Cloud Computing gains users to store their data into the cloud as the remotest manner so that they can be comforted from the trouble of local data save and maintenance. The user loses the control of his remotely located data. This feature has many security challenges such as the authority and integrity of data. One of the significant concerns that require to be addressed is to assure the user of the integrity i.e. rightness of his data in the cloud. Continuously, the user cannot access to cloud's data directly. So, the cloud must provide a technique for the user to ensure if the integrity of his data is protected or is compromised. In this paper, we propose the use of encrypted data integrity by presenting the feature extraction of handwriting signature in a modern encryption scheme that preserves the integrity of data in cloud server. Any prohibited data modification, removal, or addition can be detected by cloud user. Additionally, our proposed scheme presents a proof of data integrity in the cloud which the user can know the truth of his data in the cloud server. We employ user's handwritten signature to secure and integrate his data in cloud server. Extensive security and performance analyses view that our proposed scheme has highly efficient and provably secure. In addition, the performance time decreases and the compensation ratio of data integrity is increases.


We investigated changes in the Pt-Pt bond distance, particle size, crystallinity, and coordination of Pt nanoparticles as a function of particle size (1-3 nm) and adsorbate (H2, CO) using synchrotron radiation pair distribution function (PDF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements. The ∼1 nm Pt nanoparticles showed a Pt-Pt bond distance contraction of ∼1.4%. The adsorption of H2 and CO at room temperature relaxed the Pt-Pt bond distance contraction to a value close to that of bulk fcc Pt. The adsorption of H2 improved the crystallinity of the small Pt nanoparticles. However, CO adsorption generated a more disordered fcc structure for the 1-3 nm Pt nanoparticles compared to the H2 adsorption Pt nanoparticles. In situ XANES measurements revealed that this disorder results from the electron back-donation of the Pt nanoparticles to CO, leading to a higher degree of rehybridization of the metal orbitals in the Pt-adsorbate system.


The covalent structure of the rat liver 60 S ribosomal subunit protein L39 was determined. Fourteen tryptic peptides were purified, and the sequence of each was established by a micromanual procedure; they accounted for all 50 residues of L39. The sequence of the NH2-terminal 32 residues of L39, obtained by automated Edman degradation of the intact protein, provided the alignment of the first seven tryptic peptides. Two peptides, CNI (28 residues) and CNII (22 residues), were produced by cleavage of protein L39 with cyanogen bromide and the sequence of CNII was determined by automated Edman degradation. This  sequence established the order of tryptic peptides T8 through T14. The carboxyl-terminal amino acids were identified after carboxypeptidase A treatment. Protein L39 contains 50 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 7308. There are indications that a portion of rat L39 is related to a fragment of Escherichia coli ribosomal protein S 1.


My main objective in this paper is to formulate a view of pictorial realism I call 'hypothetical verity'.  It owes much to John Kulvicki but diverges from his view in an important respect: rather than thinking that realistic pictures are true to our conceptions of things, I hold that they are true to what things would be like if they existed.  In addition, I agree with Dominic Lopes that different realisms reflect different aspects of reality, but restate the case without recourse to symbol systems.  Together, the twin principles of hypothetical verity and aspectival absolutism constitute a theory of realism able to account for realistic fictional entities, the problem of revelatory realism and images that teach new information.


Software development is inherently incremental. Nowadays, many software companies adopt an agile process and a shorter release cycle, where software needs to be delivered faster with quality assurances. On the other hand, the majority of existing program analysis tools still target single versions of programs and are slow and inflexible to handle changes. In the popular version control systems such as git, the program changes are still presented using source code diffs. It is hard to understand what program conditions are changed and which source code lines cause them. In this paper, we propose to compute "invariant diffs" to specify changes. Similar to source diffs that report common code and code churns, we define version invariants to represent program conditions that are common across versions, and invariant churns to show the changes of program conditions between versions. We designed a static demand-driven, path-sensitive analysis to compute and compare invariants for multiple versions of programs using multiversion control flow graphs. We report invariant diffs at the matched program points where comparing invariants are meaningful. Importantly, our analysis correlates source diffs with invariant diffs to explain what source code changes lead to the property changes. We implemented our algorithms in a tool called $H_2$ and performed experiments on 104 versions of programs. Our results show that we are able to compute invariant diffs correctly within reasonable amount of time. The version invariants can capture the common properties of program versions even constructed by different persons, and the invariant churns can specify the semantics of changes such as how a patch changed a buggy condition to a correct condition.


The structure of a fluid of hard Gaussian overlap particles of elongation κ = 5, confined between two hard walls, has been calculated from density-functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations. By using the exact expression for the excluded volume kernel (Velasco E and Mederos L 1998 J. Chem. Phys. 109 2361) and solving the appropriate Euler-Lagrange equation entirely numerically, we have been able to extend our theoretical predictions into the nematic phase, which had up till now remained relatively unexplored due to the high computational cost. Simulation reveals a rich adsorption behaviour with increasing bulk density, which is described semi-quantitatively by the theory without any adjustable parameters.


This paper explores the heterogeneity of food consumption patterns in Europe. Estimates of the income elasticity of calorie demand are contrasted with those based on animal products. The dietary intake and the consumption of the main foods are analysed. The purpose is to outline the main dimensions of food consumption and identify the clusters of countries with homogeneous dietary patterns. The paper concludes with a discussion of the concept of hard core clusters.


The three gas sensors array was developed in this paper, and it was encapsulated through the Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technique. The gas sensors applied the heating unit to improve the sensitivity. The gas sensor which was sensitive to the special gas could be selected in the different application fields. The sampling experiments showed that the gas sensors have the higher sensitivity and better repeatability and cross sensitivity. Moreover, the pattern recognition algorithms based on a feedforward neural network were studied in the paper. They have the higher pattern recognition capacity, the convergence rate and simpler training method. The intelligent recognition system which adopted the gas sensor array and feedforward neural network was design. The recognition experiments showed the system has better identification effect and higher accuracy.


Typhlocharina is a diverse lineage of minute endogean Anillini (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae) formed by three genera endemic to the Mediterranean region. Four new species of Microcharidius Coiffait, 1969 from Extremadura (Spain) are described in this work, all of them sharing unusual features of the male genitalia: M. andujari sp.n., M. lencinai sp.n., M. serranoi sp.n., and M. aguiari sp.n. Male genitalia are very important in insect systematics, often bearing diagnostic features involved in prezygotic isolation processes. In Anillini, male genitalia comprise the aedeagus (median lobe and parameres) and ring sclerite, and the aedeagus has been used as a major taxonomic tool to discriminate species. Here we provide an in-depth revision of these structures in Typhlocharina bringing a comparative approach to evaluate their taxonomic potential. The morphological diversity of male genitalia is described in detail, including poorly studied or overlooked characters like ring sclerites, parameres, endophallic sclerites, and apical laminae of the median lobe. The results show phylogenetic patterns and diagnostic differences in male genitalia between Lusotyphlus Perez-Gonzalez, Andujar & Zaballos, 2017, Typhlocharis Dieck, 1869, and Microcharidius Coiffait, 1969. Male genitalic anatomy is found to be an efficient taxonomic tool for genus or clade-level recognition, but not for species-specific discrimination, except in a few cases of clear autapomorphies. Also, observed diversity in male genitalia does not have any obvious morphological correlates with the known diversity in female genitalia, but the prevalence of some types of aedeagi in species with unguiform gonocoxites suggests certain parallelisms. The affinities and novel features of the new species are discussed, highlighting the first cases of gradual transition and convergent evolution in acquisition of distinct male genital traits, probably associated with sexual isolation processes. Finally, we use the available data to explore the effect of size reduction in the proportions of male genitalia for first time in a whole lineage of endogean beetles.


Hundreds march. With security forces watching, mourners gather at the main Gugulethu cemetery during the funeral of two unrest victims, Andile Mankai and Shandile Plaatjies, both of Nyanga East, on Saturday. Hundreds of mourners marched to the cemetery under the green, gold and black flag of the South African National Congress and the banners of other organisations.


In 1947 we reported a consecutive series of 99 intussusception cases in infants and children from the Cook County Children's Hospital, covering a 21-year-period from 1925 to 1946. There was an over-all mortality of 19.1%. In the last 45 cases of this series, between 1941 and 1946, the mortality was 6.6%. Since this time another 10 years of experience with this disease has accumulated in this institution, and during this period 58 additional cases of intussusception have been encountered and treated. There were no mortalities among these patients. Two infants were admitted in extremis and died before treatment could be undertaken. These two cases are excluded from our present series (Table 1). In this series the pattern of age and sex incidence and frequency of the disease showed no significant change from that reported in the earlier series nor from that generally accepted. Of the 58 patients, 36 were 1


The article is dedicated to the problem of the transition of high school to a new paradigm of the formation of the information society by digitalizing the educational process. Readers are offered the results of an empirical study, aimed at answering the question of whether online learning really forms new educational attitudes for modern students, that correspond to the values of the information society readiness for the autonomous production of knowledge and improvement of skills for solving non-traditional tasks, or students only go through this experience only as a more convenient, resource-saving form of study. In addition, studies assesed the social effectiveness of today's online education. Basic provisions of the concept of smart education, the results of developments in the field of economics of higher education, elements of the theory of social representations, principles, and methods of the institutional tradition of the sociology of higher education were used as the methodological framework of the study. The results of a set of sociological studies, undertaken to test the main hypothesis, are presented. The first was aimed at identifying the social ideas of digital education among students, who had never studied online. The second continues in the form of monitoring satisfaction and self-assessment of a student learning experience in specific online courses on the disciplines, included in the main educational programs of one of the leading technical universities in Russia. The authors of the article revealed a great interest and generally positive attitude of students, regardless of the presence or absence of their corresponding educational experience in online learning. Most students of online courses noted, that it is more interesting and effective to study this way, however, classes in a traditional form provide more solid and clear knowledge. At the same time, whether is there a transition of higher education to the principles of a smart paradigm is being carried out at the present stage of the digitalization of higher education remains unclear. Firstly, there is no sufficient data on a significant increase in the effectiveness of educational activities. It is possible only to record the growth of student satisfaction with their academic performance. Secondly, there is a problem of self-organization of the system. Finally, the degree of readiness of students, who have completed online learning, to independently produce knowledge and solve nonstandard problems is not clear. Rather, on the contrary, the more difficult the mastered professional discipline becomes, the more students need the help of a teacher. Hybrid formats are recognized as the most functional option for teaching students, especially senior courses of both levels of education.


Conflicts between groups are among the most challenging problems of mankind. They arise as groups compete for the possession of certain scarce resources. Under what conditions does such competition lead to conflict or to a peaceful coexistence? Why do individual group members, despite the likelihood of being harmed, voluntarily become involved in conflicts? Social Networks and Intergroup Conflict explores how decisions of individuals in competitive intergroup relations are influenced by their social network and by a common past and future. Social network effects are studied with a specific focus on the segregation effect. It is shown how these effects arise from individual actions that are constrained by social control which takes place in the individuals network neighborhood. The study reveals conditions under which social control has positive or negative effects on individual participation in conflict. It shows the mechanisms through which social control operates and affects intergroup relations. In repeated interactions it is analyzed how and to what extent individuals apply behavioral heuristics that are driven by past experience or are based on future expectations. This study examines these questions using analytical, computer simulation and experimental tools in order to promote methods of conflict resolution.


"Tell Me a Riddle" renders an unforgettable portrait of a working-class couple when the gender-determined differences in their experiences of poverty and familial life give rise to bitter conflict after almost four decades of marriage. As she dies of cancer, Eva, the protagonist, recollects a revolutionary past that both critiques and offers hope for the present. Deborah Rosenfelt's introduction and the essays in this volume survey the critical reception of this highly acclaimed story, analyze its biographical and historical contexts, examine the text's language, structure, and spiritual and moral significance, and illuminate Olsen's relationship to the American Midwest, the American left, and the Jewish enlightenment tradition. This casebook includes an introduction by the editor, a chronology of Olsen's life, an authoritative text of "Tell Me a Riddle," relevant essays by Olsen, seven critical essays, and a bibliography. The contributors are Joanne Trautmann Banks, Constance Coiner, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Mara Faulkner, Elaine Neil Orr, Linda Ray Pratt, and Deborah Silverton Rosenfelt.


Background Perioperative therapy offers the opportunity to measure biological response to treatment in the primary tumor in early breast cancer (EBC), enhancing prospects for personalised medicine. Perioperative trials form an expanding component of the UK national breast cancer trials portfolio. Unlike traditional neoadjuvant studies, activity dovetails around timelines for standard treatment with no planned delay to primary surgery. Tissue samples collected prior to randomisation (baseline) & again at surgery address key biological endpoints & are essential for perioperative studies. Methods: As the UK9s largest perioperative trial, POETIC (ER+ve postmenopausal EBC, +/− aromatase inhibitor therapy, biomarker & disease outcome) aims to recruit 4000 patients from 100+ centres. EPHOS-B (HER2+ve EBC, +/− lapatinib or trastuzumab) focuses on biomarker endpoints & aims to recruit 250 patients. Barriers to recruitment included 1) integration of research protocols into busy breast surgical clinics, extending a clinical trials culture across a multidisciplinary breast diagnostic team, & ensuring appropriate GCP training, 2) satisfying requirements for storing research tissue, 3) complying with government cancer wait times, 4) obtaining biomarker results within required timelines 5) ensuring completeness & quality of tissue samples. Additional challenges for EPHOS-B include managing requirements for scheduling of oncological therapy (e.g. trastuzumab) in pre-operative setting, delivery of such therapy outside the randomising hospital & rapid access to cardiac screening before randomisation. Results: The following strategies were developed to overcome barriers 1) increasing collaborative working at sites & adopting a pragmatic approach to type of tissue required. Centres choose to provide both FFPE tissue & tissue in RNA-later, or FFPE tissue only; 2) working with national regulators to agree interpretation of current legislation in designation of when tissue is "in transit" (enabling it to reside outside a tissue bank) & "research" tissue (where transfer to a tissue bank is required); 3) agreement with government that procedures integral to perioperative trials comply with cancer wait times; 4) promoting reorganisation of site processes for obtaining essential biomarker results; 5) pilot lab work to inform site guidance on tissue collection procedures to ensure quality of samples received. A tracking database allows completeness of tissue samples to be monitored. Work to improve timelines for HER2 testing in EPHOS-B is ongoing, & challenges of delivering anti-HER2 therapy in this setting have been addressed. Conclusions: Assessment of biological response to therapy in the primary tumor in EBC within national trials is feasible. Many barriers faced by POETIC have been overcome, & with recruitment now 100+ patients per month, newer centres benefit from earlier experience. Lessons learnt in POETIC apply to EPHOS-B, allowing investigators to focus on resolving more challenging issues specific to that trial. In many centres both trials have been important drivers in improving timeliness of molecular testing & therefore benefited the patient pathway in general as well as securing high quality trial data. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-03-04.


Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the main etiological agent of infectious mononucleosis, is the most oncogenic lymphotropic human herpesvirus known. EBV has been found to be associated with a variety of lymphoid and nonlymphoid malignancies. For example, 100% of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) of the undifferentiated and poorly differentiated types are associated with EBV. NPC is a highly prevalent tumor in Southeast Asia, North Africa, and some indigenous populations of North America. Serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to EBV capsid antigen (VCA) are of diagnostic and prognostic value for this tumor (reviewed in reference 2). These antibodies are detectable as early as is NPC and are thus critical for early diagnosis of NPC as well as for monitoring its recurrence and progression. Testing for serum anti-VCA IgA is widely used for the predictive diagnosis of NPC. A limitation of this test is that a proportion of NPC patients remain negative for these antibodies (3). As part of our work with specific immune responses to the EBV major envelope glycoprotein gp350 in different EBVassociated diseases, we compared anti-VCA IgA and gp350specific IgA titers in sera obtained (after written and informed consent was given) from 40 Malaysian NPC patients. The sera were titrated for anti-VCA IgA and anti-gp350 IgA by immunofluorescence (1, 4). As shown in Table 1, 70% of these sera were positive for anti-VCA IgA whereas 60% were positive for anti-gp350 IgA. Six sera positive for anti-VCA IgA (at a 1:10 dilution) were negative for gp350-specific IgA. More importantly, two serum samples (5%) that were scored negative for the presence of anti-VCA IgA (at a 1:10 dilution) were positive for gp350-specific IgA (Table 1). These results suggest the existence of differential humoral immune responses to these two viral antigens in NPC patients and underscore the point that determining anti-gp350 IgA antibody titers is of diagnostic value for NPC in individuals who remain negative for antiVCA IgA. Although anti-gp350 IgA has been detected in the sera of a low proportion of healthy EBV-seropositive individuals, their titers are significantly lower than those found in NPC sera (1, 5). In our test system, in which we use gp350expressing T-cell clones in membrane immunofluorescence assays (1) and the cells are examined with a flow cytometer, sera from some healthy EBV-seropositive individuals were found to be positive for anti-gp350 IgA at dilutions of #1:10. The two above-mentioned NPC sera were positive for anti-gp350 IgA at dilutions of $1:20. Thus, relatively high anti-gp350 IgA titers in sera (from NPC patients) that are negative for anti-VCA IgA may be predictive of NPC, and therefore detection of IgA to gp350 should complement anti-VCA IgA tests for early diagnosis of this tumor. As EBV is associated with different lymphoproliferative disorders and various tumors, it will also be of interest to determine gp350-specific serum IgA profiles in patients with these diseases.


The World Wide Web su ers from scaling and reliability problems due to overloaded servers and congested routers. Caching at local proxy servers helps, but cannot satisfy more than a third to half of the requests; most requests must still be sent to the original HTTP server or to a higher level cache. This dissertation develops a protocol for cooperative distributed caching between proxy servers, known as server-directed proxy sharing (SDP). The goals of SDP are to reduce network contention, end-user response time, and denial of service incidents by distributing requests to caches on routes with more available bandwidth. SDP is designed to match characteristics of the HTTP protocol and web tra c patterns. For example, SDP takes advantage of web page structure by having the server piggyback a list of cache sites onto the page's HTML text. This allows the requestor to retrieve embedded images simultaneously from several cache sites, which decreases response time and better distributes network tra c. Server contact is further reduced by having caches lazily share directory information when they return requested objects. Dissertation work will consist of three phases. The rst task is to characterize HTTP server workloads by collecting local traces, analyzing them and comparing results to published studies. In the second phase, an analytical event-driven simulation will be used to evaluate the cache system. In the nal phase a prototype version will be implemented. The contribution of this dissertation lies both in the protocol design and in the simulation work. Previous simulation studies of Web caching systems modeled single Web servers without including network tra c, and used Web server traces to drive the simulation. Such simulations cannot compute response time or network congestion, and typically rely upon server load metrics such as bytes/sec and requests/sec to evaluate cache designs. I intend to develop a more predictive network cache simulator by 1) using analytical rather than trace workloads, and 2) adapting a network simulator to model interactions of network tra c generated by multiple Web servers and multiple cache sites. The ultimate goal of this simulation will be to determine whether we can provide realistic predictions of response time and network congestion for various caching protocols and workloads. SDP is designed to t into the existing Web infrastructure; it operates at the applications layer and can be built on top of existing HTTP servers and proxy servers. The advantage of this approach is that SDP works with current network layer protocols and Web software, making it easy to distribute and install a prototype across the Internet. 1


We evaluate the spontaneous emission rate (Purcell) enhancement for optically-doped metal-dielectric-semiconductor light-emitting structures by considering the behavior of a semiclassical oscillating point dipole placed within the dielectric layer. For a Ag-SiO(2)-Si structure containing emitters at the center of a 20-nm-thick SiO(2) layer, spontaneous emission rate enhancements of 40 to 60 can be reached in the wavelength range of 600 to 1800 nm, far away from the surface plasmon resonance; similar enhancements are also possible if Al is used instead of Ag. For dipoles contained in the thin oxide layer of a Ag-SiO(2)-Si-SiO(2) structure, the emission exhibits strong preferential coupling to a single well-defined Si waveguide mode. This work suggests a means of designing a new class of power-efficient, high-modulation-speed, CMOS-compatible optical sources that take full advantage of the excellent electrical properties and plasmon-enhanced op cal properties afforded by MOS devices.


Although numerous effective therapies have improved the survival rate of patients with breast cancer, a number of patients present with tumor recurrence and metastasis. A liquid biopsy of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is a non-invasive method to obtain tumor cells and may be used as substitute for a tumor tissue biopsy. The present study focuses on determining whether CTC culture is an optimal method of obtaining sufficient amounts of CTCs for molecular analysis. The current study demonstrates a method of isolating and culturing CTCs from patients with breast cancer and the construction of a molecular profile of cultured cells using the Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Gene Panel V2. Gene mutations that were observed in cultured CTCs were compared with those observed in primary tumor tissues. CTCs were isolated and cultured from the blood of six patients with breast cancer. Mutations from the Catalogue Of Somatic Mutation In Cancer (COSMIC) were detected in Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha, MET (also known as Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor), Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog, Harvey Rat Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homolog, SWI/SNF Related, Matrix Associated, Actin Dependent Regulator of Chromatin Subfamily B Member 1, Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibitor 2A and MutL Homolog 1 genes in 5/6 samples. A comparison between mutations detected in cultured CTCs and mutations detected in primary tumor tissues demonstrated that a large number of mutations that were identified in CTCs were also detected in primary tumor tissues. The results from the current study describe a novel cell culture approach that may be used to obtain an optimal number of CTCs for molecular analysis. This novel approach is able to be used as a tool for liquid biopsy during breast cancer treatment.


Introduction Chronic non-asthmatic cough (CC) is a clinical challenge and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain still not completely understood. One of the most common comorbidities in CC is gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Airway epithelium damage can contribute to airway inflammation in CC. Aims We studied airway inflammation in patients with CC compared to healthy controls. Patients with GORD were treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and cough response to PPI was evaluated. Patients and methods Sputum was induced in 41 adults with CC and 20 healthy non-smokers who were age and sex matched. We compared sputum differential cell count by cytospin and cytokine and chemokine production at the mRNA and/or protein levels by real-time (RT)-PCR and cytokine bead array (CBA), between patients with CC and healthy subjects. Furthermore we studied airway inflammation in patients with different comorbidities. Results No differences in sputum differential cell counts were observed between patients with CC and healthy subjects. Sputum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) protein levels were significantly higher in patients when compared to controls. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) mRNA was significantly more often expressed in sputum of patients with CC than from healthy controls. Sputum transforming growth factor (TGF)-β levels did not differ between patients and controls, but were significantly lower in the PPI responders compared to the non-responders; p=0.047. There is no evidence for impaired T helper cell (Th)1/Th2/Th17 balance in CC. Patients with reflux oesophagitis (RO) have significantly more sputum eosinophils than patients without RO. Conclusions CC is a condition presenting with different disease phenotypes. High sputum MCP-1 levels are present in a large group of patients with CC and a majority of these patients with CC have increased sputum TSLP levels, most likely produced by damaged airway epithelial cells.


Inscriptions have mainly been discussed as an important source to aid the analysis of the nature and extent of state control over production and manufacture in Chinese history. This essay takes a different approach and discusses the conceptual development of inscriptions with a view toward their potential as an instrument to inspire trust. The aim is new insight into how Chinese culture historically implemented, expressed, and received rights within material production. This reveals some of the factors that affected practical knowledge transmission in Chinese culture. Starting with inscribed bricks, the article dissects textual sources and the complex world of inscribed artifacts and their purposes. The Ming state originally established the practice of inscribing names and dates to regulate responsibilities and rights within material production. Toward the end of the Ming period, the private sector increasingly focused on inscriptions as a means to propagate the origin and ownership of goods. Inscriptions thus were utilized to regulate both production and use. How did the Ming state conceptualize inscriptions? On which basis could the shift from production marker to ownership claim take place, and how was it received? The answers to these and similar questions are highly relevant, as methods of control and their implementation indicate actual practices of appropriation, in contrast to the ideals pursued in official or private documentation. Situating utilitarian usages within the larger landscape of inscription practices and regulatory mechanisms indicates the broader landscape within which technological development took place in Chinese culture.


Abstract Mitigation options to reduce the risk of foreign animal disease entry into the United States may lead to degradation of some vitamins. The objective of Exp. 1 was to determine the impact of 0, 30, 60, or 90 d storage time on water-soluble vitamin (riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and cobalamin) stability when vitamin premix (VP) and vitamin trace mineral premix (VTM) were blended with 1% inclusion of medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) (1:1:1 blend of C6:C8:C10) or mineral oil (MO) with different environmental conditions. Samples stored at room temperature (RT) (approximately 22 °C) or in an environmentally controlled chamber set at 40 °C and 75% humidity, high temperature high humidity (HTHH). The sample bags were pulled out at day 0, 30, 60, and 90 for RT condition and HTHH condition. Therefore, treatments were analyzed as a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial, with two premix types (vitamin premix vs. VTM), two oil types (MO vs. MCFA), two storage conditions (RT vs. HTHH), and three time points (day 30, 60, and 90). The objective of Exp. 2 was to determine the effect of heat pulse treatment and MCFA addition on water-soluble vitamin (riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and cobalamin) stability with two premix types. A sample from each treatment was heated at 60 °C and 20% humidity. Therefore, treatments were analyzed as a 2 × 2 factorial, with two premix types (VP vs. VTM) and two oil types (MO vs. MCFA). For Exp. 1, the following effects were significant for riboflavin: main effect of premix type (P < 0.0001), storage condition (P = 0.015), and storage time (P < 0.0001); for pantothenic acid: premix type × storage time × storage condition (P = 0.003) and premix type × oil type (P < 0.0001) interactions; and for cobalamin: premix type × storage condition (P < 0.0001) and storage time × storage condition (P < 0.0001) interactions and main effect of oil type (P = 0.018). The results of Exp. 2 demonstrated that there was an interaction between oil type and premix type for only pantothenic acid (P = 0.021). The oil type did not affect the stability of riboflavin, niacin, or cobalamin and pantothenic acid stability was not different within similar premixes. The only difference in water-soluble vitamin stability between VP and VTM was for pantothenic acid (P < 0.001). The results of this experiment demonstrated that the stability of water soluble vitamins are dependent on the vitamin of interest and the conditions at which it is stored.


ABSTRACT We describe the first case of gastritis in a male Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) in which members of the family Helicobacteraceae, particularly the genus Wolinella, were detected. The sea lion exhibited clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease, including abdominal pain, lack of appetite, and lethargy. Examination of one ileal and five gastric biopsy specimens collected over a 10-year period revealed persistent fibrosis and/or superficial focal erosion and ulceration of the lamina propria. Spiral-shaped organisms 5 to 12 μm long were observed in two of the gut biopsy specimens. While Helicobacter species were detected by PCR in one of the gastric biopsy specimens, Wolinella species were detected in four of the five gastric specimens, including those in which spiral-shaped organisms were observed. Comparisons of biopsy specimen ribosomal DNA sequences with those obtained from the feces of this animal, the gastric tissue of a clinically healthy individual, and the feces of several other cohoused sea lions and fur seals revealed a separate and possibly novel gastric Helicobacter species. A possibly novel Wolinella species, along with Wolinella succinogenes, was also identified. These findings highlight the pathogenic potential of other members of this family in the etiopathogenesis of gastric disease in these animals.


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Abstract. A new flightless hemerobiid species, Nusalala brachyptera, collected at high elevation in Costa Rica, is described and illustrated, and a variety of data relevant to the evolution of flightlessness in the family Hemerobiidae are reviewed. Flightlessness due to brachyptery has evolved independently in at least five monophyletic [= holophyletic] lineages of the family Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings). Volant hemerobiids are primarily foliage foraging arboreal predators [presumed ancestral condition], while flightless species are predominantly associated with terricolous‐type microhabitats (e.g. ground‐litter, epiphytic mosses) [presumed derived condition]. These differences suggest a significant habitat shift for flightless hemerobiid species, and that the parallel evolution of flightlessness and brachyptery in hemerobiids are shared responses to the conditions of a terricolous existence. The restriction of most flightless hemerobiid species to insular and/or montane/alpine land areas may be related to the typically depauperate nature of the faunas of such areas. This faunal characteristic may facilitate transitions from arboreality to terricolousness by presenting ancestrally arboreal predators such as hemerobiids with novel ecological opportunities in terricolous microhabitats.


Gravitational wave astronomy has tremendous potential for studying extreme astrophysical phenomena and exploring fundamental physics. The waves produced by binary black hole mergers will provide a pristine environment in which to study strong field, dynamical gravity. Extracting detailed information about these systems requires accurate theoretical models of the gravitational wave signals. If gravity is not described by General Relativity, analyses that are based on waveforms derived from Einstein's field equations could result in parameter biases and a loss of detection efficiency. A new class of "parameterized post-Einsteinian" (ppE) waveforms has been proposed to cover this eventuality. Here we apply the ppE approach to simulated data from a network of advanced ground based interferometers (aLIGO/aVirgo) and from a future spaced based interferometer (LISA). Bayesian inference and model selection are used to investigate parameter biases, and to determine the level at which departures from general relativity can be detected. We find that in some cases the parameter biases from assuming the wrong theory can be severe. We also find that gravitational wave observations will beat the existing bounds on deviations from general relativity derived from the orbital decay of binary pulsars by a large margin across a wide swath of parameter space.


Natural products have traditionally been discovered through the screening of culturable microbial isolates from all sort of environments. The sequencing revolution allowed the identification of dozens of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) within single bacterial genomes, either from cultured or uncultured strains. However, we are still far from fully exploiting the microbial reservoir, as most of the species are non-model organisms with complex regulatory systems and yet recalcitrant to be engineered. Today, genomic and metagenomic data produced by laboratories worldwide covering the most different natural and artificial environments on Earth, are an invaluable source of raw information from which natural product biosynthesis can be accessed. In the present work, we describe the environmental distribution and evolution of the abyssomicin BGC through the analysis of publicly available genomic and metagenomic data. Our results demonstrate that the selection of a pathway-specific enzyme to direct the genome mining is an excellent strategy that led to the identification of 74 new Diels-Alderase homologs and unveiled a surprising prevalence of the abyssomicin BGC within terrestrial habitats, mainly soil and plant-associated, where we have identified five complete and 12 partial new abyssomicin BGCs and 23 new potential abyssomicin BGCs. Our results strongly support the potential of genome and metagenome mining as a key preliminary tool to inform bioprospecting strategies aiming at the identification of new bioactive compounds such as -but not restricted to-abyssomicins.


The high proliferation rate of population and their over growing demands for foods that rely on environment and natural resources resulted in evaluation and recognition of more inputs, in particular soil and water resources. In this regard, mapping the soil properties is considered as well-adopted approach to provide fundamental information related to land resources. As a branch of applied statistics, geostatistics uses the collected information sampled location to provide a broad range of estimates concerning the land properties in unsampled locations. In the present study, we evaluated the performance of estimates kriging, inverse distance weighting, and Cokriging to map some of the soil quality properties in chat fields of Golestan province located in northern part of Iran. We measured percentage of clay, silt, sand, calcium carbonate, organic carbon, and concentrations of micronutrients such as iron, copper, zinc, manganese, and concentrations of macronutrients including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus as main parameters affecting the soil quality. Sampling was performed on grids 250 A— 250 meters in 35 points of the depth of 20 cm. After data normalization, experimental semivariograms was drawn. For Kriging and Cokriging estimation we utilized spherical, exponential, circular, and Gaussian models, and to estimate variables using Inverse Distance Weighting, the parameters of 1-5 power was used. Kriging method was found to the two other methods for estimation of soil properties under study. For the estimation of electrical conductivity and soil' iron content, the Kriging and Cokriging showed the best estimation of results. However, to estimate the other parameters of soil (sand, organic carbon, pH and lime) inverse distance weighting method with power one was found to have the least error leading to the best interpolation. Finally, considering the best method of interpolation, zoning maps of soil quality properties was created in the GIS.


Leaching of a pyritic and a pure chalcopyrite concentrate was carried out in stirred tank reactors in the absence and presence of a mixed culture of moderately thermophilic microorganisms at 45°C and pH 1.5. To study the effect of microbial activity on copper dissolution, the abiotic experiments were performed under accurately controlled redox potential conditions to reproduce the same oxidising conditions recorded during the bioleaching experiments. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) was used to study the surface of chalcopyrite chips leached for different durations. The results showed that the microorganisms in cases of both concentrates did not have any effect in the copper leaching efficiency other than oxidation of ferrous to ferric ions. Biooxidation of elemental sulphur did not improve the leaching efficiency and bulk and surface jarosite had no negative effect on dissolution. A composite layer composed of mainly elemental sulphur and iron-oxy-hydroxide was found to be responsible for the hindered dissolution.


ABSTRACT Technologies are transforming the understanding of adipose tissue as a complex and dynamic tissue that plays a critical role in energy homoeostasis and metabolic health. This mini-review provides a brief overview of the potential impact of novel technologies in biomedical research and aims to identify areas where these technologies can make the most significant contribution to adipose tissue research. It discusses the impact of cutting-edge technologies such as single-cell sequencing, multi-omics analyses, spatial transcriptomics, live imaging, 3D tissue engineering, microbiome analysis, in vivo imaging, and artificial intelligence/machine learning. As these technologies continue to evolve, we can expect them to play an increasingly important role in advancing our understanding of adipose tissue and improving the treatment of related diseases.


1. Rat liver microsomal preparations incubated with 200mM-NaCl at either 0 or 30 degrees C released about 20-30% of the membrane-bound UDP-galactose-glycoprotein galactosyl-transferase (EC 126.96.36.199) into a 'high-speed' supernatant. The 'high-speed' supernatant was designated the 'saline wash' and the galactosyltransferase released into this fraction required Triton X-100 for activation. It was purified sixfold by chromatography on Sephadex G-200, and appeared to have a higher molecular weight than the soluble serum enzyme. 2. Rat serum galactosyltransferase was purified 6000-7000-fold by an affinity-chromatographic technique using a column of activated Sepharose 4B coupled with alpha-lactalbumin. The purified enzyme ran as a single broad band on polacrylamide gels and contained no sialytransferase, N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase and UDP-galactose pyrophosphatase activities. 3. The highly purified enzyme had properties similar to those of both soluble and membrane-bound galactosyltransferase. It required 0.1% Triton X-100 for stabilization, but lost activity on freezing. The enzyme had an absolute requirement for Mn2+, not replaceable by Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ or Co2+. It was active over a wide pH range (6-8) and had a pH optimum of 6.8. The apparent Km for UDP-galactose was 12.5 x 10(-6) M. Alpha-Lactalbumin had no appreciable effect on UDP-galactose-glycoprotein galactosyltransferase, but it increased the specificity for glucose rather than for N-acetylglucosamine, thus modifying the enzyme to a lactose synthetase. 4. The possibility of a conversion of higher-molecular-weight liver enzyme into soluble serum enzyme is discussed, especially in relation to the elevated activities of this and other glycosyltransferases in patients with liver diseases.


Architecture simulators play an important role in exploring frontiers in the early stages of the architecture design. However, the execution time of simulators increases with an increase the number of cores. The sampling simulation technique that was originally proposed to simulate single-core processors is a promising approach to reduce simulation time. Two main hurdles for multi/many-core are preparing sampling points and thread skewing at functional simulation time. This paper proposes a very simple and low-error sampling-based acceleration technique for multi/many-core simulators. For a parallelized application, an iteration of a large loop including a parallelizable program part, is defined as a sampling unit. We apply X-means method to a profile result of the collection of iterations derived from a real machine to form clusters of those iterations. Multiple iterations are exploited as sampling points from these clusters. We execute the simulation along the sampling points and calculate the number of total execution cycles. Results from a 16-core simulation show that our proposed simulation technique gives us a maximum of 443x speedup with a 0.52% error and 218x speedup with 1.50% error on an average.


The Au/Co superlattices are known to exhibit strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. However, the remanence and coercivity of the epitaxial superlattices reported in earlier papers were rather small at room temperature. In this study, we have prepared epitaxial Au/Co superlattices with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy that possess full remanence and considerable coercivity at room temperature. The samples were grown on 5-nm-thick Cu seed layers formed primarily on 7×7-(111)Si substrates at 50°C by molecular beam epitaxy.


Hepatitis D virus is a defective human pathogen that requires hepatitis B virus for its replication. A hybridization‐based assay for the 1.75 kb RNA genome of hepatitis D virus was developed using as probe a radiolabeled transcript of a cloned cDNA fragment (pKD3 hepatitis D virus DNA). Sera from 120 chronic carriers of HBsAg with confirmed hepatitis D virus infection were analyzed for the presence of hepatitis D virus RNA. Serum hepatitis D virus RNA was detected in 43 of 74 (58%) patients with chronic liver disease; some patients were positive for hepatitis D virus RNA in multiple samples over a period of several years. Serum hepatitis D virus RNA was present in 17 of 28 (61%) patients during the acute phase of clinical hepatitis and was not detected after recovery from acute disease or in 18 asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers with antibody to hepatitis D virus. The presence of hepatitis D virus RNA correlated with other known markers of active hepatitis D virus replication; all chronic active liver disease patients with serum hepatitis D virus RNA were positive for antihepatitis D antigen IgM, and 34 of 37 (92%) had hepatitis D antigen in their liver biopsy specimens.


A sample of 25 QSOs was used to investigate the average spectrum between the soft X-ray energy band of the Einstein Observatory image proportional counter, and the higher energy band of the HEAO 1 A2 experiment. The spectrum is similar to those exhibited by Seyfert galaxies and narrow emission line galaxies above 2 keV. The spectrum is soft enough that if these objects are typical of the higher red shift, more radio-quiet QSOs, then it is possible to exclude QSOs as being the dominant origin of the diffuse X-ray background.


Abstract. The simulation of intraseasonal precipitation variability over China in extended
summer (May–October) is evaluated based on six climate simulations of the
Met Office Unified Model. Two simulations use the Global Atmosphere 6.0 (GA6)
and four the Global Coupled 2.0 (GC2) configuration. Model biases are large
such that mean precipitation and intraseasonal variability reach twice their
observed values, particularly in southern China. To test the impact of
air–sea coupling and horizontal resolution, GA6 and GC2 at horizontal
resolutions corresponding to ∼25 , 60, and 135 km at 50 ∘  N are
analyzed. Increasing the horizontal resolution and adding air–sea coupling
have little effect on these biases. Pre-monsoon rainfall in the Yangtze River
basin is too strong in all simulations. Simulated rainfall amounts in June
are too high along the southern coast and persist in the coastal region
through July, with only a weak northward progression. The observed northward
propagation of the Meiyu–Baiu–Changma rainband from spring to late summer
is poor in all GA6 and GC2 simulations. To assess how well the MetUM
simulates spatial patterns of temporally coherent precipitation, empirical
orthogonal teleconnection (EOT) analysis is applied to pentad-mean
precipitation. Patterns are connected to large-scale processes by regressing
atmospheric fields onto the EOT pentad time series. Most observed patterns of
intraseasonal rainfall variability are found in all simulations, including
the associated observed mechanisms. This suggests that GA6 and GC2 may
provide useful predictions of summer intraseasonal variability despite their
substantial biases in mean precipitation and overall intraseasonal variance.


Many towns have special events. However, one town in England has a pretty unusual one. At the start, someone pushes a piece of cheese down a hill. Then, the people run after the cheese. And after that? Well, things get pretty funny! What happens?


We discuss the use of operations research methods for computer-aided design of mechanical transmission systems. We consider how to choose simultaneously transmission ratios and basic design parameters of transmission elements (diameters, widths, modules and tooth number for gears, diameters of shafts). The objectives, by the order of importance, are: to minimize the deviation of the obtained speeds from desired; to maximize the transmission life; to minimize the total mass. To solve this problem, we propose a multi-level decomposition scheme in combination with methods of quadratic and dynamic programming. Some industrial cases are solved. For these cases, the developed software tool improves the design decisions by decreasing total metal consumption of the transmission as much as 7-10% and considerable simplifies the work of the designer.


Climate change is disrupting our environment and business‐as‐usual practices will fail to reverse its impact. This paper focuses on the impact of the building sector and, in particular, it questions the energy and environmental benefits of advanced integrated and more conventional building‐applied photovoltaic (PV) systems, compared to a traditional municipality utility supply. A demonstration project named the ecological living module (ELM) is used to create a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of the adoption of these PV systems across three different climatic locations, namely New York City, London, and Nairobi. Findings show that, over the entire life cycle, the solar systems do better than the grid mix in reducing the building's dependence on nonrenewable resources. Unsurprisingly, in comparative terms, these systems do substantially better if the local grid mix is characterized by a predominantly nonrenewable energy profile. When comparing the two solar systems, the environmental impacts of the solar cells are negligible in the advanced system, whereas its structural components result in it being less environmentally friendly than the conventional solar PV. This highlights the possibility of future design iterations of these components to rethink their material ecology in terms of their life cycle—materiality, sourcing, and manufacturing, and so forth. The implications of this work suggest questioning, on a case‐by‐case basis, when and in what contexts integrated solar energy building systems are most plausible. This work also questions the scale at which grid scale distribution should occur.

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/34727182-0a23-4d71-8827-ddc3a05306b7/1/Life-cycle assessment of Ecological Living Module - 2021 - Raugei Keena Novelli Etman Dyson.pdf


In this work, nano-crystalline Mg2Si powder was prepared by ball milling and structural studies vs ball milling time are presented. The identification of the phases of the materials and the evaluation of their purity were performed using Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Crystallite size evolution during ball milling was followed by PXRD and single line analysis, based on Scherrer equation. Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM) observations and IR Reflectivity measurements were used for the investigation of nano-features and confirmation of the PXRD results.


As an important technology of adaptive machining, on-machine measurement (OMM) is always used to measure the shape of the to-be-cut surface. Due to the multi-source errors in OMM system, the confidence of the measurement accuracy becomes particularly important before planning the next cutting procedure. OMM is implemented by multi-components involving machine tools, fixture and on-machine probe. Each component introduces uncertainty of error into the measurement result. The positioning error, alignment error and eccentricity error are investigated in terms of the expectation, uncertainty and probability density function (PDF). By the kinematics of the components participated in the measurement, these errors are accumulated to affect the measurement results. Thus, the uncertainty of the final measurement result is determined by the accumulation of uncertainty of error sources. In order to evaluate the uncertainty of measurement error, an uncertainty propagation model involved positioning error of five-axis machine tools, alignment error of workpiece and eccentricity error of the stylus tip is established in terms of the kinematic chain of OMM. Then, the uncertainty of the measurement result in vector form is obtained. Finally, the simulation and the experiment about the impeller are employed to validate the effectiveness and repeatability of the uncertainty propagation model for five-axis OMM.


Low-loss optical waveguides have been fabricated from fluorinated copolymers designed to incorporate photochemical amplification based on acid catalysis. Core and cladding layers were made, for single-mode (SM) channel waveguides, from the poly(pentafluorostyrene-co-glycidyl methacrylate) copolymer series and, for multimode (MM) ridge waveguides, from poly(tert-butyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) as the cladding and poly(pentafluorostyrene-co-glycidyl methacrylate) as core layer. The reactivity ratios for PFS and GMA monomers have been measured to be r(PFS) = 0.38 ± 0.01 and r(GMA) = 0.89 ± 0.01 in free radical polymerization. Variation of the copolymer composition allowed precise control over the refractive index measured at 589, 633, 1320, and 1550 nm. These amorphous copolymers were photo-cross-linked by contact printing and developed by wet etching to produce high quality ridge waveguides with very smooth top surfaces. Low loss single-mode (SM) waveguides exhibit averaged losses over eight ch...


This study is concerned with implementing games as one of the methods used in sport and physical education classes at the 2ndlevel stage of primary schools(grades 5th– 9th). Results of the study pointed to the fact that pupils are still very interested in playful activities. These activities are applied in the main part of the sport and physical education classes. Pupils themselves are of the opinion that playing games provides them with a better opportunity to make contact with their classmates more than any other activity, which creates positive conditions for making interpersonal relationships within a group or a class.


Summary Objectives: This study aimed to compare seizure types, clinical and demographic features, treatment response and prognosis among patients with early and late onset post-stroke seizures. Methods: A retrospective evaluation was made of the data of 46 patients admitted to our clinic between January 2000 and April 2006 diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease, and who had post-stroke epileptic seizures. Two types of post-stroke seizures were defined; 'early onset' (occurring within 14 days post-stroke) and 'late onset' (occurring after the 14th day). Results: Among the 46 patients, 15 (32.6%) had early onset and 31 (67.3%) had late onset seizures. The early onset post-stroke seizures occurred more frequently after hemorrhagic stroke, while the late onset were more often seen in ischemic stroke. Ischemic strokes occurred mostly in the middle cerebral artery area, whereas lobar cortical hematomas were observed in the hemorrhagic stroke patients. The early onset seizures had statistically significant left hemisphere lesions, while those which were late onset had right hemisphere lesions (p<0.038). Secondary generalized seizures were the most common type in both groups. The seizures were well controlled with monotherapy in both groups, but seizure recurrence was found to be higher in the late onset seizure group. Conclusion: This study found significant left hemisphere lesions in the patients with early onset seizures, while in those with late onset sei zures, lesions were present in the right hemisphere. In both groups, cortical involvement played an important role. Secondary generalized seizures were the most frequently occurring, and these were treated with antiepileptic monotherapy.


Machine visions are being increasingly applied as an automated, non-destructive and cost effective technique to investigate the quality inspection of agricultural products. This study focuses on the use of thermal imager to evaluate the moisture content of paddy rice. In this paper, the mean intensity of gray level image is considered as the index for predicting moisture content. This new technique enables us to increase the accuracy level of detecting moisture content and analysing information gathered from the image. A suitable nonlinear model for predicting moisture content through mean intensity of gray level image is also proposed in this study. The findings indicate that the approach is promising and yielding the promising result.


This paper presents the design of a new modulo 2/sup a/ + 1 multiplier. It makes use of the redundancy in the binary representation of numbers in the finite integer ring R(2/sup 1/+1), though, unlike in some other designs, code translations are not involved. The use of the periodic properties of powers of two taken modulo 2/sup a/+1 simplifies the result correction process and permits a highly regular circuit structure which is suitable for VLSI implementation. Since the multiplier is almost exclusively composed of full and half adders, it can easily be pipelined with throughput reaching hundreds of megahertz. Such performance should make the implementation very attractive in many DSP applications.<<ETX>>


It contains the seminal terms which are complementary to the primal elements (mahaphuta) in the manifestation of cosmos. This volume deals with the terms: indriya, dravya, dhatu, gunadosa, adhidaivaadhyatma, sthulasuksma-para, srsti-sthiti-samhara


This is a retrospective study of the efficacy of a short-term comprehensive multidisciplinary neurobehavioral treatment approach for complex partial epilepsy. Eleven patients were treated intensively for five consecutive days followed by 6 months of weekly telephone contact and an additional 6 months of monitoring of seizure logs and journals. Data was analysed at least 24 months after initiation of treatment. Pre-treatment seizure frequency ranged from 1 to 15 per month. Post-treatment seizure frequency was zero per month for the nine patients who experienced less than four seizures per month prior to treatment and less than two per month for the other two patients. Additional benefits of the treatment program were improved levels of professional achievement in the arts and computer sciences and reduction of medication dosages.


Fossil fuel depletion and concerns over global climate change are increasing the demand for sustainable and clean solutions for electricity generation. In the coming years some of the most difficult engineering challenges in history will have to be faced if a future with sustainable energy is to be developed. In light of this challenge investments in human infrastructure are essential in particular for early stage students who represent the generation who will have to truly solve future energy needs. This paper discusses an initiative in Ireland to foster an interest in energy issues for undergraduate students. A report made by the students on sustainable energy issues in Ireland is discussed here. The students focussed on recommendations that can be achieved in the short to medium term thus in many cases the infrastructural changes needed are simply a change in thinking or operational approach. One of the key infrastructural issues that arose is the importance of spatial planning in all areas of energy demand and supply.


This article examines the fiscal challenges Illinois municipalities faced following the 2009 recession and the ways in which they responded. In order to shed light on the strategies and actions employed during this post-recession period, Census of Governments' data were used to identify the impacts on municipal revenues and expenditures from 2007 to 2017, and over 90 mayors and managers of Illinois municipalities were also surveyed. The results suggest that state aid to municipalities did not keep pace with inflation between 2007 and 2015, and the most common strategies used to maintain balanced budgets were increasing water and sewage charges and delaying infrastructure projects.


Korea Purpose: To report the good results of two-stage treatment in pilon fractures. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 23 patients among 30 patients with pilon fractures from March 2006 to November 2008, who underwent two-stage treatment of pilon fractures with a minimum of 24 months follow-up. The mean follow-up period was 28 months (24 ∼ 41 months). In the first stage of the operation, open reduction of the articular surface and external fixation were performed after minimal incision. As the soft tissue healed, locking compression plate fixation was performed with the Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis. Radiographic evaluation was graded by the criteria of Burwell and Charnley, and functional assess-ment of the ankle was evaluated by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score. Results: The fractures were united within 16 weeks (12 ∼ 30 weeks). The radiologic results showed anatomical reduction in 18 cases and a mean AOFAS score of 81. The mean range of ankle motion was 44 degrees. There were four complications: 1 case of wound infection and 3 cases of ankle osteoarthritis. Conclusion: Two-stage treatment of pilon fractures is a good treatment method because it is designed to obtain early anatomical reduction, definitive stable fixation, low rates of soft tissue complication, and good range of ankle


Rural and urban workers who had suppression, of their cholinesterase levels due to working with organophosphate pesticides were studied. At the levels of cholinesterase suppression in this study S. haematobium was not apparently cured. The reasons for the lack of cure of S. haematobium with organophosphate pesticides as opposed to the organophosphate base drug metrifonate are discussed as are the implications and hazards of suppressed cholinesterase levels in these workers.


This case presentation is of a patient who had the clinical appearance of epiglottitis, but actually had an oro-pharyngeal dystonic reaction to prochlorperazine. The intent of the discussion is to alert physicians that the appearance of epiglottis can occur from causes other than infection and that a surgical airway should not be the first thought when such a case arises.


The adsorption of simulated aqueous solution containing textile remazol reactive dye, namely Red 3BS by palm shell activated carbon (PSAC) as adsorbent was carried out using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). A Box-Behnken design in three most important operating variables; initial dye concentration, dosage of adsorbent and speed of impeller was employed for experimental design and optimization of results. The significance of independent variables and their interactions were tested by means of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 95 confidence limits. Model indicated that with the increasing of dosage and speed give the result of removal up to 90 with the capacity uptake more than 7 mg/g. High regression coefficient between the variables and the response (R-Sq = 93.9) showed of good evaluation of experimental data by polynomial regression model.


This paper describes the development of RubySharp, a proof-of-concept compiler. It is able to compile a subset of features from the dynamic programming language Ruby into CIL (Common Intermediate Language), which is a static assembler intermediate language in the .NET platform. The language constructs of Ruby and CIL are examined to see what similarities and differences that exist. To be able to support the correct Ruby behaviour in all compiled programs, a class hierarchy is developed for RubySharp. Addition ally, basic goal programs are defined in Ruby and in CIL, forming a specification for the RubySharp compiler on how to compile the goal programs. Furthermore, other Ruby language constructs, besides these introduced by the goal programs, are also examined to see if and how they can be implemented to the .NET platform.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections were evaluated among 77 Manipuri couples of whom all husbands were both intravenous drug users (IDUs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive. This study showed for the first time a high prevalence of HCV (92%) and HBV (100%) infection amongst the IDUs in Manipur. Stringent control measures to prevent the transmission of hepatitis viruses (B and C) are urgently required in Manipur.


Icefin performed the first long range robotic exploration of the grounding zone of Thwaites Glacier from January 9-12 2020. Icefin was part of the MELT project of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration deployed to the grounding zone of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica over the period December 2019-February 2020.  MELT is an interdisciplinary project to explore rapid change across the grounding zone, and in particular basal melting.  The subglacial cavity ~2km north of the grounding zone was accessed via hot water drilling on January 7-8, 2020.  Icefin, a hybrid autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicle designed for sub-ice and borehole operations, conducted over 15km of round-trip data collection under the ice along a section of the glacier from the grounding zone extending to a point 4 km oceanward.   The vehicle collected data with ten different science sensors including cameras, sonars, conductivity/temperature and dissolved oxygen.  Overall, the water column ranged from ~100m downstream that narrowed quickly to an average of 50m that spanned over 2km, to a long segment of ~30m thickness before quickly narrowing over 500m towards the grounding zone. The seafloor structures run roughly parallel to ice flow direction, consisting of furrows, ridges, and grooves in some cases mirrored by the ice structure. The Icefin dives revealed a diverse set of basal ice conditions, with complex geometry, including a range of terraced features, smooth ablated surfaces, crevassing, sediment rich layers of varying kinds, as well as interspersed clear, potentially accreted freshwater ice.  The ocean directly beneath the ice varies spatially, from moderately well-mixed near the grounding zone to highly stratified within and below concavities in the ice downstream.  Sediments along the sea floor range from fine grained downstream to course angular gravel near the grounding zone distributed between larger boulders.  We observed rocky material in the ice that ranged from fine grained layers compressed within the ice to small angular particles volumetrically distributed within ice, to gravel and cobbles, as well as trapped boulders up to meter scale. In addition to the oceanographic, glaciological and sea floor conditions, we also catalogued communities of organisms along the seafloor and ice-ocean interface. We will report the highlights and initial conclusions from Icefin’s in situ data collection, and offer perspectives on change at the grounding zone.


Winemaking by-products are potential resources for second-generation biorefineries, i.e., biorefineries fed with biowaste to produce added-value products, particularly for the food sector. In fact, winemaking by-products are outstanding sources of oil, phenolic compounds and dietary fibre and possess numerous health benefits and multifunctional characteristics, such as antioxidant, colouring, antimicrobial and texturizing properties. The present review highlights promising developments for the conversion of winemaking by-products into novel food ingredients, as well as their use in innovative foods, focusing on the type of recovered ingredients, dosage, formulation and processing. In addition, the primary benefits of winemaking by-products to new foods are described.


The flight activity of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) was monitored over a 3‐year period in greenhouses containing tomato and zucchini crops. The environmental factors affecting its flight activity and dispersal were analyzed. Among the climatic variables, temperature had a positive impact on T. vaporariorum flight, whereas relative humidity had only a weak effect. More flights were made during the morning and afternoon, with fewer flights occurring when the temperature was above 25°C in greenhouses containing zucchini or above 30°C in those containing tomato; no flights were recorded when the temperature was 12.30°C in either setting. Flight typology, classified as short, long or dispersal, and covering a few centimeters to more than 2–3 m, was influenced by the vegetative condition of the plants. As the plants aged and declined in condition, the number of short flights decreased, whereas the number of long and dispersal flights increased. Based on these results, we can conclude that the dispersal of T. vaporariorum in greenhouses containing either tomato or zucchini crops is generally influenced by environmental factors, which also affect the type of flight, with a trade‐off between short and long dispersal flights. However, adult dispersal is driven not only by temperature, but also by other factors, such as conspecific density and time of the day. Therefore, producers must consider such factors when aiming to reduce the dispersal of pest insects within greenhouses and, thus, to maintain the productivity of their crops.


Graph-structured data consisting of objects (i.e., nodes) and relationships among objects (i.e., edges) are ubiquitous. Graph-level learning is a matter of studying a collection of graphs instead of a single graph. Traditional graph-level learning methods used to be the mainstream. However, with the increasing scale and complexity of graphs, Graph-level Neural Networks (GLNNs, deep learning-based graph-level learning methods) have been attractive due to their superiority in modeling high-dimensional data. Thus, a survey on GLNNs is necessary. To frame this survey, we propose a systematic taxonomy covering GLNNs upon deep neural networks, graph neural networks, and graph pooling. The representative and state-of-the-art models in each category are focused on this survey. We also investigate the reproducibility, benchmarks, and new graph datasets of GLNNs. Finally, we conclude future directions to further push forward GLNNs. The repository of this survey is available at https://github.com/GeZhangMQ/Awesome-Graph-level-Neural-Networks.


Using the two-fluid model in the case of α 1 (α = β/2Q, β is the ratio of thermal pressure to magnetic pressure, and Q = me/mi), we numerically investigate the interactions between two solitary kinetic Alfven waves (SKAWs) and between an SKAW and a density discontinuity. The results show that the two SKAWs would remain in their original shapes and propagate at their initiating speeds, which indicates that SKAWs behave just like standard solitons. The simulation also shows that SKAWs will reflect and refract when crossing a discontinuity and propagating into a higher density region. The transmission wave is an SKAW with increasing density, and the reverberation is a disturbance with lower amplitude.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a macrophage-derived cytokine that has been shown to exert differential cytotoxic and/or cytostatic effects on many human and animal tumor cells. In vitro assays of TNF effects have been performed mainly on cultured tumor cells growing as a monolayer. However, tumor cells may respond differently to the effects of growth factors depending on whether they grow in two-dimensional monolayer cultures or in three-dimensional colonies in soft agar. We have tested the effect of TNF on the anchorage-dependent (monolayer) and anchorage-independent (soft agar) growth of five rat, two mouse, and one human tumor cell lines. The results indicate that tumor cells may demonstrate different growth responses in these two culture conditions, and that some tumor cells that are resistant to the cytostatic effect of TNF in monolayer cultures may demonstrate significant sensitivity when growing in soft agar medium. One of the rat tumor cell lines unaffected by TNF in monolayer culture was actually stimulated in their colony growth in soft agar medium. The clonogenic techniques of cultivating human tumor cells in soft agar may be suitable for the screening of TNF-sensitive tumors for therapeutic consideration with this substance.


Human squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the bladder is a rare malignancy that represents less than 5% of bladder tumors. In contrast to non-bilharzial SCC, bilharzial SCC is a distinct pathological disease that is rarely encountered in Japan. The majority of patients with non-bilharzial SCC present with a poorly differentiated, muscle-invasive tumor with no previous episode of urothelial carcinoma (UC). Even in the absence of distant metastases, the prognosis of patients with non-bilharzial SCC of the bladder remains dismal because patients die of localized recurrence. This is in contrast to UC in which distant metastasis accounts for the great majority of recurrence. The 5-year survival rate of the patients treated for non-bilharzial SCC of the bladder was only about 10%. To date, large numbers of reports have examined the establishment of a human bladder cancer cell line with UC. However, few reports exist regarding the establishment of the human bladder cancer cell line with SCC. In the present study, we established a new cell line (TMUU-08) from the metastatic lymph node of a patient with SCC of the bladder. The TMUU-08 cell line of human bladder SCC was characterized. These results indicate that TMUU-08 cells might be useful in basic studies not only in the treatment but also etiology of human bladder SCC.


List of abbreviations List of illustrations Editor's introduction Pope's early relation with the book trade Homer: business and aesthetics The problems of independence Pope's text: the early works Pope's text: the later works Appendices: A. Pope and copyright B. Gay and capitals and italics List of selected sources and works consulted Index


Continuous positive airway pressure masks for breathing assistance are used widely during the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, these masks endanger the viability of facial tissues even after a few hours because of the sustained tissue deformations and extreme microclimate conditions. The risk of developing such device‐related pressure ulcers/injuries can be reduced through suitable cushioning materials at the mask‐skin interface, to alleviate localised contact forces. Here, we determined the facial tissue loading state under an oral‐nasal mask while using hydrogel‐based dressing cuts (Paul Hartmann AG, Heidenheim, Germany) for prophylaxis, which is a new concept in prevention of device‐related injuries. For this purpose, we measured the compressive mask‐skin contact forces at the nasal bridge, cheeks, and chin with vs without these dressing cuts and fed these data to a finite element, adult head model. Model variants were developed to compare strain energy densities and effective stresses in skin and through the facial tissue depth, with vs without the dressing cuts. We found that the dry (new) dressing cuts reduced tissue exposures to loads (above the median loading level) by at least 30% at the nasal bridge and by up to 99% at the cheeks, across the tissue depth. These dressing cuts were further able to maintain at least 65% and 89% of their protective capacity under moisture at the nasal bridge and cheeks, respectively. The hydrogel‐based dressings demonstrated protective efficacy at all the tested facial sites but performed the best at the nasal bridge and cheeks, which are at the greatest injury risk.


A 22-year-old woman with a history of recurrent otitis media in childhood was admitted to hospital at 35 weeks of gestation with an upper respiratory tract infection of four weeks' duration. The day before admission she had had a fever of 38 5°C, headache, and nausea. A few hours before admission her condition had deteriorated and she had lost consciousness. Cerebrospinal fluid was cloudy and contained leucocytes 16-1 x 109/1 (16 l00/mm3; 93 ON polymorphonuclear cells), protein 8-0 g/l, and glucose 0 4 mmol/l (7-2 mg/100 ml). Cerebrospinal fluid and six blood cultures grew H influenzae type b, sensitive to benzyl penicillin, ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Chest x-ray picture was normal but sinus radiography showed left-sided maxillary sinusitis. Treatment consisted of intravenous ampicillin 16 g daily for eight days. The course was uneventful except for premature uterine contractions, which were stopped with terbutaline intravenously. Three weeks later she gave birth to a boy weighing 3280 g. His development corresponded to 39 weeks of gestation. The Apgar score was 10 after one and five minutes. The placenta was normal and yielded no bacterial growth. One month later mother and child were well. The patient's serum immunoglobulin concentrations on day 2 after admission were normal except for an IgG value of 4-9 g/l (3 standard deviations below normal); on day 9 the value was 8 9 g/l. Serum IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies specific to H influenzae capsular polysaccharide type b detected with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay' and bactericidal2 antibodies against the strain isolated from the patient were found one day after admission. Much higher antibody titres were noted in serum samples obtained on days 33 and 58 after admission (figure). At delivery the same titres of specific anticapsular IgG and bactericidal antibodies were detected in sera from the mother and umbilical cord, while no specific IgM antibodies were detected in cord serum. IgA antibodies specific to capsular polysaccharide type b were detected in breast-milk with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on days 1 and 5 after parturition. These antibodies were probably of the secretory type as similar titres were obtained with anti-IgA and antisecretory component antisera (day 1: serum IgA 2048 and secretory IgA 1024; day 5: serum IgA 64 and secretory IgA 64). Specific IgM antibodies in a titre of 64 were detected in the first breast-milk sample.


Given a task of predicting $Y$ from $X$, a loss function $L$, and a set of probability distributions $\Gamma$ on $(X,Y)$, what is the optimal decision rule minimizing the worst-case expected loss over $\Gamma$? In this paper, we address this question by introducing a generalization of the principle of maximum entropy. Applying this principle to sets of distributions with marginal on $X$ constrained to be the empirical marginal from the data, we develop a general minimax approach for supervised learning problems. While for some loss functions such as squared-error and log loss, the minimax approach rederives well-knwon regression models, for the 0-1 loss it results in a new linear classifier which we call the maximum entropy machine. The maximum entropy machine minimizes the worst-case 0-1 loss over the structured set of distribution, and by our numerical experiments can outperform other well-known linear classifiers such as SVM. We also prove a bound on the generalization worst-case error in the minimax approach.


Global population is increasing day by day. Therefore, the demand of food will be doubled in next 30 years. With limited resources to meet this demand will be a great challenge for human. To increase the production of food, traditional agricultural system needs to be updated. This paper is proposing developed an automated agricultural system with internet of things (IoT) to solve traditional uneven ploughing problem, water management on the field, intruder's attack and temperature effect on crops. This system has two major part. One is automated agricultural system with an automated vehicle for ploughing and another part is storing real-time field data to the ThingSpeak cloud with stream live video of field situation to the YouTube via internet of things (IoT) technology. Several sensors like soilmoisture, temperature, passive inferred ray (PIR), Rain-drop sensor, IR sensor was used in this system. Based on this sensor's real time data from developed prototype system three programmable microcontroller (Arduino Uno, Arduino mega, Raspberry pi 3B) controls the whole system. To stream the live video to YouTube a 5MP raspberry pi camera module was integrated. The automated system has another two key features to solve the problem of improper water management and intruder's inclusion. Those are automated irrigation system and bird repeller. Stored data in the webserver can potentially be worthy for next year operation. By using this system, farmers can also connect multiple farm to the web at the same time and access all of the farms in one webpage and will be able to observe the farm in real time. All the key features and technologies can help to build a sustainable and productive farming system and enter the fourth industrial revolution.


Background The role of Fluoro-Deoxy-Glucose PET for the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis (LVV) remains uncertain. Temporal artery biopsy (TAB) is the gold standard investigation for suspected Giant Cell Arteritis. Biopsy is invasive, may be negative due to skip lesions and does not provide information about the extent of vascular territories involved. Objectives We aimed to determine the value of PET in the diagnosis of LVV and if any patient or clinical characteristics could help predict positive scans. Methods We retrospectively reviewed all PET scans requested for the clinical indication of LVV, over the previous 12 months. Data collected were patient demographics, clinical characteristics at presentation, initial working diagnosis (categorised as low, moderate or high probability of LVV), ESR & CRP (at presentation, TAB and at PET), cumulative steroid dose in the 28 days prior to PET, temporal artery biopsy (TAB), reason for PET request, PET results including aortic maximum standard uptake value (SUV max). Results 20 patients were identified who underwent PET scanning to look for the presence of underlying LVV. The female:male ratio was 3:1. Mean age 67 years (range 44-88 years). The initial working clinical diagnoses prior to PET scanning was GCA/LVV in 15 patients (clinical probability low =7, moderate=4, high =4 based on physician judgement) or PMR with LVV in the remaining 5 patients. Based on the PET findings a final diagnosis of LVV was made in 10/20 (50%) patients (including one borderline positive scan for LVV). The remaining scans 10/20 (50%) were negative for LVV with 5 of these being investigated for incidental findings (thyroid nodule, lung nodule, cutaneous uptake, adrenal nodule and sigmoid colon uptake). Of the 10 positive PET scans 5/10 had a prior negative TAB. In the remaining 5, TAB was not performed as there were no clinical features of GCA. 7/10 PET negative scans had a prior negative TAB and the remaining 3 had no TAB performed. Prednisolone use in the 28 days prior to PET varied. Median daily dose was 6 mg per day (range 0-40mg) and mean cumulative dose 192 mg (range 0-1120mg). Median aortic SUVmax was 3.3 (range <1.0 - 9.5) in PET positive cases, and 2.2 (1.5-3.1) in PET negative cases. For the PET positive scans, comparison of the cumulative prednisolone dose against the mean aortic SUVmax showed a negative trend (Spearman's coefficient R = -0.60) although this did not reach statistical significance (p=0.06). There was no difference in ESR & CRP between PET positive and negative cases (Mann-Whitney U testing). Conclusions PET scanning can be useful in selected patients with suspected LVV. In our cohort of such patients PET was positive in 50% of TAB negative patients and changed their management plan. We also found it useful in identifying whether there was active LVV as opposed to conditions such as malignancy irrespective of TAB findings. There was an inverse relationship between cumulative steroid dose and isotope uptake suggesting that if indicated PET scanning should be done early in the course of the patients' symptoms. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Media access control (MAC) mechanism design is a key problem in wireless networking. One problem is hidden nodes, which are allowed to transmit, but which interfere with a receiver causing a collision. Another problem is exposed nodes, which are not allowed to transmit although they would not interfere, thus limiting spatial reuse. MAC designs, like IEEE 802.11, try to solve both of these problems, but are not wholly successful. Other MAC designs attempt to control the transmit power, both to lower power use and to minimize exposed nodes. This results in a worsened hidden node problem. We present a power control MAC that balances the hidden and exposed node problem. The idea is to use no more power than is needed to eliminate the hidden nodes, thus limiting the exposed nodes. We present simulation results that show our design outperforms both 802.11 and previous power control MACs.


AIMS
To explore Chinese baccalaureate-prepared nurses' perceptions of the concept and practices of clinical decision-making.

BACKGROUND
Clinical decision-making is an integral part of nursing practice. Several studies have explored the experiences and factors which influence nurses' clinical decisions and these have recognised the cultural impact. However, little is known about the experience of clinical decision-making from the perspective of Chinese baccalaureate-prepared nurses.

DESIGN
A qualitative, exploratory study.

METHOD
Data were obtained through in-depth, semi-structured interview with a convenience sample of 12 baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses. Interviews focused on registered nurses' understanding and perceptions of clinical decision-making in clinical practice. They were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and content analysed.

RESULTS
Two major themes were identified, namely, functional perspectives of clinical decision-making and perceived autonomy in clinical decision-making. There were two sub-themes for the first theme: emphasising a full understanding of the patient's health status and undertaking appropriate nursing judgements and problem-solving. Three sub-themes emerged for perceived autonomy in clinical decision-making: relying on a doctor's instructions, making judgements on a doctor's orders and making decisions independently in emergency care.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate that Chinese nurses understand the essence of clinical decision-making, but they have low autonomy in such decisions in their daily practice. More importantly, the results also reveal the importance of social and cultural factors in nurses' perceptions of this topic.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
A better understanding of the perceptions and concepts of clinical decision-making among nurses in mainland China and other countries as well, can help in establishing nurses' roles and responsibilities in participating in making effective decisions for patient care. The findings can also inform us of potential strategies which may be adopted to develop the knowledge and skills of Chinese baccalaureate-prepared nursing students and graduates in making autonomous and accurate clinical decisions.


This paper presents the design philosophy and initial design decisions of Herald: a highly scalable global event notification system that is being designed and built at Microsoft Research. Herald is a distributed system designed to transparently scale in all respects, including numbers of subscribers and publishers, numbers of event subscription points, and event delivery rates. Event delivery can occur within a single machine, within a local network or Intranet, and throughout the Internet. Herald tries to take into account the lessons learned from the successes of both the Internet and the Web. Most notably, Herald is being designed, like the Internet, to operate correctly in the presence of numerous broken and disconnected components. The Herald service will be constructed as a set of protocols governing a federation of machines within cooperating but mutually suspicious domains of trust. Like the Web, Herald will try to avoid, to the extent possible, the maintenance of globally consistent state and will make failures part of the client-visible interface.


Cosmological hysteresis, has interesting and vivid implications in the scenario of a cyclic bouncy universe. This, purely thermodynamical in nature, is caused by the asymmetry in the equation of state parameter during expansion and contraction phase of the universe, due to the presence of a single scalar field. When applied to variants of modified gravity models this phenomenon leads to the increase in amplitude of the consecutive cycles of the universe, provided we have physical mechanisms to make the universe bounce and turnaround. This also shows that the conditions which creates a universe with an ever increasing expansion, depend on the signature of $\oint pdV$ and on model parameters.


Research into central places is one of the most attractive themes in archaeological investigation and includes early medieval strongholds that reflect the political and socio-economic changes of their time. Archaeological research within the territory of Moravia (the eastern half of the Czech Republic) has long tended to concentrate on resolving issues of the centres of power related to the existence of the Moravian principality in the 9th–10th century, while sites linked to the building of the Přemyslid domain in the 11th–12th century have been investigated to a lesser extent. This contribution presents the results of research into the hillfort of Rokytná, which falls within this period. The hillfort, which is also known from period written sources, governed its own administrative district and enjoyed a prominent position among Přemyslid centres in Moravia. New data on the characteristics and structure of settlement was acquired with the help of a combination of non-destructive survey methods. The principal method was a geophysical survey using the magnetometer, accompanied by archaeological fieldwalking. A comparison of the magnetometer prospection and the results of pedestrian survey indicated possible interpretational discrepancies. Despite these it was established that during the period of operation of this medieval centre the whole investigated area was densely inhabited. At the same time, it was established that the site had been disturbed by deep ploughing and the effects of erosion which heavily influenced the data.


The Coop Himmelblau partnership of Wolf Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky has, since the 1960s, been engaged in an attempt to break away from mainstream approaches to architectural design and production. Originally contemporaries of Archigram, Archizoom and Superstudio, Coop Himmelblau's manifestos for architecture have, since that time, portrayed a growing preoccupation with feed-back mechanisms, looping, folding, instantaneity and the attempt to recast architecture as metaphorically chaotic. While there have been extensive critical analyses of Coop Himmelblau's early post-Vitruvian, or anti-humanist propositions, their approach to design in the late 1980s and early 1990s has rarely been considered in such detail. Throughout this latter period, Coop Himmelblau merged surrealist concepts like "automatism" with the rhetoric of complexity scientific including "interference", "chaos", "indeterminacy", "iteration" and "open systems". The focus of this paper is Coop Himmelblau's celebration of the original design impulse, instance or event – what they call the psychogram – and its interpretation by Michael Sorkin as a reference to both surrealist automatism and scientific complexity. The Dissolution of our Bodies in the City, Coop Himmelblau Architects.


Practitioners and researchers with an on-going interest in European direct taxation require ready access to applicable case law and regulations. But access is inadequate if the materials are not well organized and kept current on reliable basis. The key features of this highly useful work are designed to address many of the most common research needs of professionals involved in the field of European direct taxation: Includes summaries of all judgments − and pending cases − of the European Court of Justice covering direction taxation, organized in a thematic fashion. Also features chronological, alphabetical, and case number lists as well as a subject index. Provides consolidated, up-to-date versions of all pertinent regulations as well as relevant working papers and communications of the European Commission. Based on his well earned reputation as a tax expert, the editor Prof. Dr. Dennis M. Weber also reviewed the relevant working papers, Commission communications, etc., and selected the most pertinent to practitioners and researchers for inclusion in this indispensable, time-saving resource.


Objective: Relatively little is known about the effects of deep brain stimulation on non-motor symptoms. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the impact of deep brain stimulation on sleep and olfactory function in Parkinson's disease. Methods: Subjective sleep quality and olfactory testing were performed on 11 consecutive Parkinson's disease patients (eight men and three women) undergoing bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation. All patients consented to undergo clinical assessments prior to the procedure, and at regular intervals afterwards. Results: Subjective sleep quality improved at six months following deep brain stimulation and this benefit was sustained in the majority of patients at later follow-up assessments. There was no significant change in olfactory function following deep brain stimulation. Conclusions: In addition to having beneficial effects on motor function and quality of life, bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation improves subjective sleep quality in Parkinson's disease.


The possibility of differentiation between impairments of the tissue, formed by membrane bullets of the same gauge when shot from guns of various brands, was studied in experiments. Antimony levels in the injury wiping belt were found the most informative sign for this purpose.


Motivated by Naval Battle Group tactical operations and by distributed product distributions and supplies, this paper considers distributed dynamic resource allocation within a two-person team. Having different but overlapping responsibilities, two geographically separated human decision makers (DM's) are to process multiple types of randomly arriving tasks with a set of renewable resources. To maximize the team reward for task processing, the DM's must coordinate on the assignment of common tasks (tasks of joint responsibility) and on the transfer of resources. A normative-descriptive approach is adopted to describe human decisionmaking process in the above setting. The approach starts with a normative model that predicts the team's optimal decision making, and a human-in-the-loop experiment that generates experimental data. Human limitations and cognitive biases are then identified to explain differences between model predications and experimental data. Incorporating human limitations and cognitive biases into the normative model, a normative-descriptive model is obtained. This model matches experimental data in almost all measures, and provides insights to human decision-making behavior.