Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) are at the forefront of host-pathogen interactions, coordinating a cascade of immune responses to confer protection against pathogens. Here we show that IEC-intrinsic vitamin A signaling restricts pathogen invasion early in the infection and subsequently activates immune cells to promote pathogen clearance. Mice blocked for retinoic acid receptor (RAR) signaling selectively in IECs (stopΔIEC) showed significantly higher Salmonella burden in colonic tissues early in the infection associated with higher luminal and systemic loads of the pathogen at later stages. Higher susceptibility of stopΔIEC mice correlated with attenuated mucosal interferon gamma (IFNγ) production by underlying immune cells. We found that, at homeostasis, the intestinal epithelium of stopΔIEC mice produced significantly lower amounts of interleukin 18 (IL-18), a potent inducer of IFNγ. Regulation of IL-18 by vitamin A was also observed in a dietary model of vitamin A supplementation. IL-18 reconstitution in stopΔIEC mice restored resistance to Salmonella by promoting epithelial cell shedding to eliminate infected cells and limit pathogen invasion early in infection. Further, IL-18 augmented IFNγ production by underlying immune cells to restrict pathogen burden and systemic spread. Our work uncovers a critical role for vitamin A in coordinating a biphasic immune response to Salmonella infection by regulating IL-18 production by IECs. Author Summary Epithelial cells line the intestinal lumen, forming a barrier between the body and dietary and microbial contents in the lumen. Apart from absorbing nutrients from diet, these epithelial cells help mediate a stable, symbiotic relationship between microbes in the gut and the immune cells. During infection, they help co-ordinate the immune response to counter the infection. How dietary micronutrients, such as vitamin A, inform epithelial cell function during infection is poorly understood. Using a model where epithelial cells in the gut cannot respond to vitamin A signals, we find that epithelial vitamin A signaling promotes resistance to Salmonella infection. We show that, vitamin A increases the production of a key cytokine, interleukin 18, by epithelial cells. IL-18 promotes shedding of infected epithelial cells to reduce the pathogen invasion while also inducing the production of interferon gamma by immune cells to mediate pathogen clearance. Thus, epithelial cells dynamically respond to dietary vitamin A to regulate interleukin 18 production and potentiate resistance to infection.


Aging process is accompanied by hormonal changes characterized by an imbalance between catabolic hormones that remain stable and anabolic hormones (testosterone, insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), that decrease with age. Despite the multiple hormonal dysregulation occurring with age, the prevalent line of research in the last decades has tried to explain many age-related phenomena as consequence of one single hormonal derangement with disappointing results. In this review we will list the relationship between hormonal anabolic deficiency and frailty and mortality in older population, providing evidence to the notion that multiple hormonal dysregulation rather than change in single anabolic hormone is a powerful marker of poor health status and mortality.


In this work we present the main characteristics of a model of the high pressure ring that supply natural gas to the Greater Buenos Aires. This model is intended to predict possible emergencies situations in the system within two to three days in advance. It is based on the dependence daily consumption of natural gas on the average daily temperature and the status of the pressure regulators at the end of the pipelines. The result of a test of the model using actual data for the winter of 1994 and 1995 suggests that the model does provide adequate warning two days in advance. Finally we present a brief analysis of the accuracy of the temperature forecast, that is used in our prediction of temperature, to gauge the robustness of our model.Copyright © 1996 by ASME


Researchers in dialectometry have begun to explore measurements based on fundamentally quantitative metrics, often sourced from dialect corpora, as an alternative to the traditional signals derived from dialect atlases. This change of data type amplifies an existing issue in the classical paradigm, namely that locations may vary in coverage and that this affects the distance measurements: pairs involving a location with lower coverage suffer from greater noise and therefore imprecision. We propose a method for increasing robustness using generalized additive modeling, a statistical technique that allows leveraging the spatial arrangement of the data. The technique is applied to data from the British English dialect corpus FRED; the results are evaluated regarding their interpretability and according to several quantitative metrics. We conclude that data availability is an influential covariate in corpus-based dialectometry and beyond, and recommend that researchers be aware of this issue and of methods to alleviate it.


A new class of probability distributions known as Bivariate Pseudo-Rayleigh distribution has been defined. The common properties of the distribution have been discussed. Distribution of r-th order statistics and the concomitants has also been obtained. Survival analysis for the joint distribution and concomitants has also been discussed.


The intention of the study is to understand a characteristics of 'Campus core' in university campus and to verify the connection and hierarchy of exterior space in campus masterplan. This study concludes that 'Multi-nuclei structure', is where a single campus core was subdivided into several service cores, is an integral part of campus masterplan in process of expansion from campus core and the changing exterior space, by in-depth case analysis of Seoul Women's University Campus.


This book is about listening to what writers were saying about sex in early Judaism and Christianity -- ancient words surprisingly relevant for today. It functions as both a summary and a conclusion to William Loader's five previous books on sexuality in a form accessible to those who may not have a background knowledge of early Judaism and Christianity. It also contains a useful subject index to those five previous volumes.

In examining thoroughly all the relevant writings and related evidence of the Greco-Roman period, Loader dialogues with scholarship related to each writing in order to make his conclusions as objective as possible. By enabling the reader to listen respectfully to these ancient texts, Making Sense of Sex provides a basis for informed discussion of sexual issues today.


This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the lessor liability for damage resulting from an aviation accident. To provide a structured analysis, this article will address the issue of liability under two headings: liability to passengers with specific analysis of the applicable US legislation and case law and liability to third parties on the ground, using the applicable Norwegian legislation to support the analysis. Additionally, this article will give close attention to the legal mechanisms available to the lessors in avoiding or reducing their liability for damage resulting from an aviation accident


OBJECTIVE
To explore the potential value of quantitative parameters derived from dual-energy spectral computed tomography (DESCT) as comparing to the parameters derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting bone marrow (BM) infiltration and distinguishing different patterns of BM infiltration in patients diagnosed with Multiple myeloma (MM).

METHODS
This study involved 35MM patients and 15 healthy control subjects who had undergone spinal DESCT and MRI. Pattern assignment was based on visual assessment of MR images, and the regions of interest were defined on both DESCT and apparent diffusion coefficient maps. Quantitative values of DESCT parameters were measured and compared between infiltrated and healthy bone marrow. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine potential utility of DESCT parameters in identifying BM infiltration and different patterns defined by MRI. Sensitivity and specificity under the optimal thresholds determined by the Youden Index were also calculated.

RSULTS
Statistical differences were observed between the DESCT parameters including Ca(Water), Water(Ca), HAP(Fat), Fat(HAP) and Effective atomic number (Eff-Z) but not for the 70-keV CT value between the infiltrated and healthy BM (all P <  0.001). The 70keV CT value and Ca(Water), HAP(Fat) and Eff-Z values were also found to be statistically different in comparing different infiltration patterns (all P <  0.05). Performance of the model-based parameter Ca/Water was superior in differentiating between infiltrated and healthy BM in which the area under ROC curve, AUC = 0.856 [95% CI, 81.4-89.1%] with sensitivity = 0.841 and specificity = 0.768, as well as between MM patients and control subjects (AUC = 0.910 [95% CI, 79.5-97.3%], sensitivity = 0.829 and specificity = 1.000).

CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of DESCT offers potential as a quantitative method to detect infiltrated BM and evaluate infiltration patterns of BM in patients diagnosed with MM.


Oxidative products of nitric oxide, serum nitrates and nitrites were estimated in 50 primigravidas with preeclampsia and in 50 gestation and age-matched normotensive primigravidas. Thirty three (66%) of these women had mild preeclampsia and 17 (34%) had severe preeclampsia. Serum nitrate and nitrite levels were significantly higher in preeclamptic women (nitrates - 15 +/- 1.17; nitrites - 11.82 +/- 1.16 micromol/L) than in the normotensive pregnant women (nitrates 11.82 +/- 1.16; nitrites - 5.08 +/- 0.47 micromol/L, p < 0.001). In preeclamptic women, serum nitrate and nitrite levels correlated with the severity of the disease (mild preeclampsia nitrate - 14.46 +/- 1.98; nitrite 6.21 +/- 0.84 micromol/L, severe preeclampsia nitrate - 16.65 +/- 3.64; Nitrite - 6.87 +/- 1.56 micromol/L). In preeclampsia there was significant positive correlation between nitrate and nitrite levels and diastolic blood pressure and proteinuria.


A unifying $\alpha$-parametrized generator loss function is introduced for a dual-objective generative adversarial network (GAN), which uses a canonical (or classical) discriminator loss function such as the one in the original GAN (VanillaGAN) system. The generator loss function is based on a symmetric class probability estimation type function, $\mathcal{L}_\alpha$, and the resulting GAN system is termed $\mathcal{L}_\alpha$-GAN. Under an optimal discriminator, it is shown that the generator's optimization problem consists of minimizing a Jensen-$f_\alpha$-divergence, a natural generalization of the Jensen-Shannon divergence, where $f_\alpha$ is a convex function expressed in terms of the loss function $\mathcal{L}_\alpha$. It is also demonstrated that this $\mathcal{L}_\alpha$-GAN problem recovers as special cases a number of GAN problems in the literature, including VanillaGAN, Least Squares GAN (LSGAN), Least $k$th order GAN (L$k$GAN) and the recently introduced $(\alpha_D,\alpha_G)$-GAN with $\alpha_D=1$. Finally, experimental results are conducted on three datasets, MNIST, CIFAR-10, and Stacked MNIST to illustrate the performance of various examples of the $\mathcal{L}_\alpha$-GAN system.


There is a substantial government and industry cooperative effort to document the mechanical properties of advanced composites materials. As part of this effort the stress-strain properties for these materials are being measured. In this paper some initial results are presented. Average stress-strain curves are given for a number of resin-matrix composites reinforced with S2 Glass, AS4 carbon, and T300 carbon fibers and Kevlar 285-weave cloth. There are data for tension, compression, and in-plane shear. Individual curves are given for various environmental conditioning treatments before testing. A total of 43 separate stress-strain curves are presented in 20 figures. Analytical expressions for each of the curves are given with the appropriate constants. The majority of curves presented are discontinuous and are best described by two-part functions.


The performance of an adaptive lattice decision-feedback equalizer, originally proposed by F. Ling and J.G. Proakis (IEEE Trans. on Comm., vol.COM-33, no.4, p.348-56, 1985) is compared with that of transversal equalizer that uses a gradient tap adaptation algorithm operating in a periodic-channel estimation-mode. Results obtained over a simulated two-path HF channel model with a 1-ms differential multipath delay and 0.5-Hz fading rate show an approximately 5-dB advantage for the lattice equalizer for low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), but only marginal improvement for high SNR. This phenomenon is primarily attributed to the occurrence of a significant number of flat fades during typical test runs over the two-path channel model, which accounts for the total lack of any form of diversity during these periods. Since diversity enhances modem performance in the presence of flat fades, the error rate plateau was significantly reduced by exploiting dual-polarization diversity without reducing the nominal bit speed of 2400 b/s.<<ETX>>


botSTEM is an ERASMUS+ project aiming to raise the utilisation of inquiry-based collaborative learning and robots-enhanced education. The project outputs are specifically aimed to provide in- and pre-service teachers in Childhood and Primary Education and children four-eight years old, with research-based materials and practices that use integrated Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) and robot-based approaches, including code-learning, for enhancing scientific literacy in young children. This article presents the outputs from the botSTEM project; the didactical framework underpinning the teaching material, addressing pedagogy and content. It is a gender inclusive pedagogy that makes use of inquiry, engineering design methodology, collaborative work and robotics. The article starts with a presentation of the botSTEM toolkit with assorted teaching practices and finishes with examples of preliminary results from a qualitative analysis of implemented activities during science teaching in preschools. It turns out that despite perceived obstacles that teachers initially expressed, the analysis of the implementations indicates that the proposed STEM integrated framework, including inquiry teaching and engineering design methodologies, can be used with children as young as four years old.


Concurrently with the development of guidance laws for low-altitude rotorcraft flight operations, efforts are underway to develop automated systems for locating the terrain and the obstacles using inputs from passive electrooptical sensors such as TV cameras and infrared imagers. A passive obstacle location algorithm that uses image sequences from cameras undergoing translational and rotational motion is developed. The algorithm is in a general form and can operate in multicamera imaging environments. Performance results using an image sequence from an airborne camera are given. >


We report on newly identified galaxy clusters from the high signal-to-noise (>5σ) end of the second all-sky Planck Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) catalog (PSZ2). The clusters are identified in deep, optical imaging from the Kitt Peak National Observatory 4 m Mayall telescope taken between 2014 and 2017. Here we focus on the highest richness systems, and identify galaxy clusters through a combination of the maxBCG algorithm and visual image inspection. Galaxy clusters are considered to be confirmed if they are both rich and spatially coincident (≲6′) with the reported PSZ2 position. Of the 85 fields containing unconfirmed PSZ2 candidates observed, we find 15 (17.6% of the observed sample) corresponding galaxy clusters (0.13 < z < 0.78), 12 of which are previously unrecognized as counterparts. To explain this low identification fraction, we consider three possible scenarios: that clusters are (1) mostly at low-z, (2) mostly at high-z, or (3) located in fields with high object density. None of these scenarios alone can account for the low purity of rich galaxy clusters among the high signal-to-noise PSZ2 unconfirmed candidates.


The Monte Carlo method is applied to the problem of radiant heat transfer to a nonisothermal absorbing and emitting gray gas between gray walls. The solutions are compared to limiting cases of black walls and large optical thickness available in the literature. The Monte Carlo procedure was found to be simply and quickly formulated for complex cases which cannot be readily attacked by standard analytical techniques. The numerical results were quickly obtained with the use of a high speed electronic computer. This method also gives greater physical insight into the behavior of the system.


The municipality of Amsterdam has set stringent carbon emission reduction targets: 55% by 2030 and 95% by 2050 for the entire metropolitan area. One of the key strategies to achieve these goals entails a disconnection of all households from the natural gas supply by 2040 and connecting them to the existing city-wide heat grid. This paper aims to demonstrate the value of considering local energy potentials at the city block level by exploring the potential of a rooftop greenhouse solar collector as a renewable alternative to centralized district heating. An existing supermarket and an ATES component complete this local energy synergy. The thermal energy balance of the three urban functions were determined and integrated into hourly energy profiles to locate and quantify the simultaneous and mismatched discrepancies between energy excess and demand. The excess thermal energy extracted from one 850 m2 greenhouse can sustain up to 47 dwellings, provided it is kept under specific interior climate set points. Carbon accounting was applied to evaluate the system performance of the business-as-usual situation, the district heating option and the local system. The avoided emissions due to the substitution of natural gas by solar thermal energy do not outweigh the additional emissions consequential to the fossil-based electricity consumption of the greenhouse's crop growing lights, but when the daily photoperiod is reduced from 16 h to 12 h, the system performs equally to the business-as-usual situation. Deactivating growth lighting completely does make this local energy solution carbon competitive with district heating. This study points out that rooftop greenhouses applied as solar collectors can be a suitable alternative energy solution to conventional district heating, but the absence of growing lights will lead to diminished agricultural yields.


During vacuum drying of used nuclear fuel (UNF) canisters, helium pressure is reduced to as low as 67 Pa to promote evaporation and removal of remaining water after draining process. At such low pressure, and considering the dimensions of the system, helium is mildly rarefied, which induces a thermal-resistance temperature-jump at gas–solid interfaces that contributes to the increase of cladding temperature. It is important to maintain the temperature of the cladding below roughly 400 °C to avoid radial hydride formation, which may cause cladding embrittlement during transportation and long-term storage.
 Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is an accurate method to predict heat transfer and temperature under rarefied condition. However, it is not convenient for complex geometry like a UNF canister. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are more convenient to apply but their accuracy for rarefied condition are not well established. This work seeks to validate the use of CFD simulations to model heat transfer through rarefied gas in simple two-dimensional geometry by comparing the results to the more accurate DSMC method. The geometry consists of a circular fuel rod centered inside a square cross-section enclosure filled with rarefied helium. The validated CFD model will be used later to accurately estimate the temperature of an UNF canister subjected to vacuum drying condition.


In 2006 and 2009, trials were carried out in the Apulia region in Southern Italy to evalu-ate the possibility of mechanizing olive harvesting in groves of old and very large trees. The trees belonged to the cultivars 'Cellina di Nardo' and 'Ogliarola Salentina'. They were 60-100 years old and 7-9 m tall with a canopy volume of 140-360 m3. In the first half of November 2006, with a mechanical beater mounted on a tractor plus hand-held pneumatic combs, the harvesting yield was close to 90% of the total olives present in the canopy, and the harvesting working productivity was around 60 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1. With a self-propelled shaker attached to the main branches the harvesting yield was about 73% in 'Cellina di Nardo', and 40% in 'Ogliarola Salentina', while the harvesting working productivities were around 103 and 85 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1, respectively. In the second half of No-vember 2009, in 'Cellina di Nardo', with a mechanical beater mounted on a tractor plus nets on the ground or a catching frame (reversed umbrella) mounted on another tractor, the harvesting yield was about 97%. The working productivity was about 98 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1 with the mechanical beater plus nets and around 133 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1 when the mechanical beater was combined with a reversed umbrella. The oil obtained from the mechanically harvested olives was always of high quality. A basic economic evaluation of the harvesting costs is also reported.


The manta is the largest marine organism to swim by dorsoventral oscillation (flapping) of the pectoral fins. The manta has been considered to swim with a high efficiency stroke, but this assertion has not been previously examined. The oscillatory swimming strokes of the manta were examined by detailing the kinematics of the pectoral fin movements swimming over a range of speeds and by analyzing simulations based on computational fluid dynamic potential flow and viscous models. These analyses showed that the fin movements are asymmetrical up- and downstrokes with both spanwise and chordwise waves interposed into the flapping motions. These motions produce complex three-dimensional flow patterns. The net thrust for propulsion was produced from the distal half of the fins. The vortex flow pattern and high propulsive efficiency of 89% were associated with Strouhal numbers within the optimal range (0.2–0.4) for rays swimming at routine and high speeds. Analysis of the swimming pattern of the manta provided a baseline for creation of a bio-inspired underwater vehicle, MantaBot.


PURPOSE
Organic chemistry has been shown to correlate with academic success in the preclinical years of medicine, dentistry, and graduate physiology. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between undergraduate organic chemistry grades and first-semester biochemistry grades at a Midwest chiropractic doctoral program.

METHODS
Students enrolled in a first-semester biochemistry course who had completed the prerequisite courses in organic chemistry offered at this same institution were entered into the study. The total grade for each of the three courses was calculated using the midterm and final exam raw scores with a weighting of 50% each. Analysis consisted of obtaining correlation coefficients between the total grades of organic 1 with biochemistry and organic 2 with biochemistry. Using the biochemistry total grade, the students were divided into quartiles and course grades for both organic chemistry 1 and 2 were calculated.

RESULTS
For the 109 students in the study, the correlation coefficient between the biochemistry and organic chemistry 1 and biochemistry and organic chemistry 2 courses was r = 0.744 and r = 0.725, respectively. The difference in organic chemistry grades between those in the first and fourth quartiles was 63.2% and 86.9% for organic chemistry 1 (p < .001) and 60.9% and 79.4% for organic chemistry 2 (p < .001).

CONCLUSION
This study shows that organic chemistry can be used as an indicator of future academic success in a chiropractic biochemistry course. Knowledge of such a relationship could prove useful to identify students who may potentially run into academic difficulty with first-year biochemistry.


Dominant mode rejection (DMR) is an approach to adaptive beamforming in which only the large eigenvalues of the correlation matrix and their eigenvectors are used. It requires fewer snapshots due to the reduced degrees-of-freedom, Once the partial eigendecomposition has been performed, a variety of opportunities arise to adjust the algorithms on a beamby-beam basis without signifcant ditioml computations. A modification is developed to improve robustness to signal mismatch. An approach to controlling the quiescent beam pattem that works for ocean acoustic noise is also presented. The standard approaches fail because source array elements m usually spaced closer than one-half wavelength so that the noise is correlated. Finally a two stage adaptive approach is introduced. It involves a slowly adapting algorithm optimized for nearly stationary conditions followed by a thresholded DMR that rapidly adapts to dynamic interference, but only when the interference is strong.


Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of morbidity and
mortality and is evolving to epidemic
proportions. Despite pharmacologic advances and device interventions, HF remains
a progressive disease. The phosphodiesterase
inhibitors-3 (PDE3I), and more recently, the phosphodiesterase inhibitors-5
(PDE5I) have been used as part of the treatment in certain patients, however,
such combination has not been studied or reported before.


What happens when an author of adult fiction mixes
genres usually considered popular, non literary, and
often for children? Can the result be viewed as
literary and potent for an adult audience? Deerskin
by Robin McKinley and Daughter of the Forest by
Juliet Marillier exemplify the modern technique of
adapting classic fairy tales into modern adult
fantasy fiction. Little scholarship exists on this
relatively recent subgenre. This book considers
these two novels in terms of literary quality and
technique, and particularly for the ways in which
they deal with the sensitive topics of rape and
healing at the core of each story. This text
explores how these forms of fantasy and fairy tale,
often considered light reading, lend themselves to
such weighty topics as these, how, in fact, the often
unmentionable topic of rape can be dealt with in a
way that is both protective and therapeutic to the
reader specifically due to the form of the modern
fantasy fairy tale. This book would appeal to
audiences interested in fairy tales, fantasy,
folklore, feminism, or trauma writing.


When a multi-filamentary superconductor is exposed to an alternating external magnetic field, coupling-current loss is a significant part of the magnetization loss. The coupling-current loss at low magnetic-field frequencies is determined by the effective transverse resistivity of the inner filamentary region. The effective resistivity is calculated for various shapes and structures of the inner filaments. Bi-2223/Ag tapes typically have filaments with a high aspect ratio, causing an anisotropic transverse resistivity. When there is no contact resistance between the filaments and the matrix material, the presence of the filaments decreases the effective resistivity. The decrease is greatest for overlapping filaments whose wide sides are oriented parallel to the external magnetic field. Good insulating barriers result in a high contact resistance from the filaments to the matrix. Then the effective resistivity is greatly increased, especially for overlapping filaments that are oriented perpendicularly to the magnetic field. The results are relevant for the calculation of the coupling-current loss in Bi-2223 tapes with twisted filaments.


This paper describes the ISI database of handwritten Bangla numerals. Bangla is the second most popular language and script of the Indian subcontinent and it is used by more than 200 million people all over the globe. The present database has several components which include both on-line and off-line handwritten numerals. Samples of numeral strings and isolated numerals have been collected under both modes of writing. This database has been developed at the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Unit laboratory of Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Samples of the present database are properly ground thruthed and subdivided into respective training and test sets. The off-line sample images are stored in TIFF image format and the on-line samples are stored along with various information as header in ASCII file format. This database will facilitate fruitful research on handwriting recognition of Bangla through free access to the researchers.


To repair systematically osteoporotic bone defects, it is important to make an effort to both diminish osteoporosis and enhance bone regeneration. Herein, a specifically monoporous microsphere (MPM) carrier encapsulating dosage‐sensitive and short half‐time parathyroid hormone (PTH) is constructed to tackle the issue. Compared with conventional microsphere carriers involving compact, porous, and mesoporous microspheres, the MPM is desirable to achieve precisely in situ delivery and to minimize topical accumulation. The findings show that the PTH loaded inside MPMs can be gradually released from the single hole of MPMs to improve the initial drug concentration. Also, the MPMs can self‐shift with the daily movement of experimental animals to effectively reduce the topical aggregation of released drugs in vitro. In vivo evaluation further confirms that the implant of MPMs‐PTH plays a dual role in stimulating the regenerative repair of the cranial defect and relieving osteoporosis in the whole body. Consequently, the current work develops a dynamically movable drug delivery system to achieve precisely in situ delivery, minimize topical accumulation, and systematically repair osteoporotic bone defects.


Optical tweezers are instrument that made by a tightly focused laser beam in which microand nanoparticles could be optically trapped by a restoring force toward the laser focus. Single beam optical tweezers have become powerful tools in different areas from biophysics to nanotechnology. However, when multi particles have to be trapped simultaneously and studied independently, multiple trapping beams needed. One of the simplest way aim is to use a piezoelectric mirror. The usage of a piezoelectric mirror with high oscillation frequency in optical tweezers could easily provide linear and multi traps. Here, for optical trapping applications, we calibrate the oscillation frequency and amplitude of a mirror mounted on two low cost piezoelectric stacks in which an electronic circuit optimizes the needed voltage. Our experiments show that, this simple configuration could provide optical trapping of 3 particles, simultaneously.


Objectives The use of multiple antithrombotic drugs has increased the risk of major bleeding in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We aimed to investigate the anti-platelet drug use after discharge in patients with in-hospital major bleeding. Methods 198 patients with AMI were divided into two groups according to bleeding in hospital: bleeding group (n=36) or non-bleeding group (n=198). The utilisation rates of the anti-platelet drug (aspirin and clopidogrel) were collected at discharge, in the first, sixth and twelfth month out of hospital. Results No significant differences were found in gender, age, weight, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, the history of PCI (16.9% vs 13.6%, p>0.05) or stenting (66.7% vs 65.2%, p>0.05). Compared with non-bleeding group, the patients in bleeding group were more older (62.6±16.2 vs 55.9±15.2 year, p<0.05), more with hypertension (69.4% vs 53.0%, p<0.05), more with chronic renal insufficiency (25.0% vs 12.1%, p<0.05). The aspirin usage in bleeding group was less than that in non-bleeding group at discharge (69.4% vs 91.9%, p<0.01, in the first month (65.7% vs 85.9%, p<0.01) and sixth were lower (61.6% vs 83.8% p<0.01), but no difference in the twelfth month (72.2% vs 82.8%, p>0.05). The clopidogrel usage in bleeding group was less than that in non-bleeding group at discharge (66.7% vs 87.4% p<0.01) and in the first month (65.7% vs 85.9% p<0.01), but no difference in the sixth (25.0% vs 39.4% p<0.01) and twelfth month (23.5% vs 28.3% p<0.01). Conclusions AMI patients with in-hospital major bleeding have significantly decreased 1-year utilisation rates of aspirin and clopidogrel. Further investigation is warranted to understand the prognosis underlying this relationship.


NoSQL data stores support hierarchical, heterogeneous data such as XML, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and Binary JSON (BSON). A need exists for a tailor-made language for querying such hierarchical, heterogeneous datasets. JSONiq was designed from the ground up to support JSON data and run against all JSONor BSON-based data stores, turning them into full-fledged databases.


A flat statically determinate parallel-chord truss structure has a cross-shaped grid and rests upon two rigid pin-bearing supports. loads in bars are determined in a symbol form using the method of joint isolation by the computer mathematics Maple system. The peculiarity of the considered truss structure is its external static indeterminacy. In fact, all efforts and reactions of supports can be determined from the equilibrium conditions. But the inconvenience is necessary to consider the equilibrium of all the nodes of the truss. the Ritter cross-section method is not applicable to this truss structure. The sections that cut the truss into two parts and pass through the three rods, here exist only for several rods of the extreme panels. the purpose of this paper is to calculate a truss structure with a different number of panels in analytical and numerical form. Finite element calculation method with the use of software lISA 8.0 is applied. It's noted that a truss structure is kinetically changeable when the number of spans is odd. the corresponding plan of probable velocities is given. In order to receive analytic dependence of deflection on the span number, the induction method and Maxwell-Moor formula has been applied. the operators of the compilation and solution of recurrence equations are involved in determining the general terms of the coefficient sequences. The formulas for calculation of loads in the most compressed bars of a truss structure were received.


OBJECTIVE
To describe low-field MRI findings associated with lumbosacral foraminal stenosis and radiculopathy and correlate these with clinical signs.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective study.

ANIMALS
Client-owned dogs (n = 240) that underwent a clinical examination and standardized MRI protocol of the lumbosacral junction.

METHODS
Medical records of dogs with degenerative lumbosacral stenosis with neurological clinical evaluation and MRI of the lumbosacral junction were used to describe imaging pathologies and relate them to clinical status.

RESULTS
In total, 480 L7 neuroforamina were evaluated. A loss of foraminal fat signal was identified in 364 of 480 neuroforamina of which 87.9% (n=320) showed also concurrent nerve root changes. Magnetic resonance imaging features of L7 radiculopathy included nerve root enlargement and hyperintensity to surrounding connective tissue in dorsal oblique gradient echo short time inversion recovery sequences and specific changes in shape, size, or position of the nerve root in transverse T1-weighted sequences. Radiculopathy was noted as a consequence of either circumferential (entrapment) or focal (impingement) foraminal stenosis. Lateral vertebral spondylotic and intervertebral facet joint changes were the most common underlying spinal and neuroforaminal pathologies. Clinical signs were present in the ipsilateral hind leg in 85% (n = 65) of dogs with unilateral lumbosacral imaging findings.

CONCLUSION
A loss of foraminal fat signal was likely to be associated with L7 radiculopathy and foraminal stenosis. Unilateral lesions were generally associated with clinical signs on the ipsilateral limb.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Loss of foraminal fat signal revealed by low-field MRI should prompt the assessment of concurrent radiculopathy and underlying stenosis, and in coherence with clinical findings, when is combined with clinical findings, improves the diagnosis of lumbosacral foraminal stenosis.


Epidemiological studies suggest that men exhibit a higher mortality rate to COVID-19 than women, yet the underlying biology is largely unknown. Here, we seek to delineate sex differences in the expression of entry genes ACE2 and TMPRSS2 , host responses to SARS-CoV-2, and in vitro responses to sex steroid hormone treatment. Using over 220,000 human gene expression profiles covering a wide range of age, tissues, and diseases, we found that male samples show higher expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 , especially in the older group (>60 years) and in the kidney. Analysis of 6,031 COVID-19 patients at Mount Sinai Health System revealed that men have significantly higher creatinine levels, an indicator of impaired kidney function. Further analysis of 782 COVID-19 patient gene expression profiles taken from upper airway and blood suggested men and women present profound expression differences in responses to SARS-CoV-2. Computational deconvolution analysis of these profiles revealed male COVID-19 patients have enriched kidney-specific mesangial cells in blood compared to healthy patients. Finally, we observed selective estrogen receptor modulators, but not other hormone drugs (agonists/antagonists of estrogen, androgen, and progesterone), could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.


This article outlines a number of important principles of tax indemnity clauses in share purchase agreements. First, there is no general duty to litigate tax disputes to mitigate damages. Therefore, if the vendor wants to impose a duty to litigate on a purchaser who is claiming under a tax indemnity, the indemnity clause must provide for this. Second, a claim for a tax indemnity will likely take the form of damages for economic loss rather than a full reimbursement of taxes payable. Finally, there are risks to a vendor who pays taxes under an indemnity, because it may not be able to recover the taxes paid if the indemnified party suffers financial reverses.


Patients with mental disorders experience disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behavior. They have several psychological problems, such as inadequate emotional regulation and lack of flexibility to adapt to the conditions experienced. One of the psychotherapies that can be used is acceptance and commitment therapy with an Islamic approach. The principle of this therapy is to accept the current condition of having a mental disorder by surrendering to Allah SWT and committing to being more active in achieving healing by endeavoring. This study aims to determine the effect of applying ACT using an Islamic approach on the psychological flexibility of patients with mental disorders. Methods: This research was a quasi-experiment one-group pre-post-test design. This study involved 31 patients with mental disorders treated at the Dadi Hospital in South Sulawesi Province, who were Muslim and had good insight. ACT using the Islamic approach was given in four sessions. The data was collected with a demographic data questionnaire and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire – II (AAQ-II) and then analyzed using the Paired T-Test with a significance level of < 0.05.  Result: The majority of respondents are male (87.1%), unmarried (71%), and working (68.1%). The analysis showed an increase in the psychological flexibility of patients with mental disorders after ACT with an Islamic approach (p-value = <0.001).  Conclusion: ACT with an Islamic approach can improve the psychological flexibility of patients with mental disorders, so nurses need to apply ACT as a therapy modality for patients with mental disorders.


Partial molal volumes at 25" are reported for some 1 : 1 electrolytes, and for triphenylmethane, in dimethyl sulphoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, propylene carbonate, formamide and hexamethylphosphoramide. The assumption that Avz(Ph4Ast) = AvE(BPh4-) was used to obtain ionic partial molal volumes of transfer from water to the non-aqueous solvents. Solvent compressibility appears to determine the partial molal volumes of non-electrolytes and large hydrophobic ions in solution. Values of Avz for cations and anions are discussed in terms of ion-solvent interactions, solvent-solvent interactions and steric crowding of large solvent molecules around the ions.


Introduction Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the gold standard method for assessing the physiological significance of coronary artery lesions. A 'virtual' FFR can be computed from angiographic images, using computational fluid dynamics, avoiding the need for a pressure wire. FFR is influenced by several factors including; stenosis severity, length of stenosis, vessel size and myocardial resistance. However, how each of these contribute to the overall FFR is not fully understood. We sought to create a range of 3D geometries, with varying characteristics and determine their corresponding vFFRs, to inform clinicians about the impact upon blood flow caused by commonly encountered disease patterns. Methods Geometries were created using ANSYS Design Modeler™ that included stenoses of different shape, severity, number and length, within straight and branched models using variations on a basic standard vessel size (a rigid tubular 3.5mm diameter main vessel, 50mm long, with any branches obeying Huo-Kassab's law). vFFR values were calculated using our in-house VIRTUheart™ workflow. Results were displayed in easy-to-understand pictorial form. Results 187 geometries were created. The total reduction in cross sectional area had the greatest effect on FFR. All 80% concentric stenoses studied had an FFR of <0.80, regardless of shape, length or number of lesions. However, when geometries with the same stenosis severity were compared, multiple lesions, increased lesion length, smaller vessel diameter and lower myocardial resistance were associated with lower FFR values. Using different diameter laws for our branched geometries, resulted in minimal difference to FFR values. Table 1 shows some examples of key FFR results derived from single vessel geometries. Table 1 shows some examples of key FFR results derived from single vessel geometries. Figure 1 and 2 display the geometries that produced these key vFFR results. Figure 1 displays geometries 1-4 and figure 2 geometries 5-8.Abstract 60 Table 1 Example of some key FFR results obtained from our straight vessel geometries * = Indicates Microvascular Resistance was set to 6.721E9, 2E9 lower than the standard 8.721E9 value used.† = Indicates vessel Diameter was set to 3.0mm rather than standard 3.5mm diameter used.Abstract 60 Figure 1 Geometries 1-4 with vFFR values. Produced by the VIRTUheart workflow™ in the Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, at the University of Sheffield. (Newcombe et al., 2019).Abstract 60 Figure 2 Geometries 5-8 with vFFR values. Produced by the VIRTUheart workflow™ in the Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, at the University of Sheffield. (Newcombe et al., 2019). Conclusion vFFR is most affected by stenosis severity. However, changes to lesion shape, length, number and vessel diameter also impact vFFR. This data places these variables into perspective for clinicians when judging the significance of lesions in a diseased vessel. Conflict of Interest None


Ants are an emerging model system for neuroepigenetics, as embryos with virtually identical genomes develop into different adult castes that display strikingly different physiology, morphology, and behavior. Although a number of ant genomes have been sequenced to date, their draft quality is an obstacle to sophisticated analyses of epigenetic gene regulation. Using long reads generated with Pacific Biosystem single molecule real time sequencing, we have reassembled de novo high-quality genomes for two ant species: Camponotus floridanus and Harpegnathos saltator. The long reads allowed us to span large repetitive regions and join sequences previously found in separate scaffolds, leading to comprehensive and accurate protein-coding annotations that facilitated the identification of a Gp-9-like gene as differentially expressed in Harpegnathos castes. The new assemblies also enabled us to annotate long non-coding RNAs for the first time in ants, revealing several that were specifically expressed during Harpegnathos development and in the brains of different castes. These upgraded genomes, along with the new coding and non-coding annotations, will aid future efforts to identify epigenetic mechanisms of phenotypic and behavioral plasticity in ants.


A 21-year-old man was admitted with fever, jaundice, abdominal pain and general fatigue. Other clinical manifestations revealed liver dysfunction, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Anti-EB virus (EA-DR-IgG) was initially elevated on admission and was decreased after that, furthermore anti EBNA was elevated in the late period of his clinical course, which indicated primary infection or secondary alteration of EBV immunity. Bone marrow examination revealed hemophagocytosis by mature histiocytes. Therefore, he was diagnosed as Virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). An arterial blood gas analysis on admission showed hypoxemia and findings of interstitial pneumonia (IP) were distinctly observed on chest CT scan. Steroid therapy was then initiated and the patient responded very well. The clinical findings and laboratory data including IP, were improved. The 20 adult cases of VAHS in Japan were clinically studied and a review of the complication of VAHS with IP was also made.


Implementation and follow-Model Approach Quality Management System, from the standpoint of administrative efficiency based on organizational culture in institutions of public higher education in Colombia, analysis of conceptualization, rules which govern and deepened about evolution historical. Starting in finding solutions to the issuance of regulations implementing the Quality Management System with the standardization of controls and tools to facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in the process of planning, organization, implementation and control according to international requirements and as affected organizational culture reducing the degree of cooperation and productivity oriented knowledge is not only the desire of companies to achieve a competitive advantage, but the need to collectively address the various challenges created by the changes. Other organizations where its operation is a success are studied.


Background: The aim of this study was to establish national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for the first time in Sudan. This is done through evaluation of entrance surface dose (ESD) to patients undergoing selected X-ray examinations. Materials and Methods: ESD per examination was estimated from X-ray tube output parameters in 15 hospitals comprising 20 rooms and a sample of 8 most common X-ray examinations with 11 basic views and a total of 1490 projections. Third quartile was calculated from the resultant distributed mean ESDs in each hospital surveyed. Results: The results obtained in mGy were, 1.9 for PA skull, 1.2 for lateral Skull, 0.539 for PA chest, 3 for abdomen and pelvis, 4.9 for AP lumbosacral spine, 18.5 for lateral lumbosacral spine, 1.35 for AP cervical spine, 1.67 for lateral cervical spine 0.4 for AP knee joint and 1.4 for AP shoulder. With exception of PA chest in all hospitals, mean ESDs were found to be within the international reference dose the major drawback is the large variations in hospitals for the same procedure. Conclusions: The results are valuable for establishing a solid base for national ESDs and can provide a data base for future dose measurements.


The aim of this work is to describe bonding properties between surface treated polymer fibers and a cement matrix. In order to increase an interaction between the matrix and fiber surfaces, two fiber types having approx. 0.5 mm in diameter were modified by mean of oxygen plasma treatment. Surface physical changes of treated fibers were examined using SEM morphology observation and interfacial adhesion mechanical tests. The principle of mechanical tests rested on a single fiber pulling out from the matrix (cement paste, CEM I 42.5 R, w/c 0.4). The embedded length was equal to 50 % of original fiber length (50 mm), where the fiber free-end displacement and force resisting to the displacement were monitored. It was pointed out that interfacial shear stress needed to break the bond between the modified fibers and the matrix increased almost by 15–65 % if compared to reference fibers. When the fiber free-end displacement reached to 3.5 mm, the shear strength increased almost twice.


This study was conducted to establish the prevalence of different reactive hyperplastic lesions of the gingiva in a university-based dental school biopsy service. Biopsy records over a 12-years period (1982-1994) were retrieved from the files of the department of Oral Pathology, College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad. The lesions were reclassified into: Fibrous lesions (like Focal Fibrous Hyperplasia FFH and Ossifying Fibrous Epulis OFE); vascular lesions (like Pyogenic granuloma) and Giant cell lesions (like Peripheral giant cell granuloma PGCG). The available clinical data regarding age, gender and location were obtained for each case. The majority of lesions were pyogenic granuloma which constituted 49.2% with female predilection. Peoples in the first and second decade of life were more prone to develop gingival lesions especially in upper anterior region. This study indicates some differences in age and gender distribution as well as in location between the different lesions.


Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder in which an overwhelming traumatic event is re experienced, causing intense fear, helplessness, horror, and avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma. In other words, PTSD is a debilitating condition that follows a terrifying event. The main symptoms of PTSD are Flashbacks (also called re-experiencing symptoms), Emotional detachment, Jumpiness (also called hyper-arousal symptoms), Substance abuse, Depression and Suicide Thoughts. PTSD can have severe and long lasting effects on people's lives. Examples of outcomes of PTSD include Physiological outcomes (Neurobiological changes, Psycho physiological Changes), Psychological outcomes as well as Social outcomes. PTSD is also reported in children. Treatment for PTSD consists of three types of therapies namely Pharmacotherapy, Psychotherapy and Behavioral Therapy. Pharmacotherapy with several drugs is widely used in the Treatment of PTSD. Among different antidepressant drugs, the drugs which are effective in the treatment of PTSD include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and MAO Inhibitors.


Violence and victimisation in Iraq is a long story and, in recent times, specifically in the aftermath of the 2003 controversial occupation of the country by the United States and its allies, and the atrocities committed by so-called ISIS, the situation has escalated to a horrific extent. Ethno-sectarian violence, bombings, armed conflict and enforced disappearances have demonstrated the complete absence of any effective reaction by the state, and this has undermined efforts at consolidation by the Iraqi state and its legal system following the downfall of the previous oppressive regime in 2003. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens have become victims of violence by non-state actors, largely due to the failure of the 2003-transition process and the flawed constitution and divisive ethno-sectarian system. This fuelled political conflict, widespread corruption, insurgency, terrorism, and extremism, paralysing the Iraqi state and its criminal justice system. This thesis claims that the Iraqi state has failed to provide redress for non-state violence. It further argues, based on international human rights' instruments, that the state owes positive duties to citizens to protect them from such violence.
The thesis will be argue that one method – but not in isolation - of gradually addressing the failings of the Iraqi state would be for Iraqi citizens themselves to take 'substantive steps' to 'establish a healthy civil society reflecting social contract principles.' Such steps can and should be taken with the support of governmental bodies and other authorities, as part of a genuine and inclusive transitional justice programme in which accountability, truth recovery, reparations, legislative and institutional reform, and reconciliation will be vital, if any future stability and peaceful coexistence is to be established, especially after the ISIS conflict. Despite being a very lengthy task, at present the security situation is gradually improving following the defeat of ISIS. The foregoing steps are arguably also essential for the consolidation of the state and its institutions over the rule of law, in which respect for and protection of the human rights of citizens is the primary objective. This will be imperative in restoring citizens' trust, confidence, and hope that the Iraqi state and its criminal justice system will gradually honour their positive obligations.


By embedding of insulin in agar a significant retardation as well as a protective effect for the hormone is obtained. As demonstrated on in vivo animal experiments, this embedding method in dependence on the insulin concentration and particle size of the polymeric matrix allows to prepare rectal insulin applications with remarkable depot effects. Alternatively in combination with resorption promoting tensides it permits to lower the administered hormone doses to a order of magnitude reaching those used for parenteral insulin applications.


The utilization of a bismuth-substituted iron garnet as a magnetooptic Faraday rotator (MOFR) has been reported for all-optical networking purposes as well as for other applications. Our measurements and observations demonstrate that the MOFR saturates once a significantly large magnetic field (>225 G) is applied. After the applied magnetic field enters the saturation region, the material's magnetic domains can become pinned at intermediate levels of magnetization. Pinning in this form has not been reported nor well studied for this application. In this paper, a method to detect and describe anomalous pinning in terms of Faraday rotation is presented. Measurements on the changes in the state of polarization that a pinned material produces are examined. This paper will also present practical methods for unpinning the MOFR material, which are traditionally considered to be challenging.


A survey of roentgenological findings in muscular alterations of extremities based on the author's experiences and on the literature is presented. Following a description of the normal roentgen anatomy, the alterations in different diseases of interstitial lipomatosis are demonstrated. By roentgenological examinations different muscular lesions of the extremities can be differentiated and the clinical follow-up verified.


INTRODUCTION
We aimed at estimating the prevalence and the natural history of proteinuria among pregnant women attending Bakare and associates OB/GYN center, Harrisburg Pa, USA.

METHODS
We chose a simple random sample from patients who attended the center for antenatal care and reviewed their medical and obstetrical records focusing on urine dipstick testing results, blood pressure measurements and pregnancy outcome.

RESULTS
The study included 202 pregnant women with no history of proteinuria. Their mean age was 27 ± 7 years (range 15-44 years). Significant proteinuria (≥ 1+ protein) was detected in 3.8%, 10.7% and 10.6% of dipstick tests performed in the first, second and third trimesters respectively. Hypertensive disorders were diagnosed in thirteen patients (6.4%); three patients had chronic hypertension, two patients had preeclampsia, two patients had preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension, and six patients had gestational hypertension. Obese patients were significantly more likely to develop one of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (OR 6.1; P = 0.04) than other patients. These disorders tended to be more common among patients who tested positive for proteinuria (≥ 1+) during the first trimester compared to patients with negative urine dipstick testing (OR 3.1; P = 0.3) but the difference was not statistically significant. Proteinuria disappeared in all patients postpartum, and none of the patients had deterioration in her kidney function.

CONCLUSION
Despite the fact that proteinuria was common in this study population, both renal and pregnancy outcomes were favorable.


A summary is given of planetary nebulae abundances from ISO measurements. It is shown that these nebulae show abundance gradients (with galactocentric distance), which in the case of neon, argon, sulfur and oxygen (with four exceptions) are the same as HII regions and early type star abundance gradients. The abundance of these elements predicted from these gradients at the distance of the Sun from the center are exactly the solar abundance. Sulfur is the exception to this; the reason for this is discussed. The higher solar neon abundance is confirmed; this is discussed in terms of the results of helioseismology. Evidence is presented for oxygen destruction via ON cycling having occurred in the progenitors of four planetary nebulae with bilobal structure. These progenitor stars had a high mass, probably greater than 5 solar masses. This is deduced from the high values of He/H and N/H found in these nebulae. Formation of nitrogen, helium and carbon are discussed. The high mass progenitors which showed oxygen destruction are shown to have probably destroyed carbon as well. This is probably the result of hot bottom burning.


Optimizing yield and nutrients content in crop production is the high time demand of arable farming. Vermicompost furnishes one of the most promising alternatives to costly chemical fertilizer. Therefore, a greenhouse experiment was conducted at NARC, Islamabad, to investigate the effect of different levels of vermicompost [having C/N=15/1 and 14 Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)] on growth, yield and nutrients content in hybrid tomato (National Tunnel Tomato-04-08) under greenhouse conditions during Rabi 2015. The data revealed that different rates (0.5 t·ha-1, 1 t·ha-1, 1.5 t·ha-1 and 2 t·ha-1) of vermicompost produced varied and significant (P < 0.05) effect on the vegetative growth parameters (shoot length, root length, dry shoot weight and dry root weight), yield parameters (number of fruits per treatment and total yield) recorded at physiological maturity. Tomato fruit yield was the maximum (4.383 t·ha-1) at the application of 2.0 t vermicompost ha-1 followed by 3.226 t·ha-1 where vermicompost was applied @ 1.5 t·ha-1. N, P and K content in tomato fruit and plant increased significantly with the application of increasing levels of vermicompost. The highest content of N (3.7%), P (0.67%), K (5.17%) in tomato fruit and N (3.4%), P (0.32%), K (3.2%) in tomato plant respectively were registered with soil application of vermicompost @ 2.0 t·ha-1. This study confirms that the vermicompost has a tremendous potential of plant nutrients supply for sustainable crop production.


The Meyer capacitance model (see RCA Rev., vol.32, p.42-63, 1971) fails to obey the charge conservation law. It is shown that the charge nonconservation in the Meyer model is not due to any physical assumptions. Rather, it is caused by the mathematical error of characterizing a multidimensional function (the stored charge on the four terminals of a MOSFET) by an incomplete subset of its partial derivatives (the partial derivatives of the gate charge). This conclusion is supported by developing and implementing a correct mathematical characterization of the MOS charges based on the same physical assumptions used in the Meyer model. One important outcome of this exercise is that the nonreciprocal nature of MOS capacitive coupling is evident even in a first-order physical model of the device. >


Brain activation is affected by gradient acoustic noise and various disturbances as well as by other primary tasks. Therefore, we have studied the effects of various disturbances of two different levels of difficulty, that is, weak and strong difficulty levels for primary visual and motor tasks. In the case of visual task with motor and mental disturbances, we found it decreased as motor and mental disturbance difficulty-level increased, compared with the case of without motor and mental disturbances. To the contrary, in the case of motor activity, the total activation of motor cortex with weak and with strong mental disturbance increased as mental disturbance difficulty-levels increased. Therefore, one can conclude that when mental disturbance is added, the visual cortex and motor cortex have an opposite result and when the difficulty-level of the disturbance is increased, the primary tasks are affected more significantly. Although the current observation is preliminary and requires more careful experimental study, it appears that various disturbance effects on brain functions (such as motor and visual cortical responses) produce significant differences in data observations.


This study analyses the stochastic behavior of price-cost margins (PCMs) in the U.S. meat industry. It, first, develops and estimates a vertical relationship economic model to derive PCMs in the U.S. meat industry (Beef, Pork, and Poultry). Second it analyzes the behavior of PCMs by decomposing them into their seasonal, cyclical, and trend components using the state-space and the Kalman filtering methods. Price-cost margins in the U.S. meat industry are governed by two common trends and two common cycles. The study also found cyclical variability of PCMs is the highest with chicken, secular variability of PCMs is the highest with pork, while seasonal variability of PCMs is the highest with beef.


Different titration methods were applied with the purpose to determine the dissociation properties of a natural (cotton) and regenerated (viscose, modal and lyocell) cellulose fibers. Potentiometric and conductometric titration were used to determine the content of acidic groups. pK values were determined by potentiometric titration. Polyelectrolyte adsorption was used for surface and total charge determination, and to obtain information about charge location and accessibility of charged groups. It was found that the average content of acidic groups is higher in cotton fibers than in regenerated fibers. The fiber charge of cotton is due to the dissociation of two type of acidic groups, one with pK ≈3.5 and the other with pK ≈5.5. In regenerated fibers there is only one type of acidic groups (pK ≈3.5). The pK value of the stronger acid is typical for carboxyl group in uronic acids. The polyelectrolyte adsorption indicates that most of the carboxyl groups are located in an inner region of all cellulose samples (cotton and regenerated fibers). It is concluded that titration methods are powerful tools for monitoring the content, strength, and distribution of acidic groups, as well as the total charge of natural and regenerated cellulose fibers. The three methods give similar results on all analyzed samples and show good repeatability. The results of investigation make it quite clear that combination of all titrations yields relevant information about content and strength of acidic groups in both natural and regenerated cellulose fibers used in the manufacture of textiles. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 3186–3195, 2004


A newly constructed solid state silicon dose profile detector is characterized concerning its sensitive profile. The use of the MEDIPIX2 sensor system displays an excellent method to align an image of an X-ray slit to a sample under test. The scanning from front to reverse side of the detector, show a decrease in sensitivity of 20%, which indicates a minority charge carrier lifetime of 0.18 ms and a diffusion length of 460 μm. The influence of diced edges results in a volumetric efficiency of 59%, an active volume of 1.2 mm2 of total 2.1 mm2.


This paper investigates how the application of different theoretical lenses impacts theorizing on technology in organizations. Based on a case study of a corporate Wiki introduction, three theoretical lenses are applied as sensitizing devices: a process theoretical analysis based on the Enterprise Systems Experience Cycle (Markus and Tanis 2000), a structurational analysis based on technologies-in-practice (Orlikowski 2000), and a sociomaterial analysis based on the mangle of practice (Pickering 1995). The authors reflect upon their own experiences in applying these and present a comparison of their observations. In doing so, the paper identifies and analyzes five emergent issues in theorizing across the three lenses: the role and nature of technology, technological change, changing practice, organizational change, and understanding stability. Similarities and differences among these three lenses are discussed and conclusions are drawn with respect to how what we as researchers see through our theoretical lenses determines what we will get in terms of theories. The paper thus presents other researchers with an opportunity to reflect upon the authors' experiences and supports the choice of an appropriate theoretical lens for studying technology in organizations.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this paper was to internally validate previously reported relations (Knoph Berg et al., Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 42, 396-404, 2008) between psychosocial factors and bulimia nervosa (BN) outcomes during pregnancy.

METHOD
This study is based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Participants were women enrolled during pregnancy (N = 69,030). Internal validity was evaluated by way of bootstrapped parameter estimates using the overall sample and a split sample calibration approach.

RESULTS
Bootstrap bias estimates were below the problematic threshold, and extend earlier findings (Knoph Berg et al., Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 42, 396-404, 2008) by providing support for the validity of the models at the population level of all pregnant women in Norway. Bootstrap risk ratios indicated that prevalence, incidence, and remission of BN during pregnancy were significantly associated with psychosocial factors. The split sample procedure showed that the models developed on the training sample did not predict risks in the validation sample.

DISCUSSION
This study characterizes associations between psychosocial exposures and BN outcomes among pregnant women in Norway. Women with lifetime and current self-reported psychosocial adversities were at a much higher risk for BN during pregnancy. Psychosocial factors were associated with BN remission during pregnancy, inviting the prospect of enhancing therapeutic interventions. We consider the findings in the context of reproducibility in science.


Analyses of variance were conducted using two separate random sets of data (25 158 and 24 084 records) on first-lactation, milk-production records of progeny of 69 British Friesian-Holstein proven sires in order to examine the criteria of seasonal grouping for a sire-evaluation model fitting herd-year-season as a fixed effect. Five different seasonal groupings were chosen each comprising two or three seasons with equal or unequal number of months and with different trends in production within season. The smallest herd-year × month of calving within-season interaction, smallest residual variance, largest effective number of daughters and smallest among-months, within-season variation were considered to be the appropriate criteria of seasonal grouping. None of the groupings examined satisfied all criteria. However, a small herd-year × month within season interaction and all small within-season variation would be desirable if milk records were pre-corrected for the effect of month of calving in sire evaluation, and the effective number of daughters should be large. Given this the grouping currently used in Britain (three seasons: December to March, April to July and August to November) was considered to be appropriate, although a grouping with two seasons: February to July and August to January gave similar results. The regional differences in production were observed to be large, but the region × month-of-calving interaction was small.


Objective: We investigated the acute effect of electronic cigarette (EC) smoking on the aortic pressure waveform amplification. We also sought to compare the effect of EC and combustible cigarette (TC) smoking on aortic haemodynamics. Design and method: We studied 24 smokers (age: 30 ± 8 years) on 3 separate occasions: a) tobacco cigarette (nicotine content, 1.2 mg) over 5 minutes, b) EC (18 mg E-liquid) for a period of 30 minutes, and c) nothing (sham procedure) for 60 minutes. Smoking EC for 30 min (15 puffs) was chosen to mimic the common pattern of EC smoking. All participants were asked to fill in the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) that is a standard instrument for assessing the intensity of nicotine dependence. Results: The mean (SD) FTND score of the study population was 3.6 (2.5). Of them, nine were highly nicotine dependent (FTND core>5). There were no significant differences in all baseline measurements between high and low nicotine dependence smokers. Both TC and EC smoking caused a significant increase in brachial pressures and heart rate (HR), and the differences in blood pressure (BP) and HR responses between the two smoking forms were not significant. The aortic pressures also increased significantly after smoking both TC and EC, with the greatest changes seen in the first 5 minutes after TC smoking and 15 minutes EC smoking (figures 1A-C, all P < 0.05). Although AIx, decreased in both two smoking forms, by applying a correction factor for changes in HR, the AIx increased significantly after TC (by 3.0 % at 5 minutes, P < 0.05) and EC (by 2.9% at 15 minutes, P < 0.05) (Figure 1 D). Figure. No caption available. Conclusions: Electronic cigarette smoking exerts an unfavourable and comparable to that of TC smoking acute effect on aortic pressure waveform amplification. Due to the prognostic role of aortic hemodynamics on cardiovascular disease risk, EC could still be considered a hazardous smoking method.


Self-supervised learning (SSL) is a powerful technique for learning representations from unlabeled data. Transformer based models such as HuBERT, which consists of a feature extractor and transformer layers, are leading the field in the speech domain. SSL models are fine-tuned on a wide range of downstream tasks, which involves re-training the majority of the model for each task. Previous studies have introduced applying adapters, which are small lightweight modules commonly used in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to adapt pre-trained models to new tasks. However, such efficient tuning techniques only provide adaptation at the transformer layer, but failed to perform adaptation at the feature extractor. In this paper, we propose CHAPTER, an efficient tuning method specifically designed for SSL speech model, by applying CNN adapters at the feature extractor. Using this method, we can only fine-tune fewer than 5% of parameters per task compared to fully fine-tuning and achieve better and more stable performance. We empirically found that adding CNN adapters to the feature extractor can help the adaptation on emotion and speaker tasks. For instance, the accuracy of SID is improved from 87.71 to 91.56, and the accuracy of ER is improved by 5%. Such finding suggests that when fine-tuning a SSL speech model, we should adapt different parameter-efficient tuning techniques depending on the downstream task.


The life of Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011) was strongly shaped by her rural environment, missionary education, and exposure to university education in the United States and Germany. Her interactions with other women—her mother, teachers, and grassroots women—also had a great impact on her work and commitment. In the midst of enormous challenges and obstacles, she created a formidable Green Belt Movement (GBM) to empower grassroots women. By mobilizing women to plant and care for trees, Maathai changed the thinking and practices of conserving the environment at a time when dominant global thinking on the environment and women's role in society was grappling for transformation. Hence the dynamics of local and international forces coalesced in the work of the GBM. Local experiences also infused global thinking and appreciation of struggles for democratic governance, peace, and sustainable development. Consequently, Professor Maathai's ingenuity and persistence were widely recognized and honored, and earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.


In a flume study of knickpoint development in stratified sediment, two thin sand beds were intercalated between beds of cohesive material. The sand beds acted as knickpoint-forming horizons on which stepped knickpoints were developed and maintained as they moved upstream, creating an apparently stable form consisting of a channel-in-channel system. The system had four basic elements: (1) an aggraded reach upstream of the knickpoint, terminating on the downstream end at a fill-incision transition zone; (2) an oversteepened reach just above the knickpoint face; (3) the knickpoint face; and (4) an incising reach, often covered by moving sediment between successive knickpoints.

Apparently the presence of a knickpoint-forming horizon reduces knickpoint retreat rates, which were much lower in this study than those observed in an experiment with cohesive material but no intercalated sand beds and a similar discharge. Also, the channel-in-channel system that results from stratification is apparently fairly insensitive to the effects of changing discharge.


Background Informal (unpaid) caregivers provide care that goes beyond customary and normative support, and endure 'silent suffering' often unrecognised by healthcare providers. Understanding factors that contribute to the wellbeing of informal caregivers can further the capacity of healthcare workers to promote caregivers' wellbeing. Methods We performed a qualitative study of semi-structured face-to-face interviews in Malaysia. Transcripts were read repeatedly for familiarisation, followed by coding and thematic analysis. NVivo11 software was used to analyse data. Results The five main themes shown to promote the wellbeing of informal caregivers are: acceptance, appreciation, hope, happiness and support. Finding acceptance mirrors the seven stages of grief – shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance – and seems to be born out of having no other choice. This lack of choice is rationalised in three non–mutually exclusive ways: understanding that death is an inevitability of life, trust in the sovereignty of a higher power or god, and seeing death as the ultimate freedom from suffering. Caregivers were appreciative of healthcare providers, the time they had with their loved ones, the opportunity to give back to their loved ones, and were also grateful to god. Of note, skills traditionally seen as 'soft' by medical practitioners, were most appreciated – professionalism, providing education, responsiveness to requests and humanity. The hope seen in preserving wellbeing is built on having accepted their situation and shapes hope for realistic goals. Without acceptance, unrealistic hope would only frustrate and be detrimental to their wellbeing. Happiness is protective against negative rumination and is derived from the patients themselves, relationships and moments of respite. Support systems comprised spiritual or religious groups, family and friends, each catering to slightly different needs. Conclusion Awareness of these five factors that promote caregiver wellbeing should inform clinical practice and holistic care.


An efficient, mild and environmentally friendly method was reported for the synthesis of pyranopyrazoles from aryl aldehydes, ethyl acetoacetate, malononitrile and hydrazine hydrate in the presence of catalytic amounts of methyl imidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([Hmim][HSO4]) as an efficient catalyst. These syntheses were performed via a one-pot four-component condensation in water/ethanol (50%) at 50 ◦C. This method easily provides the coresponding products in good yield and relatively short reaction times. Also the reusability of the catalyst was investigated, the catalyst could be employed four times, although its activity gradually decreased.


The establishment of valid lung carcinoma preclinical models for testing new cancer therapies is necessary, as existing cell lines and mouse models may not recapitulate the full spectrum of heterogeneity of patient tumors. Studies suggest lung cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models recapitulate well gene copy number variation, gene expression profiles, and metabolic states of corresponding patient tumors. However, an understanding of mechanisms linking cancer-associated genome, transcriptome, and proteome alterations with driver mutations and dysregulated signal transduction networks in primary and PDX models is lacking. We report a large (>150) resource of lung cancer PDX models, derived from surgically resected tumors, and endobronchial ultrasound-guided (EBUS) and CT-guided biopsies. Tumor specimens were grown and serially passaged in the subcutaneous pocket at the flanks of NSG mice (NOD SCID gamma) at initial implant, and following passages in NOD SCID (non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficiency) mice. Among 127 established PDX models from 441 surgically derived tumor specimens, all major histological subtypes were included: 52 adenocarcinomas, 62 squamous cell carcinomas, 1 adeno-squamous cell carcinomas, 5 sarcomatoid carcinomas, 5 large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas, and 2 small cell lung cancers. Over 100 PDX models have been profiled by next-generation exome sequencing (SureSelect Human 50Mbp kit), and array-based assays for copy number variant (HumanOmni 2.5-Quad BeadChip), DNA methylation (Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip) and mRNA (DASL HumanHT-12 v4 BeadChip) profiles. Smaller subsets of PDXs have been characterized by mass spectrometry (MS)-based comprehensive proteome and protein-phosphotyrosine characterization. Genome/transcriptome/proteome profiles of 36 non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) PDX models correlated with patient primary tumors but to a much lesser extent with established NSCLC cell lines. A number of PDX models have genetic abnormalities linked to targeted therapies including mutations in EGFR (6), PIK3CA (13), and KRAS (21), and amplifications in FGFR1 (7) and CDK4 (6). This study provides the most solid evidence as yet that PDXs established from lung cancers mimic closely the genomic and proteomic characteristics of patient primary tumors and retain driver genetic abnormalities. Citation Format: Nhu-An Pham, Dennis Wang, Jiefei Tong, Chang-Qi Zhu, Lei Li, Wen Zhang, Ruoshi Shi, Shingo Sakashita, Melania Pintilie, Michael F. Moran, Geoffrey Liu, Ming-Sound Tsao. Fidelity of genomic and proteomic features of patient-derived xenografts of lung cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Patient-Derived Cancer Models: Present and Future Applications from Basic Science to the Clinic; Feb 11-14, 2016; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2016;22(16_Suppl):Abstract nr B32.


Abstract : This study examines historical airpower intervention to contribute to the urgent task of educating and managing the expectations of political and military leaders about the unique contributions and risks of airpower in a Mass Atrocity Response Operation (MARO). Analyzing airpowers historical effect in humanitarian interventions provides strategic options to political and military leaders on airpower capabilities and potential responses to mass atrocity situations in an effort to fill a void in doctrine and planning discussion. It also seeks to present some of the tools and risks of airpower in a MARO to provide a foundation for the planning, coordination, and execution of airpower operations in the prevention of and response to mass atrocities. By using a qualitative approach, the author attempts to answer: 1) to what extent are airpower options effective in preventing or responding to a mass atrocity situation, and, 2) what can decision-makers and military leaders today learn from MAROs in history to apply in a future MARO? The focus of the thesis is not to advocate for or against military intervention or response in particular situations, rather it seeks to examine airpower options in a MARO to prepare the military leaders and planners for this likely tasking in the future. Specifically, viewing historical humanitarian interventions in the Balkans and Libya through a lens focused on an airpower response to mass atrocities challenges many of the expectations, planning norms, and traditional targeting models. However, it also helps military leaders prepare for future policy guidance. Illuminating historical examples of airpower interventions will narrow MARO thinking by identifying successes, limitations, risks, and existing airpower capabilities, while matching them to operationally accepted means for conducting airpower operations that achieve the desired strategic and political effects.


Rabies is one of the most lethal diseases in human history. From the past, various drugs have been used to prevent the contraction of the disease when being bitten by a rabid animal. An insect called Ḏarārīḥ (Lytta vesicatoria), although poisonous, has in some cases been medically used. Greeks and Romans have used venomousness of this insect to treat skin diseases, but it has not been used to prevent rabies. This is a summative qualitative content analysis that focused on Persian Medicine (PM) texts from 2th to 13th AH centuries. Literature was searched during centuries 4th to 13th AH, by using this key words: ذراریـح) Ḏarārīḥ), قنثاریـدس) Cantharis/cantharides), and ئشـفث Lytta vesicatoria and after extracting the data and analyzing them, the results were presented. In TPM texts, this insect was used to prevent rabies. This study has shown that the use of ḏarārīḥ (Lytta vesicatoria) in the prevention of rabies has been one of the innovations of the practitioners of Islamic civilization. The innovation proves that scholars in the period of Islamic civilization were not merely consumers or custodians of Roman, Greek, Indian, and Iranian knowledge, but added to it while preserving that knowledge.


Aim: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects of ethanolic root extract of Carica papaya in mice. Materials and Methods: Anxiolytic activity was observed using behavior paradigms such as elevated plus maze, Ymaze, open field test, and hole board apparatus, while the hypnotic activity was assessed by sodium pentobarbital-induced hypnosis in mice. In elevated plus maze and Y maze, the animals were treated with the extract at dose (75 and 150 mg/kg) po for 7 days and were observed on 7th day of treatment. Anxiolytic activity using open-field apparatus and in sodium pentobarbital-induced hypnosis, the effects were observed on day 1, 7, 15, and 30 days of treatment. Results and Discussion: In the elevated plus maze, there was an increase in the number of entries and time spent in the open arm. In Y maze decrease in the number of visits to three arms was observed. In the hole board test observed increase in the number of head dippings. In sodium pentobarbital-induced hypnosis, there is a significant increase in the duration of sleep and a decrease in the latency of sleep. The anxiolytic and hypnotic effects were substantially greater at dose 150 mg/kg in comparison to dose 75 mg/kg. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that ethanolic C. papaya root extract might have significant anxiolytic and hypnotic activity.


In this article is shown the possibility of using of the cinematic material in the study of various cultural phenomena. The authors substantiate the idea that the movie, belonging to the culture of its epoch and connecting with multiple contexts of everyday life, not only reflects, but through their specific techniques represents and fixes the stereotypical images that are conserved in people's minds and function in the culture. The authors show on the material of the Italian cinema a mosaic of the stereotypes of male characters that remain «working» (resistant) in the culture to the present day. In the article are represented men's archetypal and mythical charac¬ters, cliches in the Italian cinema. The most typical and repeating images of men: «little man», the intellectual, the mythical image of Casanova. They all reflect the cultural needs of the society on the most recognizable «heroes». Analysis of Italian cinematic material allowed the authors to conclude that gender stereotypes in optics of artistic experience are very sensitive to the social, political, cultural processes and transformations.


Aninopteris Givulescu and Popa 1998, a matoniacean fern originally known from the Lower Jurassic deposits of Romania, has been recently reported from the Middle Jurassic coal bearing deposits of Mazino mine, south of Tabas region, east central Iran. This is the second record of this genus, excepting its original occurrence from the Anina region of Romania. Besides the younger age, the Iranian material differs from the type material in having a higher number of sporangia, and less branched secondary veins. Thus, Aninopteris formosa var. persica var. nov. is proposed for the studied material.


Structural and stratigraphic relationships in the Oman Mountains developed by Late Cretaceous collision between the northern passive margin of the African continent and an island arc. Field relationships and metamorphic facies indicate that ophiolite obduction was accomplished by continental underthrusting of the fore-arc limb of an island-arc edifice at considerable depth. Uplift of the ophiolite slab resulted from both compressional shortening and isostatic interaction of the continental crust with the mantle rock it underthrust. This model may apply to many other major ophiolite areas of the world, specifically Newfoundland, Cuba, northern Venezuela, Cyprus, the Urals, eastern Celebes, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. Events preceding the Mesozoic convergence of Africa and Eurasia and resultant Oman collision include late Paleozoic rifting in the present Turkey-Iran area, which produced a microcontinent comprising the Menderes and Kirsehir massifs of Turkey and the Rezaiyeh-Esfandagheh belt of Iran, separated from Eurasia by a northerly arm of the Tethys and from Africa by a southerly arm of the Tethys. Central Iran and central Afghanistan–southern Pamir–Karakorum are believed to have been a part of Gondwana positioned between Somalia and India. They too were affected by late Paleozoic rifting but did not reach their present position until early Tertiary time, driven north along with India by sea-floor spreading of anomaly 28 time and later.


This study investigates transformer losses caused by current harmonics. Electrical transformers are designed to work under sinusoidal voltage and current waves at a rated frequency. Recently, various nonlinear loads, such as power electronic converters, are connected to a power system; these converters generate current harmonics. Current harmonics increase power loss in transformers, which results in several problems, including temperature increase of the transformer and insulation damage. These problems will eventually shorten the operational life of the transformer. In this study, different types of losses caused by current harmonics in three-phase transformers are studied under linear and nonlinear load conditions. Linear loads are simulated and experimented on using pure resistance load, whereas nonlinear loads are simulated and experimented on using a three-phase twelve-pulse thyristor full-bridge rectifier. The different types of losses in three-phase transformers are evaluated analytically through the experimental result and simulation in PSiM.


The title square-planar nickel complex, [Ni(C20H22N2O6)], has Ni—N and Ni—O bond lengths of 1.8448 (14)/1.8478 (14) and 1.8536 (12)/1.8520 (12) Å. There is a slight twist in the two benzene rings at each end of the complex [dihedral angle = 11.11 (5)°]. All the atoms of the methoxy substitutents are in the plane of the ring to which they are attached except for one which deviates slightly [0.365 (3) Å]. In the crystal, weak C—H⋯O intermolecular interactions connect the molecules.


This article explores the Counter-Reformation medievalization of Polish–Lithuanian St. Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1458–1484)—whose canonization was only finalized in the seventeenth century—as a case study, taking up questions of the reception of cults of medieval saints in post-medieval societies, or in this case, the retroactive refashioning into a venerable medieval saint. The article investigates these questions across a transcultural Italo–Baltic context through the activities of principal agents of the saint's re-fashioning as a venerable saint during the late seventeenth century: the Pacowie from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Medici from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, during a watershed period of Tuscan–Lithuanian bidirectional interest. During this period, the two dynasties were entangled not only by means of the shared division of Jagiellończyk's bodily remains through translatio—the ritual relocation of relics of saints and holy persons—but also self-representational strategies that furthered their religio-political agendas and retroactively constructed their houses' venerable medieval roots back through antiquity. Drawing on distinct genres of textual, visual, and material sources, the article analyzes the Tuscan–Lithuanian refashioning of Kazimierz against a series of precious reliquaries made to translate holy remains between Vilnius to Florence to offer a contribution to the entangled histories of sanctity, art and material culture, and conceptual geography within the transtemporal and transcultural neocolonial context interconnecting the Middle Ages, Age of Reformations, and the Counter-Reformation between Italy and Baltic Europe.


Majority of the IT companies realized that ability to analyse and use data, could be one of the key factors for increasing of number of successful projects, portfolios, programs. Key performance indicators based on data analysis helps organizations be more prosperous in a long term perspective. Also, statistical data are very useful for monitoring and evaluation of project results which are very important for managers, delivery directors, CTO and others high level management of company. The Data Science methods could make more efficient project management in several of business problems. Analysis of historical data from the project life-cycle based on Data Science models could provide more efficient benefits for different stakeholders. Differential of the project data vector with target as an integral evaluation of the project success which allow for the complex correlations between separate features. Therefore, the influence of features importance and override creatures could be decreased on the target. This study propose new approach based on Data Science providing more efficient and accurately project management, taking into account best practices and project performance data.


Following the 2018 SEG Annual Meeting, the Gravity and Magnetics Committee held a postconvention workshop titled "Integrated imaging." The half-day workshop attracted nearly 50 participants from various backgrounds. Three primary objectives of the workshop were to explore the nonseismic toolbox, highlight real examples of integrated projects that benefitted (or did not benefit) from nonseismic data, and provide geoscientists from all backgrounds a learning opportunity to see how they might optimize the value of their imaging projects via integration with relatively low-cost nonseismic methods. The workshop had a highly interactive format that differed from traditional presentation-based settings. After eight brief case studies were presented, three concurrent guided discussions ensued. Participants were divided into three groups, and each group focused on one discussion topic at a time. The groups rotated, allowing everyone to discuss all three topics. The first discussion was centered on two general questions: what is integrated imaging, and what tools are available for it? The second discussion provided an opportunity to examine the relationships between different physical properties that must be managed during integrated multiphysics analysis. The third discussion focused on the costs and benefits of a multiparameter data acquisition. According to feedback from participants, these discussions were the most valuable part of the workshop. The participants agreed that an integrated approach in geophysical data analysis is a powerful but currently undervalued tool. Also noted were the value of integration with nonseismic methods illustrated in the case studies and the need for the integrated approach in data analysis to be taught in schools in addition to the classic overview of individual geophysical methods.


A geometry of networks endowed with a causal structure is discussed using the conventional framework of the equilibrium statistical mechanics. The popular growing network models appear as particular causal models. We focus on a class of tree graphs, an analytically solvable case. General formulas are derived, describing the degree distribution, the ancestor-descendant correlation, and the probability that a randomly chosen node lives at a given geodesic distance from the root. It is shown that the Hausdorff dimension d(H) of the causal networks is generically infinite, in contrast to the maximally random trees where it is generically finite.


We describe a new satellite data validation facility located in a savannah biome at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Kapiti Research Station (Kenya). The facility is focused on satellite land surface temperature (LST) and is equipped with multiple ground-viewing infrared radiometers across four sites. The in-situ LST observations are upscaled to match satellite LST products using a geometric illumination model. The in-situ sensor network represents a step-forward in LST validation in East Africa and savannah biomes. To our knowledge this is the first time that such an extensive network of LST radiometers and supporting measurements has been installed in sub-Saharan Africa, or a savannah. With this network we capture surface heterogeneity in a manner that has not previously been possible. The LST ground data from this station collected between October 2018 and March 2019 is used to evaluate the new Land Surface Analysis Satellite Application Facility (LSA-SAF) all-sky LST product (MLST-AS) that blends clear-sky infrared-retrieved LSTs with LSTs derived from a land surface energy balance model to fill gaps due to cloudy conditions. Comparison against the in-situ LSTs indicates overall accuracy, precision, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of MLST-AS to be 2.02 K, 1.38 K and 3.64 K respectively. The infrared-retrieved LST component of MLST-AS under clear skies has an accuracy, precision and RMSE of 1.16 K, 0.8 K and 3.16 K respectively. The energy balance model-based component of MLST-AS has performance statistics of 3.02 K, 1.38 K and 4.16 K. The MLST-AS energy balance model component is observed to perform worse when surface moisture is present, underestimating night-time and daily maximum temperatures by between 2 and 4 K in the 24 h following surface water deposition as precipitation or dew.