The deformation of copper with grain size less than 10 nm is investigated using a 2D continuum model incorporating atomistically-based constitutive relations. The local constitutive response of a series of symmetric and asymmetric tilt grain boundaries is obtained using an atomistic quasicontinuum method under tension and shear. The atomistic results show that it is possible to associate a constant maximum stress with each deformation mechanism triggered in the GB vicinity, i.e. GB sliding and decohesion, atom shuffling and partial dislocation emission. The GB strength is always found weaker in shear than in tension. This information is incorporated into a continuum polycrystalline model tested under compression. This model provides useful insights, in the absence of intragranular plasticity, into the onset of macroscopic quasi-plasticity, which results from GB sliding and collective grain rotation mechanisms.


Using picosecond time-resolved shadowgrams and interferograms, we measured the lateral expansion of an early stage ablation plasma induced by a 1064 nm, 35 ps laser pulse on a copper target. The plasma was found to have an electron density on the order of 1020 cm−3 near the target surface. Prior to the expanding material vapor plume, this high density plasma originates from the breakdown of air, assisted by laser-induced electron emission from the target surface. The longitudinal expansion of the plasma was suppressed due to the development of a strong space-charge region. At postpulse times, the relation r∼t1/2 was found for the temporal lateral expansion of the radius of the plasma. Measurements of energy absorption by the plasma provide an interpretation for the experimentally measured reduction in ablation efficiency as the laser fluence increases beyond approximately 100 J/cm2.


Global-scale ocean dynamics related to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was the focus of the 21st International Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics. ENSO provides modelers a great deal of data revealing correlation between sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and atmospheric pressure differentials in the tropics. (See Enfield [1989] for an excellent review of the data.)

The meeting was held May 8–12, 1989, at the University of Liege, Belgium. More than 50 scientists attended, from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, People's Republic of China, Spain, U.K., U.S., and U.S.S.R.


In order to achieve on-line monitoring and condition evaluation t of the main electrical equipment, improving the self-healing ability of network, a model aiming at insulation condition classification evaluation of electrical equipment for running based on matter-element theory was established. The Characteristic parameters affecting the insulation condition of running main electrical equipment was analyzed. Through building hierarchical status of evaluation indices system and applying Euclid approach degree evaluation function, the classification evaluation of main electrical equipment was achieved. Instance of the application in power system, the result of the classification evaluation of the electrical equipment based on matter-element theory has proved, which is objective and more practical for maintenance work.


The definition of a carcinogen in an experimental context is an agent which increases the incidence of any neoplasm irrespective of whether it is lethal, potentially lethal or benign. As genetic factors are fundamental in carcinogenesis these are briefly reviewed. A description of some of the problems associated with carcinogenicity experiments and the interpretation of their results is presented. Particular emphasis is given to so-called genotoxic carcinogens. 'So-called' because there are unresolved difficulties in defining the weight and strength of evidence required for concluding that genotoxicity is indeed the mode of carcinogenic action (MOA), rather than simply concluding that the MOA is unknown. A genotoxic MOA that is based on reactivity with DNA may lead currently to the unverifiable and therefore counter-scientific default assumption that there is no dose without an effect on cancer incidence. Carcinogenicity test design, including the use of the maximum tolerated dose, is briefly discussed. This is followed by consideration of issues and challenges presented in the interpretation of results by the basic pathology, the grouping of tumours for statistical analysis, the use and abuse of historical control data, interpretation of high-dose effects, the use of transgenic animals and the identification of noncarcinogens. Finally, division of the roles of risk assessors and risk managers is outlined.

Keywords:

carcinogen;
carcinogenesis;
chemical;
dose;
false positive;
genotoxic;
historical control;
maximum tolerated;
metabolism;
mouse;
nongenotoxic;
noncarcinogen;
oncogene;
pathology;
rat;
risk;
statistic;
transgenic


It is always interesting to ask about the origin of things, but for this we also need to consider what it is for which we seek the beginning. What, then, is 'language' – voice, words, text? This leads to a number of questions: what are the current and earlier theories about how language began? did language come just once to humankind and from one single source? can language and verbal text come in dreams and visions (the paper discusses and analyses an ethnographically-attested example of this)? what of the source of the multiple languages we know today? how and in what form(s) do we create language anew? Much of the earlier theorising centred on speech – that is, on oral (in practice multi-sensory) language. But there are also the written forms of language. The emergence and the number of scripts is remarkable, as are, when we know them, their creators. How did these many forms of written language start? Language is a key human-divine art, among our greatest, to be celebrated. Yet in a sense we know so little about it and are right to continue our search for its origin.


Emission inventories are a critical basis for air quality and climate modeling, as well as policy decisions. Non‐methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are key precursor compounds in ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. Accurately representing NMVOCs in emission inventories is crucial for understanding atmospheric chemistry, the impact of policy measures, and climate projections. Improving NMVOC representation in emission inventories is fraught with challenges, ranging from the lack of (long‐term) NMVOC measurements, limited efforts in updating emission factors, to the diversity of NMVOC species reactivity. Here we take an initial step to evaluate the representation of urban NMVOC speciation in an emission inventory (EDGARv4.3.2 and EDGARv6.1) at the global level. To compare the urban measurements of NMVOCs to the emission inventory estimates, ratios of individual NMVOCs to acetylene are used. Owing to limitations in measurement data and grouping of NMVOCs in emission inventories, the comparison includes only a limited number of alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics. Results show little to no agreement between the ratios in the observations and those in the global emission inventory for the species compared (r2 0.01–0.20). This could be related to incorrect speciation profiles and/or spatial allocation of NMVOCs to urban areas. Regional emission inventories show better agreement among the ratios (r2 0.43–0.70). The inclusion of oxygenated species in NMVOC measurements, as well as greater global coverage of measurements could improve representation of NMVOC species in emission inventories, and a mosaic of regional inventories may be a better approach.


A Meta-Analysis of Drug Eluting Stents vs. Bare Metal Stents for Treatment of Extracranial Vertebral Artery Disease Background: —Although a growing number of reports offer evidence for the potential of drug eluting stents (DES) in treating atherosclerotic stenosis of the extracranial vertebral artery, their efficacy when compared to bare metal stents (BMS) is uncertain due to the lack of a large prospective randomized trial. Methods: —A search strategy was used using the terms "stents," "drug-eluting stents," "atherosclerosis," "vertebral artery," and "vertebrobasilar insufficiency" through Medline. Five studies met the criteria for a comparative meta-analysis. The technical and clinical success, periprocedural complications, target vessel revascularization (TVR), rates of restenosis and recurrent symptoms and overall survival were compared between the DES and BMS groups using the Mantel-Haenszel method with fixed and random effect models. Results: —The mean pretreatment stenosis was 83.8±4.2% in the DES group (n = 156) and 80.12±2.7% in the BMS group (n = 148). There was no significant difference in the technical success (OR = 1.528, p = 0.622), clinical success (OR = 1.917, p = 0.274) and periprocedural complications (OR = 0.741, p = 0.614) between the two groups. The rates of technical success, clinical success and periprocedural complications were 98.78%, 95.77% and 1.94% for the DES group vs. 100%, 97.96% and 2.96% for the BMS group. There was no periprocedural mortality, stroke or TIA. The mean clinical and radiological follow-up times were 19.1±6.9 and 14.23±1.5 months respectively, for the DES arm and 26±7.6 and 20.5±3.3 months, respectively, for the BMS group. A 0.388 odds ratio of no-restenosis in the BMS to DES arms (p = 0.001) indicated a significantly higher restenosis rate in the BMS group relative to the DES group (33.57% vs. 15.49%, respectively). When compared with the DES group, the BMS group had a significantly higher rate of recurrent symptoms (2.76% vs. 11.26%; OR = 3.319, p = 0.011) and TVR (4.83% vs. 19.21%; OR = 4.099, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between overall survival (OR = 0.655, p = 0.32). Conclusion: —A lower rate of restenosis, recurrent symptoms and target vessel revascularization was noted in the DES group.


Introduction: It is acknowledged that leading pharmaceutical companies lately spend more on marketing than they are investing in research and technology development. Romania registers one of the largest market growths in the pharmaceutical industry from Central and Eastern Europe, and it is one of the main investors on the advertising market. The rapid changes in the pharmaceutical landscape have demanded for organizations to re-evaluate their infrastructure and the information delivery methods, as well as cut through the clutter and build competitive advantages by using effective advertising. The dry eye is a commonly disease encountered worldwide, which is treated with the help of over-the-counter (OTC) artificial tear drops. Aim: The aim of this study was twofold: to determine the profile of the Romanian consumer who uses artificial tear drops and to assess the components of experiential marketing used in a TV advertisement, which have the highest influence on the consumer's perception of effective advertising. Material and method: We selected a TV advertisement that used the magical concept of the artificial tear drops in the shape of water in a desert area, suggesting an eye irritation. The instrument for data collection was a self-administered questionnaire based on the watched advertising spot about the OTC artificial tear drops. The sample was made up of 384 participants and the sampling method was the snowball technique. Moreover, a model using Structural Equation was validated in order to assess the established relationships between the experiential marketing components and the effectiveness of the OTC artificial tear drops advertising. Findings: The findings showed that the demographic profile of the OTC artificial tear drops consumer is a female, with the mean age of 39 years, who graduated from university, with an average income of 2500 RON (Romanian currency), single, and with an office job. The mean number of hours spent in front of a computer per day was 10. The structural equation model revealed that the component think experience has the highest direct influence on the consumer's perception of an advertisement about OTC artificial tear drops as being effective. Discussion: The pharmaceutical market is different from other markets in that the decision maker is not the purchaser except for the OTC drugs that do not require a receipt from a physician. Think experience focuses on rational decision-making and problem solving but in a creative way.


The study identifies the influence emosional quotient, spiritual quotient and adversity quotient on the performance of officials in helath polytechnic the ministry of health Palu. The aim of the study is to determine and analyze simultaneous and partial influence emosional quotient, spiritual quotient and adversity quotient on the performance of officials in helath polytechnic the ministry of health Palu. Method of study is descriptive and it distributes 118 questionnaires to respondents. The result indicates that correlation among independent variables of emosional quotient, spiritual quotient and adversity quotient on the performance of officials in helath polytechnic the ministry of health Palu is 0.637, that indicates a strong correlation between independent and dependent variables. Adjusted R square or determinant coefficient (R 2 ), that intended to determine the influence emosional quotient, spiritual quotient and adversity quotient on the performance of officials in helath polytechnic the ministry of health Palu is 0.390 or 39%. This means that the influence of independent variables towards dependent variables is 39% while the remaining of 61% influenced by  variables that are not studied.


Fatliquor could change physical properties of leather, which make it softer, more elastic, flexible and give smooth grain surface. This research was conducted to observe the influence of fatliquor addition on physical characteristics of nila skin for shoe upper. The physical characteristics in this research, consisted of tensile strength, tear strength and elongation at break. The fatliquor was put into the leather with the amount of 4%, 6% and 8%. Respectively, the results showed that the addition of fatliquor could improve the physical properties of nila skin. More fatliquor, could rise the physical properties value of nila skin. The optimal amount of fatliquor was 4%, which resulted in tensile strength value of 233,96 kg/cm2, 70% for elongation at break and 36,08 kg/cm for tear strength value, and fulfill the standard requirement of Acceptable Quality Levels in Leathers.


©The Geological Society of Japan 2018 1049 Abstract: A geochemical database for the basement rocks of the Japanese islands has been constructed. These data were previously published in Japanese domestic journals and bulletins not readily accessible to the international community. The database includes 5818 samples from 224 articles, and provides major and trace element concentrations, isotopic ratios, geographical coordinates (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of sampling points, and geological and lithological information. These data are provided in a unified and consistent format as an Excel spreadsheet, which can be efficiently utilized for statistical analyses and datadriven approaches in geochemistry, geology, and petrology. Report


Cardiovascular stent technologies have significantly improved over time. However, their optimal performance remains limited by restenosis, thrombosis, inflammation, and delayed re-endothelialization. Current stent designs primarily target inhibition of neointimal proliferation but do not promote functional arterial healing (pro-healing) in order to restore normal vascular reactivity. The endothelial lining that does develop with current stents appears to have loose intracellular junctions. We have developed a pro-healing nanomatrix coating for stents that enhances healing while limiting neointimal proliferation. This builds on our prior work evaluating the effects of the pro-healing nanomatrix coating on cultures of vascular endothelial cells (ECs), smooth muscle cells (SMCs), monocytes, and platelets. However, when a stent is deployed in an artery, multiple vascular cell types interact, and their interactions affect stent performance. Thus, in our current study, an in vitro vascular double-layer (VDL) system was used to observe stent effects on communication between different vascular cell types. Additionally, we assessed the pro-healing ability and vascular cell interactions after stent deployment in the VDL system and in a rabbit model, evaluating the nanomatrix-coated stent compared to a commercial bare metal stent (BMS) and a drug eluting stent (DES). In vitro results indicated that, in a layered vascular structure, the pro-healing nanomatrix-coated stent could (1) improve endothelialization and endothelial functions, (2) regulate SMC phenotype to reduce SMC proliferation and migration, (3) suppress inflammation through a multifactorial manner, and (4) reduce foam cell formation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and calcification. Consistent with this, in vivo results demonstrated that, compared with commercial BMS and DES, this pro-healing nanomatrix-coated stent enhanced re-endothelialization with negligible restenosis, inflammation, or thrombosis. Thus, these findings indicate the unique pro-healing features of this nanomatrix stent coating with superior efficacy over commercial BMS and DES.


Fetal frontal neocortex from 18-day-old rat embryonic brain was transplanted into cavities in 30-dayold host motor cortex. Sixty days after transplantation, 5 of 15 transplanted rats had surviving fetal transplants. The fetal cortex transplants were physically attached to the host brain, completely filled the original cavity, and had numerous surviving cells including pyramidal neurons. Cell lamination within the fetal transplant was abnormal. The (14C) 2-deoxyglucose uptake of all five of the fetal neocortex transplants was less than adjacent cortex and contralateral host motor-sensory cortex, but more than adjacent corpus callosum white matter. The results indicate that fetal frontal neocortex can be transplanted into damaged rat motor cortex. The metabolic rate of the transplants suggests they could be partially functional.


Despite widespread belief that children are aerobically trainable, studies examining the ability of a child to improve maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) have yielded inconsistent findings. The present investigation, using meta-analysis, examined the effects of physical activity, gender, experimental design, and sufficiency of exercise on the VO2 max of child subjects. Sixty-nine studies examining the effects of training on children were originally located; 28 met criteria for inclusion. From these studies, 70 effect sizes (ESs) were calculated. Some studies employed cross-sectional (XS) designs involving comparisons of intact groups of subjects; the others used a pretest-posttest (PP) design, which followed subjects throughout a specified training program. Average ES indicated a considerable difference between trained and untrained subjects though several possible sources of confounding (e.g., subject self-selection) in XS studies were identified. Effect sizes of .94 (+/- 1.00) and .35 (+/- 0.82) were achieved for XS and PP designs, respectively. Further analyses were conducted with the PP design studies. In these studies, subjects improved approximately 2 ml.kg 1 x min-1. In the PP studies, effect sizes were not significantly affected by (a) gender, (b) "sufficient" and "insufficient" training protocol, or (c) test mode. Results indicated that reported changes in VO2max in children are small to moderate and are a function of the experimental design used.


An account is made of the experimental, theoretical, and computational developments that led to our current understanding of the colloidal aggregation problem when a gravitational field is present. Starting with unaggregated colloids, a review is made of the advances that led to the founding of the barometric equation for the distribution of colloidal particles in a suspension, noticing that for large bodies, like large colloidal aggregates, their final fate in equilibrium is to be at the bottom of the container. Then, we briefly review the aggregation of colloids in the absence of gravity that has been amply studied by both experiments and simulations. For this purpose, the paradigmatic case of the DLVO interaction is taken as an example. Next, a brief revision is made of the seminal experimental work of C. Allain and collaborators on the colloidal aggregation problem when an external gravitational field is present, centering our study in the nongelling situations, that is, for dilute colloidal suspensions, when only sedimentation and deposition of single clusters occur. Afterward, the development of different computer simulations that treat this case of single cluster sedimentation and deposition is reviewed, and note how the different improvements of the algorithms lead to better correspondences with the experimental systems. We finally discuss further possible improvements of the algorithms and end with proposals for future work.


The last decade has seen a quiet but steady expansion of interest in using socioeconomic diversity in schools to improve educational outcomes. Ten years ago, only a few school districts around the country used formal strategies to integrate their schools along class lines. Today, over eighty school districts around the United States, together educating around four million students, ensure that poor children are taught alongside middle-class and wealthier children through a variety of voluntary integration programs. The message of The Future of School Integration: Socioeconomic Diversity as an Education Reform Strategy, the important new book edited by Richard Kahlenberg, is simple: these strategies are more educationally effective than other reform strategies; they are more cost effective; and recognizing these facts has important implications for a number of pressing law-reform choices at the federal, state, and local levels.


The source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) is an important water conservation and animal husbandry resource in China. It is of great significance to understand the patch pattern and ecological risk of alpine grassland in the SRYR for ecological environment management. This study first used 12 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial images and eight moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index product MOD13Q1 images from July to August in 2019 to extract alpine grassland patch patterns in the SRYR, then constructed an ecological risk model based on the landscape vulnerability index and landscape disturbance index, and finally combined spatial self-reliance correlation and semi-variance analysis methods to explore the spatial distribution of ecological risks. The results showed that the patch fragmentation degree (Pi), area weighted shape index (AWMSI), and separation degree (Si) of the four grassland types in the SRYR are ordered as follows: alpine steppe > degraded meadow > alpine meadow > swamp meadow. Moreover, the greater the fractional vegetation cover (FVC), the greater the landscape dominance index (DOi), and the better the ecosystem stability. The spatial difference of ecological risk in the SRYR shows a situation of low risk in the east (ERImin=1.5355) and high risk in the west (ERImax = 70.6429). High FVC was found in low and mild low risk areas where the vegetation types are mainly swamp meadow and shrub, while low FVC was found in high and mild high-risk areas where the vegetation types are mainly alpine steppe and degraded meadow. The spatial distribution of ecological risk of the SRYR has obvious positive spatial correlation (Moran's I = 0.863), the spatial aggregation distribution is distinct, and the local space has significant high-high aggregation and low–low aggregation phenomena. The results of this study reveal that patch characteristics have good indicative significance for alpine grassland ecological protection and should be considered in future studies. In addition, the ecological risk in the SRYR is relatively high, especially in the western region, which should be taken seriously in future ecological management and governance.


This book (the research outcome of the EU-INCO FP6 research project Jayhun: Interstate Water Resource Risk Management: Towards a Sustainable Future for the AralBasin ) focuses on and discusses the results of research done on the risk assessment levels associated with relevant regional variables in the Aral Basin and develops a strategy for an improved management of the region's water resources.

The book provides current and reliable information on the rate of glacial retreat in Central Asian and the implications for future water resources in the region. The impact of global changes on annual precipitation is assessed. The rates of reservoir siltation are established by hydrographic surveys, and analyses of wastage and effectiveness of water usage in the large irrigation massifs are conducted. Water resources models are used to analyse existing and newly generated data. These are calibrated with existing data and subsequently used for simulating various possible future scenarios. The book thereby provides a risk analysis for water resources management in the Aral Basin and identifies sustainable options for improved management of the region's water resources.

This title belongs to European Water Research Series .

ISBN: 9781843393085 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780401423 (eBook)


During quick-freezing with liquid nitrogen all but two molecular layers of water moved from between the crystals of saturated bentonite gels. The water molecules appear to have migrated to ice crystals forming near the clay crystals. Lyophilizing removed the ice crystals and further reduced interlayer water. Both quick-freezing and lyophilizing altered the original gel structure.


The optimum approach towards immunosuppression withdrawal following kidney transplant failure is unclear. Prolonged weaning may be associated with reduced sensitization, less graft nephrectomy and greater likelihood of retransplantation, but conversely increased risk of infection, malignancy and death. We conducted a single‐centre retrospective analysis of patients experiencing graft failure between 2007 and 2017, comparing rates of sensitization, retransplantation, nephrectomy, infection, malignancy and death between patients who had immunosuppression weaned over <90 vs. 90–180 vs. >180 days. Patient survival after immunosuppression withdrawal over <90 vs. 90–180 vs. >180 days was 73.3%, 72.1% and 80.4%, respectively (P = 0.35), with no differences in cPRA (80.06 vs. 81.21 vs. 85.42, P = 0.66) or retransplantation rate [24/31 (77.4%) vs. 21/35 (60.0%) vs. 22/36 (61.1%), P = 0.13]. There was significantly less nephrectomy after late immunosuppression cessation [10/42 (23.8%) vs. 7/42 (16.7%) vs. 3/43 (7.0%), P = 0.01] but no differences in infections or malignancy. On competing risk regression (death as competing risk) controlling for cofactors including age, nephrectomy and rejection, prolonged immunosuppression did not predict likelihood of retransplantation (SHR 1.000, P = 0.88). Prolonged immunosuppression withdrawal does not reduce sensitization or improve retransplantation rates but is associated with less nephrectomy. Immunosuppression withdrawal should be tailored to individual circumstances after graft failure.


The computation of flows in IC engines is very challenging due to the variety of phenomena taking place. The well-known RANS methods often fail in both qualitative (dynamic of vortex breakdown...) and quantitative (swirl number, discharge coefficient...) predictions of these unsteady flows. The increasing power of computers now allows to investigate these flows using Large Eddy Simulation, which is a very promising technique. In order to explore the capability of LES in engine configurations, two simple IC engine geometries have been treated with a LES code, called AVBP, developed at CERFACS. This code is massively parallel and uses both unstructured and structured grids. First, the academic configuration of Dellenback was tested. It consists of an axisymmetric sudden expansion, which has been computed both with swirl (S=0.6) and without swirl. The LES results are compared to experimental data in terms of both mean and RMS, axial and tangential velocities. Besides, an unstationnary motion called the precessing vortex core is shown in the LES calculation. The influence of the swirl number on the PVC has been studied and compared to experimental data. Then, a more complex configuration with a valve is investigated. This steady state flow bench shows the capability of the code to handle complex geometries, close to a typical IC engine. Again, LES results are compared to experimental LDA measurements. The discharge coefficient is calculated and compared to experimental data. An analysis of the valve jet has been carried out. Finally, the influence of the scheme order (2 nd versus 3 rd order) and of the mesh type (structured versus unstructured) was investigated on both configurations. The results of this parametric study give more insight into the methodology for the computation of engine configurations with LES.


The present article reviewed the management of coagulopathy in the perioperative setting, following the Japanese practical guidelines for the blood component therapy, edited by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan in 2005. The threshold concentrations of platelets, prothrombin time international normalized ratio (PT-INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) were optimized for the perioperative critical care under active and/or microvascular bleeding, based on currently available randomized controlled trials. Discontinuation or modification of anticoagulants as well as antiplatelets is essential for the safe perioperative care. Several factors, including normothermia, normovolemia, as well as the maintenance of plasma calcium levels within normal range, are important for the management of coagulopathy. Platelet counts, PT, APTT, and if possible, other point-of-care testing including thromboelastography and its modified techniques should be performed following visual inspection of abnormal bleeding. The transfusion algorithms based on causal diagnosis of coagulopathy optimize the risk/ benefit ratio of perioperative transfusion therapy.


Caffeine's psychomotor stimulant effects may relate to its blockade of central adenosine receptors. We examined acute caffeine effects on motor activity, adenosine receptor occupancy in vivo, and receptor affinity and density ex vivo. Acute doses of caffeine-sodium benzoate (0, 20, 40, and 60 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [0, 0.10, 0.21, 0.31 mu mol/kg]) were given to CD-1 mice and their activity was measured in an animal activity monitor over a 1-hour period. Adenosine receptor occupancy in vivo was quantified in mice 1 hour postdosage, using the high-affinity, A1 receptor selective adenosine antagonist [3H]-8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine. Adenosine receptor binding affinities and densities were determined from analyses of binding studies in cortical, hippocampal, and brainstem membranes from treated mice (0 and 40 mg/kg caffeine). Caffeine doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg, corresponding to mean brain concentrations of 5 and 17 micrograms/g, increased all horizontal and vertical motor activity measures and stereotypy counts, as compared to doses of 0 and 60 mg/kg. Additionally, all acute caffeine doses significantly altered specific A1 binding in vivo (decreasing binding between 55% and 73% versus vehicle), presumably as it occupied A1 receptors. Therefore, at doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg, caffeine stimulated motor activity as it occupied A1 receptors; at a dose of 60 mg/kg (mean brain concentration of 26 micrograms/g) caffeine had no stimulant effect even though it appeared to occupy A1 receptors. Acute caffeine dosage did not alter ex vivo adenosine receptor binding affinity or density in any brain regions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The P-glycoprotein (P-gp) molecules which are expressed on multidrug-resistant (MDR) tumor cells efflux a variety of anti-cancer drugs, such as doxorubicin. Though first described as an inhibitor of P-gp function, cyclosporin A (CsA) was more recently shown to behave as a substrate of the P-gp pump. The retention of [3H]CsA was reduced in MDR cells of the human leukemic CEM cell subline, in comparison with the drug-sensitive parental (Par) subline. MDR-CEM cell treatment by the P-gp blockers restored the [3H]CsA retention to the control Par-CEM cell levels. Using a novel fluorescent CsA derivative, [N-&epsis;-(4-nitrobenzofurazan-7-yl)-D-Lys8] cyclosporin (NBDL-CsA), we now show that MDR cells can be distinguished from Par cells both at the cell population level (in microculture) and at the single cell level (by use of flow cytometry).


The computational complexity of some depths that satisfy the projection property, such as the halfspace depth or the projection depth, is known to be high, especially for data of higher dimensionality. In such scenarios, the exact depth is frequently approximated using a randomized approach: The data are projected into a finite number of directions uniformly distributed on the unit sphere, and the minimal depth of these univariate projections is used to approximate the true depth. We provide a theoretical background for this approximation procedure. Several uniform consistency results are established, and the corresponding uniform convergence rates are provided. For elliptically symmetric distributions and the halfspace depth it is shown that the obtained uniform convergence rates are sharp. In particular, guidelines for the choice of the number of random projections in order to achieve a given precision of the depths are stated.


Since the 1970s, the term "transparency" has been widely used to signify the concealment of the technological means of the cinematic illusion characteristic of classical and realistic film style.1 Such concealment has been assumed necessary for the cinematic apparatus to achieve its ideological subject effect by providing a coherent yet illusory spectator position. Conversely, any self-reflexive inscription of a film's technical means of production, the hallmark of post1968 radical and avant-garde cinema, was assumed to radically subvert this ideological work.2 While these categorical terms may now seem somewhat dated, the relationship between technology, ideology, and subjectivity in the cinema is still worthy of serious investigation. One of the problems with many previous attempts has been their failure to recognize that cinema has always served a dual function with respect to technology, not only as a technology itself, but also as a means of representing technological change and narrativizing its social effects. These two functions interact in very interesting and sometimes contradictory ways, complicating the question


A novel human leukocyte elastase (HLE) inhibitor, FR901451 was discovered in the fermentation broth of a bacteria. The bacteria was identified as Flexibacter sp. No. 758. FR901451 has a molecular weight of 1269 and a molecular formula of C60H79N13O18. The mode of inhibition against HLE is competitive, with a Ki value of 9.8×10-9 M.


Revision surgeries after cerebrospinal shunt placement are sometimes unavoidable mainly because of the mechanical limitations of current shunt devices despite their technological improvements. This article discusses evidence on existing shunt devices, basic knowledge on their structure and function, and possible future issues.


2 Abstract: In this study, the single machine bicriteria scheduling problem of hierarchically minimizing the total completion time of jobs (C ) and number of tardy jobs (NT) with release time was explored. Two types of tot hierarchical minimization models (the case of the total completion time criterion being more important than the number of tardy jobs criterion and the case of the number of tardy jobs criterion being more important than the total completion time criterion) were discussed. Three heuristics (HR4, HR5 and HR6) selected from the literature were used to test the models.


UNLABELLED
Over the past two decades, chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) has emerged as the first choice pediatric dialysis modality. A recent study visually identified the cause of malfunction of PD catheters at the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town. The reasons that could be found, lead to changed Tenckhoff insertion-techniques from open to laparoscopic. This included suturing of the tip, omentectomy and ovarian-pexy by laparoscopy. In the present paper we prospectively analyzed, if changed insertion technique lead to an improved outcome.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
26 Patients required 36 laparoscopic Tenckhoff insertions during the period August of 2003 and July of 2006. Overall a total number of 222.5 catheter-months have been observed. Laparoscopic insertion technique required 3 port placements. The tip of the catheter was sutured to pelvic peritoneum, omentectomy performed through a port site and ovariopexy done when required.

RESULTS
The mean lifespan of all Tenckhoff's was 6.4 +/- 6.3 months. The tip of the catheter was sutured 20 times, omentectomy done in 9 cases and 6 patients underwent ovarian pexy. In the group where the tip was sutured to the pelvic peritoneum catheter life was 8.4 months compared to the non-sutured group which was only 4.1. Omentectomy lead to an overall catheter survival of 8.0 months compared to the no omentectomy group, which had a survival of 5.8 months. The complication-rate concerning early problems and malfunctions in the sutured and omentectomy groups was also lower. Patients who underwent both, suturing of the tip and omentectomy had no malfunctions at all.

CONCLUSION
Omentectomy and suturing the tip can lower the complication-rate and prolong catheter survival. Using these procedures could decrease costs and morbidity and prevent patients from having further operations.


Background and Research Aims: Although hydropower provides energy to fuel economic development across Amazonia, strategies to minimize or mitigate impacts in highly biodiverse Amazonian environments remain unclear. The growing number of operational and planned hydroelectrics requires robust scientific evidence to evaluate impacts of these projects on Amazonian vertebrates. Here, we investigated the existing scientific knowledge base documenting impacts of hydropower developments on vertebrates across Brazilian Amazonia. Methods: We reviewed the scientific literature from 1945 to 2020 published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to assess the temporal and spatial patterns in publications and the types of study design adopted as well as scientific evidence presented. Results: A total of 25 published articles documented impacts on fish (n = 20), mammals (n = 3), and reptiles (n = 2). Most study designs (88%) lacked appropriate controls, and only three studies adopted more robust Before-After-Control-Impact designs. The published evidence did not generally support causal inference with only two studies (8%) including appropriate controls and/or confounding variables. Conclusion: Decades of published assessments (60% of which were funded by hydropower developers or their subsidiaries) do not appear to have established robust evidence of impacts of hydropower dams on Amazonian vertebrates. This lack of robust evidence could limit the development of effective minimization and mitigation actions for the conservation of diverse vertebrate groups impacted by hydropower dams across Brazilian Amazonia. Implications for Conservation: To avoid misleading inferences, there is a need to integrate more robust study designs into impact assessments of hydropower developments in the Brazilian Amazon.


A local bootstrap method is proposed for the analysis of electoral vote-count first-digit frequencies, complementing the Benford's Law limit. The method is calibrated on five presidential-election first rounds (2002–2006) and applied to the 2009 Iranian presidential-election first round. Candidate K has a highly significant (p<0.15% ) excess of vote counts starting with the digit 7. This leads to other anomalies, two of which are individually significant at p∼ 0.1% and one at p∼ 1%. Independently, Iranian pre-election opinion polls significantly reject the official results unless the five polls favouring candidate A are considered alone. If the latter represent normalised data and a linear, least-squares, equal-weighted fit is used, then either candidates R and K suffered a sudden, dramatic (70%±15% ) loss of electoral support just prior to the election, or the official results are rejected (p∼ 0.01% ).


The main objectives of this paper are to describe the necessary steps to identify the ultimate owner and to investigate the relation between the ultimate ownership and the financial performance of Romanian mining and quarrying listed firms. The study was conducted for the companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, in both regulated and non-regulated segments. The final sample included 17 companies of mining and quarrying. Return on Equity was used for measuring the financial performance of the firms. The ultimate ownership was measured by the percentage of voting rights held by a shareholder. Econometric tools like multiple linear regression analysis were used for analysis. The results of the study suggest that there is a significant negative link between financial performance and divergence between voting rights and cash-flow rights


Abstract The porcine tonsils are a group of lymphoepithelial tissues located at the common openings of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. The tonsils participate in a variety of functions involving innate, cellular and humoral immunity at the local and systemic levels. Among these immunological functions is the continuous surveillance for the presence of foreign antigens at the openings of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Within the pig, the movement of lymphocytes, cytokines and chemotactic molecules from the tonsils to other lymphoid organs confers immunity to other portals of pathogen entry and facilitates an efficient and rapid systemic immune response. In spite of the immunological nature of the tonsils, some microorganisms have acquired adaptations that allow them to circumvent the tonsillar immune defenses and utilize the tonsils as a site of entry, replication and colonization. Several bacterial and viral pathogens persist asymptomatically within the tonsils, making identification of asymptomatic carrier animals difficult in disease control and/or pathogen elimination. This paper reviews the current information on the anatomy, immunology and pathobiology of porcine tonsils and discusses the tonsils as a site of pathogen entry, replication and colonization using Salmonella spp., classical swine fever virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus as examples.


An analysis is presented of the amplifier for a limiting case when the load network does not contain a series-resonant output circuit and the output voltage is non-sinusoidal. For optimum operation with any switch-duty ratio, the author has determined the current and voltage waveforms, the collector current and collector-emitter peak values, the output power, the power-output capability, and the load-network component values. The spectrum of the output voltage is given for a switch-duty ratio of 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75. Close-approximation equations are given for transistor power losses and collector efficiency. The experimental and theoretical results are in very good agreement. The measured collector efficiency is 95%. The circuit has practical applications, e.g., in high-efficiency switching-mode DC-to-DC converters used in DC power supplies for microcomputers or communication equipment.


We investigated oxidized SiN gate oxides that have undergone post-oxidation annealing (POA) treatment using diluted O2 (10% O2 in N2) at 1100 °C. The oxidized SiN/SiC interfaces were characterized by using capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). POA for 60 min significantly improved the interface trap density (Dit), near-interface trap density (Nit), and effective oxide charge density (Qeff ) of the oxidized SiN. However, improvement was not observed for the as-oxidized SiN sample or the oxidized SiN sample that had undergone POA for 120 min. The electrical properties of metal-oxide semiconductor devices fabricated using these oxides are discussed in terms of the oxide chemical composition.


The neurosurgical treatment of skull base temporal encephalocele for patients with epilepsy is variable. We describe two adult cases of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with spheno-temporal encephalocele, currently seizure-free for more than two years after anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and lesionectomy sparing the hippocampus without long-term intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring. Encephaloceles were detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and confirmed by maxillofacial head computed tomography (CT) scans. Seizures were captured by scalp video-EEG recording. One case underwent intraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) with pathology demonstrating neuronal heterotopia. We propose that in some patients with skull base temporal encephaloceles, minimal surgical resection of herniated and adjacent temporal cortex (lesionectomy) is sufficient to render seizure freedom. In future cases, where an associated malformation of cortical development is suspected, newer techniques such as minimally invasive EEG monitoring with stereotactic-depth EEG electrodes should be considered to tailor the surrounding margins of the resected epileptogenic zone.


Despite decades of research, development, and extension on the mitigation and management of pesticide resistance, the global agricultural situation is becoming increasingly dire. Pest populations with evolved resistance to multiple pesticide sites of action are becoming the norm, with fewer remaining effective xenobiotics for control. We argue that financial incentives and not regulations are needed to encourage farmers or land managers to use best management practices recommended by academia. Although some incentives are offered by pesticide manufacturers or distributors, there is a paucity of incentives by other industry sectors and all levels of government (federal or state/provincial). Crop insurance can be important to facilitate and reward best pest management practices and address other important agricultural policy objectives. Herein, we describe possible changes to crop insurance programs in the United States and Canada through premium rate changes to incentivise clients to adopt best management practices.


The higher education sector is increasingly facing competition from tertiary providers at both a domestic and international level. This has led to a range of ever more complex challenges with regard to the attraction, maintenance and retention of the student base. There is an important need therefore to understand the factors which contribute to positive perceptions of tertiary services and the way in which these affect the student experience and drive student retention. The improvement of retention rates through the formation of meaningful and long-term relationships with students is subsequently of high importance. This research explores students' perceptions of the relationship that they enter into with their chosen tertiary institution and the effect that this has on the development of student loyalty. In particular this research examines the salience of relationship appeal, satisfaction, affective commitment and trust on student loyalty. A structural equation modelling approach was adopted using a sample of 426 first year undergraduate students of a large Australian metropolitan university. Importantly, next to satisfaction, relationship appeal was found to be the second strongest determinant of student loyalty. This was then followed by affective commitment. Interestingly trust did not influence relationship development. Conclusions, implications and opportunities for future research are presented. From a managerial perspective, it is expected that uncovering first year students' perceptions of the student-institution relationship will enable higher education institutions to develop more targeted relationship marketing programs and increase student retention.


This paper proposes the construction of a Conceptual Model as a logical step prior to the preparation of the Object Model of an ontology to facilitate the design and development of software systems in which a high-level internal representation of context supports some intelligent capabilities. The intent of the Conceptual Model is to be expressive for human interpretation utilizing descriptions that are readily understood by laypersons, subject matter experts, and software developers who may be concerned with only a particular portion of the software system. The intent of the Object Model (as a subset of an ontology) is to be expressive for machine interpretation. The author argues that the existence of a Conceptual Model not only serves as an effective communication vehicle among the various stakeholders in a software development project, but also facilitates the development of the Object Model component of an ontology.


Flow, a construct borrowed from reference disciplines, has been proposed as the central process in Web navigation. However, when flow is applied directly to the context of marketing, it suffers from conceptual ambiguity and overlap with the popular marketing construct, involvement. The present study aims to provide a clear framework within which to delineate the relationship between flow and involvement, and thus develop a better theoretical basis that incorporates the flow construct into Internet marketing. This study first distinguishes explicitly between flow, enduring involvement, and situational involvement. It then operationalizes these constructs with the use of customary measures to disclose their unique and common characteristics. Finally, a second-order confirmatory factor analysis allowing measurement errors is used to identify explicitly the tripartite relationship between the three constructs. The conceptual and operational implications are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


I have to confess that Sir Astley Cooper (1768–1841), of Guy's Hospital, is high on my list of "surgical heroes". Indeed, I chose his remarkable and successful operation of amputation at the hip joint as my first article in this series. Among his other astonishing "firsts" must surely be his ligation of the abdominal aorta for a patient with a leaking iliac aneurysm.


Endometrial carcinomas based on polyp: 3 years single center experience Objective: The incidence of endometrial polyp is 16-34% within the whole population nonetheless increases after menopause. The incidence of cancer involvement through the endometrial polyp is 0.8-4.8%. Material and Methods: Study is designed as a retrospective descriptive study. Medical records of the patients which were diagnosed to have endometrial polyp within January 2009-January 2012 were reviewed. The patients which were diagnosed to have malignancy based on endometrial polyp were included. Results: 325 patients were obtained to have endometrial polyp, and 11 of them (3.4%) were found to be appropriate for study. 140 patients (59%) were postmenopousal and 285 patients (41%) were premenopousal 67 (43%) of the postmenopausal patients had endometrial sampling due to thickened endometrium (10mm) although they were asymptomatic. 73 (57%) of the postmanopausal patients were symptomatic. Six of this postmenouposal patients (4.2%) had malignancy based on the endometrial polyp, all of this patients were in symtomatic group. 192 of the 325 patients (59%) were symptomatic and 10 of this patients (5.2%) had malignancy based on endometrial polyp. Only one patient was asymptomatic. Histopathologic type was endometrioid and except one patient who has stage 1B disease, all patients have stage 1A disease. Two patients' carcinoma were limited to the polyp, endometrial tissue had no sign of malignancy. Conclusion: We conclude that endometrial biopsy should be performed at the patients known to have endometrial polyp after menopause and symptomatic patient, regardless the menopausal status. Eventhoug malign endometrial polyps are diagnosed at eraly stages, with the advanced age grade of the tumor increases.


SUMMARY

We present a new derivation of the explicit expression of displacement in response to a point dislocation source in terms of the summation of the Earth's normal modes. Starting from the well-known formal expression of normal-mode summation, we obtain the explicit expressions of displacements for the three conventional components in seismology (vertical, radial and transverse). Aided by the generalized spherical harmonics and coordinate transformation, our derivation is more comprehensive and concise and easier to handle. Numerical examples of normal-mode synthetics in different but realistic Earth models for a variety of source–receiver geometries are presented to illustrate the influence of self-gravitation, attenuation and radial anisotropy on waveforms. We also examine how waveforms of Love and Rayleigh waves are affected by the density and P-wave velocity structures in the upper mantle. Results show that the shear-wave structure obtained from surface wave tomography may be biased if the sensitivities of surface waves to the variation of density and compressional wave speed are not properly taken into account in the inversion.


BACKGROUND
Determination of proteasome concentration in blood plasma in children with burns, with the Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging biosensor.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
35 children scalded by hot water, with burns in 4-20% TBSA were included into the study (age 9 months up to 14 years, mean age 2,5+1 years). Blood plasma 20S proteasome concentration was assessed in 2-6h, 12-16h, 3d, 5d, and 7d after injury using Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging biosensor.

RESULTS
Statistically significant elevation of circulating 20S proteasome concentration was noted in all groups 12-16 hours after the injury; however, differences were more evident in children with the more severe burns. Circulating 20S proteasome concentration in the plasma was increased until day 7 in the group with severe burns, until day 5 in the group with moderate burns and until day 3 in the group with minor burns. Circulating 20S proteasome concentration in the plasma was highly correlated with burn severity.

CONCLUSIONS
The SPR imaging biosensor can be used for determination of 20S proteasome in plasma of patients with burns. Circulating 20S proteasomes are elevated after burn injury and slowly reach the normal range during the wound healing process. Increase in circulating 20S proteasome concentration is proportional to the severity of the burn injury and do not correlate with age or sex.


The objective of this paper is to present an analysis of the current development conditions of public spaces in Mexico through the perspectives of different actors. It will also explain the main issues of the actual planning regulatory framework concerning the inclusion of civil society in the planning and design process of public spaces in Mexico. We take into account the Federal law of human settlements, territorial order, and urban development (Diario Oficial de la Federacion, 2016)presented in November of 2016, which became the first federal legislation in Mexico that defines and relates the terms "urban development", "public space" and "social participation" (ANPR & WRI Mexico, 2018). This research aims to present a background of the current conditions of planning public spaces in Mexico according to the federal government for the period (2018-2024), non-governmental institutions, and the private sector where each actor has a different perspective of the conditions of how public spaces should be developed.


The inclusion of carbon stock enhancements under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) framework will likely drive a rapid increase in biosequestration projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere through rehabilitation of degraded primary rain forests. Such projects could also present an important opportunity to reverse losses of biodiversity from degraded rain forests, but concern has recently been expressed that management interventions to increase carbon stocks may conflict with biodiversity conservation. Focusing on a large‐scale rain forest rehabilitation project in northern Borneo, we examine: (i) how intensive rehabilitation of selectively logged forests affected patterns of bird community composition and (ii) whether changes in vegetation structure explain observed shifts in avian guild structure and species composition. Bird composition differed between unlogged, naturally regenerating logged, and rehabilitated logged habitats, with the avifauna of rehabilitated forest more similar to that of naturally regenerating forest. Crucially, rehabilitation did not adversely affect either those species that declined after logging or those species that are IUCN Red Listed. Rehabilitation reduced the prevalence of vines and shrubs within regenerating forest, and across all habitats, the abundance and species richness of all birds and of obligate frugivores were positively related to vine prevalence. In contrast, the abundance and richness of frugivore–insectivore generalists and of salliers were negatively related to vines, suggesting that avifaunal responses to forest rehabilitation were attributable to liberation cutting of vines. Management intervention to increase carbon stocks had little adverse effect on avian biodiversity and we therefore argue that rain forest rehabilitation should play a strong role in future REDD+ agreements.


This study aims to: 1) obtain data on the understanding of the science of recitation of the santri at the Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School Cibungbulang, Bogor Regency; 2) obtaining data on the ability to memorize the Al-Quran of Santri at Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School Cibungbulang, Bogor Regency; 3) find out the correlation between the understanding of tajwid and the ability to memorize Al-Quran of students at the Al-Hidayah Islamic boarding school, Cibungbulang, Bogor Regency. The total research population is 100 people. Samples were taken using a simple random sample technique of 30 respondents. The research approach uses quantitative methods. The technique  of collecting data used a written test and a practical test. Data analysis technique, to determine the correlation of variable X (understanding of tajwid science) with variable Y (ability to memorize Al-Quran) using Pearson Product Moment correlation test technique. The calculated r index is 0.703, which is greater than r table = 0.361, which is significant. This means that the understanding of tajwid has a correlation with the ability to memorize the Qur'an. The KD index (Determinant Coefficient) is 49.42% which indicates that the X variable (understanding of recitation science) contributes 42.12% to the Y variable (the ability to memorize the Quran), and the remaining 50.58% is determined by other factors .

Nia Kurnia
 IAI Nasional Laa Roiba


Avionics systems software usually has the characteristics of complex structure, wide function coverage, high reliability, and high safety. These characteristics have led to the increasing scale and complexity of software systems, and the increasing variety of research & development (R&D) personnel. This further intensify the knowledge-intensive trend of software development, and make the software requirements elicitation activities more complicated. In the knowledge engineering community, an ontology is an explicit specification of a conceptualization. This paper uses the ontology method to construct a requirement knowledge framework and requirement knowledge is expressed as a clear, complete, and consistent hierarchical ontology concept and association, which is more conducive to knowledge sharing and reuse as well as reflects multiple viewpoints of stakeholders. This paper builds a requirements knowledge multi-ontology framework which is divided into GO (generalization ontology), TO (task ontology), DO (domain ontology), and AO (application ontology). And it decomposes the GO into structure ontology and action ontology in the framework. It makes up for the deficiency of undifferentiated knowledge representation of the GO. Then, this paper proposes and integrates the concept of software requirement error pattern into the multi-ontology framework in a consistent form. In addition, this paper evaluates the quality of the constructed ontology and the evaluation results show that the constructed ontology in this paper has a high quality. Finally, this paper facilitates the requirements elicitation based on the multi-ontology framework to avoid errors and improve the quality and reliability of software products.


Abstract. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the scientific
community has made huge leaps to exploit renewable energy sources, with solar
radiation being one of the most important. However, the variability of solar
radiation has a significant impact on solar energy conversion systems, such
as in photovoltaic systems, characterized by a fast and non-linear response
to incident solar radiation. The performance prediction of these systems is
typically based on hourly or daily data because those are usually available
at these time scales. The aim of this work is to investigate the stochastic
nature and time evolution of the solar radiation process for daily and hourly
scale, with the ultimate goal of creating a new cyclostationary stochastic
model capable of reproducing the dependence structure and the marginal
distribution of hourly solar radiation via the clearness index KT.


To date, the issues related to sustainable development comes to the fore among the most researched in the world. Companies are increasingly consider ESG factors in their activities. Factors ESG issues include the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance. Focus on ESG factors in management of the organization due to the fact that the stakeholders in the regions where the organizations are very active in defending their interests. The investment community is critical because it sets the tone, indicating the direction for business development. Investment approach to business valuation takes into account social issues, environmental risks and the quality of corporate governance, called "socially responsible investment» (SRI). For asset managers SRI funds, the initial criterion for inclusion in the company's portfolio is the company's rating on ESG. SRI market is growing and has reached such proportions that it can not be ignored. Total assets according to Eurosif is 7.5 trillion euro. The emergence of new requirements forcing companies to pay attention to the factors of sustainable development and take into account ESG-factors in the strategy development and management of company value. In Russia, the issues of sustainable development and socially responsible investing very little studied, although the largest Russian companies have already begun to move in this direction. All this shows the relevance of the chosen research topic and the need to study the proposed topic. The purpose of the work is to develop conceptual frameworks of social responsible investing in Russia and offer practical recommendations for their implementation in the investment process. The work clarified the concept of "sustainable development" and "socially responsible investment". A survey of the investment community in Russia, the prospects for the development of socially responsible investment in Russia.


The Sierra de Los Muertos area is part of the rugged mountainous country southeast of Saltillo in northeastern Mexico. It includes about 14,000 feet of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks that were deposited along the eastern border of the Mexican geosyncline, a trough developed along the western and southern margins of the Coahuila platform. Early in the Tertiary these rocks were compressed into folds parallel to the borders of the platform. In the mapped area the folds are generally overturned to the north, but some are doubly recumbent. The Jurassic includes the Zuloaga limestone of Oxfordian age and La Casita formation of Kimmeridgian-Portlandian age. The Cretaceous from the base upward includes the Taraises formation of lower Neocomian age, the Cupido limestone of upper Neocomian-lower Aptian age, the La Pena formation of upper Aptian age, the Aurora limestone of lower and middle Albian age, the Cuesta del Cura limestone of upper Albian age, the Indidura formation of Cenomanian-Turonian age, and the Parras shale of Coniacian-Santonian age. The La Pena formation contains a large fauna of mollusks, brachiopods, and echinoids. Ammonites dominate the fauna and include such characteristic Aptian genera as Dufrenoya, Parahoplites, Acanthoplites, Hypacanthoplites, Cheloniceras, Colombiceras, Uhligella, and Pseudohaploceras. New genera include Burckhardtites and Megatyloceras. Nautiloids are represented by Paracymatoceras. A total of 42 species of cephalopods is described.


The relationship between the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and public service motivation (PSM) was examined using a questionnaire survey of 277 public servants employed by 3 local governments in Taiwan. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion was positively related to attraction to policy making, but negatively associated with self-sacrifice. Agreeableness was positively correlated to compassion. Conscientiousness was positively related to commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with commitment to the public interest and compassion, but positively with attraction to policy making. Openness to experience was positively correlated with all dimensions of PSM. In summary, personality traits can function as strong predictors of public service motivation.


The availability and study of haplotype data is of considerable interest to a wide range of areas including general health care, personalized medicine, and pharmacogenetics. The inner workings of contemporary sequencing techniques however imply that genotype data is generated from a chromosome rather than haplotype data. The reconstruction of the latter from this kind of data lies at the heart of the well studied Pure Parsimony Haplotype Inference problem (PPHI). In this paper, we present a proof of concept that a GRASP-based approach for solving PPHI has the potential of yielding an attractive tool that complements existing approaches. The usage of this strategy for solving PPHI is novel. To assess its suitability, we have implemented it in basic form in the novel and freely available HAPLOGRASP approach which we assessed in terms of simulated and real data. Our findings are highly encouraging.


In this work, chitosan was used as the backbone to graft poly(acrylic acid) to form granular hydrogel composite with halloysite (HT) particles being embedded within the polymeric networks. This hydrogel composite was characterized by means of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Then, this hydrogel composite was selected as the adsorbent to remove ammonium from synthetic wastewater. The results indicate that by introducing HT particles into the polymeric networks, the resulting composite shows comparable adsorption capacity to that of pure polymer hydrogel for NH4 + removal. The adsorption equilibrium can be achieved within 5 min with the equilibrium adsorption capacity of 27.7 mg N/g and monolayer adsorption capacity of 40.9 mg N/g (30 wt% HT). The adsorption process is pH-independent within 4.0–7.0, and the adsorption capacity of as-prepared adsorbent is not affected over the cycles of adsorption studied (5 cycles).


3679 Aims : Previous studies have revealed that deletion of chromosome 8p is one of the most common genetic alteration in prostate cancer (PCa). Human secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (sFRP1) is a tumor suppressor located on 8p12-13, acting as a negative regulator of Wnt signaling. Recently, loss of sFRP1 expression was shown in several malignancies, e.g. bladder cancer, breast cancer or renal cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was the investigation of sFRP1 expression in PCa and its correlation to chromosome 8p alterations and to histopathological characteristics of the tumors. Methods : 72 paraffin-embedded archival, organ-confined prostate tumors (ranging from pT1aG1 to pT3cG3, Gleason score range 2-10), and corresponding benign prostatic tissue were analyzed. After microdissection, DNA was isolated. LOH analysis was performed using 3 markers on chromosome 8p. sFRP1 expression was determined using immunohistochemistry and TMA technology. Methylation analysis of the gene promoter was performed using methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR). Results : LOH was found in 21% (14/67) of informative cases, 1 case showed MSI. Immunhistochemistry revealed a complete loss of sFRP1 protein in 74% (37/50), and a reduced expression in 20% (10/50) of the tumors compared to corresponding benign tissue. MS-PCR showed promoter methylation in 52% (11/21) of investigated PCa samples. Interestingly, promoter methylation was already detectable in 39% (7/18) of corresponding normal prostatic tissue specimens. There was a good correlation between loss of sFRP1 protein and results from MS-PCR (60%). There was no correlation between sFRP1 alterations and histopathological characteristics of the tumors. Conclusions : sFRP1 expression is frequently lost or reduced in PCa. A combination of allelic loss and/or promoter methylation was found to be causative for expression loss. Methylation of sFRP1 promoter region might be an early event in prostate carcinogenesis since it could be detected already in normal prostatic tissue from PCa. patients. Early loss of sFRP1 expression might contribute to an uncontrolled downstream signaling activity (Wnt pathway, MAPK) and to a proliferative advantage of affected cells.


The invasion of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ocean is simulated with an ocean biogeochemical circulation model. The model includes an isopycnal diffusion scheme for realistic tracer distributions in the ocean interior. Anthropogenic CO2 is added to a one-box atmosphere in the course of a simulated time integration from the preindustrial state to the present day. The atmospheric CO2 concentration in the model increases and reaches 354 μatm in 1990. The ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 is 2.1 GtC year-1 of the anthropogenic CO2 emission of 6 GtC year-1. The subpolar and polar regions in the basins, the equatorial Pacific and the Southern Ocean are strong sinks. In these regions deep waters, which are not equilibrated with atmospheric CO2, are supplied to the surface primarily by wind-driven upwelling. Much anthropogenic CO2 is accumulated in the subtropical gyres by Ekman convergence of surface waters and is transported to the depths in the North Atlantic through the deep western boundary current, respectively. These results are consistent with previous observational and model studies. The isopycnal diffusion in the model plays an important role in the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 at subpolar and polar latitudes and in its transport to the depths. The time integration into the future indicates that advection by the North Atlantic Deep Water is most effective in the century-scale transport of anthropogenic CO2 into the ocean interior. Central regions of subtropical gyres become filled with anthropogenic CO2 and are less effective for the uptake of anthropogenic CO2.


Synthesizing hazard-free asynchronous circuits directly at signal transition graph (STG) level has been shown to need significantly less CPU time than approaches at the state-graph. However, all previous methods at STG level were based on sufficient conditions only. Hence, the synthesized circuit results generally are inferior, due to the incomplete transformation. We present a new characteristic graph (CG) to encapsulate all feasible solutions of the original STG in reduced size, which compares favorably with the state graph approach. The requirements of speed independent circuits can then be completely transformed into the CG. Furthermore, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for speed independent implementation based on a predefined general circuit model, which has not yet been reported. With CGs and this condition, we develop a heuristic synthesis algorithm which derives solutions similar to the state-graph approach while requiring significantly less CPU time.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a severe nutrient restriction on mammary tissue morphology and remodeling, mammary epithelial cell (MEC) turnover and activity, and hormonal status in lactating dairy cows. We used 16 Holstein × Normande crossbred dairy cows, divided into 2 groups submitted to different feeding levels (basal and restricted) from 2 wk before calving to wk 11 postpartum. Restricted-diet cows had lower 11-wk average daily milk yield from calving to slaughter than did basal-diet cows (20.5 vs. 33.5 kg/d). Feed restriction decreased milk fat, protein, and lactose yields. Restriction also led to lower plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 and higher growth hormone concentrations. Restricted-diet cows had lighter mammary glands than did basal-diet cows. The total amount of DNA in the mammary gland and the size of the mammary acini were smaller in the restricted-diet group. Feed restriction had no significant effect on MEC proliferation at the time of slaughter but led to a higher level of apoptosis in the mammary gland. Gelatin zymography highlighted remodeling of the mammary extracellular matrix in restricted-diet cows. Udders from restricted-diet cows showed lower transcript expression of α-lactalbumin and kappa-casein. In conclusion, nutrient restriction resulted in lower milk yield in lactating dairy cows, partly due to modulation of MEC activity and a lower number of mammary cells. An association was found between feed restriction-induced changes in the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-1 axis and mammary epithelial cell dynamics.


Relating to a previous simplified VHDL processor model, a more advanced synthesized VHDL pipeline microprocessor model was developed and has been used in the second term computer architecture course offered in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. This paper first describes the pipeline processor model and its VHDL implementation. It then presents various implementation extensions that have been assigned and completed within a satisfactory period by participating students.


The combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated immunotherapy can elicit antitumor immunity and modulate the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Unlike other TLRs, TLR-5 is a promising target for immune activation, as its expression is well-maintained even during immunosenescence. Here, we developed a unique tumor microenvironment-regulating immunosenescence-independent nanostimulant consisting of TLR-5 adjuvant Vibrio vulnificus flagellin B (FlaB) conjugated onto the surface to an IR 780-loaded hyaluronic acid-stearylamine (HIF) micelles. These HIF micelles induced immune-mediated cell death via PTT when irradiated with a near-infrared laser. In comparison with PTT alone, the combination of in situ-generated tumor-associated antigens produced during PTT and the immune adjuvant FlaB demonstrated enhanced vaccine-like properties and modulated the TME by suppressing immune-suppressive regulatory cells (Tregs) and increasing the fraction of CD103+ migratory dendritic cells, which are responsible for trafficking tumor antigens to draining lymph nodes (DLNs). This combinatorial strategy (i.e., applying a TLR-5 adjuvant targeted to immunosenescence-independent TLR-5 and the in situ photothermal generation of tumor-associated antigens) is a robust system for next-generation immunotherapy and could even be applied in elderly patients, thus broadening the clinical scope of immunotherapy strategies.


The main purpose in this study is to see empirically whether there really exists a clear association between weaknesses in the regulation and supervision of the banking sector and banking crises. Test results indicate that capital regulations are a major factor in the prevention of crises, giving important support to the propositions towards ensuring higher capital requirements. However, tighter capital regulations do not seem to mitigate the negative impact of moral hazard problem generated by generous deposit insurance system. While inflation has a significant role in the generation of crisis, its significance weakens to a major extent, when accompanied with regulatory and supervisory factors. Hence, the significance of regulatory and supervisory framework of the banking system is once more justified.


Critical illness increases the risk of malnutrition in both infants and children. Malnutrition risk is multifactorial and includes premorbid factors as well as changes in nutrient metabolism and energy demands during critical illness. Inadequate nutrition has been linked to poor health outcomes and prolonged length of stay in the intensive care unit, demonstrating the importance of both recognizing and addressing malnutrition in this population. Assessing growth and identifying malnutrition requires methodical measurement of growth and a collaborative, multimodal approach to nutrition assessment. Among the nutrition assessment and growth evaluation tools, neonatal, preterm, pediatric, and disease-specific growth charts remain an important component of growth assessment and should be used along with a nutrition-focused physical examination. Routine measurement promotes the identification of potential growth delays that may require interventions. Indirect calorimetry adds an additional layer of detail for a complete picture of each infant or child's unique nutrition status and progress. Quality improvement research on a national level is urgently needed to assess the adequacy and availability of resources in neonatal and pediatric critical care units and to further the development of standard clinical outcome measures for nutrition assessment and intervention in the critically ill neonate and child.


This paper makes two main contributions. First, we construct "density-free" confidence intervals and confidence bands for conditional quantiles in nonparametric and semiparametric quantile regression models. They are based on pairs of symmetrized k-NN quantile estimators at two appropriately chosen quantile levels. In contrast to Wald-type confidence intervals or bands based on the asymptotic distributions of estimators of the conditional quantiles, our confidence intervals and bands circumvent the need to estimate the conditional quantile density function, do not require the covariate to have a density function, and are very easy to compute. The advantages of our new confidence intervals are borne out in a simulation study. Second, we present a generic confidence interval for conditional quantiles using the rearranged quantile curves that is asymptotically valid for any quantile regression (parametric, nonparametric, or semiparametric), any method of estimation, and any data structure, provided that the conditional quantile function satisfies some mild smoothness assumptions and the original quantile estimator is such that its associated quantile process converges weakly to a Gaussian process with a covariance kernel proportional to the conditional quantile density function.


Background and Aims: One in six Singaporeans has obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) due to obesity compounded by inherent craniofacial features. We assessed the incidence of cardiopulmonary complications and the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in minimising such complications within an obese population. Methods: A retrospective study of elective noncardiac surgical patients with a body mass index ≥32 kg/m[2] was conducted. Patients at moderate to severe risk of OSA were offered CPAP therapy. CPAP therapy adherence, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, and type of anaesthesia were analysed. Results: In total, 1400 patients comprising 174 with low risk of OSA (L-OSA) and 1226 with moderate to high risk of OSA were included. Of these, 332 were started on CPAP therapy (C-OSA) while 894 declined CPAP use (R-OSA). There were 10 (0.05%) cardiac events – one (0.6%) in the L-OSA group, six (0.6%) in the R-OSA group and three (0.9%) in the C-OSA group. There were 37 (2.6%) respiratory events – 2 (1.1%) in the L-OSA group, 23 (2.6%) in the R-OSA group, and 12 (3.6%) in the C-OSA group. Multivariate analysis showed no statistical significance in CPAP therapy minimising cardiac (P = 0.147) and respiratory (P = 0.255) complications, when analysed by intention-to-treat. CPAP therapy adherence was 13.6 and 10.2% pre- and postoperatively, respectively. When analysed per protocol, none of the nine patients compliant with both pre- and postoperative CPAP therapy developed cardiopulmonary complications. Conclusions: Amongst patients with moderate to severe risk of OSA, those who were compliant to perioperative CPAP therapy demonstrated a reduction in cardiopulmonary complications.


1. Amino acid sequences covering the region between residues 173 and 248 [adopting the numbering system proposed by Lai, Nakai & Chang (1974) Science 183, 1204-1206] were derived for trout (Salmo trutta) muscle aldolase and for ox liver aldolase. A comparable sequence was derived for residues 180-248 of sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) muscle aldolase. The close homology with the rabbit muscle enzyme was used to align the peptides of the other aldolases from which the sequences were derived. The results also allowed a partial sequence for the N-terminal 39 residues for the ox liver enzyme to be deduced. 2. In the light of the strong homology evinced for these enzymes, a re-investigation of the amino acid sequence of rabbit muscle aldolase between residues 181 and 185 was undertaken. This indicated the presence of a hitherto unsuspected -Ile-Val-sequence between residues 181 and 182 and the need to invert the sequence -Glu-Val- to -Val-Glx- at positions 184 and 185. 3. Comparison of the available amino acid sequences of these enzymes suggested an early evolutionary divergence of the genes for muscle and liver aldolases. It was also consistent with other evidence that the central region of the primary structure of these enzymes (which includes the active-site lysine-227) forms part of a conserved folding domain in the protein subunit. 4. Detailed evidence for the amino acid sequences proposed has been deposited as Suy Lending Division, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1978) 169, 5.


Land aridity is often characterized by the aridity index (AI), which does not account for land surface water-energy interactions that are crucially important in determining regional climate. Such interactions can be captured by the evaporative fraction (EF, ratio of evapotranspiration to available energy) regimes. As EF is subject to energy and water limitations in humid and dry areas, respectively, EF regimes may be used to characterize land aridity to account for the influence of complex land characteristics and their impact on water availability. Here, we propose a simple framework to characterize land aridity by statistically ranking the coupling strength between EF and surface energy and water terms. The framework is demonstrated using gridded data and compared with AI over the U.S. and China. Results show that regionalization of aridity zones based on EF regimes and a two-tiered classification scheme may provide information such as surface energy and water variability complementary to the background aridity depicted by AI, with implications for extreme events.


Nicarbazin (NCZ), an effective anticoccidial widely used by the global broiler industry, is known to produce some side effects in broilers. Recent field observations have suggested that NCZ could be associated with spiking mortality syndrome, a disease of uncertain etiology that is most commonly characterized by hypoglycemia. In turn, 2 trials were conducted to investigate the effects of NCZ on the blood glucose levels and liver glycogen content of Ross × Ross 708 male broilers. In 6 of 12 pens beginning at 1 d of age, NCZ was added to basal broiler diets at a rate of 125 mg/kg, and the other 6 pens were control pens in which birds received salinomycin instead of NCZ, at a rate of 66 mg/kg. Feed and water were provided ad libitum, feed was closely monitored in all pens to avoid shortages, no coccidial challenge was imposed, and room temperature never exceeded 29.4°C. At the end of the second trial, a photoperiod increase from 8L:16D to 24L:0D was imposed in an effort to induce stress due to feed engorgement. In response to NCZ in trial 1, 0 to 28 d feed conversion and relative liver weights on d 21 and 28 were higher, whereas 0 to 28 d cumulative BW gain was lower. In response to NCZ in trial 2, 0 to 13 d feed conversion was higher, whereas 0 to 13 d cumulative BW gain was lower. The added NCZ increased blood glucose on d 13 in trial 2, but did not affect at any time the liver constituents analyzed in both trials. In conclusion, the uninterrupted feeding of NCZ at 125 mg/kg in the starter and grower diets of male Ross × Ross 708 broilers increased feed conversion and reduced BW gain, but despite an increase in relative liver weight on d 21 and 28 posthatch, liver glucose and glycogen concentrations were not affected.


Ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic pulses of nanosecond duration, or nanopulses, have recently been approved by the Federal Communications Commission for a number of different applications. They are also being explored for applications in biotechnology and medicine. The simulation of the propagation of a nanopulse through biological matter, previously performed using a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, has been extended here into a full three-dimensional computation. To account for the UWB frequency range, the geometrical resolution of the exposed sample was 0.25 mm and the dielectric properties of biological matter were accurately described in terms of the Debye model. The results obtained from the three-dimensional computation support the previously obtained results: the electromagnetic field inside a biological tissue depends on the incident pulse rise time and width, with increased importance of the rise time as the conductivity increases; no thermal effects are possible for the low pulse repetition rates, supported by recent experiments. New results show that the dielectric sample exposed to nanopulses behaves as a dielectric resonator. For a sample in a cuvette, we obtained the dominant resonant frequency and the Q-factor of the resonator.


Almost all the more than 500 known Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) have been discovered within 50 AU of the Sun. One possible explanation for the observed lack of KBOs beyond 50 AU is that the distant Kuiper belt is dynamically very cold and thus thin enough on the sky to have slipped between previous deep survey fields. We have completed a survey designed to search for a dynamically cold distant Kuiper belt near the invariable plane of the solar system. In 2.3 deg2 we have discovered a total of 33 KBOs and 1 Centaur, but no objects in circular orbits beyond 50 AU. We find that we can exclude at 95% CL the existence of a distant disk inclined by i ≤ 1° to the invariable plane and containing more than 1.2 times as many D > 185 km KBOs between 50 and 60 AU as the observed inner Kuiper belt, if the distant disk is thinner than σ = 1.°75.


The role of customers in new product development has recently attracted increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners. The general attitude towards user involvement in developing process seem to be affirmative and optimistic, however some controversy still remains. In the case of mobile handset development, practitioners' primary focus is rather on business customers and regulators' requirements than on end-users need. The primary objective of this research is to look at firm-customer interface, by discovering what kind of customer information is taken into consideration during new mobile handset development process, how this information is obtained, processed and further communicated into technical product specification.


We study the quantum counterpart of the theorem on energy equipartition for classical systems. We consider a free quantum Brownian particle modelled in terms of the Caldeira-Leggett framework: a system plus thermostat consisting of an infinite number of harmonic oscillators. By virtue of the theorem on the averaged kinetic energy $E_k$ of the quantum particle, it is expressed as $E_k = \langle \mathcal E_k \rangle$, where $\mathcal E_k$ is thermal kinetic energy of the thermostat per one degree of freedom and $\langle ...\rangle$ denotes averaging over frequencies $\omega$ of thermostat oscillators which contribute to $E_k$ according to the probability distribution $\mathbb P(\omega)$. We explore the impact of various dissipation mechanisms, via the Drude, Gaussian, algebraic and Debye spectral density functions, on the characteristic features of $\mathbb{P}(\omega)$. The role of the system-thermostat coupling strength and the memory time on the most probable thermostat oscillator frequency as well as the kinetic energy $E_k$ of the Brownian particle is analysed.


SEVERE, rapidly progressive, obstructive jaundice is probably most frequently due to neoplastic obstruction of the biliary tract either within the hepatic substance or in its extra-hepatic part. The obstruction when complete produces profound metabolic changes which are on the whole poorly understood and these changes are reflected in changes in the blood chemistry. In the differential diagnosis of a patient with jaundice the laboratory tests are of great assistance and a better understanding of the abnormalities of metabolism produced should lead to more accurate laboratory diagnosis. This case report is of interest because of the very severe abnormalities of lipid metabolism produced by obstruction of the biliary tract by coexistent multiple carcinomas of the gall bladder and intraand extra-hepatic portions of the biliary system. Detailed studies of the lipid abnormalities have been carried out in the hope that they might throw some light on the basic changes which occur.


In front of the major challenges to increase its productivity while satisfying its customer, it is today important to establish in advance the operational performances of the RTG Abidjan Terminal. In this article, by using an M/G/1 retrial queue system, we obtained the average number of parked delivery trucks and as well as their waiting time. Finally, we used Matlab to represent them graphically then analyze the RTG performances according to the traffic rate.


A procedure for fast identification and equalization of wireless channels is presented. Using the finite impulse response (a realistic assumption) nature of wireless channels and the cyclostationary nature of the oversampled data, a finite matrix description of the channel is derived. This structure is used to obtain channel estimates and equalizers. The procedure is called semiblind because it estimates the signal subspace blindly but gets trained on phase. This technique converges quickly and is well suited for applications where the messages are short or the channel changes rapidly such that, e.g., every frame of a TDMA (time division multiple access) system needs equalization.<<ETX>>


A model of generator withholding is critical for analyses of market power. The California electricity market crisis of 2000-2001 saw increased utilization of fossil fuel plants. The stressed conditions could have affected normal outage rates. A hazard rate analysis applied to the Mirant generating plants indicates that higher utilization should increase outage rates. The predicted crisis outage rates should have been higher than the historical average. Actual outage rates were significantly lower than would be predicted based on pre-crisis behavior.


Turkish government has increased the importance of Konya-Karapinar region by making the area a pilot region for solar energy production.  In the near future, the government plans to have a 4 GW solar energy plant in the area.  According to this master plan, a pilot solar energy production system was established in the Necmettin Erbakan University campus.  A 1000W two-axis tracking and 1000W fixed panels were implemented in this system. In this paper, the performance of these panels are compared and evaluated.  25 years of solar radiation data for Konya is taken from the state meteorology institute, and the produced energy is compared with the predicted values.  Tracking panels are found to be approximately 25% more efficient than the fixed panels.  However, the maintenance of the tracking panels is observed to be more costly.  Moreover periodic cleaning and repairs are found to be very important and another cost factor for both systems.  Using the insight from this pilot system, an economic analysis of a large scale 1MW solar energy plant to be established in the campus is performed.  For this analysis, fixed panels are considered due to the low investment and maintenance costs and the simplicity of the maintenance work.  It is found that the 1MW solar plant will recover the investment cost within 7-8 years and will provide almost 3M$ profit after 20 years.


We developed Seq-deepCpf1, a deep learning-based algorithm trained on a data set of AsCpf1 (Cpf1 from Acidaminococcus sp. BV3L6)-induced indel frequencies at 15,000 target sequences, which outperformed conventional machine learning-based algorithms. Subsequent fine-tuning of Seq-deepCpf1 using data sets of AsCpf1induced indel frequencies at endogenous target sites with chromatin accessibility information enabled the development of DeepCpf1. We provide DeepCpf1 as a web tool, which predicts AsCpf1 activities at endogenous target sites with unprecedentedly high accuracy. Japan-Korea Joint Session of the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society


The purpose of this study was to improve the learning outcomes of Indonesian language by using experiential learning models atsixth grade students of SD Negeri 008 Pulau Lancang, Benai District, Kuantan Singingi Regency. This research was conducted based on student learning activities in the Indonesian learning process is still low so as to produce learning does not meet the KKM which has been set by the school which is 70. Furthermore, this research was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consists of four sides, namely planning, implementation, observation and reflection. To collect research data used a collection sheet that was filled by observers and learning outcomes tests given at the end of the cycle. Student learning activity data was analyzed by the number and percentage of students involved in each meeting. The improvement of learning outcomes can be seen from the number of students who completed at the end of the cycle. The results showed that learning activities and student learning outcomes improved after being implemented in the first cycle of students who achieved excellent grades from 12 students only 2 (17%), both 3 people (25%), sufficient categories of 2 people (17%) and at there are less categories of 5 students (42%) while in the second cycle increased to 8 students (67%) has found a very good category and 4 students (33%) in the good category that meant 100% of students have finished. Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the application of the educative learning model can improve the learning outcomes of Indonesian language of sixth grade students at SD Negeri 008 Pulau Lancang.


Three cases of traumatic tricuspid insufficiency are reported. The most consistent clinical and noninvasive cardiovascular findings were: previous nonpenetrating thorax trauma; non holosystolic murmur which increased slightly during inspiration on standing; electrocardiographic patterns of right atrial enlargement and right bundle branch block; unusual bulge along the mid-left heart border, seen on chest x-ray examination suggesting ventricular aneurysm; striking right ventricular dilatation wit paradoxical movement of the ventricular septum on ECHO. Cardiac catheterization led to definitive diagnosis by demonstrating a massive tricuspid valve incompetence with "ventricularisation" of the right atrial pressure. Some dyskinetic areas of the right ventrice, most likely due to the full-thickness contusion of the miocardial wall, seen on the right cineangiography, confirmed the diagnosis. The long-term clinical and haemodynamic follow-up was useful for monitoring the evolution of the disease. Surgery should be recommended in the presence of right-sided heart failure not relieved by adequate medical treatment, in view of the low operative risk.


In this paper, a novel algorithm based on Ridgelet Transform and support vector machine is proposed for human action recognition. The Ridgelet transform is a directional multi-resolution transform and it is more suitable for describing the human action by performing its directional information to form spatial features vectors. The dynamic transition between the spatial features is carried out using both the Principal Component Analysis and clustering algorithm K-means. First, the Principal Component Analysis is used to reduce the dimensionality of the obtained vectors. Then, the kmeans algorithm is then used to perform the obtained vectors to form the spatio-temporal pattern, called set-of-labels, according to given periodicity of human action. Finally, a Support Machine classifier is used to discriminate between the different human actions. Different tests are conducted on popular Datasets, such as Weizmann and KTH. The obtained results show that the proposed method provides more significant accuracy rate and it drives more robustness in very challenging situations such as lighting changes, scaling and dynamic environment. Keywords—Human action, Ridgelet Transform, PCA, K-means, SVM.