How do we talk about changing the law? This article considers the rhetoric of law reform and what it can tell us about the current relationships between key institutions involved in the relevant processes. A key claim is that the rhetoric deployed in formulating proposals can complicate the fate of law reform projects as they develop. Several examples from private and criminal law are used to support the argument, with assessment of the interaction of time and legal development. The language of 'modernisation'—a noticeable theme in contemporary proposals from the Law Commission of England and Wales—is scrutinised. The Commission's statutory functions expressly include 'the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments… and generally the simplification and modernisation of the law', but what 'modernisation' means in this area has, so far, been under-examined. The author then goes on to identify attitudinal and structural tensions in the current relationship between the Law Commission and Government. Constructive suggestions are offered for reforming our law reform practices. The way in which we talk about law reform can be understood as both a cause and symptom of some of the problems in developing the law today.


OBJECTIVE: To assess healing outcomes in venous leg ulcers (VLUs) treated with a combination of collagen, oxidized regenerated cellulose, and silver in conjunction with standard of care (SOC; intervention group) compared with SOC alone (control group). Standard of care included ADAPTIC nonadhering dressing (Acelity, San Antonio, Texas) and compression. DESIGN AND SETTING: Randomized controlled trial that followed patients in 3 US facilities for 12 weeks or until complete healing. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: Forty-nine patients with VLUs were randomized to either the intervention group (n = 22) or the control group (n = 27). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Wound healing over 12 weeks. MAIN RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analysis showed a mean percentage wound area reduction at 12 weeks of 85.6% (SD, 28.6%) for the intervention group and 72.5% (SD, 77.8%) for the control group. There was a higher healing rate in the intervention group compared with patients who received SOC only at both week 4 (23% vs 11%) and week 12 (64% vs 59%). There were no adverse events related to the study therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results were not significant, there was a trend toward faster healing in the intervention group. The results of this study indicate that collagen/oxidized regenerated cellulose/silver is a suitable and safe adjunctive intervention for use with SOC to manage VLUs.


Epithelial cell renewal in the jejunum of CAF 1 mice was studied by observing the time for cells labeled with tritiated thymidine (1.5–2.0 µc/g body wt.) to pass from the crypt to the extrusion zone at the tip of the villus. Mice of three ages were studied: 93, 372, and 940 days. The total observed transit times were 44, 52, and 53 hr, respectively. The increase with age was the result of increase in both the crypt and villus transit times. Structural changes could not be made to account for the differences. The increase may be the result of a decreased rate of cell production in the crypts.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is the standard treatment for patients with aldosterone producing adenoma (APA). Tthe comparative effectiveness between laparoscopic total and partial adrenalectomy remains controversial, however. In this study, we compared the clinical outcomes for the two procedures.

METHODS
We analyzed the patients with unilateral APA undergoing laparoscopic total or partial adrenalectomy during the period 2008 to 2011. All surgical procedures were performed transperitoneally. We compared the perioperative and postoperative parameters between two procedures. Clinical outcomes including serum aldosterone, renin, and potassium levels, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were assessed and compared at 1 year after operation.

RESULTS
A total of 63 cases (16 partial and 47 total adrenalectomies) were included. There were no differences with regard to age, sex, hypertension duration, and tumor size as well as preoperative blood pressure, serum aldosterone, rennin, and potassium levels between the two groups. The perioperative and postoperative outcomes such as operative time, hospital stay, blood loss, and complications were similar between the two groups. The clinical outcomes at 1-year follow-up including serum aldosterone, renin, and potassium levels and blood pressure significantly improved in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic partial adrenalectomy is technically feasible and yields similar perioperative, postoperative, and 1-year clinical outcomes to those of total adrenalectomy for the treatment of patients with unilateral APA. A prospective randomized study with a larger sample size is needed to further prove the cost and effectiveness of the two procedures.


In our resent research (Osadchiy at al., 2016) we considered the mathematical model for the identifying of bird species according to the results of inaccurate field measurements. We used the total length of the bird, the wingspan, the wingbeat frequency, and the flight as the input factors of the model. Testing the model on a hypothetical case of identifying some target species, like Rook, Common raven, Mallard, White Stork, and Lapwing revealed that this model can be used for bird species identification with definite limitations. However, in previous model we applied the recognition algorithm that was based on the classical sections of mathematical statistics. The limitations of those model are obvious - it does not take into account many characteristics and behavioral features of birds that cannot be represented in numerical form, like diurnal activity pattern and flocking behavior. In this case the possibility of using the traditional sections of mathematical statistics is quite limited. The present study is devoted to the development of a mathematical method for the identifying of the bird species that based on cluster analysis with fuzzy logic and fuzzy sets which extends the possibilities of the algorithm that was previously proposed in our research.


The crisis that the global economy faced in 2020 has no historical counterparts. However, this does not mean that the experience of overcoming previous economic cataclysms in the current situation is useless. History shows that a crisis can become a long stop on the path of economic development of a country or, on the contrary, give an impetus to its acceleration. Within the framework of the XXII April international academic conference of HSE University and Sberbank (Moscow, April 13—30, 2021), a roundtable was held on lessons in the field of economic, social, domestic, technological policy that can be learned from the crises of the past and are useful in the context of recovering from the current recession. The roundtable became a part of the project "The experience of overcoming the crises of the last century and its lessons for the present", implemented by the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of HSE University in 2020—2021. Its participants were asked the following questions: which crises over the past century most resemble the current economic crisis; what lessons in the field of economic, social, domestic policy, institutional development can be learned from the crises of the past to overcome the current economic situation; can the crisis give the country an opportunity to move to a higher level of development?


Umbilical nodule metastasis is not a common presentation of carcinoma of unknown primary. It may be the presenting symptom of a primary malignancy or as metastatic site of previously diagnosed cancer and is considered to be a poor prognostic finding. We here report a case of young male who presented with umbilical mass, but the primary could not be localized even after thorough investigations and work up. Also, there existed therapeutic dilemma because immunohistochemistry did not favor one site, and so he was considered for combination chemotherapy in view of unresectable disease.


Cardiovascular diseases have emerged as an important health problem in all industrialized countries. The limited informations are available from developing countries suggested that a similar epidemic is inevitable if current trends go unchecked. We have selected comprehensive analysis of agents used in antihypertensive combination therapy. The study has been conducted in three different multi specialty private hospitals in Coimbatore{Vijaya , Surya and Sakthi hospitals). The 51 numbers of inpatient case sheets have been collected from different hospitals from the month of December 2005 to Feb. 2006. The epidemiological studies have been demonstrated that the prevalence of hypertension was increased in the males (52%) when compared to females (48%). The age distribution results have been expressed that the adult age group of hypertensive patients were more when compared to each other age group of patients. The married patients were affected for more hypertension (99%) when compared to unmarried statistics. The comprehensive analysis of agents used in hypertension coordinated diseases report has been suggested that the renal failure (23%) patients were very less percentage in Coimbatore area when compared to diabetes mellitus (54%). Finally physician drug prescriptions have been indicated that the hypertension coordinated renal failure for ACE inhibitors in combination of adrenergic receptor blocking agents, calcium channel blocker and thiazide diuretics. The hypertension coordinated diabetes mellitus Patient prescriptions have been expressed for beta blocker in combination with ACE inhibitors, thiazide diuretics and I³-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) agonist drugs. By the way of conclusion readers were exhorted to involve themselves in understanding and through this improving the health of the communities in which they lived.


Research on automatic software repair is concerned with the development of systems that automatically detect and repair bugs. One well-known class of bugs is the infinite loop. Every computer programmer or user has, at least once, experienced this type of bug. We state the problem of repairing infinite loops in the context of test-suite based software repair: given a test suite with at least one failing test, generate a patch that makes all test cases pass. Consequently, repairing infinites loop means having at least one test case that hangs by triggering the infinite loop. Our system to automatically repair infinite loops is called Infinitel. We develop a technique to manipulate loops so that one can dynamically analyze the number of iterations of loops; decide to interrupt the loop execution; and dynamically examine the state of the loop on a per-iteration basis. Then, in order to synthesize a new loop condition, we encode this set of program states as a code synthesis problem using a technique based on Satisfiability Modulo Theory (SMT). We evaluate our technique on seven seeded-bugs and on seven real-bugs. Infinitel is able to repair all of them, within seconds up to one hour on a standard laptop configuration.


Qualitative high education of a country is one of the most important factors that ensure a sustainable development of a respective country. Therefore effective development of higher education in the country becomes a significant factor in achieving this goal. Faster development of industry is mostly affected by the training of qualified industry engineers at higher education schools based not only on the conveyance of engineering, but also of managerial knowledge and the development of their abilities. The objective of this article is to put forward measures for improving continuing master studies in industrial engineering and management.


In this paper a technique for improvement of radiation efficiency of metamaterial zero order antenna based on increasing of vertical antenna height is presented. Comparison of the two microstrip line implementation of the zero order resonator (ZOR) antennas with different height over ground plane is demonstrated. Improved ZOR antenna exhibit 75% efficiency compared to 10% of the reference antenna.


In 1545 Henry VIII created a Revels Office within the royal household and appointed Sir Thomas Cawarden, one of the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, as its Master. In so doing he set a precedent for the production of revels at court for the next century. Some historians have only recently examined the revels in their historical context, but none has attempter, as W.R. Streitberger does, to study court entertainments in terms of the growth and development of the Revels organization and its adaptation to different political climates at court. Streitberger presents evidence in the form of a calendar of court entertainments and appendices based on the primary documents; he provides an explanation of their occasion, form, and purpose of these entertainments in their historical context; and he explains the development of the revels organization from the temporary appointment of producers at the beginning of their period into a government office by the mid-sixteenth century. Streitberger details the adaptation of the Revels organization to the very different courts of the various monarchs, and explains how their personalities, principles, and policies shaped that adaptation.


Jflanasrimitra, of Vikramaslla University, was a Buddhist logician of the school of Dharmakirti who nourished about A.D. 1025. Twelve of his treatises are published in this volume. They range over a wide variety of topics. Some are purely logical, such as those which concern the doctrine of invariable concomitance, or that of apoha ; others are epistemological, as the one discussing the relation between knowledge and its objects ; others again are metaphysical, like those on the momentariness of dharmas, or the Buddhist conception of causality; others again may be called " theological" because they refute the existence of a Creator-God ; and some treatises concern the transcendental intuition of the Yogins, the identity of knowledge and its object, and the transcendental body of the Buddha. This is the ordinary range of what is nowadays rather quaintly called " Buddhist Logic ". The special interest of Jnanasrlmitra's exposition is that everywhere he attempts to show the fundamental identity of the apparently conflicting Madhyamika and Yogacarin positions; and also in the fact that, far from being as dry as his pupil Ratnakirti (edited in the above series as vol. 3), he is that rara avis, a witty and poetical logician. Through no fault of the editor, the text is not always easy to follow. " One cannot be reasonably sure of correctly reconstructing the text with the material available. There are obscure passages which baffled all attempts at clarification. It is hoped that further comparative study will mend many of the shortcomings of the volume " p. III). Mr. Thakur, who deserves our gratitude for his patience, has also written an Introduction (42 pp.) which contains much valuable information on Jnanasrlmitra's relation to other, Buddhist and non-Buddhist authors. There are seventy-three pages of Indices.


ABSTRACT:  The adaptation of dermatology for the genital area requires several modifications of standard therapy. This unique area produces issues of both psychological sensitivity and unique environmental factors of constant moisture, warmth, and friction. These issues become far more important when symptoms are chronic. Recognition of normal variants, the multifactorial nature of many genital symptoms, and the avoidance of creating secondary iatrogenic disease are all important.


In the US and globally, dramatic increases in the prevalence of adult and childhood obesity have been reported during the last 30 years. In addition to cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and liver disease, obesity has recently been recognized as an important risk factor for influenza pneumonia. During the influenza pandemic of 2009, obese individuals experienced a greater severity of illness from the H1N1 virus. In addition, obese mice have also been shown to exhibit increased lethality and aberrant pulmonary inflammatory responses following influenza infection. In contrast to influenza, the impact of obesity on bacterial pneumonia in human patients is controversial. In this report, we compared the responses of lean WT and obese CPEfat/fat mice following an intratracheal infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae, the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. At 16 weeks of age, CPEfat/fat mice develop severe obesity, hyperglycemia, elevated serum triglycerides and leptin, and increased blood neutrophil counts. There were no differences between lean WT and obese CPEfat/fat mice in survival or lung and spleen bacterial burdens following intratracheal infection with S. pneumoniae. Besides a modest increase in TNF-α levels and increased peripheral blood neutrophil counts in CPEfat/fat mice, there were not differences in lung or serum cytokines after infection. These results suggest that obesity, accompanied by hyperglycemia and modestly elevated triglycerides, at least in the case of CPEfat/fat mice, does not impair innate immunity against pneumococcal pneumonia.


ABSTRACT Resilience as an organizing framework for addressing dynamics of social–ecological systems has experienced strong uptake; however, its application is nascent. This research study aimed to address the gap between resilience thinking and practice by focusing on learning, a key aspect of resilience. Two Canadian watershed groups were led in 2-day workshops focused on resilience. Learning effects were measured using a survey administered both before and after the workshop, and a qualitative survey was administered 6 months later to understand longer term effects. Short-term learning effects were similar between the two case studies, with strong cognitive and relational learning and less normative learning. Longer term effects showed enduring cognitive and normative learning in both cases; however, relational learning persisted only in the watershed where a resilience practice approach to watershed planning had been incorporated. Future research directions include refinements to the learning measurement methodology and continuing to build resilience practice literature.


BACKGROUND
Gemcitabine is a water-soluble analogue of deoxycytidine which has shown significant antitumour activity in a broad panel of slow-growing murine and human carcinomas. Objective responses have been reported in early clinical studies in breast, head and neck, non-small cell lung cancer patients. The weekly schedule was selected for disease-oriented phase II studies because of its better tolerability as compared to daily or twice-weekly schemes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) was given as a 30 min. infusion, weekly for three consecutive weeks, followed by one-week rest, every 4 weeks. Twenty-nine patients with locally advanced/metastatic gastric cancer and 39 patients with metastatic malignant melanoma entered the study. No prior chemotherapy for advanced disease had been given in all cases.

RESULTS
Among 26 evaluable patients with gastric cancer, 1 partial response (PR) of 9 months (4%), 11 no change (NC) and 14 tumour progression (PD) were observed. Of 33 evaluable patients with malignant melanoma, 1 patient achieved a PR for 10 months (3%), 2 had NC and 30 PD. Toxicity was similar in the two groups with moderate myelosuppression, mainly neutropenia, mild to moderate nausea and vomiting in 70% of patients and fatigue grade 1-2 in 50%.

CONCLUSIONS
At the tested schedule gemcitabine has no relevant antitumour activity in previously untreated patients with advanced malignant melanoma or gastric cancer.


We report here the synthesis of trifluoro-phenylethynyl-silane (1) that forms with pyridine (Py), through intermolecular Si...N interaction, the pentacoordinate 1.Py complex and at low temperatures also the hexacoordinate 1.Py2 complex. 1H, 19F, 29Si, and 15N NMR spectra, as well as the first report for an intermolecular 29Si...15N one-bond spin-spin coupling, are presented for the two complexes. Quantum mechanical ab initio calculations (MP2/6-31G*) suggest a distorted trigonal bipyramid structure for the 1.Py complex and a nearly ideal octahedral structure for the 1.Py2 complex. The hypervalent complexes of 1 with Py described here imply a possible application of such Si...N intermolecular interactions in supramolecular chemistry.


In August 1997 Secretary of State Madeline Albright summoned the Russian Ambassador to the State Department. Asserting that Russia had conducted a probable underground nuclear explosion at its test site on the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya, the United States issued a demarche. But at the same time the U.S. government was claiming that Russia had violated international law, other seismologists were accessing open data and presenting analyses that demonstrated the basis for the charge was incorrect. Their results showed that the associated seismic signals did not emanate from the test site, but rather from a nearby earthquake in the Kara Sea. With other scientists publicizing their conclusions in newspapers and scientific news journals, the United States reassessed the data and dropped its charge of a demarche.

The August 1997 event is frequently cited as an example by both sides in the debate over whether data from the International Monitoring...


The geometric phase is a common phenomenon in a variety of physical systems, with significant applications in optics. We report the first experimental demonstration of the adiabatic geometric phase in nonlinear frequency conversion, wherein the coupling between the signal and idler frequencies constitutes the intrinsic two-level dynamics of the system. We observe a variety of effects associated with the geometric phase, including the adiabatic broadening of bandwidth, asymmetric transmission for opposite propagation directions, conjugation of the phase for orthogonal eigenstates, and the nonreciprocity associated with the pump field bias. Our work paves the way towards all-optically controlled geometric phase elements for wavefront shaping, isolation, guiding, and quantum optical applications, harnessing spectral and spatial correlations.


Sepsis, the most severe manifestation of infection, poses a major challenge to health-care systems around the world. Limited ability to clean and remove the pathogen renders difficulty in septic patients to recover from the phase of immunoparalysis. The present study found the vital role of CX3CR1 internalization on sepsis-induced immunoparalysis. A mouse model with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) and cell model with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were employed to explore the relationship between CX3CR1 internalization and septic immunoparalysis. Immunoparalysis model in mice was established 4 days after CLP with significantly decreased proinflammatory cytokines. Flow cytometry analysis found a decreased surface expression of CX3CR1 during immunoparalysis, which was associated with reduced mRNA level and increased internalization of CX3CR1. G-protein coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) and β-arrestin2 were significantly increased during septic immunoparalysis and involved in the internalization of CX3CR1. TLR4-/- or TLR4 inhibitor-treated macrophages exhibited an inhibited expression of GRK2 and β-arrestin2, along with reduced internalization of CX3CR1. Moreover, the knockdown of GRK2 and β-arrestin2 inhibited the internalization of CX3CR1 and led to a higher response on the second hit, which was associated with an increased activation of NF-κB. The critical association between internalization of CX3CR1 and immunosuppression in sepsis may provide a novel reference for clinical therapeutics.


Duplication and comparison has proven to be an efficient method for error detection. Based on this generic prin- ciple dual core processor architectures with output comparison are being proposed for safety critical applications. Placing two instances of the same (arbitrary) processor on one die yields a very cost efficient "single chip" implementation of this principle. At the same time, however, the physical coupling of the two replica creates the potential for certain types of faults to affect both cores in the same way, such that the mutual checking will fail. The key question here is how this type of coverage leakage relates to other imperfections of the duplication and comparison approach that would also be found using two cores on separate dies (such as coupling over a common power supply or clock). In this paper we analyze several of the relevant physical coupling mechanisms and elaborate a model to decompose the genesis of a common cause fault into several steps. We present an experimental study showing that a very tight local and temporal coincidence of the fault effect in both replica is a crucial prerequisite for a common cause fault. Based on this quantitative input we can conclude from our decomposition model that the risk of common cause faults is low for physical coupling mechanisms with relatively slow propagation speed, such as thermal and mechanical effects. The role of asymmetry for mitigating common cause faults is discussed in the light of these findings.


We propose a new approach to the analysis of Loopy Belief Propagation (LBP) by establishing a formula that connects the Hessian of the Bethe free energy with the edge zeta function. The formula has a number of theoretical implications on LBP. It is applied to give a sufficient condition that the Hessian of the Bethe free energy is positive definite, which shows non-convexity for graphs with multiple cycles. The formula clarifies the relation between the local stability of a fixed point of LBP and local minima of the Bethe free energy. We also propose a new approach to the uniqueness of LBP fixed point, and show various conditions of uniqueness.


What is the American Gothic a reaction to? Whereas other thinkers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne locates the building blocks of the American Gothic in Puritan Christianity or Amerindian Genocide, I argue that Melville posits the genesis of chattel slavery and the construction of racial category as the repressed events that haunt the Americas and return uninvited. By using the Gothic motif of the living corpse, the famed writer of MobyDick addresses the social bereavement which Blackness comes to represent in the Americas. By looking for truth on the skin and flesh, the main characters of Moby-Dick and "Benito Cereno" represent the Enlightenment precept that truth can be arrested via observation and interpretation. Melville presents two Black characters as impasses in this project of interpretation: Moby-Dick's drowned boy, Pip, and "Benito Cereno's" undead leader, Babo.


Being able to exempted from military service by paying Money (paid-for military service) has brought some inconveniences and argumentation in the community especially for the people who consider that the military service is a sanctified phenomenon. As far as the relationship between the community and new media technolgoies are concerned this work will focus on how the interactive dictionaries that has a significant influences on community apporach to the mentioned military service opportunities. In this respect how they take perfectly organized action in the issues and the characteristics of the interactive dictionaries will be evaluated as well as the social consequences for the community.


Magnetic nanocomposite particle (MNP)-induced hyperthermia therapy has been restricted by inefficient cellular targeting. pH-responsive charge-conversional MNPs can enhance selective cellular uptake in acidic cells like tumors by sensing extracellular acidity based on their charge alteration. We have synthesized new, pH-induced charge-conversional, superparamagnetic, and single-cored Fe3O4 nanocomposite particles coated by N-itaconylated chitosan (NICS) cross-linked with ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) (Fe3O4-NICS-EGDE) using a simple, one-step chemical coprecipitation–coating process. The surface of the Fe3O4-NICS-EGDE nanocomposite particles was modified with ethanolamine (EA) via aza-Michael addition to enhance their buffering capacity, aqueous stability, and pH sensitivity. The designed Fe3O4-NICS-EGDE-EA nanocomposite particles showed pH-dependent charge-conversional properties, colloidal stability, and excellent hemocompatibility in physiological media. By contrast, the charge-conversional properties enabled microwave-induced hemolysis only under weakly acidic conditions. Therefore, the composite particles are highly feasible for magnetically induced and targeted cellular thermotherapeutic applications.


This research was carried out to study the problem of ineffective cost control technique in the process of formulating predictive models for cost of Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) services due to the use of inadequate information to estimate cost of M&E services during the pre-contract stage of building projects which results in to cost overrun. The study also examined the cost relationship between M&E services and design variables which make up building forms, for residential and commercial building projects. The relationship between the variables in the data collected was examined with the use of simple and multiple regression analyses, correlation analysis and descriptive Statistics. One of the major findings of the research was that the cost of M&E services of any given residential or commercial building projects can be accessed from the building form descriptors with 95% confidence limits. This also provided a basis for developing several predictive regression models for M&E services cost for both residential and commercial building projects. Recommendations from the study included regular review of the models in the light of changing environmental circumstances by any user of the models, for the models to stand a test of time.


Limestone rocks are an important source of ground water in the Piedmont and Appalachian areas of Maryland. The major limestone aquifers are the Cockeysville and Wakefield marbles and the Silver Run, Tomstown, Frederick, Grove, Waynesboro, Elbrook, Conococheague, Beekmantown, Stones River, Tonoloway, Helderberg and Greenbrier formations. Drilled and dug wells and springs are common sources of water supply in the limestone areas. The depths of 298 limestone wells range from 8.7 to 1,800 feet and average about 150 feet. The yields of these wells range from 0.1 to 575 gpm. Specific capacities, or yield per foot of drawdown, range in 137 wells from < 0.1 to 43 gpm per foot. Springs are common in the limestone areas and their flow varies widely at different times. Most of the known springs are of the 5th magnitude or lower, and therefore have a mean flow of less than 100 gpm. The quality of water from the limestone aquifers is satisfactory for most purposes, but is commonly hard and slightly alkaline. The limestone aquifers are large essentially untapped ground-water reservoirs whose hydrologic character is only partially understood.


Abstract. The paper presents the measurement strategy and dataset collected during the COTUR (COherence of TURbulence with lidars) campaign. This field experiment took place from February 2019 to April 2020 on the southwestern coast of Norway. The coherence quantifies the spatial correlation of eddies and is little known in the marine atmospheric boundary layer. The study was motivated by the need to better characterize the lateral coherence, which partly governs the dynamic wind load on multi-megawatt offshore wind turbines. During the COTUR campaign, the coherence was studied using land-based remote sensing technology. The instrument setup consisted of three long-range scanning Doppler wind lidars, one Doppler wind lidar profiler and one passive microwave radiometer. Both the WindScanner software and Lidar Planner software were used jointly to simultaneously orient the three scanner heads into the mean wind direction, which was provided by the lidar wind profiler. The radiometer instrument complemented these measurements by providing temperature and humidity profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer. The preliminary results show an undocumented variation of the lateral coherence with the distance from the coast. The scanning beams were pointed slightly upwards to record turbulence characteristics both within and above the surface layer, providing further insight on the applicability of surface-layer scaling to model the turbulent wind load on offshore wind turbines.


In order to achieve a continuous feedstock supply for power plants a large quantity of harvested material must be stored for long-term periods. During storage, especially during right conditions of temperature, moisture and oxygen, solid agricultural fuels are susceptible to microbial activities. Microbial respiration not only leads to loss of organic carbon, but also to an increased temperature in the stored fuel which may lead to self-ignition.
There is on-going work studying the effect of adding Ca as CaO or CaCO3 during storage of straw with the aim of creating an unfavorable alkaline microenvironment that prevents microbial growth during storage. The effect of this amendment during storage is still being explored, but the effect in the combustion step of the process in terms of determining the potential of Ca-additives to positively affect overall ash chemistry have yet to be certainly quantified.
Utilization of agricultural crops for energy purposes in heat and power plants has proven to be challenging in numerous ways. Compared to woody fuels, agricultural fuels can cause severe ash-related operational problems in combined heat and power plants through by fouling, slagging and/or bed agglomeration due to their high concentrations of inorganic constituents.
The objective of the present study is therefore to determine the fouling and bed agglomeration characteristics during fluidized-bed combustion of barley straw stored with different dosages of Ca to biomass with the main ash-forming elements shown in Figure 1, using two types of bed materials, quartz and olivine.


The paper investigates whether Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets under the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Malta, and Turkey) have become more financially integrated with the European stock market over time. The findings suggest that the Turkish equity market is moderately integrated with the European market, while the other economies exhibit weak financial integration with Europe, supporting the idea that the partnership appears to have no effect on enhancing inter-market linkages for these economies. Therefore, these markets would be good destinations for international investors seeking attractive investment opportunities to diversify their equity portfolios. Structural changes in the cross-market integration are found, which may be considered as a guide for international equity portfolio diversification over different subperiods. In addition, there is evidence of an increasing trend in conditional correlations for Egypt and Turkey, to varying degrees, over time, notably during the post global financial crisis of 2007-2008, thus revealing herding behavior during this period. Overall, investors should be wary of the variation of equity market integration over time before engaging in an investment at the level of portfolio management and diversification, and policymakers must be aware of the remoteness of the current achievements of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership from the targets set in terms of financial development and economic growth.


Cilostazol is an antiplatelet aggregation inhibitor drug associated with increased cerebral blood flow and inflammation suppression. This study evaluated administration of cilostazol to prevent cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in 50 patients treated surgically from December 2004 to November 2006. All patients, excluding those with Hunt and Kosnik grade 5 or who had undergone late surgery, were classified into two groups: 26 patients who received 200 mg/day cilostazol from postoperative day 1 to day 14 and 24 control patients. The frequency and the degree of cerebral vasospasm, occurrence of ischemic lesion, and clinical symptoms due to vasospasm were compared between the two groups. The appearance of severe vasospasm on angiography, persistent symptomatic spasm, and new cerebral infarction due to vasospasm demonstrated by neuroimaging were apparently lower in the cilostazol group than in the control group, suggesting that cilostazol may significantly suppress cerebral vasospasm following SAH.


PURPOSE
To analyze the effect of different doses of paclitaxel with fixed doses of carboplatin in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages IIB to IV, were eligible for this randomized, multicenter study. Women were randomly assigned to treatment with (1) carboplatin at the dose (in milligrams) corresponding to the following formula: target area under the free carboplatin plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC) = 6 x (glomerular filtration rate + 25) mg/m(2) (AUC6) plus paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) for six cycles every 21 days or (2) carboplatin AUC6 plus paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2) for six cycles every 21 days. A total of 502 women entered the study.

RESULTS
Pathologic complete response was documented in 132 patients (63.8%) in the 175 mg/m(2) group and in 127 cases (55.7%) in the 225 mg/m(2) group (chi(2) P =.090). The 4-year progression-free survival rate was 41.5% (SE = 3.5) in the 175-mg group and 39.2% (SE = 3.5) in the 225-mg group. The corresponding 4-year survival rates were 46.2% (based on 115 deaths) and 47.3% (based on 113 deaths), respectively.

CONCLUSION
This randomized trial suggests that paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) plus carboplatin AUC6 is the schedule with a more favorable profile than paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2) plus carboplatin AUC6.


This study explores the effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face (FTF) media on group performance under four experimental conditions. There were CMC-only, FTF-only, FTF/CMC, and CMC/FTF groups. The study examined three variables: the number of unique ideas generated, the time to reach consensus, and the decision quality. Vigilant interaction theory was helpful in exploring the media effects on group performance. Results indicate that, in general, CMC groups generate a greater number of unique ideas than do FTF groups. However, the CMC effect was greater with CMC/FTF groups. This effect was attributed to CMC's showing a greater potential for preventing productivity loss when there is more likelihood for performance evaluation as group members anticipate future FTF interaction with their coparticipants in CMC. Results also indicate the CMC groups take longer to reach consensus than FTF groups. Decision quality was greater in both FTF/CMC and CMC/FTF groups than in either CMC- and FTF-only groups. This study affirms the need to explore group decision making as a nonunitary process and the need to combine FTF/CMC media for better group performance. The discussion includes implications and recommendations for media combination choice.


Powerline channel has been considered as a medium not only for low-rate, control communications, but also for high-speed data communications, such as home networking and Internet access. In order to implement advanced communication technologies, the complete knowledge of the broadband powerline channel, including the analysis of the channel capacity, are required. This paper strives to widen the understanding of broadband indoor powerline channel by focusing on the properties of indoor powerline channels and its noise behavior. We use water-poring algorithm to optimize the channel capacity.


Arabic, is the second international language in the world, that is necessary to learn. There are four skills ini arabic taught by teachers to students in the learning process. The four skills are: listening, speaking, reading, and writting. Listening skill is the first skill obtained by students when learning Arabic.
Listening skill is the skill that trains student's skills in listening to the words and sentences of the arabic language. This skill listening, which is acquired by the students, will be used to apply in speaking and writting skills. But the accuracy in listening to the information given by the teacher will greatly affect student's ability in conveying it (information) in either spoken or witten form.
The implementation of the learning process for listening skills is inseparabel from the use of media that will be helpful in determining how smooth its learning process so that it can run properly.
The appropriate use of media ini teaching listening skills will greatly affect how well the implementation of learning process is with the well inplementation of teaching listening skill, it is expected that the results of the study will also be well achieved either.


Abstract : A guide to software reuse using the STARS (Software Technology for Adaptable Reliable Systems) Repository. This document contains the IBM STARS repository Guidebook, STARS Repository User's Guide, and STARS Reusability Guidelines. Each is described below. IBM STARS Repository Guidebook. A guide to the STARS Repository, providing high-level information for all users -- component reusers, component suppliers, and repository administrator. The Guidebook is organized according to the specific roles that users perform when using the system. STARS Repository User's Guide. A guide on how to access and use the STARS Repository. It provides the basic information needed to use the Repository software, but it is not a comprehensive guide to the VAX computer, on which the Repository is built. STARS Reusability Guidelines. A set of Ada coding guidelines for component development that emphasize reusability. Code that follows these guidelines will be easier to reuse on multiple projects and platforms. Many examples are provide illustrating.


Registers and datapath multiplexers exist in most DSP datapaths. Although not performing computations, they are necessary for the dataflow control and they consume energy. This paper describes the nature of register and multiplexer energy consumption in modern low power CMOS processes, shows its strong dependence on architectural and layout design and provides practical design guidelines for micropower implementation.


Granular materials exist in many forms in nature ranging from space debris to sand dunes and from breakfast cereals to pharmaceutical tablets. They can behave like a solid or a viscous fluid or a gas. The gas-like nature of granular materials in rapid flows allows the use of models based on kinetic theory thus revealing in depth complex physics and phenomena. However unlike conventional fluids here the energy balance requires additional dissipation terms as a consequence of inelasticity. The complexity of their interaction and diversity in application has led to numerous studies using experimental methods and numerical simulations in order to determine the most appropriate constitutive relationships for granular gases. With large dissipation the form of the constitutive relationship becomes particularly important, especially in the presence of non-equipartition and anisotropy. This thesis is focused on constitutive models of simple granular flows. A vibrated bed is often used as an idealisation of granular flows, providing a convenient approximation to the simplest type of flow: binary and instantaneous collisions with no rotations. Using finite element method (FE) based COMSOL modules we solve conservation of mass, momentum and energy resulting from granular kinetic theory in axi-symmetric form to generate time and spatial resolved solutions of packing fraction, velocity and granular temperature and compare the predictions to numerical simulation and experiment.
At first we show the comparison for two closure sets, one based on a simple near elastic approach while the second based on revised Enskog theory for dense inelastic flows. The results for the second approach show good agreement with the results of previously validated near elastic models and experimental results. The observed differences between the two closure sets are small except for the observation of temperature upturn in a dilute region of the cell away from base. One cause of this is the presence of additional constitutive terms in the balance equations and are a consequence of inelasticity.
The models also consider time varying effects at low frequency of excitation. These solutions show existence of wave-like effects in the cell with associated temperature upturn within the hydrodynamic applicability region. Presence of instantaneous cyclic rolling is also seen in both approaches. Evidence from MD simulations and experiments qualitatively support the findings of hydrodynamic models in phase resolved as well as time average behaviour.
Subsequently, the frequency of vibration was varied to unlink the wave motion from the bulk temperature. Lack of agreement between experiment and the model predictions are shown to be due to lack of separation of time scale between the grain-base interaction and the base frequency. A sharp decrease of heat flux is measured showing that the energy input is frequency dependent. Analysis of the bulk behaviour shows that at high frequency, hard sphere based models are able to capture the steady state behaviour reasonably well. Further investigations that modulate the driving with a low frequency amplitude change revealed the dynamic nature of flow with the low frequency component. No significant influence of high frequency signal is noted except the reduction of base heat flux. Independent analysis of bulk behaviour for modulated wave excitation using MD simulations and hydrodynamic models showed wave motion in a pattern similar to non-modulated low frequency vibration.
A one-dimensional inviscid model was used to determine the underlying scaling relationships for near elastic granular flows. A form of non-dimensionalisation predicts scaling behaviour for the granular flow. The predictions show good results for the dilute flows using hard sphere MD simulations. Results from MD simulations confirm dilute limit scaling of base temperature, packing fractions and heat flux coefficients. At higher inelasticity and loading condition the model fails to capture the real physics suggesting the need for a more accurate model. This simplified model does, however, set the basis for describing the main scalings for vibrofluidized granular beds, and in the future we anticipate that effects of further inelasticity and enhanced density could be incorporated.


This guide is a starting point for doing research in Criminology. Please consult with a Librarian to identify other resources in the field.


Background and objective: The aromatic alcohol most closely resembling the aromatic tail of lidocaine is 2,6‐dimethylphenol. This agent is as potent as lidocaine in blocking voltage‐operated sodium channels. The aim of this study was to show the effect of halogenation in the para‐position on the potency of this compound to block voltage‐operated sodium channels. Methods: Insertion of the halogen chloride into the para‐position of the molecule 2,6‐dimethylphenol yielded 2,6‐dimethyl‐4‐chlorophenol. Block of sodium currents by this compound was studied using heterologously expressed voltage‐operated rat neuronal (rat IIa) sodium channels. Results: 2,6‐dimethyl‐4‐chlorophenol reversibly suppressed depolarization‐induced whole‐cell sodium inward currents. The ECR50 for block of resting channels at a hyperpolarized holding potential (−150 mV) was 127 μmol, the Hill coefficient nH 1.7. Membrane depolarization inducing either fast or slow‐inactivation strongly increased the blocking potency. This is an important feature of a local‐anaesthetic‐like action. The estimated half‐maximum effect concentration for the fast‐inactivated channel state ECI50 was 28 μmol, the Hill coefficient nH 3.8. When 20–30% of channels were slow‐inactivated using long (2.5 s) prepulses, followed by a 10 ms repolarization period to allow recovery from fast inactivation, the IC50 at −100 mV holding potential was reduced to 53 μmol. Conclusion: These results, which show that 2,6‐dimethyl‐4‐chlorophenol blocks voltage‐operated sodium channels in a lidocaine‐like manner while having a several fold higher potency than the non‐halogenated parent compound, highlight a potentially meaningful principle of increasing the sodium channel blocking potency of phenol derivatives.


In order to study the effects of frustration on the magnetic properties of the antiferromagnetic triangular lattice LiNi1-xCoxO2, the authors measured the temperature dependence of both the magnetization and the AC susceptibility. With a random substitution of non-magnetic Co ions for Ni ions, the characteristic temperatures TN1 ( approximately=240 K) and TN2( approximately=35 K) gradually shifted to higher and lower temperatures, respectively, and the magnetic moment per Ni ion was drastically enhanced between TN1 and TN2. The spin angular momentum of the Ni3+ ion, however remains at about 0.5, confirming the low-spin state over the whole range of concentrations. They also performed neutron-scattering experiments and found that the intensity of diffuse scattering in the forward directions at low temperatures decreases on substitution. A new model for the magnetic interactions in LiNiO2 is proposed on the basis of these results.


Statement of the Problem: Dental caries, the most common infectious disease, can lead to several consequences, including inflammation and bleeding of the gum, abscess formation, tooth loss, and subsequently loss of available space in the arch. Purpose: This study was designed to determine dental caries status of Shiraz preschool children and its related factors. Materials and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the children registered in Shiraz kindergartens in 2014. The study recruited 453 children by randomized cluster sampling. We evaluated the children's demographic and oral hygiene factors, and their dental caries status using decayed, missed, and filled tooth (dmft) index and prevalence of the children with untreated dental caries. Relationship between the children's characteristics and their dental caries status was evaluated. Results: Only 119 children (30.1%) were caries-free. The children's mean dmft index was 3.88(±3.9). After controlling the effect of confounding factors, the children's dental caries status was significantly associated with variables indicating their socioeconomic status such as fathers' job, mothers' education, and number of children in the family. Furthermore, there was a significant association between the children's dental caries status and their oral hygiene habits such as frequency of tooth brushing. Conclusion: The dental caries status of the studied preschool children was not desirable which could be indicative of the inadequacy of the current preventive programs. To improve this issue, interventional preventive programs such as tooth brushing are recommended. The programs are more necessary for the children of low socioeconomic families and those with poor oral hygiene habits.


In a partial replication of a previous experiment by Wojnarowska, 12 normal-hearing adults between the ages of 18 and 26 were given oral 50- or 10-mg doses of atarax or either of two placebos prior to an 8-min exposure to a 1500-Hz tone at 105 dB SPL. Three control and four experimental sessions were conducted. Comparison of pre- and post-exposure thresholds for these indicated that neither the drugs nor the placebos had a significant effect on either the amount or duration of auditory fatigue.


BACKGROUND
The serum natural abundance carbon isotope ratio (CIR) was recently identified as a candidate biomarker of animal protein intake in postmenopausal women. Such a biomarker would help clarify the relationship between dietary protein source (plant vs. animal) and chronic disease risk.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the performance of the serum CIR as a biomarker for dietary protein source in a controlled feeding study of men and women of diverse age and BMI.

DESIGN
We conducted a 15-d feeding study of 100 adults (age 18-70, 55% women) in Phoenix, AZ. Participants were provided individualized diets that approximated habitual food intakes. Serum was collected at the end of the feeding period for biomarker measurements.

RESULTS
Animal protein intake was 67 (55, 88) g/d (median, 25th, 75th), which was 64% of total protein. The serum CIR was positively correlated with animal protein and inversely correlated with plant protein intake, leading to a strong correlation (r2 = 0.76) with the dietary animal protein ratio (APR; animal/total protein). Regressing serum CIR on the APR, serum nitrogen isotope ratio (NIR), gender, age and body weight generated an R2 of 0.78. Following the measurement error model for predictive biomarkers, the resulting regression equation was then inverted to develop a calibrated biomarker equation for APR. Added sugar ratio (added/total sugars intake) and corn intakes also influenced the serum CIR but to a much lesser degree than the APR; variations in these intakes had only small effects on biomarker-estimated APR.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on our findings in this United States cohort of mixed sex and age, we propose the serum CIR alongside NIR as a predictive dietary biomarker of APR. We anticipate using this biomarker to generate calibrated estimates based on self-reported intake and ultimately to obtain more precise disease risk estimates according to dietary protein source.


In turkey fattening experiments, the vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacine, pantothenic acid, folic acid, biotine and choline chloride additions to mixed feeds for fattening turkeys were checked. The vitamin A requirement of the fattening turkey is met, in all stages of growth, by adding 3,000 I.U./kg feed. For vitamin D3 the necessary supplements are 1,000 and 500 I.U./kg for starter feed and fattening mixes, respectively. The requirements for vitamins B2, B6, B12, niacine, pantothenic acid, folic acid and biotine of the fattening turkey are covered by the respective amounts contained in the ration components. To ensure adequate choline supply (optimum gain, small losses) during the starter period, the addition of 500 mg/kg feed proved necessary. On the basis of the results presented, recommendations are given for requirement norms and mixed feed supplementation that have been fully implemented in the meantime.


Ridge and valley are of essential important feature of terrain surface.They play an important role in the terrain representation because the basic structure of terrain is determined by these terrain feature.Digitized contour data contains the information of these feature lines implicitly.For many years,researchers have been working on the extraction of terrain feature lines from digitized contour lines.Up to now,existing method for feature line extraction is 2D geometrical analysis method,which includes extraction of feature points and feature line tracing.The former can be well solved by 2D geometrical analysis,but the latter is very difficult and remains unsolved because of the limitation of 2D geometrical analysis. In this paper,the author investigates the problem of the derivation of terrain feature lines,and discusses the existing method for the derivation of terrain feature line.After analyzing the existing method theoretically,the author puts forward an idea for terrain feature line tracing in which 3D terrain analysis technique is used.The new idea is based on the fact that vellay line is the line into which falling water is merged and ridge line is the line which separates falling water. The method for terrain feature line tracing developed by the new idea includes 3D terrain analysis and 2D geometrical analysis.Because 3D terrain analysis means falling water analysis in this paper,it is also called physical analysis of terrain model.In the falling water analysis of terrain,the lines into which falling water is merged and the line which separates falling water can be roughly located by falling water simulation.Because the conception of valley line and ridge line differs from the conception of the lines into slightly,some adjustment must be done before the valley line and ridge line are determined.The adjustment includes that some problems are led by differences between conceptions,and the location is not accurate by falling water simulation.The former means that there exist some mistakes at the two ends of the line into which falling water is merged because the accumulation of falling water has close relation to elevation.It leads to some part of valley line at higher position loss because the accumulation of falling water is small,and some part of the line into which falling water is merged at lower position is taken as parts of valley line because the accumulation of falling water is larger.The latter is led by the lower accuration of the data used in 3D terrain analysis.In the new method,2D geometrical analysis technique is combined with 3D terrain analysis,and the rough results of falling water simulation are used to guide the selection and ordering of feature points from 2D geometrical analysis results.In this way,the new mathod can take the advantages of 2D geometrical analysis and 3D terrain analysis,and overcome the shortcomings of them.At the end of this paper,the author gives an experimental result which shows the valley and ridge extracted by the new method is concord to the experimental terrain.


The normal application of Virtual Reality is to the simulation of environments which are in some way special - remote, hazardous or purely imaginary. This paper describes research and development work which changes the paradigm by simulating perfectly ordinary buildings for special people. Some of the population have some form of physical impairment - a proportion which is likely to rise in line with an ageing population. New legislation, such as the UK Disability Discrimination Act places additional responsibility on building owners to ensure adequate access for people with an impairment and this in turn will place additional responsibility on the architect. Current methods of auditing access for new building are primitive and require the auditor to interpret plans/sections of the proposed building against a checklist of requirements specific to the special need. This paper reports on progress in the use of an immersive VR facility to simulate access to buildings for two broad classes of user:

i) those with a mobility impairment

ii) those with a visual impairment

In the former case, a wheelchair motion platform has been designed which allows the wheelchair user to navigate the virtual building; a brake and motor connected to the rollers on which the wheelchair sits facilitate the effects of slope and surface resistance.


Abstract. Scholars increasingly use Twitter data to study the life sciences and politics. However, Twitter data collection tools often pose challenges for scholars who are unfamiliar with their operation. Equally important, although many tools indicate that they offer representative samples of the full Twitter archive, little is known about whether the samples are indeed representative of the targeted population of tweets. This article evaluates such tools in terms of costs, training, and data quality as a means to introduce Twitter data as a research tool. Further, using an analysis of COVID-19 and moral foundations theory as an example, we compared the distributions of moral discussions from two commonly used tools for accessing Twitter data (Twitter's standard APIs and third-party access) to the ground truth, the Twitter full archive. Our results highlight the importance of assessing the comparability of data sources to improve confidence in findings based on Twitter data. We also review the major new features of Twitter's API version 2.


In This work a fractal analysis study of VoIP traffic is presented. The characteristics of measured VoIP traffic on both call and packet level have been investigated. The results support the popular Poisson process for VoIP call arrival modeling but we argue that the call holding times follow heavy-tailed distributions rather than exponential distributions. We propose the generalized Pareto distribution for modeling the call holding times. At the packet level we have found that the exponential modeling of on and off periods is also inappropriate and heavy-tailed characteristics have been identified in case of all the investigated VoIP codecs. The generalized Pareto distribution can be used as an accurate model for the on and off periods too. In the analysis we revealed that the aggregated VoIP traffic has fractal characteristics and we suggest the fractional Gaussian noise model for the aggregated VoIP traffic.


Using multiple antennas in the transmitter and/or in the receiver and exploiting all available knowledge about the channel in both the receiver and transmitter, the link capacity can be increased or the transmit power can be decreased. CDMA signals in frequency-selective channels can be preprocessed in the transmitter and postprocessed in the receiver with FIR lters to maximize the SNR at the receiver. The Generalized Selection Combining (GSC) Multiple Input - Multiple Output (MIMO) Eigenprecoder optimizes the SNR for reduced complexity receivers and transmitters. The capacity gains for different antenna congurations and frequency-selective channels are given.


This paper reports on an experimental program that investigated the seismic behavior of high-strength concrete (HSC)-filled fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tubes (HSCFFTs), designed to perform as building columns. Five square and one circular concrete-filled FRP tube (CFFT) columns were tested under constant axial compression and reversed-cyclic lateral loading. The main parameters of the experimental study included the axial load level, column cross-sectional shape, concrete strength, amount and type FRP confinement, and FRP tube corner radius. Examination of the test data resulted in a number of significant conclusions with regards to the influence of the investigated column parameters on the performance of CFFT columns. Of primary importance, the results indicate that square HSCFFT columns are capable of developing very high inelastic deformation capacities under simulated seismic loading. The results also indicate that increasing the FRP tube corner radius up to a certain threshold leads to a significant increase in column lateral drift capacities. By contrast, increasing the corner radius beyond that threshold value provides no additional improvement in the hysteretic behavior of square CFFT columns. The influence of the cross-sectional shape is found to be significant, with the circular CFFT exhibiting a larger lateral drift capacity compared with the companion square CFFTs. A set of comparable columns from previous studies has also been included in the discussion to clarify the influence of each parameter on the column behavior. The results of the experimental program are presented together with a discussion on the influence of the main parameters on the seismic behavior of CFFT columns.


Twelve circular areas of the same size (50) differing in light intensities from 1 lux to 1000 luxes in equal logarithmic steps were presented to 5 subjects 80 times each in a random order. Informational value of this set of stimuli was 3.585 bits. Reaction time (RT) to each stimulus presentation was registered in milliseconds. It was found that the registered RT to different light intensities were almost completely overlapped and informational analyses have shown that they are composed almost completely from equivocation and ambiguity and contain only a small amount of information (0.63 bits), not enough to discriminate even two levels of light intensities. It was concluded that RT represents a much poorer informational channel than subjective estimates (for which informational analyses have shown to contain about 3 bits of information).


An endocentric language is a language whose verbs are lexically precise and concrete whereas its nouns are abstract and vague. An exocentric language has lexically precise and concrete nouns and abstract verbs. The Germanic languages prove to be endocentric and the Romance languages exocentric. The lexical differences entail differences at other levels as well, linguistic as well as extralinguistic. This multilingual volume contains a selection of papers presented at the two day Italian-Danish linguistic seminar Lingua, cognizione e identita: estensioni della tipologia delle lingue endo- ed esocentriche held at the Italian Department of the University of Florence on the 22nd and 23rd of September 2009.
The papers challenge the endo-/exocentric approach at various levels (lexicon, grammar, language infrastructures, socio cultural reflections) with examples from the Romance languages (Italian and French) and the Germanic languages (English, German and Danish).


A resonator with an appropriate electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt2) is crucial for filter applications in radio communication. In this paper, we present an effective method to tune the Kt2 of resonators by introducing different materials into a lithium niobate (LiNbO3) piezoelectric matrix. The effective piezoelectric coefficients e33eff and e15eff of composite materials with four different introduced materials were calculated. The results show that the e15eff of SiO2/LiNbO3 composite piezoelectric material was mostly sensitive to an increase in the width of introduced SiO2 material. Simultaneously, the simulation of a laterally excited bulk wave resonator (XBAR) with SiO2/LiNbO3 composite material was also carried out to verify the change in the Kt2 originating from the variation in e15eff. The achievable n79 filter using the SiO2/LiNbO3 composite material demonstrates the promising prospects of tuning Kt2 by introducing different materials into a LiNbO3 piezoelectric matrix.


Corticosteroids are widely used as strong anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs to treat various diseases. However, the use of corticosteroids can cause several side effects, such as hyperglycemia. This review aims to examine the effect of corticosteroids on increasing glucose in molecular levels based on literature studies. A literature searching was carried out on the PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases published in 20102020. Corticosteroids can cause an increase in blood glucose levels by several mechanisms. In the liver, glucocorticoids increase endogenous plasma glucose and stimulate gluconeogenesis. Glucocorticoids increase the production of non-esterified fatty acids which affect the signal transduction of insulin receptor substrate-1 in skeletal muscle. In adipose, glucocorticoids increase lipolysis and visceral adiposity through increased transcription and expression of protein adipose triglyceride lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase. In pancreatic beta cells, glucocorticoids directly inhibit the beta cell response to glucose through the role of protein kinase B and protein kinase C. At the molecular level, corticosteroids can cause hyperglycemia through mechanisms in the liver, skeletal muscle tissue, adipose tissue, and pancreatic beta cells.


Introduction Introduction of biologics particularly anti-TNF agents are thought to have resulted in changes in natural history of Crohn's disease (CD). The impact of these in presentation of CD with perianal fistula (CD-PAF) and subsequent surgical approaches is not known. Method 11 IBD centres across Europe and Israel were invited to collect data on CD-PAF patients diagnosed since January 2010 to Dec 2015. Data on demographics, mode and route of presentation, type of fistula, MRI, prior treatment for CD were collected. Patients who had at least one surgical therapy for CD-PAF fistula were analysed for reasons and the type of interventions. Results 253 patients with CD-PAF (161 M, 92 F) were included. The mean age at diagnosis of CD was 28 years (SD: 13.3), and at diagnosis of CD-PAF was 32 years (SD: 13.92). 65% of the patients with CD-APF developed their fistulae in the period between 1 year before and 4 years after diagnosis of CD. 30% of patients were smokers at the onset of CD-PAF. 37.2% of the CD-PAF presented as emergency medical or surgical admission and 30% and 23.7% were identified in IBD clinics and colorectal clinics respectively. 77.1% has MRI pelvis done at diagnosis with 52.8% of patients having complex fistulae (38.7% trans-sphincteric, 10.3% extrasphincteric,3.8% with suprasphincteric).Proctitis and anal stenosis at presentation were identified in 43.1% and 9.5% respectively. Examination under Anaesthesia (EUA) +/- abscess drainage was required in 69.6% of patients but only 53.8% had Seton inserted at first EUA (median number of Setons=1, range 1–6). 96 patients (68% of those needing Seton insertion) had them removed and only 33 of these needed Seton re-insertion. he reasons for non-removal:surgeons' preference (21);surgeon and physician preference (13) and patient preference (5).Overall repeat surgical intervention were required in 102 patients (40.3%):repeat abscess drainage (43), Reinsertion of Seton (33), Diverting stoma (20) and proctectomy (6). Conclusion Majority of CD-PAF present within 5 years of their diagnosis of CD with a third presenting as emergency. EUA with abscess drainage and Seton insertion is the main surgical intervention needed. Radical surgery appears to be less often requiring in comparison to previous studies. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The near-surface wind and temperature regime at three points in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile is described using two years of multilevel measurements from 80-m towers located in an altitude range between 2100 and 2700m MSL. The data reveal the frequent development of strong nocturnal drainage flows at all sites. Down-valley, nose-shaped wind speed profiles are observed, with maximum values occurring at heights between 20 and 60m AGL. The flow intensity shows considerable interdaily variability and a seasonal modulation of maximum speeds, which in the cold season can attain hourly average values of more than 20 ms 21 . Turbulent mixing appears to be important over the full tower layer, affecting the curvature of the nighttime temperature profile and possibly explaining the observed increase of surface temperatures in the down-valley direction. Nocturnal valley winds and temperatures are weakly controlled by upper-air conditions observed at the nearest aerological station. Estimates of terms in the momentum budget for the development and quasi-stationary phases of the down-valley flows suggest that the pressure gradient force due to the near-surface cooling along the sloping valley axes plays an important role in these drainage flows. A scale for the jet nose height of equilibrium turbulent down-slope jets is proposed that is based on surface friction velocity and surface inversion intensity. At one of the sites, this scale explains about 70% of the caseto-case observed variance of jet nose heights. Further modeling and observations are needed, however, to define better the dynamics, extent, and turbulence structure of this flow system, which has significant windenergy, climatic, and environmental implications.


Despite the importance of Christian democracy for economic and social policies throughout the 20th century, we know very little about the incorporation of labor interests into Catholic parties. Existing accounts claim that the formation of Catholic worker organizations is rooted in the process of industrialization and reforms of Catholic social teachings. In contrast, I argue that the integration of the workers' wing was dependent on the position of farmers' and business associations within Catholic parties and the integrative capacities of local religious institutions. The migration of Catholics from peripheral to industrialized areas put pressure on Catholic elites in urban centers to integrate workers via class-based associations. In contrast, entrenched interest groups of farmers and businesses, as well as clerical associations, fend off the creation of workers' associations in rural regions in which industrialization took place. My argument is supported by newly collected district-level and survey data.


Evaluation of Malaria Surveillance System in Balochistan2017 Abdul Razziq; A Saeed Corresponding Author: Abdul Razziq Abstract Background: Globally, an estimated 212 million cases of malaria were reported in 2015. In Pakistan, health facility-based confirmed cases were reported to be 0.2 million. Total reported deaths were 34 as compared to estimated 740 deaths. Malaria information system (MIS) detected 0.084 million confirmed cases of malaria in 2016, in province Balochistan. Objective: An evaluation of Malaria Surveillance System in Balochistan was conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement. Methods: A desk review of literature, office records and reports were conducted in Provincial Malaria directorate Quetta from March to May 2017. Evaluation was conducted for the year 2016. Assessment of qualitative and quantitative system attributes was done using the framework of updated CDC guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems, 2001. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviews. Stakeholders were identified and engaged. Results: Case definition was simple, and system was easy to operate but inflexible in accommodating additional information like outbreaks. Data quality was assessed as poor, because on random evaluation 30% forms were found completed. Timeliness was also poor as report took 2 months to reach Malaria directorate from district level. System had good acceptability, stability and representativeness. Sensitivity of the system was excellent 100% whereas PPV was 12.8%. Conclusions: New approach of Malaria Control Program should be vector control rather than malaria control because coastal areas of Balochistan are at high risk for Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and Yellow fever as these have common vector for spread. A software is strongly recommended for reporting of malaria cases which will improve the timeliness of reporting. During transmission season active case finding and taking blood samples from affected people would be highly effective in picking cases at right time for better management. All the staff working for malaria control and prevention should be trained for other vector borne diseases as well.Background: Globally, an estimated 212 million cases of malaria were reported in 2015. In Pakistan, health facility-based confirmed cases were reported to be 0.2 million. Total reported deaths were 34 as compared to estimated 740 deaths. Malaria information system (MIS) detected 0.084 million confirmed cases of malaria in 2016, in province Balochistan. Objective: An evaluation of Malaria Surveillance System in Balochistan was conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement. Methods: A desk review of literature, office records and reports were conducted in Provincial Malaria directorate Quetta from March to May 2017. Evaluation was conducted for the year 2016. Assessment of qualitative and quantitative system attributes was done using the framework of updated CDC guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems, 2001. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviews. Stakeholders were identified and engaged. Results: Case definition was simple, and system was easy to operate but inflexible in accommodating additional information like outbreaks. Data quality was assessed as poor, because on random evaluation 30% forms were found completed. Timeliness was also poor as report took 2 months to reach Malaria directorate from district level. System had good acceptability, stability and representativeness. Sensitivity of the system was excellent 100% whereas PPV was 12.8%. Conclusions: New approach of Malaria Control Program should be vector control rather than malaria control because coastal areas of Balochistan are at high risk for Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and Yellow fever as these have common vector for spread. A software is strongly recommended for reporting of malaria cases which will improve the timeliness of reporting. During transmission season active case finding and taking blood samples from affected people would be highly effective in picking cases at right time for better management. All the staff working for malaria control and prevention should be trained for other vector borne diseases as well. (iproc 2018;4(1):e10608) doi: 10.2196/10608 Edited by Y Khader; this is a non–peer-reviewed article. Submitted 29.03.18; accepted 29.03.18; published 29.03.18. Please cite as: Razziq A, Saeed A Evaluation of Malaria Surveillance System in Balochistan2017 iproc 2018;4(1):e10608 URL: http://www.iproc.org/2018/1/e10608/ doi: 10.2196/10608 PMID: ©Abdul Razziq, A Saeed. Originally published in Iproceedings (http://www.iproc.org), 29.03.2018. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in Iproceedings, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.iproc.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. iproc 2018 | vol. 4 | iss. 1 | e10608 | p. 1 http://www.iproc.org/2018/1/e10608/ (page number not for citation purposes) Razziq & Saeed IPROCEEDINGS


The primary purpose of this study was to describe the focus of attention NCAA Division 1 golfers use during practice and competition. A secondary purpose was to determine who was most influential in the focus of attention strategies adopted by NCAA Division 1 golfers. We collected observational data by attending practice sessions, conducting semistructured interviews, and administering guided focus groups. Results revealed two major themes pertaining to the focus of attention adopted by our sample of NCAA Division 1 golfers: situational focus and reactivity focus. Situational focus refers to the focus used within a specific context, and reactivity focus refers to the focus golfers adopt because of a psychological state. Further, our results revealed the importance of esteemed individuals' instruction on the development of attentional focus strategies. Parents, coaches, and popular media were highly influential in our sample of NCAA Division 1 golfers' selection of attentional focus strategies.


Studies on non-market strategies have traditionally been conducted in developed countries with a particular focus on large firms. Little has been done in this area in developing or emerging economies. This paper investigates how small firms implement non-market strategies in an emerging economy such as Indonesia. Non-market strategies include political actions of business players, political donation, lobbying, philanthropy and business owners turning into politicians themselves. The research aims to reveal the motives of business players behind the implementation of the nonmarket strategy. In-depth case studies were carried out in two small-firms in the region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The study documents the non-market environment in South Sulawesi, chosen as it is one of the main provinces in Indonesia undergoing high economic development. The result of this study echoed previous research that showed that in many developing countries, non-market strategies are implemented due to the low-quality of market-supporting institutions and low levels of law enforcement. The study also found that small firms are not just passive adopters of coercive initiatives. The study offers new insights on non-market strategies and contributes to the meagre literature in this area, particularly in understanding the non-market environment in Indonesia, the role of different forms of cooperation and the implications for dealing with stakeholders in today's business environment in Indonesia.


This study was requested in response to concerns about the operation of the Greenwich Weigh and Inspection Station (Greenwich Station) on I-95 Northbound. The Station's configuration, combined with both the size and volume of trucks and buses (commercial vehicles) which must use it, severely impacts the Station's ability to operate effectively to assure commercial vehicle compliance with the state's weight and safety regulations and requirements. This report identifies technologies and practices that have the potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of weigh and inspection stations to deter the passage of overweight and unsafe vehicles across the state's highways; increase the transit efficiency for the large percentage of commercial vehicles that are compliant with Connecticut laws and regulations; and utilize information gathered through weigh system technologies for the multiple purposes of enforcement and transportation infrastructure decision-making and budgeting, including pavement design and highway maintenance and rehabilitation.


The dimensional theory of meaning, developed by Leandro Caballero, has some limitations when it comes to encoding causal relationships in semantic features. Using mainly the methods of componential and dimensional analysis of meaning, modelling on semiotic trapezoids and comparative corpus analysis, this paper proposes a model of linguistically structured causal scenarios, based on force-dynamics, which substantially increases feature expressiveness. It furthermore proposes to treat causality as an independent semantic and notional supra-category for its study both within the language system and in discourse.


BACKGROUND
Both atherosclerosis and osteoporosis often appear together, especially in the elderly; usually they are regarded as independent entities. Only recently epidemiological evidence occurred suggesting possible associations between these diseases. Several groups of factors (genetic, hormonal and biochemical) have been studied to account for this association. Among the genetic factors, apolipoprotein E has been studied most extensively; some results indicate that carriers of E4 allele are at increased risk of osteoporosis. A possible influence of plasma lipoproteins and of tissue ischaemia on bone metabolism has also been studied.

AIM OF THE STUDY
To test the hypothesis that there is an association between apolipoprotein E, plasma lipid concentrations and bone mineral density.

METHODS
We examined 18 apolipoprotein E2/2 and E4/4 homozygotes and 130 postmenopausal women. Bone mineral density and plasma triglycerides, total and HDL cholesterol were determined in both groups; in apolipoprotein E homozygotes biochemical markers of bone turnover were also measured.

RESULTS
No significant differences in bone mineral density and bone remodelling were found between the E2/2 and E4/4 homozygotes. A negative correlation between lumbar spine bone mineral density and cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations (r = 0.20-0.39) was observed both in postmenopausal women and apolipoprotein E homozygotes.

CONCLUSION
We didn't observe any association of apolipoprotein E genotype with bone mineral density and biochemical markers of bone metabolism. A negative association between plasma lipid concentrations and bone mineral density supports the hypothesis of harmful effect of hyperlipidaemia on bone metabolism.


Highly luminescent FAPb0.7Sn0.3Br3 nanocrystals with an average photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield of 92% were synthesized by the ligand-assisted reprecipitation method. The 41-nm-thick perovskite film with a smooth surface and strong PL intensity was proven to be a suitable luminescent layer for perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs). Electrical tests indicate that the double hole-transport layers (HTLs) played an important role in improving the electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency of PeLEDs due to their cascade-like level alignment. The PeLED based on poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(4,40-(N-(p-butylphenyl))-diphenylamine)] (TFB)/poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) double HTLs produced a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9%, which was improved by approximately 10.9 and 5.14 times when compared with single HTL PVK or the TFB device, respectively. The enhancement of the hole transmission capacity by TFB/PVK double HTLs was confirmed by the hole-only device and was responsible for the dramatic EQE improvement.


Rationale: Since aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in disease pathogenesis, we aimed to identify dysregulated miRNAs in lungs of patients with COPD. Methods: We performed miRNA and mRNA profiling on lung tissue of a screening cohort (n=30) encompassing never smokers, smokers without airflow limitation and smokers with COPD. Differential expression of microRNA-218-5p (miR-218-5p) was validated by RT-qPCR in an independent cohort (n=71). Localization of miR-218-5p was assessed by in situ hybridization. Perturbation of miR-218-5p was obtained by transfecting primary normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells with a miR-218-5p inhibitor or mimic, followed by polyA-sequencing and RT-qPCR for target genes and markers of inflammation. Results: Several miRNAs were differentially expressed among the different patient groups. Interestingly, miR-218-5p was significantly down-regulated in smokers without airflow limitation and in patients with COPD, compared to never smokers. Decreased pulmonary expression of miR-218-5p was confirmed in an independent validation cohort. Importantly, expression of miR-218-5p strongly correlated with airflow limitation (FEV 1 , FEV 1 /FVC) and lung diffusion (DLCO, KCO). Cellular localization of miR-218-5p revealed highest expression of miR-218-5p in bronchial airway epithelium. Additionally, in vitro perturbation of miR-218-5p in NHBE cells together with gene set enrichment analysis suggest an involvement of miR-218-5p in inflammatory and immune responses. Conclusions: These translational research findings highlight a potential role for miR-218-5p in the pathogenesis of COPD. This abstract has been presented previously at the European Respiratory Society9s Lung Science Conference in March 2016.


Current avionics maintenance and repair is a complex process that presents many opportunities for improved diagnostic methods and better capture and retention of on-board and at-wing data to be incorporated into the maintenance and logistics chain. High occurrences of built-in-test (BIT) false alarm, cannot duplicate (CND), and no fault found (NFF) statistics indicate the need for improvements in the maintenance process. Capture and preservation of fault and maintenance data with situational context can support off-board repair processes and provide opportunities for data mining to identify rogue units and emerging or otherwise undetected patterns. Previous papers by the authors have described open-systems architecture and innovative reasoning processes to capitalize evidence sources and decrease diagnostic ambiguity while preserving information continuity through the logistics chain. In this paper, the authors describe an at-wing modular application for portable maintenance aids, building upon open architecture designs and utilizing reusable, modular components to enhance diagnosis and reduce ambiguity. ReasonPro - at Wing/spl trade/ presents a direct opportunity for increased diagnostic accuracy and ambiguity reduction through a better understanding of system dependencies and interactions. The technology is being embedded into a personal data assistant (PDA) to facilitate multiple element in the maintenance process. ReasonPro - at Wing/spl trade/ implements onboard information sources and automated reasoning techniques that extend BITs with environmental data and data maturation processing through the support of automated data warehousing and mining.


: Although the positive affordances of screencast feedback for student learning have been identified, the Higher Education (HE) system remains tied to electronic written (text) feedback. One factor in this stasis is the lack of robust evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of screencast feedback. This paper addresses this research gap. A systematic review of empirical research examined the effect of the medium of feedback (screencast vs. text) on student learning in HE. Fifteen of 502 studies were selected for analysis. Eleven studies indicated overwhelming positive perceptions of screencast feedback highlighting that it is more personal, supportive, detailed, helpful, and easier to understand in comparison to text feedback. Lecturers also offered overwhelming support for this medium stating that it was more engaging and impactful because it offered more detail, more teaching opportunities and increased the connection between the student and lecturer. Despite these positive perceptions, seven studies employing direct measurements of student learning presented inconclusive evidence to warrant adopting screencast feedback in HE.


Malaria is a major health issue in sub-Saharan Africa with pregnant women and children at greater risk of exposure to the disease than other  population cohorts. Studies on malaria related maternal mortality in Nigeria have focused largely on preventive behaviour and healthcare providers' knowledge of treatment regimen. Negligible attention has been paid to adherence of care seekers to treatment in relevant contexts. Employing the cross-sectional survey method, 927 pregnant women in Ondo state, Southwest Nigeria were selected through a multistage sampling technique. In addition, 12 In-depth Interviews (IDIs) were conducted among relevant stakeholders. Results showed that adherence to malaria treatment among pregnant women was influenced by social, residential and demographic factors in both rural and urban areas of the state. Expectant mothers without formal education reported higher level of adherence to medication (r=-631 p< .034) than those of higher educational status, indicating that the level of education does not necessarily influence adherence to medication. Policy and national programmes aimed at maternal mortality reduction should recognise the important role that culture plays in people's perception and behaviour and by implication, aetiology of diseases.  Without a feasible, people-oriented and context-specific intervention, malaria induced maternal morbidity and mortality will remain high not only in Ondo State but Nigeria in general. Keywords : aetiology of diseases, preventive behaviour, maternal mortality, contextspecific intervention.


The 1896 discovery of the Cairo Genizah was one of the greatest Jewish treasures ever found. It has provided the world with the some of the most important documents of the medieval Middle East. A genizah, Hebrew for "hiding place".


OBJECTIVE
To compare the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV-infected patients according to sex, route of HIV acquisition and education, and to assess the impact of differences in utilization on the probability of progression to AIDS.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Swiss HIV Cohort Study, a national prospective multi-centre study.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 3342 patients, including 1007 (30%) women. HIV was acquired through injection drug use in 1155 (35%) cases and through sex between men in 1172 (35%). Twenty-eight per cent (957) of participants had attained only the minimum level of schooling. At baseline, the median CD4 cell count was 269x10(6)/l cells, median HIV-1 RNA was 4.3 log10 copies/ml and 2917 (87%) were free of AIDS.

METHODS
Kaplan-Meier life tables and Cox proportional hazards regression.

RESULTS
During 7007 person-years of follow-up 2285 (69%) patients started HAART and 318 (10%) developed a new AIDS event. In multivariable analysis controlling for CD4 cell count, viral load and disease stage at baseline, the probability of starting HAART was lower in injection drug users compared with men who have sex with men, hazard ratio 0.63 (95% confidence intervals 0.56-0.70) and in patients with minimum schooling compared with those with vocational training, hazard ratio 0.82 (0.75-0.91). The risk of progression to AIDS was similar among men and women, patients with a history of injecting drug use, and patients with lower educational attainment in both univariable and multivariable analysis.

CONCLUSION
HIV-infected injecting drug users and those with lower levels of educational attainment start HAART later than other patient groups. The deferred initiation of therapy in these patients does not, however, appear to translate into an increased risk of clinical disease progression. This observation has important implications for treatment policy and the design of future clinical trials.


Burns often cause the damaged tissue to produce a large amount of exudate and the formation of blisters on the wound. The burn blister fluid contains a large number of molecules related to wound healing, which can reflect the state of local tissue microenvironment of the burn wound. Analyzing relevant information such as cellular components, signal mediators, and protein molecules in burn blister fluid is helpful to understand the local reaction and tissue microenvironment of burn wounds, and then help clinical burn treatment. In this article, by understanding the production mechanism of burn blister fluid, discussing its role in wound evaluation, and integrating the research progress of burn blister fluid in proteomics, metabolomics, cellular components, and pharmacokinetics, we propose our thoughts and prospects on the research of burn blister fluid, in order to provide assistance for clinical evaluation and treatment of burn wounds, and also provide idea for the follow-up study of burn blister fluid.


Abstract
 We describe and illustrate four new species of dragon's blood trees (Croton sect. Cyclostigma) from western South America. Three of the species, Croton beckii from Bolivia and Peru, C. camposii fromPeru, and C. santamartensis fromColombia, grow inmontane Andean forest,whereas C. tumbesinus occurs in dry forest of the Tumbes/Piura ecoregion of western Ecuador and Peru. The characters that place them in Croton sect. Cyclostigma include the arborescent habit, the presence of reddish to yellowish latex, an indument of stellate trichomes, conspicuous and persistent stipules, acropetiolar/basilaminar nectary glands, and terminal inflorescences with bisexual cymules at the base. These new species give additional support for the Andean region being the main center of diversity of this Neotropical Croton clade, as well as being a region whose biodiversity knowledge is still incomplete.


We present evidence to argue that the object raising in epistemic modal constructions in Chinese is A-movement. The consequence of this claim is the apparent violation of Minimal Link Condition. Following Chomsky's (2007 & 2008) feature inheritance hypothesis, we argue that the T of the TP complement of epistemic verbs does not contain any unvalued phi-features due to the absence of the CP-layer, and contains only the inherent EPP structural requirement, which, in itself, does not impose minimality restriction on the search of the goal. The implication of this analysis is three-fold: (i) the checking-based approach to A-movement does not hold in Chinese, (ii) Chinese employs the delayed version of Phase Impenetrability Condition, and (iii) activity condition in Chinese is subject to factor(s) other than Case.


This work presents two methods for estimating the self and mutual impedance of a tranmission line by means of the non-linear square method. The first method uses voltage magnitude, active power and reactive power measurement, whereas the second method uses synchronized phasor voltage and current measurements at both ends of the transmission line. The line impedances values were estimated simultaneously with the line voltages. No restriction was impose to the values of the impedances to be estimated. Both methods were tested in simulated conditions on a 2-bus test system. Parameter estimations with errors below 1[%] were obtained.