Objectives: Directional asymmetry is a measure of departure from bilateral symmetry. In the upper extremities, directional asymmetry can be determined by comparing the anthropometric measurements of arm length, elbow circumference and elbow breadth of individuals with and without Lateral epicondylalgia. This study aimed to detect the presence of significant directional asymmetry in the upper extremities of individuals with Lateral epicondylalgia. Methods: Potential case and control participants were recruited from January 2011 to September 2011 in Manila, Philippines. To qualify as a case with Lateral epicondylalgia in the study, participants must have lateral elbow pain on at least one elbow, which was replicated by at least one of the provocation tests (Cozen, Mill or Maudsley test). A single case was ideally matched with two control participants based on gender, age, and occupation. Bilateral arm length, elbow circumference (at the level of the elbow joint, at 5cm above and 5cm below the elbow joint) were measured by the senior physiotherapist. The odds ratio using the using a General Linear Model Univariate Analysis approach was applied to examine the relationship between the differences in the upper extremity anthropometric measurements, diagnosis of LE (case or control) and hand dominance (right or left). Results: 52 individuals with 48 unilateral elbow pain and 4 bilateral elbow pain were eligible for the study. The cases were matched with 99 control participants with 198 non-symptomatic elbows. Hand dominance was found to be significantly associated with elbow circumferential measurements taken at the level of the lateral epicondyle, 5cm above the lateral epicondyle and 5cm below the lateral epicondyle (p 0.05) Conclusion: Arm length, elbow circumference, and elbow breadth were not associated with Lateral epicondylalgia in our sample.


The gas chromatography with initial enrichment of the samples on activated carbon was employed to determine low concentrations of butanol and butyl acetate mixture in the air with different humidity content. In the range of concentrations examined (20-30 MAC for the atmospheric air) no apparent influence of moisture content in the air on the "breakthrough" of sorbent layer was stated. Moreover, butanol desorption efficiency decreased simultaneously with the increase of quantity of humidity adsorbed on the activated carbon. The analytic technique discussed should not be employed in determination of butanol low concentrations in the air with relative humidity exceeding 50%, and, in case this is of necessity, when the desorption coefficient is estimated, the amount of water adsorbed on the activated carbon during sampling should be regarded.


The 2022 DEBS Grand Challenge targets the analysis of real-world market data to define a trading strategy that triggers buy/sell advice based on specific temporal patterns. This paper presents a solution to this problem based on Noir, a distributed data processing framework developed at Politecnico di Milano that aims to provide high-level programming abstractions with minimal overhead. Noir abstracts all concerns related to deployment, concurrency, and synchronization, allowing developers to concentrate on the logic of the processing task. It simplifies the definition of a solution and minimizes the time to develop it and make it operational, while at the same time it does not sacrifice absolute performance. Our experiments show that Noir can analyze millions of events per second and deliver answers with a latency of few milliseconds.


Abstract Background/Objective: The use of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score as an outcome measure requires metrological study. This paper tests the hypothesis that a more accurate representation of motor function is obtained using separate upper and lower extremity scales rather than combining all 20 key muscle ratings into a single ASIA motor score. Methods: We analyzed archived data from 6,116 ASIA motor scale records extracted from the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center Database. Results: The hypothesis that separate scales more accurately represent motor function than a single motor scale was supported (X2(indifference)= 2,596; df= 1; P < 0.0001). Two scales account for 87% of the variance, whereas a single scale accounts for only 82%. Lower extremity function is well represented in both solutions; however, upper extremity function is accurately represented only with the use of 2 separate scales. Conclusions: The use of components of the ASIA standards for other than classification of spinal cord injury needs study. Several lines of study converge to provide strong support for the existence of 2 distinctive dimensions underlying the ASIA motor scale. The use of a single motor score in spinal cord injury research should be questioned and justified to the extent possible. The use of upper and lower extremity scales will lead to a reduction in measurement error when the motor score is used as an outcome measure. The confirmation of 2 separate dimensions underlying the ASIA motor score will enable more accurate representation of motor function in spinal cord injury research.


Site-specific mutants as candidates for live influenza vaccines were resulted from directly introducing into the genome of the pathogenic influenza virus A/WSN/33 (H1N1) strain ts mutations derived from the genes encoding the polymerase complex proteins from some cold-adapted strains serving as attenuation donor. Here we present the data of a comparative study examining immune system arms in mice immunized intranasally with influenza virus mutants and classical cold-adapted reassortant obtained by crossing cold-adapted strain Donor A/Krasnodar/101/35/59 (H2N2) with strain A/WSN/33 (H1N1) bearing surface antigens (hemagglutinin and neuraminidase) similar to mutants. Immunophenotyping mononuclear leukocytes from immunized mice indicated at moderate suppressive effect after using site-specific mutant and the HA reassortant viruses on some immune cell subsets. All viruses in immunized mice resulted in activation of certain lymphocyte subsets including MHC II-positive cells, CD45 + /CD19 + B lymphocytes and natural killer cells (CD16/32 + /CD3 – ). Timescale and magnitude of activation markedly differed for each cell subsets. Mice immunized with mutants M26 and U2 peaked with count of CD16/32 + /CD3 – expressing cells on day 2 after the second immunization compared with control (p < 0.05) that may suggest about an important role for NK cells in activating immune response. In contrast, no significant changes were observed during the study in percentage of CD4 + /CD25 + /Fox P3 regulatory T cells, CD4 + T helpers and CD8 + cytotoxic cells, except for a sharply decreased count of activated CD4 + /CD25 + cells (4-fold) on day 7 after immunization with mutant virus M26. Moreover, mutants U2 and M26 more moderately increased percentage of TLR2- and TLR4-positive cells. The viruses studied ambiguously affected count of TLR9-expressing cells in immunized animals. All viruses increased phagocytic activity in monocytes, but not neutrophils. Despite the moderate activation of innate and adaptive immunity arms, site-specific mutants more profoundly affected humoral reactions inducing increased antibody titers, so that immunogenicity of mutant viruses was higher than that of the cold-adapted reassortant. Thus, the findings hold a promise of using site-specific mutants as live influenza vaccines.


Omega - 3 fatty acids of marine origin exert beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and can protect against insulin resistance in high fat diet (HFD)-fed animals. Simultaneously, recent studies showed that different lipid forms could have numerous consequences regarding the regulation of energy balance, nutrient absorption, and substrate metabolism. Indeed, when omega-3 was provided as triglycerides (TG, i.e. fish oil), it induced dose-dependently the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism as well as fatty acid oxidation in small intestine of C57BL/6 mice fed various HFDs. As the underlying mechanism(s) explaining the differences in EPA/DHA bioavailability among various lipid forms of Omega-3 is not entirely clear, we performed a mouse study (n=8 per group) using purified HFDs with control HFD based on corn oil (cHF) and part of the lipids were replaced by omega-3 fish lipids in different forms: as either TG (cHF-F), marine phospholipids (PL; Krill oil, given at two different doses Krill-low (Krill-L) and Krill-high (Krill-H)), and as wax esters in the extract from the zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus (Calanus oil CAL-L representing same omega-3 levels as Krill-L diet). As a healthy control we fed a subset of mice standard chow (STD). All mice were fed their diet for 8 weeks and after sacrifice, whole small intestine was isolated, frozen and used for RNA isolation and microarray gene expression analysis using 8x60K Agilent arrays. Results showed that PL-H versus control cHFc induced specifically metabolic lipid pathways, while TG and PL-L mainly affected cytoskeleton regulation.


We discuss studies on determination of fragmentation functions and an application to exotic-hadron search by using characteristic differences between favored and disfavored functions. The optimum fragmentation functions are determined for pion, kaon, and proton in the leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO) of the running coupling constant α s by global analyses of hadron-production data in electron-positron annihilation. Vari- ous parametrization results are much different in disfavored-quark and gluon fragmentation functions; however, we show that they are within uncertainties of the determined functions by using the Hessian method for uncertainty estimation. We find that the uncertainties are especially large in the disfavored-quark and gluon fragmentation functions. NLO improve-ments are explicitly shown in the determination by comparing uncertainties of the LO and NLO functions. Next, we propose to use differences between favored and disfavored fragmentation functions for determining internal quark configurations of exotic hadrons. We make a global analysis for f 0 (980) for finding its internal configuration; however, uncertainties are too large to specify the structure at this stage.


MircoRNAs as a new class of regulatory molecules have been investigated in many specific cells and organs in healthy and diseased conditions. Although miRNA signatures can be directly assessed in patients' affected tissues such as tumor sections, recent studies revealed that miRNA profiles can also be obtained indirectly, that is, from the patients' peripheral blood. For better understanding of miRNA's contribution to gastric carcinoma (one of the leading causes of cancer‐related mortality worldwide), we screened for deregulated miRNAs in blood collected from human cancer patients and compared the expression patterns with a gastric carcinoma mouse model (Tff1 knock‐out). The profiles were assessed using species‐specific miRNA microarrays. Among many dozens of deregulated miRNAs (219 in H. sapiens; 75 in M. musculus), a subset of eight miRNAs comparable in sequence from both species was noted. By in silico analysis, their involvement in targeting neoplastic and MAPkinase pathways was demonstrated. We found a high probability of linkage of all noted miRNAs to pathways in cancer with P‐values of 0.013 and 0.018 in mice and humans, respectively. Linkage to the MAPK‐signaling pathway in mice was observed with a P‐value of 0.01. Moreover, when comparing the 219 deregulated miRNAs obtained from blood with deregulated miRNAs derived from gastric cancer (GC) tissues, as published previously, 24 miRNAs were identical. If confirmed in a larger patient pool, these miRNAs could constitute appropriate blood‐born biomarkers for GC. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Current spatial planning methods are often technocratic, slow, fail to use the right kind of evidence or do not involve (all) the actors needed to create support and consensus. We present a method that facilitates the use of evidence (data) in participatory spatial planning processes, resulting in a joint understanding of the most important causalities, as a means to build capacity across actors. QUICKScan is a participatory modeling method that links stakeholder- and decision maker knowledge and preferences to available spatial and spatio-statistical data, and is designed for group use in a multi-stakeholder workshop setting. We describe four urban QUICKScan applications, that vary in objective, scale and institutional setting. The most critical in organizing a QUICKScan session is to: (i) include crucial participants in a single plenary workshop (decision maker, local data expert, and local thematic experts), (ii) create an open atmosphere in which each and everyone's opinion is treated equally, (iii) dialogue is more important than an abundance of detailed spatial data, and (iv) start with simple modeling rules and iterate often while expanding the set of rules and trying out alternatives.


CrossRef's mission is to improve access to published scholarship through services that require consensus and collective initiative among publishers. The CrossRef citation-linking network today covers millions of articles and other content items from several hundred scholarly and professional publishers. This article looks briefly at CrossRef's attempt to develop a cross-publisher full-text search service and how this initiative relates to the launch of the Google Scholar service currently in beta format.


Science is a social process that functions through social networks of researchers that form invisible colleges. Analysis of these social networks provides a means for examining the structure of relations among researchers. The Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group, "an informal international group of scholars concerned with developing concepts and knowledge in the field of business-to-business marketing and purchasing," is used as a case study of a network of researchers because it has been responsible for considerable research over the last decades in the area of business-to-business marketing, yet its structure remains hidden because of its informal network characteristics. The results of a social network analysis of the IMP group is described based on the pattern of co-authorship at annual IMP conferences. The results reveal a power law distribution of paper co-authorship and a small world network that conforms to the results of studies of other types of social networks. A core network of 57 researchers is identified and its network properties are described, including how it has evolved over time. The study provides the basis for further studies of the social networks of marketing and business researchers.


Water as a result of snow and glacier melt is an important resource in the Central Andes of Chile and Argentina, which in terms of precipitation are close to climatic deserts, yet they support large populations and a rich agriculture. In spite of this, little is known of the processes at play and the variability over time. In particular, the specific mechanisms of energy balance and melt on high altitude glaciers in this region have been the subject of limited research. Another particularity of the region is the ablation of most of the snow cover into penitentes or pinnacles of snow and ice about 2 m in height. Meteorological data from one automatic weather station installed on two different glaciers at 3335 m and 4667 m in the Chilean Central Andes demonstrate the relative importance of turbulent heat transfer in the energy balance equation, accounting for 10 to 20% of the net energy balance. Intense evaporation, together with effective radiative cooling, dew point well below freezing and intense solar radiation favour differential ablation of the snow surface, which results in the formation of snow penitentes, these unique forms result in a further modification of the energy balance. Stable conditions and a clear atmosphere permit effective incorporation of fully distributed solar radiative models with good results. Melt rates are compared with theoretical models, showing that while evaporation is enhanced in the Andes, surface morphology decreases total ablation. Modelling work suggests that penitentes enhance conservation of snow cover and the consequences of their loss, due to changes in the initial climatic conditions, might be increased ablation over the whole season, decreased glacier mass balance and faster depletion of water resources. To implement distributed energy balance models both at the basin scale and at the microtopography scale, two additional tools where developed. One is a set of algorithms for the computation of terrain parameters from digital elevation models (DEMs) suitable for rough topography. These algorithms, to¬ gether with those developed for shading and insolation, permit the treatment of overhanging surfaces, such as the penitentes. Another tool is a flexible and inexpensive remote sensing tool for albedo es¬ timation using conventional terrestrial photography. The technique consists in georeferencing oblique photographs to a digital elevation model (DEM), defining a mapping function between the pixel of the image and the corresponding cell on the DEM. Once the image is georeferenced, the reflectance values recorded by the film or digital camera are corrected for topographic and atmospheric influences and for the effect of the photographic process. By comparing these to a surface of known albedo, the spa¬ tial distribution of albedos is calculated. The validation of the technique on Alpine terrain shows good agreement with measured values.


Endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) is an important treatment modality in managing complications of portal hypertension. Since its advent 30 years ago, the procedural complications have decreased significantly, especially when compared with variceal sclerotherapy. With the current widespread use of EVL, rare complications are now becoming increasingly recognized. We present a case of complete esophageal obstruction, its management, and clinical course. Our literature review identified only eight reported cases. We compare the varied treatment approaches and outcomes in the cited articles.


Tubercular meningitis (TBM) can have various complications. Sometimes syringomyelia can also occur as a late complication of tubercular meningitis. Although syrinx formation in early stage of TBM is very rare. There are only four published case reports of syringomyelia in acute stage of TBM. Here we report a patient with tubercular meningitis who developed syringomyelia in early course of illness.


The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel speech feature extraction framework for independently compensating the real and imaginary acoustic spectra of speech signals in the modulation domain with the techniques of histogram equalization (HEQ) and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). By doing so, we can enhance not only the magnitude but also the phase components of the acoustic spectra, thereby creating noise-robust speech features. More specifically, the proposed framework makes the following three major contributions: First, via either of the HEQ and NMF operations, the long-term cross-frame correlation among the acoustic spectra at the same frequency can be captured to compensate for the spectral distortion caused by noise. Second, the noise effect can be handled in a high acoustic frequency resolution. Finally, the distortion dwelt in the acoustic spectra can be more extensively mitigated due to the independent processes for the respective real and imaginary parts. The evaluation experiments were carried out on the Aurora-2 and Aurora-4 benchmark tasks, and the corresponding results suggest that our proposed methods can achieve performance competitive to or better than many widely used noise robustness methods, including the well-known advanced front-end (AFE) extraction scheme, in speech recognition.


BACKGROUND AND METHODS
Little is understood about why few women during the perinatal period will use depression treatment. In particular, beliefs and barriers related to depression treatment use have not been studied. In this study, African American and white pregnant women (n = 108) who screened > or =10 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were asked about recent formal and informal treatment use in prenatal care settings. Confidence in the helpfulness of treatment, providers, and settings and perceived barriers to treatment were assessed and compared between African American and white women.

RESULTS
Pregnant women overall reported low rates of formal treatment use but frequently sought help from informal sources, such as friends, family, and printed materials. All women expressed greatest confidence in psychosocial treatments and lowest confidence in antidepressants. African American women reported less confidence in advice from family and friends and in antidepressants than did white women. Women expressed greatest confidence in treatments delivered by mental health professionals and religious leaders. African American women sought help more frequently and had significantly more confidence in religious leaders as treatment deliverers than white women. Women had greatest confidence in treatments delivered in professional and home settings, with African American women expressing greater confidence in religious settings than white women. All women reported greatest concern with structural barriers, compared with attitudinal and knowledge barriers.

CONCLUSIONS
Understanding patterns of treatment use, beliefs, and barriers to depression treatment provides important information for tailoring and improving appropriate use of mental health treatment in women during the perinatal period.


Near-complete removal of heavy metals, namely Cd(II), Cr(VI) and Pb(II), has been attempted by a membrane purification process using a blend of modified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polysulfone (PSf), prepared by the diffusion induced phase separation (DIPS) method. The prepared novel material was characterized by NMR, ATR-IR spectroscopy and DSC. The sulphonyl groups incorporated into PVC enhance the hydrophilicity and are substantiated by water uptake, contact angle (CA) and flux studies. The obtained properties of the blend membrane like increased surface roughness and porosity are observed from AFM and SEM analysis. An enhanced rejection of ∼95% which is about 1.15, 1.41 and 1.37 times better than the commercially available NF 270 membrane was observed, for Cd(II), Cr(VI) and Pb(II) respectively. The work was further extended to study the antifouling property and the interference of other existing metal ions on the performance. An improved antifouling property with 98.5% rejection for bovine serum albumin (BSA) and a 75.6% flux recovery ratio (FRR) was achieved. The study gains significance in exploring the incorporation of sulphonyl groups in to polymers, to enhance membrane performance.


An alternate approach to describe self quenching of the Nd 4F3/2 manifold is developed using computed self quenching and diffusion parameters. Two general regimes exist, one associated with slow diffusion and another associated with fast diffusion. Disparate results are obtained for Nd:YLF, Nd:YAG, as well as Nd:LaSc3(BO3)4 and are compared with experimental results. Calculated results are in general agreement with the experimental results.


We study the collapse of the market for perpetual floating rate notes (perps). The perp market was launched in 1984, and its first two years were characterized by explosive growth in which issues by high quality borrowers were placed with institutional investors and traded in liquid secondary markets. However, the perp market began collapsing precipitously in December 1986, due to the withdrawal of market intermediaries prompted by large order imbalances. Although most of the original perps remain outstanding, prices and liquidity have not recovered. We develop a model to explain the events observed in the perp market and to draw lessons on how commonality in liquidity can affect market performance and intermediary incentives. We provide new insights into how markets can collapse even in the absence of information asymmetry or bubbles. We also contribute to the corporate governance literature by providing a new rationale for placing securities with a broad investor base -- to minimize the possibility that common liquidity shocks will cause a market to fail.


A close examination of peer interactions of children between the ages of 5;0 and 7;0 reveal occurrences where children composed and sequenced their communicative acts in intricate ways that were functional as solutions to a suddenly emergent social dilemma. Their acts and act sequences functioned to place constraints on what followed in the interaction, such that they opposed the other's unwanted actions by making the other's cessation of the unwanted actions relevant, and interpretable in a socially positive way. These same acts and act sequences simultaneously steered the interaction away from conflict by not making a conflictful response relevant. Besides their dual functionality, these communicative acts were so tailored to the immediate context and situational dilemma that they have an inventive aspect. These data raise the theoretical question of what basis the children had for composing and sequencing communicative acts in situ that anticipate their interactional consequences and promote desired ones. A proposal is made in the concluding discussion that the basis for this capability is acquisition of "knowledge" of a set of Principles of Relevance in interactions and discourse.


This paper presents a mathematical model of a LHP, where its results were compared with experimental test results and the LHP behavior was predicted for Space conditions. In the LHP condenser, the condensate film thickness in the tube is determined by the solution of the conjugate equations of energy, momentum and mass balance in the control volume. Evaporator and compensation chamber are both described by a few transient nodes with generalized key parameters, whose values were adjusted by test results. Experimental LHP consists of cylindrical stainless steel evaporator with an integral compensation chamber, where the primary wick is of micropore UHMW polyethylene and the condenser is an aluminum plate, with acetone as the working fluid. The tests conditions have been reproduced in the mathematical model and its parameters were adjusted using the measured temperatures. The model was applied to predict the LHP behavior for Space conditions, corresponding to the circular low Earth equatorial orbit.


This article analyses changes to the language policy in Russia in 2017, and their effects on the state (national) languages of Russia's republics within the education system. In July 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the Council on Interethnic Relations, addressing the language rights of the Russian-speaking population and stressing the existing limit of the power of Russia's 22 ethnic republics to introduce compulsory study of their official languages. The President's statements provoked widespread prosecutorial inspections in the republics' schools and a new round of public discussion about language policy. Public discontent in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Komi led to protests against both ethnic Russians and the native speakers of languages recognised as co-official with Russian ('state languages of the republics'). The authorities of some republics publicly disagreed with the position taken by the federal government. In other republics, however, the President's speech did not trigger any public discussion. In many republics, it looks like the regional authorities will ultimately accept the decision of the federal government and speakers of republican languages will not actively defend their languages. Effectively, the balance of rights of the federation and the republics for the establishment of state languages, achieved in the 1990s, was violated.


Since William E. B. Dubois1 wrote The Negro in 1915, Black Folk: Then and Now in 1939, as well as The World and Africa in 1946, scientific facts of the Leakeys and other2 have demonstrated that African is th actual cradle of Homo sapiens. According to Cheikh Anta Diop, (1923-1986), the foremost Sengalese Africanist, the Nile Valley of Egypt, not Greece, was the cradle of Philosophy, and other human sciences, culture and civilization. His first of ten theses which were postulated in his doctoral work at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, Paris in 1954 went thus: "Our investigations have convinced us that the West has not been calm enough and objective enough to teach us out history correctly, without crude falsification. Today, what interests me most is to see the formation of teams, not passive readers, but of honest bold research workers, allergic to complacency and busy substantiating and exploring our ideas express in our work, such as:


Actual publication title: "When Efforts to Conceal May Actually Reveal: Whether First Amendment Protection of Encryption Source Code and the Open Source Movement Support Re-Drawing the Constitutional Line Between the First Amendment and Copyright for Authors of Computer Software" Computer source code is speech. At least, that is the argument advanced by privacy advocates and cryptographers, who recently obtained the support of the Ninth Circuit in Bernstein v. U.S. With respect to adjudicating disputes over the Federal government's authority to regulate the use or export of encryption products, courts are in general conflict over the appropriate standard of review to apply to the government's regulations; that notwithstanding, among the courts that have considered the question, there is remarkable accord supporting the view that, in some respects, computer source code represents the expression of ideas by those who understand the arcane languages of computer programming. While the noteworthy relevance of this conclusion to copyright jurisprudence has not been fully absorbed by lawyers or the laity, one impact of viewing source code as speech is certain: it becomes palpably apparent that within the context of copyright infringement actions, the scope of copyright protection for computer source code should be thin indeed. The encryption decisions are compelling indications that the time has comefor courts to put aside and replace the amorphous and ineffective idea/expression dichotomy; this is particularly true in the context of copyright infringement actions involving computer source code. Since the moment the law of copyright first recognized that computer programs could be subject to copyright protection, courts have struggled with setting the boundaries of what aspects of a computer program are copyrightable. Even so, recent changes in computer software development - largely the result of a paradigm shift in programming initiated by copyleftists and the open source code movement in Cyberspace - as well as the recent approval of the argument that the nature of software development often involves the free expression of ideas - should sufficiently set the groundwork to advance copyright jurisprudence by freeing courts from reliance on inconsistent and incoherent distinctions between copyrightable and uncopyrightable aspects of computer programs. Most important, viewing computer source code as an artifact of the public domain suitably reinforces an important goal of copyright: namely, that the government grant copyrights in works to meaningfully motivate the creative activity of authors in a manner that ultimately ensures public access to the products of an author's creativity. In this regard, copyright law should permit the unfettered access to public domain material by protecting source code authors from copyright infringement when the elements of a work at issue in an infringement action are the artifacts of the public domain. Thus, courts adjudicating copyright infringement actions involving computer software should undertake a thoroughgoing reassessment of the limiting principles of copyright law, recalibrate the boundaries and the scope of copyright protection for software, and rarely regard source code as a category of expression created as a result of independent, and hence, original authorship, which, of course, is required of works subject to copyright protection.


Objectives To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with immunoglobulin G4–related chronic sclerosing sialadenitis (IgG4-RCSS), a recently recognized disease. Study Design Case series with chart review and pathology study. Settings Tertiary care hospital. Subjects and Methods We evaluated chronic sialadenitis specimens obtained over 11 years using pathologic examination and IgG4 immunohistochemistry staining. The specimens were assigned a revised diagnosis of IgG4-RCSS or chronic sialadenitis not otherwise specified, and clinicopathologic data from each group were compared. Results Of the 84 patients, 21 were diagnosed with IgG4-RCSS and 63 with chronic sialadenitis not otherwise specified. IgG4-RCSS patients were older (68.2 ± 13.9 vs 54.2 ± 15.8 years, P = .001), predominantly male (85.7% vs 61.9%, P = .036), and more likely to present with painless swelling (75% vs 44.3%, P = .001) and bilateral involvement (52.4% vs 6.3%, P < .001). Ratio of IgG4-positive plasma cells to IgG-positive plasma cells in IgG4-RCSS tissues was 0.81 ± 0.14. The mean value of serum IgG4 in IgG4-RCSS patients was 918.8 mg/dL. Conclusion IgG4-RCSS is more common in older male patients and frequently presents with bilateral involvement. Informing head and neck surgeons of the clinical features of IgG4-RCSS and promoting a combined approach of clinical evaluation, imaging, and biopsy can improve the accuracy of preoperative diagnoses.


Being one of the most controversial issues in urban planning, land use planning has always been in the focus of researches. Land use planning is a subdivision of urban planning which tends to arrange land uses in order to avoid conflicts among them. In order to achieve a transparent and effective urban planning, land uses should be located and allocated in an ideal situation so that avoid negative impacts from neighbouring parcels and land uses. Neighbouring land uses can produce externalities and negative impacts on other land uses because of inter-land use interaction. These externalities may be undesirable effects such as noise, air and visual pollution or may be caused by hazardous facilities. The main objective of this research is to propose a new multi-criteria evaluation model for land use compatibility assessment. Considering the fact that a considerable number of factors affect the compatibility degree of neighbouring land uses, a multi-criteria evaluation approach is employed to address the aforementioned problem. This research employs the integration of Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) methods to facilitate land use compatibility evaluation with respect to optimism degree. The applicability of the proposed model is illustrated by the problem of land use compatibility assessment for elementary schools in Tehran. The results indicate that most of the current schools are situated in a location which is incompatible for the land use type of elementary school especially in the southern and central parts of the city.


Thyroid nodules (TN) are uncommon in children. Despite TN have a higher risk of malignancy in children than in adults, in most cases, this is a rare finding and benign most of the time. The presence of intrathyroid thymic tissue may mimic the existence of a pathological node. The case of an 11-year-old female patient with a thyroid nodule incidentally detected during cervical ultrasonography and corresponding to intrathyroidal thymic tissue is presented. The goal of this research is to further study this condition to avoid unnecessary invasive diagnostic procedures.


There have been several suggestions of the existence of cosmological redshift signatures in the temporal and spectral characteristics of gamma-ray bursts. However, recent discoveries of afterglows and redshift measurements indicate the presence of broad ``luminosity functions'' which may overwhelm such weaker cosmological signatures. The primary goal of this paper is to determine if the intrinsic and cosmological dispersions can be separated. We have expanded the search for cosmological signatures to several other temporal and spectral features, have determined correlations which could arise from the cosmological redshift of the sources and have carried out tests to determine if the observed correlations can be due to cosmology. We find that the intrinsic dispersions are the dominant factors and that detection of cosmological signatures must await accumulation of a much larger number of identification with galaxies and measurements of redshifts.


Nowadays, information has become the fundamental element in our society, and the security of information asset has been paid more and more attentions. Recently, people try to resolve information security management problem using new technologies in artificial intelligence, such as agent and ontology. However, existing studies mainly focus on how to perform access control task using agents or formalize knowledge about information security using ontology, and problems like information security risk management has been overlooked. In this paper, we provide an information security risk management oriented multi-agent system (namely ISRMDSS) to fill this gap.


Abstract NOx emission is one of the major sources for health issues, acid rain and global warming. Diesel engine vehicles are the major sources for NOx emissions. Hence there is a need to reduce the emissions from the engines by identifying suitable techniques or by means of alternate fuels. The present investigation deals with the effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) on 4S, single cylinder, DI diesel engine using plastic oil/Diesel blends P10 (10% plastic oil & 90% diesel in volume), P20 and P30 at various EGR rates. Plastic oil blends were able to operate in diesel engines without any modifications and the results showed that P20 blend had the least NOx emission quantity.


A numerical study conducted on four transformer-bushing models presented in a first companion paper indicated that high-voltage bushings mounted on the cover plates of transformers are more vulnerable to seismic loading than bushings mounted on a rigid base. This would explain why the good performance of bushings mounted on a rigid base observed during shake table testing does not correlate well with their performance in the field. In this second companion paper, the addition of flexural stiffeners on the transformer cover plates as a means to stiffen the base of bushings and mitigate their seismic vulnerability is investigated experimentally. Shake table testing was conducted on a 230 kV porcelain bushing mounted on a support structure incorporating a flexible cover plate and two stiffener configurations. Test results confirmed that stiffening the cover plates is beneficial to the seismic response of high-voltage bushings. Test results are compared to the predictions of finite element analyses.


The isotope Am242m is an interesting nuclide as it shows one of the known highest neutron fission cross section. This could be useful in some special applications, like the nuclear reactor for space propulsion proposed by C. Rubbia. A detailed measurement of the energy transfer from the fission fragments to the gas as a function of the path and the gas type is an important item for the evaluation of the engine performances. This was carried out by means of an ionisation chamber. However the Am242m availability, in particular at high isotopic abundance, is still at present a serious drawback. A production model, experimentally tested in thermal nuclear reactors, has been used to evaluate the achievable isotopic abundances. The results are quite below 70% and advise the use of separation techniques for further enrichment. The use of Am242m for other applications like nuclear pumped laser is suggested.


Neural operators extend data-driven models to map between infinite-dimensional functional spaces. These models have successfully solved continuous dynamical systems represented by differential equations, viz weather forecasting, fluid flow, or solid mechanics. However, the existing operators still rely on real space, thereby losing rich representations potentially captured in the complex space by functional transforms. In this paper, we introduce a Complex Neural Operator (CoNO), that parameterizes the integral kernel in the complex fractional Fourier domain. Additionally, the model employing a complex-valued neural network along with aliasing-free activation functions preserves the complex values and complex algebraic properties, thereby enabling improved representation, robustness to noise, and generalization. We show that the model effectively captures the underlying partial differential equation with a single complex fractional Fourier transform. We perform an extensive empirical evaluation of CoNO on several datasets and additional tasks such as zero-shot super-resolution, evaluation of out-of-distribution data, data efficiency, and robustness to noise. CoNO exhibits comparable or superior performance to all the state-of-the-art models in these tasks. Altogether, CoNO presents a robust and superior model for modeling continuous dynamical systems, providing a fillip to scientific machine learning.


In order to realize a high quality and good performance service composition, we propose new QoS driven dynamic selection of composite Web services, which takes account of both the QoS properties and interface parameter matching degree. When doing the selection, we are aware that the task is more or less a multistage decision making process. Motivated by transiently chaotic neural network high parallel performance and powerful computation ability, a new structured transiently chaotic neural network algorithm is proposed. In order to make this algorithm more adaptable for the multistage decision making problem, we propose a new structured neural network to express the composed service instead of using traditional neural networks, which minimizes the neurons involved and shows higher performance. Finally, through experimentation one can find that the method proposed in this paper is more practical and effective than others.


A high incidence of gene mutations or deletions of P16INK4, a cell cycle regulator which inhibits the activity of cyclin‐dependent kinase 4/cyclin D complex and blocks the Gl‐to‐S transition, has been reported in pancreato‐biliary tract cancers. In order to investigateP16INK4 gene alterations in sporadic ampullary carcinomas, 17 sporadic ampullary carcinomas were examined. After histological diagnosis, DNA samples extracted separately from both cancerous and normal paraffin‐embedded tissues were investigated. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was investigated utilizing 3 microsatellite markers on 9p21‐22, and a mutationsl analysis was performed by cloning and sequencing. LOH was observed in 3 cases (17.6%) and somatic mutations with retention of heterozygosity were found in 7 cases (41.2%). Of note was that two mutations resulted in truncated incomplete proteins and one was a point mutation at the consensus site in the conserved ankyrin repeats, which would be crucial for function. Although two‐hit inactivation was not evident in any of the mutation cases and further investigation would be needed to elucidate the role of altered p16INK4, these results suggest that the pl6INK4 gene mutations are relatively frequent and its inactivation might be important in ampnllary carcinogenesis.


—Recent advances in autonomous robotic technologies have highlighted the growing need for precise environmental analysis. LiDAR semantic segmentation has gained attention to accomplish fine-grained scene understanding by acting directly on raw content provided by sensors. Recent solutions showed how different learning techniques can be used to improve the performance of the model, without any architectural or dataset change. Following this trend, we present a coarse-to-fine setup that LEArns from classification mistaKes (LEAK) derived from a standard model. First, classes are clustered into macro groups according to mutual prediction errors; then, the learning process is regularized by: (1) aligning class-conditional prototypical feature representation for both fine and coarse classes, (2) weighting instances with a per-class fairness index. Our LEAK approach is very general and can be seamlessly applied on top of any segmentation architecture; indeed, experimental results showed that it enables state-of-the-art performances on different architectures, datasets and tasks, while ensuring more balanced class-wise results and faster convergence.


Objective. To evaluate virtual patient (VP) programs for injecting equipment provision (IEP) and opiate substitution therapy (OST) services with respect to confidence and knowledge among preregistration pharmacist trainees. Methods. Preregistration trainee pharmacists pilot-tested the VP programs and were invited to complete pre/post and 6-month assessments of knowledge and perceived confidence. Results. One hundred six trainees participated and completed the pre/postassessments. Forty-six (43.4%) participants repeated the assessments at six months. Scores in perceived confidence increased in all domains at both time points postprogram. Knowledge scores were greater posteducation than preeducation. Knowledge scores were also greater six months after education than preeducation. Knowledge scores at six months were lower than posteducation for both programs. Conclusion. Virtual patients programs increased preregistration pharmacists' knowledge and confidence with regard to IEP and OST immediately after use and at six months postprogram. There was a loss of clinical knowledge over time but confidence change was sustained.


Adolescent substance use is common and is associated with serious mental, physical, and social risks, warranting systematic screening in the primary care setting. It is important for clinicians to become familiar with Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), including administration of validated screening tools to identify level of risk associated with substance use and application of appropriate brief interventions. Positive reinforcement and brief advice is indicated for those adolescents with no or minimal risk for a substance use disorder. Providing a brief intervention using motivational interviewing strategies with subsequent close clinical follow-up is warranted when an adolescent meets criteria for a mild to moderate substance use disorder. Referral to treatment is recommended in cases of severe substance use. Immediate action, including breaking confidentiality, may be necessary when an adolescent's behavior raises acute safety concerns. Making time to interview adolescents alone is essential. It is also important to review the limitations of confidentiality with patients and parents/guardians and offer them strategies to discuss sensitive issues with their adolescents. Available resources for adolescents, parents/guardians, and clinicians regarding the risks of adolescent substance use and evidence-based treatment options can be used to support implementation of SBIRT in adolescent primary care.


If there was a line of continuity throughout the various sessions of the Computer Elements Technical Committee meeting last June in Vail, Colorado, it was that we are entering a period of technology consolidation. Advances foreseen in the near future are predicted to be extensions of areas of application utilizing existing technologies. The stated need for higher speed or more powerful technologies was only obvious at this meeting by its absence.


A gauge theory with an underlying SUq(2) quantum group symmetry is introduced, and its properties examined. With suitable assumptions, this model is found to have many similarities with the usual SU(2)×U(1) Standard Model, specifically, the existence of four generators and thus four gauge fields. However, the two classical symmetries are unified into one quantum symmetry, and therefore there is only a single coupling constant, rather than two. By incorporating a Higgs sector into the model, one obtains several explicit treelevel predictions in the undeformed limit, such as the Weinberg angle: sin θW = 3 11 . With the Z-boson mass mZ and fine structure constant α as inputs, one can also obtain predictions for the weak coupling constant, the mass of the W , and the Higgs VEV. The breaking of the quantum invariance also results in a remaining undeformed U(1) gauge symmetry.


Project management with the concept of green building construction requires competence efficiency compared to conventional building project management. The readiness of prospective workers in the construction field also needs to be identified as it is a requirement. This study was conducted to identify the readiness of TVET trainees from two different TVET institutions in managing green concept construction projects. Readiness identified based on critical knowledge and soft critical skills. The study's objective was to identify the level of critical knowledge and soft critical skills readiness as well as to identify the differences in the readiness of TVET trainees from two different institutions. The study was conducted in a survey using a quantitative approach. The research instrument used was a questionnaire, and the study was conducted in two TVET institutions from different ministries (please stated name of the institutions and ministries. A total of 153 trainees as respondents and a simple random sampling method was used to determine the study sample. The findings show that the level of critical knowledge and soft critical skills are at a high level (both institutions?), and there are differences between these two TVET institutions in terms of critical knowledge, while there is no difference in terms of soft critical skills. Overall, the study shows that the TVET trainees are prepared in knowledge and skills in green concept construction project management. This study can be a part of reference for TVET programs, trainee, and trainers especially in Construction to ensure the aspects of critical knowledge and skills can be improved align with industry need.


The effect of ACTH administration on glomerular filtration rate (GFR), effective renal plasma flow (ERPF), effective renal blood flow (ERBF) and on filtration fraction (FF) was studied in unanesthetized female dogs before and after the production of atrophic changes in the zonae reticularis and fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. The atrophic changes were produced by Rhothane (DDD) which has been shown to produce changes in the two inner zones of the adrenal cortex. The administration of ACTH to normal dogs caused a considerable increase in GFR, ERPF, ERBF, and a significant decrease in FF. The administration of DDD resulted in varying degrees of necrosis and atrophy of the zonae fasciculata and reticularis of the adrenal cortex with minimal histological evidence of glomerulosa damage. There was a concomitant decrease below control values for the renal function studied in three of five dogs. The subsequent administration of ACTH restored the renal functions to the control level in all five dogs, with the exception of FF. The simultaneous administration of ACTH and Rhothane resulted in a progressive decrease to or below control values from elevated levels in three of five dogs studied. In one dog there was no appreciable elevation of renal function with ACTH under these conditions. In the other dog ACTH administration was continued uninterrupted, and the addition of Rhothane abolished the renal stimulating effect of ACTH within five days. It is concluded that the two inner zones of the adrenal gland influence renal hemodynamics, as manifested by the stimulating effect of ACTH and the depressing effect of Rhothane.


The Forensic Monitoring System (FMS) of the Missouri Department of Mental Health considers and approves consumers committed under not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) status for release. The system extends to the outpatient sector to ensure that such persons maintain their mental stability and do not pose a danger to the community. The process of conditional release and the organization of the FMS are outlined, reasons for the low recidivism rate are discussed, and paternalism in requiring treatment compliance as a condition of individual liberty is explored. Case examples illustrate the success, in terms of revocation and rearrest rates, of the Missouri system, which typically sees an annual return to inpatient custody of only 7%, and a still lower rate of criminal recidivism. Cost-effectiveness is discussed in terms of resources spent so that recovered persons with dangerous mental illnesses may live in safety outside of an institution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


An approach to analyzing self-stabilization based on the finite-state machine model is presented. A finite-state machine is used to model the behavior of each node in a distributed system. when the self-stabilizing algorithms are applied. The approach is useful for analyzing the correctness of self-stabilizing algorithms and their time complexity. A self-stabilizing algorithm for finding maximal matching is used as an example to show how the finite-state machine model is applied. A simpler proof for the correctness and an upper bound of the time complexity tighter than the one proved by a variant function are attained.<<ETX>>


The rates of exchange of the ion pairs Na+/K+, Na+/Rb+ and Na+/Cs+ in mordenite have been measured. These rates have been compared with those predicted by the Helfferich and Plesset theory in the first two exchange systems. The agreement between theory and experiment is poor and an attempt has been made with the Na/K system to establish the reasons for the inadequacies of the theory. The theory assumes an ideal exchange reaction but analysis of the Na/K isotherm establishes that this system is not ideal. Secondly, the theory assumes that D*Na and D*K, the respective self-diffusion coefficients of Na+ and K+ in mordenite, are independent of concentration and this has been shown to be untrue. When allowances are made for these factors an improvement between theory and experiment is obtained. Rates of exchange have also been measured starting from exchangers which contained various ratios of Na+ to K+ initially. These rate measurements and the variable self-diffusion coefficients indicate that site heterogeneity exists and has a pronounced effect on the rates of exchange.


A novel charge pump system with new regulation and clock generating techniques is proposed and verified in a 0.13 μm CMOS process. Rather than generating the reference voltage by band-gap reference (BGR) and the detected voltage by high voltage divider in the conventional regulation, both voltage reference and division of proposed pump system are implemented by single new circuit. Besides, the conventional oscillator for clock input of charge pump system is removed while an adaptive clock generation scheme is introduced to reduce the power consumption and shrink the system size. The experiment results show that the pump system can produce a stable and smooth output with a small ripple, and the high output accuracy is comparable to the conventional solution equipped with BGR. Moreover, the power consumption of the pump controlling is reduced by about 80% while the size of pump system is decreased by about 25%. Therefore, the proposed regulated charge pump (RCP) is very suitable for ultra-low power and high precision applications, for example, the embedded nonvolatile memories (eNVMs).


We study the potential between a string and an anti-string source in M5-theory by using the adS/CFT duality conjecture. We find that the next to leading order corrections in a saddle point approximation renormalize the classical result.


The ecological impact of energy expended on an activity stems from its effect on foraging requirements. For locomotion, the effect of moving each additional unit distance probably depends on the proportional increase in energy expenditure. Other common measures of the cost of locomotion do not reflect the impact of energy expenditure on foraging requirements. In terrestrial mammals, both the effect of body mass and the unit cost itself are very small: moving one kilometre requires less than 2% of all other energy expenditures combined. Total locomotor energy expenditure ranges from 1/2% of daily metabolism for a 10 g mammal to 6% for an elephant. Potential sources of bias in the estimation of these costs include systematic bias in estimates of distance traversed and extra energy required for non-linear locomotion. Because larger mammals can readily locomote at greater speeds, the primary locomotor advantage of large size may not be conservation of energy but of time, which can mean greater safety and more or better food.


Controlling acid rock drainage (ARD) can be a major component of surface mining reclamation. An enhanced reclamation cover system is being constructed to control infiltration of rain water and generation of ARD from coal-refuse disposal areas at a closed mine in southern Illinois. Development of the mine reclamation plan required consideration of ARD generation in coal refuse disposal areas located adjacent to an alluvial aquifer used for public water supply. An integrated site characterization was performed at the mine to provide information to develop and support the enhanced reclamation plan. The enhanced cover system is similar to covers required for municg,al solid waste landfills by the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Subtitle D regulations. The system comprises a graded and compacted gob layer, overlain by a compacted clay liner, and a protective soil cover. The results of infiltration modeling and analyses showed that the standard reclamation cover is effective in reducing infiltration by about 18 percent compared to an unreclaimed coal-refuse surface. The modeling results showed that the enhanced cover system should reduce infiltration by about 84 percent. The geochemical modeling results showed that the reduction in infiltration would help minimize ARD generation and contribute to an earlier reclamation of the mine site. Additional


The electronic structure of pure edge threading dislocations in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy grown wurtzite GaN thin films has been studied directly by atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope. Dislocation cores in n-type samples grown in N-rich conditions show no evidence for the high concentration of Ga vacancies predicted by previous theoretical calculations. Nitrogen K-edge spectra collected from edge dislocation cores show a sudden and significant increase in the intensity of the first fine-structure peak immediately above the edge onset compared to the bulk spectra. The origin of this increase is discussed.


Recently, single-crystal silicon solar cells have achieved efficiencies of 25%. However, their production is energy-demanding and relatively expensive. Therefore, photovoltaic cells based on organic- inorganic hybrid perovskites have attracted considerable attention owing to their high conversion efficiencies, simple preparation, and potentially low production costs. In this study, we investigated the effect of Fe3+ doped into a compact and mesoporous layer of TiO₂ on the efficiency of the resultant perovskite solar cell (PSC). The efficiencies achieved for PSCs with Fe3+/TiO₂ were higher than those for cells with pure TiO₂ nanoparticles. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and current-voltage measurements. The photoelectrode PSC exhibited a high light-to-electric-energy conversion efficiency under a simulated solar light irradiation of 100 mW/cm² (AM 1.5). Our results suggest that Fe3+ nanoparticles in the TiO₂ layer may contribute to the performance improvement of the PSC.


Optimum cropping plan has been developed using data from a sample of 40 farms in a farming system research area of Mymensingh district. The results revealed a considerable divergence between the existing and optimal crop plans under both restricted and unrestricted capital situation. Among the crops incorporated in the optimal plan under restricted capital, Aman (LV) found the prime place in the Kharif-II land under non-irrigated situation, accounting for 33 per cent of the total cropped area. When capital restriction was relaxed, brinjal (summer) was the most dominant crop occupying 39 per cent of total cropped area. The optimal return with unrestricted capital was 49 per cent higher than the existing return from the crop enterprises. The results imply that serious efforts need to be directed to remove credit constraints for improving farm incomes of the typical farms studied in the area.


Many problems in program analysis, verification, and synthesis require inferring specifications of unknown procedures. Motivated by a broad range of applications, we formulate the problem of maximal specification inference: Given a postcondition Phi and a program P calling a set of unknown procedures F_1,…,F_n, what are the most permissive specifications of procedures F_i that ensure correctness of P? In other words, we are looking for the smallest number of assumptions we need to make about the behaviours of F_i in order to prove that $P$ satisfies its postcondition. To solve this problem, we present a novel approach that utilizes a counterexample-guided inductive synthesis loop and reduces the maximal specification inference problem to multi-abduction. We formulate the novel notion of multi-abduction as a generalization of classical logical abduction and present an algorithm for solving multi-abduction problems. On the practical side, we evaluate our specification inference technique on a range of benchmarks and demonstrate its ability to synthesize specifications of kernel routines invoked by device drivers.


Two-stage recommender systems are widely adopted in industry due to their scalability and maintainability. These systems produce recommendations in two steps: (i) multiple nominators preselect a small number of items from a large pool using cheap-to-compute item embeddings; (ii) with a richer set of features, a ranker rearranges the nominated items and serves them to the user. A key challenge of this setup is that optimal performance of each stage in isolation does not imply optimal global performance. In response to this issue, Ma et al. (2020) proposed a nominator training objective importance weighted by the ranker's probability of recommending each item. In this work, we focus on the complementary issue of exploration. Modeled as a contextual bandit problem, we find LinUCB (a near optimal exploration strategy for single-stage systems) may lead to linear regret when deployed in two-stage recommenders. We therefore propose a method of synchronising the exploration strategies between the ranker and the nominators. Our algorithm only relies on quantities already computed by standard LinUCB at each stage and can be implemented in three lines of additional code. We end by demonstrating the effectiveness of our algorithm experimentally.


A testing system for evaluating cleanliness of ventilation ducts was constructed. Comparisons of four evaluation methods for quantifying the amount of dust on the inner surface of ventilation ducts are presented. The experimental results show that the wiping by solvent method is more efficient than that by the wiping method,especially used on low cleanliness duct surface. The gravimetric tape method is an efficient method of collecting dust samples on the duct surface with low amounts of dust,particularly used to check the cleanliness level after the cleaning work. The optical method can be set up rapidly and is useful for fieldwork measurements.


In recent years film has been viewed as the prime vehicle by which anthropologists may engage with the public in an attractive way. But this is not without its pitfalls. In two parts, this article looks back at the making of an anthropological television series, Face Values, in the 1970s, a joint project of BBC TV and the RAI. Some of the reasons for the considerable differences between the author as one of the anthropological consultants, and the production and editing team, are discussed, as are the reactions of the villagers on Mafia Island, who were concerned for their dignity and privacy while being filmed for the series. Part 1 considers the politics of shooting film footage, and the tensions between anthropological and televisual premises. Part 2 is about the politics of circulation and audience, taking account of the views of Mafians as well as UK audiences (both lay and anthropological). While the former liked the film material they saw, some of them later came to find it problematic. In the UK, although the series attracted high viewing figures, it was the object of considerable criticism from both newspaper critics and anthropologists, and soon fell into obscurity. However, some of the issues and problems raised in this case study remain very real today for those who would bring together anthropology and film.


Compared with the traditional imaging systems, segmented planar imaging technology has the advantages of low mess, small size, and low power in the same resolution situation. To obtain relatively complete frequency domain coverage, the lenslet array requires a large number of lenslets, and the photonic integrated circuit board requires a large number of optical devices, which limits the application and development of the segmented planar imaging technology. In this paper, we introduce a novel, to the best of our knowledge, design of the photonic integrated circuit to ensure that each lenslet in the lenslet array can form a baseline with any other lenslets. This breaks the barrier between segmented planar imaging technology and the traditional synthetic aperture, giving segmented planar imaging technology a sufficient number of frequency domain samples and a concise photonic integrated circuit structure.


SummarySpace flight with associated microgravity is complicated by "astronaut's anemia" and other hematologic abnormalities. Altered erythroid differentiation, red cell survival, plasma volume, and progenitor numbers have been reported. We studied the impact of microgravity on engraftable stem cells, culturing marrow cells in rotary wall vessel (RWV) culture chambers mimicking microgravity and in normal gravity nonadherent Teflon bottles. A quantitative competitive engraftment technique was assessed under both conditions in lethally irradiated hosts. We assessed 8-wk engraftable stem cells over a period spanning at least one cell cycle for cytokine (FLT-3 ligand, thrombopoietin [TPO], steel factor)-activated marrow stem cells. Engraftable stem cells were supported out to 56 h under microgravity conditions, and this support was superior to that seen in normal-gravity Teflon bottle cultures out to 40 h, with Teflon bottle culture support superior to RWV from 40 to 56 h. A nadir of stem cell number was seen at 40 h in Teflon and 48 h in RWV, suggesting altered marrow stem cell cycle kinetics under microgravity. This is the first study of engraftable stem cells under microgravity conditions, and the differences between microgravity and normal gravity cultures may present opportunities for unique future stem cell expansion strategies.


Meditation as medicine is a new concept using ancient techniques. In recent decades, mind body medicine has been an important field in health care where physicians consider that process of mind has a major impact in influencing the health of the body. Still recently, interest has been created amongst chronically sick individuals in spiritual healing either through receiving bleesings from highly spiritual person and/or through practice of meditation and meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. Yoga of which meditation is a major component has been known for decades as a remedy for various psychosomatic disorders. Currently, clinical meditation (CM) has been introduced as a new psychological discipline. Of late, Medical meditation has been claimed to treat various diseases but one requires to learn different techniques for different disease conditions. However, its effect as anti aging medicine has gained some foot hold. Medical meditation directly rejuvenates the hypothalamus, the pituitary, the pineal and other endocrine glands. It has also been claimed as effective counter measure against stress and specific for ailments associated with aging. But Transcendental meditation (TM) with its simple technique to be practiced morning and evening has been widely studied and found to be effective in wide variety of illnesses covering almost all body systems. It has been shown to increase intelligence, performance, reduce tension and illness and reverse aging process having all round effect on quality life. However, Saral meditation, a simplified version of TM but without mantra has been shown to be as effective as TM including reversal of aging. Very recently, Quantum meditation which works at conscious level has been claimed to cure incurable diseases like cancer and prevent foetal abnormality through mother, however, it requires mantra and prolonged practice.


Effects of light millicharged dark matter particles on primordial nucleosynthesis are considered. It is shown that if the mass of such particles is much smaller than the electron mass, they lead to strong overproduction of Helium-4. An agreement with observations can be achieved by non-vanishing lepton asymmetry. Baryon-to-photon ratio at BBN and neutrino- to-photon ratio both at BBN and at recombination are noticeably different as compared to the standard cosmological model. The latter ratio and possible lepton asymmetry could be checked by Planck. For higher mass of new particles the effect is much less pronounced and may even have opposite sign.


Introduction; The most common thoracic injuries were rib fractures (40%) and simple lung contusions (35%) and the abdominal organs most commonly injured were the spleen (35%), liver (25%), and kidney (20%). Mortality varies from 3-22%. the thoracic-abdominal injuries,
Purpose; Evidence of the role of thoracic trauma in intraabdominal injuries. Evaluation of correlation between rib fractures and intra-abdominal organ injuries after Blunt Chest Trauma;
Materials and methods;
The study has a retrospective character, conducted within the period of December 2017 - June 2019. In our study, 890 patients were included in the Emergency Department at University Hospital of Trauma, Tirana, Albania. The population sample was selected randomly without any study restrictions.
Results; Our study includes 890 patients; distribution of gender-based was: 196 (22%) females and 694 (78%) males. The distribution based on age: 116 (13 %); for 40 years old.
Conclusions; In Blunt Chest trauma, the incidence of intraabdominal organ injuries is high as evidenced by our study. All patients with such injuries should be evaluated and evaluated until the possibility of such intra-abdominal damage is ruled out. Also, intra-abdominal injuries in multiple rib fractures patients with more than 6 fractures show high gravity, full inspection and observation must be achieved to prepare for possible emergency surgery or other treatment options.


Recently, PCM (phase change memory) emerges as a new storage media and there is a bright prospect that PCM will be used as a storage device in the near future. Since the optimistic access time of PCM is expected to be almost identical to that of DRAM, we can make a question that the traditional buffer cache will be still effective for high speed secondary storage such as PCM. This paper answers it by showing that the buffer cache is still effective in such environments due to the software overhead and the bimodal block reference characteristics. Based on this observation, we present a new buffer cache management scheme appropriately for the system where the speed gap between the cache and storage is small. To this end, we analyze the condition that caching gains and find the characteristics of I/O traces that can be exploited in managing buffer cache for PCM-storage.


ANDREA is a command-and-control service architecture for very large, distributed applications. Commandand-control systems are appealing because they apply directed action, a strategy familiar in the form of imperative programming. Tenability for this approach at very large scales, however, requires that controllers relax their system-state-knowledge. ANDREA supports this requirement with Site-Select Command and Intention Council; efficient distributed mechanisms enhancing programmable command-and-control. The resulting architecture supports controlled emergence, a 'middle-ground' between imperative control and emergent group behavior.


Let G/H be a compact 4-symmetric space of inner type such that the dimension of the center Z(H) of H is at most one. In this paper we shall classify involutions of G preserving H for the case where dimZ(H) = 0, or H is a centralizer of a toral subgroup of G.


In [1], a computational fluid dynamic style reformulation is introduced to solve the classical Monge-Kantorovich problem. Though the described augmented Lagrangian method involves an Hilbertian framework, the discussion was purely formal. Taking advantage of the recent progress in the optimal transport theory [4],[4],[6][10]and despite the lack of coercivity of the Hilbertian problem, we establish an existence result. Then under a reasonable assumption of positivity for the density, we prove the existence of saddle-points for both Lagrangian defined in [1], and finally prove the convergence of the numerical method.


BACKGROUND
The most essential development in endovascular stroke treatment (EST) was the shift from intra-arterial thrombolysis to endovascular thrombectomy with dedicated thrombectomy devices, most notably the introduction of stent-retrievers. We evaluated procedural and clinical effectiveness and safety of different EST techniques over time.

METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed EST cases that were treated by the same interventionalist before (n=36) and after (n=50) stent-retrievers were established as the treatment device of first choice. EST techniques in the first cohort comprised intra-arterial thrombolysis (n=24), manual thrombus aspiration (n=15), the use of the Penumbra thrombectomy system (n=13) and the Phenox clot retriever (n=3), intracranial stenting (n=10), and EST with stent-retrievers as a salvage procedure (n=11). In the second cohort, EST with stent-retrievers was the treatment option of first choice (n=47). Intra-arterial thrombolysis (n=15) and stenting of the occluded vessel (n=1) were performed, whenever EST with stent-retrievers failed.

RESULTS
In both cohorts, revascularization rates (TICI ≥2b) were high (91.7% and 86.0%, respectively). A significantly lower number of interventional techniques per case were required in the second cohort (mean ± SD, 1.4±0.5 vs. 2.1±0.9, P<0.001). Recanalization was achieved almost twice as fast in the second cohort (85 vs. 163 minutes on average, P<0.001). The rate of patients achieving good functional outcome (mRS ≤2) was higher in the second cohort (40.0% vs. 22.2%, P=0.083).

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings imply that when stent-retrievers were established as first-line the treatment device a significantly lower number of interventional techniques per case were required and recanalization was achieved almost twice as fast.


Internationalism has long been regarded as an important goal of any national conflict of laws system. The three main branches of the subject – jurisdiction, choice of law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments – should be developed in a manner sympathetic to the needs of international trade and interaction and allow for recognition of foreign interests. In exceptional cases, however, local public policy should also be available to protect private rights. Internationalism is a major theme in the recent book, The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand. This article assesses the state of internationalism in New Zealand conflict of laws and the contribution of the book to the issue.


MPs have criticised the current system of buying medical supplies as wasteful and inefficient, and called for specific measures to ensure that foundation trusts deliver improvements in procurement.

The Public Accounts Committee says the current fragmented system of procurement has produced a great deal of waste, with trusts being charged different prices for the same goods, ordering in inefficient ways, and failing to control the range of products which they buy.

The committee points out that a survey of 61 trusts by the National Audit Office found they had bought 652 different types of surgical gloves and 1751 different types of cannula ( BMJ 2011;342:d732 doi:10.1136/bmj.d732). One trust buys 177 different types of glove. In its report the National Audit Office estimated that …


The implementation of cloud computing application takes the higher necessity, especially after suffering from modern problems, such as providing proper funds for social service and purchasing programs. For that, the cloud computing applications propose a promising solution to solve such issues. In this paper, we will discuss the implemention of cloud computing over Smart Grid system; a reliable, cost effective guaranteed and efficient system, it is expected to be Long Term Evolution (LTE): which allows larger pieces of spectrum, or bands to be used furthermore with more coverage and less latency and the third technology is Vehicular network: which is an important research area because of unique features and applications that offers. In this survey, we will present an overview of the smart grid, LTE and the vehicular network when they get integrated with cloud computing, in addition we will highlight the open issues and research direction which faces these technologies with cloud computing implementing in terms of Energy management, Information management for smart grid. In terms of applying cloud computing platforms for 4G Networks to achieve specific criteria and finally in terms of Architectural formation and Privacy and security for Vehicular cloud computing.


PURPOSE
Interferon alfa alone has shown antitumor activity against Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), and phase I and II clinical trials showed that interferon and zidovudine could be administered safely to patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated KS. These observations led to our trial of zidovudine with two dose levels of interferon alfa.

METHODS
HIV-positive patients with KS were eligible if they were older than 18 years of age, had a performance status of 0 to 2, and were free of active infection. All patients received zidovudine 500 mg daily and were randomized to receive-interferon alfa 1 million U or 8 million U subcutaneously daily.

RESULTS
The 108 eligible and assessable patients were well balanced for known prognostic factors. Response was reported in 31% of high-dose therapy and 8% of low-dose therapy patients (P=.011). Response at both dose levels was higher for patients with CD4 counts greater than 150 x 10(9)/L. The median time to progression was longer for patients in the 8-million U arm (18 v 13 weeks; P=.002). Both hematologic and nonhematologic toxicities were higher in the high-dose arm; 50 of 54 patients who received 8 million U required dose alterations in the first 4 months compared with only 19 of 53 patients who received 1 million U (P=.0002). No significant differences were reported with respect to improvement in CD4 count, elimination of p24 antigen, or development of opportunistic infections.

CONCLUSION
Zidovudine and moderate-dose-interferon alfa may be combined safely for the treatment of HIV-associated KS, and both response to treatment and toxicity are dose related.


When I first moved to San Diego, I was a weekend guard at an art museum. I noticed that the museum visitors usually followed a set path from art work to art work usually pausing to read either the artist's name and pieces title or a longer pause to read a longer description / interpretation of the work. I noticed very few real variations to this pattern. I also felt, as a transplant to Southern California, that since the built environment is entirely oriented towards automobiles, the experience of being a Californian is often one of being stuck repeating the same path, and seeing the landscape in the same limited way from day to day. Older roads and the visually apparent history that goes with them seem to be entirely replaced by the freeway system, which replaces and obfuscates the older roads and in many cases is the original road in the area. This installation created a narrative about southern California, combining these experiences of the built environment and the paths followed by the viewer in a gallery space. I decided to program the art show in a form emblematic of southern California, as a ride. The ride is a kind of indigenous entertainment. They existed before but were popularized as a form of mass entertainment through the Disneyland amusement park and the exposure of movies and television. Although this form was taken up in other locations, it is very closely associated with the southern California region


Production of smallholder rubber in Indonesia is still very low, in the range of 600 - 900 kg of dry rubber/ha/year. Many factors influence it, such as non-clonal plants still being managed. Other factors such as agronomic aspects which include efforts to shorten the TBM period either through agronomic technology (canopy management, fertilization, or ground water management) are still ignored by smallholder rubber farmers, due to the limited access, capital, and even the perception that rubber plant production will not experience significant increase through tapping systems. The main and first approach that must be taken at this time on smallholder rubber is a new technology in tapping and management. This activity was carried out by four meetings and training in the garden of one of the trainees. Trainees consisted of rubber farmers in Sari Laba Jahe Hamlet, which also included rubber farmers from Peria Ria Hamlet - Sibiru Biru Sub-district (Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra). The package of tapping technology introduction consists of 3 main elements, namely: 1) tapping starts from the upper left to the lower right in each tapping field, 2) the application of 2.5% stimulant concentration is carried out in the tapping groove every 4 tapping times and 3) tapping in a month can be combined with tapping 1/S to the top using a pacekung tapping knife. Thus, in a month done 4 times of double cut tapping, namely 1/2S (in the lower tapping area using an ordinary tapping knife, downward: pull method) + 1 / 4S (upward using a pacekung tapping knife: shearing method). The results of this activity show that it can increase the production, thereby increasing the volume of sap sold. This activity also shows that the dominant farmers manage 1 hectare of land, and with the planting year and planting material that have the potential to be increased in production through tapping systems. The survey results show that general knowledge about rubber cultivation is dominantly obtained from this activity.


Five levels of autopilot complexity were flown in a single engine IFR simulation for several different IFR terminal operations. A comparison was made of the five levels of complexity ranging from no autopilot to a fully coupled lateral and vertical guidance mode to determine the relative benefits versus complexity/cost of state-of-the-art autopilot capability in the IFR terminal area. Of the five levels tested, the heading select mode made the largest relative difference in decreasing workload and simplifying the approach task. It was also found that the largest number of blunders was detected with the most highly automated mode. The data also showed that, regardless of the autopilot mode, performance during an IFR approach was highly dependent on the type of approach being flown. These results indicate that automation can be useful when making IFR approaches in a high workload environment, but also that some disturbing trends are associated with some of the higher levels of automation found in state-of-the-art autopilots.


Mechanical CAD/CAM technology is an important course for the mechanical design and manufacturing major. Its scope has a wide teaching content and discipline span, and is regarded a comprehensive course with strong theoretical and practical characteristics. Theoretical teaching was emphasized in the past to undervalue software operation. Unpractical teaching content directly resulted in student's insufficient practice after the course. Thus, teaching reform measures were proposed, such as optimizing teaching contents, implementing modular teaching, introducing skill-based software, and formulating typical work tasks. Combined with theoretical knowledge, students used the software as a tool to accomplish designated tasks and reach corresponding teaching objectives. Taking mouse punch as an example, MasterCAM software was used to introduce the specific mode of task-oriented teaching in CAD/CAM experiments. Results show that students improve their abilities of applying CAD/CAM software after the course's teaching reform. Practical engineering problems are analyzed thoroughly and orderly. Employment quantity and quality of graduates are significantly improved to gain praises from enterprises and achieve a remarkable teaching effect.


Many innovative diagnostic technologies will become commercially available over the next 5–10 years. These tests can potentially transform the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections but their introduction into control programmes can be hampered by health system constraints, and political, cultural, socioeconomic and behavioural factors. We used the introduction of syphilis rapid tests to illustrate the importance of programme science to address the gap between accruing evidence of acceptable test performance and the complexity of programme design, implementation and evaluation of test deployment to address public health needs and improve patient-important outcomes.


Reduction of arterial compliance leads to a higher systolic (SBP) and a lower diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The increasing occurrence of reduced arterial compliance is responsible for the steep increase in SBP after the age of 50 years and also for the constancy and later decline in DBP. Reduced arterial compliance will blur the relationship between mean arterial pressure and DBP. This may change the relationships between cardiovascular events and DBP. The possibility of non-causal co-existence of reduced compliance and atherosclerosis is discussed. Such a co-existence would markedly influence the relationship between cardiovascular events and DBP. Finally, the influence that reduced compliance might have on the shape of the relation between cardiovascular episodes and diastolic and systolic blood pressure is discussed.


A growing interest in the study of microalbuminuria (Mi) in essential hypertension (EH) has recently emerged. While clinical proteinuria is found with a low frequence (between 4 and 16%) in patients with EH, a variable but generally higher prevalence (10-40%) of Mi has been reported, even in the absence of diabetes and nephropathy. Mi is defined as an abnormal urinary excretion of albumin (20-200 micrograms/min), undetectable by conventional tests. Variations in the prevalence of Mi in different studies may be attributed to different selection criteria, techniques for detection of albuminuria, the severity of hypertension, age, race, coexistence of renal disease as well as the number of patients studied and the presence or absence of antihypertensive treatment. It is unknown whether the predictive value of albuminuria reflects its association with more severe hypertension and target organ damage, or whether albuminuria serves as an indicator of capillary leakiness which causes detectable abnormalities in the renal microcirculation but reflects more generalized endothelial barrier dysfunction predisposing to accelerated atherogenesis. Mi has been associated with higher blood pressure levels, a worse lipid profile as well as the presence of target organ damage, namely peripheral artery disease and left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with EH. Several studies have shown a correlation between Mi and/or proteinuria and cardiovascular diseases independently of other risk factors and cardiovascular mortality to be ten times higher in patients with Mi than in normoalbuminuric patients. Long-term prospective studies are needed in order to clarify the exact prevalence of Mi, its predictive value for the development of clinical proteinuria and renal function deterioration as well as the effect of different antihypertensive drugs.


This experiment was conducted to explore the reasons of difference between 'Zard'
olive orchard with the poor vegetative growth rate and fruit set and orchard with suitable
vegetative growth rate and fruit set in relation to some soil and plant factors during two
seasons. Note that assumptions were based on the overall canopy greenness of the
olive trees, so experimental orchards in which the planted trees showed optimum leaf
greenness were considered good situations for optimum vegetative growth and
productivity. Remote sensing technologies based on normalized difference vegetation
index (NDVI) were employed on olive orchards, and two orchards meeting the criteria of
highest amount of greenness and lowest amount of greenness were selected. Length of
current-year shoot (LCYS) and fruit set were considered indicators of tree vegetative
growth and productivity, respectively. Results clearly indicated a significant difference
between the two selected orchards in terms of canopy volume (CV), leaf nitrogen
content (N), leaf potassium content (K), silt, sand, Sodium adsorption rate (SAR),
available phosphorous (Pavi), total neutralizing value (TNV), electrical conductivity (EC),
chloride (Cl), and Fe variables. A stepwise regression method was used to evaluate the
effects of soil and plant variables on fruit set and LCYS. According to the obtained
results, the main reasons for differences between two orchards in fruit set and
vegetative growth was N and K deficiencies, soil salinity, and a high percentage of silt in
the soil.


The objective of this study was to determine the effect of protein levels on production performance, immune response, liver triglyceride and plasma amino acids profile of laying hens during 21-48 weeks of age. Two groups of commercial hens (Babcock B-308) were fed with diets with different crude protein levels (14% and 18% CP). The high protein diet (18% CP) significantly increased production performance, essential amino acid intake, spleen weight (% of body weight), ND-titre (haemagglutination-inhibition test), serum albumin (g/dl), serum alpha-globulin and plasma essential amino acids (except histidine) and decreased liver triglyceride (mg/g liver) in relation to the low protein diet (14% CP). In long-term effect, therefore, this study suggested that adequate dietary condition of amino acids, particularly methionine and branch-chain amino acids is necessary for sustaining normal immunocompetence and achieving maximum production performance.


Objectives: The CO2 laser is the standard for control of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis because of its predictable action on laryngeal tissue. The noncontact neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) 1064‐nm laser is generally not used in the larynx owing to the lack of data on its tissue effects, and its potential lack of safety in the larynx. Combined Nd:YAG and CO2 laser treatments have been used safely in the tracheobronchial tree to eradicate recurrent respiratory papillomas. The objectives of this study were to describe and evaluate a method for applying the noncontact Nd:YAG laser to the larynx, to compare the tissue effects of the Nd:YAG, CO2, and combined Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers in the canine larynx, and to extrapolate canine tissue data to the human. Methods: The CO2, Nd:YAG, and combined Nd:YAG/CO2 lasers were applied to the glottis in four mongrel dogs. Laryngectomy was performed and the tissue was examined histologically. The nature and degree of tissue injury were analyzed relative to laser type and energy data. Results: In the canine larynx, the CO2 laser vaporized the surface epithelium and caused varying degrees of edema and necrosis of the lamina propria. The Nd:YAG laser did not cause ulceration but did show a greater degree of thermal damage to the lamina propria. Combined Nd:YAG/CO2 applications resulted in separation of the perimysial fibers from the muscle fibers of the vocalis muscle. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the noncontact Nd:YAG laser can be applied in a controlled fashion to the canine larynx at appropriate power densities. Anatomical differences between human and canine larynges are considered. Extrapolation to humans is proposed. Key Words: Laser, larynx, tissue effects, papillomatosis.


The prebiotic relevance of mineral struvite, MgNH4PO4·6H2O, was studied experimentally as a phosphorylating reagent and, theoretically, to understand the geochemical requirements for its formation. The effectiveness of phosphorylation by the phosphate mineral, monetite, CaHPO4, was also studied to compare to the efficiency of struvite. The experiments focused on the phosphorylation reactions of the minerals with organic compounds, such as nucleosides, glycerol and choline chloride, and heat at 75 °C for about 7–8 days and showed up to 28% phosphorylation of glycerol. In contrast, the compositional requirements for the precipitation of struvite are high ammonium and phosphate concentrations, as well as a little Ca2+ dissolved in the water. Combined, these requirements suggest that it is not likely that struvite was present in excess on the early Earth to carry out phosphorylation reactions. The present study focuses on the thermodynamic aspects of struvite formation, complementing the results given by Orgel and Handschuh (1973), which were based on the kinetic effects.


Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the most common bacterial infection worldwide. Persistent infection of the gastric mucosa leads to inflammatory processes and may remain silent for decades or progress causing more severe diseases, such as gastric adenocarcinoma. The clinical consequences of H. pylori infection are determined by multiple factors, including host genetic predisposition, gene regulation, environmental factors and heterogeneity of H. pylori virulence factors. After decades of studies of this successful relationship between pathogen and human host, various mechanisms have been elucidated. In this review, we have made an introduction on H. pylori infection and its virulence factors, and focused mainly on modulation of host immune response triggered by bacteria, changes in the pattern of gene expression in H. pylori-infected gastric mucosa, with activation of gene transcription involved in defense mechanisms, inflammatory and immunological response, cell proliferation and apoptosis. We also highlighted the role of bacteria eradication on gene expression levels. In addition, we addressed the recent involvement of different microRNAs in precancerous lesions, gastric cancer, and inflammatory processes induced by bacteria. New discoveries in this field may allow a better understanding of the role of major factors involved in the pathogenic mechanisms of H. pylori.


We investigate the nonmagnetic impurity effects on the structural and the magnetic properties of the decorated Shastry-Sutherland compound Cd(Cu1−xZnx)2(BO3)2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) by using X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, high-field magnetization, and electron spin resonance measurements. With increasing Zn content x, the lattice parameters and the g-factors are systematically reduced without any accompanying structural anomaly. We find that Zn substitution leads to an almost linear decrease in the Néel temperature, as well as in the spin-flop transition and the half-step magnetization field. However, the Curie-Weiss temperature hardly varies with x. Our study suggests that intra-tetramer couplings are not essential in determining the magnetic properties of the Zn-substituted samples, unlike other frustrated quantum magnets. Rather, unfrustrated, inter-tetramer coupling is responsible for the x dependence of the magnetic behaviors.


In this article, a bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface was directly activated by a simple in situ chemical method, which was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Based on these results, it was found that oxygen-containing functional groups at the modified GCE surface were enhanced with a low damage to the surface state. Hence, the modified GCE exhibited an excellent performance, such as the negatively charged surface, good reproducibility and high selectivity. The resulting electrode was applied as a sensitive sensor for detection of antioxidant tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), and a good linear relationship was obtained between the oxidation peak current and the concentration in a broad range of 1.0 μM-1.1 mM, with detection limits of 67 nM (S/N = 3) by DPV. Electrochemical parameters of TBHQ on the resulting GCE were also investigated, suggesting that the modified GCE could promote electron transfer kinetics towards the electrochemical reaction of TBHQ. Besides, the present method was used for determination of TBHQ in jatropha biodiesel with recovery ranging from 95.2% to 103.2%.