We investigated the role of the thrombin-activated platelet in modulating the rate and extent of activated protein C (APC)-catalyzed inactivation of platelet-derived factor Va and factor VaLeiden. Platelet-derived factor Va and factor VaLeiden were inactivated by APC at near identical rates; however, complete inactivation of the cofactors was never achieved. Greater residual cofactor activity remained when using thrombin-activated platelets compared with that observed with synthetic phospholipid vesicles and platelet-derived microparticles, suggesting that thrombin-activated platelets protect the cofactors from APC-catalyzed inactivation. This apparent protection was not due to (1) an insufficient number of membrane binding sites for APC or factor Va; (2) the destruction of these sites; or (3) the presence of a platelet-associated APC inhibitor. Results from a plasma-based clotting assay (with or without APC) with platelets or PCPS vesicles added to induce clot formation indicated that, even in the presence of high concentrations of APC, platelets offered protection of the cofactor by delaying cleavage at Arg506. This resulted in incomplete proteolysis of the heavy chain, suggesting that platelets can also protect plasma-derived factor Va from APC-catalyzed inactivation. However, additional experiments indicated that the plasma-derived cofactor, bound to thrombin-activated platelets, was completely inactivated by APC, suggesting that the plasma and platelet-derived cofactor pools represent different substrates for APC. Collectively, these results indicate that platelets sustain procoagulant events by providing a membrane surface that delays cofactor inactivation and by releasing a cofactor molecule that displays an APC resistant phenotype. Thus, at sites of arterial injury, the factor VLeiden mutation may not as readily predict arterial thrombosis, because the normal and variant platelet-derived cofactors are equally resistant to APC at the activated platelet surface.


BACKGROUND
There is no systematic study on coiled sperm in semen, although they are commonly observed. This work characterizes coiled sperm in infertile men to understand the clinical implications and investigate the possible cause by osmotic swelling.

METHODS
Coiled sperm in semen from 439 infertile patients were quantified and their ultrastructure examined by electron microscopy. Hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) and demembranation tests were performed to elucidate the nature of the coiling.

RESULTS
Semen from patients contained overall 3% of sperm with head-in-coil (HIC) and 8% other coiled forms, with 12% of patients having 20% or more such sperm. The percentage of coiled sperm (but not HIC) was correlated with age (R = 0.26, P = 0.003) and the epididymal secretory marker neutral alpha-glucosidase (R = 0.16, P < 0.001), and associated with heavy smoking and varicocele. Electron microscopy revealed coiling of tail filaments within the plasma membrane, resembling HOS. Some seminal coiled sperm and most sperm freshly coiled upon HOS could be opened by demembranation, while those that could not be opened were probably fixed in position by oxidation, which occurred more frequently in patients than semen donors.

CONCLUSIONS
Sperm coiling in semen is common and independent of sperm quantity or hormonal status. Whereas HIC may have a genetic background, other coiled forms may be associated with a hostile endogenous milieu in the epididymis that causes swelling.


In vitro seed germination has been proven to be the most efficient technique to propagate orchid. The application of this aseptic technique has contributed to conservation of many endangered orchid species. In this study, undehisced capsules of Vanda helvola Blume were collected from Orchid Conservation Centre in Lagud Sebrang Agriculture Park, after 120 days from hand pollination and aseptically cultured on three types of basal media such as Murashige and Skoog (MS), Knudson C (KC) and Vacin and Went (VW). After 90 days of culture, 66.40 ± 4.14% of seeds successfully germinated on KC medium. The effect of organic additives such as tomato juice, coconut water, peptone and yeast extract at different level of concentrations in KC basal medium were also tested on seed germination and seedling development of this native orchid. After 90 days of culture, over 90% of seeds were tremendously germinated on KC medium supplemented with 10% or 15% (v/v) of tomato juice. The incorporation of peptone at 0.1% (w/v) in KC basal media promoted rapid development of protocorm to seedling. Seedlings on this treatment produced an average of three leaves and two roots after 90 days of culture and were successfully acclimatized.


The ATLAS model for remote access to database resident information relies upon a limited set of dedicated and distributed Oracle database repositories complemented with the deployment of Frontier system infrastructure on the WLCG (Worldwide LHC Computing Grid). ATLAS clients with network access can get the database information they need dynamically by submitting requests to a Squid proxy cache server in the Frontier network which provides results from its cache or passes new requests along the network to launchpads co-located at one of the Oracle sites (the master Oracle database at CERN or one of the Tier 1 Oracle database replicas). Since the beginning of LHC Run 1, the system has evolved in terms of client, Squid, and launchpad optimizations but the distribution model has remained fundamentally unchanged. On the whole, the system has been broadly successful in providing data to clients with relatively few disruptions even while site databases were down due to overall redundancy. At the same time, its quantitative performance characteristics, such as the global throughput of the system, the load distribution between sites, and the constituent interactions that make up the whole, were largely unknown. But more recently, information has been collected from launchpad and Squid logs into an Elasticsearch repository which has enabled a wide variety of studies of various aspects of the system. This contribution*** will describe dedicated studies of the data collected in Elasticsearch over the previous year to evaluate the efficacy of the distribution model. Specifically, we will quantify any advantages that the redundancy of the system offers as well as related aspects such as the geographical dependence of wait times seen by clients in getting a response to its requests. These studies are essential so that during LS2 (the long shutdown between LHC Run 2 and Run 3), we can adapt the system in preparation for the expected increase in the system load in the ramp up to Run 3 operations.


Travel time information is important for traffic control systems. If a toll collection system is adopted, we can calculate travel-time from toll collection system data. Little attention has been given to this because of the following problems. Unusual-data (data deviating from the main distribution of travel time data) removal is difficult. When there is only a small number of data, it is difficult to calculate an appropriate travel time. Japanese expressways have service areas and rest areas. Thus, data for vehicles which have stopped for a long time in a service area or rest area are considered unusual data. Data for extremely short travel times, such as by motorbikes, are also considered to be unusual data. It is important to remove these unusual data. Therefore, this research proposes a method of calculating travel time information using data obtained from toll collection systems.


After a brief review of the negative results of the microscopic study, of both the Strutinsky shell correction method and Hartree-Fock approximation, for the C4 symmetry in nuclei, a proposed rotor Hamiltonian to simulate both the microscopic results and the staggering effect is investigated and the staggering resulting from the rotor Hamiltonians without C4 symmetry can be found.


It has become usual for editors of textbooks to disarm criticism by confessing that the value of such works has been questioned; the senior author of this book observes this convention in his preface. It is moreover a notion which has particular pertinence to textbooks of haematology, for many excellent examples already exist and it is a branch of medicine which is growing at least as ranidly as any other. The book is the product of the three editors and 41 collaborators and predictably displays the advantages as well as the disadvantages of multiple authorship. It must be regarded, not so much as a textbook, but as a collection of reviews connected only by the tenuous thread of their concem with haematology. Some are of the highest quality and those on erythropoiesis. iron metabolism, leucocyte physiology and metabolism, the principles of chemotherapy, and the disorders of haemostasis are outstanding. It cannot serve, however, as a practical reference book for the clinician in search of help. Unlike so many American publications its index is inadequate. No reference could be found, to select three random examples, to agranulocytosis, leukoerythroblastic anaemia, or aplastic anaemia associated with viral hepatitis. It illustrates too the decline of interest in haemocytology. Neither of the words "myeloblast" nor "lymphoblast" appears in *the index. In the text there are perfunctory descriptions of these cells, but they are not depicted. Per contra biochemical, enzymological, and immunological problems are excellently treated. Clinical descriptions are often inadequate. Many have a flavour of inexperience which suggests that their authors live immured in laboratories, familiar with blood but seldom encountering the patients from whom it is derived. It is true that an encouraging note is struck in the section on polycythaemia, when Dr. H. Gilbert inveighs against "those who would treat a haematocrit value instead of a disease," but her strictures would have been even more acceptable had she suggested treating the patient. There are minor textual errors which inevitably arouse suspicions of more important inaccuracies. Thomas Addison, although doubtless deserving the honour, was never knighted, and the communication in which he described pernicious anaemia was published in 1849 and not 1853. Faber and Block noted the constancy of achlorhydria in this disease in 1900, 21 years before Levine and Ladd's paper. Fowler's solution was used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia by Lissauer in 1865, 13 years before the publication of Cutler and Bradford. Even with so many authors, rapid publication is difficult to achieve and several sections show internal evidence of being some years old. That on myelomatosis, for instance, is followed by 56 references, only one of which is of later date than 1968, and in the bibliography of the section on lymphoma, of 184 references, 180 are dated 1967 or earlier. British work is well and generously reviewed, but the same consideration has not been extended to Continental authors. In the first 1.024 references, the titles of only 21 papers are in languages other than English, and of these 16 antedate 1910. This is essentially a book for the cognoscenti. It is written by experts with little regard to the overall frequency or importance of the disorders discussed. For instance, haemolytic anaemia due to abnormal cation permeability, of which one possible examnple has been recorded, is fully considered, while there is no mention of the causes of splenomegaly. It is excellent reading for the wellinformed haematologist, but the practitioner who requires a comprehensive handbook to which he can refer for information and practical guidance will find more profitable ways of spending £9-35.


In humans, CD27+ blood B cells with mutated immunoglobulin (Ig) receptors comprise two major populations: isotype-switched memory cells (IgG+ or IgA+CD27+) and IgM+IgD+CD27+ cells. While switched CD27+ cells are generated in germinal centers (GC) by T-dependent (TD) responses, the origin of IgM+IgD+CD27+ cells is still controversial. Data including ours support the view that these cells can develop and mutate along a GC-independent pathway and that they represent circulating marginal zone B (MZB) cells involved in T-independent (TI) responses. Our data provide evidence for a developmental diversification of these MZB cells, at least in very young children, outside of TD and TI immune responses. The identification of a human MZB cell precursor with NOTCH2-dependent differentiation properties further argue in favor of the existence of a MZB cell lineage in humans, like in rodents. At last, a role for Toll-like receptors in the development and/or maintenance of IgM+IgD+CD27+ B cells is proposed.


The protonation constants of nucleobases and relevant
nucleosides and nucleotides were determined by means of
potenciometry and molecular absorption spectroscopy in UV
region (I=0.15 mol.l-1 NaCl,t=25C) and the experimental data
were evaluated by OPIUM program. In addition, thermodynamic
parameters for nucleobase ligands were estimated. Also, some
examples of ligand complexation by transition metal ions (e.g.
copper(II),zinc(II),kadmium(II)) will be presented and their
importance for bioligand speciation will be discussed. The
protonation behavior of ODN containing C, i.e.(CCC)n,n=1–3, was
followed by means of molecular spectroscopy in pH region 2–8
and variable temperature and ionic strength adjusted by NaCl.
The experimental data were treated by means of OPIUM, MCR – ALS
and EQUISPEC software and distribution diagram of species as pH
fuction were calculated. For comparison, the protonation
behavior of ODN with the (CAC)3, A3C3C3 and C3A3C3 sequence was
also investigated. The influence of the structural motif and
length on protonation constants o studied ODN seems to be very
important due to probace stabilization of the secondary
structure of the biomacromolecule.


The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a species of concern to forest managers because it uses cavities in large snags and decadent trees for nesting and roosting. A radio-telemetry study of pileated woodpeckers on the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington (1) found that large western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) were frequently used for roosting. These roost trees were partially hollow or softened by internal decay. Western redcedar is thought to be less susceptible to most fungal pathogens than are other conifers. This misconception probably arose because of the high resistance to decay of cedar heartwood under service conditions. Many heartwood fungi do, however, attack living redcedar during their lifespan (often over 1,000 years), and large western redcedar have a high incidence of heartwood decay (2). Two to four wood cores were removed below openings used by radio-tagged woodpeckers at heights of 7.5 to 10.5 m on each of 10 large (200 to 300 cm diameter at 1.4 m above ground), living western redcedars. Wood samples were cultured on malt extract agar. No pure cultures of wood-decay fungi were obtained from two trees, although the samples were visually decayed. Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartzeva (= Poria asiatica (Pilát) Overh.) was the only wood-decay fungus isolated from the remaining eight trees. O. sericeomollis causes a brown, cubical heartrot in living western redcedar. In late stages of decay, the rot column typically forms a piped or tubular shape, can extend 25 or more meters up the bole of the tree, and can spread out into large branches (2). Pileated woodpeckers often roost in large, longitudinal tree cavities having multiple openings that provide a means of escape from potential predators. The decay columns produced by O. sericeomollis may create optimal roosting conditions in western redcedar for pileateds. During the telemetry study, woodpeckers were observed entering redcedars at one opening, but exiting from another opening some distance away. Large western redcedars that contain heartrot before they die may be particularly important to pileated woodpeckers because these trees persist in the landscape and provide potential roost sites far longer than other tree species in western Washington, perhaps even for centuries. Information from this and similar studies may be useful for developing inoculation techniques that use fungi with specific decay characteristics to create habitat for woodpeckers. References: (1) K. B. Aubry and C. M. Raley. Northwest Env. J. 6:432, 1990. (2) D. C. Buckland. Can. J. Res. C. 24:158, 1946.


My diploma thesis is based on a research about mother-(adult) child relationship in divorced families, regardless of who has custody of children.
In the theoretical part, I first defined and analyzed the concept of the family in general, then I focused onto learning about single-parent and reorganized families. I've studied how common divorce is nowadays and learned about the factors that trigger the divorce. I was also interested in what its consequences are for family members, with particular focus on the consequences of parental separation on the child. I also extended the notion of divorce to same-sex families. Then I focused on learning about mutual relations in the family and finding about the factors that lead to conflicts. I was also interested in how relationships in the family change when a divorce occurs and what happens to the relationship between mother and children.
I created an empirical part on the basis of two interviews that I conducted with a focus group that included four girls, two boys and myself, as a co-creator. All participants come from a separate family and live or have lived with their mothers. From the interviews I learned that the separation has a great influence on the relations that are formed within the family. The participants confirmed that the divorce strengthened especially their relationship with mothers, and at least at the beginning, it also contributed to a better relationship with their fathers. I realized that girls with mothers are very closely connected and often offer emotional support, while the boys have a good relationship, but they are mostly helpers in their everyday tasks. I also found out that daughters have slightly better relationship with their mothers in comparison with relationship between mothers and sons or at least the quality of their relationship is described with different components. I also realized that mother-child relationship is influenced by mother's personality and by her way of facing problems.


The virus HIV/AIDS is one of the major causes of death in Uganda. In spite of the large amount of strategies for HIV/AIDS-prevention, the number of people who are affected by HIV/AIDS is rising. Young people belong to the biggest risk group in Uganda. Thus there is a great need for effective prevention programs at school. This research examines the effects of the American prevention program ´Be Proud! Be Responsible!´ on young people in Uganda. Foundation to this program is a psychological model, which predicts the willingness of youth to abstain from sex or to use condoms. Goal of the program is to delay initiation of sexual activities among inexperienced teenager and to increase condom use among sexually experienced teenager. Main characteristic of ´Be Proud! Be Responsible!´ is the social approach of using games and open group discussions. The research includes an intervention group (n = 159) and a control group (n = 102), in which both groups had to fill in a pre- and posttest in form of a questionnaire. The teenager had to answer questions about their perceived vulnerability to an HIV infection, their knowledge about HIV/AIDS, their motivation to learn about HIV/AIDS and their social cognitions regarding abstinence and condom use. The intervention group participated in the one day education program for five hours. The teenager of the control group filled in the questionnaire before and after their regular school lessons, without joining any intervention. After the education program the teenager of the intervention group showed, in comparison to the control group, significantly higher scores on perceived vulnerability to an HIV infection, knowledge about HIV/AIDS, social cognitions regarding abstinence, self-efficacy to use condoms and subjective norm to use condom. Hence, ´Be Proud! Be Responsible!´ had strong influence especially on social cognitions regarding abstinence. The strongest determinant to promote the intention regarding abstinence was a positive attitude towards abstinence. Subjective norm regarding abstinence increased because of the intervention with 59.8%. In this way inter personal communication turned out to be very important for young people in Uganda. The intention to use a condom was reduced by the intervention, probably as a result of the rising intention towards abstinence. Subjective norm regarding condom use and the motivation to learn about HIV/AIDS had direct influence on the decreased intention to use a condom. The results indicate that the psychological model can be used in Uganda to predict safe sexual behavior and to develop HIV/AIDS-prevention programs. Furthermore this study showed


The idea of text to speech by a computer is an enhancement of the human learning ability. Due to the fact that each person has individual ability of visualization, the receiving of information in the form of voice helps make everything become easier. The objective of this research is to develop computer software that can translate Thai Text to Speech (TTTS). The TTTS consists of four modules, which are 1) Input Thai text file, 2) Text processing, 3) Dictionary Lookup, and 4) Speech synthesis. The TTTS dictionary contains more than 5,300 Thai primitive words and their sound waves. The experiment is conducted on 30 Thai text files, which contain more than 3200 Thai words. The reading precision of the TTTS is around 74.05 percent, with the reading speech of 0.88 second per word.


A method to measure the surface tension of liquid solder alloys has been developed by the use of wetting balance. In principle, non-wetting A1203 rod was immersed into the molten solder bath under the fixed speed. The force acts on A1203 rod was measured and then the surface tension was calculated by analyzing the measured force. The theoretical model was based on the hypothesis that the meniscus configuration of molten solder gradually varies depending on the depth of rod and its radius, and also the configuration shows stable form when the depth exceeded the critical value. After exceeding the critical depth, the force increased in proportion to the depth of rod, therefore, the surface tension could be measured by analyzing the obtained force-time curve. As a result, the surface tension of 63Sn-37Pb solder (504 K, in air atmosphere) was 0.53 N/m ; the value is reduced by the use of soldering flux. The surface tension of Sn-Ag-Bi system lead-free solders have been also measured. Increasing of Bi content decreased the surface tension. The effect of flux on the reduction of surface tension is similar to that in 63Sn-37Pb solder.


Standard setters and professionals have asserted that the successful efforts (SE) accounting method procedure is superior to the full cost (FC) method. Recent studies suggest that the SE firms exhibit higher market-to-book coefficients (Harris and Ohlson 1987), higher coefficients on earnings change variables (Ayres and Raybum 1991), and greater pooled time-series and cross-sectional earnings response coefficients (Bandyopadhyay 1994) compared to FC firms. Previous studies primarily examine the controversy and the debate during a period of high oil prices and exploration activities which could affect their empirical results. This study reexamines the issue primarily during periods of low oil prices and declining exploration activities, to ascertain whether such different economic conditions affect the observed relationships in previous research. The research investigates whether the FC accounting method provides more or less accurate earnings predictions than the SE accounting method, an issue not examined in previous literature. The paper also examines a related issue of whether the earnings response coefficients (ERCs) derived by one method are greater than those based on the other accounting method. We find that forecast errors for FC firms are significantly smaller than those for SE firms for one-quarter through at least three-quarters ahead forecast horizons. The smaller forecast errors for FC firms are driven by the periods from 1986 through 1989 and 1991 through 1995, when oil prices and exploration activities were low, and by firms in the oil and gas extraction industry (SIC 13) or firms classified as independent type. The estimated coefficients for the variance of EPS (MSTD, a proxy for risk) suggest significant increases in forecast errors as the variance increase for FC and SE firms. However, while these estimated coefficients remain unchanged for SE firms, the change in the estimated slope coefficient of MSTD for FC firms is negative and statistically significant, during periods of declining prices and explorations. These results suggest that risk for FC firms has less impact on forecast errors than risk for SE firms during such periods. In addition, firm-specific ERCs of all FC firms are larger than those of all SE firms, and these statistically significant differences are robust for extraction firms, but not for other oil and gas firms, across ERC models. The results on ERCs contradict findings presented in previous studies. Implications for standards' setters and regulators are briefly discussed.


Introduction Home non-invasive ventilation (NIV) can improve outcomes in some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure. It remains unclear how to identify which patients will benefit most from this treatment. We have assessed patient characteristics and ventilator settings, and their association with survival, in individuals with COPD referred to our home NIV service Methods Database and case notes of patients with COPD referred to our centre for home NIV between April 2011 and January 2017 were retrospectively analysed. We compared patient characteristics and ventilator settings in those who survived ≥12 months, to those who died earlier. Results 150 patients were referred for home NIV. 41 patients did not tolerate NIV and discontinued treatment. Of the 109 who used NIV, 50 were alive in July 2017. Full data was available for 87 (58%) patients. Median survival in patients who used NIV (n=73) was 14.2 months (Interquartile Range (IQR) 3.2–28.8). In patients who discontinued NIV (n=14), survival was 21 months (IQR 5.2–38.2; p=0.81). Characteristics and NIV settings in the 79 patients who used NIV are shown in Table 1. Abstract P123 Table 1 Survived< 12 months (n= 30) Survived> 12 months (n= 43) P Value Age (years) 71.1 (64.3–74.8) 65.5 (62.4–75.3) p=0.47 Number (%) Male 10 (33%) 24 (56%) p=0.06 BMI (kg/m2) 21.3 (17.2–25.3) 26.1 (21 0–30.8) p=0.03 Number (%) initiated after acute admission 24 (80%) 31 (72%) p=0.44 Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s (L) 0.65 (0.44–0.85) 0.82 (0.52–0.95) p=0.89 Baseline pCO2 (kPa) 9.9 (8.4–11.7) 9.2 (8.2–10.7) p=0.33 Inspiratory Positive Airway Pressure (cm H20) 22 (19–28) 25 (20–27) p=0.23 Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure (cm H20) 5 (5–6) 5 (4–5) p=0.02 Number (%) using NIV≥4 hours per night 20 (67%) 39 (90%) p=0.1 Data are presented as median (Interquartile Range) Discussion 109 (73%) patients with COPD and hypercapnic respiratory failure continued using NIV after set up. Our data demonstrates lower body mass index was significantly associated with surviving<12 months after starting NIV. Patients who survived more than 12 months showed a non-significant trend to be male, younger and use NIV for more than 4 hours each night at higher inspiratory pressures. An unexpected finding was that patients intolerant of NIV showed a trend to longer survival, compared to those who continued with NIV. This may be due to the small number of patients with full data, or that 50% of these patients had stable hypercapnic respiratory failure at NIV initiation, compared to 25% in the patients who used NIV. Conclusions These observations highlight the need for careful patient selection when considering which patients with COPD may benefit from home NIV, an awareness of the different features that may contribute to survival, and subsequent attention to ventilator settings and compliance once the treatment has begun.


An empty sella may develop as a consequence of a primary congenital weakness of the diaphragm for which no secondary cause is evident. A secondary empty sella may develop after infarction of a pituitary adenoma or because of surgical or radiation-induced damage to the sellar diaphragm. Acromegaly is caused by growth hormone (GH) hypersecretion and the resultant elevated levels of circulating insulin like growth factor-1. The underlying abnormality in more than 98% of cases is hypersecretion of GH by a pituitary GH-producing tumor. Necrosis and hemorrhage, which frequently occur in pituitary adenomas, may lead to complete or partial disappearance of the adenoma, and subsequently, to an empty sella. We report two cases of acromegaly with empty sella, and the patients had no symptoms of pituitary apoplexy. (J Kor Endocrinol Soc 21:572~576, 2006)


We study the geudesics, with respect Co the connections for 2-osculating vector fields, a projections of standard horizontal vector fields. Then, we consider the wnnections on the principal bundle of affine 2-osculating frames, and on its reductions. finally, when it is possible we characterize the geodesics as the curves whose development is (an open interval of)a straight line.


The current Internet design is based on a number of principles and paradigms. A central theme of these is that the interior of the network should provide a very simple but generic (and optimized) service, namely best-effort packet forwarding. For the users, a consequence of this design is that performance properties and the behavior of the network can typically only be determined by performing probing-based measurements. Probing means that special packets are injected into the network by one computer while another one receives and collects statistics about those packets. Using this statistical information, it is possible to make inferences about the network and its characteristics. One important characteristic is the bandwidth that is available on the network path between two computers in the Internet. When communicating with each other, the computers should not persistently send data at a higher rate than the available bandwidth since that will eventually lead to packet loss due to the overload. This thesis considers the problem of measuring the available bandwidth of a network path using probing-based methods. To that end, we propose a new method called TOPP. It is designed to probe the network non-intrusively so that the measurements do not jeopardize the stability of the network. In addition to estimating the available bandwidth, TOPP also provides an estimate of the link capacity of the link that limits the available bandwidth. In the second part of this thesis we propose and evaluate different models for trace-driven network path emulation. We also investigate how to probe a network path for the purpose of trace-driven emulation. We show that relatively simple trace-driven models work well for non-responsive UDP-based flows. However, for adaptive TCP flows, these simple models do not seem to perform well. We also find that for the trace-driven models studied, strongly bursty probing schemes (which includes probing by TCP) have undesirable properties and should be avoided. The ox is slow but the earth is patient.


This study aims to analyse the inventory accounting system and its control in a company. The discussion in this study is to investigate accounting information system for spare parts inventory in supporting internal control at CV. X The data collection techniques are sourced from primary data and secondary data. The method used is descriptive qualitative method. The study revealed that the accounting information system for inventory was running well, evaluating from the recording method used by the company, namely the perpetual and computer-based method with an application called Komiaw, but in the reality there are several weaknesses, those are the existence of dual functions as well as discrepancies between the data of the goods and physical goods that are done by spare parts counter so as the repetition of inventory calculation occurred. Based on the results of this study, it showed that accounting information system for spare parts inventory can support internal inventory control in the company due to the implementation of the elements of accounting information system and the elements of internal control.


Apparently conflicting results of Josephson tunelling experiments in the high- cuprates have been explained by Muller by proposing the coexistence of s-wave and d-wave condensates. We have explained a number of experimental results in the cuprates by assuming that the ionic plasmon promotes the s-wave condensate. As some of the fits are very compelling we propose that the ionic plasmon be accepted as the mediator in the Cooper pairing in this case. We have also explained the existence of a single transition temperature and the existence of the precursor spin-gap phase.


Oral treatment of Salmonella typhimurium infection with ciprofloxacin was compared with conventional chemotherapy with ampicillin or chloramphenicol in normal (CFW1) and immunocompromised (C57BL/6) mice. Administration of the antibiotics for 12 days reduced the number of bacteria in livers and the mortality of C57BL/6 mice significantly. Ciprofloxacin was considerably more effective than ampicillin in prolongation of the mean survival time of these mice. Similar to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, ciprofloxacin did not prevent fatal disease in most C57BL/6 mice when the treatment lasted 12 days only. On the other hand, ciprofloxacin cured lethal S. typhimurium illness in immunocompromised mice after long-term oral chemotherapy for 26 days at a dosage of 100 mg/kg twice a day. This was not achieved by either ampicillin or chloramphenicol. In normal mice, 12 days of therapy with ciprofloxacin was sufficient for a significant decrease in both the number of viable bacteria in livers and the mortality of lethally infected mice. The results provide a basis for an alternative antibiotic treatment by the oral route in immunocompromised hosts with systemic infections.


Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) will soon be connected to residential distribution networks. They are considered as huge residential loads when being charged. However, as the battery technology and required facilities improves, they will also be able to support the network as small dispersed generation units which transfer the energy stored in their battery into grid. Even though the PEV connection gradually increases, their connection points and charging/discharging levels randomly vary. Therefore, such single-phase bi-directional power flow can have adverse effect on the voltage unbalance of a three-phase distribution network. In this work, impact of plug-in electric vehicles on voltage imbalance in distribution system is presented. In G2V as well as V2G modes, the voltage unbalance analysis is carried out for various cases. Additionally, the voltage unbalance due to PEVs discharging and other types of distribution generator such as solar photovoltaic and wind turbines are investigated. Finally, some voltage unbalance mitigation techniques are summarized. Keywords: Distribution Network, Electric Vehicle, G2V, V2G, Voltage Unbalance


BACKGROUND
Apart from research applications, testicular stem cell transplantation (TSCT) may one day also have valuable clinical applications. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether this technique is a safe method to have progeny. This controlled study aims at evaluating the fetuses and the live born offspring obtained after TSCT in male mice.

METHODS
Male mice were mated with wild-type (WT) females after TSCT to produce offspring. First, fetuses were evaluated on the 17th gestational day. The length, weight and morphological age were compared to those of control mouse fetuses. The live born offspring were then investigated for their reproductive potential over three generations.

RESULTS
The litter sizes after TSCT were decreased compared to controls. Fetuses showed developmental retardation of a quarter of a day, but no major external abnormalities were observed. The live born pups were able to produce normal litter sizes, at least until the third generation.

CONCLUSIONS
Transplanted animals are able to reproduce naturally. Although litter sizes are lower and development is retarded, no major morphological or procreative abnormalities were observed.


Many techniques are developed to derive automatically lexical resources for opinion mining. In this paper we present a gold standard for Dutch adjectives developed for the evaluation of these techniques. In the first part of the paper we introduce our annotation guidelines. They are based upon guidelines recently developed for English which annotate subjectivity and polarity at word sense level. In addition to subjectivity and polarity we propose a third annotation category: that of the attitude holder. The identity of the attitude holder is partly implied by the word itself and may provide useful information for opinion mining systems. In the second part of paper we present the criteria adopted for the selection of items which should be included in this gold standard. Our design is aimed at an equal representation of all dimensions of the lexicon , like frequency and polysemy, in order to create a gold standard which can be used not only for benchmarking purposes but also may help to improve in a systematic way, the methods which derive the word lists. Finally we present the results of the annotation task including annotator agreement rates and disagreement analysis.


According to some experimental and evaluated data, the total excitation energy partitioning way between both of the fission fragments was given with a semi-empirical method. With the calculated energy partitioning way, the prompt neutron multiplicity as a function of fragment mass, v̄(A), for neutron-induced fission of 235U at En = 0.0253 eV, 3 MeV, and 5 MeV was calculated. The results are checked with the total average prompt neutron multiplicities v̄ and compared with the experimental and evaluated data.


CPA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Profession (2001) - Prix de la SCP pour contributions remarquables a la psychologie en tant que profession (2001) Abstract This article discusses the history of Canadian psychology and the publicly funded health care system. Reasons are provided for the current situation, in which psychology is largely not publicly funded, and the current situation in psychology is contrasted with that history, to make the argument that modifications are possible. Different models and methods of funding, related to service providers, service recipients, and the actual services themselves are reviewed. An argument is made that public funding should be provided to clinical psychologists who provide empirically supported services to patients with diagnosable mental health problems. The article concludes with a response to some anticipated criticisms of the position taken, and ideas about political advocacy to advance the agenda of public funding of psychological services. One of the distinct pleasures of being recognized for the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Psychology is the opportunity to contribute an article to Canadian Psychology. In considering which domain to write about in this privileged document, I naturally considered depression, as it is the area in which I have done most of my research during my academic career. In the end, however, I could not resist the opportunity to use this forum to advocate a matter of public policy related to the psychological services, that has been, at least from my perspective, a discredit to the profession of psychology and to public servants responsible for publicly funded health services in Canada, alike. I am speaking of the fact that psychology is not yet recognized in any province as an essential part of the health system, in as much as psychological services are not directly funded under provincial medicare. In this article, I will briefly review some of the factors that have contributed to the current situation, discuss some of the reasons why this is an opportune time to modify the relationship between psychology and medicare, and elucidate some of the mechanisms whereby that development may be made. Finally, I will anticipate some of the reactions for critique of the proposals that will be generated, in what I hope will be a final argument in support of psychology being directly funded under provincial medicare plans. HOW DID WE GET HERE? Although the concepts of universal health care, as elaborated in the Canada Health Act (Government of Canada, 2001), are widely subscribed to by Canadians, it is worth noting at the outset that this vision is relatively recent, only having been adopted in its current form at the federal level in 1984. The Canada Health Act requires that all "medically necessary" services be universally available, but the actual definition of "medically necessary" does permit some regional variance, and no national definitive list of essential or necessary services exists. Further, to the extent that different provinces have the financial ability and political mandate or will, they may offer services that would not be deemed necessary, but which are considered part of the overall social good. Services that are considered nonessential today can become part of the list of funded services in the future, as new information about their efficacy or beneficial side effects becomes known. In this regard, evidence of cost-offset may be a highly potent force to convince provinces to include new services in those that they fund. Notwithstanding the fact that psychology as a discipline is more than a century old, and that even clinical psychology within the overall discipline has more than a century behind it (McReynolds, 1996), the fact is that psychology is a relatively recent partner in the panoply of health service providers in the Canadian context. …


Biodegradation of phenol and monochlorophenols (CPs) by a yeast strain of Rhodotorula glutinis was examined. The strain completely degraded 5 mM of phenol and utilized phenol as a sole carbon source. The strain may degrade phenol by the "ortho" type of ring fission because muconolactone was observed in the cultured broth. 3-Chlorophenol (3-CP) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) were well degraded and stoichiometric release of chloride ion was observed, but degradation of 2-chlorophenol was low with a small quantity of chloride ions. Biodegradability of 3-CP and 4-CP was increased by the addition of phenol or CPs to the medium at the cell cultivation. Since 4-chlorocatechol and maleylacetic acid were determined as metabolites of 3-CP and 4-CP by GC/MS analysis, dechlorination may take place between the formation of 4-chlorocatechol and maleylacetic acid.


From November 11 till November 14, 1998, an EAAE seminar (the 60 th ) was held in Berg en Dal in the Netherlands. The theme of the seminar was the role of the countryside in urbanised regions. This book contains most of the papers presented there. The main conclusion is that the problem of rural regions under urban pressure is not restricted to a few highly urbanised countries, but is at stake in all the countries of which representatives attended the seminar (Belgium, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands). In all these countries regions can be identified in which the building of new houses and infrastructure damages the identity of rural areas near the city, and thus destroys many possibilities for recreation. It is a slow process that cannot be stopped by a top-down policy. New, more bottom-up approaches are required. This implies a revised research agenda


Many functional foods containing probiotic strains have been developed recently. Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 is one of the most frequently used cultures in probiotic products. The present study aimed to develop a method for the detection and identification of L. casei ATCC 393 based on genetic polymorphisms of the hsp60 gene. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was designed, utilizing two novel strain-specific primer sets that enable identification of L. casei ATCC 393.The accuracy of our method was further confirmed by successful identification of our strain in probiotic cheese. The method described is an easy to use, rapid, inexpensive and accurate tool that may be readily applied to food, fecal and intestinal samples.


In Foucault's theoretical writings, the problem of experience occurs in two shapes: his (earlier) discussions of "limit-experience" and his (later) definition of "experience." In this article, I propose an interpretation of the concept of "limitexperience" in Foucault's historiography according to which experience is already limit-experience, and not its static and confining other. I claim that Foucault's concept of experience involves spatially and temporally indexed, rule-governed practices and that his interrogation of experience becomes critical not by referring to some other of reason but by rendering visible the flip side of the limits of our own space of reasons. The argument in support of my interpretation of Foucault develops in two parts: 1) Foucault's "methodology" should be seen not as historicizing the transcendental, but as giving it up. 2) This renunciation of the transcendental is nonetheless only intelligible and motivated against the background of the problematic of (the limits of) experience in Kant and Hegel. It thereby becomes possible to provide not a foundation but a justification for a Foucaultian critique of the limits of experience.


Recent commercial products tend to have various appearances with curved surfaces. This is because attractive outer designs stimulate consumers' motivation for purchasing. This paper attempts to study how the bottle shapes affect our impression. The approach consists of three parts. First, three-dimensional models are fabricated to imitate shapes of widely circulated PET bottles, and thirty five examinees rate their impression by answering questionnaires. Measured objects have nine different bottle shapes with specific features. Twelve adjective pairs are chosen for the use in questionnaires to describe model features. Then, the results from the questionnaires are studied by the analysis of variance to clarify the significant differences among impressions caused by variously curved shapes. Finally, the results are analyzed by using the factor analysis to get the factor scores.


Platelets are indispensable for primary haemostasis, but their function needs to be tightly regulated to prevent excessive platelet activity, possibly leading to atherothrombotic events. An important mediator of the platelet activity is cyclic AMP (cAMP), which inhibits platelet aggregation. Intracellular cAMP levels are regulated via the Gs and Gi alpha subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, which couple to adenylyl cyclase to respectively stimulate or inhibit cAMP production. Binding of a ligand to its G protein-coupled seven-transmembrane receptor activates these G proteins. In this review, we discuss a Gs-coupled receptor on platelets, VPAC1, and 2 important Gi-coupled receptors, the ADP receptor P2Y(12) and the prostaglandin E(2) receptor EP3. The regulation of platelet cAMP levels at the level of the receptors themselves or the G proteins coupled to them is analyzed. Alterations in Gsα and Giα function are associated with altered platelet reactivity. An increase in Gs function, or alternatively a defective Gi signaling, can be a risk factor for bleeding, while a loss of Gs function can result in a prothrombotic state. Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins accelerate the rate of inactivation of G protein-mediated signaling. One of the RGS proteins, RGS2, inhibits Gs signaling by interacting directly with adenylyl cyclase. The thienopyridine class of antiplatelet agents is based on cAMP-mediated regulation of platelet function through modification of the P2Y(12) receptor. Clopidogrel and some other novel cAMP regulators are discussed. Secondly, we review the use of prostacyclin derivatives to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.


This research was carried out to quantify the role of vegetative cover in reducing runoff and erosion from rehabilitated mined land. Duplicate plots 1.5 m wide and 12 m long were prepared on a rehabilitated area of the Meandu Mine, Tarong, with vegetative cover of 0, 23%, 37%, 47%, and 100%. The area had a uniform 15% slope, and there were no rill or gully lines present. Simulated rain equivalent to a 1 : 100 year storm was applied to the plots, and runoff and erosion were measured. Infiltration totals and rates increased strongly with increasing vegetative cover. There was visibly greater infiltration under vegetation. Erosion from the simulated storm was greatly reduced by vegetative cover, declining from 30–35 t/ha at 0% vegetative cover to 0.5 t/ha at 47% cover. Reductions in erosion at lower levels of vegetative cover were greater than predicted by the cover/erosion relationship used in the USLE. The dominantly stoloniferous growth habit of the grass at this site may have increased the effectiveness of vegetative cover in this study. To allow the data to be extrapolated to slopes longer than 12 m, a series of overland flows were applied to the upslope boundaries of the plots, simulating flows on slopes up to 70 m long. Detachment and transport of sediment by applied overland flow was similarly reduced by vegetative cover, and results from the overland flow study also indicate that for slopes up to 70 m long with grass cover of 47% or greater, erosion rates will be minimal, even under extreme rainfall/runoff events.


Because of densely deployment of sensors and limited energy supply in wireless sensor networks, it is not necessary for every sensor to be active at any time instant. Many researches have been focused on this issue, while less emphasis was placed on the optimal sleep time of each node. This paper proposed an adaptive energy conservation strategy for target tracking based on a clustering network, where cluster head autonomously determines when and if to sleep for its cluster members. During surveillance stage, nodes adjust the sleep intervals by their positions. And in tracking stage, they can adaptively decide their sleeping time using the information from the neighborhood cluster head with considering the different influence of each neighbor. The presented approach allows sensor nodes that are far away from targets to sleep more. And each node can choose an optimal sleep time so as to make system adaptive and energy-efficient. We show the performance of our approach in terms of energy drop, comparing it to a naive approach and dynamic PM with fixed sleep time. From the experimental results, it is readily seen that the efficiency of the proposed approach.


7-tricosene (7-T) and 7-pentacosene (7-P) are the two main hydrocarbons on the cuticle of male Drosophila melanogaster. These two substances might play a pheromonal role during courtship behaviour. We investigated the genetic basis of the quantitative polymorphism observed in the production of 7-T and 7-P. Strains of different geographic origin, with males producing either predominantly 7-T or predominantly 7-P, were hybridized with strains carrying genetic markers. We found that chromosome II changes the balance between 7-T and 7-P while chromosome III regulates the overall quantity of both 7-monoenes. We have also characterized and roughly mapped sept and smoq, two genetic factors on chromosome II that act additively on the production of both cuticular hydrocarbons. The genetic control of the variation in 7-T and 7-P varies between D. melanogaster strains and between D. melanogaster and its sibling species D. simulans. The possible evolutionary and physiological causes of this variation as well as its functional implication for courtship behaviour are discussed.


The ultimate goal of this study is to introduce a new method of machine fault diagnosis using different machine conditions data such as normal, misalignment, mass-unbalance and bearing-fault from infrared thermography (IRT). Using thermal image, it is easy to obtain information about the machine condition rather than other conventional methods of machine condition diagnostic technique. Thermal image technique can be successfully applied in the field electrical and electronics system, mechanical system, energy system and medical diagnosis. To get information from the image many techniques of image processing such as discrete Fourier transformation, discrete cosine transformation, neural networks, wavelet transform and many others methods is being used. In this study, our main focal point is to analysis thermal image by discrete wavelet decomposition and tries to find out significant result of machine condition monitoring. In this work, decomposition level of 2 shows satisfactory result for machine condition diagnosis.


Phenyl-ethyl-hydantoin was introduced in Germany about 1918 as a hypnotic and general sedative. Curschmann, 1 in one of the earliest reports, was favorably impressed with its use in adults for sleeplessness from a variety of causes, and other reports soon followed. As so frequently happens, favorable reports tended toward carelessness in dosage, and numerous cases of poisoning soon occurred from the narcotic action. In adults, the drug, usually after repeated dosage, occasionally causes a rise in temperature up to 40 C. (104 F.) and a morbilliform exanthem which seems to be without significance; some authors have had considerable experience with the drug without meeting this action. However, the rash and fever occur in the majority of children treated with this drug for chorea, and the favorable results reported seem to depend on the production of these reactions. The first use of phenyl-ethyl-hydantoin for chorea minor is attributed to E. Roeder,


Factors leading to risk for violence were evaluated in an offender population of 36 male offenders including 18 Violent, e.g., assault, threatening and 17 nonviolent (break and enter, theft), and 17 nonoffenders. Their scores on the Psychopathy Checklist Revised, Violence Risk Scale–Experimental Version 1, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-168, and the Porteus Maze tests showed scores for the inmates with violent offenses were elevated on Psychopathic Deviate, Paranoia, Schizophrenia scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, violence risk of the Violence Risk Scale, showed psychopathic orientation on the Psychopathy Checklist Revised, and had a lower test age quotient score on the Porteus Maze test.


Short-term hormone replacement therapy is a relatively safe treatment for healthy, recently postmenopausal women, according to a new consensus statement.


In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of the novel amorphous silicon thin-film transistor gate drive circuit applied on a 10.1-in. panel are optimized by using a multi-objective optimization method. Simultaneously, considering the multiple electrical characteristics of the tested circuit, the achieved results reveal interesting properties as well as good sensitivity of the optimized design parameters. The optimal specifications not only suppress the output ripple, but also reduce the dynamic and static power consumptions.


The effect of a cyclone (Ami, January 2003) on drinking-water quality on the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji was investigated. Following the cyclone nearly three-quarters of the samples analysed did not conform to World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline values for safe drinking-water in terms of chlorine residual, total and faecal coliforms, and turbidity. Turbidity and total coliform levels significantly increased (up 56 and 62 per cent, respectively) from pre-cyclone levels, which was likely due to the large amounts of silt and debris entering water-supply sources during the cyclone. The utility found it difficult to maintain a reliable supply of treated water in the aftermath of the disaster. Communities were unaware they were drinking water that had not been adequately treated. Circumstances permitted this cyclone to be used as a case study to assess whether a simple paper-strip water-quality test (the hydrogen sulphide, H(2)S) kit could be distributed and used for community-based monitoring following such a disaster event to better protect public health. The H(2)S test results correlated well with faecal and total coliform results as found in previous studies. A small percentage of samples (about 10 per cent) tested positive for faecal and total coliforms but did not test positive in the H(2)S test. It was concluded that the H(2)S test would be well suited to wider use, especially in the absence of water-quality monitoring capabilities for outer island groups as it is inexpensive and easy to use, thus enabling communities and community health workers with minimal training to test their own water supplies without outside assistance. The importance of public education before and after natural disasters is also discussed.


A motor using a piezoelectric instead of electromagnetic driving mechanism gives very high torque at low speeds and allows very precise positioning. The author describes the operating principles of piezoelectric motors using PZT ceramics. The design of the motors is then described. The design of the travelling wave motor to overcome the unidirectional problem of piezoelectric motors is described. The main features, advantages and drawbacks of piezoelectric motors are discussed.


Platform dampers are commonly used in turbomachinery to reduce the vibration amplitudes of the turbine blades. A blade-to-blade platform damper is simply a piece of metal which is pressed against two adjacent blade platforms by centrifugal force. Relative motions of the platforms lead to slip in the contacts and friction damping is provided in the system. The studied platform damper is designed with inclined contact surfaces. This type of damper is often called a cottage-roof damper or wedge damper. The inclination of the contact surfaces leads to variation of the normal load, which complicates the analysis of such dampers.In this paper, a simulation model is presented for a tuned bladed disk with cottage-roof dampers. This model includes normal load variation on the contact and a friction interface model valid for both macroslip and microslip. The elasticity of the damper body is often an important parameter for the performance of the damper and is included in the model.A comparison between solving the equation of motion in the frequency domain and the time domain is performed. It is found that the frequency domain solution with the fundamental frequency alone gives a result close to the time domain solution. The simulation model is validated with experimental data and it is found that the reduction of the resonance amplitude agrees well for the tested dampers.A parametric study is performed to find the optimal friction damper design. The studied parameters are the inclination of the contact surface, the coefficient of friction and the damper body stiffness. It is found that an increase in inclination of the contact surface and an increase in the coefficient of friction lead to a reduction of the optimal damper mass. An increase of the damper body stiffness results in a decrease of the resonance amplitude of the blade tip, particularly for high damper masses.Copyright © 2001 by ASME


Aims To determine the prevalence, associations and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) in central Sri Lanka. Methods The study was a population-based, cross-sectional survey of residents aged ≥40 years in rural Sri Lanka. ARMD was assessed on dilated fundoscopy using the International Age-Related Maculopathy Epidemiology Study Group classification system. Results Of the 1721 subjects identified, 1375 participated (79.9%). Of the participants, 1013 were aged ≥50 years (73.6%). The prevalence of any ARMD (adjusted for study design) was 4.72 (95% CI 2.22 to 7.20)% with 3.82 (95% CI 1.60 to 6.04)% early ARMD and 1.70 (95% CI 0.14 to 3.27)% late ARMD. Age (p<0.001) and Sinhalese ethnicity (p = 0.016) were significantly associated with ARMD. Men had a tendency toward a higher prevalence of ARMD than women, although this was not statistically significant (p = 0.081). Ocular risk factors such as cortical cataract (p = 0.024) and pseudophakia (p = 0.003) were associated with ARMD on the univariate but not multivariate analyses. Illiteracy and the identification of social supports were significantly associated with ARMD on univariate analyses. However, only social support was statistically significant after multivariate analysis (p = 0.024). Conclusions Although the prevalence of ARMD is slightly lower in Sri Lanka than surrounding regions, it contributes to a higher proportion of visual impairment, including blindness. Risk factors include age and Sinhalese ethnicity.


ABSTRACT Academic scientists and research institutes are increasingly being evaluated using digital metrics, from bibliometrics to patent counts. These metrics are often framed, by science policy analysts, economists of science as well as funding agencies, as objective and universal proxies for scientific worth, potential, and productivity. In biomedical science, where there is stiff competition for grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), metrics are sold as a less arbitrary way to allocate funds, yet the funding context in which metrics are applied is not critically examined. Success by the metrics is in fact inextricably linked to the distribution of NIH funds, and from the 1980s to the 2000s, NIH funding has been marked by high inequality (elite investigators and institutes get the lion's share of resources) and decreased mobility (those who start at the bottom are less likely to rise to the upper ranks). Elite investigators and institutes currently produce the bulk of prestigious publications, citations, and patents that commonly used metrics valorise. Metrics-based evaluation therefore reproduces, and potentially amplifies, existing inequalities in academic science and rich-get-richer effects.


The article deals with olfactory perception modus comparisons in postmodern literature (on the example of literary text by V. Pelevin: «Omon Ra», «Life of Insects», «Chapaev and Emptiness», «Generation «П», «Numbers» (as a part of «DTP»), «The Sacred Book of the Werewolf», «Empire V », «S.N.U.F.F.»). The aim of the study is to consider the olfactory perception modus comparison features in V. Pelevin's literary texts. During the study the following research methods were applied: theoretical, statistical, distributional analysis, descriptive, the method of continuous sampling. The special feature of postmodernism – the equalization of opposites – has been analyzed. The following peculiarities of olfactory perception modus comparisons in postmodernism – intertextuality, use of various types of comic means, re-thinking, rhizomatics, rejection of hierarchies – have been revealed and analyzed. The names of researchers considering these features of postmodernism are listed below: I.S. Golovanova, E.I. Dashevskaya, T.G. Prokhorova, I.S. Skoropanova. The article identifies features of rhizomatics that are expressed in fragmentation and uncertainty of comparisons. Results. The features of postmodernism manifestation in olfactory comparisons of V. Pelevin's literary texts are given. The rejection of hierarchy feature is represented by the frequency use of axiologically unmarked comparisons, rather than axiologically positively and negatively marked comparisons. The use of different types of comic means is represented by derision, ironization and impersonation of phenomena that are created by introducing comparisons into the text. Intertextuality consists of remembering the smell by a character. The feature of re-thinking the comparison of the olfactory perception modus is represented by a qualitative change in the consciousness of reality facts perception.


The efficacy and tolerability of once weekly dulaglutide 0.75 mg in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) were evaluated by subgroups defined by key demographic characteristics. This post hoc analysis included data from patients who received dulaglutide 0.75 mg for up to 26 weeks in three phase 3 trials (one open-label, randomized; one double-blind and open-label, randomized; one open-label, nonrandomized). Patients were classified into subgroups on the basis of sex (male, female), age (<65, ≥65 years), body weight (<70, ≥70 kg), body mass index (BMI; <25, ≥25 kg/m(2)), duration of diabetes (<7, ≥7 years), HbA1c (≤8.5, >8.5%), use of concomitant sulfonylurea (yes, no), and use of concomitant biguanide (yes, no). Efficacy measures analyzed were changes from baseline in HbA1c and body weight and percentages of patients achieving HbA1c <7.0%. Safety measures analyzed were incidence of hypoglycemia and nausea and change from baseline in seated pulse rate. A total of 855 patients were analyzed. Once weekly dulaglutide 0.75 mg improved blood glucose control as measured by HbA1c regardless of patient characteristics; patients with higher baseline HbA1c values had greater improvements compared to patients with lower baseline values. Weight loss was greater in patients with lower baseline HbA1c and in patients taking concomitant biguanides. Concomitant use of sulfonylureas had the greatest effect on the incidence of hypoglycemia. Treatment of T2D with once weekly dulaglutide 0.75 mg for 26 weeks was associated with significant improvement in glycemic control irrespective of age, sex, duration of diabetes, body weight, BMI, or concomitant medication.


The objective of the study was to compare the haemodynamic changes in goats after epidural administration of lignocaine alone and in combination with butorphanol and tramadol. A total of 18 clinically healthy goats of 1-2 years of age and weighing between 12-15 kg were randomly divided in three groups containing six goats in each. Group I was treated with inj. lignocaine hydrochloride @ 4 mg/kg bwt. Epidurally in the lumbosacral space, whereas goats of group II and III received inj. lignocaine Hcl in the same dose rate in combination with inj. butorphanol tartrate @0.04 mg/kgbwt and inj. tramadol hydrochloride@ 1 mg/kgbwt, respectively. A significant decrease in the value of SAP was found at 15 min in group II and at 30 min in group III. Diastolic and mean arterial pressure did not show significant variation within and among the groups. The animals of group II showed a significant bradycardia (P<0.05) as depicted by increase in R-R and Q-T intervals. It is concluded that the epidural administration of lignocaine in combination of butorphanol and tramadol produces transient alteration in haemodynamic alterations thus these agents are considered as safer agents for achieving analgesia.


Measurements have been made on about 200 Si i lines in the region 1548 to 2000 A excited by a low-pressure source, resulting in wavelength values with uncertainties of less than 0.0015 A on the average. Of these vacuum ultraviolet wavelengths, 88 have been calculated by Radziemski and Andrew [ J. Opt. Soc. Am.55, 474 ( 1965)], and a comparison of measured and calculated values gives an average deviation of 0.0008 A. A plot of the differences shows the scatter to be much greater than any systematic difference. This indicates that the calculated wavelengths are compatible with the set of Ge i lines used as standards in measuring the Si i lines. The new data have also led to an extension and a slight revision of the odd-level analysis. New measurements on some lines of C i, Ge ii, N i, and Si ii are also reported. Spectrograms were taken in the first order on a 10.7-m Eagle vacuum spectrograph with a reciprocal dispersion of 0.78 A/mm. The source was an electrodeless discharge lamp containing SiCl4 and GeCl4 vapor with argon or helium carrier gas at a total pressure no greater than 0.5 torr.


Developmental, social—pragmatic (DSP) interventions are based on the study of interactions betWeen typically developing infants and their mothers. Despite the fact that DSP approaches are firmly grounded in developmental theory, there is limited research on the efficacy of these interventions for promoting social-communicative behavior in young children With autism. This study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design to examine the effectiveness of a DSP language intervention on three children With autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Results indicate the children exhibited increases in their use of spontaneous speech With the therapist as Well as With their parents, Who had not been trained in the intervention. These findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of language therapy using a developmental, social—pragmatic approach With young children With ASD.


Dietary or nutrient patterns represent the combined effects of foods or nutrients, and elucidate efficaciously the impact of diet on diseases. Because the pharmacotherapy on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was reported be associated with certain side effects, and the etiology of ADHD is multifactorial, this study investigated the association of dietary and nutrient patterns with the risk of ADHD. We conducted a case-control study with 592 Chinese children including ADHD (n = 296) and non-ADHD (n = 296) aged 6–14 years old, matched by age and sex. Dietary and nutrient patterns were identified using factor analysis and a food frequency questionnaire. Blood essential elements levels were measured using atomic absorption spectrometry. A fish-white meat dietary pattern rich in shellfish, deep water fish, white meat, freshwater fish, organ meat and fungi and algae was inversely associated with ADHD (p = 0.006). Further analysis found that a mineral-protein nutrient pattern rich in zinc, protein, phosphorus, selenium, calcium and riboflavin was inversely associated with ADHD (p = 0.014). Additionally, the blood zinc was also negatively related to ADHD (p = 0.003). In conclusion, the fish-white meat dietary pattern and mineral-protein nutrient pattern may have beneficial effects on ADHD in Chinese children, and blood zinc may be helpful in distinguishing ADHD in Chinese children.


&NA; The Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS), a validated stroke assessment tool, was implemented for the neurological assessment of patients with stroke. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' values and perceptions of best‐practice guidelines (BPGs) and the CNS assessment, to evaluate the effect of a workshop and implementation process on nurses' self‐efficacy for CNS use, to determine whether the workshop and implementation process met the needs of the nurses, and to evaluate the accuracy and appropriateness of CNS assessment documentation. Nurses reported moderate‐to‐strong awareness and use of BPGs and expressed the belief that BPGs were valuable; however, they had some difficulty accessing BPGs. At 3 months after the workshop, nurses reported using the CNS assessment in practice but said that it was not easy to use and that it was not useful as a patient status communication tool or for documenting neurological changes. Nurses were moderately confident while performing the CNS assessment before the workshop. Confidence increased immediately afterward (p < .0001), and then decreased slightly at 3 months. The majority of nurses said the workshop met their learning needs. A chart audit demonstrated that only 69% of patients appropriate for the CNS assessment were assessed with this tool. Although nurses are aware of BPGs, translating these changes into practice takes time and may require BPG modification to best fit the needs of the areas in which they will be used. When choosing a validated stroke assessment tool, clinicians must consider how often the tool will be used for assessments, particularly in the acute phase.


In this work an analysis and simulation of three types of channel estimators are showed: pilot symbols, blind estimation and semi-blind estimation. The channel estimation is required in wireless communication systems due that the communications channel have a time-varying behavior. These estimators are evaluated using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, and this evaluation is done using a multi-tap wideband channel. The results obtained are analyzed by means of level crossing rate (LCR) and average fading duration (AFD).


To prevent over-testing of the load during the random vibration test an adaptation of the random base acceleration can be applied (notching). Besides that the random force limits at the base of the load can be defined by the force limited vibration test (FLVT).
To define the random force limits by the semi-empirical method (SEM) the random acceleration vibration specification, the total mass, the turnover (natural) frequency of the load, and the semi-empirical constant C2 are key parameters.

Stevens presented the coupled systems modal approach (CSMA), where simplified asparagus patch models (parallel-oscillator representation) of load and supporting structure (source) are connected. The asparagus patch model consists of parallel placed single degree of freedom (SDOF) elements.
When the random acceleration vibration specification is given the CSMA method is suitable to reconstruct interface random accelerations and associated forces between load and source to compute the value of the parameter C2.

In this study the Hybrid Mathematical Dynamic Modelling (HMDM) has been developed.
The asparagus patch model of the load is coupled with a multi degree of freedom (MDOF) system of the source, consisting of a number in series placed SDOF elements and a very large mass to simulate a fixation, which is not the case with the CSMA method.

The selected primary probabilistic design variables of the source have prescribed intervals and uniform distributions and are discussed in detail to justify the choice against current design rules in spacecraft structures design.

The computation of the value C2 can be performed in conjunction with the CSMA and HMDM methods, knowing the apparent mass of the load and the random acceleration specification at the interface between load and source respectively.

To perform the probabilistic analyses the Rosenblueth Point estimates for probability moments (PEM) and the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) are both applied.

Data of three deterministic cases available from literature have been analysed in detail and discussed to get more knowledge about the applicability of the probabilistic approach.

To compute the interface random accelerations and forces and subsequently the semi-empirical constant C2, the CSMA method is preferred slightly for modelling the load and probabilistic source.


A computationally efficient method for calculating C−H and C−X (X = F, Cl, and Br) bond dissociation energies in haloalkanes has been developed by determining correction factors to MP2/cc-pVtz energies. Corrections for basis set effects were determined by the difference in bond dissociation energies calculated at the MP2/cc-pVtz and MP2/cc-pV5z levels, and correlation effects were corrected by calculating the difference in energies at the MP2/cc-pVtz and CCSD(T)/cc-pVtz levels. Subsequent corrections for the spin−orbit energy of the atomic fragment and zero-point energy were applied to give a final bond dissociation energy. The correction factors were determined using CH4, CH3F, CH3Cl, and CH3Br and are found to yield bond dissociation energies in excellent agreement with experimental results. This correction may also be broadly applied to multihalogen compounds, as shown in calculations of the C−H and C−X bond dissociation energies of CH2X2 and CHX3 (X = F, Cl, and Br) compounds, which accurately reprodu...


Wavefront analysis still have some technical problems which may be solved within the next years. There are some limitations to use wavefront as a diagnostic tool for customized ablation alone. An ideal combination would be wavefront and topography. Meanwhile Selective Corneal Aberration is a method to visualize the optical quality of a measured corneal surface. It is based on a true measured 3D elevation information of a video topometer. Thus values can be interpreted either using Zernike polynomials or visualized as a so called color coded surface quality map. This map gives a quality factor (corneal aberration) for each measured point of the cornea.


A nostrum of business is that accounting can be read as the language of business. However, for very good reasons the claims for it as such are weak, and whilst a strong case can be brought for its inability to provide a genuine and useful "audit" of the firm's essence, the question that begs addressing is; "How, despite such a case, this nostrum prevails?" The answer this paper forwards lies in the metaphorical nature of any language, together with a path‐dependency in the selection of ideas, metaphors, analogies…. Although, one has to hope at the end the nostrum is defeated.


Background Belgium is one of the few countries worldwide where euthanasia on the grounds of unbearable suffering caused by a psychiatric disorder is legally possible. In April 2010 euthanasia was carried out on a 38-year-old Belgian woman with borderline personality disorder and/or autism. After a complaint by the family, three physicians were referred to the Court of Assizes on the charge of "murder by poisoning". Methods A content analysis of print and online news coverage of the euthanasia case in a selected sample of Flemish newspapers and magazines, published between December 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020, was conducted to analyze the prominence and framing of the euthanasia case, as well as the portrayal of key figures in this case. A quantitative analysis, as well as an in-depth qualitative analysis (with the aid of NVivo 1.0 software) was performed. Results One thousand two hundred fifteen news articles were identified through database searching. Of these, 789 articles were included after screening for relevance and eligibility. Mean prominence scores were moderate and did not statistically significantly differ between newspapers with a different historical ideological background or form (elite versus popular). The most frequent headline topics featured legal aspects (relating to the Belgian Euthanasia Law or the course of the trial). Headlines and content of most articles (90 and 89%, respectively) did not contain an essential standpoint on the euthanasia case itself or, if they did, were neutral. Historical ideological background, nor form of newspaper (elite versus popular) significantly influenced headline tone or article direction toward the euthanasia case. Despite this, our qualitative analysis showed some subtle differences in selection, statement or tonality of reports between certain newspapers with a different historical ideological background. Conclusion Although major Flemish newspapers and magazines generally were neutral in their coverage of the judicial case, major points of contention discussed were: the need for an evaluation and possible amendments to the existing Euthanasia Law, including a revision of the Belgian Control Commission and the system of penalties for physicians, and the absence of any consensus or guidance on how to define psychological suffering.


Chylous ascites is the accumulation of triglyceride–rich fluid in abdominal cavity. It is caused by lymphatic ducts injury, usually as consequence of surgery, neoplasia, or infection. Rarely, it can also occur from heart failure, pericarditis, or cirrhosis. We report the case of a 66–year–old man electively hospitalized for acute renal failure and anasarca state. The cardiological history was significant due to acute myocardial infarction treated with CABG, PM implantation for complete AV block, atrial fibrillation, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The entero–hepatological history started in 2019 when, two months after abdominal surgery for an incarcerated hernia, he developed chylous ascites and chylotorax. Starting from 2021, the patient presented recurrent episodes of tense ascites, requiring periodic paracentesis. Haematological and infectious disease evaluation resulted negative, liver biopsy showed congestive hepatopathy with fibrosis, while venous catheterization found high right filling pressure with not portal hypertension. Patient was treated with Apixaban 2.5 mg b.i.d., Furosemide 50 mg b.i.d., Metformin 1500 mg, Enalapril 20 mg, and Simvastatin 20 mg. During the hospitalization other paracentesis confirmed the chylous nature of the effusion, echocardiography (despite very bad acoustic windows) showed preserved left ventricle systolic function (LVEF 55%), 3rd degree LV diastolic disfunction, and dilatation of right ventricle, atria, and inferior Vena Cava. Right heart catheterization confirmed the presence of LV restrictive physiology, combined pulmonary hypertension, and ruled out the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis. In hospital treatment focused on resolving acute renal failure and hypervolemia through intravenous diuretic and Albumin and on optimizing cardiological therapy. The patient was discharged with the following treatment: Apixaban 2.5 mg b.i.d., Furosemide 50 mg b.i.d., Canrenone 100 mg b.i.d., Empagliflozin 10 mg, Simvastatin 20 mg, and indication to hypo–lipidic diet. This case highlights how the coexistence of different predisposing factors of chylous ascites (past abdominal surgery, heart failure and liver disease) can amplify each other. Recognizing the single role of each of them is of pivotal importance to elaborate targeted treatment. Moreover, in literature, there are some cases of chylous ascites associated with constrictive pericarditis and with severe heart failure, but to our knowledge not with coexistence of HFpEF.


First, their review of the literature omits a study from our group (Kellner et a!, 1992), in which we found that ECT three times a week had a more rapid onset of antidepressant effect than weekly ECT. In this study, 15 geriatric patients were randomly assigned to receive standard ECT either thrice weekly or once weekly. There was no difference in cognitive effects between the two groups. Secondly, within the last two years, our ECT service has treated six seriously ill patients who have made complete recoveries after either one or two administrations of ECT. Although this is uncommon, it indicates that there is a subset of patients for whom one or very few administrations of ECT are sufficient to induce remission of severe affective illness. The theoretical implications of this phenomenon are quite important. It may indicate that ECT, in certain patients, can induce a †̃¿ switch' mechanism. Whether this happens more often in bipolar patients, and whether or not such early dramatic recoveries predispose to early relapse, would be important issues to study further. Any such predisposition would argue for instituting aggressive continuation or maintenance treatments (either further ECT or antidepressant medications). These clinical observations indicate that there should be no standard prescription for a course of ECT. The practitioner must follow his/her patient's clinical status closely, and make treatment decisions based on observed responses. While most patients willstillrequire6—12administrationsof ECT, an important minority may be able to recover with substantially fewer treatments, with resultant cost savings and decreased risk of adverse cognitive effects. We agree strongly with Scott & Whalley that such clinical phenomena are key areas for further


Objective. Due to the variability of human movements, muscle activations vary among trials and subjects. However, few studies investigated how data organization methods for addressing variability impact the extracted muscle synergies. Approach. Fifteen healthy subjects performed a large set of upper limb multi-directional point-to-point reaching movements. Then, the study extracted muscle synergies under different data settings and investigated how data structure prior to synergy extraction, namely concatenation, averaging, and single trial, the number of considered trials, and the number of reaching directions affected the number and components of muscle synergies. Main results. The results showed that the number and components of synergies were significantly affected by the data structure. The concatenation method identified the highest number of synergies, and the averaging method usually found a smaller number of synergies. When the concatenated trials or reaching directions was lower than a minimum value, the number of synergies increased with the increase of the number of trials or reaching directions; however, when the number of trials or reaching directions reached a threshold, the number of synergies was usually constant or with less variation even when novel directions and trials were added. Similarity analysis also showed a slight increase when the number of trials or reaching directions was lower than a threshold. This study recommends that at least five trials and four reaching directions and the concatenation method are considered in muscle synergies analysis during upper limb tasks. Significance. This study makes the researchers focus on the variability analysis induced by the diseases rather than the techniques applied for synergies analysis and promotes applications of muscle synergies in clinical scenarios.


An algorithm for human face recognition, which is based on Overlapped Modular Principal Component Analysis Approach on the Cropped Log-polar images, is presented in this paper. In this technique all the image are divided into sub-images called modules and to avoid loss of features at division lines, overlapped sub- images are taken through the division lines. This method is applied on the Cropped Log-polar images. In this method all the images are converted into log-polar form and from all those transformed images only the facial areas are extracted and they are called as cropped log-polar images. Since some local features do not vary with orientations, poses and illumination variations it is expected that the proposed method is capable to cope up with these variations. Recognition Rates from experimental results show the superiority of the present method over Modular PCA and the conventional PCA methods in tackling face images with different orientations, pose variations and changes in illuminations.


Simple Summary Very little is known about where our pet rabbits come from: Who the breeders are, how good/or bad the conditions are that breeding rabbits are kept in, or whether breeders are being monitored by local authorities. This study aimed to bring to light information on breeding rabbits and breeders in the UK. Several methods of data collection were used combining data from online sales adverts, with a breeder survey and a council freedom of information request. From 3446 online rabbit sale adverts we found 94.5% of adverts were from England and only 1% of breeders were licenced. Out of 33 breeders surveyed, 51.5% provided smaller housing than recommended and housed most rabbits singly, against recommendations, and males were most likely to be housed singly, in too small conditions. However, most provided toys and a diet compliant with recommended guidelines. The most commonly sold/bred rabbits were breeds with flat-faces, which can cause significant health and well-being problems. A freedom of information request sent to 10% of UK councils revealed inconsistency in licensing conditions and confusion about eligibility. Without appropriate guidelines for housing and husbandry and regulation, rabbits within the pet rabbit breeding industry are at risk of compromised welfare. Abstract Conditions of pet rabbit breeding colonies and breeder practices are undocumented and very little is known about the pet rabbit sales market. Here, multiple methods were employed to investigate this sector of the UK pet industry. A freedom of information request sent to 10% of councils revealed confusion and inconsistency in licensing conditions. Data from 1-month of online sale adverts (3446) identified 646 self-declared breeders, of which 1.08% were licensed. Further, despite veterinary advice to vaccinate rabbits from five weeks, only 16.7% rabbits were vaccinated and 9.2% of adult rabbits were neutered. Thirty-three breeders completed a questionnaire of which 51.5% provided smaller housing than recommended, the majority housed rabbits singly and bucks were identified as most at risk of compromised welfare. However, most breeders provided enrichment and gave a diet compliant with recommended guidelines. Mini-lops and Netherland dwarfs were the most commonly sold breeds, both of which are brachycephalic, which can compromise their health and wellbeing. From sales data extrapolation, we estimate that 254,804 rabbits are purposefully bred for the UK online pet sales market each year. This data is the first of its kind and highlights welfare concerns within the pet rabbit breeding sector, which is unregulated and difficult to access.


Background Low-value arthroscopic surgery continues to be used to treat people with degenerative knee conditions (osteoarthritis, degenerative meniscal tears, loose bodies) despite consistent evidence from placebo-controlled trials and guidelines recommending against its use. Patients and some clinicians continue to harbour misconceptions about the value of this treatment modality and clinicians identify patient expectation as one key driver of arthroscopies. There is a substantial evidence base that indicates that patient decision aids increase knowledge and accuracy of perceptions about the benefits and harms of treatment options. They have been used to reduce the number of people choosing surgery in favour of more conservative options without adversely impacting on health outcomes but no decision aid focussing specifically on knee arthroscopy has been evaluated to date. Objective This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation potential of a patient decision aid for knee arthroscopy. Specifically our objectives are (i) to estimate the effectiveness and safety of a patient decision aid aimed at reducing referral for consideration of arthroscopy in people with degenerative knee disease compared with usual care; and (ii) to explore barriers and facilitators to wider implementation using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework, in order to promote future successful implementation of the decision aid in Australia. Methods We will conduct a two-arm RCT using an effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial design. This design evaluates the effects of a clinical intervention while also gathering information about its delivery and implementation. Restricted randomisation will be used to allocate participants with degenerative knee disease to intervention or control. Participants in the intervention group will receive a decision aid containing estimates of benefits and harms from our Cochrane review of knee arthroscopy and content consumers/patients have reported that they want included. The decision aid was refined after user testing with both patients and clinicians. Participants in both the intervention and control ('usual care') groups will receive an Arthritis Australia information sheet about osteoarthritis to control for the effect of receipt of information and enable participant blinding. Primary outcome is rate of referral for consideration of knee arthroscopy at 6 months post intervention. Outcome assessors will be blinded to group allocation. We will conduct surveys and semi-structured interviews with participants and organisations/practices involved in recruitment to explore factors perceived to influence wider implementation and sustainability. The trial will be registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) before enrolment of participants and has been endorsed by the ANZMUSC Clinical Trial Network indicating its high priority and quality, importance to stakeholders, and potential to improve patient outcomes. Conclusion No decision aid focussing on knee arthroscopy has been evaluated to date. Use of a patient decision aid to address this problem is anticipated to enhance patients' knowledge and informed choice about the benefits and harms of arthroscopy and reduce referrals for and use of arthroscopic surgery. If successful, the tool could be successfully implemented in other settings and adapted for other low-value interventions.


Temperature is, besides pressure and bonding time, the key parameter controlling the lead-on-chip (LOC) die bonding process. It determines how fast the thermoplastic adhesive melts and thus how small the minimum lamination time can be. On the other hand, overheating the LOC tape may cause bubbles or decomposition of the polymers. Therefore, the absolute temperature of the LOC tape is an important issue. The paper describes the measurement of the evolution of temperature in the bonding process using a temperature sensor located between the die surface and the LOC tape. The experimental data is compared with numerical calculations. The paper concludes with analysis of how heat transfer is influenced by the thermal properties of the heated bonding tools and the thermal contact conductance between package and tools.


Learning disabilities (LDs) have long been presumed to be a neurological disorder resulting from a deficit in 1 or more cognitive processes. Although the emphasis on cognitive processing disorders has been included in the definition since the term was coined, and although it arguably represents the key distinguishing characteristic of LDs, it also has been the least well-operationalized component of the LD construct. In this article, first a brief synthesis of the emerging research examining the connection between cognitive processing deficits and academic achievement is presented. Next, the difficulty of operationalizing the implications from this body of research is described, as is the importance of developing an LD identification model that accurately reflects current understandings of the construct. Combined models for identification that rely on the use of both a student's response to intervention and a comprehensive evaluation of cognitive processes are presented as best practice. Finally, implications for transitioning school-based LD identification models are discussed.


Although past studies advocate a positive impact of service quality on business performance, empirical studies investigating the nature of the relationship between service quality and profit growth in the hotel industry are limited. This study contributes to an ongoing debate as to whether service quality has a direct or indirect influence on profitability in the hotel industry. The data were collected from a national budget hotel company in the UK and the research hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling via the LISREL software. The findings of the study found that service quality had a positive influence on brand loyalty and premium price. The effect of service quality on profit growth was indirect and mediated by premium price, brand loyalty, and sales growth.


OBJECTIVES
The objectives were to determine the rate of physician/patient discussions regarding diet, exercise, and smoking and to assess the effect of such discussions on behavior change.

METHODS
In a telephone survey of Connecticut adults, respondents who had a routine checkup in the past year (n = 433) were asked whether their physicians had asked them about their dietary habits, exercise, or smoking, and about any efforts to modify these behaviors during the preceding year.

RESULTS
Diet was addressed with 50% of the subjects, exercise with 56%, and smoking status with 77%. Respondents who were asked about their diet were more likely to have changed their fat or fiber intake in the past year than those not asked (64 vs. 48%, P = 0.002) and were somewhat more likely to have lost weight (46 vs. 37%; P = 0.061); the differences were even greater among 94 overweight subjects (64 vs. 47%; P = 0.099). No behavior change was associated with discussions of exercise or smoking.

CONCLUSIONS
Physicians have the potential to impact health behaviors, especially those related to diet, through simple discussions during routine checkups, but only about half are using this opportunity.


The parsing problems are due to the difference among COMTRADE standards, unreadable code in remote transmission and incompleteness of data in the power system. This paper presents an algorithm that can correctly parse the file in the Matlab format to the greatest extent. The algorithm includes the error pre-analysis part and the fault-tolerance parsing part. With the method of line-skipping parsing and validation, the error pre-analysis part can find all sorts of error that can influence the proper parsing and ultimately form an error information table. By inquiring the error information table and Matlab extension character table to parse the data file and obtain the validation information in advance, the fault tolerance parsing part reliably realizes fault-tolerance parsing of file in the Matlab format. Plentiful testing results of field data show that the new algorithm is practical and reliable, which can provide technical references to the development of any third-party transient data analysis software in a power system.


We present a novel method to control a biped humanoid robot to walk on unknown inclined terrains, using an online learning algorithm to estimate in real-time the local terrain from proprioceptive and inertial sensors. Compliant controllers for the ankle joints are used to actively probe the surrounding surface, and the measured sensor data are combined to explicitly learn the global inclination and local disturbances of the terrain. These estimates are then used to adaptively modify the robot locomotion and control parameters. Results from both a physically-realistic computer simulation and experiments on a commercially available small humanoid robot show that our method can rapidly adapt to changing surface conditions to ensure stable walking on uneven surfaces.