Selective Area Laser Deposition (SALD) has demonstrated the ability to deposit controlled shapes of silicon carbide and silicon nitride by using a laser beam to decompose a precursor gas. The goal of the work here is to include titanium among the list of SALD materials, although this goal has not yet been reached. This paper describes the selection of precursors and the results of some SALD experiments using the first precursor explored, titanium tetrachloride. The results of precursor gas mixture, pressure, and laser power on deposition composition and rates are discussed.


Framed Slotted Aloha (FSA) is often employed for scheduling tag's transmissions in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. Tags choose one of the offered slots for transmission and it can happen that some of the slots are empty, some have just one tag active - singleton slots and in some of the slots several tags are transmitting - collision slots. A standard compliant reader is capable of acknowledging just the tags from singleton slots. If a collision recovery is employed, even some of the tags from the collision slots can be acknowledged. This requires certain changes in the standard as modification of a tag signal and consequently the change of slot durations. In this paper, we propose two different ways of acknowledging colliding tags and we derive analytical formulas for calculating the expected frame duration in collision scenarios and the expected number of identified tags. Furthermore, we evaluate the proposed schemes by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The obtained results are compared with the performance of a standard compliant reader.


This paper depicts the advances made by our team in the fields of computer science, mainly computer compiler writing and interpreter writing, to define a computer language oriented to solving problems in the field of emergency simulation, database management, interprocess communication and network programming. In this paper, we present a simple model of a structure being subjected to the various effects of a tremor. In the case study presented here, the building is designed to withstand a certain force beyond which a partial or total destruction will occur. The computer model developed in this paper will show at which point the structure will start to collapse as well as the evaluation of the casualties that may result from such destruction. The result may be used by a professional team of experts in various fields in order to study the various scenarios that may occur if a tremor hits the structure. Evacuation or emergency response operations could be planned in advance. Other emergency situations such as mass migration of population due to other natural disasters such as floods, tornados, and fire can be studied and simulated.


We analyze solutions drawn from the recently published posterior distribution of the TRAPPIST-1 system, which consists of seven Earth-size planets appearing to be in a resonant chain around a red dwarf. We show that all the planets are simultaneously in twoplanet and three-planet resonances, apart from the innermost pair for which the two-planet resonant angles circulate. By means of a frequency analysis, we highlight that the transit-timing variation (TTV) signals possess a series of common periods varying from days to decades, which are also present in the variations of the dynamical variables of the system. Shorter periods (e.g., the TTVs characteristic timescale of 1.3 yr) are associated with two-planet mean-motion resonances, while longer periods arise from three-planet resonances. By use of N-body simulations with migration forces, we explore the origin of the resonant chain of TRAPPIST-1 and find that for particular disc conditions, a chain of resonances – similar to the observed one – can be formed which accurately reproduces the observed TTVs. Our analysis suggests that while the 4-yr collected data of observations hold key information on the two-planet resonant dynamics, further monitoring of TRAPPIST-1 will soon provide signatures of three-body resonances, in particular the 3.3 and 5.1 yr periodicities expected for the current best-fit solution. dditional observations would help to assess whether the innermost pair of planets is indeed resonant (its proximity to the 8:5 resonance being challenging to explain), and therefore give additional constraints on formation scenarios.


The fourth edition of Dermatology in General Medicine surpasses the standards set in the previous three editions, published in 1971, 1979, and 1987. While it continues to serve as a superb reference textbook, the fourth edition manages to present even more information in a significantly more accessible manner. To parallel and enhance the quality of the text, several changes have been made in format, structure, and design. Perhaps the first thing noticed is the conspicuous absence of the atlas. All of the original color plates and many more have been incorporated into their appropriate chapters throughout the two-volume book. This is a far more efficient arrangement. The text has been reformatted with divisions that are more clearly marked and allow quick reference to a particular section of interest. The layout of the table of contents is also easier to read, with chapter titles in a single column and in bold


Abstract Management of cancer pain is still a significant problem in healthcare today despite the fact that cancer pain can be controlled in approximately 90% of patients. Emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering associated with the disease complicates the problem. Guidelines issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality address management of cancer pain. Pain intensity scales, complementary and alternative methods, and the role of the interdisciplinary care team, as well as the need to provide spiritual support to the patient and family, are included in the discussion.


Energy market opening, with higher net utilization, and increasing competition are urgently requiring a solution to strongly limit loop flows. This paper presents an approach to manage loop flow problem in liberalized power systems. This methodology, which involves implementation of FACTS devices, applies also network reduction models towards a solution of the problem in the real networks. A UPFC model, derived from power injection model, is described and implemented in a network, and the results both in the equivalent and real system are commented and explained. Index Terms--Deregulation; equivalent networks; FACTS; loop flow; power injection modeling; UPFC.


Extracellular Ca(++), a ubiquitous cation in the soluble environment of cells both free living and within the human body, regulates most aspects of amoeboid cell motility, including shape, uropod formation, pseudopod formation, velocity, and turning in Dictyostelium discoideum. Hence it affects the efficiency of both basic motile behavior and chemotaxis. Extracellular Ca(++) is optimal at 10 mM. A gradient of the chemoattractant cAMP generated in the absence of added Ca(++) only affects turning, but in combination with extracellular Ca(++), enhances the effects of extracellular Ca(++). Potassium, at 40 mM, can partially substitute for Ca(++). Mg(++), Mn(++), Zn(++), and Na(+) cannot. Extracellular Ca(++), or K(+), also induce the cortical localization of myosin II in a polar fashion. The effects of Ca(++), K(+) or a cAMP gradient do not appear to be similarly mediated by an increase in the general pool of free cytosolic Ca(++). These results suggest a model, in which each agent functioning through different signaling systems, converge to affect the cortical localization of myosin II, which in turn effects the behavioral changes leading to efficient cell motility and chemotaxis. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 2009. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


Children's use of the toilet at school, although rarely explored, is an important facet of school experience with consequences for physical and psychological health. A mixed methods study investigated views of 25 children (4–5 years) regarding potential stressors in the first school year, including views of toileting, in Dublin, Ireland. Despite very positive responses to school, most responses to toileting (15 of 25) were mixed or negative. Although some liked to go, or noted the toilets were clean, most indicated delayed toilet use ("bursting" to go) and ambivalent or negative experiences such as fear of not identifying the right toilet, fear of being alone, lack of privacy, and potential bullying. Many children did not expect to receive help from the teacher. As delaying toilet use can have lasting health consequences, teacher–nurse collaboration could be used to develop whole-school policies to support children's early adjustment in this sensitive area of functioning.


A micromechanics method based on the High-Order-Theory developed by Aboudi et al. is used to predict the thermomechanical response of composites reinforced by shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers, and the non-uniform thermal distribution in composite arising from the process of heating or cooling is considered. The numerical development based on this model was coded to predict the thermomechanical response of shape memory alloy fiber/elastomer matrix composite subjected to thermal cycle loading. When the composite is heated, two heating ways, thermal gradients and heat source by passing an electric current through the SMA fibers are imposed on the composite respectively. Upon cooling, the first thermal boundary condition and the second thermal boundary condition are subjected to the composite respectively. A series of stress distributions and temperature distributions for different instants are calculated to reveal the interaction between the SMA material and matrix. It is useful to analyze and design the SMA actuator driven by heat source or the surface temperature.


Owing to the superparamagnetic effect (SPE), areal storage densities achievable by today's magnetic recording technologies are limited to around 500-800 Gbits/in2. In the past few years, the industry has managed to overcome the SPE barrier for more storage capacity. Thermal-assisted atomic force microscope (AFM) based data storage is a new attractive potential solution to supersede magnetic hard disks. This book familiarizes readers to this new data storage technology. Thermal transport in the AFM based data storage system is one of the key factors affecting this technology to successfully transfer to commercial products. Thus the emphasis of this book is placed on the issue of thermal transport in the system using atomic/molecular scale simulations. To cater the need of readers from multidisciplinary background, a large number of references have also been included in this book, which have more detailed discussion of this active research field. We hope this book would provide useful information to all those interested in the new data storage technology, and contribute to parts of its further development.


Abstract Tissue-engineering as laboratory based alternative to human autografts and allografts provides "custom made organs" cultured from patient's material. To overcome the limited donor nerve availability different biologic nerve grafts were engineered in a rat sciatic nerve model: cultured isogenic Schwann cells were implanted into acellular autologous matrices: veins, muscles, nerves, and epineurium tubes. Autologous nerve grafts, and the respective biogenic material without Schwann cells served as control. After 6 weeks regeneration was assessed clinically, histologically and morphometrically. The PCR analysis showed that the implanted Schwann cells remain within all the grafts. A good regeneration was noted in the muscle-Schwann cell-group, while regeneration quality in the other groups (with or without Schwann cells) was impaired. The muscle-Schwann cell graft showed a systematic and organized regeneration including a proper orientation of regenerated fibers. All venous and epineurium grafts had a more disorganized regeneration. Seemingly, the lack of endoneural tube like structures in vein grafts lead to impaired regeneration. And, apparently,the beneficial effects of implanted Schwann cells into a large luminal structure can only be demonstrated to a limited extent if endoneural like structures are lacking. A tube offers less area for Schwann cell adhesion and it is more likely to collapse. This underlines the role of the basal lamina, or at least an inner structure acting as scaffold in axonal regeneration. Although the conventional nerve graft remains the gold standard, the implantation of Schwann cells into an acellular muscle provides a biogenic graft with basal lamina tubes as pathway for regenerating axons and the positive effects of Schwann cells producing neurotrophic and neurotropic factors, and thus, supporting axonal regeneration.


Background IL-15 is a proinflammatory cytokine that contributes to local inflammation and joint damage in RA. A locally overproduced IL-15 may be responsible for the activation and proliferation of T cells in situ, reflected by significantly increased number of activated T cells in RA possibly contributing to the pathogenesis of RA (Kuca-Warnawin, 2011). Objectives The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical significance of serum (S) and synovial fluid (SF) interleukin (IL)-15 measurements in relation to laboratory and clinical measures of disease activity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Forty-four patients with RA (22 in activity) and (22 in remission) and 12 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) were included in this study. RA activity was determined using the Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28 index. Concentrations of IL-15 were measured by ELISA. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were also determined. Cross-sectional correlations between S and SF levels of cytokine and values of DAS 28 index were calculated. Results The results have shown that IL-15 levels in S and SF of patients with RA were significantly higher than the levels obtain from patients with OA (p<0.001). S IL-15 level was higher in active group than remission group (P<0.05). Significantly higher S and SF levels of IL-15 and serum CRP values were found in RA patients with high disease activity (DAS 28>5.1) compared to those with mild (DAS 28>3.2) and low disease activity (DAS 28>2.6) (p<0.01). S IL-15 was higher in RA with positive RF (P<0.05). Positive correlation between SF IL-15 and RF in active RA was found (P<0.01). Serum and SF concentrations of IL-15 positively correlated with DAS 28 index values, i.e., disease activity. ESR and duration of morning stiffness were correlated with S and SF IL-15 in active RA (P<0.05), but no correlation with duration of the disease. Serum IL-15 was found to be positively correlated with SF IL-15 in RA patients in activity. Conclusions In conclusion, SF IL-15 levels in RA patients are good indicators of disease activity. The results obtained support the contribution of its use in clinical practice as a reliable method in assessing disease activity in RA patients. References Elevated number of recently activated T cells in bone marrow of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a role for interleukin 15? Kuca-Warnawin E, Ann Rheum Dis 01-JAN-2011; 70(1): 227-33. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The increasing popularity of intensity‐modulated arc therapy (IMAT) treatments requires specifically designed linac quality assurance (QA) programs. Gantry angle is one of the parameters that has a major effect on the outcome of IMAT treatments since dose reconstruction for patient‐specific QA relies on the gantry angle; therefore, it is essential to ensure its accuracy for correct delivery of the prescribed dose. In this study, a simple measurement method and algorithm are presented for QA of gantry angle measurements based on integrated EPID images acquired at distinct gantry angles and cine EPID images during an entire 360° arc. A comprehensive study was carried out to evaluate this method, as well as to evaluate two commercially available inclinometers (NG360 and IBA GAS supplied in conjunction with popular array dosimeters Delta4 and MatriXXEvolution, respectively) by comparing their simultaneous angle measurement results with the linac potentiometer readouts at five gantry speeds. In all tested measurement systems, the average differences with the reference angle data were less than 0.3° in static mode. In arc mode, at all tested gantry speeds the average difference was less than 0.1° for the IBA GAS and the proposed EPID‐based method, and 0.6° for the NG360 after correction for the inherent systematic time delay of the inclinometer. The gantry rotation speed measured by the three independent systems had an average deviation of about 0.01°/s from the nominal gantry speed. PACS numbers: 06.30.Bp; 87.56.Fc; 87.56.‐v


Abstract. Ramp events are large rapid variations within wind power time series. Ramp forecasting can benefit from specific strategies so as to particularly take into account these shifts in the wind power output dynamic. In the short-term context (characterized by prediction horizons from minutes to a few days), a Regime-Switching (RS) model based on Artificial Neural Nets (ANN) is proposed. The objective is to identify three regimes in the wind power time series: Ramp-up, Ramp-down and No-ramp regime. An on-line regime assessment methodology is also proposed, based on a local gradient criterion. The RS-ANN model is compared to a single-ANN model (without regime discrimination), concluding that the regime-switching strategy leads to significant improvements for one-hour ahead forecasts, mainly due to the improvements obtained during ramp-up events. Including other explanatory variables (NWP outputs, local measurements) during the regime assessment could eventually improve forecasts for further horizons.


Ubiquity in Information Systems ISs is a new requirement widely expressed by customers and users due to emerging and evolving communication and mobile technologies. Each IS should support a set of mobile applications used either to interact smartly with the changing environment, to provide adaptive services to customers or both. Designing ISs with highly technological risks requires a precise and appropriate development process. However, such processes fail to consider ubiquitous requirements throughout the development process. This paper tries to solve this issue by proposing a process for identifying and modeling ubiquitous requirements that can be integrated into an existing IS engineering process. This process, called E-CARe, focuses on adapting to the surrounding context; this requires detailed specification and analysis work by a context designer. E-CARe uses an event-driven logic, as dynamicity and reactivity are the major properties required from ubiquitous applications. A Model-Driven Engineering MDE approach is used to automate specification work. In order to test the process, a case study from the intelligent transport domain is applied as an illustration.


Differential domestic debris management has implications on health security in cities. Within the last four decades, Ibadan has retained the identity of a dirt city. The Ogunpa water channel constructed after the devastating flood of the 1980s remains attractive for domestic wastes disposal. This multi-site comparative ethnographic study employed qualitative anthropological methods as data collection tools, using rational choice model as an explanatory framework to unravel covert factors responsible for the protracted dirtiness identity. Ethnographic data reflect disparity in private and public waste management efforts across high, middle and low income residential areas. Persistent poor wastes management due to rational choices, poor urban policy and lack of proper public environmental health education, resulting in unwholesome health problems in Ibadan, render the attainment of community health security a mirage. As such, the study recommends among other things, a more balanced waste management execution policy across board in cities.


In this article, we take as reference research carried out in digitised files of the journal The School: Official Journal of Teaching, between 1900 and 1905, in search of information about elementary arithmetic knowledge for primary education present in copies of this journal. Our objective was to verify how this knowledge is reflected in the school exercises published in the journal. The theoretical-methodological contributions made to reach the objective are based on the concepts of expert, expertise, mathematical knowledge to teach and to teach, in its relations with the information about the mathematics present in the volumes of the journal that were researched. In this respect, we consider it essential to highlight the role of Francisco Ferreira de Vilhena Alves as an expert, whose insertions as editor of articles and sections of the journal, as well as from the comments on his work as an expert in education in the period in which the journal circulated, more specifically with regard to his work on the introduction of the decimal metric system in primary, secondary and especially the Normal School of Pará in the early twentieth century. The research showed that the arithmetic knowledge to be taught and to teach are materialised, interconnected, in the school exercises published in the journal, in an approach that Vilhena Alves considered adequate to guide the teacher in relation to arithmetic concepts and their teaching.


Environmental quality strongly depends on human behavior patterns. Many environmental challenges are rooted in human actions, and thus, it is believed that these problems can be reduced through the promotion of pro-environmental behaviors (PB). Owing to this reality, the current study aims to reduce the environmental footprint of a hospital by promoting its employees' environment-specific behavior via corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical leadership (EL). More importantly, the study also considered the role of female leaders in the proposed relationship. The current study collected the data from the respondents employed in different hospitals of a developing economy through a questionnaire (paper-pencil method). A total of 489 valid responses were collected, which were analyzed by employing the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. As per the current study's findings, there is a positive relationship between CSR, while EL mediates between CSR and PB. Likewise, the moderating role of female leaders in the proposed relationship was more significant than that of male leaders. More specifically, the study's findings have considerable theoretical and practical implications, as it opens paths for researchers to further investigate the applicability of different dimensions of CSR and the role of gender in environmental sustainability. It provides insight to policymakers on how to restructure their CSR preferences, priorities on the environment, and gender differences.


A field study was conducted in Ankara, a semi-arid region of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Yuva and Cantaloupe Sally F1 melon cultivars (Cucumis melo L.) were irrigated by drip method from transplanting to the beginning of the flowering (If), fruit set (Ifs), ripening (Ir), and harvest (Ih), and included a non-irrigated treatment (I0). Growth, yield, and fruit quality parameters in response to the duration of irrigation season were determined. The number of shoots and female flowers per plant, shoot length, and titratable acidity in Cantaloupe were lower than in Yuva, while similar total soluble solids content of fruit flesh was obtained in both cultivars. Irrigation application provided for an increase in the fruit number per plant, fruit size, fruit weight, and yield, and resulted in a decrease in total soluble solids and the ratings of sensory characteristics compared with non irrigated treatments in both cultivars, but these increases and decreases in the above parameters could not be correlated with the increase in the duration of the irrigation season, hence the amount of seasonal irrigation water. The highest yields were obtained in Ir treatment in Yuva and in Ir and Ih treatments in Cantaloupe. Continuing irrigation during fruit ripening furthered shoot growth in both cultivars, did not affect yield in Cantaloupe, and remarkably reduced yield in Yuva. Irrigation from the stage of transplanting until the beginning of fruit ripening was suggested as well for both cultivars with regard to considerably high yield and high fruit quality. In this irrigation program, irrigation water amounts of 388.3-441.4 mm were applied, seasonal evapotranspiration of 499.0-587.1 mm was found, and a yield per plant of 6105-6206 g in Yuva and 7533-7878 g in Cantaloupe was obtained.


Malachite green (MG) is an organic contaminant and the effluents with MG negatively influence the health and balance of the coastal and marine ecosystem. The diverse and abundant microbial communities inhabiting in mangroves participate actively in various ecological processes. Metagenomic sequencing from mangrove sediments was applied to excavate the resources MG-degradation genes (MDGs) and to assess the potential of their corresponding enzymes. A data set of 10 GB was assembled into 33,756 contigs and 44,743 ORFs were predicted. In the data set, 666 bacterial genera and 13 pollutant degradation pathways were found. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most dominate phyla in taxonomic assignment. A total of 44 putative MDGs were revealed and possibly derived from 30 bacterial genera, most of which belonged to the phyla of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. The MDGs belonged to three gene families, including peroxidase genes (up to 93.54% of total MDGs), laccase (3.40%), and p450 (3.06%). Of the three gene families, three representatives (Mgv-rLACC, Mgv-rPOD, and Mgv-rCYP) which had lower similarities to the closest sequences in GenBank were prokaryotic expressed and their enzymes were characterized. Three recombinant proteins showed different MG-degrading activities. Mgv-rPOD had the strongest activity which decolorized 97.3% of MG (300 mg/L) within 40 min. In addition, Mgv-rPOD showed a more complete process of MG degradation compared with other two recombinant proteins according to the intermediates detected by LC-MS. Furthermore, the high MG-degrading activity was maintained at low temperature (20°C), wider pH range, and the existence of metal ions and chelating agent. Mgv-rLACC and Mgv-rCYP also removed 63.7% and 54.1% of MG (20 mg/L) within 24 h, respectively. The results could provide a broad insight into discovering abundant genetic resources and an effective strategy to access the eco-friendly way for preventing coastal pollution.


East Kalimantan has a diversity of plants from various Dayak ethnic groups. One of them is the Tabar Kedayan (Aristolochia foveolata Merr) plant located in Malinau district. This plant is empirically efficacious as antidiarrhea, antidotum (anti poison). Efficacy of Tabar Kedayan plant has not been scientifically confirmed, this is because there is still little scientific research and information about the content of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds contained in Tabar Kedayan Root. The presence of secondary metabolite is phenolic which has considerable biological active prospects as antioxidant, antibacterial, antiamuba, anti-inflammatory, antihepatotoxic and antivirus. The aim of this research is to analyze the chemical content and total phenolic content of tabar kedayan root in fractionation with various nonpolar, semipolar and polar solvents. The analysis used in the determination of total phenolic content using visible spectrophotometric method. Data of analysis used standard curve method based on absorbance data and concentration of standard solution. The results of this study obtained the highest total phenolic average on ethyl acetate fraction of 77.74 ±2,633 mg GAE/g then ethanol fraction of water amounted to 38.10 ±0,461 mg GAE/g and the smallest level of n-hexane fraction of 29.36±0,193 mg GAE/g. Conclusions in this study total phenolic content is found in most semipolar fractions.


The American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Nutrition believes that a child with a family history of either early coronary heart disease or hyperlipidemia should have a complete evaluation, including serum or plasma measurement of cholesterol, other lipids, and lipoproteins. On the other hand, the Committee on Nutrition does not favor universal testing of blood cholesterol levels of children either in the hospital or in the office of the private physician. At this time, the value of routine testing appears outweighed by the disadvantages; office testing has additional limitations.
 We believe that universal cholesterol testing should not be part of continuing well-child care for the following reasons.
 1. The standardization of equipment and the measurement of cholesterol are fraught with difficulties. Precision and accuracy are essential cornponents of any laboratory measurement. Survey data show that replicate measurements of a sample containing 240 mg/dL of cholesterol resulted in values ranging from 192 to 288 mg/dL. Because a low-fat diet could only be expected to decrease the cholesterol level 10% to 15% (204 to 216 mg/dL), an improvement could thus be obscured by the error of the measurement.
 2. Many of the instruments suggested for the measurement of cholesterol in the office have not been adequately standardized for field conditions. Cholesterol measurements obtained from an assortment of instruments available commercially ranged from 187 to 379 mg/dL (the reference standard was 262 mg/dL). Hospital laboratories are often precise but not always accurate; office determinations frequently lack both precision and accuracy. Moreover, proper performance of this laboratory procedure requires technical skill not always available in the office.


The capacity of symmetric private information retrieval with $K$ messages, $N$ servers (out of which any $T$ may collude), and an omniscient Byzantine adversary (who can corrupt any $B$ answers) is shown to be $1 - \frac{T+2B}{N}$ [1], under the requirement of zero probability of error. In this work, we show that by weakening the adversary slightly (either providing secret low rate channels between the servers and the user, or limiting the observation of the adversary), and allowing vanishing probability of error, the capacity increases to $1 - \frac{T+B}{N}$.


Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and Ernest Hemingway are two authors who, at the peak of their creativity, dealt ultimately with the essence of man. Both Don Quijote and the Old Man in The Old Man and the Sea are archetypes with similar characteristics which tend to measure the essence and meaning of the eternal idea of universal man. Don Quijote is an example par excellence of this, as is Santiago the fisherman, Hemingway's Old Man. What makes these archetypes, these paradigms, the conveyors of the most important intrinsic human values? Both Cervantes and Hemingway give us a definite answer through their symbolism: the essence of man stems from the importance of a human endeavor applied toward the fulfillment of a morally good ideal. And when, in the pursuit of an ideal, these two heroes strive and have the power for action, this essence comes into existence because the essence in question is nothing more than the truth that both heroes consciously accept—and their acceptance of a moral attitude toward that truth. What is the moral attitude of both heroes, Don Quijote and Santiago, once the confrontation with their truth has been established? The answer is "action." They both have the power to act, as a sine qua non element, to achieve their reason for being moral men. Action gives meaning to their morality and, ultimately, to their essence. Don Quijote and Santiago the fisherman know one essential truth: life is cruel. They do not assume, however, the Unamunian attitude of sadness and despair, or the cynical belief that a moody God created man as a supremely bitter joke which is assumed in The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. They take life in a most male fashion; they give meaning to their lives and existence by a strenuous human approach, by showing their stamina in fighting life, thus earning their immortality. It is at this point that both Cervantes and Hemingway use similar symbolism in their parallel artistic studies in the essence of man. It is interesting to note the similarity in the portraits of the two heroes. Cervantes writes: Frisaba la edad de nuestro hidalgo con los cincuenta años; era de complexión recia, seco de carnes, enjuto de rostro, gran madrugador y amigo de la caza ("The Master himself was about fifty years old, of a strong complexion, dry flesh and a thin, withered face; he was an early riser and a great friend of hunting.")1 This portrait coincides almost exactly with the one Hemingway paints


Ordinary t-timed Petri nets are used for modeling, analysis and synthesis of random topology production systems and networks. Each production system is first decomposed into production line (transfer chain), assembly, disassembly and parallel machines modules and then their corresponding modular Petri net models are derived. The overall system PN model is obtained via synthesis of the generic modules satisfying system constraints. P- and T-invariants are calculated and given a random topology production system, the total number of the system PN model nodes (places, transitions) is calculated from the corresponding generic PN modules. Results show the applicability of the proposed methodology.


Abstract : This paper described the effect of the multiple injections on the emission characteristics and combustion stability in a common rail diesel engine. In order to investigate the influence of multiple injections in a passenger car diesel engine, the injection strategy was varied with pilot injection, post injection and one main injection at various conditions. Based on the experimental results, the combustion and emissions characteristics were analyzed for the various injection strategies such as main, pilot-main, double-pilot-main, double-pilot-main-post injection strategy. It is revealed that the NO X , HC and CO emissions are reduced by double pilot and post injection at medium load, however, soot emission is increased. Also, in the case of multiple injection, the combustion pressure is increased smoothly near the TDC and the coefficient of variation and fuel consumptions are decreased. Key words : Injection strategy(분사 전략), Multiple injection(다단 분사), Pilot injection(파일럿 분사), Post injection(후 분사), Combustion characteristics(연소 특성), Emission characteristics(배기 배출물 특성)


Summary.

Introduction.—A large collection of non-cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika, containing 2475 specimens and 57 species, made by the late Dr. Cuthbert Christy, has now been identified. The collection is described in this paper, which forms part of a series attempting to put on record all data relating to the fish of the lakes of Africa. The present work has been undertaken as a preliminary to further ecological studies in the field.

History of Investigations.—Since its discovery in 1858, by Burton and Speke, Lake Tanganyika, having so peculiar a fauna, has been visited by many collectors, who have brought back specimens, including fish, till at the present time there are 76 species of non-cichlids known from the lake.

Physiography.—The drainage-system of Lake Tanganyika is small in proportion to the size of the lake, the main affluent being the Ruzizi River from Lake Kivu, while the only outlet is the Lukuga River, which flows westwards into the Lualaba River, a tributary of the Congo. Little is known about the physical and chemical conditions of the water, except that the depth is very great and that the salinity is rather high, with a preponderance of magnesium salts.

The Fish-fauna and, its Distribution.—A table shows all the species of nonaichlid fish known from Lake Tanganyika, together with their distribution in other parts of Africa. The proportion of endemic forms, 42 out of 76 (55 per cent.) is very high, and most of these belong to groups that inhabit open and well-oxygenated waters and which are not able to penetrate through small streams and swamps to other drainage-systems.

The distribution of the remaining 34 species in Lake Tanganyika is analysed, and the number of these found in each of the various drainage-systems is determined. There are twenty in the Congo system, ten of which are also in the Zambezi system, four others in the Zambezi or East African Rivers, two in Lake Kivu, possibly two in Lake Rukwa, eight in Lake Victoria, and seven in the Nile.

History of the Lake and its Drainage-system.—Gunther's and Moore's hypothesis of a marine origin of Lake Tanganyika has become untenable as a result of recent evidence. It is now certain that the lake came into existence in the centre of the continental mass as a result of the great rifting movements, which start in early Tertiary times. The subsequent history was probably roughly as follows:—At first the lake was connected to the northern lakes and rivers which now drain to the Nile. It was then isolated by the uplift of land immediately to its north, and was much reduced in volume during the arid interpluvial of the middle Pleistocene, with the result that the salts in its water became concentrated. During this period it is probable that the pseudo-marine types of Mollusca etc. were evolved. The second pluvial period, which followed aridity, refilled the lake and reduced the concentration of salts, but isolation from other waters may have continued till the formation of the Mufumbiro volcanoes in the late Pleistocene. These volcanoes dammed the upper reaches of the Ruchuru River, and caused ponding, with the result that Lake Kivu was formed and the drainage was reversed to a southerly direction, viâ the Ruzizi River, into Lake Tanganyika. This extra supply of water overflowed Lake Tanganyika, and an outlet was cut on the western shore, putting the lake into faunal communication with the Congo system.

Ecology.—Some evidence about the food and habitats of the species has been obtained from examinations of stomach contents, so that the fish can be divided into groups depending on their feeding habits, and a simple food-chain diagram has been constructed.

Systematic.—A key for the identification of the species is included, principally for use by naturalists who have not specialized in systematic ichthyology. Five new species are described, seven are redescribed, the species of Chrysichthys from Lake Tanganyika are completely revised, and the generic description of Phyllonemus is modified. In all cases where Christy's specimens are not typical the differences are noted in detail, in the hope that this may lead to a better understanding of the variation within the species and also of the production of endemic forms, whether varieties, species, or genera, under the influence of isolation.


This paper introduces the background, the main contents and the knowledge structure of the multimedia CAI courseware in Engineering Mechanics course. This paper focuses on the basic ideas of the courseware design and development, such as the elements of teaching system, the design of system architecture, the analysis and selection of system development tool software, and the key technologies and their implementation in systems development. Finally this paper discusses the application of CAI Courseware System in Engineering Mechanics, and the experiences in the teaching process. Using the multimedia CAI courseware while teaching in the classroom, we can promote changes in teaching methods, in reform and development of teaching ideas and theory, and improve teaching quality and effectiveness.


I study the effect of a threat of hedge fund activism on corporate investment. I find that managers are less likely to undertake acquisitions when subject to a higher threat of activism. They decrease the number of risky, value-creating acquisitions undertaken by the firm. I present evidence that the results can be explained by the manager's exposure to firm-level risk. Hedge fund activists often pursue a restructuring of the target firms, which may increase the riskiness of the firm's assets and reduce the manager's incentives to take on new risky projects. Overall, my results demonstrate that activists can create ex-ante inefficiencies by altering the incentives-risk sharing tradeoff of the manager's compensation contract.


Vision transformers have achieved remarkable success in computer vision tasks by using multi-head self-attention modules to capture long-range dependencies within images. However, the high inference computation cost poses a new challenge. Several methods have been proposed to address this problem, mainly by slimming patches. In the inference stage, these methods classify patches into two classes, one to keep and the other to discard in multiple layers. This approach results in additional computation at every layer where patches are discarded, which hinders inference acceleration. In this study, we tackle the patch slimming problem from a different perspective by proposing a life regression module that determines the lifespan of each image patch in one go. During inference, the patch is discarded once the current layer index exceeds its life. Our proposed method avoids additional computation and parameters in multiple layers to enhance inference speed while maintaining competitive performance. Additionally, our approach requires fewer training epochs than other patch slimming methods.


In a double-blind randomized study, we compared the effects of the M1-selective muscarinic receptor antagonists pirenzepine and the nonselective antagonist ipratropium bromide on bronchoconstriction induced by inhaled sulfur dioxide (SO2) and methacholine in atopic volunteers. Both inhaled pirenzepine (70 micrograms) and ipratropium bromide (7 micrograms) significantly inhibited vagally mediated bronchoconstriction by SO2 to the same extent (p less than 0.02). However, at this dose, pirenzepine had no effect on methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction, whereas ipratropium bromide gave significant protection (p less than 0.02). This indicates that vagally mediated bronchoconstriction in humans can be inhibited by blockade of pirenzepine-sensitive (M1) muscarinic receptors probably present on a different site from muscarinic receptors at the neuromuscular junction and presumably localized to parasympathetic ganglia. Pirenzepine may be useful in investigating ganglionic function and could be beneficial therapeutically in airway disease.


The intra- and inter-rater reliability of a motor function evaluation of stroke patients, based on the Bobath approach, was studied. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine the degree of agreement between repeated measurements on the same patient taken by the same rater and between measurements taken by three raters on the same patient. In the intra-rater study, each of 19 patients was evaluated in three different sessions by one of 19 raters. In the inter-rater study 18 patients were each evaluated by three different raters. The intra-rater data were highly reliable, with ICCs of 0.95 and 0.97 for the upper and lower limbs respectively. For the inter-rater study, the ICCs were 0.79 and 0.77 for the upper and lower limbs respectively. It can therefore be concluded that this instrument, previously demonstrated to quantify patient progress, is also reliable both in intra- and inter-rater dimensions.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is characterised by an elevated capacity for cell invasion and lymph node metastasis. The cause remains to be determined. Recent studies suggest that microRNAs can regulate the evolution of malignant behaviours by regulating multiple target genes. In this study, we first confirmed that miR-363 is down-regulated in HNSCC tissues with lymph node metastasis and cell lines with highly invasive capacity. We also found that podoplanin (PDPN) is up-regulated in the metastatic HNSCC tissues, and ectopic over-expression of miR-363 suppressed the metastatic behaviour of HNSCC cells by directly targeting PDPN. These data support a key role of miR-363-PDPN in head and neck cancer metastasis by regulating cellular invasion and migration.

Citation Format: Wantao Chen. Dysregulated miR-363 affects head and neck cancer invasion and metastasis by targeting PDPN gene. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5295. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5295


This paper is the fifth of five pre-course readings for our leadership course.The intention of this one semester leadership course is to leave participants actually being leaders and exercising leadership effectively as their natural self-expression. By "natural self-expression" we mean a way of being and acting in any leadership situation that is a spontaneous and intuitive effective response to what one is dealing with. The course is based on a new science of leadership. In addition to being designed to actually create leaders, this new science of leadership enables faculty in higher education to access, study, research, and teach being a leader and the effective exercise of leadership as these are actually lived and experienced.History of the Course:This course was first developed by the authors at the University of Rochester Simon School of Business, New York, USA, from 2004 to 2008, working each year with 70 to 115 undergraduates, graduate students, administrators, alumni, business executives and consultants, and faculty from various academic institutions. The course was taught in the curriculum at the United States Air Force Academy since 2008; at Erasmus Academie Rotterdam, Netherlands, in June 2009 (a version of which was also taught at the Erasmus University Law School from 2009 and 2010); at Texas AM in India under the auspices of the IC Centre for Governance and MW Corporation in November 2010; at the Dartmouth College Medical School, USA, in June 2012; at the University of British Columbia's entrepreneurship@UBC, Canada in June 2013; at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in July 2014; at the Zayed University Convention Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in January 2015; and at Clemson University School of Business in Clemson, South Carolina, USA, in June 2016. Courses offered for the benefit of the Erhard-Jensen Ontological / Phenomenological Initiative include: Whistler, B.C. Canada in October 2012; Bermuda in November 2014; and Cancun, Mexico in October 2013 and December 2015. The promise of the course is to leave participants actually being leaders and exercising leadership effectively as their natural self-expression and our intention is for the course to contribute to the development of the science of leadership. The course is founded on an ontological / phenomenological model of human nature.Our desire is to make the course available to faculty in higher education to teach it, to communicate it and to extend it. This material is not fully complete nor is it polished to our standards. We are releasing the material so that we can benefit from the comments, criticisms and suggestions of others in higher education who share our desire to accelerate the development of a true science of leadership. We want to see this material (or material derived from it) taught in every major business school and university.While the course is still a work in progress, we, the authors and instructors, are making all the materials available through SSRN (Social Science Research Network) to those faculty members who wish to teach versions of the course in a university or college setting.


The analysis of motion perception historically has included efferent as well as afferent mechanisms to account for the perception of motion during eye movement. The application of efferent mechanisms to motion perception has been limited, however, by several illusions which are apparently inconsistent with the notion that oculomotor mechanisms contribute to motion perception. An alternative account is presented of the manner in which efference may contribute to the perception of motion. It is proposed that distinct smooth eye-movement systems contribute differentially to object motion perception. Specifically, activity in the smooth pursuit system gives rise to the perception of object motion, whereas activity in the smooth component of reflexive eye movements does not. Tracking of a moving object results in object motion perception as a result of efference in the pursuit system. However, the pursuit system may be activated to oppose the smooth component of reflexive eye movements in order to preserve fixation on a stationary object. In such cases neither the fixated object nor the eye is moving but illusory movement results from the efference in the pursuit system. A number of illusory movement phenomena are interpreted in terms of this model.


Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are synthesized with a diversity of surface chemistries that mediate biochemical interactions and physiological response to the particles. In this work, silver engineered nanomaterials (AgENMs) are used to evaluate the role of surface charge in protein interactions and cellular cytotoxicity. The most abundant protein in blood, human serum albumin (HSA), was interacted with 40 nm AgENMs with a range of surface-charged coatings: positively charged branched polyethyleneimine (bPEI), negatively charged citrate (CIT), and circumneutral poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). HSA adsorption to AgENMs was monitored by UV–vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering, while changes to the protein structure were evaluated with circular dichroism spectroscopy. Binding affinity for citrate-coated AgENMs and HSA is largest among the three AgENM coatings; yet, HSA lost the most secondary structure upon interaction with bPEI-coated AgENMs compared to the other two coatings. HSA increased AgENM oxidative dissolution across all particle types, with the greatest dissolution for citrate-coated AgENMs. Results indicate that surface coating is an important consideration in transformation of both the particle and protein upon interaction. To connect results to cellular outcomes, we also performed cytotoxicity experiments with HepG2 cells across all three AgENM types with and without HSA. Results show that bPEI-coated AgENMs cause the greatest loss of cell viability, both with and without inclusion of HSA with the AgENMs. Thus, surface coatings on AgENMs alter both biophysical interactions with proteins and particle cytotoxicity. Within this study set, positively charged bPEI-coated AgENMs cause the greatest disruption to HSA structure and cell viability.


To assess the cellular localization of angiotensin receptors in human heart, we isolated human cardiac fibroblasts from explanted end-stage failing human hearts. As judged by an immunofluorescence assay, the isolated cells consisted of 96% of fibroblasts. Using receptor binding studies, we could identify a single angiotensin binding site on these cells, with a Kd of 0.6nM and a Bmax of 1.5 fmol/mg protein. Inhibiting concentrations 50 for Ang II and Ang I/II (1-7) were 40nM and 10nM, respectively. Stimulation with Ang II (100 nM) and Ang I/II (1-7) (100nM) led to cellular proliferation which could not be inhibited by Losartan or PD 123319. These results suggest that human cardiac fibroblasts express an as yet unknown angiotensin receptor-subtype.


SUMMARY
The broad host range of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi differs from the specificity encountered in biotrophic pathogens. We summarize here the basic plant strategies of defence plant responses to colonization with pathogenic micro-organisms and evaluate their possible involvement in AM performance. Detailed evidence is presented that, during early colonization of plant roots by symbiotic Glomus, defence-related root responses are induced and then subsequently suppressed. In AM interactions, the broad host-range infection capacity and the induction of defence-related genes suggests that the compatible interaction is dominant. These results are discussed in relation to the possible conclusion that AM fungi might lack avirulence homologues or alternatively, that the factor causing suppression of the host defence response might be dominant.


BACKGROUND
A mixture of wine and vinegar is more attractive than wine or vinegar to spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), and ethanol and acetic acid are considered key to that attractiveness. In addition to ethanol and acetic acid, 13 other wine and vinegar volatiles are antennally active to D. suzukii and might be involved in food finding.

RESULTS
Out of the 13 antennally active chemicals, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol increased fly response to a mixture of acetic acid and ethanol in field trapping experiments. A five-component blend of acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol was as attractive as the starting mixture of wine and vinegar in field tests conducted in the states of Oregon and Mississippi. Subtracting ethyl lactate from the five-component blend did not reduce the captures of flies in the trap. However, subtracting any other compound from the blend significantly reduced the numbers of flies captured.

CONCLUSION
These results indicate that acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin and methionol are key olfactory cues for D. suzukii when attracted to wine and vinegar, which may be food-finding behavior leading flies to fermenting fruit in nature. It is anticipated that this four-component blend can be used as a highly attractive chemical lure for detection and management of D. suzukii. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


The exploitation of power inductors in switching converters outside the linear region requires detailed information on the magnetization curve that often is not included among those usually available on their datasheets. This paper proposes an automatic system in which the inductor is characterized in real operating conditions taking into account also the core temperature. It is based on a switching converter suitably controlled by a virtual instrument. The system was tested by retrieving the inductance vs current curves of two commercial inductors for core temperatures up to 105°C, showing the different behaviors of the magnetization curves. Results are coherent with data given by manufacturers and provide a complete characterization of the inductors.


Introduction Exposure to child maltreatment is a social and public health challenge that will require interprofessional collaboration to overcome. Evidence indicates that professional students in health, social care, and teacher education programs receive inadequate training in recognizing and responding to child maltreatment. The aims are to 1) assess the extent to which these students found that their uniprofessional education and a large-scale interprofessional learning (IPL) course had taught them about children in general, children's rights, and vulnerable/at-risk children; and 2) explore differences in student responses according to age and educational background. Methods A cross-sectional study. Students (n=2811) completed questionnaires prior to or after IPL courses held in 2019 and 2020 (hybrid case-based, small-group, on-campus courses targeting children, young people, and their families as end users). Findings The majority (>90%) agreed that it was important to learn about child-related topics. Only 4.3% disagreed that it was important to learn about vulnerable/at-risk children. Health and social care students enhanced their insight into all the child-related topics (p<0.001) after the IPL course. Teacher education and child welfare students reported decreased insight into children in general (p<0.001 in 2019 and p=0.008 in 2020) but increased insight into vulnerable/at-risk children in 2020 (p=0.001). According to stratified analyses, there was a significantly increased insight into all child-related topics among physiotherapy and Mensendieck physiotherapy students (p<0.001), decreased insight into children in general among teacher education students (p<0.02), and increased insight into vulnerable/at-risk children among teacher education students (p ≤ 0.001) in both 2019 and 2020. Age was of minor importance. The response rates ranged from 16.0% to 36.0%. Conclusion After the IPL course, the health and social care students significantly enhanced their insight into child-related topics, whereas the students in teacher education and child welfare gained increased insight into vulnerable/at-risk children.


Purpose: To determine the financial performance of Islamic banks and non-Islamic banks from 2003
to 2010 in Malaysia by applying the theory of Sharī'ah Conformity and Profitability model.
Methodology: This study used accounting ratios which included profitability ratio, liquidity ratio and
credit risk ratio to measure the financial performance of the Malaysian banks.
Findings: Results indicate that conventional banks perform better in profitability, while Islamic banks
perform better in liquidity and credit risk. In t-test of the return on asset (ROA) and total equity to net
loans, there are no major difference between Islamic banks and non-Islamic banks. In the return on
equity and common equity to total assets, there are statistically significant differences in these two
groups. The statistically significant difference was shown in the area of liquidity which means that the
Islamic banks liquidity performance has major difference with the non-Islamic banks. These finding
are partially rejecting null hypothesis of profitability ratio and credit risk ratio. Moreover, the results
are also rejecting null hypothesis of liquidity ratio, that there is statistically significant difference in
the mean of liquidity ratio between Islamic banks and non-Islamic banks.


In Jesus' sermon at Nazareth in Luke (4.16–30), his reminder that Elijah had aided non-Jews (vv. 26–7) is met with an unusual death sentence – to throw Jesus from a cliff. This has been conceptually and geographically vexing for scholars. This paper reads the passage beside the Life of Aesop, in which the Delphians condemn the fabulist to the same fate for blasphemy (130–42). Aesop's offence, like Jesus', is to malign the special status of the Delphians before their god. The Lukan Evangelist's use of the same manner of death for the same type of speech act indicates that the crowd at Nazareth has condemned Jesus for blasphemy.


Wide range frequency pulses occur in a car crash test. Until now, low frequency under 400Hz has been used to determine an airbag deployment criteria. Also, FIS (Front Impact Sensor) has been used to detect the crash pulse in early stage. Nowadays, technology to determine an airbag delpoyment criteria by using a high frequency crash pulse without FIS is being focused on. In this paper, the signal transmissibility of high frequency pulse for two different cars was studied. Also, signal transfer test of high frequency pulse was done by using a high speed ball impact. Signal runtime of the frontal impact is compared with that of the side impact. The signal transmissibility difference due to the car structure difference was discussed and structure change for improving the signal transmissibility was proposed.


Good faith is not only a general principle of Law and contracts in particular, but also constitutes a duty of typical behavior that the parties are bound to follow by law. This translates in the existence of a number of contractual duties, that are called implicit duties, collaterals, implied terms, virtual obligations or parcel figures of good faith, all of which are not expressly stated in the contract as parties' obligations but that derive from good faith and serve to decide unclear contractual problems. However, good faith is not a resource that lacks limits since, unless there is good reasons for doing so, such duties cannot be invoked to avoid what is clearly stated in the contract, thence the same can only be soundly used in order to fulfill what was not foreseen or what was stated in the contract is not harmonic or coherent with the factual circumstances that surround its execution and the economic goals of the parties


Mice are susceptible to virulent Br. abortus and Br. melitensis upon intraabdominal inoculation with large numbers and succumb to peritonitis with an associated septicemia. They have been found suitable for protective tests with the sera of rabbits immunized with a heat-killed vaccine of Br. abortus. The sera of rabbits immunized simultaneously by subcutaneous injections of heat-killed vaccines of B. typhosus and Br. abortus showed as much agglutinin and protective antibody for B. typhosus as did those immunized with the typhoid vaccine alone. Rabbits immunized simultaneously with subcutaneous injections of vaccines of heat-killed Br. abortus and B. typhosus produced agglutinins and bacteriotropins for brucella to the same degree as those immunized with brucella vaccine alone. The sera of normal rabbits and of those immunized with typhoid vaccine are occasionally very slightly protective for mice inoculated intraabdominally with lethal doses of Br. abortus and Br. melitensis. The sera of rabbits immunized with a heat-killed vaccine of Br. abortus contained larger amounts of protective antibody for mice inoculated intraabdominally with lethal doses of virulent Br. abortus and much larger amounts for virulent Br. melitensis. The sera of rabbits immunized simultaneously with heat-killed vaccines of Br. abortus and B. typhosus were found to contain as much protective antibody against virulent Br. abortus and Br. melitensis as those immunized with the brucella vaccine alone. The possibility of effective simultaneous immunization of human beings against typhoid and undulant fevers with a mixed heat-killed vaccine is discussed.


The main objective of this study is to investigate factors that can predict adoption of ebanking
in Nigeria. Specifically, it aims at investigating mediating influences of esatisfaction, e-trust and hedonic motivation on the relationship between e-banking adoption and its other determinants. The motivation of this study is driven by the
inconsistent findings in the literature with respect to the relationships between e-banking
adoption and its determinants: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived
security and facilitating condition. In line with the inconsistencies, various suggestions have emerged pointing to the need to investigate the possible mediating variables that could explain the inconsistencies. For that purpose, this study employed theories of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Universal Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology (UTAUT) and Social Exchange theory to synchronize the possible relationships among the variables in the conceptual framework. Survey questionnaire was advocated and the questionnaires were distributed randomly to 382 customers of four
major banks in Nigeria. Out of 291 returned questionnaires, 266 were useable for analysis. PLS-SEM was used to analyze both direct and indirect relationships among the variables of the study. The results reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived security, perceived ease of use, facilitating condition, and awareness are positive determinants of e-banking adoption, e-satisfaction, hedonic motivation and e-trust accordingly with an
exception of perceived usefulness that does not determine e-trust. The study also found that e-satisfaction; e-trust and hedonic motivation mediate the relationship between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived security and facilitating conditions and e-banking adoption. Finally, managerial, policy and theoretical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed in this paper.


The present study aimed to define the role of student activities in the development of life skills among disabled female students. It covered a sample of intentionally selected students with (vision, hearing, motor, and multisensory) impairment and registered in the Deanship of Student Affairs for the Bachelor Degree (Regular and External Study) for the second semester of 2017/2018 at King Abdulaziz University. To achieve its objective, the study applied an intake form to define the most important information to be collected representing the variables, life skills' inventory (Bayounis, 2016), and open-ended questionnaire of student activities developed by the author. It concluded that disabled students highly needed to develop life skills. The student activities highly promoted life skills according to the (type of disability, major, nature of the study, and number of activities) variables. The study recommended preparing a teacher's guide of student activity implementation considering the development of life skills that are appropriate for the disabled students.


Despite published criteria predicting poor survival after operation for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA), little is known about the factors which influence surgeons not to operate. Questionnaires were sent to all 404 members of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, posing questions about their practices, and factors influencing the decision not to operate (no influence; may influence; seldom operate; never operate). There were 323 responses (81%) and 97% decided not to operate on selected patients. Age over 80 years influenced 77%, and 54% seldom or never operate over age 85 years. The single most influential factor was severe neurological disease (75% seldom or never operate), while cardiac, pulmonary and renal disease influenced 22%, 28%, and 21%, respectively, to operate seldom or never (74% if two or more of these). Other factors which had some influence for most surgeons were cardiac arrest (85%), loss of consciousness (74%), prolonged hypotension (73%), and long-term nursing care (87%). By contrast, factors which influenced few surgeons were haemoglobin < 9 g/dl (30%), absence of a close relative (33%), and medicolegal considerations (22%). These data help to inform the debate about case selection for repair of RAAA.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

The integrated regulation of different intracellular signaling pathways is fundamental to ensure appropriate timing of cell division. One critical mediator of this regulation is the CDK inhibitor p27kip1, via a mechanism that still presents many controversial aspects. p27kip1 (hereafter p27) is a tumor suppressor protein, implicated in the regulation of several biological activities, thus acting as a relay that integrates different signals and ensuring appropriate timing of cellular behaviors. Knock out of p27 (p27KO) in mice causes an increase in animal size due to increased proliferation and hypercellularity in all tissues. This phenotype seems not to be due to CDK-dependent activity of p27, since it is not rescued by concomitant genetic ablation of the major p27 target, CDK2. Mice double KO (DKO) for p27 and CDK2 still display multiorgan hyperplasia and gigantism. We recently demonstrated that p27 also controls cell morphology and motility, by interacting with stathmin in the cytoplasm. Stathmin is a cytosolic phospho-protein that plays an important role in the regulation of microtubule dynamics, particularly during mitosis. It also participates in many important biological functions during interphase, and human tumors frequently overexpress stathmin, especially in advanced invasive and metastatic stages. Thus, we decided to generate mice DKO for p27 and stathmin, to highlight the possible in vivo consequences of such interaction characterized in vitro. Unexpectedly, the characterization of mice WT, p27 KO and p27/stathmin DKO revealed an important rescue of the most significant phenotypes of p27 KO mice by the DKO ones. Not only body size and organomegalia, but also development of pituitary tumors and outgrowth of retina basal layer were reverted by loss of stathmin in p27 null background. These unpredictable findings clearly indicated that p27/stathmin interaction importantly affected cell proliferation, as well as migration, and we thus focused on the mechanism underlying these phenotypes. We here present evidences that p27kip1 is implicated in the control of the MAPK pathway, through a CDK-independent mechanism. Acting on the subcellular localization and activity of stathmin, p27kip1 controls Ras full activation, and as a consequence, the downstream MAPK cascade. In this way p27kip1 restrains the G1-S phase transition, eventually influencing cell proliferation in vitro, mice growth in vivo and tumorigenesis in humans. These data led us to hypothesize that p27 controls cell proliferation by two different mechanisms: one directly blocking CDK activity and the other interacting with stathmin and thus controlling MAPK pathway activation. Overall our work unveils a new mechanism that in mammalian cells contributes to the proper regulation of cell proliferation, whose alteration may contribute to tumor onset and progression, and that could be of great value in the design of innovative therapeutic approaches.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3043. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3043


Abstract:How do political campaigns and literary practice interact? In October 1956, the Sichuanese poet Liu Shahe (1931–2019) wrote a set of short poems entitled "Pieces on Plants" ("Caomupian"). Published in the gazette Stars (Xingxing) in January 1957, Liu's poetry stirred controversy—first in Sichuan and then, after Mao Zedong himself fingered it as a "poisonous weed," at a national level. This paper, by tracing the fates of Liu and of Stars editor Shi Tianhe (1924–), explores the campaigns of 1957 as experienced among the literary circles of Sichuan. It describes the differential power dynamics that existed among the individual, the local, and the central state in the early People's Republic of China. The divergent responses of Liu, Shi, and cadres and leaders of the Chinese Communist Party to the unfolding campaigns show that the year 1957 marked a critical transformation in the way Chinese writers perceived the relationship between their own use of language and the social reality of which, and into which, they wrote.


A multi-port RAM generator for 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS Sea-of-Gates (SOG) has been developed. 2-port or 3-port RAMs with flexible bit-word configurations are available. In order to operate either at a low supply voltage or at high speed, a novel memory cell circuit is proposed. In addition, a fourfold real bit line technique is adopted to improve access time. The experimental results of the test chips show that each generated RAM operates at over 1.4 V and that the address access time of the 3-port RAM (16 b/spl times/256 w) is 4.8 ns at 3.3 V.<<ETX>>


INTRODUCTION. Lung cancer is diagnosed more frequently than any other cancer in both men and women, and while smoking remains the predominant cause, recent studies reveal that lung cancer rates among people who have never smoked are higher in women than in men. In industrialized countries, rates reflect smoking behaviors. In Asia, particularly in China, the pattern varies such that lung cancer rates in men reflect high smoking rates but high rates among non-smoking women appear to be related to other factors. The following were identified as potential risk factors: cooking oil vapor, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), occupational hazards such as exposure to toxins and chemicals i.e. asbestos and ambient air pollutants. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether passive smoking by females is significantly correlated with lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHOD. In 2011, a survey was administered to a sample of lung cancer patients who received treatment at the Bangkok Lung Center for the purpose of ascertaining their exposure to passive smoking. RESULTS. The responses to the survey yielded a significant correlation between the incidence of lung cancer and exposure to passive smoking. CONCLUSIONS. Recommendations based on the results of the study include strengthening and increasing public education about the health risks associated with passive smoking, as well as a re-evaluation of current lung cancer screening practices currently accepted by the medical establishment.


Summary

Growth is a key life-history trait linked to population regulation in fishes and may be influenced by biotic and abiotic factors such as density and temperature. Exploring how growth performance is altered by such factors in the wild will aid our understanding of how climate change might influence fish populations.
We explore the interactions between temperature and density on growth in a stream-resident brown trout (Salmo trutta) population by comparing observed individual growth rates with predicted rates, at maximum rations, as a function of natural variation in water temperature in a small, cold (average temp summer <11 °C) stream in south-east Norway. Variation in relative growth performance of resident brown trout was analysed using a linear mixed-model approach based on a 9-year-long time series of mark–recapture data that yielded 1043 individual growth rate estimates for the summer seasons.
Observed growth rates never exceeded 60% of predicted growth. Density and temperature interacted in a non-additive and complex way as controlling agents of growth performance, where a general positive effect of temperature minimised an apparent negative effect of density. We also found an interaction between age and density, where young fish were more negatively affected by density than older fish. Individuals that were small for their age showed evidence of compensatory growth.
As our system appears to be strongly resource limited and temperature seems to facilitate relative growth performance, we argue that the negative density effect is mitigated by increased food supply when temperature increases during the summer growth season. Further, the positive effect of temperature on growth appeared minimal at low densities, suggesting an unmeasured factor (e.g. food quality) was limiting some of the growth potential. Our results help elucidate potential effects of temperature changes on brown trout in a small and cold stream, where the positive influence of temperature is more pronounced at high fish densities.


The use of seawater for mixing concrete in reinforced concrete structures is prohibited, since it can promote steel corrosion. However, the use of seawater would contribute to decrease the environmental impact of concrete, in particular in those coastal regions of the world where potable water is a precious resource. The project SEACON-INFRAVATION between University of Miami and Politecnico di Milano, with various industrial partners, aims at investigating the use of seawater for the construction of sustainable and durable reinforced concrete structures and infrastructures. Within the project, that included a vast campaign of laboratory tests, two demo projects – one in Italy and one in the US – were designed and executed with the aim of testing the use of seawater on-site and allowing long-term monitoring of the durability behavior. In Italy, a reinforced concrete culvert was built next to A1 motorway, close to Piacenza. The culvert collects the waters coming from the roadway that, during winter season, is subjected to de-icing salts; in addition, it is unsheltered from the rain and exposed to wetting and drying cycles. The culvert is divided into six segments, and each segment is representative of a given scenario in terms of type of concrete and type of reinforcement. Besides a reference segment, with carbon steel and chloride-free concrete, other segments were built using seawater concrete in combination with corrosion resistant reinforcement. Three types of corrosion resistant reinforcement were considered: an austenitic grade of stainless steel (1.4311), a duplex grade of stainless steel (1.4362) and GFRP. A concrete made with partial replacement of coarse aggregate with recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) was also considered. The corrosion conditions of the metallic reinforcements are monitored by means of potential measurements. The electrical resistivity of concrete is also monitored, and the evolution of carbonation and chloride penetration are periodically analysed on concrete cores taken from the culvert. This note presents the results that have been obtained during more than one year of monitoring of the corrosion conditions of the various types of reinforcement embedded in seawater concrete and compares them with results obtained in the laboratory.


The research area of this study was once the focal point of colonial penetration in East Africa. The author traces evolution of ethnicity from the 15th century until the post-colonial period. She argues that ethnic group identification is used as a self-referent. People's perception of the present is a reflection of the colonial practice of dividing people into tribes. Yet, villagers in the Bagamoyo District stress commonality - another dimension of ethnic consciousness.


The matrix completion problem has found many applications in image and graphics fields. Developing fast and exact algorithms still remains challenging. The truncated nuclear norm (TNN), taking advantage of priori target rank information, is known as a better surrogate function to the rank constraint than the traditional nuclear norm. However, the TNN penalized algorithms always converge slowly due to the two-step scheme for avoiding directly updating the noncovex functions. In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient algorithm, Momentum Adaptive and Rank Revealing (MARR), for the TNN regularized matrix completion problem. The distinct advantages are to (1) reduce iterations by introducing non-monotonic constraints, and (2) decrease computational burden by controlling the size of matrix. Moreover, the descent property and convergence of the search are proven. Experiments on image inpainting, including images and range data, show that the proposed algorithm achieves very competitive results visually and numerically compared to several state-of-the-art approaches, while providing substantial reduction of iterations and runtime, thereby more applicable in real-world problems.


Abstract The purpose of the presentstudy isto investigate the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching protocols (3 minutes stretching) on a maximal anaerobic Wingate Test (WT) of wrestlers. Fifteen male wrestlers (age, 23.2± 2.6years; body mass, 79.2± 10.7 kg) volunteered to participate in the study. Peak power, mean power, and average powers of the subjects were assessed during the Wingate test (WT) after static stretching and dynamic stretching. CK (creatine kinase) values were obtained before and after ach stretching protocols. Two WT were performed after stretching. Data analysis included paired t-tests. It was found that dynamic stretching caused more power deficits than static stretching and CK (creatine kinase) values of wrestlers increased more with dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching caused significant decrease in power ascompared to static stretching, considered to be because of different duration of stretchingand continuous dynamic activity may have caused exercise induced muscle damage.


Abstract The distribution of subsurface temperature beneath London (with emphasis on the depth interval between 60 and 100 m below ground level) has been estimated from fluid temperature logs run in boreholes and water wells during the 1980s to the 2000s. Although the temperature distribution in the Lea Valley–New River area may have been disturbed as a result of artificial recharge–abstraction trials and operation, one can elsewhere identify a clear trend of increasing temperature from east (<11 °C) to SW (>15 °C). The observed pattern is speculatively explained by: (1) the thick Tertiary sequence and low transmissivity of the Chalk in the SW resulting in a temperature at depth compatible with that expected from conduction of the prevailing geothermal flux; (2) recharge of cooler water through Chalk–Basal Sands subcrop and down-dip towards abstraction centres in central London potentially modifying the geothermal gradient via advective processes.


This thesis describes the building of a cosmid contig map across the short arm pseudoautosomal region (PAR1) of the sex chromosomes. The purpose being to prepare the region in a sequence ready format. Sequence Tagged Sites (STS) from this region were used to screen two Y Chromosome specific cosmid libraries. All clones hybridising to an STS were identified and fingerprinted. By digesting the cosmid with Hin f1 and end labelling, the fragments were then radio labelled and separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A digitised image of this band pattern was used to deduce overlap between cosmids. Those clones that hybridised to the STS probes and also clones which by fingerprinting were deduced to be in the same contig were then amplified by PCR with the STS primers. This confirmed the presence of the STS in clones and provided regional localisation of the STS within the contig. The libraries were screened with probes generated from 57 loci of which 50 were STSs, 7 were single copy probes. Of the 57 loci used 52 are within PAR1, four are within the Y specific sequence just proximal to the pseudoautosomal boundary and the gene CD24 is on Yq. These probes have selected 646 cosmids. Of the 48 STSs which localise to PAR1, 42 have been localised to at least one cosmid. All non PCR generated probes have been localised. Between 60% and 80% of the 2.6 Mb of this region has been covered in cosmids.


Objective To confirm the effects of a transtheoretical model (TTM) based on multidimensional life management on healthy behavior in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods In total, eighty eligible patients were recruited from March 2021 to June 2021 and randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 40) or control (n = 40) groups. Outcome measures include health-promoting behavior, self-efficacy, anthropometrics, and the number of unplanned outpatient admissions. Data were collected at baseline, 3, and 6 months after the intervention. The chi-square test, rank-sum test, t-test, and repeated measurement analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results In total, sixty-six participants completed the study: 35 participants in the intervention group and 31 participants in the control group. After 6 months of intervention, the healthy behavior level of patients with PCOS increased from moderate [health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP)-II score of 105.37 ± 12.57] to good (156.94 ± 19.36) in the intervention group; and there was no change observed in the control group. In addition, the total self-efficacy score (p < 0.001), PCOS-related unplanned outpatient admissions (p = 0.008), waist circumference (WC) (p = 0.016), and body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.011) were found to have a significant difference in the intervention group at 6 months. Meanwhile, repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significantly greater improvement in health-promoting behavior and self-efficacy over time in the intervention group than in the control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion The transtheoretical model based on multidimensional life management positively affected healthy behavior, self-efficacy, the number of unplanned outpatient admissions, and anthropometrics in patients with PCOS. Clinical Trial Registration www.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR2000034572.


A polynomial equation of the fifth degree, which solves completely the theoretical problem of the isospin analysis of the B→πK decays, is derived. It is shown that the problem has in general an even number (two or four) of non-trivially-related solutions. There are six particular cases of null measure, but which might be relevant due to the experimental errors, in which the problem has a continuous set of solutions. It is concluded that the isospin analysis, even if experimentally feasible, has a large probability of being inconclusive.


The production of doubly charged ions is studied upon multiphoton ionisation of Ba atoms exposed simultaneously to two radiation fields: the fundamental radiation of a colour centre laser (ω = 8800 — 8880 cm-1) and its second harmonic. A two-electron mechanism was shown to be responsible for the production of these ions.


A model consisting of two Bethe lattices each with a branching ratio of q Ising spins with one layer having spin-3/2 with nearest-neighbor (NN) interaction J1 and crystal field interaction Δ, and the other having spin-1/2 with NN interaction J2 is considered. The layer with spin-3/2 is laid over the top of the other with spin-1/2 and the two layers are tied together via an interaction between the vertically aligned spins denoted as J3. After obtaining the ground state (GS) phase diagrams on different possible planes depending on the given system parameters, the variations of the order-parameters and the free energy are investigated using the exact recursion relations in a pairwise approach to obtain the temperature dependent phase diagrams of the model by considering only the ferromagnetic ordering of the layers, i.e. J1>0 and J2>0, and ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic ordering of the adjacent NN spins of the layers, J3>0 or J3>0, respectively. Besides the second-order phase transition lines with different kinds of behaviors, the first-order phase transition lines either ending at a tricritical point or at an isolated critical point are found. The model presents compensation temperatures when J2 of the lower layer can compete with J1 of the upper layer. The paramagnetic phase is also divided into two phases by studying the thermal behaviors of the quadrupolar moment for the layer with spin-3/2.


The exponential growth of data traffic raises a great challenge to content delivery in current TCP/IP networks. To answer this challenge, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) has been proposed with the purpose of bringing content caching and name-based content access to the network layer. Though great progress has been made, most existing ICN proposals lack support for parallel data transfer over multiple paths with low data redundancy. To deal with the issue, we present CODA, a fully distributed cooperative multipath data transmission solution that enhances content delivery further. Taking Named Data Networking (NDN) as a basis, CODA works in a distributed manner with the following contributions: 1) it extends the standard Interest model in NDN to support transmission of data over multiple paths so as to reduce the flow completion time; 2) it devises a traffic scheduling model to form parallel paths for transmitting data in a cooperative way; and 3) it proposes a transmission control scheme to select paths in an efficient and reliable manner. Extensive simulation comparisons with existing data transmission methods show that: 1) CODA speeds up the data rate twice as high as that of the best-route method; and 2) the amount of Interests required by CODA to build multiple data transmission paths in the network accounts for only 66% of that by MSRT, another multipath transmission proposal.


Over the past five decades, MR spectroscopy has evolved from an analytical chemistry tool to a noninvasive clinical examination on FDA approved equipment with an AMA billing code. While proton MR spectroscopy has dominated current clinical studies, interest in other nucleii has arisen, particularly P-31 for the evaluation of membrane lipids, and C-13 for the evaluation of glutamate neurotransmission and excitotoxicity. Currently, the most common neuroradiological diagnostic indication is the differentation of suspected cerebral neoplasms for post-treatment effects, abcesses, subacute infarcts, demyelinating disease, and other non-neoplastic processes. Recent recommendations for monitoring multiple sclerosis treatment suggest an increasing role for MR spectroscopy in the future.


Analog microwave fiber optic communication links have the potential to replace coaxial systems for transmission of RF signals at frequencies up to 15 GHz and beyond. Potential applications include antenna remoting, distribution networks, and ccmmnications. At TRW, prototype bandpass RF fiber optic links have been constructed with center frequencies up to 5 GHz. The performance of these links will be discussed.


Under the assumptions of the continuous distribution and equality of variance, we consider multiple comparisons tests for the differences among mean responses in k samples. Closed testing procedures are superior to the Tukey-Kramar type multiple tests which are single-step procedures in many cases. The closed testing procedure more powerful than the Tukey-Welsch test and the REGW test is proposed under the usual normality. Furthermore the nonparametric closed testing procedure is discussed based on ranks. Last the proposed nonparametric closed testing procedure is illustrated with data regarding sarcoidosis from the assay of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (SACE).


Caring behavior is an act based on caring, affection, skill, empathy, responsibility, sensitivity and support. Provision of nursing services based on caring behavior can improve the quality of health services. Caring behavior is not only performed by nurses but also performed by students who are running the professional education phase ners in the hospital. This study aims to explore the experiences of professional students ners Faculty of Nursing University of North Sumatra in applying caring behavior in patients at Medan City Education Hospital. This research uses phenomenology design. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling with a total of ten participants. Prior to the data retrieval, the researcher proposed the ethical clearance obtained through the Research Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Nursing University of North Sumatra. This research was conducted at Faculty of Nursing University of Sumatera Utara in February 2015 until April 2015. The data obtained were analyzed by Collaizi method. This study found there are 4 themes related to the experience of nursing students of Faculty of Nursing University of North Sumatera in applying caring behavior to patients in Medan Education Hospital, that is (1) showing high caring in caring, (2) trust with the patient, (3) performing a holistic nursing action to the patient, (4) showing respect for the patient. In addition to these experiences, this study also reveals the impact of caring behavior (5 impacts) and barriers experienced by professional students in applying caring behavior (3 barriers). Given the importance of the application of caring behavior, it is recommended to the students of professional education stage ners to continue to improve caring behavior to patients. Furthermore, for nursing education institutions or hospitals can create caring behavior standards so as to improve the quality of service to patients. Keywords: professional student ners, caring behavior, hospital education


The coupling of selective C-H activation with O2 activation is an important goal for organic synthesis. New experimental and computational results, along with the results from experimental work accumulated over many decades, now unequivocally link O2 activation with C-H activation by the classic Co(salen) complexes. A common holistic mechanistic framework can rationalise the formation of ostensibly diverse peroxo, superoxo, organo and alkoxide complexes of CoIII(salen). DFT calculations show that cobalt(iii)superoxo, dicobalt(iii)peroxo and cobalt(iii)hydroperoxo complexes are all viable intermediates as participants in hydrogen atom transfer reactions, whereas a Co(iv)oxo intermediate is unlikely. The reaction conditions will determine the pathway followed and all pathways are initiated through the initial formation of a superoxo complex, CoIII(salen)(O2˙)(MeOH) (EPR: g = 2.025, A = 19 G). Organo and alkoxide ligands are derived from solvent media and the trends in reactivity reveal that combination of the pKa and BDE of the C-H of the respective solvent substrates are important. These data explain why landmark, structurally characterized, μ2-η1,η2-peroxide and η1-superoxide Co(salen)-O2 adducts were predominantly isolated from solvents with high C-H pKa values (DMSO, DMF, DMA).


Introduction: There is no doubt that a fundamental element like nitrogen is one of the most important components in both animal and plants cells. Within an integrated aquaponic system, nitrogen cycle has highest priority because it converts fish wastes into nutrients for plants. Aims: The main goal of this study is to quantify the nitrogen budget for an integrated rainbow trout - spinach aquaponic system, where three plants densities were used. The second objective is to determine a balanced plant density for optimal nitrogen removal rate and hydroponic vegetable production. Materials and methods: The experimental design consist in a recirculating aquaculture system with 12 growing units, mechanical and biological water treatment units and four aquaponic units. Three plants densities were used (V1 - 59plants/m 2 , V2 - 48plants/m 2 and V3 - 39plants/m 2 and a control variant V4). Fish were fed with two types of feed (41% and 50% protein), using 3 different feeding regimes. Water samples were taken and analysed by using Merck kits so that nitrate, ammonium and TAN retention rates will be observed. Water oxygen, pH and conductivity levels were also monitored. The meat, plants and faeces nitrogen content was determined by Kjeldahl method. The feed protein content was verified using the same method. Results: The amount of nitrogen removed from integrated aquaponic system through biological filtration and also by each of the three tested spinach biomass densities was determined apart. The nitrate, ammonium and TAN retention rates, as water passes through mechanical filter, were found to be insignificant (p>0,05), compared to ones from the biological filter that were higher. Differences between the retention rates for each of the three variants of tested plants densities were significant higher (p<0,05) at V1 compared to V3 and also higher at all three variants comparing them to the control variant. Also differences between plants nitrogen composition from V3 compared to V1 were found significant higher (p<0,05). The content of nitrogen from fish meat and fish faeces was found to be according to literature. Conclusion: In the present study, nitrate, ammonium and TAN retention rates were found to be related in a certain way with plants density and total nitrogen input in the aquaponic system, facts that also influence the plants nitrogen content. It is recommended higher plants densities to be used and also a better light intensity can be also used.


Device variability in modern processes has become a major concern in SRAM design leading to degradation of both performance and yield. Variation induced offset in the sense amplifiers requires a larger bitline differential, which slows down SRAM access times and causes increased power consumption. The effect aggravated in the sub-threshold region. In this paper, we propose a circuit that reduces the sense amp offset using an auto-zeroing scheme with automatic temperature, voltage, and aging tracking. The circuit enables flexible tuning of the offset voltage. Measurements taken from a 45 nm test chip show the circuit is able to limit the offset to 20 mV. A 16kB SRAM is designed using the auto-zeroing circuit for the sense amps. The reduction in the total read energy and delay is reported for various configurations of the memory.


In this paper, we present a spatially adaptive filter for color median filtering. Several alternative implementations of such a filter are given, using different ways of gradient computation. Then, several methods of color median filtering are compared in terms of performance on a particular image. Vector median filters are considered as well as median filters inspired by grey-level methods.


New South Wales can take pride in having one of the world's best food supplies, yet diet-related disease is commonplace. Poor nutrition is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, some cancers, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, dental caries and iron-deficiency anaemia. The potential years of life lost to age 65 because of diet-related disease are 70 per cent of those lost because of smoking.


Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) make up a significant portion of transcripts that are not translated into proteins and lncRNAs were previously thought to be transcriptional noise. Recently, there has been increased interest in lncRNAs due to their diverse functions in human cancers. At present, lncRNAs are considered to be the main component of the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network due to their regulatory role in protein-coding gene expression by acting as microRNA (miRNA) sponges. However, the function of the lncRNA-mediated ceRNA network in renal cell carcinoma remains unknown. To examine the specific mechanism, we compared the expression profiles of mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs between renal cell carcinoma tissues and non-tumor normal tissues using the Gene Expression Omnibus database. As a result, 5 lncRNAs were identified as aberrantly expressed and significantly correlated with the tumorigenesis and/or progression of renal cell carcinoma with the threshold value of absolute log2 fold change >1 and corrected P<0.05. Among the 5 dysregulated lncRNAs, 2 of them were prognostic biomarkers according to the overall survival analysis for patients with renal cell carcinoma. We successfully constructed a dysregulated lncRNA-associated ceRNA network, which included 4 renal cell carcinoma‑specific lncRNAs, 17 mRNAs and 2 miRNAs. In summary, the present study identified new lncRNA biomarkers and potential targets for renal cell carcinoma therapy. In particular, the novel ceRNA network identified in our study will be vital for understanding the regulatory mechanisms mediated by lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma.