. Age structures of populations of canopy trees in Wormley Wood are consistent with reports that successional change is occurring, with Carpinus betulus replacing Quercus petraea as the dominant species. TWINSPAN analysis of data from a vegetation survey identifies three communities (described in earlier work), the 'Bracken', 'Bramble', and'Bareground' societies, characterized by increasing prominence of C. betulus and loss of species diversity.

An experiment was set up in which C. betulus, Q. petraea and Betula pendula seedlings were explanted into each of the communities. Survival of seedlings was monitored over 860 days and differences investigated. Cohort survivorship differed between species and sites. C. betulus seedlings survived longer than Q. petraea in Bracken and Bramble communities.

Species- and site-specific variation in the types and effects of herbivory were found. Herbivory did not appear to be a critical factor in the survival of Q. petraea seedlings. The photosynthetic light response of the seedling species was measured in the field. The light compensation point for Q. petraea seedlings (77 μmol photon m-2 s-1) is higher than the maximum available light under the main tree canopies in the wood. In contrast, seedlings of C. betulus have a lower light compensation point (15 μmol photon m2 s-1) and the mature tree casts a deeper shade than Q. petraea. It is suggested that the invasion of the canopy by C. betulus, following the cessation of coppicing, is creating light levels too low for Q. petraea seedling banks to persist.


Effective diffusivity of lactose in active acidogenic biofilms was measured at 35°C and pH 4.6 with a specially designed diffusion cell. The diffusion cell was designed and operated in such a way that the lactose concentrations on the surface and at the center of a living bacterial aggregate could be measured at steady state. As a model parameter in a widely accepted reaction–diffusion equation which describes lactose distribution in living biofilms, the effective diffusivity of lactose in the biofilms was found to be about 65% of the lactose diffusivity in free solutions. It was experimentally determined that the active biofilms had about 66% void volume made up of channels through which the lactose molecules were transported into the bacterial aggregates. Therefore, the decrease in lactose diffusivity was mainly caused by the biofilm's solid biomass fraction rather than the tortuosity of the channels. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Currently, the production of biodiesel is shifting from 1st generation to of 2nd generation where the raw materials are mostly from non-edible type oils and fats. Production of biodiesel is commonly operated under batch operation using mechanical mixing to accelerate mass transfer. The main bottleneck of esterification of oils is that they often contain large amounts of free fatty acids (FFA) which is reduce the yield of biodiesel and requires longer production time (2-5 hours). This longer time and lower yield seem to be major disadvantage for biodiesel production. Ultrasonification has been used in many applications due to its ability to produce cavitations. Therefore this research is aimed to implement ultrasound technology to improve biodiesel production process. A unit of cleaner ultrasound was facilitated under constant temperature and 40 Hz frequency. The result of this research showed that the ultrasound reduced significantly the processing time while the yield of biodiesel increases. The appropriate model to describe correlation of yield and defined variabels is Y= 43,4894 – 0,6926 X1 + 1,1807 X2 – 7,1042 X3 + 2,6451 X1X2 – 1,6557 X1X3 + 5,7586 X2X3 - 10,5145 X1X2X3, where X1 is mesh sizes, X2 ratio oil: methanol and X3 type of catalyzt.

Keywords: Rubberseed oil, Ultrasound, Esterification, Biodiesel, Yield


Numerical simulations of the ionosphere and protonosphere have been used to investigate diurnal and seasonal variations in magnetospheric plasma density enhancements capable of ducting VLF radio waves. During winter and equinoxes, VLF ducts may extend down to 300-km altitude at night but usually terminate above 1800 km during the day. In summer, ducts terminate above 1000-km altitude at all local times. The daytime flow of thermal plasma from the ionosphere into the protonosphere limits the half-life of a VLF duct to about 2 days.


We calculated the effect of the transmitter speed and receiver bandwidth on the electrical eye margin performance of a 10-Gb/s NRZ optical fiber transmission system. The transmitter under consideration used a 1.5 /spl mu/m DFB-laser externally modulated by a zero-chirp LiNbO/sub 3/ modulator with NRZ, 2/sup 7/-1 PRBS data. The receiver was a pin-diode based direct detection receiver. Main results are (1) near optimum system performance is achieved when the 10-90% rise/fall-time of the transmitter output is 40 ps, only small improvement is obtained by using faster speeds and, (2) the optimum bandwidth of the receiver is at 10 GHz (the baudrate) for both the back-to-back and the 120-km transmission configuration. Thus, the optimum receiver bandwidth is at the baudrate (10 GHz) which is in conflict with accepted practice which suggests approximately 0.6/spl times/ baudrate (6 GHz). The reason for this discrepancy is that we considered an optically amplified NRZ transmission system where the optical power level at the receiver input is well above the receiver sensitivity. Therefore, the impact of thermal noise is negligible and the system is dominated by ISI, which can be reduced by increasing the receiver bandwidth.


Discrete data for trace elements for both the dissolved and acid available fractions for thirteen core sites in the Humber catchment over the period 1993 to 1997 and for three sites from the Tweed catchment over the period 1994 to 1997. Part of the Land Ocean Interaction Study project (LOIS). Trace elements measured were: Aluminium (Al), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Barium (Ba), Beryllium (Be), Boron (B), Cadmium (Cd), Cerium (Ce), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Gadolinium (Gd), Iron (Fe), Lanthanum (La), Lead (Pb), Lithium (Li), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), Neodymium (Nd), Nickel (Ni), Rubidium (Rb), Samarium (Sm), Scandium (Sc), Strontium (Sr), Tin (Sn), Uranium (U), Yttrium (Y), Zinc (Zn). The Core sites were sampled at regular weekly intervals and more intermittently during high flows (on average an extra sampling once a month per site). The Swale sites were sampled during hydrological events and the Aire sites were sampled both weekly and during hydrological events. The majority of samples were obtained using a wide neck grab sampler. Those samples collected from the Aire during hydrological events were obtained using EPIC automatic samplers. Both dissolved and acid available trace element fractions were determined for all samples. The dissolved fraction was measured by filtering samples and acidifying the filtrates with concentrated aristar grade nitric acid (1%vv) on the same day of sampling. The acid available fraction was determined by acidifying an unfiltered sample as above and agitating for 24 hours, at room temperature, prior to filtration. Samples were then analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES: B, Ba, Fe, Mn, Sr) and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS: Al, As, Be, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Gd, La, Li, Mo, Nd, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sn, U, Y, Zn).


In this study, Sn/Ag/Cu Pb-free solder paste was printed and reflowed onto a thin film Al/Ni(V)/Cu under bump metallization (UBM) on a 4mm /spl times/ 5mm die and, packaged in a 5mm /spl times/ 6mm LGA (land grid array) package using four different underfill materials with a range of different material properties. The packages were then examined after 1, 3 and 6 reflow cycles in addition to various standard package reliability tests. Package level Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was also conducted to simulate the solder creep strain under various strain rates of temperature cycling (TC) or thermal shock (TS) at. In addition, SEM and concurrent Elementary Mapping were used to characterize the integrity of the UBM. The FEA results show that underfill materials with a high Tg and a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) could substantially minimize the solder's maximum equivalent creep strain under cyclical stress excursions. This conclusion was in agreement with actual package level reliability results. By selecting the appropriate underfill properties, this Pb-free flip chip package has passed moisture sensitivity level (MSL-3) with 3 reflow cycles at peak temperature of 260/spl deg/C, followed by TC 1500 cycles, low temperature thermal shock (LTS) 800 /spl times/ and unbiased highly accelerated stress test (UHAST) 168h. Additional observations noted include that the Cu was nearly completely consumed after these package assembly reflows. It was also found that Ni diffused into bulk solder after the aforementioned multiple reflow cycles.


To determine whether visits by wild pollinators correspond well with the physiological patterns of animal-pollinated crops, we investigated the diurnal dynamics of nectar secretion in the male and female flowers of cultivated kabocha squash Cucurbita maxima Duch, and its effect on the temporal visitation pattern by bumblebees, their Japanese wild pollinators, relative to visits by introduced honeybees Apis mellifera L. in Hokkaido, Japan. The amount of nectar secreted and the frequency of pollinator visits were monitored from floral opening at dawn until wilting in the early afternoon. Flowers of both sexes secreted nectar in a unimodal diurnal pattern, with secretion peaking during the middle stage of anthesis. The total production of nectar in female flowers was twice that in male flowers. Although the availability of pollinators varied between days, the frequency of visits by bumblebees corresponded well with the dynamics of nectar secretion by the flowers. The diurnal dynamics of nectar secretion and the large availability of nectar reward in female flowers would increase the probability of transferring viable pollen to female flowers and contributing to fruit production of this crop. Bumblebee visits were negatively correlated with honeybee visits. Although this negative correlation could be explained by the complementary effects of pollinators or competitive exclusion, the effects of introducing honeybees on wild pollinators cannot be easily evaluated and thus should be carefully examined by considering the local environmental context in future studies.


An efficient payment system is necessary to support efficient trading in goods and services within open market economies. Information technology has been used by many of these economies to achieve efficiency in their payment systems. The People's Republic of China, an emerging market economy, regards an efficient electronic payment system as imperative for economic liberalization, for supporting low cash usage and improving monetary control within the economy. By means of the "Golden Card" project, it aimed for a flexible, convenient, fast, secure and seamless electronic payment system beneficial to economic performance. Although efficiencies in the electronic payment system were achieved in some of the developed regions, there have been teething problems such as low public confidence in the system, weak technological support and inadequate regulatory framework that prevent the full realization of a supportive payment system for overall economic development.


Abstract After classification into compositional groups using their cathodoluminescence properties, chondrules were chiseled from sections of the least metamorphosed ordinary chondrites, Semarkona and Krymka. This technique avoided biases due to size and friability and ensured that all classes were adequately sampled. The chondrules were then analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis and their major phases (olivine, pyroxene, metal, mesostasis) were analyzed by electron microprobe. Group A1 and A2 chondrules of Semarkona and group A3 chondrules of Krymka have all the properties expected for chondrules which experienced considerable Fe reduction and evaporative loss during their formation (elemental depletions related to volatility, Fe-poor silicates, Ni-poor metal, significant pyroxene, small sizes). This is not the case for group B1, B2, and A5 chondrules (which have unfractionated bulk silicate compositions, FeO-rich silicates, little or no metal, little pyroxene, large sizes). Group A chondrules in Semarkona generally have thicker metal–sulfide-rich rims than group B chondrules, a situation similar to that of the Murchison CM2 chondrite, except that in Murchison aqueous alteration has destroyed the metal and sulfide. Group A chrondrules sometimes show compositional zoning in their mesostases and we suggest that both mesostasis zoning and chondrule rims are the products of recondensation during chondrule formation. Cooling rates differ considerably with chondrule class. Group A1–3 and A5 chondrules cooled relatively slowly and maintained a degree of equilibrium between melt and phenocrysts, while group B1 and B2 chondrules cooled rapidly and underwent considerable supercooling. The chondrule-forming process, whatever it was, was clearly capable of acting with a variety of intensities and produced a range of cooling rates. We suggest that the diversity of chondrules cannot be attributed mainly to variations in the properties and abundances of precursors, although this can sometimes be a factor, but can be derived from a fairly similar precursor of solar composition.


BACKGROUND
Adult intussusception is an unusual entity, and its etiology differs from that in pediatric patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the causes and management of intussusception in adults.

METHODS
A retrospective review of patients with a diagnosis of gastrointestinal intussusception between 1986 and 2006 was conducted. All patients under the age of 18 and cases with rectal, ostomy, or gastroenterostomy prolapse were excluded.

RESULTS
There were 28 cases of adult intussusception. Mean age was 38.6+/-16.7 years. A preoperative diagnosis of intussusception was made in 53.5% of the cases. There were 23 enteric, three colonic and two ileocolic intussusceptions. A lead point was identified in 25 patients (89.3%). Invagination was due to benign causes in 19 patients, malignant causes in six patients and idiopathic in three patients. Complication was seen in three (10.3%) cases.

CONCLUSION
In this series, the mean age of the patients was younger than in the literature. Since intussusception was due to small bowel pathologies, the proportion of benign/malignant lesions favored benign lesions. Although it is encountered rarely in adults, physicians should be aware of invagination and consider it in each case of acute abdomen because of the wide spectrum of the clinical settings.


Abstract In recent years, male infertility has become a growing social problem. Standard diagnostic procedures, based on assessing seminological parameters, are often insufficient to explain the causes of male infertility. Because of this, new markers with better clinical application are being sought. One of the promising markers seems to be an assessment of telomere length of sperm. Sperm telomeres, in contrast to somatic cells, are elongated as men age. The results of some studies suggest that telomere length may be relevant in the case of fertilization and normal embryo development. Literature reports indicate that there is a correlation between telomere length of sperm and abnormal sperm parameters. The measurement of telomere length using the method of quantitative PCR could become a new marker of spermatogenesis, which can be useful for evaluating male reproductive age.


A two‐dimensional flow experiment on biological clogging was carried out by biostimulating a sandbox packed with sand inoculated with bacteria. Biostimulation consisted of continuously injecting nutrients (acetate and nitrate). Clogging was visualized by frequently carrying out colored tracer experiments using Brilliant Blue. The tracer experiments were recorded with a digital camera and converted to concentration maps using an image‐analysis method that revealed in detail the complex spreading pattern surrounding clogged areas. Clogging resulted in a finger‐like spreading of the tracer around the main clogged area. Fingers were asymmetric and their dominant direction changed over time. Although the flow field was complex around the main clogged area, the effect on the bulk hydraulic conductivity at the scale of the sandbox was very small.


We obtain the variant of maximum principle for
radial solutions of $p$-harmonic equation
 $-a\Delta_p(w)=\phi(w)$.
 As a consequence of this result we prove monotonicity of constant sign solutions, analyze the support of the solutions and study their oscillations. The results are applied
 to various type nonlinear eigenvalue problems and nonexistence theorems.


A economist, a pastor, and a psychiatrist join forces to encourage readers to examine their lives and themselves intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, and to examine seriously and systematically the why of our existence. "A good job. . . . A quest for meaning cannot be conducted without some reference to an ultimate concern".--James M. Wall, Christian Century.


A Bayesian approach to spatial filtering is presented, which is robust to uncertain or erroneous direction-of-arrival (DOA) information. The proposed framework aims to capture multiple sound sources at each time-frequency instant with an arbitrary direction-dependent gain, while attenuating diffuse sound and noise. For robustness, the DOA corresponding to each sound source is assumed to be a discrete random variable with a prior defined on a discrete set of candidate DOAs over the whole DOA space. With this assumption, the desired spatial filter is given as a weighted sum of spatial filters corresponding to a specific combination of probable DOA values, where the weights are given by the joint posterior probabilities of the combination of DOA values. Assuming the whole DOA space as the support for each random variable results in redundant computations and contributes to a high computational cost. To alleviate this problem, a narrowband DOA estimate-based posterior probability approximation method is proposed, which isolates regions in the DOA space with high probability of containing the actual source DOAs to compute time-adaptive supports for each random variable. Through experimental analysis, we demonstrate the robustness of the proposed framework against DOA estimation errors. Experimental evaluation with simulated and measured room impulse responses, in terms of objective performance measures, demonstrates the effectiveness of the framework to perform spatial filtering in noisy and reverberant acoustic environments.


In this paper, the voltage stability of the power system is studied during fault conditions. Enhancement of the system's stability will be achieved by utilizing Flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) controllers at the best place in the system. The optimum placement of (FACTS) controllers occurred on the most affected bus by the fault in the system (weakest bus). Two approaches have been used in this study to effectively obtain the best location of the (FACTS) controllers in the system. The first method is based on computing the deviation which occurs in the active power and reactive power due to the fault at each load bus at a time. Whereas the second method is performed through exploiting a MATLAB fuzzy set technique utilizing two indices: Line Flow Index (LFI) and Voltage Profile Index (VPI) during fault and steady-state conditions. The results show that both of these indices resulted in the same bus as the best location. Remedial actions in the attempt at improving in the stability of the power system are discussed taking the advantage of using (FACTS) compensation (SVC) and (STATCOM) at the most vulnerable system buses. In this work, MATLAB program with an IEEE 24 bus system is examined.


We are developing a sensor system for use in clinical gait analysis. This research involves the development of an on-shoe device that can be used for continuous and real-time monitoring of gait. This paper presents the design of an instrumented insole and a removable instrumented shoe attachment. Transmission of the data is in real-time and wireless, providing information about the three-dimensional motion, position, and pressure distribution of the foot. Using pattern recognition and numerical analysis of the calibrated sensor outputs, algorithms will be developed to analyze the data in real-time. Results will be validated by comparison to results from a commercial optical gait analysis system at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Biomoti on Lab.


After reviewing the characteristics of neurogenic pulmonary edema, Theodore and Robin suggested that it was probably due to rupture of lung vessels by marked but transitory pulmonary hypertension. In this study, we have determined the effects of increased intracranial pressure in a sheep model in which we could measure the flow rate and protein content of lung lymph, and thus detect changes in pulmonary vascular permeability. We found that increasing intracranial pressure to amounts near systemic arterial pressure produced a 3-fold increase in the flow of protein-rich lymph, which indicates increased lung vascular permeability. The high permeability often developed, and always persisted, without extraordinary increases in pulmonary vascular pressure. We conclude that increased lung vascular permeability may follow intracranial hypertension and that extreme pulmonary hypertension is not a prerequisite. Our data do not permit us to exclude barotrauma to exchanging vessels as a cause of capillary damage, but do suggest that other factors, perhaps local release of permeability mediators, may be involved.


Abstract As a mega-biodiversity country, Indonesia ratified the United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity in 1994, and by so doing, Indonesia is obliged to meet Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. The target states: 'by 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape'. Indonesia has been committed to set aside 20 million hectares of its coastal and marine waters for biodiversity conservation by 2020, en route to achieving the national target of at least 30 million hectares in the future. Here we demonstrate how the development and expansion of marine protected areas (MPAs) at the local level is crucial if the national government is to achieve the target. Using West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) Province as a case study, we describe the current achievements as well as plans for expanding marine conservation areas in the province by 2020. Despite challenges along the way, by 2016 the province managed to set aside 229,555.36 ha for biodiversity conservation thanks to the district governments' efforts for establishing MPAs in their respective region. This figure covers approximately 7.87% of the province's marine waters and contributed 1.25% to the national target of marine conservation areas in 2017. Intelligent preparation of the province's coastal and small islands zoning plan will provide opportunities to allocate around 100,000 ha more to the WNT coastal and marine waters for conservation areas. With this addition, the total area is estimated to reach around 330,000 ha or approximately 10.29% of the province's marine waters and would contribute 1.50% to the national target of marine conservation areas by 2020. The related challenges and opportunities for reaching this important target in WNT Province are discussed.


Bathophenanthroline (BPhen) is a versatile bidentate ligand for transition metals, also frequently used as a universal colorimetric probe for Fe(II). The effect of pH on the fluorescence intensity of BPhen and quenching constant of Fe(II) were studied at different pH values using working solutions of 50% ethanol buffered with acetate buffer. Fluorescence intensity of a 3.0 μM Bphen solution in 50% ethanol buffered at pH 6.6 with acetate buffer was selectively quenched by Fe(II) at 25 °C. The LOD of 19 nM at 3.3 σ and the linear range of 63 nM – 224 nM with R2 = 0.9919 revealed that this method is more sensitive than the colorimetric method (detection range =1.8 μM - 18 μM). Quenching of the BPhen-Fe(II) complex is temperature-dependent, which may be due to the increased stability of the formed complex with temperature, supporting a static quenching mechanism. Interference from foreign ions on the fluorescence of the BPhen-iron(II) complex was also studied. A tolerance limit exceeding 5% was observed and recorded. The interference from cations, Ni(II), Co(II), and Cu(II), was relatively higher, while the most common anions showed only a little to no interference. In response time analysis, the fluorescence intensity, which remains constant after 10 minutes, reveals that the system approached equilibrium. This method would be quicker and more accurate than a colorimetric method due to the absence of a solvent extraction step.


The aim of this research was to correlate the composition of phenolic compounds and bioactivities (antioxidant, cytotoxic, antigenotoxic, and influence on selected enzymatic activities) exhibited by extracts from differently pigmented raspberry (yellow and red), grape (white and red), mulberry (white and black), and currant (white, red, and black) varieties. It was presumed that phytocomplexes of the same species will be similar while differing significantly only by the content of anthocyanins in colored varieties, which will impact biological properties. Additionally, to compare food matrix embedded and isolated anthocyanins, the influence of purified solution, in concentrations matching the total concentration of anthocyanins in appropriate colored plant samples, on investigated biological activities was studied. The phenolic compound composition and antioxidant profiles showed that anthocyanin content was correlated only with antioxidant capacity of tested plant extracts. The other determined biological activities failed to reveal any simple relationship between chemopreventive potential and anthocyanin composition in fruits studied nor any similarity to biological properties of isolated cyanidin-3-O-glucoside. These observations indirectly support the food synergy concept, that points to interactions between different phytochemicals as a factor deciding about the final bioactivity of edible plants.


The martial arts emanate from ancient and focused during this time to the wars, self-defense and health. Many dogmas are involved in its process of transmission and needed to be philosophically and scientifically discussed. Several studies point to health benefits with the practice of martial arts, such as prevention of fractures by falls in the elderly and improving their physical condition and health of type 2 diabetes and the general public. Moreover, several injuries can occur in contact sports and be enhanced by the inadequate training of instructors. Already the sports training must be planned based on its principles and on actualized scientific information, considering the development phase, type of metabolism used and what muscle groups most requested. So, the professional of this area needs to sound academic background, to ensure the health and performance of their students.


Introduction Despite the well-accepted view on the importance of parental warmth and parental hostility for adolescent development, few studies have examined the joint interactive effects of these two key aspects of parenting. Furthermore, research comparing maternal and paternal parenting is limited, with the father-daughter relationship during adolescence remaining one of the more understudied familial contexts. Given that family processes are key for the intergenerational transmission of inequality, these parent–child relationships may be especially important for youth at risk for exposure to violence. Objectives Using a sample of juvenile female offenders, this study examined the associations between the perceived warmth and hostility in the father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships on daughters' depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, romantic partner warmth, romantic partner hostility, and the daughter's sense of agency. We hypothesized that high perceived parental warmth would moderate the effects of parental hostility by protecting daughters from the negative effects of parental hostility, with stronger effects for the father-daughter than the mother-daughter relationship. Results In contrast, our paternal relationship findings across four of the five outcomes suggest a moderation in the opposite direction – that is, high perceived father warmth exacerbates the deleterious effects of father hostility on daughters' depressive symptoms, anxiety, romantic partner warmth, and romantic partner hostility. Maternal warmth, and not hostility, had a direct association with these four outcomes, with stronger explanatory power shown for the father-daughter than the mother-daughter model. Higher agency was associated with maternal hostility only. Conclusion Our findings suggest that daughters might be modeling and internalizing the relationship with their fathers (for better or worse) when they perceive it as warm and supportive. Consequently, adolescent girls whose fathers exhibit hostile behavior may benefit from emotional distancing from their fathers.


As part of a study in progress, neuropsychological tests have been administered to 13 patients with clinical acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, 9 human immunodeficiency virus–seropositive patients, 4 seropositive patients with chronic active hepatitis, 5 seronegative patients with chronic active hepatitis, and 6 healthy controls. Consistent with findings in earlier patient and control groups, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients had substantially lower scores on a variety of cognitive tests. Although the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome group is not education‐matched at present, the results are nonetheless consistent with impairments of language function and timed, self‐paced performance. Test results obtained may reflect focal and global cognitive impairment as well as motivational decrements in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome relative to seropositive patients or controls.


Liquid-phase exfoliation of graphene using a suitable solvent is safe, although the sonication period needs further exploration, which may affect the exfoliation process. This study investigated graphene exfoliation in chloroform through UV–Vis spectroscopy. Graphite powder at different ratios was soaked in chloroform and sonicated at different sonication times from 30 min to 180 min and then subjected to centrifugation at 4,000 rpm for 30 min. The supernatant was collected and analysed using UV–Vis spectroscopy at wavelengths between 220 nm and 800 nm. The UV absorbance intensity showed that the presence of exfoliated graphene peaks is free of interference at 120 min. A comparative study was conducted by using graphene in chloroform as controls and adding bioactive glass (BG) within graphite powder-chloroform emulsions in different concentrations at 120 min. Graphene appearance at the anticipated absorption peak at ~270 nm was observed, and BG addition led to agglomeration, which could provide an idea for a better material formulation strategy in developing films that combined graphene/ BG because of their exceptional properties suitable for diverse potential biomedical application.


The swimming performances of the Canadian Team at the 1976 Olympic Games were categorized as being improved or worse than previous best times in the events contested. The two groups had been previously assessed on the Psychological Inventories for Competitive Swimmers. A stepwise multiple-discriminant analysis of the inventory responses revealed that 13 test questions produced a perfect discrimination of group membership. The resultant discriminant functions for predicting performance classification were applied to the test responses of 157 swimmers at the 1977 Canadian Winter National Swimming Championships. Using the same performance classification criteria the accuracy of prediction was not better than chance in three of four sex by performance classifications. This yielded a failure to locate a set of behavioral factors which determine swimming performance improvements in elite competitive circumstances. The possibility of sets of factors which do not discriminate between performances in similar environments or between similar groups of swimmers was raised.


Marine benthic diatoms highly contribute to biofilms formation, playing a crucial role on both living and artificial surfaces 'colonization (Briand 2017, Salta 2013). However, their microscopic morphological identification is time consuming and requires a high expertise in taxonomy. We therefore decided to look toward molecular analyses and especially metabarcoding. In this study, we determine : (i) if the use of the "Diat.barcode" database, mostly developed for freshwater diatoms (Rimet 2019), is relevant to characterize marine biofilm communities, (ii) if the amplification of degenerated primers targeting the rbcL gene (Vasselon et al. 2017) could improve the diversity of marine diatom biofilms, and (iii) if molecular and morphological analyses could be correlated.A large majority of OTUs (>95%) was affiliated using the "Diat.barcode" database and the pipeline FROGS, with coverage and affinity values above 80%. OTUs tables contained 75% of diatom species already reported from marine environment, with 82% belonging to the pennates group. The use of degenerated primers significantly improved richness and diversity. Moreover, it allowed us to identify taxa that were not present before, as Iconella, Sellaphora and Coronia. Finally, we showed higher richness and diversity, but also a higher repeatability (replicates closeness) leading to a better clustering with metabarcoding. We found differences in terms of biomarkers, but more broadly, we were able to correlate significantly (r = 0,404; p<0.0001) diatom assemblages.While the latest version of "Diat.barcode" ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ © Barry-Martinet R et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. database contains only 12.4% species referenced as marine, it appears to be a powerful tool, even on biofilm samples from the Mediterranean, Baltic seas and Indian Ocean. Furthermore, we confirmed the relevance of degenerated primers to amplify a higher diversity of diatoms. Finally, beta-diversity similarity using molecular and microscopic analysis appeared positive, leading to the conclusion that the two methods should be used in a complementary way.


The performance of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption into aqueous solutions of single and blended alkanolamines was evaluated experimentally in a bench-scale absorber packed with high-efficiency packings. The absorption experiments were conducted under atmospheric pressure, using a feed gas mixture containing 10% CO2 and 90% nitrogen. Monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), diisopropanolamine (DIPA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), and their mixtures including MEA−MDEA, DEA−MDEA, MEA−AMP, and DEA−AMP were tested in this work. The absorption performance was presented in terms of the CO2 removal efficiency, absorber height requirement, effective interfacial area for mass transfer, and overall mass-transfer coefficient (KGae). Comparison of the absorption performance between the tested alkanolamines was made over ranges of operating conditions to establish the correlation between single- and blended-alkanolamine systems.


The position of the voltage-sensing transmembrane segment, S4, in voltage-gated ion channels as a function of voltage remains incompletely elucidated. Site-3 toxins bind primarily to the extracellular loops connecting transmembrane helical segments S1-S2 and S3-S4 in Domain 4 (D4) and S5-S6 in Domain 1 (D1) and slow fast-inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels. As S4 of the human skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel, hNav1.4, moves in response to depolarization from the resting to the inactivated state, two D4S4 reporters (R2C and R3C, Arg1451Cys and Arg1454Cys, respectively) move from internal to external positions as deduced by reactivity to internally or externally applied sulfhydryl group reagents, methane thiosulfonates (MTS). The changes in reporter reactivity, when cycling rapidly between hyperpolarized and depolarized voltages, enabled determination of the positions of the D4 voltage-sensor and of its rate of movement. Scorpion α-toxin binding impedes D4S4 segment movement during inactivation since the modification rates of R3C in hNav1.4 with methanethiosulfonate (CH3SO2SCH2CH2R, where R = -N(CH3)3 + trimethylammonium, MTSET) and benzophenone-4-carboxamidocysteine methanethiosulfonate (BPMTS) were slowed ~10-fold in toxin-modified channels. Based upon the different size, hydrophobicity and charge of the two reagents it is unlikely that the change in reactivity is due to direct or indirect blockage of access of this site to reagent in the presence of toxin (Tx), but rather is the result of inability of this segment to move outward to the normal extent and at the normal rate in the toxin-modified channel. Measurements of availability of R3C to internally applied reagent show decreased access (slower rates of thiol reaction) providing further evidence for encumbered D4S4 movement in the presence of toxins consistent with the assignment of at least part of the toxin binding site to the region of D4S4 region of the voltage-sensor module.


The total force produced in the axial direction on a pump is called axial load and is caused by the pressure difference between the front and rear of the impeller and the hydrostatic force in the suction direction. In a centrifugal pump, 3D computer-aided analysis programs are used to design and reduce R&D and manufacturing costs. In this study, parameters affecting axial load of the centrifugal pump with a single suction and closed impeller were investigated by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. In this context, the flow rate and the some physical properties such as the back gap of the impeller, wear ring and balancing holes, of the centrifugal pump were investigated to determine how much affected the axial load. The results showed that the wear ring and the balancing holes give rise to effective results on the axial load, while the back gap of the impeller does not affect the large extent. With the design changes made with these parameterizations, the axial force was reduced by up to 60%, whereas the efficiency was decreased by 5%. The loss of efficiency due to this decrease in axial force is negligible. However, higher efficiency values were also found at a different point from the working point where the axial load is lowest.


Connecting rod is key piece of engine. It ought to be precisely machined with the obliged resilience. Additionally the varieties of measurements in work -piece to work piece ought to be low so it will be simpler to amass in engine. At the same time, it has been watched that in the majority of the cases the process duration needed for machining ( boring) the connectingrod was an excess of furthermore with the lower resilience precision in exhausting operation because of traditional installation.The diameters required of the smaller end and the Bigger end of the said connecting rod are 35.6±0.010 mm and 55.6±0.02 mm respectively. The aim of this project is to design and development of a new fixture for machining (Boring) operation using designing softwares i.e. Pro E. Because of varieties in diameters of the end side the rejection rate is high so with this new outline the point is to reduce the rejection rate up to 5% which is 13% presently furthermore to expand the production rate up to 10% to 15%. Keyword-Connecting rod ;clapmings;lcator ; Iscar online calcualtion;Creo 3.0(PRO E)


PURPOSE
The chicken embryo lens is a classical model system for developmental and cell biology studies. To understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie the morphological changes that occur during lens development, it is important to develop an effective gene transfer method that permits the analysis of gene functions in vivo. In ovo electroporation has been successfully used for introducing DNA into neural and mesenchymal tissues of chicken embryos. In this study, we explored the possibility of using this technique to manipulate gene expression in lens epithelial and fiber cells, as well as in other cells of the chicken eye.

METHODS
Two DNA constructs were used in this study. pCAX contains a chicken beta-actin promoter fused to the CMV IE enhancer to drive enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression. pMES-cNf2 uses the same chimeric promoter to drive the expression of the chicken neurofibromatosis 2 (cNf2) and EGFP proteins in the same cell. Plasmid DNA was injected into the lumen of the lens vesicle in chicken embryos at stage 15. For corneal epithelial and retinal cell electroporation, DNA was placed near the surface ectoderm in the eye region or injected into the vitreous cavity, respectively. Electroporation was performed with one electrode above the eye and the other underneath the head of the embryo. Chicken embryos were harvested at different time points for EGFP expression analysis by immunohistochemistry. 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assays were used to evaluate the effects of cNf2 on lens epithelial cell proliferation.

RESULTS
A strong EGFP signal can be detected in lens cells 4 h after electroporation. The transfected cells maintain high levels of EGFP expression for at least 5 days. Overexpressing cNf2 in lens epithelial cells significantly inhibits cell proliferation. Ectopic expression of EGFP in corneal epithelial and retinal cells was also achieved by in ovo electroporation.

CONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated that exogenous DNA can be effectively introduced into lens, corneal and retinal cells in the living embryo by in ovo electroporation. In comparison to viral infection and transgenic mouse approaches, in ovo electroporation offers an easier and quicker way to manipulate gene expression during embryonic development. This technique will be a useful tool for exploring the molecular mechanisms of lens and eye development.


The design and evaluation of microprocessor architecture is a difficult and time-consuming task. Although small, hand-coded, microbenchmarks can be used to accelerate architecture design space exploration, these programs are usually too simplistic to stress the entire architecture design, which is becoming increasing complex. Larger and more complex real-world workloads should be employed to measure the performance of a given design or to evaluate the efficiency of various design alternatives. Nevertheless, these applications can take days or weeks if run to completion on a detailed architecture simulator. In the past, researchers have applied machine learning and statistical sampling methods to reduce the average number of instructions required for detailed simulation. Others have proposed statistical simulation and workload synthesis techniques, which can produce programs that emulate the execution characteristics of the application that they are derived from but have a much shorter execution period than the original. However, existing methodologies are difficult to apply to multi-threaded programs and can result in simplifications that miss the complex interactions between multiple, concurrently running threads. This study focuses on developing new techniques for accurate and effective multi-threaded workload synthesis, which can effectively accelerate the design and optimization of multi-core architectures. We propose to construct statistical flow graphs that incorporate inter-thread synchronization and sharing characteristics to capture the behavior and interactions of each thread and to generate accurate workload characterizations. A walk of these graphs is used to generate a synthetic program that maintains these characteristics but has reduced runtime.


In this paper, we introduce fractional-order into a model of (HTLV-I) infection of CD 4 T-cells. Generalized Euler method (GEM) is implemented to give approximate and analytical solutions of the presented problem. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense.


We demonstrated an optical two-way time transfer scheme in the outdoor free-space link using a simple complex programmable logic device-based serial time coder/decoder. With this scheme, we have transferred a 100 Hz signal with time information over a 120-m outdoor atmospheric link. The time drift, time deviation, and frequency instability are all measured to estimate the quality of the transferred time signal during the transfer process. Within 11 h, the experimental result shows that the total root-mean-square time drift is about 81 ps, with the time deviation of 70 ps at 1-s averaging time and down to 10 ps above 100-s averaging time. The calculation shows that the fractional frequency instability of the transmission link is on the order of 1.4 × 10-10 at 1 s and of 3.0 × 10-15 at 10 000 s. The time deviation and frequency instability for the optical two-way time transfer are superior to those of the Global Positioning System (GPS)-based time transfer method, which implies the technique proposed in this paper is able to be directly used in high-precision time transfer over atmospheric links in a short distance.


Modern services running in cloud and edge environments need to be resource-efficient to increase deployment density and reduce operating costs. Asynchronous I/O combined with asynchronous programming provides a solid technical foundation to reach these goals. Reactive programming and reactive streams are gaining traction in the Java ecosystem. However, reactive streams implementations tend to be complex to work with and maintain. This paper discusses the performance of the three major reactive streams compliant libraries used in Java applications: RxJava, Project Reactor, and SmallRye Mutiny. As we will show, advanced optimization techniques such as operator fusion do not yield better performance on realistic I/O-bound workloads, and they significantly increase development and maintenance costs.


PURPOSE
Amplification of the MYCN proto-oncogene is strongly correlated with poor outcome in neuroblastoma (NB), although deregulated MYCN is a potent inducer of apoptosis. BIN1 (2q14) encodes multiple isoforms of a Myc-interacting adaptor protein that has features of a tumor suppressor, including the ability to inhibit Myc-mediated cell transformation and to promote apoptosis. We hypothesized that BIN1 may function as a suppressor gene in NB, because Bin1 is highly expressed in neural tissues and binds the Myc Box motifs that are conserved in MycN. EXPERMENTAL DESIGN: Expression of MYCN, total BIN1, and BIN1 isoforms were determined in 56 primary NBs using the real-time PCR. Expression was correlated with biological and genetic features. To determine the functional significance of BIN1 expression we ectopically expressed BIN1 isoforms in NB cell lines with and without MYCN amplification, and assessed clonogenic growth.

RESULTS
Four predominant BIN1 isoforms resulting from alternative splicing of exon 12A (a neural tissue-specific exon) and exon 13 (a Myc-binding domain encoding exon) were variably expressed in the 56 primary NBs. Expression of BIN1 was lower in: NBs with MYCN amplification (n = 10) compared with those without, P < 0.03; in International Neuroblastoma Risk Group high-risk NB (n = 19) compared with low- or intermediate-risk NB, P < 0.01; and in metastatic NB (n = 21) compared with localized NB, P < 0.06. BIN1 inactivation by deletion or genomic rearrangement was identified infrequently. Forced expression of BIN1 isoforms containing the Myc-binding domain (with or without exon 12A) inhibited colony formation in NB cell lines with MYCN amplification (P < 0.01) but not in those without. Forced expression of BIN1 isoforms with a MBD deletion did not inhibit colony formation in any cell line assessed.

CONCLUSIONS
These data support that reduced BIN1 expression contributes to the malignant phenotype of childhood NB. As we reported previously, BIN1 may function to circumvent MycN-mediated apoptosis in NBs with MYCN amplification.


Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) is a neurotropic RNA virus belonging to the family Bornaviridae within the order Mononegavirales. Whereas BoDV-1 causes neurological and behavioral disorders, called Borna disease (BD), in a wide range of mammals, its virulence in humans has been debated for several decades. However, a series of case reports in recent years have established the nature of BoDV-1 as a zoonotic pathogen that causes fatal encephalitis in humans. Although many virological properties of BoDV-1 have been revealed to date, the mechanism by which it causes fatal encephalitis in humans remains unclear. In addition, there are no effective vaccines or antiviral drugs that can be used in clinical practice. A reverse genetics approach to generating replication-competent recombinant viruses from full-length cDNA clones is a powerful tool that can be used to not only understand viral properties but also to develop vaccines and antiviral drugs. The rescue of recombinant BoDV-1 (rBoDV-1) was first reported in 2005. However, due to the slow nature of the replication of this virus, the rescue of high-titer rBoDV-1 required several months, limiting the use of this system. This review summarizes the history of the reverse genetics and artificial replication systems for orthobornaviruses and explores the recent progress in efforts to rescue rBoDV-1.


A novel type of thermal neutron detector based on the gas electron multiplier (GEM) technology is presented in the framework of the research and development activity on the 3He replacement for neutron detection. The device relies on a series of boron-coated alumina sheets placed perpendicularly to the incident neutron beam direction. The detector, named side-on GEM (S-GEM), was tested on beam at the High Flux Isotope Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US) to assess its performance in terms of beam position resolution, efficiency and signal-to-background (S/B) ratio as compared to a 10 bar 3He tube for sub-thermal neutrons. Using 3 mm wide PADs, a sub-millimeter position resolution was obtained. The achieved efficiency is about 30% with a quite good S/B ratio. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed detector configuration to achieve a good spatial resolution and, in the perspective, a higher thermal neutron efficiency, comparable to 3He tubes typically used for diagnostic in nuclear reactors. The main issues to be addressed to reach the goal, mostly related to boron coating procedures and characterization, are also pointed out.


When 14 C-labelled abscisic acid ([ 14 C]ABA) was supplied to isolated protoplasts of the barley leaf at pH 6, initial rates of metabolism were about five times higher in epidermal cell protoplasts than in mesophyll cell protoplasts if equal cytosolic volumes were considered. In spite of the fact that epidermal cells make up only about 35% of the total water space in barley leaves, and despite the small cytosolic volume of these cells, in intact leaves all epidermal cells would thus metabolize half as much ABA per unit time as the mesophyll cells (0.27 and 0.51 mmol h -1 m -3 leaf water). Therefore, under these conditions epidermal cells seem to be a stronger sink than mesophyll cells for ABA that arrives via the transpiration stream. However, at an apoplastic pH of 7.25, which occurs in stressed leaves, the proportion of total metabolized ABA would be much smaller in epidermal than in mesophyll cells (0.029 and 0.204 mmol h -1 m -3 leaf water). Our results indicate that under conditions of slightly alkaline apoplastic pH the epidermis may serve as the main source for fast stress-dependent ABA redistribution into the guard cell apoplast. This is partly the result of ABA transport across the epidermal tonoplast, which is dependent on the apoplastic pH and possibly on the cytosolic calcium concentration. The cuticle seems to be of no particular importance in stress-induced apoplastic ABA shifts and cannot be regarded as a significant sink for high ABA concentrations under stress.


The potential offered by technologies is a reality that must be addressed and used in the Higher Education environments. Professors must be able to integrate technologies into their sessions and facilitate the work of the skill acquisition. The main objectives of this work are: i) to take advantage of the Lessons tool (PoliformaT) to evaluate the acquisition of transversal competences and, ii) to compare if the use of flip teaching improves its acquisition. In the subject of "Geology, Soil science and Climatology" (Degrees in Agri-Food Engineering and Forestry Engineering), an experience was developed during two academic courses in a population of 169 students on average each year. Through Lessons, a template was designed for the student to work, sequentially and based on their knowledge, a specific activity of soil science. In the activity, the student had to face a practical assumption with 4 options to consider as a response. According to its response the specific skills and critical thinking skill would be evaluated. The first year the students had to carry out the activity autonomously in PoliformaT, but in the second year, flip teaching was applied in the same activity. In that occasion; students had to watch online material and subsequently work on the specific concepts in class. Finally, they had to solve independently the practical case in Lessons, where they were evaluated and feedback was provided. The combination of "skill assessment and flip teaching" promoted that in the second year, 66% of the students acquired an adequate level of critical thinking skill. However, although the first year, 65% of the students also acquired it, it has been detected that in the second year there was an increase of 7% of students that passed from good to excellent acquisition level.


Male genital problems and injuries may occur quite simply because of the scrotum and penis are not protected like other organs. Genital problems and injuries normally happen through: recreational activities (like Football, Hooky, biking, basketball), workrelated tasks (like contact to irritating chemicals), downhill drop, and sexual activity. A genital injury frequently causes harsh pain that typically disappear fast without causing enduring harm. Home handling is generally all that is required for trivial problems or injuries. Pain, inflammation, staining, or rashes that are coexist with other symptoms might be a source for concern. Genital problems in men is one of the most common problems which requires fast intervention. In this paper we present an expert system that help men diagnose their genital problems and give them the proper treatment. SL5 Object expert system language was used to design and implement this expert system.


In event based intelligent control, the controller supervises the system process run employing an endomorphic model which is internal to the event-based controller. The endomorphic model is an abstract image of reality taking into account possible parameter variations which are regarded as normal. The automated synthesis of endomorphic models is addressed by conducting simulation runs with a combined discrete/continuous model of the system to be controlled.<<ETX>>


Economic growth was robust in 2017, above expectations. This was thanks to favorable external developments in the region, continued expansionary fiscal policy, and growth in the gold sector. Real GDP growth reached 4.6 percent in 2017, up from 4.3 percent in 2016, and the fastest rate since 2013. During the first 4 months of 2018, growth slowed to 1.3 percent, from a year earlier, as a result of the contraction in gold production; excluding gold, output grew at 2.5 percent, up from 2.3 percent over the same period in 2017. In short, the economy appears to have fully recovered from the recent shock brought about by the fall in oil prices. Investment and consumption drove output growth last year. Sources of growth appear to have been balanced. Growth was mainly driven by consumption and investment, with: private consumption growth returning to positive territory, after two consecutive years of contraction and high rates of public and private investment. Net exports also made a positive contribution, thanks to robust export growth. With the regional downturn now over, it is time the authorities should seize the opportunity for fiscal reform. First and foremost, action is required on the fiscal side to increase discipline and policy quality, transparency and consistency. In the past years, the authorities have deliberately delayed planned fiscal consolidation to accommodate the external shocks. As a result, public debt has remained elevated and fiscal buffers have been depleted. Moreover, fiscal discipline (in the context of relaxed targets) has been achieved at the cost of ad hoc measures, which entail reduced spending efficiency. It is now time to reverse this trend through implementing the recently adopted fiscal rule, tax administration reform and concrete measures to contain recurrent spending (to preserve room for investment). Additional steps to improve spending quality, include ensuring that planned amendments to the Public Procurement Law safeguard best international practice and that steps are taken to improve public investment management. In the long run the core challenge is to increase overall productivity in the economy. Creating and preserving fiscal space for investment in infrastructure is key, including via reforming energy tariffs. Significant long-term payoffs can also be expected from implementing the ambitious digital agenda under the Taza Koom flagship program. The Special Focus section of this report highlights the main challenges the country will face in this regard.


This paper was written to review the literature on the historical relationship between gambling and organized crime (OC) in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries; examine the current state of affairs; point out gaps in the knowledge; and above all draw attention to this understudied topic. The paper begins with an examination of the different sources of information examined, including law enforcement reports, participant observation studies, psychological and economic studies of the links between gambling and crime, historical studies of gambling and crime, and a number of commission reports. The paper then provides an overview of OC and definitions of OC and gambling. This is followed by a discussion of the history of OC and its historic links to gambling. The paper ends with a discussion of the contemporary setting and directions for future research. Our literature review was written in part to facilitate further research and thereby help rectify a shortcoming in overall efforts to understand and document gambling-related issues.


A scanning Hall probe has been applied for observing the spatial distribution of the trapped magnetic field in superconducting Ag-sheathed Bi2223 tapes. Tapes with a transport of have been imaged with a spatial resolution of . Non-uniform field-profiles are often observed and attributed to some imperfections in the oxide core. Hall-probe micrography is thus quite useful for non-destructive examination of Ag-sheathed Bi2223 tapes.


Recently it has become clear that the cost associated with the Warburg effect, which is inefficient production of ATP, is offset by selective advantages that are produced by resultant intracellular metabolic alterations. In fact tumors may be addicted to the Warburg effect. In addition these alterations result in changes in the extracellular tumor microenvironment that can also produce selective advantages for tumor cell growth and survival. One such extracellular alteration is increased adenosine concentrations that have been shown to impair T cell mediated rejection and support angiogenesis. The expression of the A2A receptor in non-small cell cancer (NSCLC) tissues, cell lines and cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF) was determined by performing immunohistrochemistry and immunoblot analysis. The efficacy of the A2A receptor antagonists in vivo was evaluated in a PC9 xenograft model. To determine the mode of cell death induced by A2A receptor antagonists flow cytometry, immunoblot, and cytotoxic analysis were performed. We found that a significant number of lung adenocarcinomas express adenosine A2A receptors. Antagonism of these receptors impaired CAF and tumor cell growth in vitro and inhibited human tumor xenograft growth in mice. These observations add to the rationale for testing adenosine A2A receptor antagonists as anticancer therapeutics. Not only could there be prevention of negative signaling in T cells within the tumor microenvironment and inhibition of angiogenesis, but also an inhibitory effect on tumor-promoting, immunosuppressive CAFs and a direct inhibitory effect on the tumor cells themselves.


We present our implementation of a recent real-time global illumination method based on irradiance fields, which uses ray tracing to approximate multiple bounces of light transmission in a virtual scene. Then we present our method, which repurposes the global illumination algorithm to compute global ambient occlusion in real time. We also present our extensions to the algorithm, such as field cascades and geometry-aware probe culling. Lastly, we discuss possible further extensions, such as adaptive ray generation and probe placement.


This study examined the relationship between two types of mathematical flexibility – potential flexibility, which indicates individuals' knowledge of multiple strategies and strategy efficiency, and practical flexibility, which refers to individuals' flexible performances when solving math problems. Both types of flexibility were assessed in the domain of linear equation solving. Furthermore, two types of beliefs – self-efficacy and use of flexible cognition (UFC) – were investigated as potential moderators between potential and practical flexibility. 121 8th grade students from China took part in this study. Results indicate that potential flexibility positively predicted practical flexibility. Additionally, self-efficacy and UFC might moderate the relationship between these two types of flexibility, suggesting that potential flexibility may lead to different degrees of practical flexibility depending on different levels of beliefs. Implications of these findings for research on mathematical flexibility and for educational practice are discussed.


INTRODUCTION
Manganese (Mn) toxicity is often observed in adult patients receiving long-term home parenteral nutrition (HPN), and differing recommendations on the safe level of Mn administration to these patients have been made in the literature over the past 10 years.

METHODS
This systematic review used the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) evidence hierarchy to assess the design and strength of individual studies (high I to low IV) and the overall grade of evidence (grade A high to grade D low).

RESULTS
Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Levels of evidence ranged from high (NHMRC II) to mid-level (III-3). A widespread recommendation in the literature for patients receiving long-term HPN is 55 µg (1 µmol) Mn/d.

CONCLUSION
The recommendation of 55 µg (1 µmol) Mn/d is of moderate-strength evidence (NHMRC B grade). There is limited evidence to support not supplementing Mn to patients receiving long-term HPN. Further intervention studies providing high-level evidence (II and above) are required to determine the safety of not supplementing Mn to all patients receiving long-term HPN.


Ceramic resonators in the form of plates and cantilevers are increasingly being used to perform sensing and actuating functions, in addition to their traditional uses as frequency control and selection devices, because of their attractive attributes of low cost and high piezoelectric coupling. Very often the microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) are designed with insufficient attention to the various dissipation mechanisms involved. For piezoceramics, it frequently is unjustified to make simplistic assumptions about how the loss is to be incorporated, because the loss is generally much greater in ceramics than in substances such as quartz and refractory oxides. We consider four dissipation mechanisms that are representable in the constitutive equations, and show, through equivalent network representations, how each separately influences the resonator critical frequencies. The mechanisms are: acoustic viscosity, DC conductivity, dielectric dispersion, and piezoelectric loss. Using plate resonators as examples, we compute the frequency dependencies on the complex piezocoupling factor as functions of harmonic number for thickness field excitation. The traditional Butterworth-Van Dyke equivalent electrical circuit is extended to give a more accurate representation for ceramics, as well as for other materials with high piezoelectric coupling combined with low to moderate values of loss.


Malaria-induced bacteremia has been shown to result from intestinal mast cell (MC) activation. The appearance of MCs in the ileum and increased intestinal permeability to enteric bacteria are preceded by an early Th2-biased host immune response to infection, characterized by the appearance of IL-4, IL-10, mast cell protease (Mcpt)1 and Mcpt4, and increased circulating basophils and eosinophils. Given the functional similarities of basophils and MCs in the context of allergic inflammation and the capacity of basophils to produce large amounts of IL-4, we sought to define the role of basophils in increased intestinal permeability, in MC influx, and in the development of bacteremia in the context of malaria. Upon infection with nonlethal Plasmodium yoelii yoelii 17XNL, Basoph8 × ROSA-DTα mice or baso (−) mice that lack basophils exhibited increased intestinal permeability and increased ileal MC numbers, without any increase in bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA copy numbers in the blood, relative to baso (+) mice. Analysis of cytokines, chemokines, and MC-associated factors in the ileum revealed significantly increased TNF-α and IL-13 at day 6 postinfection in baso (−) mice compared with baso (+) mice. Moreover, network analysis of significantly correlated host immune factors revealed profound differences between baso (−) and baso (+) mice following infection in both systemic and ileal responses to parasites and translocated bacteria. Finally, basophil depletion was associated with significantly increased gametocytemia and parasite transmission to Anopheles mosquitoes, suggesting that basophils play a previously undescribed role in controlling gametocytemia and, in turn, mammalian host-to-mosquito parasite transmission.


ABSTRACT: This paper explores the use and users of corporate reporting information published online by large companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Although prior research details the increasing supply of online corporate reporting disclosures, there is a lack of empirical research investigating the use and users of this information. Therefore, this study observes approximately 4.7 million online requests to explore who uses online corporate reporting and what information is used by different types of users. In doing so, it attempts to provide a context in which to inform the tailoring of the content, format and granularity of information to meet different user needs within the next generation of corporate reporting websites that can more readily incorporate user interactivity and information customization (as envisaged by the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] and the Interactive Data Electronic Applications [IDEA] project).


By integrating the business network perspective and strategic linkages literature, this study examines the relationship among parent-subsidiary linkages (i.e. parent linkages and local linkages), l...


We devise a statistical framework for edge detection by performing a statistical analysis of zero crossings of the second derivative of an image. This analysis enables us to estimate at each pixel of an image the probability that an edge passes through the pixel. We present a statistical analysis of the the Lindeberg operators that we use to compute image derivatives. We also introduce a confidence probability that tells us how reliable the edge probability is, given the image's noise level and the operator's scale. Combining the edge and confidence probabilities leads to a probabilistic scale selection algorithm. We present the results of experiments on natural images.


Introduction Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EO) is a recognised cause of dysphagia, with an estimated annual incidence of 6–13 cases/100,000 persons. Endoscopic features may be subtle or absent and as such societal guidelines advocate the acquisition of six non-targeted oesophageal biopsies, where a cause has not been identified. We aim to determine whether these recommendations are adhered to in clinical practice. Methods We performed a database review of all diagnostic OGDs performed to investigate dysphagia or food bolus obstruction, during the 12 month period between 1 st July 2016–30th June 2017 within three large teaching hospitals (Cambridge University Hospital, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Nottingham University Hospital). Endoscopy reports were reviewed to determine endoscopic findings. Histology reports were examined to establish the number of biopsy samples received and whether a diagnosis of EO was made. Results During this time period a total of 25,495 OGDs were performed, of which 4056 (16%) were carried out as part of the investigation of dysphagia. Failed and repeat procedures were excluded leaving a total study population of 3712. An endoscopic diagnosis potentially causing dysphagia was observed in 1286 patients (oesophagitis/ulceration 583 (15.7%), benign stricture 311 (8.4%), malignancy 188 (5.1%) or other causes 156 (4.2%). In the remaining 2468 patients (66.5%) an endoscopic cause of dysphagia was not identified. Biopsies to exclude EO were taken during 923 (37.4%) of these non-diagnostic procedures. A reason for not taking biopsies was documented in 19 cases. The recommended 6 biopsies were received by histopathology in 87 patients. A diagnosis of EO was considered in 42 patients based on endoscopic features, of which 68% went on to be confirmed with histology. During the 12 month period a total of 83 histologically confirmed cases of EO were diagnosed. Endoscopy had a sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of EO of 33.7% and 96.8% respectively. Physician endoscopists were more likely take biopsies, acquiring these in 46.4% of procedures where this would be appropriate, compared to surgical endoscopists who took these in 13.3%. Physicians consequently diagnosed 77 (93%) of confirmed cases. Conclusions This study demonstrates variable adherence to recommendations for the investigation of EO. The hospitals included serve a combined population of approximately 3.2 million, giving rise to a below expected incidence of 2.6 cases per 1 00 000 per year


Abstract In this classroom activity, students build a phylogeny for woody plant species based on the morphology of their twigs. Using any available twigs, students can practice the process of cladistics to test evolutionary hypotheses for real organisms. They identify homologous characters, determine polarity through outgroup comparison, and construct a parsimonious tree based on synapomorphies (shared derived characters). This activity efficiently demonstrates many systematics concepts, including homology, homoplasy (convergence and reversal), polarity, synapomorphy, symplesiomorphy, autapomorphy, polytomy, and parsimony. It also engages students in inquiry, promotes student collaboration, raises awareness of plant structure, and exposes students to the diversity of common local trees.


Manufacture of an environmental polluting gas sensor with improved properties by controlling the preparation conditions of the photoelectrochemical etching technique (PECE). The amount of porosity, the diameter of the pores, and the thickness of the prepared layer of porous silicon (Psi) can be controlled by changing one or all of these conditions. In this paper, n-type Si with a crystalline orientation (100) was used, whereby PSi was prepared with the use of a red diode laser with a wavelength of 650 nm, using different radiation intensity, and with the constancy of etching time and current density. Through the results obtained, it was noted that: the porosity increases significantly up to 75% as well as the thickness of the PSi layer up to 1.45 µm with the increase in the intensity of the laser beam. Also, examining the morphology of the surface samples by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) besides, the average pore diameters of the prepared samples were calculated. It is clear that the intensity of the laser beam used in the irradiation process is one of the important factors in determining the properties of the prepared PSi. PSi samples have been tested by FTIR to investigate chemical bonds on surfaces such as, (Si-Si, Si- H , Si- H 2 , Si-O-Si, Si-O-Si, Si-H, Si-O-Si). Samples tested as gas sensors and noticed that an increase in the sensing current to 5.3 µA has appeared with the


Small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) are widely used in RNAi studies and typically consist of a stem of 19-29 base pairs (bp), a loop of at least 4 nucleotides (nt), and a dinucleotide overhang at the 3' end. Compared with shRNAs with 21-29 bp stems, we have found that shRNAs with 19-bp or shorter stems (sshRNAs) possess some unique structure-activity features that depend on whether the antisense strand is positioned 5' or 3' to the loop (L- or R-type sshRNAs, respectively). L sshRNAs can have IC(50)s in the very low picomolar range, and sshRNAs with nominal loop sizes of 1 or 4 nt were at least as active as those with longer loops. L sshRNAs remained highly potent even when the 3' end of the antisense strand was directly linked with the 5' end of the sense strand. In this case, the sense strand can be shorter than the antisense strand, and the loop can be formed entirely by the 3' end of the antisense strand. Monomer sshRNAs are not processed by recombinant Dicers in vitro. Although they can form dimers that are sometimes Dicer substrates, their RNAi activity is not dependent on the formation of such structures. Our findings have implications for the mechanism of action of sshRNAs, and the ability to design highly potent shRNAs with minimal length is encouraging for the prospects of the therapeutic use of direct-delivered shRNAs.


: The charming world of fairy tales used to be, for many ages, the favorite world for readers of fiction. Until the moment, these magical tales, their adventurous journeys, and happy endings provide a vital source of enchanting entertainment. Throughout her literary career, Angela Carter (1940-1992), a contemporary British novelist and a short story writer, shows interest in the employment of fairy tales in her works, producing what is called modern fairy tales. Her rewriting of these tales rendered her a remarkable woman advocate who calls for women's legitimate rights and an appreciation and a recognition of their active position in societies, things that men enjoy and always receive. This paper tackles The Magic Toyshop (1967), Carter's second novel. It discusses the fate of its young heroine, Melanie, and her siblings, Jonathan and Victoria, who have become orphans by the death of their parents in a plane crash while in America. Melanie journeys from her middle-class luxurious house to Uncle Phillip's poor house located in South London. Like Cinderella, the orphan girl dreams of being a bride and marrying a handsome man while suffering under the oppression of a stepfather, Uncle Phillip. Unlike her, Melanie will be shocked to meet a different version of Prince Charming of her imagination.


Summary The role of antibodies (Abs) in the development of chronic colitis in T cell receptor (TCR)- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice was explored by creating double mutant mice (TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) (cid:51) immunoglobulin (Ig) (cid:109) (cid:50) / (cid:50) ), which lack B cells. TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) (cid:51) Ig (cid:109) (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice spontaneously developed colitis at an earlier age, and the colitis was more severe than in TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice. Colitis was induced in recombination-activating gene-1 (RAG-1 (cid:50) / (cid:50) ) mice by the transfer of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells from TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) (cid:51) Ig (cid:109) (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice. When purified B cells from TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice were mixed with MLN cells before cell transfer, colitis did not develop in RAG-1 (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice. Administration of the purified Ig from TCR- (cid:97) (cid:50) reactive led decrease in the number of apoptotic cells. These findings suggest that although B cells are not required for the initiation of colitis, B cells and Igs (autoAbs) can suppress colitis, presumably by affecting the clearance of apoptotic cells. / (cid:50) mice with or without Ig transfer) with CFA were injected into groups of five C57BL/6 mice (6 wk of age). The sera obtained 14 d after immunization were used for ELISA and immunohistochemical analysis of colonic tissue from RAG-1 (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice (nonspecific binding of secondary Ab to tissue is not present in RAG-1 (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice due to lack of B cells and Igs; reference 33). For ELISA, the purified colonic epithelial cells (2 (cid:51) 10 5 /well) from RAG-1 (cid:50) / (cid:50) mice were directly coated on plates by centrifugation. After fixation with EtOH for 10 min, the plates were blocked with 5% BSA and 2% rat serum/PBS, and serial dilution of sera from the immunized C57BL/6 mice was added and the antibody binding was detected by incubation with alkaline-phosphatase rat anti–mouse Ig (PharMingen).


In order to characterize, qualitatively and quantitatively, the main metabolites present in leaf, stem and rootextracts from Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl) A. Gray and determine the total antioxidant capacity of the different plant parts, the plant material was randomly collected in a farm belonging to a farmer of Matanzas province, Cuba. The leaf, stem and root samples were dried, pulverized and extracted with commercial ethanol by maceration. Afterwards, the solvent was removed through a vacuum rotary evaporator. The phytochemical sieving of the different extracts was carried out for the qualitative determination of total phenols, flavonoids, saponins, coumarin, tannins, quinones and terpenoids. The concentrations of total phenols, flavonoids and saponins of the three extracts were determined using a gallic acid pattern, quercetin and 10 % panax ginseng, respectively. The total antioxidant activity was measured through the phosphomolybdate method. The quantification was carried out in triplicate in 96-well microplates. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics with the package SPSS®, Version 15. The results showed presence of phenols,flavonoids, saponins, coumarins, quinones and terpenoids in ethanol extracts of T. diversifolia roots, stems and leaves. The antioxidant activity showed that the root was the organ with higher antioxidant capacity, with 1,10 mg of ascorbic acid/mg of extract. It was followed by the leaves (1,08) and finally, the stem (0,50). The qualitative and quantitative determination of secondary metabolites showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, coumarins, quinones and terpenoids in ethanol extracts of T. diversifolia roots, stems and leaves.


Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was blended with poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) in the presence of an esterification catalyst to induce reaction between the hydroxyl groups of EVOH and the terminal carboxylic group of PLLA. Nascent low-molecular-weight PLLA, obtained from a direct condensation polymerization of L-lactic acid in bulk state, was used for the blending. Domain size of the PLLA phase in the graft copolymer was much smaller than that corresponding to a PLLA/EVOH simple blend. The mechanical properties of the graft copolymer were far superior to those of the simple blend, and the graft copolymer exhibited excellent mechanical properties even though the biodegradable fraction substantially exceeded the percolation level. The grafted PLLA reduced the crystallization rate of the EVOH moiety. Melting peak temperature (Tm) of the PLLA phase was not observed until the content of PLLA in the graft reaction medium went over 60 wt %. The modified Sturm test results demonstrated that biodegradation of EVOH-g-PLLA took place more slowly than that of an EVOH/PLLA simple blend, indicating that the chemically bound PLLA moiety was less susceptible to microbial attack than PLLA in the simple blend. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 886–890, 2005


A fundamental assumption in neuroscience is that brain function is constrained by its structural properties. This motivates the idea that the brain can be parcellated into functionally coherent regions based on anatomical connectivity patterns that capture how different areas are interconnected. Several studies have successfully implemented this idea in humans using diffusion weighted MRI, allowing parcellation to be conducted in vivo. Two distinct approaches to connectivity-based parcellation can be identified. The first uses the connection profiles of brain regions as a feature vector, and groups brain regions with similar connection profiles together. Alternatively, one may adopt a network perspective that aims to identify clusters of brain regions that show dense within-cluster and sparse between-cluster connectivity. In this paper, we introduce a probabilistic model for connectivity-based parcellation that unifies both approaches. Using the model we are able to obtain a parcellation of the human brain whose clusters may adhere to either interpretation. We find that parts of the connectome consistently cluster as densely connected components, while other parts consistently result in clusters with similar connections. Interestingly, the densely connected components consist predominantly of major cortical areas, while the clusters with similar connection profiles consist of regions that have previously been identified as the 'rich club'; regions known for their integrative role in connectivity. Furthermore, the probabilistic model allows quantification of the uncertainty in cluster assignments. We show that, while most clusters are clearly delineated, some regions are more difficult to assign. These results indicate that care should be taken when interpreting connectivity-based parcellations obtained using alternative deterministic procedures.


Host plant selection by Colorado potato beetle [Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)] was examined on tomato [Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.] transplants fertilized with varying N, P, and K concentrations during greenhouse production. In choice tests conducted with beetles in the field and the greenhouse, the insect preference for plants increased with increasing leaf tissue N concentration, but P and K concentrations had no effect. Five-day, seedling acclimatization to outdoor spring temperatures before planting reduced the insect preference for plants


This study examined the effects of federal regulations on the readability and length of consent forms used in medical research from 1975 through 1982. Materials evaluated were 49 information sheets from four sample time periods and the 1975 and 1979 revisions of the Veterans Administration consent document. Flesch readability scores were at college level for both the consent documents and information sheets from all sample time periods. Thus, consent forms always may have been too difficult for typical volunteers to comprehend. Changes in length and content of the consent documents suggest that difficulty levels actually may have increased since 1975. Efforts to protect the rights of research subjects through federal regulations have resulted in presentation of appropriate information, but little progress has been made in ensuring that the information is comprehensible, understood, and used.


With the fast development of big scale on-line social networks, on-line data sharing is becoming omnipresent daily. Numerous info is propagating through on-line social networks similarly as every the positive and negative. Throughout this paper, we tend to tend to focus on the negative data problems just like the on-line rumours. Rumor block may well be a significant drawback in large-scale social networks. Malicious rumours might cause chaos in society and sought to be blocked as soon as potential once being detected. during this paper, we tend to propose a model of dynamic rumor influence reduction with user expertise (DRIMUX).Our goal is to cut back the influence of the rumor (i.e., the number of users that have accepted and sent the rumor) by block an exact set of nodes. A dynamic Ising propagation model considering every the worldwide quality and individual attraction of the rumor is given supported realistic state of affairs. To boot, altogether completely different from existing problems with influence reduction, we tend to tend to require into thought the constraint of user experience utility. Specifically, each node is assigned a tolerance time threshold. If the block time of each user exceeds that threshold, the utility of the network will decrease. Underneath this constraint, we tend to tend to then formulate draw back as a network abstract thought drawback with survival theory, and propose solutions supported most probability principle. Experiments area unit implemented supported large-scale world networks and validate the effectiveness of our methodology.


BACKGROUND
In recent years, despite of the improvement of treatment results for cancer and long life, the occurrence of second primary cancer was increased. In this paper, we analyzed present condition of double cancer observed with bladder cancer in our hospital.

METHOD
Last 21 years, we have treated 969 cases (828 male and 141 female) of primary bladder cancer. For those cases, we analyzed in term of frequency, involved organ, age, interval between two cancer occurrence, risk factor and prognosis of double cancer patients.

RESULT
Of 969 cases with bladder cancer, 81 cases (8.36%) had double cancer involving 6 cases (0.61%) of triple cancer. In sex, 70 males (9.78%) and 11 females (7.80%) had double cancer. As involved organs, 25 cases (3.02%) had in prostate, 23 cases (2.37%) in stomach, 3 case (2.13%) in breast, 14 cases (1.44%) in colon and rectum. In diagnosis timing of complicated cancer from bladder cancer, 28 cases (34.6%) were diagnosed previously to bladder, 28 cases (34.6%) were simultaneously and 31 cases (38.3%) were secondary. An average interval of diagnosis of two cancer were 49 +/- 42.5 months. An average age of occurrence of second cancer was 70.3 +/- 8.8 years. Actual survival rate from diagnosis of bladder cancer were 90.8%, 68.6%, 53.3% and 30.3%, after 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, respectively. Ten cases were dead by bladder cancer, 21 cases by complicated cancer and 16 cases by another cause.

CONCLUSION
The incidence of double cancer with bladder cancer were increased. Prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer were gradually increased as complicated organs in Japan. The prognosis of double cancer patients with bladder cancer was poor than single bladder cancer patients.


In this study, two saponins-rich plant extracts, viz. Saponaria officinalis and Quillaja saponaria, were used as surfactants in an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion based on hempseed oil (HSO). This study focused on a low oil phase content of 2% v/v HSO to investigate stable emulsion systems under minimum oil phase conditions. Emulsion stability was characterized by the emulsification index (EI), centrifugation tests, droplet size distribution as well as microscopic imaging. The smallest droplets recorded by dynamic light scattering (droplets size v. number), one day after the preparation of the emulsion, were around 50–120 nm depending the on use of Saponaria and Quillaja as a surfactant and corresponding to critical micelle concentration (CMC) in the range 0–2 g/L. The surface and interfacial tension of the emulsion components were studied as well. The effect of emulsions on environmental bacteria strains was also investigated. It was observed that emulsions with Saponaria officinalis extract exhibited slight toxic activity (the cell metabolic activity reduced to 80%), in contrast to Quillaja emulsion, which induced Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17400 growth. The highest-stability samples were those with doubled CMC concentration. The presented results demonstrate a possible use of oil emulsions based on plant extract rich in saponins for the food industry, biomedical and cosmetics applications, and nanoemulsion preparations.


The skin is the first line defense of the body system, protecting the underlying structure from invasion by a microorganism that can be achieved by maintaining an intact skin surface. It is important to prevent breakdown or disruption in this integrity, that might be potentially dangerous and possibly life-threatening by infection Khudhair [1]. The presence of a wound is considered a burden in terms of economic cost to health and primary health care providers and impacts patient quality of life (QoL). Patients who suffer from wounds may be affected by their appearance, confidence, or financial status if the wound requires long-term treatment BaMohammed ABSTRACT


BACKGROUND
Both the PROLENE Polypropylene Hernia System (Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, Cincinnati, OH) and plug-and-patch devices including the Bard PerFix Plug repair (C.R. Bard. Inc., Murray Hill, NJ) are currently used in open groin herniorrhaphy. These systems rely on incorporating two mesh prostheses of different designs. In this animal study, early results for the two types of device were compared laparoscopically.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-four uncastrated male pigs (average weight, 25 kg) were randomized into two groups of 12 each for repair of unilateral groin hernia defects with the PROLENE Hernia System (Prolene) or the PerFix Plug (PerFix). Laparoscopic examination was performed immediately after the surgery to check the configuration and coverage area of the preperitoneally positioned mesh devices, with stress-loading tests to compare their primary efficiency.

RESULTS
By contrast to the PerFix prostheses, in which the preperitoneal cone-shaped mesh only obliterated the primary fascial defect, in two-thirds of the Prolene repairs the flat and widely deployed underlay patch not only overlapped the defect but also covered the entire myopectineal orifice. Under heavy stress loading (25 newtons), the Prolene group also had a significantly lower incidence of fascial defect exposure in comparison to the PerFix counterparts (P = 0.003). In the stress-loading tests, four Prolene and eight PerFix plugs failed (P >0.005), mainly due to tissue disruption.

CONCLUSION
Properly implanted Prolene devices have a wider coverage area and lower risk of fascial defect exposure and thus should be the treatment of choice for large groin hernia defects where the inguinal floor is attenuated. Where the PerFix devices are used under these conditions, they must be adequately secured to a healthy fascial edge, with onlay coverage patches to eliminate any weak points that might cause early recurrence.


A threefold strategy incorporating formal modeling, structural decomposition and functional abstraction, and reachability analysis is described, and the role of each part in managing complexity is examined. Formal modeling helps weed out extraneous detail so that later work on decomposition and abstraction is easier. Decomposition and abstraction help divide complexity into manageability parts that the reachability algorithm can solve. Examples of the use of each are given.<<ETX>>


OBJECTIVE
To identify the clustering of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that best characterize child welfare-involved children with known complex health concerns.

DATA SOURCE
Multi-informant data were obtained from Wave I of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II).

STUDY DESIGN
This study used a cross-sectional design and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses.

DATA COLLECTION
Data were collected from families with children, aged birth to 17, investigated for child maltreatment and their child protective services caseworkers, including demographic characteristics of the children, their histories of adversity, and a wide range of health concerns.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Results indicate that for children between the ages of six and 17, experiences of physical abuse alone, as well as experiences of physical abuse combined with having a caregiver with mental illness, are most strongly associated with complex health concerns. For children aged 2-5 years, results suggest that caregiver mental illness is a key adverse experience associated with complex health concerns.

CONCLUSIONS
Identifying specific combinations of ACEs may be a critical next step for child- and youth-serving agencies to allow providers to better calculate risk of health problems among children exposed to adversity.


To date, the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) has been in operation for 12 yr. To improve the telescope's astronomical observation accuracy, the original open-loop fiber positioning system of LAMOST is in urgent need of upgrading. The upgrade plan is to install several fiber view cameras (FVCs) around primary mirror B to build a closed-loop feedback control system. The FVCs are 20 m from the focal surface. To reduce a series of errors when the cameras detect the positions of the optical fibers, we designed fiducial fibers on the focal surface to be fiducial points for the cameras. Increasing the number of fiducial fibers can improve the detection accuracy of the FVC system, but it will also certainly reduce the number of fiber positioners that can be used for observation. Therefore, the focus of this paper is how to achieve the quantity and distribution that meet the requirements of system detection. In this paper, we introduce the necessity of using fiducial fibers, propose a method for selecting their number and present several methods for assessing the uniformity of their distribution. Finally, we implement particle swarm optimization to find the best distribution of fiducial fibers.


With increased usage of highly demanded, modern materials on safety
relevant parts (e.g. railway wheel sets, generator shafts, turbine disks, medical
implants, etc.) comprehensive analyses regarding the quality of the material are
requested. This gives a focus to non-destructive methods using ultrasound immersion
tank testing for classifying the degree of purity. Two autonomous standards,
ASTM E588 and SEP 1927, have been established for the definition, execution and
evaluation for this high resolution ultrasonic measurements on steel products.
The propagation of ultrasonic waves and the resulting sound field are strongly
dependent on the acoustical properties of the inspected material and the geometry
of probes and specimen. The definition of the measurement setup and the evaluation
methods appear to differ significantly in the given standards. ASTM E588 and
SEP 1927 prescribe the requirement for surface roughness and probe selection, are
using threshold based methods for cleanliness detection, but differ in computation
for the degree of purity. This has been the motivation for a comparison between
both standards with the main focus on amplitude depth dependency and overall spatial
resolution taking the influence of different material characteristics, geometry of
the specimen and sound fields into account.
A performance comparison between the use of non-focusing and focusing probes
respective to the threshold based detection will be presented in this contribution. In
addition, the usage of complex reconstruction algorithms (e.g. SAFT, echo tomography)
is compared with the traditional approaches of inclusion detection and
estimation of the degree of purity


In [1], Afkhami and Khashyarmanesh introduced the cozero-divisor graph of a ring, Γ (R), which examines relationships between principal ideals. We continue investigating the algebraic implications of the graph by developing the reduced cozero-divisor graph, which is a simpler analog.


We developed a novel method for the detection of Mycoplasma hominis from vaginal swabs using an indirect immunofluorescence technique. It is a rapid and simple method that can be finished in only 5 hr and is more sensitive than the usual culture isolation method. The indirect immunofluorescence method was applied to vaginal smears from 193 healthy women and 33.7% gave a positive test. This value was much higher than that (11.4%) obtained from the same specimens by the culture method. When vaginal smears were subjected to Papanicolaou staining after the indirect immunofluorescence method, the specific immunofluorescence of the epithelial cells was located exactly at the sites of granular aggregates stained with Papanicolaou stain. A histological examination by Papanicolaou staining showed that the incidence of inflammation seems to be slightly higher in M. hominis‐carriers than in non‐carriers.