Despite its long use in clinical medicine, protamine concentrations and pharmacokinetics in humans have not been reported. The occasional reoccurrence of anticoagulation after protamine reversal of heparin led us to hypothesize that protamine plasma concentrations decrease rapidly. We developed a method for the measurement of protamine in plasma. Eighteen fit volunteers gave their consent to receive 0.5 mg/kg protamine sulfate administered IV by an infusion pump over 10 min. Heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, and cardiac output, all measured noninvasively, were recorded and blood samples obtained during and after protamine infusion. Blood plasma was subjected to solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography. The administration of protamine was associated with no significant changes in heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, or cardiac output. Plasma protamine concentrations decreased rapidly, becoming nondetectable within approximately 20 min. Protamine elimination differed significantly between men and women: men had significantly larger areas under the concentration versus time curve. Model-independent pharmacokinetic analysis revealed median (range) values as follows: volume of distribution at steady state, 12.3 (6.9–63.1) L; clearance, 2.2 (1.1–12.1) L/min; and t1/2, 7.4 (5.9–9.3) min. Concentration versus time plots revealed an atypical pattern inconsistent with usual exponential models. The Schwartz-Bayesian criterion identified a one-compartment Michaelis-Menten model and a two-compartment exponential model with irreversible binding as performing better than conventional one- or two-compartmental exponential models; however, performance errors were large with both Michaelis-Menten and exponential models. All models described rapid decreases in protamine blood concentrations.


Abstract Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic performance of Full Spectrum Endoscopy (FUSE) compared to a conventional standard forward-viewing endoscope (SFV). The primary outcome was adenoma detection rate (ADR) and mean adenoma detection. Secondary outcome was feasibility of FUSE opposed to SFV. Materials and methods: Consecutive patients participating in the Danish colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programme were prospectively included in the study (n = 205). Demographic and health-related characteristics were obtained. Following procedural parameters were recorded: completion rate, caecal intubation time, fentanyl and midazolam sedation, CRC detection, ADR, diverticulosis, bowel preparation, patient discomfort and endoscopist difficulty rating. Participants underwent FUSE colonoscopy on days when the FUSE system was available, while the remaining participants had SFV. All colonoscopies were performed by two trained endoscopists. Results: A total of 109 patients were included in the FUSE group and 106 in the SFV group. Groups were comparable in baseline characteristics. Completion rate was 83.5% and 93.4% in the FUSE and SFV groups (p = .040). Caecal intubation time was 11.4 ± 6.7 min versus 9.1 ± 6.2 min in the FUSE and SFV groups (p = .040). ADR was 67.0% and 59.6% (p = .097), while the mean adenoma detection was 1.79 and 1.38 (p = .022) in the FUSE and SFV groups. Endoscopists reported increased difficulty rating with FUSE compared to SFV (p > .001). Conclusion: FUSE colonoscopy provides a higher mean adenoma detection and there is tendency toward higher ADR compared to SFV in a high-risk population. Nonetheless, FUSE colonoscopy has a lower completion rate, longer caecal intubation time and a higher difficulty rating from an endoscopist point of view.


Vitamin A is essential in all stages of life, especially during pregnancy and lactation. Individuals with diabetes mellitus have been considered as a group at risk of showing deficiency of micronutrients and related compounds, such as vitamins A, E, and C. Accordingly, women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have also been identified as a group at risk of presenting low levels of vitamin A. This study aimed to compare the serum retinol of nursing women with and without GDM attended at Maternidade Escola Januario Cicco, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil. Sera from 85 mothers were collected, of which 16 had DMG. The serum retinol was quantified using high performance liquid chromatography. The results were expressed by its mean and standard deviation, which presented significant differences in concentration between groups with and without GDM: the concentration levels were of 33.1 ± 12.5 μg/dL and 41.2 ± 11.1 μg/dL, respectively. Although the mechanism responsible for changes in the levels of vitamin A in patients with diabetes has not been elucidated, it is known that the metabolism of retinol is physiologically associated with the β-cell function; consequently, when abnormalities in insulin secretion are observed, there might be changes in the concentration of retinol-binding protein and, therefore, retinol in serum. These results show the importance of monitoring the levels of this vitamin during pregnancy, especially when the mother has diabetes mellitus, to prevent other pathological complications in her and the infant.


Polymer nano composites have been investigated for the past 20 years by many researchers around the world. The mechanical and physical properties have been enhanced by the addition of nano fillers and the service life of the polymer parts has been improved. Applications abound in industrial, automobile, aerospace, space, bioengineering and energy sectors to name a few. More light is to be thrown on the processing, characterization and properties of these materials to understand the pros and cons of these new materials. There are merits and demerits in the processing and usage of these materials. The aim of this lecture is to highlight the various materials namely, nanoclay, graphene, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, silica nanoparticles, WC nanopaticles, mullite nanoparticles to name a few, the processing aspects and characterization types of nanofillers - 0D, 1D and 2D ( spheroids, fibres and flakes) and the nanofiller methods available today. Uniform dispersion and wetting of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix are important aspects to be addressed. The popular polymer matrix materials will be introduced. To minimize the cost of raw material, certain aspects of recycling plastics will also be discussed to keep manufacturing costs low. Characterization studies will cover metallurgical, mechanical, thermal, chemical, environmental aspects to name a few. Aspects like dimensional stability and high temperature stability will also be addressed.


The low-redshift structures of the universe act as lenses in a similar way on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) light and on the distant galaxies (say at redshift about unity). As a consequence, the CMB temperature distortions are expected to be statistically correlated with the galaxy shear, exhibiting a nonuniform distribution of the relative angle between the CMB and the galactic ellipticities. Investigating this effect, we find that its amplitude is as high as a 10% excess of alignment between CMB and the galactic ellipticities relative to the uniform distribution. The relatively high signal-to-noise ratio we found should make possible a detection with the planned CMB data sets, provided that a galaxy survey follow-up can be done on a sufficiently large area. It would provide a complementary bias-independent constraint on the cosmological parameters.


We consider magnetic field reconnection in a plasma induced by perturbing the boundaries of a slab of plasma with a magnetic neutral surface inside. We look into several current controversies on this problem and try to clarify some aspects of the analytic picture of this driven reconnection process. We also look into the plasma flow dynamics associated with this reconnection process - an aspect that has been considered so far (the latter fact is partly the cause of some of the controversies of this problem).


The application of data mining techniques to the managing of software development projects (SDP) is not an uncommon phenomenon, as in any other productive process that generates information in the way of input data and output variables. In this paper, a set of tools developed by the authors, that generate, in a visual way, managing rules suitable to cover minimum goals in a SDP are presented. Although the techniques used are able to generate quantitative rules, giving numeric values suitable for these goals, the visual representation of these rules helps their easy and quick understanding by a manager of a SDP. The application to a database generated from the simulation of a project allows to establish a profitable comparison and to demonstrate the validity of the techniques.


We present a motion estimation algorithm for multi-camera systems consisting of more than one calibrated camera securely attached on a moving object. So, they move all together, but do not require to have overlapping views across the cameras. The geometrically optimal solution of the motion for the multi-camera systems under Linfin norm is provided in this paper using a global optimization technique which has been introduced recently in the computer vision research field. Taking advantage of an optimal estimate of the essential matrix through searching rotation space, we provide the optimal solution for translation by using linear programming and branch & bound algorithm. Synthetic and real data experiments are conducted, and they show more robust and improved performance than the previous methods.


This paper identifies the place, such as natural or artificial spaces able to play important roles in the development process of the quality of life of analyzed places, in a dynamic perspective of catalysts for economic interests, for sociological surveys, for interpretive marketing schemes, for environmental implications. Over time, the attention to the relationship between sustainable and potential development of territory and to the importance of the service providers have acquired increasing significance in marketing and place development studies. The importance of the service provider is grounded in the assumption of two relevant logic categories -Basic and Relevant Service Providercharacterizing their role in the strategy of value creation and place development: in the reflections about place management, conducted with some international research units, the aim is to highlight the central role of service providers in the development of sustainable places also through the support of the


This paper studies a design method of time-delay systems with communication disturbance observer (CDOB). A time-delay compensation method based on network disturbance (ND) concept and CDOB has been proposed and applied to various control systems. It compensates time-delay effect without using time-delay model and the effectiveness is equivalent to that of Smith predictor. Furthermore, it works even when time-delay value is unknown, since it does not need time-delay models. In past works, some design methods of time-delay systems with CDOB have been studied basically by using Nyquist diagram. However, detailed design methods of the transient characteristics have not been researched well due to the characteristics of Nyquist diagrams. In other words, we have not addressed design methods based on detailed pole placements studies in order to arbitrarily design the transient characteristics. In this paper, we study a design method of time-delay systems with CDOB based on pole placements by using Pade approximation. The detailed design of the transient characteristics is accomplished by the analytical results. The adequacy of the presented design method is validated by simulation studies.


Recent years have seen significant activity on the problem of using data for the purpose of learning properties of quantum systems or of processing classical or quantum data via quantum computing. As in classical learning, quantum learning problems involve settings in which the mechanism generating the data is unknown, and the main goal of a learning algorithm is to ensure satisfactory accuracy levels when only given access to data and, possibly, side information such as expert knowledge. This article reviews the complexity of quantum learning using information-theoretic techniques by focusing on data complexity, copy complexity, and model complexity. Copy complexity arises from the destructive nature of quantum measurements, which irreversibly alter the state to be processed, limiting the information that can be extracted about quantum data. For example, in a quantum system, unlike in classical machine learning, it is generally not possible to evaluate the training loss simultaneously on multiple hypotheses using the same quantum data. To make the paper self-contained and approachable by different research communities, we provide extensive background material on classical results from statistical learning theory, as well as on the distinguishability of quantum states. Throughout, we highlight the differences between quantum and classical learning by addressing both supervised and unsupervised learning, and we provide extensive pointers to the literature.


Many studies in vision tasks have aimed to create effective embedding spaces for single-label object prediction within an image. However, in reality, most objects possess multiple specific attributes, such as shape, color, and length, with each attribute composed of various classes. To apply models in real-world scenarios, it is essential to be able to distinguish between the granular components of an object. Conventional approaches to embedding multiple specific attributes into a single network often result in entanglement, where fine-grained features of each attribute cannot be identified separately. To address this problem, we propose a Conditional Cross-Attention Network that induces disentangled multi-space embeddings for various specific attributes with only a single backbone. Firstly, we employ a cross-attention mechanism to fuse and switch the information of conditions (specific attributes), and we demonstrate its effectiveness through a diverse visualization example. Secondly, we leverage the vision transformer for the first time to a fine-grained image retrieval task and present a simple yet effective framework compared to existing methods. Unlike previous studies where performance varied depending on the benchmark dataset, our proposed method achieved consistent state-of-the-art performance on the FashionAI, DARN, DeepFashion, and Zappos50K benchmark datasets.


We present results highlighting the roles of dipolar interactions in affecting thermodynamics of diblock copolymer melts. Field theoretic methods and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to understand the effects of dipolar interactions among copolymer segments. In particular, the effects of dipolar interactions on disorder-lamellar transition and domain spacing of the lamellar morphology are studied. It is shown that dipolar interactions stabilize the lamellar morphology over the disordered phase. Furthermore, the domain spacing for the lamellar morphology is predicted to increase with an increase in disparity between dipole moments of two kinds of monomers in the diblock or equivalently a mismatch in the dielectric constant of homopolymers forming the diblock. MD simulations reveal that additional orientational effects resulting from the anisotropic nature of the dipolar interaction potential are significant for highly polar monomers. In contrast, the field theoretic models based on orientationally averaged dipolar interaction potentials, such as those used in this work, fail to capture the effects of orientational correlations.We present results highlighting the roles of dipolar interactions in affecting thermodynamics of diblock copolymer melts. Field theoretic methods and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to understand the effects of dipolar interactions among copolymer segments. In particular, the effects of dipolar interactions on disorder-lamellar transition and domain spacing of the lamellar morphology are studied. It is shown that dipolar interactions stabilize the lamellar morphology over the disordered phase. Furthermore, the domain spacing for the lamellar morphology is predicted to increase with an increase in disparity between dipole moments of two kinds of monomers in the diblock or equivalently a mismatch in the dielectric constant of homopolymers forming the diblock. MD simulations reveal that additional orientational effects resulting from the anisotropic nature of the dipolar interaction potential are significant for highly polar monomers. In contrast, the field theoretic models based ...


Presently, the modal pushover analysis procedure is extended to multidimensional analysis of structures subjected to multidimensional earthquake excitations. an improved multidimensional modal pushover analysis (IMMPA) method is presented in the paper in order to estimate the response demands of structures subjected to bidirectional earthquake excitations, in which the unidirectional earthquake excitation applied on equivalent SDOF system is replaced by the direct superposition of two components earthquake excitations, and independent analysis in each direction is not required and the application of simplified superposition formulas is avoided. The strength reduction factor spectra based on superposition of earthquake excitations are discussed and compared with the traditional strength reduction factor spectra. The step-by-step procedure is proposed to estimate seismic demands of structures. Two examples are implemented to verify the accuracy of the method, and the results of the examples show that (1) the IMMPA method can be used to estimate the responses of structure subjected to bidirectional earthquake excitations. (2) Along with increase of peak of earthquake acceleration, structural response deviation estimated with the IMMPA method may also increase. (3) Along with increase of the number of total floors of structures, structural response deviation estimated with the IMMPA method may also increase.


A balloon-borne detector system for extending the study of cosmic ray composition to the energy region beyond 100 GeV/nucleon is described. The instrument incorporates an ionization calorimeter and a gas Cherenkov counter filled with freon for the determination of energies, and a charge module, consisting of scintillation and a lucite Cherenkov counter, for determining the charge of the incoming particle. The scintillators were utilized to determine the position of the incoming particle in addition to its charge. The characteristics of these detectors with respect to resolution, and the methods employed in laboratory calibration, cross-checks with flight data and actual performance in the flights are described in detail. Monte Carlo simulation of the ionization calorimeter and comparison of the response of the calorimeter and gas Cherenkov counter for complex nuclei was used to convert the observed calorimeter signal to absolute energy in a consistent manner.


Sketching is an important tool for dealing with high-dimensional vectors that are sparse (or well-approximated by a sparse vector), especially useful in distributed, parallel, and streaming settings. It is known that sketches can be made differentially private by adding noise according to the sensitivity of the sketch, and this has been used in private analytics and federated learning settings. The post-processing property of differential privacy implies that all estimates computed from the sketch can be released within the given privacy budget. In this paper we consider the classical CountSketch, made differentially private with the Gaussian mechanism, and give an improved analysis of its estimation error. Perhaps surprisingly, the privacy-utility trade-off is essentially the best one could hope for, independent of the number of repetitions in CountSketch: The error is almost identical to the error from non-private CountSketch plus the noise needed to make the vector private in the original, high-dimensional domain.


In this study, between the years of 2005-2017, a content analysis was made on the postgraduate and doctoral theses related to the subject of service quality in the area of sports sciences, recorded in the database of Turkey National Thesis Center of Council of Higher Education and identified that it is accessible. 17 postgraduates and 7 doctoral theses, included in the scope of the study were examined according to "the university, in which it was done; publication year; concepts and words used in keywords; sector, in which the study was carried out; number of page; sort of study; study model, number of sample; sort of data collecting instruments; data analysis method; and sort and actuality of resources". For this aim, MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program was utilized. As a result of the study, it was identified that the most theses were made in Gazi University; that at the postgraduate and doctoral level, sort of quantitative study was mostly preferred; that service quality was frequently used in the names and keywords of the theses; and that they were descriptive studies, mostly carried out by receiving the views of customers of sports businesses of private sector. In addition, it was found that scanning design was preferred in most of the postgraduate and doctorate; that the surveys or Likert type of scales were used in the theses; that in generalized sub-dimensions, quality of physical environment was dominant; that the scale "An Instrument for Evaluating Service Quality of Health/Fitness Clubs (SQAS)" was used the most; that statistics t-test and variance analysis was mostly used; that it was worked on 500 and over samples; and that the actual and foreign resources were dominant.


Photovoltaic (PV) maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is compulsory in PV systems to improve its output power and efficiency. Conventional techniques can track the maximum power under uniform irradiances efficiently and accurately. Nevertheless, in case of partial shading conditions where multiple peaks are generated, these conventional techniques may stick at any local peak of the P
–
 V curve of the PV energy systems. Metaheuristic techniques have been applied to PV energy systems to overcome this limitation, where most of these techniques can catch the global MPP (GMPP) easily and efficiently. In case of dynamic change of partial shading, most of these techniques need reinitialisation to disperse the search agents to look again for a new position and value of GMPP. This study introduces a brief description, assessment and evaluation for these techniques. In addition, it proposes a novel assessment criterion based on grade point average for evaluating and ranking the 20 famous metaheuristic and hybrid GMPP techniques. This evaluation methodology can help researchers, designer and decision maker to choose the best option for MPPT of dynamic change of partially shading PV energy systems.


We present an operational characterization of a vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting around 739 nm with over 150 mW in a single fundamental spatial mode. Results show that the laser is capable of oscillating on a single cavity axial mode at 740 nm for up to 22 mW. Tuning of the optical emission is shown to reach 737.3 nm. Furthermore, at best performance, the laser exhibits a slope efficiency of 8.3% and a threshold power of 1.27 W for an output coupler reflectivity of 98%.


To the Editor: A recent article by Rowley et a1. 1 commented that theirs was the first Australian study to demonstrate the feasibility of midwifery team care. There are at least two other comparative studies of midwiferyand shared care" that also demonstrate successful outcomes. These studies may have been missed in the literature review because they are not on MEDLINE. The first was by Hoganin 1981, which matched all birth centre admissions (n =259) with labour ward admissions of similar risk status (n =259). For primiparous women, fetal distress occurred in 16.8% of birth centre births and 36% of labour ward births (P< 0.001), infants were admitted to the nursery in 20.5% of birth centre births and 36% of labour ward births (P< 0.01), and jaundice occurred in 16 babies born in the birth centre (9.9%) and in 33 born in the labour ward (20.5%). In my study," based in part on Hogan's findings, I used data on 51 homebirths and 509 hospital births from the NSW Maternal/Perinatal Statistics Collection to compare the outcomes for women matched for risk status giving birth at home and in hospital. There was significantly more morbidity for primiparous women who gave birth in hospitals (P< 0.1), but this relationship was no longer significant when Level 3 teaching hospitals (those equipped with a neonatal intensive care unit) were excluded from the analysis. There were no significant differences in morbidity for multiparous women. A separate analysis of one teaching hospital indicated high levels offetal distress (43.1 %) in low-risk primiparous women. Some caution should be used in interpreting these results; the reliability of the data has yet to be ascertained; this would require a comparison between the computerised records and the actual hospital and homebirth records. It was not possible to determine the reasons for the complication rates, which varied at different hospitals. One year after these data were collected, Bennett et a1. 4 reviewed the use of epidural anaesthesia, questioning whether randomised clinical trials had adequately assessed its effects on maternal hypotension


Worst-case circuit design is not a cookbook approach that allows good circuit designs to be arrived at without thinking. Neither is it an approach that requires an inordinate degree of sophistication and engineering skill. The success of the worst-case design approach depends entirely on a thorough knowledge and understanding of all circuit requirements and design factors that are involved.


Namdari, M. and S. Mahmoodi. 2013. Evaluation of grain yield and yield components in intercropping of dwarf and tall cultivars of soybean (Glycine max L.).Iranian Journal of Crop Sciences. 15(1): 1-11. (In Persian). To evaluate agronomic performance of two soybean cultivars in different planting patterns a field experiment was conducted with complete randomized block design with four replications at Agricultural Research Station of Qaemshahr in Mazandran province in 2008. Two cultivars (032; Nekador and Sari) in 50:50 planting ratio were row intercropped in different planting patterns including; one, two and three rows of each cultivar. Different intercropped planting patterns showed significant effect on grain yield and yield components. However planting patterns did not have significant effect on100 grain weight. Results indicated that the highest canopy height and pod number per plant were obtained from three and one row planting patterns, respectively. Calculation of LER revealed that the maximum intercropping efficiency (LER= 1.39) in one row planting pattern was higher than the sole crop stand. The evaluation of pod distribution in different part of main stem showed that higher grain yield of intercropped planting patterns was due to greater number of pods in upper part of the canopy. Comparison of actual: expected grain yield ratio indicated that the higher grain yield (%) in different planting patterns was obtained from 032 variety. In conclusion, the higher aggressivity of 032 over Sari was the main reason for its higher grain yield in different intercropped planting patterns.


Plant–virus interactions based-studies have contributed to increase our understanding on plant resistance mechanisms, providing new tools for crop improvement. In the last two decades, RNA interference, a post-transcriptional gene silencing approach, has been used to induce antiviral defenses in plants with the help of genetic engineering technologies. More recently, the new genome editing systems (GES) are revolutionizing the scope of tools available to confer virus resistance in plants. The most explored GES are zinc finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 endonuclease. GES are engineered to target and introduce mutations, which can be deleterious, via double-strand breaks at specific DNA sequences by the error-prone non-homologous recombination end-joining pathway. Although GES have been engineered to target DNA, recent discoveries of GES targeting ssRNA molecules, including virus genomes, pave the way for further studies programming plant defense against RNA viruses. Most of plant virus species have an RNA genome and at least 784 species have positive ssRNA. Here, we provide a summary of the latest progress in plant antiviral defenses mediated by GES. In addition, we also discuss briefly the GES perspectives in light of the rebooted debate on genetic modified organisms (GMOs) and the current regulatory frame for agricultural products involving the use of such engineering technologies.


Triptolide (TPL) is a traditional Chinese medicine that possesses anti-multidrug resistance (MDR) properties against various cancers, including oral cancer. However, the functional roles of TPL in oral cancer cells and its potential ability to overcome MDR have not fully evaluated. Therefore, in this study we used oral cancer cell line SAS to establish Taxol-resistant cell line SAS/Taxol and investigated the effects of TPL on MDR, proliferation, and apoptosis of SAS/Taxol cells. We first demonstrated that TPL overcame MDR in SAS/Taxol cells. In addition, TPL induced prominent proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis of SAS/Taxol cells. Furthermore, the pro-apoptotic effect of TPL on SAS/Taxol cells was dependent on intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways involved in the activation of caspases. Consistently, TPL successfully hampered oral tumor growth by inducing cell apoptosis in a xenograft mouse model. Overall, these results indicated that TPL circumvented MDR of SAS/Taxol cells by inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis which was partly mediated by the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways, suggesting the potential therapeutic value of TPL on Taxol-resistant human oral cancer.


The notion and function of boundary differed fundamentally in the European and African contexts. In traditional Africa, the concept of an ethnic boundary was expressed in terms of neighbours with whom the particular polity shared a territory and such a boundary was conceived of in terms of a region or a narrow zone fronting the two neighbours marked off by it. Thus, the boundary was the zone where two States were joined together. In other words, African boundaries were usually rooted in ethnic and social contact. But European partition of Africa conceived boundaries as physical separation points. Africans who had become frontiersmen had no immediate knowledge that their lands and kin divided by the boundary were now "foreign". They did not know that the new boundaries functioned differently from the traditionally familiar ones. They thought the former were only for the white men until they were checked at crossing points. Its impact on their relations with their kin and neighbours made them to create secret routes across the frontiers. But these new borders soon faded in their minds. This paper, therefore, attempts a theoretical approach to the valorization of ethnic rather than international prescript boundaries by the inhabitants of Bakassi, and how their activities challenge the application of international decisions. It concludes by attempting a therapy for such challenges as on the Bakassi borderlines, and of course brings to book the African-border conflict prone paradigm.


The structure and magnetic properties of small Cr clusters, Cr3 and Cr4, adsorbed on the Cu(111) surface have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and their vibrational properties have been studied within calculations based on tight-binding second moment approximation interatomic interaction potentials (TBSMA). It has been shown that the magnetic ordering in the Cr clusters significantly affects their crystal structure and symmetry, which influences the vibrational modes of the clusters and nearest neighbor copper atoms. In turn, these modes select potentially possible structures of Cr3 and Cr4, prohibiting the lowest total energy cluster structure as dynamically unstable.


Hashing large collection of URLs is an inevitable problem in many Web research activities. Through a large scale experiment, three hash functions are compared in this paper. Two metrics were developed for the comparison, which are related to web structure analysis and Web crawling, respectively. The finding is that the well-known function for hashing sequence of symbols, ELFhash, is not very good in this regard, and the other two functions are better and thus recommended.


Beneath Hawke's Bay, the interface between the subducted Pacific and overlying Australian plates lies at shallow depth - within the depth range where large subduction thrust earthquakes are expected. Determining the likely size of such earthquakes is thus a major issue in quantifying the seismic hazard of the region. Here we use recent seismological, geodetic and geologic research results to estimate the rupture dimensions, magnitude and recurrence of a large subduction thrust event. The estimated rupture zone extends 45 km downdip, from 15 km to 22 km depth on the plate interface, and 120 km along strike, from 45 km southwest of Napier to 10 km northeast of Wairoa. This equates to an M w 7.7 earthquake. The estimated recurrence of such an event depends on the coupling coefficient (i.e. the ratio of seismic slip to total slip) at the plate interface, which is not well determined. Our preferred range for this coefficient is 0.3-0.5, which yields a recurrence interval range of 250-400 years. Such recurrence is broadly consistent with the geological record of subsidence in the Ahuriri Lagoon near Napier in the 3500 years prior to the M s 7.8 Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931.


Abstract AIM: To establish the prevalence and factors influencing the prevalence and severity of gastric ulceration in racehorses in New Zealand. METHODS: Horses (n=171) in active training for racing by trainers (n=24) located throughout New Zealand were examined using gastroscopy during 2003 and 2004. Images of the examination were recorded and reviewed, and an ordinal grade based on the severity of gastric ulceration present was assigned, using the grading system proposed by the Equine Gastric Ulcer Council (EGUC). Information about the horses such as age, breed, sex, stabling, time at pasture, pasture quality, and presence of clinical signs consistent with equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) was recorded. RESULTS: Of the 171 horses in the study, 133 (78%) were Thoroughbreds and 38 (22%) were Standardbreds. Evidence of gastric ulceration was present in 151 (88.3%) of these. Prevalence of ulceration was higher at the lesser curvature (LC) and greater curvature (GC) of the stomach than at the saccus caecus (SC; p<0.01), and ulceration was more severe at the LC than at either the GC (p=0.02) or the SC (p<0.001). The prevalence of ulceration did not differ between the two breeds (p=0.51) or between horses of differing ages (p=0.56). Gastric ulceration was evident in 125/141 (89%) horses kept at pasture for at least 4 h/day, in all 13 (100%) horses kept at pasture full time, and in 16/17 (94%) horses stabled full time. Prevalence and severity of ulceration did not differ between horses stabled full time, kept at pasture for part of the day or kept at pasture full time (p=0.33 and 0.13, respectively), and for horses grazed on pasture severity of ulceration did not vary significantly with the quality of the pasture (p=0.12). Neither prevalence (p=0.26) nor severity (p=0.49) of gastric ulceration varied significantly with duration of training. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of gastric ulceration in racehorses in New Zealand is similar to that reported elsewhere for horses in active training for racing. Access to pasture for some or all of the day did not appear to be protective.


This case study provides a foundation for improving the efficacy and efficiency of communicating wine science by investigating winemakers' and growers' behaviors and attitudes around accessing professional information resources. Interviews and surveys of Washington state winemakers and growers yield qualitative data concerning how they interact with the many different information sources available to them, what frustrates or enables their learning, and their attitudes toward employing scientific research findings in their winemaking. Findings show that, beyond a general preference for traditionally authoritative sources, Washington state winemakers and growers as a whole are remarkably diverse with resource preferences and attitudes relating to how they think about the role of science in winemaking and the nature of being a good winemaker. Winemakers' and growers' sense of professional identity, in other words, proved the strongest predictor of their resource use preferences, whereas demographic characteristics such as educational background or age failed to correlate with resource use preferences. Attending to this heterogeneity and the reasons behind it may help extension and other science communicators craft messages framed to be more relevant and trustworthy to their industry audiences.


IMUSim is a new simulation package developed in Python to model Inertial Measurement Units, i.e. devices which include accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers. It was developed in the course of our research into algorithms for IMU-based motion capture, and has now been released under the GPL for the benefit of other researchers and users. The software generates realistic sensor readings based on trajectory, environment, sensor and system models. It includes implementaions of various relevant processing algorithms and mathematical utilities, some of which may be useful elsewhere. The simulator makes extensive use of NumPy, SciPy, SimPy, Cython, Matplotlib and Mayavi. The rapid development enabled by these tools allowed the project to be completed as a side project by two researchers. Careful design of an object-oriented API for the various models involved in the simulation allows the software to remain flexible and extensible while requiring users to write a minimum amount of code to use it.


Does the housing market reflect cultural heritage? We estimate several specifications of a hedonic price equation to establish whether distance to, and density of, cultural heritage site is capitalised into housing prices in Greater Dublin, Ireland. We use a very rich dataset of housing and neighbourhood characteristics and include 104 location-fixed effects, which represent very small areas, ensuring the identification of the price effects on similar houses in similar areas. Our results show that some types of cultural heritage sites, such as historic buildings, memorials, and Martello towers, provide positive spillovers to property prices while archaeological sites seem to be a negative amenity. We interpret these premiums (or lack thereof) as capturing aesthetic beauty.


ABSTRACT Asni Syafitri. 2018. Teaching Pronunciation Using Prezi Presentation in Speaking Class (A Classroom Action Research in a Senior High School of Surakarta). Thesis, Surakarta: Graduate School Sebelas Maret University. In recent years the use of technologies in educational systems has increased worldwide. The impact of technologies in educational contexts has been mostly positive. Prezi Presentation is one of the innovative ways that has benefecial effect for teaching and learning English. This research is aimed to (1) reveal the improvement of students' pronunciation when the teacher uses Prezi presentation in teaching speaking. (2) describe the students' learning motivation when the teacher uses Prezi presentation in teaching speaking. The research applied a classroom action research which consisted of two cycles, with three meetings in every cycle. Each cycle consisted of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. There were two types of data in the research, quantitative and qualititative data. The quantitative data were obtained through a pre test, post test 1, and post test 2. Those data, moreover, were analyzed in order to find out the mean score was administrated to find the significant improvement. Furthernore, the qualitative data were collected using observation, interview, questionnaire, and diary. The data were then analyzed using a technique proposed by Burns consisting of five steps: assembling the data, coding the data, comparing the data, building interpretations, and reporting the outcomes. The results of the research showed that: (1) Prezi Presentation can be used to develop students' pronunciation in terms of: (a) improving some vowel and diphthong sounds, (b) improving some consonant sounds, (c) improving word stresses, and (c) improving the intonations; and (2) the students had high learning motivation when Prezi Presentation was implemented, the learning motivation can be seen from the students desire, attention, activeness, and confidence. Hence, the finding of this research above can be a foundation to claim that the implementation of the materials in Prezi Presentation has beneficial effects to the students' pronunciation in speaking and students' learning motivation. Keywords: Classroom Action Research, Prezi, Pronunciation, Speaking


The uplink of a cellular system where macrocells are overlaid with femtocells is studied. Each femtocell is served by a home base station (HBS) that is connected to the macrocell base station (BS) via a last-mile access link, such as DSL or cable followed by the Internet. Decoding at the BSs takes place via either standard single-cell processing or multicell processing (i.e., network MIMO). Closed and open-access femtocells are con- sidered. Achievable per-cell sum-rates are derived in this setting for a linear cellular network. Overall, the analysis lends evidence to the performance advantages of open-access femtocells and sheds light on the performance trade-offs between single/multi- cell processing and different relaying strategies at the femtocells.


Knowledge of musical rules and structures has been reliably demonstrated in humans of different ages, cultures, and levels of music training, and has been linked to our musical preferences. However, how humans acquire knowledge of and develop preferences for music remains unknown. The present study shows that humans rapidly develop knowledge and preferences when given limited exposure to a new musical system. Using a non-traditional, unfamiliar musical scale (Bohlen-Pierce scale), we created finite-state musical grammars from which we composed sets of melodies. After 25-30 min of passive exposure to the melodies, participants showed extensive learning as characterized by recognition, generalization, and sensitivity to the event frequencies in their given grammar, as well as increased preference for repeated melodies in the new musical system. Results provide evidence that a domain-general statistical learning mechanism may account for much of the human appreciation for music.


During spontaneous breathing general anaesthesia, inspiration is generally started by a signal related to preceding cardiovascular activity. This phenomenon, 'cardioventilatory coupling', contributes to the variation in ventilatory frequency. However, the detailed, breath-to-breath timing relationship between heart beat and inspiratory onset is complex, with at least four distinct patterns (designated patterns I-IV). These coupling patterns are defined according to the particular breath-to-breath change in: (a) entrainment ratio and (b) coupling interval, the interval between inspiratory onset and the preceding initiating heart beat. We have examined the relationship between coupling and timing of breathing in adult subjects breathing spontaneously during general anaesthesia. The heart rate-ventilatory frequency interaction was explored by identifying the distribution of different coupling patterns in a plot of heart rate vs ventilatory frequency (the HR/f plot) and analysing the variation in breathing frequency during each coupling pattern by differentiating between changes in entrainment ratio from changes in coupling interval. We observed that: (i) coupling patterns are distributed within specific regions of the HR/f plot; (ii) specific patterns of variation in breathing are associated with each coupling pattern; (iii) this variation is a consequence of the balance between changes in entrainment ratio and coupling interval; (iv) coupling was invariably present at low breathing frequencies; and (v) the inverse non-linear relationship between ventilatory frequency and variation is largely a consequence of changing coupling pattern with ventilatory frequency. Coupling explains much of the breath-to-breath variability of ventilatory frequency during anaesthesia, and may be relevant to the phenomena of hypoventilation, central apnoea and ventilatory arrhythmia. A hypothesis concerning the generation of coupling patterns is presented.


Aims: To describe the fitting of patients with high or irregular astigmatism following penetrating keratoplasty with contact lenses and to answer the question whether or not contact lenses with special back surface design can improve visual acuity in complex cases after penetrating keratoplasty. Methods: 28 eyes were included. They were fitted with contact lenses with a special back surface that was designed for optical rehabilitation after penetrating keratoplasty. Four different types of these lenses (tricurve, keratoconus, reverse, oblong) were used selectively depending on abnormal eccentricity determined by videokeratoscope. The patients were followed up for an average period of 15.5 months. Lens tolerance and corrected visual acuity were evaluated and compared with that corrected with spectacles. Results: The visual acuity was significantly improved in nearly all eyes with an average increase of 3.6 lines (maximal nine lines) accompanied by good contact lens tolerance and satisfactory contact lens fit. No noticeable complications were observed. Conclusion: Contact lenses with special back surface design can improve visual results and lens tolerance, and minimise problems in contact lens fitting. This is in favour of contact lenses as an alternative to surgical procedures for correction of high or irregular astigmatism after penetrating keratoplasty. This procedure is recommended especially in cases of patients who decline further operative interventions.


Part 1 The crowd: the fear of being touched the open and closed crowd the discharge destructiveness the eruption persecution domestication of crowds in the world religions panic the crowd as a ring the attributes of the crowd rhythm stagnation slowness, or the remoteness of the goal invisible crowds classification of crowds according to their prevailing emotion baiting crowds flight crowds prohibition crowds reversal crowds feast crowds the double crowd - men and women, the living and the dead the double crowd - war crowd crystals crowd symbols - fire, the sea, rain, rivers, forest, corn, wind, sand, the heap, stone heaps, treasure. Part 2 The pack: the pack - kinds of pack hunting pack the war pack the lamenting pack the increase pack the communion inward and tranquil packs the pack's determination, the historical premanence of packs packs in the ancestor legends of the Aranda temporary formation among the Aranda. Part 3 The pack and religion: the transmutation of packs hunting and the forest among the Lele of Kasai the war booty and the Jivaros the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians on the dynamics of war, the first death, the triumph Islam as a religion of war the religions of lament the Muharram festival of the Shiites Catholicism and the crowd the Holy Fire in Jerusalem. Part 4 The crowd in history: national crowd symbols - the English, the Dutch, the Germans, the French, the Swiss, the Spaniards, the Italians, the Jews Germany and Versailles inflation and the crowd the nature of the parliamentary system distribution and increase, socialism and production the self-destruction of the Xosas. Part 5 The entrails of power: seizing and incorporation the hand - the patience of the hand, the finger exercises of monkeys, the hands and the birth of objects, destructiveness in monkeys and men, the killers are always the powerful on the psychology of eating. Part 6 The survivor: the survivor survival and invulnerability survival as a passion the rules as survivor the escape of Josephus the despot's hostility to survivors, rulers and their successors forms of survival the survivor in primitive belief the resentment of the dead epidemics cemetries immortality. Part 7 Elements of power. Part content.


Perineal leiomyosarcoma is an extremely rare and aggressive cancer with a high metastatic potential and no defined standard treatment. There are only a few (six) reported cases in the literature. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman with a perineal leiomyosarcoma arising at the same site of a previously resected superficial angiomyxoma. Initially, she was treated for a presumptive recurrence of angiomyxoma. As she did not respond to medical therapy, she underwent repeat surgical excision. Pathology revealed a high grade leiomyosarcoma, histologically strikingly distinct from the initial diagnosis. She received adjuvant local radiation therapy, and remains without evidence of recurrent disease 36 months after completion of all therapy. This is the first reported case of a high grade perineal leiomyosarcoma originating at the same site as a resected benign superficial angiomyxoma. Our case emphasizes the necessity of a prompt histological diagnosis in cases of presumed recurrent perineal angiomyxoma.


An analysis is presented for calculating the backscattered fields of an electromagnetic plane wave by lossless dielectric spheres of arbitrary density. This method involves the Watson transformation which serves to split the exact Mie solution, given as an infinite series, into the geometrical optics fields and the diffracted fields. The former comes from the illuminated region of the sphere and may be obtained from the geometrical optics method. The latter comes from the shadow region and consists of two different types of surface waves. One is a "creeping wave" analogous to that of perfectly conducting spheres. The other is a wave which enters the sphere and emerges as a surface wave in the shadow region. This wave is unique to dielectric spheres and is the stronger of the two surface waves. In the widely used geometric optics methods it is assumed that the optics fields are the dominant contributors even though stationary rays which are not in the direction of backscatter must be added in to give a degree of agreement with the exact Mie series results. In this paper we derive the optics fields and show that they differ in some respects from those obtained by the geometric optics method. They are smaller than heretofore assumed and contribute negligibly to the backscatter in this particular range of ka (4-20). Using our rigorous approach we can show the diffracted fields to be the major contributors to the total backscatter. Numerical results for the backscattering cross sections using diffracted and optics fields, and optics fields alone will be presented for relative index of refraction of 1.6. The agreement between our results (diffracted and optics) and exact results from the Mie series is excellent. A subsequent paper will be concerned with the diffracted fields.


The concentration of some heavy metals (Cd, Fe, Pb, Cu, Ni and Cr) in the different organs (Liver, Gills, Muscle and Kidney) was determined in the African Catfish – Clariasgariepinus from Okilo creek, in Rivers State, Nigeria. The concentration of cadmium (0.001mg/kg) was uniform in all the organs studied, however, that of iron and lead ranged from 28.665 – 58.817 and 0.039 – 0.577 respectively. Similarly, the concentration of Copper, Nickel and Chromium in the different organs under investigation fluctuated from 0.934 – 3.702; 1.243 – 3.689 and 0.09 – 2.859 respectively. The order of metal concentration in the organs concerned are as follows – Liver – Fe > Ni > Cu > Cr >Pb> Cd; Gills – Fe > Ni > Cu > Cr >Pb> Cd; Muscle – Fe > Cu > Ni > Cr >Pb> Cd and kidney- Fe > Cu > Ni > Cr >Pb> Cd. The accumulation of heavy metals by the different organs in the investigation showed that the kidney is the highest accumulator followed by the liver, muscle and gills. The concentration of lead and copper in the kidney and chromium in the muscle, liver and kidney are above the stated limits of different authorities thus making the consumption of catfish from the study area a potential health hazard.


Localization is one of the critical issues on wireless sensor networks. Localization schemes are classified into range-based and range-free according to the method of whether to use range information. In this paper, we propose a novel range-based localization scheme which involves a movement strategy of mobile beacon, called mobile beacon-assisted localization (MBAL). Contrary to many research activities which have been carried out to design localization schemes using mobile beacons only based on random movement method, we consider totally a new scheme providing movement path selection with a low computational complexity. A new range check technique is also adopted into the MBAL as a useful solution to the position-ambiguity problem of bilateration in order to improve the performance of the proposed localization scheme. Simulation results verify that the MBAL impressively achieves energy efficiency because of its mobile beacon based approach using the proposed movement strategy and range check technique.


Scalar fields are among the possible candidates for dark energy. This paper is devoted to the scalar fields from the inert doublet model, where instead of one as in the standard model, two SU(2) Higgs doublets are used. The component fields of one SU(2) doublet ($\phi_1$) act in an identical way to the standard model Higgs while the component fields of the second SU(2) doublet ($\phi_2$) are taken to be the dark energy candidate (which is done by assuming that the phase transition in the field has not yet occurred). It is found that one can arrange for late time acceleration (dark energy) by using an SU(2) Higgs doublet in the inert Higgs doublet model, whose vacuum expectation value is zero, in the quintessential regime.


Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is considered a common chronic musculoskeletal disease affecting the medial compartment more than the lateral compartment and leading to disability and a reduction in activity level. Lateral wedge insoles (LWI) are a conservative treatment that aims to reduce the knee loading (External knee adduction moment (EKAM), which is increased in individuals with knee OA compared to healthy individuals. Although, LWI reduce EKAM in individuals with knee OA, no significant difference was seen in pain when compared to the control treatment (neutral insole). Patients and healthcare practitioners are driven by pain more than by mechanics. Therefore, reductions in pain and loading could be achieved with LWI if combined with other conservative treatments, such as a simple knee sleeve.
The overall aim of the thesis was to investigate the biomechanical and clinical effects of combining LWI with a knee sleeve, compared to each treatment used on its own. To accomplish this research, four studies were conducted. Firstly, a reliability study amongst healthy individuals was conducted. Secondly, a reliability study of individuals affected by knee OA was conducted. Both studies showed that most biomechanical and clinical outcomes have excellent reliability and low measurement error, which supports using them. Thirdly, a randomised crossover study was conducted among healthy individuals to investigate the immediate effects of the combined treatment and the single treatments. The results showed that a knee sleeve significantly reduced the knee joint frontal plane range of motion (ROM) but not the EKAM or muscle co-contraction. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the EKAM with use of LWI was noticed. The combined treatment showed both a reduction in the EKAM from LWI use and a reduction in frontal plane ROM, which supports the use of these treatments in individuals with knee OA.
In the fourth and main study, thirty-four participants with medial knee OA were enrolled and randomised into 3 groups (LWI, simple knee sleeve, LWI and simple knee sleeve). The immediate and six-week effect on biomechanical and clinical outcomes were measured and compared between and within groups. At baseline there was no significant difference between the groups. The results showed a significant reduction in the magnitude of change in EKAM for the combined group and the LWI group compared with the sleeve group. The magnitude of change in muscle co-contraction was higher in the sleeve group and the combined group compared to the LWI group. The combined group (31.88%) showed greater reduction in pain than the LWI group (21.1%) and the sleeve group (11.16%); however, this was not statistically significant. Only the combined group and the LWI group showed improvement in balance and functional tests compared to their baseline. Finally, the pain pressure threshold did not change after treatment in all groups.
Overall, the findings of this thesis support combined treatment. A larger trial to investigate combined treatment and single treatments in a larger sample size is needed to make the findings more conclusive.


Reported are our findings from a case-control study of the association between prolonged breast-feeding and clinical malnutrition in an urban setting in West Africa. The cases were children aged 12-36 months who had been hospitalized with a diagnosis of clinical malnutrition. Children of a similar age who lived in neighbouring courtyards were recruited as controls. For 152 case-control pairs in which both children were receiving solid foods, non-breast-feeding was associated with an increased risk of clinical malnutrition (crude odds ratio = 2.37; 95% confidence interval = 1.24, 4.55). This association remained statistically significant after controlling for various potentially confounding variables (P = 0.03). Our findings suggest that either prolonged breast-feeding may offer substantial protection against clinical malnutrition in the study population or malnutrition leads mothers to stop breast-feeding. These results are inconsistent with those of a number of workers who have reported that prolonged breast-feeding is associated with an increased risk of malnutrition. This inconsistency might have arisen because of differences in the definition of malnutrition used or because of variations in the quantity and quality of weaning foods available in different settings. We found no evidence to support the hypothesis that prolonged breast-feeding may be detrimental to children.


Author(s): Steele, Stephanie Erin | Advisor(s): Sork, Victoria L | Abstract: Understanding the response of plants to natural selection is an important topic in plant evolutionary ecology, both in terms of understanding what structures plant populations spatially and genetically and how plants will be able to respond to changing conditions. We investigate three means by which seedlings respond to selection pressure: spatial escape, evolutionary response via local adaptation, and phenotypically plastic responses measured as changes in gene expression. First, in tropical forest in Ecuador, we test the classic Janzen-Connell hypothesis that seed dispersal is advantageous because it provides escape from host-specific soil pathogens associated with high seedling densities near maternal trees. In support of this hypothesis, we find that survival of Pentagonia macrophylla seedlings in the field increases and disease incidence decreases with decreasing density of conspecifics of various life stages. However, a greenhouse experiment suggests that trade-offs between dispersal and local adaptation, along with spatial heterogeneity in soil properties, shape seedling establishment. Second, we propose a method to test for evidence of selection in seedling populations, using two oak species (Quercus douglasii and Q. kellogii) planted in common gardens in California as case studies. We test for genetic differentiation between multivariate genotypes of seedling populations that survive or die and find that selection acts more strongly at distant than local sites and that the signal of selection increases over time. Employing SNP-survival association tests, we further identify 31 variants that may be responsible for observed genetic divergence between seedlings that lived versus died. Finally, we test the effects of one pervasive selective pressure, drought stress, on variation in gene expression among seedlings within a population of Q. douglasii seedlings. We identify a suite of genes that consistently respond to drought stress across all maternal families tested, in addition to a set of 70 genes whose transcriptional response to drought varies with family, providing adaptive potential to respond to changing conditions. This work suggests that selection by pathogens shapes the spatial structure of a tropical tree population and that standing variation in a temperate tree population may allow adaptive evolutionary and plastic responses to changing climate.


Mild hypothermia and the 21-aminosteroids have both been neuroprotective in several models of cerebral ischemia. In this study we compared the effects of mild hypothermia and the 21-aminosteroid U-74389G, alone and in combination on neurologic and histopathologic outcome after temporary spinal cord ischemia. Forty male anesthetized New Zealand white rabbits were randomized to four groups (n = 10): (a) normothermia (control); (b) U-74389G (3 mg/kg intravenously [i.v.] before aortic occlusion, 1.5 mg/kg i.v. and 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally after occlusion); (c) mild hypothermia (4°C epidural temperature decrease); and (d) mild hypothermia combined with U-74389G. Spinal cord ischemia was produced by 40 min of infrarenal aortic balloon occlusion. Forty-eight hours after the procedure, the neurologic status of the animals was assessed (Tarlov score) and the animals were killed for histologie evaluation. In the normothermic control group, eight of 10 animals became paraplegic. There was a significant reduction of the incidence of paraplegia and overall neurologic deficits and a significant improved Tarlov score in the mild hypothermie group (one animal paraplegic) and in the group with both mild hypothermia and U-74389G (two animals with a mild paraparesis). The histopathologic scores showed significantly less damage in both hypothermie groups. In group 2, U-74389G administration did not improve neurologic or histopathologic outcomes. The results of the current study demonstrate that a slight decrease of intraischemic spinal cord temperature significantly improved neurologic and histopathologic outcomes after experimental spinal cord ischemia. Protection by the 21-aminosteroid at normothermic conditions, or additional protection when U-74389G was added to mild hypothermia, could not be demonstrated.


This contribution seeks to add to our knowledge on 'partitive articles' (like the French element du in Je bois du vin, 'I drink (some) wine') in a highly endangered language spoken in France, Switzerland and Italy, namely Francoprovenc al. Based on recent fieldwork data (2017) from the Aosta Valley and data from the ALAVAL atlas project, we will discuss outliers in a geographical and syntactic perspective, i.e. occurrences of 'partitive articles' where they should not appear. This either because the regions and their respective varieties do not feature them according to the existing literature or because syntactic regularities known from Standard French do not admit them (under the scope of negation and after quantifying expressions). We will try to propose some explanations for the existence of these unexpected elements, both internal and external, i.e. via language contact, and argue more generally in favour of a more systematic consideration of rare elements in fieldwork data, which should not too readily be "explained away".


Reconfigurable video coding (RVC) is an emerging concept allowing efficient usage of hardware resources. With the aid of reconfiguration the same computing resources can be used with different video coding standards and different decoding parameters. In this paper, an application specific processor (ASP) is proposed for the transform block of the RVC. The most intensive functions of several video coding standards are identified and their computations are accelerated with special function units (SFU). The same SFUs are shared among all the targeted video standards. As a result, the proposed ASP is capable of real-time decoding of MPEG-4, H.264, and VC 1 video streams with all the profiles and HD 720p resolution and frame rate. Moreover, the ASP is easily reconfigurable to support other formats with the same kernel functions.


OBJECTIVE
A group-based eating disorder prevention program wherein young women explore the costs of pursuing the thin ideal reduces eating disorder risk factors and symptoms. However, it can be challenging to identify school clinicians to effectively deliver the intervention. The present study compares the effects of a new Internet-based version of this prevention program, which could facilitate dissemination, to the group-based program and to educational video and educational brochure control conditions at 1- and 2-year follow-up.

METHOD
Female college students with body dissatisfaction (n = 107; M age = 21.6, SD = 6.6) were randomized to these 4 conditions.

RESULTS
Internet participants showed reductions in eating disorder risk factors and symptoms relative to the 2 control conditions at 1- and 2-year follow-up (M -d = .34 and .17, respectively), but the effects were smaller than parallel comparisons for the group participants (M -d = .48 and .43, respectively). Yet the Internet intervention produced large weight gain prevention effects relative to the 2 control conditions at 1- and 2-year follow-up (M -d = .80 and .73, respectively), which were larger than the parallel effects for the group intervention (M -d = .19 and .47, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Although the effects for the Internet versus group intervention were similar at posttest, results suggest that the effects faded more quickly for the Internet intervention. However, the Internet intervention produced large weight gain prevention effects, implying that it might be useful for simultaneously preventing eating disordered behavior and unhealthy weight gain.


The purpose of this study is to describe the use of greeting words in the conversation of SDN Langkang Lama students in Kotabaru district? This type of research is the type of field research by presenting the data used in this study as a qualitative method. Because the data collected is in the form of words, picture sentences and not numbers. That was caused by the application of qualitative methods. Data sources in the implementation of this study were primary data and secondary data. Data collection techniques in this study by observation, recording, listening and note taking. And data analysis techniques namely data recording transcripts, data translators, data analysis and finally draw conclusions. The results showed that the use of greetings in students 'conversation at SDN Langkang Lama, Kotabaru Regency, namely the greeting words of respect found in students' greetings to greet teachers and greet other students found as many as 29% who were included in the classification is very low. In the usual greeting words found in the speech of students to greet the teacher and greet other students found as many as 32% included in the low classification. In rough greeting words found in the speech of students to greet the teacher or other students found as many as 39% included in the low classification .


BACKGROUND
Default mode network (DMN) dysfunction is well established in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and documented in both preclinical stages and at-risk subjects, thus representing a potential disease target. Multi-sessions of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) seem capable of modulating DMN dynamics and memory in healthy individuals and AD patients; however, the potential of this approach in at-risk subjects has yet to be tested.

OBJECTIVE
This study will test the effect of rTMS on the DMN in healthy older individuals carrying the strongest genetic risk factor for AD, the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele.

METHODS
We will recruit 64 older participants without cognitive deficits, 32 APOE ɛ4 allele carriers and 32 non-carriers as a reference group. Participants will undergo four rTMS sessions of active (high frequency) or sham DMN stimulation. Multimodal imaging exam (including structural, resting-state, and task functional MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging), TMS with concurrent electroencephalography (TMS-EEG), and cognitive assessment will be performed at baseline and after the stimulation sessions.

RESULTS
We will assess changes in DMN connectivity with resting-state functional MRI and TMS-EEG, as well as changes in memory performance in APOE ɛ4 carriers. We will also investigate the mechanisms underlying DMN modulation through the assessment of correlations with measures of neuronal activity, excitability, and structural connectivity with multimodal imaging.

CONCLUSION
The results of this study will inform on the physiological and cognitive outcomes of DMN stimulation in subjects at risk for AD and on the possible mechanisms. These results may outline the design of future non-pharmacological preventive interventions for AD.


Background Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in industrialized countries. It is a multifactorial disease of the retina modified by environmental/individual (e.g. smoking) and genetic factors. 34 independent genomic loci are associated with the risk to develop AMD; an interaction between smoking and genetics is currently investigated. It is unclear how the knowledge on the strong genetic component has entered the knowledge base of practicing ophthalmologists, and how they inform and counsel their (AMD) patients about it. In this study, we explore the ophthalmologists' view on AMD genetics, and their inclination towards communicating genetic risks to patients. Methods We recruited a purposive sample of thirty German ophthalmologists (office based: n = 15, hospital employees: n = 15, f:8/30), who took part in a recorded semi-standardized interview. Transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. Results The majority of office-based ophthalmologists claimed to be unfamiliar with genetics of AMD, in contrast to hospital-affiliated ophthalmologists. Both office and hospital ophthalmologists were convinced that genetics lacks practical relevance in everyday patient care. Many withhold information on heritability or genetic background of AMD from patients and their relatives, for fear of unsettling those individuals. The relevance of the genetic component of AMD or an individuals' high genetic risk for prevention, e.g. screening or lifestyle modifications in persons with adverse genetic profile, was rated low. Conclusion Developing genetic educational programs tailored to the routine care of ophthalmologists may be indicated, as well as a better two-way communication between research and practice. Exploring patient views about their expectations to being informed about genetic disease etiology, or about their individual risk, would help inform communication strategies.


The purpose of this paper is to review clinical associations between diseases of the liver and joints. Since the publication of an excellent review of arthropathy and liver disease by Whelton' in 1970 there has been an increasing awareness of the systemic manifestations of many primary liver or joint diseases. Recognition of the pattern of systemic involvement of a disease may be of considerable assistance in making a firm diagnosis and may help elucidate the cause of these diseases where so little understanding of the basic pathophysiology exists. In addition, a review of the more common examples of liver disease induced by antirheumatic drugs will be included. The first observation of a possible link between arthritis and liver disease was the recognition of an ameliorating effect of jaundice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis reported by Still2 in 1897 and Wishart3 in 1903. Philip Hench at the Mayo Clinic in the 1930s confirmed that 31 out of 45 patients with rheumatic conditions obtained complete (71 %) or incomplete (29%) remission from joint symptoms for a mean of 19-5 weeks following the spontaneous onset of jaundice.4 The remission was dependent on the degree of jaundice, requiring serum bilirubin of concentration greater than 8 mg/100 ml (137 ,umoIl) rather than the cause, as viral hepatitis or obstructive jaundice seemed equally effective. Attempts to reproduce this phenomenon artificially by intravenous infusion of bile salts, human bile, liver extracts, or highly jaundiced blood were all initially unsuccessful.5 However, an infusion of a combination of bilirubin and dehydrocholic acid was then reported to give prolonged pain relief and reduction in joint swelling to 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.6 Infusion of chenodeoxycholic acid alone was, much later, also shown to produce mild transient relief of pain in 6 out of 10 rheumatoid arthritis patients.7 Interest in the


Quantum correlation, as an intrinsic property of quantum mechanics, has been widely employed to test the fundamental physical principles and explore the quantum-enhanced technologies. However, such correlation would be drowned and even destroyed in the conditions of high levels of loss and noise, which drops into the classical realm and renders quantum advantage ineffective. Especially in low light conditions, conventional linear classifiers are unable to extract and distinguish quantum and classical correlations with high accuracy. Here we experimentally demonstrate the classification of quantum correlation using deep learning to meet the challenge in the quantum imaging scheme. We design the convolutional neural network to learn and classify the correlated photons efficiently with only 0.1 signal photons per pixel. We show that decreasing signal intensity further weakens the correlation and makes an accurate linear classification impossible, while the deep learning method has a strong robustness of such task with the accuracy of 99.99%. These results open up a new perspective to optimize the quantum correlation in low light conditions, representing a step towards diverse applications in quantum-enhanced measurement scenarios, such as super-resolution microscope, quantum illumination, etc.


The direct method proposed by Clarkson and Kruskal is modified to obtain some conditional similarity solutions of a nonlinear physics model. Taking the (1+ 1 )-dimensional Boussinesq equation as a simple example, six types of conditional similarity reductions are obtained.


Abstract After an eventful decade of live-coding activities, this article seeks to explore the practice with the aim of situating it in the history of contemporary arts and music. The article introduces several key points of investigation in live-coding research and discusses some examples of how live-coding practitioners engage with these points in their system design and performances. In light of the extremely diverse manifestations of live-coding activities, the problem of defining the practice is discussed, and the question is raised whether live coding is actually necessary as an independent category.


The authors are dealing with the influence of meteorological factors on vascular diseases, primarily on patients with cerebro-vascular disturbances. The parameters mentioned in some studies are also presented in the introduction. There are still few studies by means of which it can be enlightened what happens in the human body affected by atmospheric disturbances. Therefore the basic intention of this study was to come up with answers to at least some segments of this complex problem. A group of patients with cerebrovascular symptoms and signs was chosen for examination. Tests were carried out during cold and warm front passages in anticyclonal situations and low gradient pressure fields within 47 days. In the first stage the tests were carried out only in one day and later for three consecutive days. Meteorological reports are given too. As for medical parameters, the following were controlled: the neurology status, blood pressure, blood test, ECG, REG. The coagulum was regularly checked. The examination was carried out in 12 male and 14 female patients, the age range 43-78. On the basis of the tests, the authors concluded that the most significant changes were noticed in the coagulum and thromboelastogram. According to the results, these changes are manifested during the cold front and during the cold spell caused by it. The findings point to a significant increasing of the thrombocyte aggregation and partly the aggregation index, which can be clinically manifested as the patient's health aggravation. Although other parameters of coagulation did not show significant changes, it cannot be deduced whether they are susceptible to the circumstances in the atmosphere or not.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Malaria is the most important parasitic infection in people, affecting 5–10% of the world's population with more than two million deaths a year. Whereas invasive bacterial infections are not uncommon during severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria, only a few cases of opportunistic fungal infections have been reported. Here, we present a fatal case of disseminated hyalohyphomycosis associated with acute P. falciparum malaria in a non‐immune traveller, review the cases reported in the literature and discuss the theoretical foundations for the increased susceptibility of non‐immune individuals with severe P. falciparum malaria to opportunistic fungal infections. Apart from the availability of free iron as sequelae of massive haemolysis, tissue damage, acidosis and measures of advanced life support, patients with complicated P. falciparum malaria also are profoundly immunosuppressed by the organism's interaction with innate and adaptive host immune mechanisms.


Purpose: To evaluate the claim, made repeatedly during Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition debates over eliminating the bereavement exclusion (BE), that "uncomplicated" depressive reactions have elevated suicidality like other major depressive disorder (MDD), so exclusions risk missing suicidal cases. Method: We found no published evidence assessing suicide risk specifically in uncomplicated depression. Using data from four epidemiological surveys, we calculated suicide attempt rates both concurrently and predictively for those with histories of no MDD, uncomplicated MDD, and standard MDD. Results: Both concurrently and predictively, uncomplicated MDD suicide attempt rates were no greater than no-MDD history rates and less than standard MDD rates. Discussion: Excluding uncomplicated cases from MDD poses no risk of missing elevated suicidal rates typical of depression. The "suicide" argument used to support BE elimination was spurious.


A tunable RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) impedance-matching network operating at a frequency band from 13 to 24 GHz based on the distributed microelectromechanical transmission line (DMTL) concept is presented in this paper. The network is implemented using a standard 0.35- ¿m CMOS technology and employs a novel suspended slow-wave (SSW) structure on a silicon substrate. The SSW structure results in a reduced total footprint and enhanced impedance coverage. The 8-bit DMTL matching network, fabricated using switched MEMS capacitors and SSW coplanar waveguide on a silicon substrate, results in a wide coverage of the Smith chart up to a maximum voltage standing-wave ratio of 11.5:1 with an impedance matching better than 10 dB and a power transfer ratio of better than -2.84 dB at 24 GHz. To our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a DMTL tunable MEMS impedance-matching network using a standard CMOS technology.


Objectives: To assess the impact of introducing NIPS into routine care, using two different approaches, on timing of first ultrasound in pregnancy and rate of genetic diagnostic procedures. Methods: Retrospective study of all screening tests for aneuploidy done in a tertiary academic institution between 1/2010-3/2018. Three different screening protocols were used: 1) 1/2010 11/2014 all women were offered first trimester screening (FTS); 2) 12/2014 4/2016, all offered FTS and NIPS; 3) 5/2016-3/2018 all offered FTS or genetic counselling and NIPS. Rates of FTS, NIPS, performance of any scan in first trimester, amniocentesis, chorionic villous sampling and NT scans offered to those who elected NIPS were compared between the three periods. Mann–Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square tests were utilised as indicated. Results: The number of FTS per month remained unchanged after adding NIPS in 2014 but significantly decreased after patients had to choose between NIPS and FTS (p<0.001). Using the 3rd protocol, fewer had NIPS (115 vs 365, p<0.001) or any type of screen (273 vs 365, p<0.001). On average, 7320 new patients were seen annually in our centre. In the first period, 6708 (91.6%) had ultrasound in 1st trimester. This dropped to 6168 (84.2%) in the second period and to 4932 (67.3%) in the recent period (p<0.001). Both diagnostic procedures decreased significantly after the introduction of NIPS (p<0.001). The number of NT scans offered to patients choosing only NIPS also decreased over time (46 vs 16, p<0.001). Conclusions: After the introduction of NIPS as an alternative to FTS, fewer women had their first prenatal ultrasound in the first trimester and fewer underwent diagnostic testing.


Optimal treatment strategies are lacking in relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Gemcitabine has shown activity and acceptable safety profile in B‐cell lymphomas. We present a retrospective case review of gemcitabine and alemtuzumab, every 21 d (for up to six courses) in 27 community‐based patients with high‐risk R/R CLL. Median age was 70 yr (44–83 yr), 55% patients had Binet stage C, deletion 17p (del(17p)) and/or deletion 11q (del(11q)) were found in 65% and 27%, bulky disease in 55.5%, and fludarabine‐refractoriness in 48% of cases, respectively. Overall response rate was 63% (29.6% clinical CR and 33.4% PR). At a median follow‐up of 31 months, median PFS and OS were 15.4 and 24 months. In multivariate analysis, median OS is influenced by prior lines of treatment = 3 and bulky disease. Combination of alemtuzumab and gemcitabine appears to be an active, easy to administrate treatment in routine practice, high‐risk R/R CLL patients.


Graph kernels are one of the most important methods for graph data analysis and have been successfully applied in diverse applications. We can generally categorize existing graph kernels into two groups: kernels based on local sub-structures, and kernels based on global properties. The first line of research compares sub-structures of graphs such as random walks [1], shortest paths [2], and graphlets [3]. Specifically, these kernels recursively decompose the graphs into small sub-structures, and then define a feature map over these sub-structures for the resulting graph kernel. However, the aforementioned approaches only consider local patterns rather than global properties, which may substantially limit effectiveness in some applications. Equally importantly, most of these graph kernels scale poorly to large graphs due to their at-least-quadratic complexity in the number of graphs and cubic complexity in the size of each graph.


Plants reacting hypersensitively to virus infection accumulate proteins that exert their activity in the cytoplasm, the cell wall or the intercellular space of the leaf. The function of a number of these proteins is described and the expression and structure of genes encoding the extracellular proteins is discussed.


The aim of the study is to measure the effectiveness of commercial banks in the agricultural financing in Turkey. For this purpose, 10 different criteria are identified based on five different SERVQUAL perspectives. Moreover, 10 different Turkish deposit banks traded on BIST are taken into consideration in the analysis process. Interval type-2 fuzzy DEMATEL (IT2 FDEMATEL) method is used to weight the dimensions and criteria. Also, deposit banks are ranked with interval type-2 fuzzy TOPSIS (IT2 FTOPSIS). The findings show that flexibility of needs, branch availability, and qualified personnel are the most important criteria for agricultural financing. Hence, it is recommended that banks design a system in which customers can access the banks in flexible times related to the agricultural financing. Another important recommendation is that banks open new branches near the agricultural regions so that farmers can reach the banking services easily. Furthermore, banks should also improve their personnel for agricultural issues with necessary trainings. SERVQUAL-Based Performance Analysis of Agricultural Financing in E-Banking Industry: An Evaluation by IT2 Fuzzy Decision-Making Model


In this paper, an accurate finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme for modeling time-domain wave propagation in arbitrary dispersive biological media is proposed. The main drawback occurring in the conventional FDTD implementation for such materials is the approximation of the fractional derivatives appearing in the relevent time-domain permittivity model. To overcome this problem, we propose a novel FDTD scheme based on the direct solution of the time-domain Maxwell equations by using the Riemann-Liouville operator for fractional differentiation. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulating the transient wave propagation in general bulk and slab dispersive materials with dielectric spectrum described by Cole-Cole, Cole-Davidson, and Havriliak-Negami formulas. In particular, the comparison between the numerical results and those evaluated by using an analytical method based on the Fourier transformation and the matrix formulation for lossy layered media demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed FDTD scheme in a broadband frequency range.


The pristane oil induced mouse plasmacytoma (MPC) model is the most widely used and accepted model and has provided the most data on plasmacytomagenesis so far. Plasmacytoma were induced in Swiss mice by the intraperitoneal injection of pristane (2,6,10,14-tetra-methylpentadecane) after a latent period of 5-6 months where the mice developed ascites tumors. Aspirated cells were cultured in tissue culture flasks and kept under observation and further passaged to obtain continues cell line. Peritoneal exudate cells were prepared from pristane-treated and control uninjected mice during the course of a 6-month period, and these cell suspensions were studied by means of cytology, histology and Immunohistochemistry methods to identify the plasmacytoma specific markers and the genetic changes. Results showed induction of the tumor in 50% of injected mice and the new cultured cell line were negative for Retinoblastoma (RB) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)


This contribution covers some preliminary aspects of an orderly Withdrawal, including the doctrine of acquired rights and trade in goods; procedural aspects of the 599-page Withdrawal Agreement, including temporal application, jurisdictional, mutual recognition and cooperation matters; and the substantive aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Northern Ireland, in particular its Annex 4 on state aid and competition, followed by final reflections on the state of play of the negotiations. It has been updated to include the changes brought about by the non-binding political declaration of 25 November 2018.

It argues that the present Withdrawal Agreement represents a convoluted approach to free trade and competition through Northern Ireland's backstop solution. It could have been made more ambitious by offering at least a preview of a more comprehensive trade package that included some common rules on competition, labour, taxation, and the environment in exchange for free trade in goods and services for the whole of the UK. Instead, an interpretation in the spirit of the Protocol on Northern Ireland is that the Withdrawal Agreement delivers for competition law a hard blown Brexit, as it severs the close ties between the Commission and the CMA for the remaining territories of the UK which are not part of Northern Ireland. Given that until the end of 2020, the UK will have neither the time nor the appetite for a radical overhaul of its competition regime with a view to securing an EU trade agreement, this may not be a major problem, at least for the time being.

Given that the details of such a trade agreement would have taken more time to negotiate, the Withdrawal Agreement delivers on many of its promises. It offers an original solution, which, if it were properly implemented, would not change the existing status quo and would maintain certainty for businesses. In the event that an independent authority would be established for Northern Ireland only, it might be possible that businesses could operate on the same 'level playing field' from anywhere in Northern Ireland by re-locating from the South to the North. However, if, instead of an interpretation delivered in the spirit of the Protocol on Northern Ireland, the implementation were to adopt a literal interpretation of the wording of the competition provisions, then the regulatory and competition policy regime will continue to apply to the whole of the UK. On the whole, the Agreement usefully spells out the required parameters for the negotiation of a more comprehensive trade agreement that would, at least, include competition, state aid, labour, taxation, and the environment as key areas of close cooperation and coordination, if not more.

In the end, there are not too many options left to play with in these negotiations: (a) accepting it subject to significant improvements to be made in the future economic partnership that will be concluded between the UK and the EU; or (b) rejecting it and maintaining the present status quo. Time will tell which of these will come to fruition.

However, a daunting (d) prospect of reaching no agreement at all, which is widespread among 'hard line Brexiteers', is like divorcing without a court ruling on the actual divorce. Severing the UK's ties to the EU cannot proceed in a disorderly manner, as that would trigger an abuse of fundamental human rights and an undermining of the rule of law and democracy and of peace and prosperity throughout the whole of the UK. The latter prospect is simply unacceptable and inhumane, and those advocating for it – after nearly half of a century of close ties to the EU – need to give serious consideration to the reality of their proposals.


Objective: The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate the impact of adding alendronate to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in established postmenopausal osteoporosis. Patients: Forty patients were randomly assigned to receive either 0,625 mg. conjugated estrogen with 2,5 mg. medroxyprogesterone acetate (HRT) alone or HRT combined with 10 mg. alendronate daily for one year. Both groups received a daily supplement of 500 mg. of elemental calcium. Bone mineral density of lumbar spine and femur neck were measured prior to treatment and at the end of one year by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Nineteen patients from alendronate and HRT group, 18 patients from HRT group completed the study. HRT group had an increase in bone mineral density of 7,5±0,02% at lumbar spine (p<0.01) and 11,6±0,04% at femur neck (p<0,001). Whereas alendronate and HRT group had a mean increase in bone mineral density of 7,8±0,02% at lumbar spine (p<0.01) and 17,8±0,02% at femur neck (p<0.01). Both treatments were well tolerated. Conclusions: Both HRT alone and HRT combined with alendronate treatments in postmenopausal osteoporosis appears to increase bone mineral density at spine and femur neck. There is a greater increase in bone mineral density at femur with HRT alendronate combination treatment which did not achieve significance. Key Words: Alendronate, Hormone replacement therapy, Bone density


Injection of coaxial-gun-formed magnetized plasmas into a background transverse vacuum magnetic field or into a background magnetized plasma has been studied in the helicon-cathode (HelCat) linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico [M. Gilmore et al., J. Plasma Phys. 81, 345810104 (2015)]. A magnetized plasma jet launched into a background transverse magnetic field shows emergent kink stabilization of the jet due to the formation of a sheared flow in the jet above the kink stabilization threshold 0.1kVA [Y. Zhang et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 110702 (2017)]. Injection of a spheromak-like plasma into a transverse background magnetic field led to the observation of finger-like structures on the side with a stronger magnetic field null between the spheromak and the background field. The finger-like structures are consistent with magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Jets or spheromaks launched into a background, low-β magnetized plasma show similar behavior as above, respectively, in both cases.


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NASA's Interstellar Program was begun in the Spring of 1999 after a year of advanced mission and program planning activities, reported previously in a paper delivered at the 1999 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Summarized here is the progress towards defining the first mission in the Interstellar Program: Interstellar Probe (ISP). This mission will be the first to probe the interstellar medium with a complete set of scientific instruments designed for such exploration and is expected to be a precursor and a significant testbed for technologies being developed for eventual travel to the nearest star. Exploration of the interstellar medium is the objective of the Interstellar Probe mission. The interface between our solar system and galaxy defines the crossover into the interstellar medium and is the minimum target distance, thought to be beyond 125 AU. A mission requirement, therefore, is to reach 200 AU in fifteen years or less with a scientifically capable payload package. Time and distance are key design requirements, and advanced propulsion technology is a key enabler of the Interstellar Probe mission. Another key mission goal is to launch in the 2010 time period; thereby setting associated advanced technology goals of readiness by about 2007. Solar sail propulsion has been baselined for the mission design concept. Key trades are sail technology development requirements as a function of trip time to 200 AU and the payload mass that can be delivered and operated at that distance. This paper provides strawman payload and measurement requirements, technology and mission trade information, and a baseline system design, including a configuration concept. Alternate technology options are described.


The full-length cDNA of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) was obtained from liver. The grass carp UCP2 cDNA was determined to be 1152 bp in length with an open reading frame that encodes 310 amino acids. Five introns (Intron 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7) in the translated region, and partial sequence of Intron 2 in the untranslated region of grass carp UCP2 gene were also obtained. Gene structure comparison between grass carp and mammalian (human and mouse) UCP2 gene shows that, the UCP2 gene structure of grass carp is much similar to that of human and mouse. Partial UCP2 cDNA sequences of bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) and mud carp (Cirrhinus molitorella), were further determined. Together with the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) UCP2 sequence from GenBank (AJ243486), multiple alignment result shows that the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the UCP2 gene, were highly conserved among the five major Chinese carps that belong to four subfamilies. Using beta-actin as control, the ratio UCP2/beta-actin mRNA (%) was determined to be 149.4 +/- 15.6 (common carp), 127.4 +/- 22.1(mud carp), 96.7 +/- 12.7 (silver carp), 94.1 +/- 26.8 (bighead carp) and 63.7 +/- 16.2 (grass carp). The relative liver UCP2 expression of the five major Chinese carps, shows a close relationship with their food habit: benthos and detritus-eating fish (common carp and mud carp) > planktivorious fish (silver carp and bighead carp) > herbivorous fish (grass carp). We suggest that liver UCP2 might be important for Chinese carps to detoxify cyanotoxins and bacteria in debris and plankton food.