Summary P-selectin variant 715Pro is associated with lower concentrations of plasma P-selectin and reduced risk for thrombosis. We examined the influence of 715Pro on P-selectin synthesis, post-translational processing, surface expression and function using HEK293 cells, which do not express endogenous P-selectin. Mass spectrometry revealed that HEK293 cells produced recombinant P-selectin which has a glycosylation pattern comparable to platelet P-selectin. Compared to wild-type transfectants, 715Pro transfectants have ~50% less terminally glycosylated P-selectin and accumulate more immature P-selectin in Golgi. Following Brefeldin A treatment, the majority of 715Pro P-selectin is not modified by Golgi enzymes, while wild-type P-selectin undergoes complete modification. Flow cytometry revealed that 715Pro transfectants have ~20% less P-selectin on the cell surface compared to wild-type transfectants. Secretion of P-selectin by 715Pro transfectants was about 38% lower compared to wild-type transfectants. Binding of HL-60 cells to 715Pro transfectants was ~29% lower than to wild-type transfectants. This observation was confirmed by the presence of fewer platelet-monocyte aggregates (PMA) in the blood of healthy individuals and patients with angiographically proven atherosclerosis, carrying 715Pro P-selectin compared to individuals with wild-type P-selectin. We conclude that the 715Pro variant impairs terminal glycosylation of P-selectin in Golgi, leading to reduced amounts of mature P-selectin and subsequently less surface expression and secretion of P-selectin. The reduced surface expression of 715Pro P-selectin contributes to inefficient adhesion to HL-60 cells or monocytes.


We consider the multichannel opportunistic access problem, in which a user decides, at each time slot, which channel to access among multiple Gilbert-Elliot channels in order to maximize his aggregated utility (e.g., the expected transmission throughput) given that the observation of channel state is error-prone. The problem can be cast into a restless multiarmed bandit problem which is proved to be PSPACE-Hard. An alternative approach, given the problem hardness, is to look for simple channel access policies. Whittle index policy is a very popular heuristic for restless bandits, which is provably optimal asymptotically and has good empirical performance. In the case of imperfect observation, the traditional approach of computing the Whittle index policy cannot be applied because the channel state belief evolution is no more linear, thus rendering the indexability of our problem open. In this paper, we mathematically establish the indexability and establish the closed-form Whittle-index, based on which index policy can be constructed. The major technique in our analysis is a fixed point based approach which enable us to divide the belief information space into a series of regions and then establish a set of periodic structures of the underlying nonlinear dynamic evolving system, based on which we devise the linearization scheme for each region to establish indexability and compute the Whittle index for each region.


This research suggests a simulation model regarding the performance analysis of the Heat-Shrink-Tube manufacturing process using a simulation method. To analyze this study, firstly, we have collected the operating data from 'A' automobile parts company. Secondly, we have analyzed the collected data to apply a simulation model. Thirdly, we have developed a simulation model to experiment the process analysis and the line balancing methodology. The proposed simulation model can be executed by various input data without changing the simulation model and the performance of the Heat-Shrink-Tube Manufacturing system can be calculated by this model.


The paper presents an efficient procedure to find good solutions to realistically sized fixed-charge, capacitated, multicommodity, network design problems. At present, there exists no algorithm that can solve large instances, common in several applications, in a reasonable period of time, so that heuristic procedures must be applied. The design problem is formulated as a mixed-integer programming problem and solved by a procedure based on a tabu search meta-heuristic. Computational experiments were conducted and results are compared with those obtained by an evolutionary algorithm.


Initiation in the free radical polymerization of dicyclohexyl fumarate (DCHF), isopropyl phenyl fumarate (iPPF) and isopropyl benzyl fumarate (iPBF), and the copolymerization of DCHF with tert-butyl vinyl ether (E), initiated by di-tert-butyl peroxalate, has been investigated at 60 °C. The rate coefficient for addition of the tert-butoxy radical to the fumarates is of the order 105 M−1 s−1 with differences between the different fumarates being at most a factor of about two. A significant amount of monomer addition to the primary propagating radical in the case of DCHF occurred despite competition with trapping, indicating that the first propagation step is orders of magnitude faster than the propagation step for macroradicals.

In the copolymerization system DCHF/E, second-generation carbon-centered radicals containing two fumarate units were formed, whereas the corresponding species in the homopolymerization of E was not observed. This is consistent with the fact that E does not undergo homopolymerization. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry


Background Identification of autoantibodies associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been of major interest. In this context, the authors have previously identified for the first time α-enolase as a new auto-antigen in early RA. Moreover, subsequent studies have shown that citrullination of α-enolase is crucial for its autoantigenicity. α-enolase is an evolutionary conserved protein implicated both in glycolysis pathway and as a plasminogen receptor. Here, the authors have evaluated, in the well-known collagen induced arthritis model, the clinical, immunological and histological effects of both recombinant non-citrullinated α-enolase and immunodominant peptides from human and bacterial species. Methods Different doses of α-enolase (10 and 100 µg) or immunodominant enolase peptide 1 from human (hEP1) or porphyromonas Gingivalis (pEP1) (10 or 100µg) were intraperitoneally injected to 6 week-old DBA/1 mice one day prior to collagen II arthritis induction (CIA). Both clinical (weight, arthritis score, tarsal thickness) and biological (anticollagen II and anti-α-enolase antibodies) were assessed during the 90 days follow-up period. Four histological score were also assessed: inflammation, syniovial thickening, cartilage resorption and bone resorption. Results Prophylactic injection of recombinant α-enolase was able to significantly prevent weight loss and to decrease the severity of arthritis evaluated by the arthritis score as well as the tarsal thickness. There was a dose-effect since 100 µg led to better results. Levels of anticollagen II antibodies were significantly lower whereas titers of anti-α-enolase antibodies were significantly higher in mice treated with 100 µg of α-enolase compared to control mice. Moreover, histological score were in agreement with clinical score. As regards to hEP1 and pEP1, the authors etablished a dose-dependant protective effect in CIA which is significant for pEP1. This protective effect is not due to once again a decrease of anti-collagen II antibodies titer. Conclusion Prophylactic treatment with recombinant α-enolase suggest a protective role of this molecule. The clinical effect is not due to an imunological response mediated by anti-α-enolase antibodies. Prophylactic injection could induce either an immune deviation or an emergence of regulatory lymphocyte population, responsible of a decrease of anti-CII antibodies production. These results suggest α-enolase has an immunomodulatory effect in CIA mice. Those results suggest that non-citrullinated α-enolase could constitute a potential new therapeutic approach in RA.


Background Despite their high prevalence and significant burden, mental disorders such as depression remain largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. Objective The aim of the Allillanchu Project was to design, develop, and test an intervention to promote early detection, opportune referral, and access to treatment of patients with mental disorders attending public primary health care (PHC) services in Lima, Peru. Methods The project had a multiphase design: formative study, development of intervention components, and implementation. The intervention combined three strategies: training of PHC providers (PHCPs), task shifting the detection and referral of mental disorders, and a mobile health (mHealth) component comprising a screening app followed by motivational and reminder short message service (SMS) to identify at-risk patients. The intervention was implemented by 22 PHCPs from five health centers, working in antenatal care, tuberculosis, chronic diseases, and HIV or AIDS services. Results Over a period of 9 weeks, from September 2015 to November 2015, 733 patients were screened by the 22 PHCPs during routine consultations, and 762 screening were completed in total. The chronic diseases (49.9%, 380/762) and antenatal care services (36.7%, 380/762) had the higher number of screenings. Time constraints and workload were the main barriers to implementing the screening, whereas the use of technology, training, and supervision of the PHCPs by the research team were identified as facilitators. Of the 733 patients, 21.7% (159/733) screened positively and were advised to seek specialized care. Out of the 159 patients with a positive screening result, 127 had a follow-up interview, 72.4% (92/127) reported seeking specialized care, and 55.1% (70/127) stated seeing a specialist. Both patients and PHCPs recognized the utility of the screening and identified some key challenges to its wider implementation. Conclusions The use of a screening app supported by training and supervision is feasible and uncovers a high prevalence of unidentified psychological symptoms in primary care. To increase its sustainability and utility, this procedure can be incorporated into the routine practices of existing health care services, following tailoring to the resources and features of each service. The early detection of psychological symptoms by a PHCP within a regular consultation, followed by adequate advice and support, can lead to a significant percentage of patients accessing specialized care and reducing the treatment gap of mental disorders.


This paper presents the results of a research project aimed at evaluating the unconventional natural gas potential of the autochthonous Miocene sediments in the Polish part of the Carpathian Foredeep. The primary objective of the study was to re-evaluate the biogenic gas generation system within Miocene sediments, paying special attention to unconventional gas resources accumulated in tight mudstone formations. The four-dimensional (4D) petroleum system modeling method (PetroMod software) was used to reconstruct the basin geometry and three-dimensional (3D) evolution through a geological timescale, in particular the progress of gas generation, migration, and accumulation processes, as well as their consequences for gas exploration and development. Special attention was paid to the dynamics of gas generation processes and the advancement of sediment compaction and their time dependence, as well as to the progress and outcomes of gas migration and accumulation processes. The results indicate significant potential for unconventional gas accumulations in mudstone reservoirs. However, part of the biogenic gas resources occurs in a dispersed form. Analysis of the dynamics of biogenic gas generation and accumulation conducted on a basin scale and within particular sedimentary complexes and depth intervals allowed an indication of the premises regarding the most favorable zones for mudstone–claystone reservoir exploration.


Summary form only given. This presentation will cover our latest results in the following areas and describe the potential of nanotubes in electronics applications. (1) Controlled synthesis of nanotube structures on surface; patterned growth of nanotubes. (2) Nanoelectronics based on nanotube transistor arrays derived by chemical synthetic routes. Arrays of nanotube transistors for logic and ring oscillators will be presented. (3) Integration of high k zirconia dielectrics into nanotube transistors affording high performance nanotube transistors. The latest results on optimizing the performance of nanotube transistors will be presented.


Abstract. This paper presents the modeling of the 44 registration subjects officially recorded in the road register of Korea to an international geospatial open standard. Due to current requirements, needs in road management and maintenance, road register data management must be improved as more data is accumulated and collected. Most importantly the metadata concerning road register assets is increasingly important in terms of data quality. This work discussed how OGC LandInfra international open standard will possibly be applied to the Korean Road Register for Highway Management and Maintenance. As a result, we proposed an OGC LandInfra standard-based road data model showing the standard can possibly be applied to the road register.


Methodological approaches to the implementation of the nanostate phenomenon in the formation of the optimal structure of composite materials and metal-polymer systems at different levels of organization have been developed. The concept of energy and technological conformity of the components of functional composite materials and systems is proposed. This concept consists in ensuring the parameters of composite materials energy characteristics adequate to the value of the activation energy of the prevailing structural process, which determines the optimal parameters of stress-strain, adhesion and tribotechnical properties under technological influences on the components in the process of obtaining composite and its processing. The concept has been tested in the development of nanocomposites based on industrial polymer matrices, which surpass analogues in terms of service properties.


Abstract : This paper extends past analysis of an optimal source distribution around a homogeneous sphere of muscle tissue by using a 3-D finite difference time domain (FDTD) scenario in which an anatomically correct human head model is irradiated. It first duplicates the analytical solution within an FDTD space using an FDTD computer code developed at Penn State University. This duplication uses a 9.45 cm radius sphere represented in an FDTD space of 2.35 mm cubic cells. FDTD simulations are then performed on four, three, and two layer laminated spheres, designed to provide simple models of a head. Finally, four simulations were performed in FDTD on the human head model developed at Penn State from an MRI scan of an actual human head. The comparison of analytic simulations to the FDTD simulations on a homogeneous sphere showed a pixel by pixel average of 5.34% error between the two with a standard deviation of 7.84%. The layered sphere models showed considerable spiking at the two poles along with a small amount of spiking due to the stair-step approximation of the spheres. None of these spikes increased the power beyond that at the surface and hence were not critical. The simulations on a true human head showed improvement in depth due to the low-loss of the bone tissue. This study demonstrates that microwave hyperthermia with good resolution is possible in an anatomically correct head model.


The electron-spin resonance (ESR) spectra of Ce3+ in KMgF3 observed at low temperatures (<20 K) show that two tetragonal and two orthorhombic Ce3+ centres exist in the absence of a cubic centre. These Ce3+ centres are strongly associated with substitution of Ce3+ ions for K+ ions with K+-ion vacancies at three different sites and for a Mg2+ ion with a vacancy of the nearest neighbour Mg2+ ion along the [101] direction as charge compensators. The optical absorption spectrum of Ce3+ in KMgF3 measured at room temperature consists of two intense broadbands with peaks at 229 and 237 nm, and two weak bands with peaks at 203 and 211 nm corresponding to the transition from the ground state 2F5/2 to the 5d1 excited states of Ce3+. The Ce3+ luminescence spectrum excited at 229 or 237 nm at room temperature is composed of broadbands with double peaks at 265 and 282 nm, which are due to the ground-state splitting between 2F5/2 and 2F7/2. The peak of the weak luminescence band excited at a tail (250-280 nm) of the intense absorption bands is shifted to lower energy. The intense and weak Ce3+ luminescence bands are assigned to Ce3+ ions substituting for K+ ions away from and near to K+-ion vacancies, respectively. The luminescence from Ce3+ ions substituting for Mg2+ ions could not be observed at room temperature.


Our knowledge of the nature of medieval Jewish public sermons is limited and our conclusions mostly inferential. Nonetheless, based upon the sermon literature and through analysis of various introductions and manuals for preachers of the time, we can fairly accurately reconstruct the oral sermon. We know where and when sermons were delivered, their content, the characteristics of the various preachers, the expectations of the listeners and the efforts the preachers made to make their sermons appealing to a diverse audience. Inevitably, over the course of centuries, both the form and the content of sermons changed. This was in response to the shifting needs and desires of audiences and reflects the changes in orientation of the various periods, such as the move from philosophically based sermons to those with Kabbalistic or Halakhic content.


Reliable subsurface time-lapse seismic monitoring is crucial for many geophysical applications, such as enhanced geothermal system characterization, geologic carbon utilization and storage, and conventional and unconventional oil/gas reservoir characterization, etc. We develop an elastic-wave sensitivity propagation method for optimal design of cost-effective time-lapse seismic surveys considering the fact that most of subsurface geologic layers and fractured reservoirs are anisotropic instead of isotropic. For anisotropic media, we define monitoring criteria using qPand qSwave sensitivity energies after decomposing qPand qS-wave components from the total elastic-wave sensitivity wavefield using a hybrid timeand frequency-domain approach. Geophones should therefore be placed at locations with significant qPand qS-wave sensitivity energies for cost-effective time-lapse seismic monitoring in an anisotropic geology setting. Our numerical modeling results for a modified anisotropic Hess model demonstrate that, compared with the isotropic case, subsurface anisotropy changes the spatial distributions of elastic-wave sensitivity energies. Consequently, it is necessary to consider subsurface anisotropies when designing the spatial distribution of geophones for cost-effective time-lapse seismic monitoring. This finding suggests that it is essential to use our new anisotropic elastic-wave sensitivity modeling method for optimal design of time-lapse seismic surveys to reliably monitor the changes in subsurface reservoirs, fracture zones or target monitoring regions. AMS subject classifications: (or PACs) To be provided by authors


A method is presented for the determination of physical discharge parameters for partial discharges (PDs) of voids in solid insulation. Based on a recently developed stochastic theory of PD processes, a statistical analysis of a measured phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) pattern allows the determination of the relevant physical parameters like first electron availability or decay time constants for deployed charge carriers. These parameters can be estimated directly from the measured patterns without the need of performing simulations. Furthermore, error bounds for the parameter values can be given. The parameter estimation algorithm is based on the analysis of a contiguous region of the PRPD pattern where this region can be chosen nearly arbitrarily. Thus, even patterns with several active PD defects or patterns which are corrupted by noise can be analysed. The method is applied to a sequence of patterns of a void in epoxy resin. The change in first electron availability in the course of a day can be determined quantitatively from the data while the other physical parameters remain constant.


Purpose Contact lens–induced discomfort (CLD) remains a primary factor in discontinuation or prevention of contact lens wear. Thus, we investigated the role of ocular surface immune cells in subjects with CLD. Methods Habitual contact lens (CL) wearers with CLD (n = 19; 38 eyes) and without CLD (n = 21; 42 eyes) as determined by the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8 was included in a trial. Enrolled subjects used either of the two types of CL (designated as CL-A or CL-D). Ocular surface cells from the bulbar conjunctiva were obtained by impression cytology. The collected cells were phenotyped using fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies specific for leukocytes (CD45+), neutrophils (CD66b+,High,Low), macrophages (CD163+), T cells (CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+), natural killer (NK) cells (CD56+, High, Low), natural killer T (NKT) cells (CD3+CD56+), and gamma delta T (γδT) cells (CD3+γδTCR+) by flow cytometry. Further, corneal dendritic cell density (cDCD) was also determined using in vivo confocal microscopy. Results Significantly higher proportions of CD45+ cells were observed in subjects with CLD compared to those without CLD. The percentages of CD66bTotal,Low, CD163+, pan T cells, CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, CD56Total,High,Low (NK) cells, and NKT cells, as well as the CD4/CD8 ratio, were significantly higher in CLD subjects. The proportion of T cells (CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, NKT cells) and macrophages exhibited a direct association with discomfort score. The percentages of CD45+, CD66bTotal,Low, CD163+, CD3+, CD56Total,High,Low, and NKT cells and cDCD were significantly higher in CLD subjects wearing CL-D. The percentages of CD66bHigh, CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, NKT cells, and CD4/CD8 ratio were significantly higher in CLD subjects wearing CL-A. Conclusions Increased proportions of ocular surface immune cells are observed in CLD, and the lens type could impact the immune cells associated with CLD. Translational Relevance The association between the proportion of altered ocular surface immune cell subsets and contact lens–induced discomfort underpins the importance of considering immune-related aspects during contact lens development and in the clinical management of ocular surface pain.


BACKGROUND
Ring 14 chromosome has been reported to be associated with mental retardation, craniofacial dysmorphology, and epilepsy. Flecked and/or pigmented retina are also ocular manifestations of this disease.

CASE
A 29-year-old female suffered from seizures and developmental and growth delay. Narrow palpebral fissura, broad flat nose, large auricula, high arched palate, and short neck were present. Chromosomal analysis disclosed her ring 14 chromosome (p 11.2 q 32.3). Ophthalmologically, cortical cataract, refractive error (right--3.00 D, left--1.50 D), and yellow-white flecks in the macula and yellow-white spots in the mid-peripheral retina in both eyes were present.

CONCLUSIONS
To date, ophthalmic changes concomitant to a breakpoint at 14 q 32.2 have been reported. We report a case of ring 14 chromosome with breakpoint at 14 q 32.3 which showed yellow flecks in the macula and mid-peripheral retina.


. A novel fingerprint matching algorithm is proposed in this paper. The algorithm is based on the minutiae local structures, that are invariant with respect to global transformations like translation and rotation. Match algorithm has been implemented inside a smartcard over the Java Card ó platform, meeting the individual's need for information privacy and the overall authentication procedure security, since the card owner biometric template never leaves the private support device and the match is computed inside a secure environment. The main characteristic of the algorithm is to have an asymmetric behaviour between correct positive matches (between two same fingerprint samples) and correct negative matches (between two different fingerprint images): in the first case, the match procedure stops as it finds that images belong to the same fingerprint, gaining high speed efficiency, while in the second case the verification process lasts longer, exploring all the minutiae pairings. The performances in terms of authentication reliability and speed have been tested on the databases from the Fingerprint Verification Competition 2002 edition (FVC2002) by taking in account the different hardware to run the algorithms. Moreover, our procedure has showed better reliability results when compared on a common database with a related algorithm developed specifically for Java Card ó .


Adequate sanitation is essential for health, human well-being, the preservation of water resources, biodiversity, and the full enjoyment of human rights. Sanitation is a human right, and although it is linked to the human right to water (HRW), it has specific characteristics that deserve particular attention. These components are (1) availability; (2) quality; (3) physical accessibility; (4) affordability; (5) acceptability; (6) equality and non-discrimination; (7) government management and inter-institutional coordination; (8) access to information and participation; and (9) environmental protection. These components enable the analysis of other aspects that may not be fully considered from the traditional sanitation approach. This research aims to analyze the context of the realization of the human right to sanitation (HRS) in Mexico, for a future comprehensive assessment. The study was conducted through documentary and national news coverage research. It concluded that there are still significant challenges to realizing this human right in Mexico. Findings suggest that besides the infrastructure and pollution difficulties, there are other problems like physical and economic access to sanitation for the vulnerable population, inequality between urban and rural areas, the lack of maintenance work of sanitation infrastructure, and the lack of effective coordination between the authorities responsible for sanitation.


Potential diseased donors manifest altered physiological changes associated with pulmonary edema, profound hemodynamic and metabolic abnormalities. These derangements may be more significant after apnea tests which result in severe hypoxemia and cardiovascular complications. Nitric oxide (NO) inhalation therapy can be applied following apnea tests in the brain-dead donor whose ventilator support has been maintained with high positive end-expiratory pressure. Inhalation of NO gas causes selective dilation of blood vessels in only those lung segments that are actively participating in gas exchange (oxygen and carbon dioxide) at the alveolar capillary level. In other words, this increases the blood flow to areas of the lung where oxygen is being provided and thus improves oxygen levels in the body. We report on the case of a 14-year-old organ donor with inhaled NO therapy after apnea testing. The duration of NO inhalation therapy was 14 hours. This deceased donor, who suffered with severe hypoxemia and hemodynamic instability after apnea tests, improved after NO gas therapy and adequate vasoactive drugs. NO gas therapy will be helpful for improving oxygen delivery to pulmonary vessels. Two kidneys and one liver were successfully retrieved from donors. These recipients had well preserved function of allografts. Therefore, NO inhalation can be help¬ful in improvement of hypoxemia and increasing organ availability in deceased organ donors.


The Department of Islamic Studies is the oldest master's degree department in postgraduate program of Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It has several fields including Islamic Law, Islamic Education, Islamic Economics, Islamic Da'wa, Islamic History and Civilization, etc. In line with the new regulation published by the Ministry of Research and Technology and Higher Education of Republic Indonesia, particularly in relationship with the implementation of the national qualification framework and the national standard of higher education, this department must be driven to fit this regulation. This study took place in three Aceh Province districts including Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe and Aceh Tengah. The total number of research participants were 17 people consisted of alumni and users. The research found that most participants argued the curriculum of this department must be refined according to the demands of the industrial revolution era 4.0 which requires universities to apply the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework curriculum, particularly on aspects of strengthening foreign languages and the use of information and communication technology.


The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of toluidine blue stain in determinating the biopsy site in 65 patients with red and white oral lesions. These patients were studied by comparing toluiding blue dye uptake clinically with a simultaneous biopsy. The microscopic analysis resulted in a false positive rate of 10.5% (previously we had established that the 6% were inflammatory lesions, always positive). We did not find false negatives. The reliability of the toluidine blue technique was 95.38%.


Vanadium has been reported to cause oxidative stress and subsequent neurotoxicity. In this study, we exposed neonatal rats at the onset and peak of myelination to vanadium and examined the protective effect of Vitamin E to the resulting neurotoxic effects. Neonatal rats were given sodium metavanadate (SMV) intraperitoneally (i.p) at 3mg/kg body weight (b.w) daily from postnatal day 12 to 21; a second group exposed to the same dose of SMV also had the dams receiving 500 mg/kg b.w of Vitamin E (vit E) orally every 72 hrs. A third group received vit E alone while control rats pups received sterile water administered i.p. The animals were subjected to behavioural tests prior to sacrifice on day 22 after which the brains were weighed and then subjected to histological examination. Pups exposed to vanadium showed reduced upper body strength which was protected by administration of vit E. Routine histology with Haematoxylin and Eosin revealed increased necrotic neurons of the medulla in vanadium exposed rats. Cresyl Violet stain showed depletion of the external granular layer of the cerebellum which was confirmed as neural stem cells by Nestin immunohistochemistry. Further "immune" assays revealed astrocytic activation (GFAP stain), demyelination (CNPase) and activated microglia (Iba1) due to vanadium which were ameliorated by the administration of vit E to the dams. The pups whose dams were administered with vit E alone showed signs of cellular degeneration which might be due to peroxidative effects of a-tocopherol in the absence of an oxidative stress condition. In conclusion, our study shows that vit E administration via lactation can ameliorate neuropathological changes in rats exposed to vanadium at the onset and peak of myelination process. Keywords: Antioxidant, Neurotoxicity, External Granular layer, Cerebellum, Immunohistochemistry


The impact of Sn on Si1-xGex through its thermal conductivity and phonon properties was investigated to develop an attractive material for thermoelectric devices. The Si-rich polycrystalline Si1-x-yGexSny alloy was synthesized by ball-milling technique. The as-synthesized alloy had substitutional Sn content of 1.60%, which it maintained as high as 0.54% after sintering at 1000 °C. The thermal conductivity was found to be reduced by the introduction of this tiny amount of Sn. Inelastic X-ray scattering measurements were carried out and we observed the longitudinal acoustic phonon mode superimposed along all crystallographic directions. In addition, the signal that originated from a local vibration at the Ge-related local structure was also successfully detected. It was found that the introduction of Sn affects the local vibration mode in the alloy. It is proposed that the incorporation of Sn atom into the local structure to make Ge–Sn pairs be considered to reduce the material's thermal conductivity in addition to the mass difference effect.


: This study investigated three different types of multispectral imaging systems for airborne remote sensing to support management in agricultural application and production. The three systems have been used in agricultural studies. They range from low-cost to relatively high-cost, manually operated to automated, multispectral composite imaging with a single camera and integrated imaging with custom-mounting of separate cameras. Practical issues regarding use of the imaging systems were described and discussed. The low-cost system, due to band saturation, slow imaging speed and poor image quality, is more preferable to slower moving platforms that can fly close to the ground, such as unmanned autonomous helicopters, but not recommended for low or high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft. With the restriction on payload unmanned autonomous helicopters are not recommended for high-cost systems because they are typically heavy and difficult to mount. The system with intermediate cost works well for low altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with field shapefile-based global positioning triggering. This system also works well for high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with global positioning triggering or manually operated. The custom-built system is recommended for high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with waypoint global positioning triggering or manually operated.


This study analyzes the Denver Post's reportage on the frame contest between the dominant narrative of the September 11 terrorist attacks set out by President Bush and a challenge to that narrative in an Internet essay by Professor Ward Churchill. The authors find that by refusing to interrogate Churchill's sociopolitical argument, reducing it to the offensive rhetorical trope "little Eichmanns" he used to describe the victims of the attacks, and pillorying Churchill as a person and scholar, the Post assured his counterframe would not achieve parity with the dominant frame. The authors interpret this as an example of media hegemony and situate the Post's coverage within a crisis of hegemony that left the "sacred core" of the Bush frame—American innocence and moral exceptionalism—vulnerable to contestation. Because the Churchill counterframe flagrantly transgressed that "sacred core," it became the irresistible target of media hegemony strategies by the Denver Post.


Introduction: Worsening kidney function (WKF) is frequent among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and a recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and is associated with a poor prognosis. An accurate prediction of WKF is clinically important. Aims: Using data from the Cardiovascular Outcomes Study of Alogliptin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Acute Coronary Syndrome trial including patients with T2D and a recent ACS, and a large biomarker panel incorporating proteins measured both in blood and urine, we aim to determine those with best performance for WKF prediction. Methods: WKF was defined as a ≥40% estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) drop from baseline, eGFR <15 mL/min, or dialysis. Mixed-effects and time-updated Cox models were used. Results: 5,131 patients were included from whom 222 (4.3%) developed at least one WKF episode over a median follow-up of 18 months. Patients who developed WKF were more frequently women, had longer diabetes duration, a more frequent heart failure history, higher anemia prevalence, and impaired kidney function. In multivariable models including all variables (clinical and biomarkers) independently associated with WKF with a p value ≤0.0001, blood kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) was (by far) the variable with strongest WKF association, followed by anemia. KIM-1 alone provided good discrimination for WKF prediction (area under the curve = 0.73). Patients in the high KIM-1-derived risk tertile had a 6.7-fold higher risk of any WKF than patients classified as low risk. In time-updated Cox models, the occurrence of WKF was independently associated with a higher risk of death: adjusted hazard ratio = 4.93 (3.06–7.96), p value <0.0001. Conclusion: Blood KIM-1 was the biomarker with the strongest association with WKF. The occurrence of WKF was independently associated with a higher risk of subsequent cardiovascular events and mortality.


Jotiba Phule's Gulamgiri (1873), which is widely translated as Slavery, equates casteism with slavery. His book carefully deconstructs the Vedic scriptures, which make up the largest chunk of central religious texts in Hinduism, in order to expose the latent hypocrisy and the conspiracy of Brahminical ideology to dominate a section of society. Gulamgiri was the radical manifesto of the social reform society called Satyasodhak Samaj, founded by Phule in 1873 along with his wife Savitribai Phule. Aparajita Ninan and Srividya Natarajan's graphic novel A Gardener in the Wasteland: Jotiba Phule's Fight for Liberty (2011), by revisiting Jotiba Phule's ground-breaking text Gulamgiri, examines the contemporaneity and the continuity of caste issues and thus attempts a conversation between the past and the present historical reality of casteism. The present study focuses on the centrality of the metaphor of the garden in highlighting the gravity of the caste problem and its larger implications in the lives of India's marginalised Dalit community. By focusing on the physical aspects of gardening, this paper touches upon Dalit eco-literary concerns and brings to the fore the role of labour that defines the relationship between Dalit bodies and nature. It also aims to capture Natarajan and Ninan's contribution to Phule's task of metaphorical gardening, thus becoming co-gardeners in distant time and space.


Dengue, a significant public health problem in several countries around the world, is caused by four different serotypes of mosquito-borne dengue viruses (DENV-1, -2, -3, and -4). Antibodies to any one DENV serotype which can protect against homotypic re-infection, do not offer heterotypic cross-protection. In fact, cross-reactive antibodies may augment heterotypic DENV infection through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). A recently launched live attenuated vaccine (LAV) for dengue, which consists of a mixture of four chimeric yellow-fever/dengue vaccine viruses, may be linked to the induction of disease-enhancing antibodies. This is likely related to viral interference among the replicating viral strains, resulting in an unbalanced immune response, as well as to the fact that the LAV encodes prM, a DENV protein documented to elicit ADE-mediating antibodies. This makes it imperative to explore the feasibility of alternate ADE risk-free vaccine candidates. Our quest for a non-replicating vaccine centered on the DENV envelope (E) protein which mediates virus entry into the host cell and serves as an important target of the immune response. Serotype-specific neutralizing epitopes and the host receptor recognition function map to E domain III (EDIII). Recently, we found that Pichia pastoris-expressed DENV E protein, of all four serotypes, self-assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) in the absence of prM. Significantly, these VLPs displayed EDIII and elicited EDIII-focused DENV-neutralizing antibodies in mice. We now report the creation and characterization of a novel non-replicating recombinant particulate vaccine candidate, produced by co-expressing the E proteins of DENV-1 and DENV-2 in P. pastoris. The two E proteins co-assembled into bivalent mosaic VLPs (mVLPs) designated as mE1E2bv VLPs. The mVLP, which preserved the serotype-specific antigenic integrity of its two component proteins, elicited predominantly EDIII-focused homotypic virus-neutralizing antibodies in BALB/c mice, demonstrating its efficacy. In an in vivo ADE model, mE1E2bv VLP-induced antibodies lacked discernible ADE potential, compared to the cross-reactive monoclonal antibody 4G2, as evidenced by significant reduction in the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α, suggesting inherent safety. The results obtained with these bivalent mVLPs suggest the feasibility of incorporating the E proteins of DENV-3 and DENV-4 to create a tetravalent mVLP vaccine.


Discrete-time models are the traditional approach for capturing population dynamics of insects living in the temperate regions of the world. These models are characterized by an update function that connects the population densities from one year to the next. We revisit classical discrete-time models used for modeling interactions between two insect species (a host and a parasitoid), and provide novel result on the stability of the population dynamics. In particular, for a class of models we show that the fixed point is stable, if and only if, the host equilibrium density is an increasing function of the host's reproduction rate. We also introduce a hybrid approach for obtaining the update functions by solving ordinary differential equations that mechanistically capture the ecological interactions between the host and the parasitoid. This hybrid approach is used to study the suppression of host density by a parasitoid. Our analysis shows that when the parasitoid attacks the host at a constant rate, then the host density cannot be suppressed beyond a certain point without making the population dynamics unstable. In contrast, when the parasitoid's attack rate increases with increasing host density, then the host population density can be suppressed to arbitrarily low levels. These results have important implications for biological control where a natural enemy, such as a parasitoid wasp, is introduced to eliminate a pest that is the host species for the parasitoid.


Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been prominent in most hyperspectral image (HSI) processing applications due to their advantages in extracting local information. Despite their success, the locality of the convolutional layers within CNNs results in heavyweight models and time-consuming defects. In this study, inspired by the excellent performance of transformers that are used for long-range representation learning in computer vision tasks, we built a lightweight vision transformer for HSI classification that can extract local and global information simultaneously, thereby facilitating accurate classification. Moreover, as traditional dimensionality reduction methods are limited in their linear representation ability, a three-dimensional convolutional autoencoder was adopted to capture the nonlinear characteristics between spectral bands. Based on the aforementioned three-dimensional convolutional autoencoder and lightweight vision transformer, we designed an HSI classification network, namely the "convolutional autoencoder meets lightweight vision transformer" (CAEVT). Finally, we validated the performance of the proposed CAEVT network using four widely used hyperspectral datasets. Our approach showed superiority, especially in the absence of sufficient labeled samples, which demonstrates the effectiveness and efficiency of the CAEVT network.


The aim of this study was to investigate the antiangiogenic effect of the Nigella sativa seeds extracts. Twelve extracts were prepared from the N. sativa seeds by supper critical carbon dioxide by varying extraction pressure and temperature. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 22 compounds, mainly thymoquinone (TQ), thymohydroquinone and androstane-3,17-diol. The extracts showed significant antioxidant activity, and cell viability study on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) indicated that two extracts (A3 and B3), prepared at higher temperature (60°C) and the lower pressures (2500 and 3000 psi), were the most potent anti-proliferative extracts; the median inhibitory concentrations were 41.5 ± 1.9 and 60.2 ± 2.2 μg/mL, respectively. The extracts down-regulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in endothelia cells causing inhibition of various events of the angiogenesis cascade including; cell proliferation, endothelial cell migration and differentiation on matrigel and consequently inhibited tube formation. The extracts also showed significant inhibition of angiogenesis in vivo by inhibiting the vascularization of the chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The antiangiogenic activity observed could be due to the anti-oxidant nature of the extract. This study highlights the importance of N. sativa SCCO 2 oil as anti-angiogenic agent.


Data distribution management (DDM) is one of the six services provided by HLA/RTI as complementarities of declaration/interests management to provide a flexible and extensive mechanism for further throttling the data placed on the network and delivered to federates based on simulated entities' interests of data. DDM is of essential importance especially for large scale distributed simulations. In the past a few years, two main types of DDM protocols have been developed, named region-based methods and grid-based methods. However, all of these techniques have their obvious drawbacks, which affect their deployment in most applications that require high performance and low overhead. In our previous work, we have proposed a dynamic grid-based DDM scheme that shows a great potential when compared to both region-based and grid-based approaches. In this paper, we wish to improve our previous scheme, which we refer to as optimized dynamic grid-based DDM, to further reduce irrelevant data that might be received by simulated entities.


. Since the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a major source for tropical and extratropical variability on weekly to monthly timescales, the intrinsic predictability of its global teleconnections is of great interest. As the tropical diabatic heating associated with the MJO ultimately drives these teleconnections, the effect of the variability of heating among various episodes of the same MJO phase will limit this predictability. In order to assess this limitation, a suite of 60-day ensemble reforecasts has been carried out with the ECMWF forecast model, spanning 13 starting dates from 01Nov and 01Jan for different years. 5 The initial dates were chosen so that phases 2 and 3 of the MJO (with anomalous tropical heating in the Indian Ocean sector) were present in the observed initial conditions. The 51 members of an individual ensemble use identical initial conditions for the atmosphere and ocean. Stochastic perturbations to the tendencies produced by the atmospheric physics parameterizations are applied only over the Indian Ocean region. This guarantees that the spread between reforecasts within an ensemble is due to perturbations in heat sources only in the Indian Ocean sector. The point-wise spread in the intra-ensemble (or error) 10 variance of vertically integrated tropical heating Q is larger than the average ensemble mean signal even at early forecast times; however the planetary wave component of Q (zonal waves 1-3) is predictable for 24 days for 01Nov starts and 28 days for 01Jan starts. The predictability times, measured by the time at which the error variance reaches 0.5 of its saturation value, decreases to 18-20 days for zonal waves 4-10, and 14 days for waves 11-21. In contrast, the planetary wave component of the 200 hPa Rossby wave source, which is responsible for propagating the influence of tropical heating to the extratropics, is 15 only predictable for 14 to 19 days, very close to the predictability times for the 200 hPa vorticity in the 40 o N − 50 o N latitude belt. In terms of geographical distribution, substantial ensemble spread of heating and 200 hPa vorticity propagates from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere storm-track regions by days 15-16. Following the growth of upper tropospheric spread in planetary wave heat flux, the stratosphere provides a feedback in enhancing the error via downward propagation towards the end of both Nov. and Jan. reforecasts.


We report the discovery of an antiferromagnetic coupling of the magnetic moment of chromium(II) tetraphenyl-porphyrin (CrTPP) molecules to the magnetization of the clean ferromagnetic Co(001) substrate. We assign this unusual molecule-substrate exchange coupling to the less than half-filled chromium 3d orbitals interacting with Co valence band electrons via porphyrin-ligand molecular orbitals. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy are combined with DFT+U calculations and provide evidence for a surprising type of antiferromagnetic 90∘ indirect magnetic exchange coupling.


BACKGROUND
A study was made of the dimensional changes in free epithelialized gingival/mucosal grafts (FEGs) used to augment keratinized tissue (KT) at tooth and implant sites, and of the confounders influencing the dynamic changes over 6 months of follow-up.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A prospective cohort interventional study was made of implant and tooth sites needing keratinized tissue augmentation by means of an apically positioned flap and FEG. Six intraoperative variables were recorded at baseline (T0). In addition, graft width (GW), graft length (GL) and graft dimension (GD) were assessed at three weeks (T1), three months (T2) and 6 months of follow-up (T3). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore associations between the demographic and intraoperative variables and the outcomes over the study period.

RESULTS
Based upon an a priori power sample size calculation, a total of 56 consecutive patients were recruited, of which 52 were available for assessment. A total of 73 graft units were included in 122 sites. At T3, the mean change in GD in FEG was 40.21%. In particular, the mean changes in GL and GW were 12.13% and 33.06%, respectively. Statistically significant changes in GD were recorded from T0 to T1 (p<0.0005) and from T1 to T2 (p<0.0005), but not from T2 to T3 (p = 0.13). The change in GD at T3 was 33.26% at tooth and 43.11% at implant site level (p = 0.01). Age and GW assessed at T0 proved to be related to the changes in GD and GW in the univariate and multivariate analyses. The univariate analysis showed the avascular area (AA) to be related to the changes in GD and GW at the implant sites, while graft thickness (GT) was associated to changes in GD and GW at the tooth sites in the univariate and multivariate analyses.

CONCLUSIONS
Free epithelialized grafts are exposed to dimensional changes that result in a reduction of approximately 40% of the original graft dimension - the changes being approximately 10% greater at the implant sites than at the tooth sites (NCT04410614). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers associated with integrating nurse practitioners (NPs) into Canadian emergency departments (EDs) from the perspectives of NPs and ED staff.

METHODS
We conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with key multidisciplinary stakeholders in 6 Ontario EDs to gain a broad range of perspectives on implementation issues. Data were analyzed using a grounded-theory approach.

RESULTS
Qualitative analysis of the interview data revealed 3 major issues associated with NP implementation: organizational context, role clarity and NP recruitment. Organizational context refers to the environment an NP enters and involves issues related to the ED culture, physician reimbursement system and patient volume. Role clarity refers to understanding the NP's function in the ED. Recruitment issues are associated with attracting and retaining NPs to work in EDs. Examples of each issue using respondent's own words are provided.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study identified 3 issues that illustrate the complex issues involved when implementing NPs in EDs. The findings may inform policy makers and health care professionals in the future development of the role of NPs in Canadian EDs.


Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) are similar to the terrestrial sensor networks. Nevertheless, there are different characteristics among them such as low battery power, limited bandwidth and high variable propagation delay. One of the common major problems in UWSNs is determining an efficient and reliable routing between the source node and the destination node. Therefore, researchers tend to design efficient protocols with consideration of the different characteristics of underwater communication. Furthermore, many routing protocols have been proposed and these protocols may be classified as location-based and location-free routing protocols. Pressure-based routing protocols are a subcategory of the location-free routing protocols. This paper focuses on reviewing the pressure-based routing protocols that may further be classified into non-void avoidance protocols and void avoidance protocols. Moreover, non-void avoidance protocols have been classified into single factor based and multi factor based routing protocols. Finally, this paper provides a comparison between these protocols based on their features, performance and simulation parameters and the paper concludes with some future works on which further study can be conducted.


Design involves an account of expertise which foregrounds implicit, heuristic skills. Most models of policy making have a stronger interest in structural and exogenous pressures on decision making. Research suggests that high-level experts develop unique capacities to process data, read a situation, and see imaginative solutions. By linking some of the key attributes of a design model of decision making to an account of expertise, it is possible to formulate a stronger model of public policy design expertise. While other approaches often concern themselves with constraints and structural imperatives, a design approach has a focus upon the capacities of individual actors such as policy experts. Such an approach rests upon central propositions in regard to goal emergence, pattern recognition, anticipation, emotions engagement, fabulation, playfulness, and risk protection. These provide a starting point for further research and for the professional development of policy


Activity-dependent changes in gene expression involving the transcription factor cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) occur in learning and memory, pain, and drug addiction. This mechanism may also be important for cytomegaloviral infections of the brain. The human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early promoter/enhancer (hCMV promoter), rate-limiting for productive cytomegalovirus infection, contains five cAMP-response elements (CREs). Indirect evidence suggests that this promoter does not function in unstimulated neurons. Here we test the hypothesis that expression from the hCMV promoter in neurons is induced by membrane depolarization. For these experiments, we infected cultured sympathetic and hippocampal neurons with hCMV-green fluorescent protein (GFP) promoter/reporter constructs using adenoviral gene transfer techniques and measured transgene expression by quantifying GFP fluorescence and GFP mRNA levels. We found that depolarization up-regulates promoter activity by >90-fold. Moreover, our results from pharmacological experiments suggest that this induction occurred through a CREB-dependent pathway. Importantly, site-directed mutagenesis of all five CREs in the promoter blocked this up-regulation almost completely, whereas mutating four of them had no effect. We conclude that the hCMV promoter acts as a molecular switch in neurons and is strongly induced by membrane depolarization, neuronal activity, or other stimuli that activate CREB. These results may provide insight into molecular mechanisms of cytomegalovirus-related diseases of the brain.


In the Amazon Region, there is a virtual absence of severe malaria and few fatal cases of naturally occurring Plasmodium falciparum infections; this presents an intriguing and underexplored area of research. In addition to the rapid access of infected persons to effective treatment, one cause of this phenomenon might be the recognition of cytoadherent variant proteins on the infected red blood cell (IRBC) surface, including the var gene encoded P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1. In order to establish a link between cytoadherence, IRBC surface antibody recognition and the presence or absence of malaria symptoms, we phenotype-selected four Amazonian P. falciparum isolates and the laboratory strain 3D7 for their cytoadherence to CD36 and ICAM1 expressed on CHO cells. We then mapped the dominantly expressed var transcripts and tested whether antibodies from symptomatic or asymptomatic infections showed a differential recognition of the IRBC surface. As controls, the 3D7 lineages expressing severe disease-associated phenotypes were used. We showed that there was no profound difference between the frequency and intensity of antibody recognition of the IRBC-exposed P. falciparum proteins in symptomatic vs. asymptomatic infections. The 3D7 lineages, which expressed severe malaria-associated phenotypes, were strongly recognised by most, but not all plasmas, meaning that the recognition of these phenotypes is frequent in asymptomatic carriers, but is not necessarily a prerequisite to staying free of symptoms.


Fuzzy logic (FL) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) own individual advantages and disadvantages. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), a fuzzy system deployed on the structure of ANN, by which FL and ANN can interact to not only overcome their limitations but also promote the ability of each model has been considered as a reasonable option in the real fields. With the vital strong points, ANFIS has been employed well in many technology applications related to filtering, identifying, predicting, and controlling noise. This chapter, however, focuses mainly on building ANFIS and its application to identifying the online bearing fault. First, a traditional structure of ANFIS as a data-driven model is shown. Then, a recurrent mechanism depicting the relation between the processes of filtering impulse noise (IN) and establishing ANFIS from a noisy measuring database is presented. Finally, one of the typical applications of ANFIS related to online managing bearing fault is shown.


As miniature SQUID susceptometers and scanning SQUID microscopes come into wider use, it is important to understand in detail the magnetic coupling of objects of interest to small superconducting pickup loops as well as our ability to scale such pickup loop structures to sub-/spl mu/m dimensions. In this paper we address important aspects of both of these issues. First, assuming a perfect circular pickup loop, we examine the coupling to three-dimensional objects and arrive at a number of simple practical results for measurements on small samples with various geometries and positions. Second, we examine the nature of small superconducting pickup loop structures and the impact on scaling of factors such as connecting leads, local groundplanes and the superconducting penetration depth. We conclude that highly localized pickup areas of well under 1 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ are possible with existing technology.<<ETX>>


Preface. Acknowledgments. Chapter 1 Basics of Beet-Sugar Technology. Section 1 Sugar. Section 2 Beet-Sugar Factory. Section 3 Sugar Terminology. Section 4 Sucrose Properties. Section 5 Carbohydrates. Chapter 2 Sugarbeet Farming. Chapter 3 Sugarbeet Processing. Section 1 Beet Receiving and Storage. Section 2 Beet Drycleaning. Section 3 Beet Conveying and Fluming. Section 4 Stone and Trash Separation. Section 5 Beet Washing and Flume-Water Treatment. Section 6 Beet Slicing. Section 7 Juice Diffusion. Section 8 Pulp Treatment. Section 9 Milk-of-Lime and Carbonation-Gas Production. Section 10 Juice Purifi cation. Section 11 Sedimentation and Filtration. Section 12 Steam and Power Production. Section 13 Juice Evaporation. Section 14 Juice Decolorization and Sulfi tation. Section 15 Juice Storage. Section 16 Syrup Crystallization. Section 17 Molasses Exhaustion. Section 18 Massecuite Centrifuging. Section 19 Sugar Drying, Storing, and Packing. Section 20 Production of Specialty Sugars. Chapter 4 Quality Control. Chapter 5 Ion-Exchange Resin. Chapter 6 Juice-Softening Process. Chapter 7 Molasses-Softening Process (C. D. Rhoten). Chapter 8 Molasses-Desugaring Process. Chapter 9 Refi ning Raw Cane Sugar in a Beet-Sugar Factory. Chapter 10 Environmental Concerns of a Beet-Sugar Factory (J. L. Carlson). Chapter 11 Sugar Laboratory and Methods of Analysis. Section 1 Laboratory Organization. Section 2 Laboratory Analytical Instruments. Section 3 Laboratory Reagents. Section 4 Beet-End Methods of Analysis. Section 5 Sugar-End Methods of Analysis. Section 6 Quality-Control Methods of Analysis. Section 7 Special Methods of Analysis. Section 8 Molasses-Desugaring Methods of Analysis. Section 9 Environmental Methods of Analysis. Section 10 Laboratory Safety and First Aid. Chapter 12 Basics of Science Related to Sugar Technology. Section 1 Basics of Chemistry. Section 2 Basics of Mathematics and Statistics. Appendix. Tables. References. Glossary. Index.


X-ray emission from the nearby system Procyon A/B (F5 IV + DF) was detected, using the IPC (Imaging Proportional Counter) on board the Einstein Observatory. Analysis of the X-ray pulse height spectrum suggests that the observed X-ray emission originates in Procyon A rather than in the white dwarf companion Procyon B, since the derived X-ray temperature, log T = 6.2, agrees well with temperatures found for quiescent solar X-ray emission. Modeling Procyon's corona with loops characterized by some apex temperature Tmax and emission length scale L, it is found that Tmax is well constrained, but L, and consequently the filling factor of the X-ray emitting gas, are essentially unconstrained even when EUV emission from the transition region is included in the analysis.


This paper presents the application of rule-based control on the multimode cricket bowling machine to create varying bowling deliveries. Rule-based control on the machine allows an easier imitation of the different deliveries utilized by the real cricket bowlers. This was achieved by studying the kinematic properties of the cricket bowling and designing the rule base to achieve the required trajectory. The corresponding rules had three inputs namely ball speed, side spin, and length whereas the outputs were motor rotational speed, motor rotational direction, and motor base orientation. The investigated rules were divided into two major groups; without-ball spin rules and with-ball spin rules. The first group was physically experimented and compared with simulation results via the ball's trajectory mathematical model whereas the later w as only simulated. Both results showed the effect of the rules on the ball trajectories where there was good coherence with the kinematic data obtained from the bowling deliveries. However, the effect of the ball spin rules was relatively small in terms of magnitude due to the lower ball rotational velocity. Thus, improving the machine's capability by applying higher ball rotational velocity would augment the effect of the rules.


Peter (Peter) Lachmann's Life in the Space of Translation

The article discusses Przemysław Chojnowski's research on the work of Peter (Piotr) Lachmann, a German-Polish author born in pre-war Gliwice (Gleiwitz). Lachmann consistently thematizes the experience of the borderland, describing his existence between two languages and cultures, that is, a "life in translation". The culmination of Chojecki's long-time research is the monograph Liminalność i bycie "pomiędzy" w twórczości Petera (Piotra) Lachmanna. Studium literacko-kulturowe (Kraków, 2020), which is the main subject of analysis in this article. This work situates itself in the domain of modern anthropological-cultural comparative studies, clearly and convincingly demonstrating the heuristic potential of such approach. Chojnowski's book is not only a mine of information about the work of Peter (Piotr) Lachmann, but also an invitation to discuss the broader issues of borderland and cultural bivalence, usually associated with ambiguous national identification.


E-transaction applications have become indispensable in today's competitive business environment, and are widely used in several areas such as commerce, education and manufacturing among others. They enhance ubiquitous access of goods and services in a short time and fast. Developing high quality e-business applications is the main goal software engineers who make use of a variety of clearly defined development models in solving clients' demands. The choice of a software development model is dependent on its anatomy, challenges it poses and response to emerging technological advancements. The present study reports on an appraisal of software development approaches used in practice. The study investigates the issues faced in using the models, the various models structure and their suitability in coping with emerging technological trends. The study shows a discrepancy in existing software developing approaches appropriateness in adequately addressing the prevailing e-business environment specifications. A new software development approach is proposed, in this context, which is applicable to many e-business projects.


A characteristic of a medicinal product, specifying that its most predominant agreeable savor detected by the unified sensation of taste and olfactory receptors resembles fruit punch.


RPS (Real Person Slash) refers to the fandom in which female fans form homoerotic fantasies based on two real men such as actors, politicians and historical figures. This paper tries to see this group of women under power structures of sexuality in China and how such structures influence their fan practices. Through online observations, group discussion and in-depth interviews with 16 fans in total, I argue that Chinese RPS fans' practices could be understood in both resistance and compromise to the current power structures of sexuality in China. These fans on one hand show their resistance to the traditional gender norms by expressing desires and creating alternative masculinities; while on the other hand they compromise in a way in which they regulate their fantasies within a certain place to prevent themselves as well as the real persons involved in the RPS fandom being judged by the dominant social norms. This paper hopes to foreground an indigenous discussion on Chinese slash fan communities under the power structures of sexuality. (Less)


The overgrowth of
octocorals by sponges is generally disadvantageous for the octocorals. When the
growth of octocoral populations increases the reefs' structural complexity,
more substrate space becomes available for epibionts to grow. One of these
epibionts is the sponge Desmapsamma
anchorata, known to grow
exponentially faster than other sponges, and for its ability to overwhelm the
substrate over which it grows. Our objective in this study is to determine if
the overgrowth of branching octocorals by varying sponges is defined only by
species-specific interactions, or
if some physical attributes make this octocoral more susceptible to being
overgrown than others. To
determine this, on a reef south of Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, we monitored the
attachment of various demosponges to branching octocorals in a series of
experiments to assess the response effect of the interactions and properties
leading to attachment and subsequent sponge overgrowth on branching octocorals.
Substrate effects, species-specific reactions, and time of exposure were
considered. Additionally, following successful-attachment, preliminary growth
rates of two sponge species epizoic on two octocoral species were monitored.
Differences in the observed interaction between species and treatments were
analyzed with a multinomial response model to isolate a species-specific effect
from other interacting effects of the properties tested. Results indicate that
time of exposure of a sponge in direct contact with the octocoral fragment
significantly affects the outcome of the interaction; secondly, physical
properties and species-specific interactions also influence the attachment.
Following the successful attachment to an octocoral, the growth of the sponge
varies as a function of the sponge's differential growth rate and the substrate
species over which it grows. In the context of species successions,
understanding interactions between coralreef organisms is important as these
interactions explain species composition and diversity, and provide a basis for
the prediction of future changes in complex reef communities.


Photonic crystals have been widely explored for biosensing. However, the complicated procedure for the self-assembly of multi-dimensional photonic crystals has driven researchers to look for more economical protocols for preparing photonic crystals. Furthermore, in situ monitoring of glucose with photonic crystals is the main technique used for controlling diabetes. A one-dimensional (1-D) photonic crystal gel sensor was prepared with a top-down method using a commercially available CD-R or DVD-R disc as a nanomold. The 1-D photonic structure was cast on a glucose-sensitive hydrogel. It was observed that the 1-D photonic crystal cast by DVD-R has a good response ability to glucose, as well as a good linear response relationship in the range of 0.1-4 mM glucose, with an adjusted R2 of 0.99 of the linear fitting curve. The sensor also has a good response ability to the detection of glucose in urine. The limit of detection (LOD) is 0.1 mM. The 1-D photonic crystal sensor utilizing the existing optical disc microstructure as a template shows the advantages of its simple preparation, short production cycle, and low cost. It also has great application potential in the preparation of point-of-care (POC) sensors.


The control of the betatron coupling is of importance for safe beam operation in the LHC. In this article we show recent advancements in methods and algorithms to measure and correct coupling. The benefit of using a more precise formula relating the resonance driving term f1001 to the ΔQ min is presented. The quality of the coupling measurements is increased, with about a factor 3, by selecting beam position monitor (BPM) pairs with phase advances close to pi/2 and through data cleaning using singular value decomposition with an optimal number of singular values. These improvements are beneficial for the implemented automatic coupling correction, which is based on injection oscillations, presented in the article. Furthermore, a proposed coupling feedback for the LHC is presented. The system will rely on the measurements from BPMs equipped with a new type of high resolution electronics, diode orbit and oscillation, which will be operational when the LHC restarts in 2015. The feedback will combine the coupling measurements from the available BPMs in order to calculate the best correction.


CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) is a scaffold molecule that plays a critical role in the maintenance of the kidney filtration barrier. Little, however, is understood about its mechanism of function. We used mass spectrometry to identify CD2AP-interacting proteins. Many of the proteins that we identified suggest a role for CD2AP in endocytosis and actin regulation. To address the role of CD2AP in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, we focused on characterizing the interaction of CD2AP with actin-capping protein CP. We identified a novel binding motif LXHXTXXRPK(X)6P present in CD2AP that is also found in its homolog Cin85 and other capping protein-associated proteins such as CARMIL and CKIP-1. CD2AP inhibits the function of capping protein in vitro. Therefore, our results support a role of CD2AP in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton.


Prominent theories of the criminal law borrow heavily from the two leading theories of temptation — the evaluative conception of temptation, which conceives emotion and desire as essentially involving a kind of evaluation, and the mechanistic conception of temptation, which conceives emotion and desire as essentially involving felt motivation. As I explain, both conceptions of temptation are inconsistent with the possibility of akratic action, that is, action contrary to a person's conscious better judgment. Both are inconsistent with the possibility of akratic action because both are covertly inconsistent with a two-fold psychological assumption that undergirds common beliefs about human action and lies at the heart of the law of criminal responsibility: that resisting a powerful temptation is extremely difficult yet not ordinarily impossible. I reveal these inconsistencies and offer in place of the leading theories of temptation a theory of affective desire as primitive psychic attraction, an elemental psychological state typically accompanied by evaluation and motivation but not reducible to either one. I then show how this theory of desire is consistent with the possibility of akratic action, with the two-fold psychological assumption at the heart of the law of criminal responsibility, and, in particular, with the defense of provocation.


A study was conducted to investigate the effects of varying levels of ozone (0, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 or 5.0 ppm) for 96 h on 1. the in vitro and in vivo growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the causal organism of anthracnose; 2. the reactive oxygen species generation and spore mitochondria of C. gloeosporioides using transmission electron microscope, fluorescence microscope and laser scanning confocal microscope; 3. the production of defence-related enzymes in papaya; 4. microbiological analysis on ozone-treated and non-treated papaya; 5. the biochemical, physiological, gas exchange and sensory characteristics of papaya fruit during storage (25 ± 3 °C, 70 ± 5 %RH) for 14 days; 6. the changes in total phenols, total carotenoids and antioxidant activity; and 7. gene expression of ozone-fumigated papaya fruit. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and differences among treatment means were separated by Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). The results of antifungal studies showed that mycelial
growth of C. gloeosporioides was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) at all
concentrations compared to the control. The maximum inhibition in mycelium growth (41.2 %) was obtained at 5.0 ppm ozone. Similarly, conidial germination inhibition was 100 % for 5 ppm ozone. In vivo analysis revealed that 2.5 ppm ozone was the optimal concentration for controlling anthracnose disease incidence (72.5 %) and disease severity after 10 days of storage, showing that a moderate concentration of ozone is effective in the reduction of C. gloeosporioides in artificially inoculated papaya fruit without affecting the quality aspect of the fruit.

The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also confirmed that ozone fumigated fungus at levels above 3.5 ppm deformed and disintegrated spore and mycelia structure. Further to that, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) illustrated that the mitochondria of ozonized fungus was disintegrated and had ruptured membrane. In spores treated with 3.5 ppm ozone, mitochondrial cristae were distorted, whereas the mitochondria were almost completely degraded in spores treated with 5.0 ppm. Meanwhile, the results from microscopy studies using laser scanning confocal microscope and fluorescence microscope showed that ozone treatment caused production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria of C. gloeosporioides. With increased concentration of ozone, higher levels of ROS were induced in the spores.

Besides its direct antifungal activity, the study strongly suggested that ozone induces a series of defense reactions through production of compounds such as total phenols, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in ozone-fumigated papaya. Likewise, content of ascorbic acid, β-carotene, lycopene and antioxidant activity of papaya increased as fruit ripened and was further enhanced by exposure to ozone for 96 hours from day 4 until day 8. Twenty-four hours of ozone treatment at the level of 0.5, 2, 3.5 and 5.8 ppm reduced the total mesophilic microorganism counts of fruit with initial values of 4.48 to 2.18 log cfug-1. In addition, no coliform bacteria were initiated after 24 hours at all levels of ozone exposure.

In addition, 2.5 ppm ozone treated fruit showed maximum beneficial effects in reducing weight loss, maintaining firmness, reduced rate of respiration, delaying changes in peel colour and containing the highest soluble solids concentration (SSC) as compared to the control. The titratable acidity declined throughout the storage period with slower rate in ozone-fumigated fruits. Overall sensory assessment of quality after ripening showed fruit were significantly better in quality when fumigated with 2.5 ppm ozone which were assigned highest sensory score in terms of appearance, sweetness, pulp colour, texture, aroma and overall acceptability than the control.

The discovery of the gene expression of papaya in defense response induced by ozone fumigation has further clarified the understanding on how specific gene involved in controlling its expression when the plant changes during stress or in any plant lifecycle event. Among those genes, some involved in ethylene biosynthesis, generation of reactive oxygen species and stress
responses of plant defense were found (mitochondrion, chloroplast, heat shock proteins, polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein, hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein, ethylene responsive factor and acyl-CoA oxidase).

Thus, the findings from all the experiments carried out during this study showed that 2.5 ppm ozone reduced anthracnose incidence and extended the storage life for up to 12 days while maintaining acceptable quality of papaya fruit. Ozone exposure at 1.5 ppm resulted in poorer quality fruit as compared to 2.5 ppm ozone treated fruit. Higher concentration of ozone exposure at 3.5 ppm and 5 ppm ozone seems non-physiological and caused phytotoxic effect on the quality of papaya fruit. As a non-toxic, biodegradable product, eco-friendly and safe sanitizer, ozone has the potential to become a natural preservative for prolonging the shelf life and retaining quality of papaya by combating fungal disease, particularly fungus C. gloeosporioides, thus promoting the marketability of the crop and minimizing postharvest losses in the papaya industry.


We use the post-Keynesian view of economic growth to analyze Nayarit economic growth from 1988 to 2008. A standard method of classification by sector (manufacturing, trade and services) and municipal classification set out in State Development Plan were used in the analysis.


The IPM linac is an 8 MeV (up gradable to 11 MeV) electron linear accelerator under development at Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran, Iran. The design and construction of the linac is nearly finished and it is in the commissioning stage. The commissioning is planned in several phase of different energy ranging from 50 keV to 8 MeV. At each phase, appropriate diagnostics is required in order to investigate the linac performance. A diagnostics box including a scintillator view screen, a dipole magnet, and a focusing solenoid is designed to diagnose the beam longitudinal and transverse parameters in wide range of energy. These parameters are the beam transverse profile, size, position, emittance and the energy spectrum.


Telaprevir (TVR) is a first-generation protein inhibitor approved in 2011 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, a global epidemic that threatens the human health. This study investigated the interaction between TVR and human serum albumin (HSA) by combining spectroscopic methods and molecular modeling. Fluorescence experiments indicated that TVR could bind to HSA through a static process with a moderate affinity, and the static mechanism was confirmed by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Negative free energy change obtained from thermodynamic parameters suggested a spontaneous binding reaction between TVR and HSA. Hydrogen bonds and van der Waals force were found to play major roles in the binding process, according to the negative enthalpy and entropy changes. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation further verified the driving forces, and indicated that hydrophobic force and electrostatic interactions were also involved in the binding. The site I binding mode was demonstrated by site marker displacement experiments and MD simulations. The TVR–HSA complex was stabilized after 30 ns with a binding energy of about −298.4 KJ mol−1, and a less compacted HSA was induced by binding with TVR. Moreover, binding with TVR caused microenvironmental and conformational changes in HSA, based on their synchronous fluorescence, three-dimensional fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectra.


The current study explored the relationship between perceived quality of life and financial well-being among adult cochlear implant (CI) users as compared with hearing aid (HA) users. Participants were 66 adults: 30 CI users and 36 HA users. They completed the Perceived Quality of Life for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) scale, the In Charge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being scale, and a background questionnaire. Significant differences were found between the two study groups in two perceived quality-of-life factors: participation, t(58) = 1.71, p < .05, and perceived stigma, t(58) = −1.80, p < .05. CI users reported higher levels of participation and lower levels of perceived stigma as compared with HA users. In addition, financial well-being was a significant predictor of participation (β = .32, p < .05), and CI users who used their device for a longer time reported higher levels of financial well-being (r = .35, p < .05). Research findings emphasize the possible contribution that both CIs and financial well-being may have on the perceived quality of life of DHH adults. In addition, time since implantation may be an important variable when measuring improvements after cochlear implantation, especially when evaluating long-term processes, such as changes in financial well-being.


Three-dimensional computer graphics can be extremely expressive. With the correct approach to a layout's visual design, people can quickly and easily comprehend large amounts of information. You can convey far more information in 3D than with 2D bar charts, or rows and columns of numbers. This article provides examples of information visualization applications in several industries, including the capital markets, retail banking, manufacturing, and consumer product goods. These examples help show what it means to put abstract information in 3D and what benefits result.


Details of the Fermi-surface topology of deuterated κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 (where BEDT-TTF ≡ bis(ethylene-dithio)tetrathiafulvalene) have been measured as a function of pressure, and compared with equivalent measurements of the undeuterated salt. We find that the superconducting transition temperature is much more dramatically suppressed by increasing pressure in the deuterated salt. It is suggested that this is linked to pressure-induced changes in the Fermi-surface topology, which occur more rapidly in the deuterated salt than in the undeuterated salt as the pressure is raised. Our data suggest that the negative isotope effect observed on deuteration is due to small differences in Fermi-surface topology caused by the isotopic substitution.


Prostaglandins protect the gastroduodenal mucosa from damage caused by diverse noxious agents. This protection (cytoprotection) occurs under experimental conditions where intraluminal acid is required for maximal expression of damage (e.g., stress, aspirin, and bile acids), as well as where damage occurs irrespective of the presence of acid (e.g., 100% ethanol, boiling water, and lye). Prostaglandins stimulate several factors felt to be important in maintaining normal mucosal integrity, such as mucus synthesis and secretion, mucosal bicarbonate secretion, mucosal blood flow, and cellular repair. Inhibition of the prostaglandin synthetic enzyme, cyclooxygenase, by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), is associated with increased gastroduodenal mucosal damage and ulceration. This damage is primarily the result of decreased tissue levels of prostaglandins, but may also be due to direct NSAID actions on the mucosa, as well as with shifting of arachidonic acid metabolism from synthesizing protective prostaglandins to increased production of injurious leukotrienes. There is also evidence that patients with peptic ulcer disease have a deficiency of gastroduodenal mucosal prostaglandin synthesis, so that prostaglandins may play a pathophysiologic role in this disorder. Prostaglandins have a unique ability to prevent NSAID-induced gastric damage in humans, and also appear to improve ulcer healing during the continuation of NSAID therapy.


Indoor user localization and tracking are instrumental to a broad range of services and applications in the Internet of Things (IoT) and particularly in Body Sensor Networks (BSN) and Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) scenarios. Due to the widespread availability of IEEE 802.11, many localization platforms have been proposed, based on the Wi-Fi Received Signal Strength (RSS) indicator, using algorithms such as K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE). In this paper, we introduce a hybrid method that combines the simplicity (and low cost) of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and the popular 802.11 infrastructure, to improve the accuracy of indoor localization platforms. Building on KNN, we propose a new positioning algorithm (dubbed i-KNN) which is able to filter the initial fingerprint dataset (i.e., the radiomap), after considering the proximity of RSS fingerprints with respect to the BLE devices. In this way, i-KNN provides an optimised small subset of possible user locations, based on which it finally estimates the user position. The proposed methodology achieves fast positioning estimation due to the utilization of a fragment of the initial fingerprint dataset, while at the same time improves positioning accuracy by minimizing any calculation errors.


Conference skills comprise a wide range of activities and tasks students should master to be professional and informed conference participants. The first chapter of the paper introduces the theoretical background of the project called a "mock scientific conference", which may be seen as an instance of project-based learning. This methodology builds on the concepts of social constructivism, deeper learning, critical thinking, collaboration and learner-independence, which advocate for a student-centred and experiential approach to education through exploring real-world situations and problems. The second and third parts of the paper discuss individual tasks and activities designed for the students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, ranging from poster presentation practice to delivering expert talks, writing abstracts and bionotes, chairing sessions and leading discussions. The students find the conference simulation to be highly motivating because it gives them the opportunity to show their expert knowledge and erudition as well as the ability to collaborate and interact with their peers. Therefore, they enhance their speaking and writing skills in a context relevant for their future careers and acquire a range of transferable skills such as organizing an event and communicating effectively.


The properties of coordinate systems that admit separation of the Laplacian and Hamilton–Jacobi operators have been thoroughly explored so that the nature of solutions in separable form of Laplace's equation, the wave equation, Schrödinger's equation and the Hamilton–Jacobi equation are well understood. The corresponding problems for the Dirac operator in flat spacetime have been less completely examined and this paper contains studies intended to produce a more systematic account of possible solutions of Dirac's equation. Because the Dirac operator differs from the Laplacian in being a first-degree differential operator and in having matrix coefficients, it is not possible to discuss possible solutions in as general a way and the separable solutions are far less rich than for equations with the Laplacian. In particular, the forms of the potentials for which separable solutions are possible are not for the most part of physical interest. Although the discussion is confined to coordinates in flat space–time, some of the procedures are derived from those developed to solve Dirac's equation in coordinates with a Kerr metric.


This data consists of the outputs of the in-house Lagrangian solver "SteamLag" used in the paper "A Comparison of Modelling Techniques for Polydispersed Droplet Spectra in Steam Turbines" (Hughes et al, 2015). The data includes relevant flow parameters as functions of time (including pressure, gas temperature, subcooling, wetness fraction, the first four moments of the droplet spectrum, and the increase in entropy due to irreversible phase change) and the complete droplet spectra at outlet (including droplet number, droplet diameter, and wetness contribution) for each technique considered and for each comparison case. The cases modelled are described in the paper.


School [http://library.law.columbia.edu/EarlyHistoryColumbiaLaw/index_page4.html]. There are even detailed histories of minorities in individual law schools, such as Barrera, L. L. (1998) Minorities and The University of Texas Law School (1950–1980), Texas Hispanic Journal of Law & Policy, 4, 99–109 and an authoritative study of Sweatt v. Painter and the desegregation of the UT Law School by Shabazz <http://www.amazon.com/ Amilcar-Shabazz/e/B001KHQOWK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_Ink_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid =1267043218&sr=8-1>, A. (2004) Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Increasingly, bibliographical research is also assisted by the careful use of http://www.amazon.com <http://www.amazon.com> and http://www.google.com <http://www.google.com>, where I found other early work not available anywhere but rare book rooms and archives. These resources led me to Ellsworth, F. L. (1977) Law on the midway: The founding of the University of Chicago Law School. Chicago: The Law School of the University of Chicago and other early and out of print works, such as Warren, C. (1908) History of the Harvard Law School and of early legal conditions in America (1908) was reprinted in 1999, and is cited by Kimball. 6U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brandeis, who figures in the early prominence of HLS, attracted a recent popular biography: Urofsky, M. I. (2009) Louis D. Brandeis, a life. New York: Pantheon. Many stories about Justice Thurgood Marshall chronicle the importance of the Howard University Law School in the U.S. Civil Rights movement. Smith, J. C. (1993). Emancipation: The making of the Black lawyer, 1844–1944. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 7Strauss, P. L. (2006) Transsystemia, are we approaching a new Langdellian moment? Is McGill leading the way? Journal of Legal Education, 56, 161–171.


The aim of this study which is based on comparative education is to examine Turkey and ten EU countries (Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, England, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Greece) in terms of educational levels - preschool education, obligatory education, secondary education, higher education and adult education - and in addition to that, in terms of educational ministries, school administrations, education finance, inspection and teacher education programs. Although these countries have some common similarities as for their educational systems and administrations, they have some differences. For example, as not all these countries propose compulsory pre-school education, they how some variances in their extension of compulsory education. Turkey, when compared to the other ten countries, has the shortest compulsory education period. The countries involved in this study have some different applications in high school types and university acceptance rules. In all these countries, there are pre-graduate, undergraduate and graduate programs at university level. The number of authorities in education and responsible institutions and the title of school administrators differ from country to country. When examined in terms of educational finance, all these countries are observed to finance education much more than Turkey. As for school inspection, it is surprising that there is no school inspection system in Finland as opposed to the other countries. While the instruction time in teacher education schools ranges between 4 to 5 years as it is in Turkey, it is obligatory to have a graduate degree to be able to become a teacher, as in Finland. The educational systems of Germany, Sweden and Finland - which has exhibited a great success at international exams in recent years - are the leading countries that have some original perspectives. Based on the data gathered from this study, it has been suggested that compulsory education period and university acceptance rules should be rediscussed, the allocation of finance to education should be increased and inspection system should be improved. Keywords: Comparative education, educational system, educational management, European Union Countries.


Current threat detection systems were implemented at airports in the early 1970s in response to increased hijackings of commercial aircraft prior to that time. These systems have been in place relatively unchanged since then. For example, screening procedures continue to focus on detecting metallic objects on the person or in passengers' carry-on baggage. Human operators continue to playa key role in the detection process by examining X-ray images, resolving metal detector alarms, conducting body scans with metal detection wands, conducting physical searches of baggage, and maintaining order at screening checkpoints. Now, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the effectiveness of these systems has been called into question, even though the hijackings of that day did not involve any screening failures (hijackers carried only authorized items when boarding the aircraft). Since September 11, elected officials, media pundits, and security experts have been critical of airport threat detection systems, using strong language to criticize screening personnel for their inattentiveness, lack of motivation, and inappropriate employment histories, such as criminal records (for example, "Questions About," 2001; "Weapons Still Elude," 2001). Subsequent detection failures have led to heightened criticism and punitive actions against screening personnel and their employers.


Two doses of triprolidine (2.5 mg t.i.d. and 1.25 mg t.i.d.) were compared with placebo in 32 patients suffering from allergic rhinitis. Triprolidine 2.5 mg t.i.d. was statistically significantly better than placebo (p less than 0.05) in reducing the symptoms of sneezing and eye irritation. Neither dose of triprolidine produced significant drowsiness during the second week of treatment.


Transient capacitance measurements performed on the storage capacitors of dynamic metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) random access memory (RAM) circuits can be used to determine dynamic storage time, because the decay phenomenon is equivalent to the operation of the circuit. Therefore, transient capacitance measurements can be used as a yardstick for process improvements that lengthen storage time and improve the refresh time margin. By analyzing the transient response, using the classic Zerbst technique, the minority carrier lifetime can be determined. In addition, an extension of Heiman's theoretical analysis to include a constant contribution to the leakage currents from process-induced damage and diffusion current from the substrate gives a solution for the capacitive transient that is in excellent agreement with the experimental curves. The T and K parameters in this solution are related to the minority carrier lifetime, T, and the constant leakage carrier generation density, g, and the values of these parameters can be determined from the Zerbst slope and intercept. For K = g = 0, the solutions reduce to those of Heiman.


Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a tool for helping tourism marketers in forming realistic customer expectations. Extant literature is available on the technological adoption of VR in business-related fields like marketing and tourism. Still, a gap exists in studying decision-making to visit a destination and attitude towards a tourism destination. This study attempts to cover the gap by investigating decision-making behaviour with respect to VR for selecting a tourism destination. Individuals' decision-making is based on a cognitive or emotional approach; therefore, Elaboration Likelihood Model is used in this research to understand consumer decision-making. Eight face-to-face interviews were conducted from students to identify the most unfamiliar destination. Field experimentation was used to collect data from 216 Malaysian students; one group experienced VR, and another watched a video. The results reveal that the information quality (cognitive approach) of VR plays a significant role in attitudinal change. On the contrary, video positively influences the attitude through information quality and source credibility, but its intensity is low compared to VR. This research makes a substantial contribution for VR marketers to focus on informational aspects while developing a prototype of VR. Keywords: Virtual reality; elaboration likelihood model; tourism marketing; decision-making; field experimentation.