Objectives
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to be associated with human diseases, including liver fibrosis. We previously demonstrated that astaxanthin (ASTX), a xanthophyll carotenoid, has anti-fibrogenic effects in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). HSCs are the major cell type responsible for the accumulation of extracellular matrix during the development of liver fibrosis once they are activated. The objective of this study was to compare miRNA expression profiles in activated HSCs (aHSCs) with those of quiescent HSCs (qHSCs) to identify miRNAs that may play crucial roles in the activation of HSCs. We also determined the effect of ASTX on the changes in miRNAs during HSC activation.

Methods
Primary mouse HSCs were cultured on uncoated plastic dishes for activation. The cells cultured for 1 day and 7 days after isolation served as qHSCs and aHSCs, respectively. qHSCs were treated with/without 25 µM ASTX during the activation for 7 days. miRNA expression profiles were determined using a miScript miRNA PCR array for mouse fibrosis. miRNAs whose expression were altered by more than 2-folds during HSC activation and by ASTX were selected. Their expression levels were further confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR in primary mouse and human HSCs and LX-2 cells, a human HSC cell line.

Results
Compared with qHSCs, the expression levels of 14 miRNAs and 23 miRNAs were increased and decreased by more than 2-folds, respectively, in aHSCs. Among 14 miRNAs increased in aHSCs, the expression of miR-192-5p, miR-382-5p, and miR-874-3p was reduced by ASTX. In addition, ASTX increased the expression of miR-19a-3p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-101a-3p which were among the 23 miRNAs that were decreased in aHSCs. Of the selected 6 miRNAs, miR-382-5p was chosen for further analysis based on its high expression in HSCs and the magnitude of differences between groups. Unlike in primary mouse HSCs, the expression of miR-382-5p was not altered by transforming growth factor β1, a fibrogenic cytokine, or by ASTX in primary human HSCs and LX-2 cells, which are cells somewhat activated.

Conclusions
We identified candidate miRNAs that may be important for the activation of HSCs from qHSCs, which were also sensitive to ASTX. Of the candidate miRNAs, miR-382-5p is likely involved in the early stage of HSC activation, i.e., transdifferentiation of qHSCs to aHSCs.

Funding Sources
NIH.


This study examined the perspectives of professionals and parents on part-time inclusive preschool Head Start programs that included both children with and without disabilities. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine parent and teacher perspectives of inclusion on the developmental outcomes of all children and (b) to investigate their perspectives on what constitutes a high quality inclusive program. Thirty Head Start and Early Childhood Special Education preschool teachers, as well as 30 parents of children with and without disabilities participated in this study. The major findings indicated that both parents and teachers strongly agreed that all children with disabilities should learn in the same environment with their classmates without disabilities. The majority of parents and teachers had positive attitudes toward inclusion and perceived there were social, emotional and academic benefits for all children in inclusive settings. However, some of the teacher and parent participants were concerned about possible isolation for children with disabilities. In addition, findings also indicated that inclusive programs were still lacking some essential elements of a high quality inclusion program. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.


The accuracy and reliability of automatic music transcription plays and important role in music information retrieval applications. This paper investigates a previously reported Automatic Music Transcription (AMT) system for the Arabian flute (Nay)with the aim of extending its features and improving its performance. Several critical design factors are considered in the new extension. A hybrid pitch detection method that utilizes both the autocorrelation and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is suggested and implemented in the improved AMT system. The signal power is also used to detect octave falls and to perform mapping from intensity to MIDI velocity. Experimental evaluation of the developed system has shown better transcription results when compared to original system.


Local vibrational modes of a weakly bound carbon-hydrogen complex in silicon have been identified with infrared-absorption spectroscopy. After implantation of protons at \ensuremath{\sim}20 K and subsequent annealing at 180 K, two carbon modes at 596 and 661 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, and one hydrogen mode at 1885 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ are observed. The three modes originate from the same complex, which is identified as bond-centered hydrogen in the vicinity of a nearby substitutional carbon atom. Ab initio theory has been applied to calculate the structure and local modes of carbon-hydrogen complexes with hydrogen located at the first, second, and third nearest bond-center site to substitutional carbon. The results support our assignment.


Fifteen years after my attempt at summing up the results of the historical, and above all archaeological research on Ślęża mountain (Domański 2002 ‒ research as of 2000) the time has come to make some minor corrections and important additions, mainly related to the early years of St. Augustine's monastery in Ślęża, which from the 12th century to 1494 owned the majority of the massif, and after 1494 the entire mountain. The location of the monastery on Ślęża has been a matter of discussion since at least the 19th century. Written sources unambiguously speak of its location on the mountain. In 2000, I presented several purported stages of the monastery's construction on top of the mountain. When, following new discoveries, the supposed location of the monastery changed, I put forward the hypothesis that there was a preliminarystage in the monastery's construction (perhaps in cooperation with messengers from the parent monastery) when the materials were collected and the ground was prepared. Next, the monks arrived and almost immediately construction started. Completion (or discontinuation) of construction could have coincided with the monks' flight in 1146 to Wrocław. On the basis of the scant archaeological material discovered in the monastery building, the conclusion should be drawn that no part of it was used. The suggested location of the monastery on the edge of the order's property is an indication that looking after the terrain was not the main goal of the venture. The construction material, traces of the structure's foundations, elements of stonemasonry and the Ślęża plaque all hint at construction having at least commenced, while it remains a mystery at which stage it was abandoned. Generally, the construction of the Ślęża monastery is associated with the "production" of granite sculptures of lions. More importantly, they were discovered beyond the Ślęża massif, but the majority of researchers attribute them to the monastery. I agree with most art historians that the objects date back to the 12th century. Bearing in mind that in Western and South-European architecture, similar sculptures were placed in pairs at the doors of magnificent buildings, as the bases of columns, the Ślęża lions (8) must have been planned as decoration of four imposing entrances. However, as a majority of them cannot be paired (they were dedicated to two sides of a gate), the number of the original statues must have been greater. The Ślęża lions share many features with similar statues from the St. Gallen abbey; bearing in mind the contacts of the founder (Palatine Peter Wlast), they could have been the prototypes for the Ślęża lions.


The "cocktail party problem" was studied using virtual stimuli whose spatial locations were generated using anechoic head-related impulse responses from the AUDIS database [Blauert et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 3082 (1998)]. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured for Harvard IEEE sentences presented from the front in the presence of one, two, or three interfering sources. Four types of interferer were used: (1) other sentences spoken by the same talker, (2) time-reversed sentences of the same talker, (3) speech-spectrum shaped noise, and (4) speech-spectrum shaped noise, modulated by the temporal envelope of the sentences. Each interferer was matched to the spectrum of the target talker. Interferers were placed in several spatial configurations, either coincident with or separated from the target. Binaural advantage was derived by subtracting SRTs from listening with the "better monaural ear" from those for binaural listening. For a single interferer, there was a binaural advantage of 2-4 dB for all interferer types. For two or three interferers, the advantage was 2-4 dB for noise and speech-modulated noise, and 6-7 dB for speech and time-reversed speech. These data suggest that the benefit of binaural hearing for speech intelligibility is especially pronounced when there are multiple voiced interferers at different locations from the target, regardless of spatial configuration; measurements with fewer or with other types of interferers can underestimate this benefit.


To know what kinds of the cell components of Chlorella regularis are concerned with uranium binding, uptake of uranium by various cell fractions was examined. The uptake value (microgramU/mg starting dry cells) of the hot water-treated cells was almost the same as that of the starting dry Chlorella cells, showing that the cell components extracted with hot water were not so concerned with uranium binding. The cell components extracted with dilute alkali seemed to play an important role in uranium binding, and those extracted with chloroform-methanol seemed to be partly concerned with uranium binding. The cellulose fraction of the cells was scarcely concerned with uranium binding. In the dry cells, 34% of uranium taken up existed in the cell walls. However, in the living cells, 85% existed in the cell walls. The above results showed that the dry or the hot water-treated cells are the most convenient for uranium recovery from the aqueous systems.


There is a growing consensus that the dominant food regime is not viable and that there is a serious risk of food collapse. Building a food system based on sustainability is therefore an urgent task. For years, agroecology has been developing strategies for scaling out agroecological experiences. However, the current institutional framework blocks the growth of these experiences, relegating them to the sidelines. The main challenge facing agroecology is to expand the scale of agroecological experiences, building an alternative food system and challenging the hegemony of the corporate food regime. In this paper, a change in strategy of agroecological practices is proposed, aiming at the formation of local agroecological-based food systems that, by increasing in scale, impose a new institutional framework. This goal will only be possible through social mobilization focused not only on agricultural production or distribution but also on food consumption, weaving social alliances that promote change. This can be done by politicizing food consumption.


The homecoming period following combat deployment can be as stressful to military spouses as the deployment itself. This study used the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to examine whether personal resources (adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and resilience) mediate the relationship between positive emotions and depressive symptoms in Army wives (N = 252) following the homecoming of a deployed active-duty service member. Using path analysis, after controlling for demographic variables and marital satisfaction, positive emotions were related to all 3 personal resources (positively to adaptive coping and resilience, negatively to maladaptive coping). In turn, adaptive coping and resilience were related to fewer depressive symptoms and maladaptive coping to greater depressive symptoms. The direct path between positive emotions and depressive symptoms was nonsignificant, suggesting complete mediation. The final model accounted for 54% of the total variance in depressive symptoms. Results support the important role that positive emotions play in decreasing depressive symptoms in this high-risk population.


Extracting distinctive scale invariant features from images of the same scene or object is very important in many computer vision applications, and there has been significant research into the scale invariant feature detectors and descriptors. Some of these methods have emphasized on computational speed and accuracy, so that they can enable lots of real-time applications with reduced computational requirements and better performance. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new scale invariant octagonal center-surround detector, named OCT, and give a modified SURF descriptor named I-SURF descriptor. OCT detector computes responses at every pixel and all scale, and could be implemented efficiently by using integral image and slanted integral image for image convolutions. I-SURF modifies the SURF descriptor by considering the boundary effect of the adjacent subregions, and introduces index vector to speed up matching. The evaluation system provided by Mikolajczyk is applied to OCT and I-SURF. Experiments of the repeatability score, matching accuracy and timing proved that our detector and descriptor have better performance than SURF and SIFT.


Ga doped ZnO (GZO)/Al bi-layered films were deposited on the glass substrate by RF and DC magnetron sputtering and then vacuum annealed at different temperatures of 100, 200 and 300℃ for 30 minutes to consider the effects of annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the films. For all depositions, the thicknesses of the GZO and Al films were kept constant at 95 and 5 nm, respectively, by controlling the deposition time. As-deposited GZO/Al bi-layered films showed a relatively low optical transmittance of 62%, while the films annealed at 300℃ showed a higher transmittance of 81%, compared to the other films. In addition, the electrical resistivity of the films was influenced by annealing temperature and the lowest resistivity of 9.8 × 10 ?4 Ωcm was observed in the films annealed at 300℃. Due to the increased carrier mobility, 2.35 ㎠ V ?1 S ?1 of the films. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that increasing the annealing temperature enhanced the optical and electrical properties of the GZO/Al films.


The article examines the features of modern communication that are greatly influenced by globalization and new information communication technologies. Against this background the virtualization of communicative space accelerated in modern civilization. The role of language in the system of culture codes at the present stage of globalization was analysed. It is argued that accumulation and reproduction of socio-cultural experience, implementation of spiritual and moral continuity, and preservation of the defining signs of ethno-cultural identity are associated with the increasing role of language in the execution of these processes and in the preservation and reproduction of the specific nature of ethnic cultures.


This research was aimed to identify and to analyze the characteristics of climate and water availability for crop land of Salak Gulapasir in the new development areas in Tabanan. The reseacrh used survey methods which conducted in each location within the agroecocsystem zone of 400-550 m above sea level (asl), 551 – 650 m asl, and 651-750 m asl. The analysis of water availability in each area was carried out by using Thornthwaite and Mather methods (1957). The results shows water availability in Tabanan area depending on altitude. The  zone 400-550 and 551-650 m asl total deficit respectively 49 mm and 20 mm, with the periods of deficit that occurs in 3 months that is in June, July and August, while 651-750 m asl total deficit of 5 mm with the periods of deficit in two months (July-August). Well handling to the environment and plant factors was very useful in producing fruits in the period out of its season . When water deficit occurs in June, July and August, manipulating environment through the provision of water or mulching should be judged. In the rainy season (December, January, February) a high level of humidity in the canopy can interfere the growing of flowers and fruit, hence it needs to arrange shade plant.


1. REVIEWING SAFETY • ALWAYS treat the airgun as though it is loaded and ready to fire. • ALWAYS treat the airgun with the same respect you would a firearm. • ALWAYS store the airgun unloaded and away from children. • ALWAYS remove the airgun's magazine and make sure there is no pellet/bullet in the airgun's chamber before storing. • ALWAYS aim in a SAFE DIRECTION. • ALWAYS keep the muzzle of the airgun pointed in a SAFE DIRECTION. • ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard until ready to shoot. • ALWAYS keep the airgun "ON SAFE" until you are ready to shoot. • ALWAYS check to see if the airgun is "ON SAFE" and unloaded when removing it from storage. • ALWAYS check to see if the airgun is "ON SAFE" and unloaded when handling to, or receiving it form another person. • ALWAYS have you and others wear shooting glasses to protect your eyes. • ALWAYS wear shooting glasses over reading or prescription glasses. • ALWAYS place a shooting backstop in a location that will be safe should the backstop fail. • ALWAYS check your backstop for wear before and after each use. All backstops are subject to wear and will eventually fail. Replace your backstop if the surface is worn or damaged or if a ricochet occurs. • ALWAYS use proper size ammunition in you airgun. Check the markings on your airgun to verify the ammo size. • NEVER point the airgun at any person or at anything you do not intend to shoot. • NEVER reuse ammunition. • NEVER shoot at hard surfaces or at the surface of water. The pellet may bounce off or ricochet and hit someone or something you had not intended to shoot. • NEVER attempt to disassemble or tamper with your airgun. Use an Authorized Service Station. Using an unauthorized service or repair center, or modifying the function of your airgun in any way, may be unsafe and will void your warranty. • Store this airgun charged with air to keep the valves closed against dirt.


The article proposes a family of exact solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations for describing isobaric inhomogeneous unidirectional fluid motions. Due to the incompressibility equation, the velocity of the inhomogeneous Couette flow depends on two coordinates and time. The expression for the velocity field has a wide functional arbitrariness. This exact solution is obtained by the method of separation of variables, and both algebraic operations (additivity and multiplicativity) are used to substantiate the importance of modifying the classical Couette flow. The article contains extensive bibliographic information that makes it possible to trace a change in the exact Couette solution for various areas of the hydrodynamics of a Newtonian incompressible fluid. The fluid flow is described by a polynomial depending on one variable (horizontal coordinate). The coefficients of the polynomial functionally depend on the second (vertical) coordinate and time; they are determined by a chain of the simplest homogeneous and inhomogeneous partial differential parabolic-type equations. The chain of equations is obtained by the method of undetermined coefficients after substituting the exact solution into the Navier–Stokes equation. An algorithm for integrating a system of ordinary differential equations for studying the steady motion of a viscous fluid is presented. In this case, all the functions defining velocity are polynomials. It is shown that the topology of the vorticity vector and shear stresses has a complex structure even without convective mixing (creeping flow).


As the educational institution, Electrical Engineering Education Department of Engineering Faculty of Yogyakarta State University constantly improves its educational quality, such as by utilizing the Quality Management System (QMS) of ISO 9001: 2000. The problem brought into this paper: how was the utilization of QMS of ISO 9001 : 2000 implemented into the education process in this department especially the period of both 2009 and 2010 concerning to the programmed-quality target, implementation, obstacles, results and its impact? According the discussion on this paper can be concluded include as the following. Quality target in this department: (1) Improving the learning quality; (2) Improving the learning evaluation quality; (3) Improving the academic atmosphere quality; and (4) Improving the academic services quality. Implementation of quality target: (1) Founding team of target quality and developing of commitments; (2) Dissemination of target quality; (3) implementation of target quality on daily activities; (4) Controlling ISO recording documents; (5) ISO internal quality audit; and (6) ISO external quality audit. The main obstacles : (1) The need of sufficient funding; and (2) Commitment and self awareness by some lectures and staffs should be well-improved. The results of the implementation of quality target can classified as good category. Impact of implementing target quality: (1) This department has won the PHKI competitive grant; (2) Electrical Engineering Education Study Program was accredited A category; (3) Students of this department have won Indonesia Robot Championship
as the 2nd winner in the Region of Central Java and Yogyakarta; and (4) Some graduates were approved to work in some bona fide company such as PT. Freeport Indonesia, PT. United Tractor and PT. Pertamina.

Keywords : utilization, quality management system, ISO 9001: 2000.


We develop three independent non-cryogenic techniques for the production of physical hydrogels based on poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, as surface adhered materials. Hydrogelation of the micro-structured PVA films was achieved using a coagulating salt (sodium sulfate), aqueous isopropanol, and poly(ethylene glycol), and each of the methods afforded robust hydrogels which remained stable under physiological conditions for at least 48 h. The choice of the stabilization method and polymer molecular weight was decisive in controlling hydrogel dimensions (swelling) and Young's modulus, the latter varied from 20 to 2000 kPa. Immobilization and retention of model low molecular weight cargo were monitored using a custom-made PVA with terminal amine groups, conjugating a fluorescent probe to this polymer and co-gelation of the conjugate with matrix forming PVA. Polymer losses during stabilization and kinetics of cargo release in PBS over time differed depending on the hydrogel stabilization method employed making the latter an effective tool in the design of intelligent biointerfaces. For each stabilization method, we demonstrate retention of model protein cargo over at least 48 h of incubation in physiological buffer, a phenomenon which was used to render the non-adhesive pristine PVA gels well suited for cell adhesion and proliferation. Taken together, we present a flexible and highly adaptable platform for the design of intelligent biointerfaces towards their use in tissue engineering and surface mediated drug delivery.


The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented losses for small businesses in cities across the globe. Policymakers have relied on a wide range of measures to support firms and sustain business continuity. However, significant concerns have been expressed about the degree of equity in the distribution and efficiency of government assistance during the pandemic disruption. Drawing on the case of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and its implementation in inland Southern California, this study examines the spatial distribution of PPP loans at the neighborhood level. Based on spatial regressions and in-depth interviews with small businesses, banks, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, the study finds that, in terms of their total number and value, the PPP loans have roughly succeeded in reaching their small business targets. However, communities with higher shares of pandemic-vulnerable businesses or higher levels of socioeconomic vulnerability are less likely to have received PPP loans. There have also been spatial spillover effects of community vulnerability when it comes to receiving PPP loans at the neighborhood level. The correlation between fewer PPP loans and community vulnerability also reflects both short-term needs and longstanding challenges facing entrepreneurship and business development in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Moreover, small business resilience and community resilience are inseparable, and thus government business assistance must be considered in the context of local communities.


Activation of the pre-B-cell receptor (pre-BCR) in the bone marrow depends on both tonic and ligand-induced signaling and leads to pre-BII-cell proliferation and differentiation. Using normal mouse bone marrow pre-BII cells, we demonstrate that the ligand-induced pre-BCR activation depends on pre-BCR/galectin-1/integrin interactions leading to pre-BCR clustering at the pre-BII/stromal cell synapse. In contrast, heparan sulfates, shown to be pre-BCR ligands in mice, are not implicated in pre-BCR relocalization. Inhibition of pre-BCR/galectin-1/integrin interactions has functional consequences, since pre-BII-cell proliferation and differentiation are impaired in an in vitro B-cell differentiation assay, without affecting cellular apoptosis. Most strikingly, although galectin-1-deficient mice do not show an apparent B-cell phenotype, the kinetics of de novo B-cell reconstitution after hydroxyurea treatment indicates a specific delay in pre-BII-cell recovery due to a decrease in pre-BII-cell differentiation and proliferation. Thus, although it remains possible that the pre-BCR interacts with other ligands, these results highlight the role played by the stromal cell-derived galectin-1 for the efficient development of normal pre-BII cells and suggest the existence of pre-BII-specific stromal cell niches in normal bone marrow.


It's an arrangement that puts the day-to-day operation of your information systems software in the hands of an outside manager at an outside computer system. The attraction of "outsourcing" is the money saved by not paying for hardware or in-house computer technicians. And it frees your top computer people for software improvement. But it's not for everyone. Owen Doyle lists the advantages and disadvantages.


With the development of multimedia technology, Video Copy Detection has been a crucial problem for social media platforms. Meta AI hold Video Similarity Challenge on CVPR 2023 to push the technology forward. In this report, we share our winner solutions on Matching Track. We propose a Similarity Alignment Model(SAM) for video copy segment matching. Our SAM exhibits superior performance compared to other competitors, with a 0.108 / 0.144 absolute improvement over the second-place competitor in Phase 1 / Phase 2. Code is available at https://github.com/FeipengMa6/VSC22-Submission/tree/main/VSC22-Matching-Track-1st.


This paper presents a methodology for procedural security analysis in order to analyze and eventually try to make elections more secure. Our approach is based on modelling the electoral procedures in the form of business process models (which we write in a strict simplified subset of UML), systematically translate the models into executable formal specifications, and analyze the specifications against security properties. We believe such an analysis to be essential to identifying the limits of the current procedures (i.e. undetected attacks) and to identify more precisely under what hypotheses we can guarantee secure elections. This paper presents the approach and demonstrates with an example taken from the e-Voting procedures enacted within the ProVotE project, current trial of the Italian legislation.


Lyman-α emitters (LAEs) are a promising target to probe the large scale structure of the Universe at high redshifts, z ≳ 2. However, their detection is sensitive to radiative transfer effects that depend on local astrophysical conditions. Thus, modeling the bulk properties of this galaxy population remains challenging for theoretical models. Here we develop a physically-motivated scheme to predict LAEs in cosmological simulations. The escape of Lyα photons is computed using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code which outputs a Lyα escape fraction. To speed-up the process of assigning escape fractions to individual galaxies, we employ fitting formulae that approximate the full Monte Carlo results within an accuracy of 10% for a broad range of column densities, gas metallicities and gas bulk velocities. We apply our methodology to the semi-analytical model GALFORM on a large N-body simulation. The Lyα photons escape through an outflowing neutral gas medium, implemented assuming different geometries. This results in different predictions for the typical column density and outflow velocities of the LAE population. To understand the impact of radiative transfer on our predictions, we contrast our models against a simple abundance matching assignment. Our full models populate LAEs in less massive haloes than what is obtained with abundance matching. Overall, radiative transfer effects result in better agreement when confronting the properties of LAEs against observational measurements. This suggest that incorporating the effects of Lyα radiative transfer in the analysis of this galaxy population, including their clustering, can be important for obtaining an unbiased interpretation of future datasets.


Data stream are generated from many sources. This Data streams are needed to be transformed into significant information to take more effective decisions. Clustering is the best way for analyzing data streams. The material on clustering is very large.Many clustering algorithms are available for data stream which uses k-means algorithm as a base. Clustream algorithm is one of the examples of it. Main drawback of such k-means based data stream clustering algorithm (Clustream) is that user has to give no. of cluster (k) in advance. Many times it happens that user does not know detail about the data and gives value of k randomly. In this type of case we will not get satisfactory result. i.e. we can't get proper quality of clusters. To tackle the above mentioned problem, we have proposed the framework. According to it, we will use another algorithm to find appropriate no. of clusters in advance. Here we used Bisecting k-means algorithm to find no. of clusters for data stream. So we have combined the clustream algorithm with bisecting approach for finding best quality clusters without interference of user to fix value of no. of cluster at user side.


Climate change adaptation coevolves with urban development trajectories presenting decision-makers with a choice of positioning adaptation to protect or revise development. This relational view of adaptation in the context of large cities opens questions on the ways in which city and other actors interact. This interaction may be as or more important than resource and information access for shaping the adaptive capacity and direction of such assemblages. Transitions between modes of adaptation are little understood and will likely combine autonomous and deliberate change both incremental and transformative. Using London as a case study, the paper identifies the contemporary adaptation regime to extreme events and its lines of movement. Interviews and a scenario workshop with resilience planners and emergency managers show the orientation of London's adaptation is firmly positioned in a mode of resilience, protecting development through flexibility. Maintaining resilience to extremes under conditions of economic austerity is seen to result in the shifting of risk management burdens onto those at risk. Self-reliance is emerging as a mechanism for deepening the resilience mode of adaptation. At the same time, when considering potential risks for extreme events in 2035, most planners express a desire for more transformative adaptation that can tackle root causes in social conditions. A gap is revealed between the professional judgment of risk and resilience planning needs and likely trajectories constrained by national administrations and policy.


While a tower crane was slewing with a full load of concrete at an 80 ft radius, the operator applied the emergency brake to avert collision with another crane. One of the main square tubular uprights split over a short distance and a number of the adjacent bracings had broken away. Additional cracking had developed along one of the corner welds of the upright. Sections taken through the upright in various planes revealed a laminar defect. The through-thickness crack coincided with one end of the defect. The fracture was therefore due to separation having occurred partially in the plane of the defect. This particular tubular bracing was attached initially to virtually half of the section thickness for a little less than half of its circumference and a zone of intrinsic weakness was introduced. In service, fatigue or corrosion fatigue cracks occurred at the toes of the welds, at the corner of the box section and progressively at other positions. Final and sudden failure occurred under the excessively severe torsional stresses introduced when the emergency brake was applied.


OBJECTIVE
Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a central component of the innate immune response. Genetic variations in the MBL gene that reduce circulating levels and alter functional properties of the MBL are associated with susceptibility for many infectious diseases. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease caused by an arbovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. We have investigated serum MBL levels in CCHF patients and a possible association between circulating MBL concentrations and the severity of CCHF.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-seven patients found to have CCHF in Cumhuriyet University Hospital and 29 healthy controls were recruited for this study. There were no differences in terms of age and sex between the patients and the healthy controls (p = 0.64 and p = 0.484, respectively). This study was conducted between July 1 and August 31, 2007, in Cumhuriyet University Hospital in Sivas, a city located in the central Anatolian region of Turkey. Patients with CCHF were matched with healthy controls, and serum MBL levels were measured.

RESULTS
The median serum MBL level was significantly lower in the patient group than in the healthy control group (48.0 ng/mL [inter-quartile range (QR) 30.4-128.0] and 212.0 ng/mL [IQR: 115.8-524.0], respectively; p < 0.001). No significant difference was found between serum MBL levels in CCHF patients with severe and nonsevere form of the disease (p = 0.167).

CONCLUSION
MBL levels were significantly lower in patients with CCHF than in healthy controls. There was no meaningful correlation between the serum MBL level and severity of CCHF disease. Low serum MBL level may be associated with the high consumption of MBL in CCHF infection and/or MBL gene polymorphism.


Three endophytic bacterial strains (Burkholderia sp. no. 25, Enterobacter sp. no. 35 and Klebsiella sp. no. 38) isolated from sweet potato and sugarcane were examined for their ability to incorporate the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) via conjugation and electroporation. Enterobacter sp. no. 35 and Klebsiella sp. no. 38 were successfully tagged with the gfp gene by conjugation using pTn5kmgfpmut1. Fluorescence microscopic observation of Brassica oleracea inoculated with gfp-tagged endophytes revealed that Enterobacter sp. no. 35 and Klebsiella sp. no. 38 colonized the junctions between the lateral roots and the main roots.


Quantum networks (QNs) will play a key role in distributed quantum information processing. As the network size increases, network-level errors like random breakdown and intentional attack are inevitable; therefore, it is important to understand the robustness of large-scale QNs, similar to what has been done for the classical counterpart—the internet. For exponential networks such as Waxman networks, errors simply re-parameterize the network and lead to a linear decrease of the quantum capacity with the probability of error. The same linear decay happens for scale-free QNs under random breakdowns, despite the previously discovered robustness in terms of the connectivity. In presence of attack, however, the capacity of scale-free QNs shows a sharp exponential decay with the increasing attack fraction. Our results apply to quantum internet based on fibers for all kinds of quantum communications and provide implications for the future construction of QNs with regard to its robustness.


In computer or electroacoustic music, it is often the case that the compositional act and the parametric control of the underlying synthesis algorithms or hardware are not separable from each other. In these situations, composition and control of the synthesis parameters are not easy to distinguish. One possible solution is by means of fuzzy logic. This approach provides a simple, intuitive but powerful control of the compositional process usually in interesting non-linear ways. Compositional control in this context is achieved by the fuzzification of the relevant internal synthesis parameters and the parallel computation of common sense fuzzy rules of inference specified by the composer. This approach has been implemented computationally as a software package entitled FLCTK (Fuzzy Logic Control Tool Kit) in the form of external objects for the widely used real-time compositional environments Max/MSP and Pd. In this article, we present an updated version of this tool. As a demonstration of the wide range of situations in which this approach could be used, we provide two examples of parametric fuzzy control: first, the fuzzy control of a water tank simulation and second a particle-based sound synthesis technique by a fuzzy approach.


A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of plant spacing and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer rates on the growth and yield of sweet potato (Ipomea batatas Lam.) at the Teaching and Research Farm of Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State during the 2019 and 2020 wet seasons. The trial consisted of five plant spacing (30 x 30, 30 x 45, 30 x 60, 30 x 75 and 30 x 90 cm) and five NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer rates (0, 90, 120, 150 and 200 kg ha). The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD), replicated three times. Results from the combined analysis indicated that vine length, number of vines, number of leaves, tuber weight and tuber yield significantly differed due to spacing and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer rates. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) among the treatment means on leaf area plant tuber length and tuber diameter due to plant spacing and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer rates. There was no significant interaction between spacing and NPK 15-1515 fertilizer. It can be concluded that spacing 30 × 30 cm was found to produce higher growth attributes over the rest of the treatments, while spacing 30 × 90 produced higher yield attributes over the rest of the treatments. Application of 200 kg ha of NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer was found to produce higher growth yield attributes over the rest of the treatments.


BACKGROUND
To analyze the correlation of component blood transfusion and prognosis of patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in assisted reproductive technology (ART).

METHODS
A retrospective analysis of clinical data on 85 pregnant women with ART-induced PIH and PPH was completed. They were divided into observation group and control group based on whether there was component transfusion after massive hemorrhage. The plasma coagulation and blood platelet-related indexes of the two groups of patients were assayed before blood transfusion, 24 hours after blood transfusion, and 12 weeks post-partum. The incidence of adverse reactions of blood transfusion within one week of blood transfusion, the proportion of patients transferred to the general ward, the blood pressure, and biochemical indexes at 12 weeks postpartum were recorded.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in coagulation function before blood transfusion between the two groups of patients (p > 0.05). After 24 hours of massive blood transfusion, APTT, PT, and TT in the observation group were obviously shorter than those in the control group (p < 0.001), whereas FIB and PLT were higher than the control group (p < 0.01). In contrast to the control group at 12 weeks postpartum, the APTT, TT, and PT of the observation group were shortened (p < 0.05), while the FIB level was higher (p < 0.01). The probability of adverse reactions of transfusion in the observation group was lower than the control group (p < 0.05). The correlation between component transfusion and disease improvement after one week of transfusion and 12 weeks postpartum was 0.350 (0.159 - 0.530) (p < 0.01) and 0.441 (0.258 - 0.608) (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Component blood transfusion in ART-induced PIH patients can improve their coagulation function, reduce the probability of adverse reactions caused by massive blood transfusion, and improve their prognosis.


A new protocol has been developed for the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse tetra- and pentacyclic quinolinopyran tethered pyrazole/coumarin architectures via a domino Knoevenagel intramolecular hetero-Diels–Alder (IMHDA) strategy using a solid state melt reaction (SSMR) in a highly diastereo and regioselective fashion. Gratifyingly, these heterocyclic frameworks were synthesized under solvent and catalyst free conditions, without the aid of a work-up and column chromatography purification. The generality and functional tolerance of this convergent and environmentally benign method is very attractive.


Nabatean Agriculture by Ibn Waþshiyyal is a strange work in the history of medieval Arabic literature. Written in Arabic in early l0th century lraq, the work claims to be a translation of a text written in much earlier times by the "ancient Nabateans." However, ever since the work was discovered in the 19th century the scholars have disagreed on its real origin. Today some maintain it to be a translation of an original written sometime in the Late Antiquity, while others claim the Arabic work of the l0thcentury to be the original. Whichever of the two altematives is true, it is nevertheless in many 'i/ays an interesting work of encyclopaedic proportions. Nabatean Agriculture is one of several works which together form the socalled Nabatean corpus. While it is not always very clear exactly which books actually belong to this corpus,2 they are all supposedly translated in early 10th century Iraq by Ibn Waþshiyya from "ancient Syriac" (al-suryaniyya al-qadima) and clearly share a number of common features such as the concem with magic and the esoteric with each other. Ibn Waþshiyya himself claims these works to represent the "ancient sciences" of the Nabateans, i.e., the non-Arab, Arameanspeaking rural population of lraq, representing the indigenous population of the


The work is devoted to the study of structural changes of enterocytes in the mucous membrane of the duodenum in a burn injury of the skin of a rat under conditions of experimental streptozotocin induced diabetes. The study was carried out on laboratory white adult rats-males weighing 180-210 g. The control group consisted of 21 animals without somatic pathology, the first experimental group consisted of 21 rats with skin burn injury, the second experimental group cleared 21 rats with skin burn and experimental streptozotocin induced diabetes. A model of experimental diabetes mellitus was reproduced by administering streptozotocin intraperitoneally once in dose of 50 mg/kg to rats. In an experimental simulation of a skin burn, two copper plates in the form of an ellipse were kept in water at 100°C for 10 minutes and, under ether anesthesia conditions, were applied simultaneously symmetrically on both exposed parts of the body of rats with an exposure for 10 seconds. Burn skin damage in rats was II-AB degrees dermal surface burn (according to the old classification III-A degree) with a total area of 21-23% of the body surface with the development of burn shock. For morphological studies, the duodenum was taken, fragments of which were processed using conventional light and electron microscopy. The main criteria for assessing damage the enterocytes of the duodenal mucosa were the results studies of histological and ultrastructural data over 7, 14 and 21 days after a skin burn. The results of the studies showed that the damage of the enterocytes of the duodenal mucosa is based on deep destructive changes, which after 21 days (at the stage of septic toxemia), as a rule, are not reversible and develop against the background of significant intoxication of the organism. In the mucous membrane of the duodenum with burn injury of the skin associated with diabetes mellitus, there is a deterioration of the manifestations of the adaptive response and prolongation of destructive processes, accompanied by a violation of intercellular interactions in cytoarchitectically modified and deformed villi and crypts.


Nonlinear Schrödinger equations are regularly experienced in numerous parts of science and designing. Varieties of analytical methods have been proposed for solving these equations. In this work, we construct an approximate solution for the nonlinear Schrodinger equations, with harmonic oscillator potential, by Elzaki Decomposition Method (EDM). To illustrate the effects of harmonic oscillator on the behavior wave function, nonlinear Schrodinger equation in one and two dimensions is provided. The results show that, it is more perfectly convenient and easy to apply the EDM in oneand two-dimensional Schrodinger equation. Keywords—Non-linear Schrodinger equation, Elzaki decomposition method, harmonic oscillator, one and twodimensional Schrodinger equation.


In the generated model for the recognition vocabulary, tri-phones which is not make preparations are produced. Therefore this model does not generate an initial estimate of parameter words, and the system can not configure the model appear as disadvantages. As a result, the sophistication of the Gaussian model is fall will degrade recognition. In this system, we propose the error correction system using out-of vocabulary rejection algorithm. When the systems are creating a vocabulary recognition model, recognition rates are improved to refuse the vocabulary which is not registered. In addition, this system is seized the lexical analysis and meaning using probability distributions, and this system deactivates the string before phoneme change was applied. System analysis determine the rate of error correction using phoneme similarity rate and reliability, system performance comparison as a result of error correction rate improve represent 2.8% by method using error patterns, fault patterns, meaning patterns.


The heterogeneous uptake of N2O5 on mineral dust particles may play an important role in the removal of nitrogen oxides from the atmosphere. However, the reaction of N2O5 with the mineral particles is not well understood. The reaction of N2O5 with two Si(OH)4 monomers is explored using theoretical methods. This study represents a first step towards understanding the interaction of N2O5 with the hydroxyl groups of silica particles. Energies are calculated using MP2 single point calculations on the B3LYP optimized geometries and including B3LYP thermodynamic corrections. Four mechanisms are considered for the formation of two HNO3 and one H6Si2O7. The rate limiting activation barrier of the most favorable path is found to be 12.5 kcal mol−1. This reaction appears to be more favorable than the hydrolysis of N2O5 with one water molecule. These results are in agreement with experimental observations, which show that N2O5 reacts with OH groups of Saharan dust to form nitrate. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The problem of lascivious cohabitation occurs in both systems of law as both of them regulate the problems relating to marriage. The Code of Penal Proceedings expressly uses this term, while in Family and Guardianship Code this term does not occur. Additionally, such cohabitation is understood differently by Canon Law as opposed to Polish Civil Law. Civil Law does not distinguish between lawful cohabitation and a notorious one. Civil Law does not favour lascivious cohabitation, while Canon Law treats it as a crime under certain circumstances. In Polish Civil Law, such cohabitation appears to be no impediment to contracting a marriage, however in Canon Law this kind of impediment does exist. In the former case lascivious cohabitation is recognised mainly in Property Law which applies to both of the cohabitants, whereas Canon Law does deal with these matters. Polish law treats a Catholic marriage that has been contracted without legal consequences as a case of lascivious cohabitation, but according to Canon Law it is a sacrament.


Gilibina_Akuna_Agita_Merewo_Besikiya road project is located in Amhara National Regional State, North Gondar Administrative Zone, Telemte woreda. The settlement pattern of the population residing in the project Woreda is dispersed and mainly concentrated in rural settlements that are mainly at lower level of socio economic status. The project influence Woreda lack adequate social services and other infrastructural services, such as road and communication networks. The total length of the road project is 98.06 km and is Design Standard (DC3). The construction of the project road as per the route selection study and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) will improve the livelihood of the local populations that are crossed by the road project. It could also contribute to the growth and development of trade and urban centers, improvement of crop and livestock production and its marketing network. The natural resource and human resource potentials are also highly important in contributing to the development of the project area. The project road is expected to have both positive and negative impacts in the direct Project Influence Area (PIA), as well in the indirect influence area. The potential social impacts will be quicker felt in the direct influence area. The adverse (or negative) environmental and social impacts are very minimal and could not make significant impacts that will impede the life of the local population. The proposed project road is in harmony with all the national development policies and strategies of Ethiopia, and fulfils all requirements set forth both by the Federal and Regional Governments. The land acquisition report presents the policy, legal and Administrative framework; the valuation measures, the compensation payment to be made for the PAPs including restoration measures, and it also establishes methodologies for compensation estimate and payment. The basis of the land acquisition report is a socio economic assessment of the livelihoods that will be affected due to the construction of the project road which include the number of Project Affected Persons, the size of affected properties and asset. DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-1-03


To date, there is no report on molecular characterisation of Myxobolus ichkeulensis in Mugil cephalus (Mugilidae) in Turkish marine waters. The aim of the current research was to provide the first molecular data on M. ichkeulensis from M. cephalus in Turkish Black Sea coasts. A total of 40 M. cephalus specimens were examined for the presence of M. ichkeulensis in the Turkish Black Sea coasts during January 2017 and April 2017. In the present study, M. ichkeulensis was identified based upon the myxospore morphology, host and tissue specificity, and SSU rRNA sequence. Phylogenetic analysis using neighbor-joining also revealed that our isolate (#GZP-2018-Samsun1) was clustered with other Myxobolus species that infect M. cephalus. The current study includes the morphological and histopathological descriptions and first molecular data on M. ichkeulensis in M. cephalus in Turkish marine waters. M. ichkeulensis was also reported from the M. cephalus in the coast of the Black Sea in Turkey for the first time. Moreover, our current genetic data was recorded as the new valid SSU rRNA sequence (MH374629) for M. ichkeulensis in the GenBank database.


The formation of the 30P compound nucleus by the 14N + 16O incident channel has been studied from E(14N) = 20 to 60 MeV lab. The population of individual states observed in the d + 28Si and 6Li + 24Mg outgoing channels are compared to predictions of the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model. For incident energies higher than 30 MeV the maximum angular momenta contributing to the fusion process are found smaller than the grazing angular momenta available in the incoming channel. Tome 38 Neo 10 OCTOBRE 1977 LE JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE


The engineering of analog VLSI processors for computer vision is discussed. These are based on the Hassenstein-Reichardt-Poggio models for information processing in the visual systems of the fly. It is shown how neural network models can be mapped on silicon integrated circuits for performing tasks that can be handled efficiently by digital computing machinery. Hardware architectures for both position and motion computation are described.<<ETX>>


The presence of pre-existing intracoronary thrombus has consistently been shown to be among the strongest predictors of unsuccessful angioplasty and abrupt vessel closure. Abciximab, platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa rec- eptor antagonist, through prevention platelet aggregation and coronary thrombosis, has shown promise in helping to decrease the incidence of complications of PTCA when prophylatically administered in patients presenting with unstable angina or complex lesion morphology for PTCA and in lower risk patients as well. However, the cost of abciximab and its associated increased risk of bleeding may limit its use as a prophylactic treatment. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of the rescue administration of abciximab in seven patients with thro- mbus containing lesion during angioplasty. Thrombus was disappeared in 4 patients and decreased in 2 patients, and the follow-up angiogram showed normal brisk flow in all 6 patients. There were no death or myocardial infarction on clinical follow-up at a mean of 7 months except one which was developed restenosis at the angio- plasty lesion. Dissolution of thrombus and restoration or maintenance of TIMI grade 3 flow were achieved without complications after administration of abciximab when delivered in a " rescue" manner on thrombus containing lesion during angioplasty. These results showed that failure to give preprocedural prophylactic abciximab did not appear to exclude the possibility of a beneficial effect of abciximab, given therapeutically during the early stage of thrombus formation in patients with complicated lesion during angioplasty. ( ( ( (Korean Circulation J 1998; 28( ( ( (12 :1937-1940


The authors present the first report of pediatric brainstem oligodendroglioma, infiltrating midbrain, and medulla oblongata. The report details clinical features, radiological findings, and surgical steps. As this entity is exceedingly uncommon, the overall epidemiology, prognosis, and long-term outcome remain far from established.


Computational models offer tools for exploring the nature of human cognitive processes. In connectionist, neural network, or parallel distributed processing models, information processing takes the form of cooperative and competitive interactions among many simple, neuron-like processing units. These models provide new ways of thinking about the neural basis of cognitive processes, and how disorders of brain function lead to disorders of cognition. This monograph is an expanded version of a recent issue of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychology. It presents the most comprehensive existing "case study" of how the effects of damage in connectionist models can replicate the detailed and diverse patterns of cognitive impairments that can arise in humans as a result of brain damage. It begins with a review of the basic methodology of cognitive neuropsychology and of other attempts at modeling neuropsychological phenomena. It then focuses on a particular form of acquired reading disorder, "deep dyslexia," in which previously literate adults with brain damage exhibit a wide range of symptoms in pronouncing written words, the most striking of which is the production of semantic errors (e.g. reading RIVER as "ocean"). A series of simulations investigate the effects of damage in connectionist models that pronounce written words via their meaning. The work systematically explores each main aspect of the design of the models, identifying the basic computational properties that are responsible for the occurrence of deep dyslexia when the models are damaged. Although the investigation concerns a specific form of reading impairment, the computational principles that emerge as critical are very general ones: representation of concepts as distributed patterns of activity, encoding of knowledge in terms of weights on connections between units, interactivity between units to form stable attractors for familiar activity patterns, and greater richness of concrete vs. abstract semantics. The fact that damage to models embodying these principles and damage to the brain can produce strikingly similar behaviour supports the view that the human cognitive system operates according to similar principles.


Energy generation is heavily dependent on fossil fuels in Pakistan. Due to the huge population and current progress in industrialization, these sources are not fulfilling the existing energy needs of the country. Meanwhile, they have adverse environmental impacts and are economically unsuitable to electrify remote areas. Consequently, there is a need to look for alternate energy sources. The aim of this paper is to find out the best renewable energy option for Pakistan. For this purpose, we have collected data for solar radiation and wind speed for a period of one year in four major cities of Pakistan. Results indicate that solar energy is the best renewable energy option for Pakistan in terms of price, life span, operation and maintenance cost. Key barriers have been identified over the whole solar energy spectrum through semi-structured interviews with industry professionals. And finally, important policy recommendations have been proposed for institutions and government to overcome these barriers and utilize maximum solar energy in the country.


A detailed redescription (including first description of the male sex) of the genus Wachsiella Schmidt, 1931 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Largidae: Physopeltinae) and its single species, Wachsiella horsti Schmidt, 1931, is provided. The systematic placement of the genus is discussed and it is placed in the tribe Physopeltini. Wachsiella horsti is a species endemic to south Sulawesi (Indonesia), known only from specimens collected in 1895-1896 and has never been reported since.


Every day we make numerous decisions. Some are better than others. Intuitive decisions usually results in less good decisions when we do not reason about our choices. Research has been interested about the process that is behind how we make good decisions. Decisions we face every day, such as when we shop, determined using various mental shortcuts that we use unconsciously. These shortcuts are called heuristics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consequences for the use of various heuristics and if they reduce the cognitive resources to varying degrees. A quantitative data collection was performed by a laboratory experiment with a total of 34 participants. A convenience sample was done and participants were divided into three different heuristic groups by randomization. Groups were examined and compared by using eye-tracking equipment where there where a controlling number of observations during the decision process. Number of observations represents how many products participants viewed during the decision making. There may be multiple observations on the same product or different products. A mixed ANOVA with a repeated measurement of the various groups was used. Results show that the heuristic group "recognition" had the least number of observations in the decision before the cognitive load and increased the number of observations in the decision after the cognitive load. This indicates a greater attention after cognitive load. The conclusion is that this group had the least reduction of cognitive resources after cognitive load. This is resulting in a less risk to make impulsive decisions.


Considering the high speed at which medical sciences are growing in this age and the increase in diseases with side effects, the pressure on health care system, physicians and health care staff has intensified. This has led health care managers to seek more appropriate ways for providing health care services. In recent years, establishing standard clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) has been increasingly considered for this purpose. Using CPGs has become an important part of treatment in emergency department. These protocols are the result of general consultations regarding special clinical diagnoses and subjects, which guide the physicians for better decision making and providing logical treatments for a disease. Success in establishing it increases the quality of health care by decreasing use of improper treatment and accelerating giving effective and valuable treatments. CPG is a general and systematic vision that helps health care providers to make logical and proper decisions regarding patients and the health care system and helps physicians in special conditions. These procedures have been determined based on studies and reliable evidence that consist of different conditions and treatment methods and finally reveal the best treatment method to us. CPGs usually consider algorithms, clinical techniques and treatment policies and can definitely improve in the future. Recent studies have shown that in countries that CPGs are followed effective changes have been made in improvement of population health. One of the most important aspects of using CPGs is controlling costs. Recommendations that are given in CPGs also consider legal aspects and therefore decrease the risk of error for physicians and other medical staff. Although there are many problems, even when using CPGs, but many legal and supervisory systems have accepted CPGs and believe that not using it will give way to making errors and will bring about legal arguments. In fact designing CPGs is a policy that will provide safety in health care system. Undoubtedly, CPGs are important elements for decision making in medicine and performing them, as seen in the results and statistics reported in other countries, decreases unnecessary and dangerous interventions in the treatment process, provides effective and proper decision making for the health care providers, and leads to reduced mortality and costs. A disciplinary panel should be designed for carrying out the protocol to guide all target groups and make the goal of the CPG clear. Special clinical goals and conditions should be covered in CPGs and desirable clinical reflections should be made clear. Strong and scientific evidence should be regularly reviewed.


BACKGROUND
Physicians' recognition of end of life (EOL) has key influences on patients' "good death".

AIM
We aimed to study physicians' attitude towards EOL, and to analyze the relationship between physicians' assessment and patients' actual survival and the trigger effect on patient's access to palliative consultation and palliative care.

DESIGN
This is a multi-center retrospective cohort study in seven community hospitals in Taiwan.

METHODS
Inpatients admitted between March 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020, scored ≧ 4 points using Taiwan version-Palliative Care Screening Tool (TW-PCST), and expired before December 31, 2020 were enrolled. Physicians answered three questions regarding these inpatients: "surprised of mortality within 6-12 months", "EOL", and "in need of palliative care". We followed up patients' actual survival and access to palliative consultation and services.

RESULTS
We enrolled 10,304 cases. There was high correlation among the three questions. The median survival of patients with "not surprised of death within 6-12 months", "EOL", and "needing palliative care" were 68, 60, and 58 days, respectively. Those with opposite responses were 206 days, 166 days, and 186 days, respectively. Patients' main diagnosis, TW-PCST score, physicians' palliative care qualifications and reward measures were all associated with physicians' recognition of EOL. Physicians' assessment, physicians' training, disease characteristics and TW-PSCT scores were all associated with palliative consultation and palliative care.

CONCLUSIONS
Physicians are still over optimistic in recognizing inpatients' survival and palliative care needs. EOL talks can be initiated when the TW-PCST score is high. Universal palliative care training can be integrated into medical education.


This is the first volume (Volume I, and the first to appear) of the series 'Modern British Foreign Policy.' It, and the series, seems to be aimed at British Sixth Forms and the intelligent general reader. In North America it might be side reading for a college survey course. It is based on secondary sources entirely, with a short bibliography of works in print, plus articles. There are maps and genealogies, both extremely simplified. For what it seems to be trying to do, it does a competent job, readable and thorough; Mr Crowson has a good command of the international complications, most of which are passed over in standard histories of Britain. On the domestic issues behind the fbreign policy, in all the countries concerned including England and Scotland, he resorts to some hair-raising simplifications. Scotland, by the way, is treated here as one of the foreign countries, not as part of Britain (except insolhr as annexation was sometimes a dream of Tudor policy). In later volumes I suppose it will move from object to subject.


Objective: Only a few studies have dealt with the association of metabolic syndrome with depression and anxiety. We studied whether metabolic syndrome and its components are associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in a young adult population cohort. Methods: This study forms part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study. The study sample consists of 5,698 members of the cohort who participated in the field study in 1997 to 1998. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the five criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were defined by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 questionnaire. Results: Metabolic syndrome was not associated with depression or anxiety. The correlations between the components of the metabolic syndrome and psychological distress as continuous measures were low. High waist circumference (>102 cm in males and >88 cm in females) associated with depression (odds ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–1.61), but this association vanished when adjusted for gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, marital status, level of education, and physical activity. Conclusion: No clear association was found between the metabolic syndrome and psychological distress. ATP III = Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III); CI = confidence interval; HSCL-25 = Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, OR = odds ratio; HDL = high-density lipoprotein.


This paper presents the experience made with the engineering and execution of the tie-in of flexible risers to rigid pipelines on a project recently completed in West Africa.
 Five production and injection pipelines (10" and 6") were tied back to the host platform with flexible risers, in Lazy wave configurations, in ∼600m water depth.
 The risers are directly connected to the terminations structures (PLETs) of the rigid pipelines, through horizontal connection systems.
 The structures forming the tie-in (risers, PLETs and pipelines) have been designed to accommodate axial displacements of the pipelines in the range 0.3m to 1.0m, as positive displacements (expansions) and −0.1m to −0.7m as negative displacements (contractions) of the pipelines, respectively towards and away from the risers, due to pipelines thermal expansions and pipe walking.
 Note that along some of the lines anchoring structures have been installed to control pipe walking.
 The tie-in interface loads were to be limited, in order not to threaten the flexible pipe, the PLETs and the connectors, and, despite the small pipeline end displacements, keeping the interface loads within allowable values, was a challenge.
 The positive displacements were causing interface loads as high as 80% of the allowable values, while the negative displacements were causing up to 90% utilization of the capacity of the connectors and 95% of the allowable loading of the foundations of the PLETs.
 The main drivers of such high loadings are the stiffness of the flexible pipe, combined with the layout of the tie-in.
 Extensive in place analyses were done to simulate the effects of progressive displacements of the pipelines, the pipe-soil interactions and the specifics of the behaviour of the flexible pipes (hysteretic stiffness).
 Full 3D FE analyses of the foundations (mud mats) of the PLETs were done, to circumvent the limitations of a classical bearing capacity analysis approach.
 As built information were also used, to remove some conservatisms in the assumptions initially taken in the design. A special installation procedure was implemented, to achieve a layout of the riser at the approach of the pipeline capable to better relieve the displacements of the pipelines and reduce interface loads.
 Feedbacks from the installation are given in the paper.
 The lessons learned are also presented: a "flexible" pipe is a "stiff" structure and a direct tie-in to the pipeline may become an issue, if not addressed early enough during the execution of the project, when it can be too late to add mitigation structures, like intermediate tie-in spools, or to change significantly the routing of the risers and pipelines.


A systematic all electron post Hartree-Fock as well as density functional theory (DFT) based calculations for the polarizability and binding energy of sodium metal clusters have been performed and an in-depth analysis of the discrepancy between the experimental and theoretical results is presented. A systematic investigation for the assessment of different DFT exchange-correlation functionals in predicting the polarizability values has also been reported. All the pure DFT functionals have been found to considerably underestimate the calculated polarizability values as compared to the MP2 results. DFT calculations using the full Hartree-Fock exchange along with one-parameter progressive correlation functional have, however, been shown to yield results in good agreement with the MP2 and experimental results. The possible sources of error present in the experimental measurements as well as in the different theoretical methods have also been analyzed. One of the most important conclusions of the present study is that the effect of electron correlation plays a significant role in determining the polarizability of the clusters and the MP2 method can be considered to be one of the most reliable methods for their prediction. It has also been noted that the polarizability value of the lower member clusters (Na2 and Na4) calculated by highly sophisticated methods such as, CCSD and CCSD(T) are found to be very close to the corresponding MP2 values. The polarizability and the binding energy of the clusters are found to be inversely related to each other and their correlation is rationalized by invoking the minimum polarizability principle. A good linear correlation between the polarizability and volume of the cluster has also been found to exist.


Postoperative complications and mortality can occur many weeks or months after colic surgery. We are interested in the long-term outcome of these cases. This study documents patterns of mortality and morbidity among 341 horses that recovered from colic surgery March 1998-August 2000. The progress of each horse was rigorously followed by periodic telephone and postal questionnaires. Event time data were recorded for each animal and a total of 321 horse years of survival, together with death from all causes, colic-related death and various postoperative complications. Postoperative survival (of all horses excluding grass sickness cases) was triphasic over the first 600 days and there was marked mortality in the first 10 days postoperatively. The probability of survival postoperatively decreased to 0.87 by 10 days, 0.82 by 100 days and declined slowly to 0.75 at 600 days. Horses suffering from epiploic foramen entrapment had a significantly reduced probability of postoperative survival (RR = 2.1, P = 0.033). The causes of death for 104 horses that died postoperatively and the prevalence of postoperative complications are recorded for the study population. Postoperative colic was the most prevalent complication with 100 horses (29%) suffering one or more episodes. However, only 16 horses (4.6%) suffered 3 or more episodes. The incidence of postoperative colic was 0.55 episodes/horse year at risk. This study provides data that will inform the prognosis for postoperative colic cases and identifies epiploic foramen entrapment as carrying a worse prognosis for survival than other strangulating lesions.


Abstract: The ability of insulin treatment to reverse altered phosphoinositide metabolism in sciatic nerve from Streptozotocin diabetic rats was studied. Diabetes was induced in rats by means of a single injection of Streptozotocin. Enhanced incorporation of 32P into phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) was detectable as early as 8 days following intravenous injection of Streptozotocin and was maximal after 4 weeks. Hormone treatment was initiated at this time by daily injections of protamine zinc insulin followed by the implantation of long‐acting insulin osmotic minipumps, and 4 weeks later sciatic nerves were removed and incubated in the presence of [32P]orthophosphate. The increased labeling of PIP2 was completely reversed by hormone administration. In contrast, insulin (0.1 and 1.0 mU/ ml) added to the incubation medium failed to reverse the altered pattern of 32P incorporation into PIP2. The uptake of 32P into PIP2 was 80% higher into the proximal than into the distal portion of normal sciatic nerve when these were incubated separately. This metabolic difference was abolished in diabetic rats, although the incorporation into both segments was still significantly higher than in controls. These results strengthen the association of altered nerve PIP2 metabolism with the diabetic state and are consistent with the concept that experimental diabetic neuropathy is a distal axonopathy.


We study the possibility that particle production during inflation can source the required power spectrum for dark matter (DM) primordial black holes (PBH) formation. We consider the scalar and the gauge quanta production in inflation models, where in the latter case, we focus in two sectors: inflaton coupled i) directly and ii) gravitationally to a U(1) gauge field. We do not assume any specific potential for the inflaton field. Hence, in the gauge production case, in a model independent way we show that the non-production of DM PBHs puts stronger upper bound on the particle production parameter. Our analysis show that this bound is more stringent than the bounds from the bispectrum and the tensor-to-scalar ratio derived by gauge production in these models. In the scenario where the inflaton field coupled to a scalar field, we put an upper bound on the amplitude of the generated scalar power spectrum by non-production of PBHs. As a by-product we also show that the required scalar power spectrum for PBHs formation is lower when the density perturbations are non-Gaussian in comparison to the Gaussian density perturbations.


Paracrine signaling is challenging to study in vitro, as conventional culture tools dilute soluble factors and offer little to no spatiotemporal control over signaling. Microfluidic chips offer potential to address both of these issues. However, few solutions offer both control over onset and duration of cell-cell communication, and high throughput. We have developed a microfluidic chip designed to culture cells in adjacent chambers, separated by valves to selectively allow or prevent exchange of paracrine signals. The chip features 16 fluidic inputs and 128 individuallyaddressable chambers arranged in 32 sets of 4 chambers. Media can be continuously perfused or delivered by diffusion, which we model under different culture conditions to ensure normal cell viability. Immunocytochemistry assays can be performed in the chip, which we modeled and fine-tuned to reduce total assay time to 1h. Finally, we validate the use of the chip for co-culture studies by showing that HEK293Ta cells respond to signals secreted by RAW 264.7 immune cells in adjacent chambers, only when the valve between the chambers is opened.


Traditional optical elements and conventional metasurfaces obey shift-invariance in the paraxial regime. For imaging systems obeying paraxial shift-invariance, a small shift in input angle causes a corresponding shift in the sensor image. Shift-invariance has deep implications for the design and functionality of optical devices, such as the necessity of free space between components (as in compound objectives made of several curved surfaces). We present a method for nanophotonic inverse design of compact imaging systems whose resolution is not constrained by paraxial shift-invariance. Our method is end-to-end, in that it integrates density-based full-Maxwell topology optimization with a fully iterative elastic-net reconstruction algorithm. By the design of nanophotonic structures that scatter light in a non-shift-invariant manner, our optimized nanophotonic imaging system overcomes the limitations of paraxial shift-invariance, achieving accurate, noise-robust image reconstruction beyond shift-invariant resolution.


In this letter, an experimental and numerical study of the influence of symmetric resonators on Lamb waves that propagate in a thin metallic plate is reported. The resonators consist of a set of small, closely packed rods that pass through the plate from side to side to create a locally resonant metamaterial. Adjusting the symmetry of these rods creates degenerate flexural resonances that can be tuned to couple only with a given Lamb mode that is either symmetric (S0) or anti-symmetric (A0). This approach offers promising perspectives in the development of metamaterials for elastic waves that involve non-scalar interactions.


We investigate the issue of pseudonoise (PN) code acquisition in a multicarrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) system, which is suitable for high data rate transmissions. Specially, we investigate the acquisition performance of a pure parallel acquisition scheme over frequency-selective fading channels under the multiple in-phase states (H/sub 1/ cells) hypothesis, considering both noncoherent equal gain combining (EGG) and selection combining (SC) of the correlator outputs associated with the sub-carriers. It is demonstrated that the acquisition performance of the MC-CDMA scheme is better than that of the equivalent single-carrier CDMA (SC-CDMA) benchmarker, when EGC is employed, and it is similar to that of the single-carrier CDMA scheme, when SC is employed.


Do Western European political parties adjust their ideological positions in response to shifts in public opinion and to changing global economic conditions? Based on a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of parties' ideological dynamics in eight Western European democracies from 1976-1998, the authors conclude that both factors influence parties' ideological positions but that this relationship is mediated by the type of party. Specifically, they find that parties of the center and right react to both public opinion and the global economy, whereas parties of the left display no discernible tendency to respond to public opinion and also appear less responsive to global economic conditions. The findings on leftist parties' distinctiveness support arguments about these parties' long-term policy orientations as well as about their organizational structures. The authors also find little support for neoliberal convergence arguments.


The connecting tubule (CNT) of the rabbit is a distinct anatomic and functional segment, but little is known about its role in potassium secretion. We have examined potassium secretion in the CNT using the technique of in vitro microperfusion. Chemical flux was determined using an ion-sensitive microelectrode and rubidium flux was used to estimate the unidirectional lumen-to-bath potassium flux. In control tubules, the transepithelial potential difference was -4.1 +/- 1.1 mV and there was a net potassium flux (JK) of -17.94 +/- 4. 53 pmol mm-1 min-1 that was stable for up to 3 h. The lumen-to-bath 86Rb flux was 2.78 +/- 0.38 pmol mm-1 min-1. This value represents 12% of the calculated bath-to-lumen flux of 22.32 +/- 2.51 pmol mm-1 min-1. In comparing potassium transport in the CNT to that of the cortical collecting tubule, the net flux and unidirectional fluxes were significantly greater in the CNT. In the CNT ouabain 0.01 mM decreased JK from -25.25 +/- 2.81 to -2.07 +/- 1.94 pmol mm-1 min-1, a value not significantly different from zero. Potassium flux in the CNT was flow-dependent. As the perfusion rate was increased from 5.0 +/- 0.5 to 13.9 +/- 1.1 nl/min, net JK increased from -20.65 +/- 5.47 to -44.29 +/- 13.32 pmol mm-1 min-1. When the perfusion rate was further increased to 26.1 +/- 1.9 nl/min, the net JK increased to -57.28 +/- 12.38 pmol mm-1 min-1, a value significantly greater than that obtained at a nominal perfusion rate of 5 nl/min. Both the lumen-to-bath and bath-to-lumen potassium fluxes increased as the perfusion rate increased. These studies are consistent with an important role of the CNT in renal potassium excretion.


Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model approximates the tissue perfusion as a form of pseudo-diffusion, extracted as fast diffusion component in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Despite the central role of tissue perfusion in the angiogenesis in cancer, the clinical application of IVIM is hampered due to the susceptibility to noise and tendency of overfitting bi-exponential decay function. Recent introduction of Bayesian algorithm significantly enhanced the robustness and accuracy of IVIM method, renewing its potential as a clinical tool. We therefore set out to examine current IVIM algorithms in the context of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on patients with breast cancer preceding the treatment.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the Gram-negative bacterial cell wall, activates Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) may be involved in the progression of periodontal disease. Mice exposed to a novel environment show hyperlocomotion that is inhibited by systemic administration of LPS derived from Escherichia coli (Ec-LPS). However, whether Pg-LPS influences novelty-induced locomotion is unknown. Accordingly, we carried out an open field test to analyse the effects of Pg-LPS. For comparison, effects of Ec-LPS were also studied. We also investigated the influence of systemic administration of Pg-LPS or Ec-LPS on IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-10 levels in blood, as they could be involved in the changes in locomotion. The TLR4 receptor antagonist TAK-242 was used to study the involvement of TLR4. Since Pg-LPS may block TLR4 in vitro, we analysed the effects of Pg-LPS on Ec-LPS-induced changes in behavioural and biochemical parameters. Male ddY mice were used. Compounds were administered intraperitoneally. Ec-LPS (840 µg/kg), but not Pg-LPS (100, 500 and 840 µg/kg), inhibited novelty-induced locomotion, which was reversed by TAK-242 (3.0 mg/kg). Ec-LPS (840 µg/kg) increased blood levels of IL-6 and IL-10, which was antagonized by TAK-242 (3.0 mg/kg). However, TAK-242 did not inhibit Ec-LPS-induced increases in TNF-alpha levels in blood. Pg-LPS (100, 500, and 840 µg/kg) did not alter blood IL-6, TNF-alpha, or IL-10 levels. The Ec-LPS-induced increase in blood IL-10, but not IL-6 and TNF-alpha, levels was inhibited by Pg-LPS (500 µg/kg). These results suggest that TLR4 stimulation mediates the inhibition of novel environment-induced locomotion in mice following systemic administration of Ec-LPS, while also increasing blood IL-6 and IL-10 levels. In contrast, Pg-LPS did not exhibit these effects. The present study also provides in vivo evidence that Pg-LPS can inhibit TLR4-mediated increases in blood IL-10 levels, which is thought to prevent the development of periodontal disease.


Meningiomas are common intracranial extra-axial masses. They are rarely encountered in extracranial locations; when they are, the most common head and neck locations are the paranasal sinuses and the temporal bone. Meningiomas in children are very rare, especially in the neonatal period. The clinical presentation and clinical findings are often nonspecific. The diagnosis can be established by imaging and histopathologic examination with immunohistochemistry. We describe a case of primary sinonasal meningioma in a 2-year-old boy whose onset of symptoms had begun during the neonatal period. We discuss the clinical features, imaging results, and histopathologic and immunohistochemical findings in this case.


Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the emergence of social monogamy, its origin is still intensely debated. Monogamy has many potential drivers, but evolutionary causality among them remains unclear. Using phylogenetic comparative methods within a Bayesian framework we explored the evolution of monogamy in cichlids and in marine reef fishes because, while both groups are characterised by unusually high incidence of social monogamy, they face very different ecological challenges. For each group, we examined four classic hypotheses that explain the evolution of monogamy: female dispersal, male mate guarding, female–female intolerance, and the biparental care hypotheses. We also explored whether the ecological traits of diet and shelter use are evolutionarily coupled with these hypotheses or with monogamy. First, we found that the evolution of monogamy was predicted by male territoriality in cichlids and simultaneous male and female territoriality in marine reef fishes. We suggest that these results provide support for the male mate guarding hypothesis in cichlids and female–female intolerance hypothesis in marine reef fishes. Second, we demonstrate clear evidence against the biparental care hypothesis, as biparental care was a consequence, not a cause, of monogamy in our analyses. Third, as female dispersal drove the loss of monogamy in both cichlids and marine reef fishes, this suggests the female dispersal hypothesis is not driving the evolution of monogamy in either group. These findings in two highly-monogamous fish taxa largely support prior findings from primate and bird comparative studies and provide novel large-scale evidence for a link between mate guarding and the evolution of monogamy.


Some feminist discourses blame some men for gender inequality, gender domination, and gender-based violence. Some women use such discourse as a perfect scenario to criticize some men's behavior. Indeed, they usually do so with Oppressed Traditional Masculinities (OTM) but not with Dominant Traditional Masculinities (DTM), who are the men who were violent with those women and with whom some of those women chose to have relationships. However, there have always been men who have been on the side of women and have never committed violence against them. Therefore, New Alternative Masculinities (NAM) reject being indicated as guilty of the violence committed against women by DTM. Through a communicative approach, applying six semi-structured interviews with a communicative orientation and a communicative data analysis of all information, this article explores both women's communicative acts that blame OTM for what DTM have done to women and NAM's reactions to these accusations to stop such blaming to make it possible to overcome hegemonic discourses.


Many scenarios of physics beyond the standard model predict the existence of new gauge singlets, which might be substantially lighter than the weak scale. The experimental constraints on additional scalars with masses in the MeV to GeV range could be significantly weakened if they interact predominantly with leptons rather than quarks. At an e^{+}e^{-} collider, such a leptophilic scalar (ϕ_{L}) would be produced predominantly through radiation from a τ lepton. We report herein a search for e^{+}e^{-}→τ^{+}τ^{-}ϕ_{L}, ϕ_{L}→ℓ^{+}ℓ^{-} (ℓ=e, μ) using data collected by the BABAR experiment at SLAC. No significant signal is observed, and we set limits on the ϕ_{L} coupling to leptons in the range 0.04<m_{ϕ_{L}}<7.0  GeV. These bounds significantly improve upon the current constraints, excluding almost entirely the parameter space favored by the observed discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment below 4 GeV at 90% confidence level.


The local electronic structure around vacancies and vacancy-antisite complexes in cubic SiC has been calculated by means of the LMTO (linear muffin-tin orbital) method and the supercell approach. In order to improve the description of the electronic structure near the energy gap, the orbital-dependent LDA+U potential has been used. Different models for the displacement of the atoms around the defects are discussed. It has been shown that the atoms surrounding a silicon vacancy (VSi ) relax outwards from the vacancy, while for a carbon vacancy (VC ) a distortion of the tetrahedral arrangement of atoms is the more reliable model. The calculations of the local electronic structure performed for the vacancy-antisite complexes show that the VSi + SiC complex is characterized by a repulsive interaction between the SiC antisite and the three carbon atoms surrounding the vacancy. In contrast, the stability of the VC + CSi complex is determined by the bonding of the atoms surrounding the vacancy. In all cases the appearance of the localized electron state in the middle region of the energy gap is a characteristic feature of the vacancy-antisite complex. Some possible mechanisms of the annealing out of the vacancies in -SiC are discussed.


This paper covers the Shwe Offshore Platform (SHP) MEG Regeneration System upgrade works implemented to reduce excessive MEG losses and improve operation of the System.

 The SHP MEG Regeneration System processes MEG used in the topsides for hydrate inhibition in the Low Temperature Separators (LTS) and at the four subsea wells. Since start-up of production in 2013, SHP has suffered from excessive MEG losses and operational difficulties. Later in the field life, MEG injection to subsea wells was discontinued due to contamination with salts from formation water, and Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor (KHI) injection was introduced. Extensive evaluation of data, laboratory tests and field trials were carried out to investigate the causes of the excessive MEG consumption and operational difficulties. The upgrade of the MEG Regeneration System was finally completed and put in service since May 2018.

 The followings have been identified as the direct causes for MEG losses and operational difficulties; Poor efficiency of Glycol-Glycol Heat Exchangers (HEXs), causing low operating temperature of the Rich MEG Flash Drum and poor condensate/Rich MEG separation, resulting in MEG losses via Flash Drum condensate outlet.Excessive condensate in the Rich MEG reaching the Reboiler and resulting in contamination of the Lean MEG and downstream section (injection spray bars).Low water loading in the MEG Regeneration System resulting in lack of reflux and MEG losses via Reflux Drum.MEG carryover from LTS to the Export Gas Compressor (EGC) Suction Scrubbers, caused by foaming in the LTSs.
 In order to resolve the issues above, a number of modifications were implemented. New Glycol-Glycol HEX and a Liquid-Liquid Coalescer Filter were installed to provide better separation of condensate from Rich MEG. Also re-routing of the EGC Suction Scrubbers liquid outlet back to the MEG Regeneration System to recover the carried over MEG.
 Significant reduction of MEG losses was achieved, in the range of 70%, and overall system performance has improved. The main outcome of such improvement is that the condensate content in Rich MEG has been significantly decreased to below 500ppmV from above 1vol% due to the increase of Rich MEG Operating Temperature in Flash Drum and introduction of the Liquid-Liquid Coalescer Filter.

 This paper was written to describe the method used for resolving the problems with MEG losses, excessive condensate in the Rich MEG, and MEG carryover. It also explains the data evaluation, preparation, execution, and the results of the MEG Regeneration System Upgrade work.


This major research paper (MRP) examines how Schools of Social Work (SSW) in Canada reproduce social workers who participate in and perpetuate existing systems of oppression. Social workers either end up continuing to contribute to existing oppressive structures in society or working towards breaking down those structures; and an integral part in making that distinction is the education that they receive. This MRP focuses on critically analyzing the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) standards for Masters of Social Work (MSW) curriculum accreditation through an anti-colonial and post colonialism framework with an understanding of the effects of neoliberalism. This critical analysis was conducted through critical discourse analysis to reveal how colonialism and neoliberalism permeate curriculum standards which ultimately shape social work practice today. Main findings indicate that the curriculum accreditation standards have underlying discourses related to professionalism, social justice, surveillance, institutionalization and the absence of race.


Impact assessment and adaptation planning to enable growth of paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) under conditions of ongoing climate change are necessary in the Hokkaido region of northern Japan because of the intensive climate warming (+2-3°C in summer) projected to occur during the 21st century. Most previous studies have been based on extrapolation of results from past and present experimental data on unexperienced warming conditions under projected climatic change. These facts motivated us to use an assessment method known as an open-field day-length-extension (ODE) experiment. First, we confirmed the feasibility of an ODE experiment, which involves artificially extending day length with supplemental lighting. ODE treatment was performed in Morioka in 2009 (treatment ODE09M), where the summer temperature was 2.5°C higher than the current average summer temperature in Sapporo, and the results were compared with those obtained in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 2010 (treatment C10S), which had an extraordinarily hot summer (mean daily temperature 2.3°C higher than normal). The difference in heading date between ODE09M and C10S was small, i.e., 4 days for the three cultivars Koshihikari, Hitomebore, and Akitakomachi. Second, by comparing previous temperature gradient chamber (TGC) results with those from the ODE experiment, we found that a TGC experiment system was likely to overestimate the effect of temperature on heading date by up to 7 days. Finally, we calculated paddy rice cultivation under projected climate change conditions in Sapporo in terms of three critical dates for stable rice cultivation: the early limit for transplanting, the early limit for heading, and the late limit for heading. The warmer climate condition at Morioka formed by the ODE experiment that is an analog of future climate (2.5°C higher than the current average) at an northern site, Sapporo, would allow successful cultivation of Hitomebore and Akitakomachi, but not Koshihikari, in Sapporo.


In traditional design of computer based systems some effort, say 1, is spent on the early modeling phases, and some very high effort, say 50, is spent on the later implementation and testing phases. It is the conjecture of this paper that the total effort can be substantially reduced if an increased effort, say 2, is spent on the early modeling phases. Such a shift in focus of efforts will also greatly improve the overall effects (both quality and cost-wise) of the systems dev eloped, there by leading to a better (denoted by "≻") design process. In this paper, w e specifically consider the design of safety-critical distributed real-time systems. © 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.


A traceless arylsulfinate mediator strategy has been developed to switch the reaction course of β-chlorovinyl ketones with N-hydroxyamine. The soft α-vinyl enolization of (E)-β-chlorovinyl ketones was conducted in the presence of sodium arylsulfinate to give transient alkenyl sulfones that in turn reacted with NH2OH to give novel access to N-hydroxypyrroles. The mechanistic studies revealed the initial formation of oxazine intermediates that rearranged to thermodynamically stable aromatic products, N-hydroxypyrroles, under microwave-assisted heating conditions.