We assessed relationships between acoustic frequency, body mass, and habitat in tinamous. This monophyletic group of primitive birds comprises c. 47 ground dwelling species whose habitats range from dense humid forest to open grasslands. The relationship between frequency and body mass was found to be negative, while the songs of open-habitat species exhibited higher frequencies and a wider bandwidth than the closed-habitat ones. Residual variation in song frequency, after controlling for the effect of body mass and phylogeny, tends to differ among habitats. However, a statistical test of this pattern was not possible because of the existence of only five pairs of sister species differing in habitat. In spite of this, positive contrasts of bandwidth were associated with positive contrasts of habitat, confirming that songs of open-habitat species have a wider bandwidth than those of their more closed habitat relatives. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 77, 423–430.


The quantum dots coated by silica is fluorescence material class with great biocompatibility, low toxicity and water-solubility, that is suitable for bioapplications. This work presents the synthesis of SiO2 coated CdTe/ZnSe (named CdTe) quantum dots (CdTe@SiO2 nanoparticles) via a wet chemmical route called modified Stöber method. The compounds tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) has used as precursors, aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) is as electric neutralizer, and ammonium hydroxide is used as catalysts. The size of CdTe@SiO2 nanoparticles was estimated about 70 to 150 nm depending on the quantities of H2O, APTEOS, and catalysts. The emission behaviours of SiO2 coated quantum dots was effected by ratio of substances participating in the reaction and synthesis conditions. with the ratio (by volume) of suitable substances: TEOS:solution of QDs:NH4OH:APTES:H2O being 1.5:1.5×10:0.8×10:4×10:3×10:5×10, the prepared silica nanoparticles containing quantum dots show high fluorescence emission efficiency, with the fluorescence intensity is higher than that of uncoated CdTe/ZnSe quantum dots. This is a positive result in the technique of manufacturing luminescent silica nanoparticles containing quantum dots. The results show an ability to use the CdTe@SiO2 nanoparticles for biological application.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of thallium‐201 (Tl‐201) single‐photon emission CT (SPECT) to detect recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) when MRI findings are indeterminate.


Magnetic relaxation data at various temperatures and magnetic fields are taken from high-quality, epitaxial thin films of and and are simulated using a method developed by Brandt and coworkers. Assuming thermally activated resistivity and logarithmic activation energy we obtain good simulations of the experimental data. The critical current resulting from the simulation is evaluated as a function of the temperature and is found to decrease linearly with it and the current-voltage characteristics are extracted and are linear on a scale at all temperatures. The activation energy is calculated as a function of the current and it is shown to be a decreasing function of the magnetic field following a power law . The critical current is also shown to decrease with the magnetic field and can be described well by the exponential form . Comparison between the two phases and indicates that pinning in the film is stronger due to the lower anisotropy of this phase and probably because of the existence of more defects. Finally, the distribution of the local magnetic moment and the magnetic induction on the surface of the film at different times during the relaxation procedure is nicely depicted with surface and contour plots.


BACKGROUND
Pancreatic surgery is not uncommonly complicated by prolonged pancreatic drainage and fistula. Octreotide decreases pancreatic exocrine function and has been reported to improve closure of pancreatic and intestinal fistulae. This randomized, prospective trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative octreotide in reducing pancreatic drainage and complications after resection of neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas.

METHODS
Patients with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas were entered into the study and randomized after operation to receive octreotide 150 micrograms subcutaneously every 8 hours or saline solution subcutaneously every 8 hours in a double-blinded fashion. Daily pancreatic drainage, total drainage, number of days to drain removal, and complications were recorded.

RESULTS
Ten patients were given octreotide; eleven patients were given saline solution. The number of days to drain removal, daily drainage, and total drainage were not significantly different. Complications related to pancreatic drainage were not significantly different.

CONCLUSIONS
Octreotide is not indicated for the routine postoperative management of patients with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas.


A female infant is born at 32 weeks' gestation to a 30-year-old gravida 3, para 2 woman. The pregnancy had been complicated by dichorionic-diamniotic twin gestation and polyhydramnios, small stomach, and micrognathia of 1 twin. The pregnancy is the result of in vitro fertilization performed outside the United States, using the mother's egg and father's sperm. No preimplantation genetic testing was performed. The infant is delivered via cesarean section under general anesthesia for nonreassuring fetal monitoring. Her Apgar scores are 1, 1, 2, 3, and 3 at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes, respectively. She requires endotracheal intubation, chest compressions, and exogenous surfactant administration in the delivery room. She maintains a stable heart rate (>100 beats/min) after resuscitation and has peripheral acrocyanosis but has no spontaneous respiratory effort, activity, or grimace.

Physical examination reveals an appropriate-for-gestational age infant. She is significantly hypotonic and lethargic, with no spontaneous movements. Neurologic examination demonstrates open eyes, with nonreactive pupils and no tracking. Her tongue is midline and protruding, with no fasciculations. She has flaccid arms and outwardly deviated hips. She has no palmar or plantar grasp reflexes and minimal withdrawal from pain. She has reduced palm and sole creases. Contractures of knees, wrists, and elbows are noted. She has long digits and high plantar arches. Her abnormal neurologic examination is initially attributed to general anesthesia exposure and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy but does not improve with time.

Spinal muscular atrophy sequencing is normal, showing 2 copies of …


Early detection of unilateral occlusion of duplicated uterus with ipsilateral renal anomaly is very rare and difficult. We present two cases using three-dimensional (3D) sonography as a noninvasive, comprehensive and effective method in the early detection of this syndrome in the young girls. The two young, unmarried girls had irregular abdominal discomfort and pain during the recent few years. Series traditional study showed pelvic lesions, but failed to recognized the definite cause. With 3D sonography, we demonstrated the rare congenital anatomic relationships and gave the optimal management. The girls recovered soon and had uneventful OPD follow-up. Application of 3D sonography in the suspected young girls avoids unnecessary examinations and invasive interventions, decreases the morbidity and improves their quality of life.


From Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 to the recent awarding of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology to Tasuku Honjo for his work with James Allison on immune checkpoints, physician-scientists have made and continue to make critical contributions to biomedical research. These include internists working in neuroscience such as Roderick MacKinnon, Robert Lefkowitz, and Brian Kobilka and physician-scientists trained in neurology such as Stanley Prusiner and David Hubel. With only 1.5% of physicians conducting research as their primary profession1 and competing with a much larger pool of PhDs, a compelling case can be made for why this small pool of physicians must be maintained and expanded.


Pulse-chase experiments using L-[35S]methionine suggest that Trypanosoma brucei MITat 1.2 variable surface glycoprotein (VSG) synthesized in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, a process that takes 6-8 min, is shuttled to the Golgi complex 8 min later. Labeling of ultrathin frozen sections with affinity-purified anti-cross-reacting determinant (CRD) IgG followed by protein A-colloidal gold shows that the CRD is localized in the trans-Golgi region. cis-Golgi is not labeled. VSG, when solubilized by treatment with the detergent Nonidet P-40, behaves on sucrose density gradients as a non-membrane protein with a sedimentation value of 5 S. In contrast, VSG solubilized in the presence of Zwittergent TM 3-14 yielded several VSG-containing fractions greater than 5 S, and only the 5S fraction contained the CRD. Lack of the CRD in VSG complexes with sedimentation values greater than 5 S suggests that this determinant is either masked from antibody, perhaps by involvement in polymer formation, or represents the membrane form of VSG recently described by Cardoso de Almeida and Turner [Cardoso de Almeida, M. L. & Turner, M. J. (1983) Nature (London) 302, 349-352].


This study evaluated the anthelmintic activity of the petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, ethanol extracts of aerial parts of Hygrophila difformis (Family: Acanthaceae).  The Pheretima posthuma were used for all the experimental protocol due to their anatomical and physiological resemblance with the intestinal roundworms of human beings and other ruminants. The worms were treated with the extract solutions containing three different concentrations (10, 25 and 30 mg/ml), for each extracts supplemented with 1% gum acacia in normal saline at 37 ± 1°C. Albendazole at a dose of 10 mg/ml was used as reference. The effectiveness of the extracts was judged on the basis of the loss of spontaneous movement and/or death of the worms. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of different extracts of the plant was carried out following the standard procedure. All extracts at different dose levels effectively paralyzed and killed the worm in dose-dependent fashion (*** p < 0.001). Maximum anthelmintic activity was found with benzene extract. Cardiac glycosides, tannins, steroids, flavonoids and saponins were found positive in phytochemical analysis. The present study established the anthelmintic activity of H. difformis and can be utilized for the ruminants.


The overall aim of this thesis is to gain epidemiological knowledge about musculoskeletal pain in the upper body in light physical work, in relation to gender, psychosocial factors, and computer use; and to compare different methods for analyzing common and recurrent binary outcomes. Two study groups were investigated using questionnaire data: (a) computer users in the Swedish workforce and (b) a cohort of university students. Regression models used were ordinary logistic model, Cox model (for calculating prevalence ratios), marginal logistic model (GEE), random intercept logistic model (GLMM), Markov logistic model and Poisson model. Effect measures used were odds ratio, risk ratio and risk difference. Musculoskeletal pain in the upper body was more prevalent among women than among men, even among young adults. Risk factors among computer users in the workforce were high work demands, and using the computer most of the work-day (women). Protective factors were work control and to learn and develop at work, and for women support from superiors. In the university cohort stress, high work/study demands and computer use break pattern were identified as risk factors for neck pain. Stress was a risk factor associated both with developing and ongoing neck pain, and had an impact on both the group-average risk and the subject-specific risk of neck pain. Computer use break pattern had an impact on the groupaverage risk for neck pain, but on the subject-specific risk only for women. Among women stress and computer use break pattern interacted. The effect of presence of both factors exceeded the additive effect of each. Simple questions, about present neck pain and neck pain period past year, captured features of pain, such as general health, sleep disturbance, stress, and general performance. Neck pain period past year did not reflect more serious pain compared to present neck pain. The choice of statistical model should be based on whether a group-average risk or a subject-specific risk is of clinical relevance. Women and men differed more in the absolute effect measures than in the relative, regarding neck pain. The causality between risk factors and neck pain may differ between women and men.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated framework for designing and investigating students' engagement patterns and learning presence in educational blogs. The framework was grounded on the ideas of self-directed and reflective learning, and was applied to analyse students' blogging activities in the context of an undergraduate course.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed research framework was organized along three dimensions: content artefacts, blogging processes and community building. With regard to the methodological tools used, this study integrates content analysis of students' posts using the framework of community of inquiry, the representation of learning mapping and social network analysis methods.

Findings

The results have revealed important information about the different ways of students' engagement and learning presence within the blogging groups, the contribution and the influence each student had, as well as the structure and the cohesion of the learning community developed around the blogging project.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are limited by the blended course features, the specific sample and the context of implementation. Future research needs to consider and analyse students' lurking or invisible presence in educational blogging communities.

Practical implications

This study has yielded promising results with regard to the design of educational blogs in higher education that aim to enhance students' engagement, reflection, collaboration and self-directed learning.

Originality/value

The originality concerns the proposed conceptual framework which can guide the design, monitoring and analysis of blogging processes in order to reveal students' learning presence within self-directed communities of blogging.


Hypocreadium caputvadum sp. nov. (Digenea, Lepocreadiidae) is described from the intestine of Balistes capriscus Gmelin collected from the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia) in the southern Mediterranean Sea. This new species can be distinguished by a combination of characteristics shared by no other described species of Hypocreadium Ozaki, 1936. These characteristics include the presence of a distinct anterior notch, the follicular vitellarium confluent in the forebody, the presence of a muscular sphincter at the level of the anterior third of the metraterm and the size and the position of the cirrus-sac.


The replication-dependent histone mRNAs in metazoa are not polyadenylated, in contrast to the bulk of mRNA. Instead, they contain an RNA stem-loop (SL) structure close to the 3' end of the mature RNA, and this 3' end is generated by cleavage using a machinery involving the U7 snRNP and protein factors such as the stem-loop binding protein (SLBP). This machinery of 3' end processing is related to that of polyadenylation as protein components are shared between the systems. It is commonly believed that histone 3' end processing is restricted to metazoa and green algae. In contrast, polyadenylation is ubiquitous in Eukarya. However, using computational approaches, we have now identified components of histone 3' end processing in a number of protozoa. Thus, the histone mRNA stem-loop structure as well as the SLBP protein are present in many different protozoa, including Dictyostelium, alveolates, Trypanosoma, and Trichomonas. These results show that the histone 3' end processing machinery is more ancient than previously anticipated and can be traced to the root of the eukaryotic phylogenetic tree. We also identified histone mRNAs from both metazoa and protozoa that are polyadenylated but also contain the signals characteristic of histone 3' end processing. These results provide further evidence that some histone genes are regulated at the level of 3' end processing to produce either polyadenylated RNAs or RNAs with the 3' end characteristic of replication-dependent histone mRNAs.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to invite further consideration of and research into the authoritativeness, reliability and trustworthiness of documents. How do documents come to be trusted? Why are some more trusted than others? Design/methodology/approach – The cases of the Oxford English Dictionary and Wikipedia policies are explored from a historical perspective, and other cases are considered. Findings – Authoritativeness seems inherent to documents because of a cognitive metaphor that says "what is persistent is trustworthy". Practical implications – This feature of documents exposes users to a number of pitfalls related to trusting illegitimate documents. This has important implications for document literacy. Originality/value – New insight into documents is achieved by applying cognitive metaphors and prototype theory to documents.


Cases of autochthonous acute hepatitis E occur in most industrialized countries and are frequent in the South West of France. The prevalence of anti‐hepatitis E virus (HEV) IgG antibodies in blood donors in this area was determined. A total of 529 samples from rural and urban blood donors were tested. The overall prevalence was 16.6%, 19.1% of rural donors and 14.2% of urban donors had anti‐HEV antibodies (P = 0.13). The antibodies were widely distributed among all age groups and the sex ratio of the anti‐HEV positive blood donors was 1.12 (P = 0.57). Hunting was the only pastime or profession associated with a high prevalence of anti‐HEV antibodies (P = 0.038). The frequency of anti‐HEV antibodies in blood donors could reflect active autochthonous transmission in this area of France. As the risk factors for HEV infection in industrialized countries are still unknown, further studies are needed to clarify the epidemiology of HEV infection in the Midi‐Pyrénées region. J. Med. Virol. 80:289–293, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Objectives Studies have demonstrated immune dysfunction in adolescents with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS); however, evidence is varied. The current study used network analysis to examine relationships between cytokines among a sample of pediatric participants with ME/CFS. Methods 10,119 youth aged 5–17 in the Chicagoland area were screened for ME/CFS; 111 subjects and controls were brought in for a physician examination and completed a blood draw. Youth were classified as controls (Cs, N = 43), ME/CFS (N = 23) or severe (S-ME/CFS, N = 45). Patterns of plasma cytokine networks were analyzed. Results All participant groups displayed a primary network of interconnected cytokines. In the ME/CFS group, inflammatory cytokines IL-12p70, IL-17A, and IFN-γ were connected and included in the primary membership, suggesting activation of inflammatory mechanisms. The S-ME/CFS group demonstrated a strong relationship between IL-17A and IL-23, a connection associated with chronic inflammation. The relationships of IL-6 and IL-8 in ME/CFS and S-ME/CFS participants also differed from Cs. Together, these results indicate pro-inflammatory responses in our illness populations. Discussion Our data imply biological differences between our three participant groups, with ME/CFS and S-ME/CFS participants demonstrating an inflammatory profile. Examining co-expression of cytokines may aid in the identification of a biomarker for pediatric ME/CFS.


Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are capable of producing a variety of metabolites
which are of utmost importance to the food industry. In the present study, 78 LAB
isolates were screened for lipolytic activity from fish processing waste (FPW) of
which 30 most potent lipase producing cultures were selected for further
characterization. FPW was chosen as the source for isolation of these lipolytic LAB,
as it is rich in lipids and there is a greater possibility of occurrence of lipase producers
enabling convenient screening and isolation of potent lipolytic LAB isolates.
Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that most of these
cultures belonged to the genus Enterococcus whereas a few belonged to the genus
Pediococcus. Genetic diversity of LAB isolates was analyzed by RAPD and Simpson
index was calculated in order to quantitatively determine the degree of occurrence of
different genotypes in a dataset. Consequently, two most potent isolates with respect
to lipolytic and antibacterial activity; namely- Enterococcus faecium MTCC5695
(MTCC5695; also deposited as E. faecium NCIM5363) and Enterococcus durans
NCIM5427 (ED-27) were selected for further studies. The lipases produced by these
isolates were found to be intracellular in nature.
Lipases (triacylglycerol acylhydrolases; EC 188.8.131.52) are inducible enzymes
whose production depends upon several process variables, such as pH, temperature,
incubation period, substrate concentration, inoculum level and inducer concentration.
Therefore, the conditions for lipase production by MTCC5695 and ED-27 were
optimized by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The optimized conditions were
found to be 5% v/v FWO, 0.15mg/ml FWPH at 24 h of fermentation time for
MTCC5695, and 5% v/v FWO, 0.2 mg/ml FWPH and 48h of fermentation time
for ED-27, which were further validated. MTCC5695 showed a 3.15 fold increase
(543.63 to 1715U/ml) whereas ED-27 showed a fold increase of 3.0 (207.6 U/ml to
612.53 U/ml) in lipase production under optimized conditions in comparison to the
unoptimized conditions. Additionally, unstructured mathematical models were used to
describe the fermentation kinetics of growth and lipase production of MTCC5695 and
ED-27. Logistic model for cell growth and Luedeking-Piret model for lipase
production predicted the fermentation profile accurately and the kinetic model
parameters α and β evidently implied that the lipase produced by MTCC5695 and ED-
27 to be growth- associated.
Intracellular lipases obtained from the bacterial cultures MTCC5695 and ED-
27 upon cultivation at optimized conditions was subjected to partial purification and
concentration using aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The optimum conditions for
MTCC5695 lipase were found to be Disodium Hydrogen phosphate-Polyethylene
glycol (Na2HPO4 /PEG8000) at 41.24% tie line length and 0.25 phase volume ratio
whereas for ED-27 lipase it was (NH4)2SO4 /PEG 6000 at 41.24% tie line length and
0.5 phase volume ratio. The integration of ultra filtration with ATPE facilitated the
selective removal of PEG from the partially purified lipase. The molecular weight of
the lipases was found to be around 19.2 kDa and 21.6 kDa for MTCC5695 and ED-
27, respectively. MTCC5695 lipase showed optimal activity at pH 10.8 and
temperature 40°C indicating that it was of alkaline nature whereas ED-27 produced an
acidic lipase that showed maximal activity at pH 4.6 and 30°C.
Characterization of lipases enabled the selective application of these cultures
for two different purposes suited to its specific property. MTCC5695 was used as a
starter culture for the preparation of curd owing to its lipolytic, antibacterial and
probiotic properties. The conditions for curdling were optimized by RSM and were
found to be 26.48 h and 2.17%v/v inoculum level for which the second order model
was validated. Further co-cultivation studies were performed which indicated that
MTCC5695 was effective against a wide spectrum of Gram-negative bacteria and
thereby possesses the ability to prevent the spoilage caused by food borne pathogens
which in turn increases the shelf-life of the product. This finding holds significance in
the fact that MTCC5695 lipase besides its organoleptic properties was also active
against Gram-negative bacteria and works synergistically with the enterocin resulting
in their complete destruction. This is an added advantage for the food industry as
Gram-negative bacteria pose serious threat as they are the major food borne pathogens
associated with food spoilage leading to diarrhoea and chronic gastroenteritis on their
ingestion. Usually, most of the bacteriocins from LAB show activity only towards
Gram-positive bacteria and not Gram-negative pathogens due to the presence of the
LPS layer on their cell wall. In this study, it was proven that the synergistic effect of
enterocin with lipase had a lethal effect on Gram-negative bacteria.
On the contrary, ED-27 exhibited poor curdling properties and the lipase
extracted from it was subjected to the degradation of lipids present in the slaughter
house effluent in view of its ability to produce an acidic lipase. The rate of enzymatic
hydrolysis was optimized for the parameters namely; concentration of lipase used,
rate of agitation and time of reaction. The optimal enzyme concentration was found to
be 600 U/ml; at agitation rate of 25 rpm for 48 h of reaction time. These results were
found to be significant as they help to overcome the problems related to free radical
generation when mineral acids are being used. In addition, chemicals like
polyelectrolytes are often expensive and their utilization is not feasible both in terms
of costs and environmental balance. Thus the enzymatic hydrolysis method
demonstrated in this study proved to be noteworthy in terms of pollution control and
effective waste management.


This paper reports the first application of an optimized geodesic, three-dimensional (3-D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) grid to model impulsive, extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic wave propagation within the entire Earth-ionosphere cavity. This new model, which complements our previously reported efficient 3-D latitude-longitude grid, is comprised entirely of hexagonal cells except for a small, fixed number of pentagonal cells. Grid-cell areas and locations are optimized to yield a smoothly varying area difference between adjacent cells, thereby maximizing numerical convergence. Extending from 100 km below sea level to an altitude of 100 km, this technique can accommodate arbitrary horizontal as well as vertical geometrical and electrical inhomogeneities/anisotropies of the excitation, ionosphere, lithosphere, and oceans. We first verify the global model by comparing the FDTD-calculated daytime ELF propagation attenuation with data reported in the literature. Then as one example application of this grid, we illustrate a novel ELF radar for major oil deposits.


This paper relates ultrasound-induced changes in bone cell function to quantitative data assessing the level of several interaction mechanisms within the exposure environment. Characterisation of ultrasound fields in terms of resultant levels of heating, cavitation and acoustic streaming may provide a novel means of accurately assessing the likelihood of biological effects in vitro.


Abstract Quasi‐Love (QL) scattered surface waves are the result of lateral gradients of seismic anisotropy in Earth's upper mantle. These polarization anomalies can be forward modeled in the context of normal‐mode coupling. However, methods for computing coupled‐mode synthetic seismograms, such as the general Galerkin method, are computationally intensive, especially in the case of 3D structure. In this report, we present an approximation of the general Galerkin method of computing coupled‐mode synthetic seismograms. The approximation replaces the formal eigenvector decomposition of the elastic potential energy coupling matrix V in the general Galerkin method with a piecewise approach. The approximation uses the closed‐form eigenvectors of 2×2 coupling matrices V ( kj ) , which represent the interactions between two individual singlets s k and s j , to form the eigenvectors of V . The approximation is benchmarked against the exact general Galerkin method using zonally symmetric anisotropic structure. We find the approximation successfully reproduces the QL waveforms with a slight underestimate of the amplitude. By limiting the east–west extent of the zonally symmetric structure, we extend the approximation to a 3D structure. We find that the sharp lateral gradients in anisotropy created by the north–south running boundaries of the 3D structure contribute to the observed scattering until they are outside the sensitivity zone as defined by Ritzwoller et al. (2002). This demonstrates the sensitivity of QL surface‐wave scattering to off‐path structure. We also explicitly confirm the path‐integral asymptotics that in the limit of smooth off‐path structure, QL surface‐wave scattering can be represented via the path integral along the source–receiver great circle path rather than the volume integral over Earth.


Polyamide (PA) was blended with a reactive polyolefin, poly(ethylene-co-glycidyl methacrylate), using an extremely long (L/D=100, L: screw length, D: screw diameter) twin-screw extruder. The reactive blending yielded a unique morphology of the sub-μm polyolefin particles in which 20 nm PA micelles were occluded. It implies that the in situ-formed graft copolymer was pulled in the dispersed particles. The blend showed ultra-high toughness (non-break at Izod impact test) and non-viscoelastic tensile property: the higher deformation rate led to the lower modulus and the larger elongation at break. In the tensile stress–strain curve, the sharp yielding point characteristic to crystalline polymer was hardly seen and the necking stress was maintained almost constant without strain hardening. It suggests a potential application for the energy absorbing car parts, to be friendly for pedestrian and driver.


The aim of this study was to determine the role of some marketing agencies in selling eggs of layer farmers in Indonesia. The research was conducted in West Java, Bali and South Sulawesi. The selection of those regions was based on the category that they had the most populous layer farmers compared to other regions. The number of respondents was determined using quota sampling method from FAO poultry industry data, i.e. 60 layer farmers of West Java and South Sulawesi respectively, and 41 farmers of Bali. The farmers involved in the study were those having layer population between 2000-5000 hens. Data were collected from the respondents through deep interview using a questioner that have been prepared before hand and conducted in May 2010.  The results of the study indicated that among the marketing agencies studied in the three regions; West Java, Bali and South Sulawesi, the role of whole sellers in eggs selling of layer farmers was the most important one, followed by restaurants, traditional markets, consumers and the poultry shop, respectively. In terms of egg selling price in the three regions, the most expensive was in Bali and the cheapest one was in South Sulawesi. Key words: Sale, Price, Layer, Whole seller, Poultry shop


Objective: The cause of Meniere∂s disease is unknown; the pathophysiology is poorly understood, and the treatment empirical. One theory is that the most common cause of Meniere∂s disease is a structural problem, i.e., an upper cervical subluxation complex that is irritating the origin of CNVIII and partially blocking the Eustachian tube. The objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of cervical specific chiropractic management with one hundred and thirty nine patients medically diagnosed with Meniere∂s disease. Methods: Detailed case histories were taken on the first visit, followed by spinal examinations. Patients were required to furnish a letter from their ENT medical specialists, along with copies of the reports from the tests performed. Because evidence of upper cervical subluxation was discovered in each patient, three cervical x-rays were taken; lateral, A-P open mouth and Nasium. Detailed leg checks were performed utilizing the modified Prill leg check system to determine which cervical vertebrae to adjust, and when to adjust it. Thermographic pattern work was done using the TyTron C-3000. X-rays were analyzed using the Blair technique. Results: One hundred thirty out of one hundred and thirty nine patients had inferior and posterior listings with laterality on the opposite side of their involved ear. After one or two specific cervical adjustments, one hundred and thirty six out of the one hundred and thirty nine patients presented with balanced legs and an absence or dramatic reduction of symptoms, especially vertigo. After two years, on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing the absence of the symptom and 10 being the worst imaginable, vertigo was lowered from an average of 8.5 to 1.4. Conclusion: Prior to the onset of symptoms, all one hundred and thirty nine cases suffered cervical traumas; most from automobile accidents, resulting in previously undiagnosed whiplash injuries. It is unlikely coincidental that one hundred and thirty out of one hundred and thirty nine consecutive Meniere∂s patients would present with a posterior and inferior atlas listing with laterality on the opposite side of the involved ear. More research on Meniere∂s and chiropractic is needed


Chemical reactions, the transformation of matter from reactants to products are of
fundamental importance in all aspects of life as it governs the function and evolution
of a chemical system. They consist of a sequence of individual sub-steps, the so-called
elementary reactions which directly express the basic chemical events, that is, breaking
and making of chemical bonds. The history of change involved in such elementary chemical
process like how reagent molecules approach, collide, exchange energy, and fonally
separate into products can be quantitatively understood through the study of molecular
reaction dynamics. It provides a microscopic description of chemical reactions on the
fundamental scale of atoms and molecules. The field of molecular reaction dynamics
encompasses a wide range of research areas and therefore it has become an integral part
of modern chemistry. Among the many elementary chemical reactions studied, there
has been signifocant progress in the dynamical studies of gas-phase reactions and our
understanding has been deepened. Although the development in the field of molecular
reaction dynamics till now is noteworthy, yet there are many aspects where we conceptually
lack understanding of the basic principles and particular details that govern the
chemical process, resulting in many unanswered questions.

The objective of this thesis is to address some of these fundamental issues and to
obtain a detailed understanding of the elementary gas-phase reactions which have realworld
applications in atom-molecule reactive scattering, laser-induced control of chemical
reactions, laser-driven electron-nuclei correlated motion, and ultimately the most vital,
laser-induced ultrafast electron dynamics in attosecond time scales. For implementation
purpose, either time-dependent quantum wave packet dynamics or classical dynamics
has been used as numerical tools based upon their convenience and also our results have
been compared with available experimental studies.

The thesis is outlined as follows: Chapter 1 gives a general introduction in the field
of molecular reaction dynamics along with its present challenges. Chapter 2 presents a
brief overview of various theoretical techniques used in this study. Chapter 3 reports
a quantum dynamical study on the effect of orientation and rotation of the hydrogen
molecule on the atmospherically important reaction: S(¹D) + H₂(X¹∑⁺g)(v = 0; j =0 - 3) → SH(X²π) + H(¹S). Chapter 4 reports a quantum mechanical study on the
influence of different initial vibrational states governing the dissociation dynamics of
HOD²⁺. Chapter 5 reports the laser-induced coupled electron-nuclear dynamical study
of H⁺₂ within time-dependent Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Chapter 6 reports a
classical dynamical study on the effect of carrier-envelope-phase of intense, few-cycle
laser pulses influencing the ionization dynamics of carbon atom. Finally, Chapter 7
summarizes the important results of this thesis and presents possible future work and
outlook.


Space missions involving multi-vehicle teams require the cooperative navigation and attitude slewing of the spacecraft or satellites, for such purposes as interferometry and optimal sensor coverage. This introduces extra constraints of exclusion zones between the spacecraft, in addition to the default exclusion constraints already introduced by damaging or blinding celestial objects. In this work, we present a quaternion-based attitude consensus protocol by using the communication topology of the spacecraft team. By using the Laplacian matrix of their communication graph and a semidefinite program, a synthesis of a time-varying optimal stochastic matrix P is done, which is used to generate various consensus and cooperative attitude trajectories from the initial attitudes of the spacecraft. The concept of quaternion-based quadratically constrained attitude control is then employed to satisfy cone avoidance constraints, where exclusion zones are identified, expressed as linear matrix inequalities (LMI), and solved by semidefinite programming (SDP).


The molecule of the title compound, C7H7NO3, is nearly planar [maximum deviation 0.112 (3) Å for one of the notro O atoms]. In the crystal structure, intermolecular O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O interactions link the molecules into a three-dimensional network.


— One of the most attractive and important field of chaos theory is control of chaos. In this paper, we try to present a simple framework for chaotic motion control using the feedback linearization method. Using this approach, we derive a strategy, which can be easily applied to the other chaotic systems. This task presents two novel results: the desired periodic orbit need not be a solution of the original dynamics and the other is the robustness of response against parameter variations. The illustrated simulations show the ability of these. In addition, by a comparison between a conventional state feedback and our proposed method it is demonstrated that the introduced technique is more efficient.


Who is the iconic rebel? Is it a character from the legacy of James Dean or Clint Eastwood, or maybe a Beat Generation writer? Is it a woman? Modern pop culture and the media have distorted the notion of rebellion. Classic male rebels appear sexy, nomadicnaturally rebelliouswhile unorthodox women are reprimanded, made to fit unrealistic roles and body images, or mocked for their decadence and self-indulgence. In order to appreciate our legacy of female rebelsand create space for future cultural iconsthe notion rebellion needs to be revaluated. From Madonna and Marilyn Monroe to the reality TV stars and hotel chain heiresses of the twenty-first century, Hellions analyzes the celebration of pop culture icons and its impact on notions of gender. Looking at these past examples, Hellions expands upon the definition of rebellion and offers a new understanding of what would be considered rebellious in the celebrity-obsessed media culture of the twenty-first century. "


So much has happened in terms of electronic inventions and discoveries over the last two hundred years and in particular, the last fifty years, that it is almost impossible to capture the entire gamut in a single book. The author however, in this 4th revised and expanded edition has made an attempt to bring out the salient features from the beginnings of electronics from the early experiments of Galvani, Oersted and Faraday, up to the present day advancements in electronic Information Technology. The 285-page book is really divided into three parts. The first part of the book is a concise synopsis of the achievements of electronics in different fields. The various fields that are covered are the development of electronics in Components, Tubes, Transistors and Integrated Circuits, Audio and Sound Reproduction, Radio, Communication and Avionics, Radar and Sonar, Television, Computers, Robotics, Mechatronics and Information Technology and Industrial, Automobile, Medical, Educational, Office, Banking, Consumer and Security Electronics. All these subjects are covered in about 60 pages. Although it made fascinating reading for this reviewer, there are abrupt jumps from one invention or discovery to another in an attempt to cover all possible discoveries and inventions in these fields. I think increasing the number of pages would make the flow more smooth. By providing interesting observations and milestones in each discovery or invention, the book can be enriched considerably. The author has pointed out the important time periods in the development of electronics over the qth Revised and ]Expanded Edition Institute of Physics, Publlishing, London Price: $40,00


: The IEC 61853 standard series "Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating" aims to provide a standardized measure for PV module performance, namely the Climate Specific Energy Rating (CSER). An algorithm to calculate CSER is specified in part 3 based on laboratory measurements defined in parts 1 and 2 as well as the climate data set given in part 4. To test the comparability and clarity of the algorithm in part 3, we share the same input data, obtained by measuring a standard photovoltaic module, among different research organizations. Each participant then uses their individual implementations of the algorithm to calculate the resulting CSER values. The initial blind comparison reveals differences of 0.133 (14.7%) in CSER between the ten different implementations of the algorithm. Despite the differences in CSER, an analysis of intermediate results revealed differences of less than 1% at each step of the calculation chain among at least three participants. Thereby, we identify the extrapolation of the power table, the handling of the differences in the wavelength bands between measurement and climate data set, and several coding errors as the three biggest sources for the differences. After discussing the results and comparing different approaches, all participants rework their implementations individually and compare the results two more times. In the third intercomparison, the differences are less than 0.029 (3.2%) in CSER. When excluding the remaining three outliers, the largest absolute difference between the other seven participants is 0.0037 (0.38%). Based on our findings we identified four recommendations for improvement of the standard series.


The Web 2.0 label is now so widespread that it is increasingly difficult to define the boundaries and characteristics of the services it covers. Indeed, the success of Web 2.0 and the extraordinary expansion of users-generated content services, from blogs to the Social Networks as such as Myspace or Facebook, show that we are reaching a major turning point in the use of relational internet. However, it is necessary to define the specificities of the relational character these services. This paper concludes that one the sociological characteristics of these services is that making personal production public creates a new articulation between individualism and solidarity, which reveals the strength of weak cooperation. Web development always contains the community ideal. But the community - whatever it is before or through the digital exchanges between individuals - is usually considered as both voluntary and organised cooperation. In both cases, the cooperation between individuals can be qualified as strong: Common sociability and a set of roles and defined exchange modalities give individuals the feeling that they are part of the community and share a common vision. However, the success of Web 2.0 services shows that its users mobilise much weaker cooperation between individuals. Web 2.0 services allow individual contributors to experience cooperation ex post. The strength of the weak cooperation comes from the fact that it is not necessary for individuals to have an ex ante cooperative action plan or altruist preoccupation. They discover cooperative opportunities only by making their individual production public, i.e. texts, photos, videos etc. This paper tries to propose some sociological interpretation of this characteristic of Web 2.0 based on selected examples. It also tries to understand more why people are not so shy on their practises in social networks where they give a lot of personal information about them and about their tastes and to look at their strategies to have more contacts (or "friends") and to maintain and expand this network of ties. More generally, it tries to propose a broader interpretation of the cooperative individualism paradigm. The rise of Web 2.0 practices seems to contradict many forecasts regarding the form of cooperation and community that were promoted at the beginning of internet practices. Academic debates on internet uses have shaped two very opposite representations of the internet user. The first has been conceived as a utilitarian agent mainly concerned with maximising its own personal interest (searching information, buying and selling for a better price, promoting its competencies and gaining reputation). The second has been defined as an altruist individual motivated by collective action, volunteering, community belonging, public interest and knowledge sharing. This tension between these two conceptions of the web user, often reinforced by academic differences between economists and sociologists, lies at the core of debates about the motivation of free software developers, e-commerce or p2p file sharing. As already shown on many occasions, those two conceptions of users' goals overemphasise users' motivations as an explicit and clear plan of action. In practice, their goals appear to be less-defined, more flexible and pragmatic, and they change when the user's involvement in internet practices is more important, regular and active. Moreover, neither commercial web services nor strong communities of peers linked by a common normative or political goal have developed massively on the internet. In a certain way, they have been overtaken by Web 2.0 practices, which appear to lie somewhere in-between utilitarian and altruist behaviours. The success of Web 2.0 services reveals the user's hybrid motivation where the individualization of the user's goals meets the opportunity of sharing personal expression in a public sphere. Involvement modalities in Web 2.0 practices appear to be more personal and individualistic than has been suggested by promoters of the World Wide Web, who often emphasize the social community of digital worlds. Users of social media services have very individualistic motivations and goals when they begin their internet practice: bloggers want to publish their own production, Flickr or YouTube users want to store their pictures or videos, Wikipedians begin to write an article about their personal concern, people in social networks design their visibility in order to get more contacts or to built their reputation, etc. The idea of horizontal cooperation between participants is not part of the plan of action for users. Sociological explanations of the rise of digital self-production must be found in the dynamic of individualization in contemporary societies: the increase of cultural capital, the desire for uniqueness and visibility, the experimentation with new forms of identity-building and the search for reputation and notoriety. The blurring of the frontier between user and producer is directly linked to individual transformation characterized by the desire for expression and the search for autonomy. Publishing personal thoughts, pictures, comments on public events, cultural taste etc., appears to be a new form of identity-building in individualist societies. However, many commentators have shown that this process of personalization is highly relational. People build their identity through the continuous search for recognition in the eyes of others. That is the reason why contemporary forms of the process of individualisation in our society cannot be understood as solitary and egoistic self-isolation, but as a way of building the composite role of one's own personality in relation to others, corresponding to different social roles. This relational experimentation of identity-role is based on the exchange of individual productions expressing various aspects of the individual's qualities, competencies or activities. But what kind of "personal expression" or "individual productions" people are willing to publish? Up to what level of "shameless" users of social networks are able to go in their attempt to design their visibility? It is one of the challenging issues in the analysis of social interactions in the Web2.0 social networks. Most of the time, however, these individual productions are intimately mixed with cultural products: personal feelings about a song, consumption habits, parodies of commercial movies or ads, sampling music, writing text and comment in the style of etc.. Self-production will not develop if people do not have models produced by cultural industries to copy, parody, sample and compare. This relational life is at the centre of most of the new user-generated services. When content is produced by users themselves, sometimes mixing mass culture product with their own production, they develop interpersonal relations in which their identities are expressed through their production. In a certain way, Web 2.0 services can be characterized by the astonishing rise of public interpersonal relations in mediated communities, the extension of the number of contacts and the growth of a new form of weak friendship.


Neural networks are intelligent calculator tools which have the capability of learning and they are considered as a solution and a novel methodology in solving the unknown phenomena in the fields of science and technology. Neural networks learn the dynamic state behavior of a system using its performance or a phenomenon occurrence. Furthermore, they are able to simulate a system model or a complicated phenomenon with non-linear behavior even by using examples with high desperation and turbulence. Using advanced learning algorithms, neural networks will be converged towards the physic of the phenomenon or the system rapidly and accurately. In this survey, after presenting a concise explanation of biologic neurons, artificial neurons will be studied. Then, the structure and relations ruling the artificial neural networks as well as the learning algorithm will be surveyed. Consequently, the particular implementation of neural network in the problem of estimating the attributes of power network and the neural network success will be evaluated in this article by presenting examples.


All trans-retinoic acid (RA) enhances alveolarization in neonates and reinitiates alveolarization in emphysematous adult rat lungs, suggesting that RA may stimulate cell proliferation by upregulating growth factor ligand and/or receptor expression either indirectly or directly by acting on RA-responsive genes encoding growth factors. We report that RA and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (Vit D), alone and in combination, significantly increase [(3)H]thymidine incorporation in cultured fetal and postnatal rat lung fibroblasts (P < 0.05). The greatest increase (11-fold) was seen in 4-day cells treated with the two agents in combination (P < 0.0001). [(3)H]thymidine incorporation was age dependent. The greatest response to RA occurred in 4-day fibroblasts (P < 0.01), whereas the response to Vit D was greatest in embryonic day 20 fibroblasts (P < 0.001). Neutralizing antibody to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AB decreased [(3)H]thymidine incorporation in response to RA alone or in combination with Vit D, indicating a role for PDGF. Expression of mRNAs for PDGF-A and PDGF receptor (PDGFR)-alpha and -beta was upregulated at the transcriptional level in an age- and treatment-dependent manner. Thus exogenous RA may influence alveolarization by stimulating fibroblast proliferation through a PDGF-mediated autocrine mechanism, which is enhanced when RA and Vit D are administered in combination.


Introduction and Objectives: Apaziquone is a novel bioreductive alkylating agent in development for intravesical therapy of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The standard dose of apaziquone in all ongoing clinical studies is 4 mg/ 40 mL (0.1mg/mL). For clinical use, lyophilized apaziquone is reconstituted with diluent and instilled in the bladder. During the preparation and handling of the product, there is a possibility of accidental dermal contact for the healthcare professionals. To date, dermal irritation potential of apaziquone has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dermal irritation potential of apaziquone in rabbits. Materials & Methods: Apaziquone was administered topically on the skin (non-occlusive) to New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits as a single dose for 4 hours followed by removal of excess material, and skin examination for up to 72 hours after removal of excess material. Each male NZW rabbits (3/group; one group) had three identified treatment sites on the back: (1) untreated (2) vehicle (diluent for apaziquone) and (3) apaziquone (0.1 mg/mL). Animals were treated with a single non-occlusive dermal dose of apaziquone (0.5 mL of 0.1 mg/mL) and vehicle for 4 hours followed by removal of excess material. No test material or vehicle was applied to the site designated as untreated. The treatment sites were observed and scored at baseline and at various times (4, 24, 48, and 72 hours) after removal of excess test article and vehicle. The following parameters were evaluated: viability, clinical observations, and dermal observations/scoring by modified Draize method. Results: No clinical signs of toxicity were observed during the study and no signs of dermal irritation related to test article or vehicle/diluent were observed at any of the dose sites in any of animals. The Primary Dermal Irritation Index for apaziquone, administered at clinically relevant exposures, had a value of zero (0) indicating no irritation at the concentration and for the duration of exposure. Conclusion: Apaziquone did not cause any dermal irritation in rabbits at a clinically relevant concentration. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5462. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5462


Work significantly affects human life and health. Overworking may decrease the quality of life and cause direct economic losses. Technological innovations encourage modernization of firms' capital and improve labor productivity in the workplace. The paper investigates the optimal individual choice of work intensity under improving technology embodied in new equipment leading to shorter lifetime of capital goods (obsolescence). The balanced growth trajectories are analyzed in this context to find out, in particular, how the optimal choice of work intensity is tied to the rate of embodied technological change. The impact of embodied technological advances on the work/life balance problem is discussed and their macroeconomic consequences are highlighted.


Vulnerability of neural networks under adversarial attacks has raised serious concerns and extensive research. Recent studies suggested that model robustness relies on the use of robust features, i.e., features with strong correlation with labels, and that data dimensionality and distribution affect the learning of robust features. On the other hand, experiments showed that human vision, which is robust against adversarial attacks, is invariant to natural input transformations. Drawing on these findings, this paper investigates whether constraints on transformation invariance, including image cropping, rotation, and zooming, will force image classifiers to learn and use robust features and in turn acquire better robustness. Experiments on MNIST and CIFAR10 show that transformation invariance alone has limited effect. Nonetheless, models adversarially trained on cropping-invariant attacks, in particular, can (1) extract more robust features, (2) have significantly better robustness than the state-of-the-art models from adversarial training, and (3) require less training data.


Crystallochemical analysis methods based on the Voronoi-Dirichlet partition of crystal space are extended to supramolecular complexes of any complexity. The sizes and shapes of receptor cavities and substrate molecules are shown to be successfully estimated as volumes and the second moments of inertia of the corresponding molecular Voronoi-Dirichlet polyhedra. To predict which organic substrates can occupy the receptor cavity a mini-expert system known as MOLVOL was created, comprising a database on completely determined crystal structures of almost 60000 organic molecular compounds. Using the developed methods, volumes and shapes are assessed for cucurbit[n]uril receptors (n = 5-10) and their cavities. A number of organic and inorganic molecules are found which can optimally fit the cavities inside the cucurbit[5]uril and cucurbit[6]uril molecules.


Abstract. Deep learning techniques (in particular convolutional neural networks, CNNs) have recently emerged as a promising approach for statistical downscaling due to their ability to learn spatial features from huge spatiotemporal datasets. However, existing studies are based on complex models, applied to particular case studies and using simple validation frameworks, which makes a proper assessment of the (possible) added value offered by these techniques difficult. As a result, these models are usually seen as black boxes, generating distrust among the climate community, particularly in climate change applications. In this paper we undertake a comprehensive assessment of deep learning techniques for continental-scale statistical downscaling, building on the VALUE validation framework. In particular, different CNN models of increasing complexity are applied to downscale temperature and precipitation over Europe, comparing them with a few standard benchmark methods from VALUE (linear and generalized linear models) which have been traditionally used for this purpose. Besides analyzing the adequacy of different components and topologies, we also focus on their extrapolation capability, a critical point for their potential application in climate change studies. To do this, we use a warm test period as a surrogate for possible future climate conditions. Our results show that, while the added value of CNNs is mostly limited to the reproduction of extremes for temperature, these techniques do outperform the classic ones in the case of precipitation for most aspects considered. This overall good performance, together with the fact that they can be suitably applied to large regions (e.g., continents) without worrying about the spatial features being considered as predictors, can foster the use of statistical approaches in international initiatives such as Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX).


We establish sharp global rigidity upper bounds for universal determinantal point processes describing edge eigenvalues of random matrices. For this, we first obtain a general result which can be applied to general (not necessarily determinantal) point processes which have a smallest (or largest) point: it allows to deduce global rigidity upper bounds from the exponential moments of the counting function of the process. By combining this with known exponential moment asymptotics for the Airy and Bessel point processes, we improve on the best known upper bounds for the global rigidity of the Airy point process, and we obtain new global rigidity results for the Bessel point process.
Secondly, we obtain exponential moment asymptotics for the Wright's generalized Bessel process and the Meijer-$\mathrm{G}$ process, up to and including the constant term. As a direct consequence, we obtain new results for the expectation and variance of the associated counting functions. Furthermore, by combining these asymptotics with our general rigidity theorem, we obtain new global rigidity upper bounds for these point processes.


Castrated Meishan (MS) and hybrid Large White (hLW) gilts were used in a series of challenge experiments to establish differences in the control of gonadotropin secretion. Acutely ovariectomized gilts (72 h) were injected i.m. with 10 micrograms/kg estradiol benzoate (EB) and serially bled for evaluation of estradiol clearance from the blood and patterns of LH and FSH release. Estradiol was more rapidly metabolized from the circulatory system of the acutely ovariectomized MS gilts than from the hLW gilts; as a consequence, hLW gilts had higher concentrations of estradiol than MS gilts at 24-32 h (p < 0.05) and 48-60 h (p < 0.01) post-EB treatment. The hLW but not the MS gilts exhibited a classic negative/positive LH response to EB; MS gilts responded with a random release of large episodes of LH. Plasma FSH concentrations were consistently greater (p < 0.05) in acutely ovariectomized MS gilts than in hLW gilts. Both breeds demonstrated a slight negative FSH response to EB and then exhibited increased variability in plasma FSH with time after treatment. Mean plasma LH was immediately elevated in chronically ovariectomized (> 14 days) hLW and MS gilts given 1 microgram/kg of GnRH i.m., but the magnitude of the LH response was greater (p < 0.01) in the hLW gilts. Comparable differences (p < 0.01) in FSH secretion were also observed, indicating the presence of greater pools of releasable FSH and LH in the hLW gilts, or a greater sensitivity to GnRH.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


There is an increased in firm's awareness of the importance of firm's liquidity level to avoid financial distress after global crisis in 2008. Liquidity is the company's ability in paying their liabilities due using their liquid asset that owned by firms such as cash and cash equivalent Aim of this study is to test empirically the determinants of corporate cash holdings in Indonesia. A sample of 97 Indonesian manufacturing firms listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for a period of 6 years (from 2011-2016) was selected. This study used ordinary least square regression research design. The results of this study show that firm size, profitability, dividend payment, capital expenditure, and cash flow have a significant effect to the corporate cash holdings of Indonesian manufacturing firms. This study gives contribution to the literature on the firm characteristic variables that determine the corporate cash holdings on Indonesian manufacturing firms. The results may be useful for decision-making for the financial managers, financial management consultants, and investors. Keywords: Leverage, Firm Size, Profitability, Capital Expenditure, Dividend Payment, Cash Flow, Cash Holding


This report presents state-specific results from the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) project. These results confirm previous National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies and show that safety belts and motorcycle helmets are effective in reducing fatalities and injuries. The report also shows that safety belt and motorcycle helmet use in the seven CODES states (Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin) could save millions of dollars in direct medical costs. The CODES project represents the first time that occupant-specific medical outcome and cost data for all occupants involved in motor vehicle crashes were available for highway safety evaluation. The technical report provides detailed descriptions of the crash, EMS, emergency department, hospital discharge and other state data files used to generate the population-based information for the Report to Congress. It describes the background of the CODES project, the selection of the seven states, the formation of the CODES advisory committees within each state (crucial to a project which depended on the cooperation of various data owners and data users) and the concepts of probabilistic linkage. Variations and similarities among the states are discussed regarding the availability of state data, file preparation, linkage variables, the linkage process and resulting linkage rates, and validation of the linkage results. It elaborates on the uniform research model used and discusses the outcome variables, additional risk factors used as covariates, models used in the logistic regressions, and methods of computing weighted averages of odds ratios and effectiveness. It compares odds ratios to risk ratios and "effectiveness" and presents state-specific results for the safety-belt analyses of injury and cost of injury. Finally, the document gives digests of other state-specific analyses, covering topics such as: data quality, additional linkages to improve the results, data outliers (extreme values, as in inpatient charges), alcohol and drug use, age factors, types of safety belts, and geographic patterns in crash characteristics.


Stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions, due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. The particles in circulation system, bigger than red blood cells, are accepted as the main reason of emboli. Early and accurate detection of asymptomatic emboli is important in monitoring stroke-prone patients. The main problem in detection of emboli is the identification of embolic signals caused by very small emboli. The amplitude of embolic signals can be very small and advanced signal processing techniques are needed to distinguish these signals from Doppler signals arising from red blood cells. In this study instead of conventional discrete wavelet transform, which is used frequently in processing embolic signals, a modified complex discrete wavelet transform with same computational complexity and better phase shift-invariance property was used for de-noising embolic signals. Results demonstrates that approximately 8 dB improvement is obtained by using modified complex discrete wavelet transform compared to the improvement provided by the conventional discrete wavelet trans form, approximately 5 dB. 1. GIRIŞ


The article is devoted to the ecology of cognitive-educational space of the digital age. The author points out that the need to obtain information from the outside world is one of the biological needs of man. The information environment is becoming the main habitat of modern man, spreading to all areas, including the educational one. The author wonders how digital educational technologies influence the formation of critical thinking, mental performance, the ability to be at ease with a lot of information and choose the right one from it? The author comes to the conclusion emphasizing that providing new opportunities for mastering knowledge, information society technologies often have a negative impact on the formation of consciousness and thinking of the younger generation and at the same time the impact of digital technology can lead to a change in the «cognitive portrait» of mankind, stimulating the development of emotional intelligence.


A bearingless linear motor(BLLM) which consists of two stators and a common mover is able to levitate and move its mover without any linear bearing or even additive windings. In the previous study, BLLM was actively controlled on the translation and pitch motion, while the roll motion is passively stable. In order to control the roll motion, this paper suggests adding active magnetic bearings(AMBs) at bottom of the mover in BLLM. The AMBs control the roll motion and also partially supports the weight of the mover. In this paper, magnetic forces generated by the AMBs are estimated by using an FEM model. Based on the analysis results, the bias current of the AMBs is determined and a PD controller is designed. Through an experimental levitation test, it was verified that roll motion is well controlled by AMB during levitation.


It is difficult for the students to understand some concepts related to the chemistry education such as complex formation, central ion, ligand, free electron pair, acceptor, donor, stability constant of complex and concealing. In those cases, demonstrating two dimensional models and using various molecular graphics programs on computers could be helpful. Moreover, visual representations involving experimental applications related to the complexation may facilitate the understanding of the above mentioned concepts. In this study, the traditional and the computer assisted instructional methods in teaching complexation were compared. In addition to this, the possible effects of factors such as three dimensional spatial ability, attitudes towards computers, learning styles and socio economical status of the students on the student achievements were studied. Therefore, the students were randomly divided into control and treatment groups where they have been given a pretest consisting of 20 questions on complexation. Following the two days of application on the treatment group with the computer assisted instructional method and the control group with the traditional instructional method, the chemistry achievement post test was given to the groups. Furthermore, the data was collected on the three dimensional spatial ability, attitudes towards computers, learning styles and socio economical status of the students. According to the results of the data analysis, it was observed that, three dimensional spatial ability and the attitudes towards computers were not significant factors on the students' achievement. On the other hand, learning styles of the students were a significant factor. The achievement increase of the treatment group students was 20% higher than those of the control group. All the students were similar in their socio economical profiles which are also above the national average. Two independent t tests were used for the statistical analysis of the collected data and it was observed that the post test results favored the treatment group significantly KEYWORD: High School Chemistry, Learning, Computer-Based, Instruction OZET Kimya egitiminde kompleks olusumu, merkez iyon, ligand, serbest elektron cifti, akseptor, donator, kompleksin


AIM
To determine the efficacy of mini-implants as intraoral anchorage during en masse intrusion of the six maxillary anterior teeth.

METHODS
Ten patients from the Department of Orthodontics, KLE University, Belgaum, India, who required intrusion of their anterior teeth were selected for this study. After initial alignment and leveling, the maxillary arch was divided into one anterior segment and two posterior segments. A 0.021 3 0.025-inch stainless steel wire was placed in all three segments. In all patients, one mini-implant was placed bilaterally between the lateral incisor and canine. An elastic chain was used to deliver an intrusive force of 45 cN; it was supplemented by a distal force of about 20 cN per side. Patient records were taken at the beginning and end of intrusion.

RESULTS
The amount of intrusion was statistically and clinically significant. The canines were more intruded (3.5 ± 0.9 mm) than the incisors (2.9 ± 1.0 mm). The axial inclination of the incisors did not significantly change. The average duration to accomplish this intrusion was 4.0 ± 1.5 months, with a mean rate of 0.9 mm per month for the canines and 0.7 mm per month for the incisors.

CONCLUSION
Mini-implants are an efficient and stable source of anchorage for the en masse intrusion of the six maxillary anterior teeth.


The finite element method (FEM) is one of the most widely and most popular numerical methods for analyzing damage of composite structures, In this paper discrete damage mechanics (DDM) is used to predict inter-laminar transverse and shear damage initiation and evolution in terms of the fracture toughness of the laminate. ANSYS commercial software is used for analysis of layered plate composite structure reinforced with long unidirectional fibers with Carbon/Epoxy material. Because ANSYS does not have a built-in capability for calculating crack density, we have to use plagin. A methodology for determination of the fracture toughness is based on fitting DDM model and these data are obtained from literature. Also, prediction of modulus vs. applied strain is contrasted with ply discount results and the effect of in situ correction of strength is highlighted. Evaluation of matrix cracking detected in lamina has been solved using return mapping algorithm.


We propose an infeasible interior proximal method for solving variational inequality problems with maximal monotone operators and linear constraints. The interior proximal method proposed by Auslender, Teboulle and Ben-Tiba [3] is a proximal method using a distance-like barrier function and it has a global convergence property under mild assumptions. However, this method is applicable only to problems whose feasible region has nonempty interior. The algorithm we propose is applicable to problems whose feasible region may have empty interior. Moreover, a new kind of inexact scheme is used. We present a full convergence analysis for our algorithm.


This Spring 2011 issue of FORUM aims to explore the notion of authenticity as it is deployed in a series of fictional, or fictionalising, works. Whether the concept is treated as an ideal, an impossibility, or an overarching apparatus, the articles chosen for inclusion share a concern with the role of 'authenticity' as an ambition or illusion which is consciously sought or employed within the creative process. We have selected these pieces not only for their shared aspiration to stimulate further critical discussion regarding authentic representation, but also for their interrogation of the function of narrative compositions within which fictional, or fictionalised, individuals are represented.


Conceptual geological models of the shallow subsurface which integrate geological and geotechnical information are important for more strategic data acquisition and engineering at offshore wind sites. Utsira Nord is an offshore wind site in the Norwegian North Sea. It covers an area of 23 km x 43 km within the Norwegian Channel palaeo ice stream, with an average water depth of 267 m making the site a candidate for floating offshore wind. The goal of this study is to present a preliminary conceptual geological model for the site, which combines an overview of previous knowledge about the complex ice streaming history of the Norwegian Channel with key observations from high resolution bathymetric data, 2D acoustic data, and shallow cores. Despite limited data, four geotechnical provinces can be defined: 1) exposed glacimarine to marine sediments, 2) buried to exposed subglacial traction till, 3) buried lodgment till and 4) shallowly buried to exposed crystalline bedrock. The model serves as a basis for planning site surveys at Utsira Nord and as a reference for offshore wind sites on other formerly glaciated coasts where palaeo ice stream systems are common, such as the northern coastlines of the United States and the United Kingdom.


Language is a dynamic phenomenon which develops-among other things with the introduction of new concept. Yoruba language-like many other living languages- has developed for its ability to accommodate new concepts into its vocabulary. With the introduction of Islam to many parts of the world, Arabic becomes the instrument to convey its concepts. Some of these concepts are either adopted as a loan word or being literally translated. However, Yoruba dialect spoken in Ilorin adopts a strategy of domesticating some of the Arab-Islamic words despite the fact that some of these concepts do not exist in Yoruba Language. This work therefore aims at identifying and trace the origin of the domesticated Arabic of Islamic concept popularly used in the dialect of Ilorin people. Forty (40) of such words are selected in the areas of Islamic doctrine, civilization and materials. Meanwhile simple percentage is used to analyze some variables in the work. After the study it is discovered that the heterogenic composition of Ilorin assisted in the domestication of Islamic concept from Arabic. A sizeable of them are from Yoruba origin coined and adopted from Yoruba while some of these words are from other Languages. Interestingly these words only do not find their ways in Yoruba dictionary but are also regularly used among Yoruba people in Nigeria. It is recommended that further studies should be conducted in this area for the purpose of enriching relationship between Arabic and Yoruba Languages.


The implantation of nitrogen oxide sensors in diesel engines is necessary in order to track emissions at the engine exhaust line for diagnosis and control of the after-treatment devices. However, the use of models is still necessary since the sensor outputs are delayed and filtered. The present paper deals with the problem of the nitrogen oxide estimation in two parts; Part 1 deals with a control-oriented model for the nitrogen oxide estimation, while Part 2 presents data fusion of the model and the sensor to improve the estimation, which is presented in the following. The use of models for the nitrogen oxide estimation is an alternative but the drift and the ageing are still issues. In order to overcome this problem, the fusion of different signals can be carried out in a smart way by means of a Kalman filter. There exist different ways of presenting this fusion, from directly tracking the bias to updating the model parameters. For this, different algorithms are proposed in this paper with the aim of correcting the model output. Furthermore, the estimation of the actual nitrogen oxide concentration, by preventing sensor delay and filtering, is also integrated in the algorithm, which is a suitable strategy for combining nitrogen oxide sensors and models on an onboard basis.


This case report describes the clinical characteristics and ophthalmic management of a patient who developed corneal perforation due to severe enophthalmos consistent with "silent brain syndrome." A 27-year-old man with a history of congenital hydrocephalus and ventriculoperitoneal shunt was referred with complaints of "sinking of the eyeballs" and progressively decreasing vision in the left eye. Examination revealed severe bilateral enophthalmos in addition to superonasal corneal perforation with iris prolapse in the left eye. The patient underwent therapeutic keratoplasty the next day. Orbital reconstruction with costochondral graft and shunt revision of the intracranial hypotension were performed the next month to prevent further progression.


This paper reports on findings of a survey of women's magazines and the internet looking at the extent to which images of babies reinforce or undermine safe infant care advice to reduce the risk of cot death. All images of babies printed in all issues of nine magazines over an eight-month period during 2009 to 2010 were reviewed. The review also included the first 20 pages of a Google search of UK sleeping babies conducted on one day in 2011. In total, 559 images were reviewed. A substantial proportion of images depicted unsafe situations, in particular side and prone sleeping and sleeping indoors with the head covered by a hat or other covering. There was a dearth of images of babies sleeping in the feet-to-foot position or with a dummy, both of which are included in FSID/Department of Health guidelines on reducing the risk of cot death. The findings are discussed in the context of health visitors' and other community practitioners' work and current government cuts in resources, and suggestions are made to respond to the situation.


We are interested in quantifying and uncovering the relationships that form between the board directors of companies. Using these relationships we compute three network centrality measures for each director in the network and employ them in the analysis of connectedness of directors. Our focus in this study is on the attributes that make a board member better connected. The biological, educational and experiential attributes are used as independent variables to develop a regression model measuring the impact on the three connectivity measures (degree, betweenness and closeness). Our results show that ?Age? has a direct significant impact on all connectedness measures of a board member. We also find that female directors have a higher measure of degree centrality and betweenness centrality, but lower closeness. The number of foreign degrees increases the degree centrality and betweenness centrality but not closeness. The three identified characteristics of ?Age?, ?Gender?, and ?Education? are supporting the idea that a high level of social connection can in part be expected by the characteristics of individual board members and can explain up to 25% of the board member?s connectivity.


In this paper we apply a dynamic factor model to generate out of sample forecasts for the inflation rate in Mexico. We evaluate the role of using a wide range of macroeconomic variables with particular interest on the importance of using CPI disaggregated data to forecast inflation. Our data set contains 54 macroeconomic series and 243 CPI subcomponents from 1988 to 2008. Our results indicate that: i) Factor models outperform the benchmark autoregressive model at horizons of one, two, four and six quarters, ii) Using disaggregated price data improves forecasting performance, and iii) The factors are related to key variables in the economy such as output growth and inflation.


Fluorescent silicon (Si) nanocrystals (2.8 nm diameter) were incorporated into surfactant assemblies of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cholesterol, called quatsomes. In water, the quatsome-Si nanocrystal assemblies remain fluorescent and well-dispersed for weeks. In contrast to Si nanocrystals, alkanethiol-capped gold (Au) nanocrystals do not form stable dispersions in water with quatsomes. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) confirmed that the Si nanocrystal-quatsome structures do not change over the course of several weeks. The long-term stability of the Si nanocrystal-quatsome assemblies, their fluorescence, and biocompatibility makes them attractive candidates for medical applications.


We have dated the South Delhi orogeny, Aravalli-Delhi Mobile Belt (ADMB), NW India, using the tectonic fabric, geochemistry, and zircon-monazite geochronology as the proxies. The South Delhi Terrane (SDT), a passive margin domain in the ADMB, consists of multiply deformed (D1–D4) greenschist facies rocks and several granite plutons. The D1 deformation is characterized by pervasive isoclinal recumbent F1 fold and axial planar tectonometamorphic fabric, S1, developed in all rock types. The S1 minerals belong to peak greenschist facies metamorphism, M1, suggesting syntectonic nature of M1 with D1. The age of the D1-M1 is constrained by the syncollisional peralkaline S type Sewariya granite which is characterized by magmatic/submagmatic fabric (Sm) coplanar with the S1. The margin of the pluton is turned into quartzofeldspathic gneiss carrying the evidence of high temperature deformation. The age of Sewariya granite is estimated at ca. 878 Ma by zircon geochronology. The D1-M1 is further constrained by monazite geochronology of the mica schist at ca. 865–846 Ma. The other granite plutons and metarhyolite are pre-D1 and emplaced at ca. 992–946 Ma. The D2 deformation produced NE-SW trending open upright F2 folds coaxial with the F1, and northwesterly vergent F2–axial planar thrusts. Monazite geochronology constrains the D2 at ca. 811–680 Ma. The D3 is characterized by small to large scale NW-SE folds, and the D4 by faults and fractures marking the brittle deformation in the rocks. The D4 is constrained by monazite geochronology at ca. 588–564 Ma. There are upper amphibolitic tectonic slivers along the D2-Phulad thrust, belonging to the pre-Delhi rocks, which show ca. 1,638 Ma metamorphism age. From the above study, it is suggested that the South Delhi orogeny belongs to ca. 878–680 Ma marking the final amalgamation of Marwar Craton with the rest of India. This overlaps the early phase of the Pan-African orogeny (900–630 Ma). The brittle deformation, D4, coincides with Kuunga orogeny (650–500 Ma). Our study implies that India, like other continents in the East Gondwana, underwent amalgamation of internal blocks until the late part of the Neoproterozoic.


Our purpose in this communication is to report a new type of pedicle flap operation to be used in the epitheliation of the radical mastoidectomy cavity. This graft, in our opinion, is especially valuable in cases in which previous mastoidectomy has been performed and there is lack of epidermis. This variation in the technic, as far as we can ascertain by a careful search of the literature, has not previously been reported. The aim in the treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media, with or without cholesteatoma, is the production of a dry ear. If all attempts at conservative treatment fail, radical mastoidectomy is often employed. At times the radical surgical treatment must be carried out as an emergency procedure to forestall the development of intracranial complications or because of symptoms of labyrinthine involvement. One of the disadvantages of the radical operation is that even after its performance


Organisations across the country are transforming the way they deliver care, in ways similar to the accountable care organisation (ACO) model supported by Medicare. ACOs modalities are varying in size, type, and financing structure. Little is known about how specific infrastructural mechanisms influence hospital managers' pro-ACO orientation. Using an electronic-survey of hospital managers, this study explores how pro-ACO orientation, as a latent construct, is captured from the perceptions of hospital managers; and identify infrastructural mechanisms leading to the formation of pro-ACO orientation. Of the total hospital respondents, 58% are moving toward the establishment of ACOs; 56% are planning to join in the next two years; 48% are considering joining ACOs; while 25% had already participated in ACOs during 2012. Urban hospitals are more likely than rural hospitals to be engaged in ACO development. The health provider network size is one of the strongest indicators in predicting pro-ACO orientation.


This work provides mathematical formulas and algorithm in order to calculate the derivatives that being necessary to perform Steepest Descent models to make T1 and T2 FLSs much more accessible to FLS modelers. It provides derivative computations that are applied on different kind of MFs, and some computations which are then clarified for specific MFs. We have learned how to model T1 FLSs when a set of training data is available and provided an application to derive the Steepest Descent models that depend on trigonometric function (SDTFM). This work, also focused on an interval type-2 non-singleton type-2 FLS (IT2 NS-T2 FLS) in order to determine how to assign all the parameters of the antecedent and con¬se¬quent MFs using the set of n input-output and build mathematical formulas to calculate the derivatives ( ?cosh(?))??? depend on general formula of SDTFM. Additionally?, we showed how to complete the calculations for input measurement and antecedent Gaussian primary MFs with uncertain standard deviations and means.


Profile: Lisa Hansel is the director of communications for the Core Knowledge Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the idea that every child should learn a core of content that spans language arts and literature, history and geography, mathematics, science, music, and the visual arts. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, she was the editor of American Educator, the quarterly journal of educational research and ideas published by the American Federation of Teachers. In that role, she often published articles jointly with E. D. Hirsch Jr., and Daniel T. Willingham that explained why reading comprehension, critical thinking, and problem solving depend on relevant prior knowledge—and why, as a result, all students need a rigorous, coherent, grade-by-grade curriculum that builds broad knowledge. Lisa has a B. S. in Psychology from Washington and Lee University and an Ed. D. in Education Policy from George Washington University, where she was also an adjunct Professor and the writer and editor for the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform. To learn more about Core Knowledge, please see www.coreknowledge.org and blog.coreknowledge.org. She expressed her views regarding the Core Knowledge and Common Core Curriculum.


The goal of this study was to develop an optimal radiologic techniques for low-dose 3D CT of paranasal sinus to enhance the image quality in a reasonable absorbed x-ray dose for the patients. The ultimate aim is to provide higher quality images for physicians to identify pathological changes from the image, to make preoperative planning, to evaluate the risk of the operation of paranasal sinus and to minimize the occurrence of intra-operative complications. We analyzed spatial resolution and noise signals generated by various groups of mAs by using the dual technique of Plexiglas phantom and water phantom. In addition, Rando phantom was used to measure CTDI (computed tomography dose index) in the same scan area in a function of different slice thicknesses and spacings. The concept of MSAD (Multiple scan average dose) was applied to calculate patient's absorbed dose. From July 2001 to January 2002, 19 patients were enrolled in the study and underwent CT examinations of paranasal sinuses. Among these patients, 19 were male and 5 female. Conventional 2D CT had been generally used with satisfactory results, especially for patients with chronic paransal sinusitis. However, 3D CT not only provides a better anatomical information of the paranasal sinuses but also follows the ALARA principle. The acceptable image quality could be achieved under the imaging parameters of 90 mAs and 77 mAs for axial and coronal sections, respectively. Three-dimension images could further be analyzed with SSD (shaded surface display), MPR (multi-planar reformats), and MIP (maximum intensity projection) to provide more information for both radiologists and clinicians.


AIM
The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish adaptations of the Positive Beliefs about Rumination Scale (PBRS) and the Negative Beliefs about Rumination Scale (NBRS) in clinical and non-clinical samples.

METHOD
While the non-clinical sample of the study consisted of 455 participants, the clinical sample was composed of 60 major depressive disorder (MDD), 30 panic disorder (PD) and 30 social anxiety disorder (SAD) cases.

RESULTS
The results of the factor analyses confirm the construct validity and original factor structure of the scales. Findings obtained from internal consistency and test-retest analyses indicated good reliability for the scales. Supporting the convergent validity of the scales, the correlations between metacognitions about rumination and depressive symptoms, rumination, metacognitions about worry, pathological worry, and anxiety symptoms were found to be positive and significant in the non-clinical sample. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that both scales have predictive validity for depressive symptoms after controlling for anxiety symptoms. As for extreme group comparisons, it supported the criterion-related validity of the scales. In discriminant clinical validity examinations, although both scales were able to differentiate MDD, PD, and SAD groups from healthy controls, they were unable to differentiate the depressive group from the other anxiety disorder groups.

CONCLUSION
A comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the scales demonstrated that both PBRS and NBRS are reliable and valid assessment devices that can be used for research purposes both in clinical and non-clinical groups in Turkey.


In order to obtain the basic information for the development of ginseng varieties with high saponin contents. saponin contents and ginsenosides of Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng) and Panax quinquefolium (American ginseng) grown under the same environmental conditions were analysed. Crude saponin contents of root and aerial parts were more in Panax quinquefolium than in Panax ginseng, and aerial parts had more saponin contents in comparison with a root. Protopanaxatriol saponin was greatly more in the aerial parts of ginseng while more amount of protopanaxadiol saponins were detected in the root. As for the ginsenosides, the patterns of ginsenosides detected in total saponin of the aerial parts were not different between two species, Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium, but the root ginsenoside patterns were quite different. Ginsenosides such as Rg, R. R and R were not detected in the root of Panax quinquefolium (American ginseng).).).).


The resistance mechanisms of methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus saprophyticus were characterized. Penicillin-binding protein (PBP) studies demonstrated an inducible PBP identical to PBP 2a in the membranes of these isolates. The amount of beta-lactamase produced was minimal. PBP 2a is responsible for the methicillin resistance observed in these strains of S. saprophyticus.


Design equations are presented for three-dimensional (volumetric) multiple-beamforming lenses for planar arrays. The minimum lens size for given array dimensions is derived. Theoretical multiple-beam patterns are predicted for a particular lens configuration, using flared waveguide ports, feeding a 37-element planar array. This lens has been constructed and tested, operating over the frequency band 8–12 GHz, and the results show good agreement with theory in most respects. Mutual coupling between lens ports has a significant influence on the lens insertion loss.


Current materials-related calculations employ density-functional theory (DFT), commonly using the (semi-)local-density approximations for the exchange-correlation (xc) functional. The difficulties in arriving at a reasonable description of van der Waals (vdW) interactions by DFT-based models is to date a big challenge. In this work, we use various flavors of vdW-corrected DFT xc functionals\char22{}ranging from the quasiempirical force-field add-on vdW corrections to self-consistent nonlocal correlation functionals\char22{}to study the bulk lattice and mechanical properties (including the elastic constants and anisotropic indices) of the coinage metals (copper, silver, and gold). We critically assess the reliability of the different vdW-corrected DFT methods in describing their anisotropic mechanical properties which have been less reported in the literature. In the context of this work, we regard that our results reiterate the fact that advocating a so-called perfect vdW-inclusive xc functional for describing the general physics and chemistry of these coinage metals could be a little premature. These challenges to modern-day functionals for anisotropically strained coinage metals (e.g., at the faceted surfaces of nanostructures) may well be relevant to other strained material systems.


Groups of rats housed since weaning under two different kinds of housing conditions (wire and wooden cages) were compared at adulthood in the open field test, the step-through passive avoidance test, and for aggressiveness induced by REM-sleep deprivation and apomorphine administration. In the open field test wire-caged rats showed less rearing and grooming than wood-caged rats. This difference was accentuated by a single previous electrical shock (i.e., wire-caged rats exhibited less ambulation, rearing and grooming and more defecation than wood-caged rats, after shock) and was not altered by prior habituation to handling. In the passive avoidance test there were no significant differences between wire- and wood-caged rats. Wire-caged rats were more aggressive than wood-caged rats after REM-sleep deprivation and the administration of apomorphine. These results show that the control of previous housing conditions is an important variable to be considered in behavioral studies.


Synopsis This study of the Palaeozoic Scaphopoda collection of National Museums Scotland (NMS) is concerned exclusively with material of Carboniferous age. A type specimen, described in 1825, is reconfirmed as a member of 'Vermes' rather than Mollusca. Most of the collection is in several informal groups ranging from probable worm tubes though possible worm tubes to Cephalopoda. One new species of a valid member of the Scaphopoda is identified in the collection.


Professor Boatright raises three interesting objections in response to the internal morality of contracting the authors uncover in a previous issue. In response to the criticism of contractualist business ethics that it provides insufficient moral substance, it is argued that the notion of contracting is not a normatively neutral idea because of the normative commitments implied in everyday contracting practices. Thus, contrary to what Boatright claims the authors were not doing, their aim was indeed to show contracting is inherently normative because it contains an internal morality. To substantiate this claim, the authors began by arguing that contracting necessarily involves normative expectations of mutual benefit and effectiveness. These expectations are not only justified - that is, they are reasonably entertained by contractors engaged in contracting practices - but also necessary, because when they are generally lacking people out not understand what is going on as contracting.


We report that neuropsin is involved in the synaptogenesis/maturation of orphan and small synaptic boutons in the Schaffer-collateral pathway. Most non-synaptic orphan boutons and a number of immature small synaptic boutons expressed the cell adhesion molecule L1 in presynaptic Schaffer-collateral terminals, whereas mature large boutons on mushroom spines were devoid of L1. The number of L1-immunoreactive boutons was markedly higher in neuropsin-deficient mice than in wild-type mice, whereas there were far fewer mature large boutons. L1-immunoreactive boutons were hypertrophied in the mutant mice. When a recombinant active neuropsin was microinjected into the mutant hippocampus, the number of immunoreactive synaptic boutons reverted to wild-type levels after one day. These results strongly suggest that enzymatically active neuropsin allows a maturational change of L1-immunoreactive small boutons, both orphan and synaptic, and this step may be important in synaptic plasticity based on activity-dependent structural change.