The article is devoted to one of the most important issues of urban planning – the coexistence of water bodies and the city. Vulnerability of natural waters in the urban environment is compared to the circulatory system of the human body. For illustrative purpose, the great Leonardo da Vinci, who initiated regional redevelopment using both river resources and human activities, is cited. The status of river ecosystems of the city of Kiev is considered retrospectively. The Dnieper River is the main waterway of Kiev. It is this great European river that gave birth to one of the world's most beautiful cities – Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The River Dnieper plays an important role in the modern life of the city as well as it did in the ancient times. The article highlights and suggests ways to elaborate environmental problems of the Dnieper River today. The article describes numerous small rivers of Kiev and artificially created lakes of the Opechen system which along with other water areas form a rich water network of Kiev. It emphasizes the contribution of Kiev builders in the creation of new housing estates and the Kiev Venice canal by the method of hydronium which was later introduced in world practice. Most regrettably, the river harbor on the historic river Pochayna and the drinking water source were lost for the people of Kiev in the course of time. The article shows the interrelation of modern factors of anthropogenic load on the water area of Kiev as well as the coexistence of the river and the costal territories. Actions are proposed to preserve ecosystems in accord with the Water Code of Ukraine. Finally, measures are put forward to revival and preservation of reservoirs and their coastal areas. Professional planning of river areas and the establishment of restrictive green lines will help preserve the natural component of the urban body of Kiev.


Introduction : Blood transfusion remains a mainstay therapy in sickle cell disease (SCD).Transfusional therapy may be complicated by allo-immunisation due to exposure to foreign red cell antigens. However, the prevalence and patterns of atypical antibodies in Nigerian SCD has been sparsely reported majorly due to underdeveloped blood banking systems. A prospective study was therefore undertaken to assess patterns of blood transfusion and allo-immunisation among SCD patients in Benin City, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was conducted among adult and paediatric SCD subjects seen at a sickle cell centre in Benin City, Nigeria. All subjects (parents in case of children) who gave consent/assent to the study were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain details on bio-data, SCD history and blood transfusion history. Blood specimen obtained from each participant was subjected to antibody screening/identification test using tube agglutination technique. Association of categorical variables was tested using chi-square or fisher exact test as appropriate. Results: Fifty five SCD patients were studied with a mean (SEM) age of 22.95 (1.66) years. More of the subjects (67.3%) were aged 15 years and above. 74.5% of the subjects have a past history Original Research Article Adewoyin; BJMMR, 11(10): 1-8, 2016; Article no.BJMMR.21755 2 of blood transfusion. Four (7.3%) of the subjects had unexpected erythrocyte allo-antibodies. Antibodies belonging to the Rh and Kell blood group systems were implicated. The risk of alloimmunisation increased with total lifetime transfusions (p = 0.002) Conclusion: Erythrocyte alloimmunisation is a significant therapy related complication in Nigerian SCD. Hydroxyurea use reduces transfusion requirements and should be maximized. There is need to upgrade local/regional transfusion services to include routine allo-antibody screening/identification as part of precompatibility testing particularly SCD patients who have received more than 10 units of red cell transfusion.


The hardenability of low-carbon boron steels with different molybdenum and chromium contents was investigated using dilatometry, microstructural observations and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and then discussed in terms of the segregation and precipitation behaviors of boron. The hardenability was quantitatively evaluated by a critical cooling rate obtained from the hardness distribution plotted as a function of cooling rate. It was found that the molybdenum addition was more effective than the chromium addition to increase the hardenability of boron steels, in contrast to boron-free steels. The addition of 0.2 wt.% molybdenum completely suppressed the formation of eutectoid ferrite, even at the slow cooling rate of 0.2˚C/s, while the addition of 0.5 wt.% chromium did this at cooling rates above 3˚C/s. The SIMS analysis results to observe the boron distribution at the austenite grain boundaries confirmed that the addition of 0.2 wt.% molybdenum effectively increased the hardenability of boron steels, as the boron atoms were significantly segregated to the austenite grain boundaries without the precipitation of borocarbide, thus retarding the austenite-to-ferrite transformation compared to the addition of 0.5 wt.% chromium. On the other hand, the synergistic effect of molybdenum and boron on the hardenability of boron steels could be explained from thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives.


Previous work, described in part 2 of this study, showed that the superoxide production of neutrophils was suppressed by induction chemotherapy. These findings suggest direct effects of antileukemic agents on intracellular bactericidal activity; however, there is little information available concerning this aspect. The superoxide of neutrophils is one of the active oxygens and it is thought to be one of the major substances related to the intracellular bactericidal activities of neutrophils. This experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the direct effects of antileukemic agents on superoxide production of human neutrophils. The following results were obtained; 1. The effects of antileukemic agents on superoxide production were examined before and after intensification chemotherapy in 14 patients with complete remission. Significant suppression of superoxide production was found 60 minutes after initiation chemotherapy; however, it recovered 24 hours after chemotherapy. 2. In the in vitro system, neutrophils were incubated with antileukemic agents for 3 minutes prior to stimulation by Concanavalin A and Cytochasin D. Among the antileukemic agents examined, Methotrexate, Vincristine and Prednisolone inhibited superoxide production with a concentration dependency. The 50 % inhibition concentrations of these agents were 3.6x10(-4)mol for Methotrexate, 3.2x10(-4)mol for Vincristine and 4.2x10(-4)mol for Prednisolone. Cytosine arabinoside, Neocartinostatine and Cyclophosphamide showed no inhibitory effects on superoxide production. 3. The inhibition of superoxide production by Methotrexate could not be reversed by Folinic acid in the medium. 4. In the cell free superoxide production system consisting of Xanthine plus Xanthine oxidase, Methotrexate and Prednisolone inhibited superoxide production with a concentration dependency. The 50% inhibition concentrations were 1.3x10(-3)mol for Methotrexate and 2.4x10(-3)mol for Prednisolone. 5. In the in vitro system, Methotrexate and Prednisolone were not only inhibitors of superoxide production but also scavengers of superoxide. These results suggest that some antileukemic agents directly inhibit intracellular bactericidal activities, resulting in the susceptibility to infection of patients with acute leukemia.


This paper describes an innovation in the teaching methodology of the pyrometallurgy course, belonging to the curriculum of Metallurgical Civil Engineering and Materials at the Technical University Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile. The objectives of the research were to determine the most important aspects of the course that required methodological intervention. This resulted in a curricular remodeling that was consistent with the educational model declared by the university. This was then evaluated through the students' perceptions, once the innovations were implemented. The UTFSM educational model seeks to allow students to learn from their experience, permitting them to reflect and develop a critical attitude towards their actions and decisions. In concordance, the innovations implemented corresponded to active methodologies, based on the constructivist model. Students through group activities, individual reflection, plenary discussion and use of thermodynamic software developed an understanding about the effects of operation variables on metal production processes. For the development and implementation of the methodologies, - during the years 2015 and 2016 of master classes - teacher evaluation surveys were regularly conducted to students of pyrometallurgy courses with self-applied guidelines, where they were asked to express their opinions on their learning experience. They could refer to criticisms, improvements and suggestions around the methodology, course content and teaching work.
The students' opinions were analyzed through an evaluation of the content of discourse, within a descriptive exploratory qualitative research design and through quantitative questions. These surveys made it possible to identify learning needs, brought the course's design process and assessment methodology closer to students. The active methodologies, defined from the analysis of the responses given by the students, were implemented during the first half of 2019. This implementation was monitored with surveys similar to those used in 2015 and 2016, where content analysis was also utilized. The results of the present investigation showed that the innovative approach of the course allowed for students to become active participants in the structuring it's design and methodology. This was consistent with the educational model of the university and the rationalization of the course content. Student´s perceptions regarding content communication, teaching environment and learning level improved significantly regarding the courses given with the master classes. The results indicated that the active methodologies contributed effectively to the participation of students in class, promoted dialogue in group activities and created better learning conditions.


: Report of eleven synovial cysts of the hip, associated with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, whose the diagnostic problems have been resolved by computed tomography. This technique is proving so efficient in the diagnosis of nature and extension that the other radiological examinations become useless.


N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation, involved in cancer initiation and progression, is dynamically regulated by the m6A RNA methylation regulators. However, the expression of m6A RNA methylation regulators in ovarian cancer and their correlation with prognosis remain elusive. Here, we demonstrated that the 18 central m6A RNA methylation regulators were expressed differently between ovarian cancer (OC) and normal tissues. By applying consensus clustering, all ovarian cancer patient cases can be divided into three subgroups (cluster1/2/3) based on overall expression levels of all 18 m6A RNA methylation regulators. We systematically analyzed the prognostic value of transcription levels of 18 m6A RNA methylation regulators in ovarian cancer and found that insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 1 (IGF2BP1), vir like m6A methyltransferase associated (VIRMA), and zinc finger CCCH-type containing 13 (ZC3H13) yield the highest scores for predicting the prognosis of ovarian cancer. Accordingly, we derived a risk signature consisting of transcription levels of these three selected m6A RNA methylation regulators as an independent prognostic marker for OC and validated our findings with data derived from a different ovarian cancer cohort. Moreover, by the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), we demonstrated that the three selected regulators were all correlated with pathways in cancer and WNT signaling pathways. In conclusion, m6A RNA methylation regulators are vital participants in ovarian cancer pathology; and IGF2BP1, VIRMA, and ZC3H13 mRNA levels are valuable factors for prognosis prediction and treatment strategy development.


Introduction: High Mobility Group Box-1 (HMGB1) is strongly associated with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and hepatocyte function. HMGB1 can regulate mitochondrial function under high glucose conditions. Our group has shown that knockdown of HMGB1 reduces hyperglycemia with decrease insulin activity. We want to further understand the role of HMGB1 in hepatocyte mitochondrial function and the insulin/AKT signaling, a vital pathway in glucose hemostasis. We hypothesize that by decreasing HMGB1, hepatocytes increase glucose uptake by regulating mitochondrial function with more effective Insulin/AKT signaling.
 Methods: Primary hepatocytes and liver lysates were isolated from inducible HMGB1 KO (iHMGB1 KO) and HMGB1 Flox (wildtype) mice after Tamoxifen and Streptozotocin IP injections for HMGB1 knockout and T2D-10-weeks development. HMGB1 knockdown and insulin/AKT signaling were assessed by RT-PCR and immunoblot. Flow cytometry was performed on primary hepatocyte cell suspension for mitochondrial function/mass (TMRE, Mitotracker) and glucose uptake (NDBG) cellular markers.
 Results: Liver lysates showed significant decreased expression/activity of HMGB1, Insulin Receptor-B, phosphorylated AKT, PDK and SIRT3 in iHMGB1 KO T2D mice. A counter regulator of metabolic and glucose activity, phosphorylated PDH, was found increased in iHMGB1 KO mice. Flow cytometry of isolated hepatocytes showed that iHMGB1 KO T2D animals had significantly less mitochondrial mass and functioning mitochondria, however showed increased glucose uptake.
 Conclusion: We found a potential mechanism by which HMGB1 regulates glucose uptake by regulating mitochondrial function and mass potentially by regulating the effectiveness of the Insulin/Akt signaling in T2D. Future studies will be directed to test glucose transport/metabolism in HMGB1 KO hepatocytes guided by more effective Insulin activity in the mediation of mitochondria function at the different stages of T2D progression.

 Z.Liu: None. C.Kaltenmeier: None. R.I.Mota alvidrez: None.

 This work was funded by department of surgery support for RIMA


Research was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Systems Academy, a free e-learning platform. The course, 'WASH systems strengthening: The basics', was assessed in three different learning arrangements: Case 1: MOOC (Massive Open Online Course, self-paced and self-guided), Case 2: MOOC with structured support, and Case 3: MOOC with blended learning. In each of these cases, the extent to which e-learning can contribute to improved understanding and application of WASH systems strengthening was investigated. The research was conducted between October 2020 and July 2021 using a modified Kirkpatrick model supplemented by the Outcome Harvesting methodology to assess which MOOC format was successful in performance and application. The study analysed data from the e-learning platform, user surveys, and interviews with water and sanitation e-learning experts and selected users. A comparison of the cases demonstrated that overall, the three learning arrangements were effective based on the reactions of the users, with completion rates of 21, 65, and 100% for MOOC, MOOC with structured support, and MOOC with blended learning, respectively. The MOOC with a blended learning approach was the most effective in terms of performance. This approach allowed participants to have a better understanding of the content with extra face-to-face support while completing the course.


With the first issue of 2006 Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (J. Phys. B) has successfully incorporated the former journal J. Opt. B. Under the well known and recognized name Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics the new merged journal will have a much wider scope, serving both the atomic, molecular and optical community and the quantum optics community. We have already taken a visible measure towards this direction in 2005 with the publication of a special issue on the occasion of Einstein's annus mirabilis 100 years before. This issue, edited by 2005 Nobel laureate Ted Hansch, Horst Schmidt-Bocking and Herbert Walther, provides a wide and deep survey of leading research in the fields J. Phys. B will promote in the years to come. You will also find the broadening in scope reflected in the scientific interests of the members of the new Editorial Board of J. Phys. B. J. Phys. B continues its dedication to innovative collision physics. At the same time it is ready to prominently disseminate with its wider scope the new and exciting research developments in connection with ultracold gases and new light sources which will deliver intense pulses of much shorter wave- and pulse length than available in the past, creating new research possibilities for atomic and molecular physics. As Editor-in-Chief I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the staff at the Institute of Physics, and especially of J. Phys. B, for all the work they have put into the journal over the last year with preparing the incorporation of J. Opt. B into J. Phys. B while continuing their much appreciated high quality service to readers and authors. In this spirit I wish all of you a good and scientifically exciting year 2006.


Abstract—A 1024-word by 80-digit exploratory plated-wire store using diode-matrix word selection has a cycle time of 100 ns or less for READ and 140 ns for WRITE, while the destructive READWRITE asts 150 to 200 ns. To match the fluctuation in the type of request encountered, typically 80 percent READ, and thus maximize the throughput, it is advantageous to switch memory mode in an interlaced manner at logic speed. This is done by exploiting the plated-wire properties of NDRO and fast WRITE. A charge storage diode is used for memory protection and common word current control; READ 400 mA, WRITE 900 mA.


When the user equipment (UE) is turned on, it first needs to perform an initial cell search procedure before it can communicate with the base station (BS). However, this procedure must deal with the initial time and frequency synchronization and search for the appropriate home BS for services. In conventional cell search methods, the entire cell search process is carried out on the UE, where the computational requirement can lead to additional overhead and power consumption of the UE. Therefore, aiming to help UEs offloading their overhead to BSs, we in this paper propose a novel cell search method, called Network Resolved and Mobile Assisted Cell Search, which can achieve our goal by letting the BSs be the main performers for deciding the appropriate BSs for connection and letting UEs only be the assistants of the cell search process. The implementation details and analysis of the proposed cell search approach are provided along with the numerical simulations. Results show that our proposed cell search not only can offload the computational overhead, but it also outperforms the conventional code-based cell search approach in terms of the cell search error probability with similar overall network energy consumption.


Abstract Twenty managed honey bee colonies, split between 5 apiaries with 4 hives each, were monitored between the summer of 2011 and spring of 2013. Living bees were sampled in July 2011, July 2012, and August 2012. Twenty-five, medium-aged bees, free of varroa mites, were pooled per colony and date, to form one sample. Unlike in France and Belgium, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV) has not been found in Luxembourg. Slow Bee Paralysis Virus (SBPV) and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) levels were below detection limits. Traces of Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) were amplified. Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV), Varroa destructor Virus-1 (VDV-1), and SacBrood Virus (SBV) were detected in all samples and are reported from Luxembourg for the first time. Varroa destructor Macula- Like Virus (VdMLV), Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), and Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV) were detected at all locations, and in most but not all samples. There was a significant increase in VDV-1 and DWV levels within the observation period. A principal component analysis was unable to separate the bees of colonies that survived the following winter from bees that died, based on their virus contents in summer. The number of dead varroa mites found below colonies was elevated in colonies that died in the following winter. Significant positive relationships were found between the log-transformed virus levels of the bees and the log-transformed number of mites found below the colonies per week, for VDV-1 and DWV. Sacbrood virus levels were independent of varroa levels, suggesting a neutral or competitive relationship between this virus and varroa.


Software Reuse has been considered a key concept to increase the quality and productivity of the software development by the reuse of existing artifacts, avoiding build new ones from scratch. However, In order to obtain effective benefits from the software reuse is necessary a set of complementary resources such as: education, active management support and the introduction of appropriate process and tools. In fact, resources that provide mechanism to ease the access of reusable components, such as search and retrieval tools, appear as potential instruments in favor of reuse programs adoption in the organizations. One of the challenges of the search and retrieval tools is how to make that existing components returned have a significant relevance. In this sense, the use of the faceted approach rises as a suitable alternative. This approach proposes the creation of a vocabulary supported by attributes, dividing the components into group of classes based on pre-defined keywords, increasing the level of precision and providing a more flexible classification. Thus, this work presents an extension of search and retrieval tool of reusable components, source code in particular, using the faceted classification approach. In addition, also was developed an auxiliary tool to aid the Domain expert to perform his activities using this approach. Finally, an experimental study evaluates the proposed solution.


paper. &dquo;The etiology and pathogenesis of this fascinating array of moniliasis., steatorrhea, hypoparathyroidism, Addison's disease, thyroiditis, pernicious anemia, keratoconjunctivitis, and post-necrotic cirrhosis in a syndrome remains elusive. One intriguing aspect discussed by Drs. Stickler, Peyla, Dower and Logan is the relationship of chronic moniliasis to this entity; another is the occurrence of persistent keratoconjuictivitis and post-necrotic cirrhosis. Assuming that keratoconjunctivitis is herpetic and that post-necrotic cirrhosis is the end restilt of viral hepatitis, one is faced with three commonly occurring infectious diseases that are otherwise unusual in the same child.


Background: Ovarian cancer constituted 7% of gynecological malignancies seen in Lagos, Nigeria and was the second most common cause of death among women in Lagos, Nigeria. Objectives: The aim is to determine the prevalence of ovarian cancer and characteristics of patients with ovarian cancer at a Tertiary Institution in Lagos. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective review of all the patients with histologically confirmed ovarian cancer admitted to the gynecological ward of the hospital over a period of 5 years. Relevant information was extracted from the ward register and patients medical case records. Data were analyzed using Epi-info statistical software package and results were then presented in tables and chart. Results: Fifty cases of ovarian cancer were admitted during the period under review. This constituted 1.7% of the gynecological admission cases and 8.2% of the gynecological malignancies managed in the hospital during the study. It was the second most common gynecological malignancy. The mean age of the ovarian cancer patients was 45.7 ± 4.3 years with the majority of the patients (58%) being premenopausal, 34% being nulliparous and only 16% having one or more risk factors. The abdominal swelling was the most common presenting symptom with 80% of the patients presenting with advanced disease. Epithelial ovarian cancer was the most common histological variant. The most common treatment modality was surgery and chemotherapy. The patient default rate was 64%. Conclusion: Ovarian cancer cases are on the increase. Failure of optimal management is worsened by the delay in presentation and poor compliance to treatment with high patients′ default rate.


The Cantabrian Zone is the only area in Western Europe that contains marine successions of Kasimovian and Gzhelian (late Late Carboniferous, late Pennsylvanian) age. These successions yield fusulinoideans that are presently the subject of an in depth-study by members of a IUGS SCCS working group intending to find stratigraphic markers for the subdivision of the Carboniferous System. The youngest fusulinoidean faunas of the Cantabrian Zone are recorded in the Puentelles Formation, a succession of calcareous strata consisting of two members. The lower member is made up of reworked and re-sedimented carbonates, which form shallow turbidite deposits showing frequent lateral changes of facies, whereas the upper member corresponds to autochthonous limestones, mainly consisting of dark mudstones, skeletal wackestones and thick-bedded boundstones. Generally speaking, the lower member is late Kasimovian in age while the upper one is early Gzhelian. However, there are also a few successions of late Kasimovian age that show sedimentary facies similar to those of the upper member. The fusulinoidean assemblages from the lower member are dominated by elongated species of the genus Ferganites , which sometimes occur with Schubertella and Staffella species. Rauserites , Tumefactus , Jigulites , Quasifusulina , as well as certain Ferganites species showing obese shell, mainly appear in strata belonging to the upper member.Detailed analyses of the fusulinoideans from the Cantabrian Zone have allowed several questions related to their paleoecology, biostratigraphy, and paleobiogeography to be ascertained. First, it has been shown that the Ferganites accumulated in the strata of the lower member could have lived in near-shore and high-energy environments. The presence of some relevant forms (e. g. Rauserites cf. rossicus , and Jigulites sp.) allow a correlation between the Cantabrian successions and the standard stratigraphic units of the Russian Platform. Moreover, the composition of the fusulinoidean assemblages clearly shows the biogeographic affinities of the Cantabrian Zone with the Carnic Alps and the Central Asian regions. On the contrary, these assemblages differ greatly from those in other western Eurasian areas, such as the Russian Platform and the Donets Basin, suggesting that these areas were not well-connected with the Paleo-Tethys.   Some observations give rise to relevant questions on more general aspects dealing with the latest Carboniferous fusulinoideans while yielding, at the same time, preliminary data for solving them. This is the case of the phrenotheca, an inner partition existing in some fusulinoidean shells whose functional role is still uncertain. The abundance in the Cantabrian Zone strata of Tumefactus specimens showing phrenotheca provides information for reconstructing its geometry as well as enabling speculation on its likely function. Another problematic aspect concerns the origin and distribution of the genus Triticites . It is noteworthy that this genus seems to be absent from both the Cantabrian Zone and most Eurasian areas, bringing up the question of whether the American and the Eurasian Triticites really had a common ancestor. The possibilities involved are discussed here.


Cystosarcoma phylloides is an exceedingly rare breast lesion in adolescent females. The tumour contains both stromal and epithelial elements. Benign, malignant and intermediate forms have been described. Complete simple excision is adequate for therapy in all variants. An additional case treated by wide local excision is presented and treatment is discussed.


Abstract Teacher-student relationship is the most central relationship in educational activities, and without high-quality teacher-student relationship, there is no high level of educational activities. In the new period of social development, the outstanding problems in teacher-student relationship have attracted wide attention of public opinion. This paper takes a full-time comprehensive higher vocational college formed by the merger of several specialized colleges as the target of the study, from which a valid target sample is selected. Based on the idea of SHIFU algorithm and greedy algorithm to construct the teacher-student relationship recognition model, we use XGBoost (eXtreme Gradient Boosting) for optimization. Based on the four types of teacher-student relationships identified, a systematic strategy for building modern teacher-student relationships is structured from three aspects: society, school, and teachers and students. The following data were obtained by applying the proposed strategy to the target institutions: the values of the number of students answering questions and solving problems in the experimental class were 46.88% and 40.99% of the total number of students, respectively, which were 4.87% and 5.56% higher than those in the control class. The value of the number and frequency of cooperative exchanges between teachers and students in the experimental class is 52.76% of the total number and frequency, and the satisfaction rate between teachers and students is 49.57%. And the control class is only 44.16% vs. 39.77%. The number of students completing their homework in the experimental class was 95.82%, and the average assessment score was 64.16, which was higher than that of the control class. The strategy has a modernist philosophical orientation and a practical quality, which can make the teacher-student relationship in the new era present a state of moral clarity, intimacy and harmony.


We propose SpinTrack, a localization system enabling accurate tracking of both stationary and moving targets in the indoor environments. SpinTrack integrated two complementary methods, SpinLoc (for tracking stationary targets) and dTrack (for tracking moving targets) into one localization system. We propose how to eliminate the transitional overhead between the two methods in order to optimize the overall system performance.


We identify the ballistically and diffusively rescaled limit distribution of the second class particle position in a wide range of asymmetric and symmetric interacting particle systems with established hydrodynamic behavior, respectively (including zero-range, misanthrope and many other models). The initial condition is a step profile which, in some classical cases of asymmetric models, gives rise to a rarefaction fan scenario. We also point out a model with non-concave, non-convex hydrodynamics, where the rescaled second class particle distribution has both continuous and discrete counterparts. The results follow from a substantial generalization of P.A. Ferrari and C. Kipnis' arguments ("Second class particles in the rarefaction fan", Ann. Inst. H. Poincar\'e, 31, 1995) for the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process. The main novelty is the introduction of a signed coupling measure as initial data, which nevertheless results in a proper probability initial distribution for the site of the second class particle and makes the extension possible. We also reveal in full generality a very interesting invariance property of the one-site marginal distribution of the process underneath the second class particle which in particular proves the intrinsicality of our choice for the initial distribution. Finally, we give a lower estimate on the probability of survival of a second class particle-antiparticle pair.


This paper will examine the epistemology of Islamic jurisprudence from the perspective of which the dynamics of Islamic thought since the beginning of independence era until the reform era is understood. Through the three aspects of epistemology, i.e. Bayānī, Ta'līlī, and Istiṣlāḥi, the author tries to analyze the different ways of view and the characteristics of thoughts between each group in expressing their Islamic thinking. It found out that the diversity of thoughts which go along with the dynamics of Islamic thinking has also an impact on the construction of strengthening nationality and Indonesia-ness.


Questionnaires were distributed to 641 undergraduates at a large southeastern university to elicit opinions concerning various forms of premarital sexual behavior. Hypotheses were developed to determine whether there were differences between the attitudes of males and females. Significant differences were found between males' and females' attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is casually acquainted, and attitudes toward extramarital sex, oral-genital sex, and anal sex. However, significant differences were not found between males' and females' attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is in love, attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is engaged, and attitudes toward masturbation, homosexuality, and sexual fantasizing. Males' attitudes toward various forms of sexual behavior were more liberal than those of females.


The explosive trend of smartphone usage as the most effective and convenient communication tools of human life in recent years make developers build ever more complex smartphone applications. Gaming, navigation, video editing, augmented reality, and speech recognition applications require considerable computational power and energy. Although smartphones have a wide range of capabilities - GPS, WiFi, cameras their inherent limitations - frequent disconnections, mobility - and significant constraints - size, lower weights, longer battery life make difficult to exploiting their full potential to run complex applications. Several research works have proposed solutions in application offloading domain, but few ones concerning the highly changing properties of the environment. To address these issues, we realize an automated application offloading middleware, ACOMMA, with dynamic and re-adaptable decision-making engine. The decision engine of ACOMMA is based on an ant-inspired algorithm.


The layout positioning problem of facilities on a straight line is known as Single Row Facility Layout Problem (SRFLP).  The objective of SRFLP, categorized as NP-Complete problem, is to arrange the layout such that the sum of distances between all facilities' pairs can be minimized.  Extended Artificial Chromosome Genetic Algorithm (eACGA) is a promising algorithm that has been proposed recently.  eACGA extends the probabilistic model in Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) and then hybridize it with Genetic Algorithms (GAs).  eACGA is proven to produce an excellent solution for scheduling problem.  In this paper, we modify the eACGA to solve SRFLP.  Computational results on benchmark problems show the effectiveness of eACGA for solving SRFLP. Key Words: single row facility layout, estimation distribution algorithm, genetic algorithm.


Head nurses' performance plays an important role in the successful operation of hospitals. Identification and prioritisation of managerial competencies required for these supervisors and evaluation of their performance on this basis are necessary. This study aimed to provide a valid tool for assessing managerial competencies of hospital department head nurses. First, through literature review, Delphi technique and expert panel, a competency model was developed. Then using the analytic hierarchy process, competencies were weighted and prioritised. Finally, based on the model, an instrument was designed to measure the competencies of head nurses. Validity and reliability of the instrument was also checked. The proposed framework included 27 competencies categorised by four main managerial tasks: planning, organising, leadership and control. Findings revealed that the highest priority was given to strategic thinking (0.1221) and the lowest priority was given to evidence-based decision making (0.007). Based on impact score and content validity ratio results, the content validity of all questions has been proved. Furthermore through the use of a content validity index, 11 questions were omitted or modified. The study presents a valid and comprehensive model for assessing managerial competencies of hospital department head nurses in order to take an important step towards improving their performance.


Available statistical skew model is too conservative to estimate the expected clock skew of a well-balanced H-tree. New closed form model is presented for accurately estimating the expected values and the variances of both clock skew and the largest clock delay of a well-balanced H-tree. Based on the new model, clock period optimization of wafer scale H-tree clock network is investigated under two clocking modes. We find that when the conventional clocking mode is used, clock period optimization of wafer scale H-tree is reduced to the minimization of expected largest clock delay under both area restriction and power restriction. On the other hand, when the pipelined clocking mode is considered, the optimization is reduced to the minimization of expected clock skew under power restriction.


ABSTRACT Large carnivores are prioritized in conservation, but their co-occurrence with humans and domestic animals can generate conflict. Interventions preventing carnivore attacks are central to carnivore conservation, but are only effective if implemented. This study investigates drivers of the intention to use interventions among animal owners in Sweden based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, extended with the emotion construct Worry. Additionally, the study includes an explorative analysis investigating the processes behind this worry based on the Appraisal Theory of Emotion. In a survey comprising 1,163 animal owners, the subjective norm is identified as an important driver in the regression model of intended intervention use. Adding Worry to the model increased the amount of explained variance. Worry, in turn was mainly explained by experienced vulnerability among animal owners. This study illustrates how emotion theory can extend TPB to enhance understanding of human behavior, important for future coexistence between humans and wildlife.


Application of a multifactor alpha model across a diverse range of stocks is a popular way to forecast security expected returns, but it is a one-size-fits-all approach. An alternative alpha-modeling approach represents a parsimonious way to model securities individually in order to capture idiosyncratic return behavior in different security contexts. The investment objective is information ratio maximization through optimal alpha factor weights. This technique demonstrates the importance of factor categories such as cheapness, quality, and sentiment that vary significantly across various security contexts. Practitioners can see that the approach improves the ex post information ratio over a one-size-fits-all approach.


We show that a direct limit of surjections of (weak) Golod--Shafarevich algebras is a weak Golod--Shafarevich algebra as well. This holds both for graded and for filtered algebras provided that the filtrations are induced by the filtration of the first entry of the sequence. It follows that the limit is an algebra of exponential growth. An example shows that the assumptions of this theorem cannot be directly weakened.


This paper introduced a new approach to computational reasoning using an LSTM that has four inputs representing four different sources including one from a previous network and another from a knowledge base, called CRN. The network is able to extract the relevant information from the inputs and compress them to a concise, symbolic output that can become an input for the next network. This network thereby makes successive inferences in a cascaded manner, achieving a chain of reasoning with the end result as the answer to the main question, similar to how humans perform step by step reasoning to solve complex problems. CRN is also able to command the computer to compute a formula or provide more information. The study demonstrated the efficacy of CRN by solving a modified version of the bAbI QA database. After the augmentation of the dataset with labels for intermediate reasoning, CRN achieved the score of 20/20 on all tasks in the bAbI, being first to do so. Keywords: Artificia, Intelligence, Language, Reasoning, Neural, Networks, LSTM


Radiative recombination processes in bulk InGaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on lithium gallate (LGO or LiGaO2) substrates were investigated using microscopic PL and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). The improved structural quality resulting from a better lattice match of the LGO substrate to III-V nitride materials simplifies these investigations because well-defined composition phases can be analyzed for both homogeneous and phased separated InGaN samples. Epilayers of InGaN intentionally grown with and without indium segregation were studied. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the homogeneous epilayer was high quality In0.208Ga0.702N and the segregated epilayer exhibited peaks corresponding to both In0.289Ga0.711 Na nd In 0.443Ga0.557N indicating the presence of higher In concentration regions in this sample. Spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra confirm the existence of these regions. The photoluminescence intensity decay is non-exponential for both samples and a stretched exponential fit to the decay data confirms the existence of local potential fluctuations in which carriers are localized before recombination.


This paper describes a new multi-player computer game, Colored Trails (CT), which may be played by people, computers and heterogeneous groups. CT was designed to enable investigation of properties of decision-making strategies in multi-agent situations of varying complexity. The paper presents the results of an initial series of experiments of CT games in which agentsý choices affected not only their own outcomes but also the outcomes of other agents. It compares the behavior of people with that of computer agents deploying a variety of decision-making strategies. The results align with behavioral economics studies in showing that people cooperate when they play and that factors of social dependency influence their levels of cooperation. Preliminary results indicate that people design agents to play strategies closer to game-theory predictions, yielding lower utility. Additional experiments show that such agents perform worse than agents designed to make choices that resemble human cooperative behavior. The paper describes challenges raised by these results for designers of agents, especially agents that need to operate in heterogeneous groups that include people.


INTRODUCTION: Presented as common-sense measures to improve abortion safety, targeted regulation of abortion provider (TRAP) laws single out abortion clinics for stricter regulation than other medical facilities performing procedures of comparable risk. These stringent directives have not been historically necessary to ensure the safety of a low-risk procedure like abortion, and have forced the closure of many clinics. This study critically examines the scientific and legal justification for these laws. METHODS: I conducted a review of scientific literature regarding abortion risk and the implications of lack of access to safe abortion. I also reviewed appellate and Supreme Court decisions and associated amicus briefs. RESULTS: A review of the evidence shows that these laws are not only lacking in scientific merit, but also have the potential to cause dramatic reductions in access to safe, legal abortion. The mortality risk of abortion compares favorably with other outpatient medical procedures, and common activities like marathon running or driving 758 highway miles. TRAP laws have already forced closure of a significant number of clinics, and there is mounting evidence of delays in obtaining care and increased attempts at self-abortion. CONCLUSION: The public health impact of TRAP laws includes the risks of increased travel and abortion at later gestational ages, the negative health consequences of being denied abortion entirely, and the possible resurgence of illegal and potentially unsafe abortion. Physicians and public health policy makers should be deeply concerned about the lack of scientific basis for these laws, and for their potential to cause preventable harm.


Based on the idea of using historical-analogue information to predict the prediction errors of model, a new method named analogue correction of errors by predictable component (FACEPC) was developed. This method is adopted to identify the predicable components for which the prediction result is relatively not quite sensitive to the initial values. And then for predicable components, an associated scheme is chosen for historical-analogue selection and error correction. This method was further applied to experiments on operational seasonal prediction model of National Climate Center. By selecting suitable analogues and prediction schemes for different regions, the results from cross-validation indicate that the predictive skill scores of summer precipitation and circulation have got significant improvement relative to systematic error correction, which looks more obvious in ENSO episodes and over regions with more predictable components. Especially, the skill scores over China area have also been clearly improved, exhibiting its potential application perspective to operational seasonal prediction. Besides, preliminary sensitive experiments show that the FACEPC-based predictions are also obviously influenced by the analogue-selected factors and the length of historical data.


Purpose: Troxacitabine is the first unnatural l-nucleoside analog to show potent preclinical antitumor activity and is currently under clinical investigation. Significant differences in troxacitabine toxicity between mice, rats, monkeys, and humans were observed during preclinical and clinical evaluations. To better understand the different toxicity and efficacy results observed between the human xenograft mouse tumor models used for preclinical assessment and the clinical study results, the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of troxacitabine were reassessed in murine and human models. Experimental Design: Clonal and thymidine incorporation assays were used to investigate the in vitro antiproliferative activity of troxacitabine on a selected panel of mouse and human tumor cell lines and normal hemapoietic cells. Analysis of the intracellular metabolites of [14C]troxacitabine was determined in mouse and human T-lymphocytes obtained from peripheral blood. The antitumor efficacy of troxacitabine administered either as single or repeated high-dose bolus administrations or as low-dose continuous infusions was evaluated in the human colon HT-29 xenograft model. We also determined plasma concentrations of troxacitabine using the different administration schedules. Results: Five to nine hundred-fold lower concentrations of troxacitabine were required to inhibit cell growth in human compared with murine tumor and normal hemapoietic cell lines. Furthermore, the sensitivity of cells of both species to troxacitabine was strongly time dependent, requiring >24 hours exposure for maximum activity. Analysis of the intracellular metabolites of [14C]troxacitabine in T-lymphocytes obtained from peripheral blood revealed subsequently higher levels of mono-, di-, and triphosphates in human compared with mouse. Antitumor efficacy studies revealed that prolonged exposure schedules (up to 6 days) showed equivalent efficacy to repeated high-dose bolus administrations. Five-day continuous infusion of 20 mg/mL troxacitabine via subcutaneous implanted mini-osmotic pump maintained systemic concentrations of 262 ng/mL (1.2 μmol/L) for the duration of administration, which are clinically achievable plasma concentrations, and led to significant antitumor activity [treated versus control (T/C) of 27% and tumor regression during treatment]. Conclusions: These studies support the hypothesis that troxacitabine infusions might be the administration regimen with the greatest likelihood of fully exploiting clinically the potent preclinical antitumor activity of troxacitabine.


[First paragraph] Vocabulary development is a cornerstone in second language acquisition, without which communication is almost impossible. Vocabulary is by nature a dynamic and complex phenomenon. It is dynamic in the sense that it is marked by constant development in learners. It is also complex because it consists of a multitude of components and sub-components. Knowing about the most recent findings in vocabulary, especially from research and learning perspectives, is essential for researchers interested in the vocabulary domain of language as well as for teachers if they wish to function efficiently in their profession. Research that deals with vocabulary from both theoretical and practical angles is, however, limited. Being cognizant of this gap, Philip Durrant, Anna Siyanova-Chanturia, Benjamin Kremmel, and Suhad Sonbul, who are among the leading figures in vocabulary research released "Research Methods in Vocabulary Studies" to provide insightful information to readers on theories and research practices of vocabulary.


Developed for those doing research involving national and international activities and/or events. This guide is a suggested list of resources, including electronic databases, selected Internet sites and print materials.


After the last war, the USSR set it self to increase the development of its ocean fisheries from its two North-East Atlantic seaboards on the Barents Sea and the Baltic. With a modernized fleet and almost complete freedom on the seas, its catch increased six fold between 1950 and 1976, going from 0,4 to 2,5 million tons per year, and Soviet fishermen could be found roaming on all the seas bordering Europe. However, as from 1977, this expansion was fiercely curtailed when coastal nations, including the USSR, established the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or mere exclusive fishing zone (EFZ), each being alloted almost all of its living resource s. More fishing grounds were lost by the USSR than gained, to the point where production suddenly fell in 1977 and it had to turn to fish of lesser quality, often used for industrial purposes, such as the Capelin (Mallotus villosus) and the blue Whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) which today make up to 60 % of all its catch off Northern Europe. The Soviet authorities reacted with flexibility and diversity, namely by increased fishing in the national exclusive zone, particularly in the Barents Sea, through negotiations leading to access rights to foreign waters, particularly those of Norway and the Faeroe Islands, and through a policy whereby it could purchase unprocessed fish from some members of the EEC. Thus Russian factory ships came to the British coasts to process mackerel delivered to them at sea by English and Scottish fishermen. It is through such a strategy of diversification, various examples of which may be found around the world, that the Soviets have succeeded in regaining grounds lost in 1977 and in reaching an average production of 1,7 million tons from 1977 to 1983 in the North-East Atlantic, this being 3 to 4 % less than that of 1970-76, notwithstanding the few purchases of fish made directly at sea.


Polished tiles (7x7x2 mm3) of Nd-bearing zirconolite were fabricated and then some were irradiated on both large faces with 3 MeV or 2 MeV Au2+ ions (total fluence of {approx} 1 x 1015 ions/cm2) in order to render the zirconolite amorphous and so simulate displacement damage caused by alpha decay. Both the irradiated and non-irradiated tiles were then subjected to static dissolution tests in 0.01M nitric solution (pH2) at 90 C, for periods of 0-1, 1-7, 7-14 and 14-28 days. It was found that radiation damage did not affect the dissolution rate of zirconolite as indicated by the elemental leach rates of Nd, Ti, Ca and Al. The results of solution analyses are consistent with those obtained from X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) in that the Ca, Nd, Ti and Al concentrations in the top surface layer (< 5 nm) all decreased with respect to that of Zr after dissolution testing, and the leached surface composition of the non-irradiated zirconolite is very similar to that of the two irradiated specimens. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of previous work.


The Fourier transform is naturally defined for integrable functrions. Otherwise, it should be stipulated in which sense the Fourier transform is understood. We consider some class of radial and, generally saying, nonintegrable functions. The Fourier transform is calculated as an improper integral and the limit coincides with the Fourier transform in the distributional sense. The inverse Fourier formula is proved as well. Given are some applications of the result obtained.


The coastal sedimentary basin of Nigeria has been the scene of three depositional cycles. The first began with a marine incursion in the middle Cretaceous and was terminated by a mild folding phase in Santonian time. The second included the growth of a proto-Niger delta during the Late Cretaceous and ended in a major Paleocene marine transgression. The third cycle, from Eocene to Recent, marked the continuous growth of the main Niger delta. A new threefold lithostratigraphic subdivision is introduced for the Niger delta subsurface, comprising an upper sandy Benin Formation, an intervening unit of alternating sandstone and shale named the Agbada Formation, and a lower shaly Akata Formation. These three units extend across the whole delta and each ranges in age from early T rtiary to Recent. They are related to the present outcrops and environments of deposition. A separate member of the Benin Formation is recognized in the Port Harcourt area. This is the Afam Clay Member, which is interpreted to be an ancient valley fill formed in Miocene sediments. Subsurface structures are described as resulting from movement under the influence of gravity and their distribution is related to growth stages of the delta. Rollover anticlines in front of growth faults form the main objectives of oil exploration, the hydrocarbons being found in sandstone reservoirs of the Agbada Formation.


The government through the ministry, especially the ministry of education and culture, continues to increase the number of entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship competition programs. One of these entrepreneurship competition programs includes the Indonesian Student Entrepreneurship Activity Program (PKBMI) in 2021 and the Student Entrepreneurship Implementation Program (P2MW) in 2022 organized by the Ministry of Research and Technology Education and Culture through the Directorate General of Higher Education and the Directorate of Belmawa. It is hoped that the launch of these entrepreneurship programs can further spur and trigger entrepreneurial motivation, especially among students at public and private universities. Stisip Widyapuri Mandiri, one of the private universities in Sukabumi Regency, welcomed and enthusiastically participated by implementing the entrepreneurship program launched by the government through socialization and direct selection of participating students. It is hoped that the participation of the institution and the participation of students in the entrepreneurship program competition can further increase the motivation for entrepreneurship.


The 1 D one-band Hubbard model with different repulsive on-site interactions on even (U+V > 0) and odd (U-V > 0) sites, supplemented by the correlated-hopping term (t* > 0), describing the modification of the electron hopping by the presence of other particles on the sites, is considered as a 1 D model for CuO systems. The ground state phase diagram is studied within the framework of the bosonization technique and renormalization group analysis valid for weak coupling. Depending on the choice of model parameters, the following sequences of phase transitions with increasing bandfilling occur: 1) metal-insulator-metal (for t* ⩽ U/4); 2) metal-insulator-metal-superconductor metal-superconductor-metal-insulator-metal-superconductor metal-superconductor .


In this paper, a novel multiple-tunable frequency synthesizer structure to achieve both high frequency resolution and fast switching speed without degradation of spurious performance is proposed. According to this structure, a high performance millimeter-wave frequency synthesizer with low spurious, low phase noise, and fast switching speed, is developed. This synthesizer driven by the direct digital synthesizer (DDS) AD9956 can adjust the output of DDS and frequency division ratios of two variable frequency dividers (VFDs) to make the spurious components outside the loop bandwidth of phase-locked loop (PLL). Moreover, the ADF4252 based microwave PLL can further suppress the phase noise. Experimental results from the implemented synthesizer show that remarkable performance improvements have been achieved.


PURPOSE
To synthesize the empirical evidence that links social capital to population health with the aim of identifying implications for health disparities research.

METHODS
A literature search of PubMed and CINAHL databases from January 1990 to June 2002 was done using the search term "social capital." In addition, tables of contents of applicable journals from January 1997 to June 2002 were searched. Reference lists were examined for additional empirical and theoretical articles related to social capital and health. Eighty-four articles were retrieved for review and 19 articles met inclusion criteria.

FINDINGS
Although most reseachers concluded that their findings supported an association between social capital and health, all research was descriptive, without conceptual development. This gap resulted in (a) lack of distinction of the concept as an attribute of a geographic space or as an individual attribute, (b) problematic use of operational variables, and (c) limited theoretical exploration of causal linkage. These deficits limit the usefulness of the concept for health disparities research.

CONCLUSIONS
The lack of conceptual development diminishes the usefulness of social capital as a variable for public health research. However, the empirical evidence is sufficient to warrant further work to advance the concept in relation to population health and health disparities.


This paper investigates downlink MU-MIMO for further improvement using an analytical method. The method shows that the potential benefit for MU-MIMO with increased feedback is strongly dependant to channel frequency selectivity. The introduced codebook with 8- and 12-bt PMI cases are shown to exploit the structure to significantly lower the complexity of PMI searches. Link level simulations confirm our findings.


Aiming is key for virtual reality (VR) interaction, and it is often done using VR controllers. Recent eye-tracking integrations in commercial VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) call for further research on usability and performance aspects to better determine possibilities and limitations. This paper presents a user study exploring gaze aiming in VR compared to a traditional controller in an "aim and shoot" task. Different speeds of targets and trajectories were studied. Qualitative data was gathered using the system usability scale (SUS) and cognitive load (NASA TLX) questionnaires. Results show a lower perceived cognitive load using gaze aiming and on par usability scale. Gaze aiming produced on par task duration but lower accuracy on most conditions. Lastly, the trajectory of the target significantly affected the orientation of the HMD in relation to the target's location. The results show potential using gaze aiming in VR and motivate further research.


The spin-allowed doublet emission of luminescent radicals has recently attracted significant attention. However, the spectral range of most reported luminescent radical emitters and their corresponding organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is confined to the red and deep red regions, with only a few extending to the near-infrared region, specifically in the context of an emission peak exceeding 800 nm. Herein, a luminescent radical, 2-(4-(bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl radical)-3,5-dichlorophenyl)-4-phenyl-4H-thieno[3,2-b]indole (TTM-2PTI), with NIR emission peaking at 830 nm in toluene, was obtained through attaching a 4-phenyl-4H-thieno[3,2-b]indole group to the TTM radical core. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) utilizing TTM-2PTI as the emitter exhibits electroluminescence (EL) emission peaking at 870 nm, which is the longest EL wavelength among the doublet-emissive near-infrared (NIR) OLEDs. This work provides a simple molecular design strategy to achieve NIR emission of radicals by leveraging the lower steric hindrance and electron-donating ability of thiophene.


The relative contribution of fungi, bacteria, and nirS and nirK denirifiers to nitrous oxide (N2O) emission with unknown isotopic signature from dairy manure compost was examined by selective inhibition techniques. Chloramphenicol (CHP), cycloheximide (CYH), and diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDTC) were used to suppress the activity of bacteria, fungi, and nirK-possessing denitrifiers, respectively. Produced N2O were surveyed to isotopocule analysis, and its 15N site preference (SP) and δ18O values were compared. Bacteria, fungi, nirS, and nirK gene abundances were compared by qPCR. The results showed that N2O production was strongly inhibited by CHP addition in surface pile samples (82.2%) as well as in nitrite-amended core samples (98.4%), while CYH addition did not inhibit the N2O production. N2O with unknown isotopic signature (SP = 15.3-16.2‰), accompanied by δ18O (19.0-26.8‰) values which were close to bacterial denitrification, was also suppressed by CHP and DDTC addition (95.3%) indicating that nirK denitrifiers were responsible for this N2O production despite being less abundant than nirS denitrifiers. Altogether, our results suggest that bacteria are important for N2O production with different SP values both from compost surface and pile core. However, further work is required to decipher whether N2O with unknown isotopic signature is mostly due to nirK denitrifiers that are taxonomically different from the SP-characterized strains and therefore have different SP values rather than also being interwoven with the contribution of the NO-detoxifying pathway and/or of co-denitrification.


This thesis describes research leading to the design and development of the Active Stereo Probe (ASP): an active vision based videometrics system. The ASP espouses both definitions of active vision by integrating structured illumination with a steerable binocular camera platform (or head). However, the primary function of the ASP is to recover quantitative 3D surface models of a scene from stereo images captured from the system's stereo pair of CCD video cameras. Stereo matching is performed using a development of Zhengping and Mowforth's Multiple Scale Signal Matcher (MSSM) stereo matcher. The performance of the original MSSM algorithm was dramatically improved, both in terms of speed of execution and dynamic range, by completely re-implementing it using an efficient scale space pyramid image representation. A range of quantitative performance tests for stereo matchers was developed, and these were applied to the newly developed MSSM stereo matcher to verify its suitability for use in the ASP. The performance of the stereo matcher is further improved by employing the ASP's structured illumination device to bathe the imaged scene in textured light. Few previously reported dynamic binocular camera heads have been able to perform any type of quantitative vision task. It is argued here that this failure has arisen mainly from the rudimentary nature of the design process applied to previous heads. Therefore, in order to address this problem, a new rigorous approach, suitable for the design of both dynamic and static stereo vision systems, was devised. This approach relies extensively upon system modelling as part of the design process. In order to support this new design approach, a general mathematical model of stereo imaging systems was developed and implemented within a software simulator. This simulator was then applied to the analysis of the requirements of the ASP and the MSSM stereo matcher. A specification for the imaging and actuation components of the ASP was hence obtained which was predicted to meet its performance requirements. This led directly to the fabrication of the completed ASP sensor head. The developed approach and model has subsequently been used successfully for the design of several other quantitative stereo vision systems. A vital requirement of any vision system that is intended to perform quantitative measurement is calibration. A novel calibration scheme was devised for the ASP by adopting advanced techniques from the field of photogrammetry and adapting them for use in the context of a dynamic computer vision system. The photogrammetric technique known as the Direct Linear Transform was used successfully in the implementation of the first, static stage of this calibration scheme. A significant aspect of the work reported in this thesis is the importance given to integrating the components developed for the ASP, i.e. the sensor head, the stereo matching software and the calibration software, into a complete videometric system. The success of this approach is demonstrated by the high quality of 3D surface models obtained using the integrated videometric system that was developed.


A new parameter for estimating the difficulty of a continuous speech recognition task, called speech decoding difficulty, is presented. It is obtained from the language model defined for the recognition task and the phonetic similarity between the transcriptions of the words that make up the vocabulary used. Two variants of the proposed task difficulty measure are introduced: ideal speech decoding difficulty (ISDD), which is not influenced by practical considerations on the recognition system implemented, and a second, more realistic variant, called practical speech decoding difficulty (PSDD) to study the performance of a specific recognition system when confronting a given task.


Abstract International investment tribunals often use the language of 'rights' to characterize foreign investors' claims against host states, evoking the language of human rights and, in some cases, appearing to conflate the two concepts. We investigate the cognitive framing of the relationship between investor rights and human rights in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), as characterized by investment tribunals. We first establish that arbitrators (and scholars and counsel) tend to characterize investor claims as rights claims in general and property rights claims in particular, even if this normative basis is far from precise. Second, building on behavioural economics and cognitive psychology, we argue that this characterization places human rights considerations at a structural disadvantage in ISDS. Investor rights are perceived by arbitrators as endowments that are possessed and that risk being lost, while the human rights of host state populations are viewed as aspirational demands that might only be fully realized in the future. Thus, governmental actions interfering with investments are perceived by arbitrators as actual losses, while competing human rights claims are perceived as potential gains or demands. Following prospect theory, the former (certain losses) will usually be weighed more heavily in a decision-making calculus than the latter (possible gains). This loss–gain frame provides a cognitive explanation for the prevalence of arbitral decisions that prefer investor claims over human rights, a phenomenon that is highly problematic in times in which the legitimacy of the ISDS system rests on its ability to consider the rights of non-investors.


Sorption and transformation of 1-naphthol by a K-smectite (K-SWy-2) were studied using batch sorption isotherms, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sorbents included three preparations of the reference smectite clay (SWy-2): (1) whole clay containing naturally occurring carbonate impurities, (2) SWy-2 with the removal of carbonate impurities, and (3) the carbonate-free SWy-2 fraction amended with calcite. For the whole clay and carbonate-free clay amended with calcite, >80% of added 1-naphthol disappeared from aqueous solution within 24 h, corresponding to a sorbed concentration of ≥2 mg/g of clay. In contrast, only 35% of the added 1-naphthol disappeared from solution in the carbonate-free clay after 24 h of exposure. For the clays from the three preparations in this study, <1% of sorbed 1-naphthol could be recovered by methanol extraction from the clays. The XRD data suggested that 1-naphthol was intercalated in the smectite, but was not conclusive because the 1-naphthol sorption range (1.5–2.8 mg/g of clay) in this study had relatively minor effects on the XRD patterns. The FTIR spectra of sorbed 1-naphthol-clay complexes demonstrated structural Fe3+ reduction. The spectra also showed evidence of the transformation of 1-naphthol. It suggests that reduction of structural Fe3+ may be coupled to oxidation/polymerization of 1-naphthol. Further transformation of oxidized 1-naphthol, such as by oxidative coupling reactions, is implicated by formation of a dark gray color on the clay and the inability to extract sorbed 1-naphthol.


This thesis describes the research carried out by the author on the exploitation of acoustic emissions
detected during extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (a non-invasive procedure for the treatment of
urinary stones) to develop a new diagnostic system. The work formed part of a research project on
lithotripsy undertaken by the University of Southampton in collaboration with Guy's and St Thomas'
NHS Foundation Trust (London) and a UK based company, Precision Acoustics Ltd (Dorchester). It
takes to a clinical conclusion the proposition made by Leighton and Coleman in 1992 that it might be
possible to build a sensor which would automatically exploit these passive acoustic emissions to
monitor the efficacy of a lithotripsy treatment. The work, predominantly experimental, involved both
in vitro and in vivo investigations. In particular, a first prototype diagnostic system (i.e. sensor plus
analysis software) was developed and tested in vitro during trials which included the use of a novel
cavitation sensor (on loan from the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington) and stone phantoms
designed by the author. This initial system was, then, refined and tested during clinical trials that
involved 130 patients. A preliminary trial on 51 patients aimed at refining the system and gathering
knowledge on the features of emissions recorded in vivo to produce an on-line monitoring system.
This trial was followed by other two trials that compared the output of the on-line acoustic system
against the 'gold standard' X-Ray assessment of treatments outcomes. The former of these two trials
involved 30 patients, and empirically defined the values of the key parameters (identified during the
in vitro tests) that would be used as the basis of the diagnosis. In particular, a classification rule of
treatments as being successful or unsuccessful was identified, and shown to agree significantly
(kappa=0.95) with the 'gold standard' follow-up assessment. The latter trial tested the final system
on 49 patients and confirmed an accurate treatment classification (kappa=0.94) in terms of the
successful/unsuccessful criterion.


It is well known that the use of Langmuir probes in `high' pressure plasmas (atmospheric and above) is extremely difficult due to the high degree of collisionality. In addition, electric arcs used in industry are highly non-homogeneous. In particular the degree of ionization varies from zero at the arc edges to values close to full ionization near the axis. Existing probe theories are therefore inappropriate. The `traditional' use of the characteristic curve for arc temperature and particle density mapping is time consuming and also leads to errors due to the collisional nature of the discharge. Existing probe theories are examined with respect to the application at high pressure and in this, the first of a series of papers, an interpretation based on different assumptions is presented. A simple apparatus for the study of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding arcs is described permitting data collection over short time periods (~0.1 s) for operating currents in the range 50-150 A. Difficulties encountered with probe applications are discussed highlighting the need for further theoretical developments. The axial electric field is given by the derivative of the measured potential with respect to the axial position and shown to be in agreement with previous estimations. Results are discussed with reference to the sparse previous publications concerned with high pressure arc plasmas.


predictors of fetal growth rate in generation 3 of the Cebu cohort. Oral presentation, 5th International Congress on Developmental Origins of Health & Disease. Early Hum Dev 2007;83:S44. 28 Rayco-Solon P, Fulford AJ, Prentice AM. Differential effects of seasonality on preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction in rural Africans. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:134–99. 29 Moore SE, Halsall I, Howarth D, Poskitt EM, Prentice AM. Glucose, insulin and lipid metabolism in rural Gambians exposed to early malnutrition. Diabet Med 2001;18:646–53. 30 Langley-Evans SC, Langley-Evans AJ, Marchand MC. Nutritional programming of blood pressure and renal morphology. Arch Physiol Biochem 2003;111:8–16. 31 Cole TJ. The LMS method for constructing normalized growth standards. Eur J Clin Nutr 1990;44:45–60.


4271 A B-cell phenotype occurs in approximately 80-85% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although the five-year survival rate for pediatric ALL is about 80%, the remaining 20-25% who relapse have a dismal prognosis and their treatment remains controversial (Chessells et al, Br J Haematol, 1998). Few agents have been approved for the treatment of pre-B ALL in the past decade and no novel targeted therapies that deliver drug precisely to the pre-B ALL cell with limited toxicity to normal cells are presently approved therapeutic drugs in childhood ALL. CD22 is an especially promising target, because it is present exclusively on normal B-cells (Tedder et al, Ann Rev Immunol, 1997), 95% of pre-B ALL, and mature B-cell ALL (Perkins, Cairo, Clin Adv Hematol, 2003). Anti-CD22 antibodies in development include epratuzumab, a humanized antibody (hLL2) to CD22, 90Y-DOTA-hLL2, a radiolabeled immunoconjugate, and CMC-544, a humanized anti CD22 IgG4 conjugated to calicheamicin. CD74, an integral membrane protein, is a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II chaperone and is also expressed on B-lymphocytes. Furthermore, doxorubicin, when conjugated to anti-CD74, has been shown to be effective in treating B-NHL in a xenograft model (Griffiths et al, Clin Can Res, 2003). In this study, we sought to determine the expression of CD22 and CD74 and antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) with these antibodies in pre-B ALL cell lines, including poor risk, RS4-11, t(4;11) and SUP-B15, t(9;22), and good risk, REH, t(12;21). The T-cell line Loucy, t(16,20), was used as a negative control and the lymphoma line, RAJI, as a positive control. Antigen expression of CD22 was detected by flow cytometry using a direct staining method with CD3-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), CD19-FITC, CD22-Cy, CD74-FITC, IgG1-phycoerythrin (PE)-cytochrome(Cy)5 and IgG2a-FITC (isotype controls) (BD Biosciences). ADCC using unlabeled anti-CD22 (0.05 mcg/105 cells), anti-CD74 (5 mcg/ml) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) as the effector cells (10:1 effector: target ratio) was performed by measurement of released europium (Perkin Elmer) in a fluorometer. CD22 expression in RS4-11, SUP-B15 and REH cells was 84.22 ± 2.47%, 93.67 ± 0.76% and 85.75 ± 2.03%, respectively. CD74 expression in RS4-11, SUP-B15 and REH cells was 42.68 ± 1.45%, 56.70 ± 3.86% and 44.87 ± 3.02%, respectively. Results of the cytotoxicity with anti-CD22 and anti-CD74, respectively, are: RS4-11, 66.84 ± 0.04% (p=0.0003), 39.81 ± 0.06% (p=0.3); SUP-B15, 51.97 ± 0.03% (p=0.0008), 66.95 ± 0.03%(p=0.0007); REH, 56.39 ± 0.02% (p=0.04), 59.08 ± 0.03% (p=0.003) vs Loucy 16.37 ± 0.07%, 34.65 ± 0.05%. These two new targets, CD22 and CD74, may offer promising novel strategic approaches for the treatment of relapsed or refractory pre-B ALL with targeted immunotherapy.


During the 19th century, the most renowned architects considered a permanent presence on the site of their larger construction projects necessary. Some of them even maintained several on-site offices close to their construction sites, where architects and designers were contracted for the duration of the construction. This study presents two on-site offices in detail (office of the Palace of Justice and the Parliament Building) while outlining a further four examples in Budapest (office of the Parish Church of Lipótváros, the Ministry of Agriculture, the enlargement of the Royal Palace and the Technical University).There were three practices used to settle these offices: I. using an older building, before its demolition, near the site; II. in a temporary building set up for this purpose; III. in rented rooms in the surrounding buildings. Examples for the use of existing buildings are the building of the Palace of Justice (A. Hauszmann), the extension of the Royal Palace (A. Hauszmann) and the building of the campus of the Royal Joseph University (A. Hauszmann, Gy. Czigler, S. Pecz). St. Stephen's Basilica (M. Ybl), the Parliament (I. Steindl) and the Krisztinaváros wing of the Royal Palace (M. Ybl, A. Hauszmann) are examples where newly constructed buildings were used, and we assume rented apartments as on-site offices in the case of the Opera House (M. Ybl) and the Museum of Applied Arts (Ödön Lechner). The large public building's on-site offices have great significance in architectural history as well as being theoretical and practical workshops.


Security policy can't be timeless, static, and universal. Security is more of a developmental problem than a technical one. Security should be integrated into an organization in such a way as to enhance and safeguard each facet in the least intrusive yet most effective way possible at a given time. Gradually, as the organization and the technology it uses "grow up together," security should become less intrusive, until at some point it's almost invisible. This article presents a developmental view of system security.


The cystic artery usually arises from the right hepatic artery. It usually passes posterior to the common hepatic duct and anterior to the cystic duct to reach the superior aspect of the neck of the gallbladder and divides into superficial and deep branches. The superficial branch ramifies on the inferior aspect of the body of the gallbladder, the deep branch on the superior aspect. In our case we observed a variant origin of cystic artery from the superior mesenteric artery. Knowledge of the variant vascular anatomy of the sub-hepatic region is important for hepatobiliary surgeons in limiting operative complications due to unexpected bleeding.


The object of the present paper is to study locally and globally $\phi-$quasiconformally symmetric $N(k)-$metric manifolds. We prove that a globally $\phi-$quasiconformally $N(k)-$contact metric manifold $M^{2n+1}(n\geq1)$ is Sasakian. Some observations for a $3$-dimensional locally $\phi-$symmetric $N(k)-$contact metric manifold are given. We also give an example of a $3$-dimensional locally $\phi-$quasicon-formally symmetric $N(k)-$contact metric manifold.


[In this pioneering work, based upon interviews with many of the surviving protagonists, Cornelis ('Cees') Andriesse tells the story of the role that Dutch publishing houses played in the rise of English language commercial science publishing after the Second World War, that was preceded by the decline of science publishing in German. Using the existing literature as well as many privately held archival sources, the author follows the fortunes of the leading publishers, Martinus Nijhoff, Elsevier and North Holland while also briefly discussing smaller houses like Dr. W. Junk and Reidel. The book contains lively portraits of the main characters involved and will no doubt stimulate further research and discussion of the role of publishing in the history of science. The authors' main thesis that successful publishing requires a strong, fruitful partnership between an academic publisher and an academic editor, will no doubt convince most readers. This is a great book on the most productive friendships and partnerships in the history of science publishing., In this pioneering work, based upon interviews with many of the surviving protagonists, Cornelis ('Cees') Andriesse tells the story of the role that Dutch publishing houses played in the rise of English language commercial science publishing after the Second World War, that was preceded by the decline of science publishing in German. Using the existing literature as well as many privately held archival sources, the author follows the fortunes of the leading publishers, Martinus Nijhoff, Elsevier and North Holland while also briefly discussing smaller houses like Dr. W. Junk and Reidel. The book contains lively portraits of the main characters involved and will no doubt stimulate further research and discussion of the role of publishing in the history of science. The authors' main thesis that successful publishing requires a strong, fruitful partnership between an academic publisher and an academic editor, will no doubt convince most readers. This is a great book on the most productive friendships and partnerships in the history of science publishing.]


INTRODUCTION
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is a rare life-threatening disorder characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. It is caused by the absent or severe deficiency of the von Willebrand Factor-cleaving protease named ADAMTS13. Pregnancy is a well recognized factor precipitating the appearance of the disease both in women that had reduced levels of ADAMTS13 activity prior to gestation and in those with other inherited or acquired thrombophilic syndromes.

CASE REPORT
We report a 25-year old woman with severe ADAMTS13 deficiency presented early in her 1st pregnancy and relapsed in two subsequent gestations. This presentation is uncommon for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is associated with pregnancy (ADAMTS13 deficiency < 5%, without an inhibitor). In the first pregnancy she started with daily plasma exchange 1.5 x volume, corticosteroids and IV immunoglobulin and finally entered remission after 23 sessions and termination of pregnancy. In the second pregnancy she did not receive prophylactic treatment and relapsed in the 3rd trimester. Prophylactic treatment during the third pregnancy with plasma infusions proved also ineffective to prevent relapse.

DISCUSSION
Many issues regarding treatment and prevention of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura relapses in subsequent pregnancies are unclear. Proposed guidelines recommend that the same treatment should be performed on pregnant and non pregnant patients without modification of plasma replacement dose according to ADAMTS13 levels. In addition, many authors suggest that pregnant patients with history of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and severe deficiency of ADAMTS13 levels should received prophylactic treatment for prevention of relapses in the subsequent pregnancies.

CONCLUSION
Severe ADAMTS 13 deficiency may present as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura of pregnancy. Pregnant women with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and especially with severe deficiency of ADAMTS13 levels require specific consideration regarding treatment and prophylaxis in subsequent pregnancies.


In this paper we introduce a novel approach for the routing problem in wireless ad hoc networks. Our approach is based on the analogy of the routing problem to the distribution of electric field in a physical media with a given density of charges. We show that the throughput can be significantly increased by choosing routes in such a way that the traffic is spread as uniformly as possible throughout the network. Achieving this uniform spreading requires solution of a set of partial differential equations similar to Maxwell's equations in the electrostatic theory. While the main focus in the paper is on the case in which many sources communicate with a single destination, extension to the case of multiple destinations is also described.


Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are neurobehavioral conditions positioned in a gray zone, not infrequently a no-man land, that lies in the intersection between Neurology and Psychiatry. According to the DSM 5, PNES are a subgroup of conversion disorders (CD), while the ICD 10 classifies PNES as dissociative disorders. The incidence of PNES is estimated to be in the range of 1.4–4.9/100,000/year, and the prevalence range is between 2 and 33 per 100,000. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has identified PNES as one of the 10 most critical neuropsychiatric conditions associated with epilepsy. Comorbidity between epilepsy and PNES, a condition leading to "dual diagnosis," is a serious diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for clinicians. The lack of prompt identification of PNES in epileptic patients can lead to potentially harmful increases in the dosage of anti-seizure drugs (ASD) as well as erroneous diagnoses of refractory epilepsy. Hence, pseudo-refractory epilepsy is the other critical side of the PNES coin as one out of four to five patients admitted to video-EEG monitoring units with a diagnosis of pharmaco-resistant epilepsy is later found to suffer from non-epileptic events. The majority of these events are of psychogenic origin. Thus, the diagnostic differentiation between pseudo and true refractory epilepsy is essential to prevent actions that lead to unnecessary treatments and ASD-related side effects as well as produce a negative impact on the patient's quality of life. In this article, we review and discuss recent evidence related to the neurobiology of PNES. We also provide an overview of the classifications and diagnostic steps that are employed in PNES management and dwell on the concept of pseudo-resistant epilepsy.


Based on these criteria, a fast clustering-based feature selection algorithm (FAST) is used and experimentally evaluated in this project. The FAST algorithm works in two steps. In the first step, features are divided into clusters. In the second step, the most representative feature that is strongly related to target classes is selected from each cluster to form a subset of features. Features in different clusters are relatively independent; the clustering-based strategy of FAST has a high probability of producing a subset of useful and independent features. To ensure the efficiency of FAST, we adopt the efficient minimum-spanning tree (MST) using the Kruskal's Algorithm clustering method. The efficiency and effectiveness of the FAST algorithm is evaluated through the study.


Fetal lung maturity can be predicted by the technique of fluorescence polarization using fluorescent phosphatidylcholine instead of diphenylhexatriene. To further elucidate the mechanism of this assay, we used high-speed centrifugation to isolate amniotic fluid lamellar bodies. Each of 75 amniotic fluid samples was separated into two fractions: a lamellar body pellet and a lamellar body-free supernatant fluid. Amniotic fluid and these fractions were assessed in a fluorescence polarization assay using a fluorescent phosphatidylcholine. Regardless of the maturity of the fetal lung, the lamellar body fractions had low polarization values (0.127-0.216), whereas the lamellar body-free fractions had high polarization values (0.266-0.344). Compared with the polarization of amniotic fluid, the fluorescence intensity of the lamellar body fractions had a strong inverse correlation (r=-0.871). The polarization of lamellar body pellets was not linearly related to the polarization of amniotic fluids. These findings do not support the theory that this fluorescence polarization assay measures the microviscosity of surfactant lipids. Instead, we propose that this assay indicates the quantity of surfactant relative to the quantity of nonsurfactant receptors of fluorescent phosphatidylcholine in amniotic fluid.


The performance of the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm is dependent on the initial weights of the map. The different initialization methods can broadly be classified into random and data analysis based initialization approach. In this paper, the performance of random initialization (RI) approach is compared to that of principal component initialization (PCI) in which the initial map weights are chosen from the space of the principal component. Performance is evaluated by the fraction of variance unexplained (FVU). Datasets were classified into quasi-linear and non-linear and it was observed that RI performed better for non-linear datasets; however the performance of PCI approach remains inconclusive for quasi-linear datasets.


A large number of real world applications, like user support systems, can still not be performed easily by conventional algorithms in comparison with the human brain. Recently, such intelligence has often been reached by using probability based systems. This paper presents results on the implementation of one such user support system, namely an intention estimation information appliance system, on a Bayesian Network as well as Hierarchical Temporal Memory. The latter is a new and quite promising soft computing platform modelling the human brain, though currently only available as a software model. A second part of the paper therefore focuses on a possible VLSI architecture for Hierarchical Temporal Memory. Since it models the human brain, communication as well as memory are of high importance for this VLSI architecture.


With the aid of simple vector meson dominance the authors extract from experiment the couplings of the psi ' psi eta complex. The predictions for these couplings of the Han-Nambu colour theory are derived and shown to be in conflict with the phenomenological values. Possible resolutions of this discrepancy in terms of more sophisticated versions of vector dominance are discussed.


The identification of good predictive biomarkers allows investigators to optimize the target population for a new treatment. We propose a novel utility‐based Bayesian population finding (BaPoFi) method to analyze data from a randomized clinical trial with the aim of finding a sensitive patient population. Our approach is based on casting the population finding process as a formal decision problem together with a flexible probability model, Bayesian additive regression trees (BART), to summarize observed data. The proposed method evaluates enhanced treatment effects in patient subpopulations based on counter‐factual modeling of responses to new treatment and control for each patient. In extensive simulation studies, we examine the operating characteristics of the proposed method. We compare with a Bayesian regression‐based method that implements shrinkage estimates of subgroup‐specific treatment effects. For illustration, we apply the proposed method to data from a randomized clinical trial.


We consider stochastic energy balance and entropy production (EP) in a generalized Langevin dynamics of macrospins, allowing for both amplitude and direction fluctuations, under external magnetic field. EP is calculated using a Fokker-Planck equation, distinguishing between reversible and irreversible parts of probability currents. The system entropy increases due to irreversible non-equilibrium processes, and reduces as heat dissipates to the surrounding environment. Using path probability distributions of time-forward trajectories and conjugate trajectories under time reversal, we obtain fluctuation theorems (FT) for total stochastic EP. We show that the choice of conjugate trajectories is crucial in obtaining entropy-like quantities that obey FTs.


The National Center for Education Statistics conducts surveys which require the coding of the respondent's major field of study. This paper presents a new system for the coding of major field of study. It operates on-line in a CATI environment and allows conversational checks to verify coding directly from the respondent. The system "learns" by maintaining a database of response/coding pairs which can be incorporated into its algorithm after supervisor review. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of this approach and database in coding major field of study for the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study Second Followup 1990-1994. Introduction sometimes resulted in expensive call-back procedures. Furthermore, researchers were frequently critical of the 6-digit and/or 2-digit codings. Simply put, the 6-digit codes were too complex for analyses and the 2-digit codes did not provide adequate detail for analyses. One of the major critics developed an alternative 3-digit system with 111 possible codes based on patterns of courses described within A College Course Map: Taxonomy and Transcript Data. Finally, as researchers become more sophisticated users of text string data (or as software improves handling of strings), the value of the high quality text strings becomes paramount in the data collection systems, including CATI. Coding becomes primarily a key for sorting or subsetting collections of text strings. NCES projects have frequently collected data concerning major field of study. Until recently, two procedures have been used to gather this data. First, experts in the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) examined respondents' text strings and assigned 6-digit codes from about 1,400 possibilities. Second, respondents selected 2-digit codes from a list of about 35 possibilities. The correspondence between the 2-digit and 6-digit codes was artificially high because the expert coders viewed both the text strings and the respondents' 2-digit selections. Inter-rater reliability within the expert pool was typically in the .80-.90 range after 3-4 days of training. The advent of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) enhanced the capability for obtaining higher quality text strings describing respondents' major fields of study. However, online codings into the 2-digits proved very time consuming. In addition, post-coding of text strings into CIP 6-digit codes delayed file delivery and Methodology for Data Collection All of the factors outlined above contributed to the development of a new approach for coding major field of study in current NCES CATI projects. The new coding approach incorporates on-line coding into our existing CATI system, using a 3digit classification system. The existing CATI system executes the NCES major field of study coding software. The coding software then takes over all CATI functions for the major field of study question, and returns a response string and a 3-digit code to the existing CATI system. The CATI system then stores this data, and proceeds with the next question for the respondent. The coding software takes care of prompting the CATI operator throughout the coding session. Initially, the respondent is asked an open question, "What is your major field of study", and the respondent's reply is entered into the coding


Obstruction in the ureter flow path is one of the most common problems in urinary‐related diseases. As the ureter transports the urine using the expansion bolus created by the peristaltic pulses, an obstruction in its path can cause unwanted backflow and can also result in damage to the wall. But in order to understand this further, and specifically to quantify and parametrize the effect of the obstruction in the ureter, a detailed study investigating various level of obstructions in peristaltic ureter flow is necessary. In the current study, full 3D numerical simulations of peristalsis in an obstructed ureter are carried out using a finite element solver along with a two‐way coupling between the fluid and structural domain with the arbitrary Eulerian‐Lagrangian method. Analysis of the results shows that the larger the obstruction, the higher the wall shear stress and pressure gradient in the fluid. In addition, the amount of backflow increases with increase in the obstruction.


The dynamic characterristics of succession process of undergrowth plants in different aged Chinese fir plantations were studied.The results showed that in accompanying stage of accidental species,undergrowth plant species and quantities flourished first,and the structure was very simple. In sparse stage of undergrowth plants, species and quantities were few,and structure was simple. In relatively stable stage of undergrowth plants,species and quantities increased, and Chinese fir community formed stable 3-layer structure including Chinese fir layer,shrub layer and herb layer. In invading succession stage of undergrowth plants, species composition and quantities flourshed again,some broad-leaved tree species started to grow into tree layer,and the multi-species and multi-layer community structure was formed. The α diversity indexes of undergrowth plants were obviously different and fluctuated. The richness index, diversity index and evenness index of total undergrowth plants of shrub layer were higher in young Chinese fir plantation. In the stage of closed forest stand, all indexes obviously decreased, then increased again, reaching maximal value in old-growth plantation. Vertical structure of species diversity showed shrub layerherb layerliana plant in 3,9 and 31 year-old plantations, in 20 year-old plantation, herb layershrub layerliana plant, and in old-growth Chinese fir plantation, shrub layertree layerliana plantherb layer. Tab 3, Ref 6