Objectives. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of education for trainees on the gross findings identified by conventional white-light endoscopy (CWE), the microvascular patterns identified by magnifying narrow-band imaging endoscopy (MNE), and the pit patterns identified by magnifying chromoendoscopy (MCE) in estimation of the invasion depth of colorectal tumors. Methods. A total of 420 endoscopic images of 35 colorectal tumors were used. Five trainees estimated the invasion depth of the tumors by reviewing the CWE images before education. Afterwards, the trainees estimated the invasion depth of the same tumors after brief education on CWE, MNE and MCE images, respectively. Results. The initial diagnostic accuracy for deep submucosal invasion before education and after education on CWE, MNE, and MCE findings was 54.3%, 55.4%, 67.4%, and 76.6%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy increased significantly after MNE education (P = 0.028). The specificity for deep submucosal invasion before education and after education on CWE, MNE, and MCE findings was 47.9%, 45.7%, 65.0%, and 80.7%, respectively. The specificity increased significantly after MNE (P = 0.002) and MCE (P = 0.005) education. Conclusion. Brief education on microvascular pattern identification by MNE and pit pattern identification by MCE significantly improves trainees' estimations of the invasion depth of colorectal tumors.


Extensive epigenetic reprogramming occurs during preimplantation embryo development and is accompanied by zygotic genome activation (ZGA) and first cell fate specification. Recent studies using single-cell epigenome sequencing techniques have provided global views of the dynamics of different epigenetic layers during this period. However, it remains largely unclear how the drastic epigenetic reprogramming contributes to transcriptional regulatory network. Here, we developed a single-cell multiomics sequencing technology (scNOMeRe-seq) that enables profiling of genome-wide chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation and RNA expression in the same individual cell with improved performance compared to that of earlier techniques. We applied this method to analyze the global dynamics of different molecular layers and their associations in mouse preimplantation embryos. We found that global DNA methylation remodeling facilitates the reconstruction of genetic lineages in early embryos and revealed that the gradual increases in heterogeneity among blastomeres are driven by asymmetric cleavage. Allele-specific DNA methylation pattern is maintained throughout preimplantation development and is accompanied by allele-specific associations between DNA methylation and gene expression in the gene body that are inherited from oocytes and sperm. Through integrated analyses of the collective dynamics between gene expression and chromatin accessibility, we constructed a ZGA-associated regulatory network and revealed coordination among multiple epigenetic layers, transcription factors (TFs) and repeat elements that instruct the proper ZGA process. Moreover, we found that inner cell mass (ICM)/trophectoderm (TE) lineage-associated cis-regulatory elements are stepwise activated in blastomeres during post-ZGA embryo stages. TE lineage-specific TFs play dual roles in promoting the TE program while repressing the ICM program, thereby separating the TE lineage from the ICM lineage. Taken together, our findings not only depict the first single-cell triple-omics map of chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation and RNA expression during mouse preimplantation development but also enhance the fundamental understanding of epigenetic regulation in early embryos.


ABSTRACT Problem and aim The overexpression of MAP17 has been reported in various human carcinomas. However, its molecular mechanism in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been fully understood. Our study aimed to reveal the molecular mechanism of NSCLC that involved MAP17 and identify its target miRNA. Methods RT-qPCR and immunoblot assays were conducted to measure the expression of mRNA and protein in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. Meanwhile, the A549 cells (an NSCLC cell line) were randomly assigned to the MAP17 overexpression group, the MAP17 knockdown group and negative control group to study the roles of MAP17 in cell viability, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis by performing Trypan blue exclusion, MTT, colony formation, transwell, wound healing and flow-cytometric apoptosis assays. The luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm the target relationship between MAP17 and miR-27a-3p. Results The upregulation of MAP17 mRNA and protein was observed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. In vitro, the positive roles of MAP17 on cell viability, migration, and invasion were confirmed in A549 cells. It was also found that MAP17 could inhibit cell apoptosis by suppressing the activation of the p38 pathway. This research eventually proved the target relationship between MAP17 and miR-27a-3p, and that miR-27a-3p reversed the effects of MAP17 in A549 cells by directly targeting MAP17. Conclusions MAP17 plays an oncogenic role in NSCLC by suppressing the activation of the p38 pathway. Apart from that, the miR-27a-3p can inhibit the expression of MAP17 to suppress the NSCLC progression.


Interest in the various dimensions of environmental, economic, and social sustainability for food, energy, and water (FEW) systems, independently and collectively (i.e., the FEW nexus), has spawned an increasing amount of literature that seeks to understand the various linkages within the FEW nexus and provide guidance to inform decision-making to enhance sustainability. While the use of science and data can generate important and relevant information, it is not clear how important they are relative to relevant policy and the integration of policy within and across the individual FEW domains. In this work, we assessed perspectives on various considerations that pertain to sustainability in the FEW nexus. To do so, we identified numerous stakeholder groups who have interests throughout the FEW nexus, and conducted a survey of a subset of these groups. Although the responses differed across the stakeholder groups that we surveyed, the consistent result was that stakeholders generally understand that FEW systems are physically connected at high levels, and that policy is less integrated than desired. When forced to choose between priorities for science and data or for integrated policy to enhance sustainability, respondents from Academia and Extension preferred more science and data, whereas respondents who are, or more frequently interact with, practitioners and policy-makers preferred integrated policy. Overall, with other results and findings that are relevant for advancing sustainability and improving communication the FEW nexus, we conclude that the importance of science, data, and integrated policy depends on the context in which the stakeholders operate in the FEW domain.


This article proposes that the fundamental goal of judicial ethics and practice is to achieve actual justice in judicial decisionmaking. To that end, it argues that current attempts to resolve concerns about impartial judicial decisionmaking through appearance-based recusal and disqualification standards are ill-conceived and ineffective. It proposes a substantial curtailment of recusals and a corresponding strengthening of the judicial duty to sit. It proposes to resolve fundamental concerns about actual justice, and at the same time to address concerns about public confidence in the judiciary, through a requirement that judges provide explanations of adequate internal legal reasons supporting their dispositive decisions and a focus on those reasoned elaborations in the assessment of the legitimacy of both the decisions and the performance of the judges who reached them, rather than a focus on mere guesswork about what might be influencing judges in their deliberations.


Offshore oil drilling is a complex process that requires careful coordination of hardware and control systems. Fault monitoring systems play an important role in such systems for safe and profitable operations. Thus, predictive maintenance and monitoring operating conditions of drilling systems are critical to the overall production cycle. In this paper, we are addressing the topic of condition monitoring of a critical part in the process of oil drilling, the Internal Blowout Preventer (IBOP) system in the top drive assembly in offshore oil drilling. In our work, we aim to design an intelligent system for monitoring the health of IBOP system using discrete event systems (DES) based control method in combination with multivariate time series classification deep learning method. The proposed system comprises two stages: 1) produce IBOP system logical behaviour analysis using Hierarchical Colored Petri Nets (HCPN) approach; 2) develop an activity detection or a classifier module using reservoir computing framework for classification of multivariate time series for activity monitoring and fault detection for the top drive assembly.
The combination of these methods would enable automation of monitoring and early detection of incidents during drilling operations. We present the preliminary results of a model in Petri Nets used to simulate a monitoring system for IBOP valve in top drive assembly and activity classification of activities relevant to IBOP condition monitoring. The effects of failure rate and repair time of each component on system performance are to be researched at a later stage.


Holography is promising to fully record and reconstruct the fundamental properties of light, while the limitations of working bandwidth, allowed polarization states, and dispersive response impede further advances in the integration level and functionality. Here, we propose an ultra-broadband holography based on twisted nematic liquid crystals (TNLCs), which can efficiently work in both the visible and infrared regions with a working spectrum of over 1000 nm. The underlying physics is that the electric field vector of light through TNLCs can be parallelly manipulated in the broad spectral range, thus enabling to build the ultra-broadband TNLC hologram by dynamic photopatterning. Furthermore, by introducing a simple nematic liquid crystal (NLC) element, the cascaded device allows for an excellent nondispersive polarization-maintaining performance that can adapt to full-polarization incidence. We expect our proposed methodology of holography may inspire new avenues for usages in polarization imaging, augmented/virtual reality display, and optical encryption.


As part of the research on comparative prediction of success and satisfaction in college major fields, students graduating from a men's, a women's, and a coeducational college were divided into those satisfied with their major field and those dissatisfied with their major field. With respect to each of the more popular fields, tabulations were made of these two categories and of the students who wished they had majored in the field rather than in some other field. The largest proportions of satisfied students were observed in the natural science major fields, while the social sciences yielded the largest proportions of dissatisfied students. Each field had a pattern of average aptitude test scores that might be reasonably expected for it, but satisfaction was found not to be predictable from these patterns. Students' preferences for fields different from their own suggested a lack of knowledge either about themselves or about the qualifications necessary for the fields preferred. Average interest scale patterns made in freshman year were found to have some relationship to satisfaction in senior year.


Rotation of the plane of polarisation during propagation of sagittal rays in a rectilinear multimode fibre was observed experimentally. The angle of rotation was in good agreement with the results predicted on the basis of the Rytov—Vladimirskii—Berry theory.


This paper present a Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) face detection using sliding windows. The system will detect faces in a large image where sliding window will run inside the image and identified whether there is a face inside the current window. Face detection is the first step in face recognition system. The purpose is to localize and extract the face region from the background that will be fed into the face recognition system for identification. General preprocessing approach was used for normalizing the image and a Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural Network was used to distinguish between face and non-face images. RBFNN offer several advantages compared to other neural network architecture such as they can be trained using fast two stages training algorithm and the network possesses the property of best approximation. The output of the network can be optimized by setting suitable values of the center and spread of the RBF. In this paper, a uniform fixed spread value will be used. The performance of the system will be based on the rate of detection and also false negative rate.


Hryhoriy Skovoroda is eminent Ukrainian teacher-humanist, philosopher, poet, painter and musician. He was born on December 3, 1722 in Poltava province in a Cossack family. Skovoroda graduated from Kyiv-Mohyla Academia. He worked as a teacher of poetry in Pereyaslav Seminary and Kharkiv Collegium. Hryhoriy Skovoroda attempted humanize and democratize authoritarian education system. But him was not allowed to do it. Skovoroda was dismissed. He decides go to the poor people and teach them. Skovoroda taught to be free and to put freedom above power and money. Teacher educated miserable children in goodness and beauty. Skovoroda read poetry for pupils. Сhildren еspecially liked Hryhoriy Skovoroda's fables. Poet ridiculed vices of society and sang virtues of personality. Skovoroda for children played on pipe and bandura and violin. He sang Ukrainian folk songs about national heroes. Skovoroda opened for poor children a world of knowledge. Pupils leaned seven free arts: music, rhetoric, astronomy, grammar, arithmetic, geometry and dialectics. Skovoroda aspired to educate all-round personalities. Especially much attention spared for creative development of child. Pupils invented fairy-tales, drew, leaned to play on music instruments.
The fame about disinterested teacher fast spread throughout Ukraine and beyond. Wherever Hryhoriy Skovoroda went, poor people met him with bread and salt. Не became popular teacher and philosopher. Skovoroda gave for miserable people all his heart and soul. He aspired to give education for all poor people.
Hryhoriy Skovoroda reserved many disciples, which became famous personality and continued affair of your teacher. They opened new schools and universities, where taught philosophy of kindness. Hryhoriy Skovoroda is author of poetic and philosophical works. Many of his works became folk works. Schools and universities bear the name of the Ukrainian philosopher and teacher.


Amidation of two protein fractions of brain, heart and liver of senite rats was found to decrease by 15--21% as compared with that of young animals. This decrease was shown to be due to unstable amide groups. Strong evidence is presented favouring the preposition that in proteins the unstable amide groups are those of asparagine and the stable ones those of glutamine. The possibility of the nonenzymatic deamidation of proteins was investigated. Deaminated proteins were found to be more easily attacked by proteinases which could be one of the possible ways of breakdown of aging proteins.


This article contains the recommended immunization schedule by the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the Korean Pediatric Society, updated in March 2013, when Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine is now included in the National Immunization Program in Korea. It also includes catch-up immunization schedule for children and adolescents who are behind the recommended schedule. These schedules are a minor revision of the corresponding parts of Immunization Guideline, 7th edition, of the Korean Pediatric Society, released in 2012. Pediatricians should be aware of these schedules to provide adequate immunization to Korean children and adolescents.


The chemical composition of the coating material used for color TV Braun tube has been investigated using a GDMS incorporated with the dual mode ion detector system. The major, minor and trace constituents of the material studied could be determined in the same analytical cycle. Zn, S and O are found to be the major components and Si, C, Eu and Ba are found to exist as minor ones. As trace elements, Sm, Sr, Y, W and etc. were determined. The data obtained by means of GDMS were compared with those obtained using CHN analyzer, ICP, PIXE, XRF and AAS.


The radius of the bound state of a particle obeying the Dirac equation with a separable interaction is compared to the radius of the bound state of the particle obeying the Schrödinger equation with a phase equivalent separable potential. By appropriate choice of parameters these bound states can be made to simulate the deuteron. Unlike the conjecture based on the results of previous one-dimensional model calculations, a small but significant difference between the relativistic and nonrelativistic radii is found.


A non-compartment pharmacokinetic model was used to evaluate the potential of antimalarial drugs to influence malaria transmission using the ratio of sex specific gametocyte half-lives male:female- the gametocyte maleness index (GMI), and the ratio of the sex specific area inscribed by the plot of gametocyte sex density versus time curves AUCmg:AUCfg- the gametocyte maleness load index (GMLI). Data on gametocyte sexes collected in children with symptomatic Plasmodium falciparum malaria who were treated with various antimalarial drugs in an endemic area were examined using the two indices. Both GMI and GMLI were positively correlated (r = 0.71, P 1 for 4- aminoquinolines and antifolates suggesting potential for increasing the chance of mosquito infectivity. By contrast, artesunate and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), artemether-lumefantrine, and artesunate-amodiaquine, and a non-ACT, amodiaquine plus sulfalene-pyrimethamine, had ratios < 1 suggesting potential for reducing the chance of mosquito infectivity. The advantages and drawbacks of using these indices as tools in assessing the influence of antimalarials on transmission potentials in endemic areas of malaria are discussed.


We revise the Taiwanese species of the ophionine genus Leptophion Cameron, 1901. As a result, three species, including a new species, are recognized. Two of them were identified as L. maculipennis (Cameron, 1905) and L. radiatus (Uchida, 1956), both of which had been previously recorded in Taiwan; we redescribe them based on Taiwanese specimens. We describe a single new species as L. giganteus Shimizu & Watanabe, sp. nov. The phenology and distribution of the species are briefly discussed. A key to the Taiwanese species of Leptophion and additional couplets to the key proposed by Gauld & Mitchell (1981) are also provided.


Epidermolysis bullosa encompasses a group of inherited blistering skin disorders. The pathogenic mutations in 10–25% of patients with epidermolysis bullosa have not been identified by Sanger sequencing. The aims of this study were to identify the pathogenic sequence alterations in a large cohort of Chinese patients with epidermolysis bullosa and to clarify the relationship between clinical phenotypes and genotypes. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on 44 pedigrees and 13 sporadic cases. The results were further confirmed by Sanger sequencing. In total, 52 mutations, comprising 19 novel and 33 previously reported mutations, were identified in 5 genes, with a mutation detection rate of 100%. A relationship between subtypes and pathogenic genes was established: 12 cases of epidermolysis bullosa simplex were associated with mutations in KRT5/14 and PLEC; one case of junctional epidermolysis bullosa carried mutations in ITGB4; and 44 cases of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa were caused by mutations in COL7A1. The results of this study support whole-exome sequencing as a promising tool in the genetic diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa.


Background: Chromoblastomycosis, a chronic subcutaneous mycosis, is caused by several dematiaceous Fungi, the most common being Fonsecaea pedrosoi. A majority of cases from India have been reported from the sub-Himalayan belt and South India. Aim: The aim was to study chromoblastomycosis in the eastern coastal parts of Odisha including demographic and clinicomycological profile. Materials and Methods: This report is a retrospective hospital record-based analysis of all cases of chromoblastomycosis who presented to the dermatology outpatient department of our tertiary care hospital during the past 5 years. Results: A total of 11 cases of chromoblastomycosis were diagnosed during the above period. The disease was seen predominantly in middle-aged male farmers from a rural background. The lower extremity (72.7%) was more commonly affected. Verrucous and nodular lesions are the common clinical presentation. Sclerotic bodies are demonstrated in potassium hydroxide mount and histopathological section in 81.8 and 90.9% cases, respectively. The causative fungus was isolated in 90.9% of cases with F. pedrosoi, as the most common species. Conclusion: Chromoblastomycosis mostly affects male agriculturalists, especially from a rural background. Early etiological diagnosis helps in effective management of the condition.


The plasma cell population in gingival biopsies from 3 groups of patients with adult, juvenile, and rapidly progressive periodontitis was characterized with respect to the distribution of individual immunoglobulin isotypes, including IgA subclasses, by paired immunofluorescence staining. The median ratios of IgG:IgA plasma cells in gingival connective tissue from the 3 groups were 2.7 (range 2.0-6.5), 3.0 (1.4-6.2), and 2.0 (1.2-4.0), respectively. Cells staining for intracellular IgM were found in low numbers in all biopsies (range 0.3-6.3% of all plasma cells). No statistically significant differences were observed between the 3 patient groups. In all 3 groups, the IgA plasma cell population was predominantly of the IgA1 isotype. One function of IgA seems to be to dampen inflammatory side-effects of other immune effector systems. The demonstrated predominance of IgA1 plasma cells indicates that the majority of IgA produced locally in gingivae of patients with periodontal diseases is susceptible to the IgA1-specific proteases excreted by important members of the disease-associated subgingival microflora. This may be an important factor in the apparently uncontrolled inflammation and tissue degradation taking place in the marginal periodontium during active periodontal disease.


In November 2018, the University of Arizona's School of Government and Public Policy hosted an international workshop on the role of organization theory in public management. The intention was to renew interest in organization theory in public management research. Scholars such as Herbert Simon, Herbert Kaufman, and Richard Selznick made seminal contributions to organization theory through the study of public organizations from the 1940s through the 1960s. In our estimation, organization theory is underrepresented in public administration scholarship for the last several decades. There are natural reasons for this trend, including the discipline's turn towards organizational behavior and the ascendancy of techniques that advance the study of large datasets and those that allow for experimental control. The recent emergence of "behavioral public administration" is a prominent example of this evolution. This symposium is an attempt to make a place at the table of public management for organization theory. The articles in this symposium contain articles from scholars who operate in the tradition of classic organization theory in new and innovative ways to lend intellectual purchase to studies of public organizations and public organizational networks.


Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a myeloid neoplasm characterized by abnormal growth and accumulation of mast cells (MC) in various internal organs. In most patients, the D816V-mutated variant of c-KIT, which mediates resistance against several tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors like imatinib, is found. In advanced SM, the response of neoplastic MC to conventional drugs is poor and the prognosis is grave. Therefore current research is attempting to identify novel targets in neoplastic MC. Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk-1) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays an essential role in mitosis and has recently been introduced as a new target in myeloid leukemias. In the present study, we analyzed expression and function of Plk-1 in neoplastic human MC, and asked whether Plk-1 can serve as a target of therapy in SM. As determined by immunohistochemistry, primary neoplastic MC were found to display activated/phosphorylated Plk-1 in all patients examined (n=5). The human MC leukemia cell line HMC-1 was also found to exhibit activated Plk-1. In addition, we found that primary neoplastic MC as well as HMC-1 cells express Plk-1 mRNA in RT-PCR experiments. As assessed by 3H-thymidine-uptake experiments, the Plk-1-targeting drug BI 2536 (Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Germany) was found to inhibit the proliferation of HMC-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 5–15 nM). The effect of BI 2536 was seen in both subclones of HMC-1, i.e. in HMC-1.1 cells displaying KIT G560V (but not KIT D816V), and HMC-1.2 cells exhibiting both KIT G560V and KIT D816V, with comparable IC50 values. Moreover, BI 2536 was found to inhibit the proliferation of primary neoplastic cells, with IC50 values ranging between 5 and 50 nM. The growth-inhibitory effects of BI 2536 on HMC-1 cells were found to be associated with mitotic arrest and G2-M cell cycle arrest as well as consecutive apoptosis. In normal bone marrow or peripheral blood mononuclear cells, neither mitotic cell arrest nor apoptosis were observed after treatment with BI 2536. In a consecutive phase of the study, we asked whether combined targeting of KIT D816V and Plk-1 would lead to synergistic drug-interactions. For this purpose, HMC-1 cells and primary neoplastic MC were coincubated with BI 2536 and midostaurin (PKC412), a multitargeted kinase inhibitor that blocks KIT D816V TK activity. In these experiments, BI 2536 was found to synergize with midostaurin in counteracting the proliferation of HMC-1 cells and primary neoplastic MC. In conclusion, our data show that activated Plk-1 is detectable in MC neoplasms and plays a role in cell cycle progression and viability of neoplastic MC. Targeting of Plk-1 with BI 2536 leads to growth inhibition and apoptosis in neoplastic MC. Furthermore, BI 2536 synergizes with midostaurin in counteracting growth of neoplastic MC. Targeting of Plk-1 may be an attractive new pharmacologic concept in advanced SM.


A wideband, all-dielectric metamaterial structure for enhancing radiative cooling is investigated. The structure is optimized to reflect most of the solar irradiance window (between 0.3 µm-3 µm), which is one of the biggest challenges in highly efficient radiative cooling coatings. The design is based on the principles of Bragg gratings, which constitutes a simple synthesis procedure to make a broadband reflector of reduced dimensions, without metallic layers, while keeping a flat enough response in the entire bandwidth. Numerical results show that reflection of solar irradiation can be easily tailored and maximized using this method, as well as the net cooling power of the device, about ∼79 W/m2 at daytime (about double at night-time) and a temperature reduction of 23 K (assuming no heat exchange) and 7 K assuming a heat exchange coefficient of 10 W/m2/K, for a device and ambient temperatures of 300 K and 303 K, respectively. This occurs even in detriment of absorption in the atmospheric window (8 µm-13 µm). Results also show the importance of efficiently reflecting solar irradiance for such technologies and its relevance in synthesis and design without using metallic components.


Background: Risk factors associated with periimplant disease have been exhaustively explored in many studies. However, despite the high incidence of smokers in the general population, it is still unclear whether smoking is a risk factor for the development of periimplant diseases. Purpose: The aim of this review was to analyze all pertinent literature, including systematic reviews, clinical trials, and long-term follow-up, to evaluate smoking as a real risk factor for periimplant diseases. Material and Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on MEDLINE through PubMed database of the US National Library of Medicine, for articles published until March 2018. All searches were performed using medical subject headings or free-text words. After screening, data extraction, and duplicate removal from 972 found articles, 19 were included in this review. Results: The influence of smoking on the healing process around implants has been explored for potential disruption of the healing process and periimplant disease development. Despite the discussed results in many studies, most of the analyzed literature shows a scientific basis to determine smoking as a risk factor for periimplant disease development, considering that smoking increases the susceptibility to periimplant disease. However, future studies excluding confounding factors need to be performed. Conclusion: This review showed that smoking is a real risk factor that increases the likelihood of development of periimplant disease.


Surface Mounting is shown to be the fourth generation of electronic interconnection technology. It has several facets and is seen differently from various viewpoints in the assembly industry. A review of published papers shows that the subject grew during the 1970s with no single inventor and as a result of numerous developments which are now combining into a coherent technology with important compatibility with other recent innovations.


Rapid development of Internet have formed massive information resources. How to filter the noise data exist in the news and acquire the theme information is an urgent problem. The paper use Web news information collection technology to obtain news theme information from RSS website. Data storage structure of the news information acquisition system was designed and the news extracting and processing model was built. Finally, the news information acquisition and processing system was achieved. The system can realize real-time information acquisition and information personalized display.


In this note we document political lending cycles for German savings banks. We find that savings banks on average increase supply of commercial loans by €7.6 million in the year of a local election in their respective county or municipality (Kommunalwahl). For all savings banks combined this amounts to €3.4 billion (0.4% of total credit supply in Germany in a complete electoral cycle) more credit in election years. Credit growth at savings banks increases by 0.7 percentage points, which corresponds to a 40% increase relative to non-election years. Consistent with this result, we also find that the performance of the savings banks follows the same electoral cycle. The loans that the savings banks generate during election years perform worse in the first three years of maturity and loan losses tend to be realized in the middle of the election cycle.


Bacteriophage c6A is a lytic phage that infects strains of Lactococcus lactis. Infection of L. lactis strain C6 resulted in inhibition of culture growth within 10 min, mature intracellular phage particles appeared after 17.5 min, and cell lysis occurred after 25 min. A culture of strain C6 carrying 3H-labelled DNA was infected with c6A, and the fate of the radiolabel was monitored. The results showed that degradation of host cell DNA began within 6 min of infection and that the breakdown products were incorporated into progeny c6A DNA. Quantitative DNA hybridizations indicated that synthesis of phage DNA began within 6 min of infection and continued at an approximately constant rate throughout the latent period.


THE death of an infant following tracheostomy illustrates the hazard of this procedure, especially in infants with poor lung compliance and pneumomediastinum. Report of a Case A 12-month-old boy was brought to the emergency room after having been found nearly drowned in a mop bucket containing detergent and dirty water. He had had no previous illness or hospitalizations and there was no history of any respiratory problems. He had moderate respiratory distress with intercostal and sternal retractions, and nasal flaring. Pulse rate was 180 beats per minute; respiratory rate, 70/min; and temperature, 39 C (102.2 F). Pieces of mop and dried detergent were noticed in his hair. Loud rhonchi with coarse and fine rales were heard throughout the lungs. Laboratory values were determined as follows: hematocrit, 27%; hemoglobin, 8.5 gm/100 ml; white blood cell count, 20,200/cu mm (polymorphonuclear leukocytes, 57%; stab cells, 30%; lymphocytes, 10%; monocytes, 3%); Na + , 142 mEq/liter;


Hepatic hemangioma is the most frequently occurring benign tumor of the liver. Hepatic hemangioma rupture is a rare phenomenon, which can lead to life-threatening conditions. Here, we report a case of hepatic hemangioma rupture caused by blunt trauma. Explorative laparotomy was performed due to unstable vital signs and abdominal massive hemoperitoneum revealed on computed tomography. We detected arterial bleeding from a hepatic hemangioma and performed primary suture of the liver and postoperative angiographic embolization.


as the momentum density. This is the result obtained by Rowland and Pask, under the usual conditions pertaining to transverse waves on a string. Electronic mail: firstname.lastname@example.com D. R. Roland and C. Pask, ''The Missing Wave Momentum Mystery,''Am. J. Phys.67, 378–388~1999!. W. C. Elmore and M. A. Heald, Physics of Waves~McGraw–Hill, New York, 1969; Dover, New York, 1985 !. We are speaking here of small longitudinal motions associated with a transverse wave. The wave equation itself is derived under the approximation of purely transverse motion and uniform tension. Due to curvature of the string, the tension forces at opposite ends of an infinitesimal segment do not cancel. The longitudinal component of the resulting net force is much smaller than the transverse component if we have u]h/]xu!1. The longitudinal motions may then be treated as a perturbation on the dominant transverse motions. Longitudinal motions are also produced by the variations in string tension associated with longitudinalwaves; indeed, the physical impetus which establishes a transverse wave is likely to generate a longitudinal wave too, and longitudinal waves are essential to the conservation of momentum when a transverse wave encounters a density discontinuity. Interested readers should consult Rowland and Pask.


For any n\ge 2, we give infinitely many unsplittable links of n components in the 3-sphere which admit non-trivial surgery yielding the 3-sphere again and whose components are mutually distinct hyperbolic knots. Berge and Kawauchi gave 2-component hyperbolic links with those two properties. We can also give infinitely many 2-component hyperbolic tunnel number one links with such properties.


Use of integrative medicine (IM) is prevalent in children, yet availability of training opportunities is limited. The Pediatric Integrative Medicine in Residency (PIMR) program was designed to address this training gap. The PIMR program is a 100-hour online educational curriculum, modeled on the successful Integrative Medicine in Residency program in family medicine. Preliminary data on site characteristics, resident experience with and interest in IM, and residents' self-assessments of perceived knowledge and skills in IM are presented. The embedded multimodal evaluation is described. Less than one-third of residents had IM coursework in medical school or personal experience with IM. Yet most (66%) were interested in learning IM, and 71% were interested in applying IM after graduation. Less than half of the residents endorsed pre-existing IM knowledge/skills. Average score on IM medical knowledge exam was 51%. Sites endorsed 1–8 of 11 site characteristics, with most (80%) indicating they had an IM practitioner onsite and IM trained faculty. Preliminary results indicate that the PIMR online curriculum targets identified knowledge gaps. Residents had minimal prior IM exposure, yet expressed strong interest in IM education. PIMR training site surveys identified both strengths and areas needing further development to support successful PIMR program implementation.


Voice over IP services offer important revenue-generating opportunities, as well as many technical challenges in providing high-quality services. Users have come to expect highly available telecommunications services with high-quality voice. Service providers need reliable high-performance networks to meet user expectations, and must be able to guarantee performance and reliability to their customers. In converged voice and data networks, the network infrastructure must deliver very high quality and availability for some customer needs, while also providing low-cost high-capacity bandwidth for other needs. The use of quality of service mechanisms to provide prioritization for various traffic types is a key element needed for voice and data network convergence. However, it is not sufficient if the underlying networks are unreliable. The focus of this article is to address the reliability aspects of VoIP services, including the underlying IP networks.


Background: Earlier studies have shown that about 90% of accidents in the work settings occur because of unsafe behavior and human errors. If workers do not have the right knowledge, favorable attitude, and proper behavior toward safety measures in a safe workplace, all efforts for an accident-free workplace will be in vain. This study aimed to determine factors associated with unsafe occupational behavior among construction workers in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
Subjects and Method: This was a cross sectional study carried out in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. A sample of 200 construction workers were selected at random for this study. The endogenous variables were perceive benefit, favorable attitude, and unsafe occupational behavior. The exogenous was good knowledge. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by a path analysis model.
Results: Good knowledge increased perceived benefit (b= 0.25; 95% CI= 0.06 to 0.56; p= 0.038). Perceived benefit increased favorable attitude (b= 0.56; 95% CI= 0.25 to 0.86; p<0.001). Favorable attitude decreased unsafe occupational behavior (b= -0.56; 95% CI= -0.32 to -0.80; p<0.001).
Conclusion: Good knowledge, perceived benefit, and favorable attitude, respectively, decrease unsafe behavior among the construction workers in the work settings.

Keywords: good knowledge, perceived benefit, favorable attitude, respectively, unsafe behavior, construction workers.


International strategy, as a subfield of strategic management, has too often settled for simplistic and rote approaches to bringing the international setting into the analysis of cross-border strategies and their consequences. We examine the application of national culture in international strategy research as perhaps the most common expression of locational awareness. We begin by considering the many critical assessments of current theoretical and empirical research on the culture-strategy interaction. We summarize multiple meta-analytic studies and examine a sample of empirical articles from the past 40 years more closely to offer our own criticism of the theories, settings, data, models, and variables used and the conclusions drawn by these scholars. We then go beyond critique to offer an extensive set of recommendations for future work that we believe can both correct the ever-clearer problems with extant research and offer innovative and more considered insights on the role of national culture in international strategy scholarship and practice.


The generation of intra-cavity superpositions of Bessel-Gauss beams in an axicon resonator is studied numerically by means of a genetic algorithm. The coherent superposition of low order modes is induced by introducing crossed wires within the simulated cavity. Two different strategies are shown to be equivalent for the generation of the same superposition of two Bessel-Gauss beams with opposite azimuthal orders. In the first strategy the angle between a pair of cross-wires is varied for mode selection, the second consists on introducing a number of crosswires at equally spaced angles in which the number of wires corresponds exactly to the order of the superposed modes. Our results suggest a direct method for generating experimentally a coherent mode superposition of Bessel-Gauss beams using an axicon-based Bessel-Gauss resonator. These beams are relevant in areas such as optical trapping and micromanipulatio


When life stories place individuals and their experiences within a complex social web, they aid our ability to understand ourselves and others across time. The most effective biographies inevitably give way to broader social and cultural exchanges; Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love, and Politics does this. Valuable contributions to American folklore studies from this book include "What is a Folk Song?" and "What is a Folk revival?," two chapters that flesh out the philosophy and overall chronology of Western folk music movements and deserve serious consideration on cultural studies syllabi. Freedman traces folk music debates to Johann gottfried herder, the eighteenthcentury german philosopher who coined the term folk song to describe song repertoires that evidenced fully formed and distinctive folk groups. inherent in this definition was the belief that folk products differ from other cultural products and are endangered by cultural change. traces of herder's ideas circulate in the rhetoric of authenticity and preservation among twentiethcentury folklorists. indeed, this ethos fueled the revival movements; as Freedman reminds us, "the very act of naming a song a 'folk song' was itself an act of revivalism" (p. 296). employing insights from robert cantwell, Alan Jabbour, and tamara livingston, Freedman represents folk music revivals as a search for cultural meaning. She argues that such revivals involve the commodification and recontextualization of previously noncommercial music and the creation of neotraditional styles. She concedes that while practitioners and academics disagree about the criteria for "folk," it is undeniable that "folk" music flourished in the twentiethcentury united States, and we see that history reflected in peggy Seeger. peggy was born into America's most illustrious family of folk revivalists. her father, charles, founded and presided over the American musicological Society, the Society for ethnomusicology, and the berkeley music Department, where he developed his dissonant counterpoint technique. his social awakening at berkeley inspired him to join the communist party, and his subsequent leadership roles in the music Division of roosevelt's new Deal resettlement Administration, Federal music project, panAmerican union's interAmerican music center, and the international music council under uneSco reflected his commitment to tooling music for moral and economic uplift. his second wife, ruth crawford Seeger, was the first female composer to win a guggenheim Fellowship, and when charles' employment shifted, so, too, did ruth transition from modernist composition to arranging folk music. She transcribed songs from fieldwork by John and Alan lomax, published her own books, and contributed to the library of congress Archive of American Folk Song. The Seeger children were fortunate to enter into elite music circles from birth. mike followed a similar trajectory to his parents, most notably in his musical touring of the American South, leadership role at the Smithsonian, formation of the new lost city ramblers with Alan lomax, and guggenheim Fellowship win. pete, son of charles and his first wife, constance edson, learned folk music from ruth while she was transcribing. pete collaborated with Woody guthrie and also worked for lomax at the library of congress and founded, with him and others, the people's Songs organization to "[promote] folk music in tandem with progressive political causes" (p. 44). his fame soared after forming the Almanac Singers and the Weavers and collaborating with Joan baez and bob Dylan while advocating for the civil rights movement and the antiVietnam protests. pete is represented in the book as a talented musician who was lucky in timing and privileged by a social network that enhanced his visibility during all phases of the American folk movement. but where in the Seeger family tree does Freedman place peggy? As the daughter of charles and ruth, sister of pete and mike, friend of Alan lomax, and wife of the british folk singer ewan maccoll, peggy was ideally


We use asteroseismic data from the Kepler satellite to determine fundamental stellar properties of the 66 main-sequence targets observed for at least one full year by the mission. We distributed tens of individual oscillation frequencies extracted from the time series of each star among seven modeling teams who applied different methods to determine radii, masses, and ages for all stars in the sample. Comparisons among the different results reveal a good level of agreement in all stellar properties, which is remarkable considering the variety of codes, input physics, and analysis methods employed by the different teams. Average uncertainties are of the order of ∼2% in radius, ∼4% in mass, and ∼10% in age, making this the best-characterized sample of main-sequence stars available to date. Our predicted initial abundances and mixing-length parameters are checked against inferences from chemical enrichment laws ΔY/ΔZ and predictions from 3D atmospheric simulations. We test the accuracy of the determined stellar properties by comparing them to the Sun, angular diameter measurements, Gaia parallaxes, and binary evolution, finding excellent agreement in all cases and further confirming the robustness of asteroseismically determined physical parameters of stars when individual frequencies of oscillation are available. Baptised as the Kepler dwarfs LEGACY sample, these stars are the solar-like oscillators with the best asteroseismic properties available for at least another decade. All data used in this analysis and the resulting stellar parameters are made publicly available for the community.


Cryogenic injury of adult, rat spinal cord was produced under controlled non-invasive conditions to study repair and regeneration in adult, mammalian central nervous tissue in which tissue continuity and integrity are relatively preserved. Under these experimental conditions axons and myelin are destroyed, a matrix of glial cells is preserved, and regrowth of axons is apparent. Electron microscopic studies at 7, 15, 30 and 60 days post-injury demonstrate axonal structures indicative of regrowth, astrocytic structures which appear to provide support to both matrix and axons and myelination of axons by both oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells. These cellular events restore much of the normal structure within the injured area up to its junction with the Wallerian zone. In this junctional zone morphologic evidence may indicate continuing cellular activity, even at 60 days, in axons, astrocytes and myelinating cells. These studies suggest that under ideal conditions damaged axons may be capable of regeneration within the adult mammalian central nervous system and that this model provides an opportunity to define some of the mechanisms.


Decerebrate animals have been produced chiefly by ablation of the cerebrum and interbrain or transection of the brain stem. These mutilating operations are attended by a high mortality and associated with a great degree of shock. The exact level of decerebration cannot be predetermined and complete decerebration is not assured until postmortem examination. Frequently some part of the brain cephalad to the decerebration remains intact. Hemorrhage is uncontrolled and the degree of hemorrhage immeasurable. The shock obscures the picture and the time of its disappearance cannot be accurately determined. An animal decerebrated by such methods shows symptoms which result not only because of the operative removal of function of certain parts of the brain, but also because of compression by hemorrhage, shock and mutilation of an immeasurable area of tissue adjacent to the operative wound. Other methods have been employed to destroy certain parts of the nervous system; for example


In We Have a Consensus on Fraud on the Market – And It's Wrong, James Spindler has attempted to defend securities fraud class actions (SFCAs) and the fraud-on-the-market (FOTM) doctrine by purporting to refute two arguments that have been cited by numerous scholars: (1) the circularity (feedback) critique and (2) the diversification critique. In essence, Spindler's gist is that SFCAs are both workable and necessary. But in the end, Spindler exposes weaknesses in the usual arguments against SFCAs that point the way to still stronger arguments against SFCAs. Regarding circularity, Spindler argues that SFCAs are workable because it is possible even with circularity for investors to be compensated in full even though compensation is funded by a reduction in the aggregate value of the defendant company and thus the wealth of its stockholders (including those who are compensated). But he fails to recognize that because feedback magnifies buyer claims, it induces investors to spend that much more on precaution and increases already excessive deterrence. Moreover, it effects a transfer of wealth from diversified investors to stock-picking investors even though the law should encourage investors to diversify. Regarding diversification, Spindler argues that SFCAs are necessary because one cannot diversify away fraud. But as shown here, the loss from securities fraud is a mixture of diversifiable losses that someone will suffer one way or the other (when the truth comes out) and undiversifiable losses that derive from the cover-up of bad news. Bad things happen to good companies. Sales decline. Risks increase. But such losses can be diversified away because unexpectedly good things happen to other companies. In contrast, if an ordinary loss is exacerbated by a cover-up leading to a loss of investor trust (and an increased cost of capital) or cash outflows (from litigation expenses or fines), such additional losses cannot be offset by unexpected gains. There is no potential for gain from the absence of fraud. The only losses that really matter are the losses that cannot be diversified away. But these are losses suffered by the corporation that should give rise to a derivative action. Moreover, it turns out that derivative actions are perfectly tailored to compensate investors and to provide perfectly calibrated deterrence without the collateral damage caused by feedback.


Inelastic scattering of photons is a promising technique to manipulate magnons but it suffers from weak intrinsic coupling. We theoretically discuss an idea to increase optomagnonic coupling in optical whispering gallery mode cavities by generalizing a previous analysis to include the exchange interaction. We predict that the optomagnonic coupling constant to surface magnons in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres with radius 300μm can be up to 40 times larger than that to the macrospin Kittel mode. Whereas this enhancement falls short of the requirements for magnon manipulation in pure YIG, nanostructuring and/or materials with larger magneto-optical constants can bridge this gap.


TiO2 (rutile) thin films were deposited via a hydrothermal process by adjusting the amount of ethanol, deposition time, and temperature. Especially, various amounts of ethanol generated different degrees of supersaturation in precursor solution. It allowed us to systematically change the width, lengths, and crystallinity of a vertically aligned 1-D nanorod structure of TiO2 films. The oriented attachment, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, was shown to be responsible for their lateral growth of TiO2 nanorods bundled by numerous well-oriented nanowires and their vertical growth. TiO2 nanorod thin films were also characterized via X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer to find a correlation between the process conditions and nanostructural evolution. Dye sensitized solar cells were assembled to relate the nanostructures of TiO2 films with the effectiveness of its role as a photoelectrode.


An X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) study of composite-type material consisting of polyurethane gel and carbonyl iron micrometric spheres was performed under magnetic fields of 0, 300 and 600 mT. The onion-like spheres structure was destroyed during the composite processing. The following conclusions were obtained from the study: -The polyurethane matrix is preferred as a source for the observed dynamic effects. -Below 300mT the material dynamics in direction of the outer magnetic field are very clear. -For 600 mT the dependence of the dynamics on magnetic field direction disappears, but the correlation rate is much higher. These findings may be caused by a disturbance of the polymer mesostructure by larger strain leading to its cross-linking.


ABSTRACT Liu, H.; Deng, J., and Wu, J., 2023. Benthic turbulence affected by various wave conditions in the surf zone. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(6), 1082–1093. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. To understand turbulence and associated sediment transport in the surf zone, it is of crucial importance to explore the effect of wind waves consisting of non-breaking (low) and breaking (moderate) waves. A bottom-mounted instrumental tripod was deployed on a dissipative beach in the surf zone in the south China coast to examine the relative importance of wave-induced turbulence and bed-induced turbulence in the different hydrodynamic conditions. The data were collected in 0.5–3 m water depth from 20–29 July 2016. During the survey, a tropical storm attacked the nearby coast from 26–27 July. The Synchrosqueezed Wavelet Transform method was used to decompose the wave and turbulent data. The results show that the bed-generated turbulence dominated with weak wind waves during neap tide. The Reynolds shear stresses and turbulent kinetic energy was almost vertically uniform in this period. On the contrary, the degree of turbulence anisotropy became weak and various turbulence properties or scaling (e.g., Reynolds shear stresses, turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, Froude-scaled turbulence) enhanced significantly with moderate waves during spring tide and storm period. The turbulent properties increased in magnitude away from the bed beneath waves breaking. The observations suggest that breaking waves are the dominant source of turbulence under strong onshore winds, which are significant and may dominate over bottom boundary layer process in the surf zone.


Maffucci's syndrome is a rare, congenital mesenchymal dysplasia characterized by multiple enchondromata and hemangimata, both of which may undergo malignant degeneration. Intracranial involvement is uncommon. A literature review yielded only six cases of Maffucci's syndrome with intracranial chondrosarcoma and two cases of Ollier's disease (enchondromata alone) with intracranial chondrosarcoma. We report the seventh case of Maffucci's syndrome in a patient with a very large and extensive skull base chondrosarcoma requiring staged operations for removal.


his study evaluated the effectiveness of pyramidal training with direct care staff in group homes. Training focused on teaching staff how to provide opportunities for communication to non-speaking children with developmental disabilities to communicate. Staff were taught through a combination of a workshop, and nondirective consultation following an adult education model. A multiple-probe design across three cohorts of direct care staff was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training in terms of the number of opportunities provided by staff and the percentage of requests emitted by participating children. Results showed that pyramidal training resulted in more opportunities provided to the children and concurrent increases in children's requesting. Results are discussed in terms of the suitability of pyramidal training for group home settings, and implications for future research. © Division on Developmental Disabilities.


The dynamics of gravity currents are believed to be strongly influenced by dissipation due to turbulence and mixing between the current and the surrounding ambient fluid. This paper describes new theory and experiments on gravity currents produced by lock exchange which suggest that dissipation is unimportant when the Reynolds number is sufficiently high. Although there is mixing, the amount of energy dissipated is small, reducing the current speed by a few percent from the energy-conserving value. Benjamin (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 31, 1968, p. 209) suggests that dissipation is an essential ingredient in gravity current dynamics. We show that dissipation is not important at high Reynolds number, and provide an alternative theory that predicts the current speed and depth based on energy-conserving flow that is in good agreement with experiments. We predict that in a deep ambient the front Froude number is 1, rather than the previously accepted value of $\sqrt 2$. New experiments are reported for this case that support the new theoretical value.


A measurement technique is described for use in corona-discharge studies. This technique uses a biased double-electrode system that enables the rate of arrival of charge carriers at the collector electrode to be determined. The electric field strength at the collector is also obtained. The action of the system is described, and its performance is compared with that predicted from electric field models with finite-element digital field computation. The measurement technique has been applied to 50 Hz corona discharges from 100 and 500 μm diameter wires at voltages of up to 30 kV r. m. s. The data have been used in conjunction with a new theoretical criterion for determining the corona extinction points on the descending quarter cycles of the alternating voltage. This has provided a complete budget of space -charge behaviour under the conditions studied, which comprises for each point-on-cycle the charge injected by the active electrode, the charge collected by the passive electrode and the space charge in the interelectrode discharge space. The method is adaptable to other geometries and to direct and impulse voltages, and to practical testing on high-voltage lines, ion sources and electrostatic precipitators.


This article presents findings from an ESRC sponsored research project about the use of hoshin kanri (policy management) in the UK. The research used tracer studies to follow in real time the development and management of annual policies in three Japanese subsidiaries based in the UK. In addition, case histories were also compiled for companies belonging to the project's practitioner network. The project explored hoshin kanri as a PDCA‐led strategic management process. There are important issues associated with each part of this PDCA cycle with which practitioners wrestle, but in general there remain important company‐wide benefits.


We have fabricated silica nanochannels with inner diameter as small as 20nm using a scanned coaxial electrospinning and demonstrated their application for single molecule detection. A coaxial jet, with the use of motor oil as the core and silica sol-gel solution as the shell, is extruded through a coaxial source and deposited on the rotating collector as oriented nanofibers. They are then annealed to cross-link silica and eliminate motor oil, thereby forming nanochannels. Subsequently, a fluorescent dye was injected into the individual nanochannels via a capillary force and single molecule detection was performed by monitoring the photon signals from 5-Iodoacetamidofluorescein.


We consider the stationary-phase Monte Carlo method and a variety of related approaches. The stationary-phase Monte Carlo method is aimed at the generic problem of performing high-dimensional integrations of rapidly oscillatory integrands. Real time numerical path integration is one important class of applications where such problems arise. We examine the relationship between the stationary-phase Monte Carlo approach and the recent work of Makri and Miller and of Filinov.


An association between mouth breathing during sleep and increased propensity for upper airway collapse is well documented, but the effect of treatment for nasal obstruction on mouth breathing during sleep and simultaneous obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) severity has not been described previously. A randomised single blind placebo- and sham-controlled crossover study of treatment (topical decongestant and external dilator strip) for nasal obstruction was carried out in 10 patients (nine males; mean±sem 46±5 yrs) with nasal obstruction and OSA. All patients had normal acoustic pharyngometry. The effect of treatment on nasal resistance, mouth breathing during sleep and OSA severity was quantified. Treatment of nasal obstruction was associated with a dramatic and sustained reduction in nasal resistance and the oral fraction of ventilation during sleep (mean (95% confidence interval) absolute reduction in oral fraction 30% (12–49)). Improvements in sleep architecture were observed during active treatment, and there was a modest reduction in OSA severity (change in apnoea–hypopnoea index 12 (3–22)). In conclusion, treating nasal obstruction reduced mouth breathing during sleep and obstructive sleep apnoea severity, but did not effectively alleviate obstructive sleep apnoea.


The paper assesses the extent of the forest area change in Turkey between 2005 and 2015 across 81 provinces and seven geographical regions. The results show that the situation varies at provincial and regional levels, but overall Turkey's forest area increased. An increase in forest areas in 60 out of 81 provinces was recorded, while there was a decrease in 19, and no change in the remaining two. There was a significant negative correlation between forest area and human population size. However, the change in forest area was found to have a significant positive relationship with the change in forest growing stock and current annual increment. Decrease in forest area was mainly seen in the provinces where there has been an intensive population increase, mainly through the impact of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. In addition, it was observed that forest areas in these provinces became more fragmented due to allocations based on new legal regulations. A further finding was that the increase in total forest area was not the result of afforestation efforts by Turkey's forestry organisation but resulted from changes in the socioeconomic structure of the population, and related processes such as rural to urban migration.


Leaves are essential plant organs with numerous variations in shape and size. The leaf size is generally smaller in plants that thrive in areas of higher elevation and lower annual mean temperature. The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is situated at an altitude of >4000 m with relatively low annual average temperatures. Most plant species found on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau have small leaves, with Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. being an exception. Here, we show that the large leaves of R. tanguticum with a unique three-dimensional (3D) shape are potentially an ideal solution for thermoregulation with little energy consumption. With the increase in age, the shape of R. tanguticum leaves changed from a small oval plane to a large palmatipartite 3D shape. Therefore, R. tanguticum is a highly heteroblastic species. The leaf shape change during the transition from the juvenile to the adult phase of the development in R. tanguticum is a striking example of the manifestation of plant phenotypic plasticity. The temperature variation in different parts of the leaf was a distinct character of leaves of over-5-year-old plants. The temperature of single-plane leaves under strong solar radiation could accumulate heat rapidly and resulted in temperatures much higher than the ambient temperature. However, leaves of over-5-year-old plants could lower leaf temperature by avoiding direct exposure to solar radiation and promoting local airflow to prevent serious tissue damage by sunburn. Furthermore, the net photosynthesis rate was correlated with the heterogeneity of the leaf surface temperature. Our results demonstrate that the robust 3D shape of the leaf is a strategy that R. tanguticum has developed evolutionarily to adapt to the strong solar radiation and low temperature on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau.


Along the road towards ubiquitous and low-cost solar cells, solutions to the seemingly mutually exclusive targets of reducing material consumption while increasing the efficiency has to be found. One potential solution seems to lie in thin film tandem solar cells. It offers the promise of moderate efficiencies combined with the advantage of relying on a well-established thin film fabrication technology at reasonable low costs. To finally make them serious competitors, various structures to be exploited for photon management may be incorporated into these solar cells with the aim of increasing their efficiency. Besides reducing reflection losses at the entrance facet via textured surfaces and eliminating the dissipation in the metallic backside reflector, the efficiencies of tandem cells can be significantly boosted by a wavelength-dependent steering of the spatial domain where light gets absorbed, i.e. either the top or the bottom cell. This is mainly possible by placing a spectrally selective intermediate reflector in between both cells. In the present contribution we apply well-adapted numerical routines, which solve Maxwell's equations rigorously, to quantitatively explore various intermediate reflector concepts for thin film solar cells from an optical point of view. The solar cells we focus on are silicon based, where the top layer is made of amorphous and the bottom layer of microcrystalline silicon, respectively. We explore state-of-the-art concepts for the intermediate reflector, such as homogenous layers based on dielectrics characterized by a lower permittivity as well as new photonic (such as, e.g., photonic crystals) and plasmonic concepts. Most notably we will address the issue how randomly textured interfaces, present in thin film solar cells, affect the performance of each intermediate reflector and how the randomness may contribute to the absorption enhancement. Guidelines for designing optimized systems will be given.


Radiant transfer through fibrous and foamed insulating materials was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Transmission measurements were made under isothermal conditions with a black-body source varying from 200 to 800 deg F. Bulk density and fiber and pore size were also varied. These data were interpreted successfully in terms of a simple theoretical model. The results provide design information and define the contributions of the several mechanisms of transfer. (auth)


As a result of modern cancer treatment and thereby improved survival, many cancers spread to bone. Bone metastases may cause immobilizing pain and increase the risk of fracture even by inadequate or no trauma. Treatment of these patients should promptly address confirmation of the tumor entity, local control as well as adequate and lasting surgical stabilisation of the affected bone or joint. We present a setup to perform all the above in a single operative sitting.

 Required imaging is completed before initial consultation. The treatment plan is discussed in an interdisciplinary team according to the primary tumor and thereof resulting survival estimation, the imaging evaluation and patient's expectations and needs.
 In a single operative setup, the patients are treated by an interventional radiologist and an orthopaedic surgeon in a hybrid operating room. Thus, in one single setup the patient may undergo arteriogram to diagnose hypervascularity of the tumor followed by embolization if needed, CT-guided biopsy, percutaneous radiofrequency or cryotherapy ablation of the metastases for local tumor control and eventually surgical treatment with resection of the tumor, joint replacement or minimally-invasive stabilization as needed. Biopsy results may be discussed at inhouse tumor boards and adjuvant radio- or chemotherapy may be planned for the postoperative course.

 Five combined procedures were performed in 5 patients (3 female, 2 male patients; median age 65 years (range 61–77)) each in one single operative sitting since October 2021. Three patients suffered from metastases of renal cell carcinoma, one each from thyroid carcinoma and breast cancer respectively. Metastases were located in the femoral meta- and diaphysis in 3 cases and in the acetabulum in 2 cases. Median duration of this multidisciplinary intervention was 375 min (251–426). Median length of hospital stay was 5 days (3–10). Median time from referral to definitive treatment was 24 days (17–32). All patients were able to walk with crutches immediately after treatment. No complications occurred.

 Combined multidisciplinary treatment of patients with metastatic bone disease is possible and may be favourable in respect of minimising the number of consultations, anaesthesias and interventions. This should lead to accelerated and pain-free mobilisation, thus maximising the patients' quality of life.


Bacillus circulans T-3040 cycloisomaltooligosaccharide glucanotransferase (BcCITase) catalyses an intramolecular transglucosylation reaction and produces cycloisomaltooligosaccharides from dextran. BcCITase was overexpressed in Escherichia coli in two different forms and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystal of BcCITase bearing an N-terminal His₆ tag diffracted to a resolution of 2.3 Å and belonged to space group P3₁21, containing a single molecule in the asymmetric unit. The crystal of BcCITase bearing a C-terminal His6 tag diffracted to a resolution of 1.9 Å and belonged to space group P2₁2₁2₁, containing two molecules in the asymmetric unit.


In vitro testing of P. falciparum chemosensitivity was assessed from 2 severe malaria cases in which the parasite was thought to be resistant to chloroquine. The 3 following methods were compared in both cases. 1.--Maturation test, carried out before and from the outset of treatment, is a rapid and simple method. Primary efficiency of therapeutic procedures can be estimate and the eventually adjust. 2.--Rieckmann test, on patient blood, measure chemosensitivity of host strain modulated by hosts factors. Initially proposed for epidemiological trials, this method is of interest for the choice of treatment at the end of acute phase in individuals cases. 3.--Strain chemosensitivity measurement, require one or more weeks of Plasmodium cultivation. This value will be very helpful to estimate the sensitivity level of P. falciparum to chloroquine in the outcoming strain area.


Successful reconstruction of large anterior skull base (ASB) defects after craniofacial resection of malignant skull base tumors is paramount for preventing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistulas. The vascularized pedicled pericranial flap (PCF) has been the gold standard for repairing ASB defects after transbasal transcranial approaches. However, flap necrosis and delayed CSF leaks can occur after adjuvant radiation therapy. We describe a "double flap" reconstruction technique in which the PCF is augmented inferiorly by a secondary vascularized pedicled nasoseptal flap (NSF) that is harvested and rotated using an endoscopic endonasal approach.


A 46-year-old male presented with left ear hearing loss,vertigo,tinnitus and left eye blurred vision. Pure tone audiometry showed left ear had been total deafness. Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) assay was reactive. The serum rapid plasma regain (RPR) was 1∶16. Human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) 1/2 antibody immunoassay was positive,and the CD4 cell count was low at 100 cells/μl. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) TPPA was positive,with a white blood cell count of 53×10 ⁶ /L and protein level of 1.08 g/L.The diagnosis was:①left ear sudden deafness(total deafness type);②neurosyphilis;③acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS).


Water temperature has increasingly become a matter of concern for California rice (Oryza sativa L.) growers due to a need for public water agencies to improve habitat for fish. Prudent management of water resources to balance the needs of environmental and agricultural interests requires the quantification of water temperature effects on rice productivity. Our objective was to evaluate two alternative thermal unit models for the effect of low water temperature on yield. One model was based on the total number of hours below a given threshold water temperature T b (abbreviated TNHB T b ) and the other was based on the concept of inverse degree days (i.e., degree days below a given threshold water temperature) (abbreviated IDD). We tested these models at a range of values of T b between 10 and 25°C on data from two commercial fields during 2 yr. Results showed that the effect of low water temperature may be much greater than would be apparent from the visual appearance of the rice plants. Values of IDD and TNHB T b were very highly correlated for 4 of the 4-yr field combinations. A logistic curve model based on TNHB 20°C provided the best fit to the aggregated data.


The continuous evolution of manufacturing environments leads to a more efficient production process that controls an increasing number of parameters. Production resources usually represent an important constraint in a manufacturing activity, specially talking about the management of human resources and their skills. In order to study the impact of this subject, this paper considers an open shop scheduling problem based on a mechanical production workshop to minimise the total flow time including a multi-skill resource constraint. Then, we count with a number of workers that have a versatility to carry out different tasks, and according to their assignment a schedule is generated. In that way, we have formulated the problem as a linear as and a non-linear mathematical model which applies the classic scheduling constraints, adding some different resources constraints related to personnel staff competences and their availability to execute one task. In addition, we introduce a genetic algorithm and an ant colony optimisation (ACO) method to solve large size problems. Finally, the best method (ACO) has been used to solve a real industrial case that is presented at the end.


We examine the stellar haloes of the Auriga simulations, a suite of 30 cosmological magnetohydrodynamical high-resolution simulations of Milky Way-mass galaxies performed with the moving-mesh code arepo. We study halo global properties and radial profiles out to ∼150 kpc for each individual galaxy. The Auriga haloes are diverse in their masses and density profiles, mean metallicity and metallicity gradients, ages, and shapes, reflecting the stochasticity inherent in their accretion and merger histories. A comparison with observations of nearby late-type galaxies shows very good agreement between most observed and simulated halo properties. However, Auriga haloes are typically too massive. We find a connection between population gradients and mass assembly history: galaxies with few significant progenitors have more massive haloes, possess large negative halo metallicity gradients, and steeper density profiles. The number of accreted galaxies, either disrupted or under disruption, that contribute 90 per cent of the accreted halo mass ranges from 1 to 14, with a median of 6.5, and their stellar masses span over three orders of magnitude. The observed halo mass–metallicity relation is well reproduced by Auriga and is set by the stellar mass and metallicity of the dominant satellite contributors. This relationship is found not only for the accreted component but also for the total (accreted + in situ) stellar halo. Our results highlight the potential of observable halo properties to infer the assembly history of galaxies.


Conflicting results on the existence of tremor-related cortical activity in essential tremor (ET) have raised questions on the role of the cortex in tremor generation. Here we attempt to address these issues. We recorded 64 channel surface EEGs and EMGs from forearm muscles in 15 patients with definite ET. EEG and EMG power spectra, relative power of the rhythmic EMG activity, relative EEG power at the tremor frequency, and EEG-EMG and EEG-EEG coherence were calculated and their dynamics over time explored. Corticomuscular delay was studied using a new method for narrow-band coherent signals. Corticomuscular coherence in the contralateral central region at the tremor frequency was present in all patients in recordings with a relative tremor EMG power exceeding a certain level. However, the coherence was lost intermittently even with tremors far above this level. Physiological 15- to 30-Hz coherence was found consistently in 11 patients with significantly weaker EMG activity in this frequency range. A more frontal (mesial) hot spot was also intermittently coupled with the tremor and the central hot spot in five patients. Corticomuscular delays were compatible with transmission in fast corticospinal pathways and feedback of the tremor signal. Thus the tremor rhythm is intermittently relayed only in different cortical motor areas. We hypothesize that tremor oscillations build up in different subcortical and subcortico-cortical circuits only temporarily entraining each other.


The article explores how Personalist Philosophy can be helpful for Theology by focusing on the concrete topic of the body. The renewed philosophical interest in the body is important for Christian Theology inasmuch as the latter is centered on the concreteness of the Incarnation. The article follows Gabriel Marcel's approach as a guideline to review the understanding of the body proper to Personalism. In this approach, the body is seen as the person's relational presence in the world and among others and as the openness of the person towards transcendence. The richness of this approach is explored in three important areas of dogmatic theology: Christology, Sacramentology, and the Theology of Creation. The article exemplifies the circularity between Philosophy and Theology in the concrete topic of the body.


Managing security risks in the Internet has so far mostly involved methods to reduce the risks and the severity of the damages. Those methods (such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, etc) reduce but do not eliminate risk, and the question remains on how to handle the residual risk. In this paper, we consider the problem of whether buying insurance to protect the Internet and its users from security risks makes sense, and if so, of identifying specific benefits of insurance and designing appropriate insurance policies. Using insurance in the Internet raises several questions because entities in the Internet face correlated risks, which means that insurance claims will likely be correlated, making those entities less attractive to insurance companies. Furthermore, risks are interdependent, meaning that the decision by an entity to invest in security and self-protect affects the risk faced by others. We analyze the impact of these externalities on the security investments of the users using simple models that combine recent ideas from risk theory and network modeling. Our key result is that using insurance would increase the security in the Internet. Specifically, we show that the adoption of security investments follows a threshold or tipping point dynamics, and that insurance is a powerful incentive mechanism which pushes entities over the threshold into a desirable state where they invest in self-protection. Given its many benefits, we argue that insurance should become an important component of risk management in the Internet, and discuss its impact on Internet mechanisms and architecture. presented at: WEIS 2008, Seventh Workshop on the Economics of Information Security, Hanover NH (USA), June 25-28, 2008. shortened version presented at INFOCOM 08 (mini-Conference) [5].


Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. Ebola virus (EBOV) is transmitted through contact with blood or body fluids of a person who contracted or died from EVD, contaminated objects like needles and infected animals or bush meat. EVD has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days, and the infection has an acute onset without any carrier status. Currently, there is no standard treatment for EVD, so it is important to avoid infection or further spreading of the virus. Although historically the mortality of this infection exceeded 80%, modern medicine and public health measures have been able to lower this figure and reduce the impact of EBOV on individuals and communities. Its treatment involves early, aggressive supportive care with rehydration. Clinicians should consider the possibility of EVD in persons with travel or exposure history with the incubation period presenting constitutional symptoms in order to promptly identify diseased patients, and prevent further spreading of the disease.


To analyze a signal digitally in instrumentation and measurement, we need to record a series of samples of that signal, which we refer to as a captured waveform. The author discusses the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) which is a widely used powerful signal analysis method. The discrete nature of the method implies that the captured waveform being analyzed is a portion of a periodic signal, and the transform is performed on a whole period or an integer multiple of periods


We report 3 cases of very rare dermatoses with retroauricular location, having lesions of "milia en plaque" type. These dermatoses are the retroauricular follicular lichen planus tumidus, the retroauricular "milia en plaque" and an exceptional case of sebocystomatosis (steatocystoma multiplex) with exclusively retroauricular location, which is unique in the literature. In this group of retroauricular dermatoses can also be included the small retention cysts and comedones of the retroauricular area, attributed to paraffin products in shaving soap inadequately rinsed from this region. On the occasion of these cases we make a review of the literature and a detailed study of the retroauricular follicular lichen planus tumidus and retroauricular milia en plaque and we discuss the differential diagnosis emphasizing the clinical and histologic features, which permit to make the accurate diagnosis.


ABSTRACT Italy opened the doors of its universities to female students in 1875. The generalview was that very few women were clever enough to obtain a degree, so they would not threaten social stability. Female professors would be even rarer – a few exceptional "male" women. Access to the professions was impossible in the case of the legal profession, or limited in terms of medicine. In this context, where both Catholics and Positivists opposed women's careers, seeing them as incompatible with motherhood and marriage, five women managed to enter theacademic world as unsalaried lecturers: Giuseppina Cattani (1887, Pathology), Paolina Schiff (1891/1893, German literature and language), Rina Monti (1899, Anatomy and Comparative Physiology), Teresa Labriola (1901, Philosophy of Law) and Maria Montessori (1904, Anthropology). With archival documents and other contemporary texts, this paper reconstructs who these women were and the many difficulties they faced in academic life. Four of them were emancipationists and did not marry. These choices debarred them from pursuing a full academic career. Only Monti, who had a family and took no active part in female propaganda, managed to become a full professor in 1911, the first woman in Italy to do so.


I ncreased Internet usage makes artists use the internet as a media campaign and maintain its existence in the community, the medium that is in great demand by famous people is a vlog on youtube , many artists use this media as a promotional tool and the artist's daily information to fulfill information for his fans. One of them who use is indie band Endank Soekamti. The band's group utilized vlogs as a means of promoting their new album. The purpose of this research is to know the process of utilization of vlog as interpersonal communication medium in 7 Kean Soekamti's "Soekamti Day" Promotion. The type of research used in this study is to use the type of research descriptive qualitative study, by trying to interpret data research describes in detail a message or a particular text. The results of research on the use of vlog as a medium of interpersonal communication in promoting the new album Endank Soekamti is a positive statement, feelings of responsibility, presence, feedback, spontaneous reaction, feelings of free opinion, attention, honesty of openness in the process of interpersonal communication on this album. So that the audience can like and give a response seen many who see the vlog and provide comments as one form of responseloves the latest album from Endank Soekamti, it's also because the daily life is very simple, relaxed and free impressed, it shows that the band is very open in building communication in vlog. Keywords: Communication Interpersonal, Vlog, Content Analysis.


Recognition of molecular structural features is one of the most attractive fields in chemistry, especially when combining with machine learning techniques. Pattern recognition techniques are straightforward in recognizing graphic features, but little attention was given to recognize molecular structural features. In this work, we propose a new method taking advantage of pattern recognition techniques to analyze structural features and obtain novel chemical insights. Specifically, the cluster analysis is presented to recognize structural features, which provides an alternative to the most widely used root mean square deviation (RMSD) method and the recently proposed blob detection method. Based on this, the convex hull of the molecule is constructed. The convex hull of molecules is highly appealing in the sense that one can introduce established theorems and properties from other disciplines into chemistry. Novel molecular descriptors based on convex hulls can be defined and show encouraging results, especially in providing new insights in understanding non-covalent interactions, adsorption processes, etc.


This paper examines the conservation of water bodies in the context of rivers in Idomaland and from the study area of Igumale sub-culture. Today, there is the problem of water contamination and its attendant health issues to mankind. The paper observes that water is fundamental to human and other forms of life in the universe. There is, therefore a fundamental connection between water and human health and life. Water is sacred to the traditional Africans in general and Idoma in particular. There is the problem of water contamination and its attendance effects to health. Worst still, is the problem of sustainability of the environment through water management practices. These have informed the study. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines water conservation beliefs and practices in the context of rivers in Igumale. The paper argues that trado-religious practices could assist in the management of water, or and water bodies especially rivers; something most needed in the environmental conservation. It analyzes certain religious issues that emanate from the presence of rivers in the area and how the host community has used them to conserve the environment as regards water bodies. In some cases these efforts manifest as iho -prohibitions or taboos; especially the prohibitions of any conduct that may deplete and degrade water bodies as important components of the environment. Such prohibitions are often imbued with religious sanctions and ritual colourations so as ti instill fear and corresponding obedience to the dictates of such iho , taboos. Keywords: Religio-Cultural, Conservation, Water bodies, Igumale Sub-culture, the Idoma


Received: Revised: Accepted: Published online: July 05, 2017 November 09, 2017 November 10, 2017 February 12, 2018 The emergence of variant pseudorabies virus caused great economic losses in domestic farms in the recent past. The mice were infected with Halv strain PRV via intragastric administration, intranasal and subcutaneous into the cervical skin to study the Pseudorabies in mouse model. The gross lesions, microscopic lesions and the distribution of PRV in mice were investigated. All the mice in each group showed exciting and roughening of the fur and frequent scratching. Microscopic lesions included mild-to-severe interstitial pneumonia, hemorrhage and nonsuppurative encephalitis in brain. The distribution of PRV in three groups was different. In intragastric administration group, PRV antigens were distributed in brain hippocampus, medulla oblongata, gray substance spinal cord and intestinal submucosa. In intranasal group, PRV antigens were detected in gray substance spinal cord, pons, myocardial cells, pulmonary epithelial cells and lymphocytes in red pulp of the spleen. In subcutaneous group, the PRV antigens were located in the sensory and motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, gray matter in spinal cord, purkinje cells in the cerebellum and lymphocytes in the splenic red pulp. These findings provided evidence that the distribution of PRV was depended on injected-routes. ©2017 PVJ. All rights reserved


[1] IAVCEI-WMO Workshop on Ash Dispersal Forecast and Civil Aviation; Geneva, Switzerland, 18–20 October 2010; The April–May 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption brought to light the harmful effects of volcanic ash on civil aviation and the importance of robust ash forecasting based on the combination of numerical weather prediction (NWP), volcanic ash transport and dispersal models (VATDMs), and data acquisition. The Workshop on Ash Dispersal Forecast and Civil Aviation has produced a consensual document describing the characteristics and range of application of different VATDMs, identifying the needs of the modeling community, investigating new data acquisition strategies, and discussing how to improve communication between the volcanology community and operational agencies. The workshop was held at the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Geneva headquarters under the sponsorship of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Geneva, the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI), and the canton of Geneva and was organized by scientists from the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain), the Aeronautical Meteorology Division of the WMO, and the British Geological Survey (United Kingdom). Fifty-two volcanologists, meteorologists, atmospheric dispersion modelers, and space- and ground-based monitoring specialists from 12 different countries were gathered (attendance was by invitation only), including representatives from six Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) and related institutions.


Formation thermodynamics is examined for two different types of point defects which interrupt conjugation in polydiacetylene crystals: bond‐alternation and orbital‐flip defects. While bond‐alternation defects in these polymers are analogous to previously investigated radical pair defects in the polyenes, much lower equilibrium concentrations are expected in the polydiacetylenes than in the polyenes. For polydiacetylenes with small substituent groups or high‐energy side‐group packing, orbital‐flip defects provide a more plausible rationale for explaining observed thermochromism and carrier trapping effects in photoconductivity. During the formation of this type of defect, a π orbital at each of the two neighboring sp2 carbon atoms is rotated by 90°, so that the rotated π orbitals become conjugated with the out‐of‐plane orbitals neighboring sp carbon atoms. Thereby the system of overlapping π orbitals is interrupted without substantially decreasing the electronic stabilization energy. With an intramolecular strain energy increase of only about 2.6 kcal/mole, the polymer chain can return to lattice register within one monomer unit of the defect center. Since the electronic stabilization energy change is even smaller (about 0.2 kcal/mole), the major contribution to defect formation energy arises from the side‐group rotations.Formation thermodynamics is examined for two different types of point defects which interrupt conjugation in polydiacetylene crystals: bond‐alternation and orbital‐flip defects. While bond‐alternation defects in these polymers are analogous to previously investigated radical pair defects in the polyenes, much lower equilibrium concentrations are expected in the polydiacetylenes than in the polyenes. For polydiacetylenes with small substituent groups or high‐energy side‐group packing, orbital‐flip defects provide a more plausible rationale for explaining observed thermochromism and carrier trapping effects in photoconductivity. During the formation of this type of defect, a π orbital at each of the two neighboring sp2 carbon atoms is rotated by 90°, so that the rotated π orbitals become conjugated with the out‐of‐plane orbitals neighboring sp carbon atoms. Thereby the system of overlapping π orbitals is interrupted without substantially decreasing the electronic stabilization energy. With an intramolecular...


The detailed analysis of current cropping areas in Africa presented here reveals significant climate sensitivities of cropland density and distribution across a variety of agro-ecosystems. Based on empirical climate-cropland relationships, cropland density responds positively to increases in precipitation in semi-arid and arid zones of the sub-tropics and warmer temperatures in higher elevations. As a result, marginal increases in seasonal precipitation lead to denser cropping areas in arid and semi-arid regions. Warmer temperatures, on the other hand, tend to decrease the probability of cropping in most parts of Africa (the opposite is true for increases in rainfall and decreases in temperatures relative to current conditions). Despite discrepancies and uncertainties in climate model output, the analysis suggests that cropland area in Africa is likely to decrease significantly in response to transient changes in climate. The continent is expected to have lost on average 4.1 percent of its cropland by 2039, and 18.4 percent is likely to have disappeared by the end of the century. In some regions of Africa the losses in cropland area are likely to occur at a much faster rate, with northern and eastern Africa losing up to 15 percent of their current cropland area within the next 30 years or so. Gains in cropland area in western and southern Africa due to projected increases in precipitation during the earlier portions of the century will be offset by losses later on. In conjunction with existing challenges in the agricultural sector in Africa, these findings demand sound policies to manage existing agricultural lands and the productivity of cropping systems.


Purpose: Anti‐scatter grids have been commonly used to reduce the amount of scatter in mammography. However, using grids require increasing the radiation dose to the breast in order to have an acceptable exposure to the image receptor. We used Monte Carlo simulation to optimize liner grid design for mammographyimaging in a way to achieve best contrast improvement with lowest dose to the breast. Materials and Methods: We used Monte Carlo Simulation Code MCNP5 to determine the amount of Scatter to Primary Ratio (SPR) for different x‐ray tube peak voltage (kVp), breast thicknesses, and grid geometries. We used a Molybdenum target/Molybdenum filtered x‐ray spectra, materials and geometrical dimensions that closely mimic the clinical situation. We used a semicircular shaped breast phantom made of 50 % adipose and 50 % glandular tissue equivalent materials. The grid septa were made of lead and inter‐space was made of carbon fiber. Results: Our calculated SPR values agree within 5 % with previously published clinical data. We have obtained significant contrast improvement for low bucky factors. For a 5 cm thick breast equivalent phantom, we found an optimal septa height of 0.9mm, septa thickness of 12μm and an inter‐space thickness of 100μm gives an optimal combination of 0.2 SPR, a 2.43 bucky factor, and a 1.31 contrast improvement factor (8 % error). With this geometry, the maximum SPR was lowered from 0.58 without the grid to 0.2 with the grid. Conclusion: We have optimized the geometry of the linear grid and achieved very significant contrast improvement with low SPR while minimizing the bucky factor and hence the mean‐glandular dose to the breast.


We investigate the q-voter model with stochastic noise arising from independence on complex networks. Using the pair approximation, we provide a comprehensive, mathematical description of its behavior and derive a formula for the critical point. The analytical results are validated by carrying out Monte Carlo experiments. The pair approximation prediction exhibits substantial agreement with simulations, especially for networks with weak clustering and large average degree. Nonetheless, for the average degree close to q, some discrepancies originate. It is the first time we are aware of that the presented approach has been applied to the nonlinear voter dynamics with noise. Up till now, the analytical results have been obtained only for a complete graph. We show that in the limiting case the prediction of pair approximation coincides with the known solution on a fully connected network.