Fruits of Amelanchier spicata (Lam.) K.Koch, Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt.), Amelanchier florida Lindl., Amelanchier canadensis (L.) Medik. and Amelanchier laevis Wieg. (Rosaceae) are rich in ascorbic acid (up to 30.3 mg%), total sugar (up to 8.7%), they are also saturated with bioflavonoids, among which there are anthocyanins (353.1–608.2 mg%), possessing antioxidant qualities. Amelanchier fruits are the nutritious dietary product, in which the content of acids and sugars is balanced. They are suitable for various types of processing and can serve as phytopharmacological raw materials. Biochemical analysis of leaves of Amelanchier spicata and Amelanchier alnifolia showed that they are enriched with bioflavonoids (260–370 mg%), which is also valuable for phytopharmacology. Amelanchier alnifolia and closely related Amelanchier florida have especially large and delicious fruits, more enriched with saccharides and anthocyanins. They have prospects for a further selection as a highly productive garden and food culture. Amelanchier laevis plants luxuriantly bloom, but they differ in an irregular fruit bearing and smaller fruits (0.6 g in weight), they are promising as an ornamental culture.


The medical education system in India is one of the largest in the world and it is currently facing challenges for quality education. Medical education has changed considerably and will continue to do so with the various scientific advances and societal needs. The previous medical education system in India was based on a subject-centered and time-based curriculum. The new Competency-based medical education (CBME) was introduced to tackle these concerns. The education has now transitioned from teacher-centered to learner-centered. The teachers would also have to face the challenge of altering their attitude and teaching approach. New methods have to be adopted to keep up with the changed curriculum but traditions should not be abandoned entirely. By embracing the modern methods like the flipped classroom, blended learning, interactive teaching, etc. and incorporating it with the traditional teaching methods i.e. chalk and board, the goal of a Competent Indian Medical Graduate can be achieved.


Combined optogenetic stimulation and optical imaging permits scalable, high-throughput probing of cellular electrophysiology and optimization of stem-cell derived excitable cells, such as neurons and muscle cells. We report a new "on-axis" configuration of OptoDyCE, our all-optical platform for studying human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) and other cell types, optically driven by Channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2). This solid-state system integrates optogenetic stimulation with temporally-multiplexed simultaneous recording of membrane voltage (Vm) and intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) dynamics using a single photodetector. We demonstrate the capacity for combining multiple spectrally-compatible actuators and sensors, including newer high-performance near-infrared (NIR) voltage probes BeRST1 and Di-4-ANBDQBS, to record complex spatiotemporal responses of hiPSC-CMs to drugs in a high-throughput manner.


The picture shows a unique MEMS robot. It is highly dextrous with our degrees of freedom (two in-plane and two out-of-plane) and has the largest work volume of 50μm × 50μm × 75 μm amongst MEMS based positioners. The robot incorporates novel cable based transmission systems to couple in-plane actuators with out of plane bi-directional flexure joints. Constructed out of Deep Reactive Ion Etching and microassembly, this robot is designed to transmit upto 200mN of force along all four axes, precise to ten's of nanometers and configured to carry a variety of end-effectors such as Atomic Force Microscope probe tip arrays and microgrippers. The microrobot presents the dawn of next generation in top down manipulation systems.© 2009 ASME


Using the Securities and Exchange Commission's eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) mandate as a pseudo-natural experiment, we identify a causal link between information processing costs and stock price informativeness. We find prices have become more informative after the XBRL mandate, and such effect is upward-trending over the first three years post adoption, which indicates a learning curve for firms and investors. Examining the tagging process reveals that detailed tagging contributes to improved price informativeness, whereas block tagging has no impact. Further, firms with relatively shorter trading age have more benefit from XBRL adoption than older firms, supporting the conjecture that XBRL accelerates the information incorporation process and facilitates the market to learn about younger firms faster.


This work presents a study of the physical and morphological characteristics of the Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) that occurred between 2010 and 2011 on the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil in situations of rainfall weak (WRE) and intense (HRE). For this, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12) satellite images were used in the infrared channel, obtained every 30 minutes. These data were used by the Forecasting and Tracking the Evolution of Cloud Clusters (ForTraCC) to identify, track and determine the characteristics of MCS. In addition, daily rainfall data, provided by the National Water Agency and by the National Institute of Meteorology were used to identify extreme events by quantiles analysis. The results showed that HRE were more frequent WRE, especially in March. Both MCS related to WRE and HRE presented, in their majority, irregular type format. The mean temperatures at the top of the cloud were similar (-52°C), but the minimum temperatures at the top of the MCS had higher occurrences in the warmer months, with a value of -79°C. The MCS related to HRE presented larger sizes. From these results it is possible to affirm that MCS acting on the Brazil Northeast Semiarid present intense vertical development, possibly favored by the presence of one or more atmospheric systems acting at the same time.


For some ten years now the Canadian Christian churches have been working actively to influence Canadian foreign policy. On September 28,1982, the Canadian Institute of International Affairs organized a consultation of church activists, academics, and other interested individuals to analyze and evaluate the churches' work in this area. Included in this book are a nineteen-page summary of the nine presentations made at the consultation and the discussions which followed them, along with seven recent documents presented by church and inter-church groups to various government offices and agencies. Despite its brevity and the restriction of contributors to Toronto area residents, this book is an extremely valuable resource for Canadian social ethics. Church involvement in foreign (and domestic) social issues is becoming increasingly important both for the churches' own identity and for Canadian politics. Although the book provides no definitive answers as to the best way to influence Canadian foreign policy, it does set forth the major strengths and weaknesses of the approaches that have been attempted up to now, and it identifies the main difficulties which the churches must overcome if their work is to advance.


A case of erythermalgia with arterial hypertension that appeared in a 13 year-old boy is described. This condition led to a loss of weight of 10 kg within one month. None of the diseases known as a cause of this rare condition was found. Clinical manifestations were only improved when extremities were placed in cold water: treatment with pizotifene was also effective suggesting the role of serotonine in the mechanism of the crises.


The chronic and systemic nature of psoriasis has a significant impact on direct costs, indirect costs, and patient quality of life. Psoriasis is associated with comorbid conditions that add to the burden of the disease, especially in moderate to severe disease. The total estimated annual healthcare burden of psoriasis may be as high as $35.2 billion, with $12.2 billion in direct costs and $23 billion in indirect costs (attributed to reduced health-related quality of life and lost productivity). These costs vary based on the severity of the disease; pharmacy costs account for the majority of the burden, especially in severe disease. Biologic therapies are largely responsible for the pharmacy costs. Approval of biosimilar products in the near future may ease some of this burden for payers and patients, although new agents have also been recently approved, with more in the pipeline. The healthcare costs of psoriasis management substantially increase with comorbid conditions, such as heart disease, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and lung disease. These comorbidities also include psychiatric conditions, such as social stigmatization, depression, and suicide. The overall costs associated with comorbidities are estimated to be an additional $22,713 per patient per year. Appropriate treatment selection and timing may curtail the progression of psoriasis, and, as a result, can decrease the economic burden. As treatment options vary based on comorbidities, long-term remission goals, and medication costs, conducting a comprehensive patient assessment is imperative. Drug utilization reviews steered by specialty pharmacists may help reduce costs and improve outcomes by providing treatment monitoring and patient education.


The renal complications of sickle cell anemia are well known. Gross hematuria is one of these, although it is associated more often with the sickle cell trait than with the disease. Nonetheless, in Togo, where the frequency of S gene is 16%, hematuria is rarely report in people with this gene. We describe 3 cases of gross hematuria in patients with sickle cell disease: primary hematuria associated with sickle cell disease. We found no promoting factors in our patients. The course was short, and after 4 to 15 years, there have been no recurrences.


Mycoplasmas are minute bacteria controlled by very small genomes ranging from 0.6 to 1.4 Mbp. They lack a cell wall and have been suggested to have progressed through reductive evolution from phylogenetically closely related Clostridia. They are known to colonize the respiratory tract or the urogenital tract among other organs and can cause chronic and subclinical diseases associated with long persistence of the causative agent. Toxin-antitoxin systems (TAS) are genetic elements that have been described for several respiratory and urogenital pathogens as well as for Clostridia, but never for pathogenic mycoplasmas. Here we describe for the first-time different types of TAS in a Mycoplasma pathogen, namely M. mycoides subsp. capri. We identified candidate TAS in silico via TASmania database. Two candidate TAS identified in silico and another candidate TAS suggested in a minimal cell based on transposon mutagenesis were systematically tested for their functionality in hosts with different phylogenetic distance using heterologous expression. Phylogenetic distance of the host used for heterologous expression influenced the outcome of the functional testing. We corroborated functionality of the three candidate TAS in Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum. Moreover, we confirmed transcription and translation of molecules of the TAS investigated during in vitro growth. We sequence analyzed 15 genomes of M. mycoides subsp. capri and revealed an unequal distribution of the TAS studied pointing towards dynamic gain and loss of TAS within the species. Author summary Mycoplasmas have a minimal genome and have never been shown to possess TAS. In this work we showed the presence of different functional TAS systems in Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri, a caprine pathogen for the first time. Sequence analysis of a number of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri strains revealed a plasticity of the genome with respect to TAS carriage. This work paves the way to investigate the biological role of TAS (e.g. persistence, stress tolerance) during infection using mycoplasmas as a simple model organism. Since most mycoplasmas lack classical virulence factors such as exotoxins and go into a kind of stealth mode to evade the immune system, TAS are likely to contribute to the parasitic lifestyle of mycoplasmas and should be investigated in that respect. The availability of synthetic genomics tools to modify a range of Mycoplasma pathogens and well-established challenge models for the latter mycoplasmas will foster future research on TAS in mycoplasmas.


The purpose of the research is to analyze the effects caused by the competition of companies with labor informality on the innovative behavior of companies with labor formality that compete in the same industry. This research references and analyzes the implementation of law 1429 of 2010, which stimulates the formalization of labor and informal firms. The results estimated by fixed effects exhibit a positive and significant effect of the competition of companies with labor informality in the total innovation of formal companies. On the other hand, once the formalization and job creation policy was implemented, there was a decrease in total innovations of formal companies. The empirical analysis also highlights a different impact of informal competition depending on whether the innovation is in process or product. In particular, this research finds that process innovations are more intensely affected by labor informality than product innovations. The quantitative strategy relies on a panel data econometric model between 2007 and 2016 using the Survey of Innovation and Technological Development (EDIT) and the Great Integrated Household Survey (GEIH) provided by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).


We present a general framework for exemplar-based image translation, which synthesizes a photo-realistic image from the input in a distinct domain (e.g., semantic segmentation mask, or edge map, or pose keypoints), given an exemplar image. The output has the style (e.g., color, texture) in consistency with the semantically corresponding objects in the exemplar. We propose to jointly learn the cross-domain correspondence and the image translation, where both tasks facilitate each other and thus can be learned with weak supervision. The images from distinct domains are first aligned to an intermediate domain where dense correspondence is established. Then, the network synthesizes images based on the appearance of semantically corresponding patches in the exemplar. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in several image translation tasks. Our method is superior to state-of-the-art methods in terms of image quality significantly, with the image style faithful to the exemplar with semantic consistency. Moreover, we show the utility of our method for several applications.


Modern autonomous driving systems continue to face the challenges of handling complex and variable multi-agent real-world scenarios. Some subsystems, such as perception, use deep learning-based approaches to leverage large amounts of data to generalize to novel scenes. Other subsystems, such as planning and control, still follow the classic cost-based trajectory optimization approaches, and require high efforts to handle the long tail of rare events. Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) has shown encouraging evidence in learning complex decision-making tasks, spanning from strategic games to challenging robotics tasks. Further, the dense reward structure and modest time horizons make autonomous driving a favorable prospect for applying RL. As there are practical challenges in running RL online on vehicles and most self-driving companies have millions of miles of collected data, it motivates the use of off-policy RL algorithms to learn policies that can eventually work in the real world. We explore the use of an off-policy RL algorithm, Deep Q-Learning, to learn goal-directed navigation in a simulated urban driving environment. Since Deep Q-Learning methods are susceptible to instability and sub-optimal convergence, we investigate different strategies to sample experiences from the replay buffer to mitigate these issues. We also explore combining expert agent's demonstration data with the RL agent's experiences to speed-up the learning process. We demonstrate promising results on the CoRL2017 and NoCrash benchmarks on CARLA.


We examined the effects of inhaled FK-506, a potent immunosuppressive agent, on increased bronchial responsiveness to acetylcholine and on eosinophil infiltration in a guinea pig models of asthma. The guinea pigs were sensitized by repeated inhalation of ovalbumin (OA). Twenty four hours after antigen challenge, bronchial responsiveness to acetylcholine significantly increased and a marked accumulation of eosinophils in the airways was observed. However, when the guinea pigs were treated with aerosolized FK (10 mg/ml) for 5 min per day for 6 successive days before antigen challenge, the increase in bronchial responsiveness was significantly suppressed and the eosinophil accumulation was strikingly reduced. Since inhaled FK significantly suppressed these responses, there is a possibility that inhaled FK may be a useful therapy for patients with chronic bronchial asthma in the future.


In this study the changes in properties of the maturing mantle and circumpulpal dentin were quantitatively analyzed. Sections from six fetal bovine undecalcified incisors were used. Regions of mantle and circumpulpal dentin of sequential maturation stages were identified on spectroscopic images acquired by Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging. Spectroscopic parameters corresponding to mineral properties at these stages were analyzed and reported as a function of distance from the cervix of the incisor, the latter representing tissue age. Mineral parameters were correlated with distance from the cervix. Values of these parameters in mantle and circumpulpal dentin were compared. A multi-phasic pattern of changes was found for all the parameters examined, with most of the alterations occurring in the initial maturation period. The patterns of temporal variation in mantle and circumpulpal dentin mineral properties show distinct developmental stages and were not identical for the two dentin compartments. The study showed that mineral maturation in dentin is not a linear process and that mantle dentin is developmentally distinct from circumpulpal dentin, presenting at certain stages different physicochemical events during the maturation of the tissue. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Functions of clusters in nano or sub-nano scale significantly depend on not only kinds of their components but also arrangements, or symmetry, of their components. Therefore, the arrangements in the clusters have been precisely characterized, especially for metal complexes. Contrary to this, characterizations of molecular arrangements in supramolecular clusters composed of organic molecules are limited to a few cases. This is because construction of the supramolecular clusters, especially obtaining a series of the supramolecular clusters, is difficult due to low stability of non-covalent bonds compare to covalent bonds. From this viewpoint, utilization of organic salts is one of the most useful strategies. A series of the supramolecules could be constructed by combinations of a specific organic molecule with various counter ions. Especially, primary ammonium carboxylates are suitable as typical examples of supramolecules because various kinds of carboxylic acids and primary amines are commercially available, and it is easy to change their combinations. Previously, it was demonstrated that primary ammonium triphenylacetates using various kinds of primary amines specifically construct supramolecular clusters, which are composed of four ammoniums and four triphenylacetates assembled by charge-assisted hydrogen bonds, in crystals obtained from non-polar solvents. This study demonstrates an application of the specific construction of the supramolecular clusters as a strategy to conduct systematical symmetric study for clarification of correlations between molecular arrangements in supramolecules and kinds and numbers of their components. In the same way with binary salts composed of triphenylacetates and one kind of primary ammoniums, ternary organic salts composed of triphenylacetates and two kinds of ammoniums construct the supramolecular clusters, affording a series of the supramolecular clusters with various kinds and numbers of the components.


Poisoning is the disruption of
functions of a living organism by any agent. The aim of this study is to identify the clinical and demographic characteristics of
intoxication cases admitted to the Numune Training and Research Hospital
emergency department. Characteristics such as age and gender of the patients,
intoxication agents, and the results (discharge, forwarding, hospitalization,
death etc.) were recorded to
the prepared form. Data were assessed with the SPSS 15.0 software package and
expressed. Quantitative variables were summarised as mean ± standard deviation. Frequency and
percent distribution were used for the evaluation of data. The chi-squared test
was used for comparison of the quailtative variables. p 0.05 was accepted
significant. The mean age of the receiving 651 poisoned patients was 32.04 ± 12.24 years. Of them, 67.7% were
female. The most causes of poisoning agents were a pharmaceuticals (79.4%), carbonmonoxide (8.9%) and alcohols (7.1%).
Gastric lavage was performed in 76% patients. Activated charcoal was administered in 81% patients. Antidotes
treatment was applied in 7.4% patients. Most patients were evaluated and then
treated and discharged from the ED (91.9%).


Intracellular recordings have been made from ventilatory neurones in semi-isolated and isolated thoracic ganglia of the crab Carcinus during spontaneous switching between the two motor programmes underlying forward and reversed beating of the scaphognathites (SGs). Ventilatory reversals are dependent upon the central activation of two subgroups of motoneurones which are normally silent, and different from those driving the same SG muscles during the forward rhythm. Two further subgroups of motoneurones remain active throughout both rhythm modes. The results suggest that both motor output patterns are produced mainly by periodic inhibitory synaptic input from the same oscillator network, and that neural switching between the rhythm modes occurs directly at the level of the motoneurones themselves. It appears that both sets of 'forward' and 'reversal' motoneurones are driven continuously throughout oscillator activity, and that bursting activity in these sets is gated by the selective application or removal of additional, tonic inhibition.


In the Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 series, international experts introduce important themes in psychological science that engage with people's unprecedented experience of the pandemic, drawing together chapters as they originally appeared before COVID-19 descended on the world. This book explores how COVID-19 has impacted society, and chapters examine a range of societal issues including leadership and politics, community, social status, welfare, social exclusion and accountability. Addressing the social and psychological processes that structure, and are structured by, our social contexts, it shows not only how groups and individuals can come together to manage global crises, but also how these crises can expose weaknesses in our society. The volume also reflects on how we can work together to rebuild society in the aftermath of the pandemic, by cultivating a shared sense of responsibility through social integration and responsible leadership. Showcasing theory and research on key topics germane to the global pandemic, the Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 series offers thought-provoking reading for professionals, students, academics and policy makers concerned with the psychological consequences of COVID-19 for individuals, families and society. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)


This paper introduces a formula for the vertical pressure on a buried pipeline by using a modification of the basic assumptions of Marston's theory. The fill's cohesion is considered. The included angle between the slide surface above the pipeline and the horizontal surface is assumed to be equal to the fill's angle of friction. The friction is calculated by multiplying the active earth pressure on the outer column and the coefficient of the friction on the slide planes It was found that the fill's cohesion had important influence on the vertical pressure, whose vertical pressureCc decreases with increase of the fill depth, a relationship according with that observed in practice. At the end of the paper, the formula is employed to analyze a practical case.


Objective: Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, predominantly occurs in women of child-bearing age. We set out to determine the clinical course and maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant women with pre-existing POTS. Methods: Participants were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire assessing the clinical course of POTS before, during and after pregnancy, as well as complications of pregnancy, labor and delivery and fetal outcomes. Results: Among 10 women with pre-existing POTS (pregnancy age 28 ± 7 years, range 16–39), with a total of 17 live births, two were complicated by pre-eclampsia, 14 were normal vaginal deliveries and three were C-sections. The rate of severe vomiting or hyperemesis gravidarum in the first trimester was 59%. There were no stillbirths or congenital abnormalities. The average birth weight was 3076 ± 733 grams, with two infants born premature. During pregnancy, POTS symptoms were either improved or stable in six of 10 women, and four of these six women utilized medications for POTS. Six months after delivery, POTS symptoms were improved in three, stable in two and worsened in five women compared to before pregnancy. Conclusions: POTS may have a variable clinical course in pregnancy, with 60% of women reporting either improved or stable symptoms during pregnancy, and 50% of women reporting either improved or stable symptoms 6 months after delivery. There may be a higher rate of severe vomiting in the first trimester in women with POTS than in general population.


Porokeratos of Mibelli is a rare inherited disorder of epidermal keratinization, whose pathogenesis is not fully understood. The common clinical feature is a erythematous plaque surrounded by a hyperkeratotic border. The histopathologic hallmark is a parakeratotic cornoid lamella. An unusual case of porokeratosis gigantea, a morphological variant of classical porokeratosis of Mibelli, is reported. The pathogenesis, taking in account especially the clonal hypothesis and premalignant nature of porokeratosis, is discussed.


BACKGROUND Cure rates of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have reached 90% in the developed countries. However, toxicity due to chemotherapeutic regimens occurs frequently but with great heterogeneity. This suggests that genetic variation is involved. In order to identify determinants of adverse effects, recent studies have investigated pharmacogenetic features in relation to toxicity. Most of these studies examined coding regions of the genome. Recently, it has been described that epi genetic regulators, such as micro-RNA9s (miRNA), might also have an important regulatory function in genes involved in drug related toxicity. In a recent study 25 miRNA SNPs were found to be related to toxicity in pediatric ALL treatment (Lopez-Lopez, PLoS ONE, 2014). In pediatric ALL mucositis is one of the most frequent side effects during high dose methotrexate (MTX) treatment. AIM The aim of this study was to detect novel, epigenetic biomarkers that predict MTX related oral mucositis in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B- and T cell) by studying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) involved in miRNA levels and function. METHODS DNA was isolated from whole blood of 118 pediatric ALL patients that were treated with high dose MTX (5 gr/m2) according to the Dutch Childhood Oncology Group ALL-10 protocol. The recently published 25 SNPs, involved in miRNA function and located in the DROSHA, CNOT1, CNOT4, EIF2C1, GEMIN3, GEMIN4, MIR604, MIR453, MIR2110, MIR2053, MIR1294, MIR1206, DICER, XPO5 and TNRC6B genes, were selected for genotyping. Toxicity data during the consolidation phase were prospectively collected and documented according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) v.3.0 score system. Mucositis NCI grade ≥ 3 (grade 3: confluent ulcerations, bleeding with minor trauma), was considered as clinical significant toxicity and was used as endpoint. RESULTS Mucositis was the only recurring toxicity in this prospectively well-documented cohort and therefore used as endpoint of this study. A selection of 20 of the previously identified 25 candidate SNPs was studied based on technical feasibility. In addition, 1 SNP in the XPO 5 gene was not considered for analysis because it was not in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. Mucositis occurred in 19% of the patients in at least one of the MTX courses. Only the TT genotype of rs11866002 in the CNOT1 (CCR4-NOT complex, subunit 1) gene was associated with a higher risk of developing mucositis (NCI ≥ 3) compared to carries of CC/CT. The other 18 candidate SNPs analyzed did not show statistically significant associations. CONCLUSION The inter-patient variability of mucosal toxicity was not associated with most of our investigated SNPs which are involved in miRNA transcription and function. CNOT1 rs11866002 C>T was the only single nucleotide polymorphism associated with the occurrence of oral mucositis during pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment. We acknowledge the Foundation Children Cancerfree (KiKa), Amstelveen, The Netherlands, for funding this research. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Humanitarian emergencies are complex situations that usually occur after warfare or social upheavals. They result in a dramatic increase in morbidity and mortality in the affected population. Organizations that undertake management of humanitarian emergencies must be prepared to provide comprehensive services covering all aspects of public health including preliminary evaluation, mass vaccination, water and sanitation, food supply and nutrition, shelter, medical care, control of communicable diseases, personnel training, and logistic coordination. Epidemiological surveillance is an integral part of a full-service approach to humanitarian action that should be included in the preliminary evaluation. Epidemiology is a powerful tool for detecting any health problems that might further jeopardize the victim population. By allowing measurement of the impact of humanitarian action, epidemiological data also provides a means of verifying that the victims are benefiting from aid operations. Implementation of a surveillance system should be given high priority during the start-up of a humanitarian operation. The system must have the simplicity and flexibility necessary to adapt changing, unstable situations as well as high sensitivity necessary for early detection of epidemic outbreaks.


Most published attempts to quantify equine hoof form are based on lineal and angular measurements. Here we applied geometric morphometric methods to study shape variation of hoof outlines in a sample of 25 distal forelimbs (13 right and 12 left). Limbs belonged to sound "Cavall Pirinenc Catala" horse, an equine meat local breed from Pyrenees, slaughtered in an abattoir. The outline of each hoof was represented by a set of two landmarks and 86 semi-landmarks. Results reflected directional asymmetric, e.g. consistent differences between medial and lateral contours for all four limbs. Right limbs tended to supinate (rotation of medial wall towards out), while left limbs tended to pronate (rotation of lateral wall towards in). Such morphological adjustments may be an important consideration for hoof practitioners and may imply an important reconsideration of "normal" feet evaluation.


Typical field-of-view (fov) of visual feedback in virtual reality applications is generally limited. In some cases, e.g. in videogames, the provided fov can be artificially increased, using simple perspective projection methods. In this paper, we design and evaluate different visualization techniques, inspired by the cartography domain, for navigating in virtual environments (VE) with a 360° horizontal fov of the scene. We have conducted an evaluation of different methods compared to a rendering method of reference, i.e. a perspective projection, in a basic navigation task. Our results confirm that using any omnidirectional rendering method could lead to more efficient navigation in terms of average task completion time. Among the different 360° projection methods, the subjective preference was significantly given to a cylindrical projection method (equirectangular). Taken together, our results suggest that omnidirectional rendering could be used in virtual reality applications in which fast navigation or full and rapid visual exploration are important. They pave the way to novel kinds of visual cues and visual rendering methods in virtual reality.


In this paper we present a physics-based framework for simulation and control of human-like skeleton-driven soft body characters. We couple the skeleton dynamics and the soft body dynamics to enable two-way interactions between the skeleton, the skin geometry, and the environment. We propose a novel pose-based plasticity model that extends the corotated linear elasticity model to achieve large skin deformation around joints. We further reconstruct controls from reference trajectories captured from human subjects by augmenting a sampling-based algorithm. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework by results not attainable with a simple combination of previous methods.


Crop diagnosis with knowledge of leaf nutrient contents, for each cultivation condition, is justified and has the purpose of correcting nutrient deficiencies, as well as the use of tools like DRIS (Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System), that help management practices to obtain high productivity. The objective of this work was evaluate the effect of nitrogen fertilization, irrigation and period of the year on the leaf nutrient contents of the yellow passionfruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa) crop. The experiment was carried in the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, on a Rhodic Paleudult, ammended with four nitrogen levels (50 to 650 g plant-1 year-1 of N) submitted to six irrigation depths (0 to 125% of ETo - reference crop evapotranspiration for grass). The nutrient leaf contents, at maximum fruit yield (41.3 t ha-1), ranged from 40.8 to 58.1 g kg-1 of N, 2.58 to 3.85 g kg-1 of P, 23.2 to 38 g kg-1 of K, 6.13 to 14.4 g kg-1 of Ca, 2.23 to 4.28 g kg-1 of Mg and 3.2 to 4.64 g kg-1 of S, 13.1 to 32.4 g kg-1 of Cl, 21.1 to 36.5 mg kg-1 of Zn, 44.4 to 94.5 mg kg-1 of Mn, 82 to 246 mg kg-1 of Fe, 16.8 to 48.9 mg kg-1 of B, 3.97 to 234 mg kg-1 of Cu. Nitrogen fertilization influenced leaf contents of N, K, S, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cl and B. Irrigation depth increased the leaf contents of Cl and Na and did not affect the other leaf nutrients.


This paper presents an evolving Takagi-Sugeno neuro-fuzzy network that modify its fuzzy rule structure to forecast multivariate time series. This neuro-fuzzy network considers as input data the unobservable components extracted from the time series using the MR-SSA method, proposed in this paper. An evolving clustering algorithm based on eClustering+ was used to formulate antecedent propositions of fuzzy rules, where the number of rule can increase or decrease. Due to the use of these components, the data space considered by evolving clustering algorithm is called unobservable components space in this paper. Therefore, the proposed multivariate method is trained to perform the forecast of each component separately and, finally, to obtain the forecasting of the time series considered. The consequents propositions of fuzzy rules are linear models in state space, where the states correspond to the unobservable components themselves. The experiments considered 3 real case studies, highlighting its application, importance in decision making by time series experts and proposing them as a benchmark for multivariate evolving time series forecasting methods.


Database engines and database-centric applications have become complex software systems. Ensuring bug-free database services is therefore a very difficult task. Whenever possible, bugs that are uncovered during testing are associated with a repro, or sequence of steps that deterministically reproduce the problem. Unfortunately, due to factors such as automated test generation, repros are generally too long and complex. This issue prevents developers reacting quickly to new bugs, since usually a long manual "repro-minimization" phase occurs before the actual debugging takes place. In this paper we present a fully automated technique to minimize database repros that leverages underlying language grammars and thus is significantly more focused than previous approaches. Our approach has been successfully used in two commercial database products to isolate and simplify bugs during early development stages. We show that our technique consistently results in repros that are as concise or simpler and obtained much faster than alternative ones carefully constructed manually.


Composability is a sought after property. However, whereas there is usually an intuitive understanding of this concept, a clear definition has been frequently missing. In this paper, we refine our concept of composability given in [12]. We see composability as a property of an architecture not of systems. In addition, we do not want to reduce composability to the functional specification; rather, we are focusing on how composability effects the non-functional properties, especially the composed system's real-time behavior, its reliability, its security, etc. We see the advantage of our approach in having a wide application domain. It works for functional and non-functional properties, it may consider both, hardware and software, and it allows for a description of composition anomalies [1, 2]. In this paper, we show how to apply our concept to an embedded hardware-software co-designed architecture and to composition and decomposition of dependable services in embedded environments.


BACKGROUND
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of fatigue, hepatic and metabolic toxicities associated with everolimus intake in patients with solid tumors.

METHODS
Eligible studies included randomized trials of patients with solid tumors on everolimus describing events of fatigue, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

RESULTS
After the exclusion of ineligible studies, a total of ten clinical trials were considered eligible for the meta-analysis. The relative risks of all-grade fatigue, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and elevated ALT were 1.31 (p < 0.002), 3.06 (p < 0.0001), 2.54 (p = 0.0001) and 2.96 (p < 0.003), respectively.

CONCLUSION
Our meta-analysis demonstrates that everolimus is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-grade fatigue, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and elevated ALT.


Fans have been responding to literary works since the days of Homer's "Odyssey" and Euripedes' "Medea". More recently, a number of science fiction and fantasy works have found devoted fan followings. The advent of the internet has brought these groups from relatively limited, face-to-face enterprises to easily accessible global communities, within which fan fiction proliferates and is widely read and even more widely commented upon. New interactions between readers and writers of fan fiction are possible in these new virtual communities. From "Star Trek" to "Harry Potter", the essays in this volume explore the world of fan fiction - its purposes, how it is created, how the fan experiences it. Grouped by subject matter, twelve essays cover topics such as genre intersection, sexual relationships between characters, character construction through narrative and the role of the beta reader in online communities. The work also discusses the terminology employed by fan fiction writers and comments on the effects of technological advancements on fan communities.


Sweden is often described as a country where secularization has come comparatively far. At the same time, state and church have remained relatively close, especially before the enactment of the decisions of increased separation of church and state in 2000. Sweden is also a country where the built heritage of the established church enjoys a strong legal protection. When relations between the state and the established church were reformed in 2000, this protection was left in place. This article offers an analysis of the significance ascribed to ecclesiastical heritage in the form of Church of Sweden heritage churches in government policy, focusing on the process leading up to the separation of church and state in year 2000. Using Mircea Eliade's understanding of the sacred and the profane as a starting point for my analysis, I contextualize the significance of heritage churches is in the wider context of a post-Christian, and more specifically post-Lutheran, secularized society. I suggest that the ongoing heritagization of Church of Sweden's church buildings could be seen as a process where they are decontextualized from the denominationally-specific religiosity of the Church of Sweden, but rather than being re-contextualized only as secular heritage, they could be more clearly understood as becoming the sacred places, and objects, of a post-Lutheran civil religion and generalized religiosity, i.e. not simply a disenchantment, but also a re-enchantment. This could be understood as a continuation of traditions of approaching memory, and the sacred, developed in a society characterized by the near hegemony of the established church in the religious sphere, but also in partially counter-clerical movements, such as the Romantic movement.


BACKGROUND: Inhalation of Particulate Matter (PM) and PM metal components has been associated with increased risk of lung cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs with an important role in biological activities and are linked to human diseases such as cancer. miRNA expression needs tight regulation, which also takes place at the epigenetic level. miRNAs undergo regulation by DNA methylation in miRNA coding genes, associate with silencing of miRNA expression. Increased expression of miR-21 has been implicated in various processes involved in carcinogenesis, including inhibition of apoptosis, promotion of cell proliferation and stimulation of tumor growth by targeting multiple tumor/metastasis suppressor genes. In cancer cells miR-222 promotes cell proliferation by targetting the cell cycle inhibitor and tumor suppressor p27. AIMS: We evaluated the effects of exposure to PM and PM metal components on candidate miRNAs methylation (miR-222 and miR-21) in 63 workers of an electric-furnace steel plant with well-characterized exposure. METHODS: We measured miR-222 and miR-21 methylation in blood leukocyte RNA obtained from 63 workers on the first day of a workweek (baseline) and after three days of work (post-exposure). Quantitative miRNA methylation analysis was performed through bisulfite PCR Pyrosequencing. We estimated individual exposures to PM 1 , PM 10 , coarse particles and PM metal components (chromium, lead, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, manganese) between the baseline and post-exposure measurements. RESULTS: miR-222 and miR-21 methylation was significantly decreased in post-exposure samples, compared with baseline (post-exposure=60.07±9.38, baseline=63.05±6.38; p=0.013 for miR-222; post-exposure=62.47±6.87, baseline=66.24±6.32; p=0.004 for miR-21). In post-exposure samples, miR-222 methylation was negatively associated with the average exposure to the levels of PM (β std =-0.012, p=0.03 for PM 10 , β std =-0.579, p=0.005 for PM 1 and β std =-0.013, p=0.032 for Coarse) and to the levels of PM metal components (β std =-111.345, p=0.008 for Chromium and β std =17.195, p=0.023 for Arsenic). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in miRNA methylation may represent a novel epigenetic mechanism mediating responses to PM and its metal components. Whether these modifications have a role in the initiation and progression of cancer needs to be evaluated in future studies. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4088.


In angiotensin II (AngII) dependent hypertension, an inappropriate elevation of intrarenal Ang II leads to the progression of hypertension and kidney injury. Intrarenal angiotensinogen (AGT), produced mainly by renal proximal tubular cells (PTC), is a crucial factor in regulation of intratubular Ang II. Increases in intrarenal AGT are associated with increases in intrarenal immune cells and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels which contribute to Ang II-dependent AGT augmentation. These results suggest that Ang II and IL-6 synergize to increase AGT levels during progression of Ang II-dependent hypertension. However, the interactions among Ang II, Ang II type 1 receptors (AT1R) and IL-6 on AGT expression and the mechanisms have not been delineated. In this study, mouse PTC (WT-PTC) and AT1aR knockout strains (AT1aRKO-PTC) were used to test the existence of this synergism between Ang II and IL-6. Basal AGT mRNA expression levels in PTC were determined and compared with that in mouse mesangial cells which is another established AGT-expressing kidney cells. AGT mRNA expression levels were measured by real-time RT-PCR and normalized based on GAPDH levels. WT-PTC had 21.1-fold (± 2.0) higher basal AGT mRNA levels than mesangial cells, indicating markedly high AGT production by the PTC. Further, WT-PTC and AT1aRKO-PTC were incubated with 100 nM Ang II and/or 400 nM IL-6 for 24 h. Stimulation with either Ang II or IL-6 alone did not significantly alter AGT mRNA expression in both WT-PTC and AT1RaKO-PTC. Co-stimulation with Ang II and IL-6 increased AGT mRNA levels (1.59 ± 0.04, ratio to control) in WT-, but not AT1aRKO-PTC. To test for involvement of the NF-κB signaling pathway in the synergism between Ang II and IL-6, activation of NF-κB as an AT1R signaling pathway was evaluated by western blot analysis. Furthermore, WT-PCT were treated with an NF-κB inhibitor during the co-stimulation. In WT-PTC, IκB levels were decreased by the co-stimulation (0.61 ± 0.04, ratio to control) indicating NF-κB activation. Ten μM Parthenolide, an NF-κB inhibitor, attenuated the AGT mRNA increase induced by the co-stimulation. These results suggest that simultaneous AT1R activation acts synergistically with IL-6 to increase AGT expression in mouse PTC and that the signaling pathway involves NF-κB.


Surgical correction of infantile esotropia prior to age 2 is associated with a higher prevalence of fusion and stereopsis than surgical correction after 2 years of age. The advantages and disadvantages of surgical intervention at the early or late end of this window have been debated in the literature. In the present study, random dot (RD) stereoacuity outcomes were evaluated in order to determine whether a binocular sensory benefit is associated with early or late surgery. Participants were 73 healthy children enrolled in a prospective study of visual development in infantile esotropia. All children had initial surgical correction at 5 to 16 months of age. RD stereoacuity was evaluated at approximately 5 years of age (59.7 +/- 14.9 months). Overall, 41.1% of children demonstrated RD stereopsis. The percentage of children demonstrating RD stereopsis was not significantly different among groups that were surgically corrected at 5 to 8 months (43.8%), 9 to 12 months (47.4%), and 13 to 16 months (31.8%). However, among those children who achieved RD stereopsis, the prevalence of foveal (< 60 sec) or macular (61 to 200 sec) stereoacuity was significantly higher among those who had surgery at 5 to 8 months (42.9%; Z = 2.06, p < 0.02) or 9 to 12 months (55.6%; Z = 2.38, p < 0.009) than among those who had surgery at 13 to 16 months (0.0%). Although surgical correction of infantile esotropia during the first year of life is not associated with a higher prevalence of RD stereopsis, it is associated with better RD stereoacuity among those children who achieve stereopsis following surgery.


This paper examines the relationship between foreign direct investment, domestic investment, human development, and economic growth, and uses the ordinary least squared technique, and a time series analysis using data for the period 1977-2007. The analysis seeks to answer the fundamental question of what impact Chinese domestic investment, economic growth, and human development has on foreign direct investment into the country. Research regarding foreign direct investment and its fundamental correlation with economic growth and domestic investment has produced varied results. This paper examines those variables, with the addition of human development variables, where research is partial. This paper seeks to expand on current research by examining the effects domestic investment, economic growth, and human development factors have on foreign direct investment into China. The results of the study indicate that when domestic investment and economic growth in China are increasing, foreign direct investment is attracted to the country. The human development variable that had the greatest impact on the amount of foreign direct investment into China was the literacy rate. JEL Classification: P33 E24 O10 O11 O15


The important parties must be concerned about Bali's high rate of accidents involving foreigners. One of the likely causes of the collision is the driver's personal component. Due to this, the purpose of this study is to describe the features of traffic accidents involving foreigners and determine the most effective safety measures to reduce such incidents. A quantitative descriptive method is used in this investigation. Simple random sampling with 90 respondents was the sampling strategy employed in this study. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were also used as data collection techniques. The findings indicated that some characteristics, such as drunk driving, going over the speed limit, infrastructure, running red lights, and operating a motor vehicle on icy roads when it is raining, are the main causes of traffic accidents involving foreign people. Furthermore, there were three approaches to traffic safety management according to respondents from the highest to the lowest percentage. The highest was traffic engineering (42%), education and training (30%), and law enforcement (28%).


Banff classification empirically established scoring of histologic lesions, but the relationships of lesions to each other and to underlying biologic processes remain unclear. We hypothesized that class discovery tools would reveal new relationships between individual lesions, and relate lesions to C4d staining, anti‐HLA donor‐specific antibody (DSA) and time posttransplant. We studied 234 nonselected renal allograft biopsies for clinical indications from 173 patients. Silhouette plotting and principal component analysis revealed three groups of lesions: microcirculation changes, including inflammation (glomerulitis, capillaritis) and deterioration (double contours, mesangial expansion); scarring/hyalinosis; and tubulointerstitial inflammation. DSA and C4d grouped with microcirculation inflammation, whereas time posttransplant grouped with scarring/hyalinosis lesions. Intimal arteritis clustered with DSA, C4d and microcirculation inflammation, but also showed correlations with tubulitis. Fibrous intimal thickening in arteries clustered with scarring/hyalinosis. Capillary basement membrane multilayering showed intermediary relationships between microcirculation deterioration and time‐dependent scarring. Correlation analysis and hierarchical clustering confirmed the lesion relationships. Thus, we propose that the pathologic lesions in biopsies are not independent but are members of groups that represent distinct pathogenic forces: microcirculation changes, reflecting the stress of DSA; scarring, hyalinosis and arterial fibrosis, reflecting the cumulative burden of injury over time; and tubulointerstitial inflammation. Interpretation of lesions should reflect these associations.


This paper investigates the joint pilot-assisted estimation of the residual carrier frequency offset (RCFO) and sampling frequency offset (SFO) in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. As it is known, the exact maximum-likelihood (ML) solution to this problem involves a bidimensional grid-search that cannot be pursued in practice. After introducing an enlarged set of auxiliary unknown parameters, however, the RCFO and SFO recovery tasks can be decoupled and the bidimensional search is thus replaced with a simpler mono-dimensional search. This results into an estimation algorithm of reasonable complexity which is suitable for practical implementation. To further reduce the processing load, we also present an alternative scheme yielding frequency estimates in closed-form. Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed methods outperform existing estimators available in the literature in terms of both estimation accuracy and error-rate performance.


Many entrepreneurs are very interested to start Edible Bird Nest (EBN) production. However, many of them lack knowledge in pest distrubance in swiftlet house. They suffered losses because they are not concerned about pest disturbance in swiftlet house. This study aimed to identify pest in swiftlet house and to establish pest distrubance in swiftlet house. This research was conducted through field study. Field studies were conducted in nine swiftlet houses from three different areas namely, town, coastal and forested areas. Based on the field study, ants were the biggest pest problem in EBN swiftlet houses where about 69 observations of the houses were infested with the insects at one point or another. Cockroaches were the second biggest problem with 30 observations of the houses infested and rats were found in 18 observations of the houses. Pest disturbance in swiftlet house was the main cause of failure in the swiftlet ranching business. The results showed that there are no significant difference between pest disturbance in swiftlet house with location of swiftlet house. In the management of swiftlet houses, less pest disturbance can be assured to be productive and profitable ranching venture swiflet.


This article critically examines our relationship with justice in contemporary Western liberal settings, with a particular focus on why our pursuit of justice is intimately entangled with punitive logics. It starts by arguing that we have a predominantly pathological approach to justice, in the sense that it follows a logic that is akin to that displayed in contemporary sensibilities regarding bodily pain. We deploy Drew Leder's concept of 'dys-appearance' to discuss how, in Western liberal societies, justice is primarily experienced negatively as a phenomenon; that is, we mainly become conscious of justice through the painful and episodic experience of injustice. We then explore this phenomenological quality of justice which, we argue, is linked to how the pursuit of justice in these settings predominantly takes a hostile, punitive aspect. The article concludes by exploring how this punitive impulse can be resisted, through what we term a 'lived sense of justice'.


Modern indoor volleyball has evolved into a high-level strength sport and is seen as one of the most popular open-skilled team sports. The nature of the sport as an open-based skill requires players to have a high degree of both psychological skill and physical ability to cope with the sport's externally and internally induced pace. The purposes of this study were to examine the essential basic anthropometric variables, as well as competition and practice psychological readiness, that could provide a performance edge and identify high and low-performance players based on the parameters. The anthropometric variables of height, weight, and age were assessed, while the test for performance strategies instrument was used to evaluate competition and practice psychological readiness skills of the players. The players' performances were analyzed in real-time during a volleyball tournament. The Louvain clustering algorithm was used to determine the performance class of the players with reference to the variables evaluated. A total of 45 players were ascertained as high-performance volleyball players (HVP), while 20 players were deemed as low-performance volleyball players (LVP) via the clustering analysis technique. The logistic regression classifier was used to classify the performance of the players. Nonetheless, owing to the skewed representation between the HVP and LVP during the training of the model, the Synthetic Minority Oversampling TEchnique (SMOTE) was employed to artificially increase the minority class dataset to avoid the overfitting notion upon classification. It was shown from the study that, through the machine learning pipeline developed, an excellent identification of the HVP and LVP could be attained. The findings could be invaluable to coaches and other relevant stakeholders in team preparation and the selection of high-performance players in volleyball.


A new methodology for estimation of voltage sags patterns and clustering of fault zones in high and medium voltage electric is presented. The proposed methodology comprises three stages. First, network modelling and faults simulation were performed in order to get information about voltage sags caused by faults in the transmission system. Voltage sags patterns were identified at the second stage by means of a k-means clustering algorithm, allowing the determination of fault zones. Using the power quality measurements data base of the major electricity utility of Bogotá, voltage sags were classified according to the previously determined voltage sags patterns. At the third stage of the methodology a comparison between simulated and measured sags is performed, allowing the identification of sags caused by faults.


PurposeThis study proposes a portfolio of new venture signals that are likely to attract investors' attention in the context of an emerging market and examines how they work in combination to affect the likelihood of obtaining funding.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data on early-stage venture capital investments for high-tech start-ups in Turkey. The authors adopt a configurational approach and use fuzzy QCA and regression analysis.FindingsThe findings suggest that financing of new ventures in an emerging economy is shaped by signals of context-specific capabilities that are required to survive and thrive in this market environment alongside and in interaction with signals of general capabilities required for business success. Different combinations of these signals provide equifinal pathways to obtain funding. Furthermore, signals that differ in type and content interact in complex ways to affect investors' decisions.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that entrepreneurs with no prior experience in the emerging market context can increase their chances of obtaining funding by affiliating with a venture development organization. Another promising strategy is to form a founding team that includes members affiliated with a developed country together with members who have emerging market experience. Finally, entrepreneurs may consider combining signals of context-specific capabilities with signals of general capabilities as they work in a complementary way to attract funding.Originality/valueThis study addresses two major shortcomings of the literature on new venture signaling, first, by positing the emerging market context as a unique signaling environment and, second, by demonstrating the value of considering signals as portfolios with potential interdependencies.


Synopsis Bivalve molluscs have been the focus of behavioral and physiological studies for over a century, due in part to the relative ease with which their traits can be observed. The author reviews historical methods for monitoring behavior and physiology in bivalves, and how modern methods with electronic sensors can allow for a number of parameters to be measured in a variety of conditions using low-cost components and open-source tools. Open-source hardware and software tools can allow researchers to design and build custom monitoring systems to sample organismal processes and the environment, systems that can be tailored to the particular needs of a research program. The ability to leverage shared hardware and software can streamline the development process, providing greater flexibility to researchers looking to expand the number of traits they can measure, the frequency and duration of sampling, and the number of replicate devices they can afford to deploy.


The activation of human mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MKK1) is achieved by phosphorylation at Ser218 and Ser222 within a regulatory loop. Partial activation was achieved by replacing these residues with aspartic/glutamic acid. Higher activity was obtained by introducing four acidic residue substitutions in the regulatory loop, indicating that acidic residues in the loop stabilize an active configuration by the introduction of negative charge. Activation of MKK1 is also achieved by deleting residues 44-51, N-terminal to the consensus catalytic core. Although substitution of residues within this segment by alanine does not affect activity, introduction of proline residues elevates kinase activity, indicating that activation results from perturbation of secondary structure within residues 44-51. Pseudosubstrate inhibition, a commonly observed mechanism of kinase regulation, is not operative in this process. Both the acidic substitutions and the N-terminal deletion increase Vmax, V/K(m),ERK2, and V/K(m),ATP, as is also observed following phosphorylation of wild-type MKK1. A synergistic enhancement of these steady-state rate parameters occurs upon combining the mutations, suggesting that conformational changes induced by mutagenesis together mimic those seen upon phosphorylation.


Biological sex is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of health and disease, particularly relevant to the topical COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Epidemiological data and observational reports from both the original SARS epidemic and the most recent COVID-19 pandemic have a common feature: males are more likely to exhibit enhanced disease severity and mortality than females. Sex differences in cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 share mechanistic foundations, namely, the involvement of both the innate immune system and the canonical renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Immunological differences suggest that females mount a rapid and aggressive innate immune response, and the attenuated antiviral response in males may confer enhanced susceptibility to severe disease. Furthermore, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is involved in disease pathogenesis in cardiovascular disease and COVID-19, either to serve as a protective mechanism by deactivating the RAS or as the receptor for viral entry, respectively. Loss of membrane ACE2 and a corresponding increase in plasma ACE2 are associated with worsened cardiovascular disease outcomes, a mechanism attributed to a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM17). SARS-CoV-2 infection also leads to ADAM17 activation, a positive feedback cycle that exacerbates ACE2 loss. Therefore, the relationship between cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 is critically dependent on the loss of membrane ACE2 by ADAM17-mediated proteolytic cleavage. This article explores potential mechanisms involved in COVID-19 that may contribute to sex-specific susceptibility focusing on the innate immune system and the RAS, namely, genetics and sex hormones. Finally, we highlight here the added challenges of gender in the COVID-19 pandemic.


For the analysis of the cardiac rhythm an additional device for recording electrocardiograms of the oesophagus which can be connected with the 6-canal-electrocardiograph 6 NEK 4 was developed. The device works as an ECG-preamplifier with a high reverse of amplification. Using a special filter it is possible to get well evaluable records excluding each zero line drift, even on most difficult conditions. The possibility of connection with any experimental entry of the 6 NEK 4 renders possible the combination of the electrocardiogram of the oesophagus with any ECG standard deviation program.


Major advances have already been made in Rheumatology, many of which have translated into improved clinical care and management. These have largely centred around: Descriptive studies. These have resulted in: a better classification/diagnosis and thus treatment of rheumatic conditions a clearer understanding of the natural history of diseases epidemiologically defined disease parameters (e.g. prevalence, incidence, geographical distribution, age at onset, gender ratios) Imaging and definition of relevant laboratory tests higher resolution imaging of hard and soft tissues for appreciating both early disease processes and disease progression/severity. Laboratory investigations, as useful aids for diagnosis (autoantibody profiles, rheumatoid factor) and disease activity (e.g. CRP) Treatments and interventions The development of effective and lasting joint replacement prostheses The introduction of better treatments (e.g. Cox2 inhibitors) and biological based therapies to antagonise inflammatory cytokines and processes (e.g. TNF-alpha antagonists) What can be expected in the future for rheumatology remains speculation but exciting prospects are likely for clinical medicine in the post human genome sequencing era. A primary objective will be the identification of the genetic and environmental components to disease aetiopathogenesis. These should lead to: a better understanding of disease processes and classification resulting in more appropriate treatments. The identification of novel targets for pharmaceutical intervention. An ability to predict disease risk and disease outcome, permiting early screening and a more rapid or aggressive treatment plan. The characterisation of gene-environment interactions, resulting in health education and changes in life style or in possible proplylactic intervention. The identification of the pharmacogenetic basis for response to drugs and why there is variation in efficacy or adverse drug reactions. This should lead to personalised medicine. New developments in molecular biology and cell biology are also likely to impinge on rheumatology in the areas of: Tissue Engineering Gene therapy Stem cell transplation


On 17th August and 12th November 1999 the wider area of Yalova, Gölcük, Izmit, Adapazari, Düzce, Kaynasli and Bolu, to the south-southeast of Istanbul (Turkey) was hit by two seismic shocks with magnitude MW = 7.4 and MW = 7.1, respectively. The two events are attributed to reactivation of two adjacent segments of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, a major E-W right-lateral strike-slip fault zone that runs across Turkey. The earthquakes produced surface ruptures over a distance of at least 150 km, as well as settlement, soil fissures, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis and subsidence. In both cases, the damage distributed was mainly along an E-W aligned zone more than 180 km long and a few km wide. Damage and intensity evaluation followed the EMS1992 and the updated EMS1998 scales. The maximum mtensities approached XII in both earthquakes. Intensity maps show alignment parallel to the strike of the seismic faults, with local variations due to geometry and kinematics of certain tectonic structures. Intensities were considerably amplified locally by accompanying geodynamic phenomena. High intensities were also recorded at long epicentral due to a combination of factors, such as earthquake frequency content, local site conditions and construction type. Finally, intensities exhibited an exponential development in places where the two earthquakes affected the constructions sequentially.


The purpose of this research is to find out the effect of return on assets, leverage, firm size, and political connections on the extent of tax avoidance with proxy cash effective tax rate. Independent variables used in this study are return on assets, leverage, firm size, and political connections while the dependent variable in this study is tax avoidance are measured using Cash Effective Tax Rate (CETR). The population in this study is the the manufactured company on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2012-2015. The sample was determined by the purposive sampling method and obtain 40 companies. Type of data used was secondary data obtained from www.idx.co.id or corporate websites. Data analysis conducted with multiple regression model with help of software SPSS version 22,0. Of the result of the testing that has been done, that return on assets has significant value and a negative effect on tax avoidance. Leverage has significant value and a positive effect on tax avoidance. Meanwhile firm size and political connections have no significant effect on tax avoidance. Based on total adjusted R-square result proved that variables of return on assets, leverage, firm size, and political connections effect on tax avoidance results of 17,9% while the rest of 82,1% were affected by other variables that were not performed in this study like Independent commissioner board, audit committee and executive characteristics.


This study aims at determining the difficulties experienced by bilingual teacher candidates in education. The study has a qualitative design, semi-structured interview is used and data are obtained with content analysis method. The study group of the research includes 117 students studying at different classes in Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, Faculty of Education, and Department of Social Sciences Teaching in 2013-2014 academic year, fall semester. A tool developed by researchers, made of 13 open ended questions in order to determine the personal features and views of teacher candidates, is used as the data collection tool. Frequency, percentage and content analysis is used to analyze the obtained data. SPSS-18 package program is used to prepare the tables and in statistical analysis. This study showed that; bilingual Social Sciences teacher candidates experienced important problems especially in the first few years in their school life; they could not express themselves well in course subjects and this caused some personality problems; they could not learn Turkish efficiently which was necessary for them in education life; they wanted to have education in Turkish even though they had received education in native language; they could not properly communicate with friends who were from different regions and had the same native language; they had difficulty in communicating with both languages; they believed that they could have more a successful education life if their native language had been Turkish… etc.

 Key words: Native language, bilingualism, social sciences teacher candidates, education.


Polyacenes in their armchair geometry (phenacenes) have recently been found to possess appealing electronic and optical properties with higher chemical stability and comparatively larger band gap as compared to linear polyacenes. They also behave as high-temperature superconductors upon alkali metal doping. Moreover, the optical properties of crystalline picene can be finely tuned by applying external pressure. We investigated the variation of optical gap as a function of altering the interplanar distances between parallel cofacial phenacene dimers. We employed both time-dependent density functional theory and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) technique to investigate the lowest singlet excitations in phenacene dimer. Our study showed that the lowest singlet excitation in these systems evolved as a function of interplanar separation. The optical excitation energy gap decreases as a function of inverse interplanar separation of the phenacene dimer. The distant dependent variation of optical absorption at the dimer level may be comparable with experimental observation in picene crystal under pressure. DMRG study also demonstrates that besides picene, electronic properties of higher phenacenes can also be tunable by altering interplanar separation.


Focused electron beam induced processing allows to repair defects in photomasks with high precision. The technology is employed to fabricate field emitter electron sources. Investigating the field emitters a nanogranular material is found, composed from metal crystals, which are embedded in a fullerene matrix. Those emitters show the capability to deliver "Giant current density" due to an `anomalous electron transport' observed at room temperature. Several authors observed these effects in experiments. An explanation for such characteristics is given to explain the non destructive electron transport with a current density up to 0.1 GA/cm2 in nanowires of Au/C and Pt/C nanogranular materials.


Multiple event data are frequently encountered in medical follow‐up, engineering and other applications when the multiple events are considered as the major outcomes. They may be repetitions of the same event (recurrent events) or may be events of different nature. Times between successive events (gap times) are often of direct interest in these applications. The stochastic‐ordering structure and within‐subject dependence of multiple events generate statistical challenges for analysing such data, including induced dependent censoring and non‐identifiability of marginal distributions. This paper provides an overview of a class of existing non‐parametric estimation methods for gap time distributions for various types of multiple event data, where sampling bias from induced dependent censoring is effectively adjusted. We discuss the statistical issues in gap time analysis, describe the estimation procedures and illustrate the methods with a comparative simulation study and a real application to an AIDS clinical trial. A comprehensive understanding of challenges and available methods for non‐parametric analysis can be useful because there is no existing standard approach to identifying an appropriate gap time method that can be used to address research question of interest. The methods discussed in this review would allow practitioners to effectively handle a variety of real‐world multiple event data.


We begin with the hypothesis that a model must be able to understand individual objects and relationships between objects in order to generate complex scenes with multiple objects well. Our layout-to-image-generation method, which we call Object-Centric Generative Adversarial Network (or OC-GAN), relies on a novel Scene-Graph Similarity Module (SGSM). The SGSM learns representations of the spatial relationships between objects in the scene, which lead to our model's improved layout-fidelity. We also propose changes to the conditioning mechanism of the generator that enhance its object instance-awareness. Apart from improving image quality, our contributions mitigate two failure modes in previous approaches: (1) spurious objects being generated without corresponding bounding boxes in the layout, and (2) overlapping bounding boxes in the layout leading to merged objects in images. Extensive quantitative evaluation and ablation studies demonstrate the impact of our contributions, with our model outperforming previous state-of-the-art approaches on both the COCO-Stuff and Visual Genome datasets. Finally, we address an important limitation of evaluation metrics used in previous works by introducing SceneFID -- an object-centric adaptation of the popular Fréchet Inception Distance metric, that is better suited for multi-object images.


The article deals with the gap between the technological-school student's mastery of pure mathematical principles and his/her competence in their implementation in electronics and suggests a means for narrowing this, using a case study. A cooperative effort by mathematics and electronics teachers, involving coordination of content, teaching strategies and timing, was implemented on two groups (treatment and control). The treatment group achieved significantly higher average scores in tests in those questions where the mathematical reinforcement provided in the treatment process could be used - and this in spite of the group's weaker standing in the electronics course. Moreover, it was establised that treatment students adopted a more analytical approach in their solution strategies, while control students tended to rely more on recall and 'ready-made' formulae. The main conclusion of our case study is that mastery of mathematical theory and principles is a prerequisite to efficient tackling of technological problems, but is not always enough. Cooperation between the maths and electronics teachers contributes to improvement of the teaching-learning process in a technological discipline.


The author utilizes quantitative analysis results based on diabetes control for two periods: the pre-COVID-19 period, from 5/5/2018 to 1/18/2020, and the COVID-19 period, from 1/19/2020 to 8/25/2020, within a duration of 2.3 years. Special attention has been placed on the comparison of quantitative glucose results, including FPG, PPG, daily glucose, and HbA1C, especially the COVID-19 quarantine period from 1/19/2020 to 8/25/2020.


Discomfort and pain are common in human-work activities and workers working in the industrial sector are easier to be exposed to the risk injuries. Occupational risk factors are the biggest entity causing health problems. Exposure to occupational hazards can adversely affect the human body, in turn reduce worker productivity and product/work quality and increase musculoskeletal problems. Observing the group of operators (welding) working throughout the day in the industry, which in turn helps in identifying the discomfort/pain experienced by the workers. The discomfort level of the workers can be evaluated by designing a detailed questionnaire and checklist to be present to the respondent. Ergonomic assessment tools like RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment), OWAS (Ovaco Working Postural Analysis System) are used to assess the working postures and to analyze the discomfort frequency. Postures causing WMSD's (Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders) are identified and recommending the guidelines to improve posture actions and to reduce the threat of WMSD's. KeywordsWMSD's, RULA, REBA, OWAS


Abstract We have examined the suitability of a quartz-inclusions-in-epidote (qtz-in-ep) mineral barometer to better constrain P-T histories of epidote-bearing lithologies. Theoretical calculations applying an isotropic elastic model suggest that the qtz-in-ep barometer exhibits minimal temperature dependence, and thus, offers the potential to constrain growth conditions of epidote in various geologic environments, including skarn deposits, epidote-bearing granitoids, and metamorphic rocks. To test if the applied equations of state and isotropic elastic model reasonably simulate the elastic evolution of two anisotropic minerals, we measured Raman shifts of the 464 cm–1 band of quartz inclusions relative to that of an unencapsulated quartz standard. We calculated a quartz inclusion pressure (Pincl464)$\left( P_{\text{incl}}^{464} \right)$at various temperatures and compared these values with temperature-dependent Pincl predicted by elastic modeling (Pinclmod)$\left( P_{\text{incl}}^{\text{mod}} \right)$at elevated temperatures. Three epidote-bearing samples with reasonably well-constrained P-T histories were also examined: (1) sample HF14C from the Upper Schieferhuelle in the Western Tauern Window, Italy (Pincl464=0.01GPa);$\left( P_{\text{incl}}^{464}=0.01\text{GPa} \right);$(2) sample LdC-31C from Lago di Cignana, Italy (Pincl464≈0.16)$\left( P_{\text{incl}}^{464}\approx 0.16 \right)$GPa); and (3) sample FT1E from the Frosnitz Tal in the Western Tauern region, Austria (Pincl464=0.57 GPa).$\left( P_{\text{incl}}^{464}=0.57\ \text{GPa} \right).$ Entrapment pressures (Pent464)$\left( P_{\text{ent}}^{464} \right)$calculated from Pincl464$P_{\text{incl}}^{464}$determined at various temperatures show nominal differences from Pent${{P}_{\text{ent}}}$calculated from Pinclmod,$P_{\text{incl}}^{\bmod },$suggesting that for qtz-in-ep pairs, the calculated Pent does not significantly vary with the temperature of measurement. Furthermore, our calculated Pent464$P_{\text{ent}}^{464}$for a sample from the Upper Schieferhuelle is in agreement with petrographic context and previously established P conditions, and the Pent464$P_{\text{ent}}^{464}$determined for the Frosnitz Tal sample closely approximate previously reported pressures. The Lago di Cignana sample is derived from an epidote vein that is encased in a high-P foliation, and the calculated Pent464$P_{\text{ent}}^{464}$is consistent with early, low-P epidote vein formation that pre-dates high-P metamorphism, or alternatively, late vein formation during exhumation, and confirms that the epidote did not form at or near peak conditions (~2.0 GPa). The results of this study indicate that the qtz-in-ep barometer potentially provides another tool that geoscientists can employ to better constrain P-T conditions in some epidote-bearing environments, where conventional thermobarometric techniques cannot be applied.


The objective of this study is to analyze the correlation of tax compliance on the balance budget transfer in East Java Province. The variables of this research were:1. tax compliance with the indicator  compliance of tax report (SPT) submission  and 2. balance budget transfer with the indicator  tax sharing. The research population consists of all 38 regencies / cities within the East Java Province, all of them were fully sampled (census). Data used in this study is six years time series secondary data from year 2001 to year 2006.  Descriptive quantitative method of analysis is applied here to provide evidence to portray the correlation of the variables. Following  the  Law  of  Local  Autonomy,  tax  is  considered  as  part  of  the  balance  budget  transfer  to  be included in the tax sharing component. The tax collection effectiveness is directly related to the public awareness to  comply  with  its  tax  obligation.  The  high  level  of  public  awareness  or  compliance  is  required  to  sustain  the state income. This high level of public awareness will drive more people to list themselves as tax payer, to report and pay the taxes correctly, thus, perform their moral duty as citizen as well as part of the nation. Based on the analysis result, that the degree of tax compliance shows under  satisfaction average. Most public behaves non compliance. The fact that East Java public tax compliance does not have fully correlated on tax sharing in balance budget transfer. That is due to the fact that tax compliance indicator is not part of the tax sharing indicator  policy.Furthermore, it may concludes that tax sharing does not included all of tax item. Keywords: Tax Compliance, Balance Budget Transfer, Tax Sharing, The Local Autonomy


This chapter presents a framework for differentiated process support in large software projects. Process support can be differentiated in different levels based on the size of the development organization and the need for coordination across different levels of the organization. We have defined four main perspectives: individual, group, team, and project level, where the framework consider essential issues when planning and executing the software development processes in organizations with different levels of management. Further, a guideline is provided that suggests what is required of process support in the various organizational levels.


So far as I am aware, there is no anatomical or physiological reason for thinking that the European female is more susceptible to trypanosome infection than the European male. Considering the very s-mall number of European women and their relatively slight exposure as compared to Earopean men in tropical Africa, one would expect a case of trypanosomiasis in the female European to be a rare event. Of every hundred Europeans there, I do not suppose that five are females. I have no accurate statistics, but I believe that 5 per cent. is an overestimate. Nevertheless, of the 14 cases of trypanosomiasis in Europeans (2 from the River Gambia. Colony, males; 2 from Northern Nigeria, males; 2 from Uganda, males; 5 from the Congo, 1 male and 4 fomales; 1 from the Congo-Rhodesia Frontier, male; 2 from Loanda, 1 male and 1 female) with which I have had to deal, 5 were females. Assuming that the above estimate of the proportion of the sexes of Europeans in these districts of Africa is approximately correct, and assuming that the susceptibility of the sexes to this terrible disease is equal, then one would expect that instead of 9 males afflicted with the disease, I should have encountered at least 95. Having recently met with the fourth and fifth cases (includec in the above) of trypanosomiasis in European ladies from Africa, the conviction has been borne in on me that this relatively enormous disproportion in liability to this very grave infection in the European female is no mere accidental coincidence. I am induced to call attention to the subject in the hope that, the fact and the probable cause being indicated, European ladies in tropical Africa will see to it that by quite simple measures a terrible risk may be obviated in the future. Of my 5 trypanosome cases in females, 3 gave a definite history of a bite by some insect on the leg. Immediately on being bitten the part became very painful, inflamed, and swollen, and within a few days the initial fever and eruption symptomatic of trypanosome infection supervened. When I saw the patients some months later there was still distinct evidence in the local erythema and -swelling of what had occurred. In one case only the infecting bite was apparently on the finger. With regard to the fifth case my impression was, though I have no record of the fact, that the bite was, as in the other three cases, on the leg. However that may be, it is certain that in three-fifths of the cases the infection was introduced by a bite on the leg. These facts indicate that in the present European female dress. Glo8sina palpali8, or possibly some other biting vector, has its opportunity, and that the petticoat and skirt should be discarded for some other type of garment, and one more resembling the male trouser, which apparently confers a relative immunity to the wearer. Skirts and petticoats should be discarded inAfrica, and a Bloomer costume, or loose trousers of some sort, securely tied round the top of* the boots, as well as loose sleeves similarly tied round the wrists, substituted. Thus, in my opinion, the grave and excessive risk to which the European female is unnecessarily exposed in tropical Africa might be obviated. Men, too, should have their trousers and jackets similarly secured. One of my male patients was infected by a bite on the leg while lying asleep with legs exposed on the deck of a river steamer. Manifestly the bathing.drawers style of trouser, so much affected by European travellers, residents, and sportsmen in Africa, should be abandoned for a safer kind of leg covering.


In this study, the authors propose a method for evaluating the influence of ambient temperature (Ta) on the optical characteristics and power consumption of a LED lamp used for the automotive headlamp, which helps the designer to figure out the acceptable range of the ambient temperature for the LED lamps to work well in the practical case. The LED lamp was fixed on the test holder and placed in a fixed position in the air circulation temperature control oven to measure the illuminance, spectrum in three different directions, and power consumption under various Ta. The experimental results indicate that Ta has little effect on the correlated color temperature (CCT), chromaticity coordinates, and angular distribution of the emitting light. In contrast, Ta has a significant effect on the lamp's resistance, thus affecting illuminance and power consumption. When the Ta increased from 30 °C to 60 °C, the illuminance of the low beam and high beam decreased on average by 16.6% and 21.7%, respectively, while the power consumption of the low beam and high beam decreased on average by 21.4% and 22.2%, respectively. The drop in the luminous flux output indicates the probability of originally qualified automotive LED headlamps becoming unqualified in high Ta.


The CUPID Collaboration is designing a tonnescale, background-free detector to search for double beta decay with sufficient sensitivity to fully explore the parameter space corresponding to the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy scenario. One of the CUPID demonstrators, CUPIDMo, has proved the potential of enriched Li2MoO4 crystals as suitable detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay search. In this work, we characterised cubic crystals that, compared to the cylindrical crystals used by CUPID-Mo, are more appealing for the construction of tightly packed arrays. We measured an average energy resolution of (6.7±0.6) keV FWHM in the region of interest, approaching the CUPID target of 5 keV FWHM. We assessed the identification of α particles with and without a reflecting foil that enhances the scintillation light collection efficiency, proving that the baseline design of CUPID already ensures a complete suppression of this α-induced background contribution. We also used the collected data to validate a Monte Carlo simulation modelling the light collection efficiency, which will enable further optimisations of the detector.


Cyproterone acetate (CA) was toxic for Didelphis virginiana at a dose range of 22–28 mg/kg IM. A loss of spermatozoal pairing int the cauda epididymidis did not occur until 2 wk after testicular degeneration caused by CA. The isomers of 1‐amino‐3‐chloro‐2‐propanol hydrochloride (CL 88,236 and CL 88,237) were well tolerated by the opossum at doses up to 30 mg/kg IM. After 8 days of CL 88,236 and CL 88,237 treatment there was no effect on spermatozoal pairing in the cauda epididymidis or on the seminiferous epithelium.


Nowadays, due to the growing advance of electronic communication such as e-cards, video postcards and the era of email, understanding of postcards' potential power in generating interest toward a destination is important. However there is lack of research on postcards within the context of destination image representation. Thus, the purpose of research is to understand the relationships between postcards as image makers and postcards-induced emotions towards the desire to travel to help the destination marketer in determining the effectiveness of postcards as marketing and promotional tools towards the destination. This research was conducted in SkyPos Langkawi and Selangor with total of 80 respondents. Whereby, due to the unavailability in estimating the targeted respondents, nonprobability and purposive sampling design were used. Next, the findings reported that postcards as image makers had a significant relationship towards desire to travel as well as postcard-induced emotions which was significantly impact towards desire to travel. Apart from that, the result also confirmed that destination image act as a moderator for all the relationships. Thus, three objectives of this research were successfully achieved and answered. Lastly, the research also put forward with some implications pertain to the development of theoretical and practical understanding about the relationships of postcards as image makers and postcards-induced emotions in generating a desire to travel.


Many families, when presented with the option of family therapy, are less than eager to participate. This paper comprises the second and third parts of a series on engaging "resistant" families. Part II presents 21 principles and a number of techniques and strategies that have been developed for successfully recruiting such families. These techniques should be applicable for engaging resistant families with all types of presenting problems. Part III provides an analysis of the important variables involved, along with data on cost efficiency and administrative costs. It was found that when therapists had administrative control of their cases, serving in dual roles as both therapists and drug counselors, the recruitment effort was (a) more effective (i.e., complete families, including both parents or parent surrogates, were recruited in 77 per cent of the cases), and (b) twice as cost efficient. Two-thirds of the non-engaged families were not recruited because the index patient would not allow family members to be contacted. Black families were more difficult to recruit than whites. Data on cost efficiency and on the actual administrative costs of recruiting families are also provided.


Summary.  The treatment of iron overload by s.c. desferrioxamine (DFO) was studied in three patients with hereditary haemochromatosis in which phlebotomy treatment was not, or transiently not, possible because of their serious clinical condition or the lack of appropriate peripheral veins. Repeated non‐invasive liver iron concentration measurements by superconducting quantum interference device biosusceptometry showed that DFO treatment (2 g/d for 9–11 months) was as effective (liver iron elimination rate: 12 mg/d) as normal phlebotomy treatment (5·9 or 14·3 mg/d respectively) with weekly 500‐ml blood removals. This demonstrates that DFO is an effective alternative therapy for haemochromatosis when phlebotomy is not possible.


From the Publisher:
Complete Coverage of Windows XP Professional
The latest from the world's leading Windows authority Mark Minasi, Mastering Windows XP Professional is the premier resource for anyone installing, configuring, and administering Windows XP, whether as part of a corporate network or for home or small business use. Depend on it for step-by-step instruction in hundreds of key techniques-not to mention a thorough look at all of XP's new features and troubleshooting advice that will save you time, money, and countless headaches. Updates to this edition include new coverage for administrators on topics including Web and FTP servers, scripting, the Microsoft Mangement Console and Services, and security.
Coverage Includes
Using the new Start menu and Control Panel
Setting up broadband Internet connections
Setting up and configuring a peer-to-peer network
Securing your PC and network from intruders
Encrypting vital data
Running programs designed for previous versions of Windows
Transferring files and settings from one computer to another
Sharing your desktop with remote users
Connecting to remote computers using Remote Desktop Connection
Using Windows Media Player 8
Communicating in real time using Windows Messenger
Using Windows XP on Portable Computers
Restoring your system to a previous configuration
Preventing disaster; backing up and recovering data
Using the Services and MMC administration tools

Bonus Coverage: Windows XP Essential Skills
Includes 96 pages of full-color visual, step-by-step instruction on the 57 most important Windows XP skills. In minutes, you'll learn how to burn a CD,set up an Internet connection, use XP's powerful System Restore feature, and much more.
About the Author
Mark Minasi, MCSE, is one of the world's leading Windows authorities. He teaches NT/2000 classes in 15 countries, keynotes at industry gatherings, and writes regular columns for Windows 2000 magazine and other prominent publications. His firm, MRD Mastering Windows 2000 Server, Linux for Windows NT/2000 Administrators: The Secret Decoder Ring, and The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide.


The paper firstly interprets the differences between electromechanical transients program BPA and electromagnetic transients program EMTDC in the field of principle, model and algorithm. Then the authors carry out the simulation based on single-machine infinite-bus system and draw some conclusions. The time consumption of the simulation using EMTDC is much longer than the simulation using BPA under the same length of time. The results of BPA are close to those of EMTDC under steady conditions. The fundamental frequency component of the EMTDC results seems closer to the BPA results than its original value, but they still away from completely consistent. In this simulation of single-machine infinite-bus system, the transient stability results of BPA and EMTDC are close, but the results of BPA are apt to be more conservative. All the conclusions above have a certain reference value to both hybrid simulation and comprehensive analysis method in the study of the AC/DC digital simulation of large power grid.


Cosmic rays (CRs) are thought to be an important feedback mechanism in star-forming galaxies. They can provide an important source of pressure support and possibly drive outflows. We perform multidimensional CRmagnetohydrodynamic simulations including transport by streaming and diffusion to investigate wind launching from an initially hydrostatic atmosphere by CRs. We estimate a characteristic Eddington limit on the CR flux for which the CR force exceeds gravity and compare it to simulated systems. Scaling our results to conditions in starforming galaxies, we find that CRs are likely to contribute to driving outflows for a broad range of star formation environments. We quantify the momentum and energy transfer between CRs and gas, along with the associated mass outflow rates under different assumptions about the relative importance of streaming and diffusion for transport. In simulations with streaming, we observe the growth and saturation of the CR acoustic instability, but the CRs and gas remain well coupled, with CR momentum transferred efficiently to the gas even when this instability is present. Higher CR fluxes transferr more energy to the gas and drive stronger outflows. When streaming is present, most of the transferred energy takes the form of Alfvén wave heating of the gas, raising its pressure and internal energy, with a lower fractional contribution to the kinetic energy of the outflow. We also consider runs with radiative cooling, which modifies gas temperature and pressure profiles but does not seem to have a large impact on the mass outflow for super-Eddington CR fluxes.