BACKGROUND
Several primary aromatic amines (PAAs) have been designated carcinogenic or suspected of carcinogenicity. Several kinds of PAAs may occur either via the reduction of azo compounds or as impurities in azo colorants or other agents.

OBJECTIVE
Analytical method was developed and applied to determine whether certain PAAs are present as impurities in synthetic organic colorants.

METHODS
Target chemicals were analyzed by the ultrasound extraction of the synthetic organic colorant with a hydrochloric acid solution containing 20% methanol, followed by conversion from an acidic to alkaline solution, and then extraction using a diatomaceous earth column.

RESULTS
We analyzed certain PAAs in 38 synthetic organic colorants, resulting in the detection of 2,4-dimethylaniline in 4 samples at 1.2 to 19 μg/g, o-toluidine in 3 samples at 1.0 to 3.4 μg/g, p-phenylazoaniline in 2 samples at 74 to 305 μg/g, and, in one sample each, 2,4,5-trimethylaniline (13 μg/g), 5-nitro-o-toluidine (12 μg/g), and 2-methyl-4-(2-tolylazo)aniline (13 μg/g). Nearly all PAAs were determined to be starting materials for colorant synthesis, although p-phenylazoaniline in Yellow No. 407 was apparently a byproduct formed during synthesis. For Red No. 225, in which high concentrations of p-phenylazoaniline were detected, additional samples were purchased from five companies, and p-phenylazoaniline was detected at concentrations of 88 to 370 μg/g in all samples.

CONCLUSION
A method to analyze certain PAAs contained as impurities in synthetic organic colorants was developed, and the actual status of them in colorants was clarified.

HIGHLIGHTS
The analytical method developed in this study for the determination of certain PAAs contained as impurities in synthetic organic colorants may be used to improve the safety of colorants.


A host system for downloading one or more Radio Data System (RDS) group type processing routines for RDS data includes a data processor and a host processor. The host processor is configured to download one or more RDS group type processing routines for the data processor, each of the one or more RDS group type processing routines configured to process RDS data for a respective RDS group type. The host processor is further configured to assign a reference in the data processor to a corresponding one of the one or more RDS group type processing routines, so that the corresponding RDS group type processing routine is to be invoked by RDS data having the respective RDS group type. A method is also provided for downloading one or more RDS group type processing routines for RDS data.


Wood plastic composites (WPCs) have recently gained increased market share as a result of their beneficial properties and use of sustainable material sources. Currently, however, WPC products are limited to extruded profiles. More complex product shapes and geometries will increase market potential, but they demand additional post-processing after extrusion. Post-processing machinery coupled online with an extruder necessitates material handling, which is commonly achieved using belt conveyors. This paper considers transport of WPC material through a post-extrusion process using a belt conveyor system. Special emphasis is placed on studying the friction and surface energy properties of the belt conveyor. Friction at the interface of the raw material and belt cover was tested using a standard incline-plane method, and adhesion and stickiness were evaluated by determining the surface free energies of the belt cover and WPC material at 23 and 100 °C. On the basis of these measurements, this paper investigates key aspects of belt cover material selection and proposes a conveyor belt configuration for a prototype post-extrusion process line that can be utilized in commercial mass production of WPC products.


For various applications, such as object recognition or tracking and especially when the object is partly occluded or articulated, 3D information is crucial for the robustness of the application. A recently developed sensor to acquire distance information is based on the Photo Mixer Device (PMD)for which a distance error based on different causes can be observed. This article presents an improved distance calibration approach for PMD-based distance sensoring which handles objects with different Lambertian reflectance properties. Within this scope the relation of the sources of distance errors were investigated. Where applicable they were isolated for relational studies with the actuating variables, i.e. integration time, amplitude and measured distance, as these are the only parameters available for the calibration. The calibration results of the proposed method excel the results of all other known methods. In particular with objects with unknown reflectance properties a significant reduction of the error is achieved.


We report a patient with psoriasis who developed Mycobacterium marinum (M. marinum) infection after seven years of treatment with adalimumab, a human anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor) monoclonal antibody. TNF is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a central role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and a number of other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. TNF plays an important role in granuloma formation and host defense against mycobacterial infections. Several cases of atypical mycobacterial infections in patients on TNF inhibitors have been reported. To our knowledge, this is the second reported case of M. marinum infection in a patient on adalimumab for the treatment of psoriasis.


Abstract The on-going global economic crisis taps into widespread fears that the fall of the Western 'empire' is imminent. Projections and prophesies position China as the centre of a future world order, and opinions abound about the possible economic, political, social and cultural consequences. That prospect, and the implications of a new wave of (Chinese) colonialism – also through the media – thus need to be considered. This multi-faceted question is addressed from the perspective of global culture. Media theories about cultural imperialism largely deal with the power of the centre vs. the periphery, but how can we deal theoretically with a scenario of (faltering) empire vs. (rising) empire? Popular African responses to China's expansion into Africa display similar divisions to those in academic debates about Western cultural imperialism and globalisation. China will thus have to account for the fact that all its efforts to deploy 'soft power' in Africa are still strongly coloured by the experience and legacy of Western colonialism.


The substantiation of the use of information systems for the rational management of the belt conveyor for transport rocks by the criterion of the technical condition of its equipment is considered.


We study gravitational wave searches for merging binary neutron stars (NSs). We use nonspinning template waveforms towards the signals emitted from aligned-spin NS-NS binaries, in which the spins of the NSs are aligned with the orbital angular momentum. We use the TaylorF2 waveform model, which can generate inspiral waveforms emitted from aligned-spin compact binaries. We employ the single effective spin parameter χeff to represent the effect of two component spins (χ1, χ2) on the wave function. For a target system, we choose a binary consisting of the same component masses of 1.4M⊙ and consider the spins up to χi = 0.4. We investigate fitting factors of the nonspinning templates to evaluate their efficiency in gravitational wave searches for the aligned-spin NS-NS binaries. We find that the templates can achieve the fitting factors exceeding 0.97 only for the signals in the range of −0.2 ≲ χeff ≲ 0. Therefore, we demonstrate the necessity of using aligned-spin templates not to lose the signals outside that range. We also show how much the recovered total mass can be biased from the true value depending on the spin of the signal.


This article examines relationships between psychiatric disorder, poor school performance, family dysfunction and low family income in a cohort of 8-12-year-olds and use of tobacco, marijuana and hard drugs 4 years later. Conduct disorder assessed by teachers predicted use of alcohol and hard drugs, while low family income and poor school performance predicted use of tobacco. Neither attention-deficit disorder nor emotional disorder was related to adolescent substance use. Although behavioural deviance in childhood is associated with adolescent substance use, it has limited potential for identifying groups at risk in the general population for purposes of preventing substance use in later years.


This article proposes an automatic generation method of a relation matrix for Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM). In ISM, keywords related to the problem are selected. Then the relation between two arbitrary keyword pairs is examined. When there is a relation between these two keywords, a non-zero value such as 1 is assigned to this relation. After examining the relations of all pairs of keywords, an n×n relation matrix is generated where n stands for the number of keywords. Then a reachable matrix is calculated from the relation matrix. By using the reachable matrix, the hierarchy structure of the problem is constructed. Building a relation matrix requires much time and labour. This article proposes an automatic generation method of relation matrix based on the co-occurrence probability of keywords in primary materials. As the proposed method is fully automatic, less labour is necessary than in the original ISM method. This method is evaluated by using newspaper articles.


Information and education programs have had only very limited success in modifying sex behavior. It may therefore be that the development and widespread dissemination of an HIV vaccine through a global immunization program is the worlds best hope for controlling the spread of HIV infection and AIDS. It is conservatively estimated that there would be 100 million initial recipients worldwide of an HIV vaccine. Even under the most optimistic circumstances the cost of procuring and delivering the drug or drugs would be at least several billion dollars the majority of which would be spent upon immunizing people in the developing world. Annual per capita financial resources allocated to medical care in developing countries are however often less than $10. Developed countries will most likely have to cover a substantial proportion of the costs of any eventual global HIV immunization strategy. Strategies must be developed now to deal with the issues of accessibility and use of HIV vaccines throughout the world. Policymakers in developed countries should therefore begin to give serious consideration to how to finance the procurement and distribution of HIV vaccines so that one or more systems can be put into place in anticipation of the approval of HIV vaccines.


Abstract A 4-yr study was conducted to determine the degree of aggregation of thrips and injury in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., and their spatial association with a multispectral vegetation index (normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]) and soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). Using the Spatial Analysis by Distance IndicEs analyses (SADIE), adult thrips were significantly (P < 0.05) aggregated in 4 out of 24 analyses for adult thrips (17%), 4 out of 24 analyses for immature thrips (17%), and 2 out of 15 analyses for injury (13%). The SADIE association tool showed that NDVI values were associated with adult thrips in 2 out of 20 paired datasets (10%), with immature thrips in 3 out of 20 paired datasets (15%), and with thrips injury in 1 out of 14 paired datasets (7.1%). Soil ECa values were generally more associated with thrips variables than NDVI, with shallow ECa positively associated with adult thrips in 6 out of 21 paired datasets (28.6%), with immature thrips in 8 out of 21 paired datasets (40.0%), and with thrips injury in 8 out of 14 paired datasets (57.1%). The greater frequency of positive associations between thrips variables and soil ECa suggests a greater potential for site-specific management, particularly in the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, where soil types are highly variable.


The implantation of animal organs is one approach to overcoming the shortage of human donor organs for medical transplantation. Although readily available, non-primate tissues are subject to hyperacute rejection wherein human anti-Galalpha(1-3)Gal antibodies react with haptens present on the transplanted cells' surfaces. The understanding of this interaction on a molecular level will further the development of a strategy for the prevention of hyperacute rejection in xenotransplantation. The Galalpha(1-3)Gal hapten ('xenograft antigen') has been cocrystallized with the Gal-specific B(4) isolectin of Griffonia simplicifolia lectin-1. Crystals were analyzed by cryocrystallography and were found to diffract to moderately high resolution on a rotating-anode X-ray source. They belong to the P2(1)2(1)2 space group, with unit-cell parameters a = 111.0, b = 51.3, c = 76.9 A, and contain two molecules per asymmetric unit.


Monitoring the mechanical integrity (MI) of offshore oil and gas facilities is important. It enables early fault detection of emerging failure conditions and allows more time for planning and preparing remedial actions, which reduces revenue losses resulting from unnecessary and poorly coordinated maintenance actions. Static equipment, such as heat exchangers, constitutes crucial parts of offshore processing facilities. Heat exchangers are challenging to maintain, especially in ageing facilities, and major maintenance problems are the result of (a) poor designs, (b) poor utilization of process information, (c) poor interpretation of results, and (d) poor development and management of high‐quality maintenance and MI programs. This article addresses the most important technological, human and organizational challenges concerning monitoring of MI of shell and tube heat exchangers, and discusses recommendations for future improvements. A good MI program benefits the operation and maintenance of heat exchangers, and will lead to improved safety and reduced costs. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2011


This paper presents an iterative method to identify the diffusion in a semi-linear parabolic problem. This method can be generalized to other kind of problems, elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic in twodimensional and three-dimensional case. The diffusion is obtained by solving an optimal control problem. By imposing specific conditions to the data, we build a sequence of linear problems which converge to the exact solution. We discretize our problem by a finite element method in the first case and a spectral method in the second case, using the sensibility method for approximating the gradient of the functional. Some numerical experiments prove the efficiency of this method.


The emission properties of an electron in a double quantum well driven by ultrashort electromagnetic half-cycle pulses are studied. By numerically solving the corresponding time-dependent Schrödinger equation we show that the emission spectrum can be designed by appropriately choosing the parameters of the pulses. Low-frequency generation (LFG) is observed, and conditions for intense LFG and strong induced localization are found. The effects of absence of generalized parity of the Floquet modes on the emission spectrum are discussed. Simple relations for determining the values of the pulse parameters for controlling the localization process and the emission properties are found from an analytical approximation.


Serverless computing systems are becoming very popular. Large corporations such as Netflix, Airbnb, and Coca-Cola use such systems for running their websites and IT systems. The advantages of such systems include superior support for auto-scaling, load balancing, and fast distributed processing. These are multi-QoS systems where different classes of applications have different latency and jitter (variation in the latency) requirements: we consider a mix of latency-sensitive (LS) and latency-desirable (LD) applications. Ensuring proper schedulability and QoS enforcement of LS applications is non-trivial. We need to minimize the jitter without increasing the response latency of LS applications, and we also need to keep the degradation of the response latency of LD applications in check. This is the first paper in this domain that achieves a trade-off between the jitter suffered by LS applications and the response latency of LD applications. We minimize the former with a bound on the latter using a reinforcement learning (RL) based scheme. To design such an RL scheme, we performed detailed characterization studies to find the input variables of interest, defined novel state representations, and proposed a bespoke reward function that allows us to achieve this trade-off. For an aggressive use case comprising five popular LS and LD applications each, we show a reduction in response time variance and mean latency of 50.31% and 27.4%, respectively, for LS applications. The mean degradation in the execution latency of LD applications was limited to 19.88%.


Juan de Solorzano Pereira (1575-1654) was a lawyer who spent eighteen years as a judge in Peru before returning to Spain to serve on the Councils of Castile and of the Indies. Considered one of the finest lawyers in Spain, his work, De Indiarum Jure, was the most sophisticated defense of the Spanish conquest of the Americas ever written, and he was widely cited in Europe and the Americas until the early nineteenth century. His work, and that of the Spanish School of international law theorists generally, is often seen as leading to Hugo Grotius and modern international law. However, as James Muldoon shows, the De Indiarum Jure represents the fullest development of a medieval Catholic theory of international order that provided an alternative to the Grotian theory.


When interacting with deformable objects, tactile cues at the finger pad help inform our perception of material compliance. Nearly all prior studies have relied on highly homogenous, engineered materials such as silicone-elastomers and foams. In contrast, we employ soft plum fruit varying in ripeness; ecological substances associated with tasks of everyday life. In this article, we investigate volitional exploratory strategies and contact interactions, for comparison to engineered materials. New measurement techniques are introduced, including an ink-based method to capture finger pad to fruit contact interactions, and instrumented force and optical sensors to capture imposed force and displacement. Human-subjects experiments are conducted for both single finger touch and two finger grasp. The results indicate that terminal contact areas between soft and hard plums are indistinguishable, but the newly defined metric of virtual stiffness can differentiate between the fruits' ripeness, amidst their local variations in geometry, stiffness, and viscoelasticity. Moreover, it affords discrimination independent of one's touch force. This metric illustrates the tie between the deployment of active, exploratory strategies and the elicitation of optimal cues for perceptual discrimination. Compared to single finger touch, perceptual discrimination improves further in pinch grasp, which is indeed a more natural gesture for judging ripeness.


The propagation of optical pulses through a fibreoptic communication line with a phase shift of odd bits is directly numerically simulated. It is shown that simple analytic expressions approximate well the error probability. The phase shift of odd bits in the initial sequence is statistically shown to decrease significantly the error probability in the communication line.


While there is a lack consensus as to whether orientations for online students should be completed on campus or online, research suggests that having an in-depth orientation and onboarding process increases the academic preparedness of online students and, consequently, improves retention. This action research study attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of an in-depth, virtual, student orientation on the retention and academic preparedness of online students at a small, private college. There was an increase of 7% in the retention rate from the fall to spring in the year the institution implemented the online orientation. Additionally, the results indicate students felt more academically prepared, a finding also supported by the results of a faculty survey. While the number in the sample was small, the results are promising and signal a need for additional research on the link between a formal orientation, retention, and academic preparedness for online students.


The purpose of chromium plating is the creation of a hard and wear-resistant layer of chromium over a metallic surface. The principal feature of chromium plating is its endurance in the face of the wear and corrosion. This industrial process has a vast range of applications in many different areas. In the performance of this process, some difficulties can be found. Some of the most common are melt deposition, milky white chromium deposition, rough or sandy chromium deposition and lack of toughness of the layer or wear and lack of thickness of the layer deposited. This study builds a novel nonparametric method relied on the statistical machine learning that employs a hybrid support vector machines (SVMs) model for the hard chromium layer thickness forecast. The SVM hyperparameters optimization was made with the help of the Particle Swarm Optimizer (PSO). The outcomes indicate that PSO/SVM–based model together with radial basis function (RBF) kernel has permitted to foretell the thickness of the chromium layer created in this industrial process satisfactorily. Thus, two kinds of outcomes have been obtained: firstly, this model permits to determine the ranking of relevance of the seven independent input variables investigated in this industrial process. Finally, the high achievement and lack of complexity of the model indicate that the PSO/SVM method is very interesting compared to other conventional foretelling techniques, since a coefficient of determination of 0.9952 is acquired.


Between January 1971 and December 1978, 74 patients (pts) underwent surgery for ruptured chordae (RC) of the mitral valve. Thirty-eight patients underwent mitral valve replacement and 36 patients underwent repair. The hospital mortality was 8.3% after repair and 7.9% after replacement. Repair was performed by trapezoidal excision of redundant leaflet, re-approximation of the leaflet edges and annuloplasty. At six years the incidence of re-operation after repair was 3% (1/33) and after mitral valve replacement was 14.7% (5/35). The five years survival was 68 +/- 8% after mitral valve replacement and 100% after repair. The incidence of major thrombo-embolic episodes was 0.67 per 100 patient years, without anticoagulation, after repair and 5.7 per 100 patient years, with anticoagulation, following mitral valve replacement. The peak rate of dimension change (PRDC) of the transverse dimension of the left ventricle was determined by echocardiography in 17 patients after repair. The PRDC was within normal range (10/20 cms/sec) in 15 patients, in the stenotic range (10 cms/sec) in 1 patient, and in the regurgitant range (20 cms/sec) in 1 patient. Mitral valve replacement invariably produces PRDC values in the stenotic range. Valve repair is the procedure of choice in ruptured chordae of the posterior leaflet.


Sources of 35-min ${\mathrm{Sn}}^{111}$ were made by the reactions ${\mathrm{Sn}}^{112}(\ensuremath{\gamma},n){\mathrm{Sn}}^{111}$, ${\mathrm{Sn}}^{112}(n,2n){\mathrm{Sn}}^{111}$ and ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{110}({\mathrm{He}}^{3},2n){\mathrm{Sn}}^{111}$. The ratio $\frac{\mathrm{ec}}{{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{+}}$ was determined to be 2.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2. The following gamma rays were observed by scintillation techniques: 750, 970, 1140, 1540, 1590, 1890, 2110, and 2320 keV. The following levels in ${\mathrm{In}}^{111}$ are proposed, based on coincidence studies and transition probabilities: 970, 1140, 1540, 1890, 2110, and 2320 keV.


This paper considers verification of non-deterministic higher-order functional programs. Our contribution is a novel type system in which the types are used to express and verify (conditional) safety, termination, non-safety, and non-termination properties in the presence of ∀-∃ branching behavior due to non-determinism. For instance, the judgement ⊢ e:{u: int | φ(u) }∀∀ says that every evaluation of e either diverges or reduces to some integer u satisfying φ(u), whereas ⊢ e:{u: int | ψ(u) }∃∀ says that there exists an evaluation of e that either diverges or reduces to some integer u satisfying ψ(u). Note that the former is a safety property whereas the latter is a counterexample to a (conditional) termination property. Following the recent work on type-based verification methods for deterministic higher-order functional programs, we formalize the idea on the foundation of dependent refinement types, thereby allowing the type system to express and verify rich properties involving program values, branching behaviors, and the combination thereof. Our type system is able to seamlessly combine deductions of both universal and existential facts within a unified framework, paving the way for an exciting opportunity for new type-based verification methods that combine both universal and existential reasoning. For example, our system can prove the existence of a path violating some safety property from a proof of termination that uses a well-foundedness termination argument. We prove that our type system is sound and relatively complete, and further, thanks to having both modes of non-determinism, we show that our types are closed under complement.


Radical trachelectomy (RT) has been reported for almost 20 years. This case report describes and addresses the issue of the clinical management of early-missed abortion in a patient after RT with a cerclage. Case: A 35-year-old woman who had a RT 2 years ago due to cervical carcinoma stage IB1 presented with a missed abortion of an 8-week gestational age. At the end of the RT, a cerclage suture was inserted in the remaining internal oss of the cervix. The patient went through a cervical dilatation followed by suction curettage guided by ultrasonography without compromising the cerclage. This case report suggests that dilatation and suction curettage without compromising the cervical cerclage is a feasible option in the clinical management of early abortion in a patient after RT.


Rev Esp Cardiol 2003;56(5):509 509 The patient was a 75-year-old man with a history of poorly-controlled hypertension. Eight years earlier he had had acute aortic syndrome. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed the presence of an intramural hematoma involving the descending thoracic aorta. In view of his left hemothorax, an end-to-end aortic graft was performed. On the first follow-up visit he reported hoarseness and pain with movement in the left axillary and supraclavicular area. Chest X-ray (Figure 1) showed a large mass in the upper part of the left lung. Magnetic resonance angiography of the aorta (Figure 2) done after gadolinium injection in a peripheral vein confirmed the presence of a small aneurysm (lower asterisk) immediately distal to the graft (arrows) and a large aneurysm (upper asterisk) immediately proximal to the graft, compressing the supra-aortic trunks. A stent was recently implanted to isolate the aneurysm from the circulation. On the first follow-up visit the patient reported that the pain had disappeared although he still had some hoarseness.


Current sensing is one of the important functions in a dc-dc converter. It may be used for implementing current mode control or for achieving current sharing in a paralleled converters. Many current sensing schemes have been reported in literature, but they are either lossy or they require precise knowledge of the component value. In this paper, a giant magneto resistive effect based sensor is used for low voltage, high current voltage regulator module type applications. Since the current sensing is based on magnetic field, the sensing accuracy depends upon the placement of sensor on the conductor. Optimum distance is obtained for sensing the current with desired accuracy. It also gives the optimum location of the sensor to minimize the interference from closely lying current carrying conductors. Finally the performance of the sensor is experimentally verified on a 1 V/15 A buck converter switching at 1 MHz.


The proportion of the cortical thickness to the total diameter of the bone (cortical index) was calculated in paired clavicles obtained from 128 male and 82 female medicolegal postmortem subjects who were apparently healthy prior to their accidental death. The ages of the subjects varied from 15 to 85 years. The clavicles were cut either horizontally or parasagittally, and measurements were taken at midclavicle. From the ages of 15 to 30 years, the cortical index increased. It decreased steadily thereafter, with an initial sharp decrease in the age group 31-40 years in both sexes. After the age of 40 years, this rapid decrease in the index continued in the females, but became slow and gradual in the males. Differences between left and right sides were statistically insignificant in both sexes (P greater than 0.05). However, the sexual differences were significant (P less than 0.01) in the age groups from 41 years onwards.


A 75 year old Caucasian male with a prolonged history of lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual dysfunction was referred to the urology department. Assessment revealed a diagnosis of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and the patient was reassessed by flexible cystoscopy revealing a large occlusive 80cc prostate. Baseline symptoms of BPH were measured using the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), urinary function was quantified by measuring post void residual (PVR) volume and QMAX flow rates were also recorded. The patient underwent the Urolift procedure and urological parameters were reassessed at 4 months post-operatively. There was an improvement in the patients IPSS by 14 points (IPSS Before =22, at 4 months =8), with a reduction in quality of life by 3 points (QoL before = 5, at 4 months =2).PVR volume decreased by almost a third (29.4 %) (Before = 390ml, at 4 months = 275 ml) and QMAX improved by 8 ml/s (Before =14ml/s, at 4 months= 22ml/s). The patient reported a slight improvement in sexual function (IIEF-5 Before = 14, at 4 months = 15) and was very satisfied with the result. The improvement in IPSS, PVR volume and QMAX show Urolift is an appropriate treatment for symptomatic BPH.


This study investigated the casual jacket design preferences of women aged 50s and 60s and suggested a prototype design for functional clothing. All age groups liked the casual jacket with a length between the waist and hip, a convertible collar, and a single-breasted design. Those in their 50s preferred fitted or semi-fitted casual jackets while those in their 60s preferred semi-fitted casual jackets. Although, there were significant differences between the preferred jacket designs and ready-made brand jacket designs, most brand jacket designs were casual, semi-fitted, middle-hip length, single-breasted, and with stand-rolled or convertible collars. The analysis of the sleeve styles in brand jackets showed that consumers needed designs that are more decorative. Fashion designers for senior citizens need to design elderly clothing that is comfortable, fashionable, functional, and considers a universal design for ease of clothing function. It will also make the senior citizen fashion market more appealing to consumers. To provide jacket designs for senior citizens, we suggested casual jacket designs for embedding a functional device as well as a new jacket design library for women in their 50s and 60s.


—Recent research has shown that the security of power grids can be seriously threatened by botnet-type cyber attacks that target a large number of high-wattage smart elec- trical appliances owned by end-users. Accurate detection and localization of such attacks is of critical importance in limiting the damage. To this end, the paper proposes a novel technique using capsule networks (CNs) tailored to the power grid security application that uses the frequency and phase angle data monitored by phasor measurement units (PMUs). With the benefit of vector output from capsules and dynamic routing agreements between them, CNs can obtain accurate detection and localization performance. To demonstrate the efficiency of the suggested technique, we compare the developed CN with benchmark data- driven methodologies, including two-dimensional convolutional neural networks (2D-CNN), one-dimensional CNN (1D-CNN), deep multi-layer perceptrons (MLP), and support vector machines (SVM). Simulations are performed on IEEE 14-, 39-, and 57-bus systems, considering various real-world issues such as PMU delays, noisy data, and missing data points. The results show that CNs significantly outperform other techniques, thus making them suitable for the aforementioned cyber security applications.


that in R. E. Wright and W. Freudenthal's case of pseudoxanthoma (Section of Dermatology, January 21, 1943; Proceedinigs, April 1943, 36, 290; see illustration p. 291). Clinically the following points are of interest: (1) Some looseness or folding of the skin is very frequent in pseudoxanthoma (Brain, 1937) "abdominal skin very loose", but this excessive amount is rare, e.g. Hallopeau and Lafitte (1903), "La peau . . retombe comme un tablier au-devant de l'ombilic". (2) "Peau d'orange" skin (Goldsmith, 1943): Patient states that this alteration was present since early childhood, though the folds developed only fairly recently. Similar changes have been noted in some cases, Milian and Lambert (1926), "Peau citreine "; Griffith and Klauder (1943), "swine skin". (3) No discrete papules are present; thev all seem to have become confluent, forming large sheets. (4) There is little difference in colour between the normal skin and that of the affected areas. The abdominal region is slightly more pinkish, breast and neck slightly more whitish than the normal skin. The absence of papules and the lack of yellowish discoloration made the diagnosis of pseudoxanthoma difficult or even impossible, without histological examination. Fuirther investigations.-No angioid streaks (Mr. H. Neame). No Bence-Jones albuminuria. No evidence of thyroid dysfuLnction. Pituitary fossa: X-rays revealed no abnormalitv. Chest: Opacity right apex, almost certainly a tuLberculous lesion. No physical signs or svmptoms (Dr. A. MNorland).


This paper presents an analytical resolution of the bottleneck model with two lanes and a uniform distribution of the value of times. The model is then applied to the assessment of a value pricing scheme with a flat toll. Two ownership regimes (public and private) are tested yielding to conclusions on their relative efficiency.


In this note, we present a sampling algorithm, called recursive automata sampling algorithm (RASA), for control of finite-horizon Markov decision processes (MDPs). By extending in a recursive manner Sastry's learning automata pursuit algorithm designed for solving nonsequential stochastic optimization problems, RASA returns an estimate of both the optimal action from a given state and the corresponding optimal value. Based on the finite-time analysis of the pursuit algorithm by Rajaraman and Sastry, we provide an analysis for the finite-time behavior of RASA. Specifically, for a given initial state, we derive the following probability bounds as a function of the number of samples: 1) a lower bound on the probability that RASA will sample the optimal action and 2) an upper bound on the probability that the deviation between the true optimal value and the RASA estimate exceeds a given error.


In this paper we analyze how femtocell base stations (FBS) cause interference in the receivers of user terminals connected to macro base stations. A coverage hole around a FBS appears when closed access strategies are used, i.e. when only authorized users can access the FBS, and when the FBS shares the same or a portion of the macrocell frequency channel. At the cell borders of a macrocell the coverage holes can be large, especially for indoor users (10 – 30 m radius for the investigated cases). The coverage holes can be reduced if different frequency channels are allocated for macrocell and femtocell operation, e.g. down to 1 – 2 m for WCDMA femtocells in adjacent channels. When separation in frequency is not feasible, dynamic channel allocation (OFDMA) or adjustment of the FBS transmission power can be used to reduce the coverage holes. However, the different dynamic strategies have drawbacks in the form of reduced FBS performance and increased system complexity. Operators should consider open access schemes when using co-channel operation.


We study the integrable structure of the 2D Laplacian growth problem with zero surface tension in an infinite channel with periodic boundary conditions in a transverse direction. Similarly to the Laplacian growth in radial geometry, this problem can be embedded into the 2D Toda lattice hierarchy in the zero dispersion limit. However, the relevant solution to the hierarchy is different. We characterize this solution by the string equations and construct the corresponding dispersionless tau-function. This tau-function is shown to coincide with the genus-zero part of the generating function for double Hurwitz numbers.


Microfluidic devices are becoming a standard method of lab analysis of many different types of samples. This letter presents a uniquely shaped micropost structure set in an arrayed fashion for sensing and cell capture purposes. After simulating the design to confirm its improved functionality, a model cell line was used to determine the capture yield and capture rate of the device. Specific capture was achieved by coating the array of microposts with antibodies that target the epithelial cell adhesion molecule, a common biomarker for many types of metastatic cancer.


Early life stress (ELS) affects neurogenesis, cognitive performance, and increases neuroinflammation after a pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Previous studies have shown that ELS has minimal effects in juveniles, but it shows an age-dependent effect in adults. Hence, we aimed to evaluate if ELS affects cognitive performance, hippocampal microglial activation, and neurogenesis after a mTBI in adult male rats. Maternal separation for 180 min per day (MS180) during the first 21 post-natal (P) days was used as an ELS model, while controls (CONT) remained undisturbed. At P110 the rats were subjected to a mild controlled cortical impact (2.6 mm) or sham injury. Cognition was evaluated in the Morris water maze (MWM) 14 days after injury and both hippocampal microglial activation and neurogenesis were quantified 24 h after the last day of behavioral testing. The results indicate that MS180 + mTBI, but not CONT + mTBI, rats show cognitive deficiencies in the MWM. mTBI equally increased hilus and cortical microglial activation in both groups; however, only MS180 + mTBI rats showed an increase in microglial activation in the CA1 hippocampus subfield. ELS and mTBI independently caused a decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis and this effect was not increased further in MS180 + mTBI rats. The findings demonstrate that ELS and mTBI synergistically affect cognitive performance and neuroinflammation, and suggest that ELS may cause an increase on TBI vulnerability that is only evident after mTBI.


Cocrystallization may alter material physicochemical properties; thus, the strategy of forming a cocrystal is generally used to improve the material performance for practical applications. In this study, two transition-metal complex cocrystals [Zn(bpy)3]H0.5BDC·H1.5BDC·0.5bpy·3H2O (1) and [Cu2(BDC)(bpy)4]BDC·bpy·2H2O (2) have been achieved using a hydrothermal reaction, where bpy and H2BDC represent 2,2′-bipyridine and benzene-1,3-dicarboxylic acid, respectively. Cocrystals were characterized by microanalysis, infrared spectroscopy, and UV–visible spectroscopy. Cocrystal 1 contains five components and crystallizes in a monoclinic space group P21/n. The H0.5BDC1.5–, H1.5BDC0.5–, and H2O molecules construct three-dimensional H-bonding organic framework; the [Zn(bpy)3]2+ coordination cations and uncoordinated bpy molecules reside in channels, where two coordinated bpy ligands in [Zn(bpy)3]2+ and one uncoordinated bpy adopt sandwich-type alignment via π···π stacking interactions. Cocrystal 2 with four components crystallizes in a triclinic space group P-1 to form alternating layers; the binuclear [Cu2(bpy)4(BDC)]2+ cations and uncoordinated bpy molecules build the cationic layers, and the BDC2– species with disordered lattice water molecules form the anionic layers. Cocrystal 1 shows intense photoluminescence at an ambient condition with a quantum yield of 14.96% and decay time of 0.48 ns, attributed to the π* → π electron transition within phenyl/pyridyl rings, and 2 exhibits magnetic behavior of an almost isolated spin system with rather weak antiferromagnetic coupling in the [Cu2(bpy)4(BDC)]2+ cation.


The purpose of this paper is to view Karlstad Municipality and their financial support to non-profit organizations within equestrian sports. Despite the varying representatives of various equestrian sports in Karlstad, there seems to be a single beneficiary within the sport when it comes to financial support from the municipality. The policies and plans concerning cultural development are directly compared to the Karlstad Municipality and its contribution to these organizations within equestrian sports. Through interviews and reports I have studied the process of financial support from the Karlstad municipality using an intersectionality theory based on Nina Lykkes guide on gender studies and feminist theory. Pierre Bourdieu's theories on field, habitus and capital are also used as a method to enhance the understanding of equestrian sports and its role in modern Swedish society. The conclusion is that the Karlstad Municipality is, for a several of reasons, promoting non-profit organizations within equestrian sports, which are operating as riding schools. Through the material I have processed, I have concluded that there are indeed some trends to be recognized. Equestrian sports have, in Swedish society, played only a minor role in spite of its popularity. The trend is, which I show in this thesis, that equestrian sports are becoming more significantly recognized in the field of popular sports. The Karlstad Municipality administers financial support to non-profit organizations such as riding schools working to reach goals and ambitions written in policies and plans concerning cultural development despite improvements that could be made for a more efficient path in achieving said goals and ambitions.


Hydrophobic trioctylphosphine oxide-functionalized CdSe quantum dots (CdSe-TOPO QDs) were transferred from organic solvent to aqueous solution via a simple yet novel biphasic ligand exchange process in one step, which involved the in-situ formation of hydrophilic dithiocarbamate moieties and subsequent ligand exchange with TOPO at the chloroform/water interface. The resulting water dispersible, dithiocarbamate functionalized CdSe QDs (i.e., D-CdSe) exhibited an increased photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield as compared to the original CdSe-TOPO QDs, suggesting an effective passivation of dithiocarbamate ligands on the QD surface. The D-CdSe QDs were then mixed with hydroxyl terminated TiO2nanoparticles. A decrease in the PL of the mixture was observed, indicating a possible charge transfer from the D-CdSe QDs to the TiO2nanoparticles. The reaction of the carboxyl group on the D-CdSe surface with the hydroxyl group on the TiO2 rendered QDs in direct contact with TiO2, thereby facilitating the electronic interaction between them.


Growing demand for transportation in Virginia and a limited budget for public transit have led the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) to explore ways to improve the accessibility and related efficiencies of local bus systems. The effort described in this paper develops a prototype of a mapping analysis that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the Virginia bus system on a statewide level. A database and a mapping model is developed using Geographic Information Systems technology and is used to perform analysis of current transit accessibility. The creation of the map of bus stops involves the aggregation of stop location data from fifteen of the larger localities throughout Virginia. Using the mapping model, the overall effectiveness of the Virginia bus system is determined by calculating the total number of residents served by buses in the state. Population data are compared to funding and revenue levels by locality. The effort analyzes individual transit systems by assessing the proximity of bus stops to residential and commercial areas in individual transit systems. The analysis provides insight to comparing the efficiencies of the transit systems. The scope of the analysis may be expanded in future work to provide the VDRPT with a tool that can be used to increase overall transit efficiency and improve methods for allocation of funding.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

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Gefitinib (Iressa) is an orally active epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been shown to be clinically effective in a subpopulation of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Despite initial responses to gefitinib in some NSCLC patients, cancer eventually progresses by unknown mechanisms of acquired resistance. We explored the use of the novel tumor suppressor FUS1 to enhance the chemotherapeutic potency of gefitinib and overcome gefitinib resistance in NSCLC. We found that reactivation of wild-type FUS1 by FUS1 nanoparticle-mediated gene transfer into FUS1-deficient and gefitinib-resistant NSCLC H1299, H322, H358, and H460 cells significantly ( P < 0.001) sensitized their response to gefitinib treatment and synergistically induced apoptosis in vitro and in an H322 orthotopic lung cancer mouse model. To understand the mechanism of gefitinib-induced resistance, we established a gefitinib-resistant HCC827GR NSCLC cell line (IC50 = 16 μM) by selecting against gefitinib from the parental HCC827 cells that contain an activating deletion mutation of the EGFR gene and are extremely sensitive to gefitinib treatment (IC50 = 0.016 μM). We found no secondary mutations in the EGFR gene in the HCC827GR cells, but these cells registered a significantly elevated level of phosphorylated AKT protein. Combination treatment with FUS1 nanoparticles and gefitinib at a dose level of IC10 significantly re-sensitized the cells to gefitinib, as demonstrated by synergistically enhanced growth inhibition and apoptosis. FUS1 nanoparticle treatment alone or with gefitinib markedly inactivated EGFR and AKT, as demonstrated by decreased phosphorylation levels of both proteins on Western blots, compared with either agent alone. Cleavage of caspase-3, caspase-9, and PARP was also significantly induced by the combination of FUS1 and gefitinib in HCC872GR and other gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cells. Our results suggest that a combination treatment of FUS1 nanoparticles and gefitinib could overcome drug-induced resistance by simultaneously inactivating EGFR and the AKT signaling pathway and by facilitating apoptosis. This abstract is supported by grants from NCI (SPORE P50CA70907) and DOD (TARGET, DAMD17002-1-0706).


This qualitative case study sought to understand the experiences of international college students who were involved in the acquisition of academic literacies (via an English-as-a-Second-Language writing class). Data sources included observation field notes; messages posted in an online discussion forum; transcripts of interviews with five focal students and their instructor; and student-level reflective journal entries. Findings were validated via the triangulation of multiple data sources. Several themes emerged from the analyses that are associated with academic adjustment and intercultural communication, including an energetic class that highly valued participation, conflicting student views on participation, and unvalued collaboration. Implications included the provision of instructionrelated opportunities that enable students to explore the cultures and culturally diverse communication styles of their academic peers.


The articulation of the femoral head with the acetabulum forms the hip joint. This articulation connects the axial skeleton with the lower extremity and functions to transmit forces encountered during daily activities from the axial skeleton through the lower extremities. The hip joint's ability to balance forces through its full range of motion provides providing the stability required to execute everyday tasks such as standing upright, maintaining a smooth and balanced gait, rising from a chair, and lifting weight from a squatting position. [1] The hip joint is a spheroidal, or ball-and-socket-type, synovial joint stabilized by bony and ligamentous restraints. The osseous anatomy of the femoroacetabular articulation contributes to the hip's inherent stability. The pelvis is made up of three parts: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. These innominate bones come together at the triradiate cartilage to form the cup-shaped socket known as the acetabulum. At 15 to 17 years of age, the triradiate cartilage begins to ossify, and it completely fuses by 20 to 25 years of age. Acetabular development is a complex process that involves both endochondral growth from the triradiate cartilage and intramembranous growth from primary and secondary ossification centers of the innominate bones.[2] The acetabulum covers approximately 40% of the femoral head at any position of hip motion. Additional stability is conferred by the labrum, a rim composed of circumferential collagen fibers that surrounds the acetabulum and acts to deepen the hip socket and limit the extreme range of motion. The acetabular labrum contributes approximately 22% of the articulating surface of the hip and increases the volume of the acetabulum by 33%. [1] The hip joint capsule is formed by three major ligaments: the iliofemoral, pubofemoral, and ischiofemoral ligaments. The capsular ligaments run in a spiral fashion preventing hip extension and are surrounded by thick longitudinal fibers that provide additional stability in the lateral plane. The capsule is thicker anterosuperiorly, where the predominant stresses of weight bearing occur, and thinner posteroinferiorly.[1] The ligamentum teres fans out from the fovea of the femoral head and attaches to nearly the full length of the acetabular ligament.


Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen capable of surviving inside of macrophages. The success of B. abortus as a chronic pathogen relies on its ability to orchestrate different strategies to evade the adaptive CD4+ T cell responses that it elicits. Previously, we demonstrated that B. abortus inhibits the IFN‐γ‐induced surface expression of MHC class II (MHC‐II) molecules on human monocytes, and this phenomenon correlated with a reduction in antigen presentation. However, the molecular mechanisms, whereby B. abortus is able to down‐regulate the expression of MHC‐II, remained to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that B. abortus infection inhibits the IFN‐γ‐induced transcription of MHC‐II, transactivator (CIITA) and MHC‐II genes. Accordingly, we observed that the synthesis of MHC‐II proteins was also diminished. B. abortus was not only able to reduce the expression of mature MHC‐II, but it also inhibited the expression of invariant chain (Ii)‐associated immature MHC‐II molecules. Outer membrane protein 19 (Omp19), a prototypical B. abortus lipoprotein, diminished the expression of MHC‐II and CIITA transcripts to the same extent as B. abortus infection. IL‐6 contributes to these down‐regulatory phenomena. In addition, B. abortus and its lipoproteins, through IL‐6 secretion, induced the transcription of the negative regulators of IFN‐γ signaling, suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)‐1 and ‐3, without interfering with STAT1 activation. Yet, B. abortus lipoproteins via IL‐6 inhibit the expression of IFN regulatory factor 1 (IRF‐1), a critical regulatory transcription factor for CIITA induction. Overall, these results indicate that B. abortus inhibits the expression of MHC‐II molecules at very early points in their synthesis and in this way, may prevent recognition by T cells establishing a chronic infection.


ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of an extended authentic research experience on students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and self-efficacy toward science. The curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab was transformed to include a six-week, student-driven research project focused on local groundwater and surface water issues. Students' NOS understanding was measured by using a modified version of the Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry questionnaire (n = 181) and their science self-efficacy using a modified vocational self-efficacy survey (n = 179). Data were collected on students during four semesters. We found that the combination of having students explicitly reflect on the NOS and working on a research project improves students' overall NOS understanding, and that the increase was higher for female students. We found that for non-STEM students the research project alone had a more positive effect on their NOS understanding. A research project alone did not significantly increase non-STEM students' science self-efficacy, but adding explicit NOS reflections did, and more so for female students. The self-efficacy of STEM students increased more than the one of non-STEM students if they completed both a research project and reflected on NOS concepts. This complex set of results suggests that there are multiple ways to implement an authentic research experience to increase students' NOS understanding, whereas to increase students' self-efficacy, reflections on the NOS are a good strategy, particularly for STEM students. For female students, a promising approach is designing an experiment and reflecting on the NOS.


This is a retrospective study of the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive mothers in two states in Malaysia i.e., Perak and Negeri Sembilan since the introduction of the HIV screening programme in antenatal mothers. The study period was from 1/9/97 to 1/9/99. A total of 29 HIV positive antenatal mothers were detected (21 from Perak and 8 from Negeri Sembilan) throughout the study period. Out of the 21 HIV positive mothers from Perak, 8 (38%) were foreign nationals whereas only 1 (12%) out of the 8 from Negeri Sembilan was a foreign national. The main risk factor identified in both the groups was multiple sexual partners. The vertical transmission rates for the patients from Perak were 14.2% and 37.5% in Negeri Sembilan. There was no significant short-term adverse obstetric outcome.


In games where selfish players compete for resources, they often arrive at equilibria that are less desirable than the social optimum. To combat this inefficiency, it is common for some central authority to place tolls on the resources in order to guide these players to a more advantageous result. In this thesis, we consider the question of how to add tolls to atomic unsplittable congestion games in order to enforce a specific flow as the unique equilibrium. We consider this question in the context of both routing games and matroid congestion games. In the former case, we show that for the class of series-parallel graphs the nonatomic tolls suffice, and investigate examples for which nonatomic tolls fail. In the latter case, we show that the nonatomic tolls can also be used to impose flows in atomic laminar matroid games.


Objective: To assess the attitude and practices of adolescents regarding water-pipe smoking (WPS) in a predefined 'perceived' high risk group of youth 12-18 years of age in the Detroit metropolitan area. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey (conducted March1 st through June 30 th , 2008) in which participants completed a self-reported questionnaire, which included demographics, WPS, other types of smoking, and their perception about the hazards of WPS. Results: A total of 272 (85% response rate (272/320) surveys were completed. One hundred and sixty seven (61%) were WPS "users". Fifty-six (22%) used WPS at home, 34 (13%) at coffee shops, 74 (29%) at both locations, and 3 (1%) at other locations. Relative to non-users, WPS users were more likely to be cigarette smokers (OR = 1.7, unadjusted OR = 2.5, p < 0.05), to have someone else in the household who uses WPS (OR = 2.2), to believe that WPS is safe (OR = 1.4, unadjusted OR = 2.0) and that WPS is less harmful than cigarettes (OR = 1.2 unadjusted OR = 1.6, p<0.05). In addition WPS use was associated with less likelihood of believing that one may acquire an infection (OR = 0.9) and that the toxicity of the inhalants was equivalent to cigarette smoking (OR = 0.8). Conclusions: WPS represents a growing public health issue for adolescents in the US. Aggressive education of adolescents is essential in combating the misperception associated this form of smoking.


The development of education in the Albanian territories under Ottoman Empire witnessed a rapid evolution after the announcement of Hyrjetit (the Turkish Constitution of 1908). Thus, in the years 1909-1910 patriotic movement in the Albanian territories will mark a new phase of her, revealed at the opening of schools and courses in Albanian language in the new conditions of constitutional freedoms. In this period, through the organization of the Congress of Monastir displayed in 1908, was unveiled final resolution of the case and the use of a common alphabet writing Albanian language. But despite such a situation, Albanians will not enjoyed for a long period of so-called constitutional freedom. The Young Turks (Young Turks) newly consolidated their political positions in the Ottoman Empire, tried with any form to prevent the spread of great little bit he received learning Albanian. In the years 1909 - 1910, the Albanian National Movement difficulties faced even greater. Through this work we aim to highlight not only the achievements of the patriotic movement in the region of Elbasan Albanian education center, but most are focused on coverage of issues; obstacles and difficulties faced by the patriotic movement in this region in the years 1909-1910. The Young Turks use of all forms and, using all opportunities to curb educational movement in the region of Elbasan, using new tactics more sophisticated you put sticks under the Elbasan Patriots wheels. But it must be said that at the same time, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the Albanian patriotic movement, contradictions and differences that existed between the Albanian political elite of the time. Meanwhile, in moments when new tactics did not give the expected result, they turned to old methods of violence and terror.


This paper challenges the traditional account of the EU's engagement with human rights. The classic narrative begins with the silence of the EEC Treaty in 1957 and depicts a gradual engagement with human rights over the decades, culminating in the establishment of a substantial EU human rights regime in recent years. The paper provides an alternative account of the EU's trajectory by returning to its origins in the 1950s and comparing the ambitious but long-forgotten plans for European Community engagement with human rights drafted in the early 1950s with today's EU human rights framework. The paper argues that the current EU human rights system is in several ways less robust and less ambitious than that envisaged in the 1950s, and that the two main causes for criticism of today's EU system – namely that it lacks a serious human rights mechanism, and that there is a double-standard as between internal and external human rights policies – have survived the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty and have to some extent been enshrined by those changes. The paper concludes by suggesting that the EU's aspiration to be taken seriously as a global normative actor is hindered by its exceptionalism in this field.


Through brief discussions of aspects of the putative crisis in the humanities -- the definition of the humanities as such, the relation of colonialism to humanistic pursuits, and the dominance of information -- the author asks what knowledge itself amounts to in the early 21st-century. Following Foucault, she proposes that humanistic knowledge be rethought as a part of a larger historical problematic, one that will by necessity undergo a process of transformation in relation to other types of knowledge. Adopting insights from Bill Readings, she suggests that thought/thinking is the most critical thing to redeem in such a process.


. One of the most important tasks facing the general principles of environmental management, and one of the most important tasks facing our country, is to ensure its socio-economic efficiency. Therefore, the widespread development of the environmental management system is becoming important in the socio-economic development of our country in the coming years. The aim of this study is also to create ecological mills for management, as well as environmental management, which will be used to achieve economic stability.


On October 15, 1996, a physician notified the Illinois Department of Public Health about five patients with an unknown febrile illness who had returned from a white-water rafting trip on flooded rivers in Costa Rica during September 27-28, 1996. The five patients had been members of a white-water rafting expedition involving 26 rafters from five states, the District of Columbia, and Costa Rica. This report summarizes the findings of the multistate investigation conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health and by CDC in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica. The findings implicated leptospirosis as the cause of disease and contaminated river water as the probable source of illness.


Equipment and procedures have been developed for the fabrication of small nonsymmetrical aspheric surfaces. A grinding or polishing pad is used which is much smaller than the workpiece. The oscillating motion of the workpiece under the pad coupled with the grinding or polishing slurry produces material removal. Control over this removal is accomplished by varying the speed of the pad as it travels over different regions of the workpiece. The technique has been used to fabricate two nonsymmetrical aspheric metal mirrors.


CONTEXT
Anal cytology is being used more frequently for anal cancer screening, yet many cytologists are unfamiliar with it.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the performance of anal cytology in the College of American Pathologists' Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Non-Gynecologic Cytology (CAP NGC) educational slide program during a 6-year time span, from 2006 to 2011, using participant responses (pathologist, cytotechnologist, and laboratory).

DESIGN
Concordance rates for the target diagnosis and general category for each slide challenge were analyzed. Four main factors were included in the analysis: (1) general category or specific responses, (2) program year from 2006 to 2011, (3) participant type (pathologist, cytotechnologist, or overall laboratory), and (4) preparation type (liquid-based or conventional).

RESULTS
Participants most frequently correctly classified negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, and herpes simplex virus infection, with concordance rates of 78.8%, 85%, and 80.2%, respectively. Performance on challenges with target diagnoses of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), squamous cell carcinoma, and ameba was poor, with concordance rates of 57.1%, 56.2%, and 41.5%, respectively. Significant improvement during the 6 years was seen in the concordance rates of participants' responses for low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion challenges but not for HSIL. There was no significant difference in performance by slide preparation type.

CONCLUSIONS
The poor performance on anal cytology in the CAP NGC program, especially with regard to correct identification of HSIL and squamous cell carcinoma, indicates that there is a need for continued education about anal cytology.


Summary Bread wheat is a leading cereal crop worldwide. Limited amount of superior allele loci restricted the progress of molecular improvement in wheat breeding. Here, we revealed new allelic variation distribution for 13 yield‐related traits in series of genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) using the wheat 90K genotyping assay, characterized in 163 bread wheat cultivars. Agronomic traits were investigated in 14 environments at three locations over 3 years. After filtering SNP data sets, GWAS using 20 689 high‐quality SNPs associated 1769 significant loci that explained, on average, ~20% of the phenotypic variation, both detected already reported loci and new promising genomic regions. Of these, repetitive and pleiotropic SNPs on chromosomes 6AS, 6AL, 6BS, 5BL and 7AS were significantly linked to thousand kernel weight, for example BS00021705_51 on 6BS and wsnp_Ex_c32624_41252144 on 6AS, with phenotypic variation explained (PVE) of ~24%, consistently identified in 12 and 13 of the 14 environments, respectively. Kernel length‐related SNPs were mainly identified on chromosomes 7BS, 6AS, 5AL and 5BL. Plant height‐related SNPs on chromosomes 4DS, 6DL, 2DS and 1BL were, respectively, identified in more than 11 environments, with averaged PVE of ~55%. Four SNPs were confirmed to be important genetic loci in two RIL populations. Based on repetivity and PVE, a total of 41 SNP loci possibly played the key role in modulating yield‐related traits of the cultivars surveyed. Distribution of superior alleles at the 41 SNP loci indicated that superior alleles were getting popular with time and modern cultivars had integrated many superior alleles, especially for peduncle length‐ and plant height‐related superior alleles. However, there were still 19 SNP loci showing less than percentages of 50% in modern cultivars, suggesting they should be paid more attention to improve yield‐related traits of cultivars in the Yellow and Huai wheat region. This study could provide useful information for dissection of yield‐related traits and valuable genetic loci for marker‐assisted selection in Chinese wheat breeding programme.


Regionalisation and devolution are, in Belgium, the results of a dialectical process which can not be explained by recent history only.
 The latest situation is analysed and evaluated with respect to structure, competence, finance and conflict resolution within the new institutions.
 The new councils and governments, their internal processes i and structuration are brought into focus as are the new administrations. Possible conflictual situations in their relationship to the national government are described.
 The main conclusions are that the national policy level keeps most of its essential powers; that there is no new concept of policy and decision-making, nor any new management philosophy, related to local governments. Organizational structures and procedures are bound to miss the opportunity of red tape cutting.


Software product faults are an inevitable and an undesirable byproduct of any software development. Often hard to detect they are a major contributing factor to the overall development and support costs and a source of technical risk for the application as a whole. The criticality of the impact has resulted in several decades of non-stop iterative improvements, aimed at avoiding and detecting the faults through development and application of sophisticated automated testing and validation systems, Finding the exact source of error, creating a patch to fix it and validating it for production release is still a highly manual activity. In this paper we build upon the theoretical framework of relative correctness, which we have laid out in our previous work, and present a massively parallel automated tool implementing it in order to support root cause analysis and patch generation.


We propose a multiscale model reduction method for partial differential equations. The main purpose of this method is to derive an effective equation for multiscale problems without scale separation. An essential ingredient of our method is to decompose the harmonic coordinates into a smooth part and a highly oscillatory part so that the smooth part is invertible and the highly oscillatory part is small. Such a decomposition plays a key role in our construction of the effective equation. We show that the solution to the effective equation is in H, and can be approximated by a regular coarse mesh. When the multiscale problem has scale separation and a periodic structure, our method recovers the traditional homogenized equation. Furthermore, we provide error analysis for our method and show that the solution to the effective equation is close to the original multiscale solution in the H norm. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method for several multiscale problems without scale separation, including a problem with a high contrast coefficient. Mathematics Subject Classification. 35J15, 65N30. Received August 3, 2013. Published online February 20, 2014.


An experimental study has been conducted on the generation and propagation of compressible vortex rings using helium as a driver gas, with the aim of evaluating the effects of multi-gas operations for real-life applications. The advantage of such system, when compared to a constant gas system based on ambient air, is to effectively increase the Mach number while keeping the pressure ratio constant. Three pressure ratios of ∼4, 8 and 12 were set, corresponding to experimental Mach numbers of approximately 1.50, 1.81 and 2.05. The increase in incident Mach number resulted in the variation of the vortex ring and trailing jet structure, and an increase in both the velocity magnitude and vorticity field. Results showed a transition from the regular-reflection shock-cell system at the experimental Mach number approximately 1.50 to the presence of a Mach reflection with a central Mach disc, which grew in size with further increase in incident Mach number. The presence of the Mach disc resulted in the formation of a subsonic jet, internal to the main trailing jet. Its velocity was measured to be in the order of magnitude of 550 m/s, with the speed of sound of helium at 1005 m/s. Results also demonstrated that shear layers formed between the subsonic and main trailing jet have opposing vorticity, with that of the subsonic jet being approximately half in magnitude. Secondary counter-rotating vortex rings were generated ahead of the main vortex and orbited around it. The analysis of the vorticity field has shown that these secondary vortices have a magnitude approximately half of that of the vorticity of the main vortex, and has confirmed that they have an opposite direction of rotation.


First, this chapter explores political violence in the late Middle Ages and the early modern era. Even though the term terrorism did not exist before the French Revolution, political phenomena that closely resembled various forms of modern-day terrorism have been known and feared since the fourteenth century. The late Middle Ages and the early modern period witnessed the assassinations of numerous princes. The authorities as well as the populace feared organized gangs of criminals in the pay of rival political or religious leaders. These gangs were said to attack the civilian population using arson and mass poisoning in order to destabilize whole states. The fear of the terrorist "state destroyer" was part and parcel of state building from its very beginning. Secondly, the chapter discusses nineteenth-century historiography about early modern political violence. Nineteenth-century historians refused to interpret early modern political crime as terrorism: they either denounced it as lacking any political concept or vindicated it as justifiable resistance.


Abstract This paper continues the debate about how to distinguish metaphor from metonymy, and whether this can be done. It examines some of the differences that have been alleged to exist, and augments the already existing doubt about them. The main differences addressed are the similarity/contiguity distinction and the issue of whether source-target links are part of the message in metonymy or metaphor. In particular, the paper argues that metaphorical links can always be used metonymically and regarded as contiguities, and conversely that two particular, central types of metonymic contiguity essentially involve similarity. The paper also touches briefly on how metaphor and metonymy interact with domains, frames, etc. and on the role of imaginary identification/categorization of target as/under source items. With the possible exception of this last issue, the paper suggests that no combination of the alleged differences addressed can serve cleanly to categorize source/target associations into metaphorical ones and metonymic ones. It also suggests that it can be more profitable to analyse utterances at the level of the dimensions involved in the differences than at the higher level of metaphor and metonymy as such.


The purposes of this study were to analyze recognition and preference of native local foods in elementary school students in Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do, as well as compare regional differences in recognition and preference of native local foods between students in Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do. A survey was conducted on 300 elementary school students located in Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do. The results of this study were as follows. First, there was no significant difference in terms of recognition score of overall native local food between students in Gyeongsang (9.43 out of 20 dishes for 254 students) and students in Jeolla (9.13 out of 20 dishes for 261 students). The recognition levels (4.88 out of 10 dishes) of native local foods in students in Gyeongsang-do were significantly higher than those (4.40 out of 10 dishes) in Jeolla-do (P<0.001). Second, the preference level (2.91 points) for native local food in students in Gyeongsang-do was significantly higher than that (2.72 points) in students Jeolla-do (P<0.001) based on a 5-point Likert scale. The preference level (3.03 points) of students in Gyeongsang-do for native local food was significantly higher than that (2.80 points) of students in Jeolla-do (P<0.001) based on a 5-point Likert scale. In conclusion, students in Jeolla-do perceived native local foods in Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do impartially, whereas students in Gyeongsang-do perceived native local foods better. The overall sample of elementary school students preferred native local food in Gyeongsang-do to native local food in Jeolla-do. Thus, there were regional differences in terms of recognition and preference of native local foods in elementary school students. To enhance the recognition and preference of native local foods in Jeolla-do, food culture and dietary education should be carried out.


With the birth of the transformer and the first distribution of alternating currents, wave form assumed interest, and methods were developed for its determination, chiefly the point-by-point method of instantaneous contact, mechanical oscillograph, cathode-ray oscillograph, and the oscilloscope with stabilized time axis. The point-by-point method, by which were made the first major contributions, is now practically superseded by oscillograph and oscilloscope, each finding increasing use in its field. With the determination of wave form accomplished, demand arose for its standardization corresponding to expanding applications. No single standard being suited to all applications, different standards have been developed in different fields, as in power, communication, and insulation. While it is desirable that standards, once set up, remain fairly stable, they should be subject to review and occasional change to keep in step with technological advances. Minor revision in communication is in progress. Although standards in other fields do not appear ideal, no immediate revision is recommended. Forty references are appended.


These grant materials were prepared for a project funded by Humanities Texas to digitize materials from ten collaborative partners. The documents discuss the historical significance of Lorenzo de Zavala, the proposed materials for digitization, project goals, and publicity. A work plan details selection criteria for materials, the digitization process and scanning standards, translating Spanish materials, and long-term benefits of the project. The project was funded for $10,000.


A novel technique to linearize frequency multipliers for use in high-frequency transmission of digitally modulated signals is presented. Using this technique, a bandpass signal containing both amplitude and phase modulation can be translated without distortion to a higher frequency via nonlinear frequency multiplication. A theoretical analysis is performed to identify the bandpass transformation of the signal envelope in highly nonlinear devices in a manner such that its inverse transformation may be estimated. The theory was validated on a 2.46-GHz Schottky-diode frequency tripler constructed by the authors and on an 820-MHz commercially available frequency doubler. As predicted by the theory, the devices showed highly nonlinear characteristics in terms of their AM/AM, AM/PM, and PM/PM distortions. Adaptive lookup-table- and polynomial-based predistortion systems were designed and constructed to linearize the frequency multipliers. The predistortion results show a fair amount of improvements in adjacent-channel power ratio and error vector magnitude.


Background: Multiple studies have examined the relationship between heart rate and mortality; however, there are discrepancies in results. Our aim was to describe the relationship between resting heart rate (RHR) and both major cardiovascular (CV) outcomes, as well as all-cause mortality in the Asia-Pacific region. Design and methods: Individual data from 112,680 subjects in 12 cohort studies were pooled and analysed using Cox models, stratified by study and sex, and adjusted for age and systolic blood pressure. Results: During a mean 7.4 years follow-up, 6086 deaths and 2726 fatal or nonfatal CV events were recorded. There was a continuous, increasing association between having a RHR above approximately 65 beats/min and the risk of both CV and all-cause mortality, yet there was no evidence of associations below this threshold. The hazard ratio (95% CI) comparing the extreme quarters of RHR (80+ v <65 beats/min) was 1.44 (1.29–1.60) for CV and 1.54 (1.43–1.66) for total mortality. These associations were not materially changed by adjustment for other risk factors and exclusion of the first 2 years of follow-up. Hazard ratios of a similar magnitude were found for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, but the hazard ratio for heart failure was higher (2.08, 95% CI 1.07–4.06) and for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) was lower (1.11, 95% CI 0.93–1.31) than for stroke. Conclusions: RHR of above 65 beats/min has a strong independent effect on premature mortality and stroke, but a lesser effect on CHD. Lifestyle and pharmaceutical regimens to reduce RHR may be beneficial for people with moderate to high levels of RHR.


This study was carried out to look at the utilization of cowpea - based diets on performance characteristics and haematology of broiler chickens. Raw cowpea ( Vigna unguigulata L.Walp), dehulled - cowpea, dehulled - cooked cowpea and dehulled - roasted cowpea grains were fed to broiler chickens in a five week feeding trial. A total of seventy five day old broiler chicks of Marshall Strain were allotted into five dietary treatments. Marginal reductions in the crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and ash were obtained in the dehulled cowpea and dehulled - cooked cowpea grains respectively. The dehulled - roasted cowpea grains however gave slight increases in the proximate composition. Feed intake and growth was significantly reduced in birds fed raw cowpea and dehulled cowpea respectively. The feed conversion efficiency (FCE) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) also followed a similar pattern. Non-significant differences were however obtained in weight gain, FCE and PER of birds fed the control diet and those fed dehulled - cooked cowpea in this study. Birds fed dehulled - roasted cowpea also had marginal reductions in weight gain, FCE and PER when compared to those fed dehulled - cooked cowpea based diet. Mortality was higher in birds fed raw cowpea - based diet.The haematological studies showed lower values of haemoglobin, red blood cells, packed cell volume and white blood cells of birds fed raw cowpea and dehulled cowpea respectively. However, despite the better response indices, the combination of dehulling and cooking led to leaching of some water-soluble food nutrients. Hence, more studies still need to be carried out especially at other processing methods that can drastically reduce the anti-nutritional factors without necessarily leaching the food nutrients.


The nature of phage precursors in gene 13-defective infected cells was studied by electron microscopy and pulse-chase isotopic labeling experiments. Our results suggest that both stable (20%) and fragile (70%) filled-head precursors accumulated in the absence of gene 13 product. Upon extraction, the fragile heads were found to lose most of their deoxyribonucleic acid and appeared unfilled with an average density of 1.34 g/cm3 and a sedimentation coefficient of 300S. These unfilled heads differed from empty gene 13-defective heads which did not have any associated deoxyribonucleic acid and banded at an average density of 1.31 g/cm3. Furthermore, it was found that a tsN38 (temperature-sensitive mutant in gene 13)- infected culture maintained at 41.5 C for increasing times led to a decrease in specific infectivity of 1,000S phagelike particles. Electron microscopy of these particles revealed that the decreased infectivity was due to an improper union of head and tails.


Abstract. Recently, the number of blast injuries of the inner ear has increased in the general population. In blast-induced inner ear injury, a shock wave (SW) component in the blast wave is considered to play an important role in sensorineural hearing loss. However, the mechanisms by which an SW affects inner ear tissue remain largely unknown. We aimed to establish a new animal model for SW-induced inner ear injury by using laser-induced SWs (LISWs) on rats. The LISWs were generated by irradiating an elastic laser target with 694-nm nanosecond pulses of a ruby laser. After LISW application to the cochlea through bone conduction, auditory measurements revealed the presence of inner ear dysfunction, the extent of which depended on LISW overpressure. A significantly lower survival rate of hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons, as well as severe oxidative damage, were observed in the inner ear exposed to an LISW. Although considerable differences in the pressure characteristics exist between LISWs and SWs in real blast waves, the functional and morphological changes shown by the present LISW-based model were similar to those observed in real blast-induced injury. Thus, our animal model is expected to be useful for laboratory-based research of blast-induced inner ear injury.


INTRODUCCIÓN AL EXISTENCIALISMO. By Msgr. Francisco Vives Estévez. With a prologue by Pedro Lira Urquieta. Santiago de Chile: Editorial del Pacífico. 1948. Pp. 77. The Chilean reader, no less than readers in other parts of the world, meets with the word existentialism all too frequently. He wishes to know what it means and he takes the shortest path at his disposal: he asks someone who should know. Msgr. Vives former Vice Rector of the Catholic University of Chile, and actual Professor of the Philosophy of Law at the same University, must have heard the question so often that he decided to write the answer. The work is slight in size and pretensions. Msgr. Vives is speaking to an educated public with little or no philosophical training. He makes no attempt to explain with documentation or systematic completeness all or any philosophies that can be called existentialist. He merely indicates the leading names connected with the movement and proposes their fundamental ideas in the emotional context which brought them forth. If one objects that this is little, Msgr. Vives would answer that his public could not assimilate more. The little tome has the charm of the kindly man who wrote it. The Spanish flows with the ease and grace of a mind that is at home in the realm of ideas but never loses its love and interest for those who are not.


Structural (mainly X-ray diffraction) studies of thermotropic liquid-crystalline mesophases have been reviewed. The classification of mesophases has been examined and refined. The discussion deals mainly with the structure of liquid crystals formed by rod-shaped molecules (calamitic mesophases). Mesophases of a new type, containing columnar associates of molecules joined by hydrogen bonds, have also been described. The bibliography contains 141 references.


Continuing efforts have been made to develop practical quantum key distribution (QKD) systems on the installed fiber networks since early 2000s [1]. Recently, several groups have demonstrated high-speed QKD systems [2,3] with GHz-clock frequency working stably on the installed-fiber networks [4-7]. Along with the hardware development, an efficient key management protocol [7] has been implemented to construct a QKD platform to supply information-theoretically secure key for multiple applications. The highly available QKD platform is expected to promote social deployment of the QKD technology.


This study was carried out to determine whether epinephrine alters the sensitivity of rat vagal sensory neurons. In anesthetized rats, inhalation of epinephrine aerosol (1 and 5 mg/ml, 3 min) induced an elevated baseline activity of pulmonary C fibers and enhanced their responses to lung inflation (20 cm H(2)O, 10 s) and right atrial injection of capsaicin (0.5 microg/kg). In isolated rat nodose and jugular ganglion neurons, perfusion of epinephrine (3 microM, 5 min) alone did not produce any detectable change of the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. However, immediately after the pretreatment with epinephrine, the Ca(2+) transients evoked by chemical stimulants (capsaicin, KCl, and ATP) were markedly potentiated; for example, capsaicin (50 nM, 15 s)-evoked Ca(2+) transient was increased by 106% after epinephrine (P < 0.05; n = 11). The effect of epinephrine was mimicked by either BRL 37344 (5 microM, 5 min) or ICI 215,001 (5 microM, 5 min), two selective beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonists, and blocked by SR 59230A (5 microM, 10 min), a selective beta(3)-adrenoceptor antagonist, whereas pretreatment with phenylephrine (alpha(1)-adenoceptor agonist), guanabenz (alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist), dobutamine (beta(1)-adrenoceptor agonist), or salbutamol (beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonist) had no significant effect on capsaicin-evoked Ca(2+) transient. Furthermore, pretreatment with SQ 22536 (100-300 microM, 15 min), an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, and H89 (3 microM, 15 min), a PKA inhibitor, completely abolished the potentiating effect of epinephrine. Our results suggest that epinephrine enhances the excitability of rat vagal chemosensitive neurons. This sensitizing effect of epinephrine is likely mediated through the activation of beta(3)-adrenoceptor and intracellular cAMP-PKA signaling cascade.


The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of organik protein in feed on the quality of abdominal fat and internal organs in broilers. The material used 500 broilers. Levels of organik protein in feed P0 (0% organik protein); P1 (1.5% organik protein); P2 (3.0% organik protein); P3 (4.5% organik protein) and P4 (6.0% organik protein). The variables measured were abdominal fat and internal organs weight of broiler (heart, liver, gizzard, pancreas and spleen). The data were analyzed by using ANOVA and if it shoes significant different among treatment continued by using Duncan's Multiple Range Test. The result showed that the treatment gave no significant effect (P>0.05) on abdominal fat and weight of heart, liver and spleen. The use of organik protein in feed can reduce `abdominal fat and improve the performance of internal organs such as the gizzard, liver, spleen, pancreas and heart of broilers.


Infectious mononucleosis (MI) is caused by the Herpes viridae family of viruses. Currently, most researchers assign a leading role to the Epstein-Barr virus. In present time there are no unified clinical classification of infection mononucleosis, but many authors recognize the visceral form which involves cardiovascular system, adrenal glands, lungs, central neural system and others organs. The article describes a clinical case of MI in the 28-year-old patient. She applied for medical help with complaints of fever up to 39 °C, weakness in the legs and arms, weight loss and received symptomatic treatment on an outpatient department. After 2 months on the background of deterioration, she was hospitalized in an infectious diseases hospital with severe symptoms of intoxication, lymphoproliferative syndrome, myocarditis, pericarditis, hepatitis, polyneuropathy with quadriparesis, hypochromic anemia, thrombocytopenia. She was consulted by an oncologist and diagnosed with cervical cancer. Laboratory confirmation was obtained – Epstein-Barr virus was detected in the blood. Against the background of antiviral therapy, a regression of clinical symptoms was achieved in a week. The patient was transferred to a oncological hospital. It is recommended to examine patients with high fever of unknown etiology on myocardial infarction for the timely appointed etiotropic therapy.


One of the scholars of Al-Asafiyya School in Fallujah during the second half of the fourteenth century (AH) was Ibrahim Rahim Al-Hiti. He was an imam, orator, and preacher, and he was a reference for Fatwa on pressing issues. He followed the same curriculum as Sheikh Abdulaziz Salem Al-Samarrai (may God have mercy on him) with regards to his teaching methodology, particularly in terms of scientific and cognitive progression. Al-Hiti was distinguished by his social standing, as he represented the religious and social reference in both the city of Heet and Fallujah. He passed away on Friday morning, 30 Shawwal 1404 AH corresponding to July 27, 1984 CE.
Keywords: Hiti, Fallujah the Great Mosque , Khatib , imamate , Sheikh , Ibrahim, Rahim


The Himalayan thrust belt is often cited as an example of a thrust system that propagated from hinterland to foreland; however, this kinematic sequence is not well documented, and the process of formation of the thrust belt has not been well supported. This study uses forward modeling and timing data to reveal a detailed view of the evolution of the central Himalayan thrust belt from the footwall of the South Tibetan detachment system southward to the Main Frontal thrust. By using a reasonable configuration of undeformed stratigraphy, the surface deformation in western Nepal can be dynamically reproduced, confirming that the cross sections from which the undeformed sections were derived are viable and propagated from hinterland to foreland. In addition, this study yields detailed step-by-step reconstructions of three cross sections and is the first of its kind in any thrust belt system. These detailed views are useful for understanding and bracketing erosion data, the basin sediments, and geodynamic models. Modeling shortening estimates are between 495 and 733 km from the Main Frontal thrust to the South Tibetan detachment system, and are within the range predicted for shortening in western Nepal obtained from balanced cross sections (485–743 km). Thus, the Himalayan thrust belt in western Nepal is essentially a forward-propagating thrust belt from hinterland to foreland, with minor out-of-sequence (


The population of automata is a model of collective behavior of automata. Modeling of population dynamics is implemented by a Causal Petri Net. The places in it represent the states of automata. The net marking specifies a number of automata that are in corresponding states. The transitions in the net represent events that result from the joint actions of the elements in the population. For each transition, a value is specified defining the probability (rate) of the transition response so that a system of differential equations can be built. These equations describe the dynamics of the average number of automata in places under logical conditions specified by Petri net. The numerical solution of the system is obtained by using a computer simulation.


Many techniques exist for adapting videos to satisfy heterogeneous resource conditions or user preferences. However, selections of appropriate adaptations among various choices are often ad hoc. To provide a systematic solution, we present a general conceptual framework to model video entity, adaptation, resource, utility, and relations among them. The framework extends the conventional rate-distortion model in terms of flexibility and generality. It allows for formulations of various adaptation problems as resource-constrained utility maximization. It also facilitates new approaches to predicting critical information about resource-utility relations. We apply the framework to a practical case in dynamic bit rate adaptation. Furthermore, we present a description tool, which has been accepted as a part of the MPEG-21 digital item adaptation (DIA), to support utility-based adaptation.


Between May and June 2006, members of the dissident teachers' union CNTE occupied Oaxaca's zocalo to demand fairer wages, greater support for their students and more resources for rural schools. However, on Friday 16 June 2006, police stormed the camp. When evidence of brutality against the occupants began to emerge, thousands of Oaxacans joined the teachers, demanding an end to fraud, corruption, and unfettered globalization, as well as the removal of Oaxaca's Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. What followed is the emergence of the Asemblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO, Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca), a coalition of social movements and left-wing organizations which challenged state and national governments for nearly seven months, occupying radio and TV stations, building barricades to defend the protest and, above all, proposing a model of radical and participatory politics. The events of the 2006 conflict in Oaxaca, the emergence of the APPO, the construction of the barricades, and the repression which followed are the subjects of Tryno Maldonado's Teoria de las catastrofes (2012). This essay argues that, while the reasons of the protest and the origins of the movement somehow remain in the background, Maldonado's work can be defined as a novel of political formation as well as a novel about the development of class consciousness. Moreover, it claims that the process of class consciousness is set in motion by an acquired awareness of the history of systemic violence against subaltern social groups, left-wing and anti-capitalist movements and organizations.


Nanoscale size effects drastically alter the fundamental properties of semiconductors. Here, we investigate the dominant role of quantum confinement in the field-effect device properties of free-standing InAs nanomembranes with varied thicknesses of 5-50 nm. First, optical absorption studies are performed by transferring InAs "quantum membranes" (QMs) onto transparent substrates, from which the quantized sub-bands are directly visualized. These sub-bands determine the contact resistance of the system with the experimental values consistent with the expected number of quantum transport modes available for a given thickness. Finally, the effective electron mobility of InAs QMs is shown to exhibit anomalous field and thickness dependences that are in distinct contrast to the conventional MOSFET models, arising from the strong quantum confinement of carriers. The results provide an important advance toward establishing the fundamental device physics of two-dimensional semiconductors.


Our efforts have been focused on understanding the physical properties of planetary surfaces using remote sensing techniques. Specific application has been to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. Our approach has been to use thermal-infrared emission and radar reflectance and scattering as a way of exploring the decimeter-scale structure of these surfaces. At this scale, the techniques are sensitive to physical parameters such as the average or effective particle size of surface materials, the degree of induration or physical bonding between individual regolith grains, and the abundance of rocks of different sizes resting on or admixed in to the surface. The results are relevant to understanding the geological processes that have affected the surface and, in the case of Mars, determining site safety and scientific relevance for planning upcoming lander, rover, and sample-return spacecraft missions.


Energy carried by ion acoustic solitons are estimated in an inhomogeneous plasma containing negative ions and a group of hot and cold nonisothermal electron species in addition to positive ions in presence of external magnetic field. On the basis of Reductive Perturbation Technique (RPT), a relevant Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation is obtained and solved for its solitary wave solution. The profile of the propagating soliton is used to obtain an expression of the soliton energy. The characteristics of soliton and the energy carried by it are investigated under the effects of nonisothermal electrons trapped by wave potential, negative ions concentration, strength of the magnetic field and its obliqueness.