An affine nonlinear autoregressive moving average (NARMA) model is derived from the neural network (NN) based general NARMA model in this paper, by using Taylor series expansion. The predictive error of this affine NARMA model will be quite acceptable, at least for the control purpose, if the amplitude of control input is properly limited. Therefore, an adaptive control scheme based on this model is proposed and applied to the design of adaptive power system stabilizer (APSS) since the amplitude of PSS output is usually well limited. The feature of this control scheme is that the control input can be online analytically obtained. Thus, comparing to the traditional NN based APSS (TAPSS), the affine NARMA model based APSS (AAPSS) does not need the training of a NN as neuro-controller, which may be a troublesome and time consuming step during the design. Moreover, the AAPSS can generally perform better than the TAPSS. Simulation studies on a single machine infinite bus system and a multi-machine system show that the AAPSSs can consistently well perform to damp electromechanical oscillations in the systems over a wide range of operating conditions.


INTRODUCTION
Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal-dominant disorder of peripheral myelin characterized by episodes of recurrent mononeuropathies usually involving nerves at common sites of entrapment and compression. Additional features include evidence of a diffuse demyelinating sensorimotor polyneuropathy on nerve conduction studies, focal myelin thickening (tomacula) on sural nerve biopsy, and a 1.5 Mb deletion on 17p11.2 encompassing the peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) gene in most families.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Two girls, aged 10 and 12 years, presented with peroneal nerve palsy and peroneal nerve palsy plus tibial nerve palsy, respectively. In none case, a clear causal factor was recognizable. Neurophysiological studies: both cases showed diffuse sensory and motor nerve conduction velocity slowing and prolongation of distal motor latencies. In addition, features of focal entrapment neuropathy were obtained at proximal peroneal nerve level. Sural nerve biopsy: large axons demyelination, redundant myelin and intraaxonal looping (case 1) and tomaculas (case 2). Molecular genetics: 17p12-p11 deletion was demonstrated in both affected girls, the mother and two maternal uncles of case 1 and in the father, paternal grandfather and two paternal uncles of case 2.

CONCLUSIONS
NHPP should be suspected in cases of peripheral neuropathy without clearly recognizable cause. Electrophysiological and molecular studies permit both delineation of the condition and identification of otherwise clinically normal family members.


Intersymbol interference (ISI) cancellation over frequency-selective underwater acoustic channel (UAC) is usually performed efficiently using iterative equalization. To this aim, an interleaver is required between the error correction scheme and the modulation scheme, and the longer the interleaver block length the better the performance. However, in the case of time-varying UAC, the length of the interleaver should not be longer than the channel coherence time, thus limiting the performance. Hence, for time-varying UAC with a low coherence time, small interleaver block length have to be used. In this paper, we propose a small block length coding scheme and its associate joint equalization and decoding algorithm based on Spinal codes. We show its efficiency over static large delay spread channels and static UAC: more precisely, simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves a lower bit error rate than the Turbo equalization scheme with the same block length, especially for high spectral efficiency modulations. Simulations of proposed scheme over UAC obtained from underwater sea experiments are also presented which show the promising performances.


This paper makes a typological contribution by describing a stress system that uses syllabic trochees while also displaying characteristics more typically associated with a quantity-sensitive language. The description comes from Tohono O'odham. The rhythm of this language is quantity-insensitive and trochaic, although the language also displays characteristics often associated with quantity-sensitivity (i.e., long vowels, gemination). Examined together, the facts illustrated here demonstrate the prosodic inconsistency of Tohono O'odham: that rhythm and prosodic morphology offer different perspectives on the role played by quantity, and that Tohono O'odham is the first language documented to split its rhythm and prosodic morphology along quantitative lines.


The first state bank offices in Siberia was created in Tobolsk in 1772 and in Irkutsk in 1779. At the beginning of the XX century there was establishing the municipal public commercial banks in Russia. In Siberia such bank has opened in Verkhoturya in 1836, then the similar banks have appeared in other cities. The state credit system served a province with the help of Russia bank branches. After building the Siberian railway there were large qualitative changes in the Siberia credit system. The number of credit institutions has increased from 30 (1900) up to 74 (1914). To the beginning of the XX century the wide credit institution network was developed in the Siberia, also the original architecture of banks began to appear. In an initial period of their developing, the province financial institutions were placed in the leased buildings in main city streets. In further these buildings were bought out by banks and were reconstructed. Also the new bank offices were built according to the special ordered project. At the same time there was formed the own bank architecture. The business architecture style was created at the end of the XIX century. At that time the Renaissance and the Modern dominated in the provincial bank architecture. To the beginning of the XX century the capital and the architecture developed the optimal co-operation models by the competitive projects, the architecture orders system, charitable and public work.


Abstract As intense, ultrashort, kHz-repetition-rate laser systems become commercially available, pulse cumulative effects are critical for laser filament-based applications. In this work, the pulse repetition-rate effect on femtosecond laser filamentation in air was investigated both numerically and experimentally. The pulse repetition-rate effect has negligible influence at the leading edge of the filament. Clear intensity enhancement from a high-repetition pulse is observed at the peak and tailing edge of the laser filament. As the repetition rate of the laser pulses increases from 100 to 1000 Hz, the length of the filament extends and the intensity inside the filament increases. A physical picture based on the pulse repetition-rate dependent 'low-density hole' effect on filamentation is proposed to explain the obtained results well.


Ischemia followed by reperfusion of cerebral blood flow after a stroke leads to the death of nerve cells and loss of brain tissue. The most commonly used animal model for studying stroke is the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Previous research studies have reported different infarct sizes even when the same experimental animal species was used under similar MCAO conditions. Therefore, we developed an improved experimental method to address this discrepancy. Mice were subjected to MCAO using a filament as the occlusion material to mimic human stroke conditions and filament thickness was optimized to establish more reproducible infarction volume. Mice treated with a methanol extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizome (GRex) following stroke induction showed a significantly decreased total infarction volume and increased number of surviving cells relative to the untreated control group. This modified experimental protocol successfully and reproducibly demonstrated the beneficial effect of GRex on ischemic stroke.


Abstract The aim of our work is to be able to do fully formal, machine-verified proofs over Generic Haskell-style polytypic programs. In order to achieve this goal, we embed polytypic programming in the proof assistant Coq and provide an infrastructure for polytypic proofs. Polytypic functions are reified within Coq as a datatype and they can then be specialized by applying a dependently typed term specialization function. Polytypic functions are thus first-class citizens and can be passed as arguments or returned as results. Likewise, we reify polytypic proofs as a datatype and provide a lemma that a polytypic proof can be specialized to any datatype in the universe. The correspondence between polytypic functions and their polytypic proofs is very clear: programmers need to give proofs for, and only for, the same cases that they need to give instances for when they define the polytypic function itself. Finally, we discuss how to write (co)recursive functions and do (co)recursive proofs in a similar way that recursion is handled in Generic Haskell.


Using specific antibody raised against renal renin, we have documented that the majority of the uterine renin-like activity in gravid and nongravid uteri is immunoreactive renin. To characterize its physiochemical properties, we obtained highly purified uterine renin by two affinity chromatographic steps, pepstatin and antirenin. Uterine renin has a pH optimum of 6, an apparent mol wt of 38K, and a Km of 1.7 microM for homologous substrate. These properties are identical to those of renal renin and are not influenced by the pregnant state. In the basal state, an inactive form of the uterine enzyme constitute 55 +/- 10% of the total uterine renin. During pregnancy, active renin increased 40-fold as inactive renin fell to 4 +/- 3% of the total renin concentration. The renal renin concentration fell as plasma renin increased during pregnancy. These data suggest that the increased uterine renin concentrations during pregnancy are probably due to increased local production and conversion of renin precursor to the active enzyme. This stimulation of the uterine renin level appears to be independent of renal renin.


Reduced physical activity or immobilisation have several negative effects on the skeleton. Significant reductions in bone mass have been observed after prolonged bed rest, in patients with injury to the spinal cord and hemiplegia, and after transitory immobilisation of the extremities, for instance after fractures. The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the effect of exercise on bone mass in elderly people and to determine whether exercise programmes could be appropriate in the prevention of fractures in this segment of the population. We identified four randomised and two non-randomised, prospective studies for the analysis of the effect of exercise on bone mass. Four studies reported a statistically significant difference in the intervention group, as compared to the control group, whereas two studies failed to find any significant differences in bone mass. We conclude that exercise has a beneficial and measurable effect on bone mass in the elderly, which may lead to a decline in the rate of fractures.


Evidence from a system-wide research study highlighted strengths and weaknesses in evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation, beliefs, and organizational readiness. To address this evidence, a curriculum was developed within the context of the shared governance and EBP models for nursing practice. The curriculum, Evidence-Based Practice: Clinical Applications in Professional Nursing Practice, consists of five modules that provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities relative to each step of EBP. The learning approach incorporates classroom- and unit-based education, facilitated by EBP curriculum mentors. Each module is rolled out quarterly for a 15-month curriculum cycle. Outcome data include pre- and post-learning assessments, in addition to EBP projects. This seamless approach to nursing education, based on research findings and established shared governance and EBP models, can be undertaken by community hospital systems. J Contin Nurs Educ. 2017;48(4):184-189.


Background In gouty arthritis (GA) elevated serum urate (SU) levels lead to the monosodium urate (MSU) crystal deposition (tophi) in cartilage, tendon sheaths, and subcutaneous tissue. This usually appears late in the disease course and indicates disease severity. However, currently there is no quantitative measure to differentiate severe from less severe GA patients using spread of tophaceous disease. Objectives To develop a quantitative measure of GA severity by the number of tophi locations. Methods Pooled analysis of two 12-week studies (β-RELIEVED, N=230; β-RELIEVED II, N=226) followed by 12-week extensions, demonstrated a significant reduction in time to new flare in patients treated with canakinumab 150 mg s.c. vs. triamcinolone acetonide (TA) 40 mg i.m. (p<0.0001). Additional retrospective analysis was conducted to explore the impact of the spread of tophaceous disease on time to new flare. A new quantitative measure was derived by summation of tophi locations (right upper limb, left upper limb, right lower limb, left lower limb, and one "other") resulting in a 6-point ordinal measurement scale. Number of tophi locations, using this scale, ranged from 0 to 5. The number of tophi locations was evaluated as a covariate in the Cox regression model using Wald Chi-Square test. Results The number of tophi locations revealed a high statistical significance along with treatment effect (p<0.0001 for both) i.e. the fewer the number of tophi locations, the longer the time to new flare. A similar result was obtained from Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis using log-rank test across the strata of 3 subgroups of tophi category (0, 1-2, 3-5) [Figure]. Conclusions Our results suggest that the number of locations to which tophaceous formations have spread throughout the body leading to systemic disease is an indicator of disease severity in GA. This quantitative measure is a strong predictor of delay of new flare (the higher the number of locations the less delay in reflares). Disclosure of Interest N. Schlesinger Grant/Research support from: Novartis, Consultant for: Novartis,URL Pharma, Savient, Takeda, Rx Ensyme, Speakers Bureau: Novartis, P. Sunkureddi Consultant for: Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, UCB, Pfizer, Speakers Bureau: Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, UCB, Pfizer, R. Alten Grant/Research support from: Novartis, Consultant for: Novartis, Speakers Bureau: Novartis, T. Bardin Grant/Research support from: Menarini, Consultant for: Novartis, Ipsen, Menarini, Ardea, Biocryst, Speakers Bureau: Novartis, A. Shpilsky Shareholder of: Novartis, Employee of: Novartis, T. Kiechle Shareholder of: Novartis, Employee of: Novartis, A. So Grant/Research support from: Novartis, Consultant for: Novartis, Ardea, Speakers Bureau: Novartis, Ardea, Menarini


We explored the occurrence rate of small close-in planets among Kepler target stars as a function of the iron abundance and the stellar total velocity . We estimated the occurrence rate of those planets by combining information from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and the California-Kepler Survey and found that iron-poor stars exhibit an increase in the occurrence with from f < 0.2 planets per star at < 30 to f ∼ 1.2 at > 90 . We suggest this planetary profusion may be a result of a higher abundance of α elements associated with iron-poor, high-velocity stars. Furthermore, we have identified an increase in small-planet occurrence with iron abundance, particularly for the slower stars ( < 30 ), where the occurrence increased to f ∼ 1.1 planets per star in the iron-rich domain. Our results suggest there are two regions in the ([Fe/H], [α/Fe]) plane in which stars tend to form and maintain small planets. We argue that analysis of the effect of overall metal content on planet occurrence is incomplete without including information on both iron and α-element enhancement.


1017 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: H11740688S219/19©BEIESP Abstract: This paper describes the practical methodology which encourages manufacturing SMEs in adopting smart factory system utilizing rapidly changing innovative technology. The focus is supporting manufacturing SMEs to cross the chasm successfully between the basic and middle level of smart factory environment. Based on 140 manufacturing SMEs who are between 10 and 300 employees and less than 100 billion Korean won revenue in 2014, survey was taken with 25 questionnaires. The objectives of this survey are to identify chasm situation, which SMEs with initially implemented smart factory might face in advancing to next maturity level for higher productivity. This study analyzed the status of SMEs in terms of current satisfaction level, equipment I/F rate, target level of smart factory in 5 years, type of Information system implemented and government support to find what factors are influential or correlated with the advancement from the 2nd basic level to the 3rd Mid-1 level of smart factory. Findings: This study explains that 140 SMEs who responded to the survey are satisfied relatively with their smart factory implementation. However they have a funding problem even if they want to go further for the advancement to the 3rd level of smart factory, which bottom lines are to have all machines interfaced with MES (Manufacturing Execution System) and to collect data from shop floor in a real time manner. The survey describes that 102 out of 140 SMEs explains the insufficient budget as the 1st issue for continuing improvement of smart factory with higher satisfaction score, 16 SMEs with unclear performance as the 2nd, 13 SMEs with insufficient experts as the 3rd, and 9 SMEs with low level of innovative passion as the 4th. In general, SMEs with higher equipment interface rate expect high about 1 more advanced Mid-1 level of smart factory system. And the more advanced level of smart factory SMEs have, the better quality SMEs have. SMEs implemented with MES system are more achieving the quality improvement than other information systems such as, ERP, PLM, SCM, and EMS etc. This research explains that SMEs with their 1st smart factory implementation which some manual operations are switched to automation will face the chasm in advancing to next level of smart factory. Therefore, It suggests government' efficient strategy, sharing economy and stable system operation with security to overcome the chasm.


Two independent reservoir models were constructed for an oil-bearing channel-sand reservoir in the Taber-Turin area, Alberta, Canada. The first reservoir description was based on log and core data from six producing and two dry wells drilled within a part of the field on which a three-dimensional seismic survey was acquired. The second reservoir model was supplemented by petrophysical parameters derived from seismic lithologic modeling of the three-dimensional seismic reflection data. This new forward seismic lithologic modeling technique can unravel the wavelet interference effects of closely spaced reflectors and allow reliable estimates of reservoir parameters for thin intervals. In this study, a detailed geologic model of the reservoir, enhanced by the results of the lithologic modeling technique, was constructed. This model depicts subtle structural and stratigraphic features that cannot be mapped from the available well data. Structure maps of the top of the reservoir and maps of the petrophysical parameters of the producing interval were developed. These include thickness, interval velocity, porosity, and porosity-thickness maps. The increased accuracy in predicting reservoir variation attained by incorporating seismic control is demonstrated by comparing the projections of respective model parameters at two new well locations that were not included in the modeling. A 20%more » increase in the calculated pore volume by the seismic-based method over the well-only approach will potentially influence economic decisions to be made in field development. The location of further development drilling and the planning of secondary-recovery methods will benefit greatly from the seismically enhanced information developed in this study.« less


: Background: Craniotomies are commonly performed neurosurgical procedures. Quantitating cerebral surface strain may facilitate the identification of intracerebral pathology and improve intraoperative management of underperfused brain tissue. Objective: The aim of this study was to test the use of digital image correlation software to quantify cerebral surface strain of intraoperative cerebral tissue during craniotomies. Methods: Ncorr, an open-source software program, was used to perform digital image correlation analysis from publicly available craniotomy videos. Mann-Whitney U tests were then utilized to assess statistical differences between craniotomy datasets. Results: Four different craniotomies were retrospectively examined, and the acquired cerebral surface strain data were subsequently extracted and analyzed. Statistically significant cerebral surface strain values were identified when comparing the four craniotomies. Additional prospective research is needed to establish baseline ranges of cerebral surface strain and to further understand the potential utility and limitations of this non-invasive intraoperative monitoring technique. Conclusion: This preliminary study successfully demonstrated the use of computer-based image analysis for the non-invasive quantification of cerebral surface strain during neurosurgery.


Synthesis of reversible logic has become a very important research area in recent years. Applications can be found in the domain of low-power design, optical computing, and quantum computing. In the past, several approaches have been introduced that synthesize reversible networks with respect to a given function. Most of these methods only approximate a minimal network representation. In this paper, exact algorithms for the synthesis of multiple-control Toffoli networks are presented, i.e., algorithms that guarantee to find a network with the minimal number of gates. Our iterative algorithms formulate the synthesis problem as a sequence of decision problems. The decision problems are encoded as Boolean satisfiability (SAT) or SAT modulo theory (SMT) instances, respectively. As soon as one of these instances becomes satisfiable, a Toffoli network representation for the given function has been found. We show that choosing the encoding for synthesis is crucial for the resulting runtimes. Furthermore, we discuss the principal limits of the SAT and SMT approaches. To overcome these limits, we propose a method using problem-specific knowledge during synthesis. In addition, better embeddings to make irreversible functions reversible are considered. For the resulting synthesis problems, an improvement is presented that reduces the overall runtime by automatically setting the constant inputs to their optimal values. Experimental results on a large set of benchmarks demonstrate the differences between three exact synthesis algorithms. In addition, a comparison with the best-known heuristic results is provided. In summary, the results show that, for some benchmarks, the heuristic approaches have already found the minimal network, while for other benchmarks, significantly smaller networks exist.


Army Officers play a critical role in our nation's security strategy. Throughout a career of service, officers develop talents through a unique and rare set of experiences, education, and formal training. The demand by corporations for these talents, coupled with a distinct feature of the Officer Career Model, limited lateral entry, create significant retention challenges for the U.S. Army. Understanding how personnel policies, resources, and organizational decisions affect the flow of officer talent through the Officer Career Model is a first step in addressing these retention challenges. This analysis employs discrete event simulation to quantify the probable impacts of attrition on the distribution of talent available for service across the Army's officer ranks.


A technological process to control the foam dielectric constant, an important issue for the design of microwave components and antennas, is described. For that purpose, the use of different commercial foam materials has been considered. This kind of foam substrate is made of original material (Polyvinyl chloride, resin, and...) into which gas is injected. Therefore, the dielectric constant of such foam is close to one. It can be increased by expelling the gas out of the foam material. The authors are presenting the technological process used to expel the gas by pressing a foam slab at relatively low temperature (90 °C). Because of this technological process, the dielectric constant variation can be controlled by the ratio between the initial and final slab thickness. It holds a great interest for the design of microwave antennas and circuits. Indeed, the dielectric constant inside gradient index lenses (Luneburg, Maxwell fish-eye, and Fresnel lenses) must follow a particular law to obtain the desired radiation capabilities. The results of materials characterization are presented to validate the technological process. Foam-based antennas and components are also shown to illustrate the interest of the process.


This study reports on a facile method based on Helmholtz models for simulating the electric double-layer capacitance of various forms of carbon in aqueous H2SO4 and KOH and organic tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate/acetonitrile electrolytes. The proposed method combines cylindrical pore models for macropores and mesopores with the slit-pore model for micropores exhibiting constant surface-based capacitance (C/S). The pore structures and pore size distribution of carbon are analyzed by using a method based on non-local density functional theory (NLDFT). We then used data related to the capacitance of microporous carbon to evaluate the constant C/S values produced by distinct electrolytes in carbon micropores and to determine the molecule-sieving effect of the micropores. The constant C/S values obtained from the micropores suggest that the effective static dielectric constant at the electrode–electrolyte interface is proportional to the thickness of the ion-solvating layer. The C/S values in mesopores decreased with a decrease in the pore size due to the effects of wall-curvature confinement. For an aqueous electrolyte, the C/S values in micropores are larger than those in mesopores and macropores due to the compactness of the ion-solvating layers, which account for the higher dielectric constant in the micropores. Our simulation results regarding the capacitance values of each carbon are in excellent agreement with experimental data, thereby verifying the reliability of the proposed model. This model is capable of providing reliable, precise predictions of capacitance values and also reveals the mechanism underlying the double-layer formation of distinct pores and the interfacial properties associated with capacitive performance.


A novel simultaneous space charge measuring system for a charged thin film was developed. The space charge in-depth profile of a charged film is observed by a typical LIPP (laser-induced pressure pulse) method by using a 100 picoseconds YAG laser in a new measuring cell. That new cell can be heated up to 200/spl deg/C at a constant temperature increasing rate and subpicoampere current flow through a sample thin film can be recorded by a computer system. LIPP method needs only a few second and TSDC current measurement is stopped during that LIPP measuring time that does not affect the final TSDC spectrum which needs much time of roughly an hour. This new combined method can tell us the relationship between the space charge in-depth position and TSDC peaks. Influence of the surface plasma process, which is very popular as anti-static process of a highly insulating polymer film, to the commercially available polymer film is analyzed by this new method. Decrease of some TSDC peaks by the plasma process is observed and their special position can be identified.


Cross sections for the $\gamma p \to K^+ \Lambda$ have been measured at backward angles using linearly polarized photons in the range 1.50 to 2.37 GeV. In addition, the beam asymmetry for this reaction has been measured for the first time at backward angles. The $\Lambda$ was detected at forward angles in the LEPS spectrometer via its decay to $p\pi^-$ and the K^+ was inferred using the technique of missing mass. These measurements, corresponding to kaons at far backward angles in the center-of-mass frame, complement similar CLAS data at other angles. Comparison with theoretical models shows that the reactions in these kinematics provide further opportunities to investigate the reaction mechanisms of hadron dynamics.


11:00 10.4.1 A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE TRANSISTOR ARRAY FEATURING SINGLE-CYCLE PARTIAL/FULL DYNAMIC RECONFIGURATION Speaker: Carl Sechen, The University of Texas at Dallas, US Authors: Jingxiang Tian, Gaurav Rajavendra Reddy, Jiajia Wang, William Swartz Jr., Yiorgos Makris and Carl Sechen, The University of Texas at Dallas, US Abstract We introduce a CMOS computational fabric consisting of carefully arranged regular rows and columns of transistors which can be individually configured and appropriately interconnected in order to implement a target digital circuit. Termed Field Programmable Transistor Array (FPTA), this novel reconfigurable architecture enables several highlydesirable features including (i) simultaneous storage of three configurations along with the ability to dynamically switch between them within a single cycle, while retaining the fabric's computational state, (ii) rapid partial or full modification of a stored configuration in a time proportional to the number of modified configuration bits through the use of hierarchically-arranged, high-throughput, asynchronously pipelined memory buffers, and (iii) support for libraries containing cells of the same height and variable width, just as in a typical standard cell circuit, thereby simplifying transition from a prototype to a custom IC design. Besides presenting the design details of this fabric in a 130nm technology and demonstrating the aforementioned capabilities, we also briefly discuss the development of a complete CAD flow for programing this fabric and we use numerous benchmark circuits to contrast its area efficiency against a typical FPGA implemented in the same technology node. Download Paper (PDF; Only available from the DATE venue WiFi)


Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a highly fatal pathogen to human beings. Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) plays a role as the first host defense against most single-stranded RNA flaviviruses. This study aims to investigate the role of TLR7 in inducing adaptive immune response in mice against JEV. In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to examine the expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in mice. After JEV infection, physical parameters of mice (survival rate and body weight) were evaluated, and organs or cells were collected for further analysis. The expression of TLR7 was increased significantly as compare to other TLR molecules post-JEV infection. The expression of CD80, CD86, and CD273 on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells was increased significantly in TLR7−/− mice. Furthermore, viral load was also increased significantly in TLR7−/− mice as compare to C57BL/6 mice. But there was no significant difference among survival rate and body weight in TLR7−/− mice as compare to C57BL/6. Interestingly, we also found that TLR8 was upregulated in TLR7−/− mice. The study concluded that TLR8 was upregulated in TLR7-deficient mice, and it might play a compensatory role in the immune response in TLR7−/− mice.


A typical approach when designing a system for social service functioning in the European and Norwegian contexts is to emphasize what does not function—i.e., one does not ask for reasons behind the existence of conforming or agreeable behavior; rather, it is divergent behavior that is studied. A consequence of such a perspective may produce research designs and develop projects seeking to understand and describe phenomena such as alienation, vulnerability, and feelings of malfunctioning. To elaborate, such studies aim to describe relations rather than differences; the latter can be understood as the former. However, difference, as per Niklas Luhmann's understanding, indicates how relational descriptions are always logical and causal and thus lack the descriptions of paradoxes that produce agreeable functioning. Design based on causality may lead to the implementation of specific plans, while design that builds on the understanding of societal functioning as something that can emerge out of what seems paradoxical may lead to the design of a direction for a system. In this article, we will discuss how design processes that seek to implement a plan may differ from the processes that aim to initiate a direction in the context of public services. We will describe these differences through existing descriptions and exemplify their differences in functioning through the notions of maintenance and the value of care. A sustainable welfare system has the following characteristics: 1. With one or more meaningful, moral, and satisfying goals, the system offers a sense of sufficiency. 2. Positive feedback loops are balanced by negative feedback loops at an appropriate scale. 3. The system possesses clean, clear, fast, and compelling information flows. We protect our resource base so that it is resilient and capable of self-organizing and evolving. These dimensions will be discussed further in relation to how the functioning they create influences democracy through the behavior they produce.


An IVH catheter which was left in the superior caval vein was removed using a myocardial bioptome. It was accidentally broken when the patient unintentionally pulled it out. The cut surface was examined and it was confirmed that the IVH catheter could be broken irrespective of any defect of the catheter itself. To clarify the mechanism of catheter breakage, a model tension test was performed. The tensile strength and elongation were examined in 3 ways; first without binding, second with binding, third with binding and also pulling backward. The rate of tension was also varied from 100mm/min to 1,000 mm/min. It was found that the catheter was easier to break when pulled out faster, with binding, and pulled backward. When pulled forward, it was elongated and the site of breakage was not at the site of binding. However, when pulled backward, it was less elongated and the site of breakage was at the site of binding. An electron microscopic examination of the removed catheter revealed that the cut surface resembled that being pulled backward at a rate of 1,000 mm/min. The above suggests that, in this case, the IVH catheter was trapped between the clavicle and the 1st rib and pulled at an angle.


The training of military crews of armoured vehicles can be enhanced by applying AI-based methods to the training drills. Defence Research and Development Canada used a Human Behaviour Representation approach to create an armoured crew simulation trainer for the Canadian Armed Forces. The Human Behaviour Representation (HBR) approach is a form of rule-based AI that applies a cognitive task analysis to derive a synthetic operator. The cognitive task analysis resulted in a Task Network Model (TNM) for each crew member of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) and for the entire crew. These TNMs were inputted into a discrete event simulator to create a synthetic training environment that combines virtual and human members of the LAV crew. The training platform allows a human member of the team to interact with the synthetic crew through voice production software that was integrated with the synthetic environment.The paper presents the development of the Intelligent Tutoring System module for the LAV crew simulation platform that serves as a human instructor for conducting basic LAV drills. The paper outlines the architecture, functionality, and testing of the module. The work shows how the HBR approach can be used to develop a synthetic coach for training a military crew. The work is a step in developing and testing a general training system for small military teams. The training system will allow to conduct basic crew drills, in which a human crew member will be trained with the synthetic crew members, thus overcoming some of the obstacles that military crew training faces: a logistic difficulty to gather a full crew at the same time and place and a deficiency of qualified instructors. The paper outlines the steps for the follow-up work required to develop a generic AI-based autonomous systems for basic training of small military teams.


DC distribution system has advantages of high power quality, large transmission capacity, high reliability, simple structure, economy and low energy consumption, and so forth. It has been a key part of smart grid nowadays. However, the development of DC distribution system is constrained by the lack of operational experience in DC system, the small interrupting capacity of DC circuit breaker (CB), and the lack of protection schemes for system itself. In this paper, protection for DC distribution system with distributed generator (DG) is fully investigated and verified. Firstly, the electromagnetic transient model of DC distribution system with DG is presented. Simulation based on the electromagnetic transient model is carried out. Both the step response and the steady-state performance verify the accuracy of the model. Then the fault characteristic mechanism is analyzed, and the protection principles and scheme are investigated in detail, including voltage mutation principle as protection starting component, differential current protection principle for DC bus, and two-section current protection for distribution lines. Finally, transient responses with protection scheme are analyzed during faults. The results present that the protection principles and scheme are feasible for DC distribution system with DG.


The drinking water tank of short-haul aircraft is refilled during every stop at the hub airport. This is not necessary and refilling the tank less often can lead to a personnel costs reduction. We implement two Tabu search algorithms to determine a rule specifying during which stops not to refill. The rule minimizes the frequency of refilling while keeping the probability of water shortage sufficiently low. Our algorithms require the probability distribution of water consumption. We suggest a maximum likelihood procedure to estimate this distribution. When used in practice, the refilling rule leads to a decrease in the frequency of water refilling of up to 45%.


A toxicity study was made on Lepidium sativum L. seeds used in Saudi traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. Lepidium sativum L. seed fed to Wistar albino rats at 2% (w/w) was non-toxic, Ten percent (w/w) was toxic but not fatal and 50% (w/w) of the diet for 6 weeks was lethal and caused depression in growth rate and entero-hepato-nephrotoxicity. Organ lesions accompanied by anemia and leukopenia were correlated with alterations in serum AST and ALT activities and concentrations of total protein, cholesterol, urea, and other serum constituents.


Pipelining between data loading and computation is a critical tensor program optimization for GPUs. In order to unleash the high performance of latest GPUs, we must perform a synergetic optimization of multi-stage pipelining across the multi-level buffer hierarchy of GPU. Existing frameworks rely on hand-written libraries such as cuBLAS to perform pipelining optimization, which is inextensible to new operators and un-composable with prior tensor compiler optimizations. This paper presents ALCOP, the first framework that is compiler-native and fully supports multi-stage multi-level pipelining. ALCOP overcomes three critical obstacles in generating code for pipelining: detection of pipelining-applicable buffers, program transformation for multi-level multi-stage pipelining, and efficient schedule parameter search by incorporating static analysis. Experiments show that ALCOP can generate programs with 1.23x speedup on average (up to 1.73x) over vanilla TVM. On end-to-end models, ALCOP can improve upon TVM by up to 1.18x, and XLA by up to 1.64x. Besides, our performance model significantly improves the efficiency of the schedule tuning process and can find schedules with 99% of the performance given by exhaustive search while costing 40x fewer trials.


A multiplex PCR technique was compared with standard bacteriological techniques for the detection of Salmonella, and Salm. enteritidis in particular, in samples of chicken skin obtained from retail outlets. Five of 68 samples were positive by both systems (7.4%), 58 of 68 were negative by both systems (85%), five were positive by PCR only (7.4%) but none were positive by culture only. The PCR was quicker and more sensitive than the bacteriological methods, finding 15% of samples positive for Salmonella compared to 7.4%, and taking less than 24 h to reach a result as opposed to 2–3 d.


This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Logic for Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Reasoning, LPAR 2010, which took place in Dakar, Senegal, in April/May 2010. The 27 revised full papers and 9 revised short papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully revised and selected from 47 submissions. The papers address all current issues in automated reasoning, computational logic, programming languages and deal with logic programming, logic-based program manipulation, formal methods, and various kinds of AI logics. Subjects covered range from theoretical aspects to various applications such as automata, linear arithmetic, verification, knowledge representation, proof theory, quantified constraints, as well as modal and temporal logics.


Beneath the problem of achieving digital convergence in the heritage sector is a problem of deeply entrenched discourses generated in a physical paradigm where objects kept in heritage sector institutions were treated as goods to be divided, and where notions about the nature of those goods, their use, and practices facilitating their use, were imagined in terms of the norms for each institution type. The digital paradigm provides new opportunities, amongst them the possibility of creating intersecting digital knowledge spaces designed to aid processes of enquiry and meaning-making and to maximise possibilities for rational and justifiable knowledge formation about predictable and still to be imagined topics of enquiry. Achieving that vision calls for research that seeks to understand the process of knowledge formation, that hunts out the strengths and weaknesses in existing bodies of thought, and that works, through its modes of transmission, to instil the understanding necessary for a shared knowledge-oriented body of theory and practice to emerge. The research reported in this thesis responds to these needs. It was conducted by a former archives practitioner taking a fresh look at her own discipline's body of thought, and reflecting on its utility across the whole heritage sector.  An open and exploratory research question was posed: What can be learnt about archives domain thinking, heritage objects and their evidentiality, and the design of knowledge enabling systems by exploring how evidence emerges during a historical research process?  The research design combined close examination of the archives domain's explicit and implicit thinking with a case study in the form of a deeply reflective historical enquiry that was committed to tracking down and tracing seemingly relevant objects (both physical and digital), and their meaningful ways of being related, across institutional and conceptual boundaries. The researcher did not plan to go into 'the wild', but word got out, and 'the wild' came to her. The research, in other words, was conducted in the space archival science's continuum thinkers refer to as the fourth dimension - the societal plurality, where assumptions embedded in institutionalized thought can be deeply disturbed.  The historical enquiry was centred on Frederick Burdett Butler (1903-1982), an eclectic 'collector' and local historian who built his own museum/archive/library/gallery/ information resource in New Plymouth, New Zealand. A misfit in New Zealand's historically-oriented professional community, he nevertheless amassed a massive collection which, during his life-time and since his death, has been widely dispersed. Parts are in collecting institutions and parts are in 'the wild'. Much is in hiding.  Three major problems in archives domain discourse were identified as potential stumbling blocks in the search for sector-wide theory. These are addressed in three theory-building chapters, each of which is framed around a line of enquiry followed in the researcher's attempt to form knowledge of Fred. One of these problems is the prevalence in the domain of a fuzzy and 'othering' object-privileging concept of record, but little awareness of continuum theory's concept-privileging notion of records as logical entities, which means there is also little awareness of the relevance of the continuum notion for richer, more flexible, and potentially convergent descriptive practice. The second is the existence of unresolved debates about the nature of evidence and its importance in relation to the concept of record. The third is dichotomous thinking about the nature of objectivity and subjectivity, a problem that has caused debates about the nature of records, the value of an evidence-oriented domain discourse, and the epistemic character of descriptive practice; also, it has played a part in the 'othering' of libraries. A final chapter reflects on the implications of the research for the design of knowledge enabling systems and on possibilities for archival science's continuum theory to connect with similar bodies of thought emerging in other disciplines.  The research paradigm is grounded in humanities, social science, and philosophical scholarship which draws attention to inter-dependence and co-evolution in time and over time, and which challenges habituated perceptions of dichotomies. Critical realism, a third way philosophy of knowledge, was the primary philosophical and methodological under-labourer.


The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera is a polyphagous pest of several crops in Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean
Europe. Pyrethroid insecticides are used to control noxious insects in agriculture, forestry, households and horticulture.
Therefore, the effect of permethrin and fenvalarate was evaluated on the oxidative stress in H. armigera. Lipid peroxidation,
H2O2 content, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity increased and glutathione reductase (GR) activity decreased in a
time- and dose-dependent manner in insecticide-fed larvae. However, catalase activity was not affected in insecticide-fed
larvae. Larval growth decreased by ~ 64 and 70% in larvae fed on diets with sub-lethal doses of permethrin and fenvalarate.
The results suggested that both the insecticides induced lipid peroxidation, H2O2, LDH leak, and altered antioxidant enzymes
leading to oxidative stress in cells, which contribute to deleterious effects of these insecticides on the growth of H. armigera
larvae, along with their neurotoxic effects.


We propose an improved method for designing unequal error protection (UEP) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. The method is based on density evolution. The degree distribution with the best UEP properties is found, under the constraint that the threshold should not exceed the threshold of a non-UEP code plus some threshold offset. For different codeword lengths and different construction algorithms, we search for good threshold offsets for the UEP code design. The choice of the threshold offset is based on the average a posteriori variable node mutual information. Simulations reveal the counter intuitive result that the short-to-medium length codes designed with a suitable threshold offset all outperform the corresponding non-UEP codes in terms of average bit-error rate. The proposed codes are also compared to other UEP-LDPC codes found in the literature.


This paper explain that the curriculum of Christian education at Indonesia should stress Christianity learning and learning about Christianity. Christian education courses have an aim to distribute faith and belief with Christian attributes or characteristics that can be learned and teached, either inside or outside the classroom. The problem is the courses have a difference contexts or can be say that each student have its own context. Meanwhile, Christian education focus on achieve the first aim that is to enable every person to reach growth as fullness of Christ. For it, the process of development of Christian education curriculum needs to design and suit to Christianity value. I'll applied literature methods to analize every design of Christian education curriculum which has been appointed by goverment. According to title of this paper, I'll make critical observation and evaluation by analize the important thing in organizing and developing the Christian education curriculum, as one of subject that has been appointed by the government.


BONALUMI, J.K.R. Crystallographic studies of chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida. 2010. 122f. Mestrado. Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas de Ribeirao Preto – Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, 2010. Accumulation of persistent organic pollutants is one of the most important environmental problems worldwide. Industrial activities and technological advances contribute to the spread of pollutants, highly toxic, bioaccumulative, and resistant to physical, chemical, photolytic and biological degradation. The persistent organic pollutants are consequence of the inappropriate use of pesticides, the production of toxic synthetic compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls and a large list of activities promote incomplete combustion of which organic matter and release a large amount of persistent aromatic hydrocarbons to the environment. Bioremediation is a biotechnogical strategy that has shed light on revitalization techniques of contaminated sites. It is based on the application of microorganisms, or their enzymes, to eliminate or reduce environmental contaminants into inert substances, CO2 and water. The oxygenases are a class of largely studied enzymes due to their catalytic properties, being chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida an interesting biotechnological target for bioremediation due to its specificity to a broad spectrum of highly polluted aromatic substrates. In the present work, heterologous expression protocol has been implemented in our laboratory and purification was performed by using affinity column in chitin resin. Brown-reddish crystals of chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida were obtained in presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and magnesium acetate after 10 days, by utilizing vapor diffusion techniques in sitting drops. The crystallographic structure of Pp 1,2-CCD has been solved by MR-SAD technique, using iron atoms, the enzyme cofactor, as scattering centers and the coordinates of 3chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase of Rhodococcus opacus as the search model. The final model, containing three molecules in the asymmetric unit, has been refined up to 3.4 A resolution. The enzyme folds in the dimeric form (αβFe 3+ )2, and shows two catalytic domains composed of -strands and a loop region, and a helical domain that pack together forming a hydrophobic channel. As being the first member of the chlorocatechol dioxygenase family of enzymes from a gram-negative bacteria to be solved, it will be possible to explore the crystallographic structure of chlorocatechol 1,2dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida in order to investigate the conformational differences that explain its mechanism of action, on a broad spectrum of substrates, and evaluate the functional features, as an important tool to validate the role of this enzyme in the bioremediation process.


Faculty at Minnesota State University, Mankato (USA) developed a family-focused baccalaureate curriculum to address gaps between evidence and practice with families that have been linked to undergraduate nursing education. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of new graduate nurses in providing family-focused nursing care in practice settings. A descriptive design focused on narrative data was used to identify the nurses' perceived benefits and challenges of caring for families in their current nursing practice. Data were collected from three cohorts of new graduate nurses who were currently employed in health care settings (N = 109) through a five-contact procedure and examined using a content analysis method. Nine perceived benefit categories, subcategories, and summary statements were identified. Seven challenge categories were identified. The early career graduate nurses' ability to translate family-focused knowledge to their practice was a significant finding. The benefits and value of developing interactions with families were evident in a number of categories. Education and practice systems can implement educational innovations and partner to support new career graduates' ability to offer skilled family nursing practice.


Activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1) is a key regulator of angiogenesis and vascular morphogenesis. ALK1 and its co-receptor endoglin are selectively expressed on the surface of activated endothelial cells during angiogenesis. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) 9 and 10 are ligands that bind to ALK1 and induce activation of the heteromeric receptor complex, phosphorylation of SMAD1/5/8, and upregulation of specific genes involved in the maturation stage of angiogenesis, such as Id-1 and TMEM100. In particular, BMP9 expression is upregulated in a majority of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN). Dalantercept is an ALK1 extracellular domain-Fc fusion protein that binds BMP9 and BMP10 with high affinity and antagonizes ALK1 signaling in vivo resulting in defective vascular maturation and inhibition of tumor growth in preclinical models. In a completed Phase 1 trial in patients with advanced, refractory solid tumors dalantercept demonstrated signs of clinical activity in a variety of patients, including two of three patients with SCCHN who achieved either an objective response or prolonged stable disease. A Phase 2 trial of dalantercept as monotherapy in recurrent/metastatic SCCHN patients who have had prior platinum-based chemotherapy is currently ongoing. Based upon the single agent activity of both dalantercept and cisplatin in SCCHN, we tested the feasibility of the combination of cisplatin plus dalantercept in a mouse model of SCCHN. Combination treatment of dalantercept plus cisplatin showed significant tumor growth inhibition (TGI) in the RPMI2650 xenograft model (59% TGI on day 30) which was significantly better than either cisplatin (35% TGI, p= 0.0077) or dalantercept (32% TGI, p=0.0002) alone. No additional toxicity was observed in the combination treatment group compared to cisplatin monotherapy group. These data suggest that combination of dalantercept plus cisplatin may result in enhanced clinical activity and supports prospective evaluation in patients with SCCHN. Citation Format: Marat Alimzhanov, Michael Lee, Nicolas Solban, Scott Pearsall, Susan Pandya, Matthew L. Sherman, Ravindra Kumar. Dalantercept, an ALK1 inhibitor of angiogenesis, in combination with cisplatin inhibits tumor growth in a xenograft model of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1692. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1692


In this paper, we consider the problem of tracking multiple maneuvering targets using switching multiple target motion models. With this paper, we aim to contribute in solving the problem of model-based body motion estimation by using data coming from visual sensors. The Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) algorithm is specially designed to track accurately targets whose state and/or measurement (assumed to be linear) models changes during motion transition. However, when these models are nonlinear, the IMM algorithm must be modified in order to guarantee an accurate track. In this paper we propose to avoid the Extended Kalman filter because of its limitations and substitute it with the Unscented Kalman filter which seems to be more efficient especially according to the simulation results obtained with the nonlinear IMM algorithm (IMMUKF). To resolve the problem of data association, the JPDA approach is combined with the IMM-UKF algorithm, the derived algorithm is noted JPDA-IMM-UKF. Keywords—Estimation, Kalman filtering, Multi-Target Tracking, Visual servoing, data association.


Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is associated with a chronic prothrombotic state that increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The rate of VTE in hospitalized children with SCD is nearly 2%, substantively higher than the 0.2-0.6% rate seen in the general pediatric population. 1-3 The frequency and risk factors associated with the development of recurrent VTE in this population are vastly unknown. This knowledge gap hinders the development of disease-specific guidelines for the management and secondary prevention of VTE in pediatric SCD.
 Aim: To investigate the frequency of recurrent VTE in children birth to 21 years of age (inclusive) with SCD and history of prior VTE.
 Methods: We analyzed patient-level data from the TriNetX Research Network Database, a global federated network of electronic medical record (EMR) data from 42 health care organizations. Children ≤21 years of age with a diagnosis of SCD and history of VTE between January 1 2008 to March 31 2021 were included in the analysis. Index VTE was defined as the first diagnosis of VTE in the patient's EMR. Recurrent VTE was defined as an acute VTE diagnosis that occurred 90 days after the index VTE discharge date in a different anatomic location from the index VTE. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized using counts and percentages. Missing values were not imputed. Overall, one year and five-year recurrence VTE are reported with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI).
 Results: A total of 119 children with SCD and VTE were included. Table 1 shows the patients baseline characteristics. Mean age at the time of index VTE diagnosis was 16.7 years (standard deviation 5.5 years). The majority of patients were Black (87%) and female (61%). The most frequent index VTE diagnosis was pulmonary embolism (42%) followed by lower (23%) and upper (22%) extremity VTE. Of the 119 patients,10 (8.4%, 95%CI=4-15%) developed recurrent VTE within 1-year and 25 (21.0%, 95%CI=14-29%) developed recurrent VTE within 5-years from index VTE. Compared to patients without recurrent VTE, patients with recurrent VTE were more frequently female (50% vs. 68%, respectively), and slightly older (mean age 16.6 years vs. 17.2 years, respectively). The most frequent anatomic location for VTE recurrence was the upper extremity (32%)
 Conclusions: This retrospective database analysis identified, for the first time, high rates of recurrent VTE of 8.4% and 21% at 1- and 5-years post-VTE in children with SCD. These rates stand in contrast with the 3% VTE recurrence at 1-year reported for the general pediatric VTE population. 4 Further analyses of the database are ongoing to identify risk factors for recurrent VTE in this population. These initial findings highlight the need for cooperative multicenter prospective studies to reliably establish rates of- and prognostic factors associated with recurrent VTE in children with SCD, in order to generate evidence for disease-specific treatment guidelines, and to inform future prognostically-stratified interventional trials designed to optimize VTE outcomes in pediatric SCD.
 1.Kumar R, Stanek J, Creary S, et al. Prevalence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism in children with sickle cell disease: an administrative database study. Blood Adv 2018;2:285-291.
 2. Raffini L, Huang YS, Witmer C, Feudtner C. Dramatic increase in venous thromboembolism in children's hospitals in the United States from 2001to 2007. Pediatrics 2009;124:1001-8.
 3. Setty BA, O'Brien SH, Kerlin BA. Pediatric venous thromboembolism in the United States: a tertiary care complication of chronic diseases. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012;59:258-64.
 4. Goldenberg NA, Schulman S, Kittelson JM, et al, Kids-DOTT Trial Investigators and the ATLAS Group. A Six-week versus Three-month Duration of Anticoagulation for Acute Provoked Venous Thromboembolism in Patients < 21 Years Old: Results of the Multinational Kids-DOTT Randomized Controlled Trial. [abstract]. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2021; 5 (Suppl 1).
 Figure 1 Figure 1.

 Hankins: Global Blood Therapeutics: Consultancy; Vindico Medical Education: Consultancy; UpToDate: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy. Goldenberg: Bristol Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Daiici: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Anthos: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.


This paper describes how the City of Vancouver is a fully developed city with a population of over 500,000 and is currently undergoing significant urban renewal. The Vancouver City Council, City staff and residents are committed to a sustainable, liveable city. This recycling initiative is a demonstration of the commitment to protecting the environment in a financially responsible manner and the reduction of heavy truck traffic and congestion are just some of the benefits of this program. The Vancouver Landfill is an important resource with limited capacity. Through the recycling initiatives of road construction materials, the capacity of this resource will be extended. Beginning in 2005, Vancouver made a significant move to reduce and reuse sewer, water, and road construction materials. Vancouver generates over 400,000 tons of excavated waste material from its sewer, water and road infrastructure projects. Through various crushing, screening, and blending projects over 100,000 tons of materials have been used in the first full year of the project. This equates to a reuse of over 6,000 dump truck loads of material or equivalent to road base material for 46 lane km of roadway. This is material that did not need to be trucked to a landfill, or excavated from a gravel pit to be trucked back into the city. From a financial perspective this has resulted in a savings of over $500,000, which has been used as a direct reduction in material price to the city crews and also used to offset inflation of other raw materials. As for 2005, it was just the start of more to come in terms of an integrated approach to recycling good quality road construction materials at cost effective prices.


We present a new highly-accurate similarity criterion for medical image registration, inspired from mutual information. The novelty of our approach lies first, in the use of quadratic mutual information, and second, in a new adaptive kernel density estimation which does not require any prior information on the image. Practically, our method exhibits a drastic decrease of the computation cost compared to conventional adaptive kernels.


Direct invasion of the trachea by an aggressive tumor originating in the thyroid gland is an unusual but well‐documented phenomenon. The reverse situation, that is, a primary tracheal neoplasm invading by direct extension into the thyroid gland and presenting as a thyroid mass is apparently an even less common occurrence. A careful search of the literature has failed to reveal any recorded instances of this type of occurrence. We report a case of an adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in the trachea and invading the thyroid gland and recurrent laryngeal nerves causing vocal cord paralysis. The presentation of this lesion as a primary thyroid tumor is an unusual occurrence that serves to remind the clinician that in the differential diagnosis of thyroid masses one must include the possibilities of metastases or direct extension of a primary neoplasm from another organ.


Background: Transient gene expression (TGE) provides a rapid way to generate recombinant protein biologics for pre-clinical assessment. Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells have traditionally been used for TGE; however, there is demand from industry for efficient, high-producing TGE systems that utilize Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. A polyethyleneimine (PEI) -based TGE process has been developed for CHO cells using an episomal expression system to generate enhanced recombinant protein titers. Results: A five-fold improvement in monoclonal antibody (mAb) volumetric productivity was achieved by examining key parameters including transfection medium, cell density, transfection reagent, DNA:reagent ratio, the time of transfer to mild hypothermia and feeding strategy post-transfection. The Epi-CHO system allowed for a six-fold expansion in culture volume post-transfection without significantly affecting specific productivity. This system generates 400% more mAb per μg of plasmid DNA when compared with a non-episomal system. In addition, the use of X-box binding protein 1 to enhance secretion capacity and provide further improvements in mAb production with TGE was investigated. Conclusion: Through optimization of key parameters, our results demonstrate the development of a low-cost, high-yielding, episomal TGE system that may be adopted during pre-clinical biologic drug development.


During the last decade, endemic swine H1 influenza A viruses (IAV) from six different genetic clades of the hemagglutinin gene caused zoonotic infections in humans. The majority of zoonotic events with swine IAV were restricted to a single case with no subsequent transmission. However, repeated introduction of human-seasonal H1N1, continual reassortment between endemic swine IAV, and subsequent drift in the swine host resulted in highly diverse swine IAV with human-origin genes that may become a risk to the human population. To prepare for the potential of a future swine-origin IAV pandemic in humans, public health laboratories selected candidate vaccine viruses (CVV) for use as vaccine seed strains. To assess the pandemic risk of contemporary US swine H1N1 or H1N2 strains, we quantified the genetic diversity of swine H1 HA genes, and identified representative strains from each circulating clade. We then characterized the representative swine IAV against human seasonal vaccine and CVV strains using ferret antisera in hemagglutination inhibition assays (HI). HI assays revealed that 1A.3.3.2 (pdm) and 1B.2.1 (delta-2) demonstrated strong cross reactivity to human seasonal vaccines or CVVs. However, swine IAV from three clades that represent more than 50% of the detected swine IAVs in the USA showed significant reduction in cross-reactivity compared to the closest CVV virus: 1A.1.1.3 (alpha-deletion), 1A.3.3.3-clade 3 (gamma), and 1B.2.2.1 (delta-1a). Representative viruses from these three clades were further characterized in a pig-to-ferret transmission model and shown to exhibit variable transmission efficiency. Our data prioritize specific genotypes of swine H1N1 and H1N2 to further investigate in the risk they pose to the human population. Importance Influenza A virus (IAV) is endemic in both humans and pigs and there is occasional bidirectional transmission of viruses. The process of interspecies transmission introduces novel viruses that increases the viral diversity in each host, impacting viral ecology and challenging control efforts through vaccine programs. Swine-origin IAVs have the potential to cause human pandemics, and pandemic preparation efforts include the identification and generation of candidate vaccine viruses (CVV) derived from epidemiologically relevant swine IAV surface proteins. The CVVs are derived from swine IAV detected and isolated in humans, and are updated infrequently; consequently the efficacy of these vaccines against contemporary swine IAV is unclear given rapid turnover and change of diversity. In this report we perform a risk assessment of contemporary swine H1 IAVs, determine whether current CVVs cross-react, and illustrate how swine-origin IAV replicate, transmit, and cause disease in a swine-to-ferret model system. In doing so, we identify the swine IAV that have lost cross-reactivity to current pandemic preparedness vaccines and demonstrate the utility of swine-to-ferret transmission experiments to further inform risk assessment.


The concept of "national language" as an invention closely associated with the advent of national states in modern times. In the last hundred years Taiwanese collectively experienced two national-language movements. The first one took place in the Japanese colonial period; the second occurred when Taiwan was taken over by the Nationalist government of China. The two movements promoted respectively Japanese and Mandarin. Both languages were no mother tongues of Taiwanese of Fukien origins, Hakkas or the aborigines. This article analyzes the first Taiwanese experience of speaking a national language. Before the Japanese language was introduced to the island by the colonizer, Taiwan was a society where different ethnic groups spoke their own languages-Fukienese, Hakka and Austronesian languages. The main goal of Japanese colonial education in Taiwan was to teach Taiwanese the Japanese language-the kokugo. Through the elementary school system and outside-school language programs, the number of Taiwanese who were able to converse in Japanese increased as time progressed, thus bringing into existence a bilingual society. In 1937 the colonial government embarked on a complete Japanization movement known as the kōminka undō, one major goal of which was to transform Taiwan into a monolingual society where Japanese would be spoken by all. According to an official estimate, by the end of 1943 the population of "national-language speakers" exceeded 80% of the total population. In spite of possible inflation in this estimate, Japanese had become the "common language" among the young generation of Taiwanese at the end of World War Ⅱ. Japan's surrender brought an abrupt end to the first national language movement, while a new one awaited the Taiwanese. Japanese-educated Taiwanese suffered tremendously in postwar Taiwan when Mandarin replaced Japanese as the national language. They became functionally illiterate. Under the political atmosphere of Nationalist rule, it is not exaggerating to say that they were a muted generation. When Taiwan went through a political liberation in the late 1980s, its languages went through a "language liberation." With the rise of Taiwanese nationalism in opposition to Chinese nationalism, the relationship between Fukienese and Mandarin has become in a tense relationship. It remains to be seen whether Mandarin will lose its status as the national language of Taiwan.


We performed a retrospective study of the results of proximal tibial osteotomy in thirty-four men (thirty-seven knees) who had had unicompartmental osteoarthrosis of the knee. The average age of the patients at the time of the procedure was forty-nine years (range, twenty-eight to sixty years). The functional results were evaluated according to the system of Tegner and Lysholm, in which the level of participation in work and sports activities is graded on a scale from 0 points (complete disability) to 10 points (the ability to participate in competitive sports at the elite professional level). The average functional score was 5.4 points (range, 2 to 8 points) preoperatively and 4.8 points (range, 1 to 8 points) postoperatively. Postoperatively, many of the patients were able to participate in activities, such as running and jumping, that can lead to damage of the components of a total knee arthroplasty. Twenty-eight (82 per cent) of the thirty-four patients stated that the results had met their expectations and that they would have the operation again given the same situation.


Contributors to this special issue use qualitative methodologies to explore questions traditionally posed by demographers. The introduction summarizes each article and surveys the wider potential significance of qualitative research for historical demography. The authors suggest that this research can disrupt traditional scholarly categories and methods pertaining to reproduction and other demographic phenomena. Qualitative sources may serve as wild cards suggesting new paths of investigation based on individuals' idiosyncratic viewpoints; but they may also offer ways to collapse and integrate wide bodies of knowledge by contextualizing and reframing the blurred cross-categorical world views associated with individuals' actionable ideas and ideals. Studying such views more systematically will become easier as the digitization of human culture, past and present, proceeds apace. Moreover, as digital tools for accessing and interpreting text become more sophisticated, individual- and aggregate-level studies may be increasingly understood as a single scholarly corpus, rather than two parallel approaches with scattered mutual intelligibility and intermittent cross-fertilization. As explanations for fertility decline continue to center on modernization – often without speaking its name – the authors suggest that individual narratives offer a way to subjectivize modernization while avoiding the mystical incoherence of extreme subjectivization.


This 'On the Front Line' article explores the necessary and yet undesirable work undertaken by a third-generation, independent funeral director. Peter's narrative account of the realities of funeral directing and his journey into the family business offers a poignant insight into the dirty work of death work. Reflecting on his own exposure, experiences and practices Peter offers us an opportunity to see behind the scenes, to hear how he has learnt to cope with death work undertaken by his family. Consequently, we reflect on how performances of emotional neutrality afford funeral directors the capacity to offer comfort to the bereaved in the face of such extreme dirty work. Yet, as Peter shares, this neutrality masks the dirt and hides the pain of 'dealing with the dead'.


In developing countries the most important challenges are to produce sufficient, food, fiber and fuel for the continuously growing population from in elastic land area.India is a leading producer of Pigeon pea(Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.)but its productivity has not been improved significantly during the last four decades due to its susceptibility to insect pests and narrow genetic base. In India, red gram is prone to more than 200 species of insects, among which pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera) causes enormous losses (46.6 -63.6%). Tools of genetic engineering have however made it possible to transfer genes (Cry1Ac) from even unrelated sources such as microbes(Bacillus thuringiensis - Bt)and solve this problem. This book attempts at a concise coverage of the practical aspects of "Application of Genetic Engineering in Pigeon pea Crop improvement" in an easily accessible manner. This book should prove useful to students of Botany,Biotechnology and other Life Science. This book should be of great use, not only to Under Graduates but also to Post Graduates and established research scientists struggling to keep up with the subject.


Congestion is a problem that cannot be decomposed properly, especially at big cities in Indonesia, one of them is in Surabaya. To solve this problem is needed to observe characteristics of the road such as the number of vehicles, vehicle speed and vehicle density. This research took the data in several areas in Surabaya by put the camera in the middle of a crossing bridge. This research aims to determine the density value by comparing traffic volume with vehicle speed. The value of speed and number of vehicles can be known using Gaussian Mixture Model method, where object detection is detected by background substraction process, which is video divided into several frames and in each frame images is divided into two part there are foreground and background. The object will be count 1 when blob analysis detect the foreground. In the theory to know the density value of a traffic flow, with compare the number of vehicles and the speed of vehicle. From the data has been taken, it is known that the number of vehicles is opposite with average speed the vehicle that passes. If average velocity of vehicle greater than the number of vehicle so the value density vehicle getting smaller . so that information can be found that the road is experiencing congestion conditions.


A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of therapeutic levels of caffeine in dried blood spot (DBS) samples. Caffeine is used in the treatment of Apnoea of Prematurity (AoP) in newborn children. Calibration DBS samples were prepared by spotting 15 μL of whole blood spiked with the analyte onto specimen collection cards. 3 mm disks cut from the centre of the DBS were extracted in methanol containing the internal standard. The extract was separated using a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column and the MS, operated in electrospray positive ion mode, used single ion monitoring at m/z 195 for caffeine and m/z 198 for the IS. The overall extraction recovery of caffeine from spiked blood spots was demonstrated to be 44–47%. Validation of the microanalytical method showed good precision (coefficient of variation) and accuracy (relative error) and specificity and was linear within the tested calibration range 500–25000 ng/mL for caffeine. Investigation of different specimen collection papers revealed different matrix effects with significant ion suppression from the FTA Elute paper itself. Requiring only a microvolume (15 μL) blood sample for analysis, the developed DBS based microanalytical method has the potential to facilitate the routine monitoring of caffeine in neonates.


Scholars examining the use of historical practice in constitutional adjudication have focused on a few high-profile separation-of-powers disputes, such as the recent decisions in NLRB v. Noel Canning and Zivotofsky v. Kerry. This essay argues that "big cases make bad theory" — that the focus on high-profile cases of this type distorts our understanding of how historical practice figures in constitutional adjudication more generally. I shift focus here to the more prosaic terrain of federal courts law, in which practice plays a pervasive role. That shift reveals two important insights: First, while historical practice plays an important constitutive role, structuring and filling gaps in the judicial architecture, that practice is, in contrast to the practices in Noel Canning and Zivotofsky, rarely entrenched against ordinary legal change. Second, the authority of historical practice in high-profile separation-of-powers disputes generally rests on a theory of acquiescence by one branch in the other's actions; the federal courts cases, in contrast, ignore acquiescence and instead ground practice's authority in its longstanding observance.The use of historical practice in federal courts law rests on a theory of prescription — that is, past practice derives authority from its sheer past-ness. This essay explores the centrality of prescription in Burkean political theory and suggests that cases relying on past practices can contribute to the development of a distinctively Burkean theory of constitutional law. This theory suggests that past practice plays an important constitutive role, but as in the federal courts cases, that role is not entrenched against ordinary legal change. The fact that historical practice is not entrenched — and can be changed through democratic processes — helps to answer several key criticisms of relying on practice in constitutional adjudication.


The present work relate a case of overdose of colchicine in a capsules of compounded pharmaceutical formulation whose ingestion dose initiated a process of acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage leading the patient to death. Colchicine is a pharmacon of low therapeutical index drug, and the maximum recommended dose for gout treatment in adult is 2.5 mg at the first 24 hours. The remaining non- ingested capsules were analyzed by spectrophotometry, and colchicine amount was determined according to the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia, IV edition. The average dosage was of 47.36 mg, that is, about 20 times higher than the maximum recommended dose. The dosage mistake was evidenced in the medicament prescription, and also in consultation the professional responsible for prescribing the medicine on the part of operator who processed the colchicines formulation.


Enterprises are experiencing a strategic evolution toward the globalization of product market in which customers request better quality of product and faster response time. Thus, good resource management for fulfilling customerspsila requests is one of the key elements for enterprises to survive in this competitive market. Numerous researchers proposed different approaches for handling information and material flows within a supply chain network. Application of emerging technologies, such as Global Positioning Systems, cell of origin architecture, infrared, ultrasonic and active radio frequency identification, for locating and managing resources is one of the approaches. However, the existing technologies are either low accuracy of locating objects or high cost of implementation. It may result in diminishing the competitive power against the competitors. As a result, it is crucial to develop a cost effective scheme to integrate the resource and information flow in the supply chain network in which the visibility can be improved in order to help in the making of real-time decisions. Therefore, an efficient localization scheme for resource management (ELS) is proposed. With the help of passive RFID technology, the warehouse resources can be easily located. Management is able to obtain a real-time and accurate update of the resources status anywhere at anytime.


Land use and forest change, in particular deforestation, have contributed the largest proportion of Indonesia's estimated greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia's remaining forests store globally significant carbon stocks, as well as biodiversity values. In 2010, the Government of Indonesia entered into a REDD+ partnership. A spatially detailed monitoring and reporting system for forest change which is national and operating in Indonesia is required for participation in such programs, as well as for national policy reasons including Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), carbon accounting, and land-use and policy information. Indonesia's National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS) has been designed to meet national and international policy requirements. The INCAS remote sensing program is producing spatially-detailed annual wall-to-wall monitoring of forest cover changes from time-series Landsat imagery for the whole of Indonesia from 2000 to the present day. Work on the program commenced in 2009, under the Indonesia-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership. A principal objective was to build an operational system in Indonesia through transfer of knowledge and experience, from Australia's National Carbon Accounting System, and adaptation of this experience to Indonesia's requirements and conditions. A semi-automated system of image pre-processing (ortho-rectification, calibration, cloud masking and mosaicing) and forest extent and change mapping (supervised classification of a 'base' year, semi-automated single-year classifications and classification within a multi-temporal probabilistic framework) was developed for Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+. Particular attention is paid to the accuracy of each step in the processing. With the advent of Landsat 8 data and parallel development of processing capability, capacity and international collaborations within the LAPAN Data Centre this processing is being increasingly automated. Research is continuing into improved processing methodology and integration of information from other data sources. This paper presents technical elements of the INCAS remote sensing program and some results of the 2000 – 2012 mapping.


The need to improve competitiveness and the enforcement of stringent environmental regulations created the need for the technological modernization of the Greek oil refining industry. The emphasis in this paper is on the pattern of investment decisions, the linkages between the acquisition of production processes and supporting IT applications and on the influence exercised by new technological investment projects on the availability of endogenous resources required to facilitate the adoption of technical change at the firm level. The Greek experience suggests that the role of IT application is becoming increasingly important in large-scale investment projects. The successful implementation of these projects depends, to a large extent, on the learning processes and the accumulation of knowledge at the firm level. These learning processes are directly linked to the specific requirements of the production process and our evidence support that there is a lack of positive feedback between administrative applications and the successful introduction of new manufacturing technologies.


The trend in healthcare information technology is increasingly digital and multimedia oriented. The next generation of health care information systems will consist of a vast network of heterogeneous, autonomous, and distributed imaging scanners, databases, information systems, knowledge intensive applications, and large quantities of multimedia medical data. A key challenge facing system researchers and builders is to provide a new organizational framework that can integrate this varied collection of resources into what appears to be a uniform and logical conglomeration of data and knowledge store in order to increase the availability of global or previously nonaccessible information and to address demanding new information processing requirements for diverse image-assisted medical applications. The purpose of this paper is to present the authors' research toward the development of a hospital integrated framework of multimodality image base management (MIBM) for digital radiology of the future. This evolutionary framework consists of three hierarchical components: a hospital-integrated picture archiving and communication system (HI-PACS), a medical image database system (MIDS), and a set of image-based medical applications that relies on the support of MIDS and PACS. In this paper, the authors describe the system architecture, guiding principles, and design specifications of HI-PACS and MIDS and illustrate their functions and capabilities with three implemented applications, namely, patient folder workflow, distributed object management, and multimodality imaging studies. In addition, the authors conclude their findings with a summary of challenges and research directions.


We investigate the hydration structure of collagen using molecular dynamics simulations. The water density maximum, and orientation near the surface of collagen and their specificity to the proximal collagen sequence are clearly visible in our analysis. These results provide insights into the effect of hydration in collagen self-assembly, and more generally, the anomalous behavior of water near protein surfaces.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


In this study, we studied historical case notes to examine nomenclature of congenital upper limb anomalies and explore the changes in terminologies over time. Original diagnoses were reclassified according to previously published classifications and the most recent Oberg, Manske and Tonkin system. Two hundred and thirty-eight case notes were obtained from the period 1961-1991. Hand plate malformations where the diagnosis was obvious or traumatic defects, were excluded. Eighty-six cases (106 extremities) were finally included where an ambiguous diagnosis, such as 'congenital absence' was initially given. None of the re-classifications matched the original diagnoses except for cleft hand and radial dysplasia (n = 31). Eighteen phocomelia-type limbs were re-classifiable when seen as a continuum of longitudinal deficiency, but not as an intercalary deficit. This study provided further insights into the evolving nature of nomenclature in congenital upper limb anomalies, especially for the condition of phocomelia.Level of evidence: IV.


A substitution-diffusion based image cipher using chaotic standard and logistic maps was proposed recently. However, the cipher can be broken with a simple method by using only one known plain and cipher image pair. The attacking process need not to be complex because of the two vital defects of the encryption algorithm. Suggestions for improving the security of the algorithm are also provided.


Objective: To determine cutoff values of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and/or glycated haemoglobin at ≤20 weeks of gestation that could predict or exclude subsequent development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the current pregnancy in high-risk patients. Methods: Retrospective review of all non-diabetic pregnant women who had undertaken 75 g OGTT at ≤20 weeks of gestation in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, from 1 April 2011 to 30 September 2011, was performed. Gestational diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in accordance with the 1999 World Health Organization criteria. If early OGTT results were normal, second OGTT was performed at 24 to 30 weeks. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value of the cutoff values, and proportion of OGTTs that could be spared at 24 to 30 weeks of gestation were calculated. Results: In all, 58 (26%) pregnant women were diagnosed to have GDM by the first OGTT; 45 (30%) women with normal first OGTT had GDM diagnosed by the second OGTT, with higher mean 2-hour plasma glucose level than those in the non-GDM group (p<0.05). The best cutoff value that excluded GDM was 2-hour plasma glucose level of <4.4 mmol/L, which spared 5.3% of second OGTTs. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 100%, 92.8%, 32.3% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: Approximately 5.3% of OGTTs at 24 to 30 weeks of gestation among women with multiple risk factors for GDM may be omitted using a 2-hour plasma glucose cutoff value of <4.4 mmol/L in early pregnancy, provided that there is no onset of new risk factor(s) after the first OGTT. Hong Kong J Gynaecol Obstet Midwifery 2015; 15(1):29-38


Abstract We present a new ground-based technique to detect or follow-up long-period, potentially habitable exoplanets via precise relative astrometry of host stars using Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) on 8 meter telescopes equipped with diffractive masks. MCAO improves relative astrometry both by cancellation of high-altitude atmospheric layers, which induce dynamic focal-plane distortions, and the improvement of centroiding precision with sharper PSFs. However, mass determination of habitable exoplanets requires multi-year reference grid stability of ~1–10 μas or nanometer-level stability on the long-term average of out-of-pupil phase errors, which is difficult to achieve with MCAO (e.g., Meyer et al. 2011). The diffractive pupil technique calibrates dynamic distortion via extended diffraction spikes generated by a dotted primary mirror, which are referenced against a grid of background stars (Guyon et al. 2012). The diffractive grid provides three benefits to relative astrometry: (1) increased dynamic range, permitting observation of V < 10 stars without saturation; (2) calibration of dynamic distortion; and (3) a spectrum of the target star, which can be used to calibrate the magnitude of differential atmospheric refraction to the microarcsecond level. A diffractive 8-meter telescope with diffraction-limited MCAO in K-band reaches < 3–5 μas relative astrometric error per coordinate perpendicular to the zenith vector in one hour on a bright target star in fields of moderate stellar density (~10–40 stars arcmin−2). We present preliminary on-sky results of a test of the diffractive mask on the Nickel telescope at Lick Observatory.


How the status of further talk past the point of a turn's possible completion should be described, and what functions different kinds of turn continuation might serve – these are questions that have engaged many scholars since Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson's turn-taking model (1974). In this paper, a general scheme is proposed with which one can tease out four interlocking strands in analyzing different kinds of turn continuation: Syntactic continuity vs. discontinuity, main vs. subordinate intonation, retrospective vs. prospective orientation, and information focus vs. non-focus. These parameters combine to form different configurations and interact in interesting ways, accounting for different kinds of turn continuation. The scheme is tested on, and illustrated with, a body of naturally occurring conversational data in Chinese.


DNA synthesis in vitro in Brij-treated Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the product of the CDC8 gene (Hereford, L. M. & Hartwell, L. H. (1971) Nature (London) New Biol. 234, 171-172). Extracts of wild-type A364a yeast restore DNA synthesis in Brij-treated cdc8, a mutant containing a thermolabile cdc8 gene product. This constitutes a complementation assay by which the cdc8 gene product can be monitored during purification. A heat-stable protein responsible for this complementation has been partially purified from both wild-type A364a cells and from a cdc8 temperature-sensitive mutant. The complementation activity from the mutant is thermolabile when compared to the wild-type activity, indicating that CDC8 is the structural gene for the protein.


Management area of leadership and commitment in the quality management system is a mean to achieve successful functions, even more on construction industry. The objective of this research is to analyze the correlation between leadership and commitment focus management area and quality performance as indicated by rework. Research location is uranium (U), thorium (Th), and rare earth elements (REE) processing pilot plant construction area in Center for Nuclear Minerals Technology-BATAN. Primary data were collected from the 36 of 37 submitted questionnaires, and representing 97 % response rate. The research used descriptive analysis, which depends on the poll and the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) main program for data analysis. The relationship between leadership and commitment and quality performance was analyzed using spearman rank correlation coefficient. Findings of research provide guideline and alert to project managers or management of organization where leadership, commitment, infrastructure, and environmental work have moderate to strong correlation to rework level. The results further revealed that there is no relationship between responsibility and authority for the management system and organizational policy and construction quality performance. The research provides evidence, in fact to achieve the quality performance of a pilot plant construction must be concerned with leadership attribute, maintaining commitment and provide support resources on the whole project cycle.


A new glutamine synthetase gene, glnN, which encodes a polypeptide of 724 amino acid residues (M(r), 79,416), has been identified in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803; this is the second gene that encodes a glutamine synthetase (GS) in this cyanobacterium. The functionality of this gene was evidenced by its ability to complement an Escherichia coli glnA mutant and to support Synechocystis growth in a strain whose glnA gene was inactivated by insertional mutagenesis. In this mutant (strain SJCR3), as well as in the wild-type strain, the second GS activity was subject to regulation by the nitrogen source, being strongly enhanced in nitrogen-free medium. Transcriptional fusion of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene with the 5'-upstream region of glnN suggested that synthesis of the second Synechocystis GS is regulated at the transcriptional level. Furthermore, the level of glnN mRNA, a transcript of about 2,300 bases, was found to be strongly increased in nitrogen-free medium. The glnN product is similar to the GS subunits of Bacteroides fragilis and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, two obligate anaerobic bacteria whose GSs are markedly different from other prokaryotic and eukaryotic GSs. However, significant similarity is evident in the five regions which are homologous in all of the GSs so far described. The new GS gene was also found in other cyanobacteria but not in N2-fixing filamentous species.


The authors derive impedance and admittance formulas for a system of nonparallel conductors together with an approximate method of evaluating impedance and admittance using an existing parallel-conductor formula. Transients on the nonparallel-conductor system are calculated using the impedance and admittance. It is found that the conventional analysis method for investigating electrostatic and magnetic induction in the steady state cannot be applied to transient analysis. To analyze a transient, the nonparallel conductors need to be divided into a plural number along the line to take into account the oblique effect which causes an increase of the sending end-voltage until a reflection comes back from the remote end. It is shown that the transient induced voltage and current are much greater than those in the steady state. >