The aim of this work is to analyse the teaching situation of Oral Standard Spanish. First, the indications on pronunciation present in the official and unofficial normative documents, as well as in the descriptive publications are revised. Secondly, it is presented the utility of applying this knowledge to the teaching of phonetics and to the teaching and correction of pronunciation as a part of the oral expression. In third place, the contexts in which it is necessary a good command of pronunciation are presented, and the available materials to achieve this goal are also examined. The main conclusions are: the lack of official normative documents that collect the present uses of Spanish, the imprecision and incoherency of the curriculum objectives, the lack of exhaustive and systematic descriptions in the reference books for native speakers which, in many cases, even contain mistakes; the lack of proper material to learn Spanish pronunciation adopting a communicative approach.


Regularity is a shared memory consistency condition that has received considerable attention. Lamport's original definition of regularity assumed a single-writer model, however, and is not well defined when the shared register may have multiple writers. In this paper, we consider four possible definitions of multiwriter regularity. The definitions are motivated by variations on a quorum-based algorithm schema for implementing them. We study the relationships between these definitions and a number of other well-known consistency conditions, and we give a partial order describing the relative strengths of these consistency conditions. Finally, we provide a practical context for our results by studying the correctness of two well-known algorithms for mutual exclusion under each of our proposed consistency conditions.


Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a well known carcinogen. While most studies investigate emission from wood-based materials, knowledge about releasing of HCHO by natural gas combustion is quite limited. This study conducted field measurements in 9 households to address this issue. We found that emission factor is mainly in the range of 50-200 mg_HCHO/m3_natural gas (median value is 85 mg/m3). Emission rate mainly falls into a range of 0.1-0.4 mg_HCHO/min (median value is 0.16 mg/min). It is also revealed that as the natural gas flow rate increases, the emission factor decreases with a statistically significant Spearman correlation coefficient of -0.46 (p < 0.05). The emission rate shows an opposite trend with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.48 (p < 0.05). Formaldehyde generated by natural gas combustion in kitchens can quickly disperse to an adjacent living room when kitchen door is open. A range hood can effectively remove formaldehyde in kitchens if kitchen window is open and kitchen door is closed. Its performance would decrease by half otherwise. These results imply a health co-benefit of reducing household usage of carbon-based natural gas in the age of carbon neutrality aiming climate change.


l:lle or&n and fate of thiocyanate ion in the body have been of interest for more than a century. It has been generally accepted that the ion does not readily permeate normal cell membranes; t.hc distribution of thiocyanate ion in the body is the basis of a method for determination of extracellular fluid volume (1). Despite its assumed extracellular localization, thiocyanate ion is physiologically active. Thus, it may reduce the blood pressure of essential hypertension (2), it may exhibit8 goitrogenic effects (3)? and it may inhibit enzyme systems such as the carbonic anhydrasc system (4). Whether small amounts of thiocyanate ion of endogenous origin are present in the serum and urine of various species has been a matter of some conjecture because methods for its determination in biological fluids have been subject to serious error. It, has been demonst,rsted, however, that ingestion of cyanide ion leads to excretion of increased amounts of thiocyanate ion in the urine (5), and an enzyme system has been isolated which will convert free sulfur and thiosulfate t,o thiocyanate in vitro (6). Intravenous injection of thiosulfate ion as an antidote for cyanide poisoning is well known (7). In att.empting to interpret the physiological activity of thiocyanate ion in terms of its chemical reactivity, we have become interested in the origin and fate of the sulfur portion of the molecule. In this connection, it is of importance to know whether sulfur, once incorporated in the ion, can participate in metabolic interchange with other sulfur-containing compounds. Several mechanisms for sulfur interchange suggest themselves. In vitro, thiocyanate ion is readily oxidized to sulfate and cyanide, or is reduced to sulfide and cyanide. In the body such reactions might have little effect on the thiocyanate content if the newly formed cyanide were eventually reconverted to thiocyanate by detoxication. On the other hand, the original thiocyanate sulfur, if released from thiocyanate ion, could be transformed by known pathways of sulfur metabolism. If sulfide ion were formed, it


We report the case of a 63-year-old man who presented at our hospital with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. He was found to have an anomalous left coronary artery originating from the pulmonary artery. The patient underwent successful revascularization with the use of a left internal mammary artery bypass graft.


Ghost image analysis is of interest for optical designers as ghost images may degrade image quality in imaging systems. In a previous paper by Abd El-Maksoud and Sasian [Appl. Opt. 50, 2305 (2011)10.1364/AO.50.002305], ghost image analysis for incoherent systems was evaluated using geometrical optics. Some criteria were presented to identify focused ghost images at the nominal image plane. The main goal of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding of ghost image formation and its impact on the performance of imaging systems using wave theory and Fourier optics. To achieve this goal, a methodology is developed to model ghost images after considering diffraction effects. Expressions for the ghost diffraction point spread function and the ghost transfer function are presented. These functions are used to construct effective point spread and effective transfer functions. To provide insights on the developed theory, some simulation examples are provided and discussed.


The introduction of 3rd generation networks poses new problems to the integration of existing and emerging technologies. At the same time, it will bring about an opportunity for a much sought-after service unification. The new 3G system will create a new "technological centre of gravity" and is likely to function as an aggregator towards service convergence and network integration. Major changes in current architectures will impact the local loop and wireless access, while core networks may undergo a significant shift from circuit to packet switched paradigms. Technology stemming from both the IT and telecommunication worlds will continue to drive the evolution of access, core and service environments. Within this context, operators and service providers will need to plan evolutionary scenarios for their networks and service platforms in order to meet service requirements. Evaluation methods based on objective criteria will assist service convergence design both across networks and through evolutionary states. This paper describes such a method.


Introduction: Malaria is a serious, sometimes fatal, parasitic disease posing a major public health problem in India. Microscopic detection of blood though considered the gold standard for malaria diagnosis for decades is quite labor-intensive and requires adequate technical skill and manpower. This has spurred the development of malaria rapid detection tests (RDT) based on the detection of malarial antigen in whole blood. Aim: In this study, malaria antigen test was compared with peripheral blood smears from PUO cases in Tuticorin, Tamilnadu from January 2016 to June 2018. A total of 5603 samples were collected from patients presenting with fever, chills, and rigor throughout 2 1/2 years. Thick and thin blood smears were prepared, stained with Leishman stain and examined. SD BIOLINE Malaria antigen detection kit test used for detection of malaria. Results: Malaria was diagnosed in 422 and 442 patients by malaria antigen test and Leishman staining respectively. The prevalence rate of malaria by card test was 7.5% (422 out of 5603), of these 343 (6.1%) Plasmodium vivax positive and 79 (1.4%) Plasmodium falciparum. Peripheral smears for malarial parasite 442 (7.9%) and 363 (6.5%) positive for Plasmodium vivax and 79 (1.4%) Plasmodium falciparum. The blood smear examination could detect 20 positive cases of Plasmodium vivax which were not detected by card test. Conclusion: Our evaluation shows that malaria antigen card test is a simple, reliable and rapid test for the diagnosis as well for speciation of the malarial parasite. The test can be a promising alternative to microscopy in remote and rural areas of our country and as a supplement to microscopy in tertiary care centers.


editing with some good practical questions the writer can ask of their script (but can a novice be honest about their own performance?). One of the reasons I keep reading books on screenwrtting is to find good ideas for teaching my own screenwriting classes. The exercises and examples on character, dialogue and scene construction and plot sequences simply translate the theory. The 'chatty' style is irritating at times and many of the digressions are unnecessary. as if Drouyn has lost the plot. The effect is of inconsistency in the content rather than a more pleasurable reading experience. The aim of (he book is ro encompass both television and film and the different approaches to them. The book did not fulfil its promise. Despite the theory, the practical exercises and the examples used to demonstrate the differences between the big screen and the small screen, the sensation I was left with was closer to a small screen experience and I wanted more of the big screen excitement. This is partly attributable to (he unsophlsrtcared example of a basic storyline used throughout the book concerning 'Sally and Son' thar reads like television (despite films such as Fran and Ladybird, Ladybird). There is little analysis or reference to successful feature films and I think it'S impossible to translate feature film concepts without practical examples from the big screen. But all of this would have required a much longer book. Which brings me back to the original question 'does size matter?' Definitely. in relation to screen size and books on screenwriling, I'm not sure about the thickness of the pencil ...


At present the biggest uncertainty in future sea level rise lies in the unknown contributions from
melting land ice. Recent measurements by the GRACE satellite gravity mission suggest an
accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet, ice mass loss in West Antarctica and significant
contributions from glaciers in Alaska, Patagonia and in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. We model the
response of the global and regional sea level to the anomalous input of melt-water on the background
of ongoing thermal expansion induced by global warming. Local density decrease leads to regional
and global changes of the ocean circulation and oceanic transports of heat. This in turn will induce
atmospheric feedback. Relative sea level change such as measured by coastal tide gauges is
influenced additionally by the elastic movement of the solid Earth and geoid change in response to
present day variations in the mass distribution on the background of the viscoelastic response of the
earth's crust due to past deglaciation. Typical patterns of sea level change due to different sources of
melt-water input are identified. Local deviations from the global mean are located predominantly close
to the source regions of ice melt. An attempt to determine melting rates from satellite altimetry and -
gravimetry is presented.


Recreational areas are designed to promote physical activities as well as provide opportunities for relaxation. Recreational open spaces improve the long-term environmental and social sustainability of cities. These areas offer natural beauty in and around cities while sustaining the environmental equilibrium of city life. They also serve as a socialization hub for people to make contact with each other. They can also be promoting areas for sustainability. Introducing the use of technology in public areas will promote its use in daily life also. One area of technological advances that needs to be promoted for establishing sustainable communities is the integration of renewable energy resources for our daily needs. This study focuses on difficulties and strategies for the integration of renewable energy in recreational areas and evaluates a recreational open space; i.e. Adalet Park in Konya in terms of possible applications of renewable energy sources. Since solar energy potential is high in Konya PV integration is the best option for the area. On the other hand, wind power is not sufficient for producing energy with wind turbines, hence, wind belts and small scale wind mills can be integrated into the park furniture. To this end, the design of various urban furniture with integrated renewable energy systems was prepared for the Karatay Adalet Park in Konya; and the amount of energy that can thus be produced was determined. According to calculations using wind and solar data and a software, it is possible to produce 50 MWh/a of electrical energy with these installations.


Acoustic emission (AE) is an acoustic wave generated by the release of energy from localized sources in a material subjected to an externally applied stimulus. This technique may be used nondestructively to analyze tissues, materials, and biomaterial/tissue interfaces. Applications of AE include use as an early warning tool for detecting tissue and material defects and incipient failure, monitoring damage progression, predicting failure, characterizing failure mechanisms, and serving as a tool to aid in understanding material properties and structure-function relations. All these applications may be performed in real time. This review discusses general principles of AE monitoring and the use of the technique in 3 areas of importance to biomedical engineering: (1) analysis of biomaterials, (2) analysis of tissues, and (3) analysis of tissue/biomaterial interfaces. Focus in these areas is on detection sensitivity, methods of signal analysis in both the time and frequency domains, the relationship between acoustic signals and microstructural phenomena, and the uses of the technique in establishing a relationship between signals and failure mechanisms.


These studies revealed an abnormal elevation in serum thyroglobulin (Tg) concentrations of the thyroiditis-prone OS chicks. Their serum levels, measured by a sensitive and specific RIA, remained high for the first 2 wk of age, a time preceding significant lymphoid infiltration of their thyroid glands. The elevated serum Tg levels probably resulted from, or were related to, hyperactivity of the OS thyroid gland. Reducing the activity of the OS thyroid gland by exogenous administration of T4 caused a temporary but significant reduction in thyroidal infiltration and the synthesis of Tg antibodies. In addition to the analysis of serum concentrations of Tg, a competitive binding RIA was developed to determine whether unique antigenic determinants exist on Tg isolated from OS thyroid glands. This was proved to be unlikely because OS chicks produced autoantibodies that fully cross-reacted with Tg isolated from normal chicken thyroid glands. The relationships between intrinsic thyroid hyperactivity, high serum Tg levels, the sensitization of OS thymocytes, and thyroiditis are discussed.


Economists have provided valuable insights into human behavior, and as a result, are pretty good at policy analysis. They are not very good at explaining savings, however. Perhaps that is because there is much that is irrational in saving behavior and economists are not good at irrationality. Whether irrational or not, we know that within each income group there are inveterate savers and inveterate spenders, and that may be important in trying to figure out how tax policy affects saving behavior.


Objectives: To create basic data for developing nursing intervention protocols to increase the quality of life (QOL) of children with rare diseases and caregivers by comparing the health-related QOL of both. Methods: A questionnaire was used to assess the QOL of patients and caregivers. The data were analyzed using the t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Children with rare diseases and caregivers were rated as having less psychosocial (mental) health related QOL than physical health related QOL. The physical component summary (PCS) of the caregivers was not related to QOL of the children with rare diseases. The mental component summary (MCS) of the caregivers was positively affected with the emotional function (nursing care diseases: =0.072, p=.001; medical care diseases: =0.197, p<.001) of the children. β β Conclusions: Relative to their rare diseases, caregivers generally reported that their child was more impaired, which suggests the need for multiple social supports. These points should be kept in mind when assessing and treating children with rare diseases and their families as psychological interventions that target areas of concern (e.g., coping with having a rare disease) may be helpful for improving child and caregivers QOL.


The establishment and design of regional quality satisfaction index is a fundamental task of the macro-quality management. The regional quality satisfaction indexes are designed and established starting from the theoretical connotation of macro-quality management and based on the observation data of macro-quality, including four quality fields. Based on the division principle of developed regions, developing regions and undeveloped regions, the paper has chosen typical sample cities of Foshan, Jiande and Suining in Eastern and Western China for satisfaction difference comparison between two cities, made empirical analysis of the potential influence factors, and compared the effect direction and size of each factor on the regional satisfaction difference. It is found that, the principal factors influencing regional quality satisfaction are government public quality investment, infrastructure construction and income level. However, in different types of cities, the effect directions and sizes of these three factors are different.


This paper deals with performance of positioning in GSM networks based on received signal strength (RSS) measurements. Each mobile station (MS) collects RSS measurements of the downlink control channels transmitted by the surrounding base stations. These measurements can be used to obtain the MS location by means of calculating algorithm. We examine the accuracy of adaptive geometric and least square algorithms by circular error probability (CEP). Although accuracy of RSS positioning is not excellent, the initial costs are minimal. This is the advantage of RSS based positioning.


Surgery in the head and neck often results in large and complex tissue defects. The free rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap has many advantages for reconstruction of these defects. A good volume of tissue can be harvested with a long and large-diameter vascular pedicle. A reliable blood supply enables thinning, shaping and molding of the flap, and it can be elevated with the patient in the supine position. The harvesting technique is easy with good visualization. The authors prefer this free flap for reconstructing relatively large defects in the head and neck, and have had experience with 55 cases, which were analyzed for results and complications.


Education is an important issue and issue that the nation and the state of Indonesian are facing this time. Besides being important, being able to experience education is also a right for everyone. Lack of education in Indonesia can be seen in the Date Release of the Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2011: Education Development Index wich UNESCO. Indonesia in year 2011 is 0,934 value is what puts Indonesia at posision 69 of 127 countries in the world. the causes could be the result of this lack of special attention to the aducation of the country to a greater extent in areas that really need  the attention of both the regional and the central goverments and not escape from the role of parents and families in not obstructing an increased education.


The goal of the MavHome project is to create a home that acts as a rational agent. The agent seeks to maximize inhabitant comfort and minimize operation cost. To achieve these goals, the agent must be able to predict the mobility patterns and device usages of the inhabitants. We introduce the MavHome project and its underlying architecture. The role of prediction algorithms within the architecture is discussed, and three prediction algorithms that are central to home operations are presented. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these algorithms on synthetic and/or actual smart home data.


Abstract The thesis explores the dynamics and determinants of Greek outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in Bulgaria and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Greek investors do not possess strong ownership advantages, they face adverse home market conditions and yet they have expanded into neighbouring countries. This situation is not explained by the mainstream and emerging literature. Hence, we propose a framework based on push and pull factors which we test at the country, industry and firm levels. Pull factors include the advantages of firms and host countries advantages, while push factors include home market disadvantages and weak advantages of firms. The research is based on an extensive face-to-face survey of 152 Greek OFDI firms (in Bulgaria and FYROM) and employs quantitative methods (descriptive statistics and logistic regression models) as well as case studies. At the country level, we find that beside significant pull factors, adverse demand conditions represent a significant push factor. At the industry level, we examine four industries and check for differences and similarities in their characteristics and their relevance using the Ownership-Location-Internalization (OLI) framework. We show that OLI variables vary significantly across the four industries and that new variables which are not in OLI framework also matter. Finally, we identify four main types of Greek investors: crisis, healthy, satellite and lead and we explore differences in the drivers of their OFDI. The thesis provides a conceptual and empirical contribution to the literature by proposing an alternative framework to explain OFDI based on integrating the OLI and Linkage-Leverage-Learning (LLL) and Comparative Ownership Advantage (COA) models. A joint push and pull model might indicate when FDI at country, industry or firm level, is expansionary or escapist, that is, whether the push factors lead to escape FDI "forced internationalisation" (i.e. OFDI affected also by negative home market conditions), or whether pull factors lead to expansionary FDI.


Abstract This paper is a contribution to the theory and history of the notion of "vulgarism". Starting from a critical reflection on the concepts of Volkssprache, Umgangssprache, Vulgärsprache, gesprochene Sprache, and the analysis of the semantic values of the lexical family of vulgus in grammatical, rhetorical and literary sources, it focuses on the function of the expression vulgō dicitur in legal texts, especially Gaius' Institutes, the Theodosian Code and the Justinian corpus. This expression introduces words or sentences that belong to different social and cultural domains of Latin but all pertain to common and general use. This seems to reflect the influence of the rhetorical principles of clarity (luciditas) and propriety (proprietas) of expression on both the ideology and practice of legal language. Such principles had profoundly moulded the classical ideals of composition and in the legal context (especially in Justinian's corpus) became enriched by the crucial requirements of a successful public communication of the Empire which needed to reach the whole of the population within the Roman orbit with all its cultural and juridical diversity. The paper concludes by posing the problem of understanding the correspondence between the ideology unveiled by the expression vulgō dicitur and the effective use of the linguistic units of various rank it introduces. It is suggested that the meaning and function of the expression may have changed over time and that this could betray the deeper fragmentation of Latin that paved the way to the Romance volgari.


Two types of detectors were developed by conventional planar technology: a p/sup +/-n-n/sup +/ ion-implanted detector and a n/sup +/p-p/sup +/ diffused detector. There was no observable difference in the quality of the detectors manufactured in this way. Both detectors were investigated for alpha and beta spectroscopy and exhibited good energy resolution. With an additional deposition of a /sup 6/LiF converter layer the detectors can be used for detection of neutrons. >


Phloem loading and sugar distribution are key steps for carbon partitioning in herbaceous and woody species. Whereas the phloem loading mechanisms in herbs are well studied, less is known for trees. It was shown for saplings of Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus robur L. that the sucrose concentration in the phloem sap was higher than in the mesophyll cells, which suggests that phloem loading of sucrose involves active steps. However, the question remains whether this also applies for tall trees. To approach this question, tissue specific sugar and starch contents of small and tall trees of F. sylvatica and Q. robur as well as the sugar concentration in the subcellular compartments of mesophyll cells were examined. Moreover, sucrose uptake transporters (SUTs) were analyzed by heterology expression in yeast and the tissue specific expressions of SUTs were investigated. Sugar content in leaves of the canopy (11 and 26 m height) was up to 25% higher compared to that of leaves of small trees of F. sylvatica and Q. robur (2 m height). The sucrose concentration in the cytosol of mesophyll cells from tall trees was between 120 and 240 mM and about 4- to 8-fold lower than the sucrose concentration in the phloem sap of saplings. The analyzed SUT sequences of both tree species cluster into three types, similar to SUTs from other plant species. Heterologous expression in yeast confirmed that all analyzed SUTs are functional sucrose transporters. Moreover, all SUTs were expressed in leaves, bark and wood of the canopy and the expression levels in small and tall trees were similar. The results show, that the phloem loading in leaves of tall trees of F. sylvatica and Q. robur probably involves active steps, because there is an uphill concentration gradient for sucrose. SUTs may be involved in phloem loading.


This study aims to determine the participation of the community in the development of marine tourism in the Village District Olele Kabila Bone Bone Bolango District. The method used in this research is qualitative method with descriptive design. The results showed that community participation in marine tourism development in Olele Village consists of 3 aspects, namely the involvement of the emotional aspects of decision making, social involvement that is maintaining water resources, providing services and security, supervising or monitoring marine tourism, and involvement in terms of Economy that is managing or utilizing marine tourism.

Keywords: community; participation; marine tourism.


The E1M1 transition rate of the 2 s 2 p 3 P 0 → 2 s 2 1 S 0 ?> line in beryllium-like ions has been calculated within the framework of relativistic second-order perturbation theory. Both multiconfiguration and quantum-electrodynamical computations have been carried out independently to better understand and test for all major electron–electron correlation contributions in the representation of the initial, intermediate and final states. By comparing the results from these methods, which agree well for all ions along the beryllium isoelectronic sequence, the lifetime of the metastable 2s2p 3P0 level is found to be longer by about 2–3 orders of magnitude for all medium and heavy elements than was estimated previously. This makes the 3P0 level of beryllium-like ions to one of the longest living (low-lying) electronic excitations of a tightly bound system with potential applications for atomic clocks and in astro physics and plasma physics.


ABSTRACT This article is an invitation to reflect sociologically on statelessness, to date mostly absent from an otherwise burgeoning sociological debate on citizenship, rights, and legal status. Millions of stateless people worldwide confirm the need for a more nuanced understanding of contemporary forms of membership attentive to the interplay of different rights regimes. While the article characterizes the Roma as the undeserving stateless, so alien to the dominant imagination of citizenship as to be even denied access to the procedure for status recognition, it also argues that the experience of Roma families who have lived for years in Italy in absence of any formal citizenship complicates Hannah Arendt's insightful characterization of stateless people as rightless. The lack of any citizenship does not make the Roma bare life, it reveals instead political subjectivity as an embodied and emplaced process, where subjects actively negotiate their position in the world and vis-à-vis the state.


INTRODUCTION
As part of onboarding and systems testing for a clinical expansion, immersive virtual reality (VR) incorporating digital twin technology was used. While digital twin technology has been leveraged by industry, its use in health care has been limited with no prior application for onboarding or training. The tolerability and acceptability of immersive VR for use by a large population of healthcare staff were unknown.

METHODS
A prospective, observational study of an autonomous immersive VR onboarding experience to a new clinical space was conducted from May to September 2021. Participants were healthcare staff from several critical care and acute care units. Primary outcomes were tolerance and acceptability measured by reported adverse effects and degree of immersion. Secondary outcomes were attitudes toward the efficacy of VR compared with standard onboarding experiences.

RESULTS
A total of 1522 healthcare staff participated. Rates of adverse effects were low and those with prior VR experience were more likely to report no adverse effects. Odds of reporting immersion were high across all demographic groups, though decreased with increasing age. The preference for VR over low-fidelity methods was high across all demographics; however, preferences were mixed when compared with traditional simulation and real-time clinical care.

CONCLUSIONS
Large-scale VR onboarding is feasible, tolerable, and acceptable to a diverse population of healthcare staff when using digital twin technology. This study also represents the largest VR onboarding experience to date and may address preconceived notions that VR-based training in health care is not ready for widespread adoption.


In this paper, a isolated soft-switching DC-DC converter topology with high-step-down conversion is proposed. Comparing with the conventional two-switch forward converter, it uses two series inductors L1 and L2 and a clamp capacitor C to achieve the lower output voltage and soft-switching operation. In order to prove above results, detailed steady-state analysis is presented, and an input voltage 380V, output voltage 12V, output current 75A prototype converter was built. Finally, simulation results verify the theoretical analysis and show the significant advantages.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a powerful technique employed in communication systems suffering from frequency selectivity of channel. Coherent demodulation requires channel estimation, which improves performance though with increased complexity of receiver structures. Channel estimation for Wireless OFDM systems require transmission of pilot symbols. For a desired BER, number of pilot symbols mainly depends on Doppler frequency of channel. In this paper, we propose a new scheme of pilot symbol insertion and compare it with existing pilot patterns. OFDM Systems are highly sensitive to frequency offsets and one main source of such offsets is channel phase. In this paper, we also propose an adaptive scheme for channel phase compensation.


The final step of tRNA splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires 2'-phosphotransferase (Tpt1) to transfer the 2'-phosphate from ligated tRNA to NAD, producing mature tRNA and ADP ribose-1' '-2' '-cyclic phosphate. To address how Tpt1 protein recognizes substrate RNAs, we measured the steady-state kinetic parameters of Tpt1 protein with 2'-phosphorylated ligated tRNA and a variety of related substrates. Tpt1 protein has a high apparent affinity for ligated tRNA (K(m,RNA), 0.35 nM) and a low turnover rate (k(cat), 0.3 min(-1)). Tpt1 protein recognizes both tRNA and the internal 2'-phosphate of RNAs. Steady-state kinetic analysis reveals that as RNAs lose structure and length, K(m,RNA) and k(cat) both increase commensurately. For a 2'-phosphorylated octadecamer derived from the anticodon stem-loop of ligated tRNA, K(m,RNA) and k(cat) are 5- and 8-fold higher, respectively, than for ligated tRNA, whereas for a simple substrate like pApA(p)pA, K(m,RNA) and k(cat) are 430- and 150-fold higher, respectively. Tpt1 is not detectably active on a trimer with a terminal 5'- or 3'-phosphate and is very inefficient at removal of a terminal 2'-phosphate unless there is an adjacent 3'-phosphate or phosphodiester. The K(m,NAD) for Tpt1 is substrate dependent: K(m,NAD) is 10 microM with ligated tRNA, 200 microM with pApA(p)pA, and 600 microM with pApApA(p). Preliminary analysis of KptA, a functional Tpt1 protein homologue from Escherichia coli, reveals that KptA protein is strikingly similar to yeast Tpt1 in its kinetic parameters, although E. coli is not known to have a 2'-phosphorylated RNA substrate.


The NLP pipeline has evolved dramatically in the last few years. The first step in the pipeline is to find suitable annotated datasets to evaluate the tasks we are trying to solve. Unfortunately, most of the published datasets lack metadata annotations that describe their attributes. Not to mention, the absence of a public catalogue that indexes all the publicly available datasets related to specific regions or languages. When we consider low-resource dialectical languages, for example, this issue becomes more prominent. In this paper, we create Masader, the largest public catalogue for Arabic NLP datasets, which consists of 200 datasets annotated with 25 attributes. Furthermore, we develop a metadata annotation strategy that could be extended to other languages. We also make remarks and highlight some issues about the current status of Arabic NLP datasets and suggest recommendations to address them.


Primary hyperaldosteronism is the most frequent cause of secondary hypertension. However, it can also be found in apparently normotensive patients, often associated with recurrent hypokalemia and isolated hypertensive episodes.
We hereby present the case of a normotensive 50-year-old female patient with a surgical left kidney mass; however, after anaesthetic induction, surgery was aborted due to a severe hypertensive crisis. She was referred to our Hypertension Outpatient Clinic to rule out pheochromocytoma/ paraganglioma. The anamnesis revealed unexplained episodes of hypokalemia. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring showed normal mean values of blood pressure and heart rate, with an isolated hypertensive peak. Plasma glucose, ions, creatinine, lipids, metanephrines and chromogranin A were normal, but plasma aldosterone was clearly elevated with suppressed plasma renin activity and high aldosterone/renin activity ratio. Primary aldosteronism was confirmed by the captopril test. Abdominal CT was compatible with left adrenal hyperplasia. Treatment with low-dose spironolactone was well tolerated and resulted in normal blood pressure, normokalemia and unsuppressed plasma renin activity. The patient underwent successful laparoscopic removal of a renal oncocytoma.
We conclude that normotensive primary aldosteronism is not harmless; it can be associated with severe hypokalemia, anxiety, depression, hypertensive crisis and cardiovascular damage. Patients can also develop resistant hypertension. Adequate treatment can decisively improve the survival and quality of life of the patients with primary aldosteronism, but a correct diagnosis is needed first. Therefore, it must be considered as a diagnostic possibility in normotensive patients with unexplained hypokalemia or isolated hypertensive episodes.


We revisit the prospects for detecting the Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) effect induced by dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay. We show that with standard (or even extreme) assumptions for DM properties, the optical depth associated with relativistic electrons injected from DM annihilation or decay is much smaller than that associated with thermal electrons, when averaged over the angular resolution of current and future experiments. For example, we find: τDM ~ 10−9−10−5 (depending on the assumptions) for mχ = 1 GeV and a density profile ρ∝r−1 for a template cluster located at 50 Mpc and observed within an angular resolution of 10'', compared to τth ~ 10−3−10−2. This, together with a full spectral analysis, enables us to demonstrate that, for a template cluster with generic properties, the SZ effect due to DM annihilation or decay is far below the sensitivity of the Planck satellite. This is at variance with previous claims regarding heavier annihilating DM particles. Should DM be made of lighter particles, the current constraints from 511 keV observations on the annihilation cross section or decay rate still prevent a detectable SZ effect. Finally, we show that spatial diffusion sets a core of a few kpc in the electron distribution, even for very cuspy DM profiles, such that improving the angular resolution of the instrument, eg with ALMA, does not necessarily improve the detection potential. We provide useful analytical formulae parameterized in terms of the DM mass, decay rate or annihilation cross section and DM halo features, that allow quick estimates of the SZ effect induced by any given candidate and any DM halo profile.


Abstract:This article offers an interpretation of Wharton's first war story in light of classical reception studies. For many First World War writers, the classics offered a way of articulating experiences of war. To date, scholars have not yet acknowledged Wharton's reworking of Homer's Odyssey, the archetypal story of a soldier returning home. I argue Wharton draws on the Odyssey to reinforce her position as an eyewitness to the war in France. She does so to enhance her authority as a noncombatant capable of producing a credible account of the war zone against the prejudices of gender and combat gnosticism. The first allusion to the Odyssey draws attention to the ability of Demodocus, the blind bard, to tell the story of the Trojan War as if (ironically) he had been an eyewitness. Wharton chooses a narrator who prides himself on dealing with factual knowledge, but even he is unable to say what actually happens at key moments of a journey to the war zone. With so many loose threads, Wharton succeeds in giving us a war story that captures the fog of war and the linguistic crisis, which hampers the articulation of experiences far beyond what an individual has heretofore encountered.


The ultrastructure of serous cells from porcine tracheal submucosal glands was studied by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and by cytochemical methods to stain for complex carbohydrates. In tissue fixed and processed for TEM, and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, the condensing granules of serous cells occasionally possessed a hexagonal and sometimes a lamellar substructure. Tissue fixed in paraformaldehyde‐glutaraldehyde and stained with periodic acid‐thiocarbohydrazide‐silver proteinate (PTS) or with phosphotungstic acid (PTA) showed secretory granules stained for complex carbohydrates and revealed a substructure similar to that noted in the condensing granules. The dark staining substructure revealed by either the PTS or the PTA technique appeared to correspond to electron‐lucent areas observed in the condensing granules by conventional TEM. The PTS staining probably demonstrated the presence of neutral glycoprotein, since the serous‐cell granules did not react with a dialyzed iron stain for acidic glycoproteins. Treatment of periodic acid oxidized thin sections with pronase or pepsin prior to thiocarbohydrazide and silver proteinate treatment decreased the intensity of the PTS staining, but did not digest away any components of the granules. The substructure revealed by the carbohydrate stains may be a reflection of the mechanism of packaging or the macromolecular structure of the glycoproteins in the serous‐cell granules.


Text is the main method of communicating information in the digital age. Messages, blogs, news articles, reviews, and opinionated information abound on the Internet. People commonly purchase products online and post their opinions about purchased items. This feedback is displayed publicly to assist others with their purchasing decisions, creating the need for a mechanism with which to extract and summarize useful information for enhancing the decision-making process. Our contribution is to improve the accuracy of extraction by combining different techniques from three major areas, named Data Mining, Natural Language Processing techniques and Ontologies. The proposed framework sequentially mines products aspects and users opinions, groups representative aspects by similarity, and generates an output summary. This paper focuses on the task of extracting product aspects and users opinions by extracting all possible aspects and opinions from reviews using natural language, ontology, and frequent (tag) sets. The proposed framework, when compared with an existing baseline model, yielded promising results.


Quantitative determinations of iron kinetics and hemoglobin synthesis were made on five patients with sickle cell-hemoglobin C disease. The anemia was mild in all patients but one who had the hemoglobin of 10.1 Gm. per cent. All patients were in a steady state during the period of this study. The ferrokinetic determinations demonstrated a hemolytic process in all cases. The mean erythrocyte life span in these patients was 18, 20, 29, 46 and 56 days respectively (normal range, 110-130 days). The hemoglobin synthesis was increased in all. Reduced to terms of daily hemoglobin production per liter of blood, the values were 2.2 Gm., 2.9 Gm., 3.6 Gm., 5.8 Gm. and 6.6 Gm. The latter figure represents a five fold increase over the normal mean value of daily hemoglobin synthesis of 1.3 Gm. (normal range, 1.0 to 1.6 Gm. of hemoglobin per liter of blood per day). The results of the in vivo organ counts demonstrated a significant degree of sequestration of red blood cells in the spleen of two patients. The question of advisability of splenectomy in such patients was discussed.


Objective. With the aim to determine the most effective treatment for primary malignant musculoskeletal tumours in patients aged 65 years or older, we reviewed cases of low- and high-grade neoplasms, surgical margins, surgical methods, and the prognoses of elderly and aged patients at our institution. Methods. Records of 25 patients aged 65 years or older who had malignant soft tissue tumours from December 1986 to February 1997 were reviewed. Low- and high-grade neoplasms accounted for 8 and 17 patients, respectively. 11 patients were aged 65 to 69 years, while 14 were 70 years or older. Surgical margins were wide in 19 cases, marginal in 4, and intralesional in 2. Reconstruction was done using 6 musculocutaneous flaps and/or 4 vessel grafts. As adjuvant therapy, radiotherapy was used in 5 cases and chemotherapy in 3. There was no recurrence in patients with wide surgical margins (determined on the basis of gross inspection of the excised tumour and the cut surface); but there was recurrence in 4 patients with marginal margins, and one patient with intralesional margin. Two patients with intralesional, 4 with marginal, and 2 with wide margins, died from recurrence at the primary site and metastasis, or from metastasis without recurrence at the primary site. Results. Follow-up periods ranged from 4 months to 180 months (mean, 91.6 months). The overall 5-year survival rate was 79.6%; for low- and high-grade neoplasms, the figures were 100% and 69.7%, respectively; for those aged 65 to 69 years and in their 70's or older, the figures were 90.9% and 70.1%, respectively. Conclusion. For geriatric patients, wide surgical margins are required to manage both low- and high-grade neoplasms, in order to avoid multiple surgeries.


When world trade is not free and costless, a less developed country can profitably industrialize only if its domestic markets are large enough. In such a country, for increasing returns technologies to break even, sales must be high enough to cover the set-up costs, This paper studies some determinants of the size of the domestic market, and focuses on two conditions conducive to industrialization. First, agriculture or exports must provide the source of autonomous demand for manufactures. Such expansion of autonomous demand usually results from increases in farm productivity or from opening of new export markets. Second, income generated in agriculture or exports must be broadly enough distributed that it materializes as demand for mass-produced domestic goods, and not just for luxuries. We resort to these two determinants of the size of domestic markets to interpret several historical development episodes.


Novel materials based on Zn(HPB)2 and Ir-complexes were synthesized as blue or red emitters, respectively. White organic light emitting diodes were fabricated using the Zn(HPB)2 as a blue emitting layer, Ir-complexes as a red emitting layer and Alq3 as a green emitting layer. The obtained experimental results, were based on white OLEDs fabricated using double emission layers of Zn(HPB)2 and Alq3:Ir-complexes. The doping rate of the Ir-complexes was varied at 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8% and 1.0%. When the doping rate of the Alq3:Ir-complexes was 0.6%, a white emission was achieved. The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of the device's white emission were (0.316, 0.331) at an applied voltage of 10.75 V.


Background People with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) develop impaired excretion of phosphate. Hyperphosphatemia develops in ESKD as a result of the kidney's reduced ability to excrete ingested phosphate load and is characterized by high bone turnover and increased musculoskeletal morbidity including bone pain and muscle weakness. Increased serum phosphate levels are also associated with cardiovascular disease and associated mortality. These effects are significant considering that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in ESKD, making phosphate control a crucial treatment goal. Objectives To determine the effectiveness of education or behavioral interventions on adherence to phosphate control in adults with ESKD receiving hemodialysis (HD). Inclusion criteria Types of participants Adults aged over 18 years with ESKD undergoing HD, attending dialysis facilities regardless of frequency and duration of treatment sessions per week. Studies with participants receiving hemodiafiltration were excluded. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest All types of educational and behavioral interventions aimed at improving adherence to dietary phosphate restriction, phosphate binder medication and HD. Types of studies Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs, before and after and cohort studies. Outcomes Outcome measures included serum phosphate levels, patient knowledge and adherence to phosphate control methods, chronic kidney disease (CKD) self-management behavior and perceived self-efficacy for CKD related to phosphate control. Search strategy A search was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global to find published studies between January 2005 and December 2015. Methodological quality Risk of bias was assessed by three reviewers prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI). Data extraction Data were extracted using the standardized data extraction tool from JBI-MAStARI. Data synthesis Data were pooled using JBI software. Mean differences (95% confidence interval [CI]) and effect size estimates were calculated for continuous outcomes. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model was performed for serum phosphate levels, and where the findings could not be pooled using meta-analysis, results have been presented in a narrative form. Standard GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) evidence assessment of outcomes has been reported. Results A total of 18 studies were included in the review: seven studies focused on dietary phosphate, four studies focused on medications (phosphate binders) and six studies focused on dietary phosphate and medications. Only one study taught patients about diet, medications and HD to control phosphate. Sixteen studies showed significant improvements in phosphate levels. Meta-analysis of eight RCTs favored educational or behavioral interventions over standard care for serum phosphate control, with a weighted mean reduction of −0.23 mmol/l (95% CI −0.37, −0.08) in treatment groups. Conclusion Overall, educational or behavioral interventions increase adherence to phosphate control. Studies in this systematic review revealed improved outcomes on serum phosphate levels, patient knowledge and adherence to phosphate control methods, CKD self-management behavior and perceived self-efficacy for CKD related to phosphate control. However, there is a lack of sufficient data on how some of the studies implemented their interventions, suggesting that further research is required. Successful strategies that improve and optimize long-term adherence to phosphate control still need to be formulated.


In the present work, the effect of plasma treated ZnO nanoparticle on crystallization behavior and properties of polypropylene(PP)/ polylactic acid (PLA)composites filaments has been intensively researched. Our results show that, although the interfacial interaction between PP/PLA and nano ZnO is very weak, addition of nano ZnO and the proportional relations of PP/PLA in composites induced the increase of percent crystallinity. Tensile results showed that nano ZnO /PP/PLA nanocomposites filaments were strain rate sensitive materials and the activation volumes of the nano ZnO /PP/PLA nanocomposite filaments by following Eyring's equation could be evaluated.


Background Bilateral renal vein thrombosis (RVT) could be due to many different etiologies with varying primary presentations. RVT is often difficult to diagnose early on in the disease process as the patients are often asymptomatic and renal insufficiency is mild or absent. In adults, primary RVT is most commonly due to nephrotic syndrome typically of membranous type. In fact, 40% of RVT in adults is attributed to nephrotic syndrome. Case Report We present a case of a 40-year-old man who presented with gradually progressing left-sided pleuritic chest pain, shortness of breath, and nonproductive dry cough for 2 months that worsened over the past 2 weeks. Initial chest radiography was reported as normal. A chest CT scan with contrast was obtained that revealed massive bilateral pulmonary artery embolism with lung tissue infarction. Upon further biochemical tests and appropriate radiologic investigations, it was revealed that the source of his pulmonary embolism was, in fact, thrombosis of both his renal veins. This was correlated with the laboratory tests that demonstrated massive proteinuria (11 g/d) and hypoalbuminemia (1.2 g/dL) and hypercholesterolemia, which uncovered the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome. Discussion Nephrotic syndrome can complicate any disease that disturbs the negative electrostatic charge of GBM and the podocytes and their slit diaphragms. Nephrotic syndrome is a clinical complex characterized by several renal and extrarenal manifestations, such as proteinuria (3.5 g/1.73 m2/24 h), hypoalbuminemia, edema, hyperlipidemia, lipiduria, hypercoaguability, peritonitis, congestive heart failure, and generalized prothrombotic changes resulting in pulmonary embolism, RVT, and stroke. Spontaneous peripheral and arterial thrombosis, RVT, and pulmonary embolism can develop due to hypercoagulability during nephrotic syndrome. The cause of hypercoagulability is multifactorial, including altered levels of proteins C and S, urinary loss of antithrombin III, hyperfibrinogemia due to increased hepatic synthesis, impaired fibrinolysis, and increased platelet aggregability. Platelet activation and aggregation is further stimulated by high plasma concentrations of cholesterol, fibrinogen, and VWF. Learning Point The purpose of this abstract is to present an unusual cause of PE in a young patient. An astute clinical suspicion led to an early diagnosis of the RVT in this patient and hence initiation of early treatment and full recovery within few months.


Sexual activity and/or reproduction are associated with a doubling of life expectancy in the long-lived rodent genus Fukomys. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, we analyzed 636 RNA-seq samples across 15 tissues. This analysis suggests that changes in the regulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal stress axis play a key role regarding the extended life expectancy of reproductive vs. non-reproductive mole-rats. This is substantiated by a corpus of independent evidence. In accordance with previous studies, the up-regulation of the proteasome and so-called 'anti-aging molecules', for example, dehydroepiandrosterone, is linked with enhanced lifespan. On the other hand, several of our results are not consistent with knowledge about aging of short-lived model organisms. For example, we found the up-regulation of the insulin-like growth factor 1/growth hormone axis and several other anabolic processes to be compatible with a considerable lifespan prolongation. These contradictions question the extent to which findings from short-lived species can be transferred to longer-lived ones.


The environment is an essential component of multi-agent systems, which is often used to coordinate the behaviour of individual agents. Recently many programming languages have been proposed to facilitate the implementation of such environments. This extended abstract is motivated by the emerging programming languages that are designed to implement environments in terms of normative concepts such as norms and sanctions. We propose a formal analysis of normative environment programs from a mechanism design perspective. By doing this we aim at relating normative environment programs to mechanism design, setting the stage for studying formal properties of these programs such as whether a set of norms implements a specific social choice function in a specific equilibria.


Ni-based catalysts are useful for dry reforming of methane (DRM, CH4 + CO2 à 2H2 + 2CO) owing to their high catalytic activities and lower cost compared with noble metals. However, these catalysts have some disadvantages, such as a high activity temperature and high possibility of deactivation. During a DRM reaction, Ni-based catalysts are easily deactivated via carbon formation, a process that is referred to as coking, generated from side reactions. Therefore, retaining their activities without using water and steam for inhibiting carbon formation would be challenging in actual applications. Although several researchers have reported improvements in catalytic activities and stabilities [1], coking and catalyst deactivation have not been completely understood and overcome yet. In this work, structural and chemical changes of Ni nanoparticles during the DRM process were elucidated using in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis. Two Ni/Al2O3 catalyst powders with different mass ratios (5 wt% and 10 wt%) were prepared through the impregnation method, as shown in Fig. 1(a). Firstly, Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and Al2O3 were dissolved into ethanol. After 8 h of stirring, the remaining ethanol was evaporated at 80 °C. Then, the powders were heated in 5% H2 + 95% Ar at 600 °C for 6 h to refine the particle size and reduce oxidized Ni. In this study, 5 wt% and 10 wt% Ni/Al2O3 were imaged in gas conditions at approximately 0.3 and 13 Pa pressure, respectively. To avoid carbon contamination, each TEM observation started at a temperature of 150 °C before introducing the gases, and the electron dose through the specimen was kept lower than


The reaction mechanism of carotenes (CARs) in chain termination against lipid peroxidation was studied using density functional theory. In the presence of peroxide (ROO(·)), the reaction barrier for its addition to CAR to form ROO-CAR(·) is smaller than those for its hydrogen abstractions from CAR and linoleic acid (LAH), respectively. In contrast, the reaction barriers for the O(2) additions of the carbon-centered radicals are ordered as ROO-CAR(·) > CAR(-H)(·) > LA(·). Thus, the chain-termination function of CAR is best demonstrated by trapping the addition radical and suppressing O(2) addition. For either the ROO-CAR(·) or CAR(-H)(·) radicals, β-carotene has noticeably higher O(2) addition barriers than those of their lycopene counterparts. The reaction barrier for the rearrangement of ROO-CAR(·) into RO(·) + epoxide is much smaller than that for the formation of cyclic ether and is comparable to that of O(2) addition. Since RO(·) has a stronger tendency toward hydrogen abstraction than ROO(·), the rearrangement of the addition adduct has to be recognized as an important factor while evaluating the chain-termination potency of a molecule. The overall reaction energy profile reveals that the protective function of CAR is mostly exhibited via formation of the addition adduct. Comparatively, β-carotene is a more potent antiradical agent than lycopene against peroxide-initiated lipid peroxidation.


Among the poisonous plants growing in temperate regions and known to civilized man, Cicuta , or water hemlock, is characterized by a highly pronounced toxicity. Its deleterious effects on the human system are well known, owing to the fact that it is found in nearly all parts of the United States. It is of general interest because poisoning directly traceable to this plant has caused many deaths among men and animals. Recently, in the city of New Haven, a series of cases of acute poisoning occurred simultaneously and from the same source. The resulting investigation which determined the cause to be Cicuta prompts me to report these cases briefly, so as to direct attention to the existence of this plant. Cicuta has been definitely recognized in the United States since the middle of the sixteenth century. Prior to this time, it was confused with Conium and, as it could not be


We present a new computational scheme aimed at reducing the complexity of the chemical networks in astrophysical models, one which is shown to markedly improve their computational efficiency. It contains a flux-reduction scheme that permits us to deal with both large and small systems. This procedure is shown to yield a large speed-up of the corresponding numerical codes and provides good accord with the full network results. We analyse and discuss two examples involving chemistry networks of the interstellar medium and show that the results from the present reduction technique reproduce very well the results from fuller calculations.


The negative evolution of Romanian Quercinae forests health state, needs a careful analysis of the managing methods of these forestry ecosystems, in terms of disease and pests control and management measures. In this paper is presented the prognosis for the year 2015, of Lymantria disappear defoliator evolution, present in the northwestern Transylvanian oak forests. The reports concerning the Lymantria dispar defoliator are being done in all developmental stages of the insect and the detection of infested surfaces is done  after the eggs are depositited in September - October. All analysis performed  upon the samples taken from the three Forestry Departments and four Forestry Districts revealed that defoliator is in retrogradation, which corresponds to the situation in which all adjacent surfaces for analyzed samples will be included in 2015 in the surveillance zone.


It is no longer possible, not even in the strictly theoretical sense, to speak of governability in the abstract. The spectrum of problems presented by the current Latin American reality constitutes the antipodal context in which Huntington's conception of governability was formulated. In analysing the recent political and economic experience in the region, a set of emergent tendencies can be observed which form part of a changing matrix of problems and challenges shared in common. The consolidation of neoliberalism became associated with the formation of restrained democracies. Nevertheless, political events since the 1990s have yielded counter-systemic tendencies and corresponding advances in the sphere of progressive politics. These changes suggest the incubation of new development strategies and an unfolding tendency towards the creation of new forms of democracy.


Percussive-rotary drilling technology was considered many years ago as one of the best approaches for hard rock drilling. It is a key for popularizing this technology on a large scale to design and make an impactor with excellent performance. This paper presents a suit of method to design the percussive parameters for the oil or gas field by introducing the working principle of back-pressured impactor, dividing the working periods of impactor into three phases and establishing the computer emulational model of percussive parameters. It draws a comparison between the results of model calculation and experiment on the basis of analyzing the experiment results of impactor.The conclude provides credible foundation for designing and further ameliorating the impactor.


SHARPIN (Src homology 3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains protein (SHANK)- associated RH domain-interacting protein) as part of the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) catalyses the addition of linear (Met1-linked) ubiquitin chains to substrates. As part of this complex SHARPIN acts as a multi-functional modulator of immune/inflammatory responses through regulation of NfkB activation. In addition, SHARPIN can act as a negative regulator of integrin function. Despite platelets being anucleate cells several studies have determined potential roles for both ubiquitination and NfkB in regulating platelet function. However, little is known about either linear ubiquitination and/or SHARPIN in mouse platelets. In this study, we evaluated platelet function in mice with impaired SHARPIN expression. We confirmed that SHARPIN was expressed in platelets from wild-type mice but not in mice homozygous for SHARPINcpdm allele (cpdm/cpdm) and that this correlated with a reduction in linear ubiquitination. Platelet function in response to thrombin was unaffected. In contrast, CRP-XL-and U46619-mediated platelet responses and thrombus formation under flow on a collagen-coated surface were significantly reduced in the cpdm/cpdm mice. This was associated with impaired U46619-mediated intracellular signalling as well as a reduction in CRP-mediated ERK phosphorylation. Despite the reported role for NfκB in regulating platelet function, inhibiting IκBα phosphorylation did not recapitulate the cpdm/cpdm phenotype. Together, these data indicate that the lack of SHARPIN and linear ubiquitination results in impaired thrombosis and platelet functional responses to CRP and U46619. This phenotype is independent of NfκB pathway inhibition but may involve alternative signalling pathways regulated by linear ubiquitination. Key Points SHARPIN plays an essential role in platelet linear protein ubiquitination and CRP and U46619-mediated platelet function In vitro thrombosis is significantly impaired in SHARPIN deficient mice


Three F 8 -derived breeding lines W6 26740 (RIL 846_34; GP-96, PI 652444), W6 26743 (RIL 846_40; GP-97, PI 652445), and W6 26745 (RIL 847_36; GP-98, PI 652446) of green pea (Pisum sativum L.), selected from a recombinant inbred line population developed by the USDA-ARS in 2002, are unique in combining high levels of resistance to Fusarium root rot (caused by Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc. f. sp. pisi (F.R. Jones) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hans.) with acceptable agronomic traits. They will be useful as a resource for developing root rot resistant green pea cultivars. The parentage of W6 26740, W6 26743, and W6 26745 is a cross between 'Dark Skin Perfection'/90-2131 made in 1994 at Pullman, WA. Dark Skin Perfection is a freezing and canning cultivar characterized by straight, blunt, green, double pods; it was used by pea breeders in the 1950s as a source of resistance to Fusarium wilt race 1 (caused by F. oxysporum Schlecht. f. sp. pisi (van Hall) Snyd. & Hans). 90-2131 is a germplasm release characterized by white fl owers, green cotyledons, a clear seed coat, a black hilum and dimpled seed. This line has partial resistance to Aphanomyces root rot (caused by Aphanomyces euteiches Drechs.), Fusarium root rot, and Fusarium wilt races 1, 5, and 6. W6 26740, W6 26743 and W6 26746 are expected to serve as parental lines in the development of cultivars with improved disease resistance primarily to Fusarium root rot.


This article analyses the Swedish TV series Hållbart näringsliv (HN) to study hegemonic discursive formations over the meaning of the climate crisis. Combining new materialist approaches in discourse studies with a political ecology understanding of the socio-ecological entanglement, we propose the concept of technocratic solutionism to understand how the neo-liberal green economy secures instrumentalist discourses on nature in the Swedish context. The discourse-theoretical analysis of nine HN episodes identifies four nodal points which articulate the technocratic solutionist discourse: capital's leading role, Nordic exceptionalism, substitutionalism and long-termism. We argue that the climate crisis can be understood as a materiality that dislocates capitalist assemblages, which then, in response, deploy a techno-solutionism discourse to protect the core principles of economic growth and profitability while marginalizing potential radical alternatives.


There are no accurate reference ranges for hematology parameters and lymphocyte subsets in Korean native beef cattle (Hanwoo). This study was performed to establish reliable reference ranges of hematology and lymphocyte subsets using a large number of Hanwoo cattle (n = 350) and to compare differences between Hanwoo and Holstein dairy cattle (n = 334). Additionally, age-related changes in lymphocyte subsets were studied. Bovine leukocyte subpopulation analysis was performed using mono or dual color flow cytometry. The leukocyte subpopulations investigated in healthy cattle included: CD2(+) cells, sIgM(+) cells, MHC class II(+) cells, CD3(+) CD4(+) cells, CD3(+) CD8(+) cells, and WC1(+) cells. Although Hanwoo and Holstein cattle are the same species, results showed several differences in hematology and lymphocyte subsets between Hanwoo and Holstein cattle. This study is the first report to establish reference ranges of hematology and lymphocyte subsets in adult Hanwoo cattle.


Oil is a very critical and essential product to the international community to such an extent that it benefits the globe especially in terms of reserves and production at totally different levels. While the reserves are beneficial to the Southern developing nations of the world, the Northern developed countries are appreciably put at a serious disadvantage in areas that relate to reserves and production of oil. It is however important to note that oil is such a very important product to both the North that is disadvantaged in reserves and production and equally to developing nations that have great reserves and are at advantage in production. It can in fact be asserted that oil is by far much more needed in the developed countries than in developing ones. This is clearly reflected and represented in the consumption levels of developed nations which are by far higher and greater than those in developing nations. In fact to an appreciable extent, the civilization of the western, Northern, developed, technologically advanced countries are strongly attached to adequate and regular supply of oil. Invariably therefore, it has become imperative that those nations strategise at employing new sources of oil supply that will be internal and which will considerably reduce dependence on the outside.


The structural gene for deoxyguanosine triphosphate triphosphohydrolase (dGTPase) (EC 22.214.171.124) and its regulator, optA, have been located on a lambda phage carrying a 17.5kb Escherichia coli DNA insert. The DNA fragment has been excised and ligated into pBR325 and also transferred to another lambda vector. From the results of transduction and transformation experiments, we find that the structural gene for dGTPase is very closely linked to optA and dapD, which locates it at approximately 3.6 minutes on the genetic map of E. coli K12. We propose the mnemonic dgt as the designation for the structural gene for this enzyme.


We have studied the in- and out-of-plane magnetic penetration depths in the hole-doped iron-based superconductor Ba1-xKxFe2As2 (T-c approximate to 30 K). Single crystals grown from different fluxes and by different groups showed nearly identical results. The in-plane London penetration depth lambda(ab) is not exponentially saturating at low temperature, as would be expected from a fully gapped superconductor. Instead, lambda(ab)(T) shows a power-law behavior, lambda proportional to T-n (n approximate to 2), down to T approximate to 0.02T(c), similar to the electron-doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)(2)As-2. The penetration depth anisotropy gamma(lambda)=lambda(c)(T)/lambda(ab)(T) increases upon cooling, opposite to the trend observed in the anisotropy of the upper critical field, gamma(xi)=H-c2(perpendicular to c)(0)/H-c2(c)(0). These are universal characteristics of both the electron- and hole-doped 122 systems, suggesting unconventional multigap superconductivity. The behavior of the in-plane superfluid density rho(ab)(T) is discussed in light of existing theoretical models proposed for the iron pnictide superconductors.


A new method for calculating the image resolution for a near-infrared time-of-flight tissue-imaging system is presented. The image resolution is calculated from the full width at half-maximum of the photon-path function along the midplane of the medium, integrated over all times of flight, and weighted by the time-resolved detector response. Detailed treatment of the optical gating mechanism shows that for some types of gating mechanism, there exists an optimal gating time beyond which the image resolution is not improved by arbitrarily decreasing the gating time. This theory predicts a limiting image resolution of~20% of the medium thickness, which is consistent with the research of others.


In this paper, chaos control in the vehicle during passaging of intermittent roughness has been investigated using a fuzzy fast terminal sliding mode control method. For this purpose, the nonlinear half model for the vehicle is considered due to the nonlinear behavior of the springs and dampers used in the suspension system and tires. Initially, the dynamical equations of motion are derived using the Newton-Euler laws and then are solved using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method. In order to analyze the chaotic dynamics, the nonlinear dynamic system is studied by the specific techniques for identifying the chaotic behaviors such as frequency response diagrams, bifurcation diagrams, frequency spectra, phase plane trajectories, Poincare  section and max Lyapunov exponent. Therefore, using these methods, the chaotic zones along with the critical values in order to excite chaos based on the input force of the road surface are depicted on the uncontrolled model. Consequently, in order to eliminate this chaotic behavior, the control signals in the active suspension system are generated using the novel fuzzy fast terminal sliding mode control algorithm. According to the simulation results of the feedback system, the unwanted vibrations in the suspension system can be stabilized at a proper time via the efficient fuzzy fast terminal sliding mode controller beside the rejection of the irregular chaotic behaviors.


THIS MONOGRAPH challenges the thesis that biblical wisdom literature, especially the Book of Proverbs, is: (1) best understood as the product of a special group of "wise" associated with the royal court; and (2) concerned with the education of administrators in ways that find analogues in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, particularly Egypt and Mesopotamia. Weeks maintains that this traditional thesis fails to take seriously either the biblical material or the comparative texts from the ancient Near East. The study begins by examining the Book of Proverbs and the ways in which especially Egyptian literature can be used to define the content, form, and intention of this "wisdom" material. A careful study of possible ways to organize this complex book forms the core of the presentation. Remaining chapters address other fundamental tenets concerning biblical wisdom: its court setting; its secular character; its association with and composition by a special group called the "wise"; the authorship of the Joseph story (Gen. 37-50) by the "wise"; Solomon's special relationship to wisdom; the existence of "schools" in ancient Israel that used this wisdom literature. Weeks attempts to demonstrate the fragility and unlikelihood of each of these tenets through examination of comparative evidence as well as careful exegetical comments on pertinent biblical texts. While he has no counterthesis to propose, Weeks clearly believes that a broader and less specific view of biblical wisdom is warranted by the nature of the texts themselves as well as by comparative data from Egypt. This study provides a well-argued and clear discussion of some important areas where research on the nature of wisdom, its literature, and its carriers currently takes place. Anyone who wishes to understand the basic history and current assumptions about wisdom will be enriched by reading this book. The comparative data with other ancient Near Eastern materials is especially valuable, including a helpful appendix at the end of the study. At the same time, students not familiar with wisdom research may be misled by the arguments in this book. Far from being "groundbreaking" (a claim made on the jacket cover), this study must be connected to many investigations of wisdom that are questioning the consensus of the past and pushing forward in new directions (e.g., the work of R. N. Whybray, J. L. Crenshaw, R. E. Murphy, L. G. Perdue). It is precisely here that the book is least helpful—the plotting of new directions. The critiques of the past are well taken, but little is proposed to replace them. Nevertheless, this book contributes to our present knowledge of wisdom in Israel and provides important comparative data that will be valuable in our future study.


Giant cell tumor of bone is a benign, but potentially aggressive lesion that can show local recurrence and metastases. We report here on a case of a 29-year-old man who presented with an incidentally found mediastinal mass. Chest radiography and computed tomography showed a huge mediastinal mass with bilateral pulmonary nodules and the diagnosis of giant cell tumor with benign pulmonary metastasis was confirmed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of primary thoracic spinal giant cell tumor manifesting as a huge mediastinal mass with pulmonary metastases.


The HLA-A, -B -C typing of 100 bricklayers was performed. 50 bricklayers had developed contact allergy to chromium while 50 were healthy bricklayers. The distribution of HLA antigens were equal in the 2 groups.


Aim. Transpedicular screw fixation is widely used in spinal surgery. But the insertion of pedicle screws can sometimes be challenging because of the variability in pedicle size and the proximity of nerve roots. Methods. We detected intraoperatively the sensitivity for iatrogenic pedicel perforation with a hand-held electronic conductivity measurement device (ECD) that measures electrical conductivity of tissue-medium surrounding the instrument tip. ECD was used to guide the placement of 84 pedicle screws in 15 patients undergoing surgery for tumor or degenerative spinal disease at various spinal levels from T8 to L5. Additionally a CT-scan controlled screw positioning postoperatively. Results. The placement was "correct" (no mediocaudal pedicle wall penetration) for 78 of 84 (92,8%) screws, "suboptimal but acceptable" (0–2 mm penetration) for 4 of 84 (4,8%) screws, and "misplaced" (penetration > 2 mm) for 2 of 84 (2,4%) screws. Conclusion. Although this study was not designed to compare electronic conductivity technique to other guidance methods, such as fluoroscopy or navigation, a convincing "proof of concept" for ECD use in spinal instrumentation could be demonstrated. Advantages include easy handling without time-consuming setup and reduced X-ray exposure. However, further investigations are necessary to evaluate i.a. the economic aspects for this single-use developed instrument.


A close examiniation of several indices of contractility derived from the ventricular pressure was made using an isolated canine heart preparation. The repsonses to single intracoronary injections of calcium chloride as well as to increasing doses of this agent were tested. From the latter, calcium dose-transient-response curves intended to reveal the extent of myocardial/contractile reserve were constructed. Indices included various extrapolations to maximal velocity of shortening at zero load, maximal value of the quotient of the first derivative and ventricular pressure, time-tension index, energy averaged power density, and power averaged rate of generation of power density. Indices were compared over the same cardiac cycles before and after administration of calcium. Most indices showed increments from 10 to 20%, except power density functions which had increments of 40 and 70%, respectively. Calcium dose-response curves were linear for most indices, but, again, the power density functions showed the steepest slopes. After severe coronary occlusion, the curves for most indices flattened and lost linearity and, presumably, this was due to loss of myocardial contractile reserve. For milder occlusions, only the power density functions showed significant flattening. The conceptual framework of a contractile myocardial reserve appears supported by these results.


This chapter presents a detailed account of the known and under-development applications of nanotechnologies for food ingredients, additives and supplements. It discusses the role of nanostructures and nanomaterials in developing new food textures and tastes. Because of high surface area, a relatively small amount of a nano-sized additive may be sufficient to deliver a much greater perception of a taste or flavour. This may enable a reduction in the amount of salt, fat, and other additives in food, such as artificial colours, flavouring agents, preservatives etc, whilst still offering improved aesthetic, nutritional, and health benefits. Other application areas involve the use of nanomaterials for antimicrobial properties, and nano-sized supplements that are claimed for enhanced uptake and bioavailability in the body. The chapter also discusses the likely translocation, uptake and digestion of nanomaterials in the gastrointestinal tract, and suggests that the use of 'soft' (soluble, digestible, non-biopersistent) nanomaterials, such as food nanostructures and nano-emulsions, is likely to spearhead the way for nanotechnology innovations in the (health)food sectors.


Abstract This article sheds light on the salient and far-reaching pattern of association-forming among Jewish immigrants from Muslim countries in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. They were formally established associations that operated by means of representatives and spokespersons and strove to mediate between the population group that they represented and the state authorities that dealt with immigration and its integration. Interestingly, although few of the members or leaders of these entities have lived under democratic regimes, they established organizations that operated on the basis of democratic principles: election of representatives, holding members' assemblies, and freedom of expression. They articulated their positions publicly and openly and were not deterred from criticizing policymakers, even those in the highest of echelons. The extent of the phenomenon challenges the conventional image in research on immigration to Israel from the Islamic countries—that of a passive, dependent population that has no voice of its own. Additionally, it suggests that the volunteer organizations' pressure and contacts with the authorities paid off and influenced policymakers' agendas—leading to an additional assumption that immigrant absorption policy was crafted via exchange and interaction and not solely in a "top-down" manner.


The Tangled Field Barbara McClintock's Search for the Patterns of Genetic Control. Nathaniel C. Comfort. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001. 357 pp. $37.50, £25.95. ISBN 0-674-00456-6. Comfort focuses on the development and context of McClintock's research. He argues that, contrary to current opinion, her work on transposition was both understood and appreciated, although her ideas on "controlling elements" failed to convince her colleagues.


Humans acquire vitamin D through skin photosynthesis and digestive intake. Two hydroxylations are needed to obtain the bioactive compound, the first produces 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and the second 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D]. There is no consensus regarding the appropriate cut-off level to define the normal serum 25(OH)D range. Experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies have related low vitamin D status with longevity. Although some results are controversial, low serum 25(OH)D levels have been linked to all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and infectious related mortality. Throughout life span a significant proportion of human beings display insufficient (20-30 ng/mL) or deficient (<20 ng/mL) serum 25(OH)D levels. Appropriate lifestyle changes, such as regular short exposures to sunlight (15 min a day), and an adequate diet that includes vitamin D rich components, are not always easily accomplished. Studies relating to vitamin D supplementation have methodological limitations or are based on relatively low doses. Therefore, dosages used for vitamin D supplementation should be higher than those traditionally suggested. In this sense, there is an urgent need for prospective controlled studies using high daily vitamin D doses (2,000 IU or higher) including cardiovascular, cancer, infectious and other endpoints. Relationship between vitamin D and health outcomes is not linear, and there are probably various optimal vitamin D levels influencing different endpoints.


In this study, a clear-air turbulence event was reproduced using a high-resolution (250 m) large-eddy simulation in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, and the resulting wind field was used in a flight simulation to estimate the vertical acceleration changes experienced by an aircraft. Conditions were simulated for 16 December 2014 when many intense turbulence encounters (and one accident) associated with an extratropical cyclone were reported over the Tokyo area. Based on observations and the WRF simulation, the turbulence was attributed to shear-layer instability near the jet stream axis. Simulation results confirmed the existence of the instability, which led to horizontal vortices with an amplitude of vertical velocity from +20 to −12 m s−1. The maximum eddy dissipation rate was estimated to be over 0.7, which suggested that the model reproduced turbulence conditions likely to cause strong shaking in large-size aircraft. A flight simulator based on aircraft equations of motion estimated vertical acceleration changes of +1.57 to +0.08 G on a Boeing 777-class aircraft. Although the simulated amplitudes of the vertical acceleration changes were smaller than those reported in the accident (+1.8 to −0.88 G), the model successfully reproduced aircraft motion using a combination of atmospheric and flight simulations.


The cold regions hydrological model (CRHM) platform, a physically based hydrological model using a modular and object-oriented structure, has been applied for simulating the redistribution of snow by wind, snowmelt, infiltration, evapo-transpiration, soil moisture balance, surface depression storage and run-off routing. Land use and land cover classification is a preprocessing procedure to provide the required parameters for CRHM. Per-pixel-based and object-oriented classifications are the two major classification approaches currently in practice. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the more complex object-oriented classification method can significantly improve the performance of the CRHM model in a prairie landscape. The study was conducted in the Smith Creek watershed in eastern Saskatchewan. Two Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) multispectral images were used to classify the area into seven classes: cropland, fallow, grassland, wetland, water, woodland and town/road. Both pixel-based maximum likelihood supervised classification method and nearest neighbour object-oriented classification approach were applied to the satellite images for the study area. The parameters derived from both classification methods were input into the CRHM to derive the hydrological response unit (HRU), snow water equivalent (SWE) and basin stream flow. Results indicated that classification results influence the model performance slightly. However, no significant improvement from the object-oriented classification was observed for this specific study.


Abstract. This paper proposes a fast method for measuring the partial Similarity between 3D Model and 3D point Cloud (SimMC). It is crucial to measure SimMC for many point cloud-related applications such as 3D object retrieval and inverse procedural modelling. In our proposed method, the surface area of model and the Distance from Model to point Cloud (DistMC) are exploited as measurements to calculate SimMC. Here, DistMC is defined as the weighted distance of the distances between points sampled from model and point cloud. Similarly, Distance from point Cloud to Model (DistCM) is defined as the average distance of the distances between points in point cloud and model. In order to reduce huge computational burdens brought by calculation of DistCM in some traditional methods, we define SimMC as the ratio of weighted surface area of model to DistMC. Compared to those traditional SimMC measuring methods that are only able to measure global similarity, our method is capable of measuring partial similarity by employing distance-weighted strategy. Moreover, our method is able to be faster than other partial similarity assessment methods. We demonstrate the superiority of our method both on synthetic data and laser scanning data.


Abstract Horseweed biotypes resistant to glyphosate and ALS-inhibiting herbicides are becoming more prevalent in Canada and the United States and present a significant management challenge in field crops. Tolpyralate is a recently commercialized herbicide for use in corn that inhibits 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD), and there is little information regarding its efficacy on horseweed. Six field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 at four locations in Ontario, Canada, to determine the biologically effective dose of tolpyralate and tolpyralate + atrazine and to compare label rates of tolpyralate and tolpyralate + atrazine to currently accepted herbicide standards for POST control of glyphosate and cloransulam-methyl resistant (MR) horseweed. At 8 wk after application (WAA), tolpyralate at 4.8 and 22.6 g ha–1 provided 50% and 80% control, respectively. When applied with atrazine at a 1: 33.3 tank-mix ratio, 22.3 + 741.7 g ha–1 provided 95% control of MR horseweed. The addition of atrazine to tolpyralate at label rates improved control of MR horseweed to 98%, which was similar to the control provided by dicamba: atrazine and bromoxynil + atrazine. The results of this study indicate that tolpyralate + atrazine provides excellent control of MR horseweed POST in corn. Nomenclature: Atrazine; bromoxynil; cloransulam-methyl; glyphosate; tolpyralate; horseweed; Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq.; field corn, Zea mays L.


Until recently, the two biologically equivalent blow flies Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) had disjunct distributions outside the Americas; the former was Palaearctic, the latter Australasian and Oriental. The two species are now spreading throughout the Americas and coexist in Argentina. The predatory "hairy" larvae of both species are difficult to separate, which could result in taxonomic errors. New diagnostic characters are presented to differentiate the third instars of the two species. The usefulness of the prostigmatic bristle as a diagnostic taxonomic character in distinguishing adults of these species is questioned.


Several recently developed quasi-polynomial time algorithms for Parity Games rely on construction of an automaton with quasi-polynomial number of states that separates specific languages of infinite words. This motivates a question of whether a matching quasi-polynomial lower bound on the number of states can be proved. This would mean impossibility for a separation approach to give a~polynomial-time algorithm for Parity Games.
In this paper we study a restricted version of the problem. We bound the number of moves to be read by a separation automaton before it makes a decision. In the general problem there is no restriction of this sort. But we show that lower bounds for unrestricted version of the problem are related to lower bounds for a restricted one with some explicit bound on the number of moves.
We apply communication complexity techniques to get an exponential lower bound on the number of states of a separation automata which makes a decision after reading linear number of moves.
We also prove an exponential lower bound on the number of states of any deterministic automaton which outputs any repetition in an infinite string after reading some finite prefix of it. The motivation of this result in context of separation automata is discussed in a paper.
Finally, we show an upper bound on a communication problem that we call Inevitable Intersection problem. Using this upper bound we conclude that a certain class of reductions from communication complexity are unable to show super-polynomial lower bounds on separation automata.


The concept of tumor spread through air spaces (STAS) in lung adenocarcinoma was officially recognized as a pattern of invasion in 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) classification . The STAS is defined as the presence of "micropapillary clusters, solid nests, or single cells beyond the edge of the tumor into air spaces in the surrounding lung parenchyma" within the surgical specimen ( Figure 1 ), which implies a post - surgical diagnosis (1) .


We present the case of a four-year-old girl, who was hospitalized in intensive care unit for a coma resulting from metabolic acidosis with increased anion gap. The patient was treated for short bowel syndrome, following necrotising enterocolitis, which occurred 51 days after birth. In our initial evaluation of the patient's metabolic acidosis, we were unable to identify the cause of the increased anion gap. Urinary organic acids chromatography identified a large peak of lactate (quantified at 15 mmol/mol of creatiniuria), as well as its metabolites. The discrepancy between normal blood lactate concentration assayed by enzymatic assay, and the large amount of lactate found by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in urine highlights the limit of the stereospecificity of enzymatic assays. Indeed, most lactates assay use enzymatic assays that are specific for L-lactate, whereas organic acids chromatography, whose column is mostly achiral, can detect both stereoisomers, D- and L-lactate. Organic acids in urine analysis, in addition to the clinical context, suggested a diagnosis of D-lactic acidosis. Following a review of the physiopathology and treatment of short bowel syndrome, we will discuss the mechanism and diagnosis of the D-lactic acidosis in our patient. This case highlights the need to perform an organic acid profile in urine in the presence of any unexplained increased anion gap to determine its cause.


PURPOSE
To develop further the nursing diagnosis risk for aspiration by determining risk factors present in patients who aspirated.

METHODS
The case-control design was used to compare cases (n = 131) and controls (n = 206) on past and present exposures thought to be risk factors for aspiration. Data were analyzed using univariate and multiple logistic regression.

FINDINGS
The following risk factors were statistically significant and comprise the final model: altered level of consciousness, metoclopramide (known to accelerate gastric emptying), vomiting, seizures, and unable to change own position.

CONCLUSIONS
The risk factors of altered level of consciousness and delayed gastric emptying are currently included in the NANDA taxonomy for the nursing diagnosis risk for aspiration. These risk factors are not included in the taxonomy: vomiting, seizures, and unable to change own position. Results of the study have been submitted to the Diagnosis Review Committee for consideration to further develop this diagnosis.


In biological populations, several strategies for engaging in intraspecific contests may be present. Investigations of stability show that the mean strategy in use in the population can prove stable but that neutrally stable and gradually changing polymorphisms in strategy are to be expected when the contest affects reproductive success.


Liquid crystalline blue phases (BPs) show excellent potential for application in tunable photonic devices because they possess the unique optical property that the selective 3D Bragg diffraction in a visible wavelength region can be continuously shifted using an electric field. A new approach to simultaneously extend the wavelength range of field‐induced Bragg diffraction shift and the temperature range of thermodynamically stable BPs is critically needed. Here, a new BP material system is shown using a dendron molecule to extend simultaneously the two BP ranges. One is the temperature range of thermodynamically stable BPs, which is expanded from 2.1 to 4.6 °C. The other is the reversible maximum shift range of Bragg wavelength on the electric field, which is extended from 85 to 109 nm. The physical mechanism of the dendron‐stabilizing effect in BPs is discussed in terms of elastic property and orientational order of liquid crystal molecules.


A virtual machine (VM) has been serving as a crucial component in cloud computing with its rich set of convenient features. The high overhead of a VM has been well addressed by hardware support such as Intel virtualization technology (VT), and by improvement in recent hypervisor implementation such as Xen, KVM, etc. However, the high demand on VM image storage remains a challenging problem. Existing systems have made efforts to reduce VM image storage consumption by means of deduplication within a storage area network (SAN) cluster. Nevertheless, an SAN cannot satisfy the increasing demand of large-scale VM hosting for cloud computing because of its cost limitation. In this paper, we propose Liquid, a scalable deduplication file system that has been particularly designed for large-scale VM deployment. Its design provides fast VM deployment with peer-to-peer (P2P) data transfer and low storage consumption by means of deduplication on VM images. It also provides a comprehensive set of storage features including instant cloning for VM images, on-demand fetching through a network, and caching with local disks by copy-on-read techniques. Experiments show that Liquid's features perform well and introduce minor performance overhead.


A light harvesting hydrogel, working in a wide range of temperature and pH, of a two component supramolecular complex of melamine and 6,7-dimethoxy-2,4[1H,3H]-quinazolinedione (donor) with riboflavin (acceptor) shows a gradual quenching and red shift of the acceptor emission peak with increase in its concentration through a co-assembly process.


Software Ecosystems (SECO) depend on platforms that serve as environments for developers interaction. When the organization that owns the platform does not support the synergy between organizational goals and developers' expectations, the SECO may die. The death results in the definitive suspension of vital activities, directly impacting developers, who lose part of the learning and experience gained. Projects that depend on the SECO platform may be discontinued. Ultimately, the responsible corporation loses the resources invested in the development and maintenance of the software and communities. Thus, understanding the signs that may indicate a SECO death is important. In this paper, we report a study conducted on StackOverflow (SO) and GitHub (GH) focusing on Web SECOs: AngularJS, PhantomJS, and Moment.JS. We analyzed metrics based on answer rates, closed issues, and modified files to understand what happens in these SECOs before, during, and after the platform's death. We identified that an SO answer rate below 0.8 is a sign of risk. In GH, the files that involve source code and text are the ones that concentrate on the activities before and during death.