Deep sea mining, as a frontier area in China, urgently needs to make progress in automatic navigation technology. In order to improve the operation efficiency of the seabed mining machine on the soft seabed, the submarine mining vehicle which complete the mining work in a certain mining area need to enter the next mining area quickly and economically. As a classical algorithm, the majority of scholars consider that A * algorithm is the most practical path planning search algorithm. Considering the limitation of operation conditions, the three-dimensional diagram is transformed into two-dimensional diagram by interpolation method when the seabed terrain conditions allow, and then the obstacles can be marked in two-dimensional diagram. A* algorithm was applied into the path planning of mining truck. The simulation results of the paper show that path cost, turning time and turning mode should be considered in the process of avoiding obstacles.


When children practice a new task, they need to learn both the task procedure and the materials tested. It is often unclear if improvements with practice reflect learning of the task procedure or familiarity with the materials. We sought to examine learning of the task procedure by switching from one set of materials to another in a working memory recognition task. We recruited 70 children (34 female, M = 11.27 years, SD = 0.62, ranging from 10.08 to 12.39) in the United States who were to remember sequences of orientations and of shapes for recognition immediately following the list. Half of the children began with orientation, an easier task, and the other half began with difficult-to-name shapes, a harder task. When children began with the easier task, the acquisition of the recognition task skill in the easy condition transferred to the more difficult task, optimizing the mean performance across tasks. Transfer was less potent when children began with the more difficult task. The results showed that sufficient practice is crucial to avoid poor initial performance, which might be important for the student's rate of progress and task engagement.


This quasi-experimental study tested an intervention to reduce sound levels in an acute care hospital. A parallel pre- and posttest design with control group was used; patients and employees completed the Topf Adapted Sound Disturbance Scales, and environmental sound levels were recorded on a Quest 2900 Sound Level Meter. Treatment interventions included an educational PowerPoint presentation for employees, minor environmental acoustical alterations, and the use of a Quest 261 Sound Detector/Controller for behavioral modification. None of these interventions produced statistically significant changes in sound levels. Patients and employees reported slightly less disturbance due to noise postintervention on the treatment unit. The findings of this study support Philbin and Gray's suggestion that the use of sound-absorbing materials in the hospital's physical structure may be the most effective measure to reduce sound levels in the hospital setting.


Lactate and succinate were produced by Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum from glucose under oxygen deprivation conditions. To construct knockout mutant, lactate dehydrogenase gene (ldh) of C. acetoacidophilum was deleted by double-crossover chromosome replacement with sacB gene. Comparing with the wild strain ATCC13870, ldhA-deficent mutant produced no lactate with glucose consumption rate decreased by 29.3%, while succinate and acetate concentrations were increased by 45.6% and 182%, respectively. Moreover, the NADH/NAD+ rate was less than 1 (about 0.7), and the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and acetate kinase of the ldhA-deficent mutant were enhanced by 84% and 12 times, respectively. Our studies show that succinicate and acetate production pathways are strengthened by blocking lactate synthesis. It also suggests that improving NADH supply and eliminating acetate generation are alternative strategies to get high succinate-producer.


Dogs and other members of Canidae utilize their tail for different purposes including agile movement such as running and jumping. One of the unique aspects of the Canidae species is they have a very small size differential as a clade with all of the extant canid species are below 35 kg, except large dog breeds. In this study, we utilize morphological geometries of the animals to test differences in tail use in 24 extant Canidae. We propose evolutionary trade-offs of larger and more massive tails through varying simulations. This work could alleviate unknown biomechanical use of the tails to understand the behavioral biomechanics of lesser-known species in their ability to use their tail for rapid and taxing behaviors including sprinting or climbing. We analyze the phylogenetics between the kinematics of tail use to predicatively hypothesize differences of function for variable center of mass benefits.


In order to better define the variability of skeletal expression of tuberculosis, we studied 1728 skeletons from the Terry Anatomical Collection, Smitsonian Institution, dating from the first half of the 20th century. Among the numerous cases we studied there were three juvenile individuals who died from TB that are of particular interest. The spine of the first case exhibits lesions related to a multifocal cystic spondylitis, associated with rib lesions probably caused by a pneumo-pleural infection. The second skeleton has frontal and parietal endocranial lesions that can be attributed to TB meningitis. The associated multifocal vertebral and costal abnormalities apparent in this case may represent an early stage in the development of skeletal TB lesions. The skull vault of the third skeleton is perforated by lytic lesions compatible with a diagnosis of cranial tuberculosis. These lesions are associated with bone forming endocranial lesions that suggest TB meningitis. The postcranial skeleton shows mainly osteolytic lesions. These case-studies give an insight to different manifestations of skeletal TB and provide stronger basis for identifying this infection in archaeological human remains. The three juvenile skeletons from the Terry Anatomical Collection provide evidence that lesions like endocranial symptoms, vertebral hypervascularization, rib periostitis, diffuse periostitis of long bones and especially their association do have diagnostical value in the identification of tuberculosis.


SUMMARY Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae, the causal agent of bacterial canker of Actinidia chinensis and A. deliciosa, is currently causing severe economic losses worldwide. A study was conducted to verify if a highly virulent Psa strain, isolated during the current outbreaks of bacterial canker of kiwifruit in Italy, produces phytotoxic metabolites in vitro. Culture filtrate, obtained from 14-day-old cells grown in Pseudomonas minimal medium, induced an evident hypersensitivity-like reaction to both tobacco and kiwifruit leaves. From culture filtrates, extracts were obtained using different solvents and pH values. The extracts and their corresponding aqueous phases, were further tested for phytotoxicity. Basic, hydrophilic, lowmolecular weight and hydrophilic, high-molecular weight compounds belonging to exopolysaccharides were isolated and analyzed. These compunds proved highly phytotoxic to kiwifruit, tobacco leaves and lemon fruits. Gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry analysis carried out on crude exopolysaccharides showed glucose as the main monosaccharide constituent. These results suggest that phytotoxic metabolites, other than the antimetabolite phaseolotoxin, could be involved in the virulence of the pathogen to kiwifruit species.


Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) on metallic nanostructures is able to enhance photoluminescence (PL) emission significantly. However, the mechanism for anomalous blue-shifted peak of PL emission from metallic nanostructures, relative to the corresponding scattering spectra, is still unclear so far. In this paper, we presented the detailed investigations on both the Lorentz-like PL profile with blue-shifted peak and Fano-like one with almost unshifted dip, as observed on dolmen-like metallic nanostructures. Such anomalous PL emission profile is the product of the density of plasmon states (DoPS) with Lorentz-/Fano-like profile and the population distribution of the relaxed collective free electrons during relaxation. To be more specific, the fast relaxation process of these collective free electrons contributes to the PL shifting characteristics of both Lorentz-like and Fano-like emission profiles. We believed that our results provide a general solid foundation and guidance for analyzing and man...


Although a large number of genetic variants have been identified to be associated with common diseases through genome-wide association studies, there still exits limitations in explaining the missing heritability. One approach to solving this missing heritability problem is to investigate gene-gene interactions, rather than a single-locus approach. For gene-gene interaction analysis, the multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method has been widely applied, since the constructive induction algorithm of MDR efficiently reduces high-order dimensions into one dimension by classifying multi-level genotypes into high- and low-risk groups. The MDR method has been extended to various phenotypes and has been improved to provide a significance test for gene-gene interactions. In this paper, we propose a simple method, called accelerated failure time (AFT) UM-MDR, in which the idea of a unified model-based MDR is extended to the survival phenotype by incorporating AFT-MDR into the classification step. The proposed AFT UM-MDR method is compared with AFT-MDR through simulation studies, and a short discussion is given.


The purpose of this study is to analyse how the semiotic resources can be helpful in improving or increasing the level of learning among young learners especially in rural India. Technology has taken a new shape especially in the sector of education, information and communication. Even in the swift developmental process around the world, some communities or people still stay away from margin, unaware of the development in the education and technology. The children who are in rural areas are economically, socially backward and are deprived from good education. This affects them psychologically. In urban areas education level has raised consistently and school children are privileged to get good education and shape their personality accordingly. Education to the young learners is not simply reading books and passing the examination. It must help them to prepare for their future. These categories of children can be taught using different modes of semiotic resources to make them understand the language and the concepts clearly. Semiotic resources can be used in communication, especially using the language, gestures and expressions. This has a great impact on teaching learning process. This paper gives an idea of how these semiotic resources can be used effectively to teach English language and how it can be embedded in educational settings.


Online auction is becoming more and more popular in electronic commerce (EC). It has become the mainstream trading methods in consumer to consumer (C2C), such as eBay. The steady collaboration field and common concept of exchange may be formed in the cooperation of the Multi-Agent system(MAS), then the agents will have so much common knowledge in order to complete the tasks. The member of MAS has both cooperation and self-interest. Based on the analysis of the cooperation and competition of the participators in the online auction, the concept of overtime and history information is introduced. As existing incomplete information, the efficiency of the auction is low without consider the history information. This paper put forward a MAS flow frame and negotiation algorithms that make the bidders of the auction participate in the negotiation honestly and actively. Both the efficiency and transparency among the participators have been enhanced.


Summary: Control of the pH of liquid synthetic culture media made possible mycelial growth of both diploid and haploid strains of Ustilago maydis. Whereas at neutral pH the fungus grew as a homogeneous population of budding yeast-like cells (sporidia), at acid pH it developed in the mycelial form. Mycelial cells appeared branched and narrower than yeast cells. Cell morphology was affected by the carbon and nitrogen sources. When the culture medium was removed continuously or intermittently, very long, filamentous cells were formed. Colonies of haploid strains developed aerial mycelium ('fuzz' morphology) on acid solid medium. Null b, bW, and bE mutants behaved in the same way as haploid wild-type strains. It is suggested that growth at low pH overcomes the control processes governed by heterologous bE and bW loci.


ABSTRACT Family systems theory suggests that the family is an organized system in which different subsystems influence each other within and across levels, such as across dyadic and higher-order family-level systems. It is therefore expected that dyadic mother – child and father – child relationships contribute to shape relational processes that take place at the triadic mother – father – child level. Consequently, this study examined whether the quality of mother – child and father – child interactions in toddlerhood was associated with subsequent quality of the coparenting relationship during mother – father – child triadic interactions in kindergarten. When children were aged 18 months, mother – child and father – child interactions were assessed observationally with 136 families. Four and a half years later, the quality of the coparenting relationship was assessed during triadic interactions. Analyses revealed that fathers (but not mothers) who had higher-quality dyadic interactions with their toddler had better coparenting interactions with their spouse four and a half years later. This prediction held above child temperament and both parents' marital satisfaction. These results highlight that the quality of father – child relationships may be centrally involved in the development of the coparenting alliance across the preschool years.


Ternary content addressable memories (TCAM) have become a popular hardware device for fast routing-table lookups. However, the high power consumption in TCAM increases power supply and cooling costs, and limits the router design to fewer ports. Based on an analysis of the prefix hierarchy in routing tables, the authors propose an optimization model to reduce the power consumption for bursty access patterns. This model can reduce the average power consumption by a factor of 11.


This study identified five Australian housing markets that could be made more efficient using online technology to match highly specific 'buyers' and 'sellers'. The five markets considered are: swaps in public housing; disability accessible housing; low-cost private rental housing brokerage; apartment presales for low/mid income earners; and precinct-level urban redevelopment. The research also proposed solutions to how the matching markets could best operate.


— Quantum dissipation, the theory of energy spreading and quantal Brownian motion are considered. In the first part of these lecture-notes we discuss the classical theory of a particle that interacts with chaotic degrees of freedom: • The Sudden and the Adiabatic approximations; • The route to stochastic behavior; • The fluctuation-dissipation relation; • And the application to the 'piston' example. In the second part of these lecture-notes we discuss the restricted problem of classical particle that interacts with quantal (chaotic) degrees of freedom: • Limitations on quantal-classical correspondence; • The perturbative core-tail spreading profile; • Linear response theory versus Fermi-golden-rule picture; • Random-matrix-theory considerations; • And the quantal Sudden and Adiabatic approximations. In the third part of these lecture-notes we discuss the problem of quantal particle that interacts with an effective harmonic bath: • Classical Brownian motion; • The ZCL model and the DLD model; • The white noise approximation; • The reduced propagator and master-equation formulation; • And the two mechanisms for dephasing. We conclude with explaining the main open question in the theory of quantum dissipation and quantal Brownian motion. That question concerns the problem of quantal particle that interacts with quantal (chaotic) degrees of freedom.


As programmers turn to software-defined hardware (SDH) to maintain a high level of productivity while programming hardware to run complex algorithms, heavy-lifting must be done by the compiler to automatically partition on-chip arrays. In this paper, we introduce an automatic memory partitioning system that can quickly compute more efficient partitioning schemes than prior systems. Our system employs a variety of resource-saving optimizations and an ML cost model to select the best partitioning scheme from an array of candidates. We compared our system against various state-of-the-art SDH compilers and FPGAs on a variety of benchmarks and found that our system generates solutions that, on average, consume 40.3% fewer logic resources, 78.3% fewer FFs, 54.9% fewer Block RAMs (BRAMs), and 100% fewer DSPs.


IT HAS BEEN a long-standing observation that overnutrition during the early lifetime can have a permanent influence on the feeding behavior and body weight gain of the adult individual. The maintenance of energy balance, which is the resultant of energy intake and expenditure, is controlled by a complex network of neurohumoral factors (2, 5, 10). Among those, neuropeptide Y (NPY), a 36-amino acid peptide that is synthesized and released in the hypothalamus, is thought to play a key role in mediating appetite and nutrition uptake (5, 8, 10, 11). Previous studies have shown that alterations in fetal metabolism that may occur in diabetic rats and during intrauterine growth restriction can have profound effects on postnatal hypothalamic NPY release (3, 6). In this issue of the American Journal of PhysiologyRegulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Dr. Varma and coworkers (9) present a paper in which they tested the hypothesis that high levels of NPY during the critical stages of postnatal development can permanently affect adult appetite, food intake, and body weight. For this purpose, postnatal rats between 2 and 7 days of age received repetitive intracerebroventricular injections of NPY. Compared with the vehicle-treated rats, administration of NPY caused a 32% transient increase in body weight gain and elevated plasma insulin concentrations without significant changes of plasma glucose concentrations. The rise in body weight was fully reversible within 48 h despite continuing daily NPY injections. Notably, a significant decline in body weight gain and food intake was observed in female rats beginning on day 60 of postnatal life. In contrast, no statistical changes in either nutritional behavior or body weight gain pattern were observed in the male animals. Although the hyperinsulinemia persisted after termination of NPY administration until 120 days of age in the female progeny, the plasma insulin concentrations were not significantly different in the NPYand vehicle-treated male rats. These findings indicate that high levels of intracerebroventricular NPY during early postnatal life can profoundly reduce food intake and body weight gain in female but not in male adult animals. To elucidate the mechanisms that may possibly underlie these effects, the authors measured the hypothalamic NPY content with the use of a sensitive radioimmunoassay. Although hypothalamic NPY was transiently increased in response to exogenous NPY, a threefold decline was found at 120 days of age in female but not in male rats compared with the vehicle-injected animals. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the reduced overall concentration of hypothalamic NPY in the females was due to a reduced content in the paraventricular, dorsomedial, and arcuate nuclear regions. To determine if the NPY responsiveness in the adults was altered due to neonatal injection of NPY, a second intracerebroventricular infusion was performed in female rats at 120 days of age. However, no significant differences in terms of body weight gain and food intake were observed between rats that had previously been treated with NPY and vehicle, respectively. These findings suggest that neonatal infusion did not affect the responsiveness to NPY of adult rats with regard to the control of appetite, feeding behavior, and body weight gain. The reported observations are remarkable in several aspects. First, they demonstrate convincingly that the levels of NPY in the postnatal hypothalamus can have long-lasting effects on nutrition uptake and body mass in the adult organism. Furthermore, the results indicate gender-specific differences in the NPY-dependent control of energy homeostasis. Although persisting hyperinsulinemia in female rats may contribute to this phenomenon by suppression of hypothalamic NPY content (1, 4, 7), the cause for the gender differences remains to be investigated. In summary, these observations underline the importance of fetal/neonatal metabolism and may set the stage for potential therapeutic interventions before the adult onset of altered eating behavior and obese phenotype.


ABSTRACT The therapeutic efficacy of flucytosine (5FC) monotherapy and the pharmacodynamic index predictive of efficacy were evaluated in a nonneutropenic mouse model of acute invasive aspergillosis. Mice were infected intravenously with an Aspergillus fumigatus isolate (the median MICs of 5FC were 128 μg/ml under the standard condition, 0.5 μg/ml at pH 6.0, and 0.031 μg/ml at pH 5.0) 2 h prior to the start of therapy and were treated for 7 days with different 5FC dosing regimens. The total doses ranged from 50 to 800 mg/kg of body weight/day and were administered at 6-, 12-, and 24-h intervals. The efficacy was assessed by means of survival. The survival rates of the treatment groups ranged from 40 to 90%, while the survival rate of the control group was 20%. The efficacy found depended primarily on the total daily dose. However, the power of our sample size may have been too low to exclude an effect of dose fractionation. The pharmacodynamic index that most strongly correlated with the efficacy was the area under the serum concentration-time curve and MIC ratio (R2 = 0.86). We conclude that 5FC monotherapy is efficacious in a murine Aspergillus fumigatus infection model.


While the dynamics of maxillo-mandibular allometry associated with treatment modalities available for the management of Class III malocclusions currently are under investigation, developmental aberration of the soft tissues in untreated Class III malocclusions requires specification. In this study, lateral cephalographs of 124 prepubertal European-American children (71 with untreated Class III malocclusion; 53 with Class I occlusion) were traced, and 12 soft-tissue landmarks digitized. Resultant geometries were scaled to an equivalent size and mean Class III and Class I configurations compared. Procrustes analysis established statistical difference (P < 0.001) between the mean configurations. Comparing the overall untreated Class III and Class I configurations, thin-plate spline (TPS) analysis indicated that both affine and non-affine transformations contribute towards the deformation (total spline) of the averaged Class III soft tissue configuration. For non-affine transformations, partial warp 8 had the highest magnitude, indicating large-scale deformations visualized as a combination of columellar retrusion and lower labial protrusion. In addition, partial warp 5 also had a high magnitude, demonstrating upper labial vertical compression with antero-inferior elongation of the lower labio-mental soft tissue complex. Thus, children with Class III malocclusions demonstrate antero-posterior and vertical deformations of the maxillary soft tissue complex in combination with antero-inferior mandibular soft tissue elongation. This pattern of deformations may represent gene-environment interactions, resulting in Class III malocclusions with characteristic phenotypes, that are amenable to orthodontic and dentofacial orthopedic manipulations.


Transferability of adversarial examples is of critical importance to launch black-box adversarial attacks, where attackers are only allowed to access the output of the target model. However, under such a challenging but practical setting, the crafted adversarial examples are always prone to overfitting to the proxy model employed, presenting poor transferability. In this paper, we suggest alleviating the overfitting issue from a novel perspective, i.e., designing a fitted model architecture. Specifically, delving the bottom of the cause of poor transferability, we arguably decompose and reconstruct the existing model architecture into an effective model architecture, namely multi-track model architecture (MMA). The adversarial examples crafted on the MMA can maximumly relieve the effect of model-specified features to it and toward the vulnerable directions adopted by diverse architectures. Extensive experimental evaluation demonstrates that the transferability of adversarial examples based on the MMA significantly surpass other state-of-the-art model architectures by up to 40% with comparable overhead.


Summary Introduction: Gynura procumbens is an important medicinal plant that contains different types of chemical constituents that show tremendous curative effects. Objective: The aim of this research work was comparative karyomorphological analysis between in vitro and in vivo grown selected medicinal plant species. Methods: The roots were collected properly from naturally grown plants and in vitro propagated plants and pretreated with 1,4-para-dichlorobenzene (PDB) for 2.00 – 3.00 hours at room temperature. After pretreating with PDB the roots were washed thoroughly and kept in 1:3 (v/v) aceto-alcohol for 24 hours and then, transferred to 70% alcohol (v/v) for preservation. After that completing staining process, prepared slides were observed under microscope for karyotype analysis & ideogram preparation. Results: This research work reveled that both mother plant and tissue culture raised plants had 2n=20 chromosomes in somatic cell. No telocentric or acrocentric chromosome observed in the basic set of chromosomes. Both plants had 3 submetacentric and 7 metacentric chromosomes in the basic set of chromosomes. The centromeric formula for both plants was 3sm + 7m. The length of individual chromosome of in vivo plants ranged from 6.20 to 11.24 µm, whereas chromosome length of in vitro grown plants ranged from 6.08 to 11.22 µm. The total form percent (TF%) of naturally grown plants and micro-propagated plants were same (43.93%). Mother plant had 2A type of karyotype, the formula being 2Lsm + 4Msm + 4Mm + 10Sm. In vitro grown plant had also 2A type of karyotype which could be expressed by the formula, 2Lsm + 4Msm + 2Mm + 12Sm. Conclusion: The results of cytological studies point out that chromosome numbers of naturally grown plants and micro-propagated plants were same. There were very little karyotypic variations observed in case of both micropropagated and mother plants.


In recent years, correlation filtering and deep learning have achieved good performance in object tracking. Correlation filtering is an efficient and real-time method because its formula provides a fast solution in the Fourier domain, but it does not benefit from end-to-end training. Although deep learning is an effective method for learning object representations, training deep networks online with one or a few examples is challenging. To address these problems, we propose a deep ensemble object tracking algorithm that fuses temporal and spatial information to improve algorithm precision and robustness. The framework of our algorithm includes four aspects: feature extraction, a baseline network, a branch network and adaptive ensemble learning. Feature extraction extracts the general object representation. The baseline network integrates feature extraction and a correlation filtering algorithm into a convolutional neural network for end-to-end training. The branch network is composed of a temporal network and a spatial network. The temporal and spatial networks capture the object temporal and spatial information and further refine the object position. Our algorithm only needs an initial frame to train all networks. Adaptive ensemble learning compensates for the object information deficiency and improves tracking accuracy. Many experiments on tracking benchmark datasets demonstrate that our algorithm performs favourably compared with state-of-the-art tracking algorithms.


*Because of commercial issues and job-related changes, the original author of this article wishes to remain anonymous. He has, however, given approval for the publication and release of this article. The subject is both timely and appropriate in today's analytical marketplace.


Interactions among physiological pathways associated with osteoporosis and sarcopenia are thought to contribute to the onset of frailty. The International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research Task Force thus met in March 2020 to explore how emerging interventions to manage fracture and osteoporosis in older adults may reduce frailty, disability, morbidity, and mortality in the older population. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions (including nutritional intervention, exercise, and other lifestyle changes) were discussed, including nutritional intervention, exercise, and other lifestyle changes. Pharmacological treatments for osteoporosis include bone-forming and antiresorptive agents, which may optimally be used in sequential or combination regimens. Since similar mechanisms related to resorption underlie physiological changes in muscle and bone, these interventions may provide benefits beyond treating osteoporosis. Clinical trials to test these interventions, however, often exclude frail older persons because of comorbidities (such as mobility disability and cognitive impairment) or polypharmacy. The Task Force recommended that future clinical trials use harmonized protocols, including harmonized inclusion criteria and similar outcome measures; and that they test a range of multidomain therapies. They further advocated more high-quality research to develop interventions specifically for people who are frail and old. The ICOPE program recommended by WHO appears to be highly recommended to frail older adults with osteoporosis.


Protein and calcium are two nutrients that are essential to the human body. These nutrients can be acquired through the consumption of animal and vegetable foods. Moringa leaves are a protein and calcium-rich vegetable dietary product. The goal of this study is to investigate the physicochemical and organoleptic properties of ice cream products by the addition of Moringa leaf powder. This study used an experimental method with a one-factor total randomized design.  The addition of 0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12% Moringa leaf powder treatment was carried out with 5 repetitions. The Kjeldahl method was used to analyse total protein content and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry was used to analyse the amount of Calcium in ice cream products. In this research, we tested the volume, mass, overrun, and melting time of ice cream, and so do the hedonic, and organoleptic characteristics. The results showed that calcium and protein levels of Moringa ice cream increased along with the addition of Moringa leaf powder. Ice cream with the addition of Moringa leaf powder by 12% had an average value of calcium and protein content higher compared to other ice cream samples. The addition of 9% Moringa leaf powder gave the best-overrun value of 47.86% which was determined based on the swelling power of the ice cream dough. Ice cream with 3% Moringa powder has the longest melting power of 12.82 minutes. organoleptic test results show that ice cream with 3% Moringa has the highest level of preference, with a total point of 527 for colour, 509 for aroma, 559 for taste, and 546 for texture. This study shows that Moringa leaves can be used as a substituent in ice cream.


A number of negative characters in Yakut mythology, as well as individual images of folklore, are considered. The point of view, according to which the basis for the emergence of certain mythological ideas among the Yakuts was the real world, the features of the landscape and climate, to the extent that they influenced a person, is proved. It is noted that the culture of the Sakha people is based on rich mythological concepts that have developed during the development of the vast expanses of the Arctic space. The authors analyze ethnographic notes of the XIX—XX centuries and modern scientific publications, which examine the mythology and folklore of the Sakha people (Yakuts). An attempt has been made to clarify the question of the influence of knowledge about the fossil remains of the mammoth fauna on the formation of mythological ideas related to the peculiarities of the climate of the region being developed. The image of a mammoth is analyzed in the broad context of the mythological views of the Yakuts. It is concluded that secondary esoteric ideas about mammoths, caused by the discovery of their remains, could form the basis of a prototypical image for a number of characters in Yakut mythology, for example, a water bull and a cold bull. It is proved that the idea of mammoths could be reflected in the external appearance of the abaasy heroes in the epic folklore of the Sakha.


BACKGROUND
Replacement therapies have revolutionized treatment paradigms in metabolic diseases by restoring defective enzymes and supplementing missing downstream metabolites. Through most of the 20th century, no targeted therapies existed for these conditions, the only treatment options available focusing on symptoms rather than the underlying disorders. Improved understanding of the molecular pathways underlying metabolic disease has allowed not only supplementation of missing metabolites and reduction of upstream substrates, but replacement of defective or missing enzymes.

OBJECTIVE
Modern genetic technologies have facilitated steady progress in recombinant enzyme innovation, providing treatments that replicate not only endogenous enzymes, but also their posttranslational modifications to optimize their delivery and function. The advent of the gene therapy revolution brings a possibility of new therapeutic opportunities in which the enzymes at the core of metabolic diseases may not only be added back, but genetically replaced.

CONCLUSION
With the next generation of treatments approaching, this review examines the recent decades of replacement therapy innovation in metabolic disease and discusses the challenges and opportunities for the next generation of treatments.


Objectives: IABP is the most frequently used assist device in cardiac surgery. However, due to the poor socioeconomic status in our country, it is not always possible to use a brand new IABP when required. In these circumstances we use re-sterilized IABP catheters. Our aim was to compare the outcome of re-sterilized versus new IABP catheters in the set of patients who were provided surgery for IHD free of cost in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Retrospective study. Period: January 2007 to December 2013. Setting: National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: 3560 CABG procedures were performed. Those patients who could not afford a new IABP catheter were provided with the resterilized balloon catheters, free of cost. Total IABP usage was 286(8%) patients, of which the new balloon catheter was used in 214patients [74.8% (groupI)]. Re-sterilized catheters were used in 72patients [25.2% (groupII)]. All patients were screened for HIV, Hepatitis- B and Hepatitis-C.12(16.6%) of the balloon catheters were resterilized more than once and 3(4.1%) of these on three occasions. Results: The mean age of the patients was 52.59±13.32 years. 69 (24.1%) of the patients were female. The mode of insertion (sheath less versus with sheath) was found tobe an independent risk factor for the development of complications. The overall incidence of complications (p=0.29) was 6.9%. The incidence of balloon catheter related complications was 1.75%. When the two groups were compared with regard to morbidity and mortality, the resultswere found to be statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Use of re-sterilized IABP catheters is safe. However, strict guidelines should be instituted and followed for this purpose.


Copyright © 2013 by the Authors. All rights reserved. This case was prepared by Scott Marshall, Darrell Brown, Bex Sakarias and Min Cai as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form by any means without permission. oikos Case Writing Competition 2013 Social Entrepreneurship Track


The EU enlargement is a politico-economic shock that could affect interpersonal and institutional trust in the accession countries. Variation in trust is worth exploring for understanding better the ongoing transition process in Eastern Europe. The evolution of business networks and the deepening of financial integration in the region would be contingent on trust's synchronizing role. In this paper, I estimate the probability of trust following the 2004 EU enlargement for people from EU accession countries relative to the counterpart probability for Ukrainians and Russians. Ordered probit results suggest that the probability of trust increases after the 2004 EU enlargement for those with high probability of trust before 2004 while it decreases for those with prior EU enlargement low probability of trust.


IL-17 plays a critical role in the immunological control of various infectious diseases; its function has been investigated in the removal of both extracellular and intracellular bacteria. Our group previously revealed the importance of IL-17 in neutrophil migration following Legionella infection by using IL-17AF knockout mice; however, aside from neutrophil infiltration, alternative causes for the reduced survival of these mice have not been characterized. In this study, we found that γδ T cells in IL-17AF knockout mice were markedly increased and produced the cytotoxic substances granzyme B and perforin. Moreover, the elimination of γδ T cells from these mice, via an anti-TCRδ Ab, caused a substantial reduction in the level of lactate dehydrogenase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, indicating that γδ T cells contribute to lung tissue damage. Moreover, although cells lysed by cytotoxic substances are typically eliminated by phagocytic cells, in IL-17AF knockout mice, lung homeostasis was not maintained because of a decrease in phagocytic cells that impaired the clearance of dead cells. Our results indicate that increased γδ T cells in IL-17AF knockout mice help eliminate Legionella by releasing cytotoxic substances and lysing infected cells; however, this results in tissue damage due to insufficient removal of dead cells by phagocytic cells. This study enhances our understanding of the protective response against Legionella and provides insights into γδ T cell–mediated protective immunity against various infectious diseases.


H. Rudnick comments on the paper by F.J. Rubio-Oderiz et al. (see ibid., vol.15, no.1, p.448-54, 2000). They discuss the Stanford Energy Modeling Forum set of principles to assess the performance of transmission pricing and ask the authors for their full rating of the proposed methods under the Stanford framework. The original authors reply to the comments.


Vision-language models (VLMs) classify the query video by calculating a similarity score between the visual features and text-based class label representations. Recently, large language models (LLMs) have been used to enrich the text-based class labels by enhancing the descriptiveness of the class names. However, these improvements are restricted to the text-based classifier only, and the query visual features are not considered. In this paper, we propose a framework which combines pre-trained discriminative VLMs with pre-trained generative video-to-text and text-to-text models. We introduce two key modifications to the standard zero-shot setting. First, we propose language-guided visual feature enhancement and employ a video-to-text model to convert the query video to its descriptive form. The resulting descriptions contain vital visual cues of the query video, such as what objects are present and their spatio-temporal interactions. These descriptive cues provide additional semantic knowledge to VLMs to enhance their zeroshot performance. Second, we propose video-specific prompts to LLMs to generate more meaningful descriptions to enrich class label representations. Specifically, we introduce prompt techniques to create a Tree Hierarchy of Categories for class names, offering a higher-level action context for additional visual cues, We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in video understanding across three different zero-shot settings: 1) video action recognition, 2) video-to-text and textto-video retrieval, and 3) time-sensitive video tasks. Consistent improvements across multiple benchmarks and with various VLMs demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework. Our code will be made publicly available.


In Reply .—Dr Yawn's letter presents a case in which a young woman, who apparently had knowledge of and access to medical services, did not seek prenatal care until it was too late to save her 23-week-old fetus. It is an example of a sad and frustrating experience that must sometimes be faced by obstetricians and family practitioners, particularly those in areas with residents of low socioeconomic status where routine medical visits are not the norm. However, as I pointed out in my article on wrongful births, 1 the question of whether a pregnant woman has a legally enforceable duty to act nonnegligently to protect the health of a fetus she apparently intends to carry to term is not an easy one to answer. Moreover, especially given the unrelenting hostility of the current administration to women's reproductive rights (eg, the new regulations promulgated by the US Department of Health and


The end of the Cold War was hailed by many at the time as the beginning of an era of unparalleled peace and prosperity. There was enormous optimism that the international community, released from the grip of superpower rivalry, would turn its attention to global problems, such as poverty, the environment, and population growth. The economic forces unleashed from the constraints of centrally planned economies would create new wealth and raise living standards in previously captive nations. And indeed, many countries have derived enormous economic benefits from the end of the Cold War. Yet, the income gap between the industrialized and developing worlds has continued to widen. This trend has been compounded in some countries by internal conflict and state failure. At the same time, new security threats have emerged, including an increase in transnational crime and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Armed conflict has taken on a different shape and is often rooted in religious or ethnic discord. While the number of armed conflicts between states has dropped since 1972, the number of intrastate conflicts has dramatically increased. The crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa is a recent example in a series of tragic intrastate conflicts that have destabilized entire regions. Why did the end of the Cold War fail to enhance global stability? The Cold War concept of security emphasized the prevention of interstate conflict in order to avoid the perennial danger of escalation. This strategy focussed on confidence-building measures (to reduce the possibility of an accidental misreading of intentions) and international arms control and disarmament negotiations. Within this context, the end of the Cold War and a number of successes in arms control agreements, such as the indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), should have fostered lasting global security. It is now clear that this approach to security was inadequate to foster stability and peace. Canada and a small number of like-minded countries such as Norway and the Netherlands began to reassess the traditional concept of security in order to identify those variables beyond arms control/disarmament which effect peace and stability. From this reconsideration emerged the concept of 'human security.' In my address to the 51st United Nations General Assembly in September 1996, I argued that human security is much more than the absence of military threat. It includes security against economic privation, an acceptable quality of life, and a guarantee of fundamental human rights. This concept of human security recognizes the complexity of the human environment and accepts that the forces influencing human security are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. At a minimum, human security requires that basic needs are met, but it also acknowledges that sustained economic development, human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, good governance, sustainable development and social equity are as important to global peace as arms control and disarmament. It recognizes the links between environmental degradation, population growth, ethnic conflicts, and migration. Finally, it concludes that lasting stability cannot be achieved until human security is guaranteed. Canada has both the capacity and the credibility to play a leadership role in support of human security in the developing world. In addition to direct assistance, Canada has sought to improve international governance through, inter alia, democratization, respect for human rights, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Lester B. Pearson, Canada's secretary of state for external affairs, summed up this policy in 1948 when he stated that Canada could not escape the results and obligations that flow from the interdependence of nations. But this internationalist vocation also provided Canadians with something enormously valuable: it contributed to a uniquely Canadian identity and a sense of Canada's place in the world. …


【This article want to discuss on comparative research between CHIPS and Fedwire as the cross-border payment systems which America have and use at present. CHIPS is a New York-based automated private-sector clearing facility for large-dollar transfers. It is a central switch communication and settlement system whose 53 participating banks exchange same-day payment messages over dedicated communication lines linking each one to the CHIPS central computer. On January 22, 2001, CHIPS introduced immediate finality for payment released from the CHIPS queue. Unlike the Fedwire system, The CHIPS system is not a real-time gross settlement system. Instead, CHIPS is hybrid system that uses a computer program to select payment order in a queue for release to the receiving bank. CHIPS are governed by CHIPS Rules and Administrative Procedures. Fedwire system is a nationwide electronic fund-transfer system facilitating same-day transfers throughout the United States. It is a gross settlement system providing immediate credit to the receiving bank's master account. Communicating between a Federal Reserve Bank and Fedwire users can be either on-line or off-line. Fedwire transfers are governed by Subpart B of Regulation J, issued by the Federal Reserve Board, which incorporates U.C.C. Article 4A but preempts or supersedes any of its inconsistent provisions】


In literature on neighbourhood effects and resources accessibility, the number of neighbourhood resources to which residents may have access are often estimated from spatial units whose constant size fails to account for unique ways residents experience their neighbourhoods. To investigate this 'constant size neighbourhood trap', we compared numbers of healthcare resources included in Constant Size Buffers (CSBs) and in Perceived Neighbourhood Polygons (PNPs) from cognitive neighbourhood data collected among 653 residents of the Paris metropolitan area. We observed that residents of deprived and peripheral areas had smaller PNPs than their counterparts. Studying residents assessments of the quantity of neighbourhood practitioners, we then assessed the validity of using PNPs rather than CSBs to estimate number of neighbourhood resources. Lastly, resource inequalities across the Paris metropolitan area were found to be far wider when considering PNPs rather than CSBs. Using constant neighbourhood delineation can lead to inaccurately measured individual accessibility to neighbourhood resources and to downplay the extent of inequalities in urban resources.


Spontaneous pure acute bilateral subdural haematoma (ASDH) without intraparenchymal or subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurysm is extremely rare. It can follow rupture of different aneurysms specially located in anterior incisural space; the most frequently encountered location is the PcoA aneurysms as demonstrated in the present case. We present a case report of a PcoA aneurysm presenting as pure bilateral ASDH. A high level of suspicion for bleeding of arterial origin should be maintained in all cases of acute subdural haematoma without history of trauma. The neurological status on admission dictates the appropriate timing and methodology of the neuroradiological investigations.


Although Mahler never wrote an opera, his experience as an opera director informs his use of performance as a 'topic' of his musical discourse. Mahler's use of theatrical effects is the first method of foregrounding performance as an act. Examples are found in the First Symphony (the introduction) and the Second Symphony (the use of offstage instruments). The physicality of performance is deliberately exposed by Mahler's choices in instrumentation and the demands he makes of the players. The use of the 'hammer' in the percussion section of the Finale of the Sixth Symphony shows physicality exploited in a violent gesture. Performance can also be represented by the music. Examples are found in the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. In the song cycle In diesem Wetter, Mahler represents the human voice through his use of the singer's voice. This leads to the subject of the incorporation of song within Mahler's symphonies, which ranges from the incorporation of voices to the quotation of Mahler's own or other songs, to more elusive and general reference to song. In conclusion, performance as a topic demonstrates an emergent category of meaning within Mahler's symphonies in the moment that they are themselves performed.


Submodularity is an important concept in integer and combinatorial optimization. A classical submodular set function models the utility of selecting homogenous items from a single ground set, and such selections can be represented by binary variables. In practice, many problem contexts involve choosing heterogenous items from more than one ground set or selecting multiple copies of homogenous items, which call for extensions of submodularity. We refer to the optimization problems associated with such generalized notions of submodularity as Generalized Submodular Optimization (GSO). GSO is found in wide-ranging applications, including infrastructure design, healthcare, online marketing, and machine learning. Due to the often highly nonlinear (even non-convex and non-concave) objective function and the mixed-integer decision space, GSO is a broad subclass of challenging mixed-integer nonlinear programming problems. In this tutorial, we first provide an overview of classical submodularity. Then we introduce two subclasses of GSO, for which we present polyhedral theory for the mixed-integer set structures that arise from these problem classes. Our theoretical results lead to efficient and versatile exact solution methods that demonstrate their effectiveness in practical problems using real-world datasets.


Increasing consensus among information systems researchers suggests that personality accounts for the effective use of several technologies, yet less is known about the process through which personality affects user perceptions of technology acceptance. This study, therefore, examined whether personality is associated with student perceptions of audiovisual technology acceptance, and whether general self-efficacy mediates this association. In total, 244 students completed an online survey including measures of personality, general self-efficacy, and perceptions of audiovisual technology acceptance. Canonical correlation uncovered significant associations between personality and student beliefs about technology use. Results further revealed that general self-efficacy fully mediated the effects of openness to experience and neuroticism on Perceived Ease of Use, whereas the association between agreeableness and Perceived Usefulness was partially mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. The fact that personality influences students' perceptions of technology acceptance both directly and indirectly should not remain unnoticed, especially when designing intervention programs to enhance their academic performance.


When the cold accretion disc coupling between neutral gas and a magnetic field is so weak that the magnetorotational instability is less effective or even stops working, it is of prime interest to investigate the pure hydrodynamic origin of turbulence and transport phenomena. As the Reynolds number increases, the relative importance of the non-linear term in the hydrodynamic equation increases. In an accretion disc where the molecular viscosity is too small, the Reynolds number is large enough for the non-linear term to have new effects. We investigate the scenario of the `weakly non-linear' evolution of the amplitude of the linear mode when the flow is bounded by two parallel walls. The unperturbed flow is similar to the plane Couette flow, but with the Coriolis force included in the hydrodynamic equation. Although there is no exponentially growing eigenmode, because of the self-interaction, the least stable eigenmode will grow in an intermediate phase. Later, this will lead to higher-order non-linearity and plausible turbulence. Although the non-linear term in the hydrodynamic equation is energy-conserving, within the weakly non-linear analysis it is possible to define a lower bound of the energy (alpha A(c)(2), where A(c) is the threshold amplitude) needed for the flow to transform to the turbulent phase. Such an unstable phase is possible only if the Reynolds number >= 10(3-4). The numerical difficulties in obtaining such a large Reynolds number might be the reason for the negative result of numerical simulations on a pure hydrodynamic Keplerian accretion disc.


This article exposes the features of editorial production in public and private universities in Ecuador, in the context of evaluation and quality assurance in higher education, using two different types of material and data: a. A review of the data on book production, titles and areas of knowledge; b. UPS' accreditation experience with indicators on scientific research, regional research and refereed books. By doing this, we have checked that editorial production has increased and that social sciences prevail in editorial production are in social sciences. Finally, we foresee that the overvaluation of indexed articles and topological restrictions of peer-reviewed books will discourage the development of university editorials. The hypothesis is as follows: the evaluation and accreditation model will be able to stimulate the editorial production and improve research indicators to the extent that it assigns greater valuation to peer-reviewed books and expands its typology.


This study examined the impact of financial liberalization on the growth of Nigerian Economy. It surveys a stream of theoretical and empirical literatures on both financial liberalization and economic growth. The data employed were gathered from various sources such as the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, Economic and Financial Review, monthly and annual reports and statement of accounts for various years, and the publications of international monetary fund such as international monetary statistical Year Book and Bureau office of statistics. The study made used of co-integration methods by Johansen (1988) and Johansen and Juselius (1988) and Johansen (1990) to estimate the relationship between financial liberalization and growth of Nigerian Economy. The times series property of quietly data employed were first to be investigated. The unit root result showed that non of the variable was stationary in level but became stationary after taken the first difference. This is followed by cointegration test which rejected the non-hypothesis of no cointegration and showed at most, one cointegrating vector Results from error correction showed that speed of adjustment is approximately 2.9 percent, that is, when there is deviation from equilibrium, only 2.9 percent is corrected in one quarter as the variable moves towards restoring equilibrium. Results from this paper clearly showed that financial sector has impact  on the growth of Nigerian Economy but not remarkable impact which might be due to underdeveloped financial market, inadequate financial instrument and poor monitoring of the activities of money market by the central bank. However, in line with the findings of this paper, we recommend that adequate monitoring by the central bank on the activities of commercial banks is required to boost production of real sector of Nigerian economy.


In this manuscript a spectral transformation of linear functionals is studied in the context of linear combinations of $R_{I}$ polynomials in $z$ with the coefficient $\omega_n(\zeta)$ as function of a different variable $\zeta$. Based on the definition of $\omega_n(\zeta)$, these linear combinations can again be $R_{I}$ polynomials. In case they are not, they are shown to satisfy a different form of orthogonality, called para-orthogonality, with respect to a quasi-definite functional. Using Zohar's algorithm for the inversion of a Toeplitz matrix, these para-orthogonal polynomials are further related to sequences of derivatives of polynomials which have the self-inversive property. Finally, an illustration is provided using Gaussian hypergeometric functions and concluding remarks are made on the positive-definite case too.


Maternal and pediatric obesity has risen dramatically over recent years, and is a known predictor of adverse long-term metabolic outcomes in offspring. However, which particular aspects of obese pregnancy promote such outcomes is less clear. While maternal obesity increases both maternal and placental inflammation, it is still unknown whether this is a dominant mechanism in fetal metabolic programming. In this study, we utilized the Fat-1 transgenic mouse to test whether increasing the maternal n-3/n-6 tissue fatty acid ratio could reduce the consequences of maternal obesity-associated inflammation and thereby mitigate downstream developmental programming. Eight-week-old WT or hemizygous Fat-1 C57BL/6J female mice were placed on a high-fat diet (HFD) or control diet (CD) for 8 weeks prior to mating with WT chow-fed males. Only WT offspring from Fat-1 mothers were analyzed. WT-HFD mothers demonstrated increased markers of infiltrating adipose tissue macrophages (P<0.02), and a striking increase in 12 serum pro-inflammatory cytokines (P<0.05), while Fat1-HFD mothers remained similar to WT-CD mothers, despite equal weight gain. E18.5 Fetuses from WT-HFD mothers had larger placentas (P<0.02), as well as increased placenta and fetal liver TG deposition (P<0.01 and P<0.02, respectively) and increased placental LPL TG-hydrolase activity (P<0.02), which correlated with degree of maternal insulin resistance (r = 0.59, P<0.02). The placentas and fetal livers from Fat1-HFD mothers were protected from this excess placental growth and fetal-placental lipid deposition. Importantly, maternal protection from excess inflammation corresponded with improved metabolic outcomes in adult WT offspring. While the offspring from WT-HFD mothers weaned onto CD demonstrated increased weight gain (P<0.05), body and liver fat (P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively), and whole body insulin resistance (P<0.05), these were prevented in WT offspring from Fat1-HFD mothers. Our results suggest that reducing excess maternal inflammation may be a promising target for preventing adverse fetal metabolic outcomes in pregnancies complicated by maternal obesity.


A disposable assembly for use with a sensor assembly, and method for making the same, the disposable comprises a body, a flow restricting element, and a fluid pressure membrane. The body has a lid portion and a base portion. The body defines a fluid flow passage that forms an inlet and an outlet. The flow restricting element is positioned along the fluid flow passage between the inlet and the outlet. The fluid pressure membrane is at a location in the fluid flow passage between the inlet and the outlet. The fluid pressure membrane defines an opening for receiving the flow restricting element. The fluid pressure membrane is located between the lid portion and the base portion of the body.


BACKGROUND
Many children struggle with albuterol hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) inhalers. Albuterol multidose dry powder inhaler (MDPI) may simplify rescue bronchodilator use in children.

OBJECTIVE
To demonstrate the comparability of albuterol MDPI and albuterol HFA in children with asthma.

METHODS
This phase II, multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, single-dose, five-period, crossover study randomized patients (ages 4-11 years) with persistent asthma and prestudy forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) of 60-90% of predicted to 1 of 10 treatment sequences that contained albuterol MDPI (90 and 180 μg), albuterol HFA (90 and 180 μg), and placebo MDPI and placebo HFA. Efficacy was evaluated by measuring the area under the baseline-adjusted percent-predicted FEV1-time curve over 6 hours (PPFEV1 AUC0-6) after dosing. Safety was evaluated by adverse events.

RESULTS
The full analysis set included 61 patients. Albuterol MDPI and albuterol HFA significantly improved PPFEV1 AUC0-6 versus placebo (p ≤ 0.0107). Mean improvement (± standard error [SE]) in PPFEV1 AUC0-6 versus placebo with albuterol MDPI at 90 and 180 μg was similar (21.2 ± 4.87 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 11.60-30.81], and 22.6 ± 4.87 [95% CI, 13.00-32.20], %·hour, respectively). Mean improvement (± SE) with albuterol HFA 180 μg was significantly (p = 0.0226) greater versus albuterol HFA 90 μg (23.7 ± 4.85 [95% CI, 14.13-33.23], and 12.5 ± 4.85 [95% CI, 2.93-22.05], %·hour, respectively). All doses of albuterol were well tolerated.

CONCLUSION
Albuterol MDPI 90 and 180 μg and albuterol HFA 180 μg provided similar and significant FEV1 improvements versus placebo; albuterol HFA 90 μg was significant versus placebo but seemed less effective based on absolute improvements in FEV1. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01899144.


The present paper is a closer examination of that version of so-called "truth-theoretic semantics" which is developed by Larson and Segal (1995). Generally, the claim of truth-functional semantics is that the semantic meta-theory of an object language is exhausted by an adequate theory of truth for this language. Here the measure of adequacy is Tarski's celebrated "criterion T", which requires for each object language sentence A a sentence (of a special form) stating the truth-conditions for A. Larson and Segal combine the truth-theoretic view on semantics with a modular approach to linguistics. They stipulate a semantic module in which the truth-conditions for the object language sentences are derived. Since the "logic module" is, according to Larson and Segal, separated from the semantic module, these derivations can only make quite limited use of logical means. In the present paper I shall demonstrate that even in one of the most primitive sample theories which Larson and Segal develop in their monography, it is necessary to use much more of logic than they are ready to admit. Finally, I will set up and comment on a general formulation of the problem involved here, namely: how much logic is necessary in an adequate semantics.


In this paper, I discuss the observational quantities that are useful for judging the successes and failures of current massive star evolutionary theory. The galaxies of the Local Group can serve as important laboratories for providing these diagnostics, as their metallicities vary by a factor of ten. We find that the evolutionary tracks do a good job of matching the distribution of stars in the H-R diagram during the main-sequence phase. However, none of the models produce RSGs that are as cool and as bright as what is observed. The relative number of WC and WN stars is a strong function of metallicity, and the Padova and Geneva 'normal mass-loss' models do a reasonably good job of matching the observations at low metallicities, but predict too few WCs at higher metallicity. The 'enhanced' mass-loss models of the Geneva group do not match the observations at all. New data is providing excellent statistics on the number of RSGs in these nearby galaxies, and the number ratio of RSGs to WRs is also an extremely sensitive function of metallicity. None of the models reproduce the trend of the RSG/WR ratio with metallicity.


This study aims to examine the effect of corporate governance and disclosure of corporate social responsibility on the tax aggressiveness of mining companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2015-2019. This study uses 8 sample companies from 38 populations. Tax aggressiveness is proxied using ETR, corporate governance is proxied using independent commissioners, audit committees, and institutional ownership. Corporate social responsibility is measured using CSR disclosure indicators based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. The results of this study indicate that corporate governance that is proxied by using independent commissioners and institutional ownership also corporate social responsibility has an effect on tax aggressiveness, while corporate governance that is proxied using audit committees does not affect tax aggressiveness.


BACKGROUND Corticosteroid therapy has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in some connective tissue diseases. This fact has been inadequately investigated in vasculitis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of glucocorticoid therapy on glucose tolerance in patients with temporal arteritis (TA) or polymyalgia rheumatica (PR). MATERIALS AND METHODS An oral test with glucose overload (OGO) was performed before and after one month of initiating therapy with corticosteroids in 14 patients with TA or PR (TA/PR group) and in nine patients with other chronic inflammatory diseases (control group). RESULTS After treatment, patients with TA/PR experienced a decrease in the area under the glucose curve and in serum glucose values at minutes 0, 90, and 120 of the OGTT. Also, a decrease was observed for the area under the insulin curve and for plasma insulin levels at minutes 90 and 120 after OGO. CONCLUSIONS Therapy with corticosteroids improves glucose tolerance in TA/PR with no increase in insulin secretion.


Microalbuminuria is an early marker of renal damage and has been shown to predict future cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with diabetes or hypertension, as well as in subjects in the general population. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that the presence of microalbuminuria reflects the advancement of arterial stiffness by using a study group of 136 community residents who had no cardiovascular diseases except for hypertension and who were not taking any medications. Urinary albumin concentration was determined by the standard method and corrected by creatinine. Microalbuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin/creatinine ratio of 2.0-30.0 mg/mmol creatinine. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by pulse wave velocity (PWV) determined at three points: from the heart to the carotid artery, to the brachial artery, and to the ankle. Carotid arterial pressure was determined using a tonometric sensor. Carotid ultrasonography was performed to measure carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid arterial internal dimension. Subjects with microalbuminuria had higher blood pressure and wider pulse pressure not only in the brachial artery but also in the carotid artery. Microalbuminuria was associated with significantly higher PWV compared with that of normoalbuminuric subjects at all sites studied (mean PWV: 821.2+/-137.4 cm/s vs. 933.8+/-137.5 cm/s, p<0.0001). Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the presence of mircroalbuminuria (p=0.047) was a significant independent predictor of PWV in addition to age, sex, and systolic blood pressure. These findings suggest that microalbuminuria is associated with advanced atherosclerosis in the general population. Underlying arterial stiffness may explain the high cardiovascular mortality in subjects with microalbuminuria. Hypertension may be the mechanism linking microalbuminuria and arterial stiffness in the general population.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Pimavanserin is the first FDA-approved atypical antipsychotic drug indicated for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP). Areas covered: This review focuses on the preclinical discovery of pimavanserin. It analyzes the pharmacological, behavioral and molecular mechanisms of pimavanserin and their contribution to the therapeutic advantages of the drug as reported in published preclinical and clinical studies, press releases and product labels. Expert opinion: Pimavanserin exhibits a unique pharmacological profile with nanomolar affinity at serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors. Functionally, it acts as a potent inverse agonist at 5-HT2A receptors, with selectivity over 5-HT2C receptors and no appreciable activity at other neurotransmitter receptors. Behavioral studies found that pimavanserin reversed impaired behaviors in animal models predictive of antipsychotic activity, and with no impairment of motor functions. The drug exhibits long plasma half-life (57 hours), which support its once/day administration. A pivotal phase III clinical trial demonstrated significant improvement in PDP symptoms in patients receiving pimavanserin compared to placebo-treated patients. The drug also displayed relatively benign safety and tolerability profiles. Pimavanserin's mechanism of action might contribute to its unique psychopharmacological properties in the improved treatment of PDP, and perhaps psychosis in other diseases including schizophrenia and dementia-related psychosis.


Viscoelastic wave equations are derived for both the Biot flow and squirt-flow involved. The relationship between phase velocity or attenuation of viscoelastic wave and macro parameters of the reservoir is clarified in a porous extensive dilatancy anisotropy medium. Numerical models clearly demonstrate that the viscoelastic property of rocks, not the squirt-flow, causes the dispersion and attenuation in the low-frequency range. The attenuation of the quasi SV-wave, SH-wave and the quasi P-wave depend strongly on the directions of permeabilities. Furthermore, the trends of attenuation of the quasi P-wave fast and the quasi SV-wave are inversed in both the high-frequency and low-frequency ranges. Our numerical result is in agreement with the experimental result that was carried out for the Biot/Squirt model by Jorge [Geophys. 65(2000) 202]


Study Design: This is retrospective study of prospectively collected data. Objective: To identify patient factors that are independently associated with prolonged length of stay (LOS) and readmission after posterior cervical fusion (PCF) utilizing a large national database. Summary of Background Data: A number of studies have investigated the morbidity and mortality after PCF; however, little is known about the factors that are associated with prolonged LOS and readmission, both of which incur increased costs for patients and hospitals. Methods: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2011 to 2014. Current Procedural Terminology code 22600 was used to identify patients who underwent PCF. All patient factors were assessed for association with LOS and readmission rate using bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Results: A total of 2667 patients who underwent PCF met the inclusion criteria for LOS analysis. Average (±SD) LOS was 3.92 (±3.24) days, and median LOS was 3 days (interquartile range, 2–5 d). On multivariate analysis, increased LOS was found to be significantly associated with dependent functional status (P<0.001), diabetes mellitus (P=0.021), preoperative anemia (P=0.001), American Society of Anesthesiologists class 3 or 4 (P<0.001), and number of fused levels (P<0.001). A total of 2591 patients met criteria (LOS⩽11 d) for analysis of readmission. Readmission rate among these patients was 7.1%. Average (±SD) LOS of the patients not readmitted within 30 days of operation was 3.89 (±3.25), whereas the average (±SD) LOS of the patients readmitted was 4.24 (±3.08). On multivariate analysis, readmission was found to be significantly associated with only dependent functional status (P=0.019) and increased number of fused levels (P=0.032). Conclusions: The current study provides valuable information on patient factors that are associated with prolonged LOS and readmission, which would be useful in enhanced informed consent before surgery, surgical planning, discharge planning, and optimizing postoperative care. Level of Evidence: Level III.


This thesis reports the results of research on features, options and limitations of low-cost, high-performance, universal integrated interface for capacitive sensors. It concerns development-driven research, where the objectives of the research focus upon possible realization and application of the interface with optimum results at the level of multi-disciplinary systems. Moreover, the objectives of this research include maximization of the performance in relation to the cost. The interface supports different groups of capacitive sensors such as floating high-quality capacitive sensors, floating leaky capacitive sensors, and grounded capacitive sensors. The interface can be adjusted for both: different ranges of capacitances and different signal bandwidths. To check the validity of the proposed ideas and the results of the analysis, three different types of integrated circuits have been designed, fabricated and tested. These designs and test results are presented in chapter 5, 7 and 8. The material found in the various chapters can be summarized as follows: Chapter 2 gives an introduction of capacitive sensors. The three main categories of capacitive sensor –A type, D type and ? type– are explained. In this chapter, some important existing concepts, such as those for two or three-terminal capacitors, guarding and shielding, are summarized. The concept of segmented and differential capacitive sensors and their benefit have also been discussed. In chapter 3, two types of suited A/D converters are compared: the sigma-delta converter and the oscillator-based converter. The arguments for selecting the oscillator-based converter, such as simplicity, spread of power consumption, and compatibility with Smartec's UTI, have been discussed. Three important measurement techniques necessary to achieve a high measurement performance are briefly described in this chapter. These techniques are: auto-calibration, two-port measurement and chopping. Some important characteristics of the interface are explained as well. In chapter 4 we first show how an interface as introduced in chapter 3 can be made flexible, so that it can be used in a wide variety of applications. Then, a detailed analysis of important interface features, such as noise, linearity, and immunity for the effects of parasitic capacitances are presented. At the end of this chapter, the challenges of characterizing and measuring very small nonlinearities are presented, together with a practical method to solve the identified problems. Chapter 5 presents a very flexible, high-performance, universal interface design for which full advantage has been taken of the knowledge and techniques presented in the previous chapters. This interface is suitable for measuring high-quality floating capacitive sensor in various ranges up to 220 pF. The measurement time can be set from about 100 µs up to 50 ms, which corresponds to a data acquisition rate of 20 samples/s up to 104 samples/s. With a measurement time of 1 s, the measured resolution is as high as 20 bits, which corresponds to 1 aF in a 1 pF range. This resolution can easily compete with that of other state-of-the art designs and is at least three bit higher than the resolution of Smartec's UTI, which is available in the. Moreover, our novel interface circuit has much more flexibility with respect to the selection of the input capacitance range, parasitic-input-capacitance range, and the measurement time. Furthermore, the nonlinearity of this interface is about two bits better than Smartec's UTI. To help the user in making proper choices when optimizing the interface system for particular applications, a users guide has been included. Chapter 6 introduces a novel interface in which the principle of negative feedback for the front-end circuit has been applied. Another difference with the design presented in chapter 5 is that the input capacitance-to-voltage converter (CVC) has been removed, so that the relaxation oscillator works as a capacitance-to-period (CPC) converter. The resulting structure is more power-efficient. In addition, since the main source of nonlinearity is found to be in the CVC, removing this converter yields a higher linearity. Furthermore, we showed that applying negative feedback can also increase the resolution. The conditions to be met for proper operation are explained and measurement results have been presented. Chapter 7 introduces an interface with a modified CVC, which in first order is immune to the leakage of the capacitive sensing elements. Measurement results show that the error in measuring a capacitor with the value of 100 pF caused by a shunting resistor of 100 k? is less than 0.6 pF. Finally, chapter 8 presents an interface for grounded capacitive sensors that are equipped with active guarding, using feedforward instead of feedback. Since there is no possibility of instability in this method, there is more freedom to optimize the immunity of interface for of the effects of parasitic cable capacitances. The measurement results show that when a connection cable with a length of 30 m is used to measure a capacitor in the range of 10 pF to 330 pF, the cable capacitance of 3 nF causes an error of less than 0.3 pF.


Climate is the set of average atmospheric conditions that characterizes a region. It directly influences the majority of human activities, especially agriculture. Climate classification systems (CCSs) are important tools in the study of agriculture, enabling knowledge of the climatic characteristics of a region. Thus, we aimed to perform the climatic characterization of the State of Parana using the methods proposed by Koppen and Geiger (1928), modified by Trewartha (1954) (KT), Thornthwaite (1948) (TH) and Camargo (1991) and modified by Maluf (2000) (CM), using data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) model. The results of spatial interpolation (virtual stations) were performed using the Kriging method in spherical shape with one neighbour and resolution of 0.25°. The CCSs displayed the ability to separate the warm and dry from cold and wet regions. The most predominant climates were Cfa (temperate humid with hot summers), C1rA'a' (sub-humid with little water deficiency, megathermal) and ST-UMi (humid subtropical with dry winter), according to KT, TH and CM, respectively. CM is an intermediate CCS between KT and TH.


We consider anisotropic self-similar random fields, in particular, the fractional Brownian sheet (fBs). This Gaussian field is an extension of fractional Brownian motion. It is well known that the fractional Brownian motion is a unique Gaussian self-similar process with stationary increments. The main result of this article is an example of a Gaussian self-similar field with stationary rectangular increments that is not an fBs. So we proved that the structure of self-similar Gaussian fields can be substantially more involved then the structure of self-similar Gaussian processes. In order to establish the main result, we prove some properties of covariance function for self-similar fields with rectangular increments. Also, using Lamperti transformation, we obtain properties of covariance function for the corresponding stationary fields.


This paper describes how an innovation in the practice of action learning, self-managed action learning (SMAL), was developed and then applied in practice on a number of management development programmes for a Health Board in Ireland. The nature of action learning set facilitation is discussed. The paper describes how the term set facilitator was replaced by set manager, since it provided a more accurate description of the role needed to sustain action learning sets. The skills necessary for effective action learning set membership and facilitation are considered and are found to be the key skills for facilitative management and the 'soft skills' for managing change. A new SMAL set process and its support structures are outlined. Details are given of how SMAL has been used on management development programmes involving more than 380 managers. The key beliefs and values that underpin SMAL are also explained.


Skeletal muscle is perceived as a major tissue in glucose and lipid metabolism. High fat diet (HFD) lead to the accumulation of intramuscular lipids, including: long chain acyl-CoA, diacylglycerols, and ceramides. Ceramides are considered to be one of the most important lipid groups in the generation of skeletal muscle insulin resistance. So far, it has not been clearly established whether all ceramides adversely affect the functioning of the insulin pathway, or whether there are certain ceramide species that play a pivotal role in the induction of insulin resistance. Therefore, we designed a study in which the expression of CerS1 and CerS5 genes responsible for the synthesis of C18:0-Cer and C16:0-Cer, respectively, was locally silenced in the gastrocnemius muscle of HFD-fed mice through in vivo electroporation-mediated shRNA plasmids. Our study indicates that HFD feeding induced both, the systemic and skeletal muscle insulin resistance, which was accompanied by an increase in the intramuscular lipid levels, decreased activation of the insulin pathway and, consequently, a decrease in the skeletal muscle glucose uptake. CerS1 silencing leads to a reduction in C18:0-Cer content, with a subsequent increase in the activity of the insulin pathway, and an improvement in skeletal muscle glucose uptake. Such effects were not visible in case of CerS5 silencing, which indicates that the accumulation of C18:0-Cer plays a decisive role in the induction of skeletal muscle insulin resistance.


The BoC was pioneered in the UK by Dr. David Challis and his colleagues at the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), University of Manchester. While conventional projections of care needs often assume that a growing population of older persons will demand a proportionately greater number of residential LTC beds, the BoC emphasizes that the need for such beds will be determined as well by supply-side factors such as the availability of safe, costeffective community-based care. Other things being equal, where H&CC options are more accessible, additional older persons will be able to age in place and fewer will require residential LTC.


Abstract : This is a study of the Nahr Al-Bared Palestinian Camp battle, which occurred in 2007 in North Lebanon between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fath Al-Islam (FAI) terrorist organization. It begins with a summary of the Palestinians' history in Lebanon, the Palestinian refugee camps, Nahr Al-Bared camp (NBC) characteristics, and FAI terrorist organization. Then, the study analyses the use of the Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic instruments of national power (DIME) by the LAF in engagements during the NBC battle. During this extended operation, the LAF fought a fierce battle which formed a real test of its unity, military professionalism, and its ability to fight in one of the most difficult types of combat in unconventional warfare. The battle also puts the LAF as an institution, its leadership, combat units, and combat ability under the microscope of all audio-visual media that monitored the fighting minute by minute. This study describes the instruments of national power of the United States' doctrine and then analyzes their use by the LAF to manage the NBC battle. The study concludes that the application of the instruments of national power could improve the future defense of Lebanese sovereignty regarding Palestinian camps, counter-terrorism missions, and other operations.


Abstract. Water being the most important component to life directness in the earth, especially for mankind. Water is not only used for physical needs but also used for spiritual purposes like a purification symbol in Islam. Islam requires its followers to perform ablution (using water) before performing prayers or reading the Al-Quran. In some regions, especially in Java, water is considered sacred because it is used to means of ritual. Water is also being the source of civilization. The water complexity for human life can't be separated from the molecular components are compose it. Some of the medical research was found the water peculiarity as a potion. The another of water peculiarity famous as crystal structures, righteously human, water has an emotional. The water peculiarities were summarized in the Holy Quran and the Science development has given evidence that water is the great miracles Allah SWT has given to mankind, it is not a chance but it is a great management


A low-inductance drive coil energized with a shaped high-current drive pulse, together with a separate pickup coil, is used for crack detection in thick multiple-layer aircraft structures. The slow rise time or low-frequency portion of the shaped pulse applied to a solenoid drive coil is used to obtain the required depth-of-field penetration into the structure. The fast fall time or high-frequency portion of the shaped pulse is used to rapidly cancel the slow pulse current and field at the structure surface. This cancellation process causes the collapse of the field within the structure, which reacts with the structure and cracks. The structure/crack eddy-current response is detected at the structure surface with a spiral pancake pickup coil. The pancake pickup coil is used to selectively detect the tangential component of the drive pulse field collapsing from within the structure. An important aspect of this high peak energy testing approach is its saturation of steel fasteners, which highly reduces their permeability variations.


Based on ab initio calculations, we determine the features and relative stability of different models proposed to describe the $(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$-FeO(111) reconstruction. Our results suggest that both wurtzite and spinel-like environments are possible, and their coexistence explains phenomena of biphase ordering. The surface phase diagram reflects a competition of charge and magnetic compensation effects, and reveals the important influence of the substrate on the final surface structure. Though antiferromagnetic couplings are dominant, frustration and the delicate balance of surface and bulk exchange interactions lead to a net surface magnetization that accounts for the large measured values.


Introduction. One of the main problems of fire extinguishing at gas compressor stations is fires in confined spaces where electrical installations can be under voltage. To extinguish these fires, the co-authors propose to use jets of thermally activated water containing salts that inhibit burning. It is necessary to assess the electrical conductivity of water jets to prevent the exposure of fire-fighting units to electrical injuries.Materials and methods. In the experimental study, the principal electricity measuring instrument is digital dc megaohmmeter M4122U, which takes readings if operated from a laptop. The flow rate was measured using IT 2518 measurement complex and TDR14–2–3 primary flow converter of the turbine type. Termit T-35 hardness converter performed electromagnetic water treatment.Theoretical fundamentals. Measurements of leakage currents in jets of thermally activated water, fed through fire nozzles mounted onto a multi-purpose fire truck, were taken, and the maximum permissible distance to an electrical installation was determined experimentally and analytically using an experimental stand.Results and discussions. Averaged values of resistance of a jet of thermally activated water fed from a long-range nozzle at control points do not leave the confidence corridor with a probability of 0.95, which means that they do not cause a significant change in dc resistance. Inhibiting salt, injected into the water, reduces the resistance of jets of thermally activated water by no more than 2–3 % compared to under-heated water. The treatment of the inhibiting salt, injected into the under-heated water, using Termit T-35 hardness converter, does not significantly change the resistance of thermally activated water jets.Conclusions. It is theoretically and experimentally proved that the injection of inhibiting salts into the underheated water, as well as the electromagnetic treatment of water using low-power stiffness converters, do not significantly affect the electrical conductivity of jets of thermally activated water if compared to jets that contain no inhibiting admixtures. The extinguishing of surfaces of electrical installations using jets of thermally activated water containing flame inhibiting injections of salts, as well as the development of an inerting concentration in confined spaces of gas compressor stations is electrically safe for any person engaged in fire extinguishing.


Several observed properties of the T=2 states of the A=12 nuclei favour a model in which only small components of the states belong to the lowest shell-model configuration.


Frailty models are frequently used to analyse clustered survival data in medical contexts. The frailties, or random effects, are used to model the association between individual survival times within clusters.

Analysis of survival times of related individuals is typically complicated because follow up on an event type of interest is censored by events of secondary interest. Treating such competing events as independent may yield an incorrect analysis when the random effects associated with other event types are dependent of the event type of interest. We study two related inferential procedures for dependent data where the frailties of the type specific hazards may be correlated between competing event types.

Routine registers offer possibilities to study covariate effects on survival times for rare diseases, for which large cohorts are required. However, the vast amount of data and the clustering of related individuals pose statistical challenges. In the first paper we adapt maximum likelihood methods for semiparametric transformation regression models to a cohort register subsampling design. This approach drastically reduces the computing times with a minor loss of efficiency, and results in practically useful estimation procedures.

In the second paper we propose an estimator of covariate effects based on the observed intensities, where the nonparametric baseline hazards are profiled out. Thereby we reduce the problem to finite dimensions, where e.g. the covariance matrix is more directly estimated. A set of frailty structures for paired competing risks data based on sums of gamma variables is investigated through simulations.

We establish the asymptotic properties of the estimators and present consistent covariance estimators. Worked examples are provided for illustration.


This paper implements two types of framework to investigate the outperformance, selectivity and market timing skills in hedge funds: uncertainty and probability. Using the uncertainty framework, the paper develops an uncertain fuzzy credibility regression model in the form of a linear and quadratic CAPM in order to estimate these performance skills. Using the probability framework the paper implements frequentist and Bayesian CAPMs (linear and quadratic) to estimate the same performance skills. We consider a data set of monthly investment style indices published by Hedge Fund Research group. The data set extends from January 1995 to June 2010. We divide this sample period into four overlapping sub-sample periods that contain different market trends. Using the probability framework, our results show that bounded rationality triggers inefficiencies in the market that fund managers can utilise to outperform the market. This market outperformance is due to selectivity and market timing skill during periods of economic recovery only. We admit that these results contradict the rational expectations model. However, with the uncertainty framework this effect disappears on behalf of the rational expectations model and the efficient market hypothesis. This disappearance may be a result of the increased amount of high frequency trading witnessed recently that has made market inefficiencies, which are the main source of hedge fund performance, rarer.


5-Lipoxygenase, one of lipoxygenase isozymes, is a well-studied oxidative metabolism enzyme. It widely exists in various human tissues and cells, participates in the oxidative metabolism of endogenous and exogenous chemicals, and produces a variety of metabolites, all of which contribute to the occurrence of human diseases, such as inflammation, asthma, atherosclerosis, and tumor and so on. The expression of 5-lipoxygenase is at low level in normal human tissues while at high level in abnormal tissues. 5-Lipoxygenase is closely related to many kinds of diseases in human ovary, brain, cardiovascular system, lung, liver, pancreas and other tissues. The abnormal expression of 5-lipoxygenase tends to promote the development of the disease.


An introduction to interval analysis of distributions, as a new direction of interval analysis, is presented, including illustrated examples. New formulas and additional restrictions for intervals of moments, including mean value, are obtained. Among them are Novoselov formulas for moments and the so-called "Ring of formulas" for mean values. In the scope of the interval analysis of distributions, the ruptures for mean values are considered. The interval analysis of distributions may be used, e.g., in probability theory, modeling, forecasting, economics, utility theory.


We propose the Chinese Remainder Theorem in distributive lattices and apply the results to investigate the congruences induced by algebraic functions on distributive lattices. It is shown that the congruence induced by an algebraic function preserves abutment relationships in distributive lattices.


Abstract. Plastics have been found in marine water and sediments, sea ice, marine invertebrates, and penguins in Antarctica; however, there is no evidence of their presence in Antarctic glaciers. Our pilot study investigated plastic occurrence on two ice surfaces that constitute part of the ablation zone of Collins Glacier (King George Island, Antarctica). Our results showed concentrations of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in the 0.17–0.33 items m−2 range. We registered an atmospheric dry deposition between 0.08 and 0.17 items m−2 day−1 (February 2019). This is the first report of plastic presence in an Antarctic glacier, which was probably transported by wind.


Protecting data is at the heart of many secure systems, and many users rely on a database management system to manage the protection. This paper is all about the security of database management systems, as an example of how application security can be designed and implemented for specific task. There is substantial current interest in DBMS Security because databases are newer than the programming and operating systems. Databases are essential to many business and government organizations, to make the retrieval and maintenance of data easy and efficient it is stored in a database. Database organization and contents are considered valuable corporate assets that must be carefully protected because databases are a favorite target for attackers. The basic security requirements of database system are not unlike those of other computing system. The basic problems are access control, exclusion of spurious data, authentication of users and reliability. In this paper the challenges and threats in database security are identified.