: Language plays an important role in the exchange of emotional information. The processing of emotional language has always been the focus of emotional research. Some main views and results on emotional words processing from ERP data are analyzed and summarized: including ERP components and relationship between valence and arousal, as well as emotional effect characteristics. ERP components related to emotional word processing encompass very early P1-N1 components, early EPN components, and late LPP components. Emotional valence and arousal dimensions have shown to function as two significant factors in emotional word processing. Their relationship, however, remains undetermined. Compared with emotional pictures, emotional word processing exerts a weaker emotional effect, showing a bias towards positive valence. Future studies are required to explore relevant factors influencing emotional effect of emotional word processing, to distinguish emotional-laden words from emotional-label words, and to analyze the processing of these two types of emotional words. In addition, it is also an important topic for a future research to elucidate the emotional word processing mechanism in natural context reading by using eye-tracking technique.


A feature extraction, which means extracting the representative words from a text, is an important issue in text mining field. This paper presented a new Apriori and N-gram based Chinese text feature extraction method, and analyzed its correctness and performance. Our method solves the question that the exist extraction methods cannot find the frequent words with arbitrary length in Chinese texts. The experimental results show this method is feasible.


This study demonstrated simple redox control in glasses by improving the method used to added glass raw materials. Specifically, the effect of carbon on the co-presence of metallic tungsten (W) particles as nucleation agents and Eu2+ ions in CaO–Al2O3–SiO2 (CAS) glass was investigated via their crystallization to form CAS glass-ceramics (GCs). In this study, the glass specimens were prepared by mixing glass cullet containing metallic W particles and Eu2+ ions, respectively, with a glass batch containing carbon. Whereas the glass specimen was yellowish because of the presence of Eu2+ when carbon was not added during the remelting process, the glass specimen prepared with carbon was black because of the presence of metallic W particles. In addition, this specimen displayed the 470 nm emission band in its fluorescence spectrum recorded under 393 nm excitation, which was attributed to the presence of Eu2+. According to the fluorescence and transmission spectra, the glass specimen showed a darker coloration and more intense 470 nm emission band compared with the specimen prepared by the conventional melting method that included a remelting process. These results indicated that metallic W and Eu2+ were reduced with greater efficiency by the melting method that involved mixing the glass cullet and batch. In addition, the heat-treated glass specimen prepared by the aforementioned mixing method contained a greater amount of metastable CaAl2Si2O8 with increasing heat treatment time as revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observation. The intensity of the 470 nm emission band decreased with increasing intensity of the band at 420 nm because of the incorporation of Eu2+ into the crystalline phase, and the increase in intensity of the 420 nm band was lineally proportional to the volume fraction of the crystallized glass specimens. The results therefore indicated that the co-presence of metallic W particles as nucleation agents and Eu2+ as a probe for tracking the crystallization process was achieved by the addition of carbon during the remelting process of mixed cullet containing W and Eu2+ through crystallization of the CAS glass. The results thus demonstrate the importance of improving the method used to added glass raw materials.


This study investigates the potential changes in surface energy budget components under certain future climate conditions over the Alps and Northern Italy. The regional climate scenarios are obtained though the Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) runs, based on a reference climate (1961–1990) and the future climate (2071–2100) via the A2 and B2 scenarios. The energy budget components are calculated by employing the University of Torino model of land Processes Interaction with Atmosphere (UTOPIA), and using the RegCM3 outputs as input data. Our results depict a significant change in the energy budget components during springtime over high-mountain areas, whereas the most relevant difference over the plain areas is the increase in latent heat flux and hence, evapotranspiration during summertime. The precedence of snow-melting season over the Alps is evidenced by the earlier increase in sensible heat flux. The annual mean number of warm and cold days is evaluated by analyzing the top-layer soil temperature and shows a large increment (slight reduction) of warm (cold) days. These changes at the end of this century could influence the regional radiative properties and energy cycles and thus, exert significant impacts on human life and general infrastructures.


In today's era, an exponential rise in technology is changing our lives essay. Tens of millions of devices are getting connected to the internet every day. This extensive growth of the internet and increasing number of interconnected devices has given a rise to many new-age technologies. The internet of things (IoT) provides an innovative means of communication amongst these new-age technologies and the web world. Cloud computing enables a convenient, on demand and scalable network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. Integrating cloud computing with internet of things brings the concept of cloud of things. The cloud of things framework is based on a combination of ubiquitous distributed sensing units, outcomes stored in the cloud for awareness. This paper surveys a comparative study on internet of things and cloud of things demonstrating how cloud of things has prevalent benefits over internet of things. Also, this paper explains how introduction of fog computing concept in cloud and IoT improves efficiency of cloud of things.


Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are drawing ever increasing interest from designers of embedded wireless communications systems. They outpace digital signal processors (DSPs), through hardware execution of a wide range of parallelizable communications transceiver algorithms, at a fraction of the design and implementation effort and cost required for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). In our study, we employ an Altera Stratix FPGA development board, along with the DSP Builder software tool which acts as a high-level interface to the powerful Quartus II environment. We compare single- and multibranch FPGA-based receiver designs in terms of error rate performance and power consumption. We exploit FPGA operational flexibility and algorithm parallelism to design eigenmode-monitoring receivers that can adapt to variations in wireless channel statistics, for high-performing, inexpensive, smart antenna array embedded systems.


Given a finite set of alternatives, the sorting (or assignment) problem consists in the assignment of each alternative to one of the predefined categories. In this paper, we are interested in multiple criteria sorting problems and, more precisely, in the existing method ELECTRE TRI. This method requires the elicitation of preferential parameters (importance coefficients, thresholds, profiles, etc.) in order to construct the decision-maker's (DM) preference model. A direct elicitation of these parameters being sometimes difficult, Mousseau and Slowinski proposed an interactive aggregation–disaggregation approach that infer ELECTRE TRI parameters indirectly from holistic information, i.e. assignment examples. In this approach, the determination of ELECTRE TRI parameters that best restore the assignment examples is formulated through a non-linear optimization program. Also in this direction, Mousseau et al. considered the subproblem of the determination of the importance coefficients only (the thresholds and category limits being fixed). This subproblem leads to solve a linear program (rather that non-linear in the global inference model). We pursue the idea of partial inference model by considering the complementary subproblem which determines the category limits (the importance coefficients being fixed). With some simplification, it also leads to solve a linear program. Together with the result of Mousseau et al., we have a couple of complementary models which can be combined in an interactive approach inferring the parameters of an ELECTRE TRI model from assignment examples. In each interaction, the DM can revise his/her assignment examples, to give additional information and to choose which parameters to fix before the optimization phase restarts. Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


While clinicopathological studies have confirmed that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative cause of dementia, these same studies have also revealed that other degenerative pathologies account for a significant proportion of patients with cognitive decline. Because pathological assessment of non‐Alzheimer neurodegenerative diseases now demands routine use of a costly panel of immunohistochemical techniques a scheme for staged examination of brain tissue has been developed. This scheme is weighted to initially screen out cases of Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and vascular dementia using conventional staining methods and established diagnostic protocols, bringing in immunochemical techniques to discriminate between non‐Alzheimer degenerative dementias. Diagnosis of pathologies causing the clinical syndrome of frontotemporal dementia can be ascertained using conventional staining supplemented by immunochemical detection of ubiquitin, tau protein and α B crystallin. The diagnosis of prion disease is reliably confirmed by immunohistochemical detection of prion protein. This morphological assessment complements emerging genetic insights into many of these neurodegenerative diseases.


After a preliminary study in 6 parkinsonian patients concerning the effectiveness and tolerance of 1,3-dimethyl-5-aminoadamantane hydrochloride (memantine) an investigation to assess its short-term effects was performed. In an unselected group of 12 parkinsonian patients 40 mg of memantine diluted in 500 ml of laevulose were applied i.v. within 2 h. The patients were examined under standardized conditions before, immediately after and 2, 4 and 24 h, respectively, using a program of physchological tests. The results give evidence for a favourable influence on rigor and tremor in Parkinson's syndrome as well as on motor drive. In comparative studies memantine showed a better tolerance than adamantylaminosulfate. The short-time effects of the drug could be differentiated from placebo and learning effects.


This investigation centres on the development of a mathematically formal description of the dynamic response of structures isolated with the frictional pendulum system (FPS). It is shown that a theoretically 'exact' model can be formulated to account for large deformation kinematics and the associated P–Δ effects in the isolators. The problem is of importance in light of the large deformations observed during impulsive ground motions like those that occurred during the Northridge, Kobe, Turkey, and Taiwan earthquakes. Besides, the model developed may be easily extended to other devices with kinematic constraints other than the spherical one corresponding to the FPS. Results of the model are presented for two building examples. The first one deals with the seismic response of a rigid superstructure supported on two FPS isolators and is intended to provide a numerical example of the equations developed in the text. The second example presents the three‐dimensional earthquake response of a nominally symmetric structure supported on four FPS isolators and subjected to different ground motions. Both examples point out that small deformation kinematics may lead, in the case of impulsive motions, to discrepancies in global response quantities, relative to the 'actual' response, as large as 30 per cent. These discrepancies increase up to 50 per cent for local response quantities such as normal isolator forces. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Health care supply chain leaders nationwide are facing unprecedented times. Since April 2009, we have been overwhelmed with requests for influenza pandemic-specific products. We have had to search for additional supplies while dealing with concerns over burgeoning needs. At the same time, we have been inundated with stories about disaster preparedness as it relates to the H1N1 pandemic influenza. And now, even with the number of H1N1 cases receding, we must be prepared for whatever emergency may arise next.


Studies were carried out on the optimization of a chemiluminescent NO detector. This detector has been used to study the effect of N containing fuel additive combustion using a gas chromatographic (GC) technique. Progress so far indicates N selective GC detection down to 1.6 ng of diethyl nitrosamine (approximately 0.5 ppm in a 1 ml gas sample). Similar data are obtained for amines. The detector has at least two orders of magnitude more sensitivity currently not realized due to problems with the GC columns. Preliminary studies were made of rapid determination of total N in gasoline, and of combustion products in a flat flame propane-air burner. (GRA)


Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) is a promising vector for somatic gene therapy due to the ability to transduce terminally-differentiated and non-dividing cells, the lack of any apparent pathogenicity, a low immunogenicity, a relatively high stability of transgene expression, and the potential for targeted integration. Improved methods of rAAV packaging allow the generation of concentrated and highly purified rAAV for clinical trials. Preclinical studies with rAAV are currently in progress for the treatment of a variety of inherited monogenic defects, but also for acquired diseases like HIV infection and cancer. Because of the broad host range of wild type AAV, rAAV is able to transduce a variety of human tissues, preferentially those of epitheloid origin, with high efficiency and therefore may be used for various clinical applications. Whilst several issues including safety, tissue tropism and methods to achieve site-specific integration need further improvement, rAAV certainly has a sufficient number of advantages to be seriously considered as a gene therapy vector.


This study investigated how a further training and education (FTE) institution manages the culture of quality. The paper sought to adopt a total quality approach in which all of the aspects were assessed and evaluated at FTE colleges, with a view to formulating recommendations to improve quality in most colleges in Gauteng province in South Africa. Various parameters that impact on quality were investigated such as teaching aids, the learning environment, utilisation of technology and better communication skills. Quality was found to be affected by factors such as the learning environment; availability of resources, quality of students enrolled and staff qualifications.


"I want to make art about the commonplace, art that illumines social life. I want to enlist art to question the mythical explanations of everyday life that take shape as an optimistic rationalism and to explore the relationships between individual consciousness, family life, and the culture of monopoly capitalism."Since the late 1960s, American artist Martha Rosler has produced seminal works in the fields of photography, performance, video, installation, critical writing, and theory. Committed to an art that engages a public beyond the confines of the art world, Rosler investigates how socioeconomic realities and political ideologies dominate ordinary life. Her astute critical analyses are often cloaked in deadpan wit.This book, which accompanies the first retrospective exhibition of Rosler's work, contains seven color photo essays by Rosler; an excerpt from the curatorial project "If You Lived Here"; essays by Alexander Alberro, Catherine de Zegher, Sylvia Eiblmayr, Jodi Hauptman, and Annette Michelson; a conversation between Rosler and Benjamin Buchloh; and a biography/bibliography along with a complete list of art works.EXHIBITION SCHEDULE" Ikon GalleryBirmingham, UK"December 1998 - January 1999"Nouveau MuseeVilleurbanne, France"January 1999 - February 1999"Generali FoundationVienna, Austria"May 1999 - August 1999"MACBABarcelona, Spain"Fall 1999"The New MuseumNew York City"Spring 2000"


Monte Carlo simulation is a powerful and a practical tool for evaluating nonlinear systems. Its advantage is that it allows the effects of combinations of uncertainties to be taken into account. When the result of a MonteCarlo simulation is unsatisfactory, further investigations of both the system model and the control system are necessary, and it is important to identify those uncertain parameters that significantly influence the outcome of the simulation. However, the influential parameters are usually difficult to identify because multiple uncertain parameters are incorporated into a simulation simultaneously. A methodology is presented for identifying influential parameters in Monte Carlo analysis. When a Monte Carlo simulation yields an unsatisfactory result, the influential uncertainties are identified by further Monte Carlo simulations incorporating test vectors derived from the original uncertain parameter vector and by a statistical hypothesis test. The method is applied to the simulation results of an unmanned flight system, demonstrating its effectiveness in a practical application.


Based on the current understanding of the epigenetic landscape, cancer methylome is highly disrupted, which makes DNA methylation an excellent target for anti-cancer cures. To date, azacytidine and its congener, decitabine (DAC) are the most successful DNA demethylating epigenetic drugs. However, scientists are yet to find the reversal of clinical resistance to these drugs. Yet another challenge remains to be the decreased efficacy of these promising therapies in the cure of solid tumors. We used a soild tumor, HCT116 colorectal cancer cell line and developed resistance against DAC. DAC-resistant HCT116 cells were used to study the epigenetic cross-talk between DNA methylation and chromatin modifications. The screening of parental and DAC-resistant HCT116 cells against inhibitors of epigenetic writers-erasers-readers unveiled increased sensitivity of resistant cells to BET inhibitor (inhibitor of reader enzymes), (+)-JQ1. BET inhibitor further mediated augmented response on cell cycle phases of resistant cells, increased anti-proliferative effects in xenograft models of resistant cells, and synergystic effects in combination with DAC in HCT116 parental cells, both in vitro and in vivo . We then sequenced the transcriptome of DAC-sensitive and -resistant HCT116 cells, and (+)-JQ1 treated-(DAC-resistant) cells, using RNA-seq. The RNA-seq data revealed the overexpression of critical oncogenes, and their binding inactivation of key tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in resistant cells. The most significant and biologically relevant transcriptional changes were further validated by qRT-PCR, and in addition their methylation status was determined by bisulphite sequencing. We discovered that the expressions of down-regulated TSGs were driven by promoter methylation, exposing these tumor-suppressive signatures as biomarkers which might differentiate between DAC-resistance and sensitivity, whereas, overexpression of oncogenes was independent of promoter methylation. Interestingly, the expressions of up-regulated oncogenes which define cell identity, mainly those involved in signaling of inflammatory pathways (including some bromodomain-specific genes) were reversed on treatment with (+)-JQ1. Further, siRNA-mediated genetic inhibition of bromodomains in resistant cells phenocopied therapeutic inhibition by (+)-JQ1. These data unveil the chromatin "reader proteins", as regulators of dysregulated oncogenic expressions in DAC-resistant cells. The present study provides novel insights into the epigenomic landscape of DAC-resistant colorectal cancer cells, and put forward, the alternative therapeutic regimen for DAC-resistant patients. This study was supported by Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (LO1304, LM2015091, LM2015064), Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TE01020028) and Internal Grant Agency of Palacky University (IGA_LF_2016_019). Citation Format: Khushboo Agrawal, Petr Vojta, Rastislav Slavkosky, Ivo Frydrych, Petr Dzubak, Marian Hajduch. Chromatin reader machinery as target for overcoming resistance to DNA-demethylating epi-drug decitabine [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5182.


We propose a system to recognize off-line Myanmar handwriting and printed characters, the language used by the majority of Myanmar. This system is based on the use of discrete hidden Markov models. Myanmar handwriting and printed characters or words were chosen for the study. After preprocessing step, the characters are auto-segmented using recursive algorithm as sequences of connected neighbors along lines and curves. The unknown Myanmar characters and words are first pre-classified into one of known character groups, based on the structural properties of the text line. The hidden Markov models classifier is then proposed for the final recognition. All the characters were written by the different writers on a preformatted paper. The method recognizes the Myanmar handwriting in print style. The system was trained and tested Myanmar characters images. All the characters were written by 5 different writers on a preformatted paper. A comparison results have shown 92.1% recognition rate for the handwriting and 97% recognition rate for the printed characters


A new computational method for accurate simulation of the nonlinear, dynamic behavior of single- and multispool core engines, turbofan engines, and power-generation gas turbine engines is presented in Part I of this article. In order to perform the simulation, a modularly structured computer code has been developed that includes individual mathematical modules representing various engine components. The generic structure of the code enables the simulation of arbitrary engine configurations ranging from single-spool thrust generation to multispool thrust/power generation engines under adverse dynamic operating conditions. For precise simulation of turbine and compressor components, row-by-row calculation procedures were implemented that account for the specific turbine and compressor cascade and blade geometry and characteristics.


Hard real-time (HRT) video systems require admission control decisions that rely on two factors. Firstly, schedulability analysis of the datadependent, communicating tasks within the application need to be carried out in order to guarantee timing and predictability. Secondly, the allocation of the tasks to multi-core processing elements would generate different results in the schedulability analysis. Due to the conservative nature of the state-ofthe-art schedulability analysis of tasks and message flows, and the unpredictability in the application, the system resources are often under-utilised. In this paper we propose two blocking-aware dynamic task allocation techniques that exploit application and platform characteristics, in order to increase the number of simultaneous, fully schedulable, video streams handled by the system. A novel, worstcase response time aware, search-based, static hard real-time task mapper is introduced to act as an upper-baseline to the proposed techniques. Further evaluations are carried out against existing heuristic-based dynamic mappers. Improvements to the admission rates and the system utilisation under a range of different workloads and platform sizes are explored. 2012 ACM Subject Classification On-chip resource management


The recent years have seen an increased interest in science education aimed towards the nature of science and inquiry. Within this context, promotion of reasoning and argumentation in school science has come forth as an important field of research. The present contribution describes the project "Kitchen stories" which seeks to develop a framework for teaching argumentation and inquiry in a cross-curricular setting comprising science and home economics. The explicit teaching of Toulmin's argumentation pattern is utilised for students to analyse claims, expand them to build complete arguments and plan open-ended inquiry with regards to specifications (i.e. claims) about food and cooking collected from authentic sources in everyday life, herein termed "culinary precisions". This way a holistic teaching framework has been constructed incorporating project work, argumentation, inquiry, second-hand investigations, sourcing skills and declarative knowledge. Preliminary results from the study involving pre-service teacher students in science and home economics are described. Possibilities, challenges and prospects are discussed when using kitchen stories for teaching argumentation, inquiry and other pertinent topics in science education.


This paper presents an analysis of building blocks propagation in Quantum-Inspired Genetic Algorithm, which belongs to a new class of metaheuristics drawing their inspiration from both biological evolution and unitary evolution of quantum systems. The expected number of quantum chromosomes matching a schema has been analyzed and a random variable corresponding to this issue has been introduced. The results have been compared with Simple Genetic Algorithm. Also, it has been presented how selected binary quantum chromosomes cover a domain of one-dimensional fitness function.


The sensor selection is a technique to reduce the cost, energy consumption, and complexity of a system by discarding redundant or less useful sensors. In this technique, one attempts to select a subset of sensors within a larger set so as to optimise a performance criterion. In this work, the authors consider the detection of sources in the 3D space when the source space could be sparsely represented. The application of compressive sensing (CS) methods in this setting has been extensively studied. Their aim in this work is to carry out the task of sensor selection in a planar array without sacrificing the detection performance. Their approach is to adopt the equivalent CS model and reduce the mutual coherence of the associated sensing matrix. This minimisation task is non-convex, for which they propose a convex relaxation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the gap between their relaxed solution and its optimal counterpart is negligible. The proposed sensor selection method is also shown to outperform the uniform approach in terms of source detection.


Acute liver failure (ALF) was relatively easy to recognise in the days before liver transplantation became available as rescue therapy, because the diagnosis was based on end-stage disease manifestations such as profound coagulopathy, jaundice, encephalopathy and cerebral oedema (in a patient with no history of chronic liver disease). These criteria no longer help us in an era in which we struggle to define which patients are going to progress to this end-stage picture in the time necessary for evaluation and listing for life-saving transplantation. Ideally, identifying which patients will recover spontaneously or with appropriate treatment would relieve the justifiable concern that some patients receive a transplant when, given time, they would have recovered. Currently, the data to guide us in avoiding death without transplantation and unnecessary transplantation remain elusive.


Single-molecule junctions (SMJs) have been fabricated using layers generated by diazonium electroreduction. This process creates a C-Au covalent bond between the molecule and the electrode. Rigid oligomers of variable length, based on porphyrin derivatives in their free base or cobalt complex forms, have been grafted on the surface. The conductance of the oligomers has been studied by a scanning tunneling microscopy break junction (STM-bj) technique and G(t) measurements, and the lifetime of the SMJs has been investigated. The conductance histograms indicate that charge transport in the porphyrins is relatively efficient and influenced by the presence of the cobalt center. With both systems, random telegraph G(t) signals are easily recorded, showing SMJ on/off states. The SMJs then stabilize and exhibit a surprisingly long lifetime around 10 s, and attenuation plots, obtained by both G(t) and STM-bj measurements, give identical values. This work shows that highly stable SMJs can be prepared using a diazonium grafting approach.


Advances in critical care medicine have led to improved survival rates among patients admitted to the Intensive Care unit (ICU), but complications experienced during admittance in an ICU may influence long-term outcome and the neurocognitive state of these patients. Coagulation disorders, glucose intolerance, diabetes, pro-inflammatory state and underlying severe pathologies are common risk factors for stroke development in ICU patients. Stroke may result in very serious consequences like motor function impairment, neglect and aphasia, but in some cases, stroke may not result in any clinical sign in acute phase. Recently, more attention has been given to this condition called ''silent stroke.'' ''Silent stroke'' could be the foundation of the development of neurocognitive impairment and vascular dementia. In ICU survivors, approximately 1/3 of patients or more will develop chronic neurocognitive impairment. With the advent of sensitive techniques for brain imaging, silent brain lesions, including brain infarct and white matter changes, have been frequently recognized. Until now, epidemiological studies in this field evaluating incidence and consequences of stroke in ICU setting are lacking, and prospective studies are required to evaluate the impact of this condition on the quality of life, neurocognitive outcome and mortality of ICU patients. We believe that when stroke occurs in critically ill patients, more attention is typically given to the underlying pathologies than stroke, and this may influence the long-term outcome. Guidelines for the early management of stroke, commonly used in Stroke Units, should be followed, even in critically ill patients in an ICU setting.


To study whether inhalant allergy to specific allergens is associated with inner city asthma, adult emergency room asthmatic patients (n = 41), and controls (n = 34) were examined for immediate hypersensitivity to six common indoor allergens using both skin tests and serologic tests. A highly significant association was observed between cat epidermis-specific IgE and asthma (P < .01) and this constituted the strongest association for a single allergen. The pooled variable of IgE to cat and/or dog epidermis had an even stronger disease association (P < .001). The presence of IgE to other allergens and the presence of two or more positive IgE tests did not enhance this association. After inclusion of three other significant covariates (elevated serum total IgE, longer duration of residence in the New York City area, and family history of atopic disease) in a logistic prediction model for asthma, skin test-detected IgE to cat and/or dog remained significantly associated with asthma (odds ratio 8.4, P = .019). A higher proportion of asthmatic patients had both IgE to cat and/or dog allergen and ongoing historical exposure to pets and/or rodents compared with controls (P < .005). Skin testing in general distinguished asthmatic patients better than serologic tests. These results suggest that inner city asthma in adults during a nonpeak pollen period is associated with hypersensitivity to specific indoor allergens. The potential to use environmental control to ameliorate disease in such patients may have significant health care implications.


The authors investigate separatrix splitting in rapidly forced systems, taking the standard map as an example. This effect is exponentially small and rather subtle to compute precisely. In order to do so, they use a technique that has been developed for analysing asymptotics beyond all orders in moving interface problems. They obtain an asymptotic result of Lazutkin et. al. (1989) for the separatrices crossing angle. In addition, using Borel summation, the numerical prefactor of the exponentially small term is related to the asymptotic behaviour of the coefficients of a standard asymptotic expansion.


Oximes are well known as acetylcholinesterase reactivators and are used in organophosphorus poisoning to reactivate inhibited acetylcholinesterase. Therapeutically available oximes, namely, pralidoxime (2-PAM), obidoxime, trimedoxime and Hagedorn oxime (HI-6), have no broad-spectrum activity against structurally different kinds of organophosphorus anticholinesterases. The widely used oxime, 2-PAM, is least effective. The focus of the review is to find an oxime that is broad spectrum and superior to the presently available oximes for the treatment of organophosphorus poisoning. Numerous oxime-based reactivators have been synthesized - in laboratories in Croatia, United States of America, Israel and most recently in Czech Republic. Some experimental oximes synthesized in Czech Republic and named as K-series of oximes have been found promising. Among them, K-27 and K-48 have higher or comparable efficacy to all available oximes though it is not effective against all organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents. They are also efficacious in pretreatment protocol for OP anticholinesterases. K-27 oxime is a promising candidate to replace therapeutically available oximes with respect to insecticide/pesticide organophosphorus poisoning. K27 and K48 may be candidates to replace the only approved pretreatment drug, pyridostigmine, in military combat medicine for OP nerve agent.


It is widely accepted that the video frame size process is long range dependent (LRD), which has been indicated by a number of statistical tests. This approach suggests the use of LRD traffic models for traffic engineering, which in many cases leads to subexponential queue tails in the network buffers. Basically, there are two concepts that are considered as the origin of LRD in video modeling: self-similarity and heavy tailed level durations. In this paper we argue for a new approach, where the frame size sequence is described by three processes representing three explicit time scales, all of them having a physical meaning. We demonstrate that this concept serves as an explanation for the outcome of the LRD tests. The properties that are attributed to long range dependence in fact seem to be the result of non-stationarity of the large time scale process. We also show that the high frequency component is short range dependent, thus questioning the presence of long range dependence in video traffic.


The addition of conductive materials or metal oxide nanoparticles to an anaerobic system is an attractive strategy to enhance anaerobic digestion. The effect of granular activated carbon (GAC) and/or manganese dioxide (MnO2) on waste activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic digestion was investigated by batch experiments. The experiments were provided in control, GAC, MnO2, and GAC/MnO2 groups, which were named R0, R1, R2, and R3, respectively. The sludge characteristics, microbial activity, and microbial community structure were systematically investigated. Results showed that CH4 yield rate was evidently increased by 68.18% and 51.35% in R1 and R3, respectively, whereas the cumulative CH4 production decreased by 21.25% in R2, compared with R0. Moreover, the fermentation process could be promoted with the addition of GAC and/or MnO2. The phosphate precipitation generated by Mn2+ and phosphate released from WAS blocked the anaerobic metabolic channel and then decreased the production of CH4 in R2. The increase in CH4 yield rate in R3 was mainly attributed to the conductivity and adsorption of GAC and the catalysis of MnO2. Additionally, the microbial activity could be promoted with the addition of GAC, MnO2, and GAC/MnO2 in anaerobic digestion. Microbial community structure analysis showed that the abundance of the Methanobacterium and Methanosaeta increased with the addition of GAC and MnO2, which could enhance the interspecies electron transfer between fermenting bacteria and methanogens and boost fermentation and CH4 production.


Antibiotic residues in goat milk were measured in two trials. In Trial 1, eight goats were treated with Curaclox LC and six goats were untreated controls. All goats were in early lactation except for one. Withdrawal periods of Curaclox LC calculated according to the Thermo-Resistant Inhibitory Substances (TRIS) test were shorter than withdrawal periods corresponding to the disappearance of the blue dye in the milk. Somatic cell counts (SCC) of treatment and control groups peaked after treatment and returned to baseline. The SCC of non-infected goats was slightly lower than those of infected goats. In Trial 2, seven goats were treated with Spectrazol and seven goats were untreated controls. All goats were in mid to late lactation. Withdrawal periods calculated according to TRIS results in Trial 2 were longer than those of Trial 1. The SCC of treatment and control group and of infected and non-infected goats remained unstable in Trial 2, due to late lactation and stress.


This research evaluated organoclays, zeolites, phosphates, and a biopolymer as sequestering agents for inorganic and organic contaminants. Batch experiments were conducted to identify amendments and mixtures of amendments for metal and organic contaminant removal and retention. Contaminant removal was evaluated by calculating partitioning coefficients. Metal retention was evaluated by desorption studies in which residue from the removal studies was extracted with 1 M MgCl2 solution. The results indicated that phosphate amendments, some organoclays, and the biopolymer, chitosan, were very effective sequestering agents for metals in fresh and salt water. Organoclays were very effective sorbents for phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo(a)pyrene. Partitioning coefficients for the organoclays were 3000–3500 L g−1 for benzo(a)pyrene, 400–450 L g−1 for pyrene, and 50–70 L g−1 for phenanthrene. Remediation of sites with a mixture of contaminants is more difficult than sites with a single contaminant because metals and organic contaminants have different fate and transport mechanisms in sediment and water. Mixtures of amendments (e.g., organoclay and rock phosphate) have high potential for remediating both organic and inorganic contaminants under a broad range of environmental conditions, and have promise as components in active caps for sediment remediation.


Detecting traveling photons is an essential primitive for many quantum-information processing tasks. We introduce a single-photon detector design operating in the microwave domain, based on a weakly nonlinear metamaterial where the nonlinearity is provided by a large number of Josephson junctions. The combination of weak nonlinearity and large spatial extent circumvents well-known obstacles limiting approaches based on a localized Kerr medium. Using numerical many-body simulations we show that the single-photon detection fidelity increases with the length of the metamaterial to approach one at experimentally realistic lengths. A remarkable feature of the detector is that the metamaterial approach allows for a large detection bandwidth. The detector is nondestructive and the photon population wavepacket is minimally disturbed by the detection. This detector design offers promising possibilities for quantum information processing, quantum optics and metrology in the microwave frequency domain.


At baseline, the participants were over-weight in the same proportion as the general population. A significant positive correlation was found between relative body weights and serum cholesterol levels. During the first four months after diet change in the First Study, there was a substantial mean weight loss by men of the open centers of about six pounds, or about 3 per cent of mean weight of 178 pounds. Invariably greatest losses were observed in men on the B diet, that of lowest caloric density. Following this loss there was a slow tendency to regain weight during the next four months of the experimental period. Thereafter to the end of the Study mean weights were relatively stable. The Faribault Center changes were smaller throughout and the general tendency was a slight gain, amounting to less than two pounds by the end of the Study. Observed weight losses during the initial months did not correspond with total food energy intakes recorded by participants. The Food Records reported a greater decrease of intake than indicated by weight loss. The discrepancy is ascribed to incomplete reporting of intake, and/or to the possibility that intake was not entirely typical during weeks Food Records were kept. A similar early discrepancy was recorded in the Second Study, except for the Z (open control) group. After the twelfth week on assigned diet, correspondence between body weights and Food Record caloric values was reasonably close. Weights were stable during the Extended Study. During the Second Study, mean body weights in the open centers were much more stable than First Study weights; losses in the Second Study after change of diet were small.


Purpose

This paper aims to examine a cluster-based strategy implemented in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia under the 2007-2013 "Regional Competitiveness and Employment" programme. Departing from traditional discretionary approaches, a substantial share of the funds was now allocated on a competitive basis. The authors analyse the resulting distribution of funds across stakeholders and sub-regions and try to assess the pros and cons of this process, which constitutes a novel delivery system for cluster policies.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a literature review, the paper applies two sets of regression models to explain the distribution of funds under the new policy delivery system. Interviews with stakeholders provide evidence on the efficacy and efficiency of the competitive funding process.

Findings

The changes introduced in the 2007-2013 funding period benefit universities and research organisations, as well as intermediary organisations, whereas the private sector and especially small firms capture a rather small piece of the pie. Contrary to the "innovation paradox" hypothesis, structurally weak sub-regions did not lose out in state-wide funding contests. The presence of universities with an overall high volume of third-party funding is the key variable explaining the spatial distribution of funds. This interview evidence identifies the duration of the selection process and its administrative complexity as main weaknesses, which the authors attribute to bureaucratic rationality on different levels.

Originality/value

This is the first analysis of a competitive funding scheme at the sub-national level, using the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia as a case study. It sheds light on the mechanisms of funding allocation in the 2007-2013 funding period of the European Union's cohesion policy, which was reoriented towards supporting regional competitiveness and employment in response to the Lisbon Agenda. While competitive funding is still seen as mobilising regional stakeholders and improving the quality of projects and the selection process, these findings highlight administrative complexity as a main deficiency, which has partly been addressed in the 2014-2020 funding period.


This collective paper incorporates eleven position papers on implications of the "Knowledge Map of Information Science," a Critical Delphi study conducted in 2003-2005 and published as a series of four articles (ZINS, 2007 a, b, c, d). The Delphi study captured the deliberations of 57 leading information science scholars from 16 countries to provide (1) definitions of the fundamental concepts of data, information knowledge and message, (2) alternative conceptions of the broad information science domain, (3) different classificatory mappings of the field, and (4) comprehensive mappings of information science. Overall, the Knowledge Map provides an early 21st century snapshot of the field that should help guide future research, educational programming, publishing, and other professional and scholarly thrusts. Future information science mapping research should be done periodically, including additional Delphi studies and assessments of the degree of the field's expansion and probable division into sub-fields. Alternative methodologies for mapping the expanding information science universe and its synergies with other fields of knowledge should also be explored.


Globally, there is no lack of security threats. Many of them demand priority engagement and there can never be adequate resources to address all threats. In this context, climate is just another aspect of global security and the Arctic just another region. In light of physical and budgetary constraints, new security needs must be integrated and prioritized with existing ones. This discussion approaches the security impacts of climate from that perspective, starting with the broad security picture and establishing how climate may affect it. This method provides a different view from one that starts with climate and projects it, in isolation, as the source of a hypothetical security burden. That said, the Arctic does appear to present high-priority security challenges. Uncertainty in the timing of an ice-free Arctic affects how quickly it will become a security priority. Uncertainty in the emergent extreme and variable weather conditions will determine the difficulty (cost) of maintaining adequate security (order) in the area. The resolution of sovereignty boundaries affects the ability to enforce security measures, and the U.S. will most probably need a military presence to back-up negotiated sovereignty agreements. Without additional global warming, technology already allows the Arctic to become a strategic linkmore » in the global supply chain, possibly with northern Russia as its main hub. Additionally, the multinational corporations reaping the economic bounty may affect security tensions more than nation-states themselves. Countries will depend ever more heavily on the global supply chains. China has particular needs to protect its trade flows. In matters of security, nation-state and multinational-corporate interests will become heavily intertwined.« less


The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the pedometer when walking, skipping, galloping, sliding, and hopping. One hundred-two college students were fitted with a pedometer (Walk4Life LS-7010) at mid-thigh on the right and left of the hip. Participants then performed the randomly assigned movements for the length (26 m) of a hardwood court playing surface, during which time the investigator tallied the steps with a hand counter. Each step with the lead foot elicited a tally on the counter. Participants were instructed to perform the movement at a brisk pace, to jump-stop at the end of the court, and to remain still until after the pedometer reading was recorded. Repeated measure ANOVAs using the Bonferroni technique were used to compare differences between pedometer counts and hand counts. Significant differences were evident between the hand tally counts and readings from the right and left pedometers during all five locomotor movements (P < .01). Mean error was lowest between the hand tally and the average of the right and left pedometers while walking (−1.35 ± 1.60) and hopping (−2.94 ± 2.33), and increased while sliding (−6.42 ± 4.78), galloping (−8.22 ± 4.63), and skipping (−8.30 ± 4.45). Results indicate the pedometer may not consistently register the vertical force produced by the trail foot contact, the lead foot contact, or a combination of the two while skipping, galloping, and sliding. Though the pedometer is a valid instrument when estimating physical activity levels, caution is urged when interpreting movements other than walking.


A thesis submitted to the College of art, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduate Diploma in Art Education, 1990


Interactions between combinatorics and statistical mechanics have provided many fruitful insights in both fields. A compelling example is Kuperberg's solution to the alternating sign matrix conjecture, and its following generalisations. In this thesis we investigate two models from statistical mechanics which have received attention in recent years. The first is the fully packed loop model. A conjecture from 2001 by Razumov and Stroganov opened the field for a large ongoing investigation of the O(1) loop model and its connections to a refinement of the fully packed loop model. We apply a combinatorial bijection originally found by de Gier to an older conjecture made by Propp. The second model is the hard particle model. Recent discoveries by Fendley et al. and results by Jonsson suggests that the hard square model with cylindrical boundary conditions possess some beautiful combinatorial properties. We apply both topological and purely combinatorial methods to related independence complexes to try and gain a better understanding of this model.


Public, Global, and One Health are individual approaches to health that partly influence each other and all are becoming increasingly important in medical education. ''Public Health'' is an approach to protect and improve health of a population. Nevertheless, most health threats are transcended national boarders, so the "Global Health" approach is becoming increasingly relevant. The holistic approach "One Health" goes even further: in addition to human health, animal health and the environment must also be considered. All these approaches are influenced by globalization, the increasing immigration and the occurrence of pandemics. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of higher education institutes to integrate health approaches in their curriculum to train future physicians to meet the demands of their patients and the population. This review reflects the current situation of the mentioned approaches in medical education in different countries from which data are available. The research shows that there exists a wide range of Public Health programms, but they are rarely assessed and only a small number of degrees programes is offered for physicians. In contrast to this, Global Health activities during medical education are more reported, and the main providers for Global Health education are medical schools. The necessity to implement One Health topics in medical curriculum is seen by many organizations, but there are just a few publications about the implementation in medical education available. The main issue in educating health approaches is a missing standard; the dissent of competences, which are relevant to future practical use; the curriculums are oversaturated; and a lack of expertise to the topics. For the future there is a need to implement health approaches into the core curriculum of medical education. Therefore, it is a possibility to integrate the subjects into existing activities and to use didactic concepts, such as clinical rotation, problem-based learning, or case-based learning. In addition, interprofessional work and partnerships between medical and Public Health communities must be improved. Public, Global, and One Health education requires a structured and comprehensive curriculum that ensures adequate training of medical students in an increasingly globalized world and diversified patient population.


In Colombia, biological control of pests in greenhouse crops is only applied on a very limited scale in ornamentals and as yet non-existent in greenhouse vegetables. Greenhouse production of vegetables - mostly tomatoes- is a recent development, as a result of the high losses of field production due to pests and diseases. Pest spectra in those production systems vary greatly with altitude, being much broader in the intermediate climate zones (altitude 1800-2000) than in the cold climate zones such as the Bogota Plateau (altitude 2660 m). The most important pest in greenhouses situated on the Bogota Plateau is the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum . In greenhouses where experimentally no pesticides are applied, aphid and leafminer pests are controlled beneath economic damage thresholds by naturally occurring parasitoids, with the exception of greenhouse whitefly. Therefore, with a biological control system for T vaporariorum , tomato production without insecticides should be possible. In this thesis I evaluate two natural enemies for the biological control of T vaporariorum : the introduced parasitoid Encarsia formosa and the native parasitoid Amitus fuscipenni s.


This paper contains an account of various experiments associated with the propagation of a pressure pulse up a vertical column of liquid. When such a pulse reaches the upper free surface of the liquid it is reflected downwards as a pulse of tension. This method therefore provides a means of subjecting the liquid to tension under dynamic conditions of stressing. If the value of the tension at any depth exceeds a certain critical value the liquid will cavitate. Values of this critical tension T were measured for liquids of varying viscosities η and it was found that the empirical relation T=kη0.1 holds. Secondly, pulse propagation across the interface between two immiscible liquids was studied, and it was found that the maximum tension which could be sustained by an interface separating silicone oil and water is less than the tension which produces cavitation in either of these two liquids. Thirdly, it has been found that the cavitation produced shows several cycles of growth and collapse, a phenomenon which has been observed photographically by previous workers.


The transnational paradigm is now a dominant approach in migration studies. This approach is rooted in the belief that the dense mobility of migrants has created social fields that differ significantly from the sedentary societies bounded by state borders. From the 1980s, transnational practices of migrants have been perceived as challenging integration dynamics and boundary construction. The analysis of development projects carried out by Moroccan migrants for the benefit of their home villages tells a very different story. This case study exemplifies the fact that transnationalism is rooted in migrant/non-migrant relationships. Moroccan transnational development networks are shaped not only by the expectations of the home villages but also by the co-funding policies implemented by different stakeholders. The case of the French co-development policy is examined here.


Despite widespread clinical use in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, the impact of sulfonylurea therapy on cardiovascular outcomes remains uncertain. Studies of naturally occurring genetic variation can be used to anticipate the expected clinical consequences of a pharmacological therapy. A common missense variant in the gene encoding a component of the sulfonylurea receptor (ABCC8 p.A1369S) promotes closure of the target channel of sulfonylurea therapy and is associated with increased insulin secretion, thus mimicking the effects of sulfonylurea therapy. Using individual-level data from 120,286 participants in the UK Biobank and summary association results from four large-scale genome-wide association studies, we examined the impact of this variant on cardiometabolic traits, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease. The p.A1369S variant was associated with a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 0.93; 95% CI 0.91, 0.95; P = 1.2 × 10−11). The variant was associated with increased BMI (+0.062 kg/m2; 95% CI 0.037, 0.086; P = 8.1 × 10−7) but lower waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI, a marker of abdominal fat distribution. Furthermore, p.A1369S was associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.96, 0.99; P = 5.9 × 10−4). These results suggest that, despite a known association with increased weight, long-term sulfonylurea therapy may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.


Our purpose on the present paper was to verify the reproducibility, the variability and the reliability of the analysis of the dental age (DA) and to assess its relationship with the chronological age (CA). Fifty-three panoramic radiographs from 32 female and 21 male Brazilian children, with ages ranging between 120 and 131 months were submitted to the assessment of their DA according to the general14 and the sex-adjusted15 Standards for the Chronology of Dental Mineralization by four examiners. A high intra-observer and inter-observer reproducibility was found for both sexes. The DA obtained with the general standard was lower than the CA for male and female individuals. With the sex-adjusted standard, we observed that the female individuals tend to have the DA lower than the CA. However, when the values for the CA were subtracted from the values for the DA obtained with the adjusted table, only 13.09% of male individuals and 7.03% of female individuals had the DA out of the acceptable limit of ±12 months. When the CA values were subtracted from the DA values obtained with the general standard, 4.76% of male individuals and 12.5% of female individuals were above or below the acceptable limit of ±12 months. Although the results for the differences between the DA and the CA of some examiners were statistically significant, these differences are clinically irrelevant. The dentists do not need previous experience with the method, since it is based on comparisons of the radiographic images of the teeth with standards of mineralization stages. Based on the results, we concluded that the method is highly reproducible both for the comparisons of the results of one examiner and for the comparison of the results of a group of examiners. As expected, it is applicable to the Brazilian population. The Dental Professionals do not need previous experience with the method, since it is based on the comparison of the radiographic images of the teeth with the stages of dental mineralization.


Background: FNAC is a cytodiagnostic method based on the morphological findings of individual cells, group of cells, and microparticles of tissue, acquired using a needle. The role of FNAC for the diagnosis of salivary gland masses is well documented. The traditional open biopsy is no longer justified because of the risk of tumor spillage and damage to the facial nerve.Subjects and Methods:FNAC procedure was explained to the patient and patient was placed in a comfortable position. They were then subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology. Aspirations were carried out with 21 or 22 gauge needles of varying lengths with 10 ml syringes in a syringe holder after careful clinical examination of the lesion.Results:Chronic sialadenitis was the most common non-neoplastic lesion (13.2%) followed by cystic lesions (5.3%), acute on chronic sialadenitis (3.9%) and chronic granulomatous inflammation (2.6%). Pleomorphic adenoma (57.9%) was the most common benign neoplasm. Warthin'stumour accounted for (6.6%). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common malignant lesion (5.3%) followed by acinic cell carcinoma (1.3%), carcinoma-ex pleomorphic adenoma (1.3%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (2.6%).Conclusion: Fine needle aspiration cytology of the salivary gland is a safe and reliable technique in the primary diagnosis of salivary gland lesions. Although, limitations are encountered while predicting specific lesions on cytology, especially when dealing with cystic and some malignant lesions.


Volatility of a codon is defined as the probability that a random point mutation in the codon generates a nonsynonymous change. It has been proposed that higher-than-expected mean codon volatility of a gene indicates that positive selection for nonsynonymous changes has acted on the gene in the recent past. I show that strong frequency-dependent selection (minority advantage) in large populations can increase codon volatility slightly, whereas directional positive selection has no effect on volatility. Factors unrelated to positive selection, such as expression-related or GC-content-related codon usage bias, also affect volatility. These and other considerations suggest that codon volatility has only limited utility for detecting positive selection at the DNA sequence level.


The V&A Digital Design Weekend brings together artists, designers, engineers and scientists, celebrating the intersections of art, design and technology. The family friendly programme includes installations, workshops and performances, exploring civic design, sustainability and collaborative making.
http://www.londondesignfestival.com/events/digital-design-weekend-0


This article reports on the implementation of online project-based language learning in a non-formal educational context. Project-based learning may enable additional out-of-class language practice and digital technologies can support this activity, but little is known about whether learners will participate. Twenty-one tertiary learners from across Indonesia used multiple Web 2.0 tools to collaboratively create English learning materials for children as a project over the course of four weeks. Online data, learners' reflections, and interviews were analysed using content analysis. The study explores participation levels among learners and their teacher. Findings suggest that while learners' participation varied considerably, the teacher's participation was consistently the highest in all platforms except Google Docs. Learners had different attitudes towards their own and their peers' contribution, but generally valued the teacher's participation.


Promoting economic growth and poverty reduction have become important in national and international policy framework; however in low-income countries, corruption threatens the global fight against poverty. Therefore, there is a strong correlation between economic performance and a country's ranking on the corruption indices, however, no causality between poverty and corruption can be derived from this correlation.
Since most of the studies which have investigated the link between corruption and poverty may draw conclusions on causality in the form of models that only show correlation, this study is set out to investigate the Granger causal relationship between corruption and poverty as the first objective. It uses dynamic panel system GMM estimators, focuses on capability poverty using human poverty index (HPI) and is based on a sample of 97 countries during 1997-2006. The empirical findings reveal that corruption and poverty go together, with bidirectional causality.
Although ASEAN has recorded good economic growth, corruption and poverty are high in the region. This may lead to some doubt as to whether ASEAN countries are outlier. The second objective of this study is to investigate the effects of corruption on long run growth for ASEAN countries and compare it with the other developing countries during 1997-2006 using GMM estimators. The estimated growth equation used in this study is the growth equation popularized by Barro (1991). The basic model is modified to include corruption but as the robustness check in other specifications, additional variables are included. The results of linear growth equation show that corruption increases economic growth both in ASEAN and developing countries and support the idea that in economies with low level of governance, corruption is beneficial for economic growth. Additionally, the empirical evidence reveals a non linear relationship between corruption and growth with the results indicating corruption increases economic growth at low incidence levels of and hampers it at higher level. The results of non linear growth equation also confirm that in economies with low level of governance, small amount of corruption increases growth.
This study also traces the transmission channels including investment in physical capital and human capital. While the results of the linear physical capital equation indicate that corruption increases growth through its positive effect on investment in physical capital, the results of nonlinear equation show that the relationship between investment in physical capital and corruption is justified by an inverted U shape function. The results of human capital equation also suggest that corruption hampers growth through its adverse effects on the human capital stock. Overall, the total positive effect of corruption on growth is verified in low level of incidence and low level of governance for ASEAN countries as well as developing countries.
Finally the third objective is to study the effects of corruption on poverty for the same countries and in the same time period. The empirical results indicate that in addition to the direct effects of corruption on poverty, it has an indirect effect through economic growth. While economic growth adversely affects poverty, the increased growth that is due to increased corruption is not pro poor and increases poverty.


This paper introduces an adaptive calibration structure for the blind calibration of frequency response mismatches in a two-channel time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (TI-ADC). By representing frequency response mismatches as polynomials, we can exploit slight oversampling to estimate the coefficients of the polynomials by using the filtered-X least-mean square (FxLMS) algorithm. Utilizing the coefficients in an adaptive structure, we can compensate frequency response mismatches including time offset and bandwidth mismatches. We develop an analytical framework for the calibration structure and analyze its performance. We show the efficiency of the calibration structure by simulations, where we include examples from the literature.


Aim Severe early-onset (SEO) pre-eclampsia (PE) is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity in the UK and at present there is not a reliable clinical tool to predict the disease's onset. Hypertension (essential in the diagnosis of PE) has been associated with dysregulation of numerous plasma proteins, both in pregnant and non-pregnant studies. The aim of this work is to identify whether the angiotensinogen to kallikrein ratio is altered in the first trimester of pregnancies that go on to develop pre-eclampsia. Method We analysed first trimester plasma samples obtained from a phenotypically matched cohort of women who went on to develop SEOPE (n = 30) and compared them to those who did not (n = 30) with angiotensinogen and kallikrein concentrations obtained through label-free mass spectrometry (HPLC-MSE). Results There was no significant difference between the demographics of the two groups. All women in the PE group had abnormal Uterine artery waveform Doppler at 24 weeks, whereas the "normal" group did not. Angiotensinogen was up-regulated (p < 0.001) and Kallikrein was down-regulated (p < 0.002) in first trimester PE samples with a correlation (r) of –0.55 (–0.71 to –0.34). Conclusion Angiotensinogen: Kallikrein is significantly altered in women who develop severe early-onset pre-eclampsia and may play a role in a future clinical for the condition.


Increasing of rice production is one of a highlight program in South Korea. In order to support this, enough water supply for paddy field is one of determined main factors to maintain good plant growth and high yield. Water from the rainfall is usually not enough for paddy field, so it must be supplied from irrigation system. The water source for irrigation can be derived from surface water and or ground water which is usually located in long distance, consequently it needs irrigation facilities to deliver water until reach paddy field area. Therefore government, and, or farmer need to manage irrigation to fulfill paddy field water requirement and they have been doing it. By working hard and holding strong commitment, South Korea has been reaching rice self sufficiency average 98,9% since 1970s for 38 years period. Average rice yield was 5.20 ton per ha in 2008 and this indicates as the highest level of rice yield in the world as well. Based on this reality, it needs to be studied the role of irrigation management in increasing rice production in South Korea. It was found that irrigation management in South Korea has very important role and it has significant effect in increasing rice production. This reality was supported by increasing of safety paddy field area by year. The water potential developed and to be developed is higher than water use. Government provided K Water (Korea Water Resources Cooperation) to handle everything in relation to water problem.


Pectin cerium(IV) iodate (PcCeI) and cerium(IV) iodate (CeI) cation ion exchange materials were synthesized via sol–gel methods. The materials were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The ion exchange capacity (IEC), thermal stability, distribution coefficient (Kd), and pH titrations were investigated to recognize the cation exchange behavior of the materials. The IEC of pectin-cerium(IV) iodate (PcCeI and cerium(IV) iodate CeI were reported as 1.80 meq/g and 0.92 meq/g, respectively. The higher distribution coefficient values of 250.01 and 219.14 mg/L confirmed the selectivity of pectin-cerium(IV) iodate hybrid ion exchanger for As3+ and Zn2+. The antibacterial activity of synthesized ion exchangers was explored for E. coli bacteria and observed relatively higher for PcCeI as compared to CeI.


Glycans, which are one post-translational modification of proteins, are molecules with high structural heterogeneity which are formed by complex bonding of glucose, mannose, and other monosaccharides. It is known that their complex structure is related to regulation of protein functions, and various phenomenon can be observed depending on illness and other factors. These include abnormal glycan structures with the protein backbone and the absence of glycan bonding at sites where it is assumed that such bonding should occur. The information concerning complex glycan structures and the binding sites of glycan with the proteins is not coded directly in genes, but is created by the action of a large number of glycosyltransferases, which act in the protein biosynthesis process. Therefore, a direct analysis of the target glycoprotein is necessary in order to understand the structures and binding sites of glycans on glycoproteins. Although mass spectrometers are widely used in this type of analysis, almost all such analyses are performed with largescale, high performance instruments. This article reports a glycopeptide analysis using a Shimadzu MALDImini-1 compact MALDI-DIT mass spectrometer equipped with a digital ion trap (DIT), which is an original technology developed by our company.


The behavior of Cross-linked Polymers in finite deformations is often characterized by nonlinear behaviour. In this paper, we propose to embed an artificial neural network (ANN) within a micro-mechanical platform and thus to enforce certain physical restrictions of an amorphous network such as directional dependency and history-dependency of the constitutive behavior of rubber-like materials during loading and unloading. Accordingly, a strain energy density function is assumed for a set of chains in each direction based on ANN and trained with experimental data set. Summation of the energies provided by ANNs in different directions can determine the strain energy density function of the matrix. Stress-strain relation is derived from strain energy density function. Polyconvexity is enforced to assure minimized potential energy, a global solution for an optimization problem, and thermodynamic consistency that show the model cannot generate energy. The model is validated against multiple sets of experimental data, e.g. uniaxial, shear, and biaxial deformation available in the literature. This model captures not only the loading and unloading paths but also the inelastic response of these materials, such as the Mullins effect and permanent set. The model can be generalized to other materials and other inelastic effects as well.


has to be extended. However, available data are conflicting yet—the meta-analysis of de Jonge3 shows benefit, while a Cochrane systematic review of Wetterslev et al6 does not show benefit. What to believe now? Above considerations and the strong precautions against high oxygen levels in emergency medicine lead us to our opinion that, rather than producing ubiquitous hyperoxia, perioperative oxygen therapy needs to be tailored to the individual patient's need.


In her paper, "Monénembo's L'Aîné des orphelins and the Rwandan Genocide," Lisa McNee discusses Tierno Monénembo's L'Aîné des orphelins, a novel that offers a double discourse and a dual memory of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. McNee argues that L'Aîné des orphelins presents us with an extraordinary kind of fictional testimonial to genocide. Although Monénembo is not from Rwanda and did not participate in the tragedy, only someone who has paid the price of the clarity needed to distinguish between good and bad faith could have written a novel like L'Aîné des orphelins. Monénembo's characterization of Faustin as a young man who feels guilty without reason is plausible, given what we know of victims of abuse and their reactions, or those of survivors of other humanitarian catastrophes. One can only speculate about Monénembo's own experiences as an exile. In Monénembo, McNee proposes, we have a rare example of an intellectual who accepts the burden of a certain complicity, the complicity of those who did not speak out or intervene at the time of the genocide and who does not flinch at the cost of confronting that complicity. Of course, the Rwandan genocide recalls the shadows of other genocides and the reflections that others have shared may help us to better understand the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath. Lisa McNee, "Monénembo's L'Aîné des orphelins and the Rwandan Genocide" page 2 of 8 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 6.2 (2004):


This study intends to provide information that can be used in establishing and executing strategies for hotel management by finding out the relationship between employees role conflict and stress. A questionnaire survey was conducted to verify the hypotheses and major findings are as follows: 5 factors(person role conflict, organization role conflict, role overload conflict, customer role conflict, and stress) among 35 attributes were distilled by factor analysis followed by t-test and ANOVA to test differences between factors and demographic Characteristic of age, education level, job characteristic. Organization role conflict, role overload conflict, and customer role conflict have a positive influence of significant degree on the stress. This study intends to provide information that can be used in establishing and executing strategies for hotel management by finding out the relationship between employees role conflict and stress. A questionnaire survey was conducted to verify the hypotheses and major findings are as follows: 5 factors(person role conflict, organization role conflict, role overload conflict, customer role conflict, and stress) among 35 attributes were distilled by factor analysis followed by t-test and ANOVA to test differences between factors and demographic Characteristic of age, education level, job characteristic. Organization role conflict, role overload conflict, and customer role conflict have a positive influence of significant degree on the stress.


Abstract. The analysis of biological and ecological traits has a
long history in evolutionary and ecological research. However, trait data
are often scattered and standardised terminology that transcends taxonomic
and biogeographical context are generally missing. As part of the
development of a global trait database of marine species, we collated trait
information for European seaweeds and structured the data within the
standardised framework of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). We
collected 45 175 trait records for 21 biologically and ecologically relevant
traits of seaweeds. This resulted in a trait database for 1745 European
seaweed species of which more than half (56 %) of the records were
documented at the species level, while the remaining 44 % were documented
at a higher taxonomic level and subsequently inherited at lower levels. The
trait database for European seaweeds will serve as a foundation for future
research on diversity and evolution of seaweeds and their responses to
global changes. The data will contribute to developing detailed trait-based
ecosystem models and will be an important tool to inform marine
conservation policies. The data are publicly accessible through the
AlgaeTraits portal, https://doi.org/10.14284/574 (AlgaeTraits, 2022).


Maintenance of home appliances can be tedious. Maintenance work can be physically demanding and it is not always easy to know the cause of a malfunctioning appliance. Many users need to motivate themselves to perform maintenance work and consider it ideal for home appliances to be maintenance-free. On the other hand, pets and other living creatures can be taken care of with joy and without much pain, even if they are difficult to take care of. To alleviate the hassle associated with the maintenance of home appliances, we propose an augmented reality (AR) system to superimpose an agent over the home appliance of concern who changes their behavior according to the internal state of the appliance. Taking a refrigerator as an example, we verify whether such AR agent visualization motivates users to perform maintenance work and reduces the associated discomfort. We designed a cartoon-like agent and implemented a prototype system using a HoloLens 2, which can switch between several animations depending on the internal state of the refrigerator. Using the prototype system, a Wizard of Oz user study comparing three conditions was conducted. We compared the proposed method (Animacy condition), an additional behavior method (Intelligence condition), and a text-based method as a baseline for presenting the refrigerator state. In the Intelligence condition, the agent looked at the participants from time to time as if it was aware of them and exhibited help-seeking behavior only when it was considered that they could take a short break. The results show that both the Animacy and Intelligence conditions induced animacy perception and a sense of intimacy. It was also evident that the agent visualization made the participants feel more pleasant. On the other hand, the sense of discomfort was not reduced by the agent visualization and the Intelligence condition did not improve the perceived intelligence or the sense of coercion further compared to the Animacy condition.


This paper discusses on fabrication, testing and evaluation of delamination factor of nettle fiber based composites for low duty applications. The randomly oriented nettle fibers were used to fabricate the biocomposite by conventional hand lap up technique. Epoxy and Nettle based composite plates were developed by varying fiber weight percentage from 5% to 25%. The flexural, tensile, impact, chemical resistance and water absorption rate of developed nettle fiber based biocomposite were examined for different fiber weight fractions in the randomly oriented patterns as a unique and innovative attempt. During the investigation, flexural strength and tensile strength were improved up to 20 wt% of fiber addition and then it was decreased. This resulted in a continuous rise in impact strength with an enhancement in fiber wt. %. The influence of fiber weight percentage on water absorption and chemical resistance of fabricated composite was examined in different environments. The result showed that the nettle fibers can be used as an essential reinforcing material to design and fabricate mechanical and structural members for low duty application. The chemical behavior of nettle based composite was studied by the FTIR spectroscopy method and the presence of chemical functional group was confirmed. The drilling behavior of developed nettle/SiC/epoxy hybrid composites was evaluated by consider cutting process parameters like feed rate (0.125, 0.212 and 0.3 mm/rev), spindle speed (400, 600, 800 rev/min) and drill diameter (4, 6, 8 mm). Analysis of variance was used in designing experiments for the current investigation. Feed rate was found to be a very impressive factor in influencing the delamination factor.


Recently, it was demonstrated under laboratory conditions that increased doses of LaSota vaccine increased ND antibody response significantly in chickens. In this study, we have used the same model to investigate whether vaccination with increased doses of lentogenic LaSota strain of Newcastle disease virus are associated with pathological changes in chickens. Four-week-old broiler chickens (n=100) were randomly assigned into four groups of 25 each: ZD, each drenched with phosphate-buffered saline, SD, DD and TD broilers were each drenched with single, double and triple dose of LaSota vaccine, respectively. The chickens were observed for clinical signs and lesions. Serum samples were collected from the chickens in all the groups at weekly intervals post inoculation (PV) and assayed for haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies. The vaccinated broilers showed no morbidity and mortality. Only the bursa of all the vaccinated groups appeared slightly reduced in size on day 10 PV. The histopathological changes were lymphoid hyperplasia and formation of germinal centres in the spleen and caecal tonsils from days 3 to 6 PV and mild depletion of bursal lymphocytes on day 10 PV. Generally, the integrity of the lymphoid organs was intact. Groups DD and TD antibody titres were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the SD on day 21 PV. This suggests that increased doses of LaSota vaccine does not cause pathologic impairment and may be considered in improving the performance of the vaccine in the control of velogenic ND.


The influence of severe plastic deformation on hypoeutectic silumin is studied. A positive effect of equal-channel angular pressing with back pressure on the mechanical properties of the AL9 alloy of the Al-Si-Mn-Fe system has been found experimentally. The evolution of the microstructure in the process of deformation is estimated. The effect of short-term intermediate anneals on the microstructure, mechanical properties and ultimate plasticity of the alloy is studied. As a result of additional annealing, significant microstructural changes do not succeed, but the coagulation of excess phases proceeds very intensively, which causes a 20 % increase in strength after the second deformation cycle. Fractographic studies demonstrate the presence of coagulated particles on the samples deformed with the use of short-term intermediate anneals. Limiting plasticity also rises to 0.2 as compared to 0.12 for the samples treated with only ECAP-BP.


In this paper, we prove some common fixed point theorems for co-cyclic weak contractions in compact metric spaces. Keywords—Cyclic weak contraction, Co-cyclic weak contraction, Co-cyclic representation, Common fixed point.


Digital aerial photogrammetric cameras are taking over with a vengeance. While by the end of 2002, there were only 6 such cameras in use globally, this increased to 16 in 2003, to 50 in 2004 and may exceed 100 in 2005. By the end of 2006, more photogrammetric coverage might be produced digitally than via film. Given this rapid change in aerial imaging, what are the benefits that drive these changes? We describe in this contribution a series of noteworthy benefits that partly are applicable to all digital camera systems, and partly are specific to the Vexcel UltraCam system. They range from superior image detail via superior geometric accuracy and robustness of the image-based information, to workflow and efficiency advantages over the traditional film-based softcopy approach to photogrammetry.


Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two strategies to prevent the appearance of intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) in patients exposed to α-blockers. Methods: We compared retrospectively the presence and severity of the appearance of IFIS in 29 patients subjected to cataract surgery, establishing two groups of 12 patients (22 eyes) and 17 patients (33 eyes). The strategy applied to group one consisted of suspending the exposure to α-blockers for at least one week prior to the intervention, the topical application of 1% atropine three times a day for two days before the intervention and the use of intracameral lidocaine. The strategy for group two consisted of suspending use of the drug for at least one week before the intervention and the intracameral application at the beginning of surgery of a solution of physiological serum, adrenaline and lidocaine. Results: Six patients from group one showed no evidence of IFIS, 2 exhibited bilateral mild symptoms, 2 bilateral moderate and 2 unilateral


The sport-for-development movement has grown exponentially in the last decade generating increasing academic attention. However, existing research has rarely sought the views of young people despite them being both the main target audience of initiatives and frequently the deliverers. This paper seeks to address young people's absence within research and advocate the importance of engaging them in sport-for-development debates to enhance understanding of current delivery and to improve policy and practice in the future. The paper examines Zambian young people's views of HIV/AIDS peer-led education delivered through sport considering particularly whether young people believe such interventions can encourage empowerment and subsequent behaviour change. The paper outlines the importance of improving understanding of how young people can begin to translate knowledge into agency. The paper concludes with the suggestion that change is more likely if peer-led education through sport programmes are combined with multi-layered interventions directed at all levels of communities.


2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) is produced by reaction of phenylacetaldehyde, the Strecker aldehyde of phenylalanine, with creati(ni)ne in the presence of formaldehyde and ammonia, which are formed in situ. Traditionally, the carbonyl compounds required for the formation of the PhIP ring were considered to be produced as a consequence of Maillard reaction between phenylalanine and carbohydrates. This review collects all recent evidence suggesting that lipids can also contribute to the Strecker degradation of phenylalanine and the formation of formaldehyde analogously to carbohydrates. Furthermore, lipid-derived reactive carbonyls not only contribute to PhIP formation but they can also be involved in PhIP fate observed in the presence of oxidized oils. This role has not been yet investigated for carbohydrate-derived reactive carbonyls but it might be hypothesised to take place because of the decrease of PhIP observed when an excess of monosaccharides is employed to study PhIP formation. All these results suggest that carbohydrates and lipids can contribute simultaneously to PhIP formation and fate. This is another example of the simultaneous contribution of both lipids and carbohydrates to the carbonyl chemistry that takes place in foods upon processing and/or storage. Furthermore, many of these conclusions can also be extended to the formation of other aminoimidazoazarenes with an imidazopyridine structure.


Automatic parallelization of a sequential code is about finding parallel segments in the code and executing these segments parallely by sending them to different computers in a grid. Basically, parallel segments in the code can be found by doing block level analysis, instruction level analysis or function level analysis. Block is any continuous part of the code that performs a particular task. This paper talks about a hybrid approach that combines the block level analysis with functional level analysis for parallelization of sequential code and its illustrates its advantages over block level parallelization and function level parallelization performed independently. In this approach, segments of code are identified as basic blocks. These blocks are analyzed to identify them as parallelizable or dependent. Loops which are also identified as blocks are parallelized using existing loop parallelization techniques. This information would be used for automatic parallel processing of the set of independent blocks on different nodes in the grid using message passing interface (MPI). The system will annotate the MPI library functions to the program at appropriate positions in the source code to proceed with the automatic parallelization and execution of the program


In this work, the performance of a Double-Gated Silicon on Insulator (DG-SOI) Dielectrically Modulated Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (DMTFET) architecture is systematically investigated for label-free bio-sensing applications with the help of extensive device-level simulations. In this context, the effects of bulk oxide (BOX) substrate and back-gate biasing are emphasized and analyzed from the cavity and channel electrostatics and Band to Band Tunneling (BTBT) component of DMTFET. It is found that the electrostatic coupling between BOX substrate and channel significantly degrades the sensing performance of DG-SOI DMTFETs, whereas an applied negative back-gate bias enhances the performance of such transducer. In this line, a dual metal (DM) gate architecture is introduced that can effectively enhance the influence of applied back-gate bias and thereby leads to sensitivity improvement from 10% to 110% in DM DG-SOI DMTFET depending on bio-molecule sample specifications. Furthermore, it is observed that for suitable applied back-gate bias, the interface trap-state induced variations in sensitivity of DG-SOI DMTFETs can be reduced by even an order of magnitude. Finally, a comparative sensing performance study of proposed DMTFET with their reported counterparts establishes the advantage of such biosensors for bio-molecules with smaller dielectric constant. A similar study also shows the superiority of the proposed DMTFET over its MOSFET counterpart for wide bio-molecular sample specifications.


The article is about the method of a value of harmful impact to a soil of all-wheel drive vehicle considering the basic destroying factors deformation and shift of a ground. The authors make analysis of the basic design features of the vehicle influencing formation of a track.


PEFP(Proton Engineering Frontier Project) in Korean proton linear accelerator program has a diagnostic system with current transformers and beam position monitors. Prototype of current transformer (CT) and beam position monitor(BPPM) were made and tested successfully in tools of the beam diagnostic systems. We are preparing to monitor remotely signals from the diagnostic system. Remote monitoring system is based on VME system with EPICS environments. For fast digitizing the analog signals VME ADC Input Output Board (3301) are used to meet the various needs of beam diagnosis device. EPICS channel access and drivers have been programmed in VME CPU to operate the Input output controller(IOC) and interface operators.


Guash and Nattel argue that a 'safety threshold' exists for endurance training, above which the risk of developing pathological cardiovascular conditions increases (Guash & Nattel, 2013). We make five points in rebuttal:

Epidemiological data in more than 50,000 Swedes who completed a 90 km cross-country ski race showed a 52% decrease in overall mortality and a 57% reduction in cardiovascular mortality (Farahmand et al. 2003). More protection was seen in individuals who completed more than one race suggesting that exercise-related cardiovascular benefits extend to extreme endurance exercisers. The uniformity of the Swedish medical care and records system makes these data convincing.

Intense endurance exercise is associated with increased risk of arrhythmias especially atrial fibrillation (AF), but the Swedish cohort suggests this risk is more modest than previously suspected (Andersen et al. 2013). Importantly, malignant ventricular arrhythmias were low in the skiers. Additionally, lone AF has limited health implications and veteran athletes with arrhythmias still have higher heart rate variability which is protective (Jensen-Urstad et al. 1998).

It is unknown if extreme endurance exercise evokes increased coronary calcification. It is known that high cardiorespiratory fitness modulates the increased risk of coronary calcification (LaMonte et al. 2006). Additionally, the coronary vessels of ultramarathon runners are larger than those of controls and vasodilate more (Haskell et al. 1993).

Reports on small numbers of master athletes demonstrating 'cardiac fibrosis' are countered by studies showing enhanced contractile responses (Seals et al. 1994). There is far too little data on this topic to make meaningful conclusions based on observations reported in small numbers of subjects.

Caution is needed when extrapolating provocative data from animal studies to humans. Use of aversive stimulation (tail shock) in rats running at ∼90% of maximum heart rate for 1 h day-1, 5 days week-1 over 16 weeks, is equivalent to the same loads over ∼10 years when translated to humans (Ruiz et al. 2011). Such continuous intense exercise is unrealistic for most humans, including cyclists participating in the Tour de France, where mean cycling time spent at 'rat intensities' is below 1 h day-1 (Lucia et al. 2003). Participation in the Tour is in fact associated with increased lifespan (Sanchis-Gomar et al. 2011). Likewise, professional endurance athletes usually live longer and have lower cardiac risk that non-athletes, which is not consistent with the view that intense exercise above a 'safety threshold leads' to chronic cardiac damage that limits the longevity benefits of exercise.


The Ecosystem approach to health, or Ecohealth is a useful tool to address health and environmental issues in developing countries, particularly in South East Asia (SEA), where agricultural intensification processes have profound implications for ecosystems and health. The Field Building Leadership Initiative (FBLI) Advancing Ecohealth in SEA program aims to build the field of Ecohealth by integrating research, training, policy and networking to focus on solving human health problems associated with agricultural intensification in SEA countries. This paper aims at updating the one-year journey of the program from October 2011 until October 2012 and providing insights into the plan for the coming years. A number of activities of the project's research component, capacity building, and knowledge translation have been completed in line with the proposal. Outcomes and outputs of the one-year implementation are also presented.