Communication management has an important role for construction on decision-making, goal setting and information sharing processes. Construction is a complex process which every person work on different tasks but for the same goal.  In recent years, it has been found out that communication has an important effect on all these characteristics. But quantifying the effectiveness of the communication is very difficult because it has many non-measurable variables. In recent years, it has been found out that emotions and moods are important for constructing an effective communication system. Emotions and moods cannot be separated from the work environment. In this study, to define an overall assessment model for effective organizational communication, models are used as PANAS and Emotional Behaviors Management as tools for assessing moods and emotions. Negative and positive moods are analyzed by using the method PANAS, and emotion which can be the cause of the negative or positive moods are analyzed by using Emotional Management Behavior Method. One of the main contributions of this study is analyzing the interdependencies and interdependencies can be used for finding out the deep causes of the problematic points of the factors. Keywords: Organizational Communication, Construction Companies, Non-verbal Communication, PANAS


Researchers in many subdisciplines of psychology have made their reputations cleverly documenting the various cognitive, perceptual, and motivational biases that systematically distort human judgment and inference. In this chapter, we explore some of the interpersonal and intergroup consequences of such biases. In particular, we consider the role these biases can play in creating, exacerbating, and perpetuating conflict between individuals and between groups. One way in which biases contribute to conflict is obvious. When different peopleare subject tothe influenceof differentbiases, they are boundto thinkand feel differently about issues. And people who disagree with each other – indeed, even people who are reasonably like minded but attach different priorities to the problems they feel should be addressed or the actions they feel should be taken – are apt to frustrate each other's efforts and ambitions. There is, however, a second way in which biases fuel enmity that is less direct, but not less important. People and groups who disagree about matters of mutual concern not only interact in conflictual ways; they also interpret , and frequently misinterpret , each other's words and deeds. The nature of such misattributions, and their consequences, occupies most of our attention in this chapter. First, however, we begin by simply noting some well-studied cognitive and motivational biases and illustrating how they might foster interpersonal and intergroup enmity.


Since phosphatidylcholine is a primary membrane component, and its peroxidation may result in disruption and dysfunction of the biomembrane, we used phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide (PCOOH) as an index of oxidative-stress-related injury. We detected the occurrence of PCOOH in both liver and plasma from rats subjected to hepatic ischemia-reperfusion, and demonstrated that liver and plasma PCOOH levels reflect the extent of liver injury. However, the accuracy in measuring PCOOH levels, particularly in blood samples, is still in question since PCOOH may be rapidly eliminated by phospholipase A2 enzymes, which are widespread, easily activated, and have a preference for oxidized glycerophospholipids. When PCOOH levels were determined, using high-performance liquid chromatography to detect chemiluminescence (CL), the plasma samples showed a broad CL peak that began to elute at the same time as in the liver samples, but lasted longer. The peak appeared to contain hydroperoxides from multiple lipid classes. In addition to PCOOH, the hydroperoxides of sphingomyelin and lysophosphatidylcholine (SPHOOH and LPCOOH) were identified in the plasma of rats subjected to ischemia-reperfusion using thin layer chromatography separation and subsequent visualization, infrared spectroscopy, and hydrolysis under mild alkaline conditions. These results indicate that the occurrence of SPHOOH and LPCOOH, as well as PCOOH, may reflect liver damage related to ischemia-reperfusion.


This paper focuses on the severe page thrashing problem that can arise when running large irregular memory access applications on limited GPU memory systems. Such memory over-subscription causes very poor performance in the currently on demand (eager) or page-group granularity access-counter based (lazy) page migration mechanisms found in NVIDIA's UVM drivers. Our detailed analysis of these executions reveals a very novel insight: rather than duplicate the responsibility of catering to both temporal and spatial locality in both GPU caches and its memory, it is better for the former to simply cater to the temporal aspect, and the latter to the spatial aspect, thereby saving precious memory system capacities. Based on this, we build an adaptive page migration scheme, called DynaMap, that (i) uses a compiler pass to instrument off-the-shelf CUDA UVM applications for spatial utilization tracking, (ii) dynamically sets a spatial utilization threshold to determine migration based on memory pressure and access characteristics, and (iii) enhances the current NVIDIA UVM driver to dynamically migrate the page (from the host memory to the GPU) based on the threshold. Using 7 irregular applications from public benchmark suites, we implement DynaMap on a real system with different over-subscription ratios to show speedups as much as 2.5X (34% on the average) over state-of-the-art UVM implementations.


An increasing variety of air bag-associated ocular injuries have been reported, ranging from chemical keratitis to retinal tears and orbital fractures. 1-4 We recently treated a patient who experienced a traumatic iritis, vitreous hemorrhage, and retinal dialysis with retinal detachment following a blow to the eye from an air bag. Report of a Case. A 31-year-old woman with a previously unremarkable ocular history was the driver in a motor vehicle that was involved in a frontal collision. She was wearing a passive three-point restraint and was aware of the impending collision. She remembered the explosive inflation of the air bag and did not recall striking her head on any portion of the vehicle. Immediately following the collision, she noted decreased visual acuity in her left eye and mild erythema of the left side of her face. Ophthalmologic examination 2 days later revealed mild photophobia and a visual acuity of 20/20


Robots controlled by Reinforcement Learning (RL) are still rare. A core challenge to the application of RL to robotic systems is to learn despite the existence of control delay - the delay between measuring a system's state and acting upon it. Control delay is always present in real systems. In this work, we present two novel temporal difference (TD) learning algorithms for problems with control delay. These algorithms improve learning performance by taking the control delay into account. We test our algorithms in a gridworld, where the delay is an integer multiple of the time step, as well as in the simulation of a robotic system, where the delay can have any value. In both tests, our proposed algorithms outperform classical TD learning algorithms, while maintaining low computational complexity.


Background Pediatric deceased donors offer great potential for expanding the organ donor pool. The utilization of pediatric donor kidneys has been explored by numerous transplant centers; however, the transplant outcome and risk factors have not been well elucidated. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the safety and risk factors of transplant outcome from pediatric deceased donors. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 484 cases of single kidney transplantation (SKT) with pediatric donor kidneys performed at our center from January 2012 to March 2021. The recipients were grouped by age: child (≤12 years; n=143), adolescents (12–18 years; n=86), and adults (≥18 years; n=255). The overall prognosis of the recipients was analyzed, and the post-transplant outcomes were compared among the three groups and assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional risk model. Results The median follow-up time was 26.7 months. The 1- and 3-year patient survival rates were 98.7% and 96.8%, respectively. The 1- and 3-year death-censored graft survival (DCGS) was 96.1% and 92.7%, respectively. The overall estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) at 1 and 3 years were 80.0±24.5 and 84.2±25.2 mL/min/1.73 m2; the 3-year eGFR of the three groups were comparable and all were over 80 mL/min/1.73 m2. Rejection was an independent risk factor for death-censored graft failure within 3 years after transplantation [hazard ratio (HR) =3.85; P=0.001], and was the primary cause of graft losses in the adolescent group. Thrombosis was more common within 1-month post-transplant in the child recipients (P<0.05), and its incidence was higher in recipients with donor body weight (DBW) ≤11 kg. Conclusions SKT from pediatric donors could achieve decent outcomes. Rejection was an independent risk factor of graft survival, especially for adolescent recipients. Child recipients may compromise early transplant outcomes due to vascular thrombosis, which might be related to small (DBW ≤11 kg) pediatric donors.


We discuss the cosmological implications of the new constraints on the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy derived from a new high-resolution analysis of the MAXIMA-1 measurement. The power spectrum indicates excess power at l ~ 860 over the average level of power at 411 ≤ l ≤ 785. This excess is statistically significant at the ~95% confidence level. Its position coincides with that of the third acoustic peak, as predicted by generic inflationary models selected to fit the first acoustic peak as observed in the data. The height of the excess power agrees with the predictions of a family of inflationary models with cosmological parameters that are fixed to fit the CMB data previously provided by BOOMERANG-LDB and MAXIMA-1 experiments. Our results therefore lend support for inflationary models and more generally for the dominance of adiabatic coherent perturbations in the structure formation of the universe. At the same time, they seem to disfavor a large variety of the nonstandard (but inflation-based) models that have been proposed to improve the quality of fits to the CMB data and the consistency with other cosmological observables. Within standard inflationary models, our results combined with the COBE/Differential Microwave Radiometer data give best-fit values and 95% confidence limits for the baryon density, Ωbh2 ≃ 0.033 ± 0.013, and the total density, Ω = 0.9. The primordial spectrum slope (ns) and the optical depth to the last scattering surface (τc) are found to be degenerate and to obey the relation ns ≃ (0.99 ± 0.14) + 0.46τc, for τc ≤ 0.5 (all at 95% confidence levels).


Resistive switching characteristics are investigated for Al/TiOx/Al devices, particularly for the structural effects in crossbar and via-hole-type devices. The via-hole structure shows more reliable switching characteristics than the crossbar structure, owing to the elimination of possible edge effects. The asymmetric switching behavior is analyzed with top Al/TiOx, and bottom Al/TiOx interfaces. A trap-controlled space-charge- limited-current model is proposed as a possible switching mechanism, and it is verified that switching mainly occurs on the top electrode/TiOx, interface side.


A dinuclear copper(II) Schiff-base complex was immobilized in a poly(acrylate) matrix by emulsion polymerization. The spheric microbeads were used for aerobic catalytic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol into 3,5-di-tert-butylquinone in methanol at ambient temperature to study the contribution of the macromolecular matrix to the overall rate acceleration of the reaction. The polymeric catalyst catalyzes the oxidation about 1 order of magnitude faster (kcat/knon = 470,000) than its low molecular weight analogue (kcat/knon = 60,000).


The authors report a case of massive hemorrhage from the vessels of the renal peduncle in a 68-year-old male patient with nephroureterolithiasis after one session of ESWL. Urgent nephrectomy was made. Histologically, there were sclerotic-distrophic changes of the vascular peduncle of the left kidney induced by long-term obstruction of the ureter with the calculus and extravasation of the urine into the renal sinus. This ESWL complication may take place in elderly patients with long-term ureteral obstruction with the stone. In such cases ESWL should be carried out only in hospital.


Mutually entangled multi-photon states are at the heart of all-optical quantum technologies. While impressive progresses have been reported in the generation of such quantum light states using free space apparatus, high-fidelity high-rate on-chip entanglement generation is crucial for future scalability. In this work, we use a bright quantum-dot based single-photon source to demonstrate the high fidelity generation of 4-photon Greenberg-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states with a low-loss reconfigurable glass photonic circuit. We reconstruct the density matrix of the generated states using full quantum-state tomography reaching an experimental fidelity to the target $|{\text{GHZ}_4}\rangle$ of $\mathcal{F}_{\text{GHZ}_4} (86.0\pm0.4)\,\%$, and a purity of $\mathcal{P}_{\text{GHZ}_4}=(76.3\pm0.6)\,\%$. The entanglement of the generated states is certified with a semi device-independent approach through the violation of a Bell-like inequality by more than 39 standard deviations. Finally, we carry out a four-partite quantum secret sharing protocol on-chip where a regulator shares with three interlocutors a sifted key with up to 1978 bits, achieving a qubit-error rate of $10.87\,\%$. These results establish that the quantum-dot technology combined with glass photonic circuitry for entanglement generation on chip offers a viable path for intermediate scale quantum computation and communication.


The aim of this study is to discover the effect of using Realia in writing descriptive paragraph. Experimental research design is used as the research method. This research took place at SMP Swasta YAPENDAK Tinjowan. There were 2 classes chosen as the sample with 32 students in each class. The classes were divided two groups namely experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught by using Realia and the control group was taught by using conventional method (without Realia). The instrument used to collect the data was the writing test, which divided as pre-test and post-test. The result of the research was analyzed by using T-test formula. The result show that the T-test was higher than T-table (3.993>2.000) at the level of significant 0.05 with degree of freedom (df) 62. It means that hypothesis alternative (Ha) is accepted which shows that Realia significantly improves the students achievement in writing descriptive paragraph


Abstract The main aim of the study is to analyze posthumous problems that concern the victims of the Smolensk disaster in the context of positive obligations of the state. The first element of the analysis will concern the standards of dealing with the bodies of disaster victims as soon as they occur. The second aspect will include the obligation to notify of death along with other obligations and information on victims. Then, issues related to the transport of corpses and the opening of coffins will be described, and finally the regulations regarding uninterrupted burial. The analysis of the above issue presented in the work will be carried out taking into account regional human rights protection standards and the ECtHR's judicial practice. Both soft and hard law standards will be included in the analysis.


Memes are a widely popular tool for web users to express their thoughts using visual metaphors. Understanding memes requires recognizing and interpreting visual metaphors with respect to the text inside or around the meme, often while employing background knowledge and reasoning abilities. We present the task of meme captioning and release a new dataset, MemeCap. Our dataset contains 6.3K memes along with the title of the post containing the meme, the meme captions, the literal image caption, and the visual metaphors. Despite the recent success of vision and language (VL) models on tasks such as image captioning and visual question answering, our extensive experiments using state-of-the-art VL models show that they still struggle with visual metaphors, and perform substantially worse than humans.


Sijiazhuang coal mine is taken as an example in this paper. Both the theoretic model and the numerical simulation are carried out to analyze the stress distribution regularity on the surrounding rock of stope face under different overlying strata combinations by using discrete element method. Under different combinations of the overlying strata, the results indicate that the regularity of stress distribution around stope face is roughly the same, i.e. the stress concentration of different degree appears in both ends, and the region of pressure relief exist above the stope face. Furthermore, destruction degree of the roof in stope face is different under various overlying strata combinations. On the eve of the first weighting, the different combinations present different phenomenon of concentration, especially the soft-hard-soft combination and hard-soft-hard combination.


Supply chain security (SCS) management has been widely discussed among policy makers, supply chain practitioners and scientists since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. However, the extant academic literature offers only a cursory look on crime problems associated with commercial supply chains. In this study, we collect qualitative data from 18 senior level managers to elicit their perceptions on crime threats and problems associated with their respective supply chains. The outcome of this study is empirically developed and validated supply chain crime taxonomy that categories crime problems into six non-overlapping and collectively exhaustive classes by using criminal intervention as the basis for classification. The validation is carried out in a case study with a Swiss postal operator.


OBJECTIVE
To study the value of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) in diagnosis of Kawasaki disease (KD).

METHODS
Serum ANCA was detected in 30 children with typical Kawasaki disease (TKD) and in 16 with incomplete Kawasaki disease (IKD) in the acute and the recovery phases respectively. Twenty-five healthy children were randomly selected as a control group. An ultrasonic cardiography (UCG) was performed on children with KD in the acute phase.

RESULTS
The mean positive rate of serum ANCA in the acute phase in KD children was 65%, with 69% in IKD children and 63% in TKD children, which were obviously higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). The positive rate of serum ANCA in the recovery phase in KD children was significantly lower than that in the acute phase (33% vs 65%, P<0.05). The positive rate of serum ANCA in the acute phase in children with KD was significantly higher than that detected by UCG (P<0.01). The incidence rate of coronary artery lesions in children with positive ANCA was obviously higher than that in children with negative ANCA (43% vs 13%; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Serum ANCA may be used as a reference index for early diagnosis of KD and secondary coronary artery lesions in children.


A bitunicate ascomycete bearing brown 1-septate ascospores consistent with the botryosphaeriaceous genera Dothiorella and Spencermartinsia was observed on discarded grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) canes, and in culture was purported to yield a coelomycetous asexual morph in Spencermartinsia. However, morphological studies and amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and portions of the small (18S) and large (28S) subunits of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene identified the ascomycete as Munkovalsaria donacina (Niessl) Aptroot, and revealed that the fungus is neither connected to an asexual morph in Spencermartinsia, nor related to the Botryosphaeriaceae (Botryosphaeriales). Instead, these findings provide the first report of M. donacina from grapevines and Desert Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. angustifolia Vahl), extending the range of the taxon to 38 species in 24 families.


Hybrid bonding among Cu, Ti, quartz, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, by using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation and vapor-assisted surface modification processes, turned out highly feasible at 150°C and atmospheric pressure. Such a hybrid bonding will be of practical use in the 3D integrations of flex transparent substrates and interconnection layers, which are often used in the optical and MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) packaging. Bridging molecular layers, which are based on metal hydroxide hydrates and hydrophilic functional groups, were prepared by introducing water vapor onto the surfaces modified with VUV irradiation in nitrogen atmosphere. The x-ray photoelectron microcopy (XPS) results showed that the initial contaminant layers were successfully removed and water molecules could be adsorbed easily. Upon heating at 150°C, all combinations of starting materials were bonded through amorphous bridging layers, where the intermolecular dehydration inside the layers created tight adhesion. The interface between transparent materials enabled considerably low loss of light transmittance of less than 5% in the wavelength range of 380-960 nm.


Theories about ambivalence, as well as quantitative and qualitative empirical approaches, are applied to obtain an understanding of recycling among young adults. A questionnaire was mailed to 422 Swedish young people. Regression analyses showed that a mix of negative emotions (worry) and positive emotions (hope and joy) about the environmental problems was positively related to recycling. The opposite pattern was found for attitudinal ambivalence toward recycling. Thereafter, semistructured interviews were performed. In a group of reluctant recyclers, the ambivalent attitudes consisted of views that recycling is something beneficial for the environment and is a civic duty. On the other hand, they wanted more information, were unable to integrate youthful ideals about living in an environmentally friendly way with the everyday life of young adulthood, and felt low self-efficacy. In addition, strategies to activate positive emotions alongside a high degree of environmental worry were explored in a group who recycle regularly.


We focus on the design of a blind equalization receiver for the phase modulated GSM systems without relying on additional antennas. We derive an equivalent baseband QAM model for the GMSK signal used in GSM systems. More importantly, we are able to use a phase-rotation scheme to create two sub-channels for each GMSK signal even though the GMSK signal has almost zero excess bandwidth. The significance of the first discovery is that traditional QAM blind equalization algorithms can now be applied to GSM systems. The significance of the second discovery reduces the necessary RF receivers (sensors) by half without increasing any additional hardware or computational costs. Simulation results are presented for several second order statistical and high order statistical methods as well as a semi-blind method.


SUMMARY Grassland productivity was studied for four years near Terbol, Lebanon. In the first year pasture availability and plant numbers were monitored along transects, and in the following three years the effects of sowing four Mediterranean annual legumes (three cultivars of subterranean clover and a local ecotype of Medicago rigidula) and top-dressing with super-phosphate were studied. The results indicated that natural grasslands were dominated by annual grasses (Aegilops, Hordeum, Bromur, Lolium and Poa). Legume density was low, which resulted in poor legume productivity, especially in winter. Exotic legumes only resulted in a slight improvement in pasture productivity even when phosphate fertilizer was added. However, partial protection from grazing (for one or two months in late winter and spring) more than doubled the number of legume seeds in the seed bank compared with full protection and open grazing. The build up of seeds in the soil is an essential step towards the improvement of productivity in these degraded pastures, which form a large part of the land surface in Lebanon and on which small ruminant production largely depends.


Platinum supported on fullerene nanofibers as possible electrodes for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) were studied. Fullerene nanofiber with 20 wt% Pt loading was mixed with 5 wt% Nafion solution. The mixture paste was coated on Nafion 117 membrane and sandwiched with silicon plates. To increase the surface reaction area of catalyst, nanoimprint was used to fabricate micro-patterns in the Nafion proton exchange membrane. Nanoimprint pattern consisted of dots of 500 nm-in-diameter, 140 nm-in-depth and 1 μm-in-spacing. The nanoimprint of the treated proton exchange membrane (PEM) was carried out in a desktop thermal nanoimprint system (NI273, Nano Craft Tech. Corp., Japan) at the optimized conditions of 130 °C and pressure of 3 MPa for 6 min. Then the Pt-coated PEM was sandwiched with micro-channelled silicon plates to form a micro-DMFC. With passively feeding of 1 M methanol solution and air at room temperature, the as-prepared cell had the open circuit voltage of 0.34 V and the maximum power density of 0.30 mW/cm2. Compared with a fresh cell, the results shows that nanofibers used in nanoimprinted PEM have an improvement on the performance of micro fuel cells.


Prebiotic effects have been attributed to agave fructans through bacterial and yeast fermentations, but there are few reports on their use as raw materials of a carbon source. Kefir milk is a fermented drink with lactic acid bacteria and yeast that coexist in a symbiotic association. During fermentation, these microorganisms mainly consume lactose and produce a polymeric matrix called kefiran, which is an exopolysaccharide composed mainly of water-soluble glucogalactan, suitable for the development of bio-degradable films. Using the biomass of microorganisms and proteins together can be a sustainable and innovative source of biopolymers. In this investigation, the effects of lactose-free milk as a culture medium and the addition of other carbon sources (dextrose, fructose, galactose, lactose, inulin and fructans) in concentrations of 2, 4 and 6% w/w, coupled with initial parameters such as temperature (20, 25 and 30 °C), % of starter inoculum (2, 5 and 10% w/w) was evaluated. The method of response surface analysis was performed to determine the optimum biomass production conditions at the start of the experiment. The response surface method showed that a 2% inoculum and a temperature of 25 °C were the best parameters for fermentation. The addition of 6% w/w agave fructans in the culture medium favored the growth of biomass (75.94%) with respect to the lactose-free culture medium. An increase in fat (3.76%), ash (5.57%) and protein (7.12%) content was observed when adding agave fructans. There was an important change in the diversity of microorganisms with an absence of lactose. These compounds have the potential to be used as a carbon source in a medium culture to increase kefir granule biomass. There was an important change in the diversity of microorganisms with an absence of lactose, where the applied image digital analysis led to the identification of the morphological changes in the kefir granules through modification of the profile of such microorganisms.


Cancer is one of many diseases of global concern due to its high mortality rate with various therapeutic options but most of them are toxic and this compelled many cancer patients to seek alternative and complementary method for
treatment. Plants have been recognised as alternative source of remedy for various ailments as they contain many bioactive compounds. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the antiproliferative activity and nontoxic effect of dried preserved fruit extracts of Ficus carica on estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cell (MCF-7) and mouse epithelial cell (3T3). The ethyl acetate, ethanol and hexane extracts were prepared by maceration and then concentrated under vacuum at 40oC by rotary evaporator to get the crude extracts. The antiproliferative effect of the extracts was determined using microtitration colorimetric method of 3(4, 5 diphenylmethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The ethyl acetate has low extract yield compared to ethanol and hexane extracts. The ethyl acetate extract was found to have strong and significant antiproliferative activity against estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells (MCF-7) with IC50 value of 9.8µg/mL, whereas the ethanol and hexane extracts showed weak antiproliferative activity. Interestingly, all the extracts have non-toxic effect on 3T3 cell line. These finding suggest that crude extracts of Ficus carica fruit have antiproliferative effect on the estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells. These may be attributed to the bioactive compound present in the crude extracts. The study also suggests a promising chemoprotective potential of Ficus carica fruit extracts on estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells. Further studies are required to isolate the bioactive compounds of the fruit extracts and establish their mechanism of actions.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been shown to penetrate and accumulate in the deep lung tissues after in vivo pulmonary exposure. This raises a major concern of long-term adverse health effects, particularly carcinogenesis due to their structural similarity to asbestos, a known human carcinogen. However, there is neither clear knowledge nor a practical method to assess this carcinogenic potential. In this study, we developed a chronic exposure model using human lung epithelial cells to address this knowledge gap. We conducted subchronic exposures of dispersed single-walled CNT (D-SWCNT), multi-walled CNT (D-MWCNT) and crocidolite asbestos (ASB) to human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) in culture. Ultrafine carbon black (D-UFCB) and dispersant-only exposed cells (DISP) served as negative controls. SAEC were exposed to 0.02 μg/cm2 of the particles for 25 weeks and evaluated for cancer cell phenotypes. Next, mRNA samples from the exposed cells were subjected to whole genome microarray and rtPCR analyses for toxicogenomic evaluation. Differentially expressed genes were uploaded to Ingenuity Pathway Analysis to identify gene targets and molecular mechanisms of neoplastic transformation. Our results showed that both D-SWCNT and D-MWCNT-treated cells exhibited typical malignant transformation properties, such as increased proliferation, migration, invasion, anchorage-independent cell growth and angiogenesis compared to controls. Both D-SWCNT and D-MWCNT cells expressed significant changes in genes associated with cell death, movement, proliferation and cancer. Top ranked pathway along with Western blot analyses identified several altered signaling pathways and transcription factors associated with oncogenesis. These results indicate that long-term low-dose exposure of human lung epithelial cells to D-SWCNT and D-MWCNT induced neoplastic transformation of the cells which suggests potential carcinogenicity of the nanoparticles. The described cell model system could potentially be used as an in vitro predictive screening test for potential carcinogenicity of other nanomaterials. Phenotypic anchoring of toxicogenomic response to neoplastic cell transformation following in vitro subchronic nanomaterial exposure can potentially serve to identify novel mechanisms of action and facilitate human cancer risk assessment.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, microarray, carcinogenesis, lung, cell, transformation.

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Citation Format: Liying Wang, Todd Stueckle, Anurag Mishra, Raymond Derk, Terence Meighan, Vincent Castranova, Yon Rojanasakul. Subchronic exposure of carbon nanotubes to human small airway epithelial cells induces neoplastic transformation and toxicogenomic responses. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3583. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3583


Machine-learning approaches are becoming commonplace in the neuroimaging literature as potential diagnostic and prognostic tools for the study of clinical populations. However, very few studies provide clinically informative measures to aid in decision-making and resource allocation. Head-to-head comparison of neuroimaging-based multivariate classifiers is an essential first step to promote translation of these tools to clinical practice. We systematically evaluated the classifier performance using back-to-back structural MRI in two field strengths (3- and 7-T) to discriminate patients with schizophrenia (n = 19) from healthy controls (n = 20). Gray matter (GM) and white matter images were used as inputs into a support vector machine to classify patients and control subjects. Seven Tesla classifiers outperformed the 3-T classifiers with accuracy reaching as high as 77% for the 7-T GM classifier compared to 66.6% for the 3-T GM classifier. Furthermore, diagnostic odds ratio (a measure that is not affected by variations in sample characteristics) and number needed to predict (a measure based on Bayesian certainty of a test result) indicated superior performance of the 7-T classifiers, whereby for each correct diagnosis made, the number of patients that need to be examined using the 7-T GM classifier was one less than the number that need to be examined if a different classifier was used. Using a hypothetical example, we highlight how these findings could have significant implications for clinical decision-making. We encourage the reporting of measures proposed here in future studies utilizing machine-learning approaches. This will not only promote the search for an optimum diagnostic tool but also aid in the translation of neuroimaging to clinical use.


Real-time smart grid monitoring is critical to enhancing resiliency and operational efficiency of power equipment. Cloud-based and edge-based fault detection systems integrating deep learning have been proposed recently to monitor the grid in real time. However, state-of-the-art cloud-based detection may require uploading a large amount of data and suffer from long network delay, while edge-based schemes do not adequately consider the detection requirement and thus cannot provide flexible and optimal performance. To solve these problems, we study a cloud-edge based hybrid smart grid fault detection system. Embedded devices are placed at the edge of the monitored equipment with several lightweight neural networks for fault detection. Considering limited communication resources, relatively low computation capabilities of edge devices, and different monitoring accuracies supported by these neural networks, we design an optimal communication and computational resource allocation method for this cloud-edge based smart grid fault detection system. Our method can maximize the processing throughput of the system and improve resource utilization while satisfying the data transmission and processing latency requirements. Extensive simulations are conducted and the results show the superiority of the proposed scheme over comparison schemes. We have also prototyped this system and verified its feasibility and performance in real-world scenarios.


A micromechanical model has been developed that will allow the study of a slit-damaged braided fabric air-beam structure. As such, the relevant system of non-dimensional ordinary differential equations is derived and solutions are given for the stress concentration near the broken yarns. This knowledge will contribute to the prediction of damage growth and the ability to compare different fabric materials for their damage tolerance. A simplification of the analysis has been shown to be possible when a parameter, e , the ratio of yarn tensions due to inflation to the yarn stiffness is small, approaching zero. In such a case, the equations for the braided fabric can be reduced to those of the plain weave fabric, so that the stress concentrations are the same as those for woven fabrics. As it turns out, an important result of the present analysis is that the stress concentration factor is, in fact, independent of the parameter, e , and the helix angle of the braided fabrics. This means that much of what has been learned in the study of damage in woven fabrics can be used for braided fabrics.


124 stable CAPD patients from 8 Australian and 3 New Zealand centers were randomly assigned in a blinded fashion to one of two groups to study the effect of vaccination using commercial preparations consisting of a combined staphylococcus toxoid and whole killed staphylococci (SB) or normal saline solution (SS) on the incidence of peritonitis and exit site infection and S. aureus nasal carriage over a 12-month prospective period. In addition, levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, C3 and C4 were monitored during the trial period in serum and dialysate; serum levels of anti-alpha hemolysin and dialysate levels of fibronectin and specific antistaphylococcal antibodies were also measured. Over the period, treatment with SB or SS did not affect the incidence of peritonitis, catheter-related infection or S. aureus nasal carriage. However, vaccination with SB elicited a significant increase in the level of serum anti-alpha hemolysin throughout the 12 month duration of the study, although the level of increase was unrelated to the subsequent rate of peritonitis. Vaccination with SB but not SS elicited a significant increase in the dialysate level of specific antibodies against S. aureus. Serum levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, complement C3 and C4 were within the normal range in the CAPD patients studied and remained unaffected by vaccination with SB. In addition, dialysate levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, complement C3 and C4 were 50-100 times lower than corresponding serum levels and remained unaffected by vaccination. In summary, immunisation with an anti-staphylococcal agent was not successful in reducing peritonitis or exit site infection in CAPD patients.


Individual-based models such as microsimulation models (MSMs) provide an alternative to macroscopic models in social simulation and modeling. In contrast to the traditional models where individual characteristics are often blurred or even disregarded, MSM provides the realistic disaggregated information that is often vital for modern policy problems. MSM has been extensively applied and well tested in social modeling. However, it has been criticized for being less strong in modeling interactions between individuals and individual behaviors. MSM also struggles where realistic micro data are not available. Agent-based models (ABMs) can model the demographic process through interactions between the agents and with the environment that they live in. The combination of MSM and ABM provides a new approach to enhance complex social modeling. In our study, we attempt to provide better groundwork to facilitate policy and decision making for the U.K. population through a hybrid model that combines the strength of the two complementary techniques.


This paper present the manufacturing work preparation process for wired EDM machining used to produce an extrusion die based on the digital engineering data. This digital data contain product and process characteristic. We call this process as nonconventional because all geometrical and process characteristics, as designed are directly transferred to the EDM passing the conventional manufacturing work preparation process as, manufacturing drawing preparation, EDM program preparation using the manufacturing drawings, which can affect the quality of converted information.
This process approach becomes more and more used in manufacturing because the customer wants a high-quality product in a short time. By eliminate some process steps, from the manufacturing preparation process, and transfer product requirement direct to the EDM machine assure a shorter lead-time and reduce additional risks in manufacturing.


Aim: In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of conversion
of stable hemodialysis patients from the current short-acting r-HuEPO
(EPO beta) to the long-acting darbepoetin.
Method: The study included 12 months of darbepoetin administration.
The mean initial conversion ratio was 350 IU of short acting r-HuEPO
to 1 microgram of darbepoetin. We adjusted the dose of darbepoetin
to maintain hemoglobin levels between 11-12 g/dL. The study was
carried out on 2 consecutive phases of 12 weeks each. Success with
the extended dosing interval was defined as maintenance of mean
hemoglobin >10.0 g/dl during each phase.
Result: There were 26 patients who fulfilled the entry criteria.
Their mean age was 47.0 ± 17.13 years, and the mean duration on
hemodialysis was 55.8 ± 14.0 months. The mean weekly dose increased
from 28.75 ± 4.2 μg in the biweekly frequency of dosing to 38.5±3.9
μg after switching to the monthly protocol. The hemoglobin levels
were maintained at therapeutic range without statistically significant
change throughout the study; the mean hemoglobin levels was 10.81±
.86 g/L at start of the study and 10.86 ± .76 g/L at the end of 6 months.
Continuing the darbepoetin in 12 patients for one year disclosed no
significant change of the conversion ratio of the drug, and the mean
of hemoglobin levels remained within the targeted limits.
Conclusion: Darbepoetin alpha is effective and safe for the treatment
of anemia in hemodialysis patients even at monthly dose intervals
and for long-term. With the the above mentioned conversion ratio
and current prices, darbepoetin seems more expensive than the short
acting erythropoetin beta by 15%, 58 % for the biweekly and monthly
doses respectively. However, the longer dosing intervals are certainly
much better convenience to patients and care takers in comparison
with the currently used short acting ESAs.


Most processing of sensation involves the cortical hemisphere opposite (contralateral) to the stimulated limb. Stroke patients can exhibit changes in the interhemispheric balance of sensory signal processing. It is unclear whether these changes are the result of poststroke rewiring and experience, or whether they could result from the immediate effect of circuit loss. We evaluated the effect of mini-strokes over short timescales (<2 h) where cortical rewiring is unlikely by monitoring sensory-evoked activity throughout much of both cortical hemispheres using voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Blockade of a single pial arteriole within the C57BL6J mouse forelimb somatosensory cortex reduced the response evoked by stimulation of the limb contralateral to the stroke. However, after stroke, the ipsilateral (uncrossed) forelimb response within the unaffected hemisphere was spared and became independent of the contralateral forelimb cortex. Within the unaffected hemisphere, mini-strokes in the opposite hemisphere significantly enhanced sensory responses produced by stimulation of either contralateral or ipsilateral pathways within 30–50 min of stroke onset. Stroke-induced enhancement of responses within the spared hemisphere was not reproduced by inhibition of either cortex or thalamus using pharmacological agents in nonischemic animals. I/LnJ acallosal mice showed similar rapid interhemispheric redistribution of sensory processing after stroke, suggesting that subcortical connections and not transcallosal projections were mediating the novel activation patterns. Thalamic inactivation before stroke prevented the bilateral rearrangement of sensory responses. These findings suggest that acute stroke, and not merely loss of activity, activates unique pathways that can rapidly redistribute function within the spared cortical hemisphere.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is frequently overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, and approximately half of all basal breast cancers show autocrine activation of EGFR by amphiregulin (AREG). When AREG is the activating ligand, the dynamics of EGFR signaling are different than those of EGF-bound EGFR. AREG-ligated EGFR accumulates at the cell surface, resulting in altered receptor trafficking and downstream signaling. To further explore the role of amphiregulin in cell signaling, we performed reverse-phase protein array (RPPA) analysis on SUM149 cells, a highly tumorigenic and metastatic cell line that expresses high levels of AREG and EGFR, and MCF10A cells, a non-transformed mammary epithelial cell line cultured in the presence of either EGF or AREG. This analysis identified a number of signaling components mediated specifically by amphiregulin, including decreased caspase expression, increased Gab2 expression, elevated fibronectin levels and marked changes in integrin expression. In addition, AREG-mediated EGFR signaling resulted in increased expression and activation of c-src. Thus, a major effect of AREG signaling in both cell lines was enhanced activation of the canonical focal adhesion signaling pathway. In addition to increased expression of EGFR and AREG, SUM149 cells are known to have a genomic alteration at the PTEN locus resulting in complete abrogation of PTEN message and protein expression. RPPA analysis of signaling in SUM-149 cells confirmed this PTEN loss and, not surprisingly, revealed elevated AKT activity. In addition, several proteins in the WNT signaling pathway were altered in SUM-149 cells, including reduced expression of GSK3β, increased phosphorylation of GSK3β, and increased expression of Dvl. These results suggest enhanced Wnt-beta catenin activity in SUM-149 cells that is likely the result of enhanced AKT activity resulting from PTEN loss. Although we previously had difficulty measuring Wnt signaling in SUM-149 cells in monolayer culture, mammosphere assays performed with SUM149 cells expressing a Wnt reporter construct confirmed that Wnt signaling was highly active in mammospheres in 3D culture. We also analyzed the genes that are regulated in expression by EGFR in MCF-10A cells in the presence of EGF or AREG, and in SUM-149 cells. These results identified AREG-specific gene expression profiles in the isogenic system. In addition, SUM-149 cell-specific genes regulated by EGFR were also identified, some of which are likely to be the result of PTEN loss and enhanced AKT signaling in these cells. Finally, we found that AREG knockdown in SUM-149 cells significantly reduced the tumorigenicity of SUM149 cells in NOD-SCID mice. Analysis of signaling and gene expression in these AREG knock-down cells are consistent with the importance of AREG expression levels and of the modulation of the focal adhesion canonical pathway in tumor potential of the cells in vivo.

Citation Format: Christiana Kappler, Robert Wilson, Bridget Varughese, Stephen P. Ethier. PTEN loss enhances amphiregulin-specific signaling and gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3297. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3297


Alveolar macrophages (AM) play a crucial role in host defence by secretion of a large repertoire of biological response modifiers (BRM) following challenge. Newborns manifest increased susceptibility to lung infections, suggesting a deficiency in AM-mediated host defence. Thus, we investigated the ontogeny of BRM production by resting and stimulated AM. We analysed the capacity of rat AM to produce mRNA specific for a range of cytokines including tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-18, and the enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase, in response to in vitro lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. We report that production of nitric oxide by newborn AM under conditions of maximal stimulation was impaired. In addition, expression of IL-10 was only minimally upregulated in AM from newborns in response to LPS compared to adults. Inability to upregulate expression of IL-10 appeared to be influenced by microenvironmental factors, since peritoneal macrophages from newborns responded to LPS with significant upregulation of IL-10. Furthermore, when newborn AM were precultured in vitro, IL-10 responsiveness to LPS was partially restored. In contrast, cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6, IL-12 and IL-18 appeared to be expressed at adult levels by newborn AM. These results demonstrate that there may be functional differences in AM of newborns compared to adults, and these may be specific to the tissue compartment.


The effect of Lonidamine (LND) alone or combined with the antiestrogen Tamoxifen (TAM) or Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on cell proliferation and steroid hormone receptor content of a human estrogen sensitive breast cancer cell line was investigated. LND has a direct growth inhibitory action, even if used at relatively low concentrations (10(-7) M), and shows the maximum effect at 10(-4) M. The combination of LND with the antiestrogen does not produce a potentiation of the TAM-induced reduction of cell number, while the association of the drug with MPA seems more effective with respect to MPA alone, at least at certain concentrations. The negative interference observed between LND and TAM may be due to the LND-induced decrease of estrogen receptor levels.


A general solution of digital recursive filters which produce two-level output is given. To give a rough idea of the performance of write equalizers, a high-density recording channel corrupted by additive noise is appraised, and the signal-to-noise ratio with and without a write equalizer is compared. Calculations show that a small gain can be expected in using some of the write equalizers. The linearity of the channel was tested using some of the write equalizers. >


T cell responses are initiated by ligation of their cognate T cell receptor by MHC loaded with antigenic peptide, but their response is carefully controlled by a myriad of environmental cues, including co-activation receptors, cytokines, nutrients, growth factors, local oxygen levels, salt concentrations, and microbiome. The complexity of the integration of signals received by T cells is only beginning to be fully understood (1). This research topic in T cell biology aims at highlighting some of the latest research on intrinsic and extrinsic signals regulating T cell responses. The ebook contains 10 articles that encompass key pathways that modulate T cell function and discuss how T cells coordinate their response to environmental cues.

One of the first components regulating T cell activation is the expression and subsequent activation of surface receptors. Notably, T cell activation is governed by the co-activation of the TCR and of co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory molecules (2, 3). Expression and activation of co-inhibitory molecules, such as CTLA-4 and PD1 play a key part in turning off effector responses and the balance of expression of co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory receptors needs to be tightly regulated to ensure a proper level of T cell activation (4, 5). The review by Schneider and Rudd nicely illustrates how expression of the co-inhibitory molecule CTLA-4 is regulated, and how that affects T cell activation (6).

In recent years, the importance of cellular metabolism in the activation of immune cells, in particular T cells, has been reported. T cell activation requires a change in cellular metabolism to face increased energetic demand. This is an exciting area of research showing that not only changes in metabolism are necessary for cell activation but that they are also actively involved in regulating T cell function and differentiation. This is discussed in several reviews. Craig Byersdorfer focuses on the role of fatty acid oxidation for T cell functions, and notably on its role in graft versus host disease (7). Ramsay and Cantrell discuss the importance of glucose metabolism for T cell function and highlight the role of hypoxia-inducible factor alpha and mTOR in coordinating the responses to the environmental cues (8). They also summarize the importance of the microbiome in regulating T cells, and the key role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in sensing microbes. Clovis Palmer and collaborators review glucose metabolism in T cells and also discuss how HIV infection modulates T cell metabolism (9). One of the central questions is how do T cells integrate the multitude of signals received? In their comprehensive review, Chapman and Chi discuss the central role of mTOR in the integration of the many signals received by the T cells that ultimately shape their response (10).

Another related aspect of the topic is the impact of infection on T cells, whereby pathogens control the host response, mostly to their advantage, and are able to switch T cell responses to favor their own survival. A study by the group of Francisca Mutapi describes a novel mechanism by which helminth infection downregulates T cell activation, by lowering the level of CD3zeta chain in infected individuals (11). A review from Zaunders further illustrates how HIV infection affects the balance of the various T cell subsets and promotes regulatory T cells and T helper follicular cells (12).

Diet can also influence immune homeostasis, with recent studies showing, for instance, how salt can affect Th differentiation (13). The effects of vitamins and their metabolites on T cells are also well described. Colleen Hayes' group summarizes the latest data on the effects of Vitamin D on T cell responses, and how this can be modulated in autoimmune diseases (14). A review by Leving's group focuses more particularly on the environmental factors that affect regulatory T cells. This includes cytokines, vitamin A and vitamin D, metabolism, and microbiome (15).

Finally, can we therapeutically manipulate the environmental milieu to modulate T cell responses in humans? The study by the group of David Klatzmann highlights the effects of IL-2 in modulating T cell responses in type 1 diabetes (16). While the functions of regulatory CD4+ Tregs have been described years ago, the characterization of CD8+ Tregs is more recent. The authors notably report how injection of low doses of IL-2 modulates the levels of CD8+ Tregs in vivo, in both mice and in patients with type 1 diabetes, following their numbers and phenotype. This study illustrates how exogenous cytokines can modulate in vivo T cell responses, which may prove beneficial for autoimmune diseases.

We hope that this compilation of reviews and research that provides an overview on environmental regulators of T cells will give the readers a flavor on the latest development in T cell biology. We would also like to thank all the contributors to this topic and the reviewers for their time in making this ebook possible.


The use of leaky prediction in a video transmission system designed for noisy channels is investigated. For the proposed system, graceful degradation is achieved by finding good index maps between the quantized source coder parameters and the amplitude levels of a QAM signal constellation. The paper, however, investigates the use of leaky prediction to further increase the robustness to channel noise. It is shown that by using a temporal prediction coefficient slightly less than one, large improvements can be achieved with only a small degradation for the noiseless case. The performance of the proposed system is comparable to a reference system based on the H.263 video coder for high CSNR values, and degrades far more gracefully for low CSNR values.


Abstract The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Allium obliquum was determined by Illumina single-end sequencing. The complete plastid genome was 152,387 bp in length, containing a large single copy (LSC) of 81,588 bp and a small single copy (SSC) of 18,059 bp, which were separated by a pair of 26,370 bp inverted repeats (IRs). A total of 134 genes were annotated, including 83 protein coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes, and five pseudogenes. The overall GC contents of the plastid genome were 36.8%. Unlike A. cepa (onion) and A. sativum (garlic), A. obliquum encodes a functional intact infA gene.


During the last 20 years some keywords have been extensively used in international debate about local development policies: bottom-up approach, territoriality, policy integration, partnership, cooperation and negotiation among actors and interests. The use of these keywords hides a variety of cultural approaches, theories and practices; this means that we should study local development processes and policies analysing and deconstructing these theoretical approaches in specific situations and experiences. Within this framework, the article critically discuss local development policies involving "fragile" areas like those of the mountains in Lombardy. Reference will be made mainly to the results of a research-action activity on the integrated local development programmes (PISL) for the Objective 2 areas of the Region financed during the period of European structural funds programming 2000-2006.


There is growing realisation today that companies cannot continue to operate the way they have in the past, because they cannot sustain the usual practice of plundering resources merely for a profit. There is also a rethinking about the model of capitalism that dominates world economies. It is increasingly being felt that while the economic system has contributed to increased wealth and better quality of life, it also has deep negative environmental and social impacts. Profit generation and maximization, while being legitimate objectives of companies, must therefore also be accompanied by economic, social and environmental betterment. In other words, the world is heading to a more "humane" capitalism. Companies realise that the "business-as-usual" approach – one in which natural resources are exploited ruthlessly – is creating problems of pollution and sustainability across the globe. If such development goes unchecked, we are in for great social and environmental upheavals that may destroy the planet completely. The re-orientation of business as a social enterprise is now recognised as essential for the future of business itself. Writing that the global economic system is under threat, Bower, Leonard and Paine point out in their book, Capitalism at Risk (2011), "business must serve both as innovator and activist – developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels."Stigliz (2002) had written, "Globalization today is not working for many of the world's poor; it is not working for much of the environment; it is not working for the stability of the global economy." We have a system today in which the rich are reaping the benefits of development, while vast numbers of poor live in deprivation. It is also being felt that the limits of sustainability have been reached – the planet cannot sustain the runaway consumption that the economic system dictates. This can best be described as an unstable system. A positive future for the planet depends on a new paradigm that links business and development and promotes social, economic, and environmental stability around the world. Corporations thus have a broader role in society. Porter and Kramer (2002) write, "We are learning that the most effective way to address many of the world's most pressing problems is to mobilize the corporate sector where both companies and society can benefit." It is time that companies understood that social and economic goals are integrally connected. Preserving the environment benefits not only society but companies too, because reducing pollution and waste can lead to a more productive use of resources. Boosting social and economic conditions in developing countries can create more productive locations for a company's operations as well as new markets for its products. Because of this understanding, companies too are realising that they have a broader purpose than the blind pursuit of profits. The future or rural marketing depends on how companies fulfil their objectives of profits, sustainability and inclusive growth. Indeed, many companies are doing so. This paper analyses the corporate initiatives taken to empower local communities and introduce a sustainable way of doing business. It takes pointers from these experiences and tries to draw conclusions as to the nature of future business. It also dwells on the future of capitalism that may well evolve due to changes in business thinking.


The integration of intelligent devices, device-level networks and software into motor control systems can deliver improved diagnostics, early warnings for increased system reliability, design flexibility and simplified wiring. Remote access to motor control information also affords an opportunity for reduced exposure to hazardous voltages and improved personnel safety during startup and troubleshooting. This article explores the communication cable requirements, intelligent devices and software required to integrate these new technologies into motor control systems. It also reviews the issues, changes in thinking and advantages that were found during the installation and startup of a plant system.


Maxwell's equations specify that electromagnetic radia- tion flelds are generated by accelerating charges. However, the electro- magnetic radiation flelds of an accelerating charge are seldom used to derive the electromagnetic flelds of radiating systems. In this paper, the equations pertinent to the electromagnetic flelds generated by ac- celerating charges are utilized to evaluate the electromagnetic flelds of a current path of length l for the case when a pulse of current propa- gates with constant velocity. According to these equations, radiation is generated only at the end points of the channel where charges are being accelerated or decelerated. The electromagnetic flelds of a short dipole are extracted from these equations when r ? l, where r is the distance to the point of observation. The speed of propagation of the pulse enters into the electromagnetic flelds only in the terms that are second order in l and they can be neglected in the dipole approximation. The results illustrate how the radiation flelds emanating from the two ends of the dipole give rise to fleld terms varying as 1=r and 1=r 2 , while the time-variant stationary charges at the ends of the dipole contribute to fleld terms varying as 1=r 2 and 1=r 3 .


Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common causes of blindness. The necessity for a robust and automated DR screening system for regular examination has long been recognized in order to identify DR at an early stage. In this paper, an embedded DR diagnosis system based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) has been proposed to assess the proper stage of DR. We coupled the power of CNN with transfer learning to design our model based on state-of-the-art architecture. We preprocessed the input data, which is color fundus photography, to reduce undesirable noise in the image. After training many models on the dataset, we chose the adopted ResNet50 because it produced the best results, with a 92.90% accuracy. Extensive experiments and comparisons with other research work show that the proposed method is effective. Furthermore, the CNN model has been implemented on an embedded target to be a part of a medical instrument diagnostic system. We have accelerated our model inference on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) using Xilinx tools. Results have confirmed that a customized FPGA system on chip (SoC) with hardware accelerators is a promising target for our DR detection model with high performance and low power consumption.


In-Context Learning (ICL), which formulates target tasks as prompt completion conditioned on in-context demonstrations, has become the prevailing utilization of LLMs. In this paper, we first disclose an actual predicament for this typical usage that it can not scale up with training data due to context length restriction. Besides, existing works have shown that ICL also suffers from various biases and requires delicate calibration treatment. To address both challenges, we advocate a simple and effective solution, $k$NN Prompting, which first queries LLM with training data for distributed representations, then predicts test instances by simply referring to nearest neighbors. We conduct comprehensive experiments to demonstrate its two-fold superiority: 1) Calibration-Free: $k$NN Prompting does not directly align LLM output distribution with task-specific label space, instead leverages such distribution to align test and training instances. It significantly outperforms state-of-the-art calibration-based methods under comparable few-shot scenario. 2) Beyond-Context: $k$NN Prompting can further scale up effectively with as many training data as are available, continually bringing substantial improvements. The scaling trend holds across 10 orders of magnitude ranging from 2 shots to 1024 shots as well as different LLMs scales ranging from 0.8B to 30B. It successfully bridges data scaling into model scaling, and brings new potentials for the gradient-free paradigm of LLM deployment. Code is publicly available.


In this paper, an intelligent vehicle monitoring and management system (IVMMS) based on the multi-net is designed. First, its architecture and functions are introduced. It uses many technologies fusing GPS, GPRS/CDMA, GIS, RS and Internet, and is composed mainly by two major parts: the Mobile Terminal and the Monitoring Center. Especially, GPRS/CDMA technology is the reliable technical support for wireless communication smooth transition from the 2.5G to the 3G; then, the principles and the key technologies of Mobile Terminal and Monitoring Center are discussed respectively in detail, and figures of their structures are also shown below; finally, a novel vehicle scheduling model based on ant algorithms are proposed and the course of scheduling tasks is also introduced. It is indicated that, the vehicles scheduling efficiency is enhanced greatly. The system not only can be used in the vehicles scheduling, but also in the vessel and other fields, and the solid technical support will be provided for the ITS research


Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Scandinavia is called nephropathia epidemica (NE), and is caused by the Puumala‐virus, which belongs to the Hanta‐virus genus. The clinical course of NE is mostly benign, complications are uncommon, and deaths are rarely observed. We report the cases of three patients who developed serious complications in the course of NE caused by the Puumala‐virus. One patient died within 24 h after admission, another developed progressive neuromuscular dysfunction (Guillain‐BarrÉ syndrome) which required auxiliary ventilation for several weeks before a slow recovery, and a third patient developed empty sella syndrome with pituitary gland insufficiency. In the first two cases the diagnosis of NE was confirmed by a rapid avidity assay for IgG antibody against Puumala‐virus. In the third case the clinical course, and demonstration of NE immunity 16 years later, suggested that NE might have caused the hypopituitarism. Some patients with NE caused by the Puumala‐virus may require intensive‐care treatment, and the development of late complications such as empty sella syndrome and hypopituitarism should be taken into consideration.


An effective algorithm using the multiscale technique for detecting edges in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is presented utilizing the empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Since EMD is a one-dimensional data processing method, EMD is employed to image in two directions: horizontally (0/spl deg/) and vertically (90/spl deg/) to obtain two directionally smoothed images at different scales. In this way, different scales of image data were obtained. In order to obtain edge points of single pixel width, the grad of different image scales is computed. The edge map is extracted from different image scales based on a uniform space condition. Application of this method to SAR images has shown that the effectiveness of the method is quite satisfactory.


Introduction. Recently, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become powerful human therapeutics in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Drugs based on mAbs are approved for the treatment of cardiovascular, respiratory, hematology, autoimmunology, and oncology diseases. Aim. To present the current state of knowledge about the application of mAbs in the therapy of various diseases such as cancer, autoimmune and Alzheimer's diseases. Material and methods. We conducted a thorough review of the scientific literature from the following databases: EBSCO, PubMed, Science Direct, and Springer Link. Results. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved more than 50 therapeutic mAbs which are applied in various clinical trials. Action of mAb are based on various mechanisms, including directly targeting the cells, modifying the host response, recognizing and degrading molecules as well as delivering cytotoxic moieties. Conclusion. Despite some limitations including side effects, and therapeutic challenges, monoclonal antibodies are an attractive option for the development of new therapies and molecular drug targets against a wide range of common diseases due to their specificity and flexibility. MAbs are considered as a great hope for medicine, and effective and safe drugs in the treatment of various diseases.


The relationships of client prognostic expectations and of level of Experiencing in psychotherapy with three variables of therapeutic change were explored in a correlational study that used 26 volunteer Ss who were in treatment with experienced therapists. A positive relationship was found between prognostic expectation and perceived improvement and a negative relationship between Experiencing and perceived improvement. The data also suggested positive relationships between Experiencing and cognitive change and attitude and cognitive change, while they provided no evidence for a relation between expectations and cognitive change.


Terahertz imaging is a burgeoning technique. In order to utilize it in nondestructive inspection, a novel THz imaging system, which based on continuous scanning system, was proposed. By experiment, the distinct images of different samples such as concealed coin or metal platelet with small holes were acquired. The result indicated that suspicious objects could be identified easily by this system. More important, the spatial resolution of this system could be less than 0.5 mm. So we can draw a conclusion that THz imaging could be applied in nondestructive inspection successfully.


The past several years have seen marked advances in technetium/rhenium chemistry applicable to the preparation of new 99mTc-labeled radiopharmaceuticals. This article focuses on recent developments in technetium chemistry, including the preparation of "3 + 1" complexes, the preparation and use of (99mTc[CO]3)+ complexes for labeling biomolecules, the preparation of rhenium steroid inclusion complexes, improvements in both hydrazinonicotinamide labeling chemistry and in the preformed 99mTc complex method of labeling biomolecules, and new solid-phase separation techniques that may allow the isolation of high specific-activity radiopharmaceuticals in a clinical setting.


The tracer diffusion of a liquid in a porous media was studied using the neutron spin echo technique. The samples used consisted of porous Vycor glass saturated with a mixture of D2O-H2O (64/36) water to match out the coherent small-angle scattering component due to the neutron scattering density contrast between water and the Vycor matrix, in order to reduce the small-angle neutron scattering and the chemical diffusion contribution to the quasi-elastic scattering. A series of measurements has been made in the Q range 0.07-0.14 AA-1 using the spin echo spectrometer IN11 at the ILL. This experiment in principle enables us to measure the tracer diffusion coefficient of the liquid within a pore and through the local pore network and hence to investigate the interconnectivity of these pores through a determination of


Chase (Biometrika (197h)) found a good approximation for the chi-barsquare (X 2) and E-bar-square ( 2) distributions for an important special case. These distributions are fundamental to the theory of order restricted tests. Chase had in mind the problem of comparing ordered dose levels with a control and considered the case where there are more observations on the control. He obtained a recursive relation for the limiting values of the coefficients in those distributions as the sample size on the control becomes infinite and the other sample sizes remain fixed and equal. His approximation is the result of an interpolation between critical values in this limiting case and critical values in the case where all the sample sizes are equal. Starting with Chase's formula we derive a sharper recursion relation and table the limiting coefficients. This allows one to determine approximate P-values; to use critical values not included in Chase's tables and to apply these approximations to testing problems where other versions of -2 the 2 and E distributions occur.


The positive inotropic effect of anthopleurin-A (AP-A) was studied in vitro on isolated cat heart papillary muscles and in vivo in anesthetized and conscious dogs. In vitro, in low Ca2+ solution (1.27 mM), AP-A increased the force of contractions of isolated cat heart papillary muscles at concentrations from 0.2 × 10-8 M and higher; on a molar basis, AP-A was more than 200 times as potent as digoxin and on a weight basis, 33 times as potent. In vivo in anesthetized dogs, AP-A at 0.2 μg/kg/min i.v. increased myocardial contractile force; the geometric mean dose of AP-A required to increase the contractile force by 25% was 2.6 μg/kg; the corresponding dose of digoxin (infused at 2.8 μg/kg/min) was 107.4 μg/kg. The geometric mean lethal dose of AP-A for 8 dogs was 19.3 and that of digoxin 263.2 μg/kg i.v. The therapeutic index of AP-A was significantly higher than that of digoxin. All animals that received either AP-A or digoxin died in ventricular fibrillation. The reversal of t-wave was typical for AP-A. As measured by left ventricular pressure telemetry. AP-A, 2 μg/kg i.v. single dose, increased LV dp/dt max in conscious dogs for longer than 2 hr.


Sleep monitoring systems that can be used in daily life for the assessment of personal health and early detection of diseases are needed. To this end, we are developing a system for unconstrained measurement of the lying posture, respiration and heartbeat of a person on a soft rubber-based tactile sensor sheet. The respiration and heartbeat signals can be detected from only particular locations on the tactile sensor, and the locations depend on the lying location and posture of the measured person. In this paper, we describe how to determine the measurement locations on the sensor. We also report a realtime program that detects the respiration rate and the heart rate by using this method.


The suitability of alternative media and mixes for the production of container vegetables was evaluated in the green house of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ebonyi State University. The design of th e experiment was a completely randomized design, (CRD). The treatments included 3 growth media (Top soil, Saw dust and rice husk) and their amended mixes; with Poultry droppings, Urea and NPK 15:15:15 respectively. These treatments were replicated 3 times; giving a total of 36 treatments unites. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was the test crop. The parameters measured were: soil texture, media chemical properties, Lettuce growth and yield. The data collected were analyzed statistically, using Analysis of Variance. Results showed that native top soil had superior physical and chemical properties for vegetable production compared to saw dust and rice husk. Mixing the saw dust or rice husk with poultry droppings, urea or NPK 15:15:15 improved the fertility status of the media. The results also showed that Lettuce performed significantly (P<0.05) better on the native top soil than on sawdust and rice husk. When the media were mixed with amendments, the lettuce grown on rice husk mixed with poultry dropping, top soil mixed with NPK 15:15:15, top soil mixed with poultry dropping, top soil mixed with urea and saw dust mixed with poultry dropping respectively, in that order produced significantly higher (P<0.05) Lettuce fresh weight (75, 66.20, 65.40, 53,20 and 48.30 grams) than the other treatments. Lettuce grown on rice husk mixed with poultry droppings, top soil mixed with poultry droppings and top soil mixed with NPK 15:15:15 had significantly larger (P<0.05) leaf area (18.27, 15.44 and 14.66 cm ) than the lettuce grown on 2 other mixes, whereas number of leaves were significantly higher (P<0.05) when lettuce was produced on rice husk mixed with poultry droppings, top soil mixed with poultry droppings, top soil mixed with urea, top soil mixed with NPK 15:15:15 and either top soil alone, rice husk mixed with urea or saw dust mixed with poultry droppings (18, 14, 12, 10 and 8) in that order than the lettuce grown on other mixes. In all, the best lettuce performance, in terms of significantly (P<0.05) taller plants, leaf area, higher number of leaves and fresh weight lettuce yield in the study was obtained by treating the rice husk with Poultry dropping than the other treatments. It was concluded that growing Lettuce on either Rice husk or saw dust treated with Poultry dropping could serve as alternative to soil in container vegetable production.


This study was carried out to develop a pepper-spiced flour based ethnic product "Robo" from melon and groundnut kernel with the aim of determining its nutritional quality and acceptability. Functional properties of defatted flours of groundnut and melon kernels were also determined. Crude protein (39.17 - 39.93%) and crude fat (16.80 - 17.53%) were found in groundnut "Robo" while crude protein (40.30 41.80%) and crude fat (17.70 - 17.73%) were found in melon "Robo". Pepper spiced "Robo" generally had higher fibre (7.70 - 8.00%) and ash (6.23 - 7.10%) content. Results indicate that pepper spiced "Robo" from groundnut and melon can be regarded as a nutritious snack as it contains appreciable amount of protein, fat, minerals and fibre, this could enhance the achievement of millennium development goals on nutrition in the ethnic locality. Sensory evaluation results indicate a better acceptance of pepper spiced "Robo" from groundnut based of taste, texture, crunchiness and overall acceptability. Defatted flours of groundnut and pepper were found to have high water absorption capacity (270.40 - 274.70%), oil absorption capacity (213.90 - 235.20%) and fat emulsion capacity (28.20 - 29.50%) which indicate their potential use in food formulation for bakery products where water and oil retention is critical.


Background and purpose Dislocation of a hip prosthesis is the 3rd most frequent cause (after loosening and infection) for hip revision in Norway. Recently there has been a shift in surgical practice including preferred head size, surgical approach, articulation, and fixation. We explored factors associated with the risk of revision due to dislocation within 1 year and analyzed the impact of changes in surgical practice. Patients and methods 111,711 cases of primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) from the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register were included (2005–2019) after primary THA with either 28 mm, 32 mm, or 36 mm femoral heads, or dual-mobility articulations. A flexible parametric survival model was used to calculate hazard ratios for risk factors. Kaplan–Meier survival rates were calculated. Results There was an increased risk of revision due to dislocation with 28 mm femoral heads (HR 2.6, 95% CI 2.0–3.3) compared with 32 mm heads. Furthermore, there was a reduced risk of cemented fixation (HR 0.6, CI 0.5–0.8) and reverse hybrid (HR 0.6, CI 0.5–0.8) compared with uncemented. Also, both anterolateral (HR 0.5, CI 0.4–0.7) and lateral (HR 0.6, CI 0.5–0.7) approaches were associated with a reduced risk compared with the posterior approach. The time-period 2010–2014 had the lowest risk of revision due to dislocation. The trend during the study period was towards using larger head sizes, a posterior approach, and uncemented fixation for primary THA. Interpretation Patients with 28 mm head size, a posterior approach, or uncemented fixation had an increased risk of revision due to dislocation within 1 year after primary THA. The shift from lateral to posterior approach and more uncemented fixation was a plausible explanation for the increased risk of revision due to dislocation observed in the most recent time-period. The increased risk of revision due to dislocation was not fully compensated for by increasing femoral head size from 28 to 32 mm.


Liquid resins based three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques such as stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP) show higher resolution and accuracy than other printing techniques, but their applications have been impeded by the limited materials selection and lack of functions. We here reported the preparation of luminescent resins for DLP-based 3D printing. Homogeneous dispersion of the fluorescent dyes was achieved by small acrylate molecules screening, and the cure depth studies was used to optimize both resin composition and printing parameters setting. In addition, we showed that the optical analysis of absorption and emission spectra is an important tool to reduce the complex mutual-interference of the light absorption of dye, photoinitiator and photo-absorber in the printable resin. We also developed the mater batch technique to tune the emitting colors in the whole visible range, together with white emitting. By using the developed resins, different 3D structures with different emitting colors were successfully printed by DLP technique. These results will further widen the applications of the liquid resins-based 3D printing techniques, and these luminescent resins show highly potential applications in education, lighting, UV converters, and so on. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44988.


In Denmark the increasing number of forensic mental health patients has led to prioritized services, including the area of nursing; however, this field is subject to sparse research. The aim of this study was to review existing research literature and in doing so investigate what characterizes forensic mental health staff interaction with forensic mental health inpatients and furthermore to investigate what significance these staff characteristics have for the inpatients. The literature review spans the period September 1997 to January 2009 and was based on a systematic keyword combination search in the following databases: CINAHL, CSB, PsycINFO, Scopus, Pubmed, MEDLINE and Sociological Abstracts. The articles were categorized using a literature matrix and analysed using content analysis. Seventeen quantitative and qualitative research studies were analysed. The results show that the interaction between forensic staff and forensic inpatients is characterized by two overriding themes: parentalistic & behaviour-changing care and relational & personal quality-dependent care. Only a few of the findings represent a clear account of how the interactional characteristics impact on the forensic inpatient. The conclusion is that no clear account of the patient impact issue can be reached at this point and that further investigation needs to take place.


DNA barcoding was used to identify prey fragments recovered from the stomachs of lionfish harvested during the 2016 Sarasota Lionfish Derby. A total of 305 prey fragments were recovered from 50 stomachs (mean = 4.6 per stomach), of which 184 (60.3%) fragments could be identified to either species or genus when Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) sequences were queried against the Barcode of Life Database. We identified 21 fish prey species which represented fourteen families and accounted for 95.7% of genetically identifiable prey items. The remaining prey items identified corresponded to six crustacean species. The four most common prey taxa in lionfish stomachs were Ptereleotris calliura (24.3%), an unidentified Microgobius species (20.4%), Diplectum formosum (14.3%), and Apogon aurolineatus (12.2%). The most frequently observed crustacean species, Metapenaeopsis goodei, was found in only three stomachs (6.1%). We also report eleven taxa as putative novel lionfish prey species, most of which are common in Florida waters. Sixteen prey items were identified as lionfish (P. volitans); however, it was not definitive whether these detections were due to cross contamination or cannibalization. This represents the first report of lionfish diets from Florida waters in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico based on barcoding efforts. Our results are largely congruent with previous COI barcoding based studies of lionfish diets, indicating these predators to be generalists exhibiting preferences for specific prey traits but with regional differences in their diets.


The liquid desiccant systems are one of the promising technologies in dehumidification applications. The experimental study on dehumidification performance of a counter flow structured packing liquid desiccant system is done with Aqueous HCO2K as working fluid. The HCO2K solution at different mass flow rate of air and solution is tested. The airflow rate is varied from 0.187 kg/s to 0.272 kg/s and the solution flow rate is varied from 0.053 to 0.115 kg/s. The output parameters, specific moisture change, moisture removal rate, dehumidification effectiveness and latent heat removal capacity varied in following ranges 3-4.2 g/kg of dry air, 2.4-3.1 kg/h, 0.12-0.21 and 1.7-2.1 kW respectively. Particularly when air flow rate increases from 0.187 kg/s to 0.272 kg/s the moisture removal performance improves about 11% whereas when the solution flow rate increases from 0.055 to 0.115 kg/s, improvement in moisture removal performance about 20%. The results imply that increase in solution flow rate always have the positive impact on dehumidification performance. The increase in airflow rate has the negative impact on specific moisture removal and effectiveness, but the impact is positive in case of the moisture removal rate and latent heat removal capacity. The Overall results show a promising dehumidification performance and further improvement is possible by incorporating a cooling system.


The tidal freshwater zone near the estuarine head-of-tide is potentially sensitive to both sea-level rise and associated salinity increases as well as changing watershed inputs of freshwater and nutrients. We evaluated the vegetation response of tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) to changes in nontidal river versus estuarine controls along the longitudinal gradient of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey rivers in the Mid-Atlantic USA. The gradient included nontidal freshwater floodplain (NT) and upper tidal (UT), lower tidal (LT), and stressed tidal forest transitioning to marsh (ST) TFFW habitats on both rivers. Plot-based vegetation sampling and dendrochronology were employed to examine: (1) downriver shifts in plant community composition and the structure of canopy trees, understory trees/saplings/shrubs and herbs, tree basal-area increment (BAI) and (2) interannual variability in BAI from 2015 dating back as far as 1969 in relation to long-term river and estuary monitoring data. With greater tidal influence downstream, tree species dominance shifted, live basal area generally decreased, long-term mean BAI of individual trees decreased, woody stem mortality increased, and live herbaceous vegetative cover and richness increased. Acer rubrum, Fagus grandifolia, Ilex opaca, and Fraxinus pennsylvanica dominated NT and UT sites, with F. pennsylvanica and Nyssa sylvatica increasingly dominating at more downstream tidal sites. Annual tree BAI growth was positively affected by nontidal river flow at NT and UT sites which were closer to the head-of-tide, positively influenced by small salinity increases at LT and ST sites further downstream, and positively influenced by estuarine water level throughout the gradient; nutrient influence was site specific with both positive and negative influences. The counterintuitive finding of salinity increasing tree growth at sites with low BAI is likely due to either competitive growth release from neighboring tree death or enhanced soil nutrient availability that may temporarily mitigate the negative effects of low-level salinization and sea-level increases on living TFFW canopy trees, even as overall plant community conversion to tidal marsh progresses.


By Nicholas Sirlouis, Biological Sciences
 Advisor: Julio Landero
 Presentation ID: AM_ATRIUM16
 Abstract: Aquaponics is a form of alternative agriculture that creates a symbiotic relationship between fish, plants, and bacteria to efficiently produce food without requiring the space, water, and fertilizer inputs necessary for traditional agriculture. Aquaponics has the potential to ease the demand on many resources if implemented on a larger scale. Though if these systems are to become widespread, options for pesticides must be considered. Preliminary studies have shown neem oil, an organic, FDA-approved pesticide to have great potential to work well for aquaponics systems, something not seen in the past. The focus of this study is to understand the effects of neem oil on the colonies and different species of nitrifying bacteria in the aquaponics systems. Four test systems will be treated with varying levels of neem oil and compared with two control systems. Bacteria levels will be tested, sampled, and speciated to determine the result of neem oil on these crucial nitrogen-fixing bacteria.


We consider non-intersecting random walks satisfying the condition that the increments have a finite moment generating function. We prove that in a certain limiting regime where the number of walks and the number of time steps grow to infinity, several limiting distributions of the walks at the midtime behave as the eigenvalues of random Hermitian matrices as the dimension of the matrices grows to infinity.


: Exogenous luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) administered in a wide range of doses (0.2-25 micrograms) to intact male marmoset monkeys induced a marked increased in plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations. Maximum LH concentrations achieved after injection of LH-RH occurred progressively later as the dosage increased. Bilateral orchidectomy sigificantly enhanced pituitary responsiveness to a standard dose (2.0 microgram) of LH-RH, whereas the introduction of oestradiol-17 beta implants effectively inhibited the responses. LH-RH-induced LH release after gonadectomy (with and without oestradiol-17 beta treatment) was similar in males and females. The use of marmosets for appropriate investigation into the physiological role of LH-RH in controlling LH secretion in primates is proposed.


In this paper, the reliability of rectangular plates without holes and containing a central circular hole under static tensile load has been studied. To investigate the initiation and evolution of damages, continuum damage mechanics approach together finite element has been used. Constitutive equations with scalar damage have been obtained for the plate and implemented in finite element code, ABAQUS. To analyze the probability of failure the first\second order reliability method have been used and then, limit state function and random variables according to the continuum damage mechanics model obtained. The force-displacement curves for various sizes of the hole are obtained. With the addition of a central hole in a plate with a diameter of 2 to 10 mm, failure load is reduced by approximately 60 to 80%, which is consistent with the concepts of stress concentration. Finally, the probability of failure of each plate with different hole sizes is approximated and sensitivity analysis on the coefficient of variation is performed. The reliability of the specimen with a diameter of 10 mm has the lowest value, while the plate without a hole has the highest value and among the random variables, the critical damage is the most effective one in reliability.


Summary 1. Carotenoids are a diverse group of organic compounds that function as important antioxidants and immunostimulants and are of particular importance to developing embryos and young birds. In addition, they constitute the majority of yellow to red hues in the integumentary pigments of birds. 2. We investigated the maternally derived carotenoid concentrations and balances in the yolks of eight European passerine species successfully introduced and abundant in New Zealand. Specifically, we addressed whether variation in maternally derived yolk carotenoids were related to phylogeny, integument coloration, native vs introduced distribution, breeding habitat and laying sequence. 3. Across species, the concentration and balance of carotenoids deposited in yolks varied significantly. Egg carotenoid concentration was positively associated with the occurrence of male carotenoid pigmented body regions. Carotenoid concentrations differed between agricultural habitat types within New Zealand but not between samples from New Zealand and Europe. Controlling for the differences among species, and among clutches within species, increased egg carotenoid concentrations were significantly associated with decreasing fresh egg mass and eggs laid earlier in the laying sequence. 4. We conclude that variability in the concentration and balance of carotenoids deposited in the egg yolk imply different relative roles for ecological and phylogenetic factors that warrant further investigation, both within and across species.


Anaemias with multivariate pathogenesis are frequently observed in chronic liver diseases. Among our patients 44.4 per cent (132 of 297) had an anaemia. The hepatogenic anaemia which appeared most frequently in patients with liver cirrhosis and carcinoma of the liver was in most cases normochromic (75 per cent), at a small proportion hypochromic (17.4 per cent) and rarely hyperchromic (7.6 per cent). Initial phases of an anaemia were more frequently registered by means of the counting of erythrocytes than by means of the determination of haemoglobin, which is to be traced back to the frequently existing volume macrocytosis. Leptomacrocytes, target cells and acanthocytes are observed as further forms of macrocytes in liver diseases. Among the possible individual factors the more frequently appearing latent and more rarely existing manifest haemolysis prevailed in 82 per cent of the examined patients. A hypersplenism, however, was present only in 24 per cent of the patients, vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency as well as signs of the ineffective erythropoiesis relatively more infrequently occurred. Additional occult haemorrhages or an increase of the plasma volume may lead to an anaemia in latent haemolysis. As to the diagnosis a basis programme and an enlarged programme are reported on. The therapy has to take into consideration the treatment of the basic disease and the deficiency conditions or disturbances established.


We report the mechanical spectroscopy study of the cold-rolling induced dynamical behavior of crystalline defects in nanocrystalline (NC) nickel. The results show that internal friction (IF) peaks in NC nickel can be induced by cold-rolling. An IF peak, originating from dislocation activity, occurs when the strain is in the range of 9.7–32.8%. Two Bordoni peaks occur when the strain is 39.0% and an IF peak associated with deformation twinning appears when the strain is 42.6%. These results mean that deformation of NC nickel is mediated by different kinds of defects as the strain increases.


Outdoor MIMO propagation tests were carried out in an urban area in the Danish city of Aalborg in order to investigate some parameters that affect cellular MIMO base-station antennas. We experimentally examined the 2-by-2 MIMO channel responses of base-station arrays with differently-spaced antennas. From these trials, a clear dependence was found between antenna spacing and fading correlation, going from about 0.6 to about 0.1 when the spacing is increased from 1 to 6 wavelengths. However, due to the overall low correlation, the corresponding MIMO capacity gain over SISO capacity only increases from about 1.78 to about 1.87, and thus only a small extra capacity obtained.


Survival analysis, the art of time-to-event modeling, plays an important role in clinical treatment decisions. Recently, continuous time models built from neural ODEs have been proposed for survival analysis. However, the training of neural ODEs is slow due to the high computational complexity of neural ODE solvers. Here, we propose an efficient alternative for flexible continuous time models, called Survival Mixture Density Networks (Survival MDNs). Survival MDN applies an invertible positive function to the output of Mixture Density Networks (MDNs). While MDNs produce flexible real-valued distributions, the invertible positive function maps the model into the time-domain while preserving a tractable density. Using four datasets, we show that Survival MDN performs better than, or similarly to continuous and discrete time baselines on concordance, integrated Brier score and integrated binomial log-likelihood. Meanwhile, Survival MDNs are also faster than ODE-based models and circumvent binning issues in discrete models.