Chlamydia pneumonia IgG antibody prevalence was examined in a representative sample (2342 subjects) of the population aged 25-59 years in south-western and eastern Finland in 1982 and 1987. Microimmunofluorescence was used to measure IgG antibodies. Prevalence of C. pneumoniae was modelled using the GLIM statistical package assuming that the prevalence had a binomial distribution. The prevalence was assumed to be a function of the year, subjects' gender, age and place of residence. The effect of the year on the prevalence was significant in both regions (P < 0.05 in the south-west and P < 0.001 in the east). In each year the prevalence was higher in the south-west than in the east and it increased between 1982 and 1987 from 55% to 63% in the south-west and from 41% to 59% in the east. The prevalence increased with age, but the age-related antibody pattern was different between sexes. The highest prevalence was found in men aged 49-59 years. The different increase in prevalence with age in the south-western and the eastern parts of the country indicates that the outbreaks of infection were not related. The endemic level of C. pneumoniae infection in the south-west is consistently higher than in the east, or there was an outbreak of C. pneumoniae infection in both the years we examined. Thus it is more likely that the high prevalence in south-western Finland was connected more with the epidemics reported elsewhere in Scandinavia in the same years than with the occurrence of C. pneumoniae infection in eastern Finland.


From its source in sleepy Gloucestershire, the Thames runs nearly 180 miles - past the spires of Oxford, Royal Windsor and eventually on to the bustle of London. Thanks to its recently renovated towpath, the Thames has become the only major British river that can be walked from its source to its estuary - the Thames Barrier. The path is one of the busiest trails in the country. The pubs (all within a few hundred yards of the river) cover a wide range from Cotswold stone country inns and thatched riverside taverns to the traditional establishments in the City and East End of London. In addition to providing a lively social history of the river and its inns, Pubs of the River Thames is a practical guide for the day-tripper and tourist alike, offering tips and details on all the pubs featured (travel, opening hours, food and beer selections and other facilities).


There are large differences in labor force participation rates by health status. We examine to what extent these differences are determined by the provisions of Disability Insurance and other pension programs. Using administrative data for Denmark we find that those in worse health and with less schooling are more likely to receive DI. The gradient of DI participation across health quintiles is almost twice as steep as for schooling - moving from having no high school diploma to college completion. Using an option value model that accounts for different pathways to retirement, applied to a period spanning a major pension reform, we find that pension program incentives in general are important determinants of retirement age. Individuals in poor health and with low schooling are significantly more responsive to economic incentives than those who are in better health and with more schooling. Similar gradients in outcomes and behavior by health and schooling partially reflects the less educated having poorer health on average, but also that the less educated have worse job prospects and higher replacement rates due to a progressive formula for DI and other pension benefits.


We aimed to assess if tobacco smoke, as measured by the serum concentration of cotinine and blood concentration of cadmium, influences the fetal, sac, and trophoblast volume in the first trimester of pregnancy. We enrolled women in weeks 11 to 14 of pregnancy: 35 smokers, 24 passive smokers, and 98 nonsmoking healthy women. We found that the fetus volume was similar in all groups (18.70 ± 6.29, 17.11 ± 5.4, 18.97 ± 7.55 cm3). The trophoblast was significantly smallest in smokers (50.27 ± 19.56, 56.71 ± 23.50, 61.95 ± 22.94 cm3). The trophoblast volume was correlated with cotinine and cadmium concentration (r = −0.54, r = −0.44). In passive smokers, gestational sac and trophoblast volume grew systematically and were correlated with the mean parental height. In smokers, only the gestational sac grew systematically and was correlated with the mean parental height. The fetus volume was independent of mean parental height and intensity of exposure to tobacco smoke. Volumetric changes of the fetus, trophoblast, and sac may be observed in the first trimester; however, their consequences require further research.


Background: Chest wall tumours are relatively common. Most occur externally where as a visible mass it may or may not cause pain. Very few occur intrathoracically where detection is late except incidentally discovered during routine Chest x-ray investigation.
Objective: This is to report a very rare type of intrathoracic upper chest wall tumour, simulating thoracic outlet syndrome.
Patient and Method: An 18-year old Secondary school(SS3) student presented with right sided chest pain. Chest x-ray revealed intrathoracic upper chest wall mass. He was offered surgery which encompassed wide excision and chest wall reconstruction.
Result: Patient did well postoperatively but histology showed the tumour to be osteosarcoma. He received only chemotherapy but no radiotherapy due to non-availability in the country at that period in time. After a year, there was recurrence with explosive growth. Patient died from florid pulmonary metastasis 2 months later.
Conclusion: Chest wall tumours are generally considered malignant until otherwise proven. Surgery is the best form of treatment. Prognosis however, depends on the histologic type, type of surgery and the degree of sensitivity to chemoradiation.


The association between sarcopenia and kidney function remains poorly investigated. We aimed to evaluate the associations between sarcopenia status and kidney function (rapid kidney function decline and chronic kidney disease (CKD)) in middle-aged and older Chinese population. A total of 9,375 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011 were included in cross-sectional analyses. 5,864 participants with eGFRcr-cys ≥60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 at baseline were include in longitudinal analyses and were followed up in 2015. Sarcopenia status was defined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 (AWGS 2019) criteria. In cross-sectional analyses, possible sarcopenia and sarcopenia were significantly associated with increased risk of CKD. During the 4 years of follow-up, 359 (6.12%) participants experienced rapid decline in kidney function and 126 (2.15%) participants developed CKD. After multivariable adjustment of baseline eGFRcr-cys level and other risk factors, possible sarcopenia (odds ratios, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.01-2.12) and sarcopenia (odds ratios, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.05-2.12) were associated with an increased risk of primary outcome (composite of rapid decline in kidney function (annualized decline in eGFRcr-cys ≥ 5 ml/min per 1.73 m2) and progression to CKD (eGFRcr-cys< 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2)). Individuals with low muscle mass or low muscle strength alone also had increased risk of rapid decline in kidney function and progression to CKD.


The pricing for wireless networks is developed to obtain surplus from subscribers. The linearity factors, elasticity price, price factors are discussed. the new approach of wireless pricing model proposed by previous research are approached by considering the model as the nonlinear programming problem that can be solved optimally using LINGO 13.0.  The problem is considered to be nonlinear programming that can be solved using optimization tools. The solutions are expected to give some information about the connections between the acceptance factor and the price. The models attempt to maximize the total price for a connection based on QoS parameter. The maximum goal to maximum price is achieved when the provider set the increment of price change due to QoS change and amount of QoS value. The linearity parameter set up for most cases is obtained in ceiling value. Linear price factor ranges between the prescribed value especially cases when we increase the price change due to QoS change and increase the amount of QoS values.


A new support for enzyme immobilisation, an alloy of niobium ore and graphite, was tested with: invertase from baker's yeast and inulinase from Aspergillus niger. The efficiency of immobilisation was about 30% for invertase and 72% for inulinase. The maximum activities values were observed for both enzymes at: pH 4.5, 50°C and 500 g/L of sucrose. The hydrolysis of inulin (5% w/v) by the free inulinase and invertase presented specific productivity of reducing sugars lower after immobilisation, about 15 and 1.5 times, respectively; with the hydrolysis of sucrose (50% w/v) the reductions observed were of 14 and 3.5 times, respectively. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering


The MulSeMedia has been considered the great challenge of Multimedia for the next ten years. Aiming to stimulate other human sensory receptors such as mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors and thermoceptors, the MulSeMedia increases the degree of immersion of users as well as improves the Quality of Experience and is standardized by MPEG-V. It is currently possible to identify a gap in the definition of processes, methods and tools to support the systematic development of multimedia /multisensory applications in accordance with the MPEG-V standard. The main objective of this work is to propose a Model-driven approach to integrate media, software and sensory effects projects. In this research, the thesis is argued that MDD can increase the productivity of the development of MulSeMedia applications, in particular those with such strong integration requirement with complex programming logic.


Background

Cadmium is a well-characterized bone toxic agent and can induce bone damage via inhibiting osteogenic differentiation. However, only a few studies have addressed the mechanism on cadmium-associated bone damage and none of them has used a panel of sensitive and specific biomarkers for the detection of cadmium-associated bone damage. BMP/SAMD signaling pathway can mediate osteogenic differentiation, but the association between cadmium and BMP/SAMD signaling pathway is yet to be illuminated.
Methods

We treated human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with CdCl2 in vitro to to detect the expression of BMPs and SAMDs. And we also enrolled 67 cases of bone damage and 67 cases without bone damage. Urinary cadmium concentration and the concentrations of BMP-2 and BMP-4 of subjects were detected. Mediation analyses was used to estimate the influence of urinary cadmium and BMP-4 on bone damage, adjusting for a set of confounders.
Results

Cd exposure significantly promoted adipogenic differentiation of hBMSCs, and inhibited its' osteogenic differentiation by inhibiting the expression of BMP-2/4, SAMD4, and p-SAMD1/5/9 complex. BMP-4 mediated 22.92% (95%CI 6.37, 46.00) of the total association between cadmium and the risk of osteoporosis.
Conclusions

We found BMP-4 can be a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target of cadmium-associated bone damage.


The recent relief action carried out by the organization Cap Anamur in the Mediterranean Sea has met considerable response in the German media. It did not only result in a debate on the treatment of refugees from Africa and on the EU asylum policy but also on the situation of the refugees' region of origin. The point of departure in many media reports is to ask whether it would be better to undertake measures at the source of refugee stream, rather than to get tangled up in the issue of how the stream can be held back at Europe's gates. In other words, wouldn't it be better to combat the causes for seeking refuge rather than act against the refugees? Though it is easy to achieve consensus across the political spectrum for the idea of attacking the problem at its roots, the majority of proposals published to date do not do justice to the complexity of the matter.


Relationships were found between experimentally measured molecular radical anion abundances and calculated lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies (epsilon LUMO) for polychlorodibenzofurans and polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins. Anion abundances were measured using standard mass spectrometric techniques, while epsilon LUMO were calculated by the 'Complete Neglect of Differential Overlap' method. Polychlorodibenzofurans with calculated epsilon LUMO greater than or equal to 1.6 eV show 0% molecular radical anion and those with epsilon LUMO less than or equal to 1.4 eV show greater than or equal to 80% molecular radical anion abundance. Similarly, the molecular radical anion is absent for polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins with calculated epsilon LUMO greater than or equal to 2.0 eV. A trend towards greater molecular radical ion relative abundance appears for 2.0 eV greater than or equal to epsilon LUMO greater than or equal to 1.0 eV and a maximum is reached around 1 eV, whereupon the molecular ion abundance diminishes with lower epsilon LUMO. B/E linked scan analysis indicates that chlorodioxins with epsilon LUMO less than 1 eV give increasing amounts of metastable anions.


Although fatigue is one of the most disabling symptoms of MS, its pathogenesis is not well understood yet. This study aims to introduce a new holistic approach to measure fatigue and its influencing factors via a mobile app. Fatigue is measured with different patient-reported outcome measures (Visual Analog Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale) and tests (Symbol Digit Modalities Test). The influencing vital and environmental factors are captured with a smartwatch and phone sensors. Patients can track these factors within the app. To individually counteract their fatigue, a fatigue course, based on the current treatment guidelines, was implemented. The course implies knowledge about fatigue and MS, exercises, energy-conservation management, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, the design of the Fimo health app follows the ten strategies of the process of change, which is a proven approach to designing health intervention programs. By monitoring fatigue and individual influencing factors, patients can better understand and manage their fatigue. They can share their data and insights about fatigue and its influencing factors with their doctors. Thus, they can receive individualized therapies and drug plans.


Although Trypanosoma brucei brucei fatally infects livestock in much of sub-Saharan Africa, humans are innately resistant to infection, apparently because high-density lipoproteins (HDL) in human serum lyse this unicellular protozoan parasite. Recently, we demonstrated that purified human apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, the major protein (M(r) 28,016) constituent of HDL, had full trypanolytic activity in vitro whereas the apoA-I of cattle and sheep was non-lytic. In the present study, we have sought to confirm the trypanocidal capability of human apoA-I by studying four lines of transgenic mice expressing (supra)physiological serum levels of this polypeptide. Although trypanolysis in vitro by sera from transgenic mice (15.1 +/- 1.3% [mean +/- SEM], n = 30) was considerably less than by human sera (typically 60-80%), it was nevertheless significantly greater than by control sera (8.5 +/- 1.1%, n = 10; P < 0.001) and correlated with the concentration of human apoA-I (r = 0.56, P < 0.001). When trypanosomes were incubated at 37 degrees C with human serum or with human apoA-I for 30 min (i.e., within the pre-lytic period) they lost their ability to subsequently infect mice; trypanosomes incubated with transgenic mice serum remained infective. Furthermore, transgenic mice were fully susceptible to infection when inoculated with 10(3) trypanosomes; both the initial detection of trypanosomes in the blood (3-4 days) and the time to death (5-6 days) were no longer than control mice. This apparent paradox between the action of human apoA-I in human serum and in mouse serum was investigated further.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This letter concerns low complexity receiver design for Wiener phase-noise channels, where the variance of the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is unknown. By representing the system with a factor graph, both the variational message passing and the sum-product message passing are used to achieve efficient joint decoding, phase noise estimation, and AWGN precision (the reciprocal of AWGN variance) estimation. Compared with the state-of-the-art receiver, the proposed receiver is able to achieve the same performance with much lower complexity.


The genes encoding the 56-kDa polypeptides were amplified by polymerase chain reaction from the genomic DNAs of three serotypes of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, Gilliam, Karp, and Boryong. The amplified products were cloned into expression vector pIH821, and the recombinant antigens were expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with maltose-binding protein. The recombinant 56-kDa polypeptides were purified by affinity chromatography for the sensitization of sheep erythrocytes. The recombinant 56-kDa polypeptides were evaluated with 89 serum specimens from health blood donors, 94 serum specimens from scrub typhus patients, and 31 serum specimens from patients with other febrile diseases by a passive hemagglutination assay (PHA). Among the scrub typhus patients diagnosed by indirect immunofluorescent-antibody testing, the antibodies to R. tsutsugamushi were detected in 93 patients (99%). One serum specimen from a healthy person showed a false-positive reaction by this method. The recombinant PHA showed no cross-reactions with sera obtained from other febrile patients with diseases such as murine typhus, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, and leptospirosis. In conclusion, this recombinant PHA could be substituted for the conventional indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test and the immunoperoxidase test.


Solar thermal cooling technology is nowadays facing a very exciting challenge. Air conditioning is a constant growing energy segment, especially in sunny and emerging countries. The worldwide trend for development of Renewables must cover this critical cooling application and solar thermal energy presents a natural and strong solution to address it. However, even if reliable technologically advanced products are presently available, the solar cooling sector needs to leap from a pre‐industrial and demonstration status into a competitive mass market. The solar cooling market is made for the time being of solar cooling kits, some custom made solar desiccant evaporative cooling systems and sorption systems. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:229–234. doi: 10.1002/wene.132


Abstract A large portion of the uncertainty involved in the design of high-pressure-high- temperature oil and gas pipelines installed subsea is associated with the variability in the shear strength of soil supporting the pipeline. This study investigates variability of shear strength in the top half-meter of the seabed at three deep water sites in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 400 undrained shear strength data from minivane tests conducted on soft clay from 38 box core samples are evaluated for the presence of spatial correlation (autocorrelation) structure. Findings show a high degree of scatter and a lack of spatial correlation in both undisturbed and remolded shear strengths. Classical linear regression modelling, which is applicable in the absence of autocorrelation, is used to determine (i) the mean strength, (ii) 95% confidence intervals for the mean strength and (iii) 95% prediction intervals for a single new observation for different depths. The linear regression approach implemented may be used to identify characteristic strength profiles corresponding to different levels of confidence. This approach produces strength profiles suitable for use in typical pipe-soil interaction analysis and is easily implemented. Although not new, to the author's best knowledge, it hasn't been used for seabed soils for pipeline design.


Phishing is an online scam where criminals trick users with various strategies, with the goal of obtaining sensitive information or compromising accounts, systems, and/or other personal or organisational Information Technology resources. Multiple studies have shown that human factors influence the success of phishing attempts. However, these studies were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is significant because security reports show that the numbers of phishing attacks have been rapidly increasing since the start of COVID-19. This study investigates the extent to which users' fear, anxiety and stress levels regarding COVID-19, impact falling for common and COVID-19 themed phishing scams during the outbreak period. Prior studies have depicted the effects of human behaviour on phishing attacks before the pandemic, such as risk-taking preferences and users' demographic factors, hence this study also focuses on the effects of those factors on the likelihood of phishing victimisation. More concretely, we present the results of a scenario-based roleplay experiment to study the relationship between fear, anxiety, stress, risk-taking, and demographic factors and the success of phishing attacks during the pandemic. The findings indicate that fear of COVID-19 influences the success of COVID-19 specific themed phishing scams, while anxiety, stress, and risk-taking influences the success of both the COVID-19 themed and common phishing scams. Our findings also suggest that the users' education level impacts common phishing attacks during the pandemic.


Microfloristic assemblages have been recovered from the Hirnantian-aged Hassi el Hadjar ('Argiles Microconglomèratiques') and M'Kratta formations in borehole Nl-2, northeast Algerian Sahara. These formations are genetically related to glacial sedimentary dynamics, and represent, according to previous analysis, glacial diamictites resulting from the melting of the Saharan ice cap, and post-glacial shelf conditions, respectively. Previous studies have analyzed in detail the microplankton (acritarchs and chitinozoans) content of the Nl-2 section, providing precise biostratigraphic control. This contribution presents for the first time a diverse Hirnantian miospore microflora from Algeria, comprising cryptospores and trilete spores, and compares it with previously reported coeval spore assemblages from worldwide localities at different palaeolatitudes. The palynological microfloristic association is mainly characterized by cryptospores in permanent tetrad and dyad configurations, along with minor occurrences of laevigate monads and rare trilete spores. The present results, in conformity with previous suggestions, show apparent planet-scale homogeneity of the bryophyte-like earliest terrestrial flora during Hirnantian times. The diversity and abundance of early land plants was not affected by the Hirnantian glaciation.


IP video traffic represents a large fraction of Internet traffic. How
to transmit video traffic efficiently poses traffic management
challenges to both network operators and Internet applications. The
traffic characteristics of encoded video have a significant impact on
the network transport. This document provides use cases where network
operator and Internet application can be cooperative to improve video
transmission efficiency, based on the fundamental traffic
characteristics (e.g. frame priority, adaptive bit rate, etc.).


This paper proposes an algorithm for estimating on-line the rollover risk of huge machines moving on natural ground. The approach is based on the reconstruction of lateral load transfer thanks to an observer, able to take into account terrain specificities (grip conditions and geometry). Capabilities are tested through experiments using a grape harvester.


Increasing demand for renewable alternative fuels, such as ethanol, is driven by decreasing availability of fossil resources and increasing attention to climate change. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the tool used to evaluate environmental impacts, such as energy intensity (EI) and global warming potential (GWP), from ethanol production, but the application of this tool varies greatly. The goals of this study were to enumerate the life cycle EI, net energy value (NEV), and GWP of corn grain ethanol production in Wisconsin, to explore ethanol production scenarios which differ at the treatment of the whole stillage (WS) coproduct, and to evaluate the various solutions to the multifunctionality problem which arises in LCA. In Scenario 1, all suggested solutions to the multifunctionality problem are considered by transforming WS into the animal feed dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Scenario 2 avoids allocation using an integrated system which recycles the WS with an anaerobic biodigester and a combined heat and power (CHP) plant to provide electricity and steam to the ethanol refinery and returns the residue to the land as fertilizer. Based on the Scenario 1 analysis, we recommend the use of the subdivision (SD) solution to the multifunctionality problem because it enables clear comparisons between different ethanol production systems, it distinguishes between the environmental impacts from ethanol production and coproduct processing and it reduces the number of assumptions in the LCA calculations. From the comparison of both scenarios, we find that recycling the WS into electricity, heat, and fertilizer is the most environmentally beneficial coproduct use because it results in a 54% lower EI and a 67% lower GWP than the processing of WS into DDGS.


ABSTRACT Anion exchanger 2 (AE2) has a critical role in epithelial cells and is involved in the ionic homeostasis such as Cl− uptake and HCO3− secretion. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism of AE2. The main goal of the present study was to investigate potential regulators, such as spinophilin (SPL), inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate [IP3] receptors binding protein released with IP3 (IRBIT), STE20/SPS1-related proline/alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) kinase, and carbonic anhydrase XII (CA XII). We found that SPL binds to AE2 and markedly increased the Cl−/HCO3− exchange activity of AE2. Especially SPL 1–480 domain is required for enhancing AE2 activity. For other regulatory components that affect the fidelity of fluid and HCO3− secretion, IRBIT and SPAK had no effect on the activity of AE2 and no protein-protein interaction with AE2. It has been proposed that CA activity is closely associated with AE activity. In this study, we provide evidence that the basolateral membrane-associated CA isoform CA XII significantly increased the activity of AE2 and co-localized with AE2 to the plasma membrane. Collectively, SPL and CA XII enhanced the Cl−/HCO3− exchange activity of AE2. The modulating action of these regulatory proteins could serve as potential therapeutic targets for secretory diseases mediated by AE2.


Although several pathophysiological sequences, such as protease activation, free radical generation, and inflammatory mediator release, have been described in acute pancreatitis, the precise mechanism by which acute pancreatitis is initiated is unknown. Cellular calcium, a key physiological signaling element in cell function and also a crucial pathological intracellular messenger in cell injury, appears to be involved in the initiation and development of acute pancreatitis. The present study provides several lines of evidence supporting this suggestion. First, verapamil (a calcium channel blocker) administration was associated with a significant protection of rats from acute pancreatitis induced by high doses of cerulein (50 micrograms/kg/hr, subcutaneously), as evidenced both histologically and biochemically. Second, verapamil was found to minimize the increased tissue levels of calcium, platelet-activating factor, and thromboxane B2 detected during acute pancreatitis. Third, acute pancreatitis could be observed in rats with elevated serum calcium levels at low doses of cerulein (5 micrograms/kg/hr, subcutaneously), but could not be observed in rats with normal serum calcium levels treated with low doses of cerulein. It is proposed that cellular calcium, which is a critical signaling component in the synthesis and release of inflammatory mediators and several other events, may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis.


As baby boomers continue to retire and millennials become the leading generation in the nursing workforce, nurse leaders must promote professional development and leadership opportunities for millennials moving forward. This article describes challenges and opportunities across the multigenerational nursing workforce along with suggestions on how to remove barriers and align with millennial nurses to provide meaningful mentorship and promote understanding and a positive work environment.


• BICCO-Net Phase II presents the most comprehensive single assessment of climate change impacts on UK biodiversity to date.
• The results provide a valuable resource for the CCRA 2018, future LWEC report cards, the National Adaptation Programme and other policy-relevant initiatives linked to climate change impacts on biodiversity.


As the Internet continues to grow, the amount of accessible information becomes increasingly vast. Search tools exist that allow users to find relevant information. However, a search can often produce such a large amount of data that it becomes hard to ferret out the most appropriate and highest quality information. In addition, some search tools lose valuable information when displaying the results to the user. The paper describes a search visualization tool, called FISH, for viewing hierarchically structured information and managing information overload. FISH (Forager for the Information Super Highway) allows users to visualize the results of search requests across large document spaces in a way that preserves the structure of the information space. FISH displays the returned documents as rectangles, using a combination of order, indentation, size, and color to denote document hierarchy, the score of the documents with respect to the search, and other data attributes. In addition, the user can navigate through the document space for in-depth probing and refinement.


The development of accurate and efficient image reconstruction algorithms is a central aspect of quantitative photoacoustic tomography (QPAT). In this paper, we address this issues for multi-source QPAT using the radiative transfer equation (RTE) as accurate model for light transport. The tissue parameters are jointly reconstructed from the acoustical data measured for each of the applied sources. We develop stochastic proximal gradient methods for multi-source QPAT, which are more efficient than standard proximal gradient methods in which a single iterative update has complexity proportional to the number applies sources. Additionally, we introduce a completely new formulation of QPAT as multilinear (MULL) inverse problem which avoids explicitly solving the RTE. The MULL formulation of QPAT is again addressed with stochastic proximal gradient methods. Numerical results for both approaches are presented. Besides the introduction of stochastic proximal gradient algorithms to QPAT, we consider the new MULL formulation of QPAT as main contribution of this paper.


Abstract All possible aza analogs of azulene, containing from one to three nitrogen atoms in the five-membered ring or from one to five nitrogen atoms in the seven-membered ring, have been theoretically considered to obtain information about their stabilities and aromaticities. Total electronic energy and nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS) data have been used to evaluate stability and aromaticity, respectively. The stabilities of the structures are strongly affected by the positions of the nitrogen atoms. Calculations of azaazulenes show that stability is decreased with close proximity of the nitrogen atoms. When nitrogen in the five-membered ring is adjacent to a ring junction, aromaticity of the cyclopentadienyl anion is reduced and that of the tropylium cation is increased. The number of nitrogen atoms affects the aromaticity of the system.


This study aims to explore the impact of Corporate Income Tax Rate (CITR) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), specified based on income levels of countries. Using an unbalanced fixed-effect method of 112 countries over the period of 2003–2017, our finding shows that CITR has no significant impact on FDI. Corporate Income Tax (CIT) is levied on all firms, and as CIT is generally more complex than other types of taxes, its influences on FDI are in question. Excluding tax havens from the sample, our findings show that CITR has a weak significance only in the lower-middle-income and low-income countries.


Wang Guowei's 王國維 (1887-1927) understanding of the idea of tragedy was inspired by two German philosophers—Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. It is generally held that the pessimistic philosophy of Schopenhauer plays a fundamental role in Wang's borrowing from Western philosophers. Wang Guowei's Hongloumeng Pinglun 紅樓夢評論 (Commentaries on A Dream of Red Mansions, 1904) shows that in fact he was closer to Nietzsche than to Schopenhauer. This paper focuses on the article and the idea of "tragedy" in the context of Wang Guowei, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Although Commentaries on A Dream of Red Mansions was based on Schopenhauer's idea, it is in fact alienated from Schopenhauer's philosophy in the sense that it represents the double movement back into his own cultural sensibility—renjian qinghuai 人間情懷 (feeling for this world). The double movement occurred in the case of using Nietzsche too, not as alienation, but as bringing in. Nietzsche's "spirit of tragedy" was brought into Chinese culture based on Wang's own strong initiative. Wang's conscious closeness to Nietzsche is also an uncompleted mission since his Confucian principles are against Nietzsche's abrupt departure from his tradition. This misunderstanding and misinterpretation shows well the true face of crossculture communication at the beginning of 20 century, especially when we consider the development of Chinese aesthetic modernity. 1


Sport is increasingly recognized as an instrument to promote social inclusion values. Some of our motor learning moments, physical, psychomotor and sportive activities, could help people with disabilities as a stimulus to regain the lost or ever developed capacity. People with disabilities can use sport as a tool to have a better control of their body and to improve their own identity through sports competitions, resulting in an increased self-esteem. Several sports have moved to this dimension and one among them is Paracanoe, which is canoeing for athletes with physical impairments. Paracanoe events will also debut at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. This paper aims to investigate the benefit of canoe sports for people with disabilities, with particular attention to the processes to enhance inclusion. A pedagogical qualitative research was conducted through a questionnaire, administrated to the athletes of the National Italian Paracanoe Team and through face-to-face interviews. The study intend to highlight the strong inclusive nature of this sport (where each athlete feels abled-bodied) in addition to physical benefits, in line with the scientific literature


The narrative of the twentieth century is dominated by three key trends: population growth, economic growth and urbanisation. Moreover, these trends are expected to continue well into the twenty-first century. Australia has not been immune to these trends. Australia's population is projected to increase by 65% to over 35 million by 2049, and be accompanied by an average growth in per-capita Gross Domestic Product of 1.5% per annum. Much of this population and economic growth will be concentrated in an already highly urbanised environment. As a consequence, the natural environment in which the majority of Australians live is likely to undergo rapid change. It is useful, therefore, to better understand our relationship with this environment. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, the Census of Population and Housing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this paper examines the link between the natural environment and life satisfaction in Australia. The results indicate that certain natural environmental assets, such as national parks and the coastline are amenities, whereas creeks are disamenities. In regards to the influence of climate on life satisfaction, some unexpected results are found.


Since activated thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFIa) was discovered in 1988, considerable interest has developed in the biological role of this enzyme, particularly in hemostasis and thrombotic diseases. Given the large number of publications about the underpinning biology of fibrinolysis, the relatively small number of reported chemical tools or drug-like molecules that target this mechanism is surprising. In the context of drug design, most of the disclosed fibrinolysis inhibitors occupy less-exploited regions of drug-like space. To generalize, most of these molecules are either small and hydrophilic, or are larger carboxylic acids. The chemical nature of these inhibitors reflects those of the endogenous substrate for this zinc metalloprotease enzyme target. Knowledge of the target has defined the way medicinal chemists have designed inhibitors to target this enzyme of intriguing therapeutic potential. This review summarizes the publications, patent literature and company disclosures on small-molecule inhibitors of TAFIa from 2006 to the present. Selected significant disclosures prior to this period are also highlighted.


This article presents recent responses on the part of Central and Eastern European (CEE) trade unions to economic and social challenges in the post-enlargement period. Shifting the focus away from structural union weakness, the article looks at trade union potential for action, organizational capacity, resource building and policy influence. Despite their structural weaknesses, CEE unions demonstrate capacities that might enable them actively to shape working conditions and their internal resources are not completely depleted. However, the character of these resources and the kinds of union action have been changing. Traditional resources based on membership and involvement in collective bargaining have lost prominence in favour of unions' increased focus on mobilization, public protests and political support.


This paper introduced a method for producing immediate and result in multi-join query, in homogeneous and heterogeneous environment. In recent years Adaptive or Non Blocking join algorithms have attracted a lot of attention in streaming applications, where data is provided from autonomous data sources in heterogeneous network environments. This algorithms are better as compared to traditional algorithms is that they can generates join results as early as the first input tuples are on hand hence it improves pipelining, smooth out join result production and also masking source or network delays. As response time of the queries places a very important role in adaptive join, the join algorithm like Hash Join, Sort Merge Join are become unacceptable for this environment because they require preprocessing before generating the join result. Hence, in adaptive join technique only possible algorithm is Nested loop join. In Nested Loop Join, every single record of the outer relation is compared with every single record of the inner relation. The no. of comparisons done by the nested loop join can be reduced by making improvement in Block Nested loop Join. In proposed End-Around Block Nested loop join outer and inner table's comparison is done in parallel and whenever a row in first location didn't find a match then row from first location removed and placed at rear end as like in a queue, the matched row removed from inner relation and added to result set. Whenever, New tuple arrive is then pushed into rear end and process is continuing with new incoming tuples in streaming environments.


This paper reviews the literature on incorporating behavioural elements into epidemiological models of pandemics. While modelling behaviour by forward-looking rational agents can provide some insight into the time paths of pandemics, the non-stationary nature of Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) models of viral spread makes characterisation of resulting equilibria difficult. Here I posit a shortcut that can be deployed to allow for a tractable equilibrium model of pandemics with intuitive comparative statics and also a clear prediction that effective reproduction numbers (that is, R) will tend towards 1 in equilibrium. This motivates taking R=1 as an equilibrium starting point for analyses of pandemics with behavioural agents. The implications of this for the analysis of widespread testing, tracing, isolation and mask-use is discussed.


Integrin α4β7, a CD4 independent receptor of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) gp120, defines a subset of CD4+T cells preferentially targeted by HIV. It is also considered as a promising therapeutic target for HIV-1 infection. Despite its role in HIV acquisition and disease progression, HIV-1-mediated integrin α4β7 signaling has not been elucidated so far. In view of this, we determined phosphoproteomic signatures of HIV-1 gp120 signaling as well as signaling mediated by the integrin α4β7 ligand, mucosal vascular addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1), in primary CD4+ T cells. This is the first comprehensive report on MAdCAM-1 signaling, which is believed to enhance HIV-1 replication. Importantly, we identified proteins associated with both classical and nonclassical integrin functions. We observed that HIV-1 gp120 signaling is associated with proteins that have previously not been associated with HIV-1 pathogenesis and thus, need to be explored further. There was a significant overlap in proteins identified by both MAdCAM-1 and HIV-1 gp120 signaling, which most likely represents cellular processes triggered upon interaction of HIV-1 gp120 with integrin α4β7. Pathway analysis revealed enrichment of processes that could facilitate viral replication as well as viral entry through endocytosis. Although these results warrant independent replication and further validation, they suggest the presence of additional potential therapeutic targets. These results also suggest that combinatorial approaches for targeting both HIV-1 gp120 and MAdCAM-1 signaling may be necessary for efficient control of HIV-1 infection as well as novel innovation strategies in HIV therapeutics.


We report the case of a 79-year-old woman who presented with an increasingly painful lump in her right groin for 24 h. An incidental femoral hernia was detected on her CT scan nearly 8 months ago while investigating her medical conditions. However, its management was deferred on account of ongoing medical illness. Exploration of the lump revealed a gangrenous appendix strangulated within the femoral canal (de Garengeot hernia). The hernia was repaired primarily after appendicectomy. The patient was discharged after making an uneventful recovery.


Further Note on the Color Curve oe the i 2-Inch Equatorial oe the Lick Observatory In the February, 1919, number of these Publications an account was given of an investigation of the color curve of the objective of the 12-inch equatorial of the Lick Observatory. In pursuance of the plan mentioned there, we took further measures on the nights of July 16th and 17th, to obtain a more accurate determination of the temperature equation. The method of observing was the same as that described inthe previous paper, and the position of the slit with respect to the base plate was measured as before. Six complete sets of measures by the Foucault method were taken, three by each observer; the mean temperature was + 25°.o C. The resulting "high temperature" color curve is parallel to those for lower temperatures, with a constant difference of 1.67 mm. between this and the curve for 4°.6 C. Thus the temperature equation, as determined from a range of 2i°.4 is R = R0 + 0.08 mm. (t — 9°.i), which is identical with the equation obtained before from a range of 9. Edith E. Cummings, Priscilla Faireield. '


Relevance. Subjective assessment of pain in children is traditionally implemented using visual analogue scales. The need for comfortable dental treatment in children is obvious, therefore, in order to obtain the most reliable data, it is necessary to develop pain rating scales and the effectiveness of pain management in accordance with the age of the child.Purpose. Development of visual analogue scales designed to assess the effectiveness of pain relief when performing outpatient dental interventions in children, depending on the age of the child.Materials and methods. A visual analogue scale was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of pain relief in children at an outpatient dental appointment, in accordance with the age of the child. 100 patients aged 4 to 12 years were examined.Results. The reaction and behaviour of the child during dental treatment using local anesthesia were the basis of the designed pain rating scales. In the age group of 4-7 years, the visual analogue scale was filled in by the doctor, the child and the parent, and in the second group of patients aged 7 to 12 years, the scale was filled in by the child and the doctor, since in this age category children could independently correlate themselves with the picture on the scale.Conclusions. The designed scales of subjective assessment of the effectiveness of local anesthesia in children allow to determine the quality of the studied methods and means of local anesthesia in pediatric dental practice.


The factor of CFO (carrier frequency offset) definitely degrades the final results of system performance evaluation for an asynchronous MC-CDMA (multi-carrier coded-division multiple-access) system is one of the most frequently discussed issues in every kind of assuming situations. However, the other one important parameter of FBC (fading branch correlation) is much rare for implying in the study of MC-CDMA system, since they are almost considered as independent each other for the reason of algebra simplification. The issue of exploring aggregately to the matter of which parameter, CFO or FBC, is mainly dominating the system performance of an MC-CDMA system would like to be studied in this paper. The calculation of system performance with BER (bit error rate) for an MC-CDMA system is by simultaneously taking CFO and FBC, which are symbolized as ε and δ , respectively, into account for the investigation in this paper. On the basis of adopting the same quantity to the serve of simulation, that is, values of ε and δ are equally assigned to 0.4, ..., 1.0 for the CFO and FBC, respectively. Moreover, some formulas which function both of the CFO and FBC parameters are provided to this investigation. The simulation results from the evaluation of an MC-CDMA system are illustrated with the CFO and FBC at the same graph for the purpose of comparison.


Security metrics have evolved side by side with the advent of security tools and techniques. They have been derived from the techniques rather than specified as system requirements. This paper surveys the evolution and state of the practice of security metrics from both a technical and historical perspective. It describes the evolution of currently popular security metrics, and classifies them to illustrate their utility in systems engineering verification and validation activities. It provides criteria with which to evaluate security metrics based on system purpose and architecture. The criteria are illustrated using a case study of Cloud System security. ©2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 16:


In this paper we discuss the problem of the Innumeracy among elementary school students, and how we can remedy this problem and solve the situation. We propose a method to motivate students to study mathematics especially mental calculation exploiting their video game culture using Serious Games. Serious Game is a computer application that combines a serious intention: pedagogical, informational, communicational, marketing, and ideological, or training, with fun springs from video games. To solve the problem of the Innumeracy we developed four Serious Games in flash and we can use them in windows platformer and online.


Web-based learning courses lack the explanation and interpretation of teaching materials coming from the teacher. According to Theory of Transactional Distance, web-based learning cannot reduce transactional distance if we ignore teacher's explanation and interpretation to teaching materials and just create "dialog" by using communication mechanism like on-line forum, BBS and e-mail. Therefore it's very important to have teachers' lectures available online for web-based courses. To solve this problem, we implement a stream-based lecturing system that can fully integrate with web-based teaching materials and recur traditional lecturing situation in limited network bandwidth. We propose three versions of stream-based lecturing system by using evolutionary prototyping development model. Version one is synchronization mode. The drawbacks of this mode are the need of special players for viewing, based-on IE browser, the mismatch of font size, the error of URL path and so forth. To improve these problems, we developed a version two named browser capture mode. It solves most of the problems that version one has, but one main issue remains and that is browser capture mode is still based-on IE browser. Therefore, we are proposing the version three named full screen capture mode. Version three will capture video, audio and annotation into a single streaming video file. Finally, we recommend that version three full screen capture mode is the best solution for delivering teacher's online lectures. Besides, this paper also indicates that we will be able to achieve the ideal of " Mobile classroom" by making good use of the stream-based lecturing system.


Far-infrared photothermal ionisation spectroscopy is used to investigate the nature of the donors present in high-purity epitaxial films of GaAs grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), metal-organic gas source molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) and solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Except for one lower mobility sample, the MOCVD samples showed the donor line X1 to be dominant with >50% relative intensity. The higher mobility samples showed the presence of two relatively closely spaced components to X1. Hydrostatic pressures up to 20 kbar were used to increase the chemical shifts and to vary the absorption strengths of the lines. By this means, and by the simultaneous observation of the same components on the 1s-2p and 1s-3p transitions, it was possible to show that these components were not artefacts of over-absorption but arose from two different donor species of very similar chemical shifts. Consequently, any identification of donor X1 as being solely due to silicon must be treated with caution. Germanium and sulphur accounted for the remaining donor contamination in the MOCVD material, with germanium usually being present at higher levels than sulphur. In contrast, earlier far-infrared and photoluminescence data with samples of different origin have shown germanium to be dominant in MOCVD material. MOMBE growth produced very similar proportions of X1, germanium and sulphur, indicating that the gas sources are responsible for the contamination. The MBE samples grown in reactors of different manufacture showed levels of sulphur donors comparable with the background carbon acceptors as well as traces of germanium, in addition to the silicon deliberately introduced. The results for the highest mobility MBE sample with deliberate silicon doping suggest that the lower energy component of the 'X1' doublet is due to silicon. The most likely candidate for the higher energy component is selenium. An even higher mobility MBE sample which was n-type without deliberate silicon doping showed the higher energy component attributed to selenium.


The burrowing goby, Trypauchen vagina, is recorded for the first time from the Pangpang Bay of Banyuwangi, Indonesia. Types of fish T. vagina is a type that has not published in Indonesia. This fish was caught using trap net in waters Pangpang Bay, which is an essential area in Banyuwangi, East Java. The description of the morphology and fish habitat conditions shows that the region has a diversity of fish resources that need attention. This goby fish has a local name as fish bedhul picek due to the sense of sight on these fish as if it does not work. Eyes covered by skin and socket head section was not found their eyeballs. The body of the specimens is elongate and reddish-pink in fresh specimens in coloration. There is no barbel on the chin. Cycloid scales are present on the whole body except for the head. Muncar people commonly consume T.vagina. This fish has been food sources in several regions but uncommon at several local markets in Indonesia. The T.vagina inhabit at Pangpang Bay as the bay, which has the high primary productivity of these waters due to sufficient nutrient support. Enrichment of nutrient comes from the run-off land and also the input of the number of fishing activity (embankment). An earlier report said that this fish found in waters Banyu Asin, Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia. It also confirms that the fish found in this study are also living in a mud substrate that is reasonably smooth with right mangrove conditions around the bay, which close to Alas Purwo National Park.


Received Oct 15, 2021 Revised Dec 16, 2021 Accepted Jan 16, 2022 IPv6 extension headers (EHs) contain additional information utilized by network devices (such as routers and firewalls) to determine how to direct or process an IPv6 packet. However, the use of excessive and unknown EHs can lead to the security implications such as evasion and denial of service (DoS) of the target firewall. Study revealed that there is no permanent remediation that prevents the IPv6 EHs attack from invading the opensource firewalls by default. Using IPv6 packet manipulations technique, the attacker can evade the target network including the firewall and target host that can lead to a complete unavailability of network service. The common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) also indicates that the base, temporal, and environment metric groups of IPv6 EHs vulnerabilities were in the critical level of severity. Quick and dirty solutions such as denying and allowing packets and IP addresses as preventive measures is still one of the effective ways of defending against the EHs packet manipulation attacks, as a temporary solution to date.


Channel estimation is very important in wireless communication system. On discussing the signal model of variable spread spectrum gain multirate DS-CDMA system, this paper proposed a multirate subspace-based blind channel estimation algorithm. To overcome the high-complexity shortage of this algorithm, a modified approach is devised that offers tradeoff between performance and complexity. Finally performance analysis for multirate subspace-based blind algorithm and its modified algorithm are conducted. Simulation results proved the efficiency of the proposed algorithms


Purpose of review To present recent advances in the discovery and characterization of new immunodeficiency disorders linked to gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in immune signaling molecules. Box 1. no caption available Recent findings In the past 2 years, extensive cellular and molecular studies have illuminated the root causes of pathogenesis for several new monogenic primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs) linked to GOF mutations in signaling molecules. Here we discuss on two disorders (BENTA and APDS/PASLI) featuring shared clinical presentation (e.g. lymphoproliferation, selective antibody deficiencies, recurrent sinopulmonary infections). These findings highlight an emerging theme: both loss-of-function and gain-of-function mutations in key molecules can disrupt finely tuned immunoreceptor signaling modalities, resulting in the dysregulation of lymphocyte differentiation and impaired adaptive immunity. Summary Continued research on the molecular pathogenesis of PIDs defined by hyperactive signaling molecules will better distinguish these and related disorders, and pinpoint tailored therapeutic interventions for 'retuning' the immune response in these patients.


Twelve cases of tinea capitis were encountered at a clinic in Kumamoto prefecture between April 2004 and December 2008. Patients were boys aged between 2 and 18 in 11 cases, and a woman aged 50 years in 1 case. The pathogen was Microsporum canis in 6 cases, and Trichophyton tonsurans in 6 cases. In the cases with M. canis , patients were boys aged 2 to 8 years in 5 cases, and the type of disease was non-inflammatory in 5 cases and inflammatory in 1 case. The patients with T. tonsurans were boys aged 12 to 18 years (judo athletes in 5 cases) and the type of disease was inflammatory in 2 cases and black dot in 4 cases. Three of the M. canis cases were treated with oral administration of itraconazole (ITCZ) at doses of 2.4-4.0 mg/kg/day, and the other 3 with terbinafine hydrochloride (TBF) at doses of 2.6-4.6 mg/kg/day. The duration of treatment was 8-14 weeks with ITCZ, and 4-8 weeks with TBF. In the T. tonsurans cases, TBF was orally administered at doses of 1.4-2.4 mg/kg/day for a period of 8-12 weeks. In one case of non-inflammatory M. canis infection (Case 6) and one case of inflammatory T. tonsurans infection (Case 10), treatment was initiated with the dose recommended in Japan, but symptoms did not improve; therefore the dose was doubled according to European and American guidelines and the patients recovered. As tinea capitis frequently resists treatment, establishment of treatment guidelines is necessary.


Existing API mining algorithms are not yet practical to use as they require expensive parameter tuning and the returned set of API calls can be large, highly redundant and difficult to understand. In an attempt to remedy these shortcomings we present PAM (Probabilistic API Miner), a near parameter-free probabilistic algorithm for mining the most informative API call patterns. We show that PAM significantly outperforms both MAPO and UPMiner, achieving 70% test-set precision, at retrieving relevant API call sequences from GitHub. Moreover, we focus on libraries for which the developers have explicitly provided code examples, yielding over 300,000 LOC of hand-written API example code from the 967 client projects in the data set. This evaluation suggests that the hand-written examples actually have limited coverage of real API usages.


Every current migration movement occasions a compensatory counter-current is a well known statement by E.G. Ravenstein and also the starting point of the above study. The author also uses Everett S. Lee's theory of push and pull factors as a framework. The book starts with defining the problem and a review o[ the present state of research. In the study there were used six sample communities in Finalnd in addition to 12 samples studied earlier. The source material consists of passport, passenger, and official statistics, as well as of church records, interviews.... After the introduction of the problem and sources used, there follows the overall scale of the return migration divided into permanent and temporary return. Of the 380,000 Finnish emigrants before 1930 about 75,000 came back to stay. This is approximately 20 per cent of the emigrants, although the number varied regionally and chronologically. Earlier the proportion of the permanent return to Finland had been estimated at one-third. Compared with other European countries the Finnish return migration was considerably lower than e.g. Southern Europe, but did not differ greatly from the other Nordic countries. The most important reason for the Finns to return to the land of their origin was homesickness (over 21 percent), followed by unemployment (14.5 per cent). A common reason was a visit home, but for one reason or another, the return journey never took place. The majority of the Finnish emigrants only made one journey: either to remain abroad or to return permanently. Only 10 per cent paid two visits overseas-some even five visits. The returned Finnish emigrants were generally between the ages of 21 and 40, and there were proportionately more males than females. Approximately half were married when they came back. The largest category of returned emigrants were farmers and their spouses. The relative return migration rate [rom North America was around one-fifth. The high return from the eastern coast was explained by the types of work and trades among the Finnish immigrants. It was easier to leave industrial work than farming, e.g. in Michigan and Minnesota. The return rate from the western regions of the United States was low. The pattern was similar in Canada. From Australia, South America and South Africa the return was highabout half the emigrants. In these areas Finnish populations had been quite small, and Australia had in the 1920s been an alternative to the United States after quota laws were passed. A special reason for a high return was also the depression of the 1930s. Most of the returning migrants settled down happily using their savings to purchase a [arm or house making an impact on the community. Using the theoretical framework by Everett S. Lee, the last chapter presents a model of [actors influencing the dichotomy between the settlement overseas and permanent return. The conclusion sets the Finnish migration in the international perspective according to the traditional classification of "old" and "new" migrations. In the field of overseas return migration Virtancn's thesis is a valuable contribution and an example of the present state of Finnish migration research.


Judging from the number of confirmed cases, deaths, cures and the time taken to restore normal social and economic order, China is undoubtedly one of the most successful countries in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights strong policy capacity of Chinese government using policy tools to solve policy problems efficiently. Based on the policy tools theory put forward by Roy Rothwell and Walter Zegveld, this paper analyzes the specific policy tools used in the prodromal period, breakout period, chronic period and resolution period of China's COVID-19 pandemic and further summarizes three characteristics: The comprehensive use of policy tools, staging of the use of policy tools in different periods and the dominant position of supply-oriented policy tools.


A case of clinical porphyria cutanea tarda posed a diagnostic dilemma when screening tests for porphyrinuria gave negative results and two skin biopsy specimens failed to show the histologic picture of porphyria cutanea tarda, pseudoporphyria, or epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. The dilemma was resolved when the eruption cleared following elimination of naproxen from the patient's treatment. Subsequent naproxen challenge resulted in new bullae on the dorsum of the hands.


It has been shown that growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) enhance steroidogenesis responsiveness to ACTH in cultured adrenal cells. To investigate the GH effect on adrenal steroidogenesis in non-GH-deficient subjects, we studied 9 girls with Turner syndrome (chronological age 5.5–7.2 years; bone age 5–7 years). In all subjects an ACTH test (Synacthen depot, 0.25 mg i.v. with blood samples at 0 and 60 min) was performed basally at 8–9 a.m. and 6 months after GH therapy (1 IU/kg/week). 17-Hydroxypregnenolone (17PGN), 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), its sulfate (DHA-S), androstenedione and cortisol were evaluated by radioimmunoassay. Two groups of normal girls were selected as controls: group A age-matched the patients at the start of the study, and group B age-matched the patients at the end of the study. The responsiveness of each hormone to ACTH was expressed as the difference between stimulated and basal values. A p value of < 0.01 was considered to indicate significance. There were no significant differences between pre- and posttreatment basal values of 17PGN, 17OHP, DHA, androstenedione and cortisol in the Turner syndrome patients, whereas a significant increase was observed for basal DHA-S (1.57 ± 0.31; 1.89 ± 0.43 µmol/l, p < 0.01). Comparison of increments before and after GH treatment showed a significant increase in responsiveness to ACTH after GH therapy DHA (p < 0.01). The increase in 17PGN was evident (p < 0.02), but the established significant p value was not reached. No differences for 17OHP, androstenedione and cortisol were found. The stimulated 17PGN/17OHP ratio was significantly higher (p < 0.01) after GH, whereas the 17OHP/androstenedione ratio was considerably lower, but the p value was < 0.02. No differences between pretreatment values with the control group androstenedione was found, whereas basal and stimulated posttreatment values of DHA and stimulated values of 17PGN were higher in patients after GH therapy than in control group B. No differences between the 2 control groups were found. In conclusion our study showed that adrenal steroid responsiveness to ACTH increases in Turner syndrome after long-term treatment with high GH doses. An increase in the number of ACTH adrenal receptors and/or a modulation of enzyme activities may be suggested. The positive or negative pharmacological implications of these data remain to be determined especially when taking into consideration the wide use of GH therapy in non-GH-deficient subjects.


As part of the required beam stability and feedback studies for the SIS upgrade we investigate the interplay of nonlinear rf fields and space charge using simplified analytic models as well as large scale particle simulation scans. Starting from the matched elliptic ('Hofmann-Pedersen') distribution analytic expressions for the synchrotron tune and for the rigid dipole mode are obtained. The threshold intensities for the space charge induced loss of Landau damping in single and double rf wave forms are derived. The thresholds are compared with machine observations and with simulations of the bunch response to a weak rf phase modulation. The simulation results are related to previous work on beam transfer functions in single and double rf waves.


BACKGROUND
The incidence of placenta previa has been increasing. It is of a great importance to determine the clinical risk factors for peripartum blood transfusion in women with placenta previa in an effort to anticipate cases of severe hemorrhage.

METHODS
A total of 129 consecutive cases of placenta previa (64 cases of complete placenta previa and 65 cases of marginal placenta previa), including 43 cases requiring blood transfusion, were retrospectively analyzed. Maternal and neonatal clinical data were examined with univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses for potential risk factors for peripartum blood transfusion.

RESULTS
The independent risk factors for blood transfusion were maternal age greater than 34 years (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.5-7.5, p<0.05), history of having undergone dilatation and curettage more than once (adjusted OR=4.8; 95% CI=1.1-26.2, p<0.05), and complete placenta previa (adjusted OR=2.6, 95% CI=1.2-5.9, p<0.05). Body mass index, gravidity, parity, previous cesarean section, antepartum hemorrhage, use of tocolytic agents, gestational age at delivery, preoperative anemia, emergent surgery, birth weight, and Apgar score were not associated with the incidence of blood transfusion.

CONCLUSION
Risk factors for blood transfusion in women with placenta previa are advanced maternal age, repeat dilatation and curettage, and complete placenta previa. Women with placenta previa who are at risk for blood transfusion should be carefully managed with sufficient preparation for blood transfusion.


The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ataxia of stance in different types of alcohol-dependent patients. Posturographic measurements were performed in 82 abstinent alcohol-dependent patients and 54 healthy controls in order to analyse postural control. According to Lesch and co-workers, alcohol dependence was classified as total abstinence (Type I), drinking without loss of control (Type II), fluctuating course (Type III), and persistent severe drinking (Type IV). The mechanisms of alcohol dependence in these subtypes can be summarized as follows: Type I patients drink alcohol to counteract symptoms of alcohol withdrawal; Type II patients use alcohol as an agent for solving conflicts; Type III patients drink alcohol to 'treat' an affective disorder; and Type IV patients have a history of pre-alcoholic neurological and/or psychiatric disorders. The neurological examination showed pathological findings in 39%, whereas posturographic measurements uncovered impaired postural control in 61% (chi2 = 8.8, P = 0.003). Comparing the different study groups revealed that ataxia of stance was most common in alcohol-dependent patients classified as Type IV (tau = 0.24, P = 0.005). In conclusion, posturographic measurements are superior to the clinical examination in detecting postural imbalance in alcohol-dependent patients. The prevalence of postural imbalance is highest in patients classified by Lesch as Type IV. Consequently, this type of alcohol dependence -- characterized by pre-alcoholic neurological and/or psychiatric disorders, bears the highest risk of developing ataxia of stance.


We have investigated photoluminescence (PL) and linear and induced absorption of Si nanocrystals (NCs) in a SiO2 matrix. By measuring PL intensity dependence on the excitation photon fluence, we conclude that (i) the excitation wavelength independent saturation level is reached when on average a single photon is absorbed per NC, and (ii) excitation cross-section is proportional to the linear absorption only in the low-energy range; for higher energy it increases faster than absorption, thus indicating more efficient excitation which appears due to space-separated quantum cutting (SSQC). In order to shed more light on the mechanism behind the SSQC, we have compared spectral and temporal characteristics of induced absorption for excitation wavelengths below and above the SSQC threshold. These were found to be very similar, thus indicating that the SSQC process is most likely very fast, possibly taking place already during photon absorption by NCs.


A source-driven magnetized presheath is analyzed in an obliquely incident magnetic field. The conventional fluid treatments of the collisionless and collisional magnetized presheath use standard fluid equations to recover the velocity profiles that satisfy the Bohm sheath criterion at the electrostatic sheath edge. In a purely source-driven collisionless presheath, however, there is no mechanism to redistribute the change in parallel energy in the perpendicular direction and therefore the boundary values of flow velocities are strong functions of angle of incidence. In the present treatment, numerical solutions are obtained for a set of fluid equations derived from the moment description of a generalized gyrokinetic equation. The density, velocity, and temperature profiles in a source-driven presheath are computed, which show a dependence on the angle of incidence of the magnetic field on a perfectly absorbing solid surface.


The prognosis in ovarian cancer patients remains poor, and there is a need to identify patients who are less likely to respond to treatment. In a prospective study of patients with ovarian carcinoma treated by a standard protocol, variables such as age, tumor type, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, histologic grade, results from flow cytometry, receptors for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR), and serum CA 125 were correlated to relapse and survival. Univariate analysis revealed that stage, histologic grade, DNA ploidy, ER, PR, and CA 125 were of significant association to survival, but only stage, DNA ploidy, PR, and CA 125 were found to be of significant value to relapse. Multivariate analysis identified DNA ploidy as an independent prognostic variable for both relapse and survival.


Recent researches on the northern margin of the North China Craton(NCC) and its adjacent areas have been mainly focused on the main pre-Yanshanian tectonic framework and the late Mesozoic tectonomagmatic evolution and lithosphere destruction.This paper gives a brief review on the previous research progress and future prospect in this aspect.The northern NCC has undergone multiple magmatic processes after its cratonization during ~1.8 Ga.Large volumes of 1.35-1.30 Ga mafic sill(dyke) swarms in northern NCC are related to the breakup of the NCC from the Columbia supercontinent and might indicate that the NCC was probably a member of Nena including the Laurentia(North America and Greenland),Siberia and Baltica cratons in the supercontinent.The evolution of the northern continental margin of the NCC was probably initiated at 1.35 Ga.During the Early Paleozoic,the Bainaimiao island arc belt was located to the south of the NCC.At the end of Early Paleozoic,the island arc was accreted to the NCC probably by arc-continental collision.EarlyMiddle alkaline complexes with emplacement ages ranging from 410-380 Ma in northern NCC are probably related to the extension after arc-continental collision between the NCC and the Bainaimiao arc terrane.From the Late Carboniferous(~320 Ma),the northern margin of the NCC became an Andean-style continental arc due to the southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian oceanic plate beneath the NCC.The southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian oceanic plate also occurred in the Xing-Meng orogenic belt during this period,which resulted in the formation of the Baolidao island arc.Final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and collision between the Mongolian arc terrane and the NCC occurred during the latest Permian ~earliest Triassic period with post collison magmatism from ~250 Ma.During the Late Triassic ~Early Jurassic period,the northern NCC is characterized by strong thrusting.In the early Jurassic,the Archean-Paleoproterozoic basement metamorphic rocks were widely exposed.The tectonic framework of the northern margin of the NCC and its adjacent areas was preliminarily established prior to the Yanshanian tectonism and magmatism.


The Reedley College One Book/One College project began in fall 2015 in efforts to encourage engagement and discussion amongst students, faculty, and staff. This guide provides information about previous and current titles.


Over the past twenty years rapid changes have taken place in secondary education in England. During this time Comprehensive Education, part of our secondary system, has developed in many forms. This research is concerned with the first five years in the development of two differing comprehensive schools. Both became comprehensive in 1969. School A, an ex-Grammar School is seen as a school which has metamorphosed from the traditional pattern of secondary education, is compared with School B, a new purpose built comprehensive school developing a new concept of educational organisation. The techniques used and the methodological strategies employed were in part determined by the overall nature of the study, which was on a part-time basis with limited resources. Nevertheless over the five year period, observation, interviews with respective headmasters, teachers, students and parents, questionnaires together with the analysis of documents gave considerable data on the significant programme features of both schools. The hypothesis is concerned with the differences between the two schools, and the effect that these differences have on the achievement of the pupils. The hypothesis states 1. That the type of organisation developed by school B, sometimes referred to as the "open type" wall offer a wider range of students the opportunity to succeed academically, and that this will be reflected in terms of the results obtained in external examinations. 2. That the type of organisation developed by school A, and sometimes referred to as the "olosed type" will impose limits upon certain students opportunity to succeed and that this will be reflected in terms of results obtained in external examinations. 3. That the organisation which shows greatest concern for the students as individuals will be more appreciated by the students. 4. That the organisation which shows greatest concern for the individual will experience difficulties in getting parents to understand, and accept, what the new ideas are about. Shortly after the present study began G. M. Esland (1971) brought a new dimension to the enquiry into the aspects of teachers' professional knowledge, and school organisation as a whole. The theoretical techniques developed by Esland are used in this study, for it was held that the two schools under consideration would he suitable to the elaborated Psychometric and Phenomenological paradigm areas. Because time was a limiting factor, observation within the two schools was minimised. The development of the study therefore took place around interview schedules which using Esland's theoretical constructs, were directed at teachers, students and parents. In May 1972 two years and two teams after the introduction of comprehensive education, the teachers of Mathematics, English and Science in both schools were interviewed. At the same time, twenty three matched pairs of students, matched in terms of their primary school education and primary sohool recommendations, one of the pair going to school A the other to sohool B, were tested in English, Mathematics and Study Skills using the Bristol Achievement Test. After four years and two terms in March 1974, the matched students were interviewed, this together with a questionnaire on school climate and organisation, provided information about their school experience. Finally in Autumn of 1974, the parents of the matched students from schools A and B were interviewed and their attitudes and opinions concerning the schools were recorded. The results obtained show that the idea of using the elaborated psychometric and phenomenological paradigm areas as distinct and contrasting approaches was an over-simplification. Analysis of the teacher and student interview schedules revealed that paradigm areas were subject specific, and at times dependent upon the unique blend of experience of the teacher concerned, rather than school based. Esland's ideas nevertheless provided a useful tool for analysis, for on a departmental level the English Department of school B functioned within a phenomenological framework. The Mathematics and Science Departments of both schools were found to operate within the psychometric paradigm. At the school level fundamental differenoes were revealed, these were confirmed by the instruments used to measure school climate and school organisation. These differences were particularly noticeable in the areas of social control within the schools. When relating the type of organisation to results in external examinations, school B provided a wider area of opportunity for examination success, this was reflected in the pattern of results obtained. The effects of the new approaches to learning as developed by the English Department of school B were reflected in the degree of involvement shown by the students, but not in the results in external examination. Achievement in Mathematics appears to be related to the efficiency of the departments in their respective schools, whilst results in Science indicate the advantages of the unified curriculum of school B, compared to that of school A. The less flexible type of organisation as developed by school A, was shown to place restrictions upon the achievement of certain pupils , within the school. These restrictions are shown to be concerned within that school. However, less flexibility can lead to greater efficiency in certain specified areas. School A for example was shown to be much more realistic in its approach to external examinations and consequently achieved greater success than school B, in Mathematics and English. In terms of the differences between the school, examination results are important, there are however equally important aspects of school life, these are best described in terms of school climate or tone. It is in this area that school B, together with schools wishing to develop a similar organisation face a dilemma. For the research shows that a school with a high degree of democratic control, though popular with the students, faces the difficulty of getting the parents to accept a less rigid view of what schooling is all about.


Epithermal gold-silver deposits in the Toodoggone River area are hosted by Early Jurassic high K trachyandesite and trachydacite volcanic rocks that erupted during two major cycles spanning roughly 7 m.y. Volcanism and related plutonic activity is intimately associated with the structural development of an elongate, volcano-tectonic depression in which extensional fracture zones confine the epithermal deposits. Younger sedimentary rocks overlay and protected the deposits from erosion.Gold and silver in the Toodoggone district occur most commonly in quartz veins associated with adularia, sericite, and calcite. Locally gold barite veins cut volcanic rocks that are pervasively replaced by varying proportions of fine-grained silica, dickite, and natroalunite.Fluid inclusions in quartz from most precious metal vein deposits are typical of epithermal environments. They contain low-temperature, dilute hydrothermal fluids of predominantly meteoric origin (T h 300 degrees C and >30 equiv wt % NaCl).Light stable isotope analyses show marked 18 O enrichment in the volcanic rocks, hydrothermally altered host rocks, and mineralized vein quartz (with adularia or sericite) of about 8 per mil. The isotopic composition of the hydrothermal fluid is calculated to be about delta 18 O = 0 per mil. These hydrothermal fluids are isotopically evolved mixtures derived from meteoric and magmatic waters with possible metamorphic input. Whole-rock analyses of mainly fine grained quartz-dickite mineral mixtures document the largest 18 O shifts with values up to 15.7 per mil. This is interpreted to be due to lower temperatures and/or the presence of significant quantities of magmatic fluids in these altered zones.K-Ar age determinations on alunite from several zones of intensely acid-leached rocks suggest that an early mineralizing episode apparently occurred around 190 Ma or earlier during a depositional hiatus between the two major volcanic cycles. This coincides with the uplift and cooling of several plutons. K-Ar dates on adularia and sericite from precious metal-bearing quartz veins, some of which are from volcanic rocks of the upper cycle, suggest that there was also a younger mineralizing event. Recent argon step-heating dates indicate that the major gold-silver deposits with adularia-sericite range from 189.7 + or - 2.6 to 186.7 + or - 1.7 Ma (Clark and Williams-Jones, 1991). This closely follows the latest stages of Toodoggone volcanism and fault block subsidence.A depth zoning model for mineralization illustrates the two types of epithermal regimes: adularia-sericite and acid sulfate. Gold barite in the extensive, advanced argillic and argillicly altered zones at the Al deposit represent high-level, near-surface acid sulfate alteration formed on the flanks of a stratovolcano. The advanced argillic altered zone at Silver Pond, next to the major Lawyers adularia-sericite deposit, represents a downfaulted acid sulfate outflow (i.e., the upper portion of the Lawyers hydrothermal system). The Lawyers deposit and most of the other occurrences are adularia-sericite-type deposits formed at slight depth. These deposits occur in grabens or half-grabens in an extensional fault regime that created the central Toodoggone depression, nested within the broader volcanic belt.


Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is well known for its capability of dimension reduction and data compression. However, when using PCA for compressing/reconstructing images, images need to be recast to vectors. The vectorization of images makes some correlation constraints of neighboring pixels and spatial information lost. To deal with the drawbacks of the vectorizations adopted by PCA, we used small neighborhoods of each pixel to form compoun pixels and use a tensorial version of PCA, called TPCA (Tensorial Principal Component Analysis), to compress and reconstruct a compound image of compound pixels. Our experiments on public data show that TPCA compares favorably with PCA in compressing and reconstructing images. We also show in our experiments that the performance of TPCA increases when the order of compound pixels increases.


Aim: We assessed the knowledge of physicians regarding diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease (CD). Background: Specialists as the main therapist group of CD patients may play crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of CD. Therefore, training and ensuring their capabilities is important. Methods: The population was specialists including Gastroenterologist, GI fellow, consultants, residents and general practitioners graduated in Medical Sciences Universities in Iran. The examination was the experts made and aimed to assess the educational needs of physicians and explore their failures in the diagnosis and treatment of CD with the key feature approach. Data was collected using a questionnaire that its validity and reliability was confirmed by experts (r = 91.6%). The total score was 150 with the classification of participants to the following categories: good (112- 150), intermediate (39-112) and weak ( ≤38). Results: Out of 300 participants, 197 questionnaires were returned (Response rate = 66%). The mean age of the participants was 42.67 years (SD = 7.9 years) with majority were male (63.6%). Average score of participates who had less than three year's experience was significantly higher than others (P≤0.05). Only 12.1% and 9.8% of specialists have got the excellent score for diagnosis and treatment, respectively. Conclusion: It may conclude that specialists have had performance gap and around 90% needed training based on the principles of instructional design in order to improve their knowledge and skills to do and practice their assigned tasks. Therefore, development of training packages according to the principles of instructional design is suggested.


The usefulness of detecting circulating non-structural protein 1 (NS1) IgM antibodies for diagnosing acute dengue virus infection was evaluated during an outbreak investigation along with other routinely used laboratory diagnostic methods. For the first time, the samples were also tested for NS1 antigen detection. NS1 IgM antibody detects all the serum samples that were positive for NS1 antigen detection within first 5 days of infection. The sensitivity of the NS1 IgM ELISA was higher when compared with RT-PCR and therefore, it could be used for early diagnosis.


SUMMARY: Potassium and 14C-labelled proline, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and alanine were accumulated by Salmonella oranienburg, during glucose oxidation, over a range of water activity (a
w) values. In the absence of amino acids, potassium accumulation increased to a maximum as a
w was decreased to about 0·975 but then dropped to a low value at 0·960 a
w; with an amino acid, potassium accumulation was much increased and maximum uptake occurred at 0·960 a
w. [14C]Proline uptake increased linearly with decrease in a
w, the accumulated proline being metabolized in part to glutamic acid and to deaminated compounds; at 0·95 a
w uptake of [14C]-proline reached 1·4 mmol/g dry bacteria. Uptake of aspartate was comparable to that of proline at a
w down to 0·98 but then decreased. Relatively little exo-genously supplied glutamate or alanine was accumulated at any water activity. At a
w levels below 0·98, oxygen uptake by non-growing bacterial suspensions increased with time and accompanied the linear uptake of proline. Proline accumulation ceased when a maximum rate of oxygen consumption was reached. At 0·97 a
w the rate of proline uptake was unaffected by a mixture of 19 amino acids, but the total proline uptake decreased to one-half. In contrast, the proline homologue azetidine-2-carboxylic acid lowered the rate and extent of proline accumulation by one-third.


The impact that natural disasters have on crime is not well understood. In general, it is assumed that crime declines shortly after the disaster and slowly increases to pre-disaster levels over time. However, this assumption is not always confirmed by the few empirical studies that have been conducted to date. In this paper we analyze the impacts that Hurricane Rita, and for the purpose of comparison, Hurricane Katrina had on the temporal and spatial distributions of reported crimes in the city of Houston, TX. Crime data were collected before, during, and after the landfall of both hurricanes. The modeling part of this paper focused on primarily spatio-temporal and local regression models at the local scale. Spatio-temporal models were applied to identify potential spatio-temporal crime clusters associated with the hurricanes. A local regression model in the form of a geographically weighted regression was applied to explore relationships between crime clusters and possible underlying factors leading to the creation of said clusters. The results show that while Hurricane Katrina did not have any apparent impact on crime, Hurricane Rita led to a significant short-term increase in burglaries and auto thefts. The post important result was the identification of a large, highly significant spatio-temporal burglary cluster located in the northeastern part of Houston. This cluster lasted from a few days before to a few days after the landfall of Hurricane Rita. Empirical evidence was found that the mandatory evacuation order that was issued prior to the arrival of Hurricane Rita led to a short-time spike in burglaries. It was assumed that these crimes were committed by individuals who did not follow the evacuation order, but instead burglarized the residences of individuals who did evacuate. No mandatory evacuation order was issued for Hurricane Katrina. Altogether, three variables including the percentage of African Americans, the percentage of persons living below the poverty level, and the distance to the nearest police station was identified as having a positive relationship with the increase in burglaries associated with Hurricane Rita


Fox Land and Property has proposed a residential development at Clayton-le-Woods in Lancashire (NGR SD 5582 2288) and, in order to support the promotion of the site through the Local Development Framework process, commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of the site. The principal aim of the assessment was to identify, as far as possible, the nature and significance of the cultural heritage and sub-surface archaeological resource within the study area, and to establish the impact of the proposed development upon this resource.
Whilst the route of a Roman road between Wigan and Preston (Site 14) has been projected to cross the site, representing its most important archaeological attribute, the only subsequent activity within the proposed development area appears to have been agricultural. The site formed part of Clayton manor until at least the late seventeenth century, and is likely to have been entirely rural. A farmstead named Woodcocks (Site 11), situated just beyond the boundary of the proposed development, is thought to date from at least the late sixteenth century. Another farmstead, Cuerdens (Site 10), lies partially within the proposed development area, and dates from the early seventeenth century. Features in the modern landscape of the site, including field boundaries and extraction pits, reflect post-medieval agricultural practices such as field enclosure and marling. The wider area remained rural until the mid-twentieth century, when suburb expansion encroached on former fields around Clayton-le-Woods.
In total, 29 sites of archaeological interest were identified within the study area during the desk-based assessment, although only 15 lie within the boundary of the proposed development. The sites included the projected line of a putative Roman road (Site 14) from Wigan to Preston, which runs parallel and a short distance to the east of the modern A49. All of the other archaeological sites of interest are likely to be of post-medieval origin, and pertain to agricultural practices. No listed buildings or Scheduled Monuments were identified within the study area, although the site lies within an area defined as 'Ancient Enclosure' by the Lancashire County Council Historic Landscape Characterisation programme, reflecting the antiquity of the surviving hedgerows.
The assessment has concluded that some intrusive archaeological investigation may be required in advance of development. In the first instance, this is likely to comprise a limited programme of trail trenching, which should be targeted on the projected line of the Roman road. The principal aim of the trial trenching would be to confirm the presence or absence of any buried archaeological remains. Any buried remains of post-medieval buildings associated with Cuerdens farm complex (Site 10) would also merit archaeological investigation.The most appropriate strategy here may be a programme of strip and record.


This book provides a clearly written, authoritative, and detailed development of adaptive-control systems analysis and design. The book incorporates many new results and techniques fordesigning adaptive-control systems, and derives many previously known results in novel ways that simplify and lend new insights to the theory. Above all, the book is written in a manner that is comprehensible to a broad scientific audience. Taking a realistic approach, the author presents techniques for applying the theory to solving practical problems and shows how the designer of adaptive-control systems can draw on his knowledge of classical methods to better understand the adaptive-control problem. The book is an outgrowth of several research papers published by the author and of courses given to graduate students at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France.


Over the past decade, sport participation opportunities for females have increased dramatically. The purposes of this study were to compare perceptions of encouragement and support from socializing agents for: (a) female collegiate volleyball players competing during the 1979 and 1989 seasons, and (b ) female collegiate athletes and female and male nonathletes. Female athletes (n = 345), female nonathletes (n = 128), and male nonathletes (n = 88) completed a questionnaire to assess significant others' influence on sport involvement during childhood, adolescence, and college years. Results indicated that interest and encouragement by parents, older siblings, and friends significantly increased for female athletes over the past 10 years during one or more developmental period. Discriminant analyses revealed that female athletes perceived stronger influences from mother, siblings, friends, and coaches than did male and female nonathletes. These results demonstrate that female athletes received greater social support than their peers a decade earlier, and these influences were significantly different than male and female nonathletes.


The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of 150 mg/ml solvent/Kg of body weight of Bauhinia variegata's leaf extract supplementation on neuromuscular coordination, locomotory and exploratory behavior of adult female and male albino mice. Seven week old female and male albino mice were used as experimental animals. Mice were either orally supplemented with 150 mg/ml/Kg of body weight Bauhinia variegata leaf extract or with saline solution for 17 days. Behavioral observations were made by applying a series of neurological tests (rota rod, light dark box. open field, elevated plus maze and Morris water maze). Female mice treated with leaf extract of Bauhinia variegata displayed significantly improved rota rod test performance (P = 0.008) than control group. Bauhinia variegata Linn leaf extract treated male mice had increased dark to light transition frequency than control group during light dark test, leaf extract treated male mice covered more distance (P = 0.03) with higher speed (P = 0.03), remained mobile for longer time (P = 0.01) than control group during elevated plus maze test. Open field, novel object and Morris water maze test performance remained unaffected for both genders when compared between Bauhinia variegata leaf extract treated and untreated mice. Supplementation with leaf extract of Bauhinia variegata improved neuromuscular coordination in female while improved the exploratory behavior in male albino mice.