This paper describes the shaft voltage reduction achieved by the brushless DC motor for air conditioning driven by the voltage source inverter. First, the simplified equivalent circuit of the concentrated winding brushless DC motor is derived based on the common mode equivalent circuit where stray capacitance is taken into account. Then, the electrostatic capacity distributions between winding and stator core, winding and magnet, stator core and magnet, and magnet capacitance are measured, and the shaft voltage is calculated with the simplified equivalent circuit. Finally, the bridge type equivalent circuit is derived, and it is confirmed with calculation and experiment that the shaft voltage can be suppressed when the inside and outside of the rotor core are insulated with resin (hereinafter, the insulated rotor).


We describe the AIST Dance Video Database (AIST Dance DB) , a shared database containing original street dance videos with copyright-cleared dance music. Although dancing is highly related to dance music and dance information can be considered an important aspect of music information, research on dance information processing has not yet received much attention in the Music Information Retrieval (MIR) community. We therefore developed the AIST Dance DB as the first large-scale shared database focusing on street dances to facilitate research on a variety of tasks related to dancing to music. It consists of 13,939 dance videos covering 10 major dance genres as well as 60 pieces of dance music composed for those genres. The videos were recorded by having 40 professional dancers (25 male and 15 female) dance to those pieces. We carefully designed this database so that it can cover both solo dancing and group dancing as well as both basic choreography moves and advanced moves originally choreographed by each dancer. Moreover, we used multiple cameras surrounding a dancer to simultaneously shoot from various directions. The AIST Dance DB will foster new MIR tasks such as dance-motion genre classification, dancer identification, and dance-technique estimation. We propose a dance-motion genre-classification task and developed four baseline methods of identifying dance genres of videos in this database. We evaluated these methods by extracting dancer body motions and training their classifiers on the basis of long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network models and support-vector machine (SVM) models.


Bupleurum species represent one of the most successful and widely used herbal drugs for treatment of many diseases over the past 2000 years. Bupleurum chinense (B. chinense) is officially listed in China and Bupleurum kaoi (B. kaoi) is the only indigenous Bupleurum plant in Taiwan. Therefore, the aim of our study is to investigate the chemical components, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidants of B. kaoi and B. chinense. We report highly sensitive and specific assay for anti-inflammatory with a TNF-α luciferase plasmid vector. In preliminary experiments, we found that B. kaoi have stronger anti-inflammatory effects than B. chinense. However, it was no significant difference in the free radical scavenging activities of B. kaoi and B. chinense. We also demonstrated that saikosaponins (SS) a, SSc and SSd are the major compounds of B. kaoi and B. chinense in thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis. The SSa, SSc and SSd content in B. kaoi has been reported to be higher than that in B. chinense. We combined TLC chromatograms with hierarchical clustering analysis(HCA)to classify into B. chinense and B. kaoi. The major impact feature were Rf 0.58(SSd) and Rf 0.44(SSc) .Theses studies showed that TLC chromatograms with HCA could be as tool in to differentiation and identify different species of herbal medicine in the future.


Two cases of rare intracranial and orbital metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma are presented. A 61-year-old woman was found to have a metastatic tumor in the right temporo-occipital lobe 1 year after undergoing treatment for a primary hepatoma. An osteolytic tumor was removed from the left orbit of a 58-year-old man and the primary tumor, a hepatoma, was discovered postoperatively. The intracranial and orbital tumors were verified to be hepatocellular carcinoma. Both patients died within 1 year of surgery. The relevant literature is briefly reviewed.


Christianity under the Ancien Regime, 1648-1789. By W. R. Ward. [New Approaches to European History series, 14.] (New York: Cambridge University Press.1999. Pp. xii, 270. $54.95 hardback; $19.95 paperback.) Christianity under the Ancien Regime, the latest installment in the Cambridge series "New Approaches to European History," is written by the able W. R. Ward, Emeritus Professor of Modern History in the University of Durham and author of many books, including The Protestant Evangelical Awakening (1992). His most recent volume aims at a readership of both students and nonspecialists by offering a "sampling [of] various aspects of religious life" as well as a "sketch of the main outlines of its history on a regional basis" with an emphasis placed on describing religious belief and experience and not on the political or institutional history of the Christian Churches. Ward's historical survey adheres to its series' general format: being concisely written without footnotes, with each chapter subdivided into topical headings, concluding with a suggestive bibliographical essay; additionally, it is prefaced by a short glossary of terms. Such efforts have merit and this one has several, while unavoidably suffering from those limitations imposed by sponsoring editors. The major disadvantage derives from having to cover significant events and developments from the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War to the outbreak of the French Revolution in a volume of restricted length. This century and a half was far from being an "heroic age," an observation made by historians who might still recognize the important antecedents to modern religious beliefs and practices. Few would deny that there were powerful as well as subtle, even contradictory, currents flowing through popular Christianity during this critical time span. Significantly Ward sees no Christian retreat before the Enlightenment; nor does he observe a radical shifting of Christian belief and activities while science and reason appeared to march confidently forward. Ward's emphasis is on the renewed vigor of evangelical Protestanism through its more intensely personal expressions of faith and the formation of new organized bonds. These developments owed much to the same forces behind the unfolding, secular Enlightenment-namely spreading literacy and the printing press. Religious orthodoxy and governing establishments not withstanding, Christian Europe remained dynamic, if fractious; creative, if zealous. The reader will appreciate Ward's balanced and comprehensive presentation, combining wit with an obvious talent for popular distillation. A minor caveat: the author may focus on subjects most dear to his own scholarly interests, resulting in greater attention given to Protestanism than Catholicism, but this book is not heavily weighted toward England and France as is sometimes the case in other historical surveys published by British and American scholars. …


Factor analysis and structural equation modelling of clustered data are discussed. The application of these methods, with emphasis on the interpretation of results, is illustrated in analyses of students' scores on a set of science tests. These data have a two-level hierarchical structure with students nested within schools.

Keywords:

multilevel factor analysis;
multilevel structural equation modelling;
hierarchical models;
clustered data


Pleural fluid from a child previously treated for rhabdomyosarcoma produced colonies in vitro. Cells from these colonies appeared to have the light and electron microscopic appearance of rhabdomyosarcoma cells. In this case, the malignant nature of the effusion had been suspected because of the patient's previous history; however, this technique may prove useful in the diagnosis of effusion of unknown etiology.


Natural field orientation (NFO) is a technique for generating a rotating reference frame position for an induction machine aligned with the stator flux. The term ldquonaturalrdquo is applied because there is an implicit tendency for the rotating frame to realign with the correct stator flux frame position if there is a perturbation away from this position. However, under regeneration conditions this realignment property does not occur, and the frame position, if perturbed, will move the control reference frame away from stator flux alignment. This paper examines this frame alignment stability problem and proposes a solution that retains the features and simplicity of the NFO concept.


Anisotropic exchange splitting (AES) is induced by the joint effects of the electron-hole exchange interaction and the symmetry reduction in quantum wells and quantum dots. A model has been developed to quantitatively obtain the electron-hole exchange energy and the hole-mixing energy of quantum wells and superlattices. In this model, the AES and the degree of polarization can both be obtained from the reflectance difference spectroscopy. Thus the electron-hole exchange energy and the hole-mixing energy can be completely separated and quantitatively deduced. By using this model, a (001)5 nm GaAs/7 nm Al0.3Ga0.7As superlattice sample subjected to [110] uniaxial strains has been investigated in detail. The n=1 heavy-hole (1H1E) exciton can be analyzed by this model. We find that the AES of quantum wells can be linearly tuned by the [110] uniaxial strains. The small uniaxial strains can only influence the hole-mixing interaction of quantum wells, but have almost no contribution to the electron-hole exchange ...


Explores the development of an object-oriented model to support the inter-operation of simulations within a federation for the purpose of conducting medical analysis and training over a distributed infrastructure. The medical federation is referred to as the Combat Trauma Patient Simulation System and is composed using a high-level architecture. The infrastructure contains components that were separately developed and are heterogeneous in nature. This includes a general anatomical database that is capable of analyzing human injuries, referred to as operational requirements-based casualty assessment, an animated mannequin called the Human Patient Simulator, and other components. The research develops an object model that enables bodily injury data to be shared across the simulation, conducts analysis on that data and considers possible applications of the technique in expanded medical infrastructures.


Abstract Since the discovery of the first radio pulsar fifty years ago, the population of neutron stars in our Galaxy has grown to over 2,600. A handful of these sources, exclusively seen in X-rays, show properties that are not observed in normal pulsars. Despite their scarcity, they are key to understanding aspects of the neutron star phenomenology and evolution. The forthcoming all-sky survey of eROSITA will unveil the X-ray faint end of the neutron star population at unprecedented sensitivity; therefore, it has the unique potential to constrain evolutionary models and advance our understanding of the sources that are especially silent in the radio and γ-ray regimes. In this contribution I discuss the expected role of eROSITA, and the challenges it will face, at probing the galactic neutron star population.


Nepal and India have trade relations since pre historic age. The pattern of trade between these two countries has not remained same from prehistoric age to the current period. Nepal and British India signed first treaty of commerce in 1st March, 1792. Nepal's had trade surplus with British India before both the countries signed a treaty of friendship on December 21, 1923 AD. Nepal's trade deficit with India has been increasing. Nepal introduced country-wise and commodity-wise trade diversification initiatives to raise its export to India and lessen its reliance on India in international trade. Nepal has brought several reformations in trade policies though after 1991 when it liberalized its economy for increasing export and reducing volume of trade deficit. This study compares India-Nepal trade in past before down of democracy in Nepal, in between 1950 to 1990 and after 1990 in order to analyse effects of various trade treaties and policies in Nepal-India trade. It uses historical-analytical method using secondary sources of data to carry out the study. It covers data from 1900 AD to 2020/21. The study finds that various revisions in trade treaties between Nepal and India and trade reformation policies have not been effective in increasing export of Nepal, its trade deficit and dependency in India.


Cutting-edge diffusion models produce images with high quality and customizability, enabling them to be used for commercial art and graphic design purposes. But do diffusion models create unique works of art, or are they replicating content directly from their training sets? In this work, we study image retrieval frameworks that enable us to compare generated images with training samples and detect when content has been replicated. Applying our frameworks to diffusion models trained on multiple datasets including Oxford flowers, Celeb-A, ImageNet, and LAION, we discuss how factors such as training set size impact rates of content replication. We also identify cases where diffusion models, including the popular Stable Diffusion model, blatantly copy from their training data. Project page: https://somepago.github.io/diffrep.html


Health care activity in dental practice produce dental waste, that can cause problem if it is not treated properly. The prevalence of Tabanan citizen who receive dental treatment is the second highest after Denpasar which is 48,3%. The purposes of this study are to understand the dental waste management, reinforcing factor and obstacle in dental waste management. This study is a qualitative study. The samples were obtained from 6 dental practices providing BPJS and 6 dental practices non providing BPJS in rural and urban area, located in Tabanan Regency, selected using purposive sampling. Data collection methods were observation and in-depth interview. Data analysis using thematic analysis. The result of this study showed that dental and non dental waste were segregated but, some waste containers were inappropriate. For example using mineral water bottle as a sharp waste container, using thin plasctic bag and there is no labelling on waste container. Waste packaging was done by tying the plastic bag in a usual way. There is no specific place for storing the dental waste. Dental waste were transported by dentist using their vehicles. The waste burnt down in community health center and hospital's incinerator, but there are 2 informants who burnt it down in  an empty lot near their office. Public Health Office give policy regarding dental waste management but there are no standard operating procedure and no periodic monitoring. Dental waste management in dental practice Tabanan does not fully meet the requirement. It is necessary to create a clear  standard operating procedure, periodic monitoring and technical guidance for  the dentist.


Development of improved crop production technologies having less or no harmful effects on environment, has become centre to mitigate salinity stress. Soil salinity hampers crops productivity by elevation of ethylene level in plants which can be decreased by activity of ACC deaminase. Despite reduction of salinity stress produced ethylene by inoculation of single strain ACC deaminase producing PGPR, multistrains inoculation with inorganic fertilizer could be more effective. So far, single-strain seed inoculation with ACC deaminase producing PGPR to improve crop growth under stress conditions has been widely investigated. However, the current study was conducted to examine the efficacious role of multi-strain PGPR inoculation in the presence of recommended mineral fertilizer (RNPKF) on wheat growth under artificially induced salinity stress. The multi-strain PGPR, Enterobacter cloacae (W6), Serratia ficaria (W10) and Burkholderia phytofirmans (PsJN) with mineral fertilizers significantly increased root (40%) and spike length (54%), root (65%) and shoot (63%) dry weight in wheat as compared to control and even single-strain inoculation. A significant improvement in straw (0.96-fold), economic (1.69-fold), biological yields (1.20-fold), phosphorus concentration in grain (1.43-fold) and shoot (1.75-fold) as compared to control validated the use of multi strain inoculation with mineral fertilizers, as an effective and environmentally safe technique to improve resistance to wheat plants against salinity.


Self-supervised learning of deep neural networks has become a prevalent paradigm for learning representations that transfer to a variety of downstream tasks. Similar to proposed models of the ventral stream of biological vision, it is observed that these networks lead to a separation of category manifolds in the representations of the penultimate layer. Although this observation matches the manifold hypothesis of representation learning, current self-supervised approaches are limited in their ability to explicitly model this manifold. Indeed, current approaches often only apply augmentations from a pre-specified set of"positive pairs"during learning. In this work, we propose a contrastive learning approach that directly models the latent manifold using Lie group operators parameterized by coefficients with a sparsity-promoting prior. A variational distribution over these coefficients provides a generative model of the manifold, with samples which provide feature augmentations applicable both during contrastive training and downstream tasks. Additionally, learned coefficient distributions provide a quantification of which transformations are most likely at each point on the manifold while preserving identity. We demonstrate benefits in self-supervised benchmarks for image datasets, as well as a downstream semi-supervised task. In the former case, we demonstrate that the proposed methods can effectively apply manifold feature augmentations and improve learning both with and without a projection head. In the latter case, we demonstrate that feature augmentations sampled from learned Lie group operators can improve classification performance when using few labels.


This study focuses on Hyaluronan Mediated Motility Receptor (RHAMM) protein expression in ovarian carcinoma (OC). RHAMM protein increases migration, invasion and is associated with poor prognosis when overexpressed. It is a dualistic oncogenic protein located within and on the cell surface acting as a receptor for Hyaluronan (HA). RHAMM is not generally overexpressed in normal tissues, but is upregulated in a number of cancers and is associated with poor clinical outcome. However, the role of RHAMM in OC progression is unknown. Hypothesis: Elevated RHAMM levels promote OC progression and represent a novel urinary biomarker for OC. Procedures: Measuring RHAMM expression in OC cell protein lysate and conditioned media (CM) was done by western blot (WB) and densitometry. With institution approval, patient cohort urine from male and female healthy controls and patients with cancer of the ovary, lung, breast, prostate, cervix, colorectum, skin, endometrium, head and neck, and brain were acquired from the H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center at the University of South Florida. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) designed for RHAMM detection, was used to measure patient urine expression levels. Results: Cultured OC cells overexpress and secrete RHAMM. Using OC, SV-40 large T-antigen transfected human ovarian surface epithelial (IOSE) cells (HIO118, IOSE-121) and human dermal fibroblasts (HDF), we found >2x the expression of RHAMM protein in BC (MCF7) and OC (OVCAR5, OV2008, C13) cells by WB. WB of CM indicated >3x RHAMM levels secreted by OC compared to IOSE cells. Urinary levels of RHAMM are elevated in OC patients. Since RHAMM is not an integral membrane protein, but rather loosely tethered to the plasma membrane, we determined whether RHAMM could be detected in bodily fluids of OC patients. ELISA showed detection of urinary RHAMM protein levels averaged 0.140 ng/ml (n = 26) in healthy patient controls whereas OC patients averaged 0.411 ng/ml (n = 132). Conclusions: Prior to this study, overexpression and secretion of RHAMM by OC cells had not been reported. This has expanded our knowledge of OC etiology by delineating a functional role for RHAMM-driven OC progression. Validating elevated urinary levels of RHAMM suggests it is a potential diagnostic marker alone or in combination with other markers for OC detection. Further, the ability to monitor OC through the course of disease using urinary RHAMM levels could indicate recurrent disease or therapeutic efficacy. Understanding RHAMM expression in OC may lead to a possible diagnostic/prognostic indicator or therapeutic target for OC. Citation Format: Stephanie Buttermore, Patricia Kruk. Hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (RHAMM) in ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 444.


Over the past few decades, many techniques have been developed for the numerical solution of integral equations representing electromagnetic scattering problems. However, a majority of these techniques are limited to electrically small scatterers, i.e., below the resonance range. This is primarily because the amount of CPU computer time and storage requirements become prohibitive for large-body scatterers. Recent work indicates that a procedure based on the iterative conjugate-gradient method can be incorporated into conventional numerical methods in order to extend the range of application of the techniques to larger geometries. In this paper we discuss the conjugate-gradient method and illustrate several ways in which it can be applied to electromagnetic scattering problems. The discussion includes mention of the advantages of the method as compared with conventional approaches as well as some of its limitations. In many practical scattering problems of interest at optical wavelengths, the method can provide a convenient means of treating problems that are electrically more than an order of magnitude larger than those that can be handled by other techniques.


The Andreev-Bashkin effect, or superfluid drag, is predicted in a system of Bose-condensed excitonic polaritons in optical microcavity coupled by electron-exciton interaction with a superconducting layer. Two possible setups with spatially indirect dipole excitons or direct excitons are considered. The drag density characterizing a magnitude of this effect is found by many-body calculations with taking into account dynamical screening of electron-exciton interaction. For the superconducting electronic layer, we assume the recently proposed polaritonic mechanism of Cooper pairing, although the preexisting thin-film superconductor should also demonstrate the effect. According to our calculations, the drag density can reach considerable values in realistic conditions, with excitonic and electronic layers made from GaAs-based quantum wells or two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. The predicted nondissipative drag could be strong enough to be observable as induction of a supercurrent in the electronic layer by a flow of polariton Bose condensate.


One important element in the integrity of bolted flanged joints is the condition of the flange seating surfaces which contact the gasket. Just as the competence of the bolted joint assembler is a key element in the integrity of an otherwise properly designed and constructed bolted flanged joint assembly, when the decision is made to re-machine the gasket seating surfaces on the flange(s) the competence of the personnel who operate the field machining equipment can have an impact on those features of the flanges that affect alignment and surface finish. This paper outlines a proposed industry framework for the training and qualification of personnel who conduct field machining of flanges that is like what is currently in Appendix A of ASME PCC-1 for bolted joint assembly personnel.


Latency of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been demonstrated in both helper T‐Lymphocytes and cells of the macrophage/monocyte series. Although mitogendependent amplification of HIV infection within lymphocytes and monocytes/ macrophages has been demonstrated to occur in vitro, in vivo evidence of such a phenomenon has been lacking. We have performed electron microscopic and immunocytochemical evaluation of skin biopsies from a patient with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) with chronic erythroderma. These biopsies provided evidence of proliferation of HIV in macrophages interacting with activated lymphocytes (CD3+). These macrophages were undergoing morphologic changes characteristic of cytopathicity and contained numerous viral particles, many of which were actively budding from plasma membranes. Cutaneous macrophages which were not interacting with lymphocytes did not demonstrate cytopathicity or evidence of viral multiplication. These in vivo data substantiate the concept that activation of cells which harbour latent HIV promotes viral replication as well as subsequent cytopathicity.


This study is a valuable contribution to the literature on volcanic lightning, and deserves to be published after some further attention to other relevant results in the literature, and in particular to published suggestions that two distinct kinds of lightning may occur: vent lightning and plume lightning. This aspect is discussed by McNutt and Williams (2010) but also by Behnke et al. (JGR, 2014) in a more recent publications pertaining to an Iceland eruption. This distinction may also be relevant to distinguishing the lightning flashes listed in Table 1.


Synthetic concepts toward the synthesis of large, not-fully benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), decorated with phase-forming and solubilizing n-dodecyl chains, are presented based on the intramolecular cyclodehydrogenation reaction of suitable oligophenylene precursors. The formal addition of successive C2 units into the armchair bays of the parent hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene extends the aromatic system and leads to PAHs with a partial zigzag periphery. This variation of the nature of the periphery, symmetry, size, and shape has a distinct impact upon the electronic properties and the organization into columnar superstructures. Both computational and experimental UV/vis spectra, which are in good agreement, emphasize the dependence of the characteristic bands alpha, p, and beta upon the overall size and symmetry of the PAHs. While the number and the substitution patterns of attached n-dodecyl chains do not influence the electronic properties, the thermal behavior and supramolecular organization are strongly influenced, which has been elucidated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and 2D wide-angle X-ray diffractometry (2D-WAXS) on mechanically aligned samples. This study provides valuable insight into the future design of semiconducting materials based on extended PAHs.


Among all kinds of wavefront control algorithms in adaptive optics systems, the direct gradient wavefront control algorithm is the most widespread and common method. This control algorithm obtains the actuator voltages directly from wavefront slopes through pre-measuring the relational matrix between deformable mirror actuators and Hartmann wavefront sensor with perfect real-time characteristic and stability. However, with increasing the number of sub-apertures in wavefront sensor and deformable mirror actuators of adaptive optics systems, the matrix operation in direct gradient algorithm takes too much time, which becomes a major factor influencing control effect of adaptive optics systems. In this paper we apply an iterative wavefront control algorithm to high-resolution adaptive optics systems, in which the voltages of each actuator are obtained through iteration arithmetic, which gains great advantage in calculation and storage. For AO system with thousands of actuators, the computational complexity estimate is about O(n2) ∼ O(n3) in direct gradient wavefront control algorithm, while the computational complexity estimate in iterative wavefront control algorithm is about O(n) ∼ (O(n)3/2), in which n is the number of actuators of AO system. And the more the numbers of sub-apertures and deformable mirror actuators, the more significant advantage the iterative wavefront control algorithm exhibits.


This chapter presents a synthesis of three models for understanding how ideas are disseminated and institutionalized. The first one, linear diffusion, implies that ideas are realized in a uniform manner. In the second, non-linear diffusion, new proposals are received in the same way but realised differently. And according to the third model, evolutionary translation, reception and realisation occur via a process of dual translation. The resulting synthesis is firmly based on translation thinking, but features salient elements of the two other models.


Past efforts to identify areas having higher than average indoor radon concentrations by examining the statistical relationship between local mean concentrations and physical parameters such as the soil radium concentration' have been hampered by the noise in local means caused by the small number of homes monitored in some or most areas, In the present paper, indoor radon data from a survey in Minnesota are analyzed in such a way as to minimize the effect of finite sample size within counties, in order to determine the true county-to-county variation of indoor radon concentrations in the state and the extent to which this variation is explained by the variation in surficial radium concentration among counties, The analysis uses hierarchical modeling, in which some parameters of interest (such as county geometric mean (GM) radon concentrations) are assumed to be drawn from a single population, for which the distributional parameters are estimated from the data. Extensions of this technique, known as a random effects regression and mixed effects regression, are used to determine the relationship between predictive variables and indoor radon concentrations; the results are ,used to refine the predictions of each county's radon levels, resulting in a great decrease in uncertainty. The true county-to-county variation of GM radon levels is found to be substantially less than the county-to-county variation of the observed GMs, much of which is due to the small sample size in each county. The variation in the logarithm of surficial radium content is shown to explain approximately 80% of the variation of the logarithm of GM radon concentration among counties. The influences of housing and measurement factors, such as whether the monitored home has a basement and whether the measurement was made in a basement, are also discussed. This approach offers a self-consistent statistical method for predicting the mean values of indoor radon concentrations or other geographically distributed environmental parameters.


Spike (S) protein is a key protein in coronaviruses life cycle. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 variant of concern (VoC) presents an exceptionally high number of 30 substitutions, 6 deletions and 3 insertions in the S protein. Recent works revealed major changes in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron biological properties compared to earlier variants of concern (VoCs). Here, these major changes could be explained, at least in part, by the mutations N764K and/or N856K in S2 subunit. These mutations were not previously detected in other VoCs. N764K and N856K generate two potential cleavage sites for SKI-1/S1P serine protease, known to cleave viral envelope glycoproteins. The new sites where SKI-1/S1P could cleave S protein might impede the exposition of the internal fusion peptide for membrane fusion and syncytia formation. Based on the human protein atlas, SKI-1/S1P protease is not found in lung tissues (alveolar cells type I/II and endothelial cells), but present in bronchus and nasopharynx. This may explain why Omicron has change of tissue tropism. Viruses have evolved to use several host proteases for cleavage/activation of envelope glycoproteins. Mutations that allow viruses to change of protease may have a strong impact in host range, cell and tissue tropism, and pathogenesis.


The authors recall the chemoprophylaxis of helminthiasis from a case of intestinal obstruction due to roundworms. Unfortunately, in tropical countries, young patients continue to have heavy surgery related to this aetiology.


We examine the intra‐arc crustal seismicity of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone. Our aim is to resolve interseismic deformation in an active magmatic arc dominated by both margin‐parallel (Liquiñe‐Ofqui fault system, LOFS) and Andean transverse faults. Crustal seismicity provides information about the schizosphere tectonic state, delineating the geometry and kinematics of high strain domains driven by oblique‐subduction. Here, we present local seismicity based on 16‐month data collected from 34 seismometers monitoring a ~200‐km‐long section of the Southern Volcanic Zone, including the Lonquimay and Villarrica volcanoes. We located 356 crustal events with magnitudes between Mw 0.6 and Mw 3.6. Local seismicity occurs at depths down to 40 km in the forearc and consistently shallower than 12 km beneath the volcanic chain, suggesting a convex shape of the crustal seismogenic layer bottom. Focal mechanisms indicate strike‐slip faulting consistent with ENE‐WSW shortening in line with the long‐term deformation history revealed by structural geology studies. However, we find regional to local‐scale variations in the shortening axes orientation as revealed by the nature and spatial distribution of microseismicity, within three distinctive latitudinal domains. In the northernmost domain, seismicity is consistent with splay faulting at the northern termination of the LOFS; in the central domain, seismicity distributes along ENE‐ and WNW‐striking discrete faults, spatially associated with, hitherto seismic Andean transverse faults. The southernmost domain, in turn, is characterized by activity focused along a N15°E striking master branch of the LOFS. These observations indicate a complex strain compartmentalization pattern within the intra‐arc crust, where variable strike‐slip faulting dominates over dip‐slip movements.


Fast lithium-ion transportation is found in the crystalline polymer electrolytes, α-CD-PEOn /Li+ (n=12, 40), prepared by self-assembly of α-cyclodextrin (CD), polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Li+ salts. A detailed solid-state NMR study combined with the X-ray diffraction technique reveals the unique structural features of the samples, that is, a) the tunnel structure formed by the assembled CDs, providing the ordered long-range pathway for Li+ ion transportation; b) the all-trans conformational sequence of the PEO chains in the tunnels, attenuating significantly the coordination between Li+ and the EO segments. The origin of the fast lithium-ion transportation has been attributed to these unique structural features. This work demonstrates the first example in solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for "creating" fast ion transportation through material design and will find potential applications in the design of new ionconducting SPE materials.


While process variations are becoming more significant with each new IC technology generation, they are often modeled via linear regression models so that the resulting performance variations can be captured via normal distributions. Nonlinear response surface models (e.g., quadratic polynomials) can be utilized to capture larger scale process variations; however, such models result in nonnormal distributions for circuit performance. These performance distributions are difficult to capture efficiently since the distribution model is unknown. In this paper, an asymptotic-probability-extraction (APEX) method for estimating the unknown random distribution when using a nonlinear response surface modeling is proposed. The APEX begins by efficiently computing the high-order moments of the unknown distribution and then applies moment matching to approximate the characteristic function of the random distribution by an efficient rational function. It is proven that such a moment-matching approach is asymptotically convergent when applied to quadratic response surface models. In addition, a number of novel algorithms and methods, including binomial moment evaluation, PDF/CDF shifting, nonlinear companding and reverse evaluation, are proposed to improve the computation efficiency and/or approximation accuracy. Several circuit examples from both digital and analog applications demonstrate that APEX can provide better accuracy than a Monte Carlo simulation with 104 samples and achieve up to 10times more efficiency. The error, incurred by the popular normal modeling assumption for several circuit examples designed in standard IC technologies, is also shown


The spectrum-sliced elastic optical path network (SLICE) architecture has been presented as an efficient solution for flexible bandwidth allocation in optical networks. An homologous problem to the classical Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) arises in such an architecture, called Routing and Spectrum Assignment (RSA). Imposed by current transmission technologies enabling the elastic optical network concept, the spectrum contiguity constraint must be ensured in the RSA problem, meaning that the bandwidth requested by any connection must be allocated over a contiguous portion of the spectrum along the path between source and destination nodes. In a dynamic network scenario, where incoming connections are established and disconnected in a quite random fashion, spectral resources tend to be highly fragmented, preventing the allocation of large contiguous spectrum portions for high data-rate connection requests. As a result, high data-rate connections experience unfairly increased bocking probability in contrast to low data-rate ones. In view of this, the present article proposes a lightpath fragmentation mechanism that makes use of the idle transponders in the source node of a high data-rate connection request to fragment it into multiple low data-rate ones, more easily allocable in the network. Besides, aiming to support such an operation, a light-weight RSA algorithm is also proposed so as to properly allocate the generated lightpath fragments over the spectrum. Benefits of the proposed approach are quantified through extensive simulations, showing drastically reduced high data-rate connection blocking probability compared to a usual contiguous bandwidth allocation, while keeping the performance of low data-rate requests to similar levels.


A unified field theory of mesons and their particle sources is proposed and considered in its classical aspects. The theory has static solutions of a singular nature, but finite energy,characterized by spin directions; the number of such entities is a rigorously conserved constant of motion; they interact with an external meson field through a derivative-type coupling with the spins, akin to the formalism of strong-coupling meson theory. There is a conserved current identifiable with isobaric spin, and another that may be related to hyper-charge. The postulates include one constant of the dimensions of length, and another that is conjectured necessarily to have the value ђc, or perhaps ½ђc, in the quantized theory.


Via discussions of the simple model of a strong electron-phonon interacting system, the authors develop a new variational treatment for dealing with the superconducting properties of such a system. The key idea of their treatment is to introduce a two-phonon coherent state for the phonon subsystem so that the ground-state energy of the interacting system can arrive at a stable minimum. They have shown that the superconducting condensation energy in their variational state is of a reasonable magnitude and that the effective mass of the polarons is much smaller than that considered by previous researchers. The gap equation and the expression for critical temperature Tc in the theory are also different from those in ordinary polaronic state as well as from those in Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. The authors have pointed out the possibility of high-Tc superconductivity in such an interacting system.


Cyclic voltammetry (CV), synchrotron radiation-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SR-XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) show that oxidation of ferrocene tagged PVC induces an accumulation of high molecular weight polymer at the buried interface between the substrate electrode and the plasticized membrane.


Summary: The last three decades have seen tremendous progress in the surgical management of patients with intractable epilepsy involving all facets of diagnosis, localization, operative technique, and research. Unfortunately, such progress has taken place and is in operation only in the developed countries of North America, Europe, and Japan. Epilepsy surgery programs in the developing countries of South America, Asia, and particularly Africa, if they exist at all, are the result of the individual efforts of physicians who were fortunate enough to receive their training abroad. These physicians face difficulties in financing their programs and in obtaining the necessary equipment, and they work without the assistance of trained personnel or technicians. The exchange of experience between physicians in developed and developing countries may be mutually beneficial. In the face of the high cost of health care in developed countries, it is unrealistic to expect patients with intractable epilepsy to continue to undergo elaborate investigative procedures indefinitely. On the other hand, physicians in developing countries need to keep updated on the latest technology and research and have to receive the necessary support from developed countries to slowly build up their programs. The global perspective of physicians dealing with epilepsy patients may be broadened by exposure to the experience from the "other side of the fence" and will ultimately lead to better patient education and more focused patient care.


This study was conducted to examine the effects of different levels of chicken egg lecithin in diets on growth and feeding parameters, lipoprotein fractions and histological changes in gut and liver of binni juveniles (Mesopotamichthy Sharpeyi). The experimental fish with initial mean weight of 3.1 ± 0.17 g were fed to satiation 3 times a day with four experimental diets containing different levels of egg lecithin (0, 2, 4 and 6%) for 8 weeks. Fish were fed 4 and 6% chicken egg lecithin showed significantly higher final growth, specific growth rate, improved feed conversation ratio, protein efficiency and survival compared with control group. Fish were fed the diet containing 4-6% lecithin showed significantly higher high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) than fish fed 2% chicken egg lecithin and control. Fish were fed the diet containing 4-6% lecithin showed higher goblet cells and lower lipid vacuoles in anterior intestine enterocytes than control group. Also, the livers of fish were fed chicken egg lecithin showed normal structure and hepatocyte with clear central nucleus compared with control group, visually. So, it appears phospholipids (PLs) have a specific role for lipid transport and absorption. Therefore, the use of 4-6% chicken egg lecithin as PLs source in diet of juvenile binni fish for improvement growth performance is recommended.


Pseudoaneurysm resulting from vascular impingement by an osteochondroma is extremely rare. The authors report on the case of a 16-yearold male who had a brachial artery pseudoaneurysm and vessel rupture associated with a humeral osteochondroma. This case suggests that pseudoaneurysm should be considered for the differential diagnosis in patients with soft tissue masses and a cuspidal osteochondroma located near the neurovascular bundle and recommends Doppler sonography or angiography.


Recent advancements in three-dimensional digital terrain mapping and vehicle simulation technology present an opportunity to introduce "real-world feedback" early in the design process. Designers of suspension, braking, steering and safety systems can evaluate and optimize designs using computer simulation of a vehicle on the digital proving ground (DPG). A range of possible design behaviors can be identified and analyzed prior to expensive prototyping and testing. Even a series of specific test maneuvers may be evaluated prior to actual testing to ensure safety of the driver and prototype vehicle. As a result, the design process is more efficient and the use of the actual proving ground is more cost effective. This paper presents an overview of the use of the digital proving ground for vehicle design evaluation. Several examples of digital proving ground tests will be discussed. Digital 3-D models of a test track facility may be available from the construction of the grounds, or they can be created with laser measurement techniques, such as LIDAR. Tire-terrain contact patch simulation techniques provide for the use of validated physics models to study 3-D vehicle behavior undergoing simulated tests for handling, ride, braking compliance or other maneuvers.


Abstract In Empiriomonism, Aleksandr Bogdanov introduces the term 'affectional' that he borrowed from Richard Avenarius but revised in the light of William James's theory of emotions. The 'affectional' is an index of energy balance between suffering and pleasure. Employing Bogdanov's revised notions of affectional as an element of any organization or complex, Sergei Eisenstein develops the principles of expressivity. He sees emotions as an organism's embodied reaction to its interaction with the environment. Eisenstein proposes a notion of an emotional script, which is a narrative of a prospective viewer telling what has impressed him. Aleksandr Rzheshevskiy, a scriptwriter of Eisenstein's never completed 'Bezhin Meadow' (1937), became an 'emotional scriptwriter' in practice. The paper investigates the relations between Bogdanov's notions of the affectional, Eisenstein's theory of expressiveness, and the emotional script as conceived by Eisenstein and realized by Rzheshevskiy.


Objectives. The aim was to compare demographics and pathological features of bladder carcinoma treated in a urology unit with findings of previous studies done in Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods. Data of newly diagnosed patients with bladder cancer in a tertiary referral centre from 2011 to 2014 were analysed. Data on bladder cancers diagnosed from 1993 to 2014 were obtained from previous publications and Sri Lanka Cancer Registry. Results. There were 148 patients and mean age was 65 years. Male to female ratio was 4.1 : 1. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) was found in 89.2% of patients. Muscle invasion was noted in 35% of patients compared to 48.4% two decades ago. In patients with UC, 16.5% were found to have pT1 high grade tumour. It was 5.3% from 1993 to 2000. Pure squamous cell carcinoma was found in 8.1% of patients while primary or de novo carcinoma in situ (not associated with high grade pT1 tumours) was seen in one patient only. Conclusions. The percentage of squamous carcinoma is higher among Sri Lankan patients while primary carcinoma in situ is a rarity. The percentage of muscle invasive disease has decreased while the percentage of pT1 high grade tumours has increased during the last two decades in Sri Lanka.


The X-ray crystal structure of the complex of the B-DNA dodecamer CGCGAATTCGCG with the antitumor drug netropsin has been reexamined to locate the drug accurately for computer-based drug design. The optimum solution is with the drug centered in the AATT region of the minor groove, making three good bifurcated hydrogen bonds with adenine N3 and thymine O2 atoms along the floor of the groove. Pyrrole rings of netropsin are packed against the C2 positions of adenines, leaving no room for the amine group of guanine and, hence, providing a structural rationale for the A.T specificity of netropsin. An alternative positioning in which the drug is shifted along the minor groove by ca. one-half base pair step is rejected on the basis of free R factor calculations and the appearance of the original drug-free difference maps. Final omit maps, although of more pleasing appearance, are not a dependable means of discriminating between right and wrong structures. The shifted alternative drug position ignores potential hydrogen bonding along the floor of the groove, provides no explanation for netropsin's observed A.T specificity, and is contradicted by NMR results [Patel, D. J. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6424].


Based on computational studies, we propose new metal−organic framework materials, in which the bridging ligands have been functionalized by different substituents, with the aim of improving the CO2 adsorption capacity of the material. The materials are based on the large-pore form of MIL-53(Al3+), with the following functional groups: OH-, COOH-, NH2-, and CH3-. For each form, adsorption heats and isotherms were simulated using the Grand Canonical Monte Carlo method which were found to be consistent with DFT calculations. The study illustrates the enormous impact of the functional groups in enhancing CO2 capture in the pressure range 0.01−0.5 bar and at room temperature. It also provides important insights into the structural factors which play a key role in the CO2 adsorption process in the functionalized MOFs. We propose the material (OH)2-MIL-53(Al3+) as an optimal candidate for improved CO2 capture at low pressures.


We have developed inkjet-printed surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensors that are specifically designed to work with field portable Raman analyzers for the detection of chemical and biological agents (Tay et al. in J Raman Spectrosc, 2020). These SERS sensors are inkjet-printed on filter paper or fabric substrates. They are flexible and lightweight and provide point-of-sampling capabilities that other rigid planar SERS substrates lack. Conventionally, performance of a SERS substrate is characterized by its enhancement factor which is defined as the ratio of the normalized SERS to normal Raman intensity. This is an inadequate measure for a chemical/biological sensor. The performance of a chemical/biological sensor is best characterized by its sensitivity, probability of true positive detection, false positive rate, and its response time. The sensor using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) captures the performance trade-off between all these factors. Here, we outline the application of ROC analysis to the SERS sensors. This can be applied for all SERS sensors but we will focus its use with the printed SERS sensor. Specifically, the use of printed SERS sensor for the detection of fentanyl, a common opioid found in illicit drug, analyzed with ROC concept is demonstrated.


Memristor crossbar structures are widely used in logic, memory, security, and neuromorphic applications. It becomes necessary to test these devices for faults since they are prone to high defect densities. In this paper, we introduce a new terminology "intermediate faults" in memristor circuits. Intermediate faults are faults whose memristor resistance values lie between low resistance state (LRS) and High resistance state (HRS) values. This paper extends the fault detection method for HRS/LRS stuck-at faults to detecting intermediate faults using sneak paths in memristor circuits. We describe the importance of setting the detection limit for testing intermediate faults. Our simulation results present the detection limit value for intermediate resistances using five long and three long sneak paths in a 3x3 crossbar array. Our fault detection scheme can be used for detecting intermediate faults along with stuck-at low resistance and stuck-at high resistance faults.


Although pavements are initially designed to be durable for specified traffic loads, they must also satisfy other functional characteristics, primarily safety, smoothness and comfort (noise generation). Frequently, there are necessary trade-offs for the surface texture of pavements to "improve" certain of these pavement functional characteristics. This study assessed the influence of the depth, width, and shape of transverse tining of portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements on generation of tire/pavement interaction noise. The study also considered various other common PCC pavement surface textures - Astroturf, trowel, and broom finishes - and their influence on noise generation. And lastly the study assessed the influence of pavement texture profile on noise and skid resistance (safety). A mathematical model was developed to determine the stress distribution between the concrete pavement and the tire. The stress distribution was transformed to a power density spectrum to represent the input to the noise generation as the tire rolls over the surface. Noise modeling based on the stress distribution was performed for a set of surfaces and tine geometrics. Full scale testing of a tire on a concrete surface through the use of the SQDH Tire/Pavement Test Apparatus (TPTA) was performed to obtain the noise generated over various concrete surfaces. A laser profilometer was used to obtain the X, Y profile of different textured surfaces. This profile was used as an input for the stress model and used to obtain a transfer function for the noise model. An empirical transfer function was generated to link the computer modeling of the stress with the noise measured from the TPTA testing. Friction testing was performed on the different surfaces and was related to texture depth obtained from the laser profilometer. From the model and testing on the TPTA, the shape of the tine edge did not significantly change the overall noise level or the shape of the spectrum generation. However, the influence of the width of the tine was significant - reducing tine width resulted in a reduction of the overall sound level. Further study is needed to develop pavement surface textures that can provide desirable levels of safety and reduction in noise levels.


It is fairly common in a distribution system to find instances where distribution lines are "physically" parallel. The parallel combination may have both distribution lines constructed on the same pole or the two lines may run in parallel on separate poles but on the same right-of-way. For example, two different feeders leaving a substation may share a common pole or right-of-way before they branch out to their own service area. It is also possible that two feeders may converge and run in parallel until again they branch out into their own services areas. The lines could also be underground circuits sharing a common trench. In all of the cases the question becomes how should the parallel lines be modeled and analyzed? The purpose of this paper is to develop the models for the parallel lines and demonstrate how they can be analyzed using the new models.


This quantitative study using a survey method aims to understand the relationship between flood disaster risk perception and the sense of place of people living in communities along a river. The survey covered a non-probability sample of 120 respondents from households located along with the downstream, midstream, and upstream sections of the Ocoy River in Negros Oriental. Generally, the respondents have very high flood disaster risk perception and sense of place scores which do not significantly differ across communities. But the significant positive relationship between these two major variables contradicts the common understanding that disaster makes people devalue particular places and relocate to safer areas. The majority who conditionally agreed to relocate may not proceed if they perceived a more difficult life in the resettlement site. Adaptive resettlement programs and policies are recommended where the desired characteristics of a place of flood survivors are reconstructed. At the same time, risk reduction and mitigation mechanisms are designed for those who decided to remain in riverside communities.


Minimal path determination is one of the main steps in the reliability assessment of electric power transmission and distribution systems. This paper presents a new method for minimal path determination in electric power distribution systems. The proposed method is derived from an existing scheme by slight modifications. The method makes use of Boolean algebra and set theory and is easy to program. Its main feature is the ability of minimal path determination for every output of an multi-output distribution network from a single network configuration. It is applied to a sample distribution network and the results are illustrated.


In this paper, distributed iterative algorithms for consensus problems are considered for multiagent networks. Each agent randomly contacts with other agents at each instant and receives corrupted information due to the noisy channel from its neighborhood. Neighbors of each agent are cooperative or competitive, i.e., the elements in the adjacent weight matrix may be positive or negative. In such a framework, asymptotic consensus and mean square consensus problems are investigated, based on random graph theory and stochastic stability theory. The control gains have been designed such that cooperation-competition random multiagent networks can reach almost sure consensus and mean square consensus. Simulation examples are finally given to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.


In developed countries, infectious diseases (ID) fully dominated the population health problems until the first decades of the past century, and continue in poorest countries today. Epidemics like plague or cholera, at different times, have killed significant proportions of the population from important cities, including European ones. The decline of ID in the 19th century, raised, in scientific circles, the belief that they would disappear and that their persistence in poor countries would also diminish following the tendency observed in developed countries. A world without ID was announced. The most complete formulation of this idea is the so called epidemiological transition theory.1 However, the unexpected happened: over the last decades of the 20th century ID emergence/re-emergence was registered, even in the rich parts of the world. In the poorest parts the new diseases have added to already large ID burden.2

Historical studies bring us some enlightenment. A historian analysing the importance of this group of diseases in the history of human society made some surprising observations.3 He criticised the dominant notion that ID had not had an important influence …


Conflicts of interest come in two overlapping forms. First, the interests of different parts of government may conflict. As democratic institutions developed, newly empowered parliaments sought to limit the king's influence. Monarchs maintained power by providing favors and official positions to legislators. Hence, early efforts were closely tied to an emerging view of the separation of powers, even if some of the benefits were private. Second, the concept refers to conflicts between public roles and private financial interests.1 Today, the first form is less prominent than the second. Of course, powerful presidents and prime ministers can still seek to sway politicians through their control over government posts and spending priorities. Furthermore, certain institutional reforms are unlikely because they conflict with the interests of politicians. Nevertheless, constitutional terms, legal prohibitions, and the division of labor mean that worries about the separation of powers are not at the forefront.2 In contrast, the complexity of modern society means that the second form is pervasive. Individuals play multiple public and private roles with accompanying tensions between their conflicting demands. An individual may play many roles simultaneously. Those who hold government or political positions as legislators, ministers, party functionaries, judges, presidents, prime ministers, or civil servants also have other responsibilities. They are family members, businessmen, tribal elders, religious leaders, or even criminals.3 A characteristic of modern complex


The fungus Polymyxa betae is an obligate parasite of the roots of many plants of the family Chenopodiaceae. In the sugar beet, it acts as a vector of beet necrotic yellow vein virus, the agent of a serious disease known as rhizomania. With indirect methods of analysis, such as bioassay, one can establish only the presence or absence, but not the quantity, of P. betae in soil. A new method based on the technique of the most probable number (MPN) of infective units of P. betae present in the soil was developed on the basis of the biological characteristics of this microorganism. Compared with traditional bioassay methods, the MPN method is suitable for determining the contamination level of P. betae in a soil, and it appears promising for the routine analysis of many soil samples, whether they were affected by rhizomania or presumed noninfested. The instrumentation designed especially for the recovery of viable P. betae from soil with the MPN technique is made from commercially available materials, results in a saving of space during sample incubation, and permits this method to be used for any laboratory analysis.


OBJECTIVE
To review 16 years of NCAA injury surveillance data for women's volleyball and to identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives.

BACKGROUND
Participation in NCAA women's volleyball has increased greatly over the past 16 years. As with all sports, women participating in volleyball assume an inherent risk of injury each time they practice or participate in a game. In order for clinicians to better understand the risks associated with volleyball, it is critical to gather data that illustrates injury rates and patterns among volleyball athletes. Furthermore, with knowledge of injury mechanisms and risk factors comes the ability to initiate prevention strategies to minimize future injury.

MAIN RESULTS
Over the past 16 years, the rate of injury in a game situation was slightly higher than in practice (4.58 versus 4.10 game injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures, rate ratio = 1.1, 95% confidence interval = -1.0, 1.2, P < .01). A total of 2216 injuries from more than 50 000 games and 4725 injuries from more than 90 000 practices were reported. The lower extremity accounted for more than 55% of all game and practice injuries, with ankle ligament sprains representing 44.1% of game injuries and 29.4% of practice injuries. Approximately 20% of all game injuries involved the upper extremity. The majority of injuries during a game situation occurred while athletes were in one of the front 3 positions. A player landing on another player and contact with the floor each accounted for 21% of game injuries.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Ankle injuries appear to be the most common injuries in women's volleyball. Future preventive efforts should focus on preventing first-time ankle sprains and acute traumatic knee injuries, as well as reducing the risk of ankle sprain recurrence.


This study aims to determine the diversity of seaweed growing in the littoral area of Tamalabba, Punaga Village, District of Magarabombang, Takalar Regency, including ing the characteristics of the habitat by the environmental suitability with the biological aspects of seaweed in the coastal areas Takalar Regency whose results provide information on the type-a type of seaweed growing in waters littoral Tamalabba Hamlet Village District of Magarabombang Punaga Takalar. This research was conducted in June up to August 2010. The location of research is in the waters littoral of Tamalabba, Punaga Village, District of Magarabombang, Takalar Regency. Identification of samples conducted at the Laboratory of Marine Biology Faculty of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University; and analysis of nitrate and phosphate conducted at water quality laboratory, Fisheries Department, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, Makassar. Based on the results obtained seaweed consists of three major groups include green algae (Chorophyceae), Red Algae (Rhodhophyceae), and Brown Algae (Phaeaophyceae). At station one diversity value of 2.1431 with a total of 12 types, station two at 2.4557 with a number of 15 species, the station three at 2.3965 with a number of 13 species, and the station four at 2.0720 with a total of 12 types. The total number of seaweed species found in the study site 52 species.


Low-noise lasers are a powerful tool in precision spectroscopy, displacement measurements, and the development of advanced optical atomic clocks. All applications benefit from lower frequency noise and robust design, however, the generation of microwave signals additionally requires narrowband lasing at two frequencies. Here, we introduce a simple optoelectronic oscillator enabling the generation of a stable ultra-narrow microwave carrier signal with low phase noise based on stimulated Brillouin scattering. A cost-effective sub-kilohertz Brillouin fiber ring laser with stabilized selfinjection locked pump DFB (Distributed Feedback Laser) laser is used for this purpose. The system is supplied by a low-bandwidth active optoelectronic feedback controlled by a low-cost USB-DAQ card. The full-width of generated microwave signal at -3 dB level is approximately equal to 300 Hz with a peak maximum at ~10.946 GHz. The strongest parasitic harmonics shifted from carrier signal peak by ±50 kHz, ±450 kHz, and ±900 kHz are below the main peak by 45-50 dB. A phase noise below −90 dBc/Hz for a frequency offset above 10 kHz from the carrier after passing the 20 km length test fiber has been achieved.


A series of new star-shaped trinuclear Ru(II) complexes of imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline derivatives, [{Ru(bpy)(2)}(3){μ-mes(1,4-phO-Izphen)(3)}](ClO(4))(6)·4H(2)O (6), [{Ru(phen)(2)}(3){μ-mes(1,4-phO-Izphen)(3)}](ClO(4))(6)·3H(2)O (7), [{Ru(bpy)(2)}(3){μ-mes(1,2-phO-Izphen)(3)}](ClO(4))(6)·4H(2)O (8), and [{Ru(phen)(2)}(3){μ-mes(1,2-phO-Izphen)(3)}](ClO(4))(6)·3H(2)O (9) [mes(1,4-phO-Izphen)(3) (4) = 2,4,6-tri methyl-1,3,5-tris(4-oxymethyl-1-yl(1H-imidazo-2-yl-[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline)phenyl)benzene and (mes(1,2-phO-Izphen)(3) (5) = 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3,5-tris(2-oxymethyl-1-yl(1H-imidazo-2-yl[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline)phenyl)benzene] have been synthesized and characterized. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties have also been studied. The core molecule, 1,3,5-tris(bromomethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene (1) and the trialdehyde intermediate, 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3,5-tris(4-oxymethyl-1-formylphenyl)benzene (2) are characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction: triclinic, P1[combining macron]. The complexes 6-9 exhibit Ru(II) metal centered emission at 618, 601, 615, and 605 nm, respectively, in fluid solution at room temperature. The emission profile and emission maxima are similar and independent of the excitation wavelength for each complex. The complexes 6-9 undergo metal centered oxidation and the E(1/2) values for the Ru(II)/Ru(III) redox couples are 1.33, 1.34, 1.35, and 1.35 V versus Ag/Ag(+), respectively, which are cathodically shifted with respect to that of the mononuclear complex [Ru(bpy)(2)(PIP)](2+) (PIP = 2-phenylimidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline). The study demonstrates the versatility of the highly symmetric trinucleating imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline-based core ligands 4 and 5 in forming trinuclear Ru(II) complexes.


Chemical pulping of durian shell fiber is a comparatively new approach in the field of pulping, and the paper industry as a whole. Pressures of rising wood resource consumption have resulted in increased attention on the useof nonwood raw materials in the papermaking industry. This situation is due to trees being exploited in high numbers for the purpose of paper manufacturing. Thus, some alternative solutions have been developed to remedy this. Natural resources wastes like kenaf, bamboo and sugarcane bagasse are used as the raw material to produce these varied grades of paper. Additionally, cellulose fiber possesses a natural tendency to absorb moist and water vapor from the surrounding, producing weak mechanical properties and limiting paper's use. Therefore, in this study, lignin acts as a natural plasticizer in plant cell wall has been optimized to overcome the hygroscopic issue. An optimal amount of lignin will generate maximum hydrophobic effect to prepare for the production of water resistant paper. The process is optimized under the influence of three operational variables; 1) % of NaOH, 2) cooking temperature, and 3) period of cooking. To analyze the response, two level factorial design method by Design Expert v.6.0.8 software has been used. The results show that the highest water contact angle reading of 70.33° has been achieved at the condition of 17 % alkalinity, 140 °C of cooking temperature and 120 min of cooking period. At the same process condition, the highest amount of lignin (57.67 %) has also been obtained which showing the significant interaction between lignin and the hydrophobic effect. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), all parameters have significantly affected the reading of water contact angle. The P-value of the experiment model is less than 0.0001 and the coefficient of determination value (R2) is 1.000. This conclusively suggested that the model is significant and influences on the precision and process-ability of the production.


Customer delivery systems have been planned to deterministic criteria for a long time. With these criteria, new capacity is determined when the system load is just equal to the system limited time rating. Even, some electrical utilities in North America allow for some positive reserve margin in order to cover for load forecast uncertainty. These deterministic criteria do not quantify the reliability of the system and in many situations, can result in over-designed systems and therefore, the electricity users can end up paying higher prices for electricity. In a competitive electricity market, transmission system owners or providers should try to keep the cost of upgrading, operating and maintaining their systems as low as possible while meeting the expectations of their customers and regulatory rules. This paper describes the application of a value-based approach to the planning of customer delivery systems. In this application, the reliability of the system is expressed as a function of the reserve margin (the difference between the station limited time rating and the station forecast load) and the optimal reserve level is obtained when the total system cost, the sum of capital and unreliability costs, is minimal. Sensitivity studies are carried out to determine the impact of changes in some key parameters on the optimal reserve margin. Examples are presented to illustrate the concepts involved.


Although adhesives, particularly those based on epoxy resins, are finding increasing use in structural applications, their utilization at elevated temperature (>150°C) has been limited by their relatively poor thermal and thermo-oxidative stability. As a result, significant effort has been directed in recent years toward the development of polymers exhibiting increased thermal resistance. Although a wealth of research conducted over several decades has resulted in a myriad of polymer types exhibiting, in some cases, impressive high-temperature performance, many systems have demonstrated poor processability Thus, much emphasis has been placed on developing high-temperature performance while providing processability characteristics that are similar, if not identical, to epoxies. This article considers the various approaches that have been shown to offer such dual capabilities. In addition, the results of various studies undertaken to investigate the effects of elevated temperature on the strength and fatigue resistance of bonded joints are reported.


We report a case of 42 year old man who presented with one month history of weight loss, gradual abdominal distension and constipation. X-ray of the abdomen showed features of small gut obstruction. A tight stricture at the ileoceacal junction was found to be the cause of obstruction on laparotomy. Distal ileum was found to be severely inflammed with enlarged regional lymph nodes. Right hemicolectomy with resection of distal ileum was done. Histology revealed non caseating granuloma of Chroh's disease. Crohn's disease is relatively rare in Bangladesh. Recent data suggests rising incidence of Crohn's disease (CD) in the Indian sub-continent.


Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell patients are immunocompromised, remain at high risk following SARS-CoV-2 infection, and are less likely than immunocompetent individuals to respond to vaccination. As part of the safety lead-in portion of a phase 2 clinical trial in patients post HCT/CAR-T for hematological malignancies (HM), we tested the immunogenicity of the synthetic modified vaccinia Ankara-based COVID-19 vaccine COH04S1 co-expressing spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) antigens. Thirteen patients were vaccinated 3–12 months post HCT/CAR-T with two to four doses of COH04S1. SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses, including neutralizing antibodies to ancestral virus and variants of concern (VOC), were measured up to six months post vaccination and compared to immune responses in historical cohorts of naïve healthy volunteers (HV) vaccinated with COH04S1 and naïve healthcare workers (HCW) vaccinated with the FDA-approved mRNA vaccine Comirnaty® (Pfizer, New York, NY, USA). After one or two COH04S1 vaccine doses, HCT/CAR-T recipients showed a significant increase in S- and N-specific binding antibody titers and neutralizing antibodies with potent activity against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral virus and VOC, including the highly immune evasive Omicron XBB.1.5 variant. Furthermore, vaccination with COH04S1 resulted in a significant increase in S- and N-specific T cells, predominantly CD4+ T lymphocytes. Elevated S- and N-specific immune responses continued to persist at six months post vaccination. Furthermore, both humoral and cellular immune responses in COH04S1-vaccinated HCT/CAR-T patients were superior or comparable to those measured in COH04S1-vaccinated HV or Comirnaty®-vaccinated HCW. These results demonstrate robust stimulation of SARS-CoV-2 S- and N-specific immune responses including cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies by COH04S1 in HM patients post HCT/CAR-T, supporting further testing of COH04S1 in immunocompromised populations.


Tactile feedback is widely used to enhance realism in virtual reality (VR). When touching virtual objects, stiffness and roughness are common and obvious factors perceived by the users. Furthermore, when touching a surface with complicated surface structure, differences from not only stiffness and roughness but also surface height are crucial. To integrate these factors, we propose a pin-based handheld device, HairTouch, to provide stiffness differences, roughness differences, surface height differences and their combinations. HairTouch consists of two pins for the two finger segments close to the index fingertip, respectively. By controlling brush hairs' length and bending direction to change the hairs' elasticity and hair tip direction, each pin renders various stiffness and roughness, respectively. By further independently controlling the hairs' configuration and pins' height, versatile stiffness, roughness and surface height differences are achieved. We conducted a perception study to realize users' distinguishability of stiffness and roughness on each of the segments. Based on the results, we performed a VR experience study to verify that the tactile feedback from HairTouch enhances VR realism.


This book, the product of a conference, Ecclesia semper reformanda, held in 2002 at Fordham University in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, is devoted to ecclesial reform from the late ancient to early modern worlds. Some of its authors are concerned with institutional reform, others with cultural approaches to their subject, and some are interested in the characterization of reform. Louis Hamilton introduces the book with a poorly written and not-always-precise essay, which nevertheless makes a number of shrewd historiographical observations.


It is widely held that blow flies, in general, and Phaenicia sericata (Meigen), in particular, are not active at night and do not lay eggs during that time. P. sericata is thought to require sunlight and warmth for oviposition. Three common and forensically important flies--Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy), P. sericata, and Phormia regina (Meigen)--oviposited during the dark hours of the night during the summers of 1988 and 1989. Nocturnal oviposition can alter the usual estimate of the postmortem interval in homicide cases by as much as 12 h. Cases are presented that serve to change our concept of P. sericata from an obligate heliophile to a facultative heliophile that has a willingness to enter dim or dark places to oviposit.


A cell line designated SRT was established from a sheep sinus tumor. Following primary culture, the cells were serially passaged 40 times. SRT cells maintained an epithelioid fibroblast‐like appearance and had a population doubling time of approximately 18 hr. Karyotype analysis of 14th passage cells showed the modal 2n chromosome number to be between 46 to 60, due to a large variation in acrocentric chromosome number. The electrophoretic mobilities of enzymes extracted from SRT cells were identical with those from normal sheep sinus cells. It propagated a number of ovine, bovine and canine viruses. Some virus‐like particles (80‐120 nm) were observed under the electron microscope. The tumor origin, good growth and wide range of virus susceptibility make SRT a highly suitable cell line for in vitro cancer research and for comparative virology studies.


Sport event volunteers have predominantly been examined in able-bodied events using quantitative methods. Studies examining the volunteer experience have focused on its relationship with different constructs, resulting in a siloed body of literature in which a holistic understanding of the volunteer experience remains poor. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between key constructs (satisfaction, motivation, commitment, and sense of community) and the first author's (E.L. Lachance) volunteer experience in a para-sport event. The analysis of the narrative using a volunteer experience conceptual framework composed of the key volunteer constructs identified two themes: (a) the power of sense of community and (b) the volunteer role as a source of dissatisfaction. Contributions include the volunteer experience conceptual framework and the relationships between the four constructs and the volunteer experience. Event managers should implement strategies to create a strong sense of community to enhance their volunteers' experience.


Stochastic resonance, in which a periodic signal applied to a nonlinear system can be amplified by adding noise, has been observed in a mechanical system and predicted to occur in a Bose-Einstein condensate.


Employing data from 140 prospectively followed girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 88 age- and ethnicity-matched comparison girls, we adopted a person-centered analytic approach to assess rates of adolescent positive adjustment (PA) across six domains: ADHD symptoms, externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, social skills, peer acceptance, and school achievement. During adolescence, between 19.8% and 61.1% of the girls with childhood ADHD met criteria for PA when the six domains were considered independently. A total of 16.4% of the ADHD sample showed PA in at least five of six domains, versus 86.4% of the comparison girls. Results were similar when PA was examined excluding the ADHD symptom domain. Most girls did not "grow out of" the symptoms and impairments related to their ADHD.


Abstrak Lithium tantalate, which has chemical formula of LiTaO3, thin films have been grown on a p-type Si substrate (100) by using chemical solution deposition and spin coating techniques at speed of 3000 rpm for 30 seconds. LiTaO3 thin films were made in concentration of 2.5M and at annealing temperatures of 550 °C, 600 °C, 650 °C, 700 °C, 750 °C, and 800 °C. These thin films were characterized by using ocean optic spectroscopy and LCR meter. The results showed that the highest absorbance peak of LiTaO3 films was at temperature of 800 °C with wavelengths above 800 nm. This indicates that the LiTaO3 films was a semiconductor material.


We describe a student activity visualization tool that we constructed to provide a context for ethnomethodological inquiry -a design-based breach experiment (Crabtree et al, 2004) -into how teachers might think and communicate about student thinking when they have tools that give them better access to student activity. We use the Learning to Notice framework (van Es & Sherin, 2008) to characterize the kinds of activity that occurred when teachers used the tools in a team meeting. Then, we show how theses uses suggest ways that research on and uses of student activity representations may need to be sensitive to how contexts of implementation shape the consumption and use of those representations.


The harm alcohol abuse does to physical and mental health is well established. The perception of cardiovascular disease risk factors and alcohol use requires attention. This study aims to investigate the association between alcohol usage and knowledge of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) risk factors among Ellisras rural adolescents and young adults aged 14–22 years. In this cross-sectional study a total of 1409 subjects (736 boys and 673 girls), aged 14–22 years, from the Ellisras Longitudinal Study, South Africa completed a validated alcohol use and CVDs knowledge questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association. The prevalence of alcohol intake increased with increasing age among girls (13.6% to 17.7%) and boys (10.3% to 16.9%) and reached a statistically significant difference (p < 0.024) at an older age category (20–22 years). There was a significant (p < 0.05) association between alcohol use and a positive response on the following knowledge statements: The fact that cardiovascular disease attacked all age groups and mostly elderly people (the odds ratio (OR) ranged between 0.5 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.33–0.74 and OR = 2.86 95% CI = 1.27–6.42). Medical doctors can help to diagnose somebody with cardiovascular diseases (OR ranged between 2.25 95% CI = 1.49–3.39 and OR = 0.75 95% CI = 0.65–0.87). The condition for cardiovascular diseases developed over a long period (OR ranged between 1.75 95% CI = 1.16–2.64 and OR = 2.23 95% CI = 1.34–4.07). The prevalence of alcohol use in Ellisras rural adolescents and young adults begins between the ages of 14 and 16 years and increases with age. Binge drinking was more evident on Fridays and Saturdays among the Ellisras rural adolescents and young adults with girls showing a significantly higher prevalence of binge drinking compared to boys on a Friday.


We study the spin polarization of mixed and entangled electron states in a four probe/beam splitter geometry with local Rashba and Dresselhaus interactions. A pair of maximally entangled electrons collides with the beam splitter and enters into two perpendicular branches of length L, composed of spin-orbit active materials (gate confined 2D electron gas). One of the branches is connected to an electron reservoir that acts as a source of decoherence by either behaving as a voltage probe or as a controlled source or sink of current at fixed voltage. Such decoherence source is used to modify the entropy of an unpolarized incoming state in order to generate electron polarization at one or both output branches. The degree of entanglement of the global state and the spin polarization is computed for the outgoing electrons as a function of the coupling to the electron reservoir. Experimentally available spin-orbit strength at the beam splitter arms, for arm lengths of a few micrometers, is able to modulate spin polarization up to 80% in particular spin axes proportional to the decoherence current. The Dresselhaus and Rashba coefficients play a symmetric role in modulating the polarization. Significantly less polarization is achieved for incoming mixed states due to the local operation of the reservoir.


––In order to support the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for real-time traffic over broadband wireless networks, advanced techniques such as Space-Time Diversity (STD) and Multicarrier Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (MC-DS-CDMA) are implemented at the physical layer. However, the employment of such techniques evidently affects the QoS provisioning algorithms at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. In this paper, we propose a space-time infrastructure and develop a set of cross-layer real-time QoS-provisioning algorithms for admission control, scheduling, and subchannel-allocations. We analytically map the parameters characterizing the space-time diversity onto the admission-control region guaranteeing the real-time QoS. Our analytical analyses show that the proposed algorithms can effectively support real-time QoS provisioning. Also presented are numerical solutions and simulation results showing that the space-time diversity can significantly improve the QoS provisioning for real-time services over wireless networks. I. INTRODUCTION The explosive development for wireless network services such as the wireless Internet access, mobile computing, and wireless communications motivate an unprecedented revolution in the wireless broadband access [1]. This presents great challenges in designing the wireless networks since the wireless channel has a significant impact on supporting the real-time Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for different wireless mobile users. A number of interesting techniques are developed at the physical layer to overcome the impact of wireless channels. Among them, the Space-Time (ST) processing is one of the most significant breakthroughs in wireless communications [2]-[5]. Besides, direct-sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) integrating orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), called multicarrier (MC) DS-CDMA, emerges as a promising technique for the next-generation wireless communication systems [5][6]. Clearly, employment of such integrated design − combining space-time processing and OFDM-CDMA − can achieve the integrated diversities from spatial, temporal, frequency, and code domains, which will result in significant improvements in supporting different QoS requirements over wireless networks. While there have been a large body of literature on how to apply both space-time processing and MC-DS-CDMA in improving system throughputs at the physical layer, the problems on how to efficiently employ the unique nature of such architectures for designing higher layer protocols and supporting different real-time QoS requirements receives much less attention. Consequently, it becomes increasingly important to develop the cross-layer scheme to integrate the QoS provisioning algorithms/protocols at higher network


Long-distance surveillance is an emerging technology which attracts more and more attention from researchers in different areas, particularly for security applications. One of the major challenges of such technology is how to remove the effect due to atmospheric turbulence to get highresolution images. A common practice is to take shortexposure images of the target so that the effect of atmospheric turbulence is frozen, and then the raw images are post-processed to estimate a good quality image (speckle imaging techniques). A new lucky region approach based on such techniques is presented in this paper. The lucky regions are extracted through bicoherence analysis, and the final output image is obtained by post-processing (dewarping and blind deconvolving) the lucky regions. The new technique allows for automatic identification and extraction of lucky regions, and can be easily implemented. Realworld results show that the algorithm is promising.


Implementing a system of mass customisation requires the firm to co-design a product with its customers. To facilitate mass customisation, many customisers are using product configurators to automate the sales and design process. However, the addition of a configurator drastically alters the flow of design communication, as well as the roles of varying departments throughout the firm. For instance, the design and marketing departments need to shift their focus to the development and support of the product configurator and product platforms. This paper focuses on the changes that a firm may be required to make for the successful implementation of mass customisation. A model that explains the flow of design-related information throughout a firm is proposed, building on the principles from popular literature throughout the field.


This paper analyzes the impact of public investment on the dynamics of private capital formation in an intertemporal optimizing market-clearing framework. The key feature characterizing the analysis is that the public good is treated as a durable capital good, subject to congestion. We show how in the presence of congestion the effect of government investment on private capital formation involves a tradeoff between the degree of substitution between private and public capital in production and the degree of congestion. Both lump-sum and distortionary tax financing are considered, with this tradeoff being tightened in the latter case.


Abstract Field experiments were conducted from 2004 through 2006 to evaluate cressleaf groundsel control following fall or early-spring preplant herbicide applications. Glyphosate, glyphosate + imazethapyr, glyphosate + 2,4-D ester, paraquat, paraquat + simazine, chlorimuron + tribenuron, and pendimethalin + glyphosate + 2,4-D ester applied in the fall controlled at least 93% of the cressleaf groundsel. Glyphosate, glyphosate + imazethapyr, glyphosate + 2,4-D ester, chlorimuron + tribenuron, and pendimethalin + glyphosate + 2,4-D ester applied in the spring provided at least 94% control of the cressleaf groundsel. Chlorimuron + tribenuron provided at least 98% control, regardless of application timing. These results indicate that herbicides applied in the fall or early spring can control cressleaf groundsel. However, certain herbicides provide greater control when applied in the fall compared with spring. Nomenclature: Atrazine; chlorimuron; clomazone; dicamba; diflufenzopyr; flumioxazin; glyphosate; imazaquin; imazethapyr; mesotrione; paraquat; pendimethalin; quinclorac; simazine; tribenuron; 2,4-D ester; cressleaf groundsel, Packera glabella (Poir.) C. Jeffrey SENGL.


In order that I may illustrate the supplementary dietary relationship among certain of our naturally occurring foodstuffs, it is essential first that I offer convincing evidence that we are now in a position to devise experimental procedure which is adequate to reveal such relationships. Secondly, it must be shown that we possess sufficiently complete knowledge of the essential factors which operate in making a diet for a growing animal to enable us to interpret correctly the results of feeding experiments. This can be done perhaps best by briefly reviewing the work of the past decade which has been most significant in advancing our knowledge of the chemical complexes which are indispensable to the growing mammal. Previous to 1909 a number of attempts had been made to nourish animals on diets composed of purified protein, carbohydrates, fats and inorganic salts, usually with a small admixture of cellulose. Such attempts were attended


Abstract We placed light-level geolocators on 17 Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) in 2009 to track their migrations from nest sites near Anchorage, Alaska to wintering areas and back. We recaptured three of these birds in 2010 and found they departed breeding areas during the first half of September, spent 72–84 days migrating to overwintering areas, but only 16–30 days on their northward migration to Alaska. Birds took similar Central Flyway routes on southward and northward migrations, which were not previously described for this species. The birds used a series of stopover sites across the prairie region from southern Saskatchewan to Iowa over a 4 to 5 week period on their southward migration to wintering areas that spanned from South Dakota to northern Louisiana. We found upon recapture in 2010, the geolocator attachment harnesses had abraded the surrounding feathers on all three birds. This coupled with the low return rate (18%) for instrumented birds indicates a better harness method must be developed before this technology is more widely used on Rusty Blackbirds.


The US government has recently renounced the term 'Global War on Terror', pointing out that it does not describeaccurately the nature of the terrorist threat. While the change of terminology is a welcomed development, it should be noted that 'War on Terror' was not merely a political slogan. The war paradigm was accompanied with a number of legal arguments and claims which have a direct link to the perplexing policy outcomes of the Bush era. One of the trickiest questions before the Obama administration is related to the concept of an armed conflict.


Background A UK wide survey in 2005 showed wide variation in BCG practice and that the providers were uncertain in various aspects of the administration. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines in 2006, which along with Department of Health guidance aimed to standardise practice. We intended to assess regional BCG service 6 years later. Method 4 TB centres providing BCG vaccination across Mersey region were contacted and data regarding current practice of BCG administration was collected. Results The adherence to the guidelines was recorded as compliance. See table. * The other sites used were right upper arm or upper thigh. Reasons included patient preference or confusing scar. There were no recorded episodes of anaphylaxis in the past 12 months. All centres referred patients with severe adverse local reactions appropriately. Conclusions Our survey demonstrates that NICE recommendations and their implementation were essential in elucidating areas of uncertainty in the administration of BCG vaccination and subsequently the practice is now uniform across the Mersey region. We intend to extend this survey to national level.


Optimal extensions of the surface CO2 observation network have been determined using 15 global transport models and a time-independent inverse model. The regional average CO2 flux estimate uncertainty is minimized based on the TransCom-3 (level 1) framework. An ensemble model calculation shows that the regional average CO2 flux uncertainties could be reduced to about 0.36, 0.32, 0.28 or 0.26 Gt C yr−1 per region, from about 0.53 Gt C yr−1 per region corresponding to the basic network, after adding 5, 10, 15 or 20 optimally located stations, respectively. The additional station locations are mostly found in continental South America and Africa. The distribution of the efficiency in estimation of flux uncertainty reduction per station tends to become more uniform with the extension of the network. We show that the multimodel approach to network design converges if a large enough extension is considered; about 20 stations in this inverse model framework. The reduction in the flux uncertainty for the first few stations depends on the model of atmospheric transport, and is nearly proportional to the simulated signal from local emissions in the surface layer. In addition, it is seen that the simulated spatial and temporal variability of CO2 concentration has significant influence on the distribution of the additional stations as well as determining the regional flux estimate uncertainty.


BACKGROUND
The mismatch between general practice and psychiatric diagnosis of psychological problems has been frequently reported.

AIMS
To identify which items from the 28-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) best predicted general practitioners' (GPs') own assessments of morbidity and the proportion of time spent in consultations on psychological problems.

DESIGN OF STUDY
Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING
General practice in southeast London.

METHOD
Eight hundred and five consultations were carried out by 47 GPs, during which patients completed the 28-item GHQ, and doctors independently assessed the degree of psychological disturbance and the proportion of the consultation spent on psychological problems. Data from the consultations were entered into a stepwise multiple regression to determine the best GHQ-item predictors of GP judgements.

RESULTS
GPs' assessments of the degree of psychological disturbance were best predicted using only seven GHQ items, and their perceptions of the proportion of time spent on psychological problems were predicted by only four items. Items were drawn predominantly from the 'anxiety and insomnia' and 'severe depression' sub-scales, ignoring the 'somatic' and 'social dysfunction' dimensions.

CONCLUSION
In diagnosing psychological disturbance GPs ignore major symptom areas that psychiatrists judge important.