Nanoscale zero-valent iron has been considered to be the most promising electrocatalyst for denitrification due to its abundant resources, low price and non-toxicity. Nevertheless, the low utilization of active ingredients, inferior removal capacities (mg N g−1 Fe), and poor nitrogen selectivity are still major challenges during practical nitrate reduction. Herein, we have synthesized a one-dimensional architecture with homogeneously distributed Fe/Fe3C nanoparticles immobilized in a monodispersed carbonaceous matrix, embedded in ultra-high N-doped carbon nanofibers (Fe/Fe3C-NCNF) via a simple electrospinning strategy followed by confined reduction under a H2 atmosphere. The as-prepared Fe/Fe3C-NCNF nanostructure features well-dispersed Fe/Fe3C nanoparticles, confined reactive spaces, an interconnected nanofiber framework, and rich nitrogen doping sites, which are beneficial for integrating the synergistic catalytic effect of Fe and Fe3C, providing high-reactivity sites, boosting electron transfer, enlarging the catalyst–electrolyte interface and enhancing the surface adsorption capacity. The results reveal ultra-high nitrogen selectivity of 95% within 6 h and nearly 100% in 12 h, which are superior to other reported catalysts, and a maximum removal capacity of 2928.42 mg N g−1 Fe can be achieved, greatly improving the utilization of active ingredients. In addition, the catalysis material also shows good catalysis stability due to its structural features. The results of this study provide broad potential for the further development of iron-based functional nanostructures for electrocatalytic denitrification.


In this paper, we propose a generalized notion of a distance function, called a $g$-metric. The $g$-metric with degree $n$ is a distance of $n+1$ points, generalizing the ordinary distance between two points and $G$-metric between three points. Indeed, it is shown that the $g$-metric with degree 1 (resp. degree 2) is equivalent to the ordinary metric (resp. the $G$-metric). Fundamental properties and several examples for the $g$-metric are also given. Moreover, topological properties on the $g$-metric space including the convergence of sequences and the continuity of mappings on the $g$-metric space are studied. Finally, we generalize some well-known fixed point theorems including Banach contraction mapping principle and \'Ciri\'c fixed point theorem in the $g$-metric space.


Background and aims – New Caledonia is a hotspot of biodiversity in the world. Among the most diverse New Caledonian plant families is Rubiaceae, which consist of 30 genera containing 220 species, with a level of endemism of 93%. The tribe Gardenieae is represented by four genera, Gardenia (8 species), Aidia (2 species), Randia (7 species), and Atractocarpus (10 species). As Randia has now been restricted to the Neotropics, the New Caledonian Randia species remain unplaced within the tribe. Atractocarpus is a Pacific genus, easily characterized by long imbricated stipules, a feature also present in the Randia species and in several Gardenia species in New Caledonia. The aims of the present study are to test the monophyly of Atractocarpus and to assess the phylogenetic placement of the Randia and Gardenia species with long imbricated stipules within Gardenieae and specifically their relationships with taxa of the Porterandia group to which Atractocarpus belongs. Material and methods – We investigated 63 species of Pacific Gardenieae, with a focus on the Porterandia group, in a Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction (cpDNA: trnTF and rpl32, and nrDNA: ITS). Key results – Our study provides a mostly supported consensus tree topology of the Porterandia group. Five Gardenia and seven Randia species fall within a clade that comprises the New Caledonian Atractocarpus species, rendering both Atractocarpus and Gardenia polyphyletic. Conclusion – We enlarge the delimitation of Atractocarpus to include 12 New Caledonian Randia and Gardenia species. New Caledonia is consequently confirmed as the centre of diversity for Atractocarpus with 31 species. According to our study, three genera of Gardenieae occur in the archipelago: Aidia, Gardenia, and Atractocarpus.


In this paper, a complete analytical description for an exact expression for temperature dependence of the majority carrier in a single-impurity, nondegenerately doped equilibrium semiconductor is proposed. Analysis establishes that the problem is solvable exactly by identifying the only physically possible root to a cubic equation. This solution is complemented by an iterative technique that identifies boundaries for the intrinsic, freeze-out, and exhaustion regimes and facilitates selecting a reasonable range of temperatures in which to display the exact solution. Similarly, an exact expression for the temperature-dependent Fermi level is obtained. Fairly simple tests and checks on the analytic results are explained and demonstrated. This model provides an attractive alternative or supplement to established classroom approaches for this topic usually covered in senior and first-year graduate-level solid-state courses in physics and electrical engineering.


Abstract Objective This study details the intra-operative complications, and compares auditory scales post-implantation of either profoundly deaf young children with radiologically normal inner ears (group A) or children with Mondini dysplasia (group B). Methods A retrospective survey was carried out of 338 patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who underwent cochlear implant surgery from February 2015 to May 2017. Patients were divided into 2 groups of 27 patients each. Both groups were followed up to three years post-implantation. Results Cerebrospinal fluid ooze developed in 12 patients, and 2 patients had a cerebrospinal fluid 'gusher', one of which had to be explored within 24 hours. After implant use for one year, both groups had similar speech perception scores. Conclusion The cerebrospinal fluid gusher in Mondini dysplasia should be anticipated and adequately managed intra-operatively. This study highlights the tailoring of a post-implantation rehabilitation programme according to individual needs.


There exists a variety of types of folk healers in African American society. This paper examines the sequence of dreams and visions whereby a woman realized the status of evangelical healer. "It was hypothesized that these altered states functioned as facilitating mechanisms whereby the subject could alleviate anxiety while at the same time realize a new master status. By gathering extensive interview data and employing a structuralist analysis, it was possible to relate the dreams and visions to personal crises, thus substantiating the hypothesis. In addition to offering processual insight to Anthony Wallaces "mazeway reconstruction," this analysis provides a fresh perspective from which to examine the recruitment process to the status of "healer."


Water reuse is one of the alternatives to counteract the already experienced water shortages. However water reuse as any other investment is associated with costs. This article looks at water reuse for irrigation as one of the areas that has recently gained attention. However, water reuse requires a prior installation of wastewater treatment and the irrigation systems of which all requires financial resources. Analysis of the costs and benefits of water reuse remains one of the key tools for decision making. Unfortunately there has been no universal way for doing cost benefit analysis that can fit all reuse applications and the local settings. The objective of this study was to customize the existing water reuse cost benefit analysis methods and develop cost benefit analysis for water reuse in irrigation. The net benefit value approach was studied, examined and modified to incorporate all the relevant cost items and benefits associated with water reuse in irrigation. Based on the approach developed a discussion have been made whereby it was evident that the main cost elements for water reuse in irrigation are those associated with land for installations, the treatment plant and the irrigation systems involving their installations, operation and maintenance. On the other hand it has been shown that the main elements for benefits are related to natural resources recovered, improved agricultural production and the environmental benefits.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the potential benefits of multidisciplinarity among agri-food researchers working in small groups to generate ideas to stimulate innovation in the context of a laboratory project.

BACKGROUND
Research on the role of multidisciplinarity in scientific research teams remains limited, particularly regarding the generation of ideas to innovate in a real laboratory project, and on a task with a real challenge for innovation.

METHOD
Researchers and agri-food research staff were assigned to small groups of either multidisciplinary or unidisciplinary composition to produce ideas on a cross-cutting theme for an innovative laboratory project using an electronic "brainwriting" application.

RESULTS
A greater depth in idea generation (number of ideas per category) was observed in the multidisciplinary condition than in the unidisciplinary condition.

CONCLUSION
The main benefits of this study were to experimentally examine the effects of multidisciplinarity in small scientific research groups on the production of ideas in a field study conducted on the premises of an agri-food laboratory.

APPLICATION
This study provides advice on how to promote innovative projects by stimulating ideation processes, which includes constructing small multidisciplinary groups and using an electronic "brainwriting" technique.


Intimate partner violence (IPV) is recognized as a worldwide health issue that calls for urgent interventions to prevent the significant physical and mental harm it poses to the individuals involved and to reduce its wider deleterious impacts on society. Despite 40 years of research in the field, incidence rates of IPV have not significantly declined and treatment services for perpetrators of IPV are scarce. Empirical research has been hindered by ideological disputes, and the most commonly used treatment approaches-the feminist-oriented Duluth approach and cognitive-behavioral treatments-lack evidence for their efficacy. This introduction to this issue of In Session reviews these ideological controversies and the current state of empirical evidence for the treatment of perpetrators of IPV; and summarizes the five papers, commissioned from different countries in Europe, North America, and Africa, comprising this issue, each of which presents a novel therapeutic intervention for this heterogeneous population.


Light critically affects the physiology of plants. Using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis, we used a proteomics approach to analyze the responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to red (660 nm), far‐red (730 nm) and blue (450 nm) light, which are utilized by type II and type I phytochromes, and blue light receptors, respectively. Under specific light treatments, the proteomic profiles of 49 protein spots exhibited over 1.8‐fold difference in protein abundance, significant at p <0.05. Most of these proteins were metabolic enzymes, indicating metabolic changes induced by light of specific wavelengths. The differentially‐expressed proteins formed seven clusters, reflecting co‐regulation. We used the 49 differentially‐regulated proteins as molecular markers for plant responses to light, and by developing a procedure that calculates the Pearson correlation distance of cluster‐to‐cluster similarity in expression changes, we assessed the proteome‐based relatedness of light responses for wild‐type and phytochrome mutant plants. Overall, this assessment was consistent with the known physiological responses of plants to light. However, we also observed a number of novel responses at the proteomic level, which were not predicted from known physiological changes.


Abstract The exciton wavefunction in parabolic quantum wells is calculated using variational techniques and effective mass theory. The influences of the potential shape and of confinement on the exciton binding energies are studied. The results are in good agreement with previous calculations. The oscillator-strength of excitons in GaAs/Ga1-xAlxAS quantum wells has a maximum value very close to the cross-over from three to two dimensions.


The arrangement and structure of renal blood vessels were studied in a marine skate with injection of silicone rubber and methacrylate resin after intravenous administration of epinephrine and perfusion fixation. The methacrylate casts were investigated with the scanning electron microscope. Histology was performed by light and transmission electron microscopy of serial sections. The course of the blood vessels is described in relation to the renal zones of lateral bundles and mesial tissue. Each nephron performs two loops in the lateral bundles and two coilings in the mesial tissue before it joins the collecting duct system. The lateral bundles contain an elaborate countercurrent arrangement of neck segment, proximal tubule segment PIa, early distal tubule segment, and collecting tubule. Within the bundles, the nephron portions are associated with a blind-ended central vessel, which is connected with the venous sinuses of the mesial tissue. The microcirculatory bed around the bundles is supplied with arterial blood via small bundle arteries that originate from the intrarenal arteries in parallel to the afferent arterioles of the glomeruli. The efferent arterioles of the glomeruli convey their blood to the peritubular sinuses of the mesial tissue, which is largely irrigated with venous blood of the renal portal system. The mesial tissue, containing the proximal tubule segments PIb and PII, intermediate segment, and late distal tubule segment LDTb, receives venous blood from the caudal vein and the lateral musculature via afferent renal and intrarenal veins and from the efferent arterioles of the glomeruli and venules of the microcirculation of the bundles. The sinuses are drained by efferent renal veins via efferent intrarenal veins. By comparing the renal structures of the skate with those of dogfish, a unique type of circulation--as related to nephron segments, renal zones, and fine structure of the wall of the vessels--is revealed in marine elasmobranchs of different evolutionary levels.


Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal are the most important pleadings decisions the Supreme Court has ever issued. Yet the voluminous commentary on these decisions has tended to gloss over the complicated genealogy of the Court's pleadings decisions from Conley v. Gibson to today. In particular, a number of under-appreciated cases, including Associated General, Papasan, and Broudo, laid foundation for the breakout Twombly decision. Commentary has further tended to elide subsequent cases, which appear to move away from Twombly and Iqbal, at least in result. We map Twombly and Iqbal, along with their progenitors and their progeny, over time. Our depiction reveals that, prior to 2005, the Court maintained a relatively consistent adherence to very liberal pleading, with one outlier (Papasan), which was not cited during this time. From 2005 to 2009, the Court's pleading standards became stricter. Twombly resurrected Papasan and questioned many of the prior decisions, and Iqbal represents the nadir of pleading liberality. The one outlier is Erickson, which is potentially distinguishable as a pro se case. In 2011, however, the Court seemed to relax pleading again, upholding complaints in two cases, Matrixx and Skinner. Skinner even cited to the 2002 case of Swierkiewicz but not to either Twombly or Iqbal.This map is a single-page version of a more extended and traditional article available here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2422160.A video presentation derived from the same mapping software is available on Vimeo as #89845875.


Abstract Background Broad reaching interventions aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity are a population health priority. In a number of recent randomised controlled intervention trials, the control group has demonstrated meaningful and unexpected improvements in physical activity despite not receiving the intervention. A number of potential explanations for control group improvements have been proposed, but very little empirical research has been directed towards understanding this phenomenon. Aim The primary aim of this research is to gain an increased understanding of the factors associated with improved physical activity among control group participants in physical activity intervention trials. The set of studies included in this thesis examine specific factors that have been hypothesised to explain control group improvements in physical activity intervention trials (control group treatment, participant characteristics, pre-trial physical activity screening and measurement error). Methods The studies in this thesis comprise of a systematic review, and three empirical investigations. The studies in Chapters 3 and 4 use data from a completed cluster-randomised physical activity and diet intervention trial (the Logan Healthy Living Program) in which a control group improvement was observed. Data from an ongoing randomised controlled trial targeting weight loss (Living Well with Diabetes) was used for the study described in Chapter 5. The analyses in Chapters 3-5 are secondary in nature. Results The results of the studies included in this thesis provide evidence that control group improvements occur in approximately 28% of physical activity intervention trials. Hypotheses proposed to explain this phenomenon were broadly grouped into those related to the control group treatment, the characteristics of the enrolling participants and the way in which physical activity is measured. Control group treatment: No evidence was found to suggest that the treatment of the control group impacts on control group outcomes. Participant characteristics: The systematic review in Chapter 2 showed that trials that targeted a population who were at risk of a chronic disease; used pre-trial screening to select inactive participants; and where participants' mean body mass index was in the overweight range reported control group improvements more frequently than trials without these characteristics. The study in Chapter 3 revealed that, for control group participants in the Logan Healthy Living Program, those who were unmarried, retired, had completed high school, and who had a higher body mass index were more likely than those without these characteristics to report an increase of 60 minutes or more at the end of the intervention. The study included in Chapter 4 found that the amount of improvement reported by the control group in the Logan Healthy Living Program would have been minimally impacted upon had pre-trial screening been used to purposively select inactive participants. Measurement: Due to the unanticipated absence of a control group improvement in the Living Well with Diabetes trial, the study included in Chapter 5 was not able to examine whether control group improvements represent real behaviour changes or merely reflect changes in the way behaviour is reported or recorded. The bias between self-reported and objectively measured physical activity increased as the amount of physical activity increased, therefore measurement error may contribute to an explanation for control group improvements in physical activity intervention trials where a control group improvement occurs. Conclusions Control group improvements in physical activity intervention trials are likely the result of a number of interconnected mechanisms. Control group treatment is often cited as an explanation for control group improvements, but there is currently insufficient evidence to support this hypothesis. The characteristics of the participants enrolled in the trial appear to be important predictors of whether or not a control group improvement is observed. However, further research is needed to determine whether the individual participant characteristics identified in this thesis as being important predictors of control group improvements, are generalisable to other populations. Measurement error cannot be excluded as a possible explanation for this phenomenon based on the results of this research. Further empirical studies aimed at understanding control group improvements in physical activity intervention trials are warranted. Understanding why control group improvements occur in physical activity intervention trials will aid in the interpretation of null or reduced intervention effects occurring as a result of concurrent control and intervention group improvements. Such research has the potential to provide an important contribution to the progression of physical activity intervention research.


The designer of motors for locomotive service is confronted with at least two limitations; space and weight. For large locomotives, the second limitation may not be of prime importance, but the first must be constantly in the mind of the designer. The paper gives a comparison between different types of motor mounting as regards the amount of power which may be developed in the available space with direct current meters. The comparisons are largely qualitative but within reasonable limits are also quantitaive. The available space between wheels or locomotive side frames is divided into two parts. One of these parts is made up of units which are assumed to be constant within the range considered, while the other part is made up of variables. Expressions for the variables are derived, generally in terms of armature diameter, and constants and variables are then combined into a complete expression for motor output. The voltage applied to motor commutator, voltage-to-ground, number of poles, peripheral speed and track gage, as well as type of motor mounting are considered in the comparison.


Merlin, the protein encoded by the NF2 gene, is a member of the band 4.1 family of cytoskeleton-associated proteins and functions as a tumor suppressor for many types of cancer. However, the roles and mechanism of Merlin expression in pancreatic cancer have remained unclear. In this study, we sought to determine the impact of Merlin expression on pancreatic cancer development and progression using human tissue specimens, cell lines, and animal models. Decreased expression of Merlin was pronounced in human pancreatic tumors and cancer cell lines. Functional analysis revealed that restored expression of Merlin inhibited pancreatic tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Merlin suppressed the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling downstream genes and the nuclear expression of β-catenin protein, and overexpression of Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) attenuated the suppressive effect of Merlin on Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Mechanistically, Merlin decreased the stability of FOXM1 protein, which plays critical roles in nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Collectively, these findings demonstrated that Merlin critically regulated pancreatic cancer pathogenesis by suppressing FOXM1/β-catenin signaling, suggesting that targeting novel Merlin/FOXM1/β-catenin signaling is an effective therapeutic strategy for pancreatic cancer.


ABSTRACT In this article we draw from Harvey's concept of "accumulation by dispossession" to show how this rise in evictions signifies an acute form of dispossession specific to financial capitalism and austerity and, in so doing, examine the lucrative, contemporary political economy of evictions. We explore the contemporary political economy of evictions by focusing on the relationship between recent UK welfare reforms and the growth in household debt and risk. We further illustrate how the growth of evictions under austerity increases the role of the debt recovery and enforcement industry that profits from household debt. We argue that evictions and the corresponding growth of the debt recovery and enforcement industry, can be described as a form of "accumulation by repossession", where profit is produced through repossession and extraction of debt from low-income people and places. In doing so, we try to capture the realities of a contemporary political economy of evictions.


Use efficiency of the various forms of energy are essential parameters in the determination of useful energy consumption. Some authors (Adams and Miovic) have attempted to determine these by using econometric models instead of direct, and essentially technical, measurement. The paper presents this last method and insists on the fact that a correct determination of use efficiency requires that we distinguish between fossil fuels and electricity. Some results concerning the rate of substitution between the different forms of energy are provided.


Detection of messenger RNA is an important part of current biomedical research, although utilized for decades. This communication endeavors to compare three most commonly used techniques of mRNA detection, i.e. Northern blot, ribonuclease protection assay (RPA), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Principles and general procedures of these methods are described, and advantages and weaknesses of each are discussed in terms of their specificity, sensitivity, difficulty, time and material demands as well as health and environmental risks. We conclude that choice of any method discussed depends on particular purpose, experience of the researcher, and on laboratory equipment and organization.


The present paper deals with the study of tumor growth in thyroid-injured or partially thyroidectomized mice. The effect of the thyroid gland on tumor growth has not been adequately tested because of the inconstancy of growth of most animal tumors used in similar experiments.

The disadvantage in the use of the mouse for these experiments is obviously the small size of the animal and the correspondingly small size of its thyroid gland. The advantages of the mouse tumor, however, more than compensate for the diminutive thyroid gland. Mouse tumor No. 180, which is used in these experiments, grows uniformly, without regression, until the animal dies of the malignant growth. This particular tumor has been studied by one of us for a number of years without finding evidence of regression, and the staff of the Crocker Institute, who have studied and measured the tumor for a long period of years, have made similar observations. It is known that, while the rate of growth fluctuates, due apparently to seasonal changes, regression is not common.


One of the grand challenges in modern theoretical chemistry is designing and implementing approximations that expedite ab initio methods without loss of accuracy. Machine learning (ML), in particular neural networks, are emerging as a powerful approach to constructing various forms of transferable atomistic potentials. They have been successfully applied in a variety of applications in chemistry, biology, catalysis, and solid-state physics. However, these models are heavily dependent on the quality and quantity of data used in their fitting. Fitting highly flexible ML potentials comes at a cost: a vast amount of reference data is required to properly train these models. We address this need by providing access to a large computational DFT database, which consists of 20M conformations for 57,454 small organic molecules. We believe it will become a new standard benchmark for comparison of current and future methods in the ML potential community.


The aim of the dissertation is to study the problem definitions and the governmental rationality of new activities aimed at reforming criminals, the poor and workers in Sweden during the mid-1800s. Three case studies analyse the solitary confinement penitentiary, the district visiting poor relief and the bildung-society for workers. A fourth case study analyses the introduction of crime statistics and prison photography.I argue that these different activities were part of the historical process that have been characterised as "the birth of the social" and the new governmental rationality, "liberal governmentality". The initiators presupposed that civilisation had negative behavioural consequences among the lower classes. At the same time they expressed optimism regarding new fostering instances and how such could be integrated to a mutually supporting network. The aims of the new reformatory principles were regularly described as capacities for self-reflection, self-regulation and self-control among the lower classes.The dissertation shows that the new activities localised and defined a new set of problems and questions in terms of the social. "Society" was what was to be protected as its "inner" relationships were described as going through comprehensive historical changes. The ambition to lead, manage and organise the behaviours and values of the lower classes was even more far-reaching than was the desire to exert direct discipline. Order, well being and morals were integrated in a field of problems where effects on the lifestyles of the lower classes constituted the ultimate authoritative body.


OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this brief is to describe changes in the treated prevalence of medically managed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among insured school-aged children and adolescents in the United States from 2009 to 2015. We examine the differences between those with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) and with Medicaid insurance.

METHODS
We utilized two large longitudinal administrative datasets containing medical and drug claims data on individuals with ESI and Medicaid insurance from Truven Health MarketScan® Administrative Claims Databases. Treated prevalence was measured as the percentage of school-aged children and adolescents enrolled in a calendar year who met the criteria for medically managed ADHD in the same calendar year. Subjects were eligible for inclusion if they were aged 6-17 years and were continuously enrolled during a calendar year.

RESULTS
The annual prevalence of treated ADHD among school-aged children and adolescents with ESI increased from 4.5% in 2009 to 6.7% in 2015. Among those with Medicaid it increased from 11.3% in 2009 to 13.3% in 2012, and fell after 2012, remaining steady from 2013 through 2015.

CONCLUSION
Treated prevalence of ADHD increased continuously over time among school-aged children and adolescents with ESI, but declined slightly after 2012 among those in the Medicaid sample.


We compare level-set percolation for Gaussian free fields (GFFs) defined on a rectangular subset of $\delta \mathbb{Z}^2$ to level-set percolation for GFFs defined on the corresponding metric graph as the mesh size $\delta$ goes to 0. In particular, we look at the probability that there is a path that crosses the rectangle in the horizontal direction on which the field is positive. We show this probability is strictly larger in the discrete graph. In the metric graph case, we show that for appropriate boundary conditions the probability that there exists a closed pivotal edge for the horizontal crossing event decays logarithmically in $\delta$. In the discrete graph case, we compute the limit of the probability of a horizontal crossing for appropriate boundary conditions.


: Large amounts of liquidity flow into several precious metals every day. Investment decisions are mainly based on predicting the future movements of the instrument(s) in question. However, high frequency financial data are somewhat hard to model or predict as stochastic processes and many other random factors are involved. It would be valuable information for the investor if he or she knew which precious metals were quantitatively more predictable, that would also be a good basis for more robust trading decisions. The objective in this study is to build predictive models on high frequency precious metal data and compare predictabilities of different metals using only past price and volume values which should be a basis for robust trading decisions. The data used consist of various frequencies from 1-minute to 4-hour covering a period of almost 20 years for each instrument and frequency. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Gradient Boosted Decision Tree (XGB) methods are applied. Comparable results are achieved.


This study aims to find out how Youtube contributes the development of students' speaking English skill. The design used in this research was one group pretest and posttest. The population of this research is all of the students at the first semester of english language education in the academic year 2019/2020 which the accessible population is 84 students while the sample of this research was 30 students. It took by using purposive sampling technique because the writer chose the sample based on proficiency and the sample is suitable for the purpose of the research. The data collected in this reseasrch is quantitative data. The writer used a test to collect the data. Then, to know the noramility and homogeneous distribution or not, the writer used the normality and homogeneity test. From the result of test normality showed that significant value of pretest was 0.047, while the significant of value of post-test was 0.000. It means that the data is not normal distribution, it was because the significant value of post-test 0.000 were less than 0.05. The result of homogeneity showed that the significant score was .026. based on the testing criteria significant score < 0.05. It means the data is not same variant group. Therefore, the test of data hypothesis, the writer used non-parametic test, Mann Whitney test. Its result of test showed that significance score .000 was smaller than probability score 0.05. It was concluded that accepted. In other words there was a significant positive effect of using youtube as media to improve students; speaking english skill.


The word "medicine," to use it in its broadest sense, represents an area of human endeavor that has ramifications extending into all phases of the structure and function of our society. In fact, medicine is a function of society. I can think of no art or science, no human interest or enterprise, that does not take from, add to, or depend on medicine in one way or another. The increasing effectiveness of medicine and the fact that continued research and the proper education of medical personnel will increase this effectiveness justifies the implications of this statement; but I think that people are taking medicine's effectiveness for granted and that they fail to appreciate the magnitude and the complexity of the educational enterprise that is essential to this effectiveness. It is the magnitude and the complexity of this educational enterprise that I shall discuss. In giving you an understanding of this,


The reaction in epidermal keratinocytes in sensitized and non-sensitized, normal guinea pigs after dichromate exposure has been investigated by electron microscopy. The results of the investigation show that the morphological alterations in keratinocytes in irritant and contact allergic reactions to dichromate are of a nonspecific nature. This underlines the fact that morphological reactions in the keratinocyte are uniform. The reactions were dose- and time-dependent. The morphology of the contact allergic reaction to dichromate in the guinea pig is consistent with that described for DNCB.


Background: Tranexamic acid reduces the fibrinolytic activity, and may hereby reduce bleeding associated with surgery. However, to date no studies have been published that monitor and display the effect ex vivo. We hypothesized that tranexamic acid improves clot strength and overall coagulation capacity following cardiopulmonary bypass, and the aim of this study was to assess this effect ex vivo using thrombelastography. Methods: Patients (N=8) undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting using cardiopulmonary bypass were randomly assigned to receive either preoperatively 1 gram of tranexamic acid or no tranexamic acid (control group). Blood specimens were collected before and immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass, and whole blood coagulation analysis was performed on a ROTEG® thrombelastograph employing activation with a reaction mixture of tissue factor (Innovin®, final dilution 1:50000 ∼0.15 pM) and single chain recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (4 nM). The coagulation signal was processed to obtain dynamic parameters of clot formation such as maximum velocity (MaxVel), time to maximum velocity (t, MaxVel), minimum velocity (MinVel), and time to minimum velocity (t, MinVel). Overall haemostatic capacity was evaluated using a calculated parameter denoted overall coagulation quality (OCQ) = (maxvel/t, MaxVel)*(t, MinVel - t, MaxVel)). Results: The integrated mean difference in time (seconds (sec)) to minimal velocity was consistently positive in the tranexamic acid group compared to the control group (1139 sec (95% CI: 463 to 1667) vs −1474 sec (95% CI: −2454 to −588). The overall coagulation quality was compromised in both groups, but less in the tranexamic acid group (−6.98 (95% CI: −25.68 to 11.71) vs −15.31 (95% CI: −37.28 to 6.66)). Conclusion: Ex-vivo monitoring of the effect of tranexamic acid during cardiopulmonary bypass is feasible, and patients receiving tranexamic acid produce a significantly more lysis resistant clot and a less compromised overall coagulation quality as compared to control patients.


As an infrastructure for data persistence and analysis, Database Management Systems (DBMSs) are the cornerstones of modern enterprise software. To improve their correctness, the industry has been applying blackbox fuzzing for decades. Recently, the research community achieved impressive fuzzing gains using coverage guidance. However, due to the complexity and distributed nature of enterprise-level DBMSs, seldom are these researches applied to the industry. In this paper, we apply coverage-guided fuzzing to enterprise-level DBMSs from Huawei and Bloomberg LP. In our practice of testing GaussDB and Comdb2, we found major challenges in all three testing stages. The challenges are collecting precise coverage, optimizing fuzzing performance, and analyzing root causes. In search of a general method to overcome these challenges, we propose Ratel, a coverage-guided fuzzer for enterprise-level DBMSs. With its industry-oriented design, Ratel improves the feedback precision, enhances the robustness of input generation, and performs an online investigation on the root cause of bugs. As a result, Ratel outperformed other fuzzers in terms of coverage and bugs. Compared to industrial black box fuzzers SQLsmith and SQLancer, as well as coverage-guided academic fuzzer Squirrel, Ratel covered 38.38%, 106.14%, 583.05% more basic blocks than the best results of other three fuzzers in GaussDB, PostgreSQL, and Comdb2, respectively. More importantly, Ratel has discovered 32, 42, and 5 unknown bugs in GaussDB, Comdb2, and PostgreSQL.


The present study is an attempt to understand the research attitude, engagement and competencies of LIS professionals in higher educational institutions in India. It was found that out of 170 respondents, 145 (85.3%) respondents read research literature regularly and 75 (44.1) expressed that reading research based articles is their regular activity. But 95 (55.9) do not read journal articles. 155 (91.2) respondents revealed that they have conducted research after obtaining the formal degree. Majority of respondents 47 (27.6) revealed that their preferred mode of dissemination of research has been publishing paper in conference proceedings, followed by publishing a paper in refereed journals 35 (20.6). Maximum respondents 72 (40.0) followed a theoretical approach in conducting research, followed by survey method 55 (30.6). 'E-resources' (160) and 'Bibliometric Study' (120) has been the most preferred areas of research publishing. 'Lack of funding support' (160), 'time constraints' (155) and 'Problems in data collection' (150), have been identified as major constraints in carrying out research. The main purpose for conducting research is to find the academic performance indicators (APIs) 150, followed by personal growth (102). The study suggests that funding agencies and universities need to come forward to encourage LIS professionals to pursue research and publishing. This will add value in delivering the best library services to academic community and also improve research activities in academic institutions.


BECAUSE of the complexity of rotor theory which has been developed for tapered and twisted blades (for example, Sissingh's well known papers) there is a great tendency to use and draw conclusions from the simple theory developed for untwisted untapered blades. In the United States this practice appears to be almost universal, and much use is made of the highly questionable 'equivalent chord' when dealing with tapered blades. It cannot be too much emphasized that there is no such thing as an 'equivalent chord', and that its use not only masks the true effect of taper, but leads to solutions which in some cases are in considerable error.


The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Ni2(C10H2O8)(C12H8N2)2(H2O)4]·0.67H2O, contains one complete binuclear complex and one half-molecule, the latter being completed by crystallographic inversion symmetry, and 0.67 of a solvent water molecule. Each Ni2+ cation is coordinated by a 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, a bidentate benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate (btec) tetra-anion and two water molecules to generate a distorted cis-NiN2O4 octahedral coordination geometry. The btec species bridges the metal ions. In the crystal, the clusters and uncoordinated water molecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions [shortest centroid–centroid separation = 3.596 (2) Å] to form a three-dimensional network.


BACKGROUND: The relationship between smoking and development of hypertension is uncertain. OBJECTIVES: In this study we aimed to determine the relationship between smoking and blood pressure levels. METHODS: The effects of cigarette smoking on the development of obesity and hypertension were prospectively evaluated in a cohort of 710 participants. Smoking status, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, body mass index of the participants were evaluated. RESULTS: Hypertension was found in 17 persons among 253 current smokers, 11 persons among 65 non-smokers and 88 persons among 392 ex-smokers. Body mass index was also found to be in low levels in heavy smokers (pack/year), (p CONCLUSION: We propose that smoking has negative effect on blood pressure and obesity.


Necitumumab is currently being considered by the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee for the treatment of metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer. According to an economic analysis presented at ASCO 2015 by Daniel Goldstein, MD, of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, the drug must cost less than $1300 per cycle to be cost-effective at the currently accepted willingness-to-pay threshold of $150,000.

The modeling done in this study could apply across the drug development process, according to Dr Goldstein, who suggested, "Our study is not only useful for evaluating this drug in this disease, but provides a framework for establishing value-based prices for all new cancer drugs entering the marketplace."

Leonard B. Saltz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, agreed. "I like Dr Goldstein's approach," he told American Health & Drug Benefits. "I think he's showing exactly what we need to do: anticipate what would be value-based, cost-effective medicine, which is not saying that we don't need the drug, but that we can't afford the drug at prices that don't deliver value."

"I also like the idea of establishing goals in advance and having agreed-upon targets," he continued, "and saying that in order for a drug to be acceptable it's got to deliver benefit at a price commensurate with the amount of benefit."


High‐resolution altimetry and imaging have revealed the presence of a meters‐thick sedimentary layer at middle to high northern and southern latitudes presently covering at least 23% of the planet. The layer is interpreted to be water‐ice‐rich, and to undergone degradation recently. Its activity very likely coincided with the last major obliquity excursion a few hundred thousand years ago. The majority of the layer at higher latitudes, however, persisted for a much longer time in the Late Amazonian. Stratigraphic analysis suggests a complex history of successive episodes of deposition and removal. Repeated deposition and removal of the mantles are interpreted to be responsible for the unusual statistical properties of kilometer‐scale topography in the transitional mid‐latitude zones.


A space usage study was conducted of the College of Architecture and the College of Education & Human Development on the Texas A&M University - College Station campus. This study used visual ethnography to document when and where these colleges' undergraduate and graduate students study. The goal of the study was to use this information to inform the library in planning space usage for these student populations. This paper discusses how students use personal and public spaces in their departments, the library, and what they deem as necessities to complete their "home away from home" on-campus experience. The photos and gps database will be added to the library repository collection for future researchers to use.


Energy resolving the atomic hydrogen outflux created within plasmas by charge exchange (CX) of hot plasma ions with cooler hydrogen neutrals is used to infer the ion energy distribution within the plasma, IED p. In high- β plasma with field nulls and ion gyro-radii comparable to the plasma size, the measured ion energy distribution (IED m) of the CX outflux will depend on the viewing angle and position of the detector. We describe the physics for this, results from a synthetic diagnostic code that contrasts the IEDm to the IEDp within relatively small and hot field-reversed-configuration plasmas, and how these data can show the presence of magnetic nulls and different orbit classes in the plasma.


Femoral shaft fractures after total hip arthroplasty (THA) remain a serious problem, since there is no optimal surgical repair method. Virtually all studies that examined surgical repair methods have done so clinically or experimentally. The present study assessed injury patterns computationally by developing three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) models that were validated experimentally. The investigation evaluated three different constructs for the fixation of Vancouver B1 periprosthetic femoral shaft fractures following THA. Experimentally, three bone plate repair methods were applied to a synthetic femur with a 5 mm fracture gap near the tip of a total hip implant. Repair methods were identical distal to the fracture gap, but used cables only (construct A), screws only (construct B), or cables plus screws (construct C) proximal to the fracture gap. Specimens were oriented in 15° adduction to simulate the single-legged stance phase of walking, subjected to 1000 N of axial force, and instrumented with strain gauges. Computationally, a linearly elastic and isotropic 3D FE model was developed to mimic experiments. Results showed excellent agreement between experimental and FE strains, yielding a Pearson linearity coefficient, R2, of 0.92 and a slope for the line of best data fit of 1.06. FE-computed axial stiffnesses were 768 N/mm (construct A), 1023 N/mm (construct B), and 1102 N/mm (construct C). FE surfaces stress maps for cortical bone showed Von Mises stresses, excluding peaks, of 0–8 MPa (construct A), 0–15 MPa (construct B), and 0–20 MPa (construct C). Cables absorbed the majority of load, followed by the plates and then the screws. Construct A yielded peak stress at one of the empty holes in the plate. Constructs B and C had similar bone stress patterns, and can achieve optimal fixation.


Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood has become an increasingly recognized and clinically significant psychiatric syndrome. This article reviews the criteria for diagnosing adulthood ADHD, secondary complications of the disorder, and pharmacological methods for treating this disorder.


Morélot-Panzini and colleagues response to the paper by Johnson et al. [1] is an important contribution to the debate about the chronic breathlessness syndrome, which I called for in my editorial [2] and to which others have already contributed [3, 4]. English is a greedy language using words that mean the same in their original tongue to denote slight differences in meaning in English. In this case, dyspnoea is the technical term for breathlessness. In 40 years of clinical practice I never met a patient who complained of dyspnoea but saw many who were greatly affected by what they called breathlessness. This distinction between the symptom and its impact are at the heart of the discussions around the chronic breathlessness syndrome. I strongly support the need to provide more holistic care that looks at the consequences of breathlessness as well as their causes. However, important secondary effects on mood, behaviour and lifestyle occur in many chronic conditions not fully controlled by medical-management strategies. Should we refer to chronic arthritis syndrome or chronic cluster headache syndrome or any of the numerous other examples which readily suggest themselves? Whether or not we use the word syndrome these patients need better care than they currently receive. Chronic breathlessness is an under-recognised problem irrespective of the terminology used to describe it http://ow.ly/kKQs30es6A8


Though individual demand and supply equations can readily be expressed in logit models, closed-form solutions for equilibrium shares and prices are intractable due to the presence of products of polynomial and exponential terms. This hinders the employment of logit models in theoretical studies, and also makes it difficult to develop reduced-form expressions for share and price as a function of exogenous variables for use in empirical studies. In this paper we propose that a mathematical function called the 'LambertW' be employed in solving logit models for equilibrium shares and prices. We derive closed form solutions for price and share in both the monopoly case as well as in the presence of competition. In the competitive case, the prices of the focal firm and the competitor are dependent on each other; hence the equilibrium prices are endogenous and need to be determined simultaneously. To solve this issue, we provide a simple technique that researchers can employ to derive the optimal prices for both the focal firm and the competitor simultaneously.


Institutional arrangements for the governance of CEO pay and turnover in English NHS Hospital Trusts replicate best practice for listed companies but with the additional feature of centrally imposed performance measurement. In this paper we investigate the impact of this unique combination of incentives on the relationship between CEO pay/turnover and Trust financial and operating performance in the period 1998–2005. We identify a strong association between poor Trust performance and CEO turnover but find little evidence that remuneration committees relate pay to performance in the best performing Trusts. Our findings raise questions about the economic rationale for remuneration committees in the governance of NHS Hospital Trusts.


Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm has been applied and found to be efficient in many searching and optimization related applications. In this paper, we present a modified version of the algorithm that we successfully applied to facial emotion detection. Our approach is based on tracking the movements of facial action units (AUs) placed on the face of a subject and captured in video clips. We defined particles that form swarms such that they have a component around the neighborhood of each AU. Particles are allowed to move around the effectively n-dimensional search space in search of the emotion being expressed in each frame of a video clip (where n is the number of action units being tracked). We have implemented and tested the algorithm on video clips that contain three of the six basic emotions, namely happy, sad and surprise. Our results show the algorithm to have a promising success rate.


The automotive industry constantly faces new challenges as the demand for inexpensive and high quality components increases. Extreme diligence must be imparted to ensure that such components are designed and manufactured with sufficient quality to withstand a variety of service environments. In the event that such a component fails, it is imperative that the root cause of the failure be determined quickly and accurately, and that proper corrective measures be taken in order to prevent future failures. A systematic analysis is the key to finding the root cause of any failure. This article will describe the necessary steps for performing a proper failure investigation, and will illustrate the use of various techniques to identify the root cause of failure. Several automotive component examples are cited for illustration of these techniques.


Experiences with female addicts in a feminist awareness group within a coed therapeutic community are reported. The group met for 16 months and was based on a variety of therapeutic techniques and educational presentations. The intervention resulted in more communication and trust among the women, increased interest in health-related concerns, a reduced sense of alienation, and gains in self-respect. The article discussed the issues and implications of resistance to the group, timing, development of indigenous leadership, training for feminist therapists, and the use of outside professional consultants in therapeutic communities.


Abstract Economic resources in Tonga are scarce, and its population is growing at an unprecedented rate. Productive resources are being threatened with irreversible depletion due to population pressures and laissez-faire land use control. As the first stage in the development of an automated Land Information System (LIS) to aid in the administration of land tenure and management of the environment and natural resources in Tonga, the authors provide a description of the history and geography of the country, with particular reference to its people, their relationship with the land and the evolution of their land tenure system.


Abstract: This paper is a study of certain notions of 'Divine Mercy' in the West Syriac liturgical tradition in the light of Word of God and liturgical prayers. The author tries to explore the theme of 'Mercy' (rahme) in the liturgical prayers in West Syriac liturgical tradition using certain technical phrases coined with the word rahme. Some of the phrases are "Door of Mercy" (tar'o drahme), "Dew of Mercy" (talā drahme), "Sea of Mercy" (yamā drahme) and "Wings of Mercy" (kenfe drahme).


Insulin has long-term effects on glucose and lipid metabolism through its control on the expression of specific genes. In insulin sensitive tissues and particularly in the liver, the transcription factor sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) transduces the insulin signal. SREBP-1c is a transcription factor which is synthetized as a precursor in the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum and which requires post-translational modification to yield its transcriptionally active nuclear form. Insulin activates the transcription and the proteolytic maturation of SREBP-1c. SREBP-1c induces the expression of a family of genes involved in glucose utilization and fatty acid synthesis and can be considered as a thrifty gene. Since a high lipid availability is deleterious for insulin sensitivity and secretion, a role for SREBP-1c in dyslipidaemia and type 2 diabetes has been considered in genetic studies and some association demonstrated. Finally, SREBP-1c could also participate to the hepatic steatosis observed in humans and related to alcohol consumption and hyperhomocysteinaemia, two pathologies which are concomitant with a stress of the endoplasmic reticulum and an insulin-independent SREBP-1c activation.


Objective To compare and evaluate the efficacy of tooth bleaching with prior application of two different desensitizing agents such as sodium fluoride and 5% potassium nitrate. Materials and methods A total of 108 extracted human maxillary central incisors were stained in black coffee solution and stored in artificial saliva for colour stabilization. The specimens were randomly divided into three groups (n = 36) according to the following protocols: (a) bleaching without desensitizer, (b) bleaching with prior application of sodium fluoride, and (c) bleaching with prior application of 5% potassium nitrate. After fabricating customized trays, desensitizers were applied for 10 minutes followed by 16% carbamide peroxide bleaching gel, which was in contact with the teeth for three hours. The bleaching efficacy was evaluated at baseline (after staining), 3rd day, 7th day, and 14th day using a digital spectrophotometer. Results There was an increase in the overall colour change (∆E) from baseline to 14th day, which was statistically significant at cervical, middle, and incisal thirds of the teeth between the three groups with the sodium fluoride group showing decreased ∆E. Conclusions Carbamide peroxide (16%) showed improved whitening efficacy from baseline to the 14th day with increasing median values at all time periods. The sodium fluoride group showed decreased ∆E value when compared to other groups.


This paper proposes a new performance metric for the evaluation of wireless sensor networks that reflects the cost of operation per unit time. This metric includes traditional metrics and considers the distribution of sensor energy consumption, which was not considered before. Focusing on a single-hop wireless sensor network, it is shown that it is not enough to consider just the expected energy consumed per measurement, unless sensors are equipped with unlimited energy resources. The paper illustrates the use of the metric in large wireless sensor networks for detection applications, relating it to a previously proposed metric and providing further insight in the selection of modulation techniques.


We analyzed the pollen morphology of ten species belonging to nine genera of the Asteraceae family, with one species belonging to the Anthemideae tribe (Matricaria chamomilla L.), three belonging to the Eupatorieae [Chromolaena laevigata (Lam.) R. M. King & H. Rob., Mikania micrantha Kunth and Vittetia orbiculata (DC.) R.M.King & H.Rob.], two to the Inuleae (Achillea millefolium L. and Gnaphalium purpureum L.), two to the Mutiseae [Chaptalia integerrima (Vell.) Burkart and Chaptalia graminifolia (Dusén ex Malme) Cabrera], and two species belonging to the Senecioneae tribe [Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC. and Senecio brasiliensis (Spreng.) Less.]. We used acetolysis to carry out the palynological analysis and pollen grains were studied under light and scanning electron microscopy. The tribes were considered eurypalynous, whose morphological detail allowed the subdivision of species in four groups related to pollen types Anthemis, Eupatorium, Centaurea and Senecio, previously defi ned in the literature.


We present a new approach for the evaluation of the potential of emerald reserves in gem projects using beryllium (Be) mobility. The distribution of Be in the different phases of hydrothermally altered (albitized) black shale hosting Colombian emerald deposits indicates that Be-mobility is associated with the breakdown of Fe-Mn oxyhydroxide phases. The amount of Be that can be mobilized ( approximately 0.7X10 (super -6) g/g; i.e., 0.7 ppm) may represent up to 18 wt% of the total Be contained in the black shale. A mass balance calculation applied to a well-constrained alteration zone of the Chivor mines, and based on the quantification of Be that can be mobilized under hydrothermal conditions, gives an estimate of the total gem reserves of these mines.


Using an image analysis system, the Authors carried out a morphometric study on guinea pig spinal cord in order to determine volumetric changes of white and gray matter during development. White and gray matter volumes were determined by measuring the area occupied by these matters in 10 micrograms sections of spinal cord in 1 day and 90 days old subjects. Several topographic correspondences in the localisation of the lowest and highest volumetric values were observed in the two groups of subjects. Such correspondences were more marked for white than gray matter. Moreover, during growth white matter volume showed an increase double that observed in gray matter.


Future tighter emission limits for 2 wheelers in Europe and worldwide will require a completely new approach in catalyst system design. In particular, the EU5 scenario, probably with the same emission limits as 4 wheelers and, for the first time, emission durability requirements, needs a new strategy to combine higher and durable conversion efficiency with the classical characteristics of 2 wheeler systems: low cost, low weight with minimum impact on exhaust system layout and engine out performances such as low fuel consumption and good power output. This paper deals with the investigation of innovative metallic substrates keeping constant, as a first step towards the development of an EU5 system, both washcoat technology and PGM loading. In particular the effect of turbulent structures in the substrate, using PE (Perforated Foils) and LS (Longitudinal Structure) have been thoroughly investigated in testing 400cpsi PE and LS substrates. After a brief review of past experiences with structured foils, a first test matrix was designed with the catalysts tested at constant engine load point to prevent any influence of test set up, engine characteristics and temperature profile. The three best performing substrates have been tested again using the roller bench and WMTC Cycle to compare them with the production system in order to highlight the relative efficiency improvement. An EU3 production motorbike with state of the art engine and lambda-sensor has been chosen to carry out the test. The result of this investigation proves that high cell density metallic substrates with turbulent structures improve dramatically the conversion efficiency of the catalytic converter and form the basis for future optimization of the entire exhaust system to meet EU5 and beyond emission limits.


In the last years, the industrial digitalisation and the Industry 4.0 paradigm is no longer a fairy-tale but a reality. It is becoming more common to find industrial environments relying and adopting data-based approaches to perform some sorts of processes. Some of them are related to the industrial control, where the incursion of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is promoting the usage of data-based solutions to substitute conventional control structures. Besides, one of the greatest issues related to the ANN time-consuming training process has been alleviated by means of Transfer Learning (TL) methods. However, in the industrial control domain TL cannot be freely adopted since the final performance of the transferred control structure cannot be known before substituting the conventional structure. This is an issue that needs to be tackled, especially in critical industrial scenarios where an incorrect control can produce huge disasters. For that reason we present here the Transfer Suitability Metric (TSM). Based on the environments similarities, its main aim is to compute the transference suitability of ANN-based controllers in order to transfer the ANN to the target domain without resorting to new control design and optimization. It provides the plant operators with an insight of the controller behaviour before it is finally substituting the conventional control structure. Results have shown that the metric is highly correlated with the final control behaviour in the sense that the higher the metric, the better the final ANN-based controller performance.


Owing to the robust of the multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM), large dense linear systems, arising from discretised electric field integral equations of electromagnetic scattering problems, are generally solved by a Krylov iterative solver. An efficient preconditioning technique based on hierarchical LU-decomposition (ℋ-LU) is proposed to accelerate the convergence rate of the Krylov iterations. The ℋ-LU preconditioner is constructed from the available sparse near-field matrix and provides a data-sparse way to approximate its LU-factors, which can be computed and stored in ℋ-matrix arithmetic with almost linear complexity. The accuracy of the approximation is adjustable that will guarantee a bounded number of iterations. Some means are introduced to further lower the computational cost of the ℋ-LU. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate that the resulting ℋ-LU preconditioner is effective and flexible with MLFMM to reduce both the iteration number and the overall simulation time significantly.


A robust adaptive second-order sliding-mode control scheme with finite reaching time is proposed for a class of uncertain non-linear systems. It is shown that the problem is equivalent to the finite-time stabilisation of a second-order input-output dynamics with bounded uncertainties. The controller is designed by using geometric homogeneity and adaptive sliding-mode concept. It contains two parts: one part achieves finite-time stabilisation of the second-order input-output dynamics without uncertainties; the other part rejects bounded uncertainties, and the upper bounds of uncertainties are not required to be known in advance. As a result, a finite-time convergent second-order sliding mode is established. The convergence rate of the second-order sliding mode can be hastened through tuning the controller parameters, and the robustness is ensured. The method is evaluated in simulations on an academic example.


Very little research has investigated differences in imagery use between open-and closed-skill sports. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of competitive level (elite/novice) and skill-type (open/closed) on athletes' imagery use. A total of 83 British athletes (39 elite, 44 novice) from open-(n = 40: 23 rugby; 17 martial arts) and closed-skill (n = 43: 28 golf; 15 figure skating) sports completed the Sport Imagery Questionnaire no more than 24 hours prior to competition. MANOVA revealed that main effects due to competitive level and skill-type were significant (p < .05). Univariate analyses revealed that elite athletes used more CS and CG imagery than novices (p < .001), and contrary to previous research findings, athletes in open-skilled sports used more MG-A imagery than those in closed-skill sports (p < .001). Overall, MG-M was the most used imagery type, regardless of competitive level and skill-type. The results are discussed in terms of methodological difficulties, future research, and practical implications.


: For reasons of availability and cost, patients are sent home increasingly early, with limited follow-up due to the complexity and size of medical devices. In this context, researchers from IETR and MIPS laboratories are working on a device which should monitor the progress of a patient, in order to detect early the aggravation of a disease such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or diabetes with walking disorders. The device is based on flexible piezoelectric thin films (3 µ m thick) that can be used as podiatric sensors and have been developed by the IETR laboratory. The originality of this work lies both in the approach to the design of the gait-monitoring device— because it was carried out directly in consultation with a doctor from the University Hospital of Nantes and a podiatrist—and in the portability of the device, which should eventually allow the follow-up of a patient at home. For this study, the flexible piezoelectric sensors have been elaborated using a Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) process and a commercial aluminum (Al) foil as substrate. In order to increase the flexibility of sensors and to aid its insertion in a shoe, piezoelectric films have been encapsulated by lamination into polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 150 µ m). In this paper, the elaboration and characterization of flexible piezoelectric sensors, analog-to-digital converter and wireless communication protocol used for data transmission are presented.


Dislocations of the hip associated with spastic paralysis are almost always found in severely disabled children. The onset is in infancy. Two methods, electrostimulation of the minor gluteal muscles and treatment with simple leg casts to correct the malposition, are described. Follow-up examinations showed that the treatment had had a positive effect on the hip condition in 33 of the 42 children treated with casts and 26 of the 32 children treated by electrotherapy. Electrotherapy is an innovation, since in the past it was considered contraindicated in these patients. However, it is based on the fact that the gluteal muscles do not normally show any spasticity. Irrespective of this, the treatment is long-term, and has to be continued for many years, a fact which makes greater demands on the cooperativeness of the family.


We explore the use of residual networks and neural attention for multiple argument mining tasks. We propose a residual architecture that exploits attention, multi-task learning, and makes use of ensemble, without any assumption on document or argument structure. We present an extensive experimental evaluation on five different corpora of user-generated comments, scientific publications, and persuasive essays. Our results show that our approach is a strong competitor against state-of-the-art architectures with a higher computational footprint or corpus-specific design, representing an interesting compromise between generality, performance accuracy and reduced model size.


The mutual relationships between Hadamard-Haar and arithmetic transforms and their corresponding spectra in the form of matrix decomposition as layered vertical and horizontal Kronecker matrices are discussed here together with their fast algorithms. The new relations apply to an arbitrary dimension of the transform matrices and allow performing direct conversions between Arithmetic and Hadamard-Haar functions and their corresponding spectra. In addition, analysis of butterfly diagrams for these new relations is also introduced and it is shown that they are more efficient than the matrix decomposition method.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different grazing management systems on the parasitic nematode load (L3 larvae) in ruminants. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a factorial arrangement with four grazing systems and four rotations. The experimental period was 91 days, in a rotational system (7 days of occupation and 21 of days rest), in 8-ha pasture cultivated with Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia. The different management systems evaluated were: alternate, simultaneous and isolate whit cattle and sheep. Twenty mixed breed cattle, 30 lambs and 15 ewes were used (Santa Ines breed). Grass samples were collected for recovery and identification of L 3-larvae every week, during pre and postgrazing. In all systems, the decreasing order the number of identified larvae was Haemonchus spp., Trichostrongylus spp., Oesophagostomum spp., Strongyloides spp., and Cooperia spp. Mean correlations were found between L3-larvae numbers in pre and postgrazing. Increasing rotation caused increase in the degree of infection irrespectively of the system used. The simultaneous system had the best control on the parasitic load of Haemonchus spp., on Tanzania grass pasture.


Immunochemical and chemical studies of purified amyloid fibril protein from a wide variety of human tissues reveals that amyloid fibrils may derive from immunoglobulin proteins most frequently in the "primary" disease and can be classified as of kappa- or lambda-type. In addition a protein of unknown origin is the source of amyloid fibrils in another group of cases usually of "secondary" type. The creation of fibrils with all the characteristics of amyloid fibrils has been accomplished by proteolysis of some Bence Jones proteins. This indicates that amyloid fibrils may be formed by proteolytic digestion of circulating light polypeptide chains of immunoglobulin proteins.


The sustainable management of water quality has policy, technical, institutional and financial components. In many developing countries restricted funding is usually combined with fragile or unstable institutions and limited technical capabilities to deal with an expanding range of water quality problems. Therefore, there needs to be a priority on establishing a coherent and realistic national policy response to water quality management so that limited funds and strengthening of capacity are strategically focused on essential issues, and institutional inertia or competition is eliminated. For example, the present state of many national data programs, for which there are no clear data objectives and no defined users of the data, represents an expensive failure of national policy. At the technical level, there has been great progress in western nations in developing more cost-effective monitoring, analytical protocols, and assessment methods. This flows not only from better scientific knowledge, but also from recognition that conventional monitoring programs are inefficient, expensive, and often not very useful. Regrettably, financial institutions and ODA programs tend to reinforce conventional approaches in developing countries with the result that these countries have little opportunity to develop a new, more appropriate and more sustainable data paradigm. In lesser developed countries where public health is the major concern, the traditional model of a centralized monitoring program often does not work, suggesting that a new model of decentralized community-based monitoring would be more effective. Growing national priorities for remediation of water quality in lake and river basins demonstrate the gap between needs and abilities in developing countries. This gap has a profound effect both on the types of interventions that are being (or should be) implemented and on how these can be sustained in developing countries. The increasing need for defensible, rational, remediation programs argues for a new model for capacity building so that the role of the consultant (company) is reduced to one of facilitator and not the primary implementer. Conventional approaches to river and lake restoration, such as dredging, are often ineffective and expensive. Alternative technologies that are more effective and sustainable are usually not considered because they do not fit into conventional engineering solutions. Financial sustainability is not a simple problem. It requires, in the first-instance, a well-defined and targeted program that meets specific management needs. It includes potential for cost-avoidance and cost-reduction as well as cost-recovery and income generation. It also depends on management and business skills at the program level and on fiscal policies and accountabilities at the state level that permit earnings retention and reinvestment. Experience suggests that redesign of national water quality data programs, including technical, institutional and legal components, is an effective first step to achieving cost-efficiency.


blood. To overcome this we applied more liquid paraffin. We obtained a good-fitting plunger, but when the syringes were sterilized any excess of liquid paraffin ran out and charred round the point of the needle. The use of silicone D.C.550 seemed to be the answer. The first results appeared to be very satisfactory: there was perfect contact between plunger and syringe and there was no charring. The difficulty arose when we attempted to clean the syringe, owing to the water-repellent properties of silicone. Darling and Spencer state that " the water-repellent properties of silicones make for easier cleaning after use." The direct opposite has been our experience. After boiling in soap and water the layer of silicone was not removed. Any deposit of hard soap and precipitated chalk stuck to this silicone layer (our laboratory has no water-still at present) and the syringes appeared " dirty " after washing. The silicone-hard-soap layer was partly removed during the drying of the syringe with acetone. The remainder was removed by the silicone-ether mixture, which very soon became cloudy, making frequent centrifuging necessary. All these cleaning procedures, however, considerably increased the time taken in preparing the syringes. The use of a water-softening agent (" calgon ") added to the washing water prevented the deposit of hard soap, but even so the layer of silicone was soapy and still made the acetone and silicone-ether mixture cloudy. Another serious disadvantage of silicone D.C.550 is its high price. A 1-lb. bottle costs 48s., a phenomenal price compared with liquid paraffin.


Objective: This study is to investigate the application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in assessment of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in treating endometrioma.
Methods: Totally 60 patients with endometrioma were included in this study, who underwent HIFU in our hospital from June 2014 to July 2016. At 3 d before treatment, and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment, contrast-enhanced ultrasound were performed to assess the HIFU treatment effects.
Results: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed that, 49 (81.67%) and 11 (18.4%) cases exhibited dendritic and gradual enhancement patterns, respectively. After peak, there was no clear boundary between adenomyoma lesion and surrounding tissue. Totally 38 (63.34%) and 22 (36.67%) cases exhibited non-uniform and uniform enhancement, respectively. Along with contrast agent dissipation, the lesion area and surrounding myometrium showed synchronous regression in 60 cases (100%). Timeintensity curve analysis showed that, there was no significant difference in AT, while compared with control, TTP and RT were significantly shorter, and Imax was significantly higher, in the adenomyoma group. ROC analysis showed that, AUC values for TTP, Imax, and RT were 0.88, 0.89, and 0.87, respectively. Compared with 3 d before treatment, the maximum diameter was decreased, while the nonperfusion volume was significantly increased, at 6 and 12 months post-operation. In the follow-up period, significant differences were observed in the tumor ablation rate and tumor residual rate.
Conclusion: Real-time perfusion monitoring during HIFU with contrast-enhanced ultrasound contributes to diseases diagnosis and ablation assessment in the disease treatment.


Biomaterials for in vivo fluorescence imaging are required to be biocompatible, nontoxic, photostable and highly fluorescent. Fluorescence must be in the near infrared (NIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum to avoid absorption and autofluorescence of endogenous tissues. NIR fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticles may be considered ideal biomaterials for in vivo imaging applications. These NIR nanoparticles were prepared by a swelling process of polystyrene template nanoparticles with a hydrophobic NIR dye dissolved in a water‐miscible swelling solvent, a method developed for preparation of nonbiodegradable nanoparticles, for NIR fluorescent bioimaging applications. This method overcomes common problems that occur with dye entrapment during nanoparticle formation such as loss of fluorescence and size polydispersity. Fluorescence intensity of the nanoparticles was found to be size dependent, and was optimized for differently sized nanoparticles. The resulting NIR nanoparticles were also found to be more fluorescent and highly photostable compared to the free dye in solution, showing their potential as biomaterials for in vivo fluorescence imaging.


This thesis examines how firms' financial flexibility affects the profitability of three of the most commonly used style investing strategies. They are the value-growth trading strategy (going long on stocks with high Book-to-Market ratio and short on stocks with low Book-to-Market ratio), the momentum trading strategy (going long on stocks that have performed well and short on stocks that have performed poorly recently), and the accruals based trading strategy (going long on stocks with low accruals and short on stocks with high accruals).

The findings suggest the value premium exists when controlling for risks using the Fama and French three factor model. However, it is explained when the risk factors are conditioned on firms' investment irreversibility and the business cycle. Next, the momentum profit can be explained by (a) adjusting returns for risks using the Fama and French model that is conditioned on firms' financial constraints and the business cycle, and (b) accounting for the interaction between the momentum profit and firms' investments beyond the risk-return relationship. Finally, the accruals based trading strategy is most successful at the two ends of the financial inflexibility spectrum, supporting both an explanation based on the risk-return relationship and an explanation based on the catering theory. When controlling for the cyclicality in stock returns, the strategy ceases to be profitable.

The results suggest that the understanding of corporate investment decisions can help improve the understanding of securities markets and portfolio investment strategies. There are a few lessons that investors can learn from the findings of this thesis. Value-growth investors should focus on value and growth firms with high investment irreversibility gap. Momentum investors should pursue the trading strategy among firms with high financial constraints and during economic upturns. They could also benefit from forming their portfolio from past winners and past losers with high investment gaps. Accruals based investors would benefit from pursuing the strategy among firms with high investment and financing flexibility and during economic upturns.


Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) has been identified and measured in different stages of Trypanosoma cruzi. Millimolar levels (in terms of Piresidues) in chains of less than 50 residues long, and micromolar levels in chains of about 700–800 residues long, were found in different stages of T. cruzi. Analysis of purified T. cruzi acidocalcisomes indicated that polyPs were preferentially located in these organelles. This was confirmed by visualization of polyPs in the acidocalcisomes using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. A rapid increase (within 2–4 h) in the levels of short and long chain polyPs was detected during trypomastigote to amastigote differentiation and during the lag phase of growth of epimastigotes (within 12–24 h). Levels rapidly decreased after the epimastigotes resumed growth. Short and long chain polyP levels rapidly decreased upon exposure of epimastigotes to hypo-osmotic or alkaline stresses, whereas levels increased after hyperosmotic stress. Ca2+ release from acidocalcisomes by a combination of ionophores (ionomycin and nigericin) was associated with the hydrolysis of short and long chain polyPs. In agreement with these results, acidocalcisomes were shown to contain polyphosphate kinase and exopolyphosphatase activities. Together, these results suggest a critical role for these organelles in the adaptation of the parasite to environmental changes.


Clonal analysis of FACS-purified primitive hematopoietic stem cells and of their progeny as assessed by the progenitors obtained from long-term cultures requires PCR-based approaches, mainly because of the low number of cells available. We have developed a non-radioactive androgen receptor (AR) assay which allows a simple and quantitative evaluation of the clonality of hematopoietic cells and progenitors. In this approach 5' AR primer is labelled by fluorescein and the amplified product is run on a sequencing gel which allows evaluation of the intensity of the fluorescent peaks generated. A computer software then analyzes the reduction of the intensity of the peaks on HpaII-digested samples. In order to determine the feasibility of the technique, we analyzed the clonality of leukemic cells from a patient with an acute-phase CMML which showed a typical clonal pattern of her leukemic DNA sample (WBC = 300 x 10(9)/I) using phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) analysis. The same sample was then analyzed with either radioactive- or fluorescein-labelled AR primers, showing a typical clonal pattern (complete disappearance of one allele after HpaII digestion). A short-term clonogenic assay was then set up on methylcellulose and clonogenic progenitors were individually analyzed. All 24 colonies tested showed a typical clonal pattern with the disappearance of the same allele on each sample after HpaII digestion, indicating that they all derived from the same leukemic stem cell. Using this approach we then analyzed 94 patients with several hematologic malignancies and quantification of their fluorescent peaks. Fifty-four percent of the patients were clearly heterozygous (ie, a difference of > or = 2 CAG repeats was present between the two copies of the gene) and could be analyzed in an automatic sequencer using the fluorescent primers. Bone marrow mononuclear cells from all patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed a clonal or oligoclonal pattern at diagnosis whereas a polyclonal pattern was seen when remission was obtained. Similarly, out of 21 patients with a diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a clonal pattern was demonstrated in 10 whereas an oligoclonal or non-clonal pattern was shown in 11. These results show that this non-radioactive and safe technology can now be used on a large scale to evaluate the clonality of highly purified hematopoietic stem cells and their progenitors in hematopoietic malignancies and this might allow new insights into the targets of clonal amplification.


 Based on theories of transaction cost economics, this paper study up on the relationship between product cognitive, transaction complexity and transaction cost, and examined the impact of product cognitive, transaction complexity on the product suitable for E-commerce. Being difference from the previous point of view that the product cognitive would reduce transaction cost, and transaction complexity would increase transaction cost, that combination with previous researches, we conclude that transaction cost tends to influence product suitable for E-commerce; and with the product cognitive increasing and transaction complexity reducing, transaction cost reduced so that the product are more suitable for E-commerce.


Recent works on neural architectures have demonstrated the utility of attention mechanisms for a wide variety of tasks. Attention models used for problems such as image captioning typically depend on the image under consideration, as well as the previous sequence of words that come before the word currently being generated. While these types of models have produced impressive results, they are not able to model the higher-order interactions involved in problems such as video description/captioning, where the relationship between parts of the video and the concepts being depicted is complex. Motivated by these observations, we propose a novel memory-based attention model for video description. Our model utilizes memories of past attention when reasoning about where to attend to in the current time step, similar to the central executive system proposed in human cognition. This allows the model to not only reason about local attention more effectively, it allows it to consider the entire sequence of video frames while generating each word. Evaluation on the challenging and popular MSVD and Charades datasets show that the proposed architecture outperforms all previously proposed methods and leads to a new state of the art results in the video description.


BACKGROUND
In Norway, almost 8 500 patients received mechanical ventilation in 2019. We have investigated the effect of early activity in mechanically ventilated adults in intensive care units on the duration of ventilation, weaning time from mechanical ventilation, mortality, length of stay, and adverse events.

METHOD
We conducted a systematic literature search for randomised controlled trials in nine databases. Two authors selected studies, extracted data and then rated the certainty of evidence according to the GRADE framework.

RESULTS
A total of 3 270 titles and abstracts were read, and 17 studies with 1 805 patients and a low-to-moderate risk of bias were included. The analyses showed that early mobilisation reduced both the mean duration of ventilation (-1.43 days; 95 % CI -2.68 to -0.18, p = 0.02) and the ICU length of stay (-1.08 days; 95 % CI -1.95 to -0.21, p = 0.02), with the certainty of evidence rated as moderate. Inspiratory muscle training had no effect on the duration of mechanical ventilation (-0.11; 95 % CI -1.76 to 1.53, p = 0.89) or on the weaning time from mechanical ventilation (-0.33; 95 % CI -1.31 to 0.65, p = 0.51), with the certainty of evidence rated as low. Neither early mobilisation nor inspiratory muscle training affected mortality. Few adverse events were reported.

INTERPRETATION
The analyses show that early mobilisation is safe and can shorten the duration of mechanical ventilation and the ICU length of stay, but has no effect on mortality. Inspiratory muscle training had no effect on any of the outcome measures.


Meningiomas are well-recognized tumors of the central nervous system. Extracranial meningiomas, secondarily extended into the paranasal sinuses, are rare tumors, comprising approximately 2% of all meningiomas. Extracranial meningiomas of the paranasal sinuses may present a diagnostic and the rapeutic challenge. We present a retrospective review comprising three cases and discuss the clinical presentation, imaging findings,diagnostic evaluation, and treatment options. The localizations included the frontal sinus, the ethmoid sinus, the sphenoid sinus and even the maxillary sinus. Complete surgical resection was achieved in one patient; meanwhile deliberate subtotal tumor resection was performed in the other cases in order to avoid severe neurological damage with sufficient tumor control.


Water's surface dielectric Theoretical studies predict that the inhibition of rotational motion of water near a solid surface will decrease its local dielectric constant. Fumagalli et al. fabricated thin channels in insulating hexagonal boron nitride on top of conducting graphene layers (see the Perspective by Kalinin). The channels, which varied in height from 1 to 300 nanometers, were filled with water and capped with a boron nitride layer. Modeling of the capacitance measurements made with an atomic force microscope tip revealed a surface-layer dielectric constant of 2, compared with the bulk value of 80 for water. Science, this issue p. 1339; see also p. 1302 Capacitance measurements reveal a low dielectric constant for atomically thin layers of water next to solid surfaces. The dielectric constant ε of interfacial water has been predicted to be smaller than that of bulk water (ε ≈ 80) because the rotational freedom of water dipoles is expected to decrease near surfaces, yet experimental evidence is lacking. We report local capacitance measurements for water confined between two atomically flat walls separated by various distances down to 1 nanometer. Our experiments reveal the presence of an interfacial layer with vanishingly small polarization such that its out-of-plane ε is only ~2. The electrically dead layer is found to be two to three molecules thick. These results provide much-needed feedback for theories describing water-mediated surface interactions and the behavior of interfacial water, and show a way to investigate the dielectric properties of other fluids and solids under extreme confinement.


A folded architecture and a digit-serial architecture are proposed for implementation of one- and two-dimensional discrete wavelet transforms. In the one-dimensional folded architecture, the computations of all wavelet levels are folded to the same low-pass and high-pass filters. The number of registers in the folded architecture is minimized by the use of a generalized life time analysis. The converter units are synthesized with a minimum number of registers using forward-backward allocation. The advantage of the folded architecture is low latency and its drawbacks are increased hardware area, less than 100% hardware utilization, and the complex routing and interconnection required by the converters used. These drawbacks are eliminated in the alternate digit-serial architecture at the expense of an increase in the system latency and some constraints on the wordlength. In latency-critical applications, the use of the folded architecture is suggested. If latency is not so critical, the digit-serial architecture should be used. The use of a combined folded and digit-serial architecture is proposed for implementation of two-dimensional discrete wavelet transforms. >


Abstract Objective: For better treatment of circadian cardiovascular events, a novel Propranolol hydrochloride (PNH) delayed-release osmotic pump capsule was developed. Methods: The capsule body was designed of asymmetric membrane and the capsule cap was made impermeable. The physical characteristics of capsule body walls and membrane permeability were compared among different coating solutions. Results: The formulation with the glycerin and diethyl phthalate (DEP) ratio of 5:4 appeared to be the best. The lag time and subsequent drug release were investigated through assembling the capsule body with capsule caps of different length. WSR N-10 was chosen as the suspending for its moderate expanding capacity. The influence of factors (WSR N-10 content, NaCl content and capsule cap length) on the responses (lag time and drug release rate) was evaluated using central composite design-response surface methodology. A second-order polynomial equation was fitted to the data and actual response values were in good accordance with the predicted ones. The optimized formulation displayed complete drug delivery, zero-order release rate with 4-h lag time. The results of in vivo pharmacokinetics in beagle dogs clearly suggested the controlled and sustained release of PNH from the system and that the relative bioavailability of this preparation was about 1.023 comparing the marketed preparation. Conclusions: These results indicate that by the adjustment of capsule cap length, PNH could be developed as a novel pulsatile and controlled drug delivery system.


Recent advances in wireless communications and MEMS have motivated the development of extremely small and low-cost sensors. Multi-hop, ad-hoc wireless networks of large numbers of such sensors can be effective tools for gathering data in a wide variety of environments. A key determinant of the effectiveness of these networks is their longevity, which is limited by the energy resources of each sensor. Hence, in the first part of this thesis, we (i) analytically determine the energy cost of communicating data from all sensors to a central node, and (ii) minimize this cost via optimal selection of the parameters in a hierarchical, distributed clustering algorithm. This clustering algorithm is found to be significantly more energy efficient than other existing algorithms. Another critical determinant of the effectiveness of a sensor network is its spatiotemporal sampling strategy. In the second part of the thesis, we address this issue and obtain results that include: (i) characterization of the trade-offs among sensor density, energy usage, temporal sampling rates and spatial sampling rates in wireless sensor networks, and (ii) derivation of a lower bound on the delay in gathering packets at a given spatial sampling rate. These results are obtained for an idealized media-access scheme, but they can serve as a benchmark to evaluate the performance of other protocols. In the third part of the thesis, we consider a wireless network of mobile sensors and characterize the time to detect any event by at least one of these sensors. In the course of characterizing the event detection time, we obtain closed form solutions in the time-domain for the transient and steady state probabilities of correlated random walks on a finite lattice in one and two dimensions. We also obtain closed form solutions for the Laplace transforms of the first passage time for such walks. These results allow one to determine the required density of sensors in a network to detect events with high probability in a given time period. Moreover, the results related to correlated random walks can be applied to many other applications in physical and chemical sciences.


Jerdon's baza Aviceda jerdoni is one of the least studied raptor species in Nepal which is listed as a Critically Endangered species in the 'Nepal's Red List of Birds'. This paper presents the records of this species during opportunistic surveys, conducted in 2018/2019 from Ilam and Jhapa districts of eastern Nepal. A total of 18 individuals were sighted during the study period with the first record of nest of the species in Nepal. The sightings were made between 70 m, the lowest global known range to 1048 m from mean sea level, and the highest altitudinal record for Nepal. Hunting and unintentional prey poisoning were identified as major threats for species in the study site.


A careful history and physical examination are usually enough to assess illness severity, the need for further laboratory tests, and often the cause. Supportive treatment generally suffices. However, antibiotic or probiotic therapy should be considered in selected patients.


Although studies conducted by questionnaire are sometimes suspect, Kandel's 1 evaluation of peer and parent influence on marihuana use by adolescents seems above reproach. Questionnaires were given in a random sample of homerooms in 13 high schools and to the entire student body in five other schools in New York State. Later a questionnaire was mailed to one parent of each student, alternately mothers and fathers. It was possible to match 49% of all the students to parents and 38% of the students in the five schools to their best school friends. In these five schools, 23% of students could be matched to parents as well as to their best school friends. Students were asked about their use of marihuana and about their perception of parents' use of psychoactive drugs. Parents were also asked about their own use of such drugs. There appeared a tendency for students to use marihuana