Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted by plants and microorganisms and have significant impacts on atmospheric chemistry. Soil systems are sources of VOCs driven by abiotic and biotic factors. We investigated the emissions of VOCs by soils and their plant cover from three contrasted biotopes: meadow, heathland and oak forest, during 24-h in summer. We hypothesized that the spatial and temporal dynamics of VOC fluxes are reflected in soil properties, soil microbial communities, vegetation covers, and litter composition that differed in the three biotopes VOC fluxes were measured after direct on-field sampling at four sampling times (two at night and two at day) using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer, and results were linked to some climatic, edaphic and biotic parameters simultaneously monitored in each biotope. While differences in the composition of the soil bacterial communities, in the richness of the plant cover and in some soil physicochemical properties between the three biotopes were observed, the total VOC fluxes from the soil to the atmosphere did not present spatial patterns. However, differences in the mass composition of the VOC spectra were detected; for example, the soil from the forest that was covered with oak leaf litter had specific bacterial communities and emitted distinct VOC spectra than the two other biotopes. The total VOC fluxes responded to rainfall and were significantly driven by soil temperature. While we observed changes in the structure of soil bacterial communities between day and night in all biotopes using fingerprinting analysis, a diurnal dynamic of VOC fluxes was only observed in the forest biotope where the soil was protected from rainfall due to the canopy. This soil presented higher fluxes in day time up to 10.8 µg VOCs h−1 m−2 and lower fluxes in night time down to 3.8 µg VOCs h−1 m−2. Overall, the present study supplies data regarding VOC emissions by soils which are scare compared to plant sources. The results highlighted the complex interconnections existing between abiotic and biotic parameters that could directly or indirectly drive VOC emissions by soil systems.


In October 1999 the European Commission published the second progress report on the state of convergence of the Central- and Eastern European candidate countries (CEECs). The report encompasses an assessment, which is based on the three Copenhagen criteria. From an economic point of view, a country must have a functioning market economy and be able to withstand the competition on the European single market. In this paper we present a synthetic performance measure which helps to assess the economic preparedness of the ten Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to become members of the European Union (EU). With the aid of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) we construct a best practice frontier, which is supported by the best performing EU-countries and which serves as a benchmark for the candidate countries. The preparedness of any CEEC is measured as the relative distance to this frontier. The results confirm that the macroeconomic performance of most of the CEECs lies far behind the EU standards, in foreign trade some of the CEECs already perform better than some EU countries. Interestingly, we find out that some CEECs are already better prepared for the EMU than many EU member states. (authors' abstract)


Based on an action theory approach, of 32 videotaped parent-adolescent conversations about health in two Canadian ethno-cultural groups were analyzed to identify and describe the joint action of parents and adolescents in the health domain. The data include manifest behavior (the conversation), internal processes (recalled thoughts and feelings on viewing the videotape of the conversation), and social meaning. These data were analyzed using the goals, functions, and elements of the conversations. Five categories of joint actions emerged from these data: sharing and exploring information, values, and beliefs about health; negotiating and struggling about aspects of the adolescent's independence; providing and receiving guidance; adjusting to family and home issues; and fostering joint understanding by giving voice to the adolescent.


Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are internationally accepted as a popular online learning, its introduction into Mainland China provides an opportunity for College English education reform, which is on progress since 2007. This article attempts to draw a picture of College English teaching reform under the influence of MOOCs by adopting documentary research method through analyzing all the essays about College English teaching under the wave of MOOCs in CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) according to their research contents. The data collected shows that theoretically College English teaching could be reformed by taking the form of MOOCs in the courses of English for general purposes (EGP), English for general education (EGE), and English for specific purposes (ESP). It seems that during the reform teaching models and student-teacher relationship are altered by the MOOCs environment. Additionally, College English courses on several MOOCs platforms are analyzed, they further prove the practical College English courses done on MOOCs platforms. This paper seems to throw light on a general overview of College English teaching in Mainland China for English teachers and researchers and propose further improvement for college English teaching reform.


CloudSat observations of deep convective clouds reveal significant contributions from multiply scattered photons, resulting in "pulse stretching", where echoes appear to originate from beyond the end of the cloud and even below the ground. Spaceborne lidar returns from liquid water clouds suffer from the same effect. It is essential to account for this phenomenon if we are to retrieve accurate microphysical profiles from space, but no satisfactory method for doing so has yet been devised. In this paper an efficient multiple scattering model is described that may be incorporated into retrieval schemes as the "forward model" for both radar and lidar, thereby allowing multiple scattering to be accounted for. It splits the photons into those that have taken a near-direct path out to and back from a single backscattering event (in the case of lidar, accounting for small-angle forward scatterings on the way), and those that have experienced wide-angle multiple-scattering events leading to pulse stretching. The latter are modeled using the time-dependent two-stream approximation, which reduces the problem to solving a pair of coupled partial differential equation. The method performs well in comparison to Monte Carlo calculations, but is far more efficient. This offers the prospect not only of accounting for a troublesome effect in CloudSat and Calipso data, but also of making use of multiple scattering to extract extra information about clouds and convective systems.


Preparing tissue sections for light microscopy is absolutely necessary in pathology. This process, however, is still mainly performed manually. Preparing many samples from a large number of specimens requires great skills. Additionally, it is very difficult to maintain predetermined accuracy of the procedure. To solve these problems, we propose a new prototype machine for automatic sample preparations.We developed the machine for automatically mounting sections on the object glass by using static electricity. The principle of this method is based on electrostatically charging the surface of a paraffin block, by which insulation tape is attracted to the surface. After sectioning the block, the section remains adhered to the insulation tape by electrostatic force. Then, the section is transferred to the object glass by using the static electricity again. This whole process can be repeated automatically and the sectioning is performed by the newly developed high-precision automatic microtome. With this machine, the process covering from sectioning to transferring the tissue section on the object glass can be done full-automatically.


One out of ten older adults is a victim of elder abuse. Perpetrators of elder abuse include anyone who is in a position of trust with an elder, though adult children are the most frequent perpetrators of abuse. The role of gender in relationships has been largely ignored in elder abuse, despite the research on aggression in interpersonal relationships demonstrating gender differences. While research has shown how adult daughters successfully transition to caregivers and maintain relationships with their aging mothers, there is little understanding of how these relationships transition to violence and victimization. Mother-daughter relationships are lifelong intimate relationships, making their unique dynamics integral in understanding the context which creates aggression. Therefore the purpose of this study was to generate theory to explain the experience of aggression between adult daughters and their aging mothers, from the perspective of the daughters, describing the factors that influence the development of elder abuse. Grounded theory methodology, informed by feminism, was used to achieve the study aims. Thirteen telephone interviews were completed with adult daughters who self-identified as being in an abusive relationship with their aging mother. Daughters' descriptions of their mother-daughter relationship were framed around their perceptions of past childhood injustices. This past-framing led to the negative emotional responses daughters experienced in their relationship. Despite feeling the relationship was explicitly negative daughters remained in the relationship out of a desire to pursue the dream relationship and validate their mother-daughter bond, as well as a sense of obligation to do their due diligence. Daughters used both coping and self-protective strategies in managing their ongoing relationship with their mother. These strategies developed over time as daughters found them useful. While the strategies served the daughters' needs, they often came at the expense of the mothers' needs resulting in a situation in which elder neglect could occur. Additionally, daughters found the use of reciprocal and spiteful aggression to be useful, promoting the occurrence of elder abuse. Findings from the study provide theoretical insights to the conceptualization of aggression, power relationships between adult daughters and aging mothers, as well as the development of elder abuse and neglect. Furthermore, the findings have practical relevance as they suggest targeted areas for assessing family safety and elder abuse as well as potential opportunities for interventions.


Objective Studies have reported a decline in sexual functioning among women undergoing the menopausal transition. Few studies, however, have examined the associations between hormones and sexual dysfunction during this time period. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations between participant characteristics and endogenous hormones with sexual functioning in mid-life women. Methods Data were analyzed from a community-based sample of 441 women aged 45–54 years who stated that they were sexually active at the time of the study. Each participant completed a survey that included questions pertaining to sexual functioning and provided a blood sample that was used to measure estrogen and androgen concentrations. Results Among women who reported being sexually active, poorer self-reported health and the experiencing of depressive symptoms were significantly associated with not being satisfied with sexual relations after adjustment for other covariates. None of the hormones examined were significantly associated with overall sexual satisfaction. However, statistically significant associations between both total testosterone levels and the free testosterone index with satisfaction with the frequency of sexual relations were observed. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the experiencing of depressive symptoms and the reporting of poor overall health are important correlates of sexual dysfunction. Further, our results suggest that higher total and free testosterone levels are significantly associated with a desire for increased frequency of sexual relations among mid-life women.


John Gerdy first explores the history and role of athletic programs within higher education institutions, and how that role is evolving. He then offers a philosophical rationale for setting a new standard against which the success of college athletic programs should be measured. Rather than focusing on the level of funds generated, or on the number of championships won, this new standard offers a basis for determining how successful a college athletic program is in helping the institution meet educational goals. Gerdy identifies and develops the three fundamental principles upon which this new standard should operate: First, that college athletics is, first and foremost, about the student athlete; second, that coaches and athletic administrators are, above all else, teachers and educators; and, finally, that athletics is a part of, not apart from, the higher education community. The author concludes by outlining specific changes that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) should make to implement this new standard. Gerdy also looks at what the future could hold for colleges and universities willing to adopt athletics as a tool for meeting the institution's broader objectives.


Did the United States promise the Soviet Union during the 1990 negotiations on German reunification that NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe? Since the end of the Cold War, an array of Soviet/Russian policymakers have charged that NATO expansion violates a U.S. pledge advanced in 1990; in contrast, Western scholars and political leaders dispute that the United States made any such commitment. Recently declassified U.S. government documents provide evidence supporting the Soviet/Russian position. Although no non-expansion pledge was ever codified, U.S. policymakers presented their Soviet counterparts with implicit and informal assurances in 1990 strongly suggesting that NATO would not expand in post–Cold War Europe if the Soviet Union consented to German reunification. The documents also show, however, that the United States used the reunification negotiations to exploit Soviet weaknesses by depicting a mutually acceptable post–Cold War security environment, while actually seeking a system dominated by the United States and opening the door to NATO's eastward expansion. The results of this analysis carry implications for international relations theory, diplomatic history, and current U.S.-Russian relations.


Any system of ideas which underlies economic policy recommendations needs to be made explicit so that its doctrinal premise may be examined and debated. Section I of this paper, therefore, explicitly states the philosophical under -pinning of this study. Section 2 presents the central energy problem in a general mathematical form whereas the solution of the specific energy problem for the Pakistani economy is presented in Section 3, in which policy guidelines for obtaining the desired solution have also been discussed. Finally, Section 4 briefly presents Our concluding remarks.


Modern numerical analysis is executed on discrete data, of which numerical difference computation is one of the cores and is indispensable. Nevertheless, difference algorithms have a critical weakness in their sensitivity to noise, which has long posed a challenge in various fields including signal processing. Difference is an extension or generalization of differential in the discrete domain. However, due to the finite interval in discrete calculation, there is a failure in meeting the most fundamental definition of differential, where dy and dx are both infinitesimal (Leibniz) or the limit of dx is 0 (Cauchy). In this regard, the generalization of differential to difference does not hold. To address this issue, we depart from the original derivative approach, construct a finite interval-based differential, and further generalize it to obtain the difference by convolution. Based on this theory, we present a variety of difference operators suitable for practical signal processing. Experimental results demonstrate that these difference operators possess exceptional signal processing capabilities, including high noise immunity.


Abstract To investigate whether polymerized human placenta hemoglobin (PolyPHb) improved hemodynamic parameter recovery and cardiac function after hemorrhagic shock, a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 30 mmHg was maintained for 60min. Then, all the rats were randomly resuscitated with hetastarch (HES), shed blood (Whole Blood), or PolyPHb (PolyPHb). The MAP was greatly improved by PolyPHb, but it was still lower than that of the Whole Blood group. Meanwhile, the cardiac function and enzyme releases in the PolyPHb group were similar to the HES group. Therefore, our findings suggest that PolyPHb moderately improved hemodynamic recovery and provided little cardioprotective effect in hemorrhagic shock.


The properties of the low-lying states, especially the relevant shape coexistence in $^{80}$Ge close to one of most neutron-rich doubly magic nuclei at $N=50$ and $Z=28$ have been investigated within the framework of the proton-neutron interacting model (IBM-2). Based on the fact that the relative energy of the $d$ neutron boson is different from proton bosons', the calculated energy levels of low-lying states, $E2$ transition strengths can reproduce the experimental data very well. Particularly, the first excited state 0$^+_2$ is reproduced quite nicely, which is intimately related with the shape coexistence phenomenon. And the $\rho^2(E0, 0^+_2\rightarrow0^+_1)$ transition strength has been predicted. The experimental data and theoretical results indicate that both collective spherical and $\gamma$-soft vibration structures coexist in $^{80}$Ge. Key words: $^{80}$Ge, low-lying states, $E0$ transition strengths, shape coexistence, IBM-2.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP) on performance and health of calves during the first 63 d of age. Sixty Holstein calves (30 males and 30 females) at 2 d of age were blocked by sex and date of birth then randomly assigned within blocks to 1 of 3 treatments. A texturized calf starter was fed ad libitum containing 0 (control), 0.5, or 1% SCFP (Original XPC, Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) of DM. In addition, the supplemented calves were fed 1 g/d SCFP (SmartCare, Diamond V) in milk until d 30. All calves were fed 4 L of colostrum within 1 h of birth and were subsequently fed milk twice daily until weaned at 56 d of age. Male calves were harvested on d 56. Performance and health of weaned female calves were monitored until 63 d of age to determine the effect of preweaning treatment of SCFP on weaning stress. Starter intake, fecal scores, and medical treatments were recorded daily. Body weight measures and blood samples were collected on d 2, 28, 56, and 63. Serum was analyzed for blood urea nitrogen, fatty acids, insulin-like growth factor-1, glucose, and total protein. Oxidative biomarkers and total antioxidant capacity were also evaluated in the serum. Body weight, DMI, blood parameters, and oxidative biomarkers did not differ among treatments. Supplementation of SCFP lowered fecal scores in the pre- and postweaning periods. Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products can be used to reduce the diarrhea in calves grown under normal commercial conditions.


Natural killer (NK) lymphocytes play roles in the innate immune defense against tumors and viruses but also participate in graft-versus-host disease and organ transplant rejection. Selective immunomodulation of NK cell subsets would therefore prove beneficial.
 We have found that human NK cells express two types of potassium channels: Kv1.3 and KCa3.1. Interestingly, NK cells adherent to plastic in the presence of cytokines up-regulate KCa3.1 channels while non-adherent NK cells up-regulate Kv1.3 channels. In going with these results, we found that selective blockers of Kv1.3 channels preferentially inhibited natural cytotoxicity, antibody-mediated cytotoxicity and Fas-mediated cytotoxicity by non-adherent NK cells while selective blockers of KCa3.1 channels preferentially targeted adherent NK cells. We observed the same dichotomy when studying the effects of potassium channel blockers on the ability of adherent and non-adherent NK cells to proliferate and produce cytokines. We have successfully used selective Kv1.3 channel blockers to inhibit autoreactive T lymphocytes for the treatment of autoimmune diseases without inducing generalized immunosuppression. Targeting NK cell potassium channels may prove beneficial for the selective immunomodulation of NK cell subsets.
 Funded by the American Heart Association and Baylor College of Medicine.


The purpose of this article is to analyze the introduction and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the special disciplines of higher education, to teach teachers how to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning through information and communication technologies (ICT). This article discusses the issues of improving the knowledge and skills of students through the use of modern information and communication technologies in the preparation of designers, increasing students' interest in the educational process and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice in the future. The focus is on the need to develop appropriate strategies for a new educational role and, in addition, to enhance the role of learners in integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into the educational process. The role and perspective of the teachers was very important, highlighting them as key players in the process. The data show that there is a belief that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the educational process will help increase the effectiveness of education and facilitate the organization of the educational process. In particular, it shows that the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the improvement of the educational process in educational institutions, where information and communication technologies (ICT) is an innovative factor, is high. Achieving this high level means that the educational institution must not only modernize technological means, but also change the models of teaching.


Abstract In a Cournot duopoly model in which exporters compete in a third market, this paper revisits the classical issue (dating back to the pioneering work of Brander and Spencer, Export Subsidies and International Market Share Rivalry, 1985) of the strategic trade policy choice in the presence of the passive participation of one firm in the rival. Passive cross-ownership dramatically alters the participating and participated firms' governments' choice to apply the strategic trade policy instrument, the equilibria typology and their efficiency properties. In fact, if the share of cross-ownership is sufficiently large, the participated firm's government finds optimal to tax export. Moreover, beyond an adequately high threshold, cross-ownership modifies the equilibrium from the activist regime for both countries to an asymmetric regime in which only the participating firm's government intervenes. In addition, in the case of the traditional common activist regime equilibrium, the classical prisoner's dilemma game structure may disappear.


Pentoxifylline (PTXF) is a hemorheologic agent that can attenuate microvascular alterations induced by injury, resulting in improved microcirculatory flow. Burn injury-induced immunologic suppression may be caused by alterations in microvascular flow. We studied the effects of PTXF on humoral immunity in resuscitated burn injury. Male AKR mice (n = 80) were randomized to four groups: SHAM, BURN, PTXF-BURN, and NS-BURN (saline burn). Animals were resuscitated with Ringer's lactate and morphine sulfate and put to death at days 1 and 4 after injury. PTXF-BURN animals received PTXF (50 mg/kg intraperitoneally) at the time of resuscitation. Splenic lymphocytes (1 x 10(6) cells/well) were cultured with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (2.5 and 10 micrograms/ml)). LPS-stimulated in vitro class-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) production was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from splenic cell culture supernatants. Burn injury induced a reduction in immunoglobulin (Ig) M synthesis on postburn day 4. PTXF treatment was associated with an increase in IgG production, but a greater depression in IgM synthesis than burn injury alone. PTXF administration during resuscitation in burn injury does not ameliorate the burn-induced depression in IgM synthesis and results in significant potential adverse modulation of humoral immune function.


IMPACT OF RESIDUAL FEED INTAKE CLASSIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT REGIMEN ON FEEDLOT GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS TRAITS AND MEAT QUALITY IN BEEF CATTLE Janelle Elyse Kelly Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Dr. Ira B. Mandell Residual feed intake (RFI) is being used to replace traditional measures of feed efficiency due to improved accuracy for determining production efficiency for cattle in a selection program. The research examined the effects of RFI classification (determined in the grower phase using a common diet) and diverse management regimens (using metabolic modifiers (implants, beta agonists) applied in the finisher phase) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality for 156 Angus x Simmental steers. RFI determined in the grower phase did not always predict RFI accurately for the finisher phase. Metabolic modifiers did not affect RFI classification within a production phase or RFI classification across production phases. Metabolic modifiers increased carcass leanness and decreased meat tenderness. RFI may be a valuable tool for selecting feed efficient animals, but there may be a reduction in longissimus tenderness depending on the type of metabolic modifiers used.


Gastric cancer, which once was the most common type of cancer, still afflicts a great proportion of the population. There is a tendency towards improving outcomes in regards to mortality, through a greater understanding of tumor biology and particularly its association with Helicobacter pylori infection. However, 5-year survival, in general, is still poor (20%). One of the most important areas of opportunity in the treatment of this disease, particularly in high incidence countries and in at-risk individuals is early detection of the disease. If this is achieved the individual is a candidate for a diverse set of organ saving interventions which are minimally invasive and achieve excellent long term results. The purpose of this review article is to analyze endoscopic resection as a treatment for early gastric cancer, describing the two most common techniques: Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) and Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), their characteristics and results. Both of them, alone or in a hybrid-modality could be curative in selected patients with low risk for nodal metastases, without the implications and complications of a gastrectomy. Albeit these are excellent treatment options, there are concerns regarding incomplete resections, lack of expertise, procedural complications and still lack of follow up surveillance criteria. Further research is needed before recommending endoscopic resection as the first line therapy for early gastric cancer


Division of labour in honey bees is based on a process of behavioural development where the worker bee successively performs different tasks at different ages. Workers start with tasks related to brood care and nest maintenance and move on to become foragers. This process of worker behavioural maturation is well studied in Apis mellifera. Juvenile hormone is one of the major drivers of this behavioural maturation, which is also accompanied by changes in brain physiology and anatomy including changes in neuronal gene expression and connections of neurons. Recent studies have identified whole networks of genes associated with specific tasks like nursing, guarding and foraging. Based on this detailed knowledge in A. mellifera, we ask whether major characteristics of the behavioural maturation process and the underlying hormonal and molecular changes are similar or different in two other honey bee species, the phylogenetically ancestral open-nesting A. florea and the more derived cavity-nesting A. cerana. Our behavioural studies show that workers of A. florea exhibit a slower pace of behavioural maturation and on average start foraging at a later age. However, the basic hormonal and molecular changes associated with onset of foraging are similar between both species. Based on our findings, we propose that evolution of accelerated behavioural maturation in cavity-nesting species is likely attributed to changes in the temporal dynamics of juvenile hormone titres.


Genital ulceration is an uncommon manifestation of primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. We present here two cases of genital ulcers probably caused by EBV. The first case is a 12-year-old girl with a genital ulcer appearing before specific EBV serology could identify a primary infection. However, serology was positive 13 days after the ulcer appeared. Polymerase chain reaction for EBV was positive in the biopsy from the ulcer as well. The second case is an 18-year-old female in whom the specific EBV serology was positive 8 days after appearance of the ulcer. The ulcers in both cases healed after 21 days. We reviewed the literature and a total of 26 cases of EBV-associated genital ulcers in females are now published. Median age of the 26 cases is 14.5 years of whom only 6 reports previous sexual contact. Mean healing time for the ulcers is 18 days. Our two cases correspond well with clinical reports of 24 EBV-associated genital ulcers in the literature.


Background Clostridium difficile is a leading infectious cause of health care associated diarrhoea. Several industrialised countries have reported increased C. difficile infections and outbreaks, which have been attributed to the emergent PCR ribotype 027 strain. Methods and Findings We conducted a case-case study to compare severity of C. difficile disease for patients with 027 versus non-027 ribotypes. We retrospectively collected clinical information about 123/136 patients with C. difficile infections admitted to hospitals in the East of England region in 2006 and from whom stool isolates were cultured and ribotyped as part of an earlier national survey. We defined severe C. difficile disease as having one or more of shock, paralytic ileus, pseudo membranous colitis or toxic megacolon. Patient median age was 83 years old (range 3 to 98, interquartile range 75 to 89), 86% were prescribed antibiotics in the eight weeks before illness onset, 41% had ribotype 027 and 30-day all cause mortality during hospital admission was 21%. Severe disease occurred in 24% (95%CI 13% to 37%) and 17% (95%CI 9% to 27%) of patients with PCR ribotype 027 and non-027 ribotypes respectively. In a multivariable model, ribotype 027 was not associated with severe disease after adjusting for sex, discharge from hospital prior to 60 days of current admission, gastroenteritis on admission, number of initiator antibiotics for C. difficile disease, and hospital where the patient was admitted. Conclusions Our study found no evidence to support previous assertions that ribotype 027 is more virulent than other PCR ribotypes. This finding raises questions about the contribution of this strain to the recent increase in C. difficile disease throughout North America and Europe.


Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are seen to be drivers for the development of emerging regions. Many small businesses in the United States, including Native American owned microenterprises, are facing unique challenges in the adoption of ICTs to improve business performance. This research follows an inductive qualitative approach to find out which of the factors could potentially lead to the adoption of technologies by Native American micro-enterprises owners. Based on interviews from four Native American owned micro-enterprises, Characteristics of ICTs, Personal Inequality, and Community Engagement are identified as key factors that lead to the adoption of ICTs. The contribution of this study is the identification of these factors, and in the ways in which they relate to each other. This research also offers a cyclical view of relationships between factors that influence Native American microentrepreneurs' adoption of technology.


The anticipated proliferation of various wireless local area network (WLAN) enabled devices in the near future is likely to result in increased mutual interference in the 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band. The paper investigates the impact of standard Bluetooth and high data rate (HDR) Bluetooth interference on IEEE 802.11g enabled consumer electronic devices and vice versa. Technical design issues for HDR Bluetooth and 802.11g systems implemented in software are presented. Packet error rate (PER) versus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) plots are presented. The improvement in performance attained in 802.11g systems by using erasures in the corrupted subcarriers is briefly discussed.


Drylands comprise of approximately 80% of Kenya's land mass and they are characterized by erratic and low rainfall, crop failure, reduced livestock carrying capacity, environmental degradation and recurrent droughts. The effect of climate variability has been more felt in these areas with communities having to contend with crop failures, death of livestock subjecting millions of people to starvation. Poor nutrition and food insecurity exemplified by famines are a common feature in these areas. Despite these hardships afflicting drylands in Kenya, a few farmers have over the years coped with the situation by using innovative technologies that have enabled them to raise crops and thus, be able to feed their families with augmentation of their income by selling the surplus. Some of these technologies involve rainwater harvesting, use of drought tolerant crop varieties, preparation of kitchen gardens by lining with polythene paper buried around 30 cm in the soil to reduce the loss of water through percolation, diversification of farming activities, among others. The team from the University of Nairobi and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) identified these innovative technologies with the aim of validating and improving their effectiveness with the eventual objective of upscaling and outscaling to other areas with similar challenges. Appropriate methodologies for data collection such as development of family portrait, administering structured questionnaires, focused group discussions and key informant interviews were used to gather relevant data. The study was initially conducted in Kibwezi district and later outscaled to Kilifi, Kaloleni and Mwatate districts. The research team also introduced other techniques such as grass reseeding of the denuded areas with the purpose of improving pastures. Farmers were also taught innovative techniques in value addition especially preservation of vegetables. Farmers also learned how to identify various pests and diseases of cassava (Manihot esculentum) and cowpeas (Vigna ungiculata) and their management. The farmers were also linked with various outlets where they could market their produce including grass seeds. Farmers who adopted these techniques were able to meet household food requirements with diversification of farming activities thus, improving their nutritional base. Some techniques such as water harvesting contribute to land rehabilitation enabling the communities to cope with the highly variable climate in drylands. The inexpensive and locally adapted techniques can be used to harness the enormous potential that exists in dryland areas taking care of the fragile ecosystems through promotion of environmentally friendly and sustainable innovative approaches.


Celiac Disease (CD) is a multifactorial, autoimmune enteropathy activated by cereal proteins in genetically predisposed individuals carrying HLA DQ2/8 genes. A heterogenous gene combination of the cereal prolamins is documented in different wheat genotypes, which is suggestive of their variable immunogenic potential. In the current study, four wheat varieties (C591, C273, 9D, and K78) identified via in silico analysis were analyzed for immunogenicity by measuring T-cell proliferation rate and levels of inflammatory cytokines (Interferon-γ and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α). Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and biopsy derived T-cell lines isolated from four CD patients in complete remission and two controls were stimulated and cultured in the presence of tissue transglutaminase activated pepsin-trypsin (PT) digest of total gliadin extract from test varieties. The immunogenicity was compared with PBW 621, one of the widely cultivated wheat varieties. Phytohaemagglutinin-p was taken as positive control, along with unstimulated cells as negative control. Rate of cell proliferation (0.318, 0.482; 0.369, 0.337), concentration of IFN- γ (107.4, 99.2; 117.9, 99.7 pg/ml), and TNF- α (453.8, 514.2; 463.8, 514.2 pg/ml) was minimum in cultures supplemented with wheat antigen from C273, when compared with other test varieties and unstimulated cells. Significant difference in toxicity levels among different wheat genotypes to stimulate celiac mucosal T-cells and PBMC's was observed; where C273 manifested least immunogenic response amongst the test varieties analyzed.


The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has for many years devastated lives and still continues to do so in the present day. Reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS is a global concern, one that has been given vast resources, but still remains a major huddle to development to most world economies. The devastation caused by the disease is not only felt by individual families, friends and loved ones, but is also a heavy loss of human capital. Identifying the key factors that affect the spread of the disease ensures that resources and efforts are devoted to addressing those specific issues. Many factors like: irresponsible behavior and life-style, cultural practices, unsanitary medical equipments poverty and illiteracies have been long blamed for the persistence of the disease. However, none of these factors is often solely to blame for the high prevalence of HIV in some communities. Unless elaborate studies can elucidate the complex interaction between these factors and how exactly they influence the HIV dynamics, reducing the spread of the epidemic might remain a challenge for the foreseeable future. This work discusses recent progress and major challenges faced in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. Further insight into what can be done to reduce its spread and improve the welfare and quality of life of those infected and affected by the epidemic is provided. Mini-review Article Omony and Orowe; ISRR, Article no. ISRR.2014.002 13


A robust model fitting technique is presented for recovery of structure and motion from a sequence. The error bound of the inliers is not needed and the outliers are assumed to be randomly (uniformly) distributed. Unlike other methods in the RANSAC family that need some prior information or a scale estimator to select the best consensus set, we estimate the parameters of the model directly based on Bayesian theory and kernel density estimation. Then the estimated parameters can be used directly or used to determine the best consensus set. The advantage of the proposed method is that it can robustly determine the best consensus set without any prior information of the data and need a lower computational cost than other auto-scale algorithms in the RANSAC family. The proposed method is applied to structure from planar motion estimation. The experiments indoor and outdoor have been done to verify the performance of the algorithm and the very promising results are obtained


Context: Malaria is an inflammatory condition triggered by the infection of parasite Plasmodium on erythrocytes. It is characterised by periodic fever with chills due to rupture of erythrocytes to release the progeny parasites. It is marked by release of variety of cytokines like IL-6, IL-12, IFN-Ɣ, TNF—α etc. Uric acid is one of the emerging inflammatory markers in malaria that demands attention. One of the proposed mechanisms is that there is accumulation of uric acid and its precursor, hypoxanthine in the infected erythrocytes. These are released into the blood on rupture of the schizont.
Aim: To find association of serum uric acid level with severity of malaria.Settings and Design: This was a hospital based longitudinal study conducted at a tertiary care centre in Kolkata, India.
Materials and Methods: We measured the plasma levels of uric acid and various inflammatory markers {Ferritin, C-reactive protein(CRP), LDH, C3, C4} in eighty eight  patients admitted with microscopically proven malaria (severe or non-severe type). The levels of uric acid were compared with the disease severity and the inflammatory markers stated above.
Statistical Analysis used: The data was analyzed using MedCalc software and Microsoft Excel 2010 and further graphically plotted.
Results: The serum uric acid levels were raised in 18.51% of patients with severe malaria compared to only 4.91% with non-severe variety (p= 0.04). The uric acid levels demonstrated a positive correlation with CRP (r=0.3334, p=0.0015); procalcitonin & ferritn (r=0.3701, p<0.0005). However, it was negatively correlated with C3 (r= -0.3780, p= 0.0003) and C4 (r=0.3180, p<0.005). A univariate regression analysis supported our results to establish the correlation. However, multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated significant association between serum uric acid levels on day 1 and C3 decrement as a marker of disease severity.
 Conclusion:  Thus, it can be concluded that there is a definite association between the severity of malaria and plasma uric acid levels. Although, this study does not establish the causation, it acts as a cornerstone for further research into this field.


The Common Law is one of the two major and successful systems of law developed in Western Europe, and in one form or another is now in force not only in the country of its origin but also in the United States and large parts of the British Commonwealth and former parts of the Empire. Perhaps its most typical product is English Contract Law, developed continuously since the birth of the common law almost wholly by judicial decision. Although in its modern form primarily a product of the nineteenth century, the common law of contract as we know it developed around the action of assumpsit which evolved at the close of the fourteenth century, and many of its characteristic doctrines first emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This book, which takes the story up to 1677 (the date of Statute of Frauds) forms the first part of the history of contract law, and is written primarily from a doctrinal standpoint.


The authors report the case of a patient suffering from chemical pneumonia due to nitrous gases of occupational origin which was mistakenly taken for military tuberculosis. Anamnestic, clinical and anatomopathological aspects of this disease, which successively analysed, often make the diagnosis difficult due to their complexity and lack of specificity.


Ankle arthritis is becoming more and more common. The search for solutions that preserve joint function has led to a new generation of prosthesis with three components and more degrees of freedom. This paper presents the results achieved in ten patients treated with the HINTEGRA Prosthesis (Integra, New Deal), a joint action of the Foot and Ankle Teams of DOT of Unifesp – Escola Paulista de Medicina and the School of Medicine of USP – Universidade de Sao Paulo. The ten patients (six women and four men), aged between 29 and 66 years, underwent a surgical procedure according to Hinterman's technique, from January to June 2005. They were eva luated at pre-arranged intervals, and the data were submitted to statistical analysis. The surgery led to a significant improvement in ankle mobility. Radiological studies showed no signs of loosening or failure in the prosthetic components in any of the patients studied. Although the rate of complications in our sample was high, it was equivalent to those of other authors, and directly represents the long, steep learning curve asso ciate with this kind of procedure. At the end of four years, there was a significant reduction in the pain, and an improvement in functional pattern of the patients, with AOFAS and Hinterman scores indicating 20% excellent, 70% good, and 10% poor results. Despite the drawbacks, treatment of ankle arthritis through total arthroplasty with the HINTEGRA prosthesis proved to be capable of giving good results over an average observation period of four years.


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 Warts are benign proliferations of skin and mucosa caused by the Human Papilloma Virus, a group of double-stranded DNA viruses which can become completely integrated with the DNA of the host cell. Intraoral warts are painless, exophytic growths usually white but sometimes pink, solitary or multiple, sessile or pedunculated lesions displaying Verrucous, fingerlike projections. The lesion is localized predominantly to palate, lip, buccal mucosa and tongue but rarely on the gingiva. High prevalence of intraoral warts has been reported in HIV-positive patients and in other immunocompromised conditions. Here a unique case of intraoral wart on gingiva is reported in HIV-negative patient with its surgical management. Meticulous differential diagnosis should be worked out before dealing with warty lesions in oral cavity.


In this study, a climate in September of 2099 based on the SRES A1B scenario was assumed as the future climate affected by the global warming. 50 cases of potential typhoons striking Tokyo Bay under the assumed future climate were estimated by using potential vorticity bogussing scheme of a tropical cyclone. Then, distributions of the possible maximum storm surges and high waves generated by the 50 potential typhoons were predicted by using an atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled model. The results show that the potential storm tide in Tokyo Port reaches 3.4 m and the maximum storm tide of 4.1 m height in Tokyo Bay is caused in Katunan located at the most inner part of Tokyo Bay. The heights of these storm tides remarkably exceed the largest storm tide 2.3 m ever recorded in Tokyo Bay.


Besides tourists' rational causes, emotional attachments with a destination are vital for creating memories. Uniquely representing a country via memorabilia such as souvenirs could be an exciting way to extend the tourist experience and create a competitive advantage. However, souvenirs' significance in destination image and creating memory has been ignored previously by tourism scholars of Bangladesh. This study examined souvenirs as a form of memorabilia enhancing tourists' attachment with destination and re-visit intentions. Therefore, this paper analyzes Bangladesh's souvenir market's current scenario with qualitative research design by applying the case study and in-depth interview method. The findings portray advancement in the marketing of souvenirs plays an essential role in creating tourists' memories. Hence, tourism stakeholders could use souvenir marketing as a new tool to rebrand Bangladesh as a destination.
Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XLII, No. 1, April 2021 Page 87-105


Magnitude statistics (log N = a − bM) were measured for mine tremors and for the Parkfield earthquakes, listed by McEvilly, Bakun and Casaday (1967), in conditions of varying rates of aseismic ground deformation. Aseismic deformation rates were estimated using a tiltmeter in the ERPM gold mine and using results from small geodetic networks, reported by Smith and Wyss, for the region near Parkfield, California. In the magnitude-frequency relationship, b is independent of the rate of aseismic deformation, ε˙,anda=logε˙+Κ, where K is a constant. Thus, the level of seismicity appears to be determined by the rate of aseismic ground deformation. Changes in shear stress of the order of 100 bars do not have any measurable effect on the magnitude statistics.


Rhinoscleroma (RS) is a granulomatous illness of the upper respiratory tract caused by Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis. It is a rare, chronic, granulomatous disease. RS develops in the nasal mucosa subepithelium and can spread to the eustachian tube, maxillary antrum, oral cavity, larynx, orbit, trachea, and bronchi. The present case is of a 29-year-old female who came to the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) outpatient department with chief complaints of bilateral nose block for six months. Examination by anterior rhinoscopy revealed pink nasal mucosa and a swelling arising from both sides of nasal septum, that was soft, non tender, did not bleed on touch. Diagnostic nasal endoscopy showed a midline septal mass which was present just posterior to mucocutaneous junction and a second septal mass was present posterior to first mass at level of posterior part of inferior turbinate. She underwent submucosal resection of septal mass and the same was sent for histopathological examination and it was diagnosed as features suggestive of RS. The patient was treated with a course of tablet ciprofloxacin, analgesics, antihistamines. There has been no recurrence during the one year follow-up period. Patient improved symptomatically and had no further complaints.


A few years ago, hotel service was not usual to the people very much but it`s normally usual only for the higher-grade people. However now a days, it`s expected that hotel service is universal one with changing of life style. lt`s rising to use hotel with being on the increasing of the international alternating so that the banquet service can be expected as the much more important service point of hotel. At the same time there are much more chances to participate in the personal parties and meetings. That means the demand is increasing than before. So every hotels are trying to promote the quality of the service, make renovation and suggest the specially distinguished service in comparison with the other hotels so as to get the banquet customers. Actually the sales amount from the banquet in the hotel can be said the biggest one in these days. That`s why we cannot help thinking it the very important point at the hotel service. So we would like to suggest the best way of managing hotel banquet service more efficiency and would like to find out how we can serve the higher quality service to the banquet customers in order them to make feel more satisfactory.


Altruism seems to be perceived in its various hues. In several cases it is mistaken for "pseudo-altruism." Considering altruism as an expression of self helps clarify this perspective of altruism and probably adds a spiritual connotation to it. This article looks at altruism from the self point of view and tries to expound the variations in expression of altruism with respect to variations in self-space. On the basis of self-space, three variations of self in progression toward altruism have been proposed. The journey of an egoistic self to a transcended self expresses the transition from pseudo-altruism to purest form of altruism, the state of self-transcendence. This calls for incorporation of strategies of self-progression for development of altruism. An attempt was made to adopt self-transcendence and its features mentioned in Maslow's hierarchy of needs as an independent objective for the present study.


The European Union is confronted with the biggest enlargement in its history: ten states, among them eight middle European - the so called "buffer zone" in the new European migration landscape - will become members in 2004. Other candidates hope to join in the coming years. For all Eastern and Eastern European countries, including those that are not candidates, the end of the bi-polar world meant a hope of "return to Europe". When shifting its borders to the East, the European Union both includes and excludes. The final objective to achieve Europe as "a space of freedom, security and justice", is conditioned by the capacity and necessity to control the migratory flows. The prospect of free circulation for the citizens of the new Union members entails also fears: the EU countries are afraid of the consequences the enlargement would have on migratory flows from the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe and which transit through that area. The perception of migrants as a threat inspired the conditions that the Union imposed on the candidate countries concerning migration policy issues and which mostly focus on the protection of its Eastern borders. For the future Union members however, protecting of the thousand of kilometers of their Eastern border, implies a number of quite different problems. These countries are afraid of the impact the restrictive measures they are obliged to implement would have both on many economic and family ties which have been maintained since the socialist period and on more recently engaged cooperation with the neighbours which are not candidates. The challenge of enlargement is different therefore for the EU members, for the candidate countries and for those who are for the moment excluded from the process. The fears do not seem to be always grounded. Thus, the impact of enlargement which, it was feared, could have been so destabilizing for the Union because of potentially large migration flows, is more likely to be destabilizing for the new candidate countries, especially concerning their relations with their neighbours excluded from the enlargement process.


Purpose: The purpose of this study isto identify the mediating effects of interpersonal problems in the relationship between Social Network Service (SNS) use tendency and depression among university students. Methods: Data were collected from April 28 to May 7, 2018 and the participants included 222 university students, who responded to the question regarding SNS use tendency, interpersonal problems and depression. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression using the SPSS/WIN 23.0 program. Results: A positive correlation is found between depression and SNS use tendency (r=.24, p<.001), and among interpersonal problems (r=.62, p<.001), SNS use tendency and interpersonal problems (r=.34, p<.001). Interpersonal problems have a full mediating effect on the relationship between SNS use tendency and depression (Sobel test: 5.24, p<.001). Conclusion: These results suggest that it is important to manage interpersonal problems to prevent depression caused by SNS use tendency.


Nowadays, flow cytometry represents an essential tool for the daily work in laboratories for transfusion medicine. After cytophotometry of immobilized cells, flow cytometry was developed since the 1960s using moving fluorescence-stained cells. This technique enabled the determination of several thousand cells per second, e.g. from blood, bone marrow, or organ-associated cell suspensions. The introduction of monoclonal fluorescence-labeled antibodies in diagnostics has further accelerated the development of flow cytometry. In the meantime, numerous cellular and nuclear properties can simultaneously be measured on single cell level in automated devices at high speed and precision. Internal standards and quality control systems further increased the accuracy of flow cytometric analyses. Flow cytometry is therefore likewise suitable for routine diagnostics in patients, quality control of blood components and scientific purposes in transfusion medicine. Nevertheless, many flow cytometric applications are related to counting of rare events or detection of cells with low antigen expression. Therefore, several pre-analytic and analytic factors (e.g. erythrocyte lysing procedures, cell gating strategies, etc.) may essentially affect the accurate determination of cell numbers and functions. In this issue, TRANSFUSION MEDICINE AND HEMOTHERAPY starts a recurrent sequence of reviews focused on 'Flow Cytometry in Transfusion Medicine'. In order to introduce the flow cytometry series, this review summarizes the development, principles, and strategies of flow cytometry as an increasing diagnostic tool in medical laboratories. Also, current and possibly future flow cytometric applications in transfusion medicine are epitomized, e.g. quality control of blood products, immunohematologic diagnostics, hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation, adoptive immunotherapy, and further therapeutic applications. In following issues of this journal, reviews of notable authors will then focus on special applications and give more detailed insights into single diagnostic fields.


Clustering is a fundamental mechanism to design scalable protocols for sensor networks. In this paper we advocate to use this clustering functionality to perform data aggregation and network formation. We investigate scenarios of event-driven sensor networks with high degree of spatial-temporal correlation. Our main focus relies on the cross-layered design and evaluation of localized algorithms for performing rapid data aggregation and network formation allowing prompt response to queries. The localized algorithms are based on probabilistic clusterhead election. The arbitration in gathering the data from the cluster members is based on a splitting tree algorithm. Through these algorithms, each sensor node participates in the data aggregation. On the other hand, to decide whether to participate further in the ad-hoc networking infrastructure, a node applies local criterion. To minimize the energy consumption, a node goes to sleep in case it decides not to participate in the networking functionalities. We closely investigate the impact of these local algorithms and criterions to the global properties of the created sensor network.


OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with different pacing rates and modes on MTWA.

METHODS
From March, 2012 to October, 2014, 43 patients who received CRT or CRT-D implantation in the first affiliated hospital, Nanjing Medical University were studied. Time-domain MTWA test were assessed following CRT implantation. MTWA was measured at 90 min(-1) and 110 min(-1) by treadmill exercise test with GE CASE 8000 during CRT-on (BIV biventricular) and CRT-off (RA right atrial) pacing modes. The comparsion of MTWA values between different pacing mode and pacing rates were analyzed. According to the heart function classification the patients were divided into 3 groups. The correlation between MTWA and cardiac function was analyzed.

RESULTS
MTWA-AAI was significantly increased compared to MTWA-BIV at the pacing rate of 90 min(-1) [(11.27±9.94) µV vs (7.09±7.16) µV, P=0.001]. The value of MTWA at pacing rate of 110 min(-1) was nonsignificantly higher than MTWA during AAI pacing [(16.91±12.51) µV vs (15.58± 10.97) µV, P=0.517]. The value of MTWA at pacing rate of 110 min(-1) was higher than MTWA at pacing rate of 90 min(-1) during AAI or BIV (P<0.05). MTWA-AAI and MTWA-BIV in group of NYHA IV were higher than those in group of NYHA II (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Biventricular pacing mode at lower pacing rates can significantly attenuate MTWA. The value of MTWA is associated with the severity of CHF.


The 14N(d, α)12C nuclear reaction has been used to measure the nitrogen content in iron meteorites. The analysis was made with 2.0 MeV 2H+ beam from Brookhaven 3.5 MV research electrostatic accelerator. The detection limits of about 1 ppm were achieved.


The 10th Prague Dermatology Symposium organized by the Dermatovenereology Dept., 2nd Medical School, Charles University took place November 2004. This meeting was first held in 1995 as an ambitious project to establish a recurring educational event at a time when there were none in our country since the Velvet revolution in 1989. We succeeded in gathering dermatovenereologists from Czechoslovakia, and later from the Czech and Slovak Republics. More came from other European countries and from all over the world. It is now like a fairy tale for us. Thanks to a few visionaries, Czech dermatology has a platform to share knowledge with our international colleagues. Those "few" famous dermatologists are Prof. Roy S. Rogers, III from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, who became a regular participant and one of our best friends. He was tremendously supportive by giving spectacular lectures, sending books to the department library of the 2nd Medical School and taking care of our colleagues while abroad at conferences. Dr. Coleman Jacobson , Dallas, USA, came alone to our first conference in 1995. Then by 1998 he was leading a contingent of 50 ISD colleagues as a testimony to his commitment to Czech dermatology. Prof. Andreas Katsambas , Athens, Greece, propelled us to the next level when he proposed we organize The 11th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology for 2002. This became the largest dermatological event in Czech dermatology history with more than 6000 participants. And last, but not least, Prof. Torello Lotti , Florence, Italy, who always inspires me to serve our colleagues through sharing the feelings, knowledge, experiences and our cultural diversities. The Prague Dermatology Symposium is now organized as a regional meeting of the ISD since 2001. This brings influential ISD representatives to Prague on a regular basis through this important cooperation. In addition, ISD Travel Grants have been awarded to young dermatologists from all over the world to attend this meeting since 2003. These recipients are given 1000 USD, free registration and free accommodations. It was also my great pleasure, as a chair of the ISD Maria M. Duran Committee, to offer the "Maria M. Duran Poster Award". This 200 USD prize was given to the successful candidates as part of the 2001–2003 symposia. It has been a remarkable decade with many people to thank. It has also been a privilege to be associated with this meeting and to guide it during its growth. As I look back upon our modest beginning and where we have arrived, I am gratified by the effect we have had both within and outside our borders. But I am most fulfilled by the many personal and professional friends and contacts I have made during this journey. I now look forward to the second ten years with optimism and pride.


Background: The main goal of ultrasound therapy is to have clinical effects in the tissue without damage to the intervening and surrounding tissues. Treatments have been developed for both in vitro and in clinical applications. HIFU therapy is one of these. Non-invasive surgeries, such as HIFU, have been developed to treat tumors or to stop bleeding. In this approach, an adequate imaging method for monitoring and controlling the treatment is required. Methods: In this paper, an adaptive compressive sensing representation of ultrasound RF echo signals is presented based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD). According to the different numbers of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) produced by the EMD, the ultrasound signals is adaptively compressive sampled in the source and then adaptively reconstructed in the receiver domains. In this paper, a new application of compressive sensing based on EMD (CS-EMD) in the monitoring of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment is presented. Non-invasive surgeries such as HIFU have been developed for various therapeutic applications. In this technique, a suitable imaging method is necessary for monitoring of the treatment to achieve adequate treatment safety and efficacy. So far, several methods have been proposed, such as ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) signal processing techniques, and imaging methods such as X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound to monitor HIFU lesions. Results: In this paper, a CS-EMD method is used to detect the HIFU thermal lesion dimensions using different types of wavelet transform. The results of the processing on the real data demonstrate the potential for this technique in image-guided HIFU therapy. Conclusions: In this study, a new application of compressive sensing in the field of monitoring of the HIFU treatment is presented. To the best of our knowledge, so far no studies on compressive sensing have been carried out in the monitoring of the HIFU. Based on the results obtained, it was showed that the number of measurements and Intrinsic Mode Functions have the function of noise reduction. In addition, results were shown that the successful reconstruction of the compressive sensing signals can be gained using a threshold based algorithm. To this end, in this paper it was shown that by selecting an suitable number of measurements, the sparse transform, and a thresholding algorithm, we can achieve a more accurate detection of the HIFU thermal lesion size.


We present a study of using embodied health information system for developing regions focusing on users not familiar with technology. We designed and developed a health information system with two gesture-based selection techniques: pointing to a screen and touching one's own body part. We evaluated the prototype in user study with 37 semi-literate and literate participants. Our results indicate a clear preference (76%) for touching in the healthcare domain. Based on our observations and user feedback, we present four design guidelines for developing embodied systems for the developing world: designing body-centric interaction to overcome literacy and technological proficiency barriers, addressing the misconceptions of system behaviors with users not familiar with technology, understanding effects of cultural constraints on interaction, and utilizing interactive virtual avatars to connect with the users.


We study the electronic band structure and the local density of states of different GaAs - AlAs Fibonacci superlattices grown along the [001] direction. We use an empirical tight-binding Hamiltonian including spin - orbit coupling together with the surface Green function matching method. We have analysed second-to-fifth-generation superlattices with different generating layer thicknesses. A selective localization of the local density of states in the thickest GaAs slabs is found for both the highest valence and lowest conduction band states in all of the cases considered in our study.


We report the synthesis of spherical core-shell structures of silicon and silicon oxide by a novel route of forced external oxidation of ball milled silicon. Structural investigations reveal the formation of a crystalline silicon core surrounded by an amorphous oxide shell, with core and shell dimensions varying approximately between 4–10 and 55–170 nm, respectively. The observations suggest partial amorphization of crystalline silicon, invasive oxygen induced passivation of dangling bonds, and formation of different types of defects in the nanocrystalline silicon/silicon oxide core-shell structure, particularly at the interfaces. No detectable photoluminescence (PL) is obtained from the as-milled silicon, but the oxidized core-shell structures exhibit strong room temperature PL, detectable with unaided eye. The peak energy of the PL spectra blueshifts with an increase in excitation energy, with the peak positions varying from 2.24 to 2.48 eV under external excitation ranging from 2.41 to 3.5 eV. The obse...


After treatment with safranine O at low concentrations (10(-6), 10(-5) M), the chromatin of chicken erythrocytes shows an intense red fluorescence, which is reduced or practically abolished when nuclei become stained by using the dye at concentrations higher than 10(-4) M. Both the fluorescence and staining reactions are dependent on the DNA content of chromatin. Safranine fluorescence of nuclei is not reduced in presence of high salt concentration, while the previous treatment with thiazine dyes diminishes the fluorescence intensity. The possibility that chromatin fluorescence depends on the intercalative binding of safranine is suggested.


The present research was conducted in Zandra village of Ziarat district in the province of Balochistan. Anthropological research techniques were used to collect empirical data. In this article, an effort has been made to understand the natives' cultural beliefs and practices in health care sector. The main focus of this research was to understand the nature of development, internal and external factors responsible for the changes and the actual beneficiaries of the development. An effort has also been made to find out the health care systems working in the village which included both faith healing and allopathic medicines. Initially the natives were using traditional and spiritual healing systems, but now as their economic condition and literacy rate are increasing, they are more inclined towards the modern methods of treatment. During the last 3 decades, many changes have been witnessed. Awareness through media and shift from subsistence to market economy have increased the use of allopathic medicines due to the fact that the natives have started opting for secondary sources of income. Besides, researcher's endeavor to explore the shift from traditional to modern healthcare and the disparity between natives' health related beliefs and practices, the impact of which has been analyzed in light of world system theory at micro level.


In recent years the distributed ledger technology ('DLT') has been presented as potentially disruptive for financial market applications. Since no reference implementation of such technology has emerged yet, it is not even clear how different it would be from the blockchain technology underlying bitcoin. Blockchain is a sub-optimal data structure if not associated to a virtual currency, i.e. to a native digital asset used to provide the economic incentive to reach distributed consensus on a transaction history. Since the interest for virtual currencies in the financial markets has remained marginal so far, most of the interest for DLT seems to boil down to the cryptographic enhancements of coupling secure messaging with shared databases. Such an evolutionary approach might be relevant, but hardly disruptive; instead, it is the availability for the first time ever in digital realm of a scarce asset, transferable but not replicable, to be groundbreaking. Bitcoin could prove to be digital gold as relevant as physical gold has been in the human history and the development of finance: it has already realized a permissionless transaction network and could play a crucial role in the history of money.


Aristotle assumes in many contexts that we are able to have singular thoughts such as "Cleon is white." However, one might be puzzled about whether this is compatible with his theory of thought, which is commonly taken to explain thought about intelligible kinds rather than individuals. The purpose of this paper is to show that Aristotle had conceptual resources to give an adequate account of singular thought in non-descriptivist (i.e. non-predicative) terms. The proposal put forward is that Aristotle's account, which is given in analogy with his account of sense perception, is a version of causal theory. This is to be contrasted with another non-descriptivist theory, the Thomistic view, which characterizes singular thought as a kind of general thought, "indirect" or "reflective," explaining the reference to a singular item in terms of phantasm. In opposition to this view, the paper argues that Aristotle explains the singular reference in terms of non-predicative, simple thought, which concerns not only intelligible kinds, but also singular items.


The power system stabilizer (PSS) is a control device provides a maximum power transfer and optimal power system stability. PSS has been widely used to damp electromechanical oscillations that occur in power systems due to disturbances. If no adequate damping is available, the oscillation will increase result in instability case. Shunt static var compensator (SVC) is also used to improve system stability because of its role in decreasing the reactive power in electrical transmission lines. This paper presents an application of (SVC) in electrical transmission lines and PSS in two areas, two generator test power system. Using mat lab software to design and implements control system and study the effect of damping oscillations in stability power system after proposed faults in transmission lines of research model that used (PSS - generic & multiband) types and automatic voltage regulator (AVR).


Context: Determining carbon and nitrogen abundances in red giants provides useful diagnostics to test mixing processes in stellar atmospheres. Aims: Our main aim is to determine carbon-to-nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios for evolved giants in the open clusters Collinder 261 and Melotte 66 and to compare the results with predictions of theoretical models. Methods: High-resolution spectra were analysed using a differential model atmosphere method. Abundances of carbon were derived using the C_2 Swan (0,1) band head at 5635.5 A. The wavelength interval 7940-8130 A, which contains CN features, was analysed to determine nitrogen abundances and carbon isotope ratios. The oxygen abundances were determined from the [O_I] line at 6300 A. Results: The mean values of the elemental abundances in Collinder 261, as determined from seven stars, are: [C/Fe]=-0.23 +- 0.02 (s.d.), [N/Fe]=0.18 +- 0.09, [O/Fe]=-0.03 +- 0.07. The mean 12^C/13^C ratio is 11 +- 2, considering four red clump stars and 18 for one star above the clump. The mean C/N ratios are 1.60 +- 0.30 and 1.74, respectively. For the five stars in Melotte 66 we obtained: [C/Fe]=-0.21 +- 0.07 (s.d.), [N/Fe]=0.17 +- 0.07, [O/Fe]=0.16 +- 0.04. The 12^C/13^C and C/N ratios are 8 +- 2 and 1.67 +- 0.21, respectively. Conclusions: The 12^C/13^C and C/N ratios of stars in the investigated open clusters were compared with the ratios predicted by stellar evolution models. The mean values of 12^C/13^C ratios in Collinder 261 and Melotte 66 agree well with models of thermohaline-induced extra-mixing for the corresponding stellar turn-off masses of about 1.1 - 1.2 Msun. The mean C/N ratios are not decreased as much as predicted by the model in which the thermohaline- and rotation-induced extra-mixing act together.


This paper addresses bounds on the transmission capacities of two coexisting wireless networks (a primary and a secondary network), where each with multiple antennas shares the same spectrum and operates in the same geographic region. In the two coexisting network, the secondary (SR) network limits its interference to the primary (PR) network by carefully controlling its active transmitter density. Each transmitter uses a subset of its antennas to transmit multiple data streams, while each receiver uses partial zero forcing (PZF) to cancel interference using some of its spatial receive degrees of freedom (SRDOF). Considering general power-law wireless channels with path-loss exponent ® > 2 and small-scale Rayleigh fading, based on stochastic geometry tools and Markov's inequality, we first derive bound on the transmission capacity for the PR networks. Then the transmission capacity of the SR networks is derived when the transmission density of PR network maintains unchanged. Using the obtained bounds, we derive their optimal number of data streams to transmit and the optimal SRDOF to use for interference cancelation.


Although this article is published in the Fetal and Neonatal Edition, it was originally commissioned to be of interest to general paediatricians who are not specialists in neonatology, but who are responsible for the provision of much of the UK's neonatal care.

Neonatal medicine continues to make rapid progress. Babies born at 26 weeks of gestation now have a better than evens chance of survival, a remarkable improvement compared to even a decade ago. The combination of antenatal steroids and postnatal surfactant has significantly reduced mortality and the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Artificial ventilators have become more and more sophisticated and the role of high frequency oscillation (HFOV) as rescue treatment is now established. Infections still contribute to many premature labours, and although the results of the ORACLE trial are still awaited, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis against neonatal group B streptococcal infection is gaining widespread acceptance. For term infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), nitric oxide (NO) has made a rapid leap from the laboratory to the cotside and has already proved to be effective treatment.

This review aims to provide a brief update of the most important recent changes in neonatal medicine.

Exogenous surfactant has now been in use for nearly a decade. Surfactant reduces neonatal mortality from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) by about 40% and reduces complications like air leaks by up to 60%.1-3 The combination of postnatal surfactant with antenatal steroids is more effective than either treatment alone.4 Surfactant treatment has no effect against chronic lung disease (CLD), gross maternal haemorrhage–intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH–IVH), and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).5 The controversies that remain are not to do with surfactant use in typical RDS, but are about which product is superior; whether there is a lower gestation or weight limit at which surfactant should be withheld; and …


Pantoea agglomerans is a ubiquitous gram-negative bacterium that has been linked to skin and joint infections secondary to plant injuries. Herein we report a 58-year-old woman who presented with 2 erythematous nodules with purulent discharge on the anterior aspect of the right leg that developed after a penetrating plant injury. The patient was initially treated with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cloxacillin and clindamycin without improvement. P. agglomerans was isolated from both exudate and skin biopsy cultures. Healing of the lesions was achieved after the spontaneous release of a retained plant fragment and treatment with cotrimoxazole. Identification of P. agglomerans in persistent exudative lesions should alert the clinician regarding a possible previous plant injury and retained vegetal fragments. Conventional antibiotic treatment and the extraction of retained foreign bodies usually lead to complete resolution.


Despite significant advances in the field of deep learning in applications to various fields, explaining the inner processes of deep learning models remains an important and open question. The purpose of this article is to describe and substantiate the geometric and topological view of the learning process of neural networks. Our attention is focused on the internal representation of neural networks and on the dynamics of changes in the topology and geometry of the data manifold on different layers. We also propose a method for assessing the generalizing ability of neural networks based on topological descriptors. In this paper, we use the concepts of topological data analysis and intrinsic dimension, and we present a wide range of experiments on different datasets and different configurations of convolutional neural network architectures. In addition, we consider the issue of the geometry of adversarial attacks in the classification task and spoofing attacks on face recognition systems. Our work is a contribution to the development of an important area of explainable and interpretable AI through the example of computer vision.


The Heritage Foundation, the Koch brothers, and other allies have pressed members of Congress to deal with the "overcriminalization" of federal law enforcement by enacting changes in statutory mens rea standards. These radical revisions would undermine white collar criminal prosecutions for everything from mail, wire, and securities fraud to adulterated food and drugs to mine safety and automobile defects. Advocates argue that Congress has put too many laws on the books without specifying whether a defendant must have a "guilty mind" (mens rea) in order to be convicted. They add that federal agencies have created thousands of so-called "regulatory violations" that trigger criminal liability and that these provisions are so hyper technical that no reasonable person could understand what they mean, much less apply them to ordinary conduct. This paper tells a very different story about the people and corporations the Department of Justice (DOJ) has prosecuted or investigated for white collar crimes in the last several years. Cumulatively, these cases involve the death of hundreds of people, with many more made gravely ill, and include the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history. These incidents include: the 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15; the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed eleven and released 210 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, causing irrevocable environmental damage; the 2010 collapse of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine that took 29 lives; the Peanut Corporation's 2008 shipment of peanut paste contaminated with salmonella with the result that 9 people died; the New England Compounding Center's 2012 sale of 17,000 vials of steroid injections tainted by fungal meningitis with the result that 64 patients died and 741 contracted meningitis; and the installation of a cheat device in eleven million Volkswagen cars.When examined in detail, each incident demonstrated that corporate managers acted with recklessness regarding the safety of their workers, their customers, and the environment and were willfully blind to what the law required. In most cases, regulatory authorities warned them repeatedly that their conduct was illegal, and they were approached multiple times by employees and outside experts gravely concerned about the intolerable risks they were taking.


ABSTRACT Influenza virus is well recognized to modulate host tropism and pathogenesis based on mutations in the proteolytic cleavage site of the viral hemagglutinin (HA), which activates HA and exposes the fusion peptide for membrane fusion. Instead of the conventional trypsin-mediated cleavage event, modification of the cleavage site allows extended use of host cell proteases and enhanced spread in vivo. For H1N1 influenza viruses, the mouse-adapted A/WSN/33 strain is known to replicate in the brain based on recruitment of plasminogen by the viral neuraminidase (NA), as well as a Ser-Tyr substitution at the P2 position of the HA cleavage site. Here, we show that an equivalent Ser-Tyr substitution has occurred in the HA of naturally occurring human H1N1 influenza viruses. We characterize one of these viruses (A/Beijing/718/2009), as well as the prototype A/California/04/2009 with a Ser-Tyr substitution in the cleavage site, and show that these HAs are preferentially cleaved by plasmin. Importantly, cleavage activation by plasmin/plasminogen was independent of the viral NA, suggesting a novel mechanism for HA cleavage activation. We show that the viral HA itself can recruit plasminogen for HA cleavage. We further show that cellular factors, as well as streptokinase from bacteria commonly coinfecting the respiratory tract of influenza patients, can be a source of activated plasminogen for plasmin-mediated cleavage of influenza virus HAs that contain a Ser-Tyr substitution in the cleavage site.


INTRODUCTION
Retinopathy of prematurity is a leading cause of childhood blindness around the world.

AIM
The Department of Ophthalmology at the Semmelweis University and the Peter Cerny Neonatal Emergency and Ambulance Service started an innovative Premature Eye Rescue Program to reduce the non-essential transport of premature babies suffering from retinopathy of prematurity.

METHOD
During the first 5 years 186 eyes of 93 premature babies were treated at the bedside with stage 3 retinopathy of prematurity in the primary hospitals.

RESULTS
In this first 5-years period the authors reduced the number of transports of premature babies for laser treatment; 93 children avoided the unnecessary transport, saving altogether a distance of 21,930 kilometers for children, as well as the ambulance service.

CONCLUSIONS
The Premature Eye Rescue Program offers a good and effective alternative for treatment of retinopathy in the primary hospitals. The authors propose the national extension of this program.


MIMO systems where multipath fading is only partially correlated could use polarization diversity to provide a higher diversity gain. Recent letters have proposed the use of tri-polarized antennas and a novel true polarization diversity (TPD) scheme. In this paper, the full potential of TPD is evaluated with both simulations and measurements and compared to conventional orthogonal polarization diversity (OPD). MIMO system performance with respect to capacity and diversity gain is obtained through the use of multimode-stirred chambers for both isotropic and non-isotropic environments. Simulated and measured results in over 591 different MIMO systems show that TPD outperforms conventional OPD for reduced volumes. Likewise, it has been demonstrated that TPD can be effectively combined with spatial diversity to nearly double the diversity gain and MIMO capacity for the same available handset volume.


The aim of this paper is to propose a pedagogy of the container to integrate to a pedagogy of the content and information. A new framework is provided concerning with the fitness of the child brain in his relationship with the caregiver within a more aware and strategic interaction which triggers important developments and structural-anatomical modifications of the brain in order to achieve a more explicit learning in the future ages of life. This pedagogy uses the species-specific processing of the human organism following the Middle Age statement: Omnis recipitur per modum recipientis, everything receives to the extent of its capacity of receiving. We support this claim adding the idea of a dynamic perceptual and cognitive receiving in which the container tends to modify its capacity according to the amount and quality of motor and cognitive learnings and stimulations to which it is exposed during childhood. This kind of pedagogy have to be integrated with a most representational and cognitive perspective, but maintining a strong senory-motor and enactive bodily-grounded perspective. The contemporary development of neurosciences allow us to rethink the mind not only like a container for contents, but as container able to structural modifications and with a complex management of the neurophysiological processing that will support the parallel functional information processing. Thus mind is not only a container in which one can pass down knowledge, but a dynamical organ with an its own particular fitness and plasticity. The hebbian plasticity and the new framework of homeostatic synaptic plasticity (Turrigiano 2012) help us to provide a consistent account of a new kind of education of the erlier childhood and of all periods of the life. A paradigm that can be integrate with the Edgar Morin (1999) theory of the Tete bien faite, in which the neuro-biological perspective opens to the a bio-anthropological and socio-cultural complexity framework.


Introduction. Mari people formed in the IX–XI centuries AD and settled due to historical circumstances mostly within the Volga-Kama region. For many centuries it had two ethnonyms: Cheremis and Mari. In the first quarter of the XX century the representatives of the Mari people selected one ethnonym in favor of another one, which was authentic and complimentary; it turned out to be a very complex historical fact.
Materials and methods. The use of a systematic analysis of the sources of the studied period, an attempt to restore events in chronological dynamics, studying the events of the Mari ethnic history in the context of all-Russian history allows us to formulate the most objective answers to the research problems.
Results and discussion. One of the earliest precursors to the solution of the ethnonymic alternative was "Marla Calendar" yearbook, the first publication to receive official recognition, where the self-name of the people took its rightful place on the cover of the printed edition. The turning point in using of the ethnonym was the First All-Russian Congress of the Mari People in July 1917. The materials of the Congress, both in the original language and in translation into Russian, do not contain a single use of the term Cheremis. February Regional Congress of Mari (1918) made a historic decision to abandon the existing name Cheremis people and replace it with the self-name of the people, Mari.
Conclusion. The historical process of legitimization of the ethnonym Mari developed according to a certain pattern: "the position of a broad ethno-social base → a small number of the intelligentsia capable of formulating ideas → the agenda and resolutions of the national movement → legal acts, official record keeping, the language of science …".


Poetics of the Negatives. Tadeusz Różewicz and the Photography

The article Poetics of the Negatives poses a question about the position of photography in creation of the writers'images. Exemplified in the most substantial part by the pictures of Tadeusz Różewicz, taken by a prominent artist photographer Adam Hawałej of Wrocław, published in his two books (Różewicz, Śmietnik [Garbage]), the article aims to reconstruct Różewicz's attitudes towards the photographic medium. The author of Niepokój [Faces of Anxiety] initially appears as an artist protecting his privacy, at the same time negating the creative measure of photography (in favor of its documentary role). However, as time passed and possibly because of his friendship with several outstanding photographers (A. Hawałej, J. Olek and J. Stankiewicz), his view on photography tended to evolve while the artist himself became not only the subject of numerous exquisite works, but eventually the author of many. The article concludes with an interpretation of the photographic happening captured by Adam Hawałej and published in the book Śmietnik.


BACKGROUND
Malignant mesothelioma is a tumour which is generally resistant to chemotherapy. While the addition of interferon to chemotherapy improves response rates in some other malignancies, such a combination has not been evaluated in the treatment of mesothelioma.

AIMS
To assess the anti-tumour effects and toxicity of interferon-alpha combined with doxorubicin in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma.

METHODS
Twenty five patients (mean age 54 +/- 11 years) were enrolled in a phase II study. All patients had a confirmed histological diagnosis, measurable tumour, a life expectancy of at least three months, and no prior chemotherapy or interferon. Interferon alpha-2a, 9 x 10(6) U sc daily, was administered together with doxorubicin 25 mg per m2 i.v. weekly, for 12 weeks. Response status was assessed by tumour measurements on clinical examination and thoracic CT scans before and after treatment.

RESULTS
A partial response was observed in four patients (16%; 90% CI, 8-30%), 11 remained stable, while six had progressive disease. Four patients withdrew within the first month because of toxicity. The median survival of all patients was 11 months (95% CI, 3-19). Dose modification as a result of toxicity was required in all patients. Lethargy, weight loss, leukopenia and vomiting were the most common side effects.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of interferon-alpha and doxorubicin showed only modest activity and was associated with significant toxicity. It cannot be recommended in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.


Buenos Aires lies near the east coast of South America at about 34°S where snow is extremely rare. The only events measured in the city had occurred before 1930. The high latitude causes of the widespread snowstorm of 9th July 2007 are discussed, making it an extraordinary case in light of the historical record. Here, we show that this event can be linked to unprecedented seasonal circulation anomalies in the sub‐Antarctic, featuring a dipole around the Antarctic Peninsula that drives the cold advection toward mid‐latitudes. Our index suggests that conditions have become more favorable for cold surges over mid‐latitudes with a repetition of widespread snow over mid‐latitudes in 2009. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society


Can Early Chinese Maritime Expeditions Shed Light on Lehi's Voyage to the New World? John A. Tvedtnes Various ancient Chinese texts suggest that small groups of explorers may have reached the New World. The most well-known such voyage is that of the Buddhist monk Hwui Shan, in the mid-fifth century ad. But it is a series of fifteenth-century voyages that has more recently become an object of investigation. From 1405 to 1433, a Chinese admiral named Zheng He led seven expeditions of maritime explorers to various parts of the world. Based on maps and contemporary documents, it seems that Zheng's fleet of eight hundred vessels may have circumnavigated the globe and even discovered America seven decades before Christopher Columbus. In his controversial book, 1421, the Year China Discovered America, Gavin Menzies describes not only the Chinese records of Zheng's voyage of discovery but notes that maps created before and just after the 1492 voyage of Columbus show extensive mapping of distant coastlines using data not yet gathered by Europeans. Menzies supports his contentions with an examination of medieval shipwrecks (including a Chinese junk and other artifacts of Chinese origin found in the New World). A television documentary Review of Gavin Menzies. 1421, the Year China Discovered America. New York: Morrow, 2003. xxiii + 552 pp., with appendixes, select bibliography, and index. $27.95. 428 • The FARMS Review 16/1 (2004) based on the book's theory was recently aired on PBS. Some elements of the book have been criticized by Louise Levathes, author of When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405–1433.1 Zhu Di, emperor of China (Ming dynasty) ordered the construction of a huge fleet of large wooden vessels (up to three hundred feet in length) and ordered Admiral Zheng to sail to other lands in order to establish diplomatic and trade relations. Four people who accompanied Admiral Zheng's expeditions wrote books about their experiences. The most detailed account is Ying-yai Sheng-lan, written by Ma Huan, an interpreter who sailed on three of the voyages.2 In 1405, the Chinese fleet departed with twenty-eight thousand men from Nanjing, China. The sixteen-foot-long Mao K'un map, which is still extant, indicates sailing directions for the different parts of the voyage. Retracing the 1405 voyage are the crew of a Chinese junk named Precious Dragon, led by explorer Rex Warner, accompanied by three other men and a woman. Sailing from China in November 1999, the group followed the route described by Ma Huan, putting ashore at various places in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. On 8 March 2001, the junk docked at the southern Omani port of Salalah, in the region where Lehi and his family were thought to have lived while building a boat to sail to the New World. Members of the expedition filmed the voyage and Warner is preparing a book entitled Voyage of the Dragon Kings. Zheng's expeditions, it seems, would have taken him over seas earlier crossed by Lehi on his voyage to a promised land. Even if Zheng did not arrive in the New World, his exploration of parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans may provide useful information for future Book of Mormon research. 1. Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405–1433 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994). 2. Ma Huan, Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433), ed. J. V. G. Mills (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970).


type="main"> In Book IV, Chapter II of The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that the nearer opinion approaches unanimity in an assembly, the greater is the dominance of the general will. The present study revisits this classical argument in a one-dimensional spatial model with variable agendas. The study obtains a sufficient condition under which the Borda winner and the Condorcet winner almost coincide so that we can unambiguously find an alternative that conforms to the general will. This condition describes the existence of certain sympathy among voters on the evaluation of alternatives, and it is much weaker than the unanimity requirement.


This is a short review article which has presented some of the aspects of amino acids – the energy blocks of sports persons. All human beings need energy for their activities. But people involved in sports activities need extra energy to carryout the sports activities. Few notable studies carried out on the amino acids specially the Alanine have been discussed. Recent investigations carried out by the author on the Alanine have also been discussed. Here, First-principles calculations have been carried out to look at the structural pattern of the material and to look at the electronic and dielectric properties of the material. The effect of fluorination in this technologically important material has also been discussed. Band gap of the material decreases due to fluorination. Average value of Dielectric constant of the material increases due to fluorination in this technlologically important amino acid.


Motivated by experiences from different industrial settings, the tutorial reveals the increasing need for guidance and decision support on how to handle variants and variability in SysML and UML models. While a substantial amount of variability realization approaches has already been discussed on the level of source code, there is little guidance for practitioners on the model level. With this, there is major uncertainty in dealing with concurrent changes and parallel modeling of similar system variants.