Gellan lyase was purified from the culture fluid of soil samples incubated in a medium containing gellan as a sole carbon source. The enzyme was a monomer with a molecular mass of 140 kDa and was most active at pH 7.5 and 45 degrees C. The enzyme was highly specific to gellan and lowered the viscosity of the polymer.


White snakeroot ( Ageratina altissima ) and rayless goldenrod ( Isocoma pluriflora ) can cause "trembles" and "milk sickness" in livestock and humans, respectively. Tremetol, a complex mixture of sterols and derivatives of methyl ketone benzofuran has been extracted from white snakeroot and rayless goldenrod and is reported to be the toxic substance in plant material. In this study, the three major benzofuran ketones, tremetone, dehydrotremetone, and 3-oxyangeloyl-tremetone, were isolated from rayless goldenrod. Using these compounds as standards, a quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to measure these compounds in white snakeroot and rayless goldenrod. Concentrations of tremetone, dehydrotremetone, and 3-oxyangeloyl-tremetone were found to vary considerably among the different white snakeroot and rayless goldenrod plant collections. Differences in concentrations of tremetone, dehydrotremetone, and 3-oxyangeloyl-tremetone in white snakeroot and rayless goldenrod plants may explain the historical sporadic and unpredictable toxicity of these plants to livestock and humans.


An input-series-output-parallel connected single stage buck type modular AC-DC converter with high-frequency isolation is presented in this study. The configuration possesses the following characteristics: (i) single-stage conversion, (ii) high-frequency isolation, (iii) using low voltage rating power devices. A stable control strategy based on the analysis of the three working states is proposed to achieve input voltage sharing automatically through output current sharing without sampling input voltages. With the strategy, equal power sharing can be obtained in both steady and dynamic state, even in the case when the parameters of individual modules are mismatched. The control loop modelling and design are given to show the stability of the control scheme and design of the controllers. The effectiveness of the presented topology and proposed control strategy are verified by simulations and experimental results.


BACKGROUND Surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy caused by porencephaly can be difficult because of poorly localizing or lateralizing electroclinical findings. The authors aimed to determine whether noninvasive evaluations are sufficient in these patients. OBSERVATIONS Eleven patients were included in this study. The porencephalic cyst was in the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) area in 9 patients, the left posterior cerebral artery area in 1 patient, and the bilateral MCA area in 1 patient. Interictal electroencephalography (EEG) revealed multiregional, bilateral, interictal epileptiform discharges in 5 of 11 patients. In 6 of 10 patients whose seizures were recorded, the ictal EEG was nonlateralizing. Nine patients underwent ictal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which revealed lateralized hyperperfusion in 8 of 9 cases. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) was useful for identifying the functional deficit zone. No patient had intracranial EEG. The procedure performed was hemispherotomy in 7 patients, posterior quadrant disconnection in 3 patients, and occipital disconnection in 1 patient. A favorable seizure outcome was achieved in 10 of 11 patients without the onset of new neurological deficits. LESSONS Ictal SPECT was useful for confirming the side of seizure origin when electroclinical findings were inconclusive. Thorough noninvasive evaluations, including FDG-PET and ictal SPECT, enabled curative surgery without intracranial EEG. Seizure and functional outcomes were favorable.


To improve the robustness of video transmission over heterogeneous wireless network various error resilient tools are deployed. The impact of bit errors on the perceived video quality depends on several factors, such as error resilience of the data format, error concealment mechanism used and characteristics of the bit error pattern. In this paper the impact of bit error is analyzed and various error resilient tools implemented at the transmitter side, at the receiver and the ones requiring interactive feedback on dynamic channel conditions are discussed. The paper also covers a few cross layer optimization techniques.


The effect of memory aids on conversations between nursing aides and residents with dementia during 5-minute conversations was examined. Nursing home units in seven nursing homes were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Residents in the treatment condition were given 12-page memory books consisting of autobiographical, daily schedule, and problem resolution information. Their assigned nursing aides were trained to use the memory books during care interactions and throughout the day. The duration and quality of verbal interactions between dyads of a resident and their nursing aide during 5-minute conversations were measured pre- and post-treatment using computer-assisted observational techniques and verbatim transcriptions of videotaped conversations (N = 66; 33 treatment dyads and 33 control dyads). The results revealed improvements on a variety of quantitative conversational measures (e.g., duration of speaking time, frequency of utterances) between treatment and control conditions as a function of memory book use. Similarly, the quality of conversations, as measured by the frequency of discourse characteristics (e.g., facilitative behaviors), improved as a function of memory book use for treatment dyads. Nursing aides' judgment of residents' depressive symptoms improved with memory aid use, suggesting changes in resident quality of life as a result of an AAC technique that enhanced information sharing and social closeness.


In this paper the effect of block shape Vortex Generators (VGs) on an air-water fin-tube heat exchanger has been studied experimentally using exergy analysis method. Also the effect of these VGs on increasing heat transfer rate has been simulated numerically and the Results show a good agreement with the experiments. In this research we used a wind tunnel to produce wind flow over heat exchanger in the range of 0.054 kg/s to 0.069 kg/s . Hot water was circulating with the steady volume flow rate of 240 L/h and the temperature of 44 to 68 centigrade in the system. These experiments have been repeated with and without VGs on the heat exchanger. Results show using the VGs has reduced Air Side Irreversibility to Heat transfer Ratio (ASIHR). To reveal the effect of VGs on heat exchanger performance with respect to reducing ASIHR, a quantity is used namely Performance of Vortex Generator (PVG). The results represent that PVG values are in the range of less than 15% to over 35% which represents the good effects of VGs on the heat exchanger performance.


Most of the software reliability models are based on reliability growth models which deal with only failure detection process. In these models it is assumed that software faults occur randomly at different time points and fault correction times are either ignored or considered insignificant. It is also assumed that only one fault is detected at any given time point. In this paper we propose a software reliability model in which a random number of faults are detected whenever a failure occurs. The model also takes into account the correction times for the faults detected. The software failure times and the correction times are assumed to follow exponential distributions. The number of software faults detected at any time point is assumed to follow a geometric distribution. The distribution of the total correction time is derived and the model is formulated as an alternating renewal process. The properties of the reliability model are studied through the renewal process. We obtain the maximum likelihood estimators and also asymptotic interval estimators of the system parameters and their properties are discussed. We also propose some large sample tests for the system parameters. Some numerical studies have been made to evaluate the power of the tests.


This article evaluates the performance of actively managed US open-end municipal bond mutual funds between 1999 and 2020. Fund classifications span national short, intermediate, and long-term, as well as high-yield and single-state portfolios. An initial investigation reveals that municipal securities manifest characteristics of a distinct asset class. Performance measures include benchmark-adjusted returns and single- and multifactor pricing models. During the sample period, only 8% of funds generated returns that beat their benchmark indexes, and 29% produced positive excess returns (alpha) based on a four-factor pricing model. Longer-maturity funds generally performed better than short-maturity funds. Based on portfolio performance, managers specializing in single-state issues do not manifest unique knowledge or insight. Active share for the aggregate sample was 25%, implying an active expense ratio exceeding 3% and annualized active alpha below −3%. The evidence overall suggests that active management of municipal bond portfolios is not a value-enhancing activity. TOPICS: Mutual funds/passive investing/indexing, fixed income and structured finance, factor-based models, performance measurement Key Findings ▪ Municipal bonds possess several characteristics that satisfy traditional criteria qualifying them as a distinct asset class. In this first evaluation of the performance of actively managed open-end municipal security mutual funds, the authors find that the vast majority of funds underperform their benchmark indexes. They also document significant underperformance when accounting for four fixed-income market systematic risk factors. ▪ The performance results vary by fund type, with short-term funds underperforming more acutely than intermediate- or long-term funds. Single-state funds are among the worst performers, suggesting that managers do not possess unique insight about the issuer domicile and its securities. ▪ Portfolio active share for muni bond funds is about 25% (similar to what extant work finds for equity funds), which implies an annualized active expense ratio of about 3% (similar to fees charged by some hedge funds).


Vibrational Raman spectroscopic experiments have been performed as a function of temperature on aqueous dispersions of synthetic DL-erythro-N-lignoceroylsphingosylphosphocholine [C(24):SPM], a racemic mixture of two highly asymmetric hydrocarbon chain length sphingomyelins. Raman spectral peak-height intensity ratios of vibrational transitions in the C-H stretching-mode region show that the C(24):SPM-H2O system undergoes two thermal phase transitions centered at 48.5 and 54.5 degrees C. Vibrational data for fully hydrated C(24):SPM are compared to those of highly asymmetric phosphatidylcholine dispersions. The Raman data are consistent with the plausible model that the lower temperature transition can be ascribed to the conversion of a mixed interdigitated gel state (gel II) to a partially interdigitated gel state (gel I) and that the higher temperature transition corresponds to a gel I----liquid-crystalline phase transition. The observation of a mixed interdigitated gel state (gel II) at temperatures below 48.5 degrees C implies that biological membranes may have lipid domains in which some of the lipid hydrocarbon chains penetrate completely across the entire hydrocarbon width of the lipid bilayer.


OBJECT
The objective of this study is to determine neurosurgery residency attrition rates by sex of matched applicant and by type and rank of medical school attended.

METHODS
The study follows a cohort of 1361 individuals who matched into a neurosurgery residency program through the SF Match Fellowship and Residency Matching Service from 1990 to 1999. The main outcome measure was achievement of board certification as documented in the American Board of Neurological Surgery Directory of Diplomats. A secondary outcome measure was documentation of practicing medicine as verified by the American Medical Association DoctorFinder and National Provider Identifier websites. Overall, 10.7% (n=146) of these individuals were women. Twenty percent (n=266) graduated from a top 10 medical school (24% of women [35/146] and 19% of men [232/1215], p=0.19). Forty-five percent (n=618) were graduates of a public medical school, 50% (n=680) of a private medical school, and 5% (n=63) of an international medical school. At the end of the study, 0.2% of subjects (n=3) were deceased and 0.3% (n=4) were lost to follow-up.

RESULTS
The total residency completion rate was 86.0% (n=1171) overall, with 76.0% (n=111/146) of women and 87.2% (n=1059/1215) of men completing residency. Board certification was obtained by 79.4% (n=1081) of all individuals matching into residency between 1990 and 1999. Overall, 63.0% (92/146) of women and 81.3% (989/1215) of men were board certified. Women were found to be significantly more at risk (p<0.005) of not completing residency or becoming board certified than men. Public medical school alumni had significantly higher board certification rates than private and international alumni (82.2% for public [508/618]; 77.1% for private [524/680]; 77.8% for international [49/63]; p<0.05). There was no significant difference in attrition for graduates of top 10-ranked institutions versus other institutions. There was no difference in number of years to achieve neurosurgical board certification for men versus women.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, neurosurgery training attrition rates are low. Women have had greater attrition than men during and after neurosurgery residency training. International and private medical school alumni had higher attrition than public medical school alumni.


The objective of the present study is to evaluate the ability of current Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools to simulate compartment fires with flashover followed by under-ventilated and/or quasistoichiometric, partially-under-ventilated conditions. Current CFD capabilities are illustrated using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS, Version 5), developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA. The FDS modeling capability is evaluated by detailed comparisons with an experimental database previously developed by the University of Edinburgh, UK. The test configuration corresponds to a fullscale fire test known as the Dalmarnock fire test (test 1). The description of the flammable content in the fire room is based on a standard modeling approach in which the ignition time of flammable objects and materials is calculated using a local heat transfer solver, while the fuel mass loss rate after ignition is prescribed using experimental data from cone/furniture calorimeter tests. The simulated Dalmarnock fire scenario includes flashover, a first post-flashover stage that is under-ventilated and characterized by burning outside the fire room, and a second post-flashover stage that is partially-under-ventilated and characterized by distributed burning inside the fire room. Transition to this second stage is triggered by window breakage in the fire room. The different stages of the fire scenario are analyzed in terms of the fire room global equivalence ratio (GER), which is considered as the main controlling parameter of the fire behavior. Comparisons between numerical results and experimental data are relatively good when considering the global features of the fire dynamics, e.g., the time history of the spatially-averaged heat release rate. Comparisons are not as good when considering local features, e.g., the time history of gas or wall temperatures, or that of wall heat fluxes.


We designed a PCR assay targeted on repeated elements of the ribosomal intergenic spacer which produces highly polymorphic DNA band patterns for different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi. By labeling the PCR products with digoxigenin and by chemiluminescence detection, we improved the assay sensitivity by three orders of magnitude to get T. cruzi strain fingerprints in feces of the trypanosome-infected triatomine bug vector. We also developed a capture assay for the digoxigenin-labeled PCR products that allowed us to detect T. cruzi in triatomine bug vector feces and in human serum samples with a solid support.


The reliability and reproducibility of random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD) was compared with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) by analysing three virus strains isolated from zoo animals in Berlin and three isolates which were cultivated from pets from Northern Germany. The RAPD technique was evaluated as a reliable tool with good reproducibility of the patterns for each virus strain investigated. Problems of interpretation due to inconsistent intensity of bands in different polymerase chain reaction runs may arise for less experienced personnel. The RAPD analysis can be performed within one working day and needs less DNA compared with RFLP so costs will be reduced. The obvious advantage of RFLP is that the pattern can be traced to the recognition site of the restriction enzyme whereas the RAPD primer sequence is not present in the orthopoxvirus genome at all. To the authors knowledge, the RAPD technique has never been applied in DNA viruses before and they conclude that this technique is a useful tool for the discrimination of closely related cowpoxviruses.


Leptin, a satiety hormone is a protein produced by the adipose tissue that regulates appetite and energetic balance of the body. Results of investigations of serum leptin in patients with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism are controversial. Influence of thyroid hormones on leptin secretion is complex and partially unrecognized.


Granulation of mefenamic acid particles was conducted to produce spherical shape, narrow size distribution of granules, high granule strength and good content uniformity by using Pressure Swing Granulation (PSG) technique in a fluidized bed. Two types (binderless and with binder) of granules namely lactose-mefenamic acid (MA) and lactose-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-(MA) with mass ratio of 30:70 and 25:5:70 were produced respectively. The later type of granules was heated for 80 ˚C, above the PEG melting point. Results indicated that all granules were uniform, spherical and narrow size distribution with the average granules size was less than 500 μm. The tensile strength of the lactose-PEG-MA was higher than the lactose-MA due to heating process. The tensile strength of lactose-PEG-MA and lactose-MA with average granules size of 500 μm were 0.42 MPa and 0.33 MPa, respectively. The drug contents in both types of granules were uniform i.e. around 70 ± 0.3 wt.%.


A human genetic variant found at high frequency is associated with reduced fertility [Also see Report by McCoy et al.] Biology, ecology, and culture have shaped human genetic variation over thousands of generations. Technology now allows us to know the sequence of our genomes and to act on this knowledge. Which genes did a child inherit from either parent? With the direct-to-consumer genome scan products now available, this question can be answered at the cost of a few hundred U.S. dollars and a few milliliters of spit. Which fertilized embryo is free of genetic and genomic abnormalities? By combining in vitro fertilization, preimplantation genetic screening, and whole-genome scans, this is also now possible to assess (1, 2). But what if genes themselves select potential children? On page 235 of this issue, McCoy et al. (3) indicate that this may be the case. The authors describe paradoxical results of a genomic study of thousands of preimplantation human embryos and their parents. They turn up a maternal-effect genetic variant that occurs at high frequency in many populations, that was likely under positive selection in our recent past, and that dramatically decreases embryonic viability.


Weather prediction from real-world images can be termed a complex task when targeting classification using neural networks. Moreover, the number of images throughout the available datasets can contain a huge amount of variance when comparing locations with the weather those images are representing. In this article, the capabilities of a custom built driver simulator are explored specifically to simulate a wide range of weather conditions. Moreover, the performance of a new synthetic dataset generated by the above simulator is also assessed. The results indicate that the use of synthetic datasets in conjunction with real-world datasets can increase the training efficiency of the CNNs by as much as 74%. The article paves a way forward to tackle the persistent problem of bias in vision-based datasets.


News coverage of security and privacy (S&P) events is pervasive and may affect the salience of S&P threats to the public. To better understand this coverage and its effects, we asked: What types of S&P news come into people's awareness? How do people hear about and share this news? Over two years, we recruited 1999 participants to fill out a survey on emergent S&P news events. We identified four types of S&P news: financial data breaches, corporate personal data breaches, high sensitivity systems breaches, and politicized / activist cybersecurity. These event types strongly correlated with how people shared S&P news-e.g., financial data breaches were shared most (42%), while politicized / activist cybersecurity events were shared least (21%). Furthermore, participants' age, gender and security behavioral intention strongly correlated with how they heard about and shared S&P news-e.g., males more often felt a personal responsibility to share, and older people were less likely to hear about S&P news through conversation.


We propose to enrich the artifact-centric approach in two ways. First, by relying on the Agent-Oriented Paradigm, the tasks acting on artifacts are organized in agents, seen as autonomous loci of control, whose execution is goal-driven. Second, the business artifact model is complemented by a normative dimension. Norms are used to represent the data lifecycle in a form that is inspectable and that can be reasoned upon by agents. Agents can therefore create expectations about the behaviors of others and hence, leveraging on the norms, agents can act on an artifact so as to entice, or oblige, others to act themselves. The paper discusses the advantages and consequences of this norm-aware enrichment, and outlines a possible realization based on social commitments.


In recent years,visiting ancient villages,ancient towns or world cultural heritages has been popular.However,with tourism development in the humanistic destinations,problems have emerged.The over concentration of travel routes has been criticized for a long time,as it leads to a series of consequences,including the spatial concentration of tourist activities,confined business opportunities,limited resident participation and unbalanced community development. Although local residents as an integrated community are crucial in forming an attractive humanistic and cultural landscape in these destinations,it is possible for only a small proportion of them living along the travel routes or owning farmland to be fully integrated in tourism development.The permeation of tourism into the community breaks down the balanced status and perplexes the power relation,where there might be disparity and conflict.Moreover,concentration of tourist activities places tremendous pressure on heritage,infrastructure and tourism management,while it also deteriorates the satisfaction of both the tourists and residents.However,although dispersion of tourist activity has been advocated by the tourism experts,few measures have been taken. This paper analyzes the formation and solidification of travel routes in ancient village destinations in the cases of Xidi and Hongcun world heritage sites.It points out that it is not optimistic in tourism management,community participation and development as well as in heritage protection,which are not economically,socially,culturally or environmentally sustainable.The solidification process of the travel routes follows a path dependence pattern often discussed in neo-institutional economics.There are six feedback loops motivating the process,including the mass tourist market structure,Chinese consumptive culture,ancient architecture protection,power relation,institution settings and economic factor.System dynamics is utilized to model the feedback system.Currently,the travel routes in Xidi and Hongcun are locked in an unsatisfactory status,where drastic change will be under tremendous opportunity cost.


Reversible computing is a paradigm where programs can execute backward as well as in the usual forward direction. Reversible computing is attracting interest due to its applications in areas as different as biochemical modelling, simulation, robotics and debugging, among others. In concurrent systems the main notion of reversible computing is called causal-consistent reversibility, and it allows one to undo an action if and only if its consequences, if any, have already been undone.
This paper presents a general and automatic technique to define a causal-consistent reversible extension for given forward models. We support models defined using a reduction semantics in a specific format and consider a causality relation based on resources consumed and produced. The considered format is general enough to fit many formalisms studied in the literature on causal-consistent reversibility, notably Higher-Order π-calculus and Core Erlang, an intermediate language in the Erlang compilation. Reversible extensions of these models in the literature are ad hoc, while we build them using the same general technique. This also allows us to show in a uniform way that a number of relevant properties, causal-consistency in particular, hold in the reversible extensions we build. Our technique also allows us to go beyond the reversible models in the literature: we cover a larger fragment of Core Erlang, including remote error handling based on links, which has never been considered in the reversibility literature.


Here I summarize P5-WG (New/Alternative Physics Working Group) of LCWS2000@FNAL, held on Oct 24–28, 2000. There were 13 talks altogether, 7 talks on collider signals from new particles/interactions and 6 talks on extra dimensional physics. We had very active and hot discussions among participants for those new/alternative physics/ideas. In bottom table, I show those 13 speakers' names and titles.


Sharia Supervisory Boards (SSBs) are established within the structure of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) to ensure the credibility of sharia-compliance. In sharia governance, the SSB is the main tool which IFIs apply to be presumed as sharia-compliant. However, the insertion of this body into the internal structure of the corporation can prove challenging, as this body, with its powerful authority, is unknown to the structure of the corporation. The role of sharia supervision performed by SSBs requires a high level of independence, which is significantly compromised in its current structure.
While many researchers have identified conflict of interests surrounding the structure of SSBs and proposed suggestions, this thesis rethinks the entire structure of SSBs to make them more consistent with the well-known corporate governance mechanisms. The thesis examines the nature of SSBs' roles and concludes that these are more closely aligned to gatekeeping. More specifically, their roles are similar to those of external auditors, and so the SSBs should be structured as such. This requires a separation of the SSB's roles to be reassigned to different institutions.
Regarding the sharia standard-setting role, the thesis suggests establishing a national Sharia Standard-setting Board to be the exclusive authority for issuing sharia standards for the Islamic finance industry. This body should overcome the limitations existing within similar bodies in certain jurisdictions where SSBs are granted wide legislative authority. To assess the auditing roles of SSBs, the thesis analyses the accountability framework of sharia governance. It argues that sharia firms provide a better alternative for conducting independent external sharia auditing. Also, a regulatory authority needs to be implemented for more effective accountability and to serve the unique stakeholders of sharia-compliance. The thesis concludes by proposing an SSB-free model which promotes sharia supervision as a profession and so, in turn, the whole industry of Islamic finance.


By reexamining the works of women artists who were active in Russian avant-garde art, this essay attempts to establish their place within art history. Almost 30 women artists can be named as active participants in Russian avant-garde art, and these women were closely engaged near the centre of the art movement. Here, the larger context is provided by the radical changes taking place in Russian society at the time, led by the ideologies of the socialist revolution. Women artists were not excluded from the societal call for women to join in the revolution as proletariat warriors. However, despite such appearances, there are many examples of women artists in revolutionary Russia who failed to break completely from their supporting roles or peripheral positions in the male-centred avant-garde art movement. Women, while still confined to roles defined by patriarchal conventions, were at the same time burdened by social duties imposed under the pretext of social participation; hence, in some aspects, women bore an even greater load than before. Despite their active participation, women were designated to positions subordinate to men; even in later art history, they are described as mere inserts within a history of avant-garde art led by men. This paper reviews the works of five major women artists who were at the vanguard of Russian avant-garde art to more fairly evaluate their position in the art of those times. Alexandra Exter(1882-1949) was a seminal avant-garde artist who moved across Russia, France, and Italy, experimenting and popularizing Cubo-Futurism. In addition, through her activities in education and curating, she was an important leader of Ukrainian avant-garde art, spreading new art in the Ukraine. Her rhythmical city landscapes fused the principles of Futurism with experiments in the form of Cubism, merged with traditional Ukrainian colours. Exter took the foreign trends she encountered and reinterpreted them through her own roots and in so doing eventually extended into abstract art. She revealed herself to be a total artist, applying her painterly experiments to stage and wardrobe design for various projects including Salome(by Oscar Wilde, 1917). Along with her husband Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova(1881-1962) presented the Rayonist Manifesto in 1913 to become a founding member of the movement. Although Goncharova is said to have received the full support of her husband, she also played an independent role within the avant-garde circles in Moscow. Especially in realizing avant-garde art theory through her works, Goncharova was much more proactive than her husband. The geometrical structures of Cubism, the dynamic 'force-lines' of Futurism, and the colours of Orphism all came together in her paintings, which were almost like a blueprint for the Rayonist Manifesto, clarified into a final form integrating those three trends. Based on her writings on abstract art theory in 1913, it was already evident that Olga Rozanova(1886-1918) was one of the leaders guiding Russian avant-garde art into the abstract art movement. She deeply sympathized with Malevich's Suprematism, and Malevich in turn believed in her so much that he hailed her the "only true Suprematist." However, Rozanova proposed a Suprematism through colour, and realized this in her works; in this respect she can be distinguished from Malevich. The simplified colour fields and colour bands that formed her later works surpassed Malevich and presaged the colour field abstract paintings of the mid to late 20th century. Rozanova also developed pictopoesie, which fused together painting with 'zaum', a trend that influenced the Russian avantgarde literature of the era. She worked as a book designer as well. Through a series entitled Painterly Architectonics, Liubov Popova(1889-1924) provided a prototype for Constructivist painting. To her, more than anything, painting was a kind of architectural structure built of elements such as space, lines, colours, movement, and texture. Rather than viewing art as a representation of the mind, she firmly held to the Constructivist view of art as the construction of material elements. Especially after the 1917 revolution, she followed the route of Constructivism that identified artistic revolution with social revolution and gradually progressed into Productivism, which linked art to industrialization. During this period she also engaged in stage design. Her stage for Fernand Crommelynck's play The Magnanimous Cuckold(1922) was a typically Constructivist design as it was closely fused with the acting, and also could be easily assembled and transported. Another Constructivist artist, Varvara Stepanova(1894-1958), experimented from the beginning with the concept of total art through picto-poesie, which combined art with literature. Her works are similar to Rozanova, but with letters and forms more organically woven to create an integrated picture. In addition, Stepanova created pictures combining abstract forms with human figures through which she realized true Constructivist methods by actively employing functional tools like the ruler and compass and mechanical processes such as stenciling. She also turned to Productivist art by way of the revolution. In addition, she participated actively in stage art; her stage design for Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin's play The Death of Tarelkin(1922), along with Popova's work, remains a representative example of Constructivist stage design. The activities of women artists like these account for a major part of the history of Russian avant-garde art. In particular, following the revolution, a shift occurred towards a total art encompassing all art genres and an everyday art that sought to fuse art into life, and in this process, the role of women artists certainly cannot be overlooked. Women were not simply followers of male artists, but created their own forms; and especially in those realms traditionally assigned to women, such as textile and clothing design, women played an even more leading role. The demands of art and society at the time brought about women's participation, and with this, women not only gained entry into the male sanctuary of art, they also became catalysts for changing that sanctuary. More than anything, women's fluid ability to move freely between art and everyday life resulted in the 'secularization' of 'sacred' art. All this might be blasphemous if viewed through the filter of the 'high art' rhetoric of modernism, but through a different filter of 'art within life', it is a very delightful rebellion. If Russian avant-garde art?which has been constructed as the axis of modernism and thus reduced to the single aspect of being the origin of abstract painting?is scrutinized from a different perspective, women and their place will surface. Likewise, if we focus on the women, Russian avant-garde art will emerge with a different face, revealing a true avant-garde spirit that goes beyond the internal formal experiments of abstract art and strives to expand into realms external to art. This alternative view suggests that perhaps women were on the frontlines of the revolution. It is possible that art in revolutionary Russia was led by the Amazons of the Avant-Garde, as in the title of the Guggenheim exhibition. At the least, it is clear that women were there 'together' with the men. While women could not be active 'subjects' in the 'great' utopia dreamed of by men, they were artist-subjects of another kind, who dreamed of 'another' utopia, and thus created another face of avant-garde art.


OBJECTIVE
To study the protective effect of exogenous pulmonary surfactant (PS) on respiratory insufficiency after cardiopulmonary bypass in children.

METHODS
24 children of VSD associated with pulmonary hypertension undergoing heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) were randomly divided into two groups: control group and PS group. In the PS group, exogenous natural porcine PS 150 mg/kg was dropped into the intracheal tube before opening the chest and removing the aortic clamp. Equal amount of normal saline was given in the control group. Lung dynamic compliance and oxygenate index were measured before and after operation. The plasma molondialdehyde(MDA) concentration of the lung was analysed perioperatively with ELISA methods. The intubation time of the two groups and ultrastructure of the lung also was measured.

RESULTS
The dynamic compliance of the PS group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05), and the oxygenate index was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.01) after CPB. Compared to the control group, the exogenous PS was able to markedly reduce the generation of MDA(P < 0.01). The intubation time of the PS group was 8.9 hours, much shorter than 13.8 hours of the control group(P < 0.001). The histological examination confirmed that the degree of pulmonary damage was significantly ameliorated in the PS group.

CONCLUSION
Exogenous natural PS has protective effect on respiratory insufficiency after CPB in children with VSD associated with pulmonary hypertension.


The Wave Project I and II data consist of simultaneous measurements of water surface displacements and wave forces at different vertical elevations along platform piles. Wave Projects I and II data are utilized in a comparative study to evaluate the capability of linear wave theory to evaluate the kinematics of some of the larger waves measured. In particular, a set of wave and wave force data are selected and forces are calculated by the Morison equation based on the linear filter method and the stream function method with published drag and inertia coefficients. A "relative standard deviation" is defined and represents an index of the goodness-of-fit between the measured and calculated wave forces.


Despite growing awareness of the importance of gender equality in the advancement of global economies, the involvement of marketing and policy in (re)producing and resolving gender injustices remains understudied. This article proposes a transformative consumer research approach to studying gender-related issues. It develops the "transformative gender justice framework" (TGJF), which identifies perspectives from three enfranchisement theories: social and distributive justice, capabilities approach, and recognition theory. By applying a multiparadigmatic analysis, the authors encourage a dialogic and recursive approach so that scholars and policy makers can assess the interactions between structural, agentic, and sociocultural forces that underlie gender injustices. They argue the TGJF is necessary for full comprehension of the complex, systemic, glocalized, institutionalized, and embodied nature of gender injustices, as well as how policy, markets and marketing can both perpetuate and resolve gender injustices. To demonstrate the TGJF's analytical power, the authors apply the framework to one site of gender injustice (i.e., the sex tourism industry), propose applications across additional sites, and discuss questions it raises for future research.


OBJECTIVE
Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of tumor suppressor gene (TSG) is believed to play a key role in carcinogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we performed refined mapping of LOH on 10q23-24 region and screened the candidate TSG related to sporadic CRC.

METHODS
Seven fluorescent labeled polymorphic markers (encompassing D10S185 locus) were analyzed in 83 cases of colorectal carcinoma and normal tissues by PCR. PCR products were eletrophoresed on an ABI 377 DNA sequencer. GeneScan 3.1 and Genotyper 2.1 softwares were used for LOH scanning and analysis. Comparison between LOH frequency and clinicopathological factors were performed by Chi-square test.

RESULTS
The average LOH frequency was 36.11%. The highest frequency of LOH (D10S583 locus) and the lowest (D10S205 locus) were 54.84% and 21.3%, respectively. Two obviously high LOH regions were detected: one between D10S583 locus and D10S185 locus (about 0.9 cm, 10q23.33); another flanked by D10S1709 and D10S1265 locus (about 1.5 cm, 10q24.2-24.31). Furthermore, significant difference was observed between LOH frequency and Dukes stages only on D10S1265 locus.

CONCLUSION
Two obviously high frequency LOH regions, 10q23.33 and 10q24.2-24.31, were detected in sporadic CRC. Besides PTEN gene, the above two regions may harbor candidate TSG involved in development and progression of sporadic CRC.


The study upon the topic, "Factors Affecting Adoption of Alternative Delivery Channels by Pakistani Banking Customers," strives to find the factors that affect the adoption of ADCs of Pakistani banking customers. The emphasis of this particular research study revolves around the demographic elements of age, gender, level of income, level of education; and service delivery variables of cost savings, transaction security, convenience, and time savings. The adoption of ADCs in Pakistan is questioned in this quantitative study where 271 people are evaluated under the influence of service delivery as well as demographic factors. or reliable analysis, SPSS version 21.0 was used to analyze collected data. The sample type is non-probability utilizing convenience sampling technique. Data is analyzed using the statistical technique of Binary Logistic Regression. Other statistical tests performed on the data include Binomial Test of Proportions, Cronbach's alpha reliability test. Discussing the outcomes of the statistical tests, it is evident that the preferences of the customers for distinct alternative delivery channels that are offered by Pakistani banks differ mainly on the basis of gender, age, education and income levels while variables of service delivery also matter when the usage and adoption of alternative delivery channels is concerned.


Rice blast disease is a serious disease in rice caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae). Ascorbic acid (AsA), or vitamin C, is a strong antioxidant that prevents oxidative damage to cellular components and plays an essential role in plant defense response. GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP or VTC1) is an enzyme that generates GDP-D-mannose for AsA, cell wall, and glycoprotein synthesis. The OsVTC1 gene has three homologs in the rice genome: OsVTC1-1, OsVTC1-3, and OsVTC1-8. Using OsVTC1-1 RNAi lines, this study investigated the role of the OsVTC1-1 gene during rice blast fungus inoculation. The OsVTC1-1 RNAi inoculated with rice blast fungus induced changes to cell wall monosaccharides, photosynthetic efficiency, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Additionally, the OsVTC1-1 RNAi lines were shown to be more resistant to rice blast fungus than the wild type. Genes and proteins related to defense response, plant hormone synthesis, and signaling pathways, especially salicylic acid and jasmonic acid, were up-regulated in the OsVTC1-1 RNAi lines after rice blast inoculation. These results suggest that the OsVTC1-1 gene regulates rice blast resistance through several defense mechanisms, including hormone synthesis and signaling pathways.


A model of a pulsed CO laser pumped by a medium-pressure combined discharge at room temperature is discussed. The optimum parameters of the active medium (pressure, specific energy input, and the ratio E/p for different mixtures) at which the calculated efficiency for a mixture with the composition CO:He=1:3 amounts to 14% are calculated. The dependence of the output parameters on the additions of nitrogen and xenon to the working mixture is analysed.


Liver CT images are greatly influenced by noise, and the area boundaries of liver image is fuzzy and part of the scanning fragments are scattered and discontinuous, which result in CT image contains some false contour points that affect the process of image segmentation and decrease the accuracy of image segmentation. In this paper, a kind of active contour model based on Wasserstein distance is put forward. Wasserstein distance was introduced in the model for comparison in different regions in the image histogram, to enhance the accuracy of similarity measure, calculate the curve near the point of local energy as a model, and the internal energy of the sum so as to improve the accuracy of image segmentation. Experiment shows that the algorithm can be used for accurate segmentation of liver CT images and the energy function has better convergence.


In obesity and type 2 diabetes, skeletal muscle has been observed to have a reduced oxidative enzyme activity, increased glycolytic activity, and increased lipid content. These metabolic characteristics are related to insulin resistance of skeletal muscle and are factors potentially related to muscle fiber type. The current study was undertaken to examine the interactions of muscle fiber type in relation to oxidative enzyme activity, glycolytic enzyme activity, and muscle lipid content in obese and type 2 diabetic subjects compared with lean healthy volunteers. The method of single-fiber analysis was used on vastus lateralis muscle obtained by percutaneous biopsy from 22 lean, 20 obese, and 20 type 2 diabetic subjects (ages 35+/-1, 42+/-2, and 52+/-2 years, respectively), with values for BMI that were similar in obese and diabetic subjects (23.7+/-0.7, 33.2+/-0.8, and 31.8+/-0.8 kg/m2, respectively). Oxidative enzyme activity followed the order of type I > type IIa > type IIb, but within each fiber type, skeletal muscle from obese and type 2 diabetic subjects had lower oxidative enzyme activity than muscle from lean subjects (P < 0.01). Muscle lipid content followed a similar pattern in relation to fiber type, and within each fiber type, muscle from obese and type 2 diabetic subjects had greater lipid content (P < 0.01). In summary, based on single-fiber analysis, skeletal muscle in obese and type 2 diabetic subjects mani-fests disturbances of oxidative enzyme activity and increased lipid content that are independent of the effect of fiber type.


The study was conducted in Bashay irrigation schemes of Mbulu District. The main objective was to determine the profitable crop production options for Bashay irrigation scheme. A cross sectional single-visit survey involving 100 farmers from Mangisa and Diyomat villages was conducted representing up and down stream respectively. Descriptive Statistics, Gross Margin, Multiple Regression and Linear Programming model were used as analytical tools. The findings revealed that majority (68%) of household surveyed cultivate 0.1 to 0.4 ha. The analysis on crops profitable levels using GM revealed that garlic gives the highest GM of TZS 2 687 915 and 2 275 000 per hectare in the upstream and downstream respectively. Others crops in the order of decreasing GM was onion, potatoes, maize, and beans, with GM of TZS 1 678 010 > 383 312.5 >356 237.5 > 295 710, respectively, in the upstream while in the downstream the GM was TZS 515 835 > 285 857.5 > 282 715 > 133 010 for onion, maize, potatoes, and beans, respectively. The differences in GM in the two scenarios are mainly due to water availability whereby farmers at upstream have more access to water for irrigation. The multiple regression output results indicate that farm size, labour and capital input are the major factors that significantly (p<0.05) influence crop profitability. The LP results revealed that in the upstream garlic, onion and beans fall in the final optimum plan with maximum net revenue of 1 838 777.5 TZS/ha while in the downstream, maize and garlic are the profitable crops with maximum net revenue of 1 096 045 TZS/ha. The overall LP results revealed that for the Bashay irrigation schemes garlic and onion are the most profitable crops with net revenue of 1 891 117.5 TZS/ha. It is therefore, recommended that in order to maximize crop profitability, garlic, onion and beans are the best crops production in the upstream while garlic and maize are the best option in the downstream, but generally garlic and onion are the best production option to be adopted in Bashay irrigation schemes. ii


Nowadays data is available in a single click that is from World Wide Web which is a huge repository of resources. Web search engines have a key role in the discovery of relevant information, but this kind of search is usually performed using keywords and the results into context less results. Result presented to user may contain context irrelevant data. This work is one step towards better understanding of user context from available domain specific resources. The contextualized strategy for information retrieval (IR) can be built around user profile, query expansion and relevance feedback. In this proposed system, new concept called terminology which is good representative of particular domain (or subject) is defined and used to classify resources as relevant or irrelevant (non- relevant). This work focuses on improving results of context sensitive web search engine based on shared resources. Query expansion using shared documents is applied to implement contextual search. These resources are ranked based on query submitted by user which brings most relevant document at the top in hierarchy. From top ranked documents, terms has been weighted to identify most related terms for query expansion. In addition the results of the query engine with and without the contextual information will be evaluated automatically without any interface of user.


Abstract With the outbreak of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, many countries have imposed lockdowns which have caused an increase in Internet use. As large-scale disasters may have an impact on addictions, a review on Internet-based addictive behaviors seems necessary. The goals of this review are to find whether Internet-based addictive behaviors have increased during the pandemic and to define the main reasons for this increase. The systematic search was conducted in Google Scholar, Science Direct, PsycINFO, and PubMed in October of 2020, to determine the current evidence and observations concerning the Internet-based addictive behaviors amid COVID-19. Studies were included if they considered the Internet-based addictive behaviors during the current pandemic. We used all the names of the coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2 previously 2019 nCoV), the name of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and common Internet-based addictive behaviors, namely Internet addiction, online gaming disorder, online gambling disorder, pornography use, and smartphone use disorder. The study design is PEOs, finding if individuals' exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in Internet-based addictive behaviors. The quality of the studies was assessed independently by two authors using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The articles found in this review proved an increase in Internet-based addictive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic mostly due to financial hardships, isolation, problematic substance use, and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Effective interventions should be scaled up to prevent and reduce online addictive behaviors, as well as accessible guidelines, particularly for adolescents.


CONTEXT: The association between anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and the development of secondary osteoarthritis has been the subject of several studies. Ligament injury predisposes joint cartilage lesions, thus influencing motor control and peak torque. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of the degree of chondral lesion on peak torque of the anterior and posterior musculature of the thigh following ACL injury and reconstruction. METHOD: Six male subjects with total unilateral ACL injury were evaluated 24 hours before surgery and at two times after surgery (4.66 ± 1.03 and 15.83 ± 2.63 months, respectively). Isokinetic evaluations of knee flexion and extension were made in concentric mode, at velocities of 60o/s and 180o/s, and the variables of hamstring peak torque (HPT) and quadriceps peak torque (QPT) and hamstring/quadriceps ratio (H/Q) were analyzed. The modified Mankin histological scale was used to evaluate the macroscopic degree of chondral injury. The ANOVA statistical test (p< 0.05) was used to compare the results between the three times studied, with the Newman-Keuls post-hoc test. Spearman's correlation test was then applied to evaluate the influence of the degree of chondral injury on the peak torque of the thigh musculature. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the H/Q ratio at the velocity of 60o/s (p= 0.01). The degree of chondral injury degree ranged from 1 to 5, although there was no correlation with the isokinetic findings. CONCLUSION: There was an imbalance in agonist/antagonist relationship, with regard to torque, between muscle groups of the knee following ACL reconstruction. However, the degree of secondary chondral lesion did not influence the progressive gains in this muscle groups over the study period.


ABSTRACT The general public are taking more responsibility for their health, using community pharmacy as a source to access medication. There are a reported increase and change in the misuse of OTC medication from community pharmacies in Scotland (Wright et al, 2015). This article was designed to examine the self-reported use of medication from a small sample of community pharmacies in Scotland. The questionnaire gathered patient demographics and details of medicines used. The study concentrated on two treatment areas, opioid analgesics, and sedative antihistamines licensed as a sleep aid. Both previously identified as the most prevalent OTC medications that were perceived to being misused (Matheson et al, 2007). Data were collected over a short time period in 2015 from 15 community pharmacies. The data demonstrate the widespread misuse of OTC. The most prevalent group identified as females, 41–60 years old and employed. It was most commonly reported that the recommended treatment duration is exceeded rather than the maximum recommended daily dose. The recommendations from the article are that there needs to be greater awareness for pharmacists, pharmacy staff, and general public on the potential dangers of misusing OTC medications and the importance of adhering to the recommended dosing and duration guidelines.


BACKGROUND
This study aimed to investigate whether sublobar resection (SR) is equivalent to lobectomy for small (≤ 2 cm) second primary lung cancer (SPLC).

METHODS
We identified 834 patients with T1aN0M0 SPLC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database during 2000-2016. Overall survival (OS) was compared between lobectomy and SR after propensity-score matching. A total of 228 patients with SPLC were identified from three institutions in China as the validation set.

RESULTS
SR was an independent risk factor for patients with 1 to 2 cm SPLC (SR vs Lob: hazard ratio [HR], 1.593; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.186-2.141; P = .002) but not for patients with SPLC ≤ 1 cm (SR vs Lob: HR, 1.206; 95% CI, 0.790-1.841; P = .385). Subgroup analysis on the SEER data indicated that OS favored lobectomy compared with SR for contralateral SPLC ≤ 2 cm but not for ipsilateral ones (ipsilateral: P = .692; contralateral: P = .030). Our multi-institutional data also revealed that SR was equivalent to lobectomy for patients with ≤2 cm ipsilateral SPLC.

CONCLUSIONS
SR is equivalent to lobectomy for SPLC ≤ 1 cm but not for SPLC > 1 to 2 cm. SR might be recommended for patients with ipsilateral small SPLC considering the difficulty in reoperations.


This book of readings was developed as a contribution to the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) document 'Shaping our future: Australia's national strategy for vocational education and training 2004-2010' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.685). It reviews the achievements realised for the equity groups identified in 'Bridge to the future: Australia's national strategy for vocational education and training 1998 - 2003' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.683), and reveals the issues these groups are currently facing and how they might be addressed. It also considers whether there are other groups who experience disadvantage and the role that vocational education and training (VET) could play to improve their opportunities. Finally, it discusses approaches and frameworks which need to be developed to bring about further improvements in equity in VET.


Hamelia patens Jacq. (Texas fireebush) is a long-day plant for flower initiation and flower development; however, flower development is more sensitive to photoperiod than is flower initiation. The critical photoperiod for flower development at 25C is between 12 and 16 hours. Flowering was delayed under low light conditions, and plant dry weight was heavier and flowering time was earlier for plants grown at a constant 25 or 30C than at 20C. A greenhouse environment with a 16-hour photoperiod and moderately high temperature (25C) would be appropriate for production of H. patens


Background: Dengue has become one of the major vector-borne diseases, which has been an important public health concern. We aimed to estimate the disease burden of dengue in major endemic regions from 1990 to 2019, and explore the impact pattern of the socioeconomic factors on the burden of dengue based on the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors study 2019 (GBD 2019). Methods: Using the analytical strategies and data from the GBD 2019, we described the incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of dengue in major endemic regions from 1990 to 2019. Furthermore, we estimated the correlation between dengue burden and socioeconomic factors, and then established an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model to predict the epidemic trends of dengue in endemic regions. All estimates were proposed as numbers and age-standardized rates (ASR) per 100,000 population, with uncertainty intervals (UIs). The ASRs of dengue incidence were compared geographically and five regions were stratified by a sociodemographic index (SDI). Results: A significant rise was observed on a global scale between 1990 and 2019, with the overall age-standardized rate (ASR) increasing from 557.15 (95% UI 243.32–1212.53) per 100,000 in 1990 to 740.4 (95% UI 478.2–1323.1) per 100,000 in 2019. In 2019, the Oceania region had the highest age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 population (3173.48 (95% UI 762.33–6161.18)), followed by the South Asia region (1740.79 (95% UI 660.93–4287.12)), and then the Southeast Asia region (1153.57 (95% UI 1049.49–1281.59)). In Oceania, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, increase trends were found in the burden of dengue fever measured by ASRs of DALY which were consistent with ASRs of dengue incidence at the national level. Most of the countries with the heaviest burden of dengue fever occurred in areas with low and medium SDI regions. However, the burden in high-middle and high-SDI countries is relatively low, especially the Solomon Islands and Tonga in Oceania, the Maldives in South Asia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. The age distribution results of the incidence rate and disease burden of dengue fever of major endemic regions showed that the higher risk and disease burden are mainly concentrated in people under 14 or over 70 years old. The prediction by ARIMA showed that the risk of dengue fever in South and Southeast Asia is on the rise, and further prevention and control is warranted. Conclusions: In view of the rapid population growth and urbanization in many dengue-endemic countries, our research results are of great significance for presenting the future trend in dengue fever. It is recommended to policy makers that specific attention needs to be paid to the negative impact of urbanization on dengue incidence and allocate more resources to the low-SDI areas and people under 14 or over 70 years old to reduce the burden of dengue fever.


Two luminous debris discs around 100 Myr old have been searched for 1 cm dust emission, to a depth three times greater than in any such previous study. Very low limits were set towards both HD 377 and HD 104860 (noise levels of 12–14 Jy), extending the spectral range from 70 m to 3 mm where cool dust has previously been sought. The almost-identical fluxes of the two systems were merged into an average spectral energy distribution, which was then fitted using a distribution of grain sizes. The canonical infinite collisional cascade, with numbers of particles n(D) ∝ D−3.5 for diameter D, overpredicts the 1-cm flux, which should have been detected at over 3σ for the merged system. Preferred solutions have truncated grain populations with largest particles around 1.5–4 mm in diameter, and slightly flatter distributions, up to n(D) ∝ D−3.1. The lack of cm-sized and larger particles is reminiscent of the similar deficit inferred around comets from spacecraft encounters. Such departures from simple power-law distributions of particles have been predicted in recent models where some size regimes are more readily broken up than others. A deficit of cm-scale particles can explain the fits we obtain, and reduces the total masses inferred for the comet belts of these stars.


In this paper, we propose a new class of branch predictors, complementary branch predictors, which can be easily added to any branch predictor to improve the overall prediction accuracy. This mechanism differs from conventional branch predictors in that it focuses only on mispredicted branches. As a result, this mechanism has the advantages of scalability and flexibility (can be implemented with any branch predictor), but is not on the critical path. More specifically, this mechanism improves the branch prediction accuracy by predicting which future branch will be mispredicted next and when that will occur, and then it changes the predicted direction at the predicted time. Our results show that a branch predictor with the branch misprediction predictor achieves the same prediction accuracy as a conventional branch predictor that is 4 to 16 times larger, but without significantly increasing the overall complexity or lengthening the critical path.


3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a technology that has existed since the 1980s. 3D printing can be applied to health in several ways: production of didactic material in the area of health, prostheses, surgical planning and with bioprinting of organs. There are several methodologies used for 3D printing applied to health, but basically they follow the process: idealization of the model, conversion of the file into STL, then G-Code and then printing and treatment of the printed object. The printers can use plastic, biodegradable material, powders, liquid or even living cells. The objective of this study is to show in a simplified way how 3D printing can be applied to health, addressing the main concepts of 3D printing. To carry out the article, a search was made for scientific articles from 2010-2023 with the theme 3D printing applied to health. This study showed that, since the 1980s, 3D printing has improved a lot, but challenges such as costs, production time and regulatory mechanisms still need to be overcome.


If the fault occurs on the underground power cable systems, the fault current on the sheath has an influence on all sections of cable because it's returned through earth at the directly grounded point and operation point of SVL(Sheath Voltage Limiter) on each insulated joint box. Therefore, the earth resistance and the operation of SVL have an effect on the zero-sequence current, and then the impedance between relaying point and fault point is increased. That causes the overreach of distance relay. For these reasons, the distance relay algorithm for protecting an underground power cable systems hasn't been developed till now. In this paper, new distance relay algorithm is developed for protecting a underground power cable system using fuzzy inference system which is the one of ACI(Advanced Computational Intelligence) techniques. This algorithm is verified by EMTP simulation of real power cable system, and proves to effectively advance the errors


Background The white-backed planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera, causes great damage to many crops (mainly rice) by direct feeding or transmitting plant viruses. The previous genome assembly was generated by second-generation sequencing technologies, with a contig N50 of only 51.5 kb, and contained a lot of heterozygous sequences. Methods We utilized third-generation sequencing technologies and Hi-C data to generate a high-quality chromosome-level assembly. We also provide a large amount of transcriptome data for full-length transcriptome analysis and gender differential expression analysis. Results The final assembly comprised 56.38 Mb, with a contig N50 of 2.20 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 45.25 Mb. Fourteen autosomes and one X chromosome were identified. More than 99.5% of the assembled bases located on the 15 chromosomes. 95.9% of the complete BUSCO Hemiptera genes were detected in the final assembly and 16,880 genes were annotated. 722 genes were relatively highly expressed in males, while 60 in the females. Conclusion The integrated genome, definite sex chromosomes, comprehensive transcriptome profiles, high efficiency of RNA interference and short life cycle substantially made WBPH an efficient research object for functional genomics.


General relationships for the estimation of the maximum shielding failure current of overhead transmission lines have been derived by performing shielding analysis on the basis of several lightning attachment models including a recently introduced statistical one. The interdependence of maximum shielding failure current, transmission line geometry and factors employed in lightning attachment models is discussed through an application to typical 150 kV and 400 kV lines of the Hellenic transmission system. The maximum shielding failure current depends on transmission line geometry and shows a great variability among the lightning attachment models that are used in shielding analysis; electrogeometric models, thus also the IEEE Standard 1243:1997, yield higher values. These results are of great importance when considering that the maximum shielding failure current of transmission lines, besides being employed in estimating their shielding failure flashover rate, is an important parameter for insulation coordination studies.


Content analysis was used with the responses of 167 people to open-ended questions regarding their understanding of the term "positive mental attitude" (PMA) and their beliefs about benefits and problems associated with PMA. Participants also responded to a scale which assessed their beliefs about the influence of PMA on illness onset and recovery. Analyses revealed wide diversity in understandings of the term, although a majority indicated that PMA means optimism or hope. The benefits of PMA included happiness, health and improved relationships. The problems included over-confidence and disappointment, but such problems were often said to be associated with over-enthusiastic use of PMA. Seventy-seven percent of the respondents agreed that PMA can prevent illness and 94 percent agreed that PMA can aid in recovery from illness. Fewer agreed that PMA can prevent cancer or aid recovery from cancer.


This article discusses the clowning element of a German version of Hamlet believed to date back to the time of Shakespeare. Der bestrafte Brudermord is noted as an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy which incorporates a lot more low comedy than any extant version of Hamlet and provides opportunity for contemplating the reason why Hamlet has no explicit clown character. The article focuses especially on a character appearing very briefly in the German play, a rustic buffoon called Jens, and his affinity with the rustics and comic servants of other Shakespeare plays and other Elizabethan plays. It is particularly asserted that this role shows signs of the involvement of the clown Will Kemp at some stage of the writing of Hamlet, or of touring continental Europe with an adaptation of it that puts the clowning element at the forefront.


In process industries model-plant mismatch is a significant problem. Quadruple tank process (QTP) can be configured both in minimum phase and non-minimum phase (NMP). However, in NMP, the control of QTP poses a challenge. This paper addresses that and presents a novel robust wavelet based non-minimum phase control (NMPC) strategy for the challenging QTP using genetic algorithm to find the optimised value of the manipulated variables in NMPC at every sampling time. The QTP is modelled based on wavelet neural network. The simulation results indicate that significant improvements have been achieved both in modelling and control strategies for a QTP system compare to conventional approaches such as the Levenberg-Marquardt.


Incentives and Welfare Effect of Sharing Firm-Specific Information by Jim Y. Jin* This paper studies the incentives and the welfare effect of sharing firm-specific information in asymmetric Cournot and Bertrand oligopoly with mixed substitute and complement goods. Revealing firm-specific cost information is the dominant strategy in Cournot oligopoly, while concealing is so in Bertrand oligopoly. Such information sharing always hurts consumers. It increases social welfare in quantity competition and reduces social welfare in price competition. The results of sharing firm-specific cost information in Cournot oligopoly also apply to sharing firm-specific demand information in Cournot and Bertrand competition.


This study examines whether there is a thematic gap between the stories that journalists display most prominently and the stories consumers read most frequently in six mainstream American news sites. It looks at the choices of both groups in relation to each other and explores whether these choices vary in connection with the occurrence of a major political event, the 2008 presidential campaign. We find that during a time of routine political activity, there is a sizable gap between the news choices of journalists and consumers in which the former give more prominence to public affairs news (stories about politics, economics, and international topics) than the latter, but, during the campaign, this gap changes variously across the sites studied. Moreover, within the 2008 election cycle the predilection of journalists and consumers for public affairs news increases as election day nears, although journalists' choices are thematically less variable than those of consumers. These findings contribute to the study of political communication by shedding light primarily on the dynamics of monitorial citizenship, and secondarily on issues of agenda setting and consumer behavior in high-choice media environments.


Ever since in January 2020, the WHO declared an international public health emergency, emerged as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Coronavirus disease-19) pandemic which has devastated human race with its human-to-human transmission, mutation, and mortality with complex pathogenicity mechanism. Earlier theories postulated it to have emerged from "Wet Market," Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan city of Hubei Province in China. Based on initial speculations, this pandemic was suggested to be of enzootic origin, considerably bats and pangolins as connecting link between human-animal transmissions, which were later refuted. Time bound and effective Test, Track, and Treat policy initiatives taken by Indian Government proved to be a benchmark in controlling the pandemic, up to certain extent. Molecular diagnostics have witnessed a scaled up trend in terms of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Rapid Antigen Tests to detect the contagion in oro-pharyngeal and naso-pharyngeal swabs. It is imperative that frequent mutations in SARS-CoV-2 lead to development of new serotypes making screening for novel therapeutics or repurposing of drugs cumbersome. With an effort to consummate existing clinico-pharamaceutical gaps to curb SARS-CoV-2, ardent remains the fact that plants have been considered as medicinal power houses. Green therapeutics are formulation of active phyto components when administered, enhance the bio-availability through different drug delivery systems. Exploration of medicinal plants for their bio-active ingredients to develop immune-boosters as an antiviral prophylactic tool against SARS-CoV-2 remains a preferred choice among health-care practitioners, pharmacologists, and life sciences fraternity at large. In addition, indigenous vaccines have been granted approval for Emergency Use Authorization which would help lower the rates of transmission and mortality by significant numbers in times to come.


Study Design Prospective observational study. Purpose To introduce the techniques and present the surgical outcomes of mini-open anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) at the most caudal segments of the spine combined with lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) for the correction of adult spinal deformity Overview of Literature Although LLIF is increasingly used to correct adult spinal deformity, the correction of sagittal plane deformity with LLIF alone is reportedly suboptimal. Methods Thirty-two consecutive patients with adult spinal deformity underwent LLIF combined with mini-open ALIF at the L5–S1 or L4–S1 levels followed by 2-stage posterior fixation. ALIF was performed for a mean 1.3 levels and LLIF for a mean 2.7 levels. Then, percutaneous fixation was performed in 11 patients (percutaneous group), open correction with facetectomy with or without laminectomy in 16 (open group), and additional pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) in 5 (PSO group). Spinopelvic parameters were compared preoperatively and postoperatively. Hospitalization data and clinical outcomes were recorded. Results No major medical complications developed, and clinical outcomes improved postoperatively in all groups. The mean postoperative segmental lordosis was greater after ALIF (17.5°±5.5°) than after LLIF (8.1°±5.3°, p <0.001). Four patients (12.5%) had lumbar lordosis with a pelvic incidence of ±9° preoperatively, whereas this outcome was achieved postoperatively in 30 patients (93.8%). The total increase in lumbar lordosis was 14.7° in the percutaneous group, 35.3° in the open group, and 57.0° in the PSO group. The ranges of potential lumbar lordosis increase were estimated as 4°–25°, 23°–42°, and 45°–65°, respectively. Conclusions Mini-open ALIF combined with LLIF followed by posterior fixation may be a feasible technique for achieving optimal sagittal balance and reducing the necessity of more extensive surgery.


The molecular orientation distribution of polymeric fibers influences physical properties. We present a novel method of analyzing polarized Raman experiments to determine molecular orientation, which is based on exchanging the Legendre polynomial approach with a wrapped Lorentzian function, as determined from a prescreening of X-ray scattering patterns. This method removes the need for performing right angle scattering experiments while avoiding common approximations. The molecular orientation of regenerated cellulose fibers, using the presented method, is shown to correlate well with X-ray scattering and an analogous experiment using solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Challenges of quantitatively measuring molecular anisotropy occur with semi-crystalline, partially modified, or composite materials. As such, a plethora of techniques, each with a unique chemical selectivity, is paramount for material characterization.


Tourism has been playing an increasingly important role in the economic development and promotion for the state of West Virginia. However, how tourism resources are spatially distributed across all the state's 55 counties has not received much attention. This study could be among the first in West Virginia to create a tourism resource inventory database at the county level, and to spatially examine tourism resource distribution patterns across all counties, based on the tourism resource quantity measured by size, length, or number, as well as on the quality determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) through surveys of 191 visitors. Based on the data collected, a four-level amenity index is created using the standard deviation method and mapped using GIS. The study indicates that nature-based tourism resources are largely concentrated in the eastern or central eastern part of West Virginia centering around Pocahontas County, while cultural resources do not exhibit a distinct clustering pattern. In addition, the cultural resource distribution pattern not only visually resembles that associated with visitors' travel spending, but also has a statistically significant correlation with travel spending after controlling the spatial dependence. That being said, there is no such relationship that exists between natural tourism resources and travel spending, suggesting that more efforts are needed in the future to develop and market nature-based tourism in those counties with higher levels of natural tourism resources, but lower levels of visitor spending. It also implies that natural tourism is not a major contributor to the local economy for most counties. Rather, other forms of tourism activities such as gambling generated a large portion of travel/tourism related revenues, despite this contribution being only limited to a few counties.


The work described in this paper was funded under the HEFCE initiative for widening access to higher education for disabled people (Zajicek and Powell, 1997). The problem of presenting the information content of graphical user interfaces using speech is addressed. Current provision in terms of Braille and speech screen readers tends to be unsatisfactory and makes no attempt to present information on the screen conceptually. This paper describes and evaluates the use of the helper application WebChat which presents a model of the information content of World Wide Web pages using speech. In particular it uses information rich words and 'abridged language' to present information. This is useful for visually impaired people and can be used to present World Wide Web pages over the telephone.


The extent of voluntary activation in fresh and fatigued quadriceps muscles was investigated during isometric and isokinetic voluntary contractions at 20 and 150 degrees/s in 23 normal human subjects. The muscles were fatigued by a total of 4 min of maximal knee extension at an angular velocity of 85 degrees/s. Voluntary activation was determined by the superimposition of tetanic electrical stimulation at 100 Hz for 250 ms, initiated at a constant knee angle. The relationship between voluntary and stimulated force was similar to that found with the established twitch superimposition technique used on isometric contractions. In fresh muscle all the subjects showed full voluntary activation during isometric contractions. Some activation failure was seen in five subjects at 20 degrees/s [2.0 +/- 0.9 degrees (SE)] and in two subjects at 150 degrees/s (0.7 +/- 0.5). After fatigue all subjects showed some activation failure at 0 and 20 degrees/s (36.4 +/- 3.1 and 28.8 +/- 4.1 degrees, respectively), but only two showed any at 150 degrees/s (1.4 +/- 5.7). We conclude that brief high-intensity dynamic exercise can cause a considerable failure of voluntary activation. This failure was most marked during isometric and the lower-velocity isokinetic contractions. Thus a failure of voluntary activation may have greater functional significance than previous studies of isometric contractions have indicated.


This paper analyzes recent trends in Chinese international behavior through the use of the two-good theory of foreign policy. This general theory posits that states pursue two desired goals-change and maintenance, which refer to their abilities to alter or to protect specific aspects of the status quo. The extent to which countries pursue change and maintenance is a function of state preferences and of the relative capabilities of the country. The theory has been tested in other circumstances and has been shown to explain international behavior well. In this paper we introduce our theory briefly and then apply it to three components of Chinese foreign policy-the initiation of international conflict, the formation of alliances, and the donation of foreign aid. We find that the incidence of the Chinese initiation of international conflict is strongly affected by the growth of its economy. Nonetheless, our analysis indicates that, generally, China is significantly less active in seeking to bring about change in the international system than is sometimes alleged. Furthermore, we argue that China has moderated its foreign policy in response to Western diplomatic overtures. We suggest that continued attempts to engage China diplomatically may prove fruitful.


Focused on the low noise figure requirements of erbium-doped preamplifiers, a two stage cascade preamplifier was presented based on the optimized design. With the total fiber length of 31.4 m and total pump power of 135 mW, this preamplifier can produce above 30-dB gain and keep the noise figure below 4.76dB for all C-band signals, with the minimum noise figure as low as 3.38 dB for -30-dBm, 1550-nm signal.


This cross-sectional study of nonfaculty university employees examined associations among gendered work conditions (e.g., sexism and discrimination), job demands, and employee job satisfaction and health. Organizational responsiveness and social support were examined as effect modifiers. Comparisons were made by gender and by the male-female ratio in each job category. The relationship of gendered conditions of work to outcomes differed on the basis of respondents' sex and the job sex ratio. Although the same predictors were hypothesized for job satisfaction, physical health, and psychological distress, there were some differing results. The strongest correlate of job satisfaction was social support; perceived sexism in the workplace also contributed for both men and women. Organizational factors associated with psychological distress differed between female- and male-dominated jobs.


The multivariate profile (MP) chart is a new control chart for simultaneous display of univariate and multivariate statistics. It is designed to analyze and display extended structures of statistical process control data for various cases of grouping, reference distribution, and use of nominal specifications. For each group of observations, the scaled deviations from reference values are portrayed together as a modified profile plot symbol. The vertical location of the symbol is determined by the multivariate distance of the vector of means from the reference values. The graphical display in the MP chart enjoys improved visual characteristics as compared with previously suggested methods. Moreover, the perceptual tasks required by the use of the MP chart provide higher accuracy in retrieving the quantitative information. This graphical display is used to display other combined univariate and multivariate statistics, such as measures of dispersion, principal components, and cumulative sums


The sediments of the Cuenca de Mexico fall into two classes—transported materials from the surrounding highlands and residual materials deposited as a result of limnological processes, in situ . The latter include inorganic and organic constituents as well as microfossils. Studied together these components reflect events influenced or controlled by changing climates, by volcanic and tectonic activity, and by erosion whether natural or accelerated by man. Changes in percentage composition of upland forest pollen reflect changes in available moisture, and thus in climate. Changes in the density or abundance of recoverable pollen are closely related to changes in sedimentary zones and in water content of the sediments. High pollen density is associated with slow sedimentation and high water content of the sediments, whereas stages of rapid sedimentation and low water content are marked by sparseness or absence of pollen. As upland forest pollen composition is chiefly a function of climate, pollen density is a function of volcanic and other physiographic processes. Pollen and spores from lowland communities reflect swamp conditions and changes in vegetation caused by disturbance of habitat by volcanism, tectonic activity, and human occupation. Temporary disturbance from fresh ash fall and tectonic activity tends to be followed by a brief period of heavy density of ruderal pollen (composite, amaranth, grass) and by prompt restoration of the prevailing upland forest communities. Maize pollen was recovered throughout the archeological period and at a depth of 9 m, predating the presence of agricultural man in the basin. It was again recovered at 70m, a depth which represents considerable antiquity for maize; which is evidence in favor of the American origin of this plant. Contemporary pollen gathered from a site comparable to the Mexico City basin indicates relatively short distance of upland pollen transport. Therefore, the sparse spruce pollen found at various horizons in the Mexican cores probably came from the vicinity during times cooler than the present. Exceptionally heavy spruce pollen in samples from a recent horizon appears to be the result of redeposition of older sediments from the surrounding highlands. Correlation of the sedimentary components involves a complex of climatic, tectonic, volcanic and biotic factors; evidence from every possible source, in addition to conventional pollen analysis, is required for proper interpretation.


Instance level detection of thoracic diseases or abnormalities are crucial for automatic diagnosis in chest X-ray images. Most existing works on chest X-rays focus on disease classification and weakly supervised localization. In order to push forward the research on disease classification and localization on chest X-rays. We provide a new benchmark called ChestX-det10, including box-level annotations of 10 categories of disease/abnormality of $\sim$ 3,500 images. The annotations are located at this https URL.


Coherence properties of Bose-Einstein condensates offer the potential for improved interferometric phase contrast. However, decoherence effects due to the mean-field interaction shorten the coherence time, thus limiting potential sensitivity. In this work, we demonstrate increased coherence times with number squeezed states in an optical lattice using the decay of Bloch oscillations to probe the coherence time. We extend coherence times by a factor of 2 over those expected with coherent state Bose-Einstein condensate interferometry. We observe quantitative agreement with theory both for the degree of initial number squeezing as well as for prolonged coherence times.


A method for constructing explicit marching-on-in-time (MOT) schemes to solve the time-domain magnetic field volume integral equation (TD-MFVIE) on inhomogeneous dielectric scatterers is proposed. The TD-MFVIE is cast in the form of an ordinary differential equation (ODE) and the unknown magnetic field is expanded using curl conforming spatial basis functions. Inserting this expansion into the TD-MFVIE and spatially testing the resulting equation yield an ODE system with a Gram matrix. This system is integrated in time for the unknown time-dependent expansion coefficients using a linear multistep method. The Gram matrix is sparse and well conditioned for Galerkin testing and consists of only four diagonal blocks for point testing. The resulting explicit MOT schemes, which call for the solution of this matrix system at every time step, are more efficient than their implicit counterparts, which call for inversion of a fuller matrix system at lower frequencies. Numerical results compare the efficiency, accuracy, and stability of the explicit MOT schemes and their implicit counterparts for low-frequency excitations. The results show that the explicit MOT scheme with point testing is significantly faster than the other three solvers without sacrificing from accuracy.


VT (vertical transportation) is an expert system for handling the design of elevator systems that is currently in use at Westinghouse Elevator Company. Although VT tries to postpone each decision in creating a design until all information that constrains the decision is known, for many decisions this postponement is not possible. In these cases, VT uses the strategy of constructing a plausible approximation and successively refining it. VT uses domain-specific knowledge to guide its backtracking search for successful refinements. The VT architecture provides the basis for a knowledge representation that is used by SALT, an automated knowledge-acquisition tool. SALT was used to build VT and provides an analysis of VT's knowledge base to assess its potential for convergence on a solution.


logic, and hence are analytic. This view, which—curiously enough—Nelson does not mention in his present writings, does not conflict with the possibility of proving the relative independence (in the above mentioned sense) of such axioms. Fur ther , it is not obvious tha t there is no third possibility between ascribing absolute t ru th to mathematics and dismissing it as "arbi t rary assertions of no scientific significance ." Many mathematicians of today would, I believe, be inclined to consider at least parts of mathematics as a symbolic machinery whose value lies in the fact tha t it enables us to pass from true premisses to t rue conclusions. In his discussion of the r&le of intuit ion in metamathematics Nelson does not take into account the distinction between what Carnap later (35212) called pure syntax and descriptive syntax. Utilizing this distinction, an opponent to Kan t ' s doctrine might maintain tha t pure syntax , being a branch of pure logic, is wholly analytic, while descriptive syntax is wholly empirical. The non-existence of an ignorabimus in mathematics can, of course, no longer be maintained in the form which appeared plausible before the well-known results of Godel and Church. Perhaps there is some t ru th in Kan t ' s philosophy of mathematics—at any rate , these critical remarks are not intended to deny it . In the reviewer's opinion, however, Nelson's present essay does not bring any important arguments in favor of tha t philosophy.


Three exchange nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are presented that yield (13)C NMR spectra exclusively of slowly reorienting segments, suppressing the often dominant signals of immobile components. The first technique eliminates the diagonal ridge that usually dominates two-dimensional (2D) exchange NMR spectra and that makes it hard to detect the broad and low off-diagonal exchange patterns. A modulation of the 2D exchange spectrum by the sine-square of a factor which is proportional to the difference between evolution and detection frequencies is generated by fixed additional evolution and detection periods of duration tau, yielding a 2D pure-exchange (PUREX) spectrum. Smooth off-diagonal intensity is obtained by systematically incrementing tau and summing up the resulting spectra. The related second technique yields a static one-dimensional (1D) spectrum selectively of the exchanging site(s), which can thus be identified. Efficient detection of previously almost unobservable slow motions in a semicrystalline polymer is demonstrated. The third approach, a 1D pure-exchange experiment under magic-angle spinning, is an extension of the exchange-induced sideband (EIS) method. A TOSS (total suppression of sidebands) spectrum obtained after the same number of pulses and delays, with a simple swap of z periods, is subtracted from the EIS spectrum, leaving only the exchange-induced sidebands and a strong, easily detected centerband of the mobile site(s).


Nodulated seedlings of Viminaria juncea were raised in free-draining or flooded sand culture. Unflooded seedlings developed limited amounts of aerenchyma in lower stem, root and nodules, and responded to flooding by accelerated aerenchyma production and, after 10 days, by formation of pneumatophores from their near-surface lateral roots. Continuously flooded seedlings showed earlier and greater development of aerenchyma and pneumatophores, and had their nodules and roots restricted to the upper 10 cm of the rooting medium. Aerenchyma was developed from an inner cambium, distinct from the outer phellogen which subsequently developed on older parts of stem, root and nodules. Gas contents of plant parts varied from 4-8% for organs with little aerenchyma to over 30% for the aerenchyma-invested basal stem and root of continuously flooded seedlings. A role of the sheaths of aerenchyma in gaseous exchange between aerial environment and nodulated root was demonstrated by gas injection experiments, in situ C2H2 reduction assays and 15N2 feeding experiments on intact plants with flooded roots. Samples of gas removed from the aerenchyma of plants exposed to C2H2 contained up to 14 times the amount of C2H2 and 4 times the amount of CO2 than in the atmosphere of the assay chamber, indicating that gas exchange for both N2 fixation and respiration occurred via the aerenchyma. Previously unflooded, 12-week seedlings exposed to 14 days flooding gained as much dry matter and total N in the 2-week treatment as did control unflooded plants, but 21-week continuously flooded seedlings showed only half the dry matter and nitrogen gains of similarly aged unflooded seedlings. Observations on the seasonal growth, nodulation and pneumatophore development of natural populations of the species were discussed in relation to the above findings.


Picture retrieval can be used by a document generation system for the inclusion of 'photographic' pictures in the documents generated by the system. An algorithm is described that makes use of a library of pictures, each of which is associated with a set of logical representations to facilitate retrieval. The paper focuses on the problems stemming from the twin notions of pictorial underspecificity and overspecificity.


[1] Levels of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) in our atmosphere are determined by production, emission, and loss processes. However, atmospheric models are forced by the specified mixing ratios of these ODSs rather than the more fundamental emissions-based forcing. To more accurately represent the physics and chemistry of climate change on atmospheric circulation and ODSs, and therefore future ozone recovery, it is desirable to switch from the current highly constrained mixing-ratio-based forcing to emissions-based forcing in general circulation models (GCMs). As a first step of this model transition, we have conducted a 45-year (1960-2005) emissions-based simulation of the three primary chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, -12, -113) using the GEOS coupled chemistry-climate model (CCM). The simulated CFC concentrations and their seasonal cycles are compared with AGAGE and NOAA-GMD observations to evaluate emissions and atmospheric transport. The simulated CFC-12 agrees well with the observations, indicating a good estimate of emission and atmospheric loss. The simulated CFC-11 and CFC-113 shows high biases due to overestimate of emissions. Using tagged CFC tracers to track recent surface emissions and aged air masses transported downward from the stratosphere separately, we quantify the relative contribution of stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) and tropospheric transport to the seasonal cycles of CFCs in the lower troposphere. The seasonal cycles of CFCs in the lower troposphere are dominated by tropospheric transport of recent emissions during 1985-1994. The 1995-1999 period marks the transition period when variations due to fresh emissions and STE become equally important. Seasonal cycles of CFCs at most surface sites in the 2000-2004 period are dominated by STE. Seasonal cycles of CFCs due to STE show a late winter/early spring maximum and a summer/fall minimum. Seasonality of the tropospheric transport component at individual stations is governed by seasonal transport variations of fresh emissions from the polluted regions.


A ternary system containing water, pentanol and a quaternary cationic surfactant, dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) was investigated. We present the phase diagram and ESR studies that demonstrate the existence of the well-known L3 or sponge phase in the water-rich domain of the diagram. The remarkable fact is the existence of some kind of order in such diluted conditions.