Remnant forest fragments provide an opportunity for conservation in fragmented landscapes but some patches are more useful than others. Forest fragments around Budongo Forest Reserve, an Important Bird Area in western Uganda, were surveyed to explore the effects of different aspects of habitat fragmentation on bird guild composition. We recorded 1 128 individuals of 75 bird species over 7 056 net hours. The greatest number of birds and species were recorded in the forest fragments that were large, near to the continuous forest and surrounded by subsistence farmland. However, rarefied species richness was not affected by distance, size or matrix type; instead, forest specialist species were replaced by generalists and visitors with increasing fragmentation. The proportion of forest specialists and of terrestrial insectivores decreased with distance from the main forest, canopy openness and matrix intensity but not with fragment area. The findings show that bird assemblages vary in their response to habitat fragmentation but within guilds the response to fragmentation can be consistent, and can make ecological sense. Forest bird conservation can therefore benefit from information on species ecology when deciding which bird species and which parts of the landscape are to be prioritised for conservation or monitoring purposes.


The authors investigate the effects of protocol processing overhead on the performance of error recovery schemes. The focus is on the edge-to-edge error recovery scheme, in which retransmissions of erred packets only take place between source and destination nodes. An approximation is obtained for the Laplace transform for the distribution of the end-to-end packet transfer delay, considering the processing time required for error recovery. The performance of the link-by-link error recovery scheme, in which retransmissions take place between adjacent nodes, is evaluated and compared to the performance of the edge-to-edge scheme. Numerical results from a tandem queuing network model show that for a network with very-high-speed/low-error-rate channels, an edge-to-edge scheme gives a smaller packet transmission delay than a link-by-link scheme for both go-back-N and selective-repeat retransmission procedures, while keeping the packet loss probability sufficiently small. >


Received: 12-Aug-2020. Revised: 21-Sep-2020. Accepted: 20-Oct-2020. Published: 12-May-2021. This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‐commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.


The performance of the recently developed implicit finite-difference time-domain methods (FDTDs) is compared with that of the traditional explicit FDTD. For the implicit methods, the alternating-direction implicit (ADI) FDTD and the envelope ADI-FDTD are investigated. In addition, the locally one-dimensional (LOD) scheme is newly introduced into implicit FDTDs, i.e., LOD- and envelope LOD-FDTDs are developed for simple implementation of the algorithm and reduced CPU time. Numerical dispersion analysis is performed, demonstrating the improved dispersion properties of the envelope FDTD. Numerical results of a waveguide grating reveal that the wavelength responses obtained from the ADI/LOD-FDTD gradually shift toward a longer wavelength as the time step (/spl Delta/t) is increased. For the envelope ADI/LOD-FDTD with /spl Delta/t=8/spl Delta/t/sub CFL/, in which /spl Delta/t/sub CFL/ is determined by the stability criterion, the responses are in good agreement with the response of the explicit FDTD, showing the comparable CPU time to that of the explicit FDTD. Further calculations of a waveguide with high-reflection coatings reveal that the CPU time of the envelope LOD-FDTD with /spl Delta/t=32/spl Delta/t/sub CFL/ is reduced to 25% of that of the explicit FDTD.


The Active Handrest is a large workspace assistive robotic device that has been shown to significantly improve the user performance of various movement tasks. This device has the potential to assist highly accurate motions without the need for a robotically enabled or comanipulated tool while allowing the user to retain complete control over a grasped tool. This paper evaluates the Active Handrest's effect on the kinematics of user movements together with various virtual fixture control strategies to further improve the human performance while using the Active Handrest. The most effective fixture strategy for tracing straight lines is first determined. Then, this fixture strategy is directly implemented on the Active Handrest's motions. Finally, the performance of different fixture strategies is assessed through speed-accuracy tradeoff and movement kinematics. It is concluded that fixtures implemented on the Active Handrest are as effective as those implemented on a grasped tool, which enables users of the Active Handrest high accuracy with ordinary tools such as a scalpel or paint brush. The performance is further improved when fixtures are implemented on both the Active Handrest and the grasped tool.


Background Avascular necrosis (AVN) in ANCA associated vasculitides (AAV) is a rare finding of damage that has not been investigated in detail in terms of risk factors. Objectives To investigate the prevalance of AVN risk factors in patients with AAV Methods AAV cohort diagnosed according to CHCC, presented with ≥1 organ involvement, being followed-up and treated ≥6 months after diagnosis were included into the study. All symptomatic AVN was demonstrated by MRI. Demographic and clinical data including pre-defined AVN risk factors such as high BMI (≥25), hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking status, alcohol intake and cumulative glucocorticoid (GC) exposure were noted into a protocol. Initial BVAS and cumulative VDI were calculated in the majority of cohort. The patients were stratified in accordance to the presence of AVN (AVN+/AVN-). Demographics and AVN risk factors were compared between the groups by using Mann Whitney U test. Results The study group consisted of 129 AAV (16 e-GPA, 28 MPA, 85 GPA) patients (63 female) with the mean age at diagnosis 44±15 and mean follow-up time 60±46.7 (6-182) (med 48). Eighteen of 129 (14%) AAV patients developed AVN (2 MPA, 16 GPA). AVN was observed in knee (2), shoulder (1), hip (14) and ankle (1) and bilateral in 66%. Comparison of the AVN risk factors in AAV patients was shown in Table.Table 1. Comparison of the AVN risk factors in AAV patients AVN+ AVN− p Age at diagnosis 43±13 44±16 NS Follow-up time (mo) 94±46 54±44 0,001 Sex (F/M) 5/13 58/53 0,05 BMI ≥25 (%) 55 30 0,03 Diabetes 11 17 NS Hypercholesterolemia (LDL>160 mg/dl) (%) 16 9 NS Smoking (%) 7 33 NS Dose of cumulative GC (g) 17±8 10±8 0.002 Venous thrombosis (%) 11 7 NS VDI score 3.1±1.4 (16/18) 2.35±2 (98/111) NS Conclusions A very high prevalence of AVN was found in our GPA cohort, which is quite higher than the previously reported frequencies (<1%). However, comparison of GC exposure data could not be done between our preliminary analysis and that of previously reported trial results. Other undefined risk factors to AVN such as variables affecting bone metabolism may contribute to observed differences warranting further investigations. Male gender has been identified as a new risk factor in our cohort, which has to be confirmed in large cohorts. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Nowadays, one of the trends in microelectronic packaging is to integrate multi-functional systems into one package, resulting in more applications of highly dissimilar materials in the form of laminated thin films or composite structures. As a consequence, the number of interfaces increases. Often, the interface between these dissimilar materials is where the failure is most likely to occur especially when the packaged devices are subjected to the thermo-mechanical loading. Prediction of interface delamination is typically done using the critical energy release rate. However, the critical value is dependent on mode mixity. This paper describes our efforts on interface characterization as a function of mode mixity. A new test setup is designed for mixed mode bending testing. It allows for measuring the stable crack growth as the function of mode mixity. The crack length, necessary for calculation of the energy release rate is measured by means of an optical microscope. Finite element simulation is used to interpret the experimental results and thus to establish the critical energy release rates and mode mixities.


This essay describes another improvement to the expert system named SISTEMAT. The purpose of such improvement is to help chemists who work with natural products to figure out chemical structures. SISTEMAT uses Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) C data to ensemble compatible substructures according to related spectra. The system also is able to suggest a list of probable carbon skeletons. Those will work as models to structure generating programs, reducing the combinatorial explosion problem. This is the first essay from our research group which shows our system applications to aromatic compounds. A database with 700 NMR C spectra of flavonoids obtained from the literature was used. We applied heuristic SISTEMAT in order to discover ranges of chemical shifts that characterise several skeleton types. The diversity of flavonoid structures is due to several oxidation patterns at rings A and B. This phenomenon causes a great complexity in the absorptions at the aromatic region. Heuristic SISTEMAT was able to discover more accurate rules that differentiate specific patterns of oxidation for some skeleton types. The performance of the software was checked against a higher complex structure of a dimeric flavonoid recently isolated. The system gives only two possibilities of skeleton types (among 70 others). Both substructures found by the program showed correct linkages between carbons 2 and 7′′ and 4 and 8′′ of the monomers.


Data on weather and aggravated assaults were obtained to determine whether the curvilinear relationship between temperature and violence previously observed in Minneapolis, Minnesota (E. G. Cohn & J. Rotton, 1997), could be replicated. The data consisted of calls for services received by police in Dallas between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1995. Controlling for holidays, school closings, time of day, day of the week, season of the year, and their interactions, moderator-variable autoregression analyses indicated that assaults were an inverted U-shaped function of temperature. Replicating past research, the curvilinear relationship was dominant during daylight hours and spring months, whereas linear relationships were observed during nighttime hours and other seasons. The results are interpreted in terms of routine activity theory and the negative affect escape model of aggression.


Background: Onco-cardiology is a developing interdisciplinary field aiming to help oncologists to cope with the cardiovascular complications and comorbidities of patients followed for malignancies. Side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapies and targeted treatments are put into focus.

Methods: We selected from our database the most frequent cardiovascular complication and three cases that we found especially relevant from a clinical point of view.

Results: The establishment of the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure on a clinical basis is pointed out. The management of aortic valvulopathy, radiogenic myocarditis and a drug-induced conduction disorder is discussed.

Conclusions: The sensitisation of the oncologists to the evaluation of the cardiac status of their patients by their own is emphasised. Diastolic heart failure should be considered for cancer patients developing dyspnoea. The replacement of stenotic aortic valve should be considered for cancer patients with favourable prognosis.


Summary Myositis ossificans (MO) is a designation that encompasses a heterogeneous group of lesions, all of which demonstrate heterotopic ossification. In addition to classic-appearing MO, the following are closely related entities osteoma cutis, a mature-appearing, localized ossification within the skin and subcutis associated with a variety of precipitating factors (i.e., trauma, neoplasm); florid reactive periostitis (fi-bro-osseous pseudotumor of the digits), a fibroblastic and osteocartilaginous prolif-erative lesion of the fingers and toes, especially the proximal phalanx, often associated radiographically with a laminated periosteal reaction; bizarre parosteal osteochon-dromatous proliferation (Nora's lesion), a hypercellular cartilage-capped exostosis surrounding an irregular mixture of bone and reactive fibrous tissue, most often arising from the juxtacortical surfaces of the middle and proximal phalanges of the hands and feet; Dupuytren's subungual exostosis, a fibrocartilage to hyaline cartilage exostotic proliferation morphologically resembling bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation but anatomically characterized by subungual distal phalangeal origin. As considerable clinical and histomorphologic overlap exists between MO and these: related entities and nosologic distinction appears to be based largely on anatomic and radiographic relationships, we propose the unifying term pseudomalignant heterotopic ossifications. These benign heterotopic ossifications must be distinguished from extraskeletal osteosarcoma.


Myristica fragrans is a traditional herbal medicine and has been shown to alleviate the development of atherosclerosis. However, the anti-atherogenic mechanisms of M. fragrans are still to be addressed. In this study, we explored the effect of M. fragrans on lipid metabolism and inflammation and its mechanisms in THP-1-derived macrophages. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis results showed that M. fragrans promotes cholesterol efflux from THP-1-derived macrophages and reduces intracellular total cholesterol, cholesterol ester, and free cholesterol contents in a dose- and a time-dependent manner. Further study found that liver X receptor alpha (LXRα) antagonist GGPP significantly blocked the upregulation of ABCA1 expression with M. fragrans treatment. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay confirmed that GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) can bind to the LXRα promoter, and inhibition of GATA3 led to the downregulation of LXRα and ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 1 expression. Furthermore, M. fragrans reduced lipid accumulation, followed by decreasing tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β and increasing IL-10 produced by THP-1-derived macrophages. Therefore, M. fragrans is identified as a valuable therapeutic medicine for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.


Single-wall carbon nanotubes, seamless cylindrical molecules formed from a graphene sheet, are either conducting or semiconducting, depending on the particular "wrapping vector" that defines the waist of the tube. Scanning tunneling microscopy experiments have tested this idea by simultaneously measuring a tube's lattice structure and electronic properties. Here we present a series of STM images of single-wall carbon nanotubes with a strikingly rich set of superstructures. The observed patterns can be understood as due to interference between propagating electron waves that are reflected from defects on the tube walls and ends, or as intrinsic to states propagating on semiconducting tubes. The measured broken symmetries can be used to directly probe electronic backscattering on the tube and provide a key element in the understanding of low-energy electron transport on these structures.


The psu gene product of "phasmid" (phage-plasmid) P4 acts as a transcription antitermination factor in trans and in cis, respectively, within the morphogenic operons of its P2 phage helper during lytic viral development and on P4 itself during the establishment stage of its alternative mode of propagation as a plasmid. Here we show that psu also antagonizes activity of the Escherichia coli transcription termination factor rho at the terminator of the trp operon. Such a finding provides to our knowledge the first direct evidence for antitermination activity at a known rho-dependent site by the psu gene product. It also reveals an example of an extrachromosomal gene product that acts on specific sites of three different genomes to regulate expression of unlinked families of genes.


Peer reviewed publications are the primary source of important new information. This editorial provides tips for writing various sections of research papers, review articles, and case reports. Additional topics discussed include making decisions about authorship, selecting a journal for submission of an article, understanding the peer review process and expectations of editors and reviewers, and revising the article. Successful authors combine appropriate knowledge and experience, personal attributes, and effective collaborations to produce insightful and important contributions to the literature.


A global computing system (GCS) harnesses the idle CPU resources of clients connected to the Internet for solving large problems that require a high volume of computing power. Since GCS scales to millions of clients, many projects usually adopt coarse-grained scheduling in order to reduce server-side contention at the expense of sacrificing the degree of parallelism and wasting CPU resources. In this paper, we propose a new type of client, i.e., a scheduling proxy that enables adaptive-grained scheduling between the server and clients. While the server allocates coarse-grained work units to scheduling proxies alone, clients download fine-grained work units from a relatively nearby scheduling proxy not from the distant server. By computation of small work units at client side, the turnaround time of work unit can be reduced and the waste of CPU time by timeout can be minimized without increasing the performance cost of contention at the server.


Green hydrogen produced from solar energy could be one of the solutions to the growing energy shortage as non-renewable energy sources are phased out. However, the current catalyst materials used for photocatalytic water splitting (PWS) cannot compete with other renewable technologies when it comes to efficiency and production cost. Transition-metal dichalcogenides, such as molybdenum disulfides (MoS2), have previously proven to have electronic and optical properties that could tackle these challenges. In this work, optical properties, the d-band center, and Gibbs free energy are calculated for seven MoS2 polymorphs using first-principles calculations and density functional theory (DFT) to show that they could be suitable as photocatalysts for PWS. Out of the seven, the two polymorphs 3Ha and 2R1 were shown to have d-band center values closest to the optimal value, while the Gibbs free energy for all seven polymorphs was within 5% of each other. In a previous study, we found that 3Hb had the highest electron mobility among all seven polymorphs and an optimal bandgap for photocatalytic reactions. The 3Hb polymorphs were therefore selected for further study. An in-depth analysis of the enhancement of the electronic properties and the Gibbs free energy through substitutional doping with Al, Co, N, and Ni was carried out. For the very first time, substitutional doping of MoS2 was attempted. We found that replacing one Mo atom with Al, Co, I, N, and Ni lowered the Gibbs free energy by a factor of 10, which would increase the hydrogen evolution reaction of the catalyst. Our study further shows that 3Hb with one S atom replaced with Al, Co, I, N, or Ni is dynamically and mechanically stable, while for 3Hb, replacing one Mo atom with Al and Ni makes the structure stable. Based on the low Gibbs free energy, stability, and electronic bandgap 3Hb, MoS2 doped with Al for one Mo atom emerges as a promising candidate for photocatalytic water splitting.


The accuracy and convergence speed in alignment of strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) are the two contradictory indexes. The paper mainly lays emphasis on the alignment speed instead of high precision. It requires high rapidity more than high accuracy due to some specific occasions such as the launching of artillery or torpedo. In this case, it is very necessary to converge in a very short time. However, the traditional Kalman filter method uses speed or position as measurement, and it takes a long time to complete the initial alignment. Aiming at this problem, a fast alignment method based on the information of gyroscope on static base is proposed. On basis of the traditional method, gyro output is used as an auxiliary measurement to improve the alignment speed. The simulation result demonstrates that the proposed method has a good effect on fast convergence.


ABSTRACT This paper primarily focuses on assessing the destination image of Turkey held by UK-based travel intermediaries such as tour operators and travel agencies. The strongest and weakest destination attributes of Turkey are explored in the paper through the structured methodology by applying primary research. Understanding the image of a destination helps not only to determine a promotional policy for her but also to influence tourists' decision making process. The research findings reveal that with regard to affective components of destination image items, Turkey is perceived as an arousing rather than a sleepy holiday destination. The main strengths of Turkey in terms of cognitive/perceptual destination components are cultural, historical, and natural attractions, hospitality of people, and appealing cuisine. On the other hand, the weakest destination attributes of Turkey are the lack and inadequacies of stability, safety, cleanliness of the environment, and local infrastructures. Furthermore, the country has a weakly good overall destination image from the UK-based travel intermediaries' perspectives. The findings of the research suggest that the affective, cognitive/perceptual, and overall destination image of Turkey does not differ between mass and specialist travel intermediaries.


This paper presents a scalable cascaded Z-source inverter for residential PV systems with high efficiency and high switching frequency. The commercial low voltage Gallium Nitride (GaN) device with low loss and high frequency is used to facilitate each Z-source inverter cell modular. The comprehensive Z-source network is designed based on the innovative equivalent AC circuit model. A detailed efficiency analysis is applied to a 3kW single phase grid-connected PV system with four cascaded Z-source inverter cells and 1MHz output frequency. The proposed topology also has the advantage to achieve independent maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for each module and therefore improve the PV energy harvesting capability.


More than just a study of legal history, Shifting the Blame looks at the "abuse excuse" defense as an indicator of broad social change in cultural understandings of victimization, responsibility, and womanhood. The introduction of victimization as an exculpatory condition within the context of a criminal defense tells the story of a society that has accepted victimization as a new way of explaining and excusing misbehavior.Through case law analysis, the book documents the initial development of the strategy in three different types of cases in the 1970s - "rotten social background," brainwashing, and battered women's self-defense cases. Since its initial acceptance in battered women's cases in the early 1980s, the use of the strategy has expanded to a variety of offenders in different types of relationships arguing different defenses. In lively, readable prose, Westervelt examines each form of expansion, revealing that while the expansion of the strategy has been fairly extensive, it has also been limited in some important ways. Her research shows readers that only certain types of "victims," particularly victims of physical abuse, have successfully used this defense. Shifting the Blame exposes the ways in which the acceptance of this new defense strategy illuminates a cultural shift in understandings of individual responsibility and shows how the law plays a role in defining who can be an acceptable victim.Saundra D. Westervelt is an assistant professor in the Sociology Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.


Explore built-in WordPress features and the power of advanced plugins and themes for building modern websites using exciting recipes
Key Features
Build custom features and extend built-in features in WordPress with custom coding and plugins

Get to grips with extending WordPress as an application framework

Manage non-functional aspects of your website such as security, performance, and maintenance
Book Description
WordPress has been the most popular content management system (CMS) for many years and is now powering over 30% of all websites globally. With the demand for WordPress development and skilled developers ever-increasing, now is the best time to learn WordPress inside out.

This book starts with simple recipes for configuring WordPress and managing basic platform features. You'll then move on to explore how to install and customize WordPress plugins, widgets, and themes. The next few chapters cover recipes for content and user-management-related topics such as customizing the content display, working with content types, using the new Gutenberg editor, and customizing editorial workflow for building advanced blogs. As you advance, you'll learn how to use WordPress as an application framework as well as a platform for building e-commerce sites. This WordPress book will also help you optimize your site to maximize visibility on search engines, add interactivity, and build a user community to make the site profitable. Finally, you'll learn how to maintain a WordPress site smoothly while taking precautions against possible security threats.

By the end of the book, you'll have the tools and skills required to build and maintain modern WordPress websites with the latest technologies and be able to find quick solutions to common WordPress problems.
What you will learn
Install and customize WordPress themes and plugins for building websites

Develop modern web designs without the need to write any code

Explore the new Gutenberg content editor introduced in WordPress 5 (Bebo)

Use the existing WordPress plugins to add custom features and monetize your website

Improve user interaction and accessibility for your website with simple tricks

Discover powerful techniques for maintaining and securing your websites

Extend built-in WordPress features for advanced website management
Who this book is for
This book is for beginners who want to build powerful modern websites with minimum coding knowledge and intermediate web developers who want to extend the basic features of WordPress to cater to advanced modern website technologies. Although prior experience with WordPress is not required, familiarity with basic PHP, HTML, and CSS is necessary to understand the concepts covered.


Ever since its birth as a new discipline, development economics has experienced the heights of universal acclaim as a pioneer (ready to slay the dragon of poverty single-handed) as well as the depths of a heretic isolation (as an outsider to the realm of mainstream economics). Between these two views a consensus is emerging that there is a role, though a reduced one, for development economics. This role exists because the concern for growth and distribution, though in the very veins of mainstream economics, has been highlighted fully only by development economics. However, it is a somewhat reduced role because a greater recognition of the (marginal) utility of free markets, in place of an overly interventionist state which requires it to speak the language of neo-classical economics, makes it difficult for it to differentiate its 'products' from those offered by others. There also appears to be a changing perception about the key variable(s) that development economics should focus on: the ends of development (i.e., improving the welfare of the people) rather than the means of achieving it (i.e., the growth of per capita income); a more comprehensive indicator of development composed of such components as longevity and literacy, rather than just per capita income; human capital rather than just physical capital to account for the positive contribution of education and health to economic growth; the gains from international trade, instead of looking at it as an instrument of exploitation of the 'periphery' by the 'centre'; the central role of total factor productivity in achieving high rates of economic growth; and so on. But, in my opinion, the new consensus about development economics remains ill-defined. In particular, the recommended preference for the markets may


ODP Leg 171B investigated the sediments of the Blake Plateau off northern Florida and recovered 36 Upper Albian ammonites - one from Site 1050C, the others from Site 1052E. This unusually large number of specimens from an ODP site permits the dating of the interval between 668 to 621 m below sea-floor at Site 1052E as late Late Albian, Stoliczkaia (S.) dispar ammonite zone. This zone is indicated by the genera Mortoniceras and Stoliczkaia (S.). Site 1050C (Interval 171B-1050C-31R-3, 0·80-0·86 m) cannot be dated more precisely than Late Aptian to Mid Cenomanian by ammonites. The fauna is cosmopolitan. Tetragonites jurinianus and Puzosia mayoriana are widely distributed forms. Kossmatella muhlenbecki was thought to be restricted to a fairly small area around the Mediterranean, but the record off northern Florida presented here, indicates that it is not an endemic species; this is also true for Hemiptychoceras subgaultinumin the Albian. The event-like character of the ammonite-bearing interval at Site 1052E is unique. It is overlain by a laminated claystone succession; the top of this sequence is considered to represent maximum flooding (Oceanic Anoxic Event, OAE 1d). Ammonites perhaps profited from an increased nutrient supply derived from flooded coastal plains during a continuous transgression.


The Science DMZ is a network research tool offering superior large science data transmission between two locations. Through a network design that places the Science DMZ at the edge of the campus network, the Science DMZ defines a network path that avoids packet-inspecting devices (firewalls, packet shapers) and produces near line-rate transmission results for large data sets between institutions. Small institutions of higher education (public and private small colleges) seeking to participate in data exchange with other institutions are inhibited in the construction of Science DMZs due to the high costs of deployment. While the National Science Foundation (NSF) made 18 awards in the Campus Cyberinfrastructure program (CC-NIE, CC*DNI) to investigate the designs, methods, costs, and results of deploying Science DMZs at small institutions, there lacks a cohort view of the success factors and options that must be considered in developing the most impactful solution for any given small institution environment. This paper examined the decisions and results of the 18 NSF Science DMZ projects, recording a series of major factors in the small institution deployments. In summarizing the results, we propose the Science DMZ Capital Framework (SCF) as a future-expanded model to simplify the peripheral factors that must be considered at the start of a small institution Science DMZ project.


Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for morbid obesity. Although calorie malabsorption does not occur in most bariatric procedures, micronutrient deficiencies are possible. Multivitamin supplementation is essential following bariatric surgery. The recommendation would be to screen for multivitamin deficiencies prior to surgery and to monitor vitamin levels postoperatively at regular intervals. In this paper, we review the data for screening and supplementation after bariatric procedures for different vitamins.


Energy and matter fluxes essential for all life1 are modulated by spatial and temporal shifts in microbial community structure resulting from environmental and dispersal filtering2,3, emphasizing the continued need to characterize microbial biogeography4,5. Yet, application of metapopulation theory, traditionally used in general ecology for understanding shifts in biogeographical patterns among macroorganisms, has not been tested extensively for defining marine microbial populations filtered by environmental conditions and dispersal limitation at global ocean scales. Here we show, from applying metapopulation theory on two major global ocean datasets6,7, that microbial populations exhibit core- and satellite distributions with cosmopolitan compared to geographically restricted distributions of populations. We found significant bimodal occupancy-frequency patterns (the different number of species occupying different number of patches) at varying spatial scales, where shifts from bimodal to unimodal patterns indicated environmental and dispersal filtering. Such bimodal occupancy-frequency patterns were validated in Longhurst's classical biogeographical framework and in silico where observed bimodal patterns often aligned with specific biomes and provinces described by Longhurst and where found to be non-random in randomized datasets and mock communities. Taken together, our results show that application of metapopulation theory provides a framework for determining distinct microbial biomes maintained by environmental and dispersal filtering.


To enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of nitrogen use efficiency in maize (Zea mays), we have developed a quantitative genetic approach by associating metabolic functions and agronomic traits to DNA markers. In this study, leaves of vegetative recombinant inbred lines of maize, already assessed for their agronomic performance, were analyzed for physiological traits such as nitrate content, nitrate reductase (NR), and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities. A significant genotypic variation was found for these traits and a positive correlation was observed between nitrate content, GS activity and yield, and its components. NR activity, on the other hand, was negatively correlated. These results suggest that increased productivity in maize genotypes was due to their ability to accumulate nitrate in their leaves during vegetative growth and to efficiently remobilize this stored nitrogen during grain filling. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for various agronomic and physiological traits were searched for and located on the genetic map of maize. Coincidences of QTL for yield and its components with genes encoding cytosolic GS and the corresponding enzyme activity were detected. In particular, it appears that the GS locus on chromosome 5 is a good candidate gene that can, at least partially, explain variations in yield or kernel weight. Because at this locus coincidences of QTLs for grain yield, GS, NR activity, and nitrate content were also observed, we hypothesize that leaf nitrate accumulation and the reactions catalyzed by NR and GS are coregulated and represent key elements controlling nitrogen use efficiency in maize.


A novel Mn(II)phosphate coordination polymer, {Mn2.5(HPO4PO4)H2O)2}n, has been synthesized under solvothermal conditions. This is the first phosphate-based Mn(II) complex, which is obtained in excellent yield without using any external organic amine as a structure directing agent. The complex has a 3D non-interpenetrated unprecedented 5-nodal (5,5,6,6,7)-connected pkb1 topological network. It has been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis (CHN analyzer and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), and thermogravimetry. Variable temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that the complex exhibits spin-canted antiferromagnetic behaviour at low temperature. The electron paramagnetic resonance measurements, at ambient and at low temperature, of the complex are also consistent with magnetic behaviour.


Mass-production of different laser systems often requires utilization of the focal spot size method for determination of output laser beam spatial characteristics. The main challenge of this method is high accuracy maintenance of a CCD camera beam profiler in the collecting lens focal plane. The aim of our work is development of new method for placing of photodetector array in the collecting lens focal plane with high accuracy. Proposed technique is based on focusing of several parallel laser beams. Determination of the focal plane position requires only longitudinal translation of the CCD-camera to find a point of laser beams intersection. Continuous-wave (CW) diode-pumped laser emitting in the spectral region near 1μm was created to satisfy the requirements of the developed technique. Designed microchip laser generates two stigmatic Gaussian beams with automatically parallel beam axes due to independent pumping of different areas of the one microchip crystal having the same cavity mirrors. It was theoretically demonstrated that developed method provides possibility of the lenses focal plane determination with 1 % accuracy. The microchip laser generates two parallel Gaussian beams with divergence of about 10 mrad. Laser output power can be varied in the range of 0.1–1.5 W by changing the pumping laser diode electrical current. The distance between two beam axes can be changed in the range of 0.5–5.0 mm. We have proposed method for determination of positive lens focal plane location by using of CCDcamera and two laser beams with parallel axes without utilization of additional optical devices. We have developed CW longitudinally diode pumped microchip laser emitting in the 1-μm spectral region that can be used in the measuring instrument that doesn't require precision mechanical components for determination of focal plane location with 1 % accuracy. The overall dimensions of laser head was 70 × 40 × 40 mm3 and maximum power consumption was 7W per one laser beam.


River regulation or flow modification—the hydrological alteration of flow by dams and diversions—has been implicated as a cause of fundamental change to downstream aquatic ecosystems. Flow modification changes the patterns and functionality of the natural flow regime, and has the potential to restrict population connectivity and gene flow in river-dependent organisms. Since population connectivity and the maintenance of genetic diversity are fundamental drivers of long-term persistence, understanding the extent flow modification impacts these critical attributes of genetic health is an important goal for long-term conservation. Foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) were historically abundant throughout many western rivers but have declined since the onset of regulation. However, the extent to which R. boylii populations in rivers with altered flow regimes are maintaining connectivity and genetic diversity is unknown. Here we use genetic methods to investigate the impacts of flow alteration on R. boylii to explore their potential for long-term persistence under continued flow modification. We found R. boylii in rivers with flow modification showed striking patterns of isolation and trajectories of genetic diversity loss relative to unregulated rivers. For example, flow modification explained the greatest amount of variance in population genetic differentiation compared with other covariates including geographic distance. Importantly, patterns of connectivity and genetic diversity loss were observed regardless of flow alteration level but were most prominent in locations with the greatest flow modification intensity. Although our results do not bode well for long-term persistence of R. boylii populations under current flow regulation regimes, they do highlight the power of genetic monitoring for assessing population health in aquatic organisms.


Contact currents from touching objects with different voltages can produce electric fields within the body that produce neurological and other biological effects. To begin measuring these exposures among electric utility workers, a new contact current meter (CCM) was tested in a pilot study at Southern California Edison. The CCM was worn for 82 full-shift measurements by 76 volunteers from eight occupations who did not work directly with energized electrical equipment. The volunteers were exposed to an average of 285.8 contact current events above the meter's 1-μA threshold, but most of these were electrostatic spark discharges. Fourteen employees experienced an average of 135.1 contact currents events whose primary frequency was 60 Hz. Using a circuit model of the human body, the average contact currents going from arm to arm was 9.8 μA (maximum = 178.0 μA), and the average going down the torso was 25.5 μA (maximum = 662.0). The maximum exposures were experienced by a technical support employee working in a substation. All measurements in this pilot study were below the 3000 μA maximum permissible exposure for contact currents set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Combining these current measurements with the results of high-resolution dosimetry, the internal electric fields averaged an estimated 1.7 mV/m in the heart (maximum = 21.0 mV/m), and 1.9 mV/m in the hematopoietic bone marrow in the torso (maximum = 56.5 mV/m). These internal electric fields from contact currents are below the basic restriction of 943 mV/m in the IEEE exposure standards but are above 1 mV/m, a level where biological effects have been often reported in laboratory studies. Safety concerns limited the measurements to de-energized equipment, so we did not obtain data on work in energized high-voltage environments, the most likely sources of high contact currents. This pilot study identified other improvements to the contact current meter that would make it better able to measure exposures in future health studies.


A comparison is made between seismic event locations derived from standard spherically symmetric Earth models (JB, PREM, IASP91) and a recent Earth model (S&P12/WM13) that incorporates large-scale lateral heterogeneity of P- and S-wave velocities in the mantle. Events with known hypocentral coordinates are located in the different Earth models using standard methods. Two sets of events are considered: a data set of 26 explosions, including primarily nuclear weapons test explosions and peaceful nuclear explosions in the United States and former USSR; and a published data set of 82 well-located earthquakes with a more even global distribution. IASP91 and PREM are shown to offer similar errors in event location and origin time estimates with respect to the JB model. The three-dimensional (3D) model S&P12/WM13 offers improvement in event locations over all three one-dimensional (1D) models with, or without, station corrections. For the explosion events, the average mislocation distance is reduced by approximately 40%; for the earthquakes, the improvements are smaller. Corrections for crustal thickness beneath source and receiver are found to be of similar magnitude to the mantle corrections, but use of station corrections together with the three-dimensional mantle model provide the best locations.


Lead-free piezoceramics Bi0.5(Na1-xKx)0.5TiO3 (x = 0.00~1.00) has been investigated by using scanning probe microscope with lock-in technique. Superior to other bulk measurements, this technique gives not only the topological but the piezo/ferroelectric properties without any convolutions. By the appropriate selection of lock-in channel and spectra analysis, we can get the trend of the magnitude and phase of polarization with different x value. And this enables us to find the morphotropic phase boundary successfully.


A film, a television series, four plays and an opera have been produced in China since 1997 dramatising the invasion of Tibet by the British in 1903 04. These works were part of an official effort to enhance patriotic spirit among Chinese and Tibetan people through historical example, as well as an attempt to represent Tibetans as participants in a broader Chinese resistance to Western aggression and humiliation. They coincided with an official call for film-makers to make propaganda more appealing and a decisive turn in Chinese cinema towards commercialised films and Hollywood-style narrative. The paper contextualises these dramatisations and their ideological features within the history of Tibetan representations in Chinese film and television dramas, and discusses foreign critiques of the most influential of the dramatisations of the Younghusband expedition, Feng Xiaonings 1997 film Honghegu (Red River Valley). It notes difficulties with criticisms about the lack of accuracy in these Chinese films, discusses several ways in which they match the historical record, and compares them with the little-known television series Jiangzi 1904.


Coldwater Spring in Minneapolis, Minnesota was the original water supply for Fort Snelling in the 1840s; is a sacred spring to Native Americans and is now part of the National Park System. This project monitored the changes in salinity levels at Coldwater Spring to document human impacts on the spring's water quality. Weekly testing for temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH and anion levels, and monthly analyzing for cation and alkalinity levels were conducted at Coldwater Spring and the adjacent Wetland A from February, 2013 through April, 2014.  Coldwater Spring is classified as a gravity spring in which the spring's water is supplied from recharge areas and travels through a permeable surface until it hits an impermeable surface that does not allow it to travel further into the ground. Coldwater Spring's water flows through fractures in Platteville Limestone of Ordovician age. Studies on this formation have shown that it is ineffective at filtering out many of the contaminants from the recharge areas, in this case residential housing and major highways. The basic chemistry of Coldwater Spring is the calcium magnesium bicarbonate water typical of carbonate springs. However, on an equivalent basis Coldwater Spring's water currently contain almost as much sodium as calcium + magnesium and more chloride than bicarbonate.  In 1880, a study conducted of Coldwater Spring by Army Captain Maguire found the chloride levels to be about 4.5 ppm. During the current study the chloride content in the spring fluctuated smoothly from about 320 ppm from March, 2013 climbed to a maximum of 430 ppm in June, 2013 and declined to 340 ppm in September, 2013 and then rose slowly to 385 ppm in April, 2014. These levels are about 100 times the levels from 1880. This major anthropogenic sodium chloride component has a chloride to bromide ratio of 2500 ± 300, well within the range of chloride to bromide ratios of road salt, 1,000 to 10,000. Road salt is applied to two major multi-lane highways close to the spring throughout the late fall, winter and early spring. The several month delay in the peak salt concentration appears to be a travel time delay between the surface application and the spring.  The temperature of Coldwater Spring decreased smoothly from 12.7 °C in February to 11.2 °C in May and then increased to 13.0 °C by late November. This is not a temperature constant spring. The peak in the spring's temperature is delayed by about six months from the air temperature pattern. The normal temperature of a spring in this area is about 8 °C, so the higher temperatures of the spring also indicate an outside source, such as underground utilities, that may be heating the spring.  The water also contains a significant nitrate-nitrogen component of 2.9 ± 0.3 ppm, which is additional evidence of anthropogenic impact.


The serum concentrations of the complement inactivators C1INH, C3bINA and beta 1H have been determined in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and their correlation with C3 and properdin factor B examined. The incidence of immunoconglutinins (1K) in these patients was investigated. Raised serum concentrations of C1INH and C3bINA have been found in patients with active disease, but no significant alteration was found in serum concentration of beta 1H. An increasing incidence of positive 1K titres was found with increased length of disease history. These results suggest continuing complement activation in these diseases.


Peer-to-peer service-oriented community coordinated multimedia (SCCM) is envisioned as a novel paradigm in which the user consumes multiple media through requesting multimedia-intensive Web services via diversity display devices, converged networks, and heterogeneous platforms within a virtual, open and collaborative community. In this paper, a generic P2P SCCM scenario is created and examined first. A SCCM model is designed with the adoption of the service orientation approach and principles. A tunneled hierarchical P2P model is designed and its performance is analyzed for improving service lookup and session setup. A preliminary SCCM prototype is developed with the design of content annotation service.


Introduction. The relatively young science of pediatric cardiology has made enormous breakthroughs in recent years: the labor intensity and complexity of modern diagnostic techniques have increased, and interventional methods of treatment are widely used. Modern pediatric cardiology covers a wide range of diseases: from intrauterine pathology, such as congenital heart and vascular defects, fibroelastosis, various arrhythmias, to acquired diseases represented by arterial hyperand hypotension, systemic vasculitis, autonomic dysfunction, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.Purpose. To demonstrate the important stages of the development of the children's cardiological service in Grodno region over a sixty-year period, assess its current state and analyze the dynamics of the incidence rate of children's heart and vascular diseases during 2005–2019 in this region.Material and methods. During the period of 1960–2019 a retrospective research was carried out using the statistics: report of the chief substitute pediatric cardiologist, report of medical treatment for children during 2005–2019, analytical and conjunctral reports, reviews and references of chief doctors and local pediatricians.Results and discussion. The sixty-years of activity of the children's cardiological service in Grodno region were analyzed. It was found that over the past 15 years there has been an annual increase in the overall incidence of diseases of the circulatory system (classes I00-I99 ICD 10), while the primary incidence decreased from 331.06 to 265.63 per 100,000 of the child population. The overall incidence of congenital heart defects over the past 15 years was characterized by a low decrease from 916.40 to 800.16 cases against the stabilization of the primary incidence rate.Conclusion. The obtained results indicate the well-organized work of the diagnostic, hospital, dispensary and prophylactic stages of medical assistance to children with cardiovascular pathology.


The aim is to find out the chronological sequence of appearance of germs and peculiarities of development of bones of the skull base at an early period of human ontogenesis. Material and methods. 17 series of consecutive histological sections of specimens of embryos and prefetuses aged from 4 till 12 weeks of intrauterine development (IUD) using a complex methods of morphological examination (anthropometry, morphometry, histological sections, three-dimensional computer reconstruction) were studied. Results. Chondrification of the ectomeningeal capsule begins in the 7 week of IUD (prefetuses 14.0-16.0 mm of parieto-coccygeal length (PCL)) and there are 3 pairs of cartilaginous sources of the bones of the skull base: parachordal cartilage (behind the pituitary gland); pituitary cartilage (on both sides of the pituitary gland); prechordal cartilage (in front of the pituitary gland) are defined. The bones of the skull base are formed as a result of endochondral osteogenesis, while most skull bones are characterized by membranous osteogenesis. At the 8 week of IUD chondrocranium is defined as a holistic structure, continuous with the anlage of the skull, so the morphogenesis of some skull bones is both cartilaginous and membranous. The first of the cartilaginous anlages of the skull base was found parachordal cartilage behind the pituitary gland. Pituitary cartilages are formed around the rudiment of the pituitary gland. Laterally, the centers of chondrification occur in the anlage of orbitosphenoidal cartilages, which are the sources of the development of small alars of the sphenoid bone. The alar-sphenoidal cartilages are the sources of the large alars of the sphenoid bone. The anterolateral process of the orbitosphenoidal cartilage occurs near the orbital part of the anlage of the frontal bone. At the 7 weeks of IUD, the skull base contains separate foci of chondrogenesis, and at the end of the 8 week of IUD they merge into a single perforated main cartilaginous plate with primitive vascular-nerve openings. Conclusions. 1. In the development of the base and calvaria of the human skull 3 consecutive stages can be distinguished: 1) the emergence of the mesenchymal source (ectomeningeal capsule); 2) the formation of cartilaginous anlages through the development and fusion of numerous individual foci of chondrogenesis in the mesenchyme; 3) ossification of the cartilaginous anlages of more than 100 foci of osteogenesis. 2. The processes of chondrification of the anlages of the skull base are observed at the beginning of the prefetal period of ontogenesis (the 7 week of the IUD), and at the end of the 8 week of the IUD as a whole the cartilaginous base of the human skull is formed. Вступ. Вивчення особливостей морфогенезу кісток черепа людини в динаміці внутрішньоутробного розвитку (ВУР) є актуальним завданням учених-морфологів [1-3]. З'ясування Буковинський медичний вісник. 2020. Т.24, No3 (95) ISSN 1684-7903 http://e-bmv.bsmu.edu.ua


This case report describes the sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) of a 53-year-old man who initially complained about vertigo and dizziness. Within 18 weeks, he developed impaired memory, hemineglect, and sensory impairment of the left half of the body. A CSF tap was positive for 14-3-3 protein and showed increased tau protein, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and the astroglial protein S-100 B. The EEG showed right temporal sharp waves without periodicity. Diffusion-weighted MRI revealed hyperintensities in the right temporo-occipital cortex which corresponded well with hypometabolic areas in a PET scan and the neurological and neuropsychological deficits. The morphological FLAIR T2 MRI showed no pathological changes. Within 20 weeks, the patient developed severe dementia with decreased spatial orientation and myoclonia, became incontinent, and was confined to bed. He died within 22 weeks after the first presentation of symptoms.


In intense field ionization, an electron removed from the atomic core oscillates in the combined fields of the laser and the parent ion. This oscillation forces repeated revivals of its spatial correlation with the bound electrons. The total probability of double ionization depends on the number of returns and therefore on the number of optical periods in the laser pulse. We observed the yield of Ne(2+) relative to Ne(+) with 12 fs pulses to be clearly less compared to 50 fs pulses in qualitative agreement with our theoretical model.


This paper proposes a performance indicator based on the Bayesian theory. This indicator is used for assessing the performances of Run-to-Run controllers. The indicator is calculated by analyzing four main points: the output/target error, the output dispersion, the out of tolerance (oot) rate and the industrial risk. The proposed Bayesian method has been tested on the Run-to-Run loops of a semiconductor manufacturing foundry.


This article deals with the monitoring of type-I censored data using coefficient of variation (CV) control chart based on conditional expected values (CEVs) for Rayleigh lifetimes under type-I censoring. In particular, the censored data is replaced by the CEV to develop an efficient design structure. The main focus is to detect shifts in the mean of Rayleigh lifetimes assuming censored data. The performance of the proposed CEV based CV chart is evaluated by the average run length (ARL). Besides the simulation study, monitoring of a real-life dataset of 30 average daily wind speeds (in kilometers/hour) for the month of November 2007 at Elanora Heights is also discussed. Keywords: CEV, CV, type І censored, ARL, Average Run Length (ARL); Control Charts; Conditional Expected Values; type-I Censoring.


We investigate if the commonly neglected riverine detrital carbonate fluxes might reconciliate several chemical mass balances of the global ocean. Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) concentrations in riverine suspended sediments, that is, carbon contained by these detrital carbonate minerals, were quantified at the basin and global scale. Our approach is based on globally representative data sets of riverine suspended sediment composition, catchment properties, and a two‐step regression procedure. The present‐day global riverine PIC flux is estimated at 3.1 ± 0.3 Tmol C/y (13% of total inorganic carbon export and 4% of total carbon export) with a flux‐weighted mean concentration of 0.26 ± 0.03 wt%. The flux prior to damming was 4.1 ± 0.5 Tmol C/y. PIC fluxes are concentrated in limestone‐rich, rather dry and mountainous catchments of large rivers near Arabia, South East Asia, and Europe with 2.2 Tmol C/y (67.6%) discharged between 15°N and 45°N. Greenlandic and Antarctic meltwater discharge and ice‐rafting additionally contribute 0.8 ± 0.3 Tmol C/y. This amount of detrital carbonate minerals annually discharged into the ocean implies a significant contribution of calcium (∼4.75 Tmol Ca/y) and alkalinity fluxes (∼10 Tmol (eq)/y) to marine mass balances and moderate inputs of strontium (∼5 Gmol Sr/y) based on undisturbed riverine and cryospheric inputs and a dolomite/calcite ratio of 0.1. Magnesium fluxes (∼0.25 Tmol Mg/y), mostly hosted by less‐soluble dolomite, are rather negligible. These unaccounted fluxes help in elucidating respective marine mass balances and potentially alter conclusions based on these budgets.


An Important aspect with respect to optimal mechanical performance of fiber reinforced composites in general and durability in particular is the optimization of the interfacial bond between fiber and polymer matrix. The quality of the fiber-matrix interface is significant for the application of natural fibers as reinforcement for plastics. Since the fibers and matrices are chemically different, strong adhesion at their interfaces is needed for an effective transfer of stress and bond distribution throughout an Interface. A good compatibilization between cellulose fibers and non-polar matrices is achieved from polymeric chains that will favor entanglements and interdiffiusion with the matrix. This article gives a critical review on the physical and chemical treatment methods that improve the fiber-matrix adhesion and their characterization methods.


An apparatus, in which gaseous samples may be subjected to rapid compression, is described. This "ballistic piston" offers a mechanically simple method of producing for a short time a very high temperature and pressure in a sample under study.

The results of preliminary studies on the nitrogen-oxygen system are presented. Appreciable yields of nitrogen dioxide, up to 3.3 mol per cent of the gas remaining after compression, were obtained. The conditions investigated involved calculated maximum temperatures as high as 13,000[degrees] R and maximum pressures up to 30,000 psi. The maximum temperature and pressure achieved in each run were calculated on the basis of fairly simple assumptions. An increase in the yield of NO2 with increasing maximum temperature and with increasing maximum pressure was noted.

Coefficients for a second order rate equation were tested by comparing predicted yields based on the coefficients with the observed yields. In the temperature range above 3500[degrees] R rate coefficients not more than one-tenth as great as those obtained by extrapolation of existing data are indicated. The rate coefficients obtained are subject to much uncertainty because of the many simplifying assumptions made in treating the data. The results are discussed in the light of the limitations imposed by the assumptions.

As part of a long-term project for measurement of the heat capacities of hydrocarbons, the isobaric heat capacity at bubble point of 1,2,4,-trimethylbenzene (pseudocumene) was determined in the range 70-210[degrees] R. Using the same equipment, the same property was determined for n-heptane, a widely accepted standard for calorimetric work. The results are reported in a manuscript which includes results obtained by a later investigator on the project for 1,3,5-trimethyl-benzene.


Non-IgE mediated (NIE) food hypersensitivities (FH) affect 2 million Americans. Helminths protect from IgE-mediated FH. Their effect on NIEFH has not been studied. We developed a murine model of NIEFH featuring severe antigen-specific enterocolitis with Th1/Th17 polarization. We used this unique model to test if helminths protect against NIEFH. METHODS: Rag1-/- mice, IL10-/- T cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-specific, TCR transgenic OT2 T cells were used to develop the NIEFH model. 6-wk-old Rag mice were reconstituted with IL10-/- and OT2 T cells. To determine if helminths protect, mice were infected with H. polygyrus before feeding low dose NSAID for 2 wks followed by OVA for 1 wk. RESULTS: On a 4-pt scale, histology score of duodenum, ileum and colon were 0.15±0.3, 0.85±0.8 & 1.9±1.1 in helminth-infected mice (n=23) versus 3.8±0.5, 2.9±1.2 & 3.0±0.8 in non-infected group (n=10) [p<0.02]. Laminar propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) from helminth-infected mice produced more IL10 in vitro than those from non-infected mice (1.4 vs 0.7 ng/ml, p<0.01). IL10 production was enhanced by OVA stimulation, but not by anti-CD3/28. LPMC from infected mice displayed less IL17 and IFNg when stimulated by anti-CD3/28 in vitro (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Our study provides proof of concept that helminths protect against antigen-specific NIEFH. Abrogation of gut inflammation associates with suppressed IL17 & IFNg, and elevated IL10 production probably from non-T cell source. NIH, Broad Foundation


This paper focuses on the actual technical challenges that must be addressed in the field of inductive magnetic coupling at low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) bands for wireless power transmission (WPT), with special focus on smart objects applications. Inductive coupling is the most common operating principle for WPT, because of the high efficiency and the relatively high amount of energy that can be transferred. This paper will present some important applications that can benefit from this technology. Some of the actual challenges that must be addressed for a proper implementation of WPT in the mentioned applications as well as the actual trends will be discussed. Finally, research projects that have successfully dealt or are currently dealing with these problems will be presented.


It is commonly known that phytoplankton have a pivotal role in marine biogeochemistry and ecosystems as carbon fixers and oxygen producers, but their response to deoxygenation has scarcely been studied. Nonetheless, in the major oceanic oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), all surface phytoplankton groups, regardless of size, disappear and are replaced by unique cyanobacteria lineages below the oxycline. To develop reasonable hypotheses to explain this pattern, we conduct a review of available information on OMZ phytoplankton, and we re‐analyze previously published data (flow cytometric and hydrographic) on vertical structure of phytoplankton communities in relation to light and O2 levels. We also review the physical constraints on O2 acquisition as well as O2‐dependent metabolisms in phototrophs. These considerations, along with estimates of the photosynthetic capacity of phytoplankton along OMZ depth profiles using published data, suggest that top‐down grazing, respiratory demand, and irradiance are insufficient to fully explain the vertical structure observed in the upper, more sunlit portions of OMZs. Photorespiration and water–water cycles are O2‐dependent pathways with low O2 affinities. Although their metabolic roles are still poorly understood, a hypothetical dependence on such pathways by the phytoplankton adapted to the oxic ocean might explain vertical patterns in OMZs and results of laboratory experiments. This can be represented in a simple model in which the requirement for photorespiration in surface phytoplankton and O2‐inhibition of OMZ lineages reproduces the observed vertical fluorescence profiles and the replacement of phytoplankton adapted to O2 by lineages restricted to the most O2‐deficient waters. A high O2 requirement by modern phytoplankton would suggest a positive feedback that intensifies trends in OMZ extent and ocean oxygenation or deoxygenation, both in Earth's past and in response to current climate change.


The control of humanoid robot hands has historically been expensive due to the cost of precision actuators. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost air muscle actuated humanoid hand developed at Curtin University of Technology. This hand offers 10 individually controllable degrees of freedom ranging from the elbow to the fingers, with overall control handled through a computer GUI. The hand is actuated through 20 McKibben-style air muscles, each supplied by a pneumatic pressure-balancing valve that allows for proportional control to be achieved with simple and inexpensive components. The hand was successfully able to perform a number of human-equivalent tasks, such as grasping and relocating objects.


The thermal conductivity (k) of supported graphene is a critical property that reflects the graphene-substrate interaction, graphene structure quality, and is needed for thermal design of a graphene device. Yet the related k measurement has never been a trivial work and very few studies are reported to date, only at the μm level. In this work, for the first time, the k of giant chemical vapor decomposition (CVD) graphene supported on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is characterized using our transient electro-thermal technique based on a differential concept. Our graphene size is ∼mm, far above the samples studied in the past. This giant graphene measurement eliminates the thermal contact resistance problems and edge phonon scattering encountered in μm-scale graphene k measurement. Such mm-scale measurement is critical for device/system-level thermal design since it reflects the effect of abundant grains in graphene. The k of 1.33-layered, 1.53-layered, 2.74-layered and 5.2-layered supported graphene is measured as 365 W m(-1) K(-1), 359 W m(-1) K(-1), 273 W m(-1) K(-1) and 33.5 W m(-1) K(-1), respectively. These values are significantly lower than the k of supported graphene on SiO2, and are about one order of magnitude lower than the k of suspended graphene. We speculate that the abundant C atoms in the PMMA promote more ready energy and momentum exchange with the supported graphene, and give rise to more phonon scattering than the SiO2 substrate. This leads to a lower k of CVD graphene on PMMA than that on SiO2. We attribute the existence of disorder in the sp(2) domain, graphene oxide (GO) and stratification in the 5.2-layered graphene to its more k reduction. The Raman linewidth (G peak) of the 5.2-layered graphene is also twice larger than that of the other three kinds of graphene, indicating the much more phonon scattering and shorter phonon lifetime in it. Also the electrical conductivity of the 5.2-layered graphene is about one-fifth of that for the other three. This further confirms the poor graphene quality of sample 4S, explaining its much lower k.


Foreword: Grossman, A.B. Preface: Korbonits, M. Monogenic Human Obesity: Farooqi, I.S. Polygenic Contribution to Obesity: Genome-Wide Strategies Reveal New Targets: Korner, A. Kiess, W. Stumvoll, M. Kovacs, P. Genetic Obesity Syndromes: Goldstone, A.P. Beales, P.L. Fetal and Neonatal Pathways to Obesity: Gluckman, P.D. Hanson, M.A. Beedle, A.S. Raubenheimer, D. Developmental Origins of Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of Maternal Obesity: Armitage, J.A. Poston, L. Taylor, P.D. Childhood Obesity: Sabin, M.A. Shield, J.P.H. Obesity in Old Age: McPhee Chapman, I. Models of 'Obesity' in Large Animals and Birds: Clarke, I.J. The [beta]-Cell in Type 2 Diabetes and in Obesity: Rutter, G.A. Parton, L.E. Role of the Endocannabinoid System in Energy Balance Regulation and Obesity: Cota, D. 11[beta]-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 and Obesity: Morton, N.M. Seckl, J.R. Gut and Hormones and Obesity: Wren, A.M. Adipokines in Obesity: Ahima, R.S. Osei, S.Y. The Role of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase in Obesity: Kola, B. Grossman, A.B. Korbonits, M. Classical Endocrine Diseases Causing Obesity: Weaver, J.U. Emerging Concepts in the Medical and Surgical Treatment of Obesity: Aylwin, S. Al-Zaman, Y. The Sociology of Obesity: Rosengren, A. Lissner, L. Obesity in Art - A Brief Overview: Woodhouse, R. Author Index Subject Index.


This paper investigates active damping of LCL-filter resonance in a grid-connected voltage-source converter with only grid-current feedback control. Basic analysis in the s-domain shows that the proposed damping technique with a negative high-pass filter along its damping path is equivalent to adding a virtual impedance across the grid-side inductance. This added impedance is more precisely represented by a series RL branch in parallel with a negative inductance. The negative inductance helps to mitigate phase lag caused by time delays found in a digitally controlled system. The mitigation of phase-lag, in turn, helps to shrink the region of nonminimum-phase behavior caused by negative virtual resistance inserted unintentionally by most digitally implemented active damping techniques. The presented high-pass-filtered active damping technique with a single grid-current feedback loop is thus a more effective technique, whose systematic design in the z-domain has been developed in this paper. For verification, experimental testing has been performed with results obtained matching the theoretical expectations closely.


Influx or mobilization of Ca2+ plays an important part in the signal transduction mechanisms regulating release of gonadotropin (GtH) and growth hormone (GH) in teleost fish. In mammals it may also mediate a stimulatory effect on the transcription of the genes encoding these hormones (i.e., LHbeta, FSHbeta, and GH). In the present study, exposure of tilapia pituitary cells in primary culture to two ionophores, A23187 and ionomycin, increased GtH and GH secretion over 5-24 h but led to a significant drop in mRNA levels of GtH IIbeta and GH. The mRNA levels of beta actin were also reduced by this treatment, suggesting a general, nonspecific effect in these cells. The morphology of the ionophore-exposed cells also differed markedly; they lacked cytoplasmic extensions, appeared smaller, and were less aggregated than control cells. Staining the nuclei of these cells with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenyl-dihydrochloride revealed that they had undergone condensation and fragmentation, typical of programmed cell death. Extraction of DNA from the ionophore-exposed cells and its separation on ethidium bromide-stained gels revealed that, unlike in control cells, the DNA had been broken into fragments in multiples of approximately 180-200 bp, providing further evidence of apoptotic-like effects of the ionophores on the cells. It is speculated that Ca2+, which mediates stimulation of GtH and GH release by the hypothalamic regulatory hormones, may, under certain conditions, have apoptotic-like effects, which specifically regulate the sizes of gonadotroph and somatotroph cell populations. In addition, the fact that pituitary cells exposed to ionophores may become apoptotic should be borne in mind when experiments on signal transduction are carried out with these substances.


This study aims at filtering ALS points into ground and non-ground effectively through labeling and window based algorithm by utilizing 2D adjacency based on scan line. Firstly, points adjacency is constructed through minimal search based on scan line. Connected component labeling algorithm is applied to classify raw ALS points into ground and non-ground by utilizing the adjacency structure. Then, some small objects are removed by morphology filtering, and isolated ground points are restored by IDW estimation. The experimental results shows that the method provides good filtering performance( about 97% accuracy) for diverse sites, and the overall processing takes less time than converting raw data into TIN or raster grid.


Menopause is associated with a large number of symptoms ranging from physical to psychological. These symptoms may unfavorably affect oral health and treatment needs requiring dentists to be aware of the symptoms and health care needs of peri-menopausal/menopausal/postmenopausal women. This article attempts to provide an insight into the multifarious oral manifestations at menopause along with the relevant prosthodontic implications.


Forecasting the spatio-temporal occurrence of events is at the core of Operational Earthquake Forecasting, which is of great interest for risk management, particularly during ongoing seismic sequences. Epidemic type aftershock sequence (ETAS) models are powerful tools to estimate the occurrence of events during earthquake sequences. In this context, a robust seismicity forecasting framework based on Bayesian-inference has been adapted to the Patras and Aegio region in western Greece (one of the most seismically active parts of Mediterranean), and an incremental adaptive algorithm is introduced to train the priors for ETAS model parameters. The seismicity forecasting is capable of accounting for uncertainty in the model parameters as well as variations in the sequence of events that may happen during the forecasting interval. Six seismic sequences between 1995 and 2018 were selected with mainshock moment magnitudes Mw ≥ 6.0. The ETAS model was adapted for each seismic sequence. The number of forecasted events with Mw≥4.5 and their spatial distribution was retrospectively compared with the as-recorded earthquake catalogue, confirming a good agreement between the forecasts and observations. The results show that the adapted model can be employed immediately after a severe mainshock to statistically predict potentially damaging earthquakes during the ongoing seismic sequence. The seismicity forecasts were translated to short-term daily exceedance rates for different thresholds of peak ground acceleration. The results reveal that the seismic hazard increased by up to 33 times in the case of the damaging 1995 Mw 6.5 earthquake in the city of Aegio. However, the results confirmed that in all six studied sequences, the increased seismic hazard decayed rapidly during the two days after the mainshock, and remained relatively high in the following days (roughly ten times the long-term time-independent hazard).


The integrity of the cell wall is important for plant cells. Mechanical or chemical distortions, tension, pH changes in the apoplast, disturbance of the ion homeostasis, leakage of cell compounds into the apoplastic space or breakdown of cell wall polysaccharides activate cellular responses which often occur via plasma membrane-localized receptors. Breakdown products of the cell wall polysaccharides function as damage-associated molecular patterns and derive from cellulose (cello-oligomers), hemicelluloses (mainly xyloglucans and mixed-linkage glucans as well as glucuronoarabinoglucans in Poaceae) and pectins (oligogalacturonides). In addition, several types of channels participate in mechanosensing and convert physical into chemical signals. To establish a proper response, the cell has to integrate information about apoplastic alterations and disturbance of its wall with cell-internal programs which require modifications in the wall architecture due to growth, differentiation or cell division. We summarize recent progress in pattern recognition receptors for plant-derived oligosaccharides, with a focus on malectin domain-containing receptor kinases and their crosstalk with other perception systems and intracellular signaling events.


This work presents an investigation with students from Federal Institute of Minas Gerais (IFMG) – Campus Formiga. After identifying the thinking strategies and the students difficulties to deal with vectors in two and three dimensions, through mental models, it was found that not always the system of beliefs from teachers match with that one from students. Then this paper shows that the traditional methods of evaluation, sometimes, may not mensure the level of students and the teaching methodologies may also be in disagreement with the need of students. Here were used interviews and analysis of conceptual maps developed by the students. So, are present here the mental models of vectors in two and three dimensions, to allow interventions more precise in science teaching. © Cien. Cogn. 2010; Vol. 15 (2): 055069.


In this essay, I would like to show a demarcation between science and pseudo-science, from two approaches: theoretical and experimental/observational. Theoretical approach pays attention to revision pattern in theoretical explanation. Especially, when the elucidator introduces new unknown elements for explanation, pseudo-scientific explanation fails to satisfy some conditions. On the other hand, experimental/observational criterion says, pseudo-science claims doubtful phenomenological laws.


The identification of environmental changes by human action in the past is crucial for recovery plans and preservation of natural areas. Changes of the landscape (by human action) and natural shifts of vegetation can be showed by pollen records analysis. In this sense, pollen description of modern plants is important for use as a database for the identification of pollen samples of past. The indigenous human occupation is indicated, principally, by high concentrations of carbonized particles (linked to fire management) and a decrease of the percentage of pollen of forest species in the Quaternary sediments. While the occupation by post-Columbian settlers is indicated by pollen grains of crops or species to the plantation, such as Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp.1 In southern Brazil, these pollen indicators are recorded at least 2.000 BP.2–6 However, the corn is the only crop species of grasses recorded (Figure 1) in the Quaternary samples of the region.4–7 Many species of crops belong to Poaceae family. However, the distinction of pollen grains of native and crop species is difficult due to uniform pollen morphology of Poaceae species, except the pollen of corn that has size very large.8,9 The pollen morphology of many crop and native species are analyzed in the Europe continent.10 Based on the measurements of the pollen grains, the authors were able to distinguish between cereal and native pollen grains.10 On the other hand, other cultivated species such as ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) have pollen grains that cannot be distinguished from native Brazilian taxa.11,12


The TERA foundation stimulated in the past years a comparative study of compact proton accelerators for therapy and at the end of 1995 the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanita, ISS) decided for the construction of a proton linac for its TOP (Terapia Oncologica con Protoni) project. The TOP-LINAC will be composed of a 7 MeV RFQ+DTL injector followed by a 7–65 MeV section of the innovative 3 GHz SCDTL structure and a 65–200 MeV variable energy SCL 3 GHz structure. A 5-cavity model of the SCDTL has been built and measured on a RF test bench while a 11-cavities prototype (accelerating until 12.5 MeV) is under construction and will be assembled within few months. The TOP LINAC whose construction will start at the end of 1996, will be the first linear accelerator dedicated to proton therapy, and the first 3 GHz proton linac. In this paper the accelerator design and the construction schedule will be presented, and the SCDTL structure RF measurements will be discussed.


This paper presents a new cellular automaton (CA) model for train control system simulation. In the proposed CA model, the driver reactions to train movements are captured by some updated rules. The space-time diagram of traffic flow and the trajectory of train movement is used to obtain insight into the characteristic behavior of railway traffic flow. A number of simulation results demonstrate that the proposed CA model can be successfully used for the simulations of railway traffic. Not only the characteristic behavior of railway traffic flow can be reproduced, but also the simulation values of the minimum time headway are close to the theoretical values.


An implicit nonlinear difference scheme is considered that approximates a one-dimensional nonsteady-state system of equations of magnetohydrodynamics with a two-component magnetic field without dissipation in Lagrangian mass coordinates. The convergence of the iterative successive-pass method employed for numerical implementation of the scheme is investigated. It is shown that convergence always occurs for /tau/ of order h (/tau/ and h are the steps of the time and space nets), and also for an extensive class of problems independently or the relationship between /tau/ and h. 6 refs.


Access to health information online has resulted in increased internet use to !nd medical education resources.1,2 The United States (US) population is comprised of 60.1% Whites, 18.5% Hispanics or Latinos, 13.4% Blacks or African Americans, with trends toward increasing diversity. Our objectives were to analyze skin color distributions on the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) public education website.


Preserving genetic health is an important aspect of species conservation. Allelic diversity is particularly important to conserve, as it provides capacity for adaptation and thus enables long‐term population viability. Allele retention is difficult to predict beyond one generation for real populations with complex demography and life‐history traits, so we developed a computer model to simulate allele retention in small populations. AlleleRetain is an individual‐based model implemented in r and can be applied to assess management options for conserving allelic diversity in small populations of animals with overlapping generations. AlleleRetain remedies the limitations of similar existing software, and its source code is freely available for further modification. AlleleRetain and its supporting materials can be downloaded from https://sites.google.com/site/alleleretain/ or CRAN (http://cran.r-project.org).


Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with impaired postural control had a poorer QoL, lower Pao2, and higher anxiety scores compared with patients with normal postural control. Predictors of impaired postural control in patients with COPD were symptom-related QoL, Pao2, inspiratory muscle strength, and body mass index. Purpose: Postural control impairment has been identified as a potential extrarespiratory manifestation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aims of this study were to identify clinical factors that characterize patients with reduced postural control, to examine the correlation between clinical factors and postural control and to determine predictors of an impaired postural control among COPD participants enrolled in a pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of an observational study (PARACHUTE). The baseline assessment of the PR program was used for the analysis. Postural control impairment was defined using the Brief BESTest score (BBT). Results: Participants (n = 73) were included in the analysis, 43 of them were classified in the reduced postural control group. The between-group comparison (non-reduced vs reduced postural control) identified differences for partial pressure in oxygen (PaO2), Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score and subscores (SGRQ-Symptoms, SGRQ-Activities, and SGRQ-Impact), COPD assessment test (CAT), and anxiety score of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The BBT score was significantly correlated with maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), SGRQ, SGRQ-Symptoms, SGRQ-Impact, Falls Efficacy Scale, modified Medical Research Council Scale, 6-min walk test, and PaO2. Logistic regression identified SGRQ-Symptoms, PaO2, MIP, and body mass index (BMI) as predictors of the presence of reduced postural control. Conclusion: Low quality of life (QoL) and PaO2 and high anxiety seem to be discriminative characteristics of patients with COPD with reduced postural control. Furthermore, QoL, PaO2, inspiratory muscle strength, and BMI seem to be acceptable predictors of the presence of postural control impairment.


Microbial monitoring on the International Space Station (ISS) is essential to keep astronauts healthy. Current practice involves culture-based methods, but future directives by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will require the use of molecular-based approaches, such as quantitative PCR (qPCR). However, in order to successfully and reliably detect the allowable limit of 5 × 104 colony forming units (CFUs) of bacteria per liter in potable water on the ISS with qPCR, water concentration must first be performed. This report presents the data from a validation study of a NASA-sponsored small business research initiative to develop a microgravity-compatible, automated water concentrator to be used on the ISS, which has been named the ISS Smart Sample Concentrator (iSSC). Efficiency and reproducibility of the iSSC were compared with a ground-based automated water concentrator and the standard Millipore manual filtration. Using 104 CFU/L of Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Ralstonia pickettii, and Cupriavidus basilensis and a mixed microbial community, we have shown, through culture and qPCR, that the iSSC is comparable, if not better, at recovering and concentrating bacteria from large volumes of water, with good reproducibility.


Abstract Nipponentomon pembertonense is described from Pemberton Historical Park, Maryland. This new species differs from other Nipponentomon spp. in the following combination of characters: 9 anterior setae on abdominal sternite VII, 15 posterior setae on abdominal tergite VIII, cover of tergite VIII gland with posterior row of teeth only, female acrostylus entire and narrowly rounded, foretarsal claw flaps rudimentary and in distal half of claw, foretarsal sensillum c′ reaching base of claw. In several specimens, the ducts and tubes connected to pores on the foretarsus were visible and could be traced at least partially. The most basal pore and the pore at the base of the claw were connected to a common tube complex with a terminal sac. Ducts and tubes also were observed connected to pores near sensillum t3 and just posterior to the empodium.


Effective interaction of farmers' expertise and expert knowledge has been a special point of attention for this study. The objectives of the study were to describe the process of interaction between farmers and experts in improving the use of acid sulphate soils and to point out difficulties encountered. Actual conditions for four major areas were described including variabilities. Four representative areas: Tan Thanh, Tri Ton, Phung Hiep, and Hong Dan in the Mekong Delta, Viet Nam were selected for this study. Physical conditions were defined in terms of soil properties, as reflected by soil classification, and hydrological conditions were defined by climate data including flooding. Methods for land improvement in different areas were first defined by describing and analyzing measures taken by farmers, and by next developing schemes for improvement, using expert knowledge. These schemes were expressed by decision trees as a part of expert systems. But many questions were left and a series of experiments was designed and executed to answer those questions that could not be answered by experts. Four study areas were selected. Tan Thanh and Tri Ton (in the Plain of Reeds and Long Xuyen Quadrangle, respectively) have acid sulphate soils with sulphuric horizons within 50 cm from the soil surface, and deep flooding (>100cm) during the rainy season. The Phung Hiep area with moderately acid sulphate soils is not deeply flooded and is located in the fresh water area of Ca Mau peninsula. The Hong Dan area contains mainly moderately and strongly acid sulphate soils with salt water intrusion during the dry season. The main agricultural problems in these study areas, where most farmers are poor, arise from the fact that most modem practices or new cropping patterns are applied incompletely and at unequal levels. Also unfavourable soil acidity coincides with high flooding depth or salt water intrusion, poor infrastructure for irrigation and drainage and shortage of capital for farm production. Furthermore, price fluctuations of farm products are very high, which makes economic production very difficult. A study at farmers' level shows that the history of fanners' land use, including their soil-water-crop management practices clearly indicates changes of land use over time and the important role of expert knowledge in initiating these changes. Developments also illustrate the positive effects of the creative interaction between fanners and experts in developing innovative management systems. Ten, four, sixteen and eleven actual land use types, including land and water practices, were described for the Tan Thanh, Tri Ton, Phung Hiep, and Hong Dan areas, respectively. Water-soil-crop management practices such as construction of canals and infrastructure for irrigation, construction of high raised beds for cultivation of upland crops, and construction of a ditch system for the prawn/shrimp-rice system were essential parts of these land use systems. Studies by experts paid more attention to the cultivation of crops, mainly rice, and the associated water management practices. Sixteen promising land use types were defined for a land suitability classification study based on present land use systems of four study areas. Double cropping of modem rice varieties is present in all study areas. Eight land qualities were identified for a farm-level land evaluation. Land quality "(potential) soil acidity" is important for all land use types selected. Land qualities: "flood hazard", "drought hazard", "salt water intrusion", and "fresh water availability" are important for double cropping of modem rice varieties. Land qualities: "potential for daily tidal flooding and drainage" are critical for raising of prawn/shrimp. For land evaluation at farm level, decision trees were developed and used as an decision support system. Decision trees were made for each promising land use type. Using decision trees as a decision support system for land evaluation study at the farm level was shown to be helpful to identify optimal management decisions. Conditions for improvement of suitability were identified and visualized in those decision trees, in terms of improved soil and water practices based on farmers' expertise and expert knowledge. While developing these schemes, it became clear that many unanswered questions on land use requirements and water management practices were encountered. These were formulated and field experiments were carried out to answer the questions. Some conclusions were drawn from these experiments: (1) For yam cultivation in acid sulphate soil areas with a deep flood in the wet season, application of a mulch layer on top of the raised bed resulted in a 46% higher yield as compared with urimulched plots; (2) the use of fresh water in an irrigation frequency of 20 days, when available during the dry period of the cropping season, increased yields of yam by 31%. (3) Rolled-carpet raised beds gave higher yields as compared with mixed-raised beds. (4) A relatively high yield of yarn can be obtained by application of N 120 -P 60 -K 60 as is already being practised by farmers in the area or N 80 -P 160 -K 100 . Higher fertilizer applications give no better yields. Staking yam vines is of limited importance and does not increase yarn production. A planting density of 40 cm. x 50 cm is proposed for yam cultivation. (5) For pineapple cultivation in areas with dry season salinity, supplementary irrigation in the early dry season had no effect on pineapple yield. (6) Production was higher on high raised beds as compared with traditional lowraised beds because excess water in the rainy season. Old raised beds gave significantly higher yields as compared with younger raised beds because of lower acidity due to longer leaching by rain. (7) A yield increase of pineapple of about 20% can be obtained by a combination of high P and K fertilization ( 10N-7g P 2 O 5 -10K 2 O/plant). And (8) application of the zero-tillage technique was profitable as it shortened the duration of double cropping of Winter-Spring modem rice followed by Summer-Autumn rice in areas with long duration flooding. These accumulated results provided quantitative data to characterize land qualities and land use requirements relating to fresh water availability, soil acidity, and flooding hazard . Also data for agronomic practices were obtained by experiments to be used for formulating optimal management packages. Under different physical conditions, optimal management packages on acid sulphate soils were finally formulated for the four study areas in. These optimal management packages were based on the farmers' practice, expert knowledge, results of land evaluation study at farm level and accumulated results obtained by field experiments. There are many options including various cultural, soil and water management practices for the different physical conditions encountered. Double modem rice cropping, and growing yam, pineapple, and sugarcane, are suitable in areas where fresh water is available during the dry season. In areas with salt water intrusion during the dry season, land use types incorporating shrimp are more profitable. Melaleuca spp. is most suitable for remote and unfavourable areas for crop growth as a means for reforestation in order to protect natural environments. These results provides a good start to obtain description of realistic and acceptable systems. In the future, these description can also be used to identify areas of additional research by measurement or by simulation modelling.


The taxation of corporate assets is well understood to influence investment and firm valuation. This paper explores the consequences of postwar U.S. tax changes in a dynamic model which incorporates costs of adjustment and investor expectations of future tax reforms and macroeconomic variability.When viewed in a dynamic context, the tax code can have very different incentives than those implied by the usual static analysis. Simulation results suggest that investment is sensitive to future tax changes and business-cycle movements. The paper also illustrates the implications of this analysis for the design of tax reforms.


This paper presents a digital plug-in frequency domain based repetitive control scheme for minimizing the odd order harmonics in the supply line side currents of the three phase pulsewidth modulation (PWM) boost rectifier under the distorted and unbalanced supply voltage conditions. Based on the mathematical model of the three-phase PWM boost rectifier under the generalized supply voltage conditions, the control task is divided into: (a) dc-link voltage harmonics control and (b)supply line side current harmonics control. The proposed plug-in repetitive controller together with the conventional PI controller is designed to achieve supply line side currents with low total harmonic distortion (THD) for the three phase PWM boost rectifier. The repetitive control learning algorithm is implemented in the frequency domain by means of Fourier series approximation, instead of commonly used time domain based scheme, and provides the flexibility of choosing different learning gains and phase angle delay compensations individually for each harmonic component. The experimental test results obtained from a 1.6 kVA laboratory based PWM rectifier confirm that the THD of the supply line side currents can be reduced from 21.09% to 4.12% with the plug-in frequency domain based repetitive current controllers.


Modular optimization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was realized by incorporation of coordinatively unsaturated single atoms in a MOF matrix. The newly developed MOF can selectively capture and photoreduce CO2 with high efficiency under visible-light irradiation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the presence of single Co atoms in the MOF can greatly boost the electron-hole separation efficiency in porphyrin units. Directional migration of photogenerated excitons from porphyrin to catalytic Co centers was witnessed, thereby achieving supply of long-lived electrons for the reduction of CO2 molecules adsorbed on Co centers. As a direct result, porphyrin MOF comprising atomically dispersed catalytic centers exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic conversion of CO2 , which is equivalent to a 3.13-fold improvement in CO evolution rate (200.6 μmol g-1  h-1 ) and a 5.93-fold enhancement in CH4 generation rate (36.67 μmol g-1  h-1 ) compared to the parent MOF.


A precision 6-degree-of-freedom measurement system has been developed for simultaneous on-line measurements of imprint lithography stage. To successfully accomplish nanometer-scale pattern transfer from mold to resist film on the wafer, two types of positioning methods, static and dynamic, are used in this system. Two laser interferometers, two optical reflection mirrors and special structure on the stage with 3 elastic tracks are employed in this system to detect the positions and rotations of the stage. Through an algorithm, measurements of pitch, yaw and roll motions can be achieved. This system can realize on-line position detecting. Based on adjusting of PZTs, the detecting precision can reach 10nm and ±3 milli-arcsec, respectively. The measuring range can reach 100mm and ±10 arcsec, respectively.