The characteristics of a multi-junction solar cell under concentrated light were evaluated by Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE). We developed the multi-unit model and analyzed the affects of the chromatic aberration and intensity distribution for the multi-junction cells. In the multi-unit model, the same numbers of units as grid numbers are installed for every electrode, and the units were connected to each other via lateral resistances. In order to obtain the generation current from each diode, we measured the intensity of concentrated light through the pinhole using single-junction solar cells consisting of InGaP, GaAs and Ge as detectors. By using the multi-unit model, we could successfully calculate the electrical cell performances taking the chromatic aberration and intensity distribution into account, and the calculated value agreed well with the experimental value. The multi-unit model will be very useful for cell designs and performance analysis of the concentrator cells.


It is a disquieting development that globally the number of casualties among vulnerable road users when interacting with motorised traffic is increasing. Although a vast and fast growing amount of research addresses cycling safety, the majority of studies address cycling in urban area. Little attention has been paid so far to cycling safety in rural area and in particular the interaction between cyclists and car drivers at rural intersections. Hospital data show that safety problems exist in the Netherlands that are related to cycling occurs in rural area, especially at intersections where cyclists meet with motorised traffic. The Safe System approach strives to a road infrastructure that is designed in such a way that road users can interact safely and, in case road users collide, the consequences are not serious. Lowering the speed limits and thereby driving speeds, may result in lower impact speeds in crashes. When impact speeds are in accordance to the human body's tolerance, chances of surviving a crash for vulnerable road users colliding with motorised traffic may increase. Hereby, the behaviour of road users and intersection design are important factors. The underlying societal aim of this study is to provide information needed to improve the road safety issues related to the interactions between cyclists and motorised traffic at rural intersections. More specifically, this thesis aims to provide information to make these interactions safer by examining how the factors road users' behaviour and intersection design play a role in the interaction between cyclists and car drivers at rural intersections Therefore, this thesis focuses on how the factors road users' behaviour and intersection design affect the interaction between cyclists and car drivers at rural intersections.


Background Rates of unplanned paediatric admissions are persistently high. Many admissions are short-stay events, lasting less than 48 hours. Objective This qualitative research explores factors that influence clinical decision making in the paediatric ED (PED) for children under 5 attending with acute respiratory conditions, focusing on how management decisions adapt with increasing experience. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 PED clinicians (doctors, emergency nurse practitioners and registered nurses) with varying levels of experience in paediatric emergency medicine (PEM), emergency medicine or paediatrics. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically. Results There were clear differences in decision-making approaches between experienced clinicians and junior staff. The latter were more risk adverse, relying heavily on guidelines, set admission criteria, clinical theory and second opinions. This was particularly true for doctors. 'Informal' learning was apparent in accounts from less-experienced doctors and nurses, whereby tacit knowledge and risk management played an increasing role in the development of clinical intuition that permitted rapid assessment and treatment of young patients. Conclusions The emergence of intuition entwined with approaches to risk management and the role of these skills in clinical decision making, carry implications for the development of training programmes for clinicians working in PEM. Enhanced training for such groups to permit development of the supplementary skills described in this study could have the ability to improve care delivery and even reduce paediatric admissions.


(1) Background: We investigated the effects of a 12-week exercise intervention with or without vitamin D supplementation on insulin resistance and the plasma lipidome of participants with type 2 diabetes. We further explored whether the effects of the intervention on glycemic parameters could be associated with the baseline lipidome. (2) Methods: Sixty-one participants were randomly allocated to control (Con), exercise (EX), vitamin D (VD), and EX + VD groups. Multiple glycemic and anthropometric parameters were evaluated before and after intervention. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was the primary outcome. The plasma lipidome was analyzed before, after, and at an additional 12-week follow-up. Machine learning was applied to establish prediction models for responsiveness of glycemic control. (3) Results: Our interventions failed to improve the HOMA-IR index while fasting glucose was reduced in the EX + VD group (change%, −11.9%; effect size, 0.65; p < 0.05). Both EX and VD interventions altered the plasma lipidome, with EX + VD intervention considerably affecting levels of lyso-phosphatidylcholines and triglycerols containing long-chain unsaturated fatty acids. Such effects could last until 12 weeks after intervention. Notably, there was high inter-individual variability in glycemic parameters including HOMA-IR in response to the interventions, which could be predicted with great accuracy using an optimal panel of baseline lipid predictors alone or in combination with clinical indices, as assessed by an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of over 0.9. (4) Conclusions: Although substantial alterations were observed in the plasma lipidome related to glycemic control, our intervention failed to improve HOMA-IR scores, which may have been predominately due to the large inter-individual variability in responses. Basal plasma lipid levels could potentially predict an individual's response to intervention, highlighting the necessity of personalized nutrition.


The reverse rate-dependent effect of drugs, especially those that inhibit IKr to prolong ventricular repolarization, has long been recognized as an important proarrhythmic risk factor. We hypothesize that inhibition of the small physiological late Na current (late INa) will reduce reverse rate dependence associated with IKr-blocking drugs. Late INa is greater, and reverse rate dependence of APD/QT interval is prominent in patients with structural heart diseases (heart failure, myocardial ischemia, etc), especially after treatment with an IKr-inhibiting drug. In this study, the amplitude of endogenous or physiological late INa in myocytes was increased as the frequency of stimulation slowed. Inhibition of late INa by tetrodotoxin or ranolazine diminished the reverse rate dependence of action potential duration prolongation and beat-to-beat variability of repolarization caused by IKr inhibitors in isolated hearts. Results of computer simulations of the effect of IKr block in the absence and presence of late INa block were consistent with the results of the experimental studies. The findings can explain, at least in part, why drugs that inhibit both IKr and late INa (ie, amiodarone and ranolazine) have no reverse rate-dependent effect and little or no proarrhythmic activity, whereas proarrhythmic activity associated with more selective IKr blockers is exacerbated when late INa is increased. This concept may be used to explain the occurrence of slow rate– or pause-triggered cardiac arrhythmias, and may be relevant in the choice of treatment drug(s) in patients with compromised repolarization reserve resulting from increased late INa or decreased IK, such as patients with heart failure. See p 1713.


Silver  is  a  white  shiny metal. It is  used as daily needs as well as decoration. The silver handicraft in Koto Gadang district have been well-known since long time ago.  The things made by each handycraft centers are almost the same so that it is difficult to create interesting shapes for consumers. Beside that, the technique used is still a simple one, and the motives applied to the handicraft are only little developed. Therefore, this research tries to describe several things:  1) To identify silver handicraft product shapes; 2) To identify the name of the motives being developed; 3) To explain the production technique of silver handicraft. This research is conducted in Koto  Gadang; using quantitative  and  qualitative  sampling. The result of this research is silver handicraft shapes, which  involve various kinds of earring, bracelet, brooch, ring, necklace, pendant, and miniature, as well as ornament for wedding ceremnny, among other things are various shapes of necklace, ring, and ear-plug. To make handicraft, chisel, kikir (serrated iron for smoothing something), plait, and sickle. The motives applied on the products are cucumber leaf, padek leaf, jackfruit leaf, "H" leaf Lombok, bataro, straight lines, winding, parallel line, bamboo plait, and fish scale. Key words: Koto Gadang , silver handicraft , shape , motive , and technical handicraft study


A simple and facial flow injection method coupled with spectrophotometer detection was developed for determination of copper(II) using flow injection analysis (FIA) and sequential analysis (SIA). The FIA and SIA systems based on the reaction of copper (II) with EDTA at pH 4-5 with an absorption maximum at 732 nm. This study was performed with different physical and chemical parameters such as flow rate, reaction coil, volume of reagent (EDTA), volume of sample, pH medium and concentration of EDTA. The calibration curve was prepared and the dispersion coefficient, reproducibility and application were studied. Two methods, flow injection and sequential injection analysis were compared for determination of copper (II) by EDTA. The linear range was (0.6-12 mg/L), (1-16 mg/L) at sampling rate of 137, 114 sample per hour, the detection limits (0.218 mg/L), (0.136 mg/L) for FIA and SIA, respectively. Relative standard deviations for (10 mg/L), n = 10 were found (0.577% for FIA and 0.45% for SIA). Dispersion coefficient was also measured for the two methods.


The urographic findings in 52 patients with histologically proven carcinoma of the cervix were studied. Obstructive changes observed were classified according to the severity of calyceal distension and related to the clinical staging of the disease. Obstructive urographic changes were present in 46% of cases, which is three times as high as reported in Caucasian populations, and the severity correlated significantly with the stage of disease. Urography is advocated as a useful pre and post-treatment index of the progress of cervical treatment.


PLUS is a multiprocessor architecture tailored to the fast execution of a single multithreaded process; its goal is to accelerate the execution of CPU-bound applications. PLUS supports shared memory and efficient synchronization. Memory access latency is reduced by nondemand replication of pages with hardware-supported coherence between replicated pages. The architecture has been simulated in detail, and some of the key measurements that have been used to substantiate the architectural decisions are presented. The current implementation of PLUS is also described.<<ETX>>


Accurate localization of subsea pipelines is the prerequisite for its inspection, reinforcement and maintenance. Magnetic anomaly generated by the ferromagnetic pipeline immersed in the earth's magnetic field can be used to locate the pipeline. However, since the magnetic field decays rapidly with distance, the detection distance is very limited. This paper proposes a method to improve the sensitivity and limit distance of pipeline detection and positioning through active magnetization. When the magnet is directly above the pipe, the magnetization effect is best, so a magnet array should be used to cover the pipe with wide enough coverage. Experiments have proved that by using a magnet array, with SNR = 20 dB as the judging criterion, the limit detection distance of a Φ219mm steel pipe can be increased from 0.363m to 0.554m.


A series of compounds and two polymers, all consisting of o-terphenyl and 1,3,4-oxadiazole units, were synthesized. They were characterized by GC, FT/IR, NMR, elemental analysis, viscometry, DSC, POM, TGA, and absorption and emission spectrometry. In general, by introducing an o-phenyl central core to 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole backbone, the processablility of these materials was improved while maintaining a blue-light-emitting capability. The CIE coordinates of compounds with p-chloro, methoxy and t-butyl groups in EL devices were found to be (0.19, 0.16), (0.17, 0.13) and (0.18, 0.13), respectively, i.e., in the deep-blue region. Also, amorphous polymer with a m-phenylene unit, which shows good solubility in common organic solvents and excellent thermal stability, emits indigo-light at 415 nm on photoexcitation.


In the sense that it performs a function of communication with public, fashion illustration, which visualizes fashion information in an illustrated way, shares similar characteristics with graffiti, which represents the society of its time while having a value as a modern art itself. Therefore, the study aims to seek possibility of graffiti expression of fashion illustration, and to establish theoretical research systems for reestablishment of practical development methods of the graffiti expressions. The concrete contents of this study include followings: First, it examines the methods and characteristics of the graffiti expressions by analyzing the works of graffiti artists in order to understand the concept of graffiti and to find out the theoretical approach to it. Second, it investigates the characteristics of graffiti, and proposes concepts associated with graffiti after analyzing examples of fashion illustration which graffiti expressions are reflected. Third, it draws meanings that the use of graffiti expressions has in fashion illustration. In conclusion, graffiti expressions in fashion illustration are used in brand logos and text, human body deformation and omissions, autonomous expressions of variety of materials, symbolism, amusement, and autonomy as they are characterized by strong colors to express significance.


With the advent of high‐resolution mass spectrometry together with sophisticated data analysis and interpretation algorithms, determination of protein synthesis and degradation rates (i.e. protein turnover) on a proteome‐wide scale by employing stable isotope‐labelled amino acids has become feasible. These dynamic data provide a deeper understanding of protein homeostasis and stress response mechanisms in microorganisms than well‐established 'steady state' proteomics approaches. In this article, we summarize the technological challenges and solutions both on the biochemistry/mass spectrometry and bioinformatics level for turnover proteomics with a focus on chromatographic techniques. Although the number of available case studies for Corynebacterium glutamicum and related actinobacteria is still very limited, our review illustrates the potential of protein turnover studies for an improved understanding of questions in the area of biotechnology and biomedicine. Here, new insights from investigations of growth phase transition and different stress dynamics including iron, acid and heat stress for pathogenic but also for industrial actinobacteria are presented. Finally, we will comment on the advantages of integrated software solutions for biologists and briefly discuss the remaining technical challenges and upcoming possibilities for protein turnover analysis.


Writing is one of language competencies beside of speaking, listening, and reading. Writing defined of the most difficult of language skills. So, Most of the students have problem in writing. This study aimed to investigation of students obstacles of third semester students of English language education of FKIP Universitas Islam Riau and find out the causes of students problem in writing. The method used in this study is qualitative descriptive. The participants in this research were 15 students from A,B,C,D class. The research instruments used by the researcher were questionnaire, interview, and documentation. The researcher analyzed the data by using Likert Scale and the researcher explained the result of questionnaire in descriptive form. And the indicator of students' obstacles in questionnaire includes organization, word choice, grammar, spelling, supporting ideas, punctuation, and capitalization. Result from questionnaire and documentation showed that students get obstacles in grammar skill. The total percentage were 80% of students. Therefore, the researcher used documentation to support questionnaire result. It also faced from the result of students documentation. Furthermore, the interview result claimed that most causes of students' problem were lack of practice.


It is shown that two-electrode vacuum electron tube invented by T. Edison (1883) surpassed scientific and technical progress of that time. There was no scientific and technical area where this radio component could be applied. However, T. Edison's vacuum diode had completed design, and it could be used in radio receivers as detecting element of radio signal. It was confirmed by further experiments (1933).


Microvessel density reportedly is increased in various hematologic disorders including acute lymphatic and myeloid leukemias. In these patients the bone marrow microvessel density (BM-MVD) appears to be associated with an unfavorable prognosis. In the present study, we have retrospectively analyzed the BM-MVD (at diagnosis) in 31 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (median age: 38 years; range: 21-53 years; f:m-ratio: 1:1,4) who underwent conventional chemotherapy and consecutive allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The median BM-MVD at diagnosis was 30/mm2 (range: 17-48/mm2) and thus was significantly higher compared to controls (n = 9; BM-MVD: median 7/mm2, range 2-11/mm2; P < 0.05). In patients who failed to achieve a complete remission (CR) in response to induction chemotherapy, the BM-MVD was significantly higher (median: 41.5/mm2) at diagnosis than in patients who entered CR (median: 28.5/mm2, P < 0.05). In addition, patients with high BM-MVD ( > 30 mm2) had a significantly shorter overall survival compared to patients with a lower BM-MVD ( < 30 mm2, P < 0.05). Moreover, patients with a high BM-MVD ( > 30 mm2) were found to have a significantly higher risk of relapse (P < 0.05). In 4 patients in whom a continuous complete remission was documented after BMT, the BM-MVD levels were analyzed at diagnosis as well as between day + 80 and day + 100 after BMT. In all 4 patients, the BM-MVD was found to decrease in response to BMT until day 100 (P < 0.05). Together, our data suggest that the BM-MVD could be a prognostic parameter concerning survival in patients with AML undergoing allogeneic BMT.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of acupuncture on NP-1 expression in spared dorsal root ganglion (DRG).

METHODS
Twenty-five male adult cats were divided into five groups. The five cats in the pseudo-operation group were kept intact. Ten cats were subjected to unilateral root rhizotomy(unilateral L1-L5 DRGs were transected, but L6 DRG was spared), with five sacrificed seven days later and another five sacrificed 14 days later. Ten cats with unilateral root rhizotomy received acupuncture (electron-needle stimulation in Zusanli, Xuanzhong, Futu and Sanyinjiao which are located in the distribution area of L6 spinal nerve) for 30 minutes per day. Five cats in the acupuncture group were sacrificed seven days and 14 days later respectively. The L6 DRG from the experimental side of each animal was taken and made into frozen sections 20 microm in thickness. The sections were stained under the same conditions using NP-1 specific antibody (1:600, Santa) by immunohistochemistry ABC method. The amounts of NP-1 immunoreaction neurons of DRG were measured.

RESULTS
The NP-1 immunoreactants were mainly located in the small and medium-sized neurons and a few large sized neurons in the cats of the pseudo-operation group. Less NP-1 positive medium-small sized neurons were found seven days after partial dorsal root rhizotomy (P<0.05). But they returned back to the original level 14 days after operation. The NP-1 positive large neurons had no significant changes after operations. With seven days of acupuncture, the amounts of NP-1 positive small and medium-sized neurons increased significantly (P<0.05) but were still less than the original level (P<0.05). There were no differences in neurons 14 days after operations between the acupuncture and non-acupuncture group (P>0.05) and between the groups with seven days acupuncture and 14 days of acupuncture (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION
Acupuncture increases the expression of NP-1 in small and medium-sized neurons of spared DRG.


Advances in perinatal and neonatal care have led to an increased incidence of survival of premature infants. Although most premature infants have normal outcomes, they are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality and require comprehensive primary care follow-up after they are discharged from the hospital. This article will review guidelines for general follow-up of premature infants and the associated problems related to prematurity. General follow-up is performed by the pediatric nurse practitioner, with subspecialty consultant referrals as needed. Knowledge of the problems of prematurity and treatment regimes will assist the pediatric nurse practitioner in providing high-quality care to these high-risk infants.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Intrinsic drug resistance is the main reason leading to the failure of chemotherapy in lung cancer. Many drug-resistance related proteins such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug-resistance protein (MRP), lung resistance-related protein (LRP), glutathione-s-transferase-π (GST-π) and TopoisomeraseIIα (TopoIIα) are thought to be contributed to the chemoresistance. However, only few studies focus on these five mediators together in intrinsic drug resistance in human lung cancer cell lines. Our study aimed at analyzing the relationship between the basal expression of P-gp, MRP, LRP, GST-π and TopoIIα and intrinsic drug resistance in four different histological types of human lung cancer lines of adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma (SK-MES-1, SPCA-1, NCI-H-460 and NCI-H-446).

The expressions of P-gp, MRP, LRP, GST-π and TopoIIα at protein and mRNA level in the four cell lines were initially detected with immunofluorescence, western blot and RT-PCR. Drug resistance to cisplatin, doxorubicine and VP-16 were determined using MTT through the assay of cell viability. Correlation between the expression of the proteins and resistance to the drugs were analyzed as well.

There were positive expressions of the proteins of P-gp, MRP, LRP, GST-π and TOPOIIα in all the four types of cell lines no matter assayed by Western blot or RT-PCR, however, the expression levels were different. Among them, GST-π was the most obviously high, its expression at protein level in SK-MES-1 is more than 3-fold higher compared with that in NCI-H-446, and its expression at mRNA level elevated more than 1.4-fold parallelly. The chemosensitivity to cisplatin, doxorubicine and VP-16 for the four cell lines were different. For cisplatin, its IC50 for SK-MES-1 was the highest compared with other three cell lines with about 2–4-fold elevation; for doxorubicin, its IC50 for SK-MES-1 was the highest as well; but for VP-16, its IC50for SK-MES-1 was the lowest (P<0.05). Pearson correlate analysis indicated that there was a positive correlation between the expression of GST-π and resistance to cisplatin and the expression of TOPOIIα toVP-16 (p<0.05), whereas there was a negative correlation between expression of TOPOIIα and resistance to doxorubicin (p<0.05).

In conclusion, the expressions of the chemotherapy resistance related proteins of P-gp, MRP, LRP, GST-π and TOPOIIα in all the four types of human lung cancer cell lines were different. Their different expressions may lead to various chemosensitivity to cisplatin, doxorubicine and VP-16. GST-π was the most important mediator among the five proteins to predict the intrinsic resistance to cisplatin, TOPOIIα also could contribute, to certain degree, to the intrinsic resistance to doxorubicine and VP-16. Further investigation on the mechanism may be necessary for the research of chemotherapy resistance in lung cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2769.


The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative effects of three different Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) speech output methods (word, sentence, mixed words and letters) on a listener's ability to summarize paragraph-length texts. Based on previous work on the discourse processing of synthetic speech, a monotonic trend in a listener's ability to accurately summarize texts produced by different output methods was hypothesized (word > sentence > mixed). Thirty able-bodied adults were individually tested over a 2-day period, listening to four texts produced by a DECtalk speech synthesizer at a speech presentation rate of 7.5 wpm. Using a discourse summarization taxonomy developed by Higginbotham, Lundy, and Scally (1993), the experimental hypothesis was confirmed. Word-method listeners produced significantly more accurate renditions of the original texts than sentence-method listeners, who, in turn, did better than mixed-method listeners. Statistically significant differences also were found for the topic familiarity of the texts. The role of the above variables on AAC device comprehension and technology design is discussed.


Abstract This commentary considers the pros and cons of the empirical approach to legislation from the vantage point of empirical decision making research. It focuses on methodological aspects that are typically not considered by legal scholars. It points out weaknesses in the empirical approach that are undesirable from the legislator's perspective, and proposes potential remedies to these problems. It thereby aims to reduce the vagueness in the perceived problems on the side of the opponents, to reduce excessive enthusiasm on the side of the proponents, and to provide a road map to more robust empirical legislation.


Abstract : Aquaculture as a multiple use of dredged material containment areas (DMCA) has been investigated by the Containment Area Aquaculture Program (CAAP). This report describes design and construction of aquaculture pond facilities in DMCA, reviews design, construction, and operation of DMCA for material disposal, and documents the design and construction of the CAAP Shrimp Farm Demonstration Facility in Brownsville, TX. A complete overview of the entire planning process that leads up to the start of aquaculture facility construction is provided. Reviews are given of site selection principles and aquaculture engineering concepts. The approaches are also reviewed that are used to design and construct aquaculture facilities, based on established aquaculture engineering and design principles, incorporation of site conditions, preparation of feasibility and project plans, methods of estimating project costs, and decision-making criteria for project implementation. The review includes a stepwise guide to aquaculture project planning, including definition of project objectives, iterative planning and preparation of feasibility study, and final project reports. The planning process requires the preparation of a detailed production plan relating project objectives to site conditions. The structure of a production plan and the process of designing the aquaculture facility using site data and production requirements is described. Particular attention is paid to developing design criteria and specifications, descriptions of facilities, and schedules of execution/completion.... Aquaculture, CAAP, Beneficial uses, DMCA.


Low-grade adenosquamous carcinoma (LGASC) is a rare invasive tumor that occurs in breast parenchyma. It has previously only been reported in females. Herein, we describe the case of a 52-year-old male who presented with a palpable mass in his right axilla that he reported had been present for 20-years. This is the first report of a male patient with LGASC. Core needle biopsy pathology revealed a benign mass of mammary origin, but its type was initially misdiagnosed. It was only correctly identified via postoperative pathology after local excision, which indicated that the mass exhibited the typical pathological characteristics of LGASC. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed positive expression of estrogen receptor, which was inconsistent with the typical "triple-negative" immunophenotype of LGASC. After resection of the mass the patient was advised to participate in regular outpatient follow-up. In conclusion, LGASC should be considered in male patients with a mass lesion in their breast or axilla, even when core needle biopsy indicates a benign mass of breast origin. One-stage local resection is recommended for the treatment of male patients with LGASC, but it is crucial to ensure that the margins are negative and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy is not recommended.


Incontrol. At present, the formation of a model of social partnership between the state and religious associations to help the most vulnerable segments of the Russian population is of particular importance. The study of the activities of non-Orthodox Christian organizations allows us to take into account historical experience for the development of optimal forms and methods of work not only religious, but also public associations in the social sphere. The methodology chosen by the authors for this study includes a comparative analysis that highlights the most significant problems in each of the studied aspects of the activi-ties of non-Orthodox Christian organizations in the Far East of Russia, as well as an ap-peal to qualitative (rather than quantitative) methods of study with a corresponding dynamic approach to the description of the subject. As a result of the study, forms of social assistance, groups of the population to which it was directed and the peculiarities of its organization by religious associations of the region are allocated. It has been proven that the social service of non-Orthodox Christian organizations was missionary in nature. It is emphasized that the authorities considered religious education as equal partners in solving social problems in the subjects of the Far East. There is considerable assistance from foreign missionaries in implementing social programs.


Abstract Studies measuring barriers to firm growth assume economies are closed, ignoring information on firm exports. We argue that this information is key to interpreting data and improving the accuracy of model predictions. To do this, we develop a dynamic model with export and domestic barriers. We show theoretically that the closed economy model underestimates barriers and amplifies counterfactuals. By calibrating the model to a set of European countries, we find that the quantitative difference is significant: for example, the closed economy model fails to see that Italian firms are very efficient exporters but poor innovators, and instead concludes that they are mediocre innovators. In terms of predictions, the closed economy model delivers an elasticity of welfare to innovation costs between 31 and 64 percent larger than the open economy model.


In this paper, a fractional complex transform (FCT) is used to convert the given fractional partial differential equations (FPDEs) into corresponding partial differential equations (PDEs) and subsequently Reduced Differential Transform Method (RDTM) is applied on the transformed system of linear and nonlinear time-fractional PDEs. The results so obtained are re-stated by making use of inverse transformation which yields it in terms of original variables. It is observed that the proposed algorithm is highly efficient and appropriate for fractional PDEs and hence can be extended to other complex problems of diversified nonlinear nature.


Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, there has been renewed interest in corporate governance policies and practices. This study focuses on corporate governance practices in Malaysia, where the increasing incidence of fraud suggests a lack of adequate corporate governance systems in Malaysian listed companies. Using an unbalanced data set comprising 200 companies representing a total of 579 firm-year observations, this study examines the effects of internal corporate governance mechanisms on the occurrence of fraud. Specifically, it looks at the effects of board characteristics, ownership structure and quality of audit on the occurrence of fraud in Malaysian listed companies from 2007 to 2009. The findings indicate that the number of board meetings was positively associated with the occurrence of fraud, but both state and foreign ownership revealed a negative correlation, whereas factors including the number of independent directors, board size, CEO duality and the quality of audit had no observable effects.


Abstract In many decisions under uncertainty, there are constraints on both the available information and the feasible actions. The agent can only make certain observations of the state space, and she cannot make them with perfect accuracy—she has imperfect perception. Likewise, she can only perform acts that transform states continuously into outcomes, and perhaps satisfy other regularity conditions. To incorporate such constraints, we modify the Savage decision model by endowing the state space S and outcome space X with topological structures. We axiomatically characterize a Subjective Expected Utility (SEU) representation of conditional preferences, involving a continuous utility function on X (unique up to positive affine transformations), and a unique probability measure on a Boolean algebra B of regular open subsets of S . We also obtain SEU representations involving a Borel measure on the Stone space of B — a "subjective" state space encoding the agent's imperfect perception.


In this study, we examined active-duty women's experiences with gender microaggressions in the U.S. military and their associations with depressive symptoms. We also tested if rank and coping strategies would moderate the link between gender microaggressions and depressive symptoms. Participants comprised 682 self-identified women from the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy. Results from an online survey indicated that active-duty women's experiences with gender microaggressions were positively and significantly associated with their scores on a measure of depressive symptoms. Military rank moderated this association but coping strategies did not. Specifically, among those in lower military ranks (i.e., enlisted service members) we found a stronger association between gender microaggressions and depressive symptoms, whereas higher rank (i.e., officers) served as a buffer. Our results suggest that clinicians should be aware of the potential effects of gender microaggressions on active-duty women's mental health, especially among enlisted women. Commanding officers and military policymakers should consider potential implications of gender microaggressions on unit cohesion, unit performance, and mission effectiveness.


Cross-point (CP) magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is a promising nonvolatile memory cell for lower cost high-density data-storage applications because the CP cell comprises one magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) only without a transistor. It is difficult to read/write (R/W) a selected data without large mount of leakage current through adjacent mesh resistive loop while the bit line and the word line are electrically coupled through the CP MTJs in the array that are completely electrically unisolated. A novel scheme of high-speed R/W circuitry with no steady leakage for cross-point cell MRAM is proposed. A novel cell R/W circuitry with a sense amplifier is developed and incorporated into a 64-kB CP MRAM which using MTJs is designed with 15 k/spl Omega/ resistance and a 50% magnetoresistance ratio. The proposed scheme with low power consumption is verified by a 0.18-/spl mu/m Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company complementary metal-oxide semiconductor SP5M technology.


In this paper, a 45 MHz ultrasonic small animal imaging systems and its applications in blood flow measurements on mouse tumors are presented. Specifically, the system was used to perform in vivo mouse imaging with a tumor cell line named WF-3. The WF-3 tumor cells were injected into the C57BL/6 mice subcutaneously and it was used as an ovarian cancer model. Vascularity of the tumor was successfully imaged when the diameter of the tumor was around 2 mm with flow velocities on the order of a few mm/s. The blood flow images were also correlated with histology after the mice were sacrificed. Good correlation between the blood flow images and the histology was demonstrated in that the lack of blood flow signals in the image for a tumor at a late development stage corresponded to necrosis at the center of the tumor shown in histology.


It has been shown on an 'ideal' synthetic dataset that PP/PS‐stereotomography can estimate an accurate velocity model without any pairing of PP‐ and PS‐events. The P‐wave velocity model is first estimated using PP data and then, fixing this velocity field, the S‐wave velocity is estimated using the PS data. This method needed to be evaluated further and we present here the first application of PP/PS‐stereotomography to a real dataset: the 2D East‐West Mahogany OBC line (Gulf of Mexico). We are here confronted with data which do not fit our working assumptions: coherent noise (due to an approximate separation of PP‐ and PS‐events and some remaining multiples), probably some anisotropy and 3D effects. With a careful selection of the stereotomographic picks, which allows one to decrease the effect of the picked coherent noise by the automatic picker, our application can demonstrate the relevance of our approach in the upper part of the profile, where anisotropy and 3D effects might be low. We can thus estimate, without any pairing of PP‐ and PS‐events, a velocity field which provides not only flat common image gathers, but also PP‐ and PS‐depth migrated images located at the same positions. For the deeper part of the profile, a significant shift in depth appears. In addition to possible anisotropy, 3D effects and a more complex velocity field ('salt body'), this is due to the quality of the PZ‐ and X‐components profiles: The PZ‐component profile where the PP‐stereotomographic picking is performed, is polluted by conflicting converted or multiple events and the X‐component profile, where the PS‐stereotomographic picking is performed, is highly noisy. This study emphasizes the need to develop accurate selection criteria for the stereotomographic picks.


Julia sets are strange repellers which arise from mapping problems involving analytic functions of comples variables. Those sets are multifractals and have a kind of scale invariance. Relationships between various methods of calculating the scaling properties of these sets are discussed.


The recent pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 was first reported in China (December 2019) and now prevalent in ∼170 countries across the globe. Entry of SARS-CoV-2 into mammalian cells require the binding of viral Spike (S) proteins to the ACE2 (angiotensin converting enzyme 2) receptor. Once entered the S protein is primed by a specialised serine protease, TMPRSS2 (Transmembrane Serine Protease 2) in the host cell. Importantly, beside respiratory symptoms, consistent with other common respiratory virus infection when patients become viraemic, a significant number of COVID-19 patients also develop liver comorbidities. We explored if specific target cell-type in the mammalian liver, could be implicated in disease pathophysiology other than the general deleterious response to cytokine storms. Here we employed single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to survey the human liver and identified potentially implicated liver cell-type for viral ingress. We report the co-expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in a TROP2+ liver progenitor population. Importantly, we fail to detect the expression of ACE2 in hepatocyte or any other liver (immune and stromal) cell types. These results indicated that in COVID-19 associated liver dysfunction and cell death, viral infection of TROP2+ progenitors in liver may significantly impaired liver regeneration and could lead to pathology. Highlights - EPCAM+ Liver progenitors co-express ACE2 and TMPRSS2 - ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression is highest in TROP2high progenitors - ACE2 and TMPRSS2 cells express cholangiocyte biased fate markers - ACE2 and TMPRSS2 positive cells are absent in human fetal liver


Microtubules (MT) play a vital role in many cellular functions, but their role in peripheral actin cytoskeletal dynamics which is essential for control of endothelial barrier and monolayer integrity is less understood. We have previously described the enhancement of lung endothelial cell (EC) barrier by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) which was associated with Rac1-mediated remodeling of actin cytoskeleton. This study investigated involvement of MT-dependent mechanisms in the HGF-induced enhancement of EC barrier. HGF-induced Rac1 activation was accompanied by phosphorylation of stathmin, a regulator of MT dynamics. HGF also stimulated MT peripheral growth monitored by time lapse imaging and tracking analysis of EB-1-decorated MT growing tips, and increased the pool of acetylated tubulin. These effects were abolished by EC pretreatment with HGF receptor inhibitor, downregulation of Rac1 pathway, or by expression of a stathmin-S63A phosphorylation deficient mutant. Expression of stathmin-S63A abolished the HGF protective effects against thrombin-induced activation of RhoA cascade, permeability increase, and EC barrier dysfunction. These results demonstrate a novel MT-dependent mechanism of HGF-induced EC barrier regulation via Rac1/PAK1/stathmin-dependent control of MT dynamics.


This article examines Lionel Wendt's photographs of the Sri Lankan shoreline and its pearling economy during the British occupation in the 1930s and 1940s. It considers the light they shed on labour, as well as the tangled relationships between wealth and waste, in an environment where the detritus (cultch) generated by harvesting luxury pearls also formed the most common building materials. The ambivalences of Wendt's aesthetic are connected to the qualities of pearlescence and the shimmer, which themselves were freighted with both metaphorical meaning and technical possibility, for theorists of modernity like Walter Benjamin and early scientists of photography alike. Considering what was, and was not depicted in Wendt's photographs, the article describes the materiality of the coercive labour that existed in the Gulf of Manaar, as well as its connected imaginaries, both local and colonial.


A case of ruptured aortic aneurysm in connection with an operation for gastric cancer is described. Risk factors for ruptures are discussed. An active approach even in serious concomitant disease in elderly people is recommended.


Fire is known to structure tree populations, but the role of broad-scale climate variability is less clear. For example, the influence of climatic "teleconnections" (the relationship between oceanic-atmospheric fluctuations and anomalous weather patterns across broad scales) on forest age structure is relatively unexplored. We sampled semiarid piñon-juniper (Pinus edulis-Juniperus osteosperma) woodlands in western Colorado, U.S.A., to test the hypothesis that woodland age structures are shaped by climate, including links to oceanic-atmospheric fluctuations, and by past fires and livestock grazing. Low-severity surface fire was lacking, as fire scars were absent, and did not influence woodland densities, but stand-replacing fires served as long-rotation (>400-600 years), stand-initiating events. Old-growth stands (>300 years old) were found in 75% of plots, consistent with a long fire rotation. Juniper and piñon age structures suggest contrasting responses during the past several centuries to dry and wet episodes linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Juniper density increased slightly during periods of drought, positive (warm) AMO (after approximately 10-year lag), and negative (cool) PDO. In contrast, piñon populations may still be recovering from a long, drought-filled period (AD 1620-1820), with pulses of recovery favored during cool AMO, warm PDO, and above-average moisture periods. Analysis of 20th-century tree establishment and instrumental climate data corroborate the long-term relationships between age structure and climate. After Euro-American settlement (AD 1881), livestock grazing reduced understory grasses and forbs, reducing competition with tree seedlings and facilitating climate-induced increases in piñons. Thus tree populations in these woodlands are in flux, affected by drought and wet periods linked to oceanic-atmospheric variability, Euro-American livestock grazing, and long-rotation, high-severity fires. Reductions in livestock grazing levels may aid ecological restoration efforts. However, given long-term fluctuations in tree density and composition, and expected further drought, thinning or burning to reduce tree populations may be misdirected.


Ten patients underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomographic (CT) carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) measurement and murine 111In-B72.3 monoclonal antibody radioimmunoscintigraphy for recurrent or residual colorectal carcinoma. All patients had undergone primary colorectal tumour resection at a median of 3 (range 1-18) months previously. Histological analysis of pelvic tissue biopsies confirmed that six patients had recurrent or residual colorectal cancer and that four were tumour free. Whilst scintigraphy correctly showed all six patients with recurrent or residual disease, both CT and CEA measurement were correct in only four patients. In the four patients without recurrent cancer, CT was correct in two patients whilst scintigraphy and CEA measurement were accurate in three patients. Six out of the 10 patients showed marked nonspecific colonic excretion of radiolabelled antibody which was correctly interpreted in five patients. Future prospective studies comparing CT scans, CEA estimation and B72.3 radioimmunoscintigraphy in a larger group of patients with suspected residual or recurrent colorectal adenocarcinoma may help to define the respective sensitivity and specificity of these techniques.


This is a fascinating volume that celebrates the United States embracing British music, film, fashion and art in the 1960s. Capturing one of the most exciting artistic periods in recent history, this is an irresistible look back for all. It is filled with photographs of the many stars that crossed the pond, such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sean Connery and Twiggy. This richly illustrated and informative volume celebrates the pivotal cultural moment when the United States took on a British accent. The huge volume of talent crossing the pond included the The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, Them (and Van Morrison), The Yardbirds, The Who and, of course, the Rolling Stones. The invasion wasn't only musical: Peter O'Toole, Julie Andrews, Sean Connery and Michael Caine made a splash in Hollywood, while films like "Goldfinger", "Alfie" and "What's New, Pussycat?" topped box-office charts. "The Avengers" became cult TV and "Carnaby Street" defined hip style, turning Mary Quant, Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton into fashion icons. Filled with photographs that capture one of the most exciting artistic periods in recent history, this is an evocative, irresistible look back.


Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by disturbances in carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism, often accompanied by oxidative stress. Diabetes treatment is a complicated process in which, in addition to the standard pharmacological action, it is necessary to append a comprehensive approach. Introducing the aspect of non-pharmacological treatment of diabetes allows one to alleviate its many adverse complications. Therefore, it seems important to look for substances that, when included in the daily diet, can improve diabetic parameters. Magnolol, a polyphenolic compound found in magnolia bark, is known for its health-promoting activities and multidirectional beneficial effects on the body. Accordingly, the goal of this review is to systematize the available scientific literature on its beneficial effects on type 2 diabetes and its complications. Taking the above into consideration, the article collects data on the favorable effects of magnolol on parameters related to glycemia, lipid metabolism, or oxidative stress in the course of diabetes. After careful analysis of many scientific articles, it can be concluded that this lignan is a promising agent supporting the conventional therapies with antidiabetic drugs in order to manage diabetes and diabetes-related diseases.


Since the 1970s, the sociological analysis of football hooliganism has focused on the processes which lead to violence between fans. This has been a reasonable research strategy since the incidence of violence is a striking phenomenon and violent fans themselves look upon violence as the objective. However, this focus on the causes of violence has cast other important aspects of football violence into the shade. In particular, there has been a lack of consideration of the way in which violence has been used as a resource by violent fans for the creation and re-creation of their hooligan gangs. In particular, there has been no discussion of the way in which the collective memory of violence, established in discussions between group members, affirms the solidarity of these groups. In exploring the way that shared memory is employed by violent fans to sustain their relations with each other, this article widens the focus of the sociological study of hooliganism but also makes a contribution to the understanding of how social groups are constituted more generally through the empirical example of hooliganism.


Movement and nutrition play a pivotal role in the promotion of long-term health and the prevention of chronic disease. Obesity and physical inactivity are among the leading causes of premature death, while lifestyle factors such as exercise and healthy eating can reduce the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases. Movement and nutrition may therefore be able to assist in the prevention and therapy of chronic diseases. Regular physical activity and better dietary choices are effective means of extending not only lifespan but also healthspan. Healthy nutrition is important throughout life, and diet is the most important risk factor of illness worldwide. Moreover, childhood obesity has become a global health crisis. While high body-mass index and high fasting plasma glucose contribute substantially to the rising burden of disease, they also provide promising opportunities for intervention. In addition, mounting evidence suggests vital relationships between nutritional quality and mental health. Approaches tackling dietary improvements include community-based health promotion, school-based interventions, mass media campaigns, open online platforms and policies sanctioning unhealthy food choices. The high prevalence of sedentary behavior and physical inactivity is a major health risk and a leading cause of death worldwide. The extensive health benefits of a physically active lifestyle are well established. Exercise is a viable way to help prevent and combat many chronic diseases, and an increase in physical activity could markedly improve health worldwide. A challenge in this context is the promotion of an active lifestyle, including the initiation of and adherence to effective exercise and sport programs.


Statistical income surveys are used to document systemic changes in distribution and redistribution of household income and its determinants over the period 1988-1996. First, the growing difficulties facing income surveys under the democratic regime are considered. Secondly, the substantive meaning of various income indicators and their relation to the social and economic situation is discussed. Next, growing disparities in income after 1989 and the shift away from demographic factors (numbers of active earners and children, age) to socio-economic factors (education, branch, occupation) are displayed. The fourth part documents the increased redistribution of income achieved through taxes and social benefits. The fifth part compares the Czech case with Western countries in order to evaluate the extent to which income distribution has adjusted to the market economy. The conclusion offers a summary of main findings and discusses some additional resources of family welfare during the transition period.


Abstract Finding a balance between a centralised and decentralised curricular policy for general education and seeing teachers as autonomous agents of curriculum development is a recurrent issue in many countries. Radical reforms bring about the need to investigate whether and to what extent different parties – and first of all, teachers – are ready to accept and internalise the new policies and roles as curriculum leaders to ensure the sustainability of curriculum development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a questionnaire for investigating Estonian teachers' curricular work and preferences and to introduce the results of its piloting. The main topics covered by the questionnaire are teachers' experience and autonomy in using and developing curricula, their preparation for curriculum development and preferences and expectations for the best curricular solutions. The developed questionnaire can be used for investigating teachers' curricular work and preferences in different national contexts, thus enabling comparative studies across countries with different practices regarding curriculum policy.


In a bid to optimize the performance of a Cross Flow Turbine designed and fabricated by Oyebode (2014), the performance evaluation of the turbine at various conditions was carried out using a portion of the overflow from the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) dam. The Dam has a net head of 4 m, flow rate of 0.017m 3 and hence theoretical hydropower energy of 668W. The turbine was tested and the optimized value of operating conditions namely; angle of inclination of the water jet (15 o above tangent, tangential and 15 o below tangent), height of water jet to impact point (200mm, 250mm and 300mm) and length of the water jet to impact point (50mm, 100mm and 150mm) were pre-set at their various levels while testing the Turbine. The measured outputs were Turbine Speed, Turbine Torque, Alternator Speed as well as the output voltage. The optimum values of the process output or measured parameters were determined statistically using a 3 3 X2 factorial experiment in three replicates. An optimum turbine speed of 330.09 rpm was achieved by pre-setting 250mm height to impact point, 100mm length to impact point and the water jet 15º below tangent. Same combination also yielded an optimum turbine torque of 39.07kNm. During loading (i.e. when the alternator becomes connected to the turbine), an optimum Turbine Speed of 197.66rpm was achieved by pre-setting 250mm height to impact point, 100mm length to impact point and the water jet 15º below tangent. Same combination also yielded an optimum Turbine Torque of 25.02kNm, optimum Alternator speed of 879.24rpm and an optimum output voltage of 4.05V. The results therefore show that the turbine must be set at these operational conditions for it to perform optimally.


The Weather Research and Forecasting model and its variational Data Assimilation system WRFDA has been applied to the Arctic marginal ice zone along the Chukchi-Beaufort Seas for High-resolution Atmospheric Reanalysis (CBHAR) study. To ensure the best reanalysis quality, WRFDA is optimized for the study area through a set of assimilation sensitivity experiments. The sensitivity of WRFDA to model background errors (BE), and the assimilation of various observational datasets, including both in situ observations and satellite retrievals is examined. It's found that a customized BE is necessary in order to achieve positive impacts with WRFDA. A careful selection of data to be assimilated is also essential. To improve our understanding of temporal and spatial structures of the area's surface wind, an important parameter linking dynamical processes among different components of the environmental system, the newly developed CBHAR reanalysis is used to analyze the area's mesoscale wind climatology for the data period of 1979 to 2009. In the study area, sea breezes, up/downslope winds, and mountain barrier effects are clearly captured by CHBAR. Upslope winds occur from March to September. Sea breeze begins in May, reaches its maximum in July. Mountain barrier effects are profound along the Chukotka Mountains and in the Chukchi Sea during cold seasons. The impacts of synoptic weather patterns including Arctic storm and Beaufort High on the area's mesoscale circulations are analyzed. Strong storm activity reduces the strength of sea breeze and eastward location of Beaufort High weakens the mountain barrier effect in the Chukchi Sea.


Background The volume of pediatric Procedural Sedation and Analgesia (PSA) outside the operating room has been increasing. This high clinical demand leads non-anesthesiologists, especially pediatric intensivists, pediatricians, and emergency physicians, to take a role in performing procedural sedation. Our department has established the PSA service by pediatric intensivists since 2015. Objectives We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of PSA outside the operating room conducted by pediatric intensivists and identify risk factors for severe adverse events. Methods This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted from January 2015 to July 2019. Children aged less than 20 years who underwent procedural sedation were included. We collected demographic data, sedative and analgesic medications, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status Classification, indications for sedation, the success of procedural sedation, and any adverse events. Results Altogether, 395 patients with 561 procedural sedation cases were included. The median age was 55 months (range: 15 to 119 months), and 58.5% (231/395) were male. The rate of successful procedures under PSA was 99.3%. Serious Adverse Events (SAE) occurred in 2.7%. Patients who received more than three sedative medications had higher SAE than patients who received fewer medications (adjusted for age, location of sedation, type of procedure, and ASA classification) (odds ratio: 8.043; 95% CI: 2.472 - 26.173, P = 0.001). Conclusions Our data suggest that children who undergo procedural sedation outside the operating room conducted by pediatric intensivists are safe and effectively treated. Receiving more than three sedative medications is the independent risk factor associated with serious adverse events.


We present monitoring campaign observations at optical and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths for a radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 0.840, SDSS J110006.07+442144.3 (hereafter, J1100+4421), which was identified during a flare phase in late 2014 February. The campaigns consist of three intensive observing runs from the discovery to 2015 March, mostly within the scheme of the OISTER collaboration. Optical-NIR light curves and simultaneous spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are obtained. Our measurements show the strongest brightening in 2015 March. We found that the optical-NIR SEDs of J1100+4421 show an almost steady shape despite the large and rapid intranight variability. This constant SED shape is confirmed to extend to ∼5 μm in the observed frame using the archival WISE data. Given the lack of absorption lines and the steep power-law spectrum of α ν ∼ -1.4, where fνναν, synchrotron radiation by a relativistic jet with no or small contributions from the host galaxy and the accretion disk seems most plausible as an optical-NIR emission mechanism. The steep optical-NIR spectral shape and the large amplitude of variability are consistent with this object being a low ν peak jet-dominated AGN. In addition, sub-arcsecond resolution optical imaging data taken with Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam does not show a clear extended component and the spatial scales are significantly smaller than the large extensions detected at radio wavelengths. The optical spectrum of a possible faint companion galaxy does not show any emission lines at the same redshift, and hence a merging hypothesis for this AGN-related activity is not supported by our observations. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.


Background: Induction of labor is performed in up to 25% of pregnancies. The major concern in mechanical labor induction is that it increases the chance of infection when a foreign device is introduced into the cervix. The aim of the study is to test the effectiveness of a vagina saline lavage procedure on infection prevention during labor induction by transcervical double balloon catheter.Methods: Enrolled pregnant women were randomly divided into two groups. The control group received standard aseptic vaginal cleansing with 5% betadine solution. In addition to the standard aseptic preparation, the study group received vaginal lavage with 0.9% saline solution before the device placement and once every 4 hours after the insertion. Results: There was no statistical difference in the demographic characteristics or the indications for induction between the two groups (P > 0.1). The final delivery modes and complication rates were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the two groups, except for the maternal infection rate (P < 0.05). The rate of infection dropped from 10.6% to 2.9% when the frequent vaginal lavage procedure was performed. Conclusions: Excessive vaginal aseptic preparation by saline solution is easy to apply, safe and effective in reducing maternal infection during mechanical labor induction.


Acoustic problems in the environment have gained attention due to the tremendous growth of technology that has led to noisy engines, heavy machinery, pumps, high speed wind buffeting and a myriad other noise sources. Exposure to high decibels of sound proves damaging to humans from both a physical and a psychological aspect. The problem of controlling the noise level in the environment has been the focus of a tremendous amount of research over the years. This paper describes a study of techniques for noise cancellation which can be applied at the input to standard receivers trained on noise-free speech. Such methods have been used in various applications, including communication systems, biomedical engineering, and industrial applications. In this review, we have classified the existing noise cancellation schemes and comprehensively explore various suggestions in each category as to demonstrate limitations of the existent techniques as well as effective contributions.


Efficiency is very important factor for productivity growth. In an economy where resources are scarce and opportunities to use new technologies are limited, studies indicate potential possibility to raise productivity by improving efficiency without necessarily developing new technologies or increasing the resource base. The objective of this study was to determine the technical efficiencies of MSEs in Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 352 enterprises by employing Yamane formula. Data were analyzed by using Data envelopment technique. Findings show that the mean level of technical efficiency was 0.61 for both MSEs together, 0.59 for micro-enterprises and 0.67 for small enterprises. Results indicated that dependent variable which is defined as technical efficiency of MSEs was affected by explanatory variables: age of promoters, managerial training, vocational training, access to finance, family size, location of the enterprises, enterprises age, business plan, investment on ICT, Initial capital, enterprises size, social networking, were included in the model. From twelve possible factors, eight of the explanatory variables age of promoters, enterprises size, vocational training, and investment in ICT, initial capital, social networking, family size and business plan affected technical efficiency significantly. Based on the finding age of promoters, social networking, initial capital, vocational training and investment in ICT were significantly and positively determined technical efficiency while business plan and enterprises size significantly and negatively determined technical efficiencies. These results suggest that increased investment in ICT and vocational training could jointly contribute to an improvement in technical efficiency. Enhancing share capital contribution, enhancing micro-financing efficiency, infrastructural facilities and information dissemination, educating and training of MSEs promoters in business development services (BDS) were recommended to enhance technical efficiency in optimal input usage to obtain maximum output. Keywords: Data Envelopment analysis, MSEs, Technical efficiency, Tobit Model, Wolaita Ethiopia.


We outline a systematic nonperturbative derivation of a hierarchy of closed systems of
moment equations that can be applied to any kinetic description of electrons in a semiconductor.
This entropy based closure procedure extends one that was introduced in the context of
gas dynamics. In the context of semiconductors, this procedure yields generalizations of socalled
hydrodynamic models. It is illustrated on the semiclassical Boltzmann-Poisson equation
for a single conduction band in the parabolic band approximation.


A new strategy for thiazoles via copper-catalyzed [3+1+1]-type condensation reaction from oximes, anhydrides and potassiumthiocyanate (KSCN) is developed herein. The transformation has good functional group tolerance and various thiazoles were formed smoothly in good to excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. This process involves copper-catalyzed N-O/C-S bond cleavages, activation of vinyl sp2 C-H bond, and C-S/C-N bond formations which are under redox-neutral conditions as well as operational simplicity.


We present a novel learning framework to obtain finite-state controllers (FSCs) for partially observable Markov decision processes and illustrate its applicability for indefinite-horizon specifications. Our framework builds on oracle-guided inductive synthesis to explore a design space compactly representing available FSCs. The inductive synthesis approach consists of two stages: The outer stage determines the design space, i.e., the set of FSC candidates, while the inner stage efficiently explores the design space. This framework is easily generalisable and shows promising results when compared to existing approaches. Experiments indicate that our technique is (i) competitive to state-of-the-art belief-based approaches for indefinite-horizon properties, (ii) yields smaller FSCs than existing methods for several models, and (iii) naturally treats multi-objective specifications.


The perpendicular magnetic recording process of a shielded-pole-type head was studied using the finite-element micromagnetic simulation. When the return and write pole are sufficiently close to each other, 40 nm in our simulation, the effective recording field is tilting at an angle of around 30deg. The tilted recording field leads to a more efficient writing since the recording media switching field is reduced according to Stoner-Wohlfarth model. This means that the shielded-pole-type head can be used to write higher coercivity recording media and allow for higher recording density and better thermal stability


In the United States (U.S.), up to 2.2 million individuals have been chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Many nail salon workers are at risk for HBV as they are coming from high-risk and traditionally underserved communities. To understand barriers and knowledge associated with HBV in the Vietnamese nail salon community, the Health Belief Model (HBM) was used to qualitatively assess the health needs for the prevention of HBV among Vietnamese nail salon workers through focus groups and interviews. Results revealed several themes that highlight barriers within the Vietnamese nail community. Major themes were the lack of knowledge related to hepatitis B, including significant misconceptions related to symptoms, and how hepatitis B is transmitted and prevented. There were also several barriers to health care access within the Vietnamese nail community including the cost of health care, long work hours, lack of insurance and lack of understanding of current community resources. Additionally, discrimination and stigma related to those infected with hepatitis B emerged as a theme from this data. Those interviewed also noted that the nail training and licensing they received did not highlight hepatitis B and other infectious diseases that can be spread within the nail salon.


Anterior cervical location of arachnoid cyst is a rare and only 22 cases have been reported in the literature. The surgical approach was quite varied and mostly these cysts were accessed via dorsal laminectomy, with few patients developing postoperative neurological deficit. We report a 51-year-old male with a cervical arachnoid cyst extending from the dens to the inferior border of the C3 body, which was successfully decompressed via an anterior cervical approach through the partial corpectomy of C2. This is probably the first case report demonstrating the safety of anterior partial median corpectomy of the C2 body with micro discectomy of C2-C3 space for excision of the anterior cervical archnoid cyst. The additional advantage of this procedure is that it may not result in spinal instability.


A manual preview tracking experiment and its results are presented. The preview drastically improves the tracking performance compared to zero-preview tracking. Optimal discrete finite preview control is applied to determine the structure of a mathematical model of the manual preview tracking experiment. Variable parameters in the model are adjusted to values which are consistent to the published data in manual control. The model with the adjusted parameters is found to be well correlated to the experimental results.


[1] Observations over the outer shelf and shelf break off the northeastern coast of Taiwan indicate a curious seasonal variability of upwelling. At deeper levels 100 m below the surface, upwelling is most intense in summer but weaker in winter. Nearer the surface at approximately 30 m below the surface, the opposite is true and the upwelling is stronger in winter than in summer. Results from a high-resolution numerical model together with observations and simple Ekman models are used to explain the phenomenon. It is shown that the upwelling at deeper levels (� 100 m) is primarily induced by offshore (summer) and onshore (winter) migrations of the Kuroshio, while monsoonal change in the wind stress curl, positive in winter and negative in summer, is responsible for the reversal in the seasonal variation of the upwelling near the surface (� 30 m). This mechanism reconciles previous upwelling data.


The micromechanics theory, generalized method of cells (GMC), was employed to simulate the debonding of fiber/matrix interfaces, within a repeating unit cell subjected to global, cyclic loading, utilizing a cyclic crack growth law. Cycle dependent, interfacial debonding was implemented as a new module to the available GMC formulation. The degradation of interfacial stresses, with applied load cycles, was achieved via progressive evolution of the interfacial compliance. A periodic repeating unit cell, representing the fiber/matrix architecture of a composite, was subjected to combined normal and shear loadings, and degradation of the global transverse stress in successive cycles was monitored. The obtained results were compared to values from a corresponding finite element model. Reasonable agreement was achieved for combined normal and shear loading conditions, with minimal variation for pure loading cases. The local effects of interfacial debonding, and fatigue damage will later be combined as sub-models to predict the experimentally obtained fatigue life of Ti-15-3/Sic composites at the laminate level.


A generalized approach for synthesizing a prescribed resistive nonlinear n-port is presented with the help of a linear 2nport called the linear transformation converter (LTC). It is proved that a large class of voltage-controlled (current-controlled) resistive nports can be realized by using only one LTC and an appropriate homeomorphic nonlinear n-port. The LTC is shown to be decomposable into the cascade connection of a"rotator," "reflector," and "scalor." This factorization provides not only a general realization technique, but also a geometrical interpretation of the capabilities of the 2-port LTC to transform a monotonic characteristic curve into a prescribed multivalued curve. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions are given for realizing a multivalued two-terminal resistor by connecting an appropriate monotonic resistor across port 2 of a 2-port LTC.


A novel capacitor voltage control strategy for three-phase distribution static synchronous compensators (DSTATCOM) based on modular multilevel converters (MMC) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, modeling of circular interaction among the electrical quantities for MMC-STATCOM is established. And the improved capacitor voltage control structure consists of three loops, a) total active power control loop for the entire apparatus, b) the arm capacitor voltage balancing control loop for each phase and c) individual capacitor voltage balancing control loop in each arm. The output of total active power control is added to the current tracking control as active current reference. The arm capacitor voltage balancing control is critical for the stable operation of the MMC-DSTATCOM, especially in capacitive var compensation mode. A set of cosine functions instead of the output currents is proposed for the individual capacitor voltage balancing control in this paper. Since output current measurement is avoided in the individual capacitor voltage balancing control, the number of current sensors and data communication resources are reduced, especially for practical applications based on MMC with a large number of modules. The effectiveness of the above capacitor voltage three-loop control architecture is verified completely by detailed analysis and experimental results from a MMC-DSTATCOM laboratory prototype with multi-DSP controller system.


Results are reported of an investigation on the performance of small scale TE discharge excited HgBr and HgI lasers. From a 10 cm3 active volume, the HgBr laser produced 6.5 mJ output pulses of 65 ns duration under the optimum excitation conditions. Laser emission has been found to be due to a large number of vibronic lines of the B-X electronic transition spanning the 495 to 507 nm spectral region. The HgI laser output energy was 2.9 mJ and pulse duration was 78 ns under optimum conditions. Laser emission has been observed over the 441 to 445.5 nm spectral region. The dependence of HgX (X=Br or I) laser performance on the operational conditions has been investigated and results are presented. Laser output spectra were found to be independent of the operational conditions.


This study investigated whether secondary schools in Australia and England had a plan to manage traumatic incidents and to identify practice and programs related to grief education and suicide intervention and prevention. Ninety-four percent of a Australian sample of 145 schools had such plans in place, compared with only 15% of an English sample of 200 schools. Differing policy contexts for grief, and the lack of teacher training and minimal education about grief in England, were discussed as possible explanations for the variation. It is concluded that a more proactive approach will only be achieved when there is system-level policy and training support, as well as school and individual teacher recognition of their potential contribution to young people's well being.


The introduction of the sulfonamides in the 1930s and benzylpenicillin in the 1940s completely revolutionized medicine by reducing the morbidity and mortality of many infectious diseases. Today, antimicrobial drugs are used in food-producing animals to treat and prevent diseases and to enhance growth rate and feed efficiency. Such use is fundamental to animal health and well-being and to the economics of the livestock industry, and has seen the development of antimicrobials such as ceftiofur, florfenicol, tiamulin, tilmicosin, tulathromycin, and tylosin specifically for use in food-producing animals.1,2 However, these uses may result in residues in foods and have been linked to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of diseasecausing bacteria with potential human health ramifications.3 Antimicrobial drug resistance is not addressed in detail in this text, and the interested reader is referred to an excellent overview by Martinez and Silley.4 Many factors influence the residue profiles of antibiotics in animal-derived edible tissues (meat and offal) and products (milk and eggs), and in fish and honey. Among these factors are the approved uses, which vary markedly between antibiotic classes and to a lesser degree within classes. For instance, in some countries, residues of quinolones in animal tissues, milk, honey, shrimp, and fish are legally permitted (maximum residue limits [MRLs] have been established). By comparison, the approved uses of the macrolides are confined to the treatment of respiratory disease and for growth promotion (in some countries) in meat-producing animals (excluding fish), and to the treatment of American foulbrood disease in honeybees. As a consequence, residues of macrolides


One of the most dramatic changes occurring on our planet in recent decades is the ever-increasing extensive use of artificial light at night, which drastically altered the environment nocturnal animals are adapted to 1,2. One nocturnal species group experiencing marked declines are moths, which are not only of great importance for species conservation, but also for their key role in food webs and in ecosystem services such as nocturnal plant pollination 3,4. Light pollution has been identified as a driver in the dramatic insect decline of the past years 5–7, yet little is known about its impact on natural insect orientation behaviour. Using harmonic radar tracking, we show that the orientation of several species of moths is significantly affected by streetlights, although only 4 % of individuals showed flight-to-light behaviour. We reveal a species-specific barrier effect of streetlights on lappet moths whenever the moon was not available as a natural celestial cue. Furthermore, streetlights increased the tortuosity of flight trajectories for both hawk moths and lappet moths. Our results provide the first spatially resolved experimental evidence for the fragmentation of landscapes by streetlights and demonstrate that light pollution affects movement patterns of moths beyond previously assumed extend, potentially affecting their reproductive success and hampering a vital ecosystem service.


We incubated ten different hydrogel lens materials in nine different artificial tear preparations and in cromolyn sodium (Opticrom) 4% at 35 degrees C for a period of 6 months. The subsequent ability of these hydrogel materials to transmit visible light was analyzed spectrophotometrically as a measure of each solution's compatibility with the different hydrogel materials. Ultra Tears solution was found to be significantly incompatible with four of the hydrogel materials: tetrafilcon A, deltafilcon A, phemfilcon A, and polymacon. Seven other solution/hydrogel combinations had relatively high absorbance readings that were not statistically significant. These combinations should probably be avoided. Cromolyn sodium 4% was found to be compatible with all hydrogel lens materials tested, as were the majority of artificial tear solution/hydrogel combinations. We believe that the use of the compatible solution/hydrogel combinations should produce no alteration in the ability of the hydrogel lens to transmit visible light (400-700 nm).


Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 96 consecutive patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) before and after nasal continous positive airway pressure treatment. CRP levels only displayed significant correlations with body mass index (BMI) before treatment. No significant changes were observed in BMI and CRP levels after 9 months of treatment. These data suggest that CRP levels in patients with OSAS may be associated with obesity rather than OSAS itself.


The Fourteenth World Congress of the International Economic Association took place in Marrakech between August 29 and September 2 2005. The main themes of the Congress were "New Trends in Economics" and "Understanding the Great Changes in the World". These two volumes published by Palgrave present to the reader the presidential address by János Kornai, most of the distinguished invited lectures (by Yingyi Qian and Jinglian Wu, Timur Kuran, Edmund Phelps and Philippe Aghion) and many of the papers presented at the different invited sessions organized by Masa Aoki (Mechanisms of Institutional Change, Herbert Gintis (The Implications of Experimental Economics For Economic Theory), Mustafa Nabli (Is Democracy a Binding Constraint for Economic Growth in the Middle East and North Africa Region?), Susan Rose-Ackerman (Trust and Distrust in Post-socialist Transition), Jan Svejnar (15 Years of Post-Socialist Transition), Oded Stark (The New Economics of the Brain Drain: Analytics, Empirics, and Policy) and Claude Menard (Institutional Design and Economic Performance).


Laparoscopy has become the
standard of care in many urological procedures. Various simulations are used to
train laparoscopic skills. This study evaluates the effectiveness of our low
cost laparoscopic training box simulation to improve urologic laparoscopic
skills. The study was conducted during Urology Laparoscopic Surgery Training
Course in the department of Urology Universitas Padjadjaran/Hasan Sadikin
General Hospital in year 2016. Eight practicing urologists with mean age 40.2
completed the study. Lecture and video presentation were presented to all
participants before box training. Pre-
training participants were evaluated for two basic
laparoscopic tasks using
a global rating scale and a task specific checklist. Participants then were
trained under instructor supervision and then evaluated using the same global
rating scale and specific task list. Participants performed nephrectomy on the
second day on a live animal (pigs) and evaluated. Wilcoxon matched paired signed-rank test was used to analyze pre- and
post-training
score results. There are statistically significant improvements in global rating scale
and task specific checklist for both tasks (P


Understanding how personalities relate to driving styles is crucial for improving Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADASs) and driver-vehicle interactions. Focusing on the "high-risk" population of young male drivers, the objective of this study is to investigate the association between personality traits and driving styles. An online survey study was conducted among 46 males aged 21-30 to gauge their personality traits, self-reported driving style, and driving history. Hierarchical Clustering was proposed to identify driving styles and revealed two subgroups of drivers who either had a "risky" or "compliant" driving style. Compared to the compliant group, the risky cluster sped more frequently, was easily distracted and affected by negative emotion, and often behaved recklessly. The logit model results showed that the risky driving style was associated with lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, but higher driving exposure. An interaction effect was also detected between age and Extraversion to form a risky driving style.


The aims of the experiment were: (1) to establish the proportion of sleep stages in morning spontaneous awakening and to observe whether any stage-dependent differences can be found in the mentation reports; and (2) to compare the characteristics of mental activity during sleep onset (SO) and during the latest sleep period. One hundred forty-four dream reports and their association reports were collected from 36 subjects in a lab experimental design. Dream reports were analyzed as to structure (length, narrative continuity), content (self, setting, lab references, nonself characters, dimensional distortions, body feelings, bizarreness and emotions), and awareness (reality testing). Associations were classified as episodic, abstract self-referred, and semantic memories. The morning awakenings results were not affected by the stage of sleep during which dreaming occurs. SO reports prevalently show a lifelike nature, while sleep-offset reports are prevalently dreamlike. On the other hand, there seems to be a similar availability of mnemonic systems in the two sleep conditions.


The maximal symmetry, or Perfect Cosmological Principle(PCP), that prevents AdS type spaces from degenerating into anti-inflationary collapse is argued to be unphysical. For example, the simple requirement that brane-bulk models should be the result of having evolved from even more energetic string phenomena picks out a preferred time direction. We question whether quantum cosmological reasoning can be applied in any meaningful way to obtain, what are essentially, classical constructs . An alternative scheme is to more readily accept the PCP and allow the branes to also become eternal. A perpetually expanding and contracting brane model could be driven by the presence of charged black holes in the AdS bulk, that effectively violates the weak-energy condition as singularities are approached. This can be contrasted with the so-called Ekpyrotic universe which also closely accepts the PCP. This being broken only by occasional collisions between branes, that can then simulate a big bang cosmology.


Comparative investigations were made of the characteristics of two compact KrF lasers with different geometries and different gas flow velocities. The same electric-discharge system, optimised to reach a high KrF laser efficiency (~ 3.5%), was used in both lasers. It was established that at a high pulse repetition frequency the specific nature of acoustic perturbations, which appeared in the gasdynamic channel, influenced the homogeneity of the discharge and of the laser radiation.


Kjeldahl is one of the most commonly used techniques to determine the protein content in food and feed samples. The detection and quantification limits are important characteristics of analytical methods. The impact of the concentration of boric acid, the addition of potassium chloride, and the concentration of the titration solution on the detection and quantification limits were investigated. The best results were obtained by using 2 % boric acid with 3 g potassium chloride per liter. A titration solution of 0.005 M HCl worked best. With these parameters, detection limits for distillation of standard solutions as low as 0.008 mg nitrogen and quantification limits of 0.02 mg nitrogen can be achieved.


Abstract The psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama vectors a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in Florida which is responsible for citrus greening disease (huanglongbing), one of the most serious diseases of citrus. Despite the great economic importance of D. citri to citrus production, little is known about the reproductive biology and behavior of this insect. We conducted studies to determine the copula duration, the age at which both males and females reach reproductive maturity, the pre-oviposition period, the daily timing of mating activity in a laboratory colony, and the temporal dynamics in the sex ratio of a cohort of newly eclosed adults. The emergence patterns of males and females were strikingly similar, with no evidence for protandry or protogyny. Both sexes reached reproductive maturity by 2-3 d post-eclosion. Oviposition generally began within 1 d after mating, but was longer when females were mated at 2 d of age. Mean ± SEM copula duration was 48.3 ± 8.4 minutes (range: 15.2-98.0). Mating on orange jasmine was observed almost exclusively on flush shoots during daylight hours, with no obvious peak of daily mating activity. Mating activity may be constrained during scotophase in part by cooler temperatures and lack of light. Methods for carrying out mating experiments with this species are described.


Oral infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. Total body irradiation and chemotherapy suppress the ability of the immune system to respond to the more virulent pathogens that can attack the compromised patient. The case of an 8.5-year-old girl is reported, in which an oral infection and a clinically observed motility resulted in a communication with the submandibular space; a significant hard, brawny edema of her right submandibular area resulted. Surgery, strict oral hygiene, and regular irrigation with a chlorhexidine gluconate solution resulted in successful healing.


A prospective controlled trial was carried out to assess the effect of using a wound isolator on reducing postoperative infection. A total of 291 patients undergoing hip pinning for fractures of the neck of femur entered the trial and were allocated at random to have their wound contained in a wound isolator (study group) or dressed with a standard gamma-irradiated adhesive dressing (control group). The bacteriological flora of the patient was monitored before, during, and after operation and that of the ward before and after. No significant difference was found in the flora of the wards in which the patients were nursed. On several occasions the source of the infective organism was traced to the ward but never to the theatre. The isolator prevented direct contamination and airborne cross-infection of the wound and appreciably reduced the rate of infection.


The first center for cancer research in the United States was started in 1898, and during the first half of the present century 19 additional cancer research centers had their origins. Most of them were initiated with funds from wealthy individuals who had experienced the tragic loss of a close relative. The early years of these centers and anecdotes about some of the early directors of the centers are described.


Eco-tourism, a tourism business emerged in the end of 20 th century, covers the education awareness of environmental conservation. Without quality environment, visitors would not actively go sightseeing. For this reason, sightseeing, to some degree, is attached to the environment. Domestic and international public sectors and private sectors therefore discuss eco-tourism related issues, think of reducing the impact of eco-tourism on the environment, and maintain the right to enjoy natural resources and the environment for descendants. Visitors to Yongchun Niumulin Ecological Tourism Zone, the research object in this study, are distributed and collected the questionnaire on-site. Total 360 copies of the questionnaire are distributed, and 251 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 70%. The research results are summarized as following. 1. Environmental attitudes present significant correlations with tourist satisfaction. 2. Tourist satisfaction shows remarkable correlations with environmental behavior. 3. Environmental attitudes reveal notable correlations with environmental behavior. The suggestion, proposed according to the research result in this study, expects to reduce the impact of eco-tourism on the environment and maintain the rights to enjoy natural resources and the environment for descendants.


Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSV) are responsible for the most important infectious disease affecting the global pig industry, causing respiratory disease in piglets and reproductive failure in sows. Both species of PRRSV (PRRSV-1 and −2) are rapidly evolving and existing vaccines are failing to control the PRRS panzootic. PRRSV produces 16 non-structural proteins (NSPs) that are involved in viral replication and/or modulating the host immune response. Previous studies have shown that PRRSV NSP1α and NSP1β modulate host cell responses; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. PRRSV-1 strains predominate in Europe but have been studied far less than PRRSV-2, therefore, this project aims to identify and characterise novel PRRSV-1 NSP1-host protein interactions. NSP1α and NSP1β from a representative PRRSV-1 subtype 1 strain (215-06) were screened using the yeast-2-hybrid (y-2-h) system and a cDNA library generated from porcine alveolar macrophages – the primary target cell of PRRSV-1. The screens identified 62 and 127 putative binding partners for NSP1α and NSP1β, respectively. Potential binding partners involved in IFN signalling, the NF-κB pathway, ubiquitination and nuclear transport have been selected for confirmation and characterisation. Identifying and characterising these novel interactions will increase our understanding of how PRRSV-1 NSP1α/β modulates the host cellular immune response, which could subsequently be exploited to rationally attenuate PRRSV-1 as a basis for improved vaccines.


Preliminary results are presented of experiments with a recognition scheme intended for continuous speech. The scheme utilizes information about interphoneme contextual effects contained in formant transitions and employs internal trial synthesis and feedback comparison as a means for recognition. The aim is to achieve minimal sensitivity to the appreciable variability which occurs in the speech signal, even for utterances of a single speaker. While the approach outlined here is quite general, it has initially been tried out on vowel-stop-vowel utterances. Recognition scores obtained are encouraging and demonstrate the viability of the approach.


Body of female models in men's magazine is consumed and perceived as an object in its literal meaning is the recipient of the action. However, the issues are not just about the body's sexuality and about sex, but women also see themselves as subjects that define and determine the direction of the body as the main actor in the decision maker. This research aims to look at the narratives of female models toward sexuality body. The theories used in this research are Beauty Myth, Disciplining the Body and Postfeminism Theory. Furthermore, method used in the research is the analysis of narrative data formulated by Labov and Waletzky. The results of this research in the components of the narrative structure produces several things, are: (1) The form of decision making such as choosing a job as models and appear in men's magazine shows the position of female models as the autonomous subject. (2) The practice of objectifications experienced by female models in the form of negative comments, unpleasant treatment during a photo shoot, became the object of male gaze in men's magazines and became the object of commodification. (3) Female models experienced disciplinary body through standards and job qualifications as model which is influenced by mass media discourses. (4) Female models have autonomy over their body to steer and control the body indicated by the actions taken to prevent and confront various forms of objectification The conclusion of this research is there is a duality position from the narrative of research subject toward sexuality body. First, as an object that experienced practice of objectification through negative comments, unpleasant treatment at a photo shoot session, become an object of male gaze and commodification. Second, the research subjects who worked as a model is an actor of commodification that consciously make choices and do an effort to perform ideal look which is then used to receive various benefits. Appeared in men's magazine is also used to get another jobs that can bring benefit.


Striped snakehead culture in bucket system with high stock rate at a good living environment, and also adequate feeding can lead to the maximization of production. However, if the stocking density is too high, it can inhibit the survival and growth of fish caused by competition for space, feed and oxygen as well as increased metabolic waste. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different stocking densities on the specific growth and survival rate of snakehead fish (Channa striata) in buckets. This study used is Completely Randomized Design consisting of 5 treatments and 4 replications, namely P0 (1 fish/L), P1 (2 fish/L), P2 (3 fish/L), P3 (4 fish/L) and P4 (5 fish/L). The ANOVA results showed that the difference in stocking density had a significant effect (P<0.05) on the growth rate of specific weight and length as well as the survival rate of fish. DMRT showed that P1 was the highest result for specific weight and length growth rates (0.90%/day and 0.80%/day) and the lowest at P4 (0.62%/day and 0.40 %/day). In addition, the highest of survival rate are also shown at P1 (95.42%) and the lowest at P4 (32.75 %).