Abstract Objectives. Voice problems affect up to 30% of the population at some time during their life, and in particular it affects those who use their voice professionally. Patients who commonly present with dysphonia are often found to have symptoms of both allergy and reflux. Clinical examination of the larynx often makes it difficult to differentiate between the main causative factors of dysphonia, as the clinical findings on nasendoscopy between reflux and allergy are similar. Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), an entity of gastro-oesophageal reflux, is a common diagnosis made in the voice out-patient clinic. Few studies have been able to successfully correlate management of LPR and outcome of dysphonia. Allergy or more specifically allergic rhinitis is said to affect approximately 24% of the population, but few studies have investigated its role in dysphonia. Design. Prospective observational study. Settings. University teaching hospital otolaryngology department. Participants. Fifteen new patients with primary voice disorder were investigated for possible LPR and allergy from April 2007 to October 2007. All patients were tested using the validated reflux symptom index (RSI), reflux finding score (RFS) to diagnose LPR, and both skin prick tests (SPT) and nasal nitric oxide (NO) levels to diagnose the presence of allergy. Main outcome measures. Prevalence of symptoms of reflux and allergy in patients presenting with primary voice disorders, and also whether dysphonia thought to be caused by LPR could actually be due to allergy. Results. No positive correlation or statistical significance was found between reflux and allergy. From our sample 20% (three patients) were diagnosed with LPR and 67% (ten patients) with allergy. The three patients diagnosed with LPR also had concomitant allergy. Conclusions. In our patient cohort, three times as many patients demonstrated allergy compared with LPR. This has led us to question if some patients with allergic laryngitis are being misdiagnosed with LPR and thereby being over-treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).


Abstract Background: Tongue-related complications can be seen in suspension laryngoscopy (SL) procedures. Aims/objectives: This study aimed to detect tongue edema associated with the pressure exerted by a rigid direct laryngoscope by measuring the tongue area using ultrasonography (USG) in patients undergoing SL procedures. Material and methods: The study group included 31 patients and the control group consisted of 33 patients. Submental USG examinations of the tongue in the coronal plane were performed. In the study and control groups, the first examination (TA1) was done immediately after intubation and the second examination (TA2) was done after the surgery procedure but before extubation. The USG results regarding tongue area for both the groups were compared. Results: The study and control groups significantly differed in terms of the postoperative tongue area measurements (TA2), as well as tongue edema (based on the TA2 − TA1) values. Conclusions and significance: Direct rigid laryngoscopes may cause tongue edema in SL procedures which was demonstrated by the USG. This tongue edema can be a result of ischemia–reperfusion injury in the tongue due to the pressure exerted by a direct rigid laryngoscope. This study is the first to demonstrate the possible role of USG examination in determining the side effects of SL procedures on the tongue. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04205253


Substantial research has been conducted examining policy diffusion among both the American states and the nations of the developed world and to a somewhat lesser extent, developing worlds. Little research, especially at the nation-state level, has focused upon budget systems, however. We use case studies of 18 diverse countries (Menifield, 2011) to conceptualize national budget systems and, based upon this conceptualization, to identify clusters of nations with similar systems. We found evidence suggesting that policy diffusion may be occurring in the realm of national budget systems. Our analysis shows that budgetary institutions and behaviors can and do form clusters that are useful in analyzing national budget systems. Our ability to describe clusters of nations with similar budget systems could prove to be a helpful tool for analyzing international policy diffusion.


Background Laminectomy is a traditional method for treating lumbar diseases; however, the destruction of the posterior structures may cause postoperative symptoms. An individualized poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) artificial lamina was designed to reconstruct the posterior structures after laminectomy. This study aimed to explore the biomechanical effects of reconstruction of the posterior structures with an individualized PEEK artificial lamina using validated finite element models. Objective To examine the biomechanical effects of individualized PEEK artificial lamina on postlaminectomy lumbar. Methods A finite element (FE) model of L3-5 was developed based on computed tomography images. Four surgical models (laminectomy, artificial lamina alone, ligament reconstruction, and osseointegration) were constructed, representing different stages of L4 artificial lamina implantation. The range of motion (ROM), intradiscal pressure (IDP), stresses in the annulus fibrosus at the surgical level and cephalad adjacent level, and stresses in the artificial lamina and screws were measured. Results The ROM, IDP, and stresses in the annulus fibrosus of the different artificial lamina models decreased compared to those of the laminectomy model at both surgical and adjacent levels for all motion patterns, most notably in the osseointegration model. In addition, the results of the stresses in the implants showed that the artificial lamina could enhance the lumbar isthmus and disperse the abnormally concentrated stresses after laminectomy. Conclusion The application of a PEEK artificial lamina has the potential to stabilize the postlaminectomy lumbar spine and prevent adjacent segment disease (ASD) and iatrogenic lumbar deformities, resulting in a reduction in the incidence of post-lumbar surgery syndrome.


Wireless Internet service (WIS) is finding increasing implementation in the Netherlands via several markets. Recently, the idea has emerged of providing WIS through public transport services. The impact of WIS on train travelers, particularly on business travelers, is, however, unknown. In a study to examine this impact, respondents were surveyed to find out how WIS might affect their travel and work performance. Respondents were also questioned about their willingness to pay for WIS and their preferred WIS characteristics. In general, respondents were positive about WIS and were willing to spend an average of €3.17 [Eur 1 = U.S. $1.28 (2006)] per trip for its use. Furthermore, they considered data security the most important WIS feature. Hence, it can be concluded that WIS deserves to be implemented in train services for business travelers as a means to enhance their travel and work performance during traveling.


We propose a novel flow admission control that minimizes the total call-blocking rate by treating heterogeneous flows equally. We focused on the static-state bandwidth load, which refers to how much bandwidth is used statically by a smaller class of flow than a newly arriving flow. In this paper, we analyze the characteristics of different types of loads, explain the development of a call-blocking curve to minimize the total call-blocking rate, and demonstrate good performance by this call-blocking curve.


Patients with low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), defined as refractory anemia (RA), RA with ringed sideroblasts (RARS), or International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) scores of 0–1.0, are treated with growth factors (GF) or chemotherapy (Chemo) in the setting of transfusion dependence. Predictive models (PM) for response to GF have been developed based on red blood cell (RBC) transfusion needs and erythropoietin (epo) levels, but report no difference in survival among good, intermediate, and poor PM groups (the PM good group has few transfusion needs and a low epo level, while the PM poor group has high transfusion needs and high epo levels: Jadersten et al. Blood2005;106:803). The optimal therapy (chemo vs. GF) based on response rates (RR) and survival has not been defined. Methods: We performed a decision analysis to determine the optimal therapy for low-risk MDS patients. Patients receiving chemo (n=417) or GF (n=382) were identified from a MEDLINE search on the keywords MDS, RA, RARS, treatment, GF, and chemo. Original articles with individual patient characteristics, RA or RARS MDS subtypes, and documented effect of therapy were included. From 1985 to 2005, 137 papers representing 2,301 patients with low-risk MDS were reviewed. Individual data was available on 799 patients. Chemo included differentiating agents, immunomodulators, and non-ablative cytotoxic agents; GF included erythropoietin, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. IPSS was calculated when sufficient data were available. RR were standardized and recalibrated according to the International Working Group (IWG) criteria and included complete response, partial response, and hematologic improvement. Median survival in GF patients derived from the Jadersten et al. study, and was validated with data from GF patients in our database. Survival in chemo patients was determined from the database. Cut-points for which treatment strategy to choose, based on RR and survival, were calculated. Results: Baseline variables for chemo patients included (median (range)): age 65(21–83) years; requiring 2(0–8) units RBC transfusions/month; having an epo level of 279(17–4590). IPSS score was 0–1.0 in 88.3% of patients. GF patients were older (72 years, range 43–87), but with similar transfusion needs, IPSS scores, and epo levels to chemo patients. Overall, patients receiving chemo had a RR of 41.5% and a median survival of 78 months, compared to 46% and 44 months, respectively, for GF patients. Survival and RR differences were not statistically significant. Using the decision model, patients in a PM good response group should receive GF unless chemo can yield a RR at a cut-point of >34.1%. Patients in the PM intermediate response group should receive chemo if the RR to chemo is >10.6%; and those in the PM poor response group should receive chemo if the RR to chemo is >3.2%. RR and median survivals for chemo patients did not differ when they were classified according to the three PM response groups. Conclusions: Based on available survival data, low-risk MDS patients falling into a good response predictive group (low RBC transfusion needs and low epo levels) should be treated with GF unless chemo RR are >34.1%. Other low-risk MDS patients should probably be treated with chemo. Additional cost and quality of life data are needed to incorporate into future decision models.


Opening in the period of revolutions between 1789 and 1850, this book explores the contention over social science from above and below. It breaks away from othodox interpretations of the development of social science to explore the subject as a contest for class and gender power. The author gives a picture of the experiences which made men and women passionate about the social science project, and explores how different groups aimed at self-liberation, or power over others. She details the contribution made by working-class people and by women to the social science story, and shows how language and metaphor were used to construct social identities. This account of the production of knowledge as a contestable process, in its historical perspective, constructs a new politics of knowledge. The book may be important to those interested in social and cultural history, the history of natural and social science, gender and women's studies, social policy, social work and social action.


Monitoring cluster evolution in data streams is a major research topic in data streams mining. Previous clustering methods for evolving data streams focus on global clustering result. It may lose critical information about individual cluster. This paper introduces some basic movements of evolution of an individual cluster. Based on the measurement of the movements, a novel algorithm called MovStream is proposed to monitor clusterspsila evolving in data streams. The experimental results on real datasets show that our MovStream algorithm surpasses the well-known CluStream algorithm by 25-50% in accuracy and one order of magnitude in efficiency.


The authors studied 7 patients (age between 22 and 52 years, mean 40.2 +/- 6.55 S.D.) with single or multiple solid nodules, localized in the same thyroid lobe. All subjects performed scintiscanning and echography for evaluating the nature of nodules. During the thyroidectomy the hormonal pattern has been studied in the venous blood of both lobes (inferior thyroid and jugular veins, homo and heterolateral). The authors found a significant decrease of T3 and T4 values with increased T3/T4 ratio at the nodular level. This report could be related to an hypothetical alteration of iodination mechanisms, maybe due to an intrinsic defect of oxidative mitochondrial systems.


I'm sure you'd be surprised at the richness of Australia's scientific past. The problem is both to communicate that richness to a wide audience, and to provide specialist resources for researchers – all on a non-existent publishing budget. As you've probably guessed, we are increasingly using the WWW to achieve these ends. Along the way we have established one of the main sites in the world for information on the history of science, technology and medicine. On the WWW a small organisation can have a big impact. Our experience demonstrates that there is much to be gained when the information producers rise up and take over the means of distribution – there is a world to win and you have nothing to lose but your evenings!


Effects of treatment duration and clamping during heat treatment were evaluated relative to the color and physical and mechanical properties of okan wood. Sapwood and heartwood boards from okan wood were treated with and without clamping for 1 to 4 h at 180 °C. Changes in color were mostly due to a reduction in lightness (L*) and yellow/blue chromaticity (b*). These values decreased more for longer treatment durations. Red/green chromaticity (a*) was not affected by the treatment duration. Weight loss and volume shrinkage increased with increased treatment duration. Density only slightly decreased because of a balanced reduction in weight and volume. Clamping during treatment prevented surfaces from having direct contact with the heated air, which resulted in lower weight loss and volume shrinkage than in the samples treated without clamping. Heat-treated wood absorbed less water than the control group, as suggested by the lower equilibrium moisture content and water absorption. Furthermore, the heartwood absorbed less water than the sapwood. An evaluation of the mechanical properties showed a reduction in both the modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity after heat treatment. Clamping minimized strength reduction in both sapwood and heartwood, particularly for 1 and 2 h heat treatments.


Liver-splitting techniques been previously developed for ex vivo and in situ cadaveric liver transplantation, and more recently for in situ living donor liver transplantation or liver partition with a portal vein ligation for a staged hepatectomy. We report a novel and simplified technique using a long curved needle to make whole-thickness mattress sutures along the division line of the remnant liver above the inferior vena cava to control bleeding, and then bloodlessly splitting the liver with scissors within 40 min in a case of a left lobectomy with metastases from breast cancer. The patient was uneventfully discharged on the fourth postoperative day.
When a liver lobectomy or partition to enhance liver regeneration for a staged hepatectomy is necessary, this technique can be done straightforwardly without concern for the problems of venous return or congestion of the recipient or remnant donor liver. This technique is probably the simplest and fastest way for any surgeon and any facility.


Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States and harms Black men disproportionately. Most US men are uninformed about many key facts important to make an informed decision about prostate cancer. Most experts agree that it is important for men to learn about these problems as early as possible in their lifetime.

 To compare the effect of a community health worker (CHW)-led educational session with a physician-led educational session that counsels Black men about the risks and benefits of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening.

 One hundred eighteen Black men recruited in 8 community-based settings attended a prostate cancer screening education session led by either a CHW or a physician. Participants completed surveys before and after the session to assess knowledge, decisional conflict, and perceptions about the intervention. Both arms used a decision aid that explains the benefits, risks, and controversies of PSA screening and decision coaching.

 There was no significant difference in decisional conflict change by group: 24.31 physician led versus 30.64 CHW led (P=.31). The CHW-led group showed significantly greater improvement on knowledge after intervention, change (SD): 2.6 (2.81) versus 5.1 (3.19), P<.001). However, those in the physician-led group were more likely to agree that the speaker knew a lot about PSA testing (P<.001) and were more likely to trust the speaker (P<.001).

 CHW-led interventions can effectively assist Black men with complex health decision-making in community-based settings. This approach may improve prostate cancer knowledge and equally minimize decisional conflict compared with a physician-led intervention.


Aiming to a satisfy the stringent aircrafts and spaceships power quality regulations, a topology with three phase two 6-pulse ac-dc converter is proposed. This topology consists of an injection circuit, connected in series with two six pulse converter. The main advantage of this converter is the absorption of sinusoidal currents from the ac system which has a harmonic content. The performance achievements of a 24-pulse converter can also be achieved by a 12-pulse system, which is obtained by connecting two six pulse converter in series with an addition of low harmonic injection current. Hence this topology has a lower component current than conventional converter circuits. Therefore the performance of this topology ensures low harmonic current absorption and the simulated results are discussed.


Much attention has been focused in recent decades on the process of double photoejection, with comparatively little study of the closely related process of photoejection plus excitation of the residual fragment. We present new calculations for the process , which quantitatively reproduces recent experimental measurements (Wehlitz R et al 1997 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 30 L51). These calculations show that the controlling electron correlations are confined to distances much smaller than the extent of the state that is excited.


Ringkasan Pasaran Island waters is the location of green mussel cultivation (Perna viridis), where the waters has the potential to experience heavy metal pollution including Cadmium (Cd). Green mussels are filter feeders and have a slow movement, thus they have the potential to experience heavy metal bioconcentration on their bodies. The aim of this study was to determine the bioconcentration of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) in green mussels (Perna viridis) which were cultivated in the waters of Pasaran Island. Samples were collected in February 2018 in green mussel cultivating cages of Pasaran Island water with 3 and 6 cm mussel size. Sampling was taken at three stations with three replications each. The Cd content was analyzed using AAS method. The results showed that the water content of Cd at the observation location ranged from 0.022 to 0.024 mg/l. The content of Cd of mussel meat is 0.030 to 0.033 mg/kg, the value is below the


Universal adversarial perturbation (UAP), i.e. a single perturbation to fool the network for most images, is widely recognized as a more practical attack because the UAP can be generated beforehand and applied directly during the at-tack stage. One intriguing phenomenon regarding untargeted UAP is that most images are misclassified to a dominant label. This phenomenon has been reported in previous works while lacking a justified explanation, for which our work attempts to provide an alternative explanation. For a more practical universal attack, our investigation of untargeted UAP focuses on alleviating the dependence on the original training samples, from removing the need for sample labels to limiting the sample size. Towards strictly data-free untargeted UAP, our work proposes to exploit artificial Jigsaw images as the training samples, demonstrating competitive performance. We further investigate the possibility of exploiting the UAP for a data-free black-box attack which is arguably the most practical yet challenging threat model. We demonstrate that there exists optimization-free repetitive patterns which can successfully attack deep models. Code is available at https://bit.ly/3y0ZTIC.


The object of the study was to develop a simple, accurate, precise and rapid UV spectrophotometric, second order derivative method for validation of amoxicillin trihydrate and bromhexine hydrochloride from its combined pharmaceutical dosage form. The validation was carried out by using ICH guidelines for the determination of amoxicillin trihydrate and bromhexine hydrochloride by using 0.1N hydrochloric acid as the solvent in combined dosage form. The proposed second order derivative method involves the measurement of absorbance of one drug at zero crossing point of other; hence wavelengths 241.8 nm and 223.7 nm were selected for the estimation of amoxicillin trihydrate and bromhexine hydrochloride, respectively. The linearity of the proposed method was found in the concentration range of 10 to 100 µg/mL (r2 = 0.9998) for amoxicillin trihydrate and 1 to 14 µg/mL (r2 = 0.9997) for bromhexine hydrochloride, respectively. The percentage mean recovery was found to be 100.129 % for amoxicillin and 100.178 % for bromhexine hydrochloride, respectively. The method was also statistically validated for its linearity, accuracy and precision. Both intra and inter day variations showed less percentage (%) RSD values indicating high grade of precision of this method.


How does financial performance risk affect investments in low-carbon electricity-generating technologies to achieve climate policy targets? A detailed risk simulation of price formation in the Great Britain wholesale power market is used to show that the increasing replacement of fossil facilities with wind, ceteris paribus, may cause a deterioration of the financial risk–return performance metrics for incremental investments. Low-carbon investments appear to be high risk, low return, and as such may require a progressively higher level of support over time than envisaged by the conventional degression trajectories. The increasing riskiness of the wholesale market will to some extent offset the benefits of lower capital costs and operational efficiencies if investors need to satisfy cautious debt coverage ratios alongside positive expected returns. This increased risk is additional to the well-known 'merit order effect' of low-carbon investments progressively depressing wholesale prices and hence their expected investment returns. Policy relevance Policy support for renewable technologies such as wind is usually based upon levelized costs and is expected to reduce over time as capital costs and operational efficiencies improve. However, levelized costs do not take full account of the risk aversion that investors may have in practice. Expected policy support reductions may be moderated to some extent by the increased financial performance risk that intermittent technologies bring to the power market. The annual risk-return profiles for incremental investments deteriorate for all technologies as wind replaces fossil fuels. This extra risk premium will need to be incorporated into evaluating policy incentives for new investments in a decarbonizing power market.


During a crisis, developing countries regret having issued dollar denominated debt because they have to pay more when they have less. Ex ante, however, they may be worse off issuing local currency debt because the equilibrium interest rate might rise, making it more expensive for them to borrow. Many authors have assumed that lenders and borrowers have contrary goals, and that local currency (peso) debt is better for the borrower (Bolivia), and dollar debt is better for the lender (America). We show that if each country is represented by a single consumer with quadratic utilities, in perfect competition, then both will agree ex ante on whether dollar debt or peso debt is better. (In fact all assets can be Pareto ranked). But we show that it might well be dollar debt that Pareto dominates. In particular, if the lender is sufficiently risk averse and the borrower sufficiently impatient, and the lender's endowment is sufficiently riskless, then dollar debt Pareto dominates peso debt. However, if there are persistent gains to risk sharing between the countries, then peso debt Pareto dominates dollar debt. In the special case where utilities are linear in the first period and quadratic in the second period, we can completely characterize the Pareto ranking of any asset by a formula depending only on marginal utilities at autarky. In the more general case where utilities are linear in the first period and have positive third derivative in the second period, we show that when persistent gains to risk sharing hold, America must gain from Peso debt but Bolivia might lose. Thus the presumption that peso debt is more favorable to Bolivia than to America is false. Our framework of optimal security design can be used to demonstrate one rationale for credit controls. If the purchasing power of a dollar overseas varies with the quantity of debt issued, then both America and Bolivia can gain from capital controls, because a tax that reduces the quantity of Bolivian debt might make the real dollar payoffs in Bolivia more `peso-like', and therefore under persistent gains to risk pooling, better for America and Bolivia.


The application of artificial intelligence is deep learning which is one of the current topics in the computer field as well as for the application of computer vision. With the continuous enhancement of deep learning, the algorithm performance is constantly updated. This review paper provides a brief overview of the basic concepts of computer vision and deep learning. Image classification, semantic segmentation and object detection are introduced in this paper followed by a description of their real world applications in various computer vision tasks, such as smart transportation and face recognition. Afterwards, the main applications of deep learning in the research field are demonstrated in this paper.


Ultra-thin body Double Gate MOS structures with strained silicon are investigated by solving the 1-D Schrodinger and Poisson equations, with open boundaries conditions on the wave functions in the gate electrodes. The electrostatics of this device architecture and its dependence on the amount of strain and on the thickness of the silicon layer is analyzed in terms of subband structure, subband population, carrier distribution within the strained-silicon layer, charge-voltage characteristics and gate tunneling current.


Data for 1552 enhanced oil-recovery (EOR) projects are listed in this report and a map shows their distribution. The majority of the EOR projects fall into the categories of pressure maintenance, dump floods, and controlled waterfloods, which are secondary recovery projects. There are several active tertiary projects and a few inactive projects. Active EOR projects are listed alphabetically by county and field. Data on thickness and depth of oil-producing zones or injection horizons, sources of water, and cumulative figures on oil produced and water injected are included. (DMC)


Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a key optimization metric for the design of a datacenter. This paper proposes, for the first time, a framework for modeling the implications of DRAM failures and DRAM error protection techniques on the TCO of a datacenter. The framework captures the effects and interactions of several key parameters including: the choice of DRAM protection technique (e.g. single vs dual channel Chipkill), device width (×4 or ×8), memory size, power, FITs for various failure modes, the performance, power and temperature overheads of a protection technique for a given service and mixes of collocated services. The usefulness of the proposed framework is demonstrated through several case studies that identify the best DRAM protection technique in each case, in terms of TCO. Interestingly, our analysis reveals that among the three DRAM protection techniques considered, there is no one that is always superior to all the others. Moreover, each technique is better than the others for some cases. This underlines the importance and the need of the proposed framework for making optimal memory protection data-center design decisions. As part of this work, we analyze and report the performance and power with single channel and dual channel Chipkill on real hardware when running a web search benchmark alone and collocated with benchmarks of varying memory intensity. This analysis reveals that the choice of memory protection can have serious performance and TCO ramifications depending on the memory characteristics of collocated services. Other analysis reveals that, for the datacenter and services assumed in this study, when using Chipkill protection it can be beneficial for TCO to use DRAM with 100× the failure rate of a baseline DRAM as long as the cost per DIMM is at least a dollar less compared to the baseline.


Introduction There are several well-known barriers to conducting research in hospices. Hospices may lack experience of research and have less developed governance procedures. The vulnerability of patients and the sensitivity of the topic may also form real, or perceived, barriers. Recruitment of participants to end-of-life projects therefore tends to be slow and resource intensive. It requires clear communication between academic researchers and hospice staff. Aim To establish a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach to enhance research in a voluntary-sector hospice incorporating day services, outpatient clinical services and inpatient unit. Method An integrated multi-disciplinary research team (MDRT) was created comprising four sub-teams: the hospice team including a dedicated research lead, the university team, a wider project group and an external advisory group. Seventy-two participants: 33 patients, 21 close persons and 17 healthcare professionals were recruited to a semi-qualitative research study between October 2012 and February 2014. Challenges to recruitment were identified and solutions applied during the course of the study by the MDRT. Results Key members of the MDRT, identified early in the research process, enabled recruitment difficulties to be overcome. Approaches included increasing the visibility of researcher, increasing and regularising communication between core MDRT team members and maintaining ongoing dialogue with potential participants to reduce staff gatekeeping. Conclusion Simulating a clinical MDT-style working approach can facilitate palliative care research activity. Creating a research-supportive environment identifies problems and creates solutions. The MDRT model is offered to researchers and hospice staff to develop and enact effective participant recruitment to build end-of-life research. Reference Bailey C, Kinghorn P, Orlando R, et al. The ICECAP-SCM tells you more about what I am going through: A think-aloud study measuring quality of life among: patients receiving supportive and palliative care. Palliat Med 2016;30(7):642–652


The paper will include a brief overview of the Pathfinder system which has been installed in Los Angeles. The system is undergoing evaluation at this time. Some implementation experiences will be included. For example, the paper will discuss some of the reasons for the changes from the presentation of congestion information in synthesized voice to all digital voice. The Pathfinder experience with mixtures of digital and synthesized speech led to confusion, which can be avoided in other systems. The time taken for message presentation was excessive and led to a necessary reduction in the number of messages presented when the voice mode is selected by the driver. This significant limitation could alter the design of other systems which might rely on speech as a presentation mode to the driver. Also, will be included the experiences encountered in the presentation of congestion symbols on the in-vehicle map display which will allow the display to function as it was originally designed by the manufacturer. One of the problems associated with superimposing symbols on a map is that as the driver "zooms" in, the symbols move away from the road. The map scaling factors must be adjusted. The design location of the symbol needs to convey both direction and intensity of the congested link. In addition, there will be a discussion on the communications testing and installation issues. The Pathfinder base station communication system involves a phone line from the control center to a communication hut owned by the city of Los Angeles. A conduit exists from the hut which is owned by the county. This conduit is terminated in another hut which is owned by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The communication line goes from the hut to a tower where the antenna is mounted. The tower is owned by the CHP. In addition the transmitter in the hut had to be shock mounted for earthquakes. The paper concludes with a brief status of Pathfinder and considerations used for the design of the system.


Abstract Neo-liberal voices are still very strong in education broadly speaking and have a marginalizing impact on normative pedagogies like religious, worldview, moral and civic education. But there are clear and hopeful signs that pedagogy is coming back. After sketching the current situation and its antecedents, the author addresses the views and ideas here provided by pedagogical spokespersons, teacher-leaders and teachers – most of them working in the domain of religious education or worldview education. How do they perceive the current changes in more normative and pedagogical-laden directions? What precisely has caused these changes? Is the return of pedagogy just a temporal hype or is it a real revitalization? What have been the consequences for them professionally and personally speaking? It is the author's intention and hope that this article will encourage educators in general and religious and worldview educators in particular with an eye on fostering sustainable pedagogical approaches.


A new approach is proposed for a quick, simple assessment of one of the quality indicators of gasoline - the concentration of actual pitches. Separate standard quality indicators for the gasoline samples (with octane number 92), which are associated with the content of the components of petroleum fractions and other non-volatile compounds, were measured. The method of piezoquartz micro-weighting with one-sided loading of the resonant electrode of the resonator, sensitive on mass (OAB-type) with a limiting contour, is used. The correlation between the results obtained by piezoquartz micro-weighing and by the standard method was studied. Critical points of the developed method are determined - the stage of applying the exact volume of samples to the resonator electrode with a micro syringe. The method of molecular absorption spectroscopy in the middle UV region relative to hexane revealed differences in the composition of the components of the petroleum fraction of gasoline samples. The principle of comparing "fingerprints" is used to compare and establish the degree of identity of spectra and composition for gasoline samples from several characteristic points on the spectra. To find and evaluate the tightness of the connection between the results of different methods, a nonparametric method for small samples with the Spearman rank correlation was used. It is established that the values of the Spearman's correlation coefficients for the piezoquartz microweighting and the peak optical density present in all gasoline samples at the characteristic wavelength have a direct and strong tightness of the connection. The dependence of the signs is statistically significant, there is a close linear relationship between the parameters. The possibility of applying the piezoquartz micro-weighting method to develop an express method for estimating the non-volatile residue of gasoline was positively evaluated.


In this paper, the impact of fault effects occurring in actuators on energy consumption for multirotor UAV during mission development is analyzed. The multirotors are typically powered by Lithium Polymer batteries where the total mission time depends on the energy available on board. According to battery and actuators health, the discharge rate tends to increase which decrease the flight endurance causing that battery to discharge completely without guaranteeing the fulfillment of the mission or even a safety landing. In that sense, a model able to determines the maximum energy and flight endurance is used considering the battery discharge, State of Charge (SoC) and State of Health (SoH) and its impact during the mission execution is evaluated considering the fault effects in actuators modeled as loss of effectiveness. The proposed approach is tested at simulation level considering an hexarotor UAV.


We present spectroscopic and biophysical approaches to examine the affinity of metal-ammine coordination complexes for heparin as a model for heparan sulfate (HS). Similar to nucleic acids, the highly anionic nature of heparin means it is associated in vivo with physiologically relevant cations, and this work extends their bioinorganic chemistry to substitution-inert metal-ammine compounds (M). Both indirect and direct assays were developed. M compounds are competitive inhibitors of methylene blue (MB)-heparin binding, and the change in the absorbance of the dye in the presence or absence of heparin can be used as an indirect reporter of M-heparin affinity. A second indirect assay uses the change in fluorescence of TAMRA-R9, a nonaarginine linked to a fluorescent TAMRA moiety, as a reporter for M-heparin binding. Direct assays are surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The Kd values for TriplatinNC-heparin varied to some extent depending on the technique from 33.1 ± 2 nM (ITC) to 66.4 ± 1.3 nM (MB absorbance assay) and 340 ± 30 nM (SPR). The differences are explained by the nature of the technique and the use of heparin of differing molecular weight. Indirect probes using the displacement of ethidium bromide from DNA or, separately, fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide (DNA-Fl) can measure the relative affinities of heparin and DNA for M compounds. These assays showed essentially equivalent affinity of TriplatinNC for heparin and DNA. The generality of these methods was confirmed with a series of mononuclear cobalt, ruthenium, and platinum compounds with significantly lower affinity because of their smaller overall positive charge but in the order [Co(NH3)6]3+ > [Ru(NH3)6]3+ > [Pt(NH3)4]2+. The results on heparin can be extrapolated to glycosoaminoglycans such as HS, emphasizing the relevance of glycan interactions in understanding the biological properties of coordination compounds and the utility of the metalloglycomics concept for extending bioinorganic chemistry to this class of important biomolecules.


The Michel type has been interpreted to include those without development of recognizable inner ear components." Although no mutant gene is known in the mouse that causes total absence of the inner ear, formless cavities in the petrous bone which also fall into this class have been observed in the Kreisler (kr) shaker-walzer mutant mice.l" In these, the malformations vary from a group of formless cavities, with or without interconnecting passages, to those with rudimentary but recognizable sensory structures. These abnormalities have been shown by transplantation experiments to be a consequence of separation of the otic vesicle from the neural tube and an abnormal position and lack of organization of the acoustic ganglion.!"


The ability of symbionts to recolonize their hosts after a period of dysbiosis is essential to maintain a resilient partnership. Many cnidarians rely on photosynthate provided from a large algal symbiont population. Under periods of thermal stress, symbiont densities in host cnidarians decline, and the recovery of hosts is dependent on the re-establishment of symbiosis. The cellular mechanisms that govern this process of colonization are not well-defined and require further exploration. To study this process in the symbiotic sea anemone model Exaiptasia diaphana, commonly called Aiptasia, we developed a non-invasive, efficient method of imaging that uses autofluorescence to measure the abundance of symbiont cells, which were spatially distributed into distinct cell clusters within the gastrodermis of host tentacles. We estimated cell cluster sizes to measure the occurrence of singlets, doublets, and so on up to much larger cell clusters, and characterized colonization patterns by native and non-native symbionts. Native symbiont Breviolum minutum rapidly recolonized hosts and rapidly exited under elevated temperature, with increased bleaching susceptibility for larger symbiont clusters. In contrast, populations of non-native symbionts Symbiodinium microadriaticum and Durusdinium trenchii persisted at low levels under elevated temperature. To identify mechanisms driving colonization patterns, we simulated symbiont population changes through time and determined that migration was necessary to create observed patterns (i.e., egression of symbionts from larger clusters to establish new clusters). Our results support a mechanism where symbionts repopulate hosts in a predictable cluster pattern, and provide novel evidence that colonization requires both localized proliferation and continuous migration.


The Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians and Lebanese share a common geography and a common hydrology on the Jordan River Basin. This paper presents proposals for the establishment of an International Jordan River Joint Commission to manage the water quantity and quality questions of shared transboundary water resources of the Jordan River Basin. The approach proposed is to base the solution of the quantity questions on the concept of equitable apportionment to meet the minimum human and social needs for survival as expressed in the Helsinki Rules drafted by the International Law Association. It is proposed that the method of a fair and equitable water allocation defined as the Minimum Water Requirement-MWR should be equal amount of water -- 125 cubic metres/person/year, for essential human survival needs including domestic consumption and urban/industrial use with only a minimal allocation for local production of fresh vegetables. It is proposed that all five riparians share in the responsibility of managing the environmental aspects of the shared waters as well as sharing in the obligation to assist, in proportion to their available resources, those riparians -- Jordan and the Palestinians, who will be unable, in the future, to meet their Minimum Water Requirement-MWR needed for survival.


ABSTRACT Tan, K. and Liu, A., 2020. Countermeasures and key technologies of port economic development under anti-dumping policy. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 11–14. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Taking s port as an example, this paper studies the relationship between s port economy and hinterland economy. VAR model is introduced for quantitative analysis, and the relevant indicators reflecting port economy and hinterland economic variables are selected. Stability test and VAR vector regression are used for regression analysis. Variance decomposition and mapping are used to analyze the interactive development relationship between port economy and hinterland economy. The empirical results show that the s-port economy plays a weak role in promoting the economic development of the hinterland, while the s-port hinterland economy, especially the total import and export variables, plays the strongest role in promoting the economic growth of the port. Some suggestions are put forward to promote the stable, healthy and high-quality growth of port economy under the anti-dumping policy.


This article gives an ethnographic account of the epic tradition of She people in China, noting the dual transmission methods of stories, in which the core of the story is preserved in pictorial depictions within primarily sacred contexts, whilst more flexible oral retellings fit the stories to the daily life of the She in modern China. The article contrasts western views of myth as a feature of a pre-modern way of life which has lost its relevance in the modern world with common understandings of myth in China as factually based and relevant to contemporary life. The article shows how the She deploy their mythic heritage to reinforce their ethnic identity and to pursue material interests within the context of modernizing Chinese state, numerically and politically dominated by the Han majority, and draws upon the work of Claude Levi-Strauss to suggest that myth remains an important component of Chinese modernity.


OBJECTIVE
Nafamostat mesilate, a short-acting protease inhibitor, treats heparin resistance during cardiopulmonary bypass. This study tested whether nafamostat mesilate is associated with perioperative ischemic stroke.

DESIGN
A retrospective observational study.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 870 adult cardiac surgery patients.

INTERVENTION
The authors retrospectively identified the patients who received nafamostat mesilate and who suffered symptomatic ischemic stroke within 30 postoperative days.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The authors evaluated perioperative patient characteristics in association with perioperative ischemic stroke and death. The patients were identified as heparin resistant if they had an activated coagulation time of <480 seconds after the administration of heparin at 400 to 500 U/kg. Heparin-resistant patients received a 10- to 20-mg bolus plus 25 to 50 mg/h of nafamostat mesilate and heparin at 100 U/kg intravenously every 1.5 to 2.0 hours to maintain an activated coagulation time over 480 seconds. Of the 870 patients, 11 (1.3%) suffered a perioperative ischemic stroke. Of the 190 (21.8%) patients who received nafamostat mesilate, 1 (0.5%) suffered ischemic stroke compared with 10 (1.5%) in 680 patients without nafamostat mesilate (Fisher exact test; p = 0.47; regression analysis; odds ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-2.8; p = 0.32); 3 (1.6%) patients with nafamostat mesilate died postoperatively within 30 days compared with 11 (1.6%) without nafamostat mesilate (Fisher exact test; p > 0.99, regression analysis; odds ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-3.5; p = 0.97).

CONCLUSIONS
No evidence was found that nafamostat mesilate was associated with perioperative ischemic stroke in heparin-resistant patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.


AIMS
To examine the prevalence of work stress and prediabetes in computer technology company employees; to analyze the relationships among stress, work stress and prediabetes; and to explore the potential mediating effects sleep on the relationship between work stress and prediabetes.

DESIGN
A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sample included employees from a large computer technology company in central Texas.

METHODS
Data collection during March - October 2015 included: retrospective electronic medical record review and online surveys. Electronic medical record review data included: height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, high-density lipids, triglycerides and fasting glucose. Online surveys collected demographic, global stress, diet, exercise, coping, sleep and work stress data from participants. Spearman rho calculations analyzed associations between demographic, socio-cultural factors, health behaviors, work stress and prediabetes variables. Logistic regression analyses identified probability variables. A structural equation model examined mediating variables.

RESULTS
Prediabetes prevalence was lower and prevalence of work stress was higher in the participant sample than in the USA population. Findings suggested that low job imbalance increases the probability for prediabetes. Job imbalance was inversely related to prediabetes. Three variables increased the probability prediabetes: alcohol, job imbalance and sleep. Sleep potentially modified the relationship between job imbalance and prediabetes.

CONCLUSION
Participants were college-educated males working in white-collar, technical jobs. Participants had high rates of work stress. Job imbalance was inversely related to prediabetes, which challenges previous empirical data. Future research should continue to explore the relationship between work stress and prediabetes in this population.

IMPACT
This study explored the relationship between work stress and prediabetes in a white-collar worker population in technical industry. Findings suggested that workers in industry have a unique type of stress. Nurses who learn to recognize the non-traditional risk factors for prediabetes can improve screening for prediabetes by including work stress and poor sleep questions.


Combination of structure and content features is necessary for effective retrieval and classification of XML documents. Composite kernels provide a way for fusion of content and structure information. In this paper, we demonstrate that a linear combination of simple and low cost kernels such as cosine similarity on terms and selective paths provide a good classification performance. We also propose a corpus-driven entropy-based heuristic for determining the optimal combination weights. Classification experiments performed on the INEX 1.3 XML corpus, demonstrate that the composite kernel classifier achieves significantly better performance as compared to complex and time consuming approaches.


Objective: Hand washing and sleep hygiene are two important health behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to identify the motivational and volitional antecedents of college students' hand washing and sleep hygiene behaviors based on an integrated model of behavior that combined social-cognition constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). Methods: Using a prospective design, college students (N = 1106) completed a survey assessing the motivational constructs of action self-efficacy, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and behaviors of hand washing and sleep hygiene at Time 1. Demographic variables were also collected. One month later, at Time 2, college students (N = 524) self-reported on their volitional factors of maintenance self-efficacy, action planning, coping planning, and behaviors of hand washing and sleep hygiene. A further 2 months later, at Time 3, college students (N = 297) were asked to self-report on their hand washing and sleep hygiene behaviors over the past month. Findings: Data were analyzed using variance-based structural equation modelling. Results showed significant direct effects of attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control on intentions; significant direct effects of action self-efficacy on maintenance self-efficacy; and significant direct effects of maintenance self-efficacy on action planning and coping planning. Significant direct effects of intention on action planning (sleep hygiene only), and significant direct effects of intention, maintenance self-efficacy (hand washing only), action and coping planning on behavior were also observed. Action planning also moderated the intention–behavior relationship, but only for hand washing. There were also significant total indirect effects of action self-efficacy on behavior mediated by maintenance self-efficacy, action planning, and coping planning for both behaviors, and significant total indirect effects of subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on behavior mediated by intention for sleep hygiene. When past behavior was included in the integrated model predicting all the psychological variables and behavior, all of the structural relations were attenuated. Discussion: Current findings indicate that college students' hand washing and sleep hygiene behaviors are a function of both motivational and volitional factors. Findings also indicate that the TPB and HAPA pathways might differ for the two health behaviors. Implications of the current findings for future health interventions aimed at improving college students' hand washing and sleep hygiene are discussed.


In this integrative literature review housing interventions for the homeless are examined. The main purpose of the study was to examine effective and insufficient components in the homelessness interventions, what factors affect the intervention policy and who the interventions are directed at. The literature search has been conducted in three separate databases and finally, 21 studies were included. The results are sorted in a table and then analyzed both thematically and theoretically. The result of the literature study shows that there is an agreement within this research area that the most important factor that affects the intervention design is the current view on the homelessness problem, depending on if the problem is described as a structural problem or caused by individual inadequacies. Many researchers have a systems theoretical view on homelessness while the practice often forms the interventions out of a traditional individual view that rely on homeless people being addicts or mentally ill. The interventions are therefore formed for people who belong to these categories and it becomes a requirement that homeless people show other problems, aside from the lack of housing stability, to receive help. The research also describes that this way of approaching the problem does not result in a decrease of homelessness and that the most common models of housing training does not fulfill its goals. Additionally, these interventions oppose empowerment thoughts of strengthening individuals and groups. To get the full picture of what measures needs to be taken to end homelessness, further research on the homeless who lack traditional problems and therefore fall out of the helping system is required.


The genus Penicillium is ubiquitous and its species are commonly recovered from every kind of substrate and environmental conditions. Therefore, not surprisingly, Penicillium strains are commonly reported in investigations dealing with fungal endophytic assemblages of plants in both natural and anthropic contexts. As such they are implicated in more or less effective relationships with the host, and involved in applicative issues concerning plant protection and the production of bioactive compounds to be exploited as pharmaceuticals. The available data on occurrence, biocenotic role, production and bioactivities of secondary metabolites of Penicillium strains which have been isolated as endophytes from woody plants are reviewed in the present paper in the aim to introduce the state of the art to researchers involved in this particular field.


The course of the disease in a 46 yr old female patient was characterised by an unusual frequency of thromboembolic complications. Thrombogenic factors were diathesis to cystine stones since adolescence, intake of oral contraceptives for 5 years, immune complex disease, liver cell adenoma, open foramen ovale. Differential therapeutic measures for treatment of thromboembolism were applied. Changes in clotting variables and pathogenetic aspects are discussed.


Rechargeable lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries are receiving intense interest because of their high energy density. A highly efficient catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key factor influencing the performance of Li-O2 batteries. In this work, a facile synthesis of an all-nanosheet architecture electrocatalyst constructed from a monolayer ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) nanosheet with a nitrogen doped sulfonated graphene nanosheet (RuO2-NS-GNS) has been developed for Li-O2 batteries. This complex catalyst displays excellent activity towards the ORR and OER in both aprotic and aqueous Li-O2 batteries. A low overpotential around 1.0 V during the discharge/recharge process is obtained for the aprotic Li-O2 battery with RuO2-NS-GNS. Meanwhile, linear sweep voltammetry curves show that the OER and ORR potentials are 1.45 V and 0.81 V in an alkaline solution (1 M LiOH-5 M LiNO3) for RuO2-NS-GNS, respectively. Both aprotic and aqueous Li-O2 batteries with RuO2-NS-GNS exhibit stable cyclability and low round-trip overpotential without obvious degradation at a limited specific capacity of 1000 mA g-1. The advanced electrochemical performance of RuO2-NS-GNS in both aprotic and aqueous Li-O2 batteries can be attributed to the increased catalytic sites and synergistic effect arising from RuO2 and NS-GNS nanosheets.


In multifamily hydronic systems, temperature imbalance may be caused by undersized piping, improperly adjusted balancing valves, inefficient water temperature and flow levels, and owner/occupant interaction with the boilers, distribution and controls. The effects of imbalance include tenant discomfort, higher energy use intensity and inefficient building operation. This paper explores cost-effective distribution upgrades and balancing measures in multifamily hydronic systems, providing a resource to contractors, auditors, and building owners on best practices to improve tenant comfort and lower operating costs. The research was conducted by The Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR) in conjunction with Elevate Energy. The team surveyed existing knowledge on cost-effective retrofits for optimizing distribution in typical multifamily hydronic systems, with the aim of identifying common situations and solutions, and then conducted case studies on two Chicago area buildings with known balancing issues in order to quantify the extent of temperature imbalance. At one of these buildings a booster pump was installed on a loop to an underheated wing of the building. This study found that unit temperature in a multifamily hydronic building can vary as much as 61 degrees F, particularly if windows are opened or tenants use intermittent supplemental heating sources like oven ranges. Average temperaturemore » spread at the building as a result of this retrofit decreased from 22.1 degrees F to 15.5 degrees F.« less


We report important factors affecting the dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) polycrystalline ceramics prepared by the conventional solid-state ceramic process. The relative dielectric constants (εr) up to several thousands (~ 3,000 at 1 kHz) were gradually increased with increasing the sintered density of samples in the case that no exaggerated grain growth occurred. An abrupt increase in εr values were, however, accompanied by the formation of abnormally grown large grains, and thus with increasing the population of abnormally grown grains, which could be achieved by a prolonged sintering at 1060°C, the εr values were remarkably increased from several thousands to ~105. Optimally processed CCTO sample exhibited a very high εr of ~ 90,000 at 1 kHz.


Background: Recent studies have suggested that atherosclerosis contributes to the development of dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). Convenient and valid biochemical markers of DAT are needed to control risk factors for this disease. The aims of the present study were thus (1) to determine the distribution of plasma β-amyloid peptide1–42 (Aβ1–42) levels in an older population and (2) to investigate factors correlating with plasma levels of this amyloid peptide. Our data support the hypothesis that atherosclerosis plays a role in the pathogenesis of DAT. Methods: 759 Japanese community residents participated in a municipal medical health evaluation; a subset of 280 was selected at random for the measurement of physiological, psychosocial and life-style variables, together with the analysis of blood specimens for cell counts, hematocrit, Aβ1–42, and other biochemical markers. Results: Log-transformed plasma Aβ1–42 concentrations showed a Gaussian distribution. Quartiles of log10 (Aβ1–42) concentrations correlated significantly with age categories, but not with other sociopsychological and life-style variables. Plasma Aβ1–42 was significantly correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DBP; r = 0.19, p = 0.002 and r = 0.16, p = 0.007, respectively), pulse pressure (r = 0.13, p = 0.036), total cholesterol (r = 0.15, p = 0.011), log10 (triacyl glycerol) (r = 0.14, p = 0.021), and log10 (hemoglobin A1c) [log10 (HbA1c)] (r = 0.14, p = 0.020). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed significant independent effects of DBP, and log10 (HbA1c) on plasma Aβ1–42 concentrations. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that conventional atherosclerotic risk factors are associated with plasma Aβ1–42 levels. This observation may be important in the detection and prevention of DAT.


Port Acres gas field is located on the upper Texas Gulf Coast on the east side of the Houston Salt basin. The principal producing zone in the field is the Hackberry Lower reservoir, with a cumulative production of 308 Bcf; the Hackberry Lower ranks 35th in productivity among gas reservoirs in the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain Province. Although the Hackberry Lower reservoir is a candidate for coproduction, secondary recovery has been hindered by difficulties with brine disposal. The reservoir has been abandoned since 1978 except for one shut-in well. Port Acres field lies within a submarine fan complex at the western edge of the Hackberry embayment, which contains strata equivalent to the Oligocene middle Frio Formation. From core data, log patterns, and sand-body geometry, the Lower Hackberry reservoir is interpreted to be a dip-oriented submarine canyon and fan system containing incised channel-fill sandstones and upward-fining sandstones interpreted as intermediate suprafan deposits. Growth fault systems and salt-related structures are abundant in the Port Acres field area. The field discovery well was drilled into a fault-bounded structural trap identified on seismic sections, but the true stratigraphic nature of the trap was identified much later. Stratigraphic pinchouts, common in submarine-fan reservoirs, compartmentalize reservoir-qualitymore » sandstones and can be identified through depositional and structural analysis. In modern exploration practice, integrated studies of reservoir stratigraphy using depositional systems analysis, paleontologic data, 3-D seismic data, and interpretations of the time of emplacement and the geometry of salt structures may be used to identify subtle Gulf Coast stratigraphic traps.« less


A long-term effort is described which has resulted in a knowledge-based software tool, NUT, that combines object-oriented programming with automatic program synthesis. The concept of classes has been considerably extended so that they have evolved into knowledge modules possessing all essential features of frames and can be used as specifications for automatic synthesis of programs. A logically simple and reliable program synthesizer plays an essential role in a number of extensions of the programming tool: scheme editor for developing visual specification languages, declarative reflection tools and distributed programming toolkit. Applications in simulation are briefly discussed.


An increasing number of countries have adopted inflation targeting since 1990. Currently there are 26 countries using inflation targeting in each continent of the world. This paper empirically deals with the inflation targeting by using a dataset of 30 countries for the 1985-2010 period. This paper focuses firstly on the macroeconomic performance of inflation targeting. Secondly, we try to identify which factors are associated with a fall in the inflation volatility in the countries who adopt inflation targeting policy. The main conclusion is that inflation targeting has largely been a success in improving output growth and making down inflation during this period. The second contribution of this paper is to show that a number of economic conditions, structure, and institution variables are significantly associated with the fall of inflation volatility in the countries adopting inflation targeting.


: Dracopelta zbyszewskii is a poorly known ankylosaur dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Even its early history has hitherto remained problematic, mostly due to scarce recorded information. By reviewing published literature, unpublished photos and notes, and field observations, we identify the type locality as a roadcut 400 m Southeast of Praia da Assenta Sul, approximately 1 km West of Barril, Mafra. Western Portugal, and date the discovery to early 1964 and the excavation to December 1964. This improves the existing records and allows to trace the early history of the holotype, providing important historical context on one of the most complete ankylosaurs from Europe. Furthermore, we preliminarily identify additional holotype material, i.e., putative pelvic elements, right hindlimb elements (distal femur, tibia, and fibula), one ungual, ribs, and osteoderms, which will help ascertain its position within Ankylosauria. We also propose that a single repository number be used for the specimen.


It was evaluated the prevalence and related risk factors of caries and gingivitis in children from a day-care center. We examined 228 children ranging from 1 to 5 years of age. In the first group (116 subjects 12 to 42 months of ag e), the dmft index was applied. In the second group (112 children 43 to 71 months of age), the dm ft and gingival status were evaluated. A dmft of 0 was found in 92 children from group 1, and the average was 0.7. The second group showed a dmft index of 0 in 46 children and an average of 2. The average prevalence of gingivitis was 71.3%: 4.5% showed a maximum of 50% of teeth affected, 48.2% showed 51% to 70% of teeth affected, 44.6% showed 71% to 90% of teeth affected, and 2.7% showed more than 90% of teeth affected by gingival bleeding. Dental plaque was ob served in 100% of the subjects. Roughly 89.3% showed very poor oral hygiene. Of all risk fa ctors analyzed, a sweet diet during sleep was the main cause for changes in the dmft index. The p revalence of diseases is high. More educational procedures must be established in order to minimize these conditions. DESCRIPTORS - Dental caries; Gingivitis; Epidemiology.


TiC particulates reinforced iron matrix surface composite was produced by cast technique and in-situ synthesis technique. The surface composite was investigated from thermodynamics, microstructure, wear-resistance and oxidation-resistance. The results show TiC particles whose volume fraction is about 40% exhibit fine size in iron matrix on the surface composite. An excellent metallurgy-bond is observed between the surface composite and the gray iron. Fe-TiC surface composite shows good oxidation-resistance at 900°C and great wear-resistance under condition of dry sliding.


Methylation sequencing is a promising approach to infer the tissue of origin of cell-free DNA (cfDNA). In this study, a single- and a double-stranded library preparation approach were evaluated with respect to their technical biases when applied on cfDNA from plasma and urine. Additionally, tissue of origin (TOO) proportions were evaluated using two deconvolution methods. Sequencing cfDNA from urine using the double-stranded method resulted in a substantial within-read methylation bias and a lower global methylation (56.0% vs. 75.8%, p ≤ 0.0001) compared to plasma cfDNA, both of which were not observed with the single-stranded approach. Individual CpG site-based TOO deconvolution resulted in a significantly increased proportion of undetermined TOO with the double-stranded method (urine: 32.3% vs. 1.9%; plasma: 5.9% vs. 0.04%; p ≤ 0.0001), but no major differences in proportions of individual cell types. In contrast, fragment-level deconvolution led to multiple cell types, with significantly different TOO proportions between the two methods. This study thus outlines potential limitations of double-stranded library preparation for methylation analysis of cfDNA especially for urinary cfDNA. While the double-stranded method allows jagged end analysis in addition to TOO analysis, it leads to significant methylation bias in urinary cfDNA, which single-stranded methods can overcome.


(Miscellanies, no. 999, in Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 20, ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw [New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, forthcoming in 2002]). If this is true for Christians, could it not be true for non-Christians as well? Edwards's insistence on the mysteries of the Spirit's presence and on love as the definitive mark of saving faith may in the end constitute his most effective response to "Enlightenment religion."


Background : The neuropsychiatric derangements in dementing patients are common and troublesome in their managements. The purpose of this study is to compare the behavioral changes in patients with subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD) and to those in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by using the Korean version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (K-NPI). Methods : The K-NPI was administrated to the close caregivers of 19 patients with AD (who met the criteria of the NINCDS-ADRDA for probable AD) and 14 patients with SvaD (who met the criteria of the NINDSAIREN criteria for probable or possible VaD). Groups were matched for age, education and dementia severity. We evaluated the prevalence, the composite score (frequencyseverity) of each behavioral domain in K-NPI between two groups. Results : The most common behavioral disturbances were anxiety (63%) in AD and apathy/indifference (93%) in SVaD. Patients with SVaD had significantly greater total K-NPI scores than patients with AD and exhibited apathy/indifference, agitation/aggression and anxiety more frequently. Composite score of apathy/indifference over 4.7 point discriminates between AD and SVaD with accuracy of 75.8%. Conclusions : The K-NPI provides behavioral profiles that differentiate patients with SVaD from patients with AD. Patients with SVaD are more behaviorally disturbed. Clinicians need to pay more attention to the behavioral disturbances when managing the patients with SVaD.


We all know the goal of the game: "Develop increasingly complex systems with smaller performance margins that meet the user's requirements in the shortest time, with high reliability, open and adaptable, and at the lowest cost". The environment we are working in continues to push Systems Engineering challenges to the next level. As Systems Engineers, we all want to win the game i.e. beat our competitors, satisfy our customers, develop unprecedented systems to address political and economic challenges. We have a proven process and a common set of tools, which we use and refine. Yet as we begin to participate in the game, we find that not only do we have huge challenges, but the rules keep changing. The customer/user requirements change, the conceptual design needs modification, the analysis reveals design challenges, budgets are reallocated. So how do we win this game? This paper presents a case for the increased application of a suite of enablers, processes, and practices referred to as Design for Six Sigma at appropriate integration points during the Systems Engineering process lifecycle.


Nursing assistants (NAs) working in nursing homes (NHs) are at higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WRMSs) than their counterparts working in other health care settings. Worldwide, NAs have ranked shoulders in the top three body parts at risk of WRMSs. However, factors associated with their shoulder WRMSs are currently unknown. The aim of this study was to identify these associated risk factors among NAs working in NHs. 440 NAs from 47 nursing homes (with 60–90% response rate from each nursing home), recruited by convenience sampling, participated in this cross-sectional study in 2014–2015. A validated and reliable questionnaire was used for data collection. Information on demographic, job content questionnaire (JCQ), perceived physical exertion (PE), workstyle, ergonomic and manual handling knowledge and other work-related factors was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. 53% of the participants reported experiencing with WRMSs in their shoulders. Nine associated factors of shoulder WRMSs were identified using bivariate analysis. With the adjustment of age and gender using multivariable logistic regression, body mass index (OR = .931, 95% CI [.874–.991]), job title of health workers (OR = 2.72, 95% CI [1.18–6.25]) and workstyle-working through pain (OR = 1.06, 95% CI [1.01–1.11]) remained as predictors. Effort should be directed at integrating "workstyle intervention" into lifestyle physical activity training for NAs.


Recent Space Shuttle program initiatives aim to achieve a substantial reduction in the mission operations production template. We undertake these initiatives in order to reduce infrastructure costs and increase mission operations supportability, while maintaining the program's substantial capability, flexibility, quality, and safety. We describe here one particular initiative that creates a new way to support Space Shuttle payloads. This initiative has many dimensions, including many process changes, and changes to on-board flight software and orbiter interfaces with the payload software. We describe briefly the dimensions of the initiative and the nature of the changes from the conventional process. In particular, we describe in detail one of the principal tools supporting the new process. This new tool, the orbiter-in-a-box, is a portable, high-fidelity, and comparatively inexpensive Space Shuttle vehicle simulation. In conjunction with the implementation of new processes and on-board support systems, this tool provides early life-cycle development and testing support for Space Shuttle payload customers.


This study presents the adoption of locally constrained regression models (LCRMs) with logarithmic transformations in order to model the flow stress behavior of the high-temperature deformation of 5005 aluminum alloy. Hot tensile tests for 5005 aluminum alloy were conducted under the temperatures of 290 °C, 360 °C, 430 °C, and 500 °C, and the strain rates of 0.0003/s, 0.003/s, and 0.03/s. The flow stress behavior was analyzed based on variations in temperature and strain rate. The flow stress during the hot deformation was modeled using the traditional Arrhenius type constitutive equation and the neural network approach. Then, for improved prediction accuracy, the flow stress was modeled using LCRMs. The prediction accuracies of the models were compared by calculating the MAE (Maximum Absolute Error) and RMSE (Root-Mean-Squared Errors) values. The MAE and RMSE of the LCRMs were lower than the errors of the Arrhenius equation and the neural network model. The results show that LCRMs can be useful in modeling the flow stress of 5005 aluminum alloy, and that the developed model can accurately predict the flow stress.


NASA's Morpheus Project has developed and tested a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing that is designed to serve as a testbed for advanced spacecraft technologies. The lander vehicle, propelled by a Liquid Oxygen (LOX)/Liquid Methane (LCH4) engine and sized to carry a 500kg payload to the lunar surface, provides a platform for bringing technologies from the laboratory into an integrated flight system at relatively low cost. In 2012, Morpheus began integrating the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) sensors and software onto the vehicle in order to demonstrate safe, autonomous precision landing and hazard avoidance. From the beginning, one of goals for the Morpheus Project was to streamline agency processes and practices. The Morpheus project accepted a challenge to tailor the traditional NASA systems engineering approach in a way that would be appropriate for a lower cost, rapid prototype engineering effort, but retain the essence of the guiding principles. This paper describes the tailored project life cycle and systems engineering and integration approach for the Morpheus project, including the processes, tools, and amount of rigor employed over the project's multiple lifecycles since the project began in fiscal year (FY) 2011.


Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex, degenerative and progressive disease involving the multiple genetic and environmental factors that can result in severe visual loss. The etiology of AMD is not well understood. Many theories exist and feature mechanisms of oxidative stress, atherosclerotic-like changes, genetic predisposition and inflammation. The most recent clinical studies appointed to a great role of inflammation and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the pathogenesis of AMD. There is a large body of evidence indicating the association of CRP with endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as with lipid status disorder in AMD patients. According to recent studies, CRP is definitely not only the inflammatory marker but also a mediator of development of the vascular disorders in the retinal circulation. The results obtained from the present studies may help our understanding the pathogenesis of the retinal vascular disease associated with high levels of CRP.


The critical nature of many complex software-intensive systems requires formal architecture descriptions towards better supporting automated architectural analysis regarding correctness properties. Due to the challenges of adopting formal approaches, many architects have preferred using notations such as UML, SysML, and their derivatives to describe the structure and behavior of software architectures. However, these semi-formal notations have limitations regarding the sought support for architectural analysis, particularly formal verification. This Ph.D. research investigates how to conciliate formal support and SysML-based architecture descriptions, to enable the formal verification of dynamic software architectures. The main contribution is proposing a model-driven approach that: (i) provides formal semantics to a SysML-based architectural language, SysADL, by transforming SysADL architecture descriptions in specifications expressed in π-ADL, a well-founded theoretically language based on the higher-order typed π-calculus, and (ii) enables the formal verification of properties for dynamic architectures. These facilities are integrated into an environment that facilitates modeling SysML architectures and formally verifying them.


Cerebral slices from rats subjected either to chronic (2‐ to 6‐month) administration of carbon tetrachloride or to prolonged (21‐day) portocaval shunting showed an increased above control ability to incorporate [3H]uridine in vitro into the RNA of the large cell nuclei, mostly derived from astrocytes but not the small oligodendroglial cell nuclei. This result is interpreted to indicate that brain reacts to extended periods of hepatogenic insult or chronic omission of hepatic circulation with a stimulation of RNA synthesis in the astrocytes. The possible relation of this phenomenon to the characteristic astrocytes response accompanying hepatogenic encephalopathy is discussed.


This article presents a CMOS image sensor (CIS) with column-parallel single-shot compressive sensing (CS) for always-on Internet-of-Things (IoT) application, which achieves an energy efficiency of 51 pJ/pixel, while maintaining high image quality of PSNR > 33.7 dB and SSIM > 0.89. This is enabled by an energy-efficient encoder, which replaces a densely populated CS encoding matrix with a highly sparse pseudo-diagonal one. Since the proposed column-parallel CS encoder can be implemented directly at pixel outputs with an energy-efficient switched-capacitor matrix multiplier, data compression is achieved prior to the pixel digitization, thereby greatly reducing ADC power, data size, and I/O power. The energy efficiency of the image sensor is further improved by using dynamic single-slope ADCs. A prototype VGA image sensor implemented in a 110-nm CMOS process consumes only 0.7 mW at 45 frames/s. The corresponding energy per pixel (51 pJ/pixel) amounts to more than $5\times $ improvement over the previous low-energy benchmark for CS image sensors.


Developmental and Epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) describe heterogeneous epilepsy syndromes, characterized by early‐onset, refractory seizures and developmental delay (DD). Several DEE associated genes have been reported. With increased access to whole exome sequencing (WES), new candidate genes are being identified although there are fewer large cohort papers describing the clinical phenotype in such patients. We describe 6 unreported individuals and provide updated information on an additional previously reported individual with heterozygous de novo missense variants in YWHAG. We describe a syndromal phenotype, report 5 novel, and a recurrent p.Arg132Cys YWHAG variant and compare developmental trajectory and treatment strategies in this cohort. We provide further evidence of causality in YWHAG variants. WES was performed in five patients via Deciphering Developmental Disorders Study and the remaining two were identified via Genematcher and AnnEX databases. De novo variants identified from exome data were validated using Sanger sequencing. Seven out of seven patients in the cohort have de novo, heterozygous missense variants in YWHAG including 2/7 patients with a recurrent c.394C > T, p.Arg132Cys variant; 1/7 has a second, pathogenic variant in STAG1. Characteristic features included: early‐onset seizures, predominantly generalized tonic–clonic and absence type (7/7) with good response to standard anti‐epileptic medications; moderate DD; Intellectual Disability (ID) (5/7) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (3/7). De novo YWHAG missense variants cause EE, characterized by early‐onset epilepsy, ID and DD, supporting the hypothesis that YWHAG loss‐of‐function causes a neurological phenotype. Although the exact mechanism of disease resulting from alterations in YWHAG is not fully known, it is possible that haploinsufficiency of YWHAG in developing cerebral cortex may lead to abnormal neuronal migration resulting in DEE.


THE CRETACEOUS AND JURASSIC LUBLIN GRABEN The author undertook the attempt of summing up all data known on the occurrence of the Cretaceous and Jurassic in the area situated east of line Mogielnica-Radom-Rachow-Bilgoraj (Central Poland). The attached map showing range, surface morphology and thickness of both Cretaceous and Jurassic sediments, as well as geological sections, may serve as proof that westwards and southwestwards from the Bug river the thicknesses of the Cretaceous and the Jurassic systematically increase. The average inclination of the bottom surface of the Cretaceous does not exceed·0.5 In the investigated distribution of units structural of the first order the axis of greatest deepening (of thicknesses of the Cretaceous exceeding 1000 m:, and of those of the Jurassic exceeding 800 m.) extends towards the western margin of the depression. In the author's opinion, this kind of tendencies in the development of maximum thicknesses is connected with uniform movements of the sedimentation base. On the basis of bore-holes the author established the marginal zone of the depression, which in the west limits the so-called Lublin graben to extend in section Bilgoraj-Jozefow in the shape of a fault with a throw of some 1000 m. On the basis of an analysis of geophysical evidence, and of bore-holes it was suggested to extend the dislocation zone beyond Bilgoraj as far as Mogielnica near Radom. This zone, separates in Central Poland two structural elements of divergent character of the first order.


We address the problem of whether parties who cannot communicate but share nonsignaling quantum correlations between the outcomes of sharp measurements can distinguish, just from the value of a correlation observable, whether their outcomes were produced by sequential compatible measurements on single systems or by measurements on spatially separated subsystems. We show that there are quantum correlations between the outcomes of sequential measurements which cannot be attained with spatially separated systems. We present examples of correlations between spatially separated systems whose quantum maximum tends to the sequential maximum as the number of parties increases and examples of correlations between spatially separated systems whose quantum maximum fails to violate the noncontextual bound while its corresponding sequential version does.


Hotel investment increases the productive capacity of an economy. It is very important to utilize unattached resource to create job opportunity for citizen, to increase foreign currency through imports substitution, export promotion of a nation and facilitate the communication and cultural exchange of society. The main purpose of this study is to assess the factors that affect the hotel investment in Gondar Town. Descriptive research design and Non-probability sampling technique was used, self-developed questionnaire was the main data collection instruments. The data gathered from the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as tabulation, frequency and percentage. The findings of the study reveals the factors that are affecting  hotel investments are implementation of rules and regulations of the government periodically, Shortage of credit/finance, High tax rate as well as uncertainty in the tax policies of the government, Poor quality of infrastructure facilities in the town and shortage of raw materials for involving in hotel construction activities. Hence, the government and policy makers have to pay special attention on the listed factors for resolving the issues and encourage investors to invest in the hotel businesses in Gondar town.


The aim of this study is to analyze the organization of associations in the two largest cities of Rio Grande do Norte Natal and Mossoró in Brazil, observing their origin and development taking into account each local context. Methodologically, data from the Map of organizations and civil society (Ipea, 2018) were used, which were categorized based on the typology of Luchmamn (2016). The first step was to carry out a mapping of associations in both cities, identifying the most socially organized neighborhoods. Then, as fundamental elements to understand the local political culture, it is pointed out how the associations and the respective areas of activity are organized based on the selected typology.


The functioning of the digital economy is accompanied by the intensive development of mobile communication system, the introduction of numerous wireless devices for various purposes that create radio frequency electromagnetic radiation in the human environment. It is important to solve the problems of ensuring electromagnetic safety of the population. The aim of the study is to substantiate the need for a technical and hygienic prognosis of the impact of radio frequency of electromagnetic radiation on the population in the digital economy in order to develop science - based recommendations for the prevention of the negative impact of EMF on the health of the population. The significance of forecasting is considered on the example of the development of a mobile radio communication system. The study included an analysis of the national program "Digital economy of the Russian Federation", "Concepts for creating and developing 5G/IMT-2020 networks in the Russian Federation", and scientific publications ELIBRARY.RU, PubMed Central Internet information platform, EMF-Portal RWTH Aachen University Internet platform, PubMed Central Internet resources and others. The rationale for the need for continuous forecasting of the impact of radio frequency radiation on the population and the structure of the forecast are presented. The article shows the importance of forecasting for the timely development of legal acts, methodological documents, technical and organizational measures to protect the population from the effects of electromagnetic fields and the need for a systematic approach to ensuring the electromagnetic safety of the population. In the context of the development of the digital economy, it is extremely relevant to develop a technical and hygienic forecast of the impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation on the population and scientific justification of measures to protect the population from EMF. When forming a forecast, it is necessary to apply a systematic approach to coordinate the entire range of measures to ensure electromagnetic safety of the population. The development of forecasts requires strong interdepartmental and interdisciplinary interaction. Research and scientific development in the field of electromagnetic safety of the population should have state funding. The "electromagnetic security" direction should be included in the national program "Digital economy of the Russian Federation".


The Barik formation is a tight low-permeability conventional gas reservoir in the Sultanate of Oman comprising of a series of interbedded sandstones and shales. To achieve an efficient and economic development of this formation, the wells require the application of massive hydraulic fracturing operations, in order to achieve the required surface area and connectivity for production delivery.
 Hydraulic fracturing operations often involve the use of a wide range of chemical components and the industry has understood for some time that chemical reactions take place both during and after fracture treatments have been performed. Post fracture treatment a wide range of differing chemical effects can take place and this may continue for some time during the extensive flowback and clean-up period. Such chemistries can result in a range of differing effects, including unplanned scaling tendencies, corrosional behaviour and can even influence aspects such as hydrate control. Such effects can also have an adverse impact on the well itself, the surface manifolding/valves, gathering system and production facilities and need to be well appreciated in order to remove issues.
 During the early Appraisal of the Barik formation, in Block 61 in the Sultanate of Oman, H2S had been observed during the post-frac well-test operations. However, the Barik reservoir within the Khazzan field, was believed to be sweet and not reflect a measurable H2S; a characteristic that had been confirmed by performing pre-frac openhole sampling. As had been determined with fracturing operations elsewhere, it was surmised that the frac operations themselves where the potential source of the H2S. Potential causes for this included thermal decomposition of fluid chemistry as well as inadvertent contamination of original source water used for the feed fluid. It had been observed/measured, that the magnitude of H2S reduced with time and was directly related to fracturing fluid clean-up. After extensive investigation the evidence suggested that the root-cause was a combination of the presence of a hardy Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) species along with the presence of a thiosuplhate feedstock in the frac fluid.
 This paper will present a full, robust and coherent analysis of the presence of H2S, the rigorous steps that were followed to identify the root-causes and the identification of potential sources/causes. The paper will present the preventive measures that have been taken and their impact on the overall temporary levels of H2S that have been seen in the operations since. The paper will go on to recommend that for future operations, particularly start-up areas, as transitory levels of H2S might not be identified, not because H2S is not there but rather that there is typically no apparatus nor sufficiently accurate surveillance in place on everyday operations to precisely identify such material.


The concept of invariant states of synchronous sequential circuits is defined. An invariant state is incompletely specified (i.e., it is a cube), and its specified state variables remain constant under any input vector. Invariant states provide a method to identify redundant logic, which may not be identified based on redundant stuck-at faults. A procedure for finding invariant states with maximal numbers of specified state variables is described. The process of finding redundant logic based on an invariant state is explained. Experimental results show that several large benchmark circuits have invariant states with large numbers of specified state variables, explaining why these circuits are untestable. Properties of invariant states in synchronizable circuits are also discussed


Summary A study was carried out on the post-lambing normal and abnormal maternal behaviour of sheep using 237 Barki ewes of 2, 3, 4 and 5 years of age and their newborn single lambs. Normal maternal behaviour was observed in 64·5% of the ewes as they immediately recognized their lambs after birth, readily accepted them and started grooming and helping them to suckle. The overall average time-interval from parturition until ewes stood, started cleaning and until lambs started suckling was 2·9 ± 0·5, 4·0 ± 0·8 and 20·5 ± 2·0 min respectively. The 2-year-old ewes and the ewes weighing 30 kg and less took longer to accept and nurse their new-born lambs than older and heavier ones. Post-lambing abnormal maternal behaviour was observed in 30·4% of the ewes, among which 43·1, 45·8 and 11·1% were classed as fair, poor and very poor mothers respectively. Fair mothers failed to nurse their lambs, poor mothers deserted them and very poor mothers permanently deserted their lambs and were aggressive to them. The post-lambing abnormal maternal behaviour was more frequent among 2-year-old maiden ewes than older ewes.


Based on double-indicator-dilution principles we developed and validated a new method of measuring water content in the tracheal wall by inscribing time-concentration curves with the inert gas, helium and the water-soluble gas, dimethylether. In the trachea of conscious adult sheep the measurable water volume of the wall over a 15-cm length ranged between 0.50 and 0.70 ml. The tracheal radius calculated from helium volume and known tracheal length ranged between 7.4 and 9.3 mm. The corresponding measurable "water depth" ranged between 63 and 82 microns. Changes in bronchial blood flow had no consistent influence on tracheal water volume. The intravenous injection of histamine (4 micrograms/kg) increased mean water depth to between 122 and 134% of base line (P less than 0.001), whereas the intravenous injection of carbachol (4 micrograms/kg) had no effect on water depth. The production of large amounts of airway secretions produced by carbachol were removed prior to inscription of the indicator-dilution curves. These findings indicate that the double-gas-indicator technique is capable of measuring in vivo the volume of a water compartment in the tracheal wall and that this volume is increased by histamine. This method may be applicable in human subjects.


Subproblems in a problem frames decomposition frequently make use of projections of the complete problem context. One specific use of projec-tions occurs when an eventual implementation will be distributed, in which case a subproblem must interact with (use) the machine in a projection that represents another subproblem. We refer to subproblems used in this way as services, and propose an extension to projections to represent services as a spe-cial connection domain between subproblems. The extension provides signifi-cant benefits: verification of the symmetry of the interfaces, exposure of the machine-to-machine interactions, and prevention of accidental introduction of shared state. The extension's usefulness is validated using a case study.


The article deals with durability of wood, durability of wooden structures and surface modification of wood. We are trying to eliminate the factors causing degradation of wood with the use of photocatalytic materials. Those materials are efficient UV absorbers and they are able to destroy biological aggressors also. The planar particles of titanium oxide TiO2 were chosen for the purpose of our research and applied on a wooden surface. In our case, we used a water solution of TiO2. The main goal of our work was to study the interaction between planar particles of TiO2 and wood matter. The samples of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) were monitored for 255 days and subsequently evaluated using an electron microscope. The use of TiO2 was compared with reference material and a reference commercial coating.


...................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER