The Invisible Image: Symbol, Abstraction, Concept - This essay interprets the notion of image as being the correlate of a symbolic experience. From this perspective, it is possible to discuss philosophically the reality of the image, while avoiding either reducing it to a neuronal phenomenon, or positioning it in a non-conceptual dimension. The image constitutes a central moment in the genesis of objectuality, which is immanent to representational intentionality. It constitutes the hinge between visible and invisible, represented and non-representable, spatiality and temporality. A conception of image which is vital and capable of producing figures constitutes a specifically philosophical instrument capable, on the one hand, to clarify the dynamics of representational phenomena, and on the other the reality of the creation of the work of art, especially in our time. The images that art is looking for are those which lead to the dimension of primitiveness, understood in terms of reality as of a vital genetic dimension, and in those of abstraction as the emergence of a form. Key words: Image, Symbol, Representation, Art, Abstraction, Sensibility. Parole chiave: Immagine, Simbolo, Rappresentazione, Arte, Astrazione, Sensibilita.


Obesity is associated with chronic metabolic conditions that directly and indirectly cause kidney parenchymal damage. A review of the literature was conducted to explore existing evidence of the relationship between obesity and chronic kidney disease as well as the role of bariatric surgery in improving access to kidney transplantation for patients with a high body mass index. The review showed no definitive evidence to support the use of a transplant eligibility cut-off parameter based solely on the body mass index. Moreover, in the pre-transplant scenario, the obesity paradox is associated with better patient survival among obese than non-obese patients, although promising results of bariatric surgery are emerging. However, until more information regarding improvement in outcomes for obese kidney transplant candidates is available, clinicians should focus on screening of the overall frailty condition of transplant candidates to ensure their eligibility and addition to the wait list.


Growing evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are associated with carcinogenesis and could function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate microRNAs (miRNAs). LncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 8 (LncRNA SNHG8) is up-regulated in various cancers and positively associated with poor prognosis of these cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms by which lncRNA SNHG8 contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still remains unclear. In the present study, we reported that lncRNA SNHG8 was abnormally up-regulated in liver cancer tissues and HCC cell lines. Moreover, knockdown of lncRNA SNHG8 significantly attenuated the proliferation, migration, invasion process of HCC cell line HepG2 in vitro. Mechanistically, we first reported that suppression of lncRNA SNHG8 evidently enhanced miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p expression and decreased TET3 expression at posttranscriptional level. Furthermore, lncRNA SNHG8 upregulated TET3 expression by sponging miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p by competing binding. Taken together, our results confirmed the oncogene role of lncRNA SNHG8 and discovered the underlying mechanism that lncRNA SNHG8 upregulated TET3 through the sponging or decaying of miR-542-3p and miR-4701-5p in human hepatocellular carcinoma, suggesting that lncRNA SNHG8 may serve as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.


We reviewed the clinical courses of 12 prematurely born newborns who were placed in continuous negative pressure (CNP) in an Isolette negative pressure ventilator for refractory hypoxemia while receiving intermittent positive pressure mandatory ventilation. All patients had severe lung disease as documented by an increased oxygenation index and bilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema on x-ray examination. Patients were separated into two groups--survivors and nonsurvivors, with six patients in each group. Initiation of CNP resulted in a significant initial improvement in oxygenation in both groups seen as a 52% decrease in the oxygenation index in survivors and a 57% decrease in the oxygenation index in nonsurvivors (P less than .05). The survivors characterized themselves by showing a further sustained improvement in the oxygenation index--31.4 +/- 9.1 to 6.9 +/- 5.0 (P less than .01)--and a significant decrease in the mean airway pressure--11.6 +/- 4.6 cm H2O to 5.0 +/- 1.9 cm H2O (P less than .05). Four of the six survivors showed radiographic resolution of pulmonary interstitial emphysema. CNP was initiated at a mean age of 68.3 hours in the survivors. Nonsurvivors were initiated in CNP at a mean age of 134.3 hours, but went on to clinically deteriorate owing to irreversible hypoxemia and acidosis. Both oxygenation index and mean airway pressures were virtually unchanged compared with their initial values. The exact mechanisms by which CNP improves pulmonary function in this group of infants is unknown.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


BACKGROUND
Anticancer drugs act by increasing intracellular hydrogen peroxide levels. Mangafodipir, a superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimic with catalase and glutathione reductase activities, protects normal cells from apoptosis induced by H2O2. We investigated its and other oxidative stress modulators' effects on anticancer drug activity in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS
Cell lysis and intracellular reactive oxygen species levels were assessed in vitro in human leukocytes from healthy subjects and in murine CT26 colon cancer cells. Cells were exposed to the chemotherapeutic agents paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, or 5-fluorouracil, either in the presence or absence of mangafodipir and other oxidative stress modulators. Cell viability was evaluated by the methylthiazoletetrazolium assay. The effects of mangafodipir and other oxidative stress modulators on peripheral blood counts and on tumor growth were studied in BALB/c mice that were implanted with CT26 tumors and treated with 20 mg/kg paclitaxel. Survival of BALB/c mice infected with Staphylococcus aureus was also examined by treatment group. Statistical tests were two-sided.

RESULTS
In vitro lysis of leukocytes exposed to paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, or 5-fluorouracil in combination with mangafodipir was decreased by 46% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 44% to 48%), 30.5% (95% CI = 29% to 32%), and 15% (95% CI = 10% to 20%), compared with lysis of cells treated with anticancer agent alone. Mangafodipir also statistically significantly enhanced in vitro anticancer drug cytotoxicity toward CT26 cancer cells. In vivo, mangafodipir protected mice against paclitaxel-induced leukopenia. Moreover, the survival rate of mice infected with S. aureus and treated with paclitaxel was higher when mangafodipir was also administered (survival: 3 of 17 versus 14 of 17, P < .001). In addition, mangafodipir amplified the inhibitory effect of paclitaxel on CT26 tumor growth in mice.

CONCLUSIONS
Mangafodipir decreased hematotoxicity and enhanced cytotoxicity of anticancer agents.


Gastroschisis is an abdominal wall defect in the fetus, affecting as many as 1 in 2000 pregnancies. This is a complex medical condition that is growing in prevalence worldwide, and one to which midwives will inevitably be exposed. There is a lack of consensus in the literature as to the cause of gastroschisis and for clear evidence-based treatment regarding indication and timing of birth. While it is agreed that specialist multidisciplinary collaboration is needed from pre-conception, through antenatal surveillance, and into labour, birth and postnatal care, the research is medically led, with no description of a midwifery role. In acknowledging that gastroschisis is a complex medical issue, specific medical and surgical interventions are not examined, but instead a midwifery plan of care within the multidisciplinary approach is derived from the available literature.


The need of an ultrashallow junction technology for the extension of p-FinFETs has been investigated by integrated process and device simulations. For devices with 60 nm physical gate length, whose extensions are activated in a low thermal-budget process (spike anneal), it is found that the I/sub off/-I/sub on/ performance is invariant with respect to the extension implant energy. Nevertheless, the short-channel behavior worsens. This can be remedied by adding spacers to both sides of the gate before the extension implant, resulting in virtually identical dc characteristics and speed. Devices with gate lengths of 18 nm and below require dopant activation with negligible diffusion. Under those circumstances the short channel behavior of the FinFET is limited by the lateral straggle of the ion implant. Spacers may remedy what is otherwise poor short channel behavior due to a relatively high energy extension implant. However, this comes at the price of drastically worse drive current at a fixed off-current.


Human immunodefi ciency virus type-1 integrase (IN) is a new and novel target for inhibitors. Strand transfer inhibitors effectively prevent concerted integration of viral DNA by IN into the host chromosomes. Raltegravir is the fi rst approved strand transfer inhibitor for the treatment of HIV-1/AIDS. We propose a mechanistic hypothesis as to "when and where" these inhibitors are active in virus-infected cells. Using native agarose gel electrophoresis, we identified a transient synaptic complex (SC) wherein IN non-covalently juxtaposes two viral DNA ends. SC possesses many properties associated with the cytoplasmic preintegration complex (PIC) in infected cells, including concerted integration. Our results show that the strand transfer inhibitors effectively "trap" or inactivate the SC preventing concerted integration. It follows that the IN-viral DNA complex is "trapped" by the inhibitors via a transient intermediate within the cytosolic PIC before entry into the nucleus.


This flow in rivers is concerned with unsteady flow in open channel and it mathematically governed by the Saint Venant equation, using a four-point implicit finite difference scheme. For a one-dimensional applications, the relevant flow parameters are functions of time, and longitudinal positions. Considering the equations for the conservation of mass (continuity) and conservation of momentum. The mathematical method is empirical with the computer revolution, numerical methods are now effective to develop the hydraulic model. Conventional methods used to compute discharge, such as stage-discharge and stage-fall discharge relationships has been inadequate. Further research is recommended to include tributaries in rivers.


Today's manufacturers provide integrated product process development from product design, production and finally to marketing and sales. The whole product life cycle contains lots of data where product data management is crucial for making use of update information to facilitate collaborative product commerce. A product data exchange standard, product information markup language, which is composed a set of well defined XML schema, is introduced to provide a flexible way to encode structured data into a format. In order to response to the rapid change of production environment or market trend, the intelligent operation is embedded in PIML such that it can provide advice for the design engineers to resolve the engineering problem and minimize the ripple effect caused by sudden changes. The intelligent operation is an artificial intelligent problem solving technique, case based reasoning, which retrieves the past most similar case by weighting various problem parameter and then adapts the past solution for the novel problem. A prototype system is developed and is proposed for applying in electroplating industry.


The basic computing models are evolving towards stronger expressiveness and higher naturalness. In grid, the focus of computation is turning from individual entities to dynamic coordination across them. Accordingly, future grid computing would be based on cooperation. This research proposes a novel model of computation namely cooperative Turing machine (CTM) for grid. It extends classical Turing machine (TM) by introducing a teamwork tape, which is shared by all participants within a team, so as to achieve cooperation during computation. Its co-inductive recursive function and behavioral streams language are defined, and new features are discussed. Finally we show the benefits from CTMs as for grid.


The aim of this retrospective is to evaluate the changing paradigms of tourism's relationship with nature over the last four decades. It is presented as one interpretation of this relationship not a definitive fait accompli. The period is characterized by an evolution of the society-nature relationship in response to environmental challenges never previously experienced. This includes a reassessment of 'nature' as both a social construction and scientific reality and a subsequent re-evaluation of our relationship to it, reflected in new paradigms including sustainability and environmental ethics. The paradox of tourism's relationship with the environment has simultaneously played out over the period, exemplified in its contemporary interpretations as a key sustainable industry of the green economy and a significant contributor to GHG emissions and global warming. The conflicting interpretations of tourism suggest that the principles and ethics of environmental discourse will be critical for evaluating the tourism and nature relationship. This connection will continue to evolve and tourism's increasing popularity and global economic importance ensures that it will have consequences for nature whilst providing a window into society's environmental values and attitudes.


Inhalation injury is one of the main causes of death in patients with severe burns. Administration of exogenous surfactant appears promising for the treatment of acute respiratory failure. We report our clinical experience with this approach. A 35 yr-old man was admitted to our burns unit after an industrial accident. He had sustained a 60% total body surface area full-thickness burn combined with severe inhalation injury. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy confirmed the diagnosis, demonstrating severe blisters and ulcers of the bronchial mucosa. Refractory hypoxaemia (PaO (2)/FiO (2)56 mm Hg, where PaO (2)is oxygen tension in arterial blood and FiO (2)is the fraction of inspired oxygen) was treated with optimal mechanical ventilatory support; additionally, an initial dose of natural bovine surfactant (Alveofact) of 50 mg/kg body weight was administered by intrabronchial instillation on day 3 postburn. A significant improvement in oxygenation was observed 12 h after administration (from 56 mm Hg initially to 194 mm Hg), followed by an improvement in dynamic compliance (from 26 ml/cm H (2)O initially to 41 ml/cm H (2)O) and inspiratory resistance (from 14 cm H (2)O/lps initially to 11 cm H (2)O/lps). The same dose of surfactant was repeated 48 h later to prevent potential deterioration, resulting in maintenance of gas exchange and lung mechanics at the above levels. No complication associated with the surfactant administration was observed. However, the patient died on day 9 post-burn owing to extrapulmonary causes. Our results demonstrate a significant improvement in gas exchange and lung mechanics in a burn patient with severe inhalation injury after repeated administration of exogenous surfactant. Further study is needed in order to elucidate the clinical impact of surfactant administration and the complications associated with its use in cases of inhalation injury.


This study aims to analyze the students' feedback to the teachers' performance in teaching recount text. This study was conducted by descriptive qualitative method through phases; gathering information and data and analyzing data. The subject of this research was at eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 35 Medan. The instruments for collecting data were students' written feedback and questionnaire. The data then was analyzed by using checklist.. The results of the data analysis showed that there were 62,97% of students' used the negative feedback in giving their opinions. There were only four of twenty seven students that could enclose at least five indicators of a good feedback.


ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate and define the underlying molecular mechanism of tripartite motif-containing 58 (TRIM58) in regulating the tumor growth of gastric cancer (GC). Methods: TRIM58 expression in GC tissues and cells was detected by real-time PCR and Western blot, followed by lentiviral-induced overexpression or knockdown of TRIM58. Subsequently, CCK8, BrdU-ELISA, flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation, in vitro animal experiments and immunochemistry were performed to explore the function of TRIM58. Western blotting was used to detect β-catenin, C-myc, Cyclin D1, and survivin expression. Results: TRIM58 expression was significantly reduced in tumor tissues of GC patients and GC cell lines, whereas β-catenin, C-myc, Cyclin D1, and survivin were highly expressed. Overexpression of TRIM58 in GC cells resulted in decreases in β-catenin, C-myc, Cyclin D1, and survivin protein expression and significantly suppressed proliferation by preventing cell-cycle progression and promoting cell apoptosis. Conversely, TRIM58 knockdown resulted in the opposite effects. Furthermore, the effect of TRIM58 knockdown on GC cells was potently reversed by a β-catenin inhibitor, XAV939. Immunoprecipitations showed the interaction between TRIM58 and β-catenin, and TRIM58 overexpression significantly enhanced β-catenin degradation. In addition, we found a significant decrease in the growth and weight of tumors and an increase in tumor cell apoptosis in TRIM58-overexpression nude mice, which were also accompanied by reduced β-catenin expression. Conclusions: These data suggest that TRIM58 may function as a tumor suppressor in GC and potentially suppress the tumor growth of gastric cancer by inactivation of β-catenin signaling via ubiquitination.


The insulin/insulin-like growth factor pathway is involved in breast and colorectal cancer (CRC) development. In the present study, we analyzed the coding region and short intron-exon borders of the insulin receptor substrate 1 and 2 (IRS-1 and IRS-2) genes in 12 cell lines derived from breast cancer (BC), 14 cell lines derived from CRC and 33 primary CRCs. The nucleotide variants identified in BC were 3 in IRS-1, 1 of which (p.Arg267Cys) was novel and with a pathogenic potential as predicted by in silico analysis and 6 in IRS-2. Twenty-one variants in IRS-1 and 18 in IRS-2 were identified in the CRC samples. These included 11 novel IRS-1 variants detected exclusively in CRCs, which included 5 missense (p.Pro559Leu, p.Gln655His, p.Asp1014Gly, p.Asp1181His and pPro1203Ser) with a pathogenic potential as predicted by in silico analysis, 2 frameshifts predicted to generate a truncated protein, 1 splice-site mutation and 3 silent variants. In the CRC samples we also identified 7 novel IRS-2 variants, including 4 missense variants, which included 2 (p.Asp782Asn and p.Gly1230Ser) with a pathogenic potential as predicted by in silico analysis, 2 frame insertion mutations and 1 silent variant. Most of the novel IRS-1 and IRS-2 variants may be involved in the modulation of IRS-1 or IRS-2 functions and could be relevant to breast and colorectal tumorigenesis.


The Asian chestnut gall wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus is a global pest of chestnut (Castanea spp.). It has been spreading in Turkey's forests and orchards since 2014. This pest imposes a big threat to the Turkish chestnut industry, which is among the top producers in the world. Its gall morphology has been related to pest pressure and host cultivar, thus eventually modulating plant damage with heavy impact on growth and fruit production. We compared gall characters (position on plant organ, ratios, dimensions, volumes, number of larval chambers) in wild Castanea sativa, two local cultivars and a Euro Japanese hybrid. Overall, leaf galls were more common (55.36%), followed by the stem (19.6%) and leaf stipule galls (15.29%). The mean number of chamber and volume value of gall types were 1.52-5.93 and 0.43-2.15 cm3, respectively. The highest values were observed in 'stem gall'. The more gall formation was observed in the wild chestnut trees and 'Marigoule' than the other local varieties.


The release of freely loaded small molecules from biomaterials often exhibits an initial burst, inhibiting the ability of these materials to match drug release with the biomaterial's degradation period. In terms of antibiotic release systems, the remaining vehicle may become a substrate for colonization by bacterial biofilms once the payload is depleted, which can become life threatening. Secondary surgeries are typically performed to remove these empty depots as a means of preventing this type of infection. To maintain the effectiveness of a locally delivered antibiotic without the drawback of a second surgery, we propose a hydrogel drug delivery system in which the drug release rate of vancomycin and degradation rate of the hydrogel are linked via covalent incorporation of vancomycin in the hydrogel backbone. This was achieved through coupling PEG based monomer with vancomycin to create poly(β-amino ester) chemistry and verified through drug release and matrix degradation studies. Antibiotic release and material degradation were tunable via hydrophobic/hydrophilic content of the hydrogel matrix and extended up to 3 weeks in PBS sink conditions. Covalent addition of vancomycin to the hydrogel polymer backbone was verified through mass spectroscopy and HPLC peak addition, as well as radiotracing of collected HPLC fractions. Bioactivity of released vancomycin was also confirmed alongside the resulting antimicrobial activity of the reacted vancomycin releasate.


Negative refraction of a probe field is studied in a dense gas consisting of cascade-type four-level atoms. By coupling the magnetic component of the probe field to a $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ scheme with initially prepared coherence in the two lower levels, strong negative permeability with minimal absorption can be obtained. The permittivity of the gas to the electric component of the probe field can be made negative by taking into account the local field effect of the dense atoms. Strong negative refraction with zero absorption can be achieved in a wide range of parameters in our scheme. A possible experimental realization is also discussed.


The title compound, C28H34Cl2O7, is a derivative of the glucocorticoid steroid beclomethasone dipropionate. It features an expoxide linkage [angle at oxygen = 96.6 (2)°]. The dichlorocyclohexenone ring adopts an envelope conformation, with the C atom bearing the two Cl substituents representing the flap. The dichloromethyl C atom deviates by 0.471 (4) Å from the plane defined by the other five atoms, whose maximum r.m.s. deviation is 0.04 Å.


We have studied the blending effects of Diene NF 35R and Alfin 1530 at various blending ratios, 100/0, 70/30, 50/50, 30/70, 0/100, and of carbon black HAF-HS and ISAF-HS at various compounding ratios of 45 PHR, 55 PHR, 65 PHR, for tyre tread rubber. As the results, it was found that; 1. For tyre tread rubber, as the blending ratio, AR 1530/Dime NF 35R, indicated 70/30, the physical properties we examined were most excellent. 2. Excellent result was obtained in the case of carbon black compounding ratio of 55 PHR. The compounding of ISAF-HS made better result than that of HAF-HS for tensile strength, but the compounding of HAF-HS made better result than that of ISAF-HS for tearing strength and best result for abrasion quantity. 3. Heat buildup obtained from compounding carbon black HAF-HS indicated low temperature than that from compounding carbon black HAF-HS. As the compounding amount of carbon black increased, and as the blending amount of AR 1530 decreased, the heat buildup increased. 4. Carbon black was more efficient to AR 1530 than to Diene NF 35R. 5. In the physical properties, mooney viscosity and mooney scorch time, as the compounding amount of carbon black increased, the values of mooney viscosity increased, but that of mooney scorch time had a max. point at the compounding amount of carbon black, 55 PHR.


ABSTRACT Discovery of new drugs for the treatment of AIDS typically possessing unique structures associated with novel mechanisms of action has been of great importance due to the quick drug-resistant mutations of HIV-1 strains. The work presented in this report describes a novel class of DNA duplex-based HIV-1 fusion inhibitors. Hydrophobic groups were introduced into a DNA duplex skeleton either at one end, at both ends, or in the middle. These modified DNA duplexes inhibited fusion between HIV-1 and human cell membranes at micro- or submicromolar concentrations. Respective inhibitors adopted an aptamer pattern instead of a base-pairing interaction pattern. Structure-activity relationship studies of the respective DNA duplexes showed that the rigid and negatively charged DNA skeletons, in addition to the presence of hydrophobic groups, were crucial to the anti-HIV-1 activity of these compounds. A fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based inhibitory assay showed that these duplex inhibitors interacted with the primary pocket in the gp41 N-terminal heptad repeat (NHR) instead of interacting with the lipid bilayers.


ABSTRACT Focused on the Bionian caesura, this paper suggests that the existential caesura of birth always belongs to both mother and infant. During that process of being "born," the mother, too, experiences a line of breaks—breaks of time and space, of meaning, of continuity, and of boundaries—all related to an emotional and physical reorganization of boundaries and therefore to the unity of the self. This position statement presents the notion of "Breaks in Unity" and discusses the unspoken aspects of childbirth and the transition to motherhood.


We present the first data release of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Plane Survey (JPS), the JPS Public Release 1. JPS is an 850-μm continuum survey of six fields in the northern inner Galactic plane in a longitude range of l = 7°–63°, made with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2. This first data release consists of emission maps of the six JPS regions with an average pixel-to-pixel noise of 7.19 mJy beam−1, when smoothed over the beam, and a compact source catalogue containing 7813 sources. The 95 per cent completeness limits of the catalogue are estimated at 0.04 Jy beam−1 and 0.3 Jy for the peak and integrated flux densities, respectively. The emission contained in the compact source catalogue is 42 ± 5 per cent of the total and, apart from the large-scale (greater than 8 arcmin) emission, there is excellent correspondence with features in the 500-μm Herschel maps. We find that, with two-dimensional matching, 98 ± 2 per cent of sources within the fields centred at l = 20°, 30°, 40° and 50° are associated with molecular clouds, with 91 ± 3 per cent of the l = 30° and 40° sources associated with dense molecular clumps. Matching the JPS catalogue to Herschel 70-μm sources, we find that 38 ± 1 per cent of sources show evidence of ongoing star formation. The JPS Public Release 1 images and catalogue will be a valuable resource for studies of star formation in the Galaxy and the role of environment and spiral arms in the star formation process.


The purpose of this study was to determine if the elimination of satellite cell proliferation using gamma-irradiation would inhibit normal force recovery after eccentric contraction-induced muscle injury. Adult female ICR mice were implanted with a stimulating nerve cuff on the common peroneal nerve and assigned to one of four groups: 1) irradiation- and eccentric contraction-induced injury, 2) eccentric contraction-induced injury only, 3) irradiation only, and 4) no intervention. Anterior crural muscles were irradiated with a dose of 2,500 rad and injured with 150 in vivo maximal eccentric contractions. Maximal isometric torque was determined weekly through 35 days postinjury. Immediately after injury, maximal isometric torque was reduced by approximately 50% and had returned to normal by 28 days postinjury in the nonirradiated injured mice. However, torque production of irradiated injured animals did not recover fully and was 25% less than that of injured nonirradiated mice 35 days postinjury. These data suggest that satellite cell proliferation is required for approximately half of the force recovery after eccentric contraction-induced injury.


In this paper a new global maximum power point tracking (GMPPT) approach is proposed for a photovoltaic (PV) module using a genetic algorithm (GA) system under partial shading conditions. The partial shading condition is one of the adverse phenomena that the PV system experiences, it is difficult to track true peaks because of existence of multiple peaks in a PV array (partially shaded based). The conventional GMPPT algorithms met in the literature, the initial value of reference is approximated arbitrarily for various conditions of irradiation and temperature and they can't distinguish between the local and global peaks if partial shading occurs, what reduces the performances of the tracking of the point of optimal operation of PV systems. So, to improve these performances, we proposed a nonlinear based GMPPT method to estimate the initial optimal operating point. To compare with conventional GAs methods, the global peak (GP) tracking process is accomplished after follow the far fewer power perturbation steps. This approach made a possible to largely improve the GP tracking in the PV system, improve the accuracy of the GMPPT algorithms, and accelerate the convergence speed. This GMPPT method is checked for different shading profiles through the simulation and verification.


Resisted sprint training (RST) is commonly used for performance enhancement in athletics and team sports to develop acceleration ability. Evidence suggests that RST may be effective as a short-term intervention to improve successive sprints. While these improvements have been measured in team sport athletes, limited research has considered the acute effects of RST training in sprint-trained athletes. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to determine if performing RST with varsity level sprinters using sled-equivalent resistive loads of ∼45% body mass results in a potentiation effect, leading to improvements in subsequent maximal sprint performance over 0-5 m and 0-20 m. Competitive sprinters (n=20), were randomly assigned to perform a pre/post maximal 20 m sprint separated by either 3 resisted (RST group) or un-resisted (URS group) sprints. The RST or URS protocol was performed on four occasions separated by at least 7 days. No significant differences were observed between the RST and URS groups comparing changes in sprint times over 0-5 m (URS Δ = <0.01 s ± 0.03 s, RST Δ = <0.01 s ± 0.03 s) and 0-20 m (URS Δ = 0.013 s ± 0.04 s, RST Δ = <0.01 s ± 0.04 s). We conclude that resisted sprints using sled equivalent loads of 45% body mass are ineffective at inducing a potentiating effect on subsequent sprint performance in varsity level sprinters. In this population of trained athletes, greater loads may be necessary to induce a potentiating effect.


Encouraging results have been obtained by Schmidt et al (1968; 1973) on the diagnosis of Coxsackie infections using gel diffusion for demonstration of antibody in patients' sera. They found that with concentrated Coxsackie antigens human serum produced a group line close to the antigen cup with antigens not necessarily of the infecting virus type, and a specific line, closer to the serum cup, consisting of IgM antibody combined with intact virus particles, of the current infecting virus type, or occasionally with virus for which the serum had a high neutralizing antibody level. When antigen was inactivated by heating at 56°C for 30 min the specific antigen was converted to group antigen. Counterelectrophoresis should theoretically enable a less concentrated antigen to be used and be more rapid than simple gel diffusion, but preliminary studies have proved disappointing. Counterelectrophoresis and antigen preparation were as described (MacWilliam and Cook, 1975). Antigens were normally used at 50 to 100 times the concentration of the original tissue culture fluid, but as the antigens were unstandardized, effective concentrations were not comparable. Using this method, the results resembled those described for simple gel diffusion in some respects. Some sera produced double precipitation lines, and the majority produced single lines against one or more of the antigens fested. Double lines occurred with sera which by neutralization had high titres or significant rises between the acute and convalescent phase sera against the appropriate antigens. By careful placing of the holes, it could be shown in six pairs of sera tested that fusion occurred between the line nearest to the antigen cup in a serum with double precipitation lines and the single line in a serum with only one precipitation line, suggesting that these were group lines. When antigen was inactivated one line only was produced. However, results using different batches of antigen were not always reproducible, and three sera fractionated on sucrose density gradients showed two precipitation lines in the IgG fraction. One reason for the discrepancies could be unsuitable relative concentrations of antigen and antibody, a well-known hazard of counterelectrophoresis, and titration of antigen and antibody supported this. In addition, one batch of Coxsackie Bs antigen 260 times the concentration of original tissue culture fluid produced no precipitation lines at all when inactivated although double and single lines were produced by uninactivated antigen, suggesting that the inactivated antigen was too concentrated to react. However, apart from concentration there may well be other problems, and more work on technique and interpretation is needed. Further sucrose density gradients would need to be done, and should these confirm the presence of double precipitation lines in the IgG fraction, the origin of at least some of these lines must be different from those described by Schmidt et al (1968).


By adopting an equivalent geometry model of machining process and considering thermo-plastic properties of the work material, a finite element method(FEM) to study oblique milling process of aluminum alloy with a double-edge tool was presented. In the FEM, shear flow stress was determined by material test. Re-meshing technology was used to represent chip separation process. Comparing the predicted cutting forces with the measured forces shows the 3D FEM is reasonable. Using this FEM, chip forming process and temperature distribution were predicted. Chips obtained by the 3D FEM are in spiral shape and are similar to the experimental ones. Distribution and change trend of temperature in the tool and chip indicate that contact length between tool rake face and chip is extending as tool moving forward. These results confirm the capability of FEM simulation in predicting chip flow and selecting optimal tool.


This paper aims to disclose the opportunities of the offering innovations in enhancing value for wellness services customer. Research relies on the scientific literature studies in order to disclose the specifics of innovations and its aspects, in the wellness services industry in Lithuania. The qualitative content analysis of wellness services enterprises websites was carried out in order to explore the innovations used. The results of the research showed that the Lithuanian wellness services suppliers, preparing the innovative offerings for the wellness services customers, use the modern information technologies as well as technologies directly engaged in the wellness services supply, together with acknowledged wellness products, services and know-how. The innovative value for the consumers is shaped on the ground of value extension through the product, place and promotion. Findings showed the gaps in fulfilling the innovations in processes or pricing of the wellness services in the market.


The development of viable partnerships with the business community is crucial for a sustainable development of universities in the current economic framework. The dialogue between academia and businesses may take place in different areas, like competences and skills needed to be developed for graduates, internships in companies, common research projects, trainings, funding a.s.o. The paper aims to present the experience of different universities across the world in developing successful partnerships and some of the success stories that can be identified in Romania, with the goal of proposing a framework for good practices within Romanian universities that will allow them to benefit from an appropriate dialogue with the business community in accordance with the European Union policies and that will foster their expansion.


ABSTRACT Air travel has become central to Australian academic practice, with flying increasingly seen as crucial to the progression of successful academic careers. This paper seeks to understand why academic air travel has come to be perceived as so necessary, particularly given its significant environmental, social, and economic implications. Drawing on the mobilities paradigm and social practice theory, we seek to understand how air travel practices are a key part of contemporary academic careers. We conducted an online survey of 301 academics and 24 in depth semi-structured interviews to understand academic air travel in Australia, finding that it is seen as a means to connect and collaborate within and between academic communities, and to counteract the effects of 'remoteness'. This remoteness is experienced domestically and internationally, by Australian academics who feel they must travel to perceived centres of knowledge production to further their careers. Academics often frame their 'need' for connections as necessarily involving physical co-presence. Air travel offers career benefits for those who can take advantage of it, and corresponding drawbacks for those 'stuck on the ground'. We conclude by discussing the need for valuing localised forms of collaboration as markers of success, and developing imaginative alternatives to academic flying.


Atomistic modeling of mineral–water interfaces offers a way of confirming (or refuting) experimental information about structure and reactivity. Molecular-level understanding, such as orbital-based descriptions of bonding, can be developed from charge density and electronic structure analysis. First-principles calculations can be used to identify weaknesses in empirical models. This provides direction on how to propose more robust representations of systems of increasing size that accurately represent the underlying physical factors governing reactivity. In this study, inner-sphere complex geometries of arsenate on hydrated alumina surfaces are modeled at the density functional theory (DFT)–continuum solvent level. According to experimental studies, arsenate binds to alumina surfaces in a bidentate binuclear (BB) fashion. While the DFT calculations support the preference of the BB configuration, the optimized geometries show distortion from the ideal tetrahedral geometry of the arsenic atom. This finding suggests that steric factors, and not just coordination arguments, influences reactivity. The Osurf–As–Osurf angle for the more favorable arsenate configurations is closest to the ideal tetrahedral angle of 109.5°. Comparing the results of arsenate adsorption using a small cluster model with a periodic slab model, we report that the two model geometries yield results that differ qualitatively and quantitatively. This relates the steric factors and rigidity of the surface models.


Hospitals and emergency departments face the challenges of escalating healthcare costs, mismatched resource utilization, concern over avoidable admissions, and hospital and emergency department overcrowding. One approach that has been used by hospitals to address these issues is the use of emergency department observation units. Research in this setting has increased in recent years, leading to a better understanding of the role of these units and their unique benefits. These benefits have been proven for health systems as a whole and for several acute conditions including chest pain, asthma, syncope, transient ischemic attack, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, abdominal pain, and more. Benefits include a decrease in diagnostic uncertainty, lower cost and resource utilization, improved patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes that are comparable to admitted patients. As more hospitals begin to use observation units, there is a need for further education and research in how to optimize the use of emergency department observation units. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of observation units, including advancements and research in this field.


Enzymes form integral part and play decisive role in biological Systems and metabolic network. The present studies delve on the role of enzymes viz., invertase, amylase, glucose oxidase and catalase in nectar-honey transformation during May 2019 to April 2020. Data on enzymatic activity in all the five stages related to honey formation from nectar i.e., floral nectar (fn), honey crop of foragers (hf), honey crop of house bees (hh), unsealed honey cells (uh) and sealed honey cells (sh) was evaluated. Invertase in fn and sh cells was found minimum of 0.00 ml and maximum of 42.40 ml, respectively. Similarly, amylase in the fn was least (0.00 ml) and highest in sh (16.01 ml) and catalase was observed to be 0.001 ml in floral nector and highest in sealed honey cells i.e., 16.01 ml and 4.96 ml,respectively. Accordingly, glucose oxidase in fn and sh cells was minimum of 0.00 ml and maximum of 6.68 ml respectively. Correspondingly, catalase in the fn was least (0.00 ml) and highest in sh (4.96 ml). The analysis of variance of invertase and amylase was significant at 1 % level (p<0.01), whereas glucose oxidase and catalase Were statistically non-significant at 1 % level (p<0.01). Results have confirmed that the sources of all enzymes are instigated from hypopharyngeal, post-cerebral, thoracic, labial and mandibular glands of foragers and house bees which are accountable for honey formation. Further, each enzyme is substrates specific which are discussed in ensuing paper. Short Research Article Balasubramanyam; AJRIZ, 3(4): 13-19, 2020; Article no.AJRIZ.61809 14


Although Matthaei's immittance inverter formulae are usually used to design symmetrical types of filters at microwave frequencies, new design formulae should be introduced for filters with asymmetrical networks. Having this fact in mind, the asymmetrical networks were transferred to T-and Π-types equivalent circuits, and the related immittance inverter parameters were formulated by calculating F-matrixes of the equivalent circuits. And besides, the formulae of the immittance inverter parameters were applied to design a BIT line filter fed by coaxial cables.


analyze existing national health policies and events in Cameroon to identify opportunities for surgery, obstetrics, trauma, and anesthesia (SOTA) policies.

 We searched the Cameroonian Ministry of Health's health policy database to identify past and current policies. Next, the policies were retrieved and screened for mentions of SOTA-related interventions using relevant keywords in French and English and analyzed using the 'eight-fold path' framework for public policy analysis.

 We identified 136 policies and events and excluded 16 duplicates. The health policies and events included were implemented between 1967 and 2021. Fifty-nine policies and events (49.2%) mentioned SOTA care: Governance (n = 25), infrastructure (n = 21), service delivery (n = 11), workforce (n = 11), information management (n = 10), and funding (n = 8). Most policies and events focused on maternal and neonatal health, followed by anesthesia, ophthalmologic surgery, and trauma. Nineteen (32.2%) health policies and events focused on Bellwether surgical procedures. National, multinational civil society organizations and private stakeholders supported these policies and events, and the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health was the largest funder.

 Most Cameroonian SOTA-related policies and events focus on maternal and neonatal care, and health financing is the health system component with the least policies and events. Future SOTA policies should build on existing strengths while improving neglected areas, thus attaining shared global and national goals by 2030.


[1] Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) was generated by irradiating a series of α-pinene/toluene/NOx mixtures in the absence and presence of isoprene or sulfur dioxide. The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate the extent to which chemical perturbations to this base-case (α-pinene/toluene) mixture led to changes in the gas-phase chemistry which strongly influences mass and composition of SOA and secondary organic carbon (SOC) formed. The chemical composition was examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). The results showed that the addition of isoprene to the base-case mixture significantly lowered the amount of toluene reacted, and thereby lowered the amount SOC produced. Simultaneous measurement of the organic NOy showed that reactions of isoprene effectively sequester NO2 by producing gas-phase organic nitrates. The addition of SO2 to the base-case mixture, while having little effect on the gas-phase chemistry, formed sulfuric acid which led to a modest enhancement of the SOC through acid-catalyzed or sulfur-incorporating reactions of α-pinene. The contribution of each hydrocarbon to the composition of the SOA was estimated using an organic tracer method. SOC from the tracer technique tended to underpredict the measured SOC, although the underprediction was especially pronounced with SO2 present. A comparison of the chromatographic results from samples of the irradiation of the α-pinene/toluene/isoprene/NOx/SO2 mixture and ambient PM2.5 showed the presence of two unique peaks that were associated with reactions of isoprene and SO2.


What are the relative roles of imitation, improvisation and invention in the development of large song repertoires in species of the songbird family Mimidae? This question was addressed in a laboratory study of the vocal development of young grey catbirds, Dumetella carolinensiscollected from western Massachusetts. Two groups heard a repeated 10-s, tape-tutored segment of catbird song, two other groups heard a repeated 16-min segment and a fifth group heard no tape-tutored songs. One male selected for study from each group developed a large repertoire of seemingly normal songs, and wild males responded strongly to songs of the male that had heard no tape-tutored song. Relying little on precise imitation and largely on improvising or inventing, each male developed a highly unique repertoire. A geographical survey of catbird song revealed little to no evidence of song sharing or microgeographical variation, which is consistent with the idea that imitation plays a relatively minor role in song development. Perhaps simultaneous selection for large repertoires and reduced geographical variation has led to such an emphasis on song individuality and non-imitative developmental processes.


Supplemental or peripheral responses by test takers are seldom used by examiners, but in this study a program introduced by Thomas Edison State College (New Jersey) to allow the examined student to provide feedback to the testers and graders was studied. Student comment forms were designed to enable the student to identify problems with the test material or to explain or justify an answer. Results from seven classes indicate that from 117. to 397. of students actually write comments, and that student comments have been widely scattered across the potential domain. The introduction of the comment sheet has therefore not produced a burdensome number of student remarks. Many comments have little value to instructors and simply reflect personal misperceptions. Although the bulk of the comments do not offer major insights, the introduction of the comment sheet has been beneficial to the college's program. Students and testing staff are given greater protection against test-content errors and students near the critical standard have additional opportunity to defend their work and demonstrate competence. Appendix A gives comment-sheet samples, and Appendix B contains a student questionnaire. (Contains 7 references.) (SLD)


PSO (particle swarm optimization) algorithm provides a robust and efficient approach for searching for the object's concavities with the snake model.However, since single particle swarm optimization algorithm converges slowly and easily converges to local optima, it is not suitable well to be applied in active contour model directly. In this paper, a novel multi-swarm particle swarm optimization method was proposed to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm could expand the control point of the searching area and optimize convergence speed. It sets swarm for each control point and then every swarm search best point collaboratively through shared information, so it avoids the premature deficiency in traditional PSO algorithm. Compared our proposed algorithm with traditional algorithm, the experimental results showed that our method has superior performance than conventional snake model without spending extra time.


Optoelectronic resistive switching (RS) devices are attracting attention due to their promising potential in optical communication technology. In this study, a photo-tunable organic memory device based on poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP) and N-doped carbon quantum dot nanocomposites is presented. After UV light irradiation, the set voltage of the device can be gradually reduced by adjusting the irradiation time. This memory device presents excellent memory performance after large-angle bending or repetitive bending tests. More importantly, the controlled switching voltage characteristic enabled the realization of encrypted image storage. Raman spectra evidence that a local conductive sp2-hybridized carbon region was generated through UV light reduction, which can effectively enhance the internal electrical field and shorten the tunneling distance between the carbon dots, thus decreasing the set voltage. Our work provides a new approach towards the development of photo-tunable organic memory for future wearable optoelectronic neuromorphic computing systems.


Delusions. Illusions. Over-tension, over-anxiety, and under-confidence. The original Twilight Zone series employed madness as a metaphor to critique the late-1950s and early-1960s American cultural ideals of uncompromising rationality, social conformity, and the organization of life around work. The series's representations of madness were not, however, solely metaphorical, as they also served to expose the norm of able-mindedness as compulsory and dangerous to Americans and American society. The protagonists of "Mirror Image," "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," and "The Arrival," as well as those of other episodes, experience inexplicable yet undeniable phenomena and adjust their normative, rational worldviews to accurately interpret their surroundings. This potential for accurate irrationality reveals madness as socially constructed, while the surveillance of these protagonists' adherence to normative standards of middle-class American behavior by other characters highlights able-mindedness as compulsory.
The Twilight Zone was produced during a time when American attitudes toward mental healthcare were undergoing a significant shift. The deinstitutionalization movement affected the release of mental health patients back into American society while psychoanalysis collided with a new preventative approach to medicine, resulting in the idea that lying dormant in all people was a latent madness, which responsible middle-class Americans would ensure did not overtake them. The asylum features heavily in The Twilight Zone, and each of the three episodes I analyze in this essay ends with its protagonist's forced removal to a mental hospital for his or her refusal to perform able-mindedness when confronted with a situation that cannot be rationally comprehended. With its tales of madness, The Twilight Zone illuminated the dehumanizing treatment of mental health patients in mid-twentieth century America and pushed viewers to find creative, nonnormative, or even mad alternatives to the status quo.


MICROCYSTIS aeruginosa is a kind of cyanobacteria microorganism that synthesizes and produces peptides, which could be highly toxic. The most common toxin known as microcystin (MCs) or cyanotoxins, these toxins are heptapeptides produced by cyanobacterial blooms on water surfaces. They potentially lead to acute to chronic health-related problems via increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and irreversible inhibition of serine/threonine protein phosphatases. The toxicological studies of MCs on experimental animal and cell models have promise interests; however, few information is known about their impacts on humans due to acute or chronic exposure. This review article aimed to present some of the information about the cyanotoxins structure, occurrence, and distribution of the cyanobacterial toxins especially excreted from M. aeruginosa. Also, toxicological studies and investigations associated with M. aeruginosa producing microcystin, their assessments and control and health problems and cancer risk upon MCs exposure will be discussed. The article will also discuss the mechanism of the toxin and the way for control and degradation.


As CMOS transistors are scaling down to improve performance, vulnerability of digital logic circuits to soft errors caused by energetic particles are increasing. Flip-flops (FF) are of the main elements of sequential logic circuits that are very susceptive to single event upset (SEU) and single event multiple-node upset (SEMU). In this paper, a new FF circuit robust against transient faults of SEU and SEMU caused by high-energy particle strikes is designed and evaluated. In comparison with previous work, the proposed circuit offers a low design cost, while, it also has a high degree of robustness against SEU/SEMU. This achievement is discussed and also evaluated by the simulations carried-out. Simulation results reveal that, the proposed circuit offers 20% improvement in power consumption and also 31% in delay as compared to the well-known and widely used MS-DICE FF. The effects of process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations on the performance of the proposed FF are also investigated and it is shown that this circuit has a reliable operation in the presence of PVT variations as well.


Combining chemical and microbiological methods using entomopathogenic filamentous fungi makes obtaining flavonoid glycosides possible. In the presented study, biotransformations were carried out in cultures of Beauveria bassiana KCH J1.5, Isaria fumosorosea KCH J2, and Isaria farinosa KCH J2.6 strains on six flavonoid compounds obtained in chemical synthesis. As a result of the biotransformation of 6-methyl-8-nitroflavanone using the strain I. fumosorosea KCH J2, two products were obtained: 6-methyl-8-nitro-2-phenylchromane 4-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside and 8-nitroflavan-4-ol 6-methylene-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside. 8-Bromo-6-chloroflavanone was transformed by this strain to 8-bromo-6-chloroflavan-4-ol 4′-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside. As a result of microbial transformation by I. farinosa KCH J2.6 effectively biotransformed only 8-bromo-6-chloroflavone into 8-bromo-6-chloroflavone 4′-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside. B. bassiana KCH J1.5 was able to transform 6-methyl-8-nitroflavone to 6-methyl-8-nitroflavone 4′-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside, and 3′-bromo-5′-chloro-2′-hydroxychalcone to 8-bromo-6-chloroflavanone 3′-O-β-D-(4″-O-methyl)-glucopyranoside. None of the filamentous fungi used transformed 2′-hydroxy-5′-methyl-3′-nitrochalcone effectively. Obtained flavonoid derivatives could be used to fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. To the best of our knowledge, all the substrates and products presented in this work are new compounds and are described for the first time.


The off-stoichiometric Ni2MnGa ferromagnetic alloys are one of the active materials that are of great interest when they are ball milled into nanopowder. These powders are prospective materials for nanosystem applications. However, the properties of the nano-crystalline Ni–Mn–Ga alloys depend strongly on their structure and internal stress, which develop during the milling process. Ni–Mn–Ga nanoparticles were prepared by ball-milling method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. The powders are found to be a disordered mixture structure of austenite and martensite. We calculated that an average internal stress is 0.28 to 2.05 MPa stored in the distorted lattice due to milling. Reduction in particle sizes is accompanied by increase of the lattice strain level when the milling time increases. The VSM reveals that magnetic saturation and coercivity decrease with increase of the milling duration. This phenomenon causes deterioration in the hard magnetic properties.


We present numerical data of the height-height correlation function and of the avalanche size distribution for the three dimensional Toom interface. The height-height correlation function behaves samely as the interfacial fluctuation width, which diverges logarithmically with space and time for both unbiased and biased cases. The avalanche size defined by the number of changing sites caused by a single noise process, exhibits an exponentially decaying distribution, which is in contrast to power-law distributions appearing in typical self-organized critical phenomena. We also generalize the Toom model into arbitrary dimensions.


Software-defined networking (SDN) allows centralizing and simplifying network management control. It brings a significant flexibility and visibility to networking, but at the same time creates new security challenges. The promise of SDN is the ability to allow networks to keep pace with the speed of change. It allows frequent modifications to the network configuration. However, these changes may introduce misconfigurations by writing inconsistent rules for single flow table or within a multiple open flow switches that need multiple FlowTables to be maintained at the same time. Misconfigurations can arise also between firewalls and FlowTables in OpenFlow-based networks. Problems arising from these misconfigurations are common and have dramatic consequences for networks operations. To avoid such scenarios, mechanisms to prevent these anomalies and inconsistencies are of paramount importance. To address these challenges, the authors present a new method that allows the automatic identification of inter and inter Flowtables anomalies. They also use the Firewall to bring out real misconfigurations.


A bit-line sense amplifier (S/A) realizing a high sensitivity is essential for high-density DRAMs, because it is difficult to store enough signal charge within a smaller memory cell area. However, the sensitivity of the S/A tends to be degraded by an increase of the electrical imbalance between pair transistors in scaled-down dimension. A new bit-line sensing scheme realizing a high sensitivity was proposed. The proposed offset compensating bit-line sensing (OCS) scheme is effectively applicable to ULSI DRAMs where many transistors with a scaled-down dimension should be utilized.<<ETX>>


We consider a thermo-elastic plate equation with rotational forces [Lagnese.1]
and with coupled hinged mechanical/Neumann thermal boundary conditions (B.C.).
We give a sharp result on the Neumann trace of the mechanical velocity, which is "$\frac{1}{2}$" sharper in the space variable than the result than one would obtain by a formal application of trace theory on the optimal interior regularity. Two proofs by
energy methods are given: one which reduces the analysis to sharp wave equation's
regularity theory; and one which analyzes directly the corresponding Kirchoff elastic
equation. Important implications of this result are noted.


In society of today there are great demands on young women concerning education, work and social life and also concerning health and beauty expectations. The aim of this study was to compare 26-year old Swedish women studied at intervals of twenty years concerning stress in daily life and self-rated health. The participants in 2002 (n=386) answered the same questionnaire that was used twenty years ago in a prospective population study (n=85). The result showed no difference in self-rated health between the two groups. However, women in 2002 reported more stress and health complaints such as exhaustion, sleep disorders, restlessness and difficulty concentration. They also reported low energy level and bad appetite. This discomfort must be interpreted with caution and not necessarily as ill health. However, it is important to take the experience of stress in daily life and the increase in health complaints into consideration even if women today rate their health as good in order to avoid lasting imbalance and thereby future diseases.


Neuromorphic computing can solve computationally hard problems with energy efficiencies unattainable for von Neumann architectures. A locally-active memristor, which possesses the capability to amplify infinitesimal fluctuations in energy and can be used to generate neuromorphic behaviors, is a natural candidate for constructing an electronic equivalent of biological neurons. This paper identifies some unknown neuromorphic dynamics of the Chua corsage memristor (CCM), and shows that the CCM, when biased at the edge of chaos domain, can exhibit rich dynamics of biological neurons. Using Chua's theories of local activity and edge of chaos, we demonstrate that under the destabilizing of the input voltage and the circuit parameters (inductance or capacitance), two CCM-based circuits can produce thirteen types of neuromorphic behaviors either on, or near the edge of chaos domain via supercritical or subcritical Hopf bifurcation. In addition, we give the conditions to test the edge of chaos of the CCM and the CCM-based circuit only by using the poles and the zero of their admittance functions.


Objective Epidemiological studies relating maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and mode of delivery have shown controversial results. We examined if maternal 25OHD status was associated with plasma glucose concentrations, risks of GDM and caesarean section in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study. Methods Plasma 25OHD concentrations, fasting glucose (FG) and 2-hour postprandial glucose (2HPPG) concentrations were measured in 940 women from a Singapore mother-offspring cohort study at 26–28 weeks' gestation. 25OHD inadequacy and adequacy were defined based on concentrations of 25OHD ≤75nmol/l and >75nmol/l respectively. Mode of delivery was obtained from hospital records. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the association between 25OHD status and glucose concentrations, while multiple logistic regression was performed to examine the association of 25OHD status with risks of GDM and caesarean section. Results In total, 388 (41.3%) women had 25OHD inadequacy. Of these, 131 (33.8%), 155 (39.9%) and 102 (26.3%) were Chinese, Malay and Indian respectively. After adjustment for confounders, maternal 25OHD inadequacy was associated with higher FG concentrations (β = 0.08mmol/l, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.01, 0.14), but not 2HPPG concentrations and risk of GDM. A trend between 25OHD inadequacy and higher likelihood of emergency caesarean section (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.95, 2.05) was observed. On stratification by ethnicity, the association with higher FG concentrations was significant in Malay women (β = 0.19mmol/l, 95% CI = 0.04, 0.33), while risk of emergency caesarean section was greater in Chinese (OR = 1.90, 95% CI = 1.06, 3.43) and Indian women (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.01, 5.73). Conclusions 25OHD inadequacy is prevalent in pregnant Singaporean women, particularly among the Malay and Indian women. This is associated with higher FG concentrations in Malay women, and increased risk of emergency caesarean section in Chinese and Indian women.


Debugging is always an important phase in an application life. Applications using 3D hardware accelerated graphics in general, and OpenGL in particular, are usually hard to debug since the computation is split between two processors, each with its own memory space. To be able to debug these applications one has to rely on the API's debugging mechanisms to inspect the output of the computations performed. Several tools are available for this purpose, some of them are open source. Open source tools are great to integrate in already existing projects such as 3D engines since they allow the required customizations. The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly we provide an overview of the existing open source debugging tools for OpenGL and secondly we discuss the integration of one of such tools in an existing 3D engine.


This special issue of the Formal Aspects of Computing journal contains a selection of the best papers accepted at the 12 th edition of the international conference series on Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM). This conference was held in Grenoble (France) on September 1-5, 2014. The aim of the conference was to bring together practitioners and researchers from academia, industry and government to advance the state of the art in formal methods, to scale up their application in the software industry and to encourage their integration with practical engineering methods. The SEFM'14 conference received 106 full submissions, and the programme committee of the conference decided to accept 29 papers. Out of these 29 papers, we selected the best six papers, and the authors of these papers were invited to submit a revised and extended version of their work to this special issue. After a meticulous review process, we finally accepted five of the six invited papers. The topics covered in this special issue are the following: Domain Specific Languages, Component-based Systems and Architectures, Learning Finite State Machines, Construction and Verification of Imperative Programs, and Partial Order Reduction in the context of Model Checking.


Abstract Purpose: Credible data is scarce in representative population aged ≥18 years, though hypertension is highly prevalent and poorly controlled in population aged ≥30 years in Xinjiang Northwest China. Therefore, we tried to provide data on hypertension status for reference. Materials and methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey between 2014 and 2015 using stratified multi-stage random sampling as part of a national survey. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥140 mmHg, and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg and/or taking anti-hypertensive agents. We assessed prevalence, awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension by rural and urban regions, by gender and by ethnicity, and related factors including agent prescription pattern. Results: Data for 6807 subjects ≥18 years with 79.2% rural and 52.0% women subjects are analyzed. Overall age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension in population aged ≥18 years is 22.2%, and shows no disparity between genders and regions. By ethnicity, the prevalence of hypertension was the highest in Tajik subjects (25.4%), followed by Mongolian (25.3%) and Kazakh (24.8%) subjects and the lowest in Kyrgyz (20.2%) subjects. Of the hypertensives, 55.5% have awareness, 43.9% receive anti-hypertensive treatment, whereas only 14.5% have their BP controlled. In different ethnic groups, the awareness, control and control in treatment rates showed no significant disparities, except for the treatment rate. It was the highest in Kazakh subjects (50.0%) and the lowest in Hui subjects (36.7%). The most common prescribed agent encompassed ACEI/ARBs (41.1%) and calcium channel blockers (30.4%). Over 87.2% of hypertensives were prescribed for single drug regimen. Conclusions: Hypertension is moderately prevalent in Xinjiang, whereas poorly controlled. Standardization of its treatment such as introducing treatment algorithm might be the priorities for future improvement, with healthy life promotion.


The report deals with the structure of graywacke areas, east of the Hudson River near the latitude of Troy, New York, and the structure of a part of the Taconic Range in the same latitudes. It has been claimed that much of this area is underlain by allochthonous far-travelled masses of rocks, resting on flat thrusts. The contact zones of the Rensselaer graywacke, and of smaller graywacke areas south of it, show that the graywacke layers are conformably interbedded with greenish and purple slates and siltstones which underlie large portions of the Hudson lowland. If thrusts are present, they must lie below the levels previously assumed, to take cognizance of the uninterrupted sequences of strata below the present edges of the gray-wacke terranes. The coarsest phases of graywacke crop out near the western edges of the area. Here are also found the thickest sections of graywacke and several lenses of coarse, bouldery conglomerate. Eastward, fine-grained graywacke forms individual lenses in phyllitic slates and schists of the Taconic Range. The Taconic Range consists of a thick mass of quartz-chlorite schist, with subordinate zones of gray siltstone, quartzitic and graphitic lenses, and a tuffaceous series of rocks along its western border. The rocks have been folded, overturned to the west, but isoclinal folds appear to be rare. Slip cleavage dips east, and east of the graywacke areas a well-developed lineation plunges east-southeast, parallel to the direction of movement along many thrust faults. About 8 miles south of Bennington, Vermont, the rocks of the Taconic Range approach the Green Mountain front. This tract, referred to as the Pownal upland, is structurally complex, and unfortunately poor exposures leave many of its problems open. Flat thrusts may occur here, but the magnitude of their displacements is uncertain. The structural relations between the Pownal upland and the Green Mountain front are discussed, and the writer attempts to reconstruct the tectonic history of the area in the light of those features of deformation that are exposed and believed to allow a fairly reliable interpretation. Folding, flowage, and thrust faulting of an autochthonous series of argillaceous Lower Cambrian and Ordovician rocks are thought to explain satisfactorily most, if not all, observable features of the region.


Abstract. The prophenoloxidase cascade in the haemolymph of mature adult Locusta migratoria migratorioides (R & F) is activated in response to injection of laminarin, a β‐1,3 glucan. Co‐injection of adipokinetic hormone‐I (Lom‐AKH‐I) and laminarin prolongs the activation of the enzyme in a dose‐dependent manner. However, injections of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) do not activate prophenoloxidase unless AKH is co‐injected, when there is a dose‐dependent increase in the level of phenoloxidase that persists in the haemolymph for several hours. Even when AKH is co‐injected, the highest levels of phenoloxidase activity are always greater after injection of laminarin than after LPS, and these two immunogens must activate the prophenoloxidase cascade by quite distinct pathways. In the present study, interactions between the endocrine and immune systems were examined with respect to activation of prophenoloxidase and the formation of nodules: injection of LPS induces nodule formation in adult locusts. With LPS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, nodules form exclusively in dense accumulations in the anterior portion of the abdomen on either side of the dorsal blood vessel associated with the dorsal diaphragm. However, with LPS from Escherichia coli, fewer nodules are formed but with a similar distribution, except that occasionally some nodules are aligned additionally on either side of the ventral nerve cord. Co‐injection of Lom‐AKH‐I with LPS from either bacteria stimulates greater numbers of nodules to be formed. This effect of coinjection of AKH on nodule formation is seen at low doses of hormone with only 0.3 or 0.4 pmol of Lom‐AKH‐1, respectively, increasing the number of nodules by 50%. Injections of octopamine or 5‐hydroxytryptamine do not mimic either of the actions of Lom‐AKH‐I described here. Co‐injection of an angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril, reduces nodule formation in response to injections of LPS but has no effect on the activation of phenoloxidase. Co‐injection of an inhibitor of eicosanoid synthesis, dexamethasone, with LPS influences nodule formation (with or without AKH) in different ways according to the dose of dexamethasone used, but does not affect activation of prophenoloxidase. Eicosanoid synthesis is important for nodule formation, but not for the activation of the prophenoloxidase cascade in locust haemolymph.


The indispensable role of government expenditure in dictating the economic growth performances in any economy cannot be overlooked. The need of greater resource mobilization through enhancement of government expenditure has also been acknowledged in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development agenda. It has been specifically addressed as a key macroeconomic tool to ensure a couple of the crucial Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the relationship between the optimal size of government expenditure and economic growth has displayed ambiguity in the empirical literature which questions the effectiveness of rapidly increasing the volume of government expenditure across the globe, without putting much emphasis on the country or region-specific disparities. This paper aims to bridge this gap in the empirical literature investigating the non-linear nexus between government size and economic growth in light of the Armey curve. This paper employed annual data stemming from 1980 to 2016 for a panel of 9 selected countries from South and Southeast Asia. For robustness check, the authors also considered subpanel investigations with respect to region-specific and lower-middle-income economies. In the core regression model, the economic growth rate was expressed as a function of government expenditure and other control variables. The fixed effects panel estimation methodology was the chosen estimation tool. The results provide statistical evidence in favor of the validity of the Armey Curve in context of the full panel and the Southeast Asian subpanel data. This paper also sheds light on the threshold optimal levels of government expenditure. In light of the estimated statistical evidence, the optimal government sizes in the context of the full panel and the Southeast Asian subpanel are estimated to be 148,627.5 and 57,765.7 million US dollars.


Temporary migrants represent a growing source of employment in some sectors of the New Zealand labour market, particularly in agriculture and hospitality related industries. This research finds that temporary migration had a positive impact on the labour market outcomes of New Zealanders overall and was estimated to have no impact on the number of beneficiaries finding work. Temporary migration was also associated with changes in the industry structure of the New Zealand labour market, as more New Zealanders moved into jobs in the same industries temporary migrants were working in. The research was not able to draw strong conclusions about effects after the global financial crisis, but there was no indication of negative impacts over this period.


Language transformations are algorithms that take a language specification in input, and return the language specification modified. Language transformations are useful for automatically adding features such as subtyping to programming languages (PLs), and for automatically deriving abstract machines. In this paper, we set forth the thesis that teaching programming languages features with the help of language transformations, in addition to the planned material, can be beneficial for students to help them deepen their understanding of the features being taught. We have conducted a study on integrating language transformations into an undergraduate PL course. We describe our study, the material that we have taught, and the exam submitted to students, and we present the results from this study. Although we refrain from drawing general conclusions on the effectiveness of language transformations, this paper offers encouraging data. We also offer this paper to inspire similar studies.


In bioreactor, it often monitors some procedure parameters such as temperature, pH , and dissolved oxygen values to monitor fermentation process, but these parameters may be instability and delayed. Calorimetry hasn't distinctiveness, virulence and doesn't be sensitive to electrochemistry. So it can be used in some kind of culture fluid, even so it can be used in muddy fluid that photometers can't be used in. Relative to other monitoring ways, calorimetry's response time is short, so calorimetry is well suited to monitor bioprocesses on line. Calorimetry only needs normal standardize monitoring units, and this normal standardize monitoring units is be widely used in industry. Calorimetry as a simple alternative is beginning to be used in monitor bio-fermentation process.


The International Symposium on `Correlation Dynamics in Nuclei' was held at the Sanjo Kaikan, the University of Tokyo, from the 31 January to 4 February 2005. This symposium was organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Configuration Mixing theory of Arima and Horie. The symposium was hosted by the University of Tokyo, and supported by the Inoue Foundation for Science, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss theoretical and experimental developments and future prospects in physics of correlation dynamics in nuclei, including topics such as effective interactions, shell model studies of configuration mixing and spin–isospin modes in nuclei. It was shown in many ways and angles that the Arima–Horie theory has been a starting point of a variety of developments of the studies in these fields over many decades. The developments have been enhanced by the expansion of computational capabilities and the progress in accelerators, detectors and radioactive beam facilities. We enjoyed 28 excellent and lively invited talks and 30 oral presentations in the symposium with about 90 participants. A special session was dedicated to celebrate the 80th birthday of Professor Igal Talmi, who made invaluable and pioneering works in the shell model theory. Finally, we would like to thank all the speakers and the participants as well as the other organizers for their contributions which made the symposium very successful.


The air‐sea interaction between tropical cyclone Nari (Sep/6–16/2001) and Kuroshio is studied using satellite observations and an ocean model. Nari crossed the Kuroshio several times, which caused variations in typhoon intensity. Nari weakened when it was over the shelf north of Kuroshio where cooling took place due to mixing of the shallow thermocline. The cyclonic circulation penetrated much deeper for the slowly‐moving storm, regardless of Nari's intensity. Near‐inertial oscillations are simulated by the model in terms of the vertical displacement of isotherms. The SST cooling caused by upwelling and vertical mixing is effective in cooling the upper ocean several days after the storm had passed. At certain locations, surface chlorophyll‐a concentration increases significantly after Nari's departure. Upwelling and mixing bring nutrient‐rich subsurface water to the sea surface, causing enhancement of phytoplankton bloom.


UNLABELLED
The role of language in the identity package of Afrikaans-speaking South African expatriates in the UK is investigated in this paper. A description of the community is provided and the domains of use of their first language identified. The main research problem is the relationship between language and identity in a diasporic community such as this.

THE MAIN FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
In all modes of communication, the percentage of Afrikaans (in a bilingual relation with English) progressively decreased the closer the ties between the interlocutors became. The identification of 73% of all respondents with positive language-related statements correlated with 82% of the group's support for various types of cultural activities involving visiting South Africans.

IN CONCLUSION
The mix of functions pointed to a more complex configuration of bilingual and monolingual domains, with some elements of a heterolocal cultural enclave, in which similar domain types are maintained in parallel, but with differences in actual context of usage.


The aim of our research is to calculate the solar irradiance assuming clear sky conditions for the inner city of Szeged. The basis of the calculations is the 3D building database of Szeged, which contains more than 22 000 elements. Before the radiation calculation this vector based database had to be converted to a raster based digital surface model. This model similar to the digital elevation models (DEM) and it contains not only the natural relief, but also the buildings. The calculations were carried out using the exposure of the roofs of individual buildings firstly as separate elements and secondly, including the shading effect of the surrounding buildings as well. With the comparison of the two outputs we can reveal the effect of the mutual shading on the possible solar energy gain of the building roofs in urban areas.


This essay takes an oral poetics approach to the analysis of the song lyrics of Robert Hunter as performed by the Grateful Dead from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Hunter's work is treated as an exemplary case for the study of the use of oral poetry within the contemporary electronic communication milieu. The reception of the poetry by the specific listening audience is considered, with special attention given to the functioning of metaphor in relation to states of mind brought about by the use of psychedelics, such as LSD. The poetry itself is situated as both contribution to and commentary on American folk poetry and its accompanying mythology. Reference points include Ruth Finnegan on oral poetics, George Lakoff on the contemporary theory of metaphor, and Aldous Huxley on the nature of altered states of cons


This paper has discussed the community health management and service from its informatization aspect to its grid aspect, and has designed the overall structure of the grid-based community health management and service system. We have already achieved the specific functions of it. In this paper, the functions of the community health management and service system such as real time supervision, service flow and sophisticated management by using real example have been developed, which have validated the foundational service function of spatial information grid, and have proved the spatial information grid is a practical way for medical professional service.


The present article addresses different perspectives on the body in relation to conceptions of normality. It shows how a body perspective can be taken into account from an individual perspective without losing a structural perspective. This is accomplished using the phenomenological conceptions the lived body and the body as situated. This article is part of a sociological qualitative interview study, focusing on disability, identity, and gender, and specifically on conceptions of the body and gender, as experienced by Swedish young women labeled as having an intellectual impairment.


Background: Crosstalk between ER and HER-family signaling pathways has been suggested to play a role in the development of endocrine resistance. Preclinical studies have shown that AZD8931, a dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of HER1 (EGFR) and HER2, elicits an equipotent inhibition of HER1, HER2, and HER3 signaling, and is consequently more effective in blocking ligand-dependent HER signaling than the dual HER 1/2 TKI lapatinib. Using in vitro and in vivo models we investigated AZD89319s therapeutic potential in enhancing endocrine therapy and in overcoming the growth of tumor cells resistant to tamoxifen (Tam). Materials and Methods: The effect of different TKIs (AZD8931 and lapatinib) on endocrine therapy [Tam and Fulvestrant (Ful)] was tested in ER+ MCF7 and T47D parental cells and their Tam-resistant derivatives (TamRes). In vitro growth, proliferation, and apoptosis were assessed using an in situ cell cytometer, EDU incorporation, and Annexin V-FITC/c-PARP, respectively. HER ligands in the parental and TamRes cells were profiled using RNASeq analysis of these lines. Western blot analysis was used to analyze the effect of AZD8931, lapatinib, and the HER1 TKI gefitinib on HER 1/2 pathway activation upon ligand stimulation. Nude mice with transplantable MCF7/TamRes xenografts at 200 mm 3 were randomized to continued Tam, Tam+AZD8931, Fulvestrant (Ful), or Ful+AZD8931 treatments. Results: We found that neither lapatinib nor AZD8931 significantly enhanced endocrine sensitivity in parental MCF7 breast cancer cells, although AZD8931 did enhance endocrine sensitivity in parental T47D cells. Furthermore, AZD8931 combined with either Tam or Ful inhibited cell growth more profoundly than lapatinib in the T47D TamRes cell model, and was significantly, though modestly, more potent than lapatinib in the MCF7 TamRes model when combined with Tam. In both TamRes models, AZD8931 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, with the highest effects seen in combination with Ful. Interestingly, multiple HER ligands are upregulated in both MCF7 and T47D TamRes models, which could explain the superiority of AZD8931 over lapatinib in these models. Indeed, in EGF and heregulin (HRG) stimulated conditions, AZD8931 more potently inhibited HER signaling (i.e., phosphorylated (p) levels of HER1/2, MAPK, and AKT) than lapatinib or gefitinib. Finally, AZD8931 significantly delayed the growth of MCF7 TamRes xenografts in the presence of continued Tam or Ful. These tumors were also inhibited by Ful alone, but the strongest inhibition was achieved by Ful and AZD8931 in combination. However, despite the marked tumor growth delay, no tumor regression was found in any of these treatments. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that AZD8931 has greater inhibitory efficacy than lapatinib in endocrine resistant models that are dependent on ligand activation of the HER pathway. Although the AZD8931 combination with Ful robustly slowed growth of TamRes tumors in vivo , the absence of tumor regression suggests that additional escape pathways are also involved and should also be targeted to fully circumvent tamoxifen resistance. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P2-09-08.


Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is a heterodimeric cytokine encoded by two genes, p35 and p40. IL-12, also known as T cell-stimulating factor, induces proliferation of T-lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells, while also demonstrating an anti-angiogenic effect and inhibition of regulatory T cells. Similarly, LIGHT (TNFSF14) is a transmembrane protein which acts as a costimulatory factor for the activation lymphoid cells and stimulates the proliferation of T cells, leading to increased apoptosis of tumor cells. Expression of IL-12 and LIGHT specifically in the tumor region could activate T cells and stimulate the immune system to attenuate the tumor. Tumor homing neuronal stem cells C17.2 (NSC) were genetically engineered to express the mouse-LIGHT gene and IL-12 using a retrovirus. The expression of LIGHT and IL-12 genes in NSC was confirmed by PCR, ELISA and Western blot. To test the antitumor effects of the engineered cells, Balb/C mice bearing 4T1 mammary tumors were treated with NSC-LIGHT, NSC-IL-12 and NSC-LIGHT/IL-12 cells intratumorally (I.T.) at day nine. Repeated tumor measurement over time showed attenuation of mammary tumor growth in the both NSC/IL-12 and NSC/LIGHT groups in comparison with control groups PBS and NSC. Tumor growth was further reduced by treating the mice with NSC expressing both cytokines LIGHT and IL-12. Tumor metastasis was also evaluated by removing the primary tumor surgically and observing mice for any sign of metastatic burden. Treatment groups had less metastatic tumor burden and survived longer than the control group. Therefore, tumor homing NPC-LIGHT/IL-12 cells could be effective for the treatment of highly metastatic mammary tumors. Citation Format: Tej B. Shrestha, Dezhang Lu, Matthew T. Basel, Marla Pyle, Stefan H. Bossmann, Deryl L. Troyer. Genetically modified neuronal stem cells expressing IL-12 and TNFSF14 attenuate highly metastatic mammary tumors in a mouse model [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1613. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1613


Addressing the causes and consequences of environmental degradation presents significant challenges for humankind. This paper considers what ergonomics/human factors (E/HF) professionals can contribute to understanding and tackling some of the issues that arise through the movement towards a more environmentally sustainable economy. These issues are considered in relation to work in green industries (specifically, sustainable energy production, recycling and organic food production), and there is a need to ensure that these jobs are safe and healthy; the design of products and systems that are 'environmentally friendly' to facilitate their acceptability and use and how E/HF professionals can contribute to understanding and promoting behavioural change relating to environmental choices. The activities of some international organisations in this area are identified and the potential for E/HF involvement is considered. The implications for the E/HF profession are discussed. Practitioner summary: This paper considers how ergonomics/human factors professionals can contribute to the movement towards more sustainable and 'environmentally friendly' design and work. Potential challenges and opportunities are discussed in relation to jobs in green industries, products and systems and behaviour change.


This article examines the ways literary adaptations between Hong Kong and Taiwanese writers shape literary cultures in both places during the Cold War period. The 1950s and 1960s were the time when Hong Kong and Taiwan literary cultures were starting to thrive. An influx of literati into both places collaborated with each other and the locals to experiment with literary forms in literary magazines. The 1950s and 1960s were also the time when Hong Kong and Taiwan cinema experienced the first waves of adapting literary works into film in the postwar period. After the literary magazine culture dwindled in the 1970s, a new generation of writers in both places emerged. In Hong Kong, these new writers may not be native, but they take Hong Kong as their main subject in their writings. The Taiwanese writer Shih Shu-ching is one of them. In studying Hong Kong-Taiwan literary adaptation histories, one may easily overlook the adaptation from fiction to screenplay, as in Shih and the Taiwanese playwright Wang Chi-mei's case. By understanding the literary relationship between Hong Kong and Taiwan in the Cold War, together with their adaptation histories, we can acquire a clearer sense of how these literary cultures developed.


This paper describes a technique for filter selection. An off-line genetic algorithm search ensures that, for practical applications involving texture processing, only a small number of filters need to be convolved with the image rather than an entire filter bank, hence reducing computation time. The reduced number of filters also decreases the complexity of the task required of the classifier. Many segmentation, classification and analysis techniques involving Gabor filters will benefit from this approach. The method of tuning a filter set by off-line training is easily extendible to most approaches for texture analysis. Results are demonstrated on synthetic and outdoor scene images.


The aim of the present paper is to assess the bearing performance evolution of pinned, glass-composite laminates due to environmental aging in salt-spray fog tests. Glass fibers/epoxy pinned laminates were exposed for up to 60 days in salt-spraying, foggy environmental conditions (according to ASTM B117 standard). In order to evaluate the relationship between mechanical failure mode and joint stability over increasing aging time, different single lap joints, measured by the changing hole diameter (D), laminate width (W) and hole free edge distance (E), were characterized at varying aging steps. Based on this approach, the property-structure relationship of glass-fibers/epoxy laminates was assessed under these critical environmental conditions. Furthermore, an experimental 2D failure map, clustering main failure modes in the plane E/D versus W/D ratios, was generated, and its cluster variation was analyzed at each degree of aging.


Good mental health is important in our daily life. A person commonly finds stress as a barrier to enhance an individual's performance. Be reminded that not all people have the same level of stress because different people have dissimilar problems in their life. In addition, different level of age and gender will affect unequal amount of stress. Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is an electrical indicator of the heart that can detect changes of human response which relates to our emotions and reactions. Thus, this research proposed a non-intrusive detector to identify stress level for both gender and different classification of age using the ECG. A total of 30 healthy subjects were involved during the data acquisition stage. Data acquisition which initialize ECG data were divided into two conditions; which are normal and stress states. ECG data for normal state only need the participant to breath in and out normally. In other hand, the participants also need to undergo Stroop Colour word test as a stress inducer to represent ECG in stress state. Then, Sgolay filter was selected in the pre-processing stage to remove artifacts in the signal. The process was followed by feature extraction of the ECG signal and finally classified using RR Interval (RRI), different amplitudes of R peaks and Cardioid graph were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique. As a result, Class 5 (age range between 50-59 years old) marks the highest changes of stress level rather than other classes, while women are more affected by stress rather than men by showing tremendous percentage changes between normal and stress level over the proposed classifiers. The result proves that ECG signals can be used as an alternative mechanism to recognize stress more efficiently with the integration of gender and age variabilities.


BACKGROUND
Level of midwife knowledge is particularly important because of their role in the cervical cancer prevention programme. The aim of this study was to examine differences in the level of knowledge among health care students, midwives and women in the general population of Serbia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional approach was used with health care students of the medical shool, midwives in their practice, and women visiting a chosen general practitioner as respondents.

RESULTS
In comparison with the students and midwives, women had lower level of knowledge of causative agents of the cervical cancer, genital warts, HPV types, screening for cervical cancer as well as about the target population for vaccine and its role. Differences in the numbers of right answers of respondents were statistically significant (p<0.001). Four or more correct answers were obtained from 22.7% women, 35.3% from midwives and 83.8% from students.

CONCLUSIONS
Midwives should improve their own level of knowledge related to preventive practice for cervical cancer, as well as their personal compliance with recommended practices, in order to be qualified and credible promoters of cervical cancer control among women in Serbia.


Approaching Zora Neale Hurston as both a littérateur and cultural theorist who challenges conventional methodological and discursive boundaries, this article investigates her famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Drawing on Charles Long's category of "opacity" as a crucial factor in the dynamics of Black religious experience, I contend that the value of Their Eyes Were Watching God extends beyond the domain of literary theory into the domain of religious theory. More specifically, a close reading of certain passages in the novel signals disruptive wonderment and sacred silence as two motifs underscoring the integral status of epistemological opacity in Black religious experience. Further, the way the novel encodes these two motifs suggests the phenomenological receptivity of Black religious experience to spiritually based African and African-derived epistemological repertoires originating outside the Judeo-Christian tradition that construct reality independently.