guidelines to describe the quality of observational data. Nineteen outbreak reports were identified, describing both drug treatment and environmental management measures. The quality of data was poor; none reported all outcome measures and only four described symptom relief measures. We were unable to make definitive evidence-based recommendations. We draw on the results to propose a framework for data collection in future observational studies of scabies outbreaks. While high-quality randomised controlled trials are needed to determine optimal drug treatment, evidence on environmental measures will need augmentation through other literature studies. The quality assessment tool designed is a useful resource for reporting of outcome measures including patient-reported measures in future outbreaks.


Gravitational perturbations on an exoplanet from a massive outer body, such as the Kozai–Lidov mechanism, can pump the exoplanet's eccentricity up to values that will destroy it via a collision or strong interaction with its parent star. During the final stages of this process, any exomoons orbiting the exoplanet will be detached by the star's tidal force and placed into orbit around the star. Using ensembles of three- and four-body simulations, we demonstrate that while most of these detached bodies either collide with their star or are ejected from the system, a substantial fraction, $\sim 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, of such 'orphaned' exomoons (with initial properties similar to those of the Galilean satellites in our own Solar system) will outlive their parent exoplanet. The detached exomoons generally orbit inside the ice line, so that strong radiative heating will evaporate any volatile-rich layers, producing a strong outgassing of gas and dust, analogous to a comet's perihelion passage. Small dust grains ejected from the exomoon may help generate an opaque cloud surrounding the orbiting body but are quickly removed by radiation blow-out. By contrast, larger solid particles inherit the orbital properties of the parent exomoon, feeding an eccentric disc of solids that drains more gradually on to the star via Poynting–Robertson drag, and which could result in longer time-scale dimming of the star. For characteristic exomoon evaporation times of ∼105–106 yr, attenuation of the stellar light arising from one or more out-gassing exomoons provides a promising explanation for both the dipping and secular dimming behaviour observed from KIC 8462852  (Boyajian's Star).


The Chinese species of Earinus Wesmael, 1837 (Braconidae, Agathidinae) are revised and eight species are recognized. Three new species, namely, E. longigena sp. nov., E. pallitarsus sp. nov. and E. protinus sp. nov., are described and illustrated, and two species are recorded from China for the first time, i.e., E. brevistigmus van Achterberg et Long, 2010 and E. elator (Fabricius, 1804). A new synonym is proposed, Earinus albopilosus Chen et Yang, 2006, with Therophilus festivus (Muesebeck, 1953). A key to the Chinese species of the genus Earinus is provided.


The author discusses the sacrificial-layer method of making silicon micromotors, the use of electrostatic actuation, and the importance of friction and contact sticking in such devices. The persistent problem of finding meaningful applications for these tiny machines is discussed, touching a range of topics along the way. The future of computation using a register made of atoms, and quantum-mechanical transitions for computation operations, is looked at. >


The design of an automation work system involves important choices concerning the type of system process as well as the condition of the process. These are based on the requirements from the user. This work provides the development of configuration model for automating the design of work system. The model consists of the extraction and execution process of user requirements. It begins with the identification of the requirement statement. Once identified, the statement is extracted and sorted accordingly into process type, number of item count and condition of the process. Currently, the model considers simple sorting and basic assembly process. The model continues to the selection of system action and system component. At the end of the work, the user requirements are transformed into a set of system model and eventually provide the desired system specification. At this stage, the model is represented in a symbolic flow process.


Design method is very essential and important for engineers. Present study proposes a new blast-resistant design method. First, two common used blast-resistant design methods are discussed. By analyzing the disadvantage of the common procedures, a new blast-resistant design method is proposed. The new design method has less design loops, as well as good control of the maximum displacement and ductility. Then, a dimensionless P-I diagram, which is convenient for design, is proposed based on the new design method. Finally, the new blast-resistant design method is applied in the performance-based blast-resistant design (PBBD) procedure described using a detailed design example. The design example shows that the proposed design method could be easily applied in the PBBD procedure.


Four new flavonol glycosides (1-4), two oligosaccharides (5, 6), one α-ionone (7), and three triterpenoid saponins (8-10), together with four known secondary metabolites (11-14), were isolated from the aerial parts of Polygala flavescens ssp. flavescens. All structures were elucidated on the basis of their spectroscopic and spectrometric data. The isolates were assayed for their inhibitory activity against isoform 5 of human lactate dehydrogenase, and compound 11 (3,6'-di-O-sinapoylsucrose) showed an IC50 value of 90.4 μM. Modeling studies were carried out to suggest the putative interaction mode of compound 11 in the enzyme active site.


To the Editor.—I will not be the only reader to see a connection between the reports of Earp and others1and Napodano and others2in your February issue. Although more than one interpretation can be made from Earp's data, it is reasonable to conclude that the internal medicine subspecialty fellows they interviewed did not have ideal attitudes for primary care. When I read that only three of 34 respondents (9%) felt that they should be responsible for their patient's psychosocial problems and that only nine (27%) would like their patients to call them personally for medical advice when needed after hours, I can only hope that few of these fellows will later find themselves with primary responsibility for a patient's care. But I know, as documented in the references accompanying the article by Earp et al, that this will not be the case. The kind of training


This paper proposes an enhanced adaptive La- grangian relaxation (ELR) for a unit commitment (UC) problem. ELR consists of adaptive LR (ALR) and heuristic search. The ALR algorithm is enhanced by new on/off decision criterion, new initialization of Lagrangian multipliers, unit classification, identical marginal unit decommitment, and adaptive adjustment of Lagrangian multipliers. After the ALR best feasible solution reached is obtained, the heuristic search consisting of unit substi- tution and unit decommitment is used to fine tune the solution. The proposed ELR is tested and compared to conventional Lagrangian relaxation (LR), genetic algorithm (GA), evolutionary programming (EP), Lagrangian relaxation and genetic algorithm (LRGA), and genetic algorithm based on unit characteristic clas- sification (GAUC) on the systems with the number of generating units in the range of 10 to 100. ELR total system production costs are less expensive than the others especially for the large number of generating units. Furthermore, the computational times of ELR are much less than the others and increase linearly with the system size, which is favorable for large-scale implementation. Index Terms—Heuristic search, Lagrangian relaxation, unit commitment.


This phenomenological study explored the nature and meaning of being physically active from the standpoint of 15 women age 65 and older. The analysis presents a multitextured description of how 15 women maintained a physically active lifestyle for most of their lives. It provides information about why 15 older women value being physically active and how they negotiated a physically active lifestyle throughout their lives. Findings suggest that continuity of a physically active lifestyle was not a luxury these women experienced over the life course. Being physically active was affected by gender socialization, ageist attitudes, and physical challenges. Nonetheless, these long-lived, physically active women hung on to a concept of themselves as physically active; they demonstrated that active is an attitude and moving is a consequence. They have learned to improvise and, now more than ever, have taken control of their lives by being planful about being physically active.


Commercial vehicles play an essential role of physical distribution, working as indispensable means of transportation and play as our dependable partner in our social life. On the other hand, problems of traffic accidents are key issues which we must solve more urgently. Driver condition monitoring systems are the basic branch of transportation safety field.


We present a new approach to the solution of decision problems formulated as influence diagrams. The approach converts the influence diagram into a simpler structure, the LImited Memory Influence Diagram (LIMID), where only the requisite information for the computation of optimal policies is depicted. Because the requisite information is explicitly represented in the diagram, the evaluation procedure can take advantage of it. In this paper we show how to convert an influence diagram to a LIMID and describe the procedure for finding an optimal strategy. Our approach can yield significant savings of memory and computational time when compared to traditional methods.


In this paper we present a novel method for automatic text-line parameter selection for stereo image pairs. The parameters are selected such that correspondence between the same content in a stereo pair is maximized. Automatic parameter selection has been carried out by establishing robust text-line correspondence which is also a contribution of the presented work. The proposed method is applied to one text-line extraction algorithm as a proof of concept. The results are compared with the ground truth to show the validity of the method.