BACKGROUND
Elevated expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is suggested to have tumor marker potential in various tumors. MMPs are capable of disintegrating the basement membrane, which is a main characteristic of tumor invasion. They are specifically inactivated by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) are known to be highly invasive tumors with early locoregional metastatic spread.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
To investigate the tumor marker potential of MMPs in SCCHN, MMP-2, -3, -8, -9, -13 and TIMP-1 serum levels were determined in 73 patients and compared to 74 controls. A correlation with T- and N-status, UICC-staging and grading was performed. Additionally, the influence of inflammation on the MMP serum concentration was examined.

RESULTS
Significant differences between patients with SCCHN and controls were seen for MMP-3, -8 and -9. A significant correlation was found between MMP-8 concentration and T-status, N-status and UICC-staging. No correlation with the grading of the tumor was observed. Inflammatory diseases did not affect MMP and TIMP levels significantly.

CONCLUSION
Some MMPs are elevated in the serum of patients with SCCHN and especially MMP-8 showed interesting tumor marker potential.


The recent surge in 3D content generation has led to the evolution of difficult to search, organise and re-use massive online 3D visual content libraries. We explore crowdsourcing and machine learning techniques to help alleviate these difficulties by focusing on the visual perceptual properties of 3D shapes. We study "style similarity" and "aesthetics" as two fundamental perceptual properties of 3D shapes and build data-driven models. We rely on crowdsourcing platforms to collect large number of human judgements on style matching and aesthetics of 3D shapes. The judgement data collected directly from humans is used to learn metrics of style matching and aesthetics. Our style similarity measure can be used to compute style distance between a pair of input 3D shapes. In contrast to previous work, we incorporate colour and texture in addition to geometric features to build a colour and texture aware style similarity metric. We also experiment with learning objective and personalised style metrics 3D shapes. The application prototypes we build demonstrate the use of style based search and scene composition. Further, our style distance metric is built iteratively to consume lesser amount of human style judgement data compared to previous methods. We study the problem of building a data-driven model of 3D shape aesthetics in two steps. We first focus on designing a study to crowdsource human aesthetics judgement data. We then formulate a deep learning based strategy to learn a measure of 3D shape aesthetics from collected data. The results of the study in first step helped us choose an appropriate shape representation i.e. voxels as an input to deep neural networks for learning a measure of visual aesthetics. In the same crowdsourcing study, we experiment with the use of polygonal, volumetric, and point based shape representations to create shape stimuli to collect and compare human shape aesthetics judgements. On analysis of the collected data we found that that humans can reliably distinguish more aesthetic shape in a pair even from coarser shape representations such as voxels. This observation implies that detailed shape representations are not needed to compare aesthetics in pairs. The aesthetic value of a 3D shape has traditionally been explored in terms of specific visual features (or handcrafted features) such as curvature and symmetry. For example, more symmetric and curved shapes are considered aesthetic compared to less curved and symmetric shapes. We call such properties as pre-existing notion (or rules) of aesthetics. In order to develop a measure of perceptual aesthetics of 3D shapes which is independent of any pre-existing notion or shape features, we train deep neural networks directly on human aesthetics judgement data. We demonstrate the usefulness of the learned measure by designing applications to rank a collection of shapes based on their aesthetics scores and interactively build scenes using shapes with high aesthetics scores. The overarching goal of this thesis is to demonstrate the use of machine learning and crowdsourcing approaches to build data-driven models of visual perceptual properties of 3D shapes for applications in search, organisation, scene composition, and visualisation of 3D shape data present in ever increasing online 3D shape content libraries. We believe that our exploration of perceptual properties of 3D shapes will motivate further research by looking into other important perceptual properties related to our vision system and will also fuel development of techniques to automatically enhance such properties of a given 3D shape.


Inner Tracker of Novosibirsk Super Charm-Tau Factory Detector has to measure momenta of soft hadrons, which do not reach the drift chamber; complement the drift chamber in measuring the momenta; detect secondary vertices of short-lived particles. Thus, proper choice of the option for the Inner Tracker is of significant interest. The simulation of charged pions propagation in the perpendicular direction to the beam axis was carried out with DD4HEP program based on GEANT4. Three options were considered: 4-layered Silicon microstrip detector, 4-layered cylindrical Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector and Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The simulated Detector was located in 1.5 T magnetic field directed along beam axis. The simulation shows that pions with initial momenta less than 50 MeV/c do not pass through the beampipe and cannot be registered. Pions with momenta above 65 MeV/c leave energy depositions in all 4 layers of the Inner Tracker based on Silicon, and their trajectories can be reconstructed. Cylindrical GEM detector provides reconstruction possibility (hits in 4 layers) for pions with momenta more than 60 MeV/c. TPC with thin inner wall provides reconstruction of pions with momenta higher than 55 MeV/c. However, in this case the reconstruction procedure will be much more complicated due to a large number of background particle tracks in the sensitive volume.


Introduction: Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a repolarization cardiac disorder that can lead to syncope, cardiac arrest and sudden death in apparently healthy individuals. The congenital type can be accompanied with congenital sensory-neural deafness (Jervell-Lang-Nielsen syndrome). Although there are limited studies assessed the frequency of LQTS in these children in developed countries, regarding introducing the new formula, it is necessary to re-evaluate the frequency of this syndrome. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was done on 203 patients with congenital sensory-neural hearing loss (SNHL) that had cochlear implant surgery in Baqiyatallah cochlear implant center from 2008 to 2012. Corrected QT was calculated with this formula: QTC = QT + 1.75 (heart rate-60) Patients with QTC > 460 ms, were categorized in four groups: Long QT: QT > 460, Borderline: 440 < QTC ≤ 460, markedly long QT: QTC > 470 and very markedly: >500. Also, cardiac arrhythmias or arrest were evaluated in patients during cochlear implant surgery and in the postoperative recovery period. Result: Prevalence of LQTS in patients was 12.32% (25 patients). Prevalence of markedly long QT and very markedly long QT were 8.87% (18 patients) and 2.46% (5 patients) respectively. The prevalence of borderline group was 14.29% (29 patients). None of the patients during or after surgery were affected by cardiac arrhythmias or arrest. Conclusion: This study showed higher prevalence of LQTS in patients with SNHL than the normal population, and we suggest that all patients with congenital deafness should be screen for LQTS.


A dumbbell shape micro-ring resonator reflector fabricated using the siliconon-insulator (SOI) technology for use as a reflective notch filter is presented. The development of this dumbbell micro-ring reflector is motivated by the increasing demand for highly confined resonant structures as integrated optical components in modern optical communication and sensor applications. In this thesis, we have analyzed and simulated the reflection properties of dumbbell micro-ring reflectors based on SOI strip waveguides. We have optimized our design based on the analytic modeling and simulation results and had our devices fabricated at a foundry. An automated optical probe station has been developed for characterizing the performance of the fabricated dumbbell micro-ring reflectors. Measurement results on the reflection spectrum showed an extinction ratio of 20 dB with a quality factor of ∼11,000. Thermal tuning responses showed the potential for those resonators in sensor applications.


The target of this paper is to present an industry-ready prototype software for general game playing. This software can also be used as the central element for experimental economics research, interfacing of game-theoretic libraries, AI-driven software testing, algorithmic trade, human behavior mining and simulation of (strategic) interactions. The software is based on a domain-specific language for electronic business to business negotiations -- SIDL3.0. The paper also contains many examples to prove the power of this language.


Extravascular signal decay rate R2 or R 2∗ as a function of blood oxygenation, geometry, and field strength was calculated using a Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm for a wider parameter range than hitherto by others. The relaxation rates of gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) and Hahn-spin-echo (HSE) imaging in the presence of blood vessels (ranging from capillaries to veins) have been computed for a wide range of field strengths up to 9.4T and 50% blood deoxygenation. The maximum HSE decay was found to be shifted to lower radii in higher compared to lower field strengths. For GRE, however, the relaxation rate was greatest for large vessels at any field strength. In addition, assessments of computational reliability have been carried out by investigating the influence of the time step, the Monte Carlo step procedure, boundary conditions, the number of angles between the vessel and the exterior field B0 , the influence of neighboring vessels having the same orientation as the central vessel, and the number of proton spins. The results were compared with those obtained from a field distribution of the vessel computed by an analytic formula describing the field distribution of an ideal object (an infinitely long cylinder). It was found that the time step is not critical for values equal to or lower than 200 microseconds. The choice of the MC step procedure (three-dimensional Gaussian diffusion, constant one- or three-dimensional diffusion step) also failed to influence the results significantly; in contrast, the free boundary conditions, as well as taking too few angles into account, did introduce errors. Next neighbor vessels with the same orientation as the main vessel did not contribute significantly to signal decay. The total number of particles simulated was also found to play a minor role in computing R2/ R 2∗ .


Abstract
The effects of varenicline, a good drug for smoking stop, on chamber and chamber electrical phenomenon stay unknown. To judge the consequences of varenicline on rate, PR interval, QT interval and QT dispersion (QTd). A complete of sixty smokers was prospectively listed within the gift study. Twelve-lead ECG recordings were obtained for all subjects before and on the fifteenth day of drug administration. Electrocardiograms were recorded at amplitude of 20 mm/mV and a sweep speed of 50 mm/s. The mean (± SD) age of the volunteers was 38±10 years. 34(57%) were male. 14 (23%) had high blood pressure, 8 (13%) had polygenic disorder and 6 (10%) had chronic hindering respiratory organ disease. The mean rate was 74.7±13.3 beats/min, and mean heartbeat and beat blood pressures on admission were 122.3±14.3 mmHg and seventy six.5±10.2 mmHg, severally. Rate and heartbeat and beat blood pressures failed to modification with varenicline treatment. Varenicline treatment resulted in restricted prolongation in PR interval, that approached significance (163.5±18.3 ms versus 168.2±17.9 ms; P=0.053), whereas RR interval (796.3±117.4 ms versus 798.3±123.7 ms; P=0.926), QT interval (384.1±17.5 ms versus 383.4±20.9 ms; P=0.852) and QTd (52.6±14.9 ms versus 52.2±14.9 ms; P=0.919) weren't considerably modified. Varenicline had a restricted result on chamber conductivity, whereas it had no result on rate, QT interval and QTd. more studies are required to prove the consequences of varenicline on the conductivity system of the center, particularly on PR interval.


Background Interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an important role in chronic in�ammation. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of IL-6 polymorphisms in predicting the progression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) related liver cirrhosis. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to analysis IL-6 polymorphisms and serum levels of IL-6 in HBV-infected patients of different clinical phases and in healthy controls. IL-6 polymorphisms were detected by Taqman PCR method and plasma IL-6 levels were assessed by ELISA. Results Our analysis included 182 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, 190 HBV-infected liver cirrhosis cases, 125 inactive HBsAg carriers, and 246 healthy controls. Seven SNPs in IL-6 including rs10499563, rs17147230, rs1800796, rs2069837, rs1524107, rs2066992, rs2069852 were analyzed. In haplotype analysis between HBV-infected liver cirrhosis cases with CHB patients, inactive HBV-carriers or healthy controls, haplotype CT in block 1 and haplotype GGCGG in block 2 were associated with liver cirrhosis (P<0.05). What's more, the genotype or allele frequencies were signi�cantly different in IL-6 rs10499563 and rs2069837 when HBV-infected liver cirrhosis patients compared with CHB patients, inactive HBV-carriers or healthy controls. A further study found that compared with the controls or CHB patients, plasma IL-6 was elevated in HBV-infected liver cirrhosis patients (P<0.05). Conclusion In conclusion, the polymorphisms of the IL-6 rs10499563 and rs2069837 are associated with the susceptibility of liver cirrhosis may through their effects on IL-6 expressions and these two single nucleotide polymorphisms can be used as potential predicting markers for prognosis of HBV-infected liver cirrhosis.


Our main focus through the present paper is on developing an original distributed mobility model for autonomous fleet of interconnected UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) performing an area exploration mission. The UAVs, equipped with wireless ad-hoc capabilities, are required to optimally explore an area while maintaining connectivity with their neighboring UAVs and the base station. Because energy is a scarce resource, especially for UAVs, its wise management is quite beneficial for the network lifetime and mission success. Hence, the proposed mobility model, compared to other models in the literature, is the first to ever include the remaining energy level as decision criterion combined with area coverage and network connectivity. Based on these criterions and the information received from its neighbors, each UAV determines, using the information received from its neighbors, its next movement to be undertaken. The performances of the proposed approach are compared with those achieved through a randomized approach and a forces-based approach. Simulation results, using NS3, show that it outperforms the two other models in terms of coverage and connectivity.


Cold spray process is a low temperature spraying method (<600°C) based on particle high kinetic energy at impact (velocity in the range 300-1200 m/s). Powder is injected in a specific designed nozzle and, there, reaches high velocity. Even if bounding mechanisms are not perfectly known, it is established that adhesion can't exist below a definite particle velocity called critical velocity. This specific velocity depends on both powder and substrate characteristics (chemical composition, mechanical properties…). The large number of parameters makes the determination of critical velocity very complex. But it is a fundamental value to determine the correct operating conditions. This work presents an imaging technique that allows a fast measurement of critical velocity. In this paper, the measuring method is first validated by comparing the critical velocity of copper (sprayed on copper substrate) found in the literature, with the measured one. Its accuracy is then tested with other materials and, finally, some improvements of the method are proposed.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
T-cell exhaustion, or an impaired capacity to secrete cytokines and proliferate with overexpression of immune checkpoint receptors, occurs during chronic viral infections but has also been observed in tumors, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). We investigated features of exhaustion in CD8+ T cells isolated from HCC specimens.

METHODS
We obtained HCC specimens, along with adjacent nontumor tissues and blood samples, from 90 patients who underwent surgical resection at Asan Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from April 2016 through April 2018. Intrahepatic lymphocytes and tumor-infiltrating T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells were sorted by flow cytometry into populations based on expression level of programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1 or PD1): PD1-high, PD1-intermediate, and PD1-negative. Sorted cells were analyzed by RNA sequencing. Proliferation and production of interferon gamma (IFNG) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by CD8+ T cells were measured in response to anti-CD3 and antibodies against immune checkpoint receptors including PD1, hepatitis A virus cellular receptor 2 (HAVCR2 or TIM3), lymphocyte activating 3 (LAG3), or isotype control. Tumor-associated antigen-specific CD8+ T cells were identified using HLA-A*0201 dextramers. PDL1 expression on tumor tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
PD1-high, PD1-intermediate, and PD1-negative CD8+ T cells from HCCs had distinct gene expression profiles. PD1-high cells expressed higher levels of genes that regulate T-cell exhaustion than PD1-intermediate cells. PD1-high cells expressed TIM3 and LAG3, and low proportions of TCF1+, TBEThigh/eomesoderminlow, and CD127+. PD1-high cells produced the lowest amounts of IFNG and TNF upon anti-CD3 stimulation. Differences in the PD1 expression patterns of CD8+ T cells led to the identification of 2 subgroups of HCCs: HCCs with a discrete population of PD1-high cells were more aggressive than HCCs without a discrete population of PD1-high cells. HCCs with a discrete population of PD1-high cells had higher levels of predictive biomarkers of response to anti-PD1 therapy. Incubation of CD8+ T cells from HCCs with a discrete population of PD1-high cells with antibodies against PD1 and TIM3 or LAG3 further restored proliferation and production of IFNG and TNF in response to anti-CD3.

CONCLUSIONS
We found HCC specimens to contain CD8+ T cells that express different levels of PD1. HCCs with a discrete population of PD1-high CD8+ T cells express TIM3 and/or LAG3 and produce low levels of IFNG and TNF in response to anti-CD3. Incubation of these cells with antibodies against PD1 and TIM3 or LAG3 further restore proliferation and production of cytokines; HCCs with a discrete population of PD1-high CD8+ T cells might be more susceptible to combined immune checkpoint blockade-based therapies.


The objective of this study is to use Molecular Dynamics simulation to evaluate the rotational relaxation process in nitrogen from a first-principles perspective. The intermolecular model used in the MD simulations is shown to (i) reproduce very well the shear viscosity of nitrogen over a wide range of temperatures, (ii) predict the near-equilibrium rotational collision number in good agreement with published trajectory calculations done on ab initio Potential Energy Surfaces, and (iii) produce shock wave profiles in excellent accordance with the experimental measurements. The rotational relaxation process is found to be dependent not only on the near-equilibrium temperature (i.e., when systems relax to equilibrium after a small perturbation), but more importantly on both the magnitude and direction of the initial deviation from the equilibrium state. Although this dependence has been previously recognized, it is here investigated systematically. The comparison between MD and DSMC, based on the Larsen-Borgnakke model, for shock waves (both at low and high temperatures) and one-dimensional expansions shows that a judicious choice of a constant Zrot can produce DSMC results which are in relatively good agreement with MD. However, the selection of the rotational collision number is case-specific, depending not only on the temperature range, but more importantly on the type of flow (compression or expansion), with significant limitations for more complex simulations characterized both by expansion and compression zones. Parker's model, parametrized for nitrogen, overpredicts the magnitude of Zrot for temperatures above about 300 K. It is also unable to describe the dependence of the relaxation process on the direction to equilibrium. Finally, based on the MD data, a preliminary formulation for a novel rotational relaxation model, which includes a dependence on both the rotational and the translational state of the gas, is presented.


Multicarrier code-division multiple-access (MC-CDMA) has emerged as a promising candidate for future wireless communication systems. A novel multiuser detection scheme for multiuser MC-CDMA systems is proposed in this paper. In particular, a new joint detection method based on sphere packing lattice decoding and semiblind channel estimation is presented in this paper. After modelling an MC-CDMA system as a sphere packing lattice, a low-complexity maximum-likelihood (ML) detection, sphere decoding algorithm, is applied to jointly detect all users. The impacts of channel estimation errors are studied by incorporating a semiblind subspace based channel estimation in the receiver. The selection of search radius for sphere decoding is also investigated. Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of the semiblind receiver compared to the conventional receivers for MC-CDMA and its robustness to channel estimation errors.


Glycans have over the last decade become a hot topic in biochemistry, cell biology and related research areas. Glycoproteins are today known to have critical roles in the organization and function of eukaryotic cells. Their incredible ability to store and display complex biological information, explains their crucial roles in a broad spectrum of cellular activities. However, their inherent complexity also raises great challenges in order for researchers to reveal their properties and many questions remain to be answered. Galectins are glycan binding proteins (GBP) that play important roles in interpreting and translating information expressed by glycans into appropriate responses. Understanding GBP glycan interaction is considered a promising strategy to reveal the mysteries of glycans. In this study, the binding abilities of Galectin-3 in the wild type and the engineered homodimer form, was investigated using glycoproteins mucin-1 ST (MUC1(ST)) and asialofetuin (ASF) as ligands. The respective galectins and glycoproteins were immobilized on polystyrene beads and the inter-molecular binding force was quantified using optical tweezers. The results obtained in this study showed that interactions between Gal-3 WT and ASF, Gal-3 homodimer and ASF, Gal-3 WT and MUC1(ST) and Gal-3 homodimer MUC1(ST) do form. Rupture forces were found to increase between 6.2 13.6 pN for loading rates between 45 158 pN/s for the Gal-3 WT – ASF system, between 10.1 28.1 pN for loading rates between 108 316 pN/s for Gal-3 homodimer – ASF, between 13.8 23.3 pN for loading rates between 63 213 pN/s for Gal-3 WT – MUC1(ST), and finally, between 8.8 28.6 pN for loading rates between 44 233 pN/s for Gal-3 homodimer MUC1(ST). A slight difference in rupture force was observed between the two glycosylated proteins ASF and MUC1(ST). This difference might be explained by the different sugar moieties on the epitopes: LacNAc on ASF and Neu5Ac on MUC1(ST) or multiplicity due to the structural properties of the glycoproteins. In addition, the heterodimeric hybrid forming abilities of Gal-3 WT were investigated with the same approach, using Gal-1 WT and Gal-7 WT as ligands. It was found that Gal3 WT seems to exhibit a certain inherent specificity to both galectins. Still, a lot is yet to be revealed related to in vivo behaviour of Gal-3, where research suggests multivalency to be a key feature. Furthermore, the hybrid forming abilities of galectins may potentially influence our future interpretation of galectin behaviour.


This article starts from the reasonable assumption that the implementation of the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project increases legal uncertainty in tax matters. The shift from the isolated and bilateral exercise of taxing jurisdiction to international tax coordination in the framework of the BEPS project is not accompanied by a corresponding global convergence in the exercise of legal remedies, which remain confined to their national boundaries. In line with their previous research, the authors address hereby the right of taxpayers to an effective legal remedy under European tax law, taking into account the dialogue among Courts in respect of legal values contained in national Constitutions of European Union (EU) Member States, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The focus is on the right to an effective legal remedy in cross-border tax procedures, with special emphasis on mutual agreement procedures and mutual assistance. The authors suggest a two-tier mechanism with the involvement of taxpayers and tax authorities, which allows for an effective exercise of the right of defence and does not require major changes in the wording of treaty clauses modelled after Articles 25 and 26 OECD MC. Hopefully, something that other international institutions, including the United Nations, may consider for the future. The authors suggest filling this gap with their proposal for a BEPS Action 16.


This paper contrasts decision support systems (DSS) combining knowledge based systems with simulation and modeling in three fields: engineering, agriculture and environment. Although each field is rich enough in both simulation modeling and expert supplied domain knowledge and the initial impression may be that a uniform approach is adequate, distinct differences between the requirements in each field can be seen. This is illustrated in the context of three principle examples from each field (a CAE system for plasma sprayed films, an irrigation support system, and an environmental impact assessment system). In passing from engineering to agriculture to environment, one sees a need for an increasing degree of freedom in structuring goals. By examining more carefully how agricultural and environmental DSSs operate, engineers may find insight into ways to enhance the user friendliness and human interactivity of engineering DSSs.<<ETX>>


A severe burn is a trauma associated with long lasting consequences, not only for the survivor but also for the family. Although it is recognized that family members are central in providing social support for the patients, previous research has not focused extensively on this group. The aims of this thesis were to increase knowledge about psychological symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in family members of patients with burns, as well as to explore their experiences of burn care and rehabilitation. The research questions were approached using quantitative and qualitative methods.The results showed that most family members demonstrate normal to mild levels of psychological symptoms, while one third demonstrate moderate to severe symptoms during care. The symptoms decreased over time and could be predicted to a certain degree by early symptoms.Further, family members' report of HRQoL is similar to that of the general population. An improvement is seen over time and HRQoL could be predicted in part by earlier life events and psychological symptoms.Family members' experiences were explored in an interview study. Qualitative content analysis revealed that the time in hospital is stressful, although there were experiences of a positive character. Family members might benefit from being cared for in a more individualized way. The communication between health care providers and the family members could be improved.Finally, a qualitative content analysis revealed that family members' experiences and views concerning support is highly individual. There were experiences of sufficient support as well as lack of professional support. Treatment of family members should be modified according to personal circumstances, and it is important to actively include family members in the care process, both before and after discharge.In summary, being a family member of a burn survivor is a distressful experience, not only during care but in many cases also after discharge. The treatment of family members within burn care should be individualized. Some persons are more vulnerable than others and it might be possible to identify those in need of support while care is still ongoing.


The sustainability reporting trend has been increasing in Indonesia for the past few years, with the government's plan to make sustainability reporting mandatory for all companies, including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that have significant impacts on national economics. So far, there are no specific guidelines for SME's sustainability report. There are many indicators in the global sustainability reporting guidelines that are not suitable for SMEs since they are limited in the resources and knowledge they can disseminate. Therefore, this study aims to develop a sustainable reporting guideline for SMEs. This study analyzes the sustainable development reporting practices of Indonesia and other countries through literature review, interviews and surveys, in order to build a sustainable development reporting guide for SMEs. The reporting guidelines recommended in this study contain 25 indicators: 12 general information indicators, 1 economic indicator, 6 environmental indicators, and 6 social indicators. Based on a survey of 25 small and medium-sized enterprises, this guideline is suitable for preparing SMEs' sustainability reports.


The sweet chestnut fruit has always had great importance in the southern European countries. Chestnut production is an important source of income and a crop of high environmental value thanks to its role in soil protection. It is also a good food with enormous potential for various aspects of health because of its nutritional qualities. The quality of sweet chestnuts is affected by various factors, such as climatic conditions and cultivation inputs. It is very important to recognize the impacts of climate on chestnut fruits, to improve our current understanding of climate–chestnut interconnections. The current study investigated and compared the antioxidant activity and the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of different cultivars of chestnuts grown in different geographic areas of northwest Spain. The results obtained with three antioxidant capability assays (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays) were highly correlated. All the samples had high antioxidant capacity and high total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, which depended both on cultivar and growth region. Ventura variety, harvested in the coldest environments, presented the highest values of antioxidant activity (IC50DPPH = 34.5 g/L), total phenolic content (131.84 mg equivalent of gallic acid/100 g FW) and total flavonoids (7.77 mg eq. catechin/100 g). The variations in the antioxidant capacity, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of different cultivars, and their associations with climatic environmental factors, revealed the significant impacts of these factors on the synthesis of specialized metabolites and on the nutraceutical potential of chestnuts. The results can provide valuable information for selection of the cultivar and the cultivation conditions of the chestnut, in order to obtain chestnuts with high-quality bioactive characteristics.


A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate the relevance of benzodiazepine detection in 42 children with accidental poisoning. Immunoenzymatic assay for benzodiazepine in serum and colorimetric method in urines were positive respectively in 3 and 4 patients only. Several reasons could explain these results: the high detection threshold, the different drug reactivity according to the molecular structure and the great delay between intoxication and toxicology analysis. An advised physician should not prescribe a toxicological analysis after a small quantity of benzodiazepine ingestion.


Summary For four years continuous recording of infrasonic signals in the frequency range 0.1 to 1 Hz, known as microbaroms, has been conducted at Palisades, New York. The microbaroms we recorded are radiated into the atmosphere by interfering ocean waves in the North Atlantic as far as 2000 km away. A characteristic diurnal variation in the amplitude of the received signal has been noted, independent of any variation in the source. We conclude that the variation is due to variations of the factors affecting atmospheric sound propagation, namely wind and temperature.

In winter a semidiurnal variation in signal amplitude is observed, with maximum reception around 11 : 00 and 22; 00 local time. Reference to wind and temperature observations in the literature shows that at these times the lowest level of reflection of the vertically propagating signal occurs between 100 and 110 km due to the presence of strong east winds. At 18 : 00, time of minimum amplitudes, the reflection level rises to about 115 km because of a change in tidal wind phase. Viscous dissipation associated with the changed reflection height can account for the observed signal weakening. A third maximum, a less regular effect, is found to be related to more variable winds between 95 and 105 km.

In summer, reflection is found to occur from about 50 km due to the presence of stratospheric easterlies. The summer diurnal variation, different from that of the winter, exhibits only a weak minimum about 20 : 00. This appears to result from a diurnal temperature variation superimposed on a diurnal wind variation. Abnormally high microbaroms were recorded at times that can be related to an atmospheric event known as a stratospheric warming. Microbaroms thus provide a continuously available natural mechanism for probing the upper atmosphere. We conclude that the establishment of microbarom observation systems could give a comprehensive technique for monitoring several upper atmospheric parameters.


Imaging techniques for first line investigation of diseases of the thyroid gland are sonography (US) and scintigraphy, followed in dedicated cases by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Malignant lesions are generally hypoechoic on US with calcifications visible in some cases. The appearance of lymph node metastases is similar to that of the primary tumour. The various forms of goiter are the most commonly occurring forms of thyroid diseases in Austria, they appear heterogenous with hyperechoic as well as hypoechoic or anechoic nodes, in some cases with calcification. US findings of thyreoiditis are in acute forms of the disease more hypoechoic with diffuse swelling and hyperechoic with scar formations in chronic forms. Ectopic thyroid tissue occurs often in the form of thyroglossal duct cysts which are anechoic or hypoechoic.


This paper presents global tracking strategies for the attitude dynamics of a rigid body. It is well known that global attractivity is prohibited for continuous attitude control systems on the special orthogonal group. Such topological restriction has been dealt with either by constructing smooth attitude control systems that exclude a set of measure zero in the region of attraction, or by introducing hybrid control systems to obtain global asymptotic stability. This paper proposes alternative attitude control systems that are continuous in time to achieve exponential stability, where the region of attraction covers the entire special orthogonal group. The main contribution of this paper is providing a new framework to overcome the topological restriction in attitude controls without relying on discontinuities through the controlled maneuvers. The efficacy of the proposed methods is illustrated by numerical simulations and experiments.


As 'Governance' is a 'intentional behavior mode' of the related actors, 'Governability(Governance Capability)' is very important to it. Paying due regard to various conceptual approach of Governance, this study examined some indexes of measurement of Governability - Reciprocity, Trust, Coordination & Adjustment, and Network. Making use of these indexes, I have measured the governabilities of civil servants and NGO's staffs in Uijeongbu City in Gyeonggi-do. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate the big gaps between the civil servants' governabilities and the NGO's staffs'. If there are not permanent and definite efforts for forming the local governance, the realization of local governance will not be easy. But in spite of 'the big gaps', it is important that there are some 'common denominators' between both in this study. Therefore permanent and definite efforts through the common denominators will make 'Local Governance' possible.


Murphy's Law states that if something can go wrong, it will. Combine this with the dark, romantic mood of Romeo and Juliet and you have the theme of " A Dummy Affair ". The situation is a " must adapt " environment which requires a desperate last-minute solution.


An experimental electron microscope (e.m.) study has been made of the termination of the afferent connections to the primate sensori-motor cortex. Following large, stereotaxically placed thalamic lesions, degeneration in the motor and somatic sensory cortices was studied at survival periods of 4 and 5 days. Degenerating thalamocortical terminals had asymmetric membrane specializations. In the motor cortex 89.5% made synapses on to dendritic spines, 9% on to dendritic shafts and 1.5% on to cell somata; in the somatic sensory area 89% made synapses on to spines, 11 % on to dendritic shafts and one example contacted a cell soma and a spine. A considerable number of the spines receiving synapses from degenerating thalamo-cortical terminals were traced to their parent dendrites and these were of the pyramidal type whereas the dendritic shafts and cell somata contacted by degenerating thalamo-cortical terminals were mostly of the large stellate type. Most of the thalamo-cortical degeneration in both cortical areas occurred in a dense band in the upper two thirds of layer IV and the lower half of layer III but a number of degenerating terminals were found deep to this; in the motor cortex a second, less dense, band of degeneration was present in the lower part of layer V and top of layer VI. Degenerating thalamo-cortical terminals making synapses on to dendritic shafts and cell somata were scattered through the deep half of the cortex and not concentrated in the dense band of degeneration and so formed a greater proportion of the degeneration in the deep layers, particularly in the motor cortex. Sections cut parallel to the pial surface in layer IV of the motor cortex showed a statistically significant association between the degenerating thalamocortical axon terminals and the bundles of apical dendrites present at this level. Degeneration of commissural fibres was studied after removal of the contralateral sensori-motor cortex. Degenerating terminals had asymmetric membrane specializations. In the motor cortex 96% made synapses on to dendritic spines, 3% contacted dendritic shafts and one example made an axosomatic synapse; in area 3 97% made synapses on to dendritic spines and 3% contacted dendritic shafts. A number of the spines receiving synapses from degenerating commissural axon terminals were traced to their parent dendrites and these were of the pyramidal type. The cell soma and the majority of the dendritic shafts receiving synapses from commissural terminals were of the large stellate type although some of the dendritic shafts were probably those of small stellate cells. In the motor cortex degenerating commissural axon terminals were found in all cortical layers but were relatively more dense in layer I, the upper part of layer III, the upper part of layer V and the lowest part of layer V with layer V I; in the somatic sensory cortex most degenerating commissural terminals were found in the superficial half of the cortex. Following lesions of the primary somatic sensory cortex (SI) or of area 6 of the premotor cortex, degenerating terminals making asymmetric synapses were found in the motor cortex. Of the terminals of association fibres from SI, 82% made synapses on to dendritic spines and 18% on to dendritic shafts; of those fibres from area 6, 76% made synapses on to dendritic spines and 24% on to dendritic shafts. For both these association fibre connections, a proportion of the dendritic shafts contacted were clearly identifiable as those of large stellate cells. Terminals of both association connections occurred in all cortical layers with no obvious concentrations at any particular depth.


AbstractThis article briefly surveys and compares the histories of research in the comparative science of religion (beginning with Friedrich Max Muller) and the anthropology of religion. The article notes the close interactions between these two fields and argues that the comparative science of religion drew significant inspiration from anthropology and sociology during the twentieth century until about the 1970s when anthropology came under heavy fire from critics. The postcolonial, feminist, and postmodern wave did not have a significant impact on the comparative science of religion until the 1990s. But already during the 1980s a new approach to religion, championed by Jonathan Z. Smith, contributed to a theoretical and critical analysis of religion that neither bought into postmodernism nor into the sui generis approach to religion. During the 1990s, another new approach began making an impact, namely, the cognitive science of religion, championed by E. Thomas Lawson, Robert N. McCauley (both scholars of religion), and Pascal Boyer (anthropologist). The article suggests in conclusion that the two disciplines can once again meet in the growing fields of experimental anthropology and experimental science of religion and in the need to explore and address how culture affects and rewires the brain. Furthermore, evolutionary theory is also beginning to serve as a common framework for thinking about religion.


Abstract : This paper presents the design and implementation of a course of action (COA) ontology for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. This ontology supports the commander's C2 decision making processes for COA design, analysis and selection and represents the key elements of the COA planning process; specifically measures-of-performance (MOP) and measures-of-effectiveness (MOE) for describing COA plan states and objectives. These metrics are used in the generation of the plan as well as for assessment of the plan as it unfolds, which provides the decision maker with the ability to change course, if needed, during the execution of the plan. Using these metrics, it is possible to normalize the effects of a COA activity or task, allowing disparate activities and plans to be rationally compared. A utility-theoretic preference model represents the decision making trade-offs that a specific socio-cultural group makes over conflicting plan objectives. This preference model enables the twofold assessment of the plan: from the perspective of the blue force plan creator, and from the perspective of interested specific socio-cultural group, such as an Afghanistan tribal group.


BACKGROUND Acne scarring is common but surprisingly difficult to treat. Newer techniques and modifications to older ones may make this refractory problem more manageable. The 100% trichloroacetic acid (TCA) chemical reconstruction of skin scars (CROSS) method is a safe and effective single modality for the treatment of atrophic acne scars, whereas subcision appears to be a safe technique that provides significant improvement for rolling acne scars. OBJECTIVE To compare the effect of the 100% TCA CROSS method with subcision in treating rolling acne scars. METHODS Twenty patients of skin types III and IV with bilateral rolling acne scars received one to three sessions of the 100% TCA CROSS technique for scars on the left side of the face and subcision for scars on the right side. RESULTS The mean decrease in size and depth of scars was significantly greater for the subcision side than the 100% TCA CROSS (p<.001). More side effects in the form of pigmentary alteration were observed with the 100% TCA CROSS method. CONCLUSION For rolling acne scars in patients with Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV, subcision shows better results with fewer side effects than the 100% TCA CROSS technique, although further decrease in scar depth with time occurs more significantly after 100% TCA CROSS. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.


We propose a scalable line of liquid argon TPC detectors based on a three dimensional cubic frame array immersed in a common liquid argon volume. The paper describes general lines, main construction criteria, crucial points, parameters and required preliminary R&D activities for the construction of detectors with active mass ranging from 200 ton to 100 kTon. Such detectors appear as unique for supernova detection, proton decay, LBL neutrino physics and other astropaticle physics applications.


Background: Left ventricular mass is known to be influenced by genetic factors. This study was carried out to determine the influence of parental history of hypertension on the left ventricular mass of normotensive adolescent offspring of Nigerian Hypertensives. Method: The study population comprised 91 normotensive adolescents (13-19yrs) with positive family history of hypertension in one or both biological parents, and 92 age and gender matched normotensive controls whose parents were normotensive. Anthropometric parameters and blood pressure were obtained and electrocardiogram performed for each individual. Left ventricular mass was determined by echocardiography. Result: LVM and LVM index were significantly higher in the subjects than in the controls, 179.10 + 40.67g vs. 147.70 + 30.98g p<.000001 and 106.97 + 18.49gm2 vs. 87.95 + 16.54g/m2, p<.0001 respectively. Offspring of maternal hypertensives had significantly higher LVM and LVMI than those with paternal hypertension, 187.46 + 38.19g vs. 173 + 31.75g p<.001 and 110.15 + 20.35g/m2 vs. 104.31 + 17.54g/m2, p<.001 respectively. However, when LVM was indexed to height no difference was observed between the LVM of these cohorts. The case prevalence of LVH determined by echocardiography was 19% in the subjects and 3% in the controls, p<.00001.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that normotensive offspring of Nigerian hypertensives have larger LVM and both maternal and paternal hypertension seem to confer equal susceptibility to LVH.


Introduction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout syndrome as a condition caused by chronic stress at work, which may be associated with the onset and worsening of psychosomatic illnesses and the quality of life of sufferers. The aim of the work was to determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome in the population of people with leading, chronic, massive, non-communicable diseases, type 2 diabetes and arterial hypertension, while assessing the impact of this syndrome on the quality of life of the subjects. Methods. The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study from March 2019 until October 2019 on a randomized sample of 92 patients with type 2 diabetes and 99 patients with hypertension from two Health Centres in East Sarajevo. A special criterion for inclusion in the research was that the respondents were employed and that their age did not exceed 65 years. The research instrument was a general questionnaire, the WHO questionnaire on burnout syndrome, as well as the WHO SF-36 questionnaire on the quality of life, and statistical data processing was done in the SPSS program version 19.0. The significance of the difference was tested by the ch2 test, and the existence of burnout syndrome was defined according to the WHO questionnaire. Results. In subjects with diabetes, burnout syndrome was present in 52.8% (mildly expressed in 15.2% of the subjects, candidate for burnout syndrome in 19.6% of the subjects, burnout syndrome was present in 17.4%, while in one subject burnout syndrome that endangers health was found) and in subjects with hypertension, burnout syndrome was found in 32% of the subjects. Burnout syndrome was more present in subjects with diabetes than in subjects with hypertension. The difference was statistically significant (ch2 = 8.42; p = 0.003). Subjects with diabetes were significantly more depressed and discouraged than subjects in the group with hypertension (ch2 = 16.14; p < 0.01). The subjects with diabetes had significantly more difficulty in performing their job than those with hypertension during the past four weeks (ch2 = 13.098; p = 0.011). Conclusion. There is a significant frequency of burnout syndrome in patients with diabetes, but also in patients with hypertension. The existence of cause-and-effect relationships significantly affects the quality of life of patients and their ability to work.


Abstract Objective: To compare the effectiveness and safety of the fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) intravitreal implant between the observational Iluvien Clinical Evidence study in the United Kingdom (ICE-UK) and the Fluocinolone Acetonide in Diabetic Macular Edema (FAME) randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in people with diabetic macular edema (DME). Clinical Trials Registration: NCT00344968. Methods: This study selected patients randomized to receive 0.2 µg/day FAc insert (FAc treated eyes) or sham injection (control eyes) from the FAME RCTs, and patients' first FAc treated eye and non-FAc treated fellow (control) eye from the ICE-UK study. Outcomes included change in visual acuity (VA), central foveal thickness (CFT), and intraocular pressure (IOP). Results: After 12 months follow-up, mean change in VA was 5.0 letters improvement (p < .001) and 1.6 letters improvement (p = .003) in FAME FAc treated and control eyes, and 3.8 letters (p = .012) and –2.1 letters (p = .056) in ICE-UK FAc treated and control eyes, respectively. Mean change in CFT was –144 µm (p < .001) vs –72 µm (p < .001) in FAME FAc treated and control eyes and –113 µm (p < .001) vs –13 µm (p < .001) in ICE-UK FAc treated and control eyes. For eyes with a follow-up of 12 months, 77 (22.3%) and 15 (8.6%) FAME FAc treated and control eyes and 25 (18.7%) and six (4.3%) ICE-UK FAc treated and control eyes required emergent IOP-lowering therapy. Conclusions: Statistically significant improvements in VA 12 months after FAc implantation were observed in both the real-world study and in the RCTs. The improvement in VA and CFT in the RCTs was marginally greater than in the real-world study; however, recruits in the real-world study had more severe visual morbidity at baseline. Whilst there were many changes in the care of people with DME over this time, these data all support the value of treatment with FAc intravitreal implant.


A 4-coumaroyl-CoA 3-hydroxylase activity was purified 4600-fold from cell cultures of Lithospermum erythrorhizon. The enzyme showed a molecular mass of 42,400 +/- 1700 Da in gel chromatography and required ascorbate, NADH, or NADPH as cofactors. 4-Coumaroyl-CoA, 4-coumarate, p-cresol, and several other phenolic substances, but not tyrosine, were accepted as substrates for the hydroxylation. Besides hydroxylase activity, the enzyme showed diphenol oxidase activity. Both activities were inhibited by diethyldithiocarbamate or beta-mercaptoethanol, although at different concentrations. The enzyme showed striking similarity to a 4-coumaroyl-glucose 3-hydroxylase from sweet potato (Ipomoe batatas) roots, which has reportedly been purified to homogeneity and identified as a specific enzyme of chlorogenic acid biosynthesis. Close examination and comparison to a commercially available polyphenol oxidase, however, suggest that the enzyme activities purified from both Lithospermum and sweet potato are polyphenol oxidases rather than specific enzymes of secondary metabolism.


Topical tretinoin is used in the treatment of acne and other dermatoses. The most common side‐effects are itching, dryness and reddening of the skin. We report an additional cutaneous reaction, which occurred in patients using topical tretinoin. Pyogenic granulomas developed in two patients with acne and in one with dermatofibroma following application of tretinoin. The granulomas grew on the lesions after 2–3 weeks of therapy initiation. All patients were men and the granulomas developed in their trunk. The lesions resolved when topical tretinoin was ceased. Although the number of patients reported is too small to estimate the true incidence of this reaction, it is likely that dermatologists will encounter similar reactions in patients treated with topical tretinoin for acne or other reasons.


ABSTRACT In recent years, Australian schools have become increasingly multilingual, with students needing targeted support to develop academic English, yet also bringing rich linguistic and cultural resources to the classroom. Policymakers have recognised the critical role of identifying and describing the language and literacy demands in all disciplines, highlighting an essential role for pre-service teacher training. This article presents various components of teacher learning made available to 11 Australian science pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a Masters language and literacy course, which included a practicum component and explicit training in elements of translanguaging pedagogy. It analyses the ways in which the training contributed to PSTs' developing scientific pedagogical language knowledge. In doing so, it charts their emerging professional identities as teachers as they are trained to analyse core scientific content for opportunities to provide targeted language and literacy support, as well as their growing understanding of the diversity of language and literacy strengths and challenges faced by their multilingual learners. Furthermore, this paper outlines PSTs' evolving self-reflection as they come to assume responsibility for their students' language and literacy development as a key way of facilitating their access to scientific curriculum content knowledge.


The conceptual design of information systems is mandatory in several
 application domains. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies
 pushes conceptual design tools and methodologies to consider the complexity
 of IoT data, architectures, and communication networks. In agroecology
 applications, the usage of IoT is quite promising, but it raises several
 methodological and technical issues. These issues are related to the
 complexity and heterogeneity of data (social, economic, environmental, and
 agricultural) needed by agroecology practices. Motivated by the lack of a
 conceptual model for IoT data, in this work, we present a UML profile taking
 into account different kinds of data (e.g., sensors, stream, or
 transactional) and non-functional Requirements. We show how the UML profile
 integrates with classical UML diagrams to support the design of complex
 systems. Moreover, We prove the feasibility of our conceptual framework
 through a theoretical quality assessment and its implementation in the
 agroecology case study concerning the monitoring of autonomous agricultural
 robots.


The studies were conducted in the years 1999 2001 in the green area of the Lublin city in the street (A) and park (B) sites. The purpose of the studies was to determine the dynamics of the bean aphid population (Aphis fabae Scop.) and the effect of its feeding on the blooming of park roses (Rosa sp.). The presence of dwarf specimens of A. fabae was observed only on the crown petals and the sepals. Their feeding significantly affected the decorative character of roses, since the crown petals inhabited by them were faster to dry out and fall down. The presence of aphids on the shrubs was found throughout the period of about two months, and the aphids were more numerous in the street site.


This paper introduces a novel content-adaptive image downscaling method. The key idea is to optimize the shape and locations of the downsampling kernels to better align with local image features. Our content-adaptive kernels are formed as a bilateral combination of two Gaussian kernels defined over space and color, respectively. This yields a continuum ranging from smoothing to edge/detail preserving kernels driven by image content. We optimize these kernels to represent the input image well, by finding an output image from which the input can be well reconstructed. This is technically realized as an iterative maximum-likelihood optimization using a constrained variation of the Expectation-Maximization algorithm. In comparison to previous downscaling algorithms, our results remain crisper without suffering from ringing artifacts. Besides natural images, our algorithm is also effective for creating pixel art images from vector graphics inputs, due to its ability to keep linear features sharp and connected.


Development of inorganic proton conductors that are applicable in a wide temperature range is crucial for applications such as fuel cells. Most of the reported proton conductors suffer from limited proton conductivity, especially at low temperature. In addition, the mechanism of proton conduction in the conductors is not fully understood, which limits the rational design of advanced proton conductors. In this work, we report the use of metal oxide solid acid as a promising proton conductor. WO3/ZrO2 (WZ) with different surface acidities is synthesized by controlling the content of WO3 on the surface of ZrO2. It is demonstrated that proton conductivity of WZ samples is closely related with their acidity. WZ with the strongest acidity exhibits the highest proton conduction performance at low temperatures, with a proton conductivity of 3.27 × 10-5 S cm-1 at 14 °C. The excellent performance of the WZ-type proton conductor is clarified with theoretical calculations. The results show that the enhanced water adsorption and the lowered activation barrier for breakage of the O-H bond in surface-adsorbed water are the key to the excellent proton-conductive performance of WZ. The experimental results and mechanistic insights gained in this work suggest that WZ is a promising proton conductor, and tailoring the surface acidity of metal oxides is an effective approach to regulate their proton-conductive performance.


In this work, we address problem determination in virtualized clouds. We show that high dynamism, resource sharing, frequent reconfiguration, high propensity to faults and automated management introduce significant new challenges towards fault diagnosis in clouds. Towards this, we propose CloudPD, a fault management framework for clouds. CloudPD leverages (i) a canonical representation of the operating environment to quantify the impact of sharing; (ii) an online learning process to tackle dynamism; (iii) a correlation-based performance models for higher detection accuracy; and (iv) an integrated end-to-end feedback loop to synergize with a cloud management ecosystem. Using a prototype implementation with cloud representative batch and transactional workloads like Hadoop, Olio and RUBiS, it is shown that CloudPD detects and diagnoses faults with low false positives (<; 16%) and high accuracy of 88%, 83% and 83%, respectively. In an enterprise trace-based case study, CloudPD diagnosed anomalies within 30 seconds and with an accuracy of 77%, demonstrating its effectiveness in real-life operations.


The work is devoted to the numerical study of the process of downdraft fixed-bed gasification of woody biomass. Such processes are used to produce combustible gases at lowcapacity power plants. To improve the quality of the produced gas, it is proposed to use a mixture of wood fuel with a non-combustible material that can exhibit catalytic activity in the decomposition of undesired tary products. Adding a non-combustible material leads to lower heat value of fuel mixture, but contributes to a deeper gas purification. The aim of the study is to select the optimal "active material / wood fuel" ratio and to determine the minimum material activity at which its addition to the fuel becomes effective.


1. Normal and congenitally goitrous thyroid tissue was examined to identify the defective mechanism in the goitrous glands. 2. The uptake of [(131)I]iodide from the blood stream into the goitrous glands (average 74.9%) was significantly greater than normal (average 43.5%; P < 0.005), as was the rate of [(131)I]iodide release (goitrous t((1/2)) average 72.3hr., normal t((1/2)) average 198.7hr.; P0.025). 3. The l-[(131)I]-iodotyrosine-deiodinase activity was significantly (P0.02) greater than normal in goitrous-thyroid slices. 4. The 0.9%-sodium chloride-soluble proteins of [(131)I]-iodide-labelled thyroid glands were fractionated with ammonium sulphate: 68.7+/-4.0% of the total radioactivity appeared in the 35-45%-saturation precipitate from normal gland extracts, but less than 20% of the total radioactivity was in in this fraction from goitre extracts. 5. Ultracentrifugal analysis of 0.9%-sodium chloride-soluble proteins of goitrous glands showed no protein of S(20,w) 19-20s (thyroglobulin) even when the animals had previously received 0.1-2.0mg. of l-thyroxine/day intramuscularly for 40 days. The major proteins of goitrous glands had S(20,w) 3.2-7.6s. 6. The incorporation in incubated slices of [(14)C]proline and [(14)C]leucine into soluble proteins precipitated by 35-42%-saturated ammonium sulphate was markedly lower in goitrous tissue. 7. It was concluded that the goitrous tissue exhibited defective biosynthesis of thyroglobulin.


Received: 7 June 2014 Abstract Accepted: 17 July 2014 Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are associated with the ranking of alternatives based on expert judgments made using a number of criteria. In the MCDM field, the distance-based approach is one popular method for receiving a final ranking. One of the newest MCDM method, which uses the distance-based approach, is the Characteristic Objects Method (COMET). In this method, the preferences of each alternative are obtained on the basis of the distance from the nearest characteristic objects and their values. For this purpose, the domain and fuzzy numbers set for all the considered criteria are determined. The characteristic objects are obtained as the combination of the crisp values of all the fuzzy numbers. The preference values of all the characteristic object are determined based on the tournament method and the principle of indifference. Finally, the fuzzy model is constructed and is used to calculate preference values of the alternatives. In this way, a multi-criteria model is created and it is free of rank reversal phenomenon. In this approach, the matrix of expert judgment is necessary to create. For this purpose, an expert has to compare all the characteristic objects with each other. The number of necessary comparisons depends squarely to the number of objects. This study proposes the improvement of the COMET method by using the transitivity of pairwise comparisons. Three numerical examples are used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed improvement with respect to results from the original approach. The proposed improvement reduces significantly the number of necessary comparisons to create the matrix of expert judgment.


ABSTRACT During the early design stages of product-service systems (PSS), particular attention must be given to sustainability considerations to ensure the achievement of a sustainable PSS. However, there is a lack of decision-making support within existing design methods to help designers generating PSS solutions with reduced sustainability impact from the early design stages. To fill this gap, this paper elaborates on a decision support method coupling multi-criteria analysis and sustainability assessment, and considering PSS peculiarities. The aim of the method is to select PSS scenarios with the highest sustainability potential. Sustainability is assessed from multiple perspectives involving both the PSS actors' points of view and sustainability pillars. The selection of the PSS design scenarios is supported by a multi-criteria analysis enabled by the ELECTRE I method. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on a case study around a PSS-oriented water-saving sanitary equipment intended for healthcare facilities. This provided some evidences of the applicability and relevance of the proposed method, which contributes ultimately to fostering sustainability integration within PSS design.


We have studied the effects of maternal thyroid status on the effectiveness of the rat placenta near term as a barrier for the transfer of T4 and T3 to the fetus. Dams were given methimazole to minimize the fetal contribution to the T4 and T3 pools, so that the iodothyronines found in the conceptus are ultimately of maternal origin. The dams were infused with saline, or with T4 or T3 at doses ranging from 2.3-27.8 nmol T4 and from 0.77-20.7 nmol T3/100 g BW per day. A group of normal pregnant dams (C) was included. At 21 days of gestation T4, T3, and rT3 were measured by RIA in maternal and fetal plasma, and in maternal and fetal sides of the placenta. The total fetal extrathyroidal T4 and T3 pools were also determined. The dose-related changes in T4, T3, and rT3 levels in the placenta confirm the presence of both inner and outer ring iodothyronine deiodinase activities, and suggest increasing accumulation of the iodothyronines. Despite this, fetal extrathyroidal T4 and T3 increase progressively in T4-infused groups as a function of maternal circulating T4 levels. Fetal extrathyroidal T3 increases progressively in T3-infused groups as a function of maternal plasma T3. There was no evidence that the net maternal contribution of T4 or T3 would be proportionally less when the maternal pools became very high. It was concluded that the rat placenta is only a limited barrier for the transfer of T4 and T3 to the fetus.


Industry leaders, government representatives, and association spokespersons are in hot debate regarding the issues surrounding the IT labor shortage. The controversy centers on the US Immigration and Naturalization Service's H-1B visa system. The narrow question being debated is whether raising the number of such visas robs jobs from US workers or creates additional jobs. The author discusses the two-tiered workforce and encouraging worker mobility.


The establishment of Village-Owned Enterprises ("BUM Desa") in Indonesia is expected to improve the village economy. Business entities like BUM Desa receiving capital from the public budget must apply Good Corporate Governance (GCG) principles, which include transparency, accountability, responsibility, independence and fairness. BUM Desa need to be managed based on these principles to reach their maximum potential and fulfil public accountability. A few studies have shown that many public organizations have not been able to ensure public accountability. Laws and regulations on BUM Desa do not specify and regulate GCG principles explicitly. Previous regulations actually contain clearer management principles in line with GCG principles. However, these have been revoked. This paper aims to examine and discuss the accommodation of GCG principles in the laws and regulations related to BUM Desa and the extent to which they intersect with GCG principles. It is part of a research project that examine the implementation of GCG principles in BUM Desa in North Sumatera region. Based on normative legal research, this paper concludes that the current legal framework on BUM Desa contains provisions which mirror the aspects of the GCG, in essence, aim to implement parts of the GCG. Unfortunately, it is still not adequately comprehensive. The legal framework should explicitly contain and adopt the principles of GCG, which consist of transparency, accountability, responsibility, independence and fairness. These principles must then be translated and formulated in such a way that it can be implemented in accordance with the capacity of BUM Desa to provide a comprehensive management and accountability standard for BUM Desa.


The Markers of Deconstructive Citizenship: A Corrective to the Constructionist Approach to Justice Miriam Bankovsky, Perfecting Justice in Rawls, Habermas, and Honneth: A Deconstructive Perspective (London: Continuum, 2012)In a daredevilish kind of way, this book sets out to complete two very demanding tasks: to cruise across the Atlantic expanse, using both the Analytic and Continental trade winds, and to trace a new path over the Franco-German border, precisely in an area still sprinkled with unexploded landmines. Not only does Bankovsky succeed in both of her ambitious goals, but she does so with a depth of insight, a subtlety of lateral moves, and a clarity of expression that are truly rare to encounter, especially in the highly polarized field of political philosophy. What may cripple a project of this kind is to presume the possibility of a seamless translation, a one-to-one correspondence of meaning and horizon. To her credit, Bankovsky never falls into this trap. In a narrative that is as complex and punctual as it is gripping, Perfecting Justice takes us though a series of associations and dissociations, triangulations and perspectival multiplications that keep sharpening our view of each of its three featured thinkers rather than sanctioning a definitive assessment of any of them.The book opens with an epigraph by Max Weber that brings Bankovsky's central thesis into focus. Playing on Otto von Bismark's pronouncement that "politics is the art of the possible, the attainable-the art of the next best," Weber remarks that "it is no less true, however, that the possible is very often achieved only by reaching out toward the impossible which lies beyond it."1 In the same way that Weber uses the appeal to the impossible to rattle the agenda of political realism, which Bismarck personifies literally, Bankovsky uses what Jacques Der- rida has called justice's "impossible demands" to critically challenge the agenda of constructivism, as embodied in the work of perhaps its three most influential theorists: John Rawls, Jurgen Habermas, and Axel Honneth. The "deconstructive perspective" featured in the subtitle thus references Bankovsky's allegiance to Derrida's position on justice, which, on her reading, is characterized by a double, contradictory injunction: on the one hand, the responsibility for the uniqueness and singularity of the individual, and on the other, the duty to impartiality, predi- cated on the equality of all individuals. Since no given determination of justice can fully reconcile these conflicting demands, Derrida claims that justice entails both a firm, and indeed urgent, commitment to possibility and an unwavering attention to impossibility.Bankovsky very lucidly states why constructivism cannot admit to the inad- equacy between justice and its determination. "A constructivist philosopher," she writes, "would say that if the determination does not satisfy its own criteria, then it should be revised, again assuming that a satisfactory solution can be constructed" (4). But this outcome turns out to be a structural deficiency of constructivism, since none of the three constructivist theories of justice examined in this volume succeeds in reconciling justice with its determination. As Bankovsky laconically admits, "it takes a lifetime of work for Rawls, Habermas, and Honneth to come to acknowledge, with some sense of disappointment, the significance of the dif- ficulties they face" (4).By contrast, the advantage of the deconstructive perspective is that it embraces the imperfection of justice as the condition of its own perfectibility. Bankovsky's appreciation of Derrida as a corrective to the constructionist approach lies in one simple assumption: the fact that failure is nothing less than the necessary condition of justice. Consequently, she praises an attitude of resilience to failure, of critical engagement with, rather than disappointment toward, our shortcomings in what would be required for justice to be fully served. …


The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter is measurable and quantifiable in all left ventricular walls and whether the information obtained using both parasternal and apical transducer positions can be used to identify changes in myocardial structure and contractility. The cyclic variation of integrated backscatter was measured from the parasternal long-axis, apical four-chamber and two-chamber views in 26 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (mean age 58 +/- 9 years; ejection fraction 29 +/- 10%) and compared with information obtained from 30 aged-matched healthy volunteers. For each subject, the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter was calculated from 16 predetermined regions-of-interest located within the myocardium of the basal and mid-segments of the left ventricle imaged from the long-axis view and also the basal mid and apical left ventricular segments imaged from the two apical views. The cyclic variation of integrated backscatter was found to be present in 100% of the analysed regions-of-interest in healthy volunteers and in 87.5% of the analysed regions-of-interest in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The mean value of cyclic variation of integrated backscatter, averaged from all regions-of-interest in the idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy group, was significantly reduced compared to that in the healthy volunteers group (3.2 +/- 2.5 dB [mean +/- SD] vs 4.8 +/- 2.9 dB, P < 0.0001). Additionally, the healthy volunteers group demonstrated marked regional variability in the magnitude of cyclic variation of integrated backscatter which closely followed the regional changes in the contractile function of the normal heart. These regional differences in the magnitude of the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter were only partially retained in the idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy group, and suggest that a multi-view approach of the recording of cyclic variation of integrated backscatter can be of value to differentiate normal from myopathic myocardium and to quantify regional differences in myocardial contractile performance throughout the left ventricular walls.


Collaborative learning is a kind of group learning mode where members of group learn any concept or topic through communication and discussions. Current researches on collaborative learning paid little attention to the functionalities of group members. In order to solve this problem, this paper utilizes a Learning Blog (LBlog) to share experience and viewpoints of group members, and achieve learning goals together in the end. The LBlog also integrates Learning Management System (LMS) to manage the group members' profiles to evaluate the learners' learning efficiency. Our initial experiments with the LBlog indicate that it is an useful educational tool to support collaborative learning.


Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) restores the distribution system load voltage to a nominal balanced sinusoidal voltage, when the source voltage has distortions, sag/swell and unbalances. DVR has to inject required amount of Volt-Amperes (VA) into the system in order to maintain a nominal balanced sinusoidal voltage at the load. A new control technique is applied to compensate the sag with phase jumps in the source voltages. Keeping the cost effectiveness of DVR, it is desirable to have a minimum VA rating of the DVR, for a given system without compromising compensation capability. Hence, a methodology has been proposed in this work to minimize VA rating of DVR. The optimal angle at which DVR voltage has to be injected in series to the line impedance so as to have minimum VA rating of DVR as well as the removal of phase jumps in the three-phases is computed by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique. The present method was able to compensate voltage sags with phase jumps by keeping the DVR voltage and power ratings minimum, effectively. The proposed method has been validated through detailed simulation studies.


After the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and the taking of 52 American citizens as hostages, and after President Carter in retaliation froze Iranian assets in the United States banks, at home and overseas, valued at some 12 billion dollars, the grave crisis was not finally settled until 19 January 1981, after 444 days. The hostages were released and arrangements were made for the free transfer of the frozen Iranian assets. The settlement also provided for the establishment of an Arbitral Tribunal at the Hague for the solution of a wide range of specified claims. An ``insider'' tries in this article to describe the complex and burdensome building up and organisation of the largest and most important international arbitration to date.


Abstract:This research explored bottom-up framing in response to the U.S. youth football organization Pop Warner eliminating kickoffs in its three youngest age divisions. Data were obtained from 838 Facebook comments posted to news articles covering the policy announcement. Thematic analysis suggested that participants framed the policy as (a) potentially impacting the NFL; (b) overprotecting the players; (c) creating a competitive disadvantage within football; (d) negatively affecting masculinity; (e) providing evidence of America's declining power; and (f) exhibiting legitimate organizational policy. Results reveal that the public has complex and divergent interpretations of health and safety initiatives within sport generally, and football specifically, equating these changes with declining American social structures. Consequently, health and safety initiatives in football are likely to be met with strong resistance, as people seek to protect the sport from elements that they perceive to be weakening American society.


Congenital hypoplastic anemia (Diamond-Blakcfan syndrom) is a genetically determined disorder which is manifested in early childhood with selective deficiency of erythrocyte line in bone marrow. Severe anemia usually appears in the first six months of life. Survival depends on blood transfusions, which in consequence lead to hemochromatosis. The most common complications of transfusional hemochromatosis are hepatic cirrhosis, hypopituitarism, hypogonadism, diabetes mellitus, other endocrinopathies, and cardiomyopathy. We present the case of 17 years old girl with congenital hypoplastic anemia and multihormonal insufficiency due to secondary hemochromatosis.


ABSTRACT Objectives: This study assessed the feasibility of Be EPIC, a dementia-focused, person-centered communication intervention for personal support workers (PSWs). Be EPIC's foci includes the environment, person-centered communication, client relationships, and clients' abilities, social history and preferences. Methods: Feasibility was assessed using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with PSWs. We used a phenomenological approach to assess: acceptability, implementation, practicality, demand, and limited efficacy. Results: The theme supporting the criterion of acceptability was helpful/relevant training. Themes supporting implementation included realistic simulations, interactive training, and positive learning experience at the adult-day center. The theme supporting practicality was support to attend training. Demand for Be EPIC revealed two themes: participants' personal motivation and barriers to applying newly learned knowledge and skills. The theme reflecting limited efficacy was applying newly learned knowledge and skills with home care clients. Four themes emerged that mapped onto Be EPIC's foci. Conclusions: The findings support Be EPIC's feasibility and highlight the need to address structural barriers from employers and government to ensure the delivery of person-centered dementia care. Clinical Implications: The findings highlight the need for and positive impact of person-centered communication training on home care workers, especially the value of learning by doing, reflective practice, and peer support.


Objective To compare helical computed tomography angiography with arterial digital subtraction angiography in the diagnosis of renal artery stenoses. Methods Fifty hypertensives (24 men; mean age 53 years) were prospectively studied with computed tomography (Somaton Plus S, Siemens) and digital angiography (double-blind evaluation). Computed tomography was performed both in the sequential (the length of the abdomen) and in the helical (5 cm around renal arteries) modes during injection of 120 cm3 contrast medium. Results Digital angiography visualized 16 significant (< 50% on quantitative angiography) stenoses (16/131 renal arteries, including 32 accessory), in 14 (28%) patients. On helical computed tomography, 16 stenoses were detected, in 49 patients (16/122 renal arteries, seven accessory arteries were not identified because they were located out side the scan area); two patients had false-positive helical computed tomography results. The computed tomography sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 87.5% (14/16), 98.2% (111/114), 87.5% and 98.2%, respectively. In the sequential mode, two cases of bilateral adrenal hyperplasia, two aortic aneurysms and one renal neoplasm were detected. None of these patients had renal artery stenosis. Conclusions Helical computed tomography is a suitable new non-invasive diagnostic modality for the detection of renal artery stenosis or adrenal pathology. With continued development and evaluation computed tomography could prove useful as a screening tool or as a replacement for digital angiography in patients with possible secondary hypertension.


Network coverage is one of the fundamental requirements of any business of a service provider. Mobile operators are expected to deploy base stations in an effective way in order to cover most of the residential areas of a particular country. Improved network coverage leads to increase total revenue, provide end users with enhanced Quality of Services QoS anytime anywhere, and play vital role in the development of telecom sector. In this paper, we measure and statistically analyze network coverage of mobile operators in Afghanistan. Our study is based on primary data collected on random basis from 1,515 mobile phone users of cellular operators. The relationship between No Network Coverage in some residential areas and Satisfaction of Mobile Phone Users is also investigated. We furthermore propose realistic, feasible and cost-efficient solutions to mobile operators and policy makers in order to expand network coverage to non-covered residential areas as well as enhance the performance of networks in existing covered areas of the country.


Monotherapies have proven largely ineffective for the treatment of glioblastomas, suggesting that increased patient benefit may be achieved by combining therapies. Two protumorigenic pathways known to be active in glioblastoma include RAS/RAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT/target of rapamycin (TOR). We investigated the efficacy of a combination of novel low molecular weight inhibitors LBT613 and RAD001 (everolimus), which were designed to target RAF and TOR, respectively. LBT613 decreased phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2, downstream effectors of RAF, in a human glioma cell line. RAD001 resulted in decreased phosphorylation of the TOR effector S6. To determine if targeting RAF and TOR activities could result in decreased protumorigenic glioma cellular behaviors, we evaluated the abilities of LBT613 and RAD001 to affect the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human glioma cells. Treatment with either LBT613 or RAD001 alone significantly decreased the proliferation of multiple human glioma cell lines. Furthermore, LBT613 and RAD001 in combination synergized to decrease glioma cell proliferation in association with G1 cell cycle arrest. Glioma invasion is a critical contributor to tumor malignancy. The combination of LBT613 and RAD001 inhibited the invasion of human glioma cells through Matrigel to a greater degree than treatment with either drug alone. These data suggest that the combination of LBT613 and RAD001 reduces glioma cell proliferation and invasion and support examination of the combination of RAF and TOR inhibitors for the treatment of human glioblastoma patients. [Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(9):2449–57]


Although several ionic mechanisms are known to control rate and regularity of the pacemaker in dopamine (DA) neurons from the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), a conductance essential for pacing has yet to be defined. Here we provide pharmacological evidence that pacemaking of SNc DA neurons is enabled by an unconventional conductance. We found that 1-(2,4-xylyl)guanidine (XG), an established blocker of gating pore currents in mutant voltage gated sodium channels, selectively stops pacemaking of DA SNc neurons and is without effect on the main pore of their voltage-gated channels. We isolated a voltage-dependent, non-inactivating XG-sensitive current of 20-25 pA which operates in the relevant subthreshold range and is carried by both Na+ and Cl- ions. While the molecular identity of this conductance remains to be determined, we show that this XG-sensitive current is crucial to sustain pacemaking in these neurons.


1. We tested affinities of newly synthesized ergot derivatives to alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors, D1- and D2-dopamine receptors, muscarinic acetylcholinoceptors and beta-adrenoceptors using radioligand binding techniques. 2. BAM-1110 was alpha 2-selective, though its affinity to alpha 2-adrenoceptors was one tenth less than that of yohimbine. 3. BAM-1303, which was non-selective, had high affinity to alpha-adrenoceptors. The pKi-values for BAM-1303 was 10.11 against both [3H]prazosin (alpha 1-ligand) and [3H]rauwolscine (alpha 2-ligand). 4. New ergot derivatives were selective to D2-dopamine receptors. BAM-1125 and BAM-1303 had high selectivity to D2-receptors. 5. They had less affinity to muscarinic receptors and beta-adrenoceptors.


This article discusses the possibility of using the civil process Venezuelan electronically on the citation that can resize based procedural obtain a speedy and effective justice, and in this way to demonstrate the importance of training in classrooms studies concerning the use of electronic media in various aspects of daily life. We used a descriptive case study of documentary observation techniques, read evaluative and technical summary.


Study Design. Retrospective analysis of kinematic magnetic resonance images. Objective. To provide baseline data on the segmental angular and translational motion of the degenerated cervical spine by subtype of kyphotic cervical deformity and to elucidate the relationship between motion and degree of spinal cord compression. Summary of Background Data. Kyphotic deformities of the cervical spine are relatively common and are classified as either global or focal. Nevertheless, the effects of kyphotic subtype on cervical segmental motion and degree of spinal cord compression are unknown. Methods. A total of 1171 symptomatic patients (618 females, 553 males) underwent cervical kinematic magnetic resonance imaging in the neutral, flexion, and extension positions. Cervical spines demonstrating kyphosis were included and classified into 3 groups: (1) "global kyphotic deformity" (C-type) (n = 54); (2) "sigmoid deformity" (S-type) with kyphotic upper and lordotic lower cervical segments (n = 29); and (3) "reverse sigmoid deformity" (R-type) with lordotic upper and kyphotic lower cervical segments (n = 39). Translational motion, angular motion, and degree of spinal cord compression were evaluated for each cervical level along with the changes associated with flexion and extension. Results. In the C- and R-types, angular motion with extension was increased in the upper cervical spine, where there was kyphosis; when compared with the S-type, in which there was lordosis in the upper segments. The results were opposite for flexion angular motion. R-type displayed more translational motion at C3–C4 and C5–C6. Degree of static spinal cord compression of R-type was higher than the others at C3–C4. The dynamic spinal cord compression increased in extension more than flexion in all subtypes. Conclusion. Cervical spine studies that aim to investigate kyphotic deformities should make efforts to discern the different subtypes of kyphotic deformities to more accurately characterize and study the effects that the sagittal alignment has on the kinematics of the spine and the degree of spinal cord compression. Level of Evidence: 3


The main objective of the study was to determine the vitamin A status of Zambian children less than five years of age in a community where strategies of vitamin A supplementation and consumption of vitamin A fortified sugar have been introduced. In a cross-sectional study, a total of 537 children were enrolled. Their vitamin A status was measured using the modified relative dose response (MRDR) test. Their vitamin A status was compared to the status measured using a similar method in 1996, before vitamin A supplementation through capsule distribution and fortification of sugar was implemented as strategies to reduce vitamin A deficiency in the country. Results showed that the vitamin A status of children improved markedly as a result of these strategies.


The current state of the art systems in Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled intrusion detection use a variety of black box methods. These black box methods are generally trained using Error Based Learning (EBL) techniques with a focus on creating accurate models. These models have high performative costs and are not easily explainable. A white box Competitive Learning (CL) based eXplainable Intrusion Detection System (X-IDS) offers a potential solution to these problem. CL models utilize an entirely different learning paradigm than EBL approaches. This different learning process makes the CL family of algorithms innately explainable and less resource intensive. In this paper, we create an X-IDS architecture that is based on DARPA's recommendation for explainable systems. In our architecture we leverage CL algorithms like, Self Organizing Maps (SOM), Growing Self Organizing Maps (GSOM), and Growing Hierarchical Self Organizing Map (GHSOM). The resulting models can be data-mined to create statistical and visual explanations. Our architecture is tested using NSL-KDD and CIC-IDS-2017 benchmark datasets, and produces accuracies that are 1% - 3% less than EBL models. However, CL models are much more explainable than EBL models. Additionally, we use a pruning process that is able to significantly reduce the size of these CL based models. By pruning our models, we are able to increase prediction speeds. Lastly, we analyze the statistical and visual explanations generated by our architecture, and we give a strategy that users could use to help navigate the set of explanations. These explanations will help users build trust with an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and allow users to discover ways to increase the IDS's potency.


Karacsony, P. & Vinichenko, M. V. (2021). Analysis of the motivation of agricultural workers in Bulgaria and Hungary. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 27 (3), 479–486 Every organization wants to be successful and have desire to get constant progress. Motivation is one of the most important factors that can help us achieve organizational goals. Human motivation can be seen as a never-ending process due to the uncertainties of the business environment. The main aim of this study is to examine and introduce the motivational characteristics, problems, and opportunities of Bulgarian and Hungarian agricultural organizations based on our own research. The research was conducted by using a quantitative method by means of a questionnaire survey as the main source of getting the primary data. Although our research does not allow conclusions to be drawn across for the whole agricultural sector, it can be generally concluded that salaries and working conditions have a strong motivational effect on agricultural workers in both countries. Furthermore, the study also showed that the majority of employees satisfied with job security and their work. For the first time, a comparative analysis of the motivation of agricultural workers in Bulgaria and Hungary was carried out, which allows a more systematic look at the problem of motivation in agriculture.


Image processing applications like tracking of moving objects typically involve the subtraction of two successive images. Doing this without the need for a large digital memory requires a sensor chip that does the subtraction in the analog domain. This paper provides insight in the critical issues of the design of such a differential image sensor. The presented sensor has two operation modes: a very low noise correlated double sampling (CDS) mode and a differential image (DI) mode. This sensor is optimized to have a high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) which results in a small influence from the content of the image onto the differential image.


Discriminating between distributions is an important problem in a number of scientific fields. This motivated the introduction of Linear Optimal Transportation (LOT), which embeds the space of distributions into an $L^2$-space. The transform is defined by computing the optimal transport of each distribution to a fixed reference distribution, and has a number of benefits when it comes to speed of computation and to determining classification boundaries. In this paper, we characterize a number of settings in which LOT embeds families of distributions into a space in which they are linearly separable. This is true in arbitrary dimension, and for families of distributions generated through perturbations of shifts and scalings of a fixed distribution. We also prove conditions under which the $L^2$ distance of the LOT embedding between two distributions in arbitrary dimension is nearly isometric to Wasserstein-2 distance between those distributions. This is of significant computational benefit, as one must only compute $N$ optimal transport maps to define the $N^2$ pairwise distances between $N$ distributions. We demonstrate the benefits of LOT on a number of distribution classification problems.


Data concerning the occurrence of chronic-obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) vary between 11 and 20% due to the underlying definition of COPD. We investigated the frequency of COPD in 202 patients with OSAS. The obstructive pattern was defined by bodyplethysmography (Rt > 0.35 kPa x 1(-1) x s(-1)), flow-volume-curve (MEF50 < 50% pred.), Tiffeneau-index (FEV1/IVC < 70% pred.) and anamnesis (cough and/or sputum). Prevalence of COPD in our 202 patients with OSAS was 16.3%. Patients with OSAS and COPD had a higher body-mass-index (BMI), lower PaO2 and spent more time in an oxygen saturation < or = 90% in relation to total recording time (t90). Polysomnographically there was no difference between the two groups with regard to the ventilatory parameters apnea-index (AI) and apnea-hypopnea-index (AHI). As there is a high risk of developing hypercapnia, pulmonary arterial hypertension and cor pulmonale in patients with OSAS and COPD there is need for early diagnosis of the combination of both diseases.


Conclusive evidence is presented that an acid phosphatase catalyzes phosphate (oxygen)-water exchange. Studies conducted with human prostatic acid phosphatase by two independent methods have established that, despite earlier reports to the contrary, the enzyme catalyzes an exchange reaction between oxygen atoms of phosphate ion and of water. Kinetic data were obtained both by chemical conversion to trimethyl phosphate followed by mass spectroscopy and by a totally independent method involving 31P isotope shift nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Analysis showed that the enzyme catalyzes the exchange in a random, noncoupled process. If any coupled exchange occurs, it must represent less than 10% of the total. By mass spectral analysis, catalytic rate constants kcat = 0.14 sec-1 (4 degrees) and 1.8 sec-1 (37.5 degrees) were obtained. By 31P nuclear magnetic resonance kcat = 1.6 sec-1 (31 degrees) was obtained. The energy of activation for the exchange reaction is approximately 13kcal mol-1. The kcat value for exchange is about 10-fold greater than that observed with Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase.


A diffusion method that requires less labor than distillation methods was developed for preparing soil KCl extracts for 15NH+4 and 15NO-3 analyses. The procedure is ideal for preparing samples having low N mass (50–200 µg N) with no cross contamination. The method uses 140 mL disposable specimen containers to hold the sample, and 7-mm diam, disks of acidified GF/D glass fiber filter paper on stainless steel wire as the acid trap. Devarda's alloy and MgO are used as the reductant and base respectively. Complete diffusion for 40 to 60 mL of sample takes 6 d at room temperature with no shaking. Paired t-tests comparing analyses of soil extracts of varying 15N enrichment by this method and steam distillation showed no significant difference (p = 0.64). Use of KHSO4 as the trapping acid allows the paper disks to be placed in a Sn capsule and analyzed by direct combustion mass spectrometry. Alternately, H2SO4 can be used and the disks analyzed by an automated NaOBr method. The disks can be easily dried in a desiccator over H2SO4 and mailed for 15N analysis by service laboratories.