Today's data centers (DCs) consume up to 3% of the energy produced worldwide, much of which is wasted due to over-cooling and under utilization of IT equipment. In this paper, we deploy a custom-designed wireless sensor network (WSN) in one high-performance computing (HPC) DC and one modular DC featuring in-row cooling units. The measurement study provides insights on the fidelity and utility of WSN-based solutions to DC monitoring as well as the interplay between IT and cooling equipment in DCs.


Simultaneous IJKs observations allow us to statistically select AGB stars, both M and C type, from RGB and younger or foreground stars in nearby galaxies. Regions of different metallicity identified from the distribution of the C/M ratio show a considerable variation across the surface of the Magellanic Clouds and NGC 6822.


Proper identification of wild mushrooms is important to study their biodiversity and ecological role. The discovery of new medicinal mushroom species will lead to their exploitation as an industry. No research work has been done about medicinal mushrooms in Murree hills in the past. Keeping in view the importance of Ganoderma species, the present studies were carried out to determine the distribution and prevalence of Ganoderma species in Murree hills on different host plants. In all, eight species of Ganoderma were identified from Murree hills of Pakistan. Cedrus deodara and Eucalyptus citriodora were found to be the most susceptible hosts of Ganoderma species. The identified species were Ganoderma praelongum, G. chalceum (Eucalyptus citriodora), G. applanatum (Abies pindro), G. curtisii, G. multicornum (Cedrus deodara) G. lipsiense (Acacia arabica), G. multiplicatum (Pinus logifolia) and G. boninense (Morus alba). These identified species were non-mushroom and belonged to Phylum Basidiomycota. Variations were observed among different morphological and cultural properties. The color of the pileus surface was found light to dark brown and one species showed white to creamish color. The maximum length and thickness of pileus was found to be 32 cm and 10 cm respectively. Majority of Ganoderma specimens were lateral, central, stipitate, dimidiate and sessile. Among cultural characteristics, colonies of the Ganoderma species possessed brown color and some were white to creamish. Colonies were circular and smooth to slimy. Most of the species produced the hyphal system trimetic which had the generative and sketal hyphae. Most spores were brown ellipsoid and oval shape. The maximum spore index was 2.5. Maximum tube size of 1 cm and minimum tube size 2 mm were recorded. Pale brown cystidia with thin walls were seen from the germinating cystidia


To improve the usefulness of financial reporting, the Jenkins Committee has recommended increased disclosure of forward-looking information. To encourage such disclosures, Congress recently passed legislation providing an enhanced "safe harbor" provision designed to shield companies from legal liability for voluntary disclosure of forecasted financial information that later proves incorrect. The purpose of this paper is to test whether investors' reactions to management's disclosures of forward-looking information depend on two factors: the credibility of management (i.e., their competence and tendency to bias their disclosures) and the form of the forecasted information (i.e., whether it is quantitative or qualitative). Results of two experiments reveal that individual investors' judgments are influenced by the credibility of management. Specifically, we find that investors accord higher stock ratings to companies with managements reputed to be competent; we also observe that investors accord higher ratings to managements who do not tend to bias their disclosures. In contrast to our expectations, we do not observe that quantitative disclosures lead to different stock ratings than qualitative disclosures. Finally, we note that these two factors do not interact in their effects on investor judgment. The implications of our findings and future research directions are discussed.


Over the last 4 decades, domestic violence (DV) programs-both residential and nonresidential-have sprung up in communities across the country with the aim of helping survivors become safe. These programs place strong emphasis on the relationship between the advocate and survivor as critical to becoming safer and healing from the trauma of abuse. Yet little research has demonstrated the extent to which specific aspects of the advocate-survivor alliance are related to specific indicators of survivor well-being, nor shown what factors might mediate that relationship. This study explored in a sample of help-seeking survivors (N = 370) whether the strength of the alliance between survivors and their advocates is related to lower symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and whether this association is mediated by survivors' sense of empowerment in the domain of safety. The structural equation model we tested also controlled for variables that might influence these relationships, including race/ethnicity, financial strain, and length of stay in the program. As expected, stronger alliance was associated with reduced symptoms of both depression and PTSD, through the mechanism of empowerment in the domain safety. These findings provide direction to programs seeking to establish a theory of change and point the way toward longitudinal research on the nature and function of the alliance as a potential contributor to healing. (PsycINFO Database Record


ABSTRACT With a lack of a comprehensive understanding of travel motivation toward a food destination, this study aims to identify internal motives of potential food tourists and their preferred destination attributes by adopting the push–pull framework. A survey was conducted via online networks of 'foodies' yielding 335 valid responses. Results of exploratory factor analyses and measurement model evaluations indicated three push factors: taste of food, socialization and cultural experiences; and three pull factors: core food-tourism appeals, traditional food appeals and local destination appeals. The results contribute to our understanding of food travel motivation from both a tourist and a destination perspective. Practical managerial implications for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) are also provided.


Exclusive therapy with sulfamonomethoxine, exclusive therapy with chloroquine, and the therapy with the combination of sulfamonomethoxine and pyrimethamine have individually been applied to 118 patients with malaria in Laos, and the effects were comparatively evaluated on the basis of quantitative progress in asexual parasitemia. The results are summarized as follows : 1) The presence of chloroquine-resistant type of malaria was suspected. 2) It was confirmed that sulfamonomethoxine has therapeutic efficacy comparable to that of chloroquine. 3) The therapeutic efficacy of sulfamonomethoxine was of a delayed type. 4) The combination of sulfamonomethoxine and pyrimethamine showed 100% effectiveness in the disappearence of parasitemia on blood film. 5) The following method was established on the ground of the above findings for the prophylaxis and therapy of malaria : For prophylaxis of malaria, 500 mg of sulfamonomethoxine should be administered twice a week, provided that the MP-therapy is at any time available. For the treatment of malaria, exclusive therapy with sulfamonomethoxine should be used as the first choice, and the progress in the number of asexual parasitemia should be observed for at least one week while this therapy is being applied. Until the number of asexual parasitemia increases or is found to remain unexpelled even one week after its administration, no other therapy such as chloroquine or the combination of sulfamonomethoxine and pyrimethamine should be applied. Even today, malaria is still one of the tropical diseases that require much attention. Since 1966 we have continued the clinical service activities at Brazzaville, Congo, Africa. Since 1970 visiting clinic services have also been carried out by our medical team in the Kingdom of Laos, Southeast Asia.51) Quinoline derivatives have been the essential drugs for the therapy of malaria at the present time.1)8)21)45) In fact, our therapy and prophylaxis against malaria, have depended mainly on quinoline derivatives so far. However, in view of acci1 Dept. of Overseas Medical Services, 2 Dept. of Clinical Pathology, Tenri Hospital, Tenri, Japan.


Lately there have been novel developments in deep learning towards solving the cocktail party problem. Initial results are very promising and allow for more research in the domain. One technique that has not yet been explored in the neural network approach to this task is speaker adaptation. Intuitively, information on the speakers that we are trying to separate seems fundamentally important for the speaker separation task. However, retrieving this speaker information is challenging since the speaker identities are not known a priori and multiple speakers are simultaneously active. There is thus some sort of chicken and egg problem. To tackle this, source signals and i-vectors are estimated alternately. We show that blind multi-speaker adaptation improves the results of the network and that (in our case) the network is not capable of adequately retrieving this useful speaker information itself.


In this paper, we present a fast lossless compression scheme for digital map images, and chart and graph images in the raster image format. This work contains two main contributions. The first is centered around the creation of a codebook that is based on symbol entropy. The second contribution is the introduction of a new row-column reduction coding algorithm. This scheme determines the number of different colors in the given image and creates a separate bi-level data layer for each color i.e., one for the color and the second is for the background. Then, the bi-level layers are individually compressed using the proposed method, which is based on symbol-entropy in conjunction with our row-column reduction coding algorithm. Our experimental results show that our lossless compression scheme scored a compression equal to 0.035 bpp on average for map images and 0.03 bpp on average for charts and graphs. These results are better than most reported results in the literature. Moreover, our scheme is simple and fast.


High densities of invasive rusty crayfish on critical spawning reefs present a potential impediment to the recovery of native fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Suppression of rusty crayfish on spawning reefs to protect fall spawning native fishes in the Great Lakes is hampered by regular storm events and ambient weather conditions, limiting the number of practical days traps can be checked, cleared, and re-baited. The Gee minnow trap design is the most common gear for sampling and managing crayfish, yet design constraints of the standard Gee minnow trap manifest as tradeoffs between capture efficiency and retention for users. In this study, we compared catch rates from a semi-controlled field experiment and escapement probabilities from laboratory controlled trials for a Gee minnow trap, a modified Gee minnow trap with intention to reduce escapement, and an experimental flat-bottomed pyramid design which showed potential promise during prototype-stage development. Bayesian parameter estimation of generalized linear models applied to catch data suggested that standard Gee minnow traps performed at least as well and often better than both novel trap designs in catch rate and escapement probability. Escapement during laboratory controlled trials was high for all trap designs, demonstrating that retention of trapped individuals is a persistent problem for crayfish monitoring and management. We conclude from our data that standard Gee minnow traps are a sensible gear choice for monitoring and/or potential suppression efforts for invasive rusty crayfish on nearshore spawning reefs in the Great Lakes. However, modifications to its design to improve retention should yet be pursued.


The abuse of alcohol and drugs has become a major health and social problem in the United States. Nurses comprise the largest segment of health-care professionals, yet report their educational experiences offer little to prepare them to develop substance abuse prevention and intervention programs. This article identifies factors that contribute to this educational gap, discusses challenges in planning and implementing substance abuse curricula, and offers specific guidelines for improving educational experiences.


Photon scattering properties in one-dimensional waveguide side coupled to a nanocavity embedded in two atoms with dipole-dipole interaction (DDI) are investigated theoretically. The analytical expressions of the transmission and reflection amplitudes are deduced by using the real-space Hamiltonian. A method to determine the coupling strength of DDI is proposed. Realization of single photon switching by modulation the DDI is investigated. The influence of dissipations on the performance of the single photon switching are exhibited. An asymmetric Fano-type resonance, which can be controlled by the DDI, appears in the transmission spectrum.


We investigate the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake (AQE, Mw 6.3, Italy) through a 3‐D Finite Element (FE) mechanical model based on the exploitation of ENVISAT DInSAR and GPS measurements and an independently generated fault model. The proposed approach mainly consists of (a) the generation of a 3‐D fault model of the active structures involved in the sequence and those neighboring to them, benefiting of a large geological and seismological data set; (b) the implementation of the generated 3‐D fault model in a FE environment, by exploiting the elastic dislocation theory and considering the curved fault geometry and the crustal heterogeneities information; and (c) the optimization of the seismogenic crustal blocks model parameters in order to reproduce the geodetic measurements. We show that our modeling approach allows us to well reproduce the coseismic surface displacements, including their significant asymmetric pattern, as shown by the very good fit between the modeled ground deformations and the geodetic measurements. Moreover, a comparative analysis between our FE model results and those obtained by considering a classical analytical (Okada) model, for both the surface displacements and the Coulomb stress changes, has been performed. Our model permits to investigate the coseismic stress and strain field changes relevant to the investigated volume and their relationships with the surrounding geological structures; moreover, it highlights the very good correlation with the seismicity spatial distribution. The retrieved stress field changes show different maxima: (a) at few kilometers depth, within the main event surface rupture zone; (b) at depths of 5–9 km in correspondence of main event hypocentral area, along the SW dipping Paganica Fault System (PFS); and (c) at depths of 12–14 km, in correspondence of the largest aftershock hypocentral area, along a steep segment of an underlying east dipping basal detachment. Moreover, the main event hypocenter is localized in a region of high‐gradient strain field changes, while a deeper volumetric dilatation lobe involves the largest aftershock zone. From these findings, we argue that the AQE hanging wall downward movement along the steep portion of PFS might have been modulated by the underlying basal detachment; on the other hand, the coseismic eastward motion of the PFS footwall might have triggered further slip on the OS, thus releasing the largest aftershock on an independent source. The retrieved stress and strain field changes, which support the active role of the OS, have been also validated through a comparative analysis with those obtained from independent geological, seismological, and GPS measurements.


The objective of this research is to study the influence of undervaluation, free cash flow, leverage and dispersion of ownerships toward company's stock repurchase (An empirical study of Indonesia stock exchange public listed companies). Many researchers have shown that the Stock repurchase is the best alternatives for the company to recover the decrease of stock value by doing 'buyback' the stock from the market which mostly caused by the negative sentiment, especially during the crisis. The research methodology approach has use 26 sample of manufacturing companies by using a purposive sampling method which means its sampling technique is based on the 'sample criteria'. Samples are from the public listed companies which listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during the period of 2010–2014. The major criteria is that companies are consistently published their stock repurchase announcement. In order to conduct the hypothesis test, it use a multiple linear regression analysis to analyze the influence of independent variables undervaluation, free cash flow, leverage and dispersion of ownerships towards stock repurchase. The findings show that R-Square amount is 0.783, which means that the independent variables have influences of 78.3% toward its dependent variable. And, on F-test shows the significant simultaneous impact between undervaluation, free cash flow, leverage and dispersion of ownerships toward company's stock repurchase. And, t-test only leverage, dispersion of ownerships has a partial influence toward company's stock repurchase. Others, undervaluation, free cash flow shows negative and above significant level of (α), or more than the confidence level 95%. This study may contribute in providing an overview of the factors of undervaluation, free cash flow ownerships toward company's stock repurchase in Indonesia which can be used by the managers and shareholders to take the decision making and also supporting the best fundamental preparation on stock repurchase.


We present a microfluidic device that is capable of trapping single and small populations of Pseduo-nitzschia for subsequent cell lysis and domolic acid (DA) extraction. Microcages are integrated within a microchannel to capture the cells and hydrodynamic focusing is utilized to guide the cells into the cages. The microchip is coupled with an ultrasonication device, which enables for rapid cell lysis. Our results demonstrate effective trapping of single and multiple cells of various sizes, which can be lysed 10x faster than conventional methods. This device provides a simple and efficient tool for studying the biological mechanisms of DA production by Pseudo-nitzschia, which is crucial for minimizing the threat of amnesic shellfish poisoning. Moreover, the portability of this device allows for the integration of on-chip components and sensors enabling for in field DA detection.


1- Lack of spending and lack of financial budgets to finance scientific research.
2- The process of selecting the right topic of research is one of the first difficulties faced by researchers since the rest of the research steps are based on it.
3- The motivation and objectives of the research and finding the appropriate methodology in the research model is one of the difficulties faced by the researcher.
4- Finding participants to fill out the research questionnaire is a major challenge for the researcher.
5- Some research requires that institutions fill out questionnaires. The difficulty is to persuade these institutions to participate in the study.


Abstract A systematic analysis of the frequency-dependent source scaling of regional phase data observed from underground nuclear explosions conducted at the former Soviet Semipalatinsk Test Site, the Chinese Lop Nor Test Site, the Russian Novaya Zemlya Test Site, and the U. S. Nevada Test Site has been conducted in an attempt to derive improved, quantitative constraints on proposed physical mechanisms for S -wave generation by explosion sources. The source scaling results for all these testing areas have been found to be remarkably consistent indicating that the observed Sn and Lg spectra scale with explosion yield in a manner that is very comparable to that of the corresponding direct Pn spectra, which differs significantly only over narrow frequency bands defined by differences in the P - and S -wave source corner frequencies. More specifically it has been found that the observed frequency-dependent source scaling of S / P spectral ratios at each of these test sites is very consistent with the simple phenomenological model proposed by Fisk et al. (2005), in which the S -wave source is obtained from the corresponding Mueller/Murphy P -wave source by scaling the corner frequency by the S / P velocity ratio of the source medium. While these results have not yet led to the identification of a specific physical mechanism for S -wave generation by explosions, they do provide very strong constraints that must be satisfied by any plausible proposed physical mechanism.


To the Editor. —Deyo et al1report on the importance of history and physical examination findings in the assessment of patients with back pain. They are to be commended for emphasizing the limitations of expensive imaging studies in these patients and for identifying those historical and examination features that should be most helpful to the clinician. Their efforts to define a new pair of operating characteristics for test performance deserve scrutiny, however. The authors define "SpPin" as an acronym to remind the clinician that "when specificity is extremely high, a positive test result rules in the target disorder." But the authors' own data demonstrate that one can have a very high test specificity without a high positive predictive value. Consider, for example, the authors' data regarding use of fever as a test for spinal infection. Prevalence is defined as 0.01%, sensitivity is 0.83 for spinal epidural abscess, and specificity


It is well documented that energy metabolism differs between cancerous tissue and normal tissue for a large variety of human and animal tumors. The murine J2 retrovirus contributes to oncogenesis in macrophage cells. The BV-2 microglia cells were immortalized using the v-raf/v-myc carrying J2 retrovirus. These cells, however, do not form tumors when grown in vivo in the natural C57BL/6 host. Consistent with v-raf/v-myc expression, the in vitro metabolic and proliferation rate of the BV-2 cells greatly exceeded that of the tumorigenic and metastatic VM-M3 microglia cells when grown in DMEM containing 25 mM glucose. When controlling for proliferation and ATP production, the BV-2 cells produced more lactate than did the VM-M3 cells under aerobic conditions, thus demonstrating a robust Warburg effect in the BV-2 cells. The Warburg effect is associated with HIF stabilization under aerobic conditions. Mutations in the IDH1 gene produce 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), a recognized "onco-metabolite" that also contributes to HIF stabilization under aerobic conditions. Mass spectrometry analysis showed that the non-tumorigenic BV-2 cells made 2-HG only under anoxic conditions. 2-HG was not detected under anoxia or normoxia in VM-M3LM cells, a less malignant clonal variant of VM-M3. It appears that the BV-2 cells have a more robust cancer metabolism than either the high malignant VM-M3 cells or the low malignant VM-M3LM cells. The VM-M3LM cells consumed more oxygen and produced less lactate per ATP than did either the BV-2 cells or the VM-M3 cells, thus displaying a reduced Warburg effect. In other words, the Warburg effect was greatest in the non-tumorigenic BV-2 cells, was lowest in the low malignant VM-M3LM cells, but was intermediate in the high malignant VM-M3 cells. The results suggest that over expression of the v-raf/v-myc oncogenes, production of the IDH1 onco-metabolite, and a robust Warburg effect are not sufficient to drive tumorigenesis in the BV-2 cells. Supported in part from Boston College Res. Expense Fund. Citation Format: Roberto Flores, Kenjiro Kami, Thomas Seyfried. Robust in vitro cancer metabolism in non-tumorigenic microglial cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5429. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5429 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


Abstract Recent literature on the history of medicine in colonial Korea has revealed that Japanese medical scientists studied Korean bodies to expose racial differences between the Japanese and Koreans and justify Japanese colonial rule. Previous scholars, however, have focused mainly on finding a connection between colonial medical research and eugenics. This article attempts to consider things as yet underinvestigated, in particular, the way in which medical research on Koreans emerged and was intertwined with Japanese colonialism in other ways, separate from contemporary eugenics projects. The article examines the emergence and development of what we now considered as "racial sciences"—physical anthropology, serological anthropology, and human genetics—with regard to the biological characteristics of Koreans. In doing so, it argues that biological speculations on Koreans originated as a subdiscipline of Japanese origin studies and resonated with a newly emerging type of colonial racism in colonial Korea—inclusionary racism. The article also presents the colonial scientific enterprise's conclusion that Koreans were biologically heterogeneous, contradicting colonial Korean intellectuals' assertion about Korean ethnic homogeneity. The use of Korean ethnic homogeneity as an ideological basis for nation building by two Korean governments meant that postcolonial Korean scientists had to seek a way to reconcile the colonial era's "scientific conclusion" (biological heterogeneity) with the postcolonial era's "politically approved" conceptualization (biological homogeneity). Therefore, regardless of whether it was trying to refute, appropriate, or revitalize the colonial legacy, biological research on Koreans in the postcolonial period was carried out under the framework that had been constructed by colonial racial sciences.


Object tracking based on the fusion of visible and thermal im-ages, known as RGB-T tracking, has gained increasing atten-tion from researchers in recent years. How to achieve a more comprehensive fusion of information from the two modalities with fewer computational costs has been a problem that re-searchers have been exploring. Recently, with the rise of prompt learning in computer vision, we can better transfer knowledge from visual large models to downstream tasks. Considering the strong complementarity between visible and thermal modalities, we propose a tracking architecture based on mutual prompt learning between the two modalities. We also design a lightweight prompter that incorporates attention mechanisms in two dimensions to transfer information from one modality to the other with lower computational costs, embedding it into each layer of the backbone. Extensive ex-periments have demonstrated that our proposed tracking ar-chitecture is effective and efficient, achieving state-of-the-art performance while maintaining high running speeds.


In the current paper we would like to study the main characteristics of legal language as a specialised language between Spanish and German with the aim to propose a work tool to be used by a translation student, by a professional translator or a legal specialist in order to analyse the original and target text and to be able to use the proper linguistic conventions of each language and in order to know the common and divergent aspects of legal discourse in both languages and its connection to the common language.


In recent years there has been significant growth in the use of virtual worlds for e-learning. These immersive environments offer enhanced distance learning facilities where students can participate in individual and group activities, using advanced communication tools, inside complex and highly interactive simulations. Video games have entered the mainstream as a popular entertainment format and are starting to be adopted as teaching tools. This paper explores how virtual worlds and video games techniques can be used to create highly immersive and engaging environments for teaching engineering related material. It will show how the presentation layer of remote laboratories, which are traditionally 2-D in nature, could be enhanced by the use of 3-D to facilitate new types of remote interactions and methods of visualizing and interacting with data. The Circuit Warz project is introduced and demonstrates how immersive virtual worlds can be used to create a game based approach to teaching, which supports and complements traditional delivery methods using a collaborative team based competitive format with an underlying hardware infrastructure.


Anterior-posterior rhinoliquorhea can reveal several etiologies. We report a case of a patient with rhinoliquorhea of the left nasal cavity post-traumatic whose radiological exploration returned in favor of an osteomeningeal breach and whose surgical exploration by endoscopic nasal route showed a meningocele of the anterior part from the base of the skull. The breach was sealed with organic glue and abdominal fat and organic glue.


Gaseous pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) properties were measured at temperatures from 371.21 to 413.29 K and corresponding pressures from 1.2445 to 4.9718 MPa. An isochoric cell apparatus was used in the present measurements with uncertainties estimated to be ±1.5 kPa for pressure and ±6 mK for temperature. Comparison of the measured PVT data with the reported virial-type equation of state showed satisfactory agreement within ±0.28% in pressure and within ±0.33% in density. The purity of the HFC-161 sample used in this work was 99.74 mass%.


A sufficient apology for the introduction of so timeworn a subject is found in the startling prevalence of the condition and the unnecessarily high mortality rate. So long as the daily press continues to record frequent deaths from a disease which, at some period of its course, is recognized by the medical profession to be distinctly curable, so long will there remain a justification for its most thoughtful and oft-repeated consideration. Although obviously a surgical condition, the discussion of appendicitis in a body of physicians appears particularly appropriate. The position occupied by the physician concerning this affection frequently is equivocal, compromising and most unsatisfactory. Although not diectly involved in the later surgical management of the disease, he is compelled, nevertheless, to assume an obligation fraught with infinitely greater responsibilities than can possibly obtain with the surgeon. It so happens that in appendicitis, unlike most surgical conditions, it is the physician


Geometric methods for solving open-world off-road navigation tasks, by learning occupancy and metric maps, provide good generalization but can be brittle in outdoor environments that violate their assumptions (e.g., tall grass). Learning-based methods can directly learn collision-free behavior from raw observations, but are difficult to integrate with standard geometry-based pipelines. This creates an unfortunate conflict – either use learning and lose out on well-understood geometric navigational components, or do not use it, in favor of extensively hand-tuned geometry-based cost maps. In this work, we reject this dichotomy by designing the learning and non-learning-based components in a way such that they can be effectively combined in a self-supervised manner. Both components contribute to a planning criterion: the learned component contributes predicted traversability as rewards, while the geometric component contributes obstacle cost information. We instantiate and comparatively evaluate our system in both in-distribution and out-of-distribution environments, showing that this approach inherits complementary gains from the learned and geometric components and significantly outperforms either of them.


Models of entire managed systems, known as operating models or management strategy evaluation (MSE) models, have been developed in recent years to more fully account for uncertainty in multiple steps of fishery manage- ment. Here we describe an operating model of sea lamprey management in the Great Lakes and use the model to compare alternative management strategies for sea lamprey control in Lake Michigan. Control of sea lampreys is mainly achieved through the application of chemical lampricides that target stream-dwelling larvae before they become parasites. The op- erating model simulated uncertainty due to process variation in larval population dynamics, the accuracy of population as- sessments used to direct selection of areas to be chemically treated, and the effectiveness of these treatments. We used the operating model to compare the performance of stream selection strategies that either rely on assessments to direct chemi- cal treatments or eliminate the assessment process altogether by relying on prior but uncertain knowledge of stream-level sea lamprey growth rates to specify a fixed schedule for chemical treatments. The fixed schedule strategy led to a modest improvement in expected suppression of parasitic sea lamprey abundance over the assessment-based strategy so long as assessment cost savings were allocated to chemical treatment when assessment was not used to select streams for treat- ment. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the assessment-based strategy to differing but plausible levels of assessment uncertainty. A moderate reduction in assessment uncertainty led to a large increase in suppression of parasitic sea lamprey abundance for the assessment-based selection strategy, emphasizing the importance of both accurately measuring and re- ducing assessment uncertainty.


New French recommendations on infective endocarditis (IE) prevention were recently published and mark a turning point in the history of antibiotic prophylaxis. Endocarditis is an evolving disease, and its clinical and microbiological profile dramatically changes over time. The French surveys that were conducted in 1991 and 1999 showed variations in underlying heart disease with a decrease in native valvular disease and an increase of IE in patients without previously known heart disease. Moreover, the distribution of responsible microorganisms dramatically changed over time, with a marked decrease of oral streptococci. In addition, some dogmas are now challenged. First of all, the part of responsibility of dental procedures is debated, as dental bacteraemia possibly responsible of endocarditis are more likely due to daily manoeuvres such as tooth brushing or chewing gum than to occasional dental procedures. Moreover, as suggested by case-control studies, efficacy--or lack of efficacy--of antibiotic prophylaxis is far from being clinically proved. For all these reasons, the proportion of theoretically avoidable endocarditis seems very low, and the benefit of largely and systematically applied antibiotic prophylaxis may be discussed, not only in terms of financial cost but also in terms of microbiological threat of emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. So, the general idea of those new recommendations was to maintain the principle and the modalities of antibiotic prophylaxis, but to limit its indications to situations at high benefit to risk ratio, i.e. procedures at high risk in patients at high risk. Depending on the situation, antibiotic prophylaxis may be either recommended or become optional and decision-making factors are defined. Furthermore, the importance of general prophylaxis was emphasised, concerning more specifically oral and cutaneous hygiene, and patients and practitioners' education, such as, for example, recommendations on blood cultures to be performed before any antibiotic treatment in case on fever occurring in a patient at risk during the 3 months following a procedure at risk.


Pseudogenes are ideal markers of genome remodeling. In turn, the mouse is an ideal platform for studying them, particularly with the availability of developmental transcriptional data and the sequencing of 18 strains. Here, we present a comprehensive genome-wide annotation of the pseudogenes in the mouse reference genome and associated strains. We compiled this by combining manual curation of over 10,000 pseudogenes with results from automatic annotation pipelines. Also, by comparing the human and mouse, we annotated 165 unitary pseudogenes in mouse, and 303 unitaries in human. We make all our annotation available through mouse.pseudogene.org. The overall mouse pseudogene repertoire (in the reference and strains) is similar to human in terms of overall size, biotype distribution (~80% processed/~20% duplicated) and top family composition (with many GAPDH and ribosomal pseudogenes). However, notable differences arise in the pseudogene age distribution, with multiple retro-transpositional bursts in mouse evolutionary history and only one in human. Furthermore, in each strain about a fifth of the pseudogenes are unique, reflecting strain-specific functions and evolution. Additionally, we find that ~15% of the pseudogenes are transcribed, a fraction similar to that for human, and that pseudogene transcription exhibits greater tissue and strain specificity compared to protein-coding genes. Finally, we show that highly transcribed parent genes tend to give rise to processed pseudogenes.


Human pathogenic Yersinia express a type III secretion system (T3SS) critical for virulence. The T3SS proteins YopD and YopB form pores in host membranes and mediate injection of effector proteins inside host cells to disrupt innate immune defenses such as production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Discrete functional domains within YopD have been identified, yet the YopD central region (amino acids 150-227) remains largely uncharacterized. We assessed the importance of the YopD central region by generating Y. pseudotuberculosis YopDΔ150-170 and YopDΔ207-227 mutants and analyzing their virulence in mouse infection models. Y. pseudotuberculosis YopDΔ150-170 and YopDΔ207-227 grew normally in mesenteric lymph nodes and Peyer's patches following oral infection, but displayed a 20-29,000-fold defect in the spleen and liver. These mutants were also highly attenuated following intraperitoneal infection. These data indicate that the YopD150-227 central region is critical for Y. pseudotuberculosis disseminated infection. To identify the underlying cause of this virulence defect, we examined the ability of the YopDΔ150-170 and YopDΔ207-227 mutants to translocate T3SS cargo and inhibit ROS production in macrophages. While only the YopDΔ150-170 mutant exhibited translocation defects, both mutants failed to fully inhibit ROS production. We hypothesize that the YopD central region facilitates optimal T3SS effector protein delivery to effectively disarm innate immune defenses.


The evaluation of efficacy in clinical trials in pediatric rheumatology have been classically based on physician's centered measures and on patient's reported outcome (PRO) The efficacy measures could then be divided into those who could be applied across diseases such as the physician's evaluation of disease activity usually on a 10 cm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) or on a 21 circle VAS, the functional ability tools such as the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) or the evaluation of health related quality of life (HRQOL) such as the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ), and parent's/patients global assessment of overall well-being and pain usually on VAS and more recent newer tools such as the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR). For the disease specific measures we have for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) the classic rheumatologic examination with the evaluation of the number of joints with swelling, pain and limitation on motion as well as the number of active joints, and for damage the Juvenile Arthritis Damage Index (JADI). For juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) the evaluation of muscle strength through the Childhood Myositis Assessment Scale (CMAS) or the Manual Muscle Testing (MMT), the evaluation of disease activity through the Disease Activity Score (DAS) or the Myositis Disease Activity Assessment Tool (MDAA), and for damage the Myositis Damage Index (MDI). For juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) the evaluation of disease activity through, the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), The Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM), European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM) and for damage the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SLICC/ACR DI). Finally there are objective measures or laboratory indicators such as the index of inflammation (ESR or CRP) for JIA, the muscle enzymes for JDM and proteinuria or urine protein/creatinine ration for JSLE. Most of these measures have a correspondent tool to be applied when a child transition to adulthood (for the CHAQ the HAQ, for the CHQ the SF-36) and most are used in the same format for both children and adults. This lecture will describe the current scenario of the measures that could facilitate transition from childhood to adulthood. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


A 68-year-old female patient presented at the emergency room with episodes of epistaxis, dysphagia and malaise. The patient had acute prerenal renal failure, probably in association with previous infection of the airways and treatment with NSAID's. Laboratory values revealed greatly decreased leukocyte and platelet counts as well as anemia. The patient had a diagnosis of a seronegative arthritis since 9 months and, therefore, was treated with low dose methotrexate (MTX) 10 mg/week. After exclusion of other causes, myelosupression was considered to be associated with low-dose MTX. After stopping MTX and treatment with folic acid leucocyte and platelet counts returned to normal and stomatitis recovered as well within nine days. We discuss the pharmacology of low-dose MTX and in particular the risk factors and prophylaxis of its toxicity. Renal function needs special attention in patients treated with low-dose MTX.


The aim of this thesis is to illustrate how collective memory is the basis of ontological security in conflicts and how this hinders reconciliation. The thesis argues that the narrative that stems from the actor must be validated by its relationships otherwise ontological dissonance occurs. Furthermore, the thesis argues that when ontological dissonance occurs the identity does not avoid the dissonance. Instead it holds on to what it knows, which is the collective memory.
The thesis has looked at murals in Northern Ireland and has investigated what themes are displayed as chosen glories and chosen traumas. Through this analysis the thesis has been able to show that when a narrative is not validated the narrative is put in trauma time, which is an outcome of the ontological dissonance and also maintains it. When this happens reconciliation cannot take place since trauma time forces the community to remain in their antagonistic collective memory in order to have an ontological secure world. This can be seen by loyalist murals, which are in trauma time. Republicans are not in trauma time since their narrative has been validated by their relationships.


Bacterial blood stream infections (BSIs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Prevailing data on bacterial species causing BSI and their antibiogram are essential for proper management of patients. A retrospective study was conducted on blood culture results that had been processed from March 2013 to January 2015 at Bahir Dar Regional Health Research Laboratory Center. In January 2015, data on age, sex of patients and bacterial isolates with antibiogram were extracted from registration log book. Blood stream causing bacteria were identified according to standard operational procedure for blood culture. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed according to Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion methods. A total of 561 blood specimens were requested for blood culture. Of these, 220 (39.2%, 95% CI: 35.3-43.4%) blood cultures had aerobic bacterial growth. Gram negative bacterial isolates constituted 115 (52.3%) of the isolated bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus 50 (22.7%), coagulase negative staphylococci 35(15.9%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 35 (15.9%), Escherichia coli 19 (8.6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 15 (6.8%) and Acinetobacter species 13(5.9%) were the most dominant isolates. Overall, drug resistance for gram positive bacteria were 7 to 61% and for gram negatives 6.9 to 82.6%. Among the gram positive bacteria, high resistance levels were observed against penicillin (61%) and oxacillin (52.9%). The gram negative bacterial isolates showed 66 to 82.6% resistance to ampicillin, ceftriaxone and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The present study revealed that bacterial blood stream infections linked with high levels of drug resistance would pose a challenge in treatment of patients with BSIs. Hence, blood culture with antibiotic susceptibility tests could play key role for appropriate treatment of patients with bacterial blood stream infection. Key words : Blood culture, Bloodstream infection, antibiogram, Ethiopia


We demonstrate reflection-mode plasmonic color filters based on lithographically patterned silver nanorods with ultrasmall inter-rod gaps. Fine and effective tuning of the plasmon resonance is shown by varying array periodicities. We determine the dependence of reflected intensity on diameter/periodicity ratio and then develop reflective plasmonic color filters using dense nanorod arrays. Experimental results agree well with theoretical calculations. Our approach is potentially useful for plasmon-assisted sensing, imaging and displays.


Mammary epithelial cells cultured on Engelbreth‐Holm‐Swarm (EHS) matrix form multicellular structures termed mammospheres, in which cells and matrix become arranged around a central luminal space. In the presence of lactogenic hormones, cells within mammospheres become polarized, form tight intercellular junctions, and secrete milk proteins vectorially into the luminal space. This study examined the mechanism of lumen formation. Histological examination of developing mammospheres showed that cavitation was associated spatially and temporally with the appearance of fragmented nuclear material in apoptotic bodies, and with the presence of cells positively labeled by terminal deoxynucleotide transferase‐mediated deoxyuridine nick end‐labeling (TUNEL). Analysis of [32P]‐deoxynucleotide end‐labeled genomic DNA by electrophoresis and autoradiography showed DNA laddering indicative of apoptosis. A transient increase in laddering coincided with both lumen formation and the presence of TUNEL‐positive cells. Lumen formation, DNA laddering, and detection of TUNEL‐positive cells were all accelerated when matrix composition was altered. They were also impaired coordinately when caspase inhibitor was present during the first two days of culture. Therefore, lumen formation in mammosphere cultures is due to selective apoptosis of centrally located cells. Mammosphere cavitation was accompanied by redistribution of matrix constituents to the mammosphere periphery. Western blotting and Western ligand blotting of culture medium showed that lumen formation was also associated with a transient increase in insulin‐like growth factor binding protein‐5 (IGFBP5), a factor implicated in mammary apoptosis in vivo. We propose that epithelial cell survival during mammosphere development is induced selectively through stabilization by basement membrane constituents, which may act directly on the epithelial cell or confer protection against autocrine apoptotic factors. J. Cell. Physiol. 181:304–311, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Miniature temperature-sensitive radiotransmitters were attached to 15 filesnakes (Acrochordus arafurae) in Magela Creek in tropical Australia. These snakes were monitored daily, or more often, for intervals from 2-24 days (x = 14 days). Filesnakes are entirely aquatic. Habitat utilization was highly seasonal: snakes were restricted to billabongs during the dry-season but spread out into shallowly-inundated grassland at the onset of the wet-season. Telemetered snakes were relatively sedentary by day (mean displacement = 19 m), moving only to stay under the shadows of overhanging trees. This behavior may reduce avian predation. Nocturnal movements were extensive, especially during the wet-season (mean displacement = 141 m). Home ranges (0.1-4.7 ha by the uncorrected convex polygon technique) were larger than those of most previously-studied snakes, possibly because of the large body size of A. arafurae. Body temperatures of telemetered snakes averaged 26 C in the dry-season, 30 C in the wet-season, and were very similar to water temperatures. These snakes tend to be thermoconformers, but their temperatures are less variable than those of the surrounding water. Filesnakes are remarkably homoiothermic, with average body temperatures varying <2 C over a 24-h cycle during the wet-season.


We present and discuss a modified version of reaction rate theory (RRT) to describe the passage of a positive ion through a biological ion channel. It takes explicit account of the non-equilibrium nature of the permeation process. Unlike traditional RRT, it allows for the non-constant transition rates that arise naturally in an archetypal model of an ion channel. In particular, we allow for the fact that the average escape time of an ion trapped at the selectivity filter (SF) can be reduced substantially by the pair correlations between ions: the arrival of a second ion at the channel entrance significantly reduces the potential barrier impeding the escape of the ion from the SF. The effects of this rate modulation on the current- voltage and current-concentration characteristics of the channel are studied parametrically. Stochastic amplification of the channel conductivity by charge fluctuations is demonstrated and compared with the results of Brownian dynamics simulations.


The paper describes field and laboratory investigations on the bionomics of Cephalonomia waterstoni , a Bethylid parasite of Laemophloeus spp. A table is given in which are listed all the Bethylids attacking insect pests of stored products to which reference could be found in the literature. An infestation of Laemophloeus , associated with two "hot spots" in Manitoba wheat, which supported a large population of Cephalonomia is described. A simple technique for the laboratory culture of Cephalonomia is described. The life-cycle of C. waterstoni with Laemophloeus ferrugineus as host has been worked out. The lengths of egg, larval and cocoon (prepupal and pupal) stages at combinations of 25°C, 30°C. and 60 per cent., 80 per cent. R.H. are given. The egg and larval stages are short, lasting for about six days at 25°C. and four days at 30°C. Within the limits used, the relative humidity appears to have no effect on the duration of development at any stage. On the other hand, temperature exerts a considerable influence; the life-cycle at 30°C. is completed in two weeks but at 25°C. it takes three weeks. Again within the limits used, the mortality appears to increase with decrease in saturation deficit. Mortality ranged from 9 per cent, at S.D. 12·7 mm. to 36·5 per cent, at S.D. 5·0 mm. Without food or water at all combinations of 25–30°C. and 60–80 per cent. R.H. adults live for about four days, with a range of 0·5–9·5 days. There is no difference between the sexes. Unexplained contradictory results were obtained in two experiments. With normal or paralysed host larvae available at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H., males live no longer than when no food or water is available but females live for about five weeks at 25°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. and for about four weeks at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. Males fed with sucrose solution at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. live for several days longer than when starved : females live for the same length of time as when fed with host larvae. The pre-oviposition period at 25°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. is about five days; at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. about one and a half days. Fecundity. At 25°C. and 80 per cent. R.H., Cephalonomia lays about 40 eggs on 30 host larvae : at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H., about 65 eggs on 40 larvae. Cephalonomia females readily oviposit on larvae that have been paralysed some time previously, and can be induced to oviposit on larvae already bearing eggs. Virgin females produce only male offspring (arrhenotoky). Eggs are laid in groups of one, two or three (rarely four) per larva. Single eggs produce mainly females ; pairs produce mainly one male and one female ; trios produce mainly one male and two females. At 25°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. more single eggs are laid than pairs ; at 30°C. and 80 per cent. R.H. more pairs are laid than singles. This results in the production of a higher proportion of females at 25°C. than at 30°C. The incidence of trios at both temperatures is low. C. waterstoni is equally viable on L. minutus , L. ferrugineus and L. turcicus but shows a marked preference for L. ferrugineus .


Abstract This article aims to analyze the Gezi Park social movement, which started in Istanbul in 2013 and spread all over Turkey in a short time, in the context of class dynamics. In this context, firstly, the adequacy of examining the Gezi Park movement within the scope of new social movements will Gezi Park analysis as an example of social movement be emphasized. Secondly, the study will attempt to establish an alternative critical approach based on class. With this approach, class dynamics of the Gezi Park movement will be sought under the titles of historicity, antagonism, and holism.


A macro-pulse photon counting Lidar is described in this paper, which was designed to implement long-range and high-speed moving target detection. The ToF extraction method for the macro-pulse photon counting Lidar system is proposed. The performance of the macro pulse method and the traditional pulse accumulation method were compared in theory and simulation experiments. The results showed that the performance of the macro-pulse method was obviously better than that of the pulse accumulation method. At the same time, a laboratory verification platform for long range and high-speed moving targets was built. The experimental results were highly consistent with the theoretical and simulation results. This proved that the macro pulse photon counting Lidar is an effective method to measure long range high-speed moving targets.


The hypothesis tested was that most pupae of Aedes aegypti are produced in a few types of containers so that vector control efforts could concentrate on eliminating the most productive ones and thus prevent dengue outbreaks. Pupal surveys were conducted twice in 2004 in an urban area in southern Puerto Rico. A total 35,030 immature mosquitoes (III and IV instars, pupae) was counted in 1,367 containers found with water in 624 premises during the first survey. Only pupae were counted in the second survey in 829 premises, 257 of which had containers with water, and 124 contained Ae. aegypti pupae (15%, 22% in the first survey). We found fewer (583) containers with water than in the first survey, but 202 had pupae (35%; 18.5% in first survey). Containers yielded 3,189 Ae. aegypti pupae, which was slightly fewer than those found in the first survey (3,388 pupae). The hypothesis was supported by the data, showing that 7 of 18 types of containers contained 80% of all female pupae. The most productive containers generally were also common. We used several criteria (i.e., container use, two-step cluster analysis based on environmental variables of containers and premises) to classify the containers and premises and to evaluate pupal distribution at various spatial scales (container, premise, and residences versus public areas). Most pupae were in 4 of 10 types of container usage categories. The cluster technique showed that most pupae were in unattended, rain-filled containers in the yards, particularly in receptacles in the shade of trees that received rainfall through foliage and had lower water temperatures. Pupal counts were adjusted to a negative binomial distribution, confirming their highly aggregated dispersal pattern. Cluster analysis showed that 61.3% of female pupae were in 40 (6.4%) of 624 premises that had in common their larger yards, number of trees, and container water volume. Using number of Ae. aegypti larvae, Breteau Index, or the presence of immature forms as indicators of pupal productivity is not as efficient in identifying the most productive types of containers as direct pupal counts.


Invariant natural killer (iNKT) T cells and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells represent peculiar T-lymphocyte subpopulations with innate-like properties that differ from conventional T cells. iNKT are reduced in the primary immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP). By studying the mechanism of this depletion, we herein report that iNKT cells exhibit a high susceptibility to apoptosis that is not observed with conventional T cells. Elevated expression of caspases 3 and 7 accounts for the proapoptotic phenotype of iNKT cells, which is inhibited by XIAP although it exerts a moderate effect in conventional T cells. Similarly, MAIT cells exhibit a proapoptotic propensity with elevated expression of activated caspases and are decreased in XIAP-deficient individuals. Knockdown of the transcription factor PLZF/ZBTB-16, which is involved in the effector program of iNKT cells, diminishes their proapoptotic phenotype. Conversely, overexpression of PLZF/ZBTB-16 in conventional T cells leads to a proapoptotic phenotype. Our findings identify a previously unknown pathway of regulation of innate-like T-cell homeostasis depending on XIAP and PLZF. The proapoptotic feature of iNKT cells also gives a reliable explanation of their exhaustion observed in different human conditions including the XIAP immunodeficiency.


Optimization of the anticancer activity for a class of compounds built on a 1,3-dihydroindole-2-one scaffold was performed. In comparison with recently published derivatives of oxyphenisatin the new analogues exhibited an equally potent antiproliferative activity in vitro and improved tolerability and activity in vivo. The best compounds from this series showed low nanomolar antiproliferative activity toward a series of cancer cell lines (compound (S)-38: IC(50) of 0.48 and 2 nM in MCF-7 (breast) and PC3 (prostate), respectively) and potent antitumor effects in well tolerated doses in xenograft models. The racemic compound (RS)-38 showed complete tumor regression at a dose of 20 mg/kg administered iv on days 1 and 7 in a PC3 rat xenograft.


In this research, the transversal mode of 970 nm broad area laser diode based on a large optical cavity is studied. The vertical far-field patterns were measured to be dependent on the cavity caused facet loss. High-orders modes achieve lasing with higher facet loss while they can be completely suppressed by a low facet loss. The suppression of high-order modes was attributed to be an increase in the discrimination of differential quantum efficiency between high-order modes and the fundamental mode, which matches well with simulation. When the discrimination exceeds probable fluctuations, the high-order modes will be completely suppressed and lasing of single fundamental mode will achieve. According to our experiment results, the optimal resonance cavity length is about 6 mm in order to realize fundamental mode and simultaneously a high slope efficiency. As a consequence, high efficiency 970 nm broad area laser with slope efficiency over 1.07 W/A and full wavelength half maximum (FWHM) less than 2 nm@1A is demonstrated.


Abstract Orotate in the morning milk of 250 cows from five dairy breeds averaged 81.1 μ g/ml but exhibited large variability as indicated by a standard deviation of 48.6 and a range from 19 to 664 μ g/ml. Much of this variability in milk orotate is likely attributable to variation between individual cows. Some variation was due to breed, number of lactations, and stage of lactation. Jersey and Guernsey cows produced milk with lower orotate than Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, or Holstein cows. Cows with more lactations had lower orotate concentrations. Stage of lactation also affected orotate concentration; this was reverified by periodic monitoring in individual cows at various stages of lactation. Orotate in first-drawn colostrum averaged 13.2 and 5.8 μ g/ml for seven uniparous and eight multiparous Holstein cows. Within 2 wk, these animals had increased to 60 μ g/ml with uniparous animals rising more rapidly. For eight other Holstein cows monitored biweekly from 2 to 44 wk of lactation, orotate rose to 76 μ g/ml by wk 10 and remained fairly constant through wk 38. The cow with the highest concentration of milk orotate produced milk with four to ten times more orotate than these eight animals at all stages of lactation; the average from 10 through 38 wk was 558 μ g orotate/ml and a sample approached 800. During the dry period, orotate concentration in lacteal secretions decreased to that in first-drawn colostrum.


Abstract The Wishing Wall is a spectator-orientated artwork that was staged by Landi Raubenheimer and Paul Cooper in February 2010, as part of the 'Infecting the City' performance art festival. The purpose of this article is to investigate the artwork in terms of authorship. The artwork consisted of an installation in Adderley Street in Cape Town, and as a public artwork involved spectators as voluntary participants in its creation. The question of authorship which arises, is to what extent the artists' role is authorial, and to what extent the participants play this role. Nicholas Bourriaud's theory of relational aesthetics is used as a point of departure from which to understand the relational aspects of the wall in which the author's autonomy is subverted. Miwon Kwon's writings on site-specific art are also referred to, as she contextualises the facilitating roles she envisions artists playing in such artworks. In a sense the notion of the artist as romantic genius is brought into question by artworks that displace and reinterpret the role of the artist as author, while at the same time this distinction remains necessary for the artwork to maintain its criticality. John Roberts argues that if this does not take place, the artwork runs the risk of being subsumed into the realm of social production, and it ceases to be art.


Abstract Straddling both the centres of (European) power and the shifting dynamics of the post-Ottoman world in a quest to guarantee private rights through public international legal redress, the PCIJ Mavrommatis case provides a rich resource for interrogating the extent to which international law during the League period could speak for voices on the edge of empire. In this article, historical consideration of the regimes of empire and Mandate form the backdrop to an exploration into how international legal discourse (re)configured the relationship between the core and the periphery, especially for those peoples awaiting the promise of self-determination and sovereignty. The figure of a lone Greek investor and his dashed hopes in the newly created Palestine Mandate is the backdrop to this tail of ever-shifting interpretations of public and private rights, of speech as well as silence before and beyond the Peace Palace.


An interactive procedure will be derived to facilitate a designer in choosing proper actuators and their locations and optimal dimensions on each component in a robot so that the robot has the same time constant for any direction of motion and less nonlinear effects. An integrated solution of the following problems will be sought for to derive the procedure. A data structure to represent a robot in a data-base should be created. A proper objective function, which represents the dynamic characteristics of robots (i.e., time constants and nonlinear effects), has to be defined. A method of computing the objective function from a set of optimization variables should be derived. As a case study, a five degree of freedom RHINO robot will be optimized. This paper is an extended abstract because the project is still on the way.


This article was written with the aim to identify the level of loyalty, satisfaction, and academic performance of the students from the Business Management, Marketing, and Accounting faculty programs belonging to the "Multidisciplinary Media Zone Unit (UAMZM)" Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi. The methodology used in the research was based on the quantitative approach and a transversal design with descriptive and multivariate techniques for its analysis. 233 UAMZM students were selected as the representative sample for the research, and the method used in the poll is that of compilation of data consisting of 12 demographic variables: a construct of 8 items in order to evaluate the level of satisfaction, 7 items to measure the academic performance and 3 dichotomy questions to measure the loyalty. Validity and reliability are also described through the instrument, as well as the student's type of loyalty through the analysis of clusters the level of satisfaction and academic performance.


Myolipoma represents a very rare intradural spinal cord tumour. It generally occurs in young children, in the lumbo-sacral spine. We reported on a 30-year-old man with dorsal-operated myolipoma. Intradural spinal cord tumours have a prevalence of 3–10/100 000 per year. They predominantly occur in the middle-aged group. The most common tumours are nerve sheath tumours (~30%) and meningiomas (~25%), followed by intramedullary tumours such astrocytomas and ependymomas. Hemangioblastomas, cavernomas, dermoids, epidermoids and lipomas and others are even more uncommon. A 30-year-old man, Caucasian, suffering from worsening paraparesis for a period of 2 months, underwent surgery for a D6 intradural extra/intra-medullary spinal mass. Spinal contrast-enhanced MR showed hyperintense mass (both in T1 and T2) in the spinal canal at D6 mimicking an intradural dermoid tumour (Fig. 1). Subtotal removal of a fibro-lipomatous mass was performed. Histological examination identified the tumour as myolipoma. Good recovery of motor function was achieved after surgical resection of the mass. Moreover, the patient was referred to a specialized centre for physical rehabilitation. Myolipoma is a benign tumour in which striated muscle cells are mixed with adipocytes. This is a very rare tumour: only five previous cases have been identified, all in the lumbo-sacral tract, and the oldest reported patient was 18 years old. We reported on a 30-yearold man with an intradural myolipoma of the thoracic spine. References


A perioperative blood management program is one of a number of important elements for successful patient care in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and surgeons should be proactive in its application. The aims of blood conservation are to reduce the risk of blood transfusion whilst at the same time maximizing hemoglobin (Hb) in the postoperative period, leading to a positive effect on outcome and cost. An individualized strategy based on patient specific risk factors, anticipated blood loss and comorbidities are useful in achieving this aim. Multiple blood conservation strategies are available in the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative periods and can be employed in various combinations. Recent literature has highlighted the importance of preoperative Hb optimization, minimizing blood loss and evidence-based transfusion guidelines. Given TKA is an elective procedure, a zero allogenic blood transfusion rate should be the aim and an achievable goal.


In dynamic control centers, conventional SCADA systems are enhanced with novel assistance functionalities to increase existing monitoring and control capabilities. To achieve this, different key technologies like phasor measurement units (PMU) and Digital Twins (DT) are incorporated, which give rise to new cyber-security challenges. To address these issues, a four-stage threat analysis approach is presented to identify and assess system vulnerabilities for novel dynamic control center architectures. For this, a simplified risk assessment method is proposed, which allows a detailed analysis of the different system vulnerabilities considering various active and passive cyber-attack types. Qualitative results of the threat analysis are presented and discussed for different use cases at the control center and substation level.


Should civil litigation be fast, inexpensive or accurate? When these goals clash, which one should prevail? These questions are the subject of countless court opinions, policy arguments, academic debates, and civil procedure exams. Yet discussion of procedural values to date has taken place in the dark, lacking vital information about which procedural values matter to actual litigants.
This Article fills that void with empirical analysis. It analyzes an original data set based on 1200 surveys mailed to a broad range of litigants and judges asking for their views on procedural values. It interprets survey responses by introducing to legal scholarship a novel combination of methodological tools: multi-dimensional scaling and circular regressions.
The analysis reveals a consensus among surveyed groups for not valuing highly speed, cost, and privacy. This consensus cuts against the prevailing wisdom in policy-making circles, court opinions, and academic literature.
Beyond this consensus, this Article also reveals significant conflict between groups over which of the remaining procedural values are most important. Federal judges prioritize fairness and participation. Large corporations value accuracy and finality. Pro se litigants stress the importance of accessibility and simplicity. These findings raise pressing concerns: whenever we favor one procedural value over another, we favor some litigants over others. Conflict over prioritizing procedural values is, ultimately, conflict about prioritizing litigants themselves.


The overlap of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with other common respiratory pathogens may complicate the course of the disease and prognosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the rates, characteristics, and outcomes of pediatric patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A/B infections, and their coinfections. A single-center prospective cross-sectional study was performed at the pediatric emergency department in Vilnius from 1 October 2021 to 30 April 2022. In total, 5127 children were screened for SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza A/B. SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests were positive for 21.0% of children (1074/5127). The coinfection rate of respiratory viruses (RSV, influenza A) in patients with COVID-19 was 7.2% (77/1074). Among the 4053 SARS-CoV-2 negative patients, RSV was diagnosed in 405 (10.0%) patients and influenza A/B in 827 (20.4%) patients. Patients with COVID-19 and coinfection did not have a more severe clinical course than those with RSV or influenza infection alone. RSV and SARS-CoV-2 primarily affected younger patients (up to 2 years), while the influenza was more common in older children (4–10 years). Patients infected with RSV were more severely ill, reflected by higher hospitalization proportion and need for respiratory support.


The density values are linked to the observed magnitudes and unknown phases by a system of non-linear equations. When the object of search is a binary envelope rather than a continuous function of the electron density distribution, these equations can be replaced by a system of linear inequalities with respect to binary unknowns and powerful tools of integer linear programming may be applied to solve the phase problem. This novel approach was tested with calculated and experimental data for a known protein structure.


Background and Aims: General anesthesia and airway management of patients for head and neck cancer surgery is a challenge for the anesthesiologist. Appropriate assessment and planning are essential for successful airway management. Our objectives were to review airway management strategies in patients undergoing head and neck cancer surgery in our tertiary care institution and also to observe the effect of airway management techniques on postoperative length of hospital stay (PLOS). Material and Methods: A retrospective medical record review of 400 patients who underwent major head and neck cancer surgery in our institution was conducted. A special form was used, and records were searched for airway and anesthetic management in the operating room and recovery room, and for PLOS. Results: 289 (72.25%) of the patients were male, and 111 (27.75%) female. 49.8% of patients had Mallampati score of 3 and 4. Airway was managed with tracheostomy in 81 (20.25%) patients; nasal intubation was performed in 177 (44.25%) and oral intubation in 142 (35.5%) patients. Postoperative emergency tracheostomy was not done in any of the patients. Conclusion: Median postoperative hospital stay was significantly longer (P = 0.0005) in patients who had a tracheostomy performed compared with those where the airway was managed without it.


Oil recovery simulation sensitivity increases with heavier oils for the existing viscosity models, driving into higher levels of difficulty when fitting viscosity data for rising oil heaviness, particularly below the saturation pressure. Keeping in view the similarity of trends of viscosity and density with isothermal pressures for reservoir oils, the P-μ-T cubic viscosity model, which was developed for pure hydrocarbon components, was extended to reservoir oils. Two parameters in the P-μ-T cubic viscosity model for mixtures with pure and pseudocomponents are identified for adjusting the viscosity data fitting: Kc for controlling the viscosity gradient with pressure and the "ε" shifting trends for increasing viscosity direction. These two parameters are treated as the adjustable parameters required for fitting the viscosity data.
 A total of 129 reservoir oils from different sources are used to validate the reliability of the P-μ-T viscosity model. The default model (where ε and Kc are 1 and 45, respectively), extended to 71 light oils, resulted in 31% of average absolute relative deviation (AARD) in viscosity prediction. However, separate adjusted parameters are obtained per oil for more accurate viscosity data fitting. Application of the model in this work results in (post-fitting) AARD% of 2.86% average for 36 low-viscosity oil data, 5.68% for 9 high-viscosity oil data, 9% for five oil blends, and 4.11% for bitumen blends. The model gives an AARD of 3.06% in the undersaturated region and 3.79% in the saturated region for the oil considered. The model predicts better the viscosity above saturation pressure for low-viscosity oils and below saturation pressure for high-viscosity oils. A comparative analysis of the P-μ-T cubic viscosity model vs. other models demonstrates its ability to successfully capture viscosity trends of oil and blends in all viscosity ranges. For simplicity, the P-μ-T cubic viscosity model is proposed with only two optimizing parameters even though using a third parameter improves the matching in heavy oils.


S ubmicroscopic deletion del(9)(q34.3) is a rare constitutional microdeletion syndrome involving the gene-rich subtelomeric region of the long arm of chromosome 9, with about 30 cases reported. Visible constitutional 9q34 deletions are extremely rare, with only a few cases described. 10 12 The low prevalence of large terminal deletions at the 9q34 chromosome region in liveborns is thought to reflect lethality in early embryogenesis. At least 18 patients with 9q34.3 microdeletions detected by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) testing, in whom normal karyotypes were initially obtained, have been reported. 5–7 11 Many patients carry a cryptic del(9)(q34.3) that may result in a clinically recognisable phenotype characterised by severe developmental delay, mental retardation, hypotonia, congenital heart defects (CHD), seizures, and prominent craniofacial features including microcephaly, arched eyebrows, hypertelorism, short nose with anteverted nostrils, open mouth, and a protruding tongue. 7 11 Recently, based on clinical and molecular breakpoint analyses using FISH, microsatellites, and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, two research groups have independently identified an ,1.0 Mb shortest region of overlap (SRO) of 9q34.3 deletions. 11 Although the clinical criteria and incidence of the 9q34.3 deletion are not yet well established, the increasing number of patients reported with del(9)(q34.3) is probably related to the widespread clinical application of telomere FISH. Hence, this microdeletion syndrome may be more common than previously thought. We have identified a 9q34.3 deletion in each of five unrelated patients, including a patient with clinical features similar to Opitz trigonocephaly C syndrome (OTCS; MIM211750). A monogenic cause and autosomal recessive mode of inheritance have been considered probable in OTCS, usually associated with a normal karyotype. In contrast, several reports on patients with multiple congenital anomalies resembling OTCS and chromosomal imbalance of either 3p, 3q, 9p, or 11q, supported the hypothesis that OTCS is a heterogeneous condition and may be an example of an underascertained microdeletion syndrome. 18–20


Wideband optical wavelength translation across a record range from the near-infrared to the visible based on the Bragg scattering four-wave-mixing process has been demonstrated in birefringent photonic crystal fiber. The process was vectorial in nature, where the pumps and the signal and idler fields were polarized on orthogonal axes. Bragg scattering is a theoretically noiseless process (and thus is termed translation), although the signal and idler channels are often contaminated by Raman generated by the pumps. Vector Bragg scattering has the potential to be less contaminated by Raman noise than scalar (copolarized) Bragg scattering.


Written by a respected authority on human rights and public health, this book delivers an in-depth review of the challenges of neoliberal models and policies for realizing the right to health. The author expertly explores the integration of social determinants into the right to health along with the methodologies and findings of social medicine and epidemiology. The author goes on to challenge the way that health care is currently provided and makes the case that achieving universal health coverage will require fundamental health systems reforms.


In this study we investigated the involvement of p53 polymorphism at codon 72, the infection and typing of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the correlation of p53 polymorphism with HPV type and other clinicopathologic characteristics in 72 Hong Kong women with cervical cancer. We developed a simple and nonradioactive method for determining polymorphism at codon 72 of the p53 gene. The homozygous p53 arginine allele (Arg/Arg) was detected in 22 (31%), the homozygous p53 proline allele (Pro/Pro) in 14 (19%) and the heterozygous allele (Arg/Pro) in 36 (50%) cases, respectively. Using the consensus primers MY11 and MY09, HPV infection was detected in 55 of 72 (76%) cases. The prevalent types were HPV-16 (55%), HPV-18 (16%) and HPV-58 (9%). The number of HPV-positive cases with Arg/Arg, Pro/Pro and Arg/Pro were 17 (31%), 12 (22%) and 26 (47%), respectively. The p53 polymorphism at codon 72 was not significantly correlated with any of the HPV types (p > 0.05). No striking overrepresentation of homozygous arginine-72 p53 was observed in HPV-associated cervical cancer. The results in this study did not show that any p53 polymorphic form has a prognostic significance for cervical cancer.


Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is susceptible to abiotic stresses. High salinity is a common abiotic stress condition that adversely affects plant growth. Altered ion and water homeostasis changes due to NaCI stress, lead to molecular damage, growth arrest and even death. As a consequence of salt stress effects, secondary stresses such as oxidative damage by reactive oxygen species may occur. Reactive oxygen species can alter cellular metabolism through oxidative damage of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids causing lipid peroxidation, protein denaturing and DNA mutation. In recent years, several selective and sensitive assays have been developed to evaluate the effects of environmental stress on vegetal organisms. RAPD is one of them and developed for DNA analysis. In this study, cotton seedlings were used as bioindicator of salinity stress in the range of 50-400 mM. Effects of salinity stress were determined by comparing RAPD profiles of normal and treated cotton seedlings include variations in band intensities as well as gains or losses of band numbers. The DNA polymorphisms detected by RAPD analysis could be used as an investigation tool and useful biomarker assay for observing environmental stresses such as high salinity on vegetal organisms.


This study was an attempt to examine the presence of possible differences in the linguistic behavior of male and female ELT major students with respect to the utilization of hedging devices in their interpersonal interactions. To do so, three discussion sessions in a single-gendered context were separately recorded for male and female participants. Frequency counts and chi-square were used to analyze the obtained data. The findings of the study showed females' more tendency to employ hedging devices. Moreover, a focus group interview was held. The identified themes revealed different functions of hedging devices for female participants including their desire to welcome others' opinions, to be friendly, and to build good rapport with their interlocutors. However, the participants firmly rejected their lower social status as the reason for their more use of hedges. The findings of this study may pave the way to better understand the world of communication.


1. The oviposition responses of Calandra granaria as manifested by the rate of oviposition, total eggs laid, length of life, length of life, length of ovipository life and length of preoviposition period, have been investigated under controlled conditions of temperature and saturation deficiency of air, grain having been acclimatized in its water content to the relative humidity of the air.

2. Calandra lives for a shorter time under high than under low temperatures but lays eggs at a greater rate, thus compensating for the shorter life.

3. There is evidence for the existence of an optimum saturation deficiency at each temperature for oviposition rate.

4. Weevils are shorter lived at high saturation deficiencies than they are at low.

5. The total number of eggs laid by weevils is smaller at high than at low saturation deficiencies of air.

6. Water content of the food grain contributes to these results in that dry food is conducive to low rate of oviposition, low total egg production and shorter life.


The mature cerebral cortex is divided into morphologically distinct, functionally dedicated and stereotypically connected cortical areas. How might such functional domains arise during development? To investigate possible intrinsic programs within the embryonic cerebral cortex we examined patterns of gene expression early in corticogenesis. We performed these studies using the developing macaque monkey because of the size, complexity, areal make-up and the extended nature of its cortical development. Here, we present results for two types of molecules. (i) Transcription factors -- gene products that bind DNA and activate transcription, directing cellular fates through cascades of gene expression. We find that the transcription factors TBr-1, Lhx-2, Emx-1 and a novel POU domain-containing gene are differentially expressed within the forming primate forebrain, and are present in gradients across the neocortex. (ii) The EphA receptor tyrosine kinases -- gene products that mediate cellular recognition in many embryonic systems. Individual members of this family are expressed during primate corticogenesis in pronounced gradients and/or well-defined compartments with distinct boundaries. Together, these results suggest that at least two modes of grouping cells within the neocortex exist: the graded patterning of cells across its full anteroposterior extent and the parcellation of cells into defined domains. Moreover, emergence of molecular differences between regions of the cortical plate, prior to the arrival of afferent and formation of efferent connections, suggests that the initial cellular parcellation in the telencephalon is cell-autonomously regulated. This initial independence from peripheral influences supports the existence of an intrinsic protomap that may function both to differentially attract and respond to specific afferents, thus predicting the functional map of the mature cortex.


We reviewed the results of 174 consecutive percutaneous transluminal angioplasties (PTA) for 226 iliac artery stenoses (mean length 1.6 cm, range 0.2-9.6 cm) in 150 patients with lower limb ischaemia. Vascular intervention was indicated by intermittent claudication in 123 and critical ischaemia in 51 (29%) limbs. There were 12 (7%) failed guide-wire recanalizations. Four (2%) serious complications from puncture site haemorrhages or peripheral embolizations were handed surgically and caused one major amputation. Five-year patency in 162 successful dilatations was 68% primarily and 81% secondary to vascular surgical reconstructions during an average 28 (range 1-60) months of observation. One hundred and thirteen (70%) limbs improved clinically. In 95 limbs treated exclusively by iliac PTA, clinical improvement was achieved in 38/47 (81%) limbs with patency and 24/48 (50%) limbs with occlusion of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) (p < 0.003), whereas vascular patency of iliac PTA was unaffected by status of the SFA. Five-year limb salvage rate was 50% in limbs with critical ischaemia. We conclude that PTA for iliac artery stenoses is a low-risk procedure offering acceptable clinical results provided the SFA is patent. As an adjunct to distal bypass surgery, iliac PTA improves inflow without the requirement for major aorto-iliac surgery and may extend indications for vascular intervention in patients with lower limb ischaemia.


How do service suppliers that arise from outsourcing of business functions develop their organizational capabilities? Drawing on the cases of EDS and IBM in the IT outsourcing sector, the article highlights the process by which knowledge is transferred across the client--supplier interface. These services outsourcing firms have developed a novel form of skill acquisition--staff transfer from client organizations--which facilitates their rapid expansion and provides an effective means to acquire client-specific knowledge and develop competences. The challenge for these firms is to develop distinctive capabilities through combining client- (and industry-) specific knowledge brought by staff transferred from multiple client organizations and company-wide processes. These processes capture and diffuse a common system of routines in the services supplier across all different projects and countries of operation. The strategic response of these services outsourcing firms is a phased learning model designed to bring greater productivity and efficiency in the provision of an increasing number of projects. Copyright 2011 The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.


Biomass combustion is a well-established process to produce energy that offers a credible alternative to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel. To optimize the process of biomass combustion, numerical simulation is a less expensive and time-effective approach than the experimental method. However, biomass combustion involves intricate physical phenomena that must be modeled (and validated) carefully, in the fuel bed and in the surrounding gas. With this level of complexity, these simulations require the use of High-Performance Computing (HPC) platforms and expertise, which are usually not affordable for manufacturing SMEs. In this work, we developed a parallel simulation tool for the simulation of biomass furnaces that relies on a parallel coupling between Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Element Method (DEM). This approach is computation-intensive but provides accurate and detailed results for biomass combustion with a moving fuel bed. Our implementation combines FOAM-extend (for the gas phase) parallelized with MPI, and XDEM (for the solid particles) parallelized with OpenMP, to take advantage of HPC hardware. We also carry out a thorough performance evaluation of our implementation using an industrial biomass furnace setup. Additionally, we present a fully automated workflow that handles all steps from the user input to the analysis of the results. Hundreds of parameters can be modified, including the furnace geometry and fuel settings. The workflow prepares the simulation input, delegates the computing-intensive simulation to an HPC platform, and collects the results. Our solution is integrated into the Digital Marketplace of the CloudiFacturing EU project and is directly available to SMEs via a Cloud portal. As a result, we provide a cutting-edge simulation of a biomass furnace running on HPC. With this tool, we demonstrate how HPC can benefit engineering and manufacturing SMEs, and empower them to compute and solve problems that cannot be tackled without.


Abstract Background and Aim Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is impaired in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). This study aimed to identify the impact of clinical disease activity on HRQoL in CD patients treated with biological agents. Methods Patients with moderate to severe active CD treated with biological agents in Denmark were included from 2016–2018. Disease related symptoms were assessed via the Harvey Bradshaw Index. HRQoL was measured on the Short Health Scale (SHS). Multivariable linear regression models were conducted separately for each SHS item and average SHS score stratified for sex, adjusting for clinical manifestation and age. Results In total, 1,181 CD patients were included. The mean age was 33 years and 56% were women. Abdominal pain (range of regression coefficients 1.18–1.42), number of liquid stools (0.33–0.58), and the appearance of a new rectal fistula (0.91–1.32) affected all domains in the SHS negatively for men and women. Arthralgia (0.47–0.67) and abdominal mass (0.54–0.62) affected 4 out of 5 items on SHS negatively for women and men, respectively. Female sex was found a predictor of lower HRQoL across all SHS items, whereas age and fistulizing disease, as phenotype, were not associated with lower HRQoL. Conclusions Abdominal pain, number of liquid stools, a new rectal fistula, arthralgia for women, clinically assessed abdominal mass for men as well as female sex, were all found to be predictors of decreased HRQoL.


Composite materials of polypropylene, graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) or fullerene C60 were synthesized by in situ polymerization. GNP particles consist of 3–5 graphene layers and have aspect ratio 40. In composites with pristine GNP particles their aspect ratio is 110, whereas ultrasonic processing reduces it to 40–50. This change of aspect ratio of filler particles and their aggregates results in different properties of composites with pristine and sonicated GNP. Percolation threshold for composites with pristine GNP is 0.25% vol. In composites with sonicated GNP it is 2–3% vol. This is due to reduction in the size of filler particles aggregates and more uniform distribution of particles in polymer matrix after ultrasonic treatment. The presence of nanocarbon filler (GNP or fullerene) makes α-transition, associated with the glass transition of the amorphous phase of polypropylene, clearly resolved. Its intensity increases with the concentration of nanofiller, which acts as a dielectric probe. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:1006–1011, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers


We examine the problem of accepting a new request for a pre-stored VBR video stream that has been smoothed using any of the smoothing algorithms found in the literature. The output of these algorithms is a piecewise constant-rate schedule for a Variable Bit-Rate (VBR) stream. The schedule guarantees that the decoder buffer does not overflow or underflow. The problem addressed in this paper is the determination of the minimal time displacement of each new requested VBR stream so that it can be accomodated by the network and/or the video server without overbooking the committed traffic. We prove that this call-admission control problem for multiple requested VBR streams is NP-complete and inapproximable within a constant factor, by reducing it from the VERTEX COLOR problem. We also present a deterministic morphology-sensitive algorithm that calculates the minimal time displacement of a VBR stream request. The complexity of the proposed algorithm make it suitable for real-time determination of the time displacement parameter during the call admission phase.


The development of two low cost, corrosion resistant Fe-Mn-Si based shape memory alloy systems: Fe-Mn-Si-Al-Cu and Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Cu is discussed. The new alloys exhibited a shape memory capacity which is clearly superior to traditional Fe-Mn-Si ternary alloys. Corrosion test results indicated that the new alloys have good corrosion resistance in acid solutions. In addition, anodic polarisation measurements established that alloying with copper increases the passivity of the corrosion film formed in the passive potential range and improves the general corrosion resistance.


Dust (yellow) storms are becoming a serious environmental problem in the Asia-Pacific region. Being part of this region, Mongolia is beginning to experience the consequences of global warming and climate change, as well as having its own impact on the natural environment. With the transition to a market economy, the number of livestock—the main source of food and income for herders—has been increasing and has reached its highest level to date. This has in turn pushed areas of pastureland to their limits, leading to overgrazing and increasing the area covered by desert. One example can be seen in the situation of cashmere, the valuable properties and limited supply of which give it a relatively high international price, encouraging an increase in cashmere goat herds in Mongolia, which in turn has a detrimental effect on pastureland. Policy decisions or countermeasures to protect pastureland should be taken in order to prevent this process before it has disastrous consequences for Mongolia and the whole of Asia.


Objectives FOXM1 is a key member of the FOX transcription factor family, which plays a vital role in a series of physiological processes. In the present study, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and cell lines were studied to explore the correlation between FOXM1 expression and this malignancy. Materials and methods The expression status of FOXM1 was detected in 128 cases of NSCLC tissues and NSCLC cell lines. The relationship of FOXM1 expression and clinicopathological features of NSCLC patients was evaluated by us. In addition, we also explored the biological functions of FOXM1 in NSCLC cell lines. Results The FOXM1 is highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. FOXM1 expression was closely correlated with lymph node status and TNM stage. Cox regression analysis were performed to demonstrate the prognosis role of FOXM1. Conclusion FOXM1 conferred a proliferation and invasion advantage to NSCLC cell. The FOXM1 can be regarded as an important molecular marker in NSCLC prognosis.


SUMMARY The ability to adapt to a range of edaphic conditions favours the widespread use of marandu palisade grass in high as well as low input systems of animal production in Brazil. However, little information exists regarding the influence of grazing management practices on sward structure and the carry-over effects on animal responses. The present experiment was planned to evaluate animal behaviour, herbage intake (HI) and nutritive value, herbage accumulation and body weight gain (BWG) of beef cattle heifers grazing marandu palisade grass subjected to intensities of continuous stocking management. Treatments corresponded to four sward surface heights (SSH: 100, 200, 300 and 400 mm) and were allocated to experimental units (1200 m2 paddocks) according to a randomized complete block design with four replications. Herbage accumulation rate (HAR) varied with season of the year and SSH, with highest and lowest values recorded during summer and winter, respectively. During the summer, herbage accumulation was larger on swards managed at 200, 300 and 400 mm, with the opposite occurring during winter/early spring. Stocking rate (SR) and number of grazing days (GD) followed a similar seasonal pattern of variation, with values decreasing as SSH increased. Crude protein (CP) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of hand-plucked herbage decreased as SSH increased from 100 to 400 mm, while the inverse happened with BWG (from 0·190 to 0·930 kg/day, respectively). Bite mass (BM) increased and rate of biting and grazing time (GT) decreased as SSH increased, with daily HI being larger on tall (300 and 400 mm) relative to short (100 and 200 mm) swards. Grazing management affected the nutritive value and the amount of herbage consumed, particularly through changes in BM. However, variations in intake were relatively more important than variations in nutritive value in influencing animal performance, highlighting the importance of providing favourable harvest conditions for grazing animals by establishing adequate sward targets for management.


This paper explains how fractional cyclic moments of CPFSK signals can be used in adaptive beamforming. It is shown that CPFSK signals have non-zero fractional cyclic moments because they generate spectral lines when they are raised to the inverse of its modulation index, which is generally a fractional number. To exploit this property, an optimization criterion is proposed to compute the antenna coefficients that maximize the output SINR. The resulting technique is blind because it does not need to know the transmitted symbols: only the carrier frequency, the symbol rate and the modulation index is required.