The goal of this prospective study was to evaluate the results of arthroscopic meniscal repair with the FasT-Fix repair system. Type of study: Prospective case series. Methods: 83 meniscal repairs with the FasT-Fix meniscal repair system in 80 patients with a mean age of 29 years were performed between 2004 and 2008. Concurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction was performed in 70% of the cases. All tears were longitudinal and located in the red/red or red/white zone. Criteria for clinical success included absence of joint line tenderness, locking, swelling, and a negative McMurray test. Clinical evaluation included also the Lyscholm knee score, and KT-1000 arthrometry. Results: The average follow-up was 38 months (range, 10–61 months). Six of 83 repaired menisci (7.23%) were considered failures according to our criteria. Therefore, the success rate was 92.77%. Time required for meniscal repair averaged 15 minutes. Postoperatively, the majority of the patients had no restrictions in sports activities. 92% had an excellent or good result according to the Lysholm knee score. Four patients had a restriction of knee joint motion postoperatively, and an arthroscopic arthrolysis was performed in one of them. Analysis showed that, age, length of tear, simultaneous ACL reconstruction, chronicity of injury, and location of tear did not affect the clinical outcome. Conclusions: Our results, shows that arthroscopic meniscal repair with the FasT-Fix repair system provides a high rate of meniscus healing and offers reduction of both the risk of serious neurovascular complications and operative time.


Lichen aureus is a special localized variant of purpura pigmentosa chronica. A patient presented with an unusual striate and segmental or zosteriform distribution of lichen aureus involving the left leg and lower abdominal area. Histology showed the characteristic dense band-like infiltrate consisting mainly of small lymphocytes and numerous hemosiderin-containing macrophages. No underlying infection or medication could be identified as a trigger. The lesions did not respond well to topical corticosteroid therapy.


This study analyses the impact of Islamic intellectual capital and Islamic financial performance on business sustainability of Islamic banks in Indonesia. For sustainability, Islamic banks face many challenges like: products, development technology, and human capital competing with conventional banks and overcome problems in the ASEAN banking economy. To achieve this aim, the study uses a quantitative approach by collecting secondary data of Islamic banks focusing on three variables: Islamic intellectual capital, Islamic financial performance and business sustainability for the period from 2010-2016. The research used secondary data, from financial reports and annual reports. The data is taken from the internet and Infobank. A census method of Islamic banks in Indonesia is carried out. The data is tested and analysed using partial least squares regression. The results show that: 1) Islamic intellectual capital has a significant impact on Islamic financial performance, 2) Islamic intellectual capital has a significant impact on business sustainability, 3) Islamic financial performance has a significant impact on business sustainability, 4) Islamic financial performance partially mediates the impact of Islamic intellectual capital on business sustainability. Thus, Islamic banks in Indonesia must always develop their intellectual capital, so that Islamic banks in Indonesia will be able to competitive with foreign banks and will be sustainable. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that strengthening intellectual capital and performance improvement could improve the business sustainability of Islamic banks in Indonesia.


The seasonal prediction of precipitation extremes over the Yangtze River basin (YRB) has always been a great challenge. This study investigated the effects of spring soil moisture over the Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) on the following summer mei-yu front and YRB precipitation extremes during 1961–2010. The results indicated that the frequency of summer YRB precipitation extremes was closely associated with the mei-yu front intensity, which exhibited a strong negative correlation with the preceding spring ICP soil moisture. However, the lingering climate influence of the ICP soil moisture was unstable, with an obvious weakening since the early 1990s. Due to its strong memory, an abnormally lower spring soil moisture over the ICP would increase local temperature until the summer by inducing less evapotranspiration. Before the early 1990s, the geopotential height elevation associated with the ICP heating affected the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), strengthening the southwesterly summer monsoon. Consequently, the mei-yu front was intensified as more warm, wet air was transported to the YRB, and local precipitation extremes also occurred more frequently associated with abnormal ascending motion mainly maintained by the warm temperature advection. In the early 1990s, the Asian summer monsoon underwent an abrupt shift, with the changing climatological states of the large-scale circulations. Therefore, the similar ICP heating induced by the anomalous soil moisture had different effects on the monsoonal circulation, resulting in weakened responses of the mei-yu front and YRB precipitation extremes since the early 1990s.


In previous studies * investigations were reported concerning the time characteristics of two of the most commonly executed types of eye movements, the so-called saccadic movements and the "smooth" movements elicited by moving visual stimuli. These are all conjugate movements, i. e., movements in which the two eyes move in parallel. Disjunctive eye movements, i. e., movements in which changes take place in the orientation of one eye with respect to the other, are known to have time characteristics quite different from those of conjugate movements. Of particular interest in this connection are the movements of convergence and divergence during which the primary lines of sight of the two eyes remain in the same plane but change their relative orientation. They were first studied rather thoroughly by C. H. Judd. 3 His method, however, did not enable him to obtain continuous records of eye positions. More recently they formed the subject


The availability of nutrients, especially N, P, K in the degraded peat are very low. The high organic acids can decrease the soil pH, its causes the negatively charged nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate are also very low. Ameliorant contributes some cations both monovalent and polivalent which acts as a bridge cations, thus increasing the availability of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphate. The objective of research was to determine the storage efficiency of N, P, K on application of some ameliorants on degraded peat land. The experiment was conducted at the laboratory of ISARI, Banjarbaru. Peat soil collected from the degraded peat land at Kalampangan, Central Kalimantan. The treatments were 8 ameliorant formula and two control treatments (+NPK and -NPK). The treatments were arranged in CRD, with 3 replications, And using soil coloum (lysimeter). The leaching was conducted every once a week, with 1.25 liter of aquades and the volume of leachate would be recorded. N, P, K concentration in leachate were analyzed periodically at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after incubation. The results showed that the concentrations of N and K on each observation time were relatively same, but P increased significantly at 4 weeks after incubation. The highest concentrations of N, P, and K in leachate were ameliorant from 100% of chicken manure. The storage efficiency of N, P and K varied depending on the type of ameliorant. Ameliorant that improved storage efficiency of N and K was ameliorant which consist of 80% agricultural weed + 20% dolomite, whereas for P efficiency storage was on ameliorant which consist of 80% Chinese water chestnut ( Eleocharis dulcis ) + 20% dolomite.


A new instrument was developed for passing and holding sutures during the replacement of a bone flap. The new device is a simple straight aluminum shaft, 6 cm in length and 0.7 mm in diameter with a groove on both ends for holding the suture. The shaft can be easily bent with the fingers to attain the desired curve and more suitable manipulation. Passing the shaft through the straight hole in the cranium or the cranial flap was very easy and convenient. No dural damage occurred during 80 procedures using this shaft. No needle holder or forceps for temporary clipping sutures were necessary, which reduced the operative time and mental and physical burden on the operator and the nurses. The mean time per hole with our instrument (45.8 +/- 9.2 sec) was significantly shorter compared to conventional methods with a circular needle, needle holder, and many forceps for temporary clamping of sutures (65.6 +/- 13.2 sec).


Since the rise of mass politics, the role national identities play in international relations has been debated. Do they produce a popular reservoir easily tapped for war or bestow dignity thereby fostering cooperation and a democratic peace? The evidence for either perspective is thin, beset by different conceptions of identity and few efforts to identify its effects independent of situational factors. Using data drawn from new national surveys in Italy and the United States, we advance a three-dimensional conception of national identity, theoretically connecting the dimensions to conflictive and cooperative dispositions as well as to decisions to cooperate with the United Nations in containing Iran's nuclear proliferation and Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Attachment to the nation in Italy and the United States is found to associate with less support for militarist options and more support for international cooperation as liberal nationalists expect. This depends, however, on containing culturally exclusive conceptions of the nation and chauvinism.


Kinetic isotope effects on association have been measured using the remote label methodology developed by O'Leary and Marlier (1979). The isotope effect on V/KA for the first substrate in an obligatorily ordered mechanism is an isotope effect on its second-order rate constant for association with the enzyme. With phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase the 18(V/KPEP) when the bridging O is labeled decreases from 1.0056 +/- 0.0007 to 0.9943 +/- 0.0002 as the concentration of bicarbonate, the second substrate, increases from 2 to 200 mM. With pyruvate kinase the 18(V/KPEP) decreases from 1.0024 +/- 0.0014 to 0.9928 +/- 0.0027 as the concentration of ADP increases from 1.5 to 30 mM. These inverse kinetic isotope effects are best understood as arising from an isotope effect on the rate constant for forming the Michaelis complex of enzyme and substrate. The inverse value suggests that the bridging oxygen is in a vibrationally stiffer environment in the transition state for the association reaction.


729 Interindividual variations in response to anticancer agents might be due to inherited variations in genes encoding proteins involved in drug transport. ABCB1 (MDR1) gene encodes an efflux transporter expressed in organs responsible for drug metabolism and polymorphisms of this gene have been reported which appear to be functional. Doxorubicin and docetaxel are substrates for ABCB1 and main drugs used in breast cancer treatment. We therefore investigated in patients treated with doxorubicin and docetaxel for breast cancer whether polymorphisms of ABCB1 gene could account for variations in pharmacokinetics of these drugs. The single nucleotide polymorphisms A61G, C1236T, G2677T/A, G2995A and C3435T were analysed using TaqManMGB probes for allelic discrimination. Plasma concentrations of doxorubicin and docetaxel were determined in patients during the first course of doxorubicin (n=64) and the first course of docetaxel (n=51). Mean values (+ SEM) of area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of doxorubicin were lower for patients with 1236TT genotype than for patients with 1236CC or 1236CT genotype (2134 + 171 μg.h/L, n=11 and 2701 + 223 μg.h/L, n=53, respectively ; p=0.02, Mann-Whitney U two sample-test). No such difference in pharmacokinetics of docetaxel when considering C1236T polymorphism was found nor in pharmacokinetics of either doxorubicin or docetaxel when considering other polymorphisms. Mean values (+ SEM) of AUC of docetaxel were higher for patients with (61-1236-2677-2995-3435 AA-CT-GT-GG-CT) haplotype than for patients with other haplotypes (5553 + 607 µg.h/L, n=9 and 4906 µg.h/L + 896 µg.h/L, n= 42, respectively ; p=0.015). In addition, a preliminary study investigating pharmacokinetics and pathological response shows that mean values (+ SEM) of doxorubicin clearance were lower for pathological complete responders than for patients who were not (37 + 3 L/h, n=7 and 46 + 2 L/h, n= 17, respectively ; p=0.03, Mann-Whitney U two sample-test). In conclusion, these results suggest that ABCB1 polymorphisms play a role in pharmacokinetics of doxorubicin and docetaxel and that pharmacokinetics of doxorubicin might be involved in the pathological response of patients with breast cancer.


The intensivist should think of delirium, or acute central nervous system dysfunction, as the brain's form of "organ dysfunction.'' Delirium is extremely common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients due to factors such as comorbidity, critical illness, and iatrogenesis. This complication of hospital stay is extremely hazardous in older persons and is associated with prolonged hospital stays, institutionalization, and death. Neurologic dysfunction compromises patients' ability to be removed from mechanical ventilation or achieve full recovery and independence. Yet ICU nurses and physicians are usually unaware of the presence of hypoactive delirium and only recognize this disturbance in agitated patients (hyperactive delirium). More importantly, there are few studies that have included ICU patients in the assessment or prevention of delirium. This article reviews the definition and salient features of delirium, its primary risk factors, a newly validated instrument for delirium assessment that is being developed for ICU nurses and physicians, and pharmacological agents associated with the development of delirium and used in its management.


Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is one of the valuable medical plants. Drought also is one of the most important environment stresses that influences metabolism and growth of plant. The studying of physiological plant response rather than water stress can be influential equipment for understanding drought resistance mechanisms. In this study, the drought stress effects on germination and physiological characteristic of the medical plant (purslane) were studied. Drought imposed on polyethylene glycol (PEG) seedlings and experiments were done in completely random model framework, with 3 replications. Polyethylene glycol stress was in seven levels involving blank (distilled water), -0.1, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, -0.8 and -1 MPa. In relation to germination, meaningful difference was not observed between blank and the different levels (P<0.01); and the least rate of germination in stress level was -0.4 MPa) and the highest rate of germination in stress level was -0.2 MPa). Meaningful increase of proline and sugar synchronized with PEG concentration was observed in statistical level (P<0.01) with meaningful difference. In this, blank had the least rates and stress level of -1 MPa and the highest proline and sugar rates. Lipid content in purslane leaves with increasing stress level was decreased. In the highest lipid rate in stress level (-0.2 MPa) and the least concentration in stress level (-1 MPa), it was observed that this difference in P<0.01 was meaningful. The concentration of leave proteins with meaningful decrease (P<0.01) had the highest protein concentrations in blank and the least concentration in stress level was -1 MPa. In stress effect on leaf chlorophyll content, meaningful increase of chlorophyll a and b synchronized imposed increase of stress level. It was observed that with chlorophyll a the highest concentration in stress level was -0.6 MPa and the least concentration exists in blank; and also with chlorophyll b the stress level, -1 MPa had the highest and blank had the least concentration (P<0.01).

 Key words: Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.), drought, polyethylene glycol, proline, sugar, lipid, protein, chlorophyll, germination.


The need for ICT in financial institutions is increasingly inevitable given that the number of transactions is high, customers are many and spread. In such cases manual methods of keeping track of customer payments and transactions become very difficult and inefficient causing the organizations to be susceptible to theft, frauds and errors. However with increased introduction of ICT financial institutions are exposed to many risks that can result in the possibility of financial loss or reputation risk. This has forced firms to undertake information security
awareness programs to protect these critical systems, hence the need for the study, which had three objectives. The first objective was to determine the extent to which information system
security awareness program are implemented by financial institutions in Kenya. The second was
to determine the methods that financial institutions in Kenya use to propagate their information system security awareness programs. The third was to establish the challenges faced in the implementation of information system security awareness program in financial institutions in Kenya.Primary data was the main form of data used in this research and it was collected using questionnaires. Forty questionnaires were personally administered to the respondents and out of these thirty were collected. The questionnaires had both open and closed ended questions. The respondents were IT security managers and the assistants in financial institutions. The ''drop and pick later" method was used to administer the questionnaires. The data collected was subjected
to descriptive and factor analysis.
The findings of the of the study show that majority of the financial nstitutions in Kenya appreciate the need for information security wareness and have implemented the same. The
findings further revealed that 100% of the organizations used New Hire Orientation and Acceptance use Policy methods in undertaking information system security awareness. The main challenges to implementing the awareness program in the firms were noted to be improper training venue and lack of security awareness skills by trainers across most organizations.
The study shows that financial institutions have implemented nformation system securityawareness covering employees within the sector as a continued counter measures to securitythreats. This is evidenced by the presence of information security team in most of the firms also shows their inclination to reduce risks. Financial institutions are governed by a written and formal information security policy which is continuously updated to keep abreast with technological changes. It was also evident that most financial institutions had budget for information system security awareness programs.
It can therefore be concluded that information security awareness program have been implemented by financial institutions in Kenya using various methods covering all employees although faced with some challenges in its implementation.


The Caudal Type Homeobox transcription factors cdx are a family of genes found in vertebrates that regulates body regionalization and anterior-posterior patterning. They are also responsible for regulating axial elongation, but the mechanisms behind this behavior are not known. Previous studies in mouse embryonic stem cells have shown that the cdx genes are necessary for upregulating the gene sp5 which may be linked to axial elongation. Sp5 is a zinc-finger transcription factor belonging to the specificity protein (sp) family. Our group has used in-situ hybridization experiments on zebrafish embryos to show that sp5-like (sp5l) is transcribed within tailbud tissues that develop into paraxial mesoderm and ultimately give rise to the somites. We also found that sp5l expression in the tailbud and paraxial mesoderm is diminished when cdx4 or the signaling factor Wnt is inhibited. Lastly, we found that inhibiting Wnt and upregulating cdx4 can rescue sp5l expression. Additionally, using CRISPR gene editing we found that sp5l knockouts in zebrafish cause distortions in the somites and deformations in the tail and spinal column. Together, our results show that sp5l regulation by Wnt signaling is mediated by cdx4, and that this regulation is necessary for tailbud posteriorization and somitogenesis. These results shed new light on the mechanisms of axial elongation.


In this paper, we propose a fast transient hydrostatic stress analysis for electromigration (EM) failure assessment for multi-segment interconnects using generative adversarial networks (GANs). Our work leverages the image synthesis feature of GAN-based generative deep neural networks. The stress evaluation of multi-segment interconnects, modeled by partial differential equations, can be viewed as time-varying 2D-images-to-image problem where the input is the multi-segment interconnects topology with current densities and the output is the EM stress distribution in those wire segments at the given aging time. Based on this observation, we train conditional GAN model using the images of many self-generated multi-segment wires and wire current densities and aging time (as conditions) against the COMSOL simulation results. Different hyperparameters of GAN were studied and compared. The proposed algorithm, called {\it EM-GAN}, can quickly give accurate stress distribution of a general multi-segment wire tree for a given aging time, which is important for full-chip fast EM failure assessment. Our experimental results show that the EM-GAN shows 6.6\% averaged error compared to COMSOL simulation results with orders of magnitude speedup. It also delivers 8.3X speedup over state-of-the-art analytic based EM analysis solver.


Introduction Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels in the lymphoblasts and leukocytes of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have been reported to be downregulated compared to in controls. cAMP is a derivative of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and low ATP turnover has been reported in the state of hypometabolism associated with human MDD and with mammalian hibernation due to suppression of mitochondrial metabolism. Similarities have been noted between many state-dependent neurobiological changes associated with MDD in humans and with mammalian hibernation. Methods To compare cAMP levels between human MDD and mammalian hibernation and to investigate whether cAMP downregulation is another state-dependent neurobiological finding, we measured cAMP concentrations in lysed leukocytes, plasma, and serum in serial blood specimens from nine female captive black bears (Ursus americanus; CBBs), and cortisol levels in serum from 10 CBBs. Results Cortisol levels were significantly higher during hibernation in CBBs, confirming previous findings in hibernating black bears and similar to findings in humans with MDD. cAMP levels were significantly lower during hibernation versus active states (pre-hibernation and exit from hibernation) and were similar to the cAMP downregulation reported in MDD patients versus euthymic patients or controls. cAMP level changes during the different states (hibernation, pre-hibernation, active) confirm their state-dependent status. Discussion These findings are similar to the neurobiological findings associated with the hypometabolism (metabolic depression) observed during mammalian hibernation and reported during MDD. A sudden increase in cAMP levels was observed before entrance into pre-hibernation and during exit from hibernation. Further investigation is suggested into the possible role of elevated cAMP levels in initiation of the chain reaction of changes in gene expression, proteins, and enzymes leading to the suppression of mitochondrial metabolism and to low ATP turnover. This process leads to hypometabolism, the old adaptive mechanism that is used by organisms for energy preservation and is associated with both mammalian hibernation and human MDD.


Background High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rTMS-DLPFC) is an effective treatment for depression. Preliminary studies indicated beneficial effects of rTMS-DLPFC on pain relief in patients treated for depression, and in patients with chronic migraine. Methods In this randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, single-center, proof-of-principle clinical trial, we tested the hypothesis that 23 sessions of active rTMS-DLPFC delivered over eight weeks would be feasible, safe and superior to sham rTMS to decrease the number of headache days in 18 patients with chronic migraine without severe depression. Per-protocol analysis was performed. Results rTMS-DLPFC applied over eight weeks was feasible and safe in patients with chronic migraine. Contrary to our primary hypothesis, the number of headache days decreased significantly more in the sham group than in the group treated with active rTMS-DLPFC at eight weeks. Average decrease in headache days was >50% in the sham group, indicating a powerful placebo response. Pain intensity improved in both groups to a similar extent. Conclusions Positive results of M1 stimulation in other studies, and the absence of significant benefits of active high-frequency rTMS of the DLPFC in the present study, point to M1 as a more promising target than the DLPFC, for larger trials of noninvasive brain stimulation in patients with chronic migraine.


The synthesis of 9-(4-chlorophenyl)-7,7-dimethyl-5(Z), 8-nonadienoic acid (7) and its methyl ester 6, and their effects on arachidonic acid metabolism in vitro are described. The IC50 values of 19.6 and 20.6 microM were observed for inhibition of leukotriene synthesis in human granulocytes for 6 and 7, respectively. Additionally, the compounds inhibited thromboxane B2 (TxB2) synthesis, with respective IC50 values of 6.1 and 20 microM, while producing pronounced 3-8-fold increases in PGE2 synthesis in human mononuclear cells. Increased PGE2 synthesis may have reflected shunting of free arachidonic acid substrate at the thromboxane synthetase and endoperoxide E isomerase branchpoint of arachidonic acid metabolism.


Introduction: This investigation evaluates the effects of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), calcium hydroxide (CH) and calcium enriched mixture (CEM) as pulp capping materials on dental pulp tissues. Materials and Methods: The experimental procedures were performed on eighteen intact dog canine teeth. The pulps were exposed. Cavities were randomly filled with CEM, MTA, or CH followed by glass ionomer filling. After 2 months, animals were sacrificed, each tooth was sectioned into halves, and the interface between each capping material and pulp tissue was evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) in profile view of the specimens. Results: Dentinal bridge formation as the most characteristic reaction was resulted from SEM observation in all examined groups. Odontoblast-like cells were formed and create dens collagen network, which was calcified gradually by deposition of calcosphirit structures to form newly dentinal bridge. Conclusion: Based on the results of this in vivo study, it was concluded that these test materials are able to produce calcified tissue in underlying pulp in the case of being used as a pulp capping agent. Additionally, it appears that CEM has the potential to be used as a direct pulp capping material during vital pulp therapy.


Currently, quantifying β‐cell mass (BCM) requires harvesting the pancreas. In this study, we investigated a potential noninvasive method to quantify BCM changes longitudinally using [Lys12(111In‐BnDTPA‐Ahx)] exendin‐4 ([111In]‐Ex4) and single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). We used autoradiography and transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein under the control of mouse insulin 1 gene promotor to evaluate the specificity of [111In]‐Ex4 toward β cells. Using nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, we injected [111In]‐Ex4 (3.0 MBq) intravenously and performed SPECT 30 min later, repeating this at a 2‐wk interval. After the second scan, we harvested the pancreas and calculated BCM from immunohistochemically stained pancreatic sections. Specific accumulation of [111In]‐Ex4 in β cells was confirmed by autoradiography, with a significant correlation (r = 0.94) between the fluorescent and radioactive signal intensities. The radioactive signal from the pancreas in the second SPECT scan significantly correlated (r = 0.89) with BCM calculated from the immunostained pancreatic sections. We developed a regression formula to estimate BCM from the radioactive signals from the pancreas in SPECT scans. BCM can be quantified longitudinally and noninvasively by SPECT imaging with [111In]‐Ex4. This technique successfully demonstrated longitudinal changes in BCM in NOD mice before and after onset of hyperglycemia.—Fujita, N., Fujimoto, H., Hamamatsu, K., Murakami, T., Kimura, H., Toyoda, K., Saji, H., Inagaki, N. Noninvasive longitudinal quantification of β‐cell mass with [111In]‐labeled exendin‐4. FASEB J. 33, 11836‐11844 (2019). www.fasebj.org


Scid mice express a truncated form of the catalytic subunit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) and are unable to properly rearrange their Ig and TCR genes, resulting in a severe combined immunodeficiency that is characterized by arrested differentiation of B and T lymphocytes. Treatment of scid mice with low doses of gamma irradiation rescues rearrangements at several TCR loci and promotes limited thymocyte differentiation. The machinery responsible for sensing DNA damage and the mechanism by which irradiation compensates for the scid defect in TCR recombination remain unknown. Because DNA-PKcs is present in scid thymocytes, it may mediate some or all of the irradiation effects. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of irradiation on DNA-PKcs-deficient (slip) mice. Our data provide the first evidence that DNA-PKcs is not required for limited rescue of thymocyte differentiation or TCR rearrangements.


In this Article, we report on the synthesis and full characterization of three perfluorinated oligothiophenes, ranging in length from the trimer to the pentamer (PF-nT, with n = 3, 4, or 5). The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) analysis of the compounds showed that they can be both oxidized and reduced (i.e., they display a dual or amphoteric electrochemical behavior), with the reduction peaks positively shifted relative to those of the corresponding unsubstituted oligothiophenes. The electrochemically determined energy gaps are in agreement with those measured from the UV-vis-NIR absorption spectra in solution. The conjugational properties have been investigated by means of FT-Raman spectroscopy, both as pure solids and as dilute solutes in CH(2)Cl(2), revealing that: (i) pi-conjugation does not still reach saturation with chain length for the longest oligomer, and (ii) conformational distortions from a nearly coplanar arrangement of the successive thiophene units upon solution are not too large. DFT and TDDFT quantum chemical calculations have been performed, at the B3LYP/6-31G level, to assess information about the optimized molecular structure, equilibrium atomic charges distribution, energies and topologies of the frontier molecular orbitals (MO) around the gap, vibrational normal modes associated with the most outstanding Raman scatterings, and vertical one-electron excitations that give rise to the main optical absorptions.


Moisture is one of the major contributing factors in fracture and reliability issues for microelectronic packaging. To characterize the moisture-induced stress distribution inside the packaging structure, an in situ, quantitative, and nondestructive experimental methodology is needed. This paper proposes the use of piezoresistive sensors to measure moisture-induced stress in a plastic low profile, fine pitch, ball grid array (LFBGA) packaging. The measurements include hygroscopic swelling stress extractions and real-time stress monitoring of the popcorn phenomenon, and the results associated with gravimetric analyses are reported. Postreflow scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) inspection results and cross section observations are used as experimental verification. Comparing with thermal stresses previously measured on the same package, it is found that the hygroscopic mismatch stress is significant and important for package engineers. In addition, piezoresistive sensors were proven useful in this work for recording popcorn occurrence and monitoring the stress drops at the popcorn initiation.


The recent past has seen a number of prisoners reverting back to crime (recidivism) despite serving their terms. Avoidance of recidivism is achieved through the rehabilitation of prisoners into society. This book provides a cross-sectional descriptive survey carried out in Kitui prison, Kitui district to establish the role of VET in avoidance of recidivism among prisoners. It was established that majority of the in-charges expressed that positive readjustment was not emphasized by the prison education programme yet it is one of the main challenges faced by ex prisoners. It further established that over half of the trainees (58.5%) agreed that VET training will assist them to become self employed on leaving the prison. It is recommended that all prisoners should have access to education and once out of the prison should be funded, issued with certificate of good conduct and regularly monitored on their out of prison undertakings. Vocational education should aim at the rapid technological changes and the wider development of the individual, as well as being sensitive to trends in the labour-market. This would help in positive readjustment of the ex prisoners in the society.


Novel buccal mucoadhesive tablets of felodipine as core in cup systems preparation and evaluation in-vitro of adhesive cups, core and novel tablets is studied and published in the earlier research paper. In this investigation the formulated novel buccal tablets which are optimized through in-vitro studies are selected and performed the ex-vivo and in-vivo studies on rabbits. Drug permeation study of felodipine buccal tablets was carried out using porcine buccal mucosa, which was procured from local slaughter house and placed in Krebs buffer pH 6.8. In-vivo experiments were conducted after approval of the protocol from Institutional Animals Ethics Committee. As per the protocol, optimized formulations were tested in Albino rabbits for pharmacokinetic studies simultaneously for both formulations. Studies were conducted in rabbits in the weight range of 1.5 to 2.5 kg. From the permeation data different permeation parameters like flux (Jss), permeation coefficient (kp), diffusion coefficient (D), amount drug permeated at 6 hr and release rate constant (k) were calculated. The flux obtained was 5478.04 to 8478.78 mcg/cm2/h with permeability coefficient of 0.038 to 0.058 cm/h. The peak plasma concentration (Cmax) felodipine in the pure drug and its complex were 233.75±5.40 and 517.25±23.92 ng/mL, while AUC0-6hr and AUC0-∞ were found to be 1867.5±42.07, 2293.04±82.13 ng.hr/mL, 3116.99±116.46 and 36970.91±4044.98 ng.hr/mL respectively. These values indicated maximum plasma concentration and area under the curve were achieved by felodipine complex formulation. Cmax value was 2.3 times and AUC0-12hr was 1.56 times higher for complex than felodipine. The relative percent bioavailability (Frel) of felodipine complex observed was 130.58% indicated enhanced oral bioavailability of felodipine complex.


We present an electrochemical advanced oxidation process (eAOP) reactor employing expanded graphite, potassium iodide (KI), and electrical current, which demonstrates an exceptionally high rate of inactivation of E. coli (6log reduction in viable cells) at low current density 0.6 mA/cm^2), with low contact time (5 minutes) and low concentration of KI (10 ppm). Operando X-ray fluorescence mapping is used to show the distribution of iodine species in the reactor, and operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the anodic chamber reveals iodine species with higher effective oxidation state than periodate. Operando electrochemical measurements confirm the conditions in the anodic chambers are favourable for the creation of highly oxidized iodine products. The killing efficiency of this new eAOP reactor far exceeds that expected from either traditional iodine-based electrochemical water treatment or advanced oxidation systems alone, a phenomenon that may be associated with the production of highly oxidized iodine species reported here.


: Phthisical eyes of 2 patients revealed clinically unsuspected, partially necrotic and partially vital malignant melanomas of the uvea and extensive intraocular ossification. Both eyes had had recurrent intraocular inflammatory episodes for years before they were enucleated because of pain. Intraocular ossification does not rule out the presence of clinically unsuspected malignant melanoma of the uvea.


Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic gas now being recognized as an endogenous signaling molecule in multiple organ systems, in particular, the cardiovascular system. H2S is known to regulate cardiac function and protect against ischemic injury. However, little information is available regarding the effect of H2S on cardiac function in insulin resistance. This study was designed to examine the impact of H2S supplementation on cardiac function using an Akt2 knockout model of insulin resistance. Wild-type and Akt2 knockout mice were treated with NaHS (50 μM·kg(-1)·day(-1) ip for 10 days) prior to evaluation of echocardiographic, cardiomyocyte contractile, and intracellular Ca(2+) properties, apoptosis, and mitochondrial damage. Our results revealed that Akt2 ablation led to overtly enlarged ventricular end-systolic diameter, reduced myocardial and cardiomyocyte contractile function, and disrupted intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis and apoptosis, the effects of which were ameliorated by H2S. Furthermore, Akt2 knockout displayed upregulated apoptotic protein markers (Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, and caspace-12) and mitochondrial damage (reduced aconitase activity and NAD(+), elevated cytochrome-c release from mitochondria) along with reduced phosphorylation of PTEN, Akt, and GSK3β in the absence of changes in pan protein expression, the effects of which were abolished or significantly ameliorated by H2S treatment. In vitro data revealed that H2S-induced beneficial effect against Akt2 ablation was obliterated by mitochondrial uncoupling. Taken together, our findings suggest the H2S may reconcile Akt2 knockout-induced myocardial contractile defect and intracellular Ca(2+) mishandling, possibly via attenuation of mitochondrial injury and apoptosis.


q 201 This article uses the metaphor of overflow to understand the role played by the revelation of previously secret experience in the controversial Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius, Lithuania. It shows how efforts to disclose Soviet repression and to consolidate and sustain a particular community of survivors, the Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees, produced an "excess" of revelation in a context of radical political change that in the process led to a failure to represent the complexity of Lithuania's past by sidelining the Holocaust in its narrative of repression. In contrast to other studies that understand this museum as an instrument of a particular governmental ideology, I suggest an alternative explanation of the origins and character of this museum, arguing that it should be understood as a community museum. I argue that the museum's failure to provide a balanced presentation of the past is better understood as an effect of an excessive desire to reveal the particular experiences of this community, which I describe as an overflow of meanings, not merely a result of the governmental elite's will to suppress alternative versions of the past.


At present, the similarity pattern query about time series is the research hotspot in knowledge discovering in the time series database. Traditional dimension reduction methods about similarity query introduce the smoothness to data series in some degree that the important features of time series about non-linearity and fractal are destroyed. The matching method based on wavelet transformation measures the similarity by using the distance standard at some resolution level. But in the case of unknowing the fractal dimension of non-stationary time series, the local error of similarity matching of series increases. The process of querying the similarity of curve figure will be affected to a certain degree. Stochastic non-stationary time series show the non-linear and fractal characters in the process of time-space kinetics evolution. The concept of series fractal varying-time dimension is presented. The original fractal Brownian motion model is reconstructed to be a stochastic process with local self-similarity. The Daubechies wavelet is used to transform the local self-similarity process. An evaluation formula of varying-time Hurst index is established. The algorithm of varying-time index is presented. A new standard of series similarity is also introduced. The similarity of curve basic figure is queried and measured at some resolution ratio level; in the meantime, the fractal dimension in local similarity is matched. The effectiveness of the method is validated by means of the simulation example in the end. The work of this paper is the supplement and development of the study on similarity mentioned in the literatures.


A receiver detection technique is proposed by measuring the low-level leakage signal from a nearby receiver local oscillator. The probabilities of false alarm and missed detection are derived to quantify the detection performance. The technique provides higher sensitivity than a radiometer and is robust to estimation error even if the power spectral density of the ambient noise is unknown.


The composition of as-grown BiSrCaCuO superconducting thin films has been investigated as a function of the RF magnetron sputtering variables, i.e. total sputtering pressure, substrate temperature, and oxygen partial pressure in an off-axis configuration. This study shows that use of off-axis geometry alone is insufficient to completely overcome the resputtering problem due to energetic particle bombardment on the substrate. The bismuth loss in the sputtered films at low sputtering pressure and copper loss at high pressure, both of which were aggravated at increasing temperatures, were observed. The mechanisms of thermally enhanced resputtering and gas scattering effects at high pressure are proposed to interpret the discrepancy between target and film composition.<<ETX>>


The state is the institutional representation of a nation, in which is endowed all formal and informal power and the fate of the people, and through which society makes its greatest efforts for transformation. Consequently, the neoclassicists' pessimism and predictions of the demise of the state in less-developed countries seems puzzling. Attempting an epochal understanding of the forms of state with a view to determining the appropriateness of the call to abolish the state, this paper, submits that all forms of state that forsake public interest are bound to experience vehement opposition and that whatever trial the state is undergoing is not new. It insists that rather than wish away the state because of poor performance, the operators of the state, whose corrupt and exploitative orientation determines the character of the prevailing state, should be the subject of critical analysis, with an aim towards reprofiling the Nigerian state to obtain a result that will most favorably replicate the outstanding developmental results recorded elsewhere.


The color handling characteristics of computer monitors and other display devices can significantly alter the way an image is perceived by the human eye. Modern cameras and software applications can create vibrant color scenes, and can specify the color range (or gamut) of the scene with an embedded ICC profile [1]. During presentation, differences in the color gamut of the image and the display device require color management to help preserve the color fidelity of the image when shown on different displays. Measurements of the color characteristics of display devices is thus a topic of interest. This paper evaluates the ability of gamut measures, including those commonly used in industry, to classify display gamuts using a user-contributed dataset of ICC display color profiles, and recommends the use of relative metrics for gamut comparison tasks.


In this issue of Water&Sanitation we are very pleased to introduce a new section dedicated to the Young Water Professionals in the sector.


Clinical cancer proteomics aims at the identification of markers for early detection and predictive purposes, as well as to provide novel targets for drug discovery and therapeutic intervention. Proteomics-based analysis of traditional sources of biomarkers, such as serum, plasma, or tissue lyzates, has resulted in a wealth of information and the finding of several potential tumor biomarkers. However, many of these markers have shown limited usefulness in a clinical setting, underscoring the need for new clinically relevant sources. Here we present a novel and highly promising source of biomarkers, the tumor interstitial fluid (TIF) that perfuses the breast tumor microenvironment. We collected TIFs from small pieces of freshly dissected invasive breast carcinomas and analyzed them by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in combination with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, Western immunoblotting, as well as by cytokine-specific antibody arrays. This approach provided for the first time a snapshot of the protein components of the TIF, which we show consists of more than one thousand proteins—either secreted, shed by membrane vesicles, or externalized due to cell death—produced by the complex network of cell types that make up the tumor microenvironment. So far, we have identified 267 primary translation products including, but not limited to, proteins involved in cell proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis, inflammation, protein synthesis, energy metabolism, oxidative stress, the actin cytoskeleton assembly, protein folding, and transport. As expected, the TIF contained several classical serum proteins. Considering that the protein composition of the TIF reflects the physiological and pathological state of the tissue, it should provide a new and potentially rich resource for diagnostic biomarker discovery and for identifying more selective targets for therapeutic intervention.


Abstract Repeats in ToXins (RTX) protein family is a group of exoproteins secreted by Type 1 secretion system (T1SS) of several Gram-negative bacteria. The term RTX is derived from the characteristic nonapeptide sequence (GGxGxDxUx) present at the C-terminus of the protein. This RTX domain binds to calcium ions in the extracellular medium after being secreted out of the bacterial cells, and this facilitates folding of the entire protein. The secreted protein then binds to the host cell membrane and forms pores via a complex pathway, which eventually leads to the cell lysis. In this review, we summarize two different pathways in which RTX toxins interact with host cell membrane and discuss the possible reasons for specific and unspecific activity of RTX toxins to different types of host cells.


The band structures of Cr in the paramagnetic- and the perfect antiferromagnetic state are evaluated by the Green's function method. In the former the crystal potential is set up by the self-consistent procedure proposed by Wakoh, while the alternant orbital theory of Slater is applied to the latter. The spin-dependent part of the potential is determined by the Slater exchange with an adjustable parameter which is determined so as to give an observable value of the magnetic moment. The Fermi surfaces of both the states are calculated. The induced magnetic moment, the electronic specific heat and the magnetic form factor are also evaluated. The agreement between theory and experiment seems to be satisfactory. The stability of the perfect antiferromagnetic state against the paramagnetic state is discussed on the basis of the effective Hamiltonian. Finally, the stability of the spin-density-wave state in Cr is ascribed to the special band structure of Cr.


Spontaneous pattern formation occurs in a ring cavity containing a resonant two-level medium. Non-linear analysis, confirmed by simulations, indicates that both positive and negative hexagonal patterns, as well as rolls, can be stable. Patterns exist because of, and are scaled by, a tilted-wave mechanism.


Plasma selenium levels were determined at various intervals during hospitalization of 71 patients with upper gastrointestinal and other malignancies. These patients often require frequent nutritional as well as surgical or medical intervention. Attempts were made to identify, evaluate, and compensate for numerous confounding variables at each of the 374 plasma selenium determinations. Selenium levels in stable patients who were neither receiving aggressive antineoplastic therapy, nor septic, nor taking corticosteroids and who had no clinically significant metabolic imbalance were then separately analyzed. In 55 stable patients selenium levels were 28% lower than those found in 20 normal controls (mean 61.8 μg/L, P < 0.0005). An analysis of all the readings showed that selenium levels were substantially decreased by recent radiotherapy or sepsis, by regional tumor spread and increased tumor burden, and by intravenous and/or enteral hyperalimentation and intravenous lipids. In contrast to these findings, levels were relatively higher in patients with an adequate oral diet or with a lesser tumor burden. The comparison between selenium levels in stable and in aggressively treated or septic patients supports the importance of the relationship of nutrition to selenium levels in cancer patients.


A model of adverse selection and moral hazard in agri-environmental schemes is developed based on the input quota mechanism of Moxey et al. ( Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 50, (1999) pp. 187-202) and Ozanne et al. ( European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 28, (2001) pp. 329-347), rather than the input charge mechanism of White ( Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 53, (2002) pp. 353-360), but the variable fine of the latter rather than the fixed fine assumed by Ozanne et al. ( European Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 28, (2001) pp. 329-347) is used. Incentive-compatible contracts, including the optimal probabilities of detection (and, therefore, monitoring frequencies and costs) for more and less efficient farmers, are identified. It is shown that the input charge and input quota approaches lead to identical outcomes - in terms of abatement levels, compensation payments, monitoring costs and probabilities of detection - confirming the equivalence of input quotas and input charges under asymmetric information. It is also shown that the optimal contracts are independent of the risk preferences of farmers with regard to being caught cheating. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.


This paper discusses the population dynamics of paddy and its correlation with weather parameters in Faizabad district of U.P. Occurrence and abundance of insect-pests of paddy on rice crop was monitored on rice variety Sarju-52 at Main Experimental Station of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology Kumarganj Faizabad (U.P.) during the season kharif, 2013. This investigation revealed that pest activity commenced from 35th Standard meteorological week (SMW) and continued to 49th SMW. Highest dead hearts (8%) of Yellow Stem Borer, Scirpophaga incertulas was found in the 38th SMW, the maximum population (2.40%) of Rice Hispa was recorded in the 36th SMW, the peak population of whorl maggot (2.50%) was estimated in the 42nd SMW. The highest population of the rice leaf folder and gundhi bug with 3.70% and 21.90% was found in the 40th and 43rd SMW, respectively. Yellow stem borer was positively correlated with sunshine hours and rice hispa with maximum temperature was found positively significant. The rice whorl maggot was positively non-significant with the maximum temperature, there were no negative correlations of rice leaf folder and rice gundhi bug was positively correlated with relative humidity.


Abstract. Knowledge of the spatiotemporal coverage of the cirrus clouds is vital in quantifying the radiation budget of the earth-atmosphere system. In this paper, we present the diurnal and vertical distributions of the occurrence of the cirrus clouds during different seasons as well as its interannual variation over Kattankulathur (12.82° N, 80.04° E), east coast of the Bay of Bengal. The long-term (2016–2018) continuous observations of micropulse lidar (MPL) demonstrate the laminar and descending cirrus clouds that occur either as single or multiple layers. The single-layer cirrus occurrence shows a diurnal pattern with frequent occurrence in the late evening (~30–40 %) while multiple-layer cirrus clouds occurrence and early morning (~10–20 %), respectively. For the diurnal pattern in single layer cirrus cloud occurrences, convective processes dominate during the pre-monsoon, southwest (SW), and northeast (NE) monsoon seasons, while the freeze-drying process is favourable during the winter season. However, both convective and freeze-drying processes are dominant in the diurnal pattern of the multiple-layer cirrus occurrences. The occurrence is maximum (~40 %) during the SW and NE monsoon seasons and minimum (~25 %) during the winter. The vertical distributions indicate that the maximum occurrence is confined within the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) during all the seasons. The cirrus cloud rarely occurs above the tropopause; however, it frequently occurs below the TTL during all the seasons. The vertical extent of the occurrence has broader altitude coverage (~8–17 km) during December–March and June–September while narrower during April–May (~10–17 km) and October–November (~9–15 km). The cirrus clouds occurrence also exhibits interannual variations with higher occurrence during 2016 compared to 2017 and 2018 in association with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO).


A thresholding algorithm for nuclear angiocardiographic studies is presented. The algorithm is free of operator intervention. The threshold is defined on the basis of the distribution of picture elements with decreasing count rates during systole. The application is valid for first-pass and equilibrium ECG gated studies. Reproducibility by different operators with various degrees of experience is high; concordance of the results with those of contrast studies is within the published ranges. The method provides a reliable step in full automation and standardization of scintigraphic angiocardiographies.


To determine the flowering requirements of Rudbeckia fulgida Ait. 'Goldsturm', plants were grown under 9-hour photoperiods until maturity, then forced at 20 °C under one of seven photoperiods following 0 or 15 weeks of 5 °C. Photoperiods consisted of a 9- hour day that was extended with incandescent lamps to 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, or 24 hours; an additional treatment was a 9-hour day with a 4-hour night interruption (NI). Noncooled 'Goldsturm' remained vegetative under photoperiods ≤13 hours, and essentially all plants flowered under photoperiods ≥14 hours or with a 4-hour NI. Flowering percentages for cooled plants were 6, 56, or ≥84 under 10-, 12-, or ≥13-hour daylengths and NI, respectively. Critical photoperiods were ≈14 or 13 hours for noncooled or cooled plants, respectively, and base photoperiods shifted from 13 to 14 hours before cold treatment to 10 to 12 hours following cold treatment. Within cold treatments, plants under photoperiods ≥14 hours or NI reached visible inflorescence and flowered at the same time and developed the same number of inflorescences. Fifteen weeks of cold hastened flowering by 25 to 30 days and reduced nodes developed before the first inflorescence by 28% to 37%. Cold treatment provided little or no improvement in other measured characteristics, such as flowering percentage and uniformity, flower number, plant height, and vigor.


In a noncellular or large cell-size mobile radio communication system, log-normal shadowing as well as Rayleigh fading becomes the predominant source of system degradation. This paper proposes an efficient stop and wait automatic repeat request (SAW-ARQ) protocol with adaptive packet length to provide reliable mobile data packet transmission. The adaptive SAW-ARQ protocol controls the transmitting packet length according to the time-varying channel condition estimated with the number of ACK (acknowledgment packet) and NACK (negative-acknowledgment packet). Computer simulation results show that the proposed protocol can achieve high throughput and reduce the number of retransmission effectively for slow and fast Rayleigh fading/log-normal shadowing conditions.


Objective. Some patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA) have inactive disease at the time of diagnosis. The objective of our study was to investigate the clinical outcomes and factors that predict disease activation in patients with clinically inactive TA. Methods. The medical records of patients diagnosed with TA between 1990 and 2012 were reviewed. At the time of diagnosis, patients were identified as having inactive disease according to the National Institutes of Health definition. Patients who went on to develop active disease during followup were classified as the "activation group". The pattern of vascular involvement was classified according to the International Conference on TA, 1994. Results. A total of 59 patients with TA were classified as having inactive disease at the time of diagnosis. During the followup, 13 (22.0%) of these experienced TA activation (median followup, 37.0 mos; activation group). The remaining 46 (78.0%) did not experience disease activation (stable group). Renovascular hypertension was more common in the activation group than in the stable group (5/13, 38.5% vs 4/46, 8.7%, p = 0.019). Further, type V, which is the most extensive, was more common in the activation group (12/13, 92.3%) than in the stable group (18/46, 39.1%, p = 0.008). Multivariate analysis identified type V disease (OR 10.969, 95% CI 1.144–105.182, p = 0.038) as being significantly associated with an increased risk of disease activation. Conclusion. Substantial portions of patients with clinically inactive TA at the time of diagnosis experienced disease activation during followup. Type V disease may be an important predictive factor for disease activation in patients with clinically inactive TA.


Recently, Kim-Kim introduced the degenerate

 r

 -Bell polynomials and investigated some results which are derived from umbral calculus. The aim of this paper is to study some properties of the degenerate

 r

 -Bell polynomials and numbers via boson operators. In particular, we obtain two expressions for the generating function of the degenerate

 r

 -Bell polynomials in

 z

 2

 , and a recurrence relation and Dobinski-like formula for the degenerate

 r

 -Bell numbers. These are derived from the degenerate normal ordering of a degenerate integral power of the number operator in terms of boson operators where the degenerate

 r

 -Stirling numbers of the second kind appear as the coefficients.


We present the first results from RomulusC, the highest resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulation of a galaxy cluster run to date. RomulusC, a zoom-in simulation of a halo with $z=0$ mass $10^{14}$ M$_{\odot}$, is run with the same sub-grid physics and resolution as Romulus25 (Tremmel et al. 2017). With unprecedented mass and spatial resolution, RomulusC represents a unique opportunity to study the evolution of galaxies in dense environments down to dwarf masses. We demonstrate that RomulusC results in an intracluster medium (ICM) consistent with observations. The star formation history and stellar mass of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) is consistent with observations and abundance matching results, indicating that our sub-grid models, optimized only to reproduce observations of field dwarf and Milky Way mass galaxies, are able to produce reasonable galaxy masses and star formation histories in much higher mass systems. Feedback from supermassive black holes (SMBHs) regulates star formation by driving large-scale, collimated outflows that coexist with a low entropy core. We find that non-BCG cluster member galaxies are substantially quenched compared to the field down to dwarf galaxy masses and, at low masses, quenching is seen to have no dependence on mass or distance from the cluster center. This enhanced quenched population extends beyond $R_{200}$ and is in place at high redshift. Similarly, we predict that SMBH activity is significantly suppressed within clusters outside of the BCG, but show how the effect could be lost when only focusing on the brightest AGN in the most massive galaxies.


Authoring CSS is a complex, time consuming task requiring not only skilled human graphic designers but also skilled human coders. Practice shows that today human authored code is still superior to machine generated CSS, but the code characteristics which make the difference have not been researched or even quantified yet. In this paper we introduce the abstractness factor, a quality metric which reveals the advantages of human authored code and can serve as an optimization criterion and benchmark for automated CSS coding. We argue that a high abstractness factor represents a high maintainability and reusability of the presentation document as well as the content document. By an evaluation of 100,000 HTML pages randomly gathered from the Web we show that today's typical style sheet document has a significantly higher abstractness factor compared to code fully machine generated by state-of-the-art applications.


In this paper, we present an introduction to our architecture for a virtualized network infrastructure and explain its enabling technologies including OpenFlow and Network OS for integrated control plane. To enable easy innovation within network research area, infrastructure virtualization to share a physical infrastructure among researchers and an idea of having programmability in control plane have been paid much attention. For example, OpenFlow defines atomic behaviors for packet handing within each switching element and a protocol interface to manipulate such behaviors from a control server, thus users can program their own network behaviors by injecting their own control programs into the server. In the same way, other protocols may be combined for optical and wireless nodes, or for network measurement. In addition to network control, other components in an infrastructure, such as virtual machines or data storage, would be controllable in the same way. Therefore, by integrating such control interfaces and creating integrated control plane, we propose a basic idea for virtualized infrastructure on which infrastructure creators have their own virtual infrastructure instance coupled with their own control programs on their virtualized control plane. Since on the control plane, a variety of control programs of many creators are installed to control a variety of infrastructure components, and they sometimes cooperates for mashing-up, or are sometimes isolated for virtualization, the role of a platform software of the control plane can be complex but very important. In this paper, we propose a network OS as a platform for such integrated control plane. It can be regarded as an OpenFlow controller but is extended to control entire infrastructure including OpenFlow switches and other IT and network resources. We develop a service model associated with its data structure and control module, and a model to construct a virtual infrastructure by defining the connections among the services. Then, we briefly explain our research projects developed on the network OS.


Entanglement has been termed a critical resource for quantum information processing and is thought to be the reason that certain quantum algorithms, such as Shor's factoring algorithm, can achieve exponentially better performance than their classical counterparts. The nature of this resource is still not fully understood: here we use numerical simulation to investigate how entanglement between register qubits varies as Shor's algorithm is run on a quantum computer. The shifting patterns in the entanglement are found to relate to the choice of basis for the quantum Fourier transform.


Introduction: Ocular toxoplasmosis is the leading cause of posterior uveitis worldwide, affecting individuals acrossdifferent age groups. The key to reducing vision loss includes prompt diagnosis and treatment. However, despite the prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis, there has been little consensus regarding its pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and especially management. Methods: The data sources were literature reviews, including Pub Med and Medline databases. Search terms included toxoplasmosis, retinitis, vasculitis, vitritis, uveitis alone or in combination with, serum, aqueous, vitreous eye, ocular and review. Results: In this review paper, we have sought to provide an overview of the pathophysiology, epidemiology, and clinical features of the disease, both based on current literature and our own clinical experience. We have also discussed the use of serology, ocular fluid, and ophthalmic investigations that could further facilitate the diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis.Different management strategies have been reported worldwide, including newer approaches such as local therapy. Conclusion: A better understanding of critical aspects of ocular toxoplasmosis will hopefully lead to reduced morbidity, including blindness associated with this condition. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 26 March 2022 Revised 14 August 2022 Accepted 22 August 2022


Detecting anomalous inputs, such as adversarial and out-of-distribution (OOD) inputs, is critical for classifiers deployed in real-world applications, especially deep neural network (DNN) classifiers that are known to be brittle on such inputs. We propose an unsupervised statistical testing framework for detecting such anomalous inputs to a trained DNN classifier based on its internal layer representations. By calculating test statistics at the input and intermediate-layer representations of the DNN, conditioned individually on the predicted class and on the true class of labeled training data, the method characterizes their class-conditional distributions on natural inputs. Given a test input, its extent of non-conformity with respect to the training distribution is captured using p-values of the class-conditional test statistics across the layers, which are then combined using a scoring function designed to score high on anomalous inputs. We focus on adversarial inputs, which are an important class of anomalous inputs, and also demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on general OOD inputs. The proposed framework also provides an alternative class prediction that can be used to correct the DNNs prediction on (detected) adversarial inputs. Experiments on well-known image classification datasets with strong adversarial attacks, including a custom attack method that uses the internal layer representations of the DNN, demonstrate that our method outperforms or performs comparably with five recently-proposed, competing detection methods.


CFTR is a cAMP-activated chloride channel responsible for agonist stimulated chloride and fluid transport across epithelial surfaces.1 Mutations in the CFTR gene lead to cystic fibrosis (CF) which affects the function of secretory organs like the intestine, the pancreas, the airways and the sweat glands. Most of the morbidity and mortality in CF has been linked to a decrease in airway function.2 The ΔF508 mutation is the most common CF-related mutation in the Caucasian population and represents 90% of CF alleles. Homozygote carriers of this mutation present with a severe CF phenotype.3 The ΔF508 mutation causes misfolding of the nascent CFTR polypeptide, which leads to inefficient export from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and rapid degradation by the proteasome.4


This article argues that descriptions of the Black Sea found in the Archaic poets, Herodotus, and later geographers were influenced by commercial itineraries circulated amongst Greek slave traders in the north. Drawing on an epigraphic corpus of twenty-three merchant letters from the region dating between c. 550 and 450 BCE, I contrast the travels of enslaved persons recorded in the documents with stylized descriptions found in literary accounts. This article finds that slaves took a variety of routes into—and out of—slavery, and that fear of enslavement was widely felt even among Greeks. Law courts might have been as important as "barbarian" warfare in ensnaring captives for export, and even slave traders themselves risked enslavement alongside their victims. Reconstructing the travels of individual slaves allows us to pursue a study in the spirit of what Joseph C. Miller has called the "biographical turn" in the study of slavery, privileging the experiences of the enslaved over the accounts of their masters. Although the lands around the distant Black Sea were never the leading source of slaves for Aegean cities, the wealth of primary testimony from the region puts it at the forefront in the history of slavery in ancient Greece.


Background Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can generate bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) as seed cells for tissue-engineered bone to repair bone defects. In this study, we investigated the effects of hydroxyapatite-zirconia (HA/ZrO2) composites combined with iPSC-derived BMSCs as a bone substitute on repairing skull defects in rats. Methods Human urinary cells isolated from a healthy donor were reprogramed into iPSCs and then induced into BMSCs. Immunocytochemistry (IHC) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to examine the characteristics of the induced MSCs. The iPSC-derived BMSCs were cultured on HA/ZrO2 composites, and cytocompatibility of the composite was analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, RT-PCR, and scanning electron microscopy. Then, HA/ZrO2 combined with iPSC-derived expanded potential stem cells (EpSCs) were transplanted onto skull defects of rats. The effects of this composite on bone repair were evaluated by IHC. Results The results showed that MSCs induced from iPSCs displayed the phenotypes and property of normal BMSCs. After seeding on the HA/ZrO2, iPSC-derived BMSCs had the ability to proliferate and differentiate into osteoblasts. After transplantation, iPSC-derived BMSCs on HA/ZrO2 promoted construction of bone on rat skulls. Conclusions These results indicated that transplantation of a HA/ZrO2 combined with iPS-derived BMSCs is feasible to reconstruct bones and may be a substantial reference for iPSC-based therapy for bone defects.


The economy and market globalization drive the organizations in pursuit of continuous improvement of its products and services. Therefore, knowledge is treated as a key factor for the quality of implementation of productive tasks. To track this progress, different management strategies were created and various computer technologies were developed. Furthermore, knowledge becomes the key asset to this process, and information technology can aid the search for greater competitiveness in the market. This justifies the study of infometric laws and concepts of knowledge management through an integration that facilitates the search for new knowledges. With this descriptive study, the objective is to use the infometric laws for the process of combining knowledge-based model of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997).


The development of children's urology was hampered by two totally different factors. The first, purely mechanical, was overcome by the fabrication of proper instruments, and the second and more important factor, the psychologic, was overcome by the realization of physicians that children do have urologic complaints for which proper diagnosis can be made and treatment given. Dr. Meredith Campbell's textbook "Pediatric Urology"1 helped make many realize the psychologic importance of urologic disease in children. The average physician is quite used to the patient with disease of the urinary tract who directs his complaints toward that field and is able to cooperate in simple examinations. The average urologist is also accustomed to a patient who has large veins and an adequate urethra and who can urinate at will. The child, on the other hand, frequently has small veins, urethral inadequacy, and inability to urinate at will. His symptoms may not be


I wonder if the notion of algorithmic montage could organize a type of non-formalistic video cinema, with footage available, virtually, by the uninterrupted updating of video and audio files accessible on the Web. The coherence of these electronic montages, implemented by variants of instructions from current algorithms, due to their policies and ideologies, could rearrange the current logic of content affinities. The sharing platforms, for example, which already control an important part of the sum of these digital files in video and audio, could dramatically interfere in the form and duration of the narratives. Bringing, for the cadence of the videos assembled by the algorithmic arrangements, another audiovisual vocabulary - which, gradually, would adapt those who are in front of the screen into even more involuntary coupling categories and shielded by immersive narrative universes; interfering in the physical relationship we have with technical objects. In this scenario, I refer to Gilbert Simondon to point out the complexification of technologies, from the articulation of its internal parts, through the association with different technologies.


Following of the chemical diversity of 4-thiazolidinones the in-house library of new heterocycles have been designed and synthesized (more 7000 compounds). Anticancer, antitrypanosomal, antituberculosis and antiviral activity screening led to SAR database formation; lead-compounds identification; design of focused sub-libraries; formation and validation of hypotheses for structure optimization: i) complications of C5 fragment and/or functionalization of N3 position; ii) creation of the hybrid molecules; iii) fixation of 5-ene-4-thiazolidinones in fused heterocycles via annulation (thiopyrano[2,3-d]thiazoles were found as a cyclic isosteric mimetics of 5-ene-4-thiazolidinones); iv) the leukemia panel was detected to be the most sensitive among all cancer cell lines. Following the in silico and pharmacological data for the investigation of molecular mechanism of anticancer effect the argument in favor of the apoptotic related and mild prooxidant actions for active compounds have been found.


Serious morbidity from an elective Hodgkin's disease staging laparotomy was low in this group of 65 patients. Patients with mediastinal involvement alone and patients having histologic findings of nodular sclerosis with unilateral neck disease with or without mediastinal involvement appear to have a low risk for disease discoverable by lararotomy. In these situations, we believe that the staging laparotomy may be optional provided that the apleen and paraaortic areas are irradiated. The laparotomy does enable the radiotherapist to reduce the volume of normal tissue treated, and we think we are safer in omitting pelvic irradiation in the patient with early stage, asymptomatic nodular sclerosis if the negative clinical evaluation of the abdomen is confirmed surgically. The incidence of major treatment change because of the findings at laparotomy was low, two of 30, in our patients with a normal lymphangiogram. There was a high likelihood, nine of 30, of major change of treatment from the staging laparotomy in patients with an abnormal lymphangiogram.


OBJECTIVE—To investigate the incidence, prevalence, and clinical characteristics of diabetes among U.S. non-Hispanic white (NHW) youth. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Data from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study (SEARCH study), a multicenter study of diabetes among youth aged 0–19 years, were examined. Incidence rates were calculated per 100,000 person-years across 4 incident years (2002–2005), and prevalence in 2001 was calculated per 1,000 youths. Information obtained by questionnaire, physical examination, and blood and urine collection was analyzed to describe the characteristics of youth who completed an in-person visit. RESULTS—The prevalence of type 1 diabetes (at ages 0–19 years) was 2.00/1,000, which was similar for male (2.02/1,000) and female (1.97/1,000) subjects. The incidence of type 1 diabetes was 23.6/100,000, slightly higher for male compared with female subjects (24.5 vs. 22.7 per 100,000, respectively, P = 0.04). Incidence rates of type 1 diabetes among youth aged 0–14 years in the SEARCH study are higher than all previously reported U.S. studies and many European studies. Few cases of type 2 diabetes in youth aged <10 years were found. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (at ages 10–19 years) was 0.18/1,000, which is significantly higher for female compared with male subjects (0.22 vs. 0.15 per 1,000, P = 0.01). Incidence of type 2 diabetes was 3.7/100,000, with similar rates for female and male subjects (3.9 vs. 3.4 per 1,000, respectively, P = 0.3). High levels of abnormal cardiometabolic and behavioral risk factor profiles were common among youth with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. For example, within each of four age-groups for youth with type 1 diabetes and two age-groups for youth with type 2 diabetes, >40% had elevated LDL cholesterol, and <3% of youth aged >10 years met current recommendations for intake of saturated fat. Among youth aged ≥15 years, 18% with type 1 and 26% with type 2 diabetes were current smokers. CONCLUSIONS—The SEARCH study is one of the most comprehensive studies of diabetes in NHW youth. The incidence of type 1 diabetes in NHW youth in the U.S. is one of the highest in the world. While type 2 diabetes is still relatively rare, rates are several-fold higher than those reported by European countries. We believe efforts directed at improving the cardiometabolic and behavioral risk factor profiles in this population are warranted.


This study examines the meaning and value of the proverbial Bugis dialect of Bone in Koninis Village, Simpang Raya District, Banggai Regency. The purpose of this study was to describe the meanings and values contained in the proverb of the Bugis dialect of bone. The type of research used is a descriptive approach using qualitative methods so that it is easy to understand the data in this study in the form of written words. The research location was conducted in Koninis Village, Banggai Regency. The source of the data used in this study is the results of interviews obtained from informants regarding the Bugis dialect of the Bone dialect. Data collection techniques in this study used interview and recording techniques. Furthermore, the data analysis techniques used in this study were data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions and verification. The results of this study found that there were 5 types of meaning from 17 data on the proverbial Bugis dialect of bone that had been analyzed, namely; 1) connotative meaning, 2) denotative meaning, 3) proverb meaning, 4) affective meaning, 5) association meaning. Furthermore, it was found that there are 3 types of values contained in the proverb of the Bugis dialect of Bone, namely; 1) values related to human problems with themselves, 2) values related to human problems with God, 3) values related to human problems with fellow humans.


Prospective studies on the relationship between diet-induced acid-base imbalance and insulin resistance among Asian populations have been limited. Thus, we investigated weather diet-induced metabolic acidosis was prospectively associated with insulin resistance risk in middle-aged and older Korean adults.

 A total of 5663 participants from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study without type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, or cancer at baseline were included in this study. To estimate diet-induced metabolic acidosis, we used potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) scores. They were calculated from the usual dietary intake assessed by a validated 103-item food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were applied to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the future risk of insulin resistance after adjusting for covariates.

 During a mean of 7.4-year of follow-up, we documented 3623 insulin resistance cases. In the fully adjusted model, the future risks of insulin resistance were significantly higher among participants in the highest quartiles of PRAL (HR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.12–1.46, Ptrend = 0.0002) and NEAP (HR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.12–1.46, Ptrend = 0.0013) compared with those in the lowest. Associations were slightly strengthened among men, adults aged <50 years, those having obesity or low levels of physical activity.

 Diet-induced metabolic acidosis is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, irrespective of other type 2 diabetes risk factors. Moreover, we observed effect modifiers of associations between dietary acid load scores and insulin resistance, suggesting stronger effects among men, those aged <50 years, obese individuals, or individuals with low levels of physical activity.

 None.


Treatment and final outcome of 11 patients with primary spinal cord ependymomas admitted between 1967 and 1983 have been reviewed. All patients had undergone surgery once or twice before radiation treatment. Six of them are alive and disease-free 78 months to more than 180 months after radiation therapy. A short analysis of the recent literature is presented with special emphasis on the most frequent treatment techniques, extension of radiation fields and doses. The value of postoperative radiation therapy and the complications of both surgery and radiotherapy are analyzed. Some guidelines for treatment are finally discussed and proposed.


The woes of finance have threatened to eviscerate what is public in the university and collapse the space in which the humanities could be imagined. This essay seeks to look at finance's effects otherwise, through the social logic of the derivative, to discern ways in which the humanities might be recharged through a critical engagement with administrative labor.


In an experiment, participants exposed to depictions of an intergroup interaction between a border patrolling U.S. citizen and an illegal immigrant demonstrated changed attitudes toward illegal immigrants depending on the valence of the portrayal. Negative effects were enhanced among people who identified more strongly with the U.S. citizen character, and positive effects were moderately, although nonsignificantly enhanced among those who viewed the illegal immigrant character as more typical of illegal immigrants in general. Liking of the illegal immigrant character was a significant mediator of the effects. The positive effects on attitudes toward illegal immigrants transferred to more positive attitudes toward other social groups as well. The study is framed in terms of a social cognitive theory approach to vicarious intergroup contact.


The cloud computing has increased in many organizations. It provides many benefits in terms of low cost and accessibility of data. Ensuring the security of cloud computing is a major factor in the cloud computing environment, as users often store sensitive information with cloud storage providers but these providers may be untrusted. In this project we propose anIntrusion Detection and Countermeasure in Virtual Network Systems mechanism called NICE to prevent vulnerable virtual machines from being compromised in the cloud. NICE detects and mitigates collaborative attacks in the cloud virtual networking environment. The system performance evaluation demonstrates the feasibility of NICE and shows that the proposed solution can significantly reduce the risk of the cloud system from being exploited and abused by internal and external attackers. Key Terms—Network security, cloud computing, intrusion detection


UNLABELLED
Brain kappa-opioid receptors (ORs) may be involved in several pathologic conditions, such as addiction, psychosis, and seizures. (+/-)-4-Methoxycarbonyl-2-[(1-pyrrolidinylmethyl]-1-[(3,4-dichlorophenyl)acetyl]-piperidine (GR89696) is a potent and selective kappa-OR agonist. The (-)-isomer, GR103545, is the active enantiomer of GR89696. The aim of this study was to characterize the potential of 11C-GR103545 to image kappa-OR in vivo with PET.

METHODS
Brain uptake of 11C-GR103545 was studied in baboons under control conditions and after blockade by naloxone (1 mg/kg intravenously). Uptake of the racemic 11C-GR89696 and of the inactive enantiomer (+)-11C-GR89696 was also evaluated. Regional total distribution volumes were derived using the arterial input function and a 2-tissue-compartment model.

RESULTS
11C-GR103545 showed excellent brain penetration and uptake kinetics, with significant washout observed within the time frame of the PET experiment. Naloxone pretreatment did not affect cerebellar total distribution volume and reduced total distribution volume in other regions to a level comparable to that in the cerebellum. The regional pattern of 11C-GR103545 binding potential was consistent with the distribution of kappa-OR in primate brain, with highest levels observed in anterior cortical regions (prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex) and striatum. In most regions, the specific-to-nonspecific equilibrium partition coefficient (V3'') ranged from 1 to 2, predicting reliable quantification. 11C-GR103545 V3'' values were approximately double the 11C-GR89696 V3'' values, whereas (+)-11C-GR89696 V3'' values were negligible, demonstrating the enantiomeric selectivity of the binding and the advantage of using the pure active enantiomer for PET studies.

CONCLUSION
11C-GR103545 is a promising PET radiotracer for imaging the kappa-OR.


The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between physical activity levels and psychological resilience of university students. The survey model, which is one of the quantitative research types, has been used in the research. The research group consists of 1734 students - 725 (41.8%) males and 1009 (58.2%) females) - studying at Erzincan Binali Yildirim University. Psychological Resilience Scale (PRS) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) data was used as a collection tool. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test of independence, independent samples t-test, Anova (Tukey), correlation, and regression tests have been used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the study, it has been seen that physical activity levels of men were higher than women and that there was no significant difference between the groups' psychological resilience. And when body mass indexes were examined, it was observed that physical activity levels of those with thin index were higher than those with normal and overweight index. In addition, a significant low-level positive correlation has been found between the physical activity levels. Physical activity level is a variable that predicts psychological resilience level.


In December 2019, an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coron-avirus (SARSCoV-2) infection occurred in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China (East Asia) furthermore worldwide including India On 30 January 2020, the first case of the COVID-19 pandemic was reported in India India has reached more than 1 5 lakh confirmed cases including more than 4000 fatalities by dreadful COVID-19 infection At present, there is no vaccine for prevention or medicine for treatment Only preventive measures like frequently hand-wash by soap and water, or hand sanitizers along with social distancing are effective to avoid the exposure of this virus Ayurveda is the oldest acknowl-edged organized medicine on the earth Immunity has an important role in maintaining health and prevention of diseases In Ayurveda, Rasayana drugs are known for their immunomodulation and rejuvenation properties On March 31, 2020, Ministry of AYUSH has issued advisory for enhancing immunity through lifestyle modification, dietary management, prophylactic interventions and simple remedies based on the symptoms After that successful implementation, Government of India has planned to conduct clinical trials on three herbal nootropic and immunomodulatory drugs viz Ashwagandha, Guduchi and Mulethi and AYUSH-64 (Ayurvedic anti-malaria drug) for their preventive properties against Covid-19 infections This review article covers summary of the COVID-19 i e transmission, clinical presentation, investiga-tion and prevention along with preventive measures in according to Ayurveda that can be adopted for future clinical trial


Cr(VI) contamination in wastewater is an important environmental issue to be considered with human health concern. Currently, biochar as a green and sustainable organic matter are frequently studied on its application to environmental remediation especially wastewater treatment. Experiments were conducted on biochar composites that were incorporated with various active components to improve the performance of pristine biochar. In the present study, performances of several biochar composites on Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solution were evaluated with the analysis of multiple journals. The foreign materials available for synthesis of biochar composites were categorized as carbonaceous material, nano-zerovalent iron (nZVI), metal/ metal oxide nanoparticles and polymer. Biochar composites were synthesised by either preor post-pyrolysis of pristine biochar treated with respective active components. The results of characterization techniques included Electron Microscope, Multipoint N2-BET Adsorption Method, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) of biochar composites were discussed and analysed. Results showed the successful attachment of the active components on pristine biochar with the presence of additional functional groups or the foreign materials observed on biochar surface. The mechanisms and kinetics models related to Cr(VI) removal were also discussed. Incorporation of foreign components enhanced the removal of Cr(VI) with additional surface functional groups or elements in biochar composites to react with Cr(VI). In the view of the kinetics data, pseudo-second order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm showed higher level of correlation coefficients (R2 ) where they were best fitted to describe Cr(VI) adsorption, indicated that monolayer chemisorption of Cr(VI) on homogeneous distributed active sites were significant. Based on the results of parameter study, adsorption, reduction and precipitation processes for enhanced Cr(VI) removal were affected by pH, residence time, initial Cr concentration and adsorbent dosage while pH of solution possessed greater impact on adsorption of Cr(VI). PEI/ biochar composite showed highest maximum adsorption capacity at pH 6.8 with adsorbent dosage of 1g/L and initial Cr(VI) concentration of 100 mg/L.


Much studies have been concentrated to develop the fabrication technique for high critical current density but still there are a lot of gap which should be overcome for large scale application of superconducting materials at liquid nitrogen temperature. The improvement of the critical current can be achieved by forming the nano size defect working as a flux pinning center inside the superconductor. In this paper, the establishment of fabrication condition and additive effects of second elements were examined so as to improve the related properties to the practical use of superconductor.


An electronic load controller (ELC) is developed for an isolated asynchronous generator (IAG) to feed 3-phase, 4-wire consumer loads in a small hydro power generation system. This ELC consists of ac capacitors, voltage source converter (VSC) with a dc capacitor, a chopper, an auxiliary load at its dc bus, a star/hexagon transformer, consumer loads and it is implemented using synchronous-reference-frame (SRF) theory. This ELC provides a viable and cost-effective solution to achieve voltage and frequency control, harmonic elimination and load balancing for linear and nonlinear loads. Test results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of ELC for the IAG system.


This essay provides a reflective commentary outlining Hawai'i's unconventional response for employing a volunteer workforce of public servants when faced with the task of processing an unprecedented backlog of unemployment insurance claims triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although efforts are still ongoing, this essay applies volunteerism and public service motivation as a framework to explain why public servants would serve in a voluntary capacity at another public agency. The intent of this essay is to spur conversation on how public servants are further stepping up to the frontlines during times of crisis, as well as expand knowledge on the relationship between volunteerism and public service motivation.


The spectral equation psi xx+ sigma psi y+U psi =0 used in the solution of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation (Ut+6UUx+Uxxx)x+3 sigma 2Uyy=0 is examined with y (or x) 'discretised' so that psi becomes an N-element column vector and delta / delta y (or delta 2/ delta x2) becomes an N*N matrix. When N is allowed to tend to infinity in such a way that y and delta / delta y (or x and delta 2/ delta x2) are recovered, then the spectral equation is also recovered but instead of the usual 'vanishing at infinity ' boundary conditions, U is periodic with respect to y (or x). Thus the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation with these boundary conditions can be solved by means of a spectral transform. If the period tends to infinity the usual spectral transform reappears.


B-Flow imaging directly displays the flowing intravascular echoes during real-time gray-scale ultrasound without using Doppler techniques. The objective of our study was to evaluate the feasibility of B-Flow imaging in the placenta and to evaluate the artifacts seen on B-Flow imaging. After IRB approval, 36 women (17 normal and 19 high risk women) were enrolled in our study. B-Flow images were acquired on GE LOGIC E9 machine. Retrospective analysis of the B-Flow and cine capture images was performed for artifacts and for vessels visualized. Pregnant women enrolled in the study ranged from 19 to 43 years of age with an average age of 31.7 years. Gestational age varied from 17 weeks and five days to 36 weeks and three days with an average of 26 weeks and three days. From a total of 161 B-Flow images reviewed by one researcher, 15 images were acceptable with no evidence of artifact. The remainder of the images had some artifact in them. For the 36 women with color Doppler and B-Flow images reviewed by the two independent blinded reviewers, a total of 144 reads were obtained. More small horizontal (p = 0.046) and small vertical running vessels (p < 0.001) were identified with B-Flow than color Doppler images. B-Flow is capable of showing perfusion in a human placenta; however, recognizing artifacts and modifying the image acquisition to reduce artifacts is necessary with this new technique to acquire the best images for interpretation.


Abstract Courts have found it difficult to evaluate whether redistricting authorities have engaged in constitutionally impermissible partisan gerrymandering. The knotty problem is that no proposed standard has found acceptance as a convincing means for identifying whether a districting plan is a partisan gerrymander with knowable unconstitutional effects. We review five proposed standards for curbing gerrymandering. We take as our perspective how easily manageable and effective each would be to apply at the time a redistricting authority decides where to draw the lines or, post hoc, when a court is asked to decide whether an unconstitutional gerrymander has been enacted. We conclude that, among the five proposals, an equal vote weight standard offers the best prospects for identifying the form of unconstitutional gerrymanders that all but ensure one party is relegated to perpetual minority status.


In information world one of data delivery process can be earned by using serial communications protocols which attributed a hub for connecting some PC or workstation. From the serial transmission can
be used for connecting some PC by using the applied stars sewer structureses, some knots or node attributed by central knot / host, all
communicationses handled by direct and managed by host which in the form of FPGA. Principal worked from this systems itself initially don't have
knowledge concerning destination address of so that sending of data is done in broadcast system. Because of hub system, when one of port is busy other ports having to to wait, so that every data aggregate which made sent in one package and given by address data of destination data will be sent. This communications systems implemented at IC FPGA Spartan II XCS2100 and software Xilinx ISE 6.2i. Basically this systems consist of receiver, buffer, shift registe type First In First Out ( FIFO), and transitter. Data which sent and received from PC is interfaced by using program Visual Basic 6.0.
From systems implementation, data can be received swiftly and good, but delivery of data must be done one by one, if one of port was receiving data hence other port having to wait. To get more optimal result, hence require to be applied by IC FPGA having amount of larger output inputs blocks, and also every data character which sent from
computer (PC) given by address data to where it will be sent.