[1] The measurements of atmospheric aerosol and associated species have been carried out on the ground observation network over the western North Pacific as part of the Variability of Marine Aerosol Properties (VMAP) project. The network consists of four Japanese islands (Rishiri, Sado, Hachijo, and Chichi-jima), ranging widely in latitudes from 25°N to 45°N along with the line of 140°E. In this paper, we report on simultaneous measurements of particulate elemental carbon (EC) on the four islands from March to May 2001, which cooperated with the Asia-Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) campaign, in order to characterize the outflow patterns of continental polluted air masses to the North Pacific. The mean concentrations of particulate EC in the four islands during this period ranged from 0.18 to 0.60 μg m−3. It is interesting to note that the temporal variations in the concentrations of particulate EC in Rishiri and Sado, which are located in the northern region of Japan (35°N–45°N), synchronized with each other. The EC concentrations in Hachijo and Chichi-jima, located in the southern region of Japan (25°N–35°N), also showed similar temporal variations with each other but did not synchronize with those in Rishiri and Sado. These results demonstrate that the transport patterns of the polluted air masses from the east Asian continent to the northern regions of the northwestern Pacific are often different from those to the southern regions. It was also found that continental air masses are usually accompanied by pollutants over the southern regions but not over the northern regions of the northwestern Pacific.


This study aims to describe: (1) Whether the use of WhatsApp groups in online learning can improve student learning outcomes. (2) What is the level of effectiveness of online learning by utilizing the WhatsApp group conducted at SDN Ardimulyo 01? This research was conducted using an experimental method. Data were collected through test, questionnaire, and documentation. The population in this study were students of class III SDN Ardimulyo 01 and the sample of this study were the students of class III A. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling technique. The experimental results showed (1) an increase in intermediate learning outcomes. The pre-test and post-test after being given the treatment with the gain score data for the experimental class was 54.5%, while the control class was 45.5%, so it can be said that the gain score for the experimental class was higher than the control class. (2) The average overall data in the student questionnaire was 74.5 which is included in the category of the effectiveness level interpretation value in the range 61-80, which is effective.
Keywords:


Recent advancements in recommendation systems have shifted towards more comprehensive and personalized recommendations by utilizing large language models (LLM). However, effectively integrating LLM's commonsense knowledge and reasoning abilities into recommendation systems remains a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose RecSysLLM, a novel pre-trained recommendation model based on LLMs. RecSysLLM retains LLM reasoning and knowledge while integrating recommendation domain knowledge through unique designs of data, training, and inference. This allows RecSysLLM to leverage LLMs' capabilities for recommendation tasks in an efficient, unified framework. We demonstrate the effectiveness of RecSysLLM on benchmarks and real-world scenarios. RecSysLLM provides a promising approach to developing unified recommendation systems by fully exploiting the power of pre-trained language models.


A major problem in psychology and physiology experiments is drowsiness: around a third of participants show decreased wakefulness despite being instructed to stay alert. In some non-visual experiments participants keep their eyes closed throughout the task, thus promoting the occurrence of such periods of varying alertness. These wakefulness changes contribute to systematic noise in data and measures of interest. To account for this omnipresent problem in data acquisition we defined criteria and code to allow researchers to detect and control for varying alertness in electroencephalography (EEG) experiments under eyes-closed settings. We first revise a visual-scoring method developed for detection and characterization of the sleep-onset process, and adapt the same for detection of alertness levels. Furthermore, we show the major issues preventing the practical use of this method, and overcome these issues by developing an automated method (micro-measures algorithm) based on frequency and sleep graphoelements, which are capable of detecting micro variations in alertness. The validity of the micro-measures algorithm was verified by training and testing using a dataset where participants are known to fall asleep. In addition, we tested generalisability by independent validation on another dataset. The methods developed constitute a unique tool to assess micro variations in levels of alertness and control trial-by-trial retrospectively or prospectively in every experiment performed with EEG in cognitive neuroscience under eyes-closed settings.


In the translation of tourist materials, the translation of the names is the primary part. This paper aims to analyze the translation strategies and translation techniques of the names of tourist attractions. At the same time, it is aimed at awakening the cross-cultural awareness of translators and spread the distinctive culture of Xi'an.


This study addressed the issue of gender and agricultural commercialization among smallholders in Nigeria with ginger as a case study. It focused on the relative or absolute roles, gains and losses by men and women farmers as a result of commercializing small ginger farm. Ginger is a crop grown mainly for cash in Nigeria. Nigerian ginger is known to produce very high quality essential oils mainly oleoresin and gingerol used in confectionery and pharmaceutical industries. Men take decision mostly on ginger production while ginger marketing is more of the women's job. Women income is devoted to food and children care while men take care of education of the children. There is increased income and improved health facilities to members of the household. There are, however, increases in workload and responsibility for men for major decisions while women play major role in decision during maintenance of ginger field.


Between the years 1984 to 1989, 624 urgent brain CT examinations were performed for head-trauma patients in the Tel-Aviv Medical Center. In 19 patients, epidural haematomas were diagnosed. Different radiological parameters were discussed such as homogeneity of the haematoma, midline shift, ventricular collapse, obliteration of the peri-mesencephalic cistern and the presence of additional brain damage.


Submicrometer-sized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles were generated by precipitation with a compressed fluid antisolvent technique. The precipitation was carried out as follows. A solution containing PMMA was sprayed through a nozzle into a precipitator. The antisolvent CO2 was continuously passed through the precipitator during the operation at a flow rate of 2000 mL/min. When toluene was used as the solvent, scanning electron microscopy images showed that solid, spherical PMMA particles with less coalescence could be generated only when both vapor and liquid CO2 was present and the liquid CO2 level in the precipitator was one-eighth. The morphology and size of the precipitated PMMA were found to be dependent on the solvents. Toluene, which had the lowest solubility parameter, was the most appropriate solvent in comparison with tetrahydrofuran, acetone, and nitromethane. More uniform submicrometer-sized PMMA particles were obtained at PMMA concentrations equal to or less than 1.0 wt % in the toluene solution. A narrower particle size distribution was observed for precipitating PMMA with a molecular weight of 85,000 versus PMMA with a molecular weight of 36,000. To generate PMMA particles with less coalescence, liquid CO2 instead of supercritical CO2 was suggested for use in drying immediately after the spraying of the PMMA solution. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010


University library has been becoming a central academic facility
in campus. University library supports researches and educations
through offering books and information services.
The aim of this study is to renovate the existing library in
Chungnam National University. The directions of library renovation
are as follows. First, the library offers the spaces to use the non
-printed materials-video tape, gramophone record, digital tape,
compact disk, micro form etc. Second, the library offers the spaces
to educate library use and to inform the materials. Finally, library
offers the spaces to rest.


Sperm of the mouse, Mus musculus, was X-irradiated in vitro before fertilization. Dosages were between 100 and 50000r. With increasing irradiation of the sperm, the chromosome complement of embryos, scored at 3½ days' gestation, declined from diploid to haploid. Higher dosages increasingly retarded embryonic development, 30000 and 50000r restricting development to the first cleavage. Gynogenetic development was very abortive. X-irradiation did not usually prevent male pronucleus formation or syngamy. Loss of paternal chromosomes occurred in the embryos during development, probably by the loss of chromosome fragments into sub-nuclei. After 30000 or 50000r, abnormal pronuclear relationships were found. In some eggs, sperm entry and the growth of the male pronucleus did not stimulate completion of the second maturation division. In other eggs, the single pronucleus was probably female, the male pronucleus having degenerated. Polyspermy occurred at the same dosage. 1000r almost completely suppressed implantation. 500r caused considerable embryonic mortality. Irradiation damage to the centriole or cytoplasm of the sperm in addition to destruction of its chromosomes may have caused the retarded development of the embryos.


IL-25 or IL-17E is a member of IL-17 cytokine family and has immune-modulating activities. The role of IL-25 in maintaining lipid metabolic homeostasis remains unknown. We investigated the effects of exogenous IL-25 or deficiency of IL-25 on hepatic lipid accumulation. IL-25 expression was examined in paraffin-embedded tissue sections of liver from patients or in the livers from mice. Mouse model of steatosis was induced by feeding a high-fat diet (HFD). Extent of steatosis as well as expression of cytokines, key enzymes for lipid metabolic pathways, markers for Kupffer cells/macrophages, and lipid droplet (LD) proteins, were analyzed. Our results show that hepatic steatosis in mice was accompanied by increased LD proteins, but decreased IL-25 in the liver. Decreased hepatic IL-25 was also observed in patients with fatty liver. Administration of IL-25 to HFD-fed wild-type mice led to a significant improvement in hepatic steatosis. This effect was associated with increased expression of IL-13, development of alternatively activated Kupffer cells/macrophages, and decreased expression of LD proteins in the liver. In contrast, administration of IL-25 to HFD-fed mice deficient in STAT6 or IL-13 had no effects. In addition, stimulation of primary hepatocytes with IL-13, but not IL-25, resulted in downregulation of LD proteins. Finally, mice deficient in IL-25 had exacerbated hepatic lipid accumulation when fed the HFD. These data demonstrate that dysregulated IL-25 expression contributes to lipid accumulation, whereas exogenous IL-25 protects against hepatic steatosis through IL-13 activation of STAT6. IL-25 and IL-13 are potential therapeutic agents for hepatic steatosis and associated pathologies.


Aim: To develop an HPLC method to quantify midazolam in a new oral formulation for pediatric use. Methods: The stability of the new formulation was evaluated at different storage conditions and a preliminary assay of relative bioavailability was carried out in healthy volunteers. Results: The method of quantification was linear in the range of 5 to 60 ug·mL-1. The midazolam amount in the formulation remained stable for 90 days at 4 and 40℃ (in the dark) while at 25℃ was stable only for 14 days (exposed to light). Discussion: The relative bioavailability assay suggests that our preparation of midazolam in white chocolate reaches plasma levels similar to those induced by the apple juice formulation. Conclusion: This new white chocolate formulation masks the unpleasing flavour and has a more attractive presentation to the paediatric patient, which may be useful for children sedation and to ease its management by health carers.


The increasing population of older people is leading to growing healthcare demands. Stroke is the commonest cause of severe disability in developed countries leaving one third of patients with long term disability. Rehabilitation is the cornerstone of recovery. Lack of rehabilitation manpower resources can limit recovery of limb function. However, technology can assist rehabilitation staff to deliver greater intensity of treatment. Robotic systems such as the iPAM robot can provide semi-automated arm exercises for people with complex impairments leading to loss of functional arm movement. Feedback to the patient about their performance, usability of the exercise "workspace" and motivating exercises are key aspects of the successful deployment of robotic systems within routine clinical use. We describe the development of the patient interface for the iPAM robotic system. Central to this development is user involvement (with rehabilitation professionals and people with stroke). Using user centred design methods which included use of questionnaires and one to one discussions, the user interface was changed from a simple screen showing a stick figure of the arm to a 3D scene with simplified indicators and feedback screens, providing feedback about performance and feedback about the quality of the movement. Patients were positive about the changes to the user interface, confirming that the feedback screens were clear, useful and motivating. The user interface can further be improved by adding more feedback about the quality of the movement.


An experiment aimed at investigating the potential of ENVISAT/ASAR in measuring soil moisture is described in this paper. Two test areas were chosen as test sites: Montespertoli and Alessandria, in Central and Northern Italy, respectively. After a preliminary analysis of the direct relationship between the backscattering coefficient at C-band and the soil moisture content of individual fields, a Bayesian approach was attempted for retrieving soil moisture. To obtain a statistically significant data set, simulations performed with the integral equation model were added to experimental data. Moreover, an artificial neural network was tested on Alessandria area


The prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is high in adolescents and young adults. However, there is a paucity of evidence-based treatments to address this clinical problem. An open-label, pilot study in the target population showed that treatment with oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a widely available dietary supplement, was associated with reduction in NSSI frequency. In preparation for a biologically informed design of an efficacy trial, a critical preliminary step is to clarify NAC's biological signatures, or measures of the mechanisms underlying its clinical effects. Toward that end, we propose a 2-stage project to investigate NAC's biological signatures (changes in glutathione (GSH) and/or glutamate (Glu)) in women with NSSI. The first stage; a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study will focus on identifying the optimal dose to achieve meaningful change in GSH and Glu during short-term (4 weeks) NAC treatment in 36 women aged 16–24 years with NSSI. Go/No-go criteria to determine if the study will progress to the second stage include pre-specified changes in brain and blood measures of GSH. Changes in the brain GSH are measured through magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The dose for the stage 2 will be selected based on the biological changes and the tolerability observed in the stage 1. The stage 2 will seek to replicate the biological signature findings in an 8-week trial in a new patient cohort, and examine the relationships among biological signatures, NAC pharmacokinetics and clinical response. This 2-stage project is unique as it unifies clinical psychiatric measurements, quantitative MRS and pharmacological approaches in the first placebo-controlled clinical trial of NAC in young women with NSSI. Trial registration: The stage 1 trial protocol has been registered on https://clinicaltrials.gov/ with ClinicalTrials.gov ID "NCT04005053" (Registered on 02 July 2019. Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04005053).


A new implementation of an 8×8 two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (2D-DCT) processor based on the residue number system (RNS) is presented. This architecture makes use of a fast cosine transform algorithm. It is shown that the RNS implementation of the 2D-DCT over field-programmable logic devices leads to a 129% throughput improvement over the equivalent binary system.


Reliable distributed systems involve many complex protocols. In this context, protocol compositions is a central concept, because it allows to reuse robust protocol implementations. In this paper, we describe how the Strategy pattern has been recur-sively used to support protocol composition in the Bast framework. We also discuss some design alternatives , some of which have been applied in other existing frameworks.


4139 In a Phase 2 study of GVAX immunotherapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer (Study G-0010), patients were immunized with two allogeneic prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3 and LNCaP) genetically modified to secrete granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Immunotherapy activity at the dose currently employed in an on-going phase III study was demonstrated by both biochemical and radiologic endpoints and treated patients displayed an estimated median survival time that compared favorably to that published for docetaxel chemotherapy, the standard of care for these patients (2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Prostate Cancer Symposium, San Francisco, CA, Abstract 254). We have evaluated prostate cancer immunotherapy-derived antibody responses in patients displaying a survival advantage using serological analysis of gene expression (SEREX) technology to identify cellular proteins eliciting antibody responses following immunotherapy. Lambda gt11 phage expression libraries were generated from LNCaP and PC-3 cells and were immuno-screened with sera from 8 patients post-immunotherapy. Immuno-reactive phage clones were identified by sequencing and then screened with pre-treatment sera to determine antibody responses that were specifically induced upon immunotherapy treatment. Induced antibody responses were then examined in an expanded cohort of GVAX-treated patients (n=14) to determine frequency and selectivity. From this analysis we identified 40 LNCaP/PC-3 derived-proteins to which 2 or more patients from the 14 examined had an induced antibody response. Following immunotherapy, induced antibody responses observed at high frequency included patient IgG recognizing PC-3 derived human leukocyte antigen A24 (HLA-A24; 62% of patients), the actin-binding protein filamin B (actin binding protein 278; 58%) and NSFL1 (p97) cofactor (p47) (NSFL1C; 50%). Twenty antigens from this list of high-frequency antibody responses were then selected for ELISA development to allow quantification of response in a high-through put manner. Using patient sera from G-0010 and an earlier phase 2 clinical trial of GVAX immunotherapy in HRPC patients (Study G-9803; Simons J et al. (2006) Clin Cancer Res. 12:3394-401) we examined antibody induction following GVAX prostate immunotherapy treatment to the high frequency antigens by ELISA analysis. Results from this analysis will be presented, in addition to correlation of response to clinical response parameters.


Introduction:Patient awareness of options available in changing the color of natural dentition has created an increase public demand. Bleaching is the least expensive esthetic treatment option. This process can be performed by several energy sources, which accelerate the effect of bleaching materials, such as hydrogen peroxide, in office. Laser particles used for this purpose usually facilitate the absorption of laser light by the gel, leading to the conversion of light energy to thermal energy causing accelerated bleaching material effects. Case Report: In this paper, a 35-year-old female patient with a history of dental fluorosis referred to dental college with complaints of tooth discoloration. Given the reports on severe tooth sensitivity during home bleaching, office bleaching was carried out using the laser source of Er:YAG laser (Fontona Dualis XS, USA), with a power of 4.2 watts less than the enamel threshold. This process resulted in 2-3 shade change from A3.5 to A1 after three minutes and 15 seconds of treatment. Patient reported no discomfort or sensitivity during and after the procedure, which was due to the short duration of the process and application of primary use of unfocused laser light. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, application of Er:YAG laser resulted in the removal of tooth discoloration with bleaching gels in the office. Since the Er:YAG laser is an standard device used for many dental procedures, there was no need for purchasing a new laser device. Therefore, Er:YAG laser could be used along with bleaching gels as an effective and minimally invasive method to whiten teeth.


Hyperparathyrodism-jaw tumor (HPT-JT) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder. Loss of function of the cell division cycle protein 73 homolog (CDC73) gene is responsible for the syndrome. This gene encodes an ubiquitously expressed 531 amino acid protein, parafibromin, that acts as a tumor suppressor. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the CDC73 locus in many HPT-JT associated parathyroid tumors from patients with germline mutation is in accordance with Knudson's "two-hit" model for hereditary cancer. A 41-year-old man with mandible ossifying fibroma suffered from severe hypercalcemia due to parathyroid carcinoma (PC). Genetic analysis was performed to evaluate germinal and somatic CDC73 gene mutation as well as real-time qRT-PCR to quantify CDC73 mRNA, miR-155 and miR-664 expression levels. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting (WB) assay were carried out to evaluate parafibromin protein expression. A novel heterozygous nonsense mutation, c.191-192 delT, was identified in the CDC73 gene. No CDC73 LOH was found in PC tissue, nor any differences in expression levels for CDC73 gene, miR-155 and miR-664 between PC and parathyroid adenoma control tissues. On the contrary, both immunohistochemistry and WB assay showed an approximate 90% reduction of parafibromin protein expression in PC. In conclusion, this study describes a novel germinal mutation, c.191-192 delT, in the CDC73 gene. Despite normal CDC73 gene expression, we found a significant decrease in parafibromin. We hypothesize that a gene silencing mechanism, possibly induced by microRNA, could play a role in determining somatic post-transcriptional inactivation of the wild type CDC73 allele.


In this article, we report on a follow-up session that was organised to share findings with children about a participatory research project they had been involved in a few months earlier. This was motivated by the ethical concern that it is the children's right to be informed about the results of the research. In the process of reflecting on the research project, however, the children diverted the researcher's focus onto aspects of the research that mattered to them. Rather than discussing the results and the benefits of the research, the children were keen to discuss issues of representation, questioning the researcher about pseudonyms, transcribing and their role and presence in the dissertation. The follow-up session opened up a transformational space where both the child participants and the adult researchers gained new understandings about research processes and relationships. We argue that such retrospective reflection can be a beneficial tool to explore children's post hoc interpretations about the research, while developing researcher reflexivity.


AIMS
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has produced methodological guidelines for national drug prevalence estimation. This paper pilots the methods to estimate prevalence for Great Britain and provides a commentary on the methods and resulting estimates.

DESIGN
Three types of methodology were used to estimate prevalence: (a) the multiple indicator (MI) method, (b) multipliers applied to (i) drug-treatment records (ii) HIV estimates and (iii) mortality statistics and (c) the British/Scottish Crime Surveys.

SETTING
England, Scotland and Wales.

PARTICIPANTS
Aggregated data on people recorded on databases and respondents in household surveys.

MEASUREMENTS
Prevalence estimates of different forms of problematic drug use.

FINDINGS
The estimates are 161,133 (range: 120,850-241,700) for people at risk of mortality due to drug overdose; 161,000-169,000 for people who have ever injected drugs; 202,000 (range: 162,000-244,000) problem opiate users and 268,000 problem drug users (all types).

CONCLUSIONS
The multiple indicator method offers a comprehensive approach to estimating the prevalence of problematic drug use in the United Kingdom. Simple multiplier methods and household surveys also provide a range of estimates corresponding to different types of drug use in the United Kingdom. The current study suggests that previous national estimates of 100,000-200,000 were conservative. The new estimate of 161,000-266,000 should enable a more focused response. For further development of this method, reliable and timely estimates of anchor points are required for specific geographical areas such as cities or Drug Action Teams (DAT), as well as routine aggregation of drug indicators for these areas.


According to the Wyner-Ziv theorem, two correlated sources can be compressed to similar extent no matter whether they communicate with each other or not, provided that the decoder have both compressed outputs available. In this paper, a distributed coding technique for images captured from camera array is proposed based on Wyner-Ziv coding. The proposed scheme made independent encoding, good compression efficiency and low complexity available at the encoder at the expense of a more complex decoder. Experimental result shows that proposed scheme is very suit for distributed camera array compared with conventional coding techniques such as JPEG.


An asymmetric Ni-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling has been developed to prepare enantioenriched allylic silanes. This enantioselective reductive alkenylation proceeds under mild conditions and exhibits good functional group tolerance. The chiral allylic silanes prepared here undergo a variety of stereospecific transformations, including intramolecular Hosomi-Sakurai reactions, to set vicinal stereogenic centers with excellent transfer of chirality.


Smaller but more thermally stable Synthesizing metals with extremely small (nanoscale) grain sizes makes for much stronger materials. However, very small–grained materials start to coarsen at relatively low temperatures, wiping out their most desirable properties. Zhou et al. discovered a way to avoid this problem by mechanically grinding copper and nickel at liquid nitrogen temperatures. The processing method creates low-angle grain boundaries between the nanograins, which promotes thermal stability. Science, this issue p. 526 Low-temperature plastic deformation creates nanoscale metals more resilient to higher-temperature grain coarsening. The limitation of nanograined materials is their strong tendency to coarsen at elevated temperatures. As grain size decreases into the nanoscale, grain coarsening occurs at much lower temperatures, as low as ambient temperatures for some metals. We discovered that nanometer-sized grains in pure copper and nickel produced from plastic deformation at low temperatures exhibit notable thermal stability below a critical grain size. The instability temperature rises substantially at smaller grain sizes, and the nanograins remain stable even above the recrystallization temperatures of coarse grains. The inherent thermal stability of nanograins originates from an autonomous grain boundary evolution to low-energy states due to activation of partial dislocations in plastic deformation.


Summary

A 510 kg, 18-year-old Warmblood gelding used for high level dressage was presented with a 6 week history of a growing mass at the rostral aspect of the incisive bone. Radiographic examination of the maxillae showed an osteolytic lesion between the left maxillary central and intermediate teeth spreading caudally into the hard palate. Biopsy of the mass was consistent with an aggressive oral fibrosarcoma. Diagnostic work-up ruled out metastatic lesions. An amputation of the incisive bone and part of the rostral maxillae was performed with the intent of removing the mass in healthy margins. However, the neoplastic tissue extended to the rostral aspect of the ventral nasal conchae and a resection in healthy margins was not performed to avoid surgical complications due to communication with the nasal conchae. After surgery, the horse's appetite and food uptake were not impaired and cosmetic appearance was excellent. Active drains were used in order to prevent any submucosal collection of fluids. Histopathological examination of the surgical margins of the removed maxillae confirmed the presence of tumoural tissue. Even though excision of the tumour was not complete, no macroscopic local recurrence was reported post operatively at 36 months' follow-up. Based on histological re-evaluation of the removed tissue and the absence of recurrence a definitive diagnosis of ossifying fibroma was made.


A problem of signal estimation (or estimation of some parameters of the signal) based on measurement results obtained by means of distributed sensor network is considered. The system formed by spaced sensors called nodes (or motes) obtains information about a stochastic process. It is supposed that there is a single source of the information and the distortions are linear. Every node gets incomplete and distorted knowledge about the observed process and operates on the low sampling rate. Combined processing of the information obtained from the different sensors makes possible to perform the integrated estimation which is usually much more accurate. The application of the information performance criterion provides high robustness in the presence of the noise and the measurement uncertainty and, theoretically, gives the most complete information, while the measurements have severe constraints. Due to the multirate signal processing it is possible to decrease requirements on sensor's sampling frequencies, to reduce the channel loading and the current consumption of sensors. Furthermore, the computational load falls in real-time applications.


Knowledge is an important resource in this current economic condition where organizations are competing in creating more innovation in order to sustain their business capabilities in the market. Therefore, it is crucial for an organization to preserve their knowledge as knowledge is a source of competitive advantage in this current era. An organization needs to plan and design the most appropriate
approach to enable knowledge to be captured, stored and fully utilized. This study will focus on the sustainability of Knowledge Repository establishment in sharing the technical knowledge of the key personnel from the Malaysian public sector. The objective of this paper is to propose a research framework of an explorative investigation of the sustainability elements of an institutional repository
establishment in the Malaysian public sector. The study will explore the dynamics of the repository that are used by the technical personnel in capitalizing the organizational technical knowledge by contributing, retaining and applying the knowledge asset. The research framework which governs the scope of study will explore the elements that may have significant influences towards the sustainability of the institutional repository.


It previously has been shown that lkyD mutants of Salmonella typhimurium form large blebs of outer membrane over the septal and polar regions of dividing cells. To determine whether the outer membrane blebs are formed over potential sites of division even in the absence of septal ingrowth, lkyD strains were studied under conditions in which ingrowth of inner membrane and murein was prevented by inactivation of the envA gene product. In aseptate filaments of the LkyD EnvA strain, outer membrane blebs occurred with the usual frequency and were preferentially located over regions where new septa were formed when cell division was subsequently permitted to resume. The results indicate that the outer membrane blebs of the LkyD strain are markers for potential sites of cell division, implying that an alteration in association of outer membrane and murein exists in these sites before the initiation of septal ingrowth. This localized change in cell envelope organization is independent of the septation-inducing effects of the envA gene product.


Nude (nu/nu) mice fail to resist to challenge infection of Tyzzer's disease after pretreatment with formalin-killed organisms that was effective for protecting heterozygous haired (nu/ł) mice from challenge. Resistance was induced nu/nu mice after the transfer of spleen cells from immunized nu/ł and concomitant formalin vaccine treatment.


Aims. Our aim is to search for and characterize inflows and outflows of molecular gas in four ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; LIR >  1012L⊙) at z ∼ 0.2−0.3 and one distant quasi-stellar object (QSO) at z = 6.13.
Methods. We used Herschel/PACS and ALMA Band 7 observations of the hydroxyl molecule (OH) line at rest-frame wavelength 119 μm, which in absorption can provide unambiguous evidence of inflows or outflows of molecular gas in nuclear regions of galaxies. Our study contributes to doubling the number of OH 119 μm observations of luminous systems at z ∼ 0.2−0.3, and pushes the search for molecular outflows based on the OH 119 μm transition to z ∼ 6.
Results. We detect OH 119 μm high-velocity absorption wings in three of the four ULIRGs. In two cases, IRAS F20036−1547 and IRAS F13352+6402, the blueshifted absorption profiles indicate the presence of powerful and fast (∼200−500 km s−1) molecular gas outflows. Consistent with an inside-out quenching scenario, these outflows are depleting the central reservoir of star-forming molecular gas at a rate similar to that of intense star formation activity. For the starburst-dominated system IRAS 10091+4704, we detect an inverted P Cygni profile that is unique among ULIRGs and indicates the presence of a fast (∼400 km s−1) inflow of molecular gas at a rate of ∼100 M⊙ yr−1 towards the central region. Finally, we tentatively detect (∼3σ) the OH 119 μm doublet in absorption in the z = 6.13 QSO ULAS J131911+095051. The OH 119 μm feature is blueshifted with a median velocity that suggests the presence of a molecular outflow, although characterized by a modest molecular mass loss rate of ∼200 M⊙ yr−1. This value is comparable to the small mass outflow rates found in the stacking of the [C II] spectra of other z ∼ 6 QSOs and suggests that ejective feedback in this phase of the evolution of ULAS J131911+095051 has subsided.


Pasteurella pneumotropica is an opportunistic pathogen in rodents. Natural infection in immunodeficient animals suggests that immunodeficiency is a major factor in P. pneumotropica pathogenesis. To understand this process, we performed clinical, pathological and bacteriological studies of immunodeficient NOD/ShiJic-scid/Jcl and immunocompetent Crlj:CD1 (ICR) mice experimentally infected with P. pneumotropica ATCC 35149. From 14 days postinoculation, some of P. pneumotropica-infected NOD/ShiJic-scid/Jcl mice developed clinical signs of weight loss. Three of 10 P. pneumotropica-infected NOD/ShiJic-scid/Jcl mice developed clinical signs of depression, ruffled coat, and weight loss and died at 27, 34, and 59 days postinoculation. At 35 days postinoculation, almost all P. pneumotropica-infected NOD/ShiJic-scid/Jcl mice had lung abscesses. The bacteria were isolated from the upper and lower respiratory tracts, including the lungs, and blood. In contrast, P. pneumotropica-infected ICR mice exhibited no clinical signs or lesions. The bacteria were isolated from the upper, but not the lower respiratory tracts. We developed an animal model for understanding host interactions with P. pneumotropica.


A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia is a five-volume series produced by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES). Volume 2 focuses on school education. It addresses the need to integrate sustainability content into the curriculum, and the need for whole school approaches to learning for sustainability. Rather than simply focusing on action elements of the curriculum, there is a need to move toward a participatory approach based on equity, sharing, listening, reflection, co-learning, negotiation, critical thinking, cooperation, collaboration, trust, futures-orientation and democracy.


. In this paper, we consider three typical problems on a locally finite connected graph. The first one is to study the Bochner formula for the Laplacian operator on a locally finite connected graph. We use the Bochner formula to derive the Bernstein type estimate of the heat equation. The second is to derive the Reilly type formula of the Laplacian operator. The last one is to obtain global positive solution to porous-media equation via the use of Aronson-Benilan argument. There is not much work in the direction of the study of nonlinear heat equations on locally finite connected graphs.


This study deals with an experimental savings and credit scheme developed for vegetable farmers in West Java, Indonesia, by a technical cooperation project between the governments of Indonesia and The Netherlands. Key elements were: a) An organizational structure with three levels: the project as financial institution, village cooperatives, and groups of approximately 50 farmers. b) Emphasis on financial viability through an interest rate of 5.4 percent per month on the short-term loans provided and through the combination of savings and credit services. c) Location of the savings and credit services in the groups. The review and analysis of the scheme after seven years of operation shows that all costs of the scheme can be covered by the interest receipts and that the savings of the group members resulted in a considerable build-up of own capital in the groups; the scheme is thus financially viable. Further was demonstrated that it is possible to reach farming communities with diverse financial potential all over the vegetable production areas in West Java. These achievements are largely the result of the incorporation of groups in the organizational structure, which results in easy access, members' preparedness to save, and a reasonable cost level through the use of management capacity available in the local communities. The discussion of the experiences of the scheme in the context of the provision of financial services to farmers in developing countries in general, results in the formulation of seven essential factors regarding the environment in which financial institutions operate and regarding the operation of financial institutions providing services to farmers.


A 62-year-old male patient with 2 years f SUNCT syndrome is described. The patient presented with long-lasting periods of frequent attacks of intense orbital pain with a duration of about 1 min, associated with ipsilateral conjunctival injection, lacrimation and rhinorrhea. Cranial MRI and cerebral angiography demonstrated an ipsilateral cavernous angioma of the pons, involving the trigeminal roots. As the pain was refractory to most treatments, including carbamazepine, the patient asked for, and eventually underwent, direct surgical excision of the malformation. Following the operation, his neurological conditions rapidly deteriorated and he died of postoperative complications (hemorrhage).


Crucial to effective optical trapping is the ability to precisely control the nature of force/potential to be attractive or repulsive. The nature of particles being trapped is as important as the role of laser parameters in determining the stability of the optical trap. In this context, hybrid particles comprising of both dielectric and metallic materials offer a wide range of new possibilities due to their tunable optical properties. On the other hand, femtosecond pulsed excitation is shown to provide additional advantages in tuning of trap stiffness through harnessing optical and thermal nonlinearity. Here we demonstrate that (metal/dielectric hybrid) core/shell type and hollow-core type nanoparticles experience more force than conventional core-type nanoparticles under both continuous-wave and, in particular, ultrafast pulsed excitation. Thus, for the first time, we show how tuning both materials properties as well as the nature of excitation can impart unprecedented control over nanoscale optical trapping and manipulation leading to a wide range of applications.


The likelihood ratio test for m-sample homogeneity of covariance is notoriously sensitive to the violations of Gaussian assumptions. Its asymptotic behavior under non-Gaussian densities has been the subject of an abundant literature. In a recent paper, Yanagihara et al. (2005) show that the asymptotic distribution of the likelihood ratio test statistic, under arbitrary elliptical densities with finite fourth-order moments, is that of a linear combination of two mutually independent chi-square variables. Their proof is based on characteristic function methods, and only allows for convergence in distribution conclusions. Moreover, they require homokurticity among the m populations. Exploiting the findings of Hallin and Paindaveine (2008a), we reinforce that convergence-in-distribution result into a convergence-in- probability one —-that is, we explicitly decompose the likelihood ratio test statistic into a linear combination of two variables which are asymptotically independent chi-square —-and moreover extend it to the heterokurtic case.


The Faraday rotation of two-dimensional magnetophotonic crystals (including those with fourfold-symmetry and non-fourfold-symmetry) with structural defects and the ellipticity of outgoing optical waves are analyzed by using finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) method. The numerical simulation results show that the localization of the light wave in the vicinity of central defect occurs in these types of the structure. With increasing Faraday rotation of fourfold-symmetry structures, the change of the ellipticity of outgoing optical waves from these structures is unobvious. In contrast, the increases of the ellipticity of outgoing optical waves are obvious with the raise of Faraday rotation in non-fourfold-symmetry structures. It is concluded that introducing defects to the fourfold-symmetry structure constrains the change of the state of polarization of optical waves. This kind of two-dimensional magnetophotonic crystal with structural defects may be used to manufacture magnetophotonic crystal fiber.


The cardiovascular responses induced by exercise are initiated by two primary mechanisms: central command and reflexes originating in exercising muscles. Although our understanding of cardiovascular responses to exercise in mice is progressing, a murine model of cardiovascular responses to muscle contraction has not been developed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize the cardiovascular responses to muscular contraction in anesthetized mice. The results of this study indicate that mice demonstrate significant increases in blood pressure (13.8 +/- 1.9 mmHg) and heart rate (33.5 +/- 11.9 beats/min) to muscle contraction in a contraction-intensity-dependent manner. Mice also demonstrate 23.1 +/- 3.5, 20.9 +/- 4.0, 21.7 +/- 2.6, and 25.8 +/- 3.0 mmHg increases in blood pressure to direct stimulation of tibial, peroneal, sural, and sciatic hindlimb somatic nerves, respectively. Systemic hypoxia (10% O(2)-90% N(2)) elicits increases in blood pressure (11.7 +/- 2.6 mmHg) and heart rate (42.7 +/- 13.9 beats/min), while increasing arterial pressure with phenylephrine decreases heart rate in a dose-dependent manner. The results from this study demonstrate the feasibility of using mice to study neural regulation of cardiovascular function during a variety of autonomic stimuli, including exercise-related drives such as muscle contraction.


We demonstrate transmission of 170-Gb/s single- and alternating-polarization return-to-zero differential phase-shift keying signals in a recirculating loop using dispersion-managed fiber spans and all-Raman amplification. In the single polarization case, bit-error-ratio (BER) values of 5times10-9 and 1.6times10 -4 were obtained after 960 and 2880 km, respectively. In the alternating polarization case, significantly larger transmission distances were achieved, with BER values of 2times10-9 after 1920 km and 5times10-5 after 4320 km, respectively


Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment has been associated with improvement in quality of life (QOL); however, little is known about factors that moderate treatment-related changes in QOL, particularly cognitive factors. Executive functioning (EF) is important for success across all aspects of everyday life and predicts better psychological and physical health. EF is important to QOL, but more work is needed to better understand the association between EF and QOL improvements following interventions. We hypothesized that poorer baseline EF would be associated with less improvement in overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with health following PTSD treatment. U.S. veterans who served after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (post 9-11; N = 80) with PTSD and a history of mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury were randomized to standard cognitive processing therapy (CPT) or CPT combined with cognitive rehabilitation (SMART-CPT). Multilevel modeling was used to examine whether baseline EF performance was associated with changes in QOL scores from pretreatment to follow-up across both groups. Results indicated that poorer baseline performance on EF tests of working memory and inhibition were associated with less treatment-related improvements in general life satisfaction and satisfaction with health, rs = .26-.36. Treatment condition did not moderate any results. Future research should examine whether implementing EF-focused techniques before and/or concurrently with CPT for individuals with poorer baseline working memory and inhibition enhances QOL treatment gains, particularly in terms of general life and health-related satisfaction.


Background: The quality of care on acute inpatient mental health units is a matter of national and international concern. A major determinant of the quality of care experienced by service users is the use of nursing time. Aims: To map, classify and compare the patterns of activities for qualified and unqualified nursing staff in three acute inpatient mental health wards in three UK NHS-provider organizations, and to compare the proportions of time dedicated to user-centred and non user-centred activities. Method: Open interviews with staff undertaken hourly during five, three-day data collection periods per ward. Results: A total of 505 hours of nursing activity were assessed. Half of all activity reported was staff-user contact, however, the majority was during containment activities. Qualified staff were responsible for ward administration, unqualified staff for the majority of staff-user interaction. Unqualified staff reported higher satisfaction with their work, positively correlated with patient contact time. Conclusions: Working practices built on highly prescriptive nursing routines need to be reconfigured in order to allow qualified staff more time to engage with patients and unqualified staff to use their time with service users more constructively. Declaration of interest: This study was funded by three mental health trusts in the North West United Kingdom. We know of no financial relationship that may pose a conflict of interest.


Common ragweed is an important broadleaf weed in agronomic crops in the northcentral United States. A common ragweed biotype in glyphosate-resistant (GR) soybean production field in southeast Nebraska was not controlled after sequential applications of glyphosate at the labeled rate. The objectives of this study were to confirm GR common ragweed in Nebraska by quantifying the level of resistance in greenhouse and field whole-plant dose-response studies and to evaluate the response of the putative GR common ragweed to POST corn and soybean herbicides. Greenhouse wholeplant dose-response studies confirmed 7- and 19-fold resistance to glyphosate compared to the known glyphosate-susceptible (GS) biotype based on biomass reduction and control estimates, respectively. Field dose-response studies conducted in 2015 and 2016 at the putative GR common ragweed research site suggested that glyphosate doses equivalent to 15- and 40-times the labeled rate (1,260 g ae ha-1) were required for 90% control and biomass reduction, respectively. Response of GR common ragweed to POST soybean herbicides in greenhouse studies indicated ≥89% control with acifluorfen, fomesafen, fomesafen plus glyphosate, glyphosate plus dicamba or 2,4-D choline, glufosinate, imazamox plus acifluorfen, and lactofen. POST corn herbicides, including 2,4-D, bromoxynil, diflufenzopyr plus dicamba, glufosinate, halosulfuron-methyl plus dicamba, mesotrione plus atrazine, and tembotrione provided ≥87% control, indicating that POST herbicides with distinct modes of action are available in corn and soybean for effective control of GR common ragweed. Results also suggested a reduced efficacy of the acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides tested in this study for control of GR and GS biotypes, indicating further research is needed to determine whether this biotype has evolved multiple herbicide resistance. Nomenclature: 2,4-D; acifluorfen; atrazine; bentazon; bromoxynil; carfentrazone; chlorimuron; dicamba; fluthiacet; fomesafen; glufosinate; glyphosate; halosulfuron; imazethapyr; imazamox lactofen; mesotrione; primisulfuron; tembotrione; thifensulfuron; topramezone; common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.; corn, Zea mays L.; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr


The study was carried out during the postoperative period in 75 patients with cancer of the esophagus and cardial portion of the stomach and 40 patients with lung cancer; 64 of these patients received immunoprophylactic treatment with neipogen, granulocytic colony-stimulating factor. Immune prevention resulted in a 2-fold decrease in the incidence and severity of pyoseptic and visceral complications and 1.5 times decrease in the duration of hospital treatment and mortality during the early postoperative period. Neipogen therapy was conductive to a 2-fold increase in the leukocyte count during the postoperative period in comparison with the control. The range of "safe" values of the major mediators of inflammations (TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-8), characteristic of uneventful course of the postoperative period, was determined. About 75% pyoseptic complications were associated with mediator levels below this range. The levels of inflammation mediators in the patients treated with neipogen were within the safe range.


In 2000, the University of Bristol Dental School Division of Restorative Dentistry carried out a review of the assessment methods used within the undergraduate programme. Following this review, a number of key recommendations were made and the system of formative assessment within the division was changed. Audits were conducted immediately prior to the introduction of the new system and 2 years after it had been introduced, the results of these audits are presented. There was no change in the number of failed appointments between the initial audit and the second audit. There was a reduction in the number of patients treated by more than one student from 25% to 14% (approximating to 3% if student withdrawal from the course is taken into account). The length of time taken to complete treatment reduced between the two audits with more than half of all patients having their treatment completed within 3 months of their initial examination in the second audit. Ninety-five percent of treatment plans were completed in the second audit compared with only 62% in the first audit. In the second audit, the outstanding 5% of cases were signed off as incomplete for satisfactory reasons by the member of supervisory staff (e.g. patients who had moved away or were discharged due to poor attendance). Student comments were mostly positive, the small number of negative comments related to some students being confused by the paperwork in the new system. The overall process has been an extremely positive experience which has resulted in an assessment system with increased clarity which appears to have reduced the stress levels reported by the undergraduate students on the programme and improved the quality of patient care within restorative dentistry.


The article presents a comparative analysis of the strategies applied by Danish and Norwegian patient organisations and organisations for disabled persons in order to promote the interests of their members. Three research questions are addressed: Are Danish and Norwegian patient organisations service organisations operating according to a 'logic of membership' or political pressure groups acting according to a 'logic of influence'? Do patient organisations apply 'insider' or 'outsider' strategies in their efforts to influence healthcare policies? What impact do different authority structures have on the patient organisations' influencing strategies? The latter question is related to recent reforms in the public healthcare systems of the two countries. The major responsibility for public hospitals now rests with regional authorities in Denmark and central government in Norway. The study is based on a survey among nationwide patient organisations in the two countries and shows that most patient groups are 'polyvalent''venue shoppers' combining a variety of influencing strategies.


ABSTRACT: Of 741 women who appeared for orientation by an obstetrician/lay midwife, 521 were delivered by them. Of 258 primiparae, 191 had planned home births while 24 were transported to the hospital during labor, and 42 had planned hospital births. Of the multiparae, 233 delivered at home; 2 were transported to the hospital after birth and 3 during labor. Hospital births were planned by 25 multiparae. The cesarean rate was 6.1 per cent. There were 4 premature births (all in hospital and all with normal outcomes), 6 minor malformations, and 3 postpartum infections. The 3 perinatal deaths included a prepartum death at 34 weeks, a stillborn double footling breech with a prolapsed cord, and an infant who was resuscitated at home but died after two weeks of intensive care.


This paper proposes a machine learning-based approach for detecting the exploitation of vulnerabilities in the wild by monitoring underground hacking forums. The increasing volume of posts discussing exploitation in the wild calls for an automatic approach to process threads and posts that will eventually trigger alarms depending on their content. To illustrate the proposed system, we use the CrimeBB dataset, which contains data scraped from multiple underground forums, and develop a supervised machine learning model that can filter threads citing CVEs and label them as Proof-of-Concept, Weaponization, or Exploitation. Leveraging random forests, we indicate that accuracy, precision and recall above 0.99 are attainable for the classification task. Additionally, we provide insights into the difference in nature between weaponization and exploitation, e.g., interpreting the output of a decision tree, and analyze the profits and other aspects related to the hacking communities. Overall, our work sheds insight into the exploitation of vulnerabilities in the wild and can be used to provide additional ground truth to models such as EPSS and Expected Exploitability.


Chromatin was reconstituted in vitro using Xenopus oocyte extracts and plasmid DNA containing UV radiation-induced damage. Damaged DNA was assembled into minichromosomes with an efficiency similar to that of control, non-irradiated DNA. Oocyte extracts were competent to carry out DNA repair, which was elicited by nicking damaged templates followed by DNA synthesis during chromatin assembly. Newly synthesized DNA was efficiently reconstituted into nucleosomes.


Purpose/Objective: Explore cognitive, affective, and experiential factors that inform veterans' traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related beliefs. Research Method/Design: Qualitative descriptive study of 22 veterans who received care for TBI at a VA Medical Center in the Northeastern United States using directed content analysis. Measures included a semistructured interview, demographic survey, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption Items (AUDIT-C), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), PTSD Checklist (PCL), Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Results: Results were organized according to Leventhal et al.'s (1997) illness perception model, including veterans' self-reports regarding: (a) knowledge of TBI, labels, and symptoms (identity); (b) etiology (cause); (c) the biopsychosocial impact of TBI (consequences); (d) symptom chronicity (timeline); and (e) recovery expectancy and management strategies (controllability). Participants identified common causes of TBI, as well as acute symptoms. Uncertainty was present with regard to TBI nomenclature, recovery expectancies and trajectories, and the impact of co-occurring mental health diagnoses. Conclusions/Implications: Opportunity exists to improve TBI-related education in the course of routine, patient-centered care. Clinicians should take into account the subjective beliefs and experiences, including co-occurring mental health conditions, that inform patients' illness representations to improve patient-provider communication and the quality of TBI care.


The symbiotic bacteria Buchnera provide their aphid hosts with tryptophan and other essential amino acids. Tryptophan production by Buchnera varied among 12 parthenogenetic clones of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), as determined from both the incorporation of radioactivity from 14C‐anthranilate into tryptophan and the protein‐tryptophan growth rate of larval aphids on tryptophan‐free diet. The values of tryptophan production obtained for the two methods were correlated significantly with each other but not with the level of amplification of the Buchnera genes trpEG, which code for anthranilate synthase, a key enzyme in tryptophan biosynthetic pathway. This study provides the first direct demonstration of interclonal variation in production of any nutrient in an aphid–Buchnera symbiosis and indicates that a key aspect of Buchnera phenotype (tryptophan production) does not vary in a simple fashion with Buchnera genotype.


R.ADITHYA ABSTRACT In this paper an ultra low power and probabilistic based noise tolerant latch is proposed based on Markov Random Field (MRF) theory. The absorption laws and H tree logic combination techniques are used to reduce the circuit complexity of MRF noise tolerant latch. The cross coupled latching mechanism is used at the output of the MRF latch inorder to preserve the noise tolerant capability of MRF latch. The proposed latch is faster than the latches presented in the literature and provides low power and high noise immunity. Hence we can achieve good trade off in terms of performance, robustness and cost. The latches are evaluated in 180nm CMOS technology. The results obtained show that the proposed latch consumes low power and highly noise tolerant. Finally the proposed latch is applied in transmission gate based full adder circuit. In 180nm technology the proposed adder can operate reliably with superior noise tolerance and low power compared to conventional latch based full adder circuit.


Here we compare translocator protein (TSPO) imaging using 6-chloro-2-(4′-123I-iodophenyl)-3-(N,N-diethyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-acetamide SPECT (123I-CLINDE) and amino acid transport imaging using O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-l-tyrosine PET (18F-FET) and investigate whether 123I-CLINDE is superior to 18F-FET in predicting progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at follow-up. Methods: Three patients with World Health Organization grade IV GBM were scanned with 123I-CLINDE SPECT, 18F-FET PET, and gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging. Molecular imaging data were compared with follow-up gadolinium-enhanced MR images or contrast-enhanced CT scans. Results: The percentage overlap between volumes of interest (VOIs) of increased 18F-FET uptake and 123I-CLINDE binding was variable (12%–42%). The percentage overlap of MR imaging baseline VOIs was greater for 18F-FET (79%–93%) than 123I-CLINDE (15%–30%). In contrast, VOIs of increased contrast enhancement at follow-up compared with baseline overlapped to a greater extent with baseline 123I-CLINDE VOIs than 18F-FET VOIs (21% vs. 8% and 72% vs. 55%). Conclusion: Our preliminary results suggest that TSPO brain imaging in GBM may be a useful tool for predicting tumor progression at follow-up and may be less susceptible to changes in blood–brain barrier permeability than 18F-FET. Larger studies are warranted to test the clinical potential of TSPO imaging in GBM, including presurgical planning and radiotherapy.


Introduction In many instances, due in part to price per unit of energy and proximity to production, Kansas beef producers have the opportunity to incorporate grain-processing byproducts such as wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS) and wet corn gluten feed (WCGF) into diets for newly received and growing cattle. Although a number of previous studies have compared these two byproducts for use in finishing diets, little information is available for receiving and growing cattle diets. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the performance outcomes of newly arrived and growing calves fed either WDGS or WCGF relative to a standard corn-based diet.


Analysis of the Republican Party popular vote in Georgia county congressional elections of 1876 suggests that Charles Tilly's (1978) model of interest-based collective action would be useful if embedded in the dynamic model of political processes and mechanisms that Tilly (2007) proposes. Specifically, class (petit bourgeois), status (black), and party (liberal Republican) interests explain 25 percent of the variance in the election returns. Adding a racial-change variable increases the explained variance to 32 percent but fails to distinguish the yeoman and freedman constituencies and the process through which the Democratic Redeemers divided and conquered the opposition in the process of "de-democratization" (ibid.). By embedding the structural analysis in the analysis of process (quantitatively and qualitatively), we can appreciate how yeoman and freedman constituencies experienced contract/convict labor differently and expressed opposition to Redeemers in qualitatively different ways, ultimately facilitating divide-and-conquer efforts.


Abstract Background: Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD), which is determined by an interaction of genetic, metabolic and environmental factors. Aim: To analyse the association between two polymorphisms of VDR as well as their haplotypes with BMD in post-menopausal Maya-Mestizo women. Subjects and methods: This study comprised 600 post-menopausal Maya-Mestizo women. A structured questionnaire for risk factors was applied and BMD was assessed at the lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (TH) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. DNA was extracted from blood leukocytes. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms of VDR (rs731236 and rs2228570) were studied using real-time PCR allelic discrimination for genotyping. Differences between the means of the BMDs according to the genotype were analysed with covariance. Haplotype analysis was conducted. Results: TT genotype of rs731236 of VDR had higher BMD at total hip and femoral neck (FN), and one haplotype formed by the two polymorphisms was associated with only TH-BMD variations. This difference was statistically significant after adjustment for confounders. The genotype of rs2228570 of VDR analysis showed no significant differences with BMD variations. Conclusion: The results showed that the TT genotype of rs731236 of VDR and one haplotype formed by rs731236 and rs2228570 polymorphisms were associated with higher BMD at TH and FN.


Importance It has long been hypothesized that depression may increase the risk of developing autoimmune disease; however, rigorous empirical evidence is sparse. Objective To evaluate whether an association exists between depression and risk of incident systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a paradigmatic, systemic autoimmune disease. Design, Setting, and Participants This 20-year prospective, longitudinal cohort study evaluated data collected from 2 cohorts of women participating in the Nurses' Health Study (1996-2012) and the Nurses' Health Study II (1993-2013). Data analyses were conducted from August 2017 to May 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures Incident SLE with 4 or more American College of Rheumatology criteria was ascertained by self-report and confirmed by medical record review. Depression was assessed repeatedly throughout follow-up according to whether women reported having received a clinician's diagnosis of depression, regular antidepressant use, or a score of less than 60 on the 5-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5). Whether longitudinally assessed health risk factors (eg, cigarette smoking, body mass index, oral contraceptive use, menopause or postmenopausal hormone use, alcohol use, exercise, or diet) accounted for increased SLE risk among women with vs without depression was examined. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate risk of SLE. In addition, the association of depression lagged by 4 years, and depression status at baseline with incident SLE throughout follow-up was assessed. Results Data from 194 483 women (28-93 years of age; 93% white) were included. During 20 years of follow-up, 145 cases of SLE occurred. Compared with women with no depression, women with a history of depression had a subsequent increased risk of SLE (HR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.91-3.75; P < .001). Adjustment for body mass index, cigarette smoking, and oral contraception and postmenopausal hormone use slightly attenuated associations (adjusted HR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.74-3.45; P < .001). The SLE risk was elevated with each of the 3 following depression indicators modeled separately: clinician's diagnosis of depression (HR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.29-3.71), antidepressant use (HR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.94-4.05), and MHI-5 scores indicating depressed mood (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.18-2.44). Associations remained strong when depression status was lagged by 4 years with respect to the outcome (HR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.32-3.00) and when depression status at baseline was used as the exposure (HR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.54-3.37). Conclusions and Relevance This study contributes to increasing evidence that depression may be associated with increased risk of SLE and suggests that the association is not fully explained by measured health factors or behaviors.


Saffron is a natural product that is a promising chemo-preventive agent against different cancer. The aim of the present work was to investigate the chemo-protective effect of saffron ethanol extract on chemically-induced liver cancer in rats. Hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) (200 mg/kg body weight) and 2 weeks later, the carcinogenic effect was promoted by 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) (0.05%). 42 Wister rats were divided into seven groups: negative control, positive control (DEN+2-AAF), saffron-alone group (saffron for 22 weeks, no DEN or 2-AAF) and 3 preventive groups (where saffron was administered at 300, 150 and 75 mg/kg for 2 weeks before and 20 weeks after inducing cancer). The incidence and multiplicity of liver tumors as well as the expression of cancer marker, glutathione S-transferase placental form, were significantly reduced in preventive groups. This hepatopreventive effect was confirmed by the decreasing in cancer marker, α feto protein in plasma. Immunohistochemical analyses showed a decrease in cell proliferation marker (Ki67) and an increase of TUNEL-and caspase 3-positive apoptotic cells along with strong expressions of p53 in liver of preventive groups. These protective effect found to be mediated by anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed by saffron-based inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. The effect of saffron on the expression of nuclear factor nuclear factor-Kappa B (NF-kappa B) was also assessed. The expression of NF-kappa B in the preventive groups was significantly low compared to positive control. The in vitro antioxidant capacity of saffron (FRAP Assay, DPPH Scavenging activity and ABST+ Assay) was significantly high in ethanol-based extract. In addition, NF-kappa B transcription factor seems to regulate the saffron chemo-protective effects. Finally, texture analysis was applied to analyze in vivo MRI images and results were consistent with that of histopathology. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3684. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3684


Demand response actions allow to support an adequate domestic load management, considering consumer preferences. In order to develop a hardware tool based on Arduino used to support consumers load management and decisions, an optimization mathematical model is developed and detailed in this paper. In the developed mathematical model, household appliances and electric vehicle are considered as controllable loads. The existence of a storage system based on batteries is considered as well as energy provided by the power grid and solar panel self-generation. The model is implemented using optimization software GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) as a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) problem, where its outputs are used as inputs applied to the hardware used as interface between the optimization mathematical model and controllable loads.


First I discuss the limitations of recognition for grounding both politics and ethics, the main problem being that recognition is distributed according to an axis of power that is part and parcel of systems of dominance and oppression. Next, I take up more recent attempts to link recognition to vulnerability rather than to self-consciousness. I challenge the concept of vulnerability on the grounds that it is not exclusive to, or constitutive of, humanity, on the one hand, and criticize it for ignoring differences in levels of vulnerability, on the other. I propose witnessing, grounded in response ethics, as a supplement to recognition models of political and ethical subjectivity. Witnessing takes us beyond recognition to the affective and imaginative dimensions of experience, which must be added to the politics of recognition. It requires a commitment to what Jacques Derrida calls "hyperbolic ethics," an ethics of impossible responsibilities for what we do not and cannot recognize.


Computer-mediated communication has important implications for future classroom learning which is no longer spatially bound or centred around text books. It has the ability to incorporate real-life learning whereby students can make important contributions towards solving global problems without having to leave the campus. This study looked at the impact of virtual communication processes and online tools on student and partner engagement in an on-campus undergraduate unit which enables Australian students to create communication campaigns for a non-government organization in India. The study found that the communication exchanges provided students with opportunities for intercultural dialogue, both in real and virtual spaces, and how to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and media within a social justice framework within a transnational working environment. Internet technologies have become part of the daily communication pattern of a new generation of students, who see it as their natural environment in which to learn, play and work. It is thus important to expand students' use of the global digital network from superficial social interactions towards activities which enable them to become active and informed global citizens.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between different body positions during recumbency on the cranial migration of epidurally injected methylene blue in canine cadavers.

SAMPLE POPULATION
21 fresh cadavers of clinically normal adult female mixed-breed dogs.

PROCEDURE
Dogs were randomly assigned to the following 3 groups: dogs remaining in right lateral recumbency (n = 7), dogs rotated from left to right lateral recumbency (7), and dogs rotated from dorsal to right lateral recumbency (7). Each dog received an epidural injection of 0.05% methylene blue (0.1 mL/kg) at the lumbosacral space. A dorsal laminectomy of the vertebral column was made, and cranial extent of methylene blue in 4 quadrants (right lateral, left lateral, ventral, and dorsal) was determined by examining dura mater staining.

RESULTS
No significant difference was found among groups in regard to body weight or body condition score. Epidural cranial migration of methylene blue in the right lateral quadrant was significantly greater in dogs that remained in right lateral recumbency than in dogs that were rotated from left to right lateral recumbency. No significant difference was found within groups for epidural cranial migration of methylene blue between each quadrant. No significant relationship was found between body weight or body condition score and epidural cranial migration of methylene blue.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Body positioning and amount of recumbency time influence cranial migration of epidurally injected methylene blue. If greater cranial migration of an epidurally administered drug is desired, placing the patient in lateral recumbency with the surgical site on the dependent side may precede surgery.


Diffusion models achieve state-of-the-art performance in various generation tasks. However, their theoretical foundations fall far behind. This paper studies score approximation, estimation, and distribution recovery of diffusion models, when data are supported on an unknown low-dimensional linear subspace. Our result provides sample complexity bounds for distribution estimation using diffusion models. We show that with a properly chosen neural network architecture, the score function can be both accurately approximated and efficiently estimated. Furthermore, the generated distribution based on the estimated score function captures the data geometric structures and converges to a close vicinity of the data distribution. The convergence rate depends on the subspace dimension, indicating that diffusion models can circumvent the curse of data ambient dimensionality.


The chemical content of a substance can influence its shelf life. Fermentation causes changes in freshly tapped sap and therefore makes its large scale use difficult. In order to study the effect of time on fermentation on the raffia sap property, its physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics were determined during five days. The results recorded for the harvest reveal an acidity, proteins and energy of about 67.7°D, 6.69 g/l, and 113.64 kcal/l respectively. Raffia sap acidity and protein content increase during fermentation when the energy value decreases. The microbiological analysis showed that this sap contains an average of 16.46 x 10 7 cfu/ml of total germs which increases during fermentation. This sap is therefore rich in useful and pathogenic micro-organisms. We noticed that this sap is very rich in lactic acid bacteria and yeasts which could be isolated and exploited for alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in order to obtain a very stable raffia sap. Keywords : Raffia sap, spontaneous fermentation, physicochemical property, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, nutrient content African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(41), pp. 6013-6018


BACKGROUND
Randomised clinical trials in critical care are prone to inconclusiveness due, in part, to undue optimism about effect sizes and suboptimal accounting for heterogeneous treatment effects. Although causal evidence from rich real-world critical care can help overcome these challenges by informing predictive enrichment, no overview exists.

METHODS
We conducted a scoping review, systematically searching 10 general and speciality journals for reports published on or after 1 January 2018, of randomised clinical trials enrolling adult critically ill patients. We collected trial metadata on 22 variables including recruitment period, intervention type and early stopping (including reasons) as well as data on the use of causal evidence from secondary data for planned predictive enrichment.

RESULTS
We screened 9020 records and included 316 unique RCTs with a total of 268,563 randomised participants. One hundred seventy-three (55%) trials tested drug interventions, 101 (32%) management strategies and 42 (13%) devices. The median duration of enrolment was 2.2 (IQR: 1.3-3.4) years, and 83% of trials randomised less than 1000 participants. Thirty-six trials (11%) were restricted to COVID-19 patients. Of the 55 (17%) trials that stopped early, 23 (42%) used predefined rules; futility, slow enrolment and safety concerns were the commonest stopping reasons. None of the included RCTs had used causal evidence from secondary data for planned predictive enrichment.

CONCLUSION
Work is needed to harness the rich multiverse of critical care data and establish its utility in critical care RCTs. Such work will likely need to leverage methodology from interventional and analytical epidemiology as well as data science.


A method for distributed electrical modeling of complete photovoltaic monolithic interconnected modules (MIMs) with complex geometrical and electrical features is developed and applied to study electrical power losses of a six‐segment GaAs‐based MIM laser power converter (LPC). The model considers spatial dependence of resistive and recombination losses of all epitaxial layers and explicitly takes into account perimeter recombination and the photo‐induced leakage current through the semi‐insulating GaAs substrate. The investigated specimen was fully parametrized to obtain the model's input parameters which were verified by a comparison of a variety of simulated and measured specimen's electrical characteristics. Based on simulations, we show that distributed series resistance effects, mainly caused by Joule heating in the lateral conduction layer (LCL), limit the efficiency of MIM LPCs under a high irradiance illumination, whereas for a low irradiance illumination perimeter recombination is identified as the limiting factor. Additionally, photo‐induced conductivity leads to a reciprocal relationship between irradiance and substrate resistivity, which results in a parasitic shunting between segments and reduces the device efficiency. We present mitigation strategies for the outlined major loss mechanisms and propose a thin‐film cell employing a metal back mirror that exploits photon recycling and mitigates LCL losses. With such MIM LPC design, conversion efficiencies above 60% can be reached for a broad irradiance range.


Several country-level studies, including a prominent one for the United States, have identified long-term effects of in-utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic (also known as the Spanish Flu) on economic outcomes in adulthood. In-utero conditions are theoretically linked to adult health and socioeconomic status through the fetal origins or Barker hypothesis. Historical exposure to the Spanish Flu provides a natural experiment to test this hypothesis. Although the Spanish Flu was a global phenomenon, with around 500 million people infected worldwide, there exists no comprehensive global study on its long-term economic effects. We attempt to close this gap by systematically analyzing 117 Census data sets provided by IPUMS International. We do not find consistent global long-term effects of influenza exposure on education, employment and disability outcomes. A series of robustness checks does not alter this conclusion. Our findings indicate that the existing evidence on long-term economic effects of the Spanish Flu is likely a consequence of publication bias.


Despite the advances in the treatment of pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), infiltration of the central nervous system (CNS) remains a clinical challenge. Certain cytogenetic subtypes such as E2A-PBX1-and BCR-ABL-positive BCP-ALL confer a higher risk for CNS involvement initially and for CNS relapse. Novel strategies to predict CNS and to eradicate leukemic cells from the CNS are subjects of ongoing research.
 In order to identify targets with diagnostic and therapeutic relevance, comparative RNA-sequencing was performed with patient derived xenograft (PDX) blasts from 5 E2A-PBX1-positive patients, recovered from the bone marrow (BM) and from the CNS of NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NSG) mice. Differential gene expression analysis revealed the upregulation of various genes of the pre-B cell receptor complex, particularly the signaling component CD79a (Igα) in blasts recovered from the CNS as compared to blasts from the BM. We then investigated the impact of CD79a on CNS infiltration in vivo and in patients. CD79a was downregulated by short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) mediated knockdown in the E2A-PBX1 positive cell line 697. Proliferation rates of 697-shCD79a cells and control-transfected 697 cells (697-shCtrl) in vitro were similar. Furthermore, NSG mice injected with 697-shCD79a cells showed comparable survival times, as well as similar blast infiltration in spleen and BM as animals injected with 697-shCtrl cells. However, downregulation of CD79a led to a significantly lower number of CNS-positive mice (4/15, 26%) as compared to control animals (7/10, 70%) (p=0.0486, Figure A). This indicates that CD79a is not critically involved in proliferation and peripheral engraftment, but in CNS infiltration of E2A-PBX1 positive 697 cells in vivo.
 To test if CD79a also affects CNS involvement in BCR-ABL-positive leukemia, a murine/murine transplantation model was used. B-cells isolated from CD79a-knockout (CD79a-KO) or wildtype mice (CD79a-Ctrl) were stably transfected with a BCR-ABL fusion gene and cultured independent of cytokines, thereby inducing malignant transformation. Both cell lines were subsequently injected into recipient NSG mice (n=8/group) and leukemic development was followed. The experiment was terminated when all control mice had developed leukemic symptoms and mice were analyzed for leukemic engraftment. A further CD79a-KO group was included for survival analysis. Median spleen volume as a surrogate of leukemic infiltration was significantly lower in mice injected with CD79a-KO as compared to CD79a-Ctrl cells (0.35 cm³ vs. 0.06 cm³; p=0.0001). Median blast percentages in spleens and BM were also markedly reduced (75.3% vs. 5.8%; p=0.0001 and 61.0% vs. 4.5%; p=0.0001, respectively). Importantly, none of the animals in the CD79a-KO group showed blasts in the CNS as assessed by histology whereas blasts were present in all of the animals in the CD79a-Ctrl group. Finally and most importantly, NSG-mice injected with CD79a-KO cells showed a highly significant prolongation in median survival as compared to mice with CD79a-Ctrl cells (29 days vs. 95 days; p=0.0001, Figure B). Altogether, these data suggest that in a model of BCR-ABL-positive leukemia, absence of CD79a impacts the engraftment of blasts in vivo, in the CNS and other leukemic niches.
 To further validate our findings in patient material, we measured CD79a protein expression in PDX cells from an E2A-PBX1- and a BCR-ABL-positive patient serially transplanted into NSG mice for three passages. For both entities and in all passages, CNS blasts showed a higher CD79a expression than blasts isolated from the bone marrow. In order to assess if CD79a can be used as a marker to predict CNS involvement in patients, CD79a mRNA levels were measured in a selected cohort of 98 pediatric BCP-ALL patients, which contained 26 CNS-positive patients matched to 72 CNS-negative patients. CNS-positive patients showed significantly higher mRNA levels of CD79a than CNS-negative patients (p=0.0225, unpaired t-test, Figure C) suggesting that CD79a may be of value as a potential diagnostic marker for initial CNS involvement in BCP-ALL.
 Our results indicate a role of CD79a in proliferation and CNS infiltration of BCP-ALL blasts in experimental settings and patients. We intend to prospectively evaluate CD79a as a prognostic marker, which may also be a therapeutic target in CNS-positive BCP-ALL.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The development of the electronic industry and electronic technology is proceeding in the direction of miniaturization and high frequency. The embedded passives technology, as a key technology in system-in-package mode, throws new light on improving the package of the passives. Much works have been done to develop embedded passives. For inductors, Ni-Zn ferrites with soft magnetic are ideal materials for preparing the magnetic composite materials. In this study, Ni-Zn ferrite was prepared by a chemical coprecipitation method, then was oxidative polymerization of aniline in aqueous solution and made the Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@polyaniline (NZF@PANi) core-shell particles. The obtained particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The magnetic epoxy composites were fabricated by mixing the core-shell particles and epoxy resin matrix. The dielectric and magnetic properties of the composites were measured by impedance analyzer (Agilent E 4991 A: 1 MHz to 1 GHz). The initial complex permeability value obtained from the toroidal sample exhibit good frequency stability and the permeability loss was low. The permeability of the epoxy composite was rising from 1.4 to 2.2 with the mass fraction of the ferrite increasing in the composite from 3%–70%.


Note: This statement from the Roman Catholic Church – Uniting Church Working Group was completed in late 1989. It is a "work in progress" paper with no official standing. We hope that it will elicit comments which help the Working Group in its continuing task. Comments should be sent to Fr. Peter Kenny, Catholic Theological College, P.O. Box 209, Clayton 3168, preferably by 31 October 1990.


As silicon-based transistors are reaching their performance limit, a growing need for a new semiconductor material has arisen. Germanium has been suggested as the potential substitute for silicon-based Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs). This dissertation is focused on the source of reliability issues of MOSFETs fabricated on germanium and offers several solutions to cope with MOSFETs reliability issues. Due to the miniaturization of electronic devices, especially MOSFETs, some reliability challenges have arisen, such as the higher threshold voltage and increased gate leakage current. This device downscaling has led to a poor interface quality at the dielectric/substrate interface of Ge-MOSFETs. I employed Molecular Dynamics (MD) tools to investigate the nature of the dielectric material structure on the germanium substrate and the type of defects responsible for electrical degradation. This dissertation is dedicated to proposing several solutions which enable the semiconductor industry to mitigate the associated reliability issues of Ge-MOSFETs which leave behind the commercialization of these MOSFETs. A reactive molecular dynamics force field was employed in this research, enabling the simulation of ongoing bond breaking and formation. In addition to finding the effect of oxidation temperature on the density of interfacial defects, this research has shed light on the effect of oxide thickness on interface quality. The need for stabilizing the native oxide of germanium leads to proposing a novel approach to improve both interface quality and dielectric constant. Dilute concentrations of aluminum were doped into the oxide network, and as a result, improved dielectric constant and enhanced dielectric/substrate interface quality were obtained.


PurposeThe purpose of this review is to critically analyse the extant research and help readers understand the ways the school-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) can contribute towards youth development and urge policymakers to implement nationwide good-quality, scientific, culturally relevant, age-appropriate and holistic school-based CSE.Design/methodology/approachThis literature review has been designed using the extant information available on Google Scholar, Web of Science (WoS) and PubMed.FindingsThe findings of this review inform that there is a significant need amongst the youth of the day for good-quality, scientific, culturally relevant, age-appropriate and holistic school-based CSE. Also, the findings suggest that there are significant associations between school-based CSE and youth development.Research limitations/implicationsThis research paper although draws from extant literature about sexuality education and its delivery across the globe, it applies the sexuality education scenario in India.Practical implicationsThe findings of this review aim to implicate nationwide policy-level changes to implement CSE in the school curricula. There are more practical behavioural changes that CSE could foster amongst students, which are discussed in the review.Social implicationsDue to the behavioural changes that CSE could foster amongst students, it may help in the upbringing of responsible citizens who are free of health complications, who can make independent health-related decisions and look after each other in the community.Originality/valueThis review is an original contribution from the author. Whilst there is extant literature about CSE and youth development, this article fills the void by investigating the interdependent contributions that both the concepts can make to one another and encourages more research on this topic.


The work consists of two interrelated parts. The first one presents general issues relating to sustainable development. There are examples of the road investments, in which the problems arising from the lack of a general approach to environmental principles and consequently sustainable construction occurred. In the second part, on the examples of culverts and bridges, selected technical cases are discussed. The aim of the paper is to characterize the inconsistencies appearing during the bridge design process and maintenance in accordance to environmental categories. Several examples of the road-bridge investments carried out in the last decade have created the basis to formulate some opinions and questions. The difference between the approach of bridge engineers and that of environmental ones to the concept of animal transition is shown on the grounds of implemented technical and environmental standards. The existing problems are of dual nature, the first group being very general aspects i.e. concerning the concept of ecology, while the other one involves detailed tasks, e.g. shaping the image of a bridge. Several questions of great significance have been formulated and addressed to ecologists. The answers are indispensable for bridge engineers to solve technical aspects of the proper, sustainable design of environment-friendly bridges. Last but not least, the suggestion to use bridges as places for monitoring the environment in their surroundings is presented. This research work might be crucial for further good cooperation of bridge engineers and environmental ones.


ABSTRACT:This article considers Bernardine Evaristo's Blonde Roots (2008) and Andrea Levy's The Long Song (2010) as innovative works of fiction that experiment with the form of the slave narrative to produce new visions of Atlantic slavery. The authors maintain the genre's original political intent to bear witness to unspeakable realities, but they also channel their ethical commitment into fictions that flout the expectations of restraint and seriousness and deploy humor as a complex mechanism that both involves and distances readers. Evaristo and Levy grant their narrators humorous voices and weave in elements from disparate literary genres at odds with the slave narrative, such as speculative fiction and Augustan satire in Evaristo's text and the intrusive narrator and other conventions of comic, self-reflective eighteenth-century fiction in Levy's case. Blonde Roots and The Long Song repurpose these writing traditions to critically intervene in the dominant narratives of the British nation and the role of slavery in it. The essay argues that humor can have a distancing effect that is not necessarily alienating but that can work to connect readers with the enslaved lives presented while revealing the impossibility of full identification with and understanding of these experiences. The aesthetic innovations in the novels are thus linked to their ethical commitment to remember the past of slavery and make it relevant to not only Black history but British history.


In this paper we present low-voltage multiple-valued gates. The low voltage gates may operate at a supply voltage below 250mV. We utilize the ultra low voltage CMOS logic style [1][2] to implement simple multiple-valued circuits. The radix used is determined by the supply voltage and is limited to 4 for a supply voltage equal to 250mV . Simulated data presented are valid for a ST 90nm CMOS process.


This paper examines the development of the settlement of Singapore along Singapore River in the 19th century, from a colonial trading outpost to a global entrepot, by tracing the evolution of the godown. Found only in Asian ports, the godown is more than a utilitarian structure in which commodities were stored, processed, and traded. While architectural historians have paid scant attention to this building type, the godown contributed to Singapore's economic success. The godown's association with Chinese merchants and the commercial activities key to the colony's ascendancy, such as processing raw produce and canning fruit, were contained within this combination of industrial and commercial space. By analysing drawings of godowns from the late 19th century, this research shows that the area along Singapore River was a mercantile contact zone and thus challenges two prevailing assumptions in architectural historiography. First, the development of the colonial port was not the work of just the colonial administrators but rather a joint enterprise of local merchants, European agency houses, and colonial administrators. And second, the common perception of the godown has long been that it is a form of imported Western architecture, but it is actually a building type specific to the region that integrated the skills, materials, and building traditions associated with migrant communities.


The larger dielectric loss angle measurement error caused by nonintegral period sampling is analyzed and it is pointed out that the accuracy of dielectric loss angle measurement is seriously influenced by the sampling mode of voltage and current signals.If the sampled voltage and current signals have only the fundamental components and have the same phase,the dielectric loss angle measurement error caused by the spectral leakage and fence effect in nonintegral period sampling is thoroughly counteracted,i.e.the dielectric loss angle measurement from nonintegral period sampling is completely accurate in theory.Simulation shows that,when suitable sensors are selected and DFT algorithm is used to directly calculate the dielectric loss angle,the error is small even in severe nonintegral period sampling,the maximum error is less than 4 × 10-5 rad(the dielectric loss angle is 0.003 rad);the calculation error increases along with the dielectric loss angle,when the dielectric loss angle is 0.02 rad,the maximum error is about 2×10-4 rad;the calculation error has little relationship with the direct current component,when it varies within 10 % of the fundamental component,the maximum error is about 4×10-5 rad;the calculation error increases along with the third harmonic,when it reaches 20 % of the fundamental component,the maximum error is about 7×10-5 rad for serial resistor-capacitor circuit and about 5×10-5 rad for parallel resistor-capacitor circuit.The dielectric loss angle mea-surement error caused by noninteger sampling can be suppressed by sampling the current with a serial capacitor mounted at the capacitive equipment.


A new 3D ultrasound-based patient positioning system for target localisation during radiotherapy is described. Our system incorporates the use of tracked 3D ultrasound scans of the target anatomy acquired using a dedicated 3D ultrasound probe during both the simulation and treatment sessions, fully automatic 3D ultrasound-toultrasound registration, and OPTOTRAK IRLEDs for registering simulation CT to ultrasound data. The accuracy of the entire radiotherapy treatment process resulting from the use of our system, from simulation to the delivery of radiation, has been validated on a phantom. The overall positioning error is less than 5mm, which includes errors from estimation of the irradiated region location in the phantom.