Captive farming of alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) in China has been used for conservation and harvesting of musk since the mid 1950s. Despite this long history, management practices and captive breeding have been primarily based on trial and error due to lack of behavioral and ecological information about this vulnerable species. Understanding behavioral patterns plays a vital part in determining appropriate management systems; hence the aim of this study was to determine the effect of captivity on behavioral patterns of alpine musk deer by comparing wild-caught and the captive-born alpine musk deer. From August 2002 to January 2003, the behavioral patterns of 30 wild-caught (WC) and 15 captive-bred (CB) adult alpine musk deer were recorded at Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm (XMDF), located in Xinglongshan National Nature Reserve, Gansu province, China. Focal sampling was used to observe the frequencies of 12 behavior categories. The behavioral patterns of WC and CB musk deer were found to be similar; however, when gender was considered, male WC deer showed a significantly high er frequency of agonistic interaction. These preliminary results suggest that captivity has had no immediate impact on the behavioral patterns of captive alpine musk deer despite 10 generations of captivity. Therefore, the alpine musk deer is not suited for domestication and further investigation into the effectiveness of musk deer farming for the purpose of harvesting musk should be undertaken.


The acousto-optic interaction is strongly modified and different in subwavelength confinement. Here, the optical propagation and acoustic propagation in a subwavelength-diameter fiber (SDF) have been investigated through adopting a two-layer fiber model of air-coated silica rod. Theoretical investigation indicates that SDF with a diameter below 1.2 µm supports the single mode of light propagation, and various Brillouin acoustic modes with well-spaced spectral distribution can be also excited. Due to the light propagation with the outer environment as the cladding layer, the surrounding medium will greatly affect Brillouin scattering of SDFs. Both the simulation and experiment results indicate a relatively good linear relationship between the Brillouin frequency shift of the lower acoustic modes and surrounding environmental refractive index (RI), and the higher RI sensitivity in finer SDFs can be obtained. In addition, hybrid acoustic waves have shown higher sensitivity and stability than surface acoustic modes. A RI sensitivity of about 5.1 GHz/RIU has been achieved in a 1.1 µm SDF, demonstrating its potential application in RI sensing.


In this paper, a local marching numerical method is developed to solve the one-dimensional inverse nonlinear heat conductivity problem (INHCP). Numerical analysis shows that the method has absolute stability. It can be more efficiently applied to determine the heat conductivity distribution by some measured surface temperature signals for some materials, such as semiconductor, steel, and so on.


VTS aims to increase the efficiency of maritime traffic in two ways. The first is a decrease in marine accidents, and the second is an increase in the utilization rate of infrastructure such as waterways and port facilities. This means that, if safety is guaranteed, efficiency must also be considered in the VTS. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the effects of speed regulation under safe conditions for an efficient use of waterways. A model was developed using a queue approach, and the effect of the waiting time according to the minimum speed proposal was analyzed through a simulation. The simulation results showed a maximum reduction in congestion of 6.1% occurred when setting the minimum speed to 6 knots. The capacity of the routes was also analyzed, and the results indicate that 2.5 ships can have sufficient time to pass through the waterway at a safe distance.


The aim of the ongoing muon g-2 experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to measure a/sub /spl mu// to 0.35 ppm represents a factor of 20 improvement over the current value obtained from the latest CERN experiment. This projected precision would allow us to determine the electroweak contribution, involving single loop Feynman diagrams of W, Z and Higgs scalar particle, to a/sub /spl mu// with an accuracy of about 20%. Coupled with improvements in the QED theoretical calculation for a/sub /spl mu// and the completion of associated experiments needed to improve the calculation of the hadronic contribution to a/sub /spl mu//, a comparison of a/sub /spl mu//(expt) and a/sub /spl mu//(theor) will provide a sensitive test of the standard model concerning renormalizability of the electroweak theory, and to search for physics beyond the standard model with high sensitivity especially for investigating lepton substructures, which would be complementary to the current and future high energy collider experiments including LHC and LEP II. A new high precision measurement of the muonium (/spl mu//sup +/e/sup -/) hyperfine structure interval /spl Delta//spl nu/ and its Zeeman effect in the ground state which gives the muon magnetic moment is being undertaken at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). The goal of the experiment is to measure the ratio of the magnetic moments of muon and proton to a fractional accuracy of 60 parts per billion (ppb), and the muonium hyperfine structure interval in the ground state, /spl Delta//spl nu/, to 10 ppb. These measurements will improve our knowledge of /spl mu//sub /spl mu////spl mu//sub p/ and /spl Delta//spl nu/ by a factor of about 5. With the improved accuracy in /spl mu//sub /spl mu////spl mu//sub p/ to 60 ppb from LAMPF, /spl Delta//spl nu//sub expt/ and /spl Delta//spl nu//sub theor/ could be compared at about the 65 ppb level. This would be the most precise test of a two-lepton bound state system and of bound state QED in general. Alternatively, the fine structure constant a could be determined at the 30 ppb level. A precise value for /spl mu//sub /spl mu////spl mu//sub p/ is needed for the determination of the anomalous g-factor from the new Brookhaven muon g-2 experiment. New values for electric charges of positive and negative muons and the magnetic moment of the negative muon will be presented. The experiment to determine the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is being prepared by the Muon (g-2) Collaboration. The muonium experiment is being carried out by collaborators from the Experiment 1054 at LAMPF. The status of the two experiments will be described.<<ETX>>


A manifestly dissipative dynamical system which is measure preserving and non-reversible is found to exhibit Hamiltonian type of chaos for certain values of the parameters. The onset of chaos is studied through a computation of the Lyapunov exponent and the analysis of the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser regions. The critical values of the parameters are obtained in course of our analysis.


The environment in which humanitarian workers find themselves today is more complex and diverse than ever. Conflicts are increasingly complicated; natural disasters are escalating in number and intensity, often in regions already struggling with socio-economic and political constraints; there is an increasing focus on localisation; and large numbers of people are being forced to move across borders. So how do we ensure that our humanitarian leadership training stays relevant and useful in this increasingly complex world?


Toddlers can use touch screen technology purposefully The 21 century has been characterised by a massive increase in the use of media devices and toddlers have not been spared as shown by a recent Irish study. The study was questionnaire-based acknowledge that this type of study cannot show cause and effect and the association might be a result of unrecognised confounding factors. Nevertheless there is a temptation to increase one's chilli intake and even contemplate cutting out alcohol. Or cutting down on it.


Gentlemen of the Section:—The object which I have in view in the selection of this subject is to call your attention to the present importance of chemical studies in the elucidation of medical problems. Chemical theories and discoveries have frequently in the past been of service to medicine, but they offer much greater promises for the future. With the past services you are familiar, and I desire to point out some of the most important problems which are now being investigated or which only await careful study. The Chemistry of the Animal Cell.—With the form and size of the various cells of the animal body, both in health and in disease, we are fairly acquainted, but we must remember that these ultimate entities of life have also a physiological and a chemical history. Their function, as well as their form, is deserving of study. Upon what do they feed? What


Abstract Postfire vegetation development was studied at two recent mountaintop burns in the Serra do Caparaó, Espírito Santo/Minas Gerais, and the Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both fires occurred within the páramo-like "campos de altitude", a system of orographic grass- and scrublands restricted to the highest peaks of southeast Brazil. Data collected included pre- and postfire heights and densities of shrubs and trees, and cover of all taxa. Slopes of different aspect and altitude were sampled at each site to evaluate the effects of varying physical environment on regeneration. Rapid vegetative regeneration was common among shrubs and bamboo, with most taxa surviving fire. Regeneration and postfire colonization rates varied among species, and appeared to depend both on physical variables associated with different slopes, aspects and altitudes, and biotic variables. Most plant species in the campos de altitude show some form of evolutionary adaptation to fire. The distribution of species and plant populations across the landscapes of the campos de altitude appears to be largely the result of fire and its interactions with the biota, local topography, and climate. Results suggest that fire is an integral part of the ecology in these humid, seasonally dry ecosystems. Successful management of these unique and highly threatened systems requires a detailed understanding of the fire regime and its role in structuring biotic communities.


To improve accuracy of computer visual inspection, a new camera calibration method is proposed. A mathematical camera model is set up based on theory of perspective projection and vector algebra, which takes into account both the first order radial distortion and disinterring distortion, and actual image point is regarded as the result point to which ideal image point is moved under the influence of radial and disinterring distortion one by one. Based on this model, disinterring distortion coefficients are solved firstly according to invariability in projection translation, and actual image points are corrected firstly to obtain intermediate image points. Then most of the external parameters are calibrated by using of RAC constraint, and other parameters are solved by nonlinear optimization method. Because the calibration of disinterring distortion coefficients is carried out independently, the calibration accuracy of CCD camera is increased remarkably with minimal impact upon efficiency. Both the simulative and real experiments show validity and practicability of this method.


Quaternary ammonium salts are widely used in consumer products and industrial processes, where their instability at elevated temperatures limits their range of applications. In this work, the thermal behavior of a new class of quaternary ammonium salts was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. These salts contain a sulfur atom in each chain at the fourth position from the central nitrogen and are thus termed thiaquats. The temperatures at which these salts melt and thermally degrade were determined, and enthalpies and entropies of fusion were evaluated. Their melting points increase with chain lengths, in contrast to the behavior of traditional quaternary ammonium salts. Furthermore, they exhibit enthalpies and entropies of fusion significantly lower than corresponding tetraalkyl analogues. These trends provide physical insight into the molecular-level behavior of these salts, suggesting that they do not fully dissociate upon melting. The thiaquats also exhibit thermal stability to markedly higher temperatures than traditional quaternary ammonium bromides, a phenomenon that can be explained in by strong pairing between the quaternary cation and bromide anion, which inhibits possible decomposition mechanisms. This enhanced thermal stability may enable applications of these salts in processes where traditional salts are not viable, such as phase-transfer-catalyzed systems performed at elevated temperatures.


The defence of abortion from individualistic rights-based arguments understates social context and ostracises communities that draw on the language of collective responsibilities. In trying to understand restrictive abortion legislation in Ireland, I argue for a more constructive, less oppositional debate. As the basis for dialogue, I focus on the common ground of women's experiences, their changing social roles and general commitment to nurture others. The defence of abortion from responsibility-based arguments reconceptualises abortion from an individual woman's private dilemma, to a social conflict of care that requires culturally sensitive and morally responsible choices.


Users of mobile IT systems are calling for ever higher data rates, but such mobile radios are subject to multipath fading and intersymbol interference, often calling for complex equalizers at both ends of each link. Where the links are of short range, they often use time-division duplex. This article demonstrates how this option permits much of the complexity of channel matching and equalization to be transferred from post-processing at the many sparsely used mobile terminals to a few intensively used preprocessors at the base station or central hub.


The unique structure and properties of graphene initiated broad fundamental and technological research, and highlighted graphene as a new candidate for various applications such as energy storage, solar cells and electronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been utilized for industrial large-scale synthesis of graphene. Regardless of the synthesis process, graphene should be transferred to arbitrary substrates for different applications. The transfer processes, introduce defects such as wrinkles and cracks in graphene which compromise the properties and applications. In recent years, fundamental research has been focused on characterization of graphene to develop new techniques for large-scale, high-resolution graphene metrology. Herein, a complementary high throughput metrology technique using fluorescent quenching is further investigated for different fluorescent dyes to characterize CVD synthesized graphene.


Hemifacial microsomia is a congenital malformation in which there is a deficiency in the amount of hard and soft tissue on one side of the face. It is primarily a syndrome of the first branchial arch, involving underdevelopment of the temporomandibular joint, mandibular ramus, masticatory muscles and the ear. The affected ear may have an external soft-tissue malformation in addition to being lower set than on the contra lateral side. Hearing loss may result from underdevelopment of the osseous components of the auditory system and a diminished or absent external auditory meatus. Occasionally, second branchial arch defects involving the facial nerve and facial muscles coexist with Hemifacial microsomia. Radiographic examination in case of Hemifacial microsomia is of limited value because of superimposition of normal and abnormal bony structures. The skeletal and soft-tissue findings of a patient with Hemifacial microsomia who underwent three-dimensional computerized tomography is presented here to improve our knowledge and diagnostic skill of this uncommon entity.


We construct a new protocol for attribute-based encryption with the use of the modification of the standard secret sharing scheme. In the suggested modification of the secret sharing scheme, only one master key for each user is required that is achieved by linearly enlarging public parameters in the access formula. We then use this scheme for designing an attribute-based encryption protocol related to some access structure in terms of attributes. We demonstrate that the universe of possible attributes does not affect the resulting efficiency of the scheme. The security proofs for both constructions are provided.


Fifty-four anti-MUC1 antibodies submitted to the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine (ISOBM) Workshop (TD-4) were evaluated in immunoradiometric assays, using sera from carcinoma patients and healthy donors. The carcinoma serum pool contained sera from 30 patients with advanced cancer (10 breast, 10 colon, and 10 ovarian). This serum pool contained 696 kU/l MUC1, 770 µg/l CEA, and 3,700 kU/l CA 125. The reference serum pool was obtained from 10 healthy women combined with 20 sera from pregnant women, of which half had elevated CA 125 (range 82–254 kU/l). The reference serum pool contained 13 kU/l MUC1, 2 µg/l CEA, and 65 kU/l CA 125. The Workshop antibodies were tested both as solid-phase antibodies and as tracer antibodies with the carcinoma serum pool. Twenty-two tracer antibodies and 38 solid-phase antibodies gave at least one combination with >10% binding of the tracer antibody for a total of 836 combinations. These were tested further with the reference serum pool. Antibodies used as tracers could be separated into three categories: Group 1 antibodies, MF06, MF11, B27.29, MF30, and Ma552, gave mainly 'carcinoma-specific' assays in combinations with the solid-phase antibodies, i.e. binding ratio between carcinoma MUC1 and reference MUC1 >10. Group 2 antibodies, DF3, 7540MR, A76-A/C7, BC4N154, M38, 7539MR, B12, GP1.4, 232A1, Mc5, and Ma695 gave both 'specific' and 'nonspecific' binding ratios depending on the solid-phase antibody used. Group 3 antibodies, 214D4, BC4E549, E29, BCP8, BC3, and 3E1.2, gave mainly 'nonspecific' combinations, i.e. ratios ≤10. All antibodies used to capture MUC1 on the solid phase gave both 'specific' and 'nonspecific' combinations depending on the tracer antibody used. Ten antibodies were clearly more efficient as solid-phase capture antibodies; Ma695, B12, M38, GP1.4, 214D4, MF06, B27.29, A76-A/C7, BC3, and KC4. Our findings indicate that the ability to detect 'carcinoma-specific MUC1' cannot be deduced from epitope specificity alone.


High-frequency electromagnetic fields refer to electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 300 MHz. High-frequency medium heating has the advantages of uniform heating, rapid energy consumption, and environmental protection. While it has a wide range of applications, the use of high-frequency dielectric heating in the bamboo industry is rare. Understanding the influence of bamboo temperature rise rate in high-frequency heating could promote bamboo industry development. In this work, curved bamboo was tested with high-temperature energy for continuous heating. The influence of moisture content of bamboo, sample thickness, and high-frequency processing power on temperature rise rate were studied. The results showed that the water content of bamboo affected the temperature rise rate. The effect of high-frequency heating was highest when the moisture content of bamboo was close to 11%. The thickness of sample had little effect on the temperature rise rate, but the high-frequency power had a significant effect on the temperature rise rate. The temperature rise rate of the lower and higher frequency power levels increased slowly and was close to constant. The heating power was 11 kW, and the temperature rise rate was the highest.


The COVID‐19 pandemic has impacted social, economic, and environmental systems worldwide, slowing down and reversing the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs belong to the 2030 Agenda to transform our world by tackling humankind's challenges to ensure well‐being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. We explore the potential impacts of the pandemic on SDGs for Nepal. We followed a knowledge co‐creation process with experts from various professional backgrounds, involving five steps: online survey, online workshop, assessment of expert's opinions, review and validation, and revision and synthesis. The pandemic has negatively impacted most SDGs in the short term. Particularly, the targets of SDG 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13 have and will continue to have weakly to moderately restricting impacts. However, a few targets of SDG 2, 3, 6, and 11 could also have weakly promoting impacts. The negative impacts have resulted from impeding factors linked to the pandemic. Many of the negative impacts may subside in the medium and long terms. The key five impeding factors are lockdowns, underemployment and unemployment, closure of institutions and facilities, diluted focus and funds for non‐COVID‐19‐related issues, and anticipated reduction in support from development partners. The pandemic has also opened a window of opportunity for sustainable transformation, which is short‐lived and narrow. These opportunities are lessons learned for planning and action, socio‐economic recovery plan, use of information and communication technologies and the digital economy, reverse migration and "brain gain," and local governments' exercising authorities.


Research regarding the complex issues in planning negotiation is sparse. This article aims to shed light on the characteristics of "the negotiation issue" in planning and how to deal with negotiation-related complexity towards planning implementation. It conceptualizes processes of negotiation that are represented/implemented via graphic and geographic elements, where the topology is a crucial factor. Our case study of the CAMKOX corridor at UCL's geodesign workshop provides new insights into the potential of digital negotiations for assessing the characteristics of planning negotiation issues and their associated complexity drivers to enhance the quality of spatiality. The findings provide a detailed description of issue-based planning complexity. A shift of focus away from the products of planning to the negotiation process—as the most important consideration in planning—opens the possibility of implementing "shared" interventions on which there is consensus.


From the beginning of the new millennium, the possession of nuclear competitiveness has become the pinnacle of all interests. Accordingly, researches for shortening the construction period of such facilities have been progressing very actively. Since 2001, Workshops have been held once a year to have discussions on the way to reduce construction time of nuclear power plants and to develop new technologies in construction of power plants participated with utility, A/E, manufacturer, and major construction company. The SC structure, which was proposed by The Korea Next Generation Reactor project as a next construction paradigm of nuclear power plants, has been reviewed for its validity in 2001 and has been evaluated as a composite structure that can be labelled as the breakthrough for the limitations of conventional reinforced concrete structures (KHNP,2002). Currently, studies to apply the SC structure into nuclear power plants are being performed under the 1 st year Research & Development on structure/composite module project (phase I) by an organic collaboration formed with utility, A/E, regulation agency, institute, and research labs.


Heteroepitaxy of III–V compound semiconductors on industry standard (001) silicon (Si) substrates is highly desirable for large-scale electronic and photonic integrated circuits. Challenges of this approach relate primarily to lattice, polarity, and coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch, which ultimately generate a high density of defects and limit the reliability of active devices. Ongoing efforts to monolithically integrate lasers in silicon photonics include leveraging quantum dots for reduced sensitivity to defects and the ability to enable 1310 nm lasers with gallium arsenide (GaAs) and related compounds. In this work, to extend the operation window to the widely used 1550 nm telecommunications region, we have demonstrated continuous-wave (CW) electrically pumped indium phosphide (InP)-based quantum well lasers on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible (001) Si. Heteroepitaxy of InP and related compounds on Si poses additional challenges because the lattice mismatch is significantly larger compared to GaAs. Key to our approach is the development of a low dislocation density InP-on-Si template by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Following an InP buffer with a surface defect density of ${1.15} \times {{10}^8}/{{\rm cm}^2}$1.15×108/cm2, a seven-layer indium gallium arsenide phosphide (InGaAsP) multi-quantum well laser diode structure was grown. Fabry–Perot ridge waveguide lasers were then fabricated. A 20-µm wide and 1000-µm long laser demonstrates a room temperature continuous-wave (CW) lasing threshold current density of ${2.05}\;{{\rm kA}/{\rm cm}^2}$2.05kA/cm2 and a maximum output power of 18 mW per facet without facet coating. CW lasing up to 65°C and pulsed lasing greater than 105°C were achieved. This MOCVD-based heteroepitaxy approach offers a practical path toward monolithic integration of InP lasers in silicon photonics.


Astrocytes have been proposed to have multiple roles in the development and maintenance of the vertebrate CNS. To facilitate documentation of these roles, we designed a transgene to enable their ablation at selectable times. The transgene consists of the coding region for the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) under the control of the human glial fibrillary acidic protein gene promoter. The HSV-TK is innocuous but converts the antiherpetic agent ganciclovir (GCV) to a toxic product that interferes with DNA replication in proliferating cells. In a developmental study, transgenic mice were treated with GCV during the first postnatal week, with evaluation at P19. Treated mice displayed severe ataxia. Histological examination revealed disrupted astrocyte development, particularly in the cerebellum, with marked secondary effects on other cell types. Cerebellar defects included a loss in the numbers of astrocytes and an overall reduction in cerebellar size and disruption of the normally well defined cellular layers. Radial glia were disordered, Purkinje cells were ectopically distributed and displayed abnormal dendritic trees, and granule cells were markedly depleted. These effects were more severe in animals treated on postnatal day 1 versus treatment at day 5. A major factor causing granule cell death was excitotoxicity attributable to activation of NMDA receptors. These results suggest a critical role for astrocytes in cerebellar development.


Cross infection between rice and wheat blast fungi was investigated in a series of experiments conducted under controlled glasshouse condition following a completely randomized design. Two rice (BRRI dhan29 and LTH) and two wheat (BARI Gom25 and BARI Gom26) varieties were grown in plastic trays as sole and rice-wheat mixed crop culture. Plants were artificially inoculated using virulent isolates of rice and wheat blast fungi. It was observed that irrespective of variety and crop culture technique, all the isolates of wheat blast fungus caused significant 100% plant infection on leaf typical leaf blast symptoms appeared on wheat seedlings but no blast symptom on rice. Conversely, the test-isolates of rice blast fungus did not produce any disease reaction on wheat seedlings, though leaf blast was observed on 100% rice plants. Therefore, we conclude that rice blast pathogen population is different from those of wheat blast pathogen ( Pyricularia oryzae ). Bangladesh Rice j. 2016, 20(2): 21-29


The problem of quantizing a two-dimensional random variable whose bivariate density has circular symmetry is considered in detail. Two quantization methods are considered, leading to polar and rectangular representations. A simple necessary and sufficient condition is derived to determine which of these two quantization schemes is best. If polar quantization is deemed best, the question arises as to the ratio of the number of phase quantizer levels to that or magnitude quantizer levels when the product of these numbers is fixed. A simple expression is derived for this ratio that depends only upon the magnitude distribution. Several examples of common circularly symmetric bivariate densities are worked out in detail using these expressions.


Histological and cytological evidence of where and when apoptotic cells occur in Pc-2/Vb oat cells treated with victorin was obtained by observing DNA strand breaks at both light (LM) and electron microscope (EM) levels using TUNEL techniques. DNA from leaf segments that had been floated on victorin solution with the abaxial epidermis removed showed typical ladders on agarose gels. Nuclear chromatin condensation, followed by cell collapse, started in the mesophyll cells closest to the victorin solution. LM-TUNEL was positive in the non-collapsed cells but not in the collapsed cells in the treated leaves. However, the EM-TUNEL assay was positive in the nuclei of the non-collapsed as well as the collapsed cells where nuclear fragments dispersed into the cytoplasm, and the immunogold density was much higher than that in the cells killed by a high concentration of H2O2, suggesting that the victorin-treated collapsed cells are in the last stage of apoptotic cell death. The immunogold labelling in the victorin-treated non-collapsed cells was restricted to condensed heterochromatin, indicating that chromatin condensation is associated with DNA cleavage. Pharmacological studies indicated that proteases and nucleases may play a role in the apoptotic response. However, the EM-TUNEL assay indicated that EGTA co-incubated with victorin blocked DNA cleavage, but failed to prevent chromatin condensation. Moreover, protein kinases were involved in chromatin condensation, but did not affect DNA digestion, suggesting that chromatin condensation and DNA cleavage are differentially regulated in the death process in oats.


The mobility of misfit dislocations in semicoherent Cu/Ni and Cu/Ag interfaces is determined by molecular dynamics and elastic band simulation methods. Cube-on-cube oriented Cu/Ni and Cu/Ag systems were studied with the interfaces parallel to (010). Core structures of misfit dislocations in semicoherent interfaces are found to be quite different in these systems. In Cu/Ni the misfits have very narrow cores in the plane of the interface. Consequently, the shear stress to move these dislocations is large, ~1.1 GPa. The core width and hence the misfit mobility can be changed by placing the misfit away from the chemical interface. Placement of the misfit one atom layer into the Cu increased the core width almost a factor of four and lowered the threshold shear stress to 0.4 GPa. The misfit dislocations in Cu/Ag interfaces, on the other hand, are wide and therefore are much more mobile. The threshold shear stress for misfit movement in Cu/Ag is very low, ~0.03 GPa.


Using numerical simulations, the stability and scattering properties of the O(3) model on a two-dimensional torus are studied. Its solitons are found to be unstable but can be stabilized by the addition of a Skyrme-like term to the Lagrangian. Scattering at right angles with respect to the initial direction of motion is observed in all cases studied. The model has no solutions of degree one, so when a field configuration that resembles a soliton is considered, it shrinks to become infinitely thin. A comparison of these results with those of the model defined on the sphere is made.


In 2003, the German cement industry was fined more than 6 hundred million Euros for, allegedly, having fixed prices and quantities in the four regional German cement markets. When this case was finally resolved by the courts in 2009, the fine was reduced by a large amount as the German Antitrust Commission (GAC) was unable to provide sufficient evidence on the level excessive pricing by the cartelists. This paper takes up again the case of the East German cement cartel that ended in early 2002 and shows that the quota agreement which was established in the mid 1990s was economically inactive. From the perspective of the individual players, the rationale of preserving the cartel can only be explained by limited knowledge of the true market forces. Based on a spatial approach for the years 1997 to 2002, the regional price-setting behavior and its changes can be analyzed against the situation. Econometric analysis suggests that competition was already rather strong in the cartel years as transport costs and rebate systems were used to fine-tune offers. Strategic imports from post communist countries into the East German market as well as supply from medium sized enterprises not included in the cartel exerted pressure on the markets.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the location and production of liminality with regard to voting rights of Tibetan exile community in India. Liminality is related here to the legal and bureaucratic 'inbetweenness' that characterises and orders the life of the Tibetan exiles in India. Tibetans born in India have been registered as voters in India's electoral list albeit without an accompanying claim or path to citizenship. The paper argues that these voting rights are simultaneously contested and embraced by the Tibetan exile community. Responses of the exile community to voting rights are produced by the interaction between (a) the lived experience of statelessness and (b) complex constructions of cultural, political and legal identity. Both these factors are fundamentally informed by the liminal space that the exile community inhabits in India.


Clathrin is considered the prototype vesicle coat protein whose self-assembly mediates sorting of membrane cargo and recruitment of lipid modifiers. Detailed knowledge of clathrin biochemistry, structure, and interacting proteins has accumulated since the first observation, almost 50 years ago, of its role in receptor-mediated endocytosis of yolk protein. This review summarizes that knowledge, and focuses on properties of the clathrin heavy and light chain subunits and interaction of the latter with Hip proteins, to address the diversity of clathrin function beyond conventional receptor-mediated endocytosis. The distinct functions of the two human clathrin isoforms (CHC17 and CHC22) are discussed, highlighting CHC22's specialized involvement in traffic of the GLUT4 glucose transporter and consequent role in human glucose metabolism. Analysis of clathrin light chain function and interaction with the actin-binding Hip proteins during bacterial infection defines a novel actin-organizing function for CHC17 clathrin. By considering these diverse clathrin functions, along with intracellular sorting roles and influences on mitosis, further relevance of clathrin function to human health and disease is established.


Plasma GH profiles and IGF-I concentrations were determined in Large White intact male (LW-M), female (LW-F) and castrated male (LW-C) and in Meishan intact male (MS-M) pigs between 10 and 140 d of age. Mean GH levels slightly increased between 10 and 45 d of age in LW pigs, in connection with an alteration in the temporal distribution of GH peaks, whereas neither interpulse GH level nor maximum GH level were affected. Mean GH levels decreased after 45 d of age, in connection with a decline in maximum and interpulse GH levels. IGF-I concentrations were low between 10 and 45 d of age and increased thereafter. GH secretory profiles did not differ significantly between LW-M and LW-F at either age. Castration had no effect at 45 d of age whereas LW-C exhibited lower mean, maximum and interpulse GH levels and smaller sum of GH pulse areas and widths than LW-M or LW-F at 140 d of age. IGF-I was lower in LW-C or LW-F than in LW-M at 140 d of age. The pattern of age-related changes in GH and IGF-I was similar in MS and LW pigs. However, interpulse GH level was higher and sum of GH pulse widths was smaller in MS-M than in LW-M, whatever the age. The results indicate that: i), GH and IGF-I secretions were similar in Meishan, and Large White pigs; ii), in both breeds, GH secretion declined after 45 d of age, due to decreased maximum and interpulse GH levels; iii), sex and/or castration effects on GH and IGF-I secretion were observed after 45 d of age only.


Objective: This article summarizes current empirical support for Memory and Attention Adaptation Training (MAAT), a cognitivebehavioral treatment program that uses a compensatory strategy approach for management of late cognitive effects of chemotherapy among cancer survivors. A description of MAAT, in addition to other treatment approaches, is presented. Results: Current methods of assessing treatment gains among cancer survivors with cognitive problems who have completed programs such as MAAT need to be expanded. As such, a table of patient reported outcome (PRO) measures that may be better suited for future outcome research is proposed. Conclusions: Identifying outcome measures that accurately assess the clinical targets of MAAT and other behavioral treatments is of prime importance, as certain variables (e.g., quality of life, role strain) are not detected by neuropsychological testing in isolation. The PRO table presented in this article is intended to aid future researchers in identifying measures that can reflect quality of life improvement in response to treatments such as MAAT.


Abstract This paper introduces a model for capturing the meaning of negated statements by identifying the negated concepts and revealing the implicit positive meanings. A negated sentence may be represented logically in different ways depending on what is the scope and focus of negation. The novel approach introduced here identifies the focus of negation and thus eliminates erroneous interpretations. Furthermore, negation is incorporated into a framework for composing semantic relations, proposed previously, yielding a richer semantic representation of text, including hidden inferences. Annotations of negation focus were performed over PropBank, and learning features were identified. The experimental results show that the models introduced here obtain a weighted f-measure of 0.641 for predicting the focus of negation and 78 percent accuracy for incorporating negation into composition of semantic relations.


Abstract Studies on the electron transfer (ET) interaction of 1,4-dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone and 6,11-dihydroxy-5,12-naphthacenequinone with aliphatic and aromatic amine (AlA and ArA, respectively) donors have been investigated in acetonitrile solutions. Steady-state (SS) measurements show quenching of the quinone fluorescence by amines, without indicating any change in the shape of the fluorescence spectra. No significant change in the absorption spectra of the quinones is also observed in the presence of the amines. For all the quinone–amine pairs, the bimolecular quenching constants (kq) estimated from SS and time-resolved measurements are found to be similar. Variation in the kq values with the oxidation potentials of the amines indicates the involvement of the ET mechanism for the quenching process. A reasonably good correlation between the kq values and the free energy changes (ΔG0) for the ET reactions following Marcus' outer-sphere ET theory also supports this mechanism. It is seen that for both the quinone–ArA and quinone–AlA systems, the kq values initially increase and then get saturated at some diffusion-controlled limiting values (kqDC) as ΔG0 values gradually become more negative. Interestingly, however, it is seen that the kqDC value for the quinone–AlA systems is substantially lower than that for quinone–ArA systems. Such a large difference in the kqDC values between quinone–AlA and quinone–ArA systems is quite unusual. Present results have been rationalized based on the assumption that an orientational restriction is imposed for the encounter complexes in quinone–AlA systems to undergo ET reactions, which arises because of the localized (at amino nitrogen) shapes of the highest-occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) of AlA in comparison to the π-like HOMO of the ArA.


Linear permanent magnet synchronous motors utilize high-energy product permanent magnet to produce high thrust, velocity and acceleration. Such motors are finding applications requiring high positioning accuracy and speed response, for example, machine tools, in the absence of mechanical gears and ball screw systems. A disadvantage of the linear motors is high power loss in comparison with rotary motors. For the application of the linear motors to machine tools, it is required to use water coolers and to improve the thermal behavior through insulation and structure optimization or control strategies. This paper presents the function of the secondary part of the linear synchronous motor as to the thermal behavior and the improving method. The result shows cooling pipe combined with an insulation layer is a suitable design for improving of the thermal behavior.


Fundamental studies on scanning electron-beam dielectric microscopy are elucidated. This microscopy is used for determining the temperature coefficient distribution of dielectric materials using an electron-beam as a heat source instead of a light source of a photothermal dielectric microscope. This microscopy, with the abilities of in situ observations of SEM images and material compositions, has an intrinsic resolution better than that of photothermal dielectric microscopy. To demonstrate the usefulness of this technique, the two-dimensional image of a two-phase composite ceramic composed of TiO2 and Bi2Ti4O11 is measured.


Background: Vesicles and bullae are fluid filled cavities formed within or beneath the epidermis. They may occur in many dermatosis, which include various inflammatory, infective, autoimmune, drug induced as well as genetic conditions. Diagnosis of vesiculobullous diseases are often challenging on histopathology examination through clinical examination often required for correct diagnosis of it.

Aims & Objective: To study histopathological changes by light microscopy in vesiculobullous disorder of the skin and to correlate clinical and histopathological aspects of vesiculobullous disorder of the skin.

Materials and Methods: Histopathological study of vesiculobullous lesions of skin of 33 cases was carried out on skin biopsies were sent in 10% formalin to histopathology section. It was kept for 24 hours in 10% formalin for proper fixation, subsequently dehydration, clearing, embedding in paraffin wax were carried out. Blocks were made, sections of 3μm thickness were cut and stained with Harris Haematoxylin and Eosin stain and observed microscopically.

Results: In the present study 33 cases of vesiculo-bullous lesions of the skin were diagnosed histopathologically. Pemphigus group of diseases comprises the single largest group of 22 cases (66.66%) observed. the maximum numbers of subjects (51.55%) were in 3rd and 4th decades.

Conclusion: Punch biopsy is a simple, inexpensive, safe OPD procedure, causing minimal discomfort to the patient and no scarring. Clinical examination along with histopathological examination of skin both together help to arrive at correct diagnosis of diseases.


In an aging population, the decline in muscle mass and strength in combination with a high prevalence of osteoporosis and cancer leads to a multitude of clinical manifestations. In the recent years, mouse models of wasting in cancer and inflammation, including xenograft, genetic and chemically induced models, allowed to uncover several key mechanisms underlying muscle loss. These include inflammation, hormone alterations and deregulated protein degradation. Inflammation is associated with increased expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), and interleukin (IL)-6 and is therefore linked to inflammatory bowel diseases or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Moreover, active NF-κB signaling and IL-6 secretion commonly occurs in malignancies and cancer-induced cachexia. The ubiquitin proteasome-mediated degradation of proteins represents a second pathway underlying sarcopenia and is partially initiated by inflammatory signaling. Consequently, increased levels of the E3 ligases Muscle RING-Finger Protein-1 (MuRF1), Atrogin-1/Muscle Atrophy F-box (MAFbx), and tumor necrosis factor α receptor adaptor protein 6 (TRAF6) are associated with high rates of protein degradation. Furthermore, hormonal alterations, such as the aging-related decline of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), lead to a reduction of muscle mass.
Interestingly, experimental targeting of several of those sarcopenia-associated factors in vivo resulted in a rescue of muscle mass and function. While therapeutic options nowadays still need to be evaluated regarding their clinical practicability, IL-6 antibodies, inhibition of cyclooxygenases and inhibitors of myostatin appear promising.


In this study, we report our development of a patient-specific rule-based seizure prediction system. Five univariate and one bivariate nonlinear measures were extracted from non-overlapping 10-second segments of intracranial EEG (iEEG) data recorded using both depth electrodes in the brain and subdural electrodes over the cortical surface. Nonlinear features representing the specific characteristic properties of EEG signal were then integrated spatio-temporally in a way to predict to predict seizure with high sensitivity. The present system was tested on 58 hours of iEEG data containing ten seizures recorded in two patients with medically intractable focal epilepsy. Within a prediction horizon of 30 and 60 minutes, our method showed an average sensitivity of 90% and 96.5% with an average false prediction rate of 0.06/h and 0.055/h, respectively. The present results suggest that such a rule-based system can become potentially a useful approach for predicting seizures prior to onset.


Total DNA from two slowly-growing pathogenic mycobacterial species propagated in vitro was isolated, digested with each of 34 restriction endonucleases and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The most resolved patterns for M. tuberculosis (ATCC 27294) and for M. bovis (ATCC 19210) were obtained respectively using (BamHI, DraI, ClaI, EcoRI, EcoRV, HindIII, HpaI, SalI, SmaI, XbaI and XmaI). The patterns produced for these strains were reproducible and distinguishable from each other respectively using (HindIII, DraI, EcoRI, MboI, Sau3AI and AvaI). However, with several enzymes (SalI, AsuI, Sau96I, MspI and HpaII) the patterns for M. tuberculosis and M. bovis were similar. Evidence was obtained for the presence of dam and dcmI methylations in the DNA of each mycobacterial species respectively using (MboI, Sau3AI, EcoRII, BstNI, Sau96I and AsuI).


A questionnaire consisting of approximately 9 questions is prepared individually for patients and circulated in specified locality and the responses given by the patients are statistically analysed to determine the awareness about "QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH DENTAL PROSTHESIS". The patients are completely/partially edentulous and who are prosthesis wearers. About 179 patients were surveyed and analysed. Patients' perceived Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) may be defined as a multidimensional construct incorporating at least three broad domains: physical, psychological and social functioning. In the dental field, assessment of an individual's Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) has been exponentially increasing during the last decade to evaluate the impact of a disease or of treatment efficacy. Particularly in prosthodontics, several studies and systematic reviews have demonstrated that partial and conventional complete dentures significantly improved OHRQoL, especially concerning aesthetics and function. Qualities of life include the subjective sense of physical and/or mental well-being. In its broadest and most inclusive sense, it is sometimes referred to as "life satisfaction". Bio-functionality tests are employed to investigate theprevalence of missing teeth and prosthodontic replacements in South Indian adult population using a hierarchical dental functional classification system. The paper aims to evaluate quality of life in patients with dental prosthesis done in south Indian population Chennai, Tamilnadu: an epidemiological survey. The reasons for measuring HRQOL and functional status are that they provide a means of identifying and monitoring the impact of disease and interventions on the physical and mental health of elderly individuals as they themselves perceive this impact. Some of the causes of decreased HRQOL may be preventable and others are treatable with appropriate interventions. Short questionnaires that ask about these issues and are incorporated routinely into patient visits can provide information on HRQOL that alerts clinicians to changes that otherwise might go unrecognized. The number of "20 natural teeth" is the generally accepted WHO operative criterion for a functional natural dentition for adequate bio-functionality. In conclusion Quality of life is certainly disturbed in complete/partial edentulism. It includes in all aspect from psychological to functional.


It is well known that herbivores impact plant communities globally. However, the decade-long effects of herbivores on plant communities remain unclear, due to limited long-term experiments. Using 46-year large herbivore exclosures and 22-year small herbivore exclosures in the salt marsh of the island of Schiermonnikoog, I evaluated the long-term effects of large (cattle) and small herbivores (hares and geese) on plant diversity. I found that long-term management is needed for conserving biodiversity. In addition, using low to moderate densities of large domestic herbivores to conserve plant diversity is sustainable for at least 46 years. However, the effects of large herbivores on biodiversity were more attributed to the non-trophic effects (e.g. trampling, and deposition of urine and dung), particular in the long-term (23 years after). Small wild herbivores (hares and geese) can also slow down plant species decline (for at least 22 years) but only at the early successional stage where their abundance was high. A diverse herbivore community (hares and geese relative to hares alone) had a more positive control of plant communities. On top of that, these ecologically important small herbivores may also have substantial evolutionary effects such as modify local-scale spatial genetic structure of a dominant plant species. Results emphasize the need for the conservation and re-introduction of herbivores, domestic or wild, to sustain long-term grassland plant diversity.


Substantia nigra in 33 random cases were examined histologically. Quantitative study of the incidence of Marinesco's bodies proved a close relation between the frequency of occurrence and the rising age. Moreover, nosologic units of significantly higher incidence of these inclusions were found than in the cases of other, randomly chosen ones. Their pathogenesis is discussed.


Roots are the primary source of organic carbon inputs to most soils. Decomposition is a multi-trophic process involving multiple kingdoms of microbial life, but typically microbial ecology studies focus on one or two major lineages in isolation. We used Illumina shotgun RNA sequencing to conduct PCR-independent SSU rRNA community analysis ("community RNA-Seq") to simultaneously study the bacteria, archaea, fungi, and microfauna surrounding both living and decomposing roots of the annual grass, Avena fatua. Plants were grown in 13CO2-labeled microcosms amended with 15N-root litter. We identified rhizosphere substrate preferences for 13C-exudates versus 15N-litter using NanoSIMS microarray imaging (Chip-SIP). When litter was available, rhizosphere and bulk soil had significantly more Amoebozoa, which are potentially important yet often overlooked top-down drivers of detritusphere community dynamics and nutrient cycling. Bulk soil containing litter was depleted in Actinobacteria but had significantly more Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. While Actinobacteria were abundant in the rhizosphere, Chip-SIP showed Actinobacteria preferentially incorporated litter relative to root exudates, indicating this group's more prominent role in detritus elemental cycling in the rhizosphere. Our results emphasize that decomposition is a multi-trophic process involving cross-kingdom interactions, and the trajectory of carbon through this soil food web likely impacts the fate of carbon in soil.


In automotive radar systems, conformal antennas can increase the view angle of a single sensor and improve the performance. However, if PCBs (printed circuit boards) are used, a curved surface or bends are necessary to connect the antenna with the chip. Therefore, this work focuses on a sharp bend as a worst case scenario and investigates angles between 0° and 30° up to 110 GHz for three materials (PTFE and resin-based). For the sake of the measurement, a meander structure is mounted on holders with different bending angles. The properties of a single bend are extracted by creating a cascaded model of the line with discontinuities. The results show that the bending over an edge causes only a phase degradation due to a longer way of the signal. An explanation for that behaviour is found in an arc around the edge.


Herzberg, Coppen and Marks have recently declared that the glucose tolerance in depressive patients does not deviate from the norm (Journal, May, 1968, p. 627). However, to my mind it would be premature to conclude from this that carbohydrate metabolism is unimpaired in depression. Van Praag and Leijnse ( I, 2) made a longitudinal examination in depressive patients for the arterio-venous difference in glucose (L@ glucose) and non-esterified fatty acids (/_@,. NEFA) concentration : criteria of the extrahepatic uptake ofglucose and NEFA respectively. It appeared that within a group of patients suffering from endo genous depression there is a subcategory with abnormallylow ,@ glucosevalues.Besidesthis, theyfoundindications thatthesubnormalextra hepatic uptake of glucose is attended by an increased consumption of NEFA. It is not possible as yet to distinguish clinically between endogenous depressive patients with and without disordered energy meta bolism. The group of the endogenous depressions is fairly homogeneous as far as the psychic symptoms are concerned. Similarity in symptomatology does not, however, mean similarity in origin. Pathophysio logical mechanisms of a different nature can draw forth the same clinical syndrome: of this somatic medicine supplies several examples. At any rate the above-mentioned observations make it probable that, in the field of depression, distinctions of a metabolic nature are possible that do not concur with the usual psychopathological distinctions. Averages can be deceptive in biological psychiatry. It seems to me that this view is also, and indeed particularly, significant for clinical psychopharma cology (@,4).


Climate change can have an impact on natural and human systems. This is usually the case with renewable-energy-based energy systems, given their close dependence on climate conditions. For instance, long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, and wind shear, among other factors, can affect the operation of existing energy systems and even compromise the viability of new entrepreneurships. Therefore, global climate change can add a significant amount of uncertainty to the already uncertain operation of renewable energy systems. This article gives an overview of the issues related to climate change impacts on hydropower production with a focus on Amazonian regions.


The logic of Conditional Beliefs has been introduced by Board, Baltag and Smets to reason about knowledge and revisable beliefs in a multi-agent setting. It is shown that the semantics of this logic, defined in terms of plausibility models, can be equivalently formulated in terms of neighbourhood models, a multi-agent generalisation of Lewis' spheres models. On the base of this new semantics, a labelled sequent calculus for this logic is developed. The calculus has strong proof-theoretic properties, in particular cut and contraction are admissible and that the calculus provides a direct decision procedure for this logic. Further, its semantic completeness is used to obtain a constructive proof of the finite model property of the logic.


The aim of this article was to show the relationships of socio-biological factors in the development of the child with ADHD with the degree of severity of the defect. As we tend to assume, both social and biological factors (together or separately) are not selective for the development of certain cognitive functions (for example, the early debut of the disease for the non-formation of control functions or pregnancy complications for the non-formation of auditory memory), and globally, in aggregate, influence the mental development of the child. The study allowed us to establish risk factors in which we can talk about the possibility of developing and aggravating ADHD, identify opportunities for its prevention and confirm the importance of early complex neuropsychological remediation in the treatment of the disease.
Keywords: ADHD, socio-biological characteristics of the development, ADHD risk factors.


Gaussian graphical models are semi-algebraic subsets of the cone of positive definite covariance matrices. Submatrices with low rank correspond to generalizations of conditional independence constraints on collections of random variables. We give a precise graph-theoretic characterization of when submatrices of the covariance matrix have small rank for a general class of mixed graphs that includes directed acyclic and undirected graphs as special cases. Our new trek separation criterion generalizes the familiar d-separation criterion. Proofs are based on the trek rule, the resulting matrix factorizations and classical theorems of algebraic combinatorics on the expansions of determinants of path polynomials.


Sustainable Transportation is one of the embodiment of sustainable development, sustainable development puts forward the concept of eco-friendly urban, where the concept aims to balance the increasingly rapid development activities with an eco- friendly transportation system that is integrated with other modes of transportation, particularly the public transportation. Through this research, it is expected that it will become a reference for planning the development of bicycle routes and lanes in the city of Palembang. The research method used was a quantitative descriptive approach, data collection techniques conducted through a questionnaire survey, the total population was 966 cyclists, the sample taken for respondents with the Slovin formula was 478 respondents. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling, the results of data processing will be illustrated in tables and diagrams and calculations for the study of bicycle route lane using a matrix of origin and destination. Based on the questionnaire data obtained, from the survey results of 478 respondents, the percentage of cyclist was predominantly male and it was 91%, based on the analysis of activity patterns of folding cyclists, it indicated that the use of bicycle was 77% and it intended to the purpose of sports trips, 8% was for the purpose of recreation, 6% was for the purpose of daily activities, 5% was for the purpose of social travel, and the last 4% was for work purposes. 20% of folding cyclists were aimed to the short trips ? 10 km, while the use of bicycles for medium distances, which was around 10 km to 40 km, with the largest percentages was 38% and 32%. 68% of folding cyclist stated that the bicycle mode was the most economical mode of transportation. Dealing with the analysis for the opportunity to develop special bicycle routes and lanes, bicycle users were enthusiastic to obtain supporting facilities in the form of special bicycle lanes, 97% of cyclists agreed that a special bicycle lane must be provided. The selection of roads for bicycle routes was based on the calculation of the origin and destination matrix for the cyclists, the districts of the most potential cyclists were selected as starting and ending points for the bicycle route. Thus, 2 alternatives were selected for the special bicycle route. Key Words: sustainable transportation, characteristics, bicycle route, bicycle lane


Recently, there is a batch of colorless faceted gem-quality natrolite appear in the international jewelry market. In order to provide some information that can help us to distinguish them from the imitations. The infrared spectrometer and Raman spectrometer were employed to study the characteristics of the vibrational spectrum of three natrolite samples in this article. The typical infrared spectra shows that: the absorption region 4000~1200 cm(-1) is induced by stretching vibration of the hydroxyl group, the strong absorption peaks range from 1200~600 cm(-1) are relative with the anti-symmetry and symmetry stretching vibration of tetrahedral T-O bonds (T=Si or Al). The Raman spectra scattering peaks are located in the range of 300~600 and 700~1200 cm(-1). The low intensity Raman scattering spectrum in the range of 300~360 cm(-1) corresponds to the vibration of the water molecules in the crystal. The medium intensity Raman scattering spectrum is assigned to the deformation of SiO4 tetrahedra. The Raman spectra scattering peak at 726 cm(-1) is assigned to the stretching vibration of Al-O; The Si-O stretching vibration displays the Raman spectra scattering peaks at 974, 1038 and 1084 cm(-1).


Sensor network technologies have experienced an enormous development with the proliferation of sensor devices, custom communication protocols, and methods to exploit the data gathered on such networks. The actual impact of this technology on the enterprise, however, has been quite limited. This is because the community has focused almost exclusively on the sensor devices themselves, while paying little attention to the means to integrate this novel technology into the current enterprise infrastructure. We argue that facilitating this integration would encourage the adoption of sensor networks. Thus we present a scalable message broker for message-oriented middleware that is able to interact with any sensor network by providing a flexible and extensible communication subsystem. This message broker then provides the link to the messaging middleware used in the enterprise network. We describe the architecture of such a broker's communication subsystem and its implementation in Java#8482;. We present the performance of the broker, demonstrating that it scales to interconnect many sensor networks and is able to cope with potentially very large amounts of data from the sensors' readings. Finally, we present an overview of the sensor protocols we have developed, and how they are integrated into the broker, enabling for end-to-end interaction with external enterprise applications unaware of the sensor technology.


We introduce in this paper a hospital system as a multifactor model and concentrate on system's performance. We give a formalization of profit considering service fees and costs and use it to explain the reasoning process of such system that investigates the most efficient setting to to keep a maximal state of profit. The proposed system is domain-specific and considers some relative parameters. However, the approach is general and could be applied to other similar models. The architecture is illustrated in the paper and a discussion on the functionality of this approach in the design is presented.


Background and Purpose

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract worldwide and has high morbidity and mortality. The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), especially the immune cell infiltration, plays an important role in the progression and prognosis of GC. In this study, we investigated the TIME-related genes and explored their role in the GC immune microenvironment.
Method

We used ssGSEA to assess the immune cell infiltration in 375 patients with GC downloaded from TCGA. Then GC samples were divided into high-, medium-, and low-immune cell infiltration groups by hierarchical clustering. Differentially expressed genes analysis were further proceed between groups to determine TIME-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs). By protein interaction network and Cox analysis, the angiogenesis gene was intersected. The results showed that vascular cell adhesion molecular 1 (VCAM1) was the most critical gene. We further analyze the importance of VCAM1 in the progression of GC and its role in the GC microenvironment.
Results

We identified 463 TIME-associated DEGs and found that VCAM1 was involved in development and prognosis of GC. Further analysis revealed that VCAM1 was involved in the regulation of immune, vascular, and metastasis-related signaling pathways. Immuno-correlation analysis showed that VCAM1 expression was associated with various immune infiltrating cells, including macrophages and T cells. In addition, combined with online database prediction analysis, we speculated that VCAM1 expression in GC could be enhanced by AC104211.1 sponge Has-mir-183-5p.
Conclusion

VCAM1 may be involved in the regulation of immune state and angiogenesis in the TIME in GC. This protein could be a promising therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker for GC.


Background and Objectives: Drought occurs more frequently in Northern China with the advent of climate change, which might increase the mortality of tree seedlings after afforestation due to hydraulic failure. Therefore, investigating water relations helps us understand the drought tolerance of tree seedlings. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is widely used to assess the responses of plant tissues to stress factors and may potentially reveal the water relations of cells. The aim of this study is to reveal the relationships between EIS and water related parameters, produced by pressure–volume (PV) curves in lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana Zucc.) seedlings reacting to drought stress. Materials and Methods: Four-year-old pot seedlings were divided into three parts (0, 5, and 10 days of drought) before planting, the treated seedlings were then replanted, and finally exposed to post-planting drought treatments with the following soil relative water contents: (i) adequate irrigation (75%–80%), (ii) light drought (55%–60%), (iii) moderate drought (35%–40%), and (iv), severe drought (15%–20%). During the post-planting growth phase, the EIS parameters of needles and shoots, and the parameters of PV curves, were measured coincidently; thus, the correlations between them could be obtained. Results: The extracellular resistance (re) of needles and shoots were substantially reduced after four weeks of severe post-planting drought stress. Meanwhile, the osmotic potential at the turgor-loss point (ψtlp) and the saturation water osmotic potential (ψsat) of shoots decreased after drought stress, indicating an osmotic adjustment in acclimating to drought. The highest correlations were found between the intracellular resistance (ri) of the shoots and ψtlp and ψsat. Conclusions: EIS parameters can be used as a measure of drought tolerance. The change in intracellular resistance is related to the osmotic potential of the cell and cell wall elasticity. Extracellular resistance is a parameter that shows cell membrane damage in response to drought stress in lacebark pine seedlings.


This paper investigates the dimensions of time and effort and how these factors impact on the venture creation process in Australia. Findings of interest in this paper include:

• First and foremost business planning is used as a thinking tool within the boundaries of the firm.

• Business planning is more strongly associated with firms that are more ambitious, being built by teams, draw on more experience or education.

• Industry characteristics in part drive the duration required for venture creation. Manufacturing and Agriculture based firms seemingly take longer timeframes than other industries. Extended venture creation times frames are also associated with firms that aim to bring more novel concepts to market.


An impulsive boundary-value problem generated by Sturm–Liouville differential equation with the eigenvalue parameter non-linearly contained in one boundary condition and in the jump conditions is considered. It is shown that the coefficients of the problem is uniquely determined either by the Weyl function or by Prüfer's angle. It is also proven that two given spectra uniquely determine the coefficients of the problem.


This paper presents the service restoration of distribution system with distributed generation for reliability worth in a distribution system. The objective is to minimize the customer outage cost subject to the maximum number of distributed generations, total capacity of distributed generation, bus voltage limits, current transfer capability of the feeders and only one distributed generation for one installation position. The technique employed to solve the minimization problem is based on a developed Tabu search algorithm and reliability worth analysis. The reliability worth analysis provides an indirect measure for cost implication associated with power failure. The developed methodology is tested with a distribution system of Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS) bus 2. Numerical results from the tests demonstrate that distributed generation can be used to promote the reliability of the distribution system.


A 45 year old female renal transplant patient was admitted for subacute ischaemia of a lower limb. Echocardiography was performed and showed the presence of bronchial carcinoma with intracardiac invasion. The tumour was confirmed by thoracic computerised tomography and by bronchoscopy. Histological investigation of bronchial biopsies and of the arterial embolism extracted at surgery showed large cell malignant disease. The tumour partially responded to chemotherapy and the patient survived for 5 months. Extension of a bronchial carcinoma to the left atrium is a classical complication in autopsy reports but rarely a source of systemic embolism. Echocardiographic diagnosis of this condition is very rare. The incidence of malignant diseases is higher in renal transplant patients than in the general population but this has not been verified for bronchial carcinoma. Echocardiography played an essential role in this case, detecting the tumour and its extension, indicating a poor prognosis and guiding treatment.


Weak particularism about reasons is the view that the normative valency of some descriptive considerations varies, while others have an invariant normative valency. A defence of this view needs to respond to arguments that a consideration cannot count in favour of any action unless it counts in favour of every action. But it cannot resort to a global holism about reasons, if it claims that there are some examples of invariant valency. This paper argues for weak particularism, and presents a framework for understanding the relationships between practical reasons. A central part of this framework is the idea that there is an important kind of reason-a 'presumptive reason'-which need not be conclusive, but which is neither pro tanto nor prima facie.


Five patients with far-advanced Hodgkin's disease and with evidence of hematopoietic failure were treated by splenectomy in order to determine whether: (1) the course of the disease could be modified, (2) the hematologic picture improved, and (3) responsiveness to nitrogen mustard or x-ray therapy restored. These patients showed a transient slight improvement in their hematologic status, but the course of the disease possibly was accelerated, and the patients all died within thirteen weeks, without showing renewed suitability or increased responsiveness to therapy. On the basis of our data and a review of thirty cases from the literature, it is concluded that splenectomy is not a useful procedure its Hodgkin's disease, except for certain specific indications. These may be: (1) an apparently solitary splenic tumor; (2) acquired hemolytic anemia, although this process may be better controlled in some cases by treating the underlying Hodgkin's disease with x-rays, nitrogen mustard, or triethylene melamine ; (3) thrombocytopenic purpura, which appears to be more profound than is to be expected from the severity and extent of Hodgkin's disease; and (4) hypersplenism. Hematopoietic depression in the vast majority of patients with Hodgkin's disease, however, cannot be attributed to splenic overactivity or malfunction.


Genomic loci adjacent to genes encoding for transcription factors and chromatin remodelers are enriched for long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), but the functional importance of this enrichment is largely unclear. Chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 2 (Chd2) is a chromatin remodeller with various reported functions in cell differentiation and DNA damage response. Heterozygous mutations in human CHD2 have been implicated in epilepsy, neurodevelopmental delay, and intellectual disability. Here we show that Chaserr, a highly conserved lncRNA transcribed from a region near the transcription start site of Chd2 and on the same strand, acts in concert with the CHD2 protein to maintain proper Chd2 expression levels. Loss of Chaserr in mice leads to early postnatal lethality in homozygous mice, and severe growth retardation in heterozygotes. Mechanistically, loss of Chaserr leads to substantially increased Chd2 mRNA and protein levels, which in turn lead to increased transcriptional interference by inhibiting promoters found downstream of highly expressed genes. We further show that Chaserr production represses Chd2 expression solely in cis, and that the phenotypic consequences of Chaserr loss are rescued when Chd2 is perturbed as well. Targeting Chaserr is thus a potentially viable strategy for increasing CHD2 levels in haploinsufficient individuals.


One hundred and fifty eight children with an unbalanced pelvis were reviewed. All suffered from cerebral palsy and were treated by tenotomy of the adductor muscles. The aims were: 1 - To improve the position of the femoral head. For this purpose, the best effects were obtained before the age of 4 so that acetabular dysplasia was prevented and the need for pelvic osteotomy, which is often hazardous in this type of patient, avoided. 2 - To achieve better balance of the pelvic girdle. Adductor tenotomy was often associated with tenotomy of the ilio-tibial tract or with division of the costo-iliac or ilio-lumbar muscles with posterior radiculotomies.


Background Polygenic risk score (PRS), calculated based on genome-wide association studies (GWASs), can improve breast cancer (BC) risk assessment. To date, most BC GWASs have been performed in individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalisation of EUR-based PRS to other populations is a major challenge. In this study, we examined the performance of EUR-based BC PRS models in Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) women. Methods We generated PRSs based on data on EUR women from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). We tested the performance of the PRSs in a cohort of 2161 AJ women from Israel (1437 cases and 724 controls) from BCAC (BCAC cohort from Israel (BCAC-IL)). In addition, we tested the performance of these EUR-based BC PRSs, as well as the established 313-SNP EUR BC PRS, in an independent cohort of 181 AJ women from Hadassah Medical Center (HMC) in Israel. Results In the BCAC-IL cohort, the highest OR per 1 SD was 1.56 (±0.09). The OR for AJ women at the top 10% of the PRS distribution compared with the middle quintile was 2.10 (±0.24). In the HMC cohort, the OR per 1 SD of the EUR-based PRS that performed best in the BCAC-IL cohort was 1.58±0.27. The OR per 1 SD of the commonly used 313-SNP BC PRS was 1.64 (±0.28). Conclusions Extant EUR GWAS data can be used for generating PRSs that identify AJ women with markedly elevated risk of BC and therefore hold promise for improving BC risk assessment in AJ women.


Polarization characteristics of coastal waters were recently measured during a cruise on the R/V "Connecticut" in the areas of New York Harbor - Sandy Hook, NJ region using a new Stokes vector instrument developed by the Optical Remote Sensing Laboratory at CCNY. The instrument has three hyperspectral Satlantic radiance sensors each with a polarizer positioned in front of it, with polarization axes aligned at 0, 90 and 45°. The measured degrees of polarization (DOPs) and normalized radiances as a function of angle and wavelength match very well with simulated ones obtained with a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for the atmosphere-ocean system. In order to numerically reproduce the polarized images for underwater horizontal imaging system the measured typical underwater polarized radiance was used to estimate the polarized components of the background veiling light and the blurring effects were modeled by point spread functions obtained from the measured volume scattering functions from this cruise and other typical oceanic environments. It is shown that the visibility can be improved for unpolarized target by placing a polarizer oriented orthogonally to the partially polarized direction of the veiling light before camera. The blurring effects strongly depend on the small angle scattering in the forward directions. For polarized targets the Monte Carlo simulation of slab geometry for polarized pencil light shows that the scattering medium with high g value has a very strong ability to retain the polarization status of the incident light, which can be utilized to improve the image contrasts for targets with very different polarized reflection properties.


We present novel and efficient methods for built-in self-test (BIST) of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) for detection and diagnosis of permanent faults in current, as well as emerging, technologies that are expected to have high fault densities. Our basic BIST methods can be used in both online and offline testing scenarios, although we focus on the former in this paper. We present 1- and 2-diagnosable BISTer designs that make up a ROving TEster (ROTE). Due to their provable diagnosabilities, these BISTers can avoid time-intensive adaptive diagnosis without significantly compromising diagnostic coverage-the percentage of faults correctly diagnosed. We also develop functional testing methods that test programmable logic blocks (PLBs) in only two circuit functions that will be mapped to them as the ROTE moves across a functioning FPGA. We extend our basic BISTer designs to those with test-pattern generators (TPGs) using multiple PLBs to more efficiently test the complex PLBs of current commercial FPGAs and to also prove the diagnosabilities of these designs. Simulation results show that our 1-diagnosable functional-test-based BISTer with a three-PLB TPG has very high diagnostic coverages-for example, for a random-fault distribution, our nonadaptive-diagnosis methods provide diagnostic coverages of 96% and 88% at fault densities of 10% and 25%, respectively, whereas the previous best nonadaptive-diagnosis method of the STAR-3 × 2 BISTer has diagnostic coverages of about 75% and 55% at these fault densities.


Peer review within the organized medical staff is a systematic effort to evaluate and analyze medical care services delivered to patients and to assure the quality and appropriateness of these services. The goal of peer review is to maintain and improve the quality of medical care. To adequately fulfill their responsibilities, the medical staff should have clear definitions of how peer evaluations will be conducted and what constitutes an adequate review process.


Photon energies of 11.7, 16.85 and 21.2 eV were used to observe weak but strongly dispersive features in the angular photoemission in the (-10) and (-11) planes from an Al (111) surface. Structures seen in both detection planes can be excellently accounted for by direct bulk transitions of assisting reciprocal lattice vectors G002 and G220. The 11.7 eV spectrum for angles between 35° and 60° towards the [001] axis is highly reminiscent of that previously reported for this surface at 10.2 eV, which was interpreted in terms of a surface resonance band associated with the sp gap at the X-point. We confirm such a surface component in the spectra by discerning an emission in the opposite k||-direction where bulk transitions are absent. Following a recent suggestion by Rosei et al., we have used Fermi surface data and our own measurements to determine the momentum k of transitions originating at the Fermi level. Agreement with standard band-structures is good at the Fermi energy, while considerable discrepancy and uncertainty exists for the final energies.


Background— An imbalance in circulating angiogenic factors plays a central role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Methods and Results— We prospectively studied 616 women who were evaluated for suspected preeclampsia. We measured plasma levels of antiangiogenic soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) and proangiogenic placental growth factor (PlGF) at presentation and examined for an association between the sFlt1/PlGF ratio and subsequent adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes within 2 weeks. The median sFlt1/PlGF ratio at presentation was elevated in participants who experienced any adverse outcome compared with those who did not (47.0 [25th–75th percentile, 15.5–112.2] versus 10.8 [25th–75th percentile, 4.1–28.6]; P<0.0001). Among those presenting at <34 weeks (n=167), the results were more striking (226.6 [25th–75th percentile, 50.4–547.3] versus 4.5 [25th–75th percentile, 2.0–13.5]; P<0.0001), and the risk was markedly elevated when the highest sFlt1/PlGF ratio tertile was compared with the lowest (odds ratio, 47.8; 95% confidence interval, 14.6–156.6). Among participants presenting at <34 weeks, the addition of sFlt1/PlGF ratio to hypertension and proteinuria significantly improved the prediction for subsequent adverse outcomes (area under the curve, 0.93 for hypertension, proteinuria, and sFlt1/PlGF versus 0.84 for hypertension and proteinuria alone; P=0.001). Delivery occurred within 2 weeks of presentation in 86.0% of women with an sFlt1/PlGF ratio ≥85 compared with 15.8% of women with an sFlt1/PlGF ratio <85 (hazard ratio, 15.2; 95% confidence interval, 8.0–28.7). Conclusions— In women with suspected preeclampsia presenting at <34 weeks, circulating sFlt1/PlGF ratio predicts adverse outcomes occurring within 2 weeks. The accuracy of this test is substantially better than that of current approaches and may be useful in risk stratification and management. Additional studies are warranted to validate these findings.


Much of the exposed Archean crust is composed of composite gneiss which includes a large proportion of intermediate to tonalitic material. These gneiss terranes were typically metamorphosed to amphibolite to granulite facies conditions, with evidence for substantial partial melting at higher grade. Recently published activity–composition (a−x) models for partial melting of metabasic to intermediate compositions allows calculation of the stable metamorphic minerals, melt production and melt composition in such rocks for the first time. Calculated P−T pseudosections are presented for six bulk rock compositions taken from the literature, comprising two metabasic compositions, two intermediate/dioritic compositions and two tonalitic compositions. This range of bulk compositions captures much of the diversity of rock types found in Archean banded gneiss terranes, enabling us to present an overview of metamorphism and partial melting in such terranes. If such rocks are fluid saturated at the solidus, they first begin to melt in the upper amphibolite facies. However, at such conditions, very little (< 5%) melt is produced and this melt is granitic in composition for all rocks. The production of greater proportions of melt requires temperatures ∼800–850 °C and is associated with the first appearance of orthopyroxene at pressures below 8–9 kbar or with the appearance and growth of garnet at higher pressures. The temperature at which orthopyroxene appears varies little with composition providing a robust estimate of the amphibolite–granulite facies boundary. Across this boundary, melt production is coincident with the breakdown of hornblende and/or biotite. Melts produced at granulite facies range from tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite for the metabasic protoliths, granodiorite to granite for the intermediate protoliths and granite for the tonalitic protoliths. Under fluid‐absent conditions the melt fertility of the different protoliths is largely controlled by the relative proportions of hornblende and quartz at high grade, with the intermediate compositions being the most fertile. The least fertile rocks are the most leucocratic tonalites due to their relatively small proportions of hydrous mafic phases such as hornblende or biotite. In the metabasic rocks, melt production becomes limited by the complete consumption of quartz to higher temperatures. The use of phase equilibrium forward‐modelling provides a thermodynamic framework for understanding melt production, melt loss and intracrustal differentiation during the Archean.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the background to the development of the World Towns' Framework, developed in June 2016 at the inaugural World Towns Leadership Summit in Scotland. The paper also provides an academic underpinning to the four pillars of the agreement; a unique sense of identity and place, economy, leadership and citizenship and environment. It ends with a call to action for practitioners, policymakers and organisations providing support to people in places who want to contribute to the development of the Framework and adopt it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is divided into four sections. The first section gives the background to the development of the World Towns Framework. The second section publishes the World Towns Framework in its entirety. The third section builds an evidence-base for the components or pillars of the World Towns Framework, based upon work undertaken by the think tanks and academic partners involved in its development. The final section sets out a call for action – explaining how the Framework can be further developed and utilised.

Findings

The paper contains three main contributions. It articulates a new narrative for towns, neighbourhoods and city districts in responding to contemporary urban challenges; it shapes a new urban agenda for these urban places and it asserts the need for new alliances and approaches essential for a strong competitive economy, which is more inclusive of towns and smaller places, combined with a fairer, more equal society.

Research limitations/implications

The evidence base for the research is limited to the work that has been carried out by the academic institutions and think tanks that supported the development of the World Towns' Framework.

Practical implications

The practical implication of the World Towns Framework are a shared understanding of how towns and smaller places can engage in management, development and marketing practices that will lead to a stronger economy and fairer society.

Social implications

The focus upon place uniqueness and identity, a more equitable economy, a greener and cleaner environment and stronger place leadership and citizenship can lead to better, fairer and more liveable places.

Originality value

This is the first attempt to develop a World Towns Framework to shape urban change outside of cities and metropoles.


Counterfactual representations refer to people's imaginations about the alternative possibilities to the actual world (i.e., what might have been). The present thesis embraces the notion that the psychological impacts of those representations are dictated by the degree of certainty or uncertainty people assign to them, namely, their counterfactual probability judgments (i.e., "How likely could things have been different?"). The thesis reports six experiments investigating the determinants as well as the emotional consequences of counterfactual probability judgments. Experiments 1, 2 and 3 found that both people's conditional and unconditional counterfactual probability judgments were heightened when a past outcome was physically or numerically proximate to its alternative. Experiments 4 and 5 found that people's counterfactual probability judgments were not only affected by the static proximity cue but also by its dynamic variations. When outcome proximity was equal, the shrinking physical distance towards a counterfactual outcome heightened one's subjective likelihood of that outcome, compared to if the distance stayed constant. Experiment 6 found that the effect of "shrinking distance" could manifest itself as an antecedent temporal order effect on people's counterfactual probability judgments. That is, a counterfactual outcome was deemed more likely if the factual outcome was preceded by a decisive event that occurred latter in the causal sequence rather than earlier. These results are broadly consistent with the theory of the simulation heuristic which posits that subjective probabilities are estimated by assessing the ease with which a relevant scenario can be mentally constructed.
The emotional consequences of counterfactual probability judgments were investigated within the theoretical framework of the Reflective and Evaluative Model of Comparative Thinking (REM). The evidence from Experiments 2, 3, 4 and 5 suggests that the effect of counterfactual probability judgments on emotions are contingent on people's temporal perspective – affective assimilation will be enhanced when future possibility is present (i.e., the outcome is indecisive or changeable) which encourages a reflective simulation while affective contrast will be enhanced when future possibility is absent (i.e., the outcome is decisive or unchangeable) which encourages an evaluative simulation. These findings suggest that the psychological impact of counterfactual thinking should be discussed in terms of a three-way interaction between its direction (upward or downward), probability (low or high), and simulation mode (reflection or evaluation).


This paper presents a short summary of the researches conducted in past few years concerning the MMCs with A356 Al-Si alloy matrix and different second phase. The results are divided in two groups. In the first group are the results that concern the influences of amount and size of reinforcement (Al2O3), and in the second group are the results that concern the influences of type of reinforcement (Al2O3 and SiC) and graphite.


A digital background calibration technique is proposed to correct gain errors in pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). The calibration technique performs the error estimation and the adaptive error correction based on the concept of split ADCs. With the 1- or 1.5-bit realization in pipelined stages, capacitor-mismatch errors can be merged with gain errors, and the proposed calibration technique can be utilized. Behavioral simulations show that the signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio of a 12-bit pipelined ADC with an 8-bit gain accuracy and the capacitor mismatch sigma = 0.125% can be improved from 56.4 to 73.8 dB. The calibration process converges in approximately 200 000 cycles.


In this letter, a novel data-pilot multiplexing scheme with reduced peak to average power ratio (PAPR) is introduced for single carrier (SC)-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. In the proposed scheme, phases of SCOFDM symbols are rotated adaptively such that PAPR is reduced and circular shifts are introduced in the time domain (TD). To index the amount of phase rotation applied at the transmitter, a sequence of pilot symbols, which is unique for each phase rotation angle, is chosen from a predetermined set and multiplexed with the phase rotated SC-OFDM symbols in the frequency domain. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method can reduce the PAPR dramatically, and yield superior bit error rate (BER) performance compared to conventional methods.


The Middle Triassic flora of the Fremouw Formation in the central Transantarctic Mountains consists of conifers, cycads, ferns, pteridosperms, and sphenophytes. Stems with an unusual anatomy have been discovered within silicified peat from the same locality. The diameters of the stems range from 1.4 to 1.7 cm; the longest specimen is approximately 12 cm. In transverse section the vascular system consists of segments that occur as single traces or are connected in the center and anastomose at varying levels within the stem. Each segment contains a bifacial vascular cambium. Secondary tissues of each segment surround a central area of parenchyma and small tracheids presumed to represent primary xylem. Surrounding the stem is a periderm. Traces are produced near the periphery of the axis and consist of radially arranged secondary xylem and a thick periderm. The absence of leaves and reproductive organs leads to uncertain phylogenetic relationships. We are unaware of any Triassic plants with this type of vascular tissue organization, and those plants with a similar type of arrangement occur only in the Devonian and Carboniferous. Possible phylogenetic affinities with the Cladoxylales and Lycophyta are examined, but the anatomical differences, along with stratigraphic age, preclude formal assignment to any known taxon at this time. Therefore, we have assigned it to a new taxon: Hapsidoxylon terpsichorum gen. et sp. nov.


Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a sore on the lining of stomach or duodenum. In some cases, a peptic ulcer may develop just above stomach in esophagus, i.e. esophageal ulcer. Peptic ulcer has always been the most common etiology underlying upper gastrointestinal perforation, while gastric perforation represents 10-15% of all peptic ulcers. Alternation in balance between aggressive and protective factors at the luminal surface of the epithelial cells, leads to development of peptic ulcer. Aggressive factors include Helicobacter pylori, hydrochloric acid, pepsins, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), bile acids, ischemia, hypoxia, smoking and alcohol. On the other hands, bicarbonate, mucus layer, mucosal blood flow, prostaglandins (PGs) and growth factors are the most known defensive factors. The shared symptoms include a dull or burning pain in middle or upper stomach between meals or at night, bloating, heartburn, nausea and vomiting are among the most common symptom of peptic ulcer. Some other symptoms in severe cases are dark or black stool (due to bleeding), vomiting blood, weight loss and pain in the mid to upper abdomen. An ulcer may or may not have all or some of the symptoms. In general, ulcers are best diagnosed by instrumental procedures depending on the case and the available facilities in the centre. The most reliable tests include, I) sophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), a thin tube with a camera inserted through the mouth into GIT. A biopsy is also taken during an EGD to be examined for H. pylori, II), X-ray for the upper GIT taken after drinking a thick barium salt, III) blood test to check if there is anemia and IV) detection of blood in the stool. Perforation is the major complication of PUD and the perforated peptic ulcer needs the use of surgical intervention. About 80% of the indications for peptic ulcer surgery are related to perforate peptic ulcers. Most cases are treated by simple suture of the perforated intestinal wall. In most cases, the best treatment is surgical or laparoscopic suture closure of the perforated ulcer. Natural products have found a special place in the treatment plans for peptic ulcer disease. They exhibit their antiulcerogenic activities by various mechanisms either prophylactic or therapeutic or both. The prophylactic products have considerable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. On the other hand, therapeutic agents possess antisecretory or healing effects. The anti-H.pylori activity of some plant extracts, however, may explain their antiulcerogenic activity.


This is a biography of the American fiction writer Jean Stafford (1915-1979), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 1970 and who is considered to be one of the best short-story writers of this century. It was authorized by her estate, and the author has had access to new and unpublished material. David Roberts traces her life, from her birth in a poor Colorado family in 1915, to her rise as one of group of celebrated East Coast writers which included Randall Jarrett and Robert Lowell, whom she married against the wishes of his patrician Boston family. Her stories were greeted with critical acclaim, as were her novels, including the bestselling "Boston Adventurer" and her second, "Mountain Lion". In 1947 "Life" called her the "most brilliant of the new fiction writers". Meanwhile, her marriage fell apart and she spent many months in a psych-alcoholic clinic and wrote only one further novel, though her "Collected Stories" won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize and she continued to write criticism, essays and polemic. She married again to Oliver Jensen, but this marriage too ended in divorce and her third marriage was to "New Yorker" sports writer A.J. Liebling. After his death she became something of a recluse and died in 1979. Her work is currently enjoying a revival and her "Collected Stories" and "Boston Adventurer" are both available in Hogarth.


Abstract. High quality digital elevation model (DEM) is obtained from mobile LiDAR data and it is used in various applications like road widening, slope measurement of road side surfaces, and inundation of the roadway evaluation. Two steps algorithm is proposed to filter ground points using mobile LiDAR data. Initially unstructured input data is organized then standard deviation and flatness based approach is used to filter ground points. Proposed algorithm is tested on point cloud of test site located along 800 m of roadway. Type I, Type II and total error are 2.11%, 2.21% and 2.15%, respectively with kappa is equal to 96.61% are computed using ground filtered points and reference data points.