OBJECTIVE
Studies have shown that theory of mind, emotion regulation and pragmatic abilities are negatively affected in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We aimed to investigate theory of mind (ToM) abilities, social responsiveness, pragmatic language, and emotion regulation skills in children with OCD and to compare them to healthy controls.

METHODS
This study was designed as a single-center, cross-sectional, case-control study. ToM abilities were evaluated via "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test" (RMET), "Faces Test", "Faux-Pas Test", "Comprehension Test" and "Unexpected Outcomes Test". Social responsiveness, pragmatic language and emotion regulation were evaluated by Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Children's Communication Checklist- Second Edition (CCC-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Within the study period, we enrolled 85 adolescents (42 with OCD and 43 controls).

RESULTS
The OCD group performed significantly lower than healthy controls in the Faux Pass and Comprehension tests (p = 0.003 for both). We found a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of the goal, strategy, non-acceptance subscales of the DERS (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, p = 0.008, respectively) as well as the total DERS score (p < 0.001). CY-BOCS total scores correlated significantly and negatively with Comprehension, Faux Pas and Unexpected Outcomes tests, and positively with CCC total, SRS total and DERS total scores. In regression analysis the DERS, SRS and CCC tests emerged as significant predictors of CY-BOCS total score.

CONCLUSION
Addressing ToM, pragmatic, and ER difficulties when planning the treatment of young people with OCD may contribute to positive outcomes.


Abstract We conduct a content analysis of all regular articles in Volumes 1-18 of Financial Services Review and report distribution of articles by keywords, JEL classification codes, topics, research approaches, datasets, statistical methods, and authors. We also report the most influential articles and authors based on Google Scholar citations. Comparing article topics to Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Exam topics, we find a mismatch between distribution of article topics and the weights of the topics on CFP® Exam, with the majority of article topics being investments, while estate planning and insurance are under-represented relative to their topic weights on the CFP® Exam. © 2011 Academy of Financial Services. All rights reserved. JEL classifications: C10; C61; D14; E21; G10 Keywords: Content analysis; Financial planning; Journal review; Citation index; Statistical methods 1. Introduction Financial Services Review has been a leading research journal in the financial services field since 1991. There are 329 articles in Volumes 1-18 on a variety of topics. The primary purpose of this article is to provide insight into the patterns of research in the regular journal articles published in Financial Services Review. We focus on some important aspects of publications with which researchers, educators, students, and practitioners should be familiar, including overview of trends in research topics, methods, and dataseis used in articles as well as identifying the most influential authors and publications. Geistfeld and Key (1986) describe this type of review of journal content as a form of content analysis that can help identify the focus of a journal and trends over time. Ji, Hanna, Lawrence, and Miller (2010) perform a content analysis of the first 20 volumes of the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, which is another research journal with a focus on personal finance, so we compare some of our results to their results. Our analyses demonstrate trends in topics, research methods, and influential authors in Financial Services Review. The remainder of this article proceeds as follows. We describe criteria and procedures used in analyzing the articles. We then present results based on six major aspects of the articles: authors, classification of subjects, research approach (normative vs. positive vs. other), statistical methods, dataseis for surveys, and citations. 2. Methodologies 2.1. Authors and trends in co-authorship We count someone as being an author regardless of the order of authorship. We present tabulations of the most frequently published authors as well as trends in co-authorship of articles and also analyze the gender of authors. 2.2. Classification of articles We classify article topics using three methods: keywords, Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) categories, and topics. Keywords and JEL classification codes are assigned to articles as a way of classifying content and facilitating searches and indexing. JEL categories are commonly required to be supplied by authors of articles in economics journals, and there are many detailed categories (American Economic Association, 2010). Because authors choose keywords and JEL categories, there is no guarantee of consistency in categorization. Ideally, keywords should provide succinct information regarding the main topic(s) of articles. Ji et al. (2010) state that properly assigned keywords can assist readers in understanding the content of an article. However, some previous content analysis articles note problems related to keywords that may prevent their use as effective research tools, including inconsistency and inappropriate keywords (James & Cude, 2009; Ji et al., 2010). Articles before Volume 8 do not include keywords or JEL categories, and a few articles after Volume 8 do not include them either. For the articles missing JEL codes, we assign codes based on content to have a more comprehensive analysis of subject matter. …


Antitrust is today viewed almost exclusively in strictly economic terms. Under the nearly ubiquitous "rule of reason," conduct is condemned or saved by courts largely based on their evaluation of the conduct's effect on economic efficiency. But many aspects of antitrust law cannot be explained by efficiency analysis. The full sweep of antitrust makes sense only when one considers other values that underlie the antitrust laws, values contained in the allocation of public and private power inherent in the larger constitutional order. The paper attempts to provide a more comprehensive understanding of antitrust as policing the private exercise of regulatory power.The paper considers both the dominant, efficiency-maximizing approach to antitrust and "societal" alternatives offered by critics. The two approaches are more alike than they are different, and gaps in both suggest a missing factor in both approaches: a recognition that a harm to competition consists of both a harm to allocative efficiency (a "market harm") and a harm to freedom of choice (a "regulatory harm"). After developing a conception of "regulation" as control over property separated from ownership, the paper explores the constitutional law of private regulation — the constitutional prohibition against delegations of governmental power to private parties — followed by a discussion of the same principles in the specific context of antitrust and identifies the nature of the right to choice that the antitrust laws protect. The paper then considers specific implications of recognizing the role of regulatory harms in antitrust, including changes to how antitrust treats horizontal and vertical restraints and mergers, the ability to explain some cases — especially in the area of tying — often considered outliers when viewed exclusively through the lens of economic analysis, and the possibility of a renewed role for concepts that have been largely forgotten in the rise of the rule of reason, such as conduct, intent, and the role of the per se rules in antitrust.


Abstract The complete chloroplast genome of Biondia chinensis, a rare liana of the Asclepiadoideae endemic to China, was determined in this study. It is classified as Vulnerable species because of the sharp decline in its population size due to the habitat destruction. The whole chloroplast genome was 160,308 bp long, comprising of a large single copy (LSC) region of 91,335 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 19,185 bp, which were separated by a pair of 24,894 bp long inverted repeat (IR) regions. It encoded a total of 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Most of the gene species appeared as a single copy, while 22 gene species appeared in double copies. The overall A + T content was 62.2%, while the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions were 63.9, 68.1, and 56.7%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that, among all the species which have been analyzed B. chinensis was relatively close to Vincetoxicum rossisum.


Few would argue that protocols are central to the construction of distributed systems. Whether they support remote procedure calls, file transfer, or group communication, protocols are the fundamental building blocks of distributed systems. This paper is not about any particular protocol, but rather about our experiences implementing protocols, in general, in the χ-kernel.The χ-kernel was originally designed to function as a full-fledged operating system kernel. The original design philosophy was that an operating system kernel is primarily a communication multiplexor, and so the one thing it had better do well is support communication protocols. Towards this end, the χ-kernel was explicitly designed to support the rapid implementation of efficient network protocols. Because it was a complete OS kernel, the initial implementation of the χ-kernel on Sun3 workstations included support for lightweight processes and multiple virtual address spaces. However, because communication support was our primary concern, the χ-kernel didn't contain any real innovations in other areas such as process and memory management; we mostly borrowed ideas from other experimental operating systems like V, Mach, Sprite, and Amoeba.During the last several months, we have refocused our effort by divorcing those aspects of the χ-kernel that are specifically related to the implementation of network protocols from the other aspects of the operating system, and we are attempting to embed this protocol-core of the χ-kernel in different existing operating systems, most notably, Mach.


We propose a coupled rejection-sampling method for sampling from couplings of arbitrary distributions. The method relies on accepting or rejecting coupled samples coming from dominating marginals. Contrary to existing acceptance-rejection coupling methods, the variance of the execution time of the proposed method is limited and stays finite as the two target marginals approach each other in the sense of the total variation norm. In the important special case of coupling multivariate Gaussians with different means and covariances, we derive positive lower bounds for the resulting coupling probability of our algorithm, and we then show how the coupling method can be optimized in closed form. Finally, we show how we can modify the coupled rejection-sampling method to propose from coupled ensemble of proposals, so as to asymptotically recover a maximal coupling. We then apply the method to the problem of coupling rare events samplers, derive a parallel coupled resampling algorithm to use in particle filtering, and show how the coupled rejection-sampler can be used to speed up unbiased MCMC methods based on couplings.


Environmental protection is a central challenge these days. At the same time, digital technologies have experienced tremendous technical progress in recent years and their potentials to support firms' sustainability strate-gies and corporate social responsibility efforts are intensively discussed. In this respect, companies search for efficient ways to trigger a change of em-ployee behavior in terms of climate-friendly practices. We propose chatbots as a promising technology to promote the climate-friendly behavior of em-ployees. Following a Design Science Research (DSR) procedure, we develop a chatbot prototype called KlimaKarl to sensitize the workforce to behave in a more climate-conscious way in the everyday office life. We show that chatbots may be a suitable instrument to promote employees' climate-friendly behavior.


The existence of a certain induced differential identity is shown to be responsible, at least technically, for the complete integrability of soliton equation in one space dimension. The nonlinear evolution equations solvable via the energy-dependent Schrodinger spectral problem are specifically shown to be completely integrable.


Abstract Background Work is an occupation of great concern for younger stroke survivors. Given the high rate of people not working after stroke, there is a need to explore work after stroke from a long-term perspective, including not just an initial return to work, but also the ability to retain employment and how this may affect everyday life after stroke. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore experiences relating to work and to work incapacity among long-term stroke survivors. Method This study used thematic analysis on data gathered through individual semi-structured interviews with long-term stroke survivors. Results The analysis resulted in four themes that together comprised the main theme 'The centrality of work in everyday life', containing descriptions of how everyday life was affected by aspects of work both for those who did work and those who did not return to work after stroke. Conclusion and significance The results highlight the importance of addressing return to work not just as an isolated outcome but as part of everyday life after stroke. The results indicate a need for a more flexible approach to supporting return to work that continues past the initial return.


Background The objective of the study is to assess the performance of the Food Safety Management System (FSMS) among powdered beverage manufacturers using Food Safety Management System Diagnostic Tools (FSMS-DI) and Microbial Assessment Scheme (MAS). Methods FSMS-DI was used to evaluate the context factors, core control and core assurance activities of five powdered beverage manufacturers with different types of FSMS certification. Manufacturer A is not certified with any FSMS, while manufacturers B, C, D and E are complied with MeSTI, GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000, respectively. For MAS, samples were collected from the selected critical sampling locations of two manufacturers who complied FSMS with the least (manufacturer B) and the most stringent (manufacturer E) requirements. The samples consisted of two different types of powdered beverage products were analysed for total plate count (TPC), Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, yeast and mould count (YMC). Results: The food safety (FS) output of powdered beverages for manufacturer E was better (overall score of 3) than manufacturer B (overall score of 2–3). Manufacturer E was able to achieve their FS objectives. The FSMS activities of manufacturer C, D and E were better (overall score of 2–3) than manufacturer A and B (overall score of 1–2). Conclusion The study demonstrated that FSMS-DI and MAS can be used to differentiate the FSMS performance of powdered beverage manufacturers with different types of FSMS certification. Higher scores of FSMS activities obtained by the manufacturer who complied with stringent FSMS certifications contributed to better microbiological safety performance of powdered beverages.


Introduction: Thalassemia is a common inherited hemoglobinopathy in Pakistan. Despite various preventive measures taken, each year around 5000 new cases are diagnosed. The problem occurs due to undiagnosed beta Thalassemia carriers. This is because of lack of massive screening programs and unavailability of hemoglobin electrophoresis in different cities of Pakistan. The aim of this study is to assess the sensitivity of different discriminating indices in screening of beta Thalassemia trait. Material and Methods: The study was conducted at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences from January 2018-July 2018. All patients who were diagnosed as beta thalassemia trait through hemoglobin electrophoresis were included in the study. Seven discriminating indices were applied and sensitivity of each index was calculated. Results: The male to female ratio was 1:1. 88% of the cases had a positive family history of Thalassemia. Among the various indices used, Shine and Lal showed a sensitivity of 100%, followed by Ricerca (96.6%) and Ehsani (92.58%). The sensitivities of Mentzer, Srivasta, RDWI and MCHD were 92.56%, 91.70%, 79% and 70.9% respectively. The results of our study showed that Shine and Lal is the most sensitive index for screening beta Thalassemia trait. Conclusion: Shine and Lal index is useful to the clinicians as an initial screening tool of beta thalassemia trait. Such cases can then be referred to laboratories where hemoglobin electrophoresis facility is available.


The vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) topology will change the mobility of the nodes and the data delivery will be efficient in the vehicle environment. This technique uses the density, mobility, dissemination in the requirements of emergency message broadcasting. The emergency message is broadcast on the road causes many issues like reliability, latency and scalability. Beacons are used in the VANET to broadcast messages and get the information from neighbours. When more vehicles transmit the messages in equal time lead a frequent broadcast storm the vehicles are faced the message delivery failure. Adaptive Scheduled Partitioning and Broadcasting technique (ASPBT) is used in our paper for message reliability, and the transmission efficiency will adjust the partitions and beacon automatically for reducing retransmissions. The partition size is determined using the density of network transmission of each partition schedule is estimated using the Black Widow Optimization (BWOA). The emergency message gets low delay and redundancy of the message is reducing, ASPBT include the forwarding of novel with the selection of optimal partition. The performance analysis is done with the existing methods for the determination of efficiency, redundancy, collision, and delay. The efficiency of proposed technique as 98% comparing with existing broadcast schemes of VANET.


Recently, cyber terrors are increasing in their frequencies and scales, for example, 3.4 DDoS and 4.12 APT attack to NH Bank, and consequently in the damage. The recent cyber attacks are characterized by being conducted under specific goals by certain individuals or group of people, using diversified methods, over a long time to invade the target system. The goals include pecuniary and political profits. The kinds of malware which discloses private, credit, or financial information are ever increasing, followed by the secondary damage including appropriation of others names and financial frauds. In case of such invasion cases, fast detection of the malware in the system under attack is necessary. However, the response technologies cannot catch up with the development of malware and it takes time and efforts to handle intrusion cases. This paper proposes a correlation analysis detection technology based on a new concept to help faster and correct detection of malware in infected PCs.


Lin & Murray (2014) recently showed that processing of the sameness or difference of two stimuli could occur without conscious awareness. Participants learned a go/no-go response to pairs of visible shapes; slower reaction times were observed in stimulus pairs associated with response inhibition even when they were rendered invisible by metacontrast masking. We expanded on this paradigm to address common concerns that strongly-masked yet visible stimuli could drive reaction time differences between conditions. By considering "no-go" error rates for each visibility rating on a per-participant basis, we revealed and corrected for inconsistent use of the Perceptual Awareness Scale and identified participants who showed no or weak metacontrast masking. Furthermore, we added a control experiment to compare processing of masked sameness or difference (Shape-Relation) to the simpler task of responding to the shape of a single stimulus in the periphery (Shape-Identity). In our Shape-Relation experiment, participants provided a "go" response to same-shape stimulus pairs or to unseen pairs, withholding their response only when a different-shape pair was consciously perceived. Even with our more stringent criteria for determining masking effectiveness, the results closely matched those of Lin & Murray, with unseen different-shapes eliciting slower responses than unseen same-shapes. In the Shape-Identity control experiment, the same participants followed a similar procedure but responded based on the shape of a single stimulus, presented left or right of fixation to match locations used in the Shape-Relation experiment. Here, unlike previous demonstrations of unconscious processing of a stimulus presented foveally, we found no unconscious slowing for unseen "no-go" shapes despite the task being cognitively less demanding. We hypothesize that the uncertainty of stimulus location prevented participants from sufficiently processing the shape identity, while in the Shape-Relation experiment, attention was consistently diffused across the two stimulus locations, allowing unconscious effects to occur. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This paper presents broadband filters with broad bandwidth (up to 70%), very wide upper stopband (nearest spurious passband occurs up to five times of passband center frequency (f0)), good stopband rejection performance (better than -30--40 dB in the whole stopband region), and easy reproduced by the conventional low cost printed circuit board (PCB) process with low dielectric constant substrates. The proposed filters using suspended substrate stripline stepped impedance resonators (SIRs) with ground aperture technique to realize the extremely tightly coupled low impedance coupled-line sections as well as the extremely high-impedance uncoupled-line sections. The extremely tightly coupled lines enable the proposed filters to have very wide passband and the extremely high- impedance lines lead to large low-to-high impedance ratio that push the nearest spurious passband up to 5f0. Furthermore, it has been shown that the equivalent circuit model accompanied with the design charts could accelerate the design procedures but keep the accuracy of the results. The design procedures have been described in detail and have applied to designed examples. A good agreement between simulation and measurement has been observed for the given examples.


The echolocative pulses emitted at high repetition rates by bats pose a number of questions regarding the mechanism of their production. We have investigated some physiologic parameters of vocalization in the North American Vespertilionid bat Eptesicus fuscus , including pulse insertion within the respiratory cycle and subglottic pressure changes accompanying these intense sounds. Subglottic pressures are considerably higher than those characteristic of human speech and, therefore, require a substantial structure to act as a glottal stop. We suggest that this is the role of the vocal fold and that the thin, paired vocal and ventricular membranes are the ultrasonic generators. The cricothyroid muscle, which is thought to influence sound frequency by altering the tension on these membranes, contracts just prior to each ultrasonic vocalization and relaxes during phonation. Cricothyroid muscle relaxation may gradually decrease the tension on the membranes and create the downward frequency sweep characteristic of most pulses.


The catch-maximum sustainable yield (CMSY) method and a closely related Bayesian state-space Schaefer surplus production model (BSM) were combined with published catch data and catch per unit effort (CPUE) time series or spawning stock biomass (SSB) data to evaluate fisheries reference points for exploited resources of the Japan Sea. Eleven fish and invertebrate stocks were assessed; outcomes obtained through this analysis were the carrying capacity, biomass trajectory, maximum sustainable yield, and related parameters of each stock. Results showed that the stock of Arctoscopus japonicus was slightly overfished; the stocks of Cleisthenes pinetorum, Hippoglossoides dubius, Paralichthys olivaceus, and Chionoecetes opilio were overfished; and the stocks of Eopsetta grigorjewi, Pagrus major, Gadus chalcogrammus, and Glossanodon semifasciatus were grossly overfished; Pseudopleuronectes herzensteini was proved to be severely depleted; only Pandalus eous was in good condition. These results are consistent with the few previous studies on the status of fish species around the Japan Sea, where overfishing is becoming increasingly apparent. These assessments provide a basis for guiding the use, management, and rebuilding of fishery resources in the Japan Sea.


The present invention is based on each section time on road model, the previous 50 days traffic datas of digging utilization, by P(x<=t 0 )=0.9 is calculated t by normal distribution computing module 0 , the time required to obtaining certain complete section of motor line.Specific to particular moment, specific road section, according to one month previous traffic data, the transit time in each section is estimated with statistical method, and then it obtains first-aid personnel and ambulance is driven to state of an illness spot again to the time at purpose immediate care station by taken path, in the case of extreme congestion, ambulance running time is still controllable, and is optimal.


The role of assistance animals in society is becoming increasingly prevalent. Assistance animals play a critical part in enabling persons with disabilities to alleviate the negative impact of their disability, and yet the laws on this issue present a confusing state of affairs worldwide. In a conference co-hosted by the National University Ireland, Leeds University and the University of Queensland, the jurisdictional differences between Australia, Ireland and the UK in defining and proving protection for disability assistance animals was discussed. Through analysis of the current legislative framework in each jurisdiction, and despite having completely different anti-discrimination laws, the participants identified several common problems evident in all jurisdictions in defining assistance animals. The conference concluded in a discussion of the next approach that is necessary to adequately defined assistance animals in order to provide disabled persons with the appropriate protection from discrimination.


This study was conducted to identify the salient behavioral beliefs of young Black men toward prostate cancer screening, and to identify the issues surrounding their comfortability with prostate examinations. A total of 20 Black men, aged between 18 and 40 years, participated in three focus group sessions between June 2013 and July 2013 in Austin, Texas. Participants were asked open-ended questions about: (a) the advantages and disadvantages of screening to identify salient behavioral beliefs about screening and (b) issues that would make prostate examinations comfortable or uncomfortable to identify comfortability factors. Focus group discussions were tape-recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed to identify emerging themes of salient beliefs and comfortability. Also, nine salient behavioral beliefs toward prostate cancer screening were identified, and eight factors were linked to comfortability with prostate examinations. Given the increase of prostate cancer disparity as a public health issue, understanding the beliefs of Black men of prescreening age (18-40 years) may be crucial to the effectiveness of future interventions to improve screening when recommended at later ages.


Secondary undulations caused by meteorological disturbances over the East China Sea are frequently observed in the sea areas off the west coast of Kyushu Island, Japan. In this study, numerical analyses were carried out to determine the relationship between the propagation paths of barometric waves over the East China Sea and characteristics of sea-level fluctuations in these sea areas. The results indicate that a drastic increase in the propagation velocity causes a strong reflection of water surface waves at the Okinawa Trough (a back-arc basin with a section more than 1000 m deep and approximately 200 km wide) and that this is an important factor affecting the behavior of the waves at the edge of the trough. Therefore, the magnitude of sea-level fluctuations off Kyushu Island strongly depends on the relationship between the propagation path of the barometric wave and the Okinawa Trough, specifically the incident angle and position of the wave relative to the trough. The results also suggest that the propagation paths of barometric waves have a significant influence on the timing of peaks in sea-level fluctuations in the sea areas off Meshima Island, Uji Island, Nagasaki, Kami-Koshiki Island, and Makurazaki. In some cases, the peak in sea-level fluctuations may occur around 4 h earlier off Kyushu Island than that off Meshima Island, which is located on the west side of the Okinawa Trough.


Introduction: Liquid-based cytology (LBC) has been widely used since 2000. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis of residual specimens in LBC fixative may also be performed for pancreatic cancer in the near future. We examined cell morphology, antigenicity and nucleic acids in pancreatic cancer cells at different fixation times using two types of LBC fixatives. Methods: PANC-1 cells were fixed in 1 ml CytoRich Red (CR), CytoRich Blue (CB), 95% ethanol (95% AL) or 10% neutral buffered formalin (10% NBF) and evaluated for cell area, antigenicity and nucleic acids with fixation times of 1 hour and 1, 3, 9, and 14 days. Antigenicity was evaluated by immunocytochemical staining for p53 and CK20, and nucleic acid fragmentation was assessed by real-time PCR. Results: There was no difference in total cell area between 1 hour and 14 day fixation times for the CR group, but the CB group showed cell contraction with 9 days fixation. In immunocytochemical staining, the CR group showed high p53 and CK20 positivity even after 14 days fixation. The CB group had a lower p53 positive rate than the CR group from 1 hour fixation. For nucleic acid fragmentation, Ct values for the CR group increased with fixation time. The CB group had consistently low Ct values. Conclusion: Different LBC fixatives and fixation time can have varying effects on cell morphology, antigenicity and nucleic acids in pancreatic cancer cells. Therefore, fixative type and fixation time should be considered for molecular testing on residual samples in LBC fixatives.


A single-chip 4.25 Gb/s 32:1, 1:32 transceiver, meeting the emerging ANSI fiber channel (FC) standard, uses 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. To achieve 4.25 Gb/s operation, the features include: 1) an asynchronous tree-type 1:8 demultiplexer (DEMUX), 2) an 8 b to 10 b parallel-to-parallel frequency converter, and 3) comma-detection and word-alignment logic. The transceiver consumes 600 mW in 4.25 Gb/s operation with a 2.5 V supply. Higher-speed operation that that of a previous CMOS FC design is achieved.


Radioiodinated m-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), a scintigraphic agent used in the detection of human pheochromocytomas, is thought to utilize the same uptake and retention mechanism(s) as norepinephrine (NE). Using primary cultures from 16 human pheochromocytomas, we compared the uptake of MIBG to that of NE. Two different uptake systems were identified. Both NE and MIBG were taken up by a sodium-dependent system that was characterized by: temperature dependency, high affinity, low capacity, saturability, ouabain sensitivity, and desmethylimipramine sensitivity. However, NE and MIBG were also taken up by a temperature-dependent, sodium-independent, apparently unsaturable system. The sodium-dependent uptake system fulfills many of the criteria for Uptake-one while the sodium-independent uptake system is most likely a passive diffusion process. Competitive inhibition studies demonstrated that NE and MIBG share a common uptake system; a concept consistent with the linear correlation between the rate of uptake of 1.0 microM NE and that of 1.0 microM MIBG (r = 0.942). At low concentrations, both NE and MIBG entered the tumor cells primarily by the sodium-dependent uptake system. Differential expression of the sodium-dependent and sodium-independent uptake systems, between different tumor cells, appears to be responsible for the variations of the kinetic parameters for both NE and MIBG. These studies provide the first direct characterization of a NE uptake mechanism in human pheochromocytoma cells.


Segmentation of handwritten scripts with overlapping text is one of the challenging tasks in the pre-processing for document recognition and optical character recognition (OCR) systems. It is a significant step because errors in the recognition stage will occur if text lines are not separated accurately. This paper aims to address the problem of text line segmentation of ancient Thai manuscripts written on palm leaves, in particular dealing with the issue of overlapping characters. The proposed technique is based on an integration of a partial projection method and smooth horizontal histogram with recurrence in each column. The performance evaluation of the proposed technique was compared with a modified partial projection profile. The experimental results from this study show that the accuracy of the proposed technique has a better performance. This technique will help to resolve the problem of text line segmentation for ancient Thai manuscripts on palm leaves.


This book tells a new kind of humanitarian story. The protagonists are not volunteers from afar but rather Somali locals caring for each other: nurses, aid workers, policymakers, drivers, community health workers, and bureaucrats. The contributions of locals are often taken for granted, and the competencies, aspirations, and effectiveness of local staffers frequently remain muted or absent from the planning and evaluation of humanitarian interventions structured by outsiders. Relief work is traditionally imagined as politically neutral and impartial, and interventions are planned as temporary, extraordinary, and distant. The book provides an alternative vision of what "humanitarian" response means in practice—not driven by International Humanitarian Law, the missions of Western relief organizations, or trends in the aid industry or academia but instead by what Somalis call samafal. Samafal is structured by the cultivation of lasting relationships of care, interdependence, kinship, and ethnic solidarity. Samafal is also explicitly political and potentially emancipatory: humanitarian responses present opportunities for Somalis to begin to redress histories of colonial partitions and to make the most out of their political and economic marginalization. Through centering around Somalis' understanding and enactments of samafal, the book offers a new perspective on politics and intervention in Africa.


This paper addresses a specific concept in computer-generated form, which is hypermedia transformation, defined as the transformation process from one digital media to another. As our interest is focused on architecture, the translation result is architectonic. Hyper architectonic transformation therefore is the process through which we get a creative, unpredictable architectural form out of the translation of another form of media. The paper presents a methodology that transforms a Chess match into an architectural product that could lend itself to undergo more design processing. Thus presenting the theoretical approach for a prototype of a CAAD program that is used for the generation of form by translating Chess matches into architectural models. The proposed methodology is divided into two main stages; the outcome of the first is a 2D composition of colored squares that is suitable for further artistic design processing, while the outcome of the second is a 3D complex hyper architectonic model that uses the colors of the previous stage as a color key in the suggested methodology, and could further be used as a base model for a creative architectural product in a more complex architectural design process.


SOURCE: Department of Prosthodontics, Crown & Bridge, and Implantology, Tagore Dental College and Hospital, Rathinamangalam,Vandalur Post,Chennai-600127 , India.www.tagoredch.com BACKGROUND: Panoramic radiography is a valuable diagnostic tool in the pretreatment assessment of partially and completely edentulous patients.Many investigators recommended routine radiographic examination for the edentulous jaws before denture treatment, but their routine use in such patients is still not confirmed. AIM: The present study was undertaken to review the significance of pre-treatment panoramic radiographic assessment of edentulous patients, in the dental patient population of Chennai, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of 705 panoramic radiographs in a span of 36 months was selected from the patient at Tagore Dental College and Hospitals,Chennai,India.Radiographs were evaluated for the presence of seven entities ; root fragments, impacted teeth, radiolucencies, radiopacities,foreign bodies, Mental foramina near the crest of the residual ridge, Maxillary sinus close to the crest of the residual ridge. The chi-square test of goodness of fit for equal proportion was utilized to determine the difference of radiographic entities. RESULTS: Of the 705 patients included in the study,48.36% Patients (n=341) were already wearing denture and 51.63% (n=364) were newly edentulous patients with a mean age of 51.5 years. Of 705 patients 70.92% patients (n=500) were free of positive findings and 29.07% patients (n=205) have shown positive findings.Out of 205 patients 51.21% (n=105) were already wearing dentures and 48.78 (n=100) were newly edentulous patients, 56.09% (n=115) were males and 43.09% (n=90) were females. Out of 205 cases, 45 patients (21.95%) had one or more remaining root fragments. 26 patients (12.68%) had impacted teeth. The radiographs of 9 patients (4.39%) demonstrated radiopacities, and 13 patients (6.34%) demonstrated radiolucencies. The radiographs of 6 patients (2.92%) exhibited foreign bodies.42 patients (20.48%) mental foramina was near the crest of the residual alveolar ridge.64 patients(31.21%) maxillary sinus was close the crest of the residual alveolar ridge. Application of the Chi-square test has shown that root fragments,maxillary sinus and mental foramen was a highly significant entity in comparison to the other entities. CONCLUSION: The results of this and previous studies demonstrate the necessity of routine radiographic examination of the jaws for all edentulous patients before constructing complete dentures. It also indicates the need for a better extraction technique together with the use of radiographs before and after extraction.


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This special issue brings to the forefront the complex educational challenges faced by migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. It focuses on different ways of understanding equity in relation to education for/with refugees and migrants. The core articles gathered for the special issue originate from the Comparative Education Society in Europe (CESE) conference on the theme of "Equity in and Through Education" held in Glasgow, UK, between May 31 and June 3, 2016. Thus, the special issue addresses the question of equity in diverse local, national, and transnational contexts and from an interdisciplinary approach.


The effects of ranitidine on adrenergic and nonadrenergic noncholinergic transmission in the rat isolated anococcygeus muscle and on the contractile responses of the muscle to noradrenaline, potassium chloride, 5-hydroxytryptamine and carbachol were investigated. Ranitidine (2-8 mM) produced a concentration-dependent and readily reversible inhibition of motor (excitatory) responses of the anococcygeus muscle evoked via field stimulation (20-30 V, 10 Hz x 10 sec, 1 msec pulse width, every 2 min), whereas the contractile response of the anococcygeus muscle to exogenous noradrenaline (3 microM) was potentiated by 57 +/- 3.7%; the contractile response to potassium chloride (50 mM) was only slightly decreased, whereas the responses to carbachol (3 microM) or 5-hydroxytryptamine (30 microM) were completely inhibited by ranitidine (8 mM). When the tone of the muscle was raised by noradrenaline (3 microM) after complete inhibition of the motor responses by ranitidine (8 mM), field stimulation produced relaxant (inhibitory) responses which were inhibited by tetrodotoxin (2 microM) or NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (50 microM). Similar results were obtained with guanethidine (0.5-3 microM) on adrenergic and non-adrenergic noncholinergic transmission. The results clearly show that ranitidine can selectively inhibit adrenergic transmission in the anococcygeus muscle with consequent unmasking of nonadrenergic noncholinergic transmission; ranitidine can also produce a super-sensitivity-type response of the muscle to exogenous noradrenaline but not to potassium chloride, carbachol or 5-hydroxytryptamine. Thus, the inhibition of adrenergic transmission by ranitidine in the rat isolated anococcygeus muscle closely resembles the action of guanethidine on adrenergic transmission.


Mobile phones have become widely used for obtaining help in emergencies, such as accidents, crimes, or health emergencies. The smartphone is an essential device that can record emergency situations, which can be used for clues or evidence, or as an alert system in such situations. In this paper, we focus on mobile-based identification of potentially unusual, or abnormal events, occurring in a mobile user's daily behavior patterns. For purposes of this research, we have classified events as "unusual" for a mobile user when an event is an infrequently occurring one from the user's normal behavior patterns --all of which are collected and recorded on a user's mobile phone. We build a general unusual event classification model to be automated on the smartphone for use by any mobile phone users. To classify both normal and unusual events, we analyzed the activity, location, and audio sensor data collected from 20 mobile phone users to identify these users' personalized normal daily behavior patterns and any unusual events occurring in their daily activity. We used binary fusion classification algorithms on the subjects' recorded experimental data and ultimately identified the most accurately performing fusion algorithm for unusual event detection.


PURPOSE
The results of a study assessing the effectiveness of a manufacturer-sponsored assistance program for patients prescribed oral cancer therapies are presented.

METHODS
Rates of dispensing success were evaluated in a random sample of patients (n = 1000) who enrolled in the Celgene Patient Support (CPS) program for assistance obtaining lenalidomide or thalidomide over a two-year period and a control group of patients (n = 1000) who registered to receive the drugs under restricted-distribution protocols but did not receive CPS assistance. The main study outcomes were (1) the proportion of patients who actually received medication and (2) the time from prescription approval to the initial dispensing of medication.

RESULTS
Despite the complex access issues faced by program enrollees, the proportion of CPS participants who received medication (89%) was comparable to the proportion of patients who received medication in the control cohort (91%). The median time from the approval of prescriptions to the initial dispensing of medication was also comparable in the CPS and control groups (eight days versus five days). The study also evaluated the reasons why medication was not dispensed to CPS enrollees in some cases.

CONCLUSION
The percentage of patients who were dispensed prescriptions for lenalidomide or thalidomide did not differ significantly between those who were enrolled in a patient assistance program and those who were not. The median time between prescription authorization and first dispensing was comparable among program and nonprogram patients.


The compound BAY 11-7082 inhibits IκBα [inhibitor of NF-κB (nuclear factor κB)α] phosphorylation in cells and has been used to implicate the canonical IKKs (IκB kinases) and NF-κB in >350 publications. In the present study we report that BAY 11-7082 does not inhibit the IKKs, but suppresses their activation in LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-stimulated RAW macrophages and IL (interleukin)-1-stimulated IL-1R (IL-1 receptor) HEK (human embryonic kidney)-293 cells. BAY 11-7082 exerts these effects by inactivating the E2-conjugating enzymes Ubc (ubiquitin conjugating) 13 and UbcH7 and the E3 ligase LUBAC (linear ubiquitin assembly complex), thereby preventing the formation of Lys63-linked and linear polyubiquitin chains. BAY 11-7082 prevents ubiquitin conjugation to Ubc13 and UbcH7 by forming a covalent adduct with their reactive cysteine residues via Michael addition at the C3 atom of BAY 11-7082, followed by the release of 4-methylbenzene-sulfinic acid. BAY 11-7082 stimulated Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chain formation in cells and protected HIF1α (hypoxia-inducible factor 1α) from proteasomal degradation, suggesting that it inhibits the proteasome. The results of the present study indicate that the anti-inflammatory effects of BAY 11-7082, its ability to induce B-cell lymphoma and leukaemic T-cell death and to prevent the recruitment of proteins to sites of DNA damage are exerted via inhibition of components of the ubiquitin system and not by inhibiting NF-κB.


Modern datacenters increasingly use flash-based solid state drives (SSDs) for high performance and low energy cost. However, SSD introduces more complex failure modes compared to traditional hard disk. While great efforts have been made to understand the reliability of SSD itself, it remains unclear what types of system level failures are related to SSD, what are the root causes, and how the rest of the system interacts with SSD and contributes to failures. Answering these questions can help practitioners build and maintain highly reliable SSD-based storage systems. In this paper, we study the reliability of SSD-based storage systems deployed in Alibaba Cloud, which cover near half a million SSDs and span over three years of usage under representative cloud services. We take a holistic view to analyze both device errors and system failures to better understand the potential casual relations. Particularly, we focus on failures that are Reported As "SSD-Related" (RASR) by system status monitoring daemons. Through log analysis, field studies, and validation experiments, we identify the characteristics of RASR failures in terms of their distribution, symptoms, and correlations. Moreover, we derive a number of major lessons and a set of effective methods to address the issues observed. We believe that our study and experience would be beneficial to the community and could facilitate building highly-reliable SSD-based storage systems.


Abstract The crystal structure of acetolone (5-(acetoacetylamino)benzimidazolone, C11H11N3O3), was determined from X-ray powder data. Despite strong preferred orientation effects, the structure could be solved with real-space methods and refined by the Rietveld method using restraints. The resulting structure gave a good Rietveld fit with reasonable confidence values; the structure looked chemically sensible and passed all tests including a CSD check and the checkCIF procedure. But dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that this structure was actually wrong, and further work showed that the terminal acetyl group had to be rotated by 180°. The correct crystal structure led to a better Rietveld refinement with improved R-values. This structure was confirmed by dispersion-corrected DFT calculations. The compound crystallises in P-1 with two molecules per unit cell. The molecules are connected by a 2-dimensional hydrogen bond network.


Design Heuristics (DHS) as a tool helps boost designers' creativity in the early design phases. Since the middle of the 20th Century, different DHS have been developed, e.g. general ones such as SCAMPER and 77 Design Heuristics; and specific ones such as DHSfX (design for one-handed use) and DHS for additive manufacturing. With rapid technological developments, an increasing number of products now incorporate technological platforms and services. There is a lack of new DHS relating to such service-based information products. Based on RedDot Concept Design Award entries (2013-2017), we have extracted ten DHS that focus on service-based information products. In this study, we compared our newly derived DHS with existing design heuristics and discovered that although some of our DHS overlapped with existing ones, the new DHS10 were more specific and useful for digital solutions. The preliminary evaluation of the new DHS suggested its potential in helping generate concepts in the early design phase.


Spert IV is a large pool-type experimental facility for reactor kinetic studies. These studies will include power excursion and instability tests for a variety of reactor designs. Since the Spert IV experimental program requires the performance of tests which will approach, and may exceed the threshold of reactor destruction, the probability of occurrence of the maximum possible accident is not negligible compared with that of other possible accidents. The maximum possible accident for this facility is considered to be a severe nuclear excursion which results in the destruction of the reactor building and the release of 100% of the accumulated fission product inventory of the atmosphere in a steam cloud. The fission product source assumed in the analysis of this accident is an upper limit in view of the nature of the tests to be performed and the heat removal capacity of the system. This postulated accident is independent of the details of core and control system design and is valid for all cores anticipated for use in the experimental program. The major hazards present in the operation of this facility, the precautions to be taken to reduce the probability of an accident, and the consequences of the maximum possiblemore » accident are discussed. It is concluded that the proposed method of operation will minimize the hazard to operating personnel, and that the site location will make possible the operation of the Spent IV facility without hazard to the general public. (auth)« less


We study the energy level crossing and the thermal fidelity in a two-qubit system with the presence of a transverse inhomogeneous magnetic field. With the help of contour plots, we clearly identify the ground states of the system in different regions of parameter space, and discuss the corresponding energy level crossing. The fidelity between the ground state of the system and the state of the system at temperature T is calculated. The result shows that the fidelity is very sensitive to the magnetic field anisotropic factor, indicating that this factor may be used as a controller of the fidelity. The influence of the Yangian transition operators on the fidelity of the system is discussed. We find that the Yangian operators can change the fidelity dramatically and give rise to sudden birth and sudden death phenomena of the thermal fidelity. This makes the corresponding Yangian operators possible candidates for switchers to turn the fidelity on and off.


There are enormous software applications which are developed for the usage of the software users. The software user may be categorized as public users who use online services through internet, and the private users who use the specific software inside a specific organization only. The private users can be the business organizations, Educational institutions, Health care centers and other government organizations. Each organization has a specific requirement on the base of which the software and the customer relationship management frame work has to be designed. Organization specific software are developed, tested and delivered to the service users by the software development companies and where under maintenance by the development team in the timely manner. At times, when these registered users are in need of alterations and modifications in the software which are used, then the business process reengineering is required to be done. Thus business process reengineering plays a vital role in the maintainability and the sustainability of the software product based on the user requirement. To create an effective Business process Re-engineering Framework, the user (or) the stakeholder requirements are considered as the prerequisite. Based on the requirement the software product would be re-engineering, the stakeholders requirements has to be initially preprocessed and the stake holders has to be grouped and prioritized with the ranking of the requirement modules that has to be implemented. Finally the risk assessment has to be done to estimate the critical conditions or the changes that would be faced while reengineering and the requirements will be clustered for effective execution.


Audio signals are information rich nonstationary signals that play an important role in our day-to-day communication, perception of environment, and entertainment. Due to its non-stationary nature, time- or frequency-only approaches are inadequate in analyzing these signals. A joint time-frequency (TF) approach would be a better choice to efficiently process these signals. In this digital era, compression, intelligent indexing for content-based retrieval, classification, and protection of digital audio content are few of the areas that encapsulate a majority of the audio signal processing applications. In this paper, we present a comprehensive array of TF methodologies that successfully address applications in all of the above mentioned areas. A TF-based audio coding scheme with novel psychoacoustics model, music classification, audio classification of environmental sounds, audio fingerprinting, and audio watermarking will be presented to demonstrate the advantages of using time-frequency approaches in analyzing and extracting information from audio signals.


Abstract Planetary nebulae are formed by an interacting winds process where the remnant of the AGB wind is compressed and accelerated by a later-developed fast wind from the central star. One-dimensional dynamical models have successfully explained the multi-shell (bubble, shell, crown, haloes) structures and the kinematics of planetary nebulae. However, the origin of the diverse asymmetric morphology of planetary nebulae is still not understood. Recent observations in the visible, infrared, and the submillimeter have suggested that the AGB mass loss becomes aspherical in the very late stages, forming an expanding torus around the star. A fast, highly collimated wind then emerges in the polar directions and carves out a cavity in the AGB envelope to form a bipolar nebula. Newly discovered structures such as concentric arcs, 2-D rings, multiple lobes, and point-symmetric structures suggest that both the slow and fast winds may have temporal and directional variations, and precession can play a role in the shaping of planetary nebulae. In this paper, we review the latest observations of planetary nebulae and proto-planetary nebulae and discuss the various physical mechanisms (rotation, binary, magnetic field, etc) that could lead to the observed morphologies.


Fifty five thermophilic Campylobacter spp. strains were isolated from cecum of broilers, cecum and colon of pigs and from human feces. The strains were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli . The more prevalent species in broilers and humans was C. jejuni and in pigs C. coli . In the framework of this study, sensitivity to tetracycline in isolated strains of C. jejuni and C. coli was tested by E-test. In 16 tested strains isolated from broilers, 56.25% were resistant to tetracycline. Resistance occured more frequent in C. coli strains (66.67%). In 15 strains of termophilic Campylobacter spp. isolated from pigs the percentage of resistant strains was 80%. Resistance was detected more often in C. coli (90.00%) isolates. The percentage of resistant C. jejuni strains from pigs was 60.00%. Resistance to tetracycline occurred in 29.17% of 24 thermophilic Campylobacter spp. strains isolated from humans. Generally, strains of thermophilic campylobacters, especially C. coli isolated in pigs are more frequent resistant to tetracycline than strains isolated in poultry and human. Therefore, attention should be directed to the tetracycline application monitoring in swine farming in order to prevent resistance appearance in animal strains and its subsequent spread to


A steady-state analysis of a three-phase induction motor fed by a DC link inverter commutated by machine-induced EMF (electromotive force) is presented. The active power requirement of the motor is met by the DC link, and the necessary reactive power is supplied by a capacitor bank connected at the motor terminals. A generalized analytical model is developed for no-load as well as loaded conditions of the motor. The steady-state performance of the motor is numerically evaluated. The computed results are compared with corresponding experimental results for a 4 HP squirrel cage induction motor. The relevant oscillograms of voltage and current waveforms of the inverter and motor are presented and discussed. >


STREAMS kernel mechanisms are being used to implement networking protocols in a number of operating systems, like UNIX, Windows, and pSOS. STREAMS provides a number of desirable features for modular protocol stack implementation by defining a high degree of standardization for implementing protocol layer modules and for message transfer between the modules. But this strict layered and modular approach prevents flexibility in implementing techniques that can result in high performance. The original STREAMS-based stacks have shown very poor protocol performance. A number of improved techniques for implementing STREAMS-based protocol stacks have been suggested in the literature in the past few years. These techniques have resulted in high-performance STREAMS-based stacks that match the performance of BSD UNIX-based stacks. This article makes a study of these new approaches and discusses the performance gains achieved by them. These approaches can be used for implementing high-performance protocol stacks in the STREAMS kernel, over both uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems.


Previous studies have indicated that nonhuman animals might have a capacity for episodic-like recall reflected in memory for "what" events that happened "where" and "when". These studies did not identify the brain structures that are critical to this capacity. Here we trained rats to remember single training episodes, each composed of a series of odors presented in different places on an open field. Additional assessments examined the individual contributions of odor and spatial cues to judgments about the order of events. The results indicated that normal rats used a combination of spatial ("where") and olfactory ("what") cues to distinguish "when" events occurred. Rats with lesions of the hippocampus failed in using combinations of spatial and olfactory cues, even as evidence from probe tests and initial sampling behavior indicated spared capacities for perception of spatial and odor cues, as well as some form of memory for those individual cues. These findings indicate that rats integrate "what," "where," and "when" information in memory for single experiences, and that the hippocampus is critical to this capacity.


— Accurate optical frequency standards employ single trapped and laser cooled ions, we review recent experiments. Optical frequencies can be measured with fractional uncertainties of only a few parts in 10 demonstrating the most accurate clocks available today. Demonstrated quantum information techniques help to further improve on determining residual systematic errors. Additionally, entanglement is also demonstrated to increase the signal to noise ratio. For generating the entanglement of a large number of ions, novel ions traps are currently developed which will allow for a coherent manipulation of the order of 10 to 50 ions. As one application of this mature technology, we outline a space mission investigating all aspects of gravity in the outer solar system, using an single ion clock as one of the main onboard instruments. We describe the mission and its major scientific goals centered on tests of fundamental physics and exploration of outer solar system objects. It will allow tests of special and general relativity with unprecedented sensitivity and will yield detailed information on the Kuiper belt circumsolar disk.


The efficiency enhancement of an InGaN light-emitting diode (LED) with an AlGaN/InGaN superlattice (SL) electron-blocking layer (EBL) is studied numerically, which involves the light-current performance curve, internal quantum efficiency electrostatic field band wavefunction, energy band diagram carrier concentration, electron current density, and radiative recombination rate. The simulation results indicate that the LED with an AlGaN/InGaN SL EBL has better optical performance than the LED with a conventional rectangular AlGaN EBL or a normal AlGaN/GaN SL EBL because of the appropriately modified energy band diagram, which is favorable for the injection of holes and confinement of electrons. Additionally, the efficiency droop of the LED with an AlGaN/InGaN SL EBL is markedly improved by reducing the polarization field in the active region.


Objectives : After the investigation of one worker with occupational asthma, we surveyed the prevalence of occupational asthma and the exposure level of pharmaceutical dust of 32 workers in a pharmaceutical company. Methods : Thirty-two of the 90 employees participated in the survey which consisted of questionnaire, blood sampling, spirometry and skin prick tests with 8 common allergens as well as 9 antibiotics and 2 enzymes. Various indices of the working environment were also measured. Subjects who had a symptom suggestive of work-related asthma or positive skin prick test were further investigated by PC20 methacholine. Nine subjects who had a PC20 result of 16 mg/ml or less (n=7) or had work-related symptoms and positive skin prick test (n=2) were referred to undergo a specific bronchial provocation test to pharmaceutical dust in an academic allergic disease center. Results : Eleven of 32 workers (34.4%) had a work-related symptom suggestive of occupational asthma. Ten (31.2%) showed positive skin prick test. 8 (25.0%) had a PC20 result of 16 mg/ml or less (indicative of significant bronchial hyperresponsiveness), and 5 (15.6%) had a positive result on the specific bronchial provocation test. Exposure levels of stuffing, input of raw materials and screening process were relatively high. Conclusions : This survey showed that pharmaceutical workers have an increased risk of occupational asthma. Although pharmaceutical factories maintain a relatively good working environment, careful con-trol of respiratory tract exposures, especially during stuffing, input of raw materials and screening process, is important to prevent occupational asthma. Pharmaceutical workers need to undergo regular skin prick and methacholine bronchial provocation tests, as well as asthmatic symptom survey, to ensure the early detection and prevention of occupational asthma.


Thermochemical heat storage is a very promising technology that enables us to save the excess heat produced during summer time for the needs in the winter, when we have higher heating needs. Thermochemical heat storage bases and an overview of thermo- chemical materials (TCMs), suitable for the solar energy storage, are given. Choosing a suitable adsorbent and adsorbate is very important. The most important properties of the substance are high energy density for high thermal storage, low charging temperature for low energy consumption, high uptake of sorbate kg(sorbate)/kg(sorbent) and envi- ronmental safety and easy to handle‑nonpoisonous. The paper also presents the differ ences between the closed and the open sorption system. The biggest difference between those two systems is the importance of sorbent, which in case of open systems means that sorbent must be environmentally friendly. Also, various closed and open systems are presented.


This article presents succinctly a review of the life and work of Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza (1545-1618), religious of the Order of St. Augustine that proclaimed himself "chronicler of China". In 1585 he published the Historia del Gran Reino de la China, a book that gave him certain fame in scholarly circles of his time. Reviewing to Mendoza and his text involves asking what China was portrayed by the author, from which sources he obtained his news and the purpose that pursued his publication. His work became from the moment of its appearance a great success due to the increasing demand for news about China in Renaissance Europe. Although Mendoza had never been to Asia, he developed a meticulous historiographical work with the sources at his disposal. At the same time, the work had to serve multiple interests: political interests because of the origin of the text (a failed embassy of Philip II of Spain to Ming China); missionaries interests according to a competitive atmosphere with different religious orders fighting between them to take place in the evangelization race of the East; finally, personal interests due to the high personal expectations of Mendoza deposited in his Historia. His contribution is a decisive episode in the building of the image of China in Early Modern Europe.


The study attempted to understand the effect of the host plants on the call parameters of native tree cricket, Oecanthus indicus (Order: Orthoptera, Sub-order: Ensifera, Family: Gryllidae) while calling from native (Justicia adhatoda) and non-native host plant species (Lantana camara and Hyptis suaveolens). The study was conducted at four locations across India. Calls of O. indicus were recorded on these host plants in the field and spectral and temporal parameters of calls were analysed. The results suggested that the peak frequency varied among the two non-native plant species while the difference in temporal pattern between the native and non-native host plants was observed only in the syllable period. The study also quantified the choice of calling positions of insects from the three-host species. The native O. indicus chose non-native H. suaveolens leaves extensively as a preferable site to baffle (37%). Differences in the call parameters and choice of the host plant by insects may ultimately affect the preference and performance of insects on invasive plants. The study would aid in exploring the underlying evolutionary and ecological processes of adaptive success of insects on non-native plants.


To greatly improve the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, it is the key approach to expose as many active edges of MoS2 as possible. This target is the research hotspot and difficulty of MoS2 which is a promising HER catalyst. In this work, we realized the active-edges control of MoS2 nanosheets on carbon cloth (CC) by growth control during the synthesis procedure. Moreover, MoS2 nanosheets vertically grown on carbon cloth (MoS2⊥CC) was confirmed to be the best morphology with maximum active edges exposed. Multifactors structure control resulted in abundant active-edges exposure and effective electron delivery, thus excellent HER activity. This three-dimensional cathode, MoS2⊥CC, can reach a great current density of 200 mA/cm(2) at a small overpotential of 205 mV. The preeminent HER performance can rival the best MoS2-based catalyst ever reported.


NO is well-known for its trans effect. NO binding to ferrous hemes of the form (por)Fe(L) (L = neutral N-based ligand) to give the {FeNO}7 (por)Fe(NO)(L) product results in a lengthening of the axial trans Fe–L bond. In contrast, NO binding to the ferric center in [(por)Fe(L)]+ to give the {FeNO}6 [(por)Fe(NO)(L)]+ product results in a shortening of the trans Fe–L bond. NO binding to both ferrous and ferric centers involves the lowering of their spin states. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to probe the experimentally observed trans-bond shortening in some NO adducts of ferric porphyrins. We show that the strong σ antibonding interaction of dz2 and the axial (L) ligand p orbitals present in the Fe(II) systems is absent in the Fe(III) systems, as it is now in an unoccupied orbital. This feature, combined with a lowering of spin state upon NO binding, provides a rationale for the observed net trans-bond shortening in the {FeNO}6 but not the {FeNO}7 derivatives.


Summary: This article describes the development and evolution of two-photon lithography of 3-dimensional (3D) polymeric structures through two-photon photopolymerization (TPP) and the materials used to facilitate the same. The first part elaborates on the advantages of TPP over conventional lithographic techniques used in the fabrication of 3D microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The second part introduces the preparation of highly efficient organic two-photon absorbing materials based on the centro-symmetric p-conjugated system and their performance as sensitizers in two-photon polymerization.


This paper deals with linear time-varying, delay systems. Extensions of the concept of differential flatness \cite{Fliess_95} to this context have been first proposed in \cite{Mounier_95,Fliess_96} (see also \cite{Rudolph_03,Chyzak_05}), by the introduction of $\pi$-flat output. Roughly speaking, it means that every system variable may be expressed as a function of a particular output $y$, a finite number of its time derivatives, time delays, and predictions, the latter resulting from the prediction operator $\pi^{-1}$. We propose a simple and constructive algorithm for the computation of $\pi$-flat outputs based on concepts of polynomial algebra, in particular Smith-Jacobson decomposition of polynomial matrices. Some examples are provided to illustrate the proposed methodology.


OBJECTIVE
To determine effects of ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, relative barometric pressure, and temperature-humidity index (THI) on nasal submucosal and rectal temperatures in cattle during extreme summer conditions.

ANIMALS
20 black crossbred beef heifers (mean body weight, 217.8 kg).

PROCEDURES
Nasal submucosal and rectal temperatures were monitored every 2 hours for 24 hours on 3 nonconsecutive days when ambient temperature was forecasted to exceed 32.2°C. Ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and relative barometric pressure were continuously monitored at a remote weather station located at the research facility. The THI was calculated and used in the livestock weather safety index (LWSI). Relationships between nasal submucosal or rectal temperature and weather variables were evaluated.

RESULTS
Nasal submucosal and rectal temperatures were related to all weather variables monitored. A positive relationship was determined for ambient temperature and THI with both nasal submucosal and rectal temperatures. A negative relationship was evident for nasal submucosal and rectal temperature with relative humidity, wind speed, and relative barometric pressure. Nasal submucosal and rectal temperatures increased with increasing severity of LWSI category.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Effects of environmental conditions on thermoregulation in calves exposed to extreme heat were detected. The positive relationship between nasal submucosal temperature and ambient temperature and THI raised concerns about the efficacy of intranasal administration of temperature-sensitive modified-live virus vaccines during periods of extreme heat. Environmental conditions must be considered when rectal temperature is used as a diagnostic tool for identifying morbid cattle.


The grain orientation, the texture and the grain boundary misorientations are important parameters for the understanding of the magnetic properties of the bulk MgB2 samples intended for super-magnet applications. Such data can be provided by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis. However, as the grain size (GS) of the MgB2 bulks is preferably in the 100–200 nm range, the common EBSD technique working in reflection operates properly only on highly dense samples. In order to achieve a reasonably good Kikuchi pattern quality on all samples, we apply here the newly developed transmission EBSD (t-EBSD) technique to several bulk MgB2 samples. This method requires the preparation of TEM slices by means of focused ion-beam milling, which are then analyzed within the SEM, operating with a specific sample holder. We present several EBSD mappings of samples prepared with different techniques and at various reaction temperatures.


The flame structure of polyoxymethylene (POM) in the counterflow of air has been studied experimentally and numerically. The temperature distribution over a cylindrical specimen was measured with a Pt-Pt+10%Rh thermocouple. Quasi one-dimensionality of considered diffusion flame has been established experimentally, which allows analysis of flame parameters in relation to the only coordinate normal to the solid fuel's burning surface. Formaldehyde (monomer of POM) was determined to be the main product of POM thermal degradation. Flame sampling was performed with a quartz microprobe. The chemical composition of the flame was analyzed online with a mass spectrometric complex (Hiden HPR-60). The concentration profiles of the main gas flame species (CH2O, CO, CO2, H2O, O2, and N2) were measured. The chemical structure of POM-air counterflow flame was modeled by the OPPDIF code of the CHEMKIN package using the experimentally measured temperature profile and the POM burning rate. The boundary conditions on the solid fuel's surface were assigned according to the data obtained from the experiment. The results of the calculations of the chemical flame structure are in a good agreement with the experimental data. Formaldehyde was found to be decomposed in the absence of oxygen near the burning surface to form carbon monoxide, which is further oxidized to form СО2. Thus, combustion of POM decomposition products in the gas phase takes place in two macro stages, whereas usually one macro stage is used in combustion models that describe the flame propagation over polymer.


The emergence of web-based social media has made it possible for people to communicate freely with one another, regardless of time and place. This has resulted in a changing notion about teaching and learning. In particular, educators from all over the world are beginning to pay attention to the possible roles of web-based social media in enhancing learning. Traditional mode of teaching and learning is very much teacher centered with information transfer mainly in a one-way manner. Learning is bounded by time and space. The use of social media enables the creation of a hybrid learning environment that leverages on the strengths of both traditional learning and the more constructivist learner-centred learning. OUM adopts a blended approach where learning is enabled through multi mode strategies. Here, learners learn self-managed learning with print modules or webbased modules and learning materials, face-to-face interactions and learning via online forum discussion. This form of learning provides learners with the best of both worlds by giving learners the guidance that can be achieved in an actual classroom, as well as the flexibility and openness of self-paced learning through online and virtual learning methods which allow students to experience online learning through online forum discussions. To explore the possibility of implementing effective learning via a fully online learning environment, OUM has designed and developed a web-based learning system named as EPIC. As a first step towards implementing learning via hybridized communication environment, four fully online courses were conducted, supported by the EPIC learning environment. The four courses are namely: Co-Curriculum, Professional Practice, Professional Development and Inclusive Education. These courses are not only fully taught fully online, but the assignments were also designed in a scaffolding format. This paper will highlight how OUM students' (in-service teachers) explore and perceive EPIC as a new hybridized communication media as perceived by the EPIC online supervisor (EOS).


The resonant grounding is one of the possible methods of system neutral grounding for the medium-voltage distribution. IEEE standards do define this grounding configuration, but important advantages and drawbacks of the resonant grounding might not be fully known, due to its rather uncommon application in North America. On the other hand, resonant grounding in Europe is imposed by the increased requirements for power quality, especially for medium-voltage industrial users, and imposed to electric utilities by Regulatory Authorities, with the purpose to protect the interests of users and consumers. Level of the continuity of the service, magnitude and phase of ground-fault currents, magnitude of touch voltages, all depend on how the neutral is connected to ground. In this paper, the authors will discuss electrical safety features of the resonant ground, and analyze issues when a substation, originally operated with different methods of system neutral grounding, is reconfigured with a resonant ground.


Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that are expressed in a variety of cells, including macrophages. For decades, NRs have been therapeutic targets because their activity can be pharmacologically modulated by specific ligands and small molecule inhibitors. NRs regulate a variety of processes, including those intersecting metabolic and immune functions, and have been studied in regard to various autoimmune diseases. However, the complex roles of NRs in host response to infection are only recently being investigated. The NRs peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and liver X receptors (LXRs) have been most studied in the context of infectious diseases; however, recent work has also linked xenobiotic pregnane X receptors (PXRs), vitamin D receptor (VDR), REV-ERBα, the nuclear receptor 4A (NR4A) family, farnesoid X receptors (FXRs), and estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) to macrophage responses to pathogens. Pharmacological inhibition or antagonism of certain NRs can greatly influence overall disease outcome, and NRs that are protective against some diseases can lead to susceptibility to others. Targeting NRs as a novel host-directed treatment approach to infectious diseases appears to be a viable option, considering that these transcription factors play a pivotal role in macrophage lipid metabolism, cholesterol efflux, inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and production of antimicrobial byproducts. In the current review, we discuss recent findings concerning the role of NRs in infectious diseases with an emphasis on PPARγ and LXR, the two most studied. We also highlight newer work on the activity of emerging NRs during infection.


Single cell protein (SCP) can be produced from biomass of different types of microorganisms that have high protein content such as yeast, filamentous fungi, algae and bacteria. In comparison to animal and plant protein sources, this kind of protein has several advantages, namely high protein and nutrient contents, being produced in fermenters with the use of variety of organic wastes, independence in agriculture land or climate conditions. Methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) are considered as good candidates for SCP production and have been intensively studied recently. In the present study, a MOB strain BG3 was isolated from wastewater of an anaerobic digester via enrichment and isolation procedures using methane as the only carbon and energy sources. Strain BG3 comprised of oval-shaped cells of 0,8-1 ´ 16 -1,8 μm in size, almost nonmotile. Based on comparative analyses of the 16S rDNA partial sequences, strain BG3 was identified as a member of the Methylomonas genus, the most closely related species was Methylomonas koyamae (97% homology). This was also confirmed by analyses of sequence of the pmoA gene, encoding for a -subunit in the methane-monooxygenase in the strain.  Besides methane, strain BG3 also utilized methanol for the growth. It has been shown that methane-fed culture of strain BG3 could produce 68.69 g crude protein per 100 g CDW and the according methane to biomass conversion efficiency was 2,8 m 3 methane × kg - 1 dry biomassas. Owing the capability of utilization of methane, the second important greenhouse gas, for the production of protein source for animal feed, strain BG3 would have a great application potential in Vietnam. Strain BG3 was designated as Methylomonas sp. BG3 and its 16S rDNA and pmoA gene sequences were deposited at the GenBank with accession numbers of KJ081955 and KJ081956, respectively.


Recent research has investigated the optionality of first-person singular subject pronoun usage in pro-drop languages, where the morphology of the language encodes enough information to allow speakers to choose to include the pronoun (overt subject usage) or omit it (null subject usage), referencing the idea that the subject pronoun still exists in the syntax of the sentence, regardless of its expression. Previous studies have shown significant differences in overt and null subject usage in Peninsular Spanish (Posio 2011) and between Peninsular Spanish and Portuguese (Posio 2013). However, few studies have utilized bilingual speakers, nor have multiple Spanish-speaking countries been investigated. The present study analyzed data from two corpora (Spanish in Texas and PRESEEA) to investigate the use of these first-person singular subjects in a bilingual community in the US compared to Spanish-speaking countries. Four Cognizer verbs were analyzed (Posio 2011): creer [to believe], pensar [to think], entender [to understand], and recordar [to remember]. Significant differences between overt and null subjects were found within and between the two corpora, and between some of the verbs investigated. The bilingual community was also significantly different from the nearest available Spanish-speaking city. Effects of contact with English and differences between Spanish-speaking countries are discussed.


account of his subject. But the book is not without its weaknesses, and these seem to be in the balance of emphasis. Physiological and biochemical aspects of anxiety are mentioned in just a few pages, referring only to observations made within, or within a few miles of the Maudsley Hospital. The paragraph dismissing the use of acetylcholine is nearly four times the length of the one recommending the benzodiazepines. Precise doseage of barbiturates, including phenobarbitone, and of meprobamate are given, without emphasizing the dangers of the former group or the unsatisfactoriness ofthe latter. It is refreshing to read an author well versed in logic. For example, Marks argues clearly against the psychoanalytic view that repression must be causal to the development of a phobia. Both may co exist and co-vary, but alter independently of each other ; he deduces that there is no reason whatsoever to conclude that they relate other than through an as yet undiscovered mechanism. Marks is well aware of the influence of psycho dynamic factors on exacerbation of anxiety; but he does not consider the influence of the patient's ability to tolerate his discomfort in determining the response to treatment. This is a variable which it is logical to examine, perhaps most particularly in the agoraphobic syndrome. Not every patient has the same fortitude ; avoidance of anxiety may not be why a patient remains housebound, but rather her needs to control the family dynamics. Recently there has been an increasing interest in developing methods for recording reliably symptoms experienced in neuroticpatients.Gelder and Marks usually assess severity on a five-point scale, but this can violate some assumptions necessary for sensitive statistical analyses and confidence in validity. They define categories quite arbitrarily, there being no evidence that †̃¿ size' and †̃¿ distance' between them are equal. Though their scales are perfectly adequate for the purpose required, it is unlikely that such a system will be sufficiently sensitive for the increasingly sophisticated experiments now being carried out on the treatment of morbid


OBJECTIVE
To identify history, clinical signs, endoscopic findings, treatment, and outcome of mature (> 8 years old) nonracehorses with epiglottic abnormalities.

DESIGN
Retrospective case series.

ANIMALS
23 horses with an epiglottic abnormality.

PROCEDURES
Medical records of horses examined between 1990 and 2009 because of an epiglottic abnormality were reviewed to obtain information on signalment, history, clinical signs, clinical examination findings, upper airway endoscopic findings, diagnosis, surgical procedure, clinical management, postoperative care, and outcome.

RESULTS
Mean ± SD age was 16 ± 6 years (range, 9 to 30 years). Sixteen of the 23 (70%) horses had a primary complaint of a chronic cough. Thirteen (57%) horses had epiglottic entrapment, 7 (30%) had a subepiglottic granuloma, and 3 (13%) had a subepiglottic cyst. All 23 horses were treated surgically, with 1 (4%) requiring further surgical treatment. Follow-up examinations and conversations with owners indicated resolution of the primary complaint in 17 of the 23 (74%) horses, with 4 (24%) requiring prolonged medical treatment because of postoperative subepiglottic inflammation. Of the 6 horses without complete resolution, 4 (67%) had signs of recurrent airway obstruction and 2 (33%) developed persistent dorsal displacement of the soft palate following laryngotomy and subepiglottic membrane resection.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results suggested that coughing is a common complaint in mature nonracehorses with epiglottic abnormalities. Therefore, upper airway endoscopy is recommended in the evaluation of older horses with a cough. Surgical treatment can be beneficial in most horses, with some requiring further postoperative medical treatment.


Introduction Pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) is the fastest growing age group and is characterized by frequent disease complications. We sought to analyze both ileal and colonic gene expression in a cohort of pediatric CD patients and apply machine learning-based models to predict risk of developing future complications. Methods RNA-seq was generated from matched ileal and colonic biopsies from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue obtained from patients with non-stricturing/non-penetrating, treatment-naïve CD and from controls. Clinical outcomes including development of strictures or fistulas, progression to surgery, and remission were analyzed first using differential expression. Machine learning models were then developed for each outcome, combining gene expression and clinical factors. Models were assessed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results 56 patients with CD and 46 controls were included. Differential expression analysis revealed a distinct colonic transcriptome for patients who developed strictures, with downregulation of pathways related to inflammation and extra-cellular matrix production. In contrast, there were few differentially expressed genes for other outcomes and for ileal tissue. Despite this, machine learning-based models were able to incorporate colonic gene expression and clinical characteristics to predict outcomes with high accuracy. Models showed an AUROC of 0.84 for strictures, 0.83 for remission, and 0.75 for surgery. Certain genes with potential prognostic importance for strictures (REG1A, MMP3, and DUOX2) were not identified in single gene differential analysis but were found to have strong contributions to predictive models. Conclusions Our findings in FFPE tissue support the importance of colonic gene expression and the potential for machine learning-based models in predicting outcomes for pediatric CD.


The synthesis and antimicrobial activity of 4-amino-8-methylquinolines 8, 11 substituted with a hydroxy- or methoxy-group at 5- and at 6-position have been investigated. The title compounds could be prepared by a six-step procedure according to the literature starting from commercially available anilines 1. The novel 4-aminoquinolines 8,11 exhibited slight antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.


In 1999, Wilson and Batterham proposed a new approach to assessing the test–retest stability of psychometric questionnaires. They recommended assessing the proportion of agreement – that is, the proportion of participants that record the same response to an item – using a test–retest design. They went on to use a bootstrapping technique to estimate the uncertainty of the proportion of agreement. The aims of this short communication are (1) to demonstrate that the sampling distribution of the proportion of agreement is well known (the binomial distribution), making the technique of 'bootstrapping' redundant, and (2) to suggest a much simpler, more sensitive method of assessing the stability of a psychometric questionnaire, based on the test–retest differences (within-individuals) for each item. Adopting methods similar to Wilson and Batterham, 97 sport students completed the Social Physique Anxiety Scale on two occasions. Test–retest differences were calculated for each item. Our results show that the proportion of agreement ignores the nature of disagreement. Items 4 and 11 showed similar agreement (44.3% and 43.3% respectively), but 89 of the participants (91.8%) differed by just - 1 point when responding to item 4, indicating a relatively stable item. In contrast, only 78 of the participants (80.4%) recorded a difference within - 1 point when responding to item 11, suggesting quite contrasting stability for the two items. We recommend that, when assessing the stability of self-report questionnaires using a 5-point scale, most participants (90%) should record test–retest differences within a reference value of - 1.


influenced clinical practice or public health medicine, largely because of the low statistical power associated with their small sample sizes. Better, larger scale studies are widely acknowledged to be necessary, but how are these to be conducted? Potential researchers need to be aware of methodological difficulties, and their likely solutions, and if truly informative studies are to be undertaken a consensus needs to be established if large scale research enterprises are to bear fruit. Under the auspices of the Medical Commission of the European Community, Eurodem, guided by Albert Hofman, has laid out the path for later researchers to follow. Eurodem's route is a collaborative reanalysis of a small number of case-control studies of the epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease. 2 Although the approach is limited by the variable quality of the original data it has the important strength of establishing "the consistency of findings."'3 Except for family history,'4 none of the hypothetical risk factors examined are convincingly linked to Alzheimer's disease, but this should not deter the prospective researcher or funding agency. The Eurodem endeavour will be influential not because of the validation of the size of the effect of a specific risk factor but because of the care with which the authors have set out relevant methodological problems. Their reanalyses are reported with great caution, yet some issues stand out clearly. Case definition will remain imprecise and lead to far too many false negative cases until the present (provisional) clinical criteria" include pathognomonic objective tests. As geneenvironment interaction provides the likeliest pathogenic model,'4 future epidemiological studies must be supported by molecular biological investigations. A recent meeting in Bethesda sponsored by the National Institute of Aging and the World Health Organisation gave the authors of the Eurodem report a chance to air their concerns about future epidemiological studies. Epidemiological principles can be used successfully to investigate relations between genetic susceptibility and putative risk factors. " Simple genetic models can be applied to data where variation in genetic susceptibility is precisely known (such as the presence of a genetic mutation3). Hofman emphasised the importance of vascular disorders not only as possible models for Alzheimer's disease but also as likely causal processes.'6 17 Exposure to noxious agents has become a matter of great public concern that transcends national boundaries. Experimental neuropathology provides the vital impetus towards successful identification of toxins that might contribute to neurodegenerative disorders,'8 but epidemiology has a major part to play. Hofman and his colleagues may not have established that any particular risk factor (other than family history) is of major importance in Alzheimer's disease, but they have certainly set out the directions that future research might most reasonably follow. L J WHALLEY Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh EH10 9HF


Small and Medium Enterprises is defined on the basis of their charactertics, that includes size of the capital, investment, number of employees, turnover, management behavior, location and market share but very commonly used characteristics is number of employees in the enterprise. Since Bangalore is a developing city here Small Scale Enterprise means a firm employing less than 50 workers and medium size enterprise would usually mean those that have 50-99 workers.SME's has also considered as a subject of discussions in many workshops and seminars locally and internationally. Government also plays a major role in various levels like local, state, and federal levels in formulating new policies with an aim of empowering, encouraging, and facilitating growth and development and performance of the SME's, even others institutions also focus on assisting the SME's to grow through soft loans and other fiscal incentives.The financial institution has been developed to support SME's on both theoretical and empirical grounds. It also inherent the weakness of SME's in accessing the financial services. Till today, the role of financial institution in developing SME's has been in satisfactory level and encouraging, but the dynamic of the present SME's focus the institution and banks for its further improvement in their performance. In this direction and attempt has been made to find the areas of improvement in performance and to suggest concrete ideas to this project.


This paper focuses on applications and electrical valorisation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), a promising energy harvesting technique, suitable as clean power source to supply low power devices in wireless sensor networks (WSN) for environmental and agricultural monitoring. An MFC is a bioreactor that converts energy stored in chemical bonds of organic matter into electrical energy, through a series of reactions catalysed by microorganisms. An MFC can operate as bioreactor, as bioremediator and as biosensor. In the past decade, the evolution of low power electronics has made MFCs technology more attractive, because it has become suitable for low-power devices forming complete systems, such as the nodes of a WSN. Moreover, MFCs gained more interest because they can generate electric power while treating wastes. Unlike other fuel cells, MFCs can continuously generate clean energy at normal temperature and atmospheric pressure without any supplementary maintenance. Additionally, MFC may be used directly as a biosensor to analyse parameters like pH and temperature or arranged in the form of a cluster of devices to be use as a small power plant. A series of test was performed for the electrical valorisation of reactors as well as biosensor issues.


Stray voltage is caused by voltage drop and ground faults and may have its origin on the primary electrical distribution system or on the customer's secondary electrical system. The rms value of the neutral-to-earth voltage along a primary distribution line may be at a value of zero some distance from the substation depending on the condition of the conductor resistances, grounding resistances, and the amount of load. Neutral-to-earth resistance is not the cause of stray voltage; however, the value of this resistance to earth at a particular location will affect the level of stray voltage. A four-wire single-phase feeder system supplying farm buildings from a single metering point is effective in preventing on-farm secondary neutral voltage drop, provided the four-wire system is extended to all farm loads, and provided no high-magnitude ground faults are present. Isolation of the primary and secondary neutral systems at the distribution transformer is effective in preventing off-farm sources from entering the customer's system. This separation may be accomplished using a number of commercially available devices.


Using the nonequilibrium Green's function technique, we investigate the Kondo effect in the quantum dot with perpendicular magnetic fields, in which one is the Zeeman splitting lies in the z-direction and the other is the spin flip points at the x-direction. It is found whatever one or two magnetic fields are applied, the local density of states (LDOS) will split into two peaks. The positions of two Kondo resonance peaks are determined by Zeeman energy Δ when J = 0, and by when J ≠ 0.