In that section of my former paper which treats of radiant heat, it was hinted, though from imperfect experiments, that the range of its refrangibility is probably more extensive than that of the prismatic colours; but, having lately had some favourable sunshine, and obtained a sufficient confirmation of the same, it will be proper to add the following experiments to those which have been given. I provided a small stand, with four short legs, and covered it with white paper. On this I drew five lines, parallel to one end of the stand, at half an inch distance from each other, but so that the first of the lines might only be ¼ of an inch from the edge. These lines I intersected at right angles with three others; the 2d and 3d whereof were, respectively, at 2½ and at 4 inches from the first.


Abstract Background Evidence for the prognostic implications of hyperglycaemia in older adults is inconsistent. Objective To evaluate disability-free survival (DFS) in older individuals by glycaemic status. Methods This analysis used data from a randomised trial recruiting 19,114 community-based participants aged ≥70 years, who had no prior cardiovascular events, dementia and physical disability. Participants with sufficient information to ascertain their baseline diabetes status were categorised as having normoglycaemia (fasting plasma glucose [FPG] < 5.6 mmol/l, 64%), prediabetes (FPG 5.6 to <7.0 mmol/l, 26%) and diabetes (self-report or FPG ≥ 7.0 mmol/l or use of glucose-lowering agents, 11%). The primary outcome was loss of disability-free survival (DFS), a composite of all-cause mortality, persistent physical disability or dementia. Other outcomes included the three individual components of the DFS loss, as well as cognitive impairment-no dementia (CIND), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and any cardiovascular event. Cox models were used for outcome analyses, with covariate adjustment using inverse-probability weighting. Results We included 18,816 participants (median follow-up: 6.9 years). Compared to normoglycaemia, participants with diabetes had greater risks of DFS loss (weighted HR: 1.39, 95% CI 1.21–1.60), all-cause mortality (1.45, 1.23–1.72), persistent physical disability (1.73, 1.35–2.22), CIND (1.22, 1.08–1.38), MACE (1.30, 1.04–1.63) and cardiovascular events (1.25, 1.02–1.54) but not dementia (1.13, 0.87–1.47). The prediabetes group did not have an excess risk for DFS loss (1.02, 0.93–1.12) or other outcomes. Conclusions Among older people, diabetes was associated with reduced DFS, and higher risk of CIND and cardiovascular outcomes, whereas prediabetes was not. The impact of preventing or treating diabetes in this age group deserves closer attention.


In this brief, designs of two millimeter wave (mmWave) reconfigurable multi band low noise amplifiers (LNA) are presented targeted for fifth generation (5G) communications. A reconfigurable tunable load based on electrical and magnetic tuning is proposed to cover three mmWave frequency bands for 5G, i.e., 24 GHz, 28 GHz and 39 GHz. Two LNA structures are designed and fabricated using 45nm CMOS SOI technology. The first toplogy (LNA1) is composed of a single input wideband matching circuit to cover frequency operations from 24 GHz to 40 GHz. On the other hand, second topology (LNA2) uses three separate narrowband match inputs, one for each frequency band, with combined output. Design methodology of passive and active devices is presented towards compact integration of LNAs for systems such as, phased arrays. Ground plane and its impact on the performance parameters is also discussed in this brief. Measurement results show a wideband noise figure (NF) ranging from 3.8 dB to 4.9 dB and gain of 8.5 dB to 12.5 dB for LNA1 at different bands. Similarly, LNA2 exhibits NF of 4.5 dB to 5.5 dB and gain of 9.5 dB to 15.5 dB across all bands. Total area (including pads) of LNA1 and LNA2 are 0.316 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$mm^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 0.695 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$mm^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively.


Delivering high quality 3D content through a web browser is still a challenge especially when intellectual property (IP) protection is necessary. Thus, the transfer of 3D modeling information to a client should be avoided. In our work we present a solution to this problem by introducing a server-side rendering framework. Only images are transferred to the client, the actual 3D content is not delivered. By providing simple proxy geometry it is still possible to provide direct interaction on the client.
 Our framework incorporates the Generative Modeling Language (GML) for the description and rendering of generative content. It is then possible to not only interact with the 3D content, but to modify the actual shape within the possibilities of the generative content. By introducing a control layer and encapsulating processing and rendering of the generative content in a so called GML Rendering Unit (GRU) it is possible to provide a scalable rendering framework.


Hexyl nicotinate in a lotion formulation was applied topically to the skin of 10 healthy volunteers with clinically normal skin. Erythematous responses were assessed visually and skin blood flow determined by means of a laser Doppler flow meter which measures the blood cell flux (Pf2 Perimed, Sweden). Mean erythematous responses and increased blood cell flux were dose-related but in several subjects increases in blood flow occurred in the presence of barely detectable erythematous responses. In some subjects, hexyl nicotinate may be an effective cutaneous vasodilator even in the presence of minimal erythema.


Objective: To examine characteristics of youth sexting cases handled by police and their outcomes in response to clinical and other concerns about the risks of sexting behavior. Methods: Mail surveys were sent to a stratified national sample of 2712 law enforcement agencies followed by detailed telephone interviews with investigators about a nationally representative sample of sexting cases handled by police during 2008 and 2009 (n = 675). The cases involved "youth-produced sexual images" that constituted child pornography under relevant statutes according to respondents. Results: US law enforcement agencies handled an estimated 3477 cases of youth-produced sexual images during 2008 and 2009 (95% confidence interval: 3282–3672). Two-thirds of the cases involved an "aggravating" circumstance beyond the creation and/or dissemination of a sexual image. In these aggravated cases, either an adult was involved (36% of cases) or a minor engaged in malicious, non-consensual, or abusive behavior (31% of cases). An arrest occurred in 62% of cases with an adult involved, in 36% of the aggravated youth-only cases, and in 18% of the "experimental" cases (youth-only and no aggravating elements). Most of the images (63%) were distributed by cell phone only and did not reach the Internet. Sex offender registration applied in only a few unusual cases. Conclusions: Many of the youth sexting cases that come to the attention of police include aggravating circumstances that raise concerns about health and risky sexual behavior, although some cases were relatively benign. Overall, arrest is not typical in cases with no adults involved.


Objectives
To examine whether diet supplementation with blackberry or raspberry attenuate angiotensin (Ang) II-induced increase in blood pressure (BP) and decrease oxidative stress in the kidneys of mice.

Methods
Twelve-week male C57BL/6 J mice were fed AIN-93 M diets alone (control and Ang II groups) or supplemented with 10% w/w freeze-dried blackberry (BL + Ang II) or raspberry (RB + Ang II) powder for eight weeks. At week 4, mice were implanted with subcutaneous osmotic minipumps that delivered 0.9% saline (Control) or Ang II (1 µg/kg body weight/day) for another four weeks. BP was measured weekly by tail-cuff plethysmography and validated by direct measurement at endpoint using a BP catheter. Kidney expression of pro-oxidant enzymes such as NADPH oxidases (Nox) and antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutates (SOD) were also measured. Results were analyzed using ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test.

Results
As expected, Ang II significantly increased systolic BP (SBP; 185 ± 4, n = 6, vs 132 ± 2 mmHg, n = 5, P < 0.001) and diastolic BP (124 ± 4, n = 6, vs 96 ± 2 mmHg, n = 4, P < 0.001) compared to control. Supplementation with BL and RB significantly attenuated this increase in SBP (143 ± 7 mmHg, n = 5, P < 0.0001 and 137 ± 4 mmHg, n = 5, P < 0.0001, respectively) and DBP (100 ± 6 mmHg, n = 5, P < 0.003 and 90 ± 3 mmHg, n = 5, P < 0.0001, respectively). Regarding the expression of NADPH oxidases in the kidney, Nox2 was significantly decreased by supplementation with BL (0.68 ± 0.07-fold, n = 5, P = 0.0005) and RB (0.70 ± 0.03-fold, n = 5, P = 0.0008) compared to Ang II (1.15 ± 0.12-fold, n = 5). Nox1 expression was up-regulated by Ang II compared to control (2.03 ± 0.16 vs 1.00 ± 0.00-fold, n = 5, P = 0.0001), but this was not prevented by supplementation with either berry. Nox4 expression was not affected by any of the treatments. Lastly, Ang II did not change the expression of SOD1 and SOD2 in the kidney, however, supplementation with RB significantly increased SOD1 (P = 0.02) and SOD2 (P = 0.005) expression compared to the other groups.

Conclusions
Our findings indicate that supplementation with BL and RB decrease BP in mice which may be related to a decrease in oxidative stress in the kidney. Studies are underway to further elucidate the mechanism by which BL and RB exert their antihypertensive effects.

Funding Sources
Arkansas Biosciences Institute and Lewis Foundation Grant Program.


Emission reduction in transportation requires advancements in aviation technologies enabling fully electrified propulsion, among which the use of superconducting technologies can provide untapped benefits given their low weight and minimal losses for high-power transmission. However, to enable their use in aircraft electrical power systems, additional considerations for electrical and thermal performance during faults is required in order to meet stringent aircraft safety requirements. In this work, a cryogenically cooled electric aircraft power system is studied under short-circuit conditions for different cooling media. This system consists of a fuel cell, high-temperature superconducting (HTS) transmission line, inverter, and motor, where each of their fault models have been explored. A trade-off study of the impedance of the fuel cell is conducted to identify the values at which the superconducting cable remains thermally stable after a short-circuit fault, as it is crucial that the cable does not experience a thermal runaway.


The Department of Transportation is revising its drug and alcohol testing procedures regulation. The purposes of the revision are to make the organization and language of the regulation clearer, to incorporate guidance and interpretations of the rule into its text, and to update the rule to include new provisions responding to changes in technology, the testing industry, and the Department's program.


This paper presents an experimental study on the resistance spot welding of S235JR(Cu) steel sheets used in side walls and roofs of rail vehicle bodies. A timer and current controlled resistance spot welding machine having 120 kVA capacity and a pneumatic application mechanism with a single lever were used to prepare the specimens. Welding duration was chosen to be 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 periods (1 period = 0.02 s) and also welding currents were increased from 6 kA up to 14 kA in steps of 0.5 kA. The electrode force was kept constant at 6 kN. The obtained welding joints were exposed to tensile peel and tensile shear tests and their nugget sizes were measured by means of an optical microscope. The effect of nugget sizes on tensile peel strength and tensile-shear strength was determined using weld lobe diagrams. Based on this data the optimum welding currents and times were advised.


We present several corrections for point-source photometry to be applied to data from the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. These corrections are necessary because of characteristics of the IRAC arrays and optics and the way the instrument is calibrated in flight. When these corrections are applied, it is possible to achieve a ∼2% relative photometric accuracy for sources of adequate signal-to-noise ratio in an IRAC image.


This paper describes a high-speed serial port design approach which uses standard ASIC libraries, tools and design methodologies. Leveraging existing backend ASIC tools and technology enabled us to place, route, and verify serial links running up to 622 Mb/s. Our approach has been implemented on multiple chips and validated with a detailed comparison of Spice to static timing analysis.


We have identified LmaPA2G4, a homolog of the human proliferation-associated 2G4 protein (also termed Ebp1), in a phosphoproteomic screening. Multiple sequence alignment and cluster analysis revealed that LmaPA2G4 is a non-peptidase member of the M24 family of metallopeptidases. This pseudoenzyme is structurally related to methionine aminopeptidases. A null mutant system based on negative selection allowed us to demonstrate that LmaPA2G4 is an essential gene in Leishmania major. Over-expression of LmaPA2G4 did not alter cell morphology or the ability to differentiate into metacyclic and amastigote stages. Interestingly, the over-expression affected cell proliferation and virulence in mouse footpad analysis. LmaPA2G4 binds a synthetic double-stranded RNA polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid [poly(I∶C)] as shown in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Quantitative proteomics revealed that the over-expression of LmaPA2G4 led to accumulation of factors involved in translation initiation and elongation. Significantly, we found a strong reduction of de novo protein biosynthesis in transgenic parasites using a non-radioactive metabolic labeling assay. In conclusion, LmaPA2G4 is an essential gene and is potentially implicated in fundamental biological mechanisms, such as translation, making it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention.


This paper presents the careful integration of a newly proposed Z-source topological concept to the basic neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter topology, for designing a three-level inverter with both voltage-buck and -boost capabilities. The designed Z-source NPC inverter uses two unique X-shaped LC impedance networks connected between two isolated dc input power sources and its inverter circuitry for boosting its ac output voltage. Through the design of an appropriate pulse-width modulation (PWM) algorithm, the two impedance networks can be short-circuited sequentially (without shooting through the inverter full dc link) for implementing the "nearest three vectors" (NTV) modulation principle with minimized harmonic distortion and device commutations per half carrier cycle, while performing voltage-boosting. With only a slight modification to the inverter PWM algorithm and by short-circuiting the two LC impedance networks simultaneously, the designed NPC inverter, with no requirement for dead-time delay, can also be operated with completely eliminated common-mode voltage. Implementation-wise, detailed vectorial analysis interestingly shows that the same generic set of carrier-based modulation expressions can be used for controlling Z-source two-level inverter and NPC inverter with and without reduced common-mode (RCM) switching. All findings presented in the paper have been confirmed in simulation and experimentally using an implemented laboratory prototype.


The ODP Reference Model is one of a number of specification frameworks which are based on the definition of a set of viewpoints that are coupled together by the definition of correspondences between terms. Wherever a correspondence is declared, any real world entity that is represented by a term in one viewpoint must also satisfy the requirements placed by the occurrence of the corresponding term in the other viewpoint. Although this idea represents an intuitively simple and satisfying way of talking about the design of complex systems, the idea of a correspondence is not as simple as it might, at first sight, appear. This paper uses simple examples to illustrate some of the complexities resulting from the coupling of object models and examines the consequences for claims of conformance to the complete system of specifications.


BACKGROUND
The present approach to cancer treatment is often referred to as "trial and error" or "one size fits all." This practice is inefficient and frequently results in inappropriate therapy and treatment-related toxicity. In contrast, personalized treatment has the potential to increase efficacy and decrease toxicity.

CONTENT
We reviewed the literature relevant to prognostic, predictive, and toxicity-related markers in cancer, with particular attention to systematic reviews, prospective randomized trials, and guidelines issued by expert panels. To achieve personalized treatment for cancer, we need markers for determining prognosis, predicting response to therapy, and predicting severe toxicity related to treatment. Among the best-validated prognostic markers currently available are serum concentrations of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) for patients with nonseminoma germ cell tumors and tissue concentrations of both urokinase plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) for breast cancer patients. Clinically useful therapy predictive markers are estrogen and progesterone receptors to select patients with breast cancer for treatment with endocrine therapy and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) to select breast cancer patients for treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin). Markers available for identifying drug-induced adverse reactions include thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) to predict toxicity from thiopurines in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and uridine diphosphate glucuronyltransferase to predict toxicity from irinotecan in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

CONCLUSIONS
Validated prognostic, predictive, and toxicity markers should help cancer treatment move from the current trial-and-error approach to more personalized treatment.


Background: Hydatid disease also known as echinococcosis or hydatidosis , is caused by infection with larva (metacestoide) of tape worms of the genus Echinococcus. Materials and methods: Twelve Rabbits were immunized with three types of antigens (Hydatid cyst fluid antigen; Protoscoleces antigen and Germinal and Laminated layer antigen) according to a specific immunization program and we used indirect hemagglutination test( IHAT) and Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay(ELISA) for detecting the anti-Echinococcus antigens in the serum of these animals. Results: The highest titter of antibodies were recorded in the Rabbit serum when use the first antigen (Hydatid cyst fluid) by using IHA method (1:64)after the end of immunization program while in ELISA method reached (1:128), The serum level for the rabbit serum that immunization with the second antigen(Protoscoleces) has reached (1:256) by using IHAT and (1:512)when use ELISA, The highest titter of third antigen (Germinal and Laminated layer)has reached (1:128) by using IHAT and (1:256) when we used ELISA method. Conclusion: The highest antibodies titer could be found when use the Protoscoleces antigen more than Cyst fluid and Germinal and Laminated layer antigen.


We consider in this work the Boltzmann equation in the presence of a Yang-Mills fields in temporal gauge, which generalizes to the non-Abelian case the electromagnetic field. We prove, using the method presented by N. Noutchegueme and R. D. Ayissi [2], a local in time existence and uniqueness theorem for the regular solutions.


: -The microwave level meter can carry out measurement not only with corrosive/high pressure but also in a high temperature or under an environment with corrosive liquid/gases. Accurate measurement has been achieved even under adverse environment conditions. The microwave level meter contains the self-diagnostic function and informs you of a measurement error of the level meter as soon as possible. Non-contact radar level transmitters are used for the measurement of almost any liquid and many solids in storage tanks, vessels or during processing. Radar level measurement is a safe solution even under extreme process conditions (pressure, temperature) and bi phased liquid and vapours. Radar level transmitters work based on the time of flight measuring principle or time domain reflect metric type. Nucleonic transmitters or nucleonic control systems (NCS) are used in urea plants to improve the quality process optimization and accuracy of the control reliability. In some plants stripper nucleonic LT are using for level measuring.The phenomenon of reducing the intensity of gamma radiation when passing through liquids or solids is used in nucleonic devices for measurement of level of liquids and solids. A gamma-detector converts the gamma-radiation into the output signal. In Old plant having nucleonic LT or delta P type LT can easily converts into Radar LT. and it is easy to install.


ABSTRACT An analytical Bayesian approach to seasonal analysis is proposed, using robust priors to control for extreme observations. Seasonal fan charts were estimated with Bayesian predictive densities. Empirical applications to U.S. residential electricity consumption, Spain's tourism and Bolivian's inflation are presented. The results show that the Bayesian approach allows to investigate probabilistically the seasonal component of a time series, thus accounting for the uncertainty of the seasonal pattern.


This paper mainly studies image design which grey pictures of the traditional culture are applied in modern 2D cartoon. Through Mining and reference in three aspects of Character modelling, the overall attitude, expression means to the shandong flapping gray pictures, 2D cartoon image design can form style of cartoon image Of romantic exaggeration and simple. Image design of cartoon film mulan's organically combines style pictures of the shandong grey modelling, and creates a distinctive artistic form and image design work of rich connotation of cartoon. Through analysis and reference to the expression means, the article provides a new thought and method for the cartoon image design in the future, widen the space of thinking, make modern 2D cartoon image design a new direction and breakthrough.


This article looks at Taiwan's policy towards religion to show that non-Western societies can also achieve what Alfred Stepan called a "twin toleration" wherein the state does not intervene in religious affairs, and religion does not seek to control the state. The paper shows the sets of constraints in which policy-makers struggling for an adequate way to deal with religion operate. They have to choose among a variety of models in democratic societies, to take into account the legacy of the authoritarian era, and to consider the specificities of Taiwan's situation, influenced by a Chinese cultural heritage, Japanese colonialism and observations from other parts of the world. The paper then describes how these constraints have influenced the major stages in the evolution of relations between state and religions in Taiwanese society and then argue that the state had yet to reach a consensus up until 2008 on the legislation of religion because of disagreements between different religious actors.


Just a few years out of graduate school, Caitlin Rivers has become a leading voice during the pandemic. A disease modeling expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Rivers has testified before Congress, advised local health officials, commented in the media, and maintained an active presence on Twitter, where she provides a level-headed, science-based perspective for her 140,000 followers. Policymakers haven9t always heeded her advice—such as developing a national plan to eliminate test shortages and anticipate bottlenecks in the supply of reagents and materials. But Rivers hopes the pandemic will provide an opportunity to revive a proposal she helped lead several years ago to create a National Infectious Disease Forecasting Center, which would put a coordinated team of epidemic modeling experts inside the government.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the adverse effects, particularly generalized aching, of a trivalent, inactivated whole-virion vaccine (WVV) and split-virion vaccine (SVV) for influenza in hospital personnel.

DESIGN
Recipient-blinded study; first-time vaccinees were randomly assigned to receive either of the vaccines from one manufacturer in the 1989-90 influenza season. Subjects were asked to complete a symptom questionnaire during the 48 hours after immunization.

SETTING
Annual influenza program for staff of a tertiary care children's hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
Volunteers were sought among approximately 2200 members of the hospital staff. Of the 358 vaccinated for the first time, 333 (93%) returned the questionnaire.

RESULTS
During the 48 hours after vaccination 13% of the SVV recipients reported generalized aching, as compared with 26% of the WVV recipients (p less than 0.01). Also, the SVV group reported fewer visible local reactions and more transient arm soreness, but the actual differences between the two groups were small. The occurrence of mild symptoms was equally common in the two groups (local reactions in at least 70% of cases, systemic reactions in at least 33%). In each group 1% of the subjects reported missing work because of the vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of SVV reduces the rate of the most objectionable of the common adverse effects of influenza vaccination. Therefore, as with children, it might be more acceptable to health care workers than the current use of WVV.


Instrumentation and control (I&C) systems act as the central nervous system of the Nuclear Power Plant as the erroneous functioning of them can become a reason for an inevitable casualty. The information from these instruments is crucial for plant operators to assess and continuously monitor the plant status. This fact highlights the significance of instrument availability during all possible environmental conditions in a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Along with several instruments used in an NPP, transmitters have gained momentous significance in the instrumentation loop as they provide critical information about the plant status. Therefore, the CN0289 pressure transmitter, which has been used extensively in industrial applications, is taken as an object of study for this paper. The instrumentation availability analysis depends on its evaluation under the faulted environment that may be caused by severe accidents. So, the aberrations in the output of the transmitter circuit under harsh environmental conditions have been observed in a well privileged simulating environment MULTISIM. The effect of accidental conditions like elevated temperature, humidity and high pressure have been analyzed on electronic components of the circuit and components most critical for the instrument availability have been identified. Later, a discriminant classifier has been implemented to analyze the instrument condition under different environmental scenarios for its availability. For this purpose, faulty signals are generated in MATLAB by using the statistical formulas of the faults observed in the output of the transmitter circuit. A set of time-domain distinguishing features have been selected to evaluate the instrument usability by the discriminant classifier. Based on these distinguishing features, a quadratic curve separates the faulty signals from the healthy ones indicating the availability of the instrument in a particular scenario. So, this analysis aids in assessing the instrument performance and later a guideline to ameliorate its design for operation under harsh environmental conditions.


The mesothelial cell integrity of the subdural and arachnoid surfaces in the cat was investigated by scanning electron microscopy after exposure to different irrigation fluids used in neurosurgery, as well as after drying by air. Irrigation for 3 hours with Elliott's Solution B and Ringer's solution retained the morphology of the cells. After exposure to saline for the same time, the mesothelial cells appeared perforated and were sometimes detached from the underlying connective tissue. Exposure to air for 15 minutes induced extensive, probably irreversible, cell damage. After 5 minutes of exposure to hydrogen peroxide, most cells disappeared, revealing the underlying collagenous connective tissue. These mesothelial cell changes might be one cause of the formation of postoperative subdural adhesions. In previous studies, disturbance of the blood-brain barrier was produced by those agents causing mesothelial cell damage. With hydrogen peroxide, widespread thrombosis occurred in leptomeningeal vessels supplying the cortex. Changes in these vessels can obviously be induced easily by fluids applied to the subdural space because of the close contact between the arachnoid and the adventitia of the vessels. This alternative should be considered in the treatment of cerebral vasospasm.


Tobin's Q can be affected by both the internal and external factors. Tobin's Q is a company's performances indicator, so it is important for an organization to manage its effectively. This study aims to investigate the impact of Tobin's Q in relation with firm-specific factors and macroeconomics factors towards the performance of the selected company which is Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Multiple regression analysis of financial ratios of the company is conducted for the year from 2011 to 2015. The findings and analysis indicate that firm-specific factor (Return on equity, ROE) have a greater influence on Tobin's Q of the company as compared to macroeconomic factors. This study is also suggested that the company should improve the ROE, the company is advised to increase its debt with a suitable amount. By having the cash flows in, the company can purchase new assets to generate profit. Even through the macroeconomics factors have a little impact in Tobin's Q, the company still requires in sustaining its growth along the economy conditions by somehow.


The function of chromatin modification in establishing higher-order chromosome structure during gene regulation has been elusive. We dissected the machinery and mechanism underlying the enrichment of histone modification H4K20me1 on hermaphrodite X chromosomes during Caenorhabditis elegans dosage compensation and discovered a key role for H4K20me1 in regulating X-chromosome topology and chromosome-wide gene expression. Structural and functional analysis of the dosage compensation complex (DCC) subunit DPY-21 revealed a novel Jumonji C demethylase subfamily that converts H4K20me2 to H4K20me1 in worms and mammals. Inactivation of demethylase activity in vivo by genome editing eliminated H4K20me1 enrichment on X chromosomes of somatic cells, increased X-linked gene expression, reduced X-chromosome compaction, and disrupted X-chromosome conformation by diminishing the formation of topologically associated domains. H4K20me1 is also enriched on the inactive X of female mice, making our studies directly relevant to mammalian development. Unexpectedly, DPY-21 also associates specifically with autosomes of nematode germ cells in a DCC-independent manner to enrich H4K20me1 and trigger chromosome compaction. Thus, DPY-21 is an adaptable chromatin regulator. Its H4K20me2 demethylase activity can be harnessed during development for distinct biological functions by targeting it to diverse genomic locations through different mechanisms. In both somatic cells and germ cells, H4K20me1 enrichment modulates three-dimensional chromosome architecture, demonstrating the direct link between chromatin modification and higher-order chromosome structure.


During our research we investigated the Mediterranean summer savory's (Satureja hortensis L.) nutrient requirement with different fertilization settings in a small plot trial. We measured the medicinal plant's raw and dry drug mass, and the presence of the main essential oil active agents under the different fertilization settings using SPME (Solid phase microextraction) and GC-MS (Gas Chromatograph mass spectrometer).
From the drug's raw and dry mass perspective, based on the obtained results, in our opinion, the N30P40K60 nutrient requirements were ideal in 2015, while the N60P80K120 nutrient requirement showed the best values in 2016. A significant relationship is assumed between the different fertilization settings and the essential oil active agents' distribution. During the analysis of data, we compared three of the savory's essential oil active agents' percentage of presence in the nutrient requirement samples.


Before the turn of the century, few states used immigration detention. Today, nearly every state around the world has adopted immigration detention policy in some form. States practice detention as a means to address both the accelerating numbers of people crossing their borders, and the populations residing in their states without authorisation. This edited volume examines the comtemporary diffusion of immigration detention policy throughout the world and the impact of this expansion on the prospects of protection for people seeking asylum. It includes contributions by immigration detention experts working in Australasia, the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle east. It is the first to set out a systematic comparison of immigration detention policy across these regions and to examine how immigration detention has become a ubiquitous part of border and immigration control strategies globally. In so doing, the volume presents a global perspective on the diversity of immigration detention policies and practices, how these circumstances developed, and the human impact of states exchanging individuals' rights to liberty for the collective assurance of border and immigration control. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of immigration, migration, public administration, comparative policy studies, comparative politics and international political economy.


Summary
1. 1. It has been accepted that aquatic hyphomycetes colonising submerged leaves increase the nutritional value of leaf detritus and suggested that fungal biomass plays a greater role in the growth of shredders than leaf tissue itself. However, it is not clear what proportion of the nutritional needs of shredders is met by fungal biomass.

2. We fed Pycnopsyche gentilis larvae with tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) leaf discs colonised by the aquatic hyphomycete, Anguillospora filiformis, which had been radiolabelled to quantify the contribution of fungal carbon to the growth of the shredder at different larval developmental stages. Instantaneous growth rates of larvae on this diet were also estimated.

3. When provided with fungal-colonised leaves (14–16% fungal biomass), the third and the fifth instar larvae of P. gentilis grew at the rates of 0.061 and 0.034 day−1, respectively, but on a diet of sterile leaves, both larval instars lost weight. The incorporation rates of fungal carbon were 31.6 μg C mg−1 AFDM day−1, accounting for 100% of the daily growth rate of the third instar larvae and 8.6 μg C mg−1 AFDM day−1, accounting for 50% of the daily growth rate of the fifth instar larvae.

4. These results suggest that leaf material colonised by A. filiformis is a high quality food resource for P. gentilis larvae, and that fungal biomass can contribute significantly to the growth of these larvae. Differences in feeding behaviour and digestive physiology may explain the significantly greater assimilation of fungal biomass by the earlier instar than the final instar. To satisfy their nutritional needs the fifth instar larvae would have to assimilate detrital mass that may have been modified by fungal exoenzymes.


Our randomized double blinded comparison of acetaminophen versus analgesic and antiinflammatory doses of ibuprofen in the treatment of 182 subjects with knee osteoarthritis (OA) systematically evaluated soft tissue tenderness and joint swelling. Improvement in these signs of joint inflammation was associated with lessening of disability (p = 0.02), and reduction in rest pain (p = 0.07), but not with the drug treatment regimen. Thus, joint tenderness and swelling, presumptive evidence of synovitis, may not be a priori indications for use of an antiinflammatory drug, or predict greater responsiveness to treatment with an antiinflammatory drug than to a pure analgesic, in symptomatic treatment of patients with knee OA.


We study the problem of learning classifiers that perform well across (known or unknown) groups of data. After observing that common worst-group-accuracy datasets suffer from substantial imbalances, we set out to compare state-of-the-art methods to simple balancing of classes and groups by either subsampling or reweighting data. Our results show that these data balancing baselines achieve state-of-the-art-accuracy, while being faster to train and requiring no additional hyper-parameters. In addition, we highlight that access to group information is most critical for model selection purposes, and not so much during training. All in all, our findings beg closer examination of benchmarks and methods for research in worst-group-accuracy optimization.


For the present incidence study of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Finland, reliable data since 1964 were available. The mean annual incidence rate of MS was significantly higher in the western part (3.3 per 100,000) than in the southern part of the country (2.2 per 100,000). The mean annual incidence for all MS patients was highest during the second of the three 5-year periods from 1964 to 1978. However, the incidence for women in the western part increased also thereafter. At the same time, the female-to-male incidence ratio changed from 1.0 to 2.2. The results confirmed an uneven distribution with a stable cluster of MS in the western part of the country.


We have not yet established a proper methodology to accurately evaluate the quality of medical services, although such a method is necessary for fair comparison between hospitals and/or improvement in the quality of medical services. The reason is that such a methodology needs a reasonable way to transform qualitative properties of medical services such as doctors' skill or patient satisfaction into quantitative properties that are measurable by data existing in medical databases, but, it has not yet been researched sufficiently. In general, it is not easy to fairly evaluate abstract things such as intelligence and performances by measuring quantitative aspects of them although we often have opportunities to evaluate such things. Moreover, even though we have quantitative properties denoting some useful properties, we need a proper method to accurately represent such quantitative properties in order to make users understand the definitions of the properties correctly.


In high-speed networks, it is important to detect the presence of large flows-also known as elephant flows-because of their adverse effects on delay-sensitive flows. If detected on a timely fashion, network operators can apply active policies such as flow redirection or traffic shaping to ensure the overall quality of service of the network is preserved. Towards this objective, we develop a high-performance data structure and algorithm to address the problem of detecting large flows at very high-speed rates. Our solution leverages the concept of optimal sampling rate under partial information to avoid the need for processing every single packet on the network. With this strategy, we present a prototype of a high-performance network sensor capable of processing traffic rates at 100Gbps and detect the largest flows with high accuracy.


Ever since the phenomenon of predatory pricing came under the antitrust radar in the Standard Oil case it has spurred debate, which was accentuated after McGee's seminal article in 1958 where he reexamined the Standard Oil case and claimed that no predatory pricing had taken place. He was supported by a number of scholars (the Chicago school) and legal commentators who stated that predatory pricing was an irrational strategy and therefore its existence was questioned. Other researchers focused on the economic side and came up with cost analysis approaches like the Areeda-Turner test. This cost based approach was adopted by US courts and later on, EC courts. The past 20 years have seen the introduction of game theory concepts and some researchers even desire more advanced approaches where historical, structural and performance tests are applied. At the same time the US Supreme Court has taken the view that predatory pricing is very rare while the ECJ has taken a more analytical approach, mainly because of the different competition policy goals that are enshrined in the Treaty, namely the concern about single market integration, protection of competitors and the viability of smaller businesses, as opposed to the US where efficiency is the main criterion. There is little agreement on the details on how to deal with predatory pricing, the debate centers around what cost measure to use, if recoupment should be used as a prerequisite, what kind of structural test can be used and if the negatives outweigh the benefits of lower prices. What has become clear despite the transatlantic rift is that a purely cost-based approach will not be enough as it doesn't recognize the complexity of predatory pricing business strategies, for example the use of cross-subsidization. This thesis is a mix between a traditional research paper and a research synthesis. To confer a comprehensive and unbiased view of the ongoing controversy the author has collected data from reports, newspapers, Internet journals and websites, research papers, academic journals and statements from actors involved in the ongoing development. The intent and purpose of this thesis is to give a wide overview of the phenomenon of predatory pricing from a three sided approach using economics, business law and business strategy. The underlying questions in the thesis detail if predatory pricing is rare or common and if there is a trade-off between efficiency and competition when applying business law. The proposed strategic analysis incorporates the elements suggested by the scholars who introduced the structural test approach and then furthers the analysis by use of additional strategic concepts. This kind of test can be useful for both acquittal and conviction of predatory pricing conduct given the legal parameters in existence. The business strategy section will entail concepts like game theory, industry analysis, resource & capabilities, competitive advantage, strategic pricing and corporate strategy. A workable model to predatory pricing assessment should combine a first test of industry analysis and strategic considerations to decide whether predatory pricing is indeed possible and probable and a second test should if needed include price cost analysis, tailored to the industry characteristics which often is hard to establish but with the detailed industry analysis from the first test it should be considerably easier to find the right cost measure. Judgments should be based on a combination of measures applied to the facts of a particular case. The assessment should consider; industry structure, predatory intent, cost issues, the likelihood of recoupment, and possible business justification. The complexity of economic analysis and application of business law can therefore be saved for the most rampant cases of predatory pricing.


The study aims to compare the length of post-operative hospital stay following robot-assisted laparoscopic (RAL) nephrectomies with stays following traditional laparoscopic (LAP) nephrectomies at a district general hospital.

 This study retrospectively compares the post-operative length of hospital stay using information documented on patient's paper notes scanned onto an online system. Between January 2021 and December 2021, 25 patients underwent LAP nephrectomies in this unit. Following the introduction of RAL at our unit, all patients requiring a nephrectomy had this procedure done using RAL. Between January 2022 to November 2022, 33 patients underwent a RAL, 3 of which required conversion to open and excluded from this study. Additionally, data on age, BMI, tumour size and ASA score was collected to identify any evidence of systemic bias.

 Mean post LAP hospital stay was 3.60 (±3.24) nights, while post RAL was shorter at 2.07 (±1.44) nights to a statistically significant degree (p-value=0.0357). There was no significant difference in any of the demographic factors between the two groups (LAP and RAL). When including data for partial nephrectomies (n=20; LAP=11, RAL=9) and pyeloplasties (n=9; LAP=5, RAL=4), length of post-operation hospital stay was still significantly shorter for patients who had undergone robot-assisted laparoscopy. Mean post-LAP hospital stay was 3.56 (±2.62) nights, while post-RAL was shorter at 2.21 (±1.68) nights to a statistically significant degree (p-value=0.00666).

 The use of robot-assistance during laparoscopic nephrectomies was associated with significantly shorter post-operative hospital stays over traditional laparoscopic procedures in this cohort of patients.


Heart disease is one of the leading cause for death of people globally. According to a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), about 25 percent of deaths in the age group of 25- 69 years occur because of heart diseases.Electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the primary tool for the treatment of heart disease. ECG is an important biological signal that reects the electrical activities of the heart. A typical ECG signal consists of mainly ve components namely P,Q, R, S and T wave. Amplitude and morphology of each component contains numerous medical information. The automated detection and delineation of each component in ECG signal is a challenging task in Bio-medical signal processing community. In this research work, a four stage method based on Shannon energy envelope has been proposed in order to detect QRS complex in ECG signal. Peak detection of the proposed algorithm is amplitude threshold free. To evaluate the performance eciency of the proposed method standard MIT-BIH arrhythmia ECG database has been used and get an average accuracy of 99.84 %, Sensitivity 99.95% and Positive Predictivity value 99.88 %. To detect and delineate P and T waves, an algorithm based on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) with PSO has been proposed. For performance examination, standard QT ECG database has been used. The proposed algorithm yields an average Sensitivity of 99.61 % and Positive Predictivity of 99.00 % for the ECG signal of QT database. A long term automatic heart rate monitoring system is very much essential for standard supervision of a critical stage patient. This work also includes a feld programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of a system that calculate the heart rate from Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal.


Nezihe Meriç, one of the most important female writers of Turkısh Literaure, received the prize of Sedat Simav Literature in 1998 with the story book called as 'Yandırma'. The subject of the article is identify the idioms in Meriç's Yandırma, which is one of our female writers who use Turkısh well and to classify them according to their structure and consept one as. İdioms are pattern expresssions in the vocabulary of a language such as proverbs, reduplications, relation words. At leastt two words are searched for in the formation of the idioms. It is possible that the words that make up the idiom are formed in the form of very different elements of linguistic information. Like names and adjectives.At least one of the words that bring the idiom took a fiixed form by gaining connotation due to being used out of real means. Thus a new semantic structure emerges. They became aesthetical by using again and again by different layers of society before the written date of a nation. The common language understanding of the society comes here again. Many cultural elements, beliefs, traditions are possible to find in the idioms. The idioms that are considened by the researchers as the advanced subjects of a language are artistic expressions. İt is possible to find both the stops of Turkish folk poetry and the aesthetic rhythmical voice repetitions. In some idioms, the meaning is forgotten, and archaic words are also encountered. Some words may change in form. İdioms are indispensable language elements in speach and in writing. İt is a new meaning that many words come together. İt is a conceptual field. There is a functional aspect in transmission and formation of thought. İn this context, the texts in the mentioned work were scanned and the idioms were determined in terms of structure and conceptual field.


Growth hormone secretion has been evaluated in patients with Addison's disease given T.R.H., A.C.T.H. or Glucagon i.v., or L-DOPA p.o. In those with the idiopathic, auto-immune variety the mean response to glucagon and L-DOPA was reduced when compared with that documented for patients in whom tuberculosis caused the lesion. Growth hormone plasma concentrations barely changed after T.R.H. and A.C.T.H., irrespective of the aetiology of the disease.


We present in this paper a method for implementing moment functions in a CMOS retina for shape recognition applications. The method is based on the use of binary patterns and it allows the computation of different moment functions such geometric and Zernike moments of any orders by an adequate choice of the binary patterns. The advantages of the method over other methods described in the literature is that it is particularly suitable for the design of a programmable retina circuit where moment functions of different orders are obtained by simply loading the correct binary patterns into the memory devices implemented on the circuit. The moment values computed by the method are approximate values, but we have verified that in spite of the error the approximate values are significant enough to be applied to classical shape localization and shape representation and description applications.


This paper presents a design case that describes the design, development, and user experience testing of a Google Docs revision add-on. The add-on is an instructional, peer review tool intended to help students distinguish surface-level feedback from text-based feedback in order to develop their revision task schema. Eleven secondary teachers completed a survey about using the add-on for instructional purposes, and 56 secondary students completed a survey after using the tool to provide feedback to a peer's writing and make changes to their writing based on feedback provided to them through the tool. Thematic analyses revealed recommendations for modifications and additions to the tool. Next steps include researching the effects of the updated add-on on secondary students' revision task schema development.


We have demonstrated an autonomous two-legged microrobot which has taken its first steps. The body of the robot is fabricated in a planarized silicon-on-insulator (SOI), two-layer polysilicon process and is 8.5 mm /spl times/ 4 mm /spl times/ 0.5 mm in size. We previously reported initial leg motion from an off-board controller but have now incorporated control and power supplies onto the robot, resulting in autonomous operation for the first time. This solar-powered microrobot has two, one degree-of-freedom (DOF) legs and drags its tail end. Leg motion is generated via electrostatic inchworm motors on the robot body. The robot is a three chip hybrid assembled from one chip which contains the robot's motors and legs, a second chip which integrates both solar cells and high voltage buffers, and a third chip which incorporates CMOS circuitry for sequencing the legs. The robot has demonstrated 3 mm of motion shuffling sideways and has lifted its front end more than 300 /spl mu/m above the surface. The total weight of the three-chip robot is only 10.2 mg.


Steemit is a blockchain-based social media platform, where authors can get author rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies called STEEM and SBD (Steem Blockchain Dollars) if their posts are upvoted. Interestingly, curators (or voters) can also get rewards by voting others' posts, which is called a curation reward. A reward is proportional to a curator's STEEM stakes. Throughout this process, Steemit hopes "good" content will be automatically discovered by users in a decentralized way, which is known as the Proof-of-Brain (PoB). However, there are many bot accounts programmed to post automatically and get rewards, which discourages real human users from creating good content. We call this type of bot a posting bot. While there are many papers that studied bots on traditional centralized social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, we are the first to study posting bots on a blockchain-based social media platform. Compared with the bot detection on the usual social media platforms, the features we created have an advantage that posting bots can be detected without limiting the number or length of posts. We can extract the features of posts by clustering distances between blog data or replies. These features are obtained from the Minimum Average Cluster from Clustering Distance between Frequent words and Articles (MAC-CDFA), which is not used in any of the previous social media research. Based on the enriched features, we enhanced the quality of classification tasks. Comparing the F1-scores, the features we created outperformed the features used for bot detection on Facebook and Twitter.


Integration of cross-cutting structural relationships, overlapping sedimentary units, new conglomerate provenance data, and radiometric and palynological dates provides a basis for reinterpretation of the distribution and timing of Late Cretaceous through Paleocene thrust faulting in the northeast Utah-southwest Wyoming part of the Sevier thrust belt. These data indicate a general eastward progression of deformation that was punctuated by local out-of-sequence and hinterlandward-verging events. Provenance data delimit a sequential restoration of a regional cross section. The principal thrust systems in northeast Utah and southwest Wyoming are the Willard, Ogden, Crawford, Absaroka, and Hogsback thrusts. The Willard is the westernmost, structurally highest, and oldest of the thrusts; it carries a unique section of thick Proterozoic sedimentary rocks, as well as Paleozoic rocks, and was folded during displacement on younger thrust systems. The next youngest thrust system is the Ogden, which comprises several basement-rooted imbricate thrusts that together form a large antiformal stack with a structural culmination in the Wasatch Range. Growth of the Wasatch culmination took place during Coniacian through Paleocene time, contemporaneous with sequential displacement on the frontal Crawford, Absaroka, and Hogsback thrusts. Total shortening in this part of the thrust belt was ∼100 km, and structural relief of ∼25 km developed in the area of the Wasatch culmination. During Coniacian through Paleocene time, thrusting followed an overall eastward progression that was interrupted by local out-of-sequence and hinterlandward-verging events. Several episodes of synchronous displacement on two or more thrusts can be demonstrated. Shortening occurred in three main episodes. The first episode (∼89-84 Ma) involved ∼33 km of shortening on the Crawford thrust and its footwall imbricates. Approximately 19 km of structural relief on the basement-cover contact developed in the area of the Wasatch culmination. The second episode (∼84-62 Ma, with a break between ∼75-69 Ma) involved ∼30 km of shortening, mainly on the Absaroka thrust, and development of an additional ∼6 km of structural relief in the culmination. The third episode of shortening (∼56-50 Ma) took place on the Hogsback thrust, involved ∼21 km of horizontal shortening, and produced no significant increase in structural relief in the culmination. Long-term rates of shortening ranged between 3.0 mm/yr and 6.6 mm/yr. These three episodes of shortening produced three large accumulations of synorogenic conglomerate, totaling ∼3 km in thickness. The Henefer Formation and Echo Canyon and Weber Canyon Conglomerates were deposited during Crawford thrusting. The Evanston Formation was deposited during and after Absaroka thrusting, and the lower conglomeratic part of the Wasatch Formation was deposited during and after Hogsback thrusting. Most of the sediment in these synorogenic units, however, was derived from repeated uplift of the Willard thrust sheet and from the eastern flank of the Wasatch culmination in the rear part of the thrust belt. Only local, minor accumulations were derived from the frontal ramp anticlines. Sediment accumulation and structural deformation were generally out-of-phase. Periods of regional shortening and uplift were marked by development of unconformities and sediment bypassing to distal parts of the foreland basin. Periods of structural inactivity were marked by accumulation of aerially widespread, braided-river conglomerate on top of the thrust belt. One exception to this pattern is the Henefer-Echo Canyon-Weber Canyon conglomerate deposit, which contains evidence of progressive deformation in close proximity to the tip of the Crawford thrust. Comparison of the sequential restoration with the Late Cretaceous subsidence history and isopach patterns in the distal foreland basin of western Wyoming demonstrates that the principal controls on regional subsidence and sediment supply were the growth and erosion of the Wasatch culmination. Growth of the duplex beneath the culmination may have been a means of maintaining critical taper in the thrust wedge.


Linking Awareness and Likely Achievement of Global

Millennium Development Goals: Evidence and

Implications for Advocacy from 46 Countries

Peter S. Rankin, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

Elkana Ngwenya, Australian Maritime College, Australia

Abstract: The MDGs are set to be achieved by 2015. With this deadline looming, it is important to assess the level of public awareness of MDGs, and correlate the observed level of awareness withlikely achievement of MDG indicators in the respective countries. In addition, it is useful to relate awareness and achievement with observed Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross Domestic Product Index (GDPI). In this paper, current data on MDG awareness, likely achievement of MDG indicators, HDI, and GDPI in 46 countries are used. Results suggest a positive relationship between likely achievement of MDG indicators and level of awareness in selected countries–indicating that MDG awareness increases a country's likely achievement of MDG indicators. Discouragingly, on the other hand, countries with higher GDP or HDI exhibit lower levels of awareness and a proportionally lower likely achievement of MDG indicators. This observation may suggest that increasing GDP or HDI is associated with lower awareness and likely achievement of MDG indicators. It is posited in this study that increasing the level of MDG awareness in a country is a necessary condition for achieving more MDG indicators. It is essential, therefore, to set up reputable MDG advocacy groups in every country, regardless of the country's current GPDI or HDI. In order to achieve sustainable and equitable global development public mindsets must be moulded into striving for improving human livelihoods, globally, as part of finding mechanisms for augmenting likely achievement of MDG indicators. The shift in mindset is particularly important given the array of country-specific conditions andrelationships that tend to constrain dedication to national, international, and global economic and non-economic commitments. Only with strong public support will the MDGs take precedence in political and social space and a higher global standard of human development be within grasp.

Keywords: Global Millennium Development Goals, MDG Awareness, MDG Advocacy, GDP, Human

Development Indicator


Multiple drug resistance (MDR) exists in divergent cancers including triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and partly results in the resistance to many first-line anti-cancer agents, bringing a big challenge to TNBC management. To develop novel TNBC therapeutics, in our study, a hyaluronic acid (HA)-carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) conjugate linked via a disulfide-bond (HA-SS-CMC, HSC) was synthesized to fabricate nanodroplets (NDs). The NDs encapsulating doxorubicin (DOX) and perfluorohexane (DOX-HSC-NDs) were prepared via a homogenization/emulsification strategy and exhibited not only high biocompatibility but also noticeable tumor cell targeting ability and dual pH/redox responsiveness. Besides, DOX-HSC-NDs can be used as a contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging agent for specific tumor imaging. DOX-HSC-NDs in combination with ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction could improve intracellular drug aggregation and retention of MDR cells and work against multiple mechanisms of drug resistance through synergistic strategies, including up-regulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, promoting apoptosis, and scavenging glutathione, while reducing the expression levels of P-glycoprotein and inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. This combination strategy showed protective effects against TNBC in both MDA-MB-231/ADR cells and tumor-bearing mice. Our study for the first time developed and reported the ultrasound-augmented HSC-NDs as the DOX nanocarrier and provided scientific evidence to support the future application of DOX-HSC-NDs as a potential TNBC therapy.


In this study, a novel methodology of photovoltaic (PV) modelling is proposed to represent the instantaneous electrical characteristics of PV modules covered with snow. The attenuation of the transmitted solar radiation penetrating a layer of snow is rigorously estimated based on the Giddings and LaChapelle theory. This theory introduced the level of radiation that reaches the surface of the PV module through the snowpack, significantly affected by the snow properties and thickness. The proposed modelling approach is based on the single-diode-five-parameter equivalent circuit model. The parameters of the model are updated through instantaneous measurements of voltage and current that are optimised by the particle swarm optimisation algorithm. The proposed approach for modelling snow-covered PV modules was successfully validated in outdoor tests using three different types of PV module technologies typically used in North America's PV farms under different cold weather conditions. In addition, the validity of the proposed model was investigated using real data obtained from the SCADA system of a 12-MW grid-connected PV farm. The proposed model can help to improve PV performance under snow conditions and can be considered a powerful tool for the design and selection of PV modules subjected to snow accretion.


In this work, we used the isolated, Langendorff perfused heart model for arrhythmia investigations, and the data of the arrhythmia analysis served for clarifying and characterising the physiology of the model and also, to validate arrhythmia definitions. In our first investigation we examined the relationship between ventricular rhythm and coronary flow autoregulation in Langendorff perfused guinea pig hearts. It is a well-known fact, that heart rate affects coronary flow, but the mechanism is complex, especially in experimental settings. We examined whether ventricular irregularity influences coronary flow independently of heart rate. According to our results, during regular rhythm, left ventricular pressure exceeded perfusion pressure and prevented coronary perfusion at peak systole. However, ventricular irregularity significantly increased the number of beats in which left ventricular pressure remained below perfusion pressure, facilitating coronary perfusion. We found that in isolated hearts, cycle length irregularity increases the slope of the positive linear correlation between mean ventricular rate and coronary flow via producing beats in which left ventricular pressure remains below perfusion pressure. This means that changes in rhythm have the capacity to influence coronary flow independently of heart rate in isolated hearts perfused at constant pressure. In our second investigation we examined whether the arrhythmia definitions of Lambeth Conventions I (LC I) and Lambeth Conventions II (LC II) yield the same qualitative results and whether LC II improves inter-observer agreement. Data obtained with arrhythmia definitions of LC I and LC II were compared within and between two independent observers. Applying ventricular fibrillation (VF) definition of LC II significantly increased VF incidence and reduced VF onset time irrespective of treatment by detecting 'de novo' VF episodes. Using LC II reduced the number of ventricular tachycardia (VT) episodes and simultaneously increased the number of VF episodes, and thus, LC II masked the significant antifibrillatory effects of flecainide and the high K+ concentration. When VF incidence was tested, a very strong interobserver agreement was found according to LC I, whereas using VF definition of LC II reduced inter-observer agreement. It is concluded that LC II shifts some tachyarrhythmias from VT to VF class. VF definition of LC II may change the conclusion of pharmacological, physiological and pathophysiological arrhythmia investigations and may reduce inter-observer agreement.


Six different bacterial and fungal isolates included Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus sp., Candida sp., Klaveromyces sp.,  Aspergillus sp. and Streptomyces sp. were tested to produce laccase enzyme by using submerged fermentation, Streptomyces sp., Candida sp., and Pseudomonas sp. were chosen as being the heaviest in terms of enzyme production, and were tested for laccase production by solid state fermentation using different supports such as a solid media including sawdust with 0.06% xylene, sawdust and bran mixture (2:1) with 0.06% xylene. By using a combination of sawdust and bran (2:1), the productivity of laccase produced from Streptomyces sp., Candida and Pseudomonas sp. reached 177.8, 144.3 and 103.46 U. g-1 respectively. Streptomyces sp., isolate was chosen for laccase production. Optimum conditions for laccase production was determined from the selected isolate Streptomyces sp. by using an amalgamation of sawdust and bran (2:1) in pH 5.5 and the medium was incubated at 30oC for 14 days. This specific activity for laccase enzyme reached 1315 U.mg-1. The maximum removal efficiency of textile dyes such as (yellow, red and black) by crude laccase was reached 87%, 43% and 74% respectively after a period of 3 hours.


Model based controllers are widely used to control motions of humanoid robots. In most cases these are based on the center of mass (CoM) model of the humanoid. For this it is important that the parameters of this model are accurately known. In this paper we contribute a method to estimate the base parameters of the full 3D CoM model of humanoid robots. This method only uses measurements of the joint angles and static contact forces for a number of postures. We also contribute a method to determine optimal stable measurement postures. The estimation method is verified in experiments on humanoid robot TUlip and a statistical analysis is performed to check the reliability of the estimated base parameters.


AbstractThis work presents an overlook on a new model that simulates the physical operation in steady state of a multi-effect distillation (MED) plant with parallel-feed (P) configuration. This model includes the consumption of steam with steam ejectors, and its validation was done using data from a real MED industrial plant using a thermal vapor compressor (TVC) operating in Italy, in the Sicilian city of Trapani. Results show that the MED model returns accurate predictions of the plant behavior, very useful for a first analysis on such type of investments. This MED model was also integrated into the system advisor model developed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Simulations with this new tool were run using the location of Trapani as case study for a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant working in cogeneration with a low-temperature MED-P plant vs. other cooling options available for CSP plants (wet cooling, dry cooling, and a once through seawater cooling circuit). These results were co...


Classic urban theory suggests that living in highly urbanized areas of the city results in social isolation, social disorganization, and psychological problems. Living in the suburbs, however, is thought to be much more conducive to happiness, because suburban areas have a lower population density, lower crime, and a more stable population when compared to urban areas. Using data collected in 1974 from the Detroit Metropolitan Area, this study evaluates this "happy suburbanite" hypothesis. Results show that people living in the suburbs are no more likely to express greater satisfaction with their neighborhood, greater satisfaction with the quality of their lives, or stronger feelings of self-efficacy than people living in the city. The analyses reveal that social integration and perceptions of the neighborhood are associated with neighborhood satisfaction, whereas employment status, age, housing satisfaction, and neighborhood satisfaction are associated with good psychological health. The results also show that length of residence has the strongest effect on neighborhood social ties and participation in local activities. The implication of these findings for a social psychological theory of community life is discussed.


The present investigation aims at assessing the hepatoprotective effect of triterpene fraction isolated from the stem bark of Wrightia tinctoria (containing lupeol, β-amyrin and β-sitosterol) on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in the rat. CCl4 (1.5 mg/kg, i.p) is a potent hepatotoxic agent which causes peroxidative degeneration of membrane lipids with the potential outcome of fatty degeneration. The peroxidative products induce hypoperfusion of the membrane and cytosolic enzymes appear in the blood, elevation of serum marker enzymes namely SGPT, SGOT and ALP and decrease in hepatic glutathione and SOD. The hepatoprotection of triterpene is compared with silymarin, a well known standard hepatoprotectant. Pretreatment with triterpene fraction (125, 250 and 400 mg/kg, p.o. once a day for 4 days before CCl4 and continued further 3 days) attenuated the CCl4-induced acute increase in serum SGPT, SGOT and ALP activities and considerably reduced the histopathological alterations. Further, triterpene fraction reduced thiopentone-induced sleeping time, suggesting the protection of liver metabolizing enzymes. Triterpenes administration changed the tissue redox system by scavenging the free radicals and by improving the antioxidant status of the liver replenished the depleted hepatic GSH and SOD. Triterpene pretreatment improves bromosulphalalin clearance of the CCl4-intoxicated liver and also increases the cellular viability. These effects substantiates protection of cellular phospholipid from peroxidative damage induced by highly reactive toxic intermediate radicals formed during biotransformation of CCl4. Triterpene fraction afforded protection against the hepatic abnormalities due to presence of lupeol and β-amyrin. This study supports the traditional use of W. Tinctoria bark in liver diseases.


In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) elaborated the End TB Strategy in response to the World Health Assembly Resolution requesting Member States to work towards ending the worldwide epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) by 2035. For the strategy9s objectives to be realised, novel solutions will be needed to address the challenges posed by TB to health professionals and to affected people and communities. Information and communication technology presents opportunities to innovate in support of TB care and prevention efforts. In late 2014, the European Respiratory Society and the Global TB Programme of WHO started a collaboration to promote the wider use of digital technology in TB care and prevention. In 2015 WHO established its "Global task force on digital health for TB" to help steward this process. By early 2016, target product profiles (TPPs) were developed by WHO and partners to define nine priority digital health concepts and products which are advantageously positioned to enhance patient care, surveillance, programme management and eLearning at country level. We discuss how the TPPs are being used to focus the input of end-users, innovators, funders, policy-makers and other stakeholders towards a common purpose and to create products which stay abreast of the state-of-the-art in technology, which can be effectively applied at large scale and which increase the knowledge on their potential impact.


This paper reports on the development and the near infra-red emission(NIR) analysis of Er3+/Yb3+ and Er3+/ Tm3+ ions doped TeO2 - B2O3 – ZnO - Li2O glasses for tunable laser and optical fiber amplification. From the measured near infra-red emission spectra of Er3+/Yb3+, Er3+/Tm3+: ZLiBT glasses have revealed the prominent near infra-red emission bands at 1532 nm (4I13/2 → 4I15/2), with an excitation wavelength of λexci = 515 nm (Ar+ ion laser). The full width at half-maxima (FWHM) values are also estimated from the measured near infra-red emission spectra of the glasses. Based on spectral results, broad near infra-red emissions should have potential applications in broadly tunable laser sources and broad band optical amplification at low-loss telecommunication windows.


This research aims to contribute to Colombia's historical memory regarding the knowledges, experiences, and embodied subjectivities of displaced women, as active members of a society determined by more than fifty years of lasting conflict. Drawing on what has been called the 'affective turn', this work explores emotion as a pivotal bridge between the individual and the social, opening new possibilities for investigating and conceptualizing the subject of feminism as embodied, located and relational. Working with oral and visual narratives of displaced women, this research explores emotional-embodied-experiences of war, violence, and forced displacement, relevant in the constitution of oppressed/subversive subjectivities. Analyzing different spaces women have inhabited, objects they have interacted with, and social relationships they have established, during their forced mobility, this research aims to trace different actors within emotion's sociality, recognizing that emotions of gendered violence are not processes inside victim's minds and bodies, but effects and affects of social dynamics. This analysis aims to contribute to current debates regarding Colombian society's accountability for maintaining and perpetuating social injustices in displaced women lives. By locating participant's narratives at the core of knowledge theorization, this research elucidates new ways of entangle theoretical approaches in everyday life dynamics, widening the influence of the affective turn over cultural and social sciences approaches.


Congratulations on a good broad overview of the history and current status of oral anticoagulant drugs. 1 In this regard, I would like to mention briefly some recent data that may be of interest to readers. Kant and colleagues 2 have described the occurrence of warfarin-induced skin necrosis in relationship to peritoneal dialysis—associated loss of protein S. It is suggested that these losses may become critical in certain settings and, hence, this complication must be kept in mind when managing the patients with peritoneal dialysis who receive warfarin therapy. Ansell discusses the prompt administration of vitamin K and the use of prostacyclin in the management of this condition. Some investigators 3 have demonstrated the continuation or reinstitution of oral anticoagulant therapy in these patients without further skin involvement. It is postulated that, as skin necrosis occurs due to a more rapid reduction in protein C levels compared with other factors


Anesthetic technique in surgery for pheochromocytoma presents well recognized difficulties. Major complications (hypertensive crises, rhythm disturbances, collapse, pulmonary edema and hypoglycemia) can often be avoided by a good preoperative examination and full per-operative monitoring. The choice of drugs during anesthesia and per-operative resuscitation are discussed in this article together with particular situations such as pheochromocytoma in pregnancy or the per-operative discovery of a previously unrecognized pheochromocytoma.


Now a number of advanced control systems take advantage of networks such cis Ethernet ,Fieldbus and Internet as their communication channel. Transmission time delay of these networks mali, lead unstable problems to system. In this paper, the predication of network delay, using neural network is presented first. Then the analysis of the control oriented Quality of Service (CO-QoS) specially with the Internet-based teleoperation is considered and Fuzzy inference is used to construct a quantification of CO-QoS. At last, the simulation results show that this method provides a practical way for the judgment of the network's characteristics.


Abstract The demogenetic structure of the Amiata donkey, an endangered breed from Central Italy, was investigated using information from pedigrees. Genealogical data of 602 donkeys reared in Tuscany were recorded in a database and analysed by the computer package ENDOG. Population size increased from 89 subjects in 1995 to 503 (129 males and 374 females) in 2005. Animals were distributed among 152 herds, but the effective number of herds was 21, suggesting that a small number of herds provided stallions for the entire breed. The maximum number of traced generation was 4, the mean maximum generation was 1.14, the mean complete generation was 0.53, and the mean equivalent generation was 0.78. The average relatedness coefficient (AR) in the 503 alive animals was 0.94% while the mean F was 0.29% so the effective population size was 172.41. Among 24 animals with a 4-generation history, 3 (12.5%) were 25% inbred. Although the incompleteness of genealogical information did not permit accurate inference of the current values of population genetic parameters, the present work represents a first step towards an efficient management of the breed.


There are two views about early-modern algebra very often endorsed (either explicitly or implicitly). The former is that in early-modern age, algebra and geometry were different branches of mathematics and provided alternative solutions for many problems. The latter is that early-modern algebra essentially resulted from the adoption of a new literal formalism. My present purpose is to question the latter. In doing that, I shall also implicitly undermine the former. I shall do it by considering a single example. This is the example of a classical problem. More in particular, I shall consider and compare different ways of understanding and solving this problem. Under the first understating I shall consider, this problem appears as that of cutting a given segment in extreme and mean ratio. This is what proposition VI.30 of the Elements requires. In section 2, I shall expound and discuss Euclid's solution of this proposition2. Then, in section 3, I shall consider other propositions of the same Elements, and argue that they suggest another, quite different understanding of the same problem. Under this other understanding, this is viewed as the problem that of constructing a segment meeting a certain condition relative to another given segment. One way to express this condition is by stating the first of the three trinomial equations studied in al-Khwarizmi's Algebra, by supposing that this equation is geometrically understood and a particular case of it is considered. In section 4, I shall consider this option, by focusing in particular, on Thabit ibn Qurra's interpretation and solution of this equation.


1. Resource users have a curvilinear relation of abundance to the richness of their
limiting resource, with richness defined by the carrying capacity of renewing resource
in the absence of exploitation. The non-linearity means that local unevenness in the
distribution of resources can directly influence the overall abundance of users. This
effect is entirely independent of overall resource abundance. 2. Outcomes are demonstrated for a classical model of consumer aggregations under
conditions of ideal and free exploitation. Consumers that make little impact on the
stock of their limiting resource can benefit directly from environmental heterogeneity.
They can sustain higher abundance in an environment with unevenly spread resources
than in one of equivalent richness with an even spread. Positive effects of heterogeneity
are reduced by density dependence in the exploitation rate, for example caused by mutual
interference between users. Heterogeneity may have a negative impact on abundance for
consumers with a more efficient exploitation of resources. 3. Similar outcomes are predicted for classical models of consumer breeding populations
as for consumer aggregations. At still larger scales, unevenness in the distribution
of resource patches in metapopulations, and of niches in communities, can increase the
abundances of populations and species. Species or communities most likely to benefit
from unevenness in their resource carpet are those most vulnerable to local extinction
from loss or degradation of their habitat. 4. These effects illustrate applications of non-spatial models to spatial contexts. They
show how steady-state predictions are likely to be biased by ignoring any underlying
heterogeneity in the environment.


Steganography has become a preferred technique these days to successfully hide secret messages. Various research has been done in the past to justify and analyze suitable types of cover file, such as images, audio, videos, etc. Advancement in the image-processing domain has opened various possibilities of using three-dimensional (3D) images as cover files. In this paper, a systematic study of the research work done on 3D steganography in the last fifteen years has been carried out. The study is divided into different sections based on the types of algorithms used, additional security features, evaluation parameters, etc. Moreover, certain steganalysis techniques that are applicable for 3D steganography are also discussed.


Waste heat from cooling circuits can be a useful source of energy for other applications, such as domestic hot water heaters. Furthermore, by removing waste heat from the cooling circuit, its effectiveness can theoretically be enhanced. A number of previous studies have shown that waste heat can be effectively harvested by installing a desuperheater in the cooling circuit between the condenser and compressor. More recently, studies have concentrated on applying heat pumps in conjunction with desuperheaters in low energy houses. In this study, we describe an experimental laboratory-scale cooling circuit with a serially connected desuperheater for heating domestic hot water. We were able to verify that installation of a desuperheater between the compressor and condenser significantly increased the energy efficiency ratio of the experimental cooling circuit, thereby confirming the hypothesis that simultaneous use of waste heat increases the efficiency of cooling circuits.


For the identification of salmon adulteration with water injection, a nondestructive identification method based on hyperspectral images was proposed. The hyperspectral images of salmon fillets in visible and near-infrared ranges (390–1050 nm) were obtained with a system. The original hyperspectral data were processed through the principal-component analysis (PCA). According to the image quality and PCA parameters, a second principal-component (PC2) image was selected as the feature image, and the wavelengths corresponding to the local extremum values of feature image weighting coefficients were extracted as feature wavelengths, which were 454.9, 512.3, and 569.1 nm. On this basis, the color combined with spectra at feature wavelengths, texture combined with spectra at feature wavelengths, and color-texture combined with spectra at feature wavelengths were independently set as the input, for the modeling of salmon adulteration identification based on the self-organizing feature map (SOM) network. The distances between neighboring neurons and feature weights of the models were analyzed to realize the visualization of identification results. The results showed that the SOM-based model, with texture-color combined with fusion features of spectra at feature wavelengths as the input, was evaluated to possess the best performance and identification accuracy is as high as 96.7%.


The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic factors related to the outcome of lavage surgery in patients with septic arthritis of the knee. A total of 55 patients with acute septic arthritis who underwent arthroscopic lavage were enrolled in the study. Host factors, including age, medical comorbidities, and medication use, were evaluated according to the Musculoskeletal Infection Society staging system, and patients were then stratified into 3 types: type A, no compromising factors; type B, 1 to 2 compromising factors; and type C, more than 2 compromising factors. Routes of infection were classified. Causative organisms were classified as gram positive, gram negative, mixed, or culture negative. Multivariable analysis confirmed that type C hosts showed more than 16 times the risk for failure of a single arthroscopic lavage than type A hosts. Type B hosts showed no significant differences from either type A or type C hosts. Patients with gram-positive cultures had more than 13 times the risk for failure than patients who were culture negative. Patients with gram-negative and mixed cultures showed no significant differences from the other groups. The sex of the patient and the route of infection were not related to the success of a single arthroscopic lavage surgery. Patients in poor health (ie, very medically ill) and with gram-positive cultures should be counselled regarding potential failure after a single arthroscopic debridement procedure. [Orthopedics. 2018; 41(2):e184-e188.].


Specimens of the paneuarthropod Campanamuta mantonae gen. et sp. nov. are described from the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Fauna of North Greenland. It is one of the most common taxa in the present collections from the Sirius Passet Fauna, being represented by some 1700 specimens (19%) of an estimated total of perhaps 8500 fossils of the collections studied. Unusually, much internal anatomy of Campanamuta has been preserved. However, interpretation of the preserved structures has been hampered by their variable appearance in different specimens and because of the degree of compression that has occurred. This paper describes the external and internal morphology of Campanamuta, and discusses the problems involved in its reconstruction. A model for the internal architecture of the animal is proposed, which recognizes the preservation of apodemes, musculature and the gut, providing the most complete picture of the internal anatomy of any Cambrian arthropod. This morphology complements that preserved in the Chengjiang and Burgess Shale taxa and adds a new source of data for the reconstruction of basal euarthropod phylogeny.


The electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyography (EMG) is an important physiological signal that helps determine the state of the cardiovascular & muscular system; however, this signal is often corrupted by interfering noise. Baseline wander is a commonly seen noise in ECG & EMG recordings and can be caused by respiration, changes in electrode impedance, and motion. Baseline wander can mask important information from the ECG & EMG, and if it is not properly removed, crucial diagnostic information contained in the ECG & EMG will be lost or corrupted. Therefore, it is vital to effectively eliminate baseline wander before any further processing of ECG such as feature extraction. The simplest method of baseline wander (drift) removal is the use of a high- pass filter that blocks the drift and passes all main components of ECG though the filter. The main components of ECG include the P- wave, QRS-complex, and Twave. Specifically, the PR-Segment, ST-Segment, PR-Interval, and QT-Interval are considered as the main segments of the ECG. Each of these intervals/segments has its corresponding frequency components, and according to the American Health Association (AHA), the lowest frequency component in the ECG signal is at about 0.05Hz. However, a complete baseline removal requires that the cut-off frequency of the high-pass filter be set higher than the lowest frequency in the ECG; otherwise some of the baseline drift will pass through the filter. The frequency of the baseline wander high-pass filter is usually set slightly below 0.5Hz.Therefore, knowing that the actual ECG & EMG signal has components between 0.05Hz and 0.5Hz, the fore mentioned simple approach for baseline removal distorts and deforms the ECG & EMG signals.


We calculate the free energy, energy and entropy in the matrix quantum mechanical formulation of 2D string theory in a background strongly perturbed by tachyons with the imaginary Minkowskian momentum ±i/R ("Sine-Liouville" theory). The system shows a thermodynamical behaviour corresponding to the temperature T = 1/(2πR). We show that the microscopically calculated energy of the system satisfies the usual thermodynamical relations and leads to a non-zero entropy.


Trans-scleral Fixation of PCIOL; Ghaseminejad, Ahmadieh Purpose: To report the outcomes of trans-scleral fixation of posterior chamber intraocul- ar lens (PCIOL) combined with complete vitrectomy and prophylactic band placement. Methods: Hospital records of 18 patients who underwent the procedure were reviewed. Indications for vitreoretinal surgery included previous penetrating ocular trauma, complicated cataract surgery and vitreous incarceration, and chronic cystoid macular edema. All patients had iris and angle damage with inadequate lens capsular support. Age, sex, surgical technique, follow up duration and pre- and postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were evaluated. Results: Overall 18 eyes of 18 patients (14 men and 4 women) with mean age of 34.8±23 (range 5-76) years were operated. Mean follow up duration was 36±32.4 (range 6-96) months. Of the 18 operated eyes 7 were aphakic, 6 had complete IOL dislocation into the vitreous cavity, 4 had subluxated cataractous lens and one had a subluxated IOL. The number of eyes with BCVA ≥ 20/40 increased from 3 (16.7%) preoperatively to 9 (50%) postoperatively (P<0.01). Postoperative complications were encountered in 9 eyes and included uveitis, vitreous hemorrhage, repeat IOL dislocation and retinal detachment. Conclusion: In the absence of adequate capsular support, trans-scleral fixation of a PCIOL combined with vitreoretinal surgery seems to be effective for visual rehabilita- tion in selected patients with complicated cataracts or previous cataract surgery. Appli- cation of this technique in children deserves caution. Larger studies and a randomized clinical trial with long-term follow up are required to confirm these results.


The formations of this region are separated by major unconformities into three divisions of equal areal extent: (1) Basement, composed of metamorphosed sediments intruded by granite and more basic rocks, (2) Tertiary, including middle Eocene stream gravel, overlain by rhyolitic, andesitic, and basaltic deposits, of middle Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene age, and (3) Quaternary, made up of glacial, landslide, and alluvial materials. The Tertiary volcanic deposits are separated by lesser unconformities. These, and the major post-basalt unconformity, resulted from episodes of compressive deformation which recurred from middle Tertiary to post-Pliocene time along the Donner zone, which extends north-northwest for 15 miles or more along the crest of the range. Median in this zone, but not persisting throughout its length, is its dominant element, a west-dipping reverse fault, on either side of which are genetically related faults and folds. Bounding the Donner zone on the east is a belt of east-dipping normal faults, some 2 miles wide, which originated in late Quaternary time, after the last compressive deformation. The Donner zone originated as a fold in metamorphic rock. With progressive deformation, the surrounding granite accommodated itself by reverse faulting which was thereafter the dominant activity. During compressive episodes there was folding of both Tertiary and basement where the latter is metamorphic rock, and faulting of both where the basement is granite. However, where younger Tertiary rests unconformably on previously faulted older Tertiary, the younger formation was deformed by folding as well as faulting.


This paper studies the effect of community identity on investment behaviour in the knitted garment industry in the South Indian town of Tirupur. We document very large and systematic differences in both levels of capital stock and the capital intensity of production in firms owned by people from two different community groups. We argue that the differences in investment cannot be explained by productivity differences alone. We suggest that the most likely explanation is that the two communities differ in their access to capital. Copyright 2004, Wiley-Blackwell.


There is no lack of critical literature dealing with cyber‐plagiarism and the implications for assessment in higher education. The practice of the selling of academic papers through the Internet is generally included under the category of plagiarism, although it is suggested that this ought to be considered under the separate category of cyber‐pseudepigraphy. Pseudepigraphy is defined in this essay as the ascription of false authorship to a piece of writing, and cyber‐pseudepigraphy is defined as using the Internet to have another person write an academic essay or paper, without this authorship being acknowledged. It is suggested that cyber‐pseudepigraphy has widespread implications, and five critical issues are discussed. The essay finally raises the prospect of a return to some form of unseen examination as a method of student assessment as a way of dealing with this problem.


SUMO is an innovative proof-of-concept nanosatellite aiming to measure on the same platform the different components of the Earth radiation budget (ERB), the solar energy input and the energy reemitted at the top of the Earth atmosphere, with a particular focus on the far UV (FUV) part of the spectrum and on the ozone layer. The FUV is the only wavelength band with energy absorbed in the high atmosphere (stratosphere), in the ozone (Herzberg continuum, 200–220 nm) and oxygen bands, and its high variability is most probably at the origin of a climate influence (UV affects stratospheric dynamics and temperatures, altering interplanetary waves and weather patterns both poleward and downward to the lower stratosphere and tropopause). A simultaneous observation of incoming FUV and ozone production would bring an invaluable information on this process of solar-climate forcing. Space instruments have already measured the different components of the ERB but this is the first time that all instruments will operate on the same platform. This characteristic by itself guarantees original scientific results. SUMO is a 3.6 kg, 3W, 10x10x30 cm3 nanosatellite ("3U"), with a "1U" payload of <1 kg and 1 W. 5 instruments: an ozone meter, a FUV measure at 215 nm, 2 radiometers (0.2 – 3 & 0.2 – 40 µm) and a bolometer. Orbit is polar, Sun-synchronous, ~600 km, since a further challenge are relations between solar UV variability and stratospheric ozone on Arctic and Antarctic regions. Mission is expected to last 1 to 2 years. SUMO definition has been completed (platform and payload AIT are possible in 24 months). SUMO is proposed for the nanosatellite program of Polytechnic School and CNES (following QB50) for a flight in 2018. Follow-up is 2 fold: on one part more complete measurements using SUMO miniaturized instruments on a larger satellite; on the other part, increase of the coverage in local time and latitude using a constellation of SUMO nanosatellites around the Earth to further geolocalize the Sun influence on our planet. Nanosatellites, with cost and risk limited, are also excellent platforms to evaluate technologies for future missions, e.g. nanotechnology ZnO protection barriers to limit contamination from solar panels in the UV and reduce reflection losses in the visible, or MgZnO solar blind detectors (R&D initiatives proposed to CNES).