Measurements of spectral global and diffuse ultraviolet (UV) irradiance, and of spectral actinic flux were made jointly with determinations of cloud properties during a two‐ month experimental campaign that took place in southern Italy in May–June 2010. The cloud modification factor (CMF) which is the ratio between the incoming radiation under cloudy and in cloud‐free conditions, was obtained for the global (direct plus diffuse) and diffuse components of the irradiance, and for the actinic flux in the UV spectral range for overcast conditions. Measurements of the diffuse irradiance and actinic flux CMFs are very scarce, and are particularly important to characterize the radiation field and verify the behaviour of radiative transfer models in cloudy conditions. In addition to measurements, one‐dimensional radiative transfer simulations are used to investigate the cloud influence on the spectral solar UV radiation. The analysis shows that the wavelength dependence of CMF for the global irradiance is mainly due to the normalization for cloud‐free conditions. The CMF for the diffuse irradiance and for the actinic flux displays a strong dependence on the solar zenith angle. This dependence appears to be mainly driven by the large role played by the zenith radiation in overcast conditions. Radiative transfer model determinations of CMF satisfactorily reproduce observations.


The acidic properties of acid-modified montmorillonite and vermiculite were determined by pyridine and ammonia adsorption to correlate with the alkylating and dehydrating activity of the activated samples. Treatment of the minerals with different concentrations of hydrochloric acid results in the variation of overall acidity and density of acidic sites. Infrared (IR) spectral and differential scanning calorimetric analyses have revealed the presence of Bronsted and Lewis acid sites on the activated samples. The catalytic activity towards the above reaction has been correlated to the acid strength and density of Lewis acid sites. Treatment of montmorillonite with hydrochloric acid in the range of 0.1 and 0.3 M and vermiculite with 0.2 to 0.3 M seemed to be suitable for the conversion of methanol into olefin-rich hydrocarbons. Acid-activated montmorillonite catalyzed the isopropylation of benzene to a maximum extent of 16%, whereas acid-activated vermiculite gave a maximum conversion of only 4%.


Due to their controllable size, low cytotoxicity, and unique architecture, cyclodextrin based pseudopolyrotaxanes have been developed to encompass a broad range of diverse medical and chemical engineering applications. The study of complexation between α-cyclodextrin (alfa-CD) grafted PEG segments on the surface of PAMAM dendrimers was carried out to investigate the physical properties and driving force of this so called host guest interaction. At pH of 10, complexation between alfa-CD and PEGylated-PAMAM occurred once alfa-CD was titrated to the PAMAM solution. However, at pH of 2 no binding took place until a critical alfa-CD concentration (C*) of ~ 8.0 mM was exceeded. The size of the nanostructures increased with alfa-CD concentration ranging from 0.5 to 25 mM at pH value of 2. From zeta potential measurements it was found that the PEGylated-PAMAM possessed positive charges, attributed to the protonation of primary amine groups on PAMAM chains that impart electrostatic repulsive forces to the system. As observed from DLS and SLS study at increasing alfa-CD concentration and pH values, the morphology of the complex changed from a start shaped to a Gaussian like structure.
The dynamics and dimensions (length, diameter, translation and diffusion coefficients) of rod-like cellulose micro crystallites (whisker) were also investigated using simulated parameter estimation technique. For rod with L/d ratio equal to 17 (ROD 17), experimental D and Θ values produced length and diameter values showing close resemblance to experimental results with a significant reduction in the percentage error approaching 0.22 and 0.27% after 1000 iterations, respectively. The proposed approach provides a suitable and simple method to determine the length and diameter of rod-like nanoparticles, such as nanocrystalline cellulose.


We have simulated a series of nanoindentation experiments on nanocrystalline tungsten specimens using a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and the embedded atom method potential. The research aimed to investigate the impact of grain size on the mechanical properties of tungsten. Nanoindentation is a technique used to measure the mechanical properties of materials at a small scale. In this study, the researchers varied the grain size of the tungsten specimens, ranging from 7.9 to 10.5 nanometers. They also applied a loading rate of 3 angstroms per picosecond at a temperature of 300 Kelvin. The study found that as the grain size increased, the hardness increased, and the elastic modulus decreased. Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to deformation, and the elastic modulus is a measure of a material's stiffness. The findings suggest that as the grain size of tungsten increases, the material becomes harder but less stiff. Additionally, the study explored the ways in which nanocrystalline tungsten deformed during nanoindentation. The researchers found that the deformation of the material was primarily due to dislocation activity, which is consistent with previous research on the topic. Overall, the findings of this research provide valuable insights into the mechanical properties of nanocrystalline tungsten and the ways in which the material deforms under stress. These findings could have practical applications in the development of materials for use in various industries.


BACKGROUND
This survey was aimed to obtain the characteristics of physicians operating in mass vaccination sites (MVS), emphasizing their motivation to work there.

METHOD
We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional internet-based survey involving physicians operating in MVS during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire comprised demographic characteristics and questions regarding the perception of physicians working in MVS.

RESULTS
In total, 140 questionnaire responses were analysed. There were 98 female (70 %) and 42 male (30 %) physicians. Fifty-five were residents (39.3 %), and 85 were attending physicians (60.7 %). As the main motivation for participating in MVS, residents (43.6 %) reported a financial benefit, while moral responsibility was more common in attending physicians (50.6 %), (p0.05). Physician burnout was more prevalent (32 %) in those study participants, who worked in MVS as part of their work duty. 48 % of these physicians expressed no willingness to work in MVS in the future. All the respondents, who reported the professional experience as their main motivation to work in MVS expressed their will to work in MVS again.

CONCLUSIONS
The financial aspect was the most important motivational factor among residents, while moral responsibility was decisive for the attending physicians. Physicians, who participated in MVS as a work duty presented both the most prevalent self-perceived burnout syndrome (32 %) and the hesitancy (48 %) to work in MVS again in the future (Tab. 4, Ref. 15) Keywords: mass vaccination site, COVID-19; healthcare workers, vaccination, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus.


Ethylene oxide (EtO), a chemical widely used in the sterilisation of medical equipment, is categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In this chapter, we discuss the results from epidemiological studies that have used the micronucleus (MN) assay to determine MN formation as a result of EtO exposure and provide a mechanistic understanding from the limited number of in vitro and in vivo studies available. Most of the epidemiological studies published in the period of 1985–2000, differ significantly in terms of the exposure conditions, cell type and MN assay outcome. The in vitro and in vivo studies provide comparable results, however they do not provide any definite mechanistic explanation. The studies also reveal that MN is comparatively less sensitive than sister chromatid exchanges, as a cytogenetic marker for EtO exposure.


In this paper, we are addressing security requirements of health monitoring using medical sensor networks and proposed a secure framework called "SHM " using wireless sensor networks. SHM provides security services such as confidentiality, authenticity and integrity to patient data at low-cost. To provide confidentiality we have used PingPong-128 stream cipher. Authenticity and data integrity is achieved by PingPong-MAC (message authentication code). We have designed a real-time prototype with ECG and tri-axial accelerometer sensors on Telos-mote for evaluating the proposed secure framework and our results confirm their feasibility.


To determine the effectiveness of potassium iodide (200 mkg) to focal changes there was a clinical study taken. Only the patients with focal changes in thyroid were included. The main group was represented with 29 patients with normal thyroid volume and took potassium iodide. 27 patients were included into the group under control and underwent dynamic examination. The third group was consisted of 13 patients with thyroid goiter and getting potassium iodide (200 mkg). The examination of the patient with focal changes of thyroid was suspected to check thyroid status: thyroid ultrasound study, TSH serum level and antibodies to TPO at the beginning, in six months and in 12 months. Follow-up period for each patient was 12 months. Physiological iodide dose recommended with the aim of prophylaxis was apt to prevent the growth of the existent focal changes in thyroid tissue but not led to their full regression; prevent new focal changes in thyroid tissue; normalize thyroid volume in patients with thyroid goiter; do not influence on TSH levels and antybodies to TPO in patients with focal changes in thyroid tissue.


Background and importance Elderly patients often manifest behavioural disorders. They commonly involve the use of psychotropic drugs that are associated with drowsiness, confusion and risk of falls, especially in this vulnerable population. The significant increase in psychotropic drug consumption in recent years has promoted strategies to identify potentially inappropriate prescriptions and their optimisation or de-prescription. Aim and objectives To estimate the prevalence of psychotropic drugs at discharge in geriatric patients and describe the most frequently prescribed. To evaluate differences between octogenarian and nonagenarian complex chronic patients (CCP). Material and methods A retrospective observational study was conducted in geriatric patients discharged between May and June 2019 from an acute geriatric unit (41 beds) of a geriatric healthcare centre from a university hospital. Variables registered were age, sex, length of stay (LOS), and number and type of psychotropic drugs at discharge (hypnotics, antidepressants, neuroleptics, mood stabilisers). For octogenarian and nonagenarian CCP designated as primary care, we also collected data on polypharmacy and the Pfeiffer test before admission. Those who died were excluded. Quantitative data are presented as median (Q1–Q3) and we used the Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon U test. Statistical analysis was performed with Stata13. Results A total of 148 patients were included, 87 (58.8%) women, aged 86 (82.75–90.25) years. LOS was 9 (6–13.25) days. Prescription of psychotropic drugs was as follows: 68 (49.9%) patients received hypnotics (49/68 (72.0%) trazodone and 23/68 (33.8%) short/intermediate acting benzodiazepines); 46 (31.1%) received antidepressants (15/46 (32.6%) sertraline); 39 (26.3%) received neuroleptics (25/39 (64.1%) quetiapine and 13/39 (33.3%) risperidone); and 18 (12.2%) received mood stabilisers (8/18 (44.4%) gabapentin). The number of patients with at least one psychotropic prescription was 97 (65.5%) and 23 (15.5%) had ≥3 psychotropic prescriptions. Differences between octogenarian (n=29) and nonagenarian CCP (n=20) were: LOS 10 (7–13) versus 8 (5.5–16) days (p=0.554); number of psychotropic drugs 2 (1–3) versus 1.5 (0–2) (p=0.378); polypharmacy 12 (10–14) versus 11 (8.5–12) drugs (p=0.135); and Pfeiffer test 2 (0–4) versus 3 (1–7) points (p=0.08). Conclusion and relevance Two–thirds of patients were receiving treatment with at least one psychotropic drug, with hypnotics and antidepressants the most prescribed. The small sample size made it difficult to demonstrate statistically significant differences, but this study suggests that nonagenarian CCP present less polypharmacy and a lower number of psychotropic drugs compared with octogenarian CCP, despite having higher cognitive impairment. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Gameful design challenges instructors to rethink course design for today's tech-saturated, pandemic-sequestered situation now that virtual is a crucial mode. We share two recent examples of gamification—curricular and co-curricular—demonstrating how gameful design yields whole-person, transformational learning. First, we describe our co-taught Bible and Classical Literature course, where hero-students journey into the dark, accomplish heroic tasks, earn badges, and engage desire-driven, side-quest learning. Second, we describe "Human Salvo: An Experiment with the Antidote to Zombification," a virtual, Covid-inspired alternative to weekly in-person chapel offerings. Chapel-as-game responded to our shared experience of Fall 2020, fraught with four anxieties: pandemic/contagion, political tribes, economy, and racial (in)justice (the primary anxieties that characterize zombie genre as well). Examples offer assessable evidence of learning toward specified outcomes. Our aim is to spark creativity among librarians-as-teachers for re-visioning, re-tooling, and (perhaps) re-spawning as game-oriented instructors.


The Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft set (PFHSS) is the most advanced extension of the intuitionistic fuzzy hypersoft set (IFHSS) and a suitable extension of the Pythagorean fuzzy soft set. In it, we discuss the parameterized family that contracts with the multi-subattributes of the parameters. The PFHSS is used to correctly assess insufficiencies, anxiety, and hesitancy in decision-making (DM). It is the most substantial notion for relating fuzzy data in the DM procedure, which can accommodate more uncertainty compared to available techniques considering membership and nonmembership values of each subattribute of given parameters. In this paper, we will present the operational laws for Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft numbers (PFHSNs) and also some fundamental properties such as idempotency, boundedness, shift-invariance, and homogeneity for Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted average (PFHSWA) and Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted geometric (PFHSWG) operators. Furthermore, a novel multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach has been established utilizing presented aggregation operators (AOs) to resolve decision-making complications. To validate the useability and pragmatism of the settled technique, a brief comparative analysis has been conducted with some existing approaches.


Synthesis of early T4 protein, which is normally shut off at 10 min after infection, continues until lysis when host cells have been preinfected with T3 sam(+). In host cells preinfected with T3 sam(-), synthesis of early enzymes is shut off as normal. Thus, S-adenosylmethionine is required for the turnoff of early T4 functions (at least when host cells have been preinfected with T3).


Progress continues in fuel cell technology since the previous edition of the Fuel Cell Handbook was published in November 1998. Uppermost, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, and solid oxide fuel cells have been demonstrated at commercial size in power plants. The previously demonstrated phosphoric acid fuel cells have entered the marketplace with more than 220 power plants delivered. Highlighting this commercial entry, the phosphoric acid power plant fleet has demonstrated 95+% availability and several units have passed 40,000 hours of operation. One unit has operated over 49,000 hours. Early expectations of very low emissions and relatively high efficiencies have been met in power plants with each type of fuel cell. Fuel flexibility has been demonstrated using natural gas, propane, landfill gas, anaerobic digester gas, military logistic fuels, and coal gas, greatly expanding market opportunities. Transportation markets worldwide have shown remarkable interest in fuel cells; nearly every major vehicle manufacturer in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East is supporting development. This Handbook provides a foundation in fuel cells for persons wanting a better understanding of the technology, its benefits, and the systems issues that influence its application. Trends in technology are discussed, including next-generation concepts that promise ultrahigh efficiency and low cost, while providing exceptionally clean power plant systems. Section 1 summarizes fuel cell progress since the last edition and includes existing power plant nameplate data. Section 2 addresses the thermodynamics of fuel cells to provide an understanding of fuel cell operation at two levels (basic and advanced). Sections 3 through 8 describe the six major fuel cell types and their performance based on cell operating conditions. Alkaline and intermediate solid state fuel cells were added to this edition of the Handbook. New information indicates that manufacturers have stayed with proven cell designs, focusing instead on advancing the system surrounding the fuel cell to lower life cycle costs. Section 9, Fuel Cell Systems, has been significantly revised to characterize near-term and next-generation fuel cell power plant systems at a conceptual level of detail. Section 10 provides examples of practical fuel cell system calculations. A list of fuel cell URLs is included in the Appendix. A new index assists the reader in locating specific information quickly.


Manure can be applied to soils as a major source of nutrients such as phosphorus (P). The environmental chemistry and plant availability of applied soil P are influenced by the chemical forms of P in the solid phase. The objectives of this study were to determine the amounts, availability, and chemical forms of P in a Hord silt loam soil (fine-silty, mixed, mesic Pachic Haplustoll) amended with beef and sheep feedlot, turkey house, and composted paunch manures. Manures were applied in alternate years from 1991 to 1997. In 1996, after three manure applications, total P in the manured 0-15-cm soil depth increased up to 14%and inorganic P up to 25% compared with nonmanured. Bray and Kurtz 1-P in 0-15-cm soil depth was almost 4 times greater in manured soil than in nonmanured (47.2 mg P kg−1 soil versus 12.7 mg P kg−1 soil).Soluble P was more than 4 times higher in the 0-15-cm depth of manured soils (13.9 mg P kg−1 soil) compared with nonmanured soil (3.2 mg P kg−1 soil). Nonoccluded P was more than 1.5 times higher in manure-amended soils (78.4 mg P kg−1 soil) than in nonmanured (46.8 mg P kg−1 soil) in the 0-15-cm soil depth. Occluded P in 0-15-cm soil depth was greatest in turkey manure-amended soil (45.2 mg P kg−1 soil), followed by beef manure-amended soil (36.7 mg P kg−1 soil). In 1997, all P fractions were higher in 0-7.5-cm depth than any other amended soil depth, and the same general trends among fractions held as in 1996. Although animal source of applied manure does have some influence on P fractionation and depth distribution, most P remains in the zone of application, emphasizing the need for conservation of the surface soil.


This paper develops a theory of transgressive learning (t-learning) as it was experimented with in the International Science Council t-learning network. The method applied is a diffractive reading of conceptions of transgression in academic publications emerging from different cases. The results show that there can be no definite conduct to or understanding of transgression, as transgression itself entails a subversion of rules, contexts, and borders. Instead, the results document several overarching categorical positions and axiomatic understandings of transgression that emerge from the background of context-specific wicked sustainability issues. Transgressive learning can be understood as a set of contextually diverse techniques and practices that attempt to bring about change through and in learning. Transgressive learning can result in experiential learning excesses where the excess is the very source of difference and makes change possible. The diversity of conceptions of transgressive learning open up new entry points for engaging with sustainability-oriented learning and education that is open to change rather than to reproducing unsustainable social structures and dynamics.


Fuel oil or bahan bakar minyak (BBM) is among the most strategic commodity in Indonesia. Any change either in its price, quantity or both will immediately affect the macro as well as microeconomic stability. Therefore, maintaining synchronization in the supply of BBM and demand for it is necessary, in order to ensure the social welfare improvement and macroeconomic stability of the community. It is remarkably admitted that market structure of the BBM until 2004 has been monopolistic, which directly implies to the pattern of the BBM supply. As BBM becomes the primary commodity in the community, especially in industrial sector and transportation, the demand for B BM is consequently inelastic. The inelastic demand for BBM is applied to its main types such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and elpiji (natural gas), though the degree may vary from one to a not her.


In this paper, we propose an efficient multiscale approach for the segmentation of natural clutter, specifically grass and forest, in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. This method exploits the coherent nature of SAR sensors. In particular, we exploit the characteristic statistical differences in imagery of different clutter types, as a function of scale, due to radar speckle. We employ a recently introduced class of multiscale stochastic processes that provide a powerful framework for describing random processes and fields that evolve in scale. We build models representative of each category of clutter of interest (i.e., grass and forest), and use these models to segment the imagery into these two clutter classes. The scale- autoregressive nature of the models allows extremely efficient calculation of the relative likelihoods of different clutter classifications for windows of SAR imagery, and we use these likelihoods as the basis for classifying image pixels and for accurately estimating forest-grass boundaries. We evaluate the performance of the technique by testing it on 0.3 meter SAR data gathered with the Lincoln Laboratory millimeter-wave SAR.


Introduction of the fifth-generation wireless networks (5G) will increase the number of 5G base stations and 5G-enabled devices. This review sought to find the answer to the key question: can such devices be harmful? The review covers scientific data published from 2009 to 2022 and available at eLibrary, PubMed, Google Scholar, Cyberleninka. We investigated the problems of definition, regulation, accumulation of data on 5G networks, and summarized the papers reporting how electromagnetic fields in 5G frequency bands affect adults and children. Despite the large amount of contradictory data, the available studies do not provide adequate information that could enable a meaningful assessment of the safety of 5G networks.


Several reaction-induced diffusion processes to fabricate high-density MgB2 materials are developed, and the critical current density (Jc) has been notably enhanced. In this study, microstructure in high-density MgB2 wires fabricated by an internal Mg diffusion (IMD) process has been investigated. The inner reacted region of the wire heat-treated at 640°C for 1 h shows dense polycrystalline MgB2 of 20-200 nm in grain sizes. Fine MgO and Mg2Si particles of 10-30 nm in sizes are dispersed in this region. On the other hand, the outer region near the Ta sheath is composed of unreacted B and SiC powders, fine MgO particles and small voids. Sizes of voids in the IMD MgB2 wire are small compared with the PIT MgB2 wire. Oxidation of Mg in the IMD process forms fine dispersion of MgO which may be effective for flux pinning.


Author(s): Ong, Paul M.; Houston, Douglas | Abstract: This working paper reports the findings from an analysis of the estimated undercount of the population in the 2000 Census for Los Angeles County. The Bureau of the Census improved its performance for 2000 relative to 1990, but the enumeration was not complete. The are three key findings: 1) Los Angeles County has a disproportionate number of the undercounted population; 2) the undercounted population is unevenly distributed within Los Angeles County across neighborhoods, varying across neighborhoods from -0.3% to 5.9%; and 3) neighborhoods with the highest under-count rates tend to be poor and predominantly minority, and have a relatively large number of children. Because of the geographic differences, disadvantaged neighborhoods and populations are at risk of being under-represented, under-served, and under-funded.


This research aimed at investigating the theoretical knowledge about the relationship among spiritual intelligence, mindfulness, and happiness in Buddhism. The study analyzed mediating and moderating variables to enhance understanding about the relationship among these variables more completely. A sample of 350 registered nurses from a government hospital participated in this study. They were drawn by stratified random sampling technique. The instruments for collecting data were questionnaires. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between two of variables. Baron and Kenny's steps (1986) and bootstrap method were used to test indirect effects for mediation analysis whereas hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used for moderation analysis. The results were shown that spiritual intelligence was positively correlated with mindfulness. Both spiritual intelligence and mindfulness were positively correlated with happiness in Buddhism. Moreover, mindfulness was a partial mediator and moderator of the relationship between spiritual intelligence and happiness in Buddhism as well as spiritual intelligence was a partial mediator and moderator of the relationship between mindfulness and happiness in Buddhism.


We present a periodic review inventory model with multiple delivery modes. While base-stock policies are optimal for one or two consecutive delivery modes, they are not so otherwise. For multiple consecutive delivery modes, we show that only the fastest two modes have optimal base stocks, and provide a simple counterexample to show that the remaining ones do not. We investigate why the base-stock policy is or is not optimal in different situations. This note is an abridged version of Feng et al. (2006).


F rankenfood or silver bullet? The current debate over agricultural biotechnology is raging in the news media, in agribusiness boardrooms, among consumer and environmental activist groups, among government officials and international trade negotiators, within the scientific community, and in rural communities across this nation. Biotechnology is truly ubiquitous. Everyone is impacted directly or indirectly by the products of biotechnology now flowing out of the laboratories, farms, and food processing plants throughout much of the world. How did this new science evolve? What has happened in recent months? What does it mean for society? And, where are we headed? This article provides background on biotechnology, explores the expected benefits and possible risks associated with the products of biotechnology, and offers insights on potential current and future societal impacts.


Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS), a water-soluble derivative of tanshinone IIA, has been demonstrated to have potent anti-inflammatory properties. However, the protective effects of STS on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in endothelial cells remain to be elucidated. In the present study, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to explore the effects of STS on LPS-induced inflammation and the molecular mechanism involved. HUVECs were pretreated with STS for 2 h, followed by stimulation with LPS. Then expression and secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β, and the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) were assessed. The results demonstrated that STS significantly decreased LPS-induced TNF-α and IL-1β protein expression in HUVECs. Similarly, the increased levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in cell supernatants stimulated by LPS were also significantly inhibited by STS. Furthermore, STS inhibited LPS-induced NF-κB p65 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. All the results suggest that STS prevents LPS-induced inflammation through suppressing NF-κB signaling pathway in endothelial cells, indicating the potential utility of STS for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.


Orthoses with electronic functions have emerged as a promising medical product in response to the increasing demand for rehabilitation training, therapy assistance, and health monitoring. However, fabricating this "smart orthosis" often requires long development cycles and exorbitant prices. We introduce E-Orthosis, an integrated fabrication approach with construction toolkits for healthcare professionals to quickly embed electronics in off-the-shelf orthoses with customized functions cost-effectively and time-efficiently. Specifically, we develop components with magnets and pogo pins to support rapid attachment and sustainable use, and textile-based electrodes with snap installation to improve the wearing experience. We also provide a circuit iron tool to apply circuit traces on complex surfaces of orthoses directly and a hot punch tool to embed magnet ports and electrodes. Three application examples, technical evaluations, and expert reviews demonstrate the functionality of E-Orthosis and the potential for democratizing rapid-developed and low-cost smart orthoses for patients.


Recent studies have shown independently that presenilin-1 (PS1) null mutants and familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD)-linked mutants should both down-regulate signaling of the unfolded protein response (UPR). However, it is difficult to accept that both mutants possess the same effects on the UPR. Furthermore, contrary to these observations, neither loss of PS1 and PS2 function nor expression of FAD-linked PS1 mutants were reported to have a discernable impact on the UPR. Therefore, re-examination and detailed analyses are needed to clarify the relationship between PS1 function and UPR signaling. Here, we report that PS1/PS2 null and dominant negative PS1 mutants, which are mutated at aspartate residue 257 or 385, did not affect signaling of the UPR. In contrast, FAD-linked PS1 mutants were confirmed to disturb UPR signaling by inhibiting activation of both Ire1α and ATF6, both of which are endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress transducers in the UPR. Furthermore, PS1 mutants also disturbed activation of PERK (PKR-like ER kinase), which plays a crucial role in inhibiting translation during ER stress. Taken together, these observations suggested that PS1 mutations could affect signaling pathways controlled by each of the respective ER-stress transducers, possibly through a gain-of-function.


Iron deficiency is prevalent in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Nonetheless, the diagnosis is often overlooked and, often, the treatment is commenced just when overt anemia has ensued. Therefore, a better appreciation of this disease is needed, and all seasoned cardiologists should know how to approach CHF patients with iron deficiency correctly, as mandated by clinical practice guidelines. In this comprehensive review, we describe iron homeostasis, the pathophysiologic changes of iron homeostasis, and the clinical implications of iron deficiency on CHF patients. In addition, we delineate the evolution of clinical trials, ranging from the inception to the ongoing clinical trials of iron deficiency treatment in CHF patients. Iron deficiency contributes to the worse clinical outcome of the patients. Numerous studies have reported the clinical benefit of iron supplementation, particularly in intravenous preparation, in heart failure patients regarding symptoms, functional capacity, and quality of life (QoL) improvement. Therefore, the current guidelines recommend routine screening of iron status in all newly diagnosed heart failure patients. Eventually, intravenous iron replacement is recommended for symptomatic heart failure patients with iron deficiency, irrespective of anemia.


Summary form only given: This talk will present some technical challenges in video coding and processing to meet the paradigm shifting trends for future digital entertainment for consumers. Traditional consumer video services have been in the broadcasting mode, from terrestrial TV, to satellite and cable services, in which a single encoder is able to serve millions of decoders. The design principle has been the simple decoder of volume sets at the expense of very complicated encoder. The proliferation of mobile devices with video capture capabilities in the recent years has resulted in a paradigm shift trends that require simple encoder for the mobile devices. The burden of the performance has now shifted to decoder that resides at consumerpsilas home to manage volumetric video captures with desktop computers. This paradigm shift thus created an opportunity for new generations of video coding and processing algorithms and architectures to meet the challenges in more complicated video decoding. In this talk, we will present several examples of new video coding and processing schemes based on distributed source coding. Some detailed analysis and simulation results will be shown to demonstrate that distributed source coding based approach is indeed promising for video decoding and processing for future digital entertainment.


The present study investigates the simultaneous ultrasound-assisted adsorption of malachite green (MG) and safranin O (SO) dyes from aqueous solutions by ultrasound-assisted adsorption onto copper nanowires loaded on activated carbon (Cu-NWs-AC). In this study a novel and green approach is described for the synthesis of Cu nanowires. This novel material was characterized using different techniques such as FESEM, XRD, EDS, and UV-vis. The effects of variables such as sonication time, pH, adsorbent dosage, and initial dye concentrations on simultaneous dye removals were studied and optimized by a central composite design (CCD) combined with a desirability function (DF). A good agreement between experimental and predicted data using an optimal model in this study was observed. These results indicated that when a small amount of proposed adsorbent (0.022 g) was applied, it resulted in simultaneous removal of 15 mg L−1 of malachite green and 15 mg L−1 of safranin O (>99%) in a short time (6.0 min) at a pH of 5.5.


To enhance tribological contacts under cyclic load, high performance materials are required. Utilizing the same high-strength material for the whole machine element is not resource-efficient. In order to manufacture machine elements with extended functionality and specific properties, a combination of different materials can be used in a single component for a more efficient material utilization. By combining different joining techniques with subsequent forming, multi-material or tailored components can be manufactured. To reduce material costs and energy consumption during the component service life, a less expensive lightweight material should be used for regions remote from the highly stressed zones. The scope is not only to obtain the desired shape and dimensions for the finishing process, but also to improve properties like the bond strength between different materials and the microscopic structure of the material. The multi-material approach can be applied to all components requiring different properties in separate component regions such as shafts, bearings or bushes. The current study exemplarily presents the process route for the production of an axial bearing washer by means of tailored forming technology. The bearing washers were chosen to fit axial roller bearings (type 81212). The manufacturing process starts with the laser wire cladding of a hard facing made of martensitic chromium silicon steel (1.4718) on a base substrate of S235 (1.0038) steel. Subsequently, the bearing washers are forged. After finishing, the surfaces of the bearing washers were tested in thrust bearings on an FE-8 test rig. The operational test of the bearings consists in a run-in phase at 250 rpm. A bearing failure is determined by a condition monitoring system. Before and after this, the bearings were inspected by optical and ultrasonic microscopy in order to examine whether the bond of the coat is resistant against rolling contact fatigue. The feasibility of the approach could be proven by endurance test. The joining zone was able to withstand the rolling contact stresses and the bearing failed due to material-induced fatigue with high cycle stability.


Head banging is a rhythmic motor activity that may occur in normal infants and young children, as well as in children with underlying psychiatric or neurologic disease. Once underlying pathology has been excluded, parents should be reassured about the benign nature of the activity.


The recommendations in this article provide a datasupported approach. They are based on the following: (1) a formal review and analysis of recently published world literature on the topic (as listed in MEDLINE); (2) the American College of Physicians' A Manual for Assessing Health Practices and Designing Practice Guidelines1; (3) policy guidelines, including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases' Policy Statement on Development and Use of Practice Guidelines and the American Gastroenterological Association's Policy Statement on the Use of Medical Practice Guidelines2; and (4) the authors' years of experience in the care of patients with portal hypertension and use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt in the management of these disorders. These recommendations are fully endorsed by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Society for Interventional Radiology. Intended for use by physicians, these recommendations suggest preferred approaches to the diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative aspects of care. They are intended to be flexible, in contrast to standards of care, which are inflexible policies designed to be followed in every case. Specific recommendations are based on relevant published information. In an attempt to characterize the quality of evidence supporting recommendations, the Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases requires a grade to be assigned and reported with each recommendation (Table 1).


Introduction: Dyslipidemia is a major primary risk factor for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). Asians differs in prevalence of various lipid abnormalities than non-Asians. This study was conducted with the objective to assess the prevalence and pattern of lipid abnormalities and there correlation in patients with angiographically documented Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). Objective: This study sought to determine the prevalence of lipid abnormality, specially in the form of low HDL-C and high TG, among patients with significant Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), (stenosis ≥ 50%) determined through coronary angiography as this is not well described in this population. B In a cross-sectional study, observational study, among 112 patients who underwent coronary angiography, we studied 81 cases who were diagnosed with significant CAD with stenosis ≥ 50%, as shown angiographically were found to have > 50% coronary stenosis, defined as significant CAD. All patients were evaluated for risk factors and blood samples were collected for measuring fasting lipid profile in all patients during the admission for the coronary angiography. The data was analyzed to find statistical evidence for association between HDL-C and the pattern of CAD. Results: Among 112 cases, 95 were diagnosed with significant CAD while 17 had non-significant disease. These 95 cases were include in the study. The mean age ( ± Standard deviation) was 53.63 ± 8.85, ranging from 28 years to 75 years. The majority of patients were males representing % of the cases {81/95 or 91/112}. The lipid profile analysis revealed that the mean total cholesterol was 179.79 ± 55.46 mg/dl, mean Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C) was 103.54 ± 42.83 mg/dl, mean High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C) was low, 34.47 ± 6.98 mg/dl and mean triglyceride level was high, 200.06 ± 143.3 mg/dl. 88% of patients had some form of dyslipidemia. The most frequent form of dyslipidemia among these patients was low levels of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C) among 86.6% of the patients followed by 60.7% of patients with high Triglyceridemia (TG), 30.4% of the patients having high Total Cholesterol (TC) and 24.7% with high Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C). 17 (15.2%) patients had normal coronary arteries, 32 (28.6%) had one vessel disease, 29 (25.9 %) had two vessel disease and 30 (26.8%) had three vessel disease. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia is a highly prevalent risk factor among Bangladeshi patients with CAD. Low HDL-C was the most frequent lipid abnormality. Hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol is common in patients with CAD compared with hypercholesterolemia and high LDL-C. This suggests the need to rethink treatment thresholds and targets in this population. The low HDL-C level among Bangladeshi patients require further study and targeted intervention.


European fermented meat products are prepared according to a wide variety of different recipes and processing conditions, which can influence their fermentative microbiota. However, due to the diverse processing conditions applied across Europe, it remained unclear to which degree bacterial heterogeneity can be encountered in commercially available fermented meat products and whether this is linked to their geographical origin. Therefore, the bacterial species diversity of 80 fermented meat products available in the Belgian retail, coming from five different countries, was investigated. It was also assessed how this related to the country of origin and the key processing parameters pH and salt concentration. The samples originated from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In general, Southern European fermented meat products commonly had a higher pH, with their lactic acid bacteria (LAB) communities being represented by Lactobacillus sakei and with mostly Staphylococcus xylosus and Staphylococcus equorum governing over the coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) communities. Among these products, the Spanish variants showed a higher prevalence of S. equorum, whereas S. xylosus was the prevailing CNS species in most French and Italian fermented meat products. In contrast, Northern European fermented meat products were generally more acidified and showed a higher prevalence of Pediococcus pentosaceus in their LAB communities, whereas Staphylococcus carnosus represented the CNS communities. Non-parametric statistical tests indicated the impact of the geographical origin on the prevalence of the LAB and CNS species. The latter was likely due to the combination of differences in process technology as well as starter culture use.


While in one of three children a vascular birthmark may be a transient finding, in one of hundred children a persisting vascular soft tissue malformation is seen, which warrants further diagnostic work-up. An exact diagnosis is crucial for assessment of the prognosis and future evolution of the lesion as well as for efficient treatment. In experienced hands, sonography can be used as a first line modality since, together with color Doppler and spectral wave analysis, it allows for a simple but exact differentiation of these lesions in many cases. In addition sonography is well tolerated especially in children. Besides its diagnostic impact, sonography is also well suited for the guidance of interventional treatment, such as percutaneous sclerotherapy. In this Original article, the strengths and weaknesses of sonography are discussed in detail.


Abstract Many warmwater streams in the midwestern United States have been negatively influenced by human land-use practices. From Jun. through Aug. 2002 and 2003, tributaries (n  =  50) of the upper Wabash River basin, Indiana, were sampled to investigate ecosystem health and integrity. Stream fish and macroinvertebrates were sampled along with in-stream habitat according to National Water-Quality Assessment Program protocols to examine relationships among fish community structure, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, physical-habitat complexity and water chemistry under varying land-use practices. Stream fish abundance was best explained by in-stream habitat quality (QHEI), watershed area and the amount of forested land use upstream of each sampling site. Overall index of biotic integrity (IBI) scores were low (mean  =  35.58; range, 20 to 52), and varied predictably by riparian land-use type. The abundance of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa was best explained by the substrate QHEI metric (λ  =  0.24; P  =  0.005). Macroinvertebrate community index (ICI) scores showed more variability than IBI scores (mean  =  20.40; range, 0 to 36). In-stream habitat quality (QHEI) was directly related to riparian land-use practices. Forested sites had higher QHEI scores than fallow field and agricultural sites due to increased habitat heterogeneity, large-woody debris loading and larger substrate sizes. The best model for predicting IBI scores incorporated both watershed and reach-scale variables combining slope and erosion power with maximum depth, percent canopy closure, percent fine substrates, degree of channelization and LWDI (r2  =  0.24; adjr2  =  0.19). Reach-scale variables (i.e., QHEI score, stream width, the proportion of unstable banks and percent fine substrates) best predicted ICI scores (r2  =  0.69; adjr2  =  0.66). Based on these results, we recommend that resource managers incorporate both biotic and abiotic factors at various temporal and spatial scales to predict the effects of land-use practices on community health in agriculturally dominated, warmwater streams.


BACKGROUND
In children, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), tic disorder (TD), and their coexistence (ADHD + TD comorbidity) are very common and clinically important. Associated sleep patterns and their clinical role are still insufficiently investigated. This study aimed at characterizing these sleep patterns in children with ADHD, TD, and ADHD + TD comorbidity and determining whether, in ADHD + TD, the factors ADHD and TD may affect the sleep pattern in an independent (additive) or in a complex (interactive) manner.

METHOD
By means of polysomnography, sleep patterns were investigated in 4 groups of unmedicated 8.0-16.4-year-old children (healthy controls, ADHD-only, TD-only, and ADHD + TD). Each group consisted of 18 subjects matched for age, gender, and intelligence.

RESULTS
ADHD was primarily characterized by increase in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, whereas TD patients displayed lower sleep efficiency and elevated arousal index in sleep. In children with ADHD + TD, both effects appeared. No interaction between the ADHD and TD factors was found for any of the sleep parameters. Significant correlations between sleep patterns and clinical symptoms were found.

CONCLUSIONS
ADHD and TD are characterized by specific sleep alterations. When coexisting, the two disorders alter the sleep pattern in an additive manner, suggesting a high impact on clinical and therapeutic perspectives.


. Palm oil (olein) is one of the primary finished products produced from palm fruits in West Kalimantan Province. Olein or known as cooking oil was one of the primary downstream products produced from crude palm oil through refinery and fractionation process. The number of palm oil processing industries in West Kalimantan is still small, which is only 0.64% of the national palm oil processing industry population. This condition shows the need for encouragement from various parties to increase the growth of the palm oil processing industry in West Kalimantan Province, by providing industrial profile facilities that are able to attract new investors. This research aims to a feasibility study of investment in the palm oil industry, to encourage the growth of investment in the crude palm oil / CPO's downstream industries in West Kalimantan Province. It was expected to help decision makers include policy makers (central government and local oil palm producers), investors, traders, farmers, exporters and other interested parties in the development of Oil Palm industry in West Kalimantan Province.This research uses primary and secondary data. Feasibility analysis consist of raw material, production, market, environtment, and financial aspects. Result of this research shown that oil palm industry in West Kalimantan Province was feasible with investment costRp. NPV discount factor of of Rp. Rp. 383,563,088,150, IRR 47.70%, Net B / C Ratio 1,0424, Pay back period in 5,1085Years. This research aims to a feasibility study of investment in the palm oil industry, to encourage the growth of investment in the crude palm downstream industries in West Kalimantan Province. Itwas expected to help decision makers include policy makers (central government and local oil palm producers), investors, traders, farmers, exporters and other interested parties in the development of Oil Palm industry in West Kalimantan Province


Abstract Fusarium graminearum, causing Fusarium head blight (FHB), is one of the most important diseases on cereals worldwide leading to a reduction in both grain yield and quality. Currently, there is limited knowledge about the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in wheat resistance against F. graminearum mycotoxins. Crude culture extract of F. graminearum was used to determine the physiological and molecular responses of wheat cultivars 'Falat' and 'Sumai3', susceptible and resistant to FHB, respectively. Point inoculation of crude extract in the wheat spikelets resulted in significant increases in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in both cultivars, most likely due to oxidative stress. A greater induction level and activity of H2O2, MDA, peroxidase (POX), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was observed in the resistant versus the susceptible cultivar. In addition, quantitative real-time PCR indicated earlier and greater induction of PAL, pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene expression in 'Sumai3' compared with 'Falat'. Responses associated with the resistant interaction in 'Sumai3' were higher induction of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and POX and decreased activity of catalase, while decreased SOD activity was observed in 'Falat'. Our data suggest that these responses could explain the higher degree of tolerance of 'Sumai3' against F. graminearum.


We present OPENFWI, a collection of large-scale open-source benchmark datasets for seismic full waveform inversion (FWI). OpenFWI is the first-of-its-kind in the geoscience and machine learning community to facilitate diversified, rigorous, and reproducible research on machine learning-based FWI. OpenFWI (as shown in figure 1) includes datasets of multiple scales, encompasses diverse domains, and covers various levels of model complexity. Along with the dataset, we also perform an empirical study on each dataset with a fully-convolutional deep learning model. OpenFWI has been meticulously maintained and will be regularly updated with new data and experimental results. We appreciate the inputs from the community to help us further improve OpenFWI. At the current version, we publish seven datasets in OpenFWI, of which one is specified for 3D FWI and the rest are for 2D scenarios. All datasets and related information1 can be accessed through our website at https://openfwi-lanl.github.io/.


Systemic to pulmonary fistulas are an unusual entity, even more so in association with Hodgkin's lymphoma. We herein report a case of a 33-year-old woman that presented with an incidental lung lesion on a chest radiograph with an associated high-frequency continuous murmur over the lesion. The diagnosis of primary pulmonary Hodgkin's lymphoma, nodular sclerosis type, was obtained by a CT transthoracic biopsy. We achieved an excellent response after polychemotherapy with near-complete disappearance of the mass and a residual faint systolic murmur over the lesion.


We report an Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio-continuum observations of 26 planetary nebulae (PNe) at wavelengths of 3 and 6 cm. This sample of 26 PNe were taken from the Macquarie/AAO/Strasbourg Hα PNe (MASH) catalogue and previous lists. We investigate radio detection quality including measured and derived parameters for all detected or marginally detected PNe from this combined sample. Some 11 objects from the observed sample have been successfully detected and parametrized. Except for one, all detected PNe have very low radio surface brightnesses. We use a statistical distance scale method to calculate distances and ionised masses of the detected objects. Nebulae from this sample are found tobe large (>0.2 pc in diameter) and highly diluted which indicates old age. For 21 PNe from this sample we list integrated Hα fluxes and interstellar extinction coefficients, either taken from the literature or derived here from the Balmer decrement and radio to Hα ratio methods. Finally, our detected fraction of the MASH pilot sample is relatively low compared to the non-MASH sub-sample. We conclude that future radio surveys of the MASH sample must involve deeper observations with better uv coverage in order to increase the fraction of detected objects and improve the quality of the derived parameters (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Presented are five benign skin lesions that have features simulating malignant skin lesions. Although not a comprehensive review of all such potentially troublesome lesions, those reviewed here include (1) keratoacanthoma, (2) desmoplastic trichoepithelioma, (3) sclerosing hemangioma, (4) phototoxic drug eruption, and (5) pigmented spindle cell nevus. Those features, allowing their separation from malignant lesions, are presented.


The aim of this study was to evaluate how student nurse teachers meet the requirements of nurse teachers as they practice teaching in nurse education. The data was collected by the Evaluation of Requirements of Nurse Teachers (ERNT), as self-evaluations and peer evaluations answered by 40 student teachers over three years. The response rate was 82%. The total number of completed questionnaires received was 143. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The student teachers gained a high level of competence as teachers. The highest level of competence was reported in relationships with students, while the lowest level was associated with teaching skills. Of the single requirements, the weakest skills were related to teaching decision-making and encouraging students constantly to seek new knowledge. The nursing competence was mainly evaluated with high-level scores. Evaluations by the student teachers themselves and their peer students were in line.


In the midst of a vast spread of COVID-19 across the world, legal regulations were introduced in most countries including social distancing, travel restrictions, and a lockdown in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has raised companies' awareness of the need to foster consumer's trust in order to survive a crisis. Therefore, the present paper aims to understand the expectations that consumers have towards the behaviors and strategies implemented by brands during the pandemic. This paper contributes to the discussion on how consumers perceive brand's reactions to the pandemic, by showing ways in which brands can foster brand trust through manifestations of competence, problem-solving and benevolence/integrity. Following an exploratory qualitative research, findings of interviews with consumers suggest that they are informed and interested in brands' efforts towards the topic, and in fact the brand's positive or negative reactions to the pandemic can shape brand trust.


There is a need for computational tools for processing medical patient data and extracting clinically relevant information from patient images for providing patient-specific personalized treatment. Tools have been and are actively being developed by software engineers and programmers in the field of bio-medical image processing for assisting doctors, scientists and researchers. This paper presents an independent stand-alone software application that is a graphical computational tool with a user interface for automatic segmentation of brain MRI images. The same software tool subsequently functions as a neurological disease prediction framework for detection of disease, dementia, impairment, injury, lesions, or tumors in brain MRI images. Brain MRI image segmentation techniques have become an important tool for neurologists to detect disease and cure patients in their early stages of the disease so detected. The tool presented in this paper facilitates the user to automatically segment the regions of brain MRI images using an algorithm called adapted fuzzy c-means (FCM). This methodology for segmentation is based on pixel classification technique, in conjunction with connected region analysis.


Hydrophobically modified chitosan which are able to self-aggregate as a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona architecture in an aqueous physiological environment are drawing attention and developing tremendously in drug delivery due to their numerous advantages and biological potentials. In this study, 25 kDa low molecular weight chitosan (Ch3) was prepared via depolymerization with nitrous acid for better solubility and introduced with different chain lengths of hydrophobic alkyl groups to obtain butyryl (ChC4), hexanoyl (ChC6), octanoyl (ChC8), decanoyl (ChC10) and lauryl chitosan (ChC12) for the evaluation as drug carriers. The successful acylation of the alkyl chain was confirmed via fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, as well as the change in zeta potential to a negative value after acylation. The water solubility, critical aggregation concentration and particle size were greatly influenced by the alkyl chain length and degree of substitution (DS) of acylated low molecular weight chitosan (ChA). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and viscosity showed the effect of acylation to the hydrogen bonding of the chitosan. Observations from both transmission electron microscope (TEM) and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) showed that ChA formed spherical particles, in which longer chain acylated chitosan have larger particle size due to possible larger occupancy volume. The encapsulation of ChA with four model analgesic drugs of different solubilities including salicylic acid (SA), lidocaine (LID), acetaminophen (ACE) and caffeine (CAF), demonstrated that the encapsulation efficiency was dependent on the drug solubility and alkyl chain length. The particle size of ChA was larger after loading with slightly soluble drugs such as SA and LID compared to those of sparingly soluble drugs such as ACE and CAF. Additionally, the size increment was more pronounced in short alkyl chain acylated chitosan (ChC4 and ChC6) with higher rigidity. The morphology from TEM micrographs showed that ChA maintained their spherical shape after drug loading. The in vitro drug release from ChA in phosphate buffer saline pH 7.4 for topical delivery using inline vertical Franz diffusion cells and in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) pH 1.2 for oral delivery using dialysis tubing demonstrated that ChA were able to slow down the release of free drug solutions by following the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, where both swelling and diffusion were involved in the release mechanism. The hydrophobically modified low molecular weight chitosan were promising carriers to prolong drug release, with lauryl chitosan showing the best drug sustainability among the ChA.


Purpose of review In the last decades, three main different personality domains have been investigated in the field of eating disorders: personality traits, temperament, and personality disorders. The use of a wide range of instruments and the presence of many different approaches in the definition of personality dimensions make it difficult to summarize the emerging results from different studies. The aim of this narrative review is to critically highlight and discuss all interesting developments in this field, as reflected in the recent literature. Recent findings The study of personality and temperament in eating disorders seems to be in line with the recently suggested dimensional approach, which highlights the importance of symptoms aggregation, rather than the categorical diagnoses. Recent literature seems to confirm that specific personality and temperamental profiles can be drawn for patients with eating disorders, which can discriminate different eating disorders' diagnoses/symptoms. Summary These observations have relevant clinical implications as treatment of eating disorders is largely based on psychotherapeutic interventions. However, large longitudinal studies are needed to better clarify the suggested relationships and to identify more defined therapeutic strategies.


This essay examines some of the issues at stake in the foregrounding in France of the teenage Muslim girl wearing what has come to be known, in common parlance, as a "headscarf." In particular, the focus of attention is on the recent book by the American feminist historian Joan Wallach Scott (2007) who has done a remarkable job in dissecting the outcry in France caused by the presence of such girls wishing to wear the "veil" or foulard at school. But before engaging directly with Scott I want to draw attention to a veritable temptation to adopt a crudely comparative perspective in relation to what Scott sees as a deeply embedded racism directed to people of North African origin of which the question of the veil is the tip of an iceberg. So antipathetic is French political thought to notions of everyday multiculturalism that the levels of hostility and opposition to women wearing the hijab strikes those more familiar with, for example, UK recognition of cultural differences expressed in this way, as particularly alarming and even disgraceful. Succumbing to such a stance, however, runs the risk of either setting up some kind of sliding scale of European racism and tolerance, or it deflects attention away from the intersection of prejudicial practices as they take specific and distinctive forms across countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, and the UK as part of concerted effort on the part of government to be seen to be dealing simultaneously with the perceived threat posed by Islamic values and with immigration. The distinct contours of the European political discourses which arise in response to these various threats and the ways in which they cross-fertilise and contest each other, often with degrees of self-righteousness, is itself an important subject for further discussion. And that Britain is perceived as having permitted "multiculturalism" to grow unabated has now entered the realms of racist common-sense discourse in various high-ranking political institutions. 1 For these reasons, I find myself holding in check a desire to emphasise the achievements of multiculturalism in the UK, bearing in mind of course the fact that this comes from years of hard and unrelenting struggle on the part of black British and Asian people along with anti-racist groups, teachers, intellectuals, artists, writers, and diverse campaigners over a period of more than fifty years. For the purposes of this current discussion, however, I will focus on Scott's The Politics of the Veil (2007), the contents of which cannot fail to astound readers who are unfamiliar with the way in which, from the early 1990s onwards (though also dating back to the rise


A high resolution vacuum ultraviolet imaging spectrometer prototype carried by satellite applied to the atmosphere detection of particles distribution in 115-300 nm was developed for remote sensing. First, based on the analysis of advanced loads, the optical system including an off-axis parabolic mirror as the telescope and Czerny-Turner structure as the imaging spectrometer was chosen Secondly, the 2-D photon counting detector with MCP was adopted for the characteristic that the radiation is weak in vacuum ultraviolet waveband. Then the geometric method and 1st order differential calculation were introduced to improve the disadvantages that aberrations in the traditional structure can not be corrected homogeneously to achieve perfect broadband imaging based on the aberration theory. At last, an advanced example was designed. The simulation and calculation of results demonstrate that the modulation transfer function (MTF) of total field of view is more than 0.6 in the broadband, and the spectral resolution is 1.23 nm. The structure is convenient and predominant. It proves that the design is feasible.


A powerful high-frequency radio wave propagating through the ionospheric plasma acts as a pump and excites parametric and other nonlinear processes. These processes can be observed by using diagnostic Thomson scatter radars to probe the pump-enhanced plasma turbulence or by analysing the scattered pump wave directly. Such analyses performed at high and low latitudes (Tromsø, Norway and Arecibo, Puerto Rico) have shown that the physics is extremely complicated and that old theory cannot satisfactorily explain all results. These experiments can shed new light on nonlinear plasma physics in general but may also provide means for diagnosing the near-Earth plasma and for testing theories of astrophysical plasma processes.


Summary Typical printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) processed by reflow, wave, or selective wave soldering were analysed for typical levels of process related residues, resulting from a specific or combination of soldering process. Typical solder flux residue distribution pattern, composition, and concentration are profiled and reported. Presence of localized flux residues were visualized using a commercial Residue RAT gel test and chemical structure was identified by FT-IR, while the concentration was measured using ion chromatography, and the electrical properties of the extracts were determined by measuring the leak current using a twin platinum electrode setup. Localized extraction of residue was carried out using a commercial C3 extraction system. Results clearly show that the amount and distribution of flux residues are a function of the soldering process, and the level can be reduced by an appropriate cleaning. Selective soldering process generates significantly higher levels of residues compared to the wave and reflow process. For conformal coated PCBAs, the contamination levels generated from the tested wave and selective soldering process are found to be enough to generate blisters under exposure to high humidity levels.


The Karakoram fault zone of Ladakh, India, is a major strike-slip boundary along which the tectonic evolution of Tibet has been accommodated. In this paper 40Ar/39Ar isotopic age data are integrated with structural and metamorphic data to infer an exhumation history for granites and low- to intermediate-grade metamorphic rocks exposed adjacent to two strands of the fault zone. Near Tangtse, leucogranites which crystallized c. 17 Ma ago are cut by the Karakoram fault zone, indicating that fault movement was initiated subsequent to 17 Ma. The 40Ar/39Ar data give temperature-time histories which indicate that the <17 Ma metamorphic rocks within the fault zone were exhumed differentially relative to the adjacent (and already cooled to <150°C) Ladakh Batholith, while cooling progressively through amphibolite to below greenschist facies temperatures. Two phases of rapid cooling of Karakoram fault zone rocks are evident, one at c. 17 Ma to c. 13 Ma, and another, following an intervening period of relatively slow cooling, starting at c. 8 Ma and continuing until at least 7 Ma. Uplift since c. 17 Ma via dextral oblique thrusting has resulted in exhumation from amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions, possibly with a larger thrust component from 17 to 13 Ma, followed by a change to dominant strike-slip motion at about 13 Ma. Rapid cooling starting at c. 8 Ma at greenschist facies temperatures is probably the result of renewed oblique thrusting. It is notable that the two episodes of rapid cooling recorded in Karakoram fault zone rocks coincide with episodes of exhumation in the Pakistani Karakoram and also in southern Tibet.


INTRODUCTION
Tissue engineering has become a new promising strategy for repairing damaged organs of the urinary system, including the bladder. The basic idea of tissue engineering is to integrate cellular technology and advanced bio-compatible materials to replace or repair tissues and organs.

AIM
of the study is the objective reflection of the current trends and advances in tissue engineering of the bladder using acellular matrix through a systematic search of preclinical and clinical studies of interest.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Relevant studies, including those on methods of tissue engineering of urinary bladder, was retrieved from multiple databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase. The reference lists of the retrieved review articles were analyzed for the presence of the missing relevant publications. In addition, a manual search for registered clinical trials was conducted in clinicaltrials.gov.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Following the above search strategy, a total of 77 eligible studies were selected for further analysis. Studies differed in the types of animal models, supporting structures, cells and growth factors. Among those, studies using cell-free matrix were selected for a more detailed analysis.

CONCLUSION
Partial restoration of urothelium layer was observed in most studies where acellular grafts were used for cystoplasty, but no the growth of the muscle layer was observed. This is the main reason why cellular structures are more commonly used in clinical practice.


In today's ever-changing market, global competition, technology development, customer demands, and decreases of product life cycles push logistics organizations in a supply chain (SC) to shift towards to flexible, robust, autonomy, responsive, and collaborative organization such as a virtual enterprise (VE). Internet and mobile technology support SMEs collaboration to establish VE with an inter-organizational network, virtual organization and integration based on core capabilities of partners. To survive in the competitive market, these SCs require agility and effectiveness which are obtained by forming highly dynamic VEs within supplier networks. Therefore academic and corporate interest in VE in supply chain management (SCM) has increased considerably in recent years. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between VE and agile SC (ASC) and provide further insights into the enhancement of enterprise capability and adoption of ICT and its impacts on VE in SCM. A conceptual hypothetical model is proposed to demonstrate impacts of three factors on ASC. To clarify the relationships among these, a structural equation model (SEM) is implied to examine the hypotheses based on observed data. The SEM consists of a measurement model (exploratory factor analysis-EFA and confirmatory factor analysis-CFA) and a structural model (path analysis). The results provide empirical evidence that the beneficial impacts of VE on the ASC.


The present study was conducted at Seed Research & Technology Centre, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India during January-June, 2016.The efficacy of 7 fungicides viz., captan (0.25%), mancozeb (0.25%), carboxin+thiram (0.3%), carbendazim (0.2%), benomyl (0.2%), tebuconazole (0.1%) and carbendazim+iprodione (0.2%) against seed mycoflora of groundnut at recommended dosages and at different storage periods (immediately after treatment, 1 day after treatment, 1 week after treatment, 2 weeks after treatment, 3 weeks after treatment, 1 month after treatment, 2 months after treatment and 3 months after treatment) were studied using standard blotter method. Treated seeds (of different storage periods) were incubated for 7 days and data on percent seed infection and frequency were recorded. Among the fungicides tested, seed treatment with carboxin+thiram (21.19%) was found significantly superior in reducing the percent seed infection followed by captan (24.00%) and the least effective was carbendazim (71.91%). A total of 13 seedborne fungi belonging to 10 genera viz., Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus ustus, Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp., Trichoderma spp., Chaetomium spp. and Cladosporium spp. were recovered from untreated and treated seeds at different storage periods. The percent seed infection by different seed mycoflora increased with the increase in storage period. However, there was a gradual decline in field mycoflora viz., Macrophomina phaseolina and Rhizoctonia spp. and gradual increase in storage mycoflora viz., Aspergillus spp., Cladosporium spp., Rhizopus spp., Penicillium spp. etc. found with the increase in storage period.


The circular photogalvanic effect, induced by infrared radiation, has been observed in (0001)-oriented n‐GaN low dimensional structures. The photocurrent changes sign upon reversing the radiation helicity demonstrating the existence of spin splitting of the conduction band in k space in this type of materials. The observation suggests the presence of a sizeable Rashba type of spin splitting, caused by the built-in asymmetry at the AlGaN∕GaN interface.


Lower and upper bounds for nding a minimum spanning tree (MST) in a weighted undirected graph on the BSP model are presented. We provide the rst non-trivial lower bounds on the communication volume required to solve the MST problem. Let p denote the number of processors, n the number of nodes of the input graph, and m the number of edges of the input graph. We show that in the worst case, a total of (min(m; pn)) bits need to be communicated in order to solve the MST problem, where is the number of bits required to represent a single edge weight. This implies that if each message communicates at most bits, any BSP algorithm for nding an MST requires communication time (g min(m=p; n)), where g is the gap parameter of the BSP model. In addition, we present two algorithms with communication requirements that match our lower bound in diierent situations. Both algorithms perform linear work for appropriate values of n, m and p, and use a number of supersteps that is bounded for arbitrarily large input sizes. The rst algorithm is simple but can employ at most m=n processors eeciently. Hence, it should be applied in situations where the input graph is relatively dense. The second algorithm is a randomized algorithm that performs linear work with high probability, provided that m n log p.


Gas-solid phase biocatalytic reactions offer economic and environmentally sound ways to produce ester compounds, which can be used as natural flavour components, and other types of value-added products. Therefore, the aim of this work was first to study the continuous gas-solid phase manufacture of ethyl-acetate (EtAc), which is an important fruit flavour compound, from ethanol (EtOH) and acetic acid (AcAc) applying immobilised Candida antarctica lipase B enzyme in a self-constructed bioreactor and then to determine the effects of initial substrate composition, applied temperature, and the amount of used enzyme on the yield. It can be concluded that there was a well-defined connection between the yield of the ethyl-acetate product, the temperature and the amount of used enzyme, while the correlation between the initial substrate composition and the product yield could not be described so easily. The activation energy of the esterification was found to be much lower in our system than that of the same enzymatic reaction carried out in other reaction media, such as organic solvent system, ionic liquid, etc.


Abstract Background Attitudes, knowledge and understanding (K&U) may predispose practitioner adherence to clinical guidelines for chronic pain. To date, there are no data exploring this in adult, mental health and paediatric nursing, or occupational therapy, podiatry and physiotherapy student healthcare professionals at the same institution. Methods We approached 1383 students enrolled on pre-registration healthcare programmes at a Scottish University, using the Health Care Providers' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS) and Pain Understanding and Confidence Questionnaire (PUnCQ). Results Three hundred and forty-six students completed the survey (response rate 25%). There was a significant effect of degree discipline on HC-PAIRS and PUnCQ with a moderate effect size of η p 2  =  .212 and η p 2  =  .204, respectively. Postgraduate pre-registration physiotherapy students had more positive attitudes towards function with pain, M(SD) HC-PAIRS score  =  49.6(8.9), 95%CI  =  46.5–52.8, and greater confidence towards management of chronic pain M(SD) = 6.3, 95%CI  =  5.9–6.8 compared to the other disciplines surveyed. Undergraduate physiotherapy and mental health nursing also displayed significantly more positive attitudes M(SD)  =  55.2 (10.2), 95%CI 53.3–57.2 and 62.6 (7.6), 60.1–65.2, respectively. Conclusions Physiotherapy students have more biopsychosocial-orientated attitudes, and higher confidence towards the management of people in pain than the other disciplines surveyed despite similar levels of K&U of pain.


The genus Mononchulus Cobb, 1918, hitherto placed in the Oncholaimidae, is shown to possess conspicuous similarities with Oionchus Cobb, 1913, especially in structure of the stoma, and is herewith transferred to the Bathyodontidae. Details of the mouth cavities of Mononchulus and Oionchus are given, based upon the study of cross sections and in toto views. A key to the genera of Bathyodontidae is presented.


The association of Streptococcus bovis septicemia with abnominal neoplasms has been well-documented. The case of a man who presented with vertebral osteomyelitis due to S. bovis is reported; he was subsequently found to have bacteremia and colonic polyps. It is recommended that patients who present with localized as well as generalized S. bovis infections undergo yearly colonoscopy.


ABSTRACT Currently there is a widely held view that international law and its historiography did not emerge until the nineteenth century, with earlier forms of jus gentium or Völkerrecht being consigned to the status of a superseded 'pre-history'. It is not widely understood that this view itself belongs to a particular kind of historiography – the dialectical historiography of international law – that was born in 1840s Germany, and wielded this viewpoint as a cultural-political weapon to exclude its rivals from 'modernity'. In outlining a history of this dialectical historiography, the present article focuses on the reception of Kantian and Hegelian philosophies, understood as species of Protestant rationalist metaphysics, in the juridical-political arena of the German Vormärz. Dialectical histories and theories of international law were the effects and instruments of this reception, which gave rise to the new academic subculture of philosophical international law. This subculture in turn permitted the fashioning of a new intellectual persona, the philosopher-jurist, who could claim to transcend positive treaty-based international law through personal insight into a 'common international legal consciousness', and to treat this insight as the threshold of 'modern' international law.


We have studied the electromagnetic parameters of YBa2Cu3O7 Josephson junctions fabricated on bicrystalline substrates with different angles tilted around the [100] and [001] axis. Changing a technological parameter such as the junction width permits change to the resonant frequency of the barrier cavity. This change in the resonance frequency allows one to determine a frequency dependent dispersion relation of the dielectric constant epsilon(omega). We have explored the proximity to a resonance in the dielectric response and analyzed its resonance frequency and damping constant. In terms of a RLC circuital equivalence additional information on the inductive response is presented as a comparative study of junctions fabricated on substrates with different bicrystalline misorientations.


Abstract Cerdas Ceria School is an educational institution in the field of early childhood education located on Jl. Trs. Martanegara No.22, Bandung. The competitiveness in the field of education requires schools expand the right business strategy to improve the anality. This study analyzed and formulated the right franchise business strategy for Cerdas Ceria School. The approach used in determining the right franchise business strategy is the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) method. The stages of this study begin with the identification of external and internal factors of the school and their effects on the strategy formulation process in the form of weighting results on EFE matrix and IFE matrix. Based on the results of the total weighting of EFE matrix and IFE matrix, it was discovered that the company's position was based on the external and internal factors of the school in the Internal-External (IE) matrix which served as the basis for formulating alternative strategies on the SWOT matrix. Then QSPM analysis was applied to evaluate several alternative strategic choices objectively to get the best strategy. The QSPM matrix was also able to decide the best priority strategy. The franchise design was made using benchmarking methods as the basis of a franchise cooperation program for Cerdas Ceria School. Keywords: Franchise Business Strategy, EFE Matrix, IFE Matrix, IE Matrix, SWOT Matrix, QSPM, Benchmarking


Investigating cognitive development of children poses interesting challenges pertaining to emergence of children's' ability to think and understand. Psychological tasks that involve conflict, like the Flanker task, are widely used to understand development of response conflict processes. In this study, EEG signals were used to examine the coherence and imaginary part of coherency within the delta, theta, alpha and beta bands across different conditions of the Flanker task. Longitudinal data were collected from a group of typically developing children at ages of seven and nine. We found that the imaginary part of coherency was more helpful in distinguishing between stimuli - alpha and beta bands resulted in 90.90% classification rate in seven year old children. The beta and theta bands were found to be more effective for stimuli classification in nine year old children - more than 84.09% classification accuracy was achieved.


The major security challenge with clouds is that the owner of the data may not have control of where the data is placed. This is because if one wants to exploit the benefits of using cloud computing. Cloud computing is one of the most increasing one with the increase number of cloud users. In today's environment every user wants to access their data at any time and at anywhere. In an organization they store their data only on their computers, if they want their data during roaming situation means it is not possible one to carry the data at every time, this is a difficult factors for an organization. Cloud computing can address this problem by providing data storage mechanism to access the data at anywhere. This is one of the storage device used to access their data at any where through networks which is called cloud provider. For this service user worry about the security and privacy issue under this cloud computing for their personal data. For this issue this survey shows various techniques for the security and privacy mechanism for the user data.


Hierarchical Graph Neuron (HGN) is an extension of network-centric algorithm called Graph Neuron (GN), which is used to perform parallel distributed pattern recognition. In this research, HGN scheme is used to classify intrusion attacks in computer networks. Patterns of intrusion attacks are preprocessed in three steps: selecting attributes using information gain attribute evaluation, discretizing the selected attributes using entropy-based discretization supervised method, and selecting the training data using K-Means clustering algorithm. After the preprocessing stage, the HGN scheme is then deployed to classify intrusion attack using the KDD Cup 99 dataset. The results of the classification are measured in terms of accuracy rate, detection rate, false positive rate and true negative rate. The test result shows that the HGN scheme is promising and stable in classifying the intrusion attack patterns with accuracy rate reaches 96.27%, detection rate reaches 99.20%, true negative rate below 15.73%, and false positive rate as low as 0.80%.


SUMMARY
Type strains are designated for Microbispora rosea, Waksmania rosea and Thermopolyspora bispora; these are IMRU 3757 (ATCC 12950), IMRU 3748 (ATCC 15334), and IMRU 3759 (ATCC 15737), respectively. A comparison of the type strains has shown these organisms to belong to the same genus, Microbispora, which name has priority. The first two types listed above are nearly identical and belong to the same species, M. rosea. The last type differs sufficiently from the others so that it represents another species in the genus Microbispora, for which the name M. bispora (Henssen) comb. nov. is proposed. Waksmania Lechevalier and Lechevalier 1957 and Thermopolyspora Henssen 1957 are regarded as later subjective synonyms of Microbispora Nonomura and Ohara 1957.


For the first time, it has been shown that population of proteasomes is heterogeneous in their RNAse activity. EGF exerts selective effect on different subpopulations of proteasomes. The RNAse activity of cytoplasmic proteasomes is induced under the influence of EGF on epidermoid carcinoma cell line A431. However, the activity of proteasomes isolated from culture medium and of nuclear proteasomes is inhibited by EGF. The above enzymatic activity has been shown to be specifically and selectively dependent on phosphorylation of proteasomal subunits in different subpopulations of proteasomes. Proteasome involvement in the coordinated control of specific messenger RNA molecules stability is suggested, and one of the mechanisms of this control might be an export of specific subpopulation of proteasomes from the cell.


This paper presents a new Jacobi-type method to calculate a simultaneous Schur decomposition (SSD) of several real-valued, non-symmetric matrices by minimizing an appropriate cost function. Thereby, the SSD reveals the "average eigenstructure" of these non-symmetric matrices. This enables an R-dimensional extension of Unitary ESPRIT to estimate several undamped R-dimensional modes or frequencies along with their correct pairing in multidimensional harmonic retrieval problems. Unitary ESPRIT is an ESPRIT-type high-resolution frequency estimation technique that is formulated in terms of real-valued computations throughout. For each of the R dimensions, the corresponding frequency estimates are obtained from the real eigenvalues of a real-valued matrix. The SSD jointly estimates the eigenvalues of all R matrices and, thereby, achieves automatic pairing of the estimated R-dimensional modes via a closed-form procedure, that neither requires any search nor any other heuristic pairing strategy. Finally, we show how R-dimensional harmonic retrieval problems (with R ≥ 3) occur in array signal processing and model-based object recognition applications.


Congruency effect is the increase in response time when relevant and irrelevant cues indicate incongruent rather than congruent responses. The congruency effect is smaller in the trial after an incongruent trial than after a congruent trial: this difference is known as the congruency sequence effect (CSE). Psychophysical and neural studies have suggested that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and the medial prefrontal cortex are associated with the CSE. In the present study, we applied anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation, which is thought to result in excitation and inhibition, respectively, on the LPFC, while human participants were performing a flanker task. We found that the CSE was increased under cathodal stimulation (inhibition) of the LPFC. Moreover, the LPFC stimulation modulated the congruency effect after a congruent trial. Further analyses suggested that the results cannot be explained by any of the currently prevailing hypotheses of the CSE, including the conflict monitoring hypothesis, feature integration hypothesis, and temporal learning account. Based on our findings, we propose that a new distinct mechanism might be involved in the CSE. Specifically, the LPFC might contribute to the CSE by maintaining the attention to the task-relevant information, which is an endogenous goal-oriented function and reduces the carry-over of the task-irrelevant information after a congruent trial.


The present study sought to verify the utility and reliability of footprint dimensions in sex determination in a Ghanaian population. Bilateral footprints were obtained from 126 Ghanaian students (66 males and 60 females) aged 18–30 years at Koforidua Polytechnic using an ink pad and white papers. Seven dimensions–length of each toe (designated T1-T5) from the most anterior point of the toe to the mid-rear heel point, breadth at ball (BAB) and breadth at heel (BAH)–and the heel-ball (HB) index were obtained from each footprint. Some footprint dimensions (i.e. T2, T3, T4 and T5) showed statistically significant bilateral asymmetry in males only. All the footprint dimensions, except HB index, were significantly greater in males than females (p<0.001). Applied singly in discriminant function analysis, the footprint dimensions allowed 69.8%-80.3% of cases to be correctly classified into their sex groups; the accuracy of sex classification was higher using left footprints than right footprints. With all dimensions subjected to stepwise discriminant function analysis 80.3% and 77% of cases could be correctly classified, combining both T5 and BAH for left footprints and T1, BAB and BAH for left footprints respectively. The present study has demonstrated, for the first time among Ghanaian subjects, the utility and reliability of sex determination standards developed from footprint dimensions. The results thus provide the baseline for elaborated studies in the future.


Stochastic approximation is a foundation for many algorithms found in machine learning and optimization. It is in general slow to converge: the mean square error vanishes as $O(n^{-1})$. A deterministic counterpart known as quasi-stochastic approximation (QSA) is a viable alternative in many applications, including gradient free optimization and reinforcement learning. It was assumed in recent prior research that the optimal achievable convergence rate is $O(n^{-2})$. It is shown in this paper that through design it is possible to obtain far faster convergence, of order $O(n^{-4+\delta})$, with $\delta>0$ arbitrary. Two acceleration techniques are introduced for the first time to achieve this rate of convergence. The theory is also specialized within the context of gradient-free optimization, and tested on standard benchmarks. The main results are based on a combination of recent results from number theory and techniques adapted from stochastic approximation theory.


We present a framework for using transformer networks as universal computers by programming them with specific weights and placing them in a loop. Our input sequence acts as a punchcard, consisting of instructions and memory for data read/writes. We demonstrate that a constant number of encoder layers can emulate basic computing blocks, including embedding edit operations, non-linear functions, function calls, program counters, and conditional branches. Using these building blocks, we emulate a small instruction-set computer. This allows us to map iterative algorithms to programs that can be executed by a looped, 13-layer transformer. We show how this transformer, instructed by its input, can emulate a basic calculator, a basic linear algebra library, and in-context learning algorithms that employ backpropagation. Our work highlights the versatility of the attention mechanism, and demonstrates that even shallow transformers can execute full-fledged, general-purpose programs.


Kontsevich and Soibelman has proved a relation between a non- degenerate cyclic homology element of an A1-algebra A and its cyclic inner products on the minimal model of A. We find an explicit formula of this corre- spondence, in terms of the strong homotopy inner products and negative cyclic cohomology of A. We prove that an equivalence class of the induced strong homotopy inner product depends only on the given negative cyclic cohomology class. Also, we extend such a correspondence to the case of gapped filtered A1-algebras.


With every cardiac contraction, a pressure wave is generated and propagated within the central large arteries. The characteristic shape of proximal aortic pressure waves (central blood pressure) has been shown to contain prognostic information on cardiovascular risk that is independent from conventional upper arm blood pressure, yet the mechanisms explaining differences in central blood pressure wave shape remain controversial. Uncertainty in this field requires resolution if central blood pressure is to be a target of hypertension management. Stiffness of the proximal aorta, as well as downstream vascular tone and left ventricular structure and function, all contribute to a complex dynamic relationship between arterial and cardiac function, also referred to as arterio-ventricular coupling. Animal and human studies have demonstrated that it is possible to experimentally remodel ('destiffen') the aorta independent from upper arm blood pressure using aldosterone blockade, which also has the effect of lowering central blood pressure and improving arterio-ventricular coupling. Thus, intervention with aldosterone blockade could be used to determine whether targeted central blood pressure lowering has cardiovascular benefits beyond upper arm blood pressure. This is the main aim of the LOW CBP study (targeted LOWering of Central Blood Pressure in patients with hypertension) in which baseline recruitment was recently completed and details of the rationale and study design will be presented.


The under-expanded jet discharged from a nozzle or an orifice has been extensively employed in industrial applications and aerospace technologies. A number of studies have been made to investigate the under-expanded jet structures such as Mach disk, barrel shock wave, jet boundary configuration, etc. In the current study, a computational work is performed to investigate the effect of non-equilibrium condensation of moist air on the under-expanded jet, which is discharged from a sonic nozzle. The results obtained are compared with an available experimental data. It is found that non-equilibrium condensation of moist air alleviates the oscillations of the under-expanded jet, and can increase Mach disk diameter, without changing the location.


A distributed image database system based on the integrated services digital network (ISDN) and its related technologies is developed. The system is outlined, and the technologies of the server-client model adapted for ISDN communication, such as multiservers, remote procedure call (RPC), and remote retrieval, are discussed. The application of the proposed system is described. The feasibility of the server-client approach has been confirmed by implementing a hotel reservation system.<<ETX>>


The analysis of the solving complexity of random 3-SAT instances using the Davis-Putnam-Loveland-Logemann (DPLL) algorithm slightly below threshold is presented. While finding a solution for such instances demands exponential effort with high probability, we show that an exponentially small fraction of resolutions require a computation scaling linearly in the size of the instance only. We compute analytically this exponentially small probability of easy resolutions from a large deviation analysis of DPLL with the Generalized Unit Clause search heuristic, and show that the corresponding exponent is smaller (in absolute value) than the growth exponent of the typical resolution time. Our study therefore gives some quantitative basis to heuristic restart solving procedures, and suggests a natural cut-off cost (the size of the instance) for the restart.


Microorganisms adapt their enzymic outfit to the ambient substrate supply. If several species compete for a limiting substrate, then reciprocal influence on the state of adaptation results, which has been envisaged in the paper as strategic game. The most important types of strategies, which are assessed by the governing selection rule, are called aggressive, neutral and cooperative. A cooperative strategy brings the highest advantage, but triggers the temptation to increase the gain by defection. The neutral strategy, i.e. acting as if the competitor were alone in the medium, is promising only when the selection rule favours product maximization, whereas as aggressive strategy, e.g. maximizing the difference between own and foreign profit, is most effective on growth rate maximization as selection criterion. Gruelling competition reduces the metabolic output and weakens the community as a whole against other systems.