This study was conducted in Kathmandu district to perform comparative economic analysis of small and commercial goat enterprises. In the study the average annual return from large enterprises was found to be six times greater than that of small enterprises. The average annual fixed cost of small enterprises was found to be one tenth of that of commercial goat enterprises. The total average annual variable cost of small enterprises was found comparatively less than that of commercial enterprises, which is more than five times less. The per unit goat cost for the small enterprises is also twenty-five hundred less than that of commercial enterprises. The gross profit per year of small enterprise was around sixty thousand rupees with 9.5% gross profit margin ratio while in commercial goat enterprises gross profit per year accounted almost 4 lakh with gross profit margin ratio 10.45%. Similarly, the average benefit cost ratios for small and commercial enterprises were found similar i.e. 1.10 and 1.12 but break even points varied widely as 18.36% and 56% respectively. The study concluded that there is no significant difference in production costs and income among small and commercial goat enterprises present in Kathmandu district testing at 5% level of significance. It also reveals positive aspects of small goat enterprises and at the same time suggests low functional efficiency of commercial goat enterprises in Katmandu district.


To optimize the design and improve the performance of wastewater treatment bioreactors,the review concerning the hydrodynamics explored by theoretical equations,process experiments,modeling of the hydrodynamics and flow field measurement is presented. Results of different kinds of experiments show that the hydrodynamic characteristics can affect sludge characteristics,mass transfer and reactor performance significantly. Along with the development of theoretical equations,turbulence models including large eddy simulation models and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models are widely used at present. Standard and modified k-e models are the most widely used eddy viscosity turbulence models for simulating flows in bioreactors. Numerical simulation of hydrodynamics is proved to be efficient for optimizing design and operation. The development of measurement techniques with high accuracy and low intrusion enables the flow filed in the bioreactors to be transparent. Integration of both numerical simulation and experimental measurement can describe the hydrodynamics very well.


The Ría de Vigo is a dynamic and productive upwelling ecosystem. We measured 14C incorporation (TO14CP) and gross primary production (GPP), community respiration (DCR), net production (NCP) and size-fractioned chlorophyll a (chl a) fortnightly from May 2012 to May 2013 in the euphotic layer of the Ría. Our aim was to improve the depiction of plankton metabolism in the Ría and to test the general hypothesis that community structure determines the degree of heterotrophy in planktonic ecosystems. Higher primary production was measured after upwelling episodes and during the spring bloom, when the community was dominated by microphytoplankton (>70% chl a>20μm). Lower primary production was observed during summer stratification periods (~65% chl a>20μm), and during the pico- and nanophytoplankton-dominated winter (~25% chl a>20μm). Coupling between phytoplankton photosynthesis and biomass varied seasonally, mainly driven by environmental conditions. DCR was 3 times lower and 8 times less variable than GPP, and its variability was mainly driven by the changes in chl a. The integrated metabolic balance was autotrophic most of the year, despite the negative NCP rates at depth. There was an inverse relationship between the DCR:GPP ratio and the percentage of microphytoplankton (% chl a>20μm) only in the summer. However, DCR:GPP and DCR:chl a ratios were similar in winter and spring, despite the seasonal differences in primary production and size structure. The similar TO14CP:NCP and chl a:DCR relations in spring (>70% chl a>20μm) and winter (~25% chl a>20μm), and the differences in summer (>70% chl a>20μm) confirm cell size independence in trophic functioning. We conclude that respiration variability is relevant for the metabolic balance in the Ría, and that the degree of heterotrophy is not systematically related to phytoplankton size over the scales of our study.


Operation of pesticide population require to be conducted. This time operation which conducted many is chemically, which can leave dangerous residu to environment. In this time have been developed by method operation of white pest by exploiting mushroom of entomopatogen which is have potency to as agent involve for the controller of pest. For that have been conducted by research with aim to in searching, insulation, and identify various mushroom type of entomopatogen which is insulation at infection insect around area agriculture of kecamatan  X Koto Tanah Datar. Identify through perception of characteristic of makroskopis and is microscopic of mushroom which is insulation. Result of research indicate that from four insulation area found by 12 mushroom type of entomopatogen (Sp.1, Sp.2, A. niger, Aspergillus sp.1, Aspergillus sp.2, Aspergillus sp.3, Aspergillus sp.4, Aspergillus sp.5, Penicillium sp.1, Penicillium sp.2, Penicillium sp.3, Penicillium sp.4. Key words: entomopatogen, aspergillus, penicillium


Ten temperate and nine tropical grasses were compared in glasshouse trials in their response to a wide range of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition. For all attributes there was a gradation in species response within the temperate and tropical groups; the means for the two groups were different although the spread of values showed some degree of overlap between the groups. In general, the temperate grasses had more tillers per plant and a lower top/root ratio than the tropical grasses. The tropical grasses grew better than the temperate grasses at low nutrient combinations but the reverse was true for the high nutrient combinations. The linear response to nitrogen of the tropical group of species was lower than that of the temperate group but was probably a consequence of the ability of the tropical grasses to grow at low nitrogen levels since the curvature in nitrogen response was similar for all species. Within both groups of grasses, the proportional response to nitrogen increased with increase in the species potential for yield. The temperate grasses accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus to higher concentrations in the plant tops, and were higher in digestibility, than the tropical grasses. Nevertheless, the tropical grasses would appear to have the potential for higher quality forage than is generally produced in field situations.


A number of countries have statutory derivative actions. They allow a shareholder to bring legal action on behalf of the company, typically where the company refuses or is unable to bring the action. The Australian derivative action was enacted in March 2000 to overcome inadequacies with the common law derivative action. In this article the authors present the results of an empirical study of all cases decided under the Australian statutory derivative action during its first 6 years of operation. The study provides insights into the way Australian courts have interpreted and applied this legal remedy. The authors evaluate the statutory derivative action in light of the reasons for its enactment. Issues discussed in the article include the role of shareholder litigation in corporate governance and the rationale for statutory derivative actions.


Monte-Carlo simulations on a 64 lattice are employed to calculate the 1*1 Wilson loops W(1, 1) and the associated string tension for pure U(N) and SU(N), N=2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, gauge theories in the weak-coupling region. It is shown that U(N) to SU(N) as N increases, with U(6) approximately=SU(6).


BackgroundXuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD) is a well-known Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula that has many pharmacological effects, including enhancing immune function, improving hemorheology and regulating blood vessels bidirectionally. Modern pharmacological and clinical studies showed that XFZYD could ameliorate curative effect of glioblastoma (GBM). The aim of this study was to interpret core components and the hidden molecular mechanisms of XFZYD on GBM. MethodsHere, a novel network pharmacology strategy, which combined pharmacological data, next generation sequencing data, pharmacokinetic parameters and a novel node importance calculation method was designed to decipher the potential therapeutic mechanism of XFZYD on GBM. The partial components in core component group (CCG) were evaluated by in vitro expriments. We identified 117 chemical components analysis through ADME screening, then component-target network and GBM related genes were integrated as the component-target-pathogenic gene (C-T-P) network. ResultsThe results show that the enriched pathways of targets in the key functional network could cover 77.92% of the enriched pathways of pathogenic genes. A novel cumulative contribution rate (CCR) calculation model was designed and captured CCG with 21 components. The statistics results indicate that 15 enriched pathways of the targets of CCG were overlap with pathogenic genes enriched pathways. Finally, some core components in CCG were validated by in vitro experiments. ConclusionThe results show that our proposed stategy for decoding CCG and infering the underlying mechanism with good reliability and accuracy. The validation results indicate that the CCG play a therapeutic role on GBM by targeting to PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Our strategy provides methodological reference for the optimization and secondary development of TCM formula.


Anomaly detection aims to recognize samples with anomalous and unusual patterns with respect to a set of normal data. This is significant for numerous domain applications, such as industrial inspection, medical imaging, and security enforcement. There are two key research challenges associated with existing anomaly detection approaches: (1) many approaches perform well on low-dimensional problems however the performance on high-dimensional instances, such as images, is limited; (2) many approaches often rely on traditional supervised approaches and manual engineering of features, while the topic has not been fully explored yet using modern deep learning approaches, even when the well-label samples are limited. In this paper, we propose a One-for-all Image Anomaly Detection system (OIAD) based on disentangled learning using only clean samples. Our key insight is that the impact of small perturbation on the latent representation can be bounded for normal samples while anomaly images are usually outside such bounded intervals, referred to as structure consistency. We implement this idea and evaluate its performance for anomaly detection. Our experiments with three datasets show that OIAD can detect over 90% of anomalies while maintaining a low false alarm rate. It can also detect suspicious samples from samples labeled as clean, coincided with what humans would deem unusual.


Objective: The aims of present study to detect the effectiveness of instruction program of non-pharmacological guideline on blood pressure and laboratory test.

Methodology: A pre-experimental study was conducted in Al-Sader Teaching Hospital   from 8th of September 2019 to 25th of May 2020, in order to find out the effectiveness of instruction program concerning non-pharmacological guideline on controlling essential hypertension among patients. A non- probability (purposive sample) of 50 patients with essential hypertension is selected. Those patients are already diagnosed with Essential Hypertension and had already used the medication and they visited the hospitals for treatment or follow-up or both. A questionnaire is constructed to assess the effectiveness of the instruction program for controlling essential hypertension which consist of four part
Part one: It is concerned with the patients' socio-demographic data which include (gender, age, level of education, marital status, economic status, and occupation)
Part two: Consist of patient health behavior which as exercise, weight, height and assessing of BP.
Part three: included list of Laboratory test
Part four: deals two domain related to patient's knowledge about hypertension which as 15 items and Second domain related to DASH regimen which as 13 items.
The validity of the questionnaire and the instructional program had been achieved by 10 panel of experts, the descriptive and inferential statistics was used to data analysis of the results.
Results: The results of the study indicated that the stage of hypertension according to category of hypertension was 44% stage 3 the pre-test and their hypertension was improved in the   post-test where become 26% prehypertension, and 22% norm tension.
Recommendations: The study recommended that the instructional guideline (DASH) should be used and applied to all patients' to health institutions with essential hypertension by the Ministry of Health and health care centers.


Sir Isaac Newton, writing in Latin, defined his celebrated laws of motion verbally. When the laws of motion are read as relating to his arithmetic (the Arithmetica Universalis) and his calculus (the method of fluxions), division by zero is undefined so his physics fails at mathematical singularities. The situation is unchanged in modern real arithmetic and real calculus: division by zero is undefined so both Newtonian Physics and its modern developments fail at mathematical singularities. However, when Newton's text is read as relating to transreal arithmetic and transreal calculus, division by zero is defined and we show that the resulting Transreal Newtonian Physics does operate at mathematical singularities. We hold out the hope that the whole of modern physics may be similarly extended. We use the new physics to predict a convection current at the singularity in a black hole and suggest experiments in astronomy and high energy physics that might confirm or rebut our predictions. Thus our exegesis of Newton's text extends mathematical physics and may, in future, extend experimental physics.


This paper presents a theoretical model for the analysis of double-bumped AFBs. The stiffness and damping coefficients of the double bump vary depending on the external load and its friction coefficient. In the case of a lightly loaded condition where only the upper bump contributes to deformation, the double bump is in the single active region. In the case of a heavily loaded condition where both the upper and lower bumps contribute to deformation, the double bump is in the double active region. So the double bump can be either in the single or double active region depending on vertical deflection. The equivalent stiffness and damping coefficients of the bump system are derived from the vertical and horizontal deflection of the bump, including the friction effect. A static and dynamic performance analysis is carried out by using the finite difference method and the perturbation technique. The res비ts of the performance analysis for a double-bumped AFB are compared with those obtained for a single-bumped AFB. This paper successfully proves that a double bumped AFB has higher load capacity, stiffness, and damping than a single-bumped AFB in a heavily loaded condition.


Background and Objectives:
 Ten to twenty percent of children with Kawasaki disease (KD) do not respond to initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment, and if untreated approximately 15% to 25% of patients with KD have complications. The aim of our study is to find more useful predictors of responsiveness to initial IVIG in KD.

 Subjects and Methods:
 We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 91 children diagnosed with KD at Myong Ji Hospital from March 2012 to April 2014. Laboratory data obtained before and 24 to 36 hours after IVIG treatment were collected, which include hemoglobin level, white blood cell count, proportions of neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils, platelet count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) and N[[Unsupported Character - Codename ]]terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Subjects were then divided in to 2 groups, IVIG-responsive and IVIG-resistant.

 Results:
 Among the 91 patients, 11 patients (12%) required retreatment. By univariate analysis, before-IVIG laboratory parameters of white blood cell count, % neutrophils, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP, sodium, CK, CK-MB and NT[[Unsupported Character - Codename ]]proBNP were significantly different. In the after-IVIG laboratory parameters, hemoglobin level, white blood cell count, % neutrophils, % lymphocytes, CRP, CK, CK-MB and NT-proBNP were significantly different. While the mean-differences were not statistically significant, fractional change (FC)-CRP and FC-% neutrophils showed significant difference. By multivariate analysis, FC-CRP was confirmed to be an independent predictor for initial IVIG resistance.

 Conclusion:
 FC-CRP might be a more useful and important value for predicting initial IVIG responsiveness in KD patients than before- and after-IVIG CRP.


Fifty patients attending the urological department of the Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary, Eire, were treated with the new chemotherapeutic agent, trimethoprim-sulphamelhoxazole. Clinical and bacteriological studies were carried out at the end of the course of treatment and at follow-up four weeks later. The majority of urinary pathogens were found to be sensitive to this preparation, and the development of resistant strains was minimal. The drug was found to be effective when administered for seven days, and side-effects occurred in one patient only.


Myeloid cells regulate tumor angiogenesis and promote tumor invasion, yet few strategies exist to exploit their presence to reverse the overall immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Based on bioinformatic mining of sentinel genes encoding biologically active peptides, we have recently identified Ecrg4 (Esophageal Cancer-Related Gene 4), as a novel secreted pro-inflammatory mediator of macrophage activation. While higher Ecrg4 expression levels correlate with improved survival in cancers of the esophagus, prostate and breast, indicating a role as a candidate tumor suppressor gene, we have demonstrated that the biological activity of Ecrg4 in cancer functions through a paracrine mechanism, in which Ecrg4 regulates myeloid cells in brain tumors. Moreover, mutational analysis reveals that the biological activity of Ecrg4 is dependent on a thrombin-processing site at the C-terminus, inducing monocyte invasion in vivo and in vitro, demonstrating its role as a novel chemoattractant. Here we establish Ecrg4 as a thrombin-processed chemoattractant using subcutaneous tumor models. Ecrg4 gene delivery or Ecrg4 (133-148) peptide administration to tumor reduced melanoma progression through mobilization and activation of myeloid cells to tumor site. Furthermore, in Ecrg4-knockout mice, myeloid cell recruitment is impaired, leading to increased tumor burden. Together, these results identify Ecrg4 as a paracrine factor that is chemotactic for monocytes, with translational potential as an anti-tumor therapeutic. Citation Format: Jisook Lee, Alexandra Borboa, Andrew Baird, Brian Eliceiri. Thrombin-processed Ecrg4 recruits myeloid cells and induces anti-tumorigenic inflammation. [abstract]. In: Abstracts: AACR Special Conference on Cellular Heterogeneity in the Tumor Microenvironment; 2014 Feb 26-Mar 1; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A21. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.CHTME14-A21


Funk, Josh. How to Code a Sandcastle. Illustrated by Sara Palacios, Viking, 2018.
How to Code a Sandcastle, written by Josh Funk, is endorsed as a "Girls Who Code" book. Founded in 2013, the mission of Girls Who Code is to close the gender gap in technology. One of the tools they use to help them reach their young female target audience is children's literature. The story begins with the protagonist, Pearl, comically explaining a variety of challenges she encountered when building a sandcastle at the beach. Now, on the last day of her summer vacation, Pearl has decided to recruit the help of her robot, Pascal, to build her sandcastle. Pearl gives instructions to Pascal, using code, and explains the coding concepts of sequence, loop, and if-then-else to the reader as they relate to the task of building her sandcastle. These concepts are introduced and explained to the young readers in a fun and engaging manner.
The text features of this book are eye catching and educational. Josh Funk strategically changes the text color to highlight coding vocabulary and he draws the reader's attention to coding commands by changing the text font when Pearl is giving instructions to Pascal. Speech bubbles are used throughout the book in an appealing, non-linear manner. The illustrations are interesting, colourful, and visually captivating to all readers, young and old. The images are crafted with purpose as they enhance the reader's ability to make meaning of the coding concepts by providing them with visual information to complement and reinforce the descriptions given in the text. The last two pages of the book, Pearl and Pascal's Guide to Coding, give a more in-depth explanation of the coding concepts, providing extra support for children and adults who may be new to coding. This book is an entertaining and educational must read!
Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Dannielle Sehgal
Dannielle Sehgal is a kindergarten teacher and graduate student at the University of Alberta. Dannielle is passionate about her career and loves discovering new picture books that she can bring to her classroom and read to her students.


The reflection undertaken here aspires to understand human emotion by joining Aristotle's and Heidegger's descriptions of emotion in a thoughtful confrontation (Auseinandersetzung). In his 1924 Aristotle lectures, Heidegger carries out a phenomenology of being-in-the world which illuminates the "structures" of emotion. Aristotle's descriptions of emotions in the Rhetoric serve to enrich the structures delineated by Heidegger. Although millennia separate the two thinkers and their civilizations,what they say together about emotion is meaningful today. Their philosophical projects may seem to subordinate consideration of emotion to rhetorical or ontological purposes, but they actually serve to enrich our understanding by recognizing the intertwining of speech, world, and emotion.


Modern design evaluation technologies based on human figure simulations are helping us to make fuller and more accurate assessments of human/machine and workplace interfaces. As computer graphics and related digital technologies advance, one will be able to illustrate, predict, evaluate, and document a wider array of human performance issues involving system useability concurrently with design development. The Design Evaluation for Personnel, Training, and Human Factors (DEPTH) program is developing and integrating many of these technologies for engineering applications. This paper provides an overview of current and planned DEPTH technology developments.<<ETX>>


Abstract Near the Barents Sea coast in northern Timan, turbidites of probable Neoproterozoic age are intruded by pre-tectonic dolerites and a major suite of gabbros, granites and syenites (some nepheline bearing). Zircon ion microprobe dating of three plutons has yielded well-defined ages of 613–617 Ma. This alkaline igneous activity apparently represents a final phase of Vendian extensional magmatism prior to Timanian Orogeny. Previous work on late to post-orogenic calc-alkaline granites in the basement beneath the Pechora Basin, three hundred kilometres towards the SE, has yielded c. 550–560 Ma single zircon Pb-evaporation ages. These compositionally different intrusive suites are inferred to constrain the main phase of Timanian Orogeny to c. 610–560 Ma.


The survival and reproduction of Drosophila melanogaster depends heavily on its ability to determine the location of an odor source and either to move toward or away from it. Despite the very small spatial separation between the two antennae and the redundancy in sensory neuron projection to both sides of the brain, Drosophila can resolve the concentration gradient by comparing the signal strength between the two antennae. When an odor stimulates the antennae asymmetrically, ipsilateral projection neurons from the first olfactory center are more strongly excited compared to the contralateral ones. However, it remains elusive how higher-order neurons process such asymmetric or lateralized odor inputs. Here, we monitored and analyzed for the first time the activity patterns of a small cluster of third-order neurons (so-called ventrolateral protocerebrum neurons) to asymmetric olfactory stimulation using two-photon calcium imaging. Our data demonstrate that lateralized odors evoke distinct activation of these neurons in the left and right brain hemisphere as a result of contralateral inhibition. Moreover, using laser transection experiments we show that this contralateral inhibition is mediated by presynaptic neurons most likely located in the lateral horn. Finally, we propose that this inhibitory interaction between higher-order neurons facilitates odor lateralization and plays a crucial role in olfactory navigation behavior of Drosophila, a theory that needs to be experimentally addressed in future studies.


Background: Safety and effectiveness of absorbable meshes for laparoscopic hiatus hernia repair are still debated. This may be due to patient selection, technique of repair, type and shape of mesh, definition of recurrent hernia, and length of follow-up. The aim of this study was to assess safety, short-term efficacy, and quality of life after laparoscopic repair of hiatal hernia reinforced with a biosynthetic absorbable mesh. Materials and Methods: A single-center observational cohort study was conducted in patients with large type III-IV hiatal hernia who underwent laparoscopic crural repair reinforced with Phasix ST®, a monofilament resorbable mesh (poly-4-hydroxybuterate) with a hydrogel barrier on one side. Patient data were extracted from hospital charts and a prospectively updated research database. Both generic Short Form-36 (SF-36) and disease-specific (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease Health-Related Quality of Life [GERD-HRQL]) questionnaires were used to assess preoperative and postoperative quality of life. Results: From January 2017 to July 2019, 73 consecutive patients were implanted with Phasix ST mesh. The median follow-up was 17 (interquartile range 9-24) months. Recurrent hernia was found in 2 of 62 (3.2%) patients followed for more than 6 months after surgery, but none required reoperation. The overall postoperative morbidity rate was 8.2%. No mesh-related complications occurred. Compared to baseline, there was a statistically significant improvement of all items of the SF-36 questionnaire (P < .001) and of the median GERD-HRQL score (P < .001). Conclusion: The use of Phasix ST mesh to reinforce crural repair for large hiatus hernias is safe, is effective in the short-term follow-up, and is associated to improved quality of life.


The far-field patterns of an extended hemispherical-lens/objective-lens antenna system fed by a double-slot antenna is computed using the hybridisation of ray-tracing and diffraction techniques. The difference patterns computed for a monopulse antenna are also presented. The computation results show that this antenna has good performance. Although the double-slot antenna is used as a feed antenna, other antennas such as slot-ring or bowtie antennas can also be used. This antenna can be used in many millimetre-wave systems.


Abstract Agricultural topsoils from the five soil categories of the Isle of Man (British Isles) have been fractionated at discrete particle size intervals and their mineral magnetic properties have been analyzed. The aim was to characterize Manx soils and, with the aid of simultaneous R‐ and Q‐mode factor analysis, evaluate the use of mineral magnetic measurements as an appropriate means of discriminating soil categories. Results show Manx agricultural topsoils contain a range of magnetic concentrations (similar to sedimentary and acid igneous rocks), magnetic mineralogy (greater influence of magnetically soft than magnetically hard minerals) and magnetic domain size (mainly stable single domain and superparamagnetic grains) characteristics, with significant differences between the five identified soil categories for each of the fractionated size class intervals used. Despite the mineral magnetic approach showing considerable potential for classifying Manx soils on the basis of their magnetic properties, large variations exist within individual soil categories. However, compared with previous studies, particle size specific measurements provide a more appropriate means of discrimination than bulk magnetic measurements. Each specific fractionated particle size range accommodates similar abilities of discrimination, yet no single class size is better than any other. Nevertheless, the ability of factor analysis to detect multivariate patterns in mineral magnetic data shows it is a useful data analysis tool for interrogating soil data sets.


Corneal touch threshold and/or reaction time by the local anaesthetic benoxinate were determined in 91 males and females of different age groups. The corneal sensitivity decreased with advancing age, especially in the centre of the cornea. Comparing male and female subjects, the measurements of females over 40 years were significantly higher at all points of measurement than for male subjects in the same age group. In the nasal area there was a higher corneal sensitivity than in the temporal area in all subjects. Also the reaction time of equal doses of benoxinate is age-dependent meaning that the reaction time increases with age. Genetically determined differences could be supposed but are not yet certain. In order to determine that a corneal sensitivity deficiency exists, it is necessary to take age, sex and exact measurement points into account.


Hamiltonian simulation is believed to be one of the first tasks where quantum computers can yield a quantum advantage. One of the most popular methods of Hamiltonian simulation is Trotterization, which makes use of the approximation $e^{i\sum_jA_j}\sim \prod_je^{iA_j}$ and higher-order corrections thereto. However, this leaves open the question of the order of operations (i.e. the order of the product over $j$, which is known to affect the quality of approximation). In some cases this order is fixed by the desire to minimise the error of approximation; when it is not the case, we propose that the order can be chosen to optimize compilation to a native quantum architecture. This presents a new compilation problem -- order-agnostic quantum circuit compilation -- which we prove is NP-hard in the worst case. In lieu of an easily-computable exact solution, we turn to methods of heuristic optimization of compilation. We focus on reinforcement learning due to the sequential nature of the compilation task, comparing it to simulated annealing and Monte Carlo tree search. While two of the methods outperform a naive heuristic, reinforcement learning clearly outperforms all others, with a gain of around 12% with respect to the second-best method and of around 50% compared to the naive heuristic in terms of the gate count. We further test the ability of RL to generalize across instances of the compilation problem, and find that a single learner is able to solve entire problem families. This demonstrates the ability of machine learning techniques to provide assistance in an order-agnostic quantum compilation task.


This article assesses the performance of social marketing interventions for oral contraceptives in Morocco and the Dominican Republic. These interventions were implemented under a model that has the potential to achieve sustainability; a donor-funded project partners with a manufacturer or distributor willing to market a contraceptive at a price lower than the prices of other commercial brands; the partnership makes it profitable for the commercial partner to continue the distribution and marketing of the contraceptive after donor support ceases. Multiple rounds of data from nationally representative surveys were analyzed to determine changes in the commercial sector share of oral contraceptives prior to and following the withdrawal of donor support. Particular attention was paid to changes in lower and middle income groups. In Morocco, the commercial sector share of oral contraceptives started increasing prior to the intervention and continued to do so after the withdrawal of donor support. These increases occurred for all women as well as for lower and middle income women. In the Dominican Republic, the commercial sector share of oral contraceptives increased among lower and middle income women during the period that social marketing activities were conducted and fluctuated in the period following withdrawal of donor support. The study suggests that if certain conditions are met, contraceptive social marketing interventions implemented under the manufacturer's model can contribute to a higher commercial sector share of a method among lower and middle income women and that these changes are sustainable after donor support has been withdrawn.


Little attention has been paid to reference skills in L2 written text production in comparison with L2 text comprehension. This may be explained by the fact that the relation between L2 text production and the process of consultation of external resources has not yet been the object of exhaustive research, largely because text production is viewed exclusively as an encoding activity. The place of the consultation of external resources in text production will only be recognised when the latter is viewed as an encoding activity continuously interrupted by decoding sequences when internal support fails and additional information is required. To obtain this additional information, writers must turn to external resources and engage in decoding. The consultation of external resources is thus a conscious problem-solving strategy which is closely related to one's definition of a problem, knowledge and beliefs about external resources, and attitude towards their use. In this article we present a cognitive model of the problem-solving process in L2 text production which includes the use of reference sources. Using this model, we have analysed how students envisage, and carry out, their problem-solving processes in L2 written text production. A customised questionnaire was used to obtain data on students' beliefs concerning the relation between internal and external support; their perceived knowledge of external resources; and their attitude to reference skills training. This data was contrasted to the problem-solving processes actually carried out by the students. Results suggest that, in theory, students correctly describe the stages of the consultation process. In practice, however, some fail to complete the process at a certain stage. Detecting when this happens allows us to design appropriate reference skills training.


Circulating immune complexes play an important role in the modulation of antibody responses and in the pathogenesis of immune diseases. This thesis deals with the in vivo regulatory properties of antibodies and their specific Fc receptors.The immunosuppressive function of IgG is used clinically, to prevent rhesus-negative women from becoming sensitized to rhesus-positive erythrocytes from the fetus. The mechanism behind this regulation is poorly understood but involvement of a receptor for IgG, FcγRII, has been suggested. It is shown in this thesis that IgG and also IgE induce immunosuppression against sheep erythrocytes to a similar extent both in mice lacking all the known Fc receptors as in wild-type animals. These findings imply that antibody-mediated suppression of humoral responses against particulate antigens is Fc-independent and that the major operating mechanism is masking of epitopes.Immunization with soluble antigens in complex with specific IgG leads to an augmentation of antibody production. The cellular mechanism behind this control is examined here and it is found that the capture of IgG2a immune complexes by a bone marrow-derived cell expressing FcγRI (and FcγRIII) is essential. An analysis of the ability of IgG3 to mediate this regulation indicated that, in contrast, this subclass of IgG augments antibody responses independently of FcγRI (and FcγRIII). These findings suggest that distinct mechanisms mediate the enhancing effect of different subclasses of antibodies.Finally, the contribution of FcγRIII was studied in the development of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model for rheumatoid arthritis in humans. It was discovered that while DBA/1 wild-type control mice frequently developed severe CIA, with high incidence, FcγRIII-deficient mice were almost completely protected, indicating a crucial role for FcγRIII in CIA.The results presented here help to understand how immune complexes regulate immune responses in vivo and show that Fc receptors for IgG, if involved, could be new targets for the treatment of immune complex-related disorders.


We present a compact experimental realization of the interaction among five field modes in a χ2 nonlinear crystal. The classical evolution of the fields can be analytically described assuming that two of the fields play the role of nondepleted pumps. A peculiar behavior appears that has been experimentally verified. If one of the fields has a nonzero input amplitude, then the other two fields at the output are holographic replicas of the input signal.


Abstract Using Karlheinz Stockhausen's Solo für Melodieinstrument und Rückkopplung (1965–1966) as a starting point, the authors investigate the affect and effect of technological transference when reproducing historical repertoire with live electronics. A suggestion of technical transparency often accompanies digital sound technologies; we aim to challenge this notion. We argue that the coloring that emerges with digital media can (and perhaps should be) used to inject new life into, and ask new questions of, the works that are being preserved.


ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy have formed a pact worth up to $60 million to optimize carbonate fuel cells to capture carbon dioxide. FuelCell Energy uses a molten carbonate salt as the electrolyte in fuel cells that convert fuel into electricity. The two firms have worked together since 2016 to test running power plant exhaust rather than air through the fuel cells. While the cells produce electricity, their membranes also concentrate CO2, doing so more efficiently than the amine solvents often used to capture CO2, ExxonMobil says. The oil company is also working with Mosaic Materials on metal-organic frameworks that capture CO2 (see page 38).


This article explores the enduring conflict between India and Pakistan and the hidden risk of war. It argues that India and Pakistan's respective military strategies, Islamic jihadi outfits in Pakistan, continuing terrorist attacks in India, the politically volatile situation in Pakistan, the strategic geometry in South Asia, and the miscalculation arising out of ballistic missile defense systems contradict the nuclear deterrence theory in South Asia.


The fusion protein gene of strain F48E8 of Newcastle disease virus was amplified with RT-PCR, and cloned into the pGEM-T vector and named pGEM-NDF. Then, F gene was released from pGEM-NDF by digestion with BamHI and XbaI, and ligated to baculovirus transfer vector, pFastBac1, which was digested with BamHI and XbaI. The ligation yielded a recombinant plasmid, pFast-NDF. The results of sequencing and PCR showed that F gene had been cloned into baculovirus genome correctly. After transfecting sf9 cells with pFast-NDF, the recombinant baculovirus was recovered from the cells. The results of IFA and Western-blot assay indicated that F gene was expressed well in sf9 cells. Furthermore, the F protein was present on the cell membrane, and sf9 cells were fused at 96 hours post-infection, which suggested that F protein had the activity of cell fusion. Animal tests showed that the fusion protein expressed in insect cells induced neutralizing antibody against NDV in mice. All these results provided foundation for the development of F protein.


The great prevalence of an infectious fever, and the introduction to Parliament of a sanitary measure, have of late invested these agents with more than ordinary public interest. They are not proposed merely as antiseptics possessing the power of arresting or preventing organized bodies from passing into a state of decomposition, but the means, as the term would imply, whereby the air especially, and other substances, are to be freed from the taint of subtle particles, sometimes noxious to the sense of smell only, and sometimes to life and health. Their operation, however, is necessarily confined to comparatively limited spaces within and around the dwellings of man, and cannot be supposed to extend to the more widely diffused essence of marsh miasma, nor materially to check the approach of devastating epidemics. They will not dispense with the approved drainage of the land in the one case, nor the well adjusted ventilation, sewerage, and good personal and domestic management best fitted to receive such visitations, in the other.

In order correctly to appreciate the probable influence of disinfectants, perhaps I ought to say something of malaria, a word much employed by medical men to designate a peculiar condition of the atmosphere found to be unfavourable to the preservation of health, and capable at any time, in susceptible subjects, of inducing disease. Of the precise chemical and physical properties of the matter of infection, we are not always well informed. I have much reason to believe that aqueous vapour is its ordinary ...


Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor characterized by very poor survival. However, while some patients survive only a few months, some might live for multiple years. Accurate prognosis of survival and stratification of patients allows for making more personalized treatment decisions and moves treatment of GBM one step closer toward the paradigm of precision medicine. While some molecular biomarkers are being investigated, medical imaging remains significantly underutilized for prognostication in GBM. In this study, we investigated whether computer analysis of tumor shape can contribute toward accurate prognosis of outcomes. Specifically, we implemented applied computer algorithms to extract 5 shape features from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for 22 GBM patients. Then, we determined whether each one of the features can accurately distinguish between patients with good and poor outcomes. We found that that one of the 5 analyzed features showed prognostic value of survival. The prognostic feature describes how well the 3D tumor shape fills its minimum bounding ellipsoid. Specifically, for low values (less or equal than the median) the proportion of patients that survived more than a year was 27% while for high values (higher than median) the proportion of patients with survival of more than 1 year was 82%. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05) even though the number of patients analyzed in this pilot study was low. We concluded that computerized, 3D analysis of tumor shape in MRI may strongly contribute to accurate prognostication and stratification of patients for therapy in GBM.


Glioma is still one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumors. Understanding of the biological and pathophysiological mechanisms of survival can help the researchers to develop new management modalities. Industrial toxins could be one of the most important causes for brain tumors, such as dioxin and other aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands. Toxicity of these compounds includes a series of cellular events starting from binding with AhR and ending with the increased expression of a group of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XME) such as the cytochrome P450 (CYPs), CYP1A1, CYP1A2, and CYP1B1. Therefore, identification of the localizations and expressions of the AhR and its regulated CYPs in the central nervous system (CNS) and neuronal cells is of major importance in understanding their physiological and pathological roles. Generally, low but significant level of CYPs expression is demonstrated in the brain in a tissue- and species-specific manner. Moreover, most, but not all, AhR-regulated CYPs are expressed differently in most of the neuronal and glial cells. Although the exact mechanisms of AhR-mediated glioma and neurotoxicity are not fully understood, the present review proposes several mechanisms which include generating reactive oxygen species, activating glutamate receptors, peroxisome proliferator- activated receptors, histone acetylation, and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3.


The concept of legitimisation with special focus on dialogue in the
Danish National Agency for Patients' Rights and Complaints.
Our hypothesis is:
The purpose of implementing a new communication tool for dialogue
is to raise trust in the Danish health care system.
With a recent reform of the Danish National Agency for Patients'
Rights and Complaints, it has become possible to complain about
system failures and not only about specific persons in the medical
staff.


Covering about 40% of Earth's land surface and sustaining at least 38% of global population, drylands are key crop and animal production regions with high economic and social values. However, land use changes associated with industrialized agricultural managements are threatening the sustainability of these systems. While previous studies assessing the impacts of agricultural management systems on biodiversity and their services focused on more diversified mesic landscapes, there is a dearth of such research in highly simplified dryland agroecosystems. In this paper, we 1) summarize previous research on the effects of farm management systems and agricultural expansion on biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystem services, 2) present four case studies assessing the impacts of management systems on biodiversity and ecosystem services across highly simplified dryland landscapes of the Northern Great Plains (NGP), USA, 3) discuss approaches to sustain biodiversity-based ecosystem services in drylands, and 4) present a conceptual framework for enhancing agricultural sustainability in the drylands through research, policy, economic valuation, and adaptive management. An analysis of the land use changes due to agricultural expansion within the Golden Triangle, a representative agricultural area in the NGP, indicated that the proportion of land conversion to agriculture area was 84%, 8%, and 7% from grassland, riparian, and shrubland habitats, respectively. Our results showed this simplification was associated with a potential reduction of pollination services. Also, our economic analysis projected that if 30% parasitism could be achieved through better management systems, the estimated potential economic returns to pest regulation services through parasitoids in Montana, USA alone could reach about $11.23 million. Overall, while dryland agroecosystems showed a significant loss of native biodiversity and its services, greater pest incidence, and a decrease in plant pollinator networks, these trends were moderately reversed in organically managed farming systems. In conclusion, although land use changes due to agricultural expansion and industrialized farming threaten the sustainability of dryland agroecosystems, this impact can be partially offset by coupling ecologically-based farming practices with adaptive management strategies.


Negatively charged carbon nanoparticles (surface-phenylsulfonated) are "wrapped" in a poly(4-vinylpyridine) cationomer and hydrothermally converted into a pH-responsive core–shell nano-composite. With a "thin shell" this nano-material (ca. 20–40 nm diameter) is water-insoluble but readily dispersed into ethanol and deposited onto electrodes. Zeta-potential measurements suggest a point of zero charge (PZC) at ca. pH 4.5 with negative functional groups dominating in the more alkaline range and positive functional groups dominating in the acidic range. XPS data suggest carboxylate and pyridinium-like functional groups. This is further confirmed in voltammetric measurements for adsorbed cations (methylene blue) and adsorbed anions (indigo carmine). The specific capacitance reaches a maximum of 13 F g−1 at the PZC explained here tentatively by a "shell charging" effect within the nanoparticle shell.


Introduction: Uterine myomas are most prevalent benign tumors in reproductive-aged women. Myomectomy is a surgical treatment for symptomatic uterine myomas for women who want to preserve fertility. Uncontrolled intraoperative bleeding with others life-threatening complications make the surgery risky even more than the hysterectomy and require a skilled surgeon, several methods have been developed to reduce this complications. Misoprostol PE1 analogue, which is recently used as treatment and prophylaxis of postpartum hemorrhage, may reduce intra-operative blood loss during abdominal myomectomies when bleeding constitutes a major problem. Aim of the work: Was to assess the effect part of a single dose of Misoprostol (400 microgram) given rectally one hour preoperative on the amount of blood loss during open Myomectomy. Patients and Methods: In a prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial which was conducted at Ain shams maternity Hospital in Cairo from October 2017 to May 2018, 50 women undergoing abdominal myomectomy for symptomatic uterine myomas were randomly divided into 2 groups : Group I (control group) consisted of 25 patients, each patient was given 2 tablets of placebo trans-rectally one hour preoperatively and without any intervention to reduce blood loss and Group II (study group) consisted of 25 patients, each patient was given 400 micrograms of misoprostol transrectally one hour preoperatively. The primary outcome was intraoperative blood loss. This clinical trial was registered in clinicaltrial.gov registry with number: NCT03483142. Results: Intra-operative blood loss was significantly lower in those women randomized to receive rectal misoprostol versus the placebo group (460.8155.2 mL vs. 815.4 187.7 mL). Misoprostol group showed lower mean blood loss (P<0.01) ; additionally, there was a highly significant statistical difference between Misoprostol group and placebo group as regards the postoperative hemoglobin, hematocrit concentration, operative time and IV fluid infusion during surgery (P<0.01) as Misoprostol group showed a higher postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration, and less operative time and infused IV fluid. There was no statistical significant difference between both groups as regards the blood transfusion. Conclusion: Preoperative single dose of rectal misoprostol (400 micrograms) is an effective simple method for reducing intra-operative bleeding, operative time, mean post-operative HB and Hct drop.


Over the last two decades, considerable research has been done in distributed operating systems, which can be attributed to faster processors and better communication technologies. A distributed operating system requires distributed algorithms to provide basic operating system functionality like mutual exclusion, deadlock detection, etc. A number of such algorithms have been proposed in the literature. Traditionally, these distributed algorithms have been presented in a theoretical way, with limited attempts to simulate actual working models. This paper discusses our experience in simulating distributed algorithms with the aid of some existing tools, including OPNET and Xplot. We discuss our efforts to define a basic model‐based framework for rapid simulation and visualization, and illustrate how we used this framework to evaluate some classic algorithms. We have also shown how the performance of different algorithms can be compared based on some collected statistics. To keep the focus of this paper on the approach itself, and our experience with tool integration, we only discuss some relatively simple models. Yet, the approach can be applied to more complex algorithm specifications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We study the neutral pion photoproduction at near-threshold energies in fully covariant chiral perturbation theory up to O(p^3). When including only nucleonic virtual states in the model, the convergence is too slow. Therefore we test the model when introducing the Delta(1232) resonance as an additional degree of freedom. Some low-energy constants were fitted, converging to values in good agreement with those expected from literature.


The goal of this article is twofold. First, it deals with color image segmentation in hue-saturation space. A model for circular data is provided by the vM-Gauss distribution, which is a joint distribution of von-Mises and Gaussian distributions. The mixture of vM-Gauss distributions is used to model hue-saturation data. After segmentation, a post processing based on both spectral and spatial similarity of clusters is applied to separate such identifiable objects in the image. The results and comparisons are shown on Berkeley segmentation dataset. The problem of text extraction from a color image is taken as an application of the proposed method. We use a laboratory made text image dataset to test the method.


This chapter represents the first-ever effort to examine the role of religion in the realm of deaf identities. The authors, both of whom are deaf religious leaders, with one representing Christianity and the other Judaism, provide a cutting-edge analysis of the relationship between religion and deaf identities. They present different interpretations based on religious treatises that include perspectives of deaf people. These perspectives are fraught with the complexities of multiple social identities that interact with the deaf identity component. While religion has the potential to coalesce deaf people and affirm their deaf identities, the chapter also explores how the religious setting can manifest the dynamics of oppression, dynamics that potentially may result in personal and community dissociation.


This paper presents a single-site case study to explicate some of the issues that relate to developing a genuine and successful role for Indigenous education workers (IEWs) especially those who reside in remote Australian communities. It draws attention to the lost opportunities for agency and leadership in culturally relevant literacy teaching with families, schools and community. The study employs a social justice framework to explore a theory of intended change resultant from the inclusion of IEWs in a professional learning coalition of school leaders, teachers, and Indigenous elders with university researchers throughout an 18-month project. This evidence of intended change focuses on the IEWs' display of agency in leading families and community in the production of culturally relevant story texts to support children's reading inside and outside school. The paper contributes to a scant body of literature highlighting the valuable work conducted by IEWs, and justifies more meaningful employment and formal leadership roles in schools and in the community. This work lays the foundation for further research involving IEWs' leadership in producing culturally relevant criteria for measuring change in children's literacy outcomes and change in family-community engagement in children's reading.


The history of American women fighting for equal rights dates back to the 18th century, when in Boston, in 1770, they voiced the demand that the status of women be changed. Abigail Adams, Sarah Grimke, Angelina Grimke and Frances Wright are considered to have pioneered American feminism. An organized suffrage movement is assumed to have originated at the convention Elizabeth Stanton organized in Seneca Falls in 1848. This convention passed a Declaration of Sentiments, which criticized the American Declaration of Independence as it excluded women. The most prominent success achieved in this period was the US Congress passing the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote. The 1960s saw the second wave of feminism, resulting from disappointment with the hitherto promotion of equality. The second-wave feminists claimed that the legal reforms did not provide women with the changes they expected. As feminists voiced the need to feminize the world, they struggled for social customs to change and gender stereotypes to be abandoned. They criticized the patriarchal model of American society, blaming this model for reducing the social role of women to that of a mother, wife and housewife. They pointed to patriarchal ideology, rather than nature, as the source of the inequality of sexes. The leading representatives of the second wave of feminism were Betty Friedan (who founded the National Organization for Women), Kate Millet (who wrote Sexual Politics), and Shulamith Firestone (the author of The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution). The 1990s came to be called the third wave of feminism, characterized by multiple cultures, ethnic identities, races and religions, thereby becoming a heterogenic movement. The third-wave feminists, Rebecca Walker and Bell Hooks, represented groups of women who had formerly been denied the right to join the movement, for example due to racial discrimination. They believed that there was not one 'common interest of all women' but called for leaving no group out in the fight for the equality of women's rights. They asked that the process of women's emancipation that began with the first wave embrace and approve of the diversity of the multiethnic American society.


The effects of sarcoidosis on the nervous system are protean.1-3 They include involvement of the meninges (cranial nerve palsies, pituitary, and hypothalamic effects), peripheral nerves (symmetric polyneuropathy, multifocal neuropathy), and brain parenchyma (lesions of brain and spinal cord without obvious meningeal involvement)1-3; and also secondary effects of systemic disease, such as intracerebral haemorrhage related to sarcoid induced thrombocytopenia.4

Solitary sarcoid mass lesions of the CNS, mimicking tumours, have been described but are rare, with less than 100 cases in the world literature.5-8 They may either arise from the dura or be located entirely within the parenchyma, with radiological appearances which resemble meningioma and glioma respectively. Computerised tomography was generally not helpful in distinguishing these lesions from other intracerebral masses5-7 and it was therefore hoped that the advent of MRI would be useful in the differentiation of sarcoid tumours.2 We present two patients with solitary intracerebral mass lesions which were thought to be tumours, in whom the diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis was entirely unexpected until histological specimens were available, despite appropriate MRI.

### CASE 1

A 28 year old AfroCaribbean man presented …


For P0 states of helium the authors formulate a Schrodinger equation in perimetric coordinates in which the rotational coupling is already pre-diagonalized. Expansions in near-complete basis sets and complex scaling techniques allows the determination of highly accurate ab initio parameters for doubly excited resonant states and photo cross sections. The results are in excellent agreement with recent high-quality experimental data.


Hierarchical CoxMn3 xO4 array micro-/nanostructures with tunable morphology and composition have been grown on conductive stainless steel with robust adhesion by a facile solvothermal route and a subsequent annealing treatment. By simply controlling the volume ratio of components in the mixed solvent, the morphology of the products can be tailored from hierarchical nanowires to nanosheets. Benefitting from the unique structural features, the resultant CoMn2O4 nanowires and MnCo2O4 nanosheets exhibit excellent electrochemical performance with remarkable specific capacities (540–207 mA h g ) at various current rates (1–10 C) and good cycling stability for highly reversible lithium storage. The enhanced electrochemical performance suggests their promising use as integrated binderfree electrodes for microscale lithium-ion batteries.


This paper presents the approach to support the P&M (Pipelining and Multithreading) program execution model on workstation cluster. The inter-node pipeline of communication and computation on workstation cluster is aimed to be constructed. The multithreaded program execution model employs both the incoming message handler and outgoing message handler to draw the distinction between real computation and communication. Low overhead communication is supported by the proposed communication protocol. The logical organization of one P&M node is developed which aims to support communication and computation by separate units. We further describe the P&M C language and the compilation technique. Emulation of the SPARC workstation based P&M platform convinces us that improved overall performance can be achieved, and more demanding applications can be feasibly solved by the P and M approach.


Holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) is a kind of switchable volume holography. It can be manufactured according to the photo-initiated polymerization-induced phase separation. HPDLC is composed of parallel, periodic polymer-rich and liquid crystal-rich planes. The diffraction efficiency can be modulated by the application of electric field. HPDLC devices are potentially useful for optical communication, information storage and display. How to increase the diffraction efficiency is the key to application. We investigated the dependence of diffraction efficiency on the refractive index of the polymer, exposure intensity, liquid crystal loading and temperature. The best conditions were found to make the diffraction properties optimized. Now the highest diffraction efficiency was 802%. The HPDLC morphologies were also observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM).


Ongoing investigations in wound repair bring new opportunities and challenges for creating novel composite engineered biomaterials. Efforts have been directed toward using different combinations of biomaterials with the goal of providing an ideal biomimetic substitute for native tissue. A universal formula using collagen, fibroin and a synthetic polymer is proposed. By modifying the ratio of the building blocks, the composite material can be fabricated to match the mechanical property of different types of tissues and be further tuned to carry desirable physical and biological function. The results should provide composite engineered materials comparable to native tissue in order to repair and regenerate a variety of wounds and tissues.


This study 1) looked at how weather patterns are predicted to change as a result of global climate change, 2) considered how these changes could affect the survival of Piping Plovers, Interior Least Terns, and Whooping Cranes and 3) considered the importance of managing wildlife in the Great Plains in light of the predicted consequences of global climate change. Correlation (Spearman rs) tests were completed to compare the abundance of each species of birds and the amount of water flowing in the Platte River. Piping Plovers and Interior Least Terns have a specific amount of water that is not too high or too low, where their survival and reproduction is optimized. Both species rely on the same habitat on the Platte River for survival. The number of Whooping Cranes has been steadily increasing since they were placed on the endangered species list in 1985; they exhibit less reliance on the Platte River than do the plover


We observed the nasopharynx of 30 patients with atelectatic ears (AE), and 10 with healthy ear drums and mouth breathing by CT scan, to examine the relation between adenoid and otitis media. The adenoids of those with healthy ear drums were of the large posterior type with free space in the pharyngeal fossa, while those with AE were of the large anterior type in 18 patients and of the pendulous projection type over the choana in the other 12. The anatomical location of the adenoids should be considered when one discusses the relation between the adenoid and otitis media. The "Toynbee phenomenon", in the pendulous projection type and in the large anterior type of adenoid, was considered to be one of the etiological factors in AE. To understand the etiology of otitis media, it seems important to investigate the reason why the anterior projection of the adenoids occurs.


Heartbeat is intuitively examined via a stethoscope that amplifies the sound. Diagnosis may be broadened by extracting more information: strength, frequency components, and sound pressure. This paper is on the demonstration of an optical fiber Bragg grating sensor to monitor the heartbeat using sound pressure and possibly extending to application of ballistocardiography (BCG: the heartbeat-associated movements imparted by recoil and impact). To our knowledge, cardiac examination with BCG and sound sensing using FBG technology has not been explored. In this setup, heartbeat sounds are translated into an electrical signal using a strain-sensitive reflective FBG sensor that provides differential changes in the reflection spectrum. For a proof-of-concept demonstration, FBG sensor is glued to the vibrating membrane of a subwoofer of a speaker set. Using recordings of various heartbeat sounds, spectral changes are recorded at a 250-Hz sampling rate. The results show increased sensitivity to: strength of the heartbeat, frequency and temporal content of the oscillatory wave pattern


Abstract : Education is the main institution that plays a critical role in establishing and cultivate civilization. Reciprocation of a nation is strongly influenced by the existence of education. So it is necessary to note how the views of the marginalized (pedicab driver) about the value of education and how their ideals to the future of their children through educational institutions are. To find them out, this research uses field research by qualitative method  using inductive data analysis. From the field data is then acquired answers about the meaning of education, and their ideals about the education of their children. And for that, the marginalized (pedicab driver) think that education has a very important meaning, their ideals are same, that they want their children to be better human beings through education. Keyword : the meaning of Education, the marginalized


BACKGROUND
The study aim was to investigate the effects of a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) on the secretion profiles and level of mRNA transcripts for angiogenic growth factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and endothelial growth factor (EGF) in the endometrium, and their levels in plasma.

METHODS
Blood and endometrial samples were collected from 15 women using LNG-IUS at pre-insertion and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months following the use of contraception. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription techniques, angiogenic growth factors were measured in the plasma and endometrial tissue extracts.

RESULTS
A significant increase in endometrial tissue levels of VEGF at 3 and 6 months (P < 0.007, P < 0.01), TGF-beta1 at 6 and 12 months (P < 0.002, P < 0.007) and bFGF at 1 and 6 months (P < 0.004, P < 0.008) respectively were observed following insertion of LNG-IUS. A corresponding increase in mRNA expression of TGF-beta1 and bFGF were also observed. The LNG-IUS had no effect on endometrial EGF levels. No significant differences were noted in plasma levels of bFGF, EGF and TGF-beta1, while VEGF was not detectable in all plasma samples assayed. A positive correlation was observed between endometrial tissue VEGF and bleeding/spotting days in the reference period (r = 0.705, P < 0.015).

CONCLUSION
These results provide the first evidence that more than one angiogenic factor could be implicated in aberrant endometrial angiogenesis resulting in breakthrough bleeding in LNG-IUS acceptors.


Three stages of diagenesis can be identified in the sediments that form the Alloway Clay Member of the Miocene Kirkwood Formation in New Jersey. Clay- and sand-size muscovite, mixed with woody debris, formed the original sediment. These materials were deposited in restricted lagoons receiving a high amount of fresh water runoff. Transgression of the sea then resulted in the deposition of marine clays above the lagoonal sediments. Following regression, the muscovite was altered to sand-size kaolinite by the action of acidic ground water. This highly permeable unit was locally cemented by deposition of siderite, forming large concretions. Later, all calcareous fossils in the macrokaolinite bed were removed by dissolution, while those inside the siderite concretions were preserved. These diagenetic episodes are controlled by changes in Ca+2 and Fe+2 concentration of the ground water and, significantly, by permeability.


Increasing concentrations of estradiol, testosterone, progesterone (1.10(-10) to 1.10(-7] and Danazol (1.10(-9) to 1.10(-6) M) have been added to male rat pituitary cells maintained in monolayer cultures for a preincubation period of three days followed by a six hour incubation with or without GnRH (1.10(-8) M). Concentrations of LH and FSH have been assessed in the culture media and in the cells at the end of the experiments allowing an estimation of the influence of these steroids on gonadotropin release and synthesis. In these experimental conditions, estradiol does not modify basal and GnRH induced FSH release and synthesis but reduces the GnRH-induced response of LH. Testosterone and progesterone stimulate synthesis of FSH but inhibit synthesis and secretion of LH in the presence of GnRH. These results have been compared with those of literature. Danazol, in the same experimental conditions, stimulates synthesis of gonadotropins and simultaneously inhibits their release induced by the presence of GnRH. We conclude that Danazol is able to act at the pituitary level as testosterone which is in good agreement with its androgenic properties.


High-speed optical interconnects require compact, low-power driver electronics for optical modulators. Inverter based CMOS driver circuits show very low power consumption. However, the output swing is typically limited to the supply voltage which is typically insufficient for optical modulators, requiring a cascoded output driver and level shifter. In this work, we present a new DC-coupled thin-oxide level shifter topology in a 28 nm FDSOI CMOS technology enabling data rates up to 50 Gb/s with a power efficiency of 0.064 pJ/bit.


Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is very useful for dissolving the clots of blood, however, the use of tPA is limited to only 3-5% of ischemic stroke patients because of the narrow therapeutic time windows and negative side effects. Previous evidences suggest that limitation of tPA in thrombolytic therapy may be related to the upregulation of MMPs. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism. In this study, we examined the role of tPA on MMP upregulation in rat neuronal cells. tPA (5 /ml) increased MMP-9 levels of neuronal cells in a time dependent manner. Hypoxia/reoxygenation amplified tPA-induced MMP-9 levels significantly. Pretreatment with JNK inhibitor SP600125 reduced the MMP-9 response. These results suggest that tPA can upregulate MMPs in neuronal cells and that JNK kinase may be involved.


To better understand the promising effects of data-driven learning (DDL) on language learning processes and outcomes, this study explored DDL learning events enabled by the Research Writing Tutor (RWT), a web-based platform containing an English language corpus annotated to enhance rhetorical input, a concordancer that was searchable for rhetorical functions, and an automated writing evaluation engine that generated rhetorical feedback. Guided by current approaches to teaching academic writing (Lea & Street, 1998; Lillis, 2001; Swales, 2004) and the knowledge-telling/knowledge-transformation model of Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987), we set out to examine whether and how direct corpus uses afforded by RWT impact novice native and non-native writers' genre learning and writing improvement. In an embedded mixed-methods design, written responses to DDL tasks and writing progress from first to last drafts were recorded from 23 graduate students in separate one-semester courses at a US university. The qualitative and quantitative data sets were used for within-student, within-group, and between-group comparisons—the two independent variables for the latter being course section and language background. Our findings suggest that exploiting technology-mediated corpora can foster novice writers' exploration and application of genre conventions, enhancing development of rhetorical, formal, and procedural aspects of genre knowledge.


Few studies have explored whether the type of LT, deceased donor LT (DDLT) or living donor LT (LDLT), impacts long‐term renal outcomes. We performed a retrospective analysis of 220 LT recipients at our institution to study their renal outcomes at 10 yr. Exclusion criteria were age ≤ 18 yr, graft survival ≤6 months, and multiorgan transplants; 108 DDLTs and 62 LDLTs were eligible. At baseline, DDLTs had a lower eGFR than LDLTs and 10.2% of DDLTs were on dialysis as compared to 0% of LDLTs. At 10 yr, seven DDLT and three LDLT recipients required dialysis or renal transplant (p = 0.75). In recipients with graft survival >6 months, DDLTs had a slower decline in eGFR as compared to LDLTs (p < 0.01). Among LDLTs, the decline in eGFR continued over the entire 10‐yr period, whereas among DDLTs, the decline in eGFR slowed significantly after six months (p = 0.01). This difference between the two groups was not seen among patients in the highest quartile of baseline eGFR. Patient survival and graft survival were similar. In conclusion, the incidence of end‐stage renal disease was similar in both DDLT and LDLT patients, but LDLT recipients seem to have a more sustained decline in eGFR when compared with DDLT recipients.


There is a movement across the world to internationalise higher education so that it meets the needs of students to be more global in their approach to higher education. Various strategies are being worked out by different countries to understand the meaning of internationalization and how it can be imparted in national educational institutions. Unfortunately, in India, the higher education system is not being subjected to this process of internationalisation. India's latest five year plan (2012-17) for national development has a brief mention about internationalization, but no concrete measures to bring about this change in the higher education system have been formulated so far.


Retinal organoids generated from human embryonic stem cells or iPSCs recreate the key structural and functional features of mammalian retinal tissue in vitro. However, the differences in the development of retinal organoids and normal retina in vivo are not well defined. Thus, in the present study, we analyzed the development of retinal organoids and zebrafish retina after inhibition of CXCR4, a key role in neurogenesis and optic nerve development, with the antagonist AMD3100. Our data indicated that CXCR4 was mainly expressed in ganglion cells in retinal organoids and was rarely expressed in amacrine or photoreceptor cells. AMD3100 treatment reduced the retinal organoid generation ratio, impaired differentiation, and induced morphological changes. Ganglion cells, amacrine cells, and photoreceptors were decreased and abnormal locations were observed in organoids treated with AMD3100. Neuronal axon outgrowth was also damaged in retinal organoids. Similarly, a decrease of ganglion cells, amacrine cells, and photoreceptors and the distribution of neural outgrowth was induced by AMD3100 treatment in zebrafish retina. However, abnormal photoreceptor ensembles induced by AMD3100 treatment in the organoids were not detected in zebrafish retina. Therefore, our study suggests that although retinal organoids might provide a reliable model for reproducing a retinal developmental model, there is a difference between the organoids and the retina in vivo.


Introduction Dyspeptic symptoms are common but investigations rarely explain them. This lack of information may be because: (1) Current test meals are small (∼200 ml) and don't trigger symptoms (2) gastric emptying half time (T50) and/or retention at 2 or 4 h may not elicit underlying pathophysiology. By contrast, MRI studies suggest that gastric volume change after a meal may identify impaired accommodation in functional dyspepsia (FDs). Aim GS and MRI with a 400 ml liquid test meal were applied to identify candidate biomarkers that distinguish FDs from healthy volunteers (HVs). Methods FDs with postprandial distress by Rome III criteria and normal endoscopy or 24 h pH-studies were recruited. Results were compared to age and sex matched HVs. Sensation at 400 ml and Maximum Tolerated Volume (MTV) was assessed by nutrient drink test (0.75 kcal/ml@40 ml/min). Participants were then randomised to GS and MRI with 400 ml liquid test meal (0.75 kcal/ml@40 ml/min) on two separate days. Directly comparable measurements of gastric content volume were analysed: Gastric contents volume after meal ingestion (GCV0), GE half-time [T50], and GErate@T50 [ml/min]. Results FDs (n=8; 7 female) were each compared to those of three matched HVs (n=24). HVs weighed more than FDs (p<0.018) fullness at 400ml was similar (p=0.21) but dyspeptic sensations were lower (bloating, nausea, pain, p<0.01) and MTV was greater (median 960 (IQR 750–1330) vs 480 (±400–760) ml, p=0.015). With GS, HVs had higher GCV0 than FDs (345 (333–358) vs 325 (310–350) ml; p=0.052), T50 (48 (39–56) vs 52 (44–54) min; p=0.710) was similar but GErate@T50 was faster (3.5 (3.0–4.2) ml/min vs 2.7 (2.1–3.1) ml/min; p=0.012). With MRI, compared to GS, measurements of GCV and T50 were larger (p<0.001), and GErate was slower (p=0.012); but no significant differences between groups. Conclusion FD patients are characterised by abnormal gastric sensorimotor response to a large, liquid nutrient meal. Rapid early emptying (reduced GCV0) is followed by slow late emptying (slow GErate@T50). These GS measurements, with dyspeptic symptoms at 400 ml, are biomarkers in FD. MRI measurements of GCV, residual volume, meal and secretions do not provide the same clarity. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that impaired accommodation in gastric filling in FD leads to rapid nutrient delivery to small bowel triggering powerful neuro-hormonal feedback that slows subsequent emptying. Competing interests None declared.


Using financial experts' Yen/USD exchange rate expectations provided by Consensus Forecasts surveys (London), this paper aims to model the 3 and 12-month ahead ex-ante risk premia measured as the difference between the expected and forward exchange rates. According to a two-country portfolio asset pricing model, the risk premium is modeled as the product of three factors: a constant risk aversion coefficient, the expected variance of the rate of change in the real exchange rate, and the spread between domestic agent's market position in foreign assets and foreign agent's market position in domestic assets (net market position). When the returns are partially predictable, the expected variance is horizondependent and this is a sufficient condition for agents not to require at any time a unique risk premium for all maturities but a set of premia scaled by the time horizon of the investment. For each horizon the expected variance is assumed to depend on the historical values of the variance and on the unobservable maturity-dependent net market positions which have been estimated through a state space model using the Kalman filter methodology. We find that the model explains satisfactorily both the common and the non-random specific time-patterns of the 3- and 12-month ex-ante premia.


Today convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have reached out to specialized applications in science communities that otherwise would not be adequately tackled. In this paper, we systematically study a multi-label annotation problem of x-ray scattering images in material science. For this application, we tackle an open challenge with training CNNs — identifying weak scattered patterns with diffuse background interference, which is common in scientific imaging. We articulate an Attentional Aggregation Module (AAM) to enhance feature representations. First, we reweight and highlight important features in the images using data-driven attention maps. We decompose the attention maps into channel and spatial attention components. In the spatial attention component, we design a mechanism to generate multiple spatial attention maps tailored for diversified multi-label learning. Then, we condense the enhanced local features into non-local representations by performing feature aggregation. Both attention and aggregation are designed as network layers with learnable parameters so that CNN training remains fluidly end-to-end, and we apply it in-network a few times so that the feature enhancement is multi-scale. We conduct extensive experiments on CNN training and testing, as well as transfer learning, and empirical studies confirm that our method enhances the discriminative power of visual features of scientific imaging.


A Soviet History of Pakistan. BY Yuri V. Gankovskiy and L. R. Gordon-Polonskaya. First published as Istoriya Pakistana, Moscow: State Publishing House for Eastern Literature, 1961; translated by Joint Publications Research Service, Department of Commerce, Washington, as JPRS 36, 250, June 1966. 400 pp. Bibliography. $7.25. The publisher of the above wishes to correct the impression of the reviewer (JAS, Vol. XXVI, No. 2: February 1967, pp. 312–14) that this is a "machine-translated edition." In fact, the translation was done by one of the many contract translators of the Joint Publications Research Service. The publishers have also notified us of a new pricing system whereby single copies of any JPRS report, including this one, are now available at a unit price of $3.00 per copy.


Bovine liver fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase bound 4 mol of its allosteric inhibitor AMP per mole of enzyme with half-saturation at 17 mumol/l AMP. The presence of a mixture of positive and negative cooperativity in the binding of AMP to the enzyme was suggested by several procedures for analyzing binding data. In particular, calculation of the intrinsic binding constants for AMP yielded the relationships: K1' less than K2' greater than K3' less than K4', indicating mixed cooperativity.


Child abuse is a worldwide phenomenon with adverse short- and long-term mental and physical negative consequences, with a huge gap between the prevalence of child abuse and disclosure rates. The study aimed to examine and validate the self-figure drawing as an assessment tool to differentiate between three forms of child abuse, i.e., child sexual abuse (CSA), child physical abuse (CPA), and child emotional abuse (CEA). Following the ethical approval, 1707 Thai children (13–18 years old) from the general population (schools) were asked to complete a self-report anonymous questionnaire consisting of four measures (Demographics, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), The Medical Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire (MSDQ), and The Disclosure of Trauma Questionnaire (DTQ)). After completion, they were asked to draw themselves. There was a significantly positive link between the reluctance to disclose and the experience of abuse, indicating that the more severe the abuse the higher the reluctance to disclose. The findings broaden the knowledge of movement and symbols as representations of inner personal conflictual material. Additionally, it substantiates self-figure drawing as an assessment tool and assists practitioners in early child abuse detection.


Since the reform and opening up of China, the increasing aerosol emissions have posted great challenges to the country's climate change and human health. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) is one of the main physical indicators quantifying the atmospheric turbidity and air pollution. In this study, 38-years (1980–2017) of spatial and temporal variations of AOD in China were analyzed using AOD records derived from MODIS atmosphere products and the MERRA-2 dataset. The results showed that the annual mean AOD values throughout China have gone through an increasing, but fluctuating, trend, especially in 1982 and in 1992 due to two volcano eruptions; the AOD values experienced a dramatically increasing period during 2000–2007 with the rapid economic development and "population explosions" in China/after 2008, the AOD values gradually decreased from 0.297 (2008) to 0.257 (2017). The AOD values in China were generally higher in spring than that in other seasons. The Sichuan Basin has always been an area with high AOD values owing to the strong human activity and the basin topography (hindering aerosol diffusions in the air). In contrast, the Qinghai Tibet Plateau has always been an area with low AOD values due to low aerosol emissions and clear sky conditions there. The trend analysis of AOD values during 1980–2017 in China indicated that the significant increasing trend was mainly observed in Southeastern China. By contrast, the AOD values in the northernmost of China showed a significant decreasing trend. Then, the contributions (AODP) of the AOD for black carbon aerosol (BCAOD), dust aerosol (DUAOD), organic carbon aerosol (OCAOD), sea salt aerosol (SSAOD), and SO4 aerosol (SO4AOD) to the total AOD values were calculated. The results showed that DUAOD (25.43%) and SO4AOD (49.51%) were found to be the main driving factors for the spatial and temporal variations of AOD values. Finally, the effects of anthropogenic aerosol emissions, socioeconomic factors, and land-use and land coverage changes on AOD were analyzed. The GDP, population density, and passenger traffic volume were found to be the main socioeconomic drivers for AOD distributions. Relatively larger AOD values were mainly found in urban land and land covered by water, while lower AOD values were found in grassland and permanent glacier areas. Remote Sens. 2018, 10, 1064; doi:10.3390/rs10071064 www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing Remote Sens. 2018, 10, 1064 2 of 25


Rowopulo is one of the swamps in Gumukmas, Jember Regency with its unique soil in the form of peat soil that floats on water and by the community used for rice cultivation, whose production is influenced by the presence of Plant Pests, which is dominated by the Herbivod Arthropods. The presence of herbivorous Arthropods in the swampland rice ecosystem can be suppressed by the presence of useful Arthropod populations such as predators, parasitoids, and pollinators. Related to this, a study was conducted to find out the diversity of Arthropods found in swampy rice plantations. The study began with a land survey, then the determination and marking of observation plots on the map and matching these locations using GPS (Global Positioning System). Observations were made on plots that were made based on the extent of rice plants that were still in one stretch and the same irrigation flow. Each plot was observed ten times at 7-day intervals from rice plants aged 14 days after 77 days after planting. Arthropod sampling using sweep net method. Catching arthropods are put into vials of 5 ml size and then identified up to family level, and the diversity, evenness, and wealth index of the species is calculated. The results of research on swamp rice plants contained 37 families. Ten families act as herbivorous Arthropods, 15 families as predators, six families as parasitoids, one family as pollinators, and five families as detritivores. The highest diversity index in plot 1 was 2.95, while the lowest in plot 2 was 2.70, with the medium category for all observation plots. The magnitude of the diversity index is due to the dominance of only a few orders, such as Orthoptera and Diptera; the highest species wealth index in plot 3 with a value of more than 4 in the high category; Evenness index of all observation plots has a value of less than 1 with uneven categories.
Keywords: arthropods, diversity, natural enemies, swamp land


This thesis has analyzed the effect of the surge happening in flight on the engine performance, especially on the PW4000 turbofan engine. It is to be judged that the flight surge can occur more often at the time of takeoff than it does en route due to the fact that the engine parameters are prone to fluctuate. EPR is judged to be the most highly sensitive parameter responding when surge occurs. Both Engine rpm and Wf decrease almost simultaneously just like an EPR. During the take-off rolling, N1 vibration is more sensitive than the N2 vibration. Consequently, the surge can be detected by EGT increase, while the other parameters (EPR, rpm, Wf, etc) decrease.


A positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopic (PALS) study was carried out on a typical representative of simple hydrogen-bonded glass formers - glycerol - over a wide temperature region from 100 K up to room temperature. Several crossover temperatures, Tbi, were identified in the temperature dependences of the ortho-positronium (o-Ps) lifetime and the relative o-Ps intensity. The onset temperature of free-volume change, 137 K, was compared with the value of 135±3 K obtained from extrapolating thermodynamic data and with the temperatures from relaxation data. In order to determine the influence of the free-volume evolution on the relaxation dynamics above the glass transition temperature Tg, the free-volume fraction from the PALS data was related to the behaviour of the dielectric loss of glycerol. A new relationship between the temperature parameters of the onset of free-volume change and of the high-frequency wing of the dielectric loss is presented. Taking the PALS free-volume data as input for a free-volume model (Doolittle ansatz), it was found that the relaxation times τα can be reproduced above the bend temperature Tb2 = 241 K; the latter lies in the vicinity of crossover temperatures reported from mode coupling theory analyses of dynamic data. In the lower-temperature region Tb2>T>Tb1≅Tg, a contribution from thermally activated mobility has to be included to reproduce the dielectric relaxation time data.


Acetylation is an important, reversible posttranslational modification to a protein. In a previous study, we found that there were a large number of acetylated sites in various nutrient storage proteins of the silkworm haemolymph. In this study, we confirmed that acetylation can affect the stability of nutrient storage protein Bombyx mori apolipophorin‐III (BmApoLp‐III). First, the expression of BmApoLp‐III could be upregulated when BmN cells were treated with the deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat (LBH589); similarly, the expression was downregulated when the cells were treated with the acetylase inhibitor C646. Furthermore, the increase in acetylation by LBH589 could inhibit the degradation and improve the accumulation of BmApoLp‐III in BmN cells treated with cycloheximide and MG132 respectively. Moreover, we found that an increase in acetylation could decrease the ubiquitination of BmApoLp‐III and vice versa; therefore, we predicted that acetylation could improve the stability of BmApoLp‐III by competing for ubiquitination and inhibiting the protein degradation pathway mediated by ubiquitin. Additionally, BmApoLp‐III had an antiapoptosis function that increased after LBH589 treatment, which might have been due to the improved protein stability after acetylation. These results have laid the foundation for further study on the mechanism of acetylation in regulating the storage and utilization of silkworm nutrition.


Abstract The current study aimed to investigate the essential oil yields, chemical compositions, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) seeds collected from India (Mehsana province and Banaskantha district of Gujarat), Morocco (Tinghir province), Iran (Khorasan province), Syria (Homs province), Turkey (Ankara province), Pakistan (Kalat province), Iraq (Basra province) and Afghanistan (Helmand and Balkh provinces). No previous studies were found for cumin seed essential oils from Afghanistan and Iraq so this could be considered as the first report. The essential oil yields were ranging between 1.16 % and 1.98 %. According to the chemical compositions, two chemotypes were identified as p-mentha-1,4,-dien- 7-al, and cumin aldehyde. Cumin aldehyde was dominant in Indian-originated seeds (39.3-46.5 %) and p-mentha-1,4,-dien-7-al was the major component (42.1-58.8 %) of the rest. All essential oils performed moderate antioxidant properties (IC50 values of 23.3-32.4 μg/mL for DPPH and 65-73 % inhibition for β-carotene/ linoleic acid tests) and high antimicrobial activities. Correlation analysis demonstrated that amount of cumin aldehyde had a strong negative relation with DPPH activity and had a positive relationship with β-carotene/linoleic acid assay inhibitions. The amount of cumin aldehyde also correlated positively with disk diffusion- based antimicrobial susceptibilities and had variable correlations with broth microdilution tests. The sum of two other major aldehydes (p-mentha-1,4-dien-7-al and p-mentha-1,3-dien-7-al) were found to have no statistically significant correlation with biological activities.


The complexity of the waste stream of spent lithium-ion batteries poses numerous challenges on the recycling industry. Pyrometallurgical recycling processes have a lot of benefits but are not able to recover lithium from the black matter since lithium is slagged due to its high oxygen affinity. The presented InduRed reactor concept might be a promising novel approach, since it does not have this disadvantage and is very flexible concerning the chemical composition of the input material. To prove its basic suitability for black matter processing, heating microscope experiments, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry have been conducted to characterize the behavior of nickel rich cathode materials (LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 and LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2) as well as black matter from a pretreatment process under reducing conditions. Another experimental series in a lab scale InduRed reactor was further used to investigate achievable transfer coefficients for the metals of interest. The promising results show technically feasible reaction temperatures of 800 ∘C to 1000 ∘C and high recovery potentials for nickel, cobalt and manganese. Furthermore, the slagging of lithium was largely prevented and a lithium removal rate of up to 90% of its initial mass was achieved.


Increase in the intensity of blast furnace smelting at NLMK JSC is achieved by improving quality of coke and iron ore materials, by increasing pressure under the blast furnace mouth and by oxygen enrichment. It is accompanied by an increase in the rate of wustite indirect reduction and decrease in specific heat losses with cooling water. However, the risks of burden yield problems are significantly lower with high intensity. It has been established that with the change in quality of charge materials, reason for burden yield problems can be also the variation in ore load ratio along the furnace radius. A new method for diagnosing causes of burden yield problems was developed. Using method of mathematical modeling, effect of change in ore load and size of iron-ore materials on peripheral gases temperature change and the degree of CO use were analyzed. The method is based on analysis of joint change in gas temperature and degree of CO use in peripheral area. Analysis of peripheral gases temperature variation and degree of CO use makes it possible to identify reasons of pressure drops along the furnace height. As a result of analysis of pressure drops dynamics changes along the furnace height, there have been found signs that can be used to judge the probability of burden yield problems. The possibility of reducing pressure drops due to redistribution of ore load along the furnace radius and the amount of gases is considered. It is shown that various methods of reducing the amount of gases are accompanied by different changes in coke consumption and furnace productivity. Mathematical model has been developed to select the best combination of parameters changing of the fuel-enriched blast in specific conditions.


The authors report a series of measurements of the structural and electronic properties of the molecular conductor Cs(Pd(dmit)2)2 (dmit=isotrithionedithiolate). This material has a C2/c structure with stacks of the acceptor groups arranged in sheets separated by the cations, with appreciable dimerization of the acceptor groups along the stack direction. It shows metallic properties at room temperature. We have characterized this material with measurements of conductivity, thermopower, magnetic susceptibility and polarized optical reflectivity, and they find that the electronic structure is quite isotropic in the plane of the acceptor sheets. On cooling, there is a metal-insulator transition at 56.5 K, and this opens an energy gap at the Fermi energy. This transition is associated with a complex periodic lattice distortion comprising an incommensurate modulation and also a commensurate distortion which breaks the C centring symmetry. They present a calculation of the electronic band structure using an extended Huckel formalism, and show that, owing to the strong dimerization along the stack direction, the Fermi energy lies halfway in a band of highest occupied molecular orbital character. They consider also how the observed structural instability is able to produce an energy gap over the whole Fermi surface, and propose a model that requires coupling between the two types of modulation.