In urban environments GNSS signals can be either blocked by buildings, so that the number of satellites with direct line-of-sight (LOS) is reduced considerably, or reflected by surfaces, so that signals from the same satellite are received over multiple paths. Taking into account all available signals would typically result in a rather poor position estimate. It is therefore essential to distinguish LOS from non-LOS or multipath-contaminated signals and include this information in the GNSS process model. This is done using a classification algorithm based on code (pseudorange) and carrier phase observations. On the other hand, Wi-Fi fingerprinting is complementary to GNSS in the sense that this approach benefits from signal degradations caused by shadowing through obstacles and reflections leading to unique variations in the radio map and less ambiguity in the mapping of signal strength measurements to positions. The fusion of GNSS and Wi-Fi measurements is done with a particle filter, which uses the probabilistic measurement process models for GNSS and Wi-Fi as inputs. The advantage of the particle filter is its ability to work with non-linear dynamical models and non-Gaussian probability distributions. The evaluation was done with a modular ARM-processor based hardware platform (miniLOK) with Android as operating system, which provides an interface to the raw data of the GNSS receiver. The algorithms were implemented in Java on top of the awiloc® software framework, which is a positioning system including Wi-Fi fingerprinting developed at Fraunhofer IIS. The paper starts with the construction of measurement process models for GNSS and Wi-Fi and explains how these models are integrated into the particle filter framework. The experimental results are presented together with a description of the setup and equipment. The achieved positioning uncertainty in urban environments is discussed.


© 2 0 2 1 U N I V E R S I T Y O F Z I L I N A C O M M U N I C A T I O N S 2 3 ( 1 ) A 1 4 A 2 0 Resume Countries seek to use the knowledge and capital of the private sector to minimise the gap between the transport infrastructure needs and the capacity of their budgets. A form of private investor involvement is usually a public-private partnership PPP. However, success in implementing the PPP projects requires appropriate economic, legal and institutional conditions. The article presents results of research aimed at identifying the PPP success factors in Poland and assessing the strength of impact of individual factors on the implementation of projects. An analysis of the subject literature was carried out, based on which the success factors were determined. Next, econometric modelling methods were applied (correlation and regression), which were used to measure the degree of correlation between the variables and showed the relationships of variables to each other. INFLUENCE OF SELECTED FACTORS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PPP PROJECTS IN TRANSPORT Beata Zagożdżon*, Andrzej Rogowski


Objective: the Zishen Yutai pill (ZYP) is one of the most commonly used Chinese medicines to prevent miscarriage. However, its safety during pregnancy remains ill-defined. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential reproductive toxicity of ZYP on embryo-fetal development. Methods: various doses of ZYP were given to pregnant rats (6, 12 and 24 g kg−1 d−1; i.e. 24×, 48× and 96× clinical doses) and rabbits (1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 g kg−1 d−1; i.e. 6×, 12× and 24× clinical doses) by intragastric administration for the period from implantation to hard palate closure. Physiological saline and cyclophosphamide were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. Maternal effects on weight loss, implantation failure and fetal resorption as well as effects on fetal physical growth and congenital malformations were recorded. Results: both maternal and fetal toxicities were observed in rats and rabbits after cyclophosphamide exposure, including lower maternal weight (not in rabbits), decreased rate of live fetuses, increased rate of fetal resorption, inhibited fetal physical growth and higher rate of malformation. However, adverse effects such as significantly lower extra-uterine weight gain and decreased food intake during GD6–7 were only detected in rats after exposure to ZYP at the dose of 24 g kg−1 d−1, while no severe effects were found in all ZYP treated rabbits. Conclusions: ZYP exhibited no reproductive toxicity on embryo-fetal development at the dose of 12 g kg−1 d−1 for rats and 6 g kg−1 d−1 for rabbits. Consequently, ZYP can be safely used at the clinical dose.


The a-SiNx:H with a large bandgap of 3.8 eV was utilized to decorate ZnO nanowires. The UV emission from the a-SiNx:H-decorated ZnO nanowires are greatly enhanced compared with the undecorated ZnO nanowire. The deep-level defect emission has been completely suppressed even though the sample was annealed at temperatures up to 400 °C. The incorporation of H and N is suggested to passivate the defect states at the nanowire surface and thus result in the flat-band effect near ZnO surface as well as reduction of the nonradiative recombination probability.


Dynamically heteroligated metal centres are auspicious platforms to access multicomponent supramolecular systems, the latter showing unique structures, amazing properties and even emergent functions. The great potential of heteroleptic complexes has materialised after the development of appropriate strategies that warrant quantitative formation in spite of the dynamic character. In this perspective, we discuss our endeavours at developing various heteroleptic self-assembly protocols based on sterically bulky 2,9-diarylphenanthrolines and our work toward self-sorted multicomponent architectures and assemblies with new and useful functions.


Gianlorenzo Bernini was invited to Paris by Louis XIV, from June through October 1665, to oversee his plan for the expansion of the Louvre. This design was not implemented, but during his brief stay, Bernini made a dramatic impression on contemporary eyewitnesses, including the French writer Charles Perrault. Perrault's Memoirs have been discounted as a credible source, since his brother Claude was ultimately selected as the architect of the Louvre's new east façade, and Perrault is assumed to have been among many at the French court who were biased against the Italian artist. Much of what Perrault described, however, was independently corroborated in other accounts, including his description of Bernini's personality and his critiques of Bernini's artistic works. Those works include the rejected plan for the Louvre and the portrait bust and equestrian sculpture of Louis XIV. This article proposes a reconsideration of Perrault's testimony as a legitimate historical record, rather than a malicious invention of the 'French cabal'.


The mechanism of mass changes in debris transportation process is an important topic in the study of fast landslides, debris flows and avalanches. Basal erosion is recognised as a dynamic interaction between the original moving material and the entrained basal topsoil shearing along their non-slip contact surface. In this paper we propose a new concept of yield rate and establish the erosional relationship to bridge these two systems. A pertinent mathematical model and numerical implementation are formulated. Parametric numerical experiments are conducted to compare the erosional effects. The simulated results are consistent with available experimental and field observations. The influence of the involvement of the erosive material on runout behaviour and the global mobility of the moving material are elucidated. The proposed method is then employed to analyse a recent debris flow event in northern Italy. The excellent match to the field data gives it a plausible potential application to the analysis of this type of gravity-driven flow with significant erosion. Defined in a dimensionless form, the proposed yield rate can be estimated conveniently in general geotechnical practices.


An essential consideration when analyzing the gait of walking robots is their ability to maintain stability during walking. Therefore, this study proposes a vertical waist-jointed walking robot and gait algorithm to increase the gait stability margin while walking on the slope. First, the energy stability margin is compared according to the posture of the walking motion on slope. Next, a vertical waist-jointed walking robot is modeled to analyze the stability margin in given assumption. We describe new parameters, joint angle and position of a vertical waist-joint to get COG (center of gravity of a body) in walking. Finally, we prove the superiority of the proposed gait algorithm using simulation and conclude the results.


This paper is concerned with the inverse problem of determining the shape of pen-etrable periodic scatterers from scattered field data. We propose a sampling method with a new imaging functional for solving this inverse problem. This imaging functional is very simple to implement, robust against noise in the data, and does not require regularization. The resolution and stability analysis of the imaging functional is analyzed. Our numerical study shows that the proposed sampling method is more stable than the factorization method and more efficient than the orthogonality sampling method in reconstructing periodic scattering media.


Sirtuin deacetylases promote longevity in invertebrates. Mammals possess seven sirtuin homologs, which are involved in a diverse array of processes including development, metabolism, and stress resistance1. Among these, the sirtuin SIRT6 plays a particularly important role in the maintenance of cellular and organismal homeostasis. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and embryonic stem (ES) cells lacking SIRT6 show poor growth, sensitivity to genotoxins (MMS, hydrogen peroxide, and ionizing radiation), and an increased frequency of genomic aberrations, including chromosomal gaps, breaks, and fusions2. The molecular basis for the genomic instability observed in SIRT6 deficiency remains obscure. SIRT6 is tightly associated with nuclear chromatin2. It has been reported that in human cells, SIRT6 maintains telomeric stability via deacetylation of histone H3 acetylated on lysine 9 (H3 K9Ac)3; and that SIRT6 promotes recruitment of DNA-PKcs, a protein involved in the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway, to DNA lesions4. However, SIRT6-deficient mice show neither telomeric instability, nor defects observed in NHEJ mutants5. Therefore we sought to define alternative mechanisms by which SIRT6 maintains chromosomal integrity. Acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 56 (H3 K56Ac) is a recently described chromatin modification linked to genomic stability and genotoxin resistance. H3 K56Ac is deacetylated by the sirtuins Hst3 and Hst4 in yeast6, and SIRT1 and SIRT2 in mammalian cells7, 8. Based on knockdown experiments, it has been reported that SIRT6 does not play a significant role in H3 K56Ac deacetylation7, 9. In yeast and mammals, failure to regulate H3 K56Ac levels, or mutations mimicking such a defect, leads to impaired cell cycle progression, genotoxin sensitivity and spontaneous DNA damage6, 7, all phenotypes associated with SIRT6 deficiency in mammalian cells. To examine a potential role for SIRT6 in deacetylating H3 K56Ac in the context of SIRT6 null mutants, levels of this modification were assessed in SIRT6-deficient MEFs and littermate controls. Levels of H3 K56Ac were dramatically increased in SIRT6 knockout cells (Fig. 1A, left panel). H3 K56Ac levels were also elevated in two independent SIRT6-deficient ES cell lines compared with a wild-type control (Fig. 1A, middle panel). Reconstitution with wild-type SIRT6, but not a catalytically inactive SIRT6 mutant (H133Y)3, 10, rescued H3 K56 hyperacetylation in SIRT6-deficient fibroblasts (Fig. 1A, right panel), indicating that H3 K56 hyperacetylation in these cells is a direct consequence of loss of SIRT6 function. For assessment of H3 K56Ac levels in individual cells, immunofluorescence analysis was performed on SIRT6-deficient primary MEFs and littermate controls. H3 K56Ac staining was markedly more intense in SIRT6-deficient MEFs, and was also present in a much greater fraction of cells (Fig. 1B, left panel). H3 K56Ac was detectable in 97% of SIRT6-deficient cells, but in only 22% of controls (Fig. 1B, right panel). To test the role of SIRT6 in deacetylating H3 K56Ac in vivo, H3 K56Ac levels were assessed in tissues from SIRT6-deficient mice and littermate controls. We focused on thymus and brain, both sites of prominent SIRT6 expression2. SIRT6 deficiency was associated with dramatically higher levels of H3 K56Ac in both tissues (Fig. 1C). In order to rule out the possibility that hyperacetylation of H3 K56 in SIRT6 deficiency might represent an indirect effect of the genomic instability in this mutant background, the ability of SIRT6 to deacetylate H3 K56Ac in vitro was assessed. Wild-type SIRT6, but not the SIRT6 catalytic mutant, robustly deacetylated H3 K56Ac, a reaction blocked by the sirtuin inhibitor nicotinamide (Fig. 1D). We conclude that SIRT6 directly deacetylates H3 K56Ac to regulate global levels of this histone modification in vivo. H3 K56Ac levels are tightly regulated in yeast, flies, and mammals; increased levels of this modification lead to genomic instability and genotoxin sensitivity6, 7. In this context, there are conflicting reports regarding the impact of DNA damage induction on H3 K56Ac levels in metazoans7–9. In MEFs, we do not observe any major effect of DNA damaging agents on global H3 K56Ac levels (Fig. S1). Precise mechanisms by which H3 K56Ac modulates genomic stability and genotoxin sensitivity in mammals are unclear, and likely multi-factorial. The ability of SIRT6 to deacetylate H3 K56Ac likely represents a principal means by which this sirtuin promotes genomic stability.

Fig. 1

SIRT6 deacetylates H3 K56Ac. (A) Hyperacetylation of H3 K56Ac in the absence of SIRT6. (Left panel) Hyperacetylation of H3 K56Ac in SIRT6-deficient MEFs. (Middle panel) Hyperacetylation of H3 K56Ac in SIRT6-deficient ES cells. (Right panel) Reconstitution ...


Variational autoencoders (VAEs) are powerful generative modelling methods, however they suffer from blurry generated samples and reconstructions compared to the images they have been trained on. Significant research effort has been spent to increase the generative capabilities by creating more flexible models but often flexibility comes at the cost of higher complexity and computational cost. Several works have focused on altering the reconstruction term of the evidence lower bound (ELBO), however, often at the expense of losing the mathematical link to maximizing the likelihood of the samples under the modeled distribution. Here we propose a new formulation of the reconstruction term for the VAE that specifically penalizes the generation of blurry images while at the same time still maximizing the ELBO under the modeled distribution. We show the potential of the proposed loss on three different data sets, where it outperforms several recently proposed reconstruction losses for VAEs.


Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights much attention has been focused in an international standard on human rights applicable to all cultures. This text examines the predicament of the Muslim world. Are Islamic principles compatible with "the Rule of Law" and "Human Rights" as defined by the West? In this country-by-country survey a range of distinguished scholars explore how the concepts of "the Rule of Law" and "Human Rights" are being debated and applied in the changing social and political climates of Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordon, Palestine, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Abstract Bacteriophages, infecting bacterial hosts in every environment on our planet, are a driver of adaptive evolution in bacterial communities. At the same time, the host range of many bacteriophages—and thus one of the selective pressures acting on complex microbial systems in nature—remains poorly characterized. Here, we computationally inferred the putative host ranges of 40 cluster P mycobacteriophages, including members from 6 subclusters (P1–P6). A series of comparative genomic analyses revealed that mycobacteriophages of subcluster P1 are restricted to the Mycobacterium genus, whereas mycobacteriophages of subclusters P2–P6 are likely also able to infect other genera, several of which are commonly associated with human disease. Further genomic analysis highlighted that the majority of cluster P mycobacteriophages harbor a conserved integration-dependent immunity system, hypothesized to be the ancestral state of a genetic switch that controls the shift between lytic and lysogenic life cycles—a temperate characteristic that impedes their usage in antibacterial applications.


In this article, the calm water resistance and dynamic instabilities of a semi-displacement catamaran fitted with a stern wedge is investigated using an experimental method and numerical technique. This is accomplished in order to probe into the effects of aft geometry modification on semi-displacement ship dynamic characteristics, especially at medium and high speeds. An advanced 6-DOF model that takes into consideration the dynamic mesh method has been utilized in open source code OpenFOAM. Reynolds-Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved using standard k-ε turbulence model and VOF method. The accuracy of the current numerical method is investigated by the calm water test in National Persian Gulf Towing Tank. The resistance, trim and sinkage of the ship were monitored during the experiments. The experimental analysis was performed on the initial model and a modified model with 8o wedge at different Froude numbers. After that, the wedges were mounted at different angles at the transom of the vessel and the effect of the angle change for 4 different angles was evaluated using numerical solution. The results show that fitting a stern wedge to this type of ship causes an intense pressure at the stern bottom. Also, it decreases the dynamic trimming and forward resistance of the craft. As well as, stern wedge causes increasing the lift force which affects the reduction of dynamic instabilities. It is concluded that numerical model presented here is quite suitable for accurately predicting dynamic characteristics of a semi-planing twin-hull ships at medium and high Froude numbers. As a result, 14% reduction in total resistance was observed due to the installation of a 6 degree stern wedge.


: There is no current training or experience that can closely parallel operating in the combat theater. However, the use of a structured and systematic approach to patient care such as Advanced Trauma Life Support would have given those thrust into trauma care a format to build upon.


Purpose: The nature of diversification in the form of conglomerates is the research theme for this study. Thus, CG's functions on FP on conglomerates firms of Nigerian economy was studied while applying IC as the mediating variable.
Design/Methodology: This research depends on archival data collected from the NSE. Firms have been chosen based on the convenient sampling method and an important parameter for judgment is Conglomerated firms. In order to get genuine results, ten years of financial data have been taken into consideration. Multiple regression technique was used to analyze the data. The software used for analysis was STATA version 14.0.
Results: The model I of the study disclose a pessimistic and insignificant impact of board size and board independence on IC using VAIC as a proxy. In contrast, model II results disclosed that the performance of the firms was impacted by the board's size and institutional ownership. Implying that, the greater the size of the firm as well as more shares owned by institutional shareholders the higher the profit.
Practical Implications: Nigeria being one of the growing economies now is dependent on knowledge assets and hence it has a positive effect on the firm's performance. Conglomeration is seen even between employee's skills of both industries, which give a positive outcome. Hence, firms under conglomerate tags have a strong impact in relation to intellectual capital.


Synopsis A study on the rate of nitrogen desorption from molten iron by Ar injection together with blowing onto the melt has been made by the use o f A1203 and MgO crucibles, and with deoxidations by Al and C addition. The flow rates of gas injected into and blown onto the melt were about 80 and 11001Vcm3/min, respectively. The immersion depth of the nozzle was 3.3 -'4.5 cm. During the experiment, the bubble formation time was measured by means of a pressure pulse technique. The rate data are compared with those calculated on the basis of a mixed control model. By comparison o f the calculated results with the experimental ones, the interfacial resistance to nitrogen desorption is quantitatively estimated. The interfacial resistance exists on the free surface while not on the bubble-metal interface. Under the same deoxidation condition, the rate of nitrogen desorption determined by the use of A1203 crucible is lower than that obtained by the use of MgO crucible. This comes from the fact that the interfacial resistance exists on the free surface of the melt contained in an A1203 crucible although the free surface looks clean. In the deoxidation with Al, the A1203 layer on the surface greatly retards the rate of desorption.


The influence of round embossed surface on slider bearing characteristics and its load carrying capacity is discussed for thin film effect of embossed slider bearing. For the numerical computation of lubrication parameters such as pressure, load capacity and shear stress that are normalized and a Reynolds equation is used for the analysis of embossed slider bearing characteristics. For this purpose, the finite difference method of central difference scheme is used in this study. In a slider bearing with embossed form, several simulation parameters such as pressure, load capacity and shear stress of the bearing can be obtained according to independent parameters such as the slope of the slider bearing and number of embossing in the upper slider. Also this results can be summarized and be stored in sequential data file for latter analysis. After all, their distribution of the pressure and shear stress parameters can be displayed and be analyzed easily by using the developed program with matlab GUI technique. The independent parameters such as a number of embossing and a slope of the embossed surface slider are used for discussing simulation parameters of pressure distribution, shear stress and load carrying capacity of the round embossing. These study results reported in this paper should be applied to the other shaped slider bearing with a rectangular embossed surface or rectangular waved surface.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a new method for the determination of Jujubaside A in Semen Ziziphi Spinosae.

METHOD
A RP-HPLC method was set up, using Hypersil-18 column, acetonitrile: water(30:70) as mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.8 ml.min-1.

RESULT
The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.076-0.456 mg. The average recovery was 93.5%.

CONCLUSION
The method is appropriate for the determination of Jujubaside A.


A new approach based on the adoption of wavelet transforms is presented for the R point localization in ECG signals. The conceived real time signal processing technique, which uses a fast parallelized algorithm, has been evaluated adopting the standard MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database which includes specially selected holter recordings with anomalous but clinically important phenomena. In the procedure a soft thresholding technique is applied to dyadic scales in which the ECG signal is decomposed. Therefore, noise contribution is reduced and then signal is easily reconstructed in the time domain for further processing. Moreover, the tool analyzes the signal on different level wavelet representation at the same time showing a great parallelism degree and an enhancement in processing time. To evaluate the algorithm noise immunity, the MIT-BIH Noise Stress Test Database has been adopted containing baseline wander, muscle artifacts and electrode motion artifacts as noise sources. The obtained performance shows the method validity in terms of algorithm speed up and characteristic parameter values. In fact, sensitivity and positive predictivity values of about 99.8% are obtained with a detection error rate of about 0.4%. Moreover, the conceived procedure gives satisfactory results also for ECG signals heavily corrupted by noise


Emotional intelligence, as demonstrated by extensive investigations, plays an
important role in the uptake and exercise of effective leadership. The purpose of this
dissertation is to examine the leadership styles adopted by managers and heads of public
and private hospitals in Attica. In addition, the factors of emotional intelligence (wellbeing,
self-control, emotionality and sociability) and the leadership styles
(Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership and Laisser faire), which are
most prevalent in hospitals in the capital, were researched. The relationship of these two
variables (emotional intelligence and leadership) with the social and demographic
characteristics of respondents was also examined in the present dissertation.
The sample of the survey consists of 64 directors and heads of private and public
hospitals in Attica. The questionnaires which were used is the questionnaire of
Emotional Intelligence (Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire - TEIQue-SF) of
Petrides KV & Furnham, A. (2003) and the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ)
of Avolio & Bass (2004) and the analysis was performed by using the SPSS20.
The survey results confirmed the basic research hypothesis that there is a positive
correlation between emotional intelligence and leadership. Specifically, it was found
that the dominant leadership style is the Transformational leadership, which has a
statistically significant positive relationship with all factors of emotional intelligence.
On the other hand, it was found that the Laisser faire is not exercised at all, has a
statistically significant negative relationship with well-being and sociality and has no
correlation with emotionality and weak relationship with self-control. Regarding the
Transactional leadership, it was found that the majority of respondents use reward and
active management. Moreover, it was observed that there is a statistically significant
relationship with well-being and sociability and no statistically significant relationship
with self-control and emotionality.
Finally, the research refers to some restrictions on the methodology followed, on the
small sample and on the emotional intelligence and leadership as cognitive structures.
Some recommendations that encourage further research are proposed as well.
Specifically, further surveys are proposed in which the personal assessment both of the
directors and their subordinates should be recorded. Also, research should be conducted
on a larger scale nationally.


Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is the portion of the country's output not explained by the amount of inputs used in production. The main goal of the present paper is to estimate the Total Factor Productivity levels and then determine the long-term impact of Economic freedom on the TFP in ten former socialistic countries, which are full EU members since 2000. To estimate the TFP we have applied the fixed effect panel on standard Cobb-Douglas production function in per capita terms. In the second iteration we have used PMG ARDL model to estimate the long-term impact of economic freedom on the TFP. This research has proven that higher level of economic freedom, which is used as a proxy of the quality of the institutions and institutional framework, caused higher level of total factor productivity in the period 2000-2018 in the case of ten former socialistic countries which are full EU members since 2000. The obtained results enable us an insight in policies which are important for efficiency increase and economic performance. Our finding could be very useful for policymakers, stressing which policies are contributing to efficiency, and which are not. So that policymakers could intervene in the way to increase the quality of institutional framework and economic institutions. Many other studies investigate the TFP and growth, or growth and institutional framework for the countries of Central and East Europe. Our survey is among the first to investigate the long-term impact of the institutional framework and economic institutions on the countries efficiency for this countries. Our survey enables us an insight into the mechanism through which the institutions can positively impact the TFP through increasing the predictability and reducing the uncertainty for CE countries.


The objective of the current study was to provide more appropriate therapeutic strategies for reducing severe hemorrhaging by assessing the recovery of abnormal coagulation indexes in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) during induction therapy. Retrospective analyses of 112 patients newly diagnosed with APL were performed during initial treatment. In our study, the early death rate was 5.36%. Hemorrhage was the leading cause of death during the induction period (4/6). The values of white blood cell count, lactate dehydrogenase, prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (Fbg), hemoglobin, and bone marrow leukemic promyelocytes were significantly different in the high-risk group compared to the low/intermediate-risk groups. There were significant differences in the white blood cell count, bone marrow leukemic promyelocytes, platelet (PLT) count, and the levels of lactate dehydrogenase, d-dimer, PT, and Fbg, as well as in FLT3-ITD mutations between patients with major bleeding and those with minor bleeding. Hemostatic variables significantly improved over time during induction therapy. The recovery times of the PLT, PT, and Fbg values were significantly slower in patients with major bleeding than in those with minor bleeding. Specifically, the PLT level in patients with major bleeding was not similar to that in the minor bleeding group until after 4 weeks of treatment. Hemorrhages were the most common cause of induction death in this study. High-risk patients were more prone to serious clinical bleeding symptoms. Patients with major bleeding had more rapid proliferation characteristics and an increased incidence of FLT3-ITD mutations compared to patients with minor bleeding. Hemostatic variables recovered significantly more slowly in patients with major bleeding than in those with minor bleeding. Active induction therapy and blood product infusion are effective in preventing severe bleeding. Our results suggested that low PLT count might be the leading cause of fatal bleeding in patients newly diagnosed with APL.


This book focuses on virtual reality. In the context of design, virtual reality is an emerging technology that not only allows designers and other stakeholders to gain a threedimensional appreciation of the artifact being designed, it also has the potential to significantly alter the manner in which design occurs. Internet-based technologies have made it possible for designers in different locations to collaborate in developing and refining their designs. Virtual reality has contributed to this environment (Maher, 2005) by allowing designers in geographically-dispersed locations to interact with each other. Software applications have been developed to assist and facilitate these collaborative activities (including Shyamsundar and Gadh (2001) and Lau, Mak and Lu (2003)) but comparatively speaking, little research has been conducted into the people-related issues of collaboration via the Internet. Some of these are the issues addressed in this chapter.


Objective Apolipoproteins are amphipathic molecules and the major components of plasma lipoproteins. This study aims to investigate the effects of dysregulated apolipoprotein (apo) profiles and their ratios on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) further to test the hypothesis that altered serum level of apolipoproteins is strong biomarkers for DR. Research Design and Methods This case-control study consists of 157 patients with T2DM including DM without DR, non-proliferative DR (NPDR), and proliferative DR (PDR). Fifty-eight age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled as normal controls. Blood biochemistry profile including serum levels of glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), lipid profile [total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), high and low-density lipoprotein (HDL-C and LDL-C)] was estimated. Apolipoproteins (apos, A-I, A-II, B, C-II, C-III, and E) was evaluated by protein chips (Luminex technology). Apolipoprotein ratios and arteriosclerosis-associated plasma indices were calculated. The Kruskal–Wallis test, independent sample t-test or Mann–Whitney U test, and multivariate regression analysis were performed to investigate the association of serum lipid biomarkers and the DR severity. Results Serum level of apoA-I was negatively correlated with TC-(HDL-C)/HDL-C (p < 0.001), fasting glucose (p < 0.001), HbA1c (p < 0.001), and (p<0.001), while apoE, apoC-II/apoC-III, apoA-II/apoA-I were positively correlated with above traditional biomarkers (p < 0.001). Single variable logistic analysis results showed that body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.023), DM duration (p < 0.001), apoE (p < 0.001), apoC-II/apo C-III (p < 0.001), apoE/apoC-II (p < 0.001), atherogenic index (p = 0.013), fasting glucose (p < 0.001), HbA1c (p < 0.001), LPA (p = 0.001), and LDL-C/HDL-C (p = 0.031) were risk factors for the occurrence and severity of DR. Multivariate logistic regression mode showed that apoC-II/apoC-III and apoB/non–HDL-C (p < 0.001) as well as apoE/apoC-II (p = 0.001) were the independent risk factors for the occurrence and severity of DR—apopA-I and apoA-II are protective factors for DR—after controlling for the duration of DM, HbA1c, fasting glucose, and LPA. Conclusions apoE, apoC-II/apoC-III, apoE/apoC-II, and apoB/non–HDL-C could be used as novel biomarkers for occurrence and severity of DR, whereas apoA-I and apoA-II resulted as protective factors for DR.


A planar covered multi-slot-array heat applicator with beam scanning capability is developed for interstitial microwave hyperthermia. The interstitial applicator is based on multi-slot-array structure, and beam scanning capability is added by gradual variation of the slot sizes. Through the choice of input frequencies, concentrated beam can be generated at the designed slot positions, which provides focused heating as well as additional dimension of beam control. A low permittivity dielectric cover is placed on top of the slot arrays to double in function as a protective layer and a dielectric lens which helps to flatten the wavefront to allow the microwave radiation deeper into the heating material. The measured infra-red images and thermal distributions confirm the beam scanning capability of the proposed applicator. It is also shown that the heating volume and uniformity can be improved by the proposed beam scanning applicator compared with the fixed beam applicator using uniform slot arrays.


The synthesis of electrical and optical property-modulated, low-dimensional metal oxide semiconductors has been adopted for the development of nanodevices. However, conventional modulation methods, such as doping and alloying, generally require rather complex processes, such as multi-step high-temperature reactions, gas-phase growth, high-vacuum processes, etc. Alternatively, in the current study, the facile and cost-effective synthesis of Sb-doped ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) is achieved using a simple hydrothermal growth process at 95 °C. Through a single-step reaction, Sb atoms are substitutionally doped at the Zn atom sites with control of the Sb concentration. Sb dopants and Sb-induced oxygen vacancies increase the electron concentration in the ZnO NRAs, enhancing the electrical conductivity of the ZnO NRAs and inducing the further adsorption of ambient oxygen molecules on the nanorod surface. Upon UV irradiation of the highly oxygen-adsorbed, Sb-doped ZnO NRAs, the desorption of oxygen induces greater conductivity changes compared to the undoped samples. Based on this enhanced resistivity change, UV sensor devices were fabricated, and an improved reversible UV sensing performance was observed, with a ∼9-fold enhancement in the photocurrent of the ZnO NRAs after Sb doping. Moreover, UV sensing is achieved even under an extremely low bias of 10–6 V, suggesting the promising application of this material in extremely low-power UV sensor devices.


Objectives There is substantial evidence for the links between poverty and both physical and mental health; but limited research on the relationship of physical and mental health problems exists in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence and co-morbidity of psychological distress among women with common physical diseases in a socio-economically disadvantaged urban area of South Africa. Methods Women enrolled in the Birth to twenty (Bt20) cohort study were evaluated for this paper. Bt20 was founded in 1990 and has followed more than 3,000 children and their caregivers since birth; this study evaluates the health of the caregivers (average age 44) of these children. Psychological distress was evaluated by administering the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and we evaluated the presence of physical disease by self-report. Results Forty percent of the sample presented with psychological distress using the GHQ scoring method. More than half of the women who reported a history of a physical disease, including diabetes, heart attack, asthma, arthritis, osteoporosis, epilepsy, and tuberculosis, reported psychological disorder. Presence of one physical disease was not associated with increased rates of psychological distress. However, women who reported two diseases had increased rates of psychological symptoms, and this upward trend continued with each additional physical disease reported (measured to five). Conclusions These data indicate high prevalence rates of co-morbid psychological distress among women with physical disease. This argues for the need of greater mental health support for women living with physical diseases.


A lithium-ion battery includes a first terminal in electrical communication with a first electrode of the battery, a second terminal in electrical communication with a second electrode of the battery, a cell casing that includes a lid electrically connected to the cell casing, and a positive thermal coefficient (PTC) layer in electrical communication with the first terminal and over the lid of the cell casing. A battery pack includes a plurality of such lithium-ion batteries as described above.


Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) is a member of the BCL2 family of proteins governing the apoptosis pathway and is one of the most frequently amplified genes in cancer. MCL1 overexpression often results in dependence on MCL1 for survival and is linked to resistance to anticancer therapies. However, the development of direct MCL1 inhibitors has proven challenging and new modalities for targeting MCL1 are required. Alternative splicing of MCL1 converts the anti-apoptotic MCL1 long (MCL1L) isoform to the BH3-only MCL1 short (MCL1S) isoform, which has been reported to be pro-apoptotic. Thus, changing MCL1 isoform levels through modulation of RNA splicing may represent an attractive approach to targeting MCL1-amplified cancers. To this end, we tested a collection of small molecule SF3B modulators that impact RNA splicing on MCL1-dependent and MCL1-independent NSCLC cell lines. SF3B modulators induced rapid downregulation of the long form and upregulation of the short- and intron-containing form of MCL1 across models; however, apoptosis was only observed in MCL1-dependent cells. Importantly, SF3B modulators preferentially killed MCL1-dependent cell lines and sensitivity correlated with MCL1 amplification. To dissect the mechanism of SF3B modulator-induced cytotoxicity, we overexpressed either the cDNA for the BH3-only short isoform or the full length isoform of MCL1. Surprisingly, overexpression of MCL1S cDNA had no significant effect on cells by itself and did not sensitize cells to SF3B modulator cytotoxicity. Conversely, MCL1L-specific shRNA knockdown was sufficient to kill MCL1-dependent cells and SF3B modulator cytotoxicity was rescued by expression of MCL1L cDNA. Together, these results argue that MCL1L modulation and not MCL1S upregulation is the effector of SF3B modulator cytotoxicity. In immunocompromised mice bearing MCL1-dependent xenograft models, SF3B1 modulator treatment resulted in significant downregulation of MCL1 levels accompanied by induction of apoptosis and robust efficacy at well-tolerated doses. Moreover, MCL1L cDNA expression in MCL1-dependent models rescued apoptosis induced by SF3B1 modulator treatment. These studies provide proof-of-concept that splicing modulation is an effective strategy for targeting cancers dependent on MCL1. Citation Format: Daniel Aird, Ermira Pazolli, Craig Furman, Linda Lee, Kaiko Kunii, Eun Sun Park, Craig Karr, Betty Chan, Michelle Aicher, Silvia Buonamici, John Yuan Wang, Jacob Feala, Lihua Yu, Markus Warmuth, Peter Smith, Peter Fekkes, Ping Zhu, Baudouin Gerard, Yoshiharu Mizui, Laura Corson. Targeting MCL1-dependent cancers with SF3B splicing modulators. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr C8.


New composite films (P25SGF-MC-Ag, MPC500SGF-MC-Ag, and ANPSGF-MC-Ag) have been synthesized by a modified sol-gel method using different particle sizes of TiO2 powder and silver addition. Nanostructure TiO2/Ag composite thin films were prepared by a sol-gel spin and dip coating technique. while, by introducing methyl cellulose (MC) porous, TiO2/Ag films were obtained after calcining at a temperature of 500°C. The as-prepared TiO2 and TiO2/Ag films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy to reveal the structural and morphological differences. In addition, the photocatalytic properties of these films were investigated by degrading methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation. After 500°C calcination, the microstructure of MC-TiO2 film without Ag addition exhibited a microstructure, while significant sintering effect was noticed with Ag additions and the films exhibited a porous microstructure. Nanostructure anatase-phase TiO2 can be observed with respect to the sharpening of XRD diffraction peaks. The photodegradation of porous TiO2 deposited with 5×10−4 mol Ag exhibited the best photocatalytic efficiency, where 69% methyl orange can be decomposed after UV exposure for 1 hour.


Purpose – This study refers to the social support and trust theories to explore what kind of factors affect the users' intention to adopt MSC. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 207 subjects who had previously experienced or known about MSC were identified and partial least squares were performed to analyse the measurement and structural models. Findings – The results indicated that MSC purchase intentions are affected significantly by four other factors (social support, perceived usefulness, subjective norm, and trust) and trust, in turn, is affected by three factors (social support, perceived usefulness, and subjective norms). Originality/value – First, this study examines the mechanism of trust formation and actions in the MSC context. Second, this study contributes by confirming the important role of social factors in the MSC context. Third, the study expands the social support theory. Finally, our research provides empirical evidence for enterprises that have adopted MSC to support their marketing strategy and programmes.


The immune system, besides orchestrating the immune response, plays an important role in the regulation of tissue homeostasis. We refer to this later activity as 'immune physiology.' In human ovaries, immune system‐related cells and molecules accompany corpus luteum development and regression and cancer progression. They also accompany the origination of new rat and human germ cells by asymmetric division of ovarian surface epithelium cells, symmetric division and migration of germ cells, and follicular growth. Currently prevailing dogma on the preservation of human oocytes from the fetal period until menopause ('storage' doctrine) vs. oocyte renewal in invertebrates and lower vertebrates ('continued formation' doctrine) raises question as to the disadvantage from an evolutionary point of view of prolonged oocyte storage in humans. We attempted to reconcile these two opposing views by proposing the prime reproductive period (PRP) doctrine as follows: The 'storage' doctrine fits two periods of the life in human females, that between the termination of fetal oogenesis and puberty or pre‐menarcheal period (about 10–12 years), and also that period from the end of PRP (at about 38 years of age) until menopause. On the contrary, the 'continued formation' doctrine accounts for oocyte and follicular renewal during the PRP, and insures the availability of fresh oocytes for the development of healthy progeny. Further study on 'immune physiology' may help us better understand ovarian physiology and pathology in general, including infertility caused by premature ovarian failure, the pathophysiology of degenerative diseases and mechanisms of malignancy and metastasis.


Differential item functioning (DIF) assessment attempts to identify items or item types for which subpopulations of examinees exhibit performance differentials that are not consistent with the performance differentials typically seen for those subpopulations on collections of items that purport to measure a common construct. DIF assessment requires a rule for scoring items and a matching variable on which different subpopulations can be viewed as comparable for purposes of assessing their performance on items. Typically, DIF is operationally defined as a difference in item performance between subpopulations, e.g., Blacks and Whites, that exists after members of the different subpopulations have been matched on some total score. Constructed-response items move beyond traditional multiple-choice items, for which DIF methodology is well-defined, towards item types involving selection or identification, reordering or rearrangement, substitution or correction, completion, construction, and performance or presentation. This paper defines DIF, describes two standard procedures for measuring DIF and indicates how DIF might be assessed for certain constructed-response item types. The description of DIF assessment presented in this paper is applicable to computer-delivered constructed-response items as well as paper and pencil delivered items.


A generalized theoretical analysis of an AC-coupled fiber-optic burst-mode receiver is presented. This receiver is designed to operate in optical burst-switching networks using DC-balanced data coding such as 8B10B. Analytic expressions for the recovery time are derived as a function of the system dynamic range, power penalty, and data coding format. The theoretical calculations are verified with a detailed simulation. It is shown that locking time of the order of nanoseconds can be achieved with commercially available AC-coupled receivers. The burst-mode receiver can adapt to large (>10 dB) amplitude variations in 30 ns with a power penalty of 2 dB at 12.5 Gb/s. An overall optimization of the transmitter-receiver link-setup time is performed for an optical burst-switching network based on tunable laser transmitters. The dark interval during laser tuning (/spl sim/50 ns) is shown to have a beneficial impact on the receiver's response time, effectively reducing its locking time to a few nanoseconds, thus resulting in an overall link setup time of about 50 ns, limited by the laser's tuning time.


Purpose of Study Our goal was to report preliminary findings regarding the effect of an HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) educational intervention on the HIV knowledge, skills, and behavioral intentions of incarcerated adolescents. Compared to their school-based peers, incarcerated adolescents report higher rates of many behaviors correlated with HIV transmission. The self-contained environment of juvenile detention centers provides an opportunity to implement interventions capable of reducing high-risk sexual behaviors. The chosen intervention addressed adolescents who are currently sexually active and accounted for the fact that knowledge and risk perception have little effect on adolescent behavior. Additionally, it presented HIV-risk reduction skills, such as communication between sexual partners and accurate perceptions of peer norms, which have shown to strongly impact sexual decision-making in prior studies. Methods Used Adolescents completed a self-report survey prior to and immediately following an 8-hour HIV/STD educational intervention conducted in two youth detention centers. The pre- and post-intervention group means for each survey item or multi-item scale were compared. Summary of Results Among 53 participants, the mean age was 15.58, and 30% were male. African Americans comprised 60% and whites 34%. Pre-intervention, 83% reported having had sexual intercourse. Significant increases were found in HIV/STD knowledge (14.7%, p < .01), condom acquisition skills (9.75%, p < .05), impulse control skills (10.0%, p < .1), and the belief that sex during adolescence impedes future goals (9.25%, p < .1). Conclusions Reached: Preliminary findings suggest that the chosen intervention significantly improved crucial factors in sexual decision-making while other sexual beliefs proved more resistant to change. However, even modest changes in sexual behavior intentions and skills may lead to reductions in HIV/STD transmission among high-risk, sexually active adolescents.


We discuss the construction of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) 10h region (G10) using publicly available data in the Cosmic Evolution Survey region (COSMOS) in order to extend the GAMA survey to z ∼ 1 in a single deg2 field. In order to obtain the maximum number of high precision spectroscopic redshifts we re-reduce all archival zCOSMOS-bright data and use the GAMA automatic cross-correlation redshift fitting code autoz. We use all available redshift information (autoz, zCOSMOS-bright 10k, PRIMUS, VVDS, SDSS and photometric redshifts) to calculate robust best-fitting redshifts for all galaxies and visually inspect all 1D and 2D spectra to obtain 16 583 robust redshifts in the full COSMOS region. We then define the G10 region to be the central ∼1 deg2 of COSMOS, which has relatively high spectroscopic completeness, and encompasses the CHILES VLA region. We define a combined r < 23.0 mag and i < 22.0 mag G10 sample (selected to have the highest bijective overlap) with which to perform future analysis, containing 9861 sources with reliable high-precision VLT-VIMOS spectra. All tables, spectra and imaging are available at http://ict.icrar.org/cutout/G10.


We report the prenatal diagnosis of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTS) at 11 weeks' gestation. The diagnosis was made in a trichorionic quadruplet pregnancy which was conceived after in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection for male subfertility and transfer of 3 embryos. Growth discordance, oligo/polyhydramnios and abnormal arterial and venous Doppler flows were demonstrated in 2 monochorionic fetuses, while the remaining 2 dichorionic fetuses were unremarkable. Selective fetocide of the donor by intracardiac injection of potassium chloride was followed by the spontaneous demise of the recipient. The pregnancy course remained uneventful until 32 weeks of gestation when the patient developed preterm labor. Two healthy preterm babies were delivered by cesarean section. The diagnostic problems of this early manifestation of TTS are discussed.


Manganas et al. (Reports, 9 November 2007, p. 980) reported the discovery of a biomarker specific for neural progenitor cells detectable using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A new algorithm was developed to extract the biomarker from noisy in vivo data. We question how this algorithm was validated, because the biomarker overlaps with peaks from nonspecific lipid signals.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To compare oxidative stress (OS) markers in the saliva, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), and serum samples of pregnant women with gestational diabetes (GDM) and healthy pregnant women and to investigate the association between periodontal health/diseases and OS and GDM.

METHOD
Eighty women with GDM and 80 healthy pregnant women were included in the study. Medical and clinical anamnesis was obtained from all the pregnant women included in the study, and their plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BoP), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) measurements were performed. GCF, saliva, and serum samples were collected for the measurements of the local and systemic total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS).

RESULTS
Clinical periodontal parameters were found to be significantly higher in the GDM group compared to the control group. The serum and saliva TAS, TOS, and TAS/TOS values were significantly lower in the GDM group than in the control group. In the analysis of the GCF samples, the mean TAS and TAS/TOS values were significantly lower and the TOS value was significantly higher in the GDM group than in the control group. The multivariate reduced model indicated that gravidity, salivary TAS/TOS, and GCF TAS were significant independent variables in the development of GDM (p < .05).

CONCLUSION
Our results indicated that the OS of serum, saliva, and GCF samples increased in patients with GDM compared to healthy pregnant women. The role of local OS parameters in GDM may be associated with elevated clinical periodontal parameters.


Silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) featuring high photoluminescence (PL) intensity are necessary for the realization of different photonic and photovoltaic devices, such as light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) and luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). Herein, Si QDs on a ≈100–200 nm thin silicon dioxide membrane with a metal back‐coating are prepared. The dots are formed from the device layer of a silicon‐on‐insulator (SOI) wafer by etching and thermal oxidation. Aluminum is sputtered on the backside of the membrane, acting as a back‐surface mirror, changing the local density of optical modes, as well as the local excitation field. The PL properties of such Si QDs are then characterized at the single‐particle level. It is found that the PL yield of single Si QDs on the membrane is enhanced by approximately one order of magnitude, compared with that of Si QDs outside the membrane under the same excitation power. These results indicate that advances in nanofabrication can substantially improve the optical properties of Si QDs, thus paving the way for their application.


To achieve social economic objectives, governments usually institute discriminatory practices in their country's public procurement framework. Discriminatory procurement is the practice by governments to favour their own domestic suppliers over foreign firms for advertised contracts. Favouring domestic firms over large, possibly cheaper foreign firms, it is argued will create a stimulus to the economy through injections. Injections to the economy will stimulate the expansion of infant industries, foster growth of underdeveloped regions, create employment and improve the standard of living.

On the other hand, increased openness of public procurement markets to allow in foreign firms, has been justified as a practice that enhances competitiveness, reduces cost of procurement by government leading to efficient public resources utilisation. Countries are then faced with a problem of making a decision of opening the procurement markets given the rather contradicting policy outcomes.

Our argument is that for a government to make a decision of either buying from a foreign firm or domestic firm, it analyses the impact on the economy of either options. Buying from a cheaper foreign source will generate savings that can be reinvested back into the economy depending on a government's spending priorities. The impact of these saving is compared to the impact of awarding a contract to a domestic firm.

Using the accounting multipliers computed through the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), we calculate the impact of both options. This leads to the development of a Procurement Policy Option Model (PPOM) used as a decision tool to determine whether a contract in a particular sector should be awarded to a foreign or a domestic firm. The PPOM is extended for various discriminatory public procurement schemes and a model for each of the schemes is developed.

The models and rules developed in this research provide the necessary guidance on how countries can differentiate between the different sectors so as to set effective thresholds necessary to achieve social economic objectives without compromising on the primary objective of value for money.


The last stage of the cold rolling process is skin-pass rolling and one of its most significant goals is to obtain appropriate topography on the surface of the sheet steel used extensively such as in automotive industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of thickness change and various reduction ratios on roughness transfer of DC04 grade sheet material.,DC04 grade sheet materials with different reduction ratios and several thicknesses were subjected to skin-pass rolling process in the rolling equipment with a two-high roll. Some roughness parameters were determined as a result of roughness measurements from the surfaces of roughened sheet materials.,While the roughness transfer is higher in 1-mm thick material in reduction ratios up to 430 micrometers; in reduction ratios above 430 micrometers, it is higher for 1.5-mm thick materials. As the reduction ratio increases in DC04 grade sheet materials, the homogeneity of the roughness distribution in 1-mm thickness sheet material deteriorates, while the roughness distribution in 1.5-mm thickness sheet material is more homogeneous.,This paper demonstrates how material thickness and reduction ratio affect the roughness transfer in skin-pass rolling. The results obtained can be used by optimizing in manufacturing processes.


This study investigated relationships between state anxiety and leisure-domain physical activity levels during Covid-19 pandemic. We used frequency, duration, and intensity as key variables of physical activity. Trait anxiety, state anxiety before pandemic, age, gender, and education level were also included in the analysis. Our general hypothesis was that participants who declared doing more physical activity levels would exhibit lower levels of anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. A convenient sample of 571 volunteer adults (mean age 39 ± 14 years) was drawn mainly from São Paulo State (89.2% of the sample), the epicenter of Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. To obtain the participants' levels of anxiety (trait, state before pandemic, and state during pandemic) we used a validated short-version of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Levels of physical activity were measured via questions from VIGITEL, a validated questionnaire about the individual's habits on risk factors. Answers were given regarding the first week of March 2020 (before pandemic) and at the very moment the participant was filling in the electronic form (June 2020). Data analyses were conducted through descriptive and inferential techniques, with the use of non-parametric tests and linear regression models. Overall, participants' responses indicate that anxiety levels were higher during the pandemic compared to the period that preceded the pandemic, and that frequent and long physical activity in the leisure-domain reduced anxiety, regardless its intensity. The regression models revealed an inverse relationship between physical activity and anxiety (the more physical activity, the less anxiety) and independent of gender, age, education level, trait anxiety, and physical activity before pandemic.


Power system stability enhancement via robust coordinated design of a power system stabilizer (PSS) and a thyristor-controlled series capacitor (TCSC)-based stabilizer is thoroughly investigated in this paper. The coordinated design problem of robust excitation and TCSC-based controllers over a wide range of loading conditions and system configuration is formulated as an optimization problem with an eigenvalue-based objective function. The real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) is employed to search for optimal controller parameters. This study also presents a singular value decomposition (SVD) based approach to assess and measure the controllability of the poorly damped electromechanical modes by different control inputs. The damping characteristics of the proposed control schemes are also evaluated in terms of the damping torque coefficient over a wide range of loading conditions. The proposed stabilizers were tested on a weakly connected power system. The damping torque coefficient analysis, nonlinear simulation results, and eigenvalue analysis show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach over a wide range of loading conditions.


The use of sewage sludge in agriculture and recovery of degraded areas has been shown as a promising alternative for its final destination. Studies on micronutrient levels after sludge application are necessary to avoid soil contamination at toxic levels. The objective of this work was to verify the micronutrient contents in the soil profile and pH, up to one-meter-deep, nine years after the application of sewage sludge and planting of native species of the Atlantic Forest. The experiment was implemented in a degraded Quartzeneic Neosol and conducted in randomized blocks with four replicates and eight treatments, consisting of six doses of sewage sludge (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 Mg ha-1, with supplementation of potassium due to low concentration in the residue), besides the control treatment, mineral fertilization and only potassium supplementation. After nine years, the contents of all micronutrients evaluated presented a significant response to the application of the treatments, and the application of sewage sludge provided an increase in their contents. Soil pH remained stable at sites receiving mineral fertilization and potassium supplementation. Only manganese and zinc showed mobility in the soil profile. The application of sewage sludge in degraded soil increases the micronutrient content and decreases its movement in the soil profile, and the application of the maximum dose of the residue does not provide toxic levels of these elements in the soil in the long term.


OBJECTIVE
To determine effects of Mg2+ on potassium current, transient inward current (Iti) and Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange current in isolated ventricular myocytes during hypoxia.

METHODS
Single myocytes were isolated from ventricles of adult guinea pig hearts. The patch clamp technique in whole cell configuration was used to study ionic currents, and experiments were performed in an experimental chamber that allows the cell to be exposed to a sufficiently low O2 pressure.

RESULTS
The 10 mmol/L intracellular free Mg2+ (Mg2+i) had no effect on action potential abbreviation under normoxic condition, however, the action potential abbreviation during hypoxia was markedly inhibited in presence of 10 mmol/L Mg2+i. The amplitude of hypoxia-induced time independent outward K+ current was also greatly reduced when applied 10 mmol/L Mg2+ in pipette solution. In early reoxygenation, Iti occurred in 73% of myocytes, 10 mmol/L extracellular Mg2+ during hypoxia and reoxygenation lowered incidence of Iti, 10 mmol/L Mg2+ could partly inhibit the Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange current in normoxic condition.

CONCLUSION
Intracellular Mg2+ could block hypoxia-induced outward current through ATP sensitive potassium channels. Mg2+i plays an important role in preventing depletion of cellular K+ and regulates beat-to-beat cardiac activity. Extracellular Mg2+ most probably decreases the signs of calcium overload in early reoxygenation by inhibiting Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange.


Background and aims: Surgical management of extrahepatic cholestasis is frequently complicated by bacterial translocation and severe liver injury. The aim of this study was to clarify the involvement of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the pathogenesis of bacterial translocation and liver injury in obstructive cholestasis. Methods: TLR2 deficient (TLR2−/−), MyD88−/−, Jα281−/−, gld/gld, and lpr/lpr mice, all of which have a C57BL/6 background, and C3H/HeN and TLR4 mutated C3H/HeJ mice were subjected to bile duct ligation (BDL). Faecal IgA and serum alanine aminotransferase levels were determined after BDL. Apoptosis was examined by histological and flow cytometric analyses of cells from Peyer's patches and the liver. Results: The size and number of B cells in Peyer's patches markedly decreased on day 3 after BDL. Increased apoptosis in Peyer's patch B cells was evident on day 1 after BDL in control mice but not in lpr/lpr, MyD88−/−, or C3H/HeJ mice. On the other hand, TLR2 and Fas ligand expression on intrahepatic NK1.1+ T cells increased on day 1 after BDL in C57BL/6 mice. Liver injury and apoptosis were evident on day 1 after BDL in control and C3H/HeJ mice but were significantly reduced in TLR2−/−, Jα281−/−, gld/gld, and lpr/lpr mice. Conclusions: TLR4 and TLR2 may play important roles in Fas dependent apoptosis in Peyer's patch B cells and hepatocytes, respectively, at an early stage after BDL in mice.


We have systematically investigated the magnetic and the dielectric properties of Eu0.595(Y1−xHox)0.405MnO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) single crystals with fine tunning of 4f magnetic moments while keeping the average size of the rare-earth (R) site the same. In the x = 0.3 crystal, the ferroelectric polarization along the c axis (Pc) emerges at 25 K; then, Pc is suppressed, and Pa appears simultaneously with decreasing temperature. On further decreasing temperature, Pa disappears and Pc appears again. The observed reentrant behavior of the Pc phase indicates that the Pa and the Pc phases are strongly competing with each other.


Objective: To report the North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet) Registry data on the outcomes of using radiofrequency ablation to treat twin-reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP). Methods: This was a retrospective review of the records of all patients who underwent percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of an acardiac twin after referral to 12 NAFTNet institutions between 1998 and 2008. Maternal, fetal and neonatal data were analyzed. The primary outcome was neonatal survival to 30 days of age. All participating sites conducted this study under institutional review board approval. Results: Of the 98 patients identified, there were no maternal deaths and no women required blood transfusions. Most women (76 of 98; 78%) stayed in the hospital for ≤1 day after the procedure. Mean gestational age at delivery was 33.4 weeks overall and 36.0 weeks for survivors. Median gestational age at delivery was 37.0 weeks. Survival of the pump twin to 30 days was 80% in the overall cohort. Conclusion: The NAFTNet registry data suggest that radiofrequency ablation of the acardiac twin is an effective treatment for TRAP sequence.


Self-duplicating, self-propagating malicious codes known as computer worms spread themselves without any human interaction and launch the most destructive attacks against computer networks. In this paper, we have successfully detected the worm propagation characteristics of different and using permutation scanning to find the worms using branch process model to provide total number of scan that ensure the worm will eventually die out. Our strategy can effectively contain both fast scan worms and slow scan worms without knowing the worm signature in advance or needing to explicitly detect the worm. We would like to propose a statistical model for the spread of topology-aware worms and subsequently design mechanisms for automatic containment of such worms. We would also like to characterize the deviation of our proposed branching process model from the ideal sophistication epidemic model, assuming that the values of its rich set of parameters were available. Finally, we would like to port our worm containment schemes to edge routers and local routers and to evaluate the performance using real data from enterprise networks.


In this paper we suggest a method of computation of electromagnetic signal interaction with absorbing inhomogeneity in three-dimensional random discrete media. We model the process of wave multiple interaction with discrete inhomogeneity chaotically disposed in the layer media. The result of a computer imitation of the process on the basis of a stochastic model yields the distributions in space of co-ordinates of the energy of the scattering wave and energy of absorption wave dependent on interaction time.


1. The actions of five structurally different intravenous and inhalation anaesthetics (alphaxalone/alphadolone, halothane, ketamine, methohexitone, and pentobarbitone) have been studied on synaptic transmission through the cuneate nucleus of the dorsal column‐lemniscal afferent pathway in the decerebrate cat. 2. Synaptic input and output were estimated from antidromic and orthodromic potentials, which were evoked by either afferent volleys from the periphery or micro‐electrode excitation of the presynaptic fibre terminals in the cuneate and recorded at forelimb nerves and the medial lemniscus. 3. Each of the anaesthetic agents potentiated the efficiency of synaptic transmission, as shown by the elevation of input‐output curves constructed from the integrals of the potentials evoked by varying intensities of either peripheral or cuneate stimulation. 4. The excitability of the afferent terminals, as measured at the peripheral nerves by the antidromic responses to micro‐electrode stimulation, was depressed by the anaesthetics. Post‐synaptic excitability, which was assessed from the direct lemniscal response to intra‐nuclear stimulation, did not appear to change. 5. Hypotensive states (mean arterial levels less than 60 torr) produced depolarization of presynaptic terminals and depression of synaptic efficiency and transmission; these changes opposed the primary effects of the general anaesthetics. 6. It is concluded that anaesthetics do not depress activity at all synapses of the central nervous system. Their facilitatory action on cuneate transmission is attributed to an enhanced release of excitatory transmitter; the underlying mechanism may be hyperpolarization of the primary afferent terminals, secondary to an increase in K+ conductance.


This paper explores the topic of preferential sampling, specifically situations where monitoring sites in environmental networks are preferentially located by the designers. This means the data arising from such networks may not accurately characterize the spatio-temporal field they intend to monitor. Approaches that have been developed to mitigate the effects of preferential sampling in various contexts are reviewed and, building on these approaches, a general framework for dealing with the effects of preferential sampling in environmental monitoring is proposed. Strategies for implementation are proposed, leading to a method for improving the accuracy of official statistics used to report trends and inform regulatory policy. An essential feature of the method is its capacity to learn the preferential selection process over time and hence to reduce bias in these statistics. Simulation studies suggest dramatic reductions in bias are possible. A case study demonstrates use of the method in assessing the levels of air pollution due to black smoke in the UK over an extended period (1970-1996). In particular, dramatic reductions in the estimates of the number of sites out of compliance are observed.


This article reconstructs Rosa Luxemburg's theories of capital accumulation, class formation and class struggle against the background of the "long 19th century." It then uses these theories to analyse the "short 20th century" and ends with some preliminary thoughts about capital accumulation and class formation today. It is argued that the working classes that had developed over the 19th century were integrated into statist development projects—welfare capitalism in the West, state socialism in the East, or developmental states in the South—in the 20th century. It is further argued that this integration was accompanied by the capitalist penetration of non-capitalist milieus that the strategies of colonial expansion in the 19th century could not reach. After a period of intense conflict within these "three worlds of statism," capitalist restructuring led to the unmaking of hitherto existing working classes. Yet, this restructuring not only produced a great crisis but also laid the foundation for the remaking of international working classes.


Background: Although available treatments may reduce the severity of crack cocaine use-related problems, a significant percentage of users resume drug abuse within a relatively short time after treatment. This relapse process is the return to the condition of pre-treatment drug consumption conditions. Crack cocaine users appear to be particularly prone to this dynamic, making relapse one of the biggest challenges for treating crack cocaine dependents. However, in the midst of this disheartening setting regarding the high relapse potential, a negligible part of the population of users remains in abstinence, not following this pattern of relapse, although they belong to contexts similar to relapsing users. This study aimed to identify the main characteristics of crack cocaine users, which protect them from relapse in the first six months after treatment. Methods: This is a study with 700 participants recruited through treatment institutions. Initially, data were analyzed descriptively and the existence of associations was verified by Chi-Square test or Fisher's exact test. The Student t-test for independent samples was employed to compare the means between two groups. Logistic regressions were used to simultaneously evaluate the effects of demographic characteristics, history of use of crack cocaine on the occurrence of non-relapse. Results: The results of this work returned the following crack cocaine user's main protective factors for relapse: being single but with a steady partner, or being separated or divorced, Catholic, not living in the streets or "Cracolândia", not developing binge, withdrawal, dependence, abstinence (more than ten days) and drug late onset. Conclusion: Among these factors, not being abstinent is a protective factor for relapse that deserves attention, considering that the conventional treatment options available in Brazil consider abstinence as the only possible outcome.


Pre-hospital emergency care (PHEC) in the military has undergone major changes during the last 10 years of warfighting in the land environment. Providing this care in the maritime environment presents several unique challenges. This paper examines the clinical capabilities required of a PHEC team in the maritime environment and how this role can be fulfilled as part of Role 2 Afloat. It applies to Pre-hospital emergency care projected from a hospital not to General Duties Medical Officers at Role 1.


The quality of one's social network significantly affects his economic success. Even after the skill acquisition period, the social network influences economic success through various routes such as mentoring, job searching, business connections, or information channeling. In this paper I propose that a social network externality which extends beyond the education period – what I call a Lifetime Network Externality – is important in explaining the evolution of between-group inequality in an economy. When the members of a group believe that the quality of their social network will be better in the future, more young group members invest in skill achievement because they expect higher returns on investment realized over the working period. As this is repeated in the following generations, the quality of the group's network improves over time. Combining the Lifetime Network Externality, which operates during the labor market phase of a worker's career, with the traditional concepts of peer and parental effects, which operate during the educational phase (Loury 1977), I suggest a full dynamic picture of group inequality in an economy with multiple social groups. I define a notion of Network Trap, wherein a disadvantaged group cannot improve the quality of its network without a governmental intervention, and I explore the egalitarian policies to mobilize the group out of this trap. This social capital approach suggests a positive effect of equality on economic growth in later stages of economic development and a positive effect of inequality in the early stage of economic development, consistent with Galor and Zeira (1993). Unlike the previous literature, the conclusion is derived without imposing the standard assumption of credit market imperfections. Therefore, this implies that equality, by helping disadvantaged groups to move out of the network trap, has a positive effect on economic development even in a matured economy without binding credit constraints, or in a society with public provision of schooling.


We report here a new behavioral feature of a narrow pulse transmitted on coplanar waveguide (CPW), putting the special stress on the effects caused by the packaging of such a waveguide. This feature occurs due to the unexpected simultaneous combination of a distortion in the guided main pulse and a production of delayed echo pulses. An explanation based on a new class of the dominant-mode power-leakage effect leads to a clear physical understanding of why such features necessarily appear. >


AIM OF THE STUDY
to gather clinical and laboratory data on rheumatoid arthritis patients with cervical spine damage (incidence and prevalence, correlation between duration of disease and the time of lesion onset, to assess signs and symptoms and the role of laboratory investigations). The spine is an axial organ with an important role in support and resistance. It is a pillar with a very complex morphological and functional structure. The vertebral column is crossed by many kinematic chains. The main problem of the cervical spine caused by rheumatoid arthritis is cervical instability which describes all cervical lesions that can lead to neurovascular damage or major disturbance of pain generating statics at movement. The evolving disease shows chronic inflammation of the synovium, which is a self-maintained process and an immunologically induced phenomenon. The chronic inflammation of the synovium forms granulation tissue that invades peripheral joints towards the center and causes ligament cartilage and bone damage.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The present paper investigated cervical spine lesions in 107 rheumatoid arthritis patients who were admitted to the 1st Rheumatology Clinic of Iasi Rehabilitation Hospital between January 2013 and December 2014. Our study focused on assessing signs and symptoms seen in spine affected by rheumatic disease.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
the disease causes destructive lesions due to granulomatous infiltration of rachidian structures and medullary sheaths. These lesions lead to damaged discs and instability that produces subluxations and dislocations. The suboccipital region is most affected; in other regions of the spine, high lesions of C4-C5 prevail, where osteolysis damage of spinal apophyses are found. In atlas and axis joints, rheumatoid arthritis causes the inflammation of bursa, synovium and joint capsule and leads to synovial pannus formation. This causes the destruction of cartilage and subchondral bone. Atlantoaxial dislocation is caused by erosive synovitis of atlanto-epistrophic joint, atlanto-odontoid joint and serous bursitis separating the odontoid process from the transverse ligament.

CONCLUSIONS
The dominant symptom of cervical spine damage was pain associated with stiffness and limited joint mobility, muscle stiffness, poor posture.


We demonstrate that the Bell test cannot be realized at finite temperatures in the vast majority of electronic setups proposed previously for quantum entanglement generation. This fundamental difficulty is shown to originate in a finite probability of quasiparticle emission from Fermi-sea detectors. In order to overcome the feedback problem, we suggest a detection strategy, which takes advantage of a resonant coupling to the quasiparticle drains. Unlike other proposals, the designed Bell test provides a possibility to determine the critical temperature for entanglement production in the solid state.


BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) kills more people than any other infection, and new diagnostic tests to identify active cases are required. We aimed to discover and verify novel markers for TB in nondepleted plasma. METHODS We applied an optimized quantitative proteomics discovery methodology based on multidimensional and orthogonal liquid chromatographic separation combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry to study nondepleted plasma of 11 patients with active TB compared with 10 healthy controls. Prioritized candidates were verified in independent UK (n = 118) and South African cohorts (n = 203). RESULTS We generated the most comprehensive TB plasma proteome to date, profiling 5022 proteins spanning 11 orders-of-magnitude concentration range with diverse biochemical and molecular properties. We analyzed the predominantly low–molecular weight subproteome, identifying 46 proteins with significantly increased and 90 with decreased abundance (peptide FDR ≤ 1%, q ≤ 0.05). Verification was performed for novel candidate biomarkers (CFHR5, ILF2) in 2 independent cohorts. Receiver operating characteristics analyses using a 5-protein panel (CFHR5, LRG1, CRP, LBP, and SAA1) exhibited discriminatory power in distinguishing TB from other respiratory diseases (AUC = 0.81). CONCLUSION We report the most comprehensive TB plasma proteome to date, identifying novel markers with verification in 2 independent cohorts, leading to a 5-protein biosignature with potential to improve TB diagnosis. With further development, these biomarkers have potential as a diagnostic triage test. FUNDING Colciencias, Medical Research Council, Innovate UK, NIHR, Academy of Medical Sciences, Program for Advanced Research Capacities for AIDS, Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research.


Cartilage tissue engineering remains problematic because no systems are able to induce signals that contribute to native cartilage structure formation. Therefore, we tested the potentiality of gelatin‐polyethylene glycol scaffolds containing three different concentrations of chitosan (CH; 0%, 8%, and 16%) on chondrogenic differentiation of human platelet lysate‐expanded human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hBM‐MSCs). Typical chondrogenic (SOX9, collagen type 2, and aggrecan), hypertrophic (collagen type 10), and fibrotic (collagen type 1) markers were evaluated at gene and protein level at Days 1, 28, and 48. We demonstrated that 16% CH scaffold had the highest percentage of relaxation with the fastest relaxation rate. In particular, 16% CH scaffold, combined with chondrogenic factor TGFβ3, was more efficient in inducing hBM‐MSCs chondrogenic differentiation compared with 0% or 8% scaffolds. Collagen type 2, SOX9, and aggrecan showed the same expression in all scaffolds, whereas collagen types 10 and 1 markers were efficiently down‐modulated only in 16% CH. We demonstrated that using human platelet lysate chronically during hBM‐MSCs chondrogenic differentiation, the chondrogenic, hypertrophic, and fibrotic markers were significantly decreased. Our data demonstrate that only a high concentration of CH, combined with TGFβ3, creates an environment capable of guiding in vitro hBM‐MSCs towards a phenotypically stable chondrogenesis.


In mid 2019, the author reminded the (International Society for Neonatal Screening) ISNS of the happy occasion of the 100th birthday of one of the living pioneers of neonatal screening, Professor Louis Isaac Woolf [...]


On the basis of serologic cross-reactivity, three immunoglobulin classes homologous to human IgG, IgM and IgA were identified in two species of acquatic mammal representing the orders Cetacea (dolphin) and Pinnipedea (sea lion). Molecular size was estimated by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and Sephadex G-200 chromatography, indicating a 7S IgG, 19S IgM and heterogeneous serum IgA. Human secretory component was readily bound to the IgM of both species and to an apparently lesser extent to the larger molecular size populations of IgA. No binding was observed with IgG. Several antisera specific for human γ-chains gave a single precipitin line with the sea lion IgG but when made to react with dolphin serum produced two lines, suggesting the presence of two different subclasses of IgG in this species.


Background and Objectives: Occupational stress is a chronic disease, which is caused by harsh working conditions, and affects individual performance and physical and mental health. This study aimed to determine the level of occupational stress in medical emergency staff in Ardabil province. Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, 103 persons of the emergency stations of Ardabil province in 2011, were studied in terms of stress level by convenience sampling.Data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic data (the first part) and Harry's stress questionnaire (the second part). After collection, the Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, and ANOVA. Results: Most of research units, i.e., 77 (74.8%) had the mean stress score of between 150-250, which was indicative of stress in them, and 4 subjects (3.9%) had scores higher than 250, which indicated severe stress. These results show that medical emergency staff has high stress during emergency medicine care. Conclusion: Considering that the medical emergency and prehospital emergency medical personnel are an important part of health staff that save lives, and also that stress is an important cause of development and exacerbation of burnout, therefore, a proper management system for facilitating and removing the risks of occupational stress and measures to prevent the consequences, are necessary.


Despite the abundance of studies on consequences of certification, there is little empirical research on what motivates sellers to attempt certifications in the first place. One of the most intriguing theoretical predictions is the "information unraveling" proposition, which predicts a "domino- effect" in sellers' certification-seeking behavior when a certification opportunity arises. To test this proposition, and to further identify factors that motivate sellers to seek certifications, we exploit two unique natural experiments and detailed transaction data on a global online labor market. The first natural experiment was the introduction of certifications into the market, with a fee; and the second occurred when certification exams were made free. We derive and test hypotheses on factors that motivate sellers to seek certifications, including word-of-mouth, repeat customers, cost of certification, and informational cascading. We also find that, contrary to theoretical predictions, certification status negatively impacts some sellers' ability to obtain contracts. These findings have important managerial as well as academic implications.


Varying percentages (0, 0.005, 0.010, 0.015, 0.020 and 0.025) of ecofriendly Starch Stabilized Magnetic Nanoparticles (SSMNPs) were used in the removal of M 2+ (Ni 2+ , Co 2+ and Pb 2+ ) ions from aqueous media by the batch adsorption technique. The λmax determined and used for Ni 2+ , Co 2+ and Pb 2+ were 400, 380 and 320 nm respectively. The influence of pH, adsorbent starch concentration, initial metal concentration and contact time on the removal processes was investigated. The results showed that 0.025 % loaded SSMNPs gave the optimal sorption efficiencies of 91.3 (pH = 6.8 & 11.1), 90.91 and 96.97 % (at pH < 3) respectively for all three ions. The contact times required to reach the equilibrium concentrations were 15, 75 and 105 mins for Pb 2+ , Co 2+ and Ni 2+ ions respectively. The kinetic rate constants (Lagergren and Pseudo-2 nd -order) for Ni 2+ and Co 2+ adsorption were all greater than those from Pb2+ions. Langmuir correlation coefficients showed a better fit for the adsorption isotherms. Ni sorption capacity of 60.61 mg g -1 obtained from Langmuir was the highest of the three at constant [SSMNPs] while 109.89 mg g -1 for Pb with was the highest at constant [M 2+ ].


To analyze the reliability of automobile braking system, the reliability module and Markov module of Relex studio 2009 are adopted in this paper. Firstly, braking system is analyzed systematically, including function, braking process, components. Then Competitive failure models are identified and reliability model is established. Failure rate of each subsystem is obtained using the reliability prediction. According to the reliability prediction results, Markov transfer model and data are presented. This indicated that the Markov result is consistent to the prediction module. This study provides instructiveness through design and operations of braking system.


The effect of different size (25‐, 27‐ and 29‐gauge) Quincke‐type spinal needles on the incidence of insertion difficulties and failure rates was investigated in a randomised, prospective study with 300 patients. The needle size was randomised but the insertion procedure was standardised. The time to achieve dural puncture was significantly longer with the 29‐gauge spinal needle compared with the larger bore needles and was due to the greater flexibility of the thin needle. However, the difference was less than 1 min and cannot be considered clinically significant. There were no significant differences between groups in the number of insertion attempts or failures and the same sensory level of analgesia was reached with all the needle sizes studied. Postoperatively, no postdural puncture headaches occurred in the 29‐gauge spinal needle group, whilst in the 25‐ and 27‐gauge needle groups, the postdural puncture headache rates were 7.4% and 2.1% respectively. The incidence of backache was similar in all study groups. We conclude that dural puncture with a 29‐gauge spinal needle is clinically as easy as with larger bore needles and its use is indicated in patients who have a high risk of postdural puncture headache.


Based on one year of field measurements, we described the annual fluxes of energy and CO2 at a residential area of Tokyo. The major findings are as follows. 1) The total of Rn, H, and LE was 2.36, 1.35, and 0.90 GJ m-2, respectively. The latent heat flux LE was large despite the small areal fraction of natural coverage (trees and bare soil). The estimated local latent heat flux per unit natural coverage was two times larger than the available energy (Rn+A), which indicates that the ''oasis effect' was significant. 2) The annual CO2 flux was upward due to fossil fuel consumption in houses and traffic and human bodily exhalations. The total CO2 flux was 3352 gC m-2 and was six times larger than the downward CO2 flux at a typical temperate deciduous forest.


The large-Nc
or topologically planar limit of gauge theories can be considered as a
classical limit because all gauge bosons are distinguishable particles
and therefore cannot exhibit interference. Quantum effects due to the
flow of color therefore arise starting at subleading in
1/Nc.
We introduce kinematic observables explicitly sensitive to effects at
subleading color formed from the ratio of interfering to squared
color-ordered amplitudes. Such observables are in general not infrared
and collinear safe, so we introduce angular observables defined from
appropriate multi-point energy correlators motivated by the form of
color-ordered amplitudes. We demonstrate that color interference effects
are manifest as sinusoidal oscillation in the simplest system, a
collinear jet with three particles, and show the limitations of
predicting this observable in all-purpose, leading-color parton shower
Monte Carlos.


Angina is the main symptom of ischemic heart disease; mirroring a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand. Epicardial coronary stenoses are only responsible for nearly half of the patients presenting with angina; whereas in several cases; symptoms may underlie coronary vasomotor disorders; such as microvascular dysfunction or epicardial spasm. Various medications have been proven to improve the prognosis and quality of life; representing the treatment of choice in stable angina and leaving revascularization only in particular coronary anatomies or poorly controlled symptoms despite optimal medical therapy. Antianginal medications aim to reduce the oxygen supply-demand mismatch and are generally effective in improving symptoms; quality of life; effort tolerance and time to ischemia onset and may improve prognosis in selected populations. Since antianginal medications have different mechanisms of action and side effects; their use should be tailored according to patient history and potential drug-drug interactions. Angina with non-obstructed coronary arteries patients should be phenotyped with invasive assessment and treated accordingly. Patients with refractory angina represent a higher-risk population in which some therapeutic options are available to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life; but robust data from large randomized controlled trials are still lacking.


Until now, the determination of Cd at trace levels in aqueous samples by TXRF has been restricted. When Mo-target X-ray tubes are used, low sensitivity and interferences with Cd L-lines used for quantification prevent trace analysis. Alternatively, when W-target X-ray tubes are used Cd excitation is limited. For this reason, a sample pretreatment is usually necessary to extract, isolate and concentrate Cd prior to TXRF analysis. In the present contribution, the feasibility of a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction approach (DLLME) combined with TXRF for ultratrace Cd determination in different types of environmental waters is shown. Parameters affecting the extraction procedure and TXRF measurement conditions have been carefully evaluated to ensure the highest sensitivity for Cd determination. Using the best analytical conditions, it was found that the minimum cadmium content that could be detected in an aqueous solution was 0.04 μg L−1. This value is more than two orders of magnitude lower compared with the direct TXRF analysis of Cd in aqueous samples. The precision of the methodology was evaluated in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD) of six replicate analyses of a standard solution containing 3 μg L−1. The precision of the method was determined to be approximately 5% RSD. In order to test the suitability of the method when dealing with complex matrices as well as the influence of interfering ions, the determination of Cd in spiked water samples (sea water, estuarine water and river water) at the levels of 1 μg L−1 and 5 μg L−1 was undertaken and Cd added to the samples was quantitatively determined. Our results give insight into the possibilities of the combination of DLLME and TXRF for ultratrace Cd determination in different types of environmental waters.


Yangtze River and Yellow River are the two most important rivers in China. Long-term observation shows that runoff ratio (i.e., runoff/precipitation, denoted as RR) in the headwater of both Yangtze River (HYZR) and Yellow River (HYER) has experienced significant decrease and then increase trend (referred as V-change) during the period 1980-2015. Over the whole period, RR of the HYER shows significant decreasing trend (-0.02/10a, p < 0.05), while it is not significant for the HYZR. Changes in RR in both HYZR and HYER pose great challenge on runoff predication and water management in the downstream. However, driven mechanisms underlying the V-change of RR are still unclear. Here, based on ground-based and remote sensing datasets, both terrestrial and atmospheric water budgets are investigated to understand the evolution of RR in the headwater regions of Yangtze River and Yellow River. Terrestrial water budgets are for evaporation estimation and water cycle analysis. Atmospheric water budgets are used to calibrate the estimated evaporation. Results show that TWS-REC agrees well with observed total water storage (TWS-GRACE) in both HYZR (r = 0.94, NSE = 0.83) and HYER (r = 0.93, NSE = 0.83) over the period of 2003-2012. Estimated evaporation from both terrestrial water balance and atmospheric water balance method also agree well with each other in the HYZR (r = 0.89, NSE = 0.80) and in the HYER (r = 0.88, NSE = 0.79) over the period of 2000-2015. It suggests that reconstructed TWS and estimated evaporation are reliable for analyzing long-term water cycle in the study areas. Both the ratio of the estimated evaporation to precipitation (ER) in two basin increase first and then decreased during the study period. The correlation coefficients between ER and RR in the HYZR and HYER are -0.63 and -0.79, respectively, presenting that RR variability could be mainly caused by the evolution ER. Meanwhile it also indicates the nonignored role of total water storage (TWS) changes in RR variability in the two basin. TWS-REC in both regions have experienced significant increasing with rate of 26 mm/10a (HYZR, p < 0.05) and 17mm/10a (HYER, p < 0.05), later of which is the main reason of downward trend of RR in HYER. Further analysis indicates that changes in ER are resulted from comprehensive effects of precipitation variability (26.4mm/10a, p < 0.05 in HYZR and 3.5mm/10a p > 0.1 in HYER) and of dramatic climate warming (0.6℃/10a, p < 0.05 in HYZR and 0.5℃/10a, p < 0.05 in HYER). TWS changes in both basin are positively related with dramatic temperature rising and significant vegetation greening. It means that annual fluctuation of precipitation-runoff process (i.e., V-change RR) has affected negatively by climate warming and vegetation greening in the HYZR and HYER. These findings can advance our understanding of the runoff ratio evolution and water cycle in the headwater of Yangtze River and Yellow River and it is also important for ecological conservation strategy and downstream water resources management.