The generation of picosecond pulse trains has become of great interest for many scientific applications. However, even though different techniques of nonlinear compression have been developed for optical fibers in the anomalous dispersion regime, only a few exist for normally dispersive fibers. Here, we describe a new method based on the generation of a strong nonlinear focusing effect induced by the cross phase modulation of a high power 40-GHz beat-signal on its orthogonally polarized interleaved weak replica. More precisely, while the normally dispersive defocusing regime induced a nonlinear reshaping of a high power 40-GHz sinusoidal signal into successively parabolic then broad and sharp square pulses, it also progressively close a singularity at its null point characterized by steeper and steeper edges. Here we show that the cross phase modulation induced by this nonlinear dark structure on a weak interleaved orthogonally polarized replica then turns out the normally dispersive regime into a focusing dynamics. This phenomenon is similar to the polarization domain wall effect for which the energy of a domain is strongly localized and bounded by the commutation of both orthogonally polarized waves. In other words, since a particle in a gradually collapsing potential, the energy contained in the weak interleaved component is found to be more and more bounded and is thus forced to temporally compress along the fiber length, thus reshaping the initial beat-signal into a train of well-separated short pulses. We have experimentally validated the present method by demonstrating the temporal compression of an initial 40-GHz beat-signal into a train of well separated pulses in different types of normally dispersive fibers. To this aim, an initial 40-GHz beat-signal is first split into 2 replica for which one is half-period delayed and 10-dB attenuated before polarization multiplexing in such a way to generate a strongly-unbalanced orthogonally-polarized interleaved signal. The resulting signal is then amplified and injected into the fiber under-test. In first fibers of 1 and 2 km (D = -15 ps.km-1.nm-1, γ = 2.3 W-1.km-1, α = 0.2 dB.km-1), we have observed the nonlinear focusing of the initial 40-GHz sinusoidal signal input into a train of 5.5-ps pulses. By decreasing the dispersion coefficient down to D = -2.5 ps.km-1.nm-1 in such a way to exacerbate the nonlinear defocusing effect of the strongest component far beyond the wave breaking, we have successfully compressed the orthogonally polarized 40-GHz beat-signal into well-separated 2.5-ps pulses after 5 km of propagation for a total input power of 28 dBm. We then studied the effect of total power on the compression ratio, and showed that compression is more efficient with higher total power, even after the wave breaking phenomenon. We followed by showing that the power ratio between the two polarization axes is closely linked to the compression factor, as the higher the power difference between the two axes, the better compression. Finally, our experimental results are in excellent agreement with our numerical predictions.


Gain characteristics of polymer waveguide amplifiers based on NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals (NCs) at 0.54 µm wavelength were investigated through numerical simulations. NaYF4:18%Yb3+, 1 0%Er3+ NCs were doped into SU-8 2005 polymer matrix as the core of a polymer waveguide. The absorption spectrum and photoluminescence spectrum of the NCs were recorded and analyzed. The Judd-Ofelt parameters were achieved by means of Judd-Ofelt theory: Ω2 = 6.302 x 10(-20) cm2, Ω4 = 0.69 x 10(-20) cm2, Ω6 =7.572 x 10(-20) cm2. We simulated the gain characteristics of the waveguide amplifier at 0.54 µm wavelength by combining the atomic rate equations with power propaga- tion equations. The gain curves had the saturation effects. A maximum gain -4.3 dB for the 5 cm waveguide with the Er3+ concentration of ~7.5 x 1025 m-3 was obtained.


A growing body of literature has demonstrated the potential for ketamine in the treatment of major depression. Sub-anesthetic doses produce rapid and sustained changes in depressive behavior, both in patients and rodent models, associated with reorganization of glutamatergic synapses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). While ketamine is known to regulate NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs), the full complement of downstream cellular consequences for ketamine administration are not well understood. Here, we combine electrophysiology with 2-photon imaging and glutamate uncaging in acute slices of mouse PFC to further examine how ketamine alters glutamatergic synaptic transmission. We find that four hours after ketamine treatment, glutamatergic synapses themselves are not significantly affected. However, expression levels of the neuromodulatory Regulator of G-protein Signaling (RGS4) are dramatically reduced. This loss of RGS4 activity disrupts the normal compartmentalization of synaptic neuromodulation. Thus, under control conditions, α2 adrenergic receptors and GABAB receptors selectively inhibit AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) and NMDARs, respectively. After ketamine-induced loss of RGS4 activity, this selectivity is lost, with both modulatory systems broadly inhibiting glutamatergic transmission. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism by which ketamine can influence synaptic signaling and provide new avenues for the exploration of therapeutics directed at treating neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression.


Enhancing the measurement signal from solid state quantum sensors such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is an important problem for sensing and imaging of condensed matter systems. Here we engineer diamond scanning probes with a truncated parabolic profile that optimizes the photonic signal from single embedded NV centers, forming a high-sensitivity probe for nanoscale magnetic field imaging. We develop a scalable fabrication procedure based on dry etching with a flowable oxide mask to reliably produce a controlled tip curvature. The resulting parabolic tip shape yields a median saturation count rate of 2.1 $\pm$ 0.2 MHz, the highest reported for single NVs in scanning probes to date. Furthermore, the structures operate across the full NV photoluminescence spectrum, emitting into a numerical aperture of 0.46 and the end-facet of the truncated tip, located near the focus of the parabola, allows for small NV-sample spacings and nanoscale imaging. We demonstrate the excellent properties of these diamond scanning probes by imaging ferromagnetic stripes with a spatial resolution better than 50 nm. Our results mark a 5-fold improvement in measurement signal over the state-of-the art in scanning-probe based NV sensors.


In addition to the role of the body scanner in the diagnosis of diseases of the body cavity and parenchymal organs, the authors review the scope and indications for using whole body computer tomography in special situations. Examples are given of its use in the diagnosis of tumours in the vicinity of the skull base, in the orbits, the facial skeleton, soft tissue tumours, bone diseases and CT-controlled biopsies.


Income and wealth are important determinants of individual economic well-being because they are a fundamental resource for consumption. Due to increasing inequality the distribution of income and wealth has moved more and more into the focus of scientific and political attention. The aim of this paper is to determine the extent and the intensity of multidimensional polarization of both income and wealth. Individual well-being is modeled by a well-being function directly affected by income and wealth. In order to have a flexible functional form for the well-being function the translog function is chosen. The parameters of the well-being function are not chosen arbitrarily but determined by the German population. From the perspective of an interdependent relation of the polarization dimensions income and wealth, the extent of multidimensional poverty and affluence is represented by the number of people who are assigned to be multidimensionally poor or affluent. The polarization intensity is measured by the multidimensional mean minimum polarization gap (2DGAP). This polarization intensity measure provides a transparent representation of each singular attribute and account for their possible interdependent relations. The data basis for the empirical investigation is the SAVE study from 2010 for Germany.


This article examines the relationships between policy, administration, and budgeting. I argue that the administration of government is directly and primarily influenced by changes in policy and budgeting. A conceptual framework of the interrelationship between these three factors is presented. This framework is applied to Schick's classic periodicization of twentieth century U.S. history. Three value orientations of budgeting—control, management, and planning—were evident at different times during these periods. The framework is then applied to the period since 1981, labeled a phase of limitation. This phase has been an unhealthy development in American government.


Background Antimicrobial-induced thrombocytopenia is frequently described in the literature among critically ill patients. Several antimicrobials have been implicated, although experimental evidence to demonstrate causality is limited. We report, using a randomized trial, the potential of antimicrobials to induce thrombocytopenia. Methods Randomized trial allocated patients to antimicrobial treatment according to standard- of-care (SOC group) or drug-escalation in case of procalcitonin increases (high-exposure group). Patients were followed until death or day 28. Thrombocytopenia defined as absolute (platelet count ≤100x109/L) or relative (≥20% decrease in platelet count). Analyses were performed in the two randomized groups and as a merged cohort. Results Of the 1147 patients with platelet data available, 18% had absolute thrombocytopenia within the first 24 hours after admission to intensive care unit and additional 17% developed this complication during follow-up; 57% developed relative thrombocytopenia during follow-up. Absolute and relative thrombocytopenia day 1-4 was associated with increased mortality (HR: 1.67 [95% CI: 1.30 to 2.14]; 1.71 [95% CI: 1.30 to 2.30], P<0.0001, respectively). Patients in the high-exposure group received more antimicrobials including piperacillin/tazobactam, meropenem and ciprofloxacin compared with the SOC group, whereas cefuroxime was used more frequently in the SOC group (p<0.05). Risk of absolute and relative thrombocytopenia (RR: 0.9 [0.7-1.3], p=0.7439; 1.2 [1.0-1.4], p=0.06; respectively), as well as absolute platelet count (daily difference, high-exposure vs. SOC -1.7 [-3.8-0.5], p=0.14) was comparable between groups. In observational analyses, use of ciprofloxacin and piperacillin/tazobactam predicted risk of relative thrombocytopenia (vs. cefuroxime, RR: 2.08 [1.48-2.92]; 1.44 [1.10-1.89], respectively), however only ciprofloxacin were associated with a reduction in absolute platelet count (p=0.0005). Conclusion High exposure to broad-spectrum antimicrobials does not result in a reduction in thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients. However, single use of ciprofloxacin, and less so piperacillin/tazobactam, may contribute to a lower platelet count. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00271752 http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00271752


Background Breathlessness is prevalent in patients at the end of their life and the aetiology is often multifactorial. This symptom is distressing for both patients and their families and can be a significant cause of morbidity. Current evidence based regional guidelines recommend the use of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions, of which, modified-release opioids are the mainstay. This audit examines how successfully these guidelines are complied with in an inpatient palliative care setting. Methods A retrospective case note analysis collated a list of all patients admitted to the academic palliative care unit (APCU) from 1st October to 30th November 2019. Data on breathlessness management was gathered through the trust's electronic documentation system and compared with regional guidelines. Results Out of 80 patients admitted to the APCU, 32 (40%) had breathlessness. Of these 32, the most common diagnosis was cancer (not lung primary) at 43.8%, followed by cancer (lung primary) at 21.9%. Around 80% had a reversible cause of breathlessness, all of which were treated. Non-pharmacological options were offered to 68.8% of patients, which was a hand-held fan in 31% of cases. Half of the patients had symptoms of anxiety and of these, 93.8% were offered anxiolytics. Nebulisers were utilised in 50% of patients of which 88.2% were saline. Opioids were suggested for patients who were not already prescribed one. Modified-release morphine and instant-release oxycodone were most commonly used followed by instant-relief morphine. It was common for steroids, oxygen and antibiotics to be used as adjuvant treatment. Conclusion This audit confirms previous findings that breathlessness is a significant symptom in palliative patients. Based on the current regional guidelines, non-pharmacological interventions and modified-release morphine could be offered to more patients. Further discussion through interactive feedback and education is a priority to comply with current guidelines.


This paper summarises the results of FE analyses of a reinforced concrete (RC) bareframe under gravity and push-over lateral loads using the SOLID65 finite element in ANSYS. A macro input file is produced which is capable of generating a FE model of a generic one-bay single-storey RC frame in ANSYS. The modelling strategy is discussed in detail and the FE results are compared with results available from experimental work conducted by Mehrabi (1994). This comparison shows a good agreement between the two. A sensitivity analysis concludes this paper and demonstrates the effect of some key parameters on the behaviour of the structure under consideration.


To improve the data transmission efficiency of Gaussian transmission channel, a Gaussian transmission channel optimization algorithm based on Superposition Coding and Multi-user scheduling( MGSC) was proposed. First, the system model of Gaussian transmission channel was proposed, the Probability Density Function( PDF) and the Cumulative Distribution Function( CDF) of distance from the source to the end and the user's average power gain were analyzed. Next, the method of optimal superposition coding and successive interference cancellation was used in Gaussian transmission channel,the optimal power and rate allocation was performed according to each user's utility function, the channel users were selected by the optimal method with probability and then the optimal transmission channel was obtained. Finally, by comparing MGSC with the optimization algorithm of Two-Way Relay Channel wireless signal and power transmission( TWRC), and the data transmission algorithm based on matrix and Lattice Sphere Decoding technique( LSD), the simulation results show that the total data rate of channels for MGSC improves 10. 2% and 21. 7% and the average effect of channel gain is 5. 7% and 6. 4% higher when channel access users change. Therefore, the MGSC has better optimization results in the channel transmission rate and the channel gain.


BACKGROUND
The Chernobyl accident resulted in an unprecedented number of radiation-induced thyroid cancers in young individuals as detected by national and international screening programs. The vast majority of thyroid malignancies were papillary carcinomas that, despite being similar by histopathology, displayed large variability in clinical course. The correlations between ultrasound (US) and clinicopathological features in young patients with radiation-induced thyroid cancer, however, have not been well studied. Because of the importance of US for deciding which subjects should have fine-needle aspiration biopsy, we assessed the US features of papillary thyroid carcinoma in patients exposed to Chernobyl fallouts.

DESIGN
We performed a retrospective multivariate logistic regression analysis of US features, clinicopathological data, and the latency period between radiation exposure and the diagnosis of cancer in 94 patients who were 10.6-34.3 years old (16.5 +/- 6.2, mean +/- standard deviation) at the time of diagnosis and 0.1-18.0 years old (5.6 +/- 4.2) at the time of the Chernobyl accident.

RESULTS
Nodules greater than 10 mm were associated with the higher frequency of irregular margins (p = 0.001), longer period of latency (p = 0.016), and bilateral lymph node involvement (p = 0.025). Irregular tumor margins correlated with the shorter period of latency (p = 0.009) and unilateral nodal disease (p = 0.010). Hypoechoic nodules were observed more frequently in female patients (p = 0.012), in the absence of halo (p = 0.003) or calcifications (p = 0.005). Hypoechogenicity also correlated with the shorter latency (p = 0.015) and younger age of patients (p = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS
Irregular nodule margins, a usual sign of malignancy, are less useful in detecting thyroid cancers in radiation-exposed patients with tumors less than 10 mm. Thyroid cancers that are detected after longer latent periods display less of the US features characteristic of a malignant process, while benign US features are observed more frequently. Therefore, we recommend fine-needle aspiration biopsy to ensure early diagnosis of thyroid cancer for patients with a history of radiation exposure, even if their nodules are less than 10 mm.


The upp gene coding for uracil phosphoribosyltransferase was subcloned on a 5-kb EcoRI restriction fragment along with the purMN operon. By a combination of complementation, deletion and minicell analyses, the upp gene was located adjacent to and divergently transcribed from the purMN operon. All three gene products could be identified in minicell extracts. The cloned upp gene shows an elevated expression upon uracil starvation. The nucleotide sequence and transcription start of the gene were determined. The sequence yields an open reading frame of 624 nucleotides encoding a protein of 22.5 kDa which is in agreement with the previously determined subunit Mr of the purified enzyme. A putative 5-phosphoribosyl-alpha-1-diphosphate (PRPP) binding site has been identified which is similar to the PRPP binding site of the yeast uracil phosphoribosyltransferase.


Until quite recently it was believed that dissolution inhibition in phenolic resins is based on a general hydrophobic effect of the inhibitor. Honda et al. [5] have now shown that the hydrophobicity of an additive is not sufficient and that the polar functional groups of the inhibitor play an important role in the inhibition effect. They found that additives with very similar skeletal structures, and therefore with similar hydrophobicity, but which differ in their polar functional groups, have very different inhibition efficiencies in a common novolak resin. In an earlier communication [4] it was suggested that inhibition in phenolic resins comes about by the blocking of some of the hydrophilic OH-groups. Such blocking action by the inhibitor presupposes interaction between the inhibitor and the phenols of the resin. Here we investigate this interaction by determining the associated equilibrium constants in dilute solution. From these data the fraction of phenol-bound inhibitors in the casting solutions of the films can be estimated. For the group of additives investigated by Honda et al. [511 the fraction of phenol-bound inhibitors correlates quite satisfactorily with the inhibition effect.


Conditions are derived sufficient for uniqueness of solution of the field equations of Biot's theory of liquid-filled porous media, particular attention being paid to continuity requirements at an interface between two such dissimilar materials. It is found that at an interface two distinct sets of conditions will satisfy the demands of the mathematical uniqueness theorem, one of them being discarded on physical grounds. The permissible set is then discussed in relation to a number of possible models of the structure of a pair of elements in contact. The special cases of an impermeable elastic solid or a liquid medium in contact with a saturated porous solid are also examined.


On the top of a hill with a special strategical importance which commands a narrow passage that serves as the only way of communication between the district of Mygdonia (of the lakes of Langada and Volvi) and East Macedonia and Thrace, there survived certain remnants from * an agglomeration with visible traces of the last phase of the byzantine historic period. By this point there passes also the well known via Egnatia. It was because of the many advantages of the site which offers abundant means of survival — as there are numerous springs at the foot of the hill where also the river Richios flows quietly — and also because of the natural fortification of the hill that this place has been chosen even since the neolithic era (as we have ascertained from the finds PI... ) for the foundation of some town that later was given probably the name of Bromiscus. Later on, during the years of Justinian, at that very place there was founded the castle Artemission on the ruins of ancient Bromiscus. This castle was also destroyed, probably during the period of the Slavic Invasions, to reappear in the 9th century together with the removal of the bishopric of Lete to this new place under the title of «Λήτης καί Ρeντίνης». In this period an intense activity is being indicated such as new buildings, fortification of the top, restoration of the Basilica at the residence now of the Bishop. The flourishing, however, of the agglomeration can be defined in the 13th and 14th centuries when we identify a lot of finds and also all the elements that make it possible for someone to study very closely the forms of social life in a fortified byzantine agglomeration, the economic, social and other activities of which are known not only from the discoveries that came into light during excavation but also due to a good deal of material in manuscripts preserved in the records of M. Athos.


BACKGROUND: Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors, representing 50–60% of malignant primary brain tumors. Gliomas are highly heterogeneous with marked inter- and intratumoral diversity. Gliomas heterogeneity is a challenging issue in the development of personalized treatment. The simplest method for studying heterogeneity is using ex vivo cell cultures; in our case, the cell lines were isolated from patient with glioblastomas.
AIM: Here, we reported distinct cell subpopulations heterogeneity in glioblastoma cells.
METHODS: Human glioblastoma cells isolation is conducted by enzymatic method with combination of collagenase I, hyaluronidase, and trypsin enzyme in proportional amount from patient. Immunostaining was performed to assess glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Ki-67, isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH-1) status, and program death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression. Primary glioblastoma cell line was characterized by flow cytometry (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) analysis based on cluster of differentiation (CD) 133 and CD15 marker expression. U87MG and CGNH-89 cell lines were used as control. Distinct subpopulation analysis was performed by double staining of CD133 and CD15 in isolated primary glioblastoma cell line and its comparative control cells.
RESULTS: Our isolated glioblastoma cells morphology was adherent cells which were able to form spheres depending on environment. Immunostaining confirmed GFAP, Ki-67, IDH-1 mutants, and PD-L1 expression. Our isolated glioblastoma cells expressed CD133 and CD15, coexpressed CD133/CD15 in different patterns. The highest subpopulation in primary glioblastoma was CD133+/CD15+.
CONCLUSION: Glioblastoma cells can be isolated using enzymatic methods. Isolated glioblastoma cells consist of four different subpopulations distinguished by CD133/CD15 double staining. Intratumoral heterogeneity exists and directly or indirectly depends on their microenvironment.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social and economic problems of home-based (indoor) and outdoor working women in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the literature on the binary logistic regression analysis and the maximum likelihood estimation method. The data were collected through a questionnaire from 1500 women workers in urban and rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan using simple random sampling technique. Findings – The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that the education, husband's education level, satisfied work, get work, attitude, equal pay, harassment, burden and comments are statistically significant. Research limitations/implications – While conducting the survey to the workers, some difficulties have been occurred  because many women workers are illiterate. Beta regression analysis can also be used to improve the study in the future studies. Originality/value – The paper analyses for the first time in Punjab, Pakistan the problems of women workers using the binary logistic regression analysis. Paper type – Research paper Keywords – Home-based work; Women; Employment; logistic regression analysis; Economic Development.


This study was carried out to investigate differences between cultivars and effects of transplanting on the growth and yield of summer spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) and to provide practical production technology in the summer season to local farmers in alpine area. Growth rates of 'Kwangchae' and 'Samson' cultivars improved as the growth stage increased. Numbers of leaves did not differ between cultivars at 30 days after transplanting. High economic efficiency was observed in transplanting cultivation, compared to direct seeding, in terms of growth rate, yield and quality. As a result, we strongly recommend introducing transplanting cultivation technology with four selected cultivars to help local farmers in alpine area to produce summer spinach with enhanced quality and increased income.


We show how bond order emerges due to light mediated synthetic interactions in ultracold atoms in optical lattices in an optical cavity. This is a consequence of the competition between both short- and long-range interactions designed by choosing the optical geometry. Light induces effective many-body interactions that modify the landscape of quantum phases supported by the typical Bose–Hubbard model. Using exact diagonalization of small system sizes in one-dimension, we present the many-body quantum phases the system can support via the interplay between the density and bond (or matter–wave coherence) interactions. We find numerical evidence to support that dimer phases due to bond order are analogous to valence bond states. Different possibilities of light-induced atomic interactions are considered that go beyond the typical atomic system with dipolar and other intrinsic interactions. This will broaden the Hamiltonian toolbox available for quantum simulation of condensed matter physics via atomic systems.


There has been much discussion by both academics and policymakers of the most appropriate way of penalizing cartels taking account of both the effects of different penalty regimes on welfare as well as various implementation considerations such as ease/cost of implementation and transparency/legal certainty. Consequently there now exists a range of proposed penalty regimes—including two put forward by ourselves. While these can all seem like very distinct regimes, in this article we show that they can usefully be thought of as lying along a spectrum, inter-connected by the idea of trying to penalize cartels in relation to the damage they cause. They differ in their informational requirements, and in particular whether some key factors needed to calculate the penalty are case-specific or an average across a wide range of cases. Subtle differences in what information is required and how it is used can sometimes cause significant changes in either the welfare or implementation properties of regimes. This new perspective may provide a helpful way of organizing the discussion about the pros and cons of the different proposals.


Anthropogenic stress and fish introduction generally are thought to have eliminated vulnerable and sensitive zooplankton species from many alpine lakes, creating impoverished communities. To investigate this hypothesis we sampled 26 alpine lakes (1618 – 2757 m a.s.l.), 11 of which were studied in the early 20th century, and compared past and present zooplankton composition and taxa richness. We also studied how human induced changes may influence genetic diversity of present-day populations of the widespread cladoceran, Daphnia. Resampling did not show a drastic overall change in planktonic crustacean composition. Taxa richness significantly decreased with increasing lake altitude, but no other environmental factor correlated with richness. Large-bodied zooplankton taxa were found in lakes both with and without fish. Therefore we conclude that the presence of fish can be excluded as the general factor explaining the occurrence or absence of large zooplankton species in alpine lakes. Levels of chlorophyll a and POC best distinguished lakes with Daphnia from lakes without Daphnia. In 8 out of 12 lakes sexual Daphnia were more abundant than asexual individuals. Clonal diversity ranged from 0.01 to 1.3 but was not related to the proportion of sexual individuals. The ability to create resting stages may be an essential factor for the maintenance of genetic diversity and the long-term persistence of Daphnia and other zooplankton taxa.


The effects of soaking on moisture dependent mechanical properties of some selected grains essential to design of an automatic continuous grain drinks processing machine was studied. Three grain types were used for the study, they are white maize, white sorghum and large seeded soya beans. The white maize and white guinea corn were soaked for 36 h, while large seeded soya beans was soaked for 12 h in accordance to standard procedure (Gaffa et al., 2003; Gbabo et al., 2012). The result obtained showed that moisture content level of the grains increased with increased in soaking time from 12.4 to 20.5% M.C. for corn when soaked for 36 h, 11.3 to 20.6% M.C for sorghum when soaked for 36 h and 10.9 to 20.5% M.C for soya beans when soaked for 12 h. Soya beans had the highest decreases in rupture force with increase in moisture content level (10.9 to 20.5%) from 197.47 to 89.47 N (54.69% decrease), while corn had the least decreases with increase in moisture content level (12.4 to 20.5%) from 266.67 to 170.23 N (36.17% decrease). Also soya beans had the highest increases in rupture energy with increase in moisture content level (10.9 to 20.5%) from 27.79 to 81.95 N mm (194.89% increase), while corn had the least increase with increase in moisture level (12.4 to 20.5%) from 42.626 to 49.40 N mm (15.89% increase). In addition the expected quantity of drink to be produce from the machine under 8 h operational hours per day were 274.4 L from 34.3 kg of soya beans, 520 L from 65 kg of sorghum and 411.2 L from 51.4 kg of corn . The result thus, obtained will assist in designing of the machine and also ensured its maximum performance.


This paper reports the aggregational and photoresponsive properties of aqueous solutions of a cationic bolaform surfactant, where an azobenzene moiety connects two identical hydrophobic chains terminated by quaternary ammonium groups. In analogy to common surfactants, the cationic bolaform molecules form supramolecular assemblies in water, and both interfacial and associative properties can be modulated and controlled by shining the sample with the appropriate wavelength radiation. Binary and ternary (BTHA/SDS/water) systems were investigated as a function of the photosurfactant concentration, sample composition and degree of irradiation. Structural properties of the supramolecular assemblies, obtained by QELS, SANS and cryo-TEM, have been correlated to the isomerization state of the surfactant, inferred from UV-vis spectroscopy.


: Counterinsurgency does not increase the legitimacy of, or support for, central governments engaged in internal conflicts. Recent research shows quantifiable degrees of government legitimacy, national identity, and population security are necessary precursors and accurate predictors of a government's ability to outlast a civil uprising. Because the first two predictors—government legitimacy and national identity—can be measured and do not increase during a conflict, the probability of government failure in most cases can be accurately predicted when the conflict starts.


Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are common in Veterans and linked to behavioral disturbances, increased risk of cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's disease. Objective: We studied the synergistic effects of PTSD and TBI on behavioral, cognitive, and neuroimaging measures in Vietnam war Veterans. Methods: Data were acquired at baseline and after about one-year from male Veterans categorized into: PTSD, TBI, PTSD+TBI, and Veteran controls without PTSD or TBI. We applied manual tractography to examine white matter microstructure of three fiber tracts: uncinate fasciculus (N = 91), cingulum (N = 87), and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (N = 95). ANCOVAs were used to compare Veterans' baseline behavioral and cognitive functioning (N = 285), white matter microstructure, amyloid-β (N = 230), and tau PET (N = 120). Additional ANCOVAs examined scores' differences from baseline to follow-up. Results: Veterans with PTSD and PTSD+TBI, but not Veterans with TBI only, exhibited poorer behavioral and cognitive functioning at baseline than controls. The groups did not differ in baseline white matter, amyloid-β, or tau, nor in behavioral and cognitive functioning, and tau accumulation change. Progression of white matter abnormalities of the uncinate fasciculus in Veterans with PTSD compared to controls was observed; analyses in TBI and PTSD+TBI were not run due to insufficient sample size. Conclusions: PTSD and PTSD+TBI negatively affect behavioral and cognitive functioning, while TBI does not contribute independently. Whether progressive decline in uncinate fasciculus microstructure in Veterans with PTSD might account for cognitive decline should be further studied. Findings did not support an association between PTSD, TBI, and Alzheimer's disease pathology based on amyloid and tau PET.


We introduce a formal model for order queries on lists in zero knowledge in the traditional authenticated data structure model. We call this model Privacy-Preserving Authenticated List (PPAL). In this model, the queries are performed on the list stored in the (untrusted) cloud where data integrity and privacy have to be maintained. To realize an efficient authenticated data structure, we first adapt consistent data query model. To this end we introduce a formal model called Zero-Knowledge List (ZKL) scheme which generalizes consistent membership queries in zero-knowledge to consistent membership and order queries on a totally ordered set in zero knowledge. We present a construction of ZKL based on zero-knowledge set and homomorphic integer commitment scheme. Then we discuss why this construction is not as efficient as desired in cloud applications and present an efficient construction of PPAL based on bilinear accumulators and bilinear maps which is provably secure and zero-knowledge.


The big question that appear in the midst of mankind today is the dryness of the spiritual aspect. This study departs from a concern and at the same expectations. Why in this era of globalization has increased the problem of moral decadence , so parents are increasingly concerned about the negatives of globalization , ie the easy moral values which negatively affects proteges primarily occurring drug abuse among students. Therefore internaliasi PAI through religious culture considered very necessary to be implemented in suppressing the abuse that occurred in MAN Tuban .
               The purpose of this study are ( 1 ) Describe the application of religious culture in MAN Tuban . ( 2) to identify factors that cause drug abuse in Tuban MAN . ( 3 ) Explores Internalization of Islamic education through religious culture in tackling drug using in MAN Tuban .
               This study is a qualitative research with a sociological approach . While the specification of this research using descriptive method that is as problem-solving procedures are investigated , by describing / depicting the state of the object of research at the present time , based on the facts that appear or as it is.
               From this research resulted in several findings : (1 ) Application of Religious Culture in MAN Tuban carried out in several ways , namely the creation of a religious atmosphere , the internalization of religion , ideals , habituation , forming attitudes and behavior . ( 2 ) Some of the causes of drug abuse in MAN Tuban is the basis of religion is not strong , two-way communication between parents and children is very rare, the effect of living environment, a culture that goes through the electronic and the print media . ( 3 ) the internalization of Islamic education through religious culture in tackling drug abuse implemented with emphasis on programs related to religious culture in MAN Tuban is through the provision of knowledge theoretically , through religious activities conduc
ted by Extracurricular at MAN Tuban , through the establishment MAN religious culture in Tuban , through integration with a wide range of science.
Keywords : internalization , Islamic religious education , religious culture , drug abuse


We introduce Noise2Music, where a series of diffusion models is trained to generate high-quality 30-second music clips from text prompts. Two types of diffusion models, a generator model, which generates an intermediate representation conditioned on text, and a cascader model, which generates high-fidelity audio conditioned on the intermediate representation and possibly the text, are trained and utilized in succession to generate high-fidelity music. We explore two options for the intermediate representation, one using a spectrogram and the other using audio with lower fidelity. We find that the generated audio is not only able to faithfully reflect key elements of the text prompt such as genre, tempo, instruments, mood, and era, but goes beyond to ground fine-grained semantics of the prompt. Pretrained large language models play a key role in this story -- they are used to generate paired text for the audio of the training set and to extract embeddings of the text prompts ingested by the diffusion models. Generated examples: https://google-research.github.io/noise2music


Abstract. Recently, biological procedures for feed protein evaluation in pig and poultry diets have been based on the amino acid composition of feed ingredients considering the animal's losses during processes of digestion or total protein utilization in a different manner. Such a development towards individual amino acids (AAs) was inevitable according to the disadvantage of traditional protein quality measures, like biological value (BV) or net protein utilization (NPU), to be non-additive in complex animal diets. In consequence, such measures are generally not suitable for predicting the final protein quality of protein mixtures from the individual protein value of feed ingredients. Otherwise, recent measures of AA disappearance from the small intestine up to the end of the ileum (ileal AA digestibility) also do not provide a true reflection of the biological availability of individual feed AAs independent of the extent of taking into account endogenous AA losses during digestion processes. Sophisticated procedures for protein evaluation are needed considering the AA losses, both during absorption and utilization after absorption. Advantages and limitations of important developments in procedures are discussed. Accordingly, the development of an exponential modelling approach is described (the Gottingen approach ), which overcomes some of the traditional disadvantages by measuring the individual AA efficiency. Connecting feed protein evaluation, the modelling of quantitative AA requirements, and improved ideal protein concepts offers different fields of application. In addition, as demonstrated by example, the modelling of nitrogen losses per unit protein deposition and the minimizing of this parameter yields a further interesting tool for lowering the nitrogen burden from protein utilization processes. Finally, it is pointed out that traditional laboratory procedures also need to be updated, adapted to current knowledge, and validated according to the increasing hurdles for animal studies from the viewpoint of animal welfare. Modelling is a procedure with the potential to reduce the number of experimental animals significantly. This development needs more attention, higher acceptance, and wider application in the future of protein evaluation.


The embodied approach of human cognition suggests that concepts are deeply dependent upon and constrained by an agent's physical body's characteristics, such as performed body movements. In this study, we attempted to broaden previous research on emotional priming investigating the interaction of emotions and visual exploration. We used the joystick-based approach-avoidance task to influence the emotional states of participants, and subsequently, we presented pictures of news web pages on a computer screen and measured participant's eye movements. As a result, the number of fixations on images increased, the total dwell time increased, and the average saccade length from outside of the images towards the images decreased after the bodily congruent priming phase. The combination of these effects suggests increased attention to web pages' image content after the participants performed bodily congruent actions in the priming phase. Thus, congruent bodily interaction with images in the priming phase fosters visual interaction in the subsequent exploration phase.


Introduction: Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are serious problem of perinatology, occur in 8/1000 live birth. Approximately one third of these neonates require intervention in the first month of life. Clinical features of CHD vary according to type of lesion. Presence or absence of a murmur does not assure either the presence or absence of significant CHD. This study was conducted to determine the clinical and echocardiographic evaluation of neonate with heart murmur and contribution of neonatal examination especially presence or absence of cardiac murmur in the detection of CHD. Method: The study was carried out in Special Care Baby Unit of Dhaka Shishu Hospital during the period from January 2004 to December 2004. Neonates having heart murmur or when there were some clues to doubt CHD like cyanosis, respiratory distress, heart failure, persistent low partial pressure of oxygen(PaO2) in arterial blood gas analysis were underwent echocardiography. CHD were classified according to the structural defect with the echocardiographic findings. Results: Total 812 neonates were admitted during one year period. Heart murmurs were found in 33 cases. Out of 33 cases 15 (45.45%) had CHD confirmed by echocardiography. Another 7 neonates were found to have CHD without murmur after echocardiography. In total 22 (2.7%) neonates had CHD. Pattern of CHD were Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Transposition of Great Arteries (TGA), Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and Complex cyanotic heart disease. Conclusion: Infant with CHD may present with or without murmur. Careful clinical examination is mandatory in the initial evaluation of neonates to identify CHD. The infant having suggestive features for CHD with or without murmur should undergone echocardiography, so that appropriate intervention and counseling can be done. Key words: neonates; murmur; CHD. DOI: 10.3329/bjch.v32i1.6008 Bangladesh Journal of Child Health 2008; Vol.32(1): 17-20


This article examines the role of sound in digital media as a technologically shaped cultural process of materializing sounds. This process is analyzed in three steps: first, the role of functional sounds is explored using the examples of ring tones, of scientific sonification, and of ubiquitous music; in a second step, the ways in which domesticated voices are used between car navigation, vocaloids, and the technically modeled voice of a moderator; in a final step, the contemporary dispositives of music are examined, which actively exploit a sonic capital. The role of sound in digital media becomes thus discernible in its orientation toward the goal of a pervasive apparatus-listening that reorders and rearranges the manifold aspects and usages of sound in everyday life.


A simple model based on the statistics of single atoms is developed to predict the diffusion rate of thermal atoms in (or on) bulk materials without empirical parameters. Compared with vast classical molecular-dynamics simulations for predicting the self-diffusion rate of Pt, Cu, and Ar adatoms on crystal surfaces, the model is proved to be much more accurate than the Arrhenius law and the transition state theory. Applying this model, the theoretical predictions agree well with the experimental values in the presented paper about the self-diffusion of Pt (Cu) adatoms on the surfaces.


Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) modernization has gradually become a worldwide trend. Reverse docking technology has also gradually become a useful tool for TCM modernization. It involves docking a small-molecule drug in the potential binding cavities of a set of clinically relevant macromolecular targets. Detailed analysis of the binding characteristics was used for the ranking of the targets according to the tightness of binding. This process can be used to potentially identify the novel molecular targets for the drug which may be relevant to its mechanism of action or side effect. In order to explore the action mechanism, screen the active ingredients and seek the treating target of TCM, reverse molecular docking technology has been widely used and has achieved remarkable results in recent years. In this review, we summarized the application of reverse molecular docking technology in the target seeking, active ingredients screening and potential mechanism exploration of TCM, which may provide more scientific basis for the clinical research and development of new herbal drugs.


Nowadays, microgrids have attracted much attention in developed countries. The protection of DC systems, unlike conventional AC systems, is a highly challenging task. The acquaintance on fault location in distribution network causes for quick restoration, maintenance and decrease unnecessary power outage period. Neural Networks (NNs) are among the powerful, reliable approaches and are used in many different engineering applications. Also, Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) NNs are used for different estimating problems. This paper presents an accurate protection method for Low-Voltage DC (LVDC) ring-bus microgrid systems based on MLP NN. The aim of the proposed method is precise fault location estimation in microgrids, irrespective of the type and magnitude of fault, current, and the power supply quantity, by instantaneous current monitoring of each segment of the microgrid. Simulation results demonstrate the NN fault location estimation in percent of line length are in a suitable range. The results show that the estimation error is small and is within the permissible range. According to the results, efficiency and accuracy of MLP NN are confirmed. To do so, an LVDC ring-bus microgrid is used that utilizes solid-state bidirectional switches along with master and slave controllers


Snapshot isolation (SI) is a widely used consistency model for transaction processing, implemented by most major databases and some of transactional memory systems. Unfortunately, its classical definition is given in a low-level operational way, by an idealised concurrency-control algorithm, and this complicates reasoning about the behaviour of applications running under SI. We give an alternative specification to SI that characterises it in terms of transactional dependency graphs of Adya et al., generalising serialisation graphs. Unlike previous work, our characterisation does not require adding additional information to dependency graphs about start and commit points of transactions. We then exploit our specification to obtain two kinds of static analyses. The first one checks when a set of transactions running under SI can be chopped into smaller pieces without introducing new behaviours, to improve performance. The other analysis checks whether a set of transactions running under a weakening of SI behaves the same as when running under SI.


A substantially extended lifetime of a high-density plasma channel generated in the wake of an intense femtosecond pulse propagating in air is experimentally demonstrated. Free electron density above 10 15 cm − 3 in the formed plasma fi lament is measured to be sustained for more than 30 ns. This high-density plasma lifetime prolongation of more than one order of magnitude is achieved by properly timed irradiation of the fi lament with a relatively low-intensity nanosecond laser pulse, in comparison with a fi lament without such irradiation. The experimental results are in good agreement with our theoretical model that follows the evolution of the temperature and density of various molecules, atoms, and ion species. The results point to the possibility of generating extre-mely long time duration, stable high-density plasma fi laments in air.


This study considers the staffing problem of a vendor call center in a co-sourcing setting. The aim is to take short-term variability and correlations in time for call arrivals at such a vendor call center into account. To do so, peakedness is proposed as a useful measure of the burstiness in the arrival stream. The study empirically demonstrates the presence of bursty arrivals at a call center and proposes an approach to the measurement of the peakedness of the arrival stream making use of standard call center data. The problematic nature of bursty arrivals in the context of call center co-sourcing is demonstrated along with an asymptotic result establishing that the problem persists in large call centers. The study then analyzes two peakedness-based staffing methods: one which is a well known extension of the square root staffing rule and another which makes use of the Hayward approximation principles. Both approaches are simple and enable the vendor to improve its staffing procedure with good accuracy.


This paper provides a detailed and systematic analysis of the mechanisms inducing voiding during high-temperature reliability tests in aluminum via holes in a 130-nm process for CMOS imagers. Finite-element simulations have been performed to derive the mechanical-stress profile in the examined structures, while a set of physical measurements and microscopy techniques have been used to analyze the microstructure of the polycrystalline materials that fill the via holes. Experiments have been designed on the basis of the simulation results, and consisted of some simple changes to the fabrication-technology steps. The failure rate on a few hundreds of samples was checked and compared with reference samples of the production line. The test allowed suggesting variations to a few process parameters that proved to be effective.


1 Study I evaluated the absorption of oxprenolol in the ileum, compared to jejunum, in healthy volunteers by an intestinal perfusion technique. Around 80 mg of drug were delivered as a saline solution directly in the small bowel. 2 Samples taken 30 cm distally to the site of perfusion showed that 63% of perfused oxprenolol was absorbed in the jejunum and 48% in the ileum; the differences were significant. 3 The plasma concentration-time profiles were similar for the two perfusions. The AUC and Cmax values of free and conjugated oxprenolol for the jejunal perfusion were significantly lower than those of ileum. They showed large but consistent intersubject variations in the two treatments. 4 Study II investigated, using the same technique, the influence of nutrients and digestive secretions on jejunal absorption and systemic availability of this drug. A saline (in treatments A and B) or a nutrient (in treatment C) solution containing oxprenolol was perfused into the jejunum below a balloon either inflated (A) or deflated (B and C). 5 The disappearance rate of oxprenolol from the jejunum was unaffected by endogenous secretions. The mean amount of drug absorbed along a 30-cm jejunal segment accounted for 52 (A) and 57% (B) of the total amount perfused. The intestinal absorption rate was markedly increased in the presence of nutrients (mean amount absorbed 96% for C). 6 The change in the rate of disappearance from the intestine had no effect on the systemic availability of oxprenolol (mean AUC values 8740, 8250 and 8020 nmol l-1 h for A, B and C, respectively) or its elimination from plasma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In this paper the authors present a next generation measurement system for interfacial mechanical testing of especially atomic layer deposited (ALD) thin films. SiO2 microspheres were embedded in 100 and 300 nm thick ALD TiO2 and Al2O3, deposited at 110 °C, 200 °C and 300 °C on a silicon substrate. The embedded microspheres were detached using a fully programmable semi-automatic microrobotic assembly station employed to carry out the lateral pushing and detaching force F (μN) measurement. The area of interfacial fracture A (μm2) was measured using scanning electron microscopy and digital image analysis to calculate critical stress of interfacial fracture σ (MPa). Work W (J) and energy release rate G (J m−2) of interfacial fracture were also calculated from the measurement results. Interfacial fracture from the film-substrate interface occurred only for TiO2 deposited at 200 °C which had a crystalline structure with the biggest grain size, signifying that for all of the other samples, film adhesion was excellent, and significantly better than film cohesion. Quantitatively this means that thin film interfacial adhesion to the substrate was also higher than the values of the critical stresses and the measured energy release rates. Interfacial toughness seems to be related to film thickness and crystallinity in the case of TiO2, but with Al2O3 the interfacial toughness seems to increase with the deposition temperature. The method presented in this paper is generic, and can be applied for the evaluation of interfacial mechanical properties, such as adhesion, between any various film-substrate-sphere system of choice.


The impact of climate change that comes with a dramatic increase of long periods of extreme summer drought associated with heat is a fundamental challenge for European forests. As a result, forests are expected to shift their distribution patterns toward north-east, which may lead to a dramatic loss in value of European forest land. Consequently, unraveling key processes that underlie drought stress tolerance is not only of great scientific but also of utmost economic importance for forests to withstand future heat and drought wave scenarios. To reveal drought stress-related molecular patterns we applied cross-species comparative transcriptomics of three major European oak species: the less tolerant deciduous pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), the deciduous but quite tolerant pubescent oak (Q. pubescens), and the very tolerant evergreen holm oak (Q. ilex). We found 415, 79, and 222 differentially expressed genes during drought stress in Q. robur, Q. pubescens, and Q. ilex, respectively, indicating species-specific response mechanisms. Further, by comparative orthologous gene family analysis, 517 orthologous genes could be characterized that may play an important role in drought stress adaptation on the genus level. New regulatory candidate pathways and genes in the context of drought stress response were identified, highlighting the importance of the antioxidant capacity, the mitochondrial respiration machinery, the lignification of the water transport system, and the suppression of drought-induced senescence – providing a valuable knowledge base that could be integrated in breeding programs in the face of climate change.


Using a supersymmetry formalism, we reduce exactly the problem of electron motion in an external potential to a new supermatrix model valid at all distances. All approximate nonlinear sigma models obtained previously for disordered systems can be derived from our exact model using a coarse-graining procedure. As an example, we consider a model for a smooth disorder and demonstrate that using our approach does not lead to a "mode-locking" problem. As a new application, we consider scattering on strong impurities for which the Born approximation cannot be used. Our method provides a new calculational scheme for disordered and chaotic systems.


One way to improve speech understanding in noise for HI with a unilateral hearing loss is by contralateral routing of signals (CROS). Such a CROS-system captures sounds with an additional microphone at the worst hearing ear and transmits these to the better one. The better ear is then provided with a mix of signals originating from both ears. The goal of this study is to quantify the effect of a CROS-system on speech reception thresholds (SRTs) with unilaterally implanted CI-users in diffuse and directional noise as a function of speaker location. Listening tests are performed and an accurate directional intelligibly model is proposed used for further analysis. In diffuse noise it is concluded that the use of a CROS system results in a maximum gain in SRT of 7.9 dB when speech comes from the CROS side compared to a maximum loss in SRT of 2.1 dB when speech comes from the implanted side. In the case of directional noise, the effect of the CROS is symmetric and the maximum loss or gain in SRT was around 9 dB. The study therefore shows a clear potential of using the CROS system in diffuse noise.


BACKGROUND
Most of the thermometers used during operations are invasive and non-hygienic. The usefulness of a noncontact continuous tympanic thermometer under general anesthesia has been reported. We evaluated the usefulness of a noncontact continuous tympanic thermometer in patients undergoing cardiac surgery using an artificial heart-lung machine.

METHODS
Twenty patients scheduled to undergo cardiac surgery using an artificial heart-lung machine were selected for this study. After induction of general anesthesia, thermistor probes were inserted into the rectum and esophagus for measurements of rectal and esophageal temperatures, respectively. A noncontact continuous tympanic thermometer was inserted into the ear canal on the right side. These temperatures were monitored and recorded at one-minute intervals. Regression analysis and Bland-Altman analysis were used to compare the data (tympanic/rectal temperatures) with esophageal temperature as a core temperature.

RESULTS
Tympanic temperature showed a good correlation with esophageal temperature (r=0.983, P<0.05). Rectal temperature also showed a good correlation with esophageal temperature (r=0.923, P<0.05), but the coefficient of correlation was low compared to that of tympanic temperature. The mean difference between tympanic temperature and esophageal temperature was -0.022 degrees C, and standard deviation (SD) was 0.395 degrees C. The mean difference between rectal temperature and esophageal temperature was -0.299 degrees C, and standard deviation (SD) was 0.838 degrees C.

CONCLUSIONS
A noncontact continuous tympanic thermometer is useful for measurement of core temperature during cardiac surgery using an artificial heart-lung machine.


A major requirement of safety-critical systems is high reliability at low power consumption. Dynamic voltage and frequency (v/f) scaling (DVFS) techniques are widely exploited to reduce power consumption. However, DVFS through downscaling v/f levels has a negative impact on the reliability of the tasks running on the cores, and through upscaling v/f levels has circuitlevel aging effects. To achieve high reliability in multicore safetycritical systems, task replication as a fault-tolerant technique is an established way to deal with the negative effect of downscaling v/f levels, but it may accelerate aging effects due to elevating the on-chip temperatures. In this paper, we propose an aging-aware task replication (called ATLAS) method that solves the problem of satisfying the desired reliability target for a set of periodic hard real-time tasks which are executed on a multicore system. The proposed method satisfies the reliability target of the tasks through updating the required number of replicas for each task at different years. We replicate the tasks through our proposed formulas such that the reliability target is satisfied. However, task replication increases the temperature of the system and accelerates aging. To decelerate aging, we attempt to reduce the temperature while mapping and scheduling the tasks. We have also developed a modified demand bound function (DBF) for our aging-aware task replication method to verify scheduling the realtime tasks. Compared to the existing state-of-the-art techniques, experimental results for safety-critical applications on different configurations of multicore systems demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed method. Experiments show that our proposed method improves schedulability on average by 16.1% and reduces the temperature on average by 7.4°C compared to state-of-the-art methods while meeting the system reliability target.


This paper introduces NetCheck, a tool designed to diagnose network problems in large and complex applications. NetCheck relies on blackbox tracing mechanisms, such as strace, to automatically collect sequences of network system call invocations generated by the application hosts. NetCheck performs its diagnosis by (1) totally ordering the distributed set of input traces, and by (2) utilizing a network model to identify points in the totally ordered execution where the traces deviated from expected network semantics.

Our evaluation demonstrates that NetCheck is able to diagnose failures in popular and complex applications without relying on any application-or network-specific information. For instance, NetCheck correctly identified the existence of NAT devices, simultaneous network disconnection/ reconnection, and platform portability issues. In a more targeted evaluation, NetCheck correctly detects over 95% of the network problems we found from bug trackers of projects like Python, Apache, and Ruby. When applied to traces of faults reproduced in a live network, NetCheck identified the primary cause of the fault in 90% of the cases. Additionally, NetCheck is efficient and can process a GB-long trace in about 2 minutes.


In the light of substantive improvement in the India's export performance, this paper examines whether our exports have diversified to more technology intensive products. The analysis is focused mainly on merchandise export of India in the post liberalised period. The classification of merchandise export according to their technology intensity is based on OECD classification for the same. The analysis is done at 2-digit level for all commodities and at 3-digit level for some selected commodities. The study reveals that, India's Export is dominated by medium-low technology intensive commodities. Export of low technology intensive is still prominent, while medium-high technology is showing signs of improvement, especially in recent periods. India has still to go long way, before making a mark in export of high technology intensive commodities.


Modern enterprises increasingly pursue its development strategy in taking voluntary action for the environment, the local community, the various groups of stakeholders. The measures taken are building a positive image of the enterprise, but also can positively affect the organizational commitment of employees. This article aims to examine whether there is correlation between the level of sustainable development of enterprises and organizational commitment of employees. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among selected enterprises. The results indicate that the initiatives for sustainable development don't directly translate to the level of organizational commitment. Positive, moderate relationship applies only to affective commitment.


A hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is proposed to solve QoS routing optimization problem of wireless mesh network. The algorithm complements the advantages of the genetic algorithm (GA) and ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. It firstly uses the good global search capability of GA to generate initial pheromones needed by ACO, then uses ACO to improve quality and robustness of solutions by the nature of feedback and parallel paradigm of ACO, and the best combination time of the two algorithms is determined dynamically while running GA. Simulation results demonstrate that this paper proposed algorithm not only has the fast calculating speed and high accuracy but also can improve the efficiency in wireless mesh network QoS routing.


Neurodegenerative disorders and cancer may appear unrelated illnesses. Yet, epidemiologic studies indicate an inverse correlation between their respective incidences for specific cancers. Possibly explaining these findings, increasing evidence indicates that common molecular pathways are involved, often in opposite manner, in the pathogenesis of both disease families. Genetic mutations in the MAPT gene encoding for TAU protein cause an inherited form of frontotemporal dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder, but also increase the risk of developing cancer. Assigning TAU at the interface between cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, two major aging-linked disease families, offers a possible clue for the epidemiological observation inversely correlating these human illnesses. In addition, the expression level of TAU is recognized as a prognostic marker for cancer, as well as a modifier of cancer resistance to chemotherapy. Because of its microtubule-binding properties, TAU may interfere with the mechanism of action of taxanes, a class of chemotherapeutic drugs designed to stabilize the microtubule network and impair cell division. Indeed, a low TAU expression is associated to a better response to taxanes. Although TAU main binding partners are microtubules, TAU is able to relocate to subcellular sites devoid of microtubules and is also able to bind to cancer-linked proteins, suggesting a role of TAU in modulating microtubule-independent cellular pathways associated to oncogenesis. This concept is strengthened by experimental evidence linking TAU to P53 signaling, DNA stability and protection, processes that protect against cancer. This review aims at collecting literature data supporting the association between TAU and cancer. We will first summarize the evidence linking neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, then published data supporting a role of TAU as a modifier of the efficacy of chemotherapies and of the oncogenic process. We will finish by addressing from a mechanistic point of view the role of TAU in de-regulating critical cancer pathways, including the interaction of TAU with cancer-associated proteins.


Total synthesis of all three pyrazole-based withasomnine alkaloids and selected examples of their non-natural analogs has been achieved from readily available aldehydes and 4-nitro-1-butanol in three steps. Since 4-nitro-1-butanol in turn is prepared in two steps via Michael addition of nitromethane to acrylate followed by borane reduction of the ester group and the key 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition step is carried out with commercially available TMSCHN2, this approach is a very convenient and economical one.


In this paper, we study the problem of channel reassignment, augmentation and cell transmission power control in wireless communications networks under the consideration of irregular cell allocation/sectorization and generic channel interference, including both co-channel and near-channel interference. Channel reassignment may be required in a wireless communications network when channel interference and/or the distribution of traffic demand changes. Like channel reassignment, cell transmission power control is another effective and economical measure to alleviate performance problems. However, when the traffic demand exceeds a critical point and the current network capacity becomes insufficient, even when the above two cost-effective measures are applied, channel augmentation is required. We formulate this problem as a combinatorial optimization problem, where the objective function is to minimize the channel augmentation cost subject to configuration, capacity, QoS constraints and call dropping constraints. The basic approach to the algorithm development is Lagrangean relaxation. In computational experiments, the proposed algorithm is shown to be efficient and effective.


Introduction: The intra-articular fracture separating the palmar ulnar aspect of the base of the first metacarpal from the rest of the first metacarpal is called Bennetts fracture. Injuries are usually caused by axial loads on the partially flexed metacarpal bones. Radiographs are needed to evaluate these injuries and to schedule surgery to relieve them, since such fractures are assumed to be unstable. Surgical treatment of these fractures alters depending on the extent of the injury. It may include closed reduction with percutaneous fixation or open reduction with fixation or interfragmentary fixation. With good fracture localization and fixation, the postoperative outcome is usually good.
Objective: to detail the current information related to Bennetts fracture, presentation, evaluation, comparison with Rolandos fracture, in addition to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Methodology: a total of 28 articles were analyzed in this review, including review and original articles, as well as clinical cases, of which 18 bibliographies were used because the other articles were not relevant to this study. The sources of information were PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane; the terms used to search for information in Spanish, Portuguese and English were: Bennett fracture. Bennetts, fratura da base do primer metacarpiano.
Results: Anteroposterior, lateral and oblique projections are common when taking radiographs of the hand, however Roberts view can reveal more details about the injury. Both Bennetts and Rolandos fractures present the same pathogenic mechanism however the damaging force is of greater magnitude than in Bennets fractures.
K-wire fixation is better than plate and/or screw osteosynthesis as a treatment because of the benefit of keeping costs down without harming the patient in the long term. Direct visualization is the most accurate method to assess joint separation and articular pitch, PA, AP and lateral projections on fluoroscopic examination may not be sufficient to determine the final position of a reduced Bennett fracture.
Conclusions: Although there is no consensus on which treatment is best, surgical treatment of Bennett fractures is usually used because closed reduction and cast immobilization without internal fixation are often unstable due to deforming forces. Indications for surgical treatment for fractures of the base of the first metacarpal include extra-articular fractures with more than 30 degrees of angulation after reduction; loss of reduction after non-operative treatment; and intra-articular fractures: displaced Bennett fractures greater than 1 mm or any Rolando fracture.The arthroscopically assisted screw fixation of Bennett reported fewer complications, shorter immobilization time and shorter tourniquet time.
Keywords: fracture, Bennett, metacarpal, first.


Public concern was expressed regarding the possibility of adverse health effects with the disposal of radioactive waste in Port Hope, Ontario. A case-control study was carried out to estimate the relative importance of domestic radon gas exposure in the causation of lung cancer in the town over a ten-year period. Twenty-seven cases met the entry criteria. Statistical analyses of results did not provide conclusive results that linked an increased risk of lung cancer and elevated domestic alpha radiation levels, when all factors were considered. However, a very strong association was demonstrated between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.


An excessive ground displacement occurs with excavating tunnel in a fault zone because the fault has properties of soft ground in generally. It may have had a bad influence to adjacent structure. So, rapid reduction of ground strength by groundwater inflow should be prevented. It must be established for an impervious and reinforcing effect of ground to ensure a tunnel stability. The ground settlement and reinforcing effects were estimated by numerical analyses on tunnel through 570 m sector in Yangsan fault zone of Keongbu high-speed railway. Settlements evaluated by numerical analysis is similar to those calculated by using equation of Loganathan & Poulo. It was shown that reliable estimate of ground settlement by applying a prediction equation is possible. Applicability of adopted tunnel reinforcement method in fault zone was investigated by results of pilot construction and numerical analysis. Results from this study indicate that the adopted reinforcement method make tunnel displacements and member stresses restrain in design criteria.


This study evaluates a recently published comprehensive knee-thigh-hip (KTH) injury criterion through its application to the Hybrid III 50th percentile male (HIII-50M) and 5th percentile female (HIII-5F) dummies in frontal crash tests along with a comparison with real world KTH injury risk in frontal crashes. This criterion, developed by Rupp et al. (2009) (Rupp-KTH criterion), determines risk of injury to the hip, femur, and knee using the peak compressive femur force and impulse. Femur load cell data from various frontal crash tests were analyzed using the Rupp-KTH criterion. The risk of KTH injuries as calculated with this criterion in the various crash conditions was compared to that observed in real world frontal crashes using the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data Systems (NASS-CDS) data files. The relative proportion of knee, thigh, and hip injuries predicted by the Rupp-KTH criterion was also compared to that observed in real world crashes. The Rupp-KTH criterion predicts an overall KTH injury risk reflective of real world risk with unbelted Hybrid III dummies, but under-predicts real world injury risk for belted dummies. The proportion of hip injuries among all KTH injuries is predicted reasonably well for unbelted occupants and under-predicted for belted occupants. Dummy interaction with the knee bolster in different restraint conditions likely affects the level of agreement between predicted and observed injury risk. This study applied injury criteria to Hybrid III dummy responses in specific crash conditions and seating configurations. Injury risk prediction may be improved with other dummy designs or crash environments. The full text of this paper may be found at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0196.pdf For the covering abstract see ITRD E145407.


— The main purpose of statistical mechanics is to give a microscopic derivation of macroscopic laws, including in particular the celebrated second law of thermodynamics. In recent years, there have been spectacular developments in this respect, including the integral and detailed work fluctuation theorems and the theory of stochastic thermodynamics. Here we give a brief introduction to these developments. In the first step, we derive the first and second law of thermodynamics for a Markovian stochastic process at the ensemble level, including two major advances: 1) the theory can be applied to small-scale systems including the effect of fluctuations, 2) the theory is not restricted to near-equilibrium dynamics. As an application, we evaluate the efficiency at maximum power of a two-state quantum dot. We also briefly discuss the connection to information-to-work conversion (Landauer principle) and the splitting of the second law into an adiabatic and nonadiabatic component. In a second step we formulate stochastic thermodynamics at the trajectory level, introducing stochastic trajectory-dependent quantities such as stochastic entropy, energy, heat, and work. Both the first and the second law can be formulated at this trajectory level. Concerning the second law, the crucial observation is that the stochastic entropy production can be written as the logarithm of the ratio of path probabilities. This in turn implies a detailed and integral work and fluctuation theorem, linking the probability to observe a given stochastic entropy production to that of observing minus this entropy change in a reverse experiment. The usual second law, stipulating the increase on average of the stochastic entropy production, follows as a subsidiary consequence.


As part of their strategy to further develop relationships with local communities, St Vincent's Hospice has developed a community garden in the grounds of the hospice. Building on the success of the long standing community tearoom which has brought local people to the hospice and helped them to engage more in the life of the organisation, the hospice has had a long held ambition to add to this by developing a piece of ground behind the hospice. Plans have been informed by research suggesting that there can be many therapeutic benefits from a garden for those affected by loss, change, death and dying. Aims The aims of the community garden project were to develop: An accessible, welcoming tranquil place bringing patients, families, staff, volunteers and the local community together A space that is also dementia friendly Space for reflection, relaxation and enjoyment and sensory experiences Approach The Community Garden Project was led by a hospice volunteer, who has played key role in helping to source funding. The hospice is situated in the country and the garden design uses natural local materials with extensive use of dry stone walls to give the garden a traditional feel and that fits with the local landscape. The garden has been designed to work on many levels and offers physical activities to help to improve wellbeing, personal space providing peaceful non-demanding privacy for solitude and reminiscence opportunities. It also offers a social space for group activities in addition to multi-sensory stimulation with colour, smell and sounds, with flowing water and wildlife. Conclusion The completed project has helped St Vincent's to enhance and extend our care and will continue to provide many opportunities for involvement with the community as it evolves and develops as a community garden.


Stroke is the second leading cause of death for people older than 60 and the most common cause of disability for adults worldwide, which leads to enormous societal healthcare costs. In contrast to acute stroke treatment, the improvement of the complex processes during the post-acute stroke treatment in a regional healthcare service network (HSN) did not receive much attention. Currently, there are no post-acute stroke care management approaches in Germany that exploit the advantages of information technology even though it is one of the most expensive diseases. Unfortunately, chronic care concepts of other diseases cannot easily be transferred. Therefore, we investigated the state-of-the-art postacute stroke workflows, identified requirements for a general architecture that supports the current post-acute stroke management and developed a novel stroke manager service according to the requirements using a combined service engineering and software engineering approach. The contribution of this paper is threefold: It lists requirements for an effective post-stroke management, describes the complex inter-institutional workflow of a novel stroke manager service and presents a prototypically implemented stroke manager architecture. The requirements and the stroke manager service as well as the architecture have been evaluated by domain experts.


Stanislaw Baczynski (1890–1939), was the first Polish (and one of the first in Europe) literary critics to reflect on the popular genre of the criminal novel, and to look for the genesis and role of its transformation in social development. In the book Criminal Novel (1932), he points directly to the possibility of the novel's influence on construction of a hero in social views and moods. There is a link between the development of a democratic state and a criminal novel. A popular novel can help a citizen adapt to a new reality, a less classy and more democratic one. Moreover, in a modern society it performs a catharsis function, "it is a cure and, at the same time, an entertainment". Baczynski's attitude towards the criminal novel was not Marxist, but it was the result of an avant-garde way of thinking, the result of the belief that a modern reality can be expressed in art only if the form of the artistic creation is changed. He believed that the artist who creates art of a new style fulfils a socially important task. Criminal fiction having a fast-paced plot, not very elaborate psychologism, and presenting the structures of a modern, democratic country, should make life eas-ier for its readers who live in the 20th century.


In this paper, we seek to demonstrate the continued utility of research into the social production of scale in relation to the politics of natural-resource distribution, ownership, and control. While traditionally oriented toward sociospatial theory and urban governance, research has begun to convey the importance of scale as a discursive framing device at the center of multiple kinds of environmental politics. Our approach draws from recent literature to show the material-discursive 'difference that nature makes' in constituting the grounds of scalar struggle in mineral development. We argue that the fixity of certain natural-resource deposits and the concomitant local socioecological impact of extraction stands in stark contradiction to the multiscalar forces that vie over their development. Our central argument is that this contradiction ensures that struggles over natural-resource development are necessarily struggles over scale—the scale of ownership and the scale of distributional benefits and costs. The politics of natural resources must be couched in scalar terms and those who gain access to resources must build stable institutional–scalar platforms for the production of resource wealth. We illustrate this through an analysis of US Congressional debate over reform of the infamous '1872 Mining Law' in 1993 as an exemplary moment of scalar politics. In this case, we not only attempt to show how the concept of scale frames these debates, but also how the failure to reform the 19th-century law allowed for the institutional materialization of particular scalar conduits for capital accumulation in the mining sector.


Abstract Recent works which have looked at bars in clusters versus the field have found no significant difference in bar fraction. However, other works (Nair & Abraham 2010, Lee et al.2012) have found that bar fractions depend sensitively on the mass, morphology and color of the galaxy. In addition, simulations suggest that bar formation may depend on the merger ratio of close pair interactions as well as on the separation between the pairs. In this work, we analyze the bar fractions in a complete sample of ≈23,000 close pairs derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We will present results illustrating the dependence of bar and ring fractions as a function of merger mass ratio, pair separation, galaxy morphology, and stellar mass. I will further compare the role of bars and close pairs in triggering central star formation and AGN.


Factor XIII deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder with an incidence of 1 in 1-5 million. On activation factor XIII stabilizes clot formation by cross-linking fibrin strands. Deficiency is characterized by severe bleeding due to impairment in clot formation. We describe a case of a child presenting with drowsiness following a trivial fall and trauma to the head. An emergency CT scan of the brain was suggestive of acute on chronic (recurrent) hemorrhage. Intraoperatively he was noted to have an intraparenchymal multiloculated cystic cavity with a thinned out cortex in the right frontal region. The child underwent right frontal craniotomy and decompression of an intracerebral hemorrhage. He was subsequently diagnosed to have factor XIII deficiency. He is presently on monthly cryoprecipitate prophylaxis with which he has not experienced a recurrence of a similar episode.


This paper examines whether a bank lending channel exists in monetary policy transmission in Russia, employing Russian bank-level data from 2005 through 2012. The results of specifications suggest that banks with less capital tend to react more sensitively to changes in monetary policy. Furthermore, this study finds that smaller, more liquid and/or better-capitalized banks were likely to have more rapidly growing loan portfolios, and larger banks tended to attenuate the crisis shock.


Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) with a composite optical structure composed of phase-grating and optical cavity structures are designed to enhance both the system detection efficiency and the response bandwidth. Numerical simulation by the finite-difference time-domain method shows that the photon absorption capacity of SNSPDs with a composite optical structure can be enhanced significantly by adjusting the parameters of the phase-grating and optical cavity structures at multiple frequency bands. The absorption capacity of the superconducting nanowires reaches 70%, 72%, 60.73%, 61.7%, 41.2%, and 46.5% at wavelengths of 684, 850, 732, 924, 1256, and 1426 nm, respectively. The use of a composite optical structure reduces the total filling factor of superconducting nanowires to only 0.25, decreases the kinetic inductance of SNSPDs, and improves the count rates.


To further elucidate the epidemiologic factors involved in the transmission of Toxoplasma gondii from cats to humans, veterinarians, animal hospital workers and a selected population of non-contact subjects were questioned about rural or urban residency, pets owned, contact with cats and whether their cats used a litter box in the house. Sera samples were tested at 1:128 dilution for toxoplasma antibodies using indirect fluorescent and hemagglutination techniques. None of the 60 non-contact individuals were seropositive. Of 60 contact subjects, 18.3% were identified as carrying antibodies. Other factors were not significant. Because only one veterinarian was seropositive, we propose that exposure to cats per se does not supply sufficient evidence upon which to expect a risk of toxoplasmosis infection. Direct or indirect association, personal hygiene, duration of exposure and the infectivity of the cats should be considered.


In the first case, a 60-year-old man was referred to our hospital for a sudden stomachache. A computed tomography scan revealed a thrombus at ascending aorta with acute mesenteric ischemia. In the second case, a 62-year old man developed a hypoglycemic attack with unbalanced diet. A computed tomography showed a thrombus at ascending aorta without thromboembolism. Laboratory data of both cases showed elevated platelet and a loss of antithrombin III. We administered a resection of thrombus to prevent a systemic embolism. We suggested that the risk of ascending aorta thrombus was elevated platelet and a loss of antithrombin III.


The organic farming system is a holistic agricultural production management system for improving and developing agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activities. Organic farming systems use natural fertilizers and pesticides, while conventional farming systems still use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Environmental conditions are expected to affect the chemical content of rice. One of the main chemical constituents in rice is amylose and protein. This research is a laboratory experimental study that aims to see the amylose and protein content of Solok rice types sokan and anak daro which grown with organic farming system and conventional farming system. From the result of the research, equation of calibration curve amylose is Y = 0,0246X + 0,0146 with correlation coefficient (r) = 0,9984. Amylose content of Solok rice type of anak daro organic 28,90%, anak daro conventional 28,04%, sokan organic 30,32% and sokan conventional 30,94%. Protein content of Solok rice type of anak daro organic 8,79%, anak daro conventional 8,15%, sokan organic 8,50% and sokan conventional 8,25%. T value of each group is smaller than the T table value, it can be concluded that the result is not significantly different.


Pulmonary embolism (PE) lacks an acute specific electrocardiographic pattern. It can infrequently masquerade as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI). We report a case of massive pulmonary embolism, presenting as an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and anteroseptal ST-elevation. The diagnosis was made by pulmonary angiography. Aspiration thrombectomy was performed immediately following the diagnosis, with a good outcome.


Seasonality can be extremely damaging to the lives and livelihoods of rural people, but this is rarely recognised and factored into the design and implementation of agricultural projects. During the annual hungry season, farmers face empty granaries, high food prices and waterborne diseases, which compel them to adopt 'coping strategies' that perpetuate poverty ratchets. Seasonal employment programmes can smooth income and consumption but could overburden women, since seasonal workloads are highly gendered. Incorporating a seasonal perspective into agricultural programming requires building a seasonality assessment into the baseline survey and design phase of agricultural projects, reducing seasonal food insecurity by stabilising rather than maximising crop production, and enhancing seasonality awareness among agricultural advisers and project staff, in each local context. Incorporating seasonality into M&E processes has implications for the timing and frequency of data collection, and requires a deeper understanding of the complexity of livelihood processes between and within rural households.


Abstract A triple-frequency operated concentric annular ring microstrip antenna which is single fed is presented. The proposed antenna with three concentric annular rings and two symmetrical notches on its outer ring and having a cross slot in its ground surface shows triple band at resonance frequency 1.22760, 1.57542, and 2.18 GHz, respectively. At the first two bands (GPS L2 and GPS L1), circular polarization characteristic is observed and the third band observes linear polarization finding its application in Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). The complete dimension of the antenna designed and fabricated is only 51.6 × 51.6 × 1.6 mm3. Experimental results depict the proposed antenna gain of 3.31, 3.55, and 3.50 dBi in three bands, respectively, and closely matches with the theoretical results.


The cytologic features of fine needle aspiration smears from 28 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) were reviewed. All aspirations except one were guided. There were 14 well-, 11 moderately and 3 poorly differentiated HCC. The better-differentiated HCC were characterized by similarity of the tumor cells to hepatocytes (83%), cohesive cell clusters with a trabecular arrangement (72%) and presence of sinusoidal endothelial cells (66%). Other features included bile production (38%), atypical hepatocytic naked nuclei (52%), acinar formation (31%), intracytoplasmic vacuoles (14%) and abnormal vascular patterns (14%). Poorly differentiated HCC showed dyshesive pleomorphic cells. Unusual cytologic features from a well-differentiated HCC with fatty change and an HCC with a prominent acinar component are described. The identification of fatty change in dissociated well-differentiated hepatocytes or cytologic features suggestive of an adenocarcinoma do not preclude the diagnosis of HCC. The usefulness of cell blocks is emphasized.


This paper describes how duty cycling can reduce the power consumption of an On Off Keying (OOK), 2.4 GHz, super regenerative transceiver from 400 muW for the transmit (Tx) to 30 muW and from 380 muW for the receive (Rx) to 10 muW. This is a power reduction of 92.5 % for the Tx and 97.4 % for the Rx. Despite the low power consumption exhibited by the Tx an effective output power of -11 dBm is achieved. This is due to the fact that the Tx oscillator is turned on for a very short period of time compared to the bit period. The output of the Rx is then lengthened digitally to reproduce the correct duty cycle. The duty cycled Rx achieves an output voltage of 1 mV for an input power of -50 dBm. Also presented is a high impedance receiver which produces an output of 5 mV for an input power of -90 dBm.


Left and right are the dominant criteria to position European parties ideologically and the capacity to order parties along this ideological dimension meaningfully is not restricted to political elites or the media. On the basis of research results on the capabilities of European voters to apply the ideological labels left and right either to parties or to their own ideological orientation, we ask the following more specific questions: Do German voters agree with each other about the left-right ordering of parties? If yes, to what extent is the common left-right placement of the parties capable to predict the policy positions of parties in various issue domains as perceived by individual voters? As an answer to the first question, a common scale is identified for manifest left-right placements of parties which has to be supplemented by a second dimension on which established parties are distinguished from non-established parties. Whereas in West Germany the former Communist Party of Democratic Socialism and the two right-wing parties Republikaner and Deutsche Volksunion are perceived as radical, East Germans perceive the PDS as the leftmost party that is as extremist on the left-right scale, but not as a non-established or radical party. Concerning the second question, we find a close correspondence between ideological and policy spaces of parties which is mainly restricted to the established parties, whereas small extermist outsiders have problems to be recognized as possible suppliers of concrete policy options. But they are perceived at the same time in terms of their ideological leanings. In addition, the left-right distinction has a high absorptive capacity which means that in West Germany the Greens and not the PDS are seen as the leftmost party due to their pronounced position in new politics issues as e.g. atomic energy.


In this paper we introduce a new analytical approach to environment compensation for speech recognition. Previous attempts at solving analytically the problem of noisy speech recognition have either used an overly-simplified mathematical description of the effects of noise on the statistics of speech or they have relied on the availability of large environment-specific adaptation sets. Some of the previous methods required the use of adaptation data that consists of simultaneously-recorded or "stereo" recordings of clean and degraded speech. In this work we introduce the use of a vector Taylor series (VTS) expansion to characterize efficiently and accurately the effects on speech statistics of unknown additive noise and unknown linear filtering in a transmission channel. The VTS approach is computationally efficient. It can be applied either to the incoming speech feature vectors, or to the statistics representing these vectors. In the first case the speech is compensated and then recognized; in the second case HMM statistics are modified using the VTS formulation. Both approaches use only the actual speech segment being recognized to compute the parameters required for environmental compensation. We evaluate the performance of two implementations of VTS algorithms using the CMU SPHINX-II system on the 100-word alphanumeric CENSUS database and on the 1993 5000-word ARPA Wall Street Journal database. Artificial white Gaussian noise is added to both databases. The VTS approaches provide significant improvements in recognition accuracy compared to previous algorithms.


The current study was conducted to give an explanation of the interpersonal processes in sexual intimacy. This was done by proposing a model which represents the relationship between various intra-and interpersonal aspects in sexual intimacy. Herein, sexual self-disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness were key components because of their interpersonal nature. The main purpose of the current research was to assess if the suggested model provided evidence for the interpersonal processes of sexual intimacy within dyadic intimate relationships. The relationship between intrapersonal sexuality aspects, sexual self-disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness was therefore investigated. The second purpose was to examine if there was an association between perceived partner responsiveness (PPR) and sexual satisfaction. Participants (N = 198) completed a questionnaire that measured the intrapersonal factors sexual beliefs, fears, motivation and satisfaction and the interpersonal factors sexual self-disclosure and PPR. In general, the results provided evidence for the proposed interpersonal processes in sexual intimacy. More specifically, significant predictive values in the relation between sexual beliefs and fears on the one hand and sexual self-disclosure on the other hand were found. Furthermore, sexual selfdisclosure partially predicted PPR. PPR in turn predicted sexual fears, beliefs and motivation. Finally, a significant predictive relation between PPR and sexual satisfaction was found. To conclude, the results generally supported the hypotheses and provided evidence regarding the associations between intrapersonal sexuality factors, sexualself disclosure and PPR and therefore supported the model as proposed in this study.