In order to search the tumor suppressor genes correlated with pathogenesis of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC), we applied the PCR-based subtractive hybridization technique of representational difference analysis (RDA) to the primary culture cells of normal human nasopharyngeal epithelial and HNE1, a poorly differentiated NPC cell line. Following four successive subtractions of HNE1 complementary DNA from normal human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells complementary DNA, difference products were cloned into pGEM-T easy vector and nucleotide sequences determined. Comparison of cDNA sequences against the databases identified 9 known genes. Known genes included TRIP1(TGF beta receptor interacting protein), TAF, ezrin, MHC II, actinin, Histone H1 zero, Cytokeratin 13, Squalene Synthetase and RNA Synthetase-like. Some of them have an effective suppressive ability on the tumor. In this study, we have demonstrated that cDNA RDA is an effective strategy for systematically isolating differences in gene expression between two related but functionally distinct cells. Our results also indicated that the NPC includes interaction of multigenes and this experiment offers a new route for NPC research.


The 14th International Conference on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac Computed Tomography was held from 12 May to 14 May 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal. In this article, the three Congress Programme Committee Chairs summarize selected highlights of the presented abstracts and lectures.


In order to face the increasing population pressure and changing consumption pattern, to enhance the income of rural people and to boost the employment opportunities, diversification of rural economy is necessary to lessen the burden on agriculture. Diversification in crop sector results in overall development of any region. So, there is great need to diversify the agriculture from traditional low-valued crops to high valued horticulture and livestock commodities. The policy makers are also emphasizing on changing the way the agriculture sector works in order to tackle the inconsistencies in the farm sector and achieve food security. On this backdrop, the diversification of agriculture towards high-value commodities (HVCs) like fruits, vegetables, diary, poultry, meat and fish products, etc. is suggest as a viable solution to stabilize and raise farm income, enhance agricultural growth, increase employment opportunities and conserve natural resources. The literature review on the topic offers ample scope for a critical and retrospective examination of the work done on diversification of crops and other related enterprises. Hence, because of conspicuous lack of research studies and inadequate empirical evidences regarding diversification, it is extremely important to examine the techniques and status of diversification at macro level.


Animal models in behavioral pharmacology can be evaluated based on their face, predictive and construct validity. A further level of validity may be achieved if a model is reproduced precisely across species - from laboratory animal to human - using identical conditions and manipulations to elicit identical behavioral changes. Under circumstances in which a model achieves 'homologous' validity, it should be possible to demonstrate that the same pharmacological agents produce parallel changes in the same behavior (as distinct from the clinical condition that the animal behaviors are hypothesized to model), when studied in laboratory animals and in humans. Studies have demonstrated that the disruption of sensorimotor gating of the startle reflex, measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI), in rats by dopamine agonists exhibits face, predictive and construct validity for the relative loss of PPI in schizophrenia patients. To assess the homologous validity of this model, and to expand its utility in understanding the pathophysiology of sensorimotor gating deficits and in developing novel antipsychotic agents to reverse these deficits, it will be important to study PPI across species, comparing response profiles to identical pharmacological manipulations. In the present studies, we report that PPI in rats is reduced in a dosedependent manner by four dopamine agonists that can be administered with relative ease to humans. We also report that the PPI-disruptive effects of the clinically useful dopamine agonist pergolide are reversed by both typical and atypical antipsychotics. These studies establish a foundation for pursuing human pharmacological studies of PPI, and for extrapolating the substantial neurochemical and neurophysiological information from animal studies of PPI, towards understanding the neural basis for deficient sensorimotor gating in specific neuropsychiatric disorders.


Multimodal recommender systems utilizing multimodal features (e.g., images and textual descriptions) typically show better recommendation accuracy than general recommendation models based solely on user-item interactions. Generally, prior work fuses multimodal features into item ID embeddings to enrich item representations, thus failing to capture the latent semantic item-item structures. In this context, LATTICE proposes to learn the latent structure between items explicitly and achieves state-of-the-art performance for multimodal recommendations. However, we argue the latent graph structure learning of LATTICE is both inefficient and unnecessary. Experimentally, we demonstrate that freezing its item-item structure before training can also achieve competitive performance. Based on this finding, we propose a simple yet effective model, dubbed as FREEDOM, that FREEzes the item-item graph and DenOises the user-item interaction graph simultaneously for Multimodal recommendation. Theoretically, we examine the design of FREEDOM through a graph spectral perspective and demonstrate that it possesses a tighter upper bound on the graph spectrum. In denoising the user-item interaction graph, we devise a degree-sensitive edge pruning method, which rejects possibly noisy edges with a high probability when sampling the graph. We evaluate the proposed model on three real-world datasets and show that FREEDOM can significantly outperform the strongest baselines. Compared with LATTICE, FREEDOM achieves an average improvement of 19.07% in recommendation accuracy while reducing its memory cost up to 6x on large graphs. The source code is available at: https://github.com/enoche/FREEDOM.


The invention discloses an image forming device and a transporting control method for the image forming device. The image forming device prints an image on a recording sheet by performing a reciprocatThe invention discloses an image forming device and a transporting control method for the image forming device. The image forming device prints an image on a recording sheet by performing a reciprocating movement of a print head in a main scanning direction while transporting the recording sheet intermittently in a transporting direction. The image forming device is arranged to select one of a meaing movement of a print head in a main scanning direction while transporting the recording sheet intermittently in a transporting direction. The image forming device is arranged to select one of a measurement value and a theoretical value based on a result of comparison between the measurement value and the theoretical value, so that the selected value is used as a value that indicates a rear-endsurement value and a theoretical value based on a result of comparison between the measurement value and the theoretical value, so that the selected value is used as a value that indicates a rear-endposition of the recording sheet.position of the recording sheet.


An evaluation tool for the effectiveness of infrared decoys against anti-ship missiles has been built. In a flexible software setup, different methods of preprocessing and detection can be chosen for the processing of recorded infrared image sequences. Since a flying missile seeker with a variable speed and variable starting distance is simulated, the recorded images, from a static camera or a camera moving at relatively low speed, are corrected before they are fed into the seeker algorithm of the simulated missile. MODTRAN and the Naval Aerosol Model are used to calculate the atmospheric transmission effects in the preprocessing. The hot spot seeker algorithm uses features such as contrast and position above or below the horizon to differentiate between ship, infrared decoys and false alarms resulting from clutter. During the simulation the track window of the seeker is visualized on the recorded images. The aim point of the missile during the flight is logged in a file to enable evaluation. With this tool the effectiveness of a recorded decoy deployment in various scenarios can be evaluated by varying the missile parameters such as distance between missile and ship when the first decoy is deployed, missile search algorithm, and missile track algorithm.


This article is devoted to discussion of ethic and legal problems of an artificial abortion. This «eternal» question keeps the relevance. In 2015 the bill of a ban of abortions was introduced in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Historical aspects of the relation of the Russian legislation to a problem of abortions are considered in the article. It becomes perceptible that a present situation in the domestic legislation - a direct consequence of the events which occurred after October revolution of 1917 when Russia became the state for the first time in world practice completely legalized abortions. Throughout the XX century the problem of artificial abortion gradually lost moral and humanitarian aspects, and today most of Russians perceives abortion as especially medical problem. Authors support the new bill which is rigidly limiting production of abortions, believing that the fetus since the moment of objective establishment of its existence by methods of modern medicine has to be considered as the person having all corresponding rights including the right for life. A legislative ban is a step on the way of the termination of distribution of the liberal ideology denying the personal status of a fetus and undermining moral principles of society concerning murder.


The monotone secant conjecture posits a rich class of polynomial systems, all of whose solutions are real. These systems come from the Schubert calculus on flag manifolds, and the monotone secant conjecture is a compelling generalization of the Shapiro conjecture for Grassmannians (theorem of Mukhin, Tarasov, and Varchenko). We present some theoretical evidence for this conjecture, as well as computational evidence obtained by 1.9 terahertz-years of computing, and we discuss some of the phenomena we observed in our data.


Oxygen reactive species (ROS) are a group of molecules generated from the incomplete reduction of oxygen. Due to their high reactivity, ROS can interact with and influence the function of multiple targets, which include DNA, lipids, and proteins. Among the proteins affected by ROS, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is considered a major sensor of the intracellular energetic status and a crucial hub involved in the regulation of key cellular processes, like autophagy and lysosomal function. Thanks to these features, AMPK has been recently demonstrated to be able to perceive signals related to the variation of mitochondrial dynamics and to transduce them to the lysosomes, influencing the autophagic flux. Since ROS production is largely dependent on mitochondrial activity, through the modulation of AMPK these molecules may represent important signaling agents which participate in the crosstalk between mitochondria and lysosomes, allowing the coordination of these organelles' functions. In this review, we will describe the mechanisms through which ROS activate AMPK and the signaling pathways that allow this protein to affect the autophagic process. The picture that emerges from the literature is that AMPK regulation is highly tissue-specific and that different pools of AMPK can be localized at specific intracellular compartments, thus differentially responding to altered ROS levels. For this reason, future studies will be highly advisable to discriminate the specific contribution of the activation of different AMPK subpopulations to the autophagic pathway.


Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an immunologically T cell-mediated disease caused by an unknown stimulus. Despite intensive investigation its pathogenesis still remains unknown. A few possible associations between OLP and certain diseases such as thyroid and malignant diseases as well as specific medication intake have been proposed in the literature with inconsistent findings. We aimed to investigate the profile of 163 Australian and 163 Croatian OLP patients with special regard to their systemic diseases, medication intake (with special regard to the drugs that metabolize through Cytochrome P450), OLP type and localization, as well as involvement of other body surfaces with lichen. We did not find any statistical significance with regard to the OLP presence and thyroid and malignant diseases. As expected, the reticular type of OLP was most prevalent, as well as involvement of the both buccal mucosas. There was no significant association with other oral diseases such as labial herpes. Simultaneous involvement of other body surfaces in patients with OLP does not seem to be prevalent. None of the medical conditions which were investigated had significant correlation with OLP neither in Australian nor in Croatian patients with OLP. Furthermore, the use of drugs which metabolize through Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) was not significantly correlated with OLP in either studied population. Therefore, we conclude that patients with OLP are not to be routinely screened for any systemic conditions.


New techniques are required to explore directly the kinetics of water transport in aerosol between the gas and condensed phases, both at high relative humidity (RH) close to saturation and at low RH where the role of amorphous states must be considered. Here, we present micro-Raman measurements of the kinetics of water transport between the bulk of a particle and the surrounding gas phase by examining the rate of exchange of D(2)O by H(2)O in droplets initially composed of MgSO(4)/D(2)O. The formation of an amorphous gel inhibits the response of the droplet composition to changes in the ambient RH and leads to a substantial reduction of the mass transfer rate of water in the droplet bulk with an apparent diffusion constant of 10(-15) to 10(-14) m(2) s(-1). These measurements are consistent with the imposition of a kinetic limitation on the time response of the aerosol particle size to changes in RH.


1. The alteration of the cortical cerebellar mechanisms resulting from the activation of the olivo-cerebellar pathway by Harmaline (H) administered at doses which were subthreshold for skeletomotor tremor (5 mg/kg, IM) yields, in the trained Baboon (Papio papio), a marked decrease of oculomotor system performance. 2. The mean angular excursion of the spontaneous eye movements produced in the dark over a given period of time is increased by 50%. The increase is basically due to an increase of the number of saccades in the 0-20 degrees amplitude range. 3. The eye movements in response to a slow target displacement are altered as evidenced by a decrease of the smooth pursuit gain, a 60% increase in latency, and by intrusive saccades. The effects are dose dependent so that around 8 mg/kg of H, smooth pursuit is totally suppressed. 4. The saccadic system is also altered, Stepping target tracking shows dysmetria and increase of the amplitude of the fixation eye movements. The velocity-amplitude relationship of the saccades is not modified but the saccadic reaction time is increased by 50%. The observed alterations are in no way similar to the tremor commonly induced by the drug, at skeletal level. In fact, no ocular tremor at 8 to 10 Hz was recorded. 5. In conclusion, administration of H alters considerably the control and the stability of the oculomotor system in a way similar to that resulting from partial or total cerebellectomy. It may thus be possible to use the drug to simulate, in a reversible manner, cerebellar dysfunctions and study the involvement of the cerebellum in oculomotor control.


The effect of Y-931 (8-fluoro-12-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-6H-[1]benzothieno[2,3-b][1,5]benzodiazepine maleate), a novel potential atypical antipsychotic candidate, in producing dystonia in Cebus monkeys was investigated. Y-931 induced relatively weak dystonia in several observation periods at doses greater than 0.1 mg/kg, i.m. Although Y-931 significantly increased total dystonia scores (the sum of 15 to 360 min after injection) at doses greater than 0.5 mg/kg, i.m., the scores did not exceed 20, up to a dose of 1.0 mg/kg, i.m. and lacked a dose-response relationship. The present result suggests that Y-931 is predicted to have a low risk of extrapyramidal side effects.


Health is the utmost importance to any human being. To take care of oneself in this busty world we need some assistance. The world is revolving with smart technologies so we need a smart health care assistance that tracks one's activities, moods and suggest precautious actions when required. The primary objective of this product is to be time efficient along with being as an easily accesses able personal health assistant. To build a cost efficient personal assistance with good quality, monitoring of the messages from user is necessary. At present they are managed in an impromptu way. The paper will put forward the use of a Personal assistance chatbot to handle the messages from users and collectively provide the appropriate answers to it. A model has been proposed to enumerate precautions for the health related issues.


For decades, transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) has been considered the "gold standard" surgical procedure for men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The GreenLight (GL) laser has a wavelength of 532 nm the range of visible green light. The emitted energy is mostly absorbed by hemoglobin, thus heating the intracellular fluid in the well vascularized prostatic tissue which leads to vaporization. Since about half of men over the age of 60 often have lower LUTS due to BPH with prolonged life expectancy worldwide, more symptomatic BPH patients will require surgical interventions. The incidence of cardiovascular, stroke, and lung diseases also increases with age, the number of BPH patients at high risk for these diseases will increase accordingly. Gu et al. concluded that age has little effect on the efficacy and safety of GL HPS™ laser. Series of a total of 188 BPH patients at high cardiovascular risk and on long-term anticoagulation underwent 120-W GL laser vaporization of the BPH showed that no patient required blood transfusion, and none revealed any evidence of intraoperative fluid absorption leading to serum electrolyte abnormalities. Severe intraoperative and postoperative complications were not occurred. Disadvantage of previous KTP laser is limited volume reduction in large size prostate and may be insufficient to maintain long-lasting good functional results. Brunken et al. reported that GL laser enucleation of the prostate volume ≥50 cc. The results showed that all patients were able to void properly and during follow-up, none of the patients needed further interventions or hospital treatment. A multicenter randomized controlled trial at Europe compared GL laser with monopolar TUR-P with a total of randomized 139 patients. The results for IPSS variation were not different between two group in prostate volume ≥70 cc. The authors concluded that GL laser seems an acceptable alternative to TUR-P with close results on LUTS improvement in the short term and GL laser is associated with a reduced hospital stay with less postoperative irrigation and hematuria. Based on recently reported series, GL laser were not influenced by the size of prostate, the use of anticoagulant, the intake of 5-ARI for BPH management, a history of AUR. GL laser can be applied to the patients of large size of prostate, or difficult to stop the use of anticoagulant.


Pulsed Doppler echocardiographic studies were performed in 14 patients (eleven with mitral valve disease, two with coronary artery disease, one with aortic and mitral valve replacement) for determination of cardiac output and the results compared with those obtained from simultaneous measurements carried out according to the Fick principle. Determination of cardiac output and stroke volume was achieved with a pulsed Doppler instrument specifically designed in our laboratory (repetition frequency 10 kHz, maximal penetrance 7.7 cm, ultrasonic beam diameter 3 cm at a distance of 5 cm from the transducer). Doppler measurements of the instantaneous blood flow velocity in the ascending aorta were obtained with the transducer in a suprasternal position. Through integration of the mean spatial velocity over an entire cardiac cycle, the distance traversed by the blood during one heart beat was obtained and then multiplied by the echocardiographically-determined cross-section area of the aorta and the heart rate to yield the cardiac output. There was a statistically-significant linear correlation between the cardiac output determined by Doppler (CO-D) and Fick (CO-F): CO-D = 0.92 CO-F X 0.48, r = 0.85, n = 14. The mean values for the two methods were 3.89 and 3.68 1/min, respectively. The correlation between the two methods improved if only those patients with sinus rhythm were taken into consideration (CO-D = 1.05 CO-F - 0.21, r = 0.93, n = 11). The results show that the pulsed Doppler method used enables accurate determination of cardiac output. The method can be carried out in all patients without aortic stenosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The current World Wide Web supports mainly human browsing and searching of textual content. This model has become less and less adequate as the mass of available information increases. What is required instead is a model that supports integrated and uniform access to information sources and services as well as intelligent applications for information processing on the Web. Such a model requires standard mechanisms for interchanging data and handling different data semantics. The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a step in this direction. RDF provides a data model that supports fast integration of data sources by bridging semantic differences. It is often used (and was initially designed) for representing metadata about other Web resources, such as XML files. However, representing metadata about the Web is not different from representing data generally. Thus, RDF can be used as a general framework for data exchange on the Web.


A 66‐yr‐old man with a history of squamous cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma of the lung presented with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. After passing black stools, he underwent upper endoscopy which showed gastric ulceration. A gastric brushing was performed which showed numerous nonseptate, ribbon‐like hyphae with right‐angle branching. The cytologic features permitted a diagnosis of a zygomycotic infection which was confirmed by histologic examination. Despite appropriate antifungal therapy, the patient expired. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of gastric zygomycosis diagnosed by brushing cytology. We believe that gastric brushing cytology allows for rapid diagnosis of zygomycotic mycoses, due to the distinctive morphology of these organisms; however, histologic examination is still required for assessment of invasion. Diagn. Cytopathol. 23:51–54, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


SUMMARY The uptake of cycloleucine, L-proline, L-alanine and L-threonine by secondary hydatid cysts of Echinococcus granulosus (U.K. horse strain 3–8 mm in diameter, derived from Balb/c mice infected 300–400 days previously) occurs by passive diffusion into the cyst wall (laminated layer plus germinal layer) and by mediated mechanisms into the fluid-filled interior. The maximal concentrations of these compounds are achieved after incubation for 2 h in vitro and approach those in vivo. Kt and Vmax values describing the uptake of these compounds are given. The flux rates for these compounds are extremely slow compared to those obtained with the protoscolex. A rationale for standardizing the experimental method for uptake studies with hydatid cysts is described.


Abstract Trainers and educators of Marriage and Family Therapy must take into consideration the importance of culture, ethnicity, and language of students of color, international students, and bi/multicultural students. Therapists-in-training invariably find themselves exploring how their professional and personal identities are going to integrate, especially when doing therapy in a language other than English. This paper describes the journey of one therapist of color, a Latina. It raises issues and questions about incongruencies that arise as bilingual or multilingual therapists incorporate systems theory, systemic thinking, and therapeutic language with the expectations, values, and beliefs of their own ethnic cultures.


Since the 1980s, the cultural industries have gained a key role in strategies to deal with urban problems, seen as able to provide a new economic base in post-industrial settings. Cases of flagship cultural institutions such as Tate Modern or the Guggenheim in Bilbao imply that a cultural turn in urban policy delivers urban revitalisation. Following the turn in Glasgow's fortunes after being European Capital of Culture in 1990, it is easy to understand how city authorities and developers alike are captivated by cultural projects. But there are questions: is advocacy for the creative industries to be trusted? To what extent can policies and strategies which are successful in one city be mapped onto others? And to what extent do cultural producers, such as artists, subscribe to the party line? An increasing number of voices of dissent in the arts suggest an alternative approach to urban regeneration. This paper questions the rhetoric of the cultural industries and investigates emerging alternative scenarios.


Primary tracheal neoplasms are extremely rare lesions in the pediatric age group. This study reviews the English-language literature to better characterize these lesions in children and reports 2 additional patients. Reports of only 36 infants and children through adolescence with primary tracheal neoplasms were discovered after an exhaustive literature review of the last 30 years. The data are analyzed with regard to pathology, demographics, symptomatology, site, and percent luminal obstruction. We report 2 additional patients with photographic documentation, imaging studies, and histopathology. Of the 36 previously reported lesions, 64% were characterized as benign and 36% as malignant. Fifty-six percent of all lesions were initially misdiagnosed as asthma. The most common site was the posterior membranous wall of the cervical trachea. In 14 (39%) of the 36 patients, the lesions obstructed more than 50% of the lumen at the time of diagnosis. The timely diagnosis of tracheal masses depends upon maintaining a high index of suspicion and conducting an efficient workup, including definitive evaluation by bronchoscopy. The evaluation and the differential diagnosis of tracheal neoplasms in the pediatric population is discussed.


Since the start of the pandemic, diagnostic testing has been critical to the medical care of those infected with COVID-19, the protection of health care and other essential workers, and the efforts to contain the spread of the disease This rapid expert consultation draws attention to four critical areas in developing diagnostic testing and strategies to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths: (1) advantages and limitations of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for viral RNA;(2) the status of POC testing;(3) testing strategies, namely, considerations in the deployment of types and sequences of tests;and (4) next-generation testing that offers the prospect of highthroughput, rapid, and less expensive testing This rapid expert consultation was convened under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats


We report a nanosecond-pulse amplification system based on an Yb-doped,100-μm core,rod-type photonic crystal fiber.Up to 10 W of average power with pulse energy of 1 mJ and peak power of 450 kW is obtained at the repetition rate of 10 kHz.The high-power nanosecond pulse has a good pulse shape and spectral characteristics.The usage of rod-type fibers provides a novel structure for nanosecond pulse amplification.


The vibronic spectra mainly depend on the nature of the defects in diamond. The strong sharp local vibronic modes are observed for the interstitial-related centres beyond their phonon cut-off energy (165meV), but not for the vacancy-related centres. The vibronic spectra of these vacancy-related centres show very strong and broad sidebands closely after the zero phonon lines. Further, the vibrations involving only one vacancy are due to two separate phonons or both, one has an energy of approximately 42 meV and the other has approximately 67 meV.


This report presents an unreliability evaluation of the high-pressure safety injection system (HPSI) at 69 U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. Demand, run hours, and failure data from fiscal year 1998 through 2012 for selected components were obtained from the Equipment Performance and Information Exchange (EPIX). The unreliability results are trended for the most recent 10 year period while yearly estimates for system unreliability are provided for the entire active period. No statistically significant increasing or decreasing trends were identified in the HPSI results.


Spherical confinement can alter the properties of a dipolar fluid in several different ways. In an atomistic molecular dynamics simulation study of two different dipolar liquids (SPC/E water and a model Stockmayer fluid) confined to nanocavities of different radii ranging from Rc=1nm to 4nm, we find that the Kirkwood correlation factor remains surprisingly small in water, but not so in model Stockmayer liquid. This gives rise to an anomalous ultrafast relaxation of the total dipole moment time correlation function (DMTCF). The static dielectric constant of water under nanoconfinement (computed by employing Clausius-Mossotti equation, the only exact relation) exhibits a strong dependence on the size of the nanocavity with a remarkably slow convergence to the bulk value. Interestingly, the value of the volume becomes ambiguous in this nanoworld. It is determined by the liquid-surface interaction potential and is to be treated with care because of the sensitivity of the Clausius-Mossotti equation to the volume of the nanosphere. We discover that the DMTCF for confined water exhibit a bimodal 1/f noise power spectrum. We also comment on the applicability of certain theoretical formalisms that become dubious in the nanoworld.


Introduction: From the point of dental practice, the restoration of endodontically treated teeth has become an important aspect as it involves a range of treatment options of variable complexity. Restoring teeth with insufficient coronal tooth structure, it is always indicated to use the post to retain a core for definitive restoration. Fiber post has a modulus of elasticity in analogs to dentin structure, thus reducing the stress areas at the dowel dentin interface. However, the only material that can substantiate all these properties can be none other than dentin itself. Materials and Methodology: Three-dimensional (3D) models of the maxillary central incisor were developed incorporating all the nonlinearities. Continuum 3D elements were used in three dimensions. Maxillary central incisor was laser scanned, duplicated with the help of reverse engineering into STL format, and it was converted into 3D model for finite element analysis (FEA). For the model, fixed boundary conditions were applied at the outer bone, while 100 N static vertical occlusal loads were prescribed at 135° on the loading component of the simulated tooth. The stress distribution was evaluated using dentin and fiber post with prescribed materials, loading and boundary conditions in endontically treated teeth by 3D FEA. Results: The analysis for von Misses stress for dentin post showed that the stress in the dentin post at the cervical area was 127 MPa. The displacement in the dentin post was <0.025 mm. Von Misses stress for the fiber post at the cervical area was approximately 182 MPa and the displacement was <0.035 mm. Conclusion: The FEA results showed that the stress in the cervical area of the dentin was more for fiber post when compared to dentin post, and maximum displacement values were less for dentin post in comparison to fiber post.


Recent progress on the rhodium-catalyzed addition reactions of organometallic reagents to carbon-hetero atom and electron deficient carbon-carbon double bonds in such as aldehydes, ketones, imines, and ƒ¿, ƒÀ-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are described. The reactions are considered to involve the generation of the organorhodium intermediate by the transmetalation with the organometallic reagents, which actually adds to the substrates. A wide range of organometallic reagents such as tin, boron, silicon, lead, bismuth, titanium, and zirconium can be employed in these catalytic addition reactions. Highly enantioselective asymmetric additions have also been achieved using chiral ligands for rhodium complexes.


This study was conducted based on the phenomenon that is in junior high school of state 9 Semarang which shows that the students who have empathy in social interactions is low. The purpose of this study to determine the efforts and success in increasing empathy in the social interaction of students through experiential learning approach to group dynamics. This research is action research guidance and counseling. Subjects were 10 students who had low empathy in social interaction. Data collection methods used were psychological scales and observation. Wilcoxon test results obtained thitung 55.0 > 8.0 TTable or imply Ha accepted and Ho rejected. These results demonstrate empathy in students' social interaction can be improved after getting the group dynamic experiential learning approach. Empathy in the social interaction of students before gaining experiential learning group dynamics approach to the low category 51.19%. After obtaining the dynamics of group experiential learning approach with 81.96% higher category. After the I cyclus increased empathy in social interactions by 14.93% from the initial conditions. After the II cyclus of empathy in social interactions increased by 15.84% of cyclus I. In addition, students progressing better behavior seen from the increasing indicators sensitive to others, trust, understanding, awareness of others, openness, social contacts, and social communication.


GLIAL-DERIVED neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was tested for its ability to prevent hearing and sensory cell loss in guinea pigs exposed to acoustic trauma. Hearing was measured prior to any treatment. Animals were exposed to damaging levels of noise either before or after local application of GDNF to one ear. Four weeks later, hearing and sensory cell loss was greater in the control ear than in the ear receiving GDNF before acoustic trauma or 2 h after trauma, but not 4 or 6 h after trauma. The results indicate that GDNF treatment in vivo can prevent cochlear sensory cell damage and hearing loss if present during or shortly after acoustic trauma.


Four ultraviolet light-sensitive mutants were isolated in Aspergillus rugulosus. Ultraviolet light survival curves for these mutants were characterized by the absence or reduction of the shoulder observed in the curves of nonsensitive strains. The absence of a shoulder may reflect the lack of one or more enzymes essential for the repair of UV-damaged DNA. All mutants were cross sensitive to inactivation by nitrous acid. A genetic analysis of one of these mutants indicated that UV sensitivity is controlled by a single nuclear gene. It is also possible, however, that UV sensitivity may be affected by factors having nothing to do with DNA repair. Differences in conidial pigmentation were shown to influence sensitivity to UV light.


The advances in Human Genetics are revolutionizing the understanding of health-illness, becoming a challenge and an impact on the expansion of the nursing role. The objective of this study was to identify the knowledge of the nursing team concerning the genetic abnormalities. This is an exploratory-descriptive and cross-sectional study accomplished through interviews with 171 professionals of the nursing team of the maternal-infant sectors. The majority of the interviewees informed to be able to recognize a genetic syndrome, among which the most known was the Down syndrome. However, most of them couldn't say for sure which support would be necessary in such cases. It is observed the lack of preparation of the team to approach the family of the children with genetic abnormalities and the need of training in this field. Descriptors: Nursing, team; Knowledge; Congenital Abnormalities.


There are several self-reported instruments measuring one of the central aspects of empathy, perspective taking. Instruments developed to investigate the relation of perspective taking and objective tasks of theory of mind (ToM) are not as common. This is a significant shortcoming when aiming to use information gathered with self-report instruments in applied fields. The ability of perspective taking has been considered to be a crucial element in the professional profile of a police officer, but alternative approaches to further investigate the validity of the construct remain to be studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between how recruits perceive their own ability of perspective taking (self-reported) and how they perform in tasks associated with this ability. The research design of this study was to administer instruments to about 200 police recruits in Sweden at two different occasions. The self-reported instrument was the first one administered. At the second occasion, tests based on tasks that could be considered more objective were administered to the same recruits. The instruments used were the adapted Swedish version of the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI), The Swedish version of the Reading the mind in the eyes test and an instrument that measures ToM based on different vignettes developed for a Swedish police context. The methodological procedure includes, instrument development, investigation of the association between the subjective measure and the more objective measures using CFA models. There was an expectation that recruits reporting higher on the perspective taking ability would perform better in the more objective tasks. The findings support this expectation to a certain level, but the findings also reveal more information on this complex relation. The main conclusions are that perspective taking is an important ability that ought to be measured comprising alternative approaches to be valid in applied settings.


In January 2000, delegates from over 100 nations completed negotiations on an international treaty for the regulation of biotechnology, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The stated purpose of this protocol is to enhance the protection of biological diversity. Despite its good intentions, there is a mismatch between the protocol?s substantive provisions and present threats to biological diversity. The protocol endorses "precautionary" regulation of transboundary shipments of genetically engineered organisms, including crops, so as to reduce the environmental risks that such organisms may pose. The greatest threat to biological diversity is habitat loss, largely driven by the conversion of land for agricultural uses. Genetically engineered crops could alleviate pressures to clear habitat by increasing per-acre agricultural productivity. Therefore, insofar as the biosafety protocol discourages the use of genetically engineered crops, it could do more harm than good.


This book describes the genitive in Cameroon English (CamE) specifically its syntactic and semantic features. It investigates both the features specific to the genitive in this variety of English and their proportion of occurrence. Facts from the data used to support the investigations attest that CamE is very close to the mother variety, British English, since both showcase the same main types of genitive: 's genitive and of-genitive. However, CamE tends to have developed specificities. Like the inexistence of double genitive with a noun as the head of the 's phrase, though the form with a pronoun is attested and holds a considerable proportion. Elsewhere, the form combining the demonstrative and the possessive pronoun also stands out. In some cases, relative that replaces whose with non-human antecedent (referred to as that-genitive). Alternation between of-genitive and 's genitive is very largely in favour of of-genitive. Exception made for newspaper headlines where the gap is rather tight though still in favour of of-genitive. With regard to meaning, partitive is the genitive meaning most expressed in CamE, while possessive and kinship are last but one and last respectively.


Since Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are accessible by anyone in the world at no cost, they have large enrollments that are conducive to educational research. This study examines students in the Coursera MOOC, Introductory Human Physiology. Of the 33,378 students who accessed the course, around 15,000 students responded to items on the pre-course survey about their age, educational background, proficiency in English, and plans for participating in the course. We categorized students who completed the pre-course survey into groups based on the number of exams completed and corresponding course achievement level. We used Chi-square goodness of fit tests to analyze the distribution of students' responses on the pre-course survey and associated achievement level. Of the students who responded to the pre-course survey and passed with distinction, a larger percentage self-identified as fluent in English while a smaller percentage self-identified as beginners. Students with graduate degrees were more likely to pass the course or pass with distinction than students with only some college experience or a bachelor's degree. Students who completed either some or all exams were more likely to self-report intention to complete all course activities than students who did not take any exams. A greater proportion of students who passed the course or passed with distinction posted two or more times on the course discussion forum. Understanding MOOC students and the characteristics that lead to their success will enable modification to courses for increased student achievement and may also inform teaching in the traditional classroom.


Abstract High rates of substance use and related problems have been long recognized as critical health issues for Native American adolescents. Unfortunately, no manualized interventions address the specific needs of Native American adolescents in a culturally appropriate manner. In 2006, the Cherokee Nation partnered with the University of Colorado to employ a community-based participatory research process to develop an intervention for Native American adolescents with substance use problems. The resulting intervention, Walking On, is an explicit blend of traditional Cherokee healing and spirituality with science-based practices such as cognitive behavioral therapy and contingency management and is designed to address the specific needs and worldviews of Native American adolescents with substance use problems and their families. Each individual and family session includes a brief assessment, a skill-building component, and a ceremony. A Weekly Circle (multifamily group) promotes sobriety and builds a community of healing. Early pilot study results suggest that Walking On is feasible for use in tribal substance abuse treatment programs. While Walking On shows early promise, the intervention will require further study to examine its efficacy.


We report on the design of a small animal PET scanner based on continuous LYSO crystals and position sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs), together with the first results from the calibration. The scanner consists of eight compact modules forming an octagon and leaving a port of 110 mm aperture. Each module is made out of a continuous LYSO crystal and a PSPMT, and contains its associated electronics together with its power supply. For each module, five signals are read, summarizing all the information coming out from its 64 anode pads. Therefore, for the whole scanner only 40 signals are digitized. A calibration procedure has been implemented, measuring a spatial resolution of approximately 1.5 mm at the center of the field of view and an energy resolution of 18%. The sensitivity of the system at the center of the field of view, using only 4 modules, is observed to be of about 1%.


A split-film anemometer has been adapted for measurement of highly turbulent intermittently reversing flows in regions of local separation around airfoils and flaps. Analog signals from the split-film anemometer are fed directly to a mini-computer for processing and analysis. Mean velocity magnitude and direction, intermittency of reversal, turbulence intensity and histograms of the velocity are obtained as outputs of the system.


Satisfiability solvers can be embedded in applications to perform specific formal reasoning tasks. CBMC, for example, is a bounded model checker for C and C++ that embeds SMT and SAT solvers to check internally generated formulae. Such solvers will be solely used to evaluate the class of formulae generated by the embedding application and therefore may benefit from domain-specific parameter tuning. We propose the use of Bayesian optimisation for this purpose, which offers a principled approach to black-box optimisation within limited resources. We demonstrate its use for optimisation of the solver embedded in CBMC specifically for a collection of test harnesses in active industrial use, for which we have achieved a significant improvement over the default parameters.


---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract - We read the air quality of India by using machine literacy to prognosticate the air quality indicator of a given area. Air quality indicator of India is a standard measure used to indicate the contaminant (so2, no2, rspm, spm.etc.) situations over a period. We developed a model to prognosticate the air quality indicator grounded on literal data of former times and prognosticating over a particular forthcoming time as aGradient decent boosted multivariable retrogression problem. we ameliorate the effectiveness of the model by applying cost Estimation for our prophetic Problem. Our model will be able for successfully prognosticating the air quality indicator of a total county or any state or any bounded region handed with the literal data of contaminant attention. In our model by enforcing the proposed parameter- reducing phrasings, we achieved better performance than the standard retrogression models. our model has 96 delicacy on prognosticating the current available dataset on prognosticating the air quality indicator of whole India, also we use AHP MCDM fashion to find of order of preference by similarity to ideal result.


Background Repetitive behaviours (RB) in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) are frequent. However, a controversy persists whether they are manifestations of obssessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or correspond to complex tics. Methods 166 consecutive patients with GTS aged 15–68 years were recruited and submitted to extensive neurological, psychiatric and psychological evaluations. RB were evaluated by the YBOCS symptom checklist and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I), and classified on the basis of a semi-directive psychiatric interview as compulsions or tics. Results RB were present in 64.4% of patients with GTS (107/166) and categorised into 3 major groups: a 'tic-like' group (24.3%–40/166) characterised by RB such as touching, counting, 'just right' and symmetry searching; an 'OCD-like' group (20.5%–34/166) with washing and checking rituals; and a 'mixed' group (13.2%–22/166) with both 'tics-like' and 'OCD-like' types of RB present in the same patient. In 6.3% of patients, RB could not be classified into any of these groups and were thus considered 'undetermined'. Conclusions The results confirm the phenomenological heterogeneity of RB in GTS patients and allows to distinguish two types: tic-like behaviours which are very likely an integral part of GTS; and OCD-like behaviours, which can be considered as a comorbid condition of GTS and were correlated with higher score of complex tics, neuroleptic and SSRIs treatment frequency and less successful socio-professional adaptation. We suggest that a meticulous semiological analysis of RB in GTS patients will help to tailor treatment and allow to better classify patients for future pathophysiologic studies. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00169351


Context: Health care providers play a significant role as they are the first contact for seeking help for intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Aims: This research aimed toward developing a comprehensive culturally appropriate intervention package for the mental health professionals (MHPs) to provide psychological intervention and support for women survivors of IPV and test the training impact on the level of attitude, knowledge, and preparedness to respond to IPV disclosure among MHPs. Settings and Design: A single group, pre–post intervention study, was conducted at Tertiary Mental Health Hospital in the Southern part of India, Bengaluru. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 MHPs were recruited for the study using purposive sampling. MHP Attitude, Knowledge, Preparedness to Manage IPV (MAP–IPV) questionnaire was used to collect the data. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics were used to assess the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. The pre–post evaluation was analyzed using the independent "t" test by comparing the means scores of the MAP–IPV questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) – 20 version of the software. Results: The results revealed a lack of attitude, knowledge preparedness, and available resources materials among MHPs in addressing IPV cases. Pre–post evaluation showed statistically significant improvement in attitude, knowledge, and preparedness to identify and respond to IPV disclosure among MHPs after the intervention program. Conclusion: The comprehensive IPV intervention package effectively brings gain in attitude, knowledge, and preparedness among MHPs in addressing survivors of IPV. Practice guidelines and clear referral pathways following IPV disclosure need to be implemented to support the gains made through the training.


This paper is concerned with the $H_\infty $ problem with measurement feedback. The problem is to find a dynamic feedback from the measured output to the control input such that the closed-loop system has an $H_\infty $ norm strictly less than some a priori given bound $\gamma $ and such that the closed-loop system is internally stable. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given under which such a feedback exists. The only assumption that must be made is that there are no invariant zeros on the imaginary axis for two subsystems. Contrary to recent publications no assumptions are made on the direct feedthrough matrices of the plant. It turns out that this problem can be reduced to an almost disturbance decoupling problem with measurement feedback and internal stability, i.e., the problem in which we can make the $H_\infty $ norm arbitrarily small.


High brightness white LED has attracted a lot of attention from both industry and academia for its high efficacy, simple to drive, environmentally friendly, and long lifespan. It becomes possible applications to replace the incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, and even compact fluorescent light bulbs in residential, industry and commercial lighting. Offline application of this new lighting source requires both tight LED current regulation and high power factor as well. We proposed an interleaved SEPIC converter with integrated magnetics for the offline LED lighting applications with LED current dimmable and input power factor correction. The converter is controlled with voltage mode PWM and run in discontinuous conduction mode. The inductor current follows the input voltage, therefore, the converter has high power factor, and can handle high power with reduced number of component count. This circuit has the advantages of (1) one stage of power conversion, (2) high power factor, (3) reduced size of the input filter, (4) reduced size of output filter, (5) integrated magnetic components, and reduced component count, (6) simple feedback control and no need to sense the input voltage, (7) voltage step-up and down, and (8) dimmable load current. It is particular suitable for the non-isolated offline applications, such as high brightness LED lighting applications. The critical design constraints and equations for both the power stage and control loop are highlighted and detailed. A practical evaluation board with 110 V input and 60 V 700 mA output is developed to verify the proposed design.


Mistakes in AI systems are inevitable, arising from both technical limitations and sociotechnical gaps. While black-boxing AI systems can make the user experience seam less , hiding the seams risks disempowering users to mitigate fallouts from AI mistakes. While Explainable AI (XAI) has predominantly tackled algorithmic opaqueness, we propose that seamful design can foster Human-centered XAI by strategically revealing sociotechnical and infrastructural mismatches. We introduce the notion of Seamful XAI by (1) conceptually transferring "seams" to the AI context and (2) developing a design process that helps stakeholders design with seams, thereby augmenting explainability and user agency. We explore this process with 43 AI practitioners and users, using a scenario-based co-design activity informed by real-world use cases. We share empirical insights, implications, and critical reflections on how this process can help practitioners anticipate and craft seams in AI, how seamfulness can improve explainability, empower end-users, and facilitate Responsible AI. system's workings. Our stance also aligns with the emerging


PURPOSE
We preliminarily estimated the treatment effect on cervical cancer in terms of the tumor regression rate (TRR) achieved with chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study included cervical squamous cell carcinomas treated by radiotherapy alone (n=45) or chemoradiotherapy (concurrent once-a-week cisplatin 30 mg/m2, n=13). Tumors were measured three-dimensionally on pre- and mid-treatment magnetic resonance images. TRR was defined as the slope of the exponential regression curve of tumor volume (day(-1)) on the assumption that tumors regressed exponentially with time.

RESULTS
TRR ranged widely (0.004-0.090 day-(-1)) and did not significantly differ between treatment with chemoradiotherapy (median, 0.032 day(-1)) and with radiotherapy alone (median, 0.024 day(-1)) (p = 0.361). TRR > 0.05 day(-1) was seen in four chemoradiotherapy tumors (30.8%) and in six radiotherapy-alone tumors (15.0%) (p = 0.207), whereas TRR < 0.01 day(-1) was seen in no chemoradiotherapy tumors (0.0%) and in five radiotherapy-alone tumors (11.1%) (p = 0.180). TRR for tumors > 5.0 cm in diameter was greater with chemoradiotherapy (n=5) than with radiotherapy alone (n=12) (p = 0.065).

CONCLUSION
Although the difference did not reach a statistically significant level, our TRR data suggest that concurrent chemotherapy heightens the radioresponse of large-size cervical cancer.


The increasing demand on high performance fighter aircraft has introduced areas of concern associated with the handling qualities, control and safety at high angles of incidence. Pilots are limiting combat effectiveness by cautiously avoiding hazardous regions of the flight envelope. This thesis presents the results of the work undertaken in analysing the F-16 aircraft's handling characteristics during dangerous departure and deep stall conditions. It also proposes a methodology that will increase combat effectiveness and safety.

Human factors and performance are still fundamental to flight safety and pilot decisions and reactions during dangerous scenarios are critical. Design excellence and pilot performance are some of the primary means of obtaining combat superiority. However, this goal presents a major challenge due to the complex, multi-technological nature of modern aircraft. The achievement of conflicting objectives such as optimum combat performance and safety during difficult manoeuvres near and beyond the aircraft flight envelop -limits calls for a more holistic determination of the aircraft design and operational procedures.

An all axis six degree-of-freedom simulation was built and used to investigate the onset of allegedly spurious pitching moments that lead to departure and deep stall. The model is verified against in-flight tests data and used to investigate all possible scenarios that would be too dangerous to complete in the air. The Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL) computer codes are contained in the present thesis.

A methodology is proposed and has been in-flight tested for one departure test case to date. A change in approach from a departure and deep stall prevention approach to one of deep stall recovery is recommended. This allows the pilot to use the full extent of the control surfaces without being inhibited or disabled by the prevention systems.


Multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors, such as sunitinib, have been used as the primary targeted agents for patients with recurrent or distant metastasis of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, endogenous or acquired sunitinib resistance has become a significant therapeutic problem. Therefore, we focused on mechanisms of sunitinib resistance in RCC. First, we undertook RNA sequencing analysis using previously established sunitinib‐resistant RCC (SUR‐Caki1, SUR‐ACHN, and SUR‐A498) cells. The results showed increased expression of secretogranin II (SCG2, chromogranin C) in SUR‐RCC cells compared to parental cells. The Cancer Genome Atlas database showed that SCG2 expression was increased in RCC compared to normal renal cells. In addition, the survival rate of the SCG2 high‐expression group was significantly lower than that of the RCC low‐expression group. Thus, we investigated the involvement of SCG2 in sunitinib‐resistant RCC. In vitro analysis showed that migratory and invasive abilities were suppressed by SCG2 knockdown SUR cells. As SCG2 was previously reported to be associated with angiogenesis, we undertook a tube formation assay. The results showed that suppression of SCG2 inhibited angiogenesis. Furthermore, coimmunoprecipitation assays revealed a direct interaction between SCG2 and hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α (HIF1α). Expression levels of VEGF‐A and VEGF‐C downstream of HIF1α were found to be decreased in SCG2 knockdown SUR cells. In conclusion, SCG2 could be associated with sunitinib resistance through VEGF regulation in RCC cells. These findings could lead to a better understanding of the VHL/HIF/VEGF pathway and the development of new therapeutic strategies for sunitinib‐resistant RCC.


In a previous article, we presented a per cluster logical cache strategy for a software distributed shared memory (SDSM) system for interconnects of loosely-coupled machine clusters. We assume that inter-cluster links are slower than intra-cluster ones. We propose an adaptive strategy that aims at increasing the efficiency of our first cache solution. By exploiting sharing access pattern of applications related to locality within the same cluster, the adaptive cache reduces the number of messages generated by our previous cache solution. Performance evaluation results show that the former outperforms the latter. We also present a new barrier algorithm, which is integrated with the adaptive cache and more adapted to the communication latency hierarchy of the platform.


Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that became renowned in 2015 in Brazil mainly due to its association with microcephaly in newborns. Although most infections in adults are asymptomatic or cause mild illnesses, in a reduced number of cases, ZIKV can also produce severe complications that include neurological disorders (Guillain–Barré syndrome), ocular lesions, or reproductive alterations. From 2015 the efforts of a significant part of the scientific community were placed on ZIKV research, which has resulted in an unpredicted escalation of the knowledge of the biology and pathology of this virus. The rapid response of the scientific community against ZIKV highlights its enormous potential to counter attack a viral threat within a short time period. It is expected that this huge collaborative effort will produce affordable and effective prophylactic and therapeutic tools against ZIKV. Nevertheless, there are still other arboviral threats different from ZIKV that should not be forgotten.


BackgroundAcquired equivalence is a phenomenon in which prior training to treat 2 stimuli as equivalent increases generalization between them. Previous studies demonstrated that the hippocampal complex might play an important role in acquired equivalence associative learning. In this study, we tested the possibility that acquired equivalence learning is a sensitive marker of mild Alzheimer disease (AD). MethodsIn the associative learning test, antecedent stimuli were cartoon faces and consequent stimuli were different colored cartoon fishes. Each cartoon character had some pet fish and the task was to learn these face-fish associations using feedback provided after each decision. In the transfer phase, knowledge about face-fish pairs had to be generalized to new associations. ResultsAD patients exhibited mild impairments in the training phase, whereas they were profoundly impaired on the acquired equivalence test. Associative knowledge could not be transferred to a more flexible retrieval condition. ConclusionsThese results suggest that acquired equivalence learning is specifically impaired in early AD, which may indicate the pathology of the hippocampal complex.


: Cytochemical methods for alpha naphthyl acetate esterase and chloroacetate esterase have been used to identify human monocytes and granulocytes. In this study, a standard procedure for staining alpha naphthyl acetate and chloroacetate esterase activities was modified by extending the range of pH of the incubation mixture and the duration of staining and was applied to cat, dog, goat, guinea pig, hamster, human, pig, rabbit, rat, and sheep leukocytes. The results for both enzymes showed (1) incubation time and pH had discrete effects on staining and (2) species differences for in vitro conditions to demonstrate esterase activity were pronounced.


Purpose: This paper aims to document the narratives that emerged in favour of and against the austerity measures proposed by the Auckland Council, with specific reference to performing arts organisations (PAOs) in the aftermath of the pandemic 2020. Design/methodology/approach: Written submissions from stakeholders received in response to austerity measures were analysed to identify the arguments presented to support/oppose funding cuts to PAOs. These narratives were thematically grouped into accounting, political, artistic and social categories to deliberate on the tensions that exist between these when funding PAOs. Findings: This study identifies the arguments presented by grass-root PAOs on the rationale of their existence from a Pacific perspective. The analysis suggests that accounting, hitherto considered as a "sword" can also be used as a "shield" if PAOs direct their research accordingly and offers future research directions. Originality/value: Prior studies concerning funding difficulties of PAOs have relied on opinions obtained ex-post from selected stakeholders. There are no known studies, which factor the opinions of grass-root PAOs, captured "during" funding deliberations. This study bridges this gap in the New Zealand setting by providing an analysis of grass-root opinions from the Pacific perspective, conducted during a funding deliberation. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.


Despite modern pharmacologic agents in the therapy of heart failure, the prevalence of heart failure is increasing worldwide. In the vitamin B1 deficiency disease beriberi, cardiac symptoms may represent the central feature. Two new studies confirmed that all diuretics lead to increased urinary thiamin excretion depending on the urinary flow rate. In a subject at risk, such as an elderly patient, chronic diuretic treatment may lead to a subclinical thiamin deficiency. Whether subclinical thiamin nutriture is a modulator of the prevalence and/or severity of heart failure is not known; however, it seems to be plausible from the metabolic point of view.


This report presents the results of a "professional judgment" panel study focused on answering a central question: What is the cost of providing all California public school students with access to the California content standards and the opportunity to achieve proficiency levels established by the California State Board of Education? The study addresses several intermediate questions: 1. What types of programs and services do panels of education professionals believe are necessary for typical schools to meet state standards? 2. How would the same professionals adjust those programs, services, and resources for schools serving varying numbers of high-need students (i.e., students living in poverty, English learners, and students with disabilities)? 3. What are the total estimated per-pupil costs when district services are added? And how do those costs vary based on district location and size? 4. How does the estimated total cost of providing an adequate education in California compare to current expenditures?


Circular Economy (CE) is a new strategy of development adopted by European Union (EU) authorities in 2014, aiming to boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs. The CE approach keeps the added value in products for as long as possible and eliminates waste; moreover, it implies full systemic change and innovation not only in technologies, but also in organization, society, finance methods and policies. Such an approach leads to a new model of production and consumption, and a new relationship between stakeholders at the local, regional, national and EU levels. This article highlights the functions of such a new strategic model of development at the regional level, demonstrating the importance of the introduction of CE assumptions into regional development policies, programmes and plans. The text also emphasizes the active involvement of all regional stakeholders (local and regional authorities, business and finance sector, civil society and citizens) in the process of transition to a CE-based regional development model. There is a lack of studies devoted to CE opportunities, challenges and limitations for particular European regions where CE is a relatively new strategic direction. This article therefore presents a case study for CE implementation in the Lesser Poland Region (LPR). LPR stakeholders are actively investigating CE opportunities, and the first CE actions have been undertaken during the last two years. Further research appears to be needed examining the opportunities and limitations of CE implementation in the LPR to help identify the most effective means of transitioning to a CE. This study has applied state-of-the-art diagnostics for CE implementation in the LPR. The diagnostics were based on analysis of current economic, social and environmental conditions as well as on examination of strategic and operational documents. Peer-review under responsibility of Tsinghua University/ Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific.


Apples (Malus domestica) are one of the most important temperate fruit crops in the world. Apple production provides, directly or indirectly, employment and improvement in the living standards to millions of people, playing a key role in rural economies. We have conducted an interview-based survey to assess the current status and challenges faced by apple production in the Batna and Khenchela provinces, the two most important apple producing regions of Eastern Algeria. The survey was conducted between March and November 2019. A total of 50 apple growers answered 40 questions, including 13 direct and 20 qualitative questions. A scale ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high) was used as a quantitative measurement for 12 questions. The reliability index of the questionnaire was 0.827. The results identified the main challenges faced by apple growers in Eastern Algeria as: limited access to certified and clean planting material, limited knowledge of disease and pest identification, inadequate access to appropriate disease management, lack of storage facilities and transportation of harvested fruit, and insufficient knowledge of marketing and access to markets. The study also identified a need for the development of cost-effective plant multiplication, horticultural and disease management practices and educational programmes suitable for local conditions to enhance the productivity and economic benefits of apple orchards.


Rab3D, a small Ras-like GTPase, is a key regulator of intracellular vesicle transport during exocytosis. It has been shown that Rab3 GTPases are abundant in cells with regulated secretory pathways and are thought to confer the specificity of docking and fusion during regulated exocytosis. Unlike other Rab3 isoforms, Rab3D is enriched in a number of non-neuronal tissues and is localised to secretory granules in the cytoplasm of these cells. The structure of Rab3D exhibits all of the conserved domains from the Rab family and also contains hypervariable N- and C-terminal regions. Rab3D undergoes post-translational isoprenylation and cycles between GDP- and GTP-bound forms. Apart from the factors involved in the Rab activation cycle, few Rab3D effector proteins have been identified to date. Nevertheless, it has long been suggested that Rab3D plays a role in regulated exocytotic processes as well as apically directed transcytosis. This review summarises the recent work on the biological function, structural integrity and molecular interactions of Rab3D in non-neuronal cells.


This paper investigates the influence of nonideal voltage measurements on the parameter estimation of permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs). The influence of nonideal voltage measurements, such as the dc bus voltage drop, zero shift in the amplifier, and voltage source inverter nonlinearities, on the estimation of different machine parameters is investigated by theoretical and experimental analysis. For analysis, a model-reference-adaptive-system-based estimator is first described for the parameter estimation of the q-axis inductance, stator winding resistance, and rotor flux linkage. The estimator is then applied to a prototype surface-mounted PMSM to investigate the influence of nonideal voltage measurement on the estimation of various machine parameter values. It shows that, at low speed, the inverter nonlinearity compensation has significant influence on both the rotor flux linkage and winding resistance estimations while, at high speed, it has significant influence only on the winding resistance estimation and has negligible influence on the rotor flux linkage estimation. In addition, the inverter nonlinearity compensation will not influence the q-axis inductance estimation when it is under id = 0 control. However, the dc bus voltage drop due to the load variation and zero shift in the amplifier will significantly influence the q-axis inductance estimation.


Veteran integration back into society from military service is a lingering social problem due to the lack of research surrounding the issues that many veterans face today in regards to emotional stability. After time spent in combat zones many veterans are facing psychological issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and physical disabilities but these are only some of the problems veterans face since many of them chose to pursue higher education after their military service. How can we help veterans integrate back into civilian life through higher education after military service? This research conducts in-depth interviews with student veterans to obtain information on what problems they are in fact experiencing reintegrating back into society and to learn the effectiveness of available programs designed to help them. The research expects to find unique problems that student veterans have in transitioning back into society through higher education and the reasons why some available programs prove effective while other do not. This research seeks to make an important contribution towards designing support systems that are as effective as possible for higher education initiatives for veterans that are increasingly funded by federal programs such as the "new G.I. Bill" – the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.


The objective of this study was to analyze two methods for determining the antimicrobial effectiveness of (i) calcium hydroxide plus saline, (ii) calcium hydroxide plus polyethylene glycol, and (iii) calcium hydroxide plus camphorated paramonochlorophenol. Four microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633)), one yeast (Candida albicans (ICB/USP-562)), and one mixture of these organisms were used. The strains were inoculated in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) and incubated at 37 degrees C for 24 h. Two methods, the direct exposure test and the agar diffusion test were used to evaluate antimicrobial effects. For the direct exposure test (DET) 288 paper points were contaminated with the standard microbial suspensions and exposed to the intracanal dressings for 1, 24, 48, and 72 h. The points were immersed in Letheen Broth, followed by incubation at 37 degrees C for 48 h. An inoculum of 0.1 ml obtained from Letheen Broth was then transferred to 7 ml of BHI under identical incubation conditions, and microbial growth was evaluated. Pastes showed activity between 1 and 72 h, depending on the microorganism/mixture tested. For the agar diffusion test 36 Petri plates with 20 ml of BHI agar were inoculated with 0.1 ml of the same microbial suspension used for the DET, using sterile swabs that were spread on the medium. Five cavities were made in each of two agar plates (total = 10) and completely filled with one of the calcium hydroxide pastes. The plates were preincubated for 1 h at environmental temperature and then incubated at 37 degrees C for 24 to 48 h. The inhibition zone around each well was recorded in millimeters, and the results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey test (alpha = 0.05). All intracanal dressings induced inhibition zones (range 5.0-10.0 mm). Data obtained showed that both the DET and agar diffusion test are useful in establishing the calcium hydroxide antimicrobial spectrum, thus improving infection control protocols. The direct exposure method is independent of other variables and is a practical laboratory procedure. A complete antimicrobial effect was observed after 48 h on indicator microorganisms, in both tests, irrespective of the calcium hydroxide paste vehicle.


A new method for rapid construction of large-scale executable railway models is presented. Computer systems for railway systems suffer from poor integration and lack of explicit understanding of the large amount of static and dynamic information in the railway. In this paper, we give solutions to both problems. It is shown how a component-oriented approach makes it easy to construct and refine basic railway models by effective methods, such that a variety of models with important properties can be maintained within the same framework. Basic railway nets are refined into several new kinds: nets that are safe, permit collision detection, include time, and are sensitive to its surroundings. Since the underlying implementation language is Petri nets, large expressibility is combined with simplicity, and in addition, the analysis of the behavior of railway models comes gently.


This paper develops and applies a novel estimation procedure for quantile regressions with time-varying coefficients based on a fully parametric, multifactor specification. The algorithm recursively filters the multifactor dynamic coefficients with a Kalman filter and parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood. The likelihood function is built on the Skewed-Laplace assumption. In order to eliminate the non-differentiability of the likelihood function, it is reformulated into a non-linear optimization problem with constraints. A relaxed problem is obtained by moving the constraints into the objective, which is then solved numerically with the Augmented Lagrangian Method. In the context of an application to electricity prices, the results show the importance of modelling the time-varying features and the explicit multi-factor representation of the latent coefficients is consistent with an intuitive understanding of the complex price formation processes involving fundamentals, policy instruments and participant conduct.

We demonstrated the value of a well specified dynamic model for quantile estimation by means of an application to electricity price risk. Electricity prices are a commodity in which price formation is nonlinear in its relationship to fundamentals, dynamic in the relative influences of drivers, with further complications introduced by policy interventions for supporting specific technologies and opportunities for participant conduct to be influential at high and low prices. Despite these complications careful consideration of the shape of the supply function with its concave, flat and convex regions, together with the information that is available to market participants day ahead allows plausible expectations for the price dynamics to be considered, and these explain very well the signs and significance of the parameters in the estimated models. Nevertheless, the models need to have a detailed specification with the various quantiles being related to multiple factors through coefficients which have dynamic properties themselves related to some of the exogenous factors. This modelling requirement motivates the development of quantile models that need fully parametric specifications to capture dynamics through exogenous factors and time-varying coefficients.

A novel general methodology has therefore been developed in which time-varying multi factor coefficients are recursively estimated with a Kalman filter using maximum likelihood. Since the likelihood function is non-differentiable, the problem is re-formulated as a non-linear optimization with constraints, and furthermore re-formulated again by moving the constraints into the objective function to solve an augmented Lagrangian method. With careful selection of starting values, maximum likelihood estimates were thereby acquired. As a general approach, we would expect this to be useful in many applications of risk management and quantile estimation where there is dynamic complexity in price formation and plausible exogenous price drivers.


The biosynthesis of secondary walls in vascular plants requires the coordinated regulation of a suite of biosynthetic genes, and this coordination has recently been shown to be executed by the secondary wall NAC (SWN)-mediated transcriptional network. In Arabidopsis, five SWNs, including SND1, NST1/2 and VND6/7, function as master transcriptional switches to activate their common targets and consequently the secondary wall biosynthetic program. A recent report by Zhong et al.1 revealed that SWNs bind to a common cis-acting element, namely secondary wall NAC binding element (SNBE), which is composed of an imperfect palindromic 19-bp consensus sequence, (T/A)NN(C/T)(T/C/G)TNNNNNNNA(A/C)GN(A/C/T)(A/T). Genome-wide analysis of direct targets of SWNs showed that SWNs directly activate the expression of not only many transcription factors but also a battery of genes involved in secondary wall biosynthesis, cell wall modification and programmed cell death, the promoters of which all contain multiple SNBE sites. The functional significance of the SNBE sites is further substantiated by our current in planta expression study demonstrating that representative SNBE sequences from several SWN direct target promoters are sufficient to drive the expression of the GUS reporter gene in secondary wall-forming cells. The identification of the SWN DNA binding element (SNBE) and the SWN direct targets marks an important step forward toward the dissection of the transcriptional network regulating the biosynthesis of secondary walls, the most abundant biomass produced by land plants.


The form of the localized orbitals needed to describe the properties of an aromatic molecule in the presence of a magnetic field is discussed using the standard excited state. The ring currents induced by an external field give rise to contributions to the diamagnetic anisotropy and to the shielding of the nuclear dipole of an attached proton. Both of these effects are calculated on the basis of the self-consistent form of molecular orbital theory. For this purpose the perturbation equations are solved iteratively and results are given for some hydrocarbon molecules.


Abstract Albitite, locally aegirine- and riebeckite-bearing, formed as a result of sodium metasomatism of felsic dykes and argillites along the Melones Fault Zone near Jamestown, California. Pyrite, magnetite, hematite and titanite are common in small amounts in altered dykes. The dykes were originally plagioclase-hornblende porphyritic, and had major and trace element abundances typical of calc-alkaline rocks, whereas they now have Na2O contents as high as 11.40%. Associated fracture-filling veins are dominated by albite, but locally include aegirine, analcime, paragonite, calcite and sodic scapolite. Quartz is present in most albitic rocks, but is absent in riebeckite- and aegirine-bearing samples. Albitization predated CO2 metasomatism and formation of sericite-pyrite assemblages that are typical of gold deposits of the Mother Lode Belt. Alkaline fluids responsible for Na-metasomatism had elevated Na+/K+ and Na+/H+, relatively high fO₂, and low αH4SiO₄. The presence of titanite indicates fluid XCO₂ was low, in contrast to fluids that formed later carbonate-beating assemblages. Sodic scapolite suggests that, at least locally, the fluids attained very high salinities. Mass balance calculations indicate that alteration involved addition of large amounts of sodium, and the removal of SiO2 and K2O. Textural preservation, combined with volume factors calculated from specific gravity and whole rock analytical data, indicate that Na-metasomatism was essentially isovolumetric. Sodium-rich zones along the Melones Fault Zone are closely associated with fault-bounded bodies of ultramafic rock, typically altered to talc-carbonate or quartz-magnesite-Cr muscovite assemblages. Carbonatization and talc-forming reactions in the ultramafic rocks may lead to SiO2-undersaturated fluids. Expansion of the muscovite stability field in terms of Na+/K+-Na+/H+, as a result of incorporation of Cr (up to 7.7% Cr2O3) in muscovite, would result in H+- and K+-depletion as the fluid interacts with ultramafic rocks. This could lead to fluids with elevated Na+/K+ and high pH, as documented in this occurrence.


Hydrogels have a distinct combination of mechanical and water-transport behaviors. As hydrogels stiffen when they de-swell, they become less permeable. Here, we combine de Gennes' semi-dilute polymer theory with the Kozeny-Carman equation to develop a simple, succinct scaling law describing the relationship between mechanical stiffness and hydraulic permeability where permeability scales with stiffness to the -8/9 power. We find a remarkably close agreement between the scaling law and experimental results across four different polymer families with varied crosslinkings. This inverse relationship establishes a fundamental trade-off between permeability and stiffness.


Oxide heterostructures based on cubic perovskite have been studied widely but there has been little interest in the combination of different polymorphs, such as hexagonal and cubic manganites, into a single heterostructure. This paper reports the growth of heterostructures composed of two manganite compounds with different in-plane lattice types, cubic CaMnO3 (CMO) and hexagonal YMnO3 (YMO), via pulsed laser deposition. The CMO layer grew on the YMO(0001) plane despite the lattice type mismatch. In this heterostructure, the YMO(0001) and CMO(110) planes were parallel to the interface, whereas YMO(−2110) and CMO(−11−2) were perpendicular to it, satisfying YMO(−2110)//CMO(−11−2). This approach to combine two compounds with a lattice type mismatch enables the construction of YMO/La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO)/YMO trilayers, which are potential multiferroic systems. Such a heterostructure has an interface structure and domain patterns that cannot be realized in conventional heterostructures, offering a unique opportunity to observe emergent phenomena.


India is working hard to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025 and one of the key strategy is active case finding (ACF) of TB by house to house visit in the community. Through this ACF, which was carried out in a rural area of Pondicherry, three active cases of TB were identified. Active cases found through ACF differs from passive cases finding mainly in health care-seeking behavior and act as a source for spreading of the disease in the community and it is imperative to discuss about them. All the three cases that were detected were having diabetes and two of them were from a scheduled community area. One among them is a "newly diagnosed" case, while the other two cases belonged to "loss to follow up" and "failure of treatment" criteria. There was a lack of motivation among these patients to seek health care and adherence to treatment; and the health system also needs to gear up to tackle these active cases in the community, so that elimination of TB can be achieved by 2025. All the cases were notified with the health system and appropriate intervention was started.


INTRODUCTION When after the Napoleonic wars of the early nineteenth century the Prussian major-general Von Clausewitz famously wrote that war was the continuation of policy by other means, he had a point. Throughout the ages, war had been conducted without many legal obstacles being placed in its way, and there was a strong sentiment that going to war, for whatever reason, was perfectly legal. Admittedly, many felt that this was an undesirable state of affairs, and theologians and lawyers alike had aspired to limit the possibility of resorting to war by making a distinction between just wars and unjust wars, but state practice had proved rather resilient. And understandably so: distinguishing between just and unjust wars presupposes a working conception of justice, and since justice is itself a highly contested concept, it follows that reasonable people could disagree about whether a war would be just or unjust. Earlier generations of international lawyers insisted on a rigid distinction between war and peace; the two would be entirely different conditions, governed by different sets of rules. Some of this is still visible in today's international law; there are specific rules on how to behave during war (such as the 1949 Geneva Conventions) which have little application during peacetime. Still, the rigidity of that earlier distinction no longer applies; war and peace have come to be seen as more fluid conditions, sometimes governed by specific rules, but sometimes also by general rules. There is little doubt, for instance, that human rights law continues to apply even in wartime.


Irina Ciobanescu Husanu, Ph. D. is Assistant Clinical Professor with Drexel University, Engineering Technology program. Her area of expertise is in thermo-fluid sciences with applications in microcombustion, fuel cells, green fuels and plasma assisted combustion. She has prior industrial experience in aerospace engineering that encompasses both theoretical analysis and experimental investigations such as designing and testing of propulsion systems including design and development of pilot testing facility, mechanical instrumentation, and industrial applications of aircraft engines. Also, in the past 10 years she gained experience in teaching ME and ET courses in both quality control and quality assurance areas as well as in thermal-fluid, energy conversion and mechanical areas from various levels of instruction and addressed to a broad spectrum of students, from freshmen to seniors, from high school graduates to adult learners. She also has extended experience in curriculum development. Dr Husanu developed laboratory activities for Measurement and Instrumentation course as well as for quality control undergraduate and graduate courses in ET Masters program. Also, she introduced the first experiential activity for Applied Mechanics courses. She is coordinator and advisor for capstone projects for Engineering Technology.


THE EXPERIMENTAL studies in education during the past three years may be divided into three broad groups: (a) studies in which the data were presented without indication of the statistical significance of the results; (b) studies using conventional procedures such as the difference between the mean scores of matched experimental and control groups divided by the standard error of the difference; and (c) studies employing newer procedures in which the Fisher technics were applied. Apparently, there is approximately equal representation of studies using the earlier methods and those using the Fisher approach. As one would expect, studies appearing in certain journals, e. g., School and Society, the School Review, and the Elementary School Journal, tend to be simpler in design and much less complicated statistically than those published in other journals, e. g., the Journal of Educational Psychology, Educational and Psychological Measurement, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology. The readers of the first group of journals tend to be classroom teachers and administrators who are not highly conversant with advanced statistical technics, particularly the newer ones. Some research studies having important practical applications are necessarily presented on an elementary plane; otherwise they would be neglected by the very persons for whom their results are potentially the most helpful. Certain studies whose design is not planned with great attention to detail and for which the significance of the results is not given in statistical terms may nevertheless appeal to their readers as important and significant from the common-sense viewpoint. For example, Riefling (64) reported the gains of pupils in Grades IX and X on the Iowa Silent Reading Test and the Morrison-McCall Spelling Scale after certain instructional procedures were used with the two classes. The gains for four months in terms of the gain in the grade equivalents were: average gain in spelling, 1.3 grades; and average gain in reading, 1.4 grades. The implicit control group was the norming population reported by the test authors. Altho nothing was said about the statistical significance of the gains, it is probable that most teachers would agree that the results of an experiment showing gains of about one-and-a-third grade levels in four months are important regardless of tests of statistical significance. In another study whose design was simply that of the regular school situation and whose results were interpreted on a reasonable basis, Kottmeyer (41) described an in-service program of improvement in reading begun in November 1943, and continued during the rest of that school year. The study reported the mean scores made on a reading test by the


Spectral signature barcodes functional at the  $S$  frequency band are presented in this paper. The barcodes are implemented by loading a coplanar waveguide transmission line by means of multiple S-shaped split ring resonators (S-SRRs), each one tuned to a different frequency. The main particularity of this paper is the fact that more than two logic states (i.e., three or four, depending on the implementation) are assigned to each resonant element. By this means, the total number of bits of the barcode (for a given number of resonators) is increased, as compared with previous approaches based on two logic states per resonator. This multistate functionality is achieved by rotating the S-SRRs. Such rotation modulates the line-to-resonator coupling intensity, and consequently the notch depth at the S-SRR fundamental resonance. Therefore, by considering three or four fixed rotation angles (or orientations) between the line axis and the S-SRR (for the tri- and four-state multiresonator barcodes, respectively), intermediate levels between the maximum and minimum attenuation are achieved. This multistate strategy only exploits a single frequency per resonant element (the fundamental one). Therefore, the data capacity per bandwidth are improved as compared with two-state-based barcodes or to multistate barcodes that use two frequencies per resonant element. As illustrative examples, two different four-state multiresonator barcodes with eight S-SRRs (providing  $4^{8}= 65.536$  different codes, or 16 bits) and with nine S-SRRs (equivalent to 18 bits), occupying a spectral bandwidth of 1 GHz and less than 6.75 and 8.2 cm2, respectively, are designed, fabricated, and characterized.


Permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machines are utilized in a wide variety of applications due to their many desirable characteristics, including high torque density capability and high efficiency. In the near future, however, the demand for the PM rare earth materials is projected to exceed world production. As a result, electric machines that do not rely on rare earth materials, such as wound field synchronous machines (WFSMs), are receiving renewed attention for use in traction and wind energy applications. However, WFSMs require a current delivery mechanism to the rotor such as mechanical slip rings whose components require periodic replacement and generate adverse debris within the machine enclosure. Rotary transformers may replace slip rings but also introduce rotor speed dependences and magnetic coupling difficulties. This paper proposes a capacitive noncontact power transfer technique to eliminate the need for mechanical slip rings while also avoiding the pitfalls of rotating transformer technologies. The capacitive power transfer system is compared to traditional rotor power coupling techniques and its performance is validated with experimental results.


Although the 2000-06 programming period is drawing to a close, significant work still remains for the authorities responsible for ensuring that funds are fully spent and that programme closure activities are completed successfully. The main concern for many partners in relation to the 2000-06 programmes is financial absorption, but some have also introduced new strategic changes in recent months, or have faced new operational challenges. A range of tasks is also being undertaken in relation to programme closure. Data at the level of the EU-25 show satisfactory levels of financial absorption across Member States. The highest rates of absorption are seen in Austria and Ireland, and the lowest levels in the new Member States, whose programmes did not start until July 2004. Spending levels in the new Member States have increased strongly in the past year, particularly in Malta, Hungary and Poland. In the case of the EU-15, Greece, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have the lowest absorption rates.


Despite the wide spread of computing devices and mathematical optimization methods in various fields of knowledge, little attention is paid to optimization of solving the problems of labor safety. In the author's opinion the promising solution is developing the methods of sound-absorbing cover optimization based on non-linear programming, one of which has been the objective of the work. The method for estimation of the optimal cover in premises with multi-tone noise conditions is proposed in the paper. Different noise tones can be absorbed by different materials with the most suitable properties. The method is based on random selection of surface area values of different materials, with further selection of the optimal cover. The paper gives the estimation algorithm and the obtained results using the Mathcad computer program. The estimation results indicate the regularities of achieving the optimum and a significant economic effect. The proposed estimation method and algorithm can be used for taking labor safety measures for noise reduction, namely, sound-absorbing covers design for production facilities. The paper has a scientific novelty, based on random selection of materials surface area values, and practical significance based on economic effect and working conditions improvement.


The article views the official-business style of the modern literary language and emphasizes the necessity of its linguistic study for pedagogicalapplications. It also offers some assignments developing, together with linguistic competence (business vocabulary and terminology,business style) the socio-cultural competence. This is particularly important for those people who strive to occupy a rightful place insociety, have a prestigious job, and enjoy the respect of public.