Early modernists have explored a range of mobile practices taking place in cities: from religious and civic rituals to the multisensory experience of traversing streets and squares. Research has also shown the pivotal role played by cities as hubs where people came and went, ideas circulated, and goods passed through. Yet mobility did not just "take place" in cities. In presenting a new collection of articles on the subject, this paper suggests that urban spaces were more than just a stage for the streams of trade and migration. Rather, mobility had a transformative effect on cities: it assigned new meaning to urban locations, altered the ways in which space was ordered, and often refashioned the built environment itself. In addition, the paper argues that the relationship between movement and urban spaces was reciprocal: by channelling the flow of people through spaces of control and reception, cities shaped mobility as much as mobility shaped cities.


In order to select the optimal threshold in image segmentation, this paper raised an image segmentation method based on the data field evolution mechanism. Integrating the local gray feature with the metric texture, it enabled to extract sufficient image information. Imaging that every pixel with multi-features was a particle with physical meaning, it built a feature field in the space of image feature. Under the supposition that the optimal threshold was the potential direction of evolution, particles would self-adapt to attract or repel each other because of the interaction in the dynamic data field among particles. In this way, the co-evolution was achieved and we further got the segmentation result. The experiment result shows that this method acquires quite good segmentation performance and is quite practical, without significantly increasing the time complexity.


Four species of spiders, namely Desis formidabilis (Cambridge), 1890 (Amaurobiidae: Desinae); Amaurobioides africanus Hewitt, 1917 (Miturgidae: Amaurobioidinae); Muizenbergia abraham; Hewitt, 1915 (Hahniidae: Hahniinae) and Erigonopsis littoralis Hewitt, 1915(Erigonidae), were found permanently inhabiting the intertidal zone of the rocky shores of "The Island," Kommetjie on the western coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The intertidal zone of the "The Island" was surveyed and a map drawn to show the distribution of the four species. The habitats are compared. D. formidabilis was found to inhabit areas of the rocky shore situated between Low Water Neap and High Water Neap Tides, and A. africanus areas between High Water Neaps and High Water Springs. Both species were found in very large numbers. M. abrahami and E. littoralis were both sparcely distributed in areas inhabited by D. formidabilis. Physical factors, behavioural adaptations and biotic factors were investigated in order to discover whether any of these are responsible for the sharp delimitation between the territories of D. formidabilis and A. africanus. Wave action was found to strongly determine the location of nest sites in both species but to be of no importance in their interspecific distribution. Selective choice of nest material, depending on the nature of mollusc shells used and the amount of exposure to wave action, is demonstrated for both. Both species are shown through measurements to make use of an equally effective physical gill and to be able to sustain prolonged immersion. Anatomical and histological investigations of the body surface, booklungs and spiracles have failed to prove the existence of a plastron. They are shown to be able to withstand an extreme condition of desiccation, and there is an indication that D. formidabilis is more susceptible to temperatures above 20°C. The relative humidity of their micro-habitat is shown not to vary to any significant degree. Both spiders are nocturnal and have adapted their periods of activity to tidal rhythms. The eggs of D. formidabilis were found to be parasitised by a Scelionid wasp belonging to a new genus and species, namely Echthrodesis lamorali Masner, 1968. A new species of Mesostigmatid mite belonging to the genus Veigeiia (Veigeiidae) was found living in and around the nests of D. formidabilis and A. africanus. In D. formidabilis and A. africanus intraspecific competition for nesting sites only becomes a problem when prospective sites are scarce. Density of populations is governed by availability of nesting sites only and not by territorial behaviour. Interspecific competition for nesting sites is very marked on territorial fringes. Experimental evidence has shown that D. formidabilis usually outfights A. africanus, apparently due to the fact that D. formidabilis has larger chelicerae, and this appears to be one of the factors controlling the distribution of A. africanus. Part of the diet of D. formidabilis and A. africanus together with an apparent prey selectivity characteristic of each spider are descriptionbed. The latter is offered as a possible answer to the distribution of these two spiders.


The relationship of cities to other subnational governments (e.g., states, provinces, and counties) and to other cities is complex and seemingly in flux. Traditionally, most cities in decentralized nations have occupied a third-tier status - below the national and state/provincial tiers - and have been more or less on an equal footing with other cities. More recently decentralized nations, especially in East Asia, have begun changing that status quo by adopting more complex, nuanced, and flexible approaches to cities' political power. Perhaps this approach signals a trend in which nation states are repositioning their larger cities in response to those cities' rising importance in the global political economy. If such a trend exists, it may also suggest that the nation-state is weakening relative to urban areas and supranational regional governing entities.This article compares how several developing, emerging market, and former socialist countries' laws position cities both in relation to other tiers of subnational government and to other cities. It primarily focuses on the laws of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Russia, Poland, and Kazakhstan.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Glioblastoma remains the deadliest form of brain tumors. The poor prognosis of glioblastoma patients is associated with a high rate of relapse after therapy. It has been suggested that the presence of cancer stem cells, which are relatively resistant to radiation and chemotherapy, may play a significant role in the recurrence of brain tumor. Understanding the biological property of brain tumor stem cells is important to develop effective therapeutic strategies for glioblastoma. In vitro, glioblastoma stem cells cultured in serum-free medium form self-renewing neurospheres, express the neural stem marker CD133, and are highly tumorigenic. On the other hand, in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS), the glioblastoma stem cells tend to undergo differentiation. In this study we used glioblastoma stem cells, NSC11 and NSC23, previously isolated from glioblastoma patients and expressed stem cell markers CD133 and SOX 2, to explore their bioenergetics by monitoring the oxygen consumption as an indication of mitochondrial respiration cultured in serum-free medium in comparison with that incubated in medium containing 5% FBS. We found that NSC11 and NSC23 stem cells exhibited low mitochondrial respiration when cultured in stem cell medium without serum. Upon exposure to 5% fetal bovine serum, mitochondrial respiration increased significantly. Moreover we assessed the protein expression of the mitochondrial respiratory complex (MRC) components in the cells cultured in serum-free medium in comparison with that in medium containing 5% FBS for various lengths of time by western blotting analysis. We observed a marked up-regulation of the protein subunits of MRC complexes I and IV in glioblastoma stem cells when they were exposed to FBS. Analysis of the mRNA expression levels for the mitochondrial DNA-encoded MRC components showed an increase in the expression of these genes, indicating an increase in the mitochondria biogenesis upon the FBS exposure. Based on these preliminary findings, we postulate that maintaining low mitochondrial respiration may be important to maintain the stemness of the glioblastoma stem cells, while the activation of the respiration may promote stem cell differentiation and affect their tumorgenecity. Further studies are required to elucidate the detail molecular pathways governing glioblastoma stem cell self-renewal and differentiation and the mechanistic link to mitochondrial function.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3314. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3314


The aim of this research was to know the correlation between length of body weight, wither's height, and heart girth with body weight. Semen volume with body weight and scrotal circumference. And volume of semen, percentage of live spermatozoa, sperm concentration, and scrotal circumference with sperm motility as superior standardization Peranakan Etawa (PE) goat. This research has 30 PE goats aged three to four years from UPTD Singosari. The data were processed by "The Multiple Linear Regression". The results of this research showed the correlation between length of  body weight, wither's height, and heart girth with body weight Y = -130,735 +  (-0,017 X1) + (-0,037 X2) + 2,147 X3. The correlation between semen volume with body weight and scrotal circumference Y = 0,040 + 0,006 X1 + 0,029 X2. And the correlation between volume of  semen, percentage of  live spermatozoa, sperm concentration, and scrotal circumference with sperm motility Y = 12,204 + -5,575 X1 + 0,820 X2 + 1,177.109 X3 + 0,806 X4. The conclusion obtained in this research was significantly releationship between heart girth with body weight. And significantly releationship between percentage of live spermatozoa with sperm motility (P<0,05).


I. Brahmacrinus Ponderosus gen. et sp. nov. (P1. XVI, figs. 1 & 2.) This somewhat barbarically ornate crinoid is represented in the University Collection by two calyces, which are both devoid of arms and stem. One of the specimens is exceedingly well preserved, and affords a fairly complete knowledge of the structure of the calyx. In the British Museum (Natural History) five specimens of the same crinoid are displayed; these also are calyces without arms or stem. Some of the specimens in the British Museum were obtained from Preston (Lancashire), and some from Yorkshire; those in the Oxford University Museum are from the latter county, where they occur in the Carboniferous Limestone. The size of the calyx is fairly constant in all specimens, measuring, in that selected for description, 45 mm. in height by 40 mm. in maximum breadth. The dorsal cup is obconic in form, with the apex (corresponding to the base of the crinoid) truncate; the ventral disc is gently convex, and supports an excentric anal tube. The basals are large, and three in number; two are equal in size and larger than the third, which is the left anterior. The sutures, which are persistent, are not quite symmetric with regard to the radial plates, which they meet on one side of the median line. The basals, like the other plates of the calyx, are much swollen, except immediately over the sutures, which consequently lie at the bottom of a deep groove. The five radials are also large,


Abstract Contamination of multiple antineoplastic drugs (ADs) on work surfaces presents an exposure concern for health care workers. Surface wipe sampling is a recognized method to evaluate the degree of contamination present. Our research team has previously reported on wipe sampling and analytical methods to simultaneously detect 10 commonly used ADs from a single wipe. Our objectives here were: to field test a protocol consisting of the wipe sampling method and an accompanying wipe sample collection tool kit and confirm this protocol can be effectively used by health care workers to assess drug contamination levels in their facilities; and, to confirm the potential for simultaneous exposure to multiple antineoplastic drugs. Three facilities within one health authority in British Columbia, Canada participated in this field study. In collaboration with the site health and safety advisors, up to 25 surfaces within each facility were considered for sampling. Collected wipe samples were analyzed using HPLC-MS/MS to quantify the 10 analyte, resulting in 750 potential analyses. Following the sampling, each of the three facilities' safety advisors provided feedback regarding the usability of the protocols. Among the 72 wipe samples actually collected (or 720 analyses conducted), detectable levels and simultaneous contamination of work surfaces of five of the 10 analytes were found at all three participating sites: 5-fluorouracil, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, paclitaxel, and methotrexate; (range < LoD to 33.0 ng/cm2) with 5-fluorouracil having the highest concentration in every instance. Drug contamination was found on a variety of different work surfaces in pharmacies and patient care areas among all three sites. Users of the sampling protocols were generally satisfied with the wipe sample collection toolkit with some minor suggestions for improvement. Our findings support the hypothesis that health care workers may be simultaneously at risk of exposure to several ADs. Our toolkit was found to be user-friendly and manageable by those who were not experienced in collecting wipe samples to monitor contamination of ADs on the work surfaces in their facilities.


This paper proposes a video streaming mechanism with packet recovery which extends the Enhanced Adaptive Forward Error Correction (EAFEC) scheme by involving Multiple Description Coding (MDC) with path diversity. The proposed mechanism transmits multiple video sub-streams along multiple disjoint paths, then recovers the sub-streams using EAFEC separately, and at last merges and reconstructs the whole video stream at the receiver. It provides resilience to packet loss and overcomes the defect in EAFEC method that it cannot recover the lost packets which should arrive at wireless access point. The simulation results show that the proposed mechanism performs better than EAFEC within narrow bandwidth varying from 0.01Mbps to 0.064Mbps reflecting in smaller packet loss rate and higher PSNR.


We investigate entangled x-ray photon pair emissions in a free-electron laser (FEL) and establish a quantum electrodynamical theory for coherently amplified entangled photon pair emission from microbunched electron pulses in the undulator. We provide a scheme to generate highly entangled x-ray photon pairs and numerically demonstrate the properties of entangled emission, which is of great importance in x-ray quantum optics. Our work shows a unique advantage of FELs in entangled x-ray photon pair generation.


Introduction Childhood and adolescence are crucial life stages for health trajectories and the development of health inequalities in later life. The relevance of schools for health and well-being of children and adolescents has long been recognised, and there is some research regarding the association of contextual and compositional characteristics of schools and classes with health, health behaviour and well-being in this population. Little is known about the role of meso-level characteristics in relation to health inequalities. The aim of this scoping review is to retrieve and synthesise evidence about the mediating or moderating role of compositional or contextual characteristics of schools for the association between students' socioeconomic position and health in primary and secondary education. Methods and analysis We will conduct a systematic search of electronic databases in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science and Education Resources Information Center. Studies must meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) The population must be students attending primary or secondary schools in developed economies. (2) The outcomes must include at least one indicator for individual health, health behaviour or well-being. (3) The study must include at least one contextual or compositional characteristic of the school context and one individual determinant of socioeconomic position. (4) The study must also examine the mediating or moderating role of the contextual or compositional characteristic of the school context for the associations between socioeconomic position and health, health behaviour or well-being. (5) The study must be published since 1 January 2000 in English or German language. We will provide a narrative synthesis of findings. Ethics and dissemination We will not collect primary data and only include secondary data derived from previously published studies. Therefore, ethical approval is not required. We intend to publish our findings in an international peer-reviewed journal and to present them at national and international conferences.


The main priority of any air company activity and the main condition for its development is the achievement of the highest flight safety level. Significant positive results in this area have been recently achieved, hence, the relative stagna- tion of indexes, reflecting the flight safety as a condition of air transport system, has been revealed. It has become evident that the present accident prevention philosophy seems to be exhausted, and at the current stage of development it doesn't allow to make a breakthrough in the solution of all the problems, which air companies face in this respect. In the perspec- tive to find new ways to solve the existing tasks, in 2011, International Civil Aviation Organization Council adopted fatigue risk management international standards as an alternative for the traditional approach to managing crewmember fatigue by prescribing limits on maximum daily, monthly and yearly flight and duty hours. It's a well-known fact that state of fatigue has a special place among the functional states, which are professionally significant for airmen work and which are the key link in "man-aircraft-environment" system.In this article, fatigue is considered to be a risk factor that contributes to the formation and development of crew violations and errors in the process of piloting the aircraft. We have analyzed the characteristics and reasons leading to in- flight fatigue and estimated its influence on crew performance, considering the interrelation between them. The article specifies the methods and techniques to measure pilots fatigue; besides it has been substantiated the necessity of fatigue risk management system development in airlines to effectively ensure the flight safety.


In World Duty Free Group, the CJEU has reaffirmed that de jure-selectivity requires a derogation from the reference system of taxation giving rise to a different treatment of undertakings that are in a legally and factually comparable situation in light of the objective of the reference system. In corporate tax matters, the reference system is generally the corporate tax system itself. It is thus not necessary to identify a certain group of undertakings as the only ones that can benefit from a tax measure. The CJEU's emphasis on discrimination in the second step of the selectivity test will not effectively restrict the concept of selectivity. By contrast, the CJEU did not address the internal justification where problems persist which respect to permissible grounds of justification, to the relationship between derogation and justification and finally to proportionality. In World Duty Free Group, the CJEU has also confirmed the existence of a second dimension of selectivity, namely de facto-selectivity. While de jureselectivity amounts to an obligation to design Member States' tax systems in an internally consistent manner, de facto-selectivity can be understood as an example of the obligation also to adhere to certain external consistency standards.


Psychotherapy has been defined as an emotionally charged and planned interaction between a trained socially accepted healer and someone with psychological difficulties. There are four basic elements shared by all psychotherapeutic modalities. These are 1) an emotionally charged, confiding relationship with a helping person, 2) a healing setting which strengthens the therapist and the client's expectation and fosters confidence, 3) a rationale, conceptual scheme, or myth that provides a plausible explanation for the client's symptoms and prescribes a ritual or procedure for resolving them and 4) a procedure that requires active participation of both the client and the therapist and is believed by both to be the means of restoring the client's health. This paper reviews three psychotherapy orientations.


Carbonyls are among the most abundant volatile organic compounds in
the atmosphere, and their C=O chromophores allow them to photolyse.
However, carbonyl photolysis reactions
are not restricted to the excited state:
the C=O chromophore allows relaxation to, and reaction on, the ground
state, following photon absorption. In this paper, the energetic thresholds for eight ground state reactions
across twenty representative carbonyl
species are calculated using double-hybrid density functional theory. Most
reactions are found to be energetically
accessible within the maximum photon energy available in the troposphere,
but are absent in contemporary atmospheric chemistry models. Structure–activity relationships are
then elucidated so that the significance
of each reaction pathway for particular
carbonyl species can be predicted based
upon their class. The calculations here
demonstrate that ground state photolysis pathways are ubiquitous in carbonyls and should not be ignored in the
analysis of carbonyl photochemistry.


Synopsis This note is concerned with the spaces F'p,µ of generalised functions introduced in a previous paper. A necessary and sufficient condition for an inclusion of the form to hold is established. The case p = ∞ leads to consideration of a class G''∞µ whose simple properties are noted. Some consequences of relevance to fractional integrals and Hankel transforms are indicated.


Every document that we use has become digitized which makes a great way to save, retrieve and protect documents. They are digitized to have a backup for most paper work .Digitization is found to be more important since everything is going paper free. Digitization of newspaper contributes greatly to preservation and access to newspaper archives. Our paper provides an integrated mechanism that involves document image analysis and k means clustering algorithm to digitize news articles and provide an efficient retrieval of user requested news article. In first stage the news article is segmented from newspaper and preprocessed. In the second stage the pre-processed news articles are clustered by K-means clustering algorithm and key words are extracted for each cluster. The third stage involves selection of cluster containing key phrase given by user and providing the user with requested news article.


The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is reviewing Medicare coverage policy for recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin) therapy. CMS officials are concerned that "Medicare spending on EPO may be higher than necessary without resulting in optimal patient benefit." Approximately 190 end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) patients die each day—a mortality rate that has remained essentially unchanged since 1994—despite improvements in the "adequacy of dialysis, vascular access, and anemia management". To date, the evidence cited in support of a survival benefit of epoetin confuses the relationship between treatment response and outcomes with a causal effect of epoetin. A variety of mechanisms may account for a non‐causal association between hematocrit and mortality can occur. We conclude that there is no basis for inferring the survival benefits (or detriments) of increasing a patient's hematocrit by adjusting the dosing of epoetin. Furthermore, we note that caution is required in administering large doses of epoetin to unresponsive patients in order to achieve the target hematocrit. A better understanding of the epoetin/survival relationship, well‐grounded in science, is needed to provide a basis for CMS to improve its current epoetin policies, and may help to improve patient mortality.


The publication of the extensive 7-volume work "Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science" provided library customers and their end-users with a complete reference encompassing important developments and achievements in modern insect science including reviews on the ecdysone receptor, lipocalins, and bacterial toxins. One of the most popular areas in entomology is pharmacology, and this derivative work, "Insect Pharmacology", taps into a previously unapproached market - the end user who desires to purchase a comprehensive yet affordable work on important aspects of this topic. Contents will include timeless articles covering sodium channels, spider toxins and their potential for insect control, insect transformation for use in control, amino acid and neurotransmitter transporters, and more. New summaries for each chapter will give an overview of developments in the related article since its original publication. This title includes articles selected by the known and respected editor-in-chief and co-editor of the original MRW. The articles are classic reviews offering broad coverage of essential topics in pharmacology, with special addenda including author notes on the chapter since its original publication. Introduction by the editor puts the selected body of work in context for this volume, highlighting the need for entomologists, pharmacologists and related researchers to have these reviews in their personal collection.


A health care analyst-writer explains the critical components for the health care purchasing system of tomorrow and lays out an action plan for effectively facing its challenges.


A trait typical of parrots, but rare in other groups of birds, is the acquisition of new learned calls (acquired by copying conspecifics) throughout an individual's lifetime. The significance of this distinctive psittacid trait is not understood. In budgerigars, females preferentially affiliate with unfamiliar males whose contact calls resemble their own during brief dyadic choice trials; also, in forced-pair situations, contact call similarity of members of pairs increases as a result of a male tendency to imitate his mate's call type. The functions of budgerigar call imitation and preference for pre-pairing similarity are currently unknown. Moreover, as budgerigar pair formation occurs over a span of days or weeks, it is important to determine whether birds in breeding colonies assort and proceed to breed on the basis of pre-pairing contact call similarity, and whether high levels of call similarity are maintained after pair formation is complete. To explore these questions, we recorded contact calls of male and female budgerigars before and after they were placed into an aviary equipped for breeding. As predicted, birds paired assortatively based on pre-pairing call similarity. Once birds had paired, their calls converged further in acoustic structure, as previous work had led us to expect. However, after eggs were laid and the males began to feed their mates, the calls of mated birds diverged, suggesting that there might be some cost to maintenance of shared calls. Male care-giving correlated with the degree to which his pre-pairing calls resembled those of his mate, but not with the similarity achieved through convergence. These results suggest that female budgerigars may use a male's pre-pairing call similarity as a predictor of paternal investment. The questions of why such similarity predicts male care-giving, and why calls converge following initial pairing activities, require further work.


There has been some amount of confusion over the origin of electrohydrodynamic phenomena responsible for the actuation of dielectric fluids in the presence of an electric field. Previous studies have accounted for the possibility of conduction pumping, ion drag pumping and induction pumping as driving mechanisms but have ignored the possibility of Maxwell (electric) pressure driven flow. Until recently, this mechanism has been poorly understood and as a result has often been overlooked. This paper demonstrates how a Maxwell pressure gradient can induce flow in dielectric liquids in the presence of a non-uniform field. We derive, from first principles using lubrication theory, an expression for the flow velocity which exhibits a quadratic dependence on the applied voltage and also proportionality to the ratio of the permittivity and viscosity. The theoretical predictions are supported by experimental results. Although we have examined the phenomenon for a particular class of dielectric liquids, it is believed that this mechanism could well be responsible for the actuation of other low conductivity dielectric fluids previously attributed to conduction or ion drag pumping. In any case, we discuss ways to identify the dominant mechanism by comparing the salient features for a given type of flow.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


The Akkar watershed of the El-Kabir River forms the northern boundary of Lebanon with Syria and drains into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This paper endeavours to provide a management plan tailored to the issues and needs of the Akkar watershed. It is not designed as a simplistic workbook of procedures but as a series of broad, thematic recommendations addressing the environmental problems identified by technical studies and interaction with the inhabitants of the watershed. It outlines a three-phase (short, medium and long-term) approach to address public health and water sustainability in the context of an enduring management system. In all phases, a set of underlying principles are utilized which incorporate a watershed approach, collaboration and cooperation, sustainability, a balance between water quantity and quality, equity and public involvement.


In previous communications the results of examination of the surface potentials of monolayers under different states of compression and on different substrates were presented. It was shown, inter alia , that not only could information as to the orientation of the surface phase be obtained even in such complex cases as monolayers of proteins, but the effects of alteration of inclination as well as of adhesion of the polar groups to the substrate were capable of quantitative measurement. Marked changes in the surface potentials are obtained when the polar group undergoes chemical reaction such as in the formation of oxonium compounds by a ketonic oxygen or on ionization of a carboxyl group, whilst changes of minor character are associated with a variation in the electrokinetic potentials of the film forming material. It is evident that it should be possible to follow the alteration of surface potential with time in cases where a chemical reaction involving a change in the summation of the vertical components of the groups forming the effective double layer is proceeding in a monolayer. Reactions in monolayers at air-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces present, apart from their importance in biological processes, certain unusual aspects of interest in the sphere of reaction kinetics. In order to visualize these aspects in more detail we will consider a simple case, a monolayer of oleic acid distended at an air-liquid interface undergoing oxidation by means of a dilute solution of an oxidizing agent such as acid permanganate present in the substrate. The oxidation proceeds in bulk phase quite smoothly, the double bond undergoing progressive oxidation to a dihydroxy and ketonic acid respectively before rupture of the chain ensues. In a highly expanded film of oleic acid the double bond is extended on the substrate and the molecular orientation of the reactant is such that the double bond in every molecule is equally accessible to the oxidizing agent, the MnO¯4 ion. On compression of the film the surface density of molecules increases and eventually when the molecular area attains some 30 A.2 the limit of film stability is reached and the film collapses. Corresponding to the increase in the number of molecules of oleic acid per square centimetre one should anticipate an increase in the velocity of oxidation of the film, provided that we ensure the constancy of the active mass of the other reactant, the MnO¯4 ion. The velocity constant should also vary exponentially with the temperature providing a measure of the apparent energy of activation in the usual manner. A closer consideration of the system, however, reveals the fact that at some point during the process of compression the reactive group, in this case the double bond, will be removed from the water surface by the compression of the molecules constituting the monolayer. If it were not for the fact that the molecules were in thermal agitation, once this critical point had been reached all the double bonds in the surface would be rendered inaccessible to the oxidant, and reaction would cease. On further compression the hydrocarbon barrier now erected between the layer of double bonds and the oxidant in the substrate increases in thickness until either the molecules in the film become vertically orientated or, as generally happens, the film collapses. Owing to thermal agitation, however, the surface molecules are not at rest, and double bonds can penetrate the hydrocarbon barrier and attain access to the oxidant. The ease of penetration will depend both on the thickness of the barrier and on the mobility of the molecules, which will be influenced both by the temperature and their cohesion. We have under these conditions a reaction, the velocity of which is determined not only by the usual factors such as the collision frequency, and the probability, and magnitude of the energy transfer involved in activation, but in addition by what may be defined as an accessibility factor, the accessibility coefficient being unity in highly distended films but zero in highly compressed rigid films. It may not be without biological significance that in the systems examined in this communication a very large change occurs in the accessibility coefficient, and thus in the magnitude of the reaction velocity coefficient as a result of a relatively small change in the compression or surface tension of the interface. We may note that this molecular orientation as an important factor in reaction kinetics must often be present in heterogenous catalysis at solid surfaces, e.g ., in the dependence on the pressure of the rates of hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons examined especially by Schuster,* but as yet we have no exact knowledge of the actual configuration and change in orientation or alteration in the surface density of the adsorbate in such systems. Similar considerations are clearly applicable to reactions in bulk phases where only specific portions of large and complex molecules are involved, as examples of which may be cited the polymerization of unsaturated hydrocarbons or in the combination between the dextro and laevo forms of complex organic reactants discussed in detail by Mills.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Although many authors investigate the prognostic factors of gastric cancer, there are few comprehensive studies on the surgical results and prognostic factors in patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis. The aim was to describe the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis.

METHODOLOGY
We reviewed the records of 172 consecutive patients diagnosed as having primary gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis from January 1997 to June 2004. Clinicopathologic prognostic variables were evaluated as predictors of long-term survival by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS
The tumors were characterized by positive lymph node metastasis (93.0%). The 1-year survival rate of patients was 19.3%, and median survival period was 16 months. The 1-year survival rate was influenced by lymph node metastasis, surgery methods, and chemotherapy. Of these, independent prognostic factors were lymph node metastasis (present vs. absent, relative risk 1.671, p = 0.005) and resection (no vs. yes, relative risk 1.402, p = 0.013).

CONCLUSIONS
Lymph node metastasis and resection emerged as two independent prognostic factors for long-term survival in patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis. Palliative resection of the primary tumor is important for appraising the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis.


Two cDNA fragments that preferentially accumulate in very young rice embryos at 4 days after anthesis (DAA) were isolated using simplified differential display. The first morphological change is observed in the embryos at 4 DAA and most of the embryo tissue has already differentiated by 7 DAA. RT-PCR was used to quantitate the expression levels of the genes corresponding to the two cDNA clones, REE5 and REE8. They were expressed at higher levels in the embryo at 4 DAA than in the embryo at 7 and 14 DAA as well as in the pistil 1 day before anthesis. The consistent result was obtained by in situ hybridization experiments using REE5 antisense probe. REE5 gene was expressed in the whole embryo at 4 DAA and 5 DAA. The lower expression levels were observed in the embryos at 3 and 7 DAA. RT-PCR analysis revealed that both the REE5 and REE8 transcripts also accumulated in inflorescence meristems prior to the emergence of floral organs, but not in roots, leaves or flowers. The common feature of the young embryos and the inflorescence meristems is the onset of differentiation of various tissues. These may be useful molecular markers for analysis of the events of differentiation during early embryogenesis.


Aim . To estimate the infl uence of contemporary climatic changes to the forming of the cereal crops productivity ( winter wheat and corn ) depending on the adaptive measures system ( fertilizer , cultivating , crop rotation type) in the agrocenoses of the Central Left - Bank Ukraine 's Forest- Steppe. Methods . On the basis of long - term ( 35 -40 years ) investigations in the multifactor stationary fi eld experience, the dynamics of the cereal crops productiv- ity depending on cultivation , crop rotation type and fertilizer has been analyzed. The infl uence of meteorologica l indices on the nature of a trends' temporal movement in the cereal crops productivity has been modeled . Results . The effective use of an excess heat resource is connected to the introduction of mineral and organic fertilizers sub- ject to different cultivation methods in various crop rotation type s. For the crop rotation with the perennial grass at treatment with 6 t / ha of manure and average dose of fertilizers, the productivity
of winter wheat, independent of the cultivation method, was 4.69 t / ha , barley – 4. 54 t/ h a ; whereas du ring 20 01−201 0 due to rep lacement of man ure wit h sid e-li n e pro ducts – 4.21 and 3 .37 t/ha r e sp ectively, i.e. , less by 0. 48 and 1 .17 t/ha. T he p rodu ctivity of sp rin g barle y, as co mpa red to th e m anur e treatment period, has reduced in av erage by 0. 66 t/ha, o r by 23 .8 per cent; along side, it re mained highe st at th e d eep subsu rface loose ning of so il. Ret ur n from the a ppli ed ferti lizers prove d to be highe r by 12 3 p er c ent independent of the m etho d of tr eat ing the s oil. In fi ve- plot pea-i ncluding crop rotation the a vera ge produ ctivity of wi nte r wheat in 2 001− 2010 d ecre a sed by 1.0 9 t /ha, o r by 20 per c ent. The mo st c onsiderable reduct ion in the grain productivity has b een fi xed at bot h the su bsur face and su rfac e loosen ing of soi l. As f or the cr op r otation with t he pe renn ial grass, on t he contrary, a mo re c onsiderable
drop i n the produc tiv- ity was at plo ugh ing (-0.59 t/ha). T he co rn p roductivity in the cr op r otation with t he pe renn ial grass grew a t var i- ous cultivation methods by 1.7 1 t /ha a v e ra ge, and in the pe a-in cluding crop rotation – by 1 .9 5 t /ha. C o nc lu sions. Exce ss heat r esource during 2001−2 013 in cond iti ons of the Left-Ba nk U k raine 's Forest- S teppe z one ant icipa tes in raisi ng tempos the forecast scenario s of the c limatic change until 20 25 and need s t he intr oduc tion of the a daptive agricult ure system: the ap pl icat ion of diffe rin g-depth c u ltivat ing for the cher nozems with the prec ise following of the p ostharv est cultivat ion technological operatio ns in the s umm er-a utumn p eriod t ogether with the simu ltan eous basic au tumn t reatmen t with both organic and mine ral fertilizers, however, without the basi c d o se tre atmen t with the mineral fertilizers for spri ng c ultivat ion, and al so app lying of green -ma nured fallows in the s tru ctur e
of plant ed areas. U nder th e cont empo rary conditio ns, the clim atic change, in par ti cular, an inc re ase in the t emperat ure in the c ent er p art of the L eft-Ban k Uk r aine' s Forest-Steppe favorabl y affects an incre ase in the p roducti vity of the e xist- ing hybrids of corn, wh erea s the desc endi ng general trend ha s been observed during entire e xplorat ion period for the wint er w heat an d barl ey p roductivity because of an incre ase in the t emperat ure of air t o t he c rit ical values i n the p eri od o f earin g a nd grai n po uring. The ex c e ss h eat res ource is effectively used by the cont emp o rary middle- and of l ate- ri p enin g corn hybrids, for wh ic h th e cond itio ns of optim um soil and atmo sphe ric moist ure supply in the "win dbu r n" are created period of arden t a nd wint er e ar crop s. That contrib u tes to the g rowth o f thei r pr oducti vity.


Uncovering the meanings from a literary text is a practice common among the researchers. The work aimed to analyze the poem from stylistics orientation. For this purpose, 'Emily Dickenson's' untitled poem" hope is the thing with feathers" has been chosen. The stylistics techniques and methods are being used for stylistics analysis. The analysis is done at graphological, grammatical, phonological and lexical levels. Hence, this query is supportive in a sense to know about the style, structure, theme, her personal views and attitude through the analysis of the poem.


Three studies examined children's understanding of the role that looking behavior plays in revealing another's desired goal. In each study, participants were asked which of 2 objects a protagonist wanted to obtain. Four-year-olds did not infer that an object examined via prolonged looking was more likely to be the protagonist's goal than an object that was either glanced at or inadvertently touched. Instead, they were accurate only when the protagonist looked at one of two potential goals. In contrast, the majority of 6-year-olds (and adults in Experiment 1) consistently regarded prolonged looking as the more important cue of the protagonist's goal. These age differences suggest that development is characterized by an increasing appreciation that goal is revealed by comparative differences in the quality of perceptual connectedness to objects in the world. One explanation for these age differences is that preschoolers are limited in their understanding of the difference between perceiving with full attention and without it.


There have been remarkable innovations in diabetes management since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but these groundbreaking innovations are drawing limited focus as the field focuses on the adverse impact of the pandemic on patients with diabetes. This article reviews select population health innovations in diabetes management that have become available over the past 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative, a learning health network that focuses on improving care and outcomes for individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Such innovations include expanded telemedicine access, collection of real-world data, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and new diabetes medications and devices. In addition, multiple innovative studies have been undertaken to explore contributors to health inequities in diabetes, and advocacy efforts for specific populations have been successful. Looking to the future, work is required to explore additional health equity successes that do not further exacerbate inequities and to look for additional innovative ways to engage people with T1D in their health care through conversations on social determinants of health and societal structures. Copyright © 2022 Turner White Communications Inc.. All rights reserved.


[reaction: see text] We report here that the C(2)-symmetric diol 2,6-bis(1-hydroxyethyl)pyridine (2) can effect chiral-catalyzed reduction of 2,6-diacetylpyridine (1) and produce more of the diol (2) with the same configuration in an enantiomerically enriched form. The two carbonyl functionalities of (1) are reduced in 90% conversion to produce the enantio-enriched C(2)-symmetric diol (40% ee, 47% de) using zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate and a catalytic amount of the chiral C(2)-symmetric diol (2).


The incorporation of polymer materials into disposable medical devices proves to be valuable due to their chemical and physical properties that make them practically unique. Approximately 25% of hospital waste consists of plastics, prompting various efforts to mitigate their environmental impact, such as reusing or reprocessing. In this study, we attained a hybrid material (organic-inorganic) with antibacterial properties through surface modification of a starch-based polymer matrix and subsequent silver immobilization. The raw material, which is a commercially available biodegradable product, was grafted at room temperature with the monomer 4-vinylpyridine through a "grafting-from" method initiated with high-energy gamma rays from a Co-60 source, using absorbed doses of 10 – 50 kGy and monomer concentrations of 10 – 100 vol%. Grafted films were loaded with silver at room temperature using natural radiation. Our results demonstrate that the modified materials exhibit antimicrobial activity against the pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as confirmed through the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assay.


This study sought to investigate the aspects and other factors at work in rough and tumble play by children, through a qualitative research approach. The participants consisted of 25 5-year-old children and their teachers at A kindergarten, located in Seoul. The results of the research are as follow:(1) there are various aspects in the initiation of, development of, as well as the way children's rough and tumble play ends. (2) The factors that trigger children's rough and tumble play include : limitation and creation of toys, teacher absence, particular times throughout the day, gender awareness, peer relationships, the reactions of teachers, and social and cultural factors at work in class.


Multi-infeed HVDC (MIDC) system connected with VSC-HVDC links and LCC-HVDC links is a new structure in modern power systems, which can be called hybrid multi-infeed HVDC (HMIDC) system. The paper presents the voltage stability analysis of a HMIDC system modeled from a possible future Danish power system and proposes a power control method to improve the system voltage stability. Dynamic loads are considered in the studied system and represented by induction machines. The paper analyses voltage recovery process of an induction machine during a fault and gives the necessary condition of the voltage stability of the system with induction machine loads. The proposed power control method based on a VSC power circle makes fully use of the VSC-HVDC capacity to support system voltage during fault situations. Simulation model of the studied HMIDC system is built in PSCAD. Simulation studies under different disturbances verify that the proposed power control method can improve the system voltage stability. The comparison with traditional control method has also been made.


Objective To examine distinct patterns of IPV perpetration and examined gender equitable attitudes as a correlate of these patterns among men from six countries in Asia and the Pacific. Design 2011–12 UN Multi-country Study on Men and Violence cross-sectional study. Setting Households in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Participants 10,178 men aged 18–49 years residing in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Primary outcomes measure Our primary outcome was distinct patterns of IPV perpetration which were derived from multilevel latent class analyses. Results The odds of being assigned to the Low All Forms of IPV Perpetration class than the High All Forms of IPV Perpetration class was lower for men in the middle tertile group than men in the high tertile group for gender equitable attitudes. The odds of being assigned to the High Emotional IPV Perpetration class than the High All Forms of IPV Perpetration class was greater for men in the low tertile group than men in the high tertile group for gender equitable attitudes. The odds of being assigned to the High Physical/Emotional/Economic IPV Perpetration class than the High All Forms of IPV Perpetration class was lower for men in the low tertile group than men in the high tertile group for gender equitable attitudes. Conclusions Gender transformative interventions that use an adaptive, personalized approach to men's typology of IPV perpetration may be beneficial to reduce violence against for women in the Asia-Pacific region.


Aging is physiological and begins very early. It can be accelerated by our lifestyle and by chronic diseases. There are over 300 "theories" of aging and many animal models have been developed ranging from yeast to more complex organisms. Civil age is not a reflection of an individual's physiological age. Starting from the age of 30 a decrease in organ function can be observed. The aging of an individual leads him to 3 states: vigourous, polypathological and dependent or frail. The state of fragility is reversible. We have to be an actor in our aging and no longer suffer it. The centenarians of the blue zones have achieved, culturally, active aging which has led them to successful aging.


This paper forms part of a wider campaign: to deny pointillisme. That is the doctrine that a physical theory's fundamental quantities are defined at points of space or of spacetime, and represent intrinsic properties of such points or point-sized objects located there; so that properties of spatial or spatiotemporal regions and their material contents are determined by the point-by-point facts. More specifically, this paper argues against pointillisme about the structure of space and-or spacetime itself, especially a paper by Bricker (1993). A companion paper argues against pointillisme in mechanics, especially about velocity; it focusses on Tooley, Robinson and Lewis. To avoid technicalities, I conduct the argument almost entirely in the context of "Newtonian" ideas about space and time. But both the debate and my arguments carry over to relativistic, and even quantum, physics. email: firstname.lastname@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.com


High voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission is becoming increasingly competitive to high voltage alternating current (HVAC) power transmission, especially for bulk power transmission over long distances. For crossing wide metropolitan areas, long distances in the open sea, or latterly in Germany the planned underground North-South DC links, especially extruded HVDC cable lines are attractive because of significant advantages over other insulation types. Nevertheless, in HVDC insulation systems the electric field distribution is much more complex than in AC systems, because it strongly depends on the conductivities of the insulation. Especially the presence of space charges can lead to an increased electric field strength up to the failure of the device. Due to the mentioned challenges it is significant to develop new insulating materials suitable for HVDC applications. One promising approach is to introduce nanofillers in the insulating matrix for space charge suppression. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the influence of nanoscale carbon black (CB) in liquid silicone rubber (LSR). Besides volume resistivity, dielectric breakdown strength is determined to check the influence of the CB concentration. In addition, TSC (Thermally Stimulated Current) measurements are performed on LSR samples with different CB concentrations to evaluate their properties.


The product of the biological sulphate reduction is sulphide. High concentrations of molecular H 2 S (g) can be inhibitory for microbial activity, especially at a reactor pH of 6 to 7. This paper focuses on the effect of high sulphide concentrations on the sulphate reduction rates. The results of three investigations operating a continuous reactor, a column reactor and batchtest reactors have shown that increased sulphide concentrations have resulted in improved biological sulphate reduction. In all instances the reactor pH was kept at 7.5 to 8.5. It was shown that when the sulphide concentration was 700 mg/l in a continuously operated reactor, the sulphate reduction rate was 12 gSO 4 /l·d. When operating batch-test reactors the results showed that when the sulphide concentration increased, to 1 400 mg/l, the volumetric and specific sulphate reduction rates correspondingly increased to 4.9 gSO4/l·d and 1.5 gSO4/gVSS, respectively. Thirdly, operating a tall column reactor using H2 and CO 2 as the energy source, showed that when the initial sulphide concentration of the feed water was 0, 100 and 268 mg/l, the average biological sulphate removals were 650, 1 275 and 1 475 mg/l, respectively. These obtained results indicated that the addition of sulphide to the feed water to the reactor had a positive effect on sulphate removal. Improved sulphate removal results in increased alkalinity production and in an increased reactor pH, which in turn is favourable for a decrease in the redox potential, when a dominant redox couple, like sulphate: sulphide, is present in a reactor.


Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) give rise to diverse cell types in the blood system, yet our molecular understanding of the early trajectories that generate this enormous diversity in humans remains incomplete. Here, we leverage Drop‐seq, a massively parallel single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) approach, to individually profile 20,000 progenitor cells from human cord blood, without prior enrichment or depletion for individual lineages based on surface markers. Our data reveal a transcriptional compendium of progenitor states in human cord blood, representing four committed lineages downstream from HSC, alongside the transcriptional dynamics underlying fate commitment. We identify intermediate stages that simultaneously co‐express "primed" programs for multiple downstream lineages, and also observe striking heterogeneity in the early molecular transitions between myeloid subsets. Integrating our data with a recently published scRNA‐seq dataset from human bone marrow, we illustrate the molecular similarity between these two commonly used systems and further explore the chromatin dynamics of "primed" transcriptional programs based on ATAC‐seq. Finally, we demonstrate that Drop‐seq data can be utilized to identify new heterogeneous surface markers of cell state that correlate with functional output.


Effective learning activities require careful planning. When planning the learning activities to be carried out must consider a variety of variables, ranging from the determination of models, methods, tools, evaluation instruments and others in part. This is not easy, it requires extensive and in-depth knowledge in making a learning plan. However, Learning Implementation Plans (RPP) skill making is a skill that must be possessed by every teacher, especially teachers who are already certified. Certified teachers should already have four expected competencies, including: pedagogical, personal , social and professional . So that learning activities in class can run in accordance with what is desired . The purpose of this study is to obtain a picture of whether certification has an effect on teacher skills in making learning implementation plans. Adapu n method used is a survey method using a random sample of eight teachers. The instrument in this study uses scoring / points on the nine principles contained in the 2013 curriculum preparation principles. The results obtained are based on the results of the study being in the very high category. Even though the principles in formulating lesson plans are not yet fully understood. Both certified and non-certified teachers were on average 8.75 or 97.22%.


PURPOSE
To report the first case of identical twins born to a woman with decreased oocyte reserve having a single embryo transfer (ET).

METHODS
Minimal stimulation with gonadotropins (no more than 75 IU/day of human menopausal gonadotropins) for a few days followed by oocyte retrieval.

RESULTS
The woman, aged 37, had seven in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles with minimal or no gonadotropin stimulation. An embryo was formed in four of seven retrieval cycles (57.1%). She conceived on her seventh cycle and delivered monochorionic diamniotic twins. This pregnancy was achieved with the transfer of six embryos over eight cycles (counting a hyperstimulated cycle performed previously in another IVF center following traditional controlled ovarian hyperstimulation).

CONCLUSIONS
This case demonstrates that successful pregnancies are possible with single embryo transfers in women with decreased egg reserve including identical twins.


Muller's ratchet refers to the irreversible accumulation of deleterious mutations in small populations, resulting in a decline in overall fitness. This phenomenon has been extensively observed in experiments involving microorganisms, including bacteriophages and yeast. While the impact of Muller's ratchet on viruses has been largely studied in bacteriophages and animal RNA viruses, its effects on plant RNA viruses remain poorly documented. Plant RNA viruses give rise to large and diverse populations that undergo significant bottlenecks during the colonization of distant tissues or through vector-mediated horizontal transmission. In this study, we aim to investigate the role of bottleneck size, the maximum population size between consecutive bottlenecks, and the generation of genetic diversity in countering the effects of Muller's ratchet. We observed three distinct evolutionary outcomes for tobacco etch virus under three different demographic conditions: (i) a decline in fitness following periodic severe bottlenecks in Chenopodium quinoa, (ii) a consistent fitness level with moderate bottlenecks in C. quinoa, and (iii) a net increase in fitness when severe bottlenecks in C. quinoa were alternated with large population expansions in Nicotiana tabacum. By fitting empirical data to an in silico simulation model, we found that initiating a lesion in C. quinoa required only 1-5 virions, and approximately 40 new virions were produced per lesion. These findings demonstrate that Muller's ratchet can be halted not only by increasing the number of founder viruses but also by incorporating phases of exponential growth in large populations between bottlenecks. Such population expansions generate genetic diversity, serving as a buffer against, and potentially even leveraging, the effects of genetic drift.


Immunophenotypic studies using immunofluorescent flow cytometry were performed on the blast cells of 36 patients with acute leukaemia using a panel of eight monoclonal antibodies. Six patients had blasts which co-expressed markers for lymphoid and myeloid differentiation, and which were therefore defined as biphenotypic hybrid acute leukaemia. Of the six, three patients were in the paediatric age group (below 12 years old) while the other three were more than 12 years old. Peripheral blood counts were variable; however, bone marrow infiltration was extensive (blasts > or = 75% in all). At the time of study, remission was achieved in only two patients. The authors' data show that biphenotypic hybrid acute leukaemia is not rare in Malaysia. This represents a subgroup of acute leukaemia identifiable by immunophenotyping but not by the French-American-British classification based on morphological and basic cytochemical studies alone. The recognition of this subgroup is important for both practical and theoretical reasons. There are implications for treatment of the individual patient because treatment directed at a single lineage may not be effective. The two colour flow cytometry proved to be a useful tool for diagnosis and classification of acute leukaemia.


Variational Autoencoder is a scalable method for learning latent variable models of complex data. It employs a clear objective that can be easily optimized. However, it does not explicitly measure the quality of learned representations. We propose a Variational Mutual Information Maximization Framework for VAE to address this issue. It provides an objective that maximizes the mutual information between latent codes and observations. The objective acts as a regularizer that forces VAE to not ignore the latent code and allows one to select particular components of it to be most informative with respect to the observations. On top of that, the proposed framework provides a way to evaluate mutual information between latent codes and observations for a fixed VAE model.


The United Nations was born in 1942, defeated the Axis Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan and created today's UN system. This reality has been lost in modern scholarship. We are taught that the Allied countries, mainly America and Britain, with the Soviet Union won the war and that the United Nations was created in 1945. In this way, the achievement of victory can be set in opposition to the United Nations and to multilateralism in general. But it should not be possible to separate victory in the war from the modern United Nations and its priorities, for these were the priorities set by the United Nations at war. America, Britain and the Soviet Union led a large coalition of states organised as the United Nations and this term was used routinely in military orders, in the instruments of surrender signed by the enemy and in political and social life. Bretton Woods and San Francisco were United Nations conferences, and interim United Nations organisations preceded the Charter. Understanding the wartime United Nations reframes our understanding of the second half of the last century and of our own. From UNESCO to the World Bank the primary purpose of the international system is conflict prevention and its wartime architects bequeathed us this system as a realist necessity vital in times of trial, not as a liberal accessory to be discarded when the going gets rough.


It is widely accepted that brooding hens attract their chicks to food by food calling, but until now, the concurrent behavior of hens and chicks has never been investigated in depth. This study provides a detailed analysis of both the behavior of brooded chicks and the distance to their mother in relation to her feeding sequences, and whether they contained food calling. Our results revealed that brooding hens utter food calls while pecking, especially when their chicks are not feeding and/or have been at some distance for several seconds. Chicks' response to their mother's feeding activities was more pronounced in the presence than in the absence of food call. Chicks responded to this call by approaching their mother and increasing their pecking; their response became more efficient as they grew older. We thus consider food calls as an arousal vocalization that directs the chicks' attention to a food item chosen by a hen.


In reply to comments by W.U. Reimold on "Pseudotachylite in the South Boundary Fault at the Cooke Shaft, Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa by P.W. Mambane et al., S. Afr. J. Geol. 114.2, 109–120.

1. The Introduction statement in Mambane et al. (2011) directs the reader to consider that authors such as Schwarzman et al. (1983), Gibson et al. (1997), Spray (1998), Eiko (2004), Riller et al. (2010) and others, have in the past, considered pseudotachylites as a diagnostic feature of shock tectonics. Mambane et al. make clear in the Introduction that pseudotachylites are formed in a number of settings and under a number of P-T conditions.

2. The perseverant objections to the use by Mambane et al. of the term "pseudotachylite breccia" are not tenable. It is agreed that terminologies used by Shand (1916), Bisschoff (1962), Reimold and Colliston (1994), and Reimold and Gibson (2006), and others, are not well-defined. A better classification scheme is needed to assist in the description of the different types of pseudotachylite, and the meaning of pseudotachylite textures including breccia, "melt breccia", and "tectonic pseudotachylite". It seems that Mohr-Westheide and Reimold (2011) and Reimold (2011) are occupied with this task, but that being mostly after review and publication of Mambane et al., which raises the question of how Mambane et al. could consider articles that appeared after the March 2011 acceptation date of their article, or a June 2011 publishing date. For example, Mohr-Westheide and Reimold (2011) was first published on the 17 March 2011, …


ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein D (gD) is essential for virus infectivity and is responsible for binding to cellular membrane proteins and subsequently promoting fusion between the virus envelope and the cell. No structural data are available for gD or for any other herpesvirus envelope protein. Here we present a three-dimensional model for the baculovirus-expressed truncated protein gD1(306t) based on electron microscopic data. We demonstrate that gD1(306t) appears as a homotetramer containing a pronounced pocket in the center of the molecule. Monoclonal antibody binding demonstrates that the molecule is oriented such that the pocket protrudes away from the virus envelope.


A systematic investigation was performed on the outbreaks of Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) using data compiled during the years 1997 and 1998 from 50 broiler farms in Mirpur and Kotli districts. Average mortality due to IBD was 15.31±1.04% with a coefficient of variation of 48.04%. Farms located at various places and vitamin supplementation had no effect on mortality caused by IBD. Season, floor space/broiler, age of the bird, immunization schedule, interval between two batches, presence of coccidiosis in a flock and hygienic status of the farm had a significant effect (p 0.09m /broiler) or optimally utilized housing (13.04±1.06%; 0.09m /broiler). 2 2 Significantly higher (p<0.05) losses were found in broilers at the age above 32 days (17.66±1.51%) than in broilers at 19-23 days of age (12.42±1.97%). Prevalence of IBD was higher (p<0.05) in those flocks immunized only once in their production life (23.03±1.27%) than in those produced under a standar d immunization schedule (7.61±4.89%). Losses due to IBD were also higher when the duration between two batches was one week (22.28±10.28%) than at four week duration between two batches (12.80±2.78%). Insignificant differences were assessed in losses due to IBD when inter flock interval was either 2 or 3 week periods. Significantly higher (p<0.05) losses were found due to IBD in flocks experiencing coccidiosis problem (17.90±1.20%) than those having no coccidiosis problem before the onset of IBD (12.73±1.85%). Losses were less in flocks maintained under good hygienic conditions (6.03±1.33%) than those under poor hygienic conditions (21.63±2.19%). Mean economic losses due to IBD per broiler flock of 1734.50±119.91 and a flock of 1000 birds were Rs. 7846.87±1169.81/ and Rs. 4523.99±447.56/, respectively. Economic losses/year for the aforementioned flocks was Rs. 31701.38±2345.36/- and Rs. 18276.96±2388.91/-, respectively. Optimal utilization of floor space/broiler, protection of birds from extreme climatic conditions, following recommended immunization schedule, maintenance of good hygienic conditions at the farm and a flock interval of at least more than one week are suggested as important factors for reducing losses due to IBD in broilers in Mirpur and Kotli districts of Kashmir.


Paul H. Chen, 80, died on Jan. 3, 2017, in Seattle. "Paul, a devoted Christian with great integrity, was an analytical chemist specialized in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of trace organic compounds in environmental pollutions. He worked as head of mass spectrometry for Philip Morris Research Center (1968), as a professor at National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan (1976), and as a visiting professor at Indiana University. He joined the Behavioral and Neurological Toxicology Lab at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park (1983). He also worked as a group leader at QST Environmental in Gainesville, Florida (1985). He worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in Athens, Georgia, until his retirement in 2000. He had 43 publications and received numerous awards, including the USEPA Bronze Medal."—Melissa G. Chen, wife Most recent title: Chemist, US Environmental Protection Agency Education: BS, chemical engineering, Cheng Kung University...


During the early Christianity period, Alexandria was not only a very important Church center but a cultural one as well. Its decline began after the city was seized by the Arabs. It remained under the occupation of the Mamluk Turks and then of the Ottoman Turks. Despite all the problems the Patriarchate of Alexandria had to face, it continued to constitute a united Church, which was always present in the fight for the defense of Orthodoxy. This was also the case during the Ferrara-Florence Council. During that Council the representatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Metropolitan of Heraclia Antonios and Chancellor Grigorios, signed in favour of the unification with the Roman-Catholic (Latin) Church. But later on, the Seat of Apostle Mark changed its policy and decided to condemn the unification of the Eastern and Western Churches. The Roman Catholic Church decided then to proceed with proselytization tactics towards the Orthodox people of Alexandria but found a Uniate Church in Alexandria, after having realized that its unification policy in Egypt had failed. Many important figures, such as Patriarchs Meletios Pigas, Cyrill Loukaris, Metrofanis Kritopoulos, Matthew Psaltis and many others, objected vigorously to all of its tactics and became enlightened guides for their flock during that period. From the beginning of the 19th century onwards, when Muhammad Ali, well-known for his philhellenism, took over the governance of the area, the number of Greeks in the area increased significantly leading to a further empowerment of the Church of Alexandria. In essence this meant that the proselytization tactics on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church were eventually limited.


TP53 overexpression is indicative of somatic TP53 mutations and associates with aggressive tumors and poor prognosis in breast cancer. We utilized a twostage SNP association study to detect variants associated with breast cancer survival in a TP53-dependent manner. Initially, a genome-wide study (n = 575 cases) was conducted to discover candidate SNPs for genotyping and validation in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). The SNPs were then tested for interaction with tumor TP53 status (n = 4,610) and anthracycline treatment (n = 17,828). For SNPs interacting with anthracycline treatment, siRNA knockdown experiments were carried out to validate candidate genes. In the test for interaction between SNP genotype and TP53 status, we identified one locus, represented by rs10916264 (p(interaction) = 3.44 × 10-5; FDR-adjusted p = 0.0011) in estrogen receptor (ER) positive cases. The rs10916264 AA genotype associated with worse survival among cases with ER-positive, TP53-positive tumors (hazard ratio [HR] 2.36, 95% confidence interval [C.I] 1.45 3.82). This is a cis-eQTL locus for FBXO28 and TP53BP2; expression levels of these genes were associated with patient survival specifically in ER-positive, TP53-mutated tumors. Additionally, the SNP rs798755 was associated with survival in interaction with anthracycline treatment (p(interaction) = 9.57 × 10-5, FDR-adjusted p = 0.0130). RNAi-based depletion of a predicted regulatory target gene, FAM53A, indicated that this gene can modulate doxorubicin sensitivity in breast cancer cell lines. If confirmed in independent data sets, these results may be of clinical relevance in the development of prognostic and predictive marker panels for breast cancer.


In picture archiving and communications systems (PACS), images need to be displayed in standardized ways for radiologists' interpretations. However, for most radiographs acquired via computed radiography (CR), digital radiography (DR), or digitized films, the image orientation is undetermined because of the variations in examination conditions and patients' situations. To address this problem, an automatic orientation correction method is developed. It first detects the most indicative region in a radiograph for image orientation, and then extracts a set of low-level visual features from the region. Based on these features, a well-trained classifier, using support vector machines, is employed to recognize the correct orientation of the radiograph and reorient it to the desired position. A large-scale experiment was conducted on more than 12 000 radiographs, which covered a wide variety of exam types, to validate the method. The overall success rate of orientation correction was 96.1%. A workflow study on the method also demonstrated a significant improvement in efficiency for image display. To our knowledge, this work represents the first robust system designed to handle all radiographic exam types using a unified framework instead of using dedicated strategies for different exam types


Kondo semimetal CeRu4Sn6 is attracting renewed attention due to the theoretically predicted nontrivial topology in its electronic band structure. We report hydrostatic and chemical pressure effects on the transport properties of single- and poly-crystalline samples. The electrical resistivity ρ(T) is gradually enhanced by applying pressure over a wide temperature range from room temperature down to 25 mK. Two thermal activation gaps estimated from high- and low-temperature windows are found to increase with pressure. A flat ρ(T) observed at the lowest temperatures below 300 mK appears to be robust against both pressure and field. This feature as well as the increase of the energy gaps calls for more intensive investigations with respect to electron correlations and band topology.


To study air quality changes during the COVID-19. This paper introduced the Over-standard multiples method and Gray relational analysis to study the individual and overall change trends of pollutants in Wuhan during the same period in the past seven years. The result shows that the concentrations of SO2 and O3 increased but still meet the standard. However, the pandemic promoted a decrease in PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 concentrations, but it had just reached the standard or even exceeded the standard. This article discussed the feasibility of using Gray relational analysis to analyze pollutants exceeding the standard from an overall perspective and provided new ideas for future research.


Why this book? Why now? We know multiple sclerosis (MS) with onset in childhood is not a newly described disease entity [1], but was in fact reported shortly after it was described in adults [2], and that was well over a century ago (Table 1.1, Figure 1.1). However, it has only been since the early 1990s that major advances in the care of adults with MS have occurred, specifically the ability to diagnosis early in the disease course (using more proficient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques), and the advent of disease-modifying therapies (DMT) [3–9]. Still, children with MS have received little attention and pediatric MS remains a challenging disease to diagnose and treat (see clinical vignettes). While MS in children is uncommon, there is an increased sense of responsibility to effectively recognize, diagnose, and treat children and adolescents with MS. This chapter briefly summarizes the history of pediatric MS and related diseases, and current clinical and research directions.


Current climate change trends are affecting the magnitude and recurrence of extreme weather events. In particular, several semi-arid regions around the planet are confronting more intense and prolonged lack of precipitation, slowly transforming part of these regions into deserts in some cases. Although it is documented that a decreasing tendency in precipitation might induce earlier disappearance of vegetation, quantifying the relationship between decrease of precipitation and vegetation endurance remains a challenging task due to the inherent complexities involved in distinct scenarios. In this paper we present a model for precipitation-vegetation dynamics in semi-arid landscapes that can be used to explore numerically the impact of decreasing precipitation trends on appearance of desertification events. The model, a stochastic differential equation approximation derived from a Markov jump process, is used to generate extensive simulations that suggest a relationship between precipitation reduction and the desertification process, which might take several years in some instances.


The work provides methodologies for studying, designing, and optimizing melt spinning processes of fiber manufacture. Amorphous metallic materials can be created through melt spinning processes, in which a highly spinning wheel undercools a jet of molten metal or alloy below the equilibrium melting and the nucleation temperatures. Free-jet melt spinning employs a larger nozzle-wheel gap compared to planar flow casting. The instability of melt pool formation in a free-jet melt spinning will allow the variability of ribbon production. In general, a stable delivery of amorphous materials depends simultaneously on various control parameters, such as wheel speed, molten flow viscosity, surface tension force, and heat transfer. To analyze dynamical and thermodynamical characteristics of a free-jet melt spinning, two mathematical models, free surface and rapid solidification, have been established by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Based on the nucleation theory, I have predicted the nucleation temperature and the critical cooling rate for an alloy Fe75-Si10-B15 (at.%). The applications of these crystalline solidification properties in the simulation and analysis help the researchers gain insight into the processes. The research focuses on a novel simple and second-order accurate algorithm for computing surface normal and curvature in the Volume of Fluid method; it reconstructs the continuum surface force model to eliminate spurious currents. A computer program has been developed with the enhanced numerical schemes and the capability of heat transfer for two-dimensional laminar Newtonian surface flows. It conducted numerical simulations of impingement of a melt stream against a highly rotating wheel, and explains the complicated processes with numerical results of velocity and temperature in melt pools. The analytical estimates of ribbon thickness presented in the thesis agree with the experimental observation of the alloy. An in-depth investigation of the melt spinning process was performed to develop benchmarks of process variables for amorphous material production.


Information security is of paramount importance yet significant challenge for wireless communications. In this paper, we investigate the power-efficient transmissions with security concerns in the presence of a full-duplex (FD) active eavesdropper. With FD capability, the eavesdropper can launch jamming attacks while eavesdropping, which affects the legitimate transmissions, such that the legitimate power allocation becomes more favorable for eavesdropping. However, the jamming attacks require additional power consumption and result in self-interference at the eavesdropper itself. The legitimate user intends for a power-efficient manner to effectively guarantee the secure transmissions to defend against the simultaneous eavesdropping and jamming attacks. We formulate the problem within a Stackelberg game framework, where the eavesdropper takes action first as the leader and the legitimate user acts as the follower. We analyze the security game model for both single-channel and multi-channel cases. Furthermore, by exploring the properties of the game equilibrium, we propose the optimal transmission strategy and jamming strategy for the legitimate transmission and eavesdropping, respectively. Finally, we provide extensive simulation results to corroborate our theoretical analysis and evaluate the security performance.


In order to better understand how our visual system processes information, we must understand the underlying brain connectivity architecture, and how it can get reorganized under visual deprivation. The full extent to which visual development and visual loss affect connectivity is not well known. To investigate the effect of the onset of blindness on structural connectivity both at the whole-brain voxel-wise level and at the level of all major white-matter tracts, we applied two complementary Diffusion-Tension Imaging (DTI) methods, TBSS and AFQ. Diffusion-weighted brain images were collected from three groups of participants: congenitally blind (CB), acquired blind (AB), and fully sighted controls. The differences between these groups were evaluated on a voxel-wise scale with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) method, and on larger-scale with Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ), a method that allows for between-group comparisons at the level of the major fiber tracts. TBSS revealed that both blind groups tended to have higher FA than sighted controls in the central structures of the brain. AFQ revealed that, where the three groups differed, congenitally blind participants tended to be more similar to sighted controls than to those participants who had acquired blindness later in life. These differences were specifically manifested in the left uncinated fasciculus, the right corticospinal fasciculus, and the left superior longitudinal fasciculus, areas broadly associated with a range of higher-level cognitive systems.


Herbal Medicine Resources Group, Herbal Medicine Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, Korea.ABSTRACT : Collected germplasms of five representative species belonging to Curcuma genus (C. longa, C. aromatica, C.zedoaria, C. phaeocaulis and C. kwangsiensis) were 52 samples from different farmhouse in Korea and China. To elucidatethe genetic diversity among the species, 52 samples were analyzed by genomic fingerprinting method using amplified frag-ment length polymorphism (AFLP). AFLP results of 6 primer combinations were revealed 643 total DNA fragments and349 polymorphic bands with the 54.3% ratio of polymorphism. In the analysis of coefficient similarity using unweight pairgroup method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA), 52 Curcuma germplasm lines were ranged from 0.60 to 0.99 and clus-tered distinct five groups according to the species and collected geographical levels. However, the result of principal coordi-nate analysis (PCA) by multi-variate analysis was shown significantly greater differences among species than geographicalorigins based on AFLP profiling data of these samples.Key Words : Curcuma, AFLP, PCA, Genetic Relationship, Germplasm


Microscopic traffic simulation is associated with substantial runtimes, limiting the feasibility of large-scale evaluation of traffic scenarios. Even though today heterogeneous hardware comprised of CPUs, graphics processing units (GPUs) and fused CPU-GPU devices is inexpensive and widely available, common traffic simulators still rely purely on CPU-based execution, leaving substantial acceleration potentials untapped. A number of existing works have considered the execution of traffic simulations on accelerators, but have relied on simplified models of road networks and driver behaviour tailored to the given hardware platform. Thus, the existing approaches cannot directly benefit from the vast body of research on the validity of common traffic simulation models. In this paper, we explore the performance gains achievable through the use of heterogeneous hardware when relying on typical traffic simulation models used in CPU-based simulators. We propose a partial offloading approach that relies either on a dedicated GPU or a fused CPU-GPU device. Further, we present a traffic simulation running fully on a manycore GPU and discuss the challenges of this approach. Our results show that a CPU-based parallelisation closely approaches the results of partial offloading, while full offloading substantially outperforms the other approaches. We achieve a speedup of up to 28.7x over the sequential execution on a CPU.


We report on the band alignment of In0.46Ga0.54 P0.98Sb0.02/GaAs and the dc characteristics of In0.46Ga0.54P0.98Sb0.02/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). By comparing the forward and reverse Gummel plot, we found a potential spike existing at the InGaPSb/GaAs interface. Through a flatband extrapolation from the currents of the forward and reverse Gummel plot and the energy gap determined from photoluminescence, we concluded that In0.46Ga0.54P0.98Sb0.02/GaAs is in a type-I band alignment. The conduction-band offset and valence-band offset are 0.12 and 0.35 eV, respectively. As a result of the type-I band alignment, the InGaPSb/GaAs HBTs showed a more significant thermal degradation of the current gain than the control InGaP/GaAs HBT. The thermal behavior is beneficial to ruggedness.


Based on the rough set theory, a new distribution network fault diagnosis approach to deal with the imperfect alarm signals that caused by malfunction or failing operation of protection relays and circuit breakers, error in the communication equipment is proposed. Due to rough set theory can effectively handle the imprecise problems without any ancestor information except the data set itself, a decision table including all kinds of fault cases is established by considering the signals of protection relays and circuit breakers, and the approach can extract diagnosis rules from the set of fault samples directly. The inherent redundancy in the alarm information is exposed. Finally, a practical fault diagnosis program of the typical distribution network is proposed based on VC#. The result shows the validity of the proposed method.


Vabicaserin is a potent 5-hydroxytryptamine2C agonist that is currently being developed for the treatment of the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. In this study, in vitro and in vivo metabolism of vabicaserin was evaluated in mice, rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans, and the structures of the metabolites were characterized by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Vabicaserin underwent three major metabolic pathways in vitro: NADPH-dependent hydroxylation, NADPH-independent imine formation, and carbamoyl glucuronidation. After a single oral dose, vabicaserin was extensively metabolized in animals and humans, and its metabolites were mainly excreted via the urine in mice and rats. Along with the metabolites observed in vitro, secondary metabolism via oxidation and conjugation of the primary metabolites generated from the above-mentioned three pathways yielded a number of additional metabolites in vivo. Carbamoyl glucuronidation was the major metabolic pathway in humans but a minor pathway in rats. Although carbamoyl glucuronidation was a major metabolic pathway in mice, dogs, and monkeys, oxidative metabolism was also extensive in these species. Hydroxylation occurred in all species, although different regional selectivity was apparent. The imine pathway also appeared to be common to several species, because vabicaserin imine was observed in humans and hydroxyl imine metabolites were observed in mice, rats, and dogs. A nitrone metabolite of vabicaserin was observed in dogs and humans but not in other species. In conclusion, the major metabolic pathways for vabicaserin in humans and nonclinical safety species include carbamoyl glucuronidation, hydroxylation, formation of an imine, and a nitrone.


In an attempt to identify target cell membrane molecules recognized by natural killer (NK) cells, artificial membranes were prepared from detergent-solubilized plasma membranes of NK target cells and synthetic lipids. Such reconstituted membranes from human and rat NK target cells were shown to inhibit both human and rat NK-target cell conjugates in a species-specific fashion; these reconstituted membranes failed to inhibit NK cytotoxicity. The detergent-solubilized material from the human NK target K562 was subjected to various procedures prior to reconstitution and the conjugate inhibition assay. Conjugate inhibitory activity was lost upon trypsin digestion and incubation at 65 degrees C. This inhibition activity was absorbed to concanavalin A agarose and could subsequently be eluted with alpha-methylmannoside, resulting in approximately 20-fold purification. Gel filtration of this material on an AcA-34 column in detergent gave a broad activity peak with maximal activity in the molecular weight range of 30,000-165,000. Gel electrophoresis of purified membranes demonstrated multiple molecular weight bands in lipid membranes. The K562 membrane material, purified by concanavalin A agarose and gel filtration, inhibited conjugates between human NK cells and any of four human target cells, but not of conjugates with (1) human large granular lymphocytes and antibody-coated mouse tumor cells nor (2) rat NK cells and their target cells. Thus the purified glycoproteins from K562 retain the property of specific inhibition of human NK-target conjugates.


This paper focuses NGO (Non-government organization) registration through the government run community development projects (CDPs), post registration facilitations by these projects for NGOs, requirements made by the NGOs and the CDPs' dealings with registered NGOs. Though, the CDPs facilitate NGOs registration, the registration process is noticed lengthy and complicated. The funding role of the CDPs is quite low as compared to other facilitations provided while NGOs mostly require funding assistance. These development projects operate in participative and authoritative way while working with the NGOs. The study discussion suggests that improvement in NGOs registration process, funding increase for NGOs' development projects and participative and cooperative dealings of the CDPs could enhance performance of both NGOs and the CDPs.


Purpose. The article aims to create a mathematical model of the railway station functioning for the solving of problems of station technology development on the plan-schedule basis . Methodology. The methods of graph theory and object-oriented analysis are used as research methods. The model of the station activity plan-schedule includes a model of technical equipment of the station (plan-schedule net) and a model of the station functioning , which are formalized on the basis of parametric graphs. Findings . The presented model is implemented as an application to the graphics package AutoCAD. The software is developed in Visual LISP and Visual Basic. Taking into account that the construction of the plan-schedule is mostly a traditional process of adding, deleting, and modifying of icons, the developed interface is intuitively understandable for a technologist and practically does not require additional training. Originality. A mathematical model was created on the basis of the theory of graphs and object-oriented analysis in order to evaluate the technical and process of railway stations indicators; it is focused on solving problems of technology development of their work. Practical value. The proposed mathematical model is implemented as an application to the graphics package of AutoCAD. The presence of a mathematical model allows carrying out an automatic analysis of the plan-schedule and, thereby, reducing the period of its creation more than twice.


Culturally responsive and racially conscious psychotherapeutic work requires that therapists recognize the ways clients are impacted by their multiple marginalized identities and by systems of oppression (e.g., racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, heterosexism, and nativism). Attending exclusively to clients' marginalized identities (i.e., weak intersectionality) may drive therapists to only focus on internal, subjective, and emotional experiences, hence, missing the opportunity to consider and address how multiple sociostructural dimensions (i.e., strong intersectionality) may be impacting the client's presenting problems. Alternatively, focusing solely on the impact of sociostructural dimensions on the lives of clients may miss the more nuanced and variable individual personal experiences. In this article, we highlight the challenge of maintaining a culturally responsive and racially conscious stance when considering multiple marginalized identities, overlapping systemic inequities, and how both affect clients' lives and experiences. The case of an AfroLatinx queer immigrant is presented to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities while simultaneously considering (a) the client's multiple marginalized identities, (b) the way clients are impacted by systemic oppression, and (c) integrating the client's personal experiences and narratives in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record


Artificial Lift system selection is a key factor in enhancing energy efficiency, increasing profit and expanding asset life in any oilproducing well. Theoretically, this selection has to consider an extensive number of variables, making hard to select the optimal Artificial Lift System. However, in practice, a limited number of variables and empirical knowledge are used in this selection process. The latter increases system failure probability due to pump – well incompatibility. The multi-criteria decision-making methods present mathematical modelling for selection processes with finite alternatives and high number of criteria. These methodologies make it feasible to reach a final decision considering all variables involved.In this paper, we present a software application based on a sequential mathematical analysis of hierarchies for variables, a numerical validation of input data and, finally, an implementation of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods (SAW, ELECTRE and VIKOR) to select the most adequate artificial lift system for crude oil production in Colombia. Its novel algorithm is designed to rank seven Artificial Lift Systems, considering diverse variables in order to make the decision. The results are validated with field data in a Casestudy relating to a Colombian oilfield, with the aim of reducing the Artificial Lift Failure Rate.


AIM
To assess the psychometric attributes of the stroke-adapted 30-item version of the Sickness Impact Profile, Spanish version (SA-SIP30), in stroke survivors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
79 patients were evaluated (mean age: 68.1 years) by means of the modified Rankin Scale (m-RS), Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS), Barthel Index (BI), and the modified 23-item Beck-Hamilton's Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Health-related quality of life was evaluated using the MOS-Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the SA-SIP30.

RESULTS
SA-SIP30 mean score was 36.8. SA-SIP30 floor and ceiling effects were 3.8% and 0%. Regarding SA-SIP30 categories, floor effect ranged from 15.2% (social interaction) to 49.4% (alertness behavior), whereas ceiling effect ranged from 2.5% (social interaction) to 26.6% (household management). A floor effect was observed in seven SA-SIP30 categories. The internal consistency of SA-SIP30 (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87), physical (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) and psychosocial (Cronbach's alpha = 0.75) dimensions were satisfactory. Standard error of measurement (SEM) values for each SA-SIP30 category ranged from 15.9 (household management) to 26.3 (ambulation). SEM values for overall SA-SIP30, physical and psychosocial dimensions were 8, 10 and 17.3, respectively. Corrected item-category correlations ranged from 0.17 (item 28) to 0.83 (item 23). A significant correlation (Spearman's correlation coefficient; p < 0.0001) between SA-SIP30 scores and BI (-0.71), m-RS (0.68), SSS (-0.67), HDRS (0.52), SF-36 physical (-0.67) and mental components (-0.51) was found. SA-SIP30 mean score significantly increased as m-RS increased (discriminative validity; Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION
The Spanish-version of the SA-SIP30 has satisfactory internal consistency, convergent validity and discriminative validity in stroke patients.


Abstract Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine if patients with borderline personality emotionally react any differently than controls to theoretical media events of different valences. Methods. In this cross-sectional sample of convenience, we examined among 70 primary care patients the relationship between borderline personality disorder, according to two diagnostic measures (the borderline personality scale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionaire-4 and the Self-Harm Inventory), and emotional reactions to three types of theoretical media events – positive, negative, and neutral events. Results. Participants with versus without borderline personality evidenced no emotional differences to the various media events according to the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4. However, according to the Self-Harm Inventory, participants with borderline personality symptomatology were more likely to rate neutral events with greater emotional intensity, but not positive or negative events. Conclusions. These findings suggest that patients with borderline personality may tend to respond more dramatically to ambiguous stimuli, such as neutral environmental events. We discuss the potential implications of these findings.