Right-bank Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire after the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1792. The integration of these territories into the new administrative, economic and cultural space caused certain difficulties. In the first half of the 19th century, the region had the highest percentage of peasant serfs and the elements and institutions of the non-existent state (including the courts) still existed and kept functioning. The defeat in the Crimean War of 1853–1856 imposed on the Russian Empire the need for radical reforms in all spheres of life. The ІНТЕРМАРУМ: історія, політика, культура. – Вип. 7. ISSN 2518-7694 (Print) ISSN 2518-7708 (Online) 8 wave-like periods of cooperation-confrontation between the Russian authorities and the local nobility brought about regional provisions in virtually all the reforms, launched by the peasant reform of 1861. The judicial reform and the emergence of new institutions and practices had to resolve existing problems, disputes, and punish criminals legally. The social estate (stanovy) character of the society was reflected in the establishment and activities of the volost courts, as the lower courts. The district courts were a completely novel phenomenon in the legal culture; their functioning was ensured by professional lawyers on the basis of new judicial statutes. The purpose of this article is to consider the court practices and functioning of penitentiary establishments in Right-Bank Ukraine (on the example of Volyn province) under implementation of the judicial reform through the prism of social and estate factors, based on the cases of the Zhytomyr District Court and the reports of the heads of local prisons. The methodology of the research includes the tools of social history and the so-called "new imperial history" that have helped to trace the adaptation of new legal practices to the socio-ethnic peculiarities of Right Bank Ukraine. The methods of history of everyday life and history of reading have been employed to consider the under-researched component of the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire, namely the libraries and their funds. This component should be attributed to the novelty of the suggested research findings. Conclusions. Estate privileges were maintained in the Russian Empire throughout the "long 19th century". Belonging to a higher social status practically made the Polish nobles equal in the rights with the imperial officials, endowed with power. During court decisions and sentencing, an ethnic criterion was not taken into consideration or had secondary significance. Many years of placing the peasants outside the legal field developed a steady arrogant attitude of the power-holders towards the representatives of this social estate. Though the peasants dominated in the social structure of the Empire population, they remained the most prevalent class. Since the early 20th century, some shifts in perception and attitudes towards peasantry were observed.


The varied experience which a spirit undergoes after death are described in the book with clarity and verisimilitude, giving the reader a rare glimpse of another, unknown dimension. Professor Kaji's sincerity and veracity are patent. He laid no claim to supernatural powers, extrasensory perception or even a deep knowledge of the subject, and he disclaimed all responsibility for the views expressed. Regardless of its provenance, however, the book makes fascinating reading and will certainly provide food for thought, even for the most hardened sceptic.


Boza, a functional traditional beverage, is a product obtained by fermenting grains. In this study, the use of different proportions of boza (25%, 50%, 60% on flour basis) and lyophilized boza (5%, 8%, 10% on flour basis) as a starter and their effects on the microbiological, chemical, textural and sensory properties of bread were investigated. The addition of boza was found to increase dough extensibility and resistance to extension compared to control bread. The proportions of fresh boza or lyophilized boza were significantly correlated with the hardness of breads. In addition, the L value in boza added breads were significantly decreased compared with the control bread. It was determined that the lyophilization caused a significant decrease in lactic acid bacteria compared with yeast counts. The most acceptable group after the control bread was determined to be 25% fresh boza added bread and 5% lyophilized boza added bread.


This contribution aims to exemplify through a case study focused on Germany, how the late fifteenth-century availability of printed classical texts, whether for teachers or for students, facilitated an internationalisation of local textual traditions, sometimes with cultural tensions as a result. Printed books were commodities which modified both ways of engaging with texts and ways of producing manuscript texts. At the same time, pre-existing ways of making and using books formed the expectations of customers which producers of printed books sought to meet or, in a world of international commercial competition, even to exceed, by introducing innovative features which matched the evolving needs of potential buyers. We find a complex interplay of intellectual demands for change, institutionally established user expectations and the need for printers and publishers to create economically viable commodities, where printed books shaped a preexisting and continued manuscript based literary culture.


We propose a novel procedure to improve the solution obtained by perturbation methods for analyzing the solutions of strongly nonlinear systems. The multiple-scales method, one of the perturbation method, is widely used in many areas. However, Multiple-scales method fails in analyzing the solutions of oscillators if the oscillator nonlinearity is strong. We apply the proposed procedure to improve the multiple-scales method to obtain the optimum solution of the forced oscillator with strongly nonlinear restoring and inertial forces. The solutions obtained from multiple-scales method and the proposed method are examined by the numerical solution obtained from 4 th -order Runge-Kutta method. The results show that the proposed method is effective for the oscillators with nonlinear restoring force as well as nonlinear inertial force even if the nonlinearities are strong. Numerical results and comparison show that the proposed method can improve the solution lot in comparison to the solution obtained by conventional multiple-scales method.


Recent observations have revealed the ubiquitous presence of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and oscillations in the solar corona. The aim of this review is to present recent progress in the observational study of four types of wave (or oscillation) phenomena mainly occurring in active region coronal loops, including (i) flare-induced slow mode oscillations, (ii) fast kink mode oscillations, (iii) propagating slow magnetoacoustic waves, and (iv) ubiquitous propagating kink (Alfvenic) waves. This review not only comprehensively outlines various aspects of these waves and coronal seismology, but also highlights the topics that are newly emerging or hotly debated, thus can provide readers a useful guidance on further studies of their interested topics.


No longer do the highest economic growth rates belong exclusively to the BRICS countries. Lesser known economies, the so-called frontier markets such as Nigeria and Vietnam, are key players in global economic growth and are expected to continue to be so for several decades. These states base their economic growth on the combination of low labour costs and abundant natural resources. In the past, frontier markets were characterised by instability, restricted market accessibility and low liquidity. Nowadays, their governments are opting to create sovereign wealth funds and tech hubs in order to avoid excessive commodity dependence and guarantee sustainable growth over time. Spain could take advantage of the opportunity that frontier markets represent, just as it once did with the Latin American market.


For studying the effect of impurity on the structure of basic component in the solvent, three-component molecular-dynamics model for liquid PbK and NaPb is represented. The analysis of atomic configurations is performed by statistical-geometry method. It is shown that with increasing potassium concentration in liquid lead more than 14% at., a microstructure transition is possible. The lead influence to liquid sodium does not make an impact on the NaPb structure up to 20% at. of the lead.


Governance indicators are now widely used as tools for conducting development dialogue, allocating external assistance and influencing foreign direct investment. This paper argues that available governance indicators are not suitable for these purposes as they do not conceptualize governance and fail to capture how citizens perceive the governance environment and outcomes in their countries. This paper attempts to fill this void by conceptualizing governance and implementing a uniform and consistent framework for measuring governance quality across countries and over time based upon citizens' evaluations.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore a formative intervention project that was developed for the Municipal Secretariat of Education in São Paulo, Brazil for the broad development of all levels of educational management (teacher educators, coordinators, principals, teachers and students). Thus, the creative chain of activities is a key theoretical framework for promoting critical collaboration in order to cross the boundaries of educational management organization.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from the Management in Creative Chains Project (Liberali, 2012), as a way to enable the wide development of all levels of educational management. Data comprise formative meetings in which different educational managers system take part in two settings, the regional board with 25 schools and one of the participating schools. The analysis is based on thematic content and argumentative organization, and on critical situations and the potentials they entailed.

Findings
The study guides to the conclusions of the process of creative chain as a possibility to expand management in the educational system and its community.

Research limitations/implications
Every time there is a change in the mayors, there are changes in the way of addressing school management in the city. However, after the project, considerations about the needs of the communities became part of the public policy regardless of who is in charge of the city and its educational system.

Practical implications
This study can be used for transformation in the management and teaching and learning activities and improvement of the school-community relation.

Social implications
Socially this study can lead to improvement in the quality of life in the community and at school.

Originality/value
Differently from a top down educational management, which enables a reproductive chain, educational management in a creative chain, considering the community needs, enables subjects to become interdependent to expand and transform the activities in the educational system and hence the communities' reality.


Sequences of different sizes are generated when DNA from homozygous HLA-Dw/DR typing cells are digested with restriction endonuclease and analyzed by hybridization with a HLA-D region class II antigen beta-chain cDNA probe. The patterns of hybridization were highly polymorphic but one endonuclease, BamHI, defined sequences unique to all HLA-Dw/DR specificities 1-8 except HLA-Dw/DR 2 and 6; however, these two specificities were resolved with the enzyme EcoRI. Digestion with other endonucleases such as Pst I results in patterns of restriction fragments that differ between homozygous typing cells of the same HLA-Dw/DR specificity. HLA-D region beta-chain probes permit HLA-D region genotyping at the DNA level and may allow detection of genes controlling the association of HLA specificities with a wide variety of diseases.


We introduce a product in all complex normed vector spaces, which generalizes the inner product of complex inner product spaces. Naturally the question occurs whether the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality is fulfilled. We provide a positive answer. This also yields a new proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality in complex inner product spaces, which does not rely on the linearity of the inner product. The proof depends only on the norm in the vector space. Further we present some properties of the generalized product.


The author, an experienced paediatric dietitian, describes what it was like breast-feeding and weaning her first baby and how she has modified her previous professional views of infant feeding in the light of her own experience. As a result, she makes some pragmatic recommendations for helping new mothers. She urges health professionals to be more realistic about the difficulties as well as the rewards of breast-feeding and to provide more practical support for breast-feeding mothers. She would like all new mothers to have the opportunity to stay in a supported setting--not necessarily a hospital--while breast-feeding is established. She recommends finding neutral ways to ensure that all health professionals keep up to date about all aspects of infant nutrition, including infant formulae. She suggests a flexible approach to when weaning starts, since all babies are different and reach developmental milestones at different ages. Advice on weaning is often lacking or conflicting, and needs to be more structured with good quality practical information and leaflets. Finally, the author recommends that babies have meals with the family from an early age, for both social and nutritional reasons.


Open-domain dialogue systems aim to interact with humans through natural language texts in an open-ended fashion. Despite the recent success of super large dialogue systems such as ChatGPT, using medium-to-small-sized dialogue systems remains the common practice as they are more lightweight and accessible; however, generating diverse dialogue responses is challenging, especially with smaller models. In this work, we propose an Equal-size Hard Expectation--Maximization (EqHard-EM) algorithm to train a multi-decoder model for diverse dialogue generation. Our algorithm assigns a sample to a decoder in a hard manner and additionally imposes an equal-assignment constraint to ensure that all decoders are well-trained. We provide detailed theoretical analysis to justify our approach. Further, experiments on two large-scale open-domain dialogue datasets verify that our EqHard-EM algorithm generates high-quality diverse responses.


Background Radiofrequency (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are established minimally invasive techniques for treatment of hepatic tumors. Purpose To compare technical success and accuracy of hepatic thermoablation using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquired 24 h after ablation with regard to evaluation of the post-interventional ablation zone and local tumor recurrence (LTR), and to assess whether additional MRI within 24 h is beneficial. Material and Methods Thirty-two patients (23 men, 9 women; mean age, 60 years) with 48 lesions were included in this retrospective study. CT was performed immediately and MRI was performed 24 h after ablation. Diameter and volume calculations of the ablation zone were compared (T-Test). Technical success and ablation margin distinction, shape, and configuration were evaluated (κ-statistic). Local effectiveness was calculated based on follow-up imaging. Technical success and ablation margin features were correlated with LTR (log-rank test, Fisher's exact test). Results Ablation zone volumes were significantly higher with MRI compared to CT (P < 0.05; mean volume, 55.19 and 45.97 mL). Agreement between CT and MRI for technical success was good (κ = 0.801) and for margin conspicuity fair (κ = 0.289). LTR was 26.1% (mean follow-up, 11.7 months). LTR showed no correlation with technical success or margin conspicuity. Conclusion CT and MRI are suited for early evaluation of technical success after thermoablation. Within 24 h a significant increase of the ablation volume is observed, which has to be taken into account when interpreting immediate postprocedural imaging and treating lesions near critical structures. Additional MRI 24 h after ablation seems of limited value regarding prognosis of LTR, especially with regards to evaluation of ablation margin shape and conspicuity.


Grape byproducts were subjected to an extraction process under various different experimental conditions (namely, solvent type, temperature, solvent-to-solid ratio, time contact, and raw material) in order to study the effect of these conditions on the yield of phenolic compounds and the corresponding antiradical activity of extracts. Although the order of decreasing capacity to extract soluble materials was ethanol > methanol > water, methanol was the most selective for extracting phenolic compounds. Temperature and solvent-to-solid ratio were found to have a critical role in extraction efficiency; values of 50 degrees C (between 25 and 50 degrees C) and 1:1 (between 1:1 and 5:1) maximized the antiradical activity of phenolic extracts. In addition, extracts from grape samples previously subjected to distillation reached higher antiradical values in comparison to those coming directly from pressing; in both cases, seed extracts showed better results than those of stem when ethanol or water was employed, whereas the opposite occurred in the case of methanol. These differences were attributed to the different phenolic compositions of the considered fractions.


Abstract The article is of interdisciplinary nature with its emphasis laid on sociology. Its aim is to present some considerations on the way in which emergent phenomena1 are created. The question whether the reasoning based on analogy fosters phenomena related to the emergence of new notions comes as the research problem that the author tries to solve. The research hypothesis is formulated as the following statement: applying analogy,2 considerations which refer to historical memory allow additional notions, such as collective, institutional and market memory, to emerge. In the article, the research method applied in order to achieve the assumed aim is the grounded theory3 because it allows us to generate knowledge in numerous fields. During the articulation of theoretical annotations,4 new emerging notions come as a good starting point for further studies on various types of memory, and consequently, they determine their usability in practice. In the article, the annotations are placed in the footnotes and they present the author's thoughts and reflections presented by people who have been consulted with regard to the discussed problems. Presented in the theoretical part of the article, the reference to scientific achievements in the field of marketing memory is actually very difficult because they are extremely scarce. Historical memory may be seen as knowledge resources recorded in some past stories, diaries and specialist publications; it also refers to artefacts collected in museums and to historical monuments that represent the culture of a particular society. Collective memory refers to historical awareness that is manifested by the cultivation of traditions and customs, reconstruction of buildings in which previous generations used to live. The concept of institutional memory is related to a specific vector that provides collective memory with magnitude and direction in the form of interpretation of events; it can be considered as a resultant of exogenous and endogenous processes taking place in a society. On the basis of those considerations, another type of memory appears: market memory as a new category of knowledge. The essence of market memory comes down reminding various communities about products the consumption of which is supposed to satisfy their needs at a specific level, but it will also lead to the replacement of currently operating devices with new and more advanced ones.


Reconstruction of the anterior skull base is one of the greatest challenges for reconstructive surgeons. Sometimes, the defect is so large that a local flap is insufficient for the reconstruction. In this report, we present a case of malignant meningioma of the anterior skull base. The tumor was treated by surgical excision resulting in a large defect from the anterior skull base to the nasal cavity. The entire defect was within the cranial vault. The reconstruction was achieved using a free composite de‐epithelialized anterolateral thigh and the vastus lateralis muscle flap. Postoperative monitoring included hand Doppler and daily endoscopic inspection. This patient was satisfied with the cosmetic result. After 10 months, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), performed to assess the flap, demonstrated that the volume of the de‐epithelialized skin paddle of the anterolateral thigh flap had not changed, and that there was no tissue atrophy between the patient's eyes that could have resulted in deformity. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2011.


There is growing evidence suggesting that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are playing critical roles in tumor progression, metastasis and drug resistance. However, the role of CSCs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive. In this study, we enriched for stem-like cells from tumor spheres derived from NSCLC cell line A549 cultured in serum-free medium. Our results showed that sphere-derived cells expressed various stem cell markers such as CD44, CD133, Sox2 and Oct4. Compared with the corresponding cells in monolayer cultures, sphere-derived cells showed marked morphologic changes and increased expression of the stem cell markers CD133. Furthermore, we found that sphere-derived cells exhibited increased proliferation, cell-cycle progression as well as drug-resistant properties as compared to A549 adherent cells. Consistently, expression of several drug resistance proteins, including lung resistance-related protein (LRP), glutathion-S-transferase-π (GST-π) and multidrug resistance proteins-1 (MRP1) were all significantly enhanced in sphere-derived cells. These results indicate the enrichment of CSCs in sphere cultures and support their role in regulating drug resistance in NSCLC.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Phosphorylated H2AX (gamma-H2AX) has been reported as a biomarker for DNA double-strand breaks and programmed cell death. We have developed a 96-well plate based ELISA test for quantifying gamma-H2AX with the lowest limit quantiation at 16 pg/mL. The gamma-H2AX immunoassay is a cell- free assay with chemiluminescence readout using one unique pair of anti- gamma-H2AX antibodies as a sandwich bracketing the gamma-H2AX antigen from cell lysis extracts. The high affinity antibodies used in the assay provide high sensitivity and specificity allowing simple cell lysis procedures for antigen capture from crude extracts. The gamma-H2AX quantitation is normalized based on either cell numbers or total protein through BCA assay. We have performed gamma-H2AX quantitation in selected NCI60 cell lines from nine groups of human cancers. The gamma-H2AX levels among the NCI60 cell lines ranged from undetectable (< 16 pg/ml) to 6325 pg/10 million cells with an average of 711 pg. The gamma-H2AX quantitation results from ionic radiation and topotecan treated cell lines, topotecan treated human PBMC and selected patient specimens will be reported. The applications of the assay include target discovery and drug screening with selected human cancer cell lines, preclinical development and pharmacodynamic evaluation with xenograft tumors and animal models under treatment of investigational drugs, as well as clinic testing for patient enrollment, regiment selection and therapy monitoring of anti-cancer agents involving in DNA replication, repair, cell cycle and apoptosis.

Funded by NCI Contract No. HHSN261200800001E

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1763.


Although gender differences in attitudes toward animal research have been reported in the literature for some time, exploration into the nature of these differences has received less attention. This article examines gender differences in responses to a survey of attitudes toward the use of animals in research. The survey was completed by college students and consisted of items intended to tap different issues related to the animal research debate. Results indicated that women were more likely than men to support tenets of the animal protection movement. Likewise, women were more likely than men to favor increased restrictions on animal use and were more concerned than men about the suffering of research animals. Analysis of item contents suggested that women endorsed items reflecting a general caring for animals, were more willing than men to make personal sacrifices such as giving up meat and medical benefits in an effort to protect animals, and were more likely than men to question the use of animals in research on scientific grounds. Men, on the other hand, tended to emphasize the potential benefits arising from the use of animals in research.


Abstract In this article, a new and natural topology on the prime spectrum is introduced, which behaves completely as the dual of the Zariski topology. It is called the flat topology. The basic and also some sophisticated properties of the flat topology are proved. Specially, various algebraic characterizations for the noetherianess of the flat topology are given. Using the flat topology, then some facts on the structure of the prime ideals of a ring come to light which are not in the access of the Zariski topology.


Interferon‐α (IFN‐α) alone or in combination with cytostatic drugs can induce major and durable cytogenetic responses in about 20 to 25% of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Since these patients have a significant survival benefit, more frequent follow‐up investigations have become clinically important but require bone marrow (BM) aspirates. The aim of our study was to evaluate interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (IPF) on peripheral blood (PB) smears as a rapid and reliable method to quantify Ph‐positive myeloid cells. IPF analysis was performed on 49 PB samples from 36 patients in the chronic phase of CML and at different stages of cytogenetic remission. IPF results of 30 PB samples were compared with those from BM aspirates simultaneously obtained from the same patients to evaluate the correlation of Ph‐positive cells. Further, the hypermetaphase FISH (HMF) technique was performed on cultured BM preparations of 31 patients for comparison with IPF results on PB. An excellent correlation was observed between the IPF results obtained on PB and BM samples (r = 0.98, y = x − 0.6, p < 0.0001). The mean difference between HMF from BM, on the one hand, and IPF from PB, on the other hand, was 3.2% (SD = ± 8.4%). Seventy percent of samples were identically classified in one of the four subgroups of cytogenetic response. Thirty percent were classified in neighbouring response groups. We conclude that FISH performed on PB is a rapid and reliable method for assessing the cytogenetic response of CML patients on IFN‐α based therapies, allowing more frequent and less invasive follow‐up investigations although it is not able entirely to replace routine analysis of BM. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 21:90–100, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Saposhnikovia divaricata Schischkin has been used in traditional medicine to treat pain, inflammation, and arthritis. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antiosteoarthritis activities of Saposhnikovia divaricata extract (SDE). The anti-inflammatory effect of SDE was evaluated in vitro in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) treated RAW 264.7 cells. The antiosteoarthritic effect of SDE was investigated in an in vivo rat model of monosodium iodoacetate- (MIA-) induced osteoarthritis (OA) in which rats were treated orally with SDE (200 mg/kg) for 28 days. The effects of SDE were assessed in vivo by histopathological analysis and by measuring weight-bearing distribution, cytokine serum levels, and joint tissue inflammation-related gene expression. SDE showed anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, SDE promoted recovery of hind limb weight-bearing, inhibited the production of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators, and protected cartilage and subchondral bone tissue in the OA rat model. Therefore, SDE is a potential therapeutic agent for OA and/or associated symptoms.


4', 6-Diamidine-2-phenylindole forms fluorescent complexes with synthetic DNA duplexes containing AT, AU and IC base pairs; no fluorescent complexes were observed with duplexes containing GC base pairs or with duplexes containing a single AT base pair sandwiched between GC pairs. The binding site size is one molecule of dye per 3 base pairs. The intrinsic binding constants are higher for alternating sequence duplexes than for the corresponding homopolymer pairs. With the exception of the four-stranded helical poly rI which exhibits considerable fluorescence enhancement upon binding of the ligand, none of the single- or multi- stranded polyribonucleotides and ribo-deoxyribonucleotide hybrid structures form fluorescent complexes with the dye. Poly rI is the only RNA which forms a DNA B-like structure (Arnott et al. (1974) Biochem. J. 141, 537). The B conformation of the helix and the absence of guanine appear to be the major determinants of the specificity of the fluorescent binding mode of the dye. Nonfluorescent interactions of the dye with polynucleotides are nonspecific; UV absorption and circular dichroic spectra demonstrate binding to synthetic single- and double-stranded DNA and RNA analogs, including those containing GC base pairs.


Using Software Defined Network for the service upgrade of national R&E network requires replacing lots of legacy IP routers with SDN switches. Therefore, SDN migration should be carried out incrementally in order to reduce the instability of network service. A large ISP like Google prefers one by one migration of regional data centers that are scattered globally. Regional migration is appropriate only when the service architecture is very simple. For example, production of Google service is charged by Google data centers and consumption of them is the portion of remote users. But, in the case of national R&E network, service architecture is very complex because R&E network user, R&D experts, can be a service user and a service producer simultaneously when they do a collaborative research. Therefore, R&E network has to consider more factors in addition to region for incremental migration to SDN. In this paper, we suggest the detail framework and the practical methods of sustainable SDN migration that we had recently experienced during the softwarization of KREONET, Korea R&E network, and that were originally created as the solution of well-known problem of the legacy network, such as a last mile problem, inter-domain QoS exchange problem and so on. We call it Problem Solving Approach based SDN migration.


The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between one's social-self image and Online Avatar image. Influence of these virtual images on one's attitude toward real world and commitment to the virtual world was examined. In addition, the gender difference was examined. A structural equation model with social self image as exogenous variable and influence of Avatar as endogenous variable was designed. Real and ideal Avatar images were the mediating variable in the model. Survey questionnaire was developed and data from 425 respondents were analyzed. Results indicated that the conceptual model was a good fit to the data. Respondents who perceived their social self-images importantly were likely to have real images of Avatars. Ideal image and real image had significant on commitment to virtual world and attitudes toward the real world. For male respondents, social self image had stronger influence on real image of Avatar and ideal image had stronger influence on commitment to virtual world than female respondents.


A procedure is described to utilize blue dextran-Sepharose as an affinity chromatographic column specific for the super-secondary structure called the dinucleotide fold, which forms the binding sites for sub- strates and effectors on a wide range of proteins. The procedure can be used to identify proteins, either purified or in crude cellular extracts, that possess the dinucleotide fold and to significantly improve the purification pro- cedures for those proteins that possess the fold.


Background Prompt interventions prevent adverse events (AE) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We evaluated the pattern and the predictive role of feature tracking (FT)-cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging parameters in an HCM population with a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and a low fibrosis burden. Methods The CMR and clinical data of 170 patients, consisting of 142 HCM (45 ± 15.7 years, 62.7% male) and 28 healthy (42.2 ± 11.26 years, 50% male) subjects, who were enrolled from 2015 to 2020, were evaluated. HCM patients had a normal LVEF with a late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) percentage below 15%. Between-group differences were described, and the potent predictors of AE were determined. A P-value below 0.05 was considered significant. Results LV global longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains (GLS, GCS, and GRS, respectively) and the LV myocardial mass index (MMI) were different between the healthy and HCM cases (all Ps < 0.05). Strains were significantly impaired in the HCM patients with a normal MMI. A progressive decrease in LVGLS and a distinct fall in LVGCS were noted with a rise in MMI. AE were predicted by LVGLS, LVGCS, and the LGE percentage, and LVGCS was the single robust predictor (HR, 1.144; 95% CI, 1.080–1.212; P = 0.001). An LVGCS below 16.2% predicted AE with 77% specificity and 58% sensitivity. Conclusions LV strains were impaired in HCM patients with a normal EF and a low fibrosis burden, even in the presence of a normal MMI. CMR parameters, especially FT-CMR values, predicted AE in our HCM patients.


One of the most poorly understood phenomenon in hadron collisions, is the so called multiple parton interaction (MPI). Apart from one quark or gluon each from each colliding proton, additional quarks or gluons can interact as well, and these can not be calculated from first principles. The concept of rescattering has been introduced recently in Pythia 8 event generator, where particles originating from these secondary interactions can interact again with quarks or gluons from incoming protons. In this paper, we look at events with a Z-boson, to find observables which can potentially be sensitive to this rescattering effect. While jet-balance observables do not show visible difference, charged particle distributions in different azimuthal regions show some difference. The parameters controlling MPI can be tuned to give a good description of data with rescattering.


Background: Vibratory massage is now widely used to alleviate muscle fatigue. The effects of different vibration massage intensities on left and right upper trapezius (UT) fatigue have not been examined. Therefore, the present study first examined whether a vibration massage intervention had an effect on UT muscles and second compared the effects of 2 different levels (36 Hz and 46 Hz) of vibratory massage on the right and left oblique muscles under 3 different fatigue conditions. Methods: A total of 23 participants (12 female, 11 male; age: 26.5 ± 3.9 year, height: 170.5 ± 1.6 cm, mass: 57.5 ± 1.5 kg, BMI: 24.3 ± 1.6 kg/m2) were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The 2 groups of subjects completed isometric contraction fatigue tasks of 30 s of fatigue, 60 s of fatigue and 90 s of fatigue in turn. The specific task of isotonic contraction was performed by subjects holding a 1 kg dumbbell in each hand and performing a straight arm weighted lateral supination exercise. After each exercise, the intervention group was randomized to apply a massage device with a vibration intensity of 36 Hz or 46 Hz on the left and right UT muscles for 5 min each. The control group did not receive any treatment. Both groups then repeated the same fatigue task as before. Then, the effects of different vibration massage interventions on UT muscles were derived by analyzing the changes in maximal voluntary contraction percentage (MVC%) of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals before and after the intervention, and the most effective vibration massage program for relieving left and right UT fatigue was summarized. Then, four classification algorithms were used to label and classify the collected sEMG data, and finally a UT muscle fatigue identification and vibration massage model was constructed. Results: After using the vibration massage level 1 (36 Hz) intervention, the MVC% of the right UT muscle showed significant reductions in the 30 s fatigue task, the 60 s fatigue task and the 90 s fatigue task (R1: p = 0.022, R2: p = 0.005, R3: p = 0.049). After using the vibration massage level 3 (46 Hz) intervention, the MVC% of the right UT muscle showed a significant decrease in both the 60 s fatigue task and the 90 s fatigue task (R2: p = 0.033, R3: p = 0.028). Significant decreases in MVC% for the left UT muscle were found only in the 90 s fatigue task (L3: p = 0.040). Then, by comparing the different performances of four commonly used classification algorithms, it was found that the bagging (accuracy = 0.860) algorithm had higher accuracy. Therefore, the bagging algorithm was used for the UT fatigue identification and vibration massage models. Conclusions: This was the first study to show the impacts of different levels of vibration massage on fatigue alleviation in the left and right UT muscles. Furthermore, the bilateral UT fatigue identification and vibration massage model developed in this study can help people to choose the most appropriate massage protocol for quick relief and relaxation of the UT muscles under three different fatigue tasks.


Advanced district thermal energy systems, which circulate water at temperatures near ambient conditions, and facilitate the utilization of waste heat and renewable thermal sources, can lower the carbon-intensity of urban districts, advancing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Optimization of the network topology — the selection of the best subset of buildings and the best network to connect them, to minimize life cycle cost — can increase adoption of these system in appropriate applications. The potential "solution space" of the topology optimization problem grows factorially with the number of buildings in the district, motivating the consideration of a design heuristic. In this study, a heuristic for the network selection was evaluated with an exhaustive search, for a prototypical four-building district. For the prototypical district considered, the heuristic was effective in selecting an optimal network topology. Additionally, it was found that, in this case, the selection of the subset of buildings was more influential on the life cycle cost than the selection of the network topology. This work is part of a larger effort to develop a topology optimization framework for district thermal energy systems, which is anticipated to address barriers to adoption of ambient-temperature systems.


This paper proposes a quadratic differential and integration (QDI) technique for the design of buck converters with small equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the output capacitor. The QDI circuit not only further removes the dependence of ESR in the V2 control but also achieves a fast transient response with small load transient voltage variation. The experimental results show the output voltage can have voltage ripple about 30 mV and recovery time of 20 μs in case of 300 mA load current variation.


Background: Exsanguination is the main cause of death in trauma patients. Early determination that a patient requires an emergency operation is crucial for saving of life. We challenge the defining predictors that guide the intervention or emergency operation for hemorrhage control in severe trauma patients. Aims: The aim of this study was to define the predictors that guide the intervention or emergency operation to resuscitate severe trauma patients. Methods: This study was a retrospective study in trauma patients from Songklanagarind hospital. Data were retrospectively collected from a prospective collection registry that included 131 trauma patients who met the trauma activation criteria at Songklanagarind Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. Emergency operation or intervention was defined as the procedures needed to improve hemostasis within 4 h. Categorical data were compared. Logistic regression was used to measure the relationship between dependent and one or more independent variables. Results: The study population was 81.7% male. The age range was 31–35 years. The most frequent mechanism was blunt injury (78%). The emergency hemostasis patients had 27 patients (20.6%). The factors relate to an emergency operation or intervention to improve the hemostasis within 4 h were focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST)-positive (P < 0.001), male (P = 0.02), Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥25 (P = 0.013), and penetrating injury (P = 0.016). The preventive factors to an emergency hemostasis were platelet ≥100,000 (P = 0.039) and age ≥50 (P = 0.005). Conclusion: The palate count, FAST, male, age, ISS, and penetrating injury are factors that relate to an emergency operation or intervention within the first 4 h.


Background:Persistent postherniotomy pain (PPP) affects everyday activities in 5–10% of patients. Identification of predisposing factors may help to identify the risk groups and guide anesthetic or surgical procedures in reducing risk for PPP. Methods:A prospective study was conducted in 464 patients undergoing open or laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal elective groin hernia repair. Primary outcome was identification of risk factors for substantial pain-related functional impairment at 6 months postoperatively assessed by the validated Activity Assessment Scale (AAS). Data on potential risk factors for PPP were collected preoperatively (pain from the groin hernia, preoperative AAS score, pain from other body regions, and psychometric assessment). Pain scores were collected on days 7 and 30 postoperatively. Sensory functions including pain response to tonic heat stimulation were assessed by quantitative sensory testing preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively to assess nerve damage. Results:Four hundred sixty-four patients were included, whereof 442 were examined at 6 months (95.3% follow-up). Fifty-five patients (12.4%) had "moderate/severe" PPP at 6 months. Logistic regression analysis identified four risk factors for PPP: preoperative AAS score, preoperative pain to tonic heat stimulation, 30-day postoperative pain intensity, and sensory dysfunction in the groin at 6 months (nerve damage) (all P < 0.03). A risk prediction model of only preoperative factors and choice of surgical technique revealed increased preoperative AAS score, increased preoperative pain to heat stimulation, and open surgery to increase the risk for PPP (all P < 0.02). Conclusion:PPP is related to both patient and surgical factors. Patients with a high preoperative AAS score and high pain response to a standardized heat stimulus may preferably be treated using an operative technique with lowest risk for nerve damage.


Assessment of the role of genetic abnormalities and minimal residual disease (MRD) is an active developing area in hematology. The use of genetic methods makes it possible to predict the course of the disease and apply an individualized approach to antimyeloma therapy. At the same time, the identification of MRD after therapy determines possibility of relapse.
 Aim. To identify the prognostic potential of MRD in patients in the standard and high molecular risk groups.
 Materials and methods. We analyzed 72 patients with MM (median age was 59 years (range 37-80), male/female - 1.3:1). All patients received initial therapy with proteasome inhibitors and / or immunomodulators. High dose therapy (MEL200) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) was carried out 50 (69%) patients. Standard cytogenetic and FISH methods were used to stratify patients in risk groups of mSMART 3.0. The standard risk (SR) was established in 52 (72%) patients, the high risk (HR) - in 20 (28%) patients. The MFC MRD status of bone marrow was evaluated after 4-6 cycles of induction therapy or after ASCT with use of 5-colors flow cytometry. MRD-negative status (MRD-) was based on level of clonal plasma cells <10-4 in bone marrow sample.
 Results. The MRD- was reached in 36% (26/72) patients. The median of OS in MRD+ group was 104 months, in MRD- was 146 months (p=.01). The median of PFS in MRD+ group was 26 months, in MRD- was 70 months (p=.00021). 2-years PFS in MRD+ group was 56%, in MRD- group was 100% (p=.00021). We divided patients into the following groups for evaluation the effect of MRD on survival in risk groups: SR МRD+ 34/72 (47%), SR МRD- 18/72 (25%), HR МRD+ 12/72 (17%) and HR MFC МRD- 8/72 (11%). The median of OS in HR MRD+ group was 72 months, in SR MRD+ - 104 months, in HR MRD- - 146 months, in SR MRD- was not achieved (p=.02). The median of PFS in HR MRD+ group was 24 months, in SR MRD+ - 26 months, in HR MRD- - 68 months, in SR MRD- - 70 months (p=.003). The 2-years PFS in HR MRD+ group was 44%, in SR MRD+ group was 50% and in SR MRD- and HR MRD- groups were 100% (p=.003).
 Conclusion. The absence of MRD is the most important prognostic factor. The leveling of negative effect of genetic abnormalities become possible when the MRD-negative response status is achieved. Presumably, this is due to the elimination of clonal plasma cells owing to the use of optimal antimyeloma therapy which is based on the risk stratification.

 Martynkevich: Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Shuvaev:Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.


Echocardiography is fast becoming the technique of choice for noninvasive evaluation of left ventricular function in the critically ill patient. Current technology allows for assessment of overall left ventricular performance and for diastolic and systolic function. Doppler technology has greatly enhanced the diagnostic capability of two-dimensional echocardiography. The critical care physician should be aware not only of currently available techniques, but also those which will be used in the routine care of the critically ill subject in the foreseeable future.


Two strains of Proteus mirabilis, IpR1 and IpR2, resistant to both imipenem and mecillinam, but susceptible to other beta-lactams were isolated from blood cultures of patients who had been treated with imipenem. Strain IpR1 was isolated in the same sample as a P. mirabilis IpS1 which was susceptible to imipenem and mecillinam. Strains IpR1 and IpR2 did not produce a beta-lactamase and their outer membrane protein profiles were similar to those of IpS1 and P. mirabilis ATCC 29906. Electrophoretic profiles of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) showed a decrease in PBP 1A of strains IpR1 and IpR2 compared with IpS1 and ATCC 29906. Competition experiments revealed a decrease in affinity of PBP 2 for imipenem from strain IpR1. These findings suggest that imipenem resistance in P. mirabilis might result from altered PBPs, as reported for Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. How to Use This Book. What This Book Is...and Is Not. Overview of the Book. What You Should Do if a Statistic of Interest Is Not Included. Writing for Publication. 2. Frequently Asked Questions About Reporting Statistics. What Is a Research Report? What Is a Results Section? What Should I Include in a Results Section? What Are Developing Trends in Reporting Results? What Is a Manipulation Check and How Should I Report It? How Should I Report the Results of the Test of My Hypotheses? What Exactly Should I Report in My Results Section? What Format Should I Use to Report Significance Levels(p value)? What if My Test Is Not Significant? "Are" or "Were" My Results Significant? What Is an "Effect Size" Indicator? Do I Have to Report the Effect Size? How Do I Report Effect Size? How Do I use Greek Symbols? Should Tables Be Used? If I Use Tables, Where Do I Put Them? Conclusion. 3. Descriptive Information. Frequencies and Percentages. Mean and Standard Deviation. 4. Reliabilities. Interitem: Cronbach's Alpha. Interrater. 5. Correlation. Correlation. 6. Nonparametric Statistics. Chi-Square Tests. Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test/ Mann-Whitney U Test. Kruskal-Wallis Test. McNemar's Repeated Measures Test. Cochran's Q. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. Friedman Analysis of Variance by Ranks. 7. Parametric Statistics. z Test. t Test. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). ANCOVA. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). MANCOVA. Regression and Multiple Regression. 8. Presenting Results Visually. Using Tables. Constructing Tables. Using Charts, Graphs, and Figures. Conclusion. 9. Conclusion. References. Summary Charts of Statistical Tests, What to Report, Abbreviations, and Suggested Syntax.


Theories of non-equilibrium strategic thinking (e.g. Level-k and Cognitive Hierarchy) intend to describe how individuals actually behave. But how much of their descriptive accuracy is driven by being more permissive theories? We modify Selten [1991] axiomatic measure of predictive success to ensure individual consistency. By applying restrictions over observables to the individual data (echoing the revealed preference literature), we test the necessary and sufficient conditions of these theories and quantify the economic losses for deviations from the theory. The non-parametric results are favourable for these theories and show that their predictive success is not mechanically due to their permissiveness. JEL classification: C14, C72, C91,


Salep, known as a biodegradable polysaccharide, is hydrolyzed and used as both a reducing agent and stabilizer for graphene oxide (GO). The functionalized reduced graphene oxide (f-rGO) is homogenously dispersed in an aqueous solution of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PVA based hydrogel and film nanocomposites are prepared and proposed as new biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. The mechanical properties of the film nanocomposites are investigated with varying content of f-rGO, glycerol and citric acid as a reinforcing agent, a plasticizer agent and a cross linking agent respectively. For the first time, chemically cross linked PVA hydrogels are synthesized using N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) and ammonium persulfate (APS) without using hazardous monomers. Water absorbency and mechanical properties of the prepared samples have been enhanced considerably in comparison with the previous reports on PVA hydrogels. Chemical and physical characterization of the nanocomposites are carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM and field emission-SEM), and tensile and compression mechanical tests. Cell cultures on both of the film and hydrogel samples indicate that the synthesized nanocomposites have good biocompatibility and can be used as promising biomaterials with the desired mechanical properties.


This paper provides a theory of strategic innovation project choice by incumbents and start-ups. We show that prohibiting killer acquisitions strictly reduces the variety of innovation projects. By contrast, we find that prohibiting other acquisitions only has a weakly negative innovation effect, and we provide conditions under which the effect is zero. Furthermore, for both killer and other acquisitions, we identify market conditions under which the innovation effect is small, so that prohibiting acquisitions to enhance competition would be justified.


Niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) has drawn significant interest as a promising anode for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) due to its large interplanar lattice spacing and relatively high diffusion efficiency. However, the intrinsic drawbacks of low electrical conductivity and substantial volume change greatly impede its practical applications in large-scale energy storage systems. In this work, ultrasmall Nb2O5 nanoparticles wrapped with nitrogen-doped carbon (denoted as Nb2O5@NC) were delicately synthesized via a facile sol-gel method and subsequent heat treatment. The unique structure of ultrasmall Nb2O5 nanoparticles in a carbonaceous matrix can not only effectively shorten the transmission distance for both ions/electrons but also relieve the strain and stress caused by volume variation during the sodiation/desodiation process. In addition, the synergistic effect of nitrogen doping and carbon coating can further improve the electronic conductivity and pseudocapacitive behavior of the active materials, thus promoting the rapid electrochemical reaction kinetics of the Nb2O5@NC composite. The obtained 600-Nb2O5@NC-2 anode exhibits superior rate capability and outstanding cycling stability, delivering a reversible capacity of 196 mA h g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 1000 cycles. Even at high current densities of 5 A g-1 and 10 A g-1, the long-life cycling tests show that the reversible capacities still remain at 128.4 mA h g-1 and 95.9 mA h g-1 after 3000 cycles, respectively, which is the best performance of Nb2O5-based anodes at high current densities so far. These results indicate that the feasible synthetic strategy of Nb2O5@NC is an effective approach to develop high-performance Nb2O5-based anodes for large-scale energy storage.


Platelets are attracted to a wound or injury site stimulating the clotting and healing cascades. Degranulated platelets release numerous substances including proteins known as growth factors. Growth factors signal undifferentiated stem cells to the site, promote cell mitosis, and stimulate osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Cytokines, which attract neutrophils, are also released from platelet granules. Concentrating platelets 4x to 5x the baseline level accelerates the healing process. When platelet rich plasma is mixed with an activator, a platelet gel will form. Clinical applications of platelet gel are numerous. Some benefits include a marked decrease in post-surgical swelling and bruising, reduction in surgical site pain, elimination of drains, and acceleration of bone growth and soft tissue healing. Scientific publications support that autologous biomaterial accelerates the healing process.


This manuscript grants a control system for Power Quality (PQ) issues of Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) based hysteresis controller and augmentation the PQ with the help of numerous optimization methods. In numerous attractive features of UPQC, like voltage sags, voltage swells negative series current and harmonics. Foremost aim of PQ issues is the recompense of the D-FACT devices that origins an undesired effect on bearing. Optimal values for converter of UPQC its presentation can be meaningfully enhanced PQ. This paper discoursed about the UPQC physical process asserts the required meliorate the PQ at DC link integrated. The adaptive control technique for hysteresis developed by the modifying PQ with the use of the UPQC method is also briefly excused. The measurement of voltage sag and swell will be improved and sinusoidal after inoculating current and voltage to the UPQC source current and source voltage. The evaluation results inevitably show the effectiveness of the voltage sag and the voltage swell in the UPQC system based on the Neuro Fuzzy Control (NFC) controller is improved.


The persistent high rate of business failures suggests that while strategic thinking is widely acknowledged, it may not be widely practiced. MBA students and business leaders in Western Australia were surveyed using a questionnaire posing clear business choices. The students and leaders were equally proficient at strategic thinking although the level of practice could be improved somewhat. While strategic thinking profiles were similar, it was found that the two groups differed in their choices on 21% of the items. In order to increase the level of strategic thinking among potential and current business leaders in Western Australia, a number of practical suggestions are made. Many of these reiterate calls to business leaders made by other authors.


In this paper we introduced an opportunistic transmission scheme in MU-MIMO downlink with reduced feedback and mode adaptation. In this strategy both base station (BS) and mobile station (MS) are equipped with multiple antennas. Threshold scheme is employed. Only eligible MS whose channel quality exceeds a preset threshold would select transmission mode, including beamforming (BF) and spatial multiplexing (SM) and adaptively feed back channel information. With feedback information, BS schedules one user out of candidate MSs at each time slot. In evaluating the scheme, statistical analysis is employed in company with Monte-Carlo simulation. Results show that with appropriate thresholds and mode adaptation, the proposed scheme can achieve high capacity as well as low feedback load and outage probability. Keywords-Multiuser MIMO; Downlink; Feedback; Threshold; Beamforming; Spatial Multiplexing


This Major Research Paper conducted a critical discourse analysis of a documentary produced by NTV Kenya and AMREF Africa about eradicating Female Circumcision in the Maasai community in Kenya. This research sought to understand how the documentary constructed anti female genital mutilation (FGM) discourse. The main discourses were colonialism, saving the Maasai girl, and double patriarchy as is constructed by International NGOs. These discourses became evident through the language used, images displayed on the screen, gendered power relations and who is benefiting from these. Using the Maasai Female Experience (MFE) as a theoretical lens, I placed emphasis on how Maasai women are treated in the anti-FGM campaigns which is driven by international NGOs. African centered worldviews were also employed in this study by the use of MFE and Afrocentric theory of social change. Community development workers and social workers need to consider these discourses while working with Maasai women. They must be conscious about reproducing oppressive practices and stereotypes that has historically been used to marginalize Maasai women.


The transformation of the erotic Song of Songs into a mystical tract on the soul's love for Christ was surely one of the great exegetical feats of late ancient Christianity. Recent work on the politics of meaning leads us to interrogate more closely the processes by which early Christian exegetes achieved that feat, and how their interpretations encoded and produced particular forms of socially mediated power and knowledge. Michel Foucault has proposed for modern literary criticism the interpretive mode of the "author function," by which literary critics can domesticate or reject a text that is potentially transgressive. This "author function" supplied one method by which difficult canonical texts, like the Song of Songs, were tamed, and furthermore produced authoritative (and authorial) meaning that mediated contested boundaries of Christian cultural identity.


Professionalism is a very important aspect of supporting the quality of school administration management. This research is a research that aims to determine the implementation of professionalism of the administrative workforce at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba. In this study using a qualitative descriptive study. The informants in this study were the principal, vice-principal, head of administrative staff, and administrative staff. The technique of collecting data through observation methods, interview methods, and documentation methods. The technique of data analysis in this study uses data collection techniques, data presentation, reduction, and conclusions. The results showed that the professionalism of the administrative staff at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba in their proficiency in using equipment and attitudes in school administrative services can be said to be good and quite satisfying. This is evident in the proficiency of administrative staff in operating all the equipment that supports their work and the friendly and polite attitude of administrative staff in providing services, especially in school administrative services. However, from the readiness, responsibility, and disciplinary attitude in implementing school administrative services, it is considered that they are still not good because there is still administrative staff who have not carried out their duties and responsibilities professionally. This will affect the quality and performance of the administrative staff on the professionalism of their work at SMK Country 7 Bulukumba.


The main goals of this study were to identifythe alpine torrent catchments that are sensitive to climatic changes and to assess the robustness of the methods for the elaboration of flood and debris flow hazard zone maps to specific effects of climate changes. In this study, a procedure for the identification and localization of torrent catchments in which the climate scenarios will modify the hazard situation was developed. In two case studies, the impacts of a potential increase of precipitation intensities to the delimited hazard zones were studied.
The identification and localization of the torrent and river catchments, where unfavourable changes in the hazard situation occur, could eliminate speculative and unnecessary measures against the impacts of climate changes like a general enlargement of hazard zones or a general over dimensioning of protection structures for the whole territory. The results showed a high spatial variability of the sensitivity of catchments to climate changes. In sensitive catchments, the sediment management in alpine torrents will meet future challenges due to a higher rate for sediment removal from retention basins. The case studies showed a remarkable increase of the areas affected by floods and debris flow when considering possible future precipitation intensities in hazard mapping. But, the calculated increase in extent of future hazard zones lay within the uncertainty of the methods used today for the delimitation of the hazard zones. Thus, the consideration of the uncertainties laying in the methods for the elaboration of hazard zone maps in the torrent and river catchments sensitive to climate changes would provide a useful instrument for the consideration of potential future climate conditions. The study demonstrated that weak points in protection structures in future will become more important in risk management activities.


We follow the spreading of a magnetic liquid, a nonwetting ferrofluid, along a vertical wire. The external control parameter of the fluid ascension is the magnetic field generated by a current travelling through the conducting wire. The ascension height results from a balance between capillary, magnetic and gravity forces. For a current threshold, we observe a rapid jump of the ascension height corresponding to a sheathlike coverage of the wire only limited by gravity. This magnetic wetting transition is analogous to the wetting transition on fiber, predicted for totally wetting fluid in the presence of Van der Waals forces.


The intestinal capillary blood flow in hemorrhagic shock was studied in 32 rats by fluorescein flowmetry (FF). FF implies the measurement of relative intestinal capillary blood flow, expressed as an index. Exsanguination to 35 mmHg for 180 min resulted in a heterogeneous fluorescence pattern with 51% difference in blood flow index between the areas with most and those with least fluorescence, compared with 14% in the control group. Following retransfusion of the shed blood, the difference in blood flow index between areas with most and least fluorescence was 54%, suggesting that the heterogeneous blood flow was not improved by retransfusion. Heterogeneity of the capillary blood flow in the intestines seems to be a phenomenon of hemorrhagic shock and FF to be a suitable method for studying this condition.


Compared with a scalar tracking receiver, the Beidou vector tracking receiver has the advantages of smaller tracking errors, fast loss-of-lock reacquisition, and high stability. However, in extremely challenging conditions, such as highly dynamic and weak signals, the loop will exhibit a high degree of nonlinearity, and observations with gross errors and large deviations will reduce the positioning accuracy and stability. In view of this situation, based on the concepts of cubature Kalman filtering and square root filtering, a square root cubature Kalman filtering (SRCKF) algorithm is given. Then, combining this algorithm with the concept of covariance matching based on an innovation sequence, an adaptive square root cubature Kalman filter (ASRCKF) algorithm is proposed. The algorithm was verified, and the tracking performance of the vector locking loop (VLL) realized by the algorithm was compared with the SRCKF VLL and the ASRCKF scalar locking loop (SLL). The simulation results show that, regardless of whether in a highly dynamic weak signal environment or in a general situation where the signal-to-noise ratio is higher than the tracking threshold, the tracking accuracy and stability of the ASRCKF VLL are higher than those of the SRCKF VLL and the ASRCKF SLL, the three-dimensional position error of the ASRCKF VLL does not exceed 36 m, and the three-dimensional velocity error does not exceed 3.5 m/s.


Membrane-based separation processes are new technology combined membrane separation with conventional separation. Hydrophobic porous membranes are often used in these processes. The structure of hydrophobic porous membrane has significant effect on mass transfer process. The permeabilities of five kinds of gas, He, N2,O2, CO2 and water vapor, across six polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) fiat membranes were tested experimentally.Results indicated that the greater the membrane mean pore size and the wider the pore size distribution are, the higher the gas permeability. A gas permeation model, including the effects of membrane structure parameter and gas properties, was established. A comprehensive characteristic parameter (including porosity, thickness and tortuosity) was found more effective to express the influence of membrane structure in gas permeation process. The predicted permeation coefficients were in good agreement with experimental data.


Herein, we present a patient who was diagnosed with trigeminal nerve injury following a pontine hemorrhage. A 38-year-old male was diagnosed with a left pontine hemorrhage and underwent conservative management at the neurosurgery department of a university hospital. After hemorrhage onset, he felt facial pain on the right side. After seven years, he visited the rehabilitation department of another hospital for evaluation of his right facial pain. He complained of somatosensory impairment and facial pain (tingling and cold sensation) on the right side as well as difficulty chewing and gait disturbance. On neurological examination, decreased touch sensation (approximately 30%) was observed on the right side of the face, in the oral cavity, and on the tongue (anterior two-thirds) as well as weakness of the right-sided masseter muscles. He also exhibitedallodynia without dysesthesia on the right side of the face. Diffusion tensor tractography showed the right trigeminal nerve to be discontinued at the anterior margin of the pons (arrow) compared to the state of the left trigeminal nerve.


To assess the effects of antihypertensive therapy on the heart, left ventricular mass and performance indices (determined by M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography) were compared before and after 4-5 months of nitrendipine therapy in 19 primary hypertensive patients (stage I and II). MAP was reduced from 17.1 +/- 1.7 to 14.5 +/- 1.7 kPa (128.5 +/- 12.7 to 109.0 +/- 13.1 mm Hg), P less than 0.001. The heart rate increased from 68 +/- 8 to 70 +/- 8 beats/min (P greater than 0.05). None of the indices for systolic function (SV, SI, CO, CI, EF, FS) changed significantly (P greater than 0.05). But the indices for diastolic function (RFF, RFR, VLef, IRP, EFv, A/E) improved remarkably (P less than 0.001 or 0.05). Furthermore, a positive correlation between the increasing rate of VLef and decreasing rate of MAP (r = 0.58, P less than 0.005) was noticed. Therefore, the decreasing in arterial pressure is considered as a major relative factor in the improvement of diastolic dysfunction. The patients were divided into two groups according to LVMI: group A, 11 patients with LVMI greater than or equal to 125 g/m2; while group B, 8 patients with LVMI less than 125 g/m2. The LV diastolic relaxation index IRP improved to a greater degree in group B (P less than 0.05), although the reduction of MAP was more markable in group A (P less than 0.05). This means that factors other than arterial pressure may influence the LV diastolic relaxation. In group A, the LVMI decreased from 155.1 +/- 29.9 to 144.4 +/- 33.0 g/m2 (a reduction of 7.0 +/- 9.0%). It suggests that LV hypertrophy can be "reversed" following nitrendipine therapy in some of the hypertensive patients.


This study investigates a long-term and short term association among climatic change due to industrialization in Pakistan by using ARDL technique for the time spanof 1990 to 2019. The Present study uses Industrial value added in its place of economic growth for EKC in case of Pakistan as the industrial sector is considered the key cause of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Besides that study used Population density, Nuclear energy, Households Final consumption expenditure and trade openness as independent variables. Empirical findings come out with U shaped EKC instead of Inverted U shape EKC in incident of Pakistan in short and in long run. This is because of consumption of modern technology and Nuclear energy consumption in Industrialization, i.e evident with negative association of Nuclear energy with carbon emission in short and in long run in Pakistan. Households Final consumption expenditure also shows significant and negative association, as income increases people use more advanced home appliances so carbon emission decreased. Being the most densed populated country of the world Population density is the significant contributor of carbon emission in case of Pakistan. Policy Implication for Pakistan is to control Population Pressure and to use of Nuclear power in Industrialization may reduce carbon emission.


The purpose of this case study is to highlight the role of feedforward as a potential tool for managers in encouraging coworkers and subordinates to excel at their workplace performance.,Insights were captured through real-time observations made during three feedforward sessions conducted at regular intervals during the course of a six-month training intervention. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with participants to gather individual perspectives.,The findings of the study showed positive results in feedforward as a mechanism to strengthen employee performance at the workplace. Participants also reported deeper involvement in the feedforward process as compared to the conventional feedback method.,The study has wider practical implications in the corporate world, as it provides managers with a practical tool to mentor subordinates and coworkers toward on-the-job performance. Feedforward is easy to apply and forward-looking in its approach.,Feedforward has applications in corporate environments as well as families, associations, and academic institutions. It offers immense value by fostering a climate of social support and mutual co-operation.,The feedforward exercise mentioned in the study is relevant on account of its applicability in various organizations across industries. It provides managers with an opportunity to receive and share insightful suggestions with coworkers in an open and transparent environment.


Mass effects have been investigated in relation to the chemical physics of detonation in gases. In the normal stable detonation of mixtures of oxygen with hydrogen, effects of dilution with argon or with helium are as expected from conventional theory. Replacement of hydrogen by deuterium leads to a drop of velocity, as expected from the difference in density of the gases and enthalpy of the chemical reactions. But for marginal conditions of detonation, much more marked influences of molecular mass on stoichiometric limits are observed. In the present paper, these are recorded for the stoichiometric mixtures SH = 2H2 + O2, or SD = 2D2 + O2, suitably diluted to yield the pairs of systems SH + H2, SH + O2, SH + Ar, SH + He, SD + D2, SD + O2, SD + Ar, SD + He. In all these cases, the SH systems show more extended detonation limits than SD systems. With our present knowledge of gaseous detonation, more than one interpretation can be given to the mass effects observed. These are discussed to throw light on factors controlling the stability of detonation. Possibilities include the influence of mass effects on microturbulence, on the transfer of activation energy, and on Soret gradients of mass and of electric charge in the front of the reaction zone. A second stable régime has been discovered with lower velocities of propagation; it can be conveniently observed only near the stoichiometric limits for the normal mechanism of propagation in the systems SH + H2, SH + O2 and SD + O2.


We report on the experimental observation of spatially oscillating solitons in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic lattices, realized by optical induction using a continuous nondiffracting Weber beam. Thereby, we introduce and demonstrate a new type of transverse soliton dynamics originating from the unique parabolic geometry of the photonic lattice. First, we numerically calculate the fundamental soliton solution for this lattice and experimentally demonstrate its existence. Afterwards, we experimentally launch the soliton with an additional transverse momentum and observe harmonic spatial oscillation during propagation.


Objective: To evaluate the importance of cervical cancer screening frequency on the detection of cervical abnormalities in HIV infected women. Secondly, to assess the impact of immunodeficiency and potential risk factors on the occurrence of cervical abnormalities. Method: A retrospective chart analysis was performed on 57 medical records from 1999 through 2003 at the Medical University of Ohio. Results: Seven of 24 women who had Pap testing at less than 6 months and 7 of 33 at greater than six months were reported to have progression of cervical abnormalities (29.2% vs 21.2%, P=0.59). HIV viral load, age, and race were also not significantly related to cervical abnormalities, while there was a relationship with CD4 cell count Conclusion: Although a significant difference between six and twelve month screening intervals was not found, aggressive and individualized screening programs are important for cervical cancer prevention in HIV infected women.


Long-day onion (Allium cepa L. 'Vision') was subjected to five soil water potential (SWP) treatments (-10, -20, -30, -50, and -70 kPa) using subsurface drip irrigation in 1997 and 1998. Onions were grown on 1.1-m beds with two double rows spaced 0.56 m apart and a drip tape buried 13 cm deep in the bed center. Soil water potential was maintained at the five levels by automated, high-frequency irrigations based on SWP measurements at 0.2-m depth. Onions were evaluated for yield and grade after 70 days of storage. In 1997, total and colossal (bulb diameter ≥102 mm) yield increased with increasing SWP, but marketable yield was highest at a calculated -21 kPa because of greater decomposition in storage in wetter treatments. In 1998 total, marketable, and colossal-grade onion yield increased with increasing SWP. Onion profits were highest with a calculated SWP of -17 kPa in 1997, and at the wettest level tested in 1998. Storage decomposition was not affected by SWP in 1998. Maintenance of SWP at -10 and -20 kPa required, respectively, 912 and 691 mm of water in 1997 and 935 and 589 mm of water in 1998. Onion crop evapotranspiration from emergence to the last irrigation totaled 681 mm in 1997 and 716 mm in 1998.


Objectives. (1) To evaluate the efficiency of work of the Department of Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); (2) to study of its work processes; and (3) to elaborate recommendations for their optimization.Material and methods. Using the principles of lean manufacturing and the original methodology of the Philips Co., the investigators made a comprehensive assessment of the work of the Tomography Department, Center for Radiation Diagnosis, Treatment and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, in December 2016 to February 2017, including: (1) a study of management reports; (2) oral interviews of employees; (3) a survey of employees, by using a specially designed questionnaire; (4) direct observation and subsequent description of work processes; and (5) assessment of patient satisfaction, by calculating the net promoter score. Based on the findings, the investigators calculated the throughput potential of CT and MRI, described the factors influencing the possibility of realizing this potential, developed recommendations to enhance the efficiency of work processes, and ranked the latter by the magnitude of the expected effect, by the complexity of implementation, and by material costs, followed by prioritization.Results. Assessment of the throughput potential has shown that CT and MRI examinations can be performed by 50.6% and 23.2% more, respectively. This can be achieved by additionally attracting patients, reducing equipment downtime, optimizing work processes, most of all at the stage of patient recording and registration, as well as at the stage of image interpretation and creation of a conclusion. The developed recommendations for optimizing work processes included measures of varying effectiveness and complexity, which could rank them according to three priority levels and identify long-term strategic initiatives.Conclusion. The comprehensive study of the efficiency of work of the Departments of CT and MRI made it possible to quantify the potential for increasing the throughput of CT and MRI, to consider in detail the stages of a medical service delivery process, to reveal areas for improving the process, and to form a set of recommendations for their optimization.


Conducting polymer actuators generate forces that exceed those of mammalian skeletal muscle by up to two orders of magnitude for a given cross-sectional area, require only a few volts to operate, and are low in cost. However application of conducting polymer actuators is hampered by the lack of a full description of the relationship between load, displacement, voltage and current. In an effort to provide such a model, system identification techniques are employed. Stress-strain tests are performed at constant applied potential to determine polypyrrole stiffness. The admittance transfer function of polypyrrole and the associated electrolyte is measured over the potential range in which polypyrrole is highly conductive. The admittance is well described by treating the polymer as a volumetric capacitance of 8*107 F*m3 whose charging rate is limited by the electrolyte resistance and by diffusion within polypyrrole. The relationship between strain and charge is investigated, showing that strain is directly proportional to charge via the strain to charge density ratio, (alpha) = 1*10+-10 m3*C-1, at loads of up to 4 MPa. Beyond 4 MPa the strain to charge ratio is time dependent. The admittance models, stress/strain relation and strain to charge relationship are combined to form a full description of polypyrrole electromechanical response. This description predicts that large increases in strain rate and power are obtained through miniaturization, yielding bandwidths in excess of 10 kHz. The model also enables motor designers to optimize polypyrrole actuator geometries for their applications.


Whenever an auto manufacturer refreshes an existing car or truck model or builds a new one, the model will undergo hundreds if not thousands of tests before the factory line and tooling is finished and vehicle production beings. These tests are generally carried out on expensive, custom-made vehicles because the new factory lines for the model do not exist yet. The work presented in this paper describes how an existing intelligent scheduling software framework was modified to include domain-specific heuristics used in the vehicle test planning process. The result of this work is a prototype scheduling tool that optimizes the overall given test schedule in order to complete the work in a given time window while minimizing the total number of vehicles required for the test schedule. Initial results are presented that show a reduction in required test vehicles compared to manual scheduling of the same tasks as well as increased capability to ask "what-if" questions to further improve the schedule.


The quantum effects for a physical system can be described by the set of positive operators on a complex Hilbert space that are bounded above by the identity operator . For , let be the sequential product and let be the Jordan product of . The main purpose of this note is to study some of the algebraic properties of effects. Many of our results show that algebraic conditions on and imply that and have diagonal operator matrix forms with as an orthogonal projection on closed subspace being the common part of and . Moreover, some generalizations of results known in the literature and a number of new results for bounded operators are derived.


Respiratory diseases are of considerable economic importance in pigs, and less emphasis is on the diagnostic approaches in porcine health in our environment. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of haematology, gross, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and histopathological changes of pneumonia in pigs. The study was conducted at a municipal abattoir for over three months. 146 finished pigs were clinically examined. Blood samples were taken, while the plucks were examined for lung lesions. Lavage samples and lung sections were taken for BAL and histological examinations. Six breeds were slaughtered comprising Large White 112 (77%), Mixed Breed 15 (10%), Duroc 7 (5%), Local 6 (4%), Hampshire 4 (3%), and Large Black 2 (1%). 71 (49%) were males and 75 (51%) were females. Grossly, there was pneumonia in 92 (63%) of the pigs and the mean pulmonary consolidation score was 9.6±1.2. The large white breed had the highest consolidation score. Also, the right and left caudal lobes had the highest consolidation scores. Clinically, there was mild anaemia and leukocytosis, and BAL fluid cellular differential showed increased lymphocytic and neutrophilic counts in the pigs with pneumonia (p


The paradigm that animals with specialized feeding morphology consume specific prey types is central to current understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes seen in nature. Mantis shrimp, or stomatopod crustaceans, are often hailed as having highly specialized feeding morphology; their raptorial appendages produce among the fastest, most powerful strikes ever reported in the animal kingdom, allowing species to capture fast-moving prey or to crush hard-shelled prey. While all stomatopods have appendages that produce fast movements, their appendage forms differ dramatically, which has led researchers to divide stomatopods into two groups: spearers that unfurl streamlined appendages to capture soft-bodied, evasive prey, and smashers that generate enough force to crush hard-shelled prey with hammer-like appendages. Smashing appendages are thought to be more specialized for generating high speeds and accelerations, but some smasher species have been observed consuming everything from gastropods to evasive fish. Counter to expectation, this observation suggests that morphological specialization allows smashers to consume a wider range of prey compared to spearers. Thus, the classic notion of a one-to-one relationship between specialized morphology and diet may not apply to stomatopods. This dissertation lays the foundation for testing the hypothesis that stomatopods with appendages specialized for speed and acceleration have broad rather than narrow diets. Specifically, this dissertation addresses three fundamental questions in three chapters: 1) what are the kinematics of the spearing mantis shrimp, 2) do different stomatopod tissues integrate diet over a variety of timescales, and 3) does morphological specialization for speed and acceleration correspond with a broad or narrow diet in a smashing mantis shrimp? The first question addresses a key gap in current knowledge of stomatopod mechanics by providing the first in depth analysis of strike kinematics in a spearer. High speed and field videos of prey capture events were used to quantify appendage movements and behavior. Morphology was analyzed with Computed Tomography scans of the appendage. The results from these analyses were then compared to previous research on a smashing species. I found that the spearer exhibited greater reach but lower speeds and accelerations than the smasher, which implies a trade-off between reach and speed. The second question aims to develop methods in stable isotope ecology that determine the diet breadth of smashing mantis shrimp, because stable isotope analysis measures and compares intra- and interspecific patterns of diet breadth. The isotopic incorporation rates and isotopic discriminations of carbon and nitrogen in tissues are essential for correctly interpreting stable isotope data. I measured these variables in the smashing mantis shrimp, Neogonodactylus bredini, by feeding individuals a single species of prey and periodically sampling their muscle and hemolymph. I found variation in incorporation rates between and within tissues, and discrimination factors that were different than expected based on published literature values. N. bredini's rate of carbon incorporation was consistent with rates predicted by an allometric equation correlating incorporation rate to body mass for teleost fishes and sharks.The third question builds on the previous study and seeks to determine the diet breadth of N. bredini. Specifically, I combined abundance studies of prey items, a laboratory feeding experiment that examined which prey N. bredini would consume, a stable isotope analysis of diet, and field observations of feeding behavior. I conducted these studies in a sea grass habitat and a coral rubble habitat over two different seasons to determine whether diet changed spatially and temporally. The abundance study revealed that prey abundances vary between habitats. The feeding experiment showed that N. bredini was capable of consuming both hard- and soft-bodied prey. The stable isotope analysis showed that N. bredini consumed a wide range of different prey in the field, including snapping shrimp and soft-bodied worms. Thus, in contrast with the hypothesis that specialized feeding morphology corresponds to a narrow diet, this suite of observations demonstrates that N. bredini's smashing appendage does not limit this predator to a diet of hard-shelled prey. Together, the answers to these questions provide novel insight into the relationship between appendage morphology and diet specialization in mantis shrimp and lay the foundation for examining the ecomorphology of this diverse group of animals.


The fuzzy vault is an error tolerant authentication method that ensures the privacy of the stored reference data. Several publications have proposed the application of the fuzzy vault to fingerprints, but the results of subsequent analyses indicate that a single finger does not contain sufficient information for a secure implementation. In this contribution, we present an implementation of a fuzzy vault based on minutiae information in several fingerprints aiming at a security level comparable to current cryptographic applications. We analyze and empirically evaluate the security, efficiency, and robustness of the construction and several optimizations. The results allow an assessment of the capacity of the scheme and an appropriate selection of parameters. Finally, we report on a practical simulation conducted with ten users.


What types of social processes generate strong online co-production groups? How do these groups evolve to reach peak performance? How does the quality of the products generated by the groups co-vary with the evolution of their social systems over time? The paper analyzes the entire English and French Wikipedia editorial histories, from their inception until 2015, identifying the specific phases through which two different massive online production systems grew. By tracking the emergence of the high contribution group across two different online spaces on a fine-grained level, the paper uncovers their temporal evolutions and impacts on the organization of social systems. Furthermore, the paper reveals how the quality of the content co-evolves with the emergence of the production groups through each growth phase.


This notice announces the monthly actuarial rates for aged (age 65 or over) and disabled (under age 65) enrollees in the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) program for calendar year 1985. It also announces the monthly SMI premium rate to be paid by all enrollees during calendar year 1985.


Many medical procedures require the detection, tracking and guidance of (biopsy) needles. The detection of the position of the needle can be challenging because of specular reflection which deflects the sound in a direction away from the transducer surface. To visualize the tip of small needles often motion is introduced to the discomfort of the patient. Vilkomerson and co-workers suggested in 1981 the placement of an ultrasound receiver close to the needle tip. The received echoes are detected by add-on hardware. The maximum echo is assumed to originate from a beam directly above the detector, and the time of flight determines the distance to the transducer. The feasibility of the method was demonstrated by the same group in-vivo. The precision of the method has not been previously discussed in literature. This paper introduces two methods for estimation of the position of the needle tip and investigates their precision. The first method uses conventional imaging. Instead of detecting the maximum echo, as previously suggested, the center of mass is found both across beams and along the received signals, thus decreasing the sensitivity to noise. The second method is based synthetic aperture (SA) scanning. The position of the tip is found via triangulation which involves solving a system of linear equations. The robustness to noise is ensured through averaging a number of estimates. The sensor is a ring of piezo-electric film making it possible to receive waves from any direction. The results were obtained using simulations in Field II. The center frequency is 7 MHz. The transducer array is mechanically focused in elevation plane at 25 mm while the height of the elements is 4.5 mm. The transducer pitch is 202 microns. The sensor is a ring with height of 1 mm and 2 mm diameter. Positions were varied from 10 to 120 mm in depth and from 0 to 20 mm in lateral and elevation direction. The mean error of position estimation is for the case of conventional and SA imaging is 0.2 and 0.05 mm, respectively. The precision of two methods to determine the position of the needle tip is investigated. Using spherical transmissions yields higher accuracy. Both methods can be extended to 3D if the transmissions originate from transducer elements that are not placed on a line. Needles equipped with receivers can be used for deploying brachytherapy seeds ensuring high precision of the procedure.


K-means algorithm is implemented through two steps: initialization and
subsequent iterations. Initialization is to select the initial cluster center, while subsequent iterations
are to continuously change the cluster center until it won't change any more or the number of iterations
reaches its maximum. K-means algorithm is so sensitive to the cluster center selected during
initialization that the selection of a different initial cluster center will influence the algorithm performance.
Therefore, improving the initialization process has become an important means of
K-means performance improvement.

This paper uses a new strategy to select the initial cluster center. It first calculates the minimum
and maximum values of the data in a certain index (For lower-dimensional data, such as twodimensional
data, features with larger variance, or the distance to the origin can be selected; for
higher-dimensional data, PCA can be used to select the principal component with the largest variance),
and then divides the range into equally-sized sub-ranges. Next adjust the sub-ranges based on
the data distribution so that each sub-range contains as much data as possible. Finally, the mean value
of the data in each sub-range is calculated and used as the initial clustering center.

The theoretical analysis shows that although the time complexity of the initialization process
is linear, the algorithm has the characteristics of the superlinear initialization method. This algorithm
is applied to two-dimensional GPS data analysis and high-dimensional network attack detection.
Experimental results show that this algorithm achieves high clustering performance and clustering
speed.

This paper reduces the subsequent iterations of K-means algorithm without compromising
the clustering performance, which makes it suitable for large-scale data clustering. This algorithm
can not only be applied to low-dimensional data clustering, but also suitable for highdimensional
data.


Introduction Recent scholarship has overturned the myth that, 'Pediatrics as a specialised branch of medicine had no real existence before the middle of the nineteenth century, hence the literature on the subject is meagre.'1 Paediatric admissions were frequent in voluntary hospitals in the mid eighteenth-century well before the first specialty hospital2. We present further analysis of data on 1483 paediatric admissions at 5 voluntary hospitals in 1756 and 1779. Method Data was collected on all inpatients and outpatients at Chester Infirmary, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Northampton General Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital Newcastle and Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1756 and 1779. Patients under 18 years were sub-grouped and analysed using SPSSv20. "Distempers" were grouped into diagnostic and systemic categories. Results Mean age at presentation was 11.24 years (SD=5.3 years). The mean duration of illness prior to admission was 12.3 months (SD=23.4 months). 42% were female and 58% male. Febrile illness was the most common presentation (12.5%). There was a significant variation in age of presentation across the hospitals (p<0.001) with mean age at presentation being 9.25 years (SD=5.44 years) at Manchester Royal infirmary and 13.8 years (SD-=4.1 years) in Bristol 1779. Females presented approximately 1 year later than males (p<0.001) and were also unwell for longer prior to admission (p<0.001). There was no significant association between the "Distemper" and the hospital to which the patient was admitted (Lambda=0.21). There was no significant difference in outcome between hospitals (Lambda=0.09). Conclusions There is significant variation in age of admission to different hospitals. Febrile illness is a significant disease burden reflecting the concerns of hospital administrators at the time. There is a gender bias in the presentation of children in the mid eighteenth-century. There is no evidence to suggest sub-specialisation in paediatrics in the different hospitals.


Purpose: To determine whether epidermal growth factor (EGF) is involved in reproductive developmental toxicity, using the embryonic stem cell test (EST), as well as ascertain how EGF influences embryonic development. Methods: To predict developmental toxicity on the basis of reducing cell viability and inhibition of differentiation of embryonic stem cells, EST was used to assess changes in different blastodermic genes and expression of proteins including ectodermal-specific genes Pax6, NF-H and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), mesodermal-specific genes BMP4, GATA4, and MyoD, and endodermal-specific genes, viz, α-fetoprotein, transthyretin (TTR), and albumin, as well as undifferentiated genes, Nanog and Oct4. Results: The results indicate that EGF was weakly embryotoxic with IC50ESC (i.e., the concentration that reduced ESC viability by 50 %), IC 50 3T3 (the concentration that reduced 3T3 cell viability by 50 %), and ID 50 ESC (the concentration that inhibited differentiation of ESC by 50 %) of 6.773, 10.531, and 1.793 μg/mL, respectively. The expression levels of tissue-specific genes of the three germ layers were mainly promoted by 0.01 - 1 μg/mL EGF. Distinctively, relatively high concentrations of EGF caused a discordant effect on the three germ layers. High concentrations of EGF promoted differentiation of the ectoderm and mesoderm, and either inhibited or had mostly no impact on the endoderm. Conclusion : The imbalance of the three layer-specific genes and expression of proteins, as a result of EGF, might be responsible for its weak level of developmental toxicity. The sensitivity of TTR means that further investigation is required to determine whether it can be used as an embryotoxicity biomarker for growth factors. Keywords : Embryonic stem cell test, Epidermal growth factor, Developmental toxicity, Germ layers, Blastodermic genes, Protein expression


Catalyzed by ligand free Pd(OAc)(2), 2,5-disubstituted imidazole was prepared in good yield by the reaction of fluorinated propargyl amidines with iodoarene. Mechanistic studies indicated that this transformation occurs through a nitropalladation-reductiv